Empty Valley

Standing on the 5th floating island in the upper city, you can look up and see the brand new temple on the floating city.

At the edge of the island, players from the two major guilds were still fighting against the ghouls. With half the number of players compared to before, the pressure was not great.

Mia glanced at it and her eyes returned to the light screen.

The president has sent her many messages, each one more severe than the last, but she hasn't replied to any of them.

Mia put away the light screen and took out an element card.

As a goddess and the top player in the Valley, she certainly couldn't have just one weapon. The newly bound longbow in her hand wasn't as high-level as the Sun-Pecked Bow, and it was also a blue weapon.

This longbow has the ability to pass through barriers.

The elemental card transformed into a wind-type arrow, piercing the high temple wall. Her figure transformed into a wisp of wind, crossing a height of dozens of meters and then piercing into the wall.

Mia was stunned.

Inside the wall, An Rou looked at her with a smile. At An Rou's feet, a huge, terrified face half-hidden in the ground.

No wonder the SSS-level ghouls were not found on the farm, it turned out they were hiding underground.

"Don't get me wrong." An Rou noticed her gaze and explained with a smile, "It helps me hurry. Otherwise, I'd still be wondering which direction you'd come from."

Mia put away her longbow: "You knew I would come?"

An Rou did not answer, and asked Bao Fu to open his mouth. A wooden coffee table appeared in his mouth, and the water in the stove was already boiling on the coffee table.

An Rou sat cross-legged on the mat. If many believers saw this posture, they would be surprised: the messenger of God would actually do such an indecent action.

But she exuded a sense of contentment all over her body.

"I heard you guys love black tea back home, but unfortunately the farm only has green tea. So, will you just make do with that?"

Mia hesitated for a moment and sat down opposite her.

The goddess's posture is much more subtle. She sits on her knees with her back straight and her posture graceful.

"You're a player, so drinking green tea late at night should be fine. But I can't. After drinking this pot of tea, I'll probably be awake until dawn."

"You haven't answered my question yet."

An Rou glanced at her.

What a persistent person.

She shook her head as she brewed tea, her tone helpless. "It seems you still misunderstood. You think I saved those NPCs to win you over? Judging from the results, that's not a bad guess.

"But the truth is, after the celebration began, you went so far as to hide it from your superiors and kill me. At the end of the celebration, Yin Tian wanted you to kill me, but you never showed up.

"Originally, I thought you might have died at the hands of Chu Mo. After returning, I checked the Destiny Rankings and saw that your ranking hadn't changed. So your next move is clear. No matter what the purpose or the outcome, you must come and see me.

"Tomorrow is the God Competition. You don't have time, and you're worried about leaving me like a time bomb lying around. So coming to me tonight is your last chance."

Well organized and accurate results.

Mia lowered her eyes and watched the dark green tea leaves being washed away by the boiling water to reveal a new green color. She whispered, "You are really smart."

"You're teasing me?" An Rou smiled. "Are you trying to say I'm good at manipulating people?"

"That's not what I meant."

"You've been on edge all night, and now you're relaxed. It was just a joke, don't take it seriously. You came all the way here, so you must have a lot of questions. Ask them. I'll tell you everything I know."

Mia is not good at socializing, especially in front of someone as eloquent as An Rou. If she doesn't get straight to the point, she might never be able to say what she wants to say.

So she got straight to the point: "Are you the Ghost King?"

Expected problems.

An Rou remained calm: "So what if it is, so what if it isn't?"

Mia locked eyes with her, "Yes, even if Qimo tries to stop me, I will kill you and end the game."

As soon as he finished speaking, behind An Rou, a huge face emerged from the ground. His face was huge, and naturally thicker than an average person's height. With a section of his white neck exposed, he looked like a giant compared to Mia who was sitting on the ground.

Mia remained unmoved.

An Rou touched Bao Fu's neck with her backhand and smiled at Mia: "You were ranked fourth before, and it was only because my partner ate the third place that you were promoted. Do you think you have the ability to kill me?"

"It's okay." Mia said.

An Rou understood the prefix of this sentence: success or failure, it doesn’t matter.

For Mia, successfully ending the game would be the best, but failing would help her untie the knot in her heart. She sacrificed herself, not only in the game, but also in reality.

An Rou patted Fu Fu, letting it sink to the ground, and took a sip of tea.

Green tea has a refreshing fragrance, but a bitter taste, which she doesn't like.

She shook her head slightly. "People muster the courage to survive, but you muster the courage to die, escaping your predicament. I'm being direct, so don't take it to heart."

Mia didn't care, she was stunned.

This woman, whom she had only known for one day, revealed the most shameful hope in her heart.

At this moment, even if the other party was indeed the Ghost King, she did not have the strength to resist and only wanted to flee.

"Mia, you're actually braver than most people, but you don't have to be brave every second of every day, you know that?"

Mia didn't know how to answer and passively took the teacup handed to her by An Rou.

An Rou said, "Just like when you were a kid walking on the road and encountered a ferocious dog, you could hide behind your parents. Now that you've grown up and become an adult citizen of a country, in many cases, the country should stand before the citizens, rather than the citizens rushing ahead of the country. Isn't that right?"

Mia took a sip of tea in silence, the bitter taste spreading between her lips and teeth.

She shook her head. "That's my country. Protecting it is my duty. If everyone hides behind the country, who will protect our territory?"

An Rou sneered, "Yes, we can rush ahead of the country, but we can't be forced to the front by the country and unable to retreat. They forced you into a tool, a weapon, and what was the result? Aren't you living in pain, determined to die?"

The logic is right.

Mia asked herself, this truth has always been lingering in her heart. But...

"That's my hometown," she still said.

This was the first time An Rou tried to persuade someone with 100% sincerity, but she didn't expect that even though she was almost pouring out her heart, it still had no effect.

She looked at the goddess across from her, where everything was perfect.

I have to admit, I was very disappointed.

"I'm not lying to you. I'm not the Ghost King." An Rou's tone gradually became heavier. "Although I'm not, I could be. I could be the Ghost King who dominates the entire game, or I could be the ethereal Duozhu Lord God."

Mia couldn't understand what she meant.

An Rou continued, "Since you can't let go of your identity as a goddess, and I am the Lord God of Duozhu, shouldn't you obey my orders? Instead of being a tool for Yin Tian and his gang, why not be my tool? I can save the people you can't bear to kill, and I can also let you close your eyes and continue to escape."

"You..." Mia opened her mouth.

These words, which sounded like sophistry, left her speechless.

After a brief silence, she suddenly stood up, shot an arrow into the night sky, and disappeared on the spot.

In the blink of an eye, the scent of her soul was lost.

An Rou sighed sincerely and tilted her head to look somewhere.

"Didn't I miss the point of what I said just now? How would you untie her knot if it were you?"

It was pitch black there, and no one was there.

But as An Rou finished asking, the darkness came alive, and like a soul gathering together, it condensed into a human shape.

Is a man.

"How did you know I was here?" the other party asked with interest, and then answered himself, "Oh, yes, you can control ghouls, maybe you can use them to capture the scent of souls."

The other person stood up, and An Rou also stood up, giving the other person enough respect.

An Rou laughed and said, "Don't you think it's awkward for a grown man to have the ID 'Princess Half Moon'?"

The other party was extremely surprised.

The ability to control ghouls is already jaw-dropping enough, but who would have thought that the other party could actually see through the ID at a glance?

Fortunately, her jaw didn't drop.

When the altars intersected, the ghoul that had wrapped An Rou gave up chasing her, apparently at An Rou's command. Why did An Rou give up? Most likely because she felt that it was useless to chase after her.

At that time, she guessed that An Rou had seen through her identity. She just didn't expect that she would do it in such a crude way as "seeing the ID light screen".

Princess Half Moon put away the disguise card.

A few meters away from An Rou, a barefoot dancer appeared. Her lower body was wrapped in a long skirt with colorful ribbons, and her upper body was only a brightly colored tube top, revealing her waist as smooth as jade.

Her ankles, forearms, neck, forehead, hair... her body was covered with sparkling ornaments, from gold and silver to gems, a dazzling array.

So many pieces of jewelry appear on the same person, but they don’t look crowded at all. Instead, they make her look more slender and graceful.

She was covered in gorgeous things, but she walked silently.

Princess Ban Yue sat down in Mia's original position, her posture even more casual than An Rou's. One leg was straight on the ground, the other was bent, and her elbow rested on her knee.

A very masculine pose.

Not to mention that she poured herself a cup of tea without any complaints, even using the teacup that Mia had used at that time.

An Rou couldn't help but start to suspect that this second place on the list was just a fake.

But Paopao said with certainty that Princess Banyue was a female player.

Princess Banyue finished her tea, picked up a name change card, and the ID above her head changed accordingly.

"What is my current ID?"

An Rou glanced at him: "Qian Er."

"You really can see it? Can you also see my game panel?"

"If you don't mind showing me all the properties."

Princess Banyue paused and put down her fingers.

Of course she minded.

"Although, I also have to ask the same question Mia just asked: how did you know I would come?"

Discovering her presence and knowing she would come were two different things.

An Rou poured her another cup of tea and said calmly, "You put me in danger, so you owe me a favor. I completed the task you assigned me, so you've received a favor from me. If you don't even come to thank me, it only shows that you're not worth making friends with."

The princess was speechless for a moment.

"I owe you what I owe you. Receive what I owe you? Aren't you indebted to me for helping you save those NPCs?"

An Rou smiled confidently: "Don't reverse the order. Before saving people, you danced too well."

The princess stared at her for a long while and clicked her tongue a few times.

"You're so naive at such a young age. Do you know the saying 'too much wisdom leads to harm'?"

"Aren't you living well and staying at number two for so long?"

"I suspect you are mocking me."

"On the contrary, I admire you very much. If you hadn't understood the connection between destiny and luck, you would have died in the ghost ruins long ago."

After a brief exchange of words, the princess stared at An Rou for a while.

She laughed out loud, looking extremely relieved.

"Based on your ruthlessness, I believe you are not the Ghost King."

An Rou followed up on the topic: "Really not trying? Maybe you can end the game?"

"Forget it." The princess waved her hand and glanced at the teacup with a frown. "Don't you have any wine? Drinking this crap so late at night."

An Rou thought about it and took her to the dance hall.

Along the way, the princess exclaimed in amazement at the farm buildings, even trying to touch the gold lines painted on the walls. "Is this real gold? Did you melt it down with gold coins?"

"The gold coins cannot be melted." An Rou explained lightly.

When she reached the door of the dance hall, An Rou pushed it open and looked back, but the princess was gone.

She floated above the pond, opened her mouth and took a bite of the statue's... calf.

"An Rou, is this real gold?! Even if it's just a layer of gold paint, how much would it cost?"

Like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

"Don't pretend." An Rou said, "If you're targeting me, how could you not have been to the farm? I'm afraid you've been into every room."

Except for the ghoul staff dormitory, because no one reported anything unusual.

Bao Fu should have smelled the scent of Princess Ban Yue, but unfortunately, in his current state, he would only obey An Rou's orders, and would not attack even if the Chosen One stood in front of him.

In addition, his soul hibernation caused him to lose the ability to communicate, and he was unable to tell An Rou whether this person had visited the farm.

The princess glared at An Rou from a distance.

She flew over and landed next to An Rou.

"Last time I was sneaking around, this time I'm openly doing it. How can it be the same? I was afraid you'd find out, so I didn't dare make a sound when I came."

She had to endure the immense wealth in front of her, not even able to utter a word of exclamation. God knows how hard it was for her to endure.

An Rou laughed angrily.

The lights in the dance hall were on, and there was a bottle of wine and a glass on the bar, with wine stains at the bottom of the glass.

"Is this because you're afraid of being discovered?"

No wonder Princess Banyue was clamoring for wine. It turns out she had been a rat before.

Princess Banyue's cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but she spoke with confidence.

She picked up a gold coin from the bar. "Look carefully, I didn't drink your drink in vain. And I only drank a little of the bottom of the glass. One gold coin is enough to pay the bill, right?"

"I'm sorry, both the farm and the dance hall are membership-based, and the daily membership fee is 10,000 gold." An Rou didn't even blink.

Princess Banyue's eyes almost fell to the ground.

"10,000 gold? Or the daily membership fee?!"

Seeing that An Rou didn't seem to be lying, she said earnestly, "An Rou, you can't do business like this. The pricing is too unreasonable. The business will fail..."

"I'm sorry, although there are fewer customers, the farm business is growing bigger and bigger. You know, it covers all four major factions in the server."

Princess Half Moon is stuck.

The fact... seems to be so.

She looked at An Rou, then at the wine on the table, gritted her teeth, walked to the treasure bowl in the corner of the bar, and put down a pile of gold coins.

"Ten thousand gold, not a penny less. I'll buy a one-day membership."

After saying that, he poured himself a drink.

After spending the money, she poured the wine so generously that it almost overflowed the brim of the glass.

An Rou joked, "I thought you were so poor, but you were so generous."

The princess drank the whole glass of foreign wine in one breath, burping and giving An Rou a glare.

"If Ousi hadn't given me half the advance, I wouldn't be able to afford it."

Her expression and tone didn't sound like she was lying.

An Rou was really surprised. How could a princess be in such a miserable situation?

"You're number two on the list, and you're a wanderer. You don't have to hand in your quest rewards to the guild, and you can't even afford 10,000 gold?"

If it were someone else, he would at least be the richest man in the region, right?

An Rou couldn't help but think of someone who also couldn't afford to pay for ink removal.

The first and second place on the list both look like poor bastards...it's really hard to describe.

The princess burped and started pouring wine again. Upon hearing this, she rolled her eyes and said, "Why, do you look down on the poor?"

I don't want to explain why.

An Rou didn't ask any further questions. She walked around to the counter, took out a bottle of Lotus White and placed it in front of her.

The princess was delighted: "Mixed drinks? That would be great, it would be invigorating."

An Rou asked with a smile, "Did Ousi give you an advance? So you come and kill me?"

"If someone says you're fat, you're out of breath. Don't flatter yourself."

The princess is very outgoing and will retort whatever An Rou says to her.

"You're just an extra at best. I'm responsible for kidnapping you, not killing you. That guy was stingy and only added 100,000."

An Rou followed up by asking, "So why did he invite you?"

"Of course..." The princess stopped talking and smiled slyly, "Want to buy information from me? Sure, 100,000."

Her face is so beautiful that even when she makes indecent movements and expressions, she still exudes stunning beauty.

An Rou grabbed her hand without hesitation and handed her 100,000 gold.

"Deal." She smiled at the stunned princess.

"You're really rich," the princess exclaimed with envy. "Well, I said it myself, and I accept the deal. Ousi paid me to disguise myself as a Xiangyang player and participate in the Tianshen competition."

An Rou held the back of her hand and handed over another 100,000 gold: "Kill the ghouls, or kill the multi-players?"

The princess glanced at the balance in surprise and said with a smile, "Smart, kill the player."

An Rou transferred 100,000 yuan for the third time: "Are you short of money?"

The princess does not need to answer this question.

The princess saw that An Rou had spent 300,000 gold to buy three pieces of information whose answers she already knew.

The intention is clear as day.

Just as An Rou touched the princess's hand for the fourth time, the princess moved away and shook her head. "An Rou, there's a 99% chance that you don't look like the Ghost King, but there's also a 1% chance that you are the Ghost King."

That 1% naturally refers to An Rou's ability to control ghouls and see through light screens.

She would never sell her soul.

"That's fair." An Rou stared into the princess's eyes. "You're worried that I'm him, and I'm worried that you're him. Do you want to verify it?"

The princess's carefree smile faded, and she narrowed her eyes: "Have you seen the Ghost King?"

An Rou did not answer, but pulled out a fruit knife from under the table, turned the handle and pushed it towards the princess.

"I can't explain my abilities clearly, and even if I force an explanation, you won't believe it. The Ghost King is a member of the game, restricted by the rules. He can't directly harm players or NPCs outside of the Ghost Ruins. This is my current speculation. Do you believe it or not?"

The princess became more cautious.

Seeing that she was hesitant to say anything, An Rou stretched out her hand and the gold coins in her account gushed out. Soon, they filled the space between the bar and the wine cabinet and buried most of her body.

"I have plenty of money. Here's 10 million gold. I'll buy you a bet on the rules I've outlined."

"Take the 10 million, believe in the rules, and bet that I'm not the Ghost King.

"If you don't believe me, we'll say goodbye now. We'll meet again in the future, fighting for our lives."

It would be a lie to say that the princess wasn't tempted by such a huge amount of wealth. After all, Ousi had only offered her 5 million gold coins when he hired her.

However, this bet involves the "Ghost King" - a character that the princess has been avoiding all these years.

"Princess, I'm the one paying. To put it bluntly, this money is just a way to buy your trust and verify it once."

The princess was the only player An Rou had ever met who understood the secrets of Destiny Value and therefore refused to strangle the ghoul. She understood how cautious she was beneath her carefree exterior.

The princess needs plenty of time to think.

An Rou waited quietly for a while and said, "How about this, you can come to me anytime before dawn..."

"No need." The princess interrupted her, a bright smile on her face. "We are all women, and I trust my intuition."

She pressed the hilt of the knife with her index finger. "According to your logic, if we just stab each other, we can get rid of the Ghost King's suspicion. You know how many people out there want to kill you, right? If you're not the Ghost King, how dare you be so bold?"

Could it be that An Rou, like the NPCs in the Spirit Realm, has the ability to regenerate infinitely?

This was not part of the intelligence she had gathered.

The princess was right, An Rou was taking a risk.

It could be said that the risk of letting the princess strike first was far greater than any previous danger. The opponent was a top-tier super god at level 99, while she was just an NPC with 100 health points.

Even though the fruit knife is not a weapon, with the princess's own attribute bonus, killing her is easier than crushing an ant.

However, An Rou had no choice but to make this bet.

Princess Banyue, ranked second on the list, was elusive and few people had ever seen her true appearance. An Rou saw her the day after she arrived in the Valley—what a coincidence.

It was such a coincidence that if An Rou could not completely rule out the possibility that the other party was the Ghost King, she would not be able to win him over. If she could not win him over, she would have no choice but to find a way to kill her.

Otherwise, Princess Half Moon will be the biggest threat to the Konggu plan.

-

The sun in the Soul World really looks fake.

It does not slowly emerge from the eastern horizon as in reality, but rather looks like a group of scattered light points, gradually condensing into a circle.

After dawn, the crazy ghouls in the sky perished at the same time, and the exhausted players put away their weapons.

Normally, this is the time when they log off to rest, but today no one chose to log off.

All the floating islands around the tower were slightly adjusted in position to create a wide area for Floating Island No. 339 in the upper city.

Ten floating islands from the upper and lower cities surrounded No. 399, crowded with players from the two major guilds.

They are the spectators of the competition among the gods.

These tired players who had been defending all night also rushed over in groups.

An Rou withdrew her gaze from the square and looked at Zhang Da.

"Are you sure everyone on the island has moved away?"

"Sure, there's only ghouls left up there."

An Rou nodded: "Settle the farm residents and go get ready."

Zhang Da left Huamanlou and before going downstairs, he happened to meet Paopao coming up.

"Old Zhang."

"lead."

The man and the ghost greeted each other as usual.

Paopao was just about to go to the roof when he saw Anrou coming down.

"Have they all been shipped out?"

"Yes, except for the necessary amount left in the pharmacy, there were 13 boxes in total, and they were all picked up by many players."

An Rou nodded, looked at Paopao for a few times, and said with a smile: "You are becoming more and more calm now, not nervous at all?"

"After following the boss for so long, I must have made some progress." Paopao laughed.

An Rou suddenly realized that he hadn't been scratching his head as much lately. Did this disappearance of the habit mean that Paopao had grown up?

It was obviously a good thing, but An Rou just couldn't feel happy.

"Boss, let's go?"

The two of them left the farm gate together, crossed the empty square, and walked towards the floating castle at the other end.

An Rou looked back at the towering golden statue.

The guillotine she carefully polished is now hanging high above the god's head.