ICSST CH17: Fervor

Completely unaware that his mother was speeding away at seventy miles per hour, Zhou Qi’an was still preparing for the arrival of tomorrow’s sun.

The room was a mess. Sturdy corkwood and curved branches were scattered across the floor, and a piece of the red bedsheet had been torn off and twisted into a makeshift rope.

After working through most of the night, he had finally gotten the hang of it.

The next day, the sun rose a little later than usual.

When Zhou Qi’an came downstairs, the atmosphere in the living room was heavy.

He glanced around but didn’t see Han Li, so he asked Han Tiansheng, “Did your sister die?”

Han Tiansheng shot him a glare. “You’re the one who’s dead.”

Just then, Han Li came down the stairs. Her face was deathly pale, completely drained of color—it was clear that keeping watch over the candle last night had not gone well.

Since everyone was present, Zhou Qi’an was confused. “If you’re all alive, why does everyone look like they’re at a funeral?”

Chen Jian replied in a deep voice, “Today is the third day.”

In most game instances, the difficulty would spike on the third day, bringing more death conditions. Yesterday, players had been willing to wake up early and complete tasks, but today—aside from Zhou Qi’an, who had overslept from exhaustion—everyone had come down a little later than usual.

This was to avoid running into NPCs and being assigned a task too early.

“Doing tasks too early or too late is dangerous.” Han Li gazed out the window. “Once the sun is up, the danger will shrink somewhat.”

Even if only slightly, sometimes that was enough to save a life.

Her voice grew faster. “After 4 AM last night, the moon in the sky looked off, and today, the sun rose from a slightly different direction.”

She conjured a thermometer out of thin air. “The temperature inside the villa has dropped by two degrees.”

Chen Jian swept his eyes over the inconspicuous corners of the room. “There are more bugs than usual. Yesterday was the first time I saw a cockroach in my room.”

Zhou Qi’an silently noted everything. Say what you will—veteran players certainly had a wealth of experience in these games.

Xun the Wealthy’s coughing echoed from upstairs, and everyone fell silent in unspoken agreement.

“Where’s breakfast? Why isn’t it on the table yet?” Xun the Wealthy’s face had gained a few more wrinkles. He turned to Han Li. “Why aren’t you helping out in the kitchen?”

Aside from the first day, when he had been overjoyed by the return of his wife and children, Xun the Wealthy’s true temper had begun to show.

Han Li hesitated, unsure whether to go help, but at that moment, Xun Er walked out of the kitchen.

As always, he wore his usual meek, diligent expression, playing the role of someone who obediently did household chores and took care of everyone’s meals.

Seeing this, Han Li finally answered Xun the Wealthy’s earlier question. “I saw he was almost done, so I didn’t go.”

Just as she spoke, her expression shifted—just for a moment, unnaturally stiff.

The other players were puzzled, but as soon as they saw what Xun Er was carrying, their faces all changed.

It was fish—only, it wasn’t an ordinary fish.

It was a human-faced frozen fish that looked exactly like Wang Mu.

It had been chopped into pieces and served on a plate, the number of cuts matching the dismembered corpse from yesterday. The internal organs were piled in the center, with foul-smelling blood seeping along the edges of the dish.

The college student clamped a hand over his mouth, unable to hold back. He bolted for the bathroom to retch. When he returned, he made an excuse about catching a cold.

His frail posture made him look like he could collapse at any moment from a gust of wind.

Xun the Wealthy barely spared him a glance before coldly starting to distribute the fish.

Halfway through, the fish’s head suddenly twitched, turning its dead gaze directly at Chen Jian.

Xun the Wealthy immediately dropped the fish head into Chen Jian’s bowl. “Brother-in-law, you used to love this.”

The fish’s black, putrid blood nearly spilled onto Chen Jian’s hands. His face darkened to an extreme degree. “How could this be…”

Zhou Qi’an found it strange as well. Yesterday, Chen Jian had specifically made sure the corpse was buried in different locations.

Unless… someone had dug it up and done something afterward.

Zhou Qi’an instinctively looked at Xun Er, only to find the latter meeting his gaze—his lips slowly curving into a smile.

That confirmed it. Xun Er was definitely involved.

The fish’s eyes were bulging wide, just like Wang Mu’s expression before he died.

Chen Jian hesitated, not moving his chopsticks.

Xun the Wealthy’s expression turned cold. “What, you don’t like fish heads anymore?”

It was as if, the moment Chen Jian said no, Xun the Wealthy would flip the table.

Xun Er suddenly interjected, “You shouldn’t play favorites. You used to say that my brother loved fish heads the most.”

“I did?” Xun the Wealthy struggled to recall.

Xun Er gazed at him. “You don’t remember?”

Xun the Wealthy frowned, deep in thought. “That does sound familiar…”

Zhou Qi’an remained unfazed. “Actually, I like fish head soup now.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Xun the Wealthy erupted in fury. “Soup?! What soup?!”

He nearly threw his chopsticks at Zhou Qi’an’s face. “You must’ve been corrupted by the outside world!”

Zhou Qi’an barely dodged the flying chopsticks. As expected—just like Xun Er, Xun the Wealthy rejected cooked food. The diary had mentioned it before—they despised warmth to the point that Xun Er had even described the sun as too hot.

Xun Er patted Xun the Wealthy’s back to calm him down, his voice light and airy. “Let’s just eat. There might not be enough fish today—the frozen fish is completely gone.”

Since Xun Er was in charge of food in the villa, Xun the Wealthy didn’t doubt him. He simply muttered to himself, “Gone already?”

That wouldn’t do. The freezer had to be packed full of fish.

“All of you, go to the lake. If you don’t catch at least thirty pounds of fish, don’t come back.” He then turned his gaze toward Zhou Qi’an—the one who had just annoyed him. “Especially you. When you get back, learn how to make sashimi from your brother.”

A group task notification popped up for everyone.

Fuming, Xun the Wealthy still hadn’t let Chen Jian off the hook. He seemed determined to watch him eat the fish.

Chen Jian picked up a piece of pale pink fish head meat with his chopsticks—but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to eat it. He accidentally knocked his bowl to the ground and stood up. “I’ll clean it up.”

【Because you did not eat the fish head, Xun the Wealthy has begun to suspect you.】

【Xun the Wealthy’s favorability toward you has decreased by 10.】

Chen Jian froze. Wait—you could gain and lose favorability points?!

What do they take him for—A crop of leeks ready for harvest?

Xun the Wealthy stormed upstairs again in a fit of rage. Xun Er let out a sigh. “Catching fish in this weather won’t be easy.”

At first, no one paid much attention to his words. After all, the lake had never lacked fish before. But as soon as they stepped outside, a chill ran through them. The sunlight brought no warmth at all. Then, something even worse happened.

Chen Jian, the most familiar with the lakebed, dove in for a look. When he resurfaced, he shook his head. “Only a few small fish.”

Forget thirty pounds—even three pounds was uncertain.

Han Li, unwilling to believe it, went to check for herself. When she returned, her expression was grim.

There weren’t even any strange birds in the sky today.

The college student panicked. “If there are no fish, how are we supposed to report back?”

They had assumed it was a group task—many hands make light work, right? Thirty pounds should’ve been achievable. But the reality was much harsher.

Zhou Qi’an spoke up. “The fish are right here.”

The college student looked around. Where?

Zhou Qi’an pointed in a circle. “You, me, him.”

Chen Jian had seen human-faced fish in the lake before. And now, Wang Mu had turned into one.

If a person died and was thrown into the lake, maybe they’d come back as a massive frozen fish.

This seemed like an implicit kill-each-other mission.

The college student’s face turned deathly pale.

Even Chen Jian, usually composed, grew agitated. The morning’s events had already put him in a foul mood. “This is completely unsolvable. If you kill someone, you’ll get caught up in the NPC’s fish-eating cycle. If you don’t, where the hell are we supposed to get enough weight?”

Past players had probably all been wiped out like this.

As the group was discussing possible solutions with heavy expressions, they suddenly realized—

Zhou Qi’an was gone.

Chen Jian’s voice dropped. “Where is he?”

It wasn’t concern for Zhou Qi’an’s safety. In these kinds of instances, someone disappearing out of nowhere was never a good thing.

The college student hesitated. “He went back to the villa.” After a brief pause, he added, “But from the direction he was going… it didn’t look like he was using the front door.”

It looked more like he was planning to climb in through the kitchen at the back.

About fifteen minutes later, Zhou Qi’an returned.

But instead of approaching the lake, he stopped at a visual dead zone a little distance from the villa and waved at them. One hand was tucked behind his back.

Under the shade of the trees, his pale face seemed shrouded in darkness—making the scene look eerily unsettling.

The college student swallowed hard. “Should we go over?”

“It’s daytime, and there are several of us. What’s there to be afraid of?” Han Li gritted her teeth. “Let’s go see what he’s up to.”

She had to find out what kind of trouble he was stirring.

As they approached, their footsteps slowed. When they finally got close, they discovered that Zhou Qi’an wasn’t holding a weapon behind his back—

He was holding a torch.

Clearly, he wasn’t trying to harm them. He was just avoiding Mr. Si’s detection.

Zhou Qi’an said, “I’ve found a great place. You should all come take a look with me.”

Ever since the group task had started, he’d been the only one who seemed completely uninterested—like he didn’t care whether the mission got done at all.

The Han siblings exchanged a glance. Had he discovered a new map?

“You went near the statue, didn’t you?” Han Li’s sharp eyes noticed specks of incense ash on Zhou Qi’an’s sleeves—and not just on his sleeves, but also on his shoulders.

Zhou Qi’an said nothing and turned away. At first, they thought he was heading back to the villa, but instead, he was walking outward.

If they weren’t completely at a loss for what to do about the mission, no one would have wasted time following him.

After a while, when they were almost at the edge of the estate, Han Li finally spoke up. “You’re not seriously thinking of running away, are you?”

Whatever she thought of Zhou Qi’an, he didn’t seem like someone who would entertain such a stupid idea.

Zhou Qi’an shook his head.

“Then just say it already! Stop speaking in riddles.” Han Tiansheng sounded impatient.

They were already running out of time. The mission didn’t have a strict deadline, but if they returned empty-handed, Xun the Wealthy would definitely be displeased.

Chen Jian didn’t speak, but he was also growing irritated.

They had hoped for a new map—something to delay the group task. But their hopes were slowly fading.

At the villa’s entrance, Zhou Qi’an suddenly stopped. The torchlight illuminated his eerily calm face.

“Do you all remember what this place is called?”

The college student instinctively answered, “Liangye Manor (Pleasant Night).”

Zhou Qi’an nodded. “There’s a saying—Do not go gentle into that pleasant night.”

Without any warning, he softly said, “Doesn’t that mean we should just set the whole place on fire?”

“…”

BOOM!

Just as someone was about to speak, a deafening explosion echoed across the sky. Thick black smoke billowed upward, almost forming a mushroom cloud.

The smoke swelled and spread, rolling toward them in an instant.

In the distance—the villa had exploded!

Han Li had been about to stop him from setting fires, but the explosion turned her face white. When she came back to her senses, she blurted out, “Something happened at the villa!”

“No need to worry—it was just an explosion.” Zhou Qi’an’s voice was calm. “There was a whole furnace full of incense ash by the statue. I made use of it for a dust explosion.”

Of course, the final ignition had been handled by the multi-eyed spider.

“…”

Zhou Qi’an patted his chest, putting on an expression of devout reverence. “Truly, the gods bless all living beings. Without incense ash, I would’ve had to resort to plan B—asking you all for help.”

Han Li felt like her brain had just exploded along with the kitchen. Dazed, she asked, “Help with what?”

“Obviously, we’d have to check the lake for any remains and use an item to process them. Ash is ash, after all.”

“…”

Before anyone could react, Zhou Qi’an casually tossed his torch into a pile of dead leaves.

The temperature around them surged.

He looked straight ahead. The ground was covered in dry leaves and branches—ready to ignite at the slightest spark.

Brushing the dust off his hands, he said, “There. Now Xun the Wealthy probably won’t be worrying about catching fish anymore.”

Without a villa, there was nowhere to store fish.

Problem solved. Now everyone could be happy.

—

Author’s Note:

Zhou Qi’an softly recites: “With the sound of firecrackers, another year is gone; the spring breeze brings warmth to the mulled wine.”

Han Li: ……

Ghosts aren’t that easy to blow up—this is just some setup by the protagonist.

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