Spirit Realm

In the courtyard dining hall, two smiling people sat at a round table, their suspicion of each other surging in the air like an undercurrent.

An Rou was so bold as to rudely order the Ghost King to leave.

If you don't accept the toast, you will have to drink the penalty wine, and the pain will fade away. He will give up the disguise of a good guest and show the power and authority that a ghoul king should have.

An Rou suddenly smiled and raised her glass to clink with Jie Xin's.

"I thought Mr. Jie and Mr. Mo were evenly matched, close friends who loved and hated each other. Now it seems I was too superficial. You're lingering on the farm, probably just hoping to use it to reap its fortune."

An Rou blinked, "Mr. Ghost King?"

The corners of Xie Xin's lips were no longer gentle, but suddenly became as sharp as a knife.

An Rou ignored him and continued, "As the Ghost King, taking advantage of this, wouldn't that be considered dereliction of duty?"

Xie Xin's gaze shifted to scrutiny: "You already know everything. What did He send you for?"

The chess piece that was once ignorant and naive awakened at such a fast speed, which was truly beyond expectations.

Jie Xin's question made An Rou's heart sink.

Him? Or it?

The Ghost King is indeed not the supreme being in the Soul World, there is someone behind him.

An Rou's acting was excellent; she didn't let any of her doubts show through, and she feigned a mysterious smile: "Mr. Ghost King has no business doing that."

Looking forward to Jie Xin revealing something more.

However, Jie Xin suddenly came over and grabbed her hand.

An auxiliary card fell out of An Rou's sleeve.

The patterns on the card surface are shining, it is a communication card.

Jie Xin forced a deep laugh from his throat: "Are you trying to trick me?"

She hasn't awakened at all!

The message card shattered into pieces.

Paopao and Meng Ziyu rushed in from outside the cafeteria door.

One holds the Silver Wind Mace, the other is parasitic in the Khan's body, holding a fire crossbow in his left hand and a Corpse Sea Blood Spear in his right hand.

"Let go of the boss!"

Meng Ziyu had an almost instinctive fear of Jie Xin, and he shouted these powerful words while running.

Jie Xin turned out to be the Ghost King!

Even though Paopao trusts Anrou unconditionally, he still has considerable doubts after learning this fact.

Now, doubt has turned into fear and anger.

The fear comes from the fear that the Ghost King can actually take the player's life.

His anger was directed at himself. His boss and the Ghost King had been playing cozy with each other for such a long time, and he had no idea about it, leaving his boss to bear such great pressure alone.

Xie Xin glanced at the man and the ghost with disdain, and said with a scornful smile: "What if I don't let go?"

In response, a bone knife stabbed out from the ground.

Four bone knives were crisscrossed around Jie Xin, like a cage, just separating him and An Rou.

Jie Xin remained unmoved and still held An Rou's wrist.

An Rou was also fearless and had no intention of struggling.

"Paopao, Ziyou, don't get excited, put away your weapons." She said with a calm smile.

Paopao: “But…”

An Rou shook her head, her eyes fixed on Jie Xin's handsome yet cold face. "No matter how high your level is, you can't threaten the Ghost King when you're not in the Ghost Ruins. Similarly, the Ghost King can't do anything to you when you're not in the Ghost Ruins."

Jie Xin's coldness melted away, and he burst out laughing. "I've said it before, farmers are often too confident."

Before he finished speaking, he took a step towards Paopao.

The figure disappeared.

An Rou looked at Meng Ziyu suddenly, and Meng Ziyu instantly activated the fire crossbow, and the black crossbow arrow shot out with lightning speed.

The goal is not to relieve the pain, but to run a short distance.

Paopao had no time to react before the crossbow arrow had already penetrated his brain and exploded.

Lan Wu was extremely powerful, and the fire crossbow had the attack power of the fire element. The high temperature instantly dissolved his head and half of his chest.

Meng Ziyu succeeded in his attack and flew backward.

Jie Xin’s figure appeared right in front of Paopao.

He squinted his eyes and looked at the horrifically wounded body. A small pile of gold coins appeared on the body and fell to the ground along with the body.

As crisp as Anrou's sneer.

Jie Xin slowly turned sideways and stared at An Rou.

Obviously, she had anticipated this.

An Rou took a leisurely sip of wine and said with a smile, "I let it slip. Although Mr. Jie can't harm players outside of the Ghost Ruins, he can parasitize them. Oh, dead people without souls shouldn't be able to parasitize them, right?"

Decisive and ruthless in killing - this is Jie Xin's impression of An Rou during this period of time.

He suddenly realized that he had underestimated this woman's ruthlessness. Paopao was undoubtedly her confidant, and she was so cruel as to even kill her own confidant.

A brave man cuts off his arm.

"Every time I die, my life points are cut in half. It's a shame the farmer is so cruel."

An Rou was surprised and said, "Having my destiny cut in half is a good thing, isn't it? Could it be that all the hard work I put into cultivating the people around me is just for Mr. Jie to harvest their energy?"

It makes sense and is justified.

An Rou's answer made Jie Xin conclude that he had made a huge mistake.

This mistake started when he sensed her presence in the Blood-Winged Ghoul.

The bond between Chu Mo and her made him firmly believe in this mistake.

——This woman named An Rou was not His creation at all.

He could not have created her to oppose Himself, which would have been like shooting Himself in the foot.

It was clearly his own fault, but Jie Xin felt as if he was being fooled. His arrogant heart was filled with unprecedented anger.

He extended his hand to Meng Ziyu, fingers spread out: "So, what about it?"

Meng Ziyu felt like he was facing a formidable enemy, but no matter how cautious he was, it was of no avail. He couldn't even use the movement skills of the Chosen One.

A huge suction force enveloped it.

It could only fight desperately, raising its hand to shoot a fire crossbow at Jie Xin, while its right hand fiercely inserted the Corpse Sea Blood Spear into the ground, trying to resist the suction.

But the suction was so strong that the soles of its shoes rubbed against the ground and it slid forward uncontrollably.

The blood spear from the sea of ​​corpses then carved a groove on the bluestone bricks, sending sparks flying.

The fire crossbow it shot easily passed through Jie Xin's eyebrows and sank into the wall on the other side.

Jie Xin was naturally safe and sound, but his eyes were cold.

In front of the ghouls, the authority of the Ghost King cannot be violated.

He suddenly closed his five fingers, and the suction force was instantly multiplied several times.

Meng Ziyu's feet left the ground and he could no longer hold the Blood Spear of the Sea of ​​Corpses. His whole body flew forward uncontrollably.

At this moment, a roar came from underground, and the rich man with a big face jumped out and swallowed Meng Ziyu in one bite.

The suction force released by Jie Xin's unknown skill was transferred to Bao Fu.

Bao Fu didn't move at all. His neck emerged from the ground, and his big face stood upside down on his neck. His huge eye sockets and tiny pupils at the lower edge of his eye sockets stared at Jie Xin intently.

Its heavy body covers the entire farm.

The mere suction force can't move it at all.

"Little thing, you've even learned to offend me."

Xie Xin's eyes narrowed, and he looked back at An Rou, "Aren't you afraid that I will crush the dog you raised with so much effort?"

An Rou's sitting posture has not changed from beginning to end, as steady as a rock.

"If Mr. Xie is capable, why would he still say such nonsense?"

Disdain was evident in her smile. "The ghoul boss hasn't left his territory, so Mr. Jie has the right to reclaim it? Oh, or does Mr. Jie have the ability to break the rules?"

An Rou tutted and shook her head. "It's not that I look down on Mr. Jie. I just feel that if Mr. Jie's power is as strong as his strength, Chu Mo, a stubborn person, wouldn't be trying so hard to get into the Ghost Ruins, right?"

Her voice slowly sank: "If Chu Mo really enters the Ghost Ruins, even if Mr. Jie is the Ghost King, he may die."

After a few words, An Rou clearly felt the murderous intent emerging from Xin.

Yes, all her guesses were correct.

The Ghost King now probably no longer has the leisure to play games and only wants to kill her.

"What a pity," An Rou laughed again.

"Outside of the Ghost Ruins, the only targets Mr. Jie can vent his anger on are ghouls, and those have to be small ghouls without territorial restrictions. You can't do anything to a powerless NPC like me, right?"

Jie Xin withdrew his hand, put it behind his back, and laughed in anger: "Since the farmer knows everything, he still expects them to hide in the little thing's stomach forever?"

An Rou blinked: "Isn't Mr. Jie leaving soon? Why should I hide forever?"

She clapped her hands, and the gate was suddenly pushed open. Meihong led a group of old employees in.

Meihong, Leng Hanli, Heng Bobao and Xiangsao, four women of different ages walked in front with firm steps.

Men such as Manager Liang and Heng Batong looked timid, but followed in.

Everyone rushed into the yard and surrounded Jie Xin.

Xie Xin easily discerned expressions of disgust on their faces.

"Jie Xin, so you are the Ghost King?!"

Heng Bobao put his hands on his hips and said, "The Ghost King is also a ghoul, right? Why can't he stay on the farm honestly like Baofu Zhangda and the others? Why does he have to stir up trouble?! You are not a good ghost!"

Miss Heng is probably the angriest one.

After all, she had fantasized more than once about being in love with Xin.

Now I think that it was just a joke played by the other party.

The others remained silent, and their expressions remained unchanged.

Only Xiang Sao made her habitual move and spat on the ground.

NPCs are not afraid of ghouls, and remain indifferent even when facing the most brutal and terrifying ghost king in the legend.

This is probably a scene that no one has dared to imagine since the birth of the Soul-Guiding Song.

An Rou stood up and walked around Jie Xin to Heng Bobao.

"Why bother getting angry with him? The angrier you get, the more likely Paopao gets to know about it. He'll probably think something really happened between you two."

Heng Bobao glared at him: "Who has anything to do with him?! Don't talk nonsense! Yes, An Rou, you are right, he is nothing, there is no need to be angry!"

In Xie Xin's eyes, NPCs are nothing more than ants, and even just one look at them is too many.

But at this moment, he just wanted to crush these ants to death with one foot.

He understood why An Rou did this and why he wanted to leave the farm.

It's not about leaving, but about not being able to stay.

Sure enough, An Rou turned around and pointed to the communication card that was broken by Jie Xin in the cafeteria.

"Now the entire farm knows Mr. Jie's identity. If he has a clear conscience, he can continue to live here. Of course, the prerequisite is that he explains everything to everyone on the farm and obtains their forgiveness."

Ask for forgiveness from the ants?

Jie Xin couldn't help laughing. He laughed out loud and even laughed out non-existent tears.

It's ridiculous, really ridiculous.

This absurd drama directed by An Rou was completely unaware of by him despite his omniscient eyes and ears.

Jie Xin's arrogant laughter suddenly stopped, replaced by a gentle smile, and he stared at An Rou.

It was as if I was back to the first time we met, that gentle and jade-like exiled immortal.

"An Rou, don't you regret it?"

"An Rou always looks forward."

"well!"

Leaving behind two meaningful words, Jie Xin took a step forward and disappeared on the spot.

-

An Rou gave Mei Hong and Leng Hanli some careful instructions and sent them to calm the residents.

After the two men left, her straight back suddenly slumped and she sat down on the chair.

The breath that she had been holding, not daring to let go, flowed from her chest into her trachea, paused for a moment, and was then pushed back by her.

It's not time to relax yet.

If you offend the Ghost King to death, you will probably never be able to relax from now on.

There was a heavy gasp coming from the corner, and Paopao came online with a groan.

After death and logging off, wait an hour before logging back online again. This was a plan agreed upon in advance.

His injuries were severe, his entire head and chest were gone, and it shouldn't have grown back in an hour.

Fortunately, An Rou let him drink a bottle of high-level life potion in advance. Although his health was not maintained, the effect of accelerating wound healing could be continued in the state of temporary death.

However, after being injured by Lanwu's fire crossbow, he inevitably had a scarlet scar on his forehead.

An Rou fed him another bottle of life potion, which increased the healing speed of his injuries. Soon, the pain was reduced to a tolerable level.

Paopao's pale face was covered in cold sweat. He opened his eyes and said, "Boss..."

An Rou signaled him to be quiet.

"Violent."

A crack appeared in the ground, and the void tentacles wrapped around the two people and brought them to the depths of the void.

Paopao shuddered, broke free from Anrou's hand and jumped up.

"Jie...Jie Xin!" He pointed at the soul that had become rich overnight.

Sudden wealth: "It's me."

An Rou rolled her eyes at it and said, "Shut up."

He turned to Paopao and said, "It's called Jie Xin, but it's not the Jie Xin outside... In short, it's still Bao Bao."

Meng Ziyou huddled aside, his hands and feet stiff. He muttered, "It feels no different from outside."

An Rou: "You shut up too!"

Meng Ziyu curled his lips.

It took Paopao a while to digest what he had just understood, and his fear turned into excitement.

"So, the Ghost King can be replaced? Is Brother Baofu really going to become the Ghost King?"

Rich: "I am not the Ghost King."

Paopao: "Not now, but it will be in the future."

Rich: "I won't be the Ghost King anymore."

An Rou frowned and interrupted the meaningless conversation.

"Jie Xin has all the power in the world. From now on, we will discuss things in Bao Fu's belly. After this verification, his hands are not that long and cannot reach here."

An Rou made the decision to drive Jie Xin away after Paopao brought the news of the sudden death of a legendary player.

The plan to drive Jie Xin away was also discussed by her, Paopao, and Meng Ziyu at the entrance to the void.

An Rou: "The plan was successful, and we also got a lot of cryptic information out of Jie Xin. You two have good brains. Let's review it next."

"Wait a minute." Paopao raised his hand. "Boss, Jie Xin's movement skills are elusive. How can you be sure that our plan will succeed? What if he's hiding in the farm?"

"He's already a king, how could he not have some backbone? With the communication card you activated in advance, everyone on the farm now knows he's the Ghost King, and they won't treat him well."

An Rou said, "If he uses those shady tricks again, I'll be blind and overestimating him."

Paopao seemed to understand but not quite.

However, according to the previous discussion, if even this method doesn't work and Jie Xin insists on staying, they will have no way to deal with him.

They can only stare at each other and annoy each other every day.

An Rou began to review the situation: "Paopao, you are not as calm as Meng Ziyu when doing things. You need to reflect on yourself.

"You agreed to commit suicide early, why are you hesitating? If Meng Ziyu hadn't reacted quickly, you would have been killed by Jie Xinji."

Paopao scratches his head.

He just saw that his boss was in danger and got carried away without realizing it.

Of course, he knew Jie Xin's identity the latest, and the facts before him were so shocking that it would be difficult for ordinary people to remain calm.

Fortunately, Meng Ziyu is not a human, but a ghoul.

An Rou nodded and said nothing more, then continued: "You died once, and your destiny value is still 800,000, which is not too high for a mid-level gold level.

"To be safe, find an opportunity to die again later to lower your luck. Luck in the game is related to your real-life luck, so be prepared."

Paopao nodded slowly.

This is also a point that has a great impact on him.

Are the rumors on the Internet actually true?

Fortunately, with the experience of a legendary player's sudden death as a reminder, he quickly accepted it.

An Rou looked at him and said, "Of course, you can also choose to leave the game with the money. Jie Xin has already set his sights on us. Every day you stay in the game is a day more dangerous."

Paopao shook his head vigorously: "No, I want to continue!"

Although the truth was horrifying, after making money, he finally found new meaning in the game.

An Rou was keenly aware of the young man's thoughts.

"Let me tell you in advance, I have no intention of saving the world, and you should also give up your personal heroism as soon as possible... I won't stop you from telling Long Yan everything."

"I know, boss."

Paopao said seriously, "The game is the boss's home, and it's also half of my home. I don't want to be separated from my baby. Of course, I don't want the real world to continue to be destroyed..."

Inconsistent.

"What exactly do you want to say?"

Paopao thought about it and expressed his meaning slowly.

“I dare not even think about what I can’t do.

"Besides Chu Mo, the boss is the only one in the game who dares to confront Jie Xin head-on. Didn't the boss drive him away just to prevent him from using the farm to harvest luck?

"I follow the boss and can help him a little with the farm and the reality."

It's rare to hear such mature thoughts from him.

An Rou: "Don't get the wrong idea. Just because Jie Xin may be the common enemy of the guild and me, doesn't mean we're on the same side. I just want to guard the farm and survive. If I encounter anyone from the guild looking for trouble, I'll kill them without hesitation."

Paopao nodded vigorously: "As long as Jie Xin is not here, kill, kill, kill!"

Meng Ziyu frowned and looked at this and that.

It is a ghoul, and words like "life value", "real world" and "game" are all sensitive words that are blocked.

We can only understand half of the whole picture.

But it was well aware of the dangers of staying on the farm.

An Rou turned her eyes to it and said, "You have something to say too?"

Meng Ziyou: "...Is it too late for me to quit now?"

An Rou: "I've offended the Ghost King Jie Xin, what do you think?"

Meng Ziyou sighed, "You've got me on this pirate ship!"

"After all, we're teammates once we're aboard." Paopao patted its shoulder. "Xiao Meng, let's listen to the boss continue his review."

This time, the plan wasn't complicated, the results were excellent, and the review was quick. The important thing was the information I extracted from Xie Xin.

An Rou: "From what Jie Xin said, he initially thought that he and I were on the same side, and that there was a mysterious person of a higher rank hidden behind us. The only difference is that I haven't 'awakened'.

"It's still unclear who the mysterious person is. Paopao can look for clues offline. But I don't think Long Yan has any relevant information, otherwise every high-level player wouldn't be heading to the Ghost Ruins.

"The biggest discovery is that Jie Xin can't do whatever he wants; he's constrained by certain rules. Our previous speculations have all been confirmed this time."

First, Jie Xin is invincible outside the Ghost Ruins, but he cannot attack players, NPCs, or ghoul bosses that have not broken away from territorial restrictions.

"So, Meng Ziyou, you and Zhang Da and the others cannot leave the farm easily. As long as you stay within the farm, Bao Fu will protect your safety."

Second, although Jie Xin cannot directly harm the player, he can reap the player's life in reality, which is the so-called luck.

There are two prerequisites for this kind of harvest. First, the player's soul must be devoured by the ghoul and lose the qualification to play the game.

Secondly, there is a limited range. An Rou guessed that it was the distance, so she decided to expel Jie Xin from the farm.

Paopao frowned and said, “The main thing is that we don’t know what the distance is. What if he is standing outside the farm and can also harvest?

"So, what will happen to the food supplies for Brother Baofu, Xiao Meng, and Lao Zhang? Are we going to let everyone starve?"

His starting point is not to harm any player's real life.

An Rou sneered, "Who said I have to take care of everyone? If the joint team comes again, I will still eat them."

Paopao didn't argue and lowered his head.

An Rou sighed silently: "I'm just stating my attitude to avoid internal strife at the critical moment. Run, the situation you're worried about won't happen."

The Destiny Ranking is not just for show. The game designed the Destiny value indicator to naturally select the players with the best luck, who are the targets of Jie Xin's harvest.

"If Jie Xin recklessly kills low- and mid-level players without regard for the consequences, and widespread sudden deaths occur in real life, how can the game continue? Soul-Guiding Song has been running smoothly for over twenty years, and he won't drain the pond to catch more fish. Therefore, the farm's ghouls' food supply won't be a problem.

"Of course, to minimize food pressure, we won't be creating new ghouls. Instead, we'll use the corpses we have to raise the level of existing ghouls. The higher the level, the longer their feeding cycle, and the stronger their ability to suppress their soul-devouring instincts."

An Rou said as she looked at Meng Ziyu: "Right?"

Meng Ziyou curled his lips: "It's okay once you get used to being hungry. There's no need to go through so many twists and turns."

Paopao nodded and agreed with this analysis.

In fact, he still had another worry in his heart.

Take the joint group for example, everyone is a high-level player with a very high destiny value, and meets the conditions for Jie Xin's harvest.

They come to my door, should I kill them or not?

Paopao knew Anrou's answer very well: if his own life was threatened, he certainly wouldn't care about the lives of others.

What made Paopao feel guilty was that he stood on the boss's side and agreed with this answer.

He understands An Rou, and An Rou also understands him.

After a moment of silence, An Rou suddenly asked, "Paopao, have you ever thought about what was sacrificed behind the apparent cooperation between Chu Mo and Jie Xin?"

Paopao never thought about it.

An Rou asked again, "Expanding the scope further, the Dragon Flame Guild, knowing that the game would lead to player deaths, still chose to push forward with the game, even going so far as to violate the guild agreement and establish a trial zone to accelerate player advancement. What was their purpose, and what did they sacrifice to achieve this?"

Paopao gradually opened his mouth wider.

An Rou asked herself questions and answered them herself, and the answers she gave were cold and ruthless.

"All high-ranking players on the Destiny Rankings are victims of the nation. More accurately, every player who enters the game is a potential victim."

"Why……"

"The two worlds are connected by a game. Who developed the game? If you want to sever the connection, it's easy. Just shut down the server. Can't shut down the server? Then cut off the power. Cut off all the electricity in the world. Turn technology back a thousand years to an agricultural society to protect everyone's lives."

An Rou paused, "But they didn't do that. Why do you think that is?"

-

The review lasted until ten o'clock in the evening.

Most of the time was spent in silence.

"Maybe today isn't the right time to go to the Spirit Realm. Let's go to tomorrow."

Wait for Paopao to put his mood in order.

In fact, there are still many things that we have not discussed in detail.

For example, although Jie Xin is invincible outside of the Ghost Ruins, his methods can be broken by skills with high enough attack power.

For example, the background music hidden in the minds of ghouls and NPCs may be the tip of the iceberg of the true side of Soul Society.

But Paopao was already heavy enough today, and it was obviously not a good time to let my imagination run wild.

An Rou stood up and was about to ask Bao Fu to open the void when her sleeve was suddenly grabbed by Paopao.

Paopao pointed at the screen: "Boss! Post!"

He was about to log off, but was attracted by the rapidly changing number of posts on the forum and clicked on it to take a look.

You don’t know until you see it, and you’ll be shocked when you see it.

The forum homepage is flooded with new posts, all with “0” replies.

The topics of the posts are all related to Yong'an Farm.

My friend said he lost his eligibility in the northern suburbs of Guangyuan Town for unknown reasons. Has anyone seen a new farm built there?

[A new auction format has appeared in the official store? It is said that the auction items are SSS-level quest clues]

[The bidding has exceeded 50 million gold. This is eye-opening! ]

[A massive ghoul wave!!! I’m dying, I’m going to die on Black Market Island!]

[Isn't the light shield a privacy shield? Why can't I get out? Help! !]

…

An Rou quickly glanced at the title. Outsiders might not be able to tell that the post was describing Yong'an Farm, but she and Paopao could tell at a glance.

These are posts that were blocked by Jie Xin. Although they appeared late, they are undoubtedly "new posts".

The new post has already dominated the homepage.

What’s more, the number of replies in the lower right corner of all titles jumped from “0” to “1” at the same time.

"Click and see!"

Just run and click on any one.

A task detail came into view.

[Quest Name: Is this the paradise you are looking for? Are you sure?]

[Mission Location: Black Market Island No. 7, Yong'an Farm]

[Ghoul Level: SSS]

【Number of Ghouls: 11/11】

【Time limit: None】

[Difficulty Rating: SSS]

An Rou's eyelids twitched: "Look at something else."

The first reply to the second post also has the same task details.

The third post mentioned Guangyuan Town, and the task details became the one that Ali obtained.

The fourth post mentioned the fight between Ripper and Witte, and the mission details were about the annihilation of the Trial Group.

…

All replyers have the same ID: [Target of Public Criticism].

This is Jie Xin's revenge.

He wants to expose Yong'an Farm to everyone and make it the target of public criticism!

An Rou raised her head abruptly: "Bao Bao, set off to the Spirit Realm immediately!"