During the day, this storage room had been empty, but now it was packed with treasures: glittering diamonds, shining gold bars, radiant gemstones…antiques, famous paintings, jewels—the collection was extensive.
Gu Jiu glanced around disinterestedly. “What a pile of worthless junk.”
In the game world, items with practical uses were the most valuable. Luxury items from the real world, however, held little allure for players.
Lu Ji took a quick look around and said, “All of these are real.”
Gu Jiu leaned lazily against the doorframe, remarking with boredom, “So what if it’s real? The real world has these things too, but if I take them back, how am I supposed to explain where they came from? Imagine if people thought they were fakes—how tacky would that be?”
Lu Ji was at a loss for words.
Miss Gu always had her own logic; best just to listen and nod.
Although she seemed uninterested, Gu Jiu still tossed a few valuable items into her storage space.
Without asking what she planned to do, Lu Ji even helped her, grabbing a tablecloth and wrapping up some jewels, jade, gold, and antique paintings to keep them from cluttering her inventory.
Yet, Miss Gu sighed, “Only ten slots in my storage space—it’s not nearly enough.”
“You can buy a larger one,” Lu Ji reassured her.
“Once we reach Boundless City, you can get a storage bag with a hundred slots at the marketplace for a thousand points—not too expensive.”
Gu Jiu’s face fell. “But I only have 150 points left.”
Lu Ji immediately offered, “I have enough—I’ll buy it for you!”
Her wide almond eyes fixed on him, and his cheeks warmed under her gaze. Realizing his words sounded a bit too forward, he hurriedly clarified, “I mean, I can lend you the points. I trust in your skills; you’ll be able to pay me back quickly.”
Gu Jiu’s face broke into a smile, and she reached out to brush a cold, pale hand over his cheek.
“You’re so sweet, Ah Ji. I’m really glad I met you.”
Her voice was as soft as a cloud of cotton candy, sweet and gentle. Lu Ji felt his heart melt, and her almost coquettish tone made his head spin, leaving him feeling like he’d gladly hand over all his points to her—and himself, too, if she’d take him.
With her blend of strength and sweetness, who could possibly resist this young lady?
Perhaps even the villa’s owner had had enough of their audacity—boldly pilfering “his” treasures and flirting right in front of “him.” Were the villa’s rules just meant to be broken?
A shadow crept into the room from the doorway.
Gu Jiu glanced at it, giving a small laugh. “Finally coming out, huh? I thought you’d just keep lurking in the dark, spying on us.”
She straightened up slowly, casually picking up a large, imperial-green jade the size of an egg and, with a flick of her hand, crushed it to dust.
The shadow seethed with rage, slithering toward her like a cobra, baring its fangs and hissing in her direction.
Gu Jiu stomped on the shadow and reached out, gripping it tightly, then pulled hard, tearing off a piece of the shadow.
A muffled groan escaped from it.
Gu Jiu looked intrigued. “Oh? You can actually feel pain? I thought you couldn’t.”
The shadow roared in fury, and more of it poured into the room, surging to engulf them both.
Just as the shadow enveloped them, a paper frog leapt out from a corner.
The paper frog opened its mouth wide—so wide it filled half the room—and snapped down on the shadow.
The shadow let out a pained scream, unable to escape the frog’s maw. Eventually, it was forced to sever itself, leaving a portion behind as it fled through the door in panic.
When the shadows finally retreated, Gu Jiu and Lu Ji reappeared in the now-empty storage room. All the treasures had vanished, as if they’d been nothing but an illusion.
Gu Jiu held a key she had just retrieved from the shadow. “What just happened?” she asked, puzzled.
Lu Ji replied softly, “It was probably my paper frog attacking it from outside.”
As he finished speaking, a paper frog hopped out from the corner, bouncing around them a few times.
Looking down at the small creature by her feet, Gu Jiu’s face broke into a warm smile, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
She praised Lu Ji, “Not bad! Your little helper came in handy; it really helped out.”
Earlier, she had intentionally provoked the shadow, letting it engulf her so she could search for the key inside. Although she could have escaped on her own, the added assistance saved her some effort, which certainly pleased this young lady.
Lu Ji smiled shyly, his lips pressed together.
The two left the empty storage room and wandered through the villa, noting that the villa’s current layout was nearly identical to that of the day. It seemed they had left the alternate space within the villa.
During the day, the players had thoroughly searched the villa, finding it empty and devoid of any valuables.
Slightly disappointed, Gu Jiu remarked, “I was hoping to find more treasures hidden in this place.”
Lu Ji suggested, “…We could take another look tomorrow night?”
Gu Jiu tilted her head with a smile and nodded in agreement.
They continued their exploration of the villa, eventually coming across a ghost—a pregnant woman ghost with a gaping hole in her stomach, creeping quietly along the edge of the corridor.
“What are you sneaking around for? Am I that scary?” Gu Jiu called out to the ghost, gesturing for her to come closer with a finger.
The pregnant ghost approached cautiously, one hand over the hole in her belly, terrified that this fierce young lady would find her appearance repulsive and lash out.
Gu Jiu, unaffected by the ghost’s wary expression, asked warmly, “Where did you come from? Have you seen anyone else around?”
The ghost shook her head and replied in a chilling voice, “I’ve only seen you two. I haven’t seen anyone else; they must have entered a different space in the villa.”
Gu Jiu nodded, confirming her own suspicion.
She glanced at the ghost’s belly and asked, “What’s with your stomach? Did the baby die before it could be born?”
The ghost nodded stiffly, sadness filling her gaze. “My child and I were pierced by an iron rod. The child was never able to be born.”
Gu Jiu’s expression turned angry. “How cruel! What kind of scum would do something so depraved to a pregnant woman? That’s illegal; they should be brought to justice.”
The ghost said nothing, momentarily speechless. Such righteous talk was meaningless here—this was the game world, where no police would bring justice.
After expressing her outrage, Gu Jiu asked, “Was it the villa’s owner who harmed you?”
“It was… no!” the ghost quickly corrected herself. “You’ve got it wrong; it wasn’t the villa’s owner. It has nothing to do with them.”
Gu Jiu chuckled. “Alright, I won’t pry any further. You go on about your business.”
The ghost quickly slunk along the wall and slipped away, afraid that lingering any longer would lead this terrifying woman to pry even deeper.
She could strip a ghost bare, unraveling every secret in front of her.
The two continued their tour of the villa. As they ascended to the third floor, they saw a figure hanging from the staircase. The figure’s long hair draped down, and its face was turned toward them.
The face had no features—a blank, faceless surface that looked especially frightening at first glance.
Gu Jiu looked up at the faceless ghost hanging above and said calmly, “Come down on your own, or I won’t mind twisting your head off.”
The faceless ghost hesitated, realizing her ruthless nature.
Slowly, it floated down and landed before them.
Unfazed, Gu Jiu and Lu Ji stood with steady expressions, unthreatened by the ghost’s presence. Instead, they politely asked it to step aside and not block their path—otherwise, they might consider using it as a stepping stool.
Silently, the faceless ghost watched as they moved up the stairs.
Upon reaching the third floor, Gu Jiu noticed a female ghost clinging to the ceiling in the corridor. She waved her hand, motioning for the ghost to come down.
The ghost drifted down lightly, her long, silky hair draped over her shoulders, revealing a beautiful face. It was the same ghost Qi Yuheng had scolded away the previous night.
Gu Jiu sized her up and remarked, “Not as pretty as Ah Ji and me, but not bad either. Seems Mr. Qi has high standards—impressive.”
The ghost said nothing.
Lu Ji glanced at her.
“So, how did you die?” Gu Jiu asked.
In response, the female ghost silently removed her own head, causing blood to spurt from her neck. The blood splattered onto the floor, then vanished without a trace.
Gu Jiu studied the wound for a moment before commenting, “You were players once, weren’t you?”
The ghost’s expression was hard to read, as emotions like joy, anger, or sorrow didn’t easily show on her face. However, her eyes betrayed her true feelings, revealing a flicker of emotion that Gu Jiu caught.
With a friendly smile, Gu Jiu reassured her, “Alright, nothing more from me. You can go back to what you were doing.”
The ghost watched them depart, then floated back up to the ceiling and vanished into the shadows.
After wandering around the villa, Gu Jiu finally felt her energy depleting. As a delicate young lady, even with the awakened power of her “Banshee’s Armor,” her endurance hadn’t improved; it only boosted her combat ability. A prolonged fight would only exhaust her.
Yawning, she suggested, “Ah Ji, let’s head back to rest. We’ll let the other players handle finding the rest of the keys.”
Lu Ji nodded without objection.
They returned to their room on the second floor, washed up briefly, and settled into bed.
They slept soundly through the night.
On the sixth day, when Gu Jiu woke up, she took a moment to look out the window. Bright sunlight poured in, and if not for the mist surrounding the villa, it would have felt like a perfectly normal world.
Yawning, she stayed in bed a bit longer before reluctantly getting up.
After breakfast, Gu Jiu and Lu Ji headed down to the grand hall.
Both seasoned players and newcomers were gathered there, looking thoroughly battered. Compared to the well-rested and radiant young lady, they all looked utterly worn out.
A group of dark-circled eyes stared at the two of them.
Ge Guang looked puzzled and asked, “You two slept through the night?”
Gu Jiu yawned. “Not exactly. We were busy for a few hours, but we got tired and went back to sleep.”
“What? Weren’t you trapped by those ghostly shadows?” someone asked in disbelief. “We were stuck until dawn, only getting free once the shadows disappeared.”
Sleeping peacefully was out of the question for them. Even Qi Yuheng, the neat-freak, couldn’t help but cast a jealous glance at Gu Jiu, wondering if she was a high-level player pretending to be a novice. Her relaxed demeanor didn’t resemble that of a second-round newbie.
Without another word, Gu Jiu laid out two keys on the table and pointed to one. “We found this one last night.”
Silence fell over the group.
So she hadn’t lied—she’d genuinely gone searching for keys the previous night. The difference was, after finding it, she returned to her room to sleep, while they had struggled through a long night, trapped.
Gu Jiu then asked, “How many keys did you find?”
Xu Chenfeng handed her a key, his tone carrying a hint of pride. “Sister Gu, we found one key.”
Ai Ruyi subtly puffed out her chest to indicate that they deserved some of the credit.
“I’ve got one,” Qi Yuheng added, placing another key on the table.
“And I’ve got one here,” a middle-aged female player said, handing over her key.
Five keys now lay on the coffee table.
Everyone stared at them, a look of dread in their eyes.
“We’re still missing one key!”