Li Zhi entered the Verification House once again.
The three clues obtained from the go-kart ride were: “Be careful of what’s behind you,” “Don’t look back,” and a picture of footprints. She followed the introduction of ghosts on the Hundred Ghost Wall and found the ghost that matched these clues.
The Hanging Boot Ghost likes to follow people at night. When a person turns around, it swiftly dodges out of sight, making it difficult to catch. It even purposely makes a clattering sound of footsteps to scare people, which fits the clue about the footprints.
As for the three clues from the drop tower, Li Zhi directly checked with Tang Nanshan’s suggestion about the Shanxiao. After confirming the clues were correct, she submitted the option for the Soul-Capturing Ghost.
Before leaving, Li Zhi glanced once more at the blank area beneath the Hundred Ghost Wall. It remained unchanged, as if the wall was designed that way, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t see any more details.
Li Zhi left the Verification House.
They were the last group to enter and vote. By the time the others had cast their votes and come out, the “Perfect Couple” team and Pei Hongyu’s group had already left the amusement square.
When the last person exited the Verification House, the two heavy black doors shut, the red light that had filled the entire park extinguished, and the normal lighting resumed. The NPCs that had disappeared from the square reappeared in their original spots.
The sight of the balloon-holding bear suit was too conspicuous, and Li Zhi spotted him at once.
Li Zhi extended her hand toward Chi Yi. “Give me the jade pendant.”
Chi Yi glanced at the bear suit in the distance and clicked her tongue, saying, “What? Worried that he’ll see and you won’t be able to complete your task?”
Li Zhi chuckled. “Hmm.”
Chi Yi snorted, then handed the jade pendant back to her.
Li Zhi tucked the sunflower charm close to her body again, and the group headed to their next destination. The slow and clumsy bear suit stood still, hesitating for a moment before lifting its hand and waving at Li Zhi.
Owen Dong was more excited than the person involved. “He’s calling you!”
Without his ghost costume, Li Jianxi was no longer scary; the bear suit actually looked quite cute. Owen Dong’s curiosity peaked. “Go check it out, maybe he has something important to tell you!”
Everyone now held two correct answers, so even if they didn’t participate in this round’s activity, it wouldn’t affect them. Spending a bit of time watching some drama wouldn’t hurt!
Seeing Li Zhi walk toward the bear suit, the rest of the group sneaked along behind her.
The flower balloon tied to Li Zhi’s wrist swayed in the air, as if greeting the bunch of balloons in the bear suit’s paw. When she reached him, Li Zhi smiled and asked, “What’s up?”
From inside the costume came Li Jianxi’s muffled voice, barely audible through the thick fabric. “Are you hungry?”
After all the running around, she should be.
Li Zhi’s eyes curved into a smile. “Are you treating me?”
The heavy bear suit nodded and gestured toward the mushroom-shaped booth not far away, glowing with colorful lights. “Follow me.”
Li Zhi and her teammates followed him to the booth. As expected, it was filled with common amusement park snacks: sizzling grilled sausages, steaming oden, boiled corn, and plum juice.
An NPC wearing an apron stood behind the counter, greeting them with a beaming smile. “Welcome to the Snack Station! What would you like to eat?”
The bear suit pulled out a handful of coins from its pocket and spread them out on its furry paw, handing them over to the NPC inside.
Li Zhi couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t want to disappoint him, so she stepped forward, standing next to him, and looked closely at the menu. “I’ll have a grilled sausage, a cup of plum juice, and some radish from the oden, please.”
“Got it!” The NPC cheerfully accepted the bear suit’s coins, then enthusiastically packed the food and handed it to her.
Li Zhi took a bite of the sausage and grinned. “Delicious.”
A sound of gulping came from behind, and when Li Zhi turned around, she saw her teammates staring at her longingly. She couldn’t help but laugh and asked the bear suit, “Can you treat my friends to a grilled sausage too?”
The bear suit nodded, reached into its pocket again, pulled out a handful of coins, and began counting. Realizing it wasn’t enough, he pulled out another handful.
Li Zhi stared at his pocket, thinking it was like a magical treasure chest.
“Come and get it,” she told her teammates, who were already rushing over. “But only one sausage per person.”
Chi Yi teased, “How stingy!”
Li Zhi, however, replied confidently, “He works part-time for a living, it’s not easy.”
Between playing a ghost and a bear suit, he’d only earned a few coins, and now he was using them to buy sausages for them. This system was so stingy, giving NPCs such a small salary.
They all stood in front of the mushroom booth, happily eating their grilled sausages. The scene was unusually lighthearted, and the viewers were thoroughly satisfied:
[My CP is giving out real sweetness! It’s legit!]
[Earning money to buy sausages for his girl! Li Jianxi is winning big this round!]
[Who else gets it? He really is like this bear suit—clumsy and full of heavy, heartfelt love.]
[When Li Jianxi disappeared with the other NPCs, my heart broke. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t change the fact that he’s an NPC.]
[I don’t care! My CP is the sweetest! I won’t worry about the future, just give me this moment!]
[As long as their smiles when they look at each other are real, that’s enough for me.]
[Let’s just treat it as a limited-time CP!]
[I think Li Zhi will find a way. If she really likes Li Jianxi, she’ll come up with something.]
…
Li Zhi finished her sausage and used a wooden skewer to divide the steaming radish in the box into four pieces, poking several small holes into it. Back in school, she and Li Shuang loved eating oden this way—it cooled faster, so they could finish it before their older brother, who banned snacks, showed up.
The bear suit stood in front of her, the oversized costume head lowered, watching her intently.
“Tired?” Li Zhi asked as she poked a piece of radish into her mouth. “That costume looks really heavy.”
Li Jianxi’s voice was soft, “Not tired.”
Li Zhi looked up at him. “Do you not feel tired or hungry at all?”
Li Jianxi paused for a moment, then replied, “Yes.”
Technically speaking, he was just a string of data. Sleeping and eating were merely actions executed by his code, not things he actually needed.
Suddenly, Li Zhi reached out to his paw, sliding her hand through the furry exterior to find a hand inside, with distinct bones and joints. She held his fingers, giving them a squeeze, then another.
The bear suit in front of her seemed frozen.
From outside the screen, the audience let out high-pitched squeals.
Li Zhi withdrew her hand and smiled brightly. “Your hand is warm, just like a human’s.”
Li Jianxi stammered, “I-Is it…?”
Li Zhi laughed. “Yes. It’s just like mine. Can you feel it?”
It took a long while for Li Jianxi to finally say, “I felt it.”
Her hand was soft and warm. When it slipped inside the bear paw, it felt like a free bird sneaking into his cage.
“Guangping Village, Qingyu Town, and Lie Nu Village…” Li Zhi’s voice pulled him back from his thoughts. He heard her ask, “Have you ever gone back to those places?”
Li Jianxi shook his head. “No, I can’t go back.”
Once players complete a instance’s tasks, the world it creates collapses and ceases to exist.
Li Zhi asked, “What about the people inside?”
Li Jianxi replied, “They disappear along with the instance.”
After saying this, he noticed Li Zhi squint her eyes slightly and then let out a soft chuckle. Her voice carried a trace of curiosity. “Have you ever seen someone like you? Someone who can freely move between different instance worlds and doesn’t vanish when the instance collapses?”
Li Jianxi thought for a while before slowly saying, “I’ve seen one.” He recalled, “But not in your world. We met in a hospital.”
“Did you know each other?”
“No.” Li Jianxi paused for a moment, his voice softening. “But she… was a lot like you.”
Li Zhi was a little surprised. “Like me? You mean she looked like me?”
The bear suit in front of her shook its head. “No, the feeling was similar. You both gave me the same sense of familiarity.”
Li Zhi couldn’t help but think of what he had said before—how he had felt that she was familiar. Yet they had never met.
It turned out this sense of familiarity didn’t just appear with her, but also with an NPC in a instance who was like him. Was there some kind of connection between her and that NPC? What exactly was the familiar feeling he spoke of?
Li Zhi asked, “Did you meet again after that?”
Li Jianxi shook his head. “No.”
It was just that one time, two special NPCs meeting inside the instance. They didn’t exchange much. They merely looked at each other and realized the other was just like themselves—that was all.
Li Zhi lowered her eyes, finished eating the radish quietly, and didn’t ask any more questions.
“We should go do our task now.”
“Oh…” The bear suit looked somewhat forlorn. “Bye-bye.”
Li Zhi was amused by his tone, lifting her hand playfully. “Pat on the head. See you later.”
The bear suit slowly lowered its head under her hand.
Li Zhi, satisfied, gave him a couple of pats. Behind her, Owen Dong held up his sausage skewer and said, “I want to pat him too.”
You Jingmeng, unable to take it, rolled her eyes at him. “What’s wrong with you?”
After bidding farewell to the bear suit, the group followed the signposts and continued walking. In the night breeze, they could gradually hear the sound of flowing water. A two-meter-wide river appeared beside the road, illuminated by eerie blue lights. White mist floated on the surface, carrying an unsettling chill.
Soon, a lake came into view. It was likely connected to the body of water beneath the Ferris wheel. The entire surface of the lake was shrouded in mist, with a ghostly blue glow seeping through it. Occasionally, there was a splash, as if something was lurking beneath the water.
On the open space connected to the lake stood the amusement ride they hadn’t tried yet—the pirate ship.
This pirate ship was different from the ones they’d seen in amusement parks before. There were no colorful graffiti on the hull, and it looked like it was made entirely of wood, exuding an ancient, rustic charm under the night sky. It resembled more of a ferry used to transport people across a river rather than a typical amusement ride.
As they approached the water, the temperature dropped noticeably. Chi Yi rubbed her arms and muttered, “Do you think actual pirates will show up on this pirate ship?”
You Jingmeng agreed wholeheartedly, “Maybe even a sea monster, like an octopus! Its slimy tentacles could slither up and drag people into the water!”
Owen Dong hugged himself in mock terror. “Please, ladies, stop! What if the system wasn’t planning on it, but now that you’ve said it, it decides to add those things in at the last minute!”
Honestly, knowing the system’s twisted sense of humor, it wouldn’t be surprising if it did exactly that.
Li Zhi said, “Let’s go check it out.”
The group walked up to the entrance, where the staff member, still in a blue uniform, stood holding a yellow lantern.
She smiled as they approached and said, “Welcome to the River Crossing Pirate Ship experience. This ride requires a minimum of four participants. Please show your tickets and line up for entry.”
—
Translator’s Note:
I feel happy everytime Li Jianxi comes out 😭 He’s really giving golden retriever vibes.