Marrying Wives and Attaining Immortality in a Chaotic World

Chapter 124: Hitting the Peach Pits

Out of caution, Xu Lian and Xiao Xixi did not come out immediately. Instead, they waited until they heard the sounds of others leaving their hiding places. 

Only then did Xu Lian crawl out of the hollow tree. He bent down outside the hollow, placing his hand above Xiao Xixi’s head to prevent her from bumping into it as she emerged.

Cultivating good will often begins with these small details. This was a lesson Xu Lian had learned and put into practice long ago. 

Goodwill doesn’t grow by itself. After enduring this ordeal, coupled with such tender and meticulous care, it was no surprise that Xiao Xixi’s gaze towards him took on a more subtle change. 

It was as if she wished to merge with him entirely, becoming one with him. At this very moment, she would willingly die for him, and she would die happily.

Xu Lian’s heart warmed as he could already sense that Xiao Xixi’s goodwill towards him was about to explode. 

Of course, Xiao Xixi’s earlier act of trying to lure the ghost child away to give him a chance to survive had really moved him. Even if it weren’t for the sake of increasing her goodwill, he would still cherish her.

Xiao Xixi was like a flower blooming on a branch, battered by the wind and rain, falling to the muddy ground only to be picked up by him. Even then, he could still sense her fragrance.

“Let’s go,” Xu Lian said, taking Xiao Xixi’s hand and walking towards the meeting place.

Xiao Xixi’s face lit up with a bright, delicate smile, her eyes brimming with happiness. At this moment, she felt that no matter where they were, no matter what demons or ghosts lurked around, she had nothing to fear.

“A scholar dies for his confidant; a woman adorns herself for her admirer.”

The two arrived at the meeting place. They saw that everyone’s faces were pale, their expressions still filled with lingering fear. Obviously, they had been terrified just a few moments ago. Only a few people remained calm and composed.

One of them was Jiang Xianyu. Her face was almost expressionless, showing no trace of panic or fear. This was to be expected. She was a member of the Jiang family, a prominent clan in Taizhou Prefecture, with a bright future ahead. 

She had voluntarily transferred to this caravan as its captain, specifically to travel the route between Pingyang County and Yanfu County in search of her destined partner. If she were afraid, how could she have dared to take on this role?

Another was Zhou Xin, who also showed no signs of fear. Instead, he seemed somewhat excited and expectant, looking forward to the game of house where the ghost child would designate him as Jiang Xianyu’s destined partner. 

Men are often like that-when their hormones are surging, how could they feel fear?

Then there was the female cultivator who had offered herself to Xu Lian earlier. She held her head high, showing no trace of panic, perhaps confident that she was not destined for misfortune. Little fairies are always so self-confident.

Xu Lian noticed something unusual about the ghost children. Among them, four had bloodstains on their clothes, likely from the killing the four people they had found.

“Brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts, we’ve been playing hide-and-seek. Now let’s play ‘Hitting Peach Pits,’ okay?” The ghost children giggled as they asked.

Everyone nodded and said, “Okay.” Who dared to refuse?

The ghost children magically pulled out dark, aged peach pits from their pockets and distributed them to everyone, giving each person ten peach pits.

Then they drew a line on the ground and another line further away.

Xu Lian had heard the rules of this game from Xiao Xixi earlier, and it seemed that the others were also aware of them.

The rules were simple.

Each person would first place one peach pit on the line, then use their index finger to flick it toward the distant line. The goal was to get the peach pit as close to the line as possible.

Those whose peach pits landed closer to the line would get to keep their pits and use them to hit others’ pits. Those whose pits landed further away would have to leave their pits there and wait to be hit. If a pit was hit, it would be taken by the person who hit it.

Each person had ten peach pits, so the game would last ten rounds.

After ten rounds

Those who had more peach pits in their hands could punish those who had fewer, and they could specify the punishment. Of course, this was the general rule of rewards and punishments. But now it was the ghost children’s game, and the rules of rewards and punishments were set by them. This was terrifying, because any kind of punishment was possible.

“Let’s begin,” one of the ghost children announced with a smile.

The other ghost children stared at the group with their pitch-black, pupil-less eyes. Anyone who broke the rules during the game would be punished immediately.

Silently, everyone took out a peach pit and stood in a row in front of the line. They all squatted down and placed a peach pit on the line. To say they weren’t nervous would be a lie – everyone’s body was tense.

This game tested one’s control of strength. The better one’s control, the closer the flicked peach pit would land to the distant line. Since everyone here was a cultivator, their control over their strength was undoubtedly impressive. Often, the difference between victory and defeat was razor thin.

Those with higher levels of cultivation naturally had better control over their strength, but it wasn’t absolute. Some people were naturally more sensitive to strength, and even if their cultivation level was slightly lower, they might not lose control over it compared to those with higher cultivation levels. 

Of course, in addition to controlling one’s strength, there was also an element of luck involved. If the flicked peach pit collided with someone else’s peach pit… it was anyone’s guess where it would end up.

That made things interesting.

Those who were confident in their control over their strength naturally hoped to win the competition through skill, and didn’t want their peach pits to collide with anyone else’s to avoid interference. Those who lacked confidence in their control hoped to win by luck, wishing for everyone’s peach pits to collide and leaving the outcome to chance.

This was also a psychological game.

“Ready, begin.”

The ghost child raised its pale arm and swung it downward.

Everyone’s bent index fingers exerted force, flicking their peach pits and sending them flying toward the distant line with a series of whooshes.

Xu Lian, Jiang Xianyu, Zhou Xin, and Old Yuntou, all four of whom had reached the Bright Strength Rank, flicked their peach pits with such force that no one dared to let their pits collide with theirs, as they would be shattered. 

As a result, in this first round, all the peach pits flew in parallel lines without colliding, coming to a steady stop in front of the distant line.

Of course, this was only the beginning. Everyone had ten peach pits, and it wasn’t time for sabotage or chaos. No one intentionally flipped their pits off course. Later, when some people ran out of peach pits, they would surely get anxious and deliberately flip their pits off course, causing collisions and leaving the outcome to chance.

“Your peach pits have landed closer together. You can hit the pits now.”

The ghost child walked over, checked the positions of the peach pits, and picked up half of them to return to Xu Lian and the others. The other half were left there, waiting to be struck.

Xu Lian noticed that the peach pit that Xiao Xixi had flipped was still there, which meant that she had lost a pit! Since everyone here was a cultivator, their aim was undoubtedly good, and they would definitely hit their targets. Her peach pit would definitely be taken by someone else.

Sure enough, most of the hits were successful, with only a few misses due to collisions when multiple people aimed at the same target. Xiao Xixi’s peach pit was also hit and taken by someone else.

Xu Lian frowned. He had to help her, otherwise she would have fewer and fewer peach pits as the rounds went on. If she ended up in the bottom few, she would be punished.

“Round two.”

The ghost child’s pace was fast, leaving no time for anyone to think of a strategy.

Once again, everyone stood in front of the line, squatting down and placing their peach pits on the ground, ready to flick them with their bent forefingers.

“Ready, begin!”

The ghost child waved its hand, and everyone flicked their peach pits.

The ghost child picked up half of the peach pits and left the other half where they were.

As expected, Xiao Xixi’s peach pit was left behind again. Her control over strength wasn’t very good, and her pit didn’t land close enough to the distant line.

This time, Xu Lian was prepared. His eyes were focused solely on Xiao Xixi’s peach pit.

When it was time to hit the pits, he deliberately knocked away other people’s pits, even if it meant missing his own target. He made sure that no one could hit Xiao Xixi’s pit, helping her to keep it safe.

Round three.

Xu Lian did the same again, protecting Xiao Xixi’s peach pit.

By the fourth round, some people had lost three peach pits in a row and started to panic. They deliberately flipped their pits off course, causing collisions and chaos, leaving the outcome to chance.

Of course, Xu Lian, Jiang Xianyu, Zhou Xin, and Old Yuntou were exceptions. In the face of absolute strength, luck became irrelevant. No matter how the pits collided, they couldn’t affect the peach pits of the four. The pits infused with their energy would simply shatter any others that collided with them.

Round five.

Round six.

Round seven…

Finally, the tenth round ended.

The ghost children ranked everyone according to the number of peach pits they had.

Zhou Xin and Old Yuntou tied for first place with twenty peach pits each, having earned ten more than they started with.

Jiang Xianyu came in third with twelve peach pits. This was a bit strange – given her strength, she should have had twenty as well. Why only twelve? Because after earning two pits in the first two rounds, she deliberately missed her targets in the remaining eight rounds, not wanting to take more pits from others once she knew she wouldn’t be at the bottom.

Xu Lian came in fourth with eleven peach pits. He had only earned one pit in the first round… and spent the remaining nine rounds protecting Xiao Xixi’s pits.

Several people tied for fifth place with ten peach pits, neither winning nor losing any.

Xiao Xixi finished in sixth place. Aside from losing one pit in the first round, she had kept the remaining nine thanks to Xu Lian’s protection.

From the seventh rank onward, the number of peach pits was pitifully low. Some had poor control over their strength, while others had terrible luck and lost too many pits.

“Brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts, the game of hitting peach pits is over. The top four will receive rewards, and the bottom four will be punished,” the ghost child said with a polite smile on its pale face, its words sending chills down everyone’s spines.

The four people in the bottom four turned pale with fear, unsure of what punishment awaited them.

The ghost children gathered together, giggling and discussing.

“What should the reward be? We don’t have anything good to give, so we’ll just give them the belongings left behind by previous travelers.”

“And the punishments?”

“I want to see if a head can be screwed back on after it’s been twisted off. Heehee.”

“Yes, yes! I want to see that too.”

Just like that, they casually decided on the rewards and punishments.

Without any visible action from the ghost children, Xu Lian felt something heavy appear in his hand-a relic left behind by a previous traveler.

Jiang Xianyu, Zhou Xin, and Old Yuntou also received relics.

However, no one paid any attention to what they had received. All eyes were on the bottom four, filled with pity. The punishment of twisting their heads off and trying to screw them back on was undoubtedly a death sentence.

The four of them turned as pale as the ghost children themselves, trembling uncontrollably, their eyes filled with utter terror.

“Let’s begin, brothers,” the ghost children said with gleeful smiles, their eyes filled with anticipation as they waited to see the four twist their own heads off.

The four knew they were doomed. Staying meant certain death, so they had no choice but to fight for their lives!

They immediately exchanged glances.

Two of them chose to flee as fast as they could!

One of them, driven mad with anger, drew a long sword and slashed at the ghost children. “Screw your heads! I’ll cut off your damn heads first!”

The last one lunged at Xiao Xixi, threatening the strongest member of the group, Xu Lian. “Help us deal with these ghost children, or I’ll kill her!”

Xu Lian’s eyes turned cold, and he was about to act when one of the ghost children raised its hand and its fingers spread.

In an instant, a bloody hole appeared in the foreheads of the four of them, and they collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

Their bodies emitted black smoke and quickly dissolved into nothingness, not even their clothes remaining.

The ghost children were furious.

“In games, there are rewards and punishments. How can you cheat?”

“These four brothers were too dishonest. We had to eliminate them.”

The group fell into complete silence, their pupils contracting as they witnessed the terror of the ghost children. These were indeed terrifying beings that ordinary cultivators could not hope to deal with.