Chapter 38 Returning Home 8 Wind Orange Village

I entered the instance on August 6th, and today is August 10th. Assuming that one player has to get into trouble every day, causing a new event to appear on the list, there are exactly five today.

Ling Yuanshan believes that the players in this instance are all ghosts transformed according to their level of corruption, so unless they are completely dead, it is difficult to determine whether a player is still human or not.

Five heads were lined up on the edge of the floor. They must have been lying directly on the second-floor floor, heads hanging down, eyes squinting as they spied on Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan. Their expressions were identical; whether they were saved or not, the outcome seemed to be the same.

But Mei Su isn't planning to go home today, so Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan have to stay at this hotel.

Ling Yuanshan abandoned his idea of ​​going upstairs to smash the phone. He tilted his head slightly and asked Wu Wangwang, "Has the list been updated?"

Wei Dong almost died today. If he doesn't update, he'll have to wait until after midnight. But the stairwell is blocked, and it's dangerous to go upstairs. Spending the night in the lobby doesn't seem wise.

Wu Wangwang took out the list from her pocket and opened it; it hadn't been updated yet: "No, I checked a few days ago. The earliest it could be is after midnight. Why are they doing that?"

“I don’t know,” Ling Yuanshan said, not daring to relax at all and ready to run away at any moment. “We just mentioned smashing the phone and they showed up. If they weren’t eavesdropping upstairs, then… they wanted to kill someone to protect themselves.”

The source of the contamination should be something carried on one's person. Wu Wangwang's situation is special and can be disregarded. Ling Yuanshan only had one item on his body when he arrived. He ignored the scars throughout the process, and they naturally healed on their own. The other players were different; they all checked their phones at the same time after arriving.

Even Wei Dong, who had been targeting Ling Yuanshan, was no exception, habitually picking up his phone to check various commonly used apps.

Mobile phones can indeed obtain a lot of relevant information, but if the source of pollution is on the phone, then the players can almost be wiped out. No one can resist playing it. Even Wu Wangwang couldn't help but download a match-3 game for himself.

The key information now is the content on the phone. What exactly did Wei Dong and the other four see on the phone?

The content should have kept them doing something, and if they couldn't, they should kill someone to complete the task and thus pass the level. But in the end, anyone who took action ended up being completely corrupted and turned into a ghost.

Wu Wangwang immediately thought of Tian Ji. She hesitated for a moment: "Tian Ji showed me the contents of his phone. His replies were getting more and more agitated. He was gradually getting angry and his emotions were running high. Then he smashed my head against the sink."

Ling Yuanshan has now guessed that Wu Wangwang might not die, that she is a very special character, and that her identity is relatively easy to guess since she did not appear with other players.

Hearing her say that, Ling Yuanshan first glared at Tian Ji, then calmed down and thought about it, and said, "Tian Ji's mission is to marry an obedient wife. If he can't, he'll kill her. Lei Fu was paid to kill Mei Su. If he can't kill her, he can't complete his mission and go home. The other three are very strange. What are their reasons for coming?"

Wu Wangwang thought for a moment and guessed, "I think the three of them are the friends that Mei Su considers to be. But Mei Su deleted all the information from her phone, so she didn't have any friends before. These three friends are people she met later and suddenly became willing to be friends with her. If they didn't have ulterior motives, it's unlikely that they would come on a trip together."

When playing the role of Mei Su, Wu Wangwang watched a lot of short videos. She saw others say that travel is always a touchstone for emotional relationships. Whether it's family, friends, or lovers, you only need to go on a trip to see what kind of person they are and whether you can have a long-term relationship with them. Any problems can be exposed during the trip.

Some commenters have said that if you can't handle a broken relationship, it's best not to travel with anyone. You'll find that travel is like a mirror in front of a chasm, with nothing good in it.

Guan Lian, Jing Jiang, and Wei Dong were unable to leave any trace on Mei Su's phone. Why did they come on this trip with Mei Su?

Did Meisu accept their arrival because she wanted to experience the joy of traveling with friends, or did she want to cut off her last lingering feelings and say goodbye?

Ling Yuanshan pondered for a moment: "In that case, it seems we still have to steal their phones. We need to find the key information so we can take them down one by one."

The five heads were still hanging there. Wu Wangwang muttered, "This doesn't look like something we can steal."

Wu Wangwang had never missed the Night Festival instance so much, fearless, wielding her sword and cutting down anyone, human or ghost.

Ling Yuanshan thought for a moment and handed his long sword to Wu Wangwang: "It's okay, you take it. I'll go to the kitchen to get some food. We can eat while we wait. Those five probably won't want to eat anymore. We can choose what we like tonight. If they attack, just cut them down. This sword has been buffed; it can even cut down ghosts."

"Okay, I want to eat fish, fish soup would be even better." Wu Wangwang then hugged the knife, but it was too long and not suitable for her height.

Today, I saw some small fish on the mountaintop, and Ling Yuanshan felt like eating some, so I went to the kitchen and picked out two bowls of crucian carp and tofu soup. Crucian carp has many bones at this time of year, but the taste is still very delicious.

Then the surviving players and the ghost players started eating. Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan ate with great relish and were very happy. The expressions of the five heads above became more and more distorted. They were probably hating Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan for not going crazy. If they had gone crazy, they might have been able to survive.

But Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan were very calm, unusually calm. Apart from being wary of them attacking, everything was normal.

It was only 7:30 pm after dinner. Normally, everyone should have gone back to their rooms to rest, but today we were stuck, so we had to think of another way.

Ling Yuanshan looked at it for a while, then took Wu Wangwang's phone and typed in the memo: I'll go upstairs later. If they don't follow me, I'll steal the phone. If they do follow me, try to go to their room and see if there are any clues left behind.

After reading the content, Wu Wangwang added: I don't know how to pick locks, do you have a master key?

Ling Yuanshan had never thought about this question. He was silent for a moment, then typed: No... Just do it the way you like. At worst, we'll make those five accomplices pay us some money. They own their own rooms, so they should have money.

Those who can play together must have many compatible values, Wu Wangwang happily raised her red scissors.

They waited a little longer in the restaurant to make sure the five heads wouldn't move before Ling Yuanshan set off. He rushed up to the second floor, and Wu Wangwang sensed him groping the five players lying on the ground, trying to find their phones.

But the five players were penniless, and Lei Fu and Wei Dong were covered in mud. They hadn't even taken a shower or cleaned themselves after dying and coming back. What unclean ghosts!

Ling Yuanshan was outwitting and outmaneuvering five players upstairs, while Wu Wangwang was complaining downstairs.

Tian Ji's clothes weren't wet, but he was in very poor spirits. Plus, he was fat, so all his flesh was bunched up. Ling Yuanshan had to use a lot of effort to search all his pockets, but couldn't find his phone.

Jing Jiang found it strange. She was lying face down on the floor in her pajamas, her underwear showing but she didn't seem to care. Her whole body was deathly white, as if she had been dead for days. She had no pockets on her body, so she couldn't put her phone in there.

Only Guan Lian noticed that Ling Yuanshan was looking for his phone. She suddenly stood up and ran upstairs without hesitation, using both hands and feet to climb the stairs.

Ling Yuanshan reacted quickly, shouting downstairs, "Wu Wangwang, go check the rooms. Guan Lian is still rational. I'm going after her!"

The long sword was temporarily left with Wu Wangwang. Upon hearing the warning, she immediately put the long sword away and rushed upstairs. Sure enough, Guan Lian was nowhere to be seen. The other four players on the ground had black eyes and seemed to have blood flowing from their mouths. They looked like ghosts who died with their eyes open and were looking for a replacement.

Jing Jiang, who was closest to Wu Wangwang, reached out to grab Wu Wangwang's leg, but pulled her hand back as if she had been burned. Her rational mind was unusually confused, and she couldn't understand why she couldn't touch Wu Wangwang, even though the man she was with just now could.

Wu Wangwang didn't say anything, turned around and went to room 202, Jing Jiang's room.

The rooms on the second floor are neither too big nor too small, not as cramped as those on the third floor. They have windows and a small living room, and are just like ordinary hotel single rooms.

Jing Jiang was not a tidy girl; her luggage was scattered all over the room, and her suitcases were left open by the bed.

After turning on the light, something flashed in Wu Wangwang's eyes. She squinted slightly and looked over. It was on the pillow by the bedside.

Wu Wangwang closed the door behind her, locking the security chain to keep the pursuing ghost players out. She quickly walked to the bedside, lifted the blanket, and saw a photo frame inside. The photo was of Guan Lian and Jing Jiang, who looked very intimate. Jing Jiang was leaning gently on Guan Lian's shoulder with a smile on his face.

Guan Lian stood to the side, smiling slightly. Although she wasn't particularly happy, it was clear that she doted on Jing Jiang. Wu Wangwang was a little confused, unable to figure out whether the two of them were lovers or just very close friends.

Judging from Jing Jiang's habit of carrying photos with her, Guan Lian and Jing Jiang must have been very good friends, and their relationship was close long before they met Mei Su.

Who was close to Mei Su, Guan Lian or Jing Jiang? Which of them suggested going on a trip with Mei Su?

With questions in mind, Wu Wangwang continued to examine the items in the room. She noticed some opened medicines on the table. Judging from their effects, they were common cold medicines she had brought with her when she went out. Nothing strange about them.

The suitcase contained many odds and ends, mostly items for girls, such as hair ties, headbands, and small jewelry, which Jing Jiang casually put away.

Unable to find the phone, Wu Wangwang used her senses and discovered it was on the protective platform outside the window. She quickly went to the window.

The hotel had safety nets installed on the first to third floors to prevent thieves and falls. There was also a small platform between the first and second floors, where many things had fallen. Wu Wangwang had seen this kind of small platform in many houses, but she didn't know what it was for, although many houses had it.

It's raining heavily now, and the platform is full of water, but my phone is still inside and hasn't broken. It lights up when it receives a message.

It was quite far, and Wu Wangwang was short, which meant her arms were too short to reach it. In a fit of anger, she cut the railing.

After cutting through the railing, Wu Wangwang climbed out, waded through the water, and retrieved her phone, which had been receiving messages continuously.

Once a player takes over an identity, they generally won't set a password again unless there's a special mission that requires secrecy. Wu Wangwang didn't change Mei Su's password, but she did register Ling Yuanshan's fingerprint. If there's a problem, Ling Yuanshan can still use Mei Su's phone.

Since Jing Jiang's phone was unusable, Wu Wangwang wiped the water off her face and climbed back to find Jing Jiang.

After opening the door, Wu Wangwang saw four players gathered at the entrance. They were strange; they were only chasing after Mei Su.

Thinking the answer might be on the phone, Wu Wangwang unlocked it with Jing Jiang's fingerprint and quickly switched it to her own.

Then Wu Wangwang stepped over the group of things and ran towards 204, which was Wei Dong's room. The four players followed relentlessly as they climbed over.

The door was pried open, and a security chain was used to prevent those things from climbing in. Wu looked around the room and searched. He noticed that Wei Dongzhen didn't seem to care about the dungeon. He only used some daily necessities. He didn't seem to have touched anything in his suitcase. Everything was still in the suitcase.

The phone was missing, and it was confirmed that it wasn't in the room. Wu Wangwang suspected that Wei Dong had fallen off a cliff during the day when they went up the mountain, and she didn't know where it had gone.

Fortunately, there was a tablet in her suitcase. When she opened it, she found that the background image was a photo of Jing Jiang.

Several players tried to squeeze their heads through the crack in the door, which made it easy for Wu Wangwang to swipe her tablet onto Wei Dong's face. After changing the password, she checked the contents of the tablet.

The tablet has very little content and no chat software, but it has a journal and many photo editing apps.

Wu Wangwang squatted down and quickly flipped through the files, confirming that Wei Dong, the person impersonating Jing Jiang, liked her and had been spying on and secretly filming her. Many of the videos were taken from the side or back of Jing Jiang. Wei Dong had edited many strange videos himself, piecing together intimate phrases using Jing Jiang's words.

The journal records Wei Dong's original self's love for Jing Jiang and their daily life. He liked Jing Jiang and confessed to her many times, using many methods, and even worked hard to earn money, but Jing Jiang did not like him. Each time she rejected him, she did so in a different way. Before the trip, he recorded that he had failed 99 times.

But isn't love simply about taking ninety-nine steps forward and only needing the other person to take one step towards you to make it perfect?

The above sentence comes from Wei Dong's tablet journal. He encouraged himself and decided to plan a travel confession event. However, the next entry in the journal was strange. It was not related to the plan. Instead, he said that he would help Jing Jiang fulfill any wish.

This concludes the journal entry. It's likely that Wei Dong, the player, was impersonating someone else because he didn't want to write this.

With no other clues in the room, Wu Wangwang took the tablet and prepared to go to the next room.

Only Ling Yuanshan was on the third floor, so there was no need to check. Tian Ji also lived on the fourth floor. Wu Wangwang had looked at his phone, but the chat content alone was not enough to understand Tian Ji's background, so she went over there anyway.

Tian Ji's room was surprisingly simple, a kind of impoverished simplicity. There weren't many things in it; he didn't even use a suitcase, just a large canvas bag containing two pairs of underwear, and the rest of his clothes were hanging out to dry by the French windows.

When looking at the chat history, Wu Wangwang thought that Tian Ji's family was a well-off family, but she didn't expect them to be so short of money that they didn't even have a single extra item.

If they didn't have any money, why did they agree to go on a trip? And why did they book such a nice room?

The rooms on each floor of the He Gui Hotel are roughly the same. The most expensive is the top floor, which has a terrace. Next is the fourth floor, which is where Mei Su and Tian Ji have their rooms. The third floor is the cheapest, and the rooms are very small, where Ling Yuanshan stays.

Tian Ji's phone was neatly placed on the bedside table charging, but it looked like it ended up looking like that when he was playing on his phone and getting ready to sleep.

Wu Wangwang walked over, without checking the contents first, but changed the password and took the two mobile phones and the flatbed to the sixth floor.

As soon as she reached the top of the stairs, Wu Wangwang heard a commotion. She hurried upstairs and saw Ling Yuanshan frantically blocking Guan Lian's attacks with a tree branch. Every time Guan Lian charged at him with all four limbs, Ling Yuanshan would pry her off like a pig, as if they were playing some kind of bullfighting game.

"...Is it fun?" Wu Wangwang asked sincerely, leaning on the railing, eager to try it out.

Ling Yuanshan pushed Guan Lian away again: "Stop watching the show, give me the knife quickly, she'll eat my branches, even if it's extended indefinitely, it won't stop her from eating them!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Wangwang hurriedly threw his long sword over.

Catching the weapon, Ling Yuanshan's eyes narrowed, and he slashed at Guan Lian's hands and feet, severing her tendons without killing her, thus stopping her movements.

But Guan Lian seemed to feel no pain; she continued to twist her limbs, which she couldn't straighten, as she attacked Ling Yuanshan.

At this moment, the other ghosts downstairs also climbed up. Wu Wangwang was forced to walk to Ling Yuanshan's side. They were on the sixth-floor corridor, with a door on each side leading to Guan Lian and Lei Fu's rooms, respectively.

Guan Lian stood guard at the door, refusing to let Ling Yuanshan in, and didn't say a word, acting as if she didn't hear anything he said.

Wu Wangwang was holding two cell phones and a tablet, unable to free her hands: "Young Master, are you sure the phones are on her?"

Ling Yuanshan paused for a moment: "At first I thought she ran away because she had her phone on her, but she was so desperate just now, it doesn't seem like she had it on her. Why don't I stop her for a bit, and you go into the room and look for it?"

"I want to check Lei Fu's first. He should be the first player to die. Also, I'm a little concerned about that contract." Wu Wangwang looked at the other door that wasn't blocked by any ghosts.

"Alright, you go ahead, I'll hold them off." Ling Yuanshan stylishly twirled his sword and rushed out.

Without wasting any time, Wu Wangwang picked up the scissors and smashed the door lock. This time, with Ling Yuanshan guarding the door, she didn't have to be careful closing it.

The room on the fifth floor was excellent; it was even divided into sections. The entrance led to the living room, while the bedroom area was separated by a door. Lei Fu seemed to be a very careful person, as he hadn't left any of his belongings outside. Wu Wangwang went straight to the bedroom.

The bedroom is large, and the terrace extends from the bedroom. Despite the continuous rain outside, the water on the terrace has not overflowed.

Lei Fu's suitcase was on the bedside table. Wu looked over and looked through it. It contained a few simple clothes, medicine, a dagger, tape and other tools, like all the tools a normal person could imagine that could be used to kill.

The contents of the suitcase proved that Lei Fu's contract was genuine; he had indeed pretended to be Mei Su's friend to travel with her for money. Wu Wangwang couldn't understand what the drugs were, so she simply took the whole bag.

The phone was eventually found in the closet. Strangely, Lei Fu had thrown the phone in the closet, and it must have been there a long time ago. Wu Wangwang couldn't turn it on; it was probably out of battery.

With no other option, Wu Wangwang found a charging cable to charge and turn on the phone. She shouted to Ling Yuanshan, "Young Master, his phone is out of battery and needs to be charged. Please hold on a little longer!"

Ling Yuanshan outside sighed: "It's fine, except for Guan Lian, they seem to want to follow you more, I can stop them."

Lei Fu seemed to be even poorer than Tian Ji. His phone was quite old, and it took charging it to 10% before it could be turned on. Wu Wangwang quickly scrolled through the messages and found that Lei Fu rarely contacted anyone and never posted on his WeChat Moments. The person he mainly contacted was his father.

His father gambled and drank heavily. Before Lei Fu even left home, his father kept pressuring him to pay off his debts. He even said that if all else failed, he should get married and hold a wedding banquet in his hometown to collect gifts and recoup his losses immediately. With a wife, he could earn money with her to help him pay off his debts.

The other party was pressing him very hard, and Lei Fu hadn't replied since August 8th. His father was furious and cursed a lot, very nasty things, even thinking that it would be better to sell Lei Fu, since he was young, strong and healthy, and that selling him might bring in a lot of money.

But by then, Ralph was dead and could not respond.

Aside from the father who kept sending messages, there was another person contacting Lei Fu. He spoke very little, only confirming one thing each day—why was Mei Su still alive?

This should be Lei Fu's employer, but the other party's profile picture is the default one, the name is an automatically generated number, and the entire account is empty, as if it was a temporary account created to kill Mei Su.

On the evening of August 6th, Lei Fu reported to this person that he had secretly added a drug to the ginger soup that Tian Ji had given to Mei Su. It was paraquat that he had brought from home. This kind of thing cannot pass through security checks, so the other side rented a car for Lei Fu, and he drove it over himself. The car was parked near the hotel.

The paraquat had an odd color, and since Tian Ji wanted ginger soup, which has a strong flavor, Lei Fu only added a drop to avoid making it too obvious.

Lei Fu didn't know if a drop of paraquat could kill someone. He figured that even if he couldn't kill Mei Su that night, he could at least cause her some trouble. Then he could use his car to take Mei Su out of the village. At night, with strong winds and heavy rain, he could just cause some kind of car accident and pretend that Mei Su died on the way to the hospital.

But the next morning, Mei Su came down as usual.

Lei Fu panicked. He thought his mission was to kill Mei Su, complete the mission, and then travel in peace, waiting to go home to complete the game. But why was Mei Su unharmed?

Is Mei Su a ghost?

Although Lei Fu was panicked, he did not collapse. After all, he had only added one drop, and the effect was too weak. Even a sip of paraquat could barely save someone and leave them in a vegetative state, which showed that paraquat could not kill a person instantly. It was really hard to find a poison that could kill instantly. So he thought of another plan.

Poisoning won't work, so he'd better take action. He happens to have a dagger; after killing the person, he can go up the mountain and dispose of the murder weapon.

So when he came back that night, Lei Fu secretly climbed down from the balcony, waited for Mei Su to come out of the shower, stabbed her to death, and pushed Mei Su downstairs. He was very happy at that moment. He felt that he could finally pass the game. He could pass the game painlessly by killing only one player. It was too easy!

Humans are such fragile creatures! In games, a player's life is never a matter of life or death; it's all about who is stronger. Since you might not be killed by other players, you might be killed by ghosts anyway, so it's better to die at the hands of other players. At least you won't be scared half to death by ghosts.

Lei Fu felt at ease at that moment. He even felt a sense of joy and relief. This kind of thing is something you get used to after a while. It's not like he hasn't killed players in other dungeons before. He didn't have much of a psychological burden. In particular, he was even happier when he thought about the rewards after clearing the dungeon.

That night, Lei Fu reported to the person who placed the order that he had completed the task and hoped to receive the money so he could enjoy his upcoming vacation.

The other party said that the transfer would leave a record, and once Mei Su's death was confirmed, Lei Fu would receive 30,000 yuan in cash when he returned home, which would make things easier for him.

The chat history between the two ended there. That night, Lei Fu also had a fight with his father, probably because he didn't want to give him money. Plus, he was confident that he had earned 30,000 yuan. Lei Fu simply threw his phone into the closet and pretended not to know anything.

The next morning, Lei Fu saw Mei Su appear alive. He was certain that Mei Su was the extra ghost. He didn't know how to kill a ghost that couldn't die, and none of the players believed him. In despair, he wanted to hide, afraid that Mei Su would turn around and kill him. Little did he know that his journey would end there.

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Author's Note: [End of Chapter]

Wu Wangwang: What kind of normal person can I hang out with? [Starry-eyed]

Ling Yuanshan: Huh? Am I not normal? [Scared]

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Thank you for watching, and I hope you enjoyed the article.

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