Chapter 572 Above the Posa (108) [VIP]

Wen Qi naturally didn't know that Xu Ke had already discovered the existence of the underworld and was preparing to come back here again to take them all out.

The distance from the pharmacy to the shallows was not far. When she arrived, it was almost dusk. The sun was hanging on the edge of the Forgotten River, reflecting a light golden glow on the lake.

"Wait a minute, I'll show you." Tang Ling and Qiu Zihan followed behind, one looking at the constantly updated map on the foundation's panel, and the other replying to messages in the group chat, "They said they were waiting for someone to come out of the shallows."

"Waiting for someone... Is there anyone else here?" Wen Qi wondered.

Now, among all the people who can contact her teacher, four out of seven are by the Forgotten River, and the remaining three are all alive and well and cannot enter the shallows at all.

Jiang Jie didn't know why he was able to enter, but Jiang Jie seemed to be waiting for someone with Scarao. Who were they waiting for?

"We don't know either," Tang Ling shrugged, "Let's go over there first and talk about it later."

What else could be in the Forgotten River? Apart from the residual souls, there are some soul fragments that have been washed away and have no shape. It would not be surprising if Skao and the others got in touch with a certain soul.

"Hey, be careful, Qiqi, do you want me to help you?" Qiu Zihan jumped up and down on the pebble beach, and even used one hand to support Wen Qi who almost fell. "Don't wear your skirt when you come to the pebble beach. It's so inconvenient."

Wen Qi silently supported his hand: "I didn't bring any other clothes."

When she entered the underworld through the elevator game, she didn't bring any luggage with her, and all the clothes she changed into a few days ago were borrowed from Tang Ling or Di Xueni.

I don't know when it was transferred to the screen here:

[Sorry for being so presumptuous, the white dress is Wen Qi's battle robe. Wearing it will give you attribute bonus points.]

[What attribute bonus points? ]

[Automatically activate the "Little White Flower" skill, launch the "Pitiful" light wave, credibility instantly +50%]

[Damn, it really seems true when I think about it. Wen Qi's face really looks weak and innocent when she wears a white dress, but when she changed into sportswear before, there was no such effect.]

[With this face and this skirt, even if she was standing next to a corpse, I would still think she was weak and innocent, and I would suspect from the bottom of my heart that this person was killed by someone else.]

[Some things that you think are small but are actually very big: Wen Qi, who is about 1.7 meters tall. ]

[…Thank you, I’m awake now. Yours is taller than mine.]

…

"I'll hold your hand and walk with you," Qiu Zihan volunteered, holding Wen Qi's wrist, "We still have a long way to go."

"...Thank you." Wen Qi was silent for a few seconds, but still grabbed Qiu Zihan's arm.

The shallows are full of stones, so it is easy to fall. Falling is a small matter, but soaking your whole body in the water of the Forgetful River can cause big trouble if you are not careful.

Even though she knew that the last incident was because she and the teacher were too close, it was better to have less trouble than more, and it was better to avoid similar crises if possible.

"Let's go, let's go. It's not a big deal, and you're still saying thank you." Qiu Zihan patted his chest, "Don't even think about dragging you away, I can even carry you on my back... ah."

He covered the back of his head and screamed, "Sister...why did you hit me?"

"I hit you for not walking properly," Tang Ling glared at him, "Hurry up and leave, don't talk nonsense here."

Among all the exploration team members, only the fool Qiu Zihan does not know that this is the underworld and this river is the Forgotten River.

Wen Qi usually didn't have such a good face towards him, but now she suddenly took the initiative to help Qiu Zihan walk. This definitely showed that the Wangchuan River was not simple, and even walking here would have certain risks.

And the idiot Qiu Zihan was jumping around in this dangerous water area. If Tang Ling hadn't been afraid of the safety hazard of falling into the water, he would have wanted to kick this fool.

"Let's go," she took a step forward and grabbed Wen Qi's hand, "I'll take you with me. The sun has already set. Go see if the little ghost has appeared first."

Little devil...

The little ghost was afraid that something really happened.

Wen Qi devoted part of his mind to the world of the living and looked around.

There was nothing in Xu Ke's sister's room. The baby-sized ghost that often followed her silently did not appear as the sun set.

"Little ghost...little ghost?" Wen Qi called out softly twice, but no figure appeared.

She frowned slightly, rolled off the bed, opened the window and planned to stick her head out to see if the little ghost was downstairs in the community.

As soon as she sat up, she heard the door lock click and was opened from the outside.

"Qiqi?" Xu Ke's mother poked her head out, "Are you awake?"

"Auntie, I'm awake." Wen Qi quickly retracted her head, pretending to open the window for some fresh air, and lowered her head embarrassedly, "I'm sorry for sleeping in your house for so long..."

"It's okay, it's okay," Xu Ke's mother waved her hand. "There's nothing to do in the afternoon, so you can sleep as long as you want. My daughter also sleeps until the evening when she's on vacation. Are you hungry when you wake up? I'll prepare dinner for you."

"I'm... okay, not very hungry," Wen Qi quickly replied, "You haven't cooked yet? Then let me help, I'll wash the vegetables for you..."

He said he was washing vegetables, but in fact he was using the excuse of continuing to wash vegetables to observe Xu Ke's parents' home.

The little ghost would not respond to her call immediately when there was nothing to do, but would stay near her, perhaps at Wen Qi's parents' home.

No…none at all.

It seems that something really happened.

Wen Qi quickly thought about what it meant that Xiao Gui was in trouble. Lin Jianyu was dead, so it definitely wasn't him who did it. Could it be that a "big shot" did it...

While answering questions from Xu Ke's parents, Wen Qi walked from the room to the kitchen, quickly scanning the surroundings.

Just then, she noticed something strange.

"Auntie, where is Brother Xu Ke?" Wen Qi put on an apron and turned to ask curiously.

"Xu Ke, I don't know what happened to him," Xu Ke's mother said with a bit of disgust, "He received a phone call in his room this afternoon, and then ran out in a panic again. Don't worry about him, that's just his personality."

It seemed like he knew something.

Wen Qi sighed in her heart, secretly guessing that Xu Ke might have got some new clues, which might be related to Xiao Gui's disappearance. She asked with concern, "Will Brother Xu Ke come back for dinner?"

"Old Xu, make a phone call and ask." Xu Ke's mother raised her chin towards Xu Ke's father.

"Let me ask..." Xu Ke's father took out his cell phone and waited for more than ten seconds. "Hey, hang up. Something happened."

"Then just leave him alone." Xu Ke's mother was used to it.

If the police hang up the phone, it only means that there is something going on. In this case, the best solution is to stop disturbing them and wait for them to call back after they are done.

The other person's parents didn't say anything, so Wen Qi, who had originally hoped to get something from Xu Ke's parents, naturally had no idea.

She could only suppress the doubts in her mind about where Xu Ke had gone, and while washing the vegetables she briefly focused her attention on the underworld.

"Almost there, almost there," Qiu Zihan said as he checked the map, "It's just ahead, Scarao——"

Not far ahead, two standing figures stood out on the empty shallows.

"Why did you run so far..." Qiu Zihan wailed, "Who are you waiting for? Why did you run so far?"

"Why are you all here?" Bai Jinshu turned his head and raised his eyebrows.

"Wen Qi didn't know the way here, so I followed her and met Qiu Zihan on the way." Tang Ling explained briefly in a few words.

“You wait here…” She pointed to the deep end of the shallows.

"Wait for a team member," Zhao Yinglai paused, "Look, here they come."

In the Lethe River, a particularly dark grey shadow was floating towards them.

Unlike other gray shadows, this shadow is composed of two "shadows" overlapping each other.

"He really brought it out..." she muttered in a low voice.

"What?" Qiu Zihan didn't hear clearly, "Is that thing coming for us? Should we fight? Should we run away?"

"Run away," Tang Ling gave a slap, "This should be the person that Skao is waiting for."

The gray shadow moved very quickly and soon it was getting closer and closer to them.

The closer they looked, the clearer it became. The special thing about this shadow moving towards them at high speed was not just the two overlapping parts. In addition, one of the two shadows was complete, one was incomplete, one was stable, and the other was struggling violently like crazy.

"Look," Zhao Yinglai lowered his voice and leaned close to Bai Jinshu's ear, "the shadow other than He Chuling seems to have no right hand or foot."

Bai Jinshu nodded: "I saw it."

He Chuling's color is similar to that of the original owner of the "big shot" she brought out, but the original owner of the "big shot"'s body is not only smaller than hers, but the left half also seems to have been neatly cut off. The difference can be seen at a glance.

For some reason, the "big shot" was struggling violently, as if he was trying to escape under the water, but He Chuling used the advantage of having all his hands and feet to lock him up and prevent him from escaping back under the water.

"This is being... um, corroded?" Zhao Yinglai gestured, "Is he stupid?"

This looks nothing like the other grey shadows floating on the water. At least those shadows aren't struggling violently to get back into the water. They're all quite calm.

Could it be that this is also a manifestation of the residual soul that entered the Forgotten River being eroded away bit by bit?

"I don't know if he's stupid or not," Bai Jinshu pressed his knuckles against his forehead, "but I'm afraid... he can't communicate like He Chuling."

He Chuling's soul was intact, but she couldn't speak complete sentences, let alone the residual soul that had been running in the Wangchuan River for hundreds of years.

"Then what else can we do..." Zhao Yinglai made a gesture of wiping his neck.

"It's hard to say." Bai Jinshu shook his head.

Compared to two people who have to play charades in the underworld, the barrage is much freer:

[The souls of these two people are the same color. Does the depth of the soul color represent something? ]

[What do the original big shot who was replaced have in common with He Chuling? 】

[Were they all alive when they entered? 】

[I don't think so. He Chuling's color will fade. It has faded a lot compared to last time. At this rate, the big shot should have become transparent after so many years. But now it is still the same color, even darker than He Chuling's.]

[Yes.]

[But he is missing arms and legs. Has he been eroded by the Forgotten River? ]

[It seems so. Can he still kill the old man who occupies his body? I am a little worried.]

"This color..." In the unknown space, the team members were also discussing in a low voice.

"It should be related to memory." Bai Jinshu rubbed his fingertips.

He had limited knowledge about the Wangchuan River and the underworld, but based on He Chuling's previous performance, they clearly did not mention the appearance of the important person, but she quickly knew who they were looking for as soon as she heard the name. This can only mean one thing.

The "big shot" who was replaced would often mention his own name.

There should be no communication between souls in the Forgotten River, otherwise He Chuling would not speak so intermittently. Then the only way for her to know the name of the big shot is that the "big shot" himself would repeat this way over and over again even if there was no one to communicate with.

The "big man" who was replaced has already engraved his name deep in his soul.

Combined with their colors…most of the time the color of the soul is related to whether the memory has faded, while the shape of the soul is related to its completeness.

The soul of the big man is no longer complete, but he still remembers his own name, which shows how much hatred he had when he entered the Forgotten River.

As the two shadows got closer, a low voice also came from far away.

"Give me back...my body...thief...get out!"

There is no need to think about who said this. It can't be He Chuling, a member of the team whose soul is intact and whose emotions are calm.

The voice came from far away and the content of his muttering was repeated over and over again. Before long, everyone heard a familiar name in his repeated muttering.

"Big shot?" several people blurted out.

Isn’t this the name of a big shot?

Along with this neurotic mumbling, He Chuling finally brought the "big shot" to Skao and the others. "He has been struggling. I am very tired."

"I understand." Bai Jinshu nodded.

"You said, take me out." He Chuling repeated again.

"Wait a minute, we will take you out, but now we have to make sure he can still communicate..." Zhao Yinglai stretched out his hand a little worriedly, "Can he talk? Do you still want revenge?"

"Give it back to me... thief..." For some reason, the shadow of the big shot struggled much less vigorously.

When he was caught by He Chuling and floated from the depths of the Forgetful River, he had been struggling violently to get back into the water. But now that he had reached the shallows, he stopped struggling for some reason and seemed to have calmed down a lot.

"If I can lead you to find the person who stole your body," Zhao Yinglai tried to have a conversation, "you can kill him and return to your own body. How about that? Let's do it."

"Kill him...give him back to me! Thief...kill the thief..." the ghost of the big shot muttered in a mess.

"Yes, yes, yes. We'll find someone to take you to find him now..." Zhao Yinglai took out a paper man in a persuasive manner, "You come in first."

"Thief... thief..." the soul of the big man repeated.

"Yes, thief, don't you want to kill the thief?" Zhaoying came to guide.

"Stop talking, he can't understand you," Bai Jinshu interrupted her, "He is just repeating some words mechanically, he is not talking to you at all."

Unlike He Chuling, the big shot did not have any ability to communicate. He was just repeating these words mechanically.

Zhao Yinglai frowned: "It's over, then all our efforts were in vain?"

They originally wanted to let the person whose body was taken over by the big shot kill the current big shot, but now it seems difficult.

"Not necessarily..." Bai Jinshu looked around and subconsciously figured out a question, "Why is his struggle weaker?"

Didn’t he struggle hard when He Chuling brought him here just now?

"Uh... because he's, um, afraid of heights?" Qiu Zihan was imagining things.

Bai Jinshu: ...

"The child is still young, he is just joking..." Tang Ling covered Qiu Zihan's mouth with his hand, "You guys talk."

This broken kid.

[It’s so funny, Zi Han looks so unconvinced. ]

[Zi Han's guess does make sense. I also think he might be afraid of heights. So funny.]

[You might as well say that he is afraid of heights because he has been in the Forgotten River for so long that he has developed gills, so he will struggle after leaving the water.]

[You know what, this guess seems more likely than fear of heights. ]

There are all kinds of random guesses in the barrage.

"Could there be something in the water?" Tang Ling changed the subject.

"That shouldn't be the case. If there was something in the water, he should be reluctant to leave, instead of looking very angry..." Zhao Yinglai retorted subconsciously.

The replaced big man currently seems unable to communicate, and his inconsistent attitude is the only breaking point.

"Could it be that after soaking in the water for too long, the...skin fragments have developed a certain connection with the river water..." She scratched her head and guessed without hope.

“Mmmm…” Qiu Zihan gestured.

"What are you going to say?" Tang Ling lowered his head and saw him pointing at his hand covering his mouth. "It's better not to say it."

According to this kid's train of thought, it is hard to imagine what he will say, but it will not be an effective speculation anyway. In order to prevent him from misleading everyone, it is better not to let him say it.

“Mmmmm…” Qiu Zihan danced with joy.

"You'd better say something useful." Tang Ling gave him a death look.

"I was just joking, just joking," Qiu Zihan took a few breaths and wiped his forehead guiltily, "I was thinking, is there something in the river that he's afraid of?"

"For example, big crocodiles, big sharks..." Qiu Zihan counted on his fingers and listed a bunch.

The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously. Qiu Zihan doesn't know that this is the Forgotten River, but others know it.

Big crocodiles and sharks are impossible, but scary things... this direction is very likely.

"Something I'm afraid of... is possible." Zhao Yinglai thought about it.

The big shot looked like he was afraid, gesticulating all over the place.

"Could it be that staying in the river was very painful, so it became like this after leaving..." She muttered softly, and tried to talk to the big shot again, "If you kill the thief who stole your body, we will make sure you never have to come back to this place again, what do you think?"

"I don't think he thinks that's very good." Without waiting for the big shot to answer, Zhao Yinglai asked himself, "Why would I communicate with a fool?"

Even if there really was something he was afraid of in the river, he couldn't communicate with them like this. The hardware conditions were there. After soaking in the water for a long time, not to mention the irreversible damage to his brain, the current situation is that half of his body has been melted.

"Forget it, why don't we go back..."

"It's not something to be afraid of." Before Zhao Yinglai could finish his words, Bai Jinshu, who had been silent beside him, suddenly spoke.

"He saw the thing he hated most."

Zhao Yinglai paused for a moment: "Hiss... the thing he hates the most... yes, the thing he hates the most!"

She suddenly took a few steps forward with a little excitement: "Why didn't I think of it?"

"What?" Tang Ling didn't follow their train of thought at all. "What do you mean?"

"The water surface is reflective..." Bai Jinshu raised his head and looked into the depths of the Wangchuan River. "The big shot is so excited because he saw me."

He had been soaked in the Forgotten River for many years, and his soul had been washed over and over by the river water, and was no longer complete. The only motivation that kept him going was to return to his body and drive away the person who had invaded his body.

Just as Zhao Yinglai whispered, after years of soaking, not to mention the brain, the body is probably dulled by the soaking. For decades, this regret has been echoing in his mind, waiting for the day when his enemy will also enter the underworld in the dark riverbed. Suddenly he was taken away from the riverbed and flew to the surface. Seeing himself in the reflective river surface, he could no longer recognize whether it was the reflection or the enemy who occupied his body.

The "big shot" was punching and kicking the water, extremely excited. It was not because there was something in the river that he was afraid of, but because he saw himself in the reflection of the river surface.

He mistook himself for the person who had replaced his own body and continued to live in the world.

Why did he calm down when he reached the shore? Of course, it was because the shore of the Wangchuan River had become a river beach, with many large and small stones scattered all over. These stones destroyed the integrity of the water surface, so that he could no longer use the water mirror to see his angry face.

"The person he hates the most is... himself." Wen Qi said.

"So..." Zhao Yinglai paused.

"Bring me a mirror," Bai Jinshu stretched out his hands around him, "I know what to do."

It doesn't matter if a big shot loses his memory, as long as you are sure of his death, you can achieve the same effect.

[Damn, why didn't I think it was a reflection on the water. ]

【You are still you, Aoshen. 】

Why can’t I have such a brain…

[Wen Qi and Jiang Jie also reacted very quickly. When Ao Shen said the most hated person, Jiang Jie reacted immediately. When the two of them said the reflection, Wen Qi also reacted.]

[Seriously. Is it true that Wen Qi can't join the Foundation? I feel like she's very suitable to join the Foundation as an exploration team member since she's so smart.]

[As mentioned earlier, exploration team members must have an unfulfilled obsession in their hearts to be selected by the Foundation. Wen Qi should not have any obsessions at the moment, right? ]

[Indeed, if her previous obsession might be the abuse of her parents or her unfair life, then as Aoshen entered this unknown space, Wen Qi's parents died, and her brother seemed to be dying soon, so much of the family property would eventually belong to her alone. She lived such a happy life, so she definitely wouldn't have any obsession.]

[That's right, so hoping that she can join the foundation is just empty talk.]

There were many speculations on the barrage about whether Wen Qi would become a member of the exploration team.

In the unknown space, the mirror soon fell into Bai Jinshu's hands.

"Look here," Zhao Yinglai held up the mirror.

"Ahhh, thief! Thief!" The remaining soul of the big shot whose body was occupied suddenly became excited and rushed towards the mirror, "Give it back to me! My body! Give it back to me!"

"Paper man." Bai Jinshu said.

Zhao Yinglai nodded knowingly, turned the mirror in his hand flexibly, and quickly stretched out the other hand holding the paper man from his pocket.

The next second, the "big shot" who rushed towards the mirror disappeared into the air, while the paper man in Zhao Yinglai's hand moved without wind, curled up and bent slowly. The left arm and leg were all broken, and it became the same as the big shot's soul.

"Huh, it seems this trick works." Zhao Yinglai put his hands on his hips and let out a sigh.

"I'll take you away." Behind her, He Chuling uttered two intermittent sentences.

"Take it away, take it away, take it away," Zhao Yinglai took out another paper figure from his pocket, "Come in."

"Give it to him." He Chuling did not move, but looked at Bai Jinshu.

Bai Jinshu nodded and took the paper figure from Zhao Yinglai's hand. He Chuling shook it with satisfaction and finally entered the paper figure in his hand.

[This team member really believes in Aoshen.]

[After all, Skao is considered a well-known player? ]

[Aoshen is quite famous in the foundation. Wasn't the previous incident with the investment bank the first discovery of the Gu farm by their organization? It's normal for He Chuling to believe him, after all, it's such a big organization.]

[So, has Aoshen been given the good guy card? 】

[But why do I feel that Aoshen is not a good person? ]

[I feel like Aoshen is not a good person. +1]

[I feel like Aoshen is not a good person. +2]

[I feel like Aoshen is not a good person. +3]

…

There are all kinds of random comments in the comments.

In the unknown space, the group finally walked towards the outside of the Forgotten River.

"Now I'll think of a way to have the police arrest a member of the team," Zhao Yinglai said as he walked, "and then when this member arrives in the mortal world, Wen Qi, you will go to guide him, get the paper figurine of the big shot from him, and then find a way to take this paper figurine to see the big shot."

It was easy for the paper man to meet the big shot. Wen Qi and Zhang Weijing and Zhang Xujiao were classmates anyway. All he had to do was to stuff the paper man into their schoolbags or somewhere else. When they got out of school, he would definitely be able to take the paper man to meet the old man who had replaced the big shot.

What will happen then is predictable.

The process is perfect, the only drawback is that it will take at least until tomorrow daytime for all this to happen.

They can only stay in this location until tomorrow morning at the latest, which means seven days have passed since they came in, and they will not be able to see the scene of the important person's death.

"Pack up and go back to fill out the rules, then we'll be done with work and go home!" she said excitedly.

The main goal of entering this space, to fish out the Gu King Fu Yiran, has already been achieved. As for whether the rules here can be fully explored, based on their current understanding of this space, it is almost certain.

Even if they haven't found all the rules, with what they have found, the next team will quickly find the remaining rules and complete the exploration.

Perfect.

The barrage also started to show flowers in advance.

【Sprinkle flowers】

【Celebrating the successful completion of this exploration. 】

[Although it seems that I can't level up a lot this time, but according to my guess, if I fill in the rules of the underworld and the world of the living, it will be no problem to level up one or two levels.]

[And they also successfully fished out the other team members. ]

【Not bad, not bad. 】

【Congratulations on your successful exploration! 】

【See you next time, Aoshen! 】

【See you next time, Aoshen! 】

*

The atmosphere on the screen of the unknown space was relaxed, but in another world, where no one could see, Xu Ke was lying on the edge of the bathtub.

"Deputy Captain, come on!" The team members around him had a trace of reluctance on their faces.

"Come again!" Xu Ke coughed several times, "Press me harder later, and don't let go just because I struggle."

"No," the team member was dumbfounded, "I'm afraid I'll really kill you, the deputy captain."

"No," Xu Ke wiped the water off his face, "You won't die immediately after drowning. When I faint, just take me out and perform CPR."

“I wouldn’t have said it if I had known this…” the team member muttered quietly, “What if the space we’re going to isn’t the underworld? Then, Deputy Captain, you’ve faked your death for nothing…”

"Xu Ke just called me. If anything happens to you, Deputy Captain, then Xu Ke still has..."

"Okay!" Xu Ke interrupted him.

"Just keep it a secret from my parents. Besides, drowning is not normal. The nature of our work is so special. You can just blame it on some ghosts and say that something unfortunate happened when I was handling these things. Don't think too much about it."

"Of course I would think about it. I've saved a lot of people but this is my first time killing someone. I simply can't bring myself to do it..." the team member said in embarrassment.

"I'm not asking you to really kill anyone, and if I don't go, what will happen to the captain and the other people in the team? Come on, young man, stop dithering and continue." Xu Ke did not give him the chance to explain himself. Instead, he let out a long sigh and fell into the bathtub again.

The team member next to the bathtub looked at his hands in embarrassment, then looked at Xu Ke in the bathtub, and tremblingly reached out his hands to hold down Xu Ke's limbs.

Xu Ke let out a long breath when he sank into the water. Now that the breath was almost gone, his desire for air reached its peak and he couldn't help but want to get out of the water.

Just as he was about to stand up, the team members squatting beside the bathtub clamped his limbs tightly.

The desire to survive prompted him to start struggling subconsciously. People's strength is amazing when they are fighting to survive. As he struggled, water splashed in the bathtub, making a continuous "bang bang" sound.

The water flowed down his nasal cavity into his trachea, bringing a spicy touch.

"Cough... cough cough..." He subconsciously raised his head, but was quickly pressed down by a pair of hands.

The world before my eyes gradually dimmed.

The past twenty years of my life have passed by like a revolving lantern.

The team members at the tub gasped for air, feeling the strength draining from their bodies.

Ten seconds...

Twenty seconds...

Thirty seconds...

Completely motionless.

He started suddenly and quickly pulled Xu Ke out of the water.

"Oh my god, please don't let anything really happen..." His hands were shaking like a sieve as he performed standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation again and again.

The author has something to say:

I copied the outline away, I quickly wrote 500 more words to replace it, help…

Fortunately, I didn't exceed the word count and was considered a fake update... Otherwise, I would have to turn myself in to the editor...

Full hair