The teammates, who were scared stiff by the corpse’s sudden movement, finally realized what was happening. They scattered like frightened birds, but with danger ahead and behind, they glanced around and saw nowhere safe. So, one by one, they huddled behind Li Jianxi, who was standing by the courtyard gate.
Li Jianxi: “…………”
On the stone step where shoes were washed, only one person remained unmoved.
“Zhu Zhibo” was still hunched over, sitting there. The sneakers in his hand had turned into a pair of black cloth shoes. He bent down, slowly putting them on. Although he was a young man, his movements carried the slow, unsteady rhythm of an elderly person. Meanwhile, the village chief had already climbed out of the coffin and was stiffly walking towards him.
Li Zhi quietly backed up to the gate, signaling her teammates with a hidden hand behind her back to hurry and leave.
Everyone held their breath and carefully exited the courtyard. Li Zhi gently pulled the gate shut. “Alright, let them fight it out inside.”
Teammates: “?!”
Audience: “?!”
The livestream chat exploded, stunned by her bold move:
[Wait, what? Can you even do that???]
[Driving out the tiger to chase away the wolf, using a borrowed knife to kill the ghost. Li Zhi definitely knows military strategy.]
[How is she not famous with acting like this? The way she called him “Dad” had me almost convinced they were actually related!]
[As soon as Li Zhi called out “Dad,” her votes shot up like crazy. Totally worth it!]
[But wait, is my brother still alive? Or did that ghost eat him?]
…
While the players were still in shock, Chi Yi looked at Li Zhi with a gaze of admiration, not unlike that of a fan idolizing their hero. “Zhi Zhi, how did you know he wasn’t human?”
Li Zhi took down the mourning lantern hanging from the gate’s eaves and started walking forward. “I’ll explain as we go.”
Everyone was startled. “Where are we going? Are we leaving again?”
Li Zhi stared into the night ahead. “Mr. Zhu might still be alive.”
Everyone’s expressions grew tense. Gao Shijun hesitated for a moment, while Xu Shu appeared conflicted. He recalled how she had turned back to save someone in the ancestral hall and knew they wouldn’t be able to talk her out of it. He nodded. “Then let’s go and look.”
With the mourning lantern lighting the way, Li Zhi led them forward, walking even faster than on the way back. Her voice was steady. “When we were calling the souls, we burned paper along the way. Everyone had paper ash stuck to the soles of their shoes, except for the ghost pretending to be Mr. Zhu, who didn’t have any ash on his soles.”
Everyone suddenly understood. Gao Shijun muttered, “Even so, you shouldn’t have directly woken the village chief. What if he attacks us indiscriminately?”
Chi Yi had now become Li Zhi’s biggest fan and immediately shot him a displeased look. “Do you have a way to get rid of the ghost that followed us back? Besides, I’m sure Zhi Zhi has her reasons for doing this. If you don’t understand, don’t question her!”
Li Zhi remained silent, just glancing sideways at Xu Shu.
Xu Shu met her calm gaze and was momentarily stunned, realizing that the solution to Gao Shijun’s concern might involve him.
She knew he had items to protect his life, and since he had been through many rounds of the game, he probably had attack items as well. Even if the village chief attacked the players indiscriminately, Xu Shu could handle it.
After all, over the past few days, they had figured out the conditions under which the village chief killed. Compared to dealing with an unknown wandering ghost, it would be much easier to deal with the village chief.
The group quickened their pace. Qinglin, who was close to Zhu Zhibo, grew anxious. “Where could Brother Zhu be? Could he still be stuck in a ghost loop, unable to escape? Should we check the Earth God Temple?”
Li Zhi only said two words: “The pond.”
Xu Shu suddenly remembered: “You mean that monster crouching by the pond we saw when we came back?”
At the time, they had only caught a glimpse from a distance in the pitch-dark night. All they had seen was a crouched figure, which they assumed to be some kind of monster.
Li Zhi nodded. “The black mud on the ghost’s shoes looked a lot like the sludge from the pond. It’s likely that it’s been there. I’m just guessing, but we should go check it out.”
When they arrived at the pond, the crouching figure was indeed still there. It was still digging through the sludge with both hands, making heavy, panting sounds, though its movements were much slower than before.
Lian Qinglin tentatively called out, “Brother Zhu? Mr. Zhu? Zhu Zhibo?”
There was no response.
Cautiously, they approached. Under the faint light of the mourning lantern, they could see a figure entirely covered in mud, kneeling by the pond. It was digging into the sludge with its hands and stuffing it into its mouth. The rancid mud smeared across its face and body.
“It really is Mr. Zhu!”
Li Zhi quickly handed the lantern to someone nearby and rushed forward, helping Lian Qinglin pull Zhu Zhibo away from the pond.
His eyes were vacant, his face pale. It was impossible to tell how much mud he had swallowed, but his stomach and abdomen were distended, bulging ominously. He was barely breathing.
“Hold him up!” Li Zhi commanded immediately.
Xu Shu hurried over to assist, and together with Lian Qinglin, they lifted him by his arms. Li Zhi positioned herself behind Zhu Zhibo, wrapped her arms around him, and began performing the Heimlich maneuver, trying to force the mud out of his stomach.
Zhu Zhibo began to vomit copiously.
The audience watching the stream was on edge:
[If it weren’t for Li Zhi, our Best Actor would have been done for!]
[Thank you, thank you, thank you, Li Zhi for saving my idol!]
[This is such a horrifying and suffocating way to die. But after swallowing so much mud, can he still be saved?]
…
The audience’s fears mirrored the players’ concerns. After vomiting out a large amount of mud, Zhu Zhibo passed out. Gao Shijun carried him on his back as they made their way back. No one knew if he’d been poisoned from ingesting so much mud, so they decided to ask the village NPC if there was a doctor available.
As they neared the courtyard, everyone hesitated.
They weren’t sure if the two ghosts inside had finished fighting or who had won. Worse still, there was the possibility that the ghosts hadn’t fought at all and were lying in ambush, waiting for them. That would be a dire situation.
Just as Xu Shu braced himself to push the gate open, fully alert, the gate creaked open from the inside.
Li Jianxi walked out, cradling the black cat in his arms, casually stroking it, his expression indifferent. Without even glancing at them, he walked past and continued on his way.
Inside the courtyard, everything was peaceful. There were no wandering spirits, and the village chief had returned to his coffin. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and quickly entered the house.
Li Zhi was the last to walk in. She softly called out, “Mr. Li.”
Li Jianxi paused mid-step and slowly turned around. The black cat purred contentedly in his arms as Li Zhi smiled sincerely. “Thank you for the warning earlier.”
Li Jianxi replied, “You figured it out yourself.”
All he had done was suggest that they wash their shoes. The rest had nothing to do with him.
Above them, the thick clouds parted, revealing the moonlight, which illuminated Li Zhi’s eyes—eyes that seemed gentle and full of emotion whenever she looked at someone intently. “Regardless, thank you. You’ve helped us many times.”
Li Jianxi awkwardly averted his eyes.
The clear moonlight fell across his face, highlighting his sharp features, making him look almost too beautiful to be real.
The livestream chat exploded with comments again:
[This guy is definitely a good character! I won’t doubt him anymore!]
[He’s really helped Li Zhi and the others so many times! Does this mean there are friendly NPCs in this game?]
[So handsome, so handsome, so handsome! I love good-looking and kind NPCs, give me more of this!]
[Hmm, these two… it seems like they could be a ship. Not sure yet. Let’s keep watching.]
[I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I can’t believe I’m shipping a couple in such a bloody horror show! I’m guilty, but this ship is just too good not to sail!]
[I’m a hopeless shipper, and I don’t care! NPC x Player is the perfect match!]
…
Li Zhi took a few steps closer to him, concern evident on her face. “Mr. Li, is there a doctor in this village? My friend accidentally ingested mud and needs treatment.”
Li Jianxi returned to his usual indifferent demeanor. “No.”
She saw a flicker of disappointment in his eyes. After a moment’s pause, he lightly pressed his lips together and turned around. “Follow me.”
A few minutes later, Li Zhi was led to a spot near a field. Li Jianxi pointed to some green plants on the ground. “Boil these into a soup. They induce vomiting and have detoxifying effects.”
He hesitated, then added, “There’s no doctor in the village, and the transportation is inconvenient. The villagers use herbal remedies for any illnesses.”
Li Zhi bent down, picking a few plants with a smile, and thanked him.
When she returned, Xu Shu was waiting at the door. “How did it go?”
Li Zhi responded, “We’ll treat it like a desperate measure.”
They boiled the herbs and fed the concoction to Zhu Zhibo. Soon, he vomited again, this time bringing up much less horrifying material, and slowly returned to a more stable condition. However, he still remained unconscious.
The burial was set for tomorrow, but they still had to keep watch through the night. The cat had been taken away by Li Jianxi, and since nothing went wrong during the task today, they assumed the village chief wouldn’t come back to kill anyone. The team reallocated the watch duties.
Li Zhi took the first watch. When she returned to her room for the second half of the night, she slept deeply. The first thing she did upon waking the next morning was to check on Zhu Zhibo’s condition.
Whether it was the herbs or his strong will to survive, Zhu Zhibo had woken up, though his complexion was still pallid, and he lay weakly on the bed.
Gao Shijun, who had shared the room with him, had already told him about what had happened the previous night. When Zhu Zhibo saw Li Zhi enter, his face was full of gratitude. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
Li Zhi smiled. “My little sister is a fan of yours. She would’ve been really sad if something had happened to you.”
The audience was moved to tears:
[She’s really something. I’m crying. Is she a sister who’s super protective of her little sis?]
[Even in such a situation, she’s thinking about protecting her sister’s idol from making her sad. Zhu Zhibo, having your sister as a fan is your good fortune!]
[While other players in different games are backstabbing and killing each other, this group is still risking their lives to save a teammate. The difference is real.]
[Li Zhi is just pretending to be nice to get votes, acting all saintly and pure. Ugh, fake!]
[Who’s panicking over their fave’s votes being surpassed by Li Zhi’s? Afraid much?]
…
Where there are fans, there are fights, even in a horror reality show.
The village chief’s burial was scheduled for today, and despite Zhu Zhibo’s weakened state, he had to get up and follow the team to complete the task.
During breakfast, Gao Shijun nervously asked, “Can we finally clear this game and leave today?”
Everyone looked at each other, then collectively turned their gaze toward Li Zhi.
Li Zhi was munching on a steamed bun, and under their eager stares, she finally spoke slowly, “Pass me some more pickles.”
Teammates: “…………”