Chapter 16: The Power of Poverty

July 21st, 2023

【Gong Jianming, male, 18 years old, Oh my god, someone is trying to devour his life force, hurry and tell him.】

【Xing Bu, male, 21 years old, Oh my god, someone is trying to devour his life force, hurry and tell him.】

【Bian Dantong, female, 16 years old, Oh my god, someone is trying to devour her life force, hurry and tell her.】

…

The same message repeated with different names and ages, filling the screen in the blink of an eye, and it showed no signs of stopping. As people moved around, the crowd within three meters of Lin Xuan kept changing, but the same message kept increasing.

Someone was devouring the life force of everyone here?

“What’s going on? Is… is there a monster?” Lin Xuan had only seen this concept of life force devouring in TV shows and comics. How could such a thing exist in real life?

“Host, please carefully read the message on the sticks.”

The message on the sticks showed an enlarged character “人” (person), nearly blinding Lin Xuan’s eyes. It’s not that she hadn’t seen this character before, but more than 20 years of socialist education made her hesitate to believe it. However, when she calmed down and thought about it, there was nothing strange about it. She could climb into the TV, so it wasn’t surprising that others had special abilities.

“What happens when life force is devoured?” Lin Xuan asked.

“When life force is devoured, it can lead to illness or even death,” the system replied.

Death?!

Looking at the densely packed crowd in the venue, Lin Xuan felt her hands and feet go cold. “Is there any way to prevent this from happening?”

“I’m just a divination system. Besides divination, I can’t do anything else,” the system said.

“… No, you also know how to irritate people and earn dirty money.”

The system was of no help. What should she do? Should she call the police? But how would she explain it? Should she say that someone is devouring people’s life force here? She didn’t know if the police would respond, but she was certain they would consider her crazy.

Was there any other way?

Lin Xuan anxiously scratched her head, looked around, and suddenly caught sight of a fire extinguisher placed in the corner. An idea formed in her mind. She could activate the fire alarm, pretend there was a fire, and evacuate the people from the venue.

As for the consequences of pulling the fire alarm, Lin Xuan couldn’t afford to think about it anymore. Just as she was about to go find the fire alarm, a girl with pink hair, wearing a fluffy skirt and holding a cute and ugly doll, walked into the venue.

【Min Fei, female, 17 years old, Oh my god, someone is devouring her life force, hurry and tell her.】

【Ling Tai, male, 17 years old, Oh my god, someone is devouring his life force, hurry and tell him.】

…

Lin Xuan paused her steps. It had begun. That person had already entered and was devouring everyone’s life force.

Instinctively, Lin Xuan looked towards the entrance of the venue, but there were too many people inside, and many stalls obstructed her view. She couldn’t see anything.

【Host life force -10.】

【Zhang San, male, 17 years old, Oh my god, someone is devouring his life force, hurry and tell him.】

【Host life force -10.】

【Li Si, female, 17 years old, Oh my god, someone is devouring her life force, hurry and tell her.】

【Host life force -10.】

…

Lin Xuan abruptly noticed that some disharmonious elements had appeared in the organized system messages.

My life force is being devoured?

Well, I’m also in the venue. With my luck, it would be abnormal if I weren’t devoured.

【Host accumulated life force -100, high fever.】 Suddenly, the system prompt added a symptom.

High fever? Does it mean that after 100 points of my life force are devoured, I will get sick and have a high fever?

No, I must find the fire alarm quickly.

【Host life force -10.】

【Zhao Wu, male, 21 years old, Oh my god, someone is devouring his life force, hurry and tell him.】

【Host life force -10.】

…

【Host accumulated life force -200, pneumonia.】

Lin Xuan’s body felt weak, but she forced herself to ignore the words “pneumonia” and continued searching for the fire alarm.

【Host life force -10.】

【Wang Ling, female, 17 years old, Oh my god, someone is devouring her life force, hurry and tell her.】

【Host life force -10.】

…

【Host accumulated life force -300, meningitis.】

Lin Xuan stumbled and almost fell. How did she get meningitis?! It had only been a short while, and now she had meningitis. If she continued to lose life force, would she end up with a burning fever?

I’m sorry, everyone. At this rate, by the time I find the fire alarm and everyone evacuates, they will have already been driven insane by the high fever, so… I’ll save myself first.

“Sorry!” Lin Xuan shouted loudly, without looking back, and ran towards the exit.

It’s not that I don’t want to save everyone, but I have done my best. Once I’m out, I will definitely post what happened today online and ask other capable individuals to come and save you.

Lin Xuan firmly believed that since there existed the ability to devour others’ life force, there must also be a way to resolve it. Since she couldn’t save everyone, she would carry the message out of here, believing that someone would be able to save the people here.

【Host life force -10.】

【Host, accumulated life force -600, severe coma, ICU.】

The moment Lin Xuan’s running motion halted upon seeing this prompt, her anxious expression disappeared abruptly, and she became incredibly calm.

“System, my devoured life force has reached the point where I need to be in the ICU?” Lin Xuan asked.

“Yes.”

“When will this illness break out?” Lin Xuan’s life force had been continuously devoured since earlier, but her body didn’t show significant abnormalities. It indicated that the aftermath of this life force consumption wouldn’t occur immediately but would have a time interval.

“In 12 hours,” the system replied.

“Very well.” Lin Xuan’s eyes revealed a murderous intent. “Can you calculate where he is?”

“Aren’t you going to run, host? If you run now, at most, you’ll spend a month in the ICU,” the system said.

“A month? Do you know how much it costs to stay in the ICU for a month?” Lin Xuan exclaimed angrily. “Just one day would bankrupt me! If you want me to go bankrupt, I’ll confront him first.”

The system stuttered for a moment, is this the power of poverty?

“I’m just a divination system,” the system said.

In other words, you can’t find him, so if you won’t, I will.

The anger of facing bankruptcy propelled Lin Xuan’s brain to work at an unprecedented peak, reaching an unprecedented level of intelligence. Her eyes, filled with a determination born out of poverty, scanned the crowd like lightning.

Everyone in the venue was having their life force devoured, except for one person—the devourer themselves. The divination system could divine everyone within a three-meter radius around me. So, as long as that person appeared within three meters of me without triggering a system prompt, they would be the devourer.

I will definitely find you!

And so, a magical scene unfolded in the venue. A witch with her face covered, holding a crystal ball, wandered around the venue, approaching people.

“Divination?”

Regardless of whether the person agreed or not, the witch would follow up with, “Someone is devouring your life force.”

This scene earned the respect of all the cosplayers present: just for the sake of this belief, she was undoubtedly an amazing person.

After each divination by Lin Xuan, the system would play a completion sound. Until she approached a loli girl with pink hair.

“Divination?”

The loli girl, holding a round umbrella, blinked her big eyes with pink false eyelashes at Lin Xuan and said with a cheerful smile, “Sister, you’re so pretty.”

“Thank you.” Lin Xuan was in a hurry and didn’t have time for pleasantries. Without waiting for the girl’s consent, she directly revealed the divination result, “Someone is devouring your life force.”

As soon as the words fell, the loli girl’s smiling eyes instantly turned cold, and Lin Xuan abruptly lifted her head, staring intently at the girl.

The air suddenly grew quiet.

“How did you know?”

“It’s you!”

Better late than never, Lin Xuan swiftly reached out and grabbed the girl’s hair, giving it a pull. Snap! She tore off the loli girl’s pink wig.

The loli girl screamed as her hair was ripped off, immediately losing her composure and rushing toward Lin Xuan like a madwoman. “Ah, I’ll kill you! Kumaxi, drain her life force completely!”

As the girl spoke, the doll she had been holding in her arms suddenly opened its mouth eerily and viciously sucked at Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan felt a blackout in front of her eyes, her body weakening, and she staggered.

【Host, accumulated life force -800, multiple organ failure.】

“What’s going on? Are you fighting?” A venue staff member who was nearby heard the girl’s scream and hurried over to inquire about the situation.

“No, no, little brother, is there a place to rest here? My friend has low blood sugar.” The loli girl intimately supported the weakened Lin Xuan and smiled sweetly at the staff member in his embroidered uniform.

When such a soft and cute girl smiled at you, who could remain unyielding? The staff member’s expression immediately softened, and he pointed in a direction, saying, “Go in that direction. There’s a rest area. Let me take you there.”

“No need, no need. I’ll take her there. Little brother, you can go back to your work,” said the loli girl. She supported Lin Xuan’s shoulder and walked towards the rest area. Lin Xuan was a whole head taller than the girl, and the way they supported each other looked like a child supporting an adult. However, the girl’s steps were fast and steady.

“A small girl with quite some strength,” muttered the staff member in the embroidered uniform, but he didn’t pay much attention and turned to attend to his own tasks.

The loli girl helped Lin Xuan into the rest area and, seeing no one around, she let go and threw her on the ground.

“Daring to pull my hair, you’re looking for death.” The loli girl clearly cared a lot about her appearance. The first thing she did upon entering the rest area was not dealing with Lin Xuan, who had discovered her secret, but to tidy up her wig.

At this moment, after a brief recovery, Lin Xuan had regained some strength from the rapid depletion of her life force. She looked at the girl’s back and took out “Sadako’s long hair” from her inventory.

“Do you think you’re the only one with a wig?”

The loli girl suddenly turned around and saw that Lin Xuan had also put on a wig at some point. Moreover, the quality of that wig was even better than the one she had spent a fortune on—soft, smooth, and envy-inducing.

“Why are you wearing a wig at a time like this? Are we going to compare whose wig looks better before we die?” The loli girl sneered. “I’ll kill you, and your wig will be mine.”

Who the hell wants to compete with you over wig quality?

With one hand supporting herself on the ground, Lin Xuan suddenly bounced up and, before the loli girl could react, she grabbed the girl’s bare feet and dragged her into the television channel.

“I can’t deal with you, but I’ll find someone who can,” Lin Xuan shouted while exerting all her strength to drag the girl into the channel.

Sadako, I’m counting on you. Do you still remember that discount on your beauty?

Yes, Lin Xuan planned to drag the loli girl to find Chen Chu. She didn’t know if Chen Chu had a way to deal with the girl, but he was the only person who knew her secret. Even if Chen Chu couldn’t handle the girl, at least he would believe what she said. As a backup plan, even if she couldn’t find Chen Chu, it didn’t matter. As long as she dragged the loli girl out of the venue, the people here would be saved.

The channel wasn’t long, but Lin Xuan dragged the girl for a long time without reaching the exit. “Why are you so heavy? My three-hundred-pound pig is lighter than you.”

“What did you say? I’ll kill you!” The loli girl seemed to be struck at a sore spot and instantly exploded. She grabbed Lin Xuan’s hair from behind, and the two of them tumbled together.

“Why can’t I pull off your wig?” The loli girl’s own wig had been torn off by Lin Xuan and thrown somewhere, but even though she tugged at Lin Xuan for a while, she couldn’t budge the wig at all.

【Skill in use, item cannot be dropped.】

Lin Xuan didn’t pay her any attention. She grabbed the girl’s real hair and threatened in a rough voice, “Spit out the life force.”

“I won’t. Go die.”

“If you won’t spit it out, I’ll beat it out of you.” Lin Xuan had also reached the point of no return. After all, if she was going to die, it would be in 12 hours. Within these 12 hours, she had no fear.

In a certain shopping mall in Jincheng, Chen Chu was standing outside, watching a band performance. The mall was hosting an event and had invited a band to liven up the atmosphere. The music was very pleasant.

Chen Chu was dressed in simple jeans and a white T-shirt. A duckbill cap covered most of his face, the face that Sadako could give a 20% discount on, but even just standing there, his cool and clean temperament was enough to attract attention. At least half of the audience around the band was drawn in by him, well, at least half of the female audience was.

“Iced coffee.” Xie Xingyu came out from the nearby café and handed Chen Chu a cup of coffee.

Compared to Chen Chu’s simplicity, Xie Xingyu dressed much more flamboyantly. He wore a stylish and full of design sense shirt, with half of his chest exposed. He had a meticulous ponytail and wore high-quality sunglasses. Everything about him was telling the people around him that he was expensive and not to approach him unless they were rich ladies.

“Cheer up. Didn’t you say you were going to buy me new household appliances for my new home?” Xie Xingyu said.

“I can buy them online for you,” Chen Chu replied.

“Online purchases can’t compare to choosing in person,” Xie Xingyu argued.

“You can still choose online. There are more options and it’s cheaper,” Chen Chu insisted.

“Chen Chu, seriously? We’ve been brothers for so many years, and you’re being so cheap with me,” Xie Xingyu exaggeratedly complained.

“…,” Chen Chu glanced at him, remaining silent, and then turned to walk into the shopping mall.

“That’s more like it. Since we’re here, let’s pick carefully,” Xie Xingyu caught up with a few quick steps. “When you buy a house next time, I’ll accompany you.”

“I’m not buying a house,” Chen Chu stated.

“Come on, buy one. The annual rent for your current place is enough to cover the down payment,” Xie Xingyu suggested.

Everyone has different lifestyles, and Chen Chu couldn’t be bothered to explain to Xie Xingyu. He just wanted to finish shopping in the mall and maybe even read a book.

“Oh, by the way, Lin Xuan didn’t go for the job interview,” Xie Xingyu suddenly mentioned.

Chen Chu paused for a moment, then remembered who Lin Xuan was in Xie Xingyu’s words. “You mean Lin Xuan didn’t go for the interview? Why?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, Tan Zhu said he sent Lin Xuan an interview notice, but she didn’t show up even after waiting for her the whole morning. Maybe she already found a job,” Xie Xingyu said with some dissatisfaction. “Because of this, Tan Zhu scolded me for a long time. I mean, come on, Lin Xuan should have just said if she wasn’t going. Nowadays, are university students so arrogant when looking for a job?”

Did she already find a job? Well, that’s good. With her low ability level, it might be better for her to live in the world of ordinary people.

“I’ll give you a refrigerator as well,” Chen Chu offered as compensation to Xie Xingyu.

“In that case, I’ll have to choose carefully,” Xie Xingyu replied. He didn’t have any specific criteria; he would just go for the most expensive one.

“Roar!” Suddenly, a tiger’s roar resounded in the air of the shopping mall. Everyone looked up and saw a fierce tiger leaping out of the LCD TV, ferocious and ready to pounce.

“Wow!” A chorus of admiration erupted from the crowd.

“The 3D animation these days is so realistic, it’s like the real thing. It startled me,” someone commented.

“If movies had this kind of special effects, they wouldn’t be criticized for having cheap effects worth five cents,” another person added.

Xie Xingyu also exclaimed, “I have to admit, it looks really good. It’s a shame I can’t have a TV like this at home. Otherwise, I’d make you buy it for me.”

A TV like that at home? For some reason, Chen Chu suddenly thought of Lin Xuan. There was no way around it. Ever since the incident with the TV being climbed on, he would subconsciously think of Lin Xuan whenever he saw a television.

The impact of that day’s scene must have been too strong.

The two of them reached the entrance of the shopping mall when suddenly the crowd began to stir. Someone pointed at the LCD screen in the sky and shouted, “Hey, did the video change?”

“Why does it feel like someone is crawling out from inside?”

Chen Chu paused and quickly looked up. In the middle of the giant LCD screen, a woman with long hair covering her face was desperately climbing out.

“Damn!” Xie Xingyu exclaimed, taking off his sunglasses in shock. “Is that Sadako? She’s got some nerve, climbing out like that in front of everyone.”

There was no denying it, Sadako’s skill of climbing out of televisions was truly unique. Even without seeing her face, she could still be recognized.

“Someone’s climbing out? Sadako?” an enthusiast of horror movies excitedly looked up.

“It’s too small to see clearly. Let me take a picture with my phone.”

Chen Chu’s expression tightened, and he was about to intervene when he saw the girl in the TV climb back in.

“She’s gone. Did the screen glitch?” a disappointed guy who had just raised his phone said.

“Probably. Who would play the 3D version of Sadako on a big screen? It would scare people to death,” someone remarked.

However, Xie Xingyu’s expression wasn’t optimistic. “Why do I feel like she was pulled back in by someone?”

As someone with extraordinary abilities, Xie Xingyu’s senses were much sharper than an average person’s. He could see things that others couldn’t. Just now, he clearly saw that “Sadako” was pulled back in by a hand.

Chen Chu saw it too. His expression turned serious, and he turned around and ran into the shopping mall, heading straight for the home appliances section.

In the corridor, Lin Xuan finally managed to climb near the exit when she was pulled back by a loli girl.

“You can’t escape,” the loli girl tightly grasped Sadako’s long hair.

Lin Xuan was at her wit’s end. Sadako’s long hair was useful, but it was too long, making it easy for her opponent to grab hold of it.

These two girls, one has the ability to climb out of televisions, and the other has the ability to devour life force. However, their physical combat abilities are both weak. In the corridor, they engaged in a struggle, pulling hair and scratching faces, but they didn’t cause any substantial harm to each other.

Seeing that she couldn’t climb out, Lin Xuan suddenly turned around and reached for the doll hanging from the girl’s chest.

“Don’t touch it!” the loli girl panicked and covered her doll. But Lin Xuan didn’t listen. She remembered clearly that her life force was devoured by that thing. She was going to die in twelve hours anyway, so she had no reason to be polite with them.

Lin Xuan tightly gripped the doll and didn’t care if it understood or not. “Give me back my life force.”

“Dream on. I’ve already devoured 90% of your life force. Soon, you will start to weaken, and in twelve hours, you’ll be dead,” the loli girl said maliciously, looking at Lin Xuan. “No one will know how you died.”

“Before I die, I’ll kill you first.” Although she didn’t see it clearly, she sensed it when she climbed out just now. It seemed that the exit was at a high place. She didn’t find Chen Chu, but she found a place where she could take the culprit down with her.

“You get out of here.” Determined to take the culprit down with her, Lin Xuan suddenly burst forth with tremendous energy and dragged the girl towards the exit.

Meanwhile, in the shopping mall, Chen Chu had already reached the TV counter. Amid the astonished gazes of the staff, he snatched a television and quickly ran off.

“What the hell? He’s stealing a TV! Stop him and call the police!” They couldn’t possibly stop him. Chen Chu was too fast. Before the staff could react, he had already disappeared. Just as the staff were about to call the police, a flamboyantly dressed young man held them back.

“No, we’ll buy it. How much?” Xie Xingyu took out a black card, smiling brightly.

Chen Chu carried the TV that Xie Xingyu had bought and headed straight for the safe passage. After entering, his figure transformed into a gust of wind, disappearing from the first floor and swiftly reaching the rooftop of the shopping mall.

On the rooftop, Chen Chu placed the TV on the ground and called out, “Lin Xuan?”

The TV screen remained silent, without any movement.

Chen Chu frowned and turned to look at the huge screen outside the mall, unsure if the girl could hear his voice.

In the corridor, Lin Xuan, in her burst of energy, managed to drag the loli girl to the exit. However, the girl was too heavy, and combined with Lin Xuan’s rapidly weakening body, she could only extend one hand before becoming unable to move any further.

“You won’t take me out,” the loli girl said. Though she didn’t know what was on the other side of the exit, Lin Xuan’s desperate attempt to drag her out was enough to prove that it wasn’t a good place.

Just as the loli girl was about to regain her footing and drag Lin Xuan back, a warm and dry palm suddenly grabbed Lin Xuan’s hand. Lin Xuan widened her eyes, and without hesitation, she grabbed the doll on the girl’s body with her other hand. Then, a tremendous force pulled both of them out in an instant.

“Senior Chen Chu?” Lin Xuan saw Chen Chu and her eyes instantly lit up.

Sadako really brought her to find Senior Chen Chu.

Chen Chu looked at the girl’s disheveled appearance and furrowed his brow slightly. He reached out and helped her up.

However, Lin Xuan couldn’t care less about getting up. She pointed at the loli girl, who was about to run away, and shouted, “Quick, catch her! She’s a bad person!”

Chen Chu didn’t let go of Lin Xuan to catch the loli girl. Instead, he continued to support Lin Xuan to sit upright. He looked her up and down, sensing her weak life force, and his brow furrowed tightly.

“Hurry, she’s going to escape,” Lin Xuan said anxiously as she saw the loli girl about to run downstairs. She was eager to chase after her.

With one hand, Chen Chu held her back. Under Lin Xuan’s puzzled gaze, he lightly reached out with his left hand in the direction of the loli girl. An invisible whirlwind generated around the loli girl, enveloping her and preventing her from moving. Then, with a beckoning gesture, the whirlwind automatically brought the girl back to Chen Chu’s side.

“Let go of me, let go!” the loli girl screamed hoarsely, but she had no power to resist Chen Chu’s strength.

“You…” Lin Xuan looked at Chen Chu in shock.

No wonder, no wonder he wasn’t surprised when he saw her crawling out of the television. It turned out he was abnormal too.

“Kumaxi, absorb his life force,” the loli girl suddenly shouted.

“Be careful, her doll…”

Before Lin Xuan could finish speaking, a tremendous force squeezed and pulled the doll on the girl’s body, causing it to explode into pieces.

【Host’s life force +900, body healthy.】

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing a large divination mission, obtaining 5610 merit points and 0 yuan in divination gold.” System.

“As Sadako has helped a lot during the battle, Sadako requests a 10% share. It’s not excessive, as conveyed by Sadako. Due to the system providing a communication platform for the host and Sadako, the system takes a 20% share, so the host ultimately receives 3927 merit points.” System.

Lin Xuan, who was initially happy to hear that she had earned 5000 merit points, turned green upon hearing the subsequent division.

This shameless system.

“I am a system, I don’t have a face to begin with.” System.

“…” Lin Xuan.

“How do you feel?” Chen Chu asked the girl.

“I’m fine now. My life force has returned,” Lin Xuan said joyfully.

Chen Chu looked at the girl’s face, which had regained its color, and the worry in his eyes faded.

At this moment, Xie Xingyu also caught up. He glanced at the situation on the rooftop and his gaze fell on the disheveled “Sadako.” He asked Chen Chu, “What’s going on?”

“A D-level witch specter,” Chen Chu said.

“She’s really bad. She devoured life force at the comic exhibition and almost killed hundreds of people,” Lin Xuan complained.

Xie Xingyu’s gaze turned cold as he looked at the witch specter. “She’s quite audacious.”

“I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to absorb a little life force. I didn’t intend to kill anyone,” the witch specter hurriedly defended herself, knowing that she couldn’t escape.

“You’re lying! I almost got sucked to death by you,” Lin Xuan refused to believe.

“That’s because you tried to kill me, and I fought back.”

“Before, you had already devoured nearly 600 life force from me. I was about to end up in the ICU. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have desperately come to find this woman,” she said.

“I commanded Kumaxi to absorb 80 life force from each person, just enough to give you a scare and send you back. Who knew you were so weak, and your life force could be easily consumed,” the witch specter argued desperately. “I’m just a D-level paranormal, how would I dare to kill hundreds of people in one go? Besides, even if you killed me, you wouldn’t be able to absorb it all.”

“Is it still my fault then?” Lin Xuan was infuriated.

“It was your fault from the beginning,” otherwise, she would have already finished absorbing and gone home.

Lin Xuan couldn’t bear it anymore; she wanted to go up and beat her.

“Somebody is coming. Let’s leave this place first,” Chen Chu stopped Lin Xuan and signaled to Xie Xingyu. Understanding his intention, Xie Xingyu grabbed the witch specter, and they all walked toward the stairwell together.