Ying Tong put away the axe, examined the door for a moment, then turned and left.
The others followed her out of the dark passageway, their nerves taut with tension. They were afraid that some lurking ghost might leap out and drag them back into the eerie realm to torment them.
Nothing happened on their way back to the first-floor living room, and the players let out a quiet sigh of relief.
They resumed searching the first floor, but finding nothing, they reluctantly returned to the second floor.
As soon as they reached the second floor, they saw the landlord emerging from the kitchen with a tray of food. His skeletal face wore a sinister smile.
“Lunch is ready; come eat.”
He served bowls filled with a murky, blood-streaked mush, the stench so overwhelming that it made everyone feel nauseous.
After setting down the food, the landlord turned and walked away, seemingly indifferent as to whether they ate or not.
Without needing a prompt from Gu Jiu, the male players voluntarily carried the disgusting food back to the kitchen.
“Leave one bowl,” Gu Jiu instructed.
They paused for a moment, and Fatty set his bowl down, asking curiously, “Miss, are you really going to eat this stuff?”
The other players also looked at Gu Jiu with bewilderment. After spending some time with her over the last two days, they had observed her refined and somewhat spoiled demeanor, giving her an air of a young lady from a prominent family. Her temperament didn’t suggest someone who would tolerate any unpleasantness.
Moreover, she had an assertive attitude. Just from watching her confront the landlord fearlessly, they could tell she wasn’t the type to swallow grievances.
Gu Jiu didn’t explain right away. She picked up a pair of chopsticks and stirred the mush.
As she stirred, fragments that had settled at the bottom of the bowl floated to the surface. Those fragments…
One player uncertainly remarked, “That… it kind of looks like a human fingernail?”
Fatty gasped, “It’s not just similar—it is a fingernail!”
Seeing the bits that had been stirred up, all the players’ faces turned grim. Some of the more squeamish ones couldn’t help but cover their mouths and turn away, feeling the urge to vomit.
While they had known that the mush was something questionable, they hadn’t anticipated it might be made from human flesh. The idea was horrifying. Although eating human flesh wouldn’t kill them outright, the mere thought of consuming it was enough to make them feel as though they would rather die.
When Gu Jiu finally fished out a whole, unbroken finger from the bowl, someone couldn’t hold back any longer and started retching.
The fingertip still oozed blood, mingling with the mush and creating the bloody streaks in the slop. It hadn’t even been properly cooked.
Gu Jiu calmly set down her chopsticks, took out a wet wipe, and cleaned her hands.
“Ah Ji and I encountered a ghost scavenging for scraps in the third-floor kitchen earlier. If I’m not mistaken, that ghost was eating… well, a part of a human body.”
The players were silent, feeling a wave of nausea wash over them.
“I believe that if we eat this mush, we might end up like that cannibalistic ghost,” Gu Jiu continued in a level tone. “Or, it might attract the ghost to come after us, triggering a death mechanism.”
This game world had truly gone all out, openly using food to trap players.
From their experiences in other game worlds, players generally expected that any food provided wouldn’t harm them physically. Although not all game food was normal, it rarely caused actual damage to their bodies. But if players treated the food here the same way, while eating it might not kill them instantly, there could be unpredictable side effects.
However, any player with a shred of sense wouldn’t dare to eat these sinister “delicacies” after seeing them.
But if a player was truly starving, they might still eat them, or else they’d try to endure the hunger for the full three days. In any case, it was up to each player’s decision.
Even Ying Tong, who was on the verge of advancing to a C-level game field, couldn’t help but cover her mouth in disgust.
She was genuinely repulsed by the food in this game world. She suddenly understood why the landlord looked so disappointed when they hadn’t eaten the food yesterday. He was likely waiting for them to fall into his trap.
“Miss Gu is right. Eating this food would indeed trigger a death mechanism, leading us to be devoured by the cannibal ghost in the kitchen,” Ying Tong speculated. “The ghosts in this game world all kill with specific conditions. For example, the female ghost in the bathroom could kill us if we were to take a bath there.”
One of the male players exclaimed, “A female ghost in the bathroom? How come we didn’t see her?”
Ying Tong cast them a subtle glance, then looked at Gu Jiu and Lu Ji, saying calmly, “Miss Gu found her spying on us while we were bathing and… took care of her.”
The male players were stunned.
Did she mean… what they thought she meant by “took care of her”?
Suddenly, one of the guys who had gone with Gu Jiu to the first floor began to understand why she had asked him if he had encountered any ghosts. It seemed these two had the power to capture ghosts.
They were the real experts here!
Realizing this, the players looked at Gu Jiu and Lu Ji with awe, barely resisting the urge to cling to them, hoping to ride their coattails to victory.
Fatty chuckled and gave them a thumbs-up, cheerfully saying, “I knew you ladies were something special! Stick with us, alright?”
Gu Jiu merely smiled, pulling out a bag of packaged bread and handing it to the group for lunch.
After they finished lunch, Ying Tong didn’t leave immediately.
Hesitating for a moment, she approached Gu Jiu.
Ying Tong’s initial plan in this game instance was to take on a leadership role, aiming to clear the level while ensuring as many players survived as possible, which would earn her reward points. This was a strategy she had learned from a senior in Boundless City, who had explained that players could gain reward points by controlling the game’s flow and ensuring the survival of others in the instance.
Although these points weren’t substantial, they were still valuable enough to pursue.
Her plan had been sound—until Gu Jiu entered the picture. Ying Tong had to admit that Gu Jiu was indeed formidable. Her strength didn’t just lie in an innate, rare talent but in her intelligence and decisiveness, traits that were a player’s most invaluable assets.
While Ying Tong had been strategizing on how to clear the level first and then ensure as many players survived as possible, Gu Jiu had already made an unhesitating decision to share her own food, preventing others from consuming the dangerous food in the game world.
Undeniably, she couldn’t match up to Gu Jiu, neither in mindset nor in strategic foresight.
So she quickly abandoned the goal of vying for the top reward points, choosing instead to collaborate with her.
In a game world, the last thing players should do is engage in petty power struggles. One wrong move could lead to total annihilation. That’s why Ying Tong asserted herself as a leader as soon as she entered the game, utilizing her strengths to take control and prevent any infighting among players as much as possible.
Rather than competing against each other, players should cooperate to clear the game.
However, she couldn’t guarantee that every player would share this mindset; there would always be some unwilling to submit. She could only try.
Ying Tong asked, “Miss Gu, how about a partnership?”
Gu Jiu gave her a gentle smile. “Haven’t we already been working together?”
A smile crossed Ying Tong’s face, which was usually marked by determination. She felt unexpectedly fortunate; just as she was about to advance to the C-level game field, she met someone like Gu Jiu—a player who, while appearing pampered and brash, had clear boundaries, an innovative approach to clearing levels, and a bold yet meticulous style of verification.
She had a feeling that they’d successfully clear this instance.
Ying Tong said, “I know you’re looking for the ghosts in this house. I encountered one; I can take you there.”
Gu Jiu’s face lit up with joy. “That’s wonderful, thank you, Sister Ying.”
Her voice was soft and gentle, with a slight, playful sweetness when she was happy, like she was acting cute. The sound warmed everyone’s hearts. Ying Tong, a woman herself, found it a bit overwhelming. If this young lady acted cute around a man, he might well hand over his very soul.
Ying Tong realized it was her first time meeting such a charismatic girl, someone entirely different from herself.
Leading the way, Ying Tong headed up to the third floor.
Seeing this, the other players decided to follow. They were also curious to know why Gu Jiu was actively seeking out ghosts and what she planned to do once she found one.
Ying Tong led them to the third floor and walked straight to the end of the corridor, stopping in front of a room. She pushed the door open.
Gu Jiu calmly approached, standing in the doorway. The room was as filthy and chaotic as the others, with no visible ghosts.
Ying Tong smiled, pointing under the bed. “It’s there.”
Those standing at the door glanced in the direction she indicated. A stained and tattered sheet hung partially off the bed, obscuring the view of the area beneath it.
Ying Tong used a stick to lift the ragged sheet.
A few of the male players bent down to peer underneath, and they instantly found themselves face-to-face with a rigid, deathly pale face. The ghost lay limply under the bed as if it had no bones, staring at them with dark, sinister eyes.
“Ah!”
The male players jumped back in fright. But then, realizing they had strength in numbers and even had tools like the Holy Light Talismans for dealing with ghosts, they regained their courage and stepped forward again.
“Miss, I’ve got a Holy Light Talisman right here!” Fatty proudly offered his Holy Light Talisman.
Gu Jiu waved her hand dismissively.
“No need!” With that, she stepped boldly into the room.
Fatty quickly called out, “Miss, be careful—that’s a…”
Before he could finish, Gu Jiu approached the bed and asked, “Are you coming out on your own, or do I have to drag you out?”
The ghost under the bed remained silent and motionless, still curled up in its spot.
Feeling slightly slighted, Gu Jiu mused that, aside from the bathroom ghost, most of the ghosts in this game world appeared unusually miserable, as though they had suffered tragic fates.
She summoned her “sister” Ah Ji once more. “Ah Ji.”
From the doorway, Lu Ji stood by, and a paper frog jumped out from behind her, leaping under the bed.
When the paper frog emerged, the male players bent down to look and found the ghost had vanished, leaving them puzzled.
Fatty squeezed closer, curiously asking, “Miss, what just happened? What did that paper frog do?”
“It swallowed the ghost,” Gu Jiu said nonchalantly.
“Swallowed it?” Fatty grew excited. “Does that mean it killed the ghost or…”
Gu Jiu shook her head. “No, it merely swallowed the ghost temporarily. It didn’t kill it. The ghosts in this house are still useful, so they can’t be destroyed yet.”
The players looked at her in confusion. “Useful? How?”
Gu Jiu didn’t answer, strolling forward at a relaxed pace.
Ying Tong, however, seemed to have a suspicion and asked, “Miss Gu, how many ghosts have you found so far?”
“With this one, four,” Gu Jiu replied.
Ying Tong seemed thoughtful. “So there might still be three ghosts left? There’s one in the first-floor passageway… but what about the other two?”
As they left the third floor, Gu Jiu instructed the players, “Keep searching. If you find a ghost, come to me, and we’ll capture it.”
The players exchanged glances and reluctantly agreed, “…Okay.”
Though slightly conflicted about following the young lady’s instructions, they saw that even Ying Tong respected her commands, so they went along without complaint.
While the players dispersed to search for ghosts, Gu Jiu and Lu Ji went to an empty room on the second floor.
This was the room next to a male player who insisted it was haunted.
After surveying the room, Gu Jiu grinned at Lu Ji. “Ah Ji, do you think if we wait here, we’ll be able to catch the ghost?”
Lu Ji understood her intentions, a hint of a smile in his eyes. “We probably can.”
She brought two chairs from the living room, and the two of them sat at the door, settling in for a “wait and catch” strategy.
When the other players passed by and saw the two women’s actions, they were baffled but decided not to disturb them. Knowing that Gu Jiu and Lu Ji were actively hunting ghosts, they found these two female players rather intimidating—best not to provoke them.
Even the resident playboy, Tu Shuai, was careful to avoid them, not daring to approach too close.