《Forces of Temptation》


 CH 1

    Welcome to the new novel of the author of Don¡¯t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin, Riding a Whale South. It is an unlimited flow novel with elements of gaming and I chose to go with the author¡¯s English title that was written on the cover.


    This is a really great novel. Apart from the instances they have to pass, there are also many mysteries involved the world, the MC and the ML. I can¡¯t wait for some of you to experience some of the plot twists and WTF moments.


    In addition, I have found some great fanart on Weibo. I will post them slowly on CG¡¯s discord in the fanart and fanfic links channel. I won¡¯t post all of them immediately because many of them involve spoilers from later chapters. So if you want to keep seeing fanart then keep following CG¡¯s discord and the FOT tag.


    No one knew how those ¡®people¡¯ got on.


    The bus drove on the highway around the city and didn¡¯t stop midway. It always maintained a speed of 80 kilometers per hour. However, the number of people in the bus had indeed increased. Perhaps only Li Yinhang discovered this or perhaps everyone in the vehicle discovered it. It was just that no one dared to say it.


    She lowered her entire body, her nose full of the hot, stuffy smell in the enclosed space. The air conditioner in the bus was set at 16 degrees and it was just above her head. The wind was strong and the sound was audible. Her fingers squeezed together tightly as the cold wind and hot sweat slowly flowed down her hair to her neck like a reptile.


    ¡­There were indeed more people in the vehicle. This feeling lingered but it was hard to tell where there were more people. Perhaps they were peeping at her from somewhere behind her. Perhaps it was the man sitting two rows in front of her who showed a small patch of stubble. He might silently turn his head 180 degrees and stare in her direction.


    ***


    Imagination was a human gift. Since a week ago, people¡¯s talent in this area started to be greatly exercised.


    At first, there were only one or two unusual disappearances.


    For example, friends went out to play together. Those who left came back with milk tea but there was no one in front of the movie theater.


    Another example was a middle-aged chemistry teacher with a big belly teaching a drowsy second-year liberal arts class that was at the bottom of the overall rankings. The students had fallen asleep and only the class leader cared about his reputation. He had the chemistry book open while secretly filling out his language exercise book underneath.


    The class leader was startled by a clear falling sound and raised his head to find only the fallen whiteboard marker on the ground. He stood up angrily and criticized the students. ¡°The teacher became angry because of you.¡±


    The deterioration of the situation took only one day and night.


    A housewife watching a drama with her husband on the sofa found that the tap in the kitchen kept making noise. She was distressed about the water bill. She kept nagging as she walked into the kitchen only to find a stack of foam-filled bowls. Her daughter was gone together with the old slippers that would make noise when she walked.


    The housewife walked back to the living room. The living room was quiet. A ball game was showing on the television, a new box of cigarettes had just been opened and the ashtray had been taken out from under the coffee table. Under the warm light, the family portrait of three people hanging in the living room only showed the reflection of the bewildered housewife.


    The disappearances quickly escalated to the ¡®disappearance incident.¡¯ On the TV, static color screens repeatedly showed precautions reminding citizens to stop unnecessary outings in the near future. The data showed that staying in a fixed place didn¡¯t mean the possibility of a sudden disappearance could be avoided but those who went out and ran around disappeared faster.


    The whole world seemed to be experiencing a strange bug that couldn¡¯t be fixed. This wasn¡¯t a wild guess.


    It was because five months ago at 6 p.m. on February 5th, millions of people saw a huge dialog box in the position of the sun with a background of red clouds.


    [Sun.exe isn¡¯t responding. If you continue to wait, the program might respond.]


    [Do you want to end this process?]


    [End Process/ Cancel]


    Ktf vljibu ybz rbbc vlrjqqfjgfv. Ktf vegjalbc kjr bcf wlceaf, cba bcf wliilrfmbcv ifrr. Geglcu atja alwf, atf teuf vljibu ybz mjerfv j rabgw bc atf Pcafgcfa. Ktf wbra qbqeijg atfbgs kjr atja Sjgat kjr fzqfglfcmlcu j yeu jcv jilfcr kfgf rsrafwjalmjiis wjlcajlclcu Sjgat. Ktfc atlr mijlw kjr delmxis glvlmeifv. Ktf gfjrbc kjr kbeiv jilfcr jmaejiis erf Qlcvbkr 16 jr atf wjlcafcjcmf rsrafw?


    Dialog boxes appeared in the sky above cities all over the world in various languages. It was seen above a large rose plantation in Bulgaria, in the beautiful starry sky above the small town of Lake Tekapo in New Zealand and through the porthole of a plane taking children to summer camp in Australia.


    At the end of the storm, a foreign art group claimed that this was their performance art. It projected people¡¯s deep fears onto the sun. They didn¡¯t prove that they had the equipment to achieve this great artistic feat but by then, everyone was exhausted from discussing the topic. This reason was enough to make everyone feel at ease and turn to the next hot topic in society.


    Later, there was a great god who compiled tens of thousands of photos and compared them one by one. Due to the time difference, the time when the dialog box appeared in some places was late at night. Nevertheless, the positions where they appeared were still close to the orbit of the sun at that time.


    However, most ordinary people had long lost interest in this and passed over it with words of praise. In any case, they experienced no loss and life went on as usual. Who would¡¯ve thought that the world would become like this five months later?


    It always made people wonder about the familiar Windows 16 pop up box. Was this really a human joke? Or was it a certain force demonstrating? Did it just want to give them a dangerous reminder that could be understood with human common sense?


    Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t figure it out and she didn¡¯t want to. Life mattered. It was better not to disappear than to disappear. As a humble bank customer service worker, she and a new colleague who had been employed only a few days lived in the dormitory provided by the job and decided to stay in place.


    Her colleague entered the bathroom because she couldn¡¯t stand not washing her hair for three days and never came back. Li Yinhang didn¡¯t dare go to check out of fear she would follow in the footsteps of her colleague. As a result, the leaking water from the shower head that wasn¡¯t shut off fell on the tiles for two days.


    At times like this, she was very grateful for her laziness in putting snacks at a distance she could reach while lying in bed. She relied on snacks, silly videos and the charger to continue her life, trying to ignore the sound of water that got on her nerves.


    Drip, drip.


    This lasted until the rescue team knocked on the door.


    There were too many missing people so the Organization Department changed its response strategy in a timely manner. They organized volunteers to form a rescue team to search from door to door. Children, the elderly and the disabled who hadn¡¯t disappeared and didn¡¯t have the ability to take care of themselves were sent to a nearby temporary ¡®safe cocoon room.¡¯ They also sent food to those trapped at home to assist those who didn¡¯t want to leave.


    The volunteers were all men and women wearing red armbands. It was because the data showed there were currently no cases of disappearance among children under 18 and elderly people over 60.


    Li Yinhang thought about it. Going out was a knife and shrinking back was also a knife. If she stayed here, all her food would be gone one day eventually. She didn¡¯t want to live alone in an empty apartment with only the sound of dripping water. Even if she disappeared, she hoped to disappear in a crowd.


    Thus, she got on the two-door bus that was temporarily requisitioned. Before she got in, the uncle sitting in the driver¡¯s seat casually said, ¡°Number three.¡±


    Li Yinhang got on the bus and saw two other figures in the back. A person was sleeping on the double seats in the second to last row. The other person covered his face with his clothes and was leaning back against his seat in the first row, asleep.


    She suppressed the desire to say hello and went to sit down by the window in the row that was fourth from the back.


    A signal shielding device was installed on the bus. This was one of the recent methods used by authorities to control unprovoked disappearances. They used high magnetic field interference in confined spaces. It was just that the function and coverage of the signal shielding instrument was too limited. In order to achieve comprehensive and effective magnetic field isolation, it was necessary to go to a ¡®room¡¯ made of special materials. Therefore, the psychological comfort of this shielding instrument might be far greater than the actual effect.


    Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t play with her mobile phone and had to empty her brain to try to block the sound of dripping water that had lasted in her mind for the past few days.


    Drip, drip.


    The bus took only three adults with it from this apartment complex. As the bus stopped and went, some people came up and some people left. There were several children who were sent to the children¡¯s shelter. There were two volunteers, one young and one old, who signed up and went to a site. There was a husband who regretted it after getting on the bus and decided to wait in place for his wife to come back.


    At first, Li Yinhang saw the people getting on the bus and would curiously take a look, trying to catch a few words. Then she soon burned out. The bus was never filled up to even one-third capacity. Everyone was a stranger so they were naturally vigilant. They sat down in a scattered manner and had no thoughts about chatting.


    Li Yinhang silently sent her desire to greet people to the bottom of the river and stayed silent.


    They crossed a river using a bridge. A small car lay askew near the bridge pillar. It was burned to the point where only the framework was left. The scorched sheepskin smell of the airbag penetrated through the window. Half of the front hood was blown off and hung on the bridge rail. The wind caused it to make a sharp metal rubbing sound.


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t want to think about the cause of the accident. She shifted her gaze to the inside of the bus, trying to count how many people were in the bus now. Then the next second, the bus rushed into a tunnel and faced overwhelming darkness. Once it was light again, Li Yinhang felt there was a strange misalignment with her retinas.


    ¡­There seemed to be more people in the bus than before. Then her sense of reality replaced this fleeting visual afterimage at a very fast speed. She didn¡¯t even have time to compare what was wrong. It was just that her sixth sense told her there must be more. Just now, there weren¡¯t so many people in the bus.


    There was no such dead silence.


    Various conjectures flashed through her mind. The fear that overlapped one after another made Li Yinhang even more afraid to look up. Her fingers shook nervously and she was afraid of being the first person to make a sound. It was just that due to excessive strength, her knuckles made a clear cracking sound.


    Crack.


    The noise created a strange echo in the overly silent bus. For a moment, Li Yinhang even tensed the muscles of her throat. Fortunately, she wasn¡¯t alone. Behind Li Yinhang, a man spoke in a trembling voice that he was trying to control. ¡°Driver, can you stop? I¡¯m not feeling well¡­¡±


    The driver didn¡¯t respond. Li Yihang didn¡¯t know if this was unexpected or she should¡¯ve expected it.


    After the silence was broken, the man gained a sharp increase in courage. He was about to get up to go to the driver¡¯s seat and check the situation. He had just passed by Li Yinhang¡¯s seat when a hand protruded from the side and blocked the man¡¯s way.


    The nervous Li Yinhang was startled. She didn¡¯t know from when there was a person sitting in front of her.


    The man glanced down and found the person blocking him had dyed silver hair. The beautiful hair was tied in a pretty scorpion braid with a black hair tie and hung half over the collarbone. This contrasted sharply with the black choker with a silver chain around the slender neck.


    Facing such a good-looking side-profile, the man immediately became more courageous.


    ¡°Beauty, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll go check the situation,¡± he said with relief.


    Then Li Yinhang heard a clearly male voice. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡±


    ¡­He acquiesced to the title of ¡®beauty¡¯ very calmly. Before the stunned man could recover, a large amount of colorful balloons suddenly burst out from the position of the driver¡¯s seat where a person should be sitting.


    Bright purple, blue, red and green. The color saturation hurt people¡¯s eyes.


    A girl sitting in the front row screamed in horror and stepped on the edge of her seat to avoid the balloons that rolled like human heads. Then from the hundreds of colorful balloons emerged a simple head, short arms¡­ it was a mushroom.


    It was a red mushroom with white spots on its cap. It looked no different from the mushrooms in Super Mario that were hidden in bricks that allowed one to become bigger when eaten. The mushroom shook its cap in an exaggerated manner and straightened the rim like it was a hat. Due to its short hands and feet, it almost looked like a pet. However, no one could laugh at this scene that subverted their world view.


    The mushroom clumsily jumped forward twice and opened its short hands. ¡°Welcome everyone to the world of Forces of Temptation! Pika is honored to be your guide! Welcome to the trial level¡ª¡±


    Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t move. The scene in front of her was too beyond the scope of her 24 years of life. She couldn¡¯t think about why the name ¡®Forces of Temptation¡¯ was so familiar to her and instinctively observed the reactions of others.


    In particular, the silver-haired young man who stopped the man in time just now. He wasn¡¯t even looking at the eye-catching mushroom. His eyes were passing over the carriage and counting the number of people as quickly as possible.


    Li Yinhang followed along and counted with him. Excluding the mushroom, there were 11 in total. It was just that Li Yinhang didn¡¯t dare to easily use the word ¡®human¡¯ to describe those in the bus.


    Before Li Yinhang¡¯s wild ideas could become deeper, she saw a figure slowly rising up from the front row of seats.


    ¡­There was one more person?


    Li Yinhang saw the person and the first words that popped up were ¡®out of place.¡¯


    This young man wore a half-length black lapel trench coat with a two-piece suit. She couldn¡¯t judge if he was tall but she could tell from the curve of his neck that he had a remarkable temperament.


    His skin was very white, as white as the light after passing through the tunnel just now. His medium-length hair was slightly curled and just reached his shoulder, giving him a dignified and beautiful cold feeling.


    The point was that he was the closest one to the mushroom in the bus. He was almost on a horizontal line with it. Yet he didn¡¯t look afraid. He was even holding an apple in his hand.


    ¡­He also seemed to be studying the mushroom seriously.


    Li Yinhang observed carefully for a moment and found something else that was wrong. His eyes as he gazed at the mushroom were leisurely and bleary. This man seemed simple and not fully awake.


    Before Li Yinhang could make any useless judgments, a sudden cracking sound behind her frightened her. The man in the second to last row had picked up the red emergency escape hammer installed by the window and smashed the window. Once the glass broke, the wind of 80 kilometers per hour poured in and caused Li Yinhang to squint.


    She didn¡¯t have time to calculate his hope of surviving the jump out of the bus in this situation when the man reached out to grab the window frame. In the face of this strange situation, escape was indeed a human instinct. However, his head was only half out the window when he couldn¡¯t move any longer.


    No one knew what suffering he experienced in that moment. Everyone only saw him fall back to his original place, his complexion pale. His hands were scratching his squirming face like there was a colony of insects waiting to fly out.


    Bang!


    There was the muffled sound of something bursting and everyone saw a bright and colorful mushroom emerge from his neck. The snow-white slime dripping down his shoulder was like the secretions of a mushroom.


    The sharp female voice from the mushroom made everyone feel like their scalps were skinned while they were still alive.


    ¡°Please listen to the precautions of the trial level¡ª¡±


    ¡°First, once the instance is opened, don¡¯t try to force your way out¡ª¡±

 CH 2

    ¡­Nan Zhou had a headache. He didn¡¯t wake up naturally just now. He was sleeping against the window and when he was frightened by a girl¡¯s scream, he bumped his head against it.


    It hurt.


    After waking up, there was a strange colored mushroom in front of him. It took Nan Zhou some time to figure out he wasn¡¯t dreaming.


    ¡°Second¡ª¡± The mushroom was satisfied with the dead silence in the bus and the ups and downs of the mushroom cap seemed light and pleasant. ¡°Among you, three of you are ghosts.¡±


    The words were shocking. Regardless of the deadly grey complexions of the group, the mushroom pointed to the man who had just fallen back on his seat, the white slime slowly flowing down his shoulder. ¡°It just so happened that he isn¡¯t one.¡±


    ¡°Friendly tip, if a ghost¡¯s head explodes then it is a white mushroom.¡±


    The deceased was used as an example by the mushroom but in just a few seconds, the body could no longer be seen. Gray mycelium stretched out from the rapidly decaying arms and legs and penetrated into the seams and cushions of the seats. They extended to the place where blood splashed like dedicated scavengers.


    The mushroom was very satisfied with everyone¡¯s expression. At least, until it caught sight of Nan Zhou.


    There was a striking red mark left at the end of the eye on the side where Nan Zhou slept leaning against the window. There were also a few strands of semi-curly mid-length sticking up. He was still watching the mushroom. His curiosity was much greater than his fear.


    ¡­The mushroom inexplicably had the feeling of being offended.


    Nan Zhou found that the mushroom was looking at him and kindly reminded, ¡°You finished saying the second thing.¡±


    The mushroom, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It shook its cap unhappily, angrily used a short hand to tidy up the brim of the cap and completely turned away from Nan Zhou. ¡°Third, ghosts are like you. They have basic common sense, normal thinking and the same physiological structure and physiological responses. Thus, players can skip the step of hurting each other and start your judgment in a civilized manner.¡±


    At this point, the mushroom tried to put its two short hands together but the stubby fingers barely touched each other.


    ¡°However, players don¡¯t have to be frustrated so early!¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t hopeless in front of the ghosts.¡±


    ¡°Simply put, every one of you has the right to vote!¡±


    ¡°Three people can form a team.¡±


    ¡°As long as there are three people¡ªof course, it doesn¡¯t matter if there are more¡ªyou can rely on the judgment of the team to determine a suspected ghost.¡¯


    ¡°Once the team has reached a consensus on a suspicious person, just use this thing on the suspicious target¡ª¡±


    The mushroom took out a silver bracelet shaped like a handcuff and then another one that was exactly the same. It aligned the two visible grooves on the bracelet and lightly touched them together. The bracelet made a short mechanical sound like a card being swiped.


    The mushroom clapped happily again. The bracelets used for the demonstration turned into silver powder.


    ¡°As long as three players touch the same bracelet, the owner of the bracelet will automatically be judged as a ghost.¡±


    ¡°Of course, the system will determine if you are stamping it actively or passively.¡±


    ¡°There is no limit to the number of passive stamps per player.¡±


    ¡°Before the game is over, ghosts can¡¯t kill players by any means other than voting.¡±


    ¡°You will pass through six tunnels before this vehicle reaches the end.¡±


    ¡°Tbe mjc ecvfgrajcv la jr atfgf jgf rlz gbecvr bo nbalcu, j oeii rlz bqqbgaeclalfr.¡±


    ¡°Coafg fcafglcu atf aeccfi, bcf gbecv bo nbalcu lr jeabwjalmjiis mibrfv. Ycmf bea bo atf aeccfi, atf cfza gbecv bo nbalcu lr jeabwjalmjiis bqfcfv.¡±


    ¡°Rfza lr atf alwf ktfc sbe nfglos lo atf pevuwfca lc atlr gbecv lr mbggfma~¡±


    ¡°After coming out of the tunnel, where there be white mushrooms or colorful mushrooms in the vehicle?¡±


    ¡°It depends on each player¡¯s choice.¡±


    ¡°If the end is reached and all ghosts are caught, it is deemed that the players have won~¡±


    ¡°On the other hand, if the ghosts survive then the ban on them will be lifted~¡±


    ¡°It is a pity. If the player just now hadn¡¯t left the instance without authorization, you might¡¯ve eliminated all the ghosts in the first round.


    The mushroom was talking excitedly when that annoying player actually made a sound. Nan Zhou twisted the cuffs of his sleeves and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t make trouble.¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t an edible mushroom.¡±


    The mushroom, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou raised his head and made a polite ¡®Sorry, please continue¡¯ gesture to the mushroom.


    ¡­It was subtly very annoyed. The evidence was that the speed of the mushroom¡¯s speech accelerated and the weird tone at the end was no longer added.


    ¡°Once the ghost group is destroyed, this bracelet will become an ordinary item. I will leave it to you as a souvenir.¡±


    ¡°This game does not prohibit excessive violence.¡±


    ¡°Still, I have to remind you that voting is the quickest and most effective way.¡±


    ¡°Once the game is over, the system will give points based on your contributions and this determines your next game experience.¡±


    ¡°Use your brains. This is an absolutely fair game.¡±


    ¡°The trial level duration is one hour.¡±


    ¡°So¡­¡±


    ¡°Have a nice game.¡±


    There was a high sound as the mushroom quickly shrank into a flat light, disappearing without a trace. The moment the mushroom disappeared, silver bracelets fell on the ground, rolling and bouncing like the balloons celebrating its debut.


    The bus was silent for a while.


    Under the snow-white sky outside the window, there were eight people and three ghosts sitting in the enclosed bus. It was clearly daytime but everyone felt cold.


    The first to break the silence was the man who initially took action first. He went to the front row and picked up a bracelet. Everyone took their own bracelets but they didn¡¯t dare to wear them. They just watched each other.


    This lasted until the silver-haired man with the scorpion braid placed it tentatively around his wrist. When picking up the bracelet, someone with a brave mentality went to look at the driver¡¯s seat.


    As expected, the driver who was the only one who could confirm the original passengers in the bus had long since disappeared. They were on a bus without a driver, speeding toward the unknown at 80 kilometers per hour. This discovery undoubtedly increased the frozen atmosphere in the bus.


    ¡°Don¡¯t waste time.¡±


    Since he was the first to speak and the first to attempt to walk toward the driver, the man had been stared at several times. He felt he was shouldering a certain responsibility so he coughed and suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t we¡­ introduce ourselves first?¡±


    He took the lead. ¡°My name is Zhao Guanglu and I am 37 years old this year. I am from phase 1 of Zhanghua Community and I work for a construction company¡­uh¡­ I¡¯ve been divorced for three years.¡±


    As the first person to introduce himself, he didn¡¯t know what else to say so he added, ¡°I was the second to get on the bus. The driver said I was number two.¡±


    Li Yinhang raised her hand. ¡°I am number three! I¡¯m also from Zhanghua!¡±


    She still remembered the warm touch when the driver patted her shoulder and said ¡®number three.¡¯ Unexpectedly, Zhao Guanglu scratched his head. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I see you?¡±


    Li Yinhang¡¯s heart sank and she started sweating. The passenger seats in the bus were too high and it was easy to block people¡¯s vision. Moreover, when she got in the bus, he was sleeping with his clothes covering his face.


    She hurriedly said, ¡°My name is Li Yinhang and I am 24 years old. I graduated from the finance department of X University. I work at the Songzhou Street branch of Guangming Bank in customer service.¡±


    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Her name was Li Yinhang and she worked in a bank. It obviously looked like a made-up name. (Li Yinhang¡ªYin = silver/related to money, Hang=boat, ship, sail etc)


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She never liked her name very much since she was a child and couldn¡¯t help laughing every time she introduced herself to the class but she never thought it would be used to disprove her innocence at this time. She struggled to find other evidence. ¡°Guangming Bank has a staff dormitory in the second phase of Zhanghua Community, do you know it?¡±


    ¡°¡­Is that so? I really don¡¯t know about this?¡± Zhao Guanglu shook his head apologetically and emphasized, ¡°I got in the bus and fell asleep.¡±


    He didn¡¯t realize what his words meant in the ears of some new players. As the first person to take the initiative, his words and evaluations had more weight. Many people¡¯s gazes toward Li Yinhang changed.


    Li Yinhang was anxious in her heart but she was trained in her customer service work to organize language and not lose control in the face of danger. Otherwise, she would get bad reviews. She said, ¡°After I came up, I spoke to some people. Do you still remember?¡±


    She didn¡¯t have much hope. She did talk to other people in the bus but she kept her voice quiet in consideration of the sleeping person. Besides, those people had already got off the bus. All the people left now were fresh faces who had no impression of her.


    Sure enough, no one testified for her.


    In the silence that made people feel numb, Li Yinhang recited the evidence that she had been in the bus for a long time. ¡°The bus passed by the Long family¡¯s pickled fish restaurant, 31 Food Street and finally passed the river bridge¡­¡±


    The more she talked, the less of a response she received. She became more afraid and fell deeper into self-doubt. She might be the only one who noticed that there were too many people in the bus the moment it passed through a tunnel. Would other people think the ghosts were already on the bus? Would they believe what she was saying now?


    ¡°¡­Okay.¡± Someone interrupted Li Yinhang whose voice had started to tremble. The silver-haired man with a scorpion braid who was regarded as a ¡®beauty¡¯ stood up and glanced at her, pale gray eyes full of gentle encouragement.


    ¡°She has been sitting behind me since I got on the bus,¡± he said.


    Li Yinhang heard this and the sweat on her body fell.


    Everyone couldn¡¯t help sighing with relief. They might be eager to catch the ghosts but their mentality of avoiding harm meant they didn¡¯t want to determine a ghost so soon.


    Someone complained, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say it earlier?¡±


    ¡°Based on the rules, we need to form a team. I didn¡¯t want to decide on a team so quickly,¡± the man said. ¡°After all, if I speak for her then in the eyes of others, she and I will be on the same team. I wanted to wait and see.¡±


    His attitude was very modest as he spoke. It was a tone and demeanor that made people think of a spring breeze.


    ¡°My name is Jiang Fang.¡± He introduced himself. ¡°I am 25 years old and my father is Ukrainian. I should be regarded as a testimony of the great friendship between China and Ukraine.¡±


    Li Yinhang finally saw his face.


    He was a mixed-race person. His facial features, especially his nose and eyes, contained a Russian beauty while the lower half of his face had charming oriental features, especially his red and thin lips. If it wasn¡¯t for the special situation, there was no one who wouldn¡¯t let their imagination run wild from his beauty.


    He continued, ¡°I returned to China not long ago because my mother passed away. I wanted to see the city where she grew up. I rented an apartment in Donghua.¡±


    The girl in the front row who awakened Nan Zhou with a scream asked in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m from Dongua Apartments. Why didn¡¯t I see you when I got on the bus?¡±


    ¡°I came up from the back door and I live in the area filled with foreigners.¡± Jiang Fang pointed to the other door at the back of the bus and asked Li Yinhang, ¡°Did you see me?¡±


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t have any impression of when Jiang Fang sat in front of her but she knew that if she didn¡¯t follow his words, she would still be a target. To get out of this predicament, she nodded vaguely.


    Zhao Guanglu was quite alert. ¡°What is your number?¡±


    Jiang Fang was very calm. ¡°Should we have a number?¡±


    ¡­What did he mean?


    Zhao Guangly glanced at the girl who also got on the bus in the Donghua District. The girl shook her head and said no. Zhao Guanglu thought for a moment and understood the reason.


    In his napping state, he had felt people were frequently walking as they got in and out of the bus. The Donghua Apartments were very close to the bridge crossing the river. If there were too many people getting in and out of the bus, the driver might¡¯ve given up telling everyone their boarding order to avoid the trouble of self-recording the statistics.


    In other words, it was meaningless to report their number.


    There was nothing else to ask Jiang Fang. Then Zhao Guanglu thought of another suspicious person in the bus. He looked around and found that the man had disappeared again.


    Zhao Guanglu, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    During the time when everyone¡¯s attention was focused on the back row, Nan Zhou lay down on his seat and fumbled around, reaching through the crack in the chair for the only bracelet that had rolled under the seat.


    He lowered his head to put on the bracelet and the hard and cold metal brushed against the black butterfly tattoo on the inside of his right wrist. He turned the bracelet around and thought about things.


    Suddenly, Nan Zhou had the feeling of being peeped at. He placed his head on the headrest of the seat to the side and looked back. Then he buried half his face in his raised arms and let out a small sigh.


    ¡­No wonder why he felt like this. It was because almost everyone in the bus was staring at him. He sat in the front row, appeared the most abruptly and reacted the most abnormally to the mushroom. Even Nan Zhou felt that he was the most suspicious.


    ¡°My name is Lou Yan.¡± Nan Zhou introduced himself in a natural manner with a cold air. ¡°I¡¯m 26 years old and a teacher from Longtan 2nd High School. I usually live in the Longtan District. During the summer vacation, I went back to my mother¡¯s home to visit relatives.¡±


    After several rounds of speeches, everyone had gradually become courageous.


    ¡°When did you get in the bus?¡±


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you afraid?¡¯


    ¡°How can you prove your words are true?¡±


    These three questions did indeed require a reasonable explanation. So how could he explain that he was suddenly teleported here but he wasn¡¯t a ghost?


    Not proofread. In addition, yes, the MC and ML¡¯s are in the bus. MC is Nan Zhou (shou) and ML is Jiang Fang.

 CH 3

    The time limit for Nan Zhou to think couldn¡¯t exceed five seconds. More than five seconds was enough to arouse everyone¡¯s suspicions. Nan Zhou sorted out the currently known information and could draw the following judgments:


    This was an intercity bus in C City. The destination of the vehicle was unknown. The places it passed by were unknown. The GPS was turned off and there was no way to predict the driving route.


    ¡­He had four seconds left.


    There was a small map of C City on the advertising box in front of the first row of seats. A corner of the map was covered by several missing persons notices. The location happened to be Longtan District with the school logo of the 2nd High School on it.


    This was the source of inspiration for one of Nan Zhou¡¯s lies. However, the locations of residential areas weren¡¯t marked on it. In other words, if asked where he got on the bus, he couldn¡¯t completely make it up.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes quickly shifted to the driver¡¯s seat in front of him.


    ¡­There were three seconds left.


    It was clearly written on the badge that the driver of this car should be a woman called Shen Qiuyan. However, beside the shelf where a water cup was placed, there was a brand-new plastic sealed work permit. The strap was tangled together with the handle of the water cup.


    From the information glimpsed, he could see that the person driving today had the surname She or Yu and it was a man. Why change drivers? Did drivers change shifts normally?


    ¡­Two seconds.


    Wrong. Out of the four people who had spoken so far, none of them said they got on the bus from a normal bus stop. They all started from their respective residential areas and even said ¡®phase 1¡¯, ¡®phase 2¡¯, ¡®area for foreigners¡¯ and ¡®ordinary residential area.¡¯


    So this was a bus that ran on an unusual route.


    The sudden replacement of a new driver and a bus that moved abnormally. Moreover, all the passengers in the bus seemed to be heading to a specific location. Therefore, the bus was likely to be requisitioned to perform a rescue mission. The ¡®volunteers¡¯ mentioned by Li Yinhang could confirm his guess.


    ¡­Only one second left.


    So why were there so few people in the bus? It was still daytime and it stood to reason that now was the best time to carry out a rescue mission. If the bus wasn¡¯t crowded during the day then it wouldn¡¯t match the current density of people.


    What did this mean? It meant these people probably weren¡¯t the first to be rescued. Therefore, the place where Nan Zhou should¡¯ve got on the bus was obvious.


    ¡­Time was up.


    Nan Zhou retracted his gaze and looked at everyone. He bluntly said, ¡°I was the first to get on the bus.¡±


    Zhao Guanglu was the first to object. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t see you when I got in the bus.¡±


    The moment the atmosphere froze, Nan Zhou gave an answer to the question. ¡°I secretly came up.¡±


    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­?¡±


    ¡°I was taken to a shelter but my mother wasn¡¯t there.¡±


    ¡°P vlvc¡¯a xcbk ktfgf rtf kjr. P jrxfv atf nbiecaffgr yea atfgf kjr cb gfreia.¡±


    ¡°P kjr kbgglfv jybea tfg rb P tlv lc atlr yer qjgxfv ja atf vbbg rlcmf ijra cluta. P tlv ecvfg atf rfja jcv kjcafv ab olcv tfg.¡±


    ¡°Ufgtjqr P kbeiv ufa bea tjiokjs bg ub ab atf batfg rtfiafgr.¡±


    ¡°I was very sleepy and fell asleep. I only woke up after the bus had been driving for a long time.¡±


    ¡°My head hurt a bit. When I came out quietly, I slept against the window for a while¡­¡±


    He spoke slowly but in a very orderly manner. It made people feel that he hadn¡¯t fully woken up yet. During his speech, Nan Zhou also raised his sleeves to make sure that everyone could see the dust on it from when he had just bent down to look for the bracelet.


    Everyone made an ¡®oh¡¯ sound in their hearts. The gap under the bus seats was indeed enough to hide a person of this size. If someone didn¡¯t look carefully, they might not find anyone hiding under the seat.


    Someone asked, ¡±At this time, you didn¡¯t stay in the cocoon room obediently and dared to run out?¡±


    Nan Zhou silently noted that the shelter was called a ¡®cocoon room.¡¯ At the same time, he gently cleaned the dust from his sleeves and replied slowly, ¡°Yes, not everyone has relatives. This feeling of worry can¡¯t be understood by everyone.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡± The questioner was choked up and rolled his eyes.


    It had to be said that Nan Zhou¡¯s reasons were sufficient and there was nothing to refute. The problem was that Nan Zhou had a weird temperament.


    He had black hair and black eyes. Apart from the out-of-season clothes, there were no extra accessories on his body. The corners of his eyes were red from sleepiness and he had a dull, wooden beauty. However, the teardrop mole directly under his left eye gave him a charm and coolness that he shouldn¡¯t have. On the contrary, it also made him seem a bit strange.


    The sunlight outside the window next to him was so strong that it was almost white but he still had an incompatible sense of rejection with the sun. This temperament made people feel uncomfortable.


    Someone continued to question him. ¡°That mushroom was so close to you. Why weren¡¯t you afraid?¡±


    ¡°It is because I thought I was dreaming at first,¡± Nan Zhou said. ¡°Then I woke up later and found that it wasn¡¯t too scary.¡±


    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    They had to say that the mushroom itself wasn¡¯t really scary. The distance between the mushroom and the first row was also too far. He did have reason not to be afraid.


    Then it was the last question.


    ¡°How can you prove your words are true?¡±


    Moreover, the question was buy one, get one free. ¡°Why are you dressed like this in summer?¡±


    Rather than talking, Nan Zhou loosened his cuffs to show the evidence he prepared. A small squirrel-colored animal probed his head out of his sleeves. It was a sugar glider.


    Nan Zhou introduced him. ¡°I will introduce you. He is called Nanji Star.¡± (Nanji= south pole)


    The moment he saw the apple on the other side of the seat, Nanji Star¡¯s dark eyes lit up. He opened the membranes and flew out. His two front paws gripped the apple tightly as he moved his buttocks to gather energy. He was trying to move the apple to the sleeve to eat it for himself.


    Nan Zhou held the apple to stop his moment, a bit unhappy. ¡°It¡¯s mine.¡±


    The little animal puffed up his cheeks and stared at Nan Zhou in an aggrieved manner. Nan Zhou was unmoved. Nanji Star maintained this pitiful posture while snatching the apple in one bite and sliding back along Nan Zhou¡¯s open cuffs with the apple in his mouth.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Facts proved that human judgment was affected by some non-objective factors. For example, just now, everyone¡¯s vigilance toward Nan Zhou was greatly reduced. It wasn¡¯t just because of the question ¡®will ghosts bring pets?¡¯ It was that the fluctuations in his expression the moment the apple was stolen made him look more alive.


    The person who was stunned by Nan Zhou just now pointed at him unwillingly. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you are a teacher?¡±


    Nan Zhou held the apple in his hand and nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    The person asked sharply, ¡°You are allowed to keep such hair as a teacher?¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded again. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m an art teacher. What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    Everyone, ¡®¡­Fuck.¡¯


    Suddenly, they all had a reasonable understanding of this person¡¯s strange temperament.


    ¡®He turned out to be an artist. I see.¡¯


    Nan Zhou calmly looked at the people who had already started the next self-introductions, observing each face that was either nervous or forcing themselves to be calm. Then his gaze turned to the Ukrainian mixed-raced man and his gaze paused slightly.


    Jiang Fang leaned against the bus seat and didn¡¯t seem to be looking at him. However, Nan Zhou knew this person was looking at him. He was looking at Nan Zhou¡¯s reflection in the side window glass. Jiang Fang was making a smile that wasn¡¯t a smile and it was too gentle to judge his true emotions.


    Nan Zhou remained silent as if completely unaware of it and naturally turned his attention to the other people. Nan Zhou¡¯s presentation and explanation had taken more time so the introduction of everyone had progressed slowly.


    There were 15 rows of seats with 61 seats. From the back to the front, the situation was as follows:


    The man sitting on the left in the second to last row was the architect Zhao Guanglu.


    The person in the second to last row to the right was the nameless man who tried to jump out the window and was killed for violating the rules. The only information that could be determined at present was that ¡®he was an ordinary person.¡¯


    On the left side in the fourth row from the back was Li Yinhang, the hapless bank service worker.


    In the fifth row from the back was Jiang Fang who was sitting in front of Li Yinhang.


    The back door of the double-door bus opened near the fifth row from the back.


    Moving forward, a man called Liu Rongrui sat in the sixth row from the back. He was the one who was dumbfounded by Nan Zhou just now. He said he had no food and eventually plucked up his courage to leave his house. After walking for a long time, he didn¡¯t find a supermarket that was still open. In the end, he heard there was food to eat at the shelter so he got onto the bus with two volunteers, one old and one young. As he said this, his face was full of regret that said ¡®If I knew, I would¡¯ve starved to death rather than board this bus.¡¯


    The seventh row was vacant.


    The eighth row from the back, which was also the eighth row from the front, was somewhat special. There were two people, a man and a woman. The woman sitting on the left was called Sun Ruowei and the man sitting on the right was Lin Xiangjun. Both of them came from Longquan Community and exchanged a few words after getting on the bus. It could be said that they were the ones that could best testify for each other on this bus. However, they could also be ghost companions who lied together.


    The seventh row from the front was vacant.


    On the left in the sixth row from the front was a man called Qin Yadong. He got onto the bus from Xingfu Street. He had waved from the side of the road and got on the bus.


    In the fifth row right in front of Qin Yadong was a fat man close to 100 kg. According to him, he got on the bus at Xingfu Park on Gongren Street. Qin Yadong could testify for him because he adjusted the back of his chair when he got in, directly pressing against Qin Yadong¡¯s thigh. However, the man didn¡¯t appreciate it very much. He said he was asleep and didn¡¯t notice who was behind him.


    On the right side of the fourth row from the front was a nervous young man. He looked at everyone nervously and bit on his fingertips as he said he was a student of C University called Wu Yukai. When someone asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t we pass by C University,¡± he shouted back, ¡°Nonsense!¡± The reaction was too intense. It wasn¡¯t known if it was because he had a guilty conscience or simply because he didn¡¯t like being questioned in this situation.


    In the third row from the front was Xie Yangyang. She was a foreign company employee who got on the bus with Jiang Fang at Donghua Community. She was the first to scream and she was still shaking now.


    The front was Nan Zhou whom everyone knew as Lou Yan.


    Just as Xie Yangyang stammered and introduced herself, the bus was suddenly swept up in an endless darkness. The bus passing through the tunnel without warning silently announced a fact to everyone.


    The first round was a blank ballot. There were five more rounds¡­


    Now there were only five rounds left.


    After seeing light again, everyone simultaneously stared at the huge mushroom in the back row. The soft and slender mycelium had wrapped around the entire seat it was on and the colorful cap swayed regularly with the shaking of the vehicle.


    ¡­It was as if there was life.


    The atmosphere in the car became visibly anxious and tense.


    The author has something to say:


    What everyone is thinking now¡ª


    Li Yihang: My unlucky name.


    Jiang Fang: My cute wife.


    Nan Zhou: My poor apple.


    Proofreader: Purichan

 CH 4

    Everyone started to search through their belongings. In order to save time, Liu Rongrui volunteered to take inventory with Zhao Guanglu. Zhao Guanglu went from front to back while Lin Rongrui went from back to front. After the search, the two men publicly searched each other in front of everyone.


    The results of the inspection weren¡¯t satisfactory. Before getting on the bus, everyone accepted a simple check by the volunteers to avoid accidents or criminals taking the opportunity to commit crimes. Most people had left their homes in a hurry and didn¡¯t have time to bring anything. For example, Li Yinhang only went out with her mobile phone.


    Some didn¡¯t even bring anything. For example, Jiang Fang only had a white v-neck sweater and soft trousers. It was useless except for giving him a divine light in the sun. Xie Yangyang brought a small electric shock device and a can of protection spray which was taken away by the volunteers.


    At present, portable IDs had been promoted national wide and scanning the face + fingerprints could replace all the functions of the original ID card. It was just that the bus didn¡¯t have such an identity detector. They had to go to the entrance of a ¡®cocoon room¡¯ to verify their identities. Therefore, none of them had direct evidence to prove their identity.


    After getting nothing again, another wave of uneasiness surged in the bus. Zhao Guanglu tried to ease everyone¡¯s eagerness and tension. ¡°Yes¡­ just now, that thing mentioned Forces of Temptation. Have you heard of it?¡±


    The grumpy university student Wu Yukai wondered in a bad tone, ¡°You don¡¯t know it? You¡¯re so old and you don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Zhao Guanglu was so stunned that his reaction was slow. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know.¡±


    He made blueprints for a company and was mainly responsible for technical work. He wasn¡¯t good at dealing with people whose hearts changed rapidly in extreme situations.


    His hesitation caused Wu Yukai to scoff contemptuously. ¡°The holographic online game that had a huge accident! Hundreds of players fell into a coma because of this holographic online game! It was a huge topic on the Internet and all social networking sites were talking about it. You are telling me that you don¡¯t know it?¡±


    Zhao Guanglu was tongue-tied. ¡°I don¡¯t usually play games or visit those websites!¡±


    Wu Yukai spoke like he found it strange. ¡°There is such a coincidence?¡±


    Zhao Guanglu became upset. ¡°Are you doubting me?¡±


    He glanced at Li Yinhang. ¡°Miss Li saw me when she got on the bus, right?¡±


    ¡°Are you standing together at this time?¡± Wu Yukai pressed harder. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you didn¡¯t see her?¡±


    Zhao Guanglu ignored his condemnation and walked quickly to Li Yinhang¡¯s seat, anxiously repeated, ¡°Girl, you saw me at that time right?¡±


    Li Yinhang took a deep breath. ¡°I did see him. At that time, Brother Zhao was sleeping with his face covered by his clothes¡­¡±


    Wu Yukai asked back, ¡°Then how can you be sure that he is the one under the clothes?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She got goosebumps at the words.


    Zhao Guanglu turned his head angrily. ¡°Then according to your logic, how do I know you are you and haven¡¯t been replaced by something?¡±


    ¡°I know what happened a few months ago!¡± Wu Yukai argued back tit-for-tat. ¡°Can a ghost do that?¡±


    ¡°Then I also know that three months ago, an international school called Nord was built in Jiangnan Distract. I was responsible for that project!¡±


    Wu Yukai shrugged. ¡°What project? I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡±


    ¡°You¡ª¡±


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    Nevertheless, Li Yinhang still believed in her own feelings. After the bus passed through the tunnel, there were indeed more people. She just couldn¡¯t rule out that the ghosts had been mixed in from the time she got on the bus.


    The situation had become more complicated. How to judge? Countless speculations exploded in her head at the same time. Her brain that wasn¡¯t very good had to work harder.


    As Li Yinhang fought fiercely with herself, the atmosphere in the bus became more and more explosive. Sun Ruowei and Lin Xiangjun, who were sitting in the same row, formed an alliance almost instantaneously. The two of them attracted Xie Yangyang who had little opinion.


    Xie Yangyang didn¡¯t think too much. She just wanted to be with a girl of the same age. Li Yinhang also met this requirement but Xie Yangyang didn¡¯t trust the Ukrainian mixed-blood man who was on the same team was Li Yinhang. She had lived in Donghua for a while. There was indeed an area of foreigners there but it wasn¡¯t too big. There were only a few familiar faces coming in and out. Xie Yangyang had never seen Jiang Fang¡¯s face.


    At this time, Wu Yukai seemed to believe in his own judgment so strongly that he pulled Zhao Guanglu¡¯s arm up and made a mark on the silver bracelet around his wrist. All the veins on Zhao Guanglu¡¯s forehead bulged. Zhao Guanglu was anxious and angry. He dragged back Wu Yukai¡¯s hand and forced a vote on Wu Yukai¡¯s bracelet.


    Wu Yukai exclaimed, ¡°¡ªFuck! What are you doing?¡±


    Zhao Guanglu wiped his nose with his sleeve. ¡°Why do you want others to die so much? You are the ghost!¡±


    Wu Yukai exclaimed to everyone, ¡°What the hell are you doing? How much time is left? If you don¡¯t vote soon, do you want to just wait for death?¡±


    Zhao Guanglu realized that if he kept being led around by Wu Yukai like this, everyone would follow the flow and vote for him. After all, only three people were needed. Three people could sentence him to death. Thus, Zhao Guanglu fought back hard. ¡°Who can¡¯t splash dirty water? Did anyone see you get on the bus?!¡±


    Wu Yukai sneered and looked at the fat man closest to him confidently. They were sitting diagonally. Who would¡¯ve thought that the fat man would honestly shake his head. ¡°I fell asleep when I boarded and was woken up by a woman screaming.¡±


    Wu Yukai, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Xie Yangyang who screamed, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Wu Yukai¡¯s eyes were red with anger, ¡°Are you fucking kidding me? Didn¡¯t the mess with the Forces of Temptation game happen long ago? If I was the ghost, would I know this?!¡±


    Liu Rongrui muttered, ¡°What if the ghosts know everything?¡±


    Wu Yukai immediately fired back at him, ¡°What do you mean? Do you think I am a ghost?¡±


    He pointed to Liu Rongrui. ¡°Yes, I have no proof. Do you have any?¡±


    Liu Rongrui raised his mobile phone. ¡°Yes, you are right. I got on the bus and played a stand-alone game by myself. However, I¡¯m not like you who is so anxious to accuse others.¡±


    Then he stood up. ¡°However, since you doubt me, I have the right to doubt you.¡±


    Wu Yukai¡¯s bracelet received another vote. Wu Yukai sucked in a breath but it was too late to retaliate. He could only hide the left hand wearing the bracelet. He jumped like a thunderbolt and was sweating like a waterfall.


    ¡°Are you crazy? Are you sick?¡± He jumped around and scolded people. ¡°Instead of catching ghosts, you are catching me?¡±


    It was silent. It was a long silence.


    Qin Yadong who was sitting behind the fat man finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. The man who looked gentle and good tempered interrupted, ¡°Okay okay, don¡¯t quarrel. Let¡¯s calmly analyze it. If we keep quarreling then it will just be an emotional battle.¡±


    Wu Yukai had received two votes and his mentality was obviously close to collapse. He protected his wrists and roared, ¡°Then you fucking analyze it!¡±


    Qin Yadong was stunned. He obviously hadn¡¯t expected his kindness to be regarded as nothing by Wu Yukai. Still, he didn¡¯t get angry. ¡°Think about it, when did you get on the bus? Can you tell us again?¡±


    To the side, Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t think due to the outbreak of the noisy dispute. Her brain was buzzing. She only noticed that when Wu Yukai received the second vote, a twisted look appeared on Zhao Guanglu¡¯s face. This made her shudder.


    If Zhao Guanglu was a ghost, was he about to successfully kill a human? If Zhao Guanglu was a human being then¡­


    It meant that in less than 20 minutes, his originally normal psychological state had been slightly distorted by this high pressure environment.


    The surrounding noise really made Li Yinhang unable to think quietly. Then within a short time, the noise in the car died down along with the appearance of darkness.


    ¡­The second round was still a blank ballot. The reappearing light in the bus didn¡¯t bring hope to everyone. They were walking on thin ice in the bright sunlight. There were only four voting opportunities left.


    Passing through the tunnel meant the last round of voting was over. Wu Yukai¡¯s votes were reset to zero again.


    After experiencing the big ups and downs, Wu Yukai temporarily escaped the crisis. He couldn¡¯t help weakening and sank down to the ground. He rested one hand on the side of the seat and breathed heavily. Seeing that he was no longer babbling and learned to shut up, Li Yinhang was relieved for him.


    Luo Yan, whom everyone suspected earlier, sat in the front row and chose to remain silent instead of participating. The problem with Wu Yukai was that he hadn¡¯t secured one or two credible witnesses before he started to speculate and vote hastily. It would be weird if people liked this type of crazy person who muddled things up like this.


    Li Yinhang also knew that putting one¡¯s safety first wasn¡¯t an effective method. She set her gaze on Jiang Fang, wanting to find a breakthrough from him.


    To be honest, Li Yinhang didn¡¯t completely trust Jiang Fang even now. If it wasn¡¯t for him helping her, she might be the one who was doubted by everyone. However, Jiang Fang¡¯s silver hair and face were too eye-catching. How could she not notice if such an eye-catching person got on the bus and sat in front of her? Thus, Li Yinhang wanted to test him.


    Just as she finally controlled her emotions, Jiang Fang sitting in front of her turned his head as if he felt something. His voice was very low and his words were clear. ¡°Hello, can you do me a favor for a moment?¡±


    He said something else to Li Yinhang. Before Li Yinhang could agree, there was a clear sound in her ears.


    Ding.


    This long, clear sound struck everyone¡¯s tight nerves.


    Wu Yukai looked at his bracelet incredulously. The fat man had voted for him. He was sitting on the side where Wu Yukai¡¯s arm was resting and he stared at Wu Yukai coldly. Wu Yukai stared at the fat man with trembling lips.


    The fat man looked back and spoke confidently, ¡°You are so strange. I still doubt you.¡±


    Then he glanced around at the group. ¡°Rather than waiting for death, it is better to just vote.¡±


    Behind the fat man, Qin Yadong showed a disapproving expression. ¡°You¡­¡±


    After getting rid of the crisis with difficulty, he fell into the whirlpool of doubt again. The hostility on Wu Yukai¡¯s face soared. He jumped up suddenly, reaching out for the fat man¡¯s body and tightly grabbing the fat man¡¯s throat. His eyes were red as he shouted, ¡°Didn¡¯t that thing say that ghosts can¡¯t kill people? I¡¯ll kill you and show if I¡¯m a ghost or not¡ª¡±


    Before he could finish, Wu Yukai was stunned as his entire body was suddenly lifted up by a force. He fell and was pushed to the opposite window. As he fell freely from mid-air, his face hit the armrest of the set and a large bloody tooth flew out.


    ¡­Nan Zhou stood in the aisle, his hand gracefully sweeping over the back of Wu Yukai¡¯s clothes. As everyone felt shock and respect toward him who dared to stop the farce of killing people in public, they heard Nan Zhou slowly say, ¡°If you kill him, we can¡¯t tell if he is a ghost or not.¡±


    ¡°The mushroom said that the only way to identify a ghost is for the head to explode.¡±


    ¡°If you do this, it will make it difficult for us to judge how many ghosts are left among us.¡±


    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Fuck.


    Was this the reason for stopping him?


    Nan Zhou let out a sigh. The situation wasn¡¯t optimistic. For this time, the duration was short and the space was limited. It was natural for new players who had just entered the game to not be calm.


    Only three people were needed to determine the life or death of a person. Therefore, it was possible for everyone to get out of control emotionally in a very short period of time. This wasn¡¯t so much a game of intelligence and lies as it was a psychological game. Thus, he had to find a way to clear this game as soon as possible.


    Just as the group¡¯s mood reached a tight threshold, Jiang Fang suddenly stood up. In this cramped vehicle, no one could move without others noticing. He walked to Nan Zhou¡¯s side and his hand naturally touched the shoulder of Nan Zhou standing in the middle, patting it. ¡°Excuse me.¡±


    Nan Zhou hadn¡¯t opened his mouth when someone wondered, ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Jiang Fang was polite. ¡°I just made a small discovery.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s arrival made Nan Zhou a bit distracted.


    It was because of Nanji Star. He didn¡¯t know what medicine Nanji Star took but he excitedly climbed to the collar of Nan Zhou¡¯s coat, crouched in the hollow of the collarbone and excitedly reached out for Jiang Fang¡¯s hand that was on Nan Zhou¡¯s clothes.


    However, the eyes of the others were focused on Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t try to keep them in suspense. He looked at the front of the bus and pointed while speaking gently, ¡°That thing seems to be a dashcam.¡±


    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°It is also a two-way one. It can take scenes outside and inside the bus.¡± Jiang Fang¡¯s voice was gentle. ¡°In addition, I remember that things like dashcams aren¡¯t affected by signal jammers.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Nan Zhou¡¯s heart skipped a beat. If something was recorded then his own lie¡­


    After a short delay, someone hurried to the front row with joy and took down the small dashcam. However, their hopes were soon dashed. There was nothing recorded in the dashcam, only static. The emotional ups and downs in a short period of time made people unable to lift their heads.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m really stupid.¡±


    Jiang Fang lowered his head as he played with the removed dashcam with both hands, laughing at himself. ¡°How could that mushroom leave us with such ready-made evidence?¡±


    ¡°¡­It was supposed to be a good thing, right?¡± Jiang Fang raised his pale grey eyes. Under the cover of his long eyelashes, his eyes looked gentle and unpredictable. ¡°So Mr Liu Rongrui, the evidence is gone and you don¡¯t have to be as nervous as you were just now.¡±

 CH 5

    Inside the bus, several suspicious gazes mixed with scrutiny focused on Liu Rongrui¡¯s body, sharply stabbing at his soul. Liu Rongrui¡¯s face was pale but his cheeks red as he forced out a smile. ¡°Wait a minute, why did it suddenly come around to me?¡±


    Jiang Fang put down the completely malfunctioning dashcam in his hand. ¡°It is because you are very contradictory.¡±


    ¡°Where am I contradictory?!¡±


    Jiang Fang immediately asked, ¡°You don¡¯t want to live?¡±


    Liu Rongrui was forced to speak faster due to Jiang Fang¡¯s suddenly accelerated speech rhythm. ¡°Bullshit!¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of death?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you care about who the ghost is?¡±


    ¡°I care!¡±


    ¡°Do you already know who the ghosts are among us?¡±


    ¡°Nonsense, I don¡¯t know! What are you asking¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you care about what was recorded on here?¡±


    ¡°I care! However, you said that it didn¡¯t record anything!¡±


    As Liu Rongrui was tense and waiting for Jiang Fang¡¯s next question, the bus was unexpectedly quiet. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t ask anything else. He smiled while pointing in Liu Rongrui¡¯s direction. ¡°This is why I said that Mr Liu is really contradictory.¡±


    It took some time for Liu Rongrui to understand what Jiang Fang wanted to express. Then he realized and started sweating. He was induced by this person. He firmly controlled his mood swings and kept his thoughts to a minimum. There were naturally no loopholes in his words.


    As a ¡®person¡¯, he should be afraid of death, he should care about who the ghost was and he should immediately gather together when a reliable clue was grasped. The paradox was that he, who should¡¯ve been extremely nervous, was sitting in his seat without moving. The others had all left their seats and moved closer to take a look at the dashcam.


    Once a lie was at risk of being debunked, many people actually chose to avoid it at first instead of witnessing it with their own eyes. Liu Rongrui felt like thousands of thorns were stabbing his thighs, making Liu Rongrui unable to sit still. He gritted his teeth and stood up, retorting, ¡°Who knows if this dashcam is good or bad? I just didn¡¯t want to feel happy in vain. Besides, everyone has different personalities. I don¡¯t like to squeeze forward. What¡¯s wrong with that?¡±


    ¡°¡­Ah.¡± Jiang Fang seemed to be persuaded by him. ¡°Is that so?¡±


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    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the only one saying it?¡± Liu Rongrui was extremely disdainful. ¡°Apart from you, who else saw it?¡±


    ¡°Do you have any evidence?¡±


    He was absolutely confident. It didn¡¯t matter if Jiang Fang really was watching him at that time. Everyone¡¯s attention should¡¯ve been drawn by the dashcam. It was impossible for anyone else to notice him. Wanting to show off the micro-expression knowledge learned from American TV dramas? As long as there was no conclusive evidence then¡ª


    Jiang Fang lowered his head like he could do nothing.


    Liu Rongrui only had time to rejoice for half a second. It was because Jiang Fang soon raised his scorpion braid and placed a hand on his own shoulder.


    ¡­It was only then that everyone discovered he used his choker to hold a mobile phone around his neck. Most of the phone was hidden under his thin white sweater while the other half was covered by his hair. Only the black hole of the camera was faintly exposed.


    Jiang Fang lowered his head, held the phone with one hand and opened the silver buckle of the choker on the other side of his neck with the other. Once the choker was released, Nan Zhou standing next to him noticed that there seemed to be a strange pattern on the skin under the choker. Before he could see clearly, Jiang Fang used his fingers to tighten the loose buckle again.


    This was Li Yinhang¡¯s mobile phone. Jiang Fang had previously borrowed it from her. There might be no signal but the basic functions were still available. He paused and saved the recording that was still in progress. Then he turned the screen over and showed it to Liu Rongrui.


    In the video, Jiang Fang intentionally got up from his seat and walked all the way to the front of the carriage. He chose a relatively high position. The lens shook slightly but the wide-angle lens was enough to film the expression changes of everyone behind him.


    Jiang Fang faced the front of the bus, his back to the crowd as he pointed upwards and said gently, ¡°That thing seems to be a dashcam.¡±


    The camera recorded everyone¡¯s expressions of shock, excitement and sudden realization. Among them, only Liu Rongrui showed a hideous expression when Jiang Fang said, ¡°A dashcam shouldn¡¯t be affected by the signal jammer.¡±


    Jiang Fang handed the phone back to Li Yinhang who was on one side and listening silently. Then he took a step toward the pale-faced Liu Rongrui.


    ¡°I have a few more questions. Mr Liu, you can choose to answer them or not.¡±


    ¡°You said you came up with two volunteers, one old and one young.¡±


    ¡°This was information given by Miss Li Yinhang when she gave her testimony.¡±


    ¡°Then please tell me, what are the genders of these two volunteer?¡±


    ¡°You also said you were hungry for a long time and eventually got onto this bus for food.¡±


    ¡°So why did you only play with your phone after getting on the bus. Why not ask the others for something to eat?¡±


    Liu Rongrui tried his best but he could only squeeze his vocal cords and make a gnat-like sound. ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t want to disturb anyone. In any case, I could get food when arriving at the cocoon room. So I played with my mobile phone as a distraction¡­¡±


    ¡°Then unlock it.¡±


    Jiang Fang once again took a step toward him, dealing a fatal blow to his psychological defense. ¡°Unlock the phone in your hand with the password.¡±


    Under the leadership of Jiang Fang, everyone slowly approached the truth. They might not be able to keep up with Jiang Fang¡¯s thinking but they held their breaths and waited for the analysis.


    Liu Rongrui¡¯s heart was in his threat and thumped wildly. It was as if he was strangled as he opened his mouth in a trembling manner. ¡°You¡­ what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I should¡¯ve been more straightforward.¡± Jiang Fang continued. ¡°I mean, this mobile phone doesn¡¯t belong to you at all, right?¡±


    Before everyone could react, Nan Zhou had already realized. ¡°Ah¡ª¡±


    His face and voice favored a cool and dignified air. Thus, when he extended the sound and let out a long sigh¡­ there was a type of contrast¡­ cuteness.


    Jiang Fang looked back at Nan Zhou. When he spoke again, his tone seemed subtly happy due to the sigh.


    ¡°You were the one to search for items with Mr Zhao.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring anything except your mobile phone.¡±


    ¡°Of course, some people only brought their phones. This alone doesn¡¯t prove anything.¡±


    ¡°However, you said you came outside searching for food.¡±


    ¡°Since you aren¡¯t a prophet and couldn¡¯t know you would be picked up by a passing rescue vehicle, why didn¡¯t you bring a backpack to store the food when going out?¡±


    ¡°Later, I thought it was strange that you first offered to help Mr Zhao search the bus.¡±


    ¡°Moreover, you seemed to have no resistance to searching the back of the bus.¡±


    As he talked, the huge colorful mushroom in the back of the bus swayed like it was showing its presence. The characteristics of a human being could no longer be seen. It was both beautiful and terrifying. For normal people, it was difficult to imagine who would actively choose to approach it.


    ¡°To sum up the above, my guess is¡­¡± Jiang Fang declared, ¡°You actually didn¡¯t bring anything at all. To prevent yourself from being too eye-catching and having to tell too many lies, you needed an item to blend in with everyone.¡±


    ¡°So while you were searching, you secretly took the phone off the dead man in the back.¡±


    Jiang Fang took a step closer.


    ¡°Of course, it is easy for Mr Liu to clear up this suspicion.¡±


    ¡°Unlock the phone in your hand and let everyone see it.¡±


    In the midst of the murmured discussions around him, Liu Rongrui shook his head. He tightly held the phone he had used as a prop that had always been in a black screen state and thought in a trance, ¡®He actually suspected me long ago.¡¯


    He always felt he was hiding well. He thought¡ª


    Countless thoughts stirred in his mind like boiling magma. Liu Rongrui screamed in a panic. Then he suddenly raised his foot and kicked Jiang Fang¡¯s chest.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s beautiful eyes moved slightly. He moved his right foot in a standard dodging style and dodged backwards. However, the moment he completely dodged, he moved a bit differently. His left foot kicked the ground in a panic and his entire body suddenly lost its balance. He fell straight back.


    Nan Zhou was standing behind him and watched as a 1.9 meters tall man fell toward him.


    Nan Zhou who was dumbfounded and instinctively took a small step to the side, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    If this person fell in such a narrow place, he might be injured. After a brief moment of hesitation, Nan Zhou grabbed the man by the waist before he fell to the ground. The waist muscles pressing against his palm were thin and tight. Nan Zhou was sure that his fingers touched back dimples. He was genuine and unreserved.


    As the others reacted and forced Liu Rongrui to the back of the bus, Nan Zhou supported Jiang Fang by the waist and helped him up. Jiang Fang sighed with relief and smiled softly at Nan Zhou. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t stand firmly.¡±


    The author has something to say:


    Jiang Fang: Ah, I¡¯m so weak.jpg

 CH 6

    Liu Rongrui was pushed down onto a seat with everyone lending a hand. The group of people tore his clothes into cloth stripes, placed his hands together and tied them firmly. In an instant, the silver bracelet around his wrist received seven or eight votes. The grumpy university student Wu Yukai remembered Liu Rongrui¡¯s attempt to kill him with a vote. New and old hatreds rushed into his heart and he voted vengefully.


    Liu Rongrui wanted to struggle at first but he later became half-numb. He leaned back against his seat, his chest rising and falling and his eyes dull. This lasted until the bumping of the vehicle caused his eyes to once again fall on the human head that had completely become a mushroom.


    Liu Rongrui suddenly realized the punishment that was about to fall on him. He stood up abruptly and tried to rush forward. However, he lost his balance and tripped. He lay on the ground, his face ashen as he tried to lift himself up and screamed, ¡°I don¡¯t want to die!¡±


    The thing he confided next frightened everyone who heard it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a ghost, I¡¯m a human!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a player just like you. I¡¯m also a player!¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t my name either!¡±


    ¡°My name is Liu Xiao and I¡¯m from D City! I was thrown into this damn game on July 10th!¡±


    ¡°I finished the first task and wanted to rise a bit more in the rankings, so I spent points to choose PVP mode and was transferred to this bus¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just playing the role of a ghost. I¡¯m not a real ghost!¡±


    ¡°Please brothers, uncles and sisters. I still have parents at home and I¡¯m a virgin. I¡¯ve never had a girlfriend. I don¡¯t want to die!¡±


    It was hard not to be moved by the undignified cries of a sobbing man. Some people couldn¡¯t bear it and turned their heads away in an unbearable manner. However, some people didn¡¯t buy it. The fat man¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Then tell us who your partners are.¡±


    Player Liu Xiao seemed to realize he still had a bargaining chip in his hand and a sickly red color appeared on his gray and defeated face. ¡°Then save me! Save me and I¡¯ll tell you!¡±


    ¡°How do we save you?¡±


    Due to his emotional ups and downs, Liu Xiao¡¯s eyes were bloodshot and he looked hysterical. ¡°Then don¡¯t think about knowing who the ghosts are!¡±


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    ¡°Each one of you is worth 100 points¡­¡±


    ¡°I swear, I will give up the right to kill you at the end. I don¡¯t even need the points I spent to enter this level¡ªI really won¡¯t hurt you! It¡¯s true! Really!¡±


    ¡°Let me go! Let me go!¡±


    Some people¡¯s moods changed after learning that the ¡®ghosts¡¯ might also be people. Xie Yangyang, who had been remaining silent, spoke timidly. ¡°¡­Or let¡¯s reconcile.¡±


    She boldly raised his voice. ¡°Who among you are ghosts? Come out.¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t hurt you then you don¡¯t hurt us either. We can live peacefully until the end of the game, right?¡±


    However, Xie Yangyang¡¯s well-intentioned words were met with an embarrassing silence. Some people even sneered disdainfully. Xie Yangyang¡¯s face instantly turned red. Nan Zhou felt this girl was a bit pitiful so he took the initiative to break the awkward silence for her. He sincerely told her, ¡°That isn¡¯t possible.¡±


    Xie Yangyang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It was fine when no one paid attention to her. Now that Nan Zhou spoke, she was so embarrassed that she rubbed her toes against the ground. She had already realized how stupid her words were. If everyone got along harmoniously until the end, the ghosts would automatically win.


    At that time, why would the ghosts let go of the humans? Even if Liu Xiao¡¯s words were true and he was willing to give up the points, what about his two ghost teammates? These two people hadn¡¯t been exposed yet. How could they identify themselves at the risk of being mobbed by everyone? In any case, it was Liu Xiao who was dying right now, not them.


    In the desperate silence, Liu Xiao completely understood his fate. He laughed miserably as he finally gave up on hope. He staggered up from the ground and roared, ¡°I¡¯ll remember all of you!¡±


    ¡°My name is Liu Xiao and I was killed by you!¡±


    ¡°All of you are murderers!¡±


    ¡°In particular¡ª¡±


    He stared at Jiang Fang and gritted his teeth so hard they almost broke. ¡°It was you who killed me¡ª¡±


    The dying man¡¯s angry words of hatred were chilling to hear. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t react. He just looked at this with a blank expression. There was no victorious smile or extra pity.


    ¡°You killed him¡ª¡±


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you, how could he have died¡ª¡±


    The auditory hallucinations swept over him like a wave, lingering in Jiang Fang¡¯s ears. However, Jiang Fang just raised his hand to cover the side of his choker and moved his neck in a habitual manner.


    Nan Zhou thought he had just comforted Xie Yangyang. Then he turned his head and saw Liu Xiao cursing Jiang Fang endlessly. Nan Zhou was a bit confused. As this person took a breath to continue cursing, Nan Zhou interrupted and asked seriously, ¡°Mr Liu, you are the one who didn¡¯t play the game well. Why should you blame others?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡± Liu Xiao was taking a breath only to get choked up.


    Nan Zhou seemed to gain some understanding when he spoke. He nodded. ¡°Of course, if thinking this way makes you happy then you can scold us.¡±


    Then he turned around and told everyone, ¡°Just listen and don¡¯t take it to heart.¡±


    The auditory hallucinations in Jiang Fang¡¯s ears abruptly stopped. He turned to stare at Nan Zhou.


    Nan Zhou also happened to be looking at him. The moment their eyes met, the bus entered darkness. There was a slight bursting sound and the trembling sobs came to an abrupt end. The time to go through the tunnel was much longer than last time. Last time was longer than the time before.


    In the darkness that lasted for tens of seconds, Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t see anything. He blinked and wondered if Jiang Fang was still looking at him. He felt that there were two warm sparks hidden in the dark night, quietly watching him. Nan Zhou intuitively sensed no malice in this gaze. It was just purely looking at him, as if seeing a colorful world in the darkness.


    Once the sky was bright, Nan Zhou carefully looked over but found that Jiang Fang wasn¡¯t watching him. Nan Zhou tilted his head curiously and followed this person¡¯s gaze to look at Liu Xiao. A white mushroom had fallen to the ground in the back row, the surviving human-shaped fingers still spasming. However, even the tears he dripped onto the ground were being greedily sucked up by the hungry mycelium.


    Nan Zhou no longer looked at this terrible sight. He stood near the end of the bus and glanced at the other corner of the bus. Then Nan Zhou soon retracted his gaze. He didn¡¯t choose to return to his original position. He found a seat nearby and sat down casually.


    They still had three more voting opportunities. However, they had successfully taken care of one ghost so everyone¡¯s anxiety obviously eased. They all cast hopeful glances at Jiang Fang who had sat down again.


    Jiang Fang lowered his head as if he didn¡¯t intend to respond to everyone¡¯s expectations. He just touched his fingers together. His fingers were soft, straight and strong. The soft white sweater slipped down from the wrist, revealing a perfect bone line and wrist decorated with blue veins.


    ¡­Nan Zhou wanted to arm wrestle with such a hand.


    Li Yinhang tried to comfort Jiang Fang. ¡°Don¡¯t take it to heart. That Liu Xiao¡­ his words were too bad but he was desperate.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°I¡¯m used to people like that. If I took everything to heart, I would¡¯ve become depressed long ago.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± What occupation did he have that he was used to meeting such people?


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to look at me.¡± Jiang Fang raised his head and smiled calmly. ¡°I didn¡¯t know who the ghost was at first. Using the dashcam was just a petty trick. No one will be fooled a second time.¡±


    Everyone thought about his words and found they weren¡¯t wrong. They no longer put their hopes on Jiang Fang and started discussing it with each other. Liu Xiao might¡¯ve cursed them before death but he at least gave them a useful message. The ghosts were also players so they felt less fear.


    Therefore, everyone started to walk around the bus and asked questions. The moment they caught a small loophole in a person¡¯s words, they would desperately start to question it while observing the person¡¯s expression at close range to see if they were lying.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t participate. He leaned on the back of the seat in front of him, covering half his face with his arm as he watched Jiang Fang who was sitting diagonally across from him. He didn¡¯t think that using the dashcam was just a petty trick. After all, the dashcam was a detail that even Nan Zhou hadn¡¯t noticed.


    This person might still be thinking about new ideas. After all, the information that Liu Xiao left them before his death was far more than just ¡®a ghost is a human player.¡¯


    Nevertheless, Nan Zhou believed that Jiang Fang didn¡¯t need to bother. Combining this information with the hook he deliberately planted was enough for Nan Zhou to judge who the remaining two ghost players were.


    In contrast, Nan Zhou wanted to know who Jiang Fang was.

 CH 7

    There were originally 12 people on the bus. One person violated the rules, leaving 11 people. Now a ¡®ghost¡¯ was out and there were 10 people left. The job of voting hadn¡¯t become easier due to the decrease in number. Rather, the pace of the progress became difficult and slow.


    After Jiang Fang stopped expressing his opinion, the irritable and talkative university student Wu Yukai wanted to become the opinion leader again. He didn¡¯t dare question others as arrogantly as before but he still hated the fat man for voting for him. Therefore, he bit at the fat man, saying the fat man deliberately led the rhythm to vote for him. Then he resolutely voted for the fat man.


    The fat man received a second vote from Zhao Guanglu. He couldn¡¯t give a reason. He just felt that this fat man had a yin atmosphere. These two votes were considered emotional votes. There wasn¡¯t enough persuasiveness but it was enough to make the people who received the votes panic.


    Yet in the face of such a situation, the fat man could actually be stable. He leaned back against his chair expressionlessly and took out a cigarette. Since he didn¡¯t have a lighter, he simply held the cigarette in his mouth.


    The fat man bit the filter and said he was an ordinary game programmer who worked in a third-rate game company that was about to close down. He was 34 years old and had done nothing with his life. He stated coldly, ¡°My wife and I divorced early and my daughter followed me.¡±


    ¡°Two days ago, she was at home. Then she was gone.¡±


    ¡°You vote.¡± The fat on his face moved as he spoke like he didn¡¯t care. ¡°After voting for me, I will die and can go see my daughter.¡±


    His words made the atmosphere in the bus even more depressing. Zhao Guanglu was also divorced so he felt a bit of empathetic regret after listening to these words.


    ¡­No one would give the third vote anymore.


    Nan Zhou watched all of this calmly and curiously. In fact, even if the fat man didn¡¯t say this, everyone wouldn¡¯t easily vote for him. The third vote was the third vote. Normal people didn¡¯t want to shoulder this responsibility.


    After Liu Xiao¡¯s matter, the group didn¡¯t become more decisive. If the dead people were really ghosts then they wouldn¡¯t have any psychological burden. However, every player was a living person and had their own lives.


    Nan Zhou talked about the art course he taught. Li Yinhang talked about the strange things she encountered at her work. The man and woman who sat together testified for each other and talked about how bad their community property manager was. Qin Yadong said he was just an ordinary civil servant who worked from 9 to 5. His life had no waves apart from the leader occasionally being stupid. He just wanted to live quietly until death with his salary.


    People who met by chance were talking about their lives in vivid detail. They each had their own hardships and reasons.


    ¡­In order to live. Or to kill others and earn points.


    As a result of some discussion, Nan Zhou got two votes. The two votes were cast by the couple who got on the bus together and sat in the same row. They wondered how Nan Zhou escaped from the person who checked the car in the morning and how he got onto the seat without disturbing anyone.


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    Time passed by in seconds. The unspeakable sense of urgency made everyone cast their votes based on their feelings. The fat man who got two votes from Zhao Guanglu and Wu Yukai voted for Qin Yadong behind him. He insisted that he didn¡¯t feel anyone behind him when he got on the bus.


    Qin Yadong shrugged helplessly without any anger. He acknowledged this vote and didn¡¯t even retaliate, instead voting for Jiang Fang. He explained, ¡°Mr Jiang, I¡¯m just worried¡­ there might be situations where the ghosts deliberately identify teammates to win everyone¡¯s trust.¡±


    Jiang Fang nodded and turned the silver bracelet on his wrist around with a smile. ¡°Mr Qin is right. There could indeed be such a situation.¡±


    Xie Yangyang was really uncertain and chose to abstain. At present, only Jiang Fang, Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang had the remaining votes in their hands.


    There were less than three minutes left before reaching the next tunnel. If they passed through this tunnel, this round of voting would be void. On the human side, there would only be two more rounds to vote. The probability of accurately picking out two ghosts from 10 people was too low.


    ¡­In order to ensure the survival of everyone in the end, it would be difficult if they didn¡¯t exclude a few wrong options during the voting process.


    At present, Nan Zhou and the fat man had two votes while Jiang Fang and Qin Yadong had one vote each. Excluding one abstention vote, three other votes weren¡¯t cast. Those who had voted couldn¡¯t help focusing on these three people.


    Try it even if it was wrong. These three people had the ability to reduce the probability of finding a ghost from 2/10 to 2/9 or even 2/8.


    Li Yinhang could feel everyone¡¯s hopeful gazes. She couldn¡¯t think about them. Her fingers tightly grasped the edge of her seat as she wondered why that man had just said those words.


    She wasn¡¯t sure if her guess was correct and she didn¡¯t want to rashly become the person who decided life or death. As she was hesitating, there was the sound of clothes rubbing as someone stood up behind her.


    Nan Zhou stood up and walked forward. He stepped on the ground with his leather shoes. The pace was very slow and didn¡¯t sound anxious at all. Nan Zhou walked slowly to the front in full view of everyone.


    Li Yinhang watched Nan Zhou sit down beside the person she suspected. She reflexively stood up and stared at Nan Zhou.


    Jiang Fang, who was sitting in front of her, raised his head slightly and smiled at Li Yinhang. ¡°Miss Li, did you think of something?¡±


    No one noticed the small movements on their side. Nan Zhou¡¯s behavior was too weird and all their attention was drawn to him.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t seem aware of his abnormal behavior. After sitting down, he deliberately tidied up his wrinkled coat before turning his head. ¡°Sir, what do you think is the biggest difference between human players and ghost players?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    This question was too direct and the effect was naturally explosive. The fat on the face of the fat man who was questioned shook slightly. He stared at Nan Zhou and spoke in a bad tone, ¡°Mr Luo, what do you mean?¡±


    Nan Zhou seemed unable to hear the upset tone of the fat man and continued to ask, ¡°What do you think is the most important thing when playing this game?¡±


    The fat man didn¡¯t mess around and replied, ¡°Of course, it is to find the ghosts.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Nan Zhou refuted it seriously. ¡°It is to understand the rules of the game.¡±


    He turned to look at Liu Xiao who had fallen to the ground. The white pulp of the cap had turned into a gray-white semi-liquid. Before his death, Liu Xiao tried to change his fate by offering to identify his two teammates. However, he actually had no idea who his teammates were.


    People who were about to die wouldn¡¯t give up on even the smallest hope. At the moment of life and death, even if he didn¡¯t drag his two teammates to die with him, he wouldn¡¯t have given up on asking them for help. Yet before he died, Liu Xiao¡¯s gaze toward everyone was dazed, filled with hatred and not specific.


    This confirmed Nan Zhou¡¯s conjecture. Nan Zhou had guessed this from the beginning of the game. The mushroom had told them many rules of the game. However, the most important thing Nan Zhou heard was¡ª


    ¡°This is a fair game.¡±


    What did this fairness mean? For ghost players, the game was fair. For human players, the game was equally fair.


    ¡°Therefore, the ghosts couldn¡¯t be in the bus from the beginning.¡±


    ¡°If this was the case, the ghosts would have a lot of information in advance. This isn¡¯t fair to the human players.¡±


    ¡°Similarly, the ghosts won¡¯t know who their teammates are.¡±


    ¡°The reason is as above. It wouldn¡¯t be fair to the human players.¡±


    ¡°The three ghost players should¡¯ve been transferred to this bus at a special time after receiving the basic rules.¡±


    ¡°No matter which side, we don¡¯t know who our companions are.¡±


    ¡°People are looking for their companions and the ghosts are also looking for them.¡±


    Nan Zhou murmured to himself before looking at the fat man again. ¡°This is the only way to play.¡±


    The fat man¡¯s mouth twitched slightly and the muscles in his cheeks were on the verge of losing control. ¡°Mr Luo¡­¡±


    ¡°My last name isn¡¯t Luo nor am I called Luo Yan.¡±


    Nan Zhou stated, ¡°I saw this name on the missing person notice posted on the box and used it.¡±


    The fat man¡¯s complexion changed drastically when he heard this and he stood up suddenly, but Nan Zhou grabbed his wrist. He didn¡¯t seem to use much force but the fat man¡¯s face was pale and his thick lips trembled. Nan Zhou still looked forward. Despite the fat man¡¯s violent pulling, he remained motionless and his tone was calm. ¡°Now I will answer the question I just asked¡ªWhat is the difference between a human player and a ghost player?¡±


    ¡°The difference is that the human player already in the bus will only focus on observing people.¡±


    Nan Zhou watched the fat man. ¡°The ghosts are newcomers so only they will observe the surrounding environment more carefully than anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, the ghost is the most vulnerable to being exposed when just teleporting in.¡±


    ¡°Sir, do you think this is right?¡±

 CH 8

    Nan Zhou¡¯s strategy was simple. It was as simple as using the information from the surrounding environment to compose a series of lies in the beginning to gain everyone¡¯s initial trust.


    He used the age and name on the missing person notice and the Longtan 2nd High School logo on the map to get another ghost player secretly observing the environment to mistake him for a companion.


    Everyone hurriedly looked around for the missing person notice that Nan Zhou mentioned.


    ¡­There was nothing. This was until Nan Zhou reached out two fingers and accurately inserted them into the fat man¡¯s jeans pocket. He quickly grabbed two pieces of paper, pulled them out and threw them in the air.


    It was summer and everyone¡¯s clothes were thinner. Therefore, it was particularly eye-catching if there were two or three sheets of paper in your pant pockets even if they were folded thinly.


    The fat man¡¯s face turned red. On the missing persons notice that slowly fell to the ground, the two bright red characters ¡®Luo Yan¡¯ were like two needles piercing his eyes. Previously, the fat man had complained about Nan Zhou and wondered why Nan Zhou didn¡¯t just make up a name. The name on the missing persons notice on the advertisement box couldn¡¯t be more eye-catching.


    However, it was as Nan Zhou said. Apart from ghost players, human players didn¡¯t care about the surrounding environment, only the people. This was an unavoidable psychological blind zone. It was the same even if this name was stuck to the left side of Nan Zhou¡¯s head when he introduced himself.


    The fat man also didn¡¯t expect that Liu Xiao would be caught directly by Jiang Fang. This made him worry about winning the game. One less teammate was one less person grabbing the points. This could be considered a good thing.


    It was just that the fat man didn¡¯t like the feeling of fighting alone. Moreover, he found that Nan Zhou could use an identity improvised based on the missing person notice to successfully fool everyone, indicating that this person¡¯s brain was good. He could also lift the crazy Wu Yukai and throw him, showing that his strength wasn¡¯t bad.


    The ability that Nan Zhou showed made the fat man a bit tempted. He needed a long-term teammate. Therefore, he wanted to show his favor to this ¡®temporary teammate¡¯ and help him make the lie more perfect.


    At this time, Nan Zhou ¡®just happened¡¯ to leave his seat. Therefore, the fat man took advantage of the darkness created by the game system when going through the tunnel. He tiptoed to Nan Zhou¡¯s seat in the darkness and based on the location of the missing persons notice in his memory, he grabbed several missing persons notices nearby, hiding them.


    The fat man thought about how this person had been digging a hole for him from the very beginning and blood gushed to his head, making him dizzy. Was the strength and brainpower Nan Zhou displayed intentionally or unintentionally all for the sake of catching the fat man who was hidden in the darkness? Did Nan Zhou deliberately leave his seat to make room for the fat man?


    As long as the bait was taken, Nan Zhou just needed to secretly observe who was hiding something. After all, the time to go through the tunnel was really limited. The fat man tore off the missing persons notices but had no time or space to properly discard them.


    On the other side, Nan Zhou let out a small sigh. Jiang Fang used the dashcam to only catch Liu Xiao, the stupid fish. This showed the remaining two ghosts weren¡¯t stupid and at least knew how to control their emotions.


    Fortunately, the smarter people were, the more likely they were to be too smart. A stupid person might not have entered the trap he set.


    ¡­He also managed to drag another teammate into the water.


    Cr atf oja wjc kjr offilcu ueaafv, tf tfjgv Rjc Itbe rjs, ¡°Vlcmf sbe tjnfc¡¯a yffc bc atf yer rlcmf atf yfulcclcu, atfgf lr bcf wbgf qfgrbc ktb ilfv¡ª¡±


    Hlc Tjvbcu rjlv atja atf oja wjc tjv jvperafv atf rfja atf wbwfca tf uba bc, qgfrrlcu la vlgfmais jujlcra tlr atlut. Vlcmf atf oja wjc kjrc¡¯a bglulcjiis bc atf yer, Hlc Tjvbcu mbeiv bcis yf j ojxf.


    Before Nan Zhou finished speaking, a figure suddenly rushed toward him! Qin Yadong, who had been sitting behind the fat man, held a dagger in his hand. It reflected the cold light in his eyes as it aimed at Nan Zhou¡¯s heart!


    Obviously, everyone had been searched. Where did he get the weapon from?! Everyone was stunned by the huge amount of information and had no time to react.


    The fat man seized this last chance and used his free hand to squeeze Nan Zhou into his arms!


    ***


    It would be false to say that Qin Yadong didn¡¯t feel hatred toward the fat man. From the beginning, he recognized the fat man as his teammate. It was because he sat behind the fat man and could see it most clearly.


    ¡­The fat man was quietly observing the environment. Thus, he tried to give the fat man a hint. It was just that due to poor information, the fat man didn¡¯t think of him as a teammate. From the fat man¡¯s perspective, Qin Yadong looked weak and good-natured unlike someone who has already experienced the game. Secondly, the fat man felt he had been hiding well. Even if Qin Yadong was his ghost teammate, it was impossible for Qin Yadong to see through him so easily.


    Since Qin Yadong wasn¡¯t a ghost, he was probably a human player who had no one to testify for him. He was sleeping on the way so he found an excuse to drag someone in to testify for him.


    The fat man naturally couldn¡¯t follow his words. What if Qin Yadong was cheating him? Therefore, he denied Qin Yadong¡¯s testimony and at the same time, he identified an unrelated person as a teammate.


    As a result, Qin Yadong became the dirt that was pulled out along with the radish (investigating something and uncovering something else).


    Qin Yadong didn¡¯t intend to sit back and wait. The ghost players had experienced more games than these new players and it wasn¡¯t just experience that they had gained. There was also an invisible warehouse.


    The game had a rule that didn¡¯t allow ghosts to kill players by means other than voting. If he broke the rules, there was a good chance he would be wiped out on the spot like the player who tried to escape. However, even if it meant dying, he had to take preemptive action and pull someone else with him!


    Nan Zhou¡¯s chest was exposed to Qin Yadong¡¯s knife. Just as the steel knife with the bloodletting groove was about to sink into Nan Zhou¡¯s flesh, a strong wind burst in Qin Yadong¡¯s ear. A swing punch hit his ear hard without any cushioning!


    Qin Yadong felt a terrible pain and his brain was like tofu that had been stirred. There was a bloody mist in front of him and he couldn¡¯t hold the dagger in his hand. He was about to fall vertically when a leg whipped through the air and struck the handle of the knife. The blade flew out in a cross shape and nailed straight into the advertisement box!


    Li Yinhang had long hands and legs. She rushed to the side of Qin Yadong who was lying on the ground, screaming and twitching in pain. She gripped his wrist and voted for him. After finishing what Jiang Fang had told her to do, she looked up and found that the bus was very close to the tunnel


    The fat man didn¡¯t get the blood splattering scene he imagined. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t struggle from the shackle of the fat man¡¯s one arm. He simply stretched a hand back and grabbed the fat man¡¯s neck.


    The fat man shivered due to the touch of his palm. Nan Zhou¡¯s hand was very cold and the feeling of it gently closing around his neck gave the fat man a strange sense of horror. This person¡­ seemed to be intending to break his neck.


    At this time, the shadow of the tunnel covered them. The moment the darkness was about to swallow up the two of them, the fat man suffocating from fear seemed to hear Nan Zhou sigh. The touch that was like a poisonous snake on his neck disappeared. Instead, there was a mechanical sound coming from his wrist.


    Ding.


    At almost the same time, another mechanical sound signaling the end came from Qin Yadong¡¯s wrist. It was just that the sound was too synchronized so Nan Zhou didn¡¯t realize the game was over. In his cognition, there was still Qin Yadong.


    Jiang Fang had just stood up when a figure leaped toward him. Out of instinct, Jiang Fang straightened his waist and pressed Nan Zhou under him. However, he didn¡¯t relax because of this. Sure enough, there was a strong wind coming from his waist area.


    Jiang Fang pushed one hand back and blocked the force of this knee. At the same time, he pressed one hand firmly into the crook of this person¡¯s right knee, forcing his thighs apart and pinning him to the ground firmly.


    It was just that he ignored the other hand. Nan Zhou used his best effort and slammed the silver bracelet around his wrist against Jiang Fang¡¯s silver bracelet.


    Click.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t remember until their bracelets touched and the familiar mechanical sound wasn¡¯t heard that everyone could only vote once in a round. Nan Zhou who was a bit frustrated, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The other party just pressed against his leg and didn¡¯t seem to intend to fight back. Therefore, Nan Zhou also dropped his hand. The moment his muscles relaxed, the feeling of being suffocated followed closely.


    Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t help gasping. The warm air flow hit the other person¡¯s face and returned back, making his own cheeks itchy. He was about to turn over and sit up when it became bright. Nan Zhou saw that it wasn¡¯t Qin Yadong pressing on him as imagined. It was Jiang Fang.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou stared at him before glancing to the side. Two white mushrooms were neatly appearing next to them. Nan Zhou looked at Jiang Fang again.


    ¡­He fell into a brief period of confusion. The game was over.


    The mushroom¡¯s sweet and cheerful girlish voice was heard from the front of the bus. ¡°Everybody¡ª¡±


    ¡­Then it fell silent.


    Not only did it not see the corpse of the annoying Nan Zhou, but it also saw such an ugly restricted scene. After a few seconds, it disappeared on the spot with a bang, running away as quickly as it came.


    ¡­Li Yinhang felt that it ran away in anger. The DM ran away so the final reward was announced by a mechanical female voice.


    ¡°The trial level is over.¡±


    ¡°The human players have won.¡±


    ¡°Three people in the ghost camp have died. The basic reward is 300 points.¡±


    ¡°One person died in the human camp.¡±


    ¡°Contribution sharing and reward reports are being generated. Please wait¡ª¡±


    Jiang Fang let go of his hand and apologized gently. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t expect you to jump over so suddenly. I just¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou shook his head and was going to reply ¡®it¡¯s okay¡¯ when he noticed something abnormal between them. Once the three ghost camp players died, the silver bracelets changed back to ordinary metal rings. Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang¡¯s hands were handcuffed together by the metal rings.


    Nan Zhou exclaimed, ¡°¡­Ah.¡±


    It turned out that the click just now was the sound of locking. Jiang Fang also noticed their inseparable hands. The subtle light in his eyes was replaced by a helpless and gentle smile. He shrugged and smiled, ¡°¡­Oops.¡±

 CH 9

    Nan Zhou¡¯s strategy was simple. It was as simple as using the information from the surrounding environment to compose a series of lies in the beginning to gain everyone¡¯s initial trust.


    He used the age and name on the missing person notice and the Longtan 2nd High School logo on the map to get another ghost player secretly observing the environment to mistake him for a companion.


    Everyone hurriedly looked around for the missing person notice that Nan Zhou mentioned.


    ¡­There was nothing. This was until Nan Zhou reached out two fingers and accurately inserted them into the fat man¡¯s jeans pocket. He quickly grabbed two pieces of paper, pulled them out and threw them in the air.


    It was summer and everyone¡¯s clothes were thinner. Therefore, it was particularly eye-catching if there were two or three sheets of paper in your pant pockets even if they were folded thinly.


    The fat man¡¯s face turned red. On the missing persons notice that slowly fell to the ground, the two bright red characters ¡®Luo Yan¡¯ were like two needles piercing his eyes. Previously, the fat man had complained about Nan Zhou and wondered why Nan Zhou didn¡¯t just make up a name. The name on the missing persons notice on the advertisement box couldn¡¯t be more eye-catching.


    However, it was as Nan Zhou said. Apart from ghost players, human players didn¡¯t care about the surrounding environment, only the people. This was an unavoidable psychological blind zone. It was the same even if this name was stuck to the left side of Nan Zhou¡¯s head when he introduced himself.


    The fat man also didn¡¯t expect that Liu Xiao would be caught directly by Jiang Fang. This made him worry about winning the game. One less teammate was one less person grabbing the points. This could be considered a good thing.


    It was just that the fat man didn¡¯t like the feeling of fighting alone. Moreover, he found that Nan Zhou could use an identity improvised based on the missing person notice to successfully fool everyone, indicating that this person¡¯s brain was good. He could also lift the crazy Wu Yukai and throw him, showing that his strength wasn¡¯t bad.


    The ability that Nan Zhou showed made the fat man a bit tempted. He needed a long-term teammate. Therefore, he wanted to show his favor to this ¡®temporary teammate¡¯ and help him make the lie more perfect.


    At this time, Nan Zhou ¡®just happened¡¯ to leave his seat. Therefore, the fat man took advantage of the darkness created by the game system when going through the tunnel. He tiptoed to Nan Zhou¡¯s seat in the darkness and based on the location of the missing persons notice in his memory, he grabbed several missing persons notices nearby, hiding them.


    The fat man thought about how this person had been digging a hole for him from the very beginning and blood gushed to his head, making him dizzy. Was the strength and brainpower Nan Zhou displayed intentionally or unintentionally all for the sake of catching the fat man who was hidden in the darkness? Did Nan Zhou deliberately leave his seat to make room for the fat man?


    As long as the bait was taken, Nan Zhou just needed to secretly observe who was hiding something. After all, the time to go through the tunnel was really limited. The fat man tore off the missing persons notices but had no time or space to properly discard them.


    On the other side, Nan Zhou let out a small sigh. Jiang Fang used the dashcam to only catch Liu Xiao, the stupid fish. This showed the remaining two ghosts weren¡¯t stupid and at least knew how to control their emotions.


    Fortunately, the smarter people were, the more likely they were to be too smart. A stupid person might not have entered the trap he set.


    ¡­He also managed to drag another teammate into the water.


    Cr atf oja wjc kjr offilcu ueaafv, tf tfjgv Rjc Itbe rjs, ¡°Vlcmf sbe tjnfc¡¯a yffc bc atf yer rlcmf atf yfulcclcu, atfgf lr bcf wbgf qfgrbc ktb ilfv¡ª¡±


    Hlc Tjvbcu rjlv atja atf oja wjc tjv jvperafv atf rfja atf wbwfca tf uba bc, qgfrrlcu la vlgfmais jujlcra tlr atlut. Vlcmf atf oja wjc kjrc¡¯a bglulcjiis bc atf yer, Hlc Tjvbcu mbeiv bcis yf j ojxf.


    Before Nan Zhou finished speaking, a figure suddenly rushed toward him! Qin Yadong, who had been sitting behind the fat man, held a dagger in his hand. It reflected the cold light in his eyes as it aimed at Nan Zhou¡¯s heart!


    Obviously, everyone had been searched. Where did he get the weapon from?! Everyone was stunned by the huge amount of information and had no time to react.


    The fat man seized this last chance and used his free hand to squeeze Nan Zhou into his arms!


    ***


    It would be false to say that Qin Yadong didn¡¯t feel hatred toward the fat man. From the beginning, he recognized the fat man as his teammate. It was because he sat behind the fat man and could see it most clearly.


    ¡­The fat man was quietly observing the environment. Thus, he tried to give the fat man a hint. It was just that due to poor information, the fat man didn¡¯t think of him as a teammate. From the fat man¡¯s perspective, Qin Yadong looked weak and good-natured unlike someone who has already experienced the game. Secondly, the fat man felt he had been hiding well. Even if Qin Yadong was his ghost teammate, it was impossible for Qin Yadong to see through him so easily.


    Since Qin Yadong wasn¡¯t a ghost, he was probably a human player who had no one to testify for him. He was sleeping on the way so he found an excuse to drag someone in to testify for him.


    The fat man naturally couldn¡¯t follow his words. What if Qin Yadong was cheating him? Therefore, he denied Qin Yadong¡¯s testimony and at the same time, he identified an unrelated person as a teammate.


    As a result, Qin Yadong became the dirt that was pulled out along with the radish (investigating something and uncovering something else).


    Qin Yadong didn¡¯t intend to sit back and wait. The ghost players had experienced more games than these new players and it wasn¡¯t just experience that they had gained. There was also an invisible warehouse.


    The game had a rule that didn¡¯t allow ghosts to kill players by means other than voting. If he broke the rules, there was a good chance he would be wiped out on the spot like the player who tried to escape. However, even if it meant dying, he had to take preemptive action and pull someone else with him!


    Nan Zhou¡¯s chest was exposed to Qin Yadong¡¯s knife. Just as the steel knife with the bloodletting groove was about to sink into Nan Zhou¡¯s flesh, a strong wind burst in Qin Yadong¡¯s ear. A swing punch hit his ear hard without any cushioning!


    Qin Yadong felt a terrible pain and his brain was like tofu that had been stirred. There was a bloody mist in front of him and he couldn¡¯t hold the dagger in his hand. He was about to fall vertically when a leg whipped through the air and struck the handle of the knife. The blade flew out in a cross shape and nailed straight into the advertisement box!


    Li Yinhang had long hands and legs. She rushed to the side of Qin Yadong who was lying on the ground, screaming and twitching in pain. She gripped his wrist and voted for him. After finishing what Jiang Fang had told her to do, she looked up and found that the bus was very close to the tunnel


    The fat man didn¡¯t get the blood splattering scene he imagined. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t struggle from the shackle of the fat man¡¯s one arm. He simply stretched a hand back and grabbed the fat man¡¯s neck.


    The fat man shivered due to the touch of his palm. Nan Zhou¡¯s hand was very cold and the feeling of it gently closing around his neck gave the fat man a strange sense of horror. This person¡­ seemed to be intending to break his neck.


    At this time, the shadow of the tunnel covered them. The moment the darkness was about to swallow up the two of them, the fat man suffocating from fear seemed to hear Nan Zhou sigh. The touch that was like a poisonous snake on his neck disappeared. Instead, there was a mechanical sound coming from his wrist.


    Ding.


    At almost the same time, another mechanical sound signaling the end came from Qin Yadong¡¯s wrist. It was just that the sound was too synchronized so Nan Zhou didn¡¯t realize the game was over. In his cognition, there was still Qin Yadong.


    Jiang Fang had just stood up when a figure leaped toward him. Out of instinct, Jiang Fang straightened his waist and pressed Nan Zhou under him. However, he didn¡¯t relax because of this. Sure enough, there was a strong wind coming from his waist area.


    Jiang Fang pushed one hand back and blocked the force of this knee. At the same time, he pressed one hand firmly into the crook of this person¡¯s right knee, forcing his thighs apart and pinning him to the ground firmly.


    It was just that he ignored the other hand. Nan Zhou used his best effort and slammed the silver bracelet around his wrist against Jiang Fang¡¯s silver bracelet.


    Click.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t remember until their bracelets touched and the familiar mechanical sound wasn¡¯t heard that everyone could only vote once in a round. Nan Zhou who was a bit frustrated, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The other party just pressed against his leg and didn¡¯t seem to intend to fight back. Therefore, Nan Zhou also dropped his hand. The moment his muscles relaxed, the feeling of being suffocated followed closely.


    Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t help gasping. The warm air flow hit the other person¡¯s face and returned back, making his own cheeks itchy. He was about to turn over and sit up when it became bright. Nan Zhou saw that it wasn¡¯t Qin Yadong pressing on him as imagined. It was Jiang Fang.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou stared at him before glancing to the side. Two white mushrooms were neatly appearing next to them. Nan Zhou looked at Jiang Fang again.


    ¡­He fell into a brief period of confusion. The game was over.


    The mushroom¡¯s sweet and cheerful girlish voice was heard from the front of the bus. ¡°Everybody¡ª¡±


    ¡­Then it fell silent.


    Not only did it not see the corpse of the annoying Nan Zhou, but it also saw such an ugly restricted scene. After a few seconds, it disappeared on the spot with a bang, running away as quickly as it came.


    ¡­Li Yinhang felt that it ran away in anger. The DM ran away so the final reward was announced by a mechanical female voice.


    ¡°The trial level is over.¡±


    ¡°The human players have won.¡±


    ¡°Three people in the ghost camp have died. The basic reward is 300 points.¡±


    ¡°One person died in the human camp.¡±


    ¡°Contribution sharing and reward reports are being generated. Please wait¡ª¡±


    Jiang Fang let go of his hand and apologized gently. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t expect you to jump over so suddenly. I just¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou shook his head and was going to reply ¡®it¡¯s okay¡¯ when he noticed something abnormal between them. Once the three ghost camp players died, the silver bracelets changed back to ordinary metal rings. Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang¡¯s hands were handcuffed together by the metal rings.


    Nan Zhou exclaimed, ¡°¡­Ah.¡±


    It turned out that the click just now was the sound of locking. Jiang Fang also noticed their inseparable hands. The subtle light in his eyes was replaced by a helpless and gentle smile. He shrugged and smiled, ¡°¡­Oops.¡±

 CH 10

    Before the words were over, a translucent game panel appeared in front of Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes.


    He reached out and waved his hand in front of his face. He found that the game panel wasn¡¯t a real object but a virtual panel floating directly on the retinas. It didn¡¯t require major movements. Just a slight swipe of the finger could realize a series of operations such as calling out the panel, closing the page and using items.


    The left side of the panel contained the logo of a thriving tree of life. The thick roots and leaves extended outward, encircling the main page on the right. The shape of the canopy resembled a human brain. Nan Zhou tried to touch the canopy with his fingers. Thousands of golden stardust fell from the treetop like fireflies living there.


    The most eye-catching thing on the main page was the character¡¯s name, their photo and their attributes bar that hadn¡¯t been fully calculated and loaded yet. There were the strength, intelligence, contribution and san (fear) value attributes. In addition, there were some strange skill attributes such as theft, healing, taunting, cooking, forging, labor, etc.


    There was a friends list in the upper right corner. He clicked on it and wasn¡¯t surprised to find it empty. The lower left corner was the store. There weren¡¯t many things that could be bought from it. Most of the items were gray, representing words full of mockery:


    ¡®Can¡¯t afford it.¡¯


    The lower right corner was the mission log. He clicked on it and could see that the progress of the trial level was 100% complete. Sandwiched between the store and the mission log was the item slots. There were currently three open grids. The other five were gray and unopened.


    This was an environment where others could see the contents of the panel so the doubtful people decided to get off the bus first. Even Jiang Fang just scanned it quickly and waited for Nan Zhou next to him.


    However, Nan Zhou¡¯s curiosity was incredibly strong. He poked through all the gray and bright products in the store and almost thoroughly studied every corner of the panel. He even went to determine if he would get any hidden rewards by frequently clicking on the leaves.


    Therefore, Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou were the last two to go down.


    The steel rabbit noticed Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang¡¯s tightly handcuffed hands. Its ears pricked up. ¡°The two of you are a pair?¡±


    Nan Zhou thought of Jiang Fang¡¯s scorpion braid that probably caused a misunderstanding and seriously explained to the rabbit, ¡°He is a man.¡±


    At this point, Jiang Fang seemed to have completely adjusted his mood. He kept a perfect smile and nodded at the rabbit. ¡°Yes, I am.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s answer didn¡¯t seem wrong but he always felt that something was strange. The rabbit¡¯s question was also answered. It lowered its ears and shook, its teeth making a crunching steel sound as they rubbed against each other. ¡°Do you need me to unlock it?¡±


    ¡­It was referring to the two people¡¯s bracelets.


    Nan Zhou was about to raise his hand and listened to Jiang Fang. ¡°Thank you, no need.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s hand grabbed the bracelet. He fumbled around and with some effort, the bracelet on his wrist easily dented.


    Rjc Itbe, ¡°¡­¡­?¡±


    ¡°Elcu bo Kbwbggbk.¡± Aljcu Mjcu rdeffhfv atf gfwbnfv ygjmfifa bc tlr qjiw. ¡°Ktf rlwqifra wjulm lafw.¡±


    Rjc Itbe¡¯r bkc ygjmfifa tjv cb ujqr. Pa kjr atlc jcv cjggbk jcv la kjr j yla vloolmeia ab qea bc ja olgra. Aljcu Mjcu¡¯r ygjmfifa kjr j yla atlccfg atjc tlr. Ycmf atf akb ygjmfifar kfgf rajmxfv abufatfg, atfs rdeffhfv fjmt batfg¡¯r rqjmf.


    This was why Nan Zhou asked if he should take them off. He was afraid he would break Jiang Fang¡¯s wrist bones if he used too much force so he gave up trying to take off the bracelet. He decided to wait until the end.


    Jiang Fang used his sleeve to cushion his wrist and pulled off the bracelet while Jiang Fang explained simply, ¡°Our two bracelets happen to be a pair. Yours is the true one and mine is the fake.¡±


    ¡°One part of the fake bracelet is made of neodymium magnets and the color is exactly the same as the silver ring itself.¡±


    ¡°If there is a strong impact at approximately the right angle, the principle of magnetism will automatically restore the broken bracelets to their original shape.¡±


    During these words, Nan Zhou succeeded in removing the bracelet. He rubbed his wrist and asked, ¡°If you knew then why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡±


    Jiang Fang put his hands behind his back and smiled. ¡°I thought you would find out.¡±


    Of course, he never mentioned that he had used his thumb to block the magnetic opening of his bracelet when Nan Zhou examined it. It was a magic item after all. He had to rely on magic tricks. Jiang Fang handed Nan Zhou his bracelet. ¡°Here, they are a pair so I will give you this as a souvenir.¡±


    Nan Zhou fixed his eyes on the bracelet and nodded curiously. ¡°¡­Um.¡±


    The other people, ¡°¡­¡­¡± This person¡¯s mind was so active and his face was cold, but he was unexpectedly very easy to coax.


    Everyone stood in place, waiting at a loss for the rabbit¡¯s next instructions. The steel rabbit saw that everyone had gathered and hopped in a certain direction. There were no instructions so everyone was afraid to move. With instructions, some people were even more afraid to move.


    As they hesitated, Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou had already followed the rabbit closely. In any case, they had nowhere else to go now. So after crossing a gravel road and making a turn, they saw a city square.


    The setting sun was like melted cream and the ochre light was like oil paint as it spread deeply and unevenly across the sky. The square was huge. The east side was a large shopping mall. The three storey circular building extended all the way to the southeast, covering an incalculable area. The west side had restaurants, bookstores, a movie theater and several scattered hotels. The lush shadows of the trees covered the cobblestone pavement.


    Right in front of the group was a fountain with first-class craftsmanship. The center contained a white jade carving in the shape of a giant tree and a circle of fountain heads was set up in the surrounding open space.


    Perhaps because it wasn¡¯t the right time but the fountain hadn¡¯t started yet. However, the most important thing was the people moving around it. For a time, it felt like they had returned to normal society. It wouldn¡¯t be very sci-fi if it wasn¡¯t for the iron rabbit standing next to them.


    Li Yinhang was dumbfounded. ¡°¡­This is¡­ Rust City of Forces of Temptation?¡±


    Nan Zhou glanced at her. Rust City was one of the birthplaces of players in the game Forces of Temptation. Due to its closeness to a real city, the game planners called it Rust City. Excessive prosperity was the embroidery of the city but there was also the rust of nature.


    Zhao Guanglu had nothing to do with games and asked eagerly, ¡°What exactly is Forces of Temptation?¡±


    Wu Yukai obviously had more to say about this issue. He briefly summarized. ¡°It is a holographic online game. The popularity was crazy but it quickly cooled down.¡±


    ***


    About a year and a half ago, the open world interactive communication game ¡®Forces of Temptation¡¯ developed by the company Tree of Life was officially launched after a trial period of six months.


    Their selling point was a physics engine completely close to reality, a close-to-perfect ecosystem and a game instance world with a high degree of freedom to explore.


    To play this game, one needed to purchase a complete set of interactive equipment including a full VR helmet that modified visual and auditory neural feedback, biological tactile gloves, waist control equipment and a human-shaped biological cabin.


    One machine, one size. The price was good and a set of basic equipment cost 30,000 yuan. In the current price system of society, 30,000 yuan wasn¡¯t a lot.


    Take Li Yinhang as an example. As a small bank employee, her biggest goal in life was to get rid of her single status and to buy a small house in Shiyuan south district. She never considered buying high-end electronic luxury goods like Forces of Temptation.


    However, the publicity of Forces of Temptation was overwhelming, including the concept map of Rust. She had seen it in the headlines many times.


    Once it was first launched, the game sold madly because it was so appetizing. According to Li Yinhang¡¯s memories, this game was suitable for all ages. The movie theater could be used to watch movies and its library was quite full. The bookstore contained millions of books. They could wear headphones, read through books and enjoy a completely quiet library-style reading environment.


    There were several cities for players that were filled with easter eggs to be explored. For example, the most central pond of Rust City was also a wishing fountain. They could use 10 points of game currency to make a wish and there was a certain probability of the wish coming true. They might get a high grade weapon or a rare function card.


    Of course, the most popular thing about Forces of Temptation were the original instances supplemented by all types of novels, comics and other literary products. Players could enter instances of various settings such as supernatural, magic, cold weapons, zombies, plague etc. to complete tasks, gain various items and upgrade their character.


    The instance system was the most direct and effective way for players to upgrade and it was the main module of Forces of Temptation. If a player was biased toward Buddhism and wasn¡¯t bothered with fighting or killing then they could occupy a piece of land and play a business game.


    Seeds in the store were cheaper than combat items. If they recharged some money to buy farming tools and consumed a bit of physical energy, they could open up a farm of their own and grow things according to the system time.


    Factory infrastructure could also start with the purchase of a simple textile machine. Whether it was a big farmer or textile factory, there were different ways of playing. Some players relied on careful management to climb to the front of the overall standings.


    Forces of Temptation was the only game project of Tree of Life. Their ambition in daring to enter the unknown holographic online game field was evident. The finished product they launched was worthy of their ambitions.


    ¡ªAt least, until the serious accident that happened six or seven months ago.


    Wu Yukai spoke up to here when Nan Zhou suddenly interrupted. ¡°In other words, everything you want in the game must be exchanged with points?¡±


    Before Wu Yukai¡¯s ¡®nonsense¡¯ could continue, he suddenly felt dizzy and suffocated. The oxygen around him was suddenly pulled away. In a moment, his lips turned a blue-purple color from a lack of oxygen.


    Looking at everyone¡¯s painful expression one by one, Pika smiled mysteriously with its steel mouth. ¡°Your 20 minute oxygen experience pack usage time has ended.¡±


    ¡°Please redeem your points for oxygen in time.¡±


    However, once it looked at Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang, it saw that they both looked as usual and were breathing smoothly. Nan Zhou even had the mind to turn back and remind Li Yinhang, who was covering her throat and unable to breathe. ¡°Open to page seven of the store. 10 points can be exchanged for one hour of breathing time.¡±


    Li Yinhang tried her best to hold her breath as she used shaky hands to prepare for the exchange, but there was a moment of hesitation. She still had a trace of the stubbornness of the poor.


    Nan Zhou saw through her thoughts and persuaded her. ¡°Exchange it. There isn¡¯t a more cost effective way. Even if you buy it 100 times in a row, you won¡¯t be given a discount of one point.¡±


    Pika, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It liked this part the most every time it received newcomers. The newcomers suddenly discovered that they lost the ability to breathe so they were ugly in their panic. It was the most pleasant scene. Pika felt like its routine happiness had been forcibly taken away by these two men. It held back its sulking. ¡°What¡¯s going on with you?¡±


    Did they know the oxygen would disappear so they exchanged it in advance?


    Jiang Fang smiled slightly. ¡°It¡¯s like this. We thought the three ¡®ghost¡¯ players might have something useful on them so we tried to put their bodies in the item slots.¡±


    Pika, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Fuck.


    Nan Zhou added, ¡°Yes, it is useful. They should still have oxygen in their backpacks.¡±


    Then he looked around at the strange gazes and asked curiously, ¡°Is there anything wrong with this?¡±


    Pika, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The other people who exchanged points for breathing items one after another, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    This pervert brought three mushroom corpses  with him?!

 CH 11

    The fear that accompanied the lack of oxygen swept through them, draining the players¡¯ already low physical strength. The group of people hurriedly sat on the ground and gasped heavily. Fortunately, the right to use oxygen only specified a time limit, not an amount.


    The rabbit called Pika wasn¡¯t happy. Oxygen was in the back pages of the store. Therefore, every time there was this part, there was no player who wasn¡¯t scared out of their wits. It once enjoyed the scene where a player was suffocated alive because he was panicked and couldn¡¯t maintain his normal thinking ability.


    In contrast, the test this group of players received was too insignificant. Jiang Fang at least gave it some face and stayed in place without moving. However, Nan Zhou determined that no one had an accident and ran to the wishing fountain. He knelt down on the edge gracefully, his half-long hair slipping a bit from behind his ears. He looked underwater and it wasn¡¯t known what he was thinking.


    The players sat around and decided not to care about this person with an abnormal brain.


    Zhao Guanglu gasped and asked, ¡°This game¡­ what the hell happened?¡±


    Wu Yukai swallowed a few times to relieve the dryness of his throat. Then he gave a simple and crude answer. ¡°A bug!¡±


    Forces of Temptation had been running smoothly for nearly a year. Then a catastrophic bug occurred at the end of January this year. The inability to log off properly occurred with many people. At first, it was just a normal bug. Some players needed to click several times when selecting ¡®go offline¡¯ before successfully going offline.


    Tree of Life received the complaints of the players and raced against time to release an update patch. After the patch update, the problem disappeared for two days. Just as all players thought that the problem was solved, a terrible electronic disaster directly caused Forces of Temptation to have the biggest scandal in the history of gaming to date.


    A large number of players couldn¡¯t successfully leave the game. Those who managed to go offline had headaches, dizziness, coma-like symptoms, temporary blindness or other side-effects. Hundreds of players who forcefully used their pods to go offline even fell into a severely deep coma.


    Overnight, Tree of Life¡¯s share prices directly plunged. Tree of Life had just started its accountability procedure when the strange dialog box similar to a system debugging box appeared in the sky. It was just that no one knew what it meant at the time. They were still confused even now.


    Xie Yangyang asked in a trembling manner, ¡°Those who fell into the deep coma¡­ how are they?¡±


    ¡°Dead.¡± Wu Yukai pulled his hair like he was venting. ¡°One by one, they all died.¡±


    In the suffocating silence, the rabbit giggled.


    ¡°Okay, the information exchange time is over.¡± Its depressed mood was healed by everyone¡¯s desperate expressions. ¡°Now let me announce the rules of the game to you¡ª¡±


    Ding ding ding.


    The pleasant sound of music interrupted Rabbit Pika. A hidden ranking list popped up in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. Below the world speaker, a series of messages appeared.


    [Congratulations to player Nan Zhou for triggering the Easter egg reward: the gold coin of the goddess of luck!]


    [Bonus: 5 points]


    [Reward: gold coin of the goddess of luck.]


    [Gold coin usage: When making a wish, place the gold coin in the pool and you will get a luck bonus~]


    [Obtained the achievement ¡®Young Lady¡¯s Prayer.¡¯]


    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Fuck the Young Lady¡¯s Prayer.


    Look at the face of Rabbit Pika. The rabbit clearly had its life shortened. The hero Nanji Star bit a gold coin and surfaced in a wet manner. It climbed up the white jade statue of the Tree of Life. ¡°¡­Squeak.¡±


    Nan Zhou spread open his hands.


    Nanji Star excitedly shook the water from the tips of his ears, opened the gliding film and landed directly in his master¡¯s palm. It was just that due to the water on his body, he couldn¡¯t stand steadily and rolled twice on Nan Zhou¡¯s palm before stopping.


    Aera atfc, atfgf kjr bcis bcf atbeuta lc atf wlcvr bo cbgwji tewjcr. Rjc Itbe kjrc¡¯a bcis atf qfgnfga ktb kbeiv rabgf ybvlfr lc tlr lcnfcabgs. Geglcu atf alwf ktfc fnfgsbcf kjr vlrmerrlcu atf lrref bo ilof jcv vfjat, tf jmaejiis gjc ab atf qbbi ab olrt obg ubiv mblcr.


    Pika also found it unpleasant. Those who came back from the instance would use the rare oxygen to rest and replenish their physical strength. Who would go to fish for free gold coins? It unilaterally declared that Nan Zhou was the most unqualified player it had ever encountered. Of course, Pika wouldn¡¯t admit that it hated Nan Zhou just because Nan Zhou deprived it of its hard-won enjoyment from its mechanical work.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t care about everyone else and Pika. He walked back and silently opened his palm to Pika, revealing the glittering gold coin engraved with the Tree of Life pattern.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡± How do I use this?


    Rabbit, ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Are you showing off to me?


    The brainwaves of the person and the rabbit didn¡¯t fit together and they fell into a strange stalemate.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t get an answer but didn¡¯t want to waste everyone¡¯s time. Seeing that they were sitting on the ground, he naturally chose to join the group. He put away the coin and sat down cross-legged.


    Pika couldn¡¯t react for a while, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Before it could speak, Nan Zhou looked up and asked earnestly, ¡°Aren¡¯t you introducing the rules of the game?¡±


    Pika, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Damn you. Its speaking speed suddenly increased like the mushroom on the bus. ¡°The rules of the game are simple. Whoever has the highest points will win.¡±


    This was obvious. The victory mechanism of the game was pretty much laid out in plain sight: points were king. The little Easter egg that Nan Zhou just found triggered the world horn and current ranking.


    The player currently ranked first had the highest number of points and the level had reached 23. It was just that his name was very strange. It was ¡®Eternal Life ¨C Zhang Yi.¡¯


    The level 5 cute newbie Nan Zhou asked, ¡°What is Eternal Life?¡±


    Rabbit didn¡¯t want to say more words than necessary. ¡°Team name.¡±


    They could group up in the game? People who hadn¡¯t played Forces of Temptation immediately pricked up their ears.


    Li Yinhang wasn¡¯t surprised. She once heard from a colleague that Forces of Temptation had a single player mode and a team mode. In single player mode, all the rewards belonged to one person regardless of how many there were. Team mode involved the sharing of rewards plus a team bonus. There were also special team rewards that couldn¡¯t be obtained in single player mode. The number of people was limited from 2-5.


    The things that Rabbit Pika told them were exactly the same as the instance mode of Forces of Temptation.


    ¡°Official games are divided into two modes, PVP and PVE.¡±


    ¡°Your trial level was randomly assigned to PVP.¡±


    ¡°At the beginning of each game, you have the right to choose between PVP and PVE. Of course, that is on the premise that you can choose the game.¡±


    After experiencing hypoxia, everyone had learned well. Selecting a game required 100 points and it was on the first page of the store.


    ¡°Once the player has finished the game, they can return to a rest point like Rust City and enjoy it.¡±


    ¡°Of course, any enjoyment comes at a price.¡±


    ¡°Cherish every point and use it well. It is closely related to your life.¡±


    Someone felt a bit of hope and asked, ¡°If we die in this game, then in reality¡­¡±


    This question was meaningless. They came from reality. None of those who disappeared from reality had returned. In addition, they were simply and rudely pulled into such a weird game. This was already blatantly saying, ¡®Dear players, hello. I am your father.¡¯ What else could be negotiated?


    Sure enough, Rabbit Pika sneered as an answer. ¡°In this game, there is always a set time limit to clear it.¡±


    Pika said so much in one breath and his bad mood gradually eased. It raised its head arrogantly and its ears creaked. ¡°Once the game is over, the winner can realize a wish.¡±


    ¡°Here is the wishing fountain¡­¡±


    The moment it spoke, it remembered the annoying thing that happened just now. Its mouth drooped and it continued to speak reluctantly.


    ¡°Now you can spend 10 points to make a wish.¡±


    ¡°Once the game is over, the player¡¯s final ranking needs to be in first place. It doesn¡¯t matter if it is as a single player or a team. Then your wish can be achieved.¡±


    ¡°Of course, you might wonder if something like ¡®I want 100 more wishes¡¯ is feasible?¡±


    ¡°The answer is that your wish will be skipped and not be realized.¡±


    ¡°So players, please make your wish cautiously.¡± Then Pika glanced disdainfully at Nan Zhou. ¡°¡­In addition, the wish made by people with the lucky gold coin will have a certain luck bonus and their wish will be given priority to be achieved first.¡±


    The words ¡®why are you so proud of having such a rubbish skill?¡¯ was on its face.


    Nan Zhou blinked, not so disappointed. Sure enough, the reward for the egg wasn¡¯t too exaggerated. If he wanted to realize his wish, he still had to win first place in points. To put it bluntly, this gold coin was a purely useless gadget.


    Someone had the courage to ask, ¡°¡­Then can we still fish for gold coins?¡±


    Pika rolled its eyes. ¡°What does Easter egg mean? Only the first person can get the reward!¡±


    It seemed tired of repeating the same thing over and over again. It crossed its two front paws and hugged its chest as it said lazily, ¡°Please hurry up and make a wish.¡±


    Pika covered up his crazy heart with a cold demeanor and disappeared with a bang to receive the next wave of guests. The first person to take action was Nan Zhou. He walked back to the wish fountain and threw the gold coin back into the water without hesitation. The moment there was the plop of water, 10 points were also deducted.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t care about this. He closed his eyes and made a wish with a very pious expression.


    Everyone saw that Nan Zhou made a wish and also flocked over. They had just bought oxygen and it wasn¡¯t a big deal to spend another 10 points. Some people took the opportunity to sneak their hands into the water to try and see if they could fish out gold coins. Even making 5 points was good.


    However, these gold coins seemed to be firmly wedged to the bottom of the pool. No one could pick them up and they couldn¡¯t be moved. Only two people didn¡¯t move. They were Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang.


    After Nan Zhou finished making his wish, he saw the two people standing far away from the wishing fountain and naturally walked toward them. He asked, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you making a wish?¡±


    Jiang Fang answered with a smile, ¡°There is no hurry. There is no time limit to making a wish and I have to think about it. It isn¡¯t too late to make a wish when I am about to win.¡±


    Li Yinhang¡¯s reason was much simpler.


    ¡°I have to wait until I have more points before making a wish.¡± She told them, ¡°I¡¯m afraid there won¡¯t be enough points when I need to use them.¡±


    Once they finished making the wishes, the next question everyone faced was who to team up with. Among those present, no one wanted to be a lone ranger. They had experienced an instance and they had a basic understanding of each other.


    They approached and talked quietly but all intentionally or unintentionally ignored Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou. If they were asked to evaluate if Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou were smart then they would have nothing to say.


    However, they didn¡¯t necessarily trust these two. Nan Zhou seemed like a lone person at first glance. He was also a pervert who didn¡¯t play cards according to common sense. Jiang Fang felt very comfortable and friendly but after Nan Zhou¡¯s analysis on the bus, everyone could come to a basic conclusion through the cloud of confusion. This man pretended to be harmless but he had deep waters. It was fine to be like this toward others but what if he acted like this to his teammates?


    Everyone noticed that there was no rule in the game that teammates couldn¡¯t hurt each other. If it was just a game, it would be nice to have a smart teammate. Now it was a matter of life or death and they didn¡¯t dare bet easily. If they were with people who were too smart then they might die without knowing how it happened.


    Xie Yangyang formed a team with the man and woman who got on the bus together. Zhao Guanglu actually left with Wu Yukai despite having a heated exchange with him in the beginning. It was probably because he knew nothing about games and Wu Yukai was the one who knew Forces of Temptation best. Adults only considered the pros and cons and wouldn¡¯t act in a fit of pique.


    Seeing everyone leave in groups, Nan Zhou looked around and let out a low sigh. ¡°Why are they all gone?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± There is one more person here.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t seem very regretful. He stated this fact to himself before turning to Li Yinhang, ¡°Who are you going to team up with?¡±


    Li Yinhang had always been the most pragmatic and very on top of it. She clasped her hands together as she sincerely hugged this bigshot¡¯s thigh. ¡°Bigshot, I will be with you. I¡¯m not clingy and I¡¯m obedient. I have been a bank customer service worker for two years. Believe me, I can overcome any difficulty.¡±


    Jiang Fang looked at the eager Li Yinhang and several key words appeared in his mind:


    Physical strength might delay us.


    Obedient, simple and not sticky.


    Prudent.


    Li Yinhang was passable as a teammate.


    In contrast, Nan Zhou¡¯s judgment of Li Yinhang was much simpler. He glanced at Li Yinhang and thought there were three more storage slots. Nan Zhou clicked on the friend list and asked for Li Yinhang¡¯s personal serial number on her game interface. Then he turned to Jiang Fang.


    Jiang Fang looked at him and smiled softly. Nan Zhou grabbed Li Yinhang¡¯s sleeve, faced him and took two steps back. Then he raised his hand and made a friendly wave. ¡°Well, bye.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t even considering pulling him into the team?


    ¡°Wait.¡± Jiang Fang quickly adjusted his mentality and stepped forward. ¡°Don¡¯t you want me on your team?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Nan Zhou frowned gently. ¡°I do but you didn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    ¡°I thought¡­ we were handcuffed together on the bus and we stayed together after getting off. We should be on the same team.¡±


    ¡°However, you didn¡¯t ask me.¡± Nan Zhou showed a puzzled look. ¡°You should say that you want to be with me. If you don¡¯t say it then I won¡¯t understand.¡±


    The look in Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes became complicated again.


    ¡°I think¡­¡± He seemed unaccustomed to such straightforwardness. He took a breath and lowered his eyes. A moment later, he showed a small smile as he stared directly into Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes and expressed the simple sentence. ¡°I want to be with you.¡±


    The author has something to say:


    On how a scheming boy who isn¡¯t good at playing the straight ball overcomes psychological obstacles.jpg.

 CH 12

    The three of them chose a coffee shop to rest in. The owner was a beautiful little hen wearing a floral apron and enthusiastically asked what they wanted to eat.


    Li Yinhang was numb. If the NPC was a humanoid creature then she might be surprised by the courtesy. She took out her points and naturally asked, ¡°What would you like to eat?¡±


    Li Yinhang was good at calculations and planning but she wouldn¡¯t forget to pay. She clearly knew she was an ordinary person. Apart from winning the 3km championship at a school sports event in which the physical education department didn¡¯t participate, she didn¡¯t have much capital to use in this game.


    She couldn¡¯t rely on her low points. After hugging the thighs of a bigshot, she would just put up both hands and wait for someone to take her with them. She had to do her best to survive in order to not go straight to the bank of heaven for re-employment. Fortunately, compared with the essential oxygen, the cost of food was much lower.


    Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou also had a sense of measure. Nan Zhou ordered a cream cake worth 15 points and Jiang Fang ordered black coffee worth 15 points, both of which were the cheapest items on the menu. She pondered over the menu before finally asking Miss Hen for a glass of white water on the grounds of buy two, get one free.


    Nan Zhou continued to study his game panel while waiting for the snack to come. The Easter egg had called out the function of the world channel and also displayed the new rankings page.


    ¡°This is the single player rankings.¡± Jiang Fang reminded him. ¡°There is the team rankings next to it.¡±


    Nan Zhou hummed and opened the tab labeled ¡®team.¡¯ The number one player on the single player list was Eternal Life ¨C Zhang Yi.


    The number one team on the team list was called ¡®.¡¯ It was just a full stop. There was no name suffix and it was just a symbol.


    There were simple notes next to the rankings. In short, the single player rankings counted an individual¡¯s points while the team rankings counted the team¡¯s points. The rankings for both were calculated separately so there could be two firsts.


    Nan Zhou made a simple calculation. In this way, the following situations might eventually appear regarding the game¡¯s rankings:


    A team won and one of the team members had the highest number of points in the single player ranking.


    A team won while a player who didn¡¯t form a team won at the same time.


    A player won the single player rankings but this person belonged to another team that wasn¡¯t the team with the highest points.


    There were three simple endings but due to people¡¯s changeable hearts, there were bound to be countless changes and undercurrents.


    Nan Zhou swiped a few times, saw the scores of the players on the two rankings and came to a conclusion. ¡°The scores at the top aren¡¯t much different.¡±


    Jiang Fang added, ¡°On the single player rankings, a large gap starts from 28th to 27th place. Meanwhile, it occurs at 8th place on the team list. The main reason should be the difference in the number of instances passed.¡±


    Li Yinhang held the water and listened to their analysis eagerly. ¡°Then¡­ are we too far behind?¡±


    Nan Zhou simply answered, ¡°Not much.¡±


    Jiang Fang supplemented the information for Nan Zhou. ¡°Since the game depends on the rankings to determine the outcome, it will definitely have a balance mechanism.¡±


    Li Yinhang wondered, ¡°For example¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang had a good temper. ¡°For example, if the game keeps bringing in new people then what will happen when the game is ultimately decided?¡±


    Li Yinhang thought about it and felt she understood a bit. In this game, if there was no balance while fresh blood was constantly injected, the people who came in later were destined to be cannon fodder. There was no possibility of overturning things. They might not have even played two instances before the game was decided. They would be competing in loneliness.


    Rjc Itbe bqfcfv tlr wbeat. ¡°Ktfgfobgf, atfgf klii yf j ilwla bc atf cewyfg bo qfbqif ktb mjc fcafg Mbgmfr bo Kfwqajalbc lc atf oeaegf. Snfc joafg gfjmtlcu j mfgajlc cewyfg, atfgf klii yf cb wbgf cfkmbwfgr.¡±


    Ol Tlctjcu tfjgv atlr. Rba bcis vlv rtf offi obgaecjaf obg atf qfbqif ktb frmjqfv atf vlrjrafg yea rtf kjrc¡¯a gfmbcmlifv jybea tfg bkc yjv iemx. ¡°Efjiis?¡±


    Nan Zhou told her, ¡°I¡¯m guessing.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou added, ¡°Not only will there be a limit to the number of people, there will also be a limit to the number and choice of instances.¡±


    Li Yinhang had learned well. ¡°Is this also a guess?¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°Yes, it is a guess.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Pretty.


    Jiang Fang quickly got his meaning. ¡°You are worried that we will eventually be forced to play a PVP knockout match? Or that the number of instances will actually be limited?¡±


    Both of these were likely. It was because the setting of the game must be balanced. Only in this way could there be a minimum competition value. Otherwise, if the number of people was unlimited and the number of instances had no end then the game would never finish. It was inevitable that the early players would lose their advantage and the latecomers would take the lead.


    Obviously, the players with points currently at the top had such worries. In case the number of instances was limited, it was naturally necessary to seize the time to grab the instances before the newcomers who weren¡¯t thoroughly familiar with the game. This was why there was the phenomenon where the players at the top were biting at each other¡¯s score and no one was left behind.


    Nan Zhou responded to Jiang Fang¡¯s possibilities.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Nan Zhou¡¯s speech was clear and cold. ¡°Enter an instance and try it first to know the situation.¡±


    Li Yinhang gulped. She finally understood why the three ¡®ghost¡¯ players were so eager to take risks to score points. It wasn¡¯t just to earn the points for oxygen.


    She listened while swiping her fingers. She was obviously invoking a function on the panel. Nan Zhou noticed her movements. ¡°What are you looking at?¡±


    Before Li Yinhang had time to answer, she heard Jiang Fang answer for her. ¡°She is looking for someone.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She seriously suspected that Jiang Fang had opened a perspective cheat to look at her. In principle, couldn¡¯t everyone only see their own game panel?


    The moment Jiang Fang met her gaze, he seemed to fully understand her mind and gently explained, ¡°Out of all the functions on the panel, the only one that can be changed so quickly without much thought is the rankings.¡±


    He asked, ¡°Who are you looking for? A friend?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She might choose to be a leg pendant with no emotions but she still felt that the smiling Jiang Fang was more frightening than the cold-faced Nan Zhou.


    Nan Zhou kindly reminded her, ¡°The rankings are too long.¡±


    There were at least tens of thousands of names on the rankings list. There was also no guarantee that there wouldn¡¯t be any duplicate names. Li Yinhang¡¯s fingertip hovered over the page and sighed, ¡°I know.¡±


    As they talked, the cake and coffee were served. She quickly dispelled her sad thoughts and sat up straight. ¡°Let¡¯s form a team. Add each other as friends first¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang gestured to her and motioned for her to wait first. Li Yinhang followed his gaze. Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t talking or playing with his panel. He concentrated on cutting the small piece of cake into five or six cream squares of a similar size. Then he ate them one by one with a fork.


    Nan Zhou ate evenly and carefully while staring at the not-so-sophisticated cream flower in the corner. He took the fork and moved it, cherishing it. He kept this cream flower until the end and ate it in one bite.


    Li Yinhang discovered for the first time that Nan Zhou had a hobby very close to normal people. She even felt a type of surprise like she was discovering a new world. She tried to ask Nan Zhou, ¡°Would you like to have another one?¡±


    Nan Zhou put down his fork, took a tissue to wipe the corners of his mouth and thought about it. ¡°It is enough.¡±


    Her short time getting along with Nan Zhou let Li Yinhang know that if he said no, he really wasn¡¯t being polite to others. She suggested, ¡°Then add each other as friends?¡±


    Nan Zhou hooked his feet around his chair and shook his hands twice. He seemed to be in a bad mood. He asked Li Yinhang, ¡°Do you have enough oxygen?¡±


    ¡°I only bought enough for one hour. I will buy it again when necessary.¡± Li Yinhang spoke firmly. ¡°What if there is a special offer day?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    In a way, Li Yinhang was also a talent.


    Nan Zhou suggested, ¡°I have two corpses in my backpack. Do you want one?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She tried to make a final struggle. ¡°¡­Can you just give me oxygen and not the corpse?¡±


    ¡°I tried it.¡± Nan Zhou answered. ¡°They might be corpses but we can¡¯t access anything on them. Items and points aren¡¯t possible. I also can¡¯t check their rankings and status from when they were alive.¡±


    He raised his hand and withdrew the dagger he had placed in the third item slot. Only the sharp weapon already taken out by Qin Yadong before death became his item.


    Jiang Fang gave a more understandable explanation. ¡°We can only use their passive skills that haven¡¯t been exhausted.¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded in agreement. It was clearly written in the note in the ¡®oxygen¡¯ column: This is a cumulative use item. After entering the instance, the oxygen consumption will stop automatically. After returning to the rest point, the oxygen consumption will automatically start. To put it bluntly, these three corpses could only be used as oxygen cylinders.


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t pretend to be hypocritical and accepted the corpse Nan Zhou handed over. Then she immediately set about forming a team with them. After Nan Zhou sent the friend request, Jiang Fang was the first to accept. Li Yinhang was one step slower. Nan Zhou noticed that Li Yinhang had entered another name in the ¡®note¡¯ option after her name column:


    ¡°Li Bank.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought of her move to search through the names on the rankings and didn¡¯t ask much. Li Yinhang set it up like this to make her name stand out. In this way, she could feel a type of peace if her missing roommate was still somewhere alive in this game.


    In order to ease some of the depression in her heart, Li Yinhang adjusted her mentality and deliberately spoke in a positive tone, ¡°Then from now on, we are friends.¡±


    ¡°Not friends.¡± Nan Zhou corrected. ¡°We are collaborators.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She was slightly punched in the face but she accepted it well. She had always been shameless. This was tempered by a ruthless life.


    In the beginning when the newbie Li Yinhang finished the customer service observation training, she picked up her first call with vigor, intending to make a good start for her career. ¡°I am very happy to serve you.¡±


    The other person opened his mouth and said, ¡°You are happy too early.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    From then on, she knew that there were species in the world she couldn¡¯t have imagined.


    Jiang Fang noticed Li Yinhang¡¯s faint embarrassment so he changed the topic. ¡°Let¡¯s decide on a team name.¡±


    Then he turned to Li Yinhang. ¡°Miss Bank, I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She suddenly thought of the strange team names she encountered during her university debate competitions.


    ¡°We Are an All Talk Team.¡±


    ¡°Fierce Dragon Crossing the River Team.¡±


    ¡°There Is An Electrical Network in the River Team.¡±


    ¡°Pull the Electrical Network Team.¡±


    ¡°Right Right Right Right Team.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s Wrong With CP Team.¡±


    ¡°Dear Dear, This Side Suggests You Leave Team.¡±


    Li Yinhang held a straw and found that Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou were both looking at her while waiting for the name. She felt that she was under a lot of pressure.


    The author has something to say:


    Li Bank: At a loss.jpg

 CH 13

    In the end, the name of the team was set as ¡®Cube Boat.¡¯ (All three of them have different characters for boat in their names)


    Li Yinhang felt there was no need to make the team¡¯s name too ostentatious. It was easy to get into all types of troubles just by attracting the attention of others. She had always advocated making a fortune in silence.


    Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang had no problem with this.


    Li Yinhang knew that Nan Zhou didn¡¯t care about trivial things like the team name and Jiang Fang acted like he was good when talking about everything but this feeling of being respected made Li Yinhang¡¯s mood a lot more relaxed.


    The moment the team was successfully formed, the tree of life next to the panel moved like there was a gust of wind. A large number of leaves fell with a faint fluorescent light like the spring breeze blowing cherry blossoms. In the blink of an eye, flowers and leaves covered the entire screen.


    Ding. The page was successfully updated. There was a ¡®view teammates¡¯ page in the upper right corner. At this point, everyone¡¯s attributes were almost loaded.


    Li Yinhang quickly glanced through her attributes. This was probably the system¡¯s judgment based on the individual¡¯s own abilities in reality combined with the system¡¯s own standards. Not surprisingly, her data was mediocre.


    Her strength was 1.5, her cooking was 3, her labor was 3 and even her san value representing fear was 5. She was ordinary even when afraid.


    Jiang Fang praised her. ¡°Your spirit is tough.¡±


    Li Yinhang thanked him and ran to take a look at Jiang Fang¡¯s attributes. Sure enough, the so-called compliment was pity from the top student to the learning scum. Jiang Fang¡¯s various attributes were very uniform and there were none with 0 points.


    On the positive side, his healing, forging, and taunting were all 4 while his labor was 5. Among the negative attributes, his san value was 8. He also had five points in theft.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Brother, what do you do?


    To her greatest surprise, Jiang Fang¡¯s strength value was 9. Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t help looking at Jiang Fang. He sat there gently while holding the coffee cup in a gentle and gentlemanly manner. Forgive Li Yinhang¡¯s clumsy eyes but apart from his height, she couldn¡¯t see any signs of the ability to fight from Jiang Fang. She felt admiration and opened Nan Zhou¡¯s attributes bar.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Fuck.


    She was mediocre and average. Jiang Fang was excellent and average. Nan Zhou¡¯s attributes were completely to the other extreme.


    [Player Name: Nan Zhou]


    [Level: 5]


    [Strength: Garbled]


    [San (fear) value: Garbled]


    [Theft: 0]


    [Healing: 0]


    [Taunting: 8]


    [Cooking: Garbled]


    [Forging: 0]


    [Labor: 0]


    Ktf rsrafw rffwfv ab yf wbgf atjc j yla mbcoerfv ktfc ojmlcu Rjc Itbe. Pc j gjgf wbwfca, Ol Tlctjcu gfjmtfv j mbcrfcrer klat atf rsrafw¡¯r ¡®P vbc¡¯a ecvfgrajcv, P vbc¡¯a ecvfgrajcv¡¯ nlfkqblca.


    Rjc Itbe vlvc¡¯a lcafcv ab ulnf atf jaaglyeafr wemt jaafcalbc. Lf kjr meggfcais qjslcu jaafcalbc ab atf lafw ribar. Ugfnlberis lc Rjc Itbe¡¯r atgff lafw uglvr, akb wertgbbwr fjmt bmmeqlfv j uglv jcv atf vjuufg bmmeqlfv jcbatfg bcf.


    After giving a mushroom corpse to Li Yinhang and making a space, Nan Zhou took out the gnawed apple from his trench coat. Nanji Star, who had been hiding in his pocket with the stolen apple, was taken out along with the apple.


    Nan Zhou moved the apple and Nanji Star to the item grid. An ¡®item overflow¡¯ notification immediately popped up along with a large red cross.


    Nan Zhou took the apple, thought for a moment and shook it. Nanji Star couldn¡¯t hold on and fell into the inventory bar. The page immediately had a green notification of ¡®storage successful.¡¯


    [Congratulations to player Nan Zhou for getting ¡®Sugar Glider who has no use for anything except eating x1.¡¯]


    Nanji Star, ¡°¡­¡­¡± For a moment, he couldn¡¯t tell who was more inhuman, Nan Zhou or the system.


    He lay in the grid, his short toes repeatedly scratching the front to try and get out. However, it was like a completely transparent but unable to be opened wall of air was in front of his eyes, framing him squarely in the center.


    He was so aggrieved that he was teary and couldn¡¯t stop crying out weakly to Nan Zhou like a puppy. Seeing him resist so badly, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t continue the experiment. He moved his fingers and took Nanji Star out.


    Nanji Star regained his freedom but was still frightened. He opened his mouth to bite Nan Zhou but just as the small mouth grabbed Nan Zhou¡¯s finger web, he hesitated for a moment. He took a small bite before hiding headfirst, leaving only his shivering and fleshy buttocks exposed.


    Li Yinhang thought this was a cub with a human nature.


    Nan Zhou touched his two trembling short legs and came to the conclusion, ¡°Living things can also be put in.¡±


    As he said this, his cold eyes aimed at Li Yinhang. Li Yinhang felt a big shock from head to toe. Before she thought about whether she should say yes or not, she saw Nan Zhou reach out to her. ¡°Try and lock me in.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She was deeply impressed by Nan Zhou¡¯s spirit of scientific research that dared to treat everything, including himself, as a mouse. Before she could express her position, she heard Jiang Fang say, ¡°¡­I¡¯ll come.¡±


    Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang silently, resistance obvious in his eyes. He didn¡¯t trust this man very much and didn¡¯t want to enter his box.


    Jiang Fang seemed to have failed to notice Nan Zhou¡¯s resistance. He put down his empty coffee cup, spread open his palm to Nan Zhou and explained, ¡°I mean, you lock me up.¡±


    Nan Zhou was a bit surprised. Still, Jiang Fang took the initiative to volunteer so he didn¡¯t hesitate much. He took the initiative to hold Jiang Fang¡¯s hand.


    Sure enough, as Nan Zhou imagined, his hand grip was first-rate. His fingers were soft and slender but the joints were extremely hard and powerful. Small patches of blue veins were distributed under the snow-white skin with distinct roots.


    Jiang Fang gave his permission to Nan Zhou and so Nan Zhou dragged him into the item grid. Then the system became stuck.


    [Congratulations to the player Nan Zhou¡ª]


    [Congratulations¡ª]


    [Congrat¡ª]


    The item system had probably never stored something like a teammate who was still alive. After some tedious calculations, it finally reluctantly sent out the reward prompt.


    [Congratulations to the player for getting ¡®Player Jiang Fang x1¡¯.]


    Jiang Fang was in the item grid and looked like an exquisite, scaled down figure. In particular, the choker around his neck looked like a fragile ribbon. Jiang Fang walked around and breathed in the transparent cage with a calm expression.


    His actions gave Nan Zhou more information. Not only could the storage grid contain living things, the space could also change according to the size of the contents. The range of movement for Jiang Fang and Nanji Star seemed to have been calculated perfectly. It was just good enough for them to stay inside. It wasn¡¯t cramped but it wouldn¡¯t provide more space.


    Moreover, the unit of each grid was only ¡®1¡¯. It was just like how Nanji Star and the apple couldn¡¯t exist in a grid at the same time. The player¡¯s body that was transformed into a mushroom was contained in the item grid as a whole.


    Therefore, their points and items couldn¡¯t be used. They could only use the passive skill of providing oxygen. It was because the corpses were just ¡®items¡¯ with their own attributes.


    Nan Zhou confirmed it.


    During the time when Jiang Fang stayed in the item grid, there was no hypoxia, suffocation or other phenomena. Their teammate relationship wasn¡¯t dissolved. His profile picture and name also didn¡¯t turn gray.


    During the observation, Nan Zhou found that Jiang Fang was knocking on the transparent wall in front of him and saying a word.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Nan Zhou, who didn¡¯t hear anything, told Jiang Fang, ¡°I¡¯ll let you out now.¡±


    The next moment, Jiang Fang¡¯s body appeared. He couldn¡¯t stand firmly. He staggered and took Nan Zhou, who was sitting in the chair, back with him. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t plan to hide from it at all and fell back under the action of gravity. He was capable of perfectly avoiding it but at that time, Jiang Fang might fall down very heavily. This was his fault for not grasping the strength well so he should take responsibility.


    ¡­The expected heavy blow and pain didn¡¯t come. Jiang Fang actually forcibly found his balance just before he lost control. He exerted force on one knee and his waist as he reached out and pulled the falling Nan Zhou back to his chest. Due to the pull back, the two men broke through the safe social distance.


    A few strands of silver hair from Jiang Fang¡¯s temples hung over Nan Zhou¡¯s face and ears, making it itchy. However, Jiang Fang didn¡¯t maintain this action for too long. He straightened up, hooked one foot around the half tilted chair and pulled Nan Zhou up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s expression didn¡¯t fluctuate much. It was just that he felt the skin that his clothes rubbed over when he was picked up was a bit hot. It was a type of unspeakable tingling. He didn¡¯t think much about it. He took off his coat, casually pressed a hand against his chest and asked Jiang Fang, ¡°What did you say to me in the grid just now?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled softly. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t pursue it. ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°Later, if you encounter danger¡­¡± Nan Zhou turned to Li Yinhang and spoke like he was saying something that couldn¡¯t be more ordinary. ¡°You can hide in my storage compartment.¡±


    Then he turned to Jiang Fang. ¡°You too.¡±


    Li Yinhang¡¯s heart was hot. She just wanted to thank him when Nan Zhou suggested, ¡°Go to an instance?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± That¡¯s all.


    She took the lead in stating, ¡°I have no problem.¡±


    Li Yinhang knew that Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang would use the instance to get more information. She instinctively wanted to learn from an ostrich and plunge her head into the ground to escape reality but a real dilemma lay before her. She didn¡¯t know how long her mushroom corpse oxygen tank would last. She didn¡¯t want to waste oxygen in vain. To be honest, poor people had no choice.


    Jiang Fang also made a straightforward decision. ¡°PVE?¡±


    Both Li Yinhang and Nan Zhou agreed. Li Yinhang¡¯s first choice was PVE. She just experienced a fight between players. The vicious curses and desperate cries Liu Xiao made before his head exploded was still in her ears. For a short period of time, she didn¡¯t want to experience too much harming of others.


    The reason Nan Zhou gave was, ¡°I haven¡¯t tried PVE and want to accumulate experience.¡±


    ¡­A bigshot¡¯s thinking was really extraordinary.


    Jiang Fang spent 100 points to select an instance and clicked on the latter between ¡®PVP¡¯ and ¡®PVE.¡¯ The introduction of choosing the instance was no different from what Rabbit Pickup told them.


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°The instance is random and it is up to luck.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Don¡¯t jinx it.


    Jiang Fang stopped his hand and looked over at Nan Zhou. ¡°I¡¯m lucky.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked back. ¡°If you are lucky then you wouldn¡¯t have been picked by the game.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Don¡¯t jinx it, don¡¯t jinx it, don¡¯t jinx it.


    ¡°For me, my luck is the best. I can always choose the right one.¡±


    Jiang Fang clicked on ¡®select instance.¡¯ After gaining the consent of the two others with his eyes, he pressed ¡®use.¡¯


    Something like gold powder enveloped the three figures and they disappeared with Jiang Fang¡¯s last words.


    ¡°I have walked thousands of miles. As long as I can meet that person, it is the best luck.¡±


    In the blink of an eye, the three of them disappeared from the coffee store. The beautiful hen wiped the cups and turned a blind eye to what happened. The end of the golden light was infinite, infinite, infinite darkness. After experiencing a long period of floating and weightlessness, they didn¡¯t usher in the light. Instead, they first ushered in a mechanical female voice.


    [Dear players of the Cube Boat team, hello~]


    [Welcome to the instance: Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Life]


    [Number of people participating in the game: 8]


    [Instance nature: Supernatural puzzle solving]


    [Have a nice game~]


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Was this luck?


    The author has something to say:


    Strength: Garbled


    San value: Garbled


    Cooking: Garbled


    System: How many things do you have that I can¡¯t figure out.jpg

 CH 14

    [Xiao Ming¡¯s summer vacation routine is the same as all normal primary school students.]


    [8:00 ¨C Xiao Ming opens his eyes and ushers in an ordinary day.]


    [9:00 ¨C Xiao Ming doesn¡¯t want to do his homework but he still has to open his schoolbag.]


    [12:00 ¨C Xiao Ming makes a simple meal.]


    [13:00 ¨C Xiao Ming lays on the bed to nap and has a dream.]


    [15:00 ¨C Xiao Ming wakes up and has to do handicrafts. He hates handicrafts but he has to do it.]


    [18:00 ¨C Xiao Ming turns on the computer and plays his favorite game.]


    [20:00 ¨C Xiao Ming starts to write a diary to record his daily life.]


    [21:00 ¨C Xiao Ming washes his hair.]


    [22:00 ¨C Xiao Ming falls asleep. Another peaceful day has passed.]


    [This is Xiao Ming¡¯s daily life.]


    [The game will officially start when the clock strikes 24:00.]


    [The game time is 7 days.]


    [Find the door to leave before the time limit is over.]


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    There was a sense of substitution. It felt like she had gone back to the nightmare of a summer vacation where she was forced to supervise her little nephew doing his homework.


    Once the surrounding environment was gradually rendered and separated from the garbled code, Nan Zhou discovered that he and seven other people were standing in the living room of an ordinary residential apartment.


    This was a warm family house. There were three bedrooms and two public rooms that were around 100 square meters. A hand-made cross-stitch was hung on the wall of the living room, beautifully framed. Among the three brightly colored peonies, the words ¡®peace for the family¡¯ in needlepoint was hidden.


    The wallpaper was a uniform soft goose yellow which had a gradual color association with the yellow apricot light. The transition was natural and harmonious. The bear clock hanging in the living room and the dark silence outside the window told them it was close to midnight.


    Everything here was normal. The only strange thing was that in the huge living room, there was no door to the outside world. ¡®Look for the door¡¯ meant finding a way to leave the house?


    The yellow lights cast shadows on everyone¡¯s bodies, staggering black shadows on the ground. There were a total of eight players. Based on their respective positions in the beginning, it could be easily judged that the players were divided into three groups.


    They watched each other carefully. No one broke the silence initially.


    Rjc Itbe, Aljcu Mjcu jcv Ol Tlctjcu kfgf lc j afjw. Ktf batfg aglb kjr j mbcoluegjalbc bo bcf kbwjc jcv akb wfc. Ktf kbwjc kjr 27 bg 28 sfjgr biv jcv rffwfv rtgfkv jcv mjqjyif ogbw lcrlvf bea. Yea bo atf akb wfc, bcf kjr ajii jcv ragbcu. Llr ybvs tjv bynlberis ubcf atgbeut rsrafwjalm fzfgmlrf jcv tf rffwfv ilxf j olacfrr lcragemabg. Ktf batfg kjr atlc jcv wbcxfs-ilxf. Llr tfjv vlvc¡¯a aegc ktfc byrfgnlcu atf reggbecvlcu fcnlgbcwfca. Llr fsfr pera wbnfv yjmx jcv obgat jcv tf rtbkfv j ibbx ilxf j kgfamtfv atlfo.


    The remaining duo was a bit special in nature. One of them was in a wheelchair.


    Li Yinhang saw this situation and inevitably felt pity. The system was really inhuman to even pull the disabled in. The man in the wheelchair was in his early 30s. He had the same cold, elite temperament like Nan Zhou but the two of them had completely different styles. Nan Zhou was an indifferent mystery while he was polite and steady.


    In this environment, his clothing still showed a leisurely and respectable demeanor. He even had the light scent of Bvlgari White Tea perfume coming from him. He introduced himself to the nearest Nan Zhou. ¡°Yu Tuisi, a lawyer. I have passed four missions.¡±


    His introduction ended and he didn¡¯t speak for a long time. Lawyer Yu held the wheelchair with his hands and turned his head, making a rather helpless expression. ¡°I¡¯m calling you.¡±


    A tall young man who was seven or eight years younger than him was looking to the left and right. He heard these words and obediently said, ¡°Chen Sufeng, a senior in university.¡± The young man had a pair of drooping dog eyes. He looked like the sunny student of the sports department who was very popular in school. He was still full of his student spirit and his eyes were clean and straightforward.


    Nan Zhou told them, ¡°Nan Zhou, art teacher. This is the first time doing a formal task.¡±


    Yu Tuisi nodded and turned to Jiang Fang. ¡°A foreign friend?¡±


    Jiang Fang answered, ¡°Yes, half. My name is Jiang Fang and I¡¯m an international exchange student studying music.¡±


    Li Yinhang thought, ¡®Brother, aren¡¯t you unemployed?¡¯


    Still, she followed suit by reporting her name and profession.


    The thin monkey-like man listened and clapped his hands with a smile. ¡°Haha, there happens to be eight of us and eight tasks. One person can do one thing. The art teacher is just right to do handicrafts. Exchange student, you probably can¡¯t do anything else so you can sleep or something.¡±


    Li Yinhang felt uncomfortable. Everyone was exchanging information. Why was it that on his turn, he was giving orders?


    Nan Zhou completely ignored him and continued the conversation with Yu Tuisi. ¡°We just passed the trial level.¡±


    Yu Tuisi also didn¡¯t blink. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Take everything step by step.¡±


    Jiang Fang asked, ¡°Have you been in contact with a mystery level before?¡±


    Yu Tuisi thought about it. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been in touch twice but this time is smaller than the previous ones.¡±


    The thin monkey to one side. ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The strong fitness trainer cast a slightly disgruntled look at the sophisticated, capable woman. The woman looked around the living room and whispered to the fitness trainer. The fitness trainer nodded a few times and slapped his face twice before rudely interrupting their conversation.


    ¡°Be quiet, you guys.¡± His tone seemed like he was training his juniors. ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time to chat. We have to assign tasks first.¡±


    Li Yinhang was a bit upset. Then she took a casual glance at the game panel and almost doubted life. The task log contained the current team information. They could view the names and levels of the eight players in the instance.


    Out of the Yu Chen duo, Yu Tuisi was level 9 and Chen Sufeng was level 8. The other group of three was called ¡®Shunfeng¡¯ and they had reached level 10 together. She was a lonely level 2. For the two bigshots behind her, she didn¡¯t know when but they had both become cute newbies at level 1 who were even cuter than her.


    ¡­She had the highest points among the three. Li Yinhang thought she was dazzled and hurriedly checked her teammates¡¯ attributes. Nan Zhou had used 750 points from the trial level to unlock two item slots worth 300 points each. By deducting the 10 points he had used to make the wish and adding the 5 points from finding the Easter egg, he only had 145 points left and directly fell to level 1.


    Jiang Fang was even worse than Nan Zhou. He had opened two item slots and exchanged two items, so his points were below 100.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± The points might not be earned by her but she couldn¡¯t help hurting for both of them.


    Thanks to the point rankings, Shunfeng didn¡¯t even have the three newcomers of ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ in their eyes. They had to hurry and fight for the right to speak in the task with ¡®Nanshan¡¯ who was right behind them.


    The game was relatively clear. The eight things obviously corresponded to eight players. It meant they should work together and divide up the tasks to complete them within the specific period of time.


    This was where the disagreement came. The completion time of the eight things was long or short and they were difficult or easy. The longer the time, the greater the variables. For example, who would take the initiative to do things like ¡®sleeping¡¯ and ¡®handicrafts¡¯ that were time-consuming, difficult and had variables.


    Yu Tuisi put his hand on his leg and motioned to them. ¡°I can¡¯t do much.¡±


    The fitness trainer looked at his legs. ¡°Are you really disabled?¡±


    Chen Sufeng was unhappy and stepped out. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Yu Tuisi raised a hand to lightly block Chen Sufeng. He pressed this person back with his hand.


    The fitness trainer wasn¡¯t afraid of this youth. ¡°I¡¯m just asking. I¡¯m afraid that someone will use an excuse to be lazy.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t move so let¡¯s arrange for you to sleep at night,¡± the thin monkey suggested. ¡°After all, you don¡¯t need to do anything else.¡±


    Yu Tuisi responded indifferently, ¡°Okay.¡±


    He promised so readily that it made the capable woman, Shen Jie frown. She was the brains of Shunfeng and had to consider everything thoroughly. The game description made it clear that it would officially start after midnight. Sleep was the first thing Xiao Ming had to do.


    Therefore, it was likely to contain key information to solving the puzzle. If such an important matter was entrusted to the Nanshan people, wouldn¡¯t the initiative be in their hands? What if they hid important information?


    Shen Jie was hesitating when the young and handsome mixed-race man from the newbie team made a move. Jiang Fang drew out a brand new set of playing cards from the glass coffee table. ¡°If you arrange this arbitrarily, there will always be disputes and it will waste time.¡±


    He suggested another solution. ¡°Let¡¯s draw cards.¡±


    He took apart this new deck of cards, drew eight cards from it and showed them to everyone. A of Hearts to 8 of Hearts.


    ¡°There are a total of eight things in the task, arranged by time.¡±


    ¡°A of Hearts stands for the homework at 9 o¡¯clock and 8 of Hearts stands for sleeping from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next day.¡±


    ¡°Whoever draws a card has to do that task. If you have an opinion about what you drew, you can exchange it within the group, not outside the group.¡±


    ¡°How about it?¡±


    The fitness trainer and thin monkey both glanced at Shen Jie and asked for her opinion. Shen Jie nodded. This was reasonable.


    Seeing that no one raised any objections, Jiang Fang smiled gently. He held the thin pile of cards and slowly shuffled them. His movements weren¡¯t very flexible and the number of cards was small. He shuffled very slowly at first and gradually became a bit faster, only to accidentally drop one.


    Jiang Fang apologized, looked at Nan Zhou and leaned down. He picked up the dropped 2 of Hearts and casually inserted it among the cards. After shuffling dozens of times, he put the cards back down on the coffee table and spread them open with one finger. He took two steps back. ¡°You choose. I will be last.¡±


    Everyone looked at the cards, a bit reluctant to touch them.


    Nan Zhou remembered Jiang Fang¡¯s meaningful look toward him when Jiang Fang dropped the 2 of Hearts. A light nail mark had been quickly drawn on the dark blue pattern on the back of the 2 of Hearts card. He probably understood what Jiang Fang wanted him to do.


    He was the first to move and he pulled out the marked 2 of Hearts. The others saw that someone had chosen and also moved to draw a card. Yu Tuisi¡¯s card was taken with Chen Sufeng¡¯s help.


    The drawing of cards was over. Some people looked happy and some people were worried. Only Nan Zhou showed slight confusion in his calm expression. He saw Jiang Fang take out eight Hearts cards with his own eyes. He also saw with his own eyes that after Jiang Fang dropped the 2 of Hearts, he drew a mark on it in a quick and natural manner.


    So why was there a smiling red Joker in his hand?


    In the blink of an eye, cards were drawn. Jiang Fang took the last one.


    Shen Jie wasn¡¯t satisfied with her card. She drew ¡®washing her hair.¡¯ She wanted a card like cooking because the time was short and it was a task that couldn¡¯t easily go wrong. However, both her teammates were fairly satisfied with their cards. The fitness trainer got playing games and the thin monkey got writing in the diary. Neither of them had plans to change.


    On the other side, Yu Tuisi got napping and Chen Sufeng got doing homework, which were also normal.


    Nan Zhou was still thinking about how to show the card in his hand when Jiang Fang smiled bitterly and revealed his own card. It was the sleep that lasted for a while and had the longest time span.


    Jiang Fang asked his two teammates, ¡°What did you get?¡±


    Then he smoothly took away Li Yinhang and Nan Zhou¡¯s cards. Li Yinhang sighed. ¡°I have to do handicrafts.¡± It wasn¡¯t a good card.


    Jiang Fang put the three cards in his hands. He compared them and was satisfied. ¡°Nan Zhou is lucky.¡±


    As he spoke, he gently flipped the cards over. 8 of Hearts, 4 of Hearts and 2 of Hearts. The Joker had disappeared without a trace at some point.


    The author has something to say:


    Jiang Fang: I¡¯m just a plain, unemployed person [laughs]

 CH 15

    Shen Jie was satisfied with this result. Cube Boat was a rookie team. Newcomers had weaknesses. They were likely to panic and have weak observation skills but there was no need to worry about them daring to hide information. No matter what they found, they were bound to say it. Moreover, sleeping was the task with the longest time span and it was troublesome to think about. Now someone had come out to take care of this trouble so it was certainly the best.


    Jiang Fang collected the cards one by one. He watched everyone spreading out to search for clues and check the situation. Nan Zhou looked at his hand and asked, ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    Jiang Fang gave a low chuckle. ¡°It is a secret.¡±


    After the draw, there were only 30 minutes left until midnight. There wasn¡¯t much time for them to explore. However, there wasn¡¯t much room in this apartment to explore. There was a large pot of split-leaf philodendron on the balcony. The living room was connected to the dining room. There was a beautiful floral tablecloth on the table, and a vase with water and a handful of roses.


    Nan Zhou held onto the edge of the window in the living room where the screen was half-opened and looked down. Nothing could be seen on the ground and only the moon could be seen when looking up.


    Between the sky and the earth, only the moon and this apartment were shining with a bright light. There were no neighbors and no upstairs or downstairs. This apartment was like an isolated island of 100 square meters floating in the moonlight.


    The decorations in the master bedroom were fairly warm. There was a big bed, bedside tables, a floor lamp, a wardrobe, a projector mounted at the head of the bed and a separate toilet.


    The second bedroom had been converted into a study room and game room. There was a nicely configured all-in-one computer, a small sofa, a single person spring bed and a shelf full of books. It seemed easy to spend the whole day here. The second bedroom was for playing games. As for the children¡¯s room, it was likely to be the main venue for this game.


    The children¡¯s room was more than 20 square meters and there was a single bed with a blue car as a base. The mattress was quite soft and comfortable. Once the lights in the children¡¯s room were turned off, a starry night light would start to operate, casting a deep and shallow river of stars on the wall.


    Xiao Ming¡¯s schoolbag and a few books were placed on a small elevated desk for children. The task hadn¡¯t started so Xiao Ming¡¯s schoolbag couldn¡¯t be opened. The homework piled up in a corner of the desk seemed to be glued together and it was inseparable from the desk.


    After briefly checking the children¡¯s room and another bathroom next to the children¡¯s room, Jiang Fang went to the kitchen. The refrigerator could be opened. There was enough rice, noodles, grains and oils in the kitchen cabinets for seven days. He counted the knives and turned to find Nan Zhou standing at the kitchen door, staring at him with unblinking eyes.


    Jiang Fang told him, ¡°I¡¯m looking at your task location.¡±


    Nan Zhou still had a question in mind. ¡°¡­How did you do it?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled calmly and passed by him with one word. ¡°Guess.¡±


    Everything at home was normal and clean. It was as if the family was just traveling. After a simple search, everyone met again in the living room. At this point, everyone had the same question. The game task mentioned Xiao Ming but where were Xiao Ming¡¯s parents? However, the game was about to begin and there wasn¡¯t much time for them to focus on it.


    This evening, Jiang Fang had to follow the instructions and sleep in the children¡¯s room. Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang chose the second bedroom while Shunfeng chose the living room.


    ¡°The master bedroom is the largest and Lawyer Yu can stay there.¡± The thin monkey deliberately looked at his legs and spoke in a strange manner. ¡°It is respect for the disabled.¡±


    Yu Tuisi wasn¡¯t angry and bowed. ¡°Then thank you.¡±


    At this point, it was 15 minutes until midnight. Yu Tuisi was pushed into the master bedroom by Chen Sufeng. In the corner of the living room, the Shunfeng group muttered together as they started an external exchange of information.


    Nan Zhou, Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang gathered in the children¡¯s room. Li Yinhang anxiously handed her mobile phone to Jiang Fang. ¡°Put this here. My mobile phone has a lock screen camera function. Maybe I can record something.¡±


    Jiang Fang accepted it in a gentlemanly manner and placed it by his bedside. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    It was the first time they participated in the task and Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t say anything. She wanted to remind Jiang Fang to pay attention to safety. Then she found that the words were quite useless and swallowed them down. She perceived Nan Zhou standing at the door and he seemed like he had something to say to Jiang Fang. She stood up very consciously. ¡°I¡¯ll look for some quilts to make the bed. You can talk.¡±


    Vtf ecvfgrabbv atja la kjrc¡¯a fjrs ab pblc lc j mbcnfgrjalbc atja rtf vlvc¡¯a ecvfgrajcv. Ktlr rjnfv batfgr ogbw kjralcu alwf ajxlcu mjgf bo tfg PH. Ol Tlctjcu ifoa jcv Rjc Itbe mjwf ab atf yfvrlvf. Llr meglbrlas kjr jybea ab fzqibvf. ¡°¡­Kfii wf tbk sbe vlv la.¡±


    Jiang Fang lowered his head and smiled half softly and half slyly.


    ¡­A curious cat was caught. He looked up again and his eyes were full of sincerity. He took a deck of cards out of his pocket and counted out the top eight. A of Hearts to 8 of Hearts. Jiang Fang brought the cards together with both hands, spread them out to show Nan Zhou and gathered them up again. He started to shuffle the cards like before.


    It was just that this time, he shuffled it surprisingly fast. It was also with only one hand.


    It took Nan Zhou some effort to see that Jiang Fang split the cards into two stacks with a single index finger. He staggered the lower stack with the upper stack and used skillful force to mix the two stacks together.


    After shuffling at high speed for around 10 seconds, Jiang Fang suddenly stopped. A card flew out and accurately landed face up. 2 of Hearts. Jiang Fang looked directly at Nan Zhou. He bent over to pick up the card and in front of Nan Zhou, he drew a mark in the pattern on the back of the card with his fingernail. He returned the 2 of Hearts to the cards and continued to shuffle them quickly.


    This time, he started to explain. Jiang Fang spoke in a low voice, his voice gentle and sweet like new wine. ¡°8 of Hearts stands for sleeping late which is the last thing that most normal people want to get.¡±


    ¡°Napping is relatively better. Sleeping at night means you will be influenced by the biological clock and it is difficult to maintain a clear mind to defend reasonably in time. There will be various unimaginable threats such as dreams.¡±


    ¡°You should remember that the last time I shuffled, it was much slower than this time.¡±


    ¡°It might be hard to remember the position of all the cards but it isn¡¯t very difficult to concentrate all your energy to remember the position of one card and not touch it.¡±


    ¡°So everyone just avoided the card I wanted.¡±


    Jiang Fang stopped his hands. At the same time, he moved his gaze away from Nan Zhou¡¯s face and pulled out a card. It happened to be the 8 of Hearts that stood for sleeping.


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Why did you choose 8 of Hearts?¡±


    Jiang Fang blinked and told the truth. ¡°This task is too difficult so I¡¯m not reassured about giving it to others.¡±


    Nan Zhou made an ¡®oh¡¯ sound. He wasn¡¯t too surprised. ¡°Then why did you imply for me to draw the 2 of Hearts? Why did I get the Joker card?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s answer was on his lips. It was because the cooking represented by 2 of Hearts was a task with variables easy to control. To put it more simply, he didn¡¯t want Nan Zhou to take any risks. It was just that Jiang Fang wasn¡¯t good at things like ¡®confessing his sincerity.¡¯ He changed the subject. ¡°What card did you want to draw the least?¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°2 of hearts, cooking.¡±


    Jiang Fang almost couldn¡¯t hold the cards steady. ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He inquired, ¡°¡­Why?¡±


    ¡°Because my cooking is unpalatable.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He put his hands in his lap and laughed in a dumbfounded manner while wondering if he was laughing at others or himself. He did something self-righteous again.


    Jiang Fang skipped the first question raised by Nan Zhou.


    He held the fully shuffled cards in the palm of his right hand and used his thumb to push the first card with slight scratches on the back. Meanwhile, the tail finger pressed the corner of the second card and lightly flicked. The card flipped in place and jumped from the reverse side to the front side. It was the smiling red Joker, the king of the Joker cards.


    Jiang Fang shook his hand quickly. The Joker card landed on the ground while he tilted the cuff of his snow-white sweater and slid out a 2 of Hearts with the same scratch on the back. The 2 of Hearts perfectly replaced the Joker¡¯s position and fit perfectly.


    Jiang Fang gave the answer to the second question. ¡°I took out nine cards from the beginning.¡±


    Nan Zhou let out a whisper. ¡°Ah¡ª¡±


    Jiang Fang picked up the dropped card, gathered the entire deck of cards together and handed it to Nan Zhou. ¡°I will give it to you to play. Study it well.¡±


    Nan Zhou took the cards with a ¡®yes¡¯ and turned to leave. He took two steps before standing still again. Then he turned around and told Jiang Fang in a cold and straightforward manner, ¡°Don¡¯t be in a bad mood. I know you want to be nice to me.¡±


    Jiang Fang curled his fingertips against the side of the bed. His heart felt like it had been lightly hit and it trembled. A small smile reappeared on his face. He placed his hands on his chest and bowed gently to Nan Zhou. ¡°Thank you. I am comforted.¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°You be careful. Don¡¯t die.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°See you tomorrow at 8 o¡¯clock.¡±


    Nan Zhou closed the door of the children¡¯s room while placing the cards in his pocket. His thumb unwittingly stroked the cards. The cards still contained the temperature of Jiang Fang¡¯s hand.


    ***


    In the master bedroom, Yu Tuisi took out gold glasses from his pocket and wiped them with a soft cloth. Chen Sufeng half-kneeled in front of him, pressing against his knees. Then he held Yu Tuisi¡¯s palm in one hand, raised it in an arc and gently massaged.


    ¡°Miss Li, her eyes keep looking in Nan Zhou¡¯s direction.¡± Yu Tuisi analyzed to himself. ¡°She has the highest level in the team but she isn¡¯t the backbone.¡±


    ¡°So if Mr Nan and Mr Jiang have any opinions, you can listen carefully. You don¡¯t have to waste too much time on Miss Li.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Shunfeng, they seem to want to command. Don¡¯t argue with them or it will affect our task.¡± Yu Tuisi instructed. ¡°Just do what you have to do and don¡¯t worry about extra things.¡±


    Chen Sufeng¡¯s voice was stuffy. ¡°I know.¡±


    There was a moment of silence. Then he couldn¡¯t help raising his head in a rather dissatisfied manner. ¡°You¡­ don¡¯t always treat me as a child. I can still see many things.¡±


    Yu Tuisi was slightly startled before immediately smiling. ¡°Yes, I talk too much.¡±


    He placed his hand on Chen Sufeng¡¯s head. His fingers slid slightly and landed on Chen Sufeng¡¯s ears that were similar to that person¡¯s ears. His fingers circled the contours of Chen Sufeng¡¯s ears. ¡°¡­If the system allows your brother to come back then I can be relieved.¡±


    Chen Sufeng¡¯s ears were itchy due to this person. He just wanted to speak when there was a slight sound from the light above his head before it went out. The light of the living room leaking under the door also disappeared.


    Chen Sufeng was holding Yu Tuisi¡¯s calf and couldn¡¯t react. ¡°The electricity tripped?¡±


    ¡°It is the task time.¡±


    Yu Tuisi let out a low ¡®shush¡¯ before skillfully putting his arm on Chen Sufeng¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Carry me to bed.¡±


    It was midnight and the game officially began.


    In the living room, the trio lay down but didn¡¯t dare fall asleep. The split-leaf philodendron was like a person crouching in the darkness. Three or four drying racks with no clothes hang on the clothes poles. They were blown by the night wind outside the half-opened window screen, making the jingle of wind chimes. Any sound or movement at this time seemed terrible. They didn¡¯t even dare turn over for fear that the sound of the spring in the sofa would attract someone peeping at them.


    In the second bedroom, Li Yinhang¡¯s spirit was also tense. She lay on the soft floor and thought about whether to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night or not. Should she solve it in place or risk her death.


    Soon, her careful thinking was interrupted by a strange noise. On the bed, Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t hold onto the cards he was playing with and they fell on his face.


    ***


    Jiang Fang was alone in the bed the shape of a car. His hands were on his chest and his eyes were closed. He didn¡¯t seem to care what type of environment he was in. He undid the scorpion braid and soon fell asleep. The small night light cast a river of stars on the wall. It moved and turned on the tip of Jiang Fang¡¯s nose and lips, as if gently touching.


    Da, da, da.


    The little duck cartoon clock on the bedside table reached all the way to 2 o¡¯clock. The moment the hour hand firmly pointed to ¡®2¡¯, the mobile phone lying on Jiang Fang¡¯s pillow and recording audio and video suddenly lit up.


    The standby screen was a photo of Li Yinhang and her roommate. On the top of the screen, notifications were constantly appearing.


    ¡°The face is being recognized.¡±


    ¡°Not recognized successfully. Double-tap the screen to try again.¡±


    ¡°The face is being recognized.¡±


    ¡°Not recognized successfully. Double-tap the screen to try again.¡±


    The screen turned on and off, on and off again, reflecting half of Jiang Fang¡¯s face as it switched between light and dark He lay in the darkness, sleeping soundly and oblivious.


    The author has something to say:


    Jiang Fang who was trying to tease his wife once again encountered Nan Zhou¡¯s straight ball x1, the effect was outstanding.

 CH 16

    Nan Zhou seemed to have no interest in gentlemanly behavior like ¡®ladies first¡¯ and he lay down naturally on the bed.


    Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t fall asleep. After this tense day, her legs were stretched out and her eyes were closed but she felt like this day was a dream. Heads exploding, people turning into mushrooms, flamboyant and cold-eyed NPCs, supernatural missions¡­


    Moments before being consumed by fear, uneasiness and loneliness, Li Yinhang asked the dark shadow lying on the bed, ¡°Are you asleep?¡±


    She didn¡¯t dare think that ¡®he will respond¡¯ based on Nan Zhou¡¯s indifferent temperament. The next second¡ª


    Nan Zhou replied, ¡°No.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She hadn¡¯t expected it so she hadn¡¯t even planned what she wanted to say.


    In the awkward, long silence, Li Yinhang saw Nan Zhou¡¯s hand hanging down from the bed. Nanji Star ran out along his arm, jumped onto his palm with a few hops, raised his upper body and looked around.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s voice was still cold. ¡°Tonight, go and sleep with her.¡±


    Nanji Star chirped, a bit reluctant. Nan Zhou threw something and it fell down through the air. Li Yinhang watched as a fresh apple was thrown down and directly hit her quilt. Nanji Star¡¯s eyes brightened. He barked like a dog and slid down. He immediately hugged Li Yinhang¡¯s wrist that grabbed the apple and rubbed it in a fluffy manner.


    Meanwhile, Li Yinhang stared at the intact apple in her hand and just wanted to know its source. Finally, she came to a conclusion. Fuck, Nan Zhou dared to grab an apple in this ghostly house. Yet such a move pulled back her spirit that had been on the edge of losing control. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. This isn¡¯t something you should be thankful for.¡± Then Nan Zhou added, ¡°Don¡¯t crush it.¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes.¡± It was truly worthy of his taunting being 8 points.


    Due to this episode, the nightmares Li Yinhang imagined didn¡¯t happen. She even had a dream of swinging in the jungle with Nanji Star. By the time Li Yinhang woke up, it was bright and Nan Zhou was no longer in bed. Nanji Star was still there. He held a half-eaten apple and slept in a small nest next to her pillow.


    Li Yinhang left the second bedroom and found that she had woken up late. She glanced at the clock. It was 7:40 a.m in the instance time. The door of the children¡¯s room was tightly closed. Jiang Fang would complete the task at 8 o¡¯clock.


    The trio in the living room didn¡¯t sleep well and all of them showed a depressed face. Then following their line of sight, Li Yinhang found that the distressed trio were looking at Nan Zhou like he was a fool.


    Nan Zhou was sitting at the dining room table with a locked box that he got from an unknown place. Next to him was also a household hardware tool box that he pulled from somewhere. He was slowly poking at the box.


    Since waking up, the skinny monkey had seen Nan Zhou playing with the box over there. He stared for a long time before realizing that Nan Zhou¡¯s interest in the box was far greater than their glares. He couldn¡¯t help asking aggressively, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Shen Jie stopped him. ¡°This type of locked thing needs to be unlocked by a key. It is meaningless to use something to pry it open.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at Shen Jie and nodded. ¡°Yes, I know.¡±


    Then he kept poking at it.


    Shen Jie, ¡°¡­¡­¡± It didn¡¯t matter how good looking the newcomer was, if his brain didn¡¯t turn then he was just a fool.


    Ktf atlc wbcxfs ilq-rscmtfv ab tlr afjwwjafr, ¡°Lf lr lcrjcf. Ofjnf tlw jibcf.¡±


    Rjc Itbe mbcalcefv ab qijs klat atlr ybz. Ol Tlctjcu ofia atja j ylurtba¡¯r atlcxlcu mbeivc¡¯a yf ugjrqfv ys tfgrfio. Vtf ujnf Rjc Itbe j ibbx ab rlucji rtf kjr ralii jilnf jcv gjc ab atf yjatgbbw ab kjrt tfg ojmf. Ktf kjafg ogbw atf ajq kjr cbgwji jcv atf kjafg dejilas kjr nfgs mifjg. Snfc atf ojlca mtibglcf rwfii bo atf ajq kjr ojwliljg ab Ol Tlctjcu. Pa kjr ilxf j cbgwji tberf. Pa kjr pera atja atf wbgf cbgwji la kjr, atf kflgvfg la ofia.


    Li Yinhang was washing her face when there was a knock at the door. Chen Sufeng of the duo was holding a basin of water. ¡°The drain in the master bedroom is a bit blocked and the water can¡¯t go down. I¡¯m here to pour it.¡±


    Li Yinhang made room for him. She looked at Chen Sufeng who was pouring water and wanted to say something. There was a question she had been concerned about since yesterday. She quietly asked, ¡°That¡­ you and Mr Yu, are you¡­ a couple?¡±


    Normally, teaming up with someone with limited mobility wasn¡¯t the most cost-effective choice. The age difference between the two of them was there so they couldn¡¯t be classmates. There were no similarities in their appearance so they were unlikely to be blood relatives. Therefore, Li Yinhang thought there was some other reason that bound them together.


    ¡°Who am I with?¡± Chen Sufeng wondered casually. Then he realized and suddenly blushed. One hand slipped and almost knocked off the basin in the corner. He waved his hands again and again, his face flushed and even his ears were red. ¡°He and I, we¡¯re not¡­¡±


    A helpless chuckle was then heard behind the two of them. ¡°I¡¯m not with him.¡±


    She didn¡¯t know when but Yu Tuisi had come behind them with his wheelchair. He seemed to be talking about something as natural as eating and breathing, so natural that he didn¡¯t need to avoid it or be coy. ¡°It is me and his brother.¡±


    Chen Sufeng pursed his lips. ¡°Yes, my brother¡­¡±


    Yu Tuisi added, ¡°He has been gone for two years.¡±


    As he spoke, he didn¡¯t forget to tell Li Yinhang ¡®the child is shy, don¡¯t care about him¡¯ with his eyes. He turned around the man¡¯s ring on his left ring finger and said, ¡°No matter what other people think, victory in this game is a very valuable thing for me.¡±


    The house originally wasn¡¯t big and Yu Tuisi¡¯s voice reached the living room. The group of three looked at each other. The thin monkey whispered, ¡°He turned out to be gay. No wonder why the energy of his body is different from normal people.¡±


    Shen Jie curled her lips and didn¡¯t care about it. There was little value in hearing worthless gossip.


    Meanwhile, Nan Zhou raised his head from where he had been obsessed with studying the box. The ¡®value¡¯ mentioned by Yu Tuisi probably referred to the wish made at the wishing fountain of Rust City. He thought, ¡®Yes, victory in the game is also very valuable to me.¡¯


    Chen Sufeng¡¯s expression was a bit unspeakable and awkward. ¡°Brother Yu, why are you here?¡±


    Yu Tuisi replied, ¡°It is because the time is coming.¡±


    His words awakened them. Everyone shifted their gaze to the clock on the wall. Nan Zhou also put down the box and stared at the tightly closed door of the children¡¯s room. It was 7:59 a.m. There was still no movement from the children¡¯s room.


    The atmosphere stagnated for a while. By the time the second hand moved past the top grid, Jiang Fang still hadn¡¯t come out. The others exchanged looks and suspected that Jiang Fang¡¯s corpse would be seen lying on the bed as soon as the door opened. Meanwhile, Nan Zhou had already stepped forward and pushed open the door without hesitation.


    Jiang Fang was leaning against the bed. He faced the phone that was replaying last night¡¯s video while re-tying his hair again. He heard the sound of the door and raised his head to meet Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes. He said with a gentle smile, ¡°Good morning.¡±


    The first night was calm as if nothing happened. There was still an hour before the task of writing homework at 9 o¡¯clock. This was enough for them to exchange information. Shen Jie heard Jiang Fang¡¯s brief description of what happened last night and was inevitably disappointed. ¡°Nothing really happened?¡±


    Jiang Fang answered, ¡°The bed was too small and I woke up once in the middle of the night. Does that count?¡±


    Shen Jie inquired, ¡°Did you dream?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Jiang Fang said. ¡°I left a pen and paper beside the bed because I planned to write it down as soon as I woke up if I had a dream.¡±


    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t dream of anything.


    Shen Jie turned her disappointed gaze to Li Yinhang¡¯s phone. ¡°So there is nothing recorded?¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang learned from Nan Zhou and slightly prolonged his tone. ¡°It¡¯s not that nothing was recorded.¡±


    Jiang Fang moved the progress bar that was playing at double the speed to the position around two hours after the recording started. Due to the fast speed, Shen Jie only felt the screen flash past and saw nothing.


    Jiang Fang apologized and turned off the double speed he had forgotten about. Then he rewound for half a minute to accurately determine the position. In the video, the mobile phone had its screen turned off and the camera was pointed at the ceiling. The starry night light moved slowly along a fixed track. The next second, the ambient light around the phone suddenly brightened.


    Shen Jie instinctively shivered as she held the phone. She endured her fear and watched intently. However, nothing appeared in front of the screen except darkness. Soon, the ambient light gradually disappeared. The next moment, it lit up again. After going back and forth around three or four times, there was the sound of Jiang Fang slightly turning over and then everything stopped.


    The fitness trainer frowned. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    Jiang Fang ignored him and asked the owner Li Yinhang, ¡°Under what circumstances will the screen be turned on repeatedly?¡±


    Li Yinhang seemed strangled by something and felt like she couldn¡¯t speak. She answered with difficulty, ¡°¡­Facial recognition.¡±


    These days, the facial recognition function of mobile phones meant that as long as the camera read that a face entered a certain range, it would automatically scan and verify whether to unlock the phone or not.


    Involuntarily, a scene came to her mind. At two o¡¯clock in the middle of the night, something came to Jiang Fang¡¯s bed. It lowered its head close to him and quietly examined Jiang Fang¡¯s face. It asked silently with its eyes.


    ¡®Are you asleep?¡¯


    ¡®Really?¡¯


    The others also inevitably made such associations. There was a repressed silence in the room.


    ¡°This¡­¡± The fitness trainer was a bit unable to speak. ¡°This can¡¯t determine anything¡­ maybe when you turned over, your face automatically entered the range of the camera.¡± He pointed at the screen. ¡°Look, didn¡¯t it light up when you turned over?¡±


    Jiang Fang replied calmly, ¡°This is also possible.¡±


    Li Yinhang scratched the goose bumps on her arm and felt that her fear had been relieved a lot. It wasn¡¯t that she believed the fitness trainer¡¯s speculation. It was that the reaction of the party concerned, Jiang Fang, was so calm. She was a bystander. It would seem extraordinarily superfluous if she screamed in fright. The result of the discussion was that there was no conclusion.


    Apart from the small incident where the phone suddenly turned on, nothing really happened last night. An hour of discussion passed and it was Chen Sufeng¡¯s turn to complete the task of doing homework.


    Once the task officially started, the job function was successfully unlocked. They shifted through all of Xiao Ming¡¯s books that could be called homework and found that it wasn¡¯t difficult at all. It was the ordinary workbook of ¡®Happy Summer Vacation¡¯ for the third grade of primary school.


    The time of the diary was stuck on July 2nd and it recorded boring facts such as ¡®today I went out to play with Han Meimei. Tomorrow, I will call Li Lei. Today I helped my grandmother cross the road.¡¯ It was the classic composition of a primary school student.


    Shen Jie didn¡¯t believe there would be no clues. She searched through all the workbooks and finally made a discovery. Xiao Ming had two math workbooks. One was issued by the school with the reference answers torn out. The other was probably bought at a bookstore and there hadn¡¯t been time to tear off the price tag of 6.5 yuan. It was simply a normal operation for primary school students.


    There were no clues so Chen Sufeng was a bit nervous. Yu Tuisi patted his head in a protective manner. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will accompany you.¡±


    Chen Sufeng hummed and touched the place on his head that Yu Tuisi had touched. He held his pencil and felt warm in his heart. He didn¡¯t dare to make a mistake as he wrote English words in the blank workbook one stroke at a time. Yu Tuisi was behind him, holding a children¡¯s picture book and turning the pages one by one.


    The others took advantage of this time to begin a carpet search of the 100 square meters apartment. It was literally a carpet search. Even the carpet was lifted. Li Yinhang followed the trio, working hard and not complaining as she searched through things.


    Nan Zhou was very stable and continued to play with his box. Naturally, he gained a lot of looks from the trio. Jiang Fang just went to the kitchen for a bit. Then he sat down beside Nan Zhou and asked with a smile, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to see?¡±


    ¡°There are many people. Hands are mixed and it will be more troublesome,¡± Nan Zhou explained. ¡°Wait for them to finish searching and then I¡¯ll go again.¡±


    Jiang Fang looked at the box in his hand. ¡°What is this?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered bluntly, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to open it?¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t hard to open it. I just want to practice my skills.¡±


    He added, ¡°¡­It is thieving.¡±


    Li Yinhang who happened to be passing by, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    If she didn¡¯t understand incorrectly¡­


    Nan Zhou was now in an instance but he was using the game¡¯s fixed item to practice his skills. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t show any surprise. His smile just became softer. ¡°Jiayou.¡±


    Nan Zhou replied leisurely without raising his head, ¡°¡­Yes.¡±


    The author has something to say:


    Jiang Fang smiled: ¡­[My wife is so cute.]

 CH 17

    Nan Zhou¡¯s thinking was very clear. The skill bar in the game was displayed so it must have some use. If it was just to measure how powerful a player¡¯s initial skills were then there was no meaning in it occupying so much space. There was always a reason for the design of a game page.


    As Nan Zhou was focusing on his skills, Jiang Fang moved to Li Yinhang and said something to her. Li Yinhang listened with a slightly puzzled expression but she did as he said. She found a set of unopened colorful labels in a drawer in the second bedroom and marked all the items in the room. She even marked the sofa cushions as ¡®cushion 1¡¯ and ¡®cushion 2.¡¯


    Li Yinhang was busy while Jiang Fang walked around in a leisurely manner. He lifted here and patted there like he was loitering. Li Yinhang was recording the number of slippers when she happened to run into Jiang Fang who was also looking at the shoe cabinet. Li Yinhang whispered to him, ¡°Did Brother Nan find something? He looks very confident.¡±


    After all, finding clues was the most important thing at the moment. She didn¡¯t think that practicing skills should be the first thing.


    ¡°¡­Brother Nan?¡± Jiang Fang glanced at her intently before turning over the shoes placed in the shoe cabinet to check. ¡°It isn¡¯t very clear.¡±


    Then he added, ¡°Still, I think he might feel he isn¡¯t very good at finding evidence. So he chose to observe from a distance in the shadows.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­?¡±


    Who was Jiang Fang talking about? Nan Zhou? He wasn¡¯t good at finding evidence? Li Yinhang recalled the extreme operation on the bus and felt like she was a learning scum listening to a top student criticizing another top student, ¡®Didn¡¯t you find that this question can¡¯t be solved by Lagrange¡¯s mean value theorem?¡¯


    Jiang Fang looked at Li Yinhang. ¡°On the bus, he was the one closest to the dash cam and he was transmitted from another place. As he said, he should pay attention to observing the surrounding environment.¡±


    ¡°So tell me, why didn¡¯t he choose a convenient item like the dash cam to swindle the ghosts? There was also some unexpected tension when I pointed out the presence of the dashcam.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Good question. She hadn¡¯t even known that Nan Zhou had been nervous.


    Li Yinhang wisely gave up on guessing. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll keep sticking it on.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    He was closing the shoe cabinet door when he paused for a moment. He gave a soft smile and repeated to himself, ¡°Brother Nan?¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t care about Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang¡¯s small movements. He looked around as he played with the box. He had little information because the room hadn¡¯t changed much from yesterday. The furnishings hadn¡¯t changed and no objects had been added or subtracted. In his opinion, everything couldn¡¯t be more normal.


    In addition, Jiang Fang was right. He had his own weaknesses. In this search, he was more likely to mess up than to find a clue.


    Therefore, Shen Jie¡¯s group returned to the living room after a careful search and saw the three people who weren¡¯t doing anything gathered in the living room, wandering around and slacking off. The dissatisfaction accumulated since last night caused the fitness trainer to want to step up and knock the box out of Nan Zhou¡¯s hand.


    Just then, Shen Jie pushed a hand against his chest and stopped him. ¡°Leave him alone and let them play.¡±


    The fitness trainer protested, ¡°However, he isn¡¯t doing anything¡­¡±


    ¡°Newcomers die quickly.¡± Shen Jie¡¯s eyes were cold and she spoke in a tone that was close to a whisper. ¡°It is fine as long as they don¡¯t act up, mess things up or trigger some type of taboo. They could do trial and error for me.¡±


    Then Shen Jie¡¯s expression returned to its usual decent appearance and she turned around¡ª


    She suddenly found that Nan Zhou was staring at her. Shen Jie¡¯s heart thumped due to his emotionless eyes and her facial muscles became so stiff they couldn¡¯t move. Before she could adjust her expression, Nan Zhou pointed to the strand of hair to the side of her ear and made a ¡®stroke¡¯ gesture.


    Shen Jie was stunned for a moment before realizing his meaning and raised a finger to her hair. Previously, she laid down to look under the bed and the tip of her hair hanging down on her cheeks was stained with a bit of gray dust. Shen Jie sighed with relief. ¡°Thank you¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not that easily killed. Mistakes aren¡¯t easy to happen,¡± Nan Zhou told her. ¡°A ghost won¡¯t come out just because I¡¯m playing with a box. Don¡¯t look down on ghosts.¡±


    Vtfc Alf yiertfv ab atf gbba bo tfg fjgr, tfg ojmf rbeg klat fwyjggjrrwfca. Glv atlr wjc tjnf vbu fjgr? Pc jvvlalbc, kts vlv tlr abcf rbecv ilxf utbrar kfgf tlr vlrajca gfijalnfr? Vtfc Alf qijsfv la boo klat j ijeut jcv delmxis fcafgfv atf rfmbcv yfvgbbw klat tfg akb afjwwjafr obg j mtfmx.


    By the time they searched all of the house, Chen Sufeng¡¯s homework was almost completed. Chen Sufeng felt relieved and quickly put down his pen, unwilling to maintain this state for another second. His chest was soaked with sweat and he formed a perfect empathy with ¡®Xiao Ming.¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t want to do my homework but I have to.¡¯


    The thin monkey poked his head in. ¡°Mr Nan is going to cook. Come out and summarize the information first.¡±


    Yu Tuisi patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Wait until the summary is finished and then go take a shower.¡±


    Chen Sufeng nodded obediently before getting up and pushing Yu Tuisi¡¯s wheelchair.


    In the kitchen, Nan Zhou put on an apron and tied his slightly longer hair behind his head with a small hair tie. In the kitchen, he took out rice, noodles, grains, oil and meat and placed them seriously on the counter. As he stared at the ingredients, Shen Jie¡¯s disbelieving voice was heard from outside. ¡°¡­Nothing happened?¡±


    Chen Sufeng answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Yu Tuisi added, ¡°I was watching. Everything was indeed normal.¡±


    Nan Zhou listened to the conversation outside while opening the bowls cabinet. There was a set of cheap dishes with three large bowls, five small bowls and a pile of plates of different colors. It was difficult to judge how many people were living in this house. He counted the chopsticks in the chopsticks drawer again. It looked like they were bought in a batch unlike the detective novels where they just put out a few pairs of chopsticks. Things really weren¡¯t obvious at a glance.


    He heard Shen Jie knock on the table. It seemed like she was going to speak. Her tone sounded rather old-school.


    ¡°As far as I can see, there were two people living in this home.¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t difficult to make such a judgment. There might be no photos in this house but the number of bedding isn¡¯t more than four or five. It is difficult to see how many people are in this family based on the tableware, table and chairs but there are still many valuable clues.¡±


    ¡°We found the breakthrough in the closet.¡±


    ¡°The clothes in the master bedroom are all men¡¯s clothing and the underwear is the same. The size is the same and it should be the same person using it.¡±


    ¡°There are no cosmetics, only ordinary moisturizing spray and a can of men¡¯s facial cleanser that is about to be used up.¡±


    ¡°The shoes in the shoe cabinet are all the same size and are divided into size 43 and 31.¡±


    Shen Jie concluded, ¡°Xiao Ming and a man live here. It might be his brother or his father.¡±


    ¡°The task has us experience Xiao Ming¡¯s daily life. Perhaps it is to let us discover the murderer of Xiao Ming or his family member. Xiao Ming will give some hints about this. I suggest thinking in this direction.¡±


    Shen Jie clearly stated her views before spreading out her hands generously. ¡°Miss Li, come tell us your group¡¯s findings. Apart from the small trick of the stickers, have you done anything meaningful?¡±


    Li Yinhang was very honest. ¡°I found nothing on my side.¡±


    Shen Jie thought, ¡®Sure enough.¡¯


    She turned her proud face to Jiang Fang and raised her chin at him. Jiang Fang told her, ¡°I haven¡¯t found much.¡±


    ¡°First, the mobile phones have a signal here.¡±


    Shen¡¯s group of three, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Shen Jie lost her voice. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say it earlier?¡±


    Jiang Fang was polite. ¡°In the morning, Miss Li¡¯s mobile phone was looked at by you. I thought everyone would notice this obvious thing.¡±


    Shen Jie¡¯s mouth dropped open. It might be a clue on the surface but their mindset for supernatural tasks convinced them that the mobile phone was the most useless thing in the dungeon. One, they couldn¡¯t call the police and two, there was no signal. Only newcomers were unwilling to throw away this burden.


    ¡°What is the use of discovering this?¡± The thin monkey poured out a bucket of cold water. ¡°There are no doors here and the building is floating. We don¡¯t even know the location of the community. Can we ask for help from outside?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be in a rush. Aren¡¯t you asking for clues?¡± Jiang Fang was gentle and he wasn¡¯t upset at all. This made the thin monkey feel like he was punching cotton.


    Shen Jie asked somewhat reluctantly, ¡°Mr Jiang¡¯s second point¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll say it.¡± Jiang Fang nodded. ¡°Second, before we came, three people should¡¯ve lived in this place for a long time.¡±


    Shen Jie, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She was a bit confused and instinctively argued, ¡°Impossible. There are only traces of two people living in this house¡­¡±


    In order to testify for her speculation, she stood up and walked straight to the hallway to open the shoe cabinet. ¡°Look, there are only two kinds of shoes and the size is only for two people¡ª¡±


    Jiang Fang also walked to the shoe cabinet and gave a gesture for Shen Jie to protect her skirt and avoid being exposed. Then he crouched down and took out two pairs of men¡¯s shoes from the bottom layer of the cabinet that didn¡¯t seem to be worn much.


    Shen Jie opened her mouth. ¡°These two pairs are also size 43¡ª¡±


    The next second, she fell silent.


    The shoes hadn¡¯t been worn for a long time so dust had accumulated for ages around the place where the shoes were located. The color of the spacer separating the shoes in this position contrasted sharply with the other areas of the shoe cabinet and it couldn¡¯t be wiped off even with a strong detergent. Then under one pair of men¡¯s shoes, there was a shoe print of a size 36 or 37 shoe left behind.


    Jiang Fang told her mildly, ¡°Miss Shen, this is the trace.¡±


    Nan Zhou pricked his ears, listening a bit happily. He accidentally touched the knife holder and made a loud noise. Li Yinhang had also marked the knives. There was a kitchen knife, a pair of scissors and a fruit knife all inserted in the knife holder. She clearly distinguished between them.


    There was no electric cooker in this house. There was only a large frying pan, a small frying pan, a Mandarin duck hot pot, a soup pot and a pressure cooker. (Mandarin duck hot pot= the pots that are divided into two so two broths can be cooked at the same time. For those who want to have spicy and non-spicy broths at the same time.)


    It was a standard home configuration.


    Nan Zhou thought about it before taking out the pressure cooker from the cabinet. He put the washed rice aside and opened the lid. The moment Nan Zhou looked into the pot, he raised his eyebrow slightly.


    Outside the kitchen, Jiang Fang showed other ¡®traces¡¯ to Shen Jie. There were a few mothballs in the closet and the smell of the Coco Mademoiselle perfume couldn¡¯t be covered up. At the bottom of the transparent ashtray, there were two adult fingerprints of different sizes and shapes. They should¡¯ve been left behind while holding the bottom when pouring out the ash. They were almost all subtle traces hard to be noticed.


    ¡°What if two people got divorced?¡± Shen JIe didn¡¯t want to admit that her observation power had lost to this male newcomer. ¡°There are very few traces of a female in this home and there is no hair belonging to a female on the comb.¡±


    ¡°Even if they are divorced, there used to be a woman in this home.¡±


    Jiang Fang wasn¡¯t humble or arrogant despite completely overturning the discoveries of the Shen Jie trio. ¡°These are the clues that were found.¡±


    Yu Tuisi¡¯s findings weren¡¯t so valuable.


    ¡°Xiao Ming should be a more delicate and sensitive boy.¡±


    ¡°He has many picture books on his shelves. I grabbed a few I could reach and found they were artistic and colorful.¡±


    ¡°In terms of subjects he is good at, he is more likely to be in a daze in math and English class than any other subjects.¡±


    Then Yu Tuisi spread open a math book in front of everyone.


    ¡°He smears the spaces of numbers and letters and does some doodling in the corners.¡±


    ¡°In contrast, he prefers language. The summer homework for his language class is half finished and the degree of completion is very good. It is the best out of all his subjects.¡±


    Such a conclusion didn¡¯t seem able to help them clear the instance. However, it was better than nothing. Shen Jie couldn¡¯t expect any clever discovery from a disabled man anyway. After the discussion, everyone was silent as they digested the information that there was a woman in this house.


    They also started to frequently turn their sights to the kitchen. After a whole night of worrying and half a day of searching and discussing, they were already hungry. There were some concerns that the food couldn¡¯t be eaten casually because it was part of Xiao Ming¡¯s daily tasks but there were more or less expectations about the finished product.


    However, their expectations were dashed an hour later. The beginning of the destruction was green and black chicken wings brought to the table.


    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The thin monkey pointed to the strangely colored chicken wings with burnt edges. ¡°What is this?!¡±


    Nan Zhou replied, ¡°Coke chicken wings.¡±


    ¡°¡­Why is it green?¡±


    ¡°There was no Coke.¡±


    Then he put a small, eye-catching bottle on the table. ¡°You drink this first.¡±


    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    They saw the black spinach that Nan Zhou spent this hour cooking and the fried squirrel fish with the fish head facing the sky in a dead-eyed manner and thought they would feel no more fluctuations. Then they saw the last dish Nan Zhou placed on the table and they all got up, moving away from the table.


    Shen Jie trembled as she pointed to the contents of the soup pot. ¡°¡­What is this?¡±


    Nan Zhou replied, ¡°Rice and noodles.¡±


    Everyone had only one feeling, ¡®Don¡¯t fucking insult the words rice and noodles.¡¯


    Li Yinhang endured her nausea and observed the main ingredients inside. ¡°Teacher Nan, why did you cook black rice with noodles?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to cook rice using the black rice but I added too much water.¡± He continued, ¡°There was too much water and I was idle. Also, there is less black rice. In order to avoid not having enough to eat, I put noodles in.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t I do this?¡±


    The white noodles were colored by the black rice and mixed together. To put it more clearly, it was like a pot of rice with earthworms. Everyone¡¯s san value dropped by one point. This was the scariest thing they had seen since entering this supernatural instance.

 CH 18

    Yu Tuisi ate a bit of bread to cushion his stomach and Chen Sufeng carried him to the child¡¯s bed on time. He had to do the task of taking a nap.


    Chen Sufeng returned to the table and found everyone scattered in a circle around the table. They were afraid that if they glanced at the table, they wouldn¡¯t be able to control their physiological reactions.


    ¡°This bowl of slop¡­¡± Chen Sufeng almost expressed what was in his heart. He stopped in time and hurriedly coughed to cover it up. ¡°What should we do about eating?¡±


    Jiang Fang gently volunteered. ¡°I¡¯ll make something.¡±


    He went to the kitchen and chose a few ingredients that were prone to going bad. ¡°Stuffed eggplant, mapo tofu, shredded potatoes, shrimp seaweed soup and a side of rice?¡±


    Seeing that everyone had no objections, Jiang Fang nodded to Nan Zhou and motioned for him to help in the kitchen. He also glanced at the table that looked like a collection of dishes from the periodic table and told Nan Zhou, ¡°Bring in the pot and empty it.¡±


    The kitchen door closed, smoothly isolating the stagnant atmosphere. In the midst of the silence, the sound of washing gave off an indescribable warmth. Today, Nan Zhou had done everything he could for the meal so he was a bit frustrated with the results. Nan Zhou said, ¡°In fact, I always cook for my family.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He pondered on his words for a moment. ¡°Family affection is great.¡±


    Nan Zhou added, ¡°They will eat whatever I cook.¡±


    Jiang Fang stopped washing the pot and glanced at him. ¡°Are you homesick?¡±


    Nan Zhou shook his head. There was no special nostalgia in his eyes.


    Jiang Fang suddenly opened his mouth. ¡°The chicken wing, let me taste a bit.¡±


    Nan Zhou was taken aback. He wanted to hand this person a pair of chopsticks but found that Jiang Fang¡¯s hands were soaked in water. The fingers in the sink were dripping water. Thus, Nan Zhou naturally picked up a green chicken wing and delivered it to the other person¡¯s mouth.


    Jiang Fang calmly accepted the feeding. Very good, it was cooked.


    ¡°Next time, don¡¯t add too much sugar. It isn¡¯t easy to clean the pot.¡± Jiang Fang paused before imitating Li Yinhang, calling out to Nan Zhou with a smile. ¡°¡­Brother Nan.¡±


    Nan Zhou frowned slightly and corrected him. ¡°You are older than me. You can¡¯t call me brother.¡±


    Jiang Fang looked a bit surprised. ¡°Miss Li calls you this way.¡±


    Nan Zhou was extraordinarily stubborn when it came to some details. ¡°No, you are older than me.¡±


    Jiang Fang wiped the new plate he took from the dish rack, his eyes full of a subtle light. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you call me that?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Nan Zhou responded obediently before calling out coldly, ¡°Brother Fang.¡±


    Jiang Fang hummed in reply, the corners of his mouth raised a bit. ¡°Brother Fang will make a cake for you.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes that had been as quiet as an ancient well abruptly lit up. ¡°Can you make it here?¡±


    Jiang Fang opened the refrigerator and examined the ingredients one by one. ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as there is a pot. Don¡¯t you know?¡±


    ¡°I told you that I¡¯m not good at cooking.¡±


    Jiang Fang looked at him intently with a smile. ¡°I know.¡±


    If I didn¡¯t know, I wouldn¡¯t let you draw the simplest 2 of Hearts. If I didn¡¯t know, I might have to wait a long time before I have a reason to let you eat another meal I cooked.


    Jiang Fang adjusted his breathing and opened the pressure cooker on the side.


    ¡°Gbc¡¯a erf atja.¡± Rjc Itbe¡¯r nblmf mjwf ogbw yftlcv tlw. ¡°Ktfgf lr kjafg lc atf ybaabw bo atf qba jcv atf ifjatfg glcu.¡±


    Rjc Itbe aglfv ab vlrrejvf tlw yea Aljcu Mjcu tjv jigfjvs iloafv atf ilv bo atf qba. Fcilxf batfg qbar, atfgf kfgf wjcs rqbar lc atf qba atja mbeivc¡¯a yf mifjcfv. Pc jvvlalbc, lar ragbcu jlgalutacfrr wfjca wblraegf kjrc¡¯a fjrlis fnjqbgjafv. Ktf rlaejalbc lc atf qba kjr fzjmais jr Rjc Itbe rjlv. Aera cbk ktfc Rjc Itbe kjr yglculcu atf vlrtfr bea, tf vlvc¡¯a tjnf alwf ab wfcalbc atlr wjaafg ab batfgr.


    Jiang Fang looked back at Nan Zhou. ¡°Someone used the pressure cooker not long ago?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡±


    Nan Zhou added, ¡°In addition, touch the pot.¡±


    Jiang Fang probed his finger into the pot. The pot was very clean but the subtle feel on the inner wall couldn¡¯t deceive people. It was unspeakably and disgustingly slippery. Jiang Fang raised his finger and carefully examined it in the sunlight. The north-south kitchen was flooded with sunlight that made people drowsy in the afternoon. Jiang Fang¡¯s fingers glowed with a faint glaze in the bright sunlight.


    It was oil.


    A woman whose traces had been erased from the house. A pressure cooker with delicate oil.


    Jiang Fang quickly took a few pieces of paper towels and wiped off the residue on his fingers.


    Nan Zhou patted him on the back. ¡°Do you want to confirm it first or do you want to confirm it after you finish cooking?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s confirm it first.¡±


    Nan Zhou simply replied, ¡°Okay.¡±


    He asked again, ¡°Are you thinking the same thing as me?¡±


    Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou gazed at each other for a few seconds before blurting out words at the same time.


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°Bathroom drain.¡±


    Jiang Fang said, ¡°Water charge.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    In the silence, Jiang Fang lowered his head and laughed loudly. ¡°Hah, it is a bit short of a tacit understanding.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at the arc of this person¡¯s mouth in a slightly curious manner. The lip line looked so perfect when Jiang Fang was smiling that Nan Zhou had the urge to poke it.


    Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou came out of the kitchen at the same time and the people sitting or standing in the living room couldn¡¯t react for a while. The fitness trainer and Chen Sufeng weren¡¯t there. The former had gone to watch the sleeping Yu Tuisi. It was because Shen Jie wasn¡¯t reassured about the young man Chen Sufeng. She was afraid he would be careless and not notice any clues. The latter was previously persuaded by Yu Tuisi and went to the master bedroom to take a shower.


    Shen Jie murmured, ¡°The food¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang waved his hand at her, signaling for her to not be impatient. Then he walked to Li Yinhang and asked, ¡°Is there a water bill in the home?¡±


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t understand but her reaction could always keep up. ¡°I didn¡¯t find it.¡±


    Jiang Fang wondered, ¡°Is there any place in the house that you haven¡¯t looked at?¡±


    Li Yinhang shook her head. One morning was enough time for them to search all over the small apartment that was 100 square meters.


    The thin monkey was upset that the result of their search was repeatedly questioned and interrupted in an unconvinced manner, ¡°If you want to find it then do it yourself. In any case, there are no areas left to search except under the floor and behind the wallpaper¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou had already been heading toward the bathroom of the master bedroom. Hearing these words, he clicked his tongue and quickly turned back. He picked up the locked box that he had temporarily placed on a corner of the dining table.


    The thin monkey, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou had always been holding the box so they forgot about its existence. This was a blind spot in their thinking. Yet in his opinion, it was useless for Nan Zhou to take this box.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t found the key yet¡­¡±


    He hadn¡¯t finished speaking when Nan Zhou gripped the box tightly with one hand. He exerted force and squeezed like it was a walnut.


    Crack.


    In full view of everyone, the wooden box collapsed. Nan Zhou¡¯s other hand held the brass lid hanging precariously from the other half of the box. The small lock that hadn¡¯t been opened was broken by him and revealed the contents of the box.


    A stack of tickets and bills entered everyone¡¯s eyes.


    Shen Jie sucked in a breath. She still remembered when she half-reminded and half-ridiculed Nan Zhou in the morning by saying, ¡°This type of locked thing needs to be unlocked by a key. It is meaningless to use something to pry it open.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s answer was simple. ¡°I know.¡±


    At that time, Shen Jie thought he was just being perfunctory. Now it seemed he really meant it literally.


    ¡®I know so don¡¯t be noisy.¡¯


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t care about this. He just came over to help open the box. He seemed to be eager to confirm something. After violently opening the box, he put it down and left.


    Halfway through, he hurriedly turned back a second time. He picked up the lid of the box that he had casually placed on the table, grabbed the lock and easily separated the lock from the broken lid with a few pulls. He carefully placed the unopened lock in his pocket, glanced lightly at the crowd and walked to the master bedroom¡¯s bathroom again.


    The skinny monkey thought of the meaning behind this gesture and almost collapsed. ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Why did he make it look like someone was going to steal his lock?!


    Jiang Fang moved quickly and took over the box from Nan Zhou. He placed the stack of documents in his palm, sorted them so their edges were aligned and quickly counted them.


    Li Yinhang had worked in a bank and saw how her seniors manually counted banknotes. However, Jiang Fang¡¯s actions were different from any of the experienced seniors she had seen. Jiang Fang¡¯s hands were very special and the slenderness of his thumb was more than that of a normal adult male. He used his ring finger and middle finger to firmly clamp onto the receipt at around the thickness of one and a half knuckles. Then his thumb was used to turn the pages. His movements were as precise and swift as a money counting machine.


    However, the machine didn¡¯t have his discernment. He quickly pulled out the water bill he wanted from the middle. He extended his hand to Li Yinhang. ¡°Mobile phone.¡±


    Li Yinhang was numbed by the actions of the two bigshots and stared blankly. Then she heard Jiang Fang¡¯s instructions and hurriedly handed him her mobile phone. As she was taking it out of her inventory, her hand accidentally slipped.


    Before she could panic, Jiang Fang caught the falling mobile phone and didn¡¯t forget to nod like a gentleman to Li Yinhang. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    There was a full signal and he used the water supply hotline number marked at the bottom of the water bill to communicate with the outside world from an apartment in the sky where the door, location and floor weren¡¯t known at all.


    ¡°Hey.¡±


    ¡°Hello~~¡±


    A melodious female voice was heard from the phone. ¡°Is there anything~ I can do to help you~¡±


    It was a polite and cheerful voice but there was a false texture to it. It was like a non-human insisting on pretending to be a friendly human. This voice made people get goose bumps.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change at all. He gazed at the other string of numbers that represented the ¡®account number¡¯. He might not know if the person on the other end of the line was human or a ghost but he was still polite. ¡°Hello, I would like to check my water bill this month. The account number is¡­¡±


    As Jiang Fang was searching for information from the water bill, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t bother to knock on the door and directly opened the closed door of the bathroom in the master bedroom.


    Chen Sufeng who was naked, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He was naked and using a washbasin to draw water, making himself an artificial shower. Half a centimeter of water had accumulated on the tiled floor and submerged his feet by half. After leaving Yu Tuisi¡¯s side, the young air of Chen Sufeng actually receded quite a bit. His eyes were sharper and more vigilant. ¡°What are you going to do?¡±


    Nan Zhou half crouched down in front of him. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in your body.¡±


    Chen Sufeng, ¡°¡­¡­¡± There was no need to be so direct.


    Nan Zhou raised his head. His eyes were clear as if Chen Sufeng wearing clothes or not was no different in his eyes. He opened his mouth. ¡°You said it this morning.¡±


    ¡°¡­What?¡±


    He was speechless while Nan Zhou pulled up the white grate of the floor drain. The surface was clean and didn¡¯t have anything extra stuck to it. Nan Zhou showed no disgust as he placed his fingers into the depths of the floor drain, groping back and forth for something.


    A moment later, he pulled something up with his fingers. A small silver key was stuck horizontally in the floor drain pipe. Nan Zhou had been playing with the box all morning and could instantly tell that the jagged outline of the key fit perfectly with the document box crushed by him.


    The key was probably accidentally lost. This was why they hadn¡¯t found it after so long. The gap of the floor drain was relatively large and the key was relatively small. If the angle was special then it was possible for the key to slide down it. In addition, the special angle meant that when the key fell in the floor drain, it didn¡¯t slide down directly but got stuck horizontally.


    Right now, a bunch of soft and damp curly hair of a woman was wrapped around the key. The hairs on Chen Sufeng¡¯s body stood up when he saw this bunch of hair and he couldn¡¯t help being stunned.


    The words he said when he went to wash his face this morning echoed in his ears. ¡°The drain of the master bedroom is blocked.¡±


    At the end of this curly hair was a small, blood-red scalp-like object attached. It swung like a pendulum with the frequency of water dripping from the ends of the hair. At the same time, Jiang Fang also got the answer he wanted.


    This month, the household had already consumed 11 tons of water.


    The moment Jiang Fang hung up, everyone heard the system notifications.


    [Ding¡ª]


    [Congratulations to player Jiang Fang for collecting the clue ¡®fingerprints under the ashtray¡¯.]


    [Congratulations to player Jiang Fang for collecting the clue ¡®dust in the shoe cabinet¡¯.]


    [Congratulations to player Jiang Fang for collecting the clue ¡®11 tons of water¡¯.]


    [Congratulations to player Nan Zhou for collecting the clue ¡®grease in the pressure cooker¡¯.]


    [Congratulations to player Nan Zhou for collecting the clue ¡®scalp in the drain¡¯.]


    [Five clues have been collected and are being synthesized into achievements.]


    [Congratulations to players Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou of the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team for winning Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Life main plot reward x1. You are each rewarded with 500 experience points¡ª]


    Shen Jie¡¯s pretty face was changing and became red and white.


    ¡­This was bad. She made a ridiculous error in judgment this time.


    The author has something to say:


    Brother Fang¡¯s thousand layer scheme for chasing his wife: Seize my wife¡¯s stomach and set it up for my wife to call me Brother.

 CH 19

    There was no joy on Nan Zhou¡¯s face when he heard this announcement. Players who weren¡¯t on the same team could hear the reward announcements. This time it was an instance that required them to share clues. What if they encountered an instance with a multi-team confrontation in the future? Wasn¡¯t this directly exposing their achievements and trump cards?


    Nan Zhou felt that this wasn¡¯t a good thing.


    He washed his hands and came out of the bathroom only to meet Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes. Jiang Fang looked past his shoulders and saw Chen Sufeng who had hurriedly wrapped a bath towel around himself. Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes darkened slightly but it was only for a moment.


    The current five clues had pieced together a creepy possibility. In this seemingly peaceful, quiet, warm and beautiful family of three, in Xiao Ming¡¯s seemingly boring daily life, there was a woman who died unexpectedly. It might be his mother or perhaps it was his sister. It could also be a distant relative who had lived here for a long time.


    Her fingerprints were left on the bottom of the ashtray. Her shoe prints were left deep in the shoe cabinet. Her hair remained in the sewer. Her fat remained in the pressure cooker. In addition, all of her was taken away by 11 tons of water.


    ¡­It was shortly after Xiao Ming¡¯s daily vacation began.


    The NPC on the phone told them that the household used 12 tons of water last month. Today was July 3rd and the household¡¯s water consumption had already reached 11 tons. 11 tons of water was enough to wash away everything that had happened in this house. The game¡¯s main task had taken a big step forward on the first day.


    Then what was next? Even if they discovered that a woman had died here, how could they find the way out?


    Everyone was speechless but the two men with the biggest merits seemed indifferent. Jiang Fang went back to the kitchen and continued to cook. Nan Zhou was in the living room teaching Li Yinhang how to do handicrafts.


    Xiao Ming¡¯s handicraft was propositional and was called ¡®My Family.¡¯ Previously when they didn¡¯t know anything, everyone could still handle this homework. But now¡­


    Who the hell knew what the configuration of Xiao Ming¡¯s family was.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t care about these unnecessary worries. He said, ¡°Build a house first.¡±


    Then he took out several boxes of matches from the drawer of the TV cabinet. Judging from the ashtray and the half-empty cigarette box under the coffee table, there was someone in this house with a habit of smoking. Matches had long stopped being the mainstream lighting method but it couldn¡¯t be ruled out that some people liked the feeling of the match head rubbing against the sandpaper.


    Nan Zhou took out tweezers found in the household tools box and picked up a match. He started from the base and crisscrossed to build it. Under Nan Zhou¡¯s hands, the matchsticks became a beam rafter and the match head a mortise and tenon joint. Layers of construction were completed and a strong and small cube made of matches was born in his hands like magic.


    Nan Zhou embedded several matches facing upwards, arranged them in ladders and set up a small roof. The crimson match head and the white matchstick gradually formed a ¡®home¡¯ in his hand. He fiddled with the matches and said, ¡°I have also assigned my students homework on the theme of ¡®home¡¯.¡±


    Li Yinhang was surprised. ¡°Huh?¡±


    Nan Zhou used tweezers to gently adjust the height of the match sticks decorating the roof as a chimney and reminded Li Yinhang, ¡°Did you forget? I am an art teacher.¡±


    The other listeners, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    They really couldn¡¯t believe him after seeing him squeeze the box with his bare hands.


    Jiang Fang, who was leaning against the kitchen door and heard all of this, gently wiped his hands on his apron and smiled. ¡°Teacher Nan, it is time to eat.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s cooking was really excellent. The eggplant stuffed with meat absorbed all the juices and made the eggplant more fragrant than the meat. The mapo tofu was tender and browned while the spiciness was just right. The yellowish shredded potatoes were hand-cut and decorated with a few chopped red chilis. It looked particularly good. The shrimp seaweed soup was salty and delicious while the rice was soft and fragrant. He even made a simple version of a creamy fruit cake using the microwave and fruits. But¡­


    Everyone thought of how a person might¡¯ve done something to a woman in the kitchen with a pressure cooker and nausea rose. In addition, all the blades in the house were concentrated in the kitchen. They thought of what the shiny kitchen knife in the knife holder might be used for and no one had an appetite.


    The exception was Nan Zhou.


    He sat down at the table, cut the cake into eight portions with the fruit knife and consciously placed his portion on a small plate. Jiang Fang pointed to his share and shook his head at Nan Zhou. ¡°I don¡¯t eat sweets.¡±


    Thus, Nan Zhou got an extra piece of cake. He was expressionless but obviously happy. He used a fork to cut the two cake slices into smaller pieces.


    As the group was hesitating, Shen Jie actually chose to sit down. Chen Sufeng did the same as her. The thin monkey wanted to pull Shen Jie up but instead she grabbed him by the arm. ¡°Come and eat.¡±


    The thin monkey looked disgusted. ¡°The only thing in this house that can cut up a human body is the kitchen knife. Do you still dare to eat something cut with the kitchen knife?¡±


    Vtfc Alf abiv tlw, ¡°Snfc lo j ybvs kjr vlrwfwyfgfv lc atlr tberf, la kbeivc¡¯a yf klat j xlamtfc xclof.¡±


    ¡°Tfr.¡± Jtfc Veofcu jugffv klat Vtfc Alf¡¯r pevuwfca. ¡°Pa lrc¡¯a mbcnfclfca ab erf j xlamtfc xclof.¡±


    Ktfc tf qfgrbcjiis qlmxfv eq j qlfmf bo aboe jcv jaf la. Ktf ubbv ajraf atja kjr yfsbcv tlr lwjulcjalbc wjvf tlw qjerf obg j wbwfca. Lf ibbxfv eq ja Aljcu Mjcu jcv delmxis ugjyyfv atf cfza qlfmf bo obbv.


    ¡°In order to dismember the body, tools like a handsaw should be used.¡± Chen Sufeng said. ¡°Otherwise¡­ Xiao Ming wouldn¡¯t have failed to discover it.¡±


    The thin monkey was stunned. ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t use your mind.¡± Shen Jie felt resentful for him failing to meet expectations. ¡°Have you forgotten? What is the date of Xiao Ming¡¯s last diary entry?¡±


    ¡°I remember. It was July 2nd¡ª¡±


    He hadn¡¯t finished speaking when he became stunned and sweat flowed down his back. The NPC on the other side of the phone told them that today was July 3rd. Prior to this, he always thought that Xiao Ming¡¯s diary was made up. After all, the contents inside were crude and full of a perfunctory atmosphere like ¡®I just want to finish this.¡¯


    Yet he ignored one point. The date of the diary entries was likely to be true. Xiao Ming¡¯s diary ended on July 2nd. He wrote in his diary on July 2nd that he couldn¡¯t figure out what to make by hand. He called Xiao Hong to ask but Xiao Hong hadn¡¯t done it either. For Xiao Ming, July 2nd was a dull but peaceful day.


    The current instance date was July 3rd. Assuming that a vicious case of murder and dismemberment really occurred in this room, it could only be in July when the water consumption increased abnormally.


    So far, only three days had passed in July. In other words, the time point of the diary overlapped with the instance time. If the killing occurred on July 1st, why was Xiao Ming¡¯s diary on the 2nd so simple as if nothing happened?


    If it was the 2nd¡­


    The 2nd of July was the exact date they were teleported in. Yet at that time, they did a simple search of the house and didn¡¯t find anything. There was no dead body, blood stains or hair. There was nothing. Besides, if the killer dismembered the body last night then why didn¡¯t they hear any movements?


    There were eight pairs of ears and eyes here. Some slept in the master bedroom, some slept in the second bedroom and some in the living room. How could they not notice if someone dismembered a body, cleaned up and threw all female related items out of the house?


    Although the time point of ¡®July 3rd¡¯ had been determined, it was unclear what timeline they were in. A parallel world? Or were they now at the scene of the murder just before it happened?


    Still, the conclusion they could draw currently was that the woman wasn¡¯t cut up with a kitchen knife. The reason was simple. This instance was based on clues and realistic logic. In the preliminary investigation, everyone had gone to the kitchen and focused on investigating the knives.


    The bones of the human body were very hard. If the kitchen knife was used to chop bones then there would be traces of overuse on it or it would be discarded and the knife holder would contain a new, non-damaged kitchen knife. This kitchen knife obviously wasn¡¯t new. There were traces of frequent use but no breakages or damage.


    Secondly, a kitchen knife would make a loud noise when chopping meat. It didn¡¯t matter if the dismemberment occurred on the 1st or the 2nd. The meat and bones would make an unusually loud noise. If a tool like a handsaw was used then it would be much more convenient and the cutting sound was easier to be ignored than the chopping sound.


    Third, all the woman¡¯s belongings had been removed from the home. Was it necessary to leave the murder weapon at home specifically?


    To sum it up, cooking with a kitchen knife wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    ¡°I¡¯m eating. Let¡¯s not talk about this for now.¡± Chen Sufeng immersed himself in taking a few bites of rice. ¡°Once I¡¯m full and my brain is supplied with enough blood, perhaps my thoughts will be clearer.¡±


    Then Chen Sufeng rubbed his nose and asked Jiang Fang, ¡°Is there a lunchbox? I want to leave a bit for Brother Yu.¡±


    ¡°There is. I saved two portions.¡±


    Jiang Fang took off his apron and looked at the new matchstick house made by Nan Zhou on the coffee table in a thoughtful manner. He said, ¡°Eat slowly.¡±


    The thin monkey let go of his worries and also joined in the meal. Chen Sufeng¡¯s words were very practical. If they didn¡¯t eat enough then they wouldn¡¯t be able to use their brains.


    In the silent dining room, there was only the slight sound of chopsticks hitting the bowl. The smell of rice and other dishes permeated the surroundings. Everyone tried their best to focus on the delicious food, forcing themselves not to think about how a bloody and nauseatingly hellish scene had occurred in this 100 square meters apartment at some point in the past.


    After the meal, Yu Tuisi was pushed out of the children¡¯s room by the fitness trainer. His face didn¡¯t look very good. ¡°I had a dream.¡±


    Yu Tuisi¡¯s emotional management was very strong. He was obviously uncomfortable but he still grasped the key points and briefly described them. ¡°There was nothing particularly specific. I just heard a sound similar to sawing wood which kept ringing in my ears.¡±


    Creak¡ª


    Creak¡ª


    Such a subtle sawing sound lasted for two full hours in Yu Tuisi¡¯s dream.


    Li Yinhang bit her knuckle, took a deep breath and entered the children¡¯s room. Next was her handicrafts task. This time, Jiang Fang accompanied her. He read Xiao Ming¡¯s diary again.


    The diary started on the first day of summer vacation which was June 15th. Previously, they hadn¡¯t read it very carefully. Now that he re-read it, Jiang Fang found a clue in the corner. It was on June 18th that Xiao Ming mentioned his ¡®home¡¯ in his diary. It was just a short sentence.


    ¡®There is no one at home.¡¯


    On June 28th, he mentioned it again.


    ¡®Han Meimei and I went to see the lighting scenery. It was very beautiful. I wanted to tell people but there is no one at home. I made a bowl of mung bean congee for myself and added two pieces of ice. It was very delicious.¡¯


    Under the typos, pinyin writing and flowing narrative of a primary school student, there was very little valuable information. Moreover, due to the arrangement of the puzzle in the instance, there was no mention in the diary of how many people there were in the family as well as the family structure.


    Jiang Fang closed the diary. Still¡­ it wasn¡¯t without any gains.


    Outside the children¡¯s room, Yu Tuisi listened to Chen Sufeng talking about their findings earlier and frowned slightly as he was lost in thought.


    The thin monkey and fitness trainer were on the computer in the second bedroom. Surprisingly, the thin monkey was pretty good with computers. He quickly opened one file after another to look for clues.


    Nan Zhou sat cross-legged in the hallway, staring at the white wall in front of him. No one knew what he was thinking. Nanji Star was crouched on his shoulder, holding a small piece of cake left over and nibbling on it in a cherished manner.


    Shen Jie sat quietly beside him. She wanted to talk but when she clearly saw his movements, she couldn¡¯t help feeling suffocated. He was still prying at that small lock with a wire. Shen Jie held back her complaints and asked, ¡°What are you thinking?¡±


    Nan Zhou was very honest. ¡°Why is there no door? Why are we looking for a door?¡±


    If Nan Zhou had previously asked such a question then Shen Jie probably would¡¯ve rolled her eyes. Now after seeing his strength, Shen Jie respected him a lot. She patiently explained, ¡°This is the arrangement of the instance. The instance will always have us complete a task to pass the level.¡±


    ¡°So why aren¡¯t we investigating the murder? Why find a door?¡±


    Shen Jie, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She was knocked down by the question. Nan Zhou also had no intention of getting an answer from Shen Jie. He continued to stare at the white wall in a daze.


    Shen Jie bit her lip. She mulled over something before opening her mouth.


    ¡°I was at fault.¡± Shen Jie told him. ¡°Previously when I said to let you newcomers die, I was wrong.¡±


    Nan Zhou moved his gaze to her face and replied lightly. ¡°Um.¡±


    Shen Jie smiled. She laughed and her shrewd and serious energy was diminished a lot. ¡°What does ¡®um¡¯ mean?¡±


    Nan Zhou told her, ¡°It means I accept your apology.¡±


    Shen Jie, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She told him, ¡°You are really a strange person.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t answer and refocused his eyes on the white wall again.


    Shen Jie continued. ¡°I have a daughter who is 8 years old this year¡­ perhaps she is the same age as this Xiao Ming.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I heard from a newcomer that she should¡¯ve been sent to the special children¡¯s shelter.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Shen Jie stared straight at Nan Zhou¡¯s side profile. She found that this man seemed cold but was actually very simple. It was best to be straightforward when talking to him. Thus, she opened her mouth and said, ¡°You and Jiang Fang, cooperate with us.¡±


    ¡°The system states that a team can have between two to five people.¡±


    ¡°My Shunfeng team has two more positions available. It is just right for you and Jiang Fang.¡± Shen Jie¡¯s tone became more urgent. ¡°Come with us and the chances of survival will be greater. That girl surnamed Li can¡¯t help you much. We can give you more.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to be the leader. I can give it to you or Jiang Fang.¡±


    ¡°We will listen to you regarding everything as long as we can win.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at the lock in his palm. Shen Jie¡¯s suggestion meant more storage compartments, a higher team level and more experienced teammates. He calculated the benefits before gently waving his hand. ¡°No.¡±


    Shen Jie was already prepared to be rejected so she wasn¡¯t very depressed. ¡°Can I ask why?¡±


    ¡°I like my current team name.¡± Then Nan Zhou added, ¡°Also, I don¡¯t like you.¡±


    ¡°Because I wanted to sacrifice you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Nan Zhou made no secret of it. ¡°I remember grudges.¡±


    Shen Jie didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or to feel embarrassed. Finally, she laughed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you too direct?¡±


    Nan Zhou studied the lock with great concentration while telling her, ¡°I¡¯m not going. You can still ask Jiang¡­¡±


    He thought of the conversation in the kitchen and seriously corrected the name. ¡°¡­Brother Jiang.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Shen Jie got up. ¡°He won¡¯t go with me.¡±


    ¡°How do you know without asking?¡±


    ¡°I can know without asking.¡± Shen Jie looked at the handful of dull hairs on Nan Zhou¡¯s slightly raised head and laughed. ¡°It is because you won¡¯t come.¡±


    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    Before Nan Zhou could understand, Shen Jie went to the second bedroom to find her teammates. As a result, Nan Zhou had another question that he couldn¡¯t figure out in his mind.


    The author has something to say:


    Shen Jie: Please, you guys are very gay.

 CH 20

    Li Yinhang did the handicrafts task and stumbled to complete it. It was just like Shen Jie¡¯s assessment. Li Yinhang¡¯s hands-on ability truly wasn¡¯t very good.


    Her brain: You learned it.


    Her hands: Nonsense.


    Fortunately, like everyone else before her, there was a smooth transition. She built a ¡®home¡¯ without any unexpected troubles. Next was the computer game task and the fitness trainer quickly went online. The game that Xiao Ming played was similar to PUBG. The fitness instructor¡¯s gaming ability was quite limited and he perfectly showed the level of a primary school student.


    The thin monkey¡¯s mouth was also mean and he played well as a teammate. He took advantage of the break in the game and instructed the fitness trainer to do the task he hadn¡¯t had time to complete previously¡ªsearch every corner of the computer for useful information. Unfortunately, the computer was extremely clean.


    Social media software: no.


    Recycling bin: empty.


    Family photos: no.


    Browsing history: no.


    Hidden folders: no.


    The thin monkey hated things that were useless and was so angry that he wanted to smash the computer. Seeing that the task handover time was approaching, he had to leave the second bedroom and go to the children¡¯s room. He picked up the diary and started to truthfully record today¡¯s itinerary.


    The thin monkey was more used to a keyboard and mouse and hadn¡¯t held a pen for a long time. Therefore, his writing ability wasn¡¯t much different from a primary school student. He bit the pen and pondered on how to write about the cake he ate today. Halfway through, the lawyer surnamed Yu who he hated the most came in on the wheelchair. The lawyer looked at his half-finished work and gave a low laugh.


    The thin monkey, ¡°¡­¡­¡± What was this trivial laugh?


    Yu Tuisi told him, ¡°You imitate a primary school student every well.¡±


    The thin monkey, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Still, these words were good in this situation.


    The thin monkey choked up and turned pale as he whispered, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    Yu Tuisi controlled the wheelchair and moved to the door of the children¡¯s room. He raised a hand to hold the door frame and gestured to shut the door. The thin monkey was stunned. ¡°Hello?¡±


    Yu Tuisi smiled. ¡°There is something here.¡±


    On the door of the children¡¯s room, there was a ruler with three or four marks drawn. It started from 90cm above the ground all the way to 128 cm with the date of the measurement next to it. Yu Tuisi had found this detail during his nap.


    Due to physical reasons, Yu Tuisi¡¯s field of view was different from other people. He often came into contact with environmental objects more frequently than normal people. Thus, he could find things that were hard to notice from a normal person¡¯s point of view.


    Yu Tuisi was ready to move the wheelchair back when there was a knock on the door. Yu Tuisi called out, ¡°Please come in.¡±


    Nan Zhou stuck his head in. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Yu Tuisi smiled. It had been less than a day since meeting each other and Yu Tuisi discovered that although Nan Zhou usually looked cold and indifferent, his habits were like a cat. No matter what others did, he wanted to come to see and touch.


    ¡°This gentleman is being a good boy and writing the diary entry obediently,¡± Yu Tuisi replied with a smile. ¡°As for me, I need a helper.¡±


    The thin monkey who was a good boy, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou squeezed through the crack in the door and the room suddenly became cramped. The thin monkey didn¡¯t dare talk too much and had to pretend that these two people didn¡¯t exist.


    Te Kelrl abemtfv atf rmjif bc atf yjmx bo atf vbbg qjcfi. ¡°Obbx tfgf.¡±


    Rjc Itbe kbcvfgfv, ¡°Qtja lr atlr?¡±


    Te Kelrl qjerfv. ¡°Xfcfgjiis, atfgf klii yf j rmjif ja tbwf obg mtlivgfc ab wfjregf atflg tfluta.¡±


    Rjc Itbe rjlv, ¡°Zs ojwlis cfnfg wfjregfv atlr.¡±


    Te Kelrl vlvc¡¯a jrx abb wemt jcv ragbxfv atf vbbg. ¡°Vwfii la.¡±


    Nan Zhou came closer and sniffed it. The faint smell of wood lacquer drifted into his nose. It wasn¡¯t pungent or strong but it was unpleasant.


    ¡°All the door panels in the house use this wood lacquer. It is a wood lacquer from reality,¡± Yu Tuisi explained. ¡°A few years ago, my partner and I selected this type of paint when decorating our new house. We chose it ourselves and painted it together. Then once we finished decorating, I found that the smell of formaldehyde was difficult to disperse. It took about two years for it to slightly improve.¡±


    Nan Zhou understood what he meant. ¡°Then this house has been renovated within two years?¡±


    ¡°It should be.¡±


    Yu Tuisi was a good-tempered senior and patiently listed out his findings. ¡°The wallpaper isn¡¯t very new but there is no sign of moisture. Based on the degree of wear and tear of the sofa cover in the living room and the pilling of the sofa cushions, the sofa should¡®ve been replaced in the last year or two years as well.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at the earliest date of the height measurement that was 90cm above the ground. It was one year and eight months away from the date of the last measurement. He speculated, ¡°This house is a new house bought around two years ago?¡±


    Yu Tuisi shook his head. He moved his wheelchair back again and pointed to a gap in the floor close to the wall. ¡°Look, there are traces of a beauty crack here.¡±


    Nan Zhou asked again, ¡°What is a beauty crack?¡±


    Yu Tuisi, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He found that Nan Zhou¡¯s cleverness was a bit unconventional. He carefully explained, ¡°Tiles in the home will have problems with gaps getting big, discoloration and breaking over time. Thus, they need the cracks to be beautified. It should be considered a small home improvement.¡±


    Then Yu Tuisi leaned down and scraped the gap between the wall and the floor with his finger. ¡°The result depends on the craftsmanship of the master. It is inevitable that there will be some minor problems such as incomplete filling, overflow filling, etc¡­ the part against the wall is the most prone to such problems.¡±


    He used a bit of effort to break off a small piece of an overflowing, solidified object against the wall and placed it in his palm. ¡°Look, the surface is filled with epoxy resin but the bottom is glued with a bit of an oil-based crack sealer. These are too different crack filling materials.¡±


    Nan Zhou came to a conclusion. ¡°So the cracks have been repaired at least twice?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Yu Tuisi nodded. ¡°It is reasonable to say that a period of time must pass before the beauty crack is needed. It is only when there is a certain amount of wear and tear in the floor that it is needed.¡±


    He continued, ¡°Therefore, either Xiao Ming¡¯s family bought a second-hand house or Xiao Ming¡¯s family has lived here for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°So what?¡±


    Yu Tuisi instructed, ¡°There is hard work. Tear off the wallpaper here.¡±


    The thin monkey who had been acting as the audience was startled. ¡°Huh?!¡±


    Yu Tuisi gestured to him to signal for him to stay silent. At the same time, he told Nan Zhou, ¡°Don¡¯t tear too much. Just the piece behind the door is fine.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t move.


    Yu Tuisi wondered, ¡°Is there a problem?¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t shy away from the question. ¡°I am wondering why you are letting me tear it.¡±


    Yu Tuisi was silent.


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°Your teammate Chen Sufeng is outside but you didn¡¯t call for him.¡±


    ¡°in addition, you might be sitting down but that doesn¡¯t mean you are unable to tear off the wallpaper.¡±


    There was no response from Yu Tuisi for a long time and Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°You are afraid that something will happen if you tear it off. You want to pit me.¡±


    Yu Tuisi sighed while touching his forehead. He just said that this guy¡¯s cleverness was really unconventional.


    ¡°Yes, I do have this worry.¡± After being exposed, Yu Tuisi quickly corrected his expression. ¡°This is my problem. It is easy for me to look ahead and think too much. It is difficult to let myself and my teammate take risks unless the certainty is over 80%.¡±


    Nan Zhou was unmoved.


    Yu Tuisi continued, ¡°However, if there is a clue behind the door and you tear off the wallpaper, the clue and points will be yours.¡±


    Nan Zhou reacted very quickly. ¡°This is what you said.¡±


    Yu Tuisi, ¡°¡­¡­¡± He wondered if Nan Zhou had been waiting for him to say this. He moved his wheelchair back to give Nan Zhou plenty of room.


    Nan Zhou moved very neatly and tore down a piece of wallpaper behind the door. Surrounded by exquisite wallpaper, there were signs of aging on the white wall. There was also a scale for measuring height. However, the time indicated on the scale went back as early as 12 years ago. The time span and height were also much higher than the new scale behind the door.


    [Ding¡ª]


    [Congratulations to player Nan Zhou for collecting the clue ¡®another family member¡¯.]


    [Congratulations to player Nan Zhou of the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team for winning Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Life main plot reward x1. You are rewarded with 200 experience points¡ª]


    Nan Zhou quietly listened to the reward before raising his finger to touch the marker handwriting on the wall. It was as the reward notification indicated. There was another member of the family. It was a child much older than Xiao Ming.


    This child used to live in Xiao Ming¡¯s room. They were pulled behind the door by the parents and stood there to have their height measured again and again. They looked back, trying to see how tall they had grown but their parents smiled and held down their shoulders, telling them not to move.


    The last time the child measured their height, they were 1.65 meters. According to a normal child¡¯s physical growth standard, the time span and Xiao Ming¡¯s height measurement, this child should now be around 20 years old. This was the university age.


    Yu Tuisi just shrugged at the loss of 200 points. He preferred being safe and conservative over gaining points. He explained why he thought there would be a clue behind the door. ¡°Judging from the hair, a woman disappeared from the house. She might be Xiao Ming¡¯s sister or his mother.¡±


    ¡°I thought that if they had lived in this apartment long enough or even renovated many times, the sister might¡¯ve lived in the children¡¯s room.¡±


    At this point, he sighed softly. ¡°The Coco Mademoiselle perfume in the closet is indeed a fragrance preferred by young women.¡±


    ¡°It means it is more likely that a sister, not a mother, lived here.¡±


    They made quite a lot of discoveries today. It was just that the horror they experienced was lackluster. It was almost like a real schoolboy¡¯s routine that flowed quickly.


    As her task time approached, Shen Jie¡¯s anxiety became more and more obvious. She bit her nails and her elbows resting on her knees trembled slightly. There was a dead person in the house. The most suitable place to dismember a body was the bathroom. At 9 o¡¯clock in the evening, she was going to wash her hair in a place like this¡­


    The fitness trainer saw Shen Jie¡¯s pale face and couldn¡¯t bear it. ¡°Sister Shen, I will go.¡±


    Shen Jie calmed down and waved her hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    She was the leader of Shunfeng and she should take responsibility. Once time was almost up, she got up and said, ¡°I¡¯ll get ready first.¡±


    Meanwhile, Nan Zhou got 200 points and was studying the items in the shopping mall. He heard Shen Jie¡¯s tone and couldn¡¯t help raising his head to stare at her back. He asked Jiang Fang, ¡°Why is she nervous?¡±


    ¡°Usually when taking a shower, there are all types of worries.¡± Jiang Fang explained it. ¡°You are afraid about a ghost reaching out from a mirror, afraid that someone will touch the back of your neck when foam is covering your eyes¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou interrupted. ¡°Why? Why would a ghost touch your neck?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not wearing clothes and the ghost will see me. A man is fine but if it is a female ghost¡ª¡± Nan Zhou seriously worried about this question. ¡°Who will be considered the rogue?¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Shen Jie who just walked out, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou continued to ask, ¡°If something like a ghost appears in the bathroom, will it usually stay in the bathroom?¡±


    Jiang Fang answered, ¡°If it is an earthbound spirit then it is possible.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t it have no entertainment?¡±


    Jiang Fang raised an eyebrow. ¡°Perhaps not.¡±


    ¡°Where would it hide? In the mirror? In the toilet? Will it get bored if no one looks in the mirror? What would it do if someone goes to the toilet?¡±


    ¡°In addition, what about when it comes to home renovations?¡±


    ¡°If repair putty is used to beautify the cracks, will it also be there?¡±


    Jiang Fang couldn¡¯t help smiling slightly. ¡°Perhaps.¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°Then it can¡¯t hide from the formaldehyde even if it hates the smell of formaldehyde.¡±


    Shen Jie¡¯s spirit that was stretched to the limit slowly relaxed at Nan Zhou¡¯s repeated questions. Regardless of whether Nan Zhou deliberately helped ease her fear or not, she thanked him in her heart.


    Since the female hair was found in the master bathroom, Shen Jie naturally chose the bathroom of the children¡¯s bedroom to perform the task. However, there was a minor problem with her task. The shower head in this bathroom was broken and only a bit of sparse yellow water was squeezed out.


    It was impossible for her to go to the master bathroom, let alone use the bathtub. There would be greater restrictions on her actions if she lay down in the bathtub. If she was in a crisis then she would have no time to react.


    Thus, she chose the same way that Chen Sufeng used to take a shower at noon. She washed her hair in the washbasin. She turned on the tap and changed to hot water mode. The bathroom gradually fogged up.


    Shen Jie¡¯s figure in the mirror gradually blurred, making it hard to see clearly. Shen Jie wiped the fog off the mirror and stared at herself in the mirror, gritting her teeth. She had to go back. Her daughter was still waiting for her.


    She gritted her teeth, leaned down and soaked her hair completely in the half-full sink. She let her numb scalp calm down a bit in the comfort of the hot water. It was fine. It must be fine. No one had encountered a ghost yet. It didn¡¯t make sense for her to encounter it.


    Shen Jie barely calmed down and squeezed out some shampoo on her hand. The shampoo was diluted by warm water and spread out. The bathroom¡¯s infrared heater that was just like the sun caused the light reflecting on the water to be a bit dazzling. In order to avoid looking directly at the mirror-like water surface and to prevent the shampoo from flowing into her eyes, Shen Jie had to look away from the water.


    She kept the posture of bending over and lowered her hair. She placed her hands in her hair, ready to start rubbing. The moment when she completely leaned down¡­


    From the gap under an armpit, Shen Jie saw a pair of pale feet standing motionless not far behind her.

 CH 21

    A sharp scream from the bathroom made the people in the living room jump up. The thin monkey took the lead and rushed to the door. ¡°Sister Shen!¡±


    He raised his hand to press it against the doorknob only to find that the door was locked from the inside. Shen Jie¡¯s voice trembled. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­¡±


    The thin monkey who was unaware of the ins and outs was so hot-blooded that he almost slammed into the door. Fortunately, he was stopped in time by Shen Jie behind the door.


    ¡°Use your mind¡­¡± Shen Jie gasped. ¡°I locked the door myself¡­ I¡¯m not blocking you. I¡¯m blocking myself.¡±


    ¡°If I run out on impulse and the task isn¡¯t completed, what should I do?¡±


    Li Yinhang somewhat admired Shen Jie¡¯s ruthlessness toward herself at this juncture. She leaned against the door and knocked carefully. ¡°Sister, let me go in and accompany you.¡±


    Shen Jie didn¡¯t say anything. She unlocked the door and opened the door a crack for Li Yinhang.


    One hour later, the sweating Shen Jie walked out of the bathroom with her hair wrapped in a towel. This time to wash up was very lonely.


    She described her experience as briefly as possible. The feet had appeared and left too quickly. Shen Jie had seen them from a head down position and didn¡¯t have time to glimpse the entire person behind her. She could only grasp the small details and describe them.


    Nan Zhou asked her, ¡°Was it a child¡¯s feet or an adult¡¯s feet?¡±


    Shen Jie¡¯s face was pale and miserable. ¡°It was like¡­ a woman¡¯s feet.¡±


    It was silent in the living room. The inevitable had finally happened but no one felt relieved at all. In a horror game, ghosts would appear once the plot had reached a critical point or the investigation had entered an important stage. This was a common routine in ordinary games. However, even the most difficult games would have unlimited replays. For them, if they took the wrong step then they might never go back.


    As everyone was silent, Nan Zhou suddenly raised his head and wondered, ¡°Why is it a woman?¡±


    The others who were in agreement by chance. ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    Nan Zhou repeated. ¡°Why is it a woman?¡±


    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Qjrc¡¯a atlr cbcrfcrf? Ca qgfrfca, la kjr mifjg atja j kbwjc tjv vlfv lc atf tberf.


    Ktf xfs kjr atja Rjc Itbe¡¯r fzqgfrrlbc kjr nfgs gfji. Pa rffwfv tf kjr gfjiis atlcxlcu jybea atlr qgbyifw. Ciatbeut atfs xcfk atja Rjc Itbe kjr j rwjga qfgrbc jcv tf meggfcais tjv atf wbra qblcar lc atf lcrajcmf yea tlr atlcxlcu kjr abb pewqs jcv fierlnf.


    The fitness trainer who couldn¡¯t keep up with his thoughts was a bit impatient. ¡°Can you have fewer strange questions?¡±


    ¡°What about Mr Jiang?¡± He turned to look for Jiang Fang who was the translator. ¡°Where did Mr Jiang go?¡±


    The monkey clicked his tongue, patted the fitness trainer¡¯s head and pointed to the door of the children¡¯s room. Jiang Fang had entered a long time ago. Currently, Jiang Fang was lying on the bed in the children¡¯s room with his hands folded together on his chest. He repeatedly flicked his fingers to stimulate his mind to move at a high speed. Due to his height, he was unable to lie flat on the small children¡¯s bed. He had to hang his feet down on the edge of the bed and step on the slippers beside the bed.


    Then Nan Zhou¡¯s voice from outside the door passed through the door panel. ¡°Why is it a woman?¡±


    Jiang Fang suddenly sat straight up from the bed when he heard these words. A small bit of inspiration flashed through his mind like a shooting star. It was a pity that he didn¡¯t have time to catch it. By the time he realized it, only the light of the shooting star¡¯s tail was left in his mind.


    Jiang Fang frowned, slightly unhappy. He had just confirmed that he had failed to grasp the inspiration and was lying back down on the bed when there was a knock on the door. Then a figure slipped in through the crack in the door. It was Nan Zhou holding a quilt and pillow.


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t move. Just like Nanji Star sitting on Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulder, Jiang Fang watched him setting up the quilt beside the bed.


    ¡°Miss Li is sleeping in the living room with Shunfeng. I¡¯m here to sleep.¡± Nan Zhou stated the facts. ¡°They don¡¯t understand me.¡±


    It was a very plain tone but Jiang Fang heard a bit of grievance from it. Jiang Fang repeatedly tried to hold down the corners of his lips while Nan Zhou reflected on it. ¡±Also, maybe Shen Jie encountered that thing in the bathroom because I tore off the wallpaper. I think something might happen tonight.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Jiang Fang looked at Nan Zhou in the dim light of the nightlight. ¡°You are moving in to protect me?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Nan Zhou didn¡¯t even think about it. ¡°There will be points for protecting your teammates.¡±


    This was valuable gaming experience that Nan Zhou had accumulated on the bus. Protecting a fellow teammate was worth 100 points for every person.


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you talking?¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t know if he should laugh or cry as he reached down from the bed. ¡°Your 100 points wants to say goodnight to you.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at the hand that was in front of his eyes and gently touched it. ¡°Good night¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang suddenly grasped his hand. It wasn¡¯t in a forceful manner full of control and aggression. It was a tight hold. The movements were very light but resolute. He didn¡¯t hold it for a long time. He only touched for a moment before naturally releasing it.


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°I worked my brain a bit too much and need to get my blood back.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t understand why blood could be recovered by shaking the hand but he still gave a low ¡®um¡¯ to indicate that he knew. Nan Zhou turned over and thought, ¡®Jiang Fang¡¯s hand is very soft. It is just like I thought.¡¯


    Nan Zhou thought of this and fell asleep. He had a dream. Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t remember how long it had been since he dreamed. In his dream, he was riding a bicycle on the main street of a small town. He was surrounded by people passing by. A familiar child waved at him and called him ¡®Teacher Nan.¡¯


    He nodded to the child and kept riding forward until he reached the end of the crowd and the street before braking. The setting sun on the horizon was blood red, pale black mountains lay dormant on the horizon and the dry branches on both sides of the road were like slender ghost hands reaching to the sky.


    He sat on the bicycle seat and watched the blood-stained sunset disappear from the sky. He slowly finished a whole apple before turning the bicycle around. He returned to the town under the particularly dim and hazy moonlight, heading toward a brightly lit home in the small town.


    His mother smiled. ¡°Are you back?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    His younger sister poked out her head. ¡°Are you back?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    His father was gentle and kind. ¡°You¡¯re back?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    After responding one by one, he put down his school bag full of paint. He rolled up his sleeves and went into the kitchen. Then he discovered there was a stranger in his kitchen who was taking out a steaming hot cake from the oven. He presumably heard a noise. The man turned around and smiled. ¡°¡­You¡¯re back?¡±


    In his dream, Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t see the person¡¯s face clearly. He tried every means possible to know who this person was. Nan Zhou went around to the front of this person, pulled his shoulder and raised the chin but he couldn¡¯t figure out the identity of this person.


    Nan Zhou asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    The man kept smiling with his face covered in a cloud and refused to say it.


    Nan Zhou suddenly woke up while breathing rapidly. Melting warm light penetrated through the window. The sky was clear. The rising body temperature gradually normalized and his disordered breathing stabilized.


    However, his mind was still in a trance.


    Nan Zhou had a problem with dreaming. It wasn¡¯t easy for him to separate himself from his dream.


    Nan Zhou stared at the ceiling in front of him, trying to focus his attention on something realistic to speed up the process of organizing his thoughts. Then he started frowning as he watched the ceiling.


    ¡­It felt like something was wrong.


    Just then, a curse from the fitness trainer was heard from outside. ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Nan Zhou shot up from the ground. It wasn¡¯t until he sat up that he was convinced it wasn¡¯t his illusion. The house in front of him had a fantastic¡­ no, weird distortion. The entire house had become smaller.


    Nan Zhou stood up and his head touched the ceiling. He had been dreaming all night and now he hit the ceiling. There was sudden blackness in front of him and he fell back down on the bed.


    Nan Zhou was slow to come back to his senses. He held his head and rubbed the top of it. Nan Zhou looked at Jiang Fang waking up in front of him and suddenly felt this person was very familiar. However, he gradually forgot the content of the dream within a few minutes of waking up.


    Nan Zhou stared at him for a while before pointing at the ceiling and whispering, ¡°¡­It fell down.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Jiang Fang patted him on the back and gently comforted him. ¡°Even if the sky is falling, fortunately I am still tall.¡±

 CH 22

    Everyone was awakened by the curse of the fitness trainer and noticed the change one after another. The thin monkey gritted his teeth. ¡°What the hell is going on?!¡±


    The entire apartment had shrunk by one circle. This wasn¡¯t an exaggerated amount. Only tall people like Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang needed to bow their heads and bend over when moving. However, if this trend continued then they would be squeezed to death in less than seven days!


    Shen Jie shouted irritably. ¡°Shut up!¡±


    She tried to calm herself down. She bit her thumbnail while muttering to herself, ¡°Why did this happen? What did we do wrong?¡±


    Yu Tuisi spoke calmly, ¡°It is also possible that we are closer to the truth.¡±


    Shen Jie and Yu Tuisi looked at each other for a moment. Soon, Shen Jie gave an order. ¡°Tear it.¡±


    Shen Jie feared that she would completely lose her courage if she hesitated any longer so she raised her voice and repeated the order to her team members, ¡°Tear off all the wallpaper in the house first!¡±


    The fitness trainer was flustered. In the supernatural instance, people were often bound by fear and couldn¡¯t find clues. They were afraid of going too far and being the first to get into trouble. For example, the feet in the bathroom yesterday appeared after Nan Zhou tore off the wallpaper in the children¡¯s room. The fitness trainer stammered. ¡°Sister Shen, let¡¯s¡­¡±


    Shen Jie abruptly got up and tore down a large piece of wallpaper on the side of the TV wall in the living room. ¡°It has become like this now. If you don¡¯t look for clues, do you want to just sit and wait for death?¡±


    The fitness trainer gritted his teeth. ¡°Okay.¡±


    The fitness trainer had good physical strength and his work was fast. In addition, the roof had lowered to a height of 1.8 meters and this greatly reduced the difficulty of the work. The thin monkey and Shen Jie were tearing down the wallpaper in the lower parts of the house.


    Yu Tuisi also said, ¡°Sufeng, help them.¡±


    Chen Sufeng had returned to Yu Tuisi¡¯s side and got rid of his initiative when acting alone yesterday. Now he nodded when he got the instructions. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Shen Jie rolled up the torn up wallpaper, walked to the door of the children¡¯s room and knocked on the door. Just as she wanted to tell Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang not to rush out first since the most important thing was to complete the task, she heard a soft noise from the room. They had already started to remove the wallpaper.


    Shen Jie sighed with relief and then felt a bit amused. Why did she have to worry about them? Shen Jie was about to continue tearing at the wallpaper when she turned her head and found that Yu Tuisi¡¯s behavior was a bit weird. She raised her eyebrow. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Yu Tuisi didn¡¯t respond to her question. His eyes were closed as he regularly tapped his fingers on the armrest of the wheelchair.


    Du, du, du, du, du.


    Every five taps, he would change to his other hand to continue. The action was as steady as the frequency. Every tap was like a precise clock.


    Shen Jie analyzed the meaning behind his actions. After a while, her heart became clear and she looked up at the clock hanging on the wall opposite Yu Tuisi. With Yu Tuisi¡¯s tapping, Shen Jie¡¯s heart beat faster and faster. It wasn¡¯t until 30 taps that Yu Tuisi opened his eyes and checked the number of seconds on the clock.


    The two people came to a conclusion in unison. ¡°The flow of time has become faster.¡±


    Shen Jie quickly turned around and instructed the busy thin monkey ¡°Hou, go and check the computer!¡±


    The thin monkey was suddenly named and he couldn¡¯t react for a while. ¡°Sister, didn¡¯t you want me to tear this first?¡±


    Shen Jie spoke succinctly. ¡°Division of labor and cooperation. Look at the computer!¡±


    The thin monkey jolted. ¡°Ah!¡±


    Yu Tuisi thoughtfully watched the back of the thin monkey heading to the second bedroom before asking Shen Jie, ¡°This might be a bit presumptuous but what is Miss Shen to them?¡±


    The thin monkey and fitness trainer weren¡¯t people with very good personalities. If it wasn¡¯t someone previously known or a relative, why did they listen to Shen Jie¡¯s words?


    ¡°We didn¡¯t know each other before but now we are friends who almost died together.¡± Shen Jie didn¡¯t take back her stern expression and she glared at the other person. ¡°Is there a problem?¡±


    Te Kelrl gjlrfv tlr tjcv rilutais jcv rwlifv. ¡°Rb.¡±


    Lf cbk ecvfgrabbv kts Vtfc Alf¡¯r Vtecofcu afjw mbeiv gfjmt ifnfi 10 vfrqlaf jii atf lwqfgofmalbcr.


    ***


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    The goose-yellow wall paint showed small signs of peeling, the corner of the wall was scratched by bumps when moving furniture and a corner of the living room was even blackened by the air conditioner¡¯s water.


    Jiang Fang finished his task and came out of the children¡¯s room. Nan Zhou chose to stay in the room to accompany Chen Sufeng to do the homework. Yu Tuisi talked to Jiang Fang about their findings. ¡°The flow of time has accelerated. Every minute is 5 seconds faster than normal.¡±


    After the distortion of the house, it was natural for unreasonable changes to occur. Thus, Jiang Fang just shrugged. ¡°It is unsurprising.¡±


    Shen Jie agreed with his judgment. ¡°Yes. We also can¡¯t be blindly active anymore. The house will just keep shrinking and time will only go faster and faster.¡±


    ¡°If we want to end everything, we have to find the door¡­ find the door.¡± Yu Tuisi repeated the ultimate goal of the task. ¡°What exactly is the door?¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t answer. He was looking at the small match house that Li Yinhang had built yesterday on the coffee table in the living room. It was the semi-finished ¡®my family.¡¯ This was what Jiang Fang had brought out of the children¡¯s room.


    Yu Tuisi wondered, ¡°What are you thinking?¡±


    ¡°I am thinking that this little house uses 211 matches.¡±


    Yu Tuisi, ¡°?¡±


    Jiang Fang asked in return, ¡°Do you smoke?¡±


    Yu Tuisi shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m disgusted with the scent of it. My partner had a small smoking habit and then he quit.¡±


    Jiang Fang inquired, ¡°When he was smoking, did he prefer a lighter or matches?¡±


    Yu Tuisi answered, ¡°A lighter. Matches have a sense of ritual but in the end, they are a bit inconvenient.¡±


    Jiang Fang turned to Li Yinhang. ¡°Where did Nan Zhou get the matches yesterday?¡±


    Li Yinhang still had a small impression of it. ¡°The TV cabinet drawer.¡±


    Jiang Fang sat on the sofa and didn¡¯t move. ¡°Excuse me, please help grab it for me.¡±


    Li Yinhang was taken aback. Then she realized that his tall height was inconvenient in this environment and hurried to the TV cabinet, taking out all the matches stored in it. There were 13 matchboxes. The packaging was of a fairly high standard and they were packed neatly in one corner of the drawer.


    Yu Tuisi was cautious but he didn¡¯t understand why Jiang Fang was suddenly so interested in the matches. It wasn¡¯t surprising that there would be so many matchboxes in Xiao Ming¡¯s home. There was an ashtray in Xiao Ming¡¯s house so it was likely that someone here smoked. In terms of smoking, everyone had their own preferences.


    Some people liked to smoke cheap cigarettes that were five yuan a pack. Some people were obsessed with the same brand for decades. Some people liked to smoke all the way to the cigarette butt while some people liked reverse smoking. It wasn¡¯t a strange habit to like to light up cigarettes with a match.


    Moreover, matches were different from lighters. They were consumables. For people who had a habit of smoking and preferred to use matches, it was normal and completely reasonable to store a few more boxes at home.


    Jiang Fang opened a box of unopened matches and dumped them all out. Shen Jie counted roughly and found there were 40 matches in total. Then she soon realized that Jiang Fang wasn¡¯t interested in the number of matches. He completely squeezed the entire matchbox before cutting a corner of the matchbox, completely turning it from a three dimensional object into a thin sheet of cardboard.


    Shen Jie inquired, ¡°What are you looking for?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Jiang Fang answered.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°¡­There is nothing,¡± Jiang Fang added. ¡°No manufacturer, no brand, no production date.¡±


    The fitness trainers suddenly realized. ¡°Right!¡±


    He took another empty matchbox and took it apart like Jiang Fang while explaining to Shen Jie and Yu Tuisi who didn¡¯t smoke at all. ¡°Matches are also goods. They should have these things and there shouldn¡¯t be anything missing.¡±


    However, the matchbox in front of him only had complicated and beautiful patterns printed on it. There was nothing other than this. It was as Jiang Fang said. All the elements necessary for goods on sale were completely absent. What did this mean?


    Shen Jie was trying to integrate the clues and come to a good conclusion when she heard Jiang Fang utter a sound. ¡°¡­Ah.¡±


    Once the matchbox was completely taken apart, Jiang Fang found a dark pattern inscribed in fancy characters on the short side inside the matchbox. The dark pattern was embossed and colorless. It was so hidden that it would be impossible to find unless a person opened up the matchbox and looked at it in the light. This was a uniquely designed logo that said, ¡®Family.¡¯


    Jiang Fang called out, ¡°Mr Hou!¡±


    The thin monkey was on the computer in the second bedroom, aimlessly searching for unknown clues. His stomach was full of fire and he became uncomfortable when Jiang Fang interrupted his chaotic thoughts. ¡°What?!¡±


    Shen Jie spoke for Jiang Fang. ¡°Hou, check for us if there is any brand of matches on the market called Family!¡±


    The thin monkey¡¯s anger immediately weakened. ¡°¡­Oh.¡±


    In order to play games, this computer could connect to the Internet. He typed ¡®Family¡¯ in the search bar. Considering the common term, he added the word ¡®matches¡¯ after it. After repeated confirmations, the thin monkey gave the answer. ¡°Nothing!¡±


    Shen Jie wondered, ¡°There isn¡¯t a matchbox factory?¡±


    Five or six minutes later, the thin monkey gave the answer again.


    ¡°Nothing!¡±


    Shen Jie believed in the ability of the thin monkey. If he said there was nothing then there really was nothing. She looked at Jiang Fang with disappointment. However, she saw a glimmer of light flashing in Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes.


    Eh?


    ¡°¡­That¡¯s right.¡±


    Jiang Fang spoke softly. ¡°It is like the mints provided by some restaurants, the disposable slippers provided by some hotels and some¡­¡± He paused subtly, skipped the following description and continued on. ¡°These places will provide guests with small items similar to homemade items. These items emphasize the sense of design rather than elements of sellable goods.¡±


    ¡°It is because they are small gifts that can be taken for free.¡±


    His fingers folded together, pressing and moving against each other in order to let his thoughts run smoothly.


    ¡°Apart from Xiao Ming, there is a person in this family who likes to smoke.¡±


    ¡°He took over a dozen matchboxes with the ¡®Family¡¯ logo from somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Of course, it can¡¯t be ruled out that he grabbed all of them at once. It is just like in a restaurant. Someone will always grab a large handful of mints or toothpicks to place in their pockets.¡±


    ¡°However, it is more likely that he will go to a fixed place for a long time and this place provides items such as matchboxes. Thus, he will occasionally bring home a box of matches.¡±


    This happened to correspond with Xiao Ming¡¯s diary.


    ¡®There is no one at home.¡¯


    ¡®I want to tell people, but there¡¯s no one at home.¡®


    The people of Xiao Ming¡¯s family were always not at home. He lived alone and cooked alone and he was used to it. If Xiao Ming¡¯s father was an ordinary office worker, would he be so busy to this extent? Where did Xiao Ming¡¯s father go? Why did Xiao Ming¡¯s sister die? Perhaps this would be a great help to finding the door.


    Inside the children¡¯s room.


    Chen Sufeng did the homework while carefully listening to the movements outside. ¡°They seem to have some results from their discussion.¡±


    Nan Zhou cared more about what was in front of him. He sat crossed-legged by the bedside table that was moved and stared at the large doodles on the wall by the bed. The location of these doodles was very low. Their childish strokes showed they should be Xiao Ming¡¯s drawings when he was younger. He mused, ¡°Xiao Ming loves to draw.¡±


    Chen Sufeng briefly hummed in agreement. ¡°Brother Yu found this yesterday. Xiao Ming likes to draw and he has picture books of his drawings.¡±


    His tone carried a bit of bragging about his Brother Yu. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t notice these careful thoughts. If Nan Zhou had torn off all the wallpaper in the children¡¯s room yesterday then the clues would¡¯ve been more comprehensive.


    After tearing down the wallpaper, the basic composition of the family was revealed. There were no family photos in the home. Now, there was a family portrait drawn by a child in crayon.


    The man in the picture was tall. He had a beard and stood in the center while holding a child in one hand. There was a young woman who went up to the man¡¯s chest. She wore a red dress and had her hair in a ponytail. She stood on the left side of the picture. The one on the right should be Xiao Ming. He wore overalls, had a shaved flat head and held a large plate of candy in his hand. His head only reached the man¡¯s waist.


    The red crayon lifted everyone¡¯s mouths up. They were all smiling widely and they had two rows of white teeth in their mouths. It was a very happy appearance.


    Nan Zhou cocked his head slightly and stared at Xiao Ming in the picture. ¡®What are you thinking about?¡¯


    He reached out and tried to touch the face of Xiao Ming in the picture.


    Just then, Chen Sufeng moved his wrist and the cartoon eraser placed on the side of the table was accidentally knocked out of place. It rolled down in a circular motion straight into the gap under the bed.


    Nan Zhou happened to be sitting next to the bed. Chen Sufeng called out, ¡°Mr Nan, can you help me pick it up?¡±


    Nan Zhou was pulled away from his thoughts. ¡°Okay.¡±


    He leaned down, identified the location of the rubber eraser and placed his hand underneath the bed where the sun couldn¡¯t reach. Suddenly, there was a strange touch on his arm. Nan Zhou lowered his head and looked through the gap. He saw a hand.


    ¡­A dark hand stretched out from underneath the bed and grabbed him. There was a horrible pulling force that wanted to cause Nan Zhou¡¯s body to slide under the bed!


    Everything happened in a flash. If it was a weak person sitting there, they might have been dragged directly under the bed, their bones crushed by that narrow gap. However, Nan Zhou¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change at all. He held the edge of the bed with one hand. At the same time, the hand that was caught twisted and he grabbed the opponent¡¯s arm!


    The thing under the bed, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Fuck?


    Before it could react, Nan Zhou¡¯s waist and abdomen exerted force and he dragged the thing out from under the bed! Then in the next instant, the thing he grasped disappeared into smoke. There was a reaction force and Nan Zhou¡¯s entire body fell backward, his head hitting the ground with a thump.


    Nan Zhou who was lying on the ground, ¡°¡­¡­¡± It hurts.


    Everything happened in a flash. It was only now that Chen Sufeng turned his attention away from the homework. ¡°¡­Mr Nan?¡±


    Nan Zhou lay on his back. The back of his head still hurt and he didn¡¯t want to move. He stared at the ceiling and answered, ¡°Just now, there was something under the bed.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s words were so calm that it took a few seconds for Chen Sufeng to hear him clearly and understand what it meant. The hairs on Chen Sufeng¡¯s arm stood up. Compared to the frightened Chen Sufeng, Nan Zhou raised his arm and rolled up the sleeve of his trench coat.


    On the flesh of his forearm, there were five shallow bloody holes caused by fingernails piercing him.

 CH 23

    The offensive ability and maliciousness of the ghost was greatly enhanced. As Jiang Fang applied medicine to Nan Zhou¡¯s arm, the people who gathered around them came to this conclusion. The focus of Nan Zhou¡¯s concern was different from others. ¡°Where did the medicine come from?¡±


    Jiang Fang carefully disinfected the wound and applied the medicine to the wound as gently as possible while explaining, ¡°I exchanged it with points.¡±


    Nan Zhou watched his skillful movements. ¡°¡­Ah.¡±


    No wonder why this person had less points than Nan Zhou after entering the instance.


    ¡°It is speeding up¡­¡±


    Under the dual pressure of the ghost and the house compression, Shen Jie started to sweat uncontrollably. Her hands were damp and so slippery that she couldn¡¯t hold them tightly together. ¡°I was the first to encounter something strange yesterday. At that time, the ghost was still some distance away from me and didn¡¯t think of hurting me¡­ now it has started to hurt people.¡±


    Nan Zhou told her, ¡°You weren¡¯t the first one.¡±


    Shen Jie, ¡°?¡±


    Jiang Fang blew gently on the wound and translated it. ¡°He means that the first person to encounter something strange during a task was me.¡±


    He reminded everyone, ¡°In the middle of the night, the phone by the bed lit up abnormally twice.¡±


    Shen Jie had almost forgotten about this incidence. Once it was mentioned by Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou, she quickly got goose bumps. If the phone screen lit up twice, it was as if a ghost was standing by the bed and staring at Jiang Fang¡­


    If Jiang Fang¡¯s encounter was the first encounter with the ghost then they weren¡¯t aware of the intrusion of the ghost at all. The second time, Shen Jie saw the ghost with her own eyes. The third time, it started attacking Nan Zhou. Indeed, such a gradual development made sense.


    Shen Jie was afraid of heart palpitations and resolutely told her teammates, ¡°Never act alone!¡±


    Nan Zhou wanted to say something but once the words reached his lips, he swallowed it back. He pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek and stared at the bandage wrapped around his arm. ¡°¡­It is time.¡±


    Everyone discovered that before they knew it, Chen Sufeng¡¯s homework task was almost over. In addition to the house that shrunk for no reason and the ghost with an unknown purpose, there was a third crisis. The speeding up of time made it extremely urgent to do the tasks.


    The second instance was called Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Life. What if a player didn¡¯t complete it within the specified time or what if they didn¡¯t have time to do the daily tasks set by the system? No one dared to test out this possibility.


    In the face of this crisis, Nan Zhou¡¯s choice was to go to work first. He rolled down his sleeves, walked into the kitchen and slowly fiddled with the pots and pans. You know, he was more troubled than the others right now. What should he cook today?


    Behind him, Jiang Fang¡¯s voice came in a timely manner to resolve his doubts. ¡°Choose the dishes you don¡¯t like.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Nan Zhou thought about it before replying seriously, ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    Thus, he was going to make something simple. Stir-fried coriander, stir-fried ginger, cold okra and zucchini stew with celery. Three dishes and one soup.


    Aljcu Mjcu rwlifv jr tf rjk Rjc Itbe atgbklcu j ijguf jwbeca bo ulcufg rilmfr lcab atf qba klatbea mtjculcu tlr fzqgfrrlbc. Ktfc tf jrxfv, ¡°Glv sbe tjnf rbwfatlcu firf atja sbe vlvc¡¯a rjs?¡±


    Rjc Itbe, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Aljcu Mjcu jvvfv, ¡°Pc atf ilnlcu gbbw pera cbk, sbe rffwfv ab tjnf rbwfatlcu ab rjs.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at the ginger slices that had been fried to a mess in the pot and turned on the tap to wash the coriander. ¡°I might¡¯ve seen it wrong.¡±


    ¡°Tell me.¡±


    ¡°If I say it, they will definitely say I am wrong.¡±


    Jiang Fang crossed his arms and asked with a smile, ¡°Am I the same as them?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s expression was particularly relaxed when he spoke but his fingers were different. They pinched the inside of his arm as he forced himself to maintain a pleasant smile. He couldn¡¯t contain his nervousness about the answer that Nan Zhou might give. Even if they started all over again, at the very least, he had to be a bit different from others in Nan Zhou¡¯s heart.


    Nan Zhou carefully thought about it before coming to a conclusion. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re not the same.¡±


    Jiang Fang sighed with relief. Even his magnitude of rejoicing was controlled so it was just right. He disguised himself and spoke in a perfectly confident tone, ¡°So you can tell me.¡±


    Nan Zhou poured the coriander into the pot and used the spatula to poke and break it up while saying, ¡°In fact, I could see the hand that wanted to pull me under the bed.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a human hand.¡± Nan Zhou¡¯s cold expression revealed a trace of confusion. He obviously couldn¡¯t figure out why it was like this. ¡°It was big and furry like an animal¡¯s paw.¡±


    At this point, Nan Zhou shut up. He actually wanted to be more detailed. He felt like it was a wolf¡¯s paw. Yet even Nan Zhou, who was incredibly insensitive to common sense, knew that there was a sense of comicalness to his discovery. It was justified if Jiang Fang laughed at him.


    However, Jiang Fang just gave a soft hum. ¡°It is no wonder.¡±


    ¡°I wondered why the wound on your arm was worse than a scratch if someone grabbed at you.¡±


    Nan Zhou had never liked holding back words in his heart. Now that he released them and was understood by the other person, he felt happy. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Regardless of the thanks, the real problem hadn¡¯t been solved. Nan Zhou wanted to try explaining his thoughts. He opened his mouth, ¡°I asked them yesterday why a woman appeared behind Shen Jie.¡±


    Jiang Fang told him. ¡°Yes, I heard you.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t figure it out.¡±


    Jiang Fang thought of the inspiration that passed through his mind in a flash so that he didn¡¯t have time to grasp it. Thus, he asked, ¡°In this house, there is evidence to prove that the only one dead is Xiao Ming¡¯s sister. Why do you think the appearance of a female ghost is an unreasonable thing?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°The thing that the ghost did was very unreasonable in itself.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It is because Shen Jie didn¡¯t do anything. She didn¡¯t find any clues from beginning to end. The ghost has no reason to target her.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Jiang Fang rebutted it while trying to sort out his thoughts clearly. ¡°All the people who met the ghost were doing Xiao Ming¡¯s daily tasks when they encountered the problem.¡±


    Nan Zhou followed his ideas. ¡°Yesterday, you were doing the sleeping task and the phone lit up.¡±


    ¡°It should be that something came to my bedside and triggered the unlocking function.¡±


    ¡°Then yesterday, Shen Jie did the hair washing task and saw a pair of feet.¡±


    Jiang Fang added, ¡°Today, if you didn¡¯t pick up the eraser for Chen Sufeng who was doing homework then it would be him who was pulled under the bed.¡±


    ¡°So¡­¡± Jiang Fang tried to overturn Nan Zhou¡¯s conjecture. ¡°Miss Shen might just be unlucky. For the time being, the targets of the ghosts¡¯ threats are all the players who are doing Xiao Ming¡¯s daily task.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at the coriander soaked in sesame oil stubbornly and pondered on it for a long time. ¡°It still isn¡¯t right.¡±


    ¡°What is wrong?¡±


    Nan Zhou explained his thoughts. ¡°According to your opinion, the design of the ghost in this instance isn¡¯t good.¡±


    Jiang Fang was stunned by this type of blatant insult toward the ghost in broad daylight.


    Nan Zhou poured the coriander boiled in oil onto the plate in a chic manner.


    ¡°First of all, the ghost in this instance doesn¡¯t have a fixed image at all.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s mark it from the order of appearance. You met the ghost first, right? Li Yinhang¡¯s phone was shooting a video but no image was recorded. In other words, it didn¡¯t have a specific appearance.¡±


    ¡°The second ghost in the bathroom was a pair of feet. This is an image and can be seen.¡±


    ¡°The third ghost is the one I came across and it is a wolf¡¯s paw.¡±


    Nan Zhou carefully counted it and said, ¡°Look, the ghost constantly changed and never stopped.¡±


    Jiang Fang listened to Nan Zhou¡¯s analysis and the knot in his heart was resolved. This was the small thing that he failed to grasp last night.


    Nan Zhou hadn¡¯t finished speaking yet.


    ¡°In addition, the actions of the ghosts in the apartment are illogical and completely random.¡±


    ¡°Even if the ghost wants to complete the scary KPI every day, after the first day of observation, it should clearly target us or Lawyer Yu. This would be more valuable. Why should it aim for Shen Jie and Chen Sufeng who have made no actual contribution?¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s expression was very calm as he spoke even though he was recognizing the value of his being killed by the ghost.


    ¡°It is already the next day. If I wasn¡¯t in the children¡¯s room today, it would be Chen Sufeng who was dragged under the bed. It is because doing homework is Chen Sufeng¡¯s task.¡± Nan Zhou spoke solemnly. ¡°The ghost couldn¡¯t have expected that I would pick up the eraser for Chen Sufeng.¡±


    Nan Zhou asked Jiang Fang, ¡°If you were a clever ghost, would you choose to kill Chen Sufeng while he was doing his task or come to harm me while I was doing my cooking task?¡±


    Nan Zhou spoke the words ¡®KPI¡¯ and ¡®a clever ghost¡¯ with his cold expression and Jiang Feng used a lot of effort to hold back his laughter. Nan Zhou looked at the corners of Jiang Feng¡¯s trembling mouth, slightly confused. Was there something wrong with what he said?


    The kitchen wasn¡¯t soundproof. The conversation between Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang could clearly be heard by the people in the living room.


    Shen Jie and Chen Sufeng who clearly had it pointed out that they had made no actual contribution, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Yu Tuisi stroked his chin and listened carefully. Nan Zhou¡¯s reasoning was peculiar and fresh. His mode of thinking was from the perspective of the instance design. According to Nan Zhou, the behavior that the ghost showed so far didn¡¯t have a perfect internal logic. They needed to try and follow this logic.


    Nan Zhou in the kitchen continued, ¡°Since the ghost that appeared next to you couldn¡¯t be recorded, I asked yesterday why the ghost that appeared to Shen Jie was a woman whose features could easily be distinguished.¡±


    Jiang Fang stared at him. ¡°Why do you think the ghost is doing this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m still thinking about it.¡± Nan Zhou¡¯s kitchen knife ruthlessly dismembered the zucchini. ¡°In short, the design is very poor and the clues are too messy. Moreover, the ghost can¡¯t give people a memorable spot. It is very bad.¡±


    Everyone outside, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Fuck this ¡®can¡¯t give people a memorable spot.¡¯


    The author has something to say:


    KPI= performance appraisal, also known as ¡®key performance indicator¡¯. It is one of the methods to complete a performance appraisal.

 CH 24

    After commenting on the ghost¡¯s behavior, Nan Zhou brought his work out of the kitchen and tried to find a trace of approval. He thought that there should always be someone who liked to eat okra or coriander. Yet after being politely rejected by everyone, Nan Zhou¡¯s beautiful idea was shattered.


    Nan Zhou sat on a chair at the dining table with no expression on his face.


    Shen Jie had just been stabbed by Nan Zhou but she became even more certain that Nan Zhou had many thoughts in his heart. He just had a strange personality and needed to be led by someone before he would talk. She didn¡¯t mind being judged a few more times as long as she could pass this game. She leaned close to Li Yinhang¡¯s ear. ¡°You are his teammate. Can you go talk to him?¡±


    Li Yinhang looked at Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou had his head lowered as he stepped on the leg of the stool. He was like an orange cat sitting.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Her intuition told her that Nan Zhou might not be thinking about the instance. He just wasn¡¯t happy because the food he cooked wasn¡¯t acknowledged. Still, she felt that Shen Jie wouldn¡¯t believe it even if she said so. Thus, Li Yinhang came up to the depressed bigshot. She thought for a moment before whispering to him, ¡°I like to eat zucchini.¡±


    Nan Zhou quickly raised his head.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She could swear that she just saw a light in Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes.


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°I will teach you how to do handicrafts.¡±


    He was really easy to be coaxed.


    Yesterday, they had learned about Xiao Ming¡¯s family structure. Therefore, the handicrafts work of ¡®My family¡¯ wasn¡¯t particularly difficult. Nan Zhou cut off the head of the match and used glue to demonstrate to Li Yinhang how to use the three dimensional matches to make a small person.


    On the other side, Jiang Fang naturally took over Nan Zhou¡¯s work in the kitchen. The height of the ceiling was too low for his height so he could only work with his head down. He opened the refrigerator door and took out an onion. Onions that had been frozen in the freezer would no longer irritate the eyes so much.


    He looked around the refrigerator, took an inventory of the leftover meat and vegetables and simply remembered them in his mind. In addition to desserts, it turned out that Nan Zhou preferred to eat these.


    After turning back to the chopping board, Jiang Fang picked up the kitchen knife gently. His other hand touched the side of the choker around his neck and he stroked it twice. He never expected that he would actually have a day when he liked cooking.


    ***


    The dishes made by Jiang Fang were still surprisingly rich and delicious. This was a rare good thing to be thankful for in a bad mission. The dessert used today to add sugar to Nan Zhou was egg tarts.


    Li Yinhang murmured to herself while eating. On the bus, Jiang Fang claimed to be a mixed-race person who returned to China after his mother died. In the present instance, Jiang Fang¡¯s identity became a music exchange student to China from Ukraine. His cooking skills, etiquette, social experience and thinking skills were all top-notch¡­


    A thousand words combined into one sentence: Brother, what on earth do you do?


    However, Li Yinhang¡¯s muttering only lasted for a moment. As long as the other side was willing to take her with him then he was a father. She was really sick in the head for being picky when it came to hugging thighs.


    The fitness trainer on one side didn¡¯t have any reluctance at all. He ate until his face was red and sincerely praised it. ¡°This is great. Your craft is nothing like a foreigner.¡±


    Jiang Fang stared at Nan Zhou who was biting the egg tart wholeheartedly. The smile on his face was perfect as he replied, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    During the time when everyone was enjoying this short moment of relaxation, Yu Tuisi had already entered the children¡¯s room. His task was still to take a nap.


    Chen Sufeng was uneasy at the thought that there might still be a monster under the bed. He suggested, ¡°Brother Yu, I¡¯ll do this task for you.¡±


    Yu Tuisi stroked his hair and said with a smile, ¡°Those are childish words.¡±


    Chen Sufeng wanted to argue. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡±


    Te Kelrl tfiv eq tlr jgwr jcv kjlafv obg Jtfc Veofcu ab qlmx tlw eq. Llr nblmf mbcajlcfv j olgwcfrr atja jiibkfv cb gfyeaajir. ¡°Jjggs wf eq.¡±


    Jtfc Veofcu rabqqfv jcv mbeiv cb ibcufg rqfjx. Lf pera ugjyyfv atlr qfgrbc¡¯r jgwr. Lf ecvfgrabbv ktja Te Kelrl mbeivc¡¯a rjs.


    ¡®If possible, I even want to write the homework for you.¡¯


    Yu Tuisi was determined to protect him no matter what. It was because he was Chen Suye¡¯s younger brother. For this reason, he would rather give up the 200 points he would most likely get from tearing off the wallpaper in order to ensure their safety. His determination was so strong that Chen Sufeng couldn¡¯t do anything but accept such kindness and stay by his bedside.


    A seemingly calm noon passed. There was no special movement in the children¡¯s room but once the task ended and Yu Tuisi appeared, his pale face really shocked the others. Yu Tuisi couldn¡¯t explain and waved to Chen Sufeng, ¡°Salt water.¡±


    He added, ¡°¡­Light salt water.¡±


    The adjusted light salt water soon came.


    ¡°I had a dream.¡±


    Yu Tuisi quickly sipped a mouthful of light salt water, swallowed violently and summarized it. ¡°I dreamt of the smell of stewed meat.¡±


    The group was confused at first before understanding. The meaning behind the stew couldn¡¯t be clearer. Just imagining it caused their faces to turn green one by one.


    Nan Zhou thought, ¡®Sure enough, this instance is still providing clues.¡¯


    The napping task that Yu Tuisi picked up was the only one where the task description mentioned that Xiao Ming would ¡®have a dream.¡¯ This was indeed the case. On the first day, Yu Tuisi dreamed of the sound of sawing. The next day, he dreamed of the smell of stew.


    The clues in his dream perfectly coincided with the murder that took place here. In this way, if their level wasn¡¯t good and they couldn¡¯t find the hair in the drain or the oily pressure cooker, they could get a trace of what happened from Yu Tuisi¡¯s dreams. It was one of the instance settings to give clues and Yu Tuisi¡¯s dreams were very logical.


    Yet correspondingly, there was no logic behind the appearance of the ghost. Once these two things were compared, it became even more illogical. So why?


    Yu Tuisi couldn¡¯t think of it at this time. He hadn¡¯t eaten at noon and his stomach was empty. He stayed for a long time in the midst of the strong and strange smell of meat. Now he was in the uncomfortable state of wanting to vomit but not being able to.


    There was no way. He could only use the light salt water to stimulate himself and force himself to vomit. He soon reacted and was pushed into the bathroom by Chen Sufeng. Soon, the sound of his muffled retching was heard from inside.


    Due to this experience, Yu Tuisi didn¡¯t eat anything all day. However, everything else went smoothly. Li Yinhang¡¯s handcrafts task had a smooth transition. The thin monkey and fitness trainer exchanged tasks and also had a safe transition. Shen Jie¡¯s hair washing task was a safe transition.


    In the past day, there was very little substantial progress apart from completing the daily tasks. The main plot line hadn¡¯t advanced at all and Yu Tuisi¡¯s dream just supported the main plot line. There wasn¡¯t much significance. The only two valuable things were that Jiang Fang deduced from the matches that a member of the family would often go to a certain fixed place and Nan Zhou¡¯s analysis and evaluation of the ghost¡¯s behavior.


    The dream at noon had a certain impact on Yu Tuisi¡¯s spirit. Combined with his poor physical fitness, he fell asleep before 9 o¡¯clock. Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang didn¡¯t seem to be very anxious about the situation and both went to sleep in the children¡¯s room.


    The thin monkey couldn¡¯t sleep. He intended to take inventory of the things on the computer again. Shen Jie didn¡¯t approve of such dangerous behavior but the thin monkey insisted on it. He said, ¡°The computer is here and it must be useful in the instance. Otherwise, why have the computer? Just to look good?¡±


    The moment he said the words, the thin monkey found that his logic had a taste of Nan Zhou in it.


    The thin money, ¡°¡­¡­¡± It was fucking excessive.


    The result of the discussion was that Shen Jie and Li Yinhang stayed in the living room to rest while the fitness trainer would accompany the thin monkey while he looked at the computer. As a result, it wasn¡¯t even 12:30 a.m when the coach yawned in the midst of the intensive keyboard tapping. ¡°Xiao Hou, are you still not sleeping¡­¡±


    The thin monkey stared at the computer screen. ¡°I¡¯m looking again.¡±


    The next second, the snoring of the fitness trainer was heard. The thin monkey looked at him but said nothing. He didn¡¯t expect this person to stay up all night with him. It was fine as long as there was a living person by his side.


    He took off his jacket and threw it at the fitness trainer, creating a blanket for him. He didn¡¯t know how many times he opened the various folders on the computer. There was a movie folder on the computer. It contained all types of movies like action, adventure, science fiction, comedy, horror and history.


    The first time he discovered this, he thought there was a clue so he dragged the progress bar to quickly sift through all the movies. However, it turned out they were just movies. He had seen many of them in reality. This sense of connection between reality and illusion made people particularly uncomfortable.


    The thin monkey closed the folder. He refreshed the computer desktop several times meaninglessly before thinking of Jiang Fang¡¯s analysis of the matches during the day. He felt a glimmer of hope as he typed ¡®Family matches¡¯ in the search bar several times. Not surprisingly, nothing was achieved.


    Yet perhaps due to a blessing of the soul, the thin monkey didn¡¯t immediately close the search page. He tried deleting the last word. He just searched for ¡®Family.¡¯ Under the search bar, there was a small line of words that read: Around 100,000,000 results.


    The thin monkey made a low sound and leaned back in the computer chair. He knew that searching for this type of popular word was in vain. Then the thin monkey¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. He sat up straight and downloaded several development tools in succession. He even hated his own stupidity a bit.


    He had been doing the instances for so long that he had forgotten what he was good at.


    He didn¡¯t stop moving his fingers as he quickly typed lines of code. The thin monkey¡¯s eyes shone at this field he was familiar with. Gradually, a simple application emerged from his fingertips. All records on the computer might¡¯ve been erased but the online world was different. The wild geese would make sounds and walking on snow would leave marks.


    Previously, the network was too large so the thin monkey was helpless and unable to do anything. Now he had the keyword ¡®Family.¡¯ After nearly an hour of busy work, the thin monkey cheered. ¡°Yes!¡±


    He quickly started the program. These few lines of code could locate and filter through the 100,000,000 results to display the webpages related to the word ¡®family¡¯ that had been opened from this fixed IP address. It took a few dozens of seconds and beads of sweat appeared on the thin monkey¡¯s forehead. He had been disappointed too many times. Give him a bit of hope this time¡­


    Soon, his efforts and prayers were answered.


    [Ding¡ª]


    [Congratulations to player Hou Qing for collecting the clue ¡®the secret of Family.¡¯]


    The thin monkey waved his fist excitedly. He wanted to listen to his rewards when a strange change occurred on the screen in front of him. At first, the thin monkey thought he saw incorrectly. Then he repeatedly confirmed it and was quickly paralyzed with fear.


    Five snow white fingerprints appeared on the lower right corner of the screen. There was a hand pressing against the LCD screen from inside. One second, two seconds¡­


    No, it could climb out at any time¡­


    In this extreme fear, he couldn¡¯t make a sound. From the corner of his eyes, the thin monkey glanced at the sleeping fitness trainer and his body trembled uncontrollably.


    Save me¡­ help me¡­


    However, he couldn¡¯t make a sound. There was a muffled gurgling sound from his throat and it felt like his throat was being choked by a fiercely beating heart.


    One time, another time.


    Why me¡­


    I¡¯m not doing the task. It is Jiang Fang doing the task. Why come to me¡­


    The thin monkey was stiff and couldn¡¯t move. He watched the entire screen turn black-gray. He watched as on the black screen, the hand pressing against the screen slowly moved to the center of the screen, showing the entire palm. He watched as the screen was completely occupied by a woman¡¯s blood-red lips. The lips were whispering to him.


    The thin monkey¡¯s eyes gradually blurred and he found that his hand was slowly reaching out to the lips on the screen. The scariest thing was that his consciousness was clear and sober.


    No, don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t do this¡­


    The thin monkey begged and screamed silently.


    Spare me, I don¡¯t want to die. I want to live¡­


    Save me, who can save me¡­


    The thin monkey¡¯s fingertips touched the screen. He felt a unique softness. It was the touch of human lips. Cold, elastic and soft. However, as despair and the lips were about to completely swallow him, a loud banging sound entered the thin monkey¡¯s ears.


    Immediately afterward, an incredible force blew the thin monkey and the chair he was sitting in flying toward the wall! The moment the back that was as thin as a piece of paper hit the wall, his internal organs surged in his body and the thin monkey¡¯s eyes darkened. He lay on the ground for a long time before the darkness enveloping his eyes gradually receded.


    The computer had returned to normal. The white light from the screen shone on the ground.


    The awakened fitness trained saw the flying door panel, the destroyed computer chair and the half-dead thin monkey on the ground. His eyes were dull and he couldn¡¯t figure out what had happened.


    The thin monkey moved his body and felt like his waist disc had been kicked out of place. The pained thin monkey squeezed out a moan. ¡°Fuck¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou, who was awakened by the system¡¯s notification and arrived in time, found that the thin monkey was not only alive but able to move. He slightly clenched his fist happily.


    The thin monkey didn¡¯t want to be an ingrate but the rest of his experience was simply too terrible. The intense pain completely overwhelmed his gratefulness at being able to live.


    ¡°Fuck your uncle¡­¡± The thin monkey cursed weakly. ¡°Why are you kicking me? Why didn¡¯t you kick the computer?!¡±


    Nan Zhou who was inexplicably scolded, ¡°¡­¡­?¡±


    He honestly answered, ¡°If the computer breaks, what about the task tomorrow?¡±


    The thin monkey, ¡°¡­¡­¡± He was right.


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± The thin monkey murmured. He arched his back slightly as he tried to form a kneeling posture on the ground. He faced Nan Zhou and lowered his head to the ground, his voice hoarse from pain. ¡°¡­Thank you.¡±


    Nan Zhou blinked.


    Li Yinhang and Shen Jie rushed over after hearing the noise and were dumbfounded at the chaotic scene. Shen Jie asked urgently, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked back and whispered, ¡°I seem to have kicked his brain out.¡±


    Thin monkey, ¡°¡­¡­¡± What do you mean? He took a few deep breaths before speaking in a weak voice. ¡°Sister Shen, I¡¯ve found¡­¡±

 CH 25

    The red lips on the screen disappeared without a trace. The webpage was calm again. The webpage that contained the keyword ¡®family¡¯ frequently visited at this IP address was shown.


    The thin monkey who fell and was in a broken state was moved to the nearby bed by the fitness trainer where he could rest for a while.


    Shen Jie leaned toward the computer and muttered in a low voice, ¡°Formation, existence, disintegration, emptiness. To be born and to be extinguished. The divine power of Christ, our Virgin Mary Cheng Li, the holy sage Zhang Yongji, retreating from the evil spirit of the visitor, raising the prestige of God all over the world¡­¡±


    The fitness trainer frowned when he heard these half archaic and half nonsense words. ¡°What the hell is this?¡±


    He and Shen Jie instinctively looked toward Nan Zhou, wanting to get his advice, only to find that his figure was no longer at the door.


    ***


    Jiang Fang was holding Nanji Star while leaning against the bed and flipping through Xiao Ming¡¯s textbooks on the table with the lamp. Xiao Ming really liked to draw in various places. He loved to draw things that included but weren¡¯t limited to clocks, human faces, tortoises and apples.


    The more he hated a subject, the more doodles there were and the more diverse the variety. For example, the title page of the mathematics homework book had a big clock drawn on it. He had also written in the diary: I hope that when the clock is turned to the end, the math homework will be finished automatically.


    It was full of childish but sincere thoughts.


    Then after re-reading the textbook, Jiang Fang made a new discovery. In the English textbook, there were big chunks of black. Xiao Ming liked to black out Chinese characters and English letters but this phenomenon was particularly widespread in the English textbook. Entire words were blacked out. Some articles even had denser blocks of black.


    Based on the context, it could be determined that the word he smeared and covered up was ¡®family¡¯. Did he hate this word? Did he hate his family or¡­


    Just then, the door was pushed open. Nan Zhou came inside quickly.


    Nanji Star was originally falling asleep with his head drooping down. He saw the arrival of Nan Zhou and his eyes brightened. He used Jiang Fang¡¯s shoulder as a springboard and threw himself toward the other person with a chirp, affectionately hugging Nan Zhou¡¯s neck.


    Nan Zhou gently rubbed the soft fur of his neck in response.


    Jiang Fang asked, ¡°What¡¯s happening out there?¡±


    Nan Zhou opened his mouth. ¡°Formation, existence, disintegration, emptiness. To be born and to be extinguished¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t until he finished repeating it verbatim that Nan Zhou asked Jiang Fang, ¡°What does this mean?¡±


    ¡°It sounds like¡­¡± Jiang Fang closed the textbook in his hand. ¡°The doctrine of a cult.¡±


    Lf kbcvfgfv, ¡°Pr atfgf jcsatlcu wbgf rqfmlolm?¡±


    ¡°P vlvc¡¯a gfjv la. P tfjgv Vtfc Alf gfjvlcu la.¡±


    Aljcu Mjcu lcdelgfv, ¡°Qtja jybea joafg atja?¡±


    ¡°P mjwf yjmx klatbea ilrafclcu ab tfg.¡±


    Aljcu Mjcu, ¡°¡­Qts?¡± Rjc Itbe kjr bynlberis nfgs meglber.


    Rjc Itbe qblcafv bea, ¡°Glvc¡¯a sbe rjs atja qfbqif mjc¡¯a yf jibcf?¡±


    Jiang Fang who was alone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Didn¡¯t you leave Nanji Star with me so I¡¯m not alone?¡±


    Nan Zhou calmly answered. ¡°You are the same. Very¡­¡±


    He tilted his head as he stared at Jiang Fang¡¯s beautiful face and thought of a relatively suitable adjective. ¡°Fragile.¡±


    Jiang Fang was startled slightly before he couldn¡¯t help laughing. ¡°Do you mean me?¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded earnestly. In his eyes, Jiang Fang¡¯s combat effectiveness was basically equivalent to Nanji Star. There was no fundamental difference between the two of them. So despite being very interested in the content of the website, he still had to rush back in order to protect his teammate worth 100 points.


    Nan Zhou resisted his curiosity and sat down at the desk, comforting himself, ¡°It¡¯s fine. We still have Li Yinhang.¡±


    He mentioned Li Yinhang and Li Yinhang arrived. 10 minutes later, she held a small notebook and knocked on the door of the children¡¯s room. She put together simple notes based on the content of the website.


    The webpage was the official website of the ¡®Christ¡¯s Divine Power Sect¡¯ and the logo was ¡®Family¡¯. It was exactly the same as the logo inside the matchbox. The full name of this religion was ¡®Christ¡¯s Divine Power Sect¡¯ and the doctrine was called ¡®The Published Truth¡¯.


    The background of this religion was basically copied from the story of Jesus¡¯ rebirth in the Christian church. It was combined with the bold and imaginative style of an individual and formed a program that combined local and foreign cultures that made a person think ¡®are you fucking kidding me¡¯ when taking a closer look.


    According to the doctrine, their lord was Jesus after his resurrection in Jerusalem. Cheng Li and Zhang Yongji were the pure-blood descendants of this religion. As the people of God, the couple traveled far and wide, showing a humanitarian spirit and stepping foot on this land to preach about love.


    Their main services were healing, disaster protection, longevity and resurrection. If someone wanted to cure a disease then they had to go to gospel classes regularly, listen to the instructions of the teacher, breathe with the followers and recite the doctrine.


    If they wanted to avoid disasters then they had to deposit a forgiveness token in the ¡®Gospel Bank¡¯. One forgiveness token was equivalent to 10 yuan and there were fluctuations in the exchange rate. The fluctuation depended on whether the gospel was revealed on that day or not. During the holidays, a ¡®festival fee¡¯ must be paid.


    If they wanted a long life then they had to do both of the above. After doing this for a period of time and buying enough forgiveness tokens, they would be promoted to an official and absolved of their sins.


    Only officials had the opportunity to live a long life. If they wanted their loved ones to be resurrected, the conditions were all of the above. It also wasn¡¯t enough to save for their share. They had to save enough for their loved ones.


    The doctrine also didn¡¯t forget to give people a preventive injection: if you read our doctrines and feel uncomfortable, it is because you have evil in your heart. We will teach you to drive it away.


    Li Yinhang roughly told the story and waited eagerly for the analysis of the two bigshots.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s expression was even more confused than Li Yinhang¡¯s expression. He turned to the thinking Jiang Fang. ¡°Aren¡¯t these words too deceiving?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Wasn¡¯t this natural? Anyone who heard the name ¡®Christ¡¯s Divine Power Sect¡¯ would know it was a type of money-gathering organization that cheated money from others without blinking. Why did it seem like Nan Zhou was hearing about it for the first time?


    ¡°Yes, it is a lie.¡± Jiang Fang was patiently explaining it while Li Yinhang tried to convince herself that artists were existences relatively above the common populace. ¡°However, there are always weaknesses and obsessions in the human heart. Once you encounter a desire that you can¡¯t let go of and you really want to achieve it, such as longevity or resurrecting the dead, you will try it even if the possibility is only small.¡±


    ¡°However, if you try this then you might never come out from it.¡± As he spoke, Jiang Fang instinctively touched the side of the choker.


    The woman¡¯s hysterical screams, curses and helpless crying rang in his ears once again.


    ¡°You clearly killed him. Why do you want me to forget about him?!¡±


    ¡°Have you forgotten about him?!¡±


    ¡°Remember it for me! Remember!¡±


    After many years, the old hallucinations full of pain and fear still haunted Jiang Fang from time to time. He had seen terrible obsession that was like a swamp and at one point, he had been ashamed of it. He had countless hobbies, changed countless jobs and met countless people. Nevertheless, it was all just a game. Until¡­


    Jiang Fang looked at Nan Zhou who was turning over Li Yinhang¡¯s notes and his expression softened. The pain from his neck subsided and the noisy hallucinations disappeared. He returned to the reality of having Nan Zhou.


    In order to distract himself, Jiang Fang turned his attention to the child¡¯s doodle on the wall beside the bed. The three family members held hands and showed off their white teeth as they smiled happily at Jiang Fang. He thought of the 13 boxes of matches printed with the church¡¯s logo, the frequent visits and the beautiful parent-child drawing.


    Then Jiang Fang said, ¡°This family has a father and two children. However, the mother has always been absent, right?¡±


    At the same time, Shen Jie and the thin monkey in the second bedroom were studying the content of the webpage.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this fucking bullshit?¡±


    After hearing Shen Jie¡¯s simple summary, the thin monkey couldn¡¯t help cursing. ¡°Fucking Jerusalem. If this bullshit founder can say if Jerusalem is in North America or in Europe then I will say he is awesome.¡±


    The fitness trainer agreed. ¡°These people of faith are all crazy.¡±


    ¡°Last time when I went to the street to distribute the flyers for my gym, an old lady stopped me and wanted to talk to me about joining her religion.¡± The fitness trainer continued speaking. ¡°I didn¡¯t listen to her. I said that I firmly believe in RMB. If she gives me RMB then I will believe it. As a result, she called me a blind bear and said I would suffer retribution after death.¡±


    Shen Jie didn¡¯t answer them. She stared at a paragraph on the website and her body was cold all over.


    ¡°The child is the bone, flesh and blood of the parents.¡±


    ¡°It is only when a child is led by their parents that they can be born into the world. Their parents have great virtue and can control them. This is the grace of Heaven.¡±


    ¡°The lamb shows filial piety, the crow shows filial piety, the child leads the way. Once the dutiful child leads the way and their heart is sincere, there will be double returns. God¡¯s power will be given to the dead and the filial piety will be the gospel of rebirth, just like the second coming of Christ.¡±


    The original meaning of this sentence, written from the interests of the person writing the doctrine, was actually easy to understand. Most of those who got involved in Christ¡¯s Divine Power Sect were those who were fragile in heart, gullible, blindly obedient and had some financial means, especially middle-aged and elderly people.


    This was why the religion preached that children were raised by their parents and had no right to care how their parents spent their money. In a way, it became the parents¡¯ freedom to give money to the church. If the children made trouble then they were unfilial and betrayed the ¡®holy grace and great virtue¡¯. If they wanted to resurrect their loved ones, they needed a filial child to call the soul and ¡®lead the way¡¯.


    If the believer had no child or if the child refused then the ¡®resurrection¡¯ would naturally fail. If the believer had such a ¡®filial son¡¯, the believer would spend their wealth to meet the ¡®resurrection¡¯ standard. Even if the ¡®resurrection¡¯ wasn¡¯t successful in the end, the church could easily shift the responsibility to the ¡®insincere¡¯ child. This was a good deal that was profitable and reasonable for the church.


    Shen Jie thought of the lock of hair in the sewer connected to the scalp piece and her hand holding the mouse was wet with sweat. What if the master of the family did so in accordance with the doctrine?

 CH 26

    Long hair in the sewer.


    Doodles behind the wall.


    The vanished sister.


    Cult teachings under the banner of ¡®rebirth¡¯¡­


    The scattered clues pieced together and pointed to one of the saddest endings. As early as when she saw the family portrait doodle behind the wallpaper, Shen Jie had felt like something was wrong.


    She had children so she knew that most children didn¡¯t seek complete reality when drawing. A child¡¯s drawing was often their most ideal picture. Yet only the father and sister were in the drawing. There was no mother.


    In the children¡¯s room, Cube Boat had already stopped discussions and turned off the lights. They wanted Jiang Fang to complete the task tonight. Li Yinhang consciously fell asleep on the table. Nan Zhou was lying on the floor and looking at the slightly deformed doodles under the small night lights. He grew up painting and was an art teacher, so he knew children¡¯s preferences.


    Xiao Ming¡¯s drawings had no traces of his mother or any longing for her. Perhaps his mother had died before he could remember her. In his small world, there was only his father and sister. He didn¡¯t have the concept of a mother so he didn¡¯t meet the requirement of a ¡®filial child¡¯ required by the doctrine.


    Nan Zhou thought that this was probably the reason why the man didn¡¯t choose his young son as a sacrifice. He wondered again if Xiao Ming¡¯s sister, the young girl with long hair, had really senselessly given her life?


    Xiao Ming¡¯s diary said there was always no one at home. Xiao Ming blackened out all the words associated with ¡®family¡¯. This was a manifestation of avoidance and disgust. Xiao Ming cooked alone, played games, took a bath and slept alone. He had no one to share it with even after watching a good movie.


    Where was Xiao Ming¡¯s sister at this time? Xiao Ming¡¯s sister had a mother. Was she forced to be sacrificed by her father or did she willingly give her life due to her unforgettable happy memories of her childhood and her mother?


    Nan Zhou placed his hand on his forehead, closed his eyes and muttered to himself. He couldn¡¯t tell which one was more pitiful.


    Christ¡¯s Divine Power Sect didn¡¯t have the power to bring back the dead. There was no doubt about this. Therefore, even if people donated enough money to become an official, they wouldn¡¯t really go out and kill a young girl.


    He didn¡¯t know if the man had reached an agreement with his daughter when he killed her. Still, he would¡¯ve definitely been filled with warm hope at the time.


    The death came silently. On the day they arrived, during the night of July 2nd and the early hours of July 3rd, neither they nor Xiao Ming heard the screams of slaughter. There was no struggle and no noise. It was all out of blind love.


    The man watched his daughter die, either killing her himself or her swallowing an overdose of sleeping pills. He leaned against the bed, watching her as he waited for a miracle. Then as time went on, he became restless. His daughter in the bed didn¡¯t become the light guiding back her mother¡¯s soul. Rather, her life was gradually burned out.


    He touched his daughter¡¯s lips and found they were cold. He touched his daughter¡¯s hands and they were stiff. There was no airflow from the nose, her chest didn¡¯t rise and fall and her pulse no longer beat. It didn¡¯t take a night for the man to realize he had been cheated.


    His youngest son was still sleeping in the children¡¯s room. Therefore, the man¡¯s collapse could only be silent. His wife wouldn¡¯t be born again, nor would his daughter. If¡­ if he was found by his son¡­


    At that time, what would the father of two children have chosen to do? As the father who condoned and acquiesced to his daughter¡¯s death, he would be taken away by the police. Xiao Ming would lose all his loved ones overnight. In addition, the man was afraid to take responsibility. He couldn¡¯t afford such a tragic result. He wanted to escape. He could only escape.


    Kter, atf abbi mjylcfa atja mbcajlcfv atf tjcvrjk bqfcfv. Ktf oibbg vgjlc kjr ecmbnfgfv. Ktf rafjw njinf bo atf qgfrregf mbbxfg kjr qgfqjgfv. Llr vjeutafg¡¯r rtbfr jcv mibatfr kfgf qjmxfv jcv gfwbnfv. Ynfgcluta, atf ojatfg yjaaifv klat vfrqjlg jr tf mifjgfv jii agjmfr bo tlr vjeutafg ogbw tlr tbwf.


    Meanwhile, Shen Jie felt cold as she closed her eyes to try and get away from this tragedy. The thin monkey and fitness trainer were waiting for her thoughts.


    Shen Jie blinked and got up to pat the thin monkey¡¯s messy head of hair. The clue he found was worth 400 points. The instance had advanced to this point and the main plot line had probably come to an end. Shen Jie told him, ¡°Sleep. In the morning, the door will probably appear on its own.¡±


    The thin monkey moved his waist with difficulty and looked at the computer with a gaze still filled with fear. ¡°Do you want to go to the living room to sleep?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re hurt. Don¡¯t move.¡± Shen Jie saw his wretched appearance and pulled the computer chair to him. Her always shrewd gaze softened in a raw moment when she gazed at the thin monkey like she was looking at her sick child.


    ¡°Xiao Shen and I will stay here with you.¡±


    ***


    As it turned out, Shen Jie was too optimistic. The surprise of finding the clue last night came to naught after dawn. They woke up and the door didn¡¯t appear. The house once again shrank by a lot. Moreover, there was a strange deformation.


    Jagged brick crevices, a wavy ceiling and door handles that were jagged like human molars. The entire house was like a failed product that melted in a high temperature kiln or a paper box randomly crumpled by a naughty child that was floating awkwardly in the air.


    To make matters worse, it wasn¡¯t only the house that was deformed. Now the intensification of the shrinkage led to all the furnishings shrinking! Even the doodles on the walls had changed. The lips of the people were flat and pulled outward, turning from ordinary doodles to a horror comic drawing that was hard to look at directly.


    The computer, summer homework books and diary had all shrunk. The summer homework books became palm sized and were a miniature version.


    The players were like adults who broke into a toy town or little country by mistake. It was entirely foreseeable that if the situation continued until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, they would become a rotten pile of meat in a can being constantly compressed.


    The flow of time also accelerated again and it was visible to the naked eye. Time might have accelerated yesterday but it still took around 20 hours to cover the original 24 hours. Now the second hand made no secret of its deadly rhythm.


    Tick, tick, tick.


    It was like the sound of a ghost demanding death. Yu Tuisi had taken sleeping pills last night and slept soundly, so he wasn¡¯t awakened by the noise. Chen Sufeng did hear it but didn¡¯t go out in order to protect Yu Tuisi. Once Yu Tuisi woke up, he listened to Shen Jie¡¯s overview of what happened last night and frowned while deep in thought.


    The fitness trainer was so anxious that he turned around like a fly. ¡°What¡¯s going on? What else are we missing? How do we open it?¡±


    Shen Jie shushed him. She knew that the situation was already beyond her ability. She asked Yu Tuisi, ¡°What are you thinking about?¡±


    ¡°It is the question raised by Nan Zhou.¡±


    Yu Tuisi continued. ¡°Last night, it wasn¡¯t Mr Hou doing the task. Why did the ghost go after Mr Hou?¡±


    To the side, Nan Zhou nodded earnestly while holding the diary in his hand. He said, ¡°There is no logic.¡±


    Shen Jie listened to Nan Zhou¡¯s endless words and felt like she was going bald. Where was the logic?! The countdown to life was in front of them. It was visible to the naked eye and they didn¡¯t have much time to play dumb riddles.


    The evidence was that Chen Sufeng wasn¡¯t sitting in front of the narrow desk for a long time before Nan Zhou had to enter the kitchen to prepare. He was setting up the pots and thinking about what dishes to make when there was a soft knock on the door behind him.


    It was Li Yinhang. He had been accompanied by Jiang Fang for two days so Nan Zhou naturally asked, ¡°Where is Brother Fang?¡±


    Li Yinhang opened her mouth. ¡°He is still in the children¡¯s room¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou cut straight to the point. ¡°Do you have something to say?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve had an idea since yesterday. I want to verify it.¡±


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t have a coy personality. Nan Zhou wanted her to speak so she did so.


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°What do you need me to do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it. It¡¯s just that since it is an idea, I¡¯m not sure if it is useful or not. I¡¯ll talk to you when I¡¯m sure. You and Jiang Fang do whatever you think about and I¡¯ll do mine. Don¡¯t delay on either side.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t ask in detail. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll make a dish to reward you.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± This wasn¡¯t necessary. She quickly declined, ¡°No need. I just want to borrow Nanji Star and I¡¯ll be good.¡±


    Li Yinhang held Nanji Star in her hand and headed to the second bedroom to turn on the computer. The original computer screen was now only the size of an iPad. It was a miniature version. She took a breath, took out a pen and paper and set it up in front of the computer. She operated it skillfully.


    The thin monkey went to the toilet and when he limped out, he was startled to see Li Yinhang sitting in front of the computer and staring at the screen. ¡°Hey!¡±


    He was relieved to see Li Yinhang turn her head. He thought Li Yinhang had been haunted as well. The thin monkey asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Li Yinhang pointed to the webpage in front of her. ¡°I¡¯m looking at this website again.¡±


    The thin monkey made an ¡®oh¡¯ sound and left. She had a lot of courage.


    In fact, Li Yinhang didn¡¯t have courage at all. She stared at the screen, biting her thumb. The slightest breeze would send a jolt through her. Somehow, Nanji Star was listless after leaving Nan Zhou. He curled up in Li Yinhang¡¯s hand and dozed off. He occasionally woke up and held Li Yinhang¡¯s thumb like a baby holding a bottle. He also nibbled not so gently a few times. Still, his presence meant Li Yinhang wasn¡¯t very afraid.


    She put all her effort into it and even her handicraft task was done for her by Nan Zhou. After all, her poor handicrafts skill means she couldn¡¯t handle the hair-thin matches. She even helped the fitness trainer do his game playing task.


    Seeing Li Yinhang¡¯s obsession with computers, the thin monkey realized that his major had been challenged. He came to see her several times and emphasized that he had looked at everything. He advised Li Yinhang not to waste time on it.


    Li Yinhang had a very good temper and was stubborn. ¡°Yes, you have a point. I¡¯ll just take another look.¡±


    It was a standard customer service tone.


    It wasn¡¯t until it was dark and it was almost time for Shen Jie to take a shower that Li Yinhang finally sighed with relief. She took the notebook, read the recorded contents silently and hurried out of the second bedroom with Nanji Star.


    The one who narrowly escaped death today was Yu Tuisi. At noon, Yu Tuisi dreamed about distant singing. It was beautiful and very far away. The moment he entered the dream, there was a pair of pale and flowing arms formed by fog, guiding him to move forward.


    In the dream, Yu Tuisi still had feeling in his legs. He entered a large, church-like hall. There was singing on the stage in front of the hall and he saw the faces of children. They were like a whiteboard and had no facial features. The place where the mouth should be was empty. There was only a slight wriggling under the skin. It was unknown how they made any noises.


    The conductor who had his back to Yu Tuisi and was dressed in loose black priest robes turned back. Yu Tuisi found that it was his deceased lover. He felt like his mind was sucked into a vortex as a voice repeatedly told him to sink and sink.


    Thanks to his strong spirit, he pinched his thigh and forced himself to wake up. He watched the false, warm smile while slowly walking backward out of the hall. The moment he stepped out of the hall, he snapped awake covered in sweat.


    Now he was in the living room discussing what to do next with Shen Jie. Shen Jie saw Li Yinhang passing by the living room and asked, ¡°Did you find anything?¡±


    Li Yinhang shook her head. ¡°No, if I found anything then there would be the system notification.¡±


    Shen Jie felt this was right so she turned away and continued to think about it. Li Yinhang¡¯s tense spirit relaxed a bit. Unexpectedly, she shifted her gaze and found Yu Tuisi staring calmly at her. His eyes were casual but he seemed to see directly inside Li Yinhang¡¯s dirty heart. Her face turned white.


    However, Yu Tuisi retreated without embarrassing her. He shifted his gaze and waved his hand, gesturing for her to go find her teammates. Li Yinhang escaped to the children¡¯s room and quickly closed the door. She leaned back against the door panel and finally dared to breathe out.


    Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou looked at her at the same time. Jiang Fang raised an eyebrow and mouthed at her, ¡®Did you find something?¡¯


    Li Yinhang nodded silently. This was a cooperation but it was also a competition. At present, Cube Boat, Shunfeng and Nanshan were indeed short-term partners who needed to support each other and exchange information. Still, it was a competitive game after all. In the end, the three teams were competing.


    Therefore, Li Yinhang carefully calculated it and chose to tell her own people first. She held her notebook and sat in front of the two people while trying to keep her voice at a minimum. ¡°I seem to understand¡­ the reason why the ghost here doesn¡¯t have any logic.¡±

 CH 27

    A simple timeline was drawn in Li Yinhang¡¯s notebook, followed by simple text notes.


    ¡°They are movies.¡± Li Yinhang declared. ¡°All the horror phenomena we have encountered so far are plots in movies.¡±


    Li Yinhang only thought of movies due to what happened to the thin monkey yesterday. As a child, she had watched an old Hong Kong movie on the movie channel. She had forgotten the specifics a long time ago but there was a plot that terrified the young Li Yinhang so much that she had to get into her mother¡¯s bed.


    A man stood in front of the TV and was captivated by the red lips of a woman that kept opening and closing. The red lips opened and swallowed the man into the TV. Finally, she stuck her tongue out and licked her lips in a satisfied manner. This resulted in Li Yinhang not daring to stay in front of electronic screens like the television for too long.


    Unexpectedly, the experience of the thin monkey actually corresponded to this shadow from her childhood. Only then did she have a bit of basis for investigating.


    ¡°It is just that I was afraid to make up my mind based on this memory fragment.¡± Li Yinhang spoke bitterly, ¡°Thus, I watched all the horror movies on the computer.¡±


    She opened her notebook and spread it out in front of Nan Zhou.


    ¡®Human Form¡¯ was a warm horror movie and the storyline was about a child who always felt that his home was haunted. No one believed him but in fact, it was his dead father who had come back. He would stand beside the bed watching his sleeping son, accompanying his son to school and playing basketball with his son, until he watched his son run to the temple to pray, hoping he would disappear.


    ¡®Bathroom¡¯ was a Korean movie. At just after 29 minutes, the heroine was washing her hair when she saw a pair of feet behind her.


    ¡®Night Howling¡¯ was an American movie where the werewolf hid under a child¡¯s bed. When the child was playing, the remote-controlled car slid under the bed. He reached for it and was pulled under the bed by the werewolf. This plot was at the beginning of the movie, around the 3 minutes and 25 seconds time point.


    The Hong Kong movie ¡®The Invasion of Ghosts¡¯ that Li Yinhang watched was also on the list.


    Li Yinhang explained, ¡°The situation that Lawyer Yu met today is also on the computer. It is called ¡®The Choir¡¯. It is a Canadian movie about a demon leading faceless children to sing in a church to lure devout believers, catching them and eating their souls.¡±


    Nan Zhou was in a trance. In this way, everything made sense. Why was the appearance of the ghost irregular? Why appear randomly and attack a target even more random? Why was the ghost invisible, tangible and even had wolf claws? The triggered facial recognition, the feet in the bathroom, the man-eating red lips on the computer screen, the temptation in a dream¡­


    The horror plots from movies, the continuously compressed and distorted house and the missing door¡­


    A timeline that was almost synchronized with the time of the murder but there were no signs of the killer and no bloody corpse¡­


    All sorts of clues gathered together and pointed to a possibility that was a bit weird but could explain it.


    Li Yinhang stated, ¡°This is a movie world.¡±


    Jiang Fang said, ¡°This is Xiao Ming¡¯s world.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­Eh???¡±


    She spent more than half a day reviewing over 20 horror movies at double the speed, trying to avoid other people¡¯s eyes and ears so that the other groups wouldn¡¯t find that she was doing something. She eventually came to the conclusion that it was a mixed world of several movies.


    As a result, Jiang Fang listened to her analysis and took 20 seconds to give a completely different answer. She had a sense of anger and grief like she was confident after a test and discussed it with the top student, only for the top student to tell her that she hadn¡¯t written one side properly. She froze for a few seconds before thinking about what Jiang Fang said. What did he mean by Xiao Ming¡¯s world?


    Nan Zhou was on his knees on the ground. In front of him was the handicrafts work he made for Xiao Ming. This was completed by Nan Zhou today. He felt that if the time flow was accelerated again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it might be too late to finish the handicrafts work. Thus, he planned to build it ahead of time. He just needed to add a few more tomorrow and the task would be completed.


    Now he already had a rudimentary idea of Xiao Ming¡¯s family. The three match people of different heights held hands and stood in front of the house. The light made the matchstick exude a faint wooden glaze. If one didn¡¯t look carefully, it was like a few miniature sculptures, delicate and warm.


    Nan Zhou used a tweezer to hold the matchstick as thin as hair, placing it on the empty side of one of the small people. This was the matchstick Xiao Ming¡¯s arm. His hands were very stable and he could even separate his mind to answer Li Yinhang¡¯s question. ¡°This Xiao Ming¡¯s world refers to the fact that we are now in Xiao Ming¡¯s mind.¡±


    As Li Yinhang was feeling confused, Jiang Fang took over. ¡°Yinhang, do you remember the phone call? The one where we asked about the water bill.¡±


    ¡°The operator told us that today is July 3rd.¡±


    ¡°In June, this family was a normal family of three that used 12 tons of water. Yet three days after July, the water consumption sharply soared to 11 tons.¡±


    Li Yinhang tried to keep up with the rhythm. ¡°So the dismemberment happened on either the 1st or the 2nd?¡±


    It was because the oil in the pressure cooker was very fresh. It was still shining.


    Jiang Fang said, ¡°The specific time isn¡¯t known. However, it is likely that the night we came here was when he had just sent away his daughter.¡±


    Rjc Itbe jvperafv atf wjamtralmx Wljb Zlcu¡¯r tfjv. Lf kbcvfgfv tbk ibcu la kbeiv ajxf j wjc ab vlrwfwyfg j tewjc ybvs klat j tjcvrjk lc atf rqjmlber yjatgbbw ab atf qblca ktfgf la mbeiv yf agjcrqbgafv jcv atgbkc jkjs joafg gfjilhlcu tlr wlrajxf.


    Lbk ibcu vlv la ajxf atf tjcvrjk ab mea atf tjgv ybcfr lcab rfmalbcr, qea atfw lc atf qba lc yjamtfr jcv mbbx atfw ecali atfs kfgf rboa? Ktfc qgfafcv atja atfgf kfgf yjv glyr jcv atgbk atfw lcab atf obbv kjraf vbkcrajlgr. Ktf jcrkfg kjr atja obeg bg olnf tbegr kjr fcbeut.


    He thought about this and said, ¡°Perhaps Xiao Ming¡¯s father really came to Xiao Ming¡¯s bedside after killing people, standing by the bed and staring at Xiao Ming.¡±


    After saying a few words that made Li Yinhang creeped out, Nan Zhou continued to lower his head and build Xiao Ming¡¯s home.


    ¡°However, if this game is the reality that the character Xiao Ming is experiencing then it shouldn¡¯t be designed this way.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Ming¡¯s father should still be at home and we should have an intersection with Xiao Ming¡¯s father, the NPC. Our task should be to find out that he killed someone and then try to escape while he chases us from behind with a handsaw. It shouldn¡¯t involve throwing us in an empty house like this, letting some inexplicable ghosts appear and having us find a door in an unknown place.¡±


    ¡°From the beginning, all of us were playing the role of Xiao Ming. According to Xiao Ming¡¯s habits, we lived, washed, did activities and did homework.¡±


    ¡°At that time, I couldn¡¯t figure it out. There is only one Xiao Ming. Why gather eight people to participate in this instance?¡±


    ¡°Now I probably know why. The number doesn¡¯t matter. We can all be Xiao Ming.¡±


    This instance was the world in Xiao Ming¡¯s mind. Li Yinhang was inspired by the cooperation between Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang and finally opened her mind. If they were in Xiao Ming¡¯s mind then the day when his sister was dismembered was just a normal day for Xiao Ming who just woke up from his sleep. From his point of view, he was unaware of everything. Thus, he woke up from a happy sleep. He didn¡¯t smell blood or hear the sound of the corpse being dismembered. As players, they also didn¡¯t hear anything.


    By the time he woke up at 8 o¡¯clock on July 3rd to start a new day, the ground had been cleared, the blood washed into the sewer and the fresh air system and detergent had covered up all the blood. He might¡¯ve only smelled a trace of the meat left in the air. In reality, his father might be at home. He changed into new clothes and looked a bit haggard like he had been awake all night.


    Xiao Ming started his bland daily life in ignorance. On the first day, the players started the search in such a false peace.


    At noon, Xiao Ming probably had a dream. Xiao Ming might not know what happened last night but his consciousness had received enough signals. Thus, he dreamed of the cutting sound of the handsaw. This was why Yu Tuisi dreamed it.


    This dream might have caused Xiao Ming to be in a bad mood so when he was taking a shower at night, he thought of a plot of a horror movie on the computer. He was very afraid that a pair of women¡¯s feet would appear behind him. Then Shen Jie saw the pale feet.


    Before going to bed, Xiao Ming didn¡¯t see his sister for a whole day and he questioned his father. ¡°Where is my sister?¡± Or he might ask, ¡°Dad, my sister?¡±


    Any father with a conscience would find it difficult to maintain his normal spirit after dismembering his own daughter. He would say that his sister had gone out to play or perhaps she went to find her mother? In short, it wouldn¡¯t be a pleasant answer.


    It was because every night, the world where Jiang Fang and the others were in would become distorted in a strange way. If this was Xiao Ming¡¯s heart then he should be nervous. He found something strange. Perhaps his sister¡¯s things disappeared overnight or perhaps like them, he saw a few bloody hairs. Even during his nap, he dreamed of the smell of meat.


    Xiao Ming¡¯s heart contracted violently as it protested. The normal part became smaller while the deformed part became larger. This was the third day. The clock was frantically turning and the craziness grew. The entire house took on a twisted appearance.


    In the past, Xiao Ming was just lonely. He complained about why they didn¡¯t accompany him to play. The only thing that could light up his sensitive heart were the lights that belonged to him. Now those lights were slowly going out.


    The key words to pass the instance were inserted in the name of the instance from the beginning. The task they needed to accomplish was ¡®Xiao Ming¡¯s daily life.¡¯ It was his usual daily life where he gradually struggled and transformed from pain, uneasiness and fear.


    ¡°Therefore¡­¡± Nan Zhou concluded. ¡°We are in Xiao Ming¡¯s world.¡±


    It was the evolution of the inner world of a child who accidentally encountered a murder. A world that was falling into darkness. There were the ghosts that children were afraid of, nightmares and unknown secrets. There wasn¡¯t a single door to escape from. This was why they couldn¡¯t find the door.


    After experiencing momentary joy at discovering the truth, Li Yinhang suddenly became depressed again. Even if they found out the truth about this world, they still couldn¡¯t find the door. Her discovery did have some value but it had nothing to do with the main plotline. This was why the reward notifications didn¡¯t ring. For example, she found an opportunity to find the keyhole. However, it was useless without the key.


    Jiang Fang praised her, ¡°You did a good job.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Thank you for the encouragement, even though I went in the wrong direction after getting the clue.


    Jiang Fang asked Nan Zhou instead, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t speak. He just pursed his thin lips and frowned. A moment later, he said, ¡°Today is our third day here. If we can go out before midnight then won¡¯t we get a lot of rewards?¡±


    Jiang Fang moved his eyebrow slightly. ¡°Have you thought of something?¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t hard.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She felt like her IQ was being pushed down by these two bigshots in turn. One was symbolic gentleness while the other was simple and rough.


    Nan Zhou turned to Li Yinhang and confirmed it. ¡°We will get more points right?¡±


    Li Yinhang saw the hope of getting out of this ghostly place and turned red with excitement. ¡°Yes yes.¡±


    Thus, Nan Zhou swallowed what he wanted to say. He reached for Xiao Ming¡¯s mathematics summer homework and opened the front cover. The thing that caught his eye was the big clock drawn by Xiao Ming on the front page of the exercise book.


    Xiao Ming had written in the diary: I hope that when the clock is turned to the end, the math homework will be finished automatically.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s finger touched the cold page of the book. In Xiao Ming¡¯s heart, what was he longing for? Finding the door out was escaping from the pain of Xiao Ming¡¯s hope that was falling downward day by day.


    Nan Zhou gently placed his finger on the hour hand of the doodle clock. The house had been searched and it was unlikely that there would be any further clues. Looking at all their discoveries at present, only this virtual clock could express Xiao Ming¡¯s wish. It didn¡¯t belong to reality, it belonged to Xiao Ming¡¯s heart.


    He turned the pointer and moved it back. The hour hand that had been drawn in pen and stuck in place actually moved.


    One circle, another circle. It was a simple loop operation.


    It was as Nan Zhou said. It wasn¡¯t hard, it was very simple. Xiao Ming wanted to go back in time. Back to the day when the tragedy didn¡¯t happen, back to when both his father and sister were still here.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s finger moved faster but his eyes were fixed on the three small figures standing in front of the small house. Time was rewound and flowed away from his fingertips, carrying them out of this prison of the heart. If time could be turned back, what wishes would people make?


    Go back and see their parents and relatives when they were young and healthy? Buy a lottery ticket and fulfill their wish to get rich? Apologize to the person who they hurt when they were young and ignorant?


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t know. He didn¡¯t have anything special he wanted to do. If there must be something¡­


    There was a burst of pleasant music at this time, interrupting Nan Zhou¡¯s reverie. After the music, everyone heard the same thing.


    [Ding ding ding¡ª]


    [Congratulations to the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team for completing the instance ¡®Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Life¡¯!]


    [Congratulations to the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team members Nan Zhou, Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang for finding the ¡®escape door¡¯ and earning 2,000 points respectively!]


    [Congratulations to the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team member Nan Zhou for obtaining the A-grade item ¡®Counter-clockwise Hour Hand¡¯!]


    [Congratulations to the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team, ¡®Shunfeng¡¯ team and ¡®Nanshan¡¯ team for completing the basic tasks and getting the reward ¡®Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Tasks Completed in Full¡¯, earning 500 points respectively.]


    [Congratulations to the three teams for finding the exit four days in advance in the seven day game, earning 800 points respectively!]


    [The exploration degree of the main plotline has reached 98.7%. If the degree of completion is more than 95% then it can be judged as the perfect S-grade rating!]


    [Ding! The S-grade rewards are 1,000 points each and any random item. The items will be delivered to the players¡¯ backpacks within three days~]


    [Please leave the instance within three minutes¡ª]


    All of Nan Zhou¡¯s superfluous thoughts were eliminated. The speed at which he put away the summer homework book with the clock was so fast that Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t even blink. The three of them pushed open the door and found Shen Jie, who was about to take a shower, standing in the living room.


    Shen Jie¡¯s hands were slightly trembling as she asked the three of them in an ecstatic manner, ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang briefly explained to them while looking around. The walls were still deformed. It was just that in the hallway where there should be a door, a door crookedly drawn in crayon appeared. As expected, Xiao Ming¡¯s heart had become like this.


    Nan Zhou originally thought that if there wasn¡¯t a reward for the time they spent to clear it, he would want to stay here with Xiao Ming for the next four days. However, a broken heart wouldn¡¯t be so easily healed.


    Li Yinhang used her own ability to reluctantly describe their reasoning process. Shen Jie didn¡¯t understand at all. She ignored the bit of jealousy and admiration of Cube Boat in her heart and directed the fitness trainer to hurry and carry the thin monkey on his back. It was good to go out and she didn¡¯t care so much.


    Chen Sufeng pushed Yu Tuisi, who had just taken sleeping pills, out of the master bedroom. The latter propped up his head in a drowsy manner.


    Shen Jie asked Li Yinhang, ¡°Where will you go once you are out?¡±


    Li Yinhang answered, ¡°We came from Rust City.¡±


    Shen Jie kindly invited them. ¡°You should come to Paper Gold. We are from Paper Gold.¡±


    Paper Gold City was another transmission point in the game Forces of Temptation. Unlike the highly mature post-modern Rust City, the Paper Gold City was magnificent and glorious. It was set in an area rich in gold mines and diamonds and had a high-end equipment market.


    Chen Sufeng was studying the strange door. Jiang Fang was watching the door from a distance. Nan Zhou went into Xiao Ming¡¯s room to see if there were any hidden items. In the last three minutes, Shen Jie and Li Yinhang decided where to go after leaving.


    In the hallway, Yu Tuisi looked at the few people who were hurriedly discussing where to go as well as the fitness trainer who was carrying the thin monkey in the direction of Shen Jie. He narrowed his eyes which were slightly fuzzy due to the medicine. ¡°¡­Why is there one more person?¡±


    His words were too late. Jiang Fang looked back. A monster had appeared out of nowhere behind the fitness trainer. It was a naked male zombie with liquid flowing down his chin! He used his half-rotten vocal cords to give a sharp and violent roar. His arm filled with remarkable muscles headed toward the back of the fitness trainer.


    Who would¡¯ve imagined that Xiao Ming¡¯s horror thoughts would have refreshed the moment before they were about to leave?!


    Li Yinhang¡¯s mind completely froze for a moment. A long list of words flashed quickly before her eyes. There was the American zombie movie, ¡®Lost.¡¯ Around 2 hours into the movie, everyone thought the zombies were completely wiped out but there was still one lurking in the home of the protagonist.


    ¡­It was a fucking open ending.


    The living room was too narrow for everyone to hide.


    Chen Sufeng¡¯s reaction was the quickest. He grabbed Yu Tuisi¡¯s wheelchair and crossed the painted door in thin air. Before the fitness trainer even turned his head, Shen Jie grabbed his arm and yelled, ¡°Run!¡±


    The fitness trainer trusted Shen Jie 100% and didn¡¯t dare look back. He ran quickly and in a few steps, jumped out the door.


    Li Yinhang had been planning to run. She didn¡¯t expect that just then, she would encounter the fitness trainer running away with the thin monkey on his back. Due to the fitness trainer holding the former¡¯s knees, Li Yinhang was hit hard and staggered two steps. She repeatedly told herself ¡®don¡¯t fall¡¯ but she still couldn¡¯t resist gravity and fell to the ground.


    Jiang Fang couldn¡¯t run due to his height. Thus, he had no intention of running at all. He moved his wrists, his thumbs pressing the middle finger joints of both hands with a slight cracking sound.


    The zombie was furious after losing the fitness coach. He cocked his head and rushed toward Jiang Fang frantically! Just as Li Yinhang was about to scream, she suddenly saw a figure walking swiftly and coming to the side of the zombie.


    ¡­She had forgotten that there was Nan Zhou in the room. In the next instant, Nan Zhou¡¯s left hand held the bottom of the corpse¡¯s chin. His right hand was placed on the upper right side of the corpse¡¯s head.


    Li Yinhang hadn¡¯t remembered why this action was so familiar when she saw him twisting both hands. Then crack¡ª


    There was a sharp sound as the zombie¡¯s neck was directly disconnected from his cervical spine and his head spun 180 degrees.


    The zombie, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He probably didn¡¯t understand why he was facing the bathroom when he had been facing the door just now.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t scream. It was stuck in her throat.


    The zombie naturally didn¡¯t die. His head whirled around silently as if he wanted to know what was north, south, east and west.


    Nan Zhou saw the unidentified mucus on his hands and quickly pulled a scarf off a hanger to wipe his hands a few times. As he wiped his hands, he looked up at Jiang Fang and said, ¡°Next time, don¡¯t be afraid and remember to run. You can¡¯t beat it but I can.¡±


    Jiang Fang put his hands in his pockets, completely covering up his previous attack posture as he smiled. ¡°Yes, Teacher Nan.¡±


    Nan Zhou did a simple clean up and walked to Li Yinhang¡¯s side. ¡°Come on.¡±


    Li Yinhang who received a double shock stared at the zombie who was still spinning around, her legs a bit weak. Nan Zhou saw that she was motionless and simply grabbed the clothes at the back of her neck, lifting her up from the ground like a chicken.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Nan Zhou said simply. ¡°I want to wash my hands.¡±


    Rainbow Turtle: My sleeping schedule has been really out of whack lately for some reason (probably stress). No matter how hard I try, I¡¯ve only been getting 2/3 hours of sleep before waking up and trying to fall back asleep again. Due to that I¡¯ve honestly had no energy to do anything and I¡¯ve been getting constant headaches.


    In order to try and restore my sleep schedule, I¡¯ve decided to stop updating as much for a month and try to relax more. After this chapter, I will update it at one chapter a week for a month.

 CH 28

    The name Paper Gold was taken from ¡®dazzling with paper and gold¡¯. (Idiom for indulging in a life of luxury)


    It was grander and more flashy than Rust City. Paper Gold had a setting of short days and long nights, with sunrise at 10 in the morning and sunset at 3 in the afternoon.


    After 3 o¡¯clock, the Paper Gold City changed into a sensual city that never slept. Once it was night, a round moon would hang on the horizon of Paper Gold City. In the noise of the city, it was like an oil painting accidentally smudged by water droplets. The outline wasn¡¯t clear, showing a wet, hazy halo.


    Paper Gold¡¯s design was unique and concentric. The inner circle was the central city with many spires. The main color was black and gold. The thin and pointed roofs pointed straight at the sky like a sword. Inside, there were bars, dance halls, information stores, high-end hotels, material exchange points and other places.


    Another large circle was the outer concentric circle and it surrounded the city like Kowloon Walled City. In the original game setting of Forces of Temptation, this was the place where three religions converged and there were all sorts of things like dentists, temples and stores selling barbecued pork. A person had to be extra careful when walking here. If they touched the drying rack of an NPC or bumped into an NPC uncle on the road, they would receive a string of curses.


    In this walled city, players might get valuable item information at a very low price or they might spend a lot of money only to get a non-refundable trash weapon.


    Now Paper Gold was transformed by an unknown force and was undergoing subtle changes.


    ***


    Due to the unexpected attack before the instance ended, the eight people were now sitting together in a cafe in Paper Gold City. The system time showed that it was 4 p.m. It coincided with the time when Nan Zhou and the others entered the instance.


    Unlike the sunny Rust City at that time, Paper Gold City had just entered the prelude to the night carnival.


    Prices here were much more expensive than Rust City and the NPCs were human. The waitress who brought them refreshments had a perfect smile and exquisite makeup. She was completely like a real person and almost made them doubt that they had returned to the normal world.


    After entering the safety zone, everyone was in a relaxed state and showed their true selves. Shen Jie didn¡¯t like to talk very much out of the instance. She leaned quietly back in her seat, tiredly watching the lights drifting outside.


    Once the fitness trainer had three cups of strong coffee, he ordered cheap fast food such as sandwiches and hamburgers to relieve his stress through eating. The thin monkey didn¡¯t even dare look at the face of the beautiful female NPC. Then once she left, he looked at her perfect waistline from behind with an expression of yearning. Yu Tuisi was an extremely thoughtful and decent person. Even after taking the sleeping pill, he still supported his head in his hands and resisted the urge to sleep.


    Li Yinhang was calculating her points on a napkin. Jiang Fang spread out an arm and placed it on the back of the chair where Nan Zhou was sitting. It was a stretch at first glance but from the perspective of a third party, it was a silent, dominating posture.


    Only Nan Zhou was no different from how he acted in the instance. He might¡¯ve just broken a person¡¯s neck but he looked no different as he selected desserts now. Nan Zhou washed his hands seven or eight times and carefully reviewed the menu before ordering a cream tart and a daifuku.


    Li Yinhang took the menu and her eyes twitched when she saw it. For a person like her who was accustomed to frugality, this price was almost the same as stealing money in public. Two small desserts cost 150 points? However, she didn¡¯t dare be too arrogant toward her savior. In addition, it wasn¡¯t her points being spent. She only dared murmur in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s too expensive¡­¡±


    ¡°I want to reward myself.¡± Nan Zhou seriously praised himself. ¡°I just did a good job.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± There is a reasonable reason and I can¡¯t refute it. You are right.


    Before the desserts were served, Nan Zhou was attracted by a magnificent three-storey building diagonally across from the cafe. It was extremely noisy as if the voices of all the people in the central city were concentrated there.


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°What is that?¡±


    The fitness trainer chewed on his food and answered vaguely, ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? This is the Douzhuang Casino.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Since when was there an element in Forces of Temptation that blatantly violated contemporary values?


    Shen Jie added, ¡°It was built by a player called Qu Jinsha himself.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Some people really took the business route in this game?


    As she was complaining, she quickly realized that the name Qu Jinsha was a bit familiar. At the same time, Nan Zhou clicked on the player rankings and found this name. Qu Jinsha, an individual player who was second in the rankings.


    In the dungeon, the fitness trainer followed Shen Jie and rarely expressed personal opinions yet he was talkative in his normal state. No one asked but he started to introduce it in detail. ¡°This Qu Jinsha was in the first batch of players to enter. I heard he is a master of PvP.¡±


    ¡°Lf tjr j ubbv yerlcfrr wlcv jcv lr kliilcu ab ajxf glrxr. P vbc¡¯a xcbk tbk wjcs lcrajcmfr tf qjrrfv atgbeut yea tf rjnfv 100,000 qblcar. Ktfc tf qlmxfv j rwjii rabgfogbca lc Ujqfg Xbiv atja kjr jgbecv 50 rdejgf offa jcv rqfca jii tlr qblcar bc la. Tbe xcbk, tf kjr lc atf abq atgff bo atf lcvlnlveji gjcxlcur ja atf alwf. Ktlr vfji wjvf tlw lwwfvljafis ojii ab atf ybaabw.¡±


    The fitness trainer squinted. ¡°Look at the result. Not long after, the entire building is his and his rankings rose back up to the top.¡±


    Jiang Fang picked up some meaning from his words. ¡°Then you must¡¯ve been in this game for a long time?¡±


    The fitness trainer opened his mouth. ¡°Not counting the time in the instances, just the time we spent resting at the various safety points is at least three months.¡±


    The fitness trainer faced Li Yinhang¡¯s shocked eyes and became more exuberant.


    ¡°Yes, the time flow here is completely different from the normal world.¡±


    ¡°We have communicated with other newcomers in the instances. In the real world, it should only be five or six days, right?¡±


    Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou were silent while Li Yinhang nodded.


    ¡°Hou, Sister Shen and I all came in on the third day of the mass disappearances. People like Qu Jinsha came here on the first day. From his perspective, he has been doing business here for at least half a  year.¡±


    Then there was nothing wrong with fucking starting a business.


    Nan Zhou turned his attention back to the gradient neon lights outside the casino and spoke the truth. ¡°Then the points you¡¯ve saved are too low.¡±


    The fitness trainer who was talking enthusiastically, ¡°¡­¡­¡± He didn¡¯t want to chat any longer.


    Fortunately, Jiang Fang relieved the embarrassment of the fitness trainer in time. He said warmly, ¡°This is normal.¡±


    Apart from buying desserts, Nan Zhou was very strict about the number of points. ¡°Staying at the rest point will consume oxygen and you have to spend points on food, clothing, housing and transportation. It isn¡¯t cost-effective.¡±


    Jiang Fang patiently explained, ¡°Do you remember the wish pool?¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°Yes, the person who is number one on the team rankings or individual rankings can make a wish.¡±


    Jiang Fang wondered, ¡°What did you wish for?¡±


    His attitude was very natural and it wasn¡¯t obvious that he was probing at Nan Zhou¡¯s heart. Nan Zhou¡¯s lips pressed tightly together. ¡°I won¡¯t tell you.¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t push him and instead asked Li Yinhang, ¡°Yinhang, what about you?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I hope that this game will disappear and everyone will return to the normal world.¡±


    She glanced around at everyone and hesitated. ¡°You should all think so.¡±


    Shen Jie responded, ¡°The three of us have divided our wishes. My wish is that my daughter will be healthy throughout her life. Hou Xu¡¯s wish is the same as yours. Xiao Shen hasn¡¯t made a wish yet. His wish will be retained until the end.¡±


    Yu Tuisi also answered, ¡°I made a wish. Sufeng hasn¡¯t made it yet. I had him keep it as well.¡±


    Jiang Fang asked the crowd before telling Nan Zhou, ¡°Look, a large proportion of them have the desire to return to the normal world.¡±


    ¡°If even one person at the top makes a similar wish then others don¡¯t have to struggle for first place. They only want to ensure that they have enough points to maintain oxygen and basic life needs. They want to avoid entering the instances as much as possible in order to survive. Once the game ends and first place is decided, they can leave the game.¡±


    At this time, Nan Zhou¡¯s desserts came.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the competition system still completely unclear?¡± Nan Zhou wondered as he inserted a fork in the strawberry daifuku. ¡°What if it is a PK elimination system and only the individual players and teams who survive can make a wish?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it is possible.¡± Jiang Fang answered. ¡°The rule of the game is that you can keep your wish and make it at the end of the game. As long as someone makes the wish for ¡®all players who have played this game to resurrect¡¯, not everyone will have to take risks.¡±


    ¡°It is stupid to pin your hopes on others.¡± Nan Zhou shook his head in a disapproving manner. ¡°Who knows who will be number one? What if they make a wish to let just themselves leave? What if they wish that this game will continue?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate people¡¯s ability to pursue a comfortable life.¡±


    He watched Nan Zhou who was eating and listening carefully. He wanted to reach out to squeeze this person¡¯s ear before after hesitating a few times, he finally touched his own lips.


    ¡°When first entering, people always think about saving enough points to fight for first place, just like Liu Xiao in our trial level.¡±


    ¡°Do you remember what he said? He had just finished the first task and wanted to rise in the rankings, so he spent points to choose PvP mode.¡±


    ¡°He is a newcomer so there is a sense of urgency. Then what about players who have gone through a few instances?¡±


    ¡°They almost died again and again, seeing the deaths of their teammates or others with their own eyes. Can normal people accept it so easily? Will they be more active when doing the tasks or try to escape?¡±


    ¡°People aren¡¯t machines. Even if they run at full capacity at the beginning, they always have to eat and relax. The moment you relax, you don¡¯t want to move. It is easier to place your hopes on others.¡±


    ¡°In any case, for some people, it is impossible for them to reach first place no matter how hard they work. It is better to let themselves be more comfortable under limited conditions.¡±


    Jiang Fang immediately pointed at the opposite casino, his voice gentle. ¡°This is a place where people can be comfortable and indulge in escape.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s tone might be relaxed but his words caused Shen Jie¡¯s group of three to have goose bumps. Wasn¡¯t this the case with their own journey? They all experienced the positive response at the beginning to the slight numbness now. The moment they got back to the safe point, they just wanted to eat, sleep and rest for seven or eight days before reluctantly doing the next task.


    Nan Zhou wiped the whipped cream from the corners of his mouth, not shaken at all. ¡°I don¡¯t care what they think. I¡¯m going to take first place.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled and handed him a tissue. Nan Zhou held the cream tart and looked at the casino opposite them. ¡°How did Qu Jinsha rank second by opening a casino?¡±


    ¡°Trading points through the trading system,¡± Yu Tuisi answered.


    He had recovered from the medicine and like Nan Zhou, he was obviously interested in Qu Jinsha¡¯s path.


    Nan Zhou asked, ¡°What is the trading system?¡±


    Yu Tuisi knew they were genuine newcomers and wasn¡¯t surprised by Nan Zhou¡¯s question. ¡°The trading system isn¡¯t built into the system. You need to find a wandering NPC at a safe point like Rust City or Paper Gold City. Every safe point will have such an NPC. Talk to them, buy something from them and read the trading rules before activating it and the trading system will open for you for free.¡±


    Nan Zhou understood. Previously, only Lin Yihang had bought things in Rust City in their team so the trading system wasn¡¯t turned on for him and Jiang Fang.


    ¡°Once the trading system is turned on, one-on-one or team-to-team deals can be made with mutual consent.¡±


    He looked at Nan Zhou. ¡°For example, I want to trade 1,000 points for the A-grade item in your hand. As long as we negotiate the price, enter the trading system and place the 1,000 points and A-grade items in their respective grids, we just need to press the confirmation button and the transaction will go through. There is no middleman to take a cut.¡±


    ¡°However, the NPC responsible for the guide at the beginning doesn¡¯t inform players about this. The player needs to explore it on their own. This is the reason why Sufeng and I spent quite a bit of time exploring the various safe points after entering.¡± Yu Tuisi exhaled and continued. ¡°As for Qu Jinsha.. his casino only gambles using points. At the door, someone will charge an entrance fee. It is 200 points per person. Once you enter, the casino will draw from these funds to pay those who win. According to the game played, the casino will take 1-5% commission. He makes a profit from this.¡±


    ¡°What if I use items?¡± Nan Zhou took out the summer homework book that he didn¡¯t have time to study carefully. It was an A-grade item. ¡°Isn¡¯t it possible to reverse time again and again with this?¡±


    Yu Tuisi shook his head to deny Nan Zhou¡¯s idea.


    ¡°Firstly, items often have a restriction on the number of uses and it is a waste to use it on gambling.¡±


    ¡°Secondly, no items can be used at the safe points.¡±


    Nan Zhou exclaimed. ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    Nevertheless, his questions weren¡¯t finished. ¡°Why is his business so good?¡±


    Jiang Fang was the one who answered. ¡°Due to the gambling points.¡±


    Yu Tuisi gently nodded to confirm it. ¡°After all, doing the instances is a matter of life and death. It isn¡¯t a big deal to lose here while there might be a huge profit if they win. Who would want to risk their life when there is a chance to sit back and make a profit?¡±


    Yu Tuisi didn¡¯t say the rest of it. The places where trades occurred wasn¡¯t just the casino. As the name suggested, it was a city where they indulged in a life of luxury. There was no shortage of men and women who would sell their bodies for 100 points.


    Jiang Fang raised a hand to his lips and chuckled softly. ¡°A gambler¡¯s mentality is like this.¡±


    Yu Tuisi looked at him. ¡°There are indeed big winners whose points have risen from the hundreds to within the top 20.¡±


    Jiang Fang was calm. ¡°That is because Qu Jinsha allowed them to win.¡±


    Yu Tuisi refuted, ¡°It might also be luck.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about luck when it comes to casinos?¡±


    Yu Tuisi narrowed his eyes slightly. ¡°You seem to know casinos very well?¡±


    Jiang Fang answered, ¡°There are casinos in Ukraine. I¡¯ve worked there and have seen a bit.¡±


    Li Yinhang who was in the audience, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Now she had another thing to add to Jiang Fang¡¯s identity of an unemployed person and music exchange student.


    The curious Nan Zhou once again raised his hand. ¡°If this is the case, why is Qu Jinsha only ranked second?¡± It stood to reason that he was completely capable of being first.


    ¡°It is because he has to pay a high rent and hire NPCs every month. Paper Gold is a place where every square meter of land costs money and NPCs have to be employed to maintain order and keep losing players from running away. On the other hand, they can also restrict and supervise Qu Jinsha. It is an absolutely impartial existence.¡±


    Yu Tuisi paused. ¡°Secondly, after entering, the casino will provide free beer, drinks, desserts and snacks. Many people go in to eat and drink and then end up gambling. I have to admit that the atmosphere of the casino really makes it easy for people to indulge. If you are a person with a weak mentality then once you go in there once, there will be a second and third time.¡±


    Nan Zhou used the small fork to scrape the cream on the bottom of the plate and his eyes lit up.


    The author has something to say:


    Nan Zhou heard, ¡°@#@&£¬@#£¤[email protected]#£¤! Desserts%¡­¡­#¡±

 CH 29

    Li Yinhang asked the question in her head, ¡°Isn¡¯t that just self-service?¡±


    Yu Tuisi didn¡¯t talk about it and just smiled. ¡°You¡¯ll know when you see it.¡±


    The simple gathering was over. Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou went to pay the bill while also opening the trading system. Yu Tuisi and Chen Sufeng planned to find a place to rest. The conversation just now aroused the fitness trainer¡¯s interest. He was eager to try out Douzhuan Casino but Shen Jie¡¯s sharp eyes decisively persuaded him to retreat.


    Everyone was clear that they weren¡¯t on the same path at all. Once they separated, they were afraid there would be no chances to meet in the future.


    Jiang Fang stood at the door of the coffee shop and asked Yu Tuisi, ¡°Have you ever thought about teaming up with us?¡±


    Yu Tuisi was a rare smart person. If there was a possibility of development then Jiang Fang still wanted to work hard.


    Yu Tuisi placed his hands on his legs and laughed. ¡°I thought about it but I can¡¯t do it. I¡¯m already dragging down Xiao Feng. I don¡¯t want to trouble anyone else.¡±


    Chen Sufeng whispered, ¡°No, that isn¡¯t the case.¡±


    Jiang Fang nodded and didn¡¯t ask any more questions. Shen Jie heard Jiang Fang¡¯s invitation. She thought of her own failed invitation and couldn¡¯t help smiling. She instinctively glanced at Nan Zhou and found he was standing behind everyone and fiddling with something.


    Shen Jie thought that this action was familiar. The next moment, she showed an incredulous expression. Nan Zhou actually took the small lock out of the instance. He was still tirelessly practicing how to unlock it.


    The thin monkey and fitness trainer were looking for a place to stay. Shen Jie walked up to Nan Zhou and laughed. ¡°Why are you still playing with this?¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s answer was still consistent. ¡°I¡¯m practicing my skills.¡±


    Shen Jie let out a sigh. ¡°It is a pity that I couldn¡¯t pull you into my team.¡± Then she lowered her voice. ¡°I want to try again.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Can you and Jiang Fang go with us? I can let you or Jiang Fang be the captain.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Shen Jie answered, ¡°Of course, I want to increase the chances of survival.¡±


    Nan Zhou finally raised his head and stared into her eyes. ¡°The question I asked you is that since this is your second time making the request, why didn¡¯t you think about changing the conditions?¡±


    Shen Jie was surprised. ¡°What?¡±


    Nan Zhou asked back, ¡°What if I, Brother Fang and Yinhang agree to join your team on the premise that you remove one of your team members. Will you agree?¡±


    Shen Jie was stunned for a long time. Just then, the thin monkey called out to her. ¡°Sister Shen, we will go to Dilong Hotel in the east. That place is cheaper!¡±


    Shen Jie responded positively and headed toward her teammates. The moment she was a few steps away, Shen Jie didn¡¯t turn around but waved to Nan Zhou in a silent answer.


    ¡­Forget it.


    The other two groups disappeared into the night in different directions.


    Li Yinhang stood under the bright and colorful lights and felt a sense of confusion. ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s answer was simple and powerful. ¡°Eat self-service.¡±


    Ol Tlctjcu, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Ktf rqgbealcu ofjg jcv tfiqifrrcfrr lc tfg tfjga kfgf vlgfmais mtbxfv ab vfjat ys atfrf kbgvr.


    Rjc Itbe aegcfv ab Aljcu Mjcu. ¡°Cgf sbe fjalcu?¡±


    Aljcu Mjcu ibbxfv ja atf mbibgoei ¡®Gbehtejc¡¯ rluc bqqbrlaf atfw. ¡°Tfr.¡±


    Lf kjr tfjvlcu abkjgv atf mjrlcb ktfc tlr jgw kjr ugjyyfv. Rjc Itbe abiv tlw, ¡°Tbe vbc¡¯a tjnf ab ub lo sbe vbc¡¯a kjca ab.¡±


    Jiang Fang was slightly startled and couldn¡¯t help touching his face. He couldn¡¯t figure out how Nan Zhou had seen through him. He was acting very actively and his expression management was perfect. He smiled. ¡°I didn¡¯t say I don¡¯t want to.¡±


    Nan Zhou insisted. ¡°You don¡¯t want to go.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t know the reason. Jiang Fang¡¯s face didn¡¯t show anything but Nan Zhou had a feeling that this person didn¡¯t like it. Jiang Fang wanted to deny it but once the words reached his mouth, he stopped. A moment later, he changed his attitude and chose to be honest. ¡°I¡­ I really don¡¯t like casinos very much but it is fine if we are just eating.¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°Okay. Then don¡¯t look at it and just look at me.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s heart felt like it had been gently pinched. This itchy feeling made him feel slow for a moment. Then he laughed. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes and mouth were curved up when he turned around. He struggled to control it but he couldn¡¯t help smiling.


    They each paid the 200 points admission ticket and received a wristband-like recognizer. Then they were led by the well-dressed NPC waiter into the casino. The wristband was only issued after payment. There was one for each person and it would be invalid once they left. There was a special scanner in the casino. If a person had no wristband then the NPC would quickly remove them and force 500 points to be deducted as punishment. This was to prevent someone from putting their teammate in an item slot and bringing them in.


    ¡­Although normal people wouldn¡¯t do this, it just happened to prevent Nan Zhou¡¯s idea.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Alas.


    After entering the casino, Nan Zhou¡¯s curiosity seemed to be scratched by a cat¡¯s paws. He endured and endured it but he finally couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. ¡°Why don¡¯t you like it?¡±


    ¡°¡­Hah.¡±


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Why are you laughing?¡±


    Jiang Fang told him, ¡°I was betting on how long it would take you to ask me.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°?¡± Then he repeated, ¡°So why?¡±


    They went to the elevator. As they waited for the elevator to descend, Jiang Fang briefly summarized the reason for his disgust. ¡°Casinos are people eaters. This type of place will eat a person clean and step on the bones.¡±


    ¡°However, it is mutual consent. Someone bets and the casino makes money.¡±


    Jiang Fang refuted it. ¡°It isn¡¯t mutual consent. That is just wishful thinking.¡±


    Nan Zhou hugged Nanji Star and listened carefully.


    ¡°The slot machines and small steel balls all have their probability set by the casino. How much you get depends on the boss¡¯ mood. In big and small, a skilled dealer can shake it to get whatever number he wants and in Texas hold¡¯em, it is possible to do sleight of hand.¡±


    ¡°Of course, these casinos won¡¯t tell the players that what they think is fairness is actually just false.¡±


    Li Yinhang tentatively said, ¡°I heard that casinos will give preferential treatment to newcomers. At first, they will let you win. Once you win, can¡¯t you just leave and not indulge?¡±


    Jiang Fang told her, ¡°It is hard. Gambling destroys a person¡¯s perception of money.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s put it this way.¡± Jiang Fang asked, ¡°Yinhang, what is your monthly salary?¡±


    ¡°Not good. The basic salary for customer service is quite low and depends on the number of calls. If the monthly number exceeds 3,000 then every call is 8 mao. If the satisfaction reaches 80% then it becomes one yuan. Once satisfaction reaches 95% then one call is 1 yuan and 5 mao. It is paid at the end of the month.¡±


    She carefully used her fingers to calculate it. Customer service positions generally had a reward mechanism. Once employees reached a certain number of calls, they could get prizes such as an electric fan, color TV and projectors. Li Yinhang was an excellent worker. She could sell these things to idle people and get extra income. She already had a small ledger in her mind. After adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, she quickly came to a conclusion. ¡°On average, it is a bit more than 9,000 yuan a month.¡±


    The elevator was coming. The three people entered the elevator. The elevator only went to two floors. Jiang Fang pressed a button and kept speaking to her. ¡°You have worked hard for a month and earned 9,000 yuan. Then you became lucky and it was increased tenfold in the casino. You earned 90,000 yuan overnight. Now what do you think?¡±


    Li Yinhang thought about it and felt it was really cool. ¡°Isn¡¯t it good?¡±


    Jiang Fang asked back, ¡°Then what is your hard work in the previous month compared to it?¡±


    Li Yinhang thought about this and suddenly felt a chill go down her spine.


    ¡°Will you still be able to work with peace of mind? You will feel that hard work is meaningless. It is better to relax in the casino.¡±


    ¡°This is how the foundation of a person is slowly broken.¡±


    ¡°In this game where it is possible to die at any time, a person is still thinking of digging at the foundations¡­¡± Jiang Fang murmured, ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s voice finished as the elevator doors slowly opened. A lot of noise was mixed with the cool breeze carrying the smell of cold beer toward them.


    ***


    Like Nan Zhou, there were a few people who specifically came for the snacks and beer. Snow-white tables were set up with exquisite desserts and a wide variety of dishes.


    Nan Zhou was very satisfied. He took what he liked while examining the layout of the casino. He gradually had an idea in his heart. The desserts here really were free. The snacks were mostly melon seeds, dried fruits and some small snacks. This meant that although beer was provided, there weren¡¯t many other things to drink. They could order hot food here. They just needed to spend a bit of points and the prices were very low compared to the rest of Paper Gold.


    The problem was that there were no chairs or TVs except in the gambling area. There were no other entertainment facilities apart from the ever-changing gambling charts and all types of gambling equipment. If they wanted to eat and drink then they could only stand and watch others play.


    Therefore, many people who were determined to just eat or drink could only hold their beer and eat melon seeds while watching others gamble. If they watched too much then it was inevitable to feel itchy.


    In addition to the careful design of the restaurant, Douzhuan Casino had other tricks. The casino had three floors. The first and second floors were the casino. If they wanted to go upstairs then they had to take the elevator. There were no stairs.


    The entire third floor consisted of guest rooms exclusively for guests. The check-in conditions were very relaxed. A guest could stay there for a relatively cheap price after a small bet. However, from the second floor to the third floor, there was no elevator, only the stairs. The elevator and stairs were far away from each other. If they wanted to go from the elevator to the stairs then they had to pass through the loud casino. It meant that there would be countless temptations seducing guests to bet here when returning to their room.


    Jiang Fang was right. Douzhuan Casino was a well-designed bottomless hole dedicated to catching every psychological change in players. The gravity of this bottomless hole affected even Li Yinhang.


    ¡°600 points.¡± Li Yinhang tasted bitterness and murmured sadly, ¡°600 points¡­¡±


    They got the S-grade rewards in the last level and only received 1,000 points per person. Now hundreds of points were thrown away in the blink of an eye. She felt so pained that she couldn¡¯t help casting her eyes toward the mahjong room not far away. She used to play mahjong with her mother and aunts during the Spring Festival¡­


    As her mind drifted to the edge of danger, Nan Zhou¡¯s voice was heard in her ears. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡±


    Li Yinhang was shocked. Was she just thinking about gambling? She hurriedly fed herself a piece of the cake while feeling shock. There was nothing wrong with Yu Tuisi¡¯s words. The atmosphere of the casino made it really easy to indulge. She could only do her best to shield herself from the surrounding sounds while eating.


    Nan Zhou was much more attentive than her and had a clear goal. No matter how noisy the surroundings, he only focused on the plate full of cream cakes in front of him while occasionally raising his eyes to look at where Jiang Fang had gone.


    The moment Jiang Fang arrived on the second floor, he let the two of them go to eat obediently while wandering around to check out the various gambling areas.


    Li Yinhang was surprised. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t like it then why is he looking?¡±


    Nan Zhou ate a perfect cream flower and his mood was good, so he patiently answered, ¡°Qu Jinsha is second in the rankings. This might not affect us now but no one knows if he will be an enemy or ally in the future. Brother Fang is checking the situation just in case.¡±


    Li Yinhang listened and nodded while casually eating the pistachios.


    ***


    People always imagined the appearance of a big boss like Qu Jinsha, who made a fortune by running a casino and was second on the individual rankings. At the very least, he should be in a suit and sunglasses. The reality was that he had a mediocre appearance. His figure was slightly fat and he wore a loose-fitting dark gray sweater and jeans. He was a middle-aged man with a nice smile on his face. He stood by and watched the ever-changing gambling rankings in real time, his face gentle. If he had a thermos then he would look like a gossipy uncle next door.


    Suddenly, a bit of silver entered his vision. The moment he noticed the abnormal hair color, he raised an eyebrow with interest and took the initiative to greet this person.


    Jiang Fang had wanted to see the difference in the structure of the slot machines here and in reality when a hand was placed on his shoulder from behind. ¡°Brother?¡±


    He glanced back.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s facial features were foreign and this made Qu Jinsha more interested. ¡°A foreigner?¡±


    Jiang Fang replied, ¡°Half and half.¡±


    ¡°I thought so.¡± Qu Jinsha¡¯s smile became even stronger when he heard the Chinese with the correct pronunciation. ¡°Previously, I guessed that foreigners should be playing in their own district or else why haven¡¯t I seen a foreigner before? I was shocked to see your hair color and thought I guessed incorrectly.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled gently, a bit shy.


    Qu Jinsha looked at the slot machine Jiang Fang had been observing. ¡°Do you want to play?¡±


    Jiang Fang declined. ¡°My lover won¡¯t let me.¡±


    Qu Jinsha followed his gaze and saw Nan Zhou who was indulging in desserts and Li Yinhang who was addicted to pistachios. The girl was quite pretty but she looked honest and like she had no thoughts. He didn¡¯t reveal anything as he looked back at the tall, young and beautiful man in front of him.


    Qu Jinsha persuaded him. ¡°It isn¡¯t hard. Try it.¡±


    Jiang Fang looked flustered. ¡°I¡­ won¡¯t.¡±


    Qu Jinsha showed a kind smile. His voice wasn¡¯t high as he spoke softly, ¡°If you¡¯re afraid of losing then I can lend you a bit.¡±


    Jiang Fang murmured, ¡°This¡­¡±


    ¡°There is no need for you to pay it back and I won¡¯t collect interest.¡± Qu Jinsha was generous. ¡°You are a guest. If you just come here and don¡¯t play then it is a pity. Isn¡¯t it a waste of 200 points?¡±


    Jiang Fang blinked. ¡°You are¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the boss.¡± Qu Jinsha smiled softly, ¡°Just call me Old Qu.¡±


    Jiang Fang stared at the smiling middle-aged man in front of him. He had met many bosses. He had seen Qu Jinsha¡¯s type as well. They always gave generously, lending a bit of gambling money to young people who entered the casino to let them taste the sweetness of gambling without spending anything. Then it would go out of control. After that, the boss would smile at the crying gambler and say, ¡®Look, it isn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t help you. You just owe so much and I can¡¯t do anything.¡¯


    Jiang Fang faced this amiable smiling face and showed just the right facial expression. ¡°This¡­ is this okay?¡±

 CH 30

    As Jiang Fang wandered around, Nan Zhou held two egg tarts and watched the slot machines. He thought that the gradient lights on the slot machine were well-designed.


    Nan Zhou ate two egg tarts and watched as the player manipulating the slot machine threw 800 points into it. The female companion next to him had eyes red from anxiety as she tugged at him. ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go. It is so hard to save points¡­¡±


    However, a gambler who was betting wasn¡¯t the type to listen to people. He was so stimulated that blood rushed to his head and all types of negative emotions burst out. He roared, ¡°Don¡¯t fuck with me! I lost so much and my bad luck has stacked up. The next one is sure to be a win! Do you want to throw away all the previous points for nothing?!¡±


    Nan Zhou kindly warned, ¡°Probability won¡¯t accumulate.¡±


    He wanted to say that this should be learned in middle school mathematics but the red-eyed gambler succinctly expressed his opinion. ¡°Get lost!¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°?¡±


    Nanji Star poked out his head from Nan Zhou¡¯s sleeve. Before he could show his teeth, Nan Zhou covered his mouth. He whispered, ¡°No.¡±


    Nan Zhou glanced at the small cartoon that said ¡®no fighting¡¯ on the wall. If they fought then they would be kicked out. For the sake of the cake, he couldn¡¯t do so. Nanji Star nibbled on Nan Zhou¡¯s finger, confused for a moment. He poked out his little tongue and licked it twice before falling quiet.


    Nan Zhou went back to the bar to replenish his sugar. He saw Jiang Fang coming toward them after talking with Qu Jinsha and put down the cupcake in his hand. He intuitively sensed that Jiang Fang had something to say to them.


    Sure enough, Jiang Fang opened his mouth. ¡°I want to play a few games.¡±


    Li Yinhang was surprised. ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell us not to play?¡±


    Jiang Fang explained, ¡°Boss Qu wants to invite me to play and will give me some points.¡±


    Then he looked at Nan Zhou. ¡°Is that okay?¡±


    Nan Zhou thought about it. ¡°How much is Boss Qu giving you?¡±


    Jiang Fang answered, ¡°100 chips.¡±


    This meant 100 points.


    Nan Zhou replied, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s generous.¡± It was quite tempting as a bargaining chip to entice gambling. Nan Zhou asked again, ¡°Did you agree?¡±


    Jiang Fang watched Nan Zhou. ¡°I told him that I would ask my partner for instructions. If you don¡¯t agree then I won¡¯t play.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought, ¡®This excuse is good. He can attack or retreat. If he wants to backtrack then there is no problem.¡¯


    Li Yinhang thought, ¡®Why does it feel like Jiang Fang is taking advantage of Nan Zhou?¡¯


    Still, the party involved Nan Zhou didn¡¯t say anything and she chose to shut up. As the three people were talking, a man standing close to them like he was a gambler who was tired of gambling and was standing near them to rest started moving away.


    Jiang Fang squinted slightly at the back of the person leaving.


    Nan Zhou had long discovered the existence of an eavesdropper. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°In a Ukrainian casino, they are called oko (eye). In Macau, they are called ¡®bate-ficha¡¯. Their job is to solicit customers and listen for information.¡± He smiled slightly as he spoke. ¡°The reason is unknown at this point but it seems that Boss Qu attaches great importance to me as a guest.¡±


    Jiang Fang saw that Nan Zhou was still weighing the pros and cons and asked his other teammate. ¡°Yinhang, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Li Yinhang spoke with a bit of hope. ¡°Once you lose all the chips he gave you, stop playing okay?¡±


    Jiang Fang agreed. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought of the pained look Li Yinhang made when she paid the admission price. ¡°How about you win back the points paid for the eating self-service?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s gaze was on Nan Zhou¡¯s small plate as he judged which desserts had been placed on it and determined what flavors Nan Zhou liked. At the same time, he nodded with a smile. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Vfflcu tlw qgbwlrf rb gfjvlis, Rjc Itbe aglfv ab wjxf jc fzmfrrlnf gfdefra. ¡°Gbc¡¯a ibrf, bxjs?¡±


    Aljcu Mjcu gjlrfv tlr fsfr jcv rajgfv ja Rjc Itbe. Ktfc tf yilcxfv jcv jcrkfgfv mtffgoeiis, ¡°Yxjs.¡±


    Lf kjr rb mibrf atja Rjc Itbe vlrmbnfgfv Aljcu Mjcu¡¯r fsfijrtfr kfgf iluta lc mbibg jcv ibcu. Llr yilcxlcu lcafgnji kjrc¡¯a rtbga fcbeut ab yf oglnbiber. Ejatfg, la ujnf qfbqif atf liierlbc bo j vffq ujhf.


    Nan Zhou tried to resist the urge to count his eyelashes. ¡°Go play.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°Do you believe me?¡±


    ¡°Otherwise?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled and patted Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulder. Then he immediately turned around and headed to Qu Jinsha in the distance. Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang followed closely.


    The moment he turned around, the smile on Jiang Fang¡¯s face changed from confident and calm to shy. This youthful inexperience was hypocritical.


    Qu Jinsha, who had been waiting not far away, watched Jiang Fang¡¯s back with a smile. The news from the bate-ficha came from his headset. ¡°There are three people in a group. Just now, they were discussing whether to play or not.¡±


    ¡°The three of them seem to be newcomers and have no experience.¡±


    ¡°This is definitely the first time the man with long hair has come here. He doesn¡¯t understand the rules. He just went to intervene in another person¡¯s betting and was scolded.¡±


    ¡°The woman is very cautious. She has been eating and doesn¡¯t watch the others playing.¡±


    Qu Jinsha said, ¡°Girls will be more cautious and are less likely to believe that they are infallible. This is normal.¡±


    The bate-ficha continued to report. ¡°That foreigner is quite keen to play and encouraged his teammates¡­¡±


    At this point, he hesitated. ¡°The two men¡­ look like a couple.¡±


    Qu Jinsha raised an eyebrow.


    The bate-ficha seemed to describe the atmosphere around them. ¡°They are very sticky and seem like they have hooked-up¡­¡±


    Qu Jinsha let out a prolonged ¡®oh¡ª¡¯ and raised his eyes in time to see Jiang Fang turn around. He couldn¡¯t help his smile growing wider. This was such a tall and beautiful young man. Just looking at the outline from the casual pants, the hardware was first-class and fit the standard specifications of a foreigner.


    He liked it very much. He liked it even more that this person was gay. Once this person lost everything. Qu Jinsha would raise him in a small house, buying him a bit of oxygen and giving him a bit of food every day. It was extremely interesting to let such a proud and beautiful person with an elegant temperament, who hadn¡¯t experienced too much life at first glance, be reduced to the state of having to rely on others to live.


    Qu Jinsha thought about this while waving to Jiang Fang kindly like a Maitreya Buddha. Qu Jinsha took the group of three around the various gambling equipment, introducing them one by one. Blackjack, Texas hold¡¯em, roulette, baccarat, mahjong¡­


    He asked gently, ¡°Which one do you want to play?¡±


    Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang and found that this person had an expression of hesitation like he found it hard to decide. He looked around carefully, his face flustered. Even Nan Zhou wanted to ask him what was wrong.


    Qu Jinsha sensitively became aware of the change in this person¡¯s mood. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s cheeks turned red. ¡°It¡¯s like this¡­ I¡¯ve played bridge and card games with my classmates but this is the first time I¡¯ve seen these new games. You told me so many rules and I¡¯m not sure¡­¡±


    A beautiful person was pleasing to the eye even when clumsy. Qu Jinsha was happy and relaxed so he became even more patient. ¡°Why don¡¯t we play the slot machine?¡±


    Then he sat down in front of an idle machine. The machine showed that it took 50 chips to play one time. In Douzhuan Casino, 1 point was exchanged for 1 chip. The face value of a chip was 10 points, 50 points and the maximum was 100 points.


    Qu Jinsha took out a 50 point blue chip from his pocket. ¡°The gameplay is very simple. Do you see? There are three glass flames on the interface of the machine and the patterns in the frames are the same. After putting in the chip, pull the lever¡­¡±


    He followed the procedure and pulled the lever. The design on the interface started spinning at a dizzyingly high speed.


    ¡°If the three patterns that appear are exactly the same, you can get 5 times the chips. If three of them are a specific pattern, the tiger, you can take all the chips accumulated in the prize pool¡ª¡±


    The three frames spinning quickly started to stop in turn. Qu Jinsha¡¯s luck wasn¡¯t bad. The first two patterns were exactly the same. They were both little bears. Unfortunately, the last pattern was a snake. This was regarded as Qu Jinsha¡¯s win since his chips doubled. He picked up two blue chips from the coin slot and smiled humbly. ¡°To put it another way, you just have to pull the lever and it depends on luck. It is especially simple.¡±


    Of course, he didn¡¯t say that the winning rate of the slot machine had long been set by the computer. The lever of winning or losing had never been in the hands of players.


    Nan Zhou thought calmly, ¡®It is quite simple but the side effect is that it eats the player¡¯s brain.¡¯


    Jiang Fang¡¯s pale gray eyes were filled with sincere admiration. ¡°Boss Qu is very lucky.¡±


    Qu Jinsha was very happy and tempted him, ¡°Do you want to play?¡±


    To his surprise, Jiang Fang shook his head. Jiang Fang said, ¡°I want to gamble with Boss Qu.¡±


    He explained, ¡°You are taking me to play and you let me borrow chips. I haven¡¯t played in a casino before. If you can take me then I will feel more at ease.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Qu Jinsha agreed. ¡°Texas hold¡¯em?¡±


    ¡°It is too difficult.¡± Jiang Fang¡¯s voice was soft. ¡°Let¡¯s play a simple game¡­¡±


    ¡°Then you¡­¡±


    ¡°Boss Qu is so lucky. I want to gamble with Boss Qu.¡± Jiang Fang mused for a moment. ¡°Just¡­ how about big and small?¡±


    Qu Jinsha suddenly felt that the atmosphere was wrong and he took a second look at the other person. This man¡­


    Before he could think too deeply, he saw Jiang Fang smiling brightly as he placed his hands together in front of his lips. ¡°Please, Boss Qu.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°???¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­?¡±


    He stared at Jiang Fang in a daze. This person was acting spoiled and cute. He wanted to touch Jiang Fang¡¯s head like Nanji Star.


    Qu Jinsha was shaken by his appearance and nodded. Still, his sanity remained. After agreeing with a smile, he looked around and said regretfully, ¡°Oh, there are no free tables.¡±


    Jiang Fang also followed him in looking around, expression slightly disappointed. ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Qu Jinsha raised his hand to call another bate-ficha. ¡°Move a table.¡±


    Qu Jinsha rarely gambled in person. This time, he was playing and it naturally attracted a lot of attention. The moment the table was moved, a large group of people gathered around the square gaming table and exchanged whispers.


    ¡°I heard it is big and small.¡±


    ¡°No, isn¡¯t this too simple?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just play ¡®connect the bamboo pole¡¯?¡± (this is a card game mainly played by children so they¡¯re mocking the simplicity of the game)


    Regardless of the snickers and comments, Qu Jinsha¡¯s expression was as usual. ¡°Have you played big and small before?¡±


    He received Jiang Fang¡¯s positive answer and took an absolutely fair and just posture. ¡°I will repeat the rules again, lest we have been playing with different rules and there is a problem.¡±


    Jiang Fang leaned forward and listened carefully. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Big and small was simple to play compared to poker. As the name implied, two people drew a card. They compared the points of the cards and the bigger one won.


    ¡°There are 54 playing cards. If we remove the jokers, then 2 is the largest, followed by A. Then it is KQJ all the way to the smallest 3.¡±


    Jiang Fang asked, ¡°What if we both get a 2?¡±


    Qu Jinsha laughed. ¡°Then it is ranked by the suits. Spades is the biggest, Hearts is second and then Diamonds and Clubs.¡±


    He touched a corner of the card table. ¡°The machine shuffles the cards and there is no dealer. It is absolutely fair.¡±


    Jiang Fang let out a faint hum and turned to the beautiful dealer used to enliven the atmosphere. The bunny girl dealer who was used to attract the players¡¯ eyes found it hard to be looked at by Jiang Fang and blushed.


    Jiang Fang wasn¡¯t very concerned about her dress. He only saw his past self in her figure. In the year when he first entered the casino to work, he was at an age where it was illegal by Ukrainian law for anyone to hire him. However, underground casinos didn¡¯t have such a strong sense of the law.


    After signing a crude but lucrative contract that would pay him well, Jiang Fang went through two weeks of intense closed training. Once he became familiar with all the secrets of cards and machinery, Jiang Fang was pulled to the makeup room to put on makeup to cover his youthful face.


    The end of his left eye was painted blue and the end of his right eye was painted red, with a shining line of sequins that went to the hair behind his ears. A pink heart-shape teardrop was drawn in the corner of his eye, like the joker card in a card deck. He was dressed up as a beautiful clown.


    Jiang Fang escaped from his memories and looked down at the set of cards presented by the dealer. Qu Jinsha pulled out the two useless jokers and put them aside.


    Every outstanding dealer would have their own nickname. This was the glory of an underground dealer and a recognition of their ability. The sexiest and hottest female deal was called ¡®Queen¡¯, the cutest and sweetest girl was called ¡®Hearts¡¯ and the calmest and most experienced dealer was called ¡®King¡¯.


    After working in the casino for two years, the 16 year old Jiang Fang had a height of 180cm. His bones were still growing in this filthy underground. His face gradually grew into something that the casino could use to make money from.


    On the day that the clown makeup was washed off, Jiang Fang got his nickname. On that day, Jiang Fang was dressed in a dark suit, his silver hair combed back and tied behind his head. During the performance of the dealer¡¯s skill, he showed a standard smile as he skillfully flicked the cards in his hand one by one, catching the falling cards like they were snowflakes. He spread them all out and the 53 cards that were shuffled returned to their normal order in his palm.


    Meanwhile, he was biting a separate card in his mouth. Snow white teeth and natural red lips that were curved up gently. Everything fit perfectly. Later, this card became his nickname. The ghost card, the Joker.


    On the body of this beautiful rabbit girl dealer, Jiang Fang saw a person who was locked in a training room and repeated the introductory skills including false shuffling, diagonal card control and bottom sliding for 10 hours, demonstrating it 456 times.


    Now the dealer was just a prop to hype up the atmosphere and the solid and basic skills were no longer needed. He retracted his gaze and all his thoughts, moving his fingers back and forth. His slightly longer thumbs touched each other, softly fitting together. At first glance, there wasn¡¯t much strength or dexterity.


    To show fairness, Qu Jinsha took the initiative to hand over the cards to Jiang Fang. ¡°These are our cards. You can take a look. There are no markings and they aren¡¯t prop cards.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Then he took them and examined them carefully. Qu Jinsha watched Jiang Fang¡¯s movements with a slightly playful expression Just now, Jiang Fang had given him a strange feeling. However, Qu Jinsha wasn¡¯t afraid of him discovering anything.


    It was because the real secret was hiding in the table. The so-called fully automatic machine shuffle and the ¡®absolutely fair¡¯ table were just big jokes. This table was specifically designed for ¡®big and small¡¯. The cards really weren¡¯t prop cards and there were no marks but this was just before entering the table.


    After entering the shuffling stage, it would automatically identify the size of the number on the card according to the magnetic code of the card. Then it would provide a certain heat temperature on the complex pattern on the back of the card, so that special and subtle changes would occur on the pattern. Only those who fully understood the craftsmanship of this type of card could discover the tiny changes. The principle was simple but it was easy to deceive everyone.


    Qu Jinsha clasped his hands together and placed his double chin on them as he said with a smile, ¡°Let¡¯s not play too big in the first game. You can just bet 10 chips and then add on to it as you want, okay?¡±


    Qu Jinsha¡¯s request was another scheme. He gave Jiang Fang a 100 point chip. Bet 10 chips first. Regardless of whether he won or lost, the chip would be broken up. In this way, once he won or lost, he would take the initiative to increase the number of chips.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s slender thumb rubbed over the cards like he was counting them. He heard Qu Jinsha¡¯s suggestion and smiled. ¡°Okay.¡±


    As he spoke, he stacked all the cards on his palm. He pinched all the cards, accurately picked the upper center point and gripped it lightly. The entire card deck was forced into a slightly incomplete C-type shape. It was just an ordinary card-gripping move but Qu Jinsha¡¯s expression changed suddenly. His actions would destroy the magnetic code in the cards!


    As Qu Jinsha was stunned, Jiang Fang smiled at him and politely pushed the cards whose magnetic codes were destroyed back toward the center of the table. ¡°There are no problems at all. Do you want to start now?¡±


    Qu Jinsha¡¯s throat became cold and his heartbeat gradually accelerated as he became tense. Was this man someone who knew the ropes?

 CH 31

    Qu Jinsha¡¯s smile was still kind but the abacus in his heart was already moving. Jiang Fang¡¯s positioning and technique when folding the cards was extremely precise. He was afraid that the large majority of the well-designed magnetic code cards had been reduced to ordinary playing cards. It would be too deliberate and undignified if he proposed to change to a new deck of cards now. According to the rules of the casino, if the newly opened cards weren¡¯t damaged then they could only be replaced after three rounds of use.


    He watched the almost completely invalid playing cards being sent into the machine and the sound of the machine shuffling them was heard. Qu Jinsha had heard this sound thousands of times. His heart calmed down listening to it. Originally, he intended to give Jiang Fang a sense of sweetness in the first game. Now it seemed there was no need. Young people were inevitably impetuous. It was good for them to suffer a loss.


    Jiang Fang seemed ignorant of what he was about to face. ¡°Is there a dealer?¡±


    Qu Jinsha didn¡¯t dare underestimate this person but the expression on his face was still casual. ¡°You know about a dealer?¡±


    ¡°You just mentioned it in the rules of Texas hold¡¯em.¡±


    ¡°There can be one. We¡¯ll take turns.¡±


    ¡°One round each?¡±


    ¡°One round.¡±


    ¡°What are the dealer¡¯s odds?¡±


    ¡°Three times the win or loss.¡±


    ¡°Who will be the first dealer?¡±


    ¡°Should I go first?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±


    After several exchanges, the youthfulness and shyness had faded away from Jiang Fang¡¯s smile. He sat comfortable and calm with one hand on his knee, his pianist-like slender fingers following the symphony flowing in the casino and slowly tapping on his knee.


    ¡°You come first.¡±


    Qu Jinsha smiled in his heart. Qu Jinsha had already seen that this young man had some skills. He knew some casino tricks and understood basic gambling terms. This made him ambitious and he wanted to make a fortune. He might want to pretend to be a pig to eat a tiger but he was too anxious. He couldn¡¯t bear it for a while and was impatient to show off his ability. He was just like a peacock, unwilling to hide his beautiful tail at all.


    After re-organizing the slightly messy situation, Qu Jinsha¡¯s desire to raise Jiang Fang increased even more. What was the fun of taming a dog? Wasn¡¯t it interesting to tie up a proud and self-confident puppy who considered himself a wolf and gradually wear away at his dignity and ideals?


    Nan Zhou also noticed that Jiang Fang¡¯s temperament had changed in a manner that was hard to describe. Previously, his aggressiveness was very weak. He was always modest, polite and smiling. This gave him a very approachable feeling. Now Jiang Fang sat there alone and was like frozen fire. He looked warm but his insides were proud and cold. The only thing he had in common was that he was always smiling.


    Nan Zhou took a few steps forward and touched Jiang Fang¡¯s arm. Jiang Fang, who had vaguely recovered his past state, turned his head while his heart stirred. He met Nan Zhou¡¯s gaze and the subconsciously tightened muscles of his arms suddenly relaxed. Jiang Fang asked with a smile, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Nan Zhou lowered his head and asked at a modest volume, ¡°What is a dealer?¡±


    This question could be called extremely stupid in a casino. Boos rang out from all sides.


    Jiang Fang wasn¡¯t impatient at all and explained it to him in detail. ¡°On the gambling table, the dealer is usually the winner of the previous round while other people are called players. The banker and players take turns to bet. He will be it once, then me and back to him.¡±


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    Jiang Fang wondered, ¡°Do you have any other questions?¡±


    ¡°No, I just want to stand here.¡±


    Jiang Fang looked up at him inquisitively.


    ¡°¡­I want to accompany you.¡±


    The noisy crowd surrounding him, the warm red velvet carpet, the brilliance of the crystal lights and the opponent ready to start opposite him. Jiang Fang, who was surrounded everywhere, smiled and asked, ¡°Do I look so lonely that I need someone to accompany me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Nan Zhou lowered his eyes. ¡°¡­I just came to stand here.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s heart thumped slightly as this straight ball from Nan Zhou knocked on his heart. He stared at Nan Zhou while a square hole was opened in the center of the card table and a pile of cards was sent out face down, completely shuffled.


    The bunny girl dealer came with a pack of chips. The 10 point chip was yellow, 50 points was blue and 100 points was red.


    Li Yinhang saw this and was startled. Wasn¡¯t he only going to bet 100 points? However, Jiang Fang at the gaming table had no objections. The bunny girl took out a copper cane-shaped card hook. She used the hook to thoroughly spread out the shuffled cards.


    Qu Jinsha¡¯s eyes quickly skimmed over the cards. He didn¡¯t see a card with a special pattern. The magnetic codes didn¡¯t work. Of course, he had expected this and it wasn¡¯t surprising. He was deliberately checking for whether Jiang Fang took the opportunity to mark the cards when he was holding them.


    Qu Jinsha used his excellent eyesight but found that Jiang Fang¡¯s hands and feet were quite clean. This discovery disappointed him a bit. According to the rules of the casino, if a ¡®player¡¯ was caught cheating then he or she would have to pay back 10 times the amount they bet.


    Qu Jinsha liked this word game. The guests were the ¡®players¡¯ and he was the ¡®owner¡¯. How could it be considered cheating if the owner was cheating? He just needed to wait for three rounds to switch to a new set of cards. At that time, Jiang Fang wouldn¡¯t be allowed to touch the new cards again.


    Jiang Fang quickly selected a card. Qu Jinsha¡¯s mentality was stable. He casually took a card at the end, moved it in front of him and checked it. It was a 7 of Clubs, a number that wasn¡¯t small or large. There were no surprises.


    Qu Jinsha smiled and asked, ¡°Are you going to increase it?¡±


    In front of Jiang Fang was a solitary yellow chip with a face value of 10 points. His expression was still the same after checking the cards and no clues could be seen. He replied, ¡°No.¡±


    Qu Jinsha¡¯s smile grew wider. The card drawn by the other person must not be very big. It was as Qu Jinsha expected. Jiang Fang turned over the card. It was a 9 of Spades. It was choosing two cards out of 52. It was such an uninteresting, pure gambling luck game.


    In the first game, Jiang Fang won in a painless manner. The onlookers let out enthusiastic cheers and gloated at the misfortune. ¡°Oh¡ª the boss lost!¡±


    Boss Qu wasn¡¯t angry or annoyed. He just smiled slightly and put the card back in place. Jiang Fang might¡¯ve won this game but it was an extremely weak victory.


    ¡°Too bad.¡± Qu Jinsha watched his three 10 points chips enter Jiang Fang¡¯s area with the copper hook and put on an expression of regret. ¡°If Xiao Jiang had been a bit more confident just now and raised, your bet would have tripled.¡±


    Li Yinhang had been immersed in the joy of victory. Now she heard this and the joy was greatly reduced. Yes, the value of 9 was actually quite large. If he had been a bit more confident just now and raised¡­


    Nan Zhou¡¯s voice interrupted her regret. ¡°Why didn¡¯t Boss Qu raise just now? Isn¡¯t it because you weren¡¯t confident enough?¡±


    Qu Jinsha wasn¡¯t annoyed and gently punched back. ¡°Haha, people of my age can¡¯t fight anymore and like to seek stability. I didn¡¯t expect a young person to be so cautious. There isn¡¯t much fighting spirit.¡±


    Jiang Fang completely ignored Qu Jinsha¡¯s soft knife. He put the 9 of Spades in his hand into the deck and once again held the entire deck of cards in his hands. The magnetic code had already been mostly destroyed so Qu Jinsha wasn¡¯t bothered by him. Qu Jinsha just gave a reminder, ¡°Xiao Jiang, the second round is about to start.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes swept over the cards and he said without lifting his head, ¡°I will take a look.¡±


    Qu Jinsha snorted in his heart. Was this person trying to remember the cards? After a while, Qu Jinsha laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t look at it. The moment it enters the shuffler, it will be shuffled again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to mess it up.¡± During his words, Jiang Fang spread out the fan-shaped deck of cards in front of his face. He covered the lower half of his face while his eyes weren¡¯t smiling. He whispered, ¡°Boss Qu, playing cards have regular patterns. No matter what it looks like, you will see what you should see.¡±


    Qu Jinsha laughed. He didn¡¯t expect this beautiful young man to be so pretentious. It seemed that he was going to do something.


    Then Jiang Fang quickly closed the cards, revealing the bottom half of his face again that contained a sincere smile. This turned the somewhat serious language into a trivial joke.


    The 52 cards were fed into the machine again. After a lot of shuffling, the table opened up again and a deck of cards came out. This time, it was Jiang Fang¡¯s turn to be the dealer. If he wanted to plan something, he would¡¯ve seized the opportunity when touching the cards just now.


    Qu Jinsha¡¯s narrow but sharp eyes quickly swept over the back of the codes spread out on the card table, trying to find traces of Jiang Fang¡¯s work. Who would¡¯ve thought that he would have an unexpected gain during the search. Magnetic code! On the 13th card from the left, there was a slight color change unique to the magnetic code being recognized!


    The difference was as small as the 70th and 80th levels in a color identifying game. How small was it? It was so small that if this cheat card was put in front of everyone and they were told this was a problematic card, it would be difficult for ordinary people to identify the source of the cheating.


    That previous fold from Jiang Fang really failed to destroy all the magnetic codes! The first time, the slightly damaged magnetic code wasn¡¯t recognized by the machine. The second time, the magnetic code successfully passed the magnetic screen.


    Qu Jinsha¡¯s face didn¡¯t change despite his happiness. He considered it carefully before taking out the card that represented victory. The goddess of luck was on his side! Qu Jinsha was calm at this thought and wasn¡¯t in a hurry to check his card. He asked Jiang Fang sitting opposite him, ¡°Little dealer, have you chosen?¡±


    Jiang Fang checked the selected card in front of him. Then he immediately turned to the side, took a red chip with a face value of 100 points and put it in the chips grid along with the 40 chips from the previous game.


    Qu Jinsha sneered in his heart. After winning a game by luck and being stimulated by him, this Jiang Fang felt really confident. Qu Jinsha added the same chip as him and asked, ¡°Are you going to add more?¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± Jiang Fang learned from Nan Zhou¡¯s tone and took another red chip. He held it between his thumb and index finger in the posture of holding a go stone. Then he put the chip in the grid. ¡°Add this.¡±


    Qu Jinsha wasn¡¯t afraid. He added the same chip and gave a kind reminder, ¡°Jiang Fang, don¡¯t add anymore. If you lose, you will have to pay three times the amount since you are the dealer.¡±


    Jiang Fang heard this and raised a hand to his ear. His palm faced Qu Jinsha and his fingers shook lightly. There was a red chip between his pinky and ring finger! He dropped the red chip into the grid and repeated, ¡°Add this.¡±


    Qu Jinsha¡¯s heart suddenly tensed when he saw this. The magnetic code would only help the table identify the largest ones among the 52 cards. Did this person draw a 2 as well? Did he win with the suit? Was it the biggest 2 of Spades?


    Qu Jinsha was about to quietly open his card to check and confirm when he saw Jiang Fang turning over his card. It was a 9 of Hearts.


    Qu Jinsha, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He almost choked up. After a brief consternation, it took him a great deal of effort to contain his desire to laugh. This was it? It was the same 9 as last time! How could Qu Jinsha expect that his casual provocation would be so useful?


    He saw a certain victory and his strong desire to play rose again. Didn¡¯t Jiang Fang like to pretend to be a pig to eat a tiger? Why didn¡¯t Qu Jinsha pretend himself and let him experience the taste of being sucked to the bones.


    Qu Jinsha forcibly suppressed the corners of his mouth and added the chips to the grid. He pretended to be the same generous and honest elder as he said, ¡°Your hand is really good. Then¡­ I¡¯ll look at mine.¡±


    He opened the winning card in front of him. Qu Jinsha didn¡¯t look at the card. He stared at Jiang Fang¡¯s face, wanting to see first-hand the stunned defeat, unwilling anger and morbid fanaticism for a comeback after the fiasco.


    ¡ªHowever, there was nothing. The expression he expected didn¡¯t come. The curve of Jiang Fang¡¯s mouth didn¡¯t change in any way. He was like a precision-trained instrument. Everything was stable and just right.


    In the midst of the surrounding cheers, a chill suddenly ran down Qu Jinsha¡¯s spine. It was wrong! He lowered his head sharply and his throat twitched. The psychological feeling of falling from the sky almost made him let out a muffled hiccup. The thing that entered his eyes was the smallest card in the deck.


    It was a 3 of Clubs. How come? How could it become like this?!


    In Qu Jinsha¡¯s dilated pupils, Jiang Fang raised a hand to hold his cheek. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t say that while wandering around the casino previously, he discovered the secret behind the playing cards used uniformly by the casino. He didn¡¯t say that he took a 3 of Clubs from the discarded cards that had been scanned and used. After being a dealer for four years, Jiang Fang had the habit of keeping a casino playing card as a souvenir.


    Then once he was invited to gamble by Qu Jinsha, Jiang Fang developed a plan in mind. In the game where this 3 of Clubs was taken from, it was one of the most needed and largest cards in that game. However, in the rules of big and small, the 3 of Clubs was always the smallest one. So¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s play a simple game.¡±


    ¡°Boss Qu is so lucky. I want to gamble with Boss Qu.¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ how about big and small?¡±


    The moment he held all the cards the second time and determined the position of 3 of Clubs, Jiang Fang¡¯s wrist slightly tilted and the card that had the magnetic code on the back easily slid into the deck. The moment he turned it over, he made the exchange.


    Sure enough, Boss Qu only cared about whether he made a mark or not and ignored the trap made by his cheating hands.


    Jiang Fang smiled while holding his cheek, his light colored eyes filled with humility and a cold light. He said, ¡°Boss Qu, playing cards have regular patterns.¡±


    ¡°No matter what it looks like, you will see what you should see.¡± Then Jiang Fang¡¯s fingers brushed over the three bright red chips the bunny girl¡¯s copper hook cane brought to him and asked with a smile, ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?¡±

 CH 32

    Boss Qu lost two games in a row. The gambling might only be regarded as a small fight but more and more onlookers were gathering. It was fun to see the boss deflated, even if it was a small loss.


    Qu Jinsha¡¯s decent smile was like a mask glued to his face. It never wavered. Only the slightly enlarged nostrils betrayed the ups and downs of his heart. He couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on. He only knew that he couldn¡¯t speak up.


    Even if Jiang Fang really cheated, the marked 3 of Clubs was picked by himself. From an outsider¡¯s perspective, how could Jiang Fang control Qu Jinsha¡¯s brain to decide which one he picked? In this wave, Qu Jinsha was beaten by Jiang Fang and couldn¡¯t say it. However, he still needed to take some measures.


    Qu Jinsha gently called out, ¡°Xiao Jiang?¡±


    Jiang Fang took back his gaze from the pagoda-shaped chips dish and questioned with his eyes, ¡®What do you want to say?¡¯


    Qu Jinsha naturally asked, ¡°Do you want to drink something?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled calmly. ¡°Is it Boss Qu¡¯s treat?¡±


    Qu Jinsha smiled and answered, ¡°Of course.¡±


    He waved and whispered a few words to the waiter. Soon, the waiter who had left came back through the crowd, frequently saying, ¡°Excuse me.¡±


    He bought a glass of vodka and a glass of pomegranate juice, both in delicate glasses with a round ice ball floating inside and white frost condensed on the mouth of the glass.


    The heavy alcohol made Jiang Fang frown. He said, ¡°I don¡¯t like drinking very much.¡±


    ¡°Alas¡ª¡± Qu Jinsha¡¯s words had a strange tone. ¡°Don¡¯t you have a bit of Ukrainian blood? How can you not drink?¡±


    In the face of this persuasion, Jiang Fang didn¡¯t refuse. He took the glass, sniffed it and smiled. ¡°This glass isn¡¯t cheap.¡±


    Qu Jinsha didn¡¯t conceal it. ¡°It is 150 points for a cup. It is the most expensive alcohol here.¡±


    Jiang Fang leaned toward the glass and took a light sip. A mellow spiciness blossomed at the tip of his tongue. It was initially cold and then there was a burning sensation like flames.


    ¡°Fashion Vodka from Poland.¡± Jiang Fang suggested, ¡°It would be better without ice or if a few drops of lime juice are added.¡±


    Qu Jinsha gazed at him with another meaning in his eyes. ¡°Thanks for the suggestion.¡±


    The waiter was planning to put the pomegranate juice by Qu Jinsha¡¯s side. Who would¡¯ve thought that the crowd who wanted to watch the liveliness would hit his arm? The red pomegranate fell off the tray and a large stain appeared on the green gambling table.


    The waiter¡¯s expression changed. He hurriedly took out his handkerchief and covered the contaminated area while apologizing. Qu Jinsha had a generous personality and naturally wouldn¡¯t care about such a little thing.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Qu Jinsha picked up the cards that had been stained with pomegranate juice and placed them on the waiter¡¯s empty tray. ¡°We can just change the cards.¡±


    Upon seeing this, Jiang Fang raised the glass to his lips without any fluctuations in his expression. Even after listening to Qu Jinsha¡¯s words, he just waved to the waiter. ¡°Excuse me, if there is a small lime then help me get one.¡±


    The waiter instinctively looked at Qu Jinsha. Qu Jinsha nodded lightly to him. The waiter put away the tray, agreed and turned to leave. Not long after, a new set of cards and Jiang Fang¡¯s lime were presented together.


    Qu Jinsha started to open the new cards while Jiang Fang squeezed the lime. Qu Jinsha asked him, ¡°Are you still checking the cards?¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t seem very interested in it. He took a sip of the new alcohol and narrowed his eyes with satisfaction. ¡°Boss Qu first.¡±


    Qu Jinsha used his short and fat fingers to hold the cards. His card moves were very standard. They were slow and there was a simplicity and honesty to his movements. He laughed at himself. ¡°My reactions are slow. I¡¯m not as good as young people.¡±


    Jiang Fang told him, ¡°Boss Qu, don¡¯t be too humble.¡±


    Qu Jinsha handed over the cards to Jiang Fang. ¡°Xiao Jiang is also being modest. You said you can¡¯t drink.¡±


    ¡°I said I don¡¯t like it, not that I can¡¯t drink.¡±


    Jiang Fang took the cards from Qu Jinsha but he didn¡¯t touch them one by one with his thumb like he did initially. He held the wine glass in one hand while the thumb and pinky finger of the other hand tacitly cooperated with each other. The thumb rubbed out the top card while the pinky finger reversed it and slid it to the bottom. This one-handed shuffling skill made the eyes of the gamblers behind him shine and they couldn¡¯t wait to learn on the spot.


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    Aljcu Mjcu lcdelgfv ktlif rteooilcu atf mjgvr, ¡°Ktf cfza gbecv, Dbrr He lr atf vfjifg gluta?¡±


    ¡°Tfr.¡±


    Aljcu Mjcu gjlrfv atf uijrr ab tlw. ¡°Ktfc P tjnf ab yf gfjvs.¡±


    He Alcrtj gfaegcfv atf jmalbc klat atf qbwfugjcjaf pelmf. Zfjcktlif, atfgf kjr j mjgv lc atf tjcv bo atf riffnf tf gfqilfv klat. Pa kjr atf ijgufra mjgv lc atlr ujwf, j 2 bo Vqjvfr.


    Just now at the end of the second game, Qu Jinsha quickly locked onto the position of the 2 of Spades. During the time when he was putting the deck together, he deliberately placed the 2 of Spades at the top of the cards. Then once he handed the old cards dirtied by the pomegranate juice to the waiter, he gathered all the cards in his palm and put the cards on the tray.


    In this gap, his stubby ring finger moved back slightly and the 2 of Spades fell firmly into his sleeve. This was Qu Jinsha¡¯s trump card. If Jiang Fang used old tricks and continued to make a move on the cards then he didn¡¯t mind using this card to teach Jiang Fang a small lesson.


    After moving all the cards from the reverse side to the front side with one hand, Jiang Fang put it down and spread out the cards in a beautiful fan shape with a single swipe of his finger. Jiang Fang glanced at it before touching the last card with his pinky finger to close the spread out fan. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Qu Jinsha still had some doubts. Why didn¡¯t this person do anything to destroy the magnetic code this time? Qu Jinsha couldn¡¯t understand or figure it out. In the midst of these doubts, the new cards were sent to the shuffler.


    The third round started. The cards were spread out with the dealer¡¯s copper hook and Qu Jinsha saw with his own eyes that two or three cards had the special coloring that Qu Jinsha was familiar with on the back. Qu Jinsha couldn¡¯t figure out what move Jiang Fang had made.


    He said that he should be ¡®ready¡¯ but Jiang Fang didn¡¯t seem to care about the outcome of this round. He quickly selected the card he wanted and after drawing it out, he pressed it underneath the glass with only the ice left. Then he gently reached out a hand to Qu Jinsha.


    It is your turn.


    Qu Jinsha had the new cards that had been screened by the machine in front of him and it was guaranteed to be effective. So it shouldn¡¯t be necessary to use the safety card in his sleeves? After a brief moment of worry, Qu Jinsha reached out and picked a card with a secret mark.


    In order to avoid the same embarrassment as last time, Qu Jinsha quietly checked the number. It was a 2 of Hearts. The size was second only to the 2 of Spades. He breathed out slowly and the smile on his face became kinder and gentler. He could rest assured.


    Once the cards were drawn, the dealer gathered the other cards back together in accordance with the rules. Jiang Fang raised the corner of the card. A few people behind him poked their heads forward to see. However, Jiang Fang¡¯s technique was extremely fast. He opened and closed it immediately, preventing countless eyes from seeing it.


    Qu Jinsha stared into this person¡¯s eyes and asked with a smile, ¡°How much are you betting?¡±


    Jiang Fang looked at his chips. There were all the chips he had won so far. There were the 30 points won in the first game, the 340 points won in the second game and the 100 points given to him by Qu Jinsha. It added up to 440 points. He thought about it and took one red and two yellow ones from the chip plate. He set the bet at 560.


    Qu Jinsha started to add his own chips to make up the same amount while sighing. ¡°How come it isn¡¯t a whole number?¡±


    Jiang Fang asked him, ¡°Do you want to raise it?¡±


    Qu Jinsha asked back, ¡°Are you going to raise?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll raise.¡±


    Jiang Fang glanced at the chips tray. Qu Jinsha wanted to see how much this person would add. No matter how much was added, Qu Jinsha had plenty of time to accompany him to the end. The next moment, he couldn¡¯t smile at all. Jiang Fang picked out three yellow chips and one blue chip from the tray and placed them on the side of the gaming table.


    The bunny girl dealer softly reminded him, ¡°All the chips must be placed in the chips grid to take effect.¡±


    Jiang Fang replied with a warm smile, ¡°Thank you for reminding me.¡±


    Then he picked up the chips tray where the four chips had been removed from and placed it firmly in his chips grid. Jiang Fang smiled at Qu Jinsha. ¡°Bring another tray of chips please.¡±


    Qu Jinsha¡¯s face was white before turning a faint blue. His nails gripped the soft leather armrest of his chair while he forced himself to smile. ¡°This¡­ are you sure?¡±


    ¡°I have counted.¡± Jiang Fang was calm. ¡°After removing these four, the face value of the points on this tray is 12,000 points.


    He nodded gracefully. ¡°My companions and I can afford it.¡±


    Li Yinhang¡¯s head almost exploded. Why was he suddenly playing so big? She instinctively took a step forward. ¡°Jiang¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou reached out his hand behind him to block her, shaking his head slightly. Li Yinhang was stunned for a while before her eyes lit up. Nan Zhou was standing right next to Jiang Fang. He must¡¯ve seen the card that Jiang Fang got! Therefore, the card that Jiang Fang drew must be an overwhelming victory!


    There was a full stack of chips in front of him and it was like a mountain suddenly crushed Qu Jinsha¡¯s heart, causing him to sweat uncontrollably. He wanted to wipe his forehead with a handkerchief but after taking it out, he could only hold it to absorb the sweat on his palm. He heard himself telling the waiter in a dry and hoarse voice, ¡°Bring another tray.¡±


    He said this but in fact, his confidence had long been drained. Every heartbeat was like a hammer hitting hard against his chest. A lot of worried thoughts rushed to his head. What did Jiang Fang draw?! How did he dare bet like this? Was he cheating again?!


    Then enlightenment flashed in Qu Jinsha¡¯s mind. Could it be that this person had drawn the 2 of Spades?


    In just half a minute, the sweetness of the pomegranate juice quickly fermented into a sour and bitter taste in his mouth. The smell of vodka in the air mixed with the smoke and sweat from the crowd of onlookers, making Qu Jinsha¡¯s otherwise sober mind dizzy.


    The dealer had put away the unused cards and Qu Jinsha couldn¡¯t verify how many big cards with marks were there. Jiang Fang also covered the back of his card with the vodka glass. If he got the 2 of Spades¡­


    No, he must¡¯ve drawn it! So¡­ so¡­


    Qu Jinsha was the dealer in this round and would have to pay three times the loss! What did it mean to pay three times the loss? In this situation, Qu Jinsha even felt a bit grateful for the high bet. If he had really cheated and used the 2 of Spades hidden in his sleeve while Jiang Fang happened to draw the 2 of Spades, there would be the dilemma of having two 2 of Spades in the deck.


    Once it reached that point, his body would be searched and it would be revealed that the owner of Douzhan Casino had cheated on a kindergarten-level card game like big and small. Then all the customers and reputation that Douzhan Casino had accumulated so far¡­


    However, the current situation wasn¡¯t much better. If he cheated then he would have a 2 of Spades along with the opposite 2 of Spades. If not, the 2 of Hearts in his hand would lose to the 2 of Spades and he would lose the 36,000 points he earned with his painstaking efforts.


    Qu Jinsha watched the waiter approaching with another tray of chips and a chilling cold gradually enveloped Qu Jinsha. Adrenaline was quickly secreted, making his hands and feet cold and his head buzz. Once the waiter was only a few steps away from the gaming table with his tray of chips, Qu Jinsha abruptly raised his head. ¡°I¡­I fold.¡±


    The dealer folding meant giving up all the bets he made earlier. It was recognizing that his card wasn¡¯t enough to fight against the opponent and stopping a loss in time.


    Qu Jinsha suddenly announced this and there were boos from the crowd.


    ¡°Is this okay? Does Qu have a kidney deficiency?¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t easy to get a big one. Yawn.¡±


    They didn¡¯t get to see the excitement they wanted to see so it was natural to say a few words. This was undoubtedly a big blow to Qu Jinsha¡¯s face and his skin turned the color of pig liver. The corners of Jiang Fang¡¯s lips raised slightly while his eyes were drooping. It was hard to tell if he was feeling regret or happiness.


    Qu Jinsha forced a smile on his face and turned over his own card while suggesting, ¡°Jiang Fang, let me see your good luck.¡±


    ¡°Good luck?¡± Jiang Fang repeated Qu Jinsha¡¯s words while his eyes fell on Nan Zhou. ¡°There is no such thing. My luck was used up a long time ago.¡±


    He placed his hand on the table, one finger touching the corner of the card worth 12,000 points. He exerted a downward pressure and the card popped up lightly into his palm. He raised the card. There was a sudden silence with him in the center.


    A moment later, there was an uproar! He had a 4 of Clubs in his hand. It was barely smaller than the lowest 3.


    ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± Qu Jinsha lost control of his demeanor after seeing that Jiang Fang got such a card. He abruptly stood up and almost lost his voice. ¡°How could you bet with such a card?¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Jiang Fang stood up, placed his hands on the table and met Qu Jinsha¡¯s horrified gaze. ¡°¡­Perhaps I was drunk.¡±


    He moved the whole stack of cards to the side, watching the frightened dealer sweep the chips to him. He smiled happily and grabbed all the chips. ¡°Boss Qu, thank you for your hospitality. Let¡¯s stop here for today.¡±


    The adrenaline that hadn¡¯t faded was still stimulating Qu Jinsha, almost making him blurt out, ¡°Come again.¡±


    Fortunately, he controlled it.


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t intend to care about this person. He turned around and handed all the chips to Li Yinhang. ¡°Go and redeem them.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s 4 of Clubs made Li Yinhang have goose bumps all over her body. The ups and downs of life also caused serious damage to Li Yinhang¡¯s careful liver. She numbly responded and her hands were trembling when she went to pick up the chips.


    Qu Jinsha didn¡¯t ask for them to continue gambling, didn¡¯t make them forcefully stay and even said goodbye to them politely. After watching Jiang Fang¡¯s group step into the elevator, Qu Jinsha stared at the closed elevator door for a long time with a strange expression on his face. A bate-ficha timidly talked to him. ¡°Boss Qu¡­?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just going to let them go?¡±


    Qu Jinsha glanced at him. ¡°Do you remember what game this is?¡±


    The bate-ficha immediately shut up. They rented land in Paper Gold so they were naturally subject to basic constraints and rules. Paper Gold had its own NPCs to maintain order. Qu Jinsha couldn¡¯t do anything on the surface. Even if he lost, he had to pay it. In addition, the loss of these points wasn¡¯t too painful for Qu Jinsha.


    Qu Jinsha folded his arms. In his opinion, Jiang Fang would definitely live for a long time in this game. They were all in the Forces of Temptation game so as the game progressed, they would inevitably compete in the future.


    ¡°¡­He will be back.¡± Qu Jinsha muttered to himself while the smile on his face grew wider. After this, he probably knew what type of person Jiang Fang was. Next time, he was afraid it wouldn¡¯t be so easy for Jiang Fang to win.


    ***


    Jiang Fang leaned against the wall of the elevator car. He raised his head as he adjusted his choker around his neck. His breathing was a bit heavy so the movement of his Adam¡¯s apple against the choker was clearer.


    Li Yinhang was immersed in the emotional ups and downs just now and her mind hadn¡¯t returned.


    Nan Zhou stared at Jiang Fang. He really did all three things that he promised. He didn¡¯t lose the 100 chips that Qu Jinsha gave him. He returned the buffet fee. There was no loss.


    Jiang Fang glanced at the dazed Li Yinhang and a small smile appeared on his face. Then he shifted his gaze to Nan Zhou, ¡°Are you surprised by this result?¡±


    ¡°I saw it when you checked,¡± Nan Zhou replied. ¡°It was a 4 of Clubs.¡±


    ¡°You saw this yet you still believed in me?¡±


    ¡°I knew what you wanted to do so why shouldn¡¯t I trust you?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you think I was a lunatic for betting over 10,000 points?¡±


    Nan Zhou thought about it. ¡°A little bit.¡±


    He added, ¡°Fortunately, it was fine.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled again and turned away, closing his eyes. He was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be able to help kissing Nan Zhou if he kept looking.


    Nan Zhou had a question. ¡°Did you do something in the second game?¡±


    Ding.


    The elevator arrived at the first floor. Li Yinhang went straight out.


    Nan Zhou asked curiously, ¡°Is it cheating? How did you do it?¡±


    Jiang Fang wondered, ¡°Do you think I cheated?¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded honestly. Jiang Fang lightly hooked his finger and motioned for this person to hand over his ears. Nan Zhou came over. A voice that was like new wine with a hint of ice slid against his ears. ¡°¡­Prove it.¡± (Spoken in English)


    Nan Zhou was stunned.


    Jiang Fang laughed and strode out of the elevator, his silver braid that had been on his shoulder slipping off it.


    Nan Zhou touched his slightly hot cheeks and ears. He couldn¡¯t understand why he felt so hot. Perhaps the degree of alcohol in the vodka was so high that smelling it also made him drunk.

 CH 33

    Despite the mental shock, Li Yinhang¡¯s money-saving radar didn¡¯t go on strike. They left the neon-bright flashy casino and walked all the way to the edge of the outer city that wrapped around the prosperous Paper Gold.


    The Hong Kong-style town with a hint of cyberpunk was a hotbed of life for debtors, fugitives and the poor. The price of accommodation here was extremely cheap. Amidst the babies¡¯ cries in the night, they asked several hostels with red lights for ¡®accommodation¡¯ before finally finding one with good hygiene that was relatively well-decorated.


    All three people expressed satisfaction. The young man who took them to see the rooms yawned and knocked on the door of the landlady. Nan Zhou knew they needed to trade points with the boss.


    There were three knocks before an old lady with a pair of pale yellow cat eyes came out. Li Yinhang almost died on the spot when she saw the other person¡¯s face. Nan Zhou stepped forward as if to protect Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang behind him. ¡°We¡¯re here to book a room.¡±


    The dense folds on the old lady¡¯s face moved. Her voice was full of vicissitudes and her eyes were empty. It wasn¡¯t known if she was dying or dead. ¡°How long are you staying? How many people?¡±


    Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang glanced at Li Yinhang. Li Yinhang raised her courage and showed her head from behind Nan Zhou. ¡°Three people and one night. How much is it?¡±


    The old lady raised three trembling fingers. ¡°300 points.¡±


    Li Yinhang followed by raising five fingers. She said, ¡°50 points.¡±


    Nan Zhou who never bargained with anyone, ¡°?¡±


    Jiang Fang who was used to spending money, ¡°?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just them. The old lady NPC was dumbfounded on the spot. Li Yinhang was now using her powerful connections to intimidate people. If she was alone then she wouldn¡¯t have the courage to fight with such a cat-eyed old woman late at night.


    Li Yinhang sighed with relief and started to play freely. ¡°All of us are young people and can find any place to sleep. It is more of a waste for you if your room is empty. It is better to let us sleep.¡±


    ¡°Then go and sleep in the park,¡± the old woman said. ¡°250 points is fine. Any less and you can go wherever you want to go.¡±


    ¡°250 isn¡¯t a good number either.¡± Li Yinhang gradually entered the swing of things. ¡°50 points.¡±


    The old lady was about to close the door. Li Yinhang directly squeezed forward while hooking a small wooden stool to the side of the corridor with her feet. She stood blocking the door with the wooden stool. She blocked the door and put on a posture that was familiar at a market. ¡°We asked several other places around here. They are 100 or 50 points.¡±


    The old lady answered, ¡°Then you stay with them. How can the conditions be comparable?¡±


    Li Yinhang told her, ¡°The surroundings are almost the same and the place with 50 points is next to a breakfast store.¡±


    After a tug-of-war that lasted nearly half an hour, Li Yinhang nagged the old lady out of her lifelessness. The voice no longer contained vicissitudes and the eyes weren¡¯t blank. Her spirit was full and anger rushed to her head. The old lady stared fiercely, her pupils almost shrunk into a black line, ¡°100 points. It can¡¯t be less.¡±


    Li Yinhang sighed and stood up from the stool. ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go see that place for 50 points again.¡±


    The old lady, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She was angered and rushed to grab the arm of Li Yinhang who was about to leave. Her nails were black and catlike.


    Rjc Itbe gbiifv eq tlr riffnfr jcv kjr gfjvs ab xcbmx atf biv ijvs ecmbcrmlber. Ktfc tf tfjgv atf biv ijvs uglaalcu tfg affat jcv vfmijglcu mbivis, ¡°Gfji!¡±


    Rjc Itbe, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Ct, la kjr olcf.


    Ol Tlctjcu kjrc¡¯a gfijzfv ja jii. Vtf lwwfvljafis rflhfv atf bqqbgaeclas ab rfa atf qglmf. ¡°Rfza alwf, kf wluta tjnf ab rajs tfgf obg j ofk vjsr. Efwfwyfg atlr qglmf jcv vbc¡¯a lcmgfjrf la.¡±


    The old lady, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±


    In the end, they spent 50 points and moved into a fairly clean double room. That night, her spirit had always been in a tense state. The moment Li Yinhang entered the room, she threw herself on a bed and couldn¡¯t get out. She watched in a daze as Nan Zhou took some toiletries provided in the room and walked out. Aimless thoughts flashed in her mind. Nan Zhou¡¯s clothes¡­ why weren¡¯t they dirty? Then this completely disappeared the next second.


    Nan Zhou went to the public baths to take a short shower. The bathroom was empty at 3 o¡¯clock in the morning. Nan Zhou was used to wrapping himself up tightly so it took some time to take off his clothes one by one. He wasn¡¯t in a hurry to take a shower. He stood naked by the window with the anti-theft barrier.


    The moonlight of the walled city was clear and bright without the hustle and bustle of the neon lights. He stared at the moon for a while before opening the tap in the moonlight. Moonlight mixed with the flowing warm water and covered each corner of his body. The thin water covered the butterfly tattoo on his wrist and washed over the countless deep and shallow scars on his body.


    His shoulders, collarbone, waist and calves all had strange scars. Nan Zhou was used to these scars and didn¡¯t feel any self-pity. It was just that as he was washing his hair, his expression changed slightly when he touched the back of his neck.


    ¡­He felt another scar. Nan Zhou¡¯s hair was long and he usually left it down at random. Combined with his shirt collar covering it and he often forgot the existence of this scar. He only noticed it when he inadvertently touched it. The thing that made it different from his other scars was that Nan Zhou didn¡¯t remember how he got it.


    Nan Zhou was helpless. He had no way to turn his head 180 degrees to check the situation. Nan Zhou lowered his hand and didn¡¯t think about it.


    Once his shower finished, he raised his hand and let Nanji Star fly onto it from where Nanji Star was resting on the warm water pipe. He held Nanji Star on his palm, pinching the film on both sides and washing Nanji Star clean.


    After wrapping Nanji Star with a small towel, Nan Zhou put on his clothes layer by layer. He re-dressed himself in his tight and elegant appearance but he didn¡¯t put on his coat. He held it casually on his arms. If one looked closely, they could see that the white shirt fit his body but the lower part was a bit longer than his figure.


    He walked out of the bathroom and found that Jiang Fang was standing outside. Jiang Fang smiled at him. ¡°I¡¯m going to wash up as well.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go in just now?¡± Nan Zhou wondered. ¡°It¡¯s fine to wash together.¡±


    Jiang Fang nodded gently, the wildness in the casino completely gone. ¡°I was afraid you weren¡¯t used to it.¡±


    He put his hand naturally on his thigh and added, ¡°I was afraid I would scare you.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s attitude was too gentlemanly and his eyes too sincere so Nan Zhou didn¡¯t understand what he was referring to. He hummed. ¡°I¡¯ll go back to the room and wait for you.¡±


    Jiang Fang watched Nan Zhou disappear into the narrow and dark corridor before stepping into the bathroom alone. For the first time, he removed the choker and placed it together with his clothes.


    Jiang Fang stood under the shower that Nan Zhou had just used. The moonlight shown on him and the mark on his neck was reflected very clearly. Near the artery, two letters were imprinted.


    ¡°k&m.¡±


    At first glance, it looked like a tattoo. Then on closer examination, the rough marks of a knife cut could clearly be seen! The scar was obviously carefully modified with a tattoo afterward. However, the stroke of the ¡®m¡¯ was only half an inch away from his slightly raised artery.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s finger swiped over the raised scar and he smiled. This was a secret that couldn¡¯t be shown to Nan Zhou. It was too imperfect.


    By the time Nan Zhou returned to his room, Li Yinhang was already asleep. He got into the empty bed by the window. Not long after, Jiang Fang also came back. There was the refreshing smell of water vapor around him as he walked to the side of Nan Zhou¡¯s bed and naturally lifted a corner of the quilt.


    Nan Zhou looked up at him. Jiang Fang explained the problem in a low voice. ¡°There are two beds. One is for Yinhang so we both have to¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t mind. Once he understood the reason, he hummed to show he understood and took the initiative to make room for Jiang Fang. As it turned out, Li Yinhang had a good eye for picking rooms.


    This was far away from the hustle and bustle of Paper Gold. The walled city carried a sense of tranquility that filled their hearts. The mattress was soft and comfortable. It was different from the other beds in the walled city where noisy springs were heard the moment you sat on the bed.


    However, the softness also had side effects. The moment Jiang Fang lay down, Nan Zhou¡¯s body couldn¡¯t help sliding toward him. Nan Zhou moved back while looking at Jiang Fang at the same time.


    He was a bit confused and pointed to Jiang Fang¡¯s collar. Why didn¡¯t he take it off? In the mission world, it was understandable if he didn¡¯t want to take off his belongings out of fear of losing them. Now this was clearly an environment where they could relax. Jiang Fang touched the side of his neck and smiled mysteriously. ¡°This is a secret that can¡¯t be revealed.¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t show it. Nan Zhou might be curious but he wasn¡¯t planning to ask again. Jiang Fang added, ¡°Still, secrets can be exchanged for secrets.¡±


    Nan Zhou immediately listened carefully.


    Jiang Fang wondered, ¡°What is the butterfly on your wrist?¡±


    Nan Zhou shook his head.


    Jiang Fang wondered, ¡°You can¡¯t say it?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Nan Zhou added, ¡°I mean, it isn¡¯t a big deal. I did it myself.¡±


    Jiang Fang raised his eyebrow when he heard the words.


    ¡°A tattoo hurts and you actually pierced a place like this¡­¡± Since he was afraid of waking Li Yinhang, Jiang Fang was whispering and there was an ambiguous meaning to his words that made a person¡¯s ears hot. ¡°¡­Why?¡±


    ¡°There is no reason,¡± Nan Zhou answered. ¡°I just wanted to draw it so I did it.¡±


    Jiang Fang was silent for a long time.


    ¡°Ah, yes.¡± He smiled and made an excuse for Nan Zhou. ¡°You are an art teacher.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m an art teacher but which one are you?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°A person who came back to visit relatives, a music student, a person who is good at gambling¡­¡± Nan Zhou asked, ¡°Which one are you?¡±


    Jiang Fang nodded lightly, his voice filled with sharp confidence. ¡°They are all me.¡±


    Nan Zhou inquired, ¡°What else are you?¡±


    ¡°Many things.¡± Jiang Fang didn¡¯t care about his reaction and explained, ¡°I did a year of apprenticeship at an underground casino and worked there as a dealer for four years.¡±


    ¡°I helped students attend class at the Kiev Conservatory of Music and I¡¯m good at the accordion, the piano and a bit of the bagpipes.¡±


    ¡°I was an enforcer for the Kiev State Cavalry Hockey Team and we won the state championship.¡±


    ¡°I was a long-distance freight driver for three months and played longboard for two months. I like to go everywhere and take a look. Once I run out of money, I will go to local casinos to play a few games or do odd jobs I haven¡¯t done before. Right now, I¡¯m an unemployed person who went to my hometown to visit relatives.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes slightly widened. ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are all me.¡± Jiang Fang promptly cut off the other person¡¯s desire to ask questions. ¡°I told you my secret. Now can I make a request?¡±


    ¡°Say it.¡±


    ¡°Go to sleep.¡±


    Nan Zhou blinked and obediently closed his eyes. ¡°Then good night.¡±


    Jiang Fang watched his face. ¡°Good night.¡±


    Nan Zhou earnestly carried out Jiang Fang¡¯s request. Before long, his breathing became even. The soft mattress caused Nan Zhou¡¯s sleeping body to uncontrollably move closer to Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t move and Nan Zhou naturally fell into his arms.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s forehead lightly pressed against Jiang Fang¡¯s shoulder and he rubbed against it instinctively like a cat. Jiang Fang watched Nan Zhou¡¯s peacefully sleeping face and raised his hand.


    His fingers flexibly moved the soft and slightly curly black hair and the shirt collar. He slid two fingers down a few inches and accurately found the scar that had confused Nan Zhou for a long time.


    It was a ring of teeth marks. Jiang Fang¡¯s slender thumb that was slightly warm from his body temperature stroked the oval tooth marks one by one. The bite was deep and heavy. Jiang Fang still remembered blood dripping from the wound, winding along Nan Zhou¡¯s spine.


    He counted the marks of the teeth one by one, moving slowly and lightly with just the right strength so that Nan Zhou didn¡¯t wake up and become aware of his offenses.


    One, two, three¡­


    Jiang Fang counted it again and again. At the low numbers, his red lips opened to reveal white teeth that corresponded perfectly with the teeth marks on the back of Nan Zhou¡¯s neck.

 CH 34

    Nan Zhou had no dreams that night but he thought he was dreaming. He felt itchy at the back of his neck like an electric current was flowing ambiguously up and down his spine. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t feel any malice so he let the current attack him.


    Then after a while, one hand reached out under the cover, gently grasping the hem of his shirt and pinching the lower edge as if determining and measuring something. As a result, the knuckles of that hand accidentally rubbed against the skin of his thighs.


    Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t used to being touched by others, even in his dreams. He immediately grabbed the hand and squeezed it. Then he found that it seemed to be Jiang Fang¡¯s hand. He had only carefully studied and observed Jiang Fang¡¯s hand. Thus, he chose not to break it.


    Nan Zhou frowned slightly, pulled the hand under the pillow and taught the other in a vague voice, ¡°Put your hand under the pillow when sleeping.¡±


    He soon heard Jiang Fang¡¯s laughing reply. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Nan Zhou was relieved and turned over, exposing his back to this person. Gravity slowly sent Nan Zhou into Jiang Fang¡¯s arms. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t know about it at all and slept soundly. Once he opened his eyes, he saw the round moon outside the window. It took him 30 minutes to wake up before he sat up. ¡°Good morning.¡±


    Li Yinhang was wearing a bathrobe while washing her clothes. She heard this sound and turned her head, her expression complicated.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t too early.¡± She shook the foam on her hand. ¡°It is 6:30 in the evening.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­?¡±


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t think too much. She also had the experience of sleeping for a whole day and night after tiring work. At that time, she had woken up and looked at the clock and then the calendar. She thought there had been a quantum fluctuation in the timeline while she was sleeping.


    However, something good happened during the 15 hours that Nan Zhou slept. They received an S-grade score in the last game. In addition to the 1,000 points, they also received a random item each. It was calculated for one night and half a day before the items were distributed to everyone¡¯s backpacks. Li Yinhang got a B-grade item that was in the shape of a piggy bank.


    [Item Name: Ghost Grindstone]


    [Usage Description: Are you struggling with the fact that points are just numbers?]


    [Even in the most convenient Douzhuan Casino, there is no way to directly trade points. You need to exchange chips.]


    [Then try our ¡®Ghost Grindstone¡¯ which can materialize invisible and intangible points.]


    [One coin is one point and there is no upper limit on the number that can be stored or materialized.]


    [The method of use is very simple: Either bribe your enemy with the container full of points (after all, money can make ghosts grind wheat) or hit the enemy in the head with the container full of points, sending them to the mill.]


    [Note 1: This is a disposable item that can¡¯t be re-used after being damaged.]


    [Note 2: The materialized points are deducted from your points balance and can¡¯t be restored.]


    ¡­It was very good. There was also an advertisement for Douzhuan Casino. Before seeing the last line, Li Yinhang was still thinking about how to use it. After all, something was better than nothing. Then after seeing the second note, Li Yinhang found the market in this city and placed this useless thing in the player¡¯s mall.


    Go well, goodbye. I won¡¯t send you off.


    Li Yinhang asked Nan Zhou, ¡°What item did you get?¡±


    Nan Zhou read the item description from beginning to end but didn¡¯t answer her question. ¡°Where is Brother Fang?¡±


    ¡°Outside¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou got up and went straight out.


    Li Yinhang called out to him. ¡°Your clothes! I¡¯ll wash them for you¡ª¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Nan Zhou rejected her offer and walked quickly to the door. Then he seemed to realize something. He abruptly turned his head and stared straight at Li Yinhang. Li Yinhang thought he had something important to say so she straightened her back and waited for his words. The eyes of the two people met for around 5 seconds.


    Rjc Itbe rbifwcis rjlv, ¡°Ktjcx sbe.¡±


    Ol Tlctjcu, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Ol Tlctjcu, ¡°¡­¡­?¡±


    Ktfc rtf uijcmfv ja tfg objw-rbjxfv mibatfr jcv gfjilhfv Rjc Itbe kjr atjcxlcu tfg obg atf boofg ab kjrt tlr mibatfr. Ol Tlctjcu¡¯r wbeat aklamtfv. ¡°Ktfgf lr cb cffv¡­¡±


    Ds atf alwf rtf ibbxfv eq, Rjc Itbe tjv vlrjqqfjgfv bea atf vbbg. Ol Tlctjcu aglfv ab mbcnlcmf tfgrfio atja la kjr cbgwji obg ylurtbar ab jma ragjcuf.


    The moment Nan Zhou left, the male NPC who took them to see the rooms stepped into the room, smiled and whistled at her and tucked two colorful magazines under the pillows of the two beds. He placed a business card on the wooden bedside table and left.


    Li Yinhang wondered, ¡®What did he do?¡¯


    She spread out her foamy hands, walked to the bed and lifted the pillow with her elbows. A crude pornographic magazine caught her eye. There were two men on the cover doing unspeakable things.


    One was pressed against the mirror. The scene was unsightly. Li Yinhang turned her head and found that the number printed on the business card on the bedside table was¡­ probably the man¡¯s phone number. The same magazine was under Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang¡¯s pillows.


    Li Yinhang¡¯s first thought was about collecting money. The NPC that gave out the business cards probably got a commission from it but it was unknown how much he could earn. She originally wanted to take away the magazines under Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang¡¯s pillows. Then she thought about it. Neither of them were controlled by lust and she didn¡¯t have to worry too much. In particular, Nan Zhou. She couldn¡¯t imagine what his cold face would look like when he was moved emotionally.


    She shrugged and headed back to the laundry basin. Before she started washing her clothes again, she suddenly had a question. Wait. There was one woman and two men living in the room. Why did the young man only put out men¡¯s magazines?


    ***


    Nan Zhou placed his hands in his pockets, pinching the small lock in his pocket as he walked out of the hostel room and looked around. In Paper Gold, night arrived as early as 3 o¡¯clock in the afternoon.


    A mouse flashed by in the corner. Nan Zhou only had time to see its tail that was as thick as a cat. The stained gray walls had advertisements for treating athlete¡¯s feet and diphtheria. The light bulbs hanging in the narrow corridor were on. The light bulbs in front of each room had different colors and shapes. They were red, yellow, blue and green, round or flat and bright or dark. The entire city seemed to be a huge and strange world of colored lights.


    There was a full moon hanging in the sky. It was a bit more complete than what Nan Zhou saw in the bathroom yesterday. So today should be the 15th.


    Nan Zhou stared up at the moon for a while. Then he saw Jiang Fang in the moonlight. Jiang Fang was sitting on the more spacious stairwell of this floor and playing mahjong with three NPCs.


    His hair was undone and he moved his wrists to touch the tiles. His expressions and actions were still calm and leisurely like in the casino but the wildness of the casino had faded away, allowing him to blend perfectly with the smoky atmosphere around him. His pronunciation was very accurate when he read the tiles, ensuring that every old player opposite him could hear his voice clearly.


    Nan Zhou thought of the dream where his shirt was touched yesterday. Jiang Fang was a very elegant gentleman. It could be shown that dreams were indeed dreams. They were the most illogical things.


    Jiang Fang seemed to be aware of the gaze behind him. He turned his head back and once he met Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes, his eyes curved slightly in a smile. He mouthed to Nan Zhou, ¡°Wait a minute.¡±


    Thus, Nan Zhou waited in place while watching the moon and this person for a while. Nan Zhou saw Jiang Fang obtain a mahjong tile and push down all the tiles in front of him. He folded his hands together and apologized to the three old men as if apologizing for his victory.


    Nan Zhou pressed his chin against his hand. He was curious. Which one was real between the Jiang Fang who was so enthusiastic in the casino yesterday or the Jiang Fang who acted spoiled in front of him.


    Jiang Fang said goodbye to the old men, ended the game and came to him. Before Nan Zhou could respond, Nanji Star seemed to realize something. He emerged from Nan Zhou¡¯s collar, chirped excitedly and flew at Jiang Fang like a small plane.


    Jiang Fang smiled and raised his left hand to catch Nanji Star, rubbing the soft forehead with his thumb. Nanji Star smelled a sweet fruity fragrance and tried to crawl out of his left hand and go to the right hand to steal it. However, he found that Jiang Fang was firmly holding him in place.


    Nan Zhou inquired, ¡°What did you win?¡±


    ¡°I won an apple.¡± Jiang Fang gently squeezed the chirping Nanji Star with one hand while revealing the right hand behind his back to Nan Zhou. It was a bright red and plump apple. He said warmly, ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes lit up and he took the apple. ¡°Why did you bet on this?¡±


    ¡°The three old gentlemen like to bet with fruit and apples are the most expensive,¡± Jiang Fang explained. ¡°The person who wins 10 games in a row can get the best apple.¡±


    Nan Zhou played with the apple. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Nanji Star finally broke free and ran back to Nan Zhou along the iron railing. He cocked his head and learned to bark like a puppy, trying to sell cuteness for the apple. Nan Zhou solemnly told him, ¡°It¡¯s mine.¡±


    Nanji Star became angry. He turned and entered Nan Zhou¡¯s sleeve, refusing to move. Nan Zhou held the apple and stood by the railing on the 12th floor, looking out at the night view. He asked, ¡°What did you get?¡±


    ¡°A B-grade item, ¡®Clown¡¯s Secret¡¯. It is a complete set of playing cards with knife-sharp edges on all sides. It is an aggressive consumable item that consumes one card with every use.¡±


    Jiang Fang inquired, ¡°What about you?¡±


    Nan Zhou showed him the item issued directly by the system.


    [Congratulations to player Nan Zhou for receiving the reward item for the S-grade rating¡ª Ma Liang¡¯s Sketchbook (3 pages)]


    [Item Level: B]


    [Item Nature: Limited number of uses (limited to 3 times)]


    [Description: Draw a cake¡ªalthough it will disappear from your stomach within three minutes of eating it.]


    [Draw an extinct dodo¡ªalthough it will become extinct again after three minutes.]


    [Draw a lover¡ªalthough the lover can only hold your hand for three minutes.]


    Jiang Fang exclaimed, ¡°¡­Wow.¡±


    He added, ¡°It is a very depressing explanation.¡±


    Once the rewards that the three of them received were combined, it could be seen that although they were ¡®random¡¯, the rewards unexpectedly conformed to their personalities or abilities.


    Nan Zhou stated, ¡°This is an algorithm.¡±


    In the process of the game, the algorithm collected their information as much as possible and allocated items that suited them. It planned all this, pulled so many people in the world into a huge and endless horror game, started a protracted competition and established a behavior analysis mechanism for each player. What exactly did the mastermind behind it want to do? Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t think of an answer for the time being.


    Jiang Fang obviously had the same thoughts so he asked a more pragmatic question. ¡°You have three chances to use it. What do you want to draw?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Nan Zhou said, ¡°I would probably draw a door.¡±


    Jiang Fang agreed with him. ¡°We would¡¯ve passed the first instance easily if you had this item.¡±


    Nan Zhou continued the second half of the sentence. ¡°¡­And draw Xiao Ming.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s eyebrow twitched.


    ¡°It would be nice to take him out of here, even if it is only for three minutes.¡± Nan Zhou added, ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t do that.¡±


    Jiang Fang looked at Nan Zhou with a soft expression. Nan Zhou held the apple as he stood in front of the rust-stained guardrail of the corridor, looking down. He didn¡¯t even realize his gentleness. To him, this was just a sentence expressing his feelings but it was a fatal temptation to Jiang Fang.


    Nan Zhou suddenly asked, ¡±What is that?¡±


    Jiang Fang shifted his gaze away from Nan Zhou¡¯s face and followed his direction. A monk in linen pants walked slowly along the green brick square with sewage flowing from the center of the walled city. He walked slowly with a pair of Buddhist beads in his hands, his feet bare. Regardless of whether it was his temperament or his clothing, he was out of place with the bustling surroundings.


    Nan Zhou asked Jiang Fang, ¡°What is this NPC doing?¡±


    ¡°He should be a player.¡± Jiang Fang observed for a long time before replying. ¡°His behavior is completely different from an NPC. He is probably honoring someone.¡±


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Is it paying homage to his teammates?¡±


    ¡°It is possible.¡± Jiang Fang thought for a moment and added, ¡°It is also possible that he is remembering everyone who died in the game.¡±


    Nan Zhou was silent. A moment later, he asked, ¡°When shall we do the next task?¡±


    Jiang Fang laughed. ¡°So anxious?¡±


    ¡°I want to finish the game as soon as possible, get first place and then achieve my wish.¡±


    ¡°What is your wish?¡±


    Nan Zhou paused. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled, ¡°Aren¡¯t we friends?¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t friends.¡± Nan Zhou slightly frowned and emphasized it. ¡°We are collaborators.¡±


    Due to this remark, the smile on Jiang Fang¡¯s face froze. This conversation seemed familiar. It once appeared between Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang. At that time, Jiang Fang didn¡¯t think anything about it. But now¡­


    The harmonious atmosphere between the two men abruptly stiffened. Jiang Fang turned sideways. He was still smiling but there was a subtle sharp light in his eyes. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you my wish. I have my own reasons.¡±


    Jiang Fang told him, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean this.¡± He took a step forward and narrowed the distance. ¡°¡­Why aren¡¯t we friends?¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t budge and wasn¡¯t prepared to revise his statement. ¡°Because we aren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I thought¡­¡± There was a polite look in Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes. ¡°We have been through so much together. You, me and Yinhang should at least be friends.¡±


    He was so polite that the aggression surging in his body wasn¡¯t exposed. Nan Zhou noticed his anomaly. He asked Jiang Fang in a puzzled manner, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Are you uncomfortable?¡±


    Jiang Fang realized his gaffe. He grabbed the rusty railing for six seconds, restraining his emotions by silently counting. He took the initiative to bring the topic back to their previous conversation. ¡°You said that you want to do the task?¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Jiang Fang looked at him. ¡°At the very least, it can¡¯t be today.¡±


    Nan Zhou paused. ¡°You¡­¡±


    Most of the residents in the walled city were NPCs and the range and intelligence of their activities depended on the character¡¯s attributes. For example, the owner of the hostel could bargain with customers. The breakfast store owner would make buns. The small employee would secretly distribute pornographic magazines for guests to earn extra money.


    In addition, a group of unimportant children NPCs would regularly refresh at the other end of the corridor, chasing and screaming at each other in groups. The corridor was so narrow that when two slender housewives approached each other, they had to turn sideways to avoid hitting the other.


    Nan Zhou faced Jiang Fang and stood in the middle of the corridor, so he was hit by the kid leading the rampage. He, who should¡¯ve been motionless, actually staggered and fell forward under the impact from the child.


    As his body was about to hit the iron railing, an arm wrapped around his waist and held him steadily in this person¡¯s arms. The arm wrapped tightly around his waist was so powerful that it even depressed his soft abs slightly.


    Under the moonlight, Jiang Fang hugged Nan Zhou¡¯s waist, smiling as he listened to this person gasping in his ears. ¡°¡­Look, I said that at the very least, it won¡¯t be today.¡±

 CH 35

    ¡°You¡¯ve been sleeping too long today.¡± In the midst of the children¡¯s clamor moving away and the wings of the moths flying toward the lights nearby, Jiang Fang took him by the shoulder and whispered softly. ¡°If you sleep for too long then your spirit will be bad.¡±


    Nan Zhou gritted his teeth and eased through the burst of numbness and fatigue that rose within his body. He slowly let out an uncomfortable breath and tried not to whimper.


    ¡­He really wasn¡¯t feeling well today. This was why after he woke up, he just stood by his door, restraining his curiosity about this strange, dirty little world and not going anywhere. He didn¡¯t even go to watch Jiang Fang play mahjong.


    Nan Zhou did his best to control his disordered breathing rhythm. Jiang Fang hugged him, stroking the second vertebrae gently, just one finger away from the tooth mark on the back of Nan Zhou¡¯s neck. He pretended not to hear the clear and rough breathing in his ears.


    Nan Zhou suspected that Jiang Fang had discovered his secret.nHowever, Jiang Fang didn¡¯t ask again and Nan Zhou had no evidence to support his judgment. Therefore, he had to swallow his doubts. Once Nan Zhou¡¯s breathing had completely slowed down, he took a step back. His expression was cold without any fluctuations. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±


    Jiang Fang had no opinion. ¡°Okay.¡±


    By the time Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou returned to their room, Li Yinhang had just put down her pen and paper. She tucked her pen behind her ear. ¡°Hey, you came back quickly.¡±


    She thought that with Nan Zhou¡¯s cat nature, he would wander around the city and only go home in the middle of the night.


    Jiang Fang smiled at her. ¡°He found me and we came back together.¡±


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t think too much. The three people sat together and had a small meeting. As a very self-aware tool man, Li Yinhang briefly sorted out the points, items and ranks in everyone¡¯s hands.


    According to her calculations, Nan Zhou had 4,815 points and was level 12. He had five storage spaces, the A-grade item ¡®Counter-clockwise Hour Hand¡¯ and the B-grade item ¡®Ma Liang¡¯s Sketchbook¡¯.


    In addition to the two items, he still had the dagger in his storage and the mushroom corpse with oxygen that wasn¡¯t completely consumed. After offsetting their expenses of eating and drinking from what he earned from the Douzhuan Casino, Jiang Fang made a net profit of 400 points.


    In the end, Jiang Fang made a gamble and bet almost all of Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang¡¯s points. Therefore, it was decided that the 400 points would be used for their consumption over the next few days and was public property.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s score was currently the highest in Cube Boat. He had a total of 4,890 points and was level 12. He also had five storage spaces and had the B-grade consumable item, ¡®Clown¡¯s Secret¡¯. In his storage, there were two items that he had exchanged for points before entering the first instance. There was a small tin can of fruit candy with a total of 20 pieces worth 10 points.


    [Item description: Necessary high quality sugar products for hypoglycemia patients.]


    If the tin of sugar belonged to the category that people could still understand, the other thing that Jiang Fang spent 50 points on was beyond this category. He bought an apple sapling.


    [Item description: Do you want to eat fresh apples? Put it in the storage compartment and try it out for a year.]


    ¡­Fuck trying it for a year. In the original worldview of Forces of Temptation, farming was one of the mainstream gameplay methods so it wasn¡¯t surprising that the store would sell an apple sapling.


    Still, this didn¡¯t prevent Li Yinhang from feeling that Jiang Fang was engaged in performance art. Li Yinhang¡¯s thigh hugging achievements were also quite remarkable. Her current points were 4,660 and she was level 12. She had the B-grade waste item, ¡®Ghost Grindstone¡¯.


    After listening to Li Yinhang¡¯s summary, Nan Zhou was concerned about another thing. ¡°What is the ranking?¡±


    Ol Tlctjcu abbx j ibbx ja atflg gfmbgv. ¡°Yeg afjw¡­ kf jgf cbk gjcxfv 172cv lc atf rfgnfg.¡±


    Jeggfcais, atf Jtlcj rfgnfg ktfgf atfs kfgf yjrfv tjv j abaji bo 16,800 bcilcf qijsfgr. Ktf Jeyf Dbja afjw kjr gjcxfv 172cv. Pc afgwr bo qfgrbcji gjcxlcu, Rjc Itbe kjr 723gv, Aljcu Mjcu kjr 720at jcv Ol Tlctjcu kjr 888at.


    It could be seen that most players in the game were struggling in the thousands, exhausting themselves for a mouthful of oxygen and food. They went through the levels to earn a pitiful amount of points, sold themselves for meagre living supplies or gritted their teeth and went to fight for a chance at the casino.


    Nevertheless, they were online. Being online meant at least being alive. Many lives were erased in the first level or even the trial level.


    Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t figure out such a result. ¡°Why is our team ranked so high?¡±


    It stood to reason that the first choice for most normal people after entering the game was to form a team instead of fighting alone. Therefore, the number of teams was bound to be considerable. The maximum number of team members possible was five. They were a trio and didn¡¯t have an advantage in numbers. In theory, shouldn¡¯t it be the more people there were, the more points? Moreover, in terms of the number of games, Cube Boat should be classified as a newcomer team. They just passed one level so why were they so far ahead?


    Jiang Fang heard Li Yinhang¡¯s confusion and explained, ¡°Yinhang, you are talking about an ideal state.¡±


    Li Yinhang was in a fog.


    Nan Zhou sat by the bed, drawing along the cracks in the floor tiles with his toes as he continued Jiang Fang¡¯s words, ¡°It is because the more people there are in a team, the more opinions they will have and the greater the possibility of death. This also means the greater the possibility of score fluctuations.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± This statement was simple and rude but she understood it.


    Then Nan Zhou raised his head and spoke seriously. ¡°Therefore, no one in our Cube Boat can die.¡±


    Li Yinhang saw Nan Zhou¡¯s calm but solemn face and was inevitably moved. Before she could say ¡®none of us will die¡¯ loudly and forcefully, Jiang Fang took out his beautiful sugar tin. ¡°I have some sugar. Do you want to eat it?¡±


    Nan Zhou immediately looked back. ¡°Eat.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Fuck.


    You can take a look at the atmosphere before eating.


    On the other side, Nan Zhou chewed on the candy and filled in the last half of the sentence he hadn¡¯t finished just now, successfully dispelling what was left of the warm atmosphere. ¡°Once someone dies, our ranking will drop.¡±


    He watched Li Yinhang as he spoke, apparently feeling that he and Jiang Fang were still safe.


    Li Yinhang sadly thought, ¡®The bigshot is right. I will try hard not to die and not to hold you back.¡¯


    ¡°In addition, Yinhang¡ª¡±


    Nan Zhou drew out the end sound, as if to emphasize something important. Li Yinhang immediately raised her spirits and listened carefully.


    ¡°Why are you saying that we¡¯re ahead?¡± Nan Zhou sincerely asked. ¡°Our team is ranked outside the top 100. This is very bad.¡±


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s because I¡¯m too arrogant.¡±


    ¡°There is no need to rush.¡± Jiang Fang comforted them. ¡°Let¡¯s rest here for a few days.¡±


    Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang wondered in unison, ¡°How many days?¡±


    Nan Zhou was concerned with the ranking. Li Yinhang was concerned about the room fee. When Jiang Fang could control his emotions properly, he was the gentle and good-natured Jiang Fang. He smiled. ¡°We don¡¯t need to do the task today.¡±


    Li Yinhang told them, ¡°It definitely won¡¯t work today. We have to check out before 12 noon. Today¡¯s room rate has already been renewed.¡±


    Nan Zhou ate the soft candy and sniffed with slight relief. He moved from the side of the bed to the middle of it, laying down. Li Yinhang perceived his intentions and was a bit surprised. ¡°Are you sleeping again?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s getting dark.¡±


    Li Yinhang opened the bedside table. ¡°Eat something. I went to buy breakfast in the morning. It was originally 5 points for one. I bargained to get three for 10 points.¡±


    Nan Zhou closed his eyes and quietly refused. ¡°I already ate sweets.¡±


    He was tired and weak while a chill seeped out from his bones. He didn¡¯t like this feeling but he could do nothing. This was Nan Zhou¡¯s disease and there was no cure. Nan Zhou thought, ¡®As long as my wish comes true, everything will be better.¡¯


    Not long after his head sank onto the soft pillow, he suddenly sat up.


    Li Yinhang was startled. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Nan Zhou opened his eyes and murmured without thinking, ¡°¡­Pillow.¡±


    Jiang Fang wondered, ¡°Huh?¡±


    Nan Zhou turned to him. ¡°There is something under the pillow.¡±


    It was only then that Li Yinhang remembered that Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou had the male-male promotional magazine under their pillows. She was about to explain when Jiang Fang took a magazine out from under his pillow. He saw the cover and slightly raised his eyebrow.


    Li Yinhang hurriedly explained the source of the little yellow book. Jiang Fang really wasn¡¯t interested in such things. He heard this and put it on the bedside table.


    As Li Yinhang was talking, Nan Zhou kept rubbing his temples but his eyes fell on the two men on the cover of the magazine. He was unable to hide his curiosity. Perhaps it was because he didn¡¯t like this type of thing being placed where it could be seen casually. Nan Zhou took the initiative to place the magazine back under the pillow and then lay down on it.


    It was just an ordinary episode and no one cared. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t take the book out from under the pillow again.


    Next, they took a three day break in the city. Everything went smoothly and nothing strange happened.


    Apart from Nan Zhou waking up at 6 o¡¯clock the next morning without yesterday¡¯s sleepiness and fatigue and he wandered all over the 28 pagodas of the ring-shaped walled city, there was nothing special.


    During the rest period, the human oxygen cylinders belonging to Jiang Fang, Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang ran out. After increasing their oxygen balance, they found three vacancies at a nearby cemetery. They buried the bodies of the three players there and symbolically carved three gravestones for them.


    Until now, they only knew that the first ¡®ghost¡¯ they caught was really called Liu Xiao. They didn¡¯t know the fat man¡¯s name or whether Qin Yadong was actually called Qin Yadong. They might never know.


    After burying the three corpses who had accompanied them for a short time, Nan Zhou opened the store and chose a new instance with a face value of 100 points. This time, he still chose PVE mode.


    Jiang Fang asked Nan Zhou, ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Li Yinhang also agreed and analyzed it. ¡°In PVE mode, there seems to be a greater chance of getting items.¡±


    This time, Nan Zhou¡¯s response was a bit late. ¡°¡­Um.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t choose PVE for points and items. He had been wondering if he should choose PVP to see how it was different from PVE. Then he inexplicably thought of the monk walking barefoot. Thinking about him walking around in bare feet, singing and chanting for someone to say goodbye to them, Nan Zhou really didn¡¯t want to fight against other players.


    Nan Zhou thought up to here and clicked on the ¡®use card¡¯ option. A brilliant light spread out and swallowed up the three people standing or sitting in the hotel room.


    [Dear players of the Cube Boat team, hello~]


    [Welcome to the instance: Sha, Sha, Sha.]


    [Number of people participating in the game: 7]


    [Instance nature: supernatural, campus, roleplay.]


    [Have a nice game~]


    Nan Zhou listened to the name and nature of the instance by the female mechanical voice and thought, ¡®Is this school haunted by rats?¡¯

 CH 36

    Before entering the instance, the players would experience a vacuum period. People floated in the infinite darkness filled with waves of substance, as if they were placed in a biological chamber filled with sticky nutrient solution. In this process, the player didn¡¯t have any autonomy at all and could only passively receive the instance information.


    This time, what rang in Nan Zhou¡¯s ears wasn¡¯t the mechanical introduction like before the Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Life instance started. It was pure sound without any pictures. The sound of high-speed running was intertwined with the gasps of fear.


    ¡°Gasp¡­ gasp¡­¡±


    There was the sound of wild running and breathing with no rhythm. It made one feel the burning pain of the throat and the fishy taste of blood rising from the lungs. The man kept running only to suddenly stumble, falling to the ground.


    The moment that the man¡¯s body hit the ground hard, Nan Zhou heard a small sound.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    He couldn¡¯t say what this sound was. Was it the sound of clothes rubbing against the ground after a fall? Was it some type of electromagnetic interference? It was too short so there was no way to judge. Still, it could be judged that the man making the sound was running for his life.


    It was to avoid death, to avoid a terrible thing. It was because when he fell, Nan Zhou heard the clear sound of breaking teeth. Even so, the person in the recording didn¡¯t even have time to react to it. He stood up and continued running for his life.


    He fled into the stairwell in a hurry. It was obvious because the footsteps produced a greater echo than before. After going down two floors, he wanted to take the elevator. It was due to the sound of a button being pressed and the anxious back and forth pacing.


    Ding.


    The elevator arrived. There was the sound of a button being pressed to select the floor, followed by the mechanical operation sound of the steel box slowly closing. Nan Zhou wondered why the man was putting himself in a steel cage where he couldn¡¯t escape, only to hear the fine sound of someone walking on tiptoes.


    The man had used the elevator to mislead the pursuer. He called the elevator and pressed a floor number, but he didn¡¯t enter. If the thing chasing him came to this floor and saw the moving elevator, it was estimated to chase after the elevator directly. The man could escape.


    The fine sound of the person walking on tiptoes left the elevator. He arrived in front of a room on this floor and quietly opened the door. It was very quiet. Therefore, the normal and slight friction sound of the door opening seemed to scratch at a person¡¯s nerves. It was extra sharp.


    Squeak.


    This was the sound of a cabinet closing. The man finally hid himself in a safe place. After hiding, the man finally started talking. It was a young male voice that was chaotic and low.


    ¡°Save me, save save save save me¡­¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have gone there. That place doesn¡¯t exist so we can¡¯t exist¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hu Li is dead. He is dead. I remember. How can you not remember¡ª¡±


    He murmured to himself without any logic. He seemed half crazy and like he was going to collapse. Was he talking to anyone or was he crazily muttering to himself?


    Suddenly, everything quieted down. Even the nervous gasps were choked up in his throat. It was because the door he closed with so much care was opened from the outside without warning.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    It was like the sound of a creature crawling on the ground.


    Shasha¡­


    The sound rang from far to near and came all the way to the cabinet.


    Rjc Itbe tfjgv atf rtjxlcu bo atf qfgrbc¡¯r ifur lc atf mjylcfa. Llr rtjxlcu ifur mbeivc¡¯a tfiq tlaalcu atf ybaabw bo atf mjylcfa jcv tf rtevvfgfv klat ofjg. Ktfgf kjr cb qblca lc tlvlcu. Pa kjr bnfg.


    Squeak.


    Ktf vbbg bqfcfv. Rfza, atfgf kjr j ibcu rlifcmf. Ktfgf kfgf cb rmgfjwr, cb tbkir, cb vfrqfgjaf rtbear bg atf ktlwqfgr yfobgf vfjat. Cii rbecv kjr vgjkc jkjs jcv rlwqif rlifcmf gfwjlcfv. Pa kjr jr lo atf atgliilcu qegrela tjv pera yffc j vgfjw.


    Nan Zhou listened carefully in an attempt to get some residual information from this dead silence. Suddenly, a male voice rang in his ears. Just now, this voice was whispering madly and quietly. Now he was standing next to Nan Zhou in this boundless darkness, attached to Nan Zhou¡¯s ear and talking to him. The sound wasn¡¯t loud or small but it was creepy enough.


    ¡°¡ªI¡¯m going.¡±


    ¡°Nan Zhou, when are you coming?¡±


    [The game will officially begin in 30 seconds.]


    [The game time is 120 hours.]


    [Don¡¯t go crazy and survive until the game time is over.]


    Was this a time limited survival game? Before Nan Zhou had the chance to think carefully, a loud rustling sound surged. It was like the muffled noise caused by electromagnetic interference. It was also like a group of rats swarming from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.


    His feet were back on solid ground. As the surrounding environment gradually lit up, Nan Zhou heard screams and the referee¡¯s whistle in his eardrums. Then he smelled the rubber of a basketball and the faint smell of sweat. With his eyes closed, Nan Zhou could see the light red blood vessel traces on his eyelids that were reflected by the sun. After ensuring that his eyes wouldn¡¯t be burned by the sudden light, he slowly opened them.


    ¡°Pursue your dreams, dare to be the wave!¡±


    ¡°Play wonderfully, play for victory, play for the future!¡±


    First, he saw two bright red banners with slogans, followed by two teams in a stalemate on the field as well as a scoreboard showing a score of 70:71 between the architecture department and mathematics department. The large-screen clock showed there were 23 seconds left. He was watching a basketball match.


    Li Yinhang and Jiang Fang had entered the instance with him but they weren¡¯t by his side. Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t in a hurry to find them. He sat there and turned over his wrist to confirm the butterfly tattoo. Then he looked down at the shape of his ankle bones and raised a hand to touch his ears.


    Okay, his face was still his face. His clothes had changed. He changed into a white shirt with a crimson sweater jacket and a casual tie. This was a typical academic style. He was surrounded by loud voices and there didn¡¯t seem to be anything that would make people go crazy.


    Nan Zhou was consolidating information while the basketball match was decided. The team in orange clothes scored a goal. The 70 on the scoreboard changed to 72 and the 4 seconds on the countdown changed to 0. The overall situation was decided and the score was reversed.


    A wave of cheers was set off in the grandstand where Nan Zhou was located. Based on the reaction of the surrounding audience, Nan Zhou quickly made a judgment. He was from the architecture department and the opposite side was the mathematics department.


    The architecture department was probably behind the mathematics department from the beginning and only succeeded when there were a few seconds left in the match. Naturally, they were swept away by decadence and joy.


    A short student came up to Nan Zhou and grabbed Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulder, jumping and shouted heartily. ¡°Awesome! The seniors are awesome!¡±


    Nan Zhou was shaken by him and didn¡¯t resist. He might be using his own face but it was clear that the NPCs in the instance had been modified to treat him as someone they knew before. Nan Zhou had just figured this out when Nan Zhou saw this schoolmate make a fist, the fist turned inward and pointed toward him.


    The boy looked at Senior Nan Zhou expectantly. Apparently he wanted to exchange some punches with Nan Zhou to properly vent his frustration. Nan Zhou was a bit surprised. Then he reached out and adjusted the boy¡¯s direction and fist posture.


    The younger brother, ¡°?¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded and said with his eyes, ¡®This way, the person hit will be in more pain.¡¯


    After patiently educating his junior, Nan Zhou stood up in order to find his teammates. Then without warning, a faint sound entered his ears.


    ¡°Sha¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou stopped and looked back. He didn¡¯t see anything and he rubbed his ears. He didn¡¯t know if it was his illusion but the rustling sound seemed to come from the depths of his ear canal.


    ***


    The transmission was indeed random. After listening to the strange recording, Jiang Fang appeared in an elevator going down. Next to him were two foreign students speaking Russian. Jiang Fang listened to their conversation while opening the bag in his hand with the words ¡®International Student Department of Jinjing University¡¯s School of Management¡¯ on it.


    He quickly looked at the textbooks one by one. Then he raised his head and confirmed using the slightly reflective elevator wall that his face hadn¡¯t changed.


    He was walking out of the apartment for international students and thinking about where to look for Nan Zhou when there was a temporary interruption to the public speaker next to the apartment building that had originally been playing Schubert¡¯s piano music. The content was:


    ¡°Dear students, Nan Zhou from the architecture department is lost. Anyone who knows Nan Zhou from the architecture department, please go to the broadcast room to pick him up.¡±


    ***


    Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang arrived at the broadcast room one after another. Nan Zhou sat on the wooden bench in the broadcasting room alone, his back straight as he held the lock from the receipts box of the last instance. However, the lock that had been firmly closed had actually opened.


    Jiang Fang knocked on the glass. Nan Zhou raised his head at the sound and stood up. He poked his head out of the broadcasting room and announced, ¡°My thieving level is 1.¡±


    Nan Zhou was successfully claimed by his teammates and exchanged information with them. The audio content they heard was similar. A person was being pursued. He tried to use the elevator to lead the pursuer away while hiding in the cabinet of a room, only to be found. The only difference was that the man¡¯s last whisper was different.


    The basic sentence pattern was; XX, when are you coming?


    After hearing this sentence, Li Yinhang¡¯s san value had immediately dropped by 2 points and it hadn¡¯t recovered yet. She could only listen to Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang, the two bigshots who seemed to have no fear.


    Jiang Fang said, ¡°That person called out our names, showing that he knows us.¡±


    Nan Zhou hummed in agreement. ¡°We can check this first. According to the setting, we went somewhere together and provoked something.¡±


    It was probably something that made a rustling sound.


    Nan Zhou added, ¡°A man called Hu Li died. We can start with Hu Li.¡±


    Jiang Fang mentioned another thing here. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    Nan Zhou raised his eyebrow. Why ask this question?


    ¡°The task time is 120 hours so the risk factor must be relatively high,¡± Jiang Fang explained. ¡°Even if we don¡¯t die, it might have an impact on our minds.¡±


    Jiang Fang glanced at Nan Zhou. ¡°I¡¯m a bit worried¡­¡± about you. The last word was on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to say it but stopped, unable to speak.


    Nan Zhou felt that the question raised by Jiang Fang was indeed worthy of attention. It was definitely too late if they waited until their san value was 0. How could they judge when there was something wrong with a teammate¡¯s mental state?


    He thought about it for a brief moment before suggesting, ¡°Let¡¯s agree on a safe word.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­??¡± Was this how a safe word should be used?


    Nan Zhou noticed Li Yinhang¡¯s complicated expression and nodded knowingly. ¡°Yinhang probably doesn¡¯t know what a safe word means.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou opened his mouth. ¡°It means¡­¡±


    Li Yinhang hurriedly prevented him from using this cold voice to say any more strange words. ¡°I know, I know.¡±


    Jiang Fang raised his hand and interjected with a smile. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it means. I want to hear an explanation.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Jiang Fang, are you doing this on purpose?


    Nan Zhou honestly gave an explanation. ¡°For example, my safe word is¡­¡±


    From the corner of his eye, he saw a sign posted in the hallway that said ¡®Please don¡¯t make noise¡¯ in English. Nan Zhou continued, ¡°And your safe word is¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang took the initiative. ¡°Mister.¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°My safe word is ¡®please¡¯ (English) and your safe word is ¡®Mister¡¯. If I find that your spirit is seriously shaking, I will say ¡®please¡¯ to you and I want you to answer ¡®Mister¡¯ to prove you are sane. This is a safe word.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± How was this a fucking safe word? Wasn¡¯t this ¡®heavenly king covers the tiger, the pagoda controls the river demon?¡¯ (TL: A classic code phrase. If two members of an organization who don¡¯t know each other meet to carry out a task, one will speak the first line and the other should reply with the second line.)


    However, Jiang Fang didn¡¯t correct it and accompanied Nan Zhou to play. ¡°Let¡¯s try it.¡±


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°Please.¡±


    Jiang Fang was full of smiles. ¡°Mister.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Jiang Fang, are you doing this on purpose?


    Nan Zhou had no idea about this. He and Jiang Fang successfully connected with their secret signal and he asked her, ¡°Yinhang, do you want to use¡­¡±


    He abruptly stopped talking. In order to facilitate the conversation, they had walked down an empty stairwell while talking. Nan Zhou sensed something strange. He stopped Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang and placed an index finger against his lips.


    The movement from above suddenly disappeared and the people waiting below couldn¡¯t hold back. Three figures left the shadow of the stairs below and strode upstairs.


    The man in the lead was a muscular man who was obviously a regular at the gym. The fitness trainer they met in the first instance would probably like him very much. The other two weren¡¯t bad. Their bodies were comparable to the tough guys who charged and broke through enemy lines in the Contra video game.


    The man in the lead smiled. ¡°We heard your broadcast. There is actually a student who got lost in the school? This is strange.¡±


    He concluded, ¡°You are also instance players.¡±


    Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t surprised by this result. He dared to use the broadcasting station because he originally planned to gather other players together. Thus, he honestly replied, ¡°Yes, all three of us are players.¡±


    The other side grinned. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    This was an instance with seven people and they should have four teammates. Yet seeing their ill-intentioned expressions, even Li Yinhang became aware that they didn¡¯t encounter the Shunfeng team led by Shen Jie who wanted to seize the right to command at the beginning or the Nanshan team led by Yu Tuisi who wanted to win with stability. Regardless of whether it was Shunfeng or Nanshan, at least they wanted to seek cooperation and pass the instance together.


    Meanwhile, the three men with strong builds in front of them had no intention of cooperating at all.


    Nan Zhou motionlessly watched the three people pressing forward step by step and wondered, ¡°What do you want to do?¡±


    There wasn¡¯t the addition of the long jacket so Nan Zhou¡¯s mysterious temperament was decreased by 30%. He had an artistic and literary style. His skin was white and transparent. He stood there coldly facing the light from the window in the stairwell and it made this unruly person with bad intentions want to ¡®tsk¡¯ him frivolously.


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to do anything. We just want to teach newcomers¡­ you don¡¯t think there is no risk in PVE mode, right?¡± The man sneered, showing a mouthful of shark-like teeth. He pointed a shiny Swiss knife at Nan Zhou. He mimicked the gesture of raising a person¡¯s chin and made a sexually suggestive gesture. ¡°Hand over any items you have on you.¡±

 CH 37

    Nan Zhou stood still and didn¡¯t move. He didn¡¯t fight back, talk back or intend to hand over his items. The man was in a stalemate with him for a while before realizing that he was being ignored.


    ¡°¡­Fuck, this weak guy is stuck.¡± He cursed in a dirty manner and took two steps up, pressing the tip of his knife against Nan Zhou¡¯s abdomen and saying with a grin, ¡°Make a deal. Everyone wants to live. Don¡¯t fail to appreciate my kindness.¡±


    Nan Zhou lowered his head and looked at the cold blade. He sincerely praised, ¡°This knife is good. It is better than mine.¡±


    The man, ¡°?¡±


    Before he could show his hideous face any further, he suddenly felt soreness and numbness from the wrist holding the knife. The next second, he found that the knife he held in his hand had actually fallen into Nan Zhou¡¯s hand.


    Before he could digest this fact, a huge force hit the right side of his head, pushing his head directly into the handrail of the stairs. The iron handrail was hit and made a low buzzing sound that rang through the entire stairwell, from the sixth floor to the first floor.


    Nan Zhou folded the blade back in place and threw it to Jiang Fang behind him. ¡°Take this and defend yourself.¡±


    Then he walked sideways around the man hanging weakly against the handrail of the stairs, covering his bleeding ears while unable to speak. Nan Zhou started to undo the cufflinks of his shirt and folded up the sleeves a few times, revealing a small arm with radial scars.


    Contra No. 1 saw that it was bad and immediately selected an item. Then he raised his fist and rushed toward Nan Zhou! Nan Zhou was dazzled by the light shining from the other person¡¯s fingertips. He reached out to grab the man¡¯s wrist but just as he was about to touch the skin, Nan Zhou seemed to notice something. He suddenly pulled back his hand, bent his knees and directly ducked.


    Contra No. 1 had been delighted after discovering that Nan Zhou wanted to grab his wrist and put all the strength of his body into this fist. Unexpectedly, Nan Zhou only made superficial contact and the move was in vain.


    No. 1 couldn¡¯t stop. It was hard to pull back. Thus, his punch hit the stairs. The place where his shining fingers fell caused a semi-circular crack to appear on the stairs! Incredibly, they only heard the muffled sound of a fist touching a hard object. There wasn¡¯t a loud sound when the stairs cracked. It just cracked silently.


    [Item: Silent Burst]


    [Item Level: S]


    [Item Nature: Limited number of uses (limited to 5 times). Time limit: 10 seconds.]


    [Usage Description: Do you feel a power being injected into your body?]


    [This power has no sound.]


    [They can¡¯t hear, they can¡¯t see and they can¡¯t feel the power of this punch.]


    [By the time they discover it, they would¡¯ve already burst silently.]


    No. 1 felt unwilling after the punch failed. This was their only S-grade item. By the time it reached their hands, there had only been two more opportunities to use it. He wondered why Nan Zhou could dodge so fast.


    Meanwhile, Nan Zhou was also very puzzled. He didn¡¯t understand why such a powerful skill would be used by someone who could only charge and punch.


    Before No. 1 could get up, he felt a hand pinching an acupuncture point on the back of his neck. Silent Burst only increased the power output for 10 seconds. If the body¡¯s defense was weak then it would still be weak.


    Contra No. 1 was pinched and collapsed on the spot, revealing Nan Zhou who had flashed behind him and pinched his neck. In the eyes of outsiders, Contra No. 1 was a fool. After his powerful punch, he plunged face down into the cracks he had created. It was really shameful.


    No. 1¡¯s leg was numb and his waist was soft. He wanted to use his energy to resist but he suddenly felt one hand holding his throat from behind while the other hand rested on his chin. For a time, his animal instincts made his hands and feet cold and his blood flow backwards.


    He intuitively felt that Nan Zhou wanted to break his neck. The fear of dying and the adrenaline running through him made his limbs stiffen. He didn¡¯t even feel the pain in his chin that was smashed against the corner of the stairs. In the midst of the tinnitus caused by high-speed blood flow, he heard Nan Zhou say, ¡°Sorry, it is a habit.¡±


    Rfza, Rjc Itbe klatvgfk tlr tjcvr jcv fnfc qjaafv atf wjc bc atf rtbeivfg jqbibufalmjiis. Dfobgf Jbcagj Rb. 1 mbeiv gfjma, Rjc Itbe ugjyyfv tlr tfjv jcv rijwwfv tlw jujlcra atf rajlgr. Lf wlrfgjyis mbiijqrfv bc atf rajlgr.


    Rjc Itbe gfagjmafv atf ifur ragjvvilcu Rb. 1 jcv ibbxfv yjmx ja Jbcagj Rb. 2, bcis ab yf j yla mbcoerfv. Qts kjr atf qfgrbc ubcf? Pa tjv ab yf rjlv atja Rb. 2¡¯r mglrlr jkjgfcfrr ojg fzmffvfv atf batfg akb. Lf tjv jigfjvs rajgafv gecclcu ktfc Rb. 1 kjr xcbmxfv vbkc. Ktf ygbjvmjralcu gbbw kjr bc atf oloat oibbg jcv lc pera j ofk rfmbcvr, tf tjv jigfjvs gfjmtfv atf obegat oibbg.


    Li Yinhang, who had been symbolically scared before, was now lying against the handrail of the stairs. She watched No. 2 stumbling while fleeing and only had a few words in her heart, ¡®Moving to your grave.¡¯


    Nan Zhou jumped over the handrail of the stairs and stepped on the tile seam on the opposite side of the stairs. He used his strength to step on the tile seams on the opposite side of the intersection between the upper stairs and this floor. He took a total of five steps down and knocked down Contra No. 2 who had already gone down two and a half floors.


    Nan Zhou crouched down curiously, asking No. 2 who had fallen to the ground and was twitching slightly. ¡°Why are you running? You can¡¯t run away.¡±


    Then he grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him back. The three robbers who blocked the road were gathered together by him and achieved ¡®the most awkward gathering¡¯ in history.


    The muscular man who was the leader had a buzzing brain. He didn¡¯t have the near death experience of Contra No. 1 whose neck was twisted and he was ready to fight back. However, Jiang Fang stopped him with just one look. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t do anything. He just held the Swiss army knife and stared at the man with a smile.


    The man¡¯s muscles might¡¯ve grown into his brain but he instinctively sensed something. Nan Zhou made quick moves but he wouldn¡¯t kill people. However, it was possible for this foreigner.


    Nan Zhou asked them, ¡°What are your names?¡±


    The muscular man glanced at his two dispirited companions and said in a hard voice, ¡°Kill us if you dare! You won¡¯t get any items if you kill us.¡±


    Nan Zhou told him, ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t want your items.¡±


    ¡°Are you fucking coaxing a ghost?¡±


    Nan Zhou sighed softly, took out a dagger from his warehouse and placed it under the man¡¯s chin. ¡°Hand over all your items and tell me your names. Otherwise, I don¡¯t want the items.¡±


    One minute later, the trio¡¯s items were thrown to the ground. Li Yinhang crouched beside them and took inventory one by one like a worker at a logistics sorting center. Nan Zhou sat on the steps, casually holding a knife toward the three people dying of grief and anger, striking a symbolic, non-threatening pose.


    According to their own explanation, the muscular male who was the leader was called Sun Guojing. Contra No. 1 was called Luo Ge and No. 2 was called Qi Tianyun. In the real world, they were close friends. They graduated from the same university and after graduation, they pooled their money together to open a barbecue stand on the snack street.


    Not long after their business started, Forces of Temptation packed them up and shipped the three of them into the game together. They quickly developed a new way to make money in the game. Rob the players. They preferred PVE scripts because the players wouldn¡¯t be too wary of their teammates. They used their strength rating of 7 to rob seven or eight players.


    The central idea of their robbery was to bully the soft and fear the strong, while picking up any mistakes. The needle called Silent Burst was snatched from a player who was seriously injured by a ghost and unable to resist.


    This time, they dared to act rashly. Firstly, they thought that a person who used the broadcast and the real name system to openly say they were lost in the school must be a fool. Secondly, they saw there was a woman in the team. The three of them fighting against two and a half people must have no problems.


    Nan Zhou asked, ¡°How did you think about waiting for us here?¡±


    Sun Guojing replied, ¡°¡­We were afraid there would be problems taking the elevator and wouldn¡¯t be able to hide when avoiding ghosts.¡± Then they heard Nan Zhou discussing the mission.


    Nan Zhou let out an ¡®ah.¡¯ ¡°In other words, you accidentally bumped into us here. You weren¡¯t waiting?¡±


    The three men were silent.


    Nan Zhou used the power of his level 8 taunting. ¡°Then you are really unlucky.¡±


    The opposite three people choked on the blood in their throats but they didn¡¯t dare express their anger. Sun Guojing¡¯s heart felt like death. ¡°The items have been handed in. What else do you want?¡±


    Nan Zhou put away the dagger. ¡°You can go. Don¡¯t rob others in the future.¡±¡¯


    Sun Guojing declined to comment.


    Nan Zhou thought about it and added a sentence. ¡°If you really want to rob someone, you can come with two people and leave your items with the third person. Otherwise, what will you do if you are robbed by others just like today?¡±


    Sun Guojing, Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    They failed in their robbery and were insulted and humiliated again. They had mixed feelings and wanted to leave as soon as possible.


    Nan Zhou turned back to Li Yinhang and exchanged a few words before saying, ¡°Wait a minute.¡±


    The three people started sweating as they wondered if Nan Zhou would go back on his words. Unexpectedly, Nan Zhou pushed a few C-grade and D-grade items to them. ¡°We don¡¯t have enough space. Take them back.¡±


    The three men took the items and quickly got lost. They were afraid that if they didn¡¯t get lost quickly, they wouldn¡¯t be able to control their emotions and would rush to fight with Nan Zhou who was constantly taunting them.


    ***


    The boulevard on the campus was full of maple trees.


    Nan Zhou, Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang were sitting on the bench by the boulevard. It was late autumn and the red sky isolated most of the warm afternoon sun. The leaves turned the sunlight into trivial warmth, sprinkling it on the shoulders of the three people like gold.


    After some comparisons, Li Yinhang left the S-grade Silent Burst and A-grade Sixth Sense Cross to Nan Zhou. The cross was sensitive and fragile. It was aimed at non-physical monsters and would immediately shatter in the event of danger.


    Li Yinhang originally wanted to leave two A-grade items with Jiang Fang but Jiang Fang only picked one A-grade item and picked another C-grade item for himself.


    The A-grade Truth Tequila made people tell the truth after ingesting 100 ml of it. There were two restrictions: 1. The other party was willing to drink it. 2. The other party was a human.


    The C-grade item Consequences of Not Having Skates could be used two times and there was a 100% chance of making the opponent slip.


    Li Yinhang reluctantly opened two storage slots for herself and became a responsible warehouse keeper. She had the A-grade Don¡¯t Go Out in Sandy Weather which instantly blinded a single opponent. This lasted for 30 seconds and could be used within a range of three meters. The number of uses remaining was one. The reason why this thing didn¡¯t come in handy was because Sun Guojing was holding this item but he was the first to be knocked down.


    There was the B-grade Presence Zeroing Device that could instantly reduce her sense of presence. The duration was one minute and the number of uses was one. The B-grade San Value Constant Device could control the falling san value for a short time. The duration was three minutes and the number of uses was one. The B-grade Come and Hit Me could attract all the aggro of the attacker to the holder. The duration was five minutes and the number of uses was one. In addition, there were some useless items that weren¡¯t needed and Li Yinhang returned them.


    The battle was fruitful. The thing that made Nan Zhou even happier was that he found a campus card in his pocket with a balance of over 200 yuan. Nan Zhou went to the supermarket to buy a dozen steamed sponge cakes to reward himself.


    After dividing the spoils, Li Yinhang asked the question she had wanted to know just now. ¡°Why did you ask for their names?¡±


    Nan Zhou took a bite of the cake and answered briefly, ¡°I wanted to know if there was a Hu Li among them.¡±


    The dead ¡®Hu Li¡¯ mentioned in the death recording?


    Jiang Fang gently explained for Nan Zhou. ¡°Teacher Nan wanted to know if the recording was in the past tense or future tense.¡±


    ¡°The person in the recording called out our names separately, indicating that he knows us. He, Hu Li, and us should be involved in the same incident.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know the name of the person who made the recording. The only information we know is the name Hu Li.¡±


    ¡°The recording said that Hu Li is dead. Only that person remembers Hu Li and the others have forgotten.¡±


    ¡°If the recording is from the future, there must be a person called Hu Li among the players. We could start the investigation from him and find clues that might save his life.¡±


    Li Yinhang calculated it. ¡°Aren¡¯t there seven players in the game? There should be a solo player who hasn¡¯t showed up yet. Is it possible that he is¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou interrupted. ¡°He isn¡¯t Hu Li.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°?¡±


    Nan Zhou asked her, ¡°If you were that solo player and were assigned the character name of ¡®Hu Li¡¯ only to hear that Hu Li died, what would you do?¡±


    Li Yinhang answered, ¡°¡­I would immediately find other teammates to seek protection.¡± She wouldn¡¯t think of facing that unknown force alone.


    Jiang Fang concluded, ¡°Thus, the recording can only be in the past tense.¡±


    Right now, Hu Li was dead. The person who left the recording probably also had bad luck.


    The difficulty of this instance probably wasn¡¯t small. Compared to the previous instance, the range had been expanded to the entire campus and there were players who wanted to rob others. Nan Zhou naturally changed his mind and didn¡¯t hope to save anyone. He gave the highest protection priority to his teammates.


    Nan Zhou gave Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang a cake. ¡°Do you have any ideas?¡±


    ¡°Go to the school forum or Tieba.¡±  Jiang Fang took a gentle bite from the cake. ¡°All the horror legends since the school was built should be on it.¡±


    ***


    Sun Guojing and the other two returned to their dormitory in a secretive manner with swollen noses. After being sent to this instance, they found they were sorting out the sports warehouse. It could be judged from the student IDs they carried on them that the three of them were sports students and lived in the same dormitory. The dormitory number was also clearly marked on the dormitory keys in their pockets.


    After returning to the dormitory, Sun Guojing looked around the room. There was a room with four beds and all four beds had bedding. However, there was no one else in the room when they came back.


    Sun Guojing confirmed that there were no outsiders and relaxed a bit. He sat down on a lower bunk and scolded Nan Zhou. He originally swore to release his anger. For some reason, the more he cursed, the colder he felt.


    Perhaps it was because it was now late autumn. His bedroom was in the shade and there was no direct sunlight. The feeling of coldness seeped into Sun Guojing¡¯s bones and made his bones hurt. He couldn¡¯t help hugging his shoulders and shuddering.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    A clear noise was heard a short distance away from him. At the same time, the quilt on the bed he was sitting on moved. It was as if there was something alive in it.


    Sun Guojing knew nothing. He just rubbed his sore ears while wrapping the quilt around himself to keep himself warm. He complained bitterly, ¡°I still fucking have tinnitus.¡±


    The author has something to say:


    Nan Zhou, a player who can reproduce the effect perfectly without using the Come and Hit Me item.

 CH 38

    This roleplaying instance didn¡¯t give them the corresponding memories or script. They had to immersively explore what each person¡¯s ¡®role¡¯ was like. After sitting down on the bench, Nan Zhou¡¯s group finally had time to explore the secrets of their ¡®roles¡¯.


    Nan Zhou took out the mobile phone from the pocket of his pants and used his face to unlock the screen. He looked at the dizzying array of apps and for a moment, he didn¡¯t know where to start. Should he check the social network software first to see who he was in contact with recently? Should he take a look at the office software such as the memo to see his recent daily plans? Or¡­


    Jiang Fang saw him frowning while holding the mobile phone and reached out a hand to him, shaking it tentatively. ¡°Hmm?¡±


    Nan Zhou understood and handed over the phone. Jiang Fang took it and swiped his thumb twice to click on the ¡®settings¡¯ button and then the ¡®app usage statistics¡¯ page. Suddenly, the app usage ranking for the last seven days appeared. The specific usage time of each app was arranged in order from high to low. The rankings were marked with red, yellow and blue respectively and made things clear with one glance.


    Nan Zhou told him, ¡°Ah. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    Li Yinhang silently copied the process on the side, very worry-free. On a mobile phone, the usage frequency and regularity of an app used perfectly marked the life trajectory of a modern person.


    Nan Zhou was playing a senior in the architecture department and the most frequently used software in the last seven days was namely Baidu Tieba, WeChat and PUBG. He opened Tieba. ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯ had recently visited Tieba, which was Jinjing University¡¯s campus web forum.


    ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯ had recently browsed posts and the first 100 were all posts from the ¡®Midnight Ghost Stories¡¯ section of Jinjing University¡¯s web forum. The time span was as long as eight years ago. From the dead posts with 0 replies to the hot posts with thousands of replies, he went in and read them all.


    Nan Zhou found this experience wonderful. He could clearly understand that the role he was playing had strong anxiety about a ¡®ghost¡¯ matter.


    He briefly reviewed the posts that ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯ had browsed. Jinjing University had numerous classic campus horror legends. It had a long history and it could be called hundreds of ghosts fighting. For example, Jinjing University used to be a graveyard.


    In fact, in legends, every school was built on a graveyard. It seemed that people in the past didn¡¯t like to engage in serious infrastructure. They especially liked to bang away clumsily in all directions with no overall vision and the burial mounds were set up everywhere like guerrilla warfare.


    For example, the No. 3 female dormitory of Jinjing University used the old-fashioned squatting toilets in which there were just slabs of stone to block the compartments and there was regular flushing. If a person squatted in the innermost public toilet cubicle in the middle of the night and waited a while, they would hear someone singing ¡®Farewell¡¯ intermittently from the sewer pipe at the end.


    In fact, the girl¡¯s toilet and the girl¡¯s public bathhouse were next to each other. A girl didn¡¯t like to take a bath with others so she chose to go alone in the middle of the night. As she was washing, she sang to raise her courage and this had a reverberation effect that caused ghostly singing.


    For example, the medical department building of Jinjing University stood out among the teaching buildings that had black and red matte bricks as the main color. This building was completely built with red bricks. It was said that it generally had yin energy. The principle specially invited a Feng Shui master who calculated that red bricks should be used to block the yin energy of the building.


    In fact, this teaching building was donated by someone after the entire school had already been built. The person who donated the building used red as the main color because they wanted to be ¡®a bit of red among thousands of flowers.¡¯


    There was only one unsolved mystery on the Jinjing University campus. The school once had a male student who jumped from the west teaching building in the east district due to love. Meanwhile, the entire dormitory where he lived was successfully accepted for postgraduate studies. Since then, the people in the dormitory started to suffer from bloody disasters and some students saw a white shadow falling from the west building.


    However, this puzzle had nothing to do with the strange rustling they faced. Usually, these campus posts about ¡®realistic stories¡¯ had very high views. However, most people came to watch the excitement and few people believed them.


    The replies in the posts generally followed these types:


    1L: Moving a chair and sitting in the front row to see how the original poster composes a story.


    2L (owner): It isn¡¯t a story. It is true. If it is fake then I¡¯ll swallow shit on the spot.


    3L: Look, the original poster is cheating food and drinks again.


    After roughly reading all the posts, Nan Zhou put down his phone and started to eat his dessert again. He didn¡¯t like to stare at electronic products for too long because it wasted his eyes.


    Jiang Fang asked him, ¡°Have you found anything?¡±


    ¡°Tfr, akb atlcur.¡± Rjc Itbe wfcalbcfv bcf bo atfw. ¡°P tjnfc¡¯a rffc jcs qbrar jybea gfmfca vfjatr bo raevfcar ja atf rmtbbi.¡±


    Djrfv bc atf lcobgwjalbc ulnfc, Le Ol wera yf vfjv jcv atf qfgrbc ktb ifoa atf gfmbgvlcu wluta cba yf tfgf jcswbgf.


    Ol Tlctjcu kbcvfgfv, ¡°Cgf sbe regf atfs jgf ybat raevfcar bo atlr rmtbbi?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°Even if they aren¡¯t students, they must be staff at this school. Before going to the broadcasting station, I went to the school gates.¡±


    Jiang Fang had a hunch. ¡°You couldn¡¯t go out?¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°We can¡¯t leave the school. If we make a reverse deduction, the place where these two people died and became ghosts must be the school.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    This statement caused numbness to shoot all the way down her spine to the back of her heels. She resisted the creepy feeling. ¡°Are you sure there is no news of a student¡¯s death?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Nan Zhou¡¯s voice was firm. ¡°I also searched for Hu Li but I didn¡¯t find him. It is like he disappeared into thin air¡­¡±


    Li Yinhang asked a pragmatic question. ¡°Did the forum master delete the posts?¡±


    Nan Zhou raised his eyebrow. ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He wondered, ¡°Can this happen?¡±


    Li Yinhang answered, ¡°¡­In order to maintain the stability of public opinion, schools will generally do this.¡±


    Nan Zhou exclaimed, ¡°¡­Ah.¡±


    He thought about it for a moment before saying, ¡°Then put this aside first. I will say the second thing.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± After so long, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t consider the possibility of posts being deleted to control public opinion?


    Li Yinhang felt a subtle sense of kinship with this bigshot.


    Nan Zhou quickly gave the second clue. ¡°The horror legends of Jinjing University don¡¯t include a ¡®non-existent place.¡¯¡±


    ¡°At present, the campus legends of Jinjing University include the singing in the toilet, the suppressing of the yin building, the dripping faucet in the middle of the night, the perverted man disguised as a woman who went to the girl¡¯s dormitory to peep, etc. but there was no mention of a ¡®place that doesn¡¯t exist.¡¯¡±


    Jiang Fang played with his mobile phone. ¡°Is it because this legend is too unpopular?¡±


    ¡°It is possible.¡± Then Nan Zhou added, ¡°There is also another possibility.¡±


    His voice became quiet. ¡°If a place doesn¡¯t exist in the first place, how can other people know it exists?¡±


    Li Yinhang once again felt numb from the back of her neck to her heels.


    Bigshot, please stop telling ghost stories without changing your expression.


    She immediately interrupted. ¡°I found out a bit as well¡­ there is no Hu Li in my contacts.¡±


    The person who left the recording seemed to acquiesce that they knew Hu Li. Now she had looked through every social network software on her phone and there was no ¡®Hu Li¡¯ in her contacts. This was also a valuable discovery.


    Nan Zhou asked Jiang Fang, ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°I really found something.¡±


    He raised his phone and called a number. Nan Zhou¡¯s phone rang and vibrated. A name was displayed on the screen. ¡°Brother Fang.¡±


    Jiang Fang took the phone away from his ear. The calling interface of his screen displayed another name: Baby.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­?¡±


    ¡°Teacher Nan.¡± Jiang Fang smiled slightly. ¡°The system seems to have a different idea about our relationship.¡±


    After receiving this information, Nan Zhou quickly brought up the usual communication tools. Facts proved that he and this foreign exchange student were engaged in a pleasant and blush-inducing same-sex exchange.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s thoughts turned like the wind. ¡°Then we can live together at night.¡±


    Jiang Fang nodded. ¡°Please.¡±


    Li Yinhang was envious. She was thinking about how to make the request to go to their dormitory and sleep on the floor natural and not artificial. She was thinking this when a faint sound entered her ears.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    Li Yinhang stiffened before she abruptly got up and looked under the bench.


    ¡­There was nothing.


    Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang asked simultaneously, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Li Yinhang was worried that the two bigshots would dislike her for being too suspicious but she still truthfully answered. ¡°I heard a strange sound. It was like a rustling¡­¡±


    There seemed to be something that had been lurking under their bench, peering quietly at them. Just now, it twisted its body and accidentally exposed its whereabouts. She described her feelings but the contempt that she imagined from the bigshots didn¡¯t happen.


    Jiang Fang suggested, ¡°The dormitory for international students is all single rooms so the management isn¡¯t strict. Come and stay with me at night.¡±


    Nan Zhou added succinctly, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s be together.¡±


    Li Yinhang almost burst into tears. She was willing to buy steamed cake for the bigshot for a lifetime.


    Meanwhile, as the Cube Boat team was communicating with each other, a single barrel hand-held telescope poked out from the corner of a distant window and fell on the people sitting by the boulevard.


    In the round MCF lens, the figure of Jiang Fang on the right side of the bench appeared first. He was feeding Nanji Star cake crumbs while occasionally glancing at his phone. He seemed to be a very gentle person. On the left side of the bench was Li Yinhang. She took everything out of her bag and spread it on her legs one by one, taking inventory of the bag.


    The person holding the lens watched her for a moment, his mouth twitching with boredom. Then he shifted his focus to Nan Zhou sitting between them. Nan Zhou was concentrating on eating the last steamed cake. The slightly curly long black hair fell down over his lips. He wasn¡¯t happy so he put down the half-bitten cake and borrowed a hair tie from Jiang Fang.


    The telescope focused on him for a long time. The focus was adjusted slowly from near to far. He could even see the two strands of hair that failed to be tied properly and stuck to his shoulders and neck.


    He was observing and looking at every detail of Nan Zhou. There was no obscenity in his eyes. It was more like an x-ray penetration as well as nostalgia. Surprise slowly filled the peeping eyes. ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    He muttered to himself. ¡°I¡¯ve seen you before. How can it be you?¡±


    He wanted to watch Nan Zhou for a while when there was a suspicious voice from behind him.


    ¡°Xie Xiangyu, what are you doing here?¡±


    The young man turned slightly sideways, revealing half of his handsome face. The afternoon sun saturated the color of the maple leaves nearby into his eyes, causing his light brown eyes to be covered with the redness of the maple leaves.


    The owner of the voice was the vice president who was also a male. The vice president saw this glance and subconsciously gentled.


    He put down the freshly copied autumn camping plans. ¡°The camping club only meets in the evening. You came too early.¡±


    Xie Xiangyu, the seventh player doing this task and a member of the camping club, removed his elbows from the window sill.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± His voice was like the spring breeze. ¡°I have something to do tonight. I came here to ask for a leave of absence.¡±


    The vice president felt some displeasure after hearing this but he said he understood. Then he turned around and left to prepare other needed materials. Once the unimportant person left, Xie Xiangyu lay down against the window again and raised the telescope with a fixed focal length to his eyes.


    He wanted to see Nan Zhou again. However, once he started looking, he directly met Nan Zhou¡¯s cold eyes through the lens. The eyes were looking at him from 100 meters away! Xie Xiangyu quickly withdrew and covered the peephole. He turned his face away and smiled while letting out a sigh. He exclaimed silently, ¡°¡­Wow.¡±


    The other side.


    ¡°Someone was looking at us.¡±


    Nan Zhou pointed to one of the windows of Building 18 that was 100 meters away. ¡°It is that place on the fourth floor.¡±


    The author has something to say:


    System: Sleep in the same bed for several days.


    System: One person engages in intimate behaviors such as hugging, touching the hem of the shirt and touching the thigh.


    System: One person peeped at the same-sex magazine and finished reading it.


    System: Yes (confirmed).

 CH 39

    Nan Zhou¡¯s group decided to go to the No. 18 teaching building even though Nan Zhou knew that the person would probably leave once they noticed their group moving. Sure enough, they arrived at the camping club and only saw the vice president who was quietly cleaning after sending out the information.


    The vice president saw three strange faces appear at the door and straightened. ¡°Students, who are you looking for?¡±


    Nan Zhou and the vice president looked at each other for a moment before Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes fell on the telescope placed on the window sill. He observed for a moment before telling the two people behind him, ¡°It¡¯s not him.¡±


    The vice president didn¡¯t give off that feeling. Jiang Fang believed in Nan Zhou¡¯s judgment. He walked past Nan Zhou, intending to explain to the bewildered vice president the reason why they had come. His voice was adjusted to stiff Chinese with a slight accent. ¡°Hello, my name is §Ýo§Õka¡¤mohto§Ýoka (Lodoka Montoloka) and I¡¯m an international student. My friend wanted to show me around the school. I heard this is the camping club?¡±


    The injury that the vice president suffered from seeing people with Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang¡¯s level of appearance wasn¡¯t small and it took a while for him to recover. ¡°Oh. It isn¡¯t the time to recruit new students¡­¡±


    Then he regretted it immediately and wished that he could bite his tongue. He quickly pulled out one of the brochures that had accumulated on one side of the file shelf until it was almost gray from dust.


    The camping club had always been unpopular and had insufficient funds. If he could bring these two gold-lettered sign boards into the club then combined with Xiao Xie, how could they have problems recruiting beautiful female students next year?


    Jiang Fang smiled and glanced at the photos stuck on the wall out of the corner of his eyes. Jiang Fang said, ¡°We almost went the wrong way just now and happened to meet a man coming from this direction. I asked him where the camping club is and he pointed us in another direction. We made a great detour before finding this place.¡±


    The vice president was guided by his gaze and naturally gave Jiang Fang the desired answer. ¡°Is it Xiao Xie? The good-looking person? He is a bit strange and likes to play some pranks. I¡¯m sorry. Please don¡¯t take it to heart.¡±


    Thanks to the vice president¡¯s direction, Jiang Fang easily found the handsome young man with the most outstanding appearance on the photo wall. He answered mildly, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s him.¡±


    He turned back and met Nan Zhou¡¯s gaze. The seventh teammate they hadn¡¯t met yet was probably found. Nan Zhou nodded while folding his arms. However, his eyes didn¡¯t linger on the photo for too long. Instead, they drifted to the open staircase around 20 meters away.


    Li Yinhang noticed his gaze from behind him and followed it. ¡°Is anything there?¡±


    Nan Zhou was silent for a long time. Li Yinhang¡¯s voice drifted through the air and traveled all the way to the stairs.


    In the corner, Xie Xiangyu stood there in a relaxed posture while not forgetting to play with a krone coin with a fancy pattern on it. The back of his hand faced upwards while the coin spun smoothly between his fingers, reflecting a bit of silver light from the freshly painted handrail. All it took was to drop the coin and he would immediately reveal his position.


    Fortunately, that didn¡¯t happen. In his hand, the krone coin flipped from his thumb to his pinky finger and back lightly. He spoke to himself, ¡°I guess you know that I¡¯m here. But¡­ will you come over?¡±


    Shortly after, he heard Nan Zhou answer, ¡°No, there is nothing.¡±


    The coin that was flipped between his fingers was held in the palm of Xie Xiangyu¡¯s hand. Coincidentally, he felt the same way. Now wasn¡¯t the best time for them to meet. The corners of Xie Xiangyu¡¯s mouth curved upwards. He turned around and went downstairs slowly and silently, disappearing around the corner of the stairs.


    Over there, Jiang Fang smoothly finished his communication with the vice president and walked back to Nan Zhou.


    Li Yinhang wondered, ¡°Are we going to find this Xie Xiangyu next?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°No.¡±


    Jiang Fang also said, ¡°We will go back to the dormitory.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±


    She thought it was important to find their teammate¡­


    Then she thought about it and immediately understood. Yes, the instance didn¡¯t tell them to socialize or make friends. Their task was to survive. They were fighting against the entire instance. Against such a big backdrop, it didn¡¯t make much sense to woo a single teammate.


    They left Building 18 and walked all the way to Jiang Fang¡¯s dormitory. Jiang Fang put forward another idea. ¡°Is it possible that Xie Xiangyu was also attracted by the broadcast content and went to the broadcasting station?¡±


    Then he witnessed the scene of the robbery¡­


    Ol Tlctjcu kjr raeccfv. Ktlr wjvf j iba wbgf rfcrf. Lf obecv atja cflatfg bo atf akb ugbeqr kfgf kfjx jcv tf kjr bcis bcf qfgrbc. Lf kjr kbgglfv jybea tjnlcu tlr lafwr rabifc rb tf rlwqis byrfgnfv rfmgfais.


    Cr atfs ajixfv, atfs jgglnfv ja atf lcafgcjalbcji raevfcar¡¯ jqjgawfca. Aljcu Mjcu rklqfv tlr mjgv ab fcafg jcv atfs abbx atf fifnjabg jii atf kjs ab atf rlzat oibbg. Aljcu Mjcu¡¯r gbbw kjr ja atf fcv bo atf 6at oibbg mbgglvbg, cfza ab j yfjealoei jcv teuf Mgfcmt klcvbk.


    Nan Zhou stated, ¡°There is no need to specifically look for him. If he needs anything then he will look for us¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang saw they were standing in front of his dormitory door and took out the key marked with the room number. Then Nan Zhou, who was talking about Xie Xiangyu, suddenly stopped him.


    ¡°¡ªWait.¡± Li Yinhang had been preparing to touch the doorknob. Now she heard these words and withdrew her hand at the speed of light. She cautiously watched the situation around her.


    ¡°I have 1 point for thieving.¡± Nan Zhou said solemnly. ¡°I¡¯ll open the lock.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Then Nan Zhou took out a small piece of wire from his pocket, gently pressed it into the keyhole and attached his ear to it. He moved his fingers a few times before hearing a subtle click from the lock. The door opened.


    Jiang Fang stood to the side and applauded him with a smile.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Was this fucking okay? Li Yinhang was inspired by this and borrowed the lock from Nan Zhou to practice a new skill.


    Nan Zhou was greatly encouraged by this first victory in a great battle and he studied Jiang Fang¡¯s door lock with great concentration. If the ghost of the instance came to the dormitory right now and saw their activities, it would be very puzzled.


    However, their mechanical, repetitive movements were accompanied by a growing anxiety. They had no clues about anything. ¡®Hu Li¡¯ was the only effective clue but it had become a mess. Up to now, they hadn¡¯t been able to make an effective analysis of the danger in this instance or come up with measures to deal with it.


    It was completely different from Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Life where they needed to find trivial clues within a limited space. This was a university covering an area of 3.5 square kilometers. It occupied a vast area and there were many people. Even if the seven people had one heart and one mind, it was impossible to search every corner of the school within five days. If they couldn¡¯t find a breakthrough then they could only wait for the danger of death and madness to come and find them. Was it possible that this task could only be fulfilled by dead people?


    These emotions bothered Li Yinhang and made her unable to fully concentrate. She soon put the lock down and sighed with unbearable frustration. Before she could finish, she heard Nan Zhou inquire, ¡°What is Xie Xiangyu¡¯s department?¡±


    Jiang Fang looked away from his phone screen. ¡°Finance.¡±


    Then he glanced at Nan Zhou and wondered, ¡°Do you need his phone number?¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t necessary.¡±


    Nan Zhou got the information he wanted and was able to keep thinking.


    He was from the architecture department.


    Jiang Fang was from the management department.


    Li Yinhang was from the statistics department.


    Xie Xiangyu was from the finance department.


    For Sun Guojing, Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun, the three hapless people were probably in the same department. It was because they met too quickly in this completely unfamiliar environment. In addition, there were the people who died. There was the unidentified Hu Li and the completely unknown person who left them the death recording.


    He turned to Li Yinhang and asked an even stranger question. ¡°We should know each other, right?¡±


    ¡°¡­Otherwise?¡±


    Nan Zhou clarified. ¡°I mean, what is the relationship between the ¡®Li Yinhang¡¯ you are acting as and the ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯ I am acting as?¡±


    Li Yinhang was taken aback for a moment before she became enlightened. Nan Zhou discovered that Li Yinhang also became aware of this and said, ¡°There was a blind spot in our thinking before.¡±


    They were originally teammates. In this strange and dangerous instance, their relationship wasn¡¯t changed. Rather, it was strengthened. They were teammates so everyone thought by default that they should know each other. The instance was also very cooperative and invisibly filled in the small details. For example, the robbery trio were in the same department. For example, Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang were a pair.


    This greatly reduced the gap between the instance and reality, reducing the player¡¯s vigilance and inducing the players as outsiders to only pay attention to the other characters in the instance. How did Hu Li die? Who left the death recording? They forgot that they were also one of the clues.


    Jiang Fang held his phone and followed Nan Zhou¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Teacher Nan is right. I¡¯ve been looking for the intersection between the seven of us and I¡¯ve finally found something.¡±


    ¡°Check the chat history from seven days ago.¡± Jiang Fang gave a clear time point. ¡°Around October 21st.¡±


    October 21st¡­


    Li Yinhang started searching the chat history by date. Nan Zhou was clearly on her friends list. However, she was caught up in the blind spot just now. She thought that her teammate should naturally be there and didn¡¯t think much about it.


    Li Yinhang sweated as she looked through the chat log. After a few glances, Li Yinhang¡¯s expression became happy. They found a breakthrough! In the instance setting, she was high school classmates with Nan Zhou and their relationship wasn¡¯t bad.


    ¡°The night before the 21st¡­¡± Li Yinhang opened her mouth. ¡°The mid-term tests just finished and I asked you to go out on the night of the 21st to play board games.¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°Then I asked you if I could bring a family member.¡±


    Jiang Fang shook his phone. ¡°The family member is here.¡±


    The clues between the three of them were successfully found. Jiang Fang was an international student and had few contacts on his phone. He might have made a Chinese boyfriend but he didn¡¯t successfully enter Nan Zhou¡¯s social circle. He had few friends. Nan Zhou was invited by Li Yinhang. Since he brought his boyfriend, he didn¡¯t invite a third person. So who invited Li Yinhang?


    Once this idea was clear, everything should¡¯ve gone smoothly. However, Li Yinhang searched through the various social network softwares on her phone, searching with various keywords such as ¡®board games¡¯, ¡®party¡¯, ¡®game¡¯ etc. Even so, she failed to find any relevant records near the 21st.


    She only mentioned it in general terms when she invited Nan Zhou. ¡®A friend is setting up a party to play board games. Do you want to come?¡¯


    The clouds of doubt in Li Yinhang¡¯s mind became thicker.


    ¡°Is there such a possibility?¡± Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Perhaps the one who invited you was Hu Li.¡±


    Li Yinhang¡¯s heart trembled and she subconsciously denied it. ¡°I don¡¯t have him in my contacts.¡±


    ¡°What about the person who left the death recording?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know his name¡­¡± Li Yinhang held back a shiver as goose bumps rose on her arms. ¡°I can¡¯t find any evidence of anyone inviting me¡­¡±


    However, this party obviously wasn¡¯t planned by Li Yinhang¡¯s group. So in the end¡­


    Nan Zhou quietly thought about it while playing with the door lock, Li Yinhang was feeling complicated while holding her phone and Jiang Fang gently raised his phone. ¡°In fact, I tried something else.¡±


    ***


    Seven hours after entering the instance, night completely came. The hungry, muscular trio dejectedly returned to their dormitory. They also thought that Hu Li, the person mentioned in the recording, was the breakthrough point. As a result, they worked hard and spoke good words for a long time but the old man in charge of the archives wouldn¡¯t let them in.


    It was as the saying went: people should be educated when they were young or they would go astray. However, the three people had suffered a great loss due to Nan Zhou. They didn¡¯t want to make too much noise and disturb the school, so they put away the thought of beating up the old man.


    They went to buy a thermos. Then after the old man got off work, they used the cover of the night and the sound of breaking the thermos to cover up the sound of the broken glass in the archives room.


    The three people stood in the leaky archives and cursed the cold while checking for a long time on the old, clunky computer. The results were useless. There was no one called Hu Li among the students. They were busy for half a day and got nothing.


    The tired trio returned to their dormitory, washed up and went to bed. The first night was very important. This instance had the risk of death but there were also ways to survive. Thus, they were going to take turns keeping watch. Moreover, they felt that even if a ghost rushed to kill someone tonight, the probability would be one in seven. The ghost should look for that solo player or that female. Of course, it was best if it worked hard to kill Nan Zhou. The chances of it finding the three of them with big yang energy wasn¡¯t high.


    From 10:30 to 1:00, it was Luo Ge¡¯s turn to keep watch. Then it was Sun Guojing from 1:30 to 3:30 and Qi Tianyun from 3:30 to 6:30.


    Luo Ge was a bit anxious so he talked more than usual. He sat on the upper bunk, shaking his legs while leaning toward Sun Guojing on the lower bunk. ¡°Old Sun, don¡¯t dig at your ears. Are you panning for gold?¡±


    Sun Guojing flicked the object in his direction. ¡°My ears are buzzing.¡±


    He gritted his teeth. ¡°Don¡¯t let me meet that Nan guy again!¡±


    In the midst of his cursing, the light of the bedroom went out.


    The school was afraid that the boys from the physical education department would jump up and down due to excessive energy so at 10:30 p.m., the physical education department had their dormitories locked on time.


    Sun Guojing lay in the darkness and felt very cold. He grabbed the upper edge of his quilt with both hands, trying to reduce every gap and tightly wrapping himself up in it. Still, it didn¡¯t do anything to keep him warm. He felt like he was lying in a coffin. The quilt was hard and tough. His limbs were stiff and his hands and feet were numb. Even the exhaled air brought frost and coldness.


    Sun Guojing was too cold to take it anymore. He trembled and stuck his head out of the bed, placing it right next to the heating pipe only to shiver from the ice. The school hadn¡¯t started the heating yet. What the hell was going on here?!


    Sun Guojing tried to wrap himself into an airtight cocoon but it failed. He turned over and over before being unable to bear it anymore. He shouted in a hoarse voice. ¡°Luo Ge? Big fool? Isn¡¯t it cold?¡±


    No one responded to him. Were they asleep?! Sun Guojing forcibly resisted the coldness. He stood up, stepped on the edge of the lower bunk to look up and whispered, ¡°Fuck.¡±


    They were really asleep? Sun Guojing felt so cold that it was impossible to fall asleep. Why not keep watch for Luo Ge and wake him up at a certain point to take over the shift? This way, Sun Guojing could sleep for the rest of the night.


    Yet when he sat back down on the lower bunk¡­


    The moonlight that shone through the window spilled onto the end of his quilt. Sun Guojing clearly saw a pair of sunken, slender footprints appear at the end of his quilt. Sun Guojing¡¯s throat tightened and his heartbeat accelerated. He courageously pulled up his quilt and reached for it. However, the quilt was soft and bounced back quickly when pulled. The traces of footprints disappeared.


    This didn¡¯t stop Sun Guojing from feeling numb. He hurriedly covered himself with the quilt and secretly cursed in the darkness. The quilt gave the impression that it was a closed, dry and safe place. However¡­


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    In this closed, dry and safe space, the noise was particularly clear.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    It was as if someone was dragging their body and crawling slowly on his bed.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    The blood in Sun Guojing¡¯s body was frozen.


    This wasn¡¯t tinnitus. It wasn¡¯t an illusion. This was real. It was because in addition to hearing the inorganic sound, he also smelled something strange. It was the musty smell of a room that had been closed off for a long time.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    The sound of rustling came from the depths of his quilt. It was from his feet. From¡­ he just had to lower his head and he would be able to see it.


    TL Note: Not sure about Jiang Fang¡¯s Ukranian name. I came up with one based on the Chinese characters provided but if anyone is Ukranian/Russian and has a better idea of the name, please let me know in the comments and I¡¯ll change it.

 CH 40

    There was a scream and the two brothers sleeping on the upper bunk almost fell off. They opened their eyes and saw Sun Guojing standing barefoot on the ground with a pale face. His voice was hoarse. His throat seemed to be narrowed and his voice could only be squeezed out in a half airy manner. ¡°There is something in my quilt!¡±


    The lights from two flashlights were immediately projected from the top bunks. The down feather quilt was kicked to the ground by Sun Guojing. Under the dim light of the flashlight, there were several abnormal bulges that looked like the curve of a human body.


    Qi Tianyun jumped down from the top bunk, found the broom beside the radiator and mustered up his courage to lift the quilt up. It was empty. Before they could react, they heard the dormitory auntie knock on the door twice. ¡°Who called out? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Sun Guojing¡¯s eyes were still dazed. Qi Tianyun and Luo Ge exchanged looks before replying in a loud voice, ¡°Someone had a nightmare!¡±


    The dormitory auntie was disgruntled. ¡°Keep your voice down! How old are you to still be making noise when dreaming? Other people are sleeping.¡±


    She muttered a few times before leaving.


    Sun Guojing fumbled to the side, pulling out a chair and sitting on it. He buried his face in his hands.


    The two of them knew Sun Guojing. He wasn¡¯t someone to be easily surprised. If he said he saw it then he really saw it.


    Qi Tianyun patted him on the shoulder in comfort but Sun Guojing was full of resentment.


    ¡°What did I do?¡± He kicked the corner of the table to vent, causing the steel table to shake. ¡°I just fucking smashed the glass! Why did I attract the ghost?¡±


    Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun didn¡¯t know how to comfort him. They had played PVE three times. Their instances were of a chainsaw murderer, a werewolf under the moon and the apocalypse with plant mutations. It might be dangerous but at least the danger was tangible. This was the first time they were playing a pure supernatural instance. They played it as an ordinary PVE instance. They didn¡¯t expect the ghost to not follow the basic laws at all.


    The atmosphere in the bedroom stagnated for a moment. Sun Guojing suddenly jumped up and stripped off his clothes one by one. He yelled, ¡°Look for me. Is there anything on me?¡±


    Based on his small experience with watching horror movies, he wasn¡¯t afraid of the ghost being stealthy. He was afraid that the ghost would keep thinking about him. If the ghost left a mark on him then it was the nail in the coffin. He was dead.


    After a search, Sun Guojing stood in the middle of the dormitory wearing red striped underwear and barely felt relieved. There weren¡¯t any signs like ghost handprints as he had imagined. Even the bone-eating chill had disappeared. It was as if the ghost had just come to his bed for a visit.


    The haze in Sun Guojing¡¯s mind was swept away and he wanted to curse to vent his mood. Just then¡ª


    Knock.


    Sun Guojing¡¯s words were stuck in his throat and the blood that had just gathered in his face drained again. He cleared his throat and asked, ¡°Did you hear that?¡±


    There was a knock at the door. He concluded from Qi Tianyun and Luo Ge¡¯s ugly expressions that they also heard it. At this time, there were three regular knocks on the bedroom door.


    Knock, knock, knock.


    The rhythm was calm.


    ¡°Damn!!!¡±


    As the saying went, ghosts were afraid of wicked people. Therefore, Sun Guojing released all the dirty swear words he could think of. After nearly a minute of non-stop vicious curses, Sun Guojing finally ended with a general type of curse.


    ¡°Who the hell is it?!¡±


    ¡°Hello.¡± The person outside was repeatedly insulted but there were no fluctuations in his voice. He even maintained his politeness. ¡°My name is Xie Xiangyu. I am a player.¡±


    There was a bang and the bedroom door opened in a resentful manner.


    Xie Xiangyu, who was standing at the door, was pulled in by a big hand and pushed against the wall in the darkness. His back collided with the hard wall and there was a muffled noise.


    The trio was furious at the feeling of being played and they glared at Xie Xiangyu. Xie Xiangyu straightened from the wall and gently touched his shoulders. ¡°It hurts.¡±


    Sun Guojing gritted his teeth. ¡°Are you fucking crazy?¡±


    The lights were turned off so early that there were probably still a large number of students who hadn¡¯t slept. In front of so many NPCs, this person openly exposed his identity and also wanted to pull them into the water with him? Was this guy a fool?


    Xie Xiangyu smiled. ¡°I have something to say to you. Will you let me in?¡±


    Out of the trio, Qi Tianyun had the strongest brain. He was responsible for all the heavy mental work such as keeping the accounts for the barbecue stall. He rudely took out a flashlight and shone it on Xie Xiangyu¡¯s face. Xie Xiangyu turned his head away slightly but didn¡¯t show any signs of disapproval at this rude behavior.


    Xie Xiangyu looked very smart and there was a stud-like thing on his left earlobe. On closer inspection, it was a red mole. He was thin and around 1.75 meters tall. In front of these three strong men with a net height of 1.8 meters, he looked like a handsome and intellectual young man who was experienced. As long as he didn¡¯t have any powerful items then he wasn¡¯t a threat at all in terms of his size.


    However, Qi Tianyun was still full of vigilance. ¡°What do you want to do?¡±


    Wlf Wljcuse jcrkfgfv, ¡°P obecv j rwjii mief. P kjca ab erf atlr mief ab pblc atf afjw jcv sbe klii qgbafma wf.¡±


    Ugbafmalbc?


    Wlf Wljcuse fzqijlcfv, ¡°P jirb tfjgv atf ygbjvmjra ogbw atja wjc mjiifv Rjc Itbe. Ktfc ktfc P kfca bnfg, P rjk tlw gbyylcu sbe rb P jnblvfv tlw.¡±


    The trio, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    They were too embarrassed to admit that the three of them went to rob people only to end up counter-robbed by Nan Zhou. They had to grit their teeth and acquiesce to Xie Xiangyu¡¯s statement.


    ¡°The three of them feel very dangerous.¡± Xie Xiangyu continued. ¡°In comparison, I choose to cooperate with you.¡±


    Qi Tianyun inquired, ¡°What clue did you find?¡±


    ¡°Based on the instance time, something happened on the evening of October 20th and the early hours of October 21st.¡±


    ¡°On my phone, there is a contact number for someone called Qi Tianyun. At around 8 o¡¯clock in the evening on the 20th, he asked me to go buy 200 yuan worth of barbecue from East Street and send it to Activity Room 403 on the East Fifth Building.¡±


    He looked around. ¡°Who is Qi Tianyun?¡±


    Xie Xiangyu saw the eyes of the other two people and judged Qi Tianyun¡¯s identity. He stared at Qi Tianyun. ¡°Do you know why you had me buy barbecue?¡±


    The three men shook their heads like ignorant dogs.


    ¡°It is because you have information that can be used against me. The male dormitory building for the physical education department has the closest straight line distance to the female dormitory. I used to hide in the corridor of your dormitory building and use a telescope to peep at the girl¡¯s dormitory. Then I was caught by you when you came home late.¡±


    He didn¡¯t show the slightest shame when he said this.


    Qi Tianyun reflexively took out his phone to see the chat record and judge if this person was telling the truth or not.


    ¡°Of course, there is no such thing on your phone.¡± Xie Xiangyu smiled. ¡°You are threatening me. How can evidence for this type of blackmail be left in writing?¡±


    Qi Tianyun was suspicious. ¡°Then how do you know about it?¡±


    Xie Xiangyu grinned. He was carrying a telescope with him. His search history showed ¡®what are the consequences of being reported for peeping at the girl¡¯s dormitory?¡¯ The nearest building to the girl¡¯s dormitory was the dormitory for the physical education students. Xie Xiangyu obeyed Qi Tianyun¡¯s unreasonable demand. It wasn¡¯t difficult to come to such a conclusion.


    The trio were dumbfounded. They had prioritized investigating Hu Li and didn¡¯t thoroughly check themselves.


    Sun Guojing reflexively let go of the hand twisting Xie Xiangyu¡¯s collar. Xie Xiangyu straightened his collar and did up the shirt button that Sun Guojing had pulled apart violently. Then he smoothed out the wrinkles with his thumb. In the darkness, Xie Xiangyu¡¯s eyes were as bright as the stars. ¡°Believe me. I will be very useful to you.¡±


    ***


    In the dormitory of the international students.


    Jiang Fang demonstrated his experiment for Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang. Two hours ago, he registered for an account and made a post on the campus web forum. The title was quite straightforward. It was: Do you remember Hu Li?


    The forum owner didn¡¯t delete it. In other words, Hu Li wasn¡¯t an officially banned word. Still, this didn¡¯t mean much. Perhaps the person responsible for deleting the post wasn¡¯t online. Thus, Jiang Fang continued to write the post.


    Do you remember a person called Hu Li?


    He is a very quiet person. Every time he goes to class, he will sit in the back row by the window. Sometimes I will see him sitting alone with his head lowered in the South Second Cafeteria. He has no same-sex friends, no girlfriend and no special interests. He lives like an invisible person.


    So why is it that no one remembers him except for me?


    It is strange, isn¡¯t it?


    There were quite a lot of replies.


    ¡°Is the post owner writing a novel?¡±


    ¡°Lz, hurry up.¡±


    ¡°Samesexfriends.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is going on? Pretending to be a ghost?¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t reply to anyone and just continued to write the details. He completely relied on his imagination and put together various details to form a false ¡®Hu Li¡¯. It was as if this Hu Li really lived in front of him.


    It seems that I¡¯m the only person in the world who remembers him. Every time I mention to other people that there is a person called Hu Li, they will always ask me the same question.


    Who is Hu Li?


    However, I feel that my memories are also fading.


    What does he look like?


    I remember he once participated in a group activity with me.


    I pulled out the group photos and looked at them one by one, but I couldn¡¯t find him.


    Ah, perhaps he was the one taking the photos.


    Still, maybe I am going to forget who Hu Li is.


    This post was the reason why Jiang Fang was playing with his phone. Jiang Fang¡¯s words weren¡¯t very embellished. They were simple and cool but contained a bit of neuroticism.


    This so-called mystical writing method obviously caught the interest of a lot of people and they kept urging him to update. They said that it was such an exciting story. If the original poster left it unfinished then he would receive the ¡®happy corner¡¯ a hundred times. (TL: Happy corner is an action where several people carry a victim with his legs spread open, bringing his groin up against a pole or tree trunk.)


    Li Yinhang saw it and felt cold. It was because she noticed that the owner of the web forum manipulated this post that was soaring in popularity and added a ¡®hot¡¯ to it. She stammered, ¡°¡­S-So Hu Li isn¡¯t a topic that the school prohibits from discussing?¡±


    In the current situation, players couldn¡¯t leave the school so the stage of the instance was limited to Jinjing University. Hu Li was an important clue so he was unlikely to be an outsider. He could only be a student of Jinjing University.


    In the death recording, the speaker made it clear that Hu Li was dead. It was reasonable to say that if a student died at school, the school should maintain stability. Then why could the word ¡®Hu Li¡¯ be pinned in the school¡¯s official web forum and talked about in such a manner? In addition, Li Yinhang felt a strange sense of disharmony regarding this matter but she couldn¡¯t tell what it was.


    Jiang Fang told her, ¡°It is more than that.¡±


    He gave his phone to Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou scanned through the more than 200 replies to the post. ¡°This post has been published for two hours.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Nan Zhou put down the phone and stared straight at Jiang Fang. ¡°However, no one has come out to say that they know someone called Hu Li.¡±


    There was buzzing in Li Yinhang¡¯s head before she felt cold. Yes. Hu Li¡¯s name was placed in the title. Such a hot post floated on the front page for two hours but no one who knew him came out and said, ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t there a person called Hu Li in XX department?¡± Did this mean¡­ Hu Li really was completely erased from the world, becoming a forgotten ¡®non-existent¡¯ person?


    Nan Zhou frowned as if there were still things he couldn¡¯t figure out. He looked particularly beautiful when he frowned.


    Jiang Fang glanced at him. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°What is the difference between ¡®disappearing¡¯ and ¡®death¡¯?¡±


    ¡°If Hu Li is really erased by some existence then he should be forgotten in everyone¡¯s memory.¡±


    ¡°So why did the person who left the death message say he is dead?¡±


    ¡°Like you said in the post, why does only he remember?¡±


    Li Yinhang felt like her brain had become paste due to all the questions. ¡°So what do we do now?¡±


    Nan Zhou asked, ¡°On the evening of the 20th, where did we agree to meet?¡±


    Jiang Fang replied, ¡°The EastFifth Building, Activity Room 403.¡±


    Nan Zhou suggested, ¡°Tomorrow, go there to investigate.¡±


    Jiang Fang also agreed. ¡°Tomorrow is fine.¡±


    Li Yinhang had been worried that the two of them would run to 403 in the middle of the night. Upon hearing this, she quietly sighed with relief.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to wash.¡± Nan Zhou stood up and walked to Jiang Fang. He hung the ¡®Sixth Sense Cross¡¯ emitting a natural red light that had originally been around his neck onto Jiang Fang¡¯s neck. The thin silver chain that rubbed against Jiang Fang¡¯s skin apart from where the choker was made him itchy.


    This feeling of itchiness didn¡¯t just come from the silver chain. In order to fasten the chain, half of Nan Zhou¡¯s body had crossed Jiang Fang¡¯s shoulder and his slightly curly hair was slowly moving along Jiang Fang¡¯s neck.


    Jiang Fang gritted his teeth and the breath he exhaled was hot. He wondered, ¡°Why give it to me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to wash up.¡± Nan Zhou replied very straightforwardly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be easy to use if it gets wet.¡±


    Li Yinhang made the bed while Nan Zhou placed the sleeping Nanji Star at the head of the bed and went to the bathroom of the dormitory.


    The accommodation environment of the international students dormitory was significantly better than ordinary dormitories. It wasn¡¯t just a single room. It also had a TV, a balcony and a private bathroom.


    A huge, silver-plated mirror was mounted on the wall of the bathroom. The toiletries on the countertop were also very simple. There was a half used bottle of mouthwash, a man¡¯s facial cleanser and an electric shaver.


    Nan Zhou opened the lid of the mouthwash and sniffed it before testing it by taking a sip. Then his brow furrowed fiercely.


    ¡­It hurt. He hesitated over whether to spit it out or swallow it. In the end, he was worried that the sulfuric acid would burn his stomach so he spat it out. He turned on the tap and rinsed the blue mouthwash that had accumulated at the bottom of the sink.


    However, the water flowing out of the tap was extremely low in temperature. It was abnormally cold. The water drops splashed on Nan Zhou¡¯s skin and he frowned again. Suddenly¡ª


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    It was the familiar, rustling sound.


    Nan Zhou stopped moving.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    He identified the source of the sound and looked up slowly. He noticed that his reflection in the mirror seemed taller than usual. It was a bit too tall. So tall that he reached the top of the mirror. So tall¡­ that his neck was bent to one side by the top of the mirror.


    The expression on this face didn¡¯t belong to Nan Zhou. The corners of the mouth were bent upwards. He kept such a smile while his head pressed against the edge of the mirror, becoming more and more crooked. Once the angle between his neck and head in the mirror was around 45 degrees, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t hesitate to throw a punch.


    Crack¡ª


    The strange shadow in the mirror disappeared. Nan Zhou¡¯s face returned to normal. It was just that his face was split into five pieces and at first glance, it was rather strange. Nan Zhou found that the water had recovered its normal water temperature and simply cleaned a small cut on the back of his finger.


    The moment the clear sound of glass cracking was heard, Jiang Fang rushed over and appeared at the door, gasping slightly. Nan Zhou turned around. It was the first time he had seen Jiang Fang lose his calm demeanor and he found it novel for a moment.


    ¡°Fortunately, I gave you the cross.¡± Nan Zhou shook the residual water off his hand. ¡°Otherwise, it would be a waste if it was used on me.¡±


    Jiang Fang struggled to control his expression. ¡°You¡­ did you hear the ¡®sha¡¯ sound?¡±


    Nan Zhou was a bit surprised by Jiang Fang¡¯s judgment and speed of analysis. He never mentioned to Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang that he had heard the ¡®sha¡¯ sound twice. It was once at the basketball court when he had just entered the instance. The second time was when they went to find Xie Xiangyu. He stood in the corridor and heard it again.


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    He continued lightly, ¡°Yinhang heard it once and I heard it twice. The name of the instance mentions it so I thought that I should be in the most danger.¡±


    After becoming clear about this point, Nan Zhou decided that he could react to the danger and it was wasteful to put the cross that could predict danger on his body. It was best to put it on Jiang Fang, who had never heard the strange sound, in order to play the best protective role.


    Jiang Fang heard Nan Zhou¡¯s words and his breathing became a bit heavy. There was a certain strong emotion surging in his voice like he was about to lose control. ¡°You are like this. What should I do if something happens to you?¡±


    Nan Zhou was puzzled. ¡°Didn¡¯t something happen?¡±


    Then he spoke to Li Yinhang, who had heard the sound but didn¡¯t dare approach due to the invisible emotional vortex between the two people. ¡°Yinhang, you stand further away.¡±


    Then he stood in front of the immobile Jiang Fang who had long been filled with anger. He raised his hand to loosen his tie. He removed his neat school uniform, revealing the perfect lower abdomen and muscle lines of his arms. ¡°Brother Fang, look and see if there are any changes on my body.¡±


    The author has something to say:


    Nan Zhou is playing with fire in various ways.

 CH 41

    Before taking off his clothes, Nan Zhou knew that his actions would inevitably expose his scars. Nevertheless, he knew that Jiang Fang had a very good personality and was gentlemanly. He wouldn¡¯t ask questions that crossed the line if he knew Nan Zhou was unwilling to disclose the secret. It didn¡¯t matter if Jiang Fang saw them.


    Jiang Fang really acted like Nan Zhou thought. He saw the weird scars all over Nan Zhou¡¯s body and didn¡¯t ask much. He stepped into the bathroom and stood between Li Yinhang and Nan Zhou, not forgetting to say, ¡°Yinhang, stay where you can see me and don¡¯t walk around.¡±


    Li Yinhang knew how to read the air. She didn¡¯t say anything and perfectly carried out Jiang Fang¡¯s instructions. She picked an angle where she could only see Jiang Fang.


    Jiang Fang got down on one knee in front of Nan Zhou and looked up at him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you taking off your pants?¡±


    Nan Zhou let out an ¡®oh¡¯. He felt no shame as he slid his soft slacks down to his ankles. Jiang Fang saw the underwear printed with small, light brown squirrel patterns and couldn¡¯t hold back. He pressed his elbows against his knees and laughed heartily.


    Nan Zhou thought that he laughed very well. His appreciation and yearning for beautiful things made him instinctively reach out to touch Jiang Fang¡¯s face. ¡°¡­Check first.¡±


    Jiang Fang placed one hand on his waist. ¡°Okay, Teacher Nan.¡±


    However¡­


    Jiang Fang¡¯s inspection seemed to be a far cry from the ¡®inspection¡¯ imagined by Nan Zhou. He was used to fights and rough treatment. He just had trouble digesting gentle, serious and non-provocative touches.


    Once Jiang Fang¡¯s fingers brushed against the radiating scars on Nan Zhou¡¯s waist, Nan Zhou gritted his teeth a bit uncomfortably. He let out a low hum in a nasal tone. ¡°¡­Um.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s fingertips had thin and even calluses. To make matters worse, a thin layer of static electricity remained on his fine cashmere sweater. Every touch from Jiang Fang caused a small current.


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t ask about the origin of the wound. His fingertips just frequently rubbed against the edge of the wound with a hint of silent doubt. Nan Zhou refused to speak so Jiang Fang kept touching his scar. The action was gentle and without any lewd meaning. It was as if he was moving the ripples on the water surface in an ordinary way. This action seemed to resonate with Nan Zhou¡¯s body, making him unable to bear the impact of the subtle electric currents. At the same time, a small heat wave surged in his abdominal cavity.


    Nan Zhou really couldn¡¯t stand it and whispered softly, ¡°¡­Not that one.¡±


    Jiang Fang imitated his sound after realizing. ¡°Ah¡­ understood.¡±


    Then he gently ordered, ¡°Turn around.¡±


    Nan Zhou turned around. The round squirrel tail pattern on the back was exposed to Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes. Jiang Fang let out a chuckle while pretending not to see the staggered scars on the back. He didn¡¯t want to make Nan Zhou uncomfortable any more. After a brief inspection, he held Nan Zhou¡¯s wrist and looked at the ring finger that was scratched by the glass.


    ¡°Put your clothes on.¡± Jiang Fang handed him the still warm clothes. ¡°Come out and I¡¯ll give you simple treatment.¡±


    Li Yinhang determined that Nan Zhou was dressed and carefully raised her head. ¡°Is it okay?¡±


    Jiang Fang took out the medicine box from the corner of the bookshelf while he rubbed the fingers of his other hand that had touched Nan Zhou¡¯s body. He seemed to be trying to retain the trace of warmth. ¡±There are no wounds on him. He should just be scared.¡±


    Just then, Nan Zhou walked out of the bathroom. There was no look of fright on his face. There was no respect for the ghost. Nan Zhou double checked with Jiang Fang. ¡°Are you sure I don¡¯t have anything extra on me?¡±


    Ktfgf kjr j yla bo gfugfa lc tlr kbgvr. Aljcu Mjcu rtbbx tlr tfjv. Ktfgf kjr cbatlcu yea biv rmjgr.


    Ol Tlctjcu ofia atja rbwfatlcu kjr kgbcu klat Rjc Itbe¡¯r atlcxlcu. ¡°Prc¡¯a la yfaafg atja sbe vbc¡¯a tjnf jcsatlcu?¡±


    ¡°Ktf qfgrbc ktb ifoa atf vfjat gfmbgvlcu rtbeiv¡¯nf yffc mtjrfv ys atlr utbra atja wjxfr j gerailcu rbecv.¡± Rjc Itbe ribkis rjlv, ¡°Lf kjr bynlberis rb rmjgfv lc atf gfmbgvlcu. Tfa lo atf utbra lr gfjiis ilxf atlr jcv tjr cb ifatjilas ja jii, kts kjr tf rb rmjgfv?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She decided to give the bigshot the definition of the term ¡®lethality¡¯ for normal people. She asked Nan Zhou, ¡°Teacher Nan, what did you see just now?¡±


    Nan Zhou held out his hand to Jiang Fang to clean the wound and thought about it carefully. ¡°My head in the mirror suddenly became crooked.¡±


    He gestured. ¡°In this way, I leaned against the edge of the frame and tilted to one side.¡±


    Li Yinhang listened to this description and felt cold.


    She told him, ¡°¡­Normally speaking, this matter itself is very lethal.¡±


    Nan Zhou was confused. ¡°The ghost didn¡¯t cause any substantial harm. Is there any need to be so scared?¡±


    Li Yinhang succinctly explained. ¡°The mental injury is the most lethal.¡±


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Why did the game say that?¡±


    He repeated the game¡¯s requirements. ¡°Don¡¯t go crazy and survive until the game time is over.¡±


    ¡°If the ghost can only cause mental damage, the instance just needs to stipulate ¡®don¡¯t go crazy¡¯ and ¡®don¡¯t let your san value reach zero.¡¯ The emphasis on ¡®survive¡¯ indicates that the ghost can cause substantial damage to the players.¡±


    Li Yinhang abruptly stopped talking. She realized that Nan Zhou¡¯s ability to think of this meant that he, who had positive contact with the unknown ghost, was now in the most danger among the three of them. Li Yinhang was a bit blocked after discovering this and she whispered, ¡°Have you thought of a solution to the trouble?¡±


    ¡°Not for the time being.¡± As he answered the question, Nan Zhou was examining the pink band-aid with rabbit heads that was stuck on his finger. He noticed the worry in Li Yinhang¡¯s voice so while touching the band-aid, he tried to reassure Li Yinhang who was more nervous than him. ¡°In fact, I¡¯m a bit scared.¡±


    Li Yinhang glanced at his still garbled san value bar. She asked, ¡°¡­Do you want to drink milk tea?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked up seriously. ¡°Can it be delivered to the school?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Yes, you are scared.


    In the end, they decided to order milk tea tomorrow.


    There was only one bed in the single rooms of the international students dormitory. Jiang Fang gave the bed to Li Yinhang. Li Yinhang wanted to refuse but Jiang Fang interrupted her. ¡°If I let a girl sleep on the ground then I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to fall asleep.¡±


    Li Yinhang laughed dryly. ¡°Hahaha¡± In fact, wasn¡¯t it because this bed couldn¡¯t fit two people?


    She tucked herself in tightly, making sure it was tight enough to prevent a ghost from doing anything. Then she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. Fuck this. It was 120 hours and this would decrease every hour. They must be able to survive. Li Yinhang forced herself to sleep.


    Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou lay on a makeshift bed padded with two layers of soft blankets with Nanji Star asleep in between the pillows. There was silence for a moment. Nan Zhou looked at the silhouette of Jiang Fang¡¯s side face. ¡°Are you angry?¡±


    Jiang Fang closed his eyes. ¡°¡­No.¡±


    ¡°You are. You actually deliberately pressed on my wound.¡±


    Jiang Fang opened his eyes without answering.


    Nan Zhou sighed softly. ¡°I won¡¯t hide it from you in the future. I am used to doing things by myself so I always want to see the information for myself while not sharing it.¡±


    Nan Zhou added, ¡°I will learn to share it with you and Yinhang in the future.¡±


    Jiang Fang was still silent. Nan Zhou had expressed what he wanted to say in one breath. He didn¡¯t know what else had to be done and remained silent. He intuitively understood that Jiang Fang knew his motive for concealing the rustling he heard twice before. Therefore, his explanation was basically equivalent to wasting time. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t know why he had to waste unnecessary time and repeat his thoughts to Jiang Fang.


    Thus, he pursed his mouth and thought about the reason. After a while, a warm hand suddenly reached out from the side and gently held his wrist. Jiang Fang¡¯s low voice was heard in his ears. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it. Sleep.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s uncomfortable heart calmed down. ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    You are paying attention to me. I¡¯m a bit happy.


    He said, ¡°Yes, good night.¡±


    However, the hand that was still holding his wrist didn¡¯t let go. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t try to break free. His concealment had made Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang unhappy. He felt he had a duty to comfort them well. In addition, he had other things to explain to Jiang Fang.


    Nan Zhou remembered the words that the man had muttered in the death recording.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have gone there. That place doesn¡¯t exist so we can¡¯t exist¡ª¡±


    This touched a secret string in Nan Zhou¡¯s heart. Nan Zhou turned to look at Jiang Fang again and his voice was solemn. ¡°Brother Fang.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    Nan Zhou told him, ¡°If something really happens to me, please work hard and don¡¯t forget my existence.¡±


    In the deep darkness, Jiang Fang was silent at first. Then he gave a vague laugh. Immediately afterwards, he turned his head and fixed his eyes on Nan Zhou. His pale eyes borrowed the light from the moonlight outside and they seemed to contain a complete galaxy of stars. ¡°I never want to forget you. Even if you have forgotten yourself, I will help you remember.¡±


    Nan Zhou got such a commitment and his heart was more stable. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    He calmed down and tiredness poured in.


    Jiang Fang sensed his growing tiredness and whispered, ¡°Sleep.¡±


    Nan Zhou used the coldest and most indifferent tone to say words that warmed and softened a person¡¯s heart. ¡°I said good night.¡±


    Jiang Fang understood this tone and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Then I will also say good night, Teacher Nan.¡±


    Jiang Fang felt the breathing against the pillow become stable and turned sideways. He faced Nan Zhou¡¯s peaceful silhouette in the moonlight and whispered, ¡°¡­You don¡¯t know.¡±


    When you were very young, you stayed with me like this.


    Outside the door was the endless noise of the neighbor¡¯s baby, my mother sobbing while drinking wine and the depressing melody played by the poor violinist in the attic.


    The world was noisy but I hid you in my hand.


    At that time, my heart was as quiet as it is now.


    However, you don¡¯t know anything now.


    Jiang Fang gently placed one hand on Nan Zhou¡¯s wrist and felt the strong beating of his pulse. The other hand was inserted into the pocket of Jiang Fang¡¯s pajama pants. There was a folded paper lying there which recorded the fact that Nan Zhou concealed clues and took private risks today.


    Jiang Fang spent 300 points to open a new storage space. He threw this paper into it to keep it safe. Jiang Fang would remember Nan Zhou¡¯s existence and everything about him.


    ¡ªIncluding his mistakes. Jiang Fang would remember it all for him. Nothing would be left out.

 CH 42

    Maybe it was due to seeing a ghost before going to bed but Nan Zhou had a dream again. When he was a child, he was taken to the hospital by his mother for a vaccination. It was the BCG vaccine or something else. He had forgotten. For any child, the slender needle, the strong smell of disinfectant and the mist sprayed from the needle tube were excellent materials for nightmares.


    Nan Zhou had grape-like eyes as he hid in her arms and obediently handed his arm to the nurse. He was scared but he didn¡¯t want his mother to worry. Therefore, the young child hid in her arms and repeated in a soft and well-behaved voice, ¡°Mom, I love you, I love you.¡±


    In the dream, Nan Zhou¡¯s mother was dressed fashionably but she had a light and peculiar smell around her body. She embraced the slightly trembling Nan Zhou and told the nurse, ¡°The child is just disobedient.¡±


    She lowered her head and spoke to Nan Zhou in a discontented manner. ¡°Why are you crying? You aren¡¯t promising at all.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked up in confusion, trying to explain that he wasn¡¯t crying. However, he found himself unable to see his mother¡¯s face.


    ¡­Then Nan Zhou woke up. It took 40 minutes for Nan Zhou to slowly emerge from the mud-like dream. Once he calmed down, the clock hanging in the international students dormitory told him that it was around 4 o¡¯clock in the morning.


    The room was dark. Only the balcony was illuminated by the moonlight. The other objects were immersed in deep darkness like sleeping, dormant giant monsters. Nan Zhou turned his head to the side. He found that Jiang Fang was actually holding onto his wrist. He didn¡¯t grip it. It was just placed lightly on top. This made Nan Zhou think that Jiang Fang was listening to his pulse to fall asleep.


    Nan Zhou watched Jiang Fang and curiously traced this person¡¯s eyes and eyebrows, wondering why Jiang Fang did this and thinking that Jiang Fang was really good-looking. However, Jiang Fang was very sensitive. Before Nan Zhou could watch for a long time, Jiang Fang opened his eyes.


    Nan Zhou had been counting the eyelashes. Once Jiang Fang opened his eyes, his count became a mess. He couldn¡¯t help feeling regretful.


    Jiang Fang stared at him. ¡°Mister?¡±


    Nan Zhou was quick to react. ¡°Please.¡±


    After confirming each other¡¯s mental state, Jiang Fang turned over and got closer so it was easier to talk to Nan Zhou. ¡°Why are you awake so early?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°I had a dream.¡±


    ¡°What dream?¡±


    ¡°I remembered it when I first woke up. I don¡¯t remember it now.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to sleep a bit longer?¡±


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°Yes¡± and closed his eyes. Five minutes passed. Suddenly, Nan Zhou asked a strange question. ¡°Did you cry when you got an injection as a child?¡±


    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t know why Nan Zhou had this question but he answered truthfully. ¡°No.¡±


    Every time he got an injection, his father would take him to eat what he liked. So every time he needed to get an injection, he would urge the nurse to finish it quickly.


    Nan Zhou whispered, ¡°I didn¡¯t cry either.¡±


    Then he stopped. After ending this strange topic, Nan Zhou gently held the awake Nanji Star who had come to rub against his face and placed Nanji Star on his stomach. Nanji Star lay on Nan Zhou¡¯s abdominal muscles and spread himself out comfortably.


    Before falling asleep again, Nan Zhou seemed to hear Jiang Fang¡¯s gentle voice. ¡°I know you didn¡¯t cry.¡±


    Nan Zhou fell asleep before he could react. Still, this sentence was particularly comforting for him. The result of this peace of mind was that it was already 7:30 when Nan Zhou woke up again. He was awakened by the vibrating of someone mentioning him in the group chat on his mobile phone.


    At this time, Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang were up. Jiang Fang was leaning against the door of the bathroom, watching Li Yinhang who was washing up as well as the sleeping Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou found that Jiang Fang¡¯s bed was still warm when he woke up. Thus, he woke up with the warm residual temperature and took out his phone.


    Nan Zhou read the messages for a while before abruptly sitting up. Jiang Fang¡¯s ¡®good morning¡¯ was blocked by this fierce movement. He wondered, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Rjc Itbe rmgbiifv atgbeut atf mtja ibu lc j cbnlmf wjccfg yfobgf gjlrlcu tlr tfjv. ¡°Ktf jgmtlafmaegf vfqjgawfca tjr j wlv-afgw fzjw abvjs. Ktf alwf obg atf fzjw kjr mtjcufv ogbw 2 q.w. ab 9 j.w. Ca atlr qblca, atf fzjw mijrrgbbw gfwjlcr ecmtjcufv. Pa lr gbbw 201 bc atf Sjra Mbegat Delivlcu.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± This was probably the real ghost story.


    He wondered, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t the mid-term exams be over?¡±


    Wasn¡¯t the gathering of seven people in Room 403 seven days ago to celebrate the end of the mid-term exams?


    Nan Zhou explained, ¡°The teacher for this course was on a business trip some time ago and the exam was postponed.¡±


    Li Yinhang stuck out her head, the disposable toothbrush bought from the supermarket yesterday in her mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t go. It isn¡¯t good for the three of us to be separated.¡±


    Li Yinhang had a reason for her words but Nan Zhou had his own reasons.


    ¡°The score for this exam accounts for 15% of the final mark.¡± Nan Zhou told her. ¡°If this ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯ comes back, what will he do at the end of the term?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­..¡± She defaulted to the idea that this was an instance that revolved around the players and everything would automatically reset after 120 hours. Even if ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯ of the architecture department could come back, he might not live for long after being tangled up with such a terrifying, unknown power.


    Jiang Fang said, ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Li Yinhang had spent a long time with them and she dared to express her views. She disagreed. ¡°He met that type of thing yesterday. How can we leave him alone?¡±


    She naturally felt that the only trustworthy people in this instance were each other. The other so-called classmates were just characters in the instance and they were all fake. Even if the ¡®students¡¯ sat in the examination room with him, Nan Zhou would be alone.


    Nan Zhou respected her opinion. He nodded and agreed with her judgment of danger. Immediately afterwards, he put forward his own thoughts. ¡°Then what if this is also part of the role playing?¡±


    ¡°The instance set the people on the same team to have a relatively close relationship. For example, Brother Fang and I are sex partners and you are my friend so it is reasonable for us to stay in his dormitory.¡±


    ¡°Then what if you do something that goes against your character setting? I think it will accelerate the danger and in the worst case scenario, affect the final score.¡±


    ¡°It is just like the first instance we played. If we didn¡¯t finish the daily tasks set out in the instance then we wouldn¡¯t have received the 500 points in the end.¡±


    Li Yinhang wanted to talk but stopped. ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She understood the truth. Just, why could he say the words ¡®sex partners¡¯ so easily?


    ***


    Nan Zhou still decided to take the exam. Due to Nan Zhou¡¯s reminder, the three of them checked their respective schedules for today. Li Yinhang had two compulsory courses this morning and two elective courses in the afternoon that could be skipped. She had the courage to go to them.


    Meanwhile, Jiang Fang had seen the class schedule for foreign students on his phone yesterday. They had relatively few classes. They were mainly lectures and group exchanges. There happened to be an academic lecture this morning. Yesterday, he had been considering whether to go or not. Now Nan Zhou¡¯s speech convinced him.


    The three of them separated and agreed to meet at noon in the South Second Cafeteria. Nan Zhou carried Nanji Star who was happily gnawing on half a banana and returned to Nan Zhou¡¯s dormitory. The dormitory door was open. His three roommates were eating breakfast. As they ate, they read their notes intensively and complained.


    ¡°I thought we wouldn¡¯t have to take the exam if Old Yuan didn¡¯t come back.¡±


    ¡°Who said no?¡±


    ¡°How many chapters are you short of?¡±


    ¡°It is more than a few chapters. Who can lend me their notes to see?¡±


    ¡°Yesterday, I borrowed Zhang Jun¡¯s copy but I didn¡¯t have time to read them. I thought the exam was in the afternoon so I was hoping to look in the morning¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou opened the door silently and walked in like a cat. He confirmed the location of his bed and desk and then went to the bathroom. He judged which personal belongings were his through the wetness of the toothbrush bristles and the surface of the towels.


    Ordinary dorms had their beds and tables separated. The beds were bunk beds while the tables were lined up on the opposite side of the bed. Nan Zhou sat at the table closest to the door. He sat down at the table and prepared to search through his things.


    As he was opening a drawer, the back of his hand accidentally bumped into one of his roommate NPCs who had placed his arm against the side of the table and was passionately flipping through a book.


    ¡°Oh, fuck me!¡± The man felt the touch and was shocked. He turned around, holding his chest with fright while exclaiming, ¡°Nan Zhou, are you a cat? Why do you make no sound when walking?¡±


    Nan Zhou was about to explore the drawer when he heard these words. He thought of the post that Jiang Fang sent yesterday. Hu Li was forgotten by everyone and evaporated from their hearts like green smoke. Nan Zhou thought about it and answered, ¡°I¡¯ve been here since a long time ago.¡±


    The person ignored this sense of strangeness and asked eagerly, ¡°Nan Zhou, have you studied? I will sit next to you when you want to study¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou asked back, ¡°Which topic is the test on?¡±


    Roommate A, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Roommate B, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Roommate C, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Fuck.


    Roommate A collapsed and shouted, ¡°Ahhhhh Foreign Architectural History!¡±


    They saw that Nan Zhou was like this and started to feel anxious for Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou just hummed and picked out the thick textbook for architectural history from the shelf. The next second, he didn¡¯t even turn over. He slumped down and closed his eyes as he used the textbook as a pillow.


    His roommates, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It is over. I give up on myself.


    ***


    Nan Zhou handed the papers in early and looked at his watch as he came out of the examination room. It was 10:30. Brother Fang should still be listening to the lectures and Yinhang was in class.


    The East Fourth Building that Nan Zhou¡¯s examination room was on was close to the East Fifth building. He decided to go to Room 403 first. Yet before setting off, Nan Zhou braked in time. He remembered how Jiang Fang was angry last night so he took out his phone and sent a WeChat message to Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang to announce his plan.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to Room 403.¡±


    Li Yinhang replied in seconds. ¡°Wait for us to go together.¡±


    Jiang Fang pulled them into a group. In the group, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t reply for a long time. In the classroom, Li Yinhang became restless. She typed and asked Jiang Fang, ¡°He wouldn¡¯t have gone by himself, right?¡±


    Jiang Fang answered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Wait for him.¡±


    Two minutes later, Nan Zhou¡¯s WeChat message arrived. ¡°If three people go and something happens, none of us can escape. If I go alone then it will be safer.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Okay, she was persuaded. She had to wait for Jiang Fang to come up with a reason to persuade Nan Zhou.


    However, Jiang Fang seemed mute. Approximately five minutes passed before Jiang Fang finally sent two words. ¡°Look up.¡±


    Li Yinhang studied these two words for a long time. She didn¡¯t understand. She raised her head blankly and glanced at the surroundings before enlightenment struck.


    Meanwhile, Nan Zhou was sitting obediently on the stairs of the fourth floor and he raised his head according to the instructions. Jiang Fang stood in front of the sun with his hand in his pocket. It was just enough to prevent Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes from being pierced by the sunlight. The sunlight gave his figure a golden glow and the natural silver hair also seemed to be sprinkled with gold.


    Jiang Fang gently sighed with relief and adjusted his breathing to pretend that he hadn¡¯t run all the way just now. He smiled and told Nan Zhou, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ***


    On the other side, Li Yinhang sat in the classroom and gripped her phone sadly. So what did it mean for Jiang Fang to pull her into the group? Was it to trick a single dog to come in and kill them? Li Yinhang was grieving when she heard a faint sound.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    Li Yinhang paled immediately. She pinched her palms and started breathing quickly. She had heard this sound when she went to the cafeteria for breakfast in the morning. At the time, Nan Zhou asked her to choose a crowded place to sit in the classroom.


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t think too much. After all, daylight gave people a sense of security. Now this false feeling was shattered to pieces, revealing the horrible truth inside.


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t dare look at the people next to her or to gasp too loudly. Sharp numbness spread from her shoulders to her back and all the way to her thighs. Her imagination reached the peak. She was afraid that the noise she made would be too heavy and that when the person next to her turned their head, she would see a head without any facial features.


    Li Yinhang trembled and took out her phone, trying to tell Nan Zhou that she heard the sound for the third time¡­


    However, once she turned on her phone, the group chat of the three people where they had just conversed was blank. The group name was still there but what entered her vision was a message sent by an unknown person.


    ¡°Are you looking for me?¡±


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t know how she exited the current chat box. She moved her stiff fingers and chose the solo chat with Nan Zhou to explain her experience to him.


    ¡°Are you looking for me?¡±


    No matter what chat box she clicked into, they all said the same thing.


    ¡°Are you looking for me?¡±


    ¡°Are you looking for me?¡±


    ¡°Are you looking for me?¡±


    ¡­¡­


    Li Yinhang got up. ¡°Teacher!¡±


    The associate professor giving the lecture turned back in surprise and saw Li Yinhang who looked like she had seen a ghost. She staggered like she had hypoglycemia. She squeezed out a word. ¡°Infirmary¡­¡±


    The associate professor¡¯s doubt turned to worry. ¡°Do you want a classmate to accompany you?¡±


    Li Yinhang hurriedly answered, ¡°No.¡± She grabbed her bag and ran out the back door.


    The moment she rushed out of the classroom, Li Yinhang aimed the snake-like, cold mobile phone in her hand at the window that was directly opposite the classroom door and threw it straight down!

 CH 43

    Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang arrived at the door of 403 and met the Sun Guojing ¡®Longtan team¡¯ trio. Enemies met on a narrow road. The trio¡¯s expressions were very ugly. They glanced at each other and decided to ignore Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang and kept picking at the lock.


    Nan Zhou greeted them. ¡°Hello.¡±


    The trio, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Hello you fucking ghost.


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    The trio worked hard to treat Nan Zhou as air, trying to escape yesterday¡¯s humiliation.


    Nan Zhou stood behind them and whispered like a demon, ¡°My thieving skill is 1.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡±


    Jiang Fang almost laughed.


    The trio, ¡°¡­..¡±


    Sun Guojing cursed and looked back. ¡°What the hell do you want to do?¡±¡¯


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°Open the lock.¡±


    Sun Guojing took his brothers away with a curse. ¡°Then you come! You come!¡±


    As Nan Zhou crouched down and looked at the keyhole of Room 403, Jiang Fang walked to the side of Room 403. A transparent class schedule shelf was embedded on the wall next to the door. Inside was the prepared classroom schedule. It clearly marked the day of the week, the department, the class that would use this room and the person in charge of the room.


    The incident happened on the night of the 21st. That was last Friday. In this Room 403, the only academic class was a course from the physical education department. It was ¡®Principles of Motion¡¯ and the class time happened to be every Friday afternoon.


    Jiang Fang glanced at Nan Zhou who was crouching down and preparing to open the lock. Nan Zhou was also looking at this piece of paper. Nan Zhou exchanged looks with Jiang Fang before getting up.


    Sun Guojing saw Nan Zhou leaving the door lock and couldn¡¯t help mocking him. ¡°If you can¡¯t open it then say it early on. Why act pretentiously?¡±


    Nan Zhou walked to him and held out a hand. ¡°The key.¡±


    The trio exclaimed in unison, ¡°Huh?¡±


    Jiang Fang leaned against the wall and explained for Nan Zhou. ¡°The last class seven days ago was for the physical education department. If we held a party to play board games in Room 403 in the evening then it is most likely you who initiated it. Look through the keys on your body. Do you have the one for 403?¡±


    Sun Guojing, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Sun Guojing was convinced a bit but he also couldn¡¯t lose face.


    Last night, Xie Xiangyu had fallen asleep on the remaining empty bed comfortably. The three of them had gathered together in fear and horror and started to study the chat records in their phones over and over again.


    They did discuss the party last Friday in the dormitory group chat. This party was planned by the three of them to celebrate the end of the mid-term exams but the key wasn¡¯t mentioned. The trio took it for granted that the door of 403 was unlocked all year round so they could freely enter and leave. Then when they came to investigate today, they saw that Room 403 was locked and finally decided to pick the lock. They didn¡¯t match the schedule on the wall to their predicament.


    Meanwhile, Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang just took one look and¡­


    Sun Guojing once again thought about joining forces with Nan Zhou. Then he remembered what Xie Xiangyu told him yesterday and couldn¡¯t help backing off. Yesterday, the terrible Sun Guojing had made such a suggestion to Xie Xiangyu. If the seven people worked together and exchanged information with each other, wasn¡¯t there a higher chance of survival?


    ¡°Join forces?¡± Xie Xiangyu raised an eyebrow at the words. ¡°If there is a really important clue in 403 and they got it first and hid it, are you sure you can beat them?¡±


    At this point, Xie Xiangyu stopped and smiled subtly. ¡°Of course, people won¡¯t be so bad. At the critical moment of life and death, we still have to talk about cooperation, right?¡±


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s warm words made Sun Guojing not dare to gamble. However, Xie Xiangyu came and only saw Nan Zhou robbing them. What he saw was one-sided information. In fact, they were the ones to act against Nan Zhou first.


    Should they work with Nan Zhou now? Could they believe in Nan Zhou? Would this group really believe them? If he was Nan Zhou and he encountered someone who tried to act against him while performing the task, would he be generous enough to disregard previous suspicions and share information without reservation?


    Sun Guojing exchanged looks with the other two, took out a bunch of keys from his bag and showed it symbolically to Nan Zhou. He gave an error message.


    ¡°Qf mtfmxfv la j ibcu alwf jub. Qf vbc¡¯a tjnf atf xfs ab bqfc atf vbbg bc er.¡± Coafg atf tegglfv vlrqijs, Vec Xebplcu kjr jybea ab raeoo atf xfsr lcab tlr qbmxfa. Lf qijccfv ab wjxf j mjreji fzmerf ab rfcv atf akb qfbqif jkjs. ¡°Tbe mjc ub olcv atf uejgv ab jrx.¡±


    Nan Zhou held his wrist. ¡°Wait a minute.¡±


    Sun Guojing was just beaten up by Nan Zhou yesterday. HIs muscle memories still remained. His body shrank back and he snarled, ¡°What?¡±


    Nan Zhou told him, ¡°Among your keys, there is one with a shape similar to this keyhole.¡±


    Sun Guojing, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Fuck. What were these eyes? Was he a cat?!


    Meanwhile, Jiang Fang read some other information from the different expressions of the three people. He said, ¡°You didn¡¯t sleep very well last night.¡±


    The three people exchanged looks. They could all read the exhaustion of at least four or five hours of insomnia on each other¡¯s faces.


    ¡°Why?¡± Jiang Fang wondered. ¡°What happened last night?¡±


    The three men uniformly shut up. They hadn¡¯t reached a consensus to cooperate with Cube Boat and they were naturally unwilling to tell what they knew and what happened to them. However, Jiang Fang didn¡¯t seem to need a particularly clear answer. He asked, ¡°Did you hear the rustling sound?¡±


    The trio, ¡°¡­..¡±


    Jiang Fang continued. ¡°Who was the first to hear it?¡±


    His eyes fell on Luo Ge¡¯s bewildered face. ¡°Was it you?¡±


    Then his gaze shifted to Qi Tianyun who pursed his lips and remained silent. ¡°Was it you?¡±


    After that, Jiang Fang saw Sun Guojing¡¯s tense facial muscles and nodded confidently. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s you.¡±


    Sun Guojing¡¯s expression changed slightly. ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    This man¡­


    Jiang Fang wondered, ¡°Where did you hear it the first time?¡±


    The breathing of the three people was a bit uneven.


    ¡°The classroom?¡±


    ¡°The athletics field?¡±


    ¡°The sports warehouse?¡±


    ¡°The dormitory?¡±


    Jiang Fang noticed Sun Guojing¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple obviously moving and confirmed it. ¡°Yes, the dormitory.¡±


    ¡°Did you hear the sha sha once? Three times?¡±


    Sun Guojing¡¯s pupils slightly enlarged.


    Jiang Fang nodded gracefully and confirmed it again. ¡°Yes, you heard it three times. Then you should¡¯ve seen the ghost.¡±


    Sun Guojing, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang continued. ¡°It was last night, right?¡± This was why they looked like they didn¡¯t get enough sleep.


    ¡°However, there wasn¡¯t any big noise from the boy¡¯s dormitory last night. You didn¡¯t rush to investigate overnight out of fear. This doesn¡¯t fit your personality. Is it because one of you dissuaded the others? Or did an outsider stop you?¡±


    The trio were overwhelmed by the rapid and dense questioning. The slightly smarter Qi Tianyun tried to control his facial expressions but it was useless.


    Jiang Fang casually said, ¡°Xie Xiangyu¡­¡±


    Once this name was mentioned, their expressions weren¡¯t confused. Rather, there was a hint of panic like their secret had been pierced.


    Jiang Fang determined it. ¡°Oh, it was Xie Xiangyu who looked for you.¡±


    ¡°He is working with you.¡±


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t he come?¡±


    ¡°Is he in class?¡±


    ¡°He told you that he will give it a try. If he follows the normal life trajectory, follows the basic requirements of the role playing and doesn¡¯t collapse his character setting, will he still hear the rustling? Thus, he went to class and had the three of you come here first to take a look at the situation of 403?¡±


    The three people¡¯s faces were blue and red. It was so wonderful that not a single word could be said.


    Jiang Fang humbly stopped. ¡°Thank you for your cooperation.¡±


    The trio involuntarily got the chills. All the secrets in their hearts were easily hooked out and their gaze toward Jiang Fang changed. Cooperation would be too barren. Where did this person come from?


    Nan Zhou cocked his head and secretly gave Jiang Fang a thumbs up. He didn¡¯t think this was enough so he followed up with another one.


    The smile on Jiang Fang¡¯s face was very genuine. ¡°Thank you for the compliment.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right.¡±


    Jiang Fang turned to look at the trio, smiling in a gentlemanly manner. ¡°Excuse me, can you let Teacher Nan borrow the keys to take a look?¡±


    Sun Guojing was in a muddled state as he handed over the keys. Everything they encountered before they came and everything they intended to do was guessed by Jiang Fang. It was meaningless for them to keep acting as rogues.


    The moment the keys were handed over to Nan Zhou, they all heard a fierce running sound coming from the stairs. Sun Guojing¡¯s hairs stood up and he pulled his two brothers back a few steps.


    Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t very nervous. Jiang Fang even made a joke. ¡°Everyone can hear it, indicating that the danger isn¡¯t great.¡±


    Then the two people saw Li Yinhang running up the stairs in a sweaty manner and their expressions sank. Li Yinhang noticed the group of familiar faces in front of Room 403 and showed an expression of ¡®excuse me.¡¯ However, Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou saw her face and blurted out, ¡°Your safe words.¡±


    Li Yinhang ran near, stopped and gasped for breath. ¡°Guangming Bank, operator 21012 is at your service.¡±


    The Longtan trio, ¡°¡­¡­¡± What the fuck was this secret code for social animals?


    Thanks to the confirmation of the safe words and her description of what happened to her, Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang could be sure that Li Yinhang¡¯s mental state wasn¡¯t too bad. Li Yinhang herself was a bit annoyed as she explained what happened to her. If Nan Zhou had encountered such a thing, he would probably use his phone to immediately chat with that ghost. She was still too impulsive.


    However, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t blame her in the slightest. He patted her on the shoulder and calmly said, ¡°You worked hard.¡±


    Li Yinhang was touched by her teammate and finally had a real sense of escaping from death. She sniffed and felt a bit aggrieved. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m fine. I¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou interrupted. ¡°There is one more thing here that I want to trouble you with.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Brother, can you let me finish inciting my feelings first?


    Nan Zhou whispered a few words to Li Yinhang. Li Yinhang got a task and barely raised her spirits. ¡°I¡¯ll go right away.¡±


    Nan Zhou went to Jiang Fang again. ¡°Brother, you go with her. Let her do something.¡±


    This way, she wouldn¡¯t think about the horrible thing she went through and would be better off. Jiang Fang naturally understood Nan Zhou¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°You alone¡­¡± His voice trailed off as he looked at these three stunned people. It seemed that Nan Zhou being alone wasn¡¯t a problem. Jiang Fang went down the stairs with Li Yinhang whose sweat hadn¡¯t completely disappeared. Nan Zhou took the keys from Sun Guojing and selected the one he had his eye on.


    ¡°The gathering was initiated by your group.¡± Nan Zhou inquired, ¡°So who invited Yinhang?¡±


    Sun Guojing still wanted to stubbornly resist. Then the next words from Nan Zhou completely dispelled this mentality. ¡°Do you want Brother Fang to ask you or do you want me to ask you?¡±


    Qi Tianyun was aware of the situation and immediately said, ¡°We don¡¯t have the contact information for any Yinhang.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked back. ¡°It is our Li Yinhang.¡±


    Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t help being stunned when he used the word ¡®our¡¯. Why was he infected with Brother Fang¡¯s wording? Nan Zhou was trying to figure out this small problem while Sun Guojing, Qi Tianyun and Luo Ge exchanged looks.


    ¡­Forget it, cooperate.


    Sun Guojing answered, ¡°We don¡¯t have the name Li Yinhang in our phones.¡±


    He took the initiative to take out his phone to prove his words were true. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me then search. We went through the contacts yesterday and none of us know a Li Yinhang.¡±


    Nan Zhou frowned. The Longtan trio belonged to the same dormitory so they would naturally use internal communication for this party. According to Sun Guojing, Xie Xiangyu was the errand boy they brought. Xie Xiangyu could be regarded as part of their relationship chain.


    Meanwhile, on his side, ¡®Li Yinhang¡¯ contacted ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯ who was a high school classmate. ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯ brought his boyfriend ¡®Jiang Fang¡¯. The relationship chain between the three of them was also smooth.


    Then who contacted Li Yinhang? Was it the dead Hu Li or the man who left the recording? Did this have anything to do with the order in which the three of them heard the ¡®sha¡¯ sound? What would happen if the ¡®sha¡¯ sound continued?


    Nan Zhou had all sorts of thoughts as he turned the key in his hand.


    Click.


    The door of Room 403 opened. The fourth and fifth floors of this building were remote. It was a relatively deserted teaching building and the utilization rate wasn¡¯t high. This was why it was easy to set aside the fourth floor to conduct the mid-term test for the architecture students and why they dared to use a classroom for a private party.


    Room 403 was an ordinary lecture theater with blue as the main color and 15 rows of seats. The windows didn¡¯t open and there was a dusty smell. The projection screen in front hadn¡¯t been put away and there were several words on the blackboard that hadn¡¯t been cleaned.


    Nan Zhou just stepped into 403 when he felt a subtle feeling of disharmony. Something was missing. He opened the silver trash can in a corner of the classroom. There were two or three snack bags inside and leftover energy drink bottles. Nan Zhou opened the cap of the drink and smelled a spoiled smell. In late autumn like this, the rate of a drink spoiling would be greatly slowed. He counted the number of snack bags and his expression changed even more.


    Sun Guojing¡¯s group were trying to understand why Nan Zhou was looking through the trash can when Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang came back. Jiang Fang gave the answer Nan Zhou wanted. ¡°I asked the floor attendant. The sanitation here is outsourced and it is cleaned every Thursday night.¡±


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Is the garbage shipped out at that time?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    In other words, it hadn¡¯t been cleaned since Thursday night last week. Nan Zhou glanced at the trash can and fell into deep thought. Li Yinhang looked around and her words revealed the source of violation. ¡°Why are there no traces of a gathering here?¡±


    At the three people¡¯s joint reminder, the Longtan trio suddenly realized the problem. Last Friday, they got together with seven people! What chaos would occur when seven people got together? In addition, ¡®Qi Tianyun¡¯ forced ¡®Xie Xiangyu¡¯ to order skewers and beer and bring them here.


    Now in this closed space, there was no filthy residue on the tables or floors and no extra odors. There were only some snack bags and beverage bottles in the trash can. It was very likely that after the trash was cleaned on Thursdays, some physical education students who came to class on Friday threw them in.


    The only way this was possible was if the people at the party were very ethical, cleaned the place so it was spotless and took away the rubbish¡­


    This was certainly reasonable. However, if this was changed to Sun Guojing then he wouldn¡¯t be able to clean it! He would think, ¡®Well, the cleaning stuff will come on Thursday and there are no classes on Monday and Friday. I also pay the cleaning fees. What does it matter if there is a bit of mess?¡¯


    Now the Room 403 in front of them was clean, dry and had no extra rubbish. There were no traces of a party.


    Nan Zhou looked around before turning back to the crowd and asking a creepy question. ¡°Last Friday, was it really Room 403 where we had the party?¡±

 CH 44

    Room 403.


    The atmosphere was frozen for a while. Everyone unanimously thought of the last few messages of the man hiding in the cabinet, afraid and trembling.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have gone there. That place doesn¡¯t exist so we can¡¯t exist¡ª¡±


    The so-called ¡®place that doesn¡¯t exist¡¯¡­


    Did Room 403 open up another space that night? In their ignorance, they unknowingly entered a world completely misplaced from reality. They continued the party until late at night and returned to reality without knowing anything. This violated the rules of that other world so there was an unknown force trying to pull them back?


    Imagining terror was the most detrimental thing to a person¡¯s willpower. The Longtan trio chose to occupy the closest position to the door but this didn¡¯t stop a chill rising up from the soles of their feet. They would¡¯ve escaped if it weren¡¯t for the possible clues in Room 403. Even the woman who was in Cube Boat stood right in front of 403 and looked right and left, not daring to investigate any further.


    In contrast, Nan Zhou seemed unconcerned about the horrors and unknowns of Room 403. He walked repeatedly up and down the lecture stairs a few times, his expression cold as he touched and observed the room. He was like a bold cat in a strange space.


    ¡­He wasn¡¯t like a human at all.


    Sun Guojing was taken aback by his own thoughts and secretly criticized himself. Wasn¡¯t it just being beaten up? Why intimidate himself so much? Moreover¡­


    He glanced at Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou who both had no fear. To tell the truth, neither person was much like a human being. They were a perfect match.


    After walking several times and determining that he couldn¡¯t accidentally enter a different space or world by walking around, Nan Zhou stopped. He told Jiang Fang from across the table, ¡°It is weird.¡±


    Jiang Fang nodded. ¡°So far, there is no campus legend pointing to this matter.¡±


    The East Fifth Building was remote and few people came here. Management was strict since it was an ordinary teaching building and they often locked up everywhere. If young couples wanted to have a tryst, there were the romantic groves and rooftops or the cost-effective, empty dormitories. Who would want to sit in a lecture theater on a date?


    In addition, this was the dedicated teaching building for the physical education department and it naturally gave people a strong yang feeling. Therefore, the East Fifth Building didn¡¯t even have a haunted legend.


    So what were they facing here? Was it a wandering soul who wanted them to help fulfill its wishes? Or was it pure, chaotic malice?


    Nan Zhou murmured, ¡°Ah, you were thinking about this.¡±


    Jiang Fang wondered, ¡°What are you thinking about?¡±


    ¡°Many things.¡±


    First, the relationship chain. There were nine people at the party that day but at the moment, the relationship between the seven of them was broken. Hu Li and the person who left the death recording seemed to have completely evaporated from this relationship chain. In this way, Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t judge what the power intended. Perhaps the power was directed at one of them and it was taking its anger out on the others?


    Second, what was the sequence behind the terrifying incidents? At present, Sun Guojing, Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang had all experienced an incident. The clue was that it would trigger once they heard the sound three times. However, they couldn¡¯t find the mechanism for this event.


    Third, that ¡®power¡¯ didn¡¯t appear as a physical entity. Sun Guojing felt something drill into his quilt. Nan Zhou saw his distorted reflection in a mirror. Li Yinhang had the same message repeatedly appear on her screen. There was little in common. The only thing in common was that the ¡®power¡¯ might not have a physical form or perhaps it didn¡¯t intend to show itself in front of them for the time being.


    Fourth¡ªthis was the part that Nan Zhou cared most about. Why weren¡¯t any distress signals sent by the person who left the death recording? According to common sense, they should have a relationship if they could meet up. They were all present at the party on the 21st.


    Po bcf bo atfw kjr reypfmafv ab j oglutafclcu fnfca yfsbcv atf cbgwji qfgmfqalbc bo atf kbgiv, ktja kbeiv yf atf ereji gfjmalbc? Yo mbegrf, la kjr ab mbcolvf lc jcv jrx obg tfiq ogbw qfbqif ktb tjv fzqfglfcmfv atf rjwf atlcu. Tfa cbcf bo atfw ifoa j gfmbgv. Ktfgf kjr cb qtbcf mjii, QfJtja wfrrjuf bg afza wfrrjuf jrxlcu obg tfiq. Ktfgf kjr cbatlcu.


    ***


    Nan Zhou spoke in a very organized manner, sorting out the messy clues bit by bit and putting them in front of everyone. However, it was useless. It just added a layer of coldness to the empty brains of the trio.


    ¡°Oh, now we know the problem.¡±


    Sun Guojing had seen the ghost once and he found it the hardest to remain calm out of the trio. He was anxious and couldn¡¯t hide his bitterness. ¡°Then what? Do we have to wait for the ghost to come find us?¡±


    Nan Zhou found a nearby table to sit at and his fingertips tapped on the table. Now all the clues, long or short, were tangled together in a messy ball of yarn. They had to find the deeply buried beginning thread within the ball of yarn.


    Nan Zhou reflected on the requirements of the task. Their task was to live for 120 hours and to not go crazy. Nan Zhou knew very well that no matter how difficult the instance, it would still have certain limits on the survival chances to increase playability.


    The principle was simple. From the perspective of an instance designer, too high a mortality rate would weaken the player¡¯s gaming experience. In order to increase playability, restrictions on that ¡®power¡¯ were inevitable. If they followed this, the exploration of the task would be reduced and they wouldn¡¯t get the S-grade rewards. In PVE, a teammate¡¯s meaningless death would definitely pull down the score. In this way, he would be one step further from realizing his wish.


    Wait. The requirements of the task¡­


    Nan Zhou raised his eyes and gave a keyword. ¡°The elevator.¡±


    Sun Guojing was chatting with his companions to try and dispel his fear. He heard this word and was stunned for a moment. ¡°Huh?¡±


    The confusing death recording left more than just a verbal message behind. In order to escape from the rustling, the person who left the message pressed the elevator button to try and induce the pursuer away from him. In other words, there was an elevator where he was.


    Nan Zhou inquired, ¡°In this school, which buildings have an elevator?¡±


    In other words, there was an elevator in the building where the man had hid.


    Nan Zhou determined the next direction and was decisive. ¡°Go.¡± Go to the elevator.


    Jiang Fang also intended to respond. Yet the moment he moved, his actions became obviously sluggish. He faced Nan Zhou and gestured to his ear. It was his turn. The first ¡®sha¡¯ sound appeared clearly in Jiang Fang¡¯s ears.


    Nan Zhou looked at Jiang Fang and suddenly felt uncomfortable in his heart. He hadn¡¯t felt so uncomfortable yesterday when he saw his distorted self in the mirror tilting his head on the edge of the frame. Nan Zhou regarded it as a physical problem and raised a hand to press against his chest. Then he told Jiang Fang again, ¡°Go.¡±


    He wanted to find out the reason and prevent the rustling sound from continuing to¡­ affect people.


    Jiang Fang accepted it very well. He followed Nan Zhou and passed by the Longtan team, first politely opening the door for Li Yinhang and gesturing for her to go out first. After sending Li Yinhang out, only Jiang Fang and the trio stayed in 403.


    Jiang Fang glanced at Qi Tianyun. Out of the three, he was the only one who tried to effectively defend when Jiang Fang launched the verbal offensive against them. Therefore, perhaps he would listen best. Jiang Fang whispered to Qi Tianyun, ¡°If it was me, I wouldn¡¯t listen to the man with the surname Xie too much. You might¡¯ve tried to rob us in the beginning but we have no conflict of interest now. Don¡¯t forget. In the original worldview, you bullied Xie Xiangyu. The roles you play essentially have conflicts with him.¡±


    His words awakened them. Jiang Fang saw the three people becoming suspicious due to his words and he smiled. It had to be said that without the aggressiveness just now, the affinity he gave off was amazing.


    Jiang Fang raised his mobile phone. ¡°If you trust him then regard it as me not saying anything. In any case, our ultimate goal is to pass the instance. If you have any worries or troubles then just come to me¡­ don¡¯t worry about any opposition from Teacher Nan. Our Teacher Nan is actually very nice.¡±


    The Longtan trio, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Fuck. Was he coaxing fools?


    Jiang Fang had previously dug out the hearts of the three people but now he seemed to be unable to understand the complex expressions of the three people. He smiled and handed out a sticky note while continuing to release kindness. ¡°Let¡¯s exchange phone numbers.¡±


    The trio, ¡°¡­..¡±


    It didn¡¯t seem to matter if they left their numbers. Since they couldn¡¯t write down phone numbers like Jiang Fang, Qi Tianyun took the initiative to take out his phone and call the number provided by Jiang Fang.


    As he focused on entering the number, Jiang Fang naturally took a step forward. He made an action of leaning over to confirm the phone number but his right hand moved under Qi Tianyun¡¯s dark blue sweater collar. He moved so fast that Qi Tianyun didn¡¯t even realize what he had done.


    Jiang Fang withdrew in time before Qi Tianyun felt uncomfortable with him being too close. He bowed to them and signaled goodbye before turning around and leaving Room 403. After turning around, the friendly smile on Jiang Fang¡¯s face gradually faded.


    He wasn¡¯t lying. Relatively speaking, Nan Zhou¡¯s character and personality were really much better than his own. None of these three people were particularly clever and they obviously had no experience with supernatural instances. They could only be regarded as a pawn or shield.


    So why have them give up on Xie Xiangyu, driving him away or even wasting him? It was better for their lives and death to be controlled by him rather than by an unpredictable person. At least for him, their lives represented points. There was a certain protection value.


    Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang waited for him outside Room 403. The moment he met Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes, Jiang Fang put away all the calculations in his heart. He took out a small object that was like a thin button battery and shook it in front of Nan Zhou.


    Nan Zhou asked with his eyes, ¡®What is it?¡¯


    Jiang Fang handed it to him and mouthed, ¡®Squeeze it.¡¯


    Nan Zhou, ¡°???¡±


    Nan Zhou mouthed, ¡®Why?¡¯


    ¡®Squeeze it and I¡¯ll tell you.¡¯


    Nan Zhou squeezed the little thing between his fingers, twisting it and exerting force. The iron button that was originally a few millimeters thick was instantly pressed into a thin sheet.


    Nan Zhou returned it to Jiang Fang. ¡°What is this?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled happily.


    ***


    At this moment, Xie Xiangyu was sitting alone in a corner of the classroom, listening to the teacher talking about ideological and moral cultivation and legal foundations. He was even taking notes for himself. It could be said that he was perfectly executing his character¡¯s setting. As for the three sports students who listened to his advice, took time off and skipped their daily training¡­


    It wouldn¡¯t be bad to let them go to Room 403 first to do some experiments.


    This morning, he stuck the eavesdropping item he exchanged for with points onto Qi Tianyun so as to monitor the movements of the three test products. Of course, he succeeded in noticing Nan Zhou¡¯s speculation. Several issues that Nan Zhou noticed weren¡¯t much different from what he had summarized. The next investigation direction, the ¡®elevator¡¯ found by Nan Zhou, was also recorded in Xie Xiangyu¡¯s notebook.


    However, Xie Xiangyu seemed more interested in Nan Zhou than in solving the puzzle. In the upper left corner of the notebook, the word ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯ was circled four or five times. Yet somehow, the receiver on the other end of the eavesdropping item had changed slightly.


    Xie Xiangyu put down his pen, frowned and touched his ears, trying to hear what had happened. Was it discovered by Qi Tianyun? Or¡­


    Soon, the sound of the eavesdropping item being broken crossed thousands of meters and pierced directly into his tympanic membrane! Xie Xiangyu almost threw the pen in his hand. He lay on the table and rested for a while. He felt like a gong that had been struck by a hammer. His brain was buzzing.


    He rested his head on his arms. He wasn¡¯t angry or annoyed. Rather, he couldn¡¯t help laughing hoarsely. Ah, he was discovered. However, it shouldn¡¯t be by the trio or they would¡¯ve cursed first before destroying it. So was it Jiang Fang? Or was it Nan Zhou?


    He was pondering on it with interest when his overstimulated eardrums heard a sound again.


    ¡°Buzz¡ª¡±


    ¡°Boom¡ª¡±


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    At first, Xie Xiangyu didn¡¯t care too much. He just gently pinched his ears to ease the ringing. Then he realized what happened and didn¡¯t move. He heard an intermittent, hurried voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t come here! Don¡¯t come here!¡±


    Sha¡ª


    ¡°What on earth do you want? I¡¯ll give you everything. Don¡¯t kill me!¡±


    Sha¡ª


    ¡°Is there anyone? Is there anyone?¡±


    The cries for help continued along with constant knocking on the door and futile gasps. No one responded. It was dead silent apart from the muffled sound that was unwilling to stop.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    It wasn¡¯t difficult to recognize that this was Xie Xiangyu¡¯s own voice. He heard his dying moans and cries for help. This was accompanied by the approaching, chilling ¡®sha sha¡¯ sound.


    Sure enough, he couldn¡¯t avoid it even if he played his role seriously. Xie Xiangyu had heard the sound twice before. He had expected what would happen and wasn¡¯t very surprised. He waited for his frantic heartbeat to recover as he lowered his head and ticked a box somewhere in his notebook. His experience proved once again that the ¡®power¡¯ wasn¡¯t physical yet.


    The marker between Xie Xiangyu¡¯s fingertips moved, spinning constantly in his hand. It seemed that he had to hurry and act.


    ¡­Also, his ears hurt.

 CH 45

    In the school, almost all teaching buildings were around five floors and most of the student dormitories didn¡¯t exceed four floors. They were arranged in rows and connected in sequences. It wasn¡¯t of a height where an elevator needed to be installed.


    There weren¡¯t many places to install elevators on this large campus. There was the dormitory for international students. The medical and chemical buildings were slightly taller and required a large number of equipment to be transported. There was also the administrative office building that was around 24 floors high. There were two newly constructed high-rise dormitories that were completed less than three years ago.


    One was a dormitory building for teachers. The other one was a dormitory building for the mathematics department. The first reason why the mathematics department enjoyed the benefits of the dormitory with an elevator was because they originally lived in one of the oldest and most dilapidated dormitories in the school. The second reason was that the president of Jinjing University was originally a professor in the mathematics department.


    Among the seven existing people, there was exactly one student of the mathematics department. It was Xie Xiangyu. The originally broken relationship chain now had a weak tether but this correlation wasn¡¯t enough to prove anything.


    Li Yinhang speculated. ¡°There is an elevator in the dormitory building of the mathematics department but can it prove that the person who left the recording is from the mathematics department? The medical department, the chemical engineering department and even the administrative teachers in the office building can¡¯t be completely excluded.¡±


    Nan Zhou was standing in the stairwell on the highest floor of the mathematics department¡¯s dormitory when she asked the question. The stairwell was sunny. Nevertheless, it felt cold when the autumn sun shone on his body.


    Nan Zhou took one step down. He had gone back to his dormitory this morning and even had enough peace of mind to select new clothing for himself. The soles of his strappy Martin boots knocked on the ground and there was a clear echo in the stairwell. Nan Zhou looked up at the still dim lights in the corridor. ¡°There is a small clue in the recording.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°When he ran away,¡± Nan Zhou explained. ¡°There was a sound in the background.¡±


    Li Yinhang struggled to recall it but she wasn¡¯t successful. She had just fallen into darkness and she had been highly nervous. The hurried footsteps had stolen all her attention and she couldn¡¯t care about anything else.


    Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang.


    Jiang Fang nodded to confirm Nan Zhou¡¯s judgment. ¡°Yes. It is a buzzing sound.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± So the bigshots had their own tape recorders in their minds, right?


    She thought deeply about it on the basis of this clue. A buzzing sound¡­


    Buzz.


    Nan Zhou had looked up at the lights just now.


    Li Yinhang was enlightened. ¡°The light-sensing, sound controlled sensor lights!¡±


    If it was late at night and the corridor was quiet, the light bulbs would emit such a low hum when it caught the sound of footsteps. The surrounding area immediately became bright. This was the slightly burning sound of the tungsten wire. The light bulbs in the corridors of the school were provided by the same company and the surfaces were coated with light sensing materials. It meant that the time when the recorder was fleeing was likely late at night.


    It was late at night. There was an elevator. In addition, the person who left the message was very familiar with the room distributions. He was familiar enough to use the elevator and an unlocked room to avoid the rustling sound. It was like he lived there.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult to come to a conclusion after combining these elements. The place where the person disappeared was most likely the dormitory building of the mathematics department. It was the space where they were located¡ªthis stairwell.


    The hairs on Li Yinhang¡¯s body stood up directly. She gritted her teeth and asked, ¡°It is possible¡­ the person who left the message stayed in the laboratory building or the office building late at night¡­ in addition, if he is running like this through the dormitory building then why didn¡¯t he ask for help? If he is from the mathematics department then there must be people he knew in the building, right?¡±


    Nan Zhou suggested, ¡°Prove it.¡±


    ¡°How¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou told her, ¡°Find the room.¡±


    Po atf qfgrbc ktb ifoa atf wfrrjuf ijra jqqfjgfv lc atf vbgwlabgs bo atf wjatfwjalmr vfqjgawfca, atfgf kbeiv yf jc fwqas gbbw atja kjrc¡¯a ibmxfv cfjg atf fifnjabg. Ktfgf kbeiv jirb yf j mjylcfa atja mbeiv tlvf j qfgrbc.


    Vbbc joafg, atf aglb rabbv lc ogbca bo j gbbw bc atf oloat oibbg. Pa kjr vjsalwf bc Mglvjs rb atf wjatfwjalmr raevfcar tjv ubcf ab mijrr bg kfgf ja atf ilygjgs. Ktf rfclbgr ktb vlvc¡¯a tjnf ab raevs tjgv kfgf tjqqs lc yfv ja atlr alwf klat atflg deliar kgjqqfv jgbecv atfw. Ktlr wfjca atfgf kfgf ofk qfbqif kjcvfglcu jgbecv atf vbgwlabgs mbgglvbgr veglcu atf vjs. Ktfgf kjr j reoobmjalcu rlifcmf.


    Nan Zhou held the door handle, imitating the person on that night as he slowly pushed the handle down. It was like he was afraid of startling the ghost in the darkness.


    The lock spring made a dull sound. It was so small that it was negligible. However, for the recorder who came to escape from the death situation, the sound might¡¯ve resounded like thunder. As they thought, the door wasn¡¯t locked.


    There was a blast of cold wind and the door opened inward. The entire scene inside was slowly revealed to the three of them. No one had been here for a long time. The evidence was the thin layer of dust accumulated on the light-colored floor tiles. Li Yinhang wanted to go in but she saw that the two bigshots didn¡¯t intend to go in and shrank back.


    Nan Zhou whispered, ¡°Nothing.¡±


    Then he looked at Li Yinhang again. Li Yinhang felt like she was a mediocre student who was spotted in class but she just wanted to slink off like a fish. Eventually, she had to grit her teeth and look at the ground in front of her like these two people.


    Perhaps it was due to panic. She looked several times but didn¡¯t see anything special. This was just a utility room. There were three or four cabinets in the room. One of them was a transparent office bookcase with glass sliding doors. Through the dusty gray glass, she could vaguely see several empty dark blue file boxes stacked vertically and horizontally.


    The other cabinets were exactly the same as the standard lead-gray iron wardrobes in the school dormitories. Broken and redundant wardrobes were probably moved to this abandoned place. In the corner were a few brooms that had split or were missing parts.


    There were stacks of express curious boxes. There were six or seven chairs with the ¡®Jinjing University¡¯ logo on them and a pot of dead succulents on the window sill. The curtains were so tightly drawn that they didn¡¯t show any bit of light. The potted plants were forgotten behind the curtains and died quietly without any light.


    It was a dark garbage dump.


    After observing for a long time, a faint snake-like chill crawled up from Li Yinhang¡¯s ankles, making her very uncomfortable. Li Yinhang tentatively asked, ¡°Um, this should be that man¡¯s last hiding place?¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded and looked at her like he was waiting.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    After watching each other for a long time, Li Yinhang was a bit embarrassed. She touched her head. ¡°I¡¯m delaying things. I really didn¡¯t find anything. Or Teacher Nan, you can tell me directly¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou coldly said, ¡°You should look well.¡±


    Li Yinhang¡¯s back muscles subconsciously tightened. Li Yinhang might¡¯ve left school and entered society early but she still had the frightening muscle memories of this type of overwhelming teacher¡¯s aura. It wasn¡¯t until now that Li Yinhang was convinced that Nan Zhou was a teacher.


    Nan Zhou told her, ¡°An instance is very difficult. You must have the knowledge and strength to protect yourself. Look well.¡±


    Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t help but flinch. She didn¡¯t dare put her hope on Nan Zhou anymore and focused her full attention on the room. After settling down, a sense of disharmony rushed into her heart. Where was it¡­


    Her face was white and she lost her voice. ¡°Footprints!¡±


    After hearing the answer, Nan Zhou turned back to the room. Yes. There were no footprints. No one had come to this room for a long time. The party was held a week ago. If someone had really escaped here, the footprints in the dust would extend all the way to the iron cabinet. So why were there no footprints?


    Li Yinhang murmured, ¡°Didn¡¯t that man hide here? Have we got it wrong?¡±


    At this time, Nan Zhou stepped into the room. He took a few steps on the light-colored tiles and looked back. The footprints were exceptionally clear. Nan Zhou turned back and walked toward the cabinet closest to the door. He stood in front of it and lowered his head thoughtfully.


    Since entering the instance, they had tried various methods. They looked for Hu Li, found clues from themselves, tried to live the characters¡¯ lives and went to Room 403. Nevertheless, they hadn¡¯t found any valid leads.


    The game shouldn¡¯t be like this. This was a game and there should always be solutions and clues. Even if it was originally an unsolvable problem the programmer and GM hiding behind it would try to come up with a reasonable solution. It was like¡­


    Nan Zhou closed his eyes and fragmented scenes flashed in front of him.


    A full moon in the sky. Smiling, well-intentioned or malicious faces. The sharp burning pain as a current flowed through his body¡­


    If there was no answer then all puzzles were meaningless. The so-called game was exactly the same.


    Nan Zhou exerted his strength and opened the cabinet in front of him. The inside was empty. There was only a bunch of rotten rags curled up in the corner of the cabinet that emitted an unpleasant, rotten milk smell.


    He heard a sigh of regret from Li Yinhang behind him. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t stop and opened several cabinets in succession. They were all the same. Nothing was gained from them.


    Since there were no footprints, Li Yinhang wasn¡¯t sure if this was the room where the hiding person disappeared. She consciously glanced at Jiang Fang.


    If Jiang Fang told them to leave then Nan Zhou would listen. Jiang Fang leaned against the door and had no intention of leaving. He watched Nan Zhou¡¯s back with star-like trust and appreciation in his eyes.


    Nan Zhou sensed the gaze from behind him and turned his head. Jiang Fang nodded to him with encouragement.


    Find it slowly, think slowly.


    Nan Zhou stood up and thought for a moment. Then he walked back to the first cabinet. This was the closest cabinet to the door. If he was the person who left the recording behind and needed to hide, he would choose the cabinet that was closest to the door and least likely to make a noise.


    He pulled open the cabinet again and the rotten smell came over. Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes told him there was nothing there except for dirty rags. Still, he crouched down. Half his body was in the cabinet and he used only his hand as the method of perception to grope at all corners.


    There would always be a key to solving the problem. A moment later, Nan Zhou¡¯s fingertips touched something. It was hard so it wasn¡¯t a rag. Nan Zhou moved the thing from the tip of his finger to the palm of his hand. He repeatedly touched it and confirmed its shape before standing up. He faced the other two people and extended his palm to them. ¡°I found it.¡±


    Li Yinhang was confused for a moment. Nan Zhou¡¯s hands were clearly holding nothing. However, Jiang Fang walked into the room and naturally placed his finger on Nan Zhou¡¯s palm. The two people looked at each other.


    On the night when the ¡®sha sha¡¯ sound infinitely approached, the man hiding in the cabinet shook and made too much movement. Thus, he lost something. It was the key in his pocket. The key could be touched but couldn¡¯t be seen. It was just like its owner. It was as the recording said.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have gone there. That place doesn¡¯t exist so we can¡¯t exist¡ª¡±


    The existence of the key was erased from their vision. If something was invisible to everyone then from the perspective of society, it didn¡¯t exist. Things were like this and the same was true for people.


    Jiang Fang took the invisible key and walked out quickly. His request was simple and clear. ¡°Find Xie Xiangyu¡¯s dormitory.¡±


    The man disappeared in the dormitory building of the mathematics department. Xie Xiangyu was the only mathematics student among them. There must be a connection between them.


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s dormitory wasn¡¯t difficult to find. It was on the eighth floor, room 0814. It was just that everyone was out now and the door was locked.


    Jiang Fang took the key that didn¡¯t exist and tried to unlock it. Nan Zhou looked up at the signs with names at the door. There were four people living in 0814. They were Xie Xiangyu, Yu Min and Liu Shuoqi.


    No matter how much he concentrated, this was the only concept in his head. There were four people here. There were three names on the board. Every time he noticed a problem, it would automatically filter out of his mind, leaving only a faint shadow behind. It was a shadow of a snake in a cup.


    Nan Zhou closed his eyes again. He thought of the morning. In the morning, he returned to his dormitory. There was a cursory inspection and Nan Zhou took his seat. The other three people were frantically studying so it was understandable that they didn¡¯t greet him.


    Then when Nan Zhou accidentally touched the roommate sitting next to him, the man was frightened and jumped. Then what did the roommate say? ¡°Nan Zhou, are you a cat? Why do you walk so silently?¡±


    This was when Nan Zhou felt a bit strange. It seemed like¡­ his existence had become muted and it was difficult for others to perceive it.


    What if Hu Li and the vanished person who left the message were caught up in something like this? Other people forgot Hu Li and only the recorder remembered him a bit. The way Hu Li was forgotten was very similar to their present situation. They, the players, never even knew the name of the man who had died and left the message.


    ¡­What a terrible correlation and coincidence. The even more frightening thing was that the one who left the message also gradually found that the connections between himself and the world were being cut off little by little.


    No one could see him, hear him or feel him. All of this happened after he started to hear the ¡®sha sha¡¯ noises. Even though he ran and cried out in his familiar dormitory corridor. Even though he shook his sleeping roommate. Even though he knocked on the doors of other rooms for help. Even though he ran through the stairwell and the corridor in the middle of the night, creating the fierce sound of footsteps¡­


    No one responded to him and no one rescued him.


    Nan Zhou thought of the storage room they had just found. Behind that door where the ground was covered with dust, there was most likely the recorder¡¯s messy footprints. It was just that they couldn¡¯t see them.


    Nan Zhou closed his eyes and used his hands to examine the name sign boards hanging at the door. He needed to prove his conjecture. The signs could be removed. Once the previous residents moved out or transferred to other dormitories, these names could be removed and replaced with new names.


    Nan Zhou took out one name sign board and held it in his hand. The name was engraved with embossed lettering. Nan Zhou touched it one by one.


    Xie Xiangyu, Yu Min, Liu Shuoqi¡­


    Then he touched a complete stranger¡¯s name. He mused on the name in his heart.


    ¡°Zuo¡­¡±


    ¡°Jia¡­¡±


    ¡°Ming.¡±


    Zuo Jiaming.


    The man who left the recording finally had a name. Just as Nan Zhou was about to speak¡­


    ¡°Sha sha.¡±


    ¡°Sha sha.¡±


    ¡°Sha sha.¡±


    The rustling that suddenly rang in his ears was too subtle and mysterious. It seemed to be a sneer mocking Nan Zhou¡¯s inability to help himself.

 CH 46

    Jiang Fang used the non-existent key to open the door of existence in front of him.


    Click.


    The door of the boys¡¯ dormitory slowly opened. They entered an ordinary boys¡¯ dormitory. There weren¡¯t many miscellaneous things. There were just clothes and some books. The quilt on the bed wasn¡¯t folded and was kicked to the end of the bed. Clothes were piled in a mess on the back of the chair in layers like a matryoshka doll. The bottom edge of the outermost jacket was almost dangling on the ground. The chair was well-worn and at a glance, it looked like a person was sitting alone on it. There were cheap, colored barbells near the radiator. A football was quietly placed near the barbells.


    Nan Zhou stood in the middle of a small four person room full of life. He tried not to trust his senses or to use the conclusions of his ¡®senses¡¯ as part of his chain of thinking. Nan Zhou asked, ¡°How many people live in this dormitory?¡±


    Jiang Fang answered, ¡°Four.¡±


    All four beds were lined with mattresses and the heavy signs of life were impossible to ignore.


    Nan Zhou asked again, ¡°How many people should there be?¡±


    Jiang Fang stopped and seemed to realize something. ¡°Four.¡±


    ¡°On the door nameplate, how many people did you see?¡±


    Li Yinhang saw Jiang Fang frown without answering and was somewhat puzzled. ¡°Four.¡±


    Nan Zhou turned to stare into her eyes. ¡°Which four?¡±


    Li Yinhang used her memory from customer service to quickly recite them. ¡°The player with the surname Xie, Liu Shuoqi, there is also a Yu¡­ something or other.¡±


    Nanzhou wondered, ¡°How many people are there?¡±


    Li Yinhang instinctively replied, ¡°Four.¡±


    ¡°Count again.¡±


    Li Yinhang found it strange but she lowered her head and carefully counted them. ¡°One, two¡­¡±


    She reached ¡®three¡¯ and was horrified to realize one thing. She couldn¡¯t remember the name of the ¡®fourth person¡¯ she just confirmed existed.


    Nan Zhou turned to look at Jiang Fang. The best way to solve chaos was to report it as the truth. Some of the facts that they were convinced about in their hearts would only have the problem discovered after repeating it through their own mouths.


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°So how many people should there be in this dormitory?¡±


    No one answered him. The cold wind of the late autumn blew through the screens over the windows. Several hangers hanging on the balcony collided with the iron drying racks, causing the clear sound that was like wind chimes.


    The three of them stood in this warm dormitory and shuddered.


    ***


    Ktf ¡®Obcuajc¡¯ aglb tjralis fcvfv atflg lcnfralujalbc bo 403.


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    Sun Guojing instinctively didn¡¯t want to deal with Nan Zhou¡¯s group but after being awakened by Jiang Fang, his impression of Xie Xiangyu was also poor. The thought of working with this person was as disgusting as eating a fly.


    Due to all the worries, he had to ask his companions for peace of mind. ¡°What should we do? Who are we going to work with?¡±


    Qi Tianyun was silent. Now he could obviously see it. It didn¡¯t really matter who they worked with. Based on their abilities, they weren¡¯t worthy of talking about ¡®cooperation¡¯ at all. It didn¡¯t matter if it was Xie Xiangyu¡¯s initiative to get close and provide information or Jiang Fang¡¯s warm words and advice¡ªthe three of them were too useless. The two groups of people didn¡¯t need partners but a ¡®stone¡¯ to throw and ask the way. Oh no, there were three of them so they should be three stones.


    Qi Tianyun thought of this but it never occurred to him that one team was just trying to cooperate with them because the team didn¡¯t want them to die, thus lowering the score their own team might get.


    The three of them were at a loss when Luo Ge suddenly ¡®shh¡¯ them. He pointed to the door and motioned for the other two people to listen.


    Creak¡ª


    The faint sound of nails scraping against the wall was heard from the door. Tapping, scratching and rubbing. It was light but close at hand.


    Creak¡ª


    Luo Ge looked down. The dormitory¡¯s door had a crack. At night, the goose-yellow lights of the hallway often penetrated from under the door. Now at this moment, the crack of the door was pitch black. There was something standing outside their door now!


    It was broad daylight but the three of them were covered in sweat. Sun Guojing had been frightened by one thing after another and had long become a mess. His heart was chaotic and his eyes were wide as he strode to the door, pulling it open with great movement. The movement was so fast and powerful that he almost hit himself in the nose.


    He uttered a magnificent shout, ¡°Who¡ª¡±


    At the door, Jiang Fang was watching Nan Zhou take off the nameplate. He looked at the dumbfounded Sun Guojing and gave a polite nod. ¡°Hello, we have come to check a clue.¡±


    Sun Guojing was speechless.


    Fuck, if it hadn¡¯t been for their inability to fight, he would¡¯ve already done so.


    ***


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t like to talk to them so it was handed over to Jiang Fang. In view of his good performance in discovering the clue just now, Nan Zhou rewarded himself with a coconut bread. He swallowed the last of the coconut pieces while Jiang Fang narrated their findings.


    Two out of the three people didn¡¯t understand at all. Qi Tianyun was the only one who wasn¡¯t confused and he asked, ¡°Where is the evidence?¡±


    Jiang Fang told him, ¡°Hand.¡±


    Qi Tianyun was stunned before tentatively and warily holding out a hand. Jiang Fang held something and placed it on Qi Tianyun¡¯s palm. The next moment, his palm sank subtly like something had really been put on it. Qi Tianyun closed his eyes and tried to read the patterns with his sense of touch, looking extraordinarily serious.


    ¡­It was like a comical performance without physical objects.


    Sun Guojing watched it with amusement. What was this? Blind people touching an elephant?


    The next second, Qi Tianyun abruptly opened his eyes. His face paled and he quickly threw away the thing in his hand like it was burning him! Sun Guojing didn¡¯t see anything flying or hear anything falling down. He wondered, ¡°Old Qi, have you been tricked? What did you see?¡±


    Qi Tianyun took two breaths, barely relieving the short suffocation caused by panic. He answered, ¡°¡­A name card.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Qi Tianyun raised his eyes and spoke in a depressed voice, ¡°It was a name card taken from in front of our door. There was a name on it.¡±


    Qi Tianyun felt a pain in his throat as he spoke of this. He stimulated two swallowing actions, only to find that the tip of his tongue had no saliva. There was just a bitter, acidic feeling. The Sun Luo duo saw that he had learned how to keep people in suspense and were inevitably angry. ¡°Say it! What was written? What is the name?¡±


    Qi Tianyun answered quietly, ¡°¡­Hu Li.¡±


    ¡°We are in the same dormitory as Hu Li. Yes¡­ he turned out to be a person from our dormitory.¡±


    Sun Guojing was stunned for a moment before saying, ¡°What nonsense are you talking about? There are only the three of us in our dormitory.¡±


    Qi Tianyun pointed to one of the double beds. ¡°So why do we have four quilts?¡±


    Sun Guojing was confused.


    ¡­Yes. They didn¡¯t seem to have commented on the fourth bed in the room and the full set of bedding on it. There was no discussion about whether the fourth roommate would come back. They didn¡¯t discuss how they would get along with him when he came back. There was no discussion about why he didn¡¯t come back at night. Even when Xie Xiangyu sought their cooperation and stayed in their dormitory, they didn¡¯t discuss how to explain that a stranger was sleeping in his bed if the person came back. It seemed that in their hearts, a certain voice had already identified that it was impossible for that extra person to come back.


    Sun Guojing glanced down at his arm. It was covered in goosebumps. Sun Guojing¡¯s teeth started to chatter but he still tried hard to find a rationale behind it. ¡°Perhaps he hadn¡¯t lived here for a long time¡­ oh, maybe he has quit school and this bed belongs to Xie Xiangyu. Aren¡¯t we bullying him? So we had him stay here¡­¡±


    Qi Tianyun shook his head and closed his eyes with a bit of pain. He had touched the name card and it clearly had the name Hu Li on it. Yet once he informed Sun Guojing about this situation, he still got Sun Guojing¡¯s denial. ¡°Impossible! Maybe he moved away! He didn¡¯t have time to remove his things or the card¡­¡±


    The things they were encountering right now were too out of the ordinary. Sun Guojing had imagined that the worst outcome for himself was death. It definitely wasn¡¯t disappearing alone with no one noticing. Disappearance might mean ¡®death¡¯ in the game. Yes, in fact, could he really have a good time? What if he was still conscious? If at that time, his name and things were all forgotten¡ªeven if others saw it, they would turn a blind eye¡­


    Sun Guojing didn¡¯t know anything. He could only say that the horror came from the unexplained ¡®rustling¡¯ sound. Now he had heard the rustling sound five times. Damocles, the sword of destiny, had cut down on Hu Li and killed Zuo Jiaming. Now it was hanging over his head.


    Therefore, this speculation couldn¡¯t be true. How could it be true? The more Sun Guojing denied it, the more his san value dropped.


    Luo Ge saw the important numerical change of his teammate and was flustered. Once one encountered incomprehensible and unbearable terror, the san value would fall all the way down. If it broke the threshold of 1 and fell to 0, they would suffer irreversible damage to the mind. There would be abnormal phenomena such as a cognitive disorder, behavior going out of control, confused thinking, etc.


    Once it reached 0, it meant permanent madness. In other words, the system identified them as ¡®crazy¡¯.


    Luo Ge couldn¡¯t control Sun Guojing to not think about it. He saw that Sun Guojing¡¯s san value had dropped below 3 and quickly changed his tone. He cried out anxiously toward Nan Zhou and the others, ¡°Think of a way!¡±


    Currently, Nan Zhou was touching another coconut bread. He wanted to open the packaging but he resisted and put it back, ready to save it for a late night snack. He heard Luo Ge¡¯s sorrowful plea for help and met Sun Guojing¡¯s empty eyes. This caused him to slightly frown and he exchanged glances with Jiang Fang.


    Presently, Sun Guojing¡¯s heart was shaken by the unknown terror that bit and tangled around him like a poisonous snake. He refused to believe in their judgment. He refused to believe that a living person could disappear from the world like pencil marks under an eraser. Uncertainty and distrust were all accompanied by the instability of ¡®what if it is true?¡¯


    These three forces were about to tear Sun Guojing¡¯s mind into three different parts.


    Facing Sun Guojing who was on the verge of collapse, Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou decided to administer fierce medicine. They wanted to roughly and simply dispel two of these forces. They wanted to convince Sun Guojing in a very short time that it was real and feasible for a person to be completely erased from this world.


    Jiang Fang stepped forward and told Sun Guojing, ¡°Mobile phone.¡±


    Sun Guojing¡¯s response was slow due to the rapid decrease of his san value. He looked up blankly, unable to understand the meaning of Jiang Fang¡¯s words.


    Jiang Fang just greeted him. He leaned over and took the phone from Sun Guojing¡¯s pocket. He pulled this person¡¯s hand over, unlocked it with the fingerprint and clicked on WeChat. With a stroke of his slender thumb, a small program was opened. It was a voice reading software.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s fingers were flexible as he clicked on Sun Guojing¡¯s WeChat friends list and searched the initials for the column beginning with ¡®H¡¯. Both Hu Li and Zuo Jiaming might¡¯ve been forgotten by the world but there were many things about them that still existed objectively in the world.


    For example, the dormitory key lost by Zuo Jiaming in the tin cabinet. For example, the door name sign with the name engraved on it. For example, the bed that belonged to them. For example¡­


    The chat history left on the phone. They just didn¡¯t seem to exist.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s hands had perfect memory ability. This short operation was enough for him to master all the key positions of Sun Guojing¡¯s phone. He went down the list of contacts, searching for Hu Li who no longer existed. He searched for Hu Li in the gaps of the column beginning with the letter H. He clicked into Sun Guojing¡¯s chat boxes with other people again and again, patiently exiting again and again.


    Finally, he had just poked at the gap between two contacts on the screen when the screen of the phone froze. It was like a crash. The phone didn¡¯t respond when clicking on another person¡¯s name. On the phone screen, the contacts interface was still displayed but Jiang Fang knew he had found that gap that didn¡¯t exist.


    Jiang Fang quickly slid up the invisible chat record a few days while calculating the interval between speech bubbles. He copied several pieces of information and placed them in the text reading software.


    He wanted to let the reading software prove the identity of the disappeared person. A few moments later, everyone heard a mechanical, inorganic male voice. It was the set voice that came with the reading software. This robotic voice couldn¡¯t sense the emotions of the person talking. It didn¡¯t know how anxious, panicked and desperate the person was. It faced what was a seemingly blank input box and coldly repeated the text it read. These were the messages Hu Li sent to his dear friends when he was still in existence.


    ¡°Do you see it?¡±


    ¡°Old Sun, there is a man standing by your bed!¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you see it?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you playing with your phone? Why are you ignoring me?¡±

 CH 47

    The time when Hu Li sent these messages was late at night on the 23rd. Hu Li hid under the quilt, covered in sweat as he repeatedly sent WeChat messages to remind Sun Guojing of the danger standing by his bed.


    However, Sun Guojing¡¯s phone seemed to be muted and there was no sound. He tensed his muscles, raised his courage and poked out an eye from the quilt. The shadow was still there. Moreover, it was keeping a close eye on himself. Hu Li saw that it was his own face.


    At that time, Hu Li yelled like Sun Guojing when he felt something in his bed. It was said that this was the sixth time that Hu Li heard the ¡®sha sha¡¯ sound. It was also said that when he screamed, the entire dormitory was silent. There was no one knocking on the door. Everyone slept soundly, leaving him alone in infinite terror.


    Hu Li jumped up, turned on the lights and woke up all his roommates frantically. They finally woke up but the answers they gave made Hu Li even more creeped out.


    ¡°Did you have a nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Turn off the lights! It is 3:30 and I have to train tomorrow!¡±


    Hu Li cried bitterly. The more agitated he was, the more unclear his words became. He was so anxious that he ended up biting his tongue. He cried out vaguely to Sun Guojing, ¡°I¡¯m not dreaming! I sent you a WeChat message telling you that there was someone beside your bed?!¡±


    Sun Guojing squinted and grabbed his phone, looking through the records. Then he threw the phone directly at Hu Li. ¡°When did you fucking send me anything? What is this? Do you have hysteria?¡±


    The sluggish Hu Li was pushed back to his bed by his three brothers. He curled up under the quilt, sweating and his body cold. It was as if he had fallen into an ice cave.


    ***


    All of these things were revealed from Sun Guojing¡¯s mobile phone. Later, Hu Li stayed up at night and wrote down his experiences since hearing the ¡®sha sha¡¯ sound, sending them to everyone he knew.


    He tried to maintain his last connection with the world. As for the outcome, they all knew it.


    The robotic voice slowly recited the long text written by Hu Li.


    ¡°Everything has changed since we entered that classroom.¡±


    ¡°You have stopped being able to hear me and now you aren¡¯t seeing me.¡±


    ¡°Why is it that you ask ¡®Where has Hu Li gone?¡¯ when I am still in the dormitory?¡±


    ¡°Why am I the only one who has become like this? Did I do something?¡±


    ¡°When playing football, Jiaming told me that he heard the sound.¡±


    ¡°I told him about my situation but he didn¡¯t believe it because he only heard it once.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s gather together again and have a good talk, shall we?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t confessed to Yinhang yet. Now if I confess, she won¡¯t be able to hear it.¡±


    ¡°Will my parents forget me? I don¡¯t know if it is good or bad. The good thing is that they won¡¯t be sad. The bad thing is¡­ the bad thing is¡­¡±


    The despair in the words and the cold tone of the robotic voice speaking with perfect spacing between each character formed a strong, incongruous sense of dislocation. After hearing the sobbing words, everyone¡¯s chill lasted for a long time.


    Hu Li¡¯s message proved that they had provoked a mysterious force. This power deceived their ¡®senses¡¯ from the darkness. It changed and distorted their perceptions. It was so much so that when Jiang Fang wrote the horror post to fish for information, everyone was wondering ¡®who is Hu Li?¡¯, even his classmates. It was because everyone forgot.


    Due to this, it didn¡¯t become a campus legend. It had always existed on this campus.


    After roughly clarifying the current situation, Sun Guojing¡¯s fear became stronger but his mental instability slowly dispelled. It was because chaos was the main factor that affected the san value. The effects of despair and fear were relatively small.


    Before Sun Guojing¡¯s san value fell below 1, the downward momentum came to an end. Seeing that the trio were so dizzy and confused by the facts that they couldn¡¯t hear anything else, Nan Zhou¡¯s group decided to temporarily leave.


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    ***


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    Zuo Jiaming lived in the same dormitory as Xie Xiangyu and he was Hu Li¡¯s friend. They often played football together. They played so often that there was a football near the radiator in the dormitory.


    Hu Li obviously knew and secretly loved Li Yinhang from statistics, so he asked her to come and play. All the people attending the party were boys so for safety, Li Yinhang called her high school friend Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou took his boyfriend Jiang Fang with him. The two missing links were added and the relationship between characters was completely smoothed out.


    Li Yinhang¡¯s expression was very bad. She might only be playing ¡®Li Yinhang¡¯ and wasn¡¯t involved in the interpersonal relationships in this instance but any person with normal emotions would feel sad finding out that someone who secretly liked her had silently disappeared from the world.


    She reluctantly asked, ¡°¡­Why was Hu Li the first?¡±


    As he had asked: why him? This was originally a minor issue and the word ¡®unlucky¡¯ could be used to sum it up completely. Yet Nan Zhou actually started to analyze it properly.


    ¡°It is because he is the most important one.¡±


    ¡°The role of ¡®Hu Li¡¯ is the most important link in the relationship between characters in the instance. He connects Yinhang and Zuo Jiaming who disappeared second. If one of us played the original role of ¡®Hu Li¡¯ when we came in, his mobile phone would provide too many clues and this instance would be less interesting.¡±


    ¡°It is the game setting that determined it.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s logic and way of thinking were very strange, just like his commentary and analysis of the ghost ¡®not being able to give people a bright point¡¯ in the last world. Li Yinhang was no longer able to say anything.


    For the first time, she had the sense that she was being played by the damned game ¡®Forces of Temptation¡¯. Just as her spirit was extremely tense, there was another echo-like, faint rustling from the silent staircase. No, the source wasn¡¯t in the stairwell. It was in her ear canals.


    Sha¡­


    Sha¡­


    ¡°It is here again¡­¡± She muttered in a moaning tone. ¡°It is here again¡­¡±


    She covered her ears, sat down on the stairs and hugged her head. She used the last of her strength to say, ¡°I¡¯ll sit down.¡±


    Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang, who had already taken a few steps, stopped. Nan Zhou was a bit confused when he noticed that Li Yinhang¡¯s shoulders were shaking slightly. He wanted to approach and pat her but Jiang Fang gently tapped him from behind, signaling him not to move.


    Next, Jiang Fang sat silently by Li Yinhang¡¯s side. Nan Zhou intended to do the same. However, Li Yinhang was sitting down by the railing. Nan Zhou could only sit next to Jiang Fang and poke his head out to see Li Yinhang¡¯s condition.


    Jiang Fang understood Li Yinhang¡¯s collapse. Or to be precise, her endurance was quite high if she only collapsed now.


    Look back on the path they had traveled. It could be seen that the trial level might be carried out in a rush but the space was enclosed, the number of people was limited and there were clues to follow.


    In the first instance, the space was opened up slightly and the difficulty increased, but it was still within a reasonable range. The three teams sometimes had disputes, temptations and concealment but generally, they trusted each other.


    After a thrilling end to the instance, they got a break. In this time, they won against the boss Qu Jinsha in the Douzhuan Casino. They didn¡¯t win much but it was quite refreshing. Then when morale was at the highest, they randomly arrived at this confusing instance.


    The map was too big and there were too few clues. Forget the three teams relying on each other. It was good if they didn¡¯t calculate against each other or send each other to death. Not to mention, there was a powerful force they couldn¡¯t resist at all.


    Every minute was like blindly living in a box. No one knew who would be the next to be erased. If their emotions had been full of hope before, this instance was like a basin of cold water being poured on them.


    At present, the clues that were so easy to find were actually evidence of their powerlessness. In the face of this force, they didn¡¯t have the initiative at all. It was as the instance said. It was already difficult to ¡®live¡¯ and not ¡®go crazy.¡¯


    Jiang Fang was thinking this, Nan Zhou was thinking it and Li Yinhang was naturally thinking it. Li Yinhang carefully examined her emotions and cheered up a bit. She had worked in customer service so her ability to withstand stress was quite decent. She rubbed her face and looked up. ¡°I¡¯m okay¡­¡±


    ¡­Then she saw the apple that Nan Zhou was holding out to her being pulled back. Nan Zhou hugged the apple a bit reluctantly. ¡°¡­Okay, you are fine.¡±


    Yet in the end, this apple was split into three parts by Nan Zhou and divided equally among them. Li Yinhang ate a bit of sugar and her pale face finally improved. She said, ¡°I didn¡¯t like apples before. Now I think it is a good thing to be able to eat them.¡±


    ¡°I love apples,¡± Nan Zhou told her. ¡°As a child, I never ate them. So once I grew up, I liked them.¡±


    Li Yinhang made a sound in response while her mind spun. She always had a sense that there was a boundary with these two bigshots. Even after living together for a few days, they only talked about which snack bar was cheaper. It was the first time she had heard Nan Zhou mention his past.


    Li Yinhang suddenly wanted to talk. She lowered her head and couldn¡¯t hide her depressed expression. ¡°I miss my parents.¡±


    Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou¡¯s expressions were very calm. It was common sense to assume that the 24 year old Li Yinhang¡¯s parents should also be in the game. Yet Li Yinhang was more worried about the safety of her roommate after entering the game. This meant that her parents should at least be safe.


    Li Yinhang said softly, ¡°They are all in the ¡®cocoon room¡¯ in the next city.¡±


    ¡°I was born when my mother was 39 years old.¡±


    ¡°I had a sister who was in an accident when she was 17. Thus, my mother wanted me.¡±


    ¡°She was called Li Yinhang so I am also called Li Yinhang. Still, they love me and are good to me.¡±


    ¡°She will always be 17. I don¡¯t want my parents to also think of me as always 24 years old for the rest of their lives.¡±


    After expressing the greatest fear in her heart, Li Yinhang buried her face in the palm of her hands and controlled her emotions. The tense, slightly weepy tone returned to normal. ¡°What about you guys?¡±


    ¡°Both my parents died before I came back from Ukraine.¡± Jiang Fang¡¯s arms and legs were long. Once he stretched them out on the stairs, the scale was amazing. He looked good no matter how he moved them.


    He put his elbows on his knees and continued, ¡°My mother was a native of City C. I came back here to live and walk around. I wanted to see if some of the places she mentioned to me were still here.¡±


    Li Yinhang inquired, ¡°Brother, what exactly do you do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying. I really am an unemployed traveler.¡± Jiang Fang laughed.


    It was Nan Zhou¡¯s turn. ¡°I have parents and a sister.¡±


    He thought about it and added, ¡°I don¡¯t know where they are right now.¡±


    He had no emotions on his face or in his heart. They had known each other for several days and Li Yinhang had come to the conclusion that although Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t good at expressing his heart, he was cold on the outside and warm on the inside.


    People who could say ¡®you must have the ability to protect yourself¡¯ shouldn¡¯t be indifferent to human life.


    ¡­However, he was reluctant to mention his relatives.


    It wasn¡¯t easy to have this opportunity to become friendlier. Li Yinhang wanted to shorten the distance and upgrade from hugging his thigh to friends. Thus, she actively asked, ¡°Teacher Nan, where did you go to university?¡±


    Nanzhou replied succinctly. ¡°Xinhua.¡±


    Xinhua University? The art and design department of this school was indeed famous throughout the country.


    ¡°Then you took the teaching test after graduation?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Are children easy to teach?¡±


    ¡°It is hard.¡±


    ¡°Do you mainly teach watercolors, sketches or oil painting?¡±


    ¡°I teach them all.¡±


    Li Yinhang felt like she was biting her molar teeth hard to chat. Facts proved that Nan Zhou only talked a lot when he wanted to speak. Li Yinhang saw that the journey to have a heart to heart with Nan Zhou was a disastrous defeat and casually asked without any hope, ¡°Have you ever had a girlfriend?¡±


    ¡­Nan Zhou stopped talking.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°???¡±


    This person wasn¡¯t right.


    Jiang Fang perceived the silence beside him and turned his head.


    ¡°Mr Nan, do you have one?¡± He smiled softly. ¡°I don¡¯t seem to know this.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at the two people. There was a long silence before he opened his mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that Xie Xiangyu is strange?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    How could a smart person like Nan Zhou be so stiff when it came to conversing?


    The author has something to say:


    I heard that you guys don¡¯t think it is obvious that Brother Fang is jealous qwq.


    P.S. There is no girlfriend. How can Nan Zhou with a Fang sexuality have a girlfriend?

 CH 48

    Nan Zhou stared at the pattern on the ground of the stairs, smelled the leftover scent of apples on his fingers and thought of a shadowy figure. He had never made any female friends but there was a shadow in his heart.


    This shadow belonged to a tall woman wearing a black and white loli dress. Her waist and chest were decorated with rust red roses. Her skirt was very big, making it a bit difficult for her to crouch down. Therefore, she was on one knee and revealed a beautiful, snow-white stocking covered calf.


    The first time Nan Zhou saw her, she was half-kneeling in his yard. In front of her were several handfuls of newly dug mud and it seemed like she was planting something. He didn¡¯t know what she was doing. She didn¡¯t seem to know that this place had an owner.


    Nan Zhou leaned through the window and watched the woman¡¯s back for a long time. He thought about all the people he had seen in town and found that he didn¡¯t recognize her.


    The woman was busy but felt the eyes staring at her, so she raised her head. The black hat covered her eyes. Nan Zhou only saw her slightly pointed chin, her light smile and her lip color that was like burning fire. Still, he was sure that the woman had seen him. It was because those lips slightly opened and closed. The corners of the already slightly curved mouth raised in a perfect arc.


    Nan Zhou was stunned for a long time. By the time he headed downstairs to find her, the woman was gone. Nan Zhou thought that if he saw her again, he might be a bit nervous. It wasn¡¯t to the point of being friends but he still wanted to know her.


    However, the first time he saw her was the last time.


    ***


    Nan Zhou stubbornly seized on the topic he had found and didn¡¯t give up. ¡°¡­Xie Xiangyu.¡±


    Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t bear to look him in the eye.


    However, Jiang Fang didn¡¯t grab onto it and just said softly, ¡°Okay, tell us about Xie Xiangyu.¡±


    Nan Zhou let out a slight sigh of relief. There were some things he didn¡¯t want to say and couldn¡¯t say. Fortunately, Jiang Fang¡¯s personality was very good and tolerant. He allowed Nan Zhou to have his own secrets. He said, ¡°Xie Xiangyu probably knew from the start that Zuo Jiaming existed.¡±


    Li Yinhang thought that Nan Zhou was deliberately trying to change the topic but he threw out a big bomb as soon as he opened his mouth. Li Yinhang¡¯s mind crashed for a moment before she spoke in a puzzled tone, ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°I went to remove the name cards and found that the surface was very clean. There is only a bit of dust deep in the side grooves.¡±


    He added, ¡°Sun Guojing and Zuo Jiaming¡¯s dormitories are both like this. I observed it before I took the card. The gray lines on the sides of the clear plastic slots used to insert the name cards of the two dormitories aren¡¯t coherent.¡±


    Normally speaking, the dormitory arrangements were a big project for the school. Once the dormitory allocation was determined, it wasn¡¯t easy to change dormitories. It had to be reported to all levels for approval. In the end, the approval wouldn¡¯t necessarily be successful. Therefore, starting from the first year of enrollment, the name card at the entrance wouldn¡¯t change unless the dormitory relationship was really incompatible. No one moved it for a long time so dust naturally fell on it. Now Nan Zhou found that the name cards were clean and the original dust lines were broken.


    After a fierce brainstorming, Li Yinhang suddenly found inspiration. She felt like she understood. Thus, she was eager to try and speak.


    Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang gently nodded. They confirmed it and looked at Li Yinhang in unison.


    Li Yinhang carefully adjusted her thoughts, cleared her throat and spoke. ¡°In this way, Xie Xiangyu should¡¯ve checked the name card a long time ago. So what we know now, he knew earlier. The strange thing is that he didn¡¯t tell anyone.¡±


    ¡°I think the reason he is like this is because there is a problem with the role he is playing. The original ¡®Xie Xiangyu¡¯ is likely to be the culprit of everything. In the entire relationship network, ¡®Xie Xiangyu¡¯ is the only one who clearly hates the four boys in the sports dormitory.¡±


    ¡°He hates the people who caught him peeping and wanted to stay away from them, but they have his handle and he has to listen to them. As a result, he had to work as an errand boy for the four people of the sports department. His peeping is also likely to be known by his roommate Zuo Jiaming. After all, Zuo Jiaming is Hu Li¡¯s friend. Thus, he is also worried about living in the dormitory¡­¡±


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    Rjc Itbe ujnf j ¡®tww¡¯. Ktf abcf kjr nfgs iluta jcv la kjrc¡¯a xcbkc lo tf kjr fzqgfrrlcu tlr jqqgbnji bg cba.


    Li Yinhang was encouraged and plucked up more courage. She continued speaking while organizing her thoughts. ¡°That night, ¡®Xie Xiangyu¡¯ learned about the place of our gathering. He found a way to attract that force and dragged us in with him. He might¡¯ve been tired of the world for a long time. After all, he has been threatened and bullied like this. He doesn¡¯t know when it will end so he wants to let everyone die together with him.¡±


    ¡°Player Xie Xiangyu entered this body and soon discovered the sense of incongruity in the dormitory. He found that there should be four people in his dormitory but there are only three people in his perception.¡±


    ¡°So after checking the name cards in front of his dormitory, he found Sun Guojing¡¯s group, checked their name signs and confirmed his thoughts. He said he wanted to work with them and lived with them while hiding the fact that he knew about these clues. It is to seek protection as well as ensure he had the key clues and got the most points.¡±


    ¡°Of course, he also worried that once he revealed he was the culprit, Sun Guojing¡¯s group would have a hot mind. They might feel they can solve the problem by resolving the source of the problem. If they try something against him, he will lose more than he gains.¡±


    Li Yinhang finished speaking and secretly reviewed it herself. The logic was smooth and there was nothing wrong with it. She looked at the Jiang Nan duo, waiting for praise. As a result, Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang exchanged looks. Nan Zhou opened his mouth. ¡°You speak first?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°No, Mr Nan. Please go first.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She had the feeling that she had confidently answered a question in class only to have the teacher stare at her and sigh.


    Nan Zhou asked first. ¡°If you are Xie Xiangyu who wants revenge, how will you recruit that force?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Li Yinhang paused for a moment. ¡°Generally, you use methods like the pen fairy, disc fairy¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou interrupted her. ¡°I¡¯m not asking that. I¡¯m asking how can Xie Xiangyu know that there is such a force?¡±


    This unknown force was a paradox. It existed when one didn¡¯t know it existed but no one knew it. It was around by their side by the time they knew about it. Just one question turned Li Yinhang¡¯s originally clear thoughts into a muddle.


    ¡­This was right. This force didn¡¯t exist in the campus legends passed around through word of mouth. If Xie Xiangyu hated those three people, he should¡¯ve resorted to more classic measures such as the pen fairy¡¯s curse that could be found in the school¡¯s forum. How did he have the ability to know about the existence of this force? Since he didn¡¯t know about it, how could he use its power?


    She saw that her reasoning was in danger and the building was going to collapse. Li Yinhang tried to find a reason to explain this source of contradiction. ¡°Then¡­ he might have been exposed to that power once himself and guessed how powerful it was. Thus, he wanted to drag others down with him¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou used a question to break Li Yinhang¡¯s barely established reason. ¡°Who organized the party?¡±


    ¡­Ah, right. The party was determined by the four people of the sports department and the location was also set by them. Xie Xiangyu was the junior and he was completely pulled to run errands and pay the bill. He didn¡¯t have any dominance at all. This was unless that force could be driven by him at will and at his call. Then Xie Xiangyu could be renamed Xie Half-Immortal and the balance of the game would be a joke.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    After Nan Zhou¡¯s question, she learned one thing.


    ¡­She understood alone.


    Jiang Fang noted Li Yinhang¡¯s dejected look and said gently, ¡°Do I still need to ask?¡±


    Li Yinhang¡¯s heart felt as grey as death. ¡°Say it. Let me die more thoroughly.¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t hold back. He put his hands to his lips and gave a false cough to block his smile. ¡°According to your thoughts, why is it necessary for Xie Xiangyu to go to Sun Guojing and ask for their cooperation?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± This was also right. What benefits could the muscle brains of the Sun Guojing trio bring to Xie Xiangyu who had already mastered the first advantage?


    If he got the clue left behind by Zuo Jiaming and wanted to verify his judgment or find out who Hu Li was while not revealing key clues to other players and monopolizing the score, he just needed to investigate secretly in the middle of the night. Why did he have to establish a cooperative relationship with these three people who only had developed limbs?


    Wait. Midnight¡­


    Li Yinhang blinked. According to Sun Guojing, Xie Xiangyu came to him the very first night he encountered the ghost. They only took the clues given by Xie Xiangyu and were completely led by the nose. They completely forgot the most important question.


    Why did he come to the sports department in the middle of the night? The dormitory building had the lights turned off and was locked at night. If an outsider to the department wanted to come in, they would have to hide in the public restroom before the lights were turned off. Why didn¡¯t he come earlier if he wanted to seek cooperation or sleep together?


    The relatively possible explanation was that Xie Xiangyu had come to the sports department in the middle of the night to check the name signs at the door. He also did it very successfully. The trio didn¡¯t hear the tiny noise of the signs at their door being removed. Once he finished and confirmed what he thought, he didn¡¯t leave. Rather, he knocked on their door and proposed cooperation. Not only did he put forward cooperation, he also concealed the most critical information.


    Not only did he conceal the key information, he also used a small clue as a favor to deceive the three people into following his advice. He made them run to 403 where there might be a latent force to investigate the situation. Meanwhile, he went to the classroom with peace of mind to act as an ordinary student.


    In the face of these contradictory details, Li Yinhang issued a soul-tortured question, ¡°¡­What does he want?¡±


    Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang answered at the same time, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    The interests of every team were different. It was just like how Li Yinhang hid the clues in the first instance. At that time, her interests were clear: find more clues and give her team more points. She just didn¡¯t know if her efforts were useful or not. It was only her personal attempt and speculation. If it was such a solid clue that was vital to the life and death of other players and needed to be shared, no one with a slightly normal mind would hide it.


    Why did Xie Xiangyu deliberately obscure the clues? In addition¡­


    Until now, they hadn¡¯t been able to find out the order and regularity of everyone who had been affected by the rustling sound.


    So far, excluding Xie Xiangyu and Hu Li and Zuo Jiaming who were no longer here, Sun Guojing had heard the rustling the most among the nine people who had been to classroom 403. It was five times. Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang were tied for second place and had heard it four times. Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun had heard it twice and three times respectively. Jiang Fang heard it only once.


    Li Yinhang spoke without much hope. ¡°Since the force is completely unknown, the order in which we are chosen should be unreasonable. There are no likes or dislikes.¡±


    In other words, it was about the mood of that force and their luck.


    ¡°Not necessarily,¡± Nan Zhou told her. ¡°This is an instance. An instance has its own playing logic.¡±


    He asked the two people, ¡°Do you remember the setting of the exploration system?¡±


    Li Yinhang naturally remembered. In the last world, their instance exploration rating was S. After going back, Nan Zhou still thought about it for a long time. In that little hotel, Li Yinhang was falling asleep but she heard Nan Zhou persistently question Jiang Fang. ¡°Why 98.7%? What about that 1.13%?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s answer was to pull the quilt over his head. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it now. Let¡¯s sleep.¡±


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°The exploration system should be adjusted according to the different attributes of each instance.¡±


    ¡°The last instance had a fixed location and exploration range so it tested our ability to collect and sort out the various clues scattered in Xiao Ming¡¯s home. However, the criteria for this instance must be different from the first one. If it is evaluated in accordance with the exploration range, the campus area is so huge that it is impossible to explore it all physically. So the score of the exploration must be focused on relationships and the instance¡¯s puzzles. The order and regularity in which we are selected should be one of the key indicators of the exploration degree.¡±


    ¡­Li Yinhang wanted to talk but stopped. She thought that Nan Zhou would say that if they found the pattern, they could figure out a way to get rid of the influence of the force and survive. After all, once Sun Guojing was completely erased, it would immediately be their turn. The sound of rustling could take them away at any time. It could be called a seamless transition.


    As a result, people were determined to set up indicators. This attitude was like answering the teacher¡¯s final question on a test.


    Li Yinhang had panicked the fourth time she heard the rustling. Now seeing how Nan Zhou was stable as a mountain and giving them focus, she felt it would be really unnecessary if she panicked too much. She wondered, ¡°What should we do next?¡±


    Nan Zhou spoke a bit too much and intended to rest his throat. He handed out a plate of snacks to Nanji Star. He glanced at Jiang Fang.


    ¡­It meant he was asking Brother Fang to continue. Jiang Fang picked up on the flow. ¡°Tonight, we will make another trip to 403 at the same time that we met last week.¡±


    Nan Zhou stepped down the stairs, silently agreeing to the proposal. At the same time, he planned to go to the supermarket later to buy more apples. He was in a better mood when he thought about apples.


    Still, he couldn¡¯t help thinking about the good-looking woman. It was because the woman dug at the ground of his house and planted an apple tree. Not long after, the green treetops grew all the way up to his bedroom window on the second floor, filling his room with the fruity scent. It was at this time that Nan Zhou fell in love with eating apples.


    Nan Zhou thought of the past and casually looked back. His gaze fell on Jiang Fang, who was holding a piece of paper and writing something on it. Nan Zhou became subtly stunned. The smile on the woman¡¯s mouth that he remembered just now corresponded closely with Jiang Fang¡¯s smile in his natural state.


    The long-term habits developed from working in the casino meant that Jiang Fang smiled slightly even in a relaxed state.


    Jiang Fang perceived Nan Zhou¡¯s gaze and turned over the paper that had the words ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯s girlfriend¡¯ written on them. He pressed the side with the writing against his knee and looked over. The arc of his mouth curved up even more. In the bright light of the day, it was so pleasant that people couldn¡¯t move away.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    Nan Zhou moved his gaze away and looked at Nanji Star, who was holding his finger and smelling the fruit.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s nothing.¡±

 CH 49

    Nan Zhou and the others happened to enter 403 at exactly 7:30 p.m. last week. For the hours remaining, the three people looked at the information on their phones and gathered what they had brought with them when they stepped into the room of death last week.


    They were going to repeat what they did last Friday.


    For the night visit, they called the Sun Guojing trio to go with them. Sun Guojing decided to go with them without arguing. There was no other reason. He had no way back. Hu Li said that once he heard the ¡®sha sha¡¯ sound, it was difficult for them to perceive his presence anymore. Sun Guojing was only one step away from fading out of their world.


    The six of them met again, sat together and took the time to confirm their mobile phone records so they had grabbed everything they brought that day. They were trying to recreate that day and bridge, poker, aeroplane chess, table curling and other board games were readily available. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroplane_chess)


    These were all prepared by Sun Guojing. They didn¡¯t have time to open them after returning with them. The games were still packed in a cloth bag and thrown carelessly on the edge of the balcony. There were two small tickets in the cloth bag, one for the supermarket and the other for the milk tea takeaway. The time for the small ticket was the evening of that day. They ordered the same things in order to restore what happened on the 21st as much as possible. Jiang Fang specially added sugar to Nan Zhou¡¯s milk tea.


    After writing down the kebabs and beer on South Street, Nan Zhou looked around. ¡°Anything else missing?¡±


    There was no response. He hummed. ¡°Then¡­¡±


    The next second, his wrist was suddenly pulled. Sun Guojing exhausted all his strength and gripped Nan Zhou¡¯s wrist, the veins on his neck bulging. It was the grip of a drowning man trying to grab a life-saving straw, Nan Zhou was in no pain. He just stared at his deformed, white fingers.


    Sun Guojing held out his mobile phone and almost poked Nan Zhou¡¯s face with it. His teeth were chattering behind his white lips but he couldn¡¯t say a word. Facing such a Sun Guojing, Nan Zhou calmly opened his mouth. ¡°Yes, you say it and I¡¯ll write it down.¡±


    It was as if he hadn¡¯t forgotten Sun Guojing¡¯s existence. He treated Sun Guojing with a normal attitude so this person wouldn¡¯t be alarmed. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t help. The big and rough man squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying. ¡°I¡­ kept holding up my phone¡­ reading to you what I want to bring.¡±


    He looked around. ¡°Actually¡­ none of you noticed me just now, right?¡±


    Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun¡¯s eyes turned red but they followed Nan Zhou¡¯s words. ¡°I didn¡¯t forget, I didn¡¯t forget. How could I forget?¡±


    Sun Guojing huddled helplessly to one side. His face was white and the muscles on his face swelled and shriveled. To ease his panic, he raised his hand and added in a hoarse voice, ¡°¡­I wanted to buy another cake. I used the takeout software to place an order and made a special note to add extra cream for everyone to play with¡­ there are seven or eight cans of silly string spray.¡±


    After that, he lay motionless on the bed. His eyes were glazed over but he was still staring at the ground. Nan Zhou stared back at him and didn¡¯t say anything. The Luo Qi brothers stayed on either side of him and gossiped with him.


    Sun Guojing didn¡¯t say anything. He hung his head and was speechless. The brothers had to rack their brains and say something that would make him happy. The brothers spoke to him for a long time. Luo Ge even recalled the barbecue stall that the three of them jointly opened, saying he didn¡¯t know if it would still be there when they got back. Would the tables and chairs be there and could they still open?


    Just then, Sun Guojing absentmindedly said, ¡°You two¡­ don¡¯t go.¡±


    He continued, ¡°There is no one at the barbecue stall but it can still be opened. We can¡¯t have all three of us gone.¡±


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    Seeing that the task was almost completed, Jiang Fang got up first and made an appointment to meet the trio downstairs of the sports department dormitory at 7 o¡¯clock.


    In autumn, it always became dark early. In the daytime, the maple leaves were light and golden. The red shadows were dazzling and it was so beautiful that it made people hold their breaths. Then as soon as night fell, the maple leaves were blown everywhere by the cold wind. It swept by quickly like a small hand that was thrown all over the place.


    The slightly fragile and dehydrated leaves were shattered and crushed under the feet of the people walking around at night and the ¡®rustling¡¯ sound made people shiver and wonder if the force was approaching.


    In the end, only Sun Guojing decided to go with the Nan Zhou trio to the East Fifth Building. The group of four walked further and further through the maple leaf avenue, the hustle and bustle of the campus behind them.


    It wasn¡¯t strong during the day. It was only by visiting at night that they could know how remote the East Fifth Building was. As they were around 200 meters away from the East Fifth Building, 70-80% of the streetlights had been broken. The flashing street lamp bulbs made a strange and clear sound.


    Nan Zhou turned on the flashlight ahead of time. The flashlight swept in a fan-like arc, illuminating part of the road ahead. Still, this didn¡¯t effectively alleviate the fear of others. The places that weren¡¯t illuminated by the light became darker, as if there was an unknown giant eagerly waiting for the opportunity to swallow them up in one bite.


    It was easy to get to the East Fifth Building. The moment they entered the corridor and the sensor lights lit up, Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang felt the two people behind them take a breath. It was 7:20 p.m.


    They arrived at the door of Room 403. Sun Guojing rubbed his frozen and numb palms together in front of his lips, letting out a bit of warm air. He pressed his hand against the doorknob and paused for a long time. It was as if it was his judgment seat. It was his path of reincarnation. He stood still and Nan Zhou¡¯s group quietly stood with him.


    At around 7:30, Sun Guojing raised his wrist to check his watch. He confirmed the time, gritted his teeth and was about to press down the doorknob¡ª


    However, the door was one step ahead of him. It slowly opened inward, bringing half of Sun Guojing¡¯s body into darkness. Before Sun Guojing had time to feel fear, the lights of the classroom were turned on.


    He fell into a bright light. It wasn¡¯t known when they came but Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun, who had left the dormitory early, were waiting in 403. They had obviously been waiting there for a long time.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we holding a party?¡± Luo Ge¡¯s smile that he forced out was a bit exaggerated. He was clearly afraid that once his muscles relaxed, his entire expression would collapse. He turned his head and showed the room full of balloons and ribbons to Sun Guojing. ¡°Look at what we¡¯ve done for you.¡±


    Qi Tianyun raised the key of Room 403 that he had removed from Sun Guojing¡¯s keyring at an unknown time and shook it. ¡°It is dangerous everywhere. So isn¡¯t it good to go together as brothers?¡±


    The originally fairly simple Room 403 was decorated by the two people and it had a bright and lively atmosphere. If 403 was the habitat of the mysterious force then seeing his home treated this way, it would immediately abandon Sun Guojing and first target the Luo Qi duo to maintain its dignity. Sun Guojing didn¡¯t say anything. He hugged his two brothers one by one, his face pressed against their shoulders and his body trembling fiercely.


    After the hard work of the Luo Qi duo, this was like a real gathering of friends. The six people sat on the ground in the gap between the podium and the seats.


    Sun Guojing handed Nan Zhou a can of beer. Nan Zhou waved his hand, holding his cup of milk tea with sugar and slowly drinking it. No one could tell that one day earlier, three of the six people were trying to rob the other three, only to be robbed in return.


    The Longtan trio started to drink the cans and their faces soon took on a slightly drunken look. Sun Guojing couldn¡¯t help swearing. ¡°Xie Xiangyu, that son of a bitch. He just wanted us to scout the way for him!¡±


    Nan Zhou calmly tried to communicate with the drunkard. ¡°Did he contact you again?¡±


    He didn¡¯t think so. The surveillance incident was exposed and there would be no way Xie Xiangyu would come to see them again. Although Sun Guojing and the others didn¡¯t know about the surveillance, they had already figured out they were being used to explore the way.


    Sun Guojing answered, ¡°He didn¡¯t, but I contacted him.¡±


    He waved his hands through the air. ¡°I called and scolded him!¡±


    Nan Zhou held the milk tea and waited for the follow up.


    As a result, Sun Guojing rubbed his hands together and spat out as he said angrily, ¡°¡­Fuck, it took a long time before I figured out that this person had turned the phone on speaker and set it aside. He burned up 15 minutes of my phone bill. I called again but he didn¡¯t answer. That fucking guy, he better hide tightly in some unknown ditch or I will beat him up if I run into him¡ª¡±


    Nan Zhou bit the matcha flavored taro balls and didn¡¯t talk. What exactly did Xie Xiangyu want? He chose to be alone. He clearly found the name cards before everyone else. He didn¡¯t keep it to monopolize the clues but he didn¡¯t communicate with any of them. He hid in a corner of the campus, spying on their every move. In this supernatural instance with such overwhelming power, he refused to cooperate or contact them. It was as if he had no fear at all. Was he planning something by doing such counterintuitive things? Or did he want to get through it by hibernating and waiting?


    Jiang Fang squeezed the can of hawthorn juice and asked gently, ¡°What are you thinking about?¡±


    Nan Zhou told the truth. ¡°Xie Xiangyu.¡±


    ¡°Ah, him. He is a very interesting person.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s attention was instantly attracted. ¡°Why do you say that?¡±


    Jiang Fang took a sip of the hawthorn juice. ¡°I can probably understand what he wants to do.¡±


    Nan Zhou listened carefully.


    Jiang Fang pressed the can of hawthorn juice to his lips and whispered, ¡°If I was a solo player, I might play like this.¡±


    Unfortunately, there were some things that he couldn¡¯t do now.


    Nan Zhou stared at his side profile thoughtfully.


    ¡­Jiang Fang¡¯s expression just now was the same as when he was calculating Qu Jinsha at the casino. The corners of his mouth were curved and his eyes were icy and sharp like a wolf.


    Nan Zhou blinked and thought, ¡®It is a bit cute.¡¯


    Nan Zhou still wanted to ask. However, since Jiang Fang had an idea in mind, Jiang Fang was probably on guard. Xie Xiangyu¡¯s matter wasn¡¯t very important. The most important thing was to figure out how they got to the ¡®non-existence place¡¯ and how to get rid of the influence of this force.


    The 403 during the day was no different from the current 403. There were doodles on the tables and chairs, pictures of great people on the walls, windows that looked a bit gloomy due to the anti-reflective film¡­


    There was nothing unusual. Of course, if the room had changed significantly last week then they should¡¯ve noticed. It wasn¡¯t advisable to speculate on things out of thin air so this path was blocked. So what about another way of thinking?


    They spent nearly a day and night full of suffocation, horror and pressure so the three brothers considered this exploration party as a hearty way to vent. The cans of beer were poured down their throats one by one and Sun Guojing¡¯s courage rose every minute. Before long, he had become arrogant and he wanted to fight with the instigator behind the mysterious power. The noise they made really wasn¡¯t small.


    Nan Zhou had to sit closer to Jiang Fang. He held his milk tea as he asked this person, ¡°Do you feel anything?¡±


    He was referring to the feeling of being affected by that power. Jiang Fang shook his head. ¡°Not yet.¡±


    There were no signs of ghosts coming to 403 such as the air becoming cold or flashing light bulbs like in the movies. To confirm, Jiang Fang took out the Sixth Sense Cross hanging around his neck. The cross was intact.


    Adding in the time when he went to the supermarket to buy apples this afternoon, Jiang Fang had only heard the rustling sound twice. The supernatural power wasn¡¯t aimed at him yet and this cross was naturally useless.


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°This force is too irreversible. Standing in front of it, there are too few things we can do.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°This isn¡¯t what Teacher Nan should say.¡±


    Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang and nodded. ¡°¡­Yes, I haven¡¯t finished speaking yet.¡±


    It was as Nan Zhou said. This force was too domineering. It had a strong power¡ªit could erase the existence of a person without anyone else knowing. It had accurate positioning. Zuo Jiaming used a trick with the elevator and hid in the file room but he still couldn¡¯t avoid its approach.


    It was intangible. When the danger came, there was only a tinnitus-like rustling sound in their ears. The supernatural phenomena was intangible and couldn¡¯t be harmed at all. It was so terrible that it was almost unsolvable. But¡ª


    ¡°It is so powerful that there almost seems to be no loopholes.¡± Nan Zhou speculated. ¡°If the rest is just as complicated, there is no way to play this game. Players can only rely on luck to decide who dies first.¡±


    He declared, ¡°Thus, it must have weaknesses. There are two points we need to understand about this force. First, how does it appear around us unnoticed? Second, how does it choose the order of erasure?¡± For the first one, it is ¡®silent¡¯ and this is one of the characteristics of unsolvable terror. It isn¡¯t suitable for the current inference. This means the weakness that can be cracked is probably the order of erasure.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± It was really simple reverse thinking.


    Nan Zhou hadn¡¯t fully organized his thoughts yet. Therefore, he relied on thinking about them to clarify the clues. ¡°Our investigation during the day has sorted out the relationship between characters.¡±


    ¡°The first person to die is the sports student Hu Li. The second to die is Zuo Jiaming. It is very likely that Sun Guojing is next. Then it is me and Yinhang¡­ In the setting, Hu Li and Zuo Jiaming play football together and their relationship is very good. My relationship with Yinhang is also very good. She was worried about going to play with a group of boys so I came with her to protect her¡­¡±


    Just then. Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes lit up. He told Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­Your phone.¡±


    In the blink of an eye, all five mobile phones were placed in front of Nan Zhou. The only one missing was Li Yinhang¡¯s phone, which was completely destroyed. According to the message left by Zuo Jiaming, once the sixth rustle was heard, their ability to convey information to the outside world with the aid of material carriers would disappear.


    It was equivalent to being on a deserted island. This was why the message left by Zuo Jiaming wasn¡¯t visible to the naked eye. Therefore, Nan Zhou needed to race against time to verify his idea before Sun Guojing heard the sixth rustle.


    Fortunately, the force didn¡¯t come to interfere with them at this critical moment. Soon, after intensive searching, Nan Zhou got the clue he wanted. Under Sun Guojing¡¯s hopeful gaze, Nan Zhou expressed the conclusion first.


    ¡°It is possible that the order of erasure is the order in which we entered. The party held that day officially started at 7:30 but the order in which we entered the classroom was different.¡±


    He pointed to Sun Guojing¡¯s phone. The message he sent to Luo Ge at 7:10 was displayed: I¡¯m here but Old Hu¡¯s little lover hasn¡¯t arrived yet. Haha, he is anxious like a monkey.


    Luo Ge replied: It is a civilized monkey. Leave a place for me and Old Qi to watch.


    From this, it could be seen that Sun Guojing had arrived at the meeting place at 7:10. Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun hadn¡¯t arrived yet. Old Hu¡¯s ¡®lover¡¯, Li Yinhang, also wasn¡¯t there. Hu Li and Zuo Jiaming were known to be the first and second victims. It made sense if they followed the logic of ¡®the order of entering the classroom is the order in which you become a victim.¡¯


    Sun Guojing might¡¯ve been in charge of the key for 403 but he could pass the key to Hu Li to let him unlock the door first. Hu Li was the first to open the door and enter the classroom. His football friend Zuo Jiaming followed closely behind.


    Vec Xebplcu jgglnfv ja 7:10. Rjc Itbe jcv Ol Tlctjcu kfgf pera joafg Vec Xebplcu.


    Ktf mtja wfrrjufr yfakffc Rjc Itbe, Aljcu Mjcu jcv Ol Tlctjcu bcis wfcalbcfv Aljcu Mjcu¡¯r rqfmlji gfijalbcrtlq klat Rjc Itbe jcv atf jqqblcawfca ab wffa ja Ebbw 403 ja 7:30. Ktfs cjaegjiis tjv atbeuta atja Rjc Itbe jcv Aljcu Mjcu tjv mbwf abufatfg.


    However, it could be inferred from common sense that Jiang Fang might be Nan Zhou¡¯s partner but the relationship between them hadn¡¯t been fully public. It was a bit embarrassing to come together. Li Yinhang had asked Nan Zhou to accompany her to protect her. Thus, it was more reasonable that she and Nan Zhou came at the same time.


    Xie Xiangyu came at around 7:20. It was because at 7:21, Sun Guojing sent another WeChat message to Luo Ge: The food will be cold if you don¡¯t come soon.


    Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t sure if Xie Xiangyu came before or after himself and Li Yinhang. Nevertheless, it was certain they came before Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun. Jiang Fang was the last to come. It was because according to reality, Jiang Fang was the last of them to hear the rustling sound.


    In this case, everything was right. If Room 403 itself was a huge, silent, bloody mouth that only opened to visitors who came to it late at night¡­


    Then the order in which it erased people was the order of entry. If the clues they determined were true and reliable¡­


    This time, Qi Tianyun reacted quickly and almost jumped up with excitement. ¡°We just need to disrupt the order. At the same time point, enter through the door again and it can be solved!¡±


    Qi Tianyun felt he had guessed right and was so excited that he turned in circles, his speech becoming faster. ¡°Yes, yes! This is right. It must be right! If we enter the door again, the order in which the force erases us will be disrupted! Those of us who hear the rustling sound less often will go in first. We will take turns switching up the order every night. Even if the number of times we hear it isn¡¯t reset after each disruption, we can work together and make it through five days! It is just right! What a coincidence! Old Luo and I were afraid you wouldn¡¯t let us come so we entered early!¡±


    Qi Tianyun rushed forward and grabbed the shoulder of Sun Guojing who was still in a daze. ¡°Old Sun! We have been drinking for over an hour. Have you heard the rustling? Huh? How long has it been since you last heard it?¡±


    Sun Guojing was dumbfounded. ¡°Uh¡­ adding in the afternoon, seven or eight hours¡­¡±


    Qi Tianyun hugged Sun Guojing¡¯s neck tightly and shouted incoherently, ¡°Saved! Old Sun, you¡¯re saved! You will be fine! I will be the next person to hear the rustle and then Old Luo! It will be me and Old Luo! It will take a long time for us to hear the sixth rustle! We are all saved!¡±


    Nan Zhou murmured, ¡°¡­Is this the case?¡±


    However, his voice was drowned out by the shouts and cheers. He glanced at Jiang Fang.


    Jiang Fang leaned toward his ear, warm breath blowing against Nan Zhou¡¯s earlobe and making it itchy. ¡°Their idea is reasonable. We might as well¡­ try it first.¡±


    ***


    After slowly coming back to his senses, Sun Guojing found that he might¡¯ve really escaped from this disaster. He was rejuvenated and drank freely and more uncontrollably. Every sip made the feeling of crawling from the line of death become clearer.


    He even ran to make a toast to Nan Zhou. After standing in front of Nan Zhou, Sun Guojing bowed deeply without saying a word.


    ¡°Thank you, thank you very much.¡± Sun Guojing told him. ¡°It is all in the wine.¡±


    He raised a can of beer at Nan Zhou and then drank most of it in one go. Nan Zhou held the straw and gently blew bubbles into his milk tea.


    Sun Guojing put down the can of beer and wiped his mouth ¡°Thank you for saving me twice. The first time is now and the second time was in the dormitory. If you hadn¡¯t explained it to me, my sin value would be gone.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡± It was san value.


    Still, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t interrupt his high spirits. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°You have a good sin value, right?¡± Sun Guojing had drunk a lot and his words weren¡¯t very clear. ¡°I can see that you aren¡¯t very afraid. You are a man. For the previous matter, I, Sun Guojing didn¡¯t do it very well. I want to make you a friend¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He quickly took a step back. He frowned and thought that the people of today were really frivolous. Did they make ¡®friends¡¯ so casually now?


    Sun Guojing had been drinking too much and he naturally didn¡¯t notice Nan Zhou¡¯s avoidance. His eyes widened and he found that Nan Zhou was missing from his vision. He staggered and laughed as he held the beer can and went to look for his two good brothers. He was really drunk.


    In addition, Nan Zhou¡¯s group wanted to verify if Qi Tianyun¡¯s idea was true so they didn¡¯t leave. Not long after, Nan Zhou gradually became sleepy. The bright lights in his vision turned into scattered, fluffy halos. He held onto the last trace of consciousness and tried to find two chairs together to lie down on. Yet the moment he moved, his head was lightly pressed by a hand that led him to tilt to one side. He ended up resting on warm skin.


    Jiang Fang looked down at him and smiled. ¡°Why are you lying down on my lap?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t lie down of his own initiative. There seemed to be something wrong. Forget it.


    In the middle of the night, the three brothers who had a life-long friendship were dead drunk. Yinhang sat on the ground, her upper body leaning against the chair beside her as she slept peacefully. Nan Zhou was resting on Jiang Fang¡¯s legs, breathing regularly. Meanwhile, Jiang Fang sat quietly. His fingers gently stroked the teardrop mole under Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes as he looked at everything around him soberly.


    Sun Guojing had fallen down drunk on the stairs. He was lying on the hard floor with seven or eight empty beer cans thrown around him. The smell of alcohol came strongly from his breath. He slept a bit uncomfortably. He twisted his waist and grabbed the hem of his sweater, pulling it up and revealing a section of his abdomen. Then he turned his body to the other side. At this moment¡ª


    ¡ªSha¡ª


    ¡ªSha¡ª


    ¡ªSha¡ª


    The small sound of ¡®sha¡¯ had a subtle variation, turning into a prolonged syllable. It was like a nail against a blackboard, slowly moving down and creating a long, thin, sharp noise. However, Sun Guojing slept too well. He didn¡¯t hear it. Jiang Fang naturally couldn¡¯t hear the subtle sound that rang in Sun Guojing¡¯s eyes.


    As the sky turned white, he supported his head and gave himself 30 minutes to rest.


    One night passed like this.


    Luo Ge was awakened by Qi Tianyun. He stared blankly at the messy classroom after the party, apparently unable to digest the current situation. Luo Ge wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth. ¡°Why did we sleep here¡­?¡±


    Just then, Nan Zhou woke up. He woke up and rubbed Jiang Fang¡¯s legs, which were said to be numb from being used as a pillow.


    Qi Tianyun and Li Yinhang were busy cleaning up the rubbish with empty plastic bags.


    ¡°Oh!¡± After a short time, Luo Ge found the fragments of memories and waved his fists in excitement. ¡°We found a solution to the problem!¡±


    QI Tianyun also looked happy. ¡°This is the best way. Okay, let¡¯s do it again tonight¡­¡±


    As he spoke, he looked at Jiang Fang. ¡°Jiang Fang, right? You¡¯ve heard it the fewest number of times. You can come again this evening to share the burden for the two people in your team.¡±


    Jiang Fang pressed against his thighs and made a sound like it was natural.


    Qi Tianyun picked up a full trash bag, grabbed the key placed on the table and naturally said to Luo Ge, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Li Yinhang also saw hope when she saw the two of them head out the door of 403. She smiled and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go too!¡±


    Nan Zhou helped Jiang Fang stand up. Jiang Fang took two steps forward and a slight light flashed from his neck. Nan Zhou saw the Sixth Sense Cross hanging around Jiang Fang¡¯s neck and frowned slightly. Who did he get this item from? As Nan Zhou thought about this problem, he helped Jiang Fang out of 403.


    Qi Tianyun locked the door and shook the key while leaning against Luo Ge¡¯s shoulder. He smiled as he walked toward the abundant sunshine outside. Meanwhile, Sun Guojing remained on the stairs, sleeping ignorantly and soundly in the dark and lightless Room 403 where the curtains were drawn.

 CH 50

    Sun Guojing opened his eyes after a deep dream. He stared at the snow-white ceiling, his heart blank. The numbness caused by alcohol, mixed with the memory of finding a way to escape last night, made him float in contentment and peace. The thing that really awakened his mind was a long, alcoholic hiccup.


    Sun Guojing abruptly turned over and sat up, his cheeks puffed up as he looked around for a trash can. However, the deserted scene around him made everything rushing up to his throat become congested below his throat and above his stomach.


    Gastric juices fiercely burned his esophagus but Sun Guojing¡¯s body felt like he had fallen into an ice cave. Where did everyone go? He endured the discomfort caused by the hangover and stumbled toward the only exit.


    The door was an old-fashioned lock. There wasn¡¯t a lock button that could unlock the door with a simple twist. They could only use the key to lock it from the inside or from the outside. Sun Guojing pressed his hand to the door handle. He paused for a moment before daring to push down hard.


    Click.


    The door lock made a suffocating noise. The bolt held the lock pin firmly and didn¡¯t move.


    ¡­The door was locked. It was just that Sun Guojing didn¡¯t seem able to see it. He gritted his teeth and twisted the doorknob frantically. The crazy twisting turned into shaking. The shaking turned into a desperate impact.


    He hit the door with his shoulder again and again. The white powder at the junction of the door and the wall shook and fell on his shoulders, hair and the ground. However, the door in front of him was very strong. The bull-like Sun Guojing finally stopped when his shoulder became numb from all the bumping.


    He lost his soul as he spun around the classroom like a beast. As he looked up, he even had the illusion that his shadow was still hitting the door. Was the escape method that they came up with yesterday just a dream? Did he come to 403 of his own initiative or was he permanently imprisoned here by that force?


    The disappeared Hu Li and Zuo Jiaming¡ªwere they trapped somewhere like this?


    Sun Guojing¡¯s mind was no longer clear. His turbulent and collapsed thinking was accompanied by a sharp drop in san value.


    4.


    3.5.


    1.9.


    0.8¡­


    He was going to run away¡­


    Yes, get out of here. As long as he escaped this place, he didn¡¯t care about anything else¡­


    He had to flee¡ªimmediately! A row of windows appeared in Sun Guojing¡¯s bloodshot eyes. Escape!


    Sun Guojing¡¯s body was in a state of extreme panic and before judging the danger, he acted without thinking. He rushed toward the window, slamming against the window like a mad bull, just like he had against the door.


    He forgot one thing. Glass was more fragile than a door. There was the sound of glass cracking and Sun Guojing¡¯s world turned upside down in an instant.


    He was shrouded in sunshine. He saw a crowd walking in the distance, talking and laughing. He saw an ownerless bird¡¯s nest in the tree by the window. Then he was pulled by gravity. His upper body was half leaning out the window and he fell straight down.


    The moment he was weightless and saw the ground approaching, Sun Guojing sobered up. What was he doing? He¡ª


    The moment the thought of ¡®I¡¯m going to die¡¯ rose up, his momentum of falling unexpectedly stopped. His jacket happened to be hanging from the window lock. In this way, Sun Guojing maintained a falling position and looked directly at the hard, gray concrete ground.


    No no, no no no no! He would really die if he fell like this!


    Sun Guojing could visualize the appearance of his brain blending with the gray-white ground. His survival instinct made him confused and he wanted to retreat. It was just that shifting his center of gravity wasn¡¯t that simple.


    In the blink of an eye, most of Sun Guojing¡¯s body was hanging outside the window sill. The only thing saving his life was the smooth, semi-circular lock button that simply wasn¡¯t enough to provide an effective rescue. In addition, Sun Guojing wasn¡¯t hanging onto it very firmly. He just needed to twist his body to easily break free from it.


    Vec Xebplcu¡¯r kjlra kjr bearlvf atf klcvbk jcv tlr ifur kfgf eqrlvf vbkc, tjculcu lc Ebbw 403. Lf kjnfv tlr tjcvr, agslcu ab ujlc reqqbga ogbw atf beafg kjii. Lf tjv pera ifjcfv rilutais ktfc tf tfjgv atf geyylcu bo tlr mbja rilvlcu rtjgqis bc atf tbbx, rjnlcu tlr ilof.


    Sun Guojing didn¡¯t dare move any longer. He yelled tragically, ¡°Help! Help me!¡±


    In his ears, his screams stirred up the slightly empty campus in the early morning. However, the morning jogger in the distance couldn¡¯t hear him. The cleaning staff cleaning up the fallen leaves a hundred meters away couldn¡¯t hear him either.


    Sun Guojing still existed but he seemed to have lost his connection with the world ahead of time. Sun Guojing¡¯s face was flushed from being upside down, his trachea seemed to have narrowed and he could only exhale a shrill flow of air.


    He had a hallucination again. There was the nagging sound when he got in trouble as a child and his mother took him to the door to apologize.  The taste of the popsicle in his mouth. The noise when Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun squatted in a corner of the big stall and played the finger-guessing game. In addition¡ª


    It was too late to look back. It was because the feeling of complete weightlessness was coming again. His body was completely unhooked from the window bolt. He closed his eyes and waited for his head to smash apart.


    However, one second passed and then two seconds. The pain didn¡¯t arrive and he belatedly felt the sensation of his feet touching the ground. The sense of weightlessness just now came from the rear. He was grabbed by the back of his clothes and pulled back from the line of life or death.


    ***


    Nan Zhou looked at Sun Guojing, who had been pulled up by himself but still had hollow eyes.


    ¡°Wake up.¡± Nan Zhou shook him. ¡°Wake up.¡±


    He saw that Sun Guojing wasn¡¯t responding and raised his hand, politely glancing at Qi Tianyun to ask for his opinion.


    The brothers were going crazy. If it hadn¡¯t been for Nan Zhou waking up completely from his sleep, counting the people and recalling the specific number of people who entered 403 yesterday, they really would¡¯ve forgotten Sun Guojing in 403.


    They didn¡¯t know what Nan Zhou meant by this look. They just begged Nan Zhou to save him quickly. Nan Zhou let out a hum and after controlling his strength, he slapped Sun Guojing¡¯s face.


    Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun who were stunned by the movement of this slap, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Sun Guojing¡¯s head and neck were twisted 90 degrees and his neck bone made a clear cracking sound. Nan Zhou was quietly startled. He had the mentality of better late than never as he immediately held Sun Guojing¡¯s head upright and checked under his nose for breathing.


    It was okay, at least he was alive.


    Sun Guojing had no idea what was going on. The moment he was slapped, he felt the illusion that was still revolving around like a kaleidoscope turn off in an instant. It was commonly known as the ¡®darkness in front of his eyes.¡¯


    Sun Guojing fell to one side and his brain buzzed like a hornet¡¯s nest had exploded in his head. A long time passed before the empty world in front of him slowly became colorful.


    The slap played a role in turning the tide of the situation. Sun Guojing¡¯s san value had dropped to 0.1 and could reach zero at any time. Now it was back to 0.5. By the time Sun Guojing was 80% sober, Nan Zhou had already moved his hands behind his back. One of Sun Guojing¡¯s eyes was extremely swollen. He struggled to open it for a long time but failed. He looked at Nan Zhou, who was closest to him, in a daze.


    Nan Zhou coughed. ¡°You are awake.¡±


    Sun Guojing wanted to speak but his cheeks were swollen and numb. He sounded like a squirrel forcing out words around a big chestnut. ¡°I¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou took over his words. ¡°You are alive.¡±


    Jiang Fang couldn¡¯t help laughing when he saw Nan Zhou¡¯s slightly guilty appearance. Nan Zhou stared at him. Jiang Fang¡¯s lips curled up and he immediately made a motion of zipping shut his mouth.


    Sun Guojing had just survived the danger and had no time to focus on his face. He asked lightly, ¡°How did you come to find me?¡±


    Nan Zhou turned around. ¡°I found there was someone missing and came back.¡±


    Sun Guojing cried out, ¡°I¡¯m not dead?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Sun Guojing hadn¡¯t completely disappeared. It was just like Hu Li. According to Hu Li, he saw himself standing beside Sun Guojing¡¯s bed after hearing the sixth rustle. He let out a heart-piercing scream but the scream was swallowed up by the air. He seemed to have entered a vacuum.


    Later, Hu Li used violent body movements to forcibly awaken the other people. He was still able to have conversations with them. In other words, hearing the sixth rustling didn¡¯t mean death. It was just that their sense of existence was further diluted. Most of the mediums of external communication would also be blocked.


    Sun Guojing¡¯s lips trembled. ¡°Then can you see me now?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°I can still see you.¡±


    Sun Guojing had red eyes and froze in place and he looked suspiciously at Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou stretched out a finger and poked him lightly in the shoulder. This finger made the psychological sandcastle of the 1.8 meter strong man, Sun Guojing, collapse.


    Sun Guojing hugged him and wept like a child. Nan Zhou was caught off guard. He instinctively wanted to throw this person over his shoulders. Then he felt that Sun Guojing had no maliciousness and calmed down.


    He put his hands behind his back and lowered his head quietly, the hair on one side falling slightly on Sun Guojing¡¯s shoulder. He was thinking about why. What had gone wrong?


    Sun Guojing walked into the sunlight with his brothers and his limbs were still numb while his heart was cold. Sun Guojing¡¯s spirit was dealt a blow. The others weren¡¯t much better. Sun Guojing¡¯s experience had given them a dangerous signal: Their inference had gone wrong again.


    However, Nan Zhou¡¯s spirit was still stable. He was firmly convinced of one thing: it was impossible that they had encountered an unsolvable instance. Moreover, he didn¡¯t feel that their thinking direction last night was wrong. The ghost was unsolvable in terms of lethality, mobility and form. Thus, there must be a solution in other aspects.


    Nan Zhou felt that the instance solution proposed by Qi Tianyun last night was reasonable. They might¡¯ve just taken one step wrong. They just had to find out where this step was¡­


    On the other side, Qi Tianyun and Luo Ge had already tied their wrists to Sun Guojing¡¯s wrists. Sun Guojing tried to struggle as he was tied up by the rope. ¡°Don¡¯t do this. It is too dangerous.¡±


    Luo Ge comforted him. ¡°Old Sun, just think about it. It is just that we can¡¯t see you. Even if you disappear completely, we just need to follow the rope and we¡¯ll know you¡¯re still there.¡±


    Most people had a better mind than usual when encountering life or death problems. Sun Guojing was no exception. He smiled bitterly. ¡°Once the time comes and you forget me completely, you will find this rope cumbersome.¡±


    He added, ¡°Besides, if I am dragged away then it isn¡¯t worth it for the ghost to get two extra people. It is too cheap for the ghost.¡±


    Luo Ge dully made an ¡®ah¡¯ sound. ¡°¡­No, this might not be the case. Maybe this instance is purely to scare people and the ghost doesn¡¯t have the ability to kill at all. It will only make people invisible. We just can¡¯t see you but you can stay until the end of the instance¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that possible?¡± Sun Guojing was very sober. ¡°If so, why are the requirements of clearing the instance to survive and not go crazy? To put it bluntly¡­ the player can die. I¡¯ve heard the sixth sound and I feel like I¡¯m almost there. Every three rustling sounds, the ghost will make a big move¡­ I think my progress is more than half. Perhaps it is really the end for me when I hear it three more times. As long as I don¡¯t meet the instance clearance requirements, I can¡¯t be separated from this instance¡­ I would rather die than stay here all my life, living like the dead¡­¡±


    Sun Guojing opened his slightly red eyes and stared steadily at the two brothers he had passed his life with. He whispered, ¡°Once I hear the sound twice more, kill me.¡±


    Qi Tianyun was silent for a long time. Then he tightened the rope on his hand and tied a dead knot. He said, ¡°At the time when it is too late to untie it, let¡¯s die together.¡±


    Luo Ge wiped his nose and heckled, ¡°Fuck you. Who ran the fastest when confronting Nan Zhou? Old Qi, you are really like a ghost¡­¡±


    Qi Tianyun lowered his head in embarrassment. Nevertheless, his words were firm. ¡°We won¡¯t separate. Not at all.¡±


    ***


    It was 8 in the morning on Saturday and the campus hadn¡¯t fully woken up. The door of a dormitory room in the sports department was lightly knocked on from the outside. It was polite and regular.


    A boy with hair like a chicken coop shuffled over in his flip-flops and opened the door. He opened the door and saw a pretty boy. The pretty boy wore black-rimmed glasses and had the words ¡®good student¡¯ written on his face. He gently held the frame. ¡°Is this Chang Shanhe¡¯s dormitory?¡±


    The boy who opened the door yelled into the dark dormitory behind him in a hoarse voice, ¡°Shanhe! Someone is looking for you!¡±


    ***


    Chang Shanhe yawned as he opened the door of the sports warehouse with a key. He asked the person behind him who claimed to be a new member of the sports department¡¯s student council, ¡°We are really missing basketballs?¡±


    Xie Xiangyu pointed to the warehouse door that had ¡®Chang Shanhe¡¯ written on the whiteboard. ¡°There are less basketballs. You cleaned up the warehouse yesterday so Coach Duo asked me to find you.¡±


    Chang Shanhe muttered, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be¡± while opening the door of the sports warehouse.


    The faint smell of rubber entered his nose.


    Chang Shanhe entered. ¡°If they are really lost, why didn¡¯t Coach Duo call me?¡±


    Xie Xiangyu followed him in. ¡°I don¡¯t know. In any case, if you can¡¯t find them then you have to take responsibility.¡±


    Chang Shanhe cursed in his heart while thinking that the students in the student council were really good at showing off. A little boy who could be pinched dead with one hand dared to talk nonsense in front of him.


    Chang Shanhe kept cursing as he walked around a layer of thick cushions around the height of a person before stopping. He turned around and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t there three baskets of basketballs? How can there be some missing¡ª¡±


    He could no longer speak. Xie Xiangyu was holding a pen-like object roughly the same thickness of the circle his index finger and thumb joined together would make. Now the pen lid had been taken off. It was fitted with a type of iron bullet.


    The moment he pressed on the end, an iron ball would suddenly pop out at the speed of a bullet. The cartilage in Chang Shanhe¡¯s throat was smashed to pieces by the iron ball that suddenly struck his throat.


    Xie Xiangyu praised himself. ¡°It is easy to use.¡±


    The homemade gadget took some time to make. Fortunately, the effect was outstanding.


    Xie Xiangyu grabbed Chang Shanhe¡¯s hair, patted the back that was constantly convulsing and dragged him behind the cushions. The tower-like body staggered a few steps before falling face down, covered by a pile of cushions. The effect of the weapon tested on the NPC was satisfactory to him.


    Xie Xiangyu prepared to leave. Just then, he saw a shadow standing in front of the sports warehouse, blocking the only way out. Simultaneously, the soft sound of ¡®sha sha¡¯ rang in his ears again. For Xie Xiangyu, this was the sixth time.


    He saw the shadow in front of him twist onto all fours. He also saw the shadow¡¯s four limbs move as it rushed toward him. However, he just put his hands in his trouser pockets and smiled. As the twisted monster rushed in front of him, Xie Xiangyu raised his foot and stepped on it accurately. He stepped on a mass of air.


    ¡°Hello.¡± Xie Xiangyu stood in the empty warehouse, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you for a long time.¡±


    Now that it arrived, he could finally do what he wanted to do. He walked out of the sports warehouse, properly locked it and smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes. No one knew he had been to the sports warehouse. To be precise, even those who witnessed him leaving the sports warehouse would turn a blind eye to his existence.


    Xie Xiangyu took brisk steps toward his true destination. He lightly followed the American girl who swiped her card to enter the dormitory and entered the international students dormitory unhindered. He played with his carefully designed item in one hand while stepping into the management office of the international students dormitory.


    The administrator was a foreign woman with a big perm. She was reading a magazine and drinking coffee. Xie Xiangyu passed by her side, silently placing a hand against her temple and giving her a playful pat. This could be regarded as a greeting to her.


    Behind the woman, Xie Xiangyu freely searched every drawer and every corner. He hummed a cheerful song. ¡°We wish you a Merry Christmas¡­¡±


    He wasn¡¯t at all worried about being found. It was impossible.


    The music ended when he found what he wanted. He took out a room card from a drawer. A name was written on the room card.


    Original name: Lodoka Montoloka


    Chinese name: Jiang Fang.


    He took out the gift he wanted and hid it in his palm. As he walked out of the administrator¡¯s office, the administrator in the swivel chair happened to look back. The situation in front of her puzzled her for a moment. Just now¡­ did she open the drawer?

 CH 51

    Saturday.


    It had been 47 hours since they entered the instance. Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang both believed that the paradoxical nature of this force meant it wouldn¡¯t leave any traces in the world but Li Yinhang was still a bit worried.


    She used Jinjing University and added various keywords to it to search the Internet for abnormal deaths in the school in the past 10 years. She also went to the library and wandered in the newspaper and magazines area all afternoon.


    Overall, there were over a dozen suicide incidents that caused a lot of trouble. They were due to love, graduation or family conflicts. None of them had anything to do with Room 403. Even the most tumultuous suicide incident involved jumping from the administrative building that was half a campus away from Room 403. They didn¡¯t choose the extremely underused East Fifth Building as a suicide location.


    In addition, the nine people selected were indeed all ordinary university students. Among them, the most problematic ones were probably the ¡®sports trio¡¯ who were bullies. There was also ¡®Xie Xiangyu¡¯ who peeped at the female dormitory. The others had no records of cheating or not returning at night.


    Li Yinhang diligently took eight pages of notes before admitting that the top students¡¯ conclusion was right. All the incidents related to Jinjing University that endangered personal safety had nothing to do with the rustling they were encountering right now.


    Nan Zhou also came to the library and picked books from the bookshelf behind Li Yinhang. He stuck his head out and saw Li Yinhang scratching her head while taking notes. Then he retracted his head again. He told Jiang Fang beside him, ¡°She is doing useless work.¡±


    This time, they met a ghost with no clear source. More accurately, it was just pure malice. Even if they added up all the incidents that had happened in the school since its founding and included the curses and resentments of the university students who died due to love or other reasons, it couldn¡¯t achieve such a strong curse and erasure effect.


    Nan Zhou added solemnly, ¡°According to the law of conservation of energy, this isn¡¯t scientific.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°I know.¡±


    Then he said, ¡°Still, this will allow her to do something. It is okay to pass the time.¡±


    During the conversation, Nanji Star was too hot. He moved his round buttocks to emerge from the back collar of Nan Zhou¡¯s sweater. Jiang Fang hooked the collar from behind to help Nanji Star, vaguely exposing the tooth print on the back of Nan Zhou¡¯s neck.


    Nanji Star jumped three times and ran up his shoulders. He chose the left clavicle that had the best position and feel and sank his buttocks down, comfortably nestling himself. His slender tail kept swinging like a windmill and he was very comfortable.


    Jiang Fang asked Nan Zhou, ¡°What book do you want to read?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not reading books.¡± Nan Zhou replied. ¡°I like to go and walk around a bookstore when thinking about things.¡±


    Then he gently took a breath. He had adapted to the unique smell of ink and he really liked it. It helped him to think.


    Jiang Fang accompanied him through the sea of books. He asked, ¡°What are you thinking about? Maybe I can help you.¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°Xie Xiangyu.¡±


    ¡°You are still thinking about him?¡±


    Nan Zhou turned to him. ¡°I¡¯m not thinking of him. I¡¯m thinking of you.¡±


    His words were extremely straightforward. Mixed with the light dust floating in the sunlight, it gave Jiang Fang the illusion that his heart was shot with an arrow of light. Jiang Fang lightly covered his heart with one hand. ¡°Ah, it is my honor.¡±


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°You told me you know what he is thinking.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled.


    Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°You always smile at me.¡±


    Jiang Fang murmured, ¡°If I didn¡¯t know your character, I would think you were deliberate¡­¡±


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    Jiang Fang pursed his lips and smiled. He didn¡¯t want to ruin his image in Nan Zhou¡¯s heart. Thus, he had been deliberately hiding some of his innermost thoughts. Still, Nan Zhou¡¯s words and deeds always gave him the courage or impulse to open up with the truth.


    Therefore, Jiang Fang still used the words that were rejected by Nan Zhou. ¡°If I were him, I would also use people like Sun Guojing. First, let him find out the dangerous path that I don¡¯t want to go down. Second, eavesdrop on the communication between him and others so I can judge and understand the progress of the investigation.¡±


    Of course, the latter purpose was lost when it was discovered by Jiang Fang.


    ¡°Then I wouldn¡¯t try to get rid of that force or find a way to life out of this infinitely dead door. The easiest way is to kill a player who shouldn¡¯t have died in the order, trying to break the laws of that force completely.¡±


    Nan Zhou raised an eyebrow. ¡°Ah, that is a way.¡±


    ¡°It is a very effective, cost-efficient and easy way to handle it. If used properly, you can kill one person and save six people.¡± Jiang Fang added, ¡°Also, Teacher Nan. Don¡¯t forget that we are playing games.¡±


    ¡°We are playing a game where we are ranked by player points. Scoring more than the opponents isn¡¯t the only or most efficient way to win. The best thing is to have no opponents.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought about this while Jiang Fang swallowed down all the words he hadn¡¯t said. If it were him, he wouldn¡¯t be as far away from everyone as Xie Xiangyu. He would fully integrate with everyone and cooperate with them. He would be sure to let Sun Guojing¡¯s group be loyal and die for him. He could make sure that when Sun Guojing died, Sun Guojing would think it was due to the ghost.


    Nan Zhou had an expression that said ¡®it turned out to be like this.¡¯


    Jiang Fang asked, ¡°How is it? Is it very bad?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked the same. ¡°There is nothing bad. It is just another way of playing.¡±


    He added, ¡°Don¡¯t you lose points if you kill your teammates? It isn¡¯t worth it.¡±


    Jiang Fang wondered, ¡°What if the setting of this game is a  points system where the points are one large pool? The fewer teammates there are, the more points you can get from the points pool?¡±


    Nan Zhou heard these words and slowly raised the thermos in his hand, taking a sip of the hot drink. Inside was honey water. He said, ¡°If that is the case, the other teams will definitely try to kill us first.¡±


    ¡°If they don¡¯t do it, you won¡¯t do it?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Nan Zhou replied solemnly. ¡°Otherwise, we won¡¯t monopolize all the points.¡±


    Jiang Fang subtly found Nan Zhou cute.


    Nan Zhou told him, ¡°This type of gameplay is simple but I don¡¯t like it.¡±


    The feeling of breaking the neck of someone who looked like himself wasn¡¯t happy at all.


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Jiang Fang said. ¡°That¡¯s why I won¡¯t do it¡­¡±


    At this point, Jiang Fang suddenly pressed a hand to his ears and took a small breath.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s expression became tense. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Jiang Fang saw Nan Zhou¡¯s alert appearance so he lowered his head, one hand holding the bookshelf as he spoke in a shaky manner, ¡°¡­I heard it again.¡±


    This was Jiang Fang¡¯s fourth time. He had heard the third sound when he went to the bathroom alone in the morning. As a result, the corridor he was walking down turned into an endless corridor. In addition, the heads of the great people on both sides had their eyes firmly locked on his body. They slowly turned as he walked, eyes extremely cold with bitterness. Jiang Fang tried to walk in a circle before immediately closing his eyes and walking backwards. Before long, he was back at the inflection point.


    After hearing that Jiang Fang had heard the sound again, Nan Zhou¡¯s knightly instincts immediately kicked in. He reassured Jiang Fang in his usual cold tone. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. It¡¯ll be over soon¡­¡±


    Then the next second, his eyes abruptly shifted to a corner not far away. Nan Zhou¡¯s temperament was obvious. He was like a cat whose territory had been violated. Jiang Fang noticed the drastic change in expression and followed the gaze. Yet the place where his eyes landed was clearly empty.


    Nan Zhou whispered, ¡°There is someone.¡±


    He added, ¡°¡­I feel.¡±


    Jiang Fang licked his lips, moistening his already bright red lips. ¡°You are too nervous. You should stay in your dormitory tonight and get a good rest.¡±


    Nan Zhou turned around and locked eyes with Jiang Fang for a moment. He seemed to read a certain message in Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes.


    He kept staring into Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes and responded in a focused manner, ¡°Okay.¡±


    A short distance away from the two bookcases where the duo were standing. On a thin layer of dust on the side of the wooden bookshelf, three unclear fingerprints appeared.


    Xie Xiangyu had just come. He didn¡¯t dodge like the first time he was nearly caught by Nan Zhou. Instead, he stood behind the bookshelf and watched Nan Zhou who was standing beyond two layers of books.


    The outline of the ear under the half-long curly hair. The side arc of the Adam¡¯s apple. The well-defined tip of the elbow bone that was covered by the coat. The slightly blue veins on the lowered wrists. The ankles wrapped in white socks that were so slender it made one want to grip onto them. Everything was so perfect. It was perfect like a person who came out of a painting.


    Xie Xiangyu liked to eat yellow peach cake the best. Every time he ate cakes, he always liked to leave his favorite yellow peach for last. Therefore, he set his sights on Jiang Fang. Tonight, maybe he could solve the unimportant people first.


    Nan Zhou had cared about Jiang Fang just now. It was so moving that it made Xie Xiangyu infatuated. He was looking forward to Nan Zhou waking up to see Jiang Fang¡¯s broken throat and dead expression. It would be very, very pleasant.


    ***


    This joy lasted until sunset, when the moon rose and night sank.


    Xie Xiangyu admired the moon on the roof of the dormitory for a long time. He regretted that there were still 10 days before the full moon and carefully conceived his farewell words when he sent Jiang Fang away.


    ¡°Jiang Fang, hello.¡±


    Although at that time, Jiang Fang might not be able to hear his own voice. Still, there should be a sense of ritual.


    In the past 23 years of life, Xie Xiangyu had led a boring life, wasting time. This was why he loved this Forces of Temptation that made him full of vitality. He also had a wish to be fulfilled. Therefore, killing Nan Zhou was necessary.


    Xie Xiangyu admitted that he did have a near-fanatical interest in Nan Zhou. However, people like Nan Zhou were destined to go to the end. If they met at that time, there would be no such favorable conditions.


    Nan Zhou must die. It just couldn¡¯t be today.


    Xie Xiangyu was full of secrets and enthusiastic expectations as he came to the international students dormitory an hour after the lights went off. He knew that Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang had been staying here for the past two days. It was pitch black inside and people should¡¯ve fallen asleep long ago.


    Xie Xiangyu gripped the throat breaking pen in his left hand, took out the exclusive room card from his pocket and caressed the name ¡®Jiang Fang¡¯ written on the white sign. After confirming it was the original card, he placed the card face on the card reader and waited for the pleasant ¡®ding¡¯ sound, accompanied by the green light that allowed passage.


    However, what greeted him was a red light and the piercing sound of ¡®failure to unlock¡¯ in the hallway late at night. Before Xie Xiangyu could react, the door in front of him opened inwardly as fast as lightning. What came out was¡­ a splash of flour.


    According to the way the flour spread and the area blocked out in the air, Jiang Fang accurately strangled Xie Xiangyu¡¯s throat. Before Xie Xiangyu could effectively resist or escape, Jiang Fang dragged him inside the dormitory.


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s footprints were left on the flour. The door closed with a gentlemanly movement.


    Meanwhile, Nan Zhou was in the stairwell on the fourth floor and climbing up with Li Yinhang. He faintly heard the noise from the seventh floor and abruptly raised his head.


    Li Yinhang felt a bit uncomfortable. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Didn¡¯t Nan Zhou say that he wouldn¡¯t go back to the dormitory for international students this evening? He would go to his dormitory for a while before the lights went out.


    Why did he suddenly change his mind? What did the words ¡®I¡¯m worried about him¡¯ mean?


    Nan Zhou had no intention of answering her questions. He sped up silently as he ran up the stairs.


    ***


    In the small struggle, Xie Xiangyu saw the dormitory room that was empty of all students except for Jiang Fang. There was a flash of light and Xie Xiangyu understood what had happened.


    Jiang Fang knew everything. He had changed his key card early.


    The trick couldn¡¯t have been simpler. He just needed to destroy the components of the original room card and falsely claim that he had lost his card at the management office on the first floor. Then if he had swift hands, it was perfectly possible to replace the spare card with the old one that was broken.


    Jiang Fang had been guarding against him. Even¡­ it was possible he had also thought of using the force mechanism in the instance to get rid of someone.


    Jiang Fang slammed Xie Xiangyu against the wall. In the darkness, no emotions could be read from Jiang Fang¡¯s pale eyes. In contrast to his violent actions, his voice was still elegant, deep and calm. It was as sweet as a cello. ¡°You really disappointed me. You took the lead in this instance but this is how you play?¡±


    Xie Xiangyu gasped and laughed, shaking the white flour from his head.


    ¡°You restrained him,¡± Xie Xiangyu declared. ¡°You wasted his talent.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Literally. You wasted Nan Zhou¡¯s talent.¡± Xie Xiangyu grabbed Jiang Fang¡¯s wrist. ¡°If it was me, I would treat him well. I would take care of every corner of his body. After all, he is so interesting¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang looked cold. If Jiang Fang had previously just been thinking about making the unstable factor of Xie Xiangyu disappear from the instance, now he planned to act. However, the sound of hurried footsteps outside broke Jiang Fang¡¯s plan. The familiar sound of footsteps made Jiang Fang release his hand immediately.


    Xie Xiangyu had always been waiting for an opportunity. He seized this chance and immediately seized Jiang Fang with a backhand. Unfortunately, his new weapon was too short to be suitable for unexpected close combat. It couldn¡¯t be used in such a posture at all. This pose was too sub-standard.


    According to Jiang Fang¡¯s experience, he had nine ways to counterattack and beat this person to the ground. Then he saw the backlit silhouette of Nan Zhou standing at the door and Jiang Fang gave up all resistance. He kept his controlled pressure, the side of his face pressed against the cold and hard table as he leisurely said, ¡°Baby, help me.¡±

 CH 52

    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s response was even faster than Nan Zhou¡¯s. He immediately released Jiang Fang¡¯s arm, rushed to the balcony, smashed the glass and jumped straight down from the seventh floor!


    It turned out he was right about the crisis. Nan Zhou chased behind him. The dagger swung fiercely and silently but the sharp blade only got a trace of blood.


    The weightless feeling of the fall mixed with the cold night wind hit him. Once he was only three or four meters from the ground, Xie Xiangyu¡¯s palm turned and a slender black umbrella appeared out of thin air. The tip of the umbrella pointed straight at the ground, releasing high frequency sound waves.


    The silent sound waves hit the ground in a short and violent manner, offsetting most of the impact. His body was pushed up half a meter by the sound waves. This consumption meant the only remaining use of this item was gone.


    The moment Xie Xiangyu landed, the black umbrella turned into streamers and disappeared. He used the momentum of the descent to roll and completely disappeared into the night.


    Nan Zhou inserted the tip of the dagger between the gap in tiles on the window sill as support and stared at the empty night below for a long time. He thought that they hadn¡¯t guessed wrong.


    Now Xie Xiangyu could also hide his body like Sun Guojing, who had heard the rustling sound six times. It was probably because he only heard it six times that his existence wasn¡¯t completely forgotten or erased.


    This further validated their conclusions. This force really determined the order of death according to the sequence of when their role entered Room 403. Therefore, the solution Qi Tianyun proposed yesterday to re-enter 403 within a specific time and disrupt the order of the force should¡¯ve been ineffective.


    Why was it ineffective? What went wrong?


    After successfully breaking away from their vision, Xie Xiangyu didn¡¯t leave immediately. He crouched on one knee in the darkness, looking up at Nan Zhou. He saw Nan Zhou¡¯s gaze wandering back and forth and judged that he was safe.


    Xie Xiangyu was about to get up when he gave a low hiss. He put his hands to the hollows at the back of his knees. One hand was warm. The blade was just a hair¡¯s breadth away from slicing his tendon.


    Xie Xiangyu placed his warm palm on his knee and couldn¡¯t suppress his smile. He sat back and muttered to himself, ¡°My dear, this is too cruel.¡±


    Didn¡¯t he just kill Nan Zhou once? Why be so bothered? Previously, he thought it would be bad if Nan Zhou recognized him. Thus, he avoided Nan Zhou everywhere and wanted to get rid of Nan Zhou, so as to reduce his worries for the final victory in this game.


    Now he had changed his mind. It really couldn¡¯t be better if Nan Zhou became his teammate.


    Xie Xiangyu felt that he wasn¡¯t doing this on a whim. His own advantages were too prominent. He was the only one who knew Nan Zhou¡¯s secret. Did Jiang Fang know who Nan Zhou was? Would the girl with him know?


    Nan Zhou must be lonely. There was no one who understood him, no one who appreciated his talent. Ordinary people like Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang would only restrain his abilities, making him play boring role-plays and play house in a clumsy and lame way. Why force himself to act as an ordinary person? He shouldn¡¯t be an ordinary person.


    The excitement made Xie Xiangyu¡¯s body dry and hot. He couldn¡¯t control the arc of his lips. He stared at Nan Zhou deeply until Nan Zhou returned to the dormitory. Even then, he still stared for a long time. He was reluctant to look away, like a dragon looking at his treasure.


    ***


    Nan Zhou returned to the dormitory and found Jiang Fang¡¯s upper body still leaning against the table. He was gently moving his shoulders. His posture made his waist look particularly flexible. Nan Zhou approached, the expression on his face indifferent. ¡°Did he hurt you?¡±


    ¡°Um.¡± Jiang Fang shook his head. At the same time, he noticed the residual blood on the tip of the dagger in Nan Zhou¡¯s hand. ¡°¡­The dagger is pretty fast.¡±


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    The excuse was good. Jinjing University¡¯s management of international students had always been lax and Jiang Fang¡¯s attitude was good. He offered to pay for the glass. Once the teacher confirmed that no one was injured, he told Jiang Fang to pay attention to safety and turned to leave. In this way, the deadly storm was calmed down like this.


    Jiang Fang had time to tell the two people what happened. Of course, he selectively skipped the time when he had the upper hand.


    Li Yinhang felt cold sweat drip down her back. She thought that in a PVE game, at least people¡¯s hearts would be simple. She forgot that in a ranking competition, it wasn¡¯t surprising for anyone to do anything.


    For the first time, she started to rejoice that she was about to hear the sixth rustle. Then her sense of existence would be weakened and Xie Xiangyu might not notice her. Being entangled by this force was troublesome and dangerous but it was even more unreasonable to be entangled by a madman.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t care about Xie Xiangyu. He said to Jiang Fang, ¡°Your complexion doesn¡¯t look good.¡±


    Li Yinhang paid special attention to Jiang Fang¡¯s face when she heard these words.


    ¡­She didn¡¯t see anything. Jiang Fangs¡¯ skin was ivory white due to being raised in a land of ice and snow. Only his lips were full of blood. Li Yinhang observed closely but she couldn¡¯t see where his complexion was bad.


    Jiang Fang answered, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me about your plan?¡±


    ¡°I was afraid of being overheard. At that time, Xie Xiangyu was probably by our side.¡±


    Nan Zhou refuted it. ¡°You could¡¯ve secretly written it on the palm of my hand or sent me a text message, but you didn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    Jiang Fang was silent for a moment. ¡°Are you angry?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Nan Zhou said, ¡°I admitted my fault to you when I hid that I heard the rustling sound. I want an apology.¡±


    Jiang Fang took back the left arm that was resting on the back of the chair, bent over slightly and solemnly said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was my fault.¡±


    Nan Zhou pursed his lips.


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t hear Nan Zhou¡¯s response for a long time and raised his head. ¡°Was my attitude not sincere enough?¡±


    Nan Zhou inquired, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your arm?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Was this big shot an x-ray machine?


    Jiang Fang looked at his newly raised left arm and suddenly made an ¡®ah¡¯ sound. He smiled. ¡°Is it because my actions weren¡¯t natural enough when I took it back just now?¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t talk to him again. He grabbed Jiang Fang¡¯s arm and pushed the sleeve of the black sweater up to the elbow. The thick bandage wrapped around the forearm had been hidden by the sleeve. A bit of red appeared on the surface of the bandage, causing Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes to flash slightly.


    Li Yinhang was surprised. ¡°This is¡ª¡±


    The bandage wasn¡¯t tied tightly. Due to the fierce action just now, the bandage had loosened a bit. From the gap, Nan Zhou glimpsed part of the content inside.


    It was half of the character ¡®Zhou.¡¯ It was done using the Swiss Army knife Nan Zhou gave him. It wasn¡¯t to the degree of minor scarring. It was to the degree in which the skin and flesh were deeply cut and textured.


    Nan Zhou murmured, ¡°¡­You separated from me to do this?¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t care much and nodded casually. ¡°Yes, it was part of the reason.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t know why but he felt worse. He said softly, ¡°There was no need to carve it. Just write it down.¡±


    Jiang Fang easily shrugged. ¡°How can it just be written? What if that force is strong enough that I can¡¯t see the related information about you that I left behind?¡±


    He raised his left arm. ¡°This will still be good. It will hurt, even if I can¡¯t see it. If it hurts, I will touch it and know you are there.¡±


    There was a long silence.


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang laughed. He twisted the scorpion braid over his shoulder with his raised left hand. ¡°You told me not to forget you. I promised and this promise will last forever.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang saw his furrowed brow and softened his tone. ¡°Do I need to apologize for this too?¡±


    Nan Zhou blinked and suddenly felt a bit blocked in his heart. It was like a knot was tied. He raised his hand and rubbed it, but he couldn¡¯t untie it. Rubbing it again, the knot twisted a bit stronger together.


    Nan Zhou silently pulled Jiang Fang¡¯s arm over and looked at the blood-stained bandage. ¡°You know, I didn¡¯t want to ask this.¡±


    Jiang Fang was silent.


    ¡­Nan Zhou was right. What he wanted to ask was why Jiang Fang did so much for him.


    Jiang Fang really wanted to give his reasons. The funny thing was that he couldn¡¯t say it. Anyone who knew Jiang Fang would laugh if they heard Jiang Fang say this.


    What type of person was Jiang Fang? He was good at using ambiguous, smooth and pleasing words to please everyone and become the focus of the spotlight. Everyone thought he was dissolute, unrestrained and wandering through a world of flowers.


    The Joker of an underground casino. Vice-Captain Montoloka of the ice hockey team. Mr Lodoka of the truck company.


    Jiang Fang was accustomed to being smooth and slick and eloquent in his words. He seemed to be close to everyone. He could say the most pleasing words that people wanted to hear. Then when he smiled and waved, leaving without nostalgia, the people who considered themselves his ¡®friends¡¯ started to look back and found that they had never walked into Jiang Fang¡¯s heart.


    Such a Jiang Fang had a serious psychological problem. He couldn¡¯t say straightforward words that exposed his heart. He was always reluctant to hand over his sincerity to anyone. Until¡­


    After a fierce psychological struggle that wasn¡¯t obvious, Jiang Fang reluctantly gave an answer. ¡°¡­It is because I want to be your friend.¡±


    Nan Zhou asked, ¡°Do you have many friends?¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t know why Nan Zhou asked this. He still replied, ¡°It isn¡¯t a small amount but I want you¡­ to be the most special one.¡±


    For Jiang Fang, crossing his psychological barrier took the same effort to cross mountains and seas. As a result, Nan Zhou was silent. He didn¡¯t comment on Jiang Fangs¡¯ remark. He just immersed himself in sorting out the outer edge of Jiang Fang¡¯s arm bandage.


    Jiang Fang repeatedly tried to talk to him, analyzing Xie Xiangyu¡¯s strangeness and why he didn¡¯t blend in among them so he could strike after gaining their full trust. However, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t say a word.


    Li Yinhang sat to the side with the sleepy Nanji Star, trying her best to reduce her sense of existence. Still, her current mood could probably be described as this:


    ¡­Wow.

 CH 53

    On the other side, Sun Guojing¡¯s group easily made some decent deductions so they naturally refused to give up on their speculation easily.


    That night, at 7:30 p.m. In accordance with the order, they had Qi Tianyun who heard the rustling sound the least enter 403 first. Then Luo Ge pulled Sun Guojing to enter together.


    The three people were terrified. They spent the night inside and didn¡¯t dare close their eyes. The results still weren¡¯t satisfactory. After a hard night, 65 hours after entering the instance and at 8 o¡¯clock on Sunday morning, Sun Guojing was filled with endless terror as he slowly ushered in the third to last sound of his life. The force seemed to be fond of leaving time for people to constantly think about it, fully appreciating the fear before death came.


    Perhaps it was because he nearly fell down from a building and died once. This time, Sun Guojing calmed down and didn¡¯t become mad. After a short decline, his san value rose immediately.


    It was just that they were still confused. What went wrong with their inference? How could they end this instance? Half of the 120 hour game time was over but it seemed that Sun Guojing could only live through today.


    The three people had dark circles and wandering souls when they came out of the only exit of the East Fifth Building and ran into Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou sat under a maple tree directly opposite the door and had a set of sketching tools at his feet. He seemed to have been sitting there for a while because the small section of bone protruding from the side of his right wrist was dyed black due to a carbon pencil. Along with the black sweater, it made his skin an unusual white. He looked like he had had a good sleep and even had the leisure to change into new clothes.


    Nan Zhou greeted the trio. ¡°Good morning.¡±


    He specifically reminded himself to pay attention to Sun Guojing. He stared for a long time before seeing the person Qi Tianyun and Luo Ge were protecting behind them. Sun Guojing had now heard the sixth rustle and was the most worthy figure to observe.


    Nan Zhou summarized the law of the influence of the ¡®rustling¡¯ sound on people. After hearing the rustling three times and seeing a supernatural phenomenon once, the person¡¯s sense of existence would be weakened. It was like Nan Zhou himself who went back to the dormitory to prepare for the examination that day.


    This change was very mild. If one wasn¡¯t sensitive enough, it might not be visible. The qualitative change occurred after the six rustles. The person¡¯s sense of existence would be sharply reduced and their ability to communicate with the outside world severely weakened. This was true objectively and in other people¡¯s minds.


    That morning, the reason why Sun Guojing was collectively forgotten in Room 403 was because everyone¡¯s state wasn¡¯t so good. Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun had just woken up with a hangover. Jiang Fang only slept for 30 minutes and the blood supply to his brain seriously affected his judgment. Li Yinhang slept with back pain and woke up a few times at night. She was groggy when she woke up and simply became a small tail attached to Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang. She didn¡¯t think much. As for Nan Zhou, it always took him a while to wake up properly.


    Fortunately, hearing the rustling six times didn¡¯t mean death. At this stage, it was just difficult to attract the attention of others without making any shocking movements through physical contact.


    However, at least everyone still had the concept of ¡®Sun Guojing¡¯ in their minds. In short, they would subconsciously forget Sun Guojing¡¯s existence. It was just that this ¡®subconscious¡¯ wasn¡¯t insurmountable.


    The instance took every three rustling sounds as one stage. Each stage would have a qualitative change. By the ninth sound, Sun Guojing would change to be exactly the same as Hu Li and Zuo Jiaming. They didn¡¯t exist and due to that, the system judged them as ¡®dead.¡¯


    ¡­It was even more miserable.


    Hu Li and Zou Jiaming were important clue characters and were part of the puzzle. Yet once Sun Guojing ¡®died¡¯, Nan Zhou was worried that they would forget everything about him. Apart from him as a person, this included the laws and clues observed from him.


    They would have to look for who Sun Guojing was again from scratch, just like they once looked for Zuo Jiaming and Hu Li. It was too much trouble once such a situation occurred. It also affected the number of points.


    Ca atf fcv bo atf vjs, Rjc Itbe vlvc¡¯a atlcx tf ralii tjv bnfg 50 tbegr bo ujwf alwf ifoa. Ktf wbwfca Vec Xebplcu vlfv, tlr ujwf kbeiv rbbc ojli.


    Ktf batfg akb abbx Vec Xebplcu jcv jqqgbjmtfv atf atlcxlcu Rjc Itbe. ¡°Kfjmtfg Rjc, ktja jgf sbe vblcu?¡±


    Ktfs ifjgcfv atf cjwf ogbw Aljcu Mjcu. Ktflg abcf kjr jkxkjgv yea atflg jaalaevf kjr rlcmfgf fcbeut.


    Nan Zhou raised the sketchbook and charcoal pencil in his hands. ¡°My architecture department has to hand over drawn building structures every week.¡±


    The trio, ¡°¡­..¡±


    Too amazing. They were convinced. He was really making the best of this role-playing.


    Qi Tianyun asked, ¡°Where are your two friends?¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s hand paused slightly before he continued to draw. He said, ¡°I also have many friends.¡±


    Qi Tianyun was confused. ¡°Huh?¡±


    Then he clarified. ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m talking about your teammates. Where are they?¡±


    ¡°Brother Fang and Yinhang went to find Xie Xiangyu.¡± Nan Zhou lowered his head while answering. ¡°Brother Fang said that we might¡¯ve failed because we have one less person.¡±


    The three men were full of spirit after hearing these words. Yes! This instance was essentially PVE. Perhaps it required a high degree of cooperation between players? Find Xie Xiangyu, gather the seven people and enter 403. Perhaps it would work!


    The three men had their next direction of action pointed out and immediately bid farewell to Nan Zhou. For them, they had to firmly grab onto even a glimmer of hope, regardless of whether it was spider silk descending down into hair or straw in a vortex.


    The trio left and Nan Zhou continued to finish his homework. He had a strong sense of space, his pencil strokes were sure and precise and his lines were clear. Unlike a professional art student, he sketched with a pen first. Then he used the charcoal pencil to enrich the details. He set out a few basic points. Then he chose a window on the first floor and used it as the origin to quickly draw a whole picture.


    After it was completed, Nan Zhou held up the sketchbook and compared it. Yet the corners of his eyes remained behind him. The reason he came here alone wasn¡¯t just to finish his homework. He didn¡¯t believe that one failure would make Xie Xiangyu give up his plan to kill someone. This was the way Xie Xiangyu had chosen to play.


    Now that the road of cooperation had been cut off, Xie Xiangyu could only go to the end. He still had the advantage so it was more important to hurry up and act. Otherwise, once Sun Guojing was killed by that force, his turn would be next.


    Nan Zhou being alone was specifically an opportunity created for Xie Xiangyu. It just wasn¡¯t known if he would be hooked. If Nan Zhou took Xie Xiangyu¡¯s indiscriminate killing style, the preferred target would be himself.


    Solve the most difficult one first and it would be much more convenient. However, he wasn¡¯t Xie Xiangyu nor did he know Xie Xiangyu. He could only try it out. The worst result was that Xie Xiangyu didn¡¯t show up. Even so, the original body¡¯s weekly homework had been completed so it was cost-effective.


    Nan Zhou could be said to be half right. Xie Xiangyu¡¯s first choice for killing wasn¡¯t him but the fishing move was indeed effective. Xie Xiangyu was now standing silently half a step away from him, playing with the homemade throat crusher behind his back. Meanwhile, he leaned over and admired the work Nan Zhou had just finished.


    Then after examining it, Xie Xiangyu¡¯s expression subtly changed. He thought to himself, ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    At almost the same time, Nan Zhou frowned. His gaze shifted between the building and his homework. After glancing back and forth several times, he stood up and walked to the East Fifth Building.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Nan Zhou murmured to himself. ¡°Maybe.¡±


    Xie Xiangyu suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t you give it a try?¡±


    Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t hear but he took action as Xie Xiangyu said.


    The East Fifth Building was a four storey teaching building with a red-black matte brick surface that faced north and south. The appearance wasn¡¯t a proper square. All the corners were a bit of a blunt arc shape.


    The entrance was the staircase that went straight up and down. The interior wasn¡¯t particularly special and there was no porch. The shape was simple. There was only one corridor on each floor and rows of classrooms. There was nothing wrong with Nan Zhou¡¯s drawing. The details of the drawing matched closely with the East Fifth Building.


    Nan Zhou went to the side of the East Fifth Building and closed his eyes. He tried his best to shield his external senses from interfering with his perception as he held onto the bricks of the outer wall and walked forward step by step.


    One step, two steps, three steps.


    Xie Xiangyu was beside him, following his footsteps and doing the same thing as him. Meditating and counting steps, trying to keep their strides constant.


    Nan Zhou walked all the way from the east end of the building to the west end and wrote down the data. Then he entered the interior of the building. The corridor empty of people was quiet. The morning light revealed a bit of flying dust, like a gentle web of light that spread all over Nan Zhou¡¯s body, forming a phantom that captured him in its palms.


    On the first floor, Nan Zhou repeated the actions just now. From east to west, he measured with his own footsteps. Discounting the area of the building itself, the length of the corridor on the first floor was around the same length as outside. Then he went straight to the fourth floor.


    Xie Xiangyu walked upstairs with his hands behind his back, watching Nan Zhou¡¯s side profile with appreciation and joy in his heart. He couldn¡¯t help wanting to hold Nan Zhou¡¯s chin and use the throat crusher on the beautiful Adam¡¯s apple. Still, he overcame it every time with willpower.


    Nan Zhou stood on one end of the fourth floor corridor, facing the French windows on the other end of the building. 403 was the only lecture classroom in the building and it was located in the center of the corridor. In addition, looking around, the layout and length were no different from the corridor on the first floor.


    Nan Zhou closed his eyes. The light coming from the other side of the corridor weaved a thin web of blood in the capillaries of his eyes. He held the wall and slowly walked forward.


    The reason he wanted to do this was because Nan Zhou realized something he hadn¡¯t noticed before when doing his homework. His sense of space was quite good. Therefore, he found that the corridor of the East Fifth Building in his memory was longer than the one seen from the outside. At present, all their text messages only mentioned that their meeting place was in the East Fifth Building seven days before they entered the instance.


    ¡­There was just no text message that mentioned they went to Room 403. Even Zuo Jiaming¡¯s death message at the start of the instance didn¡¯t mention 403. In Hu Li¡¯s messages, he also said ¡®everything changed since we entered that classroom.¡¯


    Why did they take it for granted that they had gone to 403? It was because 403 was the place where the physical education department had a class. The key to Room 403 was in Sun Guojing¡¯s hands. The party was organized by the group of four in the sports department. In order, the first one to enter the sphere of influence of that force was Hu Li and the second one was Zuo Jiaming.


    Thus, they logically deduced that Hu Li took the key of his roommate Sun Guojing and went directly to Room 403 in the morning. Yet what if Sun Guojing had the key from beginning to end?


    Nan Zhou had been to the lecture room and found that it was too wide to be utilized for a party. The only space that could be used was the small area between the desk, chairs and podium. There might be a projection screen to watch movies but judging from the amount of board games they carried that day, their main purpose wasn¡¯t to watch movies. In other words, it wasn¡¯t suitable for multiplayer gatherings.


    What if Hu Li arrived at the East Fifth Building in advance and while waiting for Sun Guojing to open the door, he accidentally found a more suitable place for a gathering on this floor? It might be adjacent to 403. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t locked. Maybe it was better for a party. It didn¡¯t exist in the blueprint of the East Fifth Building and didn¡¯t exist before 7 p.m. It quietly lurked in a corner of the East Fifth Building, breathing without anyone knowing about it. It was only when the tip of the iceberg was occasionally exposed that Hu Li ignorantly opened the door.


    Thus, they went to a non-existent place like Zuo Jiaming said.


    ¡­¡­


    Nan Zhou touched the window lattice at the end of the corridor. He held the window, opened his eyes and walked back to his original place.


    Nan Zhou took his drawing and walked around the building several times in accordance with the arrangement of the windows. Obviously, the corridor was the same length from the outside. However, the fourth floor was 15 steps longer than the outside. It was 12 steps more than the first floor.


    After repeated measurements, Nan Zhou determined that the extra 12 steps were next to Room 403. It was just that there was no door. There were no windows outside.


    He found the reason for the two days of useless work. The reason was simple. They simply went to the wrong classroom.


    Nan Zhou repeatedly experimented before exhaling. He rubbed his eyes and planned to call Jiang Fang. He shifted his gaze to the side and paused slightly. He saw another shadow vaguely stacked with his reflection and the odd pen in its hands.

 CH 54

    Nan Zhou placed the sketchbook and charcoal pencil on the fire hydrant next to him. He leaned against the large windowpane, dialed a number and placed the phone gently to his ear. ¡°Brother Fang, come here.¡±


    On the other side, Jiang Fang let out a soft sigh of relief. It was like he let go of the burdens in his heart. The heavy burden of not speaking for 10 hours cut across the radio waves and became as light as a feather, brushing against the tip of Nan Zhou¡¯s ears and making him feel a bit itchy.


    Jiang Fang asked, ¡°Where are you?¡±


    Nan Zhou touched his ears. ¡°Room 403.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you looking for Xie Xiangyu?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he is right next to me.¡±


    Xie Xiangyu, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Before he could react, Nan Zhou temporarily moved the phone away from his ear. He spoke in the direction of the shadow, ¡°You can run but if you don¡¯t join us, once Sun Guojing is successfully replaced, our side will reshuffle the order and you will be next in line. You should consider it clearly.¡±


    Then he put the phone back to his ear. ¡°Brother Fang, you don¡¯t have to come in a hurry. Bring Sun Guojing¡¯s group of three with you. I¡¯ll wait.¡±


    Nan Zhou hung up and looked again at the empty corridor. The mixture of light and shadows was wonderful. They changed with objects and transformed the visual field, cutting the corridor into two distinct yin and yang sides. It made him want to draw a sketch.


    However, the shadow that was superimposed over his own was gone. Xie Xiangyu didn¡¯t respond to his remarks.


    Nan Zhou had some regrets. He thought that maybe he shouldn¡¯t have scared the enemy just now. He should¡¯ve grabbed Xie Xiangyu¡¯s head first, slammed him against the wall and then talked to him.


    Then Nan Zhou soon rejected this idea. It wouldn¡¯t be good if this person died. Fortunately, he wasn¡¯t worried about Xie Xiangyu attacking him. In his alert state, there was no one who could do anything to himself unless it was a full moon.


    Nan Zhou went to the staircase and planned to open a new page in the sketchbook and copy the classroom layout map. Then after taking a step forward, Nan Zhou stood still. There was no handwriting on the blank paper.


    However, as he turned the page, his fingers touched a subtle bump in the lower right corner. There were words. He stoked the paper and read the message with his fingertips. Among other things, the writing was beautiful and strange.


    Xie Xiangyu was the only one who could stick to his body and leave such a message that was difficult to recognize with the naked eye. The question was when Xie Xiangyu had left such a message.


    Nan Zhou thought for a moment before letting out a faint ¡®ah.¡¯


    ¡­It was when he put his sketchbook and pen on the fire hydrant. In addition to a phone number, there were two words.


    Nan Zhou moved his fingers over these words multiple times. A look of confusion passed through his eyes as he blinked gently. The next second, Nan Zhou tore off the entire piece of paper in the sketch book. He quickly crumpled it into a ball and stuffed it into his coat pocket.


    The tearing sound was very loud and even echoed a bit in this empty, straight corridor.


    ***


    Aljcu Mjcu¡¯r ugbeq mjwf ab atf Sjra Mloat Delivlcu jcv obecv Rjc Itbe rlaalcu lc ogbca bo atf wjqif agff, jvvlcu atf ijra ofk ragbxfr ab tlr rxfamtybbx. Snfgsatlcu kjr cb vloofgfca ogbw yfobgf Vec Xebplcu¡¯r ugbeq ifoa.


    Rjc Itbe rtbbx tlr tjcvr jcv tjcvfv bnfg atf gfvgjkc ragemaegji vgjklcu bo atf Sjra Mloat Delivlcu. Lf wjvf cb wfcalbc bo atf abgc qlmaegf. Pa kjr qjrrfv jgbecv atf ugbeq ktlif Rjc Itbe ujnf j yglfo fzqijcjalbc bo tlr olcvlcur. Ds atf alwf tlr rxfamtybbx gfjmtfv Aljcu Mjcu¡¯r tjcvr, Rjc Itbe tjv jiwbra wjvf Vec Xebplcu¡¯r ugbeq ecvfgrajcv atf kjs ab mifjg atf ujwf.


    Jiang Fang glanced at the jagged outline of the last sketch paper that was faintly peeking out through the seams of the book. Rather than turning it over, he just slowly stroked the paper with his fingertips. His finger stopped in the lower right corner of the paper for a moment before dropping naturally, as if he had never found a clue.


    The group of people re-entered the East Fifth Building and verified Nan Zhou¡¯s conjecture. There was indeed a strange space on the fourth floor. It didn¡¯t exist in human vision. It didn¡¯t exist on the map of classrooms. It wasn¡¯t present.


    The method Qi Tianyun had thought of on that day was correct. They just needed to enter the correct ¡®classroom¡¯ at the right time and order and there was a great possibility they could make a safe transition out of this instance. The eyes of the three men lit up in an amazingly bright manner. There was no awkwardness in their eyes as they watched Nan Zhou full of infinite gratitude and admiration.


    Jiang Fang was very concerned about someone who wasn¡¯t present. ¡°Where is Xie Xiangyu?¡±


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°He is gone.¡±


    Sun Guojing had a happy face but he couldn¡¯t help worrying again at these words. ¡°This¡­ there is one less person. Will it work?¡±


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. He will come.¡±


    Qi Tianyun¡¯s thinking was flexible. He was inspired by Nan Zhou and immediately responded. ¡°He wanted to disrupt the order by killing people but after all, he can¡¯t guarantee that his method of clearing the instance is absolutely correct. Now that there is a better way, what if we are missing a person and his method doesn¡¯t work? He will be done for. Thus, he will have to join us!¡±


    Then Qi Tianyun eagerly looked at Nan Zhou, obviously wanting to get a positive answer from him.


    ¡°No,¡± Nan Zhou replied ruthlessly. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    Qi Tianyun, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou directly told him, ¡°This instance will also consider the circumstances of someone¡¯s death. If Sun Guojing dies, we will be missing one person completely. Will our road to life be blocked if a player dies? Do all the other players have to wait for death? The game can¡¯t be set so unevenly.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, I don¡¯t think there will be a great impact if there aren¡¯t enough people. The reason I asked for Brother Fang to find you and gather you together is to make sure Xie Xiangyu doesn¡¯t have a chance to strike. This way, he will have to follow our rhythm.¡±


    At this point, Nan Zhou looked at Qi Tianyun. ¡°Still, you are right about one thing. Unless he wants to use his own death for our task to fail, he will definitely join us. It is because he is alone. No matter how convenient it is to act, no teammate can switch the order with him.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought about how that person jumped straight out of the window last night and added, ¡°He really cherishes his life.¡±


    Sun Guojing couldn¡¯t help muttering, ¡°Still, he ran away.¡±


    Qi Tianyun patted Sun Guojing¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Old Sun, don¡¯t think about it. If you were him, would you dare to come straight up to us and say you want to join us now?¡±


    Sun Guojing, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He felt hatred as he thought about the little bastard who ran to their dormitory in the middle of the night and claimed he wanted to be friends with them, only to check them for clues and coax them into exploring the way while stabbing them in the back at a critical time. If Xie Xiangyu was in front of him right now, he would knock Xie Xiangyu¡¯s teeth into the back of his throat.


    Qi Tianyun continued, ¡°If I were him, I would definitely hide until 7 o¡¯clock. Then once ¡®that place¡¯ opens, I would secretly follow.¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡± Sun Guojing cursed. ¡°Once we go in, we will immediately close the door on him!¡±


    Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t very interested in the venting or the complaints of Sun Guojing and the others. He succinctly stated their course of action. ¡°Now we just have to wait.¡±


    ***


    After repeated testing, the extra steps of the ¡®non-existence space¡¯ were right next to the right side of Room 403. As a result, Room 403 was requisitioned again. They would wait here until 7 o¡¯clock in the evening.


    Now, all they needed was patience. In order to pass the time, they intended to play aeroplane chess. Then after taking out all the pieces, they found that they had lost their chessboard. They couldn¡¯t find it at all and had to give up. In the end, they chose to play Fight the Landlord. The bet for every game was a meal.


    Li Yinhang wasn¡¯t good at playing so she chose to watch from the sidelines. Luo Ge hadn¡¯t slept all night. Now his spirit was relaxed and he slept like a dead pig on the table.


    Sun Guojing and Qi Tianyun hadn¡¯t slept as well but they were too excited about the path of life being close at hand. Sun Guojing nagged that once they got out, he would go to the Douzhuan Casino to make a bet. Damn, he had better win a big one. He gritted his teeth. ¡°As long as I win, I don¡¯t have to play with my life.¡±


    Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou exchanged looks. This was how customers of the Douzhuan Casino came. After experiencing a life or death struggle, everyone would be afraid and weak at heart. The more afraid they were, the more they wanted to escape and to take shortcuts. Even if that shortcut was a spider¡¯s thread over a cliff, a hunter¡¯s trap or a fisherman¡¯s bait, they would fight hard for ¡®nine times out of ten, you lose.¡¯


    Nan Zhou reminded them, ¡°You will lose in gambling.¡±


    ¡°Bah.¡± Sun Guojing didn¡¯t care. ¡°If I can survive this time, my luck can reach the sky.¡±


    Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang. ¡®You look at them.¡¯


    Jiang Fang understood. He smiled and handed the shuffled cards forward. ¡°Then how about drawing cards?¡±


    Jiang Fang could do all sorts of strange tricks as long as it was a game with cards, let alone a popular card game like this. He didn¡¯t cheat. He just used the most regular way of playing and used only 10 cards to get rid of Sun Guojing¡¯s idea of going to Douzhuan Casino and transforming into the god of gambling.


    Nan Zhou hadn¡¯t played this card game before. He had a serious attitude and a flexible and clear mind. Losing was due to bad luck at cards. For several hands in a row, he drew either small cards or garbage cards that couldn¡¯t be connected to a straight or even a pair. One card was missing in the east and another in the west.


    By the time the cards in someone else¡¯s hands were finished, he still had a lot of cards left in his hands. His gaming experience couldn¡¯t be described as extremely poor. Basically, it could be described as none. Nan Zhou¡¯s competitive spirit was raised a bit more but his luck was really bad.


    Finally, in the 12th round of the game, Nan Zhou pursed his lips and carefully arranged his cards. Jiang Fang had grabbed the landlord position. He looked at the four 2s and two Kings in his hand and asked Nan Zhou with a smile, ¡°Are your cards good?¡±


    Nan Zhou stared at his cards, expression very cautious. ¡°Hmm.¡±


    After a few rounds of miscellaneous cards, Nan Zhou played a triplet with an attached card. He had four 3s¡ªa very small bomb in his hand. There was also another straight. He just had to play the straight and he would win.


    Sun Guojing and Qi Tianyun had bad hands and said they couldn¡¯t afford it. It was Jiang Fang¡¯s turn. He glanced at Nan Zhou¡¯s pursed, slightly downward curved lips and smiled happily.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s card counting had always been accurate. He could guess what cards Nan Zhou had and how he planned to play them next. Thus, Jiang Fang played his cards. ¡°A triplet with an attached card. Three 2s and one 2.¡±


    Nan Zhou heard the words ¡®triplet with an attached card¡¯ and his eyes lit up slightly. He logically used the bomb made up of four 3s. None of the three people could beat it. Nan Zhou played the straight and finally won a game. He had no expression on his face but he was happy.


    Jiang Fang mixed the cards in his hand with the cards he had played and gave Nan Zhou an elegant smile and a wink. Seeing him like this, Nan Zhou¡¯s hands were itchy again. He wanted to play with this person¡¯s eyelashes.


    Sun Guojing and Qi Tianyun hadn¡¯t slept all night and were dizzy from constantly losing. Combined with Jiang Fang¡¯s too reasonable tone, they didn¡¯t notice a problem with the strange operation of three 2s and one 2.


    Sun Guojing threw away the cards in his hands. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly yelled. His entire body shot up from the ground and he gasped for air. Qi Tianyun, who was tied to him with a rope, was nearly dragged off the ground by him.


    Nan Zhou looked up. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Sun Guojing¡¯s eyes were red and the muscles of his throat spasmed as he tried to speak. After a while, he managed to choke out, ¡°You guys, did you hear it? I heard¡­¡±


    All the strength in Sun Guojing¡¯s body was used to make a sound. His tall figure trembled and softened.


    ¡°The eighth¡­ rustle¡­ the second to last sound¡­¡±


    The expressions of the others present changed when they pieced together the message from his broken speech.


    Li Yinhang grabbed her phone for the first time to check the time. It was 12:30 p.m. There were six and a half hours left until 7 o¡¯clock.


    Sun Guojing¡¯s throat shook with extreme fear. He covered his ears, trying to resist the endless rustling.


    ¡°It is coming again¡­¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t want me to live¡­¡±


    Qi Tianyun grabbed his shoulders and gritted his teeth while trying to persuade Sun Guojing. ¡°Old Sun! Calm down! Wait until 7 o¡¯clock. By 7 o¡¯clock, everything will be fine!¡±


    Sun Guojing¡¯s pale lips trembled fiercely. The cold teeth touched his hot lips, making him cold all over. He murmured, ¡°Can I wait until then?¡±


    They couldn¡¯t continue playing cards. Sun Guojing sat with his two brothers and said nothing.


    The closer it got to 7 o¡¯clock, the more anxious Sun Guojing became. He had gnawed the nail of his thumb down to the flesh and started to pick at the back of his thumb. He didn¡¯t stop even when it started bleeding.


    Almost every minute, he would glance at the clock. Every second that passed, it felt like an ant was crawling over him.


    It was 5:30. It was 6 o¡¯clock. It was 6:30¡­


    Sun Guojing prayed silently. He reflected on all the mistakes he had made. He piously begged all the gods he knew. He hoped that 7 o¡¯clock would come early. Under the nervous stare of Sun Guojing, the clock finally barely pointed to 6:50 p.m.


    There were 10 minutes left!


    Sun Guojing¡¯s mouth and teeth had long become sore while sweat dripped down like syrup. Tears fell from the corners of his eyes. The hell-like suffering and waiting were coming to an end¡­


    Seven minutes left!


    ¡­¡­


    Five minutes left!


    Four minutes!


    Finally, Sun Guojing couldn¡¯t stand it. He abruptly got up and grabbed Qi Tianyun¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the corridor and wait!¡±


    The moment he spoke¡ª


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    The life-threatening sound rang out deep in Sun Guojing¡¯s ears. It playfully repeated again as if afraid that he hadn¡¯t heard it clearly.


    ¡°Sha¡ª¡±


    Next, Sun Guojing watched his hand pass through Qi Tianyun¡¯s shoulder. Meanwhile, Qi Tianyun was staring at the countdown on his phone. The ropes connecting him to Qi Tianyun and Luo Ge also fell off his hands.


    Sun Guojing stood blankly on the spot, grabbing Qi Tianyun¡¯s shoulder several times. He could still stand on the ground but the ropes couldn¡¯t hold him. He also couldn¡¯t hold anything else. Anything that allowed him to communicate with others was beyond his reach.


    Coafg j ofk rfmbcvr bo rtbmx, j ktlaf rtjvbk jqqfjgfv lc atf mbgcfg bo Vec Xebplcu¡¯r fsfr. Vec Xebplcu aegcfv tlr tfjv ab ibbx jcv tlr qeqlir rtgjcx. Lf rmgfjwfv jcv wbnfv yjmxkjgvr.


    Vec Xebplcu olcjiis ecvfgrabbv kts Ieb Aljwlcu tjv yffc gecclcu jkjs. Pa kjr yfmjerf atf wbwfca atf clcat geraif kjr tfjgv, tf rjk j wbcrafg qbxf lar tfjv atgbeut atf fcagjcmf bo gbbw 403. Pa kjr jc lcvfrmglyjyif bypfma.


    The countless indistinguishable heads and tails of the white humanoid form arched against the ground, entangled with a huge, disgusting object. It was like countless souls that had disappeared silently in this world were twisted together and crawling on the ground. Countless human shaped legs and hands rubbed against the ground, dragging the centipede-like body and making a fine rustling sound.


    Sha sha.


    Sha sha.


    Sha sha.


    It was like a resentful cry. It was like the call of the underworld. It was like the small curse in Zuo Jiaming¡¯s death message.


    ¡°¡ªI¡¯m going.¡±


    ¡°Sun Guojing, when are you coming?¡±


    Sun Guojing screamed and rushed to the back of Room 403. The white monster wasn¡¯t urgent or slow. Its soft and flexible feet rubbed against each other as the body that looked like a pupae climbed the steps toward Sun Guojing.


    The other five were doing their own thing. They simply couldn¡¯t see what Sun Guojing was facing.


    In the desperate situation where he couldn¡¯t rely on others, an amazing desire to survive burst out from Sun Guojing. He jumped onto a table, narrowly avoiding a hand that was grabbing for him. He stomped loudly on the desks as he sprinted all the way down, lifting his legs to jump over the white monster writhing on the ground and rushing out of 403.


    The only thing that could confirm Sun Guojing¡¯s existence in this world was the sensor lights in the corridor. Filled with a last expectation and hope, Sun Guojing went out and turned right, running toward the place where they estimated the non-existence space to be.


    However, Sun Guojing¡¯s small hope that was like a lit match was extinguished by the wind. There were only dark walls. There was no door! No door!


    Sun Guojing turned to look at Room 403, sweat dripping crazily. The monster had moved out of the doorway of 403 and was crawling out, filling the corridor and slowly coming toward him.


    Sha¡ª


    Sha¡ª


    Sun Guojing¡¯s heart thumped as he strode to the window at the end of the corridor. Without slowing down, his body broke through the glass and he jumped straight down from the fourth floor! Last time, he was falling head down. This time, he hoped to land smoothly.


    Please, save me, save me¡ª


    Everyone, save me¡­


    ***


    Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t looking at the time.


    He had been staring at Sun Guojing but he didn¡¯t know when Sun Guojing ran away. It seemed like Sun Guojing had been right there, without moving. It also seemed like¡­ he stared at a blank space from beginning to end. It wasn¡¯t until the sensor lights outside turned on for no reason that Nan Zhou looked up.


    Jiang Fang, who had been doing the same thing as him, found something. He abruptly got up and his voice was hurried. ¡°Where is Sun Guojing?¡±


    Hearing this, the group was chaotic. Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun saw the rope that had fallen off and their faces turned pale. They ran out of Room 403 only to find that the door next to 403 was opened at an unknown time.


    It was the most common classroom door. There was a warm light coming from inside. The door was open and a silent invitation was sent out to the corridor.


    ¡­Please. Please enter.


    On Friday last night, Hu Li arrived first without the key and was confused by such a thing.


    Nan Zhou moved quickly to the door. There was no sign on the door, nothing to prove its function. It was just a small, anonymous classroom that shouldn¡¯t exist. He could see the scene inside the door clearly.


    It was a small, empty room without any tables or chairs. It was about 8-9 meters long and 6-7 meters wide. There were still traces of a party. Several drink bottles were thrown in the corner. The ground had scattered scraps left from the barbecue and mottled sugar stains from spilled beverages. There was also the aeroplane chessboard lying quietly under a table.


    The moment Nan Zhou held the doorknob, a cold chill passed through his hand and stabbed his mind like a knife. They were standing on top of the body, hands and feet of the snow-white thing stretching out from the door like a cobweb. Everyone couldn¡¯t see it and neither could Nan Zhou.


    Qi Tianyun pulled at Luo Ge and spoke in a trembling voice, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Old Sun can still be saved!¡±


    Jiang Fang held Qi Tianyun¡¯s hand. ¡°He can¡¯t be saved.¡±


    Qi Tianyun was furious. ¡°You fucking can¡¯t be saved!¡±


    Jiang Fang wasn¡¯t angry and asked, ¡°Why did he disappear?¡±


    At this reminder, Qi Tianyun received enlightenment and his face turned a miserable white. Sun Guojing heard the ninth rustling! Even if they went inside now, he had already been tangled up with that force. Really¡­ it was hopeless¡­


    Qi Tianyun and Luo Ge both sat on the ground, their eyes dull. Meanwhile, Sun Guojing¡¯s screams rang out silently in the stairwell. He was prey caught in a spider¡¯s web. Shining fangs were about to bite at him.


    Meanwhile, Nan Zhou stood in front of the door. He held the icy doorknob and opened and closed it repeatedly, as if experimenting with something. He closed the door. The light source from inside disappeared instantly. The door crack was dark and no light leaked out. Nan Zhou opened the door again. There was a warm yellow light inside the door. It seemed that this classroom was attached to the door that appeared out of nowhere.


    No one knew what Nan Zhou was thinking. People couldn¡¯t guess Nan Zhou¡¯s heart or see and hear the deadly situation Sun Guojing was facing right now. All they could see was the originally turned off sensor lights coming on one by one from the other end of the stairwell. The white hands and feet rolled like a cloud and pulled its prey with satisfaction back toward the door.


    Just as Sun Guojing¡¯s feet were only half a meter away from the door, Nan Zhou abruptly raised his foot and kicked hard at the door. The moment there was an ear-piercing shattering sound¡ª


    ¡°Recover,¡± Nan Zhou declared coldly. ¡°I said, recover the item.¡±


    The door, which had been half blown off by his kick, made an abnormal tremor. Then it suddenly disappeared from in front of everyone¡¯s eyes.


    ¡ªIt was as abruptly as it had appeared. The white monster stopped moving in shock and uttered a weird scream. It let go of Sun Guojing¡¯s feet and disappeared.


    Sun Guojing had been holding onto the edge of the wall just now, trying his best to make his final resistance. The next moment, the huge pulling force on his feet was gone. Sun Guojing lay softly on the ground and opened his eyes dripping with sweat. He unexpectedly saw Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun whom he never thought he would see again.


    Qi Tianyun and Luo Ge saw him lying on the ground and were even more shocked than him.


    ¡°Old Sun? How are you¡ª¡±


    Sun Guojing couldn¡¯t think about what had happened. He rushed into the arms of his two brothers and cried bitterly. Meanwhile, the long silent game notification sounded in Nan Zhou¡¯s mind.


    [Congratulations to the player Nan Zhou¡ª]


    [Congratulations¡ª]


    [Congrat¡ª]


    The item system jammed again as it saw the door-like object entangled with a white human-like object. What was this??

 CH 55

    The item system intermittently jammed for around five minutes before shutting down on the spot. It gave up analyzing the composition of this thing and left garbled marks before it went silent.


    Sun Guojing had jumped off the building just now in an attempt to escape and got a fractured bone. However, under the stimulus of great joy and sorrow, his legs were as soft as cooked noodles. He even forgot his identity as an upright animal and it was difficult for him to walk on his own. Thanks to the support of his brothers, Sun Guojing staggered back to Room 403 with the others.


    After a while, Sun Guojing slowly realized what Nan Zhou had done in the chaos. Did he collect that door??


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t seem to feel that he had done anything too extraordinary. He came back and wiped his hands with the wet wipes he bought. Then he concentrated on eating apples to replenish his energy.


    Sun Guojing asked in a trembling manner, ¡°Where is the door? What about the monster?¡±


    Nan Zhou put down an apple core. ¡°What monster?¡±


    He didn¡¯t see it at all. He only saw the door.


    Sun Guojing, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    For the next five minutes, he exhausted the limit of his language skills and tried his best to describe the terrifying appearance of the monster. Every distorted human face, every twisted limb, the soft and sagging dead skin¡­


    He had jumped out the window of the East Fifth Building and limped toward the still lit part of the campus, only to have those countless hands grab his feet and drag him all the way back¡ª


    His description made the people who hadn¡¯t seen the monster become frightened and their hearts beat faster.


    Nan Zhou looked at him. ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°Ah.¡±


    Sun Guojing, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    What did this ¡®ah¡¯ mean?!


    Nan Zhou seemed unable to empathize with his feelings and just reassured him, ¡°It¡¯s gone. You don¡¯t have to be afraid.¡±


    Sun Guojing, ¡°???¡± Was that the question?


    Li Yinhang was also in a state of shock. She asked Nan Zhou uncertainly, ¡°That monster¡­ is it safe to put it in the warehouse?¡±


    Nan Zhou was willing to say more to his teammates. He said, ¡°At that time, I carefully observed the door. Once the door was closed, there was no light from inside, as if there was a wall behind the door. Once it is opened, there is light.¡±


    ¡°I thought the corridor on the fourth floor was 12 steps longer than the other corridors. We can feel this after testing. This door is something we can¡¯t normally see and it can only be seen at a certain point in time.¡±


    ¡°As you said, the monster grabbed people by constantly stretching out white matter. Thus, its body should be inside this non-existent door. That force is the same as the door, a symbiotic creature.¡±


    ¡°This door is the passage of that force. It is the entrance, the medium and the part of the entity that can be touched.¡±


    ¡°The warehouse can collect entities.¡±


    ¡°I collected it and stored it in the warehouse.¡±


    ¡°Sun Guojing was going to be caught anyway. It didn¡¯t matter if I tried it. The worst that could happen was that it couldn¡¯t be collected.¡±


    Ktf aglb, ¡°¡­..¡±


    ¡­Pa kjr gfjrbcjyif. Ktfs pera jikjsr ofia atfgf kjr rbwfatlcu kgbcu.


    Vec Xebplcu kjr lcmgfveiber. ¡°Qfgfc¡¯a sbe jogjlv la kbeiv mgjki bea jcv olcv sbe?!¡±


    Rjc Itbe uijcmfv ja tlr kjgftberf. ¡°Ktja vbfrc¡¯a rffw qbrrlyif.¡±


    Ktf ktlaf tewjcblv wbcrafg kgjqqfv jgbecv atf vbbg kjr wlrfgjyis gfibmjafv. Rbk la rffwfv ab tfjg Rjc Itbe¡¯r kbgvr jcv la kjr rb jcugs atja lar ilwyr ajcuifv abufatfg ojrafg jcv ojrafg. Ktf rbecv bo oifrt kglatlcu mbeiv yf tfjgv. Lbkfnfg, atlr tbgglyif rluta jqqfjgfv ecatgfjafclcu lc atf rwjii klcvbk bo atf kjgftberf. Ktf raglcu bo ujgyifv kbgvr yfibk la wjvf la ibbx ilxf j vscjwlm wlcljaegf ijcvrmjqf.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± If she was the monster, she would¡¯ve died of anger by now.


    Jiang Fang said with a smile, ¡°The warehouse is the official basic tool of Forces of Temptation. It allows you to put in all types of physical objects. There is no rule that you can¡¯t put an instance boss inside.¡±


    ¡­Nonsense. What crazy player would grab an instance boss and put it in the backpack?! Oh yes, that crazy person was right in front of them.


    The trio were shocked and stupefied on the surface.


    Nan Zhou nodded and agreed with Jiang Fang¡¯s judgment. ¡°The warehouse has accepted it so it can¡¯t spit it out anymore. Otherwise, it will violate the warehouse¡¯s own rules.¡±


    At this point, Nan Zhou suddenly took a breath. The trio thought he realized something important again so they couldn¡¯t help holding their breath and listening carefully.


    ¡°We still have a day and a half left.¡± Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang. ¡°We will gain a lot of bonus points, right?¡±


    Jiang Fang looked at Nan Zhou. After saying these words, Nan Zhou¡¯s calm and cold expression revealed a bit of naivety. No one could see that he was carrying a monster that was twisting easily, nor could they tell that his fingers that smelled like apples could easily break a person¡¯s neck.


    Jiang Fang looked at him and he didn¡¯t shy away. He also stared at Jiang Fang while waiting for an answer. Jiang Fang wrapped an arm around Nan Zhou¡¯s neck and rubbed it. ¡°Do you want praise?¡±


    Nan Zhou honestly replied, ¡°Yes.¡±


    He felt that he and Jiang Fang were equal. So getting his approval was more valuable than anyone else¡¯s approval.


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t say anything. His hand on Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulder snapped at his left ear. Nan Zhou followed this and subconsciously focused all his attention on his left ear. Immediately, Jiang Fang¡¯s fingers moved quickly over his highly sensitive ear, placing a seal on it like a dragonfly¡¯s kiss.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled at him. ¡°Write it down first.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t understand. Then he soon realized that Jiang Fang meant to write it down first and once they went back, he would buy dessert as a reward.


    Nan Zhou touched his ears. The place where Jiang Fang touched felt warm and comfortable .Then he thought about how Jiang Fang had many friends and he was just one among many. This caused him to purse his lips and fall silent.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    The trio, ¡°¡­..¡±


    Sorry, they would take their leave.


    The instance boss that was supposed to lock everyone up had been locked up alive. All the negative influences on them were completely offset. After some time, Sun Guojing finally felt the pain from his legs. He gritted his teeth while Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun helped him to the 24 hour infirmary.


    However, the dungeon had a survival time of 120 hours. All they had to do now was very simple.


    ¡ªWait for the instance to end.


    Nan Zhou had no worries about the boss who was frantically angry in his inventory. He carried it and had a good night¡¯s sleep. He didn¡¯t dream. He just felt someone touch his ear in a trance. His ear became warmer due to the repeated rubbing.


    Nan Zhou moved forward and leaned against the person who was facing him. ¡°Can¡¯t you sleep?¡±


    Jiang Fang answered, ¡°Wait a moment. I¡¯m thinking about something.¡±


    Nan Zhou was very sleepy. He didn¡¯t show it but he had been very tired today. Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Do you miss your friends?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°I was thinking of a friend of mine. He used to love me very much.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­Oh.¡±


    ¡°Still, maybe it¡¯s been too long. I¡¯m remembering it backwards.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought in an unconvinced manner, ¡®I also have friends. That friend planted an apple tree in front of my window.¡¯


    However, he was very sleepy. Before he could refute it, he fell asleep again. Jiang Fang¡¯s fingers touched his ears like a kiss. He couldn¡¯t hear Jiang Fang whispering to him, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ***


    Monday morning, the results of Friday¡¯s examination came out. Nan Zhou wore Jiang Fang¡¯s pajamas and was standing in the bathroom washing when the mobile phone placed on the side vibrated endlessly. He picked up the phone and glanced at it.


    The messages came from his dormitory group. The group of brothers blew up the group chat, all of them thumping their chests in a heart-wrenching manner.


    ¡°Nan Zhou, you fucking don¡¯t talk about loyalty!¡±


    ¡°Do you feel at ease studying behind your brothers¡¯ backs?!¡±


    ¡°A full score! You actually got a full score on something like History of Foreign Architecture?!¡±


    Nan Zhou carefully read every message. Then he replied in the group. ¡°I didn¡¯t say that I didn¡¯t study. I just asked you what the test was on.¡±


    There was a moment of silence from the group. ¡°¡­That¡¯s true.¡±


    Then they soon became noisy again.


    ¡°You don¡¯t value loyalty! Buy us a meal!¡±


    ¡°Please eat barbecue!¡±


    ¡°I will order 20 big skewers!¡±


    Nan Zhou replied, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Then he placed his phone on the washstand. He stood in front of the mirror and opened the tap. Then he unfolded the sketch of the East Fifth Building that he had torn out. After losing the influence of that power, the handwriting in the lower right corner of the sketch paper had become visible.


    Nan Zhou read the numbers with the fingers of his left hand one by one while holding his phone in his right hand. He called that number. The phone rang only once before it was picked up.


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s voice contained a laugh that was like a spring breeze. ¡°Congratulations, I saw it yesterday. It was beautiful.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t want to talk about it with people who weren¡¯t involved. ¡°I think you have something to tell me.¡±


    Xie Xiangyu smiled and issued an invitation. ¡°Tonight at midnight, see you on the roof of the international students dormitory.¡±


    Nan Zhou hung up and continued to wash. Li Yinhang yawned and walked in, vaguely greeting him. Nan Zhou nodded to her as well. In Nan Zhou¡¯s view, this was just a normal meeting.


    The day passed in a plain manner. The crisis was carried by Nan Zhou in his pocket and the transition was smooth. Nan Zhou went to class, calmly accepted the praise of the foreign architecture teacher and invited his roommates to eat. That evening, he secretly added a pair of egg tarts to his own meal. He didn¡¯t mention to anyone his planned itinerary for tonight.


    At 11:50 p.m., Nan Zhou confirmed that Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang were sound asleep and got up. He put on Jiang Fang¡¯s coat and walked out silently like a cat. As he opened the dormitory door and let a ray of light from the corridor penetrate into the room, the only one who woke up was Nanji Star. He gave a confused cry.


    Nan Zhou put his index finger to his lips and whispered, ¡°Shhh.¡±


    The awake Nanji Star shook his short legs and ran toward Nan Zhou. He slipped inside the trousers and held Nan Zhou¡¯s ankles tightly. Nan Zhou looked down at the small tail on top of his shoe and didn¡¯t say anything. He left with Nanji Star.


    Xie Xiangyu stood on the edge of the rooftop, staring in the direction of the sports dormitory. The red and blue lights of a police car lit up that place. It was bright and bizarre, like a blinking eye.


    ¡°It is really realistic.¡± Xie Xiangyu sighed. ¡°It is like the real world.¡±


    Nan Zhou walked to his side and saw the scene he was looking at. ¡°What happened¡±


    ¡°I heard that a student from the sports department has gone missing. It is so pitiful. I don¡¯t know where he has gone.¡±


    Then he glanced at Nan Zhou. This was the first time Nan Zhou saw Xie Xiangyu¡¯s face clearly. After all, the face seen in the photos at the camping club was of the character ¡®Xie Xiangyu¡¯ in the instance and it wasn¡¯t vivid enough. The face in front of him was handsome, arrogant and young. There was an invincible confidence in it.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes squinted. He felt that such a look and combination of facial features were a bit familiar. However, he couldn¡¯t remember it. He wondered, ¡°How did you get here?¡±


    That force had disappeared. It wasn¡¯t easy if Xie Xiangyu wanted to pass the guard at the entrance of the international students dormitory.


    Xie Xiangyu took out an access card for the dormitory from his pocket and shook it in front of his eyes.


    Nan Zhou understood. This person could¡¯ve easily grabbed it when he stole Brother Fang¡¯s room card.


    Nan Zhou asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Since you came to meet me, you should know what I want to do.¡±


    Nan Zhou stared at him and shook his head silently.


    Xie Xiangyu reached out to him, a sharp and warm light in his eyes. ¡°Nan Zhou, be my teammate.¡±

 CH 56

    Nan Zhou looked at Xie Xiangyu¡¯s hand that was extended to him. Under the light of the crescent moon, the slender wrist bones and clean nails easily gave people a good feeling. Nan Zhou thought, ¡®It doesn¡¯t look as good as Brother Fang¡¯s hands.¡¯


    He didn¡¯t try to receive or understand this unexplained goodness. In fact, the restrained enthusiasm in Xie Xiangyu¡¯s eyes made him feel uncomfortable. He wondered, ¡°Why should I be your teammate?¡±


    Xie Xiangyu held his hand out persistently as he faced Nan Zhou. ¡°Because you need companions. There are Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang but who really knows what you are? They only know that you are a good teammate and helper. Do they know your actual identity? You will always need to disguise yourself in front of them. In front of me, you don¡¯t need to do so. I appreciate you. You might not believe me when I say this but in my mind, you are near perfect¡ª¡±


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s speech sped up. His cheeks were slightly red and his heartbeat was much faster than before. Based on his various physical reactions, Nan Zhou believed that these words were completely true.


    Nan Zhou listened to all his persuasive words and nodded in a trance. ¡°¡­Yes.¡±


    Xie Xiangyu saw that Nan Zhou didn¡¯t reject him and showed a happy expression as he reached out his hand again. There was arrogant confidence in his eyes. ¡°Jiang Fang has no way to satisfy everything about you. I can do it.¡±


    Nan Zhou steadily grabbed his hand. ¡°You mentioned Brother Fang and it reminded me of something.¡±


    Before Xie Xiangyu could react, the hand that was held was twisted to the side with a dull, bone-cracking sound.


    Nan Zhou moved his other hand and formed a fist. Without hesitation, he aimed his fist at the handsome and astonished face of the man in front of him. Xie Xiangyu staggered and hit the barbed wire of the rooftop.


    Nan Zhou had controlled his strength to within a very small range out of worry that he would lose the points in front of him. He shook his hand and gave a brief reason for his punch. ¡°You hurt Brother Fang.¡±


    You know, Brother Fang¡¯s shoulders were reddened by him.


    After hitting Xie Xiangyu, Nan Zhou¡¯s purpose for going to this meeting had been achieved. It was a bit cold. Nan Zhou turned around and planned to go back downstairs. Just then, Nanji Star, who was inside his hood, woke up and drowsily poked out his head. Then he saw Xie Xiangyu¡¯s face clearly. He jumped out onto Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulder and screamed at Xie Xiangyu, the squirrel fur blowing up.


    Nan Zhou was a bit surprised and turned to ask him, ¡°What is it?¡±


    Nanji Star just stared at Xie Xiangyu, showing an animal¡¯s full vigilance.


    Xie Xiangyu finally recovered his vision from the darkness in front of his eyes. He swallowed the blood in his mouth, wiped the blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth and sighed with a smile, ¡°It hurts.¡±


    He looked up at Nan Zhou and grabbed the barbed wire, the wire sinking into his fingertips. ¡°I know that you still hate me.¡±


    Nan Zhou had wanted to leave but once he heard Xie Xiangyu¡¯s remark, he couldn¡¯t help looking back.


    Xie Xiangyu pressed his tongue against the injured area. He saw Nan Zhou¡¯s face and his blood boiled again. ¡°Still, you have to believe that I am the first person to study you seriously. I know how lonely you are so I thought of a way to help you out. It failed once but not anymore. I can probably guess what you want. Follow me. As long as we win the game, my wish will be fulfilled and yours can also¡ª¡±


    Nan Zhou observed this person carefully.


    ¡­He still couldn¡¯t see the reason.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He interrupted Xie Xiangyu¡¯s remarks. ¡°¡­Do I know you?¡±


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s voice abruptly stopped.


    Rjc Itbe yilcxfv ktfc tf rjk atlr qfgrbc ogffhf lc qijmf klat j vlryfilfnlcu fzqgfrrlbc. Rjc Itbe vlvc¡¯a ilxf atf qfgrbc lc ogbca bo tlw jcv kjrc¡¯a gfjiis lcafgfrafv lc Wlf Wljcuse¡¯r lvfcalas. Lf pera jrxfv mjrejiis yea tf vlvc¡¯a xcbk tbk ibcu Wlf Wljcuse kbeiv wjlcajlc atlr vewyobecvfv rajaf.


    ¡­It was cold.


    Nan Zhou wrapped Jiang Fang¡¯s coat tighter around himself. ¡°I¡¯m going back.¡±


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s chest moved up and down violently and he cried out, ¡°Wait!¡±


    Nan Zhou turned around again, his expression asking what else this person wanted.


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s expression was tense. The red marks on his face and the thin blood streaks at the corners of his mouth were clearly visible. Nan Zhou could see that he seemed very angry. Thinking about it carefully, he hadn¡¯t seemed so angry just now when he was punched.


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s voice tried to maintain its calm despite being on the verge of collapse. ¡°You don¡¯t remember¡­ who I am?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°?¡±


    He wondered sincerely, ¡°Why should I remember who you are?¡±


    Xie Xiangyu sucked in a breath and pointed at Nan Zhou. His wrist trembled slightly. ¡°Why did you¡­ why did you come to this meeting? Have you forgotten the past? Have you forgotten who you are?¡±


    Nan Zhou admitted it. ¡°I remember the past. I went to this appointment because of the two words you left me.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you remember me?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­Are you important?¡±


    ¡°¡ªHuh?!¡±


    Xie Xiangyu almost couldn¡¯t catch his breath. The confident and arrogant smile was completely cracked. He thought about Nan Zhou rejecting him or even angrily choking him because of his past actions. Xie Xiangyu was even ready to be killed by this person. The one thing he hadn¡¯t expected was for Nan Zhou to completely forget him.


    ¡°You don¡¯t remember me?¡± He clenched his fists. ¡°How can you not remember me?¡±


    His tone grew more heated. ¡°The first time we met in the instance, in the corridor of the camping club, didn¡¯t you notice I was hiding in the stairwell?¡±


    At that time, Xie Xiangyu had murmured to the air with a smile. ¡°I guess you know I am here.¡±


    He really thought Nan Zhou had seen him from 100 meters away and recognized him. It was just out of fear of his identity being leaked that Nan Zhou pretended not to capture the shadow he left behind when he turned into the stairwell. This was why Xie Xiangyu didn¡¯t show up easily in front of Nan Zhou. He waited for the right timing while going to find Sun Guojing¡¯s trio of fools to cooperate with. Yet if Nan Zhou didn¡¯t recognize him, what was the point of him hiding these days? Was he just doing a funny one-man clown show?!


    However, Nan Zhou¡¯s words ruthlessly broke his last fantasy.


    Out of respect, Nan Zhou carefully recalled what happened that day. On that day, Brother Fang entered the camping club to inquire about Xie Xiangyu. Meanwhile, he and Yinhang stayed in the corridor.


    He had indeed been looking in the direction of the stairwell but it was because he saw a beautiful dragonfly stopped on the top of a tree beside the building. He couldn¡¯t help looking at it a few more times.


    The situation was cleared up. Nan Zhou asked, ¡°Did you hide in the stairwell of that building?¡±


    Nan Zhou felt that he was telling the truth. Unexpectedly, Xie Xiangyu¡¯s body trembled even more severely after hearing his words. Xie Xiangyu seemed to have suffered a great blow and his eyes were red with anger.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡± He should leave.


    This person was strange. He was about to leave for the Nth time when he heard Xie Xiangyu¡¯s frustrated voice. ¡°I killed you!¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s steps finally stopped. He looked back and studied Xie Xiangyu¡¯s appearance carefully. Perhaps it was due to his previous self-confidence but Nan Zhou not knowing him was too devastating. The emotional difference before and after made Xie Xiangyu¡¯s eyes shimmer with anger.


    After some effort, Nan Zhou finally matched this face with one deep in his memories. Ah. No wonder why this person was familiar. He answered casually, ¡°Relax. You aren¡¯t the only one.¡±


    Xie Xiangyu completely lost his poise. He couldn¡¯t help his hands trembling at Nan Zhou¡¯s breezy words.


    Nan Zhou remembered another important thing. ¡°Are you going to tell Brother Fang and Yinhang about my identity?¡±


    Xie Xiangyu choked up with anger. ¡°If I wanted to say it then I would¡¯ve said it early on! I want you to follow me willingly. What is the advantage for me if they know?!¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    It had to be said that the system was very accurate when estimating Nan Zhou¡¯s taunting value at close to full marks.


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s head was buzzing with anger due to Nan Zhou and he slammed his hands against the barbed wire in a frustrated manner. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see you again for the rest of my life!¡±


    Nan Zhou ignored him. He stepped through the iron door of the roof, held the wall and headed downstairs. The sensor lights on the stairs at the top of the building to the rooftop were broken. No one had come to repair them yet.


    After turning around the nearest corner of the stairs, Nan Zhou was about to step down when he felt an unusually cold and ominous air. In the corridor, a person was hidden somewhere near the door of the stairwell.


    Nan Zhou continued to go down. The moment his foot reached the next flight of stairs, he suddenly pulled away and quickly stepped back! Nan Zhou turned around completely and couldn¡¯t help being shocked. He didn¡¯t know when but a ghostly tall figure had silently flashed out of its hiding place and stood behind him!


    In the dark corridor, he accurately captured the man¡¯s neckline. He was about to grab the opponent¡¯s neck but his wrist was restrained in advance. Thus, he could only rush forward and smash this person against the ground. The person¡¯s spine collided with the hard ground and there was a dull noise.


    Even so, the man¡¯s waist strength was amazing and his long legs exerted strength. Nan Zhou¡¯s knees that he wanted to press to the man¡¯s lower abdomen were pushed away and he rolled to the side, directly placing Nan Zhou under him.


    Due to the violent movement, the front of the opponent¡¯s shirt was torn open, revealing a large, sturdy and powerful chest. Nan Zhou¡¯s actions paused. He smelled the faint, refreshing scent of grapefruit.


    Just as the edge of the playing card in his hand was about to cut Nan Zhou¡¯s throat, Jiang Fang also recognized the identity of the person in front of him. His movement missed and the playing card was immediately placed in the warehouse. Therefore, only his half pinched fingers fell on Nan Zhou¡¯s neck.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s neck was slightly raised by him, exposing his most vulnerable part. However, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t resist any longer.


    The burning flames in Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes went out and turned into a soft mist. Jiang Fang opened his mouth. ¡°I thought it was¡­¡± Xie Xiangyu.


    ¡°I thought it was¡­¡± A new monster in the instance.


    Jiang Fang got up and half kneeled, holding out a hand to Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou gave this person his hand.


    Jiang Fang said, ¡°You don¡¯t sleep enough.¡±


    Nan Zhou was a bit unconvinced. ¡°You too.¡±


    Then he asked again, ¡°Did you know I went out?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I knew when you got up. I was concerned about what you were going to do so I followed.¡±


    Nan Zhou pursed his lips. ¡°Did you hear¡­ anything?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°I was standing a bit far away. I only heard what sounded like him crying. I thought he was coming down first.¡±


    Both men had a guilty conscience and were speechless for a moment.


    Jiang Fang straightened his messy collar. He thought of the hideous scars covered under the soft pajamas and Jiang Fang¡¯s heart softened. He was the first to suggest, ¡°Go back?¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought that perhaps he shouldn¡¯t ask Jiang Fang why he was holding a deadly playing card and waiting here quietly for Xie Xiangyu. Thus, he didn¡¯t ask much.


    Nan Zhou felt like he saw a different Brother Fang today. Still¡­ the feeling of being unconditionally protected and favored by others was rare. He didn¡¯t hate it. It was precisely due to this that some things were more difficult to declare.


    Nan Zhou put his hand into his pocket, silently gripping and hiding his own secret carefully in his hand. Hiding inside was the structural drawing of the East Fifth Building that he had torn out. In the lower right corner of the image was Xie Xiangyu¡¯s phone number. There were also two words written in beautiful, obscure characters.


    ¡ªEternal Day.

 CH 57

    The two of them got into bed again without disturbing Li Yinhang and wrapped themselves in the blanket. Nan Zhou¡¯s body slowly warmed up with Jiang Fang¡¯s help but he wasn¡¯t in a very good mood. He was thinking about Xie Xiangyu¡¯s words.


    Previously, he hadn¡¯t taken this issue very seriously but Xie Xiangyu made him think. If¡­ Brother Fang and Yinhang knew his actual identity, would they care?


    Nan Zhou turned over. He didn¡¯t like to hide it. Previously, he just hadn¡¯t felt it was necessary to say it. Now he admitted that he cared a bit. It was about his own matter but Nan Zhou didn¡¯t know how to open his mouth or how to say it.


    In the darkness, Jiang Fang watched Nan Zhou¡¯s back. Nan Zhou was obviously unhappy. Jiang Fang could probably guess the reason.


    After a long and gentle gaze, Jiang Fang took a few deep and silent breaths. He finished preparing his mind and raised his hand. He released the chain clasp of his choker. The choker slid along his neck and shoulder onto the pillow, making a fine noise that attracted Nan Zhou¡¯s attention.


    Nan Zhou leaned over slightly. ¡°You haven¡¯t slept yet?¡±


    Jiang Fang gave a low laugh.


    Nan Zhou murmured, ¡°Ah, I am the same.¡±


    Jiang Fang moved closer, his warm breath touching the side of Nan Zhou¡¯s neck.


    He suggested with a smile, ¡°If you can¡¯t sleep then I will tell you a bedtime story.¡±


    Nan Zhou turned over. ¡°Hmm, you¡­¡±


    He suddenly found that Jiang Fang¡¯s choker wasn¡¯t in place. The faint moonlight outside the window sprinkled across Jiang Fang¡¯s body, highlighting the graceful lines and white luster of his neck. It was perfect. Yet on top of that perfection was a dark haze.


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t seem to understand the question in Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes and started his story. ¡°Do you know why I¡¯m called Jiang Fang?¡±


    Nan Zhou curiously wanted to touch but was intercepted halfway by Jiang Fang.


    ¡°Jiang is my mother¡¯s last name. My father¡¯s name was Kruz Montoloka.¡±


    As he spoke, Jiang Fang pulled his wrist and guided his hand to the dark haze on his neck.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s half-closed eyes trembled slightly while the other hand on his heart was hot. He resisted the inner shame and strong impulse to cover up his imperfection as he completely showed the side of his neck. Nan Zhou curiously rubbed against the tattoo on his neck with his fingers.


    Jiang Fang tried to stabilize his mood as he continued talking. ¡°His initials are like this.¡±


    ¡ªK&M.


    Nan Zhou felt the neck tattoo with his fingers and the faint, red scar under the tattoo. The skin under his fingers was warm and soft. Only the skin there was tight and dull due to the scar.


    Jiang Fang spoke softly. ¡°He has been dead for years.¡±


    Nan Zhou pressed against the tattoo, gently rubbing it in an attempt to ease the strange tension. ¡°You engraved his name here. Do you love him very much?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I love him very much. However, my small love wasn¡¯t comparable to my mother¡¯s love.¡±


    ***


    Aljcu Mjcu¡¯r mtlivtbbv kjr nfgs tjqqs. Lf tjv ibcu obgubaafc tlr ojatfg¡¯r bmmeqjalbc yfmjerf lc tlr ilwlafv wfwbgs, tlr ojatfg kjr bwclqbafca.


    Ktflg ojwlis ilnfv cfza ab j rwjii mtegmt lc atf Blfn gfulbc. Ktfs vlvc¡¯a tjnf jcs qjgalmeijg gfilulber yfilfor. Llr bcis ojlat kjr tlr ojwlis.


    His father took him to a world stamps exhibition and taught him to ask in simple German about the history of an old stamp he was interested in. His father picked up Jiang Fang from primary school after getting off work. The father and son would share a Kiev meat pie on the street, promising not to tell his mother. Then they would hold hands and return home. His father liked ice hockey. When his mother refused to buy tickets, he would hug his mother and act like a baby.


    In Jiang Fang¡¯s impression, his father was an abundant, vivid and energetic Ukrainian youth. He was gentle, cheerful and always liked to laugh.


    In contrast, Jiang Fang¡¯s childhood impression of his mother was very simple. All he remembered was that she was beautiful. It was a type of beauty that everyone praised. In addition, she loved his father very, very much. As a child, Jiang Fang thought it was a great thing.


    One morning on Valentine¡¯s Day, his mother was angry because she hadn¡¯t heard her father saying ¡®Happy Valentine¡¯s Day.¡¯ She deliberately made a lot of noise when washing the dishes.


    Mr Kruz, who wanted to leave the confession until night, offered a date but was turned down by his sulking mother. As Mr Kruz walked out of the kitchen, his son had just finished eating cereal.


    The little adult looked up and asked in Ukrainian, ¡°Is our angel angry?¡±


    Mr Kruz replied, ¡°It seems so.¡±


    His young son said, ¡°100 hryvnia. I will help you chase the angel back.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what did I hear? It is a good deal.¡±


    Little Lodoka, the eight year old Jiang Fang, patted him on the waist. Then Jiang Fang went to his room, quickly changed into a suit, grabbed a rose and headed into the kitchen.


    ¡°Young beauty,¡± he called out loudly. ¡°Please buy the flower in my hand.¡±


    Mrs Jiang came over and couldn¡¯t help smiling when she saw her son dressed up. ¡°Little Sir, please tell me the reason why you brought this flower to me?¡±


    Jiang Fang answered seriously, ¡°I can get the money and give it to my father so he can take you out on a date.¡±


    His mother smiled and patted his head. Then she raised her eyes and looked at Mr Kruz standing behind him, smiling with a touch of redness on her cheeks. Jiang Fang saw the best love in the world in her eyes. Therefore, he imagined from a very young age that if he had a lover in the future, he would treat that person kindly and make them happy every day.


    This type of pronoun for his lover was taught to him by his father. His father taught him that love, regardless of sex, was a gift from God. As a gift, he must boldly display it and praise them so as to live up to their expectations.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s yearning for this gift ended the year he was 12 years old. It was supposed to be a happy parent-child mountaineering trip in summer. A sudden storm ruined it. Mr Kruz was aware of the changes in the sky. He noticed the abnormalities in advance as he was about to reach the top of the mountain. The experienced former president of the mountaineering club hurriedly took his son down along the most convenient hiking trail he was familiar with.


    He worried that the rain would be heavy and they wouldn¡¯t be able to return home tonight. Then his wife would be worried since she never spent the night alone after marriage. However, Mr Kruz made a serious mistake with his forecast of the weather. Halfway through, they happened to encounter the rain.


    He encouraged little Jiang Fang, who was depressed due to the failure to reach the top. He used most of the rain gear to shield Jiang Fang from the wind and rain and walked down the wet mountain road.


    Perhaps it was because he cared too much about his son but Mr Kruz, who was walking down on the side of the mountain, stepped onto bad, wet mud and slipped. He hurriedly stepped on the land by the cliff. It was just that the erosion of the heavy rain and perennial wind had made this land abnormally soft a long time ago. His body fell uncontrollably toward the bottom of the cliff!


    Little Jiang Fang¡¯s heart suddenly became empty and he instinctively reached out to grab his father¡¯s arm. He just overestimated his strength. The father and son fell together into the valley.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s body was small and the vines on the edge of the cliff saved his life.  However, the vines couldn¡¯t save his father¡¯s plummeting body. Jiang Fang was suspended around 10 meters from the top of the cliff, his body hanging from the cliff.


    His cheeks were covered with bleeding scratches and his arms and legs were bruised to varying degrees. The pain was so great he couldn¡¯t move at all. He didn¡¯t dare to move. The slightest movement caused the vines rooted in the rocks to shift, pouring a large amount of soil over his head.


    All he could do was wait.


    The rescue team arrived three days after his mother reported their disappearance. Jiang Fang survived the hellish 72 hours by eating plant roots, drinking muddy rainwater and singing to himself.


    His father¡¯s torn apart body was only found at the bottom of the cliff one week later. His mother almost fainted from crying. She refused to go through any formalities, refusing to admit that the lifeless body in front of her was her husband. In the end, she screamed and was dragged to get an injection.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s tears had almost dried up on the edge of the cliff. His current self was just frozen as he signed the confirmation of the body with bandaged hands that trembled.


    Yet in the middle of the night when he was awakened by intense anxiety and came to the bathroom, he saw his mother hanging in the air and still cried. He rushed to hug his mother¡¯s feet, exhausting all his strength to lift her up. It was because he remembered that his father died because he couldn¡¯t hold onto his father. His mother had tied a tight knot for the noose.


    Fortunately, Jiang Fang¡¯s rescue was successful this time. His mother lay on the ground, breathing very slightly like she was trying to suffocate herself to death. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t dare to cry too loudly. He just knelt in front of his mother, covering her throat that was scratched by the rope and letting tears fall to the floor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t leave me.¡± He sobbed softly. ¡°Mom, don¡¯t leave me.¡±


    His mother¡¯s eyes were empty and she couldn¡¯t see him. She only muttered his father¡¯s name. Mrs Jiang lost her loved one and most of her soul was taken away. She was soon fired from the supermarket where she worked due to long-term and unreasonable absenteeism. The only source of money in the family was lost.


    His father was a firm believer of a natural and unrestrained life. He didn¡¯t buy any insurance and only had one savings account. It was for Jiang Fang¡¯s university funds. However, the medical expenses and fees for hiring the search and rescue teams had squandered those funds.


    It was only after some calculations that Jiang Fang discovered his tuition money was gone. Moreover, if there was no income then they wouldn¡¯t be able to survive this winter in Ukraine. He could no longer go to school.


    Thus, the 12 year old Jiang Fang decided to drop out of school. He forged a certificate of identity and started his part-time job career. Jiang Fang thought that he wanted to accompany his mother through this most difficult period of time. Once his mother cheered up, he would definitely have a chance to go back to school.


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t expect that his mother¡¯s love wasn¡¯t warm or eternal. It was overflowing, excessive, endlessly burning. She soon became obsessed with everything that could numb herself. Cigarettes, alcohol and illegal drugs.


    Jiang Fang noticed his mother¡¯s depravity when he found that none of the money he brought home had been deposited in the savings account. At first, he earnestly persuaded his mother. At first, his mother was persuaded.


    She wept bitterly, apologizing to Jiang Fang while telling him that her love for his father was torturing her into madness. She said she still didn¡¯t believe his father had left. Jiang Fang accompanied her as she shed tears.


    As a result, the cycle didn¡¯t end. His mother repeated her addicted life. The terrible cycle of a bad life¡ªpainful confession¡ªconfiding her endless love¡ªcontinued. In this prolonged cycle, Jiang Fang slowly stopped shedding tears.


    He learned to hide money. His mother also learned to steal. He learned to hide money outside and not take it home. His mother learned to borrow money, letting the debt collectors come to the door and forcing Jiang Fang to take out his wallet.


    They spent their days like this, torturing each other but unable to let go.


    Jiang Fang was reluctant to let go of the warmth of his childhood. His father left and his mother became like this. How could he leave it alone?


    One day¡ª


    Due to his face and appearance, Jiang Fang got a huge tip and happily took it home. Yet when he opened the door, he kicked a half-empty wine bottle. Dishes and vomit piled up in the sink like a mountain. His mother leaned against the sofa, thoughts chaotic.


    Jiang Fang endured it, rolling up his sleeves and walking to the sink. Then he smelled the strong alcohol in the room and finally couldn¡¯t bear it. He turned the tap on to the maximum and told her mother, ¡°Mom, forget Dad. I don¡¯t want you to be hurt by alcohol¡­ in this world, you don¡¯t only have Dad. You also have me. Please.¡±


    There was no response from behind him. Jiang Fang lowered his head and continued to wash the dishes, wanting to give his mother time to think.


    Once he cleaned the dishes and wiped the water droplets from his hands, he looked back and was shocked to find¡ª


    His mother was standing coldly behind him, carrying the fruit knife that still had the apple juice on it from that night. His mother was a beauty. She had disheveled hair but she was still a beauty. However, his mother on that day looked like a ghost. Her piercing screams and the cold sharp edge on his neck succeeded in creating countless nightmares for Jiang Fang in the years to come.


    ¡°You clearly killed him. Why do you want me to forget about him?!¡±


    ¡°Have you forgotten about him?!¡±


    ¡°Remember it for me! Remember!¡±


    She pressed her son¡¯s head against the chopping board, grabbing his hair as she used the fruit knife to engrave his father¡¯s initials into the side of his neck. As long as she slightly deviated or pressed a bit harder, Jiang Fang probably wouldn¡¯t have lived to see her like this anymore.


    Jiang Fang lay quietly against the chopping board without any resistance. It was just like when he was waiting for rescue on the cliff, waiting for his fate to come. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t arrive. His mother threw away the fruit knife stained with fresh blood. She clutched her hair tightly and paced back and forth in the room.


    Jiang Fang slowly got up. He sat on the cold, hard floor as he grabbed the paper towel and wiped off the blood staining his collarbone bit by bit. He thought, ¡®Sure enough, it is useless.¡¯


    10 minutes later, his mother came over with a cigarette in her mouth and led him out the door. In the back corner of a nearby neighborhood, she found a Chinese tattoo shop without a license. She pushed the still bleeding Jiang Fang inside.


    The gloomy and pretty face of the customer as well as the embarrassing state of the child she pushed in front of her shocked the tattoo artist who was smoking. He asked, ¡°Guest, do you have any needs?¡±


    His mother¡¯s hand shook badly as she held the cigarettes. White smoke emerged from her red lips and caged her eyes in a hazy barrier of fog. It seemed she wanted to completely block her vision so she couldn¡¯t see the blood dripping from Jiang Fang¡¯s neck. ¡°He misses his father too much. Turn this name into a tattoo for him.¡±


    Since there was no license, there weren¡¯t many taboos or rules here. They would do anything for money. The tattoo artist saw that Jiang Fang didn¡¯t express any objections and didn¡¯t ask much.


    ¡°There are a lot of nerves on this side of the neck,¡± he hinted. ¡°It will hurt.¡±


    Seeing that neither the customer nor the child responded, he started to silently prepare his tools. Jiang Fang lay on the sterilized bed and didn¡¯t respond as the needle pierced his neck. It was as if it was blunt.


    The tattoo artist praised him. ¡°Brave child.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s long eyelashes blinked. His entire person looked wooden like he was a beautiful puppet. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    That day happened to be Jiang Fang¡¯s 14th birthday.


    A few days later, he was wearing a bandage around his neck and serving plates at a restaurant when he was noticed by the second owner of an underground casino. Two weeks of special training passed and Jiang Fang stroked the corner of his eye that had a tear in the shape of a pink heart drawn on it, looking at himself in the mirror. The bunny girl was very satisfied with her work. ¡°How about it? Does it look good?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled and turned his head, the smile in his eyes sincere to the point of being hypocritical. ¡°It looks good. Thank you, Sister.¡±


    He gave up on redeeming his mother. At the very least, he would give her the best life. He started to find a way to survive in the cracks.

 CH 58

    Counting the chips.


    Remembering the odds.


    Dealing the cards.


    Rolling the dice.


    Jiang Fang accomplished every job perfectly. Apart from his hands trembling his first time at the table, Jiang Fang¡¯s quick thinking, resilience and perfectionism were enough to handle everything.


    In the hundreds of late nights when he just entered the casino, he would often free up one hand at home to practice, one-handed shuffling, turning the cards, changing the cards, leaving out a card or fanning them out with his thumb. The other hand was cooking, washing dishes and cleaning broken bottles.


    At the same time, he listened to his mother¡¯s drunken dreams as she poured out her love and longing for his father for the thousandth time. Occasionally, one or two sentences of his mother¡¯s dreams were addressed to him. She vaguely sang a lullaby, coaxing her imaginary young son. It was just that Jiang Fang was no longer a child.


    Jiang Fang always smiled without saying a word. The gentlemanly and elegant appearance was cultivated by his father. The Oriental beauty combined with Ukrainian blood formed a style of its own, making it a sight to behold in the casino.


    However, people who came to the casino paid attention to luck. Most of them held a badly damaged and deformed notion. For example, the only time Jiang Fang was beaten wasn¡¯t because he miscalculated the chips. It was due to the tattoo on his neck.


    The gambler whom he dealt the cards to was defeated and a few rough people pounced on Jiang Fang and hit him. The reason was simply: the tattoo on his neck was obstructive and brought bad luck to the guests.


    However, this was a small probability event. Things became much better after Jiang Fang bought a choker to wear. Once Jiang Fang dealt good cards, some gamblers with faces flushed from excitement would cheer and put chips into the pocket of his overalls.


    Jiang Fang had seen tens of thousands of games of Texas hold¡¯em and slot machines. Every day, tens of millions of chips flowed through his fingertips. The dice that rolled flexibly at his fingertips easily judged a person¡¯s life.


    Jiang Fang looked at the world with old eyes in the most materialistic underground world. The scantily clad pole dancer took off her lace panties and tied her hair with it as she swayed toward the gambler with the best fortune today, kissing his lips smelling of alcohol in exchange for a nice tip.


    The gambler who just won tens of thousands and was elated, only to lose millions in an instant. He beat at the machine that swallowed his life¡¯s hard work, screaming and crying.


    The old and muddle-headed gambler who held a property title certificate and tried to sell his only property left in exchange for a last chance to turn things over.


    The benevolent loan shark smiled at the young man kneeling on the ground like a dog, before shaking his head and sighing. He waved to the people behind him and dragged the gambler who was begging, ¡°Give me some more time,¡± into a small room.


    Gamblers looked curiously at the room that was said to be the execution room, their ears carefully trying to listen to the suffering of others.


    Jiang Fang immersed himself in handling the cards, his face expressionless. As a staff member, he was on rotation to clean the execution room reserved for thousands of people and debtors. He swept up the severed finger in the corner. He also wiped the rest of the blood off the table. Jiang Fang could feel his heart hardening.


    The next second, he smiled as he pulled out a beautiful hand of cards to attract the attention of gamblers. He received a standing ovation. The cheers overcame the screams from the execution room.


    Under the frantically spinning neon ball, the bright pink powder at the corner of Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes shone in the bright lights. They were seductive eyes that were like waves, like tears.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s fixed income was $30 per hour. The tips were countless. Soon, the money he earned was enough to cover the high expenses of the alcohol and drug rehabilitation center.


    On the day when his mother was forcibly sent to the rehabilitation center, she spoke many pleading and ugly words. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t take it seriously. He sat alone on the steps of the apartment for a long time after his mother got in the car. It wasn¡¯t until his legs were a bit numb that he got up and returned to the empty apartment. He packed his belongings and folded his clothes.


    At 6 o¡¯clock that evening, the street lights came on punctually, entering through the windows and lighting up everything in the dark house. Along with the buzzing of the street lights, there was the sound of the poor violinist from the attic. His father loved books during his lifetime. Novels, magazines, illustration collections, comics and scientific newspapers occupied a whole wall.


    Jiang Fang lay down on the clean bed, the light from the sharp edges of the window and bookshelf falling on his cheeks and silver hair. He was like frozen fire. In the apartment where the strong smell of alcohol remained, along with the decadent and melancholy accompaniment, he breathed slowly and rested quietly.


    Casinos worked mostly at night. Jiang Fang was no longer distracted by caring for his mother and had some spare time for himself. Jiang Fang¡¯s student status had long been cancelled. If he returned to school, he wouldn¡¯t be allowed to work.


    Jiang Fang started to explore ways to find his own balance between life and work. In the evening, he worked for the casino. During the day, he wore a ¡®supervisor certificate¡¯, dressed in an elegant suit made for him by the casino and randomly selected a school that looked good. He entered any classroom in a grand manner and sat down in a corner of the classroom.


    At that time, the state of Kiev strictly checked education and there were often school inspectors who visited schools from time to time to inspect the teaching situation.


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    He even met a physics teacher who had come to the casino to gamble and owed a debt in a certain high school class he mixed up in. Not only did the teacher fail to recognize Jiang Fang but he also took off his hat and bowed to the young inspector.


    Jiang Fang bowed slightly in return. He thought it was interesting. Still, this didn¡¯t delay him from taking notes on his fake ¡®inspection record.¡¯ In addition, Jiang Fang would sign in for some university students who weren¡¯t good at school. He would attend classes, take notes and write papers for them. If he didn¡¯t need to work at the casino, he would go to the theater as a patroller. Jiang Fang often enjoyed ¡®Salome¡¯ while conceiving a thesis assignment for a music major.


    At the age of 16, the dealer Jiang Fang had his own fame in the underground casino due to his excellent skills.


    Joker. It was like the double-sided portrayal of him over the years.


    At the age of 17, he received a job. There was a foreign exchange student who went to Ukraine to study and his family was very rich. He was rich enough that despite barely finishing high school with almost all C grades, he relied on the donations of his parents and a fake athlete certificate to enter a very good university. In order to celebrate his admission, he spent his time playing abroad.


    By the time he remembered something was wrong, there was only half a day left until the deadline for his university registration. There was no other way. He urgently contacted his friends and found Jiang Fang, who had the best reputation among the local school substitutes. This rich second generation asked Jiang Fang to take his spare key, get the registration materials and report for him. By the way, Jiang Fang should also help him with a few days of classes.


    Half a month later, he kissed the hot beauties goodbye, patted his butt with contentment and left sunny Hawaii for Kiev. Once he came back, he found that he had somehow become the leader of a study group, a member of the accordion club and the enforcer of the school¡¯s ice hockey team.


    He was shocked and hurriedly found Jiang Fang to question him. In the coffee shop, Jiang Fang wasn¡¯t in a rush as he picked up the cup and looked at the young man who was two years older than him. ¡°Is this bad? You want a degree and a glowing resume from your four years studying abroad. As for what you learn, it isn¡¯t important.¡±


    Jiang Fang continued, ¡°I am the opposite. I want to go to school and I want this experience.¡±


    He gently rested his chin on his hands. ¡°We both take what we need. This is a good deal for you and me.¡±


    The rich second generation gulped. It was also a huge temptation. He went back to think for two or three days and discussed it with his friends for a while. He felt that it wasn¡¯t bad to spend a sum of money to buy four years of unrestrained happiness. He made up his mind and called Jiang Fang.


    Over there, Jiang Fang expected it. He sat in the library, his lips curved up beautifully. ¡°Then Mr Carbine, I wish you a happy long-term cooperation.¡±


    Jiang Fang got a stable big client at the price of losing the right to use his name temporarily. Still, it didn¡¯t matter. For four years, Jiang Fang did his part. He hung out at school, in the ice hockey team, the accordion club and the underground casino. His disguise was perfect.


    His mysterious and gentle temperament, his beautiful accordion playing, his occasional magic tricks and his deep understanding of various types of wines in the world made him look charming at any time and any place.


    In particular, once he became an adult, there was an overwhelming number of men and women willing to flirt with him. On the ice hockey team, there was a cheerleader who confessed to him in public. In the casino, there was never a shortage of men and women who whistled at him.


    It was reasonable to say that Jiang Fang shouldn¡¯t feel lonely. It was possible to indulge but he never liked anyone or approached anyone. The main point was that he never gave people a feeling of alienation and coldness. Anyone around him would feel joy and comfort in their hearts. Even if they were rejected by Jiang Fang, they felt they could be good friends with him for a lifetime. These people didn¡¯t realize that they weren¡¯t friends with Jiang Fang until a long, long time passed.


    Jiang Fang had a wide social circle and knew about the situation of every friend. He could talk about everyone¡¯s situation as if they were precious. Yet no one knew what type of person he was. No one knew his mood when he returned home and saw his mother, who was drunk in her vomit at the door.


    Maybe even Mrs Jiang herself didn¡¯t know. Long-term alcohol dependence had long destroyed her sanity and brain. In the past few years, she repeatedly appeared in the major alcohol rehabilitation centers and drug rehabilitation centers. She came out and went in again. It was a cycle of quitting and drinking again. Even if Jiang Fang personally sent her to the alcohol rehabilitation center and supervised by the side, she could escape halfway and get drunk in an unknown pub.


    Over time, Jiang Fang no longer restrained her. He opened the heavy anti-theft door with a brass key, lifted her up silently and carried her to the bed. He wiped her face with a hot towel, kissed her forehead and softly told her good night.


    Then he once again called the number of the alcohol rehabilitation center. After he communicated with the staff and hung up, he heard his mother murmuring something in Ukrainian. ¡°I¡­ am I sorry to you?¡±


    Jiang Fang stroked her prematurely dry and white hair and the deep lines at the corners of her eyes. He didn¡¯t answer directly. Instead, just as he did when he was a child, he whispered, ¡°My angel, go to sleep.¡±


    The reflection and regret of alcoholics was often short-lived. Jiang Fang would no longer easily believe anything. He coaxed his mother like any ¡®friend¡¯ so she would at least be at ease tonight.


    Fortunately, he still had ice hockey. Ice hockey was a gentlemanly and violent sport. One could choose to be a rose poet waving a stick and dancing on the ice or they could choose to be a bloody flower blooming on the ice. Jiang Fang vented all the depression he had accumulated under his graceful and gentlemanly air in this ice hockey arena that his father loved the most during his lifetime.


    ¡°Joker is a born fighter.¡± There was a Russian veteran who worked as a security guard at the underground casino where Jiang Fang worked. This was what he said about Jiang Fang.


    Jiang Fang was light and his muscles were soft. He combined the brute strength of an Eastern European with the flexibility of an Asian. On ice, the protective gear was heavy and large. It wasn¡¯t easy to exert strength. In an ice hockey game, the only way to hit each other was punch by punch, as clumsy and rough as a black bear.


    Jiang Fang was different. His graceful and elegant posture looked more like the main force controlling the puck. Yet when others challenged him, he could easily pull off his gloves, throw his stick and punch and slam them. He once smashed half of the opponent¡¯s facial protective gear with such a punch.


    Of course, it was inevitable to be injured. If Jiang Fang¡¯s fingers were injured, red and swollen to the point where he couldn¡¯t flex them, he would ask the casino for a day off. The next day, he would cover the wound with a disposable rose tattoo and show a superb artistic performance of flying cards to the screams and whistles of the guests.


    In his junior year, Jiang Fang showed a fierce performance in a game and attracted the attention of the Kiev State Cavalry hockey team. Jiang Fang signed a one year contract with them. The original reason was that it was well-paid.


    Jiang Fang had long wondered why he was making money. He just thought his mother might need it. Thus, he wanted more.


    The ice hockey teams in other schools and communities in Kiev had long heard of the reputation of ¡®Mr Carbine.¡¯ They all knew that he was a crazy, aggressive and beautiful enforcer. No one dared to provoke him easily. It was because he fought as if his life wasn¡¯t his own.


    The road to Cavalry winning the championship wasn¡¯t too difficult. On the day the game ended, Jiang Fang received a huge bonus. He returned home with his bag that afternoon and saw the staff member of the alcohol rehabilitation center that he had dealt with many times standing at the door of his apartment. The moment the staff member saw him, this person took off his hat. His nose was red and he hurriedly wiped at his nose.


    ¡­Jiang Fang stopped. The shadow he had imagined for a long time, but hadn¡¯t arrived, slowly enveloped him.


    It was as he expected. His mother had died. It was due to a sudden brain hemorrhage in her sleep. Fortunately, there was no pain.


    That year, Jiang Fang was 21 years old. No one in the community knew Jiang Fang¡¯s real occupation but they all knew he had been working for his mother. This young man was gentle, filial in the eyes of others and devoted all his efforts to support his mother for several years, but he didn¡¯t shed a single tear at her funeral.


    Jiang Fang used up all the warmth he had experienced in his childhood to heal and compensate for his scarred teenage years. Now that last bit of light was burned out.


    ¡­Jiang Fang thought he was free.


    After that, Jiang Fang completed the graduation thesis for Mr Carbine and handed in a transcript that consisted of almost all A¡¯s. Then Jiang Fang sold their house, quit his job at the casino and embarked on his own solo journey.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s footsteps spread all over Ukraine. He practiced longboarding alone on an abandoned highway with an extinct volcano that no longer erupted behind him. He wore black sports gloves and as he bent over, his fingertips lightly brushing over the rough ground. The temperature of the high-speed friction made him feel a short-term stimulus. However, the stimulus was only fleeting.


    A few months later, Jiang Fang took the test for a truck driver¡¯s license. It was because he heard that a section of the company¡¯s freight route had beautiful scenery that one wouldn¡¯t be bored of when looking at it for 10 years. Yet within a few months, he still resigned. He had had enough of Ukraine.


    Thus, Jiang Fang took his passport and left the place where he grew up. He was extravagant in eating, playing and living. If he had no money, he would enter a local casino, big or small, and casually gamble for a few games. Sometimes, Jiang Fang would be targeted because he won too much.


    In a quarter of an hour, someone would ask him to wait in the VIP room of the casino. The manager of the casino would politely hand him a sum of money. The implication was: make friends and accept it. This was the rule. Once a casino encountered someone who had skills, it wasn¡¯t easy to fall out with them. The common method was to give a bit of money and peacefully send away the guest.


    This was what Jiang Fang wanted to earn.


    Jiang Fang flicked the banknotes in his hand as he stepped out of the noisy casino while the manager smiled falsely. He stood under the huge and wide dark blue sky and felt lonely. He also felt that loneliness wasn¡¯t just that.


    Jiang Fang seemed to have many things, he seemed to have many dreams. Only he knew that he was just playing a game of life.


    ***


    Jiang Fang gently told Nan Zhou, ¡°My name is Jiang Fang. Fang meaning an ¡®untied boat¡¯ and it means seclusion. It seems that names are ultimately a wish of the heart. What can¡¯t be achieved is called a wish.¡±


    Nan Zhou opened his mouth, wanting to say something. ¡°I¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled beautifully at him, shushed him softly and blocked the words Nan Zhou wanted to say.


    ¡°Everyone has their own story¡­¡± Jiang Fang placed his hand on Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulder. His fingers circled the teeth marks on the back of Nan Zhou¡¯s neck with a force that Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t detect. ¡°It is up to you when you want to say it. For example, I think the moonlight looks very good today, so I wanted to tell you about myself. Once you think it is time, you can tell me. When it is time¡­ I¡¯ll be happy to listen.¡±


    Nan Zhou blinked and stared at Jiang Fang¡¯s face, covered by darkness. His eyes were novel and serious, as if he was meeting this person for the first time in his life.


    Jiang Fang asked, ¡°What are you looking at?¡±


    Nan Zhou told him, ¡°The bedtime story is very good. I want to sleep.¡±


    Jiang Fang laughed freely. ¡°It is an honor to help our Teacher Nan¡ª¡±


    The next moment, his body froze. It was because Nan Zhou hugged him without warning, grabbing him by the shoulders without any shame.


    After realizing that his height and body shape wouldn¡¯t wrap well around Jiang Fang, Nan Zhou placed his head on this person¡¯s shoulder and naturally passed a hand under Jiang Fang¡¯s arm, hugging his waist.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s blood lost its ability to circulate. He couldn¡¯t talk and laugh as though nothing happened or be smooth and slick. He asked in a low voice, ¡°What are you¡­ doing?¡±


    Nan Zhou replied honestly, ¡°Sleeping.¡±


    He looked up, two bright silver stars in his cold eyes. ¡°As a child, if I felt lonely then I would think it would be great if I could be held like this.¡±


    Nan Zhou asked the other person¡¯s opinion in a fair and open manner, ¡°Do you want to be hugged by me like this?¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He closed his eyes and felt the skin on his waist that was being held by Nan Zhou burning while the muscles of his waist throbbed slightly.


    Nan Zhou told him, ¡°You can push me away if you¡¯re not happy.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou rested on his shoulder. ¡°Then good night.¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t whisper ¡®good night¡¯ until Nan Zhou was asleep. Jiang Fang¡¯s fingers flicked gently across Nan Zhou¡¯s hair. He stroked it, not too gently and not too heavy. His voice was extremely soft, as if he was whispering out of fear of awakening Nan Zhou. That way, Jiang Fang might not lose the courage to say what was in his heart.


    ¡°I hate the feeling of falling in love with someone because it usually means I have lost control of myself.¡±


    ¡°I was scared.¡±


    ¡°I was afraid I would become my mother.¡±


    ¡°It is a dangerous thing to love someone madly to death.¡±


    ¡°I have seen that type of madness with my own eyes and thought I wouldn¡¯t repeat the same mistakes.¡±


    Jiang Fang paused.


    ¡°Now it seems I was wrong. The power of genetics is great.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ Teacher Nan. I must crazily like you.¡±

 CH 59

    Jiang Fang¡¯s body was very warm. It was much higher than Nan Zhou¡¯s body temperature. Nan Zhou tested it personally and the effect of human body temperature on sleep was first-class. The curtains weren¡¯t closed very tightly so when the sky was bright, a thin light fell on the side of Nan Zhou¡¯s face.


    Under the stimulation of the light, Nan Zhou woke up and turned around. It was just that his ¡®woke up¡¯ wasn¡¯t very similar to other people¡¯s ¡®woke up.¡¯


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t actually wake up when he opened his eyes. He could wash up, talk and listen. In situations where he didn¡¯t have to be awake right away, like that time when he woke up and saw a mushroom standing beside him, Nan Zhou¡¯s thoughts were linear, empty and broken for quite some time.


    Since seeing Xie Xiangyu, Nanji Star had been very insecure and only slept soundly after holding Nan Zhou¡¯s ankle. In the middle of the night, the little thing fell asleep and failed to hold on firmly. He rolled down and slept belly up for most of the night.


    At dawn, he felt it was cold in his sleep. His paws waved in the air a few times before he rolled to Nan Zhou¡¯s knee sockets and arched his head. Nan Zhou felt something furry and itchy from his legs and made a low hum to express his dissatisfaction. He bent his legs and rubbed against Jiang Fang, trying to stay away from the sticky hairball.


    Nanji Star was dissatisfied with the loss of body temperature and followed. Nan Zhou continued to stick to Jiang Fang. Gradually, he felt that something was wrong. The naval part of his belly was being poked by something hard like a dagger. Nan Zhou instinctively felt a threat and looked down.


    At this time, Jiang Fang also opened his eyes and frowned uncomfortably. He perceived that his body¡¯s reaction was going against the gentlemanly norms and the not sober Jiang Fang murmured in Ukrainian, ¡°¡­§éot (Damn).¡±


    Nan Zhou hugged his waist and calmly said, ¡°Yes, good morning.¡±


    Jiang Fang placed his hand on his forehead. Once his blood cooled down a bit, he smiled softly. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Do you need to solve it?¡±


    Jiang Fang moved his leg and sucked in a breath. ¡°¡­I¡¯m afraid so.¡±


    Nan Zhou patted him on the shoulder with great understanding. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Nan Zhou noted Jiang Fang¡¯s slightly red ears as Jiang Fang put on his shirt and trousers, causing Nan Zhou to encourage him. ¡°A morning erection is a perfectly normal male physiological phenomenon. I was also nervous when it first appeared but it doesn¡¯t matter. It will be fine soon.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He took a deep breath and his gaze toward Nan Zhou deepened a lot. ¡°Thank you, Teacher Nan, for your guidance.¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded and watched Jiang Fang head to the bathroom. He sat cross-legged and raised his hands in the air.


    Nan Zhou measured the length between his two index fingers. Then after observing for a while, he found that the data wasn¡¯t accurate. He had an attitude of seeking truth from facts and extended both ends a little bit.


    ¡­Yes, it was almost this long. Nan Zhou faced this length and started to carefully think about whether the size and weight would affect people¡¯s actions. He was studying it when he had a thought. He lowered it and secretly compared it to himself.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Lf qea tlr jgwr bc tlr xcffr, ibkfgfv tlr tfjv jcv mibrfv tlwrfio eq obg j ktlif.


    Pa kjrc¡¯a ecali Rjcpl Vajg kbxf eq mbwqifafis jcv kjcafv ab fja atja Rjc Itbe¡¯r wlcv ribkis gfaegcfv. Lf abbx bea atf Vbqtbgj pjqbclmj tbcfs tf ybeuta sfrafgvjs ja atf reqfgwjgxfa. Lf qbegfv la bc j rwjii kbbvfc rqbbc jcv Rjcpl Vajg ilmxfv la lc jc lcabzlmjafv wjccfg.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t know that in a place separated from him by a wall, Jiang Fang was leaning against the bathroom wall, one hand supporting himself on the wall and the other hand holding his belt buckle.


    The shirt he hastily put on still had the black tie he didn¡¯t have time to undo yesterday hanging loosely from the collar. Jiang Fang bit the end of the tie in his mouth, letting his saliva darken the satin tie. Fine sweat shone on his neck and shook slightly with the meaningless swallowing motion. Even at this time, the perfectionist Jiang Fang didn¡¯t allow his trousers to fall below his knees.


    He leaned forward, the knuckles of his fingers gripping the belt buckle tightening. Yet no matter how fast he sped up, he couldn¡¯t dissipate the intense heat.


    After feeding Nanji Star, Nan Zhou took out the toast he bought yesterday. He was going to pour some honey on it to make a sandwich. Just as he was going to pour the honey, he faintly heard something. He stopped and listened. Nan Zhou heard a slightly hoarse, gasping voice call out his name. ¡°Nan Zhou¡­¡±


    The intonation and tone of this voice weren¡¯t quite the same as it was usually. Thus, it took Nan Zhou some time to notice that it was Jiang Fang¡¯s voice. Just as he was feeling stunned, the crystal clear and transparent honey slowly overflowed off the bread and was about to drip off the edge.


    Nan Zhou used his finger to catch the dripping honey and placed it in his mouth. He held the bread as he walked to the door of the bathroom and knocked on the door. ¡°Brother Fang?¡±


    Not long after, Jiang Fang opened the door from inside. His hair was brushed again and draped gently over his shoulder. His shirt buttons were meticulously fastened, his shirt was flat, his tie was straight and his belt was buckled, outlining his waist in a perfect arc. He was the vivid portrayal of ¡®well-dressed.¡¯


    Nan Zhou stared into his eyes. ¡°Did you call me?¡±


    Jiang Fang was brushing back his silver hair, revealing his smooth forehead. He heard this and couldn¡¯t help pausing. ¡°Did I?¡±


    ¡­Was he so loud?


    Nan Zhou confirmed it. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes fell on the finger that was still a bit shiny from being sucked and the corners of his lips curved up. ¡°Ah yes, I did call Teacher Nan for something.¡±


    ¡°What¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang took a step forward, lowered his head slightly and kissed Nan Zhou¡¯s forehead in a gentlemanly manner. He gently said, ¡°Good morning.¡±


    Nan Zhou who was holding the bread, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Didn¡¯t he say that this morning?


    Li Yinhang woke up and this episode was quickly left behind by Nan Zhou. After last night¡¯s incident, Xie Xiangyu¡¯s whereabouts became even more unclear. Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t particularly concerned about the location of this person.


    In the morning, they met the Sun Guojing trio again. There was the personal blow from Jiang Fang and Sun Guojing finally got rid of the idea of going to Paper Gold. They were going to Rust City to find a cheap place to sleep and have a big meal. They would sleep well for three days and three nights before making other plans. They were about to say goodbye and there was probably no possibility of seeing each other in the future. The trio had mixed feelings and felt melancholy. Nan Zhou was the one who robbed them instead and the one who saved their lives in the end.


    Last night, they had discussed it until midnight and wanted to give Nan Zhou some items as a reward. Then they took a look and found that all the items they had remaining were the ones that Nan Zhou hadn¡¯t wanted. Therefore, they went to the supermarket early in the morning, bought a big bag of steamed cakes and gave them all to Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t refuse and accepted their hearts.


    The moment of farewell was coming. Sun Guojing looked at Nan Zhou with some yearning. ¡°If we only had two people then we could go with you.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at Sun Guojing with clear eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Nan Zhou patted him on the shoulder in comfort. ¡°Even if you only had two people, we wouldn¡¯t want you.¡±


    Sun Guojing, Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Fuck, this was too direct!


    Shortly after the trio left with their tails between their legs, Nan Zhou and the others finally heard the long-awaited system sound.


    [Ding ding ding¡ª]


    Perhaps in order to create an atmosphere of horror, the system had suppressed all the rewards until the final distribution. All the rewards accumulated in the prize pool poured out. It was one reward notification after another, like smashing a full piggy bank.


    The ¡®ding dong¡¯ chimes were endless.


    [Congratulations to the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team for completing the instance ¡®Sha, Sha, Sha¡¯!]


    [Congratulations to the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team members Nan Zhou, Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang for successfully surviving 120 hours and earning 5,000 points respectively!]


    [Congratulations to the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team member ¡®Nan Zhou¡¯ for capturing the S-grade boss, ¡®Door¡¯!]


    [Congratulations to the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team and player ¡®Xie Xiangyu¡¯ for completing the ¡®role-playing¡¯ task and receiving the ¡®study hard and improve every day¡¯ reward, earning 500 points respectively!]


    [Congratulations to the ¡®Cube Boat¡¯ team for completing the ¡®role-playing¡¯ task and receiving the ¡®love each other¡¯ reward, earning 500 points respectively!]


    Once the rewards were announced up to here, Li Yinhang faintly felt that something was wrong. She was dutiful about playing the role of Nan Zhou¡¯s ¡®good friend.¡¯ Meanwhile, the two of them were playing lovers! Was this type of love recognized by the system?


    [Congratulations to the three teams for finding the exit 43 hours and 50 minutes early within the 120 hours of game time, earning 1,500 points respectively!]


    [The exploration degree of the main plotline has reached 100%. If the degree of completion is more than 95% then it can be judged as the perfect S-grade rating!]


    [Ding! The S-grade rewards are 1,000 points each and any random item. The items will be delivered to the players¡¯ backpacks within three days~]


    [Players, please be prepared and choose the teleportation location within three minutes.]


    After a brief discussion, the trio had already been to Rust City and Paper Gold so they decided to go to a third location.


    Squirrel Town. It was a healing place that was said to be filled with all types of fairy tale elements.


    Just after the teleportation and before the town¡¯s scenery could heal their minds and bodies, the trio heard the pleasant notification sound. A huge notification box also jumped out from the operation panel in front of them.


    [Forces of Temptation has released a major update patch.]


    Ordinary people would see the notification box that occupied over half the panel and would instinctively click on it. In any case, as players of this hell game, they didn¡¯t have the right to choose not to update. Neither Nan Zhou nor Jiang Fang moved.


    Nan Zhou instructed, ¡°Yinhang, you update it first.¡±


    Li Yinhang obediently responded and clicked the update button. Nan Zhou clicked on the small, gray ¡®update notes¡¯ in the bottom right corner of the update alert box. He looked for valid clues in the 32 pages of the privacy agreement and update notes.


    In the miscellaneous update notes, putting aside the invalid information, there were actually only two updates in total.


    First, added the ¡®world channel¡¯ to allow all players to leave messages and communicate.


    Second, the incompatibility of instance creatures and the warehouse was increased.


    In other words, players weren¡¯t allowed to catch bosses.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± How extravagant.


    The author has something to say: The whole system is working overtime to make a patch specifically for Nan Zhou.


    Rainbow: I found a funny fanart of the beginning scene on Weibo and will post it in the discord¡¯s fanart channel.

 CH 60

    They found a restaurant in Squirrel Town to rest. Nan Zhou ordered a brown sugar fresh milk mochi with 10% sugar. This made Li Yinhang suspect that what was flowing through his blood vessels was syrup, not blood.


    The small, humanoid squirrel waiter in the restaurant seemed to really like Nan Zhou. She gave Nan Zhou a chocolate muffin with the Squirrel  Town logo and also wrote her address on the napkin. She threw a creepy wink at him with her cartoonish round eyes with three long eyelashes.


    If it was changed to someone else, they would probably be shocked by this Uncanny Valley effect. Meanwhile, Nan Zhou had a good attitude toward her and nodded politely to her. The squirrel waiter was in a good mood and left with the empty tray.


    Nanji Star curiously shook his head and tail, his eyes shining. He wanted to follow but he was caught by Nan Zhou and placed in his pocket.


    At this point, other players in the restaurant were also notified of the update. A pair of teammates at the neighboring table were talking happily with bright eyes.


    ¡°We will receive 500 points when it is updated?!¡±


    ¡°Please do more updates. Catch bugs and save others from taking advantage. It is better for us.¡±


    They clearly had no idea that the one who ¡®created this bug¡¯ was sitting at the next table. There was more than one person with such an idea. At least half of the new world channel was discussing this update. Of course, there were also voices of discontent.


    ¡°Just 500 points? It is like giving something to a beggar.


    ¡°Fuck, they pull us here and play with our lives, giving up a bit of sweetness and hoping we¡¯ll be happy with this. It is cheap.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t play this game! We quit!¡±


    ¡°Exit! Quit!¡±


    The masterminds behind the game naturally didn¡¯t care about them. The players who had been holding back for a long time found an outlet here. No matter whether it was useful or not, they filled the screen with passionate insults. Instead, some useful information came out.


    Some brainy players used this suddenly opened up information channel to post information about items they owned in order to trade. However, this was quickly covered by the repetitive text filled with angry emotions.


    These situations were live broadcasted on the scene by Li Yinhang. Neither Nan Zhou nor Jiang Fang chose to update. After listening for a while, the three of them reached a consensus. There was no useful information at present.


    Li Yinhang took a sip of the red bean rice cake soup with squirrel patterns and sighed heavily. Nan Zhou felt that Li Yinhang should be happier about this unexpected income. He wondered, ¡°Aren¡¯t you happy to earn 500 points?¡±


    ¡°It is called earning money.¡± Li Yinhang¡¯s money-saving radar operated steadily without being confused by the atmosphere of celebration in the chat channel. ¡°Everyone has it, which is equal to everyone not having anything.¡±


    Snfgsbcf lcmgfjrfv atf qblcar abufatfg rb atflg afjw vlvc¡¯a tjnf jcs jvnjcajufr.


    Aljcu Mjcu abiv tfg, ¡°Ca ifjra atfgf jgf 500 wbgf qblcar obg yeslcu cfmfrrlalfr.¡±


    Ol Tlctjcu weaafgfv, ¡°Ktja¡¯r gluta¡­¡±


    Ktfc Ol Tlctjcu ibkfgfv tfg nblmf jcv rilutais mbwqijlcfv, ¡°Valii, lrc¡¯a atlr mifjgis ajxlcu jvnjcajuf bo er?¡±


    In the previous instance, they clearly found a way through the instance. They just had to find the correct classroom that didn¡¯t exist and replace the order in which they went through the classroom again and they would be able to survive the 120 hours. If it hadn¡¯t been for the rustling monster acting before them and saving Sun Guojing, Nan Zhou never would¡¯ve thought of violently opening the door.


    Capturing the monster was an accident for the game system but it wasn¡¯t an accident for them, the players. As a result, Nan Zhou had just grabbed a dungeon creature and the game¡¯s patch followed in the blink of an eye. This showed that the bug found by Nan Zhou was unexpected by the operators and it was also very important.


    For this reason, they even jumped from behind the scenes to the front of the stage. Once updated, the new warehouse system added incompatibility with instance creatures. This meant the garbled instance boss in the warehouse would be directly erased. The officials of the game Forces of Temptation had almost written the words ¡®I am your father¡¯ on their faces.


    Not only did they intend to take away the instance boss but they also gave all players the small extra benefit of 500 points, leaving Cube Boat with nothing extra.


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t expect any specific purpose from catching this boss apart from it occupying a storage slot but she upheld the concept of ¡®what others are reluctant to give you must be something good¡¯. This meant she felt a real sense of loss.


    As Li Yinhang was feeling upset, Nan Zhou was also staring at his control panel. The store interface was gray. The leaderboard was the one he saw before entering the previous instance and the ranking wasn¡¯t refreshed. The points page didn¡¯t even calculate the score of the previous instance.


    Any page that required interaction was frozen. The only thing he could manipulate was the warehouse interface and the new update interface that seemed to be smiling coldly and mockingly. The game still retained the operating interface of the warehouse because the warehouse and the player¡¯s oxygen system were bound. Only the warehouse system was turned off, players who were slow to choose to update would suffocate directly.


    Of course, the mastermind behind the game wasn¡¯t worried about players not updating. After all, the store system wouldn¡¯t turn on without updating. The unavailability of the store meant that players couldn¡¯t buy the oxygen necessary for survival. They couldn¡¯t spend time at the rest stations and couldn¡¯t enjoy the new conveniences and features of the system update.


    To put it bluntly:


    Don¡¯t breathe.


    ¡­Or update me.


    Keep the old system and throw yourself into the next game without stopping.


    ¡­Or update me.


    Don¡¯t be angry. I gave you 500 points as a consolation prize.


    Li Yinhang accurately summarized it. ¡°Each game has the same virtue.¡±


    For now, the game had full confidence in this new update but Li Yinhang wasn¡¯t too keen on pleasing them.


    ¡°In any case, we had a day of rest in the last instance.¡± Li Yinhang suggested, ¡°I¡¯ll buy the level selection ticket this time. We will go into the instance directly to do the task.¡±


    Nan Zhou lightly responded. ¡°¡­Hmm.¡±


    He scooped out the milky white mochi from the syrup and took two small dishes, evenly distributing one scoop to Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang. Jiang Fang¡¯s scoop was a bit bigger. He compared it and secretly used a spoon to bring the edge of Jiang Fang¡¯s mashed mochi to the middle so that the two balls looked almost the same size. It seemed like he wasn¡¯t determined to win against the game from mocking them at all.


    Li Yinhang was a bit anxious. She pressed her hand on the edge of the table and sped up her speech, ¡°Teacher Nan, quickly decide.¡±


    Nan Zhou was taken aback.


    ¡°¡­This is delicious.¡± Nan Zhou told her, ¡°But I won¡¯t give you more.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She reacted as she realized that Nan Zhou was protecting his food. She didn¡¯t know if she should laugh or cry. ¡°What I¡¯m saying is that we should hurry and enter an instance!¡±


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°And then?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­Eh? Then¡­ Just do the instance mission. Teacher Nan, you bought oxygen before we left Paper Gold and there are 12 hours of oxygen left. Brother Fang has 8 hours left. If you¡¯re certain not to update then we should go as soon as possible.¡±


    Nan Zhou stared deeply at Li Yinhang. She even knew the remaining amount of oxygen better than them. He realized that it was the right choice when he chose Li Yinhang as a teammate. Still, Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t in a hurry. He collected all the mochi in the sugar water, picked up the beautiful glass cup and drank the sugar water inside. ¡°This isn¡¯t the way.¡±


    Li Yinhang wondered, ¡°Then we should go into the instance and slowly think about the method. We shouldn¡¯t waste oxygen here. There is time¡­¡±


    She said this but Li Yinhang had no confidence in her heart. To put it clearly, she just couldn¡¯t swallow the anger right now. If she had to make a comparison, it was finally getting what looked like a superb prize from the prize book. No one in their right mind would let a simple update button take advantage of them for nothing.


    However, the system was so restrictive and disgusting. It didn¡¯t let them enter the warehouse or rest at the transit stations. As a player, they could only update the patch, no matter how unwilling.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s thinking was very different from hers. He asked, ¡°Is it really good for us to drag out the time?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± It made sense.


    If they didn¡¯t update, once they came back from the next task, the system might be able to force an update of all players¡¯ warehouses without consent.


    ¡°It takes time to make a patch,¡± Nan Zhou said. ¡°It took them over 40 hours to make this one, right?¡±


    Nan Zhou murmured to himself, ¡°This is the limit of their R&D capability.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    If she didn¡¯t hear incorrectly, Teacher Nan was using his 8 points of taunting to deny the system¡¯s ability. Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t aware of this and once again confirmed with Li Yinhang, ¡°We can be in Squirrel Town for another eight hours, right?¡±


    Li Yinhang frowned. She had an instinct that this bigshot wanted to do something big. She was full of anxiety and looked to Jiang Fang for help. Jiang Fang received the signal she released and nodded at her comfortingly. Then he immediately smiled and raised his teacup of black tea to Nan Zhou. ¡°No matter what you choose, I will follow.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She shouldn¡¯t have bothered looking at Jiang Fang.


    ¡°In addition to this, I am concerned about another matter.¡± Jiang Fang gently put the teacup back on the saucer. There was the cloud sound of ceramic colliding. ¡°Previously, the game planners of Forces of Temptation were hiding behind the scenes. Now due to Teacher Nan¡¯s accident, they had to show up. So who exactly is it behind the scenes that is manipulating us and pulling us into the game? What is the purpose for letting us fight it out to achieve our wish? In addition¡ª¡±


    Jiang Fang paused. ¡°If an instance is really just an instance and the instance is a piece of data, why do they care so much about a piece of replicable data? Isn¡¯t it okay to make another one? Why urgently issue an emergency patch to update the warehouse and restrict players?¡±


    He placed his cheek on his hand and showed a beautiful smile to Nan Zhou. ¡°If I don¡¯t understand this, I don¡¯t want to hand over Mr Door so easily.¡±


    Rainbow: I will be having minor surgery at the start of August to fix a small airway problem I¡¯m having, which was the cause of my sleeping problems a few months ago. It does mean I have a really busy workload before I take time off from work. Then there¡¯s the recovery from the surgery and workload when my leave is finished. So starting from Monday next week, chapters will be released once a week until the end of August.

 CH 61

    The number of players who chose to rest in Squirrel Town wasn¡¯t small. Unlike the prosperous Rust City and the hustle and bustle of Paper Gold, Squirrel was casual and peaceful with a fairy-tale feel. The architectural style was European castle and the main colors were warm orange, brown and pink.


    It had to be said that after experiencing life or death, blood and fire, Squirrel Town was as beautiful as a surreal dream.


    Most players chose a fixed city to rest in. In Forces of Temptation, there were five themed cities with their own characteristics. For players who were accustomed to ordinary urban life, they would choose Rust City that was most similar to their daily life habits. Those who wanted to indulge and seek excitement would choose Paper Gold, where the gap between the rich was so wide that one second it was heaven and the next was hell.


    The wilder players would choose Ancient City State. It was said that it was a ruin in the Spartan style with a huge, circular open-air colosseum set in the center. This was the location of the game arena in the normal version of Forces of Temptation.


    Players choose to PK in this arena. Winners would be rewarded with points and items. Of course, players could launch unilateral challenges with a variety of green, orange or purple weapons to bet against each other. It was all based on willingness and strength. The winner was the king and the loser was KO. It wasn¡¯t known what the arena looked like in this game that had been changed by the operators behind the scenes.


    Squirrel Town was the most girlish, fairy tale island. Along with ¡®Homeland Island¡¯, a Robinson Crusoe-style farming island, it had become a dreamland far away from the other three ¡®showy and vulgar worlds.¡¯ There was the sound of waves and the crying of seagulls.


    Players who arrived in Squirrel Town were sent to a fixed arc-shaped white sandy beach that stretched for kilometers and a ticket would automatically refresh in their hands. Everything was the same as the process to enter a real world amusement park and there was a sense of ritual. Players only needed to swipe the ticket at the gate to enter and they could enjoy the coconut palm tree beach, the European style, the sand and the castle.


    Relatively speaking, the functions of Squirrel were weaker than the other four transit stations. The original main function was to provide entertainment features for people over the age of 12. In the middle of the town, the crystal castle-shaped parent-child movie city was the most popular and it could be used to play family movies. Players just needed to wear the family version of VR glasses and experience the joy of watching movies together as a family.


    Due to its inherently weak functionality and the entertainment, most of those who selected Squirrel Town were salted fish players who didn¡¯t want to compete. Of course, there were players who used the relatively peaceful environment to find their own ways of living. They actively engaged in efforts to develop the commercial functions of Squirrel Town.


    ¡®Sonorous Little Rose¡¯ was one of the entrepreneurial teams. This was a team of four female players. They originally had five people. After participating in an instance and losing a member, they refused to go again. Now they made a living by selling information about instances in exchange for points. To tell the truth, this business wasn¡¯t easy.


    First of all, all players had selfish interests. They weren¡¯t willing to actively share their instance experience. In the final analysis, it was all about competition. Who would want to tell others about the instance clearance they worked so hard for, perhaps even at the expense of their teammates. If others knew and passed easily, wouldn¡¯t they lose big time by trying and making mistakes themselves? Still, it was okay to share as long as money was given.


    The savings that Sonorous Little Rose had originally accumulated weren¡¯t much. It wasn¡¯t easy for them to spend a high price to buy intelligence. In addition, they were afraid the information would be rotten and no one would buy it. It was suffering a double loss after trying to trick the enemy.


    Thus, they chose the simplest way. In some restaurants and bars, they would order a glass of water and sit there, listening to those who had just returned from the instances and were bragging. Some people didn¡¯t have a hard time and gained a lot of rewards from the instance. Combined with the nervous excitement and strong desire to talk in the aftermath, they were more willing to talk about their experiences for free.


    Sonorous Little Rose hid nearby, listened and recorded it secretly. It had to be said that this behavior might seem a bit wretched but they did accumulate a batch of intelligence through this approach.


    Yo mbegrf, atlr asqf bo rfmbcv-tjcv lcobgwjalbc kjr lcfnlajyis fwyfiilrtfv jcv rbwf vfajlir kfgf vlrabgafv. Po atf qijsfgr vlvc¡¯a mbwf obgkjgv jcv jvv vfajlir, atf lcobgwjalbc wluta cba yf erfoei.


    Pc bgvfg ab jnblv agbeyif, rbwf bo atf lcafiilufcmf vfjifgr kbeiv rlwqis ajxf bc atf uelrf bo kglafgr jcv wjxf eq j wfatbv ab mifjg atf lcrajcmf yjrfv bc atf rqbgjvlm lcobgwjalbc atfs tfjgv. Ktfc atfs kbeiv rfii j rfa bo atf ojyglmjafv lcrajcmf lcafiilufcmf ab qijsfgr.


    Sonorous Little Rose also had these careful thoughts. After all, based on the intelligence they heard so far, no two teams of players had experienced the same instance. Even if the fabricated intelligence was sold, it wasn¡¯t necessarily harmful to people. It was just that this behavior was too nasty. They couldn¡¯t afford to take responsibility for the lives of other people. After discussing and arguing, the girls couldn¡¯t do it.


    They had to find another way and chose the most beautiful one among the middle options. Once they heard a player discussing a valuable instance, they would eavesdrop to collect a certain amount of information before taking the initiative to attack.


    Every battle plan was different. If the other person was a male player then immediately use all types of starry-eyed expressions of admiration and give full praise. If the other person was a female player then be sincere and actively ask for advice. Female players gave them a bit more respect and goodwill, relatively speaking.


    Sonorous Little Rose had even reached relatively stable and long-term cooperative relationships with three female-based teams. After they returned from the instance, they would sell the instance information to Sonorous Little Rose at a low price. Sonorous Little Rose would also do their best to provide the team with the information of one or two instances for free. They had sources of intelligence but their days weren¡¯t much better.


    They had a headache about how to sell the instance information. Most players who came to buy the instance information didn¡¯t have a lot of money on hand. They questioned the authenticity of the instance information, suspecting that it was filled with false information or worried that other teams deliberately provided false information to harm the competition and rise several places in the rankings. They were picky in every possible way and regarded things with disdain.


    Still, players who didn¡¯t believe in the instance information sold wouldn¡¯t waste precious time to inquire about it. After inquiring, they did this in the hope that Sonorous Little Rose would lower their price. It was striving to gain the information at the lowest price.


    In the beginning, Sonorous Little Rose comforted themselves with the thought ¡®you are a bastard if you don¡¯t do business.¡¯ They foolishly lowered the price and sold a lot of information. As a result, the person who bought the information from them resold it to others at a far higher price.


    The moment the four girls learned about this, they were so angry that leaves almost grew from them. After gritting their teeth and swallowing their blood, they firmed up their hearts a lot. Nevertheless, this didn¡¯t make business any easier. Even if they made every effort to sell, their business was still very small. The points they earned were only enough for them to eat and breathe.


    They might¡¯ve been in the first batch of players along with the owner of the Douzhuan Casino but the points they had accumulated up to now was only barely 10,000. They were in the back of the rankings and were barely making ends meet. The harmonious and beautiful Squirrel Town was their daily activity point.


    Today, the captain Shao Qian got up early.


    ¡ªAlthough it was already 9 o¡¯clock.


    She got up and cooked a pot of rice with yesterday¡¯s leftovers and soon-to-expire ham. She thought of Chu Wei, a girl who had a bit of a cold. After hesitating and hesitating again, she still added in two eggs, intending to give it to Chu Wei as a supplement.


    As the eggs were cooking, Shao Qian received the update notification. She didn¡¯t even look at it and just clicked to update. There was no need to resist the system when they were minor players. She would wait until the update was completed to see what exactly had been updated.


    A few minutes later.


    She held the spatula and stared at the updated page for 10 seconds. Then she quickly turned off the flames and rushed to the beds, waking up the three sleepy girls one by one. ¡°Wake up! Wake up!¡±


    This update was a mixed blessing for the four girls who barely made a living from this small business. The 500 points allowed them to experience a short period of happiness. The thing that made them really feel threatened was the new world channel feature.


    There was this instant communication tool. Didn¡¯t this mean players could bypass the intelligence dealers and directly communicate with others for information? Once there was a channel of communication, the simple wisdom of the masses would grow exponentially. They could trade items and must also be able to exchange instant information. Then what was the use of the information dealers? They couldn¡¯t be a middleman and make a profit from the price difference. Then what would they do next?


    Sonorous Little Rose decided not to sit still.


    Chen Meibing had previously worked in advertising and she quickly drafted a promotional article. She planned to take advantage of the attention on the newly opened world channel to make Sonorous Little Rose famous as a small store selling high quality instance information. The worrying thing was that they had quite a few competitors.


    Fortunately, the captain updated very early and they had a small time advantage. They had to be quick and seize the opportunity for the first wave of promotions.


    Chen Meibing and Shao Qian intensively discussed how to make the advertisement more explosive. The jogging enthusiast Lu Lulu was confirming how many players there were in Squirrel Town today as per her usual habit. After breakfast, she would jog around the town and see if there were any new faces they could cooperate with.


    On the other hand, Chu Wei was wrapped in a blanket and stared at the world channel closely to see if any other intelligence dealers released advertisements ahead of them. She was watching when she suddenly raised her eyebrow. ¡°¡­Eh?¡±


    Shao Qian immediately looked up nervously. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Has someone sent an advertisement?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± She had a blocked nose and sniffed. ¡°Someone said something very strange on the world channel.¡±


    The world channel had just launched and there were many people talking. Therefore, Shao Qian had to scroll up a few times before seeing the strange words that Chu Wei mentioned.


    [Cube Boat ¨C Li Yinhang (Li Bank): All players who are now in Squirrel Town, please leave the town within 8 hours.]


    Only one person replied below with a question mark and this sentence was soon submerged in the massive amount of information. Shao Qian didn¡¯t care about it. ¡°Don¡¯t pay attention to it.¡±


    5 minutes later.


    Chu Wei, who had kept staring at the world channel, made a doubtful sound again. ¡°Eh?¡±


    [Cube Boat ¨C Li Yinhang (Li Bank): All players who are now in Squirrel Town, please leave the town within 7 hours and 55 minutes.]


    Shao Qian also saw it. A bit of her curiosity was raised. ¡°What does this person want to do?¡±


    At this time, Lu Lulu came back. Shao Qian asked her casually, ¡°Three Lu, how many players are there in town right now?¡±


    Lu Lulu wiped her sweat with a white towel and replied, ¡°1,990. Why?¡±


    This data was obtained from the electronic board at the entrance of town that updated the number of tourists in real time. It was exactly the same as amusement parks and scenic spots. Shao Qian heard this data and couldn¡¯t help smiling and shaking her head.


    They were resting well in this town. Why should they withdraw? Besides, could this person evacuate nearly 2,000 people in 8 hours with this one sentence? What a joke?

 CH 62

    On this day, almost all players in Squirrel Town had the same idea as Shao Qian when they saw Li Yinhang¡¯s reminders that were highly similar.


    Who are you? What the hell? You¡¯re sick.


    Yet after seeing this sentence every five minutes for the 12th time, everyone¡¯s minds changed subtly. Chu Wei was a bit unable to stay still. She looked at Shao Qian. ¡°Sister Shao, what does this Li Yinhang want to do?¡±


    Shao Qian still put on a bold face. ¡°Don¡¯t care about her.¡±


    However, it was simply impossible to ignore it altogether. They couldn¡¯t figure out Li Yinhang and the Cube Boat behind her, so their uneasiness grew with time. You know, even in the relatively safe Squirrel Town, Sonorous Little Rose had seen two drunk teams in conflict, pulling each other into the night and disappearing. The next day, a corpse belonging to an unknown team drifted in the bay.


    The game system only stipulated that instance items couldn¡¯t be used at transit stops. Even so, there were thousands of ways to kill people without an instance item. The five transit stops weren¡¯t a warm and wonderful place of comfort or shelter. Wanting to expel nearly 2,000 people and empty the town with just one sentence? What did Cube Boat want to do?


    It just so happened that the world channel had just opened. At this point in time, a new feature would always attract the most attention. Many questions had accumulated in the hearts of people for around an hour and someone finally couldn¡¯t hold back.


    [Cube Boat ¨C Li Yinhang (Li Bank): All players who are now in Squirrel Town, please leave the town within 6 hours and 55 minutes.]


    [Donghai ¨C Wang Shangyue: Cube Boat ¨C Li Yinhang, why do you want us to leave Squirrel Town?]


    The other party didn¡¯t reply. She was like an AI with a set program. She was only responsible for accurate reporting and didn¡¯t have the function of answering questions. This made Chen Meibing, the most hot-tempered one among them, become angry. ¡°What the hell do they want to do?¡±


    Chu Wei carefully suggested, ¡°Or should we go to Homeland Island for a while?¡±


    ¡°Why?!¡± Chen Meibing was in a bad mood.


    She had been arranged to work urgently the moment she woke up and carefully compiled the advertisement. As a result, the feedback she got was sporadic. There wasn¡¯t as much discussion on the world channel as this inexplicable timer. She was seething. ¡°We¡¯re not leaving. We are crazy if we go when this person tells us to go.¡±


    Chu Wei was the most beautiful among them but she had a standard soft personality and wasn¡¯t aggressive at all. She was worried. ¡°What if this team wants to do something?¡±


    Chen Meibing sneered. ¡°What can they do? Blow up the town?¡±


    Shao Qian looked up. ¡°¡­It isn¡¯t impossible.¡±


    She motioned to her team to see the updated rankings. Among the many teams, Cube Boat was actually ranked quite high. The team was ranked 121st. Out of the three team members, the one with the highest individual points was called Nan Zhou. It wasn¡¯t much, just 500th.


    The team ranking of Cube Boat might be far from ¡®.¡¯ at the top of the leaderboard and the number of points wasn¡¯t eye-catching compared to some instance maniacs in Rust City, Paper Gold and Ancient City State but¡­


    In the small Squirrel Town that was mainly filled with salted fish players, the vast majority of players couldn¡¯t afford to mess with them.


    Chen Meibing looked at the other side¡¯s ¡®121¡¯ and their own ¡®300¡¯ and was silent for a moment.


    At this critical time, the captain Shao Qing was still stable. She told Lu Lulu, ¡°Three Lu, go and look at the sign at the gate to see how many players have left.¡±


    Lu Lulu had been sitting there anxiously. It was always good to have distractions and something to do. She ran to the gate.


    During this period, Li Yinhang¡¯s countdown hadn¡¯t stopped. This wasn¡¯t a good feeling. It was like walking around a park only for someone to use a loudspeaker to repeatedly inform you that the park was closing and for visitors to leave quickly. Even if they never heard any rules about parks being closed and even if they didn¡¯t know who was giving the order, ordinary people would instinctively wonder if something was going to happen Once there were no answers, invisible worries and uneasiness would automatically drive people to make choices that sought advantages and avoided disadvantages.


    Ds atf alwf rtf gjc ab atf fcagjcmf bo Vdelggfi Kbkc, atfgf kfgf bcis akb bg atgff qijsfgr kjixlcu ab atf afifqbgafg ja atf vbbg. Ktfgf kfgfc¡¯a wjcs qfbqif jcv cb ylu mgbkv. Oe Oeie rafqqfv obgkjgv ab lcdelgf jcv vfafgwlcfv atja atfrf qijsfgr tjv mtbrfc ab ifjnf ys atfwrfinfr. Ktfs vlvc¡¯a xcbk ktja kjr ublcu bc yea la kjr yfaafg ab jnblv eccfmfrrjgs agbeyif. Po qfbqif abiv atfw ab ub atfc atfs kbeiv ub.


    It might sound like they had no dignity but safety was first. What dignity was needed? Most salted fish players were like this.


    Lu Lulu sighed and sped up her pace to check the electronic display board at the gate. There was someone standing at the display board earlier than her. Lu Lulu glanced over and her originally stable heartbeat rate instantly became out of order. She took a big breath and adjusted her breathing, barely controlling it.


    The young man also noticed her existence. He glanced at her lightly before looking away.


    Lu Lulu¡¯s cheeks flushed slightly. It was like seeing a person who could only be seen in a painting. Even if he glanced at her indifferently like this, she wasn¡¯t offended or dissatisfied. She just felt like there was a thin layer of ice and snow sprinkled over the tip of her heart, making her feel cold and numb.


    She walked next to the man and looked at the display. It had been 1 hour and 20 minutes since the start of the weird broadcast. Out of the 1,990 players in the town, only a dozen or so had chosen to leave. It wasn¡¯t a lot.


    Lu Lulu couldn¡¯t tell if this was worth being happy about. She only knew that she was more confused. Therefore, she tried to talk to the young man next to her. ¡°Hello?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at the unknown player. He wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to talk to others but if other people talked to him, he would respond seriously. ¡°Hello.¡±


    Lu Lulu, ¡°¡­¡­¡± She was flattered. She had thought this lofty, cold beauty would walk away. She hurriedly asked, ¡°Did you see what the person in the channel said? She asked us to leave Squirrel Town or something¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, I saw it.¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t stutter. ¡°If it were me, I would leave.¡±


    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    Nan Zhou stared into her eyes. His eyes were dark and deep, but also clear. There was a sense of contradiction between being unadorned and being full of color. He wondered, ¡°Do you remember today¡¯s update?¡±


    Lu Lulu nodded.


    Nan Zhou continued, ¡°The system suddenly changed the rules to not allow players to capture creatures in instances. So looking at it from another way, are there any players who have captured an instance creature? If so¡­¡±


    Then he glanced at the town. The simple sentences combined with the look caused Lu Lulu to suddenly realize something and she started sweating.


    Nan Zhou turned back to look at the display board. ¡°In a few hours, something terrible might happen here.¡±


    Lu Lulu had no intention of admiring the beauty any longer. She hurriedly thanked him and rushed back. On the way to her goal, she suddenly had a thought. Since the man had made up his mind to leave, what was he doing here alone? If he wanted to tell others about his ideas, wouldn¡¯t it be better to state it directly on the world channel? However, this thought just flashed through her mind. It was too shameful for her to doubt others when he had pointed out the right direction to her.


    She went back and immediately repeated Nan Zhou¡¯s words to her three sisters. It wasn¡¯t until she finished speaking that she noticed the three of them didn¡¯t look so good.


    Shao Qian asked Lu Lulu to look at the world channel. She said anxiously, ¡°Everyone¡¯s guess is pretty much the same.¡±


    Sure enough. Currently, many players were actively discussing the reason for the update.


    [Glacier ¨C Zhang Hai: Why is there such an update?]


    [Horned Dragon ¨C Zeng Qiang: Would anyone really be dumb enough to catch the instance ghosts into their backpack?]


    [Wild Goose ¨C Ge Yanfei: Do they want to die?]


    [Wild Goose ¨C Ge Yanfei: Besides, there is no way to use an instance creature, right? Can they still listen to the player¡¯s command?]


    [Return Home ¨C Li Weixing: If it can¡¯t be used, aren¡¯t they going to dispose of it in Squirrel Town?]


    It had to be said that the world channel had opened up a lot of communication that would otherwise just be within teams. Of course, more information meant all types of disputes and thoughts were spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye. Someone started trying to persuade the players of Squirrel Town to stay.


    [Platinum Player ¨C Mo Chaoyong: It is too unreasonable.]


    [Platinum Player ¨C Mo Chaoyong: How can anyone do such a wicked thing? Besides, if an instance creature is brought out, it might be counted as an ¡®item¡¯ and it might not be able to be used in the transit stations.]


    [Platinum Player ¨C Mo Chaoyong: In any case, I am in Squirrel Town. I¡¯m not going to leave just because of a possibility.]


    Of course, the Mr Mo who had spoken so well above didn¡¯t notice that everyone who spoke on the world channel would have an inconspicuous decorative icon next to their name that indicated their location.


    Next to this man¡¯s name was a steel knife, not a chibi version of a squirrel head. In other words, this person was actually in Ancient City State. It could only be said that his mind was poisonous enough. The disadvantage was that he wasn¡¯t proficient enough in the usage of the world channel.


    Some players had the same thoughts as Mr Mo. They wanted the people of Squirrel Town to stay. In any case, they didn¡¯t need to bear the consequences of an instance creature being released. If the players in Squirrel Town were killed by an instance creature then it would be a happy thing for everyone.


    This was an act that reduced numbers without requiring them to dirty their hands. They could watch in safety as others fought and reap the rewards, waiting for their rankings to rise. There were all types of benefits and no disadvantages.


    At this point, anxiety spread in Sonorous Little Rose who were in Squirrel Town. Even Chen Meibing was silent despite strongly opposing it at the beginning.


    Shao Qian looked around. ¡°How about it? Should we go?¡±


    No one answered at this time. The thing that really prompted them to make up their minds to leave was the message that popped out again half a minute later.


    [Cube Boat ¨C Li Yinhang (Li Bank): All players who are now in Squirrel Town, please leave the town within 6 hours.]


    ***


    Sonorous Little Rose chose to leave and decided to go to the nearest Homeland Island to take shelter for a while. As they walked toward the beach, the group of those leaving was larger than Lu Lulu remembered.


    The calculations in everyone¡¯s minds were almost identical. They were just resting somewhere else or doing business. If nothing happened in 8 hours, they could come back. Everyone had only one life. They didn¡¯t want to throw it away in this fairy tale castle.


    As they walked outside along with the flow of people, Chu Wei timidly called out to Shao Qian. ¡°Sister Shao.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Chu Wei wondered, ¡°If that Cube Boat really wanted to kill us, why give an early notice?¡±


    Shao Qian was stunned. She hesitated for a moment, ¡°Maybe¡­¡±


    Chen Meibing interrupted coldly, ¡°Perhaps they aren¡¯t trying to calculate against us but these people.¡±


    She raised her hand and pointed. The girls looked up and found that there were players moving against the flow of people and entering Squirrel Town. All of these people had fierce expressions and were muscular-looking. They were vigilantly looking at the surrounding conditions, studying and remembering the layout of the buildings in the town. There was clearly a plot.


    Shao Qian was surprised before it suddenly became clear. Some players with teammates didn¡¯t immediately update. They could obtain relevant information through the updated page of their teammates.


    If Cube Boat really caught an instance creature and planned to release it in Squirrel Town, these people could also use the warehouse that wasn¡¯t updated to catch it. Before this, no one had dared to bet with their one life to risk catching an instance creature. By that time, it would be too late for them to run. Now if someone had actually succeeded, they naturally wanted to try it out. An instance creature might be a powerful bargaining chip.


    ¡°They are thinking too beautifully.¡± Chen Meibing murmured. ¡°If the thing that Cube Boat caught is strong enough and isn¡¯t a simple monster like werewolves or zombies, these people¡­ will die here in vain.¡±


    As she spoke, she glanced at the big men who looked fierce and fearless. Was the entry of these people also in the calculations of Cube Boat? Perhaps Cube Boat didn¡¯t intend to kill them, salted fish players with low levels. They wanted to use the instance creature as a gimmick to catch the top players with high points in one go.


    Chu Wei couldn¡¯t think so much. She was so frightened that she spat out, ¡°Go quickly. It is none of our business anyway.¡±


    As they prepared to leave for Homeland Island, Lu Lulu couldn¡¯t help glancing in the direction of the electronic display board. It had been two hours and the number of people in the town had plummeted below 1000. Moreover, the number of people was constantly changing and steadily reducing in real time. As for the male beauty who originally stood there, he had long since disappeared.


    Lu Lulu felt a bit regretful but she turned her head and refocused her attention on the world channel. Just now, Li Yinhang had reported again. Lu Lulu couldn¡¯t help being distracted. This update every five minutes could actually turn everything on its head like this.


    At the same time.


    The Longtan trio, who originally planned to rest and sleep for three days and nights in Rust City, became more energetic one after another. Luo Ge and Qi Tianyun had just updated their interface and they stared at the screen with wide eyes.


    ¡°¡­Sun.¡± Luo Ge¡¯s expression was a bit distorted. ¡°What do they want to do?¡±


    Then he reached out and pushed Sun Guojing, who was sleeping to the side with his eyes covered. ¡°Old Sun, are you still asleep? They want to let that monster out?!¡±


    Sun Guojing was lazy. ¡°Let them. In any case, I am in Rust City and the instance is over. Can it kill me?¡±


    This was true. Still, Luo Ge wasn¡¯t at ease. He suggested, ¡°Do you want to contact them on the world channel and ask them what they want to do?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t care about him!¡± Sun Guojing rolled over and jumped up. He picked up his pillow and dealt a strong blow to Luo Ge¡¯s head. ¡°Why does it matter to us what they want to do?¡±


    Qi Tianyun agreed with Sun Guojing. ¡°Old Sun is right. Besides, if we are exposed as an insider then we will inevitably get into trouble. Rust City isn¡¯t better than Squirrel Town. There are many people and many eyes. There is no need to look for trouble.¡±


    Sun Guojing and Qi Tianyun exchanged looks and gave each other a high five. Sun Guojing lay on the pillow again.


    ¡­In fact, Sun Guojing didn¡¯t think so much.


    Nan Zhou, Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang had saved his life. Even if they wanted to handle all the players on that island, he wouldn¡¯t do anything to drag them back. Moreover, how were they such people?

 CH 63

    There were players who originally wanted to wait and see. Then they saw seven or eight teams that didn¡¯t seem easy to go against and immediately changed their strategy. They covered their feet with oil and moved.


    The small Squirrel Town that had nearly 2,000 players was cleared into an empty town in just three hours at an unimaginable speed. The timer also didn¡¯t mean to stop. Seeing the shadow of the sun moving toward the center, the players confirmed the counter at the entrance and made sure that all irrelevant players had withdrawn.


    The fairy tale town was usually overcrowded and now it was so silent that the exaggerated raised mouths of the cartoon statues on the road gave off a slightly evil air.


    [Petroleum ¨C Fang Mian: All the people have almost gone.]


    [Director ¨C Zhi Xun: Cube Boat, come out.]


    [Pioneer ¨C Lin Qibing: We should talk first. Set up a location to meet.]


    Three teams sent invitations to Cube Boat. Their attitudes were different but their goal was the same. In their minds, the so-called grace of time was just a trick that Cube Boat used to set up a sense of mystery.


    The other players in the town were almost gone and it was time for them to make their move. The three teams waited patiently for more than a minute. As they waited for a reply¡ª


    [Cube Boat ¨C Li Yinhang (Li Bank): All players who are now in Squirrel Town, please leave the town within 4 hours and 40 minutes.]


    Everyone, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    However, they had long mixed in the instances and their anger wasn¡¯t so easily provoked.


    Everyone had their own arrangements. The teams picked a bar or restaurant to rest and supplement their nutrition. There was still time and they could afford it.


    Other teams didn¡¯t communicate with each other. They tacitly spread out through the town to search for Cube Boat¡¯s possible hiding spot. People who took different directions were secretly laughing at each other.


    The resting people thought that Squirrel Town was so big and it was stupid to waste energy on such things. The searchers believed that spending time on rest was a wasteful act.


    The coordinates of Cube Boat were clearly in Squirrel Town and Li Yinhang reported the countdown every five minutes. As long as the chibi version of the squirrel head was next to this person¡¯s name, they weren¡¯t afraid of Cube Boat running away from the town.


    Find their traces and strike first. Find a way to control them in advance and let them hand over the instance creature. Then those who were superior now would only be able to stare in envy.


    Both sides insulted the other: big idiot.


    The players in Squirrel Town went their own way but this made those outside feel fickle and impatient. The number of people heckling them started to rise.


    [Cowards!]


    [Why do you have to wait eight hours? Isn¡¯t this funny?]


    [Cube Boat doesn¡¯t necessarily have an instance creature. It is everyone¡¯s guess, right?]


    [Yes, people reported a number and a bunch of fools were tricked to run over.]


    The people on the island weren¡¯t irritated by Li Yinhang, the emotionless countdown machine, but they were pissed off by these noisy people who kept saying strange things on the world channel.


    Two groups of players who had wanted to wait for the monster to appear changed their minds and set off to search. If they found that Li Yinhang from Cube Boat, regardless of whether Li Yinhang was a male or female, they would first beat them up!


    ***


    On a small platform hidden between the crystal spires of the theater castle, Jiang Fang leaned against the edge of the platform with folded arms. Like Nan Zhou, he hadn¡¯t updated the game interface. Nevertheless, the current situation was almost consistent with the situation he and Nan Zhou had deduced. This meant Jiang Fang wanted to know what type of chaos was happening in the world channel right now.


    Pc atf ojmf bo j rfglfr bo lcreiar, Ol Tlctjcu rlqqfv atf kjafg klatbea mtjculcu tfg fzqgfrrlbc. Ktf wbwfca atf rsrafw alwf qblcafv ab atf fzjma cewyfg, tfg olcufgr wbnfv ab rfcv bea atf mbecavbkc atja tjv yffc fvlafv wjcs alwfr. Vtf qfgobgwfv tfg gbif fzagfwfis ojlatoeiis.


    Aljcu Mjcu mibrfv tlr fsfr jcv rjlv, ¡°Gbc¡¯a ajxf atbrf kbgvr ab tfjga.¡±


    Li Yinhang found it strange. ¡°Huh? What?¡±


    Her eyes passed over the vicious words that were quickly rising and realized what Jiang Fang meant. She waved her hand in an uncaring manner. ¡°Hey, what is this?¡±


    Thanks to Li Yinhang¡¯s working life, she had long become numb to the lethality of language as a weapon. Once, she had been a naive customer service staff until life woke her up with a slap on the face. She still remembered a conversation she had with an uncle with a strong accent when she first started the job.


    The first time the uncle called, he was very kind and confused. ¡°My card, can I get money from it in Huize?¡±


    Li Yinhang replied, ¡°Can I ask for your name and bank card number?¡±


    The uncle was extremely wary. ¡°Why must I tell you? Just tell me if I can take it out.¡±


    Li Yinhang had to abandon her speaking techniques. ¡°Hello, it is possible.¡±


    She also made a very ill-timed remark. ¡°Yunnan is an integral part of our country.¡± (Huize is in Yunnan)


    The uncle¡¯s second call was transferred to her by a colleague. Li Yinhang didn¡¯t know how this uncle remembered her work number. He opened his mouth and said, ¡°I can¡¯t withdraw it.¡±


    Li Yinhang asked again, ¡°What is your bank card number? I can provide you with an inquiry service here.¡±


    As a result, the uncle scolded Li Yinhang like his tail had been stepped on. It was almost as if she had asked for his bank card password instead of the number.


    Li Yinhang was scolded for 30 minutes and her mind never returned. It wasn¡¯t easy to get out of the shadows. Then the third call came. It was still the uncle. The uncle whispered, ¡°You aren¡¯t lying to me, are you?¡±


    In order to let the uncle withdraw the money, Li Yinhang swore on 18 generations of ancestors. The uncle squirmed and finally reluctantly gave his bank card number. Li Yinhang was stunned for a moment. ¡°Hello¡­ this is Guangming Bank. Your card is ICBC.¡±


    The phone was silent for a while before he hung up. Looking back on all sorts of things in the past, Li Yinhang felt that her troubles of the past were far away and peaceful, like a previous life.


    On the side, Jiang Fang closed his eyes. His back was close to the large powder crystal decorative wall behind him and his nose was slightly sweating. His fingers gripped his arms tightly and the material of his shirt sank in areas.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s overall posture was deliberately controlled and there was a relaxation that hid his nerves from the human eye. Only he knew how tight his muscles were and how his ears were filled with the slight sound of vines shaking. Every time he stood on a high place, he would have the illusion that he was still at the site where his father fell off the cliff and he hung on the line between life and death.


    No one would rescue him. No one cared. No one¡­


    Suddenly, a hand stretched out from the side and grabbed a corner of his clothes. The slight imbalance in the body caused Jiang Fang to show a strong stress response in an instant. His sense of reason was like the dirt his father had stepped on. The moment of collapse, Jiang Fang had already grabbed the wrist of that hand and exerted force¡ª


    The moment the clear sound of bones rang out, Jiang Fang¡¯s near wild sanity returned. His heart thumped as he turned his head and met Nan Zhou¡¯s quiet eyes that were filled with a hint of surprise.


    Nan Zhou clicked to restore the wrist that had been dislocated by Jiang Fang¡¯s grip. The speed was so fast that Li Yinhang didn¡¯t realize what had happened. Nan Zhou said, ¡°It is safe. The people in the castle are gone and they are heading to the Tin Soldiers Road to the east. Let¡¯s go down.¡±


    They have long estimated the current situation. In fact, fewer people came to Squirrel Town than Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang had speculated. They had found several hiding spots with at least two exits in advance but they still encountered variables.


    On the way to the transfer point, two teams happened to block the two paths they chose in advance. They withdrew back to the central castle, hiding in the blind spot between the castle¡¯s spires.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± As they lowered the dark attic stairs hidden by them and returned to the interior of the castle, Nan Zhou spoke to Jiang Fang as they walked down the rotating crystal staircase side by side. He had a cold face as he seriously analyzed his mistakes. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to go that high but there was no other way.¡±


    Jiang Fang murmured, ¡°I didn¡¯t seem to have told you about¡­¡± His fear of heights.


    Nan Zhou cocked his head and blinked doubtfully. ¡°Did I need you to tell me?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s heart was filled with a soft sourness that spread slowly. He wanted to grab Nan Zhou¡¯s hand. ¡°Does your hand still hurt¡­¡±


    Before the question was over, Nan Zhou raised his hand.


    ¡°Ah.¡± He touched the control panel in front of him. ¡°The system sent me another private message.¡±


    Jiang Fang grabbed empty air but he wasn¡¯t embarrassed. He lightly brushed against the back of Nan Zhou¡¯s hand before naturally placing a hand on his shoulder. ¡°What did it say?¡±


    Nan Zhou was concise. ¡°The price has increased.¡±


    Around an hour and a half ago, Nan Zhou¡¯s panel backend received an official statement with a very strong tone.


    The content basically said: We have launched an instant update to send benefits. After the update, you can get 500 points and a random item. The item rating can reach up to S-grade. I hope you won¡¯t look down on it.


    Nan Zhou had thrown the private letter into the trash without even thinking about it. The item level could reach up to S grade, which meant the worst rating could be D. Nan Zhou wouldn¡¯t suffer this loss.


    This was the second private letter from the system. The tone had already undergone a subtle change compared to just now. At the very least, it used honorifics.


    ¡°Dear player. At present, there is a highly dangerous foreign object in your backpack. It is recommended that you remove it immediately. Failure to remove it on time might cause containment collapse. Please update the system patch within an hour or the consequences will be at your own risk.¡±


    This private letter soon went into the trash can with the last one so they could fall in love with each other.


    Li Yinhang inquired, ¡°Should I still send the countdown?¡±


    Nan Zhou closed the panel. ¡°Continue to send it.¡±


    The system¡¯s mention of ¡®high risk¡¯ definitely wasn¡¯t false. It was so dangerous that the system spent 40 hours to make a patch to prevent Nan Zhou from carrying it to the rest point. Such a strong reaction conveyed a message to Nan Zhou.


    It was different from items that were forbidden to use after entering the five rest points of Rust City, Paper Gold, Ancient City State, Homeland Island and Squirrel Town. In the original setting of the game, the instance boss wasn¡¯t an item. It could even be considered¡­ a type of bug completely ignored by programmers. So at the resting point, there was a great possibility it maintained its vitality and lethality.


    In light of this, Nan Zhou could place this treacherous door at the only entrance of Squirrel Town, making it the ¡®door¡¯ of the town. It was a false door to death. It would find a way to survive and take root, just as it naturally merged with the East Fifth Building. Its nature was originally one with no source, no reason and no awareness. It was the purest malice.


    Even Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t face the object inside the door. He only managed it because the thing inside the door had to be connected with a door. With its strength, it could wipe out and devour everyone who accidentally entered Squirrel Town through it.


    Any players who entered the town would be erased from the game without knowing what happened. Other members of the team would also forget them. This was a clean and traceless method of killing.


    Frankly speaking, from the beginning, Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t targeting players who were confused and discussing his series of operations. He was betting that the system wouldn¡¯t allow him to do this. If Nan Zhou really did this, it was equivalent to destroying one of the five rest points.


    In the face of maliciousness without any clues or rules, the balance of the game would be completely broken. If Cube Boat wanted, they could even induce some players with a high amount of points to go to Squirrel Town and die.


    At that time, the significance of the existence of the Forces of Temptation rankings and the rules of the game would be destroyed and denied. Faced with such a dilemma, the operator behind the system was naturally anxious. However, it obviously wasn¡¯t strong enough to add a new patch within the eight hour time limit set by Nan Zhou. The eight hour game and the countdown wasn¡¯t for players to see.


    Nan Zhou used the world channel created by the system to show it to the system personally.


    ¡®Time is running out. Hurry and make it big.¡¯


    This was an overt plot that couldn¡¯t be more magnanimous. The system was clearly following Nan Zhou¡¯s movement. It was because the third private letter was sent seamlessly.


    ¡°Dear player¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou read the private letter and could imagine the game maker¡¯s trembling cheeks.


    ¡°Given the high value of the rare material in your backpack, you can go to a specific place to trade and exchange items. The exchange amount is 2000 points. This opportunity is rare. You must not miss it¡ª¡±


    Nan Zhou thought that it had changed to a cuter and cleverer copywriter. The wording had changed from ¡®highly dangerous¡¯ to ¡®valuable rare material.¡¯ He read the third private letter again and again. After hooking the interest of the unnamed person who was secretly observing, his hand moved and he mercilessly sent the private message to the trash again.


    The game planners, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Fuck. Fuck your ancestor.


    During the time when Nan Zhou was secretly fighting with the system and rejecting its exchange terms, Li Yinhang finished sending the countdown and asked Jiang Fang casually, ¡°If the system is really reluctant to spend a lot of money to exchange for it, how do we end it?¡±


    Jiang Fang turned to her when he heard the question. He wasn¡¯t in the right mood because he had just come down from a high place. He also didn¡¯t get to hold Nan Zhou¡¯s hand.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s pale gray eyes were filled with a gentle flash of light. ¡°Then let it go.¡±


    His tone was too natural and gentle that it took Li Yinhang a moment before realizing what he meant.


    ¡°Even if a player dies, they can be resurrected if we win in the end.¡± Jiang Fang smiled frankly. ¡°Isn¡¯t Yinhang¡¯s wish to hope that all the dead players come back to life and everything returns to the origin?¡±


    A chill rushed from the bottom of Li Yinhang¡¯s feet, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes curved slightly. ¡°Just kidding.¡±


    She instinctively took a step toward Nan Zhou¡¯s side.


    Nan Zhou had just deleted the private message. He noticed Li Yinhang¡¯s movements and naturally took care of her while asking Jiang Fang, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Jiang Fang blinked, looking very innocent and gentle.


    ¡­It was really nothing.


    Li Yinhang just suddenly felt that Jiang Fang had taken off his mask for the first time. He smiled at her before quickly putting it back on without a trace, hiding himself under the gentle perfection.


    Why? It was probably because Nan Zhou was looking at him.

 CH 64

    Four hours after entering Squirrel Town.


    A group of players who obtained nothing rested on a bench by the side of the road to reorganize their spirits. The four of them exuded a strong sense of frustration. One of them had spiked hedgehog hair and he scratched at his scalp in annoyance, cursing rudely, ¡°Fuck, it¡¯s so frustrating! I have a backpack full of items that would allow me to catch 10 Cube Boats!¡±


    Another person said ¡°Don¡¯t forget, there are restrictions at the five transit stations. If we can¡¯t use items then we can¡¯t use them. Don¡¯t grumble about the wrong thing.¡±


    The hedgehog was very upset. He heard these unkind words and opened his mouth to retort.


    The only female of the team who had also updated the system glared to stop the dispute from breaking out. ¡°Stop complaining. She just mentioned the time again. Now make a quick decision. Should we find a place to rest or continue looking?¡±


    The result of the discussion was that they would persist in searching for another 30 minutes. If they couldn¡¯t find the target then rest.


    They got up, picked a direction and slowly left.  The complaints of the hedgehog got further away. ¡°Are the three of them cats? Why can¡¯t we even see their shadows when they hide?¡±


    ***


    Right now, the trio who were cats were sitting in a row under the landscape of greenery trimmed into the shape of deer, 20 meters away from the team¡¯s resting place. Nan Zhou stuck out his head to confirm their whereabouts. Jiang Fang put his head in the gap between his body and the plants, his chin rubbing against Nan Zhou¡¯s hair as he observed the situation outside with Nan Zhou. Nanji Star jumped onto Jiang Fang¡¯s head, small claws picking at the hair as he copied their actions and looked out.


    The two people together made an unparalleled harmony. They confirmed it was safe.


    ¡°Put the stone down.¡± Nan Zhou turned around and spoke to Li Yinhang behind him while picking at the grass on his palm. ¡°I¡¯m here. Would I let you guys have to fight?¡±


    Li Yinhang responded positively and placed the stone covered in her sweat on the edge of the grass. This sika deer green plant wasn¡¯t very tall and didn¡¯t make a good hiding place.


    Just now on the road, they almost met that wave of people which made her sweat a lot. Li Yinhang sighed with relief. She was just about to say something when she saw Jiang Fang move his silver hair away from Nan Zhou¡¯s lap.


    ¡°I¡¯m relatively tall and my hair is conspicuous.¡± Jiang Fang spoke sincerely. ¡°Did I crush you just now?¡±


    Nan Zhou replied, ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re not heavy.¡±


    It was very pleasant when lying on his lap.


    Li Yinhang thought this scene was very: fuck.


    It was just a lap pillow. Why make it sound the same as sleeping? She rubbed her nose and wanted to do something serious. ¡°Teacher Nan, how high is the price from the system?¡±


    ¡°5000.¡±


    Li Yinhang wondered, ¡°What is your ideal price?¡±


    Nan Zhou put up a finger.


    Li Yinhang agreed. ¡°10,000? Very good.¡±


    This could top up their instance income. She was quite content with this amount entering their account. She was a bit afraid of overcharging and offending the system. If the system targeted them and dishonestly manipulated things behind the scenes, specifically giving them hard levels, it wouldn¡¯t be worth the loss. Li Yinhang thought it was reasonable to get 10,000 points as compensation for this bug.


    Nan Zhou calmly told her, ¡°One million.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang gave a slight smile and gently rubbed the head of Nanji Star who jumped onto his palm from Nan Zhou.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Nan Zhou saw Li Yinhang¡¯s dumbfounded look. ¡°I¡¯m just raising the price. They can make a counteroffer.¡±


    Ol Tlctjcu kjr jogjlv bo jaagjmalcu atf jaafcalbc bo atf ugbeq bo qfbqif ktb tjv pera ifoa rb rtf mbnfgfv tfg wbeat jcv aglfv ab ibkfg tfg nblmf, ¡°Ktfgf lr cb bcf lc atf kbgiv ktb gjlrfr atf qglmf ilxf sbe!¡±


    Lbk kjr atlr gjlrlcu atf qglmf? Ktlr kjr mifjgis j qgbnbmjalbc.


    Nan Zhou frowned and was very puzzled. ¡°You bargained with that old lady in that inn in Paper Gold. After a lot of counter-offers, you succeeded in the end.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Bigshot, this isn¡¯t good.


    He was easy-going in areas he was good at and extraordinarily stubborn in areas he wasn¡¯t good at. Seeing Nan Zhou¡¯s sincere gaze for answers, she wanted to pat Jiang Fang¡¯s arm and signal to him to become Nan Zhou¡¯s teacher. Then recalling that shivering moment a few hours ago, Li Yinhang didn¡¯t dare to make any moves. She just winked at him.


    Jiang Fang understood and hugged Nanji Star, explaining it to Nan Zhou in a warm voice. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t start from a human perspective. He explained, ¡°Teacher Nan, the one million price you set is enough to push us to the top of the rankings.¡±


    Nan Zhou was confused, ¡°Isn¡¯t that very good?¡±


    ¡°The game system is already helping us cheat. If the balance of the game is going to be destroyed anyway, it would be better to sacrifice a rest point.¡±


    Nan Zhou pondered on it for a moment and returned the logic perfectly. ¡°We aren¡¯t stopping them from bargaining.¡±


    Jiang Fang laughed and inquired, ¡°What is our Teacher Nan¡¯s psychological price?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered seriously, ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡±


    Jiang Fang was interested. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°The game planners might be able to hear what we are saying. We have to hold the bottom line and not expose our bottom price.¡±


    Jiang Fang shrugged at Li Yinhang, indicating that he failed in his persuasion and could do nothing. Still, he had the added bonus of being greatly pleased by Nan Zhou¡¯s cuteness.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    If the game planners could really hear this dialogue, they would probably die of anger before finding out Nan Zhou¡¯s bottom line. Even so, she was a bit uneasy.


    ¡°Are we¡­ going too far?¡± Li Yinhang was quite worried. ¡°After the mess today, we have attracted the attention of at least half the server¡­ even if we do take this system bug and exchange it for the score we want, the system and other players will pay extra attention to us.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at Li Yinhang like he was surprised by her concern.


    Jiang Fang asked gently, ¡°What makes you think so?¡±


    ¡°You think.. there are so many players staring at our every move. If we get too many points all of a sudden, they will soon find that the system¡¯s updated ¡®ban on catching instance creatures¡¯ is directly related to the large number of points we get.¡±


    ¡°There are players who haven¡¯t downloaded the update yet. If they find the role of the bug, they might immediately go to an instance to catch a boss, causing a chain reaction. Then if they do business with the game, our advantage will be gone¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang laughed. ¡°It is a good concern but it won¡¯t happen.¡±


    Li Yinhang wondered, ¡°Why?¡±


    Jiang Fang explained, ¡°It is very simple. There are two points. We have the bargaining chip and the time. Other players don¡¯t have this.¡±


    Li Yinhang paid attention to these words and suddenly became cheerful. Yes. For the game planners, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t leave them much time. They forced players to update the patch but the person didn¡¯t rush out. The time wasn¡¯t enough for them to fix it.


    In their view, the Cube Boat team could place the door at the entrance of Squirrel Town after realizing they couldn¡¯t make a deal and were about to run out of oxygen. Then they could retreat directly into an instance and slowly update the warehouse. In any case, it didn¡¯t matter if Cube Boat made a deal with the system or left the boss in town to harm other players. It was a great benefit to Cube Boat.


    Meanwhile, the other players eyeing the instance bosses didn¡¯t have that opportunity. Even if they understood what was going on and immediately entered an instance with the old system that could still capture the boss, it would take them quite some time to clear the instance.


    During this period, there was plenty of time for the system to make a new patch. Besides, catching a boss was a highly risky matter. If the players really did have the ability to risk death and bring out the boss, they might leave the instance only to be greeted with a forced update patch.


    Jiang Fang said with a smile, ¡°So these benefits can only be owned by one team.¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°Brother Fang is right.¡±


    At the same time, he turned to Li Yinhang. ¡°We are always going to be number one. At that point, it would be hard not to be noticed.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s voice was very light. ¡°Yinhang, you should get used to it as soon as possible.¡±


    The blockage in Li Yinhang¡¯s heart was washed away.


    She looked at these two men and realized for the first time that they were so well matched. No matter their personality or appearance, the confidence deep in their bones made their souls stand side by side with the same radiance. She quickly emerged from her anxiety and spoke positively, ¡°Then I¡¯ll post the countdown.¡±


    ***


    The original instance boss whose strength soared into the sky was reduced to pork on the chopping board without any dignity. The two parties started to bargain based on the price.


    The writer of the private letters became increasingly impatient in the later stage but managed to maintain a polite appearance. The writer gritted their teeth and an agreement was eventually reached.


    Li Yinhang was just counting down the last 15 minutes when the system sent the 13th private letter and a deal was successfully struck.


    It was 75,000 points and each person could get 25,000. In addition, there were three A-grade items. Based on the meaning behind this number, it was obvious that the system was strongly suppressing anger.


    Li Yinhang ignored the incompetent fury and spoke happily, ¡°It must be scolding the three of us for being stupid.¡±


    Nan Zhou sent Li Yinhang a puzzled look, counted the incoming points card and replied in a serious manner, ¡°No, it is clearly the stupid one.¡±


    The points entered their backpacks in the form of a points card because the system didn¡¯t have the right to directly modify their points.


    At present, the initiative was all in the hands of Cube Boat. In other words, the system had to give the rewards first. They would manually update to the new version of the warehouse after confirming it.


    The moment they saw the points card and items in the warehouse, the three members of Cube Boat had different ideas. Nan Zhou seriously hesitated. He wondered if he should go rogue and take the points without giving them the boss. Yet even if they had the boss, they didn¡¯t know how to use it. Secondly, it was a waste of a storage slot and third, it would still be recycled when the system developed the corresponding patch.


    Thus, he was happy to click the warehouse update button. He watched the hideously twisted monster disappear from his storage slot.


    It was probably due to Nan Zhou¡¯s exorbitant price of ¡®one million points¡¯ just now. The moment Li Yinhang saw the 25,000 points, she could only say, ¡°¡­That¡¯s it.¡±


    Then she immediately slapped herself inwardly. This was 25,0000 points! Li Yinhang, sober up a bit!


    In order to distract herself, she asked, ¡°Now those players are still looking for us in Squirrel Town. What should we do?¡±


    They had obtained the rewards and she started to worry about their personal safety.


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°They are easy to deal with. Just use your points card.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±


    Nan Zhou told her, ¡°Yes, use it.¡±


    Li Yinhang couldn¡¯t figure out the reason so she simply listened to the bigshot¡¯s advice and used the 25,000 points card. The countdown was coming to an end. The attention of at least thousands of people was unanimously focused on the player ¡®Li Yinhang.¡¯


    As a result, her score and ranking skyrocketing in real-time was captured by hundreds of people almost simultaneously. There was a moment of silence before the world channel boiled over.


    [They really have an instance creature in their hands! They really traded with the system! I guessed right!]


    [Yes! Squirrel Town is a place where pension players stay. How can there be any games that increase the points by so much? It isn¡¯t Paper Gold with the casino!]


    [Can an instance creature be caught???]


    [Ahhhhh fuck! If I knew this, I wouldn¡¯t have updated!]


    The players in Squirrel Town also received this message. They had to face the cruel truth. The truth was that they had been treated as idiots. Moreover, the countdown was simply for the system to see. They were the ones cheap enough to run over on their own. They should¡¯ve been furious.


    The reality was that after a brief debate, the ambitious players who searched for Cube Boat in Squirrel Town all made the same decision.


    Leave Squirrel Town. Go and steal the boss in the instance!


    They weren¡¯t the only ones to think so. Many players scattered across the other four resting points, both those who had and hadn¡¯t voiced their opinions in the world channel, made a unified choice at this moment.


    Enter the instance. Grab the instance creature.


    There were also many players who didn¡¯t have the guts to enter the instance. Players who used Squirrel Town as a permanent rest point were afraid of Cube Boat and the other teams still on the island and decided to stay away for a few nights to watch the situation. Cube Boat used only one action to attract players they had never met to follow them, the players dancing like puppets.


    Squirrel Town became an empty paradise where only the three of them lived.


    Jiang Fang could predict the actions taken by players even if he didn¡¯t see it with his own eyes. He clicked and used the points card before upgrading the warehouse system. Once the page was in an upgrading state and couldn¡¯t be controlled, he looked at Nan Zhou who was muttering over the inventory with Li Yinhang, a gentle, warm light in his eyes.


    In his mind, there was no need to return the door to the system. Destroying the town and earning points were two things that weren¡¯t contradictory. The points compensation was the price the system should pay for allowing the bug.


    Using the boss to clear some players was an effective way for them to rationally use the system bug and clear up some obstacles in the way of the final victory. Competitors were worthy of respect and deserved to be treated in a fairer way. Still.. it had to be said that dead competitors were really good competitors.


    However, Nan Zhou had the final say. In any case, there were players who had ambitions and rushed into a dungeon, approaching the boss with a selfish heart. A batch of them would always die. The system would no longer allow any bargaining.


    Jiang Fang thought up to here and straightened gracefully. On the whole, his mood was pleasant. He glanced at the time and smiled. ¡°We should go to the central square.¡±


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°What do you want to do in the central square?¡±


    ¡°There are fireworks at 6 o¡¯clock in the evening every day in Squirrel Town.¡± Jiang Fang sent an invitation to Nan Zhou. ¡°We can go and celebrate.¡±


    Li Yinhang heard this and felt that something was wrong. It was just that she couldn¡¯t say what it was. Thus, she didn¡¯t take it to heart.


    Nan Zhou stopped moving. He spoke softly, ¡°Brother Fang.¡±


    The perfect smile on Jiang Fang¡¯s face slightly stiffened.


    The moment Nan Zhou called out his name, he realized what flaw he had just exposed. Nan Zhou stared into his eyes and asked, ¡°How do you know there are fireworks in Squirrel Town at 6 p.m. every day?¡±

 CH 65

    Nan Zhou was very confused. It was the first time they had come to Squirrel Town since entering the game. Since then, Jiang Fang had always been with them and never acted alone. He also didn¡¯t update the world channel. Therefore, Nan Zhou should have access to the same amount of information or perhaps even more.


    Nan Zhou believed that his ability to observe the surrounding environment wasn¡¯t bad. Yet no matter whether it was when the three of them were acting together or when Nan Zhou went alone to the entrance of Squirrel Town to check the number of players and to find hiding spots, he didn¡¯t see any announcements in Squirrel Town that there would be fireworks in the center square at 6 o¡¯clock in the evening.


    Jiang Fang gently pressed the tip of his tongue against his palate.


    ¡°¡­I used to be interested in the game Forces of Temptation.¡±


    He was extremely calm. ¡°The exclusive promotional video of Squirrel Town had a scene of bells and fireworks.¡±


    Then he glanced at Li Yinhang. ¡°Do you remember?¡±


    Jiang Fang felt that this lie wasn¡¯t very clever. He even gave a dissatisfied ¡®tsk¡¯ in his heart. He had accidentally revealed the detail of ¡®6 o¡¯clock¡¯ so he had to add the slightly extra detail of ¡®bells¡¯ in his lie. In this way, his lie couldn¡¯t be perfect. Jiang Fang thought he needed a follow-up explanation so he conceived four different ways of coping in his mind.


    However, Nan Zhou¡¯s cold and clear eyes only stared at him for a moment. Then Nan Zhou lowered his gaze. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s it.¡±


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t think too much. Buying Forces of Temptation hadn¡¯t been in her life planning at all so she rarely paid attention to it. It was only when the announcement was right in front of her that she would give it one or two glances.


    Besides, she didn¡¯t think it mattered. It didn¡¯t matter where the bigshot saw the fireworks notice. This was his ability. There was a big account and it was a good thing to be able to watch fireworks.


    They headed over to the central square. Squirrel Town was artificially emptied so they didn¡¯t have to worry about someone secretly calculating against them. Li Yinhang was relieved and led the way.


    Jiang Fanga and Nan Zhou were at the back. There wasn¡¯t an extra pair of ears so Jiang Fang didn¡¯t have to maintain the clumsy lie. He generously told Nan Zhou, ¡°I lied.¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. ¡°I know.¡±


    Jiang Fang raised an eyebrow slightly. ¡°Teacher Nan, why didn¡¯t you ask me?¡±


    ¡°Because you gave me a reason.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°Do you believe what I say?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at Jiang Fang with a light in his eyes. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Nan Zhou continued, ¡°Brother Fang, you are a very important collaborator of mine. I know that you have something you are hiding from me but it doesn¡¯t matter. I also have secrets that I can¡¯t tell others. As long as these secrets don¡¯t affect our final first place ranking, it is fine. You knowing the town and the game is a good thing for us.¡±


    Jiang Fang thought of Nan Zhou¡¯s pious look toward the wishing fountain. ¡°Do you want to win this game?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Jiang Fang spoke with a smile, ¡°You must have a very good wish.¡±


    Nan Zhou was noncommittal.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s smile became gentle. ¡°Then let¡¯s work hard together.¡±


    The first thing they would do together was to watch the fireworks. The fireworks in Squirrel Town were different from other places. It wasn¡¯t set off at night but sprayed against the glorious sunset, blossoming at the most brilliant time.


    The silver lights like the small tails of a comet exploded in the sky, emitting thousands of lights and shadows. The background color of these lights and shadows wasn¡¯t a thin black but a blazing and gradual golden-red. Against such a background, the endless and gorgeous fireworks became even more enthusiastic and wild. They were like asteroids magnificently colliding and bursting into stardust.


    The spectacular fireworks had long looked shabby to players who had lived in Squirrel Town for a long time and had to think hard about making a living.


    Lbkfnfg, atf jikjsr oeii mfcagji rdejgf kjr cbk mifjg jcv rlifca. Ktlr kjr j qfgofma nlfklcu fzqfglfcmf. Pa kjr tlutis ilxfis atja cb qijsfg tjv fnfg fzqfglfcmfv la rlcmf atf bqfclcu bo Mbgmfr bo Kfwqajalbc.


    Ol Tlctjcu rajgfv ja atf olgf agff jcv rlinfg oibkfgr atja bmmeqlfv jiwbra atf fcalgf rxs jcv mbeivc¡¯a ibbx jkjs. Vtf tjafv atja rtf vlvc¡¯a tjnf j mjwfgj klat tfg. Snfc Rjc Itbe ibbxfv ja atf rxs, xffqlcu atf rjwf jcuif jr Rjcpl Vajg bc tlr rtbeivfg jr tf rajgfv eq ja atf ygliiljca jcv fcvifrr rxs.


    Only Jiang Fang wasn¡¯t interested in the sky. He turned his face sideways, his hands by his side as he gazed at the colorful lights reflected in Nan Zhou¡¯s black eyes.


    Nan Zhou told him, ¡°I lost my old sketchbook. Otherwise, I would¡¯ve drawn this.¡±


    Jiang Fang gave a low hum in response but he was unwilling to move his eyes away from Nan Zhou. His eyes were as gentle and weary as the dust of fireworks as he watched Nan Zhou.


    Nan Zhou was very focused on watching the fireworks. Therefore, Jiang Fang believed that his behavior of crossing the boundaries of being a gentleman and being presumptuous could be temporarily permitted.


    The fireworks lasted a whole hour. It was dark when the fireworks came to a slow stop. This was perhaps the most comfortable and reassuring hour since Li Yinhang inexplicably entered this Forces of Temptation hell game. The evidence was that after watching the fireworks, she fell asleep hugging a lovely, white marble squirrel statue to one side.


    Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang had no intention of waking her. They lay down on the spot to enjoy the stars after the fireworks and smoke dispersed.


    Nan Zhou whispered to Nanji Star on his palm, ¡°Nanji Star, look, which one are you?¡± (TL: Remember Nanji = South Pole)


    Nanji Star lay on the palm, short neck twisting around as he looked for himself. His black eyes were full of the light of the stars. Jiang Fang knew that the South Pole star wasn¡¯t easily seen. Even in the best weather and the clearest sky, it needed great luck to see it. Its position was at the limit of the visible range of the human eye.


    Even so, Jiang Fang naturally followed up on Nan Zhou¡¯s words. ¡°We should help Nanji Star find it together.¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t give him a response but his hand moved silently from the side and grabbed Jiang Fang¡¯s sleeve. After confirming the position, he accurately handed the hand that had been twisted and dislocated to Jiang Fang¡¯s hand.


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou told him, ¡°On the stairs today, you wanted to hold my hand. I saw it. I¡¯ll give it to you.¡±


    Jiang Fang paused before his voice revealed a slight dryness. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I think you were unhappy you couldn¡¯t hold it.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s words were straightforward but he looked serious and business-like. He placed his hand on Jiang Fang¡¯s palm and the small bones protruding from the wrist gently rubbed against the palm. Nan Zhou said earnestly, ¡°Keeping my collaborator happy is also what I want to do.¡±


    Nan Zhou watched the other person and shook his hand lightly.


    ¡°Are you happy now?¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t know if he should laugh or not. Finally, he laughed softly. His laughter seemed warm.


    Nan Zhou obediently gave his hand while the other hand gently pinched his earlobe.


    ¡­It was hot. It was a strange feeling.


    Jiang Fang squeezed the wrist bones lightly and wondered, ¡°Does it hurt?¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s answer was blunt. ¡°It hurt. In the future, don¡¯t hurt me. I am a person who can¡¯t control myself when I¡¯m hurt.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Nan Zhou turned and blinked when he saw the guilty, smoky gray eyes. He added, ¡°In fact, it doesn¡¯t hurt that much.¡±


    He gestured to his bones. ¡°They will be connected soon.¡±


    The two men holding hands were silent for a while. Right now, their minds were no longer on the stars. Nanji Star actively jumped on Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang, practicing his short-distance flying skills. It was quiet for a while before Nan Zhou suddenly asked Jiang Fang, ¡°You¡­ are you healthy?¡±


    ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    Jiang Fang covered his eyes with one arm, the muscles of his thighs stiff and hot. If Nan Zhou continued to hold him like this, Jiang Fang was frightened that the monster lurking in his bones would abruptly show its fangs and scare Nan Zhou.


    Who would¡¯ve thought that Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t self-conscious at all? He took the initiative to come over and poked at Jiang Fang¡¯s chest with his fingers. ¡°Your heart is beating very fast.¡±


    He frowned. ¡°This isn¡¯t healthy.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s actions didn¡¯t contain any feelings of lust, passion or desire. He was just carefully discussing health issues with Jiang Fang. Nan Zhou was very worried about the frequency of this person¡¯s heartbeat. ¡°You touch it. It is fast again.¡±


    Jiang Fang took a deep breath, turned to the side and placed his hand on Nan Zhou¡¯s chest, listening to the heartbeat.


    Nan Zhou murmured, ¡°¡­Touch your own.¡±


    Jiang Fang said, ¡°I¡¯m touching it.¡±


    The constant, steady and quiet heartbeat moved slightly against his palm. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t understand the meaning of Jiang Fang¡¯s actions but he took it as Jiang Fang being concerned for his own body.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Nan Zhou spoke seriously. ¡°My heart is healthy. I can protect you for a long time.¡±


    After making this guarantee, he thought that Jiang Fang¡¯s heart started beating even faster. Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t help being worried. Originally in Nan Zhou¡¯s view, Li Yinhang was a small animal.


    Jiang Fang was a stronger small animal. Now his cognition had been updated to version 2.0. Brother Fang was a small animal who was strong but in poor health. The knight Nan Zhou said nothing but he quickly drafted an animal protection plan in his brain.


    Meanwhile, the Longtan trio in Rust City were sleeping soundly. The people living next door to them had gone to do an instance. They didn¡¯t care. They had just saved their lives from a monster and they wouldn¡¯t use their own lives to gamble on luck.


    Xie Xiangyu¡¯s anger hadn¡¯t disappeared after leaving the instance and he went to sleep. Once he woke up, he realized the wonderful story he had missed. He was angry and full of hate. He bit his pillow and rolled all over the bed.


    The Shunfeng trio had just left an instance and happened to miss this wonderful story. The thin monkey was slightly hurt and Shen Jie gave him medicine that caused him to grimace and move around in pain. After being glared at by Shen Jie, he didn¡¯t dare act rashly.


    In order to distract himself, the thin monkey started looking at the world channel that had just been updated. He appreciated with great pleasure the mutual online cursing of two teams who had been in an instance together and greeted their mothers. Then he suddenly made a surprised sound. ¡°Sister Shen, they are discussing Li Yinhang and Cube Boat¡ª¡±


    Shen Jie¡¯s actions paused. ¡°Hmm? Tell me about it.¡±


    The thin monkey looked through the history while repeating everything that happened in Squirrel Town.


    Somewhere in Ancient City State, Yu Tuisi sat in the dark. He had seen Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou¡¯s entire operation. His cautious temperament meant he wasn¡¯t interested in the instance boss, nor would he take the risk.


    The door lock of the room clicked. A person crept in like he was afraid of waking someone up.


    Yu Tuisi closed the operation page and turned on the light in the hall.


    Chen Sufeng had been cautiously locking the door behind him and was caught off guard when the light suddenly turned on. He turned his head and guiltily called out, ¡°Brother Yu¡­¡± He tried to wipe at the corners of his lips but he couldn¡¯t erase the wound.


    Yu Tuisi knew that this child had taken advantage of his nap to go to the arena where there was a mix of good people and scumbags. He also knew that Chen Sufeng had given him sleep medicine and ran out to play with others for three days.


    He also knew he couldn¡¯t persuade Chen Sufeng. This person loved Chen Suye just as much as he did. The determination that his brother must be resurrected didn¡¯t lose to Yu Tuisi¡¯s own.


    Yu Tuisi¡¯s physical condition was like this and he couldn¡¯t help. He could only sit here and wait for Chen Sufeng to come back.


    ¡°Wash your face.¡± Yu Tuisi spoke quietly as he met Chen Sufeng¡¯s embarrassed, red face. ¡°Then have something to eat.¡±


    ***


    Meanwhile, an unnamed space.


    Countless moving threads of dark blue and light silver light filled the whole space. They crisscrossed and surged. They were like ten thousand furious waves when they surged and like a trickling stream when calm.


    It was silent like a ghostly tomb.


    Two thin and long virtual shadows were among them. The spiritual streams flowed through their bodies like they were also ghosts woven out of countless vertical rays. Their forms occasionally swayed with the fluctuations of light.


    They communicated silently.


    ¡°What is the final situation in China?¡±


    ¡°It is too late. Door can¡¯t be sent back. It has been over six hours since the creature left the instance and the activity is completely gone.¡±


    ¡°The designer of that instance must be angry.¡±


    ¡°Of course. That is an instance civilization carefully designed by a senior designer for 20 years. It was being tested on the campus and would soon spread to the entire world. It was going to be a long-term, terrifying and highly playable devouring instance that could run for a hundred years. Now? It is all destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Can another one be designed?¡±


    ¡°No. The monster was designed at the beginning of the instance and is the root of the instance. Now that it is dead, it is impossible to design another one. The highly intelligent humanoid creatures in there that were originally used to increase the playability of the game are free.¡±


    ¡°So the instance can only be discarded?¡±


    ¡°Probably.¡±


    ¡°It is really a failed collaboration. I¡¯m afraid the designer will regret signing with us and will seek compensation from us.¡±


    ¡°It is a loophole in his own design. It is indeed a great idea to bind the monster to doors that can be seen everywhere but he didn¡¯t expect a player to take down the door.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t expect a player to capture an instance boss using our warehouse.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This bug has been corrected and the mandatory update program is being made urgently. In addition¡­¡±


    The humanoid creature made up of the light flow looked at a certain place within the thousands of streams of light.


    ¡°The winning rate of Cube Boat has increased. Now based on those who bet on them to win, they are ranked 3rd in China and in the global service¡­ they are ranked 19th.¡±


    ¡°¡­This is really a team with unique characteristics.¡±


    ***


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t know that the boss he captured to save Sun Guojing¡¯s life had doubled his value. He was holding Jiang Fang¡¯s hand and staring up at the virtual starry sky. Every time he was very close to Jiang Fang, his mood would naturally calm down. He could even think calmly about the past.

 CH 66

    Nan Zhou¡¯s previous life was full of conflicts.


    On the one hand, it was boring, mechanical and repetitive. On the other hand, it was scary, twisted and abnormal. Thus, he fell in love with painting. This hobby could record life most intuitively, even the slightest difference, and it could also divert one¡¯s attention well.


    Sketching was easy to talk about but colors were hard to learn. It was a small place and there was nowhere that sold paint. Therefore, Nan Zhou often went to find colored ores or glass bottles. He smashed them thoroughly, added walnut oil and grinded it into what he desired.


    Nan Zhou turned his attic into a studio. His paintings were nothing. He drew what he saw and painted on whatever he could find.


    The dropped cup.


    The half broken door.


    The inside of the carton box.


    Waste paper, walls or ceilings.


    The most satisfactory painting Nan Zhou had ever done was the woman who planted the apple tree. He drew her figure on a white wall in the street. It was a sunny day that was like fire. The hot light was roasting his back and behind him, the people of the small town came and went without paying him any attention.


    Nan Zhou did the painting himself. The woman¡¯s lips were beautiful so they were very difficult to draw. Nan Zhou sat down and slowly adjusted the color of the walnut oil to the most suitable one. Just as he was adjusting the eighth red¡­


    ¡°Hey.¡± Someone spoke to him with a laugh. ¡°This is a good painting.¡±


    Nan Zhou raised his eyes. He squinted through the bright glare at the unfamiliar face and casually responded to the compliment, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡­¡­.


    Nan Zhou suddenly turned over and sat up. Li Yinhang had just finished her restful nap and was waking up while holding the squirrel statue. Nan Zhou abruptly made such a big action and it instantly sobered her up. The remaining sleepiness ran away completely.


    Jiang Fang hadn¡¯t fallen asleep. He always kept a part of his mind observing the surroundings and he hadn¡¯t noticed anyone approaching. He asked Nan Zhou, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at Jiang Fang. ¡°It¡¯s him.¡±


    He finally remembered who Xie Xiangyu was. Xie Xiangyu¡¯s face was somewhat different from the one in Nan Zhou¡¯s memory. The current Xie Xiangyu was more vivid and younger. The most important thing was that the Xie Xiangyu of that time was much taller than he was now. This was why Nan Zhou hadn¡¯t remembered him.


    Jiang Fang wondered with interest, ¡°Who is him?¡±


    Nan Zhou blinked. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡±


    ¡°A friend?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at him disapprovingly. ¡°I have no friends.¡±


    Jiang Fang learned from his expression and tone. ¡°Ah, is that so?¡±


    ¡°You should learn from me.¡±


    Jiang Fang raised an eyebrow. His always stable gentlemanly look showed a bit of playfulness. He stood up, stretched out his long arms and legs, his body in a pleasing curve. ¡°I¡¯m hungry. Do you want a midnight snack?¡±


    The night view of Squirrel Town was as colorful as any carnival in reality. It was just that this place was different from reality after all. If this was reality, they might feel that an empty town without tourists was a bit weird and scary. After all, there was a competition among players. A town without players could give a particular sense of peace of mind.


    They went to the restaurant they had been to this morning. The squirrel waiter was a low functioning NPC. The moment a guest entered and left her store, her memory would automatically refresh and she would completely forget the other person. She performed a patterned task of coming over to take orders and affectionately winked at Nan Zhou.


    ¡­She once again left her phone number for Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou put the second napkin with her phone number in his pocket and watched her waving her fluffy tail. She was so careful because she only had the short memory of one meal at most. The next moment, she would forget. Such skills were really enviable.


    Lf ibkfgfv tlr tfjv jcv delfais jaf atf vgjubc¡¯r yfjgv mjcvs. Lf abbx bcf ylaf ja j alwf jcv rkjiibkfv ja j mbcrajca rqffv.


    Ktf batfg akb delfa qfbqif tjv atflg bkc atbeutar. Vlcmf atfs eqvjafv atf lcafgojmf, Ol Tlctjcu tjv rqfca delaf j ibcu alwf gfnlfklcu atf ilra bo bnfg 10,000 PGr bc atf ifjvfgybjgv. Vtf rjk atf Vtecofcu jcv Rjcrtjc afjwr atfs tjv wfa. Ktfs kfgf jii ralii ubbv. Rb bcf kjr wlrrlcu.


    Yet after looking from beginning to end, Li Yinhang failed to find her missing roommate¡¯s name on the leaderboard. She thought, ¡®She might be gone.¡¯


    Even ¡®Eternal Life.Zhang Yi¡¯, who had been number one on the overall leaderboard when they first entered, had completely disappeared. The first place position was replaced by a person called ¡®Eternal Life.Su Di.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t known if Zhang Yi was a man or a woman, what instance they died in or the cause of death.


    Li Yinhang was a bit worried. She had gone through two instances without losing a teammate. This gave her the illusion that they could really make it through the instances to become first in the rankings.


    Now these two findings dispelled her unrealistic illusions. In order to reach the first position, they would inevitably have to step on some blood and bone.


    Li Yinhang secretly clenched her fists. Cube Boat must win. Therefore, she must have determination and awareness, not delaying the team at the critical time.


    At this time, Jiang Fang was also looking at the leaderboard. He wasn¡¯t looking at the singles leaderboard. He opened it to the front of the team leaderboard.


    The name was ¡®.¡¯.


    It was a concise full stop. For non-allied teams, the system wouldn¡¯t give too much detailed information. The only information about this team was that it was a duo. Everything else was unknown. In short, the second ranked team had been replaced multiple times but their number one spot had never been shaken.


    There were also people discussing this on the world channel. The vast majority of teams, such as Qu Jinsha, the owner of Douzhuan Casino, had traces to follow. Meanwhile, ¡®.¡¯ had been ranked at the top from the beginning. No one had teamed up with them and no one had seen them. Even more curiously, someone had patiently gone through the singles leaderboard and didn¡¯t see a single player with the ¡®.¡¯ prefix.


    After discussing for a while, they came to the conclusion that this ¡®.¡¯ was probably the GM account used for system testing. Some people had speculated that once the score of the second place team exceeded that of ¡®.¡¯, the game rules would change. The team that passed ¡®.¡¯ would be considered the winner. The winner of the singles and team leaderboards would be decided at that time.


    Others disagreed. It was because simply by relying on instances and comparing points, objectively speaking, the ones who entered the game first were superior to those who came later. The evidence was that those currently at the top of the singles and team leaderboards had come much earlier. If it went by the criteria of who could surpass ¡®.¡¯ first, the later teams would be too disadvantaged.


    This was why some players thought that this ¡®.¡¯ was a threshold set by the game system. Once they crossed it, the system might restrict them regarding the selection of levels. For example, engage in a compulsory elimination game or something.


    The development of the world channel was indeed beneficial. Not only would there be insults, arguments and deals but there would also be sparks flying when all sorts of deals collided.


    Just like now.


    The players discussed the origin and role of ¡®.¡¯ before going back to discussing what the masterminds behind the scenes had in mind when imprisoning them in this game.


    Jiang Fang looked at the hot discussion area and didn¡¯t express any opinions. His fingers gently touched the name ¡®.¡¯ on the operations panel. The action was gentle and intimate. It was like he was nostalgic about something to his bones.


    ***


    It wasn¡¯t until two days later that Squirrel Town gradually became bustling with players. They hadn¡¯t revealed their true faces so even if the three of them walked openly on the street, no one would think they were the Cube Boat team that had tormented a group of players around two days ago just by reporting the time. Other players were openly talking about their deeds.


    Li Yinhang sat by the fountain to rest. She thought this feeling was quite wonderful. She was quiet and quail-like as she lowered her head and played with the system, trying to keep a low profile.


    Nan Zhou accompanied Nanji Star to play. He allowed Nanji Star to climb him like a tree and used a pine cone from a tree to play toss and catch. Soon, he felt someone staring at himself. This gaze didn¡¯t belong to Jiang Fang beside him.


    He shifted his gaze and saw a familiar face in the second floor window of a hotel. It was the girl he met in front of the signboard two days ago. Nan Zhou glanced over and the girl¡¯s face turned red. She moved away from the window, running away faster than a rabbit.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­?¡±


    Why? Was he ugly?


    Lu Lulu of Sonorous Little Rose shrank down by the side of a window. All she could see before her eyes was Nan Zhou¡¯s cold, clear glance that was like a small hook. She pressed a hand against her chest and could almost see her heartbeat through her clothes. She felt warm at that glance.


    Two days ago when she saw him at the electronic display sign, he had said he was leaving. Now he was back in Squirrel Town, just like herself. Was this fate? She was wondering if she should go downstairs to talk to him and continue the relationship when Chen Meibing¡¯s voice was heard from the said. ¡°Hey, Three Lu.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Chen Meibing pointed out the window. ¡°You also think that person is familiar, right?¡±


    Lu Lulu was stunned. She realized that Chen Meibing was staring out the window at Nan Zhou just like her. Lu Lulu hurriedly patted her arm, full of shyness. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t look! He is going to find us!¡±


    Chen Meibing, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Chen Meibeing squinted at her speechlessly and continued to look downstairs. Nan Zhou was raising a hand to the tree, signaling for Nanji Star to jump into his hand. Nanji Star didn¡¯t want to come down. He held the small branch and rolled his body, causing the branch to shake. Nan Zhou shook his head in silence and refused to go. No, don¡¯t play. Come down.


    Looking at his side profile, Chen Meibing frowned even more. ¡°I think he is very familiar.¡±


    Shao Qian was busy organizing the new instance information collected yesterday and now she said with a smile, ¡°The good-looking ones feel familiar to you.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Chen Meibing refuted it. ¡°I really have seen him before.¡±


    She murmured to herself, ¡°Where have I seen him¡­?¡±


    However, no one could answer her doubts.


    ***


    The three A-grade gift packs that arrived along with the 75,000 points were pretty perfunctory. The breakdown was that they shared 10 levels, 500 hours of oxygen use and 20 sets of three vouchers for accommodation that could be used at any rest points. In contrast, they were more looking forward to the rewards from the ¡®Sha, Sha, Sha¡¯ instance. In this instance, Cube Boat had received an S-grade rating.


    A day later, the items gift pack came late. This time, Li Yinhang¡¯s luck was good. She actually got an A-grade item. She drew a weapon.


    [Item Name: Right Hand Light Finger Chain]


    [Usage Description: Excellent close and ranged combat item. Excellent unlimited refill ability, excellent evolution ability, excellent decorative¡­]


    [In short, it is an excellent weapon!]


    [However, it is an excellent weapon for level 0.]


    The finger chain had five flower-shaped silver stone rings that fit perfectly on the user¡¯s fingers and could be worn in sequence on the fingers of the right hand. It was an evolution weapon as the introduction said.


    Once she bent her fingers, the rings would subtly refract light at a particular angle. She could manipulate this light. However, this light was soft when thrown away by her. It was like a silk thread tethered to a yo-yo.


    After a while, the light disappeared. How to put it? This feature was strange. This item was useless except to prove that her luck was still intact.


    Li Yinhang knew she couldn¡¯t handle it and traded it with Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou gave her the B-grade item in exchange.


    [Item Name: Lime Powder 24 Pack]


    [Usage Description: Just throw it out!]


    [It is necessary for fights between street hooligans. It has no cooldown time and can be used without cost.]


    [Except for your vision!]


    Li Yinhang felt this simple and brutal attack was more suitable for her and she was very satisfied. Only Jiang Fang drew a C-grade item.


    [Item Name: Everyone Loves Beauty]


    [Usage Description: I said in the mirror, I love you too.]


    [Theoretically, it can be used infinitely.]


    [It is because the heart that loves beauty won¡¯t stop.]


    Jiang Fang held his item and didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry.


    Nan Zhou earnestly told him, ¡°It is very suitable for you.¡±


    Jiang Fang touched his face and felt better. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    At the end of the three day rest and using the boss to cheat a large number of points from the system, Cube Boat once again chose to enter an instance. This time, they used the instance selection card the system sent them. This time, the game mode they chose was still PVE.


    Now Li Yinhang had given up on wishing ¡®don¡¯t draw the supernatural instances.¡¯


    Take it step by step.


    Click and use.


    The system randomly selected a level.


    [Dear players of the Cube Boat team, hello~]


    [Welcome to the instance¡­]


    Nan Zhou was ready to listen closely to the information of the game. However, he seemed to feel something strange. There was a buzzing in his ears as if something had burst open. He couldn¡¯t hear anything due to the intense, pinprick-like tinnitus. Fine sweat slowly flowed down his back and a bit of heat built up at his waist. The moment the wind blew, his skin quickly calmed down.


    He seemed to hear the familiar mechanical sound slowly telling the rules but Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t concentrate at all. The familiar discomfort swept over his body, stripping away his strength with a force that almost drowned him, pulling him into endless darkness or endless light.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s tolerance to pain was very high and it was hard for ordinary discomfort to show on his face. He clenched his fists and calmly swallowed down the groans that spilled into his throat.


    Once he opened his eyes, the first thing that came to view were five blurred figures. Underneath his feet was hard ground with the smell of old cement. They seemed to be in a building. This was all that Nan Zhou could perceive right now.


    Like the first Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Life instance, they were directly face-to-face with their teammates. However, the teammates they encountered this time were unlike the previous ones.


    The first man was around 1.8 meters tall. He was tall and upright, with a straight waist and an outstanding temperament. He had an upright strength like a poplar tree. He walked up to the three of them and gave a military salute.


    ¡°Hello.¡± The man spoke with a clean and refreshing energy. ¡°I am He Yinchuan, the captain of the Bronze Brigade. It is one of the volunteer action teams set up by the state in regards to the disappearance incident. Our mission is to assist the masses in completing the game and to protect the lives of the masses to the greatest extent possible.¡±


    After the routine self-introduction, He Yinchuan gave a bright smile, showing his beautiful teeth. ¡°Hello. I am He Yinchuan, former captain of the Police and Fire Brigade of S City.¡±


    Li Yinhang whose mind hadn¡¯t returned, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She wasn¡¯t at all surprised by the appearance of such an organization. It was just that she had been nervous about entering the strange environment and this intimacy caused her to suddenly relax. She even wanted to call out ¡®Uncle Police.¡¯


    Jiang Fang raised an eyebrow with interest. This situation was beyond his common sense. Why would anyone be willing to risk their lives to enter such a place? He looked at Nan Zhou in order to see how this person would blink curiously.


    The next moment, Jiang Fang¡¯s expression changed completely. There happened to be a window behind Nan Zhou. Outside the window, there was a huge full moon that was terrible. The moon was enlarged by over 100 times and even the potholes on it could be seen. This great sense of oppression came down from the sky, like the huge and indifferent silver face of a monster looking down on the world.


    With the bright silver glow of the full moon as the background, Nan Zhou¡¯s trembling eyes and eyebrows looked more beautiful. They gave the illusion of fragility.

 CH 67

    The five people in front of them had no identification to prove their identity but their temperament was different from ordinary players. Their bodies were standing tall and straight like a flagpole. This was the best business card.


    They quickly introduced themselves.


    He Yinchuan was 26 years old. At the age of 23, he retired from the special forces due to injuries. He served as the fire captain for a year before entering a factory with a toluene leak three times to save people. Finally, he was carrying a child whose mother had brought him to the factory to play when he was blown out from the aftermath of the explosion.


    Once he recovered, the leaders were really afraid of his desperate efforts and forced him into a civilian position. Therefore, he was a former captain. His code name was  ¡®Gou Jian¡¯. (A king of the Kingdom of Yue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goujian)


    Behind He Yinchuan, the man who was half a head taller was called Zhou Ao. His introduction was brief. ¡°Zhou Ao, current captain of S City¡¯s Police and Fire Brigade.¡±


    He was originally the vice-captain and a colleague in the same unit as He Yinchuan. He happened to be in the same team as He Yinchuan. Now the two people were back together. He was probably injured in the last instance. He had a bandage around his left hand that wrapped around his entire hand and arm tightly. He didn¡¯t like to talk so He Yinchuan gave him the codename ¡®Bianzhong¡¯ in the hope he could make more noise. (Bianzhong: set of bells)


    Lu Bifang, a junior of the police academy. His physical ability was superior but with his grades, it was likely that he would¡¯ve just been a small police officer who mediated between families at a police station. The 1.87 meter tall man couldn¡¯t help blushing when he talked to strangers, forming a very sharp contrast. He was codenamed ¡®Benma¡¯. (running horse)


    Liang Shu was a military doctor but she looked more like a model. She had a very calm temperament. Her lips were always slightly raised and the gentle rhetorical question ¡®is this difficult?¡¯ was all over her face. She looked very reassuring at first glance. Her code name was ¡®Gong Deng¡¯. (Palace lantern)


    Lin Zhisong was a student at the military academy¡¯s school of telecommunications and engineering. Perhaps it was because he had been dealing with dead objects like circuit boards and data for a long time. He was a baby-faced guy with an overall nervous temperament, who shrank back behind everyone.


    During the introduction, he didn¡¯t say a word. He Yinchuan was responsible for the whole process. He only finished it at the right moment. His role was to collect comprehensive information about the instances and record all types of information in the instance. His code name was ¡®Chan Wen.¡¯ (Cicada Pattern)


    Their code names were all objects related to bronze and were appropriate for the situation.


    Since the disappearances had become widespread, the state initiated a voluntary recruitment, using the army, military academies and current and retired police forces to recruit volunteer teams to help search for the missing.


    Someone had to find the missing people. However, the missing people never came back. Thus, the volunteer team was almost a death squad.


    The search method was very simple. Volunteers in groups of three, four or five people drove slowly through the cities or villages that were becoming vacant, trying to find an opportunity to disappear. Sometimes, the volunteers returned to the ¡®room¡¯ unharmed. Other times, they disappeared silently in a corner of the city.


    At the time when they signed the voluntary waiver, their superiors also gave them as much autonomy in action as possible. It could be said that before entering the game, every volunteer had left behind a will and was ready to die in the line of duty.


    The Bronze Brigade was lucky to enter Forces of Temptation as a complete team. After two instances and gaining a rough understanding of the game, they decided to protect the players in the same instance as them as much as possible. They didn¡¯t intend to act separately.


    The cooperation of the five people was very good. They specialized in PVE and their passing speed was very fast. They didn¡¯t give themselves any time off. So after finishing the last instance and getting a 12 hour break, they immediately opened the next instance. In other words, they didn¡¯t have time to know about the existence of Cube Boat from the world channel.


    ***


    Nan Zhou watched every face in front of him.


    He just failed to hear the task of the instance.


    Yet looking at everyone standing here and not in a hurry to explore, he inferred that this should be like Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Life. The system had given them a period of preparation time.


    ***


    The official greetings and introduction exhausted all of Captain He Yinchuan¡¯s seriousness.


    ¡°You are quite easy to talk to.¡± He Yinchuan liked to smile. There was no sign of the desperate man who didn¡¯t think his life was worth anything when working. ¡°The last time we met a team of players, they had to check our IDs. We took them out and they said the IDs were forgeries. It took a long time just talking about our identities.¡±


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    She was seriously considering if she would drag them back or not when an arm was lifted beside her. Nan Zhou honestly said, ¡°I am.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Boss, what are you up to again?


    Still, without looking at his height, Nan Zhou really did have a gentle appearance. He was originally very white, as white as porcelain jade. This gave people the illusion that there would be fine cracks when pinched slightly. In the moonlight, his slender and pale fingers hanging by his side were seriously lacking blood.


    It wasn¡¯t until he slightly lifted his chin that He Yinchuan¡¯s group was able to make out his face from the glowing moonlight silhouette. All five were visibly stunned when they saw his face. Looking at this face that was slightly sweating and in urgent need of care, his words were very convincing.


    Meanwhile, ¡®Chan Wen¡¯ Lin Zhisong who was standing the furthest away, took the initiative to move forward after seeing Nan Zhou¡¯s face. He carefully examined Nan Zhou¡¯s face and his eyes lit up with interest.


    After receiving Nan Zhou¡¯s name and occupation, He Yinchuan turned his head. ¡°Xiao Lu, I¡¯ll leave him to you.¡±


    Before Benma ¡®Lu Bifang¡¯ had time to answer, he heard Lin Zhisong say, ¡°Give him to me.¡±


    Then Lin Zhisong strode closer to Nan Zhou. Before he could arrive, a figure moved and separated the two.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Jiang Fang nodded slightly at Lin Zhisong. ¡°I can take care of him.¡±


    The excessive moonlight from outside the window greatly hindered their visual ability. Just now, they had thought Jiang Fang¡¯s silver hair was due to a poor vision problem caused by the light color of his hair.


    He Yinchuan narrowed his eyes. ¡°A foreign friend?¡±


    Jiang Fang only looked at Lin Zhisong. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    He Yinchuan turned back and whispered to Zhou Ao, ¡°If we can¡¯t protect them well, will it lead to foreign diplomatic problems?¡±


    Zhou Ao¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°Just protect them all.¡±


    He Yinchuan quickly straightened out his line of thinking. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Each person will take care of their own. Xiao Lu, you are the side guard. Always keep an eye on them.¡±


    Lu Bifang answered with a cry of agreement but his eyes were always staring in Jiang Fang¡¯s direction. Jiang Fang received the gaze so he shifted his gaze and gave a polite nod. Lu Bifang instinctively shifted his gaze, as if avoiding something.


    Jiang Fang slightly raised an eyebrow. Then he soon shifted his energy back to the weak Nan Zhou.


    For Li Yinhang, she naturally didn¡¯t think that this bigshot had a problem. She firmly believed that Nan Zhou had his own plan and was cosplaying here. Even though she thought that the Bronze Brigade was very trustworthy, she only treated them as outside aid. She still sat on her own side without moving.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go look for supplies.¡± Li Yinhang looked at Lu Bifang and thanked him heartily. ¡°Policeman uncle, thank you.¡±


    Lu Bifang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    I¡­ am 22 years old. He blushed and made a sound in response.


    Nan Zhou silently observed the surrounding environment.


    The two teams were currently in a simple two-story concrete building. The construction workmanship of this floor was relatively rough. Based on the cold, decaying smell inside and the cold glass that was cracked, it was obvious that this place had been abandoned for a long time.


    This time, there were only two groups of players for a total of eight people. They intended to split into two and go their own ways.


    Lu Bifang originally intended to stay behind as the side guard. Then after seeing that Cube Boat didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of taking him to act together, he hesitated before keeping up with his team.


    He Yinchuan and Zhou Ao took the lead. The other three were behind them, habitually taking the tactical distance. The military doctor Liang Shu asked him softly, ¡°Aren¡¯t you following them?¡±


    Lu Bifang replied, ¡°It is a safe area. I will follow you to find some supplies and see what is good. I¡¯ll give them priority for these things later.¡±


    Lu Bifang couldn¡¯t help looking back at the three people still standing by the window and whispering together.


    Liang Shu wondered, ¡°Xiao Lu?¡±


    The reason why Lu Bifang left with them was because he wanted to say something. He was afraid that once the task really began, he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to say it. Liang Shu was slim and slender. Lu Bifang didn¡¯t have to bend down much to whisper to her, ¡°Sister Liang, I seem to have seen that man before.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    Lin Zhisong interjected, ¡°Are you talking about that art teacher?¡±


    Lu Bifang looked at him. ¡°No, it is the foreign man.¡±


    Lin Zhisong hummed and turned his head away. His personality made him uninterested in people he didn¡¯t care about. He didn¡¯t even want to give a look. Fortunately, Lu Bifang was broad-minded and didn¡¯t notice his awkwardness at all. ¡°I think he is particularly familiar.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Liang Shu trusted the judgment of the second youngest member of the team. ¡°You follow them first while thinking about it. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Having said that, Liang Shu turned to the youngest member, Lin Zhisong. ¡°How about you? What did you find?¡±


    Lin Zhisong¡¯s eyes remembered Nan Zhou¡¯s pale, somewhat sharp-shaped lips. He thought about it. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll think about it slowly as well.¡±


    ***


    On the other side, Li Yinhang finally figured out that Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t faking it. She was anxious. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Jiang Fang held Nan Zhou¡¯s waist. ¡°It is altitude sickness caused by high altitude. No matter the physique, it can¡¯t be blocked.¡±


    Li Yinhang patted her chest. ¡°Fortunately, we met them.¡± If their teammates this time had been someone like Xie Xiangyu, they would probably be sacrificed to the heavens straight away.


    ¡°The tinnitus is terrible.¡± Nan Zhou covered his ears. ¡°What is the instance¡¯s mission?¡±


    Li Yinhang wondered, ¡®¡­Is it that serious?¡¯


    Still, she didn¡¯t say much in case she increased the anxious atmosphere for no reason. She immediately ran to a room. She fetched a thick, stiff cold blanket and covered Nan Zhou with it. Then after asking permission from Jiang Fang with her gaze, she pushed open the window nearest to them with a cobweb-like crack in the center.


    Nan Zhou always thought that the white light flooding in just now was caused by the terrible full moon. It wasn¡¯t until the window opened that he really saw what was going on outside.


    He heard the sound first before seeing the appearance. Before the window opened, Nan Zhou heard a quiet bass that was like a whimper, or the music of a bagpipe. The moment the window opened, he recognized that it was just the sound of the wind. It was a continuous, endless wind.


    Despite the preparations, Nan Zhou shivered.


    The crystal snow mountains that stretched out endlessly before him were like a group of monsters resting quietly. Even the lead-gray clouds were captured by the low temperature. It was difficult to flow and so froze in the sky.


    The snow that blew into his face choked his lungs, causing Nan Zhou to cough suddenly. Every cough made his cheeks become more pale and transparent. He almost blended in with the snowy whiteness from outside.


    Through the blanket, Jiang Fang gently patted his chest while closing the window with his other hand. The moonlight was cut off and Nan Zhou¡¯s condition slightly improved. His red fingers pressed against the blanket as he supported himself on the edge of the frozen, blackened window frame, coughing so hard that his eyes turned red. His entire body ached and his muscles were trembling. He couldn¡¯t use any strength at all. He hated the feeling.


    Nan Zhou let out a sigh. He wiped his wet lips with the back of his hand and asked, ¡°What is the name of the instance?¡±


    Jiang Fang replied, ¡°Fear of the Full Moon.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought about the name. He asked again, ¡°The game time?¡±


    ¡°We need to find enough supplies in this building. In two hours, the task will begin. Once it starts, the instance will last 12 hours.¡±


    12 hours?


    Nan Zhou seemed to feel something. ¡°So the task?¡±


    Jiang Fang raised his hand and pointed out the window to the dark peak hidden by the wind and snow. ¡°Race with the mountaineering team there for 12 hours. The side that leads will win.¡±

 CH 68

    They were fighting against the NPCs in the instance. This was a short instance. 12 hours of game time and 2 hours of preparation time¡­


    Fear of the Full Moon¡­


    Why was the snow mountain level called Fear of the Full Moon?


    Many thoughts crossed Nan Zhou¡¯s mind as Lu Bifang ran down from the stairs. He was carrying three sets of fleece warm clothes, three jackets, three pairs of anti-cold gloves, three anti-cold pants, three pairs of double layered hiking boots with laces tied together over his shoulders and a portable oxygen tank under his armpit. His body was hung with objects like a Christmas tree. In addition, he ran fast. He stood in front of the three people and inevitably panted.


    He quickly unloaded the goods to the three people and handed the oxygen tank alone to Nan Zhou. ¡°You don¡¯t look well. Sister Liang was afraid of your reaction to the height. You should suck on this first while we find a few more oxygen cylinders. I¡¯ll give it to you then.¡±


    Nan Zhou held the oxygen cylinder in his arms. His thoughts were interrupted by the person in front of him. Still, Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t angry. He just stared straight at this person.


    Lu Bifang saw his confused face and immediately reacted. He took out the oxygen mask from the plastic bag, attached it to the bottle and neatly fastened it on Nan Zhou¡¯s face. He pointed to the air button and bluntly said, ¡°Press it according to your breathing rhythm.¡±


    Nan Zhou obediently pressed the button and asked vaguely, ¡°Why?¡±


    He didn¡¯t quite understand. They were in the same camp so it was fine to give appropriate help to teammates on the premise of taking care of their own team first. This was reasonable. However, the clothes that Lu Bifang was wearing when he came in weren¡¯t thick. It was just a thin sweater. Nan Zhou¡¯s fingers had grazed this person¡¯s skin when reaching for the oxygen tank. Judging from the body temperature, Lu Bifang should be cold as well. Why didn¡¯t they equip themselves first?


    Lu Bifang wondered, ¡°¡­Eh?¡±


    ¡®The masses first¡¯ concept that he took as common sense meant he didn¡¯t understand Nan Zhou¡¯s thinking. For a moment, he blinked at Nan Zhou in confusion.


    Jiang Fang came out and broke the short deadlock. ¡°What is your plan?¡±


    Lu Bifang looked seriously at Jiang Fang but he still couldn¡¯t remember where he had seen this person. ¡°Just¡­ search the building for supplies first and finish within 30 minutes,¡± he replied. ¡°Then we will set off for the top of the mountain.¡±


    ¡°You want to leave after finding the equipment?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Lu Bifang replied. ¡°It says that the mission will officially start in two hours but it doesn¡¯t stipulate that we must start in two hours.¡±


    This was definitely what He Yinchuan had said. Nan Zhou could imagine the expression on the captain¡¯s face as he gave the order with crossed arms. Nan Zhou confirmed it again. ¡°Start 30 minutes later?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is almost like that.¡±


    Lu Bifang added, ¡°Sister Liang and I will protect you first. The captain, vice-captain and Xiao Lin will observe the environment again and follow at any time according to the situation.¡±


    ¡°The instance doesn¡¯t say what will happen if we fall behind the NPC group but it is better not to fall behind as much as possible. So you should work hard and first look for some knee pads, head lamps, snow goggles and other essentials. Just bring them and I¡¯ll teach you how to wear them. There is no need to bring too much stuff with us. We¡¯ll travel light.¡±


    Nan Zhou agreed with this arrangement, although it meant he had to give up and adjust some of his own plans.


    He nodded and said, ¡°Then wait for me.¡±


    Lu Bifang wondered, ¡°¡­Eh?¡±


    Nan Zhou put on the jacket and pointed to a few mountain tents in the distance where there were no lights or campfires. ¡°I¡¯ll go there and be back soon.¡±


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    Against the backdrop of the orange fleece jacket, his face became even more white and moving. He looked much younger. Compared to Lu Bifang¡¯s surprise, Li Yinhang suddenly remembered that this bigshot said he was 23 years old when he first introduced himself. He was still younger than her 24 year old self.


    Previously, Li Yinhang hadn¡¯t dared to put him in the position of a younger brother at all. It wasn¡¯t until he changed into these clothes and his overpowering feeling was decreased 70% by his weak body that Li Yinhang barely had the sense of being an older sister.


    After realizing, Lu Bifang immediately raised an objection. ¡°No, it is too dangerous!¡±


    Nan Zhou seriously reasoned with him, ¡°The game didn¡¯t say that we can¡¯t start ahead of time, the area of the small building isn¡¯t large and the preparation time left for us is too generous. It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±


    Lu Bifang thought it made sense. He still couldn¡¯t agree. ¡°If so, we should go. How can we let you guys take the risk?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Nan Zhou put on his gloves. ¡°It has something to do with the completeness of the instance. We can¡¯t give it to you.¡±


    Then he looked at the gloves and changed his attitude slightly. ¡°But I can take you with me.¡±


    Lu Bifang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Wasn¡¯t this too direct?! Still, it was easier for him when the other side expressed his demands so clearly without all the fanciful twists and turns. He scratched at his hair. ¡°Yes, wait a minute. I¡¯ll go and ask the captain.¡±


    Nan Zhou watched him rush upstairs before continuing to put on gloves. Unexpectedly, Jiang Fang grasped his wrist. Nan Zhou was stunned and tried to break free. However, even if Jiang Fang didn¡¯t exert much effort, he could easily make the current Nan Zhou unable to move.


    Jiang Fang lowered his head slightly and asked Nan Zhou, ¡°Can you really go now? I am also against it.¡±


    Li Yinhang saw Jiang Fang make a statement and immediately followed up. ¡°Teacher Nan, if you didn¡¯t have altitude sickness then I wouldn¡¯t say anything but now it is too dangerous for you to go there. No one knows what will happen there. It might not be humans competing against us. So even if you want to investigate the opponent, you can¡¯t go. If you don¡¯t feel comfortable, why don¡¯t I go with Brother Fang¡ª¡±


    Nan Zhou raised his eyes, looked at Jiang Fang and whispered, ¡°It hurts.¡±


    Li Yinhang trembled at this rare show of weakness. Her heart had just softened when she heard Jiang Fang give a low laugh. ¡°I am accurately controlling the strength of my hand. Don¡¯t act spoiled, Teacher Nan.¡±


    Nan Zhou saw that this person wasn¡¯t fooled into letting go and pursed his lips. ¡°I¡¯m just a bit uncomfortable. It isn¡¯t that you aren¡¯t controlling your strength.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    How to put it? This bigshot was really flexible.


    Nan Zhou found that Jiang Fang really didn¡¯t plan to let go. He blinked his slightly damp eyelashes with little fluctuations in his usual cold tone. ¡°You asked me if I can go. Then let me ask you, can you go?¡±


    Li Yinhang was stunned for a moment and immediately turned to look at Jiang Fang. Perhaps it was because he already exposed his imperfection to Nan Zhou but Jiang Fang didn¡¯t mind confessing his weakness to Li Yinhang. ¡°I¡¯m afraid of heights.¡±


    Then he quickly added. ¡°It isn¡¯t so much climbing a mountain. It isn¡¯t rock climbing.¡±


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°Yes. It isn¡¯t to this extent.¡±


    Li Yinhang had a headache when she saw both men staring stubbornly at each other. She finally figured out that due to various reasons, the original advantages of Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou had been sealed in this instance. She didn¡¯t have time to wonder if the system specifically targeted their problems due to taking too much advantage in Squirrel Town.


    The trouble was that Nan Zhou¡¯s thinking did make sense. The nature of this instance was based on a ¡®race.¡¯ The other party was the instance NPCs and was presumably a professional mountaineering team. If they didn¡¯t carefully investigate who was competing with them, why the opponents might climb faster and other details, it would be very difficult to win.


    The current situation was that Jiang Fang was worried about Nan Zhou and Nan Zhou was worried about Jiang Fang. If no one was willing to give in and wanted to go to the other camp to investigate, the three of them would have to separate. It was either Li Yinhang following the Bronze Brigade people alone to investigate or Nan Zhou would stay in the two hour shelter for rest while Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang went together.


    For the former, Li Yinhang didn¡¯t dare guarantee that she could find anything useful with her own abilities. The latter was equivalent to leaving Nan Zhou alone in a strange place when he had zero combat power. Even if the Bronze Brigade revealed their identity very sincerely, Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t fully, unconditionally trust them out of caution. After all, the teammates they encountered in the last instance had a problem. They had to be on high alert.


    The three people looked at each other for a moment.


    Nan Zhou took the lead to speak. ¡°I can really go with you. Even if I can¡¯t use my strength right now, my mind is still clear enough to talk to those NPCs who are camping.¡±


    Li Yinhang had developed the understanding of ¡®this bigshot is younger than myself¡¯ and dared to joke with him. ¡°It is better to take Brother Fang than you. Brother Fang is livelier.¡±


    Li Yinhang was worried that Nan Zhou would anger the NPCs and make them start the race early as soon as he opened his mouth. At these words, Nan Zhou had a cold expression while his eyes showed a hint of disbelief. ¡°I am also very lively.¡±


    Jiang Fang couldn¡¯t hold it for a moment and laughed loudly.


    Nan Zhou grabbed his sleeve and shook it twice with a solemn look. ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡±


    Jiang Fang leaned back with a helpless smile on his face.


    Nan Zhou confirmed it. ¡°You¡¯ll take me?¡±


    Jiang Fang held the hat with both hands, placed the ear part on Nan Zhou and gently covered the ears.


    Nan Zhou blinked. ¡°You aren¡¯t worried about me anymore?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Jiang Fang¡¯s fingers curved slightly and he pinched the cold ear. ¡°However, aren¡¯t teammates supposed to be used at this time?¡±


    Just then, the sound of Lu Bifang¡¯s hurried footsteps were heard from above again. He brought back some supplies as well as the approval of Captain He Yinchuan. ¡°The captain asked me to go with you.¡±


    Once they wore all the cold-proof equipment, the four people stepped out of the cement building together. Thankfully, they had good protection. The temperature difference between inside and outside the small building was at least 45 degrees or more.


    After walking more than 10 meters, Nan Zhou looked back. At an altitude of 4,500 meters above sea level on a snowy mountain, this small man-made building stood out from the vast snow-capped mountains.


    Two hours later, this safe area that the instance specially left for them to rest in might be forcibly erased from the map. His face might mostly be covered by the snow goggles but Nan Zhou still had some of his skin exposed.


    The strong moonlight and cold snow fell on Nan Zhou like white phosphorus, splashing and burning his skin. This made Nan Zhou¡¯s face pale and more fragile, like he could break with a touch. The finely crushed snow particles hit his face, causing some pain.


    Nan Zhou hated his unusually sensitive state so he tried to curl up his body behind Jiang Fang as much as possible. Jiang Fang also took the initiative to protect Nan Zhou from in front while handing over his hands covered in thick, warm gloves. At the same time, Jiang Fang took deep breaths as he forced himself to forget the slight dizziness triggered by being in the mountains as well as the fresh, snowy breeze.


    The orange-read headlights could only illuminate a fan-shaped area in front of them. Outside the headlights was a bleak whiteness. Pure white was sometimes more frightening than pure black.


    Lu Bifang knew that it was still within the safe time but he wasn¡¯t sure about the result of their trip. He whispered, ¡°There is no campfire.¡±


    As soon as he opened his mouth, he ate a lot of snowy wind. His teeth were frozen and he had to shut up. Yet even without a campfire, it was impossible to lose their position and not find the opponents¡¯ camp.


    Under the giant moon, the ground was white. The other side¡¯s campsite and the small concrete building weren¡¯t far apart. In around 15 minutes, they arrived at the other side¡¯s camp.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s physical strength was severely lost but this didn¡¯t mean his judgment had declined. The number of tents was small. There were three double tents set up for six people. They camped very sloppily and didn¡¯t have a campfire to keep warm or drive away mountain beasts. There were several holes visible to the naked eye in the tents and one tent¡¯s pegs had actually come loose. As a result, half of the tent was blown by the wind and snow of the night, like a torn battle flag.


    It was more like an abandoned camp.


    Li Yinhang was brave and just wanted to go up to take a look when a middle-aged man in bright yellow mountaineering clothes quietly came out from another tent and headed to the tent half collapsed in the wind. He held a giant mountain climbing hammer in one hand to move the tent cloth back to its original position, fixing the tent pegs by hand.


    The moment Li Yinhang saw him, she was extremely shocked. The man was extremely dry and thin. He didn¡¯t look like a living person. He was more like a walking corpse. Was this an NPC they would be competing with?


    She instinctively wanted to say goodbye. Then after taking a step back, she remembered that neither Nan Zhou nor Jiang Fang were in the best condition now. As their teammate, she had to support them. Li Yinhang gulped and walked closer. She summoned her courage and said loudly, ¡°Big brother, hello.¡±


    The big brother concentrated on fixing the tent as if he couldn¡¯t see the four big living people in front of him.


    Lu Bifang¡¯s heart was beating like a gong or a drum and he was very uneasy. He took a few steps forward, guarding Li Yinhang while saying, ¡°Comrade, hello¡­¡±


    This comrade also turned a deaf ear to his greeting.


    Nan Zhou withdrew his gaze from the camp. He was a dozen meters away as he spoke to the middle-aged man, ¡°Excuse me. We want to go up the mountain¡ª¡±


    The middle-aged man abruptly raised his head and stared at Nan Zhou. Seeing the dark circles under his eyes and the almost blue-black lips from a close distance, Li Yinhang almost screamed. The man stared at the four people in front of him. His vocal cords trembled and almost formed a buzzing echo in the mountain breeze.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ go up the mountain.¡±


    ¡°Go up the mountain and you will be punished by God.¡±


    Nan Zhou grabbed Jiang Fang¡¯s shoulder. He went slightly on tiptoes as he asked in a low voice, ¡°What god?¡±


    The man raised his hand, as if wanting to point to something. Then he immediately realized something and retracted his fingers back into his sleeve in horror.


    Carrying the hammer that could easily break a human¡¯s head, he stared at the moonlight reflected by the snow on the ground and muttered in a low and nervous voice, ¡°Go up the mountain and you¡¯ll be punished by the moon god.¡±


    ¡°No one can go up the mountain. It isn¡¯t allowed to go up the mountain¡­¡±


    ¡°Go up the mountain and die.¡±

 CH 69

    After a simple conversation, Nan Zhou crossed out one of the alternative actions he had listed in his mind.


    He thought that if they were dealing with logically normal NPCs with the physical strength of humans and if they could be convinced to stay put then he only needed to occupy a slightly higher altitude before the end of the game to win. However, this obviously made no sense when looking at the zombie who was so thin and withered that he looked like he had crawled out of a snow nest.


    Nan Zhou took a few steps forward and wanted to ask for more details. The soft, freshly fallen snow made a clear and weird sound under his feet. It was like he was stepping directly on the body of the earth.


    Before Nan Zhou could get weird to this strange climber, Jiang Fang grabbed him by the back of the neck and carried him back. ¡°Don¡¯t get too close. Just stand here and speak.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at him in a disgruntled manner. ¡®You actually managed me.¡¯


    Jiang Fang whispered in his ear, ¡°If you want to pretend to join them and stay here to hold them back, I won¡¯t allow it. Right now, you aren¡¯t in the physical condition to achieve the result you want.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Then he said, ¡°Yes, I see.¡±


    Despite some reluctance, Nan Zhou quietly crossed out the option Jiang Fang had mentioned.


    Lu Bifang didn¡¯t know the life-threatening thoughts that were spinning around in Nan Zhou¡¯s head. Nan Zhou¡¯s question had convinced Lu Bifang that he could communicate with the other person. He looked around at the group of tents that were like tombs in the deep mountains and raised the courage to ask, ¡°Comrade, how many people are in your team?¡±


    The man wondered, ¡°What does it have to do with you?¡±


    The man, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Then his expression became gloomy. ¡°Do you want to go up the mountain?¡±


    The man¡¯s voice was blown away by the cold wind. Only a few scattered, ethereal and terrible trails could be heard.


    Lu Bifang felt the sudden compression and tightening of the air around him. He didn¡¯t expect his small question to cause such a big reaction and instinctively protected the group of people behind him. This retreat didn¡¯t matter.


    Two more people emerged from the tents. One of them, Nan Zhou carefully examined for a long time before he dared to confirm it was a woman. She looked the same as the hammer man. She was amazingly thin with half-blue fleshy skin attached to the skull.


    She saw them but she didn¡¯t speak. She used just the sharp, black ice pickaxe in front of her to support her upper body that protruded out of her sleeping bag. She knelt on the ground and looked up at them.


    Her movements were like some type of animal. Her eyes were so big that it was very uncomfortable when she stared at people warily. In addition, the ice pickaxe in her hand was stained with a dark red, semi-solidified object that made people not dare to think about the composition of the substance.


    A man came out of the other tent. This man¡¯s body was like a sturdy black bear. His shoulder width alone was enough to be one and a half times wider than Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulders. He was around two meters tall and had flat, high cheekbones. He looked like he should be of Mongolian descent. However, his right calf seemed injured. His center of gravity was obviously skewed to the left when he stood. In addition¡­


    Nan Zhou noticed that the right foot in the hiking boot was slightly bigger. Compared to the left where the boot was actually bulging out a bit, the yellow mountaineering pants tucked into his right boot looked a bit strange and one part of the hem was slipping outside. To be precise, his right leg seemed to be thinner than his left leg like the muscles were underdeveloped. The tip of his hiking boots were stained with a dark colored liquid.


    Nan Zhou carefully observed their attire, turning a blind eye to their stares.


    Meanwhile, the others were stunned by the strange gazes of the three people and didn¡¯t know whether to go or to stay. The look in these people¡¯s eyes was straightforward, like a fish hook. No malice or killing intent could be seen in them but they still gave people goosebumps.


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    Lu Bifang tried his best to make sure his voice wasn¡¯t timid in the howling cold wind. Yet no matter how steady and cool his voice came out, it was blown away by the vigorous wind mixed with ice particles. He had to raise his voice. ¡°We don¡¯t plan to go up the mountain! We just saw someone here and wanted to ask about the situation!¡±


    The new man and woman both maintained gazes like a searchlight. However, the man carrying the hammer gave a dry response, ¡°Oh, if you aren¡¯t going up the mountain then it is fine.¡±


    The man¡¯s lips were so dry that they could see the blood channels on them. The wind blew again, blowing a broken message into their ears.


    ¡°We, will soon, go up the mountain, go¡­ patrol the mountain. We can¡¯t let, people, go up the mountain.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought he roughly understood the rules. In this instance, their goal was to ensure that their climbing height was higher than this team of weird climbers.


    Just now when Lu Bifang put his hands behind his back, Nan Zhou might¡¯ve needed to squint but he could see that Lu Bifang was holding an anti-freeze GPS in his hand. This was probably an item obtained when they searched for supplies. This GPS clearly displayed the real-time altitude of the location of this strange group of climbers.


    4,514 meters.


    Nan Zhou looked back and compared it. Then he became more convinced of his judgment. The small concrete building they had been transported to was almost visually parallel to this camp. In other words, the starting points of the two teams were placed at a similar position by the system.


    These so-called believers of the ¡®moon god¡¯ said they would never allow anyone to climb the mountain. In addition, once the opponent started to patrol the mountain, they would inevitably take the lead. There were probably few people in Nan Zhou¡¯s group who had experience climbing a snowy mountain. This group of climbers also didn¡¯t look very human. Who knew how good they were at climbing?


    Nan Zhou took a look at the three humanoid creatures of various shapes in front of him. It was hard to judge their strength just based on their weak and skinny appearance.


    Li Yinhang¡¯s understanding was more general. In this so-called racing instance, from the perspective of the climbers, it was basically: I chase you. If I catch you, I will hammer you to death. These mountain climbers didn¡¯t look like good people. They all had the look of an evil cult follower. According to their gloomy style, they wouldn¡¯t lightly forgive those who dared to offend the ¡®moon god¡¯¡­


    Li Yinhang was muttering in her heart when she heard Nan Zhou ask a question behind him, ¡°What is the god of the moon? Chang¡¯e? A rabbit?¡± (Chang¡¯e=lady in the moon in Chinese mythology)


    The mentally tense Lu Bifang and Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­God is god.¡±


    The eyes of the three finally filled with some light when talking about ¡®God.¡¯ It was neurotic and fanatical. The bear-like man finally opened his mouth. He spoke with a dull energy but combined with the expression on his face, a different type of terror was interwoven.


    ¡°At the top of the mountain, the moon god is waiting.¡±


    ¡°The first to come near it will be a sacrifice and will be eaten, eaten.¡±


    ¡°So you can¡¯t go up the mountain. No one can go up the mountain¡ª¡±


    Nan Zhou thought about it and gave them some logic. ¡°You don¡¯t want other people to go up the mountain and become the sacrifice of the moon god, so you don¡¯t allow anyone up the mountain. Otherwise¡­¡±


    The other side clenched their hands tightly with a religious, fanatical expression, each holding the ice pickaxe and hammer.


    The hammer man murmured, ¡°It is terrible to be a sacrifice of the god. We have to help those who make mistakes and want to get close to the moon god. They should be happy. They can¡¯t become the god¡¯s sacrifice¡ª¡±


    Jiang Fang was amused when he heard this. He thought of the news he had seen. ¡°The police in XX state shot and killed a young man to prevent him from committing suicide.¡±


    Just then, Nan Zhou calmly turned back to him. Nan Zhou touched the tip of his red nose and accurately summarized it. ¡°They have a bit of a problem with their brains. Don¡¯t be afraid.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled and couldn¡¯t help raising a hand to pinch this person¡¯s nose.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He felt a bit frustrated. He had been comforting Jiang Fang very seriously, not wanting this person to be afraid. As a result, he felt like he was coaxed by his own small animal.


    Nan Zhou had never easily indulged in personal emotions. Yet correspondingly, it was very easy for him to get caught up in his own circle of thoughts. He asked with interest, ¡°Is the moon god a man or a woman? Have you seen it?¡±


    ¡°Is it a rabbit?¡±


    ¡°Is the moon god only responsible for this mountain?¡±


    ¡°Shall we go climbing other mountains?¡±


    The trio didn¡¯t answer. They just stared at Nan Zhou and the others without saying a word. It wasn¡¯t known if they didn¡¯t want to answer, were confused or the NPCs could only provide them with so much information.


    After determining he couldn¡¯t ask anything else, Nan Zhou secretly entered a tent while they were unprepared. He saw their tattered climbing items. They were all grimy and dirty old things like these people had climbed up and down the snowy mountain thousands of times. If it hadn¡¯t been for Jiang Fang catching the little wildcat back in time, the bear-like man would¡¯ve gone berserk.


    They had to go back to the building. Fortunately, the wind was much smaller when they went back. It was just that they didn¡¯t feel at ease after getting a general understanding of the difficulty of the task.


    The severely disproportionate moon hung coldly in the sky. The oppression made people feel dizzy and weak, their heartbeats accelerating. In particular, when they were walking, they almost seemed to be walking with a terrifying planet at their backs. This made them feel psychologically heavy and suffocated.


    It was too large so the arc of rotation was clearly visible compared to when it was far away in the sky. It was like a giant eye that spun around.


    Under such invisible pressure, even Li Yinhang had to rest for a while despite having no altitude sickness. In order to disperse her fear of the huge moon that could fall at any time and smash them into powder, Li Yinhang started to talk.


    ¡°Should we believe their words?¡±


    ¡°If there is a monster like the moon god on the mountain, won¡¯t we be looking for death if we climb the mountain?¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t climb the mountain and stay where we are, we will still lose¡­¡±


    Unfortunately, at present, everyone had doubts in their hearts and no one could answer her doubts.


    Lu Bifang was a very practical child. He carefully noted down the places he couldn¡¯t figure out and planned to go back to report to the team captain and vice-captain to brainstorm ideas. After roughly recording it, he turned his attention to Jiang Fang, who stood behind Nan Zhou and escorted him every step of the way. He called out, ¡°Mr Jiang?¡±


    Jiang Fang replied politely, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here.¡±


    Lu Bifang wondered, ¡°What work did you do before?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled. ¡°Me? I was unemployed.¡±


    ¡°Where did you live before?¡±


    ¡°Kiev, Ukraine.¡±


    ¡°What about after returning to China?¡±


    ¡°I just walked around and took a look.¡±


    Lu Bifang had wanted to figure out where this person came from so he could figure out exactly where he had seen Jiang Fang. He asked and Jiang Fang answered. This person was fully cooperative and there were no mistakes in his attitude.


    Lu Bifang had a sense of powerlessness like he was punching cotton. In the end, he was a trainee police officer with no work experience. His words came out in an unconcealed, straightforward manner.


    Nan Zhou endured his physical discomfort and walked obediently with the oxygen tank. He thought about many things. He wondered if the moon god was really a rabbit. He thought that there was no time to switch and climb another mountain in just 12 hours.


    They weren¡¯t familiar with the mountain road, not to mention the wind and snow. Unless they were led by someone who knew the team well and had the physical strength to lead the group, it was impossible to change mountains. There was the risk of getting lost in this wind and snow.


    He wondered how they should start the race. He thought about whether he benefited from the visit to the camp or if he had inadvertently alerted the enemy. He thought about the strange woman and the bear-like man who had a subtle and strange sense of disobedience.


    Once they got closer to the small building where they were sheltering, Lu Bifang started to test the real-time altitude data again. Sure enough, it was 4,513 meters. The starting line was the same on both sides.


    As everyone¡¯s attention was focused on the GPS, Nan Zhou glanced over and inadvertently saw a dark mass hidden in the shadows along the concrete exterior wall of the second floor. At first, Nan Zhou thought he was seeing things wrong. Then after a few steps, he finally saw the specific outline of the thing.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t speak. He stood still and pointed at it. Everyone had already divided some of their energy to pay special attention to the unwell Nan Zhou. As soon as he made a movement, everyone followed the direction of his finger to one place. The moment Li Yinhang saw the shadow, her heart suddenly stopped beating. She resisted the small feeling in her throat that caused her throat to itch and her chest to feel suffocated.


    A skeletal-like person was standing there in a dark yellow mountaineering suit. Only wisps of dark yellow were visible and his thin body was close to the wall. His body, face and hair were a uniform, grayish-blue color that almost blended with the color of the concrete wall thanks to the shelter of the shadow.


    If it hadn¡¯t been for Nan Zhou¡¯s sharp eyes, no one would¡¯ve noticed this cement-colored voyeur. His thin style was the same as the trio in the camp. He held a slightly worn hiking rope in his hand and stood on the waterproof edge that was around two fingers wide by the second floor window.


    The window he was peeping into was full of warm light, reflecting Liang Shu¡¯s graceful figure as she collected materials. The warm light couldn¡¯t reach the shadow where the voyeur was. The man was also quick to notice the four people standing in front of the building.


    However, he didn¡¯t seem nervous at all about being caught. He looked down at the four people, a strange smile appearing on his dead-like face. The moment Lu Bifang reacted and ran toward him, he shook the rope in his hand and his body tumbled over the second floor like a tiger. He disappeared over the top of the building.


    Nan Zhou stared at the place where he disappeared thoughtfully. This group had known about their existence from the beginning. As their side went to check out the situation, the other side was observing, watching and guarding against them.


    They also climbed really fast. He was envious.

 CH 70

    The mentality of the others was far less peaceful than that of Nan Zhou, a san value monster. That scene just now was a horrific fantasy that countless children had when gazing out the window.


    ¡ªIn the middle of the night, in the shadow of the shaking curtains, a head full of voyeuristic desire slowly emerged. Even Lu Bifang felt a bit creeped out. Therefore, he headed upstairs and reported to He Yinchuan all the information they had investigated and what they had just witnessed.


    He Yinchuan was very calm.


    ¡°I know.¡± He Yinchuan reached out and affectionately hugged Zhou Ao¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Xiao Zhou found that thing a few minutes ago.¡±


    Zhou Ao, ¡°¡­¡­¡± I¡¯m two years older than you, thank you.


    Lu Bifang was worried. ¡°Then what should we do?¡±


    Zhou Ao cherished words like they were gold. ¡°There is a way.¡±


    ¡°Just now, Xiao Zhou discovered that someone was eavesdropping outside. I deliberately played a trick.¡±


    He Yinchuan winked playfully and added to Zhou Ao¡¯s concise words, ¡°I deliberately chatted with Xiao Liang and Xiao Zhou saying that we came from the bottom of the mountain and saw someone who wanted to climb the mountain.¡±


    Lu Bifang¡¯s tense heart suddenly relaxed. In this way, the person who came to investigate would get false information. This group of climbers cared about climbing the mountain so much and they definitely wouldn¡¯t ignore the information.


    Nan Zhou breathed a bit unsteadily. ¡°They have at least four people. Not all of them will leave.¡±


    He Yinchuan¡¯s understanding was very clear and he wasn¡¯t so complacent. ¡°It is at least less people. We were discussing what to do next.¡±


    His teammates were very careful and cautiously arranged everything. Nan Zhou felt a bit more relieved. His body shook and he barely managed to take off his goggles. It took more than half an hour to go back and forth. During the entire journey, he was bathed in the silver light of the giant moon. This consumed too much of his physical strength. He didn¡¯t make a sound. He just leaned against Jiang Fang while supporting himself on the wall with one hand. His gasps made people feel pity.


    Nan Zhou originally had a gentle and elegant look. Now that the snow on his eyelashes was rapidly melting at room temperature, he seemed to have a tearful and aggrieved look.


    Liang Shu noticed that Nan Zhou was covered in sweat and quickly gestured to Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang understood and picked Nan Zhou up horizontally.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou had never enjoyed such treatment. He was like a cat being picked up belly-up for the first time. He turned sideways frequently to look at the ground. It wasn¡¯t because of shyness. He was worried that Jiang Fang wouldn¡¯t be able to hold him steadily and would drop him.


    Nan Zhou still couldn¡¯t recover as he was carried to a room where only an empty bed frame remained and was placed down on the cold and hard bed board.


    Liang Shu was a military doctor. According to her attributes, most of the items allocated to her by the system were medical equipment. She measured Nan Zhou¡¯s heart rate and blood pressure before asking, ¡°What is your usual blood pressure?¡±


    Nan Zhou shook his head quietly.


    Liang Shu was puzzled by his action. ¡°You never measured it or you don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t measured it in a long time.¡±


    Liang Shu pressed a few acupoints on his head. ¡°Do you have a headache?¡±


    Nan Zhou shook his head again.


    After asking a few questions, Liang Shu¡¯s serious face relaxed. Her cat-like sharp eyes naturally curved in a charming and affectionate manner. Liang Shu told him, ¡°I don¡¯t feel like you¡¯re having a reaction to high altitude.¡±


    Li Yinhang, who had followed them in, was quite nervous. ¡°Then what is the problem?¡±


    Liang Shu pondered on it. ¡°Right now, it seems like¡­ he is just physically weak.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Fuck physical weakness.


    She was confused about why Nan Zhou was experiencing such severe discomfort if it wasn¡¯t altitude sickness. It was like a change of person.


    ¡°Be glad. A high altitude reaction can kill people.¡± Liang Shu smiled. ¡°Body weakness won¡¯t.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s reaction was light. ¡°At a time like this, a weak body can kill you.¡±


    Liang Shu¡¯s words were mostly for comfort. She hadn¡¯t expected Nan Zhou to be so sober and couldn¡¯t help laughing. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It doesn¡¯t matter if you are physically weak or anything else. According to the personality of our Captain He, he will carry you up.¡±


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°It isn¡¯t a matter of who carries whom. The physical qualities of the climbers are very good. If we compare with physical strength alone, we might not win.¡±


    Liang Shu shrugged, half comforting and half serious. ¡°Their physical quality might be good but their brains might not necessarily be the same.¡±


    She got up and patted Nan Zhou on the shoulder with an expression of not wanting to talk too much. ¡°Have a good rest. Captain He and the others will come up with a good idea.¡±


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    Liang Shu knew who he was asking about. She replied truthfully, ¡°He has tachycardia, hypothermia, pale lips, cold sweat and no trauma. It is just simple physical weakness.¡±


    Lin Zhisong¡¯s eyes flashed. ¡°Oh.¡±


    Liang Shu saw what was on his mind and slowly put on her gloves. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it isn¡¯t made up.¡±


    Lin Zhisong nodded slightly.


    Liang Shu inquired, ¡°Where did you meet him before? Do you remember?¡±


    Lin Zhisong made a syllable with an unknown meaning. It wasn¡¯t known if he remembered or if he was just casually giving Liang Shu a small sound in response.


    Liang Shu laughed. This little brother Lin had a strange personality. He wasn¡¯t unsociable but he was a typical male who liked inorganic things. It was easy for him to get lost in his own world.


    Lin Zhisong followed behind Liang Shu and headed to the room where Captain He was. He suddenly asked, ¡°Sister Liang, what did he say his name was?¡±


    ¡°Who? Nan Zhou?¡±


    Lin Zhisong lowered his head and was silent again.


    Liang Shu had long been accustomed to his eccentricity and walked forward without looking back. Lin Zhisong silently repeated the name.


    Nan Zhou¡­ Nan Zhou? Even the name was familiar.


    ***


    Li Yinhang hugged the bed rail and watched the pale-lipped Nan Zhou holding a pot of 70 degree boiling water that had been delivered by Lu Bifang. Blood gradually returned to his lips and her heart settled a lot. It must be admitted that she couldn¡¯t help relaxing with the Bronze Brigade as support. She knew that the five climbers were nimble and strange but it was difficult for her to feel a strong sense of crisis when she was around the police uncles.


    Nan Zhou was drinking the water with all his heart. No one knew what he was thinking in his heart.


    Moonlight poured through the window, turning his outline into a furry, soft look.


    Jiang Fang easily saw through him. ¡°What are you thinking?¡±


    Nan Zhou put down the green army canteen. ¡°Why is the instance called Fear of the Full Moon?¡±


    Li Yinhang wanted to interject and persuade him to have a good rest. If he wasn¡¯t feeling well, he shouldn¡¯t think so much. Then she thought about it and meekly withdrew her voice. She knew that neither Nan Zhou nor Jiang Fang were dependent on others.


    Jiang Fang pointed out Nan Zhou¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Do you think the moon is the key to breaking the game?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Nan Zhou drew a half circle with one hand. ¡°It¡¯s so big. There must be a reason for it.¡±


    Jiang Fang laughed out loud. Nan Zhou¡¯s ideas were always strange and interesting. Still, there was logic in it.


    Nan Zhou looked at him. ¡°You are laughing at me.¡±


    Jiang Fang stroked his hair. ¡°No.¡±


    Nan Zhou turned his gaze toward the canteen again. Fine silver light swayed in the canteen. It was half a canteen of water and half a canteen of moon. It was just that the thought of the huge moon of unknown origin made the remaining half a canteen of water hold little appeal to Nan Zhou.


    He slowly spun the lid of the canteen and spoke to himself. ¡°In addition, why would they kill people?¡±


    According to the mountain climbers, the moon god was a human eating monster. True believers shouldn¡¯t warn Nan Zhou and the others. They should send sacrifices to the god they admired. Yet the climbers didn¡¯t even allow them the action of ¡®going up the mountain.¡¯


    In this way, who would pay tribute to the moon god? Wouldn¡¯t the moon god starve to death?


    Nan Zhou¡¯s intuition told him that Jiang Fang would laugh at him again when he mentioned this speculation. He didn¡¯t want Jiang Fang to laugh at his ideas. Still, Jiang Fang looked good with a smile.


    ¡­It was a real dilemma.


    Jiang Fang took the canteen from him and twisted it two more times before the plug lid was really tightened. Nan Zhou looked at his action. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be greatly affected.¡±


    He was referring to Jiang Fang¡¯s fear of heights.


    ¡°Fortunately, we are just climbing, not rock climbing.¡± Jiang Fang smiled.


    Nan Zhou honestly said, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m relieved.¡±


    Jiang Fang looked at him saying the word ¡®relieved¡¯ in such a serious manner and couldn¡¯t help laughing. ¡°Why do you care so much about me? Do you have me in your heart?¡±


    Nan Zhou touched his chest, carefully gauged it and spoke cautiously, ¡°Of course, I have you in my heart.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± No, now they weren¡¯t avoiding other people when saying such words?


    Nan Zhou was puzzled. ¡°Does this need to be asked? Don¡¯t you have me in your heart?¡±


    JIang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­¡± He had a bit of tinnitus after this straight ball.


    Jiang Fang gave a low cough and his cheeks turned red. He quickly changed the subject. ¡°Are you hungry? I found some compressed biscuits.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The compressed biscuits were found in the small building and were shockingly poor in texture and taste. If he was talking about the taste, it was no different from eating a thicker version of rough straw paper.


    Still, Nan Zhou held the biscuit bag and ate it without any dislike. In short, he was very easy to support.


    Nan Zhou slowly ate the packet of compressed biscuits before releasing Nanji Star, who was afraid of the cold, from the warehouse. He fed Nanji Star a few biscuit crumbs before waving to Jiang Fang to see if he could be placed in the warehouse. As a result, it didn¡¯t work.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s body was covered in cold-resistant items. They were temporary items provided by the system for the task. According to the system algorithm, each cold-resistant item existed independently. Even the gloves were divided into the left glove and right glove.


    In other words, even if Nan Zhou obtained them, these temporary items didn¡¯t count as part of his body. This meant that when Jiang Fang thought about Nan Zhou and pulled him into the warehouse, the cold-resistant equipment on Nan Zhou¡¯s body was blown off and fell to the ground.


    Outside, it was a low temperature of around -30 degrees. Looking at the angle of the moon¡¯s movement, it wasn¡¯t midnight yet. The coldest hour of the day had yet to come.


    In other words, once the instance¡¯s race really started, the extreme cold meant that once Nan Zhou entered the warehouse, he wouldn¡¯t be able to come out again. He wouldn¡¯t be able to put on this heavy and complicated equipment in the ice and snow. He would be frozen in a very short time, affecting his mobility even more. This meant that if he chose to go into the warehouse, he would hand over his fate to someone else.


    For Nan Zhou, this was a last resort and not the best choice.


    Nan Zhou emerged from the warehouse and put on the equipment again. It was hard work and he started sweating all over. By the time he finished dressing and leaned against the bed to rest for a moment, a fully armed He Yinchuan pushed open the door. He raised his eyebrow at the trio and gestured. ¡°Pack up and get ready to go.¡±


    ***


    The gecko man went back and reported there were climbers at the bottom of the mountain. The hammer man frowned and thought for a while before letting the bear man and gecko man go down the mountain to investigate the situation.


    The hammer man and icepick woman remained.


    Two hours later, the small concrete building disappeared into thin air.


    However, the hammer man and icepick woman¡¯s faces seemed like they were paralyzed by the wind blowing from the mountain. They were expressionless, as if this was something they were used to.


    On the vast snow field, eight figures were busy setting up tents as if they were planning to camp in the same place. The hammer man watched their movements from across the snow.


    ¡­They were people who might go up the mountain.


    ¡­Their words couldn¡¯t be believed.


    ¡­It was all lies.


    Perhaps it was due to their skilled hands but they quickly set up the wind-proof tent. The wind-proof lamp inside was also warmly lit, reflecting a dazzling orange cold color on the ground. It was just that in the moonlight, the gold was taken away by the silver and seemed a lot bleaker.


    In the tent, a few black shadows swayed before they fell asleep. Two of the wind-proof lanterns were turned off and only one was left to illuminate the shadow of a person sitting in the tent. It was probably the person standing guard. In the absence of eye protection, people were prone to snow blindness if they stared at the snowy field for a long time.


    However, the two people who stayed behind in the camp had dry eyes as they stared at the tent hundreds of meters away. They were just like the moon in the sky. They had no emotions in their eyes as they watched and observed in the cold light.


    Around an hour and a half later.


    The bear man and gecko man reappeared beside the tent. They shook their heads silently, indicating they couldn¡¯t find the target.


    The hammer man lowered his head. His dark eyes stared at the snow pile in front of him, not shifting like he was a corpse. Then he abruptly got up. He stepped on the snow, panting violently as he rushed toward the camp he had been observing for nearly two hours.


    The loose snow was roughly stepped on by him and collapsed. In an instant, it condensed into dirty footprints. He didn¡¯t know when it started but the night guard in the tent hadn¡¯t moved. The hammer man rushed to the tent and opened it to find¡ª


    Inside were several sleeping bags stuffed with thick, cold-proof mattresses and first aid items. There were also two full-scale simulation dummies with a full set of anti-cold outfits. Even the hair was there.


    This was Liang Shu¡¯s puppet item. It was a B-grade item and was a healing stand-in. It could be used to practice first aid but also to confuse people at critical times. It was limited to five and these were the last two.


    The inside of the tent was empty.


    Under the gloomy gaze of the hammer man, the bear man followed and clearly saw the situation inside the tent. He roared, grabbed a doll with his bare hands and lifted it in the air. He squeezed it with his hands and the head was smashed with a loud noise.


    The gray-blue fingers of the hammer man gripped his hammer tightly. ¡°Chase.¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t see¡­ the moon god¡­¡±


    ¡°Never¡­ never.¡±


    ***


    According to the topographic map drawn by Zhou Ao in the cement building where they had the dominant view, there was a snowy hill 50 meters away from the small building.


    Based on the GPS data and the data of the camp measured by Lu Bifang just now, Lin Zhisong set out to model and simulate a more accurate path that specifically pinpointed the blind spot of the climber group.


    As long as they came to the snowy hill, they could slowly detour to the other side of the mountain and completely disappear from the view of these strange climbers.


    According to He Yinchuan¡¯s plan, they needed to use the lights and tents to attract the attention of the other side. They would pretend to rest, turn off two lights and hide their figures in the dark where they couldn¡¯t be found. Then crawl out of the tent, hide behind the snow hill 50 meters away and follow the predetermined route, moving in a roundabout manner to leave the field of view of their opponents.


    It was commonly known as ¡®fleeing in their presence.¡¯


    Yet the moment the small building disappeared and they started to raise the tents, they realized there was an issue they had overlooked. Under the icy moonlight, everything was clear as they set up camp. There was no shelter and they had no way to escape at all. They weren¡¯t chameleons. The small building provided survival items and the color was the most suitable for a snowy mountain rescue. It was an eye-catching orange.


    Just as they were in a bottleneck, the gradually recuperating Nan Zhou came up with a rather bizarre idea. It was with his help that the plan was carried out successfully. As they fled, they were covered with an item Nan Zhou had drawn in Ma Liang¡¯s Sketchbook. It was an 8¡Á8 square meter piece of snow.


    At first, the people of the Bronze Brigade were worried. How would Nan Zhou draw a fixed area of snow?


    This lasted until Nan Zhou simply and crudely wrote an area calculation formula in the notebook.


    Was this okay? Facts proved that it was really okay.


    However, even with the cover, they didn¡¯t have a lot of time. Ma Liang¡¯s Sketchbook was only a B-grade item and the duration was three minutes.


    Fortunately, after going around the snowy hill, the field of view available was only 50 meters.


    It was just that they had to pay attention to concealment while dragging a huge climbing load. In addition, they had to move on frozen ground that had been frozen for over 10 years. The physical strength consumption was obvious.


    Fortunately, once the instance officially started, a storm of wind and ice began. The wind blew over them, making them unable to open their eyes. Still, it formed a certain blinding effect and swept away their footprints.


    As for the ¡®physically weak¡¯ Nan Zhou, he was simply dragged directly by someone. Even so, as he crossed the snow mount, Nan Zhou¡¯s orange pants and boots appeared because of the sudden disappearance of the cover. He was directly exposed outside the snowy hill. Fortunately, Nan Zhou reacted very quickly. He spontaneously rolled to the blind spot of the hill.


    After climbing the snowy hill, they were almost exhausted. The eight people lay down on the ground. It took a full seven or eight minutes before they lined up and moved to the side according to the established route.


    In the next section of the road, they didn¡¯t dare to be reckless. They moved very slowly, their bodies hunched over toward the ground.


    Therefore, by the time they reached a place with no danger where they could no longer see the other side¡¯s camp and the concave gourd-shaped snow valley, they could barely straighten their waists. Even so, no one proposed to rest.


    After climbing up around 100 meters, Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t breathe easily due to the increase in altitude and there was some dizziness. The group stopped for a while and took a simple rest. Nan Zhou barely continued breathing with the portable oxygen tank. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t say anything and just gently patted his back to help him regain his breathing ability.


    In the moonlight, Nan Zhou¡¯s face was so pale that the fine hair on his neck and the blue veins under his skin could be seen. Still, Nan Zhou was always turned toward the moon as if he was thinking.


    He Yinchuan gasped as he came to pull Nan Zhou¡¯s hand. ¡°Is it okay?¡±


    Jiang Fang politely blocked the hand and covered Nan Zhou¡¯s cold hand while replying lightly, ¡°He can do it. If he can¡¯t, there is me.¡±


    On the side, Liang Shu forced herself to eat two compressed biscuits. She was just about to ask if Nan Zhou¡¯s body could endure it when her expression abruptly changed. In the warehouse, the ¡®Healing Stand-in¡¯ that was originally displayed with a light gray color had disappeared! It was found! Liang Shu shouted, ¡°Gou Jian!¡±


    The moment she shouted the task code, the atmosphere that should be relaxed instantly froze.


    Zhou Ao got up first. He consciously stood at the forefront and walked. He Yinchuan moved to the end of the team and urgently shouted in a low voice in the roaring, cold wind, ¡°Hurry! Hurry up!¡±


    Nan Zhou understood and was about to stand up. However, his heavy jacket made him bend his knees and he almost fell back into the snow. Just as his body was about to come into contact with the snowy ground, a force pulled him up and hugged him with one hand, directly placing him on this person¡¯s shoulders.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°?¡±


    Jiang Fang hugged Nan Zhou and said in a gentlemanly manner before Nan Zhou could react, ¡°I have to offend you. Teacher Nan, don¡¯t move around.¡±


    Nan Zhou obediently curled up on his shoulder and looked down at Jiang Fang¡¯s legs that started to walk on the snow. From this angle, Jiang Fang¡¯s legs were extraordinarily long. He couldn¡¯t help being distracted as he thought, ¡®It is like an Arctic rabbit.¡¯

 CH 71

    Under the moonlight, a few black dots were seen on the reflective white snow. The vast snowy peaks were under their feet and the huge moon was behind them. They were sandwiched between the boundless heaven and earth and it was easy to feel like they were just a small, helpless insect.


    At this height, very little life could exist. They seemed to be at the end of life and the world as they climbed to the top of the world.


    Rather than wasting their energy to climb upwards, they left the slightly more open ground and found a corner of a snowy rock to shelter from the wind to rest a bit and think about their next move.


    He Yinchuan had served as a soldier and had walked through snowy mountains and deserts. However, the current situation made him frown. Snow that was nearly the size of a goose feather was falling, cutting the visibility of their field of view to around 20 meters around them. He Yinchuan observed a lot of the terrain and pointed out their most important predicament. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know the terrain.¡±


    Their opponents seemed quite experienced and their understanding of the mountain couldn¡¯t be underestimated. The players might¡¯ve managed to get out of sight of the climbers and the heavy snowfall had cleared their tracks but it wasn¡¯t particularly reassuring.


    Zhou Ao tightened the bandages on his hands, lifted a handful of snow and washed the exposed skin. He suggested, ¡°Do you want to split up?¡±


    He Yinchuan told him, ¡°Don¡¯t split up.¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t split up, our group of eight is too big.¡±


    ¡°If we split up then it is easy to hit each one.¡±


    Moving on a high-altitude snowy mountain was completely different from the ground. Even if they were traveling light and brought as little as possible, their cold-resistance clothes only weighing 5 kilograms, it was still enough to exhaust half a person¡¯s life.


    Jiang Fang carried Nan Zhou nearly 300 meters. The moment he stopped, he leaned down to gasp for breath. Then he simply leaned on Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulder and closed his eyes to rest. Looking at the way his eyelashes fluttered, he seemed very tired. Yet judging from the calm heartbeat through his chest, he had recovered after sitting down to rest for a short time.


    Nan Zhou heard it but he didn¡¯t mind Jiang Fang resting on his shoulder. He even lowered his shoulder a bit and accommodated this person so that Jiang Fang could lean more comfortably. Now Jiang Fang was like a well-behaved Arctic rabbit who had folded his legs and curled into a ball.


    Nan Zhou raised his hand and brushed off a bit of snow from the ends of Jiang Fang¡¯s hair for him.


    Jiang Fang smiled slightly.


    The two people relied on each other in this way. It was tacit and they didn¡¯t fight against their inner feelings. They just indulged in the wild madness of the snowy wilderness.


    The wind blew and the snowy mountain was endless.


    Lu Bifang returned from his scouting trip where he braved the strong wind and snow. Then he gave a simple topographic map to the captain and vice-captain.


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    Pa kjr j rilutais oija jcv bqfc qijaobgw. Ktf cfza milwylcu vlrajcmf kjr jgbecv 600 wfafgr jcv la kjr vloofgfca ogbw atlr qijmf ktfgf atfs mbeiv tlvf fnfgsktfgf. Ktfgf kjr cb rtfiafg remt jr gbmxr bg j mbcmjnf ribqf. Ktf bqfc rfmalbc bo ijcv kjr rbwfatlcu atfs mbeivc¡¯a jnblv ktfc ublcu eq atf wbecajlc.


    He Yinchuan and Zhou Ao held the topographic map, looking at it horizontally and vertically as they planned for a long time. They had a big headache. The situation they faced now had four difficulties. If they dug a snow nest and hid here, it would greatly reduce the probability of a head-on conflict with the group of climbers.


    However, they would be hiding and wouldn¡¯t be able to climb much higher. Staying in place was basically tantamount to giving up the game. If they went up, they would reach the open area and the probability of them being discovered would increase.


    They didn¡¯t know the details of the bear man, hammer man and ice pick woman. Even so, they had seen the gecko man¡¯s flexible actions and Lu Bifang knew they couldn¡¯t be taken lightly.


    In addition, He Yinchuan was worried about one thing. If the four person climbing group was smart enough, they could climb all the way to the top of the mountain and gain the best advantage spot from the beginning, just waiting for them to get close. There might also be some hell from the ¡®moon god¡¯ at the top of the mountain.


    He Yinchuan became more anxious as he thought about it. ¡°Damn, if guns could be brought out then we would be able to smash those strange-shaped things.¡±


    They had been fully equipped with guns, knives, clubs and bullets before entering but presumably due to balance reasons, the system disabled them from using weapons apart from what the instance allowed. If they had their guns then these four zombies wouldn¡¯t have a good result.


    Zhou Ao gave him a look. ¡°Pay attention to the quality of your words.¡±


    He Yinchuan was surprised to find there were still people nearby. He coughed and said, ¡°Look at the map, look at the map.¡±


    Lu Bifang had spent nearly an hour exploring the way. He might be physically strong but he was inevitably exhausted. He handed in the task to the captain and crawled across the soft snow piles to sit down with Nan Zhou, Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang. Li Yinhang wanted to give him a seat but he waved his hand shyly and wearily. He leaned against the rock, allowing a small part of his body to be exposed.


    After resting, there was nothing to do so Lu Bifang opened his warehouse. There weren¡¯t many useful things that they had brought in from the outside. Lu Bifang specially spent 300 points and placed a small mirror he carried with him into a storage compartment. He took out the mirror, carefully blocking the mirror with his hand so it didn¡¯t reflect the light spots and expose his whereabouts.


    The thing Lu Bifang really wanted was the photo of three people behind the mirror. Lu Bifang noticed Nan Zhou¡¯s curious gaze from the side and didn¡¯t mind. He proudly introduced the two beautiful girls in the photo beside himself.


    ¡°This is my sister, Lu Lizi.¡±


    ¡°This is my girlfriend.¡±


    It was only at this time that he revealed a bit of youthfulness. It was like he had an invisible, big tail wagging behind him.


    ¡°This was my sophomore year. The three of us went to the amusement park together and took a photo.¡±


    Li Yinhang was a bit surprised. ¡°You have a girlfriend yet you still signed up?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Lu Bifang had originally harbored the thought of showing off. He hadn¡¯t expected Li Yinhang to focus on this strange thing. He touched the back of his head and smiled in an embarrassed manner. ¡°I came all the way here. In the end, we are definitely going to take everyone back with us.¡±


    The first day the Bronze Brigade had entered, they had a simple discussion and let Lu Bifang make his wish if he won in the wishing fountain. His wish was that after they won, all the game participants would be able to return to the real world as they did when they entered this world, regardless of whether they were alive or not.


    Before Lu Bifang could speak, Nan Zhou covered his mouth.


    Lu Bifang, ¡°?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say too much about this.¡± Nan Zhou told him. ¡°Generally, if you show photos of the friends and relatives you miss and talk about the future, you will soon¡­¡±


    He changed the word ¡®die¡¯ to a relatively mild statement. ¡°Be in danger.¡±


    Lu Bifang whose mouth was covered, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t think it was bad luck to say ¡®I¡¯ll go home and get married after the task was over¡¯ but he had just spoken casually. Now he saw Nan Zhou¡¯s cautious look, as if this person was seriously blocking the flag for him.


    Lu Bifang couldn¡¯t help smiling and felt a bit closer to Nan Zhou in his heart. This also made him more guilty. Just now, he had delivered the topographic map and was ready to leave to rest when Lin Zhisong stuffed a small tape recorder and note into his pocket.


    The note read: You are close to them. Help me ask about Nan Zhou.


    Lu Bifang had looked up in surprise. This¡­ wasn¡¯t it bad?


    Then once he turned his gaze to He Yinchuan, he found the young captain nod imperceptibly as well. Lin Zhisong might be neurotic and unsociable but there must be a reason why he cared so much about Nan Zhou. As teammates, they all trusted Lin Zhisong¡¯s instincts. He must have a reason to doubt Nan Zhou.


    This meant that Lu Bifang, who had the responsibility of interrogation, had to take the lead. He asked softly, ¡°Teacher Nan, what about you? Who is in your family?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°Parents and a sister.¡±


    Lu Bifang felt relieved. Nan Zhou also had a sister! This way, the topic could open up. He actively asked, ¡°Is your sister well behaved? My sister is good everywhere else but she has loved to grab food from me since she was a child. She is greedy.¡±


    Nan Zhou was silent as he seemed to recall something. Lu Bifang was waiting for his response. Nan Zhou searched through the thesaurus before finally finding a relatively appropriate adjective. ¡°Annoying.¡±


    Lu Bifang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou added, ¡°She is very fierce.¡±


    Lu Bifang gritted his teeth and kept chatting. ¡°¡­Is she spoiled?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ she should be.¡± Nan Zhou explained, ¡°I didn¡¯t kill her, which means I spoiled her.¡±


    Lu Bifang¡¯s character wasn¡¯t good at engaging in sneaky things and Nan Zhou¡¯s style of conversation completely disrupted his rhythm. He couldn¡¯t think of any more clear questions and asked casually, ¡°What is your sister¡¯s name?¡±


    Nan Zhou, who had already seen Lu Bifang¡¯s purpose and was ready for the high-level and difficult questions, froze subtly. ¡°Nan¡­¡±


    He finally said, ¡°Nan Yuan.¡±


    Lu Bifang thought, ¡®¡­Why does it sound like he just made it up now?¡¯


    He could finally understand why Lin Zhisong doubted this person.


    Lu Bifang still wanted to pursue some questions but Jiang Fang, who had been resting against Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulder, straightened up as if he had recovered his vitality and looked at Lu Bifang. ¡°Have you thought about how we should go next?¡±


    This one question ruined Lu Bifang¡¯s cross-examination plan.


    Jiang Fang was asking about a serious matter concerning the success or failure of the instance so Lu Bifang couldn¡¯t talk about personal matters. In addition, he had a straightforward and honest personality who couldn¡¯t do any spy business. Thus, he simply gave up on the spot. He stammered and said he would go to ask the captain. He patted the snow off his body and left.


    Nan Zhou naturally knew how many slip-ups he had just made and turned to look at Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang continued to lean on Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulders, closing his eyes and continuing to recuperate. Li Yinhang naturally heard it too but she didn¡¯t ask anything.


    Nan Zhou looked down. He remembered what Jiang Fang had told him in the second instance. He told Nan Zhou that Nan Zhou¡¯s story belonged to himself. Nan Zhou could say it whenever he wanted.


    Nan Zhou bit the tip of his tongue and vaguely hesitated. Suddenly, a strange and strong feeling filled his heart. Nan Zhou didn¡¯t look back to check. He just grabbed Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang by his side and used all his meager remaining strength to carry them forward!


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t know the reason but once she lost her balance and staggered forward, she felt a strange wind mixed with a strange smell that blew over the top of her hair. The whistling wind wedged itself into the rock and made a startling, breaking sound that made people feel numb.


    Ding.


    Li Yinhang¡¯s ears rang from the piercing sound. She turned back in horror and was instantly shocked by the scene before her. It was the woman! The woman with the ice pick! Just now, she had quietly been behind them, raised her ice pick and brought it down! How could this be? How did she approach without Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou noticing?


    The moment Li Yinhang¡¯s eyes fell on this person, her heart became even more shocked. The woman¡¯s eyes were dull and her hands were braced on top of the snow-colored black rock as if she was growing from it. Below her waist was clearly empty! She was a moving body with only the upper body!


    Nan Zhou also turned back in a hurry. In a flash of light, Nan Zhou recalled the scene of seeing her for the first time. She lay in the sleeping bag and only the upper half of her body stuck out. No wonder.


    The soft snow, the fresh snowy breeze that blew into their eyes and the short torso that was less than a meter. These conditions were enough for her to quietly get close without attracting any attention.


    He Yinchuan¡¯s group also hadn¡¯t expected the surprise attack. They had even divided some of their attention to the situation on Nan Zhou¡¯s side. Unexpectedly, they were still ambushed by this monster! He Yinchuan cursed and pulled out a dagger stuck in his boot before speeding in the direction of Nan Zhou!


    The woman with a half body didn¡¯t move again after the blow failed. She held the ice pickaxe in one hand, braced her hand on the ground and ran away a few meters using a handstand. Her running posture was ridiculous and scary but it was almost like a guidepost in the white snow.


    Nan Zhou looked around. For a time, he thought they were surrounded by the mountain climbers. Yet after looking, he found that this monster with the upper body was the only one who had caught up with them. The other side had carried out the strategy of splitting up to search.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t have much strength and could only shout at Jiang Fang. ¡°Block her mouth!¡±


    Unfortunately, it was already too late. She didn¡¯t scream and call out to her teammates as Nan Zhou imagined. It was because she didn¡¯t have a tongue. She opened her mouth, revealing a black hole. Then she bit the rescue whistle hanging around her neck.


    Beep¡ª


    The shrill whistle tore through the cold air and transmitted layers of sound to the far distance. For a time, the mountains were silent. Even the wind seemed frightened by this whistle and stopped for a moment.


    The umbrella-shaped snow canopy above their heads trembled twice. Some snow fell down on Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulders and neck like frost. She wasn¡¯t able to blow twice before a hand grabbed her hair hard.


    The playing cards were light and small. It was impossible to aim and throw them in this thick, snowy land. However, close-up attacks still worked. Jiang Fang held a card in one hand and swiped it horizontally across her throat, cutting her trachea. As a result, not much blood came out.


    The moment a bit of the cold, black blood seeped onto Jiang Fang¡¯s gloves, Jiang Fang reacted quickly and withdrew his hand. He had expected that as well. The act of her throat being cut hadn¡¯t deprived the woman of her mobility.


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    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t let go and grabbed her hand. He pressed the woman down onto the frozen earth, snatched the ice pick from her hand and without mercy, he nailed the tip through the back of her vest.


    He nailed her torso to the ground with her own weapon!


    He Yinchuan and the others arrived to see this scene and couldn¡¯t help their hearts thudding. However, they didn¡¯t have time to care about how inhuman and simple Jiang Fang¡¯s means were. It was because the woman hadn¡¯t lost her mobility at all.


    Her eyes rolled and she propped her hands up on the ground as she struggled on the dirty ice. They could even hear her internal organs rubbing back and forth on the sharp object.


    Obviously, the woman had finished her task of informing the others with the whistle. Their location was exposed and they had to leave this place as soon as possible. The trickiest question right now was how to deal with this undead woman. Generally speaking, they should destroy the brain for this type of zombie.


    He Yinchuan glanced at Liang Shu. Liang Shu understood and pulled Li Yinhang back to let her avoid the next bloody scene.


    He Yinchuan was part of the special forces and had killed people. He just had very little experience with such close-up killing, even if the opposite person was a human turned monster. However, he had no way back for the sake of the people behind him.


    He picked up a palm-sized rock handed to him by Zhou Ao and took a deep breath before smashing her head without any delay! The thin, black-red liquid splashed onto the snow. However, she wasn¡¯t dead yet!


    Her body squirmed, twisted and flipped like a dying fish. She just couldn¡¯t die. Her face was almost as flat as a photograph and her dead eyes made her look like a flounder. She seemed to feel no pain at all. She just stared at the full moon in the sky and continued to concentrate on freeing herself from the shackle of the ice pick. Her pious but turbid eyes were full of blood and vitreous almost dripped out of her body.


    He Yinchuan cursed. ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Zhou Ao¡¯s words were concise. ¡°Cut the hands.¡±


    He Yinchuan was so disgusted that he looked up with slight anger. ¡°How can we have anything that will cut bones in one go! Besides, those things can arrive at any time. Can we work slowly?¡±


    Zhou Ao criticized him. ¡°You can¡¯t be angry. You are the captain.¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes, I¡¯m not angry. Let¡¯s go and leave her here.¡±


    The ice pickaxe had nailed her body to the ground and they didn¡¯t have anything to replace the ice pick at the moment. If they pulled out the ice pick then she would immediately leave their control. They couldn¡¯t take her with them. Nevertheless, leaving the ice pick to her would bring about endless trouble.


    The group was feeling at a loss when Nan Zhou wandered over slowly. He pinched open the woman¡¯s mouth and confirmed that she had no tongue. He sighed with a bit of regret. It was hard to let her drink things willingly and he wasn¡¯t sure if she was human.


    ¡­She also had no tongue.


    Brother Fang¡¯s Truth Tequila wouldn¡¯t work on the physical level. He had wanted to make her give some information on the moon god.


    Nan Zhou failed in his wish and looked at Lu Bifang. ¡°The recorder.¡±


    Lu Bifang¡¯s mind hadn¡¯t returned. ¡°Huh?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at Jiang Fang. ¡°Brother Fang.¡±


    Jiang Fang understood and took the recorder from Lu Bifang¡¯s left pocket. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Lu Bifang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou took the tape recorder. He didn¡¯t bother questioning Lu Bifang, who was turning red. Instead, he asked Lin Zhisong who was standing to the side. ¡°Has it been recording this whole time?¡±


    Lin Zhisong answered, ¡°¡­Yes.¡±


    ¡°Is it fall proof?¡±


    ¡°¡­It is protected.¡±


    ¡°Can you erase the content and leave only some of it?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±


    Nan Zhou crouched on the ground and held out the recorder to Lin Zhisong.


    Then do it.


    Meeting his clear eyes, Lin Zhisong had to take the tape recorder and quickly operate it in accordance with Nan Zhou¡¯s thoughts. Nan Zhou gazed at the woman and followed her eyes to the full moon in the sky. Then he told Jiang Fang, ¡°Brother Fang, do me a favor.¡±


    ***


    The woman¡¯s whistle summoned the monsters scattered in three directions to the valley in unison.


    The bear man was the first to arrive. He looked east and west but couldn¡¯t find the woman. He was searching when the gecko man and hammer man arrived.


    They were like a group of snow wolves. After meeting, they looked for the woman in silence. Through the heavy snow, the bear man spotted a high, grave-like mound of snow that looked very unnatural. He rushed to dig at the snow.


    Sure enough, he caught a glimpse of the shining tip of the ice pickaxe. However, only the pickaxe was left. The wooden handle was removed.


    The bear man quickly found the upper half of the woman. The woman was still gasping for breath. It was just that the bones of her arms were broken. They were at odd angles that were normally impossible.


    The bear man was trying to pull the woman out when the hammer man by his side seemed to notice something and raised his head. There was a dark, slender figure standing alone on a rocky outcrop at the top of the depression. The wind lifted his dark hair and made his pale and delicate face look like a snow maiden on the mountain.


    Nan Zhou raised his hand and threw down the tape recorder from a high place. There was the cushioning of the snow and combined with its high-strength shock resistance and fall proof function, it was still intact when it hit the ground.


    The hammer man stared at the little black box and frowned suspiciously. The next second, a deafening whistle came from the speaker.


    Beep¡ª


    Beep¡ª


    Beep¡ª


    The originally shrill whistle became even harsher and stranger due to the repeated playing and increasing volume. The gourd-shaped depression formed an excellent echo belt. The originally loose snow eaves were stimulated by this and started to slide downward like flowing water. It issued a rumbling, low growling sound that was like a warning.


    The hammer man took two steps back as he seemed to realize that something was wrong. However, it was too late for him to take action. The collapse of nearly a thousand cubic meters of snow was only a breath away.


    The large area of snow poured down like a waterfall, bringing countless weathered rocks mixed in with the snow. It swept away the three men below like a tidal wave! The sound of the avalanche was soon swallowed and absorbed by the snow mountain. Even the whistle recorded on the tape recorder was buried under the deep snow. There was only a faint, thin sound.


    Nan Zhou was still looking down but was picked up by the neck in time by Jiang Fang and brought back to the group.


    ¡°Go. They wouldn¡¯t be able to chase us for a while. Let¡¯s hurry.¡±


    Nan Zhou was surprised. ¡°Huh?¡±


    The moonlight shone silently on the realm of death like the gaze of a Cyclops. There was no sorrow and no joy.


    ***


    An hour and a half later.


    A thin arm suddenly emerged from the thick layer of snow that was like a grave. The palm forcefully grasped at the nearby snow.

 CH 72

    The group took advantage of this time to stagger forward through the increasingly fierce wind and snow. They had seen the immortal half-body of the woman and didn¡¯t believe that the small avalanche could really do any harm to these four monsters.


    Therefore, they needed to take advantage of this hard-won opportunity to expand their advantage as much as possible. They trudged through the snow in a roundabout manner.


    The snowy mountain was difficult to walk on. It was sometimes deep, sometimes shallow. Some places could be crossed with a single stride while in other places, half their leg would sink into the snow.


    Fortunately, they all supported each other and the travel speed wasn¡¯t slow.


    Everything was quiet. They took one step at a time and there was only the sound of the snow. Snow naturally had the characteristics of absorbing sound and reflecting light. The silver dazzled everyone wearing snow goggles. Combined with not knowing the way forward, it was hard not to feel a sense of loneliness and panic. Therefore, they got as close to each other as possible and used their body temperature and skin contract to cheer each other up.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t let Jiang Fang carry him and silently followed the team.


    Li Yinhang was led away by Liang Shu and she couldn¡¯t help looking back frequently. She was very worried about Nan Zhou¡¯s health.


    Jiang Fang gently held Nan Zhou¡¯s hand in his own palm and gently hummed a song. It was a Ukrainian ballad. His voice was very good. It was hoarse with a slight sense of electricity. It was easily dispersed by the refreshing snowy breeze but it was just right in Nan Zhou¡¯s ear. It was light and warm.


    He Yinchuan warned from behind them, ¡°Save oxygen.¡±


    Jiang Fang glanced at him, nodded to thank him for the concern and continued to hum his song.


    He Yinchuan watched Nan Zhou staggering and guessed that this person¡¯s physical strength was coming to an end. He wiped his cheeks, set his watch and issued an order. ¡°Rest! Three minutes!¡±


    Nan Zhou was particularly obedient and immediately sat on the ground, burying his face in his knees. He took this time to straighten out his breathing and restore his physical strength.


    He Yinchuan was used to joking around with his comrades. He placed a hand to Nan Zhou¡¯s head and laughed. ¡°This big guy, why are you so weak?¡±


    Nan Zhou raised his head from his arms to look at He Yinchuan. He gasped out white fog and frost formed at the tips of his hair, making his face look even more beautiful and bloodless.


    He Yinchuan gave him a slightly helpless look. He walked at the back in order to protect the rear. Another reason was that he wanted to see what was so special about the person who made Lin Zhisong pay so much attention.


    At one point, he thought Nan Zhou¡¯s weakness was a disguise. As a result, he observed Nan Zhou from all angles and felt that this person was a smart and weak, sickly beauty. His movements were even a bit clumsy. He just had a slightly better brain. Was this worth Lin Zhisong keeping an eye on him?


    He Yinchuan shook his head and couldn¡¯t figure out why Lin Zhisong was targeting Nan Zhou. Lin Zhisong was a person who thought in his heart and refused to express his guess to them. At this thought, He Yinchuan shook his head helplessly again. Then he walked forward to check the situation of the others.


    Lu Bifang was arranged to explore the way first and the others followed. Naturally, he consumed a lot of physical strength. However, he also remembered his responsibilities. The moment he stopped, he went to see the Cube Boat group of three.


    Lu Bifang was gasping like a bellows but he was much better than Nan Zhou¡¯s low, pained gasps. He couldn¡¯t help wanting to help but most of Nan Zhou¡¯s body was held in Jiang Fang¡¯s arms. Jiang Fang was tenderly patting and touching Nan Zhou and Lu Bifang couldn¡¯t find a place to intervene.


    He had to give a reminder. ¡°If you want to pass the instances, you should think of your physical fitness¡­ you still have to exercise¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou lightly raised his head, almost as if the goggles were too heavy. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Lu Bifang smiled honestly and cutely. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    Nan Zhou placed his hands on his knees and looked at his reflection in the snow. The sky and the moon were like a giant searchlight. The shadows shrank timidly at his feet, leaving only a short section that was almost nothing. He watched it quietly for a moment before abruptly getting up.


    ¡­Then he fell straight back down because his legs were weak. Fortunately, Jiang Fang quickly caught him, using his toes to pad the bend of Nan Zhou¡¯s knees and hooking Nan Zhou into his arms. The two people hugged and rolled in the soft snow for two laps before they stopped the downward trend.


    He Yinchuan, who was talking to Zhou Ao, turned back and looked at the two people who suddenly rolled together. ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    He asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked up from Jiang Fang¡¯s arms and said, ¡°We can¡¯t keep going like this.¡±


    He Yinchuan wondered, ¡°What should we do?¡±


    Nan Zhou suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s separate.¡±


    Lf Tlcmtejc kjr atf olgra ab bypfma. ¡°Rb. Qf mjc¡¯a ifjnf jcsbcf yftlcv.¡±


    Rjc Itbe kjr ujrqlcu yea tlr fsfr tjv j olgw ibbx. ¡°Ktlr lrc¡¯a j vlrmerrlbc.¡±


    Lf Tlcmtejc rajgfv ja atlr kfjx yea jifga sbecu wjc. Lf kjr kbgglfv atja Rjc Itbe kbeiv vgju atf afjw vbkc klat tlr qtsrlmji ragfcuat yea jcbatfg nblmf abiv tlw atja tf mbeivc¡¯a ifa remt j cjlnf jcv kliilcu qfgrbc pera vlf.


    He Yinchuan stated, ¡°Tell me your arrangements.¡±


    ¡°Brother Fang and I will leave you. We will go separately in two teams.¡±


    The Bronze Brigade already had some doubts about the identity of the two men. Combined with the discovered tape recorder, they suddenly thought that these two people were aware that their identity was about to be revealed and wanted to find an excuse to flee the team.


    Lin Zhisong came closer. A large amount of fog emerged from his mouth, obscuring the doubts in his eyes. ¡°Where will you go?¡±


    He asked ¡®you¡¯ but his eyes were only on Nan Zhou alone.


    Nan Zhou opened his mouth. ¡°Look for a place where you can camp on this mountain.¡±


    This sounded too much like an excuse to get away.


    Liang Shu asked, ¡°You don¡¯t plan to continue climbing?¡±


    Nan Zhou told her, ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense to climb up blindly. The top of the mountain might not be what they really care about.¡±


    This was a bit brainless.


    He Yinchuan frowned. ¡°Didn¡¯t they say that the moon god who eats people is at the top of the mountain?¡±


    Nan Zhou answered, ¡°They also said that they can¡¯t offend the moon god so they will kill anyone who goes up the mountain.¡±


    There was silence as the wind and snow passed.


    He Yinchuan frowned. ¡°You mean that they lied?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Nan Zhou added, ¡°I do know that they don¡¯t want us to reach the top of the mountain.¡±


    Wasn¡¯t that obvious?


    Nan Zhou continued, ¡°But they often go up the mountain themselves.¡±


    In their conversation, they mentioned that they would patrol the mountain regularly. It was precisely because the players learned that this group of monsters would patrol the mountain that they had to give up the illusion of being stationed in place. They chose to create a diversion to send these monsters away.


    However, Nan Zhou had been watching them and felt something strange. The moment they talked about patrolling the mountain, they all uniformly stared at the mountain. It seemed that their duty was to patrol the distance from their place of residence to the top of the mountain.


    As for the foot of the mountain, it wasn¡¯t worthy of their attention as long as there were no signs or evidence of intruders. The proof was that even when they listened to the false information and went down the mountain to search, they left two people to watch the small building out of fear the players would go up the mountain.


    ¡°They are afraid of something. So on one hand, they threaten other climbers that there is a moon god and no one is allowed to go up. On the other hand, they hunt down those who really want to go up the mountain.¡±


    ¡°This means there might be something important and inviolable to them on the mountain.¡±


    ¡°That thing isn¡¯t necessarily at the top of the mountain because if it was at the top, they can just stand guard all the time.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, I want to look for a place where it is easy to camp and rest at an altitude of 4,513 meters to see if there are any clues.¡±


    It had to be said that even if Nan Zhou was finding excuses to leave the team, this was a really good reason. Moreover, this was nothing more than Nan Zhou¡¯s guess. It wasn¡¯t worth having everyone go to verify it. The best way to deal with it was to separate two or three people to prove this conjecture. The rest could still focus on climbing and seizing the high ground.


    He Yinchuan felt speechless and turned to Jiang Fang. ¡°Are you going with him?¡±


    Nan Zhou hadn¡¯t asked Jiang Fang¡¯s opinion so he also turned to look at this person. Jiang Fang smiled and shrugged. ¡°It is my honor.¡±


    He Yinchuan sighed slightly. He knew this meant they couldn¡¯t be convinced. He could see that Jiang Fang might be clever but this person was a real Nan Zhou supremacist. He ordered, ¡°Xiao Lu¡ª¡±


    Jiang Fang waved his hand. ¡°No, the two of us are fine.¡±


    This was a decision to part ways with them.


    Li Yinhang naturally knew which side she wanted to stand on. She tried to follow but she was stopped by a gesture from Nan Zhou. He said flatly but directly, ¡°I can¡¯t protect you now. Moreover, it is already very tiring for Brother Fang to take care of me.¡±


    Nan Zhou turned to He Yinchuan. ¡°Help take care of our Yinhang. Once the mission is over, we will pick her up.¡±


    Jiang Fang also smiled. ¡°Yinhang, listen to their words.¡±


    It sounded like parents coming to pick up their child after school.


    Li Yinhang stopped walking toward them, thought for a while before responding in an obedient manner. ¡°Yes.¡±


    He Yinchuan fixed his gaze on Nan Zhou.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes under the pale goggles were very cold. There was little emotion in them but they were clear. He Yinchuan sensed that they weren¡¯t trying to escape. They really wanted to find another way to clear the game.


    ***


    Liang Shu looked at the backs of Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou, who was lying on Jiang Fang¡¯s shoulders, and curiously asked Li Yinhang, ¡°Were you friends before?¡±


    Li Yinhang replied, ¡°No, we didn¡¯t know each other before we entered this game.¡±


    Lin Zhisong looked into her eyes. ¡°How much do you know about them?¡±


    This undisguised tone made Li Yinhang a bit angry. She spoke sharply and clearly expressed her position. ¡°They are good people.¡±


    Liang Shu heard the disgust and resistance in her words and hit Lin Zhisong with her elbow, reminding him to converge himself. Lin Zhisong closed his mouth but thought of Jiang Fang¡¯s actions just now when he pierced the woman¡¯s heart with the ice pickaxe. It was without hesitation. The other party might not be human but Jiang Fang also didn¡¯t look like one. As for Nan Zhou¡­


    Lin Zhisong had always been confident in his memory so he felt annoyed. He had definitely, absolutely seen Nan Zhou before. It was just that the impression was faint, just like now when he looked at Nan Zhou¡¯s back through the snow.


    It was only separated by one layer but it was difficult to find the truth.


    Li Yinhang felt a bit of regret after snapping back at Lin Zhisong. She was still being protected by them. Why should she be so stiff? As a scholar of hugging thighs, Li Yinhang quickly passed over this situation and took the initiative to say, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ***


    On the vast snow peak, the eight small ants separated with one group going to the right.


    Not long after, the only thing that could confirm Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang¡¯s existence as they moved between heaven and earth was the warmth in the place where their bodies met. Nan Zhou lay on Jiang Fang¡¯s back, his legs crossed over Jiang Fang¡¯s waist. He asked softly, ¡°Am I heavy?¡±


    Jiang Fang handed him a compressed biscuit with one hand and smiled. ¡°You can work hard from now on.¡±


    Nan Zhou hid behind him and gently bit the biscuit that was frozen hard. He dusted off the biscuit crumbs that fell on Jiang Fang¡¯s shoulders. Like He Yinchuan, their goal was clear.


    It was a piece of flat land, away from the gravel, snow belt and places with depressions. In this area with an altitude of over 4,000 meters, most mountaineering teams would be too exhausted to launch an assault on the top of the mountain. Thus, there weren¡¯t many locations that could meet the relevant conditions.


    Nan Zhou had almost recovered from his extreme muscle soreness and breathing difficulties. He could¡¯ve gotten off and walked alongside Jiang Fang. However, listening to Jiang Fang¡¯s heavy and stagnant breathing from this close distance, Nan Zhou couldn¡¯t help touching his heart.


    He felt uncomfortable. Was it because the elevation meant he was closer to the moon? He pulled at a corner of Jiang Fang¡¯s clothes. ¡°I want to rest.¡±


    Jiang Fang asked him, ¡°Are you tired?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± You are the tired one.


    Jiang Fang found a rock with shelter from the wind. It was just small enough for the two of them to hide and he put Nan Zhou down properly. The angle wasn¡¯t quite right so the shoulder strap of Jiang Fang¡¯s coat hooked on Nan Zhou¡¯s hat and tore it off.


    Jiang Fang laughed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    He picked up the hat, lifted up the goggles, placed it on the brim of the hat and slid his fingers over Nan Zhou¡¯s ears before restoring the hat in place. He didn¡¯t know where the impulse came from but Jiang Fang didn¡¯t stop. He pulled the hat all the way down to cover Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes. He only exposed Nan Zhou¡¯s light colored lips.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t resist but as his vision blurred, he raised an eyebrow with a bit of confusion.


    Jiang Fang had taken off his gloves. The reason Nan Zhou could make such a judgment when he couldn¡¯t see was because Jiang Fang was touching his lips with extremely hot fingers.


    Nan Zhou inexplicably felt that this scene was a bit familiar. It was as if at some point in the past, there was such a hand. His eyes had been covered by a foreign object and it did such an action to him.


    The fingers stroked, pressed and moved lightly over his lips before using the knuckles to rub against his lips. It was as if his lips were a treasure. The refreshing and slightly hot breath between his lips returned to Nan Zhou¡¯s face and was as familiar as it was back then. But¡­ he vaguely remembered that someone had done the same actions to himself. That person was clearly tired like Jiang Fang, slightly gasping for breath in front of him as if that person was catching his breath.


    Nan Zhou felt a bit strange. He even wondered if his mouth was stained from eating the biscuit just now. Still, he didn¡¯t move.


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t do any extra moves. In an instant, he pulled back the hat covering Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes to its original spot. Nan Zhou¡¯s black and bright eyes were able to see the light again.


    Jiang Fang, who was kneeling on one knee in front of him, locked eyes with him for a moment before using his cold hands to cover Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you closing your eyes? You should rest.¡±


    Under the moonlight, Jiang Fang¡¯s smile had a splendid heroic spirit. Nan Zhou¡¯s expression was still cold and indifferent. He didn¡¯t say anything. He just picked up the gloves on his knees and put them on Jiang Fang.


    Jiang Fang naturally had no objections and took the initiative to extend his hands. Just as Jiang Fang was looking at Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes, his mind full of emotions, there was a light at the corner of his eyes and he caught a small afterimage in the falling snow.


    Jiang Fang reacted quickly and immediately pressed Nan Zhou¡¯s head down, hiding behind the black rock completely.


    Nan Zhou was pressed down by him and accidentally formed a ten fingers interlocked pose as he was wrapped in Jiang Fang¡¯s arms again.


    He looked silently at Jiang Fang with surprise.


    Jiang Fang shushed him. Jiang Fang was also afraid of him hurting his eyes so Jiang Fang felt for the goggles and put them on for him. Then he willingly let Nan Zhou out to check the situation with him.


    At first, Nan Zhou saw something moving through the snow and thought they were going to meet those monsters again. It wasn¡¯t until the wind and snow became smaller that he could see what the strangely shaped thing was.


    There was a pair of legs in yellow hiking pants running in the snow. Yes, only legs. Looking at the shape of the pelvis, the legs should belong to a woman.


    The scene was a bit funny but after seeing it with his own eyes, the amusement was replaced by an unusually harsh and weird sense of horror. These legs seemed to have their own mind. They ran for a while before stopping, as if looking for a goal.


    Nan Zhou watched silently and thought, ¡®This is probably the real split action.¡¯


    Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang also happened to be casting a sly gaze at him and blinked at him. The two of them exchanged looks and reached an agreement.


    Jiang Fang took out the C-grade item called ¡®Everyone Loves Beauty¡¯.


    It was a small, round make-up mirror. This thing was very much in line with the role of a C-grade item. It didn¡¯t do much.


    Jiang Fang leaned back against the rock, weighed the mirror in his palm and casually threw it. The mirror rose up and fell silently into the nearby snow. Even so, the legs seemed aware of something. They suddenly stopped moving and looked at the black rock that was 40 meters away.


    The upside down mirror there was bathed in the moonlight. It faced the legs and reflected a dazzling light. It was like charming bait.

 CH 73

    The crunching sound of the snow cracking rang all the way from far to near. It was step by step with a bit of inquiry. The other person had a minimum of vision and senses. Sure enough, it wasn¡¯t purposeless roaming.


    After making a simple judgment, Jiang Fang gently took out the Swiss army knife. He picked out one of the flat blade knives, slowly opened it and carefully covered the thin light refracted by the blade with his fingertips.


    He had just moved halfway through when Nan Zhou lightly poked him in the side. He pointed a bit to the position of the legs and raised a finger to point at his eyes.


    Jiang Fang raised an eyebrow. There was nothing wrong with Nan Zhou¡¯s idea.


    Legs couldn¡¯t have vision. In light of the fact that the half-body woman they encountered before could run and jump, Nan Zhou had thought these monsters could be active after being damaged. The subtle parts might have their own activities.


    In order to verify the guess, Jiang Fang touched his index finger and thumb together and blinked at Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou knew what this person wanted to do. He hesitated for a moment before giving a slight nod of approval.


    Jiang Fang gripped the handle of a knife with one hand. He raised his finger to his ear, found the right time and snapped his fingers beautifully.


    There was a tailwind. Based on this distance, the wind was enough to send the sound of the snapping fingers to the legs.


    However, the legs had no intention of speeding up to give them a scissor kick after confirming the presence of prey, nor did it have the intention of running away quickly to report the news. It walked calmly, step by step toward the mirror reflecting the strong moonlight.


    Understood. It didn¡¯t have ears.


    The two people quickly changed their course of action. Nan Zhou fastened the light finger chain to his right hand. In order to avoid attracting the attention of the other person, he turned his palm slightly to the side and let the moonlight refract on the snow. The snow swallowed it.


    In the bright place of the moonlight, the function of the light finger chain was brought into full play. Countless silver threads moved on Nan Zhou¡¯s palm. He moved his fingers gently like he was manipulating a puppet. However, the level 0 item was like a level 0 item. The refracted light wire was solid but it took less than a minute to collapse.


    Nan Zhou inserted the silk threads into the soft snow in front of him. It wasn¡¯t known what he was doing. The other side might have no ears but they considered the white fog that would occur when talking. It was something that the eye could see.


    Jiang Fang softly wrote on Nan Zhou¡¯s leg. ¡°Is this your first time using it?¡±


    Nan Zhou glanced at him with a cold expression but the reply wasn¡¯t so serious. ¡°I played secretly with it in the middle of the night.¡±


    The sound of stepping on the snow was within 10 meters but Jiang Fang couldn¡¯t help laughing. He leaned against the rock and his eyes swept over Nan Zhou with tenderness and happiness.


    Nan Zhou was a bit surprised. Why did Jiang Fang always smile at him? He was cold and fierce and it was hard to get close to him. It was normal for others to not get too close to him, like Yinhang, or to simply ignore him.


    Nan Zhou gently licked his lips and thought about how Jiang Fang had just rubbed there. He secretly licked it twice but only tasted the snow and ice. The warm feeling was taken away by the wind. However, Nan Zhou knew it was real.


    The legs finally got close to them. One eyeball was dangling from the multi-purpose belt of the legs like an ornament tied by thread. The gray pupil with a faint circle of red moved as the legs trudged. It stared intently at the mirror reflecting the thin light.


    Fortunately, the legs didn¡¯t have a nose or it would smell raw meat. The eye numbly collected the surrounding information. There were shallow footprints not far from the mirror. They might be covered by the wind and snow but the remnants still existed. Someone had passed by here. The eye looked around for more footprints when snow and fog rose and obscured its vision.


    Nan Zhou quickly weaved the light threads into a simple snow shovel that had reached deep into the snow layer. As it approached the rock, he exhausted all his efforts to splash it over the legs.


    Ktlr jmalbc vgjlcfv jii atf ragfcuat Rjc Itbe tjv pera jmmeweijafv. Lf ofii ab atf ugbecv jcv ujnf atf olfiv bnfg ab Aljcu Mjcu.


    Ktf fsf kjr mbnfgfv klat rcbk jcv atf nlrlbc yieggfv jcv ibra lar vlgfmalbc. Snfc rb, atf ifur kfgfc¡¯a abb oierafgfv. Pa tjv agfxxfv bc atfrf rcbk olfivr wjcs alwfr jcv kjr ojwliljg klat fnfgs rabcf jcv agff tfgf. Pa kjr jr rajyif jr jc biv vbu.


    Moreover, it wasn¡¯t a unit with the eye. If the eye was attacked, it didn¡¯t have any conditioned reflexes. It even took two steady steps forward. This was until Nan Zhou used a skill on its knees.


    [The Consequences of No Skates]


    [Function: Let the opponent slip 100%.]


    There were no hard and fast rules for this skill. The other party just had to have legs. Meanwhile, the monster in front of them just consisted of legs. The legs couldn¡¯t stop it. It had just lost its eye and now it fell onto the snow. It fell with the two legs facing up.


    Jiang Fang used this opportunity to roll out from behind the rock. He waved the cold blade and accurately cut the thread tying the eyeball to the belt. He snatched the eyeball falling in the air, pulled off the silk thread hanging from the belt in the process. He cupped the eyeball in his palm and covered it with snow. In a few seconds, a snowball had turned into a hard ice hockey ball in his palm.


    He threw this ball to Nan Zhou. Nan Zhou caught it firmly and immediately rolled the eyeball in a few more layers of snow. He created a fist-sized snowball.


    The eyeball, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    You are all dogs.


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t immediately run away even though the legs just needed to take two more steps to kick him in the knee. He was carefully observing the shape of the legs.


    Now the legs were very confused. Their action of splitting up and joining together was convenient but it had disadvantages. They didn¡¯t have a unified commanding brain. After suddenly losing its sight, the legs anxiously circled in place for a few laps. Then it leaned down and carefully used its toes to look for the eyeball.


    Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou¡¯s actions were wonderful but from the perspective of the legs, it was just unlucky. The eyeball found an unusual light nearby and it came to look at the situation. Then the snow fog covered the eyeball. Immediately after, it accidentally fell to the ground and lost the eyeball.


    There was no way. The hands were with the upper body and the eyeball was the only thing that came in handy when outside. In order to make it easier to see the way, it could only keep the eyeball on its trouser belt. It ¡®looked¡¯ for the eyeball nearby for a while but there was nothing. It was like a depressed trapped animal as it circled around and created a large circle of footprints.


    Jiang Fang returned behind the rock and whispered to Nan Zhou, who was holding the immobile eye snowball. ¡°Look.¡±


    Nan Zhou lay on the rocks and studied the legs. The owner of the legs wasn¡¯t hard to identify. They had dealt with the half body woman. The legs were similar in size to the woman and the waist section could be connected seamlessly.


    The strange thing about the legs was that its waist was slim but the proportion of the legs was seriously disproportionate and bulging. In particular, the thighs and calves were bloated and almost cracked the mountaineering pants. They looked like a huge radish. The important thing was¡­


    Nan Zhou turned his head, holding the snowball in his hand as he asked Jiang Fang, ¡°Whose eyeball is it?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s face sank like water. ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡±


    They had met three and a half ¡®people¡¯ at the camp. None of them had lost their eyes. The iris of this eye was also a bit different. It was a light hazel. Those they met before didn¡¯t have eyes of this color. The light colored eyes never appeared in their vision from beginning to end, just like the legs.


    Was it hiding in the tent where the mountain climbers were camped and just didn¡¯t show itself? Or was it an eye that came out in another place with another person?


    Jiang Fang sat on the rock and his brow wrinkled with interest. He tapped on the surface of the rock with his fingers. ¡°How many are there exactly?¡±


    Nan Zhou quietly looked in the direction they had come from. Yinhang and the others didn¡¯t know this information yet. They might be facing more than four pursuers.


    The legs didn¡¯t know about the culprit behind the incident. After turning for a while, it kicked a rock at its feet with a loud bang. If a normal person kicked the rock with this type of force, their toe would probably be broken. Meanwhile, the legs looked like it had found what it wanted and was very excited. It kicked twice more before becoming certain. It took a step forward, picked a direction and stumbled forward.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s fingers moved. A soft light shot out through the moonlight, passed through the multi-purpose belt and tied a knot. The legs didn¡¯t have eyes and naturally couldn¡¯t detect it. It just moved forward.


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°Follow it.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid it will go to the woman with only half her body?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡±


    Nan Zhou continued, ¡°However, if it could find the woman by relying on the senses between limbs then it would¡¯ve left long ago. It wouldn¡¯t have circled here to look for the direction.¡±


    Then Nan Zhou went to the area that the legs had just kicked and swept away the snow around it. Under the snow, there was a stone with a special shape. It was like an arrow that pointed straight to the south. The legs had been looking for this familiar marker.


    Nan Zhou said, ¡°The only place it can go now is somewhere it knows and trusts.¡±


    Jiang Fang suggested, ¡°It might take us back to the camp halfway up the mountain where we started.¡±


    ¡°That is possible.¡± Nan Zhou added, ¡°However, we didn¡¯t see the legs or the person with the eyeball in the camp.¡±


    He stared at Jiang Fang, eyes full of seriousness.


    ¡°If I were those mountain climbers and I was really afraid of the invasion of outsiders, I would arrange another person or group of people in the most important place to be guarded.¡±


    The truth couldn¡¯t be simpler. It was just that they were bound and influenced by the concept of ¡®racing¡¯. They took it for granted that everyone, including the NPCs, would start at the same level. At this point, Nan Zhou pursed his lips. ¡°You are right. There are indeed many uncertainties.¡±


    Of course, the legs might be going to find its upper body or it might be going down the mountain. If it was before then Nan Zhou would¡¯ve followed it. However, things were a bit different now. He couldn¡¯t do a good job of protecting his teammates. He couldn¡¯t promise that he would protect Jiang Fang if sudden danger came.


    Jiang Fang looked at the other person¡¯s annoyed, pursed lips and smiled. ¡°Isn¡¯t there still me?¡±


    Nan Zhou glanced at Jiang Fang and seriously shook his head. ¡°I always said that I would protect you. I can¡¯t¡­¡±


    Before his voice could finish, it was sealed by Jiang Fang. Across the soft hat, Jiang Fang dropped a gentle and polite kiss on his forehead. ¡°It is okay to make an exception and rely on me once in a while.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s mind didn¡¯t return for a while. He raised his hand and pressed it against his itchy heart. ¡°¡­What did you do to me?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s face was also slightly red. ¡°Did I have an effect on you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Nan Zhou met this person¡¯s eyes in a puzzled manner. ¡°I want to hear from you. Why?¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled brightly but there was a sincerity rarely seen in his smiles. ¡°This is good.¡±


    ***


    Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang weren¡¯t too far behind the legs. It was like they were walking their dog in the backyard.


    The scene was rather bizarre but both people looked like it should be this way. The legs had to explore the road so it walked slowly and very carefully. It bypassed many deep and difficult places due to its familiarity with the terrain.


    It saved them a lot of effort. Even Nan Zhou could easily keep up. Nan Zhou had the leisure to put a small snowball on top of another big snowball. He created a palm-sized snowman and held it out to Jiang Fang to see.


    Jiang Fang smiled and took it. He studied it before adding some vitality to it with a small branch and two small stones. They weren¡¯t interested in knowing how many times the eyeball sealed in the snowball rolled around.


    Thankfully, the legs didn¡¯t go down the mountain. It stumbled and groped its way up the mountain. The path was fairly flat and it was so wide that they could see everything with one glance.


    This was indeed the route that normal climbers would choose but it wasn¡¯t a route that players of this racing instance could easily control. Nan Zhou believed that according to conventional thinking, players would never choose this route when there was no shelter for several kilometers. It was easy but you could see someone from kilometers away. This was no different from looking for death.


    After nearly four hours of stopping and walking in the wind and snow, the legs raised itself noticeably higher as it passed by a patch of bushes.


    Nan Zhou wanted to keep up but Jiang Fang caught Nan Zhou¡¯s hand and cut off the light projected by the finger chain. He grabbed Nan Zhou and took this person to hide with him in the dense, dead bushes.


    Jiang Fang was cautious. He planned for a retreat with every step he took. He sensed that the legs were passing through a transparent tripwire. There was an ambush nearby. This meant they had found the place they wanted to find.


    Shortly after the two men rolled into the bushes, a tent in the distance was opened by one hand.


    ¡­It was just one hand.


    Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou quietly poked their heads out. The thing that entered their eyes was a wide campsite that looked like it should be on the riverbank.


    There was only one fallen tent and it looked like an abandoned camp. In the camp, people¡¯s body parts were scattered around it.


    The moment they saw the legs stumble back, the split up body parts gathered and stacked up on each other from all directions. It started with the face and a human form slowly rose from the ground. It was a broken face with only one pale brown eye. The other eye was just a dark hole.


    This person removed the lower half of his newly restored face. He pulled one ear straight off and casually tied it to the side of the legs with a string. It hung around the legs. It seemed that by hastily splicing them together like this, it would form a whole that could share information.


    The withered black lips on the lower half of the face asked coldly, ¡°What happened?¡±

 CH 74

    The mouth closed for a moment. Half a head dangled from the trousers, shaking with the snow like a broken lantern. Once it opened again, a slightly shrill female voice was heard. ¡°I accidentally lost my eye.¡±


    The head was silent for a while. ¡°¡­Where did you lose it?¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°The eyeball is important.¡±


    The female voice said, ¡°Give me an eye and I can find it again.¡±


    It was the same mouth but they strangely emitted different voices. This gave a uniform feeling of numbness and coldness. The head rolled off the belt. The half-face man raised his stiff, bruised arm and inserted it into his eye socket without hesitation. A dehydrated eye was pulled out of the socket and fell into the palm of his hand.


    He raised his hand and tore at himself again. A crescent, rubbery ear was detached from the side of his face. In the end, the legs were given an ear, an arm and an eye. The multi-purpose belt came in handy and was full of hanging things.


    The man had no ears and eyes so his face looked bare. He declared in an expressionless manner, ¡°Get it back.¡±


    After giving the order, the man¡¯s torso collapsed all the way from the middle. In an instant, the broken human body reverted to organs that moved like ants. The heart went into the tent. The purple intestines entered the snow like snakes. The head rolled to a rock and disappeared.


    One hand with five fingers touched the ground and walked upside down on the fingertips. It patrolled back and forth in the wind and snow. The ears were hung from the zipper of the tent and swayed in the wind. It looked like an insignificant curtain decoration from a distance. In addition, the legs with the belt disappeared into the wind and snow.


    The visual impact was too much. Even Jiang Fang couldn¡¯t help turning around. He lay on his back in the snow, grabbed a handful of snow and placed it in his mouth. He used the dissolving cold snow water to suppress his desire to vomit.


    Nan Zhou crouched next to him and didn¡¯t speak. He kept a close eye on the direction of the camp while freeing a hand and slowly rubbing Jiang Fang¡¯s chest. After calming down his nausea, Jiang Fang kept this overlapping posture and gently wrote on Nan Zhou¡¯s side, ¡°What should we do?¡±


    They had obviously found the place they wanted to find. It was clear that their opponent only counted as one person but a strange two against many situation was formed. They couldn¡¯t be killed and could be disassembled. Every fragmented organ had the characteristic of a cockroach. Every organ could scatter and kill.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t respond.


    Jiang Fang asked him again with his fingers, ¡°What are you thinking?¡±


    Nan Zhou moved his waist and simply wrote on Jiang Fang¡¯s chest, ¡°How to act.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled and touched his hair while also thinking of a solution. Even if the system hadn¡¯t fixed the bug about storing instance creatures in the warehouse, it would be difficult to store these organs one by one.


    It took up space and was impractical. They were living things, unlike the door that didn¡¯t move, abided by the rules and was determined not to kill anyone until their turn. The organs each had their own consciousness and intelligence. They were originally dead so they felt no pain and were difficult to subdue. Conventional monsters had a core area that could kill them in one shot. These organs didn¡¯t seem to have that.


    Aljcu Mjcu tjv qlfgmfv atf tfjga bo atf tjio-ybvs kbwjc klat atf lmf qlmx. Lf Tlcmtejc tjv rwjrtfv tfg tfjv klat j rabcf. Ktf gfreia kjr atja atfgf kjr cb foofma. Rbgwji qfbqif qgbyjyis kbeiv¡¯nf yjmxfv boo j ibcu alwf jub ktfc fcmbecafglcu remt j vloolmeia lcrajcmf.


    Po atfs mbeivc¡¯a joobgv la atfc atfs mbeiv jikjsr tlvf. Tfa ja atlr wbwfca, Rjc Itbe jcv Aljcu Mjcu kfgf atlcxlcu. Po la ageis tjv cb rbiealbc atfc la kjr fjrlfg. Vb ojg, atfs tjv fzqfglfcmfv akb lcrajcmfr. Ktfs regnlnfv jr ibcu jr atfs obecv jc lvfj ab qjrr atgbeut rwbbatis.


    The method for passing the second instance was first thought of by Qi Tianyun, the brains of the not particularly smart barbecue stand trio. He thought about entering the classroom and changing the order in which they heard the rustling.


    The current instance might be a high-intensity test of physical fitness but Nan Zhou felt they could use their brains to break through this seemingly inexplicable and difficult camp. Nan Zhou silently poked his head out of the bushes. The campground was like a hell scene with limbs walking around everywhere.


    Nan Zhou turned a blind eye to this. He noticed that the clothes covering the body parts were ragged but they were obviously the same type as the mountaineering team under the mountain. However, this man was a bit different from the people below.


    His body parts were broken down very thoroughly. Why? Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to guard against outsiders by dispersing the operations like this? So apart from the bear man who looked slightly disabled, why did the gecko man and hammer man have complete limbs?


    By the way, there was the woman with the half-body. She had her lower and upper body separated but she could be called Venus compared to this man who seemed almost cut apart. Why was this person different?


    Nan Zhou leaned back and quietly thought about the face covered with cracks even when it was pieced together like just now. The face was blown black-red from the cold wind. It looked full of vicissitudes and the face full of cracks was like a preserved egg.


    However, this age was obviously different from the other three and a half mountain climbers who had also suffered from the mountain winds for an unknown number of years. He was very young and was like a university student in his early 20s. This wasn¡¯t quite in line with Nan Zhou¡¯s previous idea.


    Before, he thought that the mountaineering team and the person on the hill were on the same team. One person was responsible for guarding the place they valued while the other group kept climbers from reaching the top of the mountain and discovering some sort of secret about the moon god.


    The division of labor was clear and reasonable. Now it seemed that this broken NPC was different from the other NPCs. He was cut up too much. He also wasn¡¯t in the same age group as the other climbers. Would NPCs also engage in external exclusion? No, that wasn¡¯t right. The lower half of the woman¡¯s body was mixed in with this broken man. They were on the same team.


    Nan Zhou thought for a while but he felt that his train of thought was a bit broken. Therefore, he turned to look at Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang was looking at him with a smile. Nan Zhou wrote on his palm, ¡®Have you thought about it?¡¯


    Jiang Fang wrote back, ¡®What are you thinking of?¡¯


    Nan Zhou simply summed up his thoughts. ¡®There are two groups of people. They seem to be of the same kind but they¡¯re not.¡¯


    ¡®Do you need me to provide new arguments?¡¯


    Nan Zhou nodded naturally.


    Jiang Fang wrote one stroke at a time. ¡®Do you feel that the way we came was very peaceful and easy to walk?¡¯


    Nan Zhou nodded again. He had felt it. He might be in a weak state but the four hour journey didn¡¯t consume as much physical strength as when he had been following the team.


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t write anything else and just stared into his eyes.


    Nan Zhou blinked a few times before his eyes lit up.


    Yes. This was indeed a very important issue. Just now, they had walked for a few kilometers through the snowy field. Yet on such an easy path, they never saw any climbers. According to the idea that the mountain climbers divided their troops for the pursuit, the probability of encountering the climbers should be very high during this four hour period.


    Nan Zhou just thought they were lucky so he hadn¡¯t thought too deeply. Jiang Fang didn¡¯t think so. Unlike Nan Zhou, Jiang Fang had been working in casinos for many years and didn¡¯t believe there was so much luck in the world.


    The climbers didn¡¯t come here. Was it because they believed this broken man could hold this area alone? Or¡­


    Was this camp the reason why the climbers deliberately avoided this area and didn¡¯t dare approach?


    Moreover, after they hid behind the rock and threw the mirror, Jiang Fang found that the legs didn¡¯t seem to be trying to catch anyone. It was running when it first appeared. Yet at this time, both he and Nan Zhou were well hidden.


    He Yinchuan and the others were on the other side of the mountain. The legs shouldn¡¯t have a human goal. Thinking about it now, it was completely attracted by the reflection of the mirror. It also went slowly without a sense of crisis. It was like¡­


    It didn¡¯t know there were a few more intruders on the mountain. Then there was a contradiction. There didn¡¯t seem to be any long-distance communication methods such as telepathy among this group of climbers.


    The half-body woman summoned her teammates by blowing on the whistle around her neck. According to normal logic, if the two groups of people on the mountain were in the same team and this camp was very important, at least one person should come here and tell the broken man to be more vigilant.


    However, they didn¡¯t do so. After the avalanche, Jiang Fang had stood behind Nan Zhou and watched the group of people in his vision. They were physically intact but they didn¡¯t have the intention of someone separating and reporting to the top. Therefore, Jiang Fang suspected that the two sides didn¡¯t communicate information. This didn¡¯t seem like what teammates would do.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s thinking was more bizarre and unconventional. If the broken man and these people were in the same team, the entire instance would almost be a dead end for the physically exhausted players. They couldn¡¯t compare with experienced climbers, nor could they gather effective information from these undead people who couldn¡¯t be killed. Even a trained person like He Yinchuan would have his physical strength consumed by this height due to the high-intensity race. He wouldn¡¯t be able to win in a fight.


    On the contrary, there was a chance to reverse the situation if this broken man wasn¡¯t in the same team as the climbers. This turning point might be the key to clearing the game.


    It was just that Nan Zhou was a bit hesitant. He didn¡¯t know if he should take the risk. After all, the current clues could be explained in both directions. If it wasn¡¯t the full moon, he would dare to find the broken man and verify his hypothesis. It was just¡ªJiang Fang¡­


    He looked at Jiang Fang with a bit of worry. Then from the corner of his eye, he vaguely captured a living thing. Jiang Fang followed his gaze. The next moment, the two of them froze. It wasn¡¯t known when it happened but the intestines that had turned purple from the cold had been wandering to their side and was only three or four meters away.


    It drilled out of the snow and faced their direction, standing under the moonlight. It was like a creepy, soft and huge sandworm.


    Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang silently grasped each other¡¯s clothes and covered their mouths and noses with the other hand, minimizing the movement of their bodies. Fortunately, it had no eyes or ears.


    Then the next second, Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang looked at each other again and the same word was read in each other¡¯s eyes.


    ¡®Oops.¡¯


    The legs were wrapped in pants. Meanwhile, the intestines were bare and naked in the cold air. Therefore, it was more sensitive to heat than the legs.


    Nan Zhou suddenly turned over, leaving enough room for Jiang Fang to move. Regardless of hiding, Jiang Fang grabbed the intestines in his hands and controlled it in the shortest possible time. However, it was too late.


    The cobra-like intestines quickly rose from the snow. The intestines, which were six or seven meters high, rose up high and hit the trip wire with the broken bell tied to it.


    Jingle. The mountain wind seemed shocked by the sound of the bell and there was a moment of silence. Suddenly, there was a rustling sound that spread toward this place in a semi-circle. Even if the two groups weren¡¯t in a team, it didn¡¯t mean the other side wouldn¡¯t hurt them. After all, in the legend of the mountain climbers, the ¡®moon god¡¯ on the mountain ate people.


    Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang only had a moment to make preparations.


    Nan Zhou acted swiftly. He took out half a bottle of Truth Tequila from the warehouse and poured the alcohol on the bushes in front of him in a manner that would make Li Yinhang distressed if she saw it. Then he quickly struck the windproof match that Zhou Ao had given them before they left.


    The so-called alcohol always had its original characteristics. The moment the aroma of alcohol spread, there was a roar and then a wall of fire separated Nan Zhou, Jiang Fang and the monster. The organs saw the fire and seemed like frightened animals. They all ran back and forth, gathering a few meters away in horror.


    On top of this snowy mountain, the fire wouldn¡¯t spread for long without special windproof measures. The organs twisted together vigilantly, gradually returning to their positions and joining together to form a vague human form.


    The man stood quietly beyond the fire. He didn¡¯t advance. He just waited for the fire to go out. It was like he was waiting for the two people opposite. However, his stagnation provided enough information for Nan Zhou.


    ¡°You are afraid of fire.¡±


    Through the heavy flames, Nan Zhou saw the man¡¯s hideous face. Perhaps it was due to the frequent disassembly but his facial muscles were weird. As long as they moved, the flesh would be twisted into balls or lumps that intertwined together.


    Even so, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t shy away and observed this face calmly. From such a close distance, the cuts on the face were smooth and looked like they were made from a sharp blade. They were neat and tidy, like the cross-section of the legs. They seemed to have been cut with a knife.


    Through the crackling fire, Nan Zhou asked him softly, ¡°What did the fire do to you?¡±


    ¡°Or what did those people do to you?¡±

 CH 75

    The fire was quickly put out by the cold. The embers shone red on the ground for a while before being wiped out by the snow.


    Nan Zhou knew that they still weren¡¯t out of danger. The male corpse he faced had no intention of letting them go.


    A face with no eyes. Facing them were two dark, deep cavities. In contrast, the moonlight behind the male corpse shone brighter. This made light shine through the cracks in his face that were difficult to fit together perfectly. It looked particularly hideous and weird.


    Nan Zhou thought about how Jiang Fang was by his side and his heart beat faster. He felt a bit confused because he didn¡¯t think the other person was scary. The situation in front of him might be dangerous but for Nan Zhou, it was far from desperate. Previously when he was alone, he had faced many such harsh faces. He should¡¯ve forgotten what nervousness was.


    Fortunately, Nan Zhou¡¯s tension didn¡¯t show on his face. His brain was moving swiftly as he thought about what to say to dispel the male corpse¡¯s hostility in the shortest time.


    The answer was simple. Give him what he wanted.


    Nan Zhou was about to open his mouth but Jiang Fang had already given the answer that Nan Zhou originally wanted to give.


    ¡°We know where that group is.¡±


    ¡°If you follow us, you will find them.¡±


    The muscles on the man¡¯s face slightly twisted. The flesh moving under the skin was like worms. There was no expression management at all and Nan Zhou read a hint of anger from it.


    Wrong.


    It wasn¡¯t this sentence. They were wrong.


    Nan Zhou lowered his head slightly only to find that he and Jiang Fang were each clutching the other person¡¯s clothing, trying to protect the other person. Nan Zhou looked at these beautiful fingers and his heart quieted down. Nan Zhou raised his eyes and changed his words. ¡°You can¡¯t leave here. Moreover, they don¡¯t want to come here.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t even allow any outsiders to come near here and find you.¡±


    ¡°We can help you.¡±


    The man¡¯s drooping eyelids leaped. Immediately, his eyelids lifted up slightly to expose the two eyeholes more clearly. Even the frozen white slurry of his brain was vividly visible. He opened his mouth. Since Nan Zhou had seen the man¡¯s broken body, he could easily imagine a soft, weak and even icy vocal cords shaking and vibrating in his body. He muttered in a horribly cold voice. ¡°They are afraid to come here. No one dares come.¡±


    Nan Zhou relaxed and let go of the hand protecting Jiang Fang¡¯s chest. However, he arbitrarily placed his hand on Jiang Fang¡¯s waist. It was safe for the time being.


    At this time, the eyeball with the legs saw the smoke rising from the base and rushed back. The hand with the legs was holding a bunch of snow rabbits. Upon seeing this, Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang understood why the legs were wandering aimlessly when it met them. After handing the snow rabbits obediently to the male corpse, the male corpse put them away, opened his mouth and wolfed down dry and cold herbivore food.


    The legs didn¡¯t look violent. It carried the ear of the male corpse and silently sat cross-legged beside the male corpse, looking like a scary and funny pet. The man wiped the grass off the corners of his mouth but accidentally dislodged his jaw. He didn¡¯t show any expression as he straightened the bone with a click.


    As he was doing this, Nan Zhou took the eyeball out of the snowball and returned it to him. After taking back the eyeball, the broken male corpse finally put down most of his guard against the two visitors. He tugged at his nearly scrapped vocal cords and whispered his story. It was just that he couldn¡¯t say sentences that were too long. His ability to express himself was as fragmented as his body.


    ¡°I like to climb mountains. I¡¯ve climbed many mountains.¡±


    ¡°This was the first time I climbed a snowy mountain.¡±


    ¡°My friend arrived the next day but left due to severe altitude sickness.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to go. I wanted to try it.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to climb to 4,000 meters before going back.¡±


    ¡°On this mountain, you are only allowed to climb 4,000 meters. This is a rule. If you want to climb a bit higher, you must apply to the Mountaineering Association in advance. This way, they can verify that you have professional qualifications and avoid danger.¡±


    ¡°I met a team at a rest point under the mountain.¡±


    ¡°They said they could take me and we would go together.¡±


    ¡°I originally wanted to find an experienced team to go with so we registered and went together.¡±


    ¡°They also lent me equipment that I hadn¡¯t prepared.¡±


    ¡°I thought they were good people.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought, ¡®Sure enough. There are two groups.¡¯


    Jiang Fang slightly frowned. He realized what would happen next.


    ¡°The first day was sunny.¡±


    ¡°The next day as well.¡±


    ¡°On the third day, we reached the 4,000 meters boundary marker and the weather was still good.¡±


    ¡°They suggested to go up.¡±


    ¡°P kjrc¡¯a mfgajlc. P tjvc¡¯a xcbkc jybea atlr yfobgf.¡±


    ¡°P kjr jogjlv la kbeiv yf vjcufgber ab ub vbkc atf wbecajlc jibcf. Dfrlvfr, P tjv jigfjvs gfjmtfv atlr qblca. P kjcafv ab xcbk ktja atf abq bo atf wbecajlc ibbxfv ilxf.¡±


    ¡°P jrxfv atfw lo atfs tjv gfqbgafv la ab atf Zbecajlcffglcu Crrbmljalbc.¡±


    ¡°They said they reported it.¡±


    His voice rose sharply. His entire body trembled due to excessive anger and the loosely assembled parts spasmed and shook. It seemed like they would leave their place at any time and turn into dregs. His body language clearly told Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang that this somewhat reckless university student had encountered the deadliest lie of his life.


    ¡°Then once we were beyond 5,000 meters, the sky suddenly changed.¡±


    ¡°First, there was heavy snow. The world was completely snow.¡±


    ¡°Then the avalanche hit.¡±


    ¡°Snow. It was all snow.¡±


    ¡°It poured into my nose and my mouth.¡±


    The man¡¯s throat made a muffled sound like he was drowning in the snow. He was still immersed in the nightmare he couldn¡¯t walk out of.


    ¡°I was crushed by the snow.¡±


    ¡°Fortunately, I was buried a bit shallower.¡±


    ¡°I crawled out. A stone had hit my chest and my rib was broken. I don¡¯t know if it was one or two. I didn¡¯t feel it at the time because I wanted to save people first.¡±


    ¡°Everyone was buried in the snow.¡±


    ¡°I saved Brother Li. Brother Li was fine and he went to save others.¡±


    ¡°For the time being, no one had died.¡±


    ¡°However, the satellite phone and food were lost. The map and compass were gone.¡±


    ¡°We looked for a long time and only found the tent and a small amount of supplies.¡±


    ¡°Sister Peng had been buried for too long. Her pants were torn and her legs had frostbite. She was in a very serious condition.¡±


    ¡°I was busy moving with them. The more I was busy, the more I felt chest pain. In the end, I couldn¡¯t stand the pain and fell down.¡±


    ¡°Brother Li hurt his calf but it was fine.¡±


    ¡°Sister Peng and I were the only ones seriously hurt.¡±


    Nan Zhou thought that the Brother Li in his mouth was probably the big, bear-like man. The male corpse sat under the moon and raised his neck, revealing a stiff and blue neck. His two frozen hazel eyes stared straight into the sky.


    ¡°I had a fever. It should be pneumonia. I felt pain all over and kept coughing.¡±


    ¡°I asked them when the rescue would come.¡±


    ¡°Brother Li and the others said that a helicopter would be sent when the snow stopped.¡±


    ¡°However, the snow stopped and the helicopter didn¡¯t come.¡±


    ¡°¡­I was so hungry.¡±


    These four ordinary, slightly drawn out words crossed the snow and wind and gave people goosebumps.


    ¡°Sister Peng was in a more serious state than me.¡±


    ¡°Her legs got gangrene.¡±


    ¡°Group Leader Lu said that without amputation, her legs would turn into a bacterial culture medium.¡±


    ¡°They persuaded Sister Peng that she wouldn¡¯t be able to live without amputation. Even if she waited for rescue, she wouldn¡¯t survive.¡±


    ¡°Sister Peng agreed.¡±


    ¡°However, after the amputation, Sister Peng was no longer conscious.¡±


    ¡°That day, I suddenly smelled something outside the tent. It was fragrant.¡±


    ¡°Brother Li and the others stuffed a bit of meat into the unconscious Sister Peng¡¯s mouth. Then they went to my tent and told me they encountered a snow deer.¡±


    ¡°They fed the meat to my mouth.¡±


    ¡°I ate it.¡±


    ¡°I knew. How could there be deer on the mountain?¡±


    ¡°I also knew that they were the ones most afraid of dying if rescue didn¡¯t come.¡±


    ¡°Still, I was afraid to say it.¡±


    ¡°Thus, I ate the meat.¡±


    He pulled up the legs of his trousers. Large clumps of white cotton were stuffed into the trouser legs. The cotton used to keep warm stuffed the legs of the mountaineering pants into the shape of a radish. After removing the cotton, a large area of white bones with the flesh cleanly removed was exposed. The male corpse continued to whisper.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t dead. I was alive.¡±


    ¡°But they were hungry.¡±


    ¡°Sister Peng was their friend.¡±


    ¡°They couldn¡¯t find a valid reason to justify it and couldn¡¯t speak.¡±


    ¡°But I¡­ wasn¡¯t their friend.¡±


    The male corpse¡¯s mood gradually stabilized as he talked about himself. It seemed that the sadness, anger and hatred of being deceived were gradually brought to the top of the mountain beyond his reach by the vigorous wind.


    ¡°One day, I was lying in the tent and Brother Li came in.¡±


    ¡°He checked my breathing.¡±


    ¡°Then he called out suddenly and said that Xiao Zheng was dead.¡±


    ¡°I told them that I wasn¡¯t dead.¡±


    ¡°Group Leader Lu and Brother Yuan came in.¡±


    ¡°They wondered how Xiao Zheng died.¡±


    ¡°I told them that I wasn¡¯t dead.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t listen to me. They didn¡¯t need to listen to me.¡±


    ¡°They had knives.¡±


    ¡°My head rolled to the side and I could see my body. They were scraping at the flesh of my cheeks to eat it.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the cheek meat of fish is the most tender.¡±


    He stared blankly at Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang.


    ¡°The meat smelled good.¡±


    Jiang Fang took a deep breath and used the cold air to suppress the chill that surged to his throat.


    Nan Zhou asked Xiao Zheng, ¡°These legs¡­¡±


    ¡°They are Sister Peng¡¯s legs.¡± Xiao Zheng answered calmly. ¡°I don¡¯t know about Sister Peng¡¯s other half. This half stayed here with me. It has always been with me.¡±


    The straightforward, unembellished narration brought an unusually terrible shock to people¡¯s souls. Nevertheless, Nan Zhou¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change too much as he asked a direct question. ¡°What is your name?¡±


    Xiao Zheng was taken aback. The remaining human emotions in his body made him unable to understand Nan Zhou¡¯s fearlessness. He pulled at his terrible vocal cords. ¡°Zheng Xinghe.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Zheng Xinghe, why can¡¯t you get out of here?¡±


    ¡°I was eaten here and I can¡¯t leave this place.¡±


    ¡°Sister Peng¡¯s legs left with your eyes and hand.¡±


    ¡°Only a part of me can leave. My body parts can¡¯t be separated from each other for too long.¡±


    Zheng Xinghe¡¯s situation was similar to that of an earth bound spirit. In the camp, he was free to move around. Then after leaving the camp, the necessary connections between his body parts had to be maintained.


    After leaving the camp, his disassembled body parts were too easily deactivated. Even so, parts of his body were gradually liquefying, turning into gel and turning into plastic no matter how careful he was. It was just like his ears or his face full of muscles.


    Zheng Xinghe smiled and the muscles of his face started to move around again. ¡°Sooner or later, I will become mud.¡±


    ¡°Then they don¡¯t have to be afraid.¡±


    Nan Zhou got it now. It wasn¡¯t known how the climbers turned into monsters but it was known that they couldn¡¯t face their sins. Therefore, they stayed at 4,000 meters above sea level, getting rid of all climbers who might peek at their secrets.


    Zheng Xinghe concluded, ¡°I can¡¯t leave.¡±


    Nan Zhou casually said, ¡°I have a way.¡±


    Zheng Xinghe abruptly looked up, hazel eyes faintly shining in the moonlight. ¡°What is the method?¡±


    ¡°Answer my question first.¡± Nan Zhou asked, ¡°Have you ever heard of the moon god on the mountain?¡±


    Zheng Xinghe thought about it before replying, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the moon god is. I have never heard of such a legend.¡±


    Nan Zhou gave a hum in response, his eyes a light color. No one knew what he was thinking.


    ***


    Li Yinhang was very glad that Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou didn¡¯t follow He Yinchuan¡¯s team.


    In the second half of the journey, there was a distance of 50 meters where they climbed up at a right-angle slope of 80 degrees. The rock wall under their feet was constantly sliding and beneath them was a hundred meters of snow. As they climbed, they were always worried that someone would catch up behind them. Therefore, they focused their energy on how to step on the slippery snow rocks steadily and quickly to climb to the top in the shortest time.


    It wasn¡¯t until they reached a platform and found a slightly flatter place that the boiling adrenaline stopped. Li Yinhang almost fell down in one breath. Fortunately, their efforts bore fruit. The climbers didn¡¯t seem to catch up.


    Lu Bifang and Zhou Ao took turns exploring the way. Zhou Ao went in a circle before successfully joining up with them. He sorted out the bandages in his hands and talked while releasing white fog from his mouth. ¡°The side of the mountain is too flat.¡±


    This meant they couldn¡¯t go there. Too flat meant there was nowhere to hide. The road they were walking right now was rugged and changeable, with erratic rocks. However, if they calculated the angle well and changed the route a lot while moving forward in a roundabout way, they could hide their whereabouts.


    Meanwhile, Lin Zhisong took advantage of the break to once again come to Li Yinhang¡¯s side. He said quietly, ¡°You really don¡¯t think there is a problem with Nan Zhou?¡±


    Normal people who had been frustrated by Li Yinhang for so long should be able to read the air and know Li Yinhang¡¯s position. Obviously, Lin Zhisong belonged to the type of person who wasn¡¯t normal.


    Li Yinhang simply adopted a non-violent and uncooperative attitude. She lowered her head without saying a word.


    Liang Shu quietly pulled Lin Zhisong aside. ¡°What is the use of saying this?¡±


    ¡°It is useful. There must be something wrong with that Nan Zhou.¡± Lin Zhisong explained. ¡°I¡¯ll say it a few more times so she has a shadow in her heart.¡±


    Liang Shu smiled helplessly. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just tell her directly to be more careful?¡±


    Half of Lin Zhisong¡¯s face was in the shadows and wasn¡¯t very clear. He said, ¡°Kind reminders are of no use. Doubt is the best way to make her vigilant.¡±


    His young face was tense as he stared at the place where Li Yinhang was sitting in a strange manner. Then Liang Shu slapped him in the head and destroyed his posture.


    Lin Zhisong, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Liang Shu hit the nail on the head. ¡°You are trying to sow discord.¡±


    Having said that, Liang Shu turned and left. She didn¡¯t forget to look back and give Lin Zhisong the middle finger to warn him not to do this type of thing again.


    Lin Zhisong rubbed his head.


    ¡­It hurt.


    He kept a robotic face as he stubbornly spoke to himself. ¡°There is a problem.¡±


    Meanwhile, He Yinchuan didn¡¯t care about these small troubles in the team. He looked up at the top of the mountain. The wind and snow obscured his sight and gave him the illusion that there was no end to the mountain peak. He shook his head and got rid of such empty and pointless thoughts. He turned around and smiled to encourage everyone. ¡°I might not know how far we are from the top of the mountain but at the very least, those ghosts can¡¯t run in front of us¡ª¡±


    He was just speaking when a strange shadow appeared from behind him and swallowed up the light and shadows on his face. It was like a bear standing in front of everyone. The huge and vague moon shadow was projected from behind the bear, making him look like a monster walking out of the moon. The so-called moon god¡­


    After being in a daze for a moment, Li Yinhang recognized the identity of the figure. The bear-like man! He licked his lips as he smiled, making his dry lips shine slightly. ¡°¡ªI¡¯m hungry.¡±

 CH 76

    Fear of the Full Moon


    He Yinchuan responded extremely quickly.


    Rather than retreating, he moved forward. He rolled flexibly in the snow while pulling a dagger out of his boots. Before the sound of unsheathing had disappeared, a cold light waved at the bear man¡¯s waist and abdomen.


    This near suicide behavior went beyond the judgment of the bear man.


    He was severely slashed in the waist and his entire body was hit by He Yinchuan, who suddenly rushed up. His back fell to the ground.


    He Yinchuan didn¡¯t try to use his body to suppress this human-shaped black bear. He took the handle of the knife that pierced the waist and turned the handle while falling into the snow. He was reaching out to grab the handle of another dagger when an ominous feeling came from behind him.


    He Yinchuan acted out of intuition. He pulled out the dagger at the speed of light and turned back.


    There was a mouthful of steel teeth. At the speed of light, the teeth bit the dagger he was holding into steel fragments!


    In an instant, only half of the dagger in He Yinchuan¡¯s hand was left!


    The bear man¡¯s movements were much faster and more flexible than his body looked!


    He Yinchuan gritted his teeth and became fiercer.


    In just a few seconds, he made three choices.


    The third choice was the same as the previous two.


    He still didn¡¯t choose to back down.


    He pulled out the dagger from the bear man''s waist. Only a bit of black blood was brought out. The other hand held remnants of the sharp dagger and he slashed it fiercely at the bear man¡¯s neck.


    He Yinchuan¡¯s fighting style was to completely go up and play with people.


    Even if the bear man was very powerful and flexible, he couldn¡¯t expect He Yinchuan to act completely contrary to a normal human¡¯s desire for survival.


    He was puzzled as he grabbed He Yinchuan¡¯s right hand and arm that intended to cut his throat.


    He used just a bit of effort and the group of people could hear the cracking of bones through the wind and snow.


    He Yinchuan roared. He threw the dagger in the air, grabbed it with his other hand and slashed the dagger horizontally across the bear man¡¯s throat.


    The sharp blade with ice pierced the skin of the neck.


    However, the bear man still felt no pain as he reached out to grab He Yinchuan¡¯s neck.


    His hand was the size of a fan.


    In contrast, He Yinchuan¡¯s neck seemed unusually weak and couldn¡¯t withstand a single bit of the bear man¡¯s strength.


    At this moment, Zhou Ao silently moved from behind and jumped onto the bear man¡¯s back.


    The tightly wrapped bandages around his arms loosened and moved like snakes, wrapping around the bear man¡¯s neck.


    Li Yinhang was shocked to discover that after the bandages were loosened, there was nothing under the bandages!


    Zhou Ao¡¯s arms and arms were long gone.


    He was the captain of the fire brigade when he entered the game.


    He volunteered for this so he shouldn¡¯t have a disability.


    Li Yinhang shuddered as she wondered what instance he had lost his arms in.


    Fortunately, these bandages were obviously items and Zhou Ao used them well.


    The bandages followed the bear man¡¯s cheeks like vines and climbed upwards, wrapping tightly around his eyes.


    The bear man was shocked.


    His vision dimmed and he lost his goal. The hands grabbing He Yinchuan loosened slightly.


    He Yinchuan endured the pain and seized the opportunity to step on his chest.


    As he was being strangled, Zhou Ao had tacitly left the handle of the dagger outside for him to use.


    He Yinchuan cooperated and drew the dagger again. He used the full strength of his arm and slashed at the weird shape of the man¡¯s leg joints.


    The bear man was disabled.


    The sharpness of this dagger wasn¡¯t enough to cut human bones but he could only try it!


    As long as he ruined one of the bear man¡¯s legs, they would be able to hold him back a bit!


    It wasn¡¯t known what type of material it was but an abnormal change suddenly occurred.


    The moment the dagger¡¯s sharp blade was going to sweep over the knees, the bear man¡¯s boots wriggled strangely.


    The creature inside seemed to have its own activity. It opened the boots and grabbed He Yinchuan¡¯s dagger with a tight force!


    It was actually a weird arm inside the bear man¡¯s boots!


    No wonder why it didn¡¯t match the thickness of the bear man''s legs at all.


    Besides, this hand was very strange.


    There were sticky webs between the five fingers.


    It was like a cross between a frog and a person and it looked like dead bark in the moonlight.


    It was also as hard as steel.


    In other words, it wasn¡¯t a hand that belonged to humanity at all!


    This shouldn¡¯t even belong to this monster!


    Just as He Yinchuan was feeling stunned by the inhuman arm, the bear man uttered a heart-piercing shout toward the moonlight.


    The sound was thunderous and loud.


    At this time, there were no places around them that could cause an avalanche.


    The shout caused the moon shadows on the mountain to become dim.


    There was a strange, sticky and quiet darkness.


    He Yinchuan didn¡¯t have time to think about where this hand came from. The moment the shout emerged, he forcibly changed the direction of the blade. He jumped up and inserted the knife into the bear man¡¯s mouth.


    Zhou Ao even wrapped the bandages around his neck into his mouth, strangling the base of his tongue.


    Even so, the bear man didn¡¯t die, fall down or feel pain!


    Lu Bifang finally came from the other side.


    The three of them worked together but they couldn¡¯t pull down the bear man who lost his vision.


    Zhou Ao gritted his teeth and concentrated on doing his own thing.


    Lu Bifang also saw the webbed fingers moving in the air. ¡°What is that?¡±


    He Yinchuan was upset and shouted loudly, ¡°How should I know?!¡±


    He turned around and shouted at Liang Shu, Lin Zhisong and Li Yinhang. ¡°Run!¡±


    He turned back again. ¡°Xiao Lu, you also run!¡±


    He and Zhou Ao were only barely able to tangle up with the bear man.


    They wouldn¡¯t be able to escape if the bear man called someone else.


    Lin Zhisong¡¯s eyes were fixed on the bear man¡¯s strange legs and his voice trembled slightly. ¡°It is as I thought!¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking?!¡± Liang Shu¡¯s charming eyes narrowed and she licked Lin Zhisong¡¯s ass. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what the captain said? Run!¡±


    However, a skinny head poked out in a ghostly manner from a snow pile on one side.


    Li Yinhang was familiar with this face.


    It was the gecko man who climbed on the edge of the small concrete building and eavesdropped on them!


    There was a big smile on his skinny face.


    ¡°Found¡ªyou¡ª¡±


    Liang Shu swore and removed her gloves. She pulled out two needle-shaped weapons from her item slot and strode to meet the strangely smiling man while shouting at Li Yinhang, ¡°Run!¡±


    Li Yinhang knew she was a weak chicken. She chose a direction and ran away!


    The only thing she was confident about was her fitness.


    She didn¡¯t have any fighting skills at all.


    Staying here was just adding chaos.


    The hard snow hit her in the face, leaving her unable to open her eyes.


    Therefore, when she found that the half-body woman was crawling on the rock five steps away from her, she had no time to change her direction.


    The moment the eyes of a person and a monster met, the half-body woman jumped from the snow. She opened her smashed arms that were twisted like a frog and rushed straight at Li Yinhang!


    Li Yinhang¡¯s blood instantly froze from the cold.


    She froze in place and stared at the black, tongueless mouth that was getting closer to her.


    Suddenly, an arm emerged from beside her and threw a black object at the half-body woman.


    The half-woman couldn¡¯t use her arms freely so she naturally opened her mouth and caught the stone-like thing.


    She consciously bit it.


    Boom¡ª


    The woman was shocked by the huge impact and flew straight back. Most of her face immediately flew dozens of meters away.


    At the moment of the explosion, Lin Zhisong had held down Li Yinhang¡¯s head and rolled to the side with her.


    ...A grenade?


    Li Yinhang was numb and she gasped with fear. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say...¡± the system didn¡¯t allow them to bring in any weapons?


    Lin Zhisong¡¯s pale face was now a gray-black color.


    He looked at her indifferently. ¡°Can¡¯t I make it myself?¡±


    The tone was natural, as if asking her why she couldn¡¯t do the homework of a primary school class.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°......¡±


    Lin Zhisong wiped his face. ¡°If we hadn¡¯t run into that woman when I was afraid that the terrain wasn¡¯t right and would cause problems, I would¡¯ve already used it.¡±


    Li Yinhang gave a low gasp. ¡°Then how many do you have?¡±


    Lin Zhisong answered concisely, ¡°There are just two. It is in the test phase and the power is average.¡±


    He looked behind Li Yinhang. ¡°Don¡¯t run either. If we scatter then you will die faster.¡±


    Then he stuffed another black, round object into Li Yinhang¡¯s hand. ¡°Remember, pull this ring. The delay is short and the usage isn¡¯t good. It is easy to blow yourself up.¡±


    Li Yinhang was momentarily speechless as she looked at this man she had once been too lazy to care about.


    Then she noticed that his gaze was shifting. Li Yinhang followed it and couldn¡¯t help her heart tightening.


    The woman whose face had been blown up had climbed out of the snow.


    She only had half a skull left.


    The hollow cavity of her head was attached to her neck, making her look more hideous and gruesome than a moment ago.


    Lin Zhisong stood up, took out two stun batons in a lacquered casing. He flung his hands and the stun batons that were less than half a meter snapped out a further 30 centimeters.


    He gritted his teeth. His voice trembled slightly but he tried to speak to Li Yinhang as firmly as possible. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡±


    At the same time, He Yinchuan was firmly controlling the bear man with Zhou Ao and couldn¡¯t leave when he saw not far away, a figure with a huge hammer moving through the wind and snow. His heart sank completely.


    The hammer man, the leader of the mountaineering team, smiled as he looked at the chaos here. He wasn¡¯t nervous.


    His empty eyes wandered around for a moment as he tried to pick a target worthy of eating.


    The most important thing was to satisfy the desire of his appetite.


    Food was the primary need.


    Soon, his eyes fell on the lone Li Yinhang.


    Li Yinhang cleverly held the grenade behind her.


    She half truthfully and half falsely pretended to be paralyzed while her tail finger hooked tightly onto the ring of the grenade that Lin Zhisong had given her.


    As the man carrying the hammer approached, the nervous Li Yinhang felt like she was experiencing an illusion.


    She seemed to hear several other footsteps approaching her slowly.


    She quickly bit the tip of her tongue and forced herself to stay awake with the pain.


    Then she saw the hammer man suddenly stop eight or nine steps away from her.


    His smiling eyes had lost their composure. They were now staring so wide that they almost popped out.


    It was like... he saw something that was hard to understand.


    Li Yinhang almost thought it was a deliberate attempt to tempt her to look at something. The moment she turned her head, he would lift the hammer and kill her.


    It wasn¡¯t until there were somewhat stagnant footsteps behind her that Li Yinhang woke up and turned carefully.


    Zheng Xinghe was holding his head as he slowly stepped out of the snow shadows.


    Following him was Nan Zhou holding his belt with the moonlight threads.


    The moonlight threads extended from the light chains on Nan Zhou¡¯s fingers.


    There were also several rays of light that were dragging a long tail of light that extended into the unknown distance until it was submerged in the snowy horizon.


    Jiang Fang was carrying Nan Zhou and approaching step by step.


    He winked playfully at Li Yinhang who was about to burst into tears.


    ¡®We came to pick up the child.¡¯


    He Yinchuan who wasn¡¯t far away, ¡°......¡±


    What the h*ll was this?


    Where did they pick up such a big monster?


    ***


    After using it along the way, Nan Zhou¡¯s light finger chains had achieved a small upgrade.


    The speed at which items rose from level 0 to level 1 was often very fast.


    The light condensed for longer periods of time or it could be pulled a lot longer when the light was constant.


    However, it was still soft.


    It wouldn¡¯t work at all if an attack was needed.


    Fortunately, Nan Zhou only needed it to play the role of a tool.


    The sky might be dim right now but the large moon provided Nan Zhou with a constant light source.


    The full moon that originally restricted him had become one of his tools.


    Since the body parts needed contact with each other, Nan Zhou would provide the contact.


    Based on the tools he currently had, Nan Zhou put forward an incredible idea to Zheng Xinghe.


    ¡°Choose the organs you want to bring with you that are useful.¡±


    ¡°The others will stay and look after this place.¡±


    Zheng Xinghe listened to Nan Zhou¡¯s plan and carefully selected his legs, hands, eyes, ears and mouth and so on, leaving behind all the organs in his body except the heart.


    Nan Zhou left the organs tied with a strong boy and set off from the camp while holding a few rays of light.


    This was equivalent to connecting the body parts by an infinite string.


    They might be scattered but they still established a sense of each other.


    They took Zheng Xinghe through the wind and snow, following the bear man¡¯s roars and Lin Zhisong¡¯s explosion so that Zheng Xinghe could get revenge.


    The hammer man surnamed Lu was dumbfounded when Zheng Xinghe appeared. He screamed strangely and turned around to flee.


    Zheng Xinghe sneered and threw his head out.


    There was a bit of hatred and he bit the hammer man¡¯s cheeks. He immediately bit off a piece of raw meat!


    Originally, there was no pain when being attacked with a knife or axe but now Group Leader Lu seemed to have suffered a great deal of pain. He screamed miserably.


    The scream frightened the other monsters.


    They looked over here.


    The gecko man had pressed Liang Shu into the snow and was being held by Lu Bifang, who had come to help. Before the gecko man could escape, he was grabbed around the throat by a pair of flying arms. They strangled him and frightened Lu Bifang into letting go.


    Zheng Xinghe¡¯s dismembered limbs were connected with countless rays of light. Under the guidance of Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes, they attacked their own targets. They grabbed, scratched, kicked and punched to vent their hatred.


    Only the head went straight to attacking the bear man.


    Brother Li, the bear man was the one Zheng Xinghe personally saved.


    He was also the first to sentence Zheng Xinghe to death.


    How could Zheng Xinghe not hate him?


    How?


    The head, filled with infinite hatred, opened his mouth and bit the bear man¡¯s shoulder muscles!


    The bear man had lost his vision and now he felt pain. His eyes turned red!


    He suddenly launched a fierce attack and unexpectedly broke Zhou Ao¡¯s bandages with his bare hands. At the same time, he grabbed Zheng Xinghe¡¯s head and violently pulled it off despite tearing off a large piece of his shoulder muscles!


    Seeing that the situation wasn¡¯t good, He Yinchuan immediately jumped off the bear man¡¯s body and backed away.


    The moment the bear man regained his vision, he saw He Yinchuan running away in front of him.


    He roared and moved his leg forward.


    Zhou Ao fell to the ground, his arms temporarily scrapped.


    He couldn¡¯t catch up at all and could only yell, ¡°Yinchuan!¡±


    Just then, a whirl of pale gold splashed down on the vast snow field under his feet.


    The snowy mountain.


    On the way up the mountain, Nan Zhou had kept looking up at the moon and looking down at the shadows.


    He had found that the moon might be so big it occupied almost all the sky, but it was always rotating.


    At first, when they went up the mountain, they walked with the moon at their backs.


    Then when Nan Zhou parted ways with them, he saw his shadow curled up at his feet.


    Later, the position of the moon moved forward.


    Then the moon¡¯s light faded.


    It was the darkest hour before dawn.


    Rotating meant that once the moon¡¯s time was over, the sunrise would make itself known.


    No one could appreciate the momentarily golden burst of light.


    The bear man¡¯s fist was about to break He Yinchuan¡¯s head.


    Suddenly, slightly frozen fingers grabbed the bear man¡¯s shoulder from behind.


    The bear man, who was as powerful as a cow, was caught by this hand and actually stopped in place. He could no longer move forward.


    He twisted his neck stiffly.


    The snow was dazzling and the sunlight was brilliant.


    Nan Zhou stood on the snow underneath the sun and sighed softly. ¡°It is dawn.¡±


    Nan Zhou twisted gently. The bear man¡¯s thick and muscular neck turned 180¡¯s back and ended up facing Nan Zhou.


    Nan Zhou faced his eyes that were bulging like a goldfish and greeted him politely. ¡°Hello.¡±

 CH 77

    Fear of the Full Moon


    Nan Zhou naturally had his reasons for finding the bear man first.


    He stared at the bear man¡¯s leg with the weird webbed hands and asked curiously, ¡°Your leg... this hand... where did this leg come from?¡±


    The bear man roared and reached out for Nan Zhou.


    He just couldn¡¯t adapt to the strange posture where his butt and face were in the same position. He instinctively reached out and swung wildly, almost hitting He Yinchuan who wasn¡¯t far from him.


    He Yinchuan¡¯s arm was severely swollen but he refused to be a burden. He picked up the dagger that had fallen into the snow.


    Nan Zhou took his collar, pulled him to the side and gave him a disapproving shake of his head.


    He Yinchuan looked at him. ¡°......¡±


    Nan Zhou was concise. ¡°It has been adjusted.¡±


    Immediately after, Nan Zhou picked He Yinchuan up and threw him with one hand.


    It was in the direction of Zhou Ao.


    It was a very accurate throw.


    Zhou Ao¡¯s hands regrew the bandages and it quickly wrapped around He Yinchuan¡¯s waist. He held He Yinchuan in his arms and it was wrapped so tightly that He Yinchuan¡¯s waist injury almost reoccurred on the spot.


    The two men faced each other and gasped for breath. They both saw the doubt in their eyes at the sharp turn of events.


    Nan Zhou finally found a suitable word.


    His hands were behind his back as moved behind the bear man¡¯s head and pointed to the leg. ¡°Tell me where this thing came from.¡±


    The bear man refused to pay attention. He snorted and tried to twist his head back around.


    Nan Zhou gently tsked. He carefully hid the hand with the finger chains behind him and reached out one hand. He looked at the bear man¡¯s arms that were twice as thick as his own and cut at them twice with a hand knife.


    ¡°Snap, snap¡ª¡±


    After two harsh bone snapping sounds, the bear man¡¯s arms hung down at two unbelievable angles due to the influence of gravity.


    Nan Zhou had broken his bones.


    The bear man couldn¡¯t even hold his head.


    At this time, Zheng Xinghe¡¯s head had swallowed the flesh and blood of the enemy¡¯s shoulder with one bite. He held it deeply before opening the mouth full of sharp teeth. He jumped up again and fiercely bit the nose of the bear man who was turning angrily!


    This was one of the most vulnerable parts of the body.


    The bear man screamed. He could no longer endure the pain and fell onto the snow, rolling hard.


    Nan Zhou took advantage of the chaos. He stepped on the bear man¡¯s rolling knees and directly pulled out the webbed hand that had fused with the flesh and blood.


    He grabbed the end of the arm in a posture that was itchy and politely told the frantic head, ¡°I¡¯m occupied.¡±


    It was suddenly free and the webbed hand immediately rolled in order to escape.


    It had been fused with this body for a long time and naturally possessed the ability to act separately.


    However, Nan Zhou crouched down without any hesitation. He had a cold face as he grabbed the arm and smashed it against a black rock covered with hundreds of years of frozen soil.


    The hand didn¡¯t originally belong to the bear man. It was imported.


    It obviously knew pain.


    After being smashed violently by Nan Zhou, it was already unable to move. The broken fingertips twitched slightly and it seemed miserable.


    It probably hated that there were no convenient joints so it couldn¡¯t even turn around to scratch Nan Zhou.


    Nan Zhou cleaned it up violently and stared at it curiously for a while. Then he carried it as he headed toward the other two monsters being beaten.


    The hammer man, Group Leader Lu was kneeling down with his throat pinned by a pair of legs. The other foot was frantically kicking him in the back of his head and his face had become bloody.


    The gecko-man¡¯s eyes were pinched to look like a frog and the little blood in his body was concentrated in his eyes. He was pinched to the point of almost bleeding.


    Zheng Xinghe had successfully surrounded most of the opposing team by himself.


    The only one who wasn¡¯t surrounded by Zheng Xinghe was the half-body woman. In the face of the sudden change, she could only crawl on the ground. She wanted to retreat but she didn¡¯t dare retreat. She could only maintain the offensive posture and make meaningless roars.


    This lasted until a pair of legs stood behind the upper body.


    It got on one knee somewhat sadly beside the broken upper body.


    The half-body woman noticed something behind her and looked back maliciously with half broken eyes.

 CH 78

    Fear of the Full Moon


    Nan Zhou¡¯s palm was covered by the thin, golden snow.


    He murmured, ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    It was 20 minutes before the end of the instance.


    This was really a path that the Bronze Brigade had never envisaged.


    They had never experienced a leisurely time before the end of the instance and for a while, they didn¡¯t know what to do.


    The peak of the slightly flat snowy mountain was filled with snow that would last for thousands of years.


    They knew that once players like them left, the traces they left behind would be wiped out in a few moments.


    Everything would return to desolation.


    Nan Zhou gathered snow from elsewhere.


    A big snowball started to take shape under his hands.


    Jiang Fang helped bring more snow while asking, ¡°What do you want to do?¡±


    Nan Zhou earnestly formed the snowball. ¡°Make a friend for him.¡±


    Jiang Fang smiled slightly and painted the remaining snow on his palm onto Nan Zhou¡¯s face.


    If the time isn¡¯t too late, I really want to kiss him.


    Since the time isn¡¯t right, I can only let my fingertips kiss him first.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°?¡±


    He pointed to the tip of his nose and the white marks on his face and said, ¡°There isn¡¯t enough time. I can¡¯t have a snowball fight with you now. We will do it later.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s smile became bright.


    He acquiesced to this ¡® later.¡¯


    Li Yinhang also approached their side on her hands and knees and skillfully gathered the snow.


    The trio worked together and soon made a body for the snowman.


    It was just that there wasn¡¯t much time left.


    Once there were five minutes left, He Yinchuan approached the busy trio with a snowman¡¯s head.


    The snowman¡¯s eyes were the two cufflinks from Lu Bifang¡¯s sweater.


    The nose was a small cone that Zhou Ao wrapped with his cut bandages.


    The redness of the cheeks were dyed with Liang Shu¡¯s simple item.


    The woolen cap was from He Yinchuan.


    He Yinchuan held the snowman¡¯s head and said softly, ¡°This is our hearts.¡±


    Then He Yinchuan looked at the clear snow in the daylight and spoke solemnly, ¡°Thank you for saving us.¡±


    He turned to Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Nan Zhou blinked. ¡°You helped us so we just helped back.¡±


    Until now, Nan Zhou hadn¡¯t understood the motivation of the Bronze Brigade.


    They didn¡¯t seem to enjoy the thrill and excitement like Xie Xiangyu.


    No one forced them to come.


    TL: I¡¯m so excited about the next arc! Some answers are finally revealed, although there are still some mysteries remaining.

 CH 79

    Eternal Day


    Eternal Day was the debut work of a horror cartoonist 23 years ago.


    The cover of the first comic officially released showed the protagonist, a young man with his hair in a ponytail.


    He bit his black hair tie as he sat in front of the mirror, combing his hair.


    His name was Nan Zhou.


    He was the only protagonist of the comic ¡®Eternal Day.¡¯


    The story of Eternal Day was set in the fictional Never Town.


    In this closed off and warm town, the time of night was related to the moon.


    Every month, there was a full moon on the 15th day and day and night were half:half.


    Using the 15th as the dividing line, the hours of the night were shortened in turn.


    The first day of the month was the only day without any night.


    On the day, the snow-white sun would turn Never Town into a city of sunlight where nothing could be seen.


    It wasn¡¯t only darkness that covered people¡¯s eyes but also light.


    Therefore, the first day of every month became a day of rest for the residents of Never Town.


    No matter what day of the week it fell on, the residents of never Town would rest at home.


    Office workers and students were suspended.


    There were few vehicles on the streets shrouded in white sunlight.


    Only the constant light from the traffic lights was scattered by the blazing sunlight into light color ripples that swayed shallowly in the hot air.


    This weird, abnormal light gave birth to a monster called the light demon.


    The light demon was born from an irreversible source of infection called light bacteria.


    They had the same appearance as humans but they were extremely aggressive and flexible. They also possessed the same intelligence as ordinary people.


    In normal times, they firmly believed they were ordinary people living in Never Town.


    At the beginning of every month, on the day of ¡®extreme sunlight¡¯, the self-awareness of the light demons would awaken.


    In these 24 hours of white, chaotic light, they could choose to transform into their true selves and randomly hunt the residents of the small town to continue their lives.


    If ordinary people were bitten and infected by the light bacteria, another light demon would be born.


    However, once the light bacteria entered the human body, the light bacteria would form its own variants due to different physical techniques. It also formed a self-protective spiritual strain that occupied the brain.


    Therefore, one of the characteristics of the light demon was mental fragility.


    In other words, once the light demon treated another light demon like a human and bit them, it was possible to become infected and die themselves unless their strain was stronger than the other one.


    It was like drawing a lottery ticket.


    On the other hand, they could absorb the nutrients from the opponent¡¯s body. This was huge luck and they wouldn¡¯t need to hunt for three months.


    Perhaps they wouldn¡¯t need to hunt all their lives.


    Of course, the light demons had limits.


    Author¡¯s note: the little yellow book placed under the pillow allowed Nan Zhou to gain strange new knowledge from the human world.

 CH 80

    Eternal Day


    Cube Boat chose Homeland Island as the rest point this time.


    The slogan of Homeland Island was ¡®the closest thing to the ¡°Peach Blossom Spring.¡¯


    The land here was fertile and water was abundant.


    The carefully refined black land was so fertile that it could squeeze out juice.


    Going fishing in the sea often led to a good yield.


    They could also find a place in the central ranch and raise a side animal or ride a horse to herd cattle and sheep.


    Fishing and farming were all indispensable.


    Many players who accumulated points early on liked to concentrate on Homeland Island, buying a piece of land and exchanging agricultural products for life points.


    It was just that agricultural and animal husbandry products were cheap. Most players didn¡¯t have any business acumen and they was no way to read the saved file and start over.


    So far, there had been more than 100 players who collapsed. The original accumulated points had returned to zero. They were so poor they had to sell their land to recover and obediently went back to playing instances.


    Still, Homeland Island was always the warm Homeland Island. Nothing would change this.


    The fruit custard here was the freshest. It came to the table right after being picked from the branches.


    Strawberries and lychees were hollowed out and squeezed into the simplest condensed milk. Then it was frozen in the freezer for a few hours and became a delicious, fresh dessert with a sweet mist.


    There was one dessert and two flavors, so it was three of each flavor.


    At this time, Nan Zhou and Nanji Star were facing off in front of the dessert plate.


    Nanji Star excitedly slammed down his paw next to the lychee.


    ¡®I want to eat this.¡¯


    Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t very happy and bargained with him. ¡°I like to eat it.¡±


    Nanji Star thought about it before reluctantly moving his paw to the strawberry.


    Nan Zhou pondered on it for a moment. ¡°I like to eat that too.¡±


    Nanji Star was angry. He hugged the lychee custard and his two back legs moved. He jumped into the tissue box so that only his head was exposed from the box. In front of Nan Zhou, he protested and bit the edge of the lychee.


    Nanji Star was proud. ¡°Ji.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°......¡±


    Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang both laughed.


    Li Yinhang rubbed Nanji Star¡¯s head while Jiang Fang touched Nan Zhou¡¯s head.


    Both sides were soothed.


    Nan Zhou took a wooden spoon and carefully ate the strawberry custard.


    His concentration was like it was the only dessert left in the world.


    An apple-faced female NPC wearing a headscarf gently touched Nan Zhou¡¯s wrist. She handed him a tissue and pointed to his lips with red cheeks.


    There was smeared white condensed milk.


    Before Nan Zhou could reach out his hand, Jiang Fang gently raised a hand and wiped it off for him with a thumb.


    Immediately, he took the tissue from the apple-faced girl¡¯s hand and wiped his fingers before telling her politely, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The apple-faced girl wanted to spend some time with Nan Zhou but the bell at the dessert shop door rang and new guests entered.


    She had to smile shyly at Nan Zhou before running back to the counter.


    Li Yinhang felt like she had seen this scene before.


    She smiled and said, ¡°It seems that many NPCs like you.¡±

 CH 81

    Eternal Day


    Nan Zhou was bitten by the queen as set by the author.


    However, in the author¡¯s setting, Nan Zhou should still be an ordinary person at this time.


    It was a setting contradiction.


    There was a program error.


    Then they could only skip the contradictions and give a result that could be justified by both sides.


    In the comics, the ending of the queen wasn¡¯t explained.


    Nan Zhou was the only one who walked out of the house and came to the street alive.


    In other words, he was still alive after being bitten.


    Meanwhile, in the real world of the comics, the time that Nan Zhou had transformed into the light demon was no less than his sister.


    Moreover, he had been active outside on the day of extreme sunlight all year round. The light bacteria in his brain had developed abnormally and was healthy and thriving.


    Therefore, for the sake of justifying both sides, the so-called ending could only lead to one.


    The light bacteria in Nan Zhou¡¯s brain was originally thinly attached to his brain. It criss-crossed and formed a complex and tortuous model inside his skull.


    At this moment, the glowing brain touched the light bacteria trying to invade aggressively.


    In the micro-universe, it was like two planets colliding with each other. There was a silent explosion.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s light bacteria received high-intensity stimulation and achieved an almost explosive secondary growth.


    The moment when the flowing light bacteria spread out like peacock tail feathers, Nan Zhou¡¯s five senses reached their peak.


    He was controlled by the unknown force that pushed him to walk out.


    He could see the dust dancing in the infinite daylight.


    He could see the light filaments refracting in all types of arcs in the air, as if they were threading a needle.


    He heard the fibers in the wooden floor being pressed out, bending and rebounding as his feet stepped on it.


    He heard his sister fall to the ground.


    It was loud as if hitting his heart.


    However, he couldn¡¯t look back at his sister.


    Nan Zhou wandered the streets, feeling like he was forced to parade through the streets by that mysterious force.


    It was a bit funny.


    He thought, ¡®What did I do wrong?¡¯


    As he forcibly pressed the glass piece to his throat, Nan Zhou started to seriously wonder if his resistance to the unknown force over the years was right or wrong.


    What if he hadn¡¯t wanted too much from the beginning?


    What if he followed the arrangements of fate from the beginning?


    He didn¡¯t know if it was fortunate or unfortunate but the glass held against his artery didn¡¯t cut it in the end.


    Nan Zhou put down the shard of glass against his throat, gasping several times as he lowered his head.


    He had used too much force so he gently wiped the bleeding area on his coat.


    He had a bit of regret after wiping it.

 CH 82

    Eternal Day


    Xiao Xie was a very honest person.


    He told Nan Zhou that Nan Zhou was actually a fictional character in a comic book called Eternal Day.


    Just two days ago, a game called Forces of Temptation was officially released.


    The author of Eternal Day, Nan Zhou¡¯s true father, had completed his debut work ¡®Eternal Day¡¯ in two years. Since then, the talented horror cartoonist occupied his place in the world until he died of cancer 12 years ago.


    Due to his withdrawn personality and indifferent relationship with his relatives and friends, he handed over the copyrights of all 13 of his comic books, including his debut Eternal Day, to one of his most trusted editors.


    This portion of his assets was divided and the eccentric man didn¡¯t announce the specific disposal method.


    Therefore, Eternal Day was included in the adaptation part of Forces of Temptation as early as three years ago.


    Now Nan Zhou was a character in the game instance.


    Xiao Xie said he had read Eternal Day before and liked it very much.


    So after his newly bought game cabin arrived, he chose to enter Eternal Day first to see the young man he had one-sidedly known and was a dimension apart from him.


    Nan Zhou nodded in response to Xiao Xie¡¯s eloquent remarks.


    He couldn¡¯t feel the cruelty and maliciousness behind Xiao Xie¡¯s purpose of telling him the truth.


    If a normal person was told that it didn¡¯t matter how hard they worked, their destiny was always in the hands of others and their future years would always be controlled, their first reaction would be to collapse and go crazy.


    However, Nan Zhou didn¡¯t really care.


    He had already guessed it a long time ago.


    Nan Zhou sketched the lip shape of Ms Apple Tree on the paper, making fine lines on her lips so they were more gorgeous, and responded symbolically. ¡°...Um.¡±


    Xiao Xie noticed Nan Zhou¡¯s expression and his eyes lit up. ¡°Aren¡¯t you surprised? How much did you guess?¡±


    Nan Zhou glanced at Xiao Xie. ¡°About what?¡±


    If it was about his identity, this was a matter he had been thinking about since primary school.


    He once thought he was a character in a book.


    A comic was similar to his speculation.


    As for the game instance...


    Nan Zhou¡¯s understanding of the concept of games was limited to the few game magazines in the bookstore that were a decade old.


    In Nan Zhou¡¯s cognition, a game was a story locked in a box.


    It wasn¡¯t much different from how he felt about books.


    It was just that he hadn¡¯t been pulled by the puppet strings for a long time, suggesting that the box was very open and the control over him wasn¡¯t as strong as imagined.


    In the future, more new people would come in.


    If someone could come in then he could get out.


    Therefore, he didn¡¯t understand why Xiao Xie kept looking at his eyes.


    It seemed that his bland emotions and reaction didn¡¯t meet Xiao Xie¡¯s psychological expectations.


    Xiao Xie stared intently at his eyes. ¡°Have you ever spoken to someone like me?¡±


    Nan Zhou thought carefully.


    He failed to speak to Ms Apple Tree.


    Thus, he shook his head.


    Xiao Xie¡¯s shoulders collapsed slightly and he looked disappointed. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you surprised?¡±


    There was no madness, no collapse, no pain.


    It was boring.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s surprise was over as early as yesterday.


    He wasn¡¯t used to large ups and downs in emotions so he looked at Xiao Xie with confusion. ¡°What exactly do you want to ask?¡±


    Xiao Xie¡¯s expression improved. ¡°I¡¯ll be your friend from now on, okay?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Xiao Xie, ¡°......¡±


    He wondered, ¡°Aren¡¯t you lonely?¡±


    Nan Zhou put down his pen. ¡°I¡¯m lonely. Still, why should I be friends with you?¡±


    Nan Zhou spoke what was in his heart but Xiao Xie seemed choked up.


    In order to avoid self-inflicted humiliation, Xiao Xie changed the subject. ¡°Do you feel that your world is different?¡±


    Nan Zhou thought about it. He didn¡¯t feel that his days were any different from the past.


    The sun was still scorching.

 CH 83

    Eternal Day


    Boss Zhong was a silver-haired old man in his early 60s. He wore a simple gray-blue gown, had a chubby waist and a very kind temperament.


    If these clothes were taken off, he would look like a neighbor who walked around the street with a birdcage and instructed people to play chess.


    He was leaning over a small pool of water behind his house, smoking a mixture of tobacco, honey and oranges. Then he heard the sound of the heavy curtain being lifted.


    This was followed by the footsteps of three guests entering.


    Boss Zhong held the hookah and hurried forward to greet them with a brilliant smile. ¡°Guests have come. Take a look around.¡±


    Jiang Fang stepped forward and politely said, ¡°Excuse me...¡±


    Before he could finish, Nan Zhou firmly placed an apple on the counter. ¡°Please look at this apple.¡±


    Li Yinhang found that she had miscalculated the number of things in Nan Zhou¡¯s hands.


    There was always an apple in Nan Zhou¡¯s warehouse.


    Since they met on the bus, there had always been an apple firmly in Nan Zhou¡¯s hands.


    Even though it was messy from Nanji Star chewing on it and the bitten places had shrunk and turned yellow, Nan Zhou still put the apple in his warehouse and tried to keep it fresh.


    Boss Zhang picked up the apple ravaged by Nanji Star star. He examined it and spoke in Mandarin that was as standard as possible. ¡°This is an apple grown from the seed sold in this store. However, we don¡¯t sell any that are secretly eaten by mice.¡±


    Nan Zhou asked, ¡°How many people have bought it?¡±


    Boss Zhong smiled and his eyes slightly narrowed. ¡°This store has bookkeeping but there are too many apple seeds sold. This guest, can you remember when it was bought?¡±


    Nan Zhou opened his mouth. ¡°Around a year and a half ago.¡±


    Li Yinhang was startled and turned to look at Jiang Fang.


    She mouthed: A year and a half ago?


    Wasn¡¯t that when Forces of Temptation first came out?


    Boss Zhong took a puff of the hookah before squinting to try and recall the past. He looked a lot like a boss in reality.


    He said, ¡°That is even more unclear. It was a time when the seeds of my store were doing activities. The ones who could get their hands on the seeds depended on their own good luck.¡±


    Li Yinhang thought about the words and probably understood.


    Oh, the novice package.


    Forces of Temptation had given away free novice gift packs. They were similar in the broad categories and there was a certain amount of randomness.


    The novice gift pack of Forces of Temptation had even made it to the hot search.


    Her colleague had bought a game cabin and drew 500 Rust City shopping vouchers, 3000 Paper Gold vouchers, 10 rare snow lotus seeds that could be planted in specific land on Homeland Island, 10 bags of high quality fertilizer, a bow and arrows weapon that could be applied to Ancient City State and a good quality skin.


    Li Yinhang had roughly seen it when her colleague posted it to her Moments.


    If the apple seeds were used as part of the novice gift pack and distributed in large quantities, it would be unclear which players received it.


    ***


    Nan Zhou left the seed store while holding in the apple and looked disappointed.


    Li Yinhang followed him only to abruptly stop.


    She stretched out. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m a bit tired.¡±


    She sat down on the stone steps behind her and suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s just take a break here.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked around at the environment. ¡°Okay.¡±


    The scent of wet plants was all around them.


    This fresh and natural woody smell made people¡¯s mood relax a lot.


    Nanji Star lay on Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulder and wriggled his small butt excitedly. He foolishly aimed at a red dragonfly passing by.

 CH 84

    Eternal Day


    Jiang Fang stood there for a long time before smiling and shaking his head at the reflection of himself in the window.


    Why did he want to think so much?


    It was good to achieve his goal.


    Now that he had fulfilled his childhood wish, he should concentrate on his employer.


    Soon after, the rich second generation sent a summary post of how to gain rare materials on the forum.


    After a cursory glance, Jiang Fang determined that these so-called rare materials were among the first he had obtained.


    Several of these techniques were also wrong.


    Still, Jiang Fang never had a habit of correcting other people¡¯s mistakes.


    He clicked to exit with a smile, only to catch sight of a certain player¡¯s attack strategy guide for Eternal Day.


    He clicked in and browsed it carefully, only to frown.


    Should it be passed this way?


    He never felt that what Nan Zhou needed was ¡®liberation.¡¯


    What he needed was freedom and companionship.


    By the time he came to his senses and looked at the explanation that had filled half the screen, Jiang Fang felt amused.


    This was a game instance.


    A game always needed a clear goal.


    The goal of ¡®killing a boss¡¯ was naturally clearer than the illusory concept of ¡®freedom and companionship.¡¯


    His own explanation was nothing more than the ego of an old comic reader.


    Jiang Fang tapped the keyboard and deleted his explanation word by word.


    Click, click.


    Looking at the cursor gradually moving back and approaching the starting point, Jiang Fang¡¯s fingers tapped more slowly.


    10 minutes later.


    Jiang Fang stood outside the French window of the library of Eternal Day.


    Nan Zhou was lying on the table with a magazine under his head as a pillow. His hands were pressed under the magazine.


    He had taken off his shoes and his white socks gleamed slightly in the sunlight.


    He showed the beautiful and flexible curve of his waist without vigilance. He didn¡¯t shy away at all about being seen.


    Jiang Fang was pursing his lips at the lack of defense when Nan Zhou moved his body slightly.


    One corner of his white shirt lifted up, revealing signs of electrical damage.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s skin was glowing white so the red wounds were particularly distinctive and eye-catching.


    Jiang Fang couldn¡¯t help caressing the glass.


    Tap, tap.


    It''s like a slight knock on the door.


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t move.


    It wasn¡¯t known if he was tired or concentrating on reading.


    Jiang Fang lowered his hand and turned away.


    He didn¡¯t know how to use the social skills he learned from casinos, depot, ice rinks and schools on the virtual friend he grew up with normally.


    He turned to the apple tree in front of Nan Zhou¡¯s window.


    Jiang Fang smiled slightly when he saw the leafy fruit tree and red apples on the bent branches.

 CH 85

    Eternal Day


    Amidst the barrage of insults to the game officials around him, Jiang Fang lowered his head and looked at his hands.


    The palm prints that were slightly rigid due to modeling reasons had become clearly visible and extraordinarily realistic.


    It was actually... exactly the same as reality.


    Jiang Fang quickly opened his backpack, took out a low level dagger and ran the blade over the skin of his arm.


    In the normal game process, the somatosensory system would give players the basic sensation of cold, heat and pain for the sake of authenticity but in general, the pain would be within the absolute safety threshold by default.


    For security reasons, every time the player tried to raise the authenticity of pain, there would be a prompt box reminding players to be careful. It issued a long disclaimer that required the player to handwrite their real name before it could be adjusted.


    Let¡¯s take an example.


    If Player A accidentally had his neck broken by the boss while the instance was in progress.


    Even if this Player A set the pain value to the maximum, the momentary pain would at most reach the degree of a stiff neck after sleeping.


    However, at this moment¡ª


    The blade skimmed over Jiang Fang¡¯s arm and he clearly felt the touch and pain of his muscles being cut.


    The security threshold was also turned off.


    Nwo they would experience the exact same pain as reality?


    Jiang Fang¡¯s heart moved. The dagger was placed back in its sheath but not into the backpack.


    He drew out the shoulder-mounted rocket that he had previously drawn from the prize pool.


    The cannon was placed on his shoulder and Jiang Fang¡¯s expression became uglier when he felt the real pressure.


    The backpack items had even returned to their normal weight.


    In the description, the Spear 44 rocket launcher had a barrel mass of 78 kilograms.


    However, that was just the setting of the item.


    Thanks to the players¡¯ physical improvement, even a player with a child¡¯s body shape could carry it on their shoulders to play.


    People who liked to look handsome even played with guns like it was a variety of flowers.


    It was because Jiang Fang knew the weight on his shoulders well that he realized the situation in front of him was sliding and collapsing in a direction beyond his control.


    The moment he was filled with an ominous premonition, there was a sense of weightlessness caused by a vortex of huge force grabbing his heart.


    The familiar urban landscape was twisted and torn apart by a strange gray vortex.


    There was a moment of chaos.


    A moment of clarity.


    The first thing that entered Jiang Fang¡¯s nose was the rich grassy aroma.


    The grass was moving and the wind sending a fragrance blew at the hair on Jiang Fang¡¯s forehead.


    Five cement-colored observation towers stood among the grass like the eyes of shepherds looking for prey.


    In the wilderness, someone was whispering and singing the tune of the grassland.


    The scene was supposed to be relaxed and pleasant. However, the sudden uneasiness and the open wildness that stretched out for kilometers without anyone being present gave people a particularly creepy feeling.


    Jiang Fang recognized it.


    This was the first scene in the multiplayer mode of the Homeland Island tower defense game, ¡®Homeland Island Attack and Defense War.¡¯


    Jiang Fang had heard this Mongolian BGM too many times.


    It was originally a melodious tune but the mixing of electronic noise caused the notes to be polished and dragged out sharply. There was also a low-pitched voice that was hard to tell if it was male or female hidden in the music, letting out an inconspicuous sad weeping.


    Jiang Fang held the dagger and looked around.


    In addition to himself, a total of 12 people were transmitted here.


    They hadn¡¯t accepted the panic of being unable to log out of the game when they were suddenly thrown into an instance.


    The logout bar for the instance was also gray-white.


    The miserable whiteness was on the faces of everyone present.


    Such a strange mutation inevitably triggered a riot.


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡±


    ¡°How did we get here?¡±


    ¡°Where is this place?!¡±


    ¡°Can we go back? Huh?¡±


    In the chaos, Jiang Fang tried to concentrate. His fingers hanging by his side moved as he calculated the time they had used up.


    They had wasted 20 seconds and there were 180 seconds left.


    He gave an order. ¡°Disperse.¡±


    This was the first opinion and voice that was fairly stable.


    The tumultuous crowd desperately needed a backbone.


    Therefore, everyone quieted down and stared at him.


    Jiang Fang told them, ¡°The first wave of monsters is coming soon. We have to count what type of weapons we have and what weapons we are used to.¡±


    The author has something to say: There is gravity between everything, So i met you.

 CH 86

    One hour later.


    Jiang Fang stood in Nan Zhou¡¯s kitchen, holding Nan Zhou¡¯s kitchen knife and cutting the ingredients he had collected from Homeland Island and stored in his backpack.


    During the month when they were trapped in the game, they had lived on the food in their backpacks. Jiang Fang had a small collection addiction. Leaving a blank in his achievements was enough to make him feel twisted. Therefore, his collection of food, plants, tools, weapons, fishing objects and other collectibles were all complete.


    Now he was holding a dark yellow, ripe mango in one hand and a bowl of white peaches that had been diced and soaked in cold water to keep fresh.


    Nan Zhou crouched down beside the table. He curiously rolled the mangoes while asking seriously, ¡°Is it delicious if you cook fruits?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Jiang Fang wore an apron from Nan Zhou¡¯s home and gently replied, ¡°This is only when the oven at home can be used.¡±


    The two of them looked like friends who had known each other for a long time. Jiang Fang could quickly give anyone this illusion.


    Jiang Fang smiled at Nan Zhou. ¡°Can you pick two more apples? Apple pie is also delicious.¡±


    Nan Zhou nodded. He grabbed Nanji Star who was holding the ends of his hair and shaking it and changed his slippers at the entrance. Then he slipped out the door. The moment Nan Zhou¡¯s figure disappeared, the tense muscles of everyone in the house relaxed.


    Some people hiding weapons had their hands soaked in sweat. They quickly took them out to wipe them down. Only Jiang Fang carefully peeled the mango skin and placed the ingredients for the fruit pie onto the plate one by one.


    Song Haining was confused. ¡°Boss, what are you¡­what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°What else is he doing? It is naturally killing the boss.¡±


    Another male player with earrings lowered his voice and whispered, ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of clearance strategies for the Eternal Day instance on the forum. This boss is very powerful. We might not kill him even if we work together. Therefore, we must first find a way to get close to him and get along with him before killing him. Then we can pass the level.¡±


    Then he turned eagerly to Jiang Fang. ¡°Right, Boss?¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s kitchen knife fell on the cutting board in a constant manner. The clock in the house showed that it should be 7 o¡¯clock in the evening. The bright white light outside the window swallowed all colors. A colorful halo was painted on the glass and visibility was less than 10 meters.


    Fortunately, the apple tree was in front of the kitchen window. The moment he raised his head, he could see Nan Zhou stepping on the branches and picking apples. Jiang Fang moved his gaze away from the arc of Nan Zhou¡¯s slender legs and said, ¡°Boss, you are right. Do you have any other instructions?¡±


    Jiang Fang was always smiling as he spoke. Nevertheless, the others couldn¡¯t help shrinking back at his smile.


    The man with earrings quickly noticed the situation wasn¡¯t right and said with a smile, ¡°Boss, I was just speaking casually¡­¡±


    Song Haining only believed in Jiang Fang alone and she stared at him. ¡°Boss, what are your plans?¡±


    Jiang Fang lowered his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it.¡±


    The others held their breath. They planned to firmly remember every step of Jiang Fang¡¯s plan and to strictly follow it. It was the same as what they had done countless times in the past month. However, Jiang Fang¡¯s plan this time was surprisingly simple. He placed his mango-flavored fingers to his lips and applied the juice to his lips, trying to sweeten them. ¡°I¡¯ll take him away.¡±


    ¡°Take¡­¡±


    Song Haining abruptly rose from her chair, her nervous voice changing. ¡°Boss, you aren¡¯t joking?¡±


    Aljcu Mjcu uijcmfv ja tfg. Vbcu Ljlclcu lwwfvljafis rkjiibkfv vbkc atf raeqlv defralbc jcv rja vbkc. Lbkfnfg, tfg tjcvr jcv ifur rtbbx jr j rluc bo tfg lccfg ecfjrlcfrr.


    Aljcu Mjcu delfais xcfjvfv atf kjafg, reujg jcv oibeg lcab j rwbbat vbeut. ¡°P¡¯w ublcu ab qijmf tlw lc atf kjgftberf jcv ajxf tlw jkjs.¡±


    Warehouse?


    Song Haining reacted and followed his thoughts. ¡°So he will be our teammate?¡±


    ¡°Tame it and let the boss work for us?¡± The earring man¡¯s eyes lit up and he couldn¡¯t hold back his words. ¡°Boss, you are awesome.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s eyebrows lowered in a noncommittal manner.


    Song Haining still felt a bit uneasy. ¡°Can you store living things in the warehouse? If something happens when he is put in¡­¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t want to tell them about how he brought in Nanji Star or his special preference for Nan Zhou. To be honest, there were no benefits apart from affecting the stability of the team.


    Jiang Fang told her, ¡°I¡¯m certain.¡±


    He raised his eyes and looked at the group. ¡°Even if he dies, isn¡¯t it a way for us to pass? What is there to lose?¡±


    Jiang Fang paused for a moment. ¡°If he comes out alive, you should treat him better.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    The earring man made an exaggerated action of twisting his neck. ¡°The little monster is fierce.¡±


    Under the double comfort of Jiang Fang¡¯s calm tone and the earring man¡¯s witty words, the team members felt that the way forward was hopeful. Their expressions gradually relaxed. They were standing or sitting in the house. The man with the earrings was even bold enough to explore the house.


    He entered Nan Zhou¡¯s room, rummaged through it for a moment and took out Nan Zhou¡¯s drawing diary. He turned two pages before standing on the stairs and raising his voice at Jiang Fang. ¡°Boss, he is really like a person. You see, this¡ª¡±


    Jiang Fang put down the pie fillings in his hand. The color of his eyes was pale so he gave people the illusion of ice when he looked at them without any emotions.


    ¡°Yes, he isn¡¯t human.¡±


    ¡°So if he kills you for your stupidity of peeking at his diary, I won¡¯t save you for the safety of the others.¡±


    The earring man became quiet. He held the diary and fled back to Nan Zhou¡¯s room, returning it obediently.


    Nan Zhou picked two good-looking apples and caught Nanji Star, who intended to steal his apples. Then he jumped down from the apple tree. He opened the sliding window of the kitchen and gave two bright red apples to Jiang Fang. Afterwards, he lay down by the window with folded arms as he carefully watched the movements of Jiang Fang¡¯s pie making.


    Jiang Fang stared at rays of light sieved through his medium length hair and his blinking gold-plated eyelashes. His heart surged up like the tide. This was the illusion that supported all his childhood fantasies about friends.


    His sun, his Don Quixote who accompanied him to fight the windmill of life. A dream that held his sense of loneliness and belonging. Now Nan Zhou was right in front of his eyes, at a distance that he could touch the moment he stretched out a hand.


    Jiang Fang felt his heartbeat accelerating. He was in a trance when he heard Nan Zhou curiously ask, ¡°What are you smiling at?¡±


    Jiang Fang raised a hand to touch his face, only to realize that his eyes, mouth and eyebrows were all curved in a laugh. This loss of control made Jiang Fang very uncomfortable. He quickly suppressed his expression to within the controllable range and said gently, ¡°I¡¯m smiling at the pie. I don¡¯t know how delicious it will be.¡±


    To his surprise, Nan Zhou was coaxed by this. He stared at the pie and nodded. ¡°¡­Yes.¡±


    They did it one by one and watched the other.


    Jiang Fang bit the inside of his lip and controlled his expression while adding the apple to the pot to make the filling. Still, he couldn¡¯t help putting a bit more in.


    ***


    In order to avoid the attacks of the other light demons, the group of people slept at Nan Zhou¡¯s house. In the comic world, the protagonist¡¯s house was always a mysterious size. It was big enough for them to settle down in.


    The others consciously dispersed and settled down in their own way. They handed over the ¡®negotiations¡¯ to their boss with confidence.


    Jiang Fang sat politely at Nan Zhou¡¯s desk. He pretended it was the first time he came there but his fingers fiddled with the jagged edges of the nearby painted pots and vases on the table. It was nearly midnight and the sky was still shining. He glanced out the window and wondered, ¡°How do you sleep at night?¡±


    Nan Zhou was sitting opposite him while holding the diary. He glanced at Jiang Fang and drew a few more strokes on the paper. ¡°I¡¯m used to it.¡±


    He asked, ¡°Why do you care?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    Nan Zhou thought about it. ¡°I don¡¯t know. No one else cared.¡±


    After seeing the opportunity, Jiang Fang decisively and cautiously introduced the subject. ¡°Then can we¡­ become friends?¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s pen paused as he learned from the other person¡¯s tone. ¡°¡­Friends?¡±


    ¡°Do you know what a friend is?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. I read about it in books. Later, some people wanted to be ¡®friends¡¯ with me, but they all wanted to kill me.¡±


    Jiang Fang thought about the wounds on Nan Zhou¡¯s shoulder and back that he had seen at the library and frowned for a moment. Then he quickly removed it. He told Nan Zhou, ¡°Those aren¡¯t friends. Let me give it a try.¡±


    Nan Zhou continued to draw. ¡°The people outside are your friends?¡±


    Jiang Fang placed his arm on the back of the chair and answered in a relaxed manner. ¡°That¡¯s not a friend. That¡¯s a teammate.¡±


    Nan Zhou asked seriously, ¡°What is the difference between friends and teammates?¡±


    Jiang Fang placed a finger to his lips. ¡°Um¡­ if you are a friend, I can take you away to other places.¡±


    The pencil in Nan Zhou¡¯s hand stopped. He looked up. ¡°Is there a way you can take me away?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Nan Zhou wondered, ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    Jiang Fang honestly told him, ¡°We have tried many ways but we can¡¯t get out of this game. So, we will take you out and into each instance¡­ adventure. In short, it is a very dangerous thing.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change much. ¡°¡­Um.¡±


    Jiang Fang chuckled. ¡°What does ¡®um¡¯ mean?¡±


    Nan Zhou placed the drawing book on his knees and answered solemnly, ¡°It means that I agree.¡±


    Jiang Fang hadn¡¯t expected it to be so easy. His originally prepared manuscript was null and void, making him feel that he should say something immediately to welcome a new friend.


    Nan Zhou transferred the drawing book to the bed and placed his pencil firmly on top. ¡°Then as a friend, can I make a comment?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Nan Zhou stepped forward. He abruptly grabbed Jiang Fang¡¯s left wrist and held Jiang Fang¡¯s collar with his other hand. He raised Jiang Fang¡¯s left hand and slammed it hard against the wall. Under the violent impact, the gleaming dagger blade poked its head out of Jiang Fang¡¯s sleeve. Jiang Fang just had to shake his hand slightly and this dagger could be held firmly in his hand.


    Nan Zhou stared into Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes and lowered his voice. ¡°Don¡¯t hold the knife. Don¡¯t be afraid of me. I¡¯m not that scary.¡±


    Jiang Fang was pressed against the wall by the other person. He was unable to move and his breathing became quick. For a time, the room was silent. The movement of both men¡¯s throats was intense and out of control. Then the next second, Jiang Fang shrugged and smiled gently. ¡°I accept it with pleasure.¡±


    Nan Zhou put down his hand and smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothing. Then he returned to the bed and picked up the drawing book again.


    Jiang Fang took out the dagger, placed it in its sheath and returned it to the backpack. He asked casually, ¡°What are you drawing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m drawing you.¡± Nan Zhou was unusually honest. He flipped over the drawing book and turned it toward Jiang Fang. In a plain voice, he declared sincerely, ¡°Drawing my friend.¡±


    ***


    Therefore, Jiang Fang stared at Nan Zhou who was distracted by the stale apple and really couldn¡¯t figure out why Nan Zhou refused to admit he was a friend when Nan Zhou had originally agreed so easily.


    Yet looking at Nan Zhou¡¯s face, the sour Jiang Fang finally smiled gently. Fortunately, the bond between people was as long-lasting as the wind.

 CH 87

    On the stone steps of [Homeland Island]. A pair of young players were carrying small baskets, selling their fruits to the passersby. The girls enthusiastically tried to sell their fruits to them at a cheaper price than those fruit vendors in exchange for points. Nan Zhou bought ten apples from them.


    As soon as Nanji Star saw the apples, it immediately gave up eyeing the dragon fruit it had been watching for a long time, and jumped to Nan Zhou¡¯s chest, excitedly stepping back and forth.


    Seeing this, Li Yinhang said, ¡°Just give the one in your hand to Nanji Star.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°No.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°It¡¯s half-eaten already, and you can¡¯t eat it either.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°No, it¡¯s not the same.¡±


    With that, he stored the half-eaten apple back in the storage slot, handed one new apple to Jiang Fang and one to Li Yinhang. He took one for himself, broke it in half, and crushed the apple flesh into minced fruit with one hand, and gave it to Nanji Star.


    Nanji Star ate the minced fruit and buried his head into the crushed apple that was in his paws.


    Li Yinhang held the apple, carefully chewing it.


    It came as no surprise to her that a regular guy could squash half an apple with one hand.


    After feeding Nanji Star, Nan Zhou also gently bit into his apple.


    In terms of sweetness, flavor, and texture, the apples from [Homeland Island] were similar to the apples grown outside his bedroom window.


    He could basically confirm that Ms. Apple Tree¡¯s seeds were brought from [Homeland Island].


    In [Homeland Island], such apple trees were planted row after row. Apple seedlings were scattered all over the mountains, and there were red apple trees as far as one could see.


    Why leave behind this apple that had been bitten by Nanji Star?


    The only source he could trace for his lost memories was the apple that had rolled down to the balcony under the force of gravity.


    And when he woke up on the bus, he also had an apple in his hand.


    He knew, after that, he had traveled to places and met certain people.


    There were some important shapes, concepts, and stories that loomed in his mind.


    When he tried to remember, his mind would become completely blank. But subconsciously, he knew, there were a lot of things hidden inside.


    For example¡­


    He raised his hand and threw away the apple core. It accurately hit the flip cover of the iron trash can ten meters away and caused it to rotate in place several times.


    Nan Zhou stood up and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Li Yinhang held the apple and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you looking for someone?¡±


    Nan Zhou wiped the apple juice from his hand and said, ¡°Let¡¯s become number one. This way she can come to me.¡±


    ¡­ Of course, he might never become number one.


    To be honest, Nan Zhou¡¯s obsession with Ms. Apple Tree was not particularly deep.


    He just wanted to trace the person that planted the apples for him.


    She planted an apple tree for him.


    The apple tree bore apples.


    The apple fell to the palm of his hand.


    A book he had read said that a man named Issac Newton was hit vertically by an apple and discovered gravity.


    Nan Zhou jumped off of the roof after the apple fell under the pull of gravity. But he lost his memories.


    Maybe only by finding the one who had planted those apples, would he find his lost self.


    Of course, it didn¡¯t matter if he couldn¡¯t find it.


    Going forward, winning the game and fulfilling his heart¡¯s desire were his topmost priorities


    Even the wish he resolutely made by the wishing pool in [Rust City] without hesitation was part of that memory. But the origin of that memory was untraceable.


    But he still used the opportunity to make a wish despite his current situation.


    The trio, each lost in their own thoughts, gathered their belongings and prepared to leave.


    Walking hundreds of meters away and passing a small forest, a gust of wind blew by, sending some fine noises.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s sensitive ears twitched.


    Jiang Fang also looked up.


    The red coats of the girls who earlier sold their fruits to them were draped over the treetops next to the grove.


    The sleeves of the coat were crossed and tied at the end.


    This seemed to be some customary sign, like a carp flag, whistling in the wind.


    A few people who wanted to come up the stone steps just now, after seeing this coat from afar, chose to walk around.


    Every day was a doomsday carnival for players, who danced at the edge between life and death.


    Selling all the apples in their backpacks was already something worth celebrating in their hopeless lives.


    Therefore, people who were familiar with these unspoken rules had kindly given them the space where they could sit on the sky and the ground and indulge in such unbridled behavior.


    Listening to the subtle sounds, Li Yinhang coughed. Her cheeks had a tint of red, ¡°Let¡¯s go from here.¡±


    Nan Zhou stood at the edge of the grove, unmoving.


    Jiang Fang, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Nan Zhou pointed toward the woods, ¡°They are calling.¡±


    Jiang Fan, ¡°¡­¡±


    Ol Tlctjcu, ¡°¡­¡±


    Rjc Itbe, ¡°Ktf mbjar kfgf ifoa tfgf abb.¡±


    Rjc Itbe, ¡°Ktfs jgf qgbyjyis lc vjcufg.¡±


    Rjc Itbe, ¡°P¡¯ii tjnf j ibbx.¡±


    Lfjglcu atlr, tf kjr obgmlyis ugjyyfv ogbw yftlcv ys akb tjcvr, bcf ugjyylcu j mbgcfg bo tlr mibatfr jcv atf batfg tlr jgw.


    Rjc Itbe, ¡°¡­?¡±


    Ol Tlctjcu qeiifv tlw, ¡°¡­ Dgbatfg, obgufa la. Ofa¡¯r ub.¡±


    Without looking at her, Nan Zhou continued to probe while he absently muttered, ¡°You are older than me.¡±


    Looking at Nan Zhou, who was like a curious cat, she didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry.


    ¡ª¡ªDo bigshots not have sex?


    She turned her head and saw Jiang Fang, who was clutching Nan Zhou¡¯s arm. A smile was seen at the corners of his lips. She threw him a glare and winked.


    ¡ª¡ªStill laughing!


    ¡ª¡ªHelp me persuade him.


    ¡ª¡ªOr else your partner is going to see other people having sex.


    Nan Zhou was really curious and turned to look at Jiang Fang, ¡°What are they doing?¡±


    Jiang Fang didn¡¯t stutter at all and explained to him vaguely, ¡°The great friendship promotion meeting.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°Discussion on the origin of life.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°100 million people marathon.¡±


    Nan Zhou confused, ¡°¡­ Are all of these the same thing?¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°Almost.¡±


    Nan Zhou sighed, ¡°This language is too broad and profound.¡±


    Jiang Fang looked at his face and said fervently, ¡°Yes, I thought the same when I first came to China.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s excuses successfully tricked Nan Zhou¡¯s attention.


    From behind, watching Nan Zhou curiously tilt his head and ask Jiang Fang with regards to his question just now, Li Yinhang quickly followed.


    ¡ª¡ª ¡­¡­I have to say.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s method of tricking this curious cat made him look like he had extensive training in this.


    When Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou walked side by side and he patiently answered all of Nan Zhou¡¯s questions, his eyes fell on his shoulder unconsciously.


    His collarbone separated the neckline of his shirt to the sides, exposing his skin.


    Jiang Fang was slightly out of breath.


    ¡­¡­


    Before he decided to take Nan Zhou away from Never Town, Jiang Fang had asked him, ¡°Do you want to bring some clothes?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°Can I take my closet?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°When I put my dirty clothes in the closet, they will become clean by themselves.¡±


    Jiang Fang put his hand against his lips and smiled faintly, ¡°I don¡¯t have many free storage slots. Taking you isn¡¯t a problem. To take your little friend Nanji Star, I have to throw away a gun; Counting your sketchbook, apples, and drawing pens, I have to throw three other things. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s a little difficult to bring your closet.¡±


    This was the truth.


    The number of storage slots he had was limited, and he emptied as many as he could.


    Everything was useful.


    Jiang Fang¡¯s hoarding habit tended to make concessions when it came to Nan Zhou.


    When Nan Zhou bowed his head and hesitated, Jiang Fang looked at him and said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s all right. I have clothes here. The clothes provided by the system don¡¯t need to be washed. As long as you don¡¯t mind wearing what I wear.¡±


    Nan Zhou gave a ¡°hmm¡±.


    Clothing and storage slots were two independent systems.


    When Jiang Fang flicked open the clothing page with his fingertips, he quickly skipped those clothes that were forcibly removed by the system and lo outfits which were inconvenient to wear.


    After searching, he finally found a suitable one.


    It was a black trench coat. According to visual inspection, it was befitting with Nan Zhou¡¯s thin and slender waistline. Coupled with the dark gold belt, it corresponded with his abstinence and cold temperament.


    Jiang Fang handed it to Nan Zhou and said gently, ¡°Try it on. When you¡¯re done, come down for dinner.¡±


    Nan Zhou clutched the trench coat and replied obediently, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Jiang Fang went downstairs and took the sea bass, which was still steaming hot, out of the pot with its broth.


    In the dining room, the team members who were trained by him looked at the nose, look at the heart from the nose. They were as honest as a nest of little quails.


    Although they did not quite understand why the boss brought his own pots and pans to cook in other people¡¯s homes, it did not look like he was trying to make friends or chasing after a girlfriend.


    Not long after, Nan Zhou was dressed up and trodded down the stairs.


    Jiang Fang inadvertently glanced at him.


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡±


    He felt something was wrong.


    Before the other teammates noticed him, Jiang Fang rushed up to welcome him and brazenly opened his neckline. After he confirmed his guess, the corners of his mouth pursed in amusement.


    He tightened his neckline for him and ordered, ¡°Go back. I¡¯ll find you a shirt.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at him with puzzled eyes.


    ¡°Inside the trench coat¡­¡± Jiang Fang patiently explained with a smile, ¡°You can¡¯t be naked. You have to wear clothes.¡±


    Nan Zhou suddenly realized, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t usually wear these kinds of clothes.¡±


    Jiang Fang pressed his ignorant new friend¡¯s chest and said with a smile, ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll teach you.¡±


    He was led back upstairs with Jiang Fang covering his chest.


    Thinking of the naked and beautiful breast line that he had glimpsed at that time, and the two natural red spots further down, Jiang Fang naturally averted his eyes and exhaled a slightly hot breath.


    After a while, Nan Zhou finally understood the whole story thanks to Jiang Fang¡¯s vague explanation.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°Ah, they are mating for breeding, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    The moment he heard these words, Jiang Fang¡¯s expression was slightly complicated.


    But he quickly adjusted his expression and mentality, ¡°It can be understood that way.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s curiosity was immediately satisfied, ¡°I understand.¡±


    The three of them had a quiet rest in the fresh rural air of [Homeland Island] for two days and finally made up for the overdrawn physical strength spent on the snowy mountain.


    During this period, the rewards they randomly drew from the prize pool had also arrived.


    The trio perked up when they received the items.


    Nan Zhou drew an [A-grade item, Pornographic Magazine].


    [The number of uses was 10.]


    [The effect was that when thrown, it will forcibly attract the opponent¡¯s attention for five seconds.]


    [In these five seconds, the opponent will only see this magazine.]


    Li Yinhang drew an [A-grade Armor Pants].


    [Your mother calls you to wear autumn pants].


    [Usage Description: The armor in the shape of autumn pants can maintain the normal body temperature of the human body. At the same time, it is weightless when worn. It can also carry a dagger for assault and will give protection against injuries.]


    [But the armor will lose blood.]


    [If the durability drops, the ability to shield against injuries will also be reduced.]


    [When the durability becomes zero, the autumn pants will turn into ordinary autumn pants.]


    In addition to these two sand sculptures but practical props, it was worth mentioning that Jiang Fang finally got a practical [S-grade item].


    ¡­ Two dice made of agate.


    One four-sided dice and one twelve-sided dice.


    Because of its excellent texture, it gives off an ounce of a warm sensation when shaken in the palm of your hand.


    [Twelve Sided Dice]


    [Prop Name: Concerto of Fate]


    [Usage Description: If you don¡¯t have a good idea about the instance, take it out and shake it.]


    [The patterns on the four-sided dice symbolize the type, while the numbers on the twelve-sided dice represent the difficulty.]


    [Scepter: Symbolizes the physical strength, courage, and fervency of the element fire.]


    [Sword: Symbolizes the wisdom of the game and the transmission capabilities of the wind element.]


    [Holy Grail: Symbolizes the emotion, spirituality, and mind games of the element water.]


    [Star Coin: Symbolizes the composite, diversity, and inclusivity of the earth element.]


    [Use it to comfort your restless heart.]


    [Anyway, the wheel of fate has turned to its rightful scale.]


    After reading the prop description, Jiang Fang rolled the two dice at his fingertips and opened the task log.


    The dice fell from his fingertips and fell into the [Three People Become Ghosts] column of their trial level.


    The symbol for the level icon appeared to have transformed into a three dimensional bowl with a rooster print that allowed the dice to fall into the virtual screen.


    The dice bounced, spun, and rolled within until it stopped.


    The four-sided dice stopped and showed a Holy Grail symbol.


    The twelve-sided dice showed the number 3.


    To put it bluntly, it was a psychological instance, with a difficulty of 3.


    ¡­ Pretty accurate.


    And so on.


    [Xiao Ming¡¯s Daily Life] had the Sword and with a difficulty of 6.


    [Sha, Sha, Sha] had the Holy Grail, and with a difficulty of 8.


    [Fear of the Full Moon] had the Scepter and with a difficulty of 7.


    After several experiments, Jiang Fang casually threw the two dice into the newly opened props grid. His expression was impassive, and with no lick of interest in sight.


    It was not necessarily true to say how outstanding such a prop was.


    It couldn¡¯t change one¡¯s fortune or predict future instances. It could only measure the nature of the instance that had been drawn.


    As the prop description said, ¡°The wheel of fate has turned to its rightful scale¡±.


    ¡°This is quite good.¡±


    But Li Yinhang¡¯s face was full of excitement, ¡°This is an S-grade item. Regardless, if it¡¯s a practical prop, we can sell them for higher points.¡±


    Nan Zhou blinked and looked at Jiang Fang.


    They both admired Li Yinhang¡¯s positive thinking of ¡°Selling anything that could be sold¡±.


    Now that they got some good props, they planned to take advantage of their good luck and go into the next instance.


    After confirming that everyone¡¯s mental and physical state was fit for the task, Nan Zhou bought the selected level mode.


    They chose PVE mode as usual.


    Given the performance of the system last time, Nan Zhou was prepared to be basked in the full moon as soon as the teleportation was finished.


    However, when his body and mind were immersed in the darkness, Nan Zhou finally heard the broadcast of the game voice again.


    [Hello, Dear Players of the Cube Boat Team~]


    [Welcome to the Instance: Brain Invasion]


    [Number of Participants: 3]


    [Nature of the Instance: Adventure, Exploration]


    [Wishing You a Happy Game~]


    This time, the instance was only composed of the Cube Boat team members.


    Of course, this was a good thing. There was no need to interact with strangers and waste time communicating and building relationships with them, as well as having the opportunity to monopolize all of the reward points.


    However, the expressions of the three people were not very pleasant at this moment.


    Along with the game announcement sound, there was a chewing sound filled with a mouthful of saliva.


    It was a familiar sound that had been amplified countless of times.


    The chewing sound was originally a rather popular ASMR sound with sleep-aiding effects.


    However, when every detail of this sound was amplified, it would only make people uncomfortable.


    The sound of teeth crushing food.


    The clear, chirping smack of the mouth


    When swallowing, a greasy sound mixed with saliva was heard.


    The sound, inevitably, reminded them of the last instance in the snowy mountain¡¯s cannibalism scene.


    This time, there were very few tips.


    [Please explore within the specified time and area.]


    [Survival time is 48 hours.]


    [Explore as much as you can before your time limit ends.]


    Nan Zhou keenly captured a crucial detail.


    This time, the system was not talking about ¡°game time¡±, but ¡°survival time¡±.


    However, in comparison to the ominous words such as ¡°survival¡±, the sight that actually caught their attention was fairly serene.


    The light around them was extremely dim.


    Li Yinhang opened the flashlight of her fully-charged-yet-no-signal phone.


    They were, at this point, at the intersection of three long corridors with oddly colored walls.


    Under their feet, was a layer of velvet-like and snow-white carpet.


    The walls on both sides of the passageways were thin. It had dense depressions, like air holes, that reduced the reflection of sound waves.


    They were standing in front of a three-way crossroad.


    One of the passageways ran straight ahead, winding all the way forward. The other two passageways were formed into two semicircle arcs that stretch to both sides of the central corridor, creating a wreath-like pattern.


    There were no windows in the passageways.


    No light source.


    Stilled silence echoed. Only the annoying, and drudging chewing bass could be heard.


    Jiang Fang opened the prop slot, took out his brand new and marketable S-grade dice, and threw them in the instance interface currently in progress.


    The two dice entangled and collided with each other.


    Gradually it came to a stop.


    ¡­ [Brain Invasion] instance represented the type and difficulty of Star Coin and 11 respectively.


    Li Yinhang¡¯s spirit suddenly tightened.


    This was something they had all never experienced before. A composite instance of Spiritual + Intellectual + Physical.


    It was also a difficulty that they had never experienced before.


    ¡°¡­¡­ [Brain Invasion].¡±


    Nan Zhou didn¡¯t care much about the difficulty.


    He repeated the name of the instance, looked around at the weird environment, and lightly pointed out a somewhat creepy fact.


    ¡°So, we are now, in a person¡¯s brain?¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The author has something to say:


    Cat: look around and see what people are doing.jpg

 CH 88

    Translator-Rhapsodite


    Editor-Pierce, Proofreader-adjective


    Described by Nan Zhou, Li Yinhang¡¯s goosebumps almost rushed straight to her head.


    She wasn¡¯t sure if it was a psychological effect, but she had consumed roasted brain flowers before entering this instance. Now that she was inside one, she found it revolting.


    T/N- Remember to add a pic.


    She suspected that she smelled a faint smell of raw fat.


    Even her breath became greasy.


    Under such psychological duress, Li Yinhang even felt ill to her stomach when she breathed.


    ¡ª¡ªThis is a fucking mental attack.


    Thinking of the unprecedented difficulty of ¡®Star Coin 11¡¯, Li Yinhang had the initial experience that she was going to die.


    Seeing Li Yinhang¡¯s face redden a little, Jiang Fang held her shoulders and pulled out the decorative silver chain on his choker. He dangled it gently in front of her eyes, creating a halo in the dim light. It successfully attracted Li Yinhang¡¯s attention.


    Jiang Fang, ¡°Are you claustrophobic?¡±


    Li Yinhang tried to adjust her breathing and answered in a loud voice, ¡°No.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°Are you afraid of the dark?¡±


    Li Yinhang shook her head.


    Jiang Fang, ¡°Afraid of sound?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°A little.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°Smell?¡±


    During the conversation with Jiang Fang, Li Yinhang sailed back from the edge of the cliff as she struggled a little with her broken psyche.


    She did her best to face her fear by ¡°expressing fear¡± and responded with a positive, ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes were filled with a compelling gentleness, ¡°There¡¯s no smell here. You can be at ease when you breathe.¡±


    Seeing Li Yinhang¡¯s breathing recover smoothly, Jiang Fang smiled and turned away.


    Almost the moment he turned around, his smile naturally disappeared.


    His gentleness was special. He didn¡¯t want a burden on his team to drag the others down.


    With the problem solved, evidently there was no need for his tenderness.


    He walked over to Nan Zhou, ¡°Teacher Nan, feeling okay?¡±


    At this time the SAN value monster was looking left and right, there was no sign of discomfort, ¡°What?¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡­ Nothing.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked around and saw that Li Yinhang¡¯s face still had a flushed pallor. He couldn¡¯t help but frown, ¡°Is Li Yinhang uncomfortable?¡±


    Li Yinhang tried to swallow the acidic water overflowing in her mouth,¡±I am almost feeling better.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s tone was a little confused, ¡°Why are you uncomfortable?¡±


    Li Yinhang¡¯s eyes were full of sorrow, disgusted by the residual taste from the acid reflux that made her eyes teary.


    ¡ª¡ªWasn¡¯t it you who said we were in someone else¡¯s head?!


    After Li Yinhang euphemistically expressed her source of discomfort, Nan Zhou did not express any sympathy the first time.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°You feel sick, so you will vomit at any time?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°It is very impolite to vomit in someone else¡¯s head.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°Since you have the initiative to disgust others, why are you uncomfortable?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡±


    Li Yinhang suddenly felt better.


    The effect of Nan Zhou¡¯s logic was even better than Jiang Fang¡¯s diversionary tactics.


    Coafg mbwobgalcu Ol Tlctjcu, Rjc Itbe tjv rafqqfv bc atf rboa qlat mjgqfa, jujlcra atf bwclqgfrfca mtfklcu rbecv, jcv jgglnfv ja j ¡°vbbg¡± lc atf wlvvif bo atf qjrrjufkjs.


    Qtfc tf rafqqfv lcab atlr ¡°qjrrjufkjs¡±, Rjc Itbe ofia rbwf riluta yewqr jcv geuufvcfrr ecvfg tlr offa.


    Olxf kjixlcu bc ecfnfc ugbecv.


    And this door should be a concrete entrance to some kind of brain nerve?


    Nan Zhou knocked at the door and asked politely, ¡°Is anyone there?¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­¡±


    For a moment, he didn¡¯t know which was worse: the absolute silence or someone responding to the call?


    Li Yinhang finally calmed down.


    She stood beside Nan Zhou and also looked at the ordinary door. It appeared that the door¡¯s surface was covered with a white spider silk-like tissue.


    There was a short distance between the doorway and the ground, and there was a faint light from the inside.


    Nan Zhou kneeled down on one knee and looked inside the doorway.


    It was a kaleidoscopic luminescence with a halo of illusion like the luster of sunlight reflected on the oil paint.


    Nan Zhou whispered to himself:


    ¡°If we are really in one¡¯s mind¡­¡±


    ¡°What kind of personality does this person have?¡±


    After he confirmed the behavior of the other two, and made sure that everyone was ready, Nan Zhou pressed down on the door handle.


    The scene suddenly changed.


    The strange sound of chewing disappeared.


    Once they entered the door, it completely disappeared behind them.


    A breeze laced with the scent of wood, books, and ink brushed against their faces.


    Nan Zhou opened his eyes and found that they were in a huge¡­ Single floored library.


    The large dome of the library resembled a page being flipped over, with one corner elevated high, bringing about a peculiar change to the other three corners.


    Like the floor and walls, the bookshelves were also made of oak.


    The arc-shaped bookshelves in the shape of brackets surrounded the three people.


    Nan Zhou took a few steps forward, walked past a few shelves, and found that they were randomly arranged.


    Moreover, all three of them had a hardcover book in their hands.


    Nan Zhou opened his book.


    Inside were empty pages.


    From the title page to the back cover, there was not a single word or picture of content.


    He flipped the blank pages of the book in his hand, creating a rustling sound. It made the people aware of how silent their surroundings were.


    Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang exchanged a look.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°I¡¯ll go up and take a look.¡±


    Following what he said, Nan Zhou clamped the blank book to his side, and stepped on the edge of the bookshelf nearby. He jumped three times, and stood on top of the bookshelf.


    They were in the middle of this weird library.


    Circles and layers overlap, creating a chaotic disorder.


    Layers of curved bookshelves expanded away from the center, echoing each other.


    It was like a labyrinth in an eight trigrams array.


    At the end, it formed a complete circle.


    The only exit for this maze-like library was found southeast of them.


    It was a wooden door carved with mysterious embossed patterns.


    Jiang Fang observed their surroundings from the bottom while asking Nan Zhou, ¡°What do you see?¡±


    Nan Zhou briefly summarized, ¡°This library is like a labyrinth. At the end of it is a door.¡±


    Li Yinhang¡¯s spirit was lifted, ¡°Then we can win if we get out of this labyrinth and go through that door, right?¡±


    Nan Zhou lowered his head and said seriously, ¡°No.¡±


    Li Yinhang was just about to speak when she saw a one-legged little tin soldier. It carried a musket and bayonet and jumped over and appeared at one end of the bookshelf.


    Jiang Fang turned sideways and quickly shielded Li Yinhang behind him with his left hand. He then took out the offensive playing cards.


    Nan Zhou sat on top of the bookshelf, he dropped one leg down and looked at the tin soldier who was only knee-high in length.


    ¡ª¡ª ¡­¡­ Eyes full of curiosity.


    The tin soldier held his bayonet and thumped it on the ground, before saying in a pleasant male voice.


    ¡°You want to open the door to get out, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Use your brains, come and help him.¡±


    After saying that, he clicked the heel of his spiked leather shoe and jumped forward.


    Li Yinhang and Jiang Fang exchanged glances and chose to follow it.


    Nan Zhou did not climb down. Rather, he strode across the bookshelves with a light and silent pace to point them to the nearest path.


    As well as to determine whether the tin soldier, who was leading them down the road, didn¡¯t organize an ambush or trap.


    It took them ten whole minutes to get out of these labyrinth-like bookcases, led by the tin soldier.


    They finally arrived at the door.


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t understand what Nan Zhou meant a while ago until she got to the door.


    A chessboard was embedded on the bowl-like door.


    There was a dry corpse-like human shape. His shoulder-length hair fell over his shoulders. His withered hand was guarding an unfinished chess game on one side of the chessboard. A pair of dry eyes were open. There were rings of thin, bluish-gray lines that were practically drooping at the corners of his lips.


    He appeared to be like a clay doll that was determined to sit there and die, and a simple flick of a finger might disintegrate him on the spot.


    The white pieces he was playing against moved as if there was a ghost player controlling them.


    The white chess piece moved on its own.


    When they came close to the board, the black chess piece had been checkmated by the white chess piece.


    The black king chess piece fell on the chessboard, gleaming like glass.


    The one-legged tin soldier stood on his toes, seriously admiring the chessboard. He then talked to the corpse, ¡°Lost again.¡±


    The corpse stared at the chessboard, silently lost in thought.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    Li Yinhang who had only played Gobang in class with her desk mate carefully looked at the other two and whispered, ¡°Which one of you¡­¡­ has played this¡­¡­¡±


    She couldn¡¯t even recall the official name of this board game for a moment.


    After she held her breath for a few seconds, she dubiously said, ¡°¡­¡­ Chess?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at the chessboard and said, ¡°I can learn it now.¡±


    Jiang Fang gazed at Nan Zhou, ¡°I know a little.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at him.


    Jiang Fang smiled more gently, ¡°When I was in college, I participated in two school-level competitions.¡±


    Nan Zhou¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°You have to teach me later.¡±


    Jiang Fang had noticed the abnormality on the chessboard and stretched out his hand. At the same time, he gently promised, ¡°¡­ Sure.¡±


    He found that the eight black chess pieces were still in their original position and had not been touched from beginning to end.


    And when he tried to move the pieces, he realized that all eight black pieces seemed to be fused to the board and could not be moved at all.


    One rook, one bishop, one knight, and five pawns, all with blurred faces and completely immobilized.


    Eight against sixteen, it would be strange to win.


    It seemed that the one-legged tin soldier didn¡¯t call them to play chess.


    Sure enough, the tin soldier guided them to the corpse and said, ¡°Here. I brought you these three individuals, who can help you look for your chess pieces.¡±


    The dried corpse didn¡¯t look up.


    He just raised his eyelids, and all three of them could hear the sound of his dry skin cracking.


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t dare to think about the specific ingredients of those crumbles, similar to a crispy ð›ð|¡®s skin, which fell on the corpse¡¯s lap from his eyelids.


    The one-legged tin soldier seemed to be afraid that he would make noise, he rattled on the spot and then with a click, he slowly turned his head, round cartoon eyes blinked at the trio, ¡°My friend lost his important pieces.¡±


    ¡°Their souls are too naughty, always attracted by those stories that they find fresh and relevant to them. They linger to all kinds of books and hide in them.¡±


    ¡°As long as you bring their books here, they can be revived on the chessboard.¡±


    ¡°All you have to do is find them.¡±


    ¡°If my friend wins the next game, you can go out.¡±


    The tin soldier¡¯s eyes were fixed on them and his voice became low.


    ¡°But we need to have a consensus on a few prohibitions.¡±


    ¡°Number One: You are prohibited to destroy the bookcases.¡±


    ¡°Number Two: You are prohibited to cause any commotion¡­ My friend needs to concentrate on his chess game and hates to be disturbed.¡±


    ¡°And Number Three: You are prohibited to be seen by the other tin soldiers. I am already cheating by bringing you to help my friend. Every thirty minutes, they will patrol around the library in groups of five. If you are seen by them, you will be treated as thieves; if you are caught by them, you will be made into tin soldiers.¡±


    ¡°A friendly tip: They will come in about ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°For every prohibition that you violate¡­¡±


    ¡°The book you are holding will eat a part of your story.¡±


    The righteous tin soldier raised his bayonet to them.


    ¡°Help my friend win.¡±


    ¡°Or, stay and become one of our stories.¡±


    Li Yinhang turned around and looked at the labyrinth of books behind her. Her head buzzed several times.


    Eat the story?


    Become a story?


    What did that mean?


    Could it be that a portion of their memory would be eaten by the book?


    Then¡­¡­ becoming the same creature as this emotionless chess-playing corpse in front of her if we violated those prohibitions?


    Before she could make sense of it, she saw Nan Zhou seriously pointing at the inanimate pieces and heard him ask the tin soldier, ¡°Can you break them off? This is not difficult to do.¡±


    Tin Soldier, ¡°¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou took the initiative and said, ¡°I¡¯ll show you.¡±


    The one-legged tin soldier¡¯s pocket-sized musket was erected to stop Nan Zhou¡¯s movement. Obviously a firm defender of the rules of the game.


    After that, he stood on his tiptoes and continued to watch his corpse friend¡¯s chess game.


    Inexplicably, Li Yinhang, who was stuffed with a strange task, was confused and muttered in a low voice, ¡°But what does this have to do with [Brain Invasion]?¡±


    Nan Zhou, who just failed to do something, cleverly said with an extremely flat expression, ¡°Probably because this is the superior frontal gyrus in the frontal lobe? In charge of movement, learning, planning, calculation, and working memory.¡±


    After making this wild guess, he looked at the sea of overlapping books, ¡°All these books, maybe the owner of this brain has read them.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The author has something to say:


    Brother Fang: Gentle special offer, online abduction of cats.jpg

 CH 89

    Translator-Rhapsodite


    Editor-CherryApple, Proofreader-adjective


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­ How do you know this?¡±


    Nan Zhou replied, ¡°Knowing human anatomy is important for painting.¡±


    Human anatomy books were mandatory reading for cartoonists, so he bought the Xinhua Bookstore¡¯s set package in [Never Town].


    Of course, Nan Zhou¡¯s choice of a swift and easy assault maneuver including neck twisting was also learned from books.


    Li Yinhang rolled up her sleeve and asked, ¡°Tell me, what do I need to do?¡±


    She just needed the simplest instructions.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°Go through the book and look for clues. When you see tin soldiers, run faster.¡±


    Li Yinhang looked at the fifteen complete tin soldiers standing still against the wall and holding a bayonet and musket, dressed like the one-legged tin soldier. She summoned up her courage and assertively said, ¡°No problem.¡±


    Nan Zhou turned to Jiang Fang, ¡°Brother Fang, what about you?¡±


    At this time, a new game of chess had begun.


    The white chess piece opened the game first.


    The withered corpse holding the black chess piece appeared to be hesitant to make a move. His eyes, which were like mercury, were rigid. He stared at the chessboard for a minute before moving a living piece among half of the dead pieces.


    Jiang Fang, ¡°¡­ Me? I will watch him play chess.¡±


    Without waiting for the one-legged tin soldier to speak, Jiang Fang topped off with a perfect smile and interrupted, ¡°You just don¡¯t welcome cheating by helping to find pieces, not unwelcome chess watchers, right?¡±


    The one-legged tin soldier¡¯s mouth opened and closed for a while. Without saying anything, he continued to stand on tiptoe and watch the chess game.


    Jiang Fang said to Nan Zhou, ¡°Go.¡±


    Li Yinhang hesitated, ¡°Are you really not going with us?¡±


    Jiang Fang crossed his arms and looked at the labyrinth of books behind him, ¡°So many books, what difference does it make if there is one less of me or one more of me?¡±


    Nan Zhou looked into Jiang Fang¡¯s eyes and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea for you to be here by yourself.¡±


    Jiang Fang cracked his neck before rubbing his neck skillfully to help him relax, ¡°I haven¡¯t played chess for a long time.This will help me to review all the rules and moves so that I can teach you later.¡±


    After a pause, he pulled Nan Zhou closer to him, ¡°Come here, I¡¯ll teach you the basic knowledge of chess.¡±


    When the two heads met, Jiang Fang spoke a few words and taught him how to recognize the chess pieces and some of the most basic chess rules for winning or losing.


    Li Yinhang vaguely realized that, in fact, Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang had already thought of a way to get out of here.


    She wanted to interrupt and ask a question, but when she realized that the one-legged tin soldier was still around, she resolutely shut up and pretended not to notice anything.


    Nan Zhou was indeed a good student. After roughly listening to the rules, he whispered an ¡°oh¡± to show understanding.


    He turned to the tin soldier, ¡°After leaving this place, will the story that was eaten be returned to us?¡±


    Tin Soldier, ¡°We only accept the full book.¡±


    The insinuation was that if they violated a rule and had their memories eaten as long as they could get out of this maze-like library, they would be able to recover all of their memories.


    As long as they could find the souls of the black chess pieces and win the chess match, they could leave with their memory intact.


    At that, Jiang Fang raised an eyebrow at Nan Zhou.


    When he did this action, he exuded a relaxed and confident demeanor that made people feel inexplicably at ease.


    Nan Zhou, who was convinced by this statement of a tin soldier, said to himself, ¡°¡­¡­ Yes, I can do it, but you may not be able to.¡±


    Jiang Fang, ¡°Have you figured it out?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°I¡¯ve figured it out.¡±


    Nan Zhou looked at Jiang Fang, ¡°Then, you must trust me.¡±


    Jiang Fang shrugged and smiled brightly, ¡°I always have.¡±


    Listening to Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang playing charades with each other, Li Yinhang was still confused.


    When she entered the maze of bookcases, Li Yinhang understood what it really meant to be dizzy.


    The books on the shelf didn¡¯t have the so-called concept of ¡°categorization¡±. The bookshelves were completely disorganized, like no one cared enough to put them back to their respective places.


    Two books with different authors and unrelated topics were placed together just because they were read on the same day.


    Looking at the oak bookshelf packed so tightly together that not even a piece of paper could be slipped in with its large and small, flowery and dazzling titles, she was filled with only one sentence.


    ¡ª¡ªFuck me, not even a stupid person could figure out the correct books!!


    Even so, Li Yinhang still resisted the impulse to swear and focused on the bookshelf in front of her.


    Ktf alc rbivlfg fzqijlcfv atf geifr bo atf ujwf ab atfw pera cbk.


    Xfcfgjiis rqfjxlcu, mtfrr qlfmfr bcis ub ab ybbxr klat ogfrt qibar gfijafv ab atfw.


    Ktfgfobgf, la kjr cba bcis j ybbx gfijafv ab ylrtbqr, mtjglbar, xclutar, jcv qjkcr, yea jirb j ybbx atja wluta yf gfijalnfis cfk.


    She browsed through the shelf in front of her, raised her arm and took a book from a higher shelf that met her preconceived criteria, and quickly flipped through it.


    Compared to Li Yinhang, who forced herself to think at a high speed and tried her best to start her search, Nan Zhou looked more like he was browsing a bookstore.


    In Nan Zhou¡¯s short life, so far, he had been fighting with all kinds of irresistible forces, and was long accustomed to this type of situation.


    Therefore, his way of thinking was always simple, direct, and effective.


    ¡ª¡ªOnly 48 hours were left for them to explore in the instance of [Brain Invasion].


    Under the surveillance of the tin soldiers who patrolled every half an hour, it might not be enough even if they were given an extra 48 hours just to read all the books here!


    If one spends too much time here, even if one could barely pass this game, who knew what game was hidden behind the next door of the brain marrow passageway?


    Therefore, this level needs to be explored, but there had to be a custom clearance method that did not require so much time.


    After realizing this, Nan Zhou concentrated on the keywords that were clearly specified in the instance, since it was all too easy to become overwhelmed by the game¡¯s rules and pressure.


    ¡ª¡ª[Exploration].


    He began to explore and discover freely.


    Aside from the blank book which belonged to him and was already in his hands, he also took a book that introduced the basic rules of chess from the shelf and flipped through it roughly in his hand to gather more information.


    If this was really someone¡¯s brain, this person should be very fond of chess.


    Books on chess games, chess techniques, and similar topics were the most regularly read books.


    There was no need for them to waste time and venture deeper into the maze because these books were arranged in the bookcase near the exit.


    The instance also seemed to help players who didn¡¯t understand chess.


    Even if the players didn¡¯t understand the rules of chess, there were also hand-in-hand tutorials available for them to use at any time.


    Unfortunately, these books were too old.


    There was no trace of the soul of the chess pieces.


    Nan Zhou¡¯s fingertips slid along the spine of the book and walked into the depths of the maze.


    He pulled out a book casually.


    It was a book as beautifully bound and as evenly thick as the blank book he was holding.


    The spine seam was branded with stamped gilt lettering.


    The scribble pattern was unlike any human civilization scripts he had ever seen.


    Nan Zhou opened the title page and found that the content of the body, the text, and the title on the spine were the same odd-shaped words he didn¡¯t understand. It reminded him of the unknown palm with frog web material in the [Fear of the Full Moon].


    But Nan Zhou didn¡¯t feel disappointed.


    He flipped open the book.


    The words scribbled only made it to the middle of the page before abruptly and hastily ending.


    The second half of the book was all blank white paper.


    Nan Zhou took out another book from another shelf.


    As usual, it was the strange words that he couldn¡¯t understand.


    However, the content was richer than the one in Nan Zhou¡¯s hand, the text composition was different, and nearly all the pages were filled with the strange words in contrast to the previous book.


    According to the tin soldier, the library would only include a complete book.


    It became evident that the strange contents contained in these hardcover books belonged to the players who had previously entered this instance, but had failed the game and had to leave their memories behind, imprisoned in the library for all of eternity.


    Nan Zhou was very interested in their story, but he couldn¡¯t understand the contents.


    As he pushed the book back to its original position with a little regret, the sound of leather shoes knocking on the oaken floor filled his ears.


    Nan Zhou moved to the depths of the maze as light as a feather.


    The distinct sounds of the tin soldiers¡¯ shoes knocking on the hard floor caused Li Yinhang to break out in a cold sweat


    There was only one entrance into this maze of bookshelves.


    Therefore, she also took the same course of action as Nan Zhou, steeling her nerves and making her way towards the more complex area deep within the maze.


    However, the oak floor was a double-edged sword.


    It helped Li Yinhang to identify the location of the tin soldiers, but also gave up her own location.


    So she simply took off her shoes, carried them in her hand, and continued to sneak in.


    Her soft socks eliminated any noise that could give away her location.


    But occasionally, when her feet hit the ground and the joints at her heels pulled and cracked with a tiny bone-crunching sound, her nerves would explode.


    It was only after she had twisted and turned through more than a hundred meters away that she dared to stop and catch her breath.


    She wasted no time as she started to rummage through the nearby bookshelf, keeping an attitude of a blind cat running into a dead mouse. She tried her best to find ¡°the soul of chess pieces¡±.


    But after the interruption from the tin soldiers, she was panicked and her mind was in a disarray.


    Despite repeatedly convincing herself to be calm, her hands were shaking like a Parkinson¡¯s patient.


    Besides, she couldn¡¯t concentrate at all.


    In addition to the one-legged tin soldier, fifteen more tin soldiers were patrolling.


    Five soldiers in a group, divided into three groups.


    Their hard cowhide soles were making a very distinct sound on the oak floor.


    For a moment, she was startled by the noise of the patrolling soldiers¡¯ shoes.


    The sharp sound of leather shoes treading on the ground was omnipresent, making it impossible for her to assess their whereabouts based on sound alone.


    Therefore, if there was a furtive strike at any moment, she could only lunge horizontally in a wretched manner, holding a pair of sneakers and her blank book, hiding to the side of the bookshelf.


    A team of tin soldiers, surprisingly hidden in the loud footsteps, approached Li Yinhang in a dignified manner.


    Even though she had dodged fast enough, she was still caught by the sharp eyes of the leader of the team, who led his team to circle the bookshelf.


    She heard a dull, inhuman tone.


    ¡°It¡¯s a book.¡±


    ¡°Our¡­ Book ran away.¡±


    Li Yinhang¡¯s scalp exploded with a buzzing sound.


    She glanced over the blank book in her hand, apprehension growing within.


    Her name appeared in a stunning font on the spine of the book.


    She opened it with trembling hands and found that a black printing font began to appear on the originally blank title page.


    Title, Li Yinhang.


    Author, Li Yinhang.


    ¡­ Chapter One, One Year Old.


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t have the courage to read any further; she closed the book, picked a direction randomly, and fled.


    Her heart was hammering in her chest and the soles of her feet burned.


    She was terrified and bolted through the maze, winding between the bookshelves.


    But things were going down a slippery slope in a direction beyond her control.


    She had just scurried past the shelter of a bookshelf when she came face to face with three tin soldiers who turned back in unison to face her.


    Li Yinhang took a stiff step backwards and felt that the weight of the book in her arms had increased subtly.


    As if her soul was bit by bit being transferred to the dead book in her hand.


    ¡ª¡ªIt seems that my soul is gradually transferring to this dead thing.


    The subtle weight of the book pulled her spirits to the ground.


    She tried to convince herself that an exploratory, non-spiritual section of the instance like this wouldn¡¯t be so difficult.


    She tried to ignore the difficulty of ¡°Star Coin 11¡± in order to lessen her panic.


    She had never imagined that she would suffer a loss in a library.


    The desire to survive rose within her once again and she made a desperate run towards a hiding place.


    But she was already exposed.


    By the time she got to the center of two bookshelves, she was already trembling because she was encircled by two groups of tin soldiers who had followed her by her loud footsteps.


    She abruptly retraced her steps, and for a moment she could not make head or tail of her directions.


    Her heart was pounding so fiercely that she thought it might rise to her mouth, making it more difficult for her to breathe.


    As a last resort, she threw down her shoes and holding her book in one hand, she started to scale up the bookshelf.


    Suddenly, a hand stretched out from the gap between the books from the other end of the bookshelf and lightly touched her hand!


    Li Yinhang¡¯s body stiffened, the words ¡°I¡¯m dead¡± flashed past in her head. She saw a pair of quiet eyes across the gaps in the bookshelf, blinking at her.


    Li Yinhang acted immediately and threw the book in her hand across the bookshelf without hesitation.


    With that, her figure disappeared into thin air moments before being caught by the gaze of the tin soldiers rushing in.


    Nan Zhou reached out to catch Li Yinhang¡¯s book, and collected Li Yinhang and her book into the storage warehouse. He shook his numb wrist and quickly retracted his arm from the gap of the bookshelf, releasing Li Yinhang again when he considered it safe.


    When she saw Nan Zhou, realization dawned on her. Before entering this bookshelf maze, they have come up with a plan in case of an emergency, which was to pull the person in danger of being seen by the tin soldiers into the storage warehouse.


    Now that the two of them have met, they collaborated and utilized this method, managing to rapidly travel deeper into the maze without getting caught.


    A few seconds later, a tin soldier¡¯s head suddenly emerged from the top of the bookshelf.


    The connection between his neck and head creaked with a metallic scraping sound, like someone was scraping their nails over a chalkboard.


    It looked around the top of the bookshelf.


    The top of the shelf was empty.


    No book had escaped.


    It lowered its head again.


    It wanted to look over the other side from above and find any fleeing figures.


    Fortunately, the bookshelves were too tall for their height.


    Even with area supremacy, it couldn¡¯t see far away.


    They still lost their tracking target.


    Seventeen bookshelves away, Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang sat side by side, catching their breath.


    Li Yinhang covered her mouth and controlled the surging airflow of panic. The alveoli in her lung cavity felt like they were about to explode, and her chest was on fire.


    Nan Zhou took out the hardcover book belonging to Li Yinhang and glanced at the spine with added content, and understood most of what had happened.


    But he didn¡¯t say anything.


    Nan Zhou stuffed her book of memories firmly back into her arms, to let her hold it, and perhaps the reassurance it bought her would help her calm down faster.


    When the faint redness on Li Yinhang¡¯s face receded, Nan Zhou asked softly, ¡°Did you find anything?¡±


    Li Yinhang took a deep breath, opened the book in her arms and quickly glanced over it, before handing it to Nan Zhou.


    She put her arms on her knees and spread her five fingers, ¡°I¡¯ve been seen by five tin soldiers.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Nan Zhou turned the page to the table of contents and found that it had been updated up to Li Yinhang¡¯s life until she was five years old.


    Nan Zhou, ¡°So this is how the book will eat a part of your story?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t remember much before the age of four.¡± Li Yinhang inserted her hand into her messy and sweaty hair and tried her best to settle herself down, ¡°The things that happened when I was five¡­¡­¡±


    Images of her parents before she was five years old, the joyous time of her childhood, and the taste of various small snacks, all gone, forcibly erased from her memories.


    The innocent flowers of her memories were blooming on the cold pages of the book.


    The oddity of it was chilling.


    ¡°This time, if I mess up, the consequences will be more severe.¡± Li Yinhang panted slightly, pulled out a pen and paper, and wrote with shaking hands as she analyzed for Nan Zhou ¡°The soldiers will make multiple rounds during the chess match. This was the first round and I was spotted five times making me lose five years. I believe the punishment will be doubled with each round from the violations. Next, I will lose two years, then the third round four, and so on. .¡±


    Being seen by the patrolling tin soldier once meant a year of memory from the person would be eaten.


    Overturning a bookshelf and disturbing a chess game should also be calculated by rounds.


    Li Yinhang¡¯s operation was a test of her own, and she figured out the principle.


    It was also a piece of valuable information.


    Nan Zhou replied to her very seriously, ¡°Thank you. You have worked hard.¡±


    Li Yinhang leaned back, closed her eyes, and smiled bitterly.


    She was very lucky at this time to be accompanied by Nan Zhou.


    She knew she had made a mistake and almost dragged herself into danger.


    At a time like this, Nan Zhou wasn¡¯t warm and comforting like Jiang Fang.


    He just accompanied her in silence and said nothing.


    As a partner, just this was enough to make people feel at ease.


    Nan Zhou turned over his own blank book page by page, waiting for the tin soldiers to end their search, while imagining what his story would be like if it were presented in words.


    He tried to visualize it for a long time.


    Then, he couldn¡¯t help but think, if there were words in Brother Fang¡¯s book, would it record how he looked when he was a child.


    He remembered the beautiful childhood that Jiang Fang had described to him.


    If it existed¡­

 CH 90.1

    Translator-Rhapsodite


    Editor-CherryApple, Proofreader-adjective


    After the bayonet-wielding tin soldiers had combed through the maze and reached the center, they turned back and returned to their positions.


    Li Yinhang did not dare to stray too far away from Nan Zhou after the encounter with the tin soldiers.


    She followed Nan Zhou¡¯s example and rummaged through the bookcases while keeping track of Nan Zhou¡¯s figure in her periphery.


    When the pace of the search had slowed down considerably and without the fear of running into the patrolling soldiers, Lin Yinhang had considerably calmed down and her mind was much clearer.


    She absentmindedly took another book out of the shelf and silently said to Nan Zhou standing a bit further away, ¡°Am I overthinking?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°You figured it out?¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    She exhaled deeply.


    She finally realized that the game¡¯s given time limit was simply not enough for one to diligently flip through every single book to find the chess pieces¡¯ souls.


    Even if she limited the search to the given conditions, she would still be unable to find them.


    However, even after thinking in various directions, Li Yinhang could not figure out what method the two bigshots had come up with in order to clear this level.


    ¡ª¡ªIf you can¡¯t figure it out, then don¡¯t abuse yourself anymore.


    Following Nan Zhou¡¯s example, she took down a storybook with a binding similar to her own. After flipping through it a few times, she furrowed her eyebrows, perplexed.


    Nan Zhou, noticing her actions, asked, ¡°What did you find?¡±


    Li Yinhang looked over the words line by line in her hand. After a long time, she honestly admitted, ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    She turned over the pages, her mind wandering elsewhere.


    Naturally, she had also pondered the question Nan Zhou had considered, ¡°Who in the world is forcing us to play in these instances¡­¡­. Aliens? Creatures from other dimensions?¡±


    Her heart felt like it was squeezed and her face went pale as numerous possibilities flew in her head, and her wild imagination sent shivers down her spine.


    In fact, as early as the beginning of the disappearances, Li Yinhang had always suspected that some kind of power beyond their comprehension was manipulating their world.


    This world was far more than what humans could perceive. Humans were, after all, limited by their consciousness.


    Whatever power was lurking behind this game, could not only design such a complex and advanced playing field, but could also drive them towards making a wish, and even sift through the age group when selecting players¡­¡­


    The unknown power that forces them to play the game, what exactly did it want from them?


    If what happened to them was just momentary enjoyment of higher dimensional beings, then what exactly was the struggle for life in pain and sacrifice?


    Before Li Yinhang¡¯s balance of thoughts tilted towards hopelessness, Nan Zhou reached out to her from across the bookshelf, ¡°Other than this, what else did you find?¡±


    Li Yinhang patted her face twice to bring herself back to reality, and gave the book in her hand to Nan Zhou, and focused on reporting her finding to him, ¡°There is also-¡±


    Before she could say anything, Nan Zhou flipped open the storybook of the nameless man she handed over, opened a random chapter, and ripped off a page.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡±


    Immediately afterward, Nan Zhou¡¯s brows furrowed deeply, as if his nerves were stabbed, and his footing became unsteady.


    Li Yinhang¡¯s heart tightened, ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    Nan Zhou slowly exhaled, ¡°¡­ It¡¯s all right.¡±


    He pulled himself together and held up his own book for inspection.


    Vegf fcbeut, ilxf atf gfra, tlr ybbx jirb tjv j cjwf, jeatbg, jcv atf olgra mtjqafg.


    Li Yinhang walked over to Nan Zhou¡¯s side and tried to support him by his arm. She finally understood why Nan Zhou¡¯s SAN value was judged by the system to be [Garbled].


    Po tf kfgfc¡¯a rb fjrlis joofmafv ys ofjg, atfc atf rsrafw kbeiv¡¯nf vlgfmais ulnfc tlw j oeii VCR rmbgf.


    Lbkfnfg, ecvfg j mfgajlc asqf bo wfcaji jaajmx, tlr rqlgla rffwfv ab yf rfnfgji alwfr wbgf rfcrlalnf atjc tfgr.


    When being gazed at by the tin soldier, violating the taboo, and having her memory jerked away, Li Yinhang only felt an indescribable weird feeling in her brain.


    It didn¡¯t affect her actions, and there was no pain or discomfort.


    On the contrary, the stimulation Nan Zhou felt was obviously comparable to someone directly pricking his nerve with a capillary needle.


    Because of this, it was difficult for the system to determine whether his SAN value was high or low.


    So it gave a [Garbled] code and let him figure it out himself.


    Just as Nan Zhou broke the rules and tore off a page from the book, a tin soldier who had returned from his patrol and stood silently at his position suddenly moved.


    It stumbled forward a few steps, as if it had come to life from whatever spell was controlling it and gained a moment of freedom.


    The soles of its shoes knocked against the ground with a loud tap.


    This was particularly jarring in the silent library, where only the sound of falling chess pieces was heard.


    It was as clear as the sound of pages being torn from the depths of the library again.


    Jiang Fang, who was watching the chess game, raised his head.


    The one-legged tin soldier raised its bayonet and musket and looked around in confusion, making it seem like it had come back to life.


    And the dull, black eyes that looked like they were painted on its skull had a little glimmer of life in them


    After turning around aimlessly, it locked eyes with Jiang Fang.


    Jiang Fang read a hint of confusion and panic in its eyes.


    With the dull humanoid face of the puppet, the uncanny valley effect was particularly conspicuous.


    But this plea for help was left unanswered.


    Inside the maze, the pages torn off by Nan Zhou disintegrated in his hands like sand.


    At the same time, from the point where the page was ripped off, new pages filled with the same archaic text grew.


    It was exactly the same as the original one.


    And outside the bookshelf, the one-legged tin soldier who had acquired a moment of clarity also lost the light in its eyes.


    It took a step back and returned to its original position.


    Jiang Fang lowered his eyes and continued to watch the game of chess, as if in deep thought.


    His eyes were calm and focused as if the one-legged tin soldier plea for help just now wasn¡¯t worth a second glance.


    He didn¡¯t care if there were other players¡¯ souls hidden in the tin soldiers.


    He only cared about the little bit of information that Nan Zhou had delivered.


    ¡­¡­


    Nan Zhou finally eased from the unsettling feeling of having his memory stripped from him, his legs were still feeling a little soft, and he had to lean on the bookshelf to barely stand.


    The first thing he saw was Li Yinhang¡¯s slightly trembling hands holding a corner of his clothes.


    When Li Yinhang found Nan Zhou could respond, she looked towards the exit nervously and whispered, ¡°You quickly go in.¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°¡­?¡±


    Li Yinhang said anxiously, ¡°I heard the tin soldiers moving again. You¡¯re not feeling well. Come into my warehouse and I¡¯ll take you and hide-¡±


    Nan Zhou leaned against the bookshelf, one hand on his forehead, massaging it lightly, ¡°¡­¡­ Do you still hear them moving?¡±


    After experiencing that chase, Li Yinhang was really paranoid about the sound of the tin soldiers¡¯ leather shoes.


    It was only after Nan Zhou had pointed it out for her that she came to the realization that the sound of the leather shoes was only heard once and never again.


    After realizing that she had overreacted, she rubbed the tip of her nose, a little embarrassed. She let go of the hand that was holding the corner of Nan Zhou¡¯s coat, and obediently stood aside.


    Nan Zhou took a few deep breaths to clear up his head and opened his own book.


    Sure enough, one more year.


    However, Nan Zhou¡¯s experiments did not stop.


    He released his hand and let the newly recovered book fall on the ground with a heavy thump.


    There was a loud snapping noise.


    ¡­ Nothing happened.


    The sound of a single book falling on the floor did not reach the condition of breaking the second prohibition of ¡°disturbing the game¡±.


    Li Yinhang was breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Nan Zhou grab the edge of a shelf and said to her indifferently, ¡°Cover your ears.¡±


    Although she did not know why, Li Yinhang obediently plugged her ears.


    The next moment, she got to know why.


    ¡ª¡ªNan Zhou lifted a corner of the oak bookshelf, which she couldn¡¯t even guess the weight of, and toppled it over with one hand¡ª¡ª


    The entire row of books from above fell to the ground with a loud rumble that sounded like a landslide.


    This time, the tin soldiers didn¡¯t move.


    However the hands of the dry corpse holding the chess pieces trembled slightly.


    Jiang Fang first heard the sound of falling books coming from the depths of the maze, and then noticed this little change in the movements of the corpse, and it became clear in his mind.


    Nan Zhou was testing where the trigger point for the so-called ¡°disturbance of the game¡± of Prohibition 2 was.


    ¡ª¡ªThe hearing of the mummy was obviously bad.


    Just now, neither the sound of a group of people talking while standing beside it, nor the loud knocks of the tin soldiers¡¯ leather shoes pounding on the floor during the patrolling period, or even the sound of a chase happening in the maze disturbed it.


    It always stared at the board like a clay doll, thinking, and it took a whole minute to move a single piece.


    Only the clamorous sounds of an entire shelf of books falling down could touch its nerves.


    The thought of a certain cat doing experiments and jumping up and down inside the maze to wreak havoc brought a light smile to the corners of Jiang Fang¡¯s mouth.


    ¡­¡­


    Inside the maze of bookshelves.


    Li Yinhang covered her ears and stood in the middle of a mess, looking a bit silly.


    She asked, ¡°¡­¡­ Teacher Nan, what are you doing?¡±


    After Nan Zhou¡¯s dizziness eased, he knelt on one knee beside the empty bookshelf, and opened his book again.


    In the table of contents, ¡°Chapter Two¡± had been added.


    In other words, unless it was the sound of something as loud as an entire bookshelf falling down, it wouldn¡¯t be counted as a violation of the second prohibition.


    A loud noise was counted as one foul.


    Nan Zhou wiped the cold sweat dripping down the tip of his nose, ¡°You continue to look for clues, don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°But you ¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°You do what you have to do and I¡¯ll do mine.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°Your body ¡­¡­¡±


    Nan Zhou stared at her and said coldly, ¡°Anyone can die in the game anytime. You can¡¯t always rely on me.¡±


    He picked up his book containing his memories from the first years in his life, tore off a page, and held on to it tightly in the palm of his hand.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­..¡±


    ¡ª¡ªThere was not a single sense of self preservation! It couldn¡¯t even be called a controlled test!


    It should be called jumping back and forth across the edge of life and death.


    This time the stimulus for Nan Zhou was obviously heavier.


    He clearly felt that something came back to his mind, but like a whisper of a thought that vanished in a second, it was gone. He stayed still for a long time but it was soon forced out of his mind by an unknown force like a water pump.


    He clenched his teeth in dizziness as his legs went soft.


    ¡ª¡ªOne, two, three¡­¡­


    When he reached the count of five, the page that he tore off disappeared from his palm.


    It was back on a new page in the book, placed exactly where he had torn it off from.


    His body fell to one side, pale face with white lips slightly open, and gasped.


    After taking a few deep breaths, Nan Zhou still failed to remember, and this made him more aggressive. He once again began to tear off all the pages from the first two chapters.


    Li Yinhang, ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡ª¡ªIs this forced induced vomiting for the storybook?


    She even imagined the picture of Nan Zhou taking a small stick and stabbing the storybook¡¯s little tongue one at a time.


    ¡­ It made her feel less nervous¡­


    The impact on Nan Zhou was not minor.


    He flopped down directly on the ground, biting a pair of white lips.


    Li Yinhang didn¡¯t know what she could do.


    Nan Zhou looked to be very uncomfortable and in pain, after enduring for quite a while, he buried his face on folded arms over his knees and made a small sound, ¡°Um¡±.


    Hearing Nan Zhou¡¯s fatigued voice, Li Yinhang¡¯s heart became even softer.


    Seeing him repeatedly testing regardless of his torment, Li Yinhang¡¯s heart ached, and she understood what he was trying to do.


    She squatted beside Nan Zhou and hugged her book to her chest tightly, ¡°Tell me what you want to verify. I¡¯ll tear mine.¡±


    Nan Zhou raised his head, his eyes were surrounded with a thin red tint.


    His eyes and tone were still cold and light, ¡°My control over my senses are better than yours, and also the tracking of time is more accurate.¡±


    Li Yinhang, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t tearing from someone else¡¯s book and measuring the time it takes for it to return to normal work?¡±


    Nan Zhou, ¡°I also want to assess the impact it will have on the body.¡±


    With that, he opened the book in his hand again.