Although Li Zhi had never wavered in her determination to expel [Ghost], at this moment, she had to admit that their existence gave some people hope.
After Meng Yuhan finished speaking, she waited for a moment but didn’t hear Li Zhi respond. Feeling both deflated and a little annoyed, she muttered, “If you don’t want to, then forget it! Either way, I’ll go in sooner or later, and I’ll definitely clear the level!”
“Who said I don’t want to?”
Li Zhi ruffled her hair, messing up Meng Yuhan’s carefully styled bangs, only stopping when she noticed Meng Yuhan glaring at her.
The team card Yao Mingfeng gave her was in her hands. Currently, it was only bound to the official player, Xiang Ling, but there was one more team slot left as a small bonus from the officials, allowing her to bring anyone she wanted.
Li Zhi took out the team card. Meng Yuhan, seeing an item from inside the instance for the first time, was both excited and curious, eagerly reaching out to grab it.
Li Zhi lifted her hand out of reach and held up one finger: “The only condition is that once we’re inside, you must listen to me 100%. Can you do that?”
Meng Yuhan straightened her back, her eyes shining: “I can!”
Li Zhi smiled and took her hand. The team card was activated, and Meng Yuhan blinked her sparkling eyes, eagerly asking, “So when do we go in?”
Li Zhi pinched her thin arms and legs, “No rush. First, go back and work on your stamina. Run five kilometers every day in your neighborhood, then practice for half an hour afterward.”
Meng Yuhan immediately protested, “Don’t underestimate me! I was first place in long-distance running at the sports meet!”
Li Zhi laughed at her: “Impressive! Then, as a long-distance running champion, you can run ten kilometers a day.”
Meng Yuhan: “…”
In the bedroom, Grandma Luo had heard every word of their conversation. When Meng Yuhan mentioned “the medicine to cure heart disease,” she couldn’t help but break down in tears.
She scolded her granddaughter for being rebellious, for not knowing her limits, and for recklessly following others into the instance. But she had never realized that the reason her always defiant granddaughter wanted to enter the instance was for her sake.
“My old life isn’t worth much!” Grandma Luo covered her face, sobbing. Afraid her granddaughter outside might hear, she cried quietly, “Han Han, she’s still so young. She’s trading her life for mine!”
Shang Jinru comforted her, “Han Han is a filial girl. Since Zhi Zhi has agreed, she’ll definitely bring her out safely.”
Grandma Luo’s face was full of tears. “She might come out safe this time, but what about the next time? And the time after that? I know how dangerous it is. Han Han watches Zhi Zhi every time she goes into the instance. I know how risky it is. Once you enter this ghostly place, there’s no escaping it. What if one time, she goes in and never comes out?”
Shang Jinru couldn’t find the words to respond.
She understood that feeling all too well.
No matter how casually she pretended to act, no matter how strong and capable she knew her daughter was, she still cried in her bedroom every time her daughter went into the instance.
What if one day, she went in and never came out?
Every time she forced herself to watch Li Zhi’s live stream, it felt like her heart was on the verge of giving out.
She both wanted to watch and didn’t want to watch.
She wanted to see her safe, but she was terrified of seeing her death on screen.
It was pure torment.
Outside, Meng Yuhan’s happy voice could be heard: “Grandma, Sister Zhi agreed to take me into the instance. Now you can rest easy, right? Let’s go home! I need to go train!”
Grandma Luo quickly wiped away her tears and composed herself before stepping out. After thanking Li Zhi profusely, she left with the eager Meng Yuhan in tow.
Li Zhi saw them off, and when she closed the door and came back, she noticed that Shang Jinru’s eyes were red. Walking over, she hugged her and said, “Mom, I’ll be fine.”
Shang Jinru choked up but nodded.
“I’ll get rid of it.” Li Zhi’s voice was soft but firm. “I promise, our family will go back to the way things were.”
…
This time, there were two newcomers bound to the mission, and Li Zhi wasn’t sure who would trigger the instance first. New players didn’t have a sensing period—like her first time, they would be pulled in without warning. So recently, she was always ready to enter at any moment. Both Xiang Ling and Meng Yuhan, having been reminded by her, were also prepared at all times.
Sure enough, one day during lunch, Li Zhi suddenly disappeared from the dining table. Her chopsticks fell to the ground with a loud clatter.
Shang Jinru was stunned for a moment, while Li Shuang quickly wiped her mouth and ran to grab the tablet, opening the livestream.
She had followed Li Zhi, and the notification mailbox from the system was flashing with a red exclamation mark, alerting her that the player she followed had gone live.
The screen showed a street shrouded in darkness.
One moment, Li Zhi had been picking up food with her chopsticks, and the next, she was standing on a strange, dark street.
She wiped the corner of her mouth and began to survey her surroundings.
It was an old, rundown neighborhood. The buildings on both sides were hidden in the darkness, and only the dim streetlights illuminated a path ahead. Li Zhi walked forward and soon encountered Meng Yuhan and Xiang Ling, who had also been transported into the instance.
As soon as Meng Yuhan saw her, she ran over. The girl, who had been so confident outside, couldn’t help but feel scared after entering the instance, sticking close to Li Zhi.
Xiang Ling had to maintain her disguise, so the two of them pretended to introduce themselves. Li Zhi said, “Let’s walk ahead and see.”
As soon as the notification for the livestream went out, the audience rushed in:
【Finally, Li Zhi! Let’s vote first! Front row, start sending flowers!】
【Give Li Zhi a grand entrance! Votes, let’s go!】
【All fans of the Li-Xi ship, come support! Will my CP finally reunite in this instance?】
【Li Jianxi! Hurry up and find your wife! Stop getting lost!】
【I wonder what exciting performance Li Zhi will give us this time. Let’s all look forward to it together!】
【Li Zhi deserves it!!! Li Zhi is the best!!! Let’s go, friends, vote!!!】
【Looks like Li Zhi brought a little friend this time. They seem to know each other.】
【But seriously, why is a kid in the instance? Flowers of the nation should bloom in the outside world!】
【There are so many minors in the instance now. I’ve seen a lot. Sigh, no matter how many deaths I’ve witnessed, seeing kids die in there is still hard to accept.】
【That won’t happen here! Li Zhi is here! Since she brought her in, she’ll definitely get her out safely.】
【I always trust Li Zhi!!! Li Zhi is the best!!!】
…
The three of them walked along the empty, desolate street. The night was hazy, and the streetlights could only illuminate about fifty meters ahead. A cold wind swirled the fallen leaves on the ground as it blew past, chilling to the bone.
Players who had been dragged into the instance began to emerge from the dark alleys on either side. It was too dark; except for a few broken streetlights, everything was shrouded in a misty blackness, making it hard to see clearly. Many players wore expressions of fear.
Li Zhi had been calmly observing the players in this instance, but when her gaze landed on a certain tall figure, she froze.
Li Feng stood coldly among the group of players. The two siblings locked eyes, both momentarily stunned. Then, Li Feng gave a barely noticeable shake of his head toward Li Zhi.
The siblings had lived together since they were young, and with just a glance, they understood each other perfectly. Li Zhi’s gaze didn’t linger on him for long, as if she had only noticed a player with a somewhat special aura. Curious for a moment, she quickly looked away.
But soon, she remembered Meng Yuhan following behind her.
It was Meng Yuhan’s first time entering a game, and she was nervously but curiously scanning the surroundings. She hadn’t noticed Li Feng yet. Li Zhi lowered her head and whispered softly into her ear, “Pretend you don’t know Brother Li Feng. Don’t reveal him.”
Meng Yuhan instinctively straightened her back and solemnly responded with a soft “Mm” from the tip of her nose.
She hid behind Li Zhi, secretly observing the other players, her eyes brimming with curiosity at everyone she saw. Li Zhi watched her for a while and realized the girl was quite sharp.
Meanwhile, the chat started discussing the players:
[Wow! There’s a ruggedly handsome guy! Haven’t seen him before! I’m totally smitten!]
[Judging by the current popularity rankings in the stream, his name is Li Feng. Also surnamed Li—is he related to Li Zhi?]
[LOL, there are so many people with the surname Li in the world. Does every one of them have to be related to Li Zhi? It’s obvious they don’t know each other.]
[They don’t even look alike. Their facial features are completely different.]
[Fuhuan, the gorgeous actress! I’m fangirling hard!]
[Honestly, when Li Zhi is in a game, no one else stands a chance of stealing the spotlight.]
[Qiao Junyuan, sweetie, big sis bought tickets just to watch you!]
…
After a while, the players got to know each other and confirmed that there were no more players entering the instance, meaning there were a total of ten players in this round.
No matter which game instance Li Zhi entered, she was always the center of attention. After all, there were only a handful of players who made it to the national popularity rankings. Plus, her pairing with Li Jianxi in the forums, the “ZhiXi” CP, was wildly popular, so nearly every player knew her.
Aside from Li Feng, Li Zhi, and Meng Yuhan, Li Zhi recognized five of the other players as familiar faces from the gaming community. Only one of them, a boy about the same age as Meng Yuhan, was new to her.
Despite being about the same age, the boy seemed far more composed than Meng Yuhan, not like a newbie entering the game for the first time.
The beautiful actress Fu Huan, standing next to Li Feng, beamed and said, “We’re in luck! We’ve got a top player with us. This time, we’re sure to clear the game safely!”
Another player, an actor named Yuan Cheng, chuckled, “This is my first time teaming up with a player ranked in the top 100. But it looks like we’ve also got two minors in this round. Kids these days sure are brave.”
He was referring to Meng Yuhan and the boy named Qiao Junyuan. Both looked too fresh-faced to be anything but kids. While the others discussed them, Qiao Junyuan only smiled, his dark eyes calm and steady, quite unlike Meng Yuhan, whose every emotion was written plainly on her face.
Li Zhi glanced over briefly, then looked away. “Let’s keep moving.”
With that, the group followed.
The dimly lit street stretched out endlessly, the sound of their footsteps echoing eerily through the night, returning to them with a cold, hollow resonance.
After about ten minutes, a crossroads appeared ahead.
The road was completely empty. At the intersection, an old woman dressed in black was crouched, burning paper offerings.
The night breeze carried the curling smoke and the faint sound of her muttering, though they were too far away to hear what she was saying. Li Zhi heard someone in the group swallow nervously in fear.
An old woman burning paper at a crossroads in the dead of night—it was indeed a chilling sight.
The yellowed leaves by the roadside rustled occasionally in the wind as Li Zhi walked towards the old woman.
Just a few meters behind her, the old lady suddenly turned around.
Firelight reflected on her pale face as she stared blankly at them, her aged voice carrying a hint of warning: “Tonight is the seventh day after death, the spirit returns with vengeance. Why are you still out here? Hurry and find a room to hide in! The returning spirit cannot be seen by the living!”
Li Zhi followed her gaze and saw, emerging from the black mist, an old building. On one side of it, the words “South Street Apartments” were painted in deep blue.