Chapter 289: Chapter 253: Group Task

Sang Wan saw Sang Que, stood up and rushed forward to hold her in her arms, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Sang Que felt that her mom was acting a bit strange, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly why.

“Mom, I’m sorry, there was a bit of an unexpected delay, but here I am back in one piece. Look.”

Sang Wan released Sang Que, wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes, and looked her up and down.

“Why are your hands so cold? I dreamed someone had taken your heart, and you told me many people died, did you suffer a serious injury?”

Sang Wan asked with concern, while Sang Que assured her she was fine, trying to calm her mom down, all the while scanning her mom from head to toe.

Her gaze fell on her mom’s legs, causing Sang Que to frown, feeling puzzled, as if the thoughts in her mind had been stolen away.

She turned her gaze away, spotting a wheelchair in the study.

But her mom isn’t disabled, so why is there an electric wheelchair in the house?

Wait!

The sense of doubt in Sang Que’s heart grew stronger. She immediately used her Ghost Eye to scan her mom, her eyes widening in surprise.

In the images of her mom’s past, she first saw her mom with intact legs, busy around the house, going out with her, but subsequently, under the influence of the Ghost Eye, the mom in these images faded away, revealing the truth.

Her mom had been in a car accident at fourteen, resulting in a disability, with one leg amputated. How could both of her legs be intact now?

“Mom, while I was away these past few days, did something happen?”

Sang Que’s heart was pounding; someone who was an amputee suddenly having legs like a normal person was utterly terrifying!

Sang Wan took a deep breath, not hiding anything from Sang Que, “Something did happen, but it’s not urgent to explain it immediately. You go take a shower and change clothes first, I’ll make you something to eat. We’ll sit down and talk, I also have a lot to ask you.”

Sang Que nodded, knowing her mom needed time to figure out how to tell her, just as she needed time to think about how to tell her mom about Wangshan City, not hiding anything, but the mention of her injuries needed to be brief, so as not to worry her mom too much.

After taking a good shower, Sang Que came out of the bathroom. Her mom had already cooked instant noodles and was waiting at the dining table. The Great General was still lying at her mom’s feet. As Sang Que approached, the Great General shifted uncomfortably, seeming somewhat afraid of her.

“I know you’re anxious, so let me speak first.”

Sang Wan took the initiative to speak, handing her phone to Sang Que, showing a group chat on the screen.

A story relay group.

Sang Que’s heart tightened as she carefully read the chat history inside.

[Pen Cultivator]: Welcome to the ’Story Relay (Intern Group)’, joining means agreeing to all group rules. Newcomers start as ’Intern Group Member’, complete three tasks to advance to the ’Official Group’, where you can freely accept and publish tasks.

[Pen Cultivator]: Please accept your first task.

[Pen Cultivator]: [Video]

[Pen Cultivator]: Based on the above video content, create a short horror story. The completed story will earn points based on the fear value it generates, which can be exchanged for ’free creation’ word count.

There was more content, but as soon as Sang Que saw this group, she couldn’t help but panic.

“What’s going on?”

Sang Wan explained, “On New Year’s Eve, you didn’t return, so I tried praying to the Witch Lady for some guidance, then I dreamed of you coming home, telling me they all died, you appeared severely injured, without a heart. After I woke up, originally I wanted to use the storyteller’s ability to help you.”

“However, when I was about to start writing, I realized I knew too little to write a complete story, fearing I might write something wrong, complicating the situation further, instead of helping you.”

“It was then that I received another invitation to this group. After thinking it over, I agreed. What you see in the chat history followed, the ’Pen Cultivator’ sent me a video, asking me to create a horror story featuring the two people in the video.”

Sang Wan held her hands tightly, looking very tense. She took a deep breath to calm her mind before continuing, “The rule in this group is, first earn points by writing horror stories, then exchange the points for ’free creation’, which still needs to have a horror base, but can be used to achieve dreams.”

Sang Wan looked down, squeezing her hands to avoid Sang Que’s gaze.

“I… I used free creation to write a small story about myself, and after sending it out, I fell asleep. When I woke up, my legs were restored, and when I went out to find Aunt Xu, she didn’t notice anything unusual, neither did anyone else.”

Sang Que felt a mess of panic inside her heart. Her mom didn’t say it directly, but she understood, having experienced the horror stories from the story relay group herself, knowing that such horror stories can lead to death.

If it weren’t for her having the Yansheng coin, she would have died at Qin Lu’s house.

So, her mom killed someone with a story, exchanging it for a chance of free creation, but her real purpose was definitely not just restoring her legs.

Sang Que quickly flipped to the end on the phone, skipping the middle content, and in the story her mom wrote with the free creation, there was a sentence.

[…The daughter returned home late at night, saw her mother’s legs were fine, and didn’t notice anything unusual…]

Seeing this sentence sent a chill down Sang Que’s spine, she certainly felt a great deal of fear.

[Pen Cultivator: The first ’free creation’ can be used for a major adjustment to oneself, this is a newcomer group entry benefit, afterward, ’free creation’ must be within a logically reasonable range. The next intern task will be released in a month, participation is mandatory, refusal will result in a double deduction of previous rewards, please prepare in advance.]

Sang Que clenched the phone tightly; her mom’s leg recovery was just an incidental outcome, her real aim was the sentence ’daughter returned home late at night’.

Actually, in the Deceit Dynasty, she didn’t feel the influence of the story’s power, the fundamental reason she survived was still the ’Mountain Ghost Seal’, but such abstract powers are really hard to articulate clearly.

Only, Sang Que thought, the stories written in the Deceit Dynasty must only affect the Deceit Dynasty, and the stories written in the modern era should only affect the modern era too.

The sentence her mom wrote did indeed come true; perhaps it was just a coincidence.

“Mom…”

Sang Que’s strength was broken as she reached out and hugged Sang Wan’s waist.

Sang Wan stroked Sang Que’s head, “It’s okay, you don’t need to worry about me, the group leader likely worried I wouldn’t accept the first task, so the target for the first task was a wanted criminal, so I didn’t have a big psychological burden, it’s just… doing such a thing for the first time, no matter what, my heart is still not strong enough.”

Sang Wan suddenly remembered when Sang Que had just gone through the Li Family Widow incident and asked if she would hurt innocent people for Sang Que, her hesitation and lack of knowledge then had already foreshadowed today’s events.

Sang Que sat upright again, taking the phone and roughly looking through it, the video on the phone seemed to be footage from a surveillance camera in an alley, capturing a man wearing a baseball cap holding a wanted poster, the reflection in the glass showing it was his own wanted poster, then the man followed a woman walking home from work late at night.

In her mom’s story, only that wanted criminal was killed.

Sang Que thought of her own visit to Qin Lu’s home that time, wondering if she too was captured by a surveillance camera and the video sent to the group for someone to create such a terrifying story.

And when her mom encountered Qin Lu’s dad at home, it’s likely the same.

Immediately, Sang Que turned her head, scanning around the house.

Sang Wan said, “I’ve already removed all the cameras in the house, including the peephole, and I’ve covered the cameras on my computer and phone, for now… it’s just a bit of psychological comfort.”

Nodding, Sang Que put down the phone, “Mom, don’t worry, before the second task is released, I will surely find the person behind this group.”

Nanyang Golden Boy and this group are her two major targets in this modern world since advancing to Ghost Level.

Sang Wan gave a bitter smile, “I feel it won’t be that easy, but let’s not talk about this now, tell me about you, what really happened from New Year’s Eve to the beginning of spring?”

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