Chapter 38
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Having the Same Name as the Demon Lord of the Abyss
Ye Zun received a text from the resentful spirit, who said that two would die that day.
However, once the sun rose, the truth was that three people were missing: two men and one woman.
There were many people who knew not to sleep last night. Because he was told that some would die, Ye Zun didn’t sleep well. He got up several times to count heads, and he soon found that there were three fewer people from the group playing games in the living room.
After noticing this, he immediately had other people try to look for them, but to no avail.
“The time of disappearance was probably between five to five-thirty. Because they had been very noisy, the people around them quickly noticed.”
All the people in the villa were woken from their sleep.
Everyone was sleep deprived, but it was impossible not to care if someone had gone missing.
The president’s eyes were red and he rubbed a hand over his face. “Can a few people come with me to the school and see if there’s anything.”
His words made everyone’s hearts jump, with eyebrows raising.
Unsurprisingly, the three corpses were hanging in the peach blossom grove, exactly the same as Jiang Yucheng’s body from the morning before.
Now, no one could deny that this matter had nothing to do with ghosts.
“How did they appear here? The villa is so far from the school.”
“How did you know we would find them here, president?”
The president wearily took out his phone. In the WeChat direct message between one of the deceased and him, there was a corrupted video.
“The video Shen Yuan was sent yesterday, and I also received it today.”
The crowd went silent before exploding in a panic.
“Is there really a death condition?”
“Their phones, find their phones and have a look.”
The three people’s phones were held in the hands of their corpses.
The death messages were still there, but they could only see what was sent. What they received was no longer there.
All three of them had responded.
The first person replied:
…who are you? Why did you kill Jiang Yucheng?
The second person replied:
…is what you said true? I also think he has a problem.
The third person replied:
…can I give you a reply tomorrow?
There seems to be no problem with the three people’s replies, especially the third person, who was smart enough to make an arrangement for tomorrow. If that thing agrees, at least he will not die that day.
But maybe the answer he got was a ‘no, it has to be today’.
Someone finally lost their temper. A boy named Zhao Wusheng who had been relatively silent so far suddenly stood up and barked orders to everyone. “Take out all your phones and repeat your conversations from last night. This has to do with Laozi’s life and death, who dares to hide it, Laozi will kill you first!”
This attitude made people frown.
But no one had time to call him out on it at this time. Everyone took out their phones.
“I, I fell asleep last night, I didn’t get the text,” someone suddenly said.
The one who spoke was a boy, one who didn’t look like a player. At this time, his face was both solemn yet unexpressive.
His phone was immediately snatched by the stronger Zhao Wusheng for inspection.
After looking through it, Zhao Wusheng gritted his teeth. “It can’t be, why are you still alive when you didn’t receive the text?”
“I didn’t get it either.”
“Me too.”
At this time, two more people raised their hands, a man and a woman.
A total of three people did not receive the text, but are still alive and well.
“How can it be, did the death condition change?”
This was very disadvantageous to option-C players. Many people couldn’t maintain their composure and could no longer bother hiding their player identities.
“Did you guys delete the texts? Are you lying to me on purpose?”
No matter how deep in denial he was, things have already turned out the way they did.
The three people who received the text and answered had died, and the three people who did not receive the text thus had no chance to reply were alive and well.
“Stop arguing, let’s get out of here quickly ba. People will come and see the bodies in a while. If we are suspected, we won’t not be able to move freely afterwards.”
The native NPCs did not understand the implications, but the players from the Demon God’s Amusement Park understood very well. Once they are unable to complete the tasks released by the game for any personal reasons, they will be immediately eliminated and sent to their deaths.
The group of people quickly left the school grounds and returned to the villa rented by the president.
Strangely enough, even when it hit 10:30 in the morning, there were still no news reports about three bodies being found at Hushan University.
Finally, the students who stayed on campus to investigate sent messages in the group chat.
【 There’s been no reports, and the three bodies in the forest suddenly disappeared. 】
No one will report if there are no bodies.
Even if people are missing, it will take several days for someone to notice.
“You better give us an explanation today!”
Another quarrel broke out in the villa.
Because one of the deceased was the eccentric boy who came in conflict with the president yesterday, and the other party said that if he died, everyone should be careful about the president’s. Those words were still in everyone’s heads.
“Didn’t you say you found a great master? Where are they?”
“If you hadn’t said that we had to go through another test of courage, they wouldn’t have died.”
“President, what the hell are you hiding?”
The president stood behind the protection of the two staff members from the mob. Aside from his heavy expression, he looked fine.
He said, “The master is already on the way. If you have any questions, you can ask them one by one. I have no reason to hide anything, and nor any reason to harm you.”
Ye Zun sighed softly. Four people have already died, and they have made no progress yet.
If no one stood up and sorted through every single detail, he was afraid things would get worse.
Ye Zun turned to them, raising his voice slightly and said, “Stop arguing. I noticed a little clue here, you guys come and have a look.”
From yesterday until this morning, when they returned to the villa, he and Chen Qianqian had been doing one thing, which was finding a way to verify the information of the seven past victims brought back from Jiang Shao’s roommate.
Ye Zun took a marker pen and wrote the names of the seven victims in order of death on the whiteboard, then he stuck the printed photos of each individual, just like how the police analyse a case, and wrote down keywords.
“The first victim, male, a first year from the 2005 cohort. Incident took place five years ago. The cause of death was from heartbreak, and he drowned himself in the lake.”
“The second victim is single, female, a first year from the 2006 cohort. The time of the incident was four years ago, and her current status is still missing.”
“The third victim, a female, a second year from the 2006 cohort. Time of incident, three years ago. Because of an extramarital affair with her teacher being exposed, she has been missing since then.”
“The fourth victim, male, a second year from the 2007 cohort. Time of incident, two years ago. Because his lover was stolen away by a senior, he murdered his ex-girlfriend and the senior in a frenzy. He was met with resistance when killing the senior, and ended up dying from blood loss. Thus, there was not only one victim from two years ago, but three.”
“Then the ones from this year. Jiang Shao, a first year from the 2009 cohort, and Cao Yunmo, a fourth year from the 2006 cohort, both dead by suicide. According to the information we found, these two probably knew each other. Although the rumours say that Cao Yunmo committed suicide by drowning herself in the lake out of stress from her studies, the truth is that her grades were very good, so this reason is clearly illogical. And Jiang Shao’s death is even more bizarre. According to my research, he witnessed the death of Cao Yunmo, but then he quickly developed a mysterious romantic relationship with someone he had never met before. Not long after, he jumped out of the window of a motorway bus and died.”
Ye Zun paused. “Like us, there were no conversation records with another person on his phone. There was only his own.”
Everyone looked at the blocks of information listed on the whiteboard with wide eyes, not knowing what to say for a while.
While everyone was lost in their thoughts, Ye Zun looked at the president beside him.
“President, I do have a question for you. About the peach blossom forest’s spirit, where did you hear about this ghost story? What was the reason for establishing a new ghost stories club? The reason why it is said to be newly established, is it because the two deceased students, Cao Yunmo and Jiang Shao, were the only two members of the previous Ghost Stories Club? Does the president have any connections with those two?”
Ye Zun’s words were clear and unhurried, and although his voice was calm and did not hold any aggression, it cleared any uncertainty in everyone’s thoughts. They immediately followed his eyes in watching the president, waiting for the president’s answer.
The president looked at Ye Zun calmly. “How do you know so much?”
Without waiting for Ye Zun to reply, everyone indignantly spoke up first. “Who cares about how Shen Yuan knew, we’re the ones questioning you right now!”
“It doesn’t matter.” Ye Zun showed them the identity card carried by the paranormal event investigators. “I am a member of the paranormal agency, my job as an advertisement model is just a fake identity. The reason why I am here is because I received a commission to investigate the peach forest’s ghost story. The evidence I have was provided when the victim, Jiang Shao’s, relatives and friends contacted us.”
Ye Zun’s words left everyone stupefied, and at the same time, had everyone think they’ve found their backbone because of the arrival of a professional.
Only the small population of players were surprised.
Naturally, players knew that there were detective and protagonist roles in the options, but because of the rules of the amusement park, everyone hid their identities from each other by default and kept a low profile. The most guarded ones would be players who chose to be detectives.
It was very simple. Option-C players didn’t need to do anything, as long as they survived, they were in the clear. However, the option-A detectives had to investigate suspicious cases and resolve grievances, all by themselves. Moreover, the final reward would be shared equally with everyone. If someone chose to be a detective, who knows how unstable their heart is.
Generally, by default, those who chose the detective role must be a capable veteran player, and veteran players inevitably have blackened hearts. They would definitely hide behind everyone’s backs, solving their cases while killing the option-C players, to reap the greatest benefits.
According to common sense, detectives were not subjected to the mandatory tasks given by the game like option-C players. They must appear at the scene of death and perform acts that are likely to trigger a death condition, so that they have greater freedom.
They even suspected that the three people who survived without receiving the text were either detectives or the protagonists.
As it turned out, someone would actually take the initiative to declare themself a detective.
The other hidden players who also chose the identity of the detective were also surprised. Only the detectives knew that the detective’s identity in the game was only that of a novice, and the agency had already sent someone to investigate the case.
——So the question is, is this Shen Yuan a detective-assigned player, or the agency’s NPC senior member?
If he was the latter, it was natural to cooperate and hug his thighs*. If he was the former, that meant he is an enemy that they needed to be guarded against and deal with.
[T/N: curry favour with someone more powerful]
Ye Zun looked at the president calmly. “Now, can the president answer my questions truthfully?”
The president smiled, the corners of his lips lifting sharply, and then he nodded. “Since you said so, I will tell you. Oh yes, what did you ask me just now? Can you repeat the question? I’m sorry, it’s just that you have a lot of questions, and I’m a little uneasy, it’s not that I didn’t remember it on purpose.”
——This attitude is really…
Everyone frowned suddenly.
“No problem.” Ye Zun remained calm. “President, where did you hear about the ghost stories surrounding the school’s peach forest?”
“I have always been interested in browsing paranormal events, and occasionally came across this post saying that at ten-thirty in the evening in April, one can meet a beautiful woman in the peach forest on Hushan University’s campus. The person who wrote the post said that he heard it from another senior, but accidentally discovered that the beauty in the peach blossom forest was actually a ghost, and the senior seemed to be in contact with the spirit. Thinking about it now, this post should have been written by Jiang Shao ba.”
“Why did you establish the new Ghost Stories Club? Is the reason related to Cao Yunmo and Jiang Shao?”
The president smiled and shook his head. “I didn’t know about Cao Yunmo and Jiang Shao before all this. I set up the Ghost Stories Club because I found inspiration from the post, and wanted to see if we could catch it.”
Ye Zun levelled a look at him. “Although you say you didn’t know them, when you were recruiting members, you deliberately searched for members who were good-looking, people who met the requirements to be victims. For this reason, you did not hesitate to sign internet influencers from outside the school and establish this project. Is this because there is someone helping you with your plans?”
The president paused. “I have a lot of money. It’s not a big deal to spend a little bit to set up a supernatural live broadcast project ba. Plus, it’s common sense that it’s easier to attract attention by finding some handsome guys and beauties. I never knew about the victims’ characteristics prior to this, it is just by coincidence.”
Ye Zun flatly replied, “I originally wanted to believe you, but now, if you don’t tell the truth, I have no choice but to treat you as an accomplice of the peach blossom spirit.”
The president’s complexion changed slightly as he looked back at him. “What are you saying?”
Ye Zun kept his eyes on the other. “As far as I know, the peach blossom’s resentful spirit will change their identity. It originally followed Cao Yunmo, and after Cao Yunmo died, it found Jiang Shao. After Jiang Shao died, it must find someone else. It is very likely that this person is in the Ghost Stories Club. If you don’t tell the truth, then it is you.”
Without waiting for Ye Zun to say more, a group of boys immediately went up and surrounded the president, all with vigilant and hateful eyes, ready to restrict his movements at any time.
The president showed an expression that conveyed how absurd he found everything to be, incredulously saying, “This is my house, you dare treat me like this?”
Ye Zun sighed lightly. “Four people have already died. If you don’t tell the truth, we can only treat you like this.”
The president nodded, then nodded again, and licked his lips, seemingly angry but also not at the same time. “Fine ba, I will tell you. I originally didn’t plan on picking members based on their looks, I just wanted to find people who were more courageous. But someone told me that the ghost story is not so easy to trigger, that I need to find some people with good looks, like those previous suspected victims.”
As soon as these words came out, everyone gritted their teeth. “Sure enough, you already knew the information of previous victims, you were setting us up on purpose!”
The president frowned. “I never thought that people would really die. I just wanted to solve the mystery behind the story, and even if no one had an accident that night, I would’ve thought this ghost story was just a joke, like every other story.”
Before the others escalated the situation, Ye Zun asked first, “Who was the person who told you this?”
The president was silent for a while. “It’s useless to know, it was just two of the three people who were seriously injured and hospitalised.”
Ye Zun frowned slightly. “Looking at it now, it’s likely that the ‘serious injuries’ of those three members are fake, and the hospital staff may not be the real deal. However, it does not rule out that the peach blossom spirit has changed identities again.”
The other players also reacted quickly. The three seriously injured staff members were likely to be players, and for the other party to know so much on the first day of entering the game, their chosen identities must be either the protagonist or the detective.
Those people must be faking injuries, and were certainly hiding in the dark at this moment.
The two staff members who were slightly injured had lingering fears. “The car accident happened very suddenly. We passed out on the spot and woke up in the hospital. The three people were seriously injured and bandaged beyond recognition, constantly on the brink of death. Here was no way for us to recognise who was who.”
Their statement confirmed that those three with suspicious identities were very likely to have vanished with an escape plan*.
[T/N: literally “a cicada leaving behind its shell”]
The players understood as soon as they heard this, but the students were puzzled.
“Wait up, why are they doing this? Why did they pretend to be hurt and then snuck off to hide? Do they not want to be found by others? What are they trying to do?”
Chen Qianqian had the fastest reaction. “Isn’t it obvious? Those three staff members and the peach blossom ghost are in cahoots, deliberately coaxing the president to find us victims. Their purpose is wanting us to be killed by the spirit one by one!”
“Then what should we do now?”
The president also looked at Ye Zun and raised his hand. “I have no ill intentions, and I didn’t want to cover things up. I only concealed it because I didn’t want you to misunderstand.”
Where is the misunderstanding? He just didn’t want everyone to know that they were the bait he deliberately found.
Players knew that they had to show up here to do these things even without the boss, so they didn’t have any particular feelings about him.
But for the native NPCs, this was simply a disaster. The reason why they fell into such a tragic situation was because of the president.
“Calm down a little. I said that I will be responsible, and the great master I invited will be here soon. You guys don’t want to die, right?” At this point, the president wore a smile that did not look like a smile, and no longer cared about their anger at all.
But it was like what he said, if everyone wanted to live, they must rely on the master he found. Now was not an opportune time to settle accounts with him.
“You bastard, you’d better hope to keep us alive, because if I die, I will bury you with me, and I won’t let you go even if I become a ghost!”
The president raised his eyebrows, not sparing them a single glance, and just faced Ye Zun as he said with a smile, “I don’t want to die either ah. Everyone is in the same boat now, so don’t worry ba, I will do my best.”
That expression of his was truly arrogant and asking for a beating.
Ye Zi, who was standing next to Ye Zun, had been silent all this time. At that moment, those cold and quiet eyes slowly shifted towards the president. The slender and beautiful eyes narrowed slightly. A shadow formed in those clear eyes.
At this time, the doorbell rang.
“The great master and the others must’ve arrived,” the president smiled and said to Ye Zun.
The door was opened and three people walked in.
It was an old gentleman who looked to be in good health, with the air of an immortal, along with a man and a woman who were carrying luggages in a respectful manner. They were both disciples and bodyguards.
This kind of style was very similar to a conman; the old gentleman looked very old at first glance, a reasonably estimated age of around seventy or eighty. However, his skin was rosy and smooth, and his eyes were black and bright. This condition could not be faked.
The president greeted him with a smile, his smile was arrogant and perfunctory, and it didn’t even see the bottom of his eyes.
“Thank you for coming*.”
[T/N: literally “you have arrived”, with the formal ‘you’]
“Young Master Mo, you must have been frightened.”
“I can not thank you enough. Everything is fine so far, but I must ask for your aid in the latter part.”
When the backup came, no matter how indignant everyone was, there was nothing they could do to the president at this moment.
At this time, the option-C players received a new task.
【 Cooperate with the great master to carry out the séance. You must not leave the villa during this period. 】
After the greeting, the master first looked at the villa first and ordered the disciples to strike the air with a red whip repeatedly, as if to expel something.
After they were done, another disciple came out and asked everyone to show the interactions between them and the ghost on their phones to the master, having them recall the original words of the ghost if they could.
This time, everyone cooperated readily.
After reading everyone’s text messages, the master stroked his white beard and said in a deep voice, “If I am not wrong, you have all been targeted by the evil peach blossom spirit. This ghost can not be said to be a single one, but rather a group, different from ordinary resentful spirits. It has collective consciousness.”
“What do you mean? Great master, can you please explain it more clearly?” From the side, Faye, the female internet celebrity, respectfully asked for advice.
The master’s face may be dignified, but his tone was kind. “Let’s put it this way ba, think of these beings as humans. The reason why they choose beautiful people is the same as why people want to find a good-looking partner when they wish to fall in love, hence why they sent messages to you.”
“The young man named Jiang Yucheng died on the first night because he didn’t reply to the text message, which is an understandable reason. If a person finally mustered the courage and took the initiative to speak to the one they were infatuated with, but then their warm feelings were met with cold rebuke, where the other party was very indifferent and didn’t respond, there must be resentment. What makes evil spirits and human beings different is how they act in the end. When people are resentful, they have that little emotion. When evil spirits are resentful, they will kill.”
Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air.
So, the death condition was, how to deal with a ghost’s pursuit without it losing its temper?
“Then what about the three people last night? They also replied to the message, why did they die?”
The master tapped his finger on the table. “It was also the content of the reply that made the evil spirit angry. Look at the first person’s reply.”
…who are you? Why did you kill Jiang Yucheng?
“If you are in a relationship and the first sentence you exchange with the other party mentions another person, is it unreasonable to say that one would also be angry?”
“No, that can’t be ba! What about the second one, what can be a trigger in that sentence?”
…is what you said true? I also think he has a problem.
The master frowned slightly. “The resentment on this person’s phone seems to be different from the other two. Logically, they were not supposed to have died. They should not have been killed by the evil spirit. The cause of death was another reason.”
Ye Zun suddenly remembered the ghost’s text that he received last night, which stated that two would die today.
So, the extra one was not killed by the evil spirit?
“Master, look at the third person.”
…can I give you a reply tomorrow?
“Isn’t it okay to delay things like this?”
The master frowned slightly. “It should be that the evil spirit sent other messages, but she didn’t reply. When you are in a relationship, if you said something and the other party doesn’t reply, you would also feel angry. It’s the same with the evil spirit. It is best that you are the last one to send a message every time you converse with the evil spirit.”
Everyone anxiously noted this down, each with a bitter face, never thinking that the other party would be such a difficult suitor.
Feel like falling in love? As in, the ‘I am not happy, therefore you will die’ type of love?
“Master, the three of us haven’t received any ghost texts. Does it mean that this has nothing to do with us, and that we can leave ba?” The group of three who didn’t receive the text last night and didn’t die immediately asked the master.
The master looked at them and nodded gently. “Following this logic, yes. Among your group, a pair of you are boyfriend and girlfriend, am I right?”
Two people looked at each other and nodded.
“You two have a very good relationship. The evil spirit can not blend into your pair, so it gave up looking for you two. As long as there is no conflict in your relationship during this time, it will be all right. I will give this amulet to you two.”
“It will be all right? So we can leave?”
The master instructed, “Do not mention this to anyone, and do not think about it if you can. The farther you stay away from peach blossoms, the better, so that they won’t be able to sense you.”
The two nodded happily and thanked him, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
“Wait.” Someone pointed to the other boy and said, “He’s single, so why is he safe?”
The master looked at the boy. “He should already have someone in his heart, so the evil spirit is not interested in him.”
The corners of everyone’s mouth twitched. So to say, people whose love is more solid than gold can live happily, whereas the singles who don’t have anyone will die?
“Master, how can we free ourselves of this situation? We aren’t actually expected to fall in love with that evil spirit, right? I don’t have a girlfriend, and I don’t have someone I like, but I also don’t want to be with that kind of…” Thinking that he could die if he said something that the evil spirit disliked, the boy didn’t even dare to speak his thoughts out loud.
The master’s forehead slightly wrinkled in a frown. “For the easiest solution, there are so many men and women here, quickly find a partner who is pleasing to your eyes and fall in love. It will be fine if you have a proper talk.”
“Then if I already have someone I like, what should I do if it gets angry?”
“Because I’m scared, I’ve just been going along with its implications in our texts for the past two days. If I get in a relationship with another person, what should I do if it thinks I betrayed it?”
“I will be here to oversee everything. As long as you are all careful, you will be fine.” The master said, “This method is indeed slow to take effect, so how about this ba, I will arrange a ritual tonight, invite the evil spirits to understand their demands and try to resolve them peacefully.”
The master looked very reliable, and everyone immediately felt saved.
Only the players were apprehensive and suspicious. They also had such masters in their previous instances, but they never actually left a real impact. Can this person really resolve it?
The president stood next to the master, lowering his head and whispering a few times, then looked up at Ye Zun with a smile.
The master nodded and turned his eyes to Ye Zun and Ye Zi standing beside him.
“The six youngsters here, please stay behind for a bit. According to the evil spirit’s preferences, your group is the most susceptible to being found by the spirits. You need to be extra careful.” Ye Zun nodded and proceeded to pass the information in his hand to the master.
“Please have a look through these files. These seven victims may have something to do with the evil spirit.”
The master thanked him and the disciple beside him immediately took it, and while they went through the files, they whispered something to the master.
On the third day of the instance, everything seemed to suddenly become clear.
The atmosphere in the villa was much more relaxed, and some people started chatting and laughing.
Ye Zun went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water when his phone suddenly went off.
He turned on the phone and was surprised to find a message from the ghost.
【 My dear, are you in a good mood? You don’t think that person can separate us, do you? 】
“Is that person a fraud?”
【 En? He is a great master ah. 】
“You are not afraid of him.”
【 I plan to have a good talk with him tonight. This way, I may be able to appear in front of my dearest one soon, so we can walk under the sunlight, hand in hand. 】
These words could send chills down people’s backs.
“Who are you? Are you one of those seven victims?”
【 Call me ‘dear’. Call me that, and I will tell you who I am. 】
“Once a reply is made, it is considered an agreement with you, right?”
【 …… 】
Ye Zun closed the phone. It seemed that he guessed correctly. Responding to the resentful spirit with a commitment was a very dangerous thing to do.
He walked out of the kitchen and made his way to Ye Zi’s side. Placing his hand on the other person’s shoulder, he seriously asked, “You aren’t a player, right?”
Ye Zi looked at him calmly. “What player?”
“If you are not a player, don’t pay attention to those ghost texts anymore. From now on, please give your phone to me, and don’t leave my side. I know how to deal with that kind of thing.”
Ye Zi gazed at Ye Zun with pure and clean eyes, cutting a solitary and frail figure. “Can I like you? Just then, the master said that if you have someone you firmly love in your heart, the evil spirit will lose interest.”
Ye Zun’s Adam’s apple refrained from rolling, but his eyes dodged involuntarily, His beautiful face was still calm, with only the tips of his ears stained crimson. “I will…try my best to respond. However, it is possible that I really can not exchange feelings with you.”
After all, after the instance will end in four days, and he will leave this world.
Ye Zi’s eyes were slightly curved, and his lips usually pursed into a straight line revealed a quiet and lovely smile. The face that was already beautiful and blurred the boundaries of gender and reality became more and more attractive and likeable.
“En, I am so happy oh, to be able to like you.”
Ye Zun: “……”
Heart beating, badum, badum, badum.
Ye Zi’s smile reminded Ye Zun of the crystal-clear white dew falling from the silently swaying common reed under the moonlight, clinging on through the rocking, the beautiful sight that only exists in the night of early autumn*.
[T/N: what???? Does this even make sense?]
“Can we hug, just for a little bit? All my life until now, no one has ever hugged me. I’ve heard it to be very warm and reassuring, with a very safe feeling. I have always wanted to know what it is like. Can we?”
Facing those beautiful eyes, no one can refuse.
Ye Zun opened his arms without any hesitation.
However, Ye Zi moved faster than him. When Ye Zun was in the middle of responding, the other had already stepped forward and wrapped him into his embrace.
Ye Zun paused and stiffened slightly. Because his arm was suppressed and he couldn’t raise it, he could only hug the other’s waist lightly.
“Thank you,” the other softly spoke.
It should have been uncomfortable and embarrassing, but it wasn’t.
Ye Zun, too, has never experienced the feeling of being hugged. So it turns out, such an act can be so reassuring and warm?
“You’re welcome,” he said.
——I also like it. Very much.
“Can we hug a little tighter?” The tender voice whispered softly.
Behind Ye Zun, the lips of the person hugging him rose crazily. Those quiet and melancholy eyes silently bent into the shape of a crescent moon.
That perfect face that blurs the boundaries between reality and gender is also beautiful when he smiles, appearing very well-behaved and docile, fragile and innocent. The more one looks at it, the more one likes it.
However, the president, who took in this scene from not far away, felt that there was an indescribable sense of infiltration and disobedience in that smile.
He viewed it accidentally, and suddenly there was a chill that came from the bottom of his heart.
It wasn’t only now. The president recalled that the first time he saw this man named Ye Zi by the lake, he felt a chilling discomfort.
No matter how slender and beautiful he looked, there was a constant feeling akin to being stared at by a snake.
Ye Zi’s eyes opened a little and looked at the president who was standing not far away. Those beautiful eyes full of joy and contentment smiled, but there was a cool shadow in the depths of those eyes, reminding people of their own death reflected in a bottomless abyss.
Crack!
The cup in the president’s hand fell to the ground, shattering.
Ye Zun heard the sound behind him and immediately stopped hugging and comforting Ye Zi, looking behind him while protecting the other person.
The expression on the president’s face changed slightly, as if he was about to laugh, as if in anger, as if in shock, as if in fear, a myriad of confused emotions that morphed into an uncomfortable tension for other people.
Ye Zun frowned slightly and flatly pointed out, “Your hand is bleeding.”
The president’s fingers were cut from crushing the cup into pieces. He paid no mind, just absent-mindedly responding with a single “oh”, then turned around and left.
Ye Zi’s eyes were filled with quiet melancholy, and he frowned and looked at Ye Zun uneasily. “That person’s eyes are really scary ah. He’s smiling, like he is going to kill me. Did I do something wrong?”
Ye Zun touched his hair, saying gently and earnestly, “It has nothing to do with you. Ye Zi is very good. This person is very dangerous, remember to stay far away from wherever that person is. I will do my best to protect you.”
Ye Zi’s eyes were clear and fragile. Although he had an obvious cold and distant appearance, when he looked at Ye Zun, his eyes had a wet shine to them, and he nodded to Ye Zun with infinite trust. “En.”
Such a look provoked the tender love and protective urges of other people.
Ye Zun touched his hair again.
But when Ye Zun turned his head, the boy raised his head, revealing the raised corners of his lips, brilliantly smiling with silent happiness. The sharp eyes looking towards the direction where the president left had a far more arrogant and overbearing demeanour than what the president wore previously.
If Ye Zun looked back at this moment, he would find that the way the boy smiled was almost the same as the existence of who he was stealing his current name from, the being who subjected him to a horrifying experience.
……
The president found a bandage in the medical box and carelessly disinfected his fingers to stop the bleeding.
Restlessly thinking about the smile on Ye Zi’s face just now, no matter how he thought about it, it doesn’t seem like one belonging to a normal person.
After deliberating over it, he got up to have a few words with the person named Shen Yuan.
Just after taking two steps, suddenly his entire body retreated backwards, and inside the wide-open eyelids, the pair of eyeballs moved quickly and unconsciously in their sockets.
In front of the president, a person walked in slowly.
Wearing a clean white shirt, with beautiful long black and straight hair, and a slender figure, it was a boy whose beauty passed the boundaries of gender.
On the other’s white and pretty face, there was no fragile and innocent expression at the moment, just boredom. He slightly raised his chin arrogantly, his rosy lips curled up in a warm smile, but his inexplicably sharp and chilling eyes stared at him quietly.
“What’s the matter, going to snitch?”
The president was obviously taller and stronger than the other party, but the moment he saw the boy, there was a surging fear with an origin he couldn’t place, making him take a step back involuntarily.
Cold sweat oozed out, and he couldn’t help swallowing his saliva.
He quickly calmed down and looked at the person in front of him with a frown. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not interested in telling others whatever is going on between you two.”
That person had a bright and beautiful smile on his face, but there was a deathly aura of dark sickness in those quiet and brilliant eyes.
The clear voice had no ups or downs. Just listening to it, it even had a pitiful trill, as if being coerced. But, the words spoken were, “Do you still want your eyes? You should be careful ah, always looking at another person’s baby* with those eyes, always smiling at another person’s lover like that, others will be unhappy.”
[T/N: baobei 0.0 ]
The president faced him with a dead stare, as if he couldn’t believe what he heard.
——Ha, what kind of expression is that? Is this guy crazy? Looking at people with what eyes?
Ye Zi’s eyes were curved, like the purest and innocent healing smile seen in manhua. “You have to work hard* oh.”
[T/N: ‘jiayou’]
“En?” The president couldn’t keep up with his thoughts at all. He just stared at him warily like he was a psycho who will suddenly start killing people.
“I like this instance very much. You have to play your part in this story well, until the last day, until the end oh. Male protagonist.”
The president’s eyes widened and he looked at him in disbelief.
——How did this psychopath know my protagonist identity? I clearly have no flaws.
But Ye Zi ignored him, only waving at him innocently and politely before turning away with a heart full of satisfaction.
Just after walking away a few steps, before the president could breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly remembered something and paused, then turned around again.
The cold and quiet face, like a beautiful mask that has washed away all expressions, looked at him innocently, as if there was worry in his heart.
“Male protagonist, can you play to the end?”
The president: “……?”
Ye Zi looked at him gently and encouragingly, and said with a harmless voice, “If you don’t play to the last day, I will kill you.”
The president stood in place. His expression changed again and again, seeing something more thrilling than a ghost.
——What kind of psycho is this guy? He saw through my identity, is he also a player?
——How absurd, is he threatening me? Is he threatening me or mocking me?
What’s even more funny is that the other party clearly looked so thin, with a figure more slender and fragile than the weakest girl here, and can be rendered half-dead with a single punch, but when he looked at the other boy, he felt an uncontrollable, terrified trembling from the bottom of his heart.
——I’m actually afraid of him? Why should I be afraid of him? Because he’s a psychopath?
The feeling of anger and humiliation was like being slapped several times in public.
……
Ye Zun only said a few words to Chen Qianqian, but when he looked up, he couldn’t find a shadow of Ye Zi. He instantly frowned in worry.
Chen Qianqian’s expression changed slightly. “In any case, he’s still a boy. It’s like you are raising a son.”
Ye Zun didn’t take in the other’s joke. “I don’t know why, I always feel that as long as he isn’t in my sight, something might have happened to him.”
Chen Qianqian nodded. “He’s too good-looking. I thought you were the most in danger here, but when I saw him, I felt… If you’re worried, you should go find him first.” Chen Qianqian also felt that if the ghost really acted as the master said it would, if it wanted to find someone to fall in love with, the first one to be targeted would definitely be Ye Zi.
What was strange was how the other party had lived for so long without incident.
There were some things that were hard to say in front of Shen Yuan. Ye Zi’s attributes were not just a question of whether he is good-looking or not, but rather the impression of his eight character’s being very light*. There was a short-lived ‘there is today, but there is no tomorrow’ feeling that he gave off, just like that of someone who has a terminal illness and doesn’t have long to live.
[T/N: basically, his horoscopes are bad]
As soon as Chen Qianqian raised her eyes, she saw Ye Zi, who could not be found just a moment ago, standing in front of her.
She forced herself to smile. “He just went to look for you. Honestly, if he can’t see you, he can’t function normally. If people didn’t know better, they’d think you are his girlfriend.”
Ye Zi smiled quietly and meekly with his eyes curved, in a seemingly very good mood. “Is that true?”
Chen Qianqian looked at him, and her eyes moved slightly. “I say, you have to live well ah, if you are taken away by the ghost, his heart will undoubtedly break.”
Ye Zi’s smile disappeared instantly, and his eyes widened in astonishment, at a loss with a slight emptiness in their depths.
Like he has never thought about this.
It was somewhat pitiful.
Chen Qianqian looked at him with pity and didn’t say anything more. She left him alone in silence and walked away first.
Ye Zi stood there. The stunned face slowly evoked a smile that was too excited to be restrained by himself.
How could he have not thought of playing like this?
If he is killed by the ghost, his dearest one will no longer suppress himself, and maybe he will even hug him while crying, and say I love you!
When the time comes, if he asks him to kiss, he probably won’t refuse ba.
Chen Qianqian is truly talented ah.
“What’s–your–name, when you kill people, put this woman in the back of the line ba. I might still have use for it.”
The author has something to say:
Uh, rather (mentally) sick~
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Having the Same Name as the Demon Lord of the Abyss
Ye Zun received a text from the resentful spirit, who said that two would die that day.
However, once the sun rose, the truth was that three people were missing: two men and one woman.
There were many people who knew not to sleep last night. Because he was told that some would die, Ye Zun didn’t sleep well. He got up several times to count heads, and he soon found that there were three fewer people from the group playing games in the living room.
After noticing this, he immediately had other people try to look for them, but to no avail.
“The time of disappearance was probably between five to five-thirty. Because they had been very noisy, the people around them quickly noticed.”
All the people in the villa were woken from their sleep.
Everyone was sleep deprived, but it was impossible not to care if someone had gone missing.
The president’s eyes were red and he rubbed a hand over his face. “Can a few people come with me to the school and see if there’s anything.”
His words made everyone’s hearts jump, with eyebrows raising.
Unsurprisingly, the three corpses were hanging in the peach blossom grove, exactly the same as Jiang Yucheng’s body from the morning before.
Now, no one could deny that this matter had nothing to do with ghosts.
“How did they appear here? The villa is so far from the school.”
“How did you know we would find them here, president?”
The president wearily took out his phone. In the WeChat direct message between one of the deceased and him, there was a corrupted video.
“The video Shen Yuan was sent yesterday, and I also received it today.”
The crowd went silent before exploding in a panic.
“Is there really a death condition?”
“Their phones, find their phones and have a look.”
The three people’s phones were held in the hands of their corpses.
The death messages were still there, but they could only see what was sent. What they received was no longer there.
All three of them had responded.
The first person replied:
…who are you? Why did you kill Jiang Yucheng?
The second person replied:
…is what you said true? I also think he has a problem.
The third person replied:
…can I give you a reply tomorrow?
There seems to be no problem with the three people’s replies, especially the third person, who was smart enough to make an arrangement for tomorrow. If that thing agrees, at least he will not die that day.
But maybe the answer he got was a ‘no, it has to be today’.
Someone finally lost their temper. A boy named Zhao Wusheng who had been relatively silent so far suddenly stood up and barked orders to everyone. “Take out all your phones and repeat your conversations from last night. This has to do with Laozi’s life and death, who dares to hide it, Laozi will kill you first!”
This attitude made people frown.
But no one had time to call him out on it at this time. Everyone took out their phones.
“I, I fell asleep last night, I didn’t get the text,” someone suddenly said.
The one who spoke was a boy, one who didn’t look like a player. At this time, his face was both solemn yet unexpressive.
His phone was immediately snatched by the stronger Zhao Wusheng for inspection.
After looking through it, Zhao Wusheng gritted his teeth. “It can’t be, why are you still alive when you didn’t receive the text?”
“I didn’t get it either.”
“Me too.”
At this time, two more people raised their hands, a man and a woman.
A total of three people did not receive the text, but are still alive and well.
“How can it be, did the death condition change?”
This was very disadvantageous to option-C players. Many people couldn’t maintain their composure and could no longer bother hiding their player identities.
“Did you guys delete the texts? Are you lying to me on purpose?”
No matter how deep in denial he was, things have already turned out the way they did.
The three people who received the text and answered had died, and the three people who did not receive the text thus had no chance to reply were alive and well.
“Stop arguing, let’s get out of here quickly ba. People will come and see the bodies in a while. If we are suspected, we won’t not be able to move freely afterwards.”
The native NPCs did not understand the implications, but the players from the Demon God’s Amusement Park understood very well. Once they are unable to complete the tasks released by the game for any personal reasons, they will be immediately eliminated and sent to their deaths.
The group of people quickly left the school grounds and returned to the villa rented by the president.
Strangely enough, even when it hit 10:30 in the morning, there were still no news reports about three bodies being found at Hushan University.
Finally, the students who stayed on campus to investigate sent messages in the group chat.
【 There’s been no reports, and the three bodies in the forest suddenly disappeared. 】
No one will report if there are no bodies.
Even if people are missing, it will take several days for someone to notice.
“You better give us an explanation today!”
Another quarrel broke out in the villa.
Because one of the deceased was the eccentric boy who came in conflict with the president yesterday, and the other party said that if he died, everyone should be careful about the president’s. Those words were still in everyone’s heads.
“Didn’t you say you found a great master? Where are they?”
“If you hadn’t said that we had to go through another test of courage, they wouldn’t have died.”
“President, what the hell are you hiding?”
The president stood behind the protection of the two staff members from the mob. Aside from his heavy expression, he looked fine.
He said, “The master is already on the way. If you have any questions, you can ask them one by one. I have no reason to hide anything, and nor any reason to harm you.”
Ye Zun sighed softly. Four people have already died, and they have made no progress yet.
If no one stood up and sorted through every single detail, he was afraid things would get worse.
Ye Zun turned to them, raising his voice slightly and said, “Stop arguing. I noticed a little clue here, you guys come and have a look.”
From yesterday until this morning, when they returned to the villa, he and Chen Qianqian had been doing one thing, which was finding a way to verify the information of the seven past victims brought back from Jiang Shao’s roommate.
Ye Zun took a marker pen and wrote the names of the seven victims in order of death on the whiteboard, then he stuck the printed photos of each individual, just like how the police analyse a case, and wrote down keywords.
“The first victim, male, a first year from the 2005 cohort. Incident took place five years ago. The cause of death was from heartbreak, and he drowned himself in the lake.”
“The second victim is single, female, a first year from the 2006 cohort. The time of the incident was four years ago, and her current status is still missing.”
“The third victim, a female, a second year from the 2006 cohort. Time of incident, three years ago. Because of an extramarital affair with her teacher being exposed, she has been missing since then.”
“The fourth victim, male, a second year from the 2007 cohort. Time of incident, two years ago. Because his lover was stolen away by a senior, he murdered his ex-girlfriend and the senior in a frenzy. He was met with resistance when killing the senior, and ended up dying from blood loss. Thus, there was not only one victim from two years ago, but three.”
“Then the ones from this year. Jiang Shao, a first year from the 2009 cohort, and Cao Yunmo, a fourth year from the 2006 cohort, both dead by suicide. According to the information we found, these two probably knew each other. Although the rumours say that Cao Yunmo committed suicide by drowning herself in the lake out of stress from her studies, the truth is that her grades were very good, so this reason is clearly illogical. And Jiang Shao’s death is even more bizarre. According to my research, he witnessed the death of Cao Yunmo, but then he quickly developed a mysterious romantic relationship with someone he had never met before. Not long after, he jumped out of the window of a motorway bus and died.”
Ye Zun paused. “Like us, there were no conversation records with another person on his phone. There was only his own.”
Everyone looked at the blocks of information listed on the whiteboard with wide eyes, not knowing what to say for a while.
While everyone was lost in their thoughts, Ye Zun looked at the president beside him.
“President, I do have a question for you. About the peach blossom forest’s spirit, where did you hear about this ghost story? What was the reason for establishing a new ghost stories club? The reason why it is said to be newly established, is it because the two deceased students, Cao Yunmo and Jiang Shao, were the only two members of the previous Ghost Stories Club? Does the president have any connections with those two?”
Ye Zun’s words were clear and unhurried, and although his voice was calm and did not hold any aggression, it cleared any uncertainty in everyone’s thoughts. They immediately followed his eyes in watching the president, waiting for the president’s answer.
The president looked at Ye Zun calmly. “How do you know so much?”
Without waiting for Ye Zun to reply, everyone indignantly spoke up first. “Who cares about how Shen Yuan knew, we’re the ones questioning you right now!”
“It doesn’t matter.” Ye Zun showed them the identity card carried by the paranormal event investigators. “I am a member of the paranormal agency, my job as an advertisement model is just a fake identity. The reason why I am here is because I received a commission to investigate the peach forest’s ghost story. The evidence I have was provided when the victim, Jiang Shao’s, relatives and friends contacted us.”
Ye Zun’s words left everyone stupefied, and at the same time, had everyone think they’ve found their backbone because of the arrival of a professional.
Only the small population of players were surprised.
Naturally, players knew that there were detective and protagonist roles in the options, but because of the rules of the amusement park, everyone hid their identities from each other by default and kept a low profile. The most guarded ones would be players who chose to be detectives.
It was very simple. Option-C players didn’t need to do anything, as long as they survived, they were in the clear. However, the option-A detectives had to investigate suspicious cases and resolve grievances, all by themselves. Moreover, the final reward would be shared equally with everyone. If someone chose to be a detective, who knows how unstable their heart is.
Generally, by default, those who chose the detective role must be a capable veteran player, and veteran players inevitably have blackened hearts. They would definitely hide behind everyone’s backs, solving their cases while killing the option-C players, to reap the greatest benefits.
According to common sense, detectives were not subjected to the mandatory tasks given by the game like option-C players. They must appear at the scene of death and perform acts that are likely to trigger a death condition, so that they have greater freedom.
They even suspected that the three people who survived without receiving the text were either detectives or the protagonists.
As it turned out, someone would actually take the initiative to declare themself a detective.
The other hidden players who also chose the identity of the detective were also surprised. Only the detectives knew that the detective’s identity in the game was only that of a novice, and the agency had already sent someone to investigate the case.
——So the question is, is this Shen Yuan a detective-assigned player, or the agency’s NPC senior member?
If he was the latter, it was natural to cooperate and hug his thighs*. If he was the former, that meant he is an enemy that they needed to be guarded against and deal with.
[T/N: curry favour with someone more powerful]
Ye Zun looked at the president calmly. “Now, can the president answer my questions truthfully?”
The president smiled, the corners of his lips lifting sharply, and then he nodded. “Since you said so, I will tell you. Oh yes, what did you ask me just now? Can you repeat the question? I’m sorry, it’s just that you have a lot of questions, and I’m a little uneasy, it’s not that I didn’t remember it on purpose.”
——This attitude is really…
Everyone frowned suddenly.
“No problem.” Ye Zun remained calm. “President, where did you hear about the ghost stories surrounding the school’s peach forest?”
“I have always been interested in browsing paranormal events, and occasionally came across this post saying that at ten-thirty in the evening in April, one can meet a beautiful woman in the peach forest on Hushan University’s campus. The person who wrote the post said that he heard it from another senior, but accidentally discovered that the beauty in the peach blossom forest was actually a ghost, and the senior seemed to be in contact with the spirit. Thinking about it now, this post should have been written by Jiang Shao ba.”
“Why did you establish the new Ghost Stories Club? Is the reason related to Cao Yunmo and Jiang Shao?”
The president smiled and shook his head. “I didn’t know about Cao Yunmo and Jiang Shao before all this. I set up the Ghost Stories Club because I found inspiration from the post, and wanted to see if we could catch it.”
Ye Zun levelled a look at him. “Although you say you didn’t know them, when you were recruiting members, you deliberately searched for members who were good-looking, people who met the requirements to be victims. For this reason, you did not hesitate to sign internet influencers from outside the school and establish this project. Is this because there is someone helping you with your plans?”
The president paused. “I have a lot of money. It’s not a big deal to spend a little bit to set up a supernatural live broadcast project ba. Plus, it’s common sense that it’s easier to attract attention by finding some handsome guys and beauties. I never knew about the victims’ characteristics prior to this, it is just by coincidence.”
Ye Zun flatly replied, “I originally wanted to believe you, but now, if you don’t tell the truth, I have no choice but to treat you as an accomplice of the peach blossom spirit.”
The president’s complexion changed slightly as he looked back at him. “What are you saying?”
Ye Zun kept his eyes on the other. “As far as I know, the peach blossom’s resentful spirit will change their identity. It originally followed Cao Yunmo, and after Cao Yunmo died, it found Jiang Shao. After Jiang Shao died, it must find someone else. It is very likely that this person is in the Ghost Stories Club. If you don’t tell the truth, then it is you.”
Without waiting for Ye Zun to say more, a group of boys immediately went up and surrounded the president, all with vigilant and hateful eyes, ready to restrict his movements at any time.
The president showed an expression that conveyed how absurd he found everything to be, incredulously saying, “This is my house, you dare treat me like this?”
Ye Zun sighed lightly. “Four people have already died. If you don’t tell the truth, we can only treat you like this.”
The president nodded, then nodded again, and licked his lips, seemingly angry but also not at the same time. “Fine ba, I will tell you. I originally didn’t plan on picking members based on their looks, I just wanted to find people who were more courageous. But someone told me that the ghost story is not so easy to trigger, that I need to find some people with good looks, like those previous suspected victims.”
As soon as these words came out, everyone gritted their teeth. “Sure enough, you already knew the information of previous victims, you were setting us up on purpose!”
The president frowned. “I never thought that people would really die. I just wanted to solve the mystery behind the story, and even if no one had an accident that night, I would’ve thought this ghost story was just a joke, like every other story.”
Before the others escalated the situation, Ye Zun asked first, “Who was the person who told you this?”
The president was silent for a while. “It’s useless to know, it was just two of the three people who were seriously injured and hospitalised.”
Ye Zun frowned slightly. “Looking at it now, it’s likely that the ‘serious injuries’ of those three members are fake, and the hospital staff may not be the real deal. However, it does not rule out that the peach blossom spirit has changed identities again.”
The other players also reacted quickly. The three seriously injured staff members were likely to be players, and for the other party to know so much on the first day of entering the game, their chosen identities must be either the protagonist or the detective.
Those people must be faking injuries, and were certainly hiding in the dark at this moment.
The two staff members who were slightly injured had lingering fears. “The car accident happened very suddenly. We passed out on the spot and woke up in the hospital. The three people were seriously injured and bandaged beyond recognition, constantly on the brink of death. Here was no way for us to recognise who was who.”
Their statement confirmed that those three with suspicious identities were very likely to have vanished with an escape plan*.
[T/N: literally “a cicada leaving behind its shell”]
The players understood as soon as they heard this, but the students were puzzled.
“Wait up, why are they doing this? Why did they pretend to be hurt and then snuck off to hide? Do they not want to be found by others? What are they trying to do?”
Chen Qianqian had the fastest reaction. “Isn’t it obvious? Those three staff members and the peach blossom ghost are in cahoots, deliberately coaxing the president to find us victims. Their purpose is wanting us to be killed by the spirit one by one!”
“Then what should we do now?”
The president also looked at Ye Zun and raised his hand. “I have no ill intentions, and I didn’t want to cover things up. I only concealed it because I didn’t want you to misunderstand.”
Where is the misunderstanding? He just didn’t want everyone to know that they were the bait he deliberately found.
Players knew that they had to show up here to do these things even without the boss, so they didn’t have any particular feelings about him.
But for the native NPCs, this was simply a disaster. The reason why they fell into such a tragic situation was because of the president.
“Calm down a little. I said that I will be responsible, and the great master I invited will be here soon. You guys don’t want to die, right?” At this point, the president wore a smile that did not look like a smile, and no longer cared about their anger at all.
But it was like what he said, if everyone wanted to live, they must rely on the master he found. Now was not an opportune time to settle accounts with him.
“You bastard, you’d better hope to keep us alive, because if I die, I will bury you with me, and I won’t let you go even if I become a ghost!”
The president raised his eyebrows, not sparing them a single glance, and just faced Ye Zun as he said with a smile, “I don’t want to die either ah. Everyone is in the same boat now, so don’t worry ba, I will do my best.”
That expression of his was truly arrogant and asking for a beating.
Ye Zi, who was standing next to Ye Zun, had been silent all this time. At that moment, those cold and quiet eyes slowly shifted towards the president. The slender and beautiful eyes narrowed slightly. A shadow formed in those clear eyes.
At this time, the doorbell rang.
“The great master and the others must’ve arrived,” the president smiled and said to Ye Zun.
The door was opened and three people walked in.
It was an old gentleman who looked to be in good health, with the air of an immortal, along with a man and a woman who were carrying luggages in a respectful manner. They were both disciples and bodyguards.
This kind of style was very similar to a conman; the old gentleman looked very old at first glance, a reasonably estimated age of around seventy or eighty. However, his skin was rosy and smooth, and his eyes were black and bright. This condition could not be faked.
The president greeted him with a smile, his smile was arrogant and perfunctory, and it didn’t even see the bottom of his eyes.
“Thank you for coming*.”
[T/N: literally “you have arrived”, with the formal ‘you’]
“Young Master Mo, you must have been frightened.”
“I can not thank you enough. Everything is fine so far, but I must ask for your aid in the latter part.”
When the backup came, no matter how indignant everyone was, there was nothing they could do to the president at this moment.
At this time, the option-C players received a new task.
【 Cooperate with the great master to carry out the séance. You must not leave the villa during this period. 】
After the greeting, the master first looked at the villa first and ordered the disciples to strike the air with a red whip repeatedly, as if to expel something.
After they were done, another disciple came out and asked everyone to show the interactions between them and the ghost on their phones to the master, having them recall the original words of the ghost if they could.
This time, everyone cooperated readily.
After reading everyone’s text messages, the master stroked his white beard and said in a deep voice, “If I am not wrong, you have all been targeted by the evil peach blossom spirit. This ghost can not be said to be a single one, but rather a group, different from ordinary resentful spirits. It has collective consciousness.”
“What do you mean? Great master, can you please explain it more clearly?” From the side, Faye, the female internet celebrity, respectfully asked for advice.
The master’s face may be dignified, but his tone was kind. “Let’s put it this way ba, think of these beings as humans. The reason why they choose beautiful people is the same as why people want to find a good-looking partner when they wish to fall in love, hence why they sent messages to you.”
“The young man named Jiang Yucheng died on the first night because he didn’t reply to the text message, which is an understandable reason. If a person finally mustered the courage and took the initiative to speak to the one they were infatuated with, but then their warm feelings were met with cold rebuke, where the other party was very indifferent and didn’t respond, there must be resentment. What makes evil spirits and human beings different is how they act in the end. When people are resentful, they have that little emotion. When evil spirits are resentful, they will kill.”
Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air.
So, the death condition was, how to deal with a ghost’s pursuit without it losing its temper?
“Then what about the three people last night? They also replied to the message, why did they die?”
The master tapped his finger on the table. “It was also the content of the reply that made the evil spirit angry. Look at the first person’s reply.”
…who are you? Why did you kill Jiang Yucheng?
“If you are in a relationship and the first sentence you exchange with the other party mentions another person, is it unreasonable to say that one would also be angry?”
“No, that can’t be ba! What about the second one, what can be a trigger in that sentence?”
…is what you said true? I also think he has a problem.
The master frowned slightly. “The resentment on this person’s phone seems to be different from the other two. Logically, they were not supposed to have died. They should not have been killed by the evil spirit. The cause of death was another reason.”
Ye Zun suddenly remembered the ghost’s text that he received last night, which stated that two would die today.
So, the extra one was not killed by the evil spirit?
“Master, look at the third person.”
…can I give you a reply tomorrow?
“Isn’t it okay to delay things like this?”
The master frowned slightly. “It should be that the evil spirit sent other messages, but she didn’t reply. When you are in a relationship, if you said something and the other party doesn’t reply, you would also feel angry. It’s the same with the evil spirit. It is best that you are the last one to send a message every time you converse with the evil spirit.”
Everyone anxiously noted this down, each with a bitter face, never thinking that the other party would be such a difficult suitor.
Feel like falling in love? As in, the ‘I am not happy, therefore you will die’ type of love?
“Master, the three of us haven’t received any ghost texts. Does it mean that this has nothing to do with us, and that we can leave ba?” The group of three who didn’t receive the text last night and didn’t die immediately asked the master.
The master looked at them and nodded gently. “Following this logic, yes. Among your group, a pair of you are boyfriend and girlfriend, am I right?”
Two people looked at each other and nodded.
“You two have a very good relationship. The evil spirit can not blend into your pair, so it gave up looking for you two. As long as there is no conflict in your relationship during this time, it will be all right. I will give this amulet to you two.”
“It will be all right? So we can leave?”
The master instructed, “Do not mention this to anyone, and do not think about it if you can. The farther you stay away from peach blossoms, the better, so that they won’t be able to sense you.”
The two nodded happily and thanked him, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
“Wait.” Someone pointed to the other boy and said, “He’s single, so why is he safe?”
The master looked at the boy. “He should already have someone in his heart, so the evil spirit is not interested in him.”
The corners of everyone’s mouth twitched. So to say, people whose love is more solid than gold can live happily, whereas the singles who don’t have anyone will die?
“Master, how can we free ourselves of this situation? We aren’t actually expected to fall in love with that evil spirit, right? I don’t have a girlfriend, and I don’t have someone I like, but I also don’t want to be with that kind of…” Thinking that he could die if he said something that the evil spirit disliked, the boy didn’t even dare to speak his thoughts out loud.
The master’s forehead slightly wrinkled in a frown. “For the easiest solution, there are so many men and women here, quickly find a partner who is pleasing to your eyes and fall in love. It will be fine if you have a proper talk.”
“Then if I already have someone I like, what should I do if it gets angry?”
“Because I’m scared, I’ve just been going along with its implications in our texts for the past two days. If I get in a relationship with another person, what should I do if it thinks I betrayed it?”
“I will be here to oversee everything. As long as you are all careful, you will be fine.” The master said, “This method is indeed slow to take effect, so how about this ba, I will arrange a ritual tonight, invite the evil spirits to understand their demands and try to resolve them peacefully.”
The master looked very reliable, and everyone immediately felt saved.
Only the players were apprehensive and suspicious. They also had such masters in their previous instances, but they never actually left a real impact. Can this person really resolve it?
The president stood next to the master, lowering his head and whispering a few times, then looked up at Ye Zun with a smile.
The master nodded and turned his eyes to Ye Zun and Ye Zi standing beside him.
“The six youngsters here, please stay behind for a bit. According to the evil spirit’s preferences, your group is the most susceptible to being found by the spirits. You need to be extra careful.” Ye Zun nodded and proceeded to pass the information in his hand to the master.
“Please have a look through these files. These seven victims may have something to do with the evil spirit.”
The master thanked him and the disciple beside him immediately took it, and while they went through the files, they whispered something to the master.
On the third day of the instance, everything seemed to suddenly become clear.
The atmosphere in the villa was much more relaxed, and some people started chatting and laughing.
Ye Zun went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water when his phone suddenly went off.
He turned on the phone and was surprised to find a message from the ghost.
【 My dear, are you in a good mood? You don’t think that person can separate us, do you? 】
“Is that person a fraud?”
【 En? He is a great master ah. 】
“You are not afraid of him.”
【 I plan to have a good talk with him tonight. This way, I may be able to appear in front of my dearest one soon, so we can walk under the sunlight, hand in hand. 】
These words could send chills down people’s backs.
“Who are you? Are you one of those seven victims?”
【 Call me ‘dear’. Call me that, and I will tell you who I am. 】
“Once a reply is made, it is considered an agreement with you, right?”
【 …… 】
Ye Zun closed the phone. It seemed that he guessed correctly. Responding to the resentful spirit with a commitment was a very dangerous thing to do.
He walked out of the kitchen and made his way to Ye Zi’s side. Placing his hand on the other person’s shoulder, he seriously asked, “You aren’t a player, right?”
Ye Zi looked at him calmly. “What player?”
“If you are not a player, don’t pay attention to those ghost texts anymore. From now on, please give your phone to me, and don’t leave my side. I know how to deal with that kind of thing.”
Ye Zi gazed at Ye Zun with pure and clean eyes, cutting a solitary and frail figure. “Can I like you? Just then, the master said that if you have someone you firmly love in your heart, the evil spirit will lose interest.”
Ye Zun’s Adam’s apple refrained from rolling, but his eyes dodged involuntarily, His beautiful face was still calm, with only the tips of his ears stained crimson. “I will…try my best to respond. However, it is possible that I really can not exchange feelings with you.”
After all, after the instance will end in four days, and he will leave this world.
Ye Zi’s eyes were slightly curved, and his lips usually pursed into a straight line revealed a quiet and lovely smile. The face that was already beautiful and blurred the boundaries of gender and reality became more and more attractive and likeable.
“En, I am so happy oh, to be able to like you.”
Ye Zun: “……”
Heart beating, badum, badum, badum.
Ye Zi’s smile reminded Ye Zun of the crystal-clear white dew falling from the silently swaying common reed under the moonlight, clinging on through the rocking, the beautiful sight that only exists in the night of early autumn*.
[T/N: what???? Does this even make sense?]
“Can we hug, just for a little bit? All my life until now, no one has ever hugged me. I’ve heard it to be very warm and reassuring, with a very safe feeling. I have always wanted to know what it is like. Can we?”
Facing those beautiful eyes, no one can refuse.
Ye Zun opened his arms without any hesitation.
However, Ye Zi moved faster than him. When Ye Zun was in the middle of responding, the other had already stepped forward and wrapped him into his embrace.
Ye Zun paused and stiffened slightly. Because his arm was suppressed and he couldn’t raise it, he could only hug the other’s waist lightly.
“Thank you,” the other softly spoke.
It should have been uncomfortable and embarrassing, but it wasn’t.
Ye Zun, too, has never experienced the feeling of being hugged. So it turns out, such an act can be so reassuring and warm?
“You’re welcome,” he said.
——I also like it. Very much.
“Can we hug a little tighter?” The tender voice whispered softly.
Behind Ye Zun, the lips of the person hugging him rose crazily. Those quiet and melancholy eyes silently bent into the shape of a crescent moon.
That perfect face that blurs the boundaries between reality and gender is also beautiful when he smiles, appearing very well-behaved and docile, fragile and innocent. The more one looks at it, the more one likes it.
However, the president, who took in this scene from not far away, felt that there was an indescribable sense of infiltration and disobedience in that smile.
He viewed it accidentally, and suddenly there was a chill that came from the bottom of his heart.
It wasn’t only now. The president recalled that the first time he saw this man named Ye Zi by the lake, he felt a chilling discomfort.
No matter how slender and beautiful he looked, there was a constant feeling akin to being stared at by a snake.
Ye Zi’s eyes opened a little and looked at the president who was standing not far away. Those beautiful eyes full of joy and contentment smiled, but there was a cool shadow in the depths of those eyes, reminding people of their own death reflected in a bottomless abyss.
Crack!
The cup in the president’s hand fell to the ground, shattering.
Ye Zun heard the sound behind him and immediately stopped hugging and comforting Ye Zi, looking behind him while protecting the other person.
The expression on the president’s face changed slightly, as if he was about to laugh, as if in anger, as if in shock, as if in fear, a myriad of confused emotions that morphed into an uncomfortable tension for other people.
Ye Zun frowned slightly and flatly pointed out, “Your hand is bleeding.”
The president’s fingers were cut from crushing the cup into pieces. He paid no mind, just absent-mindedly responding with a single “oh”, then turned around and left.
Ye Zi’s eyes were filled with quiet melancholy, and he frowned and looked at Ye Zun uneasily. “That person’s eyes are really scary ah. He’s smiling, like he is going to kill me. Did I do something wrong?”
Ye Zun touched his hair, saying gently and earnestly, “It has nothing to do with you. Ye Zi is very good. This person is very dangerous, remember to stay far away from wherever that person is. I will do my best to protect you.”
Ye Zi’s eyes were clear and fragile. Although he had an obvious cold and distant appearance, when he looked at Ye Zun, his eyes had a wet shine to them, and he nodded to Ye Zun with infinite trust. “En.”
Such a look provoked the tender love and protective urges of other people.
Ye Zun touched his hair again.
But when Ye Zun turned his head, the boy raised his head, revealing the raised corners of his lips, brilliantly smiling with silent happiness. The sharp eyes looking towards the direction where the president left had a far more arrogant and overbearing demeanour than what the president wore previously.
If Ye Zun looked back at this moment, he would find that the way the boy smiled was almost the same as the existence of who he was stealing his current name from, the being who subjected him to a horrifying experience.
……
The president found a bandage in the medical box and carelessly disinfected his fingers to stop the bleeding.
Restlessly thinking about the smile on Ye Zi’s face just now, no matter how he thought about it, it doesn’t seem like one belonging to a normal person.
After deliberating over it, he got up to have a few words with the person named Shen Yuan.
Just after taking two steps, suddenly his entire body retreated backwards, and inside the wide-open eyelids, the pair of eyeballs moved quickly and unconsciously in their sockets.
In front of the president, a person walked in slowly.
Wearing a clean white shirt, with beautiful long black and straight hair, and a slender figure, it was a boy whose beauty passed the boundaries of gender.
On the other’s white and pretty face, there was no fragile and innocent expression at the moment, just boredom. He slightly raised his chin arrogantly, his rosy lips curled up in a warm smile, but his inexplicably sharp and chilling eyes stared at him quietly.
“What’s the matter, going to snitch?”
The president was obviously taller and stronger than the other party, but the moment he saw the boy, there was a surging fear with an origin he couldn’t place, making him take a step back involuntarily.
Cold sweat oozed out, and he couldn’t help swallowing his saliva.
He quickly calmed down and looked at the person in front of him with a frown. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not interested in telling others whatever is going on between you two.”
That person had a bright and beautiful smile on his face, but there was a deathly aura of dark sickness in those quiet and brilliant eyes.
The clear voice had no ups or downs. Just listening to it, it even had a pitiful trill, as if being coerced. But, the words spoken were, “Do you still want your eyes? You should be careful ah, always looking at another person’s baby* with those eyes, always smiling at another person’s lover like that, others will be unhappy.”
[T/N: baobei 0.0 ]
The president faced him with a dead stare, as if he couldn’t believe what he heard.
——Ha, what kind of expression is that? Is this guy crazy? Looking at people with what eyes?
Ye Zi’s eyes were curved, like the purest and innocent healing smile seen in manhua. “You have to work hard* oh.”
[T/N: ‘jiayou’]
“En?” The president couldn’t keep up with his thoughts at all. He just stared at him warily like he was a psycho who will suddenly start killing people.
“I like this instance very much. You have to play your part in this story well, until the last day, until the end oh. Male protagonist.”
The president’s eyes widened and he looked at him in disbelief.
——How did this psychopath know my protagonist identity? I clearly have no flaws.
But Ye Zi ignored him, only waving at him innocently and politely before turning away with a heart full of satisfaction.
Just after walking away a few steps, before the president could breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly remembered something and paused, then turned around again.
The cold and quiet face, like a beautiful mask that has washed away all expressions, looked at him innocently, as if there was worry in his heart.
“Male protagonist, can you play to the end?”
The president: “……?”
Ye Zi looked at him gently and encouragingly, and said with a harmless voice, “If you don’t play to the last day, I will kill you.”
The president stood in place. His expression changed again and again, seeing something more thrilling than a ghost.
——What kind of psycho is this guy? He saw through my identity, is he also a player?
——How absurd, is he threatening me? Is he threatening me or mocking me?
What’s even more funny is that the other party clearly looked so thin, with a figure more slender and fragile than the weakest girl here, and can be rendered half-dead with a single punch, but when he looked at the other boy, he felt an uncontrollable, terrified trembling from the bottom of his heart.
——I’m actually afraid of him? Why should I be afraid of him? Because he’s a psychopath?
The feeling of anger and humiliation was like being slapped several times in public.
……
Ye Zun only said a few words to Chen Qianqian, but when he looked up, he couldn’t find a shadow of Ye Zi. He instantly frowned in worry.
Chen Qianqian’s expression changed slightly. “In any case, he’s still a boy. It’s like you are raising a son.”
Ye Zun didn’t take in the other’s joke. “I don’t know why, I always feel that as long as he isn’t in my sight, something might have happened to him.”
Chen Qianqian nodded. “He’s too good-looking. I thought you were the most in danger here, but when I saw him, I felt… If you’re worried, you should go find him first.” Chen Qianqian also felt that if the ghost really acted as the master said it would, if it wanted to find someone to fall in love with, the first one to be targeted would definitely be Ye Zi.
What was strange was how the other party had lived for so long without incident.
There were some things that were hard to say in front of Shen Yuan. Ye Zi’s attributes were not just a question of whether he is good-looking or not, but rather the impression of his eight character’s being very light*. There was a short-lived ‘there is today, but there is no tomorrow’ feeling that he gave off, just like that of someone who has a terminal illness and doesn’t have long to live.
[T/N: basically, his horoscopes are bad]
As soon as Chen Qianqian raised her eyes, she saw Ye Zi, who could not be found just a moment ago, standing in front of her.
She forced herself to smile. “He just went to look for you. Honestly, if he can’t see you, he can’t function normally. If people didn’t know better, they’d think you are his girlfriend.”
Ye Zi smiled quietly and meekly with his eyes curved, in a seemingly very good mood. “Is that true?”
Chen Qianqian looked at him, and her eyes moved slightly. “I say, you have to live well ah, if you are taken away by the ghost, his heart will undoubtedly break.”
Ye Zi’s smile disappeared instantly, and his eyes widened in astonishment, at a loss with a slight emptiness in their depths.
Like he has never thought about this.
It was somewhat pitiful.
Chen Qianqian looked at him with pity and didn’t say anything more. She left him alone in silence and walked away first.
Ye Zi stood there. The stunned face slowly evoked a smile that was too excited to be restrained by himself.
How could he have not thought of playing like this?
If he is killed by the ghost, his dearest one will no longer suppress himself, and maybe he will even hug him while crying, and say I love you!
When the time comes, if he asks him to kiss, he probably won’t refuse ba.
Chen Qianqian is truly talented ah.
“What’s–your–name, when you kill people, put this woman in the back of the line ba. I might still have use for it.”
The author has something to say:
Uh, rather (mentally) sick~
Having the Same Name as the Demon Lord of the AbyssYe Zun received a text from the resentful spirit, who said that two would die that day.However, once the sun rose, the truth was that three people were missing: two men and one woman.There were many people who knew not to sleep last night. Because he was told that some would die, Ye Zun didn't sleep well. He got up several times to count heads, and he soon found that there were three fewer people from the group playing games in the living room.After noticing this, he immediately had other people try to look for them, but to no avail.The time of disappearance was probably between five to five-thirty. Because they had been very noisy, the people around them quickly noticed.All the people in the villa were woken from their sleep.Everyone was sleep deprived, but it was impossible not to care if someone had gone missing.The president's eyes were red and he rubbed a hand over his face. Can a few people come with me to the school and see if there's anything.His words made everyone's hearts jump, with eyebrows raising.Unsurprisingly, the three corpses were hanging in the peach blossom grove, exactly the same as Jiang Yucheng's body from the morning before.Now, no one could deny that this matter had nothing to do with ghosts.How did they appear here? The villa is so far from the school.How did you know we would find them here, president?The president wearily took out his phone. In the WeChat direct message between one of the deceased and him, there was a corrupted video.The video Shen Yuan was sent yesterday, and I also received it today.The crowd went silent before exploding in a panic.Is there really a death condition?Their phones, find their phones and have a look.The three people's phones were held in the hands of their corpses.The death messages were still there, but they could only see what was sent. What they received was no longer there.All three of them had responded.The first person replied:who are you? Why did you kill Jiang Yucheng?The second person replied:is what you said true? I also think he has a problem.The third person replied:can I give you a reply tomorrow?There seems to be no problem with the three people's replies, especially the third person, who was smart enough to make an arrangement for tomorrow. If that thing agrees, at least he will not die that day.But maybe the answer he got was a no, it has to be today'.Someone finally lost their temper. A boy named Zhao Wusheng who had been relatively silent so far suddenly stood up and barked orders to everyone. Take out all your phones and repeat your conversations from last night. This has to do with Laozi's life and death, who dares to hide it, Laozi will kill you first!This attitude made people frown.But no one had time to call him out on it at this time. Everyone took out their phones.I, I fell asleep last night, I didn't get the text, someone suddenly said.The one who spoke was a boy, one who didn't look like a player. At this time, his face was both solemn yet unexpressive.His phone was immediately snatched by the stronger Zhao Wusheng for inspection.After looking through it, Zhao Wusheng gritted his teeth. It can't be, why are you still alive when you didn't receive the text?I didn't get it either.Me too.At this time, two more people raised their hands, a man and a woman.A total of three people did not receive the text, but are still alive and well.How can it be, did the death condition change?This was very disadvantageous to option-C players. Many people couldn't maintain their composure and could no longer bother hiding their player identities.Did you guys delete the texts? Are you lying to me on purpose?No matter how deep in denial he was, things have already turned out the way they did.The three people who received the text and answered had died, and the three people who did not receive the text thus had no chance to reply were alive and well.Stop arguing, let's get out of here quicklyba. People will come and see the bodies in a while. If we are suspected, we won't not be able to move freely afterwards.The native NPCs did not understand the implications, but the players from the Demon God's Amusement Park understood very well. Once they are unable to complete the tasks released by the game for any personal reasons, they will be immediately eliminated and sent to their deaths.The group of people quickly left the school grounds and returned to the villa rented by the president.Strangely enough, even when it hit 10:30 in the morning, there were still no news reports about three bodies being found at Hushan University.Finally, the students who stayed on campus to investigate sent messages in the group chat. There's been no reports, and the three bodies in the forest suddenly disappeared. No one will report if there are no bodies.Even if people are missing, it will take several days for someone to notice.You better give us an explanation today!Another quarrel broke out in the villa.Because one of the deceased was the eccentric boy who came in conflict with the president yesterday, and the other party said that if he died, everyone should be careful about the president's. Those words were still in everyone's heads.Didn't you say you found a great master? Where are they?If you hadn't said that we had to go through another test of courage, they wouldn't have died.President, what the hell are you hiding?The president stood behind the protection of the two staff members from the mob. Aside from his heavy expression, he looked fine.He said, The master is already on the way. If you have any questions, you can ask them one by one. I have no reason to hide anything, and nor any reason to harm you.Ye Zun sighed softly. Four people have already died, and they have made no progress yet.If no one stood up and sorted through every single detail, he was afraid things would get worse.Ye Zun turned to them, raising his voice slightly and said, Stop arguing. I noticed a little clue here, you guys come and have a look.From yesterday until this morning, when they returned to the villa, he and Chen Qianqian had been doing one thing, which was finding a way to verify the information of the seven past victims brought back from Jiang Shao's roommate.Ye Zun took a marker pen and wrote the names of the seven victims in order of death on the whiteboard, then he stuck the printed photos of each individual, just like how the police analyse a case, and wrote down keywords.The first victim, male, a first year from the 2005 cohort. Incident took place five years ago. The cause of death was from heartbreak, and he drowned himself in the lake.The second victim is single, female, a first year from the 2006 cohort. The time of the incident was four years ago, and her current status is still missing.The third victim, a female, a second year from the 2006 cohort. Time of incident, three years ago. Because of an extramarital affair with her teacher being exposed, she has been missing since then.The fourth victim, male, a second year from the 2007 cohort. Time of incident, two years ago. Because his lover was stolen away by a senior, he murdered his ex-girlfriend and the senior in a frenzy. He was met with resistance when killing the senior, and ended up dying from blood loss. Thus, there was not only one victim from two years ago, but three.Then the ones from this year. Jiang Shao, a first year from the 2009 cohort, and Cao Yunmo, a fourth year from the 2006 cohort, both dead by suicide. According to the information we found, these two probably knew each other. Although the rumours say that Cao Yunmo committed suicide by drowning herself in the lake out of stress from her studies, the truth is that her grades were very good, so this reason is clearly illogical. And Jiang Shao's death is even more bizarre. According to my research, he witnessed the death of Cao Yunmo, but then he quickly developed a mysterious romantic relationship with someone he had never met before. Not long after, he jumped out of the window of a motorway bus and died.Ye Zun paused. Like us, there were no conversation records with another person on his phone. There was only his own.Everyone looked at the blocks of information listed on the whiteboard with wide eyes, not knowing what to say for a while.While everyone was lost in their thoughts, Ye Zun looked at the president beside him.President, I do have a question for you. About the peach blossom forest's spirit, where did you hear about this ghost story? What was the reason for establishing a new ghost stories club? The reason why it is said to be newly established, is it because the two deceased students, Cao Yunmo and Jiang Shao, were the only two members of the previous Ghost Stories Club? Does the president have any connections with those two?Ye Zun's words were clear and unhurried, and although his voice was calm and did not hold any aggression, it cleared any uncertainty in everyone's thoughts. They immediately followed his eyes in watching the president, waiting for the president's answer.The president looked at Ye Zun calmly. How do you know so much?Without waiting for Ye Zun to reply, everyone indignantly spoke up first. Who cares about how Shen Yuan knew, we're the ones questioning you right now!It doesn't matter. Ye Zun showed them the identity card carried by the paranormal event investigators. I am a member of the paranormal agency, my job as an advertisement model is just a fake identity. The reason why I am here is because I received a commission to investigate the peach forest's ghost story. The evidence I have was provided when the victim, Jiang Shao's, relatives and friends contacted us.Ye Zun's words left everyone stupefied, and at the same time, had everyone think they've found their backbone because of the arrival of a professional.Only the small population of players were surprised.Naturally, players knew that there were detective and protagonist roles in the options, but because of the rules of the amusement park, everyone hid their identities from each other by default and kept a low profile. The most guarded ones would be players who chose to be detectives.It was very simple. Option-C players didn't need to do anything, as long as they survived, they were in the clear. However, the option-A detectives had to investigate suspicious cases and resolve grievances, all by themselves. Moreover, the final reward would be shared equally with everyone. If someone chose to be a detective, who knows how unstable their heart is.Generally, by default, those who chose the detective role must be a capable veteran player, and veteran players inevitably have blackened hearts. They would definitely hide behind everyone's backs, solving their cases while killing the option-C players, to reap the greatest benefits.According to common sense, detectives were not subjected to the mandatory tasks given by the game like option-C players. They must appear at the scene of death and perform acts that are likely to trigger a death condition, so that they have greater freedom.They even suspected that the three people who survived without receiving the text were either detectives or the protagonists.As it turned out, someone would actually take the initiative to declare themself a detective.The other hidden players who also chose the identity of the detective were also surprised. Only the detectives knew that the detective's identity in the game was only that of a novice, and the agency had already sent someone to investigate the case.So the question is, is this Shen Yuan a detective-assigned player, or the agency's NPC senior member?If he was the latter, it was natural to cooperate and hug his thighs*. If he was the former, that meant he is an enemy that they needed to be guarded against and deal with.T/N: curry favour with someone more powerfulYe Zun looked at the president calmly. Now, can the president answer my questions truthfully?The president smiled, the corners of his lips lifting sharply, and then he nodded. Since you said so, I will tell you. Oh yes, what did you ask me just now? Can you repeat the question? I'm sorry, it's just that you have a lot of questions, and I'm a little uneasy, it's not that I didn't remember it on purpose.This attitude is reallyEveryone frowned suddenly.No problem. Ye Zun remained calm. President, where did you hear about the ghost stories surrounding the school's peach forest?I have always been interested in browsing paranormal events, and occasionally came across this post saying that at ten-thirty in the evening in April, one can meet a beautiful woman in the peach forest on Hushan University's campus. The person who wrote the post said that he heard it from another senior, but accidentally discovered that the beauty in the peach blossom forest was actually a ghost, and the senior seemed to be in contact with the spirit. Thinking about it now, this post should have been written by Jiang Shaoba.Why did you establish the new Ghost Stories Club? Is the reason related to Cao Yunmo and Jiang Shao?The president smiled and shook his head. I didn't know about Cao Yunmo and Jiang Shao before all this. I set up the Ghost Stories Club because I found inspiration from the post, and wanted to see if we could catch it.Ye Zun levelled a look at him. Although you say you didn't know them, when you were recruiting members, you deliberately searched for members who were good-looking, people who met the requirements to be victims. For this reason, you did not hesitate to sign internet influencers from outside the school and establish this project. Is this because there is someone helping you with your plans?The president paused. I have a lot of money. It's not a big deal to spend a little bit to set up a supernatural live broadcast projectba. Plus, it's common sense that it's easier to attract attention by finding some handsome guys and beauties. I never knew about the victims' characteristics prior to this, it is just by coincidence.Ye Zun flatly replied, I originally wanted to believe you, but now, if you don't tell the truth, I have no choice but to treat you as an accomplice of the peach blossom spirit.The president's complexion changed slightly as he looked back at him. What are you saying?Ye Zun kept his eyes on the other. As far as I know, the peach blossom's resentful spirit will change their identity. It originally followed Cao Yunmo, and after Cao Yunmo died, it found Jiang Shao. After Jiang Shao died, it must find someone else. It is very likely that this person is in the Ghost Stories Club. If you don't tell the truth, then it is you.Without waiting for Ye Zun to say more, a group of boys immediately went up and surrounded the president, all with vigilant and hateful eyes, ready to restrict his movements at any time.The president showed an expression that conveyed how absurd he found everything to be, incredulously saying, This is my house, you dare treat me like this?Ye Zun sighed lightly. Four people have already died. If you don't tell the truth, we can only treat you like this.The president nodded, then nodded again, and licked his lips, seemingly angry but also not at the same time. Fineba, I will tell you. I originally didn't plan on picking members based on their looks, I just wanted to find people who were more courageous. But someone told me that the ghost story is not so easy to trigger, that I need to find some people with good looks, like those previous suspected victims.As soon as these words came out, everyone gritted their teeth. Sure enough, you already knew the information of previous victims, you were setting us up on purpose!The president frowned. I never thought that people would really die. I just wanted to solve the mystery behind the story, and even if no one had an accident that night, I would've thought this ghost story was just a joke, like every other story.Before the others escalated the situation, Ye Zun asked first, Who was the person who told you this?The president was silent for a while. It's useless to know, it was just two of the three people who were seriously injured and hospitalised.Ye Zun frowned slightly. Looking at it now, it's likely that the serious injuries' of those three members are fake, and the hospital staff may not be the real deal. However, it does not rule out that the peach blossom spirit has changed identities again.The other players also reacted quickly. The three seriously injured staff members were likely to be players, and for the other party to know so much on the first day of entering the game, their chosen identities must be either the protagonist or the detective.Those people must be faking injuries, and were certainly hiding in the dark at this moment.The two staff members who were slightly injured had lingering fears. The car accident happened very suddenly. We passed out on the spot and woke up in the hospital. The three people were seriously injured and bandaged beyond recognition, constantly on the brink of death. Here was no way for us to recognise who was who.Their statement confirmed that those three with suspicious identities were very likely to have vanished with an escape plan*.T/N: literally a cicada leaving behind its shellThe players understood as soon as they heard this, but the students were puzzled.Wait up, why are they doing this? Why did they pretend to be hurt and then snuck off to hide? Do they not want to be found by others? What are they trying to do?Chen Qianqian had the fastest reaction. Isn't it obvious? Those three staff members and the peach blossom ghost are in cahoots, deliberately coaxing the president to find us victims. Their purpose is wanting us to be killed by the spirit one by one!Then what should we do now?The president also looked at Ye Zun and raised his hand. I have no ill intentions, and I didn't want to cover things up. I only concealed it because I didn't want you to misunderstand.Where is the misunderstanding? He just didn't want everyone to know that they were the bait he deliberately found.Players knew that they had to show up here to do these things even without the boss, so they didn't have any particular feelings about him.But for the native NPCs, this was simply a disaster. The reason why they fell into such a tragic situation was because of the president.Calm down a little. I said that I will be responsible, and the great master I invited will be here soon. You guys don't want to die, right? At this point, the president wore a smile that did not look like a smile, and no longer cared about their anger at all.But it was like what he said, if everyone wanted to live, they must rely on the master he found. Now was not an opportune time to settle accounts with him.You bastard, you'd better hope to keep us alive, because if I die, I will bury you with me, and I won't let you go even if I become a ghost!The president raised his eyebrows, not sparing them a single glance, and just faced Ye Zun as he said with a smile, I don't want to die eitherah. Everyone is in the same boat now, so don't worryba, I will do my best.That expression of his was truly arrogant and asking for a beating.Ye Zi, who was standing next to Ye Zun, had been silent all this time. At that moment, those cold and quiet eyes slowly shifted towards the president. The slender and beautiful eyes narrowed slightly. A shadow formed in those clear eyes.At this time, the doorbell rang.The great master and the others must've arrived, the president smiled and said to Ye Zun.The door was opened and three people walked in.It was an old gentleman who looked to be in good health, with the air of an immortal, along with a man and a woman who were carrying luggages in a respectful manner. They were both disciples and bodyguards.This kind of style was very similar to a conman; the old gentleman looked very old at first glance, a reasonably estimated age of around seventy or eighty. However, his skin was rosy and smooth, and his eyes were black and bright. This condition could not be faked.The president greeted him with a smile, his smile was arrogant and perfunctory, and it didn't even see the bottom of his eyes.Thank you for coming*.T/N: literally you have arrived, with the formal you'Young Master Mo, you must have been frightened.I can not thank you enough. Everything is fine so far, but I must ask for your aid in the latter part.When the backup came, no matter how indignant everyone was, there was nothing they could do to the president at this moment.At this time, the option-C players received a new task. Cooperate with the great master to carry out the sance. You must not leave the villa during this period. After the greeting, the master first looked at the villa first and ordered the disciples to strike the air with a red whip repeatedly, as if to expel something.After they were done, another disciple came out and asked everyone to show the interactions between them and the ghost on their phones to the master, having them recall the original words of the ghost if they could.This time, everyone cooperated readily.After reading everyone's text messages, the master stroked his white beard and said in a deep voice, If I am not wrong, you have all been targeted by the evil peach blossom spirit. This ghost can not be said to be a single one, but rather a group, different from ordinary resentful spirits. It has collective consciousness.What do you mean? Great master, can you please explain it more clearly? From the side, Faye, the female internet celebrity, respectfully asked for advice.The master's face may be dignified, but his tone was kind. Let's put it this wayba, think of these beings as humans. The reason why they choose beautiful people is the same as why people want to find a good-looking partner when they wish to fall in love, hence why they sent messages to you.The young man named Jiang Yucheng died on the first night because he didn't reply to the text message, which is an understandable reason. If a person finally mustered the courage and took the initiative to speak to the one they were infatuated with, but then their warm feelings were met with cold rebuke, where the other party was very indifferent and didn't respond, there must be resentment. What makes evil spirits and human beings different is how they act in the end. When people are resentful, they have that little emotion. When evil spirits are resentful, they will kill.Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air.So, the death condition was, how to deal with a ghost's pursuit without it losing its temper?Then what about the three people last night? They also replied to the message, why did they die?The master tapped his finger on the table. It was also the content of the reply that made the evil spirit angry. Look at the first person's reply.who are you? Why did you kill Jiang Yucheng?If you are in a relationship and the first sentence you exchange with the other party mentions another person, is it unreasonable to say that one would also be angry?No, that can't beba!What about the second one, what can be a trigger in that sentence?is what you said true? I also think he has a problem.The master frowned slightly. The resentment on this person's phone seems to be different from the other two. Logically, they were not supposed to have died. They should not have been killed by the evil spirit. The cause of death was another reason.Ye Zun suddenly remembered the ghost's text that he received last night, which stated that two would die today.So, the extra one was not killed by the evil spirit?Master, look at the third person.can I give you a reply tomorrow?Isn't it okay to delay things like this?The master frowned slightly. It should be that the evil spirit sent other messages, but she didn't reply. When you are in a relationship, if you said something and the other party doesn't reply, you would also feel angry. It's the same with the evil spirit. It is best that you are the last one to send a message every time you converse with the evil spirit.Everyone anxiously noted this down, each with a bitter face, never thinking that the other party would be such a difficult suitor.Feel like falling in love? As in, the I am not happy, therefore you will die' type of love?Master, the three of us haven't received any ghost texts. Does it mean that this has nothing to do with us, and that we can leaveba? The group of three who didn't receive the text last night and didn't die immediately asked the master.The master looked at them and nodded gently. Following this logic, yes. Among your group, a pair of you are boyfriend and girlfriend, am I right?Two people looked at each other and nodded.You two have a very good relationship. The evil spirit can not blend into your pair, so it gave up looking for you two. As long as there is no conflict in your relationship during this time, it will be all right. I will give this amulet to you two.It will be all right? So we can leave?The master instructed, Do not mention this to anyone, and do not think about it if you can. The farther you stay away from peach blossoms, the better, so that they won't be able to sense you.The two nodded happily and thanked him, finally breathing a sigh of relief.Wait. Someone pointed to the other boy and said, He's single, so why is he safe?The master looked at the boy. He should already have someone in his heart, so the evil spirit is not interested in him.The corners of everyone's mouth twitched. So to say, people whose love is more solid than gold can live happily, whereas the singles who don't have anyone will die?Master, how can we free ourselves of this situation? We aren't actually expected to fall in love with that evil spirit, right? I don't have a girlfriend, and I don't have someone I like, but I also don't want to be with that kind of Thinking that he could die if he said something that the evil spirit disliked, the boy didn't even dare to speak his thoughts out loud.The master's forehead slightly wrinkled in a frown. For the easiest solution, there are so many men and women here, quickly find a partner who is pleasing to your eyes and fall in love. It will be fine if you have a proper talk.Then if I already have someone I like, what should I do if it gets angry?Because I'm scared, I've just been going along with its implications in our texts for the past two days. If I get in a relationship with another person, what should I do if it thinks I betrayed it?I will be here to oversee everything. As long as you are all careful, you will be fine. The master said, This method is indeed slow to take effect, so how about thisba,I will arrange a ritual tonight, invite the evil spirits to understand their demands and try to resolve them peacefully.The master looked very reliable, and everyone immediately felt saved.Only the players were apprehensive and suspicious. They also had such masters in their previous instances, but they never actually left a real impact. Can this person really resolve it?The president stood next to the master, lowering his head and whispering a few times, then looked up at Ye Zun with a smile.The master nodded and turned his eyes to Ye Zun and Ye Zi standing beside him.The six youngsters here, please stay behind for a bit. According to the evil spirit's preferences, your group is the most susceptible to being found by the spirits. You need to be extra careful. Ye Zun nodded and proceeded to pass the information in his hand to the master.Please have a look through these files. These seven victims may have something to do with the evil spirit.The master thanked him and the disciple beside him immediately took it, and while they went through the files, they whispered something to the master.On the third day of the instance, everything seemed to suddenly become clear.The atmosphere in the villa was much more relaxed, and some people started chatting and laughing.Ye Zun went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water when his phone suddenly went off.He turned on the phone and was surprised to find a message from the ghost. My dear, are you in a good mood? You don't think that person can separate us, do you? Is that person a fraud?En? He is a great masterah. You are not afraid of him. I plan to have a good talk with him tonight. This way, I may be able to appear in front of my dearest one soon, so we can walk under the sunlight, hand in hand. These words could send chills down people's backs.Who are you? Are you one of those seven victims? Call me dear'. Call me that, and I will tell you who I am. Once a reply is made, it is considered an agreement with you, right? Ye Zun closed the phone. It seemed that he guessed correctly. Responding to the resentful spirit with a commitment was a very dangerous thing to do.He walked out of the kitchen and made his way to Ye Zi's side. Placing his hand on the other person's shoulder, he seriously asked, You aren't a player, right?Ye Zi looked at him calmly. What player?If you are not a player, don't pay attention to those ghost texts anymore. From now on, please give your phone to me, and don't leave my side. I know how to deal with that kind of thing.Ye Zi gazed at Ye Zun with pure and clean eyes, cutting a solitary and frail figure. Can I like you? Just then, the master said that if you have someone you firmly love in your heart, the evil spirit will lose interest.Ye Zun's Adam's apple refrained from rolling, but his eyes dodged involuntarily, His beautiful face was still calm, with only the tips of his ears stained crimson. I willtry my best to respond. However, it is possible that I really can not exchange feelings with you.After all, after the instance will end in four days, and he will leave this world.Ye Zi's eyes were slightly curved, and his lips usually pursed into a straight line revealed a quiet and lovely smile. The face that was already beautiful and blurred the boundaries of gender and reality became more and more attractive and likeable.En, I am so happyoh,to be able to like you.Ye Zun: Heart beating,badum, badum, badum.Ye Zi's smile reminded Ye Zun of the crystal-clear white dew falling from the silently swaying common reed under the moonlight, clinging on through the rocking, the beautiful sight that only exists in the night of early autumn*.T/N: what???? Does this even make sense?Can we hug, just for a little bit? All my life until now, no one has ever hugged me. I've heard it to be very warm and reassuring, with a very safe feeling. I have always wanted to know what it is like. Can we?Facing those beautiful eyes, no one can refuse.Ye Zun opened his arms without any hesitation.However, Ye Zi moved faster than him. When Ye Zun was in the middle of responding, the other had already stepped forward and wrapped him into his embrace.Ye Zun paused and stiffened slightly. Because his arm was suppressed and he couldn't raise it, he could only hug the other's waist lightly.Thank you, the other softly spoke.It should have been uncomfortable and embarrassing, but it wasn't.Ye Zun, too, has never experienced the feeling of being hugged. So it turns out, such an act can be so reassuring and warm?You're welcome, he said.I also like it. Very much.Can we hug a little tighter? The tender voice whispered softly.Behind Ye Zun, the lips of the person hugging him rose crazily. Those quiet and melancholy eyes silently bent into the shape of a crescent moon.That perfect face that blurs the boundaries between reality and gender is also beautiful when he smiles, appearing very well-behaved and docile, fragile and innocent. The more one looks at it, the more one likes it.However, the president, who took in this scene from not far away, felt that there was an indescribable sense of infiltration and disobedience in that smile.He viewed it accidentally, and suddenly there was a chill that came from the bottom of his heart.It wasn't only now. The president recalled that the first time he saw this man named Ye Zi by the lake, he felt a chilling discomfort.No matter how slender and beautiful he looked, there was a constant feeling akin to being stared at by a snake.Ye Zi's eyes opened a little and looked at the president who was standing not far away. Those beautiful eyes full of joy and contentment smiled, but there was a cool shadow in the depths of those eyes, reminding people of their own death reflected in a bottomless abyss.Crack!The cup in the president's hand fell to the ground, shattering.Ye Zun heard the sound behind him and immediately stopped hugging and comforting Ye Zi, looking behind him while protecting the other person.The expression on the president's face changed slightly, as if he was about to laugh, as if in anger, as if in shock, as if in fear, a myriad of confused emotions that morphed into an uncomfortable tension for other people.Ye Zun frowned slightly and flatly pointed out, Your hand is bleeding.The president's fingers were cut from crushing the cup into pieces. He paid no mind, just absent-mindedly responding with a single oh, then turned around and left.Ye Zi's eyes were filled with quiet melancholy, and he frowned and looked at Ye Zun uneasily. That person's eyes are really scaryah. He's smiling, like he is going to kill me. Did I do something wrong?Ye Zun touched his hair, saying gently and earnestly, It has nothing to do with you. Ye Zi is very good. This person is very dangerous, remember to stay far away from wherever that person is. I will do my best to protect you.Ye Zi's eyes were clear and fragile. Although he had an obvious cold and distant appearance, when he looked at Ye Zun, his eyes had a wet shine to them, and he nodded to Ye Zun with infinite trust. En.Such a look provoked the tender love and protective urges of other people.Ye Zun touched his hair again.But when Ye Zun turned his head, the boy raised his head, revealing the raised corners of his lips, brilliantly smiling with silent happiness. The sharp eyes looking towards the direction where the president left had a far more arrogant and overbearing demeanour than what the president wore previously.If Ye Zun looked back at this moment, he would find that the way the boy smiled was almost the same as the existence of who he was stealing his current name from, the being who subjected him to a horrifying experience.The president found a bandage in the medical box and carelessly disinfected his fingers to stop the bleeding.Restlessly thinking about the smile on Ye Zi's face just now, no matter how he thought about it, it doesn't seem like one belonging to a normal person.After deliberating over it, he got up to have a few words with the person named Shen Yuan.Just after taking two steps, suddenly his entire body retreated backwards, and inside the wide-open eyelids, the pair of eyeballs moved quickly and unconsciously in their sockets.In front of the president, a person walked in slowly.Wearing a clean white shirt, with beautiful long black and straight hair, and a slender figure, it was a boy whose beauty passed the boundaries of gender.On the other's white and pretty face, there was no fragile and innocent expression at the moment, just boredom. He slightly raised his chin arrogantly, his rosy lips curled up in a warm smile, but his inexplicably sharp and chilling eyes stared at him quietly.What's the matter, going to snitch?The president was obviously taller and stronger than the other party, but the moment he saw the boy, there was a surging fear with an origin he couldn't place, making him take a step back involuntarily.Cold sweat oozed out, and he couldn't help swallowing his saliva.He quickly calmed down and looked at the person in front of him with a frown. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not interested in telling others whatever is going on between you two.That person had a bright and beautiful smile on his face, but there was a deathly aura of dark sickness in those quiet and brilliant eyes.The clear voice had no ups or downs. Just listening to it, it even had a pitiful trill, as if being coerced. But, the words spoken were, Do you still want your eyes? You should be carefulah, always looking at another person's baby* with those eyes, always smiling at another person's lover like that, others will be unhappy.T/N: baobei 0.0 The president faced him with a dead stare, as if he couldn't believe what he heard.Ha, what kind of expression is that? Is this guy crazy? Looking at people with what eyes?Ye Zi's eyes were curved, like the purest and innocent healing smile seen in manhua. You have to work hard*oh.T/N: jiayou'En? The president couldn't keep up with his thoughts at all. He just stared at him warily like he was a psycho who will suddenly start killing people.I like this instance very much. You have to play your part in this story well, until the last day, until the endoh. Male protagonist.The president's eyes widened and he looked at him in disbelief.How did this psychopath know my protagonist identity? I clearly have no flaws.But Ye Zi ignored him, only waving at him innocently and politely before turning away with a heart full of satisfaction.Just after walking away a few steps, before the president could breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly remembered something and paused, then turned around again.The cold and quiet face, like a beautiful mask that has washed away all expressions, looked at him innocently, as if there was worry in his heart.Male protagonist, can you play to the end?The president: ?Ye Zi looked at him gently and encouragingly, and said with a harmless voice, If you don't play to the last day, I will kill you.The president stood in place. His expression changed again and again, seeing something more thrilling than a ghost.What kind of psycho is this guy? He saw through my identity, is he also a player?How absurd, is he threatening me? Is he threatening me or mocking me?What's even more funny is that the other party clearly looked so thin, with a figure more slender and fragile than the weakest girl here, and can be rendered half-dead with a single punch, but when he looked at the other boy, he felt an uncontrollable, terrified trembling from the bottom of his heart.I'm actually afraid of him? Why should I be afraid of him? Because he's a psychopath?The feeling of anger and humiliation was like being slapped several times in public.Ye Zun only said a few words to Chen Qianqian, but when he looked up, he couldn't find a shadow of Ye Zi. He instantly frowned in worry.Chen Qianqian's expression changed slightly. In any case, he's still a boy. It's like you are raising a son.Ye Zun didn't take in the other's joke. I don't know why, I always feel that as long as he isn't in my sight, something might have happened to him.Chen Qianqian nodded. He's too good-looking. I thought you were the most in danger here, but when I saw him, I felt If you're worried, you should go find him first. Chen Qianqian also felt that if the ghost really acted as the master said it would, if it wanted to find someone to fall in love with, the first one to be targeted would definitely be Ye Zi.What was strange was how the other party had lived for so long without incident.There were some things that were hard to say in front of Shen Yuan. Ye Zi's attributes were not just a question of whether he is good-looking or not, but rather the impression of his eight character's being very light*. There was a short-lived there is today, but there is no tomorrow' feeling that he gave off, just like that of someone who has a terminal illness and doesn't have long to live.T/N: basically, his horoscopes are badAs soon as Chen Qianqian raised her eyes, she saw Ye Zi, who could not be found just a moment ago, standing in front of her.She forced herself to smile. He just went to look for you. Honestly, if he can't see you, he can't function normally. If people didn't know better, they'd think you are his girlfriend.Ye Zi smiled quietly and meekly with his eyes curved, in a seemingly very good mood. Is that true?Chen Qianqian looked at him, and her eyes moved slightly. I say, you have to live wellah, if you are taken away by the ghost, his heart will undoubtedly break.Ye Zi's smile disappeared instantly, and his eyes widened in astonishment, at a loss with a slight emptiness in their depths.Like he has never thought about this.It was somewhat pitiful.Chen Qianqian looked at him with pity and didn't say anything more. She left him alone in silence and walked away first.Ye Zi stood there. The stunned face slowly evoked a smile that was too excited to be restrained by himself.How could he have not thought of playing like this?If he is killed by the ghost, his dearest one will no longer suppress himself, and maybe he will even hug him while crying, and say I love you!When the time comes, if he asks him to kiss, he probably won't refuseba.Chen Qianqian is truly talentedah.What'syourname, when you kill people, put this woman in the back of the lineba. I might still have use for it.The author has something to say:Uh, rather mentally sick~
