Chapter 75

The notebook vibrated.
The pages instantly turned blank, not even a single line remained.
This seemed to fully demonstrate the notebook's shock.
"Bring the hanged ghost and the little girl along," Gu Yi'an added.
The notebook silently closed itself.
It knew it wouldn't be that easy to have a date alone.
Right in front of Gu Yi'an, the notebook flew to the side.
Immediately after, a gentle and handsome young man appeared beside her.
Having someone next to you and having no one next to you were two completely different feelings.
Gu Yi'an shifted her gaze to the lawn in front of them.
The two of them sat side by side on a bench, surprisingly, neither of them spoke.
Gu Yi'an turned her head to look at Lu Zize and found that this guy was quietly staring at her, as if obediently waiting for her to speak.
Damn it, she actually sensed obedience from Lu Zize.
Gu Yi'an looked at Lu Zize again. She had originally intended to ask where everyone should go to have fun.
But as she observed him, her eyes scanned him from head to toe, and she suddenly realized that something was missing by his side.
Where was the book he had been reading while sitting on the bench just now?
What book had Lu Zize been reading earlier?
Gu Yi'an had a gut feeling that something was off. Since the two of them were currently silent, she took the initiative to break the quiet and asked, "What book were you reading just now?"
Lu Zize stiffened slightly.
Gu Yi'an raised an eyebrow slightly.
She caught his small reaction.
Was this a deliberate little gesture Lu Zize had shown her, or was he actually feeling a bit guilty?
Given Lu Zize's poor track record, Gu Yi'an always suspected that all of his actions had a purpose.
Should she ask about the book?
Gu Yi'an hesitated for a moment, but she still asked, "Where is that book?"
As soon as she finished asking, Gu Yi'an regretted it because she saw a hint of amusement in Lu Zize's eyes.
She had fallen into his trap, Lu Zize had been waiting for her to ask this question.
Lu Zize smiled, and a book appeared out of thin air in his hand.
He handed the book to Gu Yi'an.
Gu Yi'an's gaze fell on the cover of the book, and she saw the words written on it: "Techniques for Chasing a Girlfriend."
Gu Yi'an: "..."
I think you won't get a girlfriend like this.
Eight players walked along the road leading out of the village.
Except for one female player following behind a simple and honest-looking man, the expressions of the others were rather unpleasant.
A middle-aged male player said, "Xiao Wei. Are you still protecting her? Look at what she's done to us! She said not to go up the mountain, fine, we went into the village instead. Once we got there, she kept pestering the villagers with questions, angering them until they drove us out of the village. Now look, we've left the village, how are we supposed to complete the game? We don't even have a place to stay tonight!"
The man called Xiao Wei had a simple and honest face.
The female player behind him had sharp, unkind features. Hearing the middle-aged man's words, she immediately put on a weak front to defend herself, "Brother Wei, I was just trying to clear the game."
The male player, addressed as both Brother Wei by the female player and Xiao Wei by the middle-aged man, comforted the woman behind him, saying, "Xiao Cheng. Don't say anything for now."
He then turned to the middle-aged man, "Uncle Gao, Xiao Cheng is a new player, this is her first time playing. She was just a bit too eager to find clues. Actually, our situation isn't that bad."
The middle-aged man wasn't having it.
"How is it not that bad? What do we even know? All we know is that an entire class of students died on the mountain. It's obvious that incident is related to our game. We should be heading to the mountain right now. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have been driven out of the village, and we'd probably already be on the mountain by now."
After the middle-aged man finished speaking loudly, the other players heard everything clearly.
There were eight players in total, five men and three women. So far, only four were known to be experienced players, and among those four, only one was female.
That female veteran player, having heard the middle-aged man's words, spoke up, "Uncle Gao, Xiao Cheng's approach wasn't entirely wrong. The deaths of those students might not have been due to offending the mountain god. I specifically paid attention to the village earlier, I saw paper money scattered on the roadside. That means someone died here recently. Judging by the amount of paper money, more than one person died. There must be something strange happening in the village. It might not be safe for us to stay there."
As she spoke, the female player stopped walking.
The others also stopped to listen to her analysis.
The female player continued, "The beginner hint for this round is 'wish.' This wish is likely either the wish of the deceased students or the deceased villagers. The scope of our investigation for this round is already set. Moving away from this place first and then slowly investigating through newspapers, the internet, or other means in this world isn't a bad approach."
After saying this, she smiled at Xiao Cheng behind Brother Wei, "Xiao Cheng's actions actually gave us a suitable excuse to leave that village."
Anyone could see that the female player was kindly helping Xiao Cheng out of a tight spot.
But when Xiao Cheng saw the female player smiling at her, she shot her a sidelong glance, turned her face away directly, clearly not appreciating the goodwill of the female player's intervention.
Seeing Xiao Cheng's reaction, the female player didn't say anything more. She also averted her gaze and resumed walking toward the outskirts of the village.
Once she started moving, the other players mostly followed.
However, Brother Wei, having noticed how Xiao Cheng had ignored the female player earlier, didn’t move. Instead, he took half a step toward Xiao Cheng, closing the distance between them.
His expression was stern as he lowered his voice so those ahead wouldn’t hear. "You’re a new player, and I promised to look out for you, so I’ll teach you something now. When experienced players extend an olive branch, you don’t have to accept it, but don’t show a bad attitude either. Offending others isn’t wise."
Upon hearing Brother Wei’s serious tone, Xiao Cheng’s eyes instantly welled up with tears, as if she had suffered a grave injustice.
Seeing this, Brother Wei could only sigh helplessly.
"Forget it. Just follow along. They’re almost out of sight."
With that, Brother Wei started walking.
Xiao Cheng dawdled as she followed.
Brother Wei had no choice but to wait for her.
By now, the players ahead were already dozens of meters away.
Xiao Cheng said, "Brother Wei, let’s go find that lucky one."
Hearing this, Brother Wei felt a headache coming on.
He really shouldn’t have agreed to protect this newbie female player in the first place.
"What lucky one?"
Xiao Cheng replied, "The one where the whole class died, and only she survived."
"Our task right now is to investigate what’s happening in this village. Why are you looking for last year’s survivor?"
Brother Wei couldn’t wrap his head around Xiao Cheng’s train of thought.
Xiao Cheng said weakly, "I want to know how that person survived."
Brother Wei glanced at the backs of their teammates ahead, then turned to look at Xiao Cheng.
He sighed helplessly. "That person was lucky to escape disaster. Bringing it up might be painful for them. Let’s not disturb them for no reason. Did you hear what the villager said? That student wasn’t even part of the class trip. There’s no point in looking for them."
Xiao Cheng didn’t respond. She just stared at Brother Wei, unwavering.
Brother Wei said, "Our focus now is to investigate the events in this village. Let’s go."
Xiao Cheng still didn’t move. She lowered her head, and her voice took on a strange tone.
"Brother Wei, you said you’d protect me."
"I…"
Brother Wei felt chills run down his spine at Xiao Cheng’s words.
The newbie female player’s tone made it sound as if they had some special relationship.
But wasn’t it just because she mentioned the newbie prompt that he agreed to protect her?
What other relationship could there be?
Brother Wei glanced again at the players ahead.
The other players had noticed that Brother Wei and Xiao Cheng had fallen behind.
They had stopped and were waiting for the two of them up ahead.
Setting aside the discomfort this newbie female player, Xiao Cheng, was causing him, Brother Wei replied dismissively, "I did promise to protect new players. If nothing’s happening over there, I’ll go with you to find that person later, alright? For now, let’s catch up with the group."
Hearing this, Xiao Cheng finally took a step forward.
Gu Yi'an rarely went out for fun.
She didn't have strong opinions about where to go.
Lu Zize had ideas, but due to his previous deceptive behavior, his suggestions were temporarily ignored by Gu Yi'an.
In the end, the destination for their outing was decided by the Hanged Ghost and the little girl, a large amusement park in the city center.
The Hanged Ghost and the little girl strongly insisted on remaining in their pendant forms and being carried by Gu Yi'an.
The experience of being abandoned in the previous world had left deep psychological scars on them.
But Gu Yi'an was counting on the two of them to help lighten the mood, so she didn't agree.
Once Gu Yi'an made a decision, the Hanged Ghost didn't dare to disobey. It transformed into an adult-sized form, put on sunglasses, and stood between Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize like a timid older brother, caught in an awkward position.
At that moment, it envied the little girl in the small coffin.
She could escape everything by sleeping inside it.
The amusement park was crowded with visitors, many of them mischievous children.
They ran around without paying any attention to others on the path.
As soon as Gu Yi'an and the other two entered the amusement park, a group of children, laughing and chasing each other, rushed straight toward them.
Gu Yi'an immediately moved to the side where there were no people.
Lu Zize stayed behind her, shielding her.
After taking a few steps to the side of the path, Gu Yi'an belatedly asked, "Where's the Hanged Ghost?"
Lu Zize replied gently, "Not sure. I was only paying attention to you."
They turned to look back at the middle of the path.
The Hanged Ghost stood where they had left it, staring at them.
Even with sunglasses on, its resentful gaze was unmistakable.
The Hanged Ghost had hesitated about whether it should immediately shield the "Princess" from the crowd.
It worried that such an act might make the Ghost King jealous.
If that happened, it would surely face unpleasant consequences.
While the Hanged Ghost was still weighing its options, it missed the perfect chance to move.
It was too late.
It could only stand there like drifting duckweed, enduring the impact of the children rushing past. It didn't dare to move, allowing them to bump into it from all sides, nearly knocking off its sunglasses in the process.
The Hanged Ghost had truly suffered.
It fixed Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize with that same resentful look.
Gu Yi'an felt almost guilty under its gaze, as if she had mistreated it.
So she didn't make the Hanged Ghost stand between them again.
By then, they had started queuing for the amusement park rides.
The Hanged Ghost and Lu Zize were in agreement, they both wanted to try the thrilling rides.
Gu Yi'an hadn't experienced many of them before.
Seeing their enthusiasm, she joined them in line for a roller coaster.
Having once stood on a dragon's head, she thought she wasn't afraid of heights.
But when the staff finally led them to their seats, and Gu Yi'an looked up at the twisting, looping tracks stretching high above,
Some fears only reveal themselves in the moment.
She suddenly felt afraid.
Even with Lu Zize and the Hanged Ghost beside her, she was scared.
Still, Gu Yi'an maintained a calm and composed expression as the staff guided her to sit next to Lu Zize.
Lu Zize seemed to notice something. His gaze lingered on her.
The staff lowered the safety bars.
Staring ahead at the soaring tracks, Gu Yi'an felt a wave of nervousness.
"Are you scared?" Lu Zize's gentle voice sounded beside Gu Yi'an.
Gu Yi'an hesitated for a moment before admitting, "A little."
"You should trust its safety measures," Lu Zize said.
If Gu Yi'an trusted them, she wouldn't feel afraid. She was worried the equipment might malfunction and throw her off.
Lu Zize chuckled slightly and raised his arm. "How about holding onto me?"
The staff member stepped back, signaling to the control room that they could start.
Gu Yi'an could clearly feel the roller coaster she was riding beginning to deviate from its original position.
Driven by fear of the unknown, her hand unconsciously grabbed Lu Zize's arm.
Lu Zize's gentle voice came through, "It's alright. I'm here."
The roller coaster began to accelerate.
It surged sharply upward, then plunged downward.
Screams erupted from the people around them.
Amidst the surrounding screams, Gu Yi'an strangely regained her composure.
It seemed... it wasn't such a big deal after all.
Gu Yi'an had overcome her earlier fear.
She let go of his arm.
But the next second, she felt her hand being held by the person beside her.
His voice wasn't loud, yet amidst the surrounding screams and the howling wind, Gu Yi'an still clearly heard what he said.
He chuckled lightly and said, "Using me and then discarding me, that's not very nice, is it?"