Chapter 73

"We can try communicating with those ghosts, but let's skip the latter part."
The speaker was another female player among the five veteran players.
She had above-average looks, and though her clothes were somewhat worn, making her appear disheveled, it didn't diminish her composure.
Xiao Cheng couldn't stand this type of do-gooder the most.
Thinking of something, she deliberately provoked the other woman, saying, "Oh, when you're dead, it'll be too late for regrets."
Hearing this, the female player didn't get angry at Xiao Cheng's words.
She addressed the group, "What we need now is to find clues. We haven't even sorted out the situation yet, so it's too early to decide what to do."
Xiao Cheng had no intention of hiding her true self anymore when she made her proposal earlier.
She scoffed openly and said, "Why didn't I see you speaking up just now?"
"The moment I say something, you step up to oppose me. Are you deliberately picking a fight?"
Xiao Cheng stuffed her hands into her pockets, resembling someone with arms akimbo.
Her eyes gleamed with a flicker, as if waiting for the other to lose her temper.
"Xiao Cheng!" Brother Wei stepped in to mediate. "We're all just brainstorming ideas here."
He still regarded Xiao Cheng as the fragile female player who used to hide behind him, and kindly tried to smooth things over.
The other players largely disagreed with what Xiao Cheng had just said.
It was too ruthless. Even the one who had narrowly escaped was to be tracked down, who knew what went on in Xiao Cheng’s mind?
Only that female player from earlier had kindly stepped forward to reason with her.
Who would have thought that as soon as Xiao Cheng heard it, she immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion?
That female player wasn’t exactly a pushover either.
Given Xiao Cheng’s attitude, the fact that the other party didn’t retaliate was already a sign that she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.
Xiao Cheng shot him a sidelong glance but didn’t say much to Brother Wei, who had disrupted her plans.
She glanced at the other players and said, “You can stay here and wait for death. I’m not waiting.”
In front of everyone, she stepped into the mountain temple filled with ghosts.
Brother Wei was angered by the words “wait for death” in Xiao Cheng’s remark.
“You, ”
He watched as Xiao Cheng’s figure vanished instantly at the entrance of the mountain temple.
Xiao Cheng had gone in just like that, leaving the players who had formed a negative impression of her momentarily at a loss for words.
Call her extreme, yet she had bravely entered the ghost-infested mountain temple alone.
From this perspective, her goal was simply to clear the game.
Xiao Cheng’s earlier words had stirred some doubt in a few people.
A middle-aged male player said, “I somewhat agree with her view. Since the beginner’s hint for this round is ‘wish,’ it might mean that we players are supposed to help fulfill a wish. But whose wish it is, that still needs to be figured out.”
Seeing the hesitation in this male player, the female player who had spoken to Xiao Cheng earlier said, “She’s a veteran player.”
Her tone was matter-of-fact.
Everyone present was stunned.
Brother Wei said, “She was the first to mention the beginner’s hint. It can’t be, right?”
He had his suspicions but couldn’t be sure.
The female player showed no emotion, as if discussing a stranger.
“She’s the type of veteran player who acts swiftly, accurately, and ruthlessly, with a clear purpose. Her going in this time was a show for us.”
Brother Wei sighed. “Whether she’s a veteran or not, we haven’t reached any conclusions here. We still have to go in and face the ghosts in the mountain temple.”
The female player looked at Brother Wei and said, “That might be exactly her goal, to make all of us go in and confront the ghosts in the mountain temple.”
Brother Wei said, “Xiao Cheng didn’t want to come up the mountain earlier. I was the one who brought her up.”
Because of this incident, Brother Wei felt that Xiao Cheng probably wasn't an experienced player.
She had other ideas at first, but still trusted him as an experienced player and ended up following him back up the mountain.
Brother Wei said, "There are indeed outstanding individuals among novice players. Xiao Cheng is under a lot of psychological pressure. Think about it, a young girl who has never faced ghosts before suddenly has to confront so many. I've never encountered this many ghosts in previous games. She managed to survive without the help of experienced players. We shouldn't randomly speculate about our companions."
"Xiao Cheng's actions and thoughts are understandable. She was just doing her best to clear the game."
Brother Wei had come up with a reasonable explanation for Xiao Cheng.
After hearing Brother Wei defend Xiao Cheng, the female player glanced at him deeply before looking away.
Among the four players currently outside the mountain temple, three men and one woman, the female player and Brother Wei had stated their positions, while the middle-aged male player had shown some support for Xiao Cheng.
Only the last male player hadn't expressed his stance yet.
He hesitated for a moment and said, "I noticed earlier that Xiao Cheng is the only novice player still alive. I think she's either an experienced player or someone with special abilities in her own world. An ordinary person wouldn't dare to rush back into the mountain temple they just escaped from, there are still three corpses inside."
Brother Wei didn't comment on this matter and only said, "Our goal is to clear the game. Whether Xiao Cheng is an experienced player or not isn't important anymore."
The female player nodded and said, "Let's go down the mountain. We made the wrong choice from the beginning, we shouldn't have stayed put and then been led up the mountain by that suddenly appearing villager."
Brother Wei hesitated and said, "Xiao Cheng is still inside."
The female player replied, "We haven't heard any movement from the mountain temple. She must be communicating smoothly with the ghosts inside. If we go in, she might turn on us."
The female player's stance was that they shouldn't enter the mountain temple and should descend immediately.
"Earlier, ghosts were blocking our way, but now that Xiao Cheng has gone in, it actually gives us a chance to go down the mountain."
Brother Wei struggled with this for a moment before saying, "You go ahead down first. I'm still going in to look for her."
He had promised to protect Xiao Cheng as a novice player, so he would go in and search for her.
If he couldn't find her, he would retreat.
After he said this, the female player and the two remaining male players didn't stop him.
They were all strangers who had met by chance, offering one piece of advice was enough, and there was no need to say more.
The group split into two directions: one team went down the mountain, while Brother Wei entered the mountain temple alone.
Gu Yi'an and the chubby uncle arrived at the home of the client he had mentioned.
The client was a well-maintained woman in her fifties.
She was quite assertive and, upon meeting Gu Yi'an and the chubby uncle, said, "I don't have much time. I hope the Taoist master and his disciple can resolve this matter quickly."
Upon hearing this, the chubby uncle immediately responded, "Of course. As long as the payment is sufficient, everything will be taken care of. I don't even need to lift a finger, my disciple can handle it."
He glanced at Gu Yi'an and winked.
The chubby uncle's earlier request had been for Gu Yi'an to pretend to be his disciple in front of the client.
The chubby uncle was self-aware, when it came to dealing with ghosts, Gu Yi'an would likely do most of the work. But if that were obvious, it would make him look bad in the client's eyes.
To avoid losing face, the chubby uncle had asked Gu Yi'an to pose as his disciple.
Gu Yi’an agreed.
At that moment, she smiled slightly, deliberately putting on a calm expression that showed confidence in her abilities after being praised by her master.
The client had clearly done prior research and knew the chubby uncle had real skills, so she didn’t look down on either of them.
She directly led Gu Yi’an and the chubby uncle into a room containing a spirit tablet.
In front of the tablet were various snacks, fresh fruits, and a completely out-of-place set of secret college entrance exam papers.
The study materials clashed starkly with the surrounding offerings.
Gu Yi’an’s gaze fell on the set of exam papers.
The client stepped aside, allowing the chubby uncle and Gu Yi’an to observe the room.
She said, “I don’t know what went wrong while I was raising him. Xiao Bao used to be very obedient.”
The chubby uncle glanced at Gu Yi’an, cleared his throat, and said, “Disciple, you handle this. I’ll observe.”
The client’s gaze also shifted to Gu Yi’an.
Ignoring their stares, Gu Yi’an walked over, picked up the exam papers, and flipped through them. Most of the papers had been completed, with corrections marked on them.
She asked, “Whose are these?”
The client replied, “They’re Xiao Bao’s.”
Xiao Bao was the spirit the client had been raising.
Hearing this, the chubby uncle’s eyebrow twitched involuntarily.
Making a ghost do exam papers, this client was truly treating her deceased child as if he were still alive.
The client’s answer was within Gu Yi’an’s expectations.
She had originally planned to let the little girl or the hanged ghost handle the situation, but after seeing the exam papers, she decided to first ask for the details herself.
Gu Yi’an asked, “Does it usually resist doing the papers?”
The client immediately understood her implication. “Are you suggesting Xiao Bao caused all that trouble because he didn’t want to do the exams?”
Gu Yi’an nodded and asked, “Ms. Song, how did you persuade him to do the papers?”
Without hesitation, the client replied, “I just told him directly. I said he had to complete at least one set a day.”
She was a strong-willed woman, and her tone left no room for refusal.
The chubby uncle shook his head as he listened. With such a strict mother, even being a ghost was miserable.
Gu Yi’an asked, “If he didn’t do them, was there any punishment?”
The client said, “What punishment could there be? If he didn’t do them, I’d just tap his spirit tablet lightly. Nothing too harsh.”
The chubby uncle silently averted his gaze to inspect other parts of the room. He was afraid his expression might betray his disapproval of the client.
The client had even struck the spirit tablet, yet the ghost hadn't tried to kill anyone. It seemed the ghost still had feelings for this family.
Seeing that Gu Yi'an could handle the situation, the burly uncle didn't interfere and just stood by quietly.
Gu Yi'an asked, "Ms. Song, is Xiao Bao afraid of you?"
The client paused for a moment, her tone softening slightly from before. After a few seconds, she replied, "Probably, yes."
Gu Yi'an glanced at the spirit tablet.
The client understood Gu Yi'an's implication, if she stayed, the little ghost might not dare to show itself.
She said, "Alright. I'll step out so you can talk to Xiao Bao."
The client left without hesitation.
She wasn't worried about Gu Yi'an or the burly uncle doing anything untoward. For one, she trusted her judgment of character, and secondly, her Xiao Bao wasn't someone to be trifled with.
Once the client had left the room and closed the door behind her, the burly uncle glanced toward the door and asked Gu Yi'an, "Miss Exorcist, are you planning to reason with the little ghost?"
Gu Yi'an replied, "I'll give it a try."
She added, "Hanged Ghost, you go communicate with it."
When it came to dealing with ghosts, Gu Yi'an decided to send out the Hanged Ghost. That fellow was the smoothest talker, knew how to adapt to the situation, and was best at interacting with spirits.
"Your Highness, leave it to me," the Hanged Ghost responded immediately upon hearing Gu Yi'an's voice.
It quickly expanded into the form of a long-necked adult man and stood before the altar table laden with offerings.
The Hanged Ghost craned its neck to peer at the spirit tablet and said, "Goodness, how pitiful. Show yourself and let Her Highness see you. If you don't come out, don't blame me for devouring you."
The Hanged Ghost was threatening the little ghost.
Its intimidation proved highly effective.
As soon as it finished speaking, a small, exquisitely dressed infant peeked out from behind the spirit tablet to look at them.
It didn't dare to look at the Hanged Ghost, only mustering the courage to gaze at the person in the room who seemed the most approachable, the beautiful and serene Gu Yi'an.
Gu Yi'an met its gaze and stepped forward, deliberately softening her usual aloof demeanor as she asked with a hint of concern, "Xiao Bao, is it because you don't want to study?"
The moment she mentioned it, the little ghost behind the spirit tablet recalled something terrifying and burst into loud, miserable sobs.
"I don't want to do homework, I don't want to take the college entrance exam, wuwu, I don't want to study!"
Its sudden wailing was so heart-wrenching that the burly uncle shuddered.
"Is that all? Just because it doesn't want to study, it's been causing accidents for the family that raised it? Ghosts and humans really shouldn't get too close," the burly uncle mused, marveling at the ghost's unconventional way of thinking.
Gu Yi'an said, "Ghosts and humans are different. It simply doesn't want to study. From its perspective, its reasoning might be that if someone has an accident, Ms. Song will have to take care of them and won't have time to bother it. Xiao Bao, am I right?"
Xiao Bao could cry and stop crying at will.
It abruptly ceased sobbing and stared at Gu Yi'an in astonishment.
This person had guessed correctly.
Now, it felt that Gu Yi'an was also somewhat intimidating.
It glanced sideways at the Hanged Ghost.
The Hanged Ghost stretched its neck and bared its sharp teeth.
If this little ghost dared not answer Her Highness's question, it would devour it.
Xiao Bao shrank back and nodded timidly.
Seeing this, the burly uncle shook his head. The thought processes of humans and ghosts truly were different.
Gu Yi'an said, "Hanged Ghost, explain to it how to survive in the human world."
"Your Highness, leave it to me. You can rest completely assured."
The Hanged Ghost reached out and directly grabbed the little ghost by the neck. The little ghost offered no resistance as it was hauled out by the Hanged Ghost.
"Little ghost, let me teach you how to be a proper ghost."
With the little ghost being handled by the Hanged Ghost, Gu Yi'an said, "Taoist Priest, let's go communicate with Ms. Song."
The plump uncle strongly agreed with her suggestion.
"Right, we must talk with Ms. Song. The child is already a ghost, what's the point of studying now?"
As he said this, he seemed to recall something and added, "Ah, the love of parents knows no bounds. She probably wants it to retain its learning ability even after reincarnation."
Both the plump uncle and Gu Yi'an could tell that the client genuinely regarded this ghost as her still-living child.
However, humans and ghosts are fundamentally different, and their perspectives don't align.
Rewinding to when Brother Wei first entered the mountain temple.
As soon as Brother Wei stepped inside, he saw Xiao Cheng suddenly emerge from behind a side door, startling him almost immediately.
Xiao Cheng was somewhat disappointed to find that only Brother Wei had entered the mountain temple.
She said, "I thought there'd be a few brave ones. Turns out it's just you. Killing you wouldn't be meaningful now."
If she could eliminate all the other players, she could clear the level.
Xiao Cheng could tell this male player had come in specifically for her.
Out of a moment of kindness, she decided not to kill Brother Wei.
Hearing Xiao Cheng's tone, Brother Wei became mostly convinced of the female player's earlier judgment that Xiao Cheng was an experienced player.
He took a step back and, seeing that Xiao Cheng had no intention of attacking him, said, "Xiao Cheng, I don't care what your goal is, but this place is too dangerous. There are too many ghosts inside... Wait, where are the ghosts?"
Brother Wei suddenly realized that the ghosts they had encountered earlier in the mountain temple seemed to have vanished.
Xiao Cheng ignored the corpses on the ground as if taking a leisurely stroll and walked toward the mountain deity statue in the temple.
Brother Wei glanced around and couldn't help asking her, "Where did those ghosts go?"
He followed Xiao Cheng and also approached the mountain deity statue.
Xiao Cheng examined the statue without giving Brother Wei any extra attention.
Nevertheless, she replied, "I've already negotiated a cooperation with them."
Brother Wei was taken aback. "How did you manage that?"
"That's not something you need to know."
Brother Wei frowned at her response. "Xiao Cheng, we shouldn't stay in this mountain temple. That villager has disappeared, and who knows where he went. Cooperating with ghosts is too unreliable, they can deceive you too."
"I was actually lying to you," Xiao Cheng said.
"What?" Brother Wei was truly getting confused by Xiao Cheng.
"I didn't negotiate with them. When I came in, they had already disappeared long ago."
Xiao Cheng looked at Brother Wei with a slightly mocking smile. "You're really stupid."
Even someone as even-tempered as Brother Wei couldn't take Xiao Cheng's words. He turned to leave.
"Stop," Xiao Cheng said. "Take one step and I'll kill you."
Brother Wei paused mid-step. He looked back and saw Xiao Cheng toying with a dagger, smiling at him.
Brother Wei finally had a clear head.
This was no fragile new female player, this was a beautiful serpent that devoured people without spitting out the bones!
Xiao Cheng looked around and said, "I genuinely want to cooperate with you. Could you please come out? I can offer you this person's soul."
Brother Wei took out his props, guarding against Xiao Cheng's every move."
He had clearly heard what Xiao Cheng just said, but he didn't dare act rashly now. He could only keep talking to buy time. "Are you talking to those ghosts?"
"Of course. They just want some playmates. We left earlier and made them unhappy, so they don't want to deal with us anymore." Xiao Cheng looked completely in control.
Brother Wei said, "Wouldn't that be a good reason to leave this place?"
As he spoke, he remained vigilant of Xiao Cheng's movements.
Everyone has a sense of crisis.
Brother Wei's intuition told him that Xiao Cheng's strength far surpassed his own, forcing him to play this game of push-and-shove with her here.
Seeing his defensive posture, Xiao Cheng laughed. "Such a good opportunity to find out their wishes, and you want to give up? Impossible."
"How can you be sure it's definitely their wishes?" Brother Wei countered.
Xiao Cheng said, "When has The Game of the Gods not been related to ghosts and monsters? If it's not their wishes, could it be the villagers' wishes at the foot of the mountain? Don't dream."
She thought for a moment and said, "Those three went down the mountain, right? If they're fast, they should soon realize they still have to come back up."
At the foot of the mountain, a female player led two male players along the village road.
A villager passed by on a three-wheeled motorcycle.
The three players stopped this person, claiming to be lost journalists who wanted to interview the village chief.
The motorcyclist looked at the three, though their clothes were somewhat disheveled, they appeared to be educated intellectuals. Moreover, they openly stated their purpose was to go to the village chief's house, so he mostly believed them and drove them to the village chief's home.
When they arrived, the villager didn't ask for money, just shouted toward the village chief's house that the journalists had arrived. As soon as the village chief came out, the man left.
The three players immersed themselves in their journalist roles, politely conversing with the old village chief.
The middle-aged male player handled the formalities, the only female player asked questions, and the other male player only nodded.
When the village chief heard they came to investigate the incident where a class of students died a year ago after offending the mountain god, he no longer doubted their identities.
The village chief's tone carried some resistance. "How many times do we have to tell you? Those students offended the mountain god. Stop investigating. You lost your wallets, right? I'll pay to send you back."
He wanted to drive them away.
It was only when the village chief tried to evict them that the three players noticed many curious villagers had gathered around the village chief's house.
The village chief also saw the surrounding onlookers.
He said, "Go on, get out of here. What are you staring at? Reporters, leave immediately."
Hearing this, the female player vaguely sensed something. She glanced at the others and spoke up proactively, "Thank you, Village Chief. We'll leave today."
The village chief looked at her and said, "Young lady, I don't trust you people. I'll take you to the town myself."
A nearby villager chimed in, "Village Chief, should we escort them?"
The village chief waved his hand dismissively. "I need to go to town to buy some things anyway. They just arrived and are leaving right away."
At this point, the two male players also caught on.
The village chief and the other villagers clearly had different stances, the village chief wanted to send them away.
Seeing the female player signal for them to follow the village chief, the two male players stayed silent and obediently got into the village chief's minivan.
As the minivan drove off, the villagers shrank into tiny dots in the distance.
Sitting in the back seat, the female player spoke up, "Village Chief, are you in such a hurry to send us away because you're afraid we'll be killed?"
Hearing this, one of the male players fell into thought, while the other looked confused.
The old village chief, who was driving, replied, "You're overthinking it. You reporters always ask these kinds of questions, and it annoys us."
The female player paused and glanced at the two male players.
They signaled for her to continue questioning.
She said, "Village Chief, it's because there is no mountain god, right?"
The minivan suddenly braked.
The female player was startled.
However, realizing that the village chief in the driver's seat might not be looking at her for the moment, she steadied her voice.
"Last year, those students who died, they discovered this, so they were killed by the people who superstitiously believe in the mountain god, right?"
Up in the mountains, the players had only encountered one ghost after another, with no sign of a mountain god at all.
The mountain god was a lie.
Someone wanted to maintain that lie.
While on the mountain, Xiao Cheng had said they had become scapegoats for the villagers.
The ghosts truly wanted to kill the villagers, not them.
They had eaten the food given by the villagers, so the ghosts saw them as part of the villagers' group.
The village chief restarted the car and said, "I don't know what you're talking about. Some things, it's better to believe they exist than to dismiss them entirely."
The female player said, "Village Chief, you do believe. You or other villagers have already faced retaliation, so you want to spare us."
The village chief pulled the car over to the side of the road.
He said, "Get out."
Hearing this, the three players silently got out of the car, one by one.
They watched the minivan reverse and drive back the way it came.
The middle-aged male player said to the female player, "Looks like you called it."
Another male player added, "The village chief was so embarrassed and angry, but he didn’t want to take it out on us, so he just dropped us off and made us walk to the town."
He turned to the female player and asked, "What should we do? What exactly is this 'wish' about?"
The female player replied, "The ghosts’ wish is probably to expose the nonexistent mountain god. The villagers are too superstitious. Let’s go report it to the police, tell them three of our companions were deliberately murdered by the villagers. We’ll get the authorities in this world involved."
Her suggestion sounded far more reliable than what Xiao Cheng had said earlier, and the other two male players also found her words more convincing.
So, they started trying to hitch a ride on the road.
Up in the mountains, inside the mountain god temple.
Xiao Cheng narrowly dodged a sudden attack from one of the ghosts.
Brother Wei, standing some distance away, watched as Xiao Cheng became surrounded by multiple ghostly figures.
He felt a strange sense of satisfaction and said, "You wanted to cooperate with them? Look at what happened after you called them out, do they listen to you?"
"No, right? Your theory was wrong from the start. Their wish isn’t to kill the villagers. You spouted a bunch of irrelevant nonsense and ended up pissing them off."
Xiao Cheng dodged a ghost’s claw while quickly pulling a prop out of her pocket.
Instantly, the ghostly figures around her retreated.
Seeing this, Brother Wei didn’t dare to make any more sarcastic remarks. He immediately raised his own prop and aimed it at Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng said, "Impossible. They’re already dead. If I died, the first thing I’d do is take revenge on the person who killed me."
Brother Wei couldn’t agree with that. "Ghosts were once human too. Not everyone thinks like you."
Xiao Cheng snorted coldly at his words.
"If it’s not about killing the villagers, then their obsession must be with the lucky survivor. They’re all dead, but one person is still alive."
Brother Wei frowned. "Why are you so extreme? It has nothing to do with that survivor."
Ignoring him, Xiao Cheng took out a pocket watch and directly turned the hands.
Brother Wei had a vague premonition. "Is this…" the prop you used to pretend to be a newbie player?
He couldn’t finish his sentence, because the moment Xiao Cheng turned the watch, everything in the world rewound.
Xiao Cheng watched as a line of text appeared in mid-air before her.
[Shh! The god is watching you.]
She then glanced at the players around her, Brother Wei, the female player who opposed her, and the middle-aged male player. All eight of them were together again.
Gu Yi’an stared at the test paper in front of her.
She felt an intense sense of familiarity.
She had definitely taken this exam before, and not just once.
A rare feeling of weariness toward the test washed over her, and for once, she took a moment during the exam to observe the classroom.
Her eyes first drifted to the back row on the far left.
Empty.
Gu Yi’an froze.
She saw that the last row was vacant, but a pen was moving across the test paper spread out on the desk.
Wasn’t Lu Zize supposed to be sitting there?
Had he left the room?
Realization dawned on her. Her gaze swept across the entire classroom before finally settling on the front doorway.
A handsome young man with a gentle demeanor stood there, as if he had been waiting for a while.
Noticing her gaze, he finally lifted his eyes.
The moment he looked up, a faint starlight shimmered in his eyes.
He gave her a slight smile, it was Lu Zize, who should have been taking the exam.
Gu Yi'an glanced toward the proctor again and noticed that, aside from her, no one else seemed to see Lu Zize at the door.
When she looked back, Lu Zize had already vanished from the classroom entrance.
She couldn't shake the feeling that his appearance at the door just now was deliberate, meant for her eyes only.
Was he signaling for her to follow him outside?
What scheme was Lu Zize up to this time?
After a moment's thought, Gu Yi'an tentatively rose from her seat.
The proctor's gaze swept over her location, but none of them found anything amiss.
Gu Yi'an glanced at her own seat and saw a pen moving on its own, filling out the exam paper.
With no worries holding her back, she calmly and steadily walked out of the exam hall amidst the sighs and groans of her classmates.