Chapter 79

The hanged ghost took off its sunglasses, tears welling up in its white eyes.
"Your Highness!"
Its exaggerated expression and gestures made Gu Yi'an regret ever trying to find it.
She couldn't help but glance at Lu Zize beside her.
It was an unconscious plea for help.
Lu Zize had initially been standing by indifferently, but upon catching Gu Yi'an's gaze, he smiled faintly and said gently, "Didn't I tell you not to look for it?"
The hanged ghost had been pouring its heart out to Gu Yi'an, hoping for some care and concern from Her Highness toward its subordinate.
Little did it expect that the first words it heard would be disdain from the Ghost King.
The Ghost King was actually encouraging Her Highness to abandon its poor, pitiful subordinate.
The hanged ghost's pair of white eyes couldn't even fake crying anymore, and could only look pitifully at Lu Zize and Gu Yi'an.
Gu Yi'an felt that the hanged ghost usually knew its place quite well. It was exceptionally skilled at reading the room, though sometimes it was a bit noisy and would do things that made people both laugh and cry.
All in all, it was a good subordinate.
Gu Yi'an glanced at the hanged ghost and was about to say something.
Suddenly, a child's voice rang out from the surroundings, "Grandma, that person's eyes are white!"
At first, the child's voice didn't catch Gu Yi'an's attention.
She was used to the hanged ghost's white eyes and had even grown accustomed to its eerie movements of stretching and retracting its neck.
So, she continued with her train of thought and said, "Don't listen to what he said. We specifically came to find you and bring you back with us."
Gu Yi'an was glossing over the situation.
When Lu Zize heard Gu Yi'an's words, his gaze swept over the hanged ghost with an ambiguous expression, but he didn't refute.
The hanged ghost understood in its heart that the Ghost King's annoyance with it this time was because it was acting as a third wheel. Usually, the Ghost King was actually quite good to it, tolerating its presence by the Ghost Queen's side for so long.
But that didn't stop it from enjoying hearing the Ghost Queen defend it, and besides, the Ghost King wouldn't dare to oppose what the Ghost Queen said.
The hanged ghost couldn't resist basking in reflected glory and secretly glanced at Lu Zize with a smug look.
With the Ghost Queen around, it wasn't afraid of the Ghost King anymore.
But that one glance from the hanged ghost directly met Lu Zize's seemingly amused yet not amused gaze.
In the hanged ghost's memory, when the Ghost King looked at someone with that kind of expression, it usually meant someone was about to face a great calamity.
And now, Lu Zize was looking at it with exactly that gaze.
It was doomed.
The hanged ghost realized this.
Belatedly, it noticed the scene around them.
"Wow, they really are white eyes."
"Record it, record it."
Even clearer than the surrounding commotion was Gu Yi'an's voice.
After speaking to the hanged ghost, Gu Yi'an had immediately noticed the abnormality around them.
She said, "Quick, put on your sunglasses, close your eyes, and get your black eyeballs back in place."
Gu Yi'an's warning actually came quite quickly, but unfortunately, there were quite a few onlookers around.
Originally, the haunted house staff gathering around to scold the hanged ghost had already attracted a crowd of spectators.
The child's voice just now was particularly penetrating, drawing curious glances from one person after another.
The hanged ghost couldn't just put its sunglasses back on anymore, because someone was recording.
In front of everyone, the hanged ghost couldn't transform into its sunny doll form either.
Faced with the growing crowd of onlookers, it had only one choice: run!
The hanged ghost took off running.
Its sudden dash made the clueless spectators think they were chasing a thief or a celebrity. Eager for excitement, they immediately gave chase.
The massive running crowd disappeared from Gu Yi'an's sight.
But by then, she and Lu Zize were also surrounded by curious onlookers.
These people hadn't joined the chase, but they knew Gu Yi'an and the man beside her had arrived together with the white-eyed person earlier.
They asked curiously, "Was that your friend?"
"Were his eyes like that from birth?"
Facing the crowd pressing in, Gu Yi'an remained calm and composed. She immediately covered her ice cream cup with her hand to hide the little girl inside, while rapidly thinking of an excuse.
Fortunately, she wasn't fighting alone.
Gu Yi'an heard Lu Zize's gentle voice beside her.
He denied it: "No."
Lu Zize's straightforward attitude left the questioners at a loss for words.
He had already denied being friends with that person.
They had only approached out of curiosity, plus this couple was particularly good-looking.
Lu Zize's polite but distant demeanor instantly made the surrounding people hesitant to approach them.
They consciously maintained some distance from the pair.
Lu Zize looked at Gu Yi'an and asked, "Shall we leave?"
He was seeking her opinion.
Few could refuse when a handsome man made such a gentle request.
Gu Yi'an nodded.
She felt they should go too.
There was no reason to stay any longer.
The moment she nodded, the hand she was using to shield the ice cream cup was suddenly gently held.
The surrounding chatter seemed to fade away, and the air temperature inexplicably rose several degrees.
Gu Yi'an glanced at Lu Zize, who looked back at her as usual, completely unfazed by his own action.
In her dazed moment, she found herself already being led by Lu Zize out of the encircling crowd.
The little girl in the ice cream cup clung to the spoon, pretending to be just a decoration on it, so no one noticed her.
Gu Yi'an could hear the voices again - people were still discussing why that person had white eyes.
Gu Yi'an paused slightly in her steps.
Letting them continue discussing didn't seem good.
Her hesitation was immediately noticed by Lu Zize.
Lu Zize stopped and offered an excuse to those people: "He might have been wearing white contact lenses."
Contact lenses?
Hearing this, people felt something wasn't quite right, but it also seemed plausible.
If that person wasn't sick, he must have been wearing contacts.
"Probably contacts, right?"
"Can you see clearly with those white contacts? He ran pretty fast though."
"Wait, if it was just contacts, why did he run away?"
Some people were still discussing.
Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize left.
As they moved farther away, Gu Yi'an could no longer clearly hear their discussions.
Her attention had to shift to the hand that was being held.
Lu Zize, who was holding her hand, was in a rather good mood. Sensing her gaze, he looked over, his eyes filled with a faint smile.
Gu Yi'an naturally glanced at him.
The two walked for a while.
Children noisily passed by them.
Perhaps because Lu Zize was in a good mood, Gu Yi'an noticed that his gaze toward the children was gentle and tolerant.
He truly seemed like a warm and kind person.
If Gu Yi'an didn't know Lu Zize's true nature, she would have been completely fooled by this scene.
The movements of the surrounding visitors were largely the same, everyone was heading toward the amusement park's main entrance.
Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize were just part of the ordinary crowd. Even though they stood out in appearance, they didn't attract much attention among the hurriedly departing visitors.
As Gu Yi'an looked at the approaching gate, she suddenly realized something.
Today's day of fun had come to an end.
Overall, it had been quite enjoyable, and she felt happy, Gu Yi'an thought to herself.
Suddenly, she heard Lu Zize's voice.
His tone was gentle as he asked, "What did you think of today's date?"
Who said it was a date?
Gu Yi'an met Lu Zize's knowing gaze.
He leisurely remarked, "You’re already denying it before we’ve even left."
His gaze fell on their intertwined hands.
The implication was clear.
They were in a hand-holding relationship.
Gu Yi'an: "..."
You were the one who reached for my hand!
Just as she was about to say something, an extremely unpleasant voice abruptly echoed through the air.
"Your Highness! Lord Lu!"
Gu Yi'an froze and turned to look.
In the distance, the Hanged Ghost, upon seeing Gu Yi'an, seemed to have found a savior. Overwhelmed with joy, it burst into tears and, along with the dozens of people relentlessly chasing it, swarmed toward Gu Yi'an.
Those dozens of people charged forward with the momentum of a massive crowd, overwhelmingly pressing toward Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize.
If time could be rewound and started over,
Gu Yi'an would definitely choose to have the Hanged Ghost obediently remain in its Sunny Doll form.
She didn't need this little expert at lightening the mood.
She, Lu Zize, and the little girl, two humans and one ghost, could have enjoyed their outing just fine on their own.
If she had another choice, Gu Yi'an would never have agreed to go on this date in the first place.
The desperate hanged ghost led a group of people straight toward Gu Yi'an.
Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize were just about to leave the amusement park but found their path blocked.
Because the hanged ghost was following them, the people chasing it wouldn't let Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize go either. In the end, Lu Zize used his abilities, when they were hidden by a building, he made both of them invisible, allowing the pursuers to only chase the hanged ghost. That was how they managed to leave the amusement park safely.
What should have been a relaxed and enjoyable day was ruined at the very end.
Lu Zize could tell that Gu Yi'an was in a bad mood. Along the way, he kept showing her various scenes of the hanged ghost, now in the form of a sunny doll, suffering, such as pulling off the sunny doll's head.
Although Gu Yi'an's mood hadn't fully recovered, she couldn't bear to see the hanged ghost's head constantly being torn off.
After all, it had only caused trouble at the very end. Before that, it had helped her a lot and had been a capable subordinate.
Gu Yi'an stopped Lu Zize from pulling off the sunny doll's head once again.
Just before Gu Yi'an reached her rented apartment near the school, Lu Zize transformed back into a notebook and slipped into her backpack.
His human form couldn't enter Gu Yi'an's apartment, and it would also invite gossip for her.
Many college students rented apartments off-campus, and Gu Yi'an, being exceptionally beautiful, had always been the center of attention.
Even the shop owners along the street had an impression of this strikingly beautiful yet aloof female student.
"That's her, right there."
A small restaurant owner, watching Gu Yi'an pass by outside, pointed her out to a man and a woman inside the shop.
The man had an honest and simple appearance, while the woman looked harsh, though her eyes were slightly red.
At that moment, they only saw Gu Yi'an's back.
However, they had already confirmed from her face earlier that this girl with a cool demeanor and exquisite, beautiful features was indeed the school-uniform-wearing Gu Yi'an they were looking for.
The man said to the woman, "Xiao Cheng, we've found her. Should we visit her tomorrow?"
He suggested this because it was already getting dark outside.
The girl had just returned from outside and looked exhausted. Going to talk to her about the past now would only make it hard for her to sleep.
"Brother Wei, let's go now," Xiao Cheng insisted stubbornly.
Brother Wei had no choice. The two of them left the restaurant and followed Gu Yi'an.
Gu Yi'an was a perceptive person.
She had been followed many times before, and after so many experiences, she had developed a certain intuition.
Gu Yi'an immediately sensed something was wrong.
Someone was following her.
Realizing this, she didn't stop walking.
Her gaze casually drifted toward the shops along the street.
Gu Yi'an spotted a daily necessities supermarket.
She quickly formed a plan: she would duck into the supermarket to hide and see who was following her.
Without hesitation, Gu Yi'an headed toward the supermarket.
Her actions, as seen by Brother Wei and Xiao Cheng who were tailing her, didn't raise any suspicion in Brother Wei's mind.
Wasn't it just a trip to the supermarket?
Perfectly normal.
But Xiao Cheng said, "She's noticed us. We can't let her go in."
Brother Wei was taken aback.
He had no idea how Xiao Cheng could tell.
Before he could even say a word, Xiao Cheng raised her voice and shouted, "Gu Yi'an!"
At the same time, a dagger that seemed to appear out of nowhere flew from Xiao Cheng's hand.
Brother Wei's eyes caught the glint of the silver blade.
Stunned, he exclaimed, "Have you lost your mind?"
Xiao Cheng was trying to kill someone.
Brother Wei almost instantly regretted the sympathy he had felt for Xiao Cheng during the day.
She was too extreme, she didn’t deserve sympathy.
As Brother Wei spoke, the dagger moved faster than his words.
"Whoosh, " The dagger tore through the air, shooting straight toward the girl ahead.
Hearing her name, the girl instinctively halted.
Xiao Cheng had timed it perfectly, the dagger was aimed directly at the girl’s neck.
Although the girl’s reflexes were quick, she only had time to raise her arm to block.
"Clang!"
To Brother Wei’s astonishment, the dagger Xiao Cheng had thrown collided with something on the girl’s arm, then abruptly dropped and fell to the ground.
Along with the dagger, the round beads from the girl’s bracelet scattered.
Under Brother Wei’s gaze, each bead fell, and the moment they touched the ground, they transformed into plump, white little babies.
The sight was truly horrifying, but what came next was even more chilling.
"Hehehe."
The babies giggled as they crawled randomly across the ground, moving swiftly from the girl’s feet right up to Brother Wei and Xiao Cheng.
None of the passersby around seemed to notice the swarm of crawling infants.
Only Brother Wei and Xiao Cheng could see them.
"Xiao Cheng, what have you gotten us into?"
Seeing the babies on the ground before him, even Brother Wei, as slow as he might be, could tell that Xiao Cheng had provoked someone they absolutely should not have messed with.
One by one, the little babies surrounded Brother Wei and Xiao Cheng.
A chilling aura instantly enveloped the two of them.
Each baby’s tiny face wore an eerie smile.
A childish voice echoed through the air:
"Drop, drop, drop the handkerchief."
Ignoring the strange babies, Xiao Cheng directly took out her pocket watch and said, "If we can’t kill her, we’ll start over."
"Don’t use that too much," Brother Wei advised.
But Xiao Cheng had already turned the hands of the pocket watch.
"I’ll rewind just a little."
Her plan was to turn back time to before she and Brother Wei had attempted to kill Gu Yi’an.
Before Xiao Cheng’s eyes, the world froze.
Scenes flashed by one after another.
Finally, a line of black text appeared before her.
[Shh! God is watching you.]
Xiao Cheng stared at the black text floating in mid-air.
For a moment, she froze.
This was the very beginning of the game round.
She hadn’t rewound to the time point she wanted.
Could it be that she could only go back to the start of the game?
A bone-chilling cold washed over Xiao Cheng. All she wanted now was to find someone to ask, to understand why this was happening.
She wanted to find someone she could rely on.
Xiao Cheng scanned the players.
She spotted a simple, honest-looking male player observing the others around him.
Xiao Cheng couldn’t help but call out joyfully, "Brother Wei."
She spoke the words aloud.
Brother Wei was so kind, he would help her, right?
Her call drew the attention of the other players, including the Brother Wei she had addressed.
Everyone was in a state of mutual unfamiliarity, yet here was someone who seemed to know another.
Brother Wei studied this young female player with a somewhat sharp-featured face.
She looked at him with the excitement of seeing an old friend.
Which game had he encountered her in before?
He didn’t recognize her.
Brother Wei politely asked, "Did you mistake me for someone else?"
He was still the friendly veteran player Xiao Cheng remembered, kind to outsiders.
But he wasn’t the Brother Wei who would kindly advise Xiao Cheng anymore.
Because he had no shared experiences with her.
Xiao Cheng was taken aback.
Staring at Brother Wei, she suddenly recalled the description of her item.
"Time rewinds and restarts, the more you use it, the more despair you feel."
Not only would she be trapped forever in this hopeless parallel world, but she would also lose her friends permanently.
After restarting, she would remember the times she shared with her friends, but they wouldn’t.
She would approach them with her memories, no longer the person she once was, while they remained the same as at the beginning.
They wouldn’t have the same bonding experiences again, nor would they become the friends she remembered.
Her guess about the cost of despair had been right, but it was only a part of the price, far from the true cost.
The real cost was despair itself.
Entangling people in endless despair, with no escape.
Xiao Cheng thought of many things in that instant.
The sorrow in her eyes startled Brother Wei, who was facing her.
"Um, you’ve got the wrong person. I really don’t know you," Brother Wei said, genuinely unnerved by her gaze.
He had no idea who this woman was.
Why was she looking at him like he was some scumbag who had betrayed her?
Brother Wei didn’t see himself that way at all.
A middle-aged male player, witnessing this, couldn’t help but ask, "Did you dump this girl and now you’re denying it? We’re all players here; have a heart. You can stay in touch with an item. Don’t be a scumbag, young man."
Brother Wei found the situation both frustrating and amusing.
He explained, "I really don’t know her. We’re here to play the game. Let’s not focus on this. Are there any new players here? Like, complete beginners who’ve never played The Game of the Gods before?"
He intentionally tried to steer everyone’s attention back to the game.
Brother Wei looked around at the group.
The players, having watched the exchange between Xiao Cheng and Brother Wei, were no longer as tense.
When Brother Wei asked, a male player raised his hand and said, "I’m a new player."
Brother Wei replied, "Tell us the beginner’s hint you received. We veteran players will protect you newcomers."
At his words, the new male player hesitated slightly.
But then Xiao Cheng spoke up, "I know the newbie hint."
Her sudden statement surprised the veteran players present.
Based on Xiao Cheng's earlier action of calling out to Brother Wei, the veteran players had already categorized her as one of their own.
Yet now Xiao Cheng claimed to know the newbie hint.
How did she know the newbie hint?
The veteran players understood this was her secret, so they only looked at her with curiosity.
Xiao Cheng turned to Brother Wei and said, "The newbie hint is two words: wish. You can verify it with this new player."
As soon as she spoke, the new male player's expression changed.
He stared at Xiao Cheng in shock, unable to comprehend why she would directly reveal the newbie hint to the other players.
Seeing the new player's reaction, the veteran players realized Xiao Cheng's words were likely true.
Though they didn't know how she obtained the information, what she said was accurate.
The veteran players eyed Xiao Cheng with suspicion.
Xiao Cheng looked at Brother Wei and said, "I've revealed the newbie hint. So, you need to protect me later."
"Huh?" Brother Wei wondered if he had misheard.
What's with this female player?
Why does she seem so fixated on him?
Brother Wei felt highly alert toward this female player. His hand had already reached for his prop, but he still replied helplessly, "Miss, you've really mistaken me for someone else.""
Xiao Cheng naturally noticed Brother Wei's movement.
She recalled how Brother Wei had kindly advised her before, contrasting it with the wary man before her now.
A chill unknowingly seeped into her heart.
Gu Yi'an looked at the test paper in front of her.
The silver bracelet with pearl-like beads that had been on her wrist was gone.
Without that silver bracelet, Gu Yi'an became aware of her own abnormality.
She clearly remembered this was the fourth time she had seen this test paper.
Moreover, she retained memories of the previous three times, including going to the amusement park with Lu Zize, the hanging ghost, and the little girl, and ultimately being chased away from the park by a group of people.
Of course, she also remembered how her bracelet had disappeared.
Out of nowhere, a man and a woman rushed over to attack her.
The tiny infant on her bracelet, in order to protect her, went to attack the man and the woman.
As the infant attacked the pair, she saw the woman take out a pocket watch.
Immediately after, the world reset to the moment she was still in the examination hall.
Gu Yi’an sat in her seat without moving, watching as her pen, with no one controlling it, automatically wrote the answers on the test paper. Moreover, the handwriting it produced was exactly the same as Gu Yi’an’s.
She glanced at the content the pen was writing and realized that the answers were identical to those she had written during the second reset of the world.
Rather than the pen solving the questions on its own, it was more like it was copying Gu Yi’an’s answers.
Gu Yi’an looked up and, as expected, saw Lu Zize standing at the front entrance of the classroom.
There was not a trace of impatience on his face from waiting for so long. With a gentle expression, he stood at the doorway and gave her a slight smile.
Gu Yi’an knew this was his way of signaling for her to leave.
She hesitated for a moment but still got up from her seat.
This time, no matter what, she absolutely could not go to the amusement park.
Ten minutes later.
Gu Yi’an stood in front of a deserted amusement park, holding a stack of documents.
Beside her was Lu Zize, patiently explaining to her.
"After the amusement park in the city opened, this one lost its customers and was eventually abandoned. I bought it. We can renovate it and turn it into our own amusement park."
Gu Yi’an: "..."
Was it the amusement park she wanted?
What she wanted was to go out and have fun.