Chapter 99

The lights in the dance hall were off, and the two of them were sitting at the bar.

Xie Xin turned the wine glass boredly, carefully observed the liquid in it for a while, and pushed it in front of Chu Mo.

"Come drink with me? It's rare."

Chu Mo's eyes dropped to the slightly swaying wine: "You killed them."

"Did I kill them?"

No words are spoken when removing ink.

It was he who led Ali to the farm and brought him before the Ghost King.

Xie Xin took a sip of his wine and cast a playful glance at him. "Chu Mo, this is you, stuck between high and low, wanting to let go but unable to. This is His grace to you, but also the punishment you deserve."

Chu Mo stood up and left the table.

Xie Xin asked from behind, "Have you found your next target? Where do you want to take An Rou?"

"Don't mention this name in front of me." Chu Mo said coldly.

Xie Xin chuckled and passed over the question: "Could it be that he's going to Longyan?"

Chu Mo left without looking back.

Xie Xin shrugged, took a sip of his wine, and murmured softly, "It seems you don't know yet, but Ali has a tail. A big tail."

As Chu Mo walked out of the dance hall, he heard someone calling him.

That familiar, yet disgusting voice.

An Rou walked up to the front and glanced at the fancy door of the dance hall: "Is Mr. Jie in there?"

"Suit yourself." Chu Mo threw down these two words and wanted to leave.

An Rou called him again, "Mr. Mo, I'm here to look for you. Could this be the hiding place Mr. Mo mentioned? It's on the edge of District 11, right next to Guangyuan Town. Not to mention the numerous visitors in District 12 next door, there could be players passing by at any time. Just on this way here, my staff have killed quite a few soldiers on the city walls..."

"The Gal Guild will soon become suspicious."

She spoke for a long time, and then Qi Mo said four words: "Set off at night."

The figure flashed, and An Rou appeared in front of Chu Mo wearing goose feather boots.

She smiled faintly, "Mr. Mo, when you talk to people, do you always turn your back to them?"

Chu Mo narrowed his eyes, and a faint murderous intent emanated from his body.

In the past, An Rou would have been afraid of the obvious hostility shown by the number one super god on the list, but after guessing that Chu Mo had something to ask of her, An Rou was not afraid at all.

If we kill her, where will Chu Mo find an obedient SSS-level ghoul?

An Rou stared into the man's dark, dark eyes. "Mr. Mo, you seem to hate me? An Rou asked herself, I haven't offended you in any way, right? Why?"

Before he could finish his words, everything went dark.

A long, dark sword hovered before her eyes, blocking her view. When An Rou shifted her gaze, she saw nothing before her again.

The ink removal is gone.

The unprecedented and terrifying movement speed is indeed an advanced movement skill that only the number one on the list has.

But... An Rou curled her lips and avoided answering. No matter how you think about it, there must be something wrong.

On the roof of the Suancai Building, Chu Mo quietly watched the woman across the pond walk into the dance hall.

There was no longer only disgust in the world-weary eyes, but more complex emotions gradually emerged.

An Rou - two words that are so familiar that they are engraved in the bones, that is her name.

And that figure, with its strange yet familiar facial features, bore her traces everywhere.

But she wasn't her, it couldn't be her.

This NPC, An Rou, was nothing more than a fake character created by Him. Chu Mo still didn't know what the purpose was.

In short, she made him feel disgusted.

-

The light was dim, but the wine was very clear.

An Rou raised her glass and said, "Thank you, Mr. Jie, for helping me cover up the traces of the farm."

Xie Xin also raised his glass: "It's just a small effort."

"I have a question. I wonder if it would be convenient for me to ask Mr. Jie."

"Farmer, you're welcome to speak."

An Rou turned her wine glass and looked directly into Jie Xin's eyes: "Mr. Jie, as the ultimate boss of the entire Soul-Guiding Song, is he a ghoul or an NPC?"

Xie Xin looked back calmly: "The farmer wants to control me?"

An Rou covered her mouth and smiled: "Mr. Xie is really suspicious, but I'm just curious. Since Mr. Xie is not comfortable talking about it, then I will change the question - in your eyes, am I an NPC or a player?"

"The farmer asked the wrong person." Xie Xin took a sip of his wine. "I don't have the answer to either question, but someone does."

His hint was too obvious, and An Rou was stunned for a moment: "Remove the ink?"

Xie Xin smiled and nodded: "From the perspective of the game, he understands the Soul-Guiding Song better than I do."

This sentence made An Rou even more confused. But her intuition told her that Xie Xin's few words contained extremely important information - the core setting of this game.

It was just too hasty to digest, let alone analyze.

An Rou took a sip of wine and said tentatively, "Mr. Mo is very frugal with words. It's hard to chat with him for a while."

"That guy has always been like this." Xie Xin agreed. "The farmer will have to work harder to open his heart."

No matter how you think about it, it seems like there's something else behind the words, An Rou thought to herself.

However, the other meaning expressed by Jie Xin was already very clear. He could not get any more information from him, and asking further would be a waste of time.

An Rou drank the entire glass of wine in one gulp and shook the empty glass: "Thank you, Mr. Jie, for clearing up my doubts."

Walking out of the dance hall, she looked up at the sky and happened to catch a glimpse of a figure on the upper floor of the Suancai Building out of the corner of her eye.

Across the pond, the two people were looking at each other from a distance, one above and one below.

The former Wang Da may have touched upon the core setting, but it is no longer there. Another breakthrough that has emerged is ink removal.

But to open someone's heart...it is so difficult.

It took her four years to get Yan Shou to say his first words to her. Of course, Yan Shou later became her boyfriend, and then without warning, he became her ex-boyfriend.

After knowing each other for ten years, An Rou asked herself, I don’t know what my ex-boyfriend is thinking.

This was the most frustrating thing in her life.

To influence another man? Putting aside the question of whether it would be easy or not, An Rou instinctively felt a strong repulsion.

She sneered at Chu Mo without hiding her feelings, turned and walked towards the villa.

On the rooftop, Chu Mo narrowed his eyes. With a slight thought, the Youqi Sword circled around him and pierced through the roof.

There were not many surviving corpses in the pickle jar. One of them had just been resurrected and came online when something pierced through his head from head to heart.

Completely offline.

-

Paopao was eating the cat ears made by An Younian while monitoring the forum. When he saw An Rou come in, he called out "Boss".

"What did you find?"

"No." Paopao replied, "It's still the same tune from this morning, nothing useful."

"It's better if it's useless." An Rou said, "Is there any movement from the Guild of Gal?"

Paopao still shook his head. "No, Ali failing the exam is such a big deal. Players in Districts 10 and 11 must be very concerned about Gar's movements. But no one mentioned it on the forum..."

An Rou nodded.

To be able to disqualify a high-ranking player like a master, the task Ali encountered must have been extraordinary. It was understandable that the Gal Guild had secretly sent people to investigate.

"Oh yes, it can't be said that there is no news about Gar at all." Paopao suddenly said.

"What news?"

"It's about Ali's older brother, Sventovit. There's a lot of information on the forum about him doting on his younger brother." Paopao was bright and cheerful. "Boss, do you know how old Ali is?"

An Rou frowned: "Same as you, eighteen?"

"No, it's seventeen! Aren't adults forbidden from playing Soul Song? It's said that the Gal Guild secretly let him in to play the game out of respect for his brother. His brother taught him the game for a whole year, from the novice stage to the gold stage!"

Paopao showed a hint of disgust.

"No wonder Ali became so popular so quickly. His brother always took him on high-level missions to gain experience. One of my friends said that the most outrageous one was when Sventovit battled an SSS-rank ghoul for three days and three nights, waiting for his younger brother to arrive before killing him. He was so eager to pass on his life to his younger brother..."

He described it vividly, but An Rou frowned.

This isn't bad news, but it's definitely not good news either. If Sventovit wasn't so confident, how could he have made such a risky move?

It seems that the super god player ranked 9th on the Destiny List has combat power far exceeding that of the SSS-level ghoul.

An Rou couldn't help but reflect on herself. The death of her former friend from the third place ranking at the hands of a wealthy individual had led her to seriously misjudge the combat effectiveness of high-level players. Previously, she had thought she'd been overly cautious in dealing with Ali, but it seemed her caution wasn't enough.

From a rational point of view, Soul Song is a monster-killing game, and the SSS-level Fu Fu is just a high-level monster. It is understandable that he cannot defeat the top players.

After all, there is a ghost king above the top ghoul - compared to the ghoul, he is more like the game god Jie Xin.

“Boss…Boss?”

An Rou came back to her senses and saw Paopao handing her a bowl.

"Do you want to eat cat ears? They're so delicious. Uncle An's cooking is amazing!"

An Rou wanted to refuse, but when she heard it was made by her father, she picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. The crisp texture, the cumin flavor mixed with the spicy aroma of chili, immediately lit up her deeply buried memories.

This traditional snack is almost extinct, and she only ate it once at her grandmother's house when she was a child.

An Rou carefully sorted out her thoughts and slowly said, "You know the Soul-Guiding Song very well, but do you know the core setting of this game?"

"Core setting?" Paopao scratched his head. "Ghouls and players, or devouring souls?"

An Rou shook her head: "Not everyone knows these things, but those... unknown settings, such as - the origin of the game?"

"The origins of the Soul-Guiding Song are well known. As for Jin Ge Games, it's related to the rise of the holographic industry. The founder of Jin Ge Games is quite impressive. Another company under his name, the Lu Group, was the first to overcome the difficulties of holographic technology and began mass production of holographic equipment..."

"Since its establishment, Jin Ge Games has specialized in holographic game development. The entire R&D process is conducted live. It's said that the development of Soul Guiding Song took two years from start to finish..."

An Rou shook her head secretly.

Even though she never played games, she knew that this set of gaming history was worthless.

But Paopao suddenly added a twist: "However, there's one thing that's always been strange to me... and it's not just me, it's probably strange to many people. A commercial game was inexplicably taken over by the government, sparking competition in the global holographic industry. It's a different kind of arms race...

"Logically, any industry that rises will eventually reach its peak and then decline. Even the most enduring industries follow a normal distribution. But Soul-Guiding Song has been online for over 20 years, and its popularity hasn't declined. It's as if it hasn't reached its peak."

An Rou pondered, "Isn't the number of online players decreasing every year? Isn't that considered a decline?"

"That's just one-sided data." Paopao shook his head. "The funding and manpower invested by various countries hasn't decreased at all. There are fewer players in the game, but more people are moving into support roles like logistics. Overall, the number of people working in the game industry has remained stable."

Hearing this, An Rou couldn't help but look at Paopao a few times.

Would a high school student know this macro information?

Before she entered the game, she had heard many enthusiastic game fans chatting, most of which revolved around details such as clues, tasks, weapons, skills, etc., or they just listened to the gossips of high-level players. Few of them had such a complete global perspective like Paopao.

This kid must have a complicated background.

A Chinese high school student knows so much about games... It is very likely that someone in his family is engaged in related work, and not in the game, but a job outside the game that allows him to access more analytical data.

The logistics department of the Dragon Flame Guild, or an important position in the holographic command center?

It's all possible. But there's one thing that doesn't make sense.

Guild members all received salaries, and within the Dragon Flame Guild, whether frontline players or support staff, the highest-paid were even more highly paid. The holographic command center atop Dragon Flame, a legitimate government department, offered no shortage of benefits.

Would a Paopao from a family like this be short of money?

An Rou couldn't figure it out for a moment, but she couldn't figure it out even if she questioned Paopao.

After so many years of sharing hardships, this child had already demonstrated his loyalty. He didn't want to talk about it, but he had his reasons. After all, An Rou was also hiding something from him.

However, the fact that Xie Xin was the Ghost King must not be told to Paopao. If any other forces were to be drawn in, the consequences would be disastrous.

Before I knew it, Paopao had calmed down.

He glanced at An Rou a few times, scratched his head, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

An Rou noticed and said with a smile: "Could it be that he wants to talk about the scolding he gave you this morning?"

Paopao uttered an "Ah," his expression becoming even more awkward. "No...but the boss is right. My level is so low, I'll just die if I go in. Don't worry, boss. I'll definitely seize every opportunity to level up!"

"So what are you hesitating about?"

"Uh," Paopao blushed, "Boss, Yali is offline now, can we release Heng Bobao now?"

If he hadn't mentioned it, An Rou would have really forgotten about it.

An Rou's eyes teased: "Why, are you heartbroken?"

"What's the boss talking about? I'm just respecting human rights!"

"NPCs have human rights?"

“…Of course!” Paopao said firmly.

An Rou stopped teasing him: "As long as she finishes reciting the employee rules, she can come out at any time. ——Why, she hasn't finished reciting it yet?"

Paopao's shoulders slumped. "She has a very stubborn temper."

"No matter how stubborn you are, it's useless in this matter." An Rou said, "I'll leave this good job to you. We can't leave until tonight, and you're free anyway."

Paopao took the order and left. An Rou watched his back as he left, and her clear eyes dimmed.

Leaving Yuyangling was just a change from one barren mountain to another. Because the nearby Sub-12th District was crowded with players, the farm had not generated electricity today to avoid being discovered.

Just after two o'clock in the afternoon, the light in the yard was even darker than in the past few days, and even the flowers, plants and trees exuded a sense of desolation.

An Rou walked out of the study involuntarily and followed Paopao's path to the room where Heng Bobao and Heng Batong were imprisoned. She suddenly woke up halfway, stopped, and walked into the kitchen.

There was no one in the kitchen. A steamer was placed on top of an iron pot, with wisps of white steam rising from it.

She lifted a layer of steamer and looked at the buns inside, but hesitated to take any. Her thoughts were always immersed in the depressed mood, unable to extricate herself.

She envied Paopao for many things: his offline player identity, his diverse gamer skills, and his diligent high school career even though he didn't pass the college entrance exam...

Now, there are two more: a good family background and... Heng Bobao.

Even if it is unrequited love, even if Heng Bobao is just a piece of data, even if there is no possibility of a future between the two of them, but for Paopao, the companionship of the person he likes has just begun.

An Rou looked at the steaming buns with a dazed look in her eyes.

For her, Yan Shou's companionship ended from the day he disappeared, and from the day she refused to buy food like buns anymore.

From elementary school to senior high school, ten years seems very long, but when you actually experience that day, it will only feel short.

It was so short that it caught her off guard, so short that it made her feel that the past ten years were just a dream, a monotonous bubble that would burst at any moment.

No one needs to do anything, just a touch of time and everything will be reduced to ashes.

"Rou Rou, are you hungry?" An Younian's voice came from behind.

An Younian walked over quickly and said, "You ate too little at noon, so you must be hungry. What do you want to eat? Dad will make it for you."

An Rou turned her body and blinked hard before turning to look at him and said with a smile, "I don't want to eat anything. I just want to eat the meat buns made by Dad!"

An Younian's face lit up with joy as he took a bowl from the shelf. "Then eat. There's plenty here, just in case anyone gets hungry and comes to grab some... Hey, are two enough? Don't eat too much. Dad will make you braised pork tonight."

-

As night fell, a dusty figure walked into the gate of District 12.

The gatekeeper stared at him for a minute as per procedure. When no notification popped up on the screen, he pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the neck with lightning speed.

Witt didn't move.

The tip of the knife stopped by a fraction of a millimeter and was sheathed by the soldier.

"You can go in now." The soldier said and looked at him again, "Brother, are you from Gal?"

"Yes." Witt replied with a smile.

The soldier asked curiously, "Why don't you go in through the gate of District 11? Isn't that a long way around?"

"I have to go somewhere, and this place is closer." Witt said, nodding politely to him and saying goodbye, "Goodbye."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the soldier felt his eyes blurred and the person disappeared.

He opened his eyes wide and looked to the east, but could only see a little smoke and dust.

"Damn it, such a fast movement speed...Gar...Could it be Sventovite?!"

Each district in the secondary security zone has two to three city gates. Although this city gate is located in the secondary 12th district, it is the closest to the western border of the 11th district.

Werther stopped behind a barren slope.

The barren slopes stretched out, surrounded on three sides, with a secluded spot in the middle. He remembered that when he first joined the Gar Guild, this place was a rare village in Lengbing City. After a ghoul wave that wiped out the entire army, it had been deserted ever since.

But the positioning is here.

Witt looked around but didn't see any people or buildings. The surroundings were quiet, with the occasional roar of a low-level ghoul coming from the land of no life.

Positioning, right here.

Witt opened the light screen map and was stunned.

The positioning is gone.

He had clearly seen it before entering the city. It was right here. How could it have disappeared?

He pondered for a moment, then squatted down, his fingers landing on a fallen weed. The stem and leaves were pressed deep into the soil, and when he pulled them out, a noticeable indentation was left in the black earth.

Witt raised his eyes.

It was a vast wasteland, and all the weeds had been pressed into the soil. Not only the weeds, but also the gravel.

Something huge and heavy has been here.

But now, it had left. Perhaps it had just left, since it had only taken him five minutes to get here from the city gate.

Witt used the Wind Step and jumped to the top of the barren slope at an extremely fast speed, looking around.

Under the gloomy sky, nothing unusual was found.

He raised his head again and looked into the dark night.

Not found, cannot be traced.

He thought for a moment, used his movement skills and headed straight east. It took him only ten minutes to reach Yuyangling, located on the outskirts of Guangyuan Town.

After learning that Ali failed the exam, the first place he saw was here.

But this valley was also quiet and empty. But just like the village ruins just now, a large area of ​​weeds and stones were pressed into the soil.

That heavy and huge thing did stay here!

As long as we find its trace... Just as I thought of this, a light screen popped up.

[Quest clue: My traveler, what are you looking for? A mysterious paradise whose whereabouts are elusive?]

[Related Task: Night Boat (Relevance 20%)]

-

"Of all the learning in the world, the most difficult is the one that sails at night."

Chu Mo was lying on the roof when he suddenly heard a clear voice like jade striking beside him.

Xie Xin's figure slowly appeared, wearing a white robe and black hair, with his hands behind his back, looking comfortably at the lights of thousands of homes outside the farm, hundreds of meters below.

He looked at all living beings, and even if they looked up, they could not see the farm that had turned into black clouds.

Xie Xin turned his head slightly, looked towards Guangyuan Town, and chuckled: "This little thing's ghost magic is quite interesting."

Facing the saw-mouthed gourd of Chu Mo, he didn't mind at all and sat down on the roof.

"Have you ever read the ancient book 'Night Boat' in this alien world?" Xie Xin asked himself, answering himself. "I haven't, but I still remember its contents. Scholars, wealthy merchants, officials, common people, all kinds of people would chat and amuse themselves on the boats."

"The composition of the crew on this ship is similar now, but there's less chatter. I'll fill that gap. Except for the ink..."

"Shut up." Chu Mo interrupted him coldly without even opening his eyes.

Jie Xin opened his mouth and chuckled helplessly.

"Since you don't want to listen, forget it. I'll just listen to other people's gossip." He said, then snorted, "Little thing, you're not allowed to listen. Forget it, there's no point in eavesdropping. I'll listen openly some other day."

After he said that, he glanced at Chu Mo, but unexpectedly, there was no one around him.

Xie Xin looked at the rooftops across the pond and shrugged, "Boring."

He turned his gaze back to the villa.

I really want to hear what An Rou is talking about with that little guy.

A crack appeared in the ground outside the study.

There was a kerosene lamp placed next to the crack in the ground, but no one was in sight.

Inside the crack in the ground, countless void tentacles gently wrapped around An Rou, reaching all the way down. She felt like she had entered a corridor filled with stars.

The end of the corridor was where the battle had taken place during the day, probably the strange stomach of the rich man.

This thought broke Anrou's romantic mood.

She stopped, looked around the dark and shining surroundings, and asked, "Baobao, why did you bring me here?"

An Rou's voice was like a gust of wind, stirring the void tentacles. The tiny dots of light at the ends of the tentacles transformed into a glowing tide, surging from both sides all the way to the opposite side of her.

An Rou opened her eyes wide.

A person appeared opposite her.