Chapter 47

Gu Yi'an and the black characters in mid-air stood in a silent standoff for a moment. Then, the characters gradually faded and dissipated into the air.
Gu Yi'an took out the jade pendant she had obtained through a transaction from her pocket.
As she lifted her gaze, she saw, as expected, an introduction to the jade pendant appearing in mid-air.
[Item: Jade Pendant. This item is extremely useful. Whoever you dislike will become as miserable as you are.]
After reading the description, Gu Yi'an confirmed that this item could pull two players into the same game.
The pure white space quickly faded from Gu Yi'an's sight.
She returned to her own world.
Looking at the familiar notebook on her desk, Gu Yi'an thought to herself, Big Brother and the others must have cleared the game by now.
Eldest Brother stood in his pure white space, with black text hovering before him.
[Game Clear Status: Barely Cleared. Your performance this round was average, but God is merciful. Praise God, for He has granted you another chance. Remember, God's mercy is given only once. We look forward to your performance in the next round.]
Seeing that he had cleared the game, Big Brother let out a long sigh of relief.
No matter what, clearing the game was all that mattered.
Reflecting on the game he had just experienced, although the ending felt a bit frustrating, overall, the cooperation with the other players was good. It wasn't like the usual underhanded struggles or one person carrying the entire team. He even discovered a promising newcomer along the way.
He sighed inwardly, The teammates I encountered this round were all quite decent.
Third Brother's thoughts were largely the same as Big Brother's.
Black text was also floating in mid-air before him.
[Game Clear Status: Acceptable. God has seen your efforts and your trust in your companions. He has given you His approval.]
Third Brother only glanced at the "Game Clear Status" part of the black text. The following two sections, rewards and God's message to him, were almost the same every time, so he merely skimmed over them.
Counting the multiple items in his possession, Third Brother also felt satisfied with the game that had just ended.
His teammates weren't envious of his items, there were no sly veterans stirring up internal conflicts among the players, and no one was dragging the team down. The only newbie was sharp-witted, and every player had contributed their efforts to clear the game.
It'll be hard to encounter such good teammates again next time, he thought.
The newbie male player had no idea that Third Brother had labeled him as "sharp-witted."
He had just lain down in a coffin, and the next second, he found himself in the pure white space.
The newbie male player scanned the pure white space, his gaze finally settling on the black text before him.
[Game Clear Status: Excellent. God was very pleased with your suggestion and looks forward to your next game.]
[Reward: God has graciously granted you ten days of lifespan and one item. Do not hesitate, praise God from the bottom of your heart.]
[God's Message to You: (God has nothing to say to you.)]
The newbie male player examined the text word by word.
After pondering for a moment, he looked around and tentatively said, "Praise God?"
A section of green vine with thorns materialized in front of him.
The newbie male player's eyes lit up. "God is truly a great person."
Not every player thought of God as a great person.
For example, Fifth Sister, the female player, returned to her pure white space and felt furious the moment she saw the black text floating in mid-air.
[Game Clear Status: Barely Passable. Your death brought God joy, and He also admires your interpretation of the word 'recklessness.']
Fifth Sister nearly fell ill from anger after reading the content.
This is just God indirectly calling me stupid!
Who would have known that this round of the game was so deceptive, requiring death to clear it?
She refused to believe that anyone could clear it without dying.
When Sixth Sister appeared in her pure white space, the first thing she did was check her arm. Her severed arm had returned.
She tried moving that hand, and it was just as nimble.
After confirming her hand was safe and sound, Sixth Sister then looked at the black characters floating in mid-air.
[Game Clear Status: Acceptable. The god admires your perseverance. The god looks forward to your next game.]
[Reward: The god has graciously granted you ten days of life and restored your limbs. Do not hesitate, praise the god sincerely from the heart.]
[The god says to you: (The god has nothing to say to you.)]
Sixth Sister glanced at the black text and recalled her previous game experience.
Seventh Sister had entered the coffin last to ensure their safety.
She hoped Seventh Sister had also cleared the game so they might have a chance to meet again in the future.
After thinking for a while, Sixth Sister felt she was overthinking it. Someone like Seventh Sister was bound to clear the game.
Gu Yi'an wasn't actually sure whether she had cleared the game or not.
After all, the black text in the pure white space hadn't given her any information about clearing the level.
It only told her that she had deceived the god.
Gu Yi'an guessed she probably had cleared it.
She pulled open the curtains in her room, letting the sunlight fall on her.
The light seemed to instantly dispel the lingering chill in her body, making her forget the pain of death.
She was still alive.
Gu Yi'an basked in the sunlight for a while.
After some thought, she took out the small coffin from her pocket.
By now, the small coffin had transformed into a tiny accessory hanging from her phone.
Gu Yi'an opened the small coffin and saw a small, white, adorable-looking sunny doll lying inside.
It had a round head and a fluffy skirt-like lower body, it could only be described as extremely cute.
Gu Yi'an even began to doubt whether this was really the hanged ghost she had sealed inside.
The sunny doll's small round eyes shifted, and it saw Gu Yi'an.
An extremely unpleasant voice exclaimed joyfully, "Your Highness!"
Confirming the voice, this sunny doll was indeed the hanged ghost.
The hanged ghost excitedly floated out of the small coffin, chattering incessantly in its grating voice, "Your Highness, did you personally ask the Ghost King for me to serve as your subordinate? This is truly a great honor for me."
Actually, no, Gu Yi'an had forgotten to release the hanged ghost and ended up bringing it back to her world.
"I sense there is a powerful female ghost here who holds ill intentions toward you. Please allow me to eliminate it for you immediately," the hanged ghost volunteered.
Gu Yi'an's vision flickered as the hanged ghost's figure suddenly slammed into the glass.
"Ouch! Your Highness, it attacked me!"
The hanged ghost complained pitifully.
Gu Yi'an looked down at her palm, where the small coffin pendant lay on her phone.
A doll of a little girl, less than two centimeters tall, stood on the phone screen, looking at Gu Yi'an with a wronged expression.
It was she who had just sent the hanged ghost flying.
After crashing into the glass, the hanged ghost stubbornly floated up and said to Gu Yi'an, "Your Highness, she is the female ghost who holds ill intentions toward you! Please allow me to eliminate her for you!"
Having witnessed the little girl knocking the hanged ghost away, Gu Yi'an knew full well that the girl's hostility was actually directed at the hanged ghost.
She said, "No need."
The hanged ghost blinked its two small black dots and said, "Your Highness, she truly is a malicious ghost. She could harm you."
The little girl let out a "hmph," ignoring the hanged ghost floating in the air. She flipped into the small coffin and lay down, then closed the coffin lid herself.
Seeing this, the hanged ghost was furious.
"This... this... this! Your Highness, she stole my home!"
It floated in front of Gu Yi'an, looking at her with a pitiful expression.
To be honest, after the hanged ghost transformed into a small, cute sunny doll, its cuteness level had increased by more than a notch. The problem was, it had an extremely unpleasant voice.
Gu Yi'an stated the facts, "Actually, this is her home."
The little girl had been a resident of the small coffin long before the hanged ghost.
Seeing that Gu Yi'an's attitude leaned toward the little girl, the hanged ghost weakly asked, "Your Highness, then where should I live?"
"You don't need to call me Your Highness. I am not a princess. My surname is Gu, call me Gu Yi'an."
"Okay, Your Highness," the hanged ghost replied.
Since the hanged ghost insisted on addressing her that way, Gu Yi'an let it be.
She thought for a moment and returned to the desk.
The hanged ghost followed Gu Yi'an, its small body floating over to the desk.
It hovered above the desk, excitedly saying, "Your Highness, it turns out the Ghost King…"
A notebook suddenly appeared out of nowhere, pressing the hanged ghost's small body flat against the desk.
Gu Yi'an set down her phone and pulled a simple silver necklace from the drawer.
She missed the notebook's sudden appearance but didn't miss the scene of it forcefully suppressing the hanged ghost.
"Lu Zize?"
Gu Yi'an asked in confusion.
The notebook automatically opened its pages, and three lines of black text quickly appeared.
"It's too noisy."
"You can't suppress it."
"I'll help you."
Gu Yi'an looked at the notebook's familiar tactic of covering up the truth and fell silent.
She actually wanted to tell a certain notebook, which was burying its head in the sand, that it didn't need to hide its true identity, she had already figured it out.
What to do when a god wants to wear a disguise?
Of course, she had to let it be, treating it as just a notebook.
Gu Yi'an lifted the notebook and retrieved the flattened hanged ghost from underneath.
Freed from the notebook's suppression, the hanged ghost quickly regained its plump, sunny doll form.
Its two black dots blinked as it tearfully complained, "Your Highness, this notebook is bullying me."
Gu Yi'an looked at it and sighed inwardly.
Is your intelligence sometimes online and sometimes offline?
Haven't you realized that this notebook is your Ghost King?
Then again, Gu Yi'an thought, perhaps the hanged ghost had recognized it and was deliberately saying this to cover for its Ghost King.
After the hanged ghost finished its complaint, the notebook paid it no attention.
Gu Yi'an used a silver necklace to tie around the hanged ghost's now round head, then made a fixed knot that wouldn't slip. After that, she hung the other end of the necklace onto her backpack.
The hanged ghost, now as small and cute as a sunny doll, officially became a backpack accessory for Gu Yi'an.
Once hung, the hanged ghost swayed back and forth.
Gu Yi'an said, "I'll take you outside, but once we're out, you can't move."
When it came to ghosts and monsters, Gu Yi'an only felt at ease when they were by her side.
"As you command," the hanged ghost stopped moving.
Gu Yi'an said, "You can move now."
The hanged ghost floated up, and the silver chain attached to the backpack lifted along with it.
Gu Yi'an then cleared out one of her jewelry boxes.
She said, "How about you sleep in here for now?"
The hanged ghost looked longingly at the small coffin Gu Yi'an had placed on the table and asked, "Your Highness, could you buy me a small coffin too? I also need your attention."
Gu Yi'an asked, "Does it have to be made of this specific material, or will any small coffin do?"
The hanged ghost replied, "Any small coffin will do."
Gu Yi'an said, "Alright, I'll buy one for you in the next couple of days."
In her mind, she thought of the small Taoist temple where her counselor had taken her to buy a protective charm.
Perhaps she could go there and ask the plump middle-aged man what kind of wood would be suitable for a ghost to live in.
Setting aside the matter of the hanged ghost for now, Gu Yi'an turned her attention to the notebook.
The words that had previously appeared on the notebook's pages had vanished at some point.
It seemed to sense Gu Yi'an's gaze.
New text emerged on the paper.
"You look very tired. Go rest for a while."
It appeared to be genuinely concerned about Gu Yi'an.
However, as Gu Yi'an read these words, she recalled something.
"I remember you wrote my name in the notebook last time," Gu Yi'an said, her voice calm, giving no hint of her emotions.
"Everyone whose name is written in the notebook dies. This time, I died in the game."
Gu Yi'an had no intention of recalling the memory of her death, it was too painful.
Originally, she had planned to apologize to the notebook after coming out of the game this time, but the experience of dying in the game made her feel that she should keep her distance from the divine.
She really didn't want to die again.
Looking back now, Gu Yi'an was even a bit shocked by how cold-hearted she had been when using the cards in the game.
If she had to do it all over again and experience such a painful death once more, she probably wouldn't be able to go through with it.
Death was no pleasant experience.
Upon hearing Gu Yi'an's words, the notebook seemed to freeze in place.
The entire notebook, its pages not moving an inch.
Gu Yi'an wasn't trying to settle scores with it, she just wanted to talk about it.
After all, she was still alive.
Gu Yi'an said, "I was just joking with you. I was wrong to lose my temper at you earlier. I apologize."
Her tone was sincere.
Gu Yi'an added, "Sorry, I overstepped."
As she spoke these words, she seemed to come to a realization.
The notebook was the notebook, and she was herself, there was no need for any intersection between them.
If she could keep her distance from the notebook, she would.
She had been keeping an eye on it before because she was worried it might harm humans.
But in reality, when Lu Zize was human, the notebook itself knew the boundaries better than anyone, it just didn't want to abide by them.
Gu Yi'an decided not to go out of her way anymore; she had made up her mind.
Gu Yi'an smiled slightly and said, "Thank you for taking care of me before. I won't trouble you anymore."
The hanged ghost, who had witnessed the entire scene, hovered foolishly in the air. It glanced at Gu Yi'an, then at the notebook, instinctively feeling that it had just witnessed something very unfortunate.
It silently descended from the air onto the table, landing right next to the small coffin.
Inside the coffin, the little girl quietly cracked open the lid, eavesdropping on Gu Yi'an's words to the notebook.
As soon as the hanged ghost landed, her gaze shifted toward it.
Enemies are bound to meet.
The hanged ghost was jealous that the little girl had a coffin provided by the Princess, while the little girl resented that the small coffin she lived in had once been occupied by the hanged ghost.
As their eyes met, both could see the murderous intent in the other's gaze.
The hanged ghost swung the silver chain on its body, striking first.
The little girl kicked the coffin lid open and tightly grabbed the silver chain with her small hands.
Hearing the commotion from the table, Gu Yi'an shifted her gaze from the notebook and saw the hanged ghost and the little girl fighting fiercely.
The hanged ghost, relying on its silver chain, wielded it with incredible skill, while the little girl, clutching a water-based pen, brandished the pen barrel with fierce determination.
Whether it was intentional or not, their attacks completely avoided Gu Yi'an and the notebook nearby.
Seeing their posture, Gu Yi'an knew that if she didn't intervene, these two could keep fighting indefinitely.
She raised her hand and gently tapped the table.
"Hanged ghost."
Gu Yi'an called out its name.
The hanged ghost abruptly floated into the air and stopped its attack.
Gu Yi'an glanced at the little girl, realizing she still didn't know her name.
"Princess, look at this evil ghost, she's bullying me," the hanged ghost wailed pitifully. Its originally small, cute, sunny doll appearance was now marred with black streaks.
The little girl, holding the pen, had her neatly tied hair all messed up. She looked pitifully at Gu Yi'an, pouting, and said, "An'an, it bullied me. It attacked me first."
The hanged ghost howled in despair, "Princess, she's lying. She hit me first and sent me flying to the window."
The little girl's expression turned aggrieved, "An'an, it used its chain to hit me and almost broke the place I live in."
Both of them stared pitifully at Gu Yi'an, hoping she would make a fair judgment.
Gu Yi'an inexplicably felt the exhaustion of a parent unable to resolve a quarrel between their children.
Gu Yi'an decided not to take sides.
She said, "Since I'm here, calmly share your thoughts about each other and discuss how you can coexist peacefully. Now, communicate with each other."
Gu Yi'an looked at them, signaling for them to start the conversation.
To prevent an awkward silence, she called on one of them, "Hanged Ghost, you go first."
The Hanged Ghost could tell that Gu Yi'an wasn't taking sides and understood that she wanted it to integrate into the group as soon as possible.
It paused for a moment, then reluctantly turned to the little girl and began to speak.
Gu Yi'an quietly observed the exchange between the Hanged Ghost and the little girl.
On the desk, the notebook silently curled up a page and gently brushed against Gu Yi'an's hand.
Gu Yi'an noticed the touch and turned her gaze toward it.
She saw that the notebook now displayed an enormous word:
"Ying."
Gu Yi'an: "..."
Was this an attempt at maliciously acting cute?
Gu Yi'an fell silent.
After a few seconds, she smiled faintly, acknowledging the word.
She didn't say anything and shifted her gaze back to the Hanged Ghost and the little girl.
Her expression was gentle, but when she was unfeeling, she could be utterly ruthless.
The notebook sensed the change in Gu Yi'an's attitude, she had become distant and unapproachable.
After their conversation, the Hanged Ghost and the little girl shook hands and made peace.
Only when Gu Yi'an saw that they could coexist peacefully did she gather her clothes and head into the bathroom.
The door muffled the sounds inside.
As soon as Gu Yi'an's figure disappeared from the room,
the Hanged Ghost and the little girl, who had just been peacefully communicating, instantly turned on each other.
One swung a chain, the other threw a pen.
Suddenly, the notebook stood upright and slapped both ghosts, sending them sprawling to the ground.
Realizing the fight had been forcibly interrupted, the Hanged Ghost and the little girl immediately remembered the presence of this formidable entity.
The Hanged Ghost sheepishly floated back up, "Ghost King, "
The notebook raised a page as if to strike again.
The Hanged Ghost quickly shut its mouth.
The little girl stood up respectfully, "Lord Lu."
The notebook seemed to be in a terrible mood. After the two ghosts bowed to it, it lay back in its original position.
The little girl and the hanged ghost pondered for a moment and realized what mistake they had made.
They shouldn’t have fought.
So, the little girl obediently returned to her small coffin and pulled the lid shut over herself.
The hanged ghost drifted over to the backpack, and the silver chain attached to it automatically fastened. It hung itself on the backpack as a decorative pendant.
When Gu Yi’an came out of her bath, she saw the room in a state of quiet tranquility.
The sudden emptiness felt a bit unfamiliar to her.
But Gu Yi’an was someone accustomed to solitude.
She quickly adjusted her mindset and began tidying up her things.
Suddenly, a phone ringtone echoed in the space.
Before entering the game, Gu Yi’an had set her phone to ring mode. She walked over and glanced at the screen.
An unfamiliar number was displayed.
Gu Yi’an didn’t answer. She waited for the caller to hang up.
In the past, boys would often get her phone number through various means and call her.
Now, Gu Yi’an had developed the habit of not answering calls from unlisted numbers.
When the caller couldn’t get through the first time, they tried again. Gu Yi’an still didn’t answer.
The caller likely realized that Gu Yi’an either wouldn’t pick up or wasn’t near her phone. After a while, the number sent a text message to Gu Yi’an’s phone.
"Gu Tianjing is in mortal danger!"
Gu Tianjing, Gu Yi’an’s older brother in this life, once a troublemaker, was now the only family member who treated her well.
Upon reading the message, Gu Yi’an didn’t hesitate and immediately dialed the number.
The call was quickly answered by a woman who spoke rapidly, "You’re Gu Tianjing’s sister, right? He’s in mortal danger."
Gu Yi’an replied calmly, "What exactly is the danger?"
The woman on the other end of the line seemed anxious, her words somewhat disjointed.
"I don’t know. He hasn’t called me for several days. He went to meet a friend. He said if he didn’t contact me, something must have happened. He mentioned he has a sister who’s… unusual. After thinking it over, I decided to call you.
I don’t even know why I suddenly called you. I should have called you earlier. Or maybe not… Well, he never told me to call you. I did it on my own. He said he was meeting a friend, and that friend had encountered something strange. He mentioned you understand things like that."
Gu Yi’an noticed the key phrase in the woman’s words: meeting a friend.
She remembered the last time Gu Tianjing visited her, he mentioned his friend Old Zheng had encountered something supernatural.
Gu Yi’an was partly convinced, but she remained calm. "May I ask who you are?"
"I’m his assistant, Yu Xia." The person on the phone mentioned her identity and finally seemed to calm down.
Gu Yi’an recalled that during Gu Tianjing’s last visit, he had hinted that he had special feelings for his assistant.
So, it made sense for the assistant to be worried about her brother. They might have a closer relationship.
The assistant was likely the only person who knew where her brother had gone.
But based solely on a phone call, Gu Yi’an couldn’t verify the caller’s identity or the authenticity of the message.
It was possible Gu Tianjing was just out having fun, as he often did in the past.
Gu Yi’an said, "Sister Yu, it might be hard to explain everything over the phone. How about we meet in person?"
If Gu Tianjing was fine, Gu Yi'an would treat it as going on a trip herself. If something had happened to Gu Tianjing, she would promptly contact a genuinely skilled Taoist priest to rescue him as quickly as possible.
"Alright. Anytime works." The person on the other end of the call was overjoyed and immediately agreed.
Under Gu Yi'an's lead, she and the person claiming to be Gu Tianjing's assistant, Yu Xia, confirmed the meeting time and location.
The meeting place was set at Gu Yi'an's brother Gu Tianjing's company, scheduled for the next morning.
If Gu Yi'an acted quickly, she could likely catch the evening flight to the city where the company was located.
Once the arrangements were settled, Gu Yi'an hung up the phone.
Next, she dialed Gu Tianjing's number.
No one answered.
Gu Yi'an opened her messaging app, found Gu Tianjing, and saw that his last activity was from a few days ago.
She closed the app and logged into a webpage to check Gu Tianjing's private account on a social platform.
That account, which he had always managed himself, had previously featured cringey posts flaunting his wealth but later shifted to promoting his company's products.
The account's activity had also stopped a few days ago.
Gu Tianjing had too many questionable moments in his past.
He had once disappeared from the company for a month without a word to anyone, simply to go out and have fun.
This time, he had only been missing for a few days, and his last excuse was visiting a friend's house, so it hadn't drawn much attention yet.
Gu Yi'an pulled out a chair and sat down at the desk.
Regardless of whether the person claiming to be his assistant was trustworthy, it seemed Gu Tianjing had encountered some trouble over the past few days. The severity of the situation was unknown.
Her mood wasn't exactly great at the moment, as she had no idea how to handle Gu Tianjing's disappearance just yet.
Gu Yi'an's gaze inadvertently fell on the notebook on the desk.
The notebook was open.
On its lined inner page, there was only one sentence at the moment.
"I like it when you keep me in check."
Gu Yi'an: "..."
Oh no.
Now there was something even more troublesome than her brother's disappearance.