Chapter 103

Paopao was running for a while in the luxury independent gym when his feet suddenly stopped and he fell because of the track.

He got up, stroked his red forehead, and was still lost in thought.

After a moment, he clenched his fists, left the holographic arena, and returned home.

"Master Ming, you're back so early today?" Auntie came over to greet him. "You didn't have lunch, did you? I'll go make you some food."

"Just a bowl of noodles will do." Paopao said, "Where's my brother?"

"Of course I'm at work at this hour."

Paopao nodded, sitting absentmindedly in the restaurant. After finishing his noodles, he finally remembered to take out a packaging box from his backpack and put it on the table.

"Auntie, Xiaoxue is about to go to elementary school, right? I'm giving this to her."

Xiaoxue is my aunt’s granddaughter. She will start school in the second half of this year, and now is the time for her to prepare for the studies.

He bought an all-purpose tutoring machine, the latest model, which comes with a miniature holographic classroom. When paired with holographic glasses, it is not much different from attending classes in person.

With the learning atmosphere in schools declining, this machine is a great tool for self-study, but it's pricey. A Paopao package, which includes everything from elementary school to high school, cost a whopping NT$50,000.

The aunt was stunned when she saw it and refused repeatedly: "How can this be possible? It's too expensive!"

"Auntie, I made money, a lot of money." Paopao wouldn't tolerate any refusal. "If you don't accept it, I'll just throw it in the trash. And don't tell my brother."

Auntie hesitated to speak.

Paopao didn't look at her again, went back to his room, lay on the bed tossing and turning. Then he went to his brother's study.

No, there is no trace of the trial area in any of the information I can access.

In such a large trial area, not a single word was found.

He sat in his brother's study, staring blankly at a photo of the two brothers on the desk. In his hand, he held a paper.

A graduation thesis on whether NPCs in the holographic world have human rights, signed by Shi Xizheng.

"hypocrite."

Before leaving, Paopao whispered something and closed the study door.

When I went online at five o'clock, it was already dark in the Soul Realm.

Paopao walked out of the room in a daze, and when he passed the kitchen, he was brought back to his senses by the lively sounds inside.

Normally, there were only a few people in the kitchen: An Younian, Li Kangfu, Qiaojie, and Meihong would sometimes come to help. But right now, he could recognize several voices just by listening.

The polite Manager Liang, the noisy Li Xiang, the energetic Baozi, and the chattering Qingqing Aya...

It's bustling with activity, like a festival.

"Wash all these vegetables in the yard and send them to the kitchen. Tian Rui, go to the wine cellar and bring out two boxes of wine. No foreign wine, just Lotus White."

Leng Hanli directed several security guards into the yard.

Paopao walked forward: "Mrs. Leng, what is this?"

Before Leng Hanli could answer, An Rou's voice came in: "Kill the pigs and sheep, and prepare to welcome the guests."

"Farmer." Leng Hanli nodded to An Rou and walked away to continue her work.

Paopao stared at Anrou in a daze: "Boss, what kind of guests are you welcoming?"

"What do you think?" An Rou turned her head and looked at the mountains outside the farm.

"...Trial Group?" Paopao asked uncertainly. Receiving Anrou's affirmative smile, he immediately jumped three feet high. "Boss, you changed the venue?! Long live the boss!"

This caused several security guards who were carrying things to turn their heads and look over.

"Keep your voice down." An Rou stopped him.

Paopao fell silent for a moment, then lowered his voice and asked, "But Boss, even if we're not in the Trial Town, there's no need to choose a farm, right? We spent so much money to build it, what if it's destroyed again..."

"There are only a few hundred people, and most of them are bronze. How big a splash can they make?"

An Rou narrowed her eyes slightly.

Besides, she still had something to ask Kuang Dao.

With the change of location of action, the entire plan of eating fish was adjusted accordingly - it became simpler.

Attract all the members of the trial group to the farm and kill them all at once.

"Then how do we attract people here? Do we create a ghoul wave first?"

Paopao asked doubtfully, "The trial locations are all on the inner side of the three mountains. If a ghoul wave suddenly erupts on the outer side, won't that arouse suspicion? Also, we need to capture a group of players before we can create a ghoul wave, right?"

An Rou shook her head: "Of course it's not a ghoul tide."

If the player comes for the ghoul wave and starts fighting right away, she won't have time to ask what she wants to ask.

Moreover, the team's annihilation process took too long, which would inevitably attract the attention of the Longyan Guild, making it inconvenient to escape.

"Meng Ziyou is the boss of this trial mission, and the other ghouls are all derived from him. The simplest method is to use the Ghost Mother's will to drive all the ghouls here, and then attract all the players."

Paopao nodded suddenly, "Did the boss reach a cooperation agreement with Meng Ziyu?"

"No."

"Well……"

“But soon.”

As An Rou finished her words, the rich man's face appeared at her feet, carrying her quickly out of the courtyard and rushing towards the farm gate.

Paopao hurriedly used the Wind Step to catch up.

Outside the gate, Zhang Da held a small figure in one hand, lit a cigarette with the other, and took a deep puff.

"Uncle, we're done eating!" Zisha opened her two little hands and waved them in front of it.

Zhang Da put her down and silently took out two pieces of malt sugar.

"Wow! Uncle still has some... Can I eat Sasha?"

Zhang Da said nothing, just moved his hand closer.

Zisha picked up one of the pieces and said, "I have one piece and uncle has one piece. Thank you, uncle!"

She carefully licked a small mouthful, her face full of happiness: "So sweet, so sweet, this is the most delicious thing I have ever eaten!"

Zhang Da paused in smoking, his eyes fell on the remaining malt sugar in his hand, and he slowly frowned.

It imitated Zisha and carefully touched the amber candy with the tip of its tongue.

This disgusting taste... is it sweet?

"Uncle, isn't it sweet?" Zisha raised her little face with expectant eyes.

Zhang Da: "Sweet."

As it uttered this word, it bent down, picked up Zisha again, and retreated towards the door.

At the foot of the mountain not far away, a tree was hit by something, and the shaking branches and leaves extended all the way to the foot of the mountain.

Meng Ziyu rolled out from behind the last tree, ignoring the deep pain all over his body, and crawled towards the farm gate.

It parasitizes the body of an NPC child, and aside from being slightly stronger than an ordinary child, it lacks the player's skills. It can be said that apart from its brains and level, it possesses nothing.

From the small town on the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain, he tried his best but couldn't catch up with Zhang Da. Finally, he gritted his teeth and simply rolled down the mountain, which would have been faster.

If it were an ordinary NPC, he would have fallen to death long ago.

Fortunately, it was a ghoul, and in the few minutes it rushed to the farm gate, all its injuries had healed. It was just a face covered in blood, looking miserable.

"Let her go!" Meng Ziyu ran over with an angry voice.

Zisha heard the sound and turned her head: "Brother! Brother, you are bleeding! So much blood! Uncle, uncle, put me down!"

Zhang Da glanced at Meng Ziyu, then turned around when he heard the sound of a door opening behind him.

An Rou nodded at it.

It put Zisha on the ground, and the little girl ran towards Meng Ziyu. She was tripped by grass roots on the way, but fortunately her brother supported her in time.

"Brother, are you hurt? Does it hurt..."

Meng Ziyu wiped away the blood with his dirty sleeve, revealing his healed skin: "It doesn't hurt. Look, it's not my blood."

Zisha stared at it for a long time, then she felt relieved and handed the malt sugar over: "Brother, have some candy. It's very sweet."

"I don't like sweet things." Meng Ziyou said, still licking it lightly, frowning, "It's not delicious at all, you eat it."

"It's obviously delicious..." Zisha muttered.

Meng Ziyu pulled her behind him and looked vigilantly at Zhang Da who was a few meters away.

When it was halfway through the chase, it realized that Zhang Da had no soul. So it became even more anxious and simply rolled down the mountain, fearing that the other party would swallow Zisha's soul in one gulp.

At this time, Zisha was right behind him, but he felt more and more threatened.

The creature in front of him was very powerful, occupying the body of a destiny being, and was at least A-level.

Ghouls don’t have game screens, but they have intelligence and can often distinguish the strength of their own kind or the chosen ones based on their instinctive intuition.

"It's you!" Meng Ziyu's gaze fell behind Zhang Da.

"Who is it?" Zisha asked, sticking her head out and seeing An Rou and Paopao, she called out happily, "Big sister, big brother!"

Meng Ziyu pressed his head back.

An Rou's voice reappeared in Meng Ziyou's mind: [Are you sure you want to negotiate with me in front of Zisha?]

It shook its head vigorously, but this action obviously could not drive the other party's voice out of its mind.

Meng Ziyou said viciously: "Stay away from us! Or I'll eat you and the one next to you!"

[Oh?] An Rou took out the Silver Wind Mace from her back, [You're quite confident.]

Meng Ziyu's expression turned stern.

With its experience, it could naturally recognize the extraordinary nature of the weapon of the Chosen One, and its lethality must be extremely high.

An Rou smiled: [Don't be nervous. I don't need to kill you myself.]

Meng Ziyu suddenly turned his head.

Several figures appeared around it, quietly forming an encirclement.

They are all of its kind, and each one is of the same level as it!

No, they are parasitic in the bodies of the Chosen Ones, and their strength is stronger than mine!

Meng Ziyu suddenly turned around and pressed Zisha's face against his body. There was still no fear in the little boy's eyes.

It had many questions in its mind, why did an ordinary person have both the Chosen Ones and so many Ghouls around him. And it seemed that both the Ghouls and the Chosen Ones were her subordinates.

But at this moment, Meng Ziyu could only suppress all his doubts and quickly think of a way to break out.

It was difficult to rely on this parasite. The only way was to temporarily find a destiny person to parasitize.

The destined one named "Paopao" is the only choice.

Meng Ziyu turned his head and glanced at Paopao quietly out of the corner of his eye.

At this moment, its gaze froze, and its eyes widened. A look of fear finally emerged in its dark pupils.

There is another one of its kind on the ground!

The same kind of crazy changes!

The outline of the face was vague on the grass, and a huge eye was just one meter away, the pupil sliding slowly along the eye socket, staring at him.

Meng Ziyou felt as if he was enveloped in death from head to toe. Despite his intelligence far exceeding that of his peers, he couldn't muster the slightest bit of resistance.

If you have a thought, you will die.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Zisha tried to struggle out of his arms, "I can't breathe!"

Meng Ziyou swallowed his saliva and said reluctantly: "Don't move... It's okay."

[You want Zisha to see her beloved brother transforming drastically in front of her?]

The annoying voice sounded in his mind again, but this time, Meng Ziyu felt the breath of the devil from it.

This woman...

It gritted its teeth: [What do you want?]

An Rou smiled: [You know about that deal.]

-

"There are three mountains, a total of 13 mission points. Each one has two or three teams of Chosen Ones. The rest are in town. Do you have a pen? I can draw a topographic map for you."

In the bun shop, Meng Ziyu sat on a stool with his left leg bent and resting on it, looking very old-fashioned.

An Rou smiled and shook her head: "What do I need a topographic map for? How many ghouls are there in total?"

"Twenty-three."

"Including you?"

"Of course not me!"

Meng Ziyu glared and questioned, "How can I be like them?"

An Rou was surprised and asked, "Twenty-three ghouls gathered together would constitute a ghoul tide. If handled properly, they might be able to devour the entire trial group. Have you ever thought about this?"

Meng Ziyu sneered.

"The leader, Crazy Blade, is one of the top 100 masters. Do you think he's a pushover? He has not only 300 new recruits under his command, but also 15 powerful Destined Ones. Not counting those 300, a dozen of them would be enough to wipe out those bastards."

At this point, its expression changed slightly.

The woman sitting opposite is determined to wipe out the entire trial group.

Since she can control such a powerful ghoul, she naturally won't take Kuang Dao and his group of destiny people seriously.

Meng Ziyou put aside his arrogant attitude and asked, "How do you want to deal with them? Send ghouls to every place?"

Judging from the powerful people of the same kind I saw before, one of them can take on two or three trial teams, so this is feasible.

But there are not enough people to rush to every place and take action at the same time, which will undoubtedly alert the enemy.

"Three hundred thousand destiny seekers in District 3 are no joke," it said.

An Rou was thinking about the information it revealed - there were 15 other powerful players around Kuang Dao.

This information was not found when she had obtained intelligence from Meng Ziyu before, which led her to believe that the trial team consisted of only 301 people: Captain Kuang Dao and 300 novice players.

It seems that it is too little.

For A-level Meng Ziyu to feel that they are quite powerful, those people must be at least silver level, and maybe some of them are gold.

That's right, the trial missions are scattered across the country, and it's difficult for Kuang Dao to take care of so many people alone. It makes sense to form a nanny group with him as the leader.

"Why, are you scared?"

Meng Ziyou didn't get a response, so he let out a scornful laugh, "Then let me go back as soon as possible. Otherwise, once Kuang Dao finds out I'm gone and comes looking for you, you won't be able to escape even if you want to."

"It's even better to find out. I was just worried he wouldn't come."

Meng Ziyou was slightly surprised: "What did you say?"

"I say," An Rou said calmly, "I want you to call all the ghouls under your command to the farm."

"With just these few men, you still want to surround them?"

An Rou smiled: "Surround? I thought you were very smart. I just provided them with a place to kill each other."

"You want to divide them? Just relying on the ghouls under your command?" Meng Ziyu frowned, obviously disagreeing.

"No?" An Rou asked back, "Do you think you're the only one who can disguise yourself? Of course, you're one of the most successful ghouls I've ever seen, so you can't be absent from this round."

Meng Ziyu thought of Zhang Da who kidnapped his sister.

Aside from his dull expression, he was quite good at disguising himself. As for the other ghouls, while they weren't as powerful as Zhang Da, they were still stronger.

Meng Ziyu had stirred up trouble many times before, but his goal was usually to escape during the chaos, rather than to surround and kill the Chosen Ones who were chasing him.

It can be said that it has never had such an arrogant and ridiculous idea.

But judging from what the woman said, she was no stranger to this method.

That's right, since she has a group of ghouls and such a terrifying behemoth under her command, she has the qualifications.

Meng Ziyou clenched his fists and said, "Okay, I promise you. You must also fulfill your promise. After the matter is done, take Zisha and me away from Longyan's territory and let us go."

"Do you think it's a good thing for Zisha to continue wandering with you?"

An Rou asked him, "Do you think that you won't feel hungry if you don't need to eat, and your injuries will heal quickly, but she didn't notice these things? Do you think she will always be a seven-year-old child who knows nothing?"

Meng Ziyou shouted, "None of your business is my business!"

An Rou remained unmoved: "The most important thing is that Zisha, who used to be a head shorter than you, has now caught up with you in height, hasn't she?"

Although the flesh infested by the ghoul no longer needed to eat, it also stopped growing. The ghoul's unique energy could only sustain the flesh's immortality at best.

Meng Ziyou was silent for a moment, then slammed his fist on the table: "I told you, there's no need for you to meddle in my business!"

An Rou spread her hands and said, "Alright, as you wish, I'll let you go once the farm leaves the Dragon Flame Guild's territory."

Meng Ziyu looked into her eyes intently.

Frank and sincere.

It unclenched its fist and sat back on the stool: "When do we start?"

An Rou: "Now."

As soon as he finished speaking, a noisy voice came from the street, coming from far away and approaching. All the farm residents came out, moving tables and chairs from the shops on both sides and placing them in the middle of the street.

Tian Rui pushed open the door of the bun shop and saw someone inside. He was stunned for a moment: "Farmer..."

"We don't need them here. The tables and chairs in other stores should be enough." An Rou said.

"Okay." Tian Rui closed the door and left.

Meng Ziyou looked at An Rou doubtfully: "What exactly do you want to do?"

"Didn't I tell you that you are responsible for calling all the little devils you have divided over here? As for me, I will prepare a buffet and entertain the guests."

An Rou smiled and said, "I'll go out and take a look, you hurry up."

The way the Ghost Mother controls ghouls is similar to how she connects to their consciousness, and both can be controlled remotely.

An Rou opened the door of the bun shop. Meng Ziyu asked from behind, "Are you...a destiny person or a ghoul?"

She turned around and smiled: "Is there any difference?"

After An Rou left, Meng Ziyu sat alone in the bun shop, looking at his dirty little hands.

Is there no difference?

It slowly clenched its fists twice.

Then... can I be a human?

-

Tables and chairs are placed from the beginning of Yong'an Street to the end of the street, stretching for hundreds of meters.

Paopao stood in the middle, constantly scattering gold coins on various dishes, making dozens of copies of the same dish, which were then taken away and placed separately by the residents.

People come and go, it's bustling with activity.

Everyone who saw An Rou stopped and respectfully called her "Farmer".

An Rou walked up to Paopao and asked, "Where's Zisha?"

"Qiaojie is with her. She really likes Shasha." Paopao replied, "I told Qiaojie not to take her out of the yard no matter what happens."

An Rou nodded: "Is Hengbatong ready?"

"He is obedient, but a little..."

Paopao pointed to his head and said, "He's in a trance. Boss, I don't think he's any good. He's not as good as Meihong or Leng Hanli."

An Rou pondered for a moment and said, "Let Meihong go. She can hold it."

Compared to others, old employees like Meihong are the most loyal.

"Okay, I'll go find her right away."

"I'll go, you take care of this."

Paopao agreed and called Anrou: "Boss, when will the trial group arrive?"

An Rou gestured to the nearby bun shop: "Soon."

-

Halfway down Niaoqu Mountain lies a crescent-shaped slope planted with green bamboo. A semicircle of bamboo buildings surrounds the grove, their outer walls and roofs lined with tightly packed bamboo, resembling a bamboo raft.

Anyone who had been to the trial zone knew that this was the raft building. Beyond the bamboo forest, somewhere on the mountain wall, there was an entrance to the mountain's interior, the so-called Ghost Tomb.

However, ghouls are not corpses and are not necessarily found in ghost tombs.

Two groups of trial players arrived at the bamboo forest at the same time and both went to the raft building first, both to dig for clues and to identify the ghoul.

"Team 12, spread out and search. Be careful not to miss any NPC!"

"Why are you disbanding?" another team leader interrupted, "Team 1, bring all the NPCs here for a centralized inspection."

"Team leader, this may reduce the NPC's favorability." A team member reminded in a low voice.

"What are you afraid of? Just give us money," the team leader said, leaving a pile of gold coins on the ground.

When the leader of Group 12 saw this, he immediately gave a thumbs up and said, "Team Leader Ba Tu is right! Group 12, quickly do as Team Leader Ba Tu says!"

The players spread out, and soon they found NPCs from every corner of the raft building, and either chased, grabbed or dragged them to the front of the raft building.

Many people received notifications of decreased favorability. Strangely, none of these NPCs cried. Most of them reacted with dull silence.

No NPC spoke.

Even if players stuff gold coins into their hands, their favorability doesn't change much.

"Team Leader Ba Tu, we've checked everything. There aren't any ghouls here, but without anyone talking, we can't find any clues."

"Given the money?"

"I gave it to you, but it didn't work."

Ba Tu walked over and glanced at the NPCs' faces: "Who is the most stubborn?"

"He doesn't even take the money!"

Ba Tu looked over and saw an old man with almost no hair, and scattered gold coins under his feet.

"You wrinkled dog, if you don't drink the toast, you'll have to drink the penalty wine?" Ba Tu grabbed the old man's collar.

The old man's gloomy eyes swept across his face, and he lowered his head again without saying a word.

With a clang, Ba Tu pulled out his knife and pressed it against the old man's neck: "Speak!"

The old man's favorability towards him dropped by 20%.

"Say...what to say..." His voice was dry and hoarse.

Ba Tu: "Call me Master, the Mandate of Heaven!"

The old man raised his head and looked at him again, then closed his dry lips.

The next moment, blood spurted out of his carotid artery, splashing all over Ba Tu's face.

Ba Tu loosened his grip and the old man fell to the ground. After a while, he turned into white sand and gradually disappeared.

Some NPCs screamed, others began to cry and beg for mercy. Soon, the two teams found a clue to the mission: a terrifying sound coming from a cave deep in the bamboo forest.

They plunged into the bamboo forest.

At the end of the team, a player whispered to his companions, "The ghoul isn't in the raft building, it's in the ghost tomb. Isn't that obvious? Why kill people?"

"Hush!" His companion glanced nervously at the front of the team. "He's Kuang Dao's son, don't you know? Don't talk nonsense."

Ba Tu walked at the front of the group, glanced back at his teammates, and lowered his voice to send a voice message: "Dad, NPCs turn into sand when they die, and ghouls turn into water when they die. How come there's still a cemetery? Oh, and there's also a mass grave. What's buried in there?"

Kuang Dao quickly replied, "Focus on your mission, don't dwell on anything else."

Ba Tu curled his lips, feeling really curious, so he asked the same question to the leader of Group 12.

The team leader chuckled ingratiatingly, "I guess nothing was buried. The trial area was built by the guild itself, and they deliberately gave it scary names to test the courage of us newbies."

That makes some sense, Ba Tu touched his chin.

Being in the dark and eerie bamboo forest, and considering that the place I was going to was called "Ghost Tomb", it was indeed quite scary.

He took out a prop and waved it: "It's too dark, everyone take out the flashlights."

The team members looked at each other, and no one moved.

Ba Tu was surprised and asked, "Don't you even have a flashlight?"

The team members could only complain in their hearts: This thing is just a daily prop. Just because it is produced in Ghost Island, it is sold at a higher price than Hongwu. Of course not.

No matter what you compete with, it’s not as good as competing with your father.

Ba Tu was somewhat smug: "Then follow me closely. I won't look for you if you get lost."

The flashlight flicked on.

The halo hit a snow-white, terrified face.

“Oh my god!”

Ba Tu screamed, and the flashlight fell to the ground, the light buried in the soft fallen leaves.

The bamboo forest suddenly darkened.

Everyone was startled by him and asked what was going on.

"Ghoul, Ghoul, can't you see that you are all blind?!"

The team members quickly activated their weapons, and the colorful light of their abilities instantly illuminated the surrounding area. The leader of Team 12 picked up his flashlight and shone it forward.

It's empty, where are the ghouls?

Ba Tu was furious: "It's right there, I can't be wrong! You, and you, both of you go over and take a look!"

The leader of Group 12 reminded: "Team Leader Ba Tu, please check the details of your mission."

Ba Tu then recalled that the screen had flickered briefly. He flipped open the history message and saw the mission details at the very bottom.

In the "Searching for Shadows in the Bamboo Forest" mission, there are indeed two ghouls, both of level C.

Once the details are activated, the previous clue will become invalid.

He let out a fierce breath of anger: "Well, I was right, wasn't I? There are ghouls!"

Before he finished speaking, the sound of rustling footsteps appeared not far away.

Ba Tu was shocked, and his first thought was to hide behind the leader of Group 12.

Everyone held their weapons tightly and stood ready, but the ghoul did not appear and the sound disappeared.

The leader of Group 12 looked at Ba Tu and said, "Leader Ba Tu, what about us?"

"Of course we're chasing him! The ghoul is right under our noses, and you're letting him escape? You losers!"

"Chase! I heard the sound going outside the bamboo forest!"

"Chase, chase, chase, let's chase together!"

A dozen people hurriedly chased after them, completely unaware that they had already deviated from the direction they came from.

The mountain stream under their feet passed through a hidden corner, leading them unknowingly to the outside of Cangling Mountain.

The dark shadow that appeared and disappeared in front of us suddenly disappeared.

"Where did he go? Find him quickly!"

"Look down there!"

Everyone's mouths dropped open at the same time, their jaws dropped as they gazed down at the mountain below. Their eyes reflected the squinting neon lights.

"What...place is that? Is it also built in the trial area?"

"...Built in a place like this, surely?"

"Let's go over there and take a look. Maybe we can find more clues to the mission!" said the leader of Team 12. "Team Leader Ba Tu, what do you think?"

"Let's go, that place is quite beautiful, it's completely different from the Trial Town." Ba Tu said with a smile, "Let's go play together!"

Most of the people in both groups were bronze, and after using the Wind Step to catch up, their energy was running low. The remaining few were black iron, and they were even panting.

The group simply walked down the mountain, and after about half an hour, they finally reached the foot of the mountain.

They had been worried about ghouls lurking in the dark to attack, but now that their vision had widened, they let down their guard and walked towards the farm gate, chatting and laughing.

"Team Leader, there's writing on the door!"

"What word?"

Ba Tu squinted his eyes, but before he could see clearly, he saw the door suddenly open inward.

A slender and graceful figure walked out, smiling widely, and looked at everyone in surprise.

Beneath the fake smile, An Rou was also stunned.

Such a familiar face.

Cui, high, mountain.

Great, you're here too.