Chai Yingying looked surprised. “That little ghost is still around?”
The appearance of ghosts in the subway stations was random. Apart from the first station’s Hunter and the little girl Sasha, the ghosts at other stations were never fixed. Players could never predict what kind of ghosts would appear at the next subway station.
So, hearing that Xiao Hui was still at Station 18 left them shocked.
“It seems so,” Old Hei pointed at the ghosts chasing after the pathfinder players. “These are the same ghosts that chased us last night.”
Chai Yingying seemed to be deep in thought as she turned to Gu Jiu. “Miss, how did you manage to keep him there?”
The only one capable of making Xiao Hui stay was none other than Gu Jiu.
Chai hadn’t expected that Gu Jiu would use ghosts to attack the pathfinder players. This wasn’t against the rules of the Multiverse Games. Just as pathfinder players often used others as cannon fodder to explore dangerous paths, leaving those players to be killed by ghosts, it wasn’t considered their fault. In the game world, actions that indirectly caused a player’s death didn’t incur karmic backlash. Retribution simply didn’t exist here.
This was a loophole in the rules that players could exploit.
Now, the tables had turned. The pathfinder players, notorious for their despicable actions, were finally getting a taste of their own medicine.
Admittedly, it was quite satisfying to watch.
Gu Jiu didn’t say a word, but her silence spoke volumes. Her attitude confirmed that the plight of the pathfinder players was indeed her doing.
Wan Xingzhou, moved to tears, squatted beside her and tugged at her sleeve. “Miss, you’re so good to me!”
“Talk if you want, but don’t cling to her.” Lu Ji shot them a cold glare, clearly displeased.
Wan Xingzhou, however, was in high spirits and ignored Lu Ji’s possessiveness. He stayed there until Gu Jiu finally reached out and ruffled his hair like one would pet a dog. Only then was he satisfied enough to move aside and continue observing the pathfinder players’ predicament.
Although the pathfinders were caught off guard by the onslaught of ghosts, they were still skilled.
An hour later, Captain Lu finally managed to break through the spatial illusion created by the ghosts. The fragmented normal space reappeared before them. When he glanced at the players on the right, he realized the ghosts were solely targeting their group, leaving the players on the right alone. In an instant, he understood this was an act of revenge.
Gone was the affable expression on his face. He cast a chilling glance at the players on the right, his eyes lingering on Chai Yingying and Old Hei. Without hesitation, he used a defensive tool to shield them from harm.
“That unlucky bastard thinks it’s you or me,” Chai Yingying said knowingly. “Old Hei, it looks like the pathfinder players are going to come after us from now on.”
Old Hei wiped his large machete and replied dismissively, “Let them come. Do they think I’m scared?”
Li Jing, Pang Hou, and the others chimed in, “Old Hei, we’re teammates now. If they can stick together, so can we. Let’s see who comes out on top!”
Who didn’t have a temper? And who would willingly be treated as cannon fodder by the pathfinders for no reason?
Speaking of which, pathfinder players had a notorious reputation among players. They were despised and infamous for their underhanded tactics. If the regular players united, the pathfinders wouldn’t stand a chance. After all, they were in the minority, while the majority were regular players.
There was no need for players to yield to the pathfinders. If a real conflict broke out, it was the pathfinders who would have to back down.
The battle on the other side raged on for three hours.
Although the pathfinders were severely injured, none of them died. Chai Yingying and the others felt a bit disappointed but understood. The ghosts weren’t that powerful. The only strong one, Xiao Hui, stayed hidden, controlling the spatial illusion. Once the illusion was broken, Xiao Hui, as a minor boss, didn’t have much else to offer.
Captain Lu knew very well that these ghosts had locked onto them. If they couldn’t fend them off, their only option was to retreat.
He felt a simmering anger in his heart, but after searching thoroughly, he couldn’t find the boss directing the ghosts to attack them. Without identifying the mastermind, there was no way to force the ghosts to retreat.
Of course, he could kill the ghosts, but every time he tried to make a move, the spatial illusion would reappear, isolating him from the ghosts. Even other players with tools capable of killing the ghosts were carefully separated by the hidden boss, who ensured that no one could engage the ghosts directly.
He deduced that the boss of Station 18 was operating so meticulously and precisely because they had outside help—likely from Chai Yingying and her group.
With no other options, they were forced to leave on their own.
A group of battered pathfinders fled Station 18.
Before leaving, Captain Lu and his team cast a cold, lingering glance at the players on the right. It was as if they were committing their faces to memory or silently vowing revenge.
“Revenge, huh? Like we’re afraid of you!”
Chai Yingying stood by the elevator, watching their miserable retreat. She raised her middle finger at their backs, utterly disdainful.
The Reverse Walkers organization of the pathfinders had decent strength, but the Game Hunters organization wasn’t to be underestimated either. Chai Yingying, having taken on numerous missions, had a network no less formidable than Captain Lu’s.
Old Hei warned, “Don’t get too cocky. It’s better to stay cautious when dealing with pathfinders. They’ll stoop to anything.”
“They might not even get the chance for revenge,” Wu Yang interjected. “They’re seriously injured and forced to leave Station 18. Next, they’ll have to go all the way back to Station 1 and take the return train to find a place to rest and recover.”
The journey from Station 18 toStation 1 was fraught with peril. With their current injuries, the outcome was predictable.
Thinking about this made everyone feel immensely satisfied.
As they watched the pathfinders limp onto the train in disgrace, the group burst into laughter and cheerfully made their way back to the underground level.
The left side of the area was now empty, with only a pile of trash left behind to prove the pathfinders had ever been there. The feeling of outsmarting and driving away the pathfinders was incredibly refreshing.
Once the pathfinders left, the ghosts also disappeared.
“Where did they go?” Chai Yingying asked curiously.
“They were sent by Xiao Hui to a separate space, essentially another subway station,” Gu Jiu replied.
Chai Yingying narrowed her eyes slightly. “Gu Jiu, don’t you wonder what that other subway station is like? When we entered the game world, the system shop gave us a return ticket, suggesting that the key to clearing the game might involve using it. But look at this subway station—we haven’t found a use for the return ticket here…”
Gu Jiu replied, “What’s the use of wondering? We can’t get in right now anyway.”
Chai Yingying opened her mouth to argue but ended up deflated.
She had a point. Aside from Gu Jiu’s rare chance encounter when she managed to enter once, no other players had even heard of it, let alone accessed it. And Gu Jiu’s time inside had been so brief that she hadn’t had a chance to figure out the station’s mysteries.
Others couldn’t help but sigh.
They were becoming increasingly convinced that the way to clear the game lay in the alternate space where the ghosts resided. Unfortunately, figuring out how to enter was a daunting challenge.
“How about we let the ghosts take us inside?” Wan Xingzhou suggested.
Li Jing scoffed. “How would that work? The ghosts in the subway stations are hostile to players. They’re more likely to kill us first!”
“It’s worth a try, isn’t it?”
Seeing Wan Xingzhou’s optimistic expression, the group couldn’t bring themselves to fully agree with his idea, but it did lift their spirits a little.
Chai Yingying glanced at Wan Xingzhou and, mimicking Gu Jiu, ruffled his hair like petting a puppy. Seeing his confused and dazed expression, her mood brightened significantly. In that moment, she understood why Gu Jiu seemed to enjoy this so much.
Having a “pet” wasn’t too bad—especially one as pitifully obedient as this puppy-like boy.
As they were chatting, someone suddenly noticed an unexpected presence among them—a little ghost.
The ghost was crouched beside Gu Jiu, propping its face on its tiny hands, silently observing the group. Its arrival had been completely unannounced.
The person who first noticed it was startled, their face paling slightly. When did this little ghost show up?
Seeing that everyone had noticed the ghost, Gu Jiu introduced it calmly. “This is Xiao Hui! He’s the mini-boss of Station 18. With him here, you can rest easy tonight—no need to worry.”
After recovering from their initial shock, the group quickly became fascinated, eagerly inspecting Xiao Hui—even Old Hei and his crew joined in.
When they left the station yesterday, Gu Jiu had mentioned not wasting the mini-boss. At the time, no one understood what she meant. Now it all made sense. Not only had Xiao Hui helped drive away the pathfinders, but he was also here to stand guard for them.
Apparently, subway ghosts could be used this way too.
Li Jing hesitated for a moment before finally voicing the question on everyone’s mind. “How did you get him to obey you?”
Xiao Hui being here was undoubtedly Gu Jiu’s doing. But the level of control she had achieved seemed beyond even advanced charm tools.
Gu Jiu smiled but didn’t elaborate.
After everyone satisfied their curiosity about Xiao Hui, they began preparing to rest for the next day’s journey.
Gu Jiu retrieved her mattress, which took up quite a bit of space. However, with the pathfinders gone, there was plenty of room in the station. No one minded her sprawling setup.
She grabbed Lu Ji’s hand and pulled her toward her mattress, shooing away Chai Yingying, who was trying to join.
“What’s the big deal? We’re both women,” Chai Yingying muttered. But when she met Gu Jiu’s overly sweet smile, she felt a sudden chill and wisely backed off.
If even Chai Yingying couldn’t sneak in, the others didn’t dare try.
Xiao Hui quietly followed Gu Jiu. He seemed exceptionally well-behaved, his docility softening the eerie and menacing aura typical of a ghost. He almost looked adorably meek.
Lu Ji glanced at him indifferently, showing no interest in the ghost’s origins or identity. Yet, even his cold gaze made Xiao Hui instinctively shrink back.
Gu Jiu reached out and tousled Xiao Hui’s hair, then tilted her head to look at Lu Ji. “Ah Ji, do you know how I got him to listen?”
Lu Ji thought for a few seconds before answering, “Mermaid’s blood.”
Having worked alongside Gu Jiu for so long, he had a good grasp of the tools she obtained in each game world. With some thought, he easily deduced the method.
Mermaid’s blood had a charm-like effect. Whoever consumed it would become infatuated with the owner of the blood, turning into a lovesick puppet that obeyed their every command. That was how the game store described its effects. However, Xiao Hui didn’t seem to exhibit the usual infatuated behavior.
“I used only a tenth of a drop,” Gu Jiu explained. “I couldn’t bring myself to turn a child into a lovesick fool. That would be far too disturbing.”
She wasn’t that twisted. If not for the dire situation on the Death Train, she wouldn’t have resorted to using mermaid’s blood on a ghost at all.
To lessen the intensity of the effect, she deliberately diluted it to just a fraction of a drop.
She reached out and gently pressed a finger to Xiao Hui’s forehead, smiling softly. “Once we leave, I’ll retrieve the mermaid’s blood and set you free.”
Xiao Hui blinked, his large eyes shimmering. Hesitantly, he reached out and held her hand.
His ghostly hand was ice-cold and rigid, like being gripped by a block of frozen ice. Gu Jiu shivered involuntarily, and before she could react, Lu Ji pulled her hand back into his own.
Lu Ji cast an unhappy glance at Xiao Hui, warning, “Don’t touch her so casually.”
Xiao Hui flinched, shrinking back as he silently stared at Gu Jiu.
—
After seven hours of rest, the group departed from Station 18 with renewed energy.
Station 18 had been relatively safe, but the players knew they couldn’t linger in this false sense of security. Their priority was finding a way into the alternate subway station, and they couldn’t afford to waste time.
No matter how well-behaved and endearing Xiao Hui appeared, they couldn’t forget that he was under Gu Jiu’s control. If he were to regain his autonomy, his first instinct would likely be to attack them—and possibly kill them.
The train arrived at the seventeenth station.
The station bore lingering traces of violence: semi-dried bloodstains and fragments of human tissue scattered across the area. Although a day had passed, the low temperature of the subway station had preserved them, preventing decomposition or stench.
Chai Yingying’s teammate exclaimed in surprise, “Sister Chai, the Hunter tied to the pillar is gone!”
Everyone turned their attention to the pillar where the Hunter had been restrained the previous day. It was now empty, with only a few severed ropes left behind. There was no telling whether it had escaped on its own or if someone—or something—had intervened.
“Did it escape on its own? Or did someone kill it?”
“If someone killed it, then where’s the Hunter’s corpse?”
“But the Hunter isn’t human. Would it even leave a corpse behind after death?”
…
While the group debated the possibilities, Gu Jiu and Lu Ji began heading down to the B1 level without a word.