Empty Valley

An Rou climbed to the top floor of Huaman Building.

The eight-story building could barely allow her to see a small black dot in the far distance.

That's the United Army Corps.

Behind him, facing west, is a line of giant towers.

The farm is located midway between the Hollow Valley and the United Legion.

We had already reached this location this morning. Going any further might alert Konggu. An Rou boldly asked Baofu to stop.

As expected, the United Army also stopped.

It seems that the Legion is not only afraid of getting rich quickly, but also of getting rid of the ink.

An Rou had witnessed the fighting power of the number one on the list with her own eyes. Bao Fu could fight against two super gods, but under Chu Mo's sword, he could not last more than a few minutes.

That's not a power a player possesses. More accurately, it's not a power a person possesses.

Because Xie Xin said it very clearly, Chu Mo is not a human being, and Yan Shou... is just a shell of him in reality.

No wonder the United Legion has been so well behaved.

However, An Rou did not want to accept this favor at all. The only thing she wanted was to have nothing to do with Chu Mo and Yan Shou.

To her, he, the Ghost King, and the other players from the major guilds were no different. They were all people she sincerely wanted to isolate forever.

An Rou took a deep breath and wanted to shout: Don’t bother me!

She held it in, the breath stuck in her chest, unable to move forward or backward.

The problem pointed out by Ink Removal is correct.

Sculpting a giant Buddha wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight with the help of NPCs, and the farm was lacking quite a few things. Even if Heng Bobao had artistic talent, he couldn't make anything without the right ingredients.

It’s easy to build a skeleton with wood and ropes.

The pigments for depicting Buddha statues can be found in the store's inventory, which is also easy.

But how do you get the clay? How long does it take to dry? How do you match the colors?

She had no such knowledge in her head, she knew nothing about it. Even the portrait she drew of Heng Bobao was based on a vague impression.

Is a Buddha statue created based on this image very different from one created in Konggu? Does it align with Konggu's aesthetic?

Before seeing this tall tower, An Rou had never even seen the empty valley, let alone the details inside it.

Without the players' remodeling skills, the Hollow Valley Project struggled from the start.

However, no matter how difficult the road ahead is, we have to go on it.

The next morning, following an order from the farmer, all residents of the farm took action.

Every household rummaged through their drawers and cabinets, and anything made of metal was taken apart and inspected.

Residents hurried to the small square in front of the villa, carrying bags of all sizes on their shoulders and in their hands.

"I have a gold bracelet! When it melts, just pick out the gems and give them to me. I don't want the rest!"

"I have one too. This gold necklace was passed down to me by my mother..."

"I have a pair of gold earrings!"

"This is the button on my shirt. It looks like it's made of gold, right?"

Compared with men, women were obviously more enthusiastic. They carefully took out their handkerchiefs and offered the precious gold jewelry inside.

Of course, only residents from Lengbing City have valuable items in their hands.

The NPCs in the Spirit Realm couldn't even get enough to eat. The women clutched their clothes helplessly, feeling ashamed to face anyone. Seeing this, the men grew anxious and squeezed in front of the table.

"My pipe is made of brass. If you melt it down and remove the impurities, it's indistinguishable from gold foil!"

"This is the handle I took off the cabinet. It should also be made of copper!"

"Copper objects? I have them too. I'll go get them right away!"

…

Soon, the big basket beside the table was filled up, shining with gold, like a large treasure bowl, filled with "treasures" contributed by the residents.

The NPC's greed for money was shattered by the prosperous farm built by An Rou.

Even An Rou couldn't help but be moved.

After everyone handed over what they had, Leng Hanli and Meihong walked forward together.

They were the well-deserved rich women on the farm and had a lot of gold jewelry, but they didn't want to show off and took them to Anrou's room early in the morning.

What the two of them were holding in their hands were makeup boxes.

"I heard from Bo Bao that we need pigments to make Buddha statues. These rouge and powder might come in handy."

An Rou nodded: "I'm sorry for wronging you."

"The farmer's words are sincere, but they are not unfair. Living in Yong'an, these material possessions are superfluous. I am not the only one who thinks so."

Leng Hanli glanced around at the farm residents and said, "Everyone thinks so."

The warmth that surged in her heart made An Rou speechless for a moment. Just at this moment, a loud bang was heard outside the square.

By the pond, the tallest tree fell.

Zhang Da put away his weapon and dragged the entire tree out. It would be used to make the skeleton of a Buddha statue.

Meng Ziyu was cutting trees with him, but he didn't keep up and turned around and ran to An Rou.

"The Buddha statue needs to be 30 meters tall. A tree alone won't do. That tree is only five or six meters tall at most." He glanced at the buildings by the pond. "Should we demolish the house?"

The beams and pillars of the house are all ready-made skeleton materials, and they undergo a series of processing procedures before construction, making them much stronger than fresh tree trunks.

An Rou frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded: "Let's demolish the villa."

The buildings at Fengyuguan are dilapidated, and while not many people have moved to the farm, many have. With over 500 people currently settled in the existing buildings, it's already a bit crowded.

Only the other courtyard has few people living in it, so the rooms are empty anyway.

Meng Ziyou knew that Leng Hanli was the housekeeper of the other courtyard. Hearing this, he glanced at Leng Hanli. Leng Hanli did not speak and took a step back.

The meaning is clear: the farmer has the final say.

Meng Ziyou scratched his head: "Okay, I'll try to take down as little as possible."

The Buddha statue to be built was so huge that no one could bear to stand by and watch, so the residents all rushed to help.

An Rou thought about it and decided to get some physical strength potions and leave them at the Buddha-making site for use.

The rootless flowers in Huamanlou were all transplanted from Fengyu Temple. Pharmacist Feng arrived the earliest, so he produced more physical strength potions than the other three.

An Rou took a cloth bag and walked into the pharmacy in the staff dormitory building. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew behind her.

Chu Mo came quietly behind her.

An Rou frowned and stared at him. Seeing two ghoul employees flying over from outside the door, she shook her head and said, "It's okay, go about your business."

The ghoul employee retreated to the door but did not leave. Zhang Da and Meng Ziyu also arrived soon, and under An Rou's order, they took the ghoul employee away.

It's just walking away.

They stood outside the dormitory, watching the movements in the pharmacy from afar. They were uneasy about leaving their master alone with the dangerous Chosen One.

"What are you doing here again?" An Rou frowned. "Don't you understand what I'm saying? Don't you know how to write 'get out'?"

"Arou..."

"Don't call me that!" An Rou's eyes were extremely cold. "Disgusting."

Chu Mo slumped his shoulders and looked helpless, just like Yan Shou in the past.

Yan Shou used to be a typical taciturn person, and An Rou would often talk for a long time without getting a single response.

Sometimes when An Rou got angry, she would scold him, and when he was at a loss, the first word he used to comfort An Rou was to call her name.

"An Rou" - called with both full name and surname, which made An Rou even angrier.

Then Yan Shou would remember and change it to "Arou".

After all this, An Rou's anger had subsided before she could even say anything to comfort her.

Chu Mo had always felt that this name was akin to a magic word, but after five years of not seeing him, the magic wore off.

Arou said, "Arou" sounds disgusting.

An Rou not only felt disgusted by what she heard, but also by seeing Chu Mo's helpless and dull look.

"You should have heard clearly what I said that day - every word I said came from the heart."

An Rou said calmly, "To me, Yan Shou is just a dog that ran away before it was fully tamed. And you, Chu Mo, do you know what your reputation is on Yong'an Farm?"

An Rou spoke each word with emphasis: "People hate dogs. Chu Mo, you are worse than a dog."

Chu Mo didn't dare to meet her eyes again.

"You don't have to demolish the farm. I'll do the empty valley Buddha statue."

"No need, please get out of here immediately, the farther the better."

Chu Mo slipped out of the door.

He did not leave. Surrounded by the ghoul employees, he stopped in front of the employee dormitory building and took out a statue from the props bar.

He placed the statue on the ground, pressed down on its head, poured in the gold coins, and tapped the light screen with his finger. The statue grew larger as if glowing, carrying him all the way up into the air.

In the distance, some residents saw the exposed head of the Buddha statue over the layers of roofs and screamed in surprise.

"What is that? Is it a Buddha statue?"

"It's finished so quickly, then we're here..."

"So this is what a Buddha statue looks like. I've never seen or heard of it before."

Heng Bobao was busy mixing mud, and when he saw the Buddha statue, he was stunned.

However, due to the distance, no one heard An Rou's cold rebuke.

"What are you still standing there for? Smash it!"

Zhang Da and Meng Ziyu looked at each other, drew their weapons and rushed forward.

The four ghouls attacked together, and the golden statue was no match for their attacks. In the blink of an eye, its head and body were separated and it shattered into a pile of yellow earth and sawdust.

Chu Mo froze in mid-air, his left hand still pressed against the top of the statue's head. But that hand was empty.

The huge noise not only attracted the attention of the entire farm, but also woke up someone who was sleeping.

In the pharmacy, on the bed in the corner, Paopao's eyelashes trembled, and she vaguely heard the boss's voice, but she didn't hear it clearly.

Then, the loud sound of the skill smashing the statue made him open his eyes suddenly.

boss……

The boss is in danger?!

The subconscious thought actually dispelled his chaotic mood of many days in less than a second.

Paopao rushed out.

"An Rou, I just want to help, I really just want to help... You don't have the ability to reshape, so even if you create a statue, you can't hide it from the Konggu camp..."

"Who said the boss doesn't have the ability to reshape his skills!"

Paopao got angry the moment he saw him, "I'm the boss's reshaping skill! Also, Chumo, who do you think you are? Why are you calling the boss by his name? Are you very familiar with him? You're just pretending to be sympathetic. Tell me, are you setting a trap for the boss again?!"

Paopao's memory of the game still lingered on the moment when Chu Mo wanted to kill An Rou. He went through a long series of questions and scoldings without even taking a breath.

He finally took a breath and realized that several pairs of eyes were staring at him.

Meng Ziyou: "What's your surname? Pao?"

Zhang Dahe and the two remaining ghoul employees: "Leader."

An Rou was the last to react. When she heard Zhang Da's words, she burst out laughing.

"You're back. You're back just in time. There are so many messes waiting for you to clean up."

After An Rou finished speaking, she looked at Chu Mo coldly: "You've already taken off, why don't you leave? Yong'an doesn't welcome strangers."

An Rou sat at the table, watching Paopao slurping his noodles.

There was a bloody slap mark on the child's face, which was the masterpiece of Heng Bobao.

When Miss Heng arrived at the staff dormitory and found Paopao, she didn't just start fighting without saying anything. Instead, Paopao refused to answer her questions, which really made her angry.

An Rou smiled and said, "If you just say something perfunctory, Bo Bao will definitely forgive you."

Paopao paused and said in a muffled voice, "It's good that she hates me."

An Rou frowned.

"Your brother..."

Before he could finish, Paopao put down his bowl and said with a smile, "I'm full. Everything Uncle An makes is so delicious that I almost bit my tongue. Boss, I'm going to work now."

"Wait." An Rou didn't let him avoid the topic, "Do you really want to continue playing games? It's dangerous to stay on the farm."

Paopao was silent for a while, then laughed for no reason.

"There's war everywhere, and there's danger everywhere. I used to only talk about it on paper, thinking that living ten more days is better than living one more day, and saving a hundred people is better than saving one."

Seeing An Rou's confusion, Paopao smiled widely, revealing his white teeth: "Nothing else matters. The most important thing is to make yourself happy. I'll be happy as long as I stay in Yong'an."

The two looked at each other for a moment, and An Rou sighed in her heart.

She didn't show it, and jokingly said, "You're happy arguing with your girlfriend? Since we're here, there's no need to make Bo Bao unhappy alone, right?"

Paopao frowned and was about to speak when Heng Bobao's angry voice sounded behind him.

"Nothing special, come out!"

“…What?”

Heng Bobao put his hands on his hips and said, "Everyone is working, but you are the only one who doesn't work after eating? Do you have the nerve to do that?"

Paopao touched his nose and said, "You ask them to stop, I will do the Buddha statue."

"Who are you looking down on?! An Rou said the Buddha statue I made is the most beautiful. All you have to do is make it bigger!"

"What's the point of looking good? You haven't seen what the Konggu Buddha statue looks like..."

Heng Bobao was so angry that he wanted to hit him again, but An Rou interrupted him first.

"Bo Bao is right. There's no need to start from scratch. Just adjust it according to the Buddha statue she made and then enlarge it."

The good thing about the remodeling skill is that when you only enlarge the size, you don't have to worry about structural stability.

Sculpting a 30-meter-tall Buddha directly would be cumbersome and prone to collapse if not handled with care. However, if you sculpt a smaller 30-centimeter-tall Buddha statue and then use the remodeling technique to enlarge it, it won't collapse.

It may sound unscientific, but if you think about it carefully, it makes sense. After all, the materials and structures of copied objects are more stable than those made entirely by hand.

What An Rou said was true. Paopao was silent for a moment, did not argue anymore, and followed Heng Bobao away.

An Rou did not go with them, leaving the young couple some space to be alone together.

She looked at the bowl of noodles left by Paopao and suddenly realized that she often sighed because of Paopao.

The root of all helplessness comes from Paopao’s identity. His body is outside the game, but his heart is in the game.

At eighteen, her vibrant heart had died.

And eighteen-year-old Paopao is experiencing a similar yet not exactly the same period of pain.

Seeing the small Buddha statue made by Heng Bobao, Paopao had to admit that An Rou was right.

It’s not that Heng Bobao’s sculpture was very good, but that no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn’t recall the details of the Konggu statue.

The Empty Valley plan was solely devised by the boss; he had no involvement and made no advance preparations. The information he had about the Empty Valley in his head was all stored away from his long-ago strategy research.

There are no screenshots for Soul Calling Song. The game scenes scattered online are all secondary creations recreated from memory using holographic technology. Both 2D and 3D versions have been used as illustrations in game guides.

Paopao roughly remembered the appearance of the large and small sculptures in the hollow valley from the guide, but hadn't paid attention to the details.

"In short, it's not a Buddha statue, it's a statue of a god." He frowned and thought, "You made it too similar to a real Buddha statue."

Heng Bobao thought he was dissatisfied with his work and went up to him and grabbed his face: "Isn't it good looking?!"

"...It looks good, looks good." Paopao said hurriedly, "But it just doesn't look like it."

He didn't look like he was finding fault.

Heng Bobao squatted down and looked at his work. "What's the difference between a Buddha statue and a deity statue? And what is a Buddha statue, and what is a deity statue?"

"They are all fake people in myths and legends." Paopao said.

"What are myths and legends?"

Paopao can’t explain it clearly.

For the first time, he realized that the soul-calling song was so realistic that it actually set a world without God.

Paopao quickly understood that the Ghost King was above all living beings. If there was a supreme being behind him, even if the Soul World NPCs had faith, they would only believe in that being, not the ghosts and gods in the real world.

Therefore, the game settings are full of shadows of the real world, except for myths and legends.

But the question arises again, if there are no gods, how did the religious beliefs in the Valley come about? Was it forcibly implanted by the Grand Guild of the Valley?

"I'm asking you a question, but you ignore me!" Heng Bobao pinched his face hard.

Just as Paopao was about to beg for mercy, a light screen popped up.

A message came from someone who couldn't possibly send him a message.

【Qi Mo: I know Shi Xizheng's situation.】

Paopao's eyes dimmed.

Heng Bobao noticed it and couldn't help but let go of his hand. He pouted his lips but his tone softened.

"What happened to you? An Rou told me that you were traveling, but I didn't believe it. How could you leave without telling me?

"But you haven't come back for so many days, so I can only believe it. Now you suddenly come back, I...you haven't been traveling, right?

"Just tell me what's the problem. I don't have An Rou's ability, but you can talk to An Rou. Why are you so depressed..."

Heng Bobao was very concerned about her reputation and never expressed her girlish feelings in front of others. As she was talking, she turned around awkwardly. But no one answered her. She looked back and saw that Paopao was no longer there.

Disappeared silently.

"Humph! You're so mediocre that you piss me off!"

She was so angry that she kicked towards where Paopao was standing, but she slipped and kicked the Buddha statue.

A good Buddha statue was torn into pieces.

Heng Bobao burst into tears.

Outside the farm wall, Paopao heard Heng Bobao crying and stopped.

Without looking back, he continued to the edge of the farm and jumped down.

Although the sudden wealth had stopped, it had remained in a standing position. The bone blade was like a stone pillar, supporting an empty and gloomy "hall" under the farm.

Chu Mo stood beside the "stone pillar" with one hand on the white bone blade.

He had his back to Paopao, and he was thin, looking desperately lonely.

Paopao couldn't help but think of the scene he saw after waking up, and was a little dazed.

Chu Mo was flying in the air, facing his boss on the ground from a distance, with unspeakable pain surging in his eyes.

After running around, I realized that the scene had a lot of meaning.

Chu Mo and the boss...did they know each other in real life? Otherwise, it's impossible for things to develop to this point in just seven or eight days, right?

Just as he was thinking about it, his eyes flashed and Chu Mo stopped in front of him.

"What is your purpose in going to Konggu?" Chu Mo asked.

Paopao looked alert: "Didn't you tell me about Shi Xizheng? Why are you asking this?"

Chu Mo paused for a moment and said briefly: "He has been dismissed. I hope you will stay away from the game."

"You called me here just to listen to your nonsense?"

In the past, Paopao wouldn't have dared to speak to Bangyi like that. But since he'd chosen to continue playing, it didn't matter anymore. Besides, Chumo was so servile to his boss that he wouldn't attack him.

As expected, Chu Mo didn't show any displeasure and continued, "Your parents died from the Soul-Guiding Song, and Shi Xizheng doesn't want you to follow in their footsteps."

Run and grit your teeth.

It's still nonsense.

But he didn't say it.

Chu Mo took out a small palm-sized statue from the prop bar and handed it over.

Paopao: “What are you doing?!”

"Don't you need a statue?"

Paopao laughed angrily.

What's this guy thinking? So the so-called news about Shi Xizheng was just a way to make a deal with him?

Seeing that the boss didn't appreciate it and smashed the statue, you tried to give it to him in a roundabout way?

However, it is true that the farm is in dire need of the statue of the god of the valley.

Don't remove the statue given by Mo. You can go offline to search for guides, and then go online to adjust the Buddha statue sculpted by Heng Bobao bit by bit based on your memory.

It's just that there are risks in doing so.

During his last call with Shi Xizheng, the dark web hacker had clearly warned him that someone was tracking his location. Even the most advanced technology could crack the holographic command center with a little time.

So he turned off the mobile phone he found at Qingshan Farm. Even if he used a virtual IP to access the Internet, his location might be exposed.

The game cabin was also connected to the internet, but there was no need to worry about being exposed. He knew that Soul Song had no save files, and everything in the game was locked in an indestructible black box, making it impossible for the command center to find him.

Paopao thought about it and took the statue.

Before leaving, Chu Mo suddenly said, "Your brother... is very worried about you."

Paopao's back stiffened and he made a sound of derision.

"He is very hypocritical. You'd better not believe him."

No words are spoken when removing ink.

For the moment, Paopao and Anrou are so similar, but neither he nor Shi Xizheng has the right to blame them.

It was he and Shi Xizheng who chose to conceal and deceive first.

-

"Bad guy, don't touch me!"

Heng Bobao cursed and cried at the same time.

"Run, run, run, run! Aren't you the best at running? Just leave without saying a word, without leaving a single word. Go! Go farther! Never come back!"

Paopao scratched his head in worry.

He saw the broken Buddha statue on the ground and had an idea. He quietly put a handful of gold coins to restore it.

"Hey? The Buddha statue is so beautiful. Who is so amazing and so talented in art?"

Heng Bobao raised his head from his knees and glared at him: "Are you teasing a child?!"

Paopao continued to put gold coins in, and a layer of gold foil appeared on the Buddha statue, completely changing its appearance.

"It's really beautiful, look!" he said. "As beautiful as the man who made it!"

The golden Buddha statue illuminated Heng Bobao's eyes. She opened her mouth but swallowed the curse words she wanted to say to him.

"But you said it was a Buddha statue, not a god statue," said Heng Bobao.

"They're all clay figurines, just a few changes will do." Paopao said with a smile, "I remember what the statue looked like. You're handy, so I suggest you modify it."

Heng Bobao looked suspicious: "You remember what the statue looks like? Why didn't you tell me just now?"

Paopao's expression remained unchanged: "I went out for a trip, to the Empty Valley, but my memory is bad. It took me a long time to remember the details of the statue."

"You suddenly ran away, were you thinking about the statue?" Heng Bobao showed some self-blame, "Did I make too much noise and affect your thinking? I'm sorry, I misunderstood you..."

A dark flash passed through Paopao's eyes. He lowered his head and removed the gold foil from the Buddha statue. When he looked up again, he had his usual smile on his face.

"It's okay. Beating is love and scolding is affection."

"Go away, you shameless man!" Heng Baobao's cheeks flushed.

The two began to adjust the outline of the Buddha statue according to Paopao's description.

After a while, the Buddha statue was no longer a Buddha statue. It was exactly the same as the statue in his prop column, except for the size.

Paopao looked at the prop list on the screen and asked casually, "Bo Bao, what do you think about me directly restoring the statue that the boss smashed?"

"Of course not, An Rou won't want it!"

"Why?"

"A man should have backbone! Can't you see how much An Rou hates Chu Mo? How could she possibly accept something from him?"

Heng Bobao said it as a matter of course, and when he was done he smiled at him with pride in his smile.

"Besides, you know what the statue looks like. We've already made it!"

Paopao forced a smile: "You're right."