Chapter 6 Little Brother
The system notification faded from Gu Yunqing's mind, and a clearer flow of energy unfolded around him.
He could more keenly detect the faint kindness emanating from those ghost students, and could also vaguely sense certain discordant fluctuations of "rules" in the air.
It feels like a person with severe myopia putting on the right glasses for the first time; the world is still blurry, but the outlines are already clear.
At this moment, the classroom was filled with an almost tangible sense of fear and despair.
Yue Qingqing was "held hostage" by the headless woman, so frightened that her whole body stiffened, and tears welled up in her eyes but she dared not let them fall.
Di Wenzhou and Bai Muling were pale and their eyes were unfocused.
Xin Yuan'er kept rubbing his arms, as if that could dispel the chill.
Jun Xiangbei's cold gaze swept over the few new players whose spirits were on the verge of collapse.
His underlying logic of "protecting the weak" makes it impossible for him to completely sit idly by.
In particular, Jun Xiangbei's sense of responsibility as a senior player and his compassion for the innocent made it impossible for him to stand idly by and watch these newcomers make more wrong judgments in extreme panic and follow in Shi Zihao's footsteps.
Although his primary goal in this instance is to protect Yue Qingqing, a healing-type ability user.
Jun Xiangbei's cold voice broke the frozen air, bringing the group, who were almost overwhelmed by fear, back to their senses:
"Fear solves nothing. Under the rules, only calmness and analysis can find a way out."
His gaze swept over Di Wenzhou, Bai Muling, and the still-shaken Yue Qingqing. As for Xin Yuan'er, he seemed to have instinctively stuck to Zhuge Jin.
“Observe them carefully,” Jun Xiangbei gestured to the ghost students in the classroom, especially the headless woman who was holding her own head.
Zhuge Jin interjected at this moment, saying calmly, "Their actions are not entirely disordered, nor are they purely driven by malice."
Jun looked north at Zhuge Jin, paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts, and tried to enlighten the newcomers as clearly as possible: "That headless classmate twice stopped Yue Qingqing from crying or making a sound. This may seem like 'protection,' but it's more likely stemming from some kind of obsession of its own—"
"Perhaps it suffered misfortune in its life because of crying or making noise, perhaps it was obsessed with 'quiet,' or perhaps..."
Jun Xiangbei's gaze fell on the headless woman again. She still maintained the strange posture of holding her head, and her empty eye sockets seemed to be "looking" at Yue Qingqing, or perhaps they were not looking at anything at all.
"...It developed a special 'identification' or 'possessiveness' towards Yue Qingqing, regarding her as its property and not allowing others, including rules or other ghosts, to easily disrupt it."
Upon hearing this, a thoughtful look flashed across Di Wenzhou and Bai Muling's faces. Their fear subsided, replaced by scrutiny and observation.
Yue Qingqing trembled slightly, her gaze towards the headless woman becoming even more complex.
Jun Xiangbei continued, his tone still calm, yet carrying an undeniable certainty: "Obsession is the core of their existence, and it may also be the breakthrough for us to understand the rules, or even to have limited communication with them."
"Limited communication?" Di Wenzhou couldn't help but ask, his voice still a little dry.
"With these... things?"
"Risks and opportunities coexist." Jun Xiangbei succinctly stated, "There is never just one way to obtain information: avoidance."
He didn't mean to force anyone; he was just stating a possibility.
Jun Xiangbei's main purpose in coming here was to ensure that Yue Qingqing passed the dungeon. As for the others, he had already done more than enough by offering them some pointers.
His gaze returned to Yue Qingqing and the headless woman; clearly, he had set the headless woman as his primary target.
Not only because of its special nature, but also because of the "attention" it showed to Yue Qingqing.
There's very little time left between classes.
Jun Xiangbei nodded slightly to Yue Qingqing, signaling her to follow.
Although Yue Qingqing was afraid, she had an instinctive trust in Jun Xiangbei. In addition, the lucky buff on her body seemed to give her a bit of confidence. She took a deep breath and carefully followed behind Jun Xiangbei, keeping a strict distance.
Seeing this, Xin Yuan'er hesitated for a moment, but still chose to follow Zhuge Jin closely.
Di Wenzhou and Bai Muling exchanged a glance and ultimately decided to cautiously separate, each choosing a ghost student who seemed relatively "quiet" to observe from a distance, not daring to approach rashly.
Zhuge Jin sat by the window, calmly watching all the players approach the ghost.
Xin Yuan'er sat behind Zhuge Jin and asked in a low voice, "Boss, do you need any more underlings?"
"I have a lucky buff. In addition to increasing people's luck, it can also increase the drop rate of high-level items when opening item chests. And I am very obedient. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west."
Item boxes are one of the rewards players receive for clearing endless dungeons, with different levels of item boxes awarded based on contribution.
Generally speaking, a C-grade item chest can only yield C-grade items, but if you use a lucky item, you might get a B-grade item.
Lucky items are very rare in endless dungeons, and Xin Yuan Er is like a continuous source of lucky items.
Gu Yunqing had been eyeing one of Jun Xiangbei's underlings while reading the novel, and now that he had the chance, he naturally agreed.
So Gu Yunqing nodded slightly, added him as a friend, and reminded him, "In this instance, stay away from female ghosts."
Xin Yuan'er didn't understand what he meant, but nodded repeatedly.
At this moment, Jun Xiangbei, with Yue Qingqing in tow, cautiously maintained a distance of more than one meter and stopped in front of the headless woman.
The head in the headless woman's arms, its bloody and mangled face, seemed to turn slightly, "looking" at them.
Jun Xiangbei's voice rang out, his tone calm and devoid of any emotional fluctuation: "Thank you for helping my companions on the previous two occasions."
The headless woman did not react.
The head held in the arms remained at that angle, frozen in place, as if it were just a terrifying sculpture.
The atmosphere became somewhat tense for a moment.
Just then, Zhuge Jin took out several old copper coins and a small piece of dull tortoise shell from his sleeve.
He didn't look this way, but simply lowered his eyes, lightly gathered his fingers, placed the copper coin inside the tortoise shell, and casually tossed it aside.
The copper coins fell onto the desk, making a few crisp, light sounds, and arranged themselves into a strange hexagram.
Zhuge Jin's gaze, seemingly sweeping over the divination chart beneath his white veil, swept over the hexagram. In his ethereal voice, as if talking to himself, he said, "If the name is not correct, the words will not be proper; if the words are not proper, things will not be accomplished..."
These words, like wisps of smoke, drifted precisely into Jun Xiangbei's ears.
A look of understanding flashed across Jun Xiangbei's eyes.
Name, identity.
These ghostly students are not nameless.
They were also students at this school.
A generic "thank you" or "companion" is not enough to ignite their obsession; more specific information that points to their individual identities is needed.
Players need to find things that can identify them, such as class photos, student rosters, files, names engraved on desks, and so on.
Meanwhile, more and more people joined Zhuge Jin's live stream.
"If the name is not correct, the words will not be proper? What riddle is Zhuge Liang playing now?"
"Does the God of War seem to understand?"
"Do we need to know your name?"
"Do these ghost classmates even have names?"
"Yes, they must have been students when they were alive, right? They must have had names!"
The readers' attention was entirely focused on the tortoise shell:
[Items? Tortoise shell and copper coins? This prophet's equipment is quite complete.]
Why would he use something like this? Is he a prophet or a fortune teller?
How did he know a name was needed?
[Tortoise shell coins? He can even do divination?]
He seems to know everything, but he never says anything directly. I hate riddle-makers.
Just as Jun Xiangbei was racking his brains trying to figure out where he might find this kind of information, his sharp eyes caught it.
At the end of the corridor, a stiff figure appeared silently.
It was that female teacher whose body was like a wax figure, who had deducted 2 credits from them for "forming cliques".
The female teacher stood there, her cold, expressionless gaze piercing through the dimness of the corridor and precisely locking onto their direction.
Especially Jun Xiangbei and Yue Qingqing, who are trying to communicate with the headless woman.
Jun Xiangbei's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately whispered to Yue Qingqing, "Stop, disperse naturally."
His voice remained calm, but carried an undeniable sense of urgency.
Yue Qingqing also saw the female teacher, and her face turned even paler with fright. She quickly lowered her head, pretended to tidy her schoolbag, and slowly moved towards the window.
On the other side, Di Wenzhou and Bai Muling, who were still hesitating about whether to try to talk to the other ghost students, also instantly sensed the danger.
They immediately pretended nothing had happened, quickly and naturally dispersing and putting distance between each other.
Xin Yuan'er huddled up even more, hiding behind Zhuge Jin, muttering to herself, "You can't see me, you can't see me..."
Zhuge Jin flipped his wrist and calmly put the tortoise shell coin back into his sleeve, his expression indifferent, as if the hint he had just given was just a casual whisper.
He even turned slightly to the side, seemingly showing interest in a non-existent view outside the window, perfectly embodying the role of an "observer."
The female teacher's gaze slowly swept over the group, and the corners of her stiff mouth seemed to turn down very slightly, revealing a cold scrutiny.
She didn't come over immediately, but stood at the end of the corridor like a cold statue, silently watching.
The plan to attempt communication was forced to be interrupted.
However, Jun Xiangbei did not feel much frustration. On the contrary, he was enlightened by Zhuge Jin's timely reminder.
The direction has been indicated.
The next step is to find the key clue that can reveal the past identities of these "classmates" without arousing further suspicion from the teachers—their names.
His cool gaze swept over the timetable posted at the back of the classroom, the possible honor roll on the wall, and the old desks covered in scratches...
Finally, his gaze met Zhuge Jin's white veil for a fleeting moment.
A faint, almost imperceptible look of inquiry and gratitude flashed in Jun Xiangbei's eyes.
Gu Yunqing remained calm as she felt Jun Xiangbei's gaze grow increasingly intense.
The bait has been cast, and the fish have already set their sights on it.
The audience's curiosity and exploration are the fuel that keeps his performance going.
As for the female teacher's surveillance...
The corners of his lips curved into a barely perceptible arc.
Rules are rigid, but "prophets" can always find loopholes in the rules.
However, the time is not yet right.
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