Jiang Ye watched from the side, chilled to the bone.

To him, this Madwoman was a complete psycho.

That gentle, merciful look—no doubt it was just an act, meant to set up an even crueler blow to Wang Lingling.

And he wasn’t the only one who thought so.

All those old classmates still hiding in the courier service station thought the same.

They were just as miserable as Wang Lingling right now, desperately trying to lower their presence, not even daring to breathe.

This fear was worse than when they’d faced Xing Man’s massacre.

They kept getting reminded what “Only the Strong Deserve Respect” truly meant…

That only the strong had dignity. The weak? Their dignity could be trampled at any time.

But compared to dignity, survival was the only thing that mattered to the weak.

Those old classmates were being forced to grow up under this crushing pressure.

Especially Bai Ruowan, who was trembling so hard she nearly fainted on the spot.

She covered her mouth and didn’t dare breathe.

Her tears streamed silently.

She was the one who’d whispered under her breath earlier, which drew the Madwoman’s attention…

But the one suffering now was Wang Lingling…

Bai Ruowan felt some guilt, sure.

But even more, she was terrified of what would happen to her if Wang Lingling died.

Fear was spreading through everyone’s mind.

No one believed that psycho would really feel pity for Wang Lingling.

After all, Wang Lingling’s misery was entirely that Madwoman’s doing!

Her so-called compassion wasn’t even worth a crocodile’s tears.

Wang Lingling thought the same.

But—

The Madwoman held her hand and, shedding her earlier rage, now spoke gently and patiently:

“Well? Did Auntie’s lesson sink in?”

Wang Lingling nodded with trembling effort.

But since she was lying flat on the ground, her nodding looked more like kowtowing.

Her chin bumped the floor several times.

The Madwoman smiled gently and said,

“Good. Since you understand, go ahead and give Auntie a proper apology.”

“……”

Wang Lingling’s fist was still in her mouth.

The pain was unbearable, and she was afraid of biting her own tongue.

But right now…

She ignored everything else and forced herself to pull the bloody, mangled fist from her mouth.

Maybe the intense pain had forged her willpower.

She didn’t scream anymore.

She just shook all over, clenched her teeth, even her teeth were trembling.

Finally, from between her clenched jaws, came a shaky sentence:

“S-sorry… Sis… I-I was wrong…”

Then, the Madwoman looked kind again, gently smoothing out Wang Lingling’s sweaty, disheveled hair.

With a face full of benevolence, she said:

“Aww, if you know your mistake and change, you’re still a good girl.”

Then she asked, “Good girl, what’s your name?”

“Wang… Lingling…”

The Madwoman glanced at the Member List, and a flash of delight crossed her eyes.

Then, not hiding her joy at all, she said,

“What a coincidence, I’m Lin Ling.”

As she spoke, her eyes glinted as she scanned Wang Lingling up and down.

Finally, she muttered to herself,

“Let me think… yeah, the right foot might be the best choice.”

And with that, she suddenly took off Wang Lingling’s shoe and sock, and wrapped a Black Ribbon around her right foot.

After tying it, she even made a little bow.

It looked like a completely random and meaningless act.

But only Wang Lingling knew—

After the ribbon was tied, the uncontrollable pain throughout her body slowly faded.

In its place, her entire right foot turned stiff and numb, completely without sensation.

Now, Wang Lingling finally stopped trembling, feeling dazed like someone who’d barely survived a catastrophe.

The Madwoman, still wearing that kindly expression, helped her up and explained:

“Don’t get too happy just yet. The pain’s gone, but Light Scorch is still there.”

“With your level of power, you won’t last more than a few days.”

“You’ll die from Light Scorch before the current Beginner Apartment even ends.”

Wang Lingling managed to stand, face as white as paper.

Lin Ling, the Madwoman, gave a soothing smile and said:

“But if you can last until the Beginner Apartment ends…”

“Then I’ll give you a gift.”

With that, the Madwoman really didn’t seem interested in tormenting Wang Lingling further.

She turned and started walking toward Zhang Jintian.

But just as she turned—

She heard Wang Lingling cry out, “I want to!”

That shout was loud and firm.

But maybe because of what she had just been through, her body was still weak and breathless, so she only managed two words before her voice cracked.

Still, Lin Ling gave her the courtesy of turning around to look.

Wang Lingling took a deep breath, filled her lungs, and shouted the full sentence:

“I want—to be as strong as you!”

Lin Ling stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled:

“Heh, as strong as me…”

“Just wait. You might get your chance.”

With that, she blinked and reappeared right in front of Zhang Jintian.

Zhang Jintian had just been spectating, and now he jolted in fear!

He could now clearly tell—

This Madwoman named Lin Ling was very likely a powerful Veteran Player!

Even that cocky Light-type guy obeyed her!

With that kind of power, there was no way he’d dare to disrespect her!

So Zhang Jintian didn’t say a word and obediently contacted the 4444 Administrator.

Actually, he didn’t need to—Jiang Ye’s Replica acting as the 4444 Administrator already knew what was happening.

But he had no intention of coming over to deal with this Madwoman!

Even though 4444 had the powerful Death-State, and might not fear her,

Her arrogant attitude made him really not want to deal with her.

So, the 4444 Administrator didn’t show up, and simply replied to Zhang Jintian:

[If she wants to go to Apartment 0000 or the Underground Graveyard, just let her through. Anything else—I don’t have time for it.]

Zhang Jintian broke into a cold sweat after receiving the message.

He felt like he was stuck between two powerhouses, caught in the middle…

He had no choice but to relay the 4444 Administrator’s message to the Madwoman, Lin Ling.

Just then, for reasons unknown, Wang Lingling also walked over and silently followed behind Lin Ling.

Her posture made it seem like she had decided to follow Lin Ling to the end.

Lin Ling pondered for a moment, then waved her hand and released several Puppets wrapped in black paper.

With another wave, the black paper peeled away, and the puppets transformed into normal human forms—naturally, they were Ouyang Lin Jing and Zhou Qiming’s followers.

Of course, Ge Ge, one of Jiang Ye’s Replicas, was also among them.

Lin Ling didn’t bother explaining anything to them. She simply turned to Zhang Jintian and said:

“Then let me take these people with me into the Underground Graveyard first.”

“Y-yes, of course!” Zhang Jintian wouldn’t dare put on any Administrator airs in front of someone like her.

He quickly granted all of them access to the Underground Graveyard.

Wang Lingling had chosen to follow on her own, so she technically wasn’t one of Lin Ling’s people.

Zhang Jintian made sure to confirm, asking Lin Ling, “And her…?”

Lin Ling glanced at Wang Lingling, and without much thought, said indifferently, “She can enter too.”

And so, the group headed into the Underground Graveyard together.

Even the Light-Type Replica decided to follow instead of slipping away on his own.

After everyone entered the Underground Graveyard, Lin Ling ordered them to help dig up the Grave Mounds.

But the Light-Type Replica was deliberately held back.

Lin Ling raised her hand, summoning a silver-gray Light Screen that enveloped the two of them, isolating them from the outside.

She didn’t put him back into the glass bottle this time. Instead, she asked directly:

“You’re pretty bold. I caught you, and you’re not even trying to run?”

Jiang Ye glanced at the surrounding Light Screen, guessing it had soundproofing and anti-surveillance properties. With nothing to fear, he replied casually,

“Can’t escape anyway. And didn’t you promise that guy Wang Hanmo you wouldn’t do anything to me unless I made a huge mistake?”

“So now, all I have to do is wait and see whether I messed up or not.”

His attitude was calm—he looked completely unbothered.

Lin Ling stared at him for a few more seconds, then suddenly let out a cold laugh:

“Even if you didn’t make a big mistake with me…”

“You slaughtered so many Eerie Residents—I doubt you’ll get a peaceful ending.”

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow and still shrugged it off:

“No, no, no.”

“More accurately, the moment I awakened a Light-Type Ability, my peaceful ending was already off the table.”

“My so-called ‘sin’ for being Light-type is probably heavier than killing a bunch of Eerie Residents, right?”

Lin Ling stared at him again, growing more curious.

Was this guy truly that calm—or was he hiding something?

But seeing that he held no resentment or desire for revenge despite being captured by her, Lin Ling thought it over and asked in a low voice:

“I heard you’ve been in the Underground Graveyard before?”

Jiang Ye nodded. “I think I was tricked. Thought there was a Raven Egg in the Graveyard.”

“After I found out there wasn’t, I just left on my own.”

Lin Ling considered this for a moment and asked, “Then in those Grave Mounds you dug, did you find anything unusual?”

“Unusual?” Jiang Ye raised a brow. “Does finding coffins with live people count?”

Lin Ling was visibly shocked—but not because of the coffins themselves—

“You opened those coffins?”

Jiang Ye nodded. “I opened two. They were two revived players.”

Lin Ling grew even more astonished. She didn’t hold back her question:

“You’ve mastered Concept-Level techniques?”

Jiang Ye shook his head. “Nope. I only had access to a time-limited Concept-Level Weapon.”

“Oh…” Lin Ling gave him another look and said meaningfully, “Even being able to use a Concept-Level Weapon is already impressive.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Lin Ling arched an eyebrow and explained, “At least in the Doomsday Apartment, not everyone can use Concept-Level Weapons, and not everyone can grasp Concept-Level techniques.”

“Emmm… it’s like in cultivation novels, where not everyone qualifies to ascend and become an immortal.”

Alright then—Jiang Ye had just picked up a new tidbit of world lore, but it wasn’t a priority.

Seeing how cooperative she was now, he took the opportunity to probe further:

“Other than the two coffins, I really didn’t find anything unusual in the Grave Mound Zone.”

“But in the Tombstone Zone, I might’ve encountered something weird…”

“There was a strange, babbling voice, bragging that he once had more than a dozen SSS-tier Abilities, a dozen Ninth-Tier Glyph Pattern Abilities, and said something about being a Multi-Souled Body, Light and Dark in One Body…”

“Anyway, he made himself sound ridiculously powerful. Then he told me to go kill the 4444 Administrator…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep