I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 31

Qi Yan felt her clothes were already soaked with sweat. She had agreed to compete with the two girls in a claw machine challenge, but twenty minutes had passed, and she hadn’t managed to grab a single one. Meanwhile, the two girls beside her had already scored three plushies.

There was no way Qi Yan could believe these claw machines hadn’t been tampered with. But what proof did she have to accuse the two little devils of cheating? Her words meant nothing here this was a world where logic didn’t apply, and ghosts and monsters held absolute control most of the time, especially in this closed-off carnival with only a handful of NPCs.

This scenario only had three little ghosts and one guide NPC who couldn’t attack players within the allotted time, yet the pressure it put on Qi Yan was far greater than the previous one.

“Sis, you lost again,” the ponytailed girl teased, pulling out her latest prize, a small lamb plushie and waving it mockingly in front of Qi Yan’s face.

Sweat beaded on Qi Yan’s forehead as she stared silently at the claw machine in front of her. She had tried multiple times, but it just wouldn’t work. It wasn’t that she couldn’t grab anything at all each time, the plushie would slip out just before reaching the drop chute. Failure after failure.

She glanced at the smug expression on the ponytailed girl’s face and felt like she was being played.

“This machine is definitely rigged!” Qi Yan gritted her teeth.

The ponytailed girl only looked even more pleased, raising an eyebrow. “A loss is a loss, sis. If you don’t believe me, ask the manager, our machines are exactly the same!”

Qi Yan stayed silent. What good would asking the manager do? He wouldn’t tell the truth anyway! And even if the two machines were identical and hadn’t been tampered with, that didn’t mean the two little ghosts weren’t cheating in some other way.

They were monsters. She was just an ordinary human.

At that thought, she couldn’t help but feel aggrieved, silently cursing Bai Qing in her heart.

That damn fox, petty as hell! Not a single peep out of her all this time, the ring completely lifeless, as if dead!

Qi Yan pinched the ring on her finger. She knew Bai Qing was inside, just hiding her presence because they were in the middle of a cold war. She wanted to tell her she needed her help now, to ask her to step in. But that would mean she had to be the one to break first and make amends and she refused.

They were in a fight. She didn’t want to be the one to cave, especially since she didn’t think she was in the wrong. It was that damn fox’s fault to begin with!

Qi Yan knew that if Bai Qing were here, she’d have easily grabbed a plushie by now.

“Sis, you’ve got one last chance. Aren’t you gonna use your secret move? If you keep going like this, you’re really gonna end up with nothing,” the ponytailed girl taunted, hands on her hips, clearly enjoying the show.

Qi Yan froze, turning to look at her. “What secret move?”

“The one you used on the carousel,” the girl said with a grin. “How long are you gonna keep hiding it? I saw it clearly you were tied up by a white ribbon and thrown onto one of the horses! Where’s that ribbon now? Why aren’t you using it?”

Qi Yan: “…”

Unbelievable. Why did people keep bringing up the fact that she’d been thrown? Every time it was mentioned, it just made her angrier at Bai Qing.

The ponytailed girl smirked at her sinisterly. “Or maybe big sis, you just can’t do it? Hehehe.”

Her tone was eerie, punctuated by that unsettling giggle, sending shivers down Qi Yan’s spine.

“Big sis, this is your last chance~ Better make it count.” The ponytailed girl pointed to the side. “Your friend isn’t doing too well either lost pretty badly!”

Qi Yan instinctively glanced toward the slot machine area. The hoarse-voiced guy competing against Jiang Miao was already raking in piles of winnings, cackling with his grating laugh. Jiang Miao’s face was dark, his expression gloomy, lost in thought.

Qi Yan swallowed hard and lowered her gaze to the claw machine in front of her. A terrible feeling settled in her gut she was doomed to lose.

Her hand trembled as she gripped the joystick and control buttons, her palms slick with sweat. She had no idea what the consequences of losing would be, but she was certain it wouldn’t be anything good.

The gleeful grins on the little ghosts’ faces only deepened her unease. She was trapped between a rock and a hard place neither advancing nor retreating would end well. Giving up now would outright provoke them, leading to an unavoidable confrontation.

But continuing the game to Qi Yan, it was just delaying the inevitable. She was convinced she’d never manage to grab a doll.

The joystick moved hesitantly, her mind blank, unable to focus on which doll to aim for. Suddenly, her gaze landed on a corner of the machine, where a green-haired doll caught her attention.

It had been buried under a pile of other dolls earlier, and Qi Yan, too tense to notice anything, had missed it completely.

Now, after several failed attempts, the dolls had shifted, revealing a glimpse of the green-haired one in the corner. It wasn’t a human doll, it was a green-haired turtle. Unremarkable, even a bit ugly on closer inspection, yet Qi Yan felt an odd sense of familiarity.

In an instant, a chill shot from her feet to the top of her head. Her hand jerked, accidentally pressing the button, the claw descended.

Qi Yan gasped. She hadn’t aimed properly at all. This was bound to miss.

The two little ghosts had already started celebrating prematurely. Qi Yan’s heart sank as she watched the claw drop and grab nothing.

Not a shred of hope remained.

Standing frozen, her limbs icy, she heard the ponytailed girl’s triumphant cry: “Big sis, you lost! Time for your punishment!”

“W-what punishment?” Qi Yan stiffly turned her head toward the smugly grinning girl.

The ponytailed girl’s eyes darted to the green-haired turtle doll stuffed in the corner of the machine, her sharp teeth bared in a grin.

Qi Yan understood the implication, her heart plummeting further.

The moment she’d seen the green-haired turtle, she’d recognized it, it had to be the missing green-haired delinquent, Qiangzi!

Even though he’d been turned into a toy, a turtle at that, stripped of his human form, that unmistakable green mop had given him away.

Players would be turned into toys at this carnival, and judging by the state of Green Turtle, they would be completely immobile utterly defenseless and at the mercy of others. Moreover, Qi Yan couldn’t even determine whether Green Turtle was still alive or not. She had no way of knowing his true condition.

But she was probably about to find out soon. A wave of despair washed over Qi Yan as she realized she would likely be turned into a toy by these little ghosts any moment now!

While still frozen in shock, Qi Yan heard Pigtails continue, “Sister lost, so she should be punished as agreed. But,Ranran and I really like you, so we’ve decided to let you stay and keep us company!”

Qi Yan was stunned again, taking a couple of seconds to process what Pigtails had just said. Her gaze stiffly shifted between Pigtails and the girl with the hime-cut, confirming that the “Ranran” Pigtails mentioned was the quiet, reserved girl.

Noticing Qi Yan’s gaze fixed on her, Ranran’s dark, rigid eyes flickered slightly before she tugged at Pigtails’ sleeve and whispered, “Yanyan…”

Yanyan held her hand and stared intently at Qi Yan, giggling. “The other sister lost too, and since you two are close, we won’t let you be alone!”

Before Qi Yan could react, thick black mist erupted from Yanyan’s body, layers of ghostly energy instantly swallowing the entire arcade.

“Wait!” Qi Yan tried to make one last desperate attempt. If these two little ghosts claimed to like her and wanted to play with her, maybe she could buy time with a gentler approach! But before she could even speak, the surging ghostly energy engulfed her completely, and she lost consciousness in an instant.

The three little ghosts stood amidst the spectral fog, laughing wildly as Yanyan’s eyes churned with ghostly energy.

Just as the black mist was about to consume Qi Yan entirely, a blinding white light suddenly erupted from her body. In an instant, it repelled the ghostly energy Yanyan had unleashed. Under the shocked gazes of the little ghosts, the white light counterattacked fiercely, forcing the ghostly energy back.

The administrator sitting in the corner paused, slowly lifting his head to observe the white light that had just erupted and neutralized the ghostly energy, his expression thoughtful.

“Who are you?!”

Yanyan’s ghostly energy had been repelled, and she herself was forced back half a step, steadied by Ranran’s hand on her waist.

The hoarse-voiced boy bared his sharp teeth, glaring ahead. “Who’s there?! Show yourself!”

The white light gradually dimmed, condensing into a wisp of mist before dissipating completely.

The sight of the now-empty arcade left the three little ghosts momentarily stunned before their expressions twisted into fury especially the hoarse-voiced boy and Yanyan, their faces growing increasingly terrifying. Their eyes transformed from ordinary human ones into pitch-black voids, ghostly energy leaking out uncontrollably.

“They don’t want to play with us!” the hoarse-voiced boy spat.

“They lost the game but cheated, they can’t even accept defeat!” Yanyan fumed.

“Typical deceitful, shameless adults!” The hoarse-voiced boy seethed, his body roiling with ghostly energy. “We can’t let them get away with this!”

The usually silent Ranran suddenly spoke up. “They can’t escape anyway. We have other matters to attend to now.”

The other two paused, then turned their attention toward the roller coaster, their lips curling into eerie smiles.

“Right. It’s time to deal with those other adults!”

In the darkness, the flashlight in Jiang Miao’s hand emitted a faint glow. She listened carefully to the movements outside it seemed those little ghosts had finally gone away. She let out a sigh of relief and then turned to look at the person beside her, her expression twisting into something indescribably complex.

Standing next to her was a woman clad in a white brocade gown, her posture straight and poised. Even in the dark, her flawless, delicate skin was visible, exuding an air of nobility, like an immortal descended from the heavens, the kind one only saw on television.

It was the first time Jiang Miao had ever seen a woman with such an aura noble yet untouchable, carrying an otherworldly arrogance, so beautiful she seemed entirely unearthly.

Jiang Miao couldn’t help but stare, mesmerized.

Bai Qing seemed to sense her gaze and slowly turned her head. “Had enough?” she asked.

Jiang Miao shivered under her icy stare and quickly averted her eyes.

An awkward silence settled between them. As the quiet stretched on, Jiang Miao’s mind wandered to other questions like where this ethereally beautiful woman had even come from?

Her doubts lingered, and she cautiously stole a glance at the doll cradled in Bai Qing’s arms, pressing her lips together.

If she wasn’t mistaken, this white-clad fairy seemed to know Qi Yan. She had appeared out of nowhere just as the ghostly energy released by the little ghost Yanyan was about to engulf them, saving them both.

The only regret was that while the powerful white light had rescued Jiang Miao unscathed, Qi Yan who had been too close to Yanyan hadn’t been so lucky.

Bai Qing lowered her gaze to the doll in her arms, her thin lips pressed into a tight line, her entire being radiating a chilling aura.

The oppressive darkness and suffocating silence made Jiang Miao unbearably uncomfortable. The stunningly beautiful woman beside her seemed solely focused on the doll, offering no conversation.

Unable to bear it any longer, Jiang Miao finally spoke up. “So, what do we do now? This Qiankun Bag of mine has a time limit. In five minutes at most, we’ll have to get out.”

Bai Qing gently stroked the doll’s soft little hand and replied, “We find a way to restore her.”

Jiang Miao fell silent for a moment, glancing down at the doll before hesitantly asking, “You, what’s your relationship with Shi Jian?”

On Bai Qing’s left hand was a ring that starkly clashed with the era of her attire and appearance. Cradling the doll, she answered matter-of-factly, “She is my wife.”

Jiang Miao: “?”

“Huh?”

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