Ghosts had a simple and brutal way of thinking—they only cared about results.
In the female ghost’s eyes, Zhou Qi’an, who had nearly killed Xun the Wealthy with an explosion and a fire, was a good boy.
She appeared, hanging upside down from the ceiling, staring at him with a deathly gaze.
Zhou Qi’an suspected that when she and the little ghost had died, one had been stuffed into a mattress while the other had been sealed in the ceiling. That would explain why their appearances were always in fixed locations.
“I saw you stealing the incense ash,” the female ghost said hauntingly.
Her venomous eyes bore down on him, as if trying to see through his every thought. But whatever he was scheming, the outcome had clearly pleased her. “What a shame… the explosion only injured Xun Er. That old bastard didn’t die.”
So Xun Er really was injured?
Xun the Wealthy was the instance’s key character—practically an unkillable protagonist, shielded by immense luck. Blowing him up was almost impossible.
Which was why Zhou Qi’an had targeted Xun Er from the beginning.
Setting the explosion point in the kitchen had been a deliberate choice—Xun Er often went there to handle frozen fish and was obsessed with keeping it clean, making frequent trips to scrub the place down.
“Where’s the key?” Zhou Qi’an got straight to the point.
Xun the Wealthy was undoubtedly vile, but the idea of raising ghost children and the method to do so had all come from the statue. The more she hated Xun the Wealthy, the more she must have despised the statue.
“You won’t be able to do it,” the female ghost whispered. “I will.”
Her hatred for men was instinctive. The killing intent in her eyes flared up again and again. As she drew closer, the scent of blood and decayed organs filled the air. Zhou Qi’an remained seated, unmoving under her terrifying gaze.
The music from the recorder had unknowingly stopped, leaving only the sound of blood dripping.
Drip. Drip.
Two drops even slid into his shirt.
Even though he kept a calm exterior, his hairs were standing on end. At this close range, if she suddenly turned hostile, he’d have no chance to fight back.
Zhou Qi’an had already opened his status panel in advance, ready to swallow the Health Boost Pill at a moment’s notice.
“I swear,” he said, enunciating each word clearly, as if sealing a vow, “I will destroy the statue.”
“The statue…”
The female ghost murmured. For the first time, a flicker of fear appeared in her ghastly, hollow expression.
Zhou Qi’an had planned to reinforce his promise with a few more words, but before he could, the shadow looming over him suddenly vanished.
The ghost had disappeared.
Yet, Zhou Qi’an didn’t feel relieved.
Her killing intent had been too overwhelming—she didn’t seem like the type to let someone off so easily.
I still need to be careful.
His neck felt sore from looking up for so long, so he rubbed it and stretched slightly. As he did, his gaze caught something.
The bloodstains on the floor hadn’t completely vanished.
Few dark red characters had congealed into words—
Crane-head cane.
—
Elsewhere.
The multi-eyed spider had been hiding under the bed the entire time.
Compared to a vengeful ghost, its strength was practically insignificant. The sea snake in its belly only further limited its abilities.
Now, it cautiously poked out a few eyes, confirming that the female ghost had left before finally crawling out.
Meanwhile, Zhou Qi’an was deep in thought.
Xun the Wealthy changed canes daily—he seemed to have three different ones: a dragon-head cane, a crane-head cane, and a tiger-head cane.
Today, he had been using the dragon-head cane.
“You heard her, didn’t you?” Zhou Qi’an asked, glancing at the multi-eyed spider.
The spider curled one of its thin legs around the bedsheet, trying to indicate that while its eyesight was excellent, its hearing wasn’t.
But when Zhou Qi’an’s gaze dropped to its belly, the silent pressure was enough to make it rethink its answer.
It reluctantly nodded.
Zhou Qi’an wasn’t skilled at stealing things, so he immediately delegated the task. “You go get it. Shouldn’t be too hard for you.”
The multi-eyed spider was so furious it nearly wanted to rip him open.
Not too hard? If it’s so easy, why don’t you do it yourself?!
It seemed to know what it was thinking. Zhou Qi’an said, “I have other things to do.”
He showed a smile that was hard to describe: “A life-risking matter. Do you want to steal, or risk your life?”
That smile made the multi-eyed spider shiver.
Before it could think deeply, Zhou Qi’an offered a tempting proposition: “If you successfully steal the cane, I will set you free.”
The multi-eyed spider did not believe in human words.
Zhou Qi’an: “I will use the wedding night story to have my mother take the snake out of your belly. After that, she will find an excuse to kill me, and you can escape.”
“……”
The spider under the eaves had to lower its head. The multi-eyed spider had no other choice. The main task was still to steal the cane, and the risk was not too high for it.
Zhou Qi’an walked alone to the window, gazing silently outside for a moment before wordlessly walking out the door.
The corridor was empty.
Like a thief, he looked around carefully. When he reached the stairs, Zhou Qi’an still looked back uneasily to ensure no one was following him before quietly walking downstairs.
Less than half a minute later, two doors opened in succession.
Chen Jian was the first to catch up.
Han Tiansheng also glanced at his sister and whispered, “Follow him.”
They all knew that Zhou Qi’an had likely discovered some crucial clue and wanted to take it all for himself.
The college student whispered, “It’s wrong to steal someone else’s labor results. Actually, we can talk with him, offering something in exchange.”
He still believed that cooperation was the way to win.
Han Li’s expression was hard to describe.
He was really foolish to such an extent.
“Whether you come or not.”
Actually, she wanted to say, “If you die, die.”
Zhou Qi’an walked very slowly, occasionally glancing back.
Chen Jian and the others followed cautiously. Han Tiansheng used insects to follow him first, preventing exposure.
Seeing Zhou Qi’an being so careful, they became even more certain that there was a big secret.
When Zhou Qi’an disappeared into the cellar, they quickly followed.
…
The temperature in the cellar was as low as usual.
Xun the Wealthy said that Xun Er was in the cellar.
The female ghost said that Xun Er was injured. If they didn’t take his life while he was sick, would they wait until the New Year?
The stairs were covered with thick moss, and every step was slippery. It hadn’t been like this the last time they came here. Zhou Qi’an had to carefully hold onto the wall to avoid falling.
His speed slowed further.
The cellar was very dark. After his vision evolved, such darkness should not affect his field of view. But now, all he could see at the end was pitch black.
Something with dark blue afterimages flashed by.
Zhou Qi’an suddenly stopped.
The hand pressed against the wall was loosely gripping, and after peeking into the abyss for a few seconds, he suddenly ran backward.
“White silk.”
The weapon obeyed its master’s command, and in an instant, the white silk silently adhered to the wall.
The shadow attacked with inhuman speed. Zhou Qi’an gritted his teeth, not allowing the white silk to block the attack but instead making it stick closer to the wall to hide.
“Hurry, faster,” the deadly danger forced Zhou Qi’an to increase his speed to the limit.
The steps were too slippery. No matter how fast he went, he couldn’t outrun the pursuer behind him.
Behind him, the pursuer’s unusually large hand was about to touch his thin back in the blink of an eye.
“What’s going on?” Suddenly, a different voice came from ahead.
It was Chen Jian and the others.
These people still had a fishing-for-profit smile on their faces, but at this moment, their smiles froze, clearly sensing something was wrong.
Zhou Qi’an’s mouth curved into a slight smile. As expected, they came.
As the shadow approached, Han Li smelled a salty, fishy scent unique to seafood and subconsciously thought of the fish in the lake. She was the first to realize something was wrong: “Run!”
The instinct of an experienced player made her act before thinking.
The sudden change was too much, and several people were blocked in a narrow passage. In the panic to escape, an accident happened quickly.
Han Tiansheng didn’t steady his foot and became the first victim of the slippery steps, falling down.
“No!”
Zhou Qi’an seemed to have expected this scene. The moment he heard the unusual noise, he tiptoed against the wall and stopped moving, so he wasn’t knocked further down by the person rolling down.
The large hand originally attacking him, facing the rolling prey, instinctively switched its target to the first victim.
Without the magical abilities or bizarre killing methods of ghosts in horror movies, the shadow monster’s movements were simple, like grabbing a chicken, easily lifting Han Tiansheng from the ground.
Han Tiansheng instinctively used his summoning skill.
The insects underground crawled out of the soil, heading toward the monster’s legs.
However, the attack power of these small creatures was limited. Even though ants could swallow an elephant, they still needed to gather in large numbers.
The monster ignored the slight itch, casually tugged—
Pfft… A chilling sound filled the air.
It was the sound of flesh and blood being torn apart alive.
“Ahhhhhhh!” A scream of unimaginable agony echoed.
Summoning types were always at a disadvantage when facing the source of danger directly. Once they failed to find and use items to counter the monsters, it was basically a death sentence. Han Tiansheng had relied on snakes, rats, insects, and ants for stealthy attacks before, but this was his first time hating his own talent direction in a direct confrontation.
“Brother!” Han Li’s face immediately turned pale, wanting to release electricity. But she worried that the proximity between Han Tiansheng and the monster would prevent her from fully isolating the attack, possibly harming him instead.
A calm voice suddenly entered her ears: Zhou Qi’an, “Let’s work together to save him.”
Han Li could no longer afford to think too much. Although she didn’t know the reason, the other party had indeed not run away. She pulled out her trump card: an innocuous-looking painting.
When the scroll was unfurled, the world in front of them became as bright as day, and a formation of wild geese flew out of the painting, pecking fiercely at the pursuer.
With the light, Zhou Qi’an finally saw the true face of the shadow.
As Chen Jian had described after discovering the tomb and being pursued, it was a creature over two meters tall with blue skin. After narrowing the distance between its eyebrows and eyes, the outline of Xun Er could be faintly seen.
The wound on its left shoulder caused by an explosion further confirmed its identity.
Due to the cellar’s height limitations, Xun Er’s earlier attacks had been somewhat cumbersome. Otherwise, Zhou Qi’an would not have had a chance to run those few steps.
The wild geese attacked swiftly, but with each peck, feathers began to fall, followed by clumps of rotting flesh, and the geese were dismembered in the process.
Han Li knew the painting wouldn’t last long. Gritting her teeth, she took a risk and ran down to drag Han Tiansheng away.
At this moment, Han Tiansheng was left with only one arm. The blood loss made him dizzy and weak, unable to stand up.
“Give me a hand,” Han Li pleaded.
Zhou Qi’an did not move, only saying five words: “You take him first.”
The giant Xun Er, with one eye pecked, reached out and crushed a swallow. Suddenly, he felt something and instinctively turned around. The narrow tunnel delayed him by a second.
In that one second, the hidden white silk wrapped tightly around Xun Er’s wrist.
“My good brother…”
It had always been Xun Er ignoring the age difference and calling Zhou Qi’an ‘brother.’ This time, Zhou Qi’an called him ‘brother’ instead, with some of Han Tiansheng’s flesh and blood still on his face from when his arm was ripped off.
Under the pleasant tone, Zhou Qi’an’s smile appeared innocent.
Xun Er froze for a moment.
Zhou Qi’an seized the opportunity, diving forward and forcefully inserting a “powerful charger” into the creature’s abdomen.
Pffft!
The sound was heavier than when Han Tiansheng’s arm was torn off.
Driven by inertia, the impact caused both Xun Er and Zhou Qi’an to tumble down the stairs. The charger, effective only against ghosts and monsters, buried itself in the flesh and dissolved within. Zhou Qi’an didn’t have time to mourn for his back, which had been injured during the fall, before a muffled explosion occurred inside Xun Er’s body.
A burst of warmth spread across Zhou Qi’an’s front, and flesh and blood splattered all over him.
“Ugh…” A faint sound of pain was drowned in the explosion.
Xun Er’s body was torn into two halves on the spot.
The scalding heat reminded Zhou Qi’an of the sun, and the overly long eyelashes trembled in the blood rain.
This was the second explosion Zhou Qi’an had created today.
He barely managed to support himself with his hand and get up.
“Goodbye then.” Just as he was about to stand up, Zhou Qi’an suddenly leaned close to the upper half of Xun Er’s body, whispering in his ear: “Almost forgot, you prefer the moon. Perhaps ‘good night’ is more appropriate. Good night.”
Once asleep, don’t wake up again.
In a rare moment of tenderness, Zhou Qi’an even helped him close his eyes.
The blood-soaked body was uncomfortable.
If it weren’t for the charger being specifically effective against ghosts and monsters, at such a close distance, Zhou Qi’an would have likely been injured as well.
He stood up, wrung the blood from his clothes, and wearily ascended the stairs. Just as he was about to step over the final stair, his ankle was suddenly grabbed.
The cold sensation made Zhou Qi’an shiver involuntarily, and he instinctively tried to kick.
He turned around and found that Xun Er, at some point, had crawled up. The faint scales on his face were moving gently.
“Not yet…” The organs had been destroyed in the explosion, and Xun Er was still smiling. “…The sun will never rise again…”
His face was nearly pressed against Zhou Qi’an’s pant leg. Zhou Qi’an reflexively kicked, and Xun Er immediately rolled back down like a dead fish.
Zhou Qi’an hesitated for a moment, about to go down to inspect the body, when the system’s notification sound came:
【You have killed the heir Xun Er.】
【One of the important heirs has died. Things of rarity become more valuable. Xun the Wealthy’s friendliness toward all players has increased by 30.】
NPCs’ lives in the instance were worth far more than players’ lives—twice as much as Wang Mu’s, to be exact.
The system’s notification stopped Zhou Qi’an from going down to finish off the body. He stared into the darkness, recalling Xun Er’s last words before his death.
—”The sun will never rise again.”
The few short words lingered in his mind, and Zhou Qi’an suppressed his unease. At least, for now, everything was going according to plan.
The system’s notification continued:
【Good news! Xun the Wealthy’s friendliness toward you has exceeded 60.】
【You have officially become the chosen heir in his eyes.】
【Keep up the good work and strive to acquire the most inheritance!】
The last encouraging words felt strangely malicious to Zhou Qi’an.
In the living room.
Han Li’s face was a mix of joy and sorrow. She was happy about the increased friendliness but sorrowful because Han Tiansheng was on the brink of death.
Though he had taken healing items, Han Tiansheng had his arm torn apart and had been stepped on by Xun Er, causing severe internal injuries. The healing items could only provide slight relief.
Zhou Qi’an emerged from the cellar and politely asked, “Are you okay?”
When Chen Jian saw the blood-covered young man, his expression was complicated.
He vaguely understood something.
The other had once asked him how to kill NPCs, and today was a perfect answer to that question.
Xun Er might have killed an arsonist without breaking the rules, but attacking other players who hadn’t triggered death rules would definitely lead to game penalties and power restrictions.
Moreover, it seemed that Xun Er himself was already injured…
Chen Jian, who didn’t consider himself a good person, felt a chill in his heart as he thought of Zhou Qi’an walking away unscathed, Han Li wasting a high-quality item, and Han Tiansheng’s uncertain fate.
Using players as bait?
Han Li’s mind was still in a haze. Though she hadn’t fully figured things out, she could at least be sure of one thing:
They had been deliberately lured into the cellar!
“You bastard,” Han Li rushed forward, a murderous intent flashing in her eyes.
Zhou Qi’an dodged the sharp nails, wiping his hands with a tissue. Covered in Xun Er’s blood, his tone remained calm, as if nothing had happened: “What are you angry about?”
As he spoke, he slightly tilted his head, his pure curiosity visible behind the thick lenses.
“On the first day, you wanted to put sashimi into my bowl; on the second day, one of you two siblings tampered with the clock in my room. Just now, you even tried to secretly follow me to steal the clues I gathered.”
“Fishing while enforcing the law is only effective if the fish bite.”
A group of people followed him secretly, who else could he blame?
He had been prepared for a fight to the death, but in the end, he didn’t even have to use the [Health Boost Pill].
Zhou Qi’an glanced over. The college student hadn’t come over. It seemed that sometimes, following the rules could save lives.
Han Li’s beautiful eyes were filled with rage. If not for the game’s restrictions, she would have fought to the death right now.
Zhou Qi’an laughed: “You’ve all caused me trouble, from Wang Mu’s death to Xun Er’s, and I even gave you dozens of points in friendliness for free. You should be grateful… and come to think of it, you’re the biggest beneficiary.”
Han Li’s friendliness level must have exceeded 60 by now.
Every word he said was a fact, each one piercing straight into her heart.
The atmosphere was tense, about to erupt at any moment when suddenly, the system emitted a crackling sound.
Zzzz…
The intermittent mechanical sound continued.
Zhou Qi’an stopped his mockery and patiently waited for a while, but there was no notification. The words Xun Er spoke before his death made him feel on edge. He immediately asked the only player present who hadn’t completely turned on him: “Is the game malfunctioning?”
Chen Jian snapped back to reality and shook his head, saying, “It should be sending a message to the staff. If there are multiple messages, the player’s signal might be slightly interfered with.”
Such a situation was rare. Without special circumstances, the game usually wouldn’t contact the staff during an active dungeon.
Outside the door, Mr. Si was quietly standing guard. He had just caught a strong scent of blood, and the three-pronged mouth of his smile curled up in excitement.
“Finally, some interesting things are happening.”
He didn’t know which unlucky soul had died, but the more that died, the better.
Zzzz…
Zzzz…
The system automatically sent out a red message notification, with the red dot flashing repeatedly, indicating there was more than one message.
“Your bus was recorded for not being parked according to regulations on X date, X month, X year.”
“Your bus violated a no-entry sign on X date, X month, X year.”
“You have 100 instances of horn violations yet to be processed.”
Mr. Si’s smiling mouth stiffened.
What bus? His vehicle was just parked at the entrance of the manor.
A new prompt quickly appeared—
“Your bus bravely left this world just now. This action is a serious violation. Please accept processing and pay the fine as soon as possible!”
__
Author’s note:
Zhou Qi’an: Lovely family heirloom… Xun the Wealthy’s family heirloom, my… heirloom!
Mr. Si: Where’s my bus? Where’s my bus?! My bus!!!
Zhou’s mother: Speed 70, mood is~ carefree~
