Chapter 3

The appearance of the little boy caused public opinion to reverse almost instantly.
Among the onlookers, many were neighbors from the surrounding area, and some recognized the boy’s identity.
"Isn’t that Huzi from the family up ahead?"
As they turned their attention to the elderly woman on the ground, memories of her past actions began to resurface.
"I remember now. That’s Granny Zhao. She fell on the street back then, and Huzi’s mother saved her, but she turned around and extorted money from their family, accusing Huzi’s mother of causing the fall."
"I remember that too. Didn’t she swindle over a million from them?"
"Must be around that much. Huzi’s parents ended up committing suicide because of it."
As public opinion shifted, the crowd’s attitude toward the cursing old woman on the ground changed as well.
"Granny Zhao, you’re exploiting your age again! You’re chilling the hearts of kind people!"
"I saw Granny Zhao fall on her own. That young lady came over to help her voluntarily."
"Didn’t you hear the young lady say she was waiting for the doctor? And you have the nerve to curse her for having no conscience? It’s you, old woman, who lacks any shred of decency."
However, there were also dissenting voices.
A passerby unaware of the truth, hearing the accusations, spoke up, "Why are you treating an elderly person like this? Don’t you realize this is public shaming? She’s fallen on the ground, why aren’t you helping her up?"
"Then you help her."
The passerby who had just spoken fell silent, not daring to say another word.
In these times, with so many cases of good Samaritans being falsely accused, who would dare to step forward?
While others were discussing the little boy’s family affairs, Gu Yi’an had already approached him, diverting his attention.
"Your name is Huzi, right? May I call you Huzi?"
The little boy glared furiously at the old woman, who ignored the surrounding voices and continued cursing with undiminished vigor.
When he noticed Gu Yi’an beside him, his first words were, "Sister, don’t save her. She’s a bad person."
Gu Yi’an crouched down to meet the boy’s eye level and said, "Okay. Sister knows she’s a bad person."
The boy’s gaze returned to the old woman, his eyes once again filled with rage and resentment, as if he wished he could kill her.
Gu Yi’an called his name, "Huzi."
He turned to look at her.
Gu Yi’an said earnestly, "Don’t let a bad person affect you. It’s not worth it."
The boy seemed stunned by these words.
His gaze seemed to look past Gu Yi’an, as if seeing someone else.
Suddenly, he turned and darted into the crowd, running away.
Gu Yi’an immediately shifted her gaze to where Brother Zhang and the others were standing.
The spot where Brother Zhang and the four new players had been was now empty, they had realized the boy was the key figure and had taken off after him without delay.
Just then, the sound of an ambulance echoed in the distance.
Hearing the siren, the cursing old woman on the ground softened her tone slightly, and her hands began flailing around, grasping at the air.
The onlookers, wary of trouble, kept their distance, and the old woman, finding nothing to grab, started cursing even more viciously.
Someone suddenly exclaimed, "The ambulance is here."
At these words, the old woman stopped cursing. Propping herself up with one hand, she swiftly rose to her feet, her agility leaving the crowd astounded.
Squinting, she scanned the faces around her. Not spotting the pretty young woman from earlier, she cursed angrily a few more times.
Someone in the crowd angrily accused her of fraud and staging an accident to extort money, but the old woman showed no trace of shame on her face. Brazenly, she swaggered away in front of everyone.
Once the old woman’s figure disappeared around the corner of the alley, Gu Yi’an, who had been hiding behind a middle-aged couple, revealed a look of gratitude on her face and sincerely thanked them.
The husband of the middle-aged couple, seeing such a beautiful young girl thanking him, scratched his head sheepishly. His wife noticed and pinched the soft flesh around his waist hard.
Not wanting to cause any conflict between the couple, Gu Yi’an quickly walked away in the opposite direction of the old woman.
Along the way, a nosy auntie tried to strike up a conversation with her, but Gu Yi’an smiled slightly and politely declined.
A short while later, an ambulance arrived but found no one in need of rescue.
A kind-hearted person explained the whole situation to the paramedics inside.
The ambulance didn’t linger and drove off.
After walking for a while, Gu Yi’an realized she seemed to be approaching the same moss-covered alley they had initially emerged from.
"Little Gu."
At the entrance of the alley, a male player poked his head out and greeted Gu Yi’an.
Gu Yi’an raised an eyebrow.
Weren’t they supposed to be chasing after the little boy named Hu Zi with Brother Zhang? Why were they here?
Had they caught up with him or not?
Puzzled, Gu Yi’an turned into the alley.
In her line of sight, she saw the little boy, his face full of displeasure, and the players standing by helplessly.
Brother Zhang stood up; it seemed he had been crouching down, trying to coax the little boy before Gu Yi’an appeared.
Unfortunately, judging by Brother Zhang’s furrowed brow, it was clear he hadn’t made any progress.
When the little boy saw Gu Yi’an, his eyes lit up. He ran to her side, wrapped one arm around hers, and pointed at Brother Zhang and the other four players with his free hand, complaining to her.
"Sister, these people insisted they were your friends and forced me to answer questions."
Gu Yi’an glanced at the players opposite her. They looked embarrassed, and even Brother Zhang appeared somewhat apologetic.
Her gaze swept over the wall on one side of the alley. The wall was about two meters high, and perhaps due to its age, some parts had indentations.
An idea began to form in her mind.
Gu Yi’an reached out and patted the little boy’s head. "Huzi, they really are my friends. Let me apologize on their behalf. They didn’t mean any harm. They just wanted to know what kind of person that old lady I encountered was, which is why they asked you questions."
She guessed that what Brother Zhang and the others were asking about was how the little boy's parents had been driven to their deaths by the extortionist old woman.
Upon hearing this, the little boy became less hostile toward Brother Zhang and the others, withdrawing the hand he had pointed at them.
Seeing this, Brother Zhang walked over to Gu Yi'an and followed up on her earlier words, "We only chased after you to ask questions because we were worried Little Gu might run into trouble. Look at her, she's just a girl. It's dangerous, and she's so easily targeted by scammers."
Gu Yi'an was astounded by his thick skin.
The little boy hesitated for a moment before saying to Gu Yi'an, "Sister, that family won’t give up until they’ve scammed you. They’re definitely searching everywhere for where you’re staying right now. Sister, you should leave this place as soon as possible."
Brother Zhang interjected, "How can that be? We can’t let people like that roam free. If she can scam our friend today, she’ll scam other kind-hearted people tomorrow. Someone like her, even in old age, deserves to be in prison."
The little boy looked at Brother Zhang with suspicion.
Brother Zhang put on a righteous expression and turned to the four novice players, saying to the little boy, "Those four friends feel the same way. Huzi, please help us. Let’s work together to find evidence and send that old woman to prison."
Among the four novice players, one quickly caught on, realizing that the little boy only trusted kind people. He immediately echoed Brother Zhang’s words, "Yes, we can’t stand what that old woman has done either. Let’s find evidence together and send her to prison."
With someone setting the example, the remaining three, no matter how slow-witted, understood what to do and chimed in one after another, as if they were the embodiment of justice.
The little boy glanced at Gu Yi'an.
Brother Zhang and the other players watched her expectantly.
Gu Yi'an thought for a moment and said, "Thinking back, I’m still a bit scared. What if that old woman had successfully scammed me? The few of us are friends on a budget trip, and we have some free time. It would be great if we could use that time to do something truly meaningful. Huzi, we need to make sure those who do wrong get the punishment they deserve."
The little boy bit his lip.
"My house has some extra space. You can stay at my place for now, so they won’t find you."
Accommodation was successfully secured.
In front of everyone, the little boy walked to a specific spot on one of the walls. With a quick step, he deftly grabbed onto the protruding parts of the wall and, like a gecko, scaled to the top in the blink of an eye.
From above, the little boy waved and mouthed the words, "Hurry up."
Seeing this, Gu Yi'an’s gaze involuntarily drifted.
It was likely that from the moment the six of them appeared in this alley of the world, they had been under the little boy’s watchful eye.
Although she had sensed something unusual about the little boy earlier, at this moment, Gu Yi'an found him somewhat terrifying.
Brother Zhang, standing not far from Gu Yi'an, noticed her wandering gaze and whispered, "You should be glad you didn’t stay put earlier."
What did that mean?
Was he indirectly telling her that the little boy was indeed terrifying?
Gu Yi'an whispered back, "You should be glad you pretended to be a good person just in time."
Clearly, the little boy they had encountered was no ordinary figure. If Brother Zhang and the other players hadn’t promptly displayed kindness, they would have earned the little boy’s disdain.
As for what consequences that disdain might bring, Gu Yi'an had no idea.
After Gu Yi'an and the other five climbed over the wall, they entered the small courtyard of the little boy's home.
The house was structured with three sides of rooms enclosing a small courtyard.
The little boy asked them to sit on the stone stools in the courtyard. He went to make tea for them.
Gu Yi'an offered to help but was gently refused by the little boy.
The six of them sat around the stone table on the stone stools.
At first, none of them spoke.
The most talkative male novice player broke the silence, asking, "Brother Zhang, what's really going on? Why did we have to follow this little boy?"
Brother Zhang remained silent, eyes fixed downward as if in deep thought.
Gu Yi'an smiled and said, "Still don't get it? Because this is our mission."
Brother Zhang glanced at Gu Yi'an but said nothing.
The female player who had been hesitating to speak with Gu Yi'an earlier finally asked, "Um, Little Gu, what exactly is our mission? Is it really about pleasing the god, as you said?"
She avoided looking in Brother Zhang's direction, and the other three novice players did the same.
Gu Yi'an looked at the four faces waiting for an explanation and said, "After what just happened, you should think it through yourselves. Don't be influenced by what Brother Zhang or I said."
The four novice players exchanged embarrassed glances.
Their minds were a jumbled mess, how could they possibly analyze anything?
Gu Yi'an could read their thoughts from their expressions.
After a moment's thought, she said, "This is a game, understand? You are players."
She was met with four blank stares.
Gu Yi'an gave an analogy, "Or to put it another way, we're currently playing a six-player co-op game. The storyline is already set, and we just need to trigger it. Understand?"
Only one female player still seemed confused, while the other three novice players grasped Gu Yi'an's meaning.
The most talkative male player asked excitedly, "So the event we triggered was the old man's scam, and following that, we found the little boy's storyline. Then, by following the little boy, we can trigger other events and gradually reach the game's conclusion."
Gu Yi'an nodded and summarized, "The god is merciful and has already shown us the way."
The male player then asked, puzzled, "Little Gu, if you already guessed the mission trigger format, why did you want to split up with us earlier?"
"I didn't figure it out at first; I just realized it now. The reason for splitting up was simple."
Gu Yi'an smiled, "To add some drama for myself and to please the god."
This was The Game of the Gods.
She hoped that, seeing her efforts to curry favor, the god would let her clear the level smoothly.
The girl's voice, traveling a long distance, was nearly imperceptible by the time it reached the room.
The little boy stood in the shadows untouched by sunlight, his eyes curved into crescents.
He was truly delighted.