Ji Heng: "Don't let your guard down."
Even after you've made it past the inevitable death stage, leaving the game still requires fulfilling certain conditions...collecting achievement points or accumulating enough points. During this process, if you get lost in a dungeon, all your efforts are lost.
Su Er's expression was somewhat complicated: "In Tianji City, I met Zhu Yun once."
When he was about to leave the artificial bath, he nearly died at the hands of the other party. Zhu Yun specifically told him that she had left something behind, and he thus obtained the mysterious eye.
"Could Tianji City be her inevitable demise? Tianyi Gua is good at fortune-telling, and so is the Divine Calculator. Assuming Zhu Yun is a native of that world, it makes sense that she possesses the ability to predict the future."
Ji Heng nodded, agreeing with this statement.
Su Er lowered his head in silence for a long time before speaking: "Almost all the people in Tianji City have turned into snake people. Can she be spared?"
Ji Heng didn't answer and changed the subject: "That mysterious eye is a snake eye. I'm afraid it originally belonged to Tianji City."
True and false, real and fake.
But the mysterious eyes can see through the true face of things.
Before his thoughts became even more confused, Su Er regained his composure and realized he needed to focus on the immediate concerns. Ji Heng's inevitable death was not over yet, so he couldn't waste any time playing tricks.
He forced his attention to the Bunny Man, trying to find hidden information. However, no matter what he did, the Bunny Man remained indifferent.
"Cold, unkind..." Quickly summing up the personality characteristics, Sul thought: "Every rabbit man has a different personality, perhaps to some extent it reflects the original character's personality."
But this doesn't mean anything.
The world they thought of as reality contained a deep-seated longing. He longed for a life governed by the law and free from lynching. Xu He dreamed of having a bright and upright identity. Su Er turned to look at Ji Heng: "What is your emotional appeal?"
Ji Heng smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. He even joked at this critical moment: "Rich? Good-looking?"
Glancing at the rabbit man, he said, "Or perhaps possessing seven emotions and six desires."
Su Er said seriously: "It's Qu Qingming who wants a beautiful face, and I'm the one who has no feelings. We have the same character design."
Their eyes met and they laughed at the same time.
At this point, the oppressive atmosphere completely disappeared.
"We can only wait for tomorrow's mission," Ji Heng regained his composure. "The scope is too large, and mere speculation is far from enough."
Maybe it has nothing to do with the individual, but is related to the living environment. Maybe he is still living in a war-torn era and hopes to enjoy a peaceful and prosperous era.
The night passed quickly.
Ghosts knocking on the door in the middle of the night, the faucet dripping, blood in the toilet...none of these happened.
The night breeze is gentle and everything is quiet, perfect for sleeping.
The next day, when they gathered in the hall for dinner, the players' mental states were not very good.
Su Er noticed Su Tangyi. Her originally pretty face was almost bloodless. Later, Wan Yi, who had chased after her, also looked unhappy, with bloodshot eyes.
To be on the safe side, we checked the code we set yesterday to make sure no players were replaced by the bunnymen.
During this period, a quick glance revealed that about one-third of the players behaved abnormally.
The rabbit man turned back into a rabbit waiter the moment the host appeared.
"Good morning." The Green Lotus Sage greeted him warmly.
The rabbit waiter did his job very well, carefully serving porridge to each player and standing in a row waiting by the side.
From last night's dinner, it was clear that the host didn't like to talk business during mealtimes, waiting until the last player put down their chopsticks before speaking. As a result, everyone ate in silence, filling their stomachs as quickly as possible.
The Green Lotus Sage shook his head in disapproval: "It's better for your health to chew slowly."
He seemed to be very concerned about health preservation. After the meal, he led everyone to walk out slowly to facilitate digestion.
Taking a walk to the forest park, the Blue Lotus Sage gave the player a map. The city was divided into four areas of different colors, with letters marked above each area.
Without directly explaining, he stood at the front and made a gesture: "A day's plan begins in the morning. Come and follow me to practice Tai Chi."
"…"
Su Tangyi's face darkened, and she couldn't help but ask, "Isn't it inappropriate to waste time like this?"
The Green Lotus Sage patiently explained, "This game requires numerous gatekeepers. They have traveled across different dimensions to reach Nongxu, and they are still on their way."
"...As for your concerns," he smiled, "there's plenty of time."
Raise your palms, push, kick your legs——
The movements are smooth and flowing, but unfortunately there are only a few players who follow suit.
The Blue Lotus Sage narrowed his eyes, as if pushing the wind, and said casually, "You might die in the next moment, so why not live in the present moment?"
After completing a set of Tai Chi, he spoke again: "The value of the clue is related to the difficulty of the area. A represents a very dangerous area, B is dangerous, C is ordinary... The easiest area is D. You won't die if you fail the game."
Su Er suddenly asked: "How can we ensure that we don't find other people's information after we go in?"
The Green Lotus Sage took out the pen and paper he had prepared long ago and said, "That's why we need to compile the list and gather the monster staff in advance."
The smile in his eyes faded a little as he spoke. "After the difficulty level is selected, the area will be divided into more detailed areas. Everyone can only operate in their own area."
Su Er: "If you're originally at the special difficulty level and want to go midway..."
The Blue Lotus Sage interrupted: "Every demarcation point is guarded by staff."
The meaning is clear: if you want to change places, you have to kill the staff first.
The player's eyes flickered, and it was not easy to do this.
After a brief hesitation, everyone quickly made their choice. Including Ji Heng, there were five people who chose the special difficulty level. Most of them gathered in the dangerous area. Only three players chose the normal level.
Su Er finally said: "I choose..."
Qinglian Sage: "You cannot participate."
Suer wanted to fight for it again, but Ji Heng looked at him and shook his head slightly.
"The game will start on time at 12 o'clock." Watches were distributed to the players for them to check the time. The Green Lotus Sage took them out of the park and assigned them to activity areas in turn.
Su Er, who had become completely invisible, said helplessly: "The hotel is also within the area, what should I do?"
The Green Lotus Sage paused.
After twelve o'clock, the City of Hope will become a paradise for monsters, and there is really no place to put him.
Suer said tentatively, "How about I stay on the abandoned railroad tracks?"
The Green Lotus Sage shook his head: "There are also ghosts guarding the city to prevent players from getting too close to the train station from taking advantage of the situation."
Willow catkins flew over, and Su Er rubbed his nose: "The rules are too imperfect."
Have you ever thought about what to do if you encounter a player who uses a backdoor?
"…"
The Green Lotus Sage sighed and handed over a brooch, the same one that the rabbit waiter wore on his uniform.
"A brooch for staff only. According to the employee protection system, those monsters can't hurt you."
"No wonder…"
Sur stared at the sparkling brooch in his palm. Ghosts and demons all have a penchant for devouring their own kind. There must be some tacit rule to summon a large number of monsters into the city at once without causing chaos.
"Don't provoke them," the Green Lotus Sage warned. "If they really provoke me, I can't kill you. Beating you half to death is just a minor violation. And you can only use the brooch yourself."
Soul checked his watch: 10:43.
Instead of following the host, he turned and walked somewhere else.
This move surprised many players. They thought that Suer and Ji Heng would go to the same area, but they didn't expect them to leave so quickly and neatly.
Wan Yi looked at Ji Heng with a complicated expression, but the latter did not seem surprised.
Because they were walking in completely opposite directions, the sounds behind him gradually became inaudible, and there was silence all around, as if he was the only one in the world.
Su Er is a very clear-headed person. From the copy of the Book of Answers, it can be seen that Ji Heng has grasped the key to breaking the deadlock very early.
In the process of getting along, the other party will choose to accommodate him and deliberately slow down the pace. Going to a special danger zone together may not necessarily work.
Thinking of this, Su Er frowned inadvertently. There has never been a shortage of big guys in the game. At least Zhu Yun is definitely very powerful, but he still ended up in a miserable way.
Ji Heng is also very strong, so the deadly situation for him must be of hellish difficulty.
"clue..."
Now the only way to help the greatest extent is to find more information about the inevitable death situation.
Sur stood on the platform, looking ahead, gritted his teeth and said, "Let's take a gamble. The worst that can happen is that I'll be beaten half to death by the monster."
After making the decision, he quickly returned to the supermarket outside the train station, took two buckets, and stuffed several plastic bags into them before leaving.
·
Players are almost terrified of cheating, but for monsters, it is a grand event.
If you are lucky, you can eat people, and the key is that you can also earn Yin energy. Why not do it?
11:31.
The first monster could not wait to cross the maze and enter the void.
Just as he squeezed through the barrier and stuck half of his body in, he found a human being. Before he could get excited, he saw that the other person was wearing the staff's exclusive brooch.
Suer sat on the ground, leaning against the bucket, and stretched out his leg like a rogue to block the road: "Pay the toll first."
The monster was stunned for a moment, then stomped its bare feet on the ground so hard that two of the rails were broken.
Su Er was helpless and pointed to the sign next to him. He saw a thick tree trunk stuck diagonally in the soil, with the words "Toll Station" written on it.
The monster glared at him, "I've never heard of charging for entering a fraud!"
Suer breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that he could speak human language, which would facilitate communication.
"A few months ago, a large number of dungeons were closed, leaving thousands of evil spirits unemployed..." From the beginning, he had pinned the brooch on the other side, carefully concealing his badge with his arms folded, not revealing his identity as the culprit. "Now everyone is scrambling to get in on the fun."
The more you say, the more mistakes you will make. So Su Er stopped here.
The monster remembered hearing the report at the time, which said that the cause was a player who could see through the 'ghost disguised as a human' trap.
"The number of places is limited. The Sage Qinglian said that if you want to enter, you have to pay one-tenth of the benefits you gained last time, plus one tear."
"Tears?"
"This is a deal I made with someone else," Su Er said seriously. "The Blue Lotus Sage was busy presiding over the trip and had no time to collect tolls. I gave up the opportunity to gather clues and temporarily acted as a toll collector. That's why he specifically added this as a reward."
The monster never thought that a human would have the guts to lie to a ghost, but he felt something was wrong.
Sur coughed lightly, and while the monster was thinking, he suddenly took a step forward. The familiar feeling of weightlessness came over him. After arriving at the other side of the world, he quickly walked back: "The barrier is useless to me."
The monster was stunned. The barrier between the cave and the outside world was extremely thick, and it took it a lot of effort to squeeze in.
"In case you don't believe me, the host gave me a backdoor. He said it's called a temporary boundary controller." Feigning impatience, Su Er held out his hand: "Please make a quick decision."
Urged by a human, the monster instinctively wanted to punch him.
Su Er did not hide and shouted: "I am an employee! You have to pay compensation after the work injury is assessed."
The fist was retracted, but the wind was still there. Sul staggered and took a small step back.
The monster broke off a nail and threw it over: "I don't want to give Yin Qi, this is of equal value."
Su Er put it away expressionlessly: "The Blue Lotus Sage will verify it himself later."
Then he glanced at the bottle next to the toll booth sign and said, "Tears."
Ghost tears do not require any emotional support. The monster simply put the bottle mouth against the eyeball, and soon a tear appeared in it.
The game started at twelve o'clock, and with twenty minutes left, more and more monsters came in.
"Why are you still queuing?"
"It was caused by the closure of the dungeon some time ago to prevent an excessive influx of ghosts and monsters."
"One in ten! Dark enough."
"Qinglian is not a good person, just hand it over to her obediently and don't play tricks on her."
As the line formed, Su Er felt more relaxed. The herd mentality reduced the voices of doubt. Those behind would become impatient if anyone wasted time.
11:53.
The last monster transaction is completed.
Sur walked out of the maze. It was dusk at this moment. His forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he couldn't help feeling a surge of fear in his heart.
He took several deep breaths and quickened his pace. When the Tengshe Cave Master saw the familiar figure, the light in his pupils turned cold.
After giving away some of the benefits he had just received, Su Er said in a hoarse voice, "Take me to find Gou Baopu."
Most snakes don't have the ability to blink, but the Teng Snake Cave Master does. He blinked twice and wondered where the other party got the black money from.
Seeing the bucket full of treasures, he immediately thought of the possibility of robbery.
Su Er pointed at the brooch and said, "Employee." He then added, "If you try to take it, I will fight you to the death. It doesn't matter if I die, but you will be punished by the rules."
The Tengshe Cave Master stared at him for a long while, then suddenly let out a strange laugh: "I told you before, you have the aura of a kindred spirit."
The black tail swung and Sur was rolled onto its back.
Flying at high speed, the gale was strong. Sul lowered his head to avoid the wind and prepared the words he would use when meeting Gou Baopu.
·
Castle.
Ghost King Gou Bao Pu sat in the main seat as usual: "This is a special welfare field, it is called borrowing and lending."
A handsome, smiling businessman beside him adjusted his top hat and explained the rules in detail: "Please work hard to create wealth. If you have any surplus, you can participate in the auction in three days."
The players looked at each other.
"The auction has everything, including props."
This sentence always piqued the players' greed, and this time was no exception. Some whispered to each other, while many others had unpredictable expressions, their intentions unknown.
Looking at this scene with satisfaction, the smiling businessman stepped aside.
Gou Baopu stood up and raised his glass, taking in the greed in everyone's eyes. He smiled and said, "I wish you all..."
He paused mid-sentence as a dark figure suddenly flew in from the window. The young man sat on a long black snake and landed in front of everyone.
"…"
The air suddenly became quiet.
A few seconds later, the players came to their senses, and the sound of communication and discussion suddenly exploded -
"He has a badge, so he seems to be a player too."
"Sul?!" A man recognized the person.
"Holy crap! It's really him! When did Soul get a mount?"
Mount?
The Teng Snake Cave Master felt dizzy after hearing these two words. His pupils shrank and he couldn't help but show his fangs.