Chapter 73 Xiaozhou Port (2)

"If you go out to sea, you will turn into a monster. If you don't go out to sea, you can't make money." Xie Songlan sneered, "Is this crappy game trying to kill people?"

"You haven't been to many dungeons." Xie Songjin spread his hands, "In fact, this game has always wanted us to die."

Xie Songlan: "Then shall we still go out to sea?"

Gu Qiufeng: "Why not go out?"

"According to what that woman said, the more times we go out to sea, the more the law of alienation will be aggravated." Gu Qiufeng smiled, "Then why don't we catch as many fish as possible in the shortest possible time?"

"That being said..." Xie Songjin said, "But the method you mentioned is based on the premise that the so-called 'rules of the game' on the wooden sign are correct. Now it is clear that going out to sea will cause trouble. In a way, can we really trust the rules of the game on the wooden sign?"

Xie Songlan: "What you two said makes sense, so should we go out to sea?"

Gu Qiufeng suddenly glanced at her.

Xie Songlan: “?”

Gu Qiufeng: "Can you pretend to be a little girl?"

Xie Songlan: “?”

Xie Songlan's face flushed with anger: "Are you humiliating me based on my age? I haven't even had my eighteenth birthday yet."

Seeing that his sister was about to lose her temper regardless of the situation, Xie Songjin patted her head and said, "I asked you to act like a little girl and ask questions. I have no other intention."

Although Xie Songlan usually appears as the president of the Second Guild, she actually has a rather childish face. When she doesn't speak or move, she really looks like a little girl who has not grown up.

Adults always have more patience and tolerance towards children. Xie Songlan should be able to get more information by asking questions than the two of them.

After a while, Xie Songlan came back with a piece of paper.

Xie Songjin was surprised and asked, "You can actually find out something?"

Xie Songlan said coldly: "Don't ask for a beating, you can't beat me as an assistant."

She handed the note to the two men and said, "This is a topographic map."

"If you want to resist alienation, there are three ways." Xie Songlan said, "First, don't go out to sea."

Gu Qiufeng said solemnly: "But we won't make any money this way, and we may not be able to clear the level. If we keep spending time in this instance, something might happen."

Xie Songlan said: "Yes, so there is a second way - purification."

"Where's the purification... Damn, if we had known earlier we should have brought a psychic player or a nurse." Xie Songjin almost didn't react at first, and now he regrets very much that he didn't think it through.

Gu Qiufeng suddenly thought of Feng He's skills.

What a coincidence.

But he didn't say it, and continued to ask: "What about the third method?"

Xie Songlan said: "It's the place on this topographic map."

Xie Songjin: "A temple?"

"Yes. They say that they are worshipping a god here, who can bless them to have a smooth voyage and delay alienation." Xie Songlan said, "But I think this statement is weird."

Gu Qiufeng smiled and said, "According to normal logic, this god should be an evil god. Our worship will only speed up the process of over."

Xie Songlan was very impressed by his words: "Besides, there is no such thing as free benefits in the game. If we want this god to bless us, then at least we have to contribute something."

"Since this is a method that everyone knows to resist so-called alienation, the man who just died must have known about it. So every time before he went out to sea, he should have worshipped this god like everyone else. But in the end, he still became alienated and died." Xie Songjin said, "This shows that asking for God's protection is actually only a temporary solution and not a permanent cure."

Gu Qiufeng glanced at him and asked, "Have you thought of any solution?"

Xie Songjin: "Puppet."

"Let the puppet catch fish?" Xie Songlan was shocked. "Can your puppet be so flexible?"

Gu Qiufeng suddenly remembered Yu Shanglai whom he met in the first copy. He was indeed very smart.

Xie Songjin also said: "It is indeed possible to be a normal person. To this day, I still cannot understand how someone could recognize my puppet."

Gu Qiufeng said: "You gave yourself away."

Xie Songjin: “?”

Gu Qiufeng recalled and said, "The day after your puppet died, we both came to the Phoenix Temple together, and you said to me, 'You knew it, but you still wanted to die.' Actually, you and I had no interaction before that, so you shouldn't know what I went through. It's strange to say that."

Xie Songjin was stunned and asked, "And then you thought of it?"

"That's not the case. I probably thought Yu Shang was in cahoots with you at first, so I tricked you when I was making puppets." Gu Qiufeng sighed, "I didn't expect you to be so easy to fool."

Xie Songjin: “…………”

The case was finally solved. I never expected this to be the reason!

Xie Songlan glanced at the sky in the distance and said, "The tide should be rising soon. We probably won't be able to go out to sea today. Let's find a place to stay."

Fortunately, there is a village not far from the port with a homestay.

When Gu Qiufeng and the other two arrived, they discovered that they already "owned" the room, which should be the arrangement of the copy.

Xie Songjin went back to the house to make puppets, and Xie Songlan went to sleep.

Gu Qiufeng left the B&B and walked around the area, then found the temple that the NPC mentioned with the help of the topographic map in his memory.

However, he did not go in, but looked inside with the help of natural light from outside.

There were many people who had just returned from fishing and were walking into the temple. With so many people coming and going, no one noticed Gu Qiufeng standing aside.

Gu Qiufeng lingered for a while. Because there were many people worshipping, the smell of incense was particularly strong.

But the smell of incense made Gu Qiufeng feel particularly familiar.

But he didn't think of where he had tasted this flavor before.

So Gu Qiufeng calculated it and let the wooden man out to go into the temple to take a look.

After waiting for a long time, the sky was getting dark and the people around were gradually dwindling, but Gu Qiufeng still hadn't waited for the wooden man to come back.

What's going on?

The wooden man seems to be very special. After going through several dungeons, he can absorb monsters and hide his body to gather information. The ghosts and monsters in the dungeon generally will not actively attack him.

But this time, the wooden man did not come back.

Did you trip over something?

Gu Qiufeng wanted to send another copy NPC to take a look, but after careful consideration, he realized that if there was really something strange in this temple, it would probably be a loss no matter who he sent there.

Although after going through so many copies, Gu Qiufeng still liked this wooden man very much, there was nothing he could do. He could only wait until tomorrow to discuss it with Xie Songjin and the others.

At this time, Xie Songlan came over. Xie Songjin had been busy making puppets and stayed indoors, so she came to Gu Qiufeng for dinner. After finding that there was no one in the room, she came to the vicinity of the temple.

"What's wrong?" When Xie Songlan found Gu Qiufeng, she noticed that he didn't look very happy. "Did you go into the temple?"

Gu Qiufeng: "No, but I have a prop that I can't come back after entering the temple."

Xie Songlan had watched the live broadcast of his first dungeon, so he said, "Is it a wooden figure?"

Gu Qiufeng: "Well, but it's too late now, and this temple is not right, let's talk about it tomorrow."

"Don't worry about that wooden man," Xie Songlan said, "It shouldn't be a simple thing. At least it can protect itself."

Gu Qiufeng hummed.

He always felt that the wooden man was too weird. He originally thought it was Feng He's doing, or Xie Songjin's trick. It was not until it was taken out of the copy and could move freely that Gu Qiufeng began to take it seriously.

At this time, he and Xie Songlan were walking on the road, and Gu Qiufeng asked: "Miss Xie, do you know if there are any A-level players who have the skill to split the soul?"

Xie Songlan thought for a moment and said, "Contemporary players probably don't have that."

Gu Qiufeng noticed her choice of words, so he asked, "Ms. Xie, do you know what happened to the players ten years ago?"

Xie Songlan said: "I don't remember, but Xie Songjin told me some of it."

Gu Qiufeng couldn't help but show a little disappointment.

Seeing this, Xie Songlan hurriedly said, "Why do you have that expression? I've heard Xie Songjin talk about this a lot. I said it was contemporary because there was indeed one among the A-level players of the previous generation!"

Gu Qiufeng: "Who?"

Xie Songlan: "White whale."

White Whale Gu Jiu, born in Wushuishen, is the deputy captain of the first team and the founder of the second guild.

Gu Qiufeng asked again: "If his ability is to split his soul, then he should be a spiritual player, right?"

Xie Songlan said, "Yes. It's not accurate to say that his soul is split. His ability is very strong. My brother can only use his soul to make puppets, and then use the puppets to do various things, but Gu Jiu's soul fragments can transcend time and space and attach to various carriers. I heard that this is a skill that gives Origin a headache."

The skill of the Divine Tears is the eyes that can purify everything, while the skill of the White Whale is unlimited travel.

No wonder X went to so much trouble to kill these two players.

Gu Qiufeng murmured, "That is to say, if Gu Jiu is trapped somewhere, he can control part of his soul to escape, or even enter various copies, right?"

"Yes, but this presupposes that he is still alive." Xie Songlan said, "But after the update ten years ago, there has been no news about Gu Jiu. If he is still alive, how is it possible that Xie Songjin has not found him after so many years of searching?"

Gu Qiufeng asked: "Xie Songjin is very familiar with Gu Jiu?"

"I can't say we are familiar with each other. Xie Songjin was just a kid ten years ago, how could he talk to such a famous person? But after that incident, all the people he knew, including his parents, are gone. So he can be considered an old acquaintance. And..."

Xie Songlan gave him a complicated look.

"You should be very familiar with Gu Jiucai, right? Xie Songjin was entrusted to you by Gu Jiu."

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Gu Qiufeng looked at Xie Songlan as if in a daze.

It was not until a long time later that he made a slight sound: "What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember?" Xie Songlan asked in shock, "Gu Jiu..."

Halfway through her words, she seemed to have thought of something and her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Wait, Gu Qiufeng, if Gu Jiu's ability is so strong that even X is afraid of him, does that prove that he can split his soul and escape the game?" Xie Songlan murmured, "Ten years ago, did he know something and split his soul to go to the outside world to find you?"

Gu Qiufeng said calmly: "But, if you say so..."

"Then it is very likely that Gu Jiu is not dead!" Xie Songlan said in surprise.

Gu Qiufeng said: "But I have never entered the game in my memory. How did Gu Jiu know of my existence? And if he is not dead, where is he now?"

Although he asked this, Gu Qiufeng actually already had some guesses in his mind.

Perhaps, the doctor he met when he was a child, the "Flower God" who helped him escape in the Huajuan copy, and the figure he saw for the last time in the Children's Choir copy, are most likely Gu Jiu.

But why did Gu Jiu do this?

The God's Tears were so involved with him that he didn't even care about the old depths.

Gu Qiufeng said: "Perhaps I should ask your brother about these things, but he is unwilling to tell me many things directly."

Xie Songlan also realized that these things had a great impact on Gu Qiufeng, so she took the initiative to pat Gu Qiufeng on the shoulder and said, "The past is not important. Just like your parents, do you have to follow the path they arranged for you? And Gu Jiu hasn't taken the initiative to reveal anything to you over the years, maybe he doesn't mean that he wants you to do anything in the future."

Gu Qiufeng paused and suddenly thought of something Lu Jinghong’s teammate had said.

Gu Jiu's philosophy is totally different from Shen Lei's.

If Shenlei wanted him to inherit its will, then Gu Jiu might not really think so.

Xie Songlan was right. If Gu Jiu really wanted him to do something, he would not have let him grow up for more than ten years without saying anything.

Even entering the game was initiated by Gu Qiufeng.

"Thank you." Gu Qiufeng suddenly said, "Miss Xie, I have always had a very frustrating idea. Thank you for answering it for me."

Xie Songlan: “Ah?”

She blinked, not understanding why she was suddenly helping Gu Qiufeng answer his questions.

But soon, Xie Songlan became entangled: "If Uncle Gu is still alive, then Origin will definitely not let him go. How should we find him?"

Gu Qiufeng said: "Maybe Xie Songjin knows."

"Ah?" Xie Songlan thought for a moment, then said, "Maybe he does know that Xie Songjin is an old riddle teller."

"But there's no point in worrying so much," Xie Songlan said, "It's getting late, we should go back quickly."

So the two of them went back to have dinner, washed up briefly, and then rested.

The night was peaceful. When Gu Qiufeng met Xie Songjin the next morning, he told Xie Songjin what had happened in the temple.

There are a few "people" following Xie Songjin behind him, all of whom are puppets he created overnight.

Xie Songjin waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "It's okay. In this case, we have to try the worship method anyway. I'll help you find the wooden figurine today."

Xie Songlan asked: "Aren't there only three of us? Why do you need to prepare so many puppets?"

Xie Songjin said helplessly: "Auntie, my puppets are afraid of water. We are going out to sea and they can't come back halfway. If the puppets get wet by accident, all our efforts for the day will be wasted, so we need a few spares."

As he spoke, fatigue appeared on his face.

Xie Songjin used his soul to make puppets. Although the puppets would be recycled after being scrapped, making so many puppets at one time would consume too much of his energy.

Therefore, using puppets to go out to sea is just a delaying tactic, and they still need to find a more reliable way to pass the level.

Xie Songlan asked curiously, "Your puppet is not waterproof, so don't you suffer in normal fights?"

Xie Songjin sneered: "You really don't care about my dungeon life at all. I don't use puppets in battles."

He paused, then added: "But I also have puppets that are not afraid of water."

Xie Songlan: "What?"

"It's made from living people, using their skin." Xie Songjin said casually, "Do you want to try it?"

Xie Songlan: "...if you keep talking like that, I'll beat you to death."

"Just a joke..." They had already reached the beach. Most of the local villagers had already gone out to sea. There were only three boats parked on the shore. Xie Songjin took a look and said, "It seems to be for us."

So he controlled the puppets and made them board three ships respectively.

Gu Qiufeng asked: "Does this thing need your command all the time?"

"No need. With my soul's help, I can just give them simple instructions." Xie Songjin said, "At this time, there are not many people in the village, let's go to the temple and take a look."

After watching the boat leave, the three of them returned to the village and found the temple.

Xie Songlan hesitated and said, "Do we really want to go in? What if there are ghosts in that temple..."

Xie Songjin patted her on the shoulder and said, "Good boy, you are the best fighter."

Xie Songlan: “…………”

The main reason is that Gu Qiufeng’s deeds yesterday have proved that putting things in is not feasible, so Gu Qiufeng has to go in and find the wooden man.

Anyway, we will go in alone, so why not go in together so that we can have someone to look after us?

After entering the temple, Gu Qiufeng subconsciously looked up at the statue.

Then a look of surprise appeared on his face.

This statue looks so familiar.

He subconsciously looked at Xie Songjin's reaction, but found that Xie Songjin also had a bit of surprise on his face.

Gu Qiufeng hurriedly asked: "Is this part of Gu Jiu?"

Xie Songjin was in shock when he suddenly heard a familiar name from Gu Qiufeng. He asked abruptly, "How did you know that?"

Soon, he reacted and glared at Xie Songlan beside him: "Did you let it slip?"

"It's no use getting angry with her now. I already know everything." Gu Qiufeng said, "Besides, I've already met Gu Jiu. Even if Miss Xie doesn't say it, I can guess something."

Xie Songjin asked: "Have you seen him?"

Gu Qiufeng: "Well, the Huajuan instance crashed probably because the game discovered Gu Jiu's existence."

"Wait, are you saying that the flower god is Gu Jiu?" Xie Songlan asked hurriedly.

Xie Songjin looked at the statue in front of them that looked like Gu Jiu and said, "It can't be said that it is. It's just that a part of his soul is attached to the Flower God NPC, just like it is now."

Gu Qiufeng said thoughtfully: "It seems that since the update is approaching, I have met Gu Jiu in every copy."

"During the update period, X's control over the game will weaken, which is the time when Gu Jiu can take action." Xie Songjin said, "This Xiaozhou Port instance also proves this."

Xie Songlan asked: "Why?"

"It's creating convenience for us." Gu Qiufeng said, "Xie Songjin, where is his real body now?"

"Dr. Mermaid." Xie Songjin said, "Do you want to go see him?"

Gu Qiufeng nodded: "Well, at least we should ask him what he thinks."

"You might be disappointed." Xie Songjin reminded, "He has been transformed into a dungeon boss, and the little consciousness he has is used to find you and protect the players."

Gu Qiufeng said: "It doesn't matter, I just want to see him in person."

While they were talking, Xie Songlan looked around and came back: "There is no wooden man."

Xie Songjin: "Could it be..."

Gu Qiufeng said: "Then I will just pay my respects."

"Do you really want to do this? I'm not sure whether Gu Jiu in this copy is conscious. If he exists as a copy boss, you have to think about it. Worshiping the evil god will lead to death." Xie Songjin said hurriedly.

Gu Qiufeng said: "Looking at his face, I think he should be a soft-hearted god."

In order not to implicate the Xie brothers and sisters, Gu Qiufeng asked them to leave the temple and help him guard the door. He then found three incense sticks from the side, lit them, and offered them on the cushion.

Will there be a response?

Gu Qiufeng remembered that someone said that one must be pious when worshipping God, so that his sincerity would be effective.

So, does his eager desire to see the gods count as a form of piety?

A strong smell of incense suddenly came to his nose, and then Gu Qiufeng remembered that Princess Anyang had this smell on her body when she was worshiping the flower god in the Huajuan copy.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a man in white clothes and a high ponytail in front of him.

This was the first time that Gu Qiufeng looked at Gu Jiu's face carefully.

"Do you still recognize me? I held you many times when you were a child." Gu Jiu said lightly.

His most outstanding feature is not his appearance, but his detached temperament, like a wisp of smoke that will dissipate between heaven and earth in the next second.

Gu Jiu has a pair of very distinctive, narrow and long phoenix eyes.

"I don't know how to address you." Gu Qiufeng stood up from the futon. "Doctor, or senior?"

Gu Jiu said: "It's up to you."

Gu Qiufeng asked again: "Are you waiting for me in this copy on purpose?"

Gu Jiu shook his head: "In order to weaken my mental strength, Origin stuffed a trace of my soul into this dungeon NPC. Originally, I was unconscious."

Gu Qiufeng: "Originally?"

"Yes," Gu Jiu looked at him calmly with his phoenix eyes, "Do you still remember that wooden man?"

"I sensed your presence, so I put a little of my consciousness into that wooden man." Gu Jiu said.

Gu Qiufeng opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

It turned out that Gu Jiu had been with him since he entered the game.

"Then why did you watch me walk all the way here?" Gu Qiufeng couldn't help but ask.

Gu Jiu sighed, "I didn't expect you to enter the game. In my imagination, you would grow up peacefully like a normal child and live your life. It's just that Origin's strength has become stronger and stronger over the years, and it has actually deeply affected reality."

Gu Qiufeng said: "But I look the same as Lu Jinghong."

"Ah, this," Gu Jiu laughed, "Don't be afraid, you have nothing to do with it. This is just an accident, done by... one person. Maybe Xie Xin will know more about this."

Gu Qiufeng said: "He didn't enter the game."

"You actually carried it in there?" Gu Jiu said, "Well done."

Gu Qiufeng said: "I want to know everything about me."

Gu Jiu didn't say anything for a while, just stared at him quietly.

Then he asked, “Do you really want to know?”

Gu Qiufeng said: "If you don't know where to start, you can first tell me what X is."

Gu Jiu sighed: "X is actually just like me, always by your side."

"No one knows when it came into existence. Shenlei has a guess that maybe X is the so-called creator, but after the creator created humans, he created newer species, which are the ghosts you see in the dungeon. The creator wants to use those guys to destroy humans. Creation, growth, development, and destruction are actually natural laws." Gu Jiu said, "But this is just a guess. Who knows what happened tens of millions of years ago?"

"After that, the other world grew bigger and bigger, and gradually reached our generation."

"I found a child in a dungeon. Why did I notice this child? Because I found that he looked a lot like my teammate. I suspected that he was her relative, so I used some means to bring him out of the dungeon."

"Then I realized he was a monster kid raised by monsters."