Chapter 100
An Rou had a rare good sleep, but was woken up by a knock on the door early in the morning.
She looked at Paopao outside the door with displeasure and yawned, "It better be something important, otherwise I'll deduct your bonus."
"Important, very important! I dug up some information about Xin!" Paopao lowered his voice and glanced behind him mysteriously.
An Rou woke up instantly, with a strange look in her eyes.
Did you find information on Xin? What information? The Ghost King?
This kid is so crazy... Does he know that Jie Xin is the Ghost King?
He squeezed in through the door, repeatedly confirming that it was closed tightly, and then said, "I stayed up half the night yesterday to sneak in..."
He suddenly paused, then changed the subject and asked, "Boss, do you know who Jie Xin is?"
He got a slap on the forehead.
"I know I still have to ask you?"
Paopao scratched his head with one hand and rubbed his forehead with the other, smiling awkwardly. "I guess he's Zhan Xingce. Boss, look at his clothes, they look very much like the style of Lingyu. And his movement skills, he just steps out and disappears, doesn't it look like a teleportation array? All the teleportation arrays in the server are made by Lingyu!"
"Guess? You've already dug up the information, so why do you still need to guess?"
"Uh... the information is about Zhan Xingce, but there's no photo. However, I did find other people's descriptions of him. He looked like a banished immortal in flowing white clothes, and he resembled Jie Xin a lot! I think he's Zhan Xingce!"
What Zhan Xingce, that guy is the Ghost King, if I tell you about it, it will scare you to death!
An Rou secretly complained, but had to publicly agree with Paopao and show some concern: "What's Zhan Xingce's level and ranking?"
"Uh... He seems to be a gold, not on the Destiny List..."
"What's wrong with you? Can a gold player be with Chumo?"
"What's wrong with gold players? They're obviously friends. Do you even need to look at your level to make friends?" Paopao retorted. "The boss has such a strong sense of class. How feudal!"
An Rou took a deep breath and said, "Alright, we make friends regardless of status. How can a gold player beat Bao Bao? When Jie Xin first arrived, he was bitten by Bao Bao, but nothing happened. You saw it."
"That's because Chu Mo is here too, so he's so fearless! Besides, the skills of the players in the Spirit Realm are very different from those in Lengbing City. They mostly use magic and are mysterious. Even the sound of my voice right now is so loud that I'm afraid he might hear it..."
Well, this kid is smart, but once a smart person makes up his mind about something, ten oxen can’t pull him back.
An Rou pushed him out the door: "The evidence is insufficient to convince me. Keep trying."
Paopao stared at the closed door for a moment and knocked: "Boss..."
The door opened instantly.
An Rou smiled and said, "Don't run around, and don't eat breakfast yet. Come with me to investigate later."
"Reconnaissance?"
"Yeah, the farm is here, shouldn't we investigate?"
"Oh oh oh!" Paopao's mind was full of Zhan Xingce before he remembered this.
After a night of flying, the farm finally arrived at the place Chu Mo mentioned - it turned out to be a valley.
Unlike Yuyangling, this place has lush vegetation, beautiful mountains and clear water. Below the farm, there is a mountain stream about two meters wide with gurgling spring water.
It was the first time An Rou had seen running water in a game. Zhongsu Town only had a simple sewer system, and even in the fields outside the town, there were only narrow man-made canals.
"Open the map and see where this is." An Rou said.
Paopao pulled up the map on the light screen and was stunned for a moment: "Boss, we are in District 3."
Area 3 of the secondary security zone, the territory of the Dragon Flame Guild.
An Rou was also stunned.
She knew she was no match for Chumo, so she sent Paopao home early. She let Baofufei follow Chumo's directions. It was already late at night when they arrived, and since there was no map on the screen, they simply went back to their room to sleep.
Unexpectedly, Chu Mo actually brought the farm directly to Long Yan's territory.
"Boss, that guy definitely has bad intentions!" Paopao said, "He went to great lengths to bring the SSS-level mission back to Long Yan intact!"
An Rou would have thought so too if she hadn't reached a deal with Chu Mo early on.
She neither shook her head nor nodded, and instructed, "Zoom in on the map and see what's nearby."
"Um, I don't have a map of District 3. Maps of each district can only be purchased at the regional pawn shop... That's right!"
Paopao recalled a rumor. "I heard that Sub-Zone 3 is the most tightly controlled area in Dragon Flame. The other five sub-zones under Dragon Flame are open to everyone, but Sub-Zone 3 is completely sealed off. Similarly, this zone has the largest number of Dragon Flame players, around 300,000."
300,000?
An Rou looked at the map on the light screen.
This is an overview map of Lengbing City. The green dot represents the area Paopao is in. District 3 is southwest of Lengbing City. Looking at the dotted line representing the district boundary, it's not only not larger than the two neighboring districts, but actually smaller.
A smaller area but accommodating more players?
There is definitely a problem.
"Boss, let's go find Chu Mo and ask him about this!"
The more Paopao thought about it, the angrier he got. "What the hell is he trying to say? The number one super god wouldn't dare to make a move long ago, so he tricked us into coming to his territory to get beat up? If that's the case, his level must be very low. No wonder he hasn't been promoted to Legend in two years!"
From the moment he said the first sentence, An Rou hesitated to speak.
However, she had a very indifferent impression of Chu Mo, so she just let him scold her to his heart's content.
Behind the two of them, Xie Xin slowly walked over and cooperated very well. After Paopao stopped talking, he said in a joking tone: "Someone is questioning your ability. Chumo, what should we do?"
Paopao was startled and his first reaction was to crouch down and jump behind An Rou, peeking out with one eye.
Chu Mo stood next to Jie Xin. Apart from a cold face, he was dressed in black from head to toe, as always, without a trace of life.
Sometimes he looks like a terminally ill and world-weary person, and sometimes he looks like the inhuman god of death.
In Paopao's eyes, he is the latter at this moment.
Fortunately, there is a boss.
An Rou smiled and looked across at the other side: "Mr. Mo, do you need to explain?"
The pale, thin lips of the ink didn't even move.
An Rou frowned, and Xie Xin spoke at this moment: "What he meant was that there was no need for explanation."
An Rou laughed in anger: "The number of players in District 3 is twice that of other districts. No explanation is needed?"
"Numbers mean nothing." Chu Mo finally spoke in golden words.
An Rou took a deep breath, and Jie Xin interrupted again: "What he meant was that he agreed to find a hiding place for the farmer. Although this area is crowded, it is suitable for hiding."
"A large crowd makes it easier to hide. What kind of perverse logic is this?!"
Paopao couldn't help but stick his head out to retort, but when he met Chumo's eyes, he retreated behind Anrou.
Xie Xin smiled and said, "What he meant is that the players in this area are all on the periphery. There are very few people in this mountain forest in the central area. Well, judging from the player density, it should be the sparsest among the 216 towns."
Are all the players on the periphery?
An Rou immediately remembered the rumors Paopao had mentioned and asked, "Why was Area 3 completely blocked?"
Xie Xin glanced at Chu Mo and said with a smile, "He doesn't seem to want me to help explain this question."
An Rou: "Mr. Jie, you don't need to help explain, just tell me directly."
Chu Mo turned around and left.
Xie Xin glanced at him, then turned back and smiled, "Sorry, he doesn't want to talk, so I can't take over. It's getting late, it's time for breakfast. By the way, farmer, your father's cooking skills are really good. No matter what dish he makes, it's unforgettable."
This ghost king was quite a familiar figure. He had appeared in the cafeteria uninvited since yesterday afternoon. Without asking a single question, he sat down at the main table.
An Rou was in a good mood yesterday and didn't say anything, but today is a different story.
She raised her voice slightly: "Wait a moment!"
Xie Xin: "Does the farmer have anything else to say?"
Chu Mo, who was further ahead, also stopped but did not turn around.
An Rou walked over with a smile: "If I remember correctly, Mr. Jie and Mr. Mo both said that when you come to our Yong'an, you come to spend money, right? If you spend money, you've already shopped, stayed, and eaten, how can you not pay?"
Xie Xin: "That's the truth. Farmers can just say how much they want. Of course, the price can't be too outrageous, otherwise the customer will be dissatisfied and make a fuss, which is understandable."
An Rou secretly rolled her eyes.
You are the King of Ghosts, why are you so stingy?
I originally wanted to make about one to eight hundred thousand per day.
Xie Xin was a bit of a chatterbox, but what he said wasn't nonsense; instead, it always made An Rou feel that he had a hidden meaning. Since he was so serious...
"Just think of it as two gentlemen buying a pass for an all-inclusive meal, drink, and entertainment package. Ten thousand gold a day, isn't that expensive?" An Rou said, "Think of it as the farm offering free hospitality for the past few days. Starting today, let's pay the bill first."
"The price is reasonable." Xie Xin said, looking at his white robe. It didn't look like it had any pockets. He smiled apologetically at An Rou and said, "Farmer, please wait a moment."
As he was speaking, the person had disappeared from the spot.
Paopao tugged at An Rou's sleeve and whispered, "Boss, I told you, he must have teleported away. How could he have such a movement skill? Also, he's like a worm in Chu Mo's stomach. He must be Chu Mo's friend. It's definitely Zhan Xingce. After all, Lingyu is Longyan's second headquarters. Speaking of which, a gold player is so pretentious..."
Before he could finish, Jie Xin returned to his original position, still holding a——Ghoul???
Paopao rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He was not mistaken. It was a zombie whose parasite was still alive. He had a terrified face and his eyes were trembling.
Xie Xin smiled at him, and with his other hand, he pinched the top of the zombie's head. The entire skull was shattered, and brain matter and blood splattered out, but not a drop stained the snow-white robe.
The ghoul began to transform wildly, its hideous, twisted body growing to twice the height of Jie Xin. Having lost its mind, it smelled the delicious soul nearby and should have pounced on it recklessly, but it remained motionless, allowing Jie Xin to float above its head and pinch it again.
With a bang, a cloud of gold coins exploded. All the gold coins did not fall to the ground, but floated in the air with a few scattered props, forming a stream that slowly flew in front of An Rou.
Paopao was stunned: "Fuck..."
Are gold players so awesome?
"A total of 8,467 gold. Including the props, it should be enough for 10,000. The extra part will be considered as a service fee for the farm." Xie Xin smiled slightly. "Farmer, if there is nothing else, I will go to have breakfast first."
An Rou reached out and touched the golden stream, put all the gold coins into the balance, and gestured to Paopao to put away the props.
She walked up to Chu Mo and asked, "How do you pay the bill, Mr. Mo?"
It's understandable that the Ghost King doesn't need to bring money when he goes out. But as the top player in the server, Chu Mo can't just go and catch a ghoul to pay the bill, right?
Logically, the family should be extremely wealthy.
Chu Mo said nothing and glanced in the direction of Paopao.
Seeing this, Xie Xin smiled and said, "He means that his money will arrive soon."
The money will arrive soon? An Rou frowned. Did someone send the money, or did the gold coins grow legs on their own?
Just as I was about to ask, I suddenly heard a voice from afar.
"Damn it! We finally found that ghoul, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye! Go find it!"
"Look, what kind of place is this? Why are there so many houses?"
It was the voice of two people.
An Rou reacted immediately: "Bao Bao!"
Two bone blades pierced through the ground, simultaneously piercing the two players who had reached the farm gate. A few seconds later, the two poor souls exploded into two merging points of light, gradually dissipating.
An Rou glared at Chu Mo: "Is this the money you were talking about? Where's the money?"
Chu Mo's gaze stopped on the bone blade that Bao Fu had not yet retracted.
Xie Xin said helplessly: "What he meant is that the money is all in the pockets of your employees..."
"Mr. Xie." An Rou glanced at him, "You have a mouth, and he has one too. Can you let him speak for himself?"
It would have been fine if he was mute at the beginning, it was not like she had never heard Chu Mo speak before.
Frankly speaking, An Rou seriously suspected that he brought his bad habits of smoking and drinking into the game, otherwise how could he have developed such a hoarse and unpleasant voice from smoking and drinking.
Chu Mo finally spoke: "My money is at the back, wait and see."
After saying that, he didn't even look at An Rou, and turned into a straight line and disappeared into the farm street.
"This guy is really poor. He has less gold coins in his pocket than any other employee on the farm. But don't worry, farmer. Although he may be a bit rude, he's not a debtor who won't pay back his debts."
Jie Xin tried to smooth things over without any sincerity and went to get the breakfast he had been longing for.
An Rou was speechless and felt it was strange.
She naturally didn't care about the money. Besides, she had eaten two souls with her sudden wealth, so it didn't mean she hadn't paid a penny for the ink removal.
But the Ghost King uses the ghouls to pay the bill, and Chu Mo, as a player, uses other players to pay the bill?
In the tightly sealed sub-area 3 of Longyan’s territory, those two players are also members of Longyan, right?
Paopao was equally shocked: "Low-level players' lives are also lives... Boss, what should we do?"
"Eat first, then come with me to check out the situation nearby."
-
The breakfast killed my appetite.
Jie Xin is gentle and elegant with an extraordinary temperament. He is outgoing and cheerful. He also has the glorious title of "The Chosen One". In just one day, he became one of the farm residents and became the top star on the farm.
On the other hand, Paopao, as the farmer's trusted secretary, used to have some brave residents come to curry favor with him, but today no one is interested in him.
Having witnessed Jie Xin's method of killing ghouls, Paopao was originally wary of him. But when Jie Xin finished eating, he came over and asked him, "I haven't seen Bo Bao for a long time. Is she okay?"
Paopao poked the bottom of the bowl vigorously with his chopsticks and replied with a dull face, "Very good."
Bo Bao, Bo Bao, you've only known each other for a few days, why are you being so affectionate?!
An Rou saw this scene and was secretly amazed.
No one would have thought that there would come a day when players would be jealous of the Ghost King.
This guy Jie Xin must have done it on purpose.
Outside the farm were mountains, and the cheongsam was a hindrance, so An Rou changed into something more accessible. She walked out of the farm with Paopao, closed her eyes, took a deep breath of the fresh air between the mountains and rivers, turned her head and smiled, "Are you still feeling down? Cheer up, let's go."
Paopao scratched his head and followed her.
"Boss, what conditions did you agree to for the ink removal?"
This question is equivalent to asking: When will Jie Xin leave?
An Rou shook her head. Chu Mo had come for the Ghost Ruins, and he probably wouldn't leave until he showed up. Since Jie Xin was acting like he was playing along, Chu Mo wouldn't leave either.
Once the Ghost Ruins is opened, it means one result: getting rich overnight will lead to death.
Although the transaction that night was limited to Ali, An Rou also figured out something because Chu Mo led the farm to Long Yan's territory.
Chu Mo was fully capable of strangling Bao Fu, but for some unknown reason, he couldn't ascend to Legend and open the Ghost Ruins. So, he simply used Bao Fu as a tool to open the Ghost Ruins, attracting other top players to strangle him and help him open the Ghost Ruins.
Of course An Rou could not accept this result, but since she was no match for her opponent, she could only accept this arrangement silently.
There was only one thing she could do now. No matter which player Chumo had brought in, she would help Baofu kill him. If they couldn't kill him, they could just run away. After all, Chumo had promised that he would never personally attack Baofu.
Just as Jie Xin said, that guy is not a deadbeat. Although he is annoying, his character is not so bad as to go back on his word.
Taking a step back, the farm had already been discovered by Qimo, and being held hostage by him wasn't the worst-case scenario. The worst-case scenario was that the farm was completely exposed to all players, attracting the attention of the entire server.
How can we live with tens of millions of players tracking and besieging us?
Even if you rely on the ability to control ghouls and trigger a ghoul wave that affects the entire server... it's still the same problem: how to live and where is the future?
She is just an NPC who cannot log off.
Even though she hated players, they were an indispensable resource for her life in this virtual world.
There is a way to break free, but there is only one: find a way to kill Chu Mo.
With the ink removal completely offline, the farm is expected to regain its freedom.
At present, only the number one super god on the list is qualified to be on par with the Ghost King. If he dies, the Ghost King will no longer be a threat, and the game can continue.
Her virtual life can also continue safely.
However, it is not easy to kill Mo.
After much thought, An Rou decided that the only way out was to continue increasing her level of wealth and see if the so-called top-level ghoul could break through its limits.
If it works, a new problem will arise.
Without the ink remover, will Jie Xin, who is responsible for collecting the off-line ghouls, allow the sudden wealth to continue to exist?
Will the sudden wealth upgrade threaten Jie Xin's position? Is there some kind of secret setting in the game that requires one to be killed and one to be kept?
This soul world hides too many rules that she doesn't know about.
An Rou shook her head, suppressed her complicated thoughts, and comforted Paopao: "Just treat them as ordinary guests, there is nothing to worry about."
"Guests?" Paopao was stunned for a moment, then muttered, "Everyone who comes to our farm has to go into the pickle jar. Boss, when are we going to start?"
An Rou: "..." Your boss doesn't have the ability to seduce you.
With goose-feather boots, climbing the mountain was much easier than in real life. Before long, the two of them had reached the halfway point of the mountain.
An Rou turned around and looked down, realizing that the farm was located at the foot of a series of mountains, with a valley as wide as a plain. The mountains stretched out to both sides towards the distant mountains, embracing the valley.
Compared with here, Yuyangling is not a mountain at all, it's just a small mound of earth.
White clouds and lush green mountains and forests complement each other. Looking out into the distance, there is indeed no human habitation to be seen.
It seemed like what Xie Xin said was true; the density of players in this forest was sparse. Could it be that those two players were simply passing through?
"Boss, have we walked far enough? Shall we go back?"
"It's a rare opportunity to enjoy the scenery, why are you in such a hurry to go back?"
Paopao scratched his head: "I didn't eat enough this morning, I'm hungry."
An Rou glanced at him and said, "Life potion, stamina potion, just grab two potions to hold on. Let's go over this mountain and see what happens."
According to the map location and what Jie Xin said, this forest is located in the central area of Area 3, and the players are distributed on the periphery. Perhaps they can see the town by crossing this mountain.
After determining that Chu Mo had no good intentions, An Rou concluded that there must be something hidden here.
It is not difficult to guess what it is. He wants to open the Ghost Ruins, so he must be a high-level player.
A high-level player from the Dragon Flame Guild.
Paopao put his mind at ease and used his movement skills to overtake Anrou, and soon reached the top of the mountain. Anrou continued to climb a little further, looked up and squinted, only to see Paopao waving at her vigorously.
Sure enough, there was a discovery.
An Rou quickened her pace and came to his side. The unexpected scene before her startled her.
There is actually a small town on such a steep mountain top!
The town wasn't large, occupying roughly the size of a mountaintop. Built against the mountainside, it had the feel of a mountain town. Buildings nestled in the mist, connected together to create narrow alleyways.
The town must be quite old; the bluestone pavement and the nearby building facades were covered in wet moss. A few pedestrians appeared and disappeared at the alley entrance, all wearing coarse, dusty homespun clothing.
From the buildings to the people, everything is dark and colorless.
While other towns in Lengbing City are bustling, this small town on the hilltop is very quiet, perhaps because there are few people.
An Rou hid behind a tree, retracted her gaze, and looked at the light screen map that Paopao had opened.
"That's weird," Paopao repeatedly zoomed in on the map, "Why aren't the place names showing?"
"Isn't it because you didn't buy the mini-map?"
"I didn't buy it, but besides buying it, you can also explore the mini-map in the game. Wherever you go, roads and landmarks will appear."
Paopao zoomed in on the map and said, "Boss, look, apart from knowing that this mountain is called Cangling Mountain, there's nothing else."
"You mean, now that we've found this town, the name of the town should be shown on the map?"
"Yes, there is also this road. It's so close, even if it doesn't have a name, it will be marked as 'Unnamed Road'." Paopao pointed to the dirt road a few meters away.
An Rou frowned and looked over. The road was at the very edge of the mountain, similar to the outer ring road of a small town. The road was not wide, but there were no traces of weeds or anything like that on it, so it must be frequently walked on.
Paopao has a point.
"Let's go and take a look." An Rou said.
To avoid attracting attention, both of them wore cloth shirts commonly worn by ordinary NPCs. An Rou also took off all of her "jewelry" and put it in the Paopao prop column so that she could take it out and wear it at any time.
Logically speaking, his appearance was not much different from the pedestrians in the small town, but before he even reached the nearest alley, people were looking at him frequently.
An Rou grabbed Paopao and said, "Something's not right."
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