Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 31

The bride as beautiful as a blooming flower, the enthusiastic old matchmaker, the kind and approachable parents, the guests chatting and drinking at the banquet…

All vanished in an instant.

He Xiaowei’s “husband and wife bow” ended up being made of thin air.

For a moment, he should’ve felt relieved, perhaps even exhilarated from narrowly escaping a dangerous situation. Yet, strangely, looking at the now-empty wedding hall, he felt a sense of loss, as if he had truly lost his bride.

After some time, He Xiaowei quickly took off his wedding clothes and ran to Zhou Qian. “Qian’er, what’s…”

But he saw Zhou Qian facing a direction, seemingly waiting for something. After a while, a little dragon climbed over the white wall and jumped into Zhou Qian’s arms.

Without turning his head, Zhou Qian said, “See? You’re so undesirable, even a ghost bride didn’t want to marry you.”

Unable to hold back, He Xiaowei retorted, “Damn it, Zhou Qian, your mouth is too poisonous! You weren’t like this when you needed my help!”

At this point, everyone had a question in their minds—was that it?

One player was forced to marry a ghost bride, while others were made to attend… Everyone was constantly on edge, thinking there might be some greater danger lurking.

But now, the ghosts just vanished out of thin air. The players, vigilant for so long, were unsure whether to relax or brace themselves for further risks. This game was so bizarre, keeping their nerves taut as if they had no room to relax.

Suddenly, a system notification sounded.

A new exclamation mark appeared on the map, instructing players to head to that location to trigger the next part of the storyline. It was a location everyone was familiar with—the wide street they had walked down twice when they first left the pier and entered the main city.

Having read the system prompt, He Xiaowei blinked twice. “So, should we go now?”

Zhou Qian petted the dragon’s head, saying, “You guys go first. I’ll catch up.”

Upon hearing this, Situ Qing was the first to ask, “Where are you going?”

Seeing that Situ Qing seemed keen to follow and fearing he might harm Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei immediately said, “Then I’ll come with you!”

If both of them were to accompany Zhou Qian, it seemed unreasonable for Yun Xiangrong to go alone to the street.

She said, “Then I’ll come see as well. For now, the system hasn’t set a time limit for us to trigger the next event. Before we go, it might be necessary to explore freely.”

Zhou Qian didn’t look at the two ladies and just nodded at He Xiaowei. He then left the wedding hall from the back door, went to the west chambers, passed its courtyard, and reached the back door of the house.

Pushing the door open, he found a narrow alley. Following the alley, he arrived at a large orchard.

“Why are we here?” He Xiaowei asked, pulling a powerful flashlight from his bag.

“When you changed into the wedding clothes, I explored the alley and had the little dragon help me find something.” Zhou Qian pointed ahead and continued, “There—”

Though the system stated that the little dragon didn’t have any special skills, was weak in offense and defense, and couldn’t heal, its advantage was that it had human-like life energy. It obeyed commands and could walk, jump, and search for things just like a human.

So, Zhou Qian had instructed it to find an open area like a lawn, wasteland, or garden. The more open, the better. If it found such a place, it was to dig. The dragon quickly located an open orchard and actually dug up something. It swiftly returned to Zhou Qian’s side and led him back.

At that moment, when the flashlight shone in the direction Zhou Qian was pointing, everyone could see that its beam was shaking erratically—because He Xiaowei’s hand was trembling violently. When he saw what was buried in the orchard, he was so terrified that he could hardly control himself.

Zhou Qian stepped forward, patting He Xiaowei’s shoulder to steady him and raising his arm for better illumination. With He Xiaowei serving as his makeshift spotlight, Zhou Qian moved closer to inspect what the light revealed—a vast pit filled with one skeleton after another.

This place appeared to be a makeshift mass grave. Many corpses were discarded here, hastily buried under the soil, making it easy for the little dragon to unearth them. At this moment, the little dragon let out a couple of whimpering noises at Zhou Qian.

Zhou Qian looked at it and nodded, and the little dragon immediately jumped out of his embrace, then rummaged through the dirt for a while. In no time, the little dragon had found numerous clues.

As the group of curious onlookers approached, Zhou Qian put all the clues into his bag. He Xiaowei was taken aback. “Qian’er, what do you mean by this?”

Zhou Qian glanced towards Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong. “My little dragon and I spent so much effort exploring, and you two just want to reap the benefits? If you want to see the clues, we can negotiate a trade. I’ll show you the clues, but in return, you need to promise not to backstab or harm me until this instance ends.”

Situ Qing frowned. “What if you want to kill me? If you attack me, shouldn’t I defend myself?”

“It seems you still harbor intentions to kill me. Even if you change your mind now, I won’t show you the clues. Xiaowei Ge, let’s go somewhere private to look.”

Zhou Qian didn’t need to look to guess that Situ Qing made an unpleasant expression. Knowing she was upset, he felt extremely pleased.

With a joyful smile, Zhou Qian indeed led He Xiaowei to another corner of the orchard.

Before leaving, he heard Situ Qing say to Yun Xiangrong, “No matter who you want to seek revenge on after the instance ends, right now you don’t have the strength to confront anyone. I think—”

“No need to consider. The one I want to deal with is Zhou Qian. He’s not completely evil and still has a shred of humanity. Because of Gao Shan, he won’t hurt me. But unfortunately, without him, Gao Shan wouldn’t have died. I will definitely seek revenge on him.”

Yun Xiangrong’s voice was cold and heavy. “I was willing to destroy all my skills at this stage. I fear nothing. And of course, you’re next. After Zhou Qian dies, if I’m still unsatisfied, maybe it will be your turn.”

“Your current skills are useless. We won’t need you for the next challenges,” Situ Qing told her. “Aren’t you afraid I might kill you now?”

Yun Xiangrong scoffed, “At least I have a brain, and it works better than yours.”

Situ Qing paused, seemingly not angered by this. “By damaging your skills like this, are you trying to show your allegiance to me? Showing that you have completely broken ties with Zhou Qian while also demonstrating that you’re presenting yourself to me defenselessly, so I should trust you? After all, in your current powerless state, you can only cooperate with me.”

Yun Xiangrong replied indifferently, “I see. You’re not that dumb after all.”

Situ Qing asked her, “What kind of grudge… makes you willing to cooperate with his enemy to kill Zhou Qian?”

“The love of my life is dead. From now on, I will live only for revenge. Is that reason hard to understand?”

Situ Qing pressed. “How can I be sure… you won’t seek revenge on me later?”

“As I said, I definitely will. But Zhou Qian is my top priority. You can cooperate with me, and after he’s dead, you can deal with me. Or, if you don’t trust me, you can kill me now. Consider which option is more beneficial for you. The only promise I can make is—” She took a step forward, looking directly into Situ Qing’s eyes. “During our cooperation, I won’t turn against you. I’ll plan my revenge meticulously.”

With that, Yun Xiangrong headed towards the mass grave. “Let’s also find some tools to dig. The little dragon might have missed something. There might be more clues here.”

On the other side, as He Xiaowei walked away with Zhou Qian, he overheard the conversation between the two women.

“Shit, they’re openly discussing a conspiracy against you!”

Zhou Qian seemed unconcerned. “So, are you going to team up with me or them?”

He Xiaowei decisively replied, “With you. Women… I can’t handle even one. The heart of a woman is like finding a needle in the sea… But, speaking of which, figuring out what’s on your mind is even harder than guessing a woman’s. That’s like finding a needle in the Pacific Ocean…”

Feeling the murderous glare from somewhere, He Xiaowei quickly changed the topic. “Oh, Miss Zhang, my heart belongs to her…”

Zhou Qian ignored his rambling and, feeling they had put enough distance between themselves and Situ Qing, stopped and took out the clues found by the little dragon. “Perhaps among these clues, there’s a story about your beloved Miss Zhang.”

Using a flashlight, the first thing the two of them saw was a black-and-white photo.

The people in the photo were easily recognizable—it was a photo of Dong Shui and Miss Zhang.

Both were dressed in school uniforms, indicating it was taken during their student days.

This couple truly were childhood sweethearts, deeply in love.

After Zhou Qian looked at the photo, He Xiaowei quickly took it, holding it as if it were a precious treasure, as if he really saw himself as Dong Shui.

Zhou Qian then looked at another photo.

It was a group photo of six people with the caption: [Falcon Squadron Memorial Photo, December of XX36.]

Upon seeing it, He Xiaowei exclaimed, “There are only six people in this? Eh? Jiang Yuqing isn’t in it!”

Zhou Qian pondered while holding the photo. “Jiang Yuqing never really seemed like a soldier. He should be a physicist.”

After thinking for a moment, He Xiaowei said, “Jiang Yuqing and us belong to the Seventh Army—the seven of us are comrades-in-arms. However, Jiang Yuqing isn’t a frontline soldier; he’s a researcher and not a member of the Falcon Squadron. Only the six of us here are squad members.”

“Yes, that seems about right,” Zhou Qian concluded as he put away the photo and found a letter.

The letter was signed “Dong Shui,” likely written to Miss Zhang.

“A’Hua, the Falcon Squadron has received a very important task, and I will be temporarily leaving Baicheng. A doctor surnamed Jiang has just returned from studying abroad. He possesses vital knowledge that might completely change our nation’s passive fate. However, he’s been targeted by the S Army. I heard that the S Army either wants to capture him alive and make him serve their country or kill him.

“The Falcon Squadron needs to escort him to Nancheng. The journey is perilous, and I can’t guarantee my return. Our engagement, merely a verbal joke from our parents, shouldn’t be taken seriously. I’m heading north to join the rest of the squad. If I don’t return within a year, find a good man and marry him. Don’t wait for me.”

After reading the letter, a part of the buried historical truth was truly revealed.

The “Dr. Jiang” mentioned must be Jiang Yuqing.

It seemed he indeed wasn’t part of the Falcon Squadron. He and the Falcon Squadron belonged to the Seventh Army and was an important researcher. To protect him from being captured by the enemy, the Falcon Squadron’s mission was to escort him to Nancheng.

Zhou Qian wondered—Yun Xiangrong said that Jiang Yuqing liked Bei He. Could it be that he fell in love with Bei He while the Falcon Squadron was escorting him? Did Bei He like him?

He Xiaowei, who took the letter, read it three times, then asked Zhou Qian, “If I’m understanding correctly, this…this…”

Zhou Qian replied, “You’re not mistaken. Dong Shui never married Miss Zhang. Neither the Falcon Squadron nor Jiang Yuqing came to Baicheng for the wedding. Judging from the beginning of the letter, Dong Shui wrote it after leaving Baicheng. When he wrote the letter, Jiang Yuqing might have been nearby. That’s why, deep in his consciousness, there’s the memory of this letter.”

He Xiaowei exclaimed, “So you’re saying…all of this might be Jiang Yuqing’s wish?”

“He must have visited Baicheng when he was young; otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a vivid city environment deep in his consciousness. So, what we’re seeing is probably a mix of reality and fiction. We need to keep investigating to understand the whole truth.”

After saying this, Zhou Qian looked at the last two clues found by the little dragon.

The first was a piece of red cloth, possibly torn from a red wedding dress.

The other was a red embroidered shoe, which also seemed to be worn during a wedding.

Upon seeing these items, He Xiaowei’s hands trembled. “Could this be…”

Without saying much, Zhou Qian handed him the items and headed down the street. “Let’s go to the next location marked with an exclamation point. By the way, where’s the military uniform you took off? Did you leave it at that house?”

“No! It’s in my bag,” He Xiaowei replied.

“Good.”

“Is the uniform…useful?”

“It is. Just wait. After so much foreshadowing… the climax is probably coming.”

……

A short while later, Zhou Qian and He Xiaowei arrived at the marked location first, with Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong trailing behind.

When they first arrived at this street, it was close to dusk.

But now, the entire street was shrouded in darkness.

A crescent moon hung high, illuminating the road. Streetlamps stood silently on both sides of the street. From a distance, they looked like shining stars, echoing the moon in the sky.

In the curve of the moonlight, Zhou Qian once again saw the beggar he had glimpsed through the little dragon’s eyes. The little girl was still squatting at the street corner, holding a broken bowl.

But unlike before, when she was alone, this time there were many children behind her. These children, boys and girls of varying heights and weights, looked different in age. Some appeared to be in their late teens, around sixteen or seventeen, while others looked as young as six or seven.

They all had one thing in common: dirty faces, ragged clothes, and none of them had feet.

The group of children initially went about their own business, but as Zhou Qian and his party approached, their eyes immediately turned towards them.

Under the moonlight, the children’s eyes shone eerily, like a pack of hungry wolves spotting their prey.

He Xiaowei was the first to retreat. For him, ghosts were already terrifying, but ghost brides and ghost dolls, which were often featured in countless horror stories, were even more so. He never imagined he’d encounter both in such a short span of time.

He Xiaowei was the first to move back and was also the first to be noticed by the little ghosts. A child of about eight lunged at him. He let out a piercing scream and was immediately surrounded by seven or eight of them.

In no time, not just him but everyone was completely surrounded by these ghosts. He Xiaowei couldn’t scream anymore as one of the little ghosts had covered his mouth, making him feel like he couldn’t breathe.

Even Situ Qing took out her bell, summoning wind and snow to try to fend off the ghosts. But it was no use. These ghosts seemed to fear neither weapons nor the biting cold.

Zhou Qian glanced at the other three players and then at the children surrounding him. A very young child jumped onto his shoulder, his cold breath chilling Zhou Qian’s ear, feeling even colder than Situ Qing’s icy spell.

Another child hung upside-down from his neck, patting his chest. Ghostly hands swiftly moved over Zhou Qian’s waist and thighs. But soon, Zhou Qian realized that they were just searching for the pockets in his clothes.

It seemed their main interest was money, not causing harm.

With this realization, Zhou Qian calmly stood still, glancing in both directions of the street. He quickly spotted Xiao Pang and Da Shou, holding a variety of items, likely things like dog’s blood and talismans, presumably to exorcise ghosts.

They peeked out from behind a streetlamp, curiously observing Zhou Qian and his group, pondering their next move.

Pretending not to notice them, Zhou Qian shifted his gaze back to the other players. They were all being entangled by the ghosts, and the more they resisted, the tighter the grip became.

Among them, Yun Xiangrong was the calmest. Perhaps after experiencing the death of Gao Shan, she felt nothing could be worse. Still, facing this situation, her face turned pale. Unlike the previous wedding scene, where none of the ghosts touched her, these ghosts clung to her, their icy touch sending chills down her spine.

Beside her, the “Ice Queen” Situ Qing was also rattled.

It felt as though the gates of the underworld had opened, and every ghostly touch felt like an invitation to hell…

Zhou Qian momentarily pondered how he’d feel under normal circumstances, concluding he’d probably be afraid. But unfortunately, he was currently emotionally impaired and felt no fear.

Seeing that the three players were tied up by the little ghosts, Zhou Qian relaxed.

With the ghosts tugging at him, he slowly moved backward, then addressed the ghost child around his neck. “Trying to steal something?”

A ghost child skillfully replied, “If you want to pass through the West Pier, you have to pay the toll!”

“Oh? Quite young, but seems you’re quite seasoned in mischief,” Zhou Qian remarked, and from that, he had a rough idea of the children’s background.

It was a time of war and chaos, and there were too many people who were neither well-fed nor well-clothed.

Coastal cities, however, were relatively prosperous during that period. In places like the docks, there were many visits from high-ranking officials and aristocrats. As a result, homeless children gradually formed a small organization, often banding together to steal or rob at this place.

During the day, probably wary of the patrol guards, they would act discreetly, begging innocently or looking for opportunities to steal. But when it became dark and the streets were deserted, they would brazenly rob.

Zhou Qian couldn’t help but think, ‘This is Jiang Yuqing’s conscious world. Everything here isn’t fabricated out of thin air.’

The wedding of Miss Zhang and Dong Shui may not have actually happened, but it might be Jiang Yuqing’s hope and imagination. He wished for his comrade Dong Shui to find happiness in life; hence, the wedding existed in his consciousness.

As for the robbery by the young beggars… Zhou Qian doubted Jiang Yuqing would imagine himself being robbed. Thus, this scene likely stemmed from the real-life experiences of the scholarly Jiang Yuqing.

For someone like him, if he was harassed by a bunch of rascals, he probably wouldn’t know what to do. Imagining him trying to manage urgent matters while being bothered, but unable to harshly reprimand the hungry and cold kids due to his sympathy, Zhou Qian thought that the scene must be quite amusing.

However, Zhou Qian’s analysis wasn’t meant to mock Jiang Yuqing. He actually realized a crucial point— the presence of these kids in this conscious world indicated that they had a profound impact on Jiang Yuqing.

Zhou Qian thought that based on this judgment, he knew what he should do next.

Moments later, on a street facing away from his three teammates, Zhou Qian took out a military uniform from his bag. He deliberately displayed the part marked with the number “7” and made a “shush” gesture to the children.

Their eyes lit up immediately, and they quickly started to laugh. They seemed very happy, wanting to shout out loud but holding back after reminders from their peers.

“It’s the Seventh Army!”

“I can’t believe it’s someone from the Seventh Army!”

“You’re here to fight the S Army, right? I knew you’d come! Please drive them away!”

“This is great! I need to tell others! I need to inform everyone!”

“Me too! I want to tell the entire city!”

In an instant, the seven or eight kids surrounding Zhou Qian disappeared. He Xiaowei couldn’t handle it anymore. After being surrounded and freed repeatedly, he yelled out desperately, “Qian’er! Qian’er, help me! My Qian’er, where have you gone?”

Suddenly, He Xiaowei saw Zhou Qian standing alone under a streetlamp, not bothered by any ghost. He shouted, “Qian’er! How did you do that?! Teach me! Help me! I’m about to be eaten! Ahhh, little brats, where are you touching! Wuwuwu Qian’er—”

After his loud cry, Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong also looked towards Zhou Qian, wondering how he always finds solutions so quickly. But before they could relax, they saw a more terrifying scene. Those kids had come back, and they brought a horde of ghosts.

Men, women, tall, short, elderly, children, and even crawling babies… a large group of ghosts surged towards the players like a tidal wave. Every ghost had a ghastly pale face, and when gathered together, they shone even brighter than the moonlight.

None of them had feet, but they floated swiftly towards the group of players.

He Xiaowei’s legs gave out, and he knelt down. “Now I’ve really seen what a ‘sea of ghosts’ looks like…”

Just then, he heard a child’s voice from behind. “Brother, sister, come with us. We can handle these ghosts.”

Turning around, He Xiaowei saw two children, one thin and one chubby. They looked normal and had feet.

Finally seeing humans, he let out a sigh of relief. The chubby child then sprinkled some black blood from a bottle around them, followed by the thin child placing some talismans. The surrounding ghosts vanished instantly.

Seeing the effectiveness of the two children, He Xiaowei laughed. “Damn, that’s impressive! Wait a minute. Zhou Qian mentioned there were exorcists outside the wedding earlier. Were you guys the ones?”

The two children nodded and then urged them to leave quickly.

Xiao Pang said, “There are too many ghosts here. We’re not sure if we can handle them. Anyway, you guys go with my elder brother first. I’ll stay behind and try to seal them as much as possible so they can’t catch up!”

Da Shou then took the hand of the nearest Situ Qing. “Yes, let’s go quickly, sister.”

The word “sister” seemed to make Situ Qing momentarily dazed.

Then she nodded, lifted a foot, and prepared to flee with the two children.

Not far away, a large group of ghosts was pouring out of the alleyway, heading their way.

If they intended to harm anyone, Zhou Qian would undoubtedly be the first victim.

However, with a bright moon overhead and street lights shining like stars, the mountain of ghosts surged forward… Zhou Qian stood motionless against such a backdrop, expressionless, as if he were a detached bystander.

He turned his back to the group of ghosts, looking distantly at the two living children.

Da Shou was leading Situ Qing and the others away, while Xiao Pang was sprinkling dog’s blood and throwing talismans along the way; both of their expressions were tense.

Squinting slightly, Zhou Qian raised his left hand, accessed the system panel, and quickly sent two messages.

Then a smile crept onto his lips.

Previously, he thought it would feel satisfying to kill Situ Qing in the side quest. He had to thank Yun Xiangrong for sparing her life. Indeed, what’s the use of killing a puppet?

Destroying all of the puppet’s beliefs, completely controlling it…

Then the master behind her would truly… feel enraged.

At that moment, outside of the instance, in Game Hall A711.

In a certain private room.

On a wheelchair, a pale and sickly young man named Mu Sheng was quietly watching on a tablet, but he hadn’t sent any messages for a long time.

Sitting next to him was an inscrutable figure, Priest.

Priest asked him, “Mu Sheng, you haven’t sent a message for a long time. Don’t you care about her?”

Mu Sheng pressed his lips together, not responding.

Priest continued, “Ah, I see. Do you want her to be in danger? Wait for her to fall into peril, then send instructions, rescuing her at the crucial moment… so she’ll be grateful and can’t leave you?”

Mu Sheng lifted his cup and took a sip, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. “She hasn’t improved at all. She can’t even see such an obvious trap.”

Priest laughed. “In my opinion, it’s not that she hasn’t improved. It’s probably that child’s calling her ‘sister’ that softened her heart.”

With that, he glimpsed a hint of amusement in Mu Sheng’s eyes as Priest added, “So you see, she cares about you. And you still care about her. I suggest you send her a message soon. Otherwise… I’m afraid Zhou Qian will beat you to it.”

“Zhou Qian…” Mu Sheng’s eyes turned icy. “Even if I have to use that thing, I… will make sure he dies in this instance!”

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