Chapter 45

Gu Yi’an was the first to stop.
She couldn’t run much further.
As soon as she halted, she tugged hard on the rope, forcing the hanged ghost to stop as well.
Sixth Sister, with only one arm, couldn’t run for long either and quickly came to a stop.
In contrast, Big Brother and the newbie male player ran the fastest.
It took the five players a moment to regroup.
Third Brother said, “Don’t touch the walls. Even from a distance, those plants can detect us.”
The newbie male player asked, “Does the vine have any weaknesses?”
Third Brother shook his head. “We haven’t been in contact long enough to know. If it’s the same vine from the ancestral hall, its root system must be extremely developed, with many branches, allowing it to spread so far.”
Hearing this, the newbie male player remarked, “It seems this vine has some capacity for thought.”
Sixth Sister asked doubtfully, “Is there only one vine?”
The newbie male player replied, “I suspect it’s the same one.”
He turned to Gu Yi’an and asked, “Seventh Sister, what do you think?”
Gu Yi’an, holding the rope that bound the hanged ghost, walked toward the vine ahead, which had taken on an aggressive stance.
As Gu Yi’an approached, the vines began writhing in place, seemingly warning her.
Yet, they dared not attack her directly, instead occupying the ground and repeatedly displaying their thorns.
Seeing this, the newbie male player darted forward and, without hesitation, reached out toward the vines.
“Wait.” Gu Yi’an’s warning came too late.
The moment the newbie male player extended his hand, the vines wrapped around him, forming a ball.
Big Brother and Third Brother immediately rushed over, and together, they tried to pull the vine-covered ball outward.
Gu Yi’an quickly approached and placed her hand on the vines.
As if sensing her presence, the vines retreated rapidly, so fast that the air whistled with the sound of their movement.
The hanged ghost floating in the air witnessed this unfair scene and muttered under its breath, “The Ghost King is secretly helping out.”
It didn’t dare speak too loudly, afraid that the paper phone broadcasting the scene would record its words.
After the vines retreated, they left behind the newbie male player, his clothes torn, his face cut in multiple places, but grinning like a fool.
Happily, he showed off his trophy to Gu Yi’an and the others: a severed section of vine, clutched tightly in his bloodied hands.
“I pulled it off.”
Even detached from the main stem, the vine section retained its vigorous vitality, its tip writhing violently. Then, as if it had heard the newbie male player’s words, the tip abruptly stood upright.
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
The sound of slicing through the air echoed.
The newbie male player was slapped once on each side of his face, left and right.
Seeing that the newbie male player had learned his lesson, the stern expression on the leader's face softened. He swallowed back the words he had intended to scold the newbie for his recklessness and said, "If we successfully clear this game, it should be able to be taken away as your item."
Gu Yi'an asked, "Can this also be used as an item?"
Sixth Sister replied, "Yes. There are many types of items. Whether it can become an item ultimately depends on the god. The god is generally lenient. If we wish to obtain this item, He might allow us to take it. Seventh Sister, it seems you haven't had much experience with The Game of the Gods."
Sixth Sister then turned to the newbie male player and said, "You're a newbie. If you can clear the game, the god will reward you with items that can better protect your life. Do you really like this vine that much?"
She didn't seem to approve.
Third Brother, however, had a different opinion. He said, "If used well, any item can save your life. If we manage to clear the game, you can try communicating with the black text in the space and pay a small price to get the item you want."
The newbie male player's face, having been whipped by the vine, quickly swelled with two red marks, along with bloodstains from the thorns.
With his swollen face, he thanked everyone and said cheerfully, "This is the one. If I can clear the game, I want this vine."
The section of vine in his hand, perhaps realizing that struggling was futile and it couldn't escape his grasp, listlessly stopped moving.
The newbie male player paid no mind to the thorns on it, rolled it up into a ball like a skein of yarn, and stuffed it into his pocket.
He said, "Let's think about how to get across."
The players returned to the main topic: how exactly they were going to get past this high wall.
The newbie male player suggested, "If we could fly high enough, we might be able to get over."
The hanged ghost, floating in the sky, listened to the players' discussion below and, as usual, poured cold water on their ideas. "You lot, thinking you can fly high enough? Don't even bother. You can't even fly at all. You can't even fly as high as I can."
If it had kept quiet, it might have been fine, but as soon as it spoke, Gu Yi'an's gaze turned toward it.
Gu Yi'an asked, "I remember you said earlier that you didn't want to leave?"
Upon hearing Gu Yi'an's voice, the hanged ghost became extremely wary. "Yeah, I don't want to leave. What would I do out there? It's so fun here."
Gu Yi'an said, "So, you can leave?"
The hanged ghost stared at Gu Yi'an with its white eyes.
"What are you trying to do? Weren't you just thinking I couldn't leave? I'm not going out!"
The hanged ghost's intelligence kicked in again, sensing that Gu Yi'an's question was ill-intentioned.
The newbie male player said, "It's not up to you whether you leave or not."
He looked at Gu Yi'an and asked, "Seventh Sister, what do you have in mind?"
Gu Yi'an replied, "My idea is to have it carry one of us players over the high wall to livestream the scene outside."
With the paper phone capable of livestreaming, it would be a waste not to use it.
Upon hearing this, the hanged ghost immediately protested, "I can't fly out! Don't even think about it! You only have one fate: to be eaten by us or by it."
The "it" in the hanged ghost's words referred to the vine on the high wall.
Third Brother thought Gu Yi'an's idea was highly feasible.
He said, "I'll give it a try."
He took the rope from Gu Yi'an, manipulated it to lengthen, tied one end around his own waist and the other around the hanged ghost's hands and waist.
During this, the hanged ghost frantically tried to bite a chunk of flesh off Third Brother.
Seeing this, Gu Yi'an said to the novice male player, "As you suggested, find a stone."
The novice male player immediately did as Gu Yi'an said, found a moderately sized stone, first pulled out the hanged ghost's long tongue, then stuffed the stone into its mouth.
The ghost audience in the paper phone no longer wanted to watch this scene.
They sent bullet comments one after another, accusing Third Brother and the other players of abusing the ghost!
The hanged ghost's white eyes rolled down, its two black pupils fixed intently on Gu Yi'an.
It blamed everything on Gu Yi'an.
Although Gu Yi'an seemed to have done nothing, every command was issued by her!
From deceiving the ghost, capturing the ghost, to now abusing the ghost, every incident was closely related to Gu Yi'an.
Not a single one wasn't!
The worst was her! The most vicious is a woman's heart!
The hanged ghost had already decided.
Once it broke free, it would skin this woman, pull out her tendons, and devour her flesh raw!
It didn't care if she was the Ghost King's sacrifice anymore, it could just compensate the Ghost King with one or two new sacrifices later.
The malice in the hanged ghost's gaze was overflowing.
Gu Yi'an remained calm, letting it stare, after all, the hanged ghost couldn't break free now.
Once Third Brother finished, he leaped onto the hanged ghost's back and commanded, "Fly."
The hanged ghost didn't move.
Third Brother silently activated his prop.
He and the hanged ghost ascended into the sky together.
The paper phone moved along with the hanged ghost.
Gu Yi'an and the other players watched the live feed on the phone.
They saw Third Brother lying on the hanged ghost's back, threatening it, "If you don't fly, I'll make you my cushion when we fall later."
With a stone stuffed in its mouth and its hands and feet bound, the hanged ghost could only pitifully agree.
Through the hanged ghost's efforts, they rose to a certain height and struggled to fly beyond the high wall.
Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared in the live feed, instantly closing in on the camera, it was a vine!
Immediately after, countless vines attacked them.
Gu Yi'an and the others stopped looking at the phone and raised their heads to the sky.
Above, the hanged ghost, carrying Third Brother, hurriedly retreated.
Gu Yi'an said calmly, "I'll go instead. The vines will avoid me."
Sixth Sister and Big Brother thought it was a good idea upon hearing it.
The novice male player took out the section of vine he had torn off and stuffed in his pocket, saying, "I think I can give it a try. Seventh Sister can go last."
The Hanged Ghost brought Third Brother back to the player group.
Third Brother glanced at everyone and said, "It won't work. The vines can extend a long distance."
The novice male player said, "Let me try. I have a piece of the vine on me, maybe it'll mistake me for one of its own."
Gu Yi'an said, "If this particular vine has consciousness, it can tell the difference between you and itself."
The novice male player sighed slightly dejectedly.
Gu Yi'an was quite right. Earlier, when it attacked them, it had been able to distinguish between people.
This time, Gu Yi'an stepped up, with Sixth Sister assisting her with one hand. Together, they tightened the rope.
While Gu Yi'an was preparing, the Hanged Ghost kept whimpering and shaking its head frantically.
The novice male player found it amusing and pulled the stone out of its mouth.
The Hanged Ghost immediately shouted loudly, "Ghost King, your sacrifice is trying to escape!"
That shout seemed to use all the strength it had, shaking the nearby trees and making them rustle.
The novice male player acted decisively and stuffed the stone back in.
The Hanged Ghost fell silent again.
The novice male player looked at Gu Yi'an with an awkward expression.
Gu Yi'an said, "It's fine."
She spoke into the paper phone, "I’ll check outside on behalf of the Ghost King."
The novice male player gave her a thumbs-up.
Her ability to lie with a straight face was impressive.
After securing the rope around her waist, Gu Yi'an prepared to get on the Hanged Ghost’s back.
But the Hanged Ghost, being a coward, was already afraid of Gu Yi'an.
It hopped around, trying to get away from her, completely unwilling to let her touch it.
The novice male player said, "Hanged Ghost, enough already. Seventh Sister is such a beautiful woman, and you’re still avoiding her? You’re lucky."
The Hanged Ghost fumed, "Mmph, mmph, mmph!"
What do you know? This woman is terrifying, she even carries the Ghost King’s aura.
Unfortunately, with the stone in its mouth, it couldn’t speak.
Having learned from the previous incident, the novice male player wasn’t about to let it talk again.
Third Brother said, "It’s fine. The rope is sturdy. In the game where I obtained it, it had hanged over a hundred people."
Gu Yi'an nodded.
She signaled the Hanged Ghost to fly.
Knowing it couldn’t resist, the Hanged Ghost reluctantly flew toward the high wall.
Gu Yi'an watched as the players below shrank to dots in her vision, she had reached the height of the top of the high wall.
The rope was securely tied around Gu Yi'an’s waist, while the Hanged Ghost at the other end flew and tried to break free.
This time, its flight was much easier than when it had carried Third Brother, and it had more energy to spare.
Gu Yi'an focused her attention on the vines below.
The vines swayed near her body but didn’t dare do anything to her, and they left the Hanged Ghost above her untouched as well.
The Hanged Ghost kept moving its mouth, and suddenly, it spat out the stone.
When the novice male player had stuffed the stone back in earlier, he hadn’t pulled out the Hanged Ghost’s tongue.
"It didn’t hit you."
The Hanged Ghost was disappointed that the stone hadn’t landed on Gu Yi'an.
Gu Yi'an noticed the Hanged Ghost’s actions but paid no attention, as all her focus was on what lay below.
They had passed over the high wall.
The world beyond the wall now unfolded before her eyes.
There were no streetlights in the distance, and the moonlight illuminated the scenery far away.
It was a desolate field, a world filled only with the chirping of insects. There were collapsed houses, but no signs of recent human activity.
It was as though humans had vanished from this land.
The Hanged Ghost gloated from above, "Shocked, aren't you? Feeling hopeless? Regretting your choices? Well, it's too late for regrets. Your kind has long been wiped out."
"Every time, the Ghost King brings people from other worlds for us to play with."
"There's no way you'll leave this world alive."
Gu Yi'an gripped the rope tightly, her gaze fixed below as she remained calm.
She said, "Earlier, when you mistakenly thought I was a ghost, you told me that if my phone stopped working, I should have my family burn me a new one."
The Hanged Ghost replied, "Aren't all of you brought here from other worlds by the Ghost King? Don't you have a family?"
Gu Yi'an glanced back at the high wall and said, "So, this entire game is an amusement park the Ghost King built for you? The things in the ancestral hall were fake too, all props set up for you to toy with us. And we humans... we can't survive here?"
"You still want to live? What a joke."
The Hanged Ghost lifted its head, perhaps intending to tilt its chin upward but forgetting its neck was too long.
"That's right. All of you were brought here by the Ghost King for our entertainment. And you, you've caught the Ghost King's eye. You're his sacrifice."
At this point, the Hanged Ghost suddenly remembered that this woman had managed to escape.
It immediately spoke into the paper phone, "Ghost King, are you there? Look, this sacrifice has kidnapped me and escaped. How dare she run? Please grant me permission to deal with her myself."
Gu Yi'an remained unfazed by the Hanged Ghost's words.
She calmly asked, "Didn't you say the Ghost King can't come out either? If there are no people outside, why can't he come out?"
The Hanged Ghost was stumped.
It avoided the question and instead said, "Hmph, you're all going to die anyway."
It spun around and flew back the way it came.
Gu Yi'an pressed further, "What exactly happened outside?"
The Hanged Ghost didn't dare answer, afraid it might reveal something it shouldn't.
It glanced at the paper phone and saw a full-screen comment from a special user.
Not allowed.
The Hanged Ghost stared at the comment in disbelief.
No way? Ghost King, this one is almost digging up your secrets, and you still won't let me kill her?
This treatment... Could she be the Ghost Queen?
As the Hanged Ghost pondered this, its gaze toward Gu Yi'an below immediately shifted.
It had thought this one was clever and composed, unlike an ordinary person.
The Hanged Ghost immediately halted its backward flight and respectfully addressed Gu Yi'an below, "Ghost Queen, this humble one failed to recognize your eminence and offended you. Where would you like to go? Just point the direction, and this humble one will fly there without hesitation."
Gu Yi'an: "?"
What nonsense is the Hanged Ghost imagining?