Whoever wanted to walk could walk—he certainly wouldn’t.
Covered in blood, Zhou Qi’an thought to himself—unless someone carried him, he wasn’t moving.
Mr. Si shot a vicious glare at Zhou Qi’an before walking off a bit further. He pulled out a black device resembling an old-school Little Smart mobile phone.
He spoke in a low voice, but for evolved players, hearing was much sharper than normal.
“Hello? Come pick me up. 0814—this instance.”
“If I could walk, would I be calling you?”
“Damn it, my car got stolen.”
“……Why are you swearing at me? Why do you have so many questions today? I don’t know why, I just feel like swearing.”
Clearly, Mr. Si had no choice but to contact his colleagues with a sour expression.
About half an hour after hanging up, Mr. Si remained silent—until his phone suddenly vibrated. Immediately, like a shepherd herding sheep, he began driving the players forward toward the manor’s exit.
Before they even got there, a loud honking noise erupted from outside.
The person waiting for them seemed to be either impatient or just naturally bad-tempered.
Instinctively, everyone quickened their pace.
—
Outside Liangye Manor next to the signpost—
A large vehicle with two massive horns was parked there. Unlike the Rabbit Bus, this one had a metallic exterior, exuding a cold and ruthless aura.
The driver was a Ox-Head Man.
Despite operating a instance with a “joyful” theme, there was no trace of a smile on his face. He raised a finger and tapped the steering wheel.
Thud.
A single, low note—yet it carried his impatience.
“Hurry up.”
The players didn’t dare to delay and rushed onto the bus.
The Minotaur didn’t spare anyone a glance—until Zhou Qi’an boarded. His eyes narrowed slightly.
Mr. Si sat in the old-fashioned ticket collector’s seat, arms crossed, still cursing the thief. He seemed to finally understand a fraction of what Xun the Wealthy had felt when his treasure was stolen.
The college student, seated near Zhou Qi’an, glanced toward Han Li’s side and asked, “You exchanged contacts. Are you planning to team up for future instances? Can I join?”
Zhou Qi’an: “Am I crazy?”
Han Li would sell anyone to survive. The only redeeming quality about her was that she hadn’t abandoned Han Tiansheng in a crisis—at least she hadn’t reached the point of betraying family.
Teaming up with someone like her? One day, she’d be all smiles, and the next, she’d stab you in the back.
“Then why did you still…”
The student had seen them shake hands earlier—it looked pretty close.
Zhou Qi’an replied coolly, “Not teaming up doesn’t mean we can’t do other things together.”
The student’s face instantly turned red as if he had thought of something.
A sharp knock landed on his head.
Zhou Qi’an withdrew his hand, treating his skull like a walnut. “Keep your thoughts pure.”
The student finally realized he had misunderstood, but besides teaming up or dating, what else could they be doing?
Before he could figure it out, the bus accelerated.
—
As before, they passed through a tunnel on the way back.
The fog inside was dense, filled with eerie, chilling screams.
Zhou Qi’an ignored them completely. His blood loss was gradually improving, and when he confirmed that his wounds were healing, he finally relaxed.
Just as he was stretching his wrist, the bus braked sharply, jerking him forward.
The rear door slowly opened.
Han Li and the others rushed off the bus at the fastest speed possible. The college student scrambled to follow them. Zhou Qi’an didn’t want to stay alone with the Minotaur for too long.
The silent types were far more difficult to deal with than loud ones like Mr. Si.
Without looking back, he jumped off the bus.
—
Once everyone had exited, Mr. Si stretched out his long legs and slouched casually in his seat.
“Well, here’s a shocking piece of news—the sacred artifact was stolen by that last kid who got off. But no worries, I’ve already got a plan to turn him into my puppet…”
He rambled on confidently for a while before kicking the driver’s seat.
“Hey, I’m talking to you!”
The Minotaur finally spoke:
“…He has a strange aura.”
Mr. Si froze. A second later, he sat up straight. “What kind of aura?”
The Ox-Head Man: “I can’t determine it yet. Just be careful.”
Something dangerous was hidden inside that young man.
—
After jumping off the bus, Zhou Qi’an found himself back in the foggy world.
The surroundings were a vast, misty white—like an endless snowfield, as if the clouds themselves had descended.
Despite there being only one path, the further they walked, the more the players began returning to their normal human appearances.
Within his field of vision, Han Tiansheng’s fish head had disappeared.
Only Zhou Qi’an remained—still sporting long, ethereal hair, looking like a beautiful yet otherworldly figure.
Fortunately, the thick fog blurred everyone’s silhouettes, preventing him from standing out too much.
“Strange.”
With every step forward, the distance between him and the others invisibly widened.
“Aa…” The college student opened his mouth as if to say something, but the sound seemed to come from a distant place, making it impossible to hear clearly.
After taking two more steps forward, the Han siblings and Chen Jian completely disappeared. In the blink of an eye, even the college student beside him was gone.
In the vast and desolate world, only Zhou Qi’an was left walking alone.
A silence he had never experienced before stripped away his senses.
Having gone through a instance once before, Zhou Qi’an wasn’t overly nervous. He remained calm and kept walking forward.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when the thick fog finally began to disperse. In the distance, buildings appeared like a mirage, projected into midair.
Zhou Qi’an couldn’t help but pick up his pace. The moment he saw the dilapidated hotel land on solid ground, he sprinted forward.
Cloudy sky. City center.
A drowsy staff member was wiping the advertisement board at the entrance when they suddenly saw a blue-haired young man running from the end of the road, giving them a fright.
There were plenty of young people with dyed hair, but the sheen in that blue color was something no salon could achieve. At first glance, he looked like a character straight out of a video game.
Even more shocking was the blood all over him and his tattered clothes—enough to scare anyone to death.
“What day is it today?” The blue-haired young man appeared before them without them realizing it.
The staff member stammered, “M-Monday.”
There was a time difference, but the flow of time wasn’t drastically different from the game’s.
Zhou Qi’an’s expression suddenly changed. The tranquility of the white fog was nowhere to be found. “Damn it, the boss is going to kill me!”
Something suddenly occurred to him. He frantically searched his pockets, and the phone, which had been empty before, reappeared.
There were over a hundred missed calls.
Zhou Qi’an felt his vision go black.
The staff member trembled as they asked, “D-Do you need me to call the police for you?”
“No need. Just finished filming.” Zhou Qi’an thought about it. In his current state, it was really not a good idea to appear in public. He walked into a small alley, hesitated for a while, and finally dialed his mother’s number.
“Hello, Mom. It’s me.” As soon as the call connected, Zhou Qi’an spoke first, afraid that his mother would say something shocking. “Can you bring me some clothes? I’m in… the alley next to the wedding hotel from that day.”
After speaking, he immediately hung up, leaned his head against the wall, and frowned, thinking about how to deal with his boss.
About ten minutes later, a flash of lights at the alley entrance blinded him.
“That was fast…” Zhou Qi’an’s words trailed off.
A cutesy rabbit-themed bus was parked conspicuously there.
Even though he had suspected it, actually seeing the rabbit bus left him standing frozen in place.
Mother Zhou didn’t say anything about his current sorry state. Instead, she cheerfully introduced, “Look! Mom bought you a new car.”
“!”
If you’re going to steal, at least don’t say you bought it for me—I can’t take this blame.
“My dear son,” Mother Zhou lit a cigarette, exhaling a smoke ring leisurely. “I’ve decided to give it one last shot—go into business.”
A good parent must strive to make their child a second-generation rich kid.
Zhou Qi’an’s eyelid twitched. instance looting at zero cost? And now you’re addicted to stealing?
“A gallant old horse still aspires to go a thousand miles.” Mother Zhou now had ambitions of becoming the first generation of wealth. “Without a solid financial background, who would want to marry into a single-parent family with a drunkard husband and a smoking mother?”
No one, obviously. So they’d have to consider… other species.
As she drove, Mother Zhou silently cursed the multi-eyed spider for being unreliable—no manners and yet such high standards.
Hearing the word “drunkard,” Zhou Qi’an frowned. “I quit drinking a long time ago.”
He looked out the window, his fingers involuntarily tightening. For a moment, he seemed to be back on that conscious yet anesthetized operating table. After that surgery three years ago, Zhou Qi’an suffered from severe psychological trauma. For a time, every time he closed his eyes, he was back under the surgical light. He had lost count of how many times he was cut open in his dreams.
The cold scalpel and the overwhelming stench of blood constantly stimulated his nerves.
In the end, alcohol was the only thing that could numb him.
That was also when Mother Zhou picked up smoking.
Later, because good cigarettes and good liquor were too expensive, mother and son had no choice but to join a support group and force themselves to quit.
Mother Zhou suddenly asked, “Did you get it?”
“Mm.”
The murderous intent lingering in her eyes eased slightly.
Zhou Qi’an lowered his head in silence.
The existence of the sacred artifact could make his mother restrain herself a little, reducing her desire to kill him.
When he had suggested using the multi-eyed spider to obtain the artifact, his mother had probably agreed partly for this reason.
Neither mother nor son mentioned the multi-eyed spider. If the spider had truly been on their side, the sea serpent wouldn’t have ripped open its stomach to escape. The spider would have come out unscathed.
By then, Mother Zhou would have arranged for them to have a grand wedding night.
Unfortunately, those two monsters had surprisingly high moral standards.
As they passed an intersection, Zhou Qi’an felt a little nervous—neither he nor his mother had a license to drive a large bus.
But Mother Zhou remained completely unfazed. She even rested her arm out the window in violation of traffic rules. “They’re not checking too strictly lately. Fewer people are going out.”
At first, Zhou Qi’an didn’t think much of it—until they got home, just in time for the news broadcast.
The news anchor, speaking with a standard yet slightly hurried tone, reported:
“Due to global warming, the world’s largest iceberg continues to accelerate its drift away from Antarctica, leaving polar creatures homeless. Recent aerial footage shows large numbers of penguin corpses floating on ice floes.”
“…Some netizens joke that there’s no need to feel bad for the penguins—because soon, we won’t have a home either.”
“Tianhai City has been shrouded in heavy fog today, turning the magic city into a fog city.”
“Multiple unexplained disappearances have occurred in Kyoto, Tianhai, and several unidentified locations. Local authorities have formed investigative teams.”
This had happened half a month ago. Because of heated online discussions, the news was finally addressing it today, though only in passing.
“Now for today’s international news.”
“Sreji’s missile launch failed for unknown reasons.”
“The U.S. has halted its Mars migration research, citing unknown resistance in the sky. Experts have denounced the claim as baseless.”
At the end of the news, the anchor warmly reminded:
“Several cities have issued heavy fog warnings. Residents are advised to be cautious when traveling and avoid going out unless necessary.”
“That concludes today’s news broadcast…”
“Thank you for watching. With the weather being unpredictable lately, we wish everyone good health and safety.”
Zhou Qi’an was about to take a shower when he heard this and instinctively glanced at the TV.
In all these years, this was the first time he had heard a news broadcast offering well-wishes outside of a traditional holiday. A brief image of the anchor tidying the news script flashed by before the screen switched to commercials.
Zhou Qi’an sighed lightly and headed into the bathroom.
After taking a hot shower, he came out to find that Mother Zhou had disappeared, probably off chatting with Aunt Wang downstairs.
“Lately, things just keep getting more ridiculous…”
Like how, after that bizarre wedding, his phone was flooded with missed calls—but none from his night school teacher, the one person who absolutely despised students skipping class.
Zhou Qi’an quickly shoved that man out of his mind and turned his attention to something else.
The panel in his mind could still be accessed. The items section was grayed out, indicating they were currently unavailable. But what caught his interest more than the newly added shop was the forum.
He scanned a QR code with his phone, logging in automatically. The interface was an old-school design from over a decade ago, with two simple words flashing on the screen: Azure Blue.
At the top of the forum, a red banner announcement stood out:
【First Sacred Artifact Discovered in Yanyang District, Huaxia! Hurry and congratulate the player!】
“Congratulate my $#%&*6$…”
