I Went Crazy Killing in the World of Gods and Demons - Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Ghost Catching Card and Truth or Dare?

Xie Qingling had a big question mark in her head.

Sitting opposite Ye Anran, she asked, “How do you play this?”

“Come here, I’ll teach you. First, like this…” While shuffling the cards, Ye Anran drew one card and placed it in front of Xie Qingling.

It was the Ace of Hearts.

“I’ll set this card aside and it won’t be part of the shuffling or dealing. Among the remaining three Aces, one Ace won’t have a pair. The unpaired Ace becomes the Ghost Card. After the game starts, you can draw a card from the previous player. If the drawn card pairs with one in your hand, you can discard the pair. If you draw a card that doesn’t pair, the number of cards in your hand will keep increasing, and you can only wait for the next player to draw from your hand. The Ghost Card circulates among players with each draw. The last person holding the Ghost Card has to answer questions from others.”

To help Xie Qingling better understand the rules, Ye Anran played one round with her.

Ghost Catching Card was indeed simple – Xie Qingling grasped the rules in just one game.

Essentially, it was a game purely dependent on luck.

After hiding the Ghost Card, cards were dealt. Any pairs in hand could be discarded immediately. When only single cards remained, players took turns drawing from each other. If the drawn card formed a pair, they could reduce their hand size. When someone had zero cards left, they safely exited the game. With bad luck, drawing unpaired cards would increase one’s hand size, reducing chances of winning.

Simple as it was, during this special occasion, was it really that simple?

Xie Qingling looked up at Ye Anran and asked, “Senior Anran, is there anything special about this game?”

Ye Anran gave her a “you know what I mean” look and excitedly explained, “The game itself isn’t special, but this deck of cards is.”

“Do you know Di Ting?” Ye Anran asked.

Xie Qingling nodded.

Having worked in the department these days, Xie Qingling had studied plenty of mythological knowledge and naturally knew about Di Ting.

It was the mount of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

“Today when the Ghost Gate opens, not only Ghouls will appear, but other creatures from the underworld too,” Ye Anran explained. “Di Ting can distinguish truth from falsehood, good from evil. This deck was empowered by its Mystical Power and also has the ability to discern truth. Di Ting only appears once a year, and this deck becomes useless after daybreak.Xie Qingling raised an eyebrow, thinking, “As expected, there is a pit – this game was indeed not simple.”

“The final person holding the Ghost Card must answer others’ questions. If they tell the truth, nothing happens. But if they lie, they’ll be punished,” Ye Anran said mysteriously. “You’ll find out when the time comes.”

This… this was some hardcore Truth or Dare!

Xie Qingling secretly gasped.

Maybe she should find an excuse not to participate.

But then she reconsideredthis seemed to be the first “team-building” activity since she joined the department. Would it be inappropriate to refuse?

Xie Qingling racked her brain for excuses while eating.

By the time she finished her meal, the table where Ye Anran sat was fully occupiedall the other department members had taken their seats.

Seeing this, Xie Qingling stopped resisting and found an empty seat to sit down.

Ye Anran enthusiastically shuffled the cards, waving the deck in front of everyone as she said, “Everyone watch closelyI’m hiding a card now.”

With that, she drew a joker from the deck.

“Wait.” Ling Fang suddenly spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at him.

Ling Fang said leisurely, “I won’t participate this year. You can play without me.”

“Huh? Why?” Ye Anran asked.

Ling Fang glanced at Xie Qingling and explained, “It’s her first time joining this year. I’m worried she might not handle it well, so I’ll stay out of it and act as a fair and impartial judge. I’ll watch you play.”

Xie Qingling: “…”

Such a fresh and unconventional excusewhy couldn’t she have thought of it?

Ye Anran muttered under her breath, “If you don’t want to play, just say so. Why make up excuses? The director is such a killjoy.”

Ling Fang shot her a glare, and Ye Anran immediately fell silent.

“Be carefulthey can be sneaky,” Ling Fang warned Xie Qingling in a low voice as he passed by, lightly tapping her shoulder before taking a seat nearby.

Xie Qingling nodded, then picked up the cards Ye Anran had dealt her.

After pairing and discarding matches, Xie Qingling ended up with four cards left in her hand.

When she looked up, she noticed the others also held three or four cards eachthe remaining cards were all unmatched and couldn’t be discarded further. At this stage, players needed to draw cards from each other.

The drawing of the joker started with the first player.

As the starting player, Ye Anran had the person to her right, Dai Xingyu, draw from her hand.

Ye Anran spread out her three cards openly, appearing generous and composed.

“Here, pick any one.”

Dai Xingyu smiled innocently and harmlessly, his fingers hovering over the three cards, stroking one after another as if he were carefully appreciating some priceless treasure rather than mere playing cards.

Watching him meticulously feel each card, Xie Qingling didn’t understand why drawing a card had to take so long.

Ling Fang’s stern voice suddenly cut in: “Dai Xingyu, don’t use your Herdsman talent to sense the cards during the draw. If I catch you, it’s a violation, and rule-breakers have to answer questions.”

“Tch, fine, no using it then!” Dai Xingyu huffed, his cute baby face puffing up. He randomly drew a card and promptly discarded a pair of red fours.

Xie Qingling: “…”

“Even without my Herdsman talent, I can still win, hehe!” Dai Xingyu chuckled.

Beaming with pride, he spread out his remaining three cards and said to the next player, Shen Huaizhou, “Your turn to draw.”

Shen Huaizhou drew decisively, quickly picking a card and discarding a pair of kings.

Then it was Xie Qingling’s turn to draw from Shen Huaizhou’s hand.

Looking at the two cards in Shen Huaizhou’s hand, Xie Qingling hesitated for a moment, thinking the probability of drawing the joker shouldn’t be high now, so she drew one card as well.

It was a Spade 6a match.

Xie Qingling breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing at the three remaining cards in her hand, she let the next participant, Yu Wei, draw.

Yu Wei also drew decisively and similarly matched a pair, leaving two cards in his hand.

Then, it was Ye Anran’s turn again.

At this point, Ye Anran had two cards left. If she could draw the right card to form a pair and let Dai Xingyu draw one more, she would have no cards left and could safely exit the game early.

Ye Anran appeared confident and drew a card just as quickly.

Then she matched a pair.

The last remaining card was drawn by Dai Xingyu.

Ye Anran successfully exited the game.

With Ye Anran’s card now in Dai Xingyu’s hand, his card count returned to three, with no matches made.

Next, it was Shen Huaizhou’s turn to draw.

Shen Huaizhou also had two cards. If he drew a matching card and let Xie Qingling draw one more, he could exit the game as well.

Unfortunately, Shen Huaizhou wasn’t that lucky. He didn’t make a match, so the number of cards in his hand increased to three.

“Your turn,” Shen Huaizhou reminded Xie Qingling.

Xie Qingling also had two cards. If she could match a pair and pass the remaining card to Yu Wei, she could exit successfully; otherwise, things might not go well.

She drew one card from Shen Huaizhou’s three cards and saw it was a Diamond 8a match.

Good, she could exit safely now.

Xie Qingling smiled and handed the card to Yu Wei. “Brother Yu, good luck.”

After Yu Wei took the card, he didn’t make a match, and the number of cards in his hand increased to three.

Now, only three participants remained in the game, with seven cards left. Without a doubt, one of these seven was the joker.

Dai Xingyu widened his eyes and carefully drew one card from Yu Wei’s three, successfully matching a pair and exiting safely.

Only Shen Huaizhou and Yu Wei were left to compete. Shen Huaizhou had three cards, Yu Wei had twoclearly, the joker was with Shen Huaizhou.

Now, it was Yu Wei’s turn to draw.

With a one-in-three chance of drawing the joker, Yu Wei became much more cautious.

After careful consideration, he selected a card. As soon as he drew it, his expression changedno match.

It was the joker.

Yu Wei sighed inwardly, though his face remained calm. He then shuffled his three cards repeatedly, trying to confuse Shen Huaizhou’s judgment.

When it was Shen Huaizhou’s turn to draw, he smiled and took a card from Yu Wei’s hand. Now he had only two cards left. If he drew the right one and passed the remaining card to Yu Wei, Shen Huaizhou would win.

So, under everyone’s watchful eyes, after drawing a card from Yu Wei, Shen Huaizhou matched a pair and discarded two 10s.

“I win,” Shen Huaizhou said. “Lao Yu, your luck isn’t great.”

As he spoke, he handed the remaining card to Yu Weiaccording to the rules, it was now Yu Wei’s turn to draw, meaning the remaining joker would stay with him.

Just as Yu Wei was about to take the card, Ye Anran, who had been watching from the side, suddenly shouted, “Lao Yu, don’t believe him!”

Ye Anran picked up the pair of 10s that Shen Huaizhou had discarded from the table and said, “Shen Huaizhou discarded the Joker! Don’t be fooled by him! He used an illusion to deceive our eyes!”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward Shen Huaizhou.

Shen Huaizhou remained unperturbed and said, “This is clearly a pair.”

Ye Anran glared at him fiercely and looked at Ling Fang. “Minister, look at himhe’s cheating!”

Ling Fang glanced at Ye Anran, then at Shen Huaizhou, before reaching out to pick up the pair of 10s on the table. He rubbed the cards with his fingers, then brought them close to his nose and sniffed carefully. He then confirmed Ye Anran’s words: “Shen Huaizhou, you cheated.”

Shen Huaizhou: “…”

His trick exposed, Shen Huaizhou didn’t persist. After dispelling the illusion, the discarded pair on the table turned out to be a 10 of Hearts and a Jack of Clubs.

It really was an illusion.

What a complicated situation.

Xie Qingling asked Ling Fang, “Minister, how did you know? Can Shen Huaizhou’s illusions be detected just by smelling?”

Ling Fang replied, “Of course, it’s not as simple as smelling to break Shen Huaizhou’s illusion. I just detected a medicinal scent on the Joker.”

“…Even more complicated.”

“Ye Anran marked the Joker while shuffling, so she could recognize it.” Ling Fang raised an eyebrow and glanced at Xie Qingling. “I told you earlier, they’re sneaky.”

He then turned to Ye Anran. “See, I wasn’t wrong, was I?”

All eyes shifted to Ye Anran.

Ye Anran: “…”

Exposed.

“Shen Huaizhou, Ye Anran, both of you cheated. That’s a foul,” declared Ling Fang, the righteous and impartial judge. “Lao Yu doesn’t have to answer a question, but both of you must.”

Shen Huaizhou’s face remained wooden and expressionless.

Ye Anran, on the other hand, looked utterly dejected.

“Let’s start with Shen Huaizhou. Everyone can take turns asking questions,” Ling Fang called out.

Xie Qingling immediately raised her hand. “Me, I’ll ask first.”

She asked Shen Huaizhou, “I want to know, during your patrol tonight, how did you make all those spirits line up obediently in front of you?”

If she could learn from Shen Huaizhou, perhaps next year’s Ghost Festival wouldn’t be so exhausting.

Xie Qingling looked at him expectantly.

Shen Huaizhou replied, “I wove dreams for them, allowing them to see people they could never meet again.”

So, just like Ye Anran, he was essentially running a stall and working. That meant it couldn’t be replicated. Xie Qingling felt somewhat disappointed.

At that moment, Yu Wei also spoke up.

He, too, was curious about Xie Qingling’s question. If he could learn Shen Huaizhou’s method of controlling spirits, Yu Wei wouldn’t be so flustered next year either.

Yu Wei asked, “Besides weaving dreams, do you have any other ways to deal with these spirits? Can you teach me?”

“No, I can’t teach you.” As soon as Shen Huaizhou finished speaking, a massive white head suddenly emerged from the Joker on the table. The white head, like a giant dog, opened its bloody maw and lunged at Shen Huaizhou, swallowing his head whole.

Xie Qingling was so startled by the sudden turn of events that she immediately drew her blade, but soon enough, the large white dog spat out Shen Huaizhou’s head and shrank back into the card. If not for the sticky fluid on Shen Huaizhou’s face and his suppressed expression, it would have seemed as though nothing had happened at all.

Dai Xingyu burst into laughter: “Brother Shen got punished, hahahaha! He lied.”

Xie Qingling: “…”

What a fucking intense game.

Thank goodness, thank goodness she hadn’t drawn the Ghoul card or broken any rules.

Otherwise, she would have been the one getting swallowed right now.

She didn’t know if it hurt, but she could tell it was definitely thrilling, because Shen Huaizhou’s face had turned as sour as a pile of dog shit.

Despite his adorable baby face, Dai Xingyu wore an utterly punchable expression as he grinned and asked, “So, Brother Shen, aside from weaving dreams, what other methods do you use to make those Ghouls obey?”

Shen Huaizhou’s face darkened. After a moment of thought, he decided to choose truth.

He said, “It’s nothing much, just… helping them resolve some emotional issues.”

This time, the Ghoul card showed no unusual activity.

However, the other members of the department fell silent for a moment before letting out knowing chucklesespecially after the incident with the River God’s forced marriage, they all knew that Shen Huaizhou’s appearance was quite appealing to mystical creatures’ aesthetics.

No wonder he had looked so uncomfortable when she saw him at his stall. Xie Qingling thought that Shen Huaizhou carried a bit of an idol burdenfor instance, after gaining a sense of presence by wearing a skirt, he always acted aloof and spoke little.

She glanced at Shen Huaizhou again and noticed his face had grown even sourer.

As an outsider, Ling Fang had no right to ask questions, and Ye Anran had also violated the rules, so she couldn’t ask either.

Next, it was Xie Qingling’s turn to pose a question.

Xie Qingling thought for a moment and asked, “Senior Anran, what is your awakened talent?”

Among the four innate Spirits in the department, she knew Shen Huaizhou’s talent, the Herdsman’s ability to see ghosts went without saying, but she still didn’t know Ye Anran’s.

Upon hearing this, Ye Anran immediately began to lament: “It all started with my grandfather. My grandfather was a master of traditional medicine, and my parents dumped me with him since I was young to learn medicine. My grandfather was extremely stricthe made me memorize the Thousand Gold Prescriptions, the Compendium of Materia Medica, and ancient medical texts since childhood. But I’m slow-witted and couldn’t memorize them. Every time I failed, my grandfather would hit my palms with a ruler, wuwuwu…”

“Over time, I started thinking, if only I could understand the effects of every herb at a glance, I wouldn’t have to memorize those convoluted ancient texts.”

“I kept thinking and thinking, and one day, I actually could understand the properties of every medicine! And then I was sent here…”

So that’s how it was.

Yet, another doubt arose in Xie Qingling’s mind: Does everyone’s awakened talent relate to their childhood experiences? Or perhaps to what they deeply desire?

Then what about her voice?

She set aside her doubts and heard Yu Wei ask Ye Anran, “When are you planning to go back and visit your grandfather, Anran?””

Ye Anran thought for a moment and replied, “In a few days. I’ll go back after work.”

Then it was Dai Xingyu’s turn. He narrowed his eyes, pondered briefly, and then looked at Ye Anran: “Sister Anran, are you planning to cheat in the next game?”

Ye Anran immediately retorted, “Of course not! How could I do something so shameless?”

As soon as she finished speaking, the giant white head emerged from the Ghost Catching Card again, opened its mouth, and swallowed Ye Anran’s head.

Ye Anran: “…”

Dai Xingyu clapped his hands in delight: “I knew it, hahaha!”

Xie Qingling watched the entire process in awe, thinking this game was truly fascinating.

Ling Fang said, “This time, I, the supervisor, will shuffle the cards.”

No one objected, and so the second round began.

Ling Fang shuffled and dealt the cards.

With the experience from the first round, Xie Qingling finally understood how to play the Ghost Catching Card game.

No wonder Ling Fang had said these people were cunning and feared she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Now that she had grasped the proper way to play, Xie Qingling wouldn’t just sit back and wait for defeat.

She neither wanted to play Truth nor Dare. Therefore, she needed to keep the initiative in her own hands.

After receiving her cards and discarding most of them, when only three cards remained in her hand, Xie Qingling placed them face down on the table and said to Ling Fang, “Boss, please keep an eye on my cards. I’m going to the restroom and will be right back.”

Ling Fang nodded in agreement, while the others were busy discarding their own cards, paying no attention to her.

Just as Xie Qingling stood up to leave, Ling Fang, without turning around, suddenly said, “You can go to the restroom, but leave the Blood Oath behind.”

“Ah?” Xie Qingling looked confused. “Why?”

“If you use the Hidden Breath effect to peek at others’ cards, it counts as a foul.”

Xie Qingling: “…”

Thwarted before she could even begin, Xie Qingling had no choice but to sit back down, abandoning her trip to the restroom.

She had openly revealed her intention to cheat, only to be caught and forced to retreat at the last moment.

By the end of the second round, Xie Qingling had narrowly escapedshe didn’t draw the Ghost Catching Card; it was Yu Wei who ended up with it.

Now it was time for everyone to question Yu Wei.

Xie Qingling went first.

Not wanting to trouble this genuinely dependable elder brother too much, she asked a simple question: “Brother Yu, what do you most want to do right now?”

Yu Wei was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, “I most want to take my daughter to the amusement park and spend a whole day having fun. Ride the carousel, take the pirate ship, go on the roller coasterexperience every single attraction.”

Ah, Brother Yu really loves his daughter.

Shen Huaizhou asked, “Only taking your daughter, not your wife?”

Yu Wei was stunned again, then replied with a mix of amusement and exasperation, “I’d like to, but…”

“But we’ve been divorced for a long time.”

Now it was Shen Huaizhou’s turn to be taken aback.

He cleared his throat and said, “Sorry.”

“It’s nothing, just a choice adults make.” Yu Wei rubbed his head and smiled sheepishly. “Let bygones be bygones. Don’t judge me by how rough I look nowwhen I was young, I was quite handsome and had passionate romances.”

Ye Anran immediately said, “Me? I don’t want to ask questions anymore. I want to hear Lao Yu’s love story.”

Dai Xingyu eagerly joined in, “I want to hear it too!”

Yu Wei: “…”

“Should’ve known better than to show off,” Yu Wei regretted a little. But seeing their expectant faces, he smacked his lips and finally gave in: “Actually, it’s nothing much. I met Niuniu’s mom in the armyshe was a military doctor, and I was a special forces soldier. Later…”

Back then, Yu Wei was at the peak of his youthbold, spirited, and undefeated in one-on-one combat within the troops.

Young men, driven by adrenaline, are always competitive and relentless in their contests, seeing only victory and defeat, regardless of the opponent. Though he seized glory and fame, behind the scenes, he paid the price with a body covered in scars.

A youth without recklessness is a youth wasted. During those days, Yu Wei’s body was always bruised black and blue.

One scar would heal, only for another to appearan endless cycle.

He prided himself on his robust physique, often dismissing minor injuries, believing they would heal on their own. But in the eyes of the military doctor, his behavior was nothing short of a challenge to her professional integrity.

Doctors dislike patients who ignore medical advice, and military doctors are no exception. For Yu Wei, an especially disobedient troublemaker, the military doctor would sternly warn him against certain actions. When verbal admonitions proved useless, she had no choice but to physically restrain him herself.

Over time, their interactions grew, and affection blossomed between them.

By the time Yu Wei finished his story, the sky had brightened.

Di Ting quietly slipped away, the playing cards having reverted to their ordinary form, and the Ghost Catching Card game naturally didn’t resume.

Ye Anran then led them into a new round of card games.

Ling Fang and Yu Wei sat on the steps before the floor-to-ceiling window, each holding a bottle of alcohol. They clinked their bottles together and took a swig.

Ling Fang said, “You don’t have to indulge them too much. If there are things you’d rather not talk about, you don’t have to.”

“Hahaha, it’s nothing, really. Just think of it as a story. It was so long ago, if I didn’t talk about it, I might’ve forgotten it myself,” Yu Wei laughed heartily.

After a moment of silence, Ling Fang added, “By the way, Lao Yu, headquarters got back to me. They’re sending a new member to our Future Citya warrior with formidable combat skills.”

“Is that so? That’s great news.” Yu Wei visibly relaxed, took another sip of his drink, and looked thoroughly relieved. “Now I can retire with peace of mind.”