CH 2

In the dilapidated and ruinous haunted house, there were evil spirits floating around. As soon as Gu An appeared, it was light a flash of color appeared in a dark environment.

But that bright color not only didn’t make people relax, it made people more vigilant.

The baby-faced youth was called Yang Tu, and he was a player. Wang-ge and Yang-ge, who he was shouting for, were also players. Because of his weak abilities, he had hugged their thighs1 since the beginning.

Wang-ge’s full name was Wang Nie. He was a player who had completed two worlds. Compared with Yang Fu and Yang Tu, who relied solely on brute strength, he was clearly more at ease.

Hearing Yang Tu’s shouts, Yang Fu immediately ran toward the source of the noise, while Wang Nie watched Yang Fu’s back, imperceptibly revealing a bit of mockery.

What a large and stupid man. Except for his high combat power, there is no advantage.

If you want to complete tasks, in addition to combat power, you need a brain. Otherwise, you’re only worthy of being a stepping stone for others.

As Wang Nie arrived slowly, Yang Fu and Yang Ty were already fighting against a man in red.

The man in red had a delicate face and an agile figure. There was nothing inferior compared to the two of them, Wang Nie thought as he looked at his beautiful face.

“Yang Fu, Yang Tu, stop!” Wang Nie dragged his heavy body over. He was overweight and swayed like a tilting doll. “All of us are players, don’t destroy the peace!”

Yang Fu and Yang Tu heard his words and analyzed the man in red before them. They were amazed by his appearance, but it was because of that outstanding appearance that Yang Yu had mistaken him for a ghost.

Wang Nie brought the fight to a halt.

Gu An naturally was no longer bothered, but his brows were slightly crinkled. As his gaze fell onto the three of them, he paused on Wang Nie’s shadowy eyes, and his eyes narrowed. He stared unceremoniously, making Wang Nie’s spine go numb.

Wang Nie looked at Gu Yan closely. His eyes were full of obsession, but one glance at Gu An made him restrain himself.

With a simple and honest smile, he introduced himself to Gu An: “My name is Wang Nie, and I’m a veteran player. The large man is Yang Fu, and the short one is Yang Tu. They didn’t mean to offend you, but some unpleasant things happened earlier, so they were more vigilant.”

WAng Nie stretched his hand out and wanted to shake hands with Gu An: “The three of us belong to a team. If you join us, I can make sure you complete your tasks smoothly.”

It’s just that his eyes, which were still staring at Gu An, had a look that made him feel extremely sick.

So Gu An didn’t show Wang Nie a good countenance. He crossed his arms, and his eyes were icy and sharp: “Don’t look at me with your disgusting eyes. If you look at me again, I’ll gouge them out.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but it could be heard by the three people.

Yang Fu and Yang Tu heard the words and looked up at Gu An. Gu An’s expression was frigid, and there was an angry crease between his brows.

The two secretly thought to themselves that Wang Nie kicked an iron plate this time.2 They thought in their hearts that although they still openly cooperated with Wang Nie, they both disliked some of his actions, so they simply pretended that they couldn’t see or hear, and didn’t want to get involved.

Wang Nie’s state of mind was shattered, but he wasn’t upset. Instead, he showed a sullen smile, and said: “I invited you kindly, yet you can’t differentiate between good and bad. Don’t blame me for being rude.”

Gu An didn’t even spare him a glance, and walked right past the three of them. Wang Nie didn’t stop Gu An, but watched his back with interest.

The most important thing for now was to find clues to complete the task. As for people……

Wang Nie smiled wolfishly. The game world was constantly changing, and danger could come at any time. He had a way to achieve his wish.

Gu An didn’t know what Wang Nie was thinking. If he knew, he would have definitely taken care of Wang Nie so that he wouldn’t dare to think about that again.

Just as he was about to exit the courtyard, GU An saw a large wave of floating ghosts rushing towards him in the air.

They were approaching so menacingly that Gu An even heard their harsh voices and their strong odor.

He retreated a few steps back and covered his nose with his hand.

When Wang Nie saw Gu An back up again, a smile appeared on his face. It’s just that before the smile could last longer than a few seconds, he was startled by the gigantic wave of ghosts.

He ignored Gu An – his life was the most important thing. He called Yang Fu and Yang Tu to escape through the gap in the courtyard, but the swarm of ghosts still chased closely behind them.

Gu An ran a few steps, glanced at the height of the courtyard wall, got onto his tiptoes, and prepared to jump.

Personal skills were always with the player, but they could only be used after entering the game world.

When the ghosts were about to enter the courtyard, Gu An tapped his toes on the ground, casually jumped over the wall, and landed firmly on the ground outside the courtyard.

Gu An didn’t dare to stay any longer. He chose a path and began to run.

When he ran to the end, he saw a wooden cottage.

Although the wooden cottage was somewhat run-down, it was still much sturdier than the courtyard. Gu An pushed the door gently with one hand, and the weather-torn wooden door was knocked down with a single stroke.

Gu An looked at the fallen wooden door, and was stunned for a moment, then walked in. There were spiderwebs on the walls, but the hallway was mostly clean, and the wooden chairs weren’t covered by dust.

He walked in and took a look around. Other than the spiderwebs on the walls, there wasn’t much dirt.

Gu An walked a few steps down the hall, then went to explore other sections of the wooden cottage.

He discovered that the cottage was actually quite large. It appeared tiny from the outside, but when he walked in, there was a yard behind it.

There was also a well in the yard, but there were mottled brown markings on the stone slab surrounding the well. The cover on top of the well was still in place, but there was a large hole in the center of it.

Gu An paused for a while and listened to the well. He was about to take a closer look when he heard 521 whisper in his mind: “An An, don’t look at that, okay? I’m scared.”

Gu An said with a smile: “Little guy, you’re so timid, ah.”

521’s voice was not strong, but its reply was smooth as stone: “I’m not timid,” it said. “I’m not afraid of it, you are.”

“You don’t need to worry.” Gu An said, leaning closer to observe the marks on the cover. “I’m not afraid of these things.”

521 didn’t dare to open its eyes at all.

But it was also curious, so it secretly opened its eyes and saw the marks on the cover. It screamed in fear, and Gu An grimaced.

He said, “Don’t look if you’re scared.”

521 nodded quietly.

Gu An looked at the cover for a while, then glanced up at the sky and the surrounding environment.

He found a problem. There were no traces of ghosts around or inside the cottage.

The ghosts may not have had time to come, but when he jumped over the high wall and ran over, he paid attention to the entire house.

Everywhere he looked, it was covered by black yin qi.

So, there was no such thing as not enough time.

If it wasn’t too late, it could only mean that–

— There was something wrong with this cottage.

Gu An took a guess. Could the wooden cottage have something to do with the missing Ms. Lin and her family?

He looked down at the well cover. The traces on the cover didn’t look like they were from animals, but humans…..

He stretched his hand out. The grey well cover was a distinct contrast against the white jade-like hand, making his skin appear even more creamy.

His fingers overlapped with the traces left on the well cover.

But his fingers were larger than those on the cover. Gu An thought about the woman who was sealed in the well. Could these traces have been left by that woman?

After considering, Gu An left. It was getting dark, and he had to find somewhere to rest before it became completely dark.

During his search, Gu An asked 521: “Why did you appear in my mind?”

521 replied: “An An, I’m love system 521, you can call me 521~”3

Gu An paused. Love system?

Did it mean that?

521 began to introduce itself. “The love system is for partners with a love value of over 90. It can make the life between partners more pleasant, oh~”

Gu An poured a bowl of ice water on it: “But I don’t have a partner. I’m still single.”

521 heard his words and felt wronged: “An An originally had one, but it’s all my fault. I lost An An’s partner, wu wu wu wu……”

Gu An got a headache from it’s sobs, and said: “Stop crying. Speak clearly.”

“Oh.” 521 immediately shelved its tears and introduced its function to Gu An. “The more affection between bound partners, the more upgrades can be unlocked in the shop.”

Gu An asked: “How much value does affection have?”

521 said: “Kissing, holding hands, hugging, doing A1,4 etc. As long as it is intimate contact between bound partners, it will produce various affection points.”

“As for me, as a love system, I can collect affection points all by myself.”

521 glanced at Gu An and spoke in a low voice. “An An, don’t worry. If it’s a restricted scene, I can’t see or hear it!”

So you can confidently and boldly produce affection points with your partner~

But Gu An coldly replied: “I hope you recognize this fact. I do not have a partner; I am single right now.”

521 felt guilty about this issue. After all, it was his mistake that made Gu An lose contact with his partner. Fortunately it bound them at the critical moment, but due to its mistakes, Gu An’s memory was partially muddled, so he had no impression of certain things.

But most importantly, Gu An forgot his partner……

521 was extremely guilty. Ig he guessed correctly, Gu An’s partner should have also entered, but he just didn’t know where……

“Oh. By the way, An An.” 521 said. “Newcomers will be given random gifts and a shop coupon. What do you want, An An?”

“A weapon that can kill ghosts.” Gu An said.

521 made an ‘oh’ sound, and started searching for it in the shop, but the items in the shop cost too much affection, and it couldn’t afford it at all!

After searching for a long time, it saw a black knife.

Introduction to the Black Knife: You can slay evil spirits from above, and you can slay evil spirits from below.

The black knife in the shop belonged to no one. It looked at the price, and it was within the range of its budget, so it bought the black knife with its affection points.

“Here An An!” 521 took the black knife out of the shop and passed it to Gu An.

Gu An took the black knife, touched it with his fingertips, and gestured with it. He found that it was excellent quality, but didn’t know how effective it would be in actual combat.

One person and one system chatted while walking.

Before it became completely dark, he found a place to rest in the wooden cottage.

— It was a bedroom.

Although there were traces of living people, except for in the hall, the rest of the place was empty and barren.

Gu An propped up his chin and sat on the wooden chair. The bright moonlight outside the window shone on his face, making him look like an immortal.

When Zhao Yuan and Wen Feifei saw that scene after entering, she was at first amazed, and then deeply vigilant.

They would not forget that in the intense scene just now, who would have thought that Yu Miao, who had always been gently, was actually a monster that ate human flesh and drank human blood!

Sensing that someone was entering, Gu An slightly raised his eyelids and glanced sideways. His delicate facial features were shrouded in a layer of hostile intent, mercilessly piercing the people who entered.

Zhao Yuan was stunned by Gu An’s face. He had seen many beauties, yet he was still momentarily stunned. He had even forgotten his own thoughts just now, so he was wary of the person inside.

Because Gu An was a flower demon, there was naturally a hint of seductive color between his eyes and eyebrows, but his expression was icy, and his full red lips were lightly pinched.

His pupils were clear and dark as night with slightly restrained double eyelids. His eyelashes were long and curled, his nose was straight, and his chin was white. The profile of his face was very clear.

Because his complexion was too fair, the fiery red rose mark between his eyebrows was like a sumptuous flame, attracting the attention of others.

He wore a finely made crimson shirt in a traditional style. Zhao Yuan’s eyes were penetrating as he stared at his exposed snow-white neck.

Wen Feifei couldn’t help but feel jealous when she saw Zhao Yuan’s undisguised gaze. She pinched him harshly, and her voice was unrestrained: “Zhao-ge, let’s go. It’s so quiet here, there must be something wrong.”

Her intentions were transparent. She wanted Zhao Yuan to lead the man in red before them to the evil spirits.

Zhao Yuan’s obsession was interrupted by Wen Feifei’s voice, and he looked guardedly toward Gu An: “Who are you? What are you trying to do to me?”

The reason for his enchantment just now was entirely attributed to Gu An.

Being enchanted by a man in front of his lover, Zhao Yuan felt embarrassed at the thought of it. He wanted to find a hole to bury himself in.

Wen Feifei’s voice was feminine, but the words she spoke were ugly: “Aiya. I don’t know if it’s a human or a ghost, but it has no sense of shame. Is it possible that you have to turn into a dog when you see someone? Do you think that’s it, Zhao-ge?”

However, she didn’t wait for Zhao Yuan’s response, and when she turned her head to look, a black knife suddenly appeared on Zhao Yuan’s neck.

And the holder of the black knife was the man in red.

Gu An listened to the conversation between the pair and felt extremely impatient. Because of his appearance, he had suffered in through a lot of criticism in the real world. That’s why he hated people talking about his face the most. He didn’t expect to be discussed when he entered the game world.

The two were not only discussing him, but discussing him right in front of him. Not only that, but what the woman said made him very displeased.

Gu An was not an immortal master who could restrain his anger. Usually, he would enact his revenge immediately. If his strength was not enough, he would note it down in a journal and leave it to be dealt with later.

So by the time Zhao Yuan said those words, he was already holding the black knife. He jumped toward the door, casually aiming the black knife, and paused an inch away from his flesh.

Zhao Yuan’s body was shaken by Gu An’s actions. If Gu An’s hand shook even a little, the black knife on his neck would slice into him. He was panicked, and sweat was forming on his forehead.

With a trembling voice, he pleaded: “Great hero, please spare my life. It is me who fails to see, but you who sees all. Please spare me.”

Wen Feifei gasped when she saw the black knife, but when she opened her mouth to say something, Gu An stopped her with a look. She closed her mouth in shame, and quietly stepped away from Zhao Yuan to avoid any blood spray from touching her.

Gu An’s voice was cold as he questioned Zhao Yuan: “Why do you want to enter the house?”

When the two were conversing, Gu An learned that the two were not players, but NPCs of the game world.

Zhao Yuan immediately explained why they came to the house, but omitted the information his father had given him. The treasure belonged to their Zhao family, and no one else could steal it from them.

“We’re supernatural fans. We often go to haunted areas to explore together,” he said. “This house has been haunted since my childhood. I’ve always wanted to come here, but I never had the opportunity. I couldn’t rush to go alone, so we took advantage of the holiday and scheduled a date to come and explore together.”

Gu An asked again: “What about the others?”

Zhao Yuan hesitated, but Gu An wasn’t saying empty threats. He directly started moving the black knife closer to his throat. Seeing that he was only a finger’s width away from his flesh, Zhao Yuan clenched his eyes and shouted: “No no no! I’ll tell! I’ll tell!”

“I don’t have the patience to chit chat with you.” Gu An spoke coldly. “You’d better tell me all at once, otherwise……”

Zhao Yuan understood what Gu An was insinuating, and nodded quickly: “Of course, of course!”

He swallowed and told him: “There were originally five of us, but in the woods outside the house, Li Qun didn’t keep up because he had to pee urgently, and just now……”

As if recalling something horrifying, Zhao Yuan shuddered, and his voice was full of fear: “My distant cousin Yu Miao, just now seemed to be a different person. She went crazy and leapt on our bodies and bit Wang Li. The three of us ran away, and Feifei and I arrived here on accident……”

While Zhao Yuan spoke, something seemed to flash past the window.

Gu An keenly noticed something, but when he looked toward it, there was nothing.

He didn’t let his guard down. He lowered his gaze, and kept staring at the window through the corner of his eyes.

After Zhao Yuan finished speaking, Gu An removed the black knife from his neck, and without saying anything more, went straight to the wooden chair and sat down.

Zhao Yuan and Wen Feifei shrank to the side. They couldn’t figure out Gu An’s temperament, but after what had just occurred, they didn’t dare to act rashly.

Unless they annoyed him and brought suffering upon themselves.

Gu An looked out the window while absentmindedly chatting with 521.

521 told him earlier that he could speak to it without opening his mouth. He just needed to speak internally.

521 had been constantly making noise since earlier, making Gu An want to ignore it.

“What’s wrong with you?” Gu An asked 521.

521 was a little scared. It had already shrunk its voice, but Gu An could still hear it as it said: “An An, I am useless.”

“I’m even afraid of ghosts. I’m not a good system, wu wu wu wu……”

Gu An replied: “You’re not completely useless. At least you gave me a knife that can save my life.”

He looked at the exchange shop with his bracelet. He only had enough survival points to purchase a kitchen knife used for cutting vegetable. Anything in the shop that could be used to deal with ghosts was priced sky high.

So he didn’t think that 521 was useless.

Hearing Gu An praise it, 521 selectively ignored the previous words and spun around cheerfully.

Gu An didn’t say anything more. He continued propping up his chin and looked out the window.

Outside the window, the moon that hung high in the sky had changed color at some point. It was no longer white, but an ominous scarlet.

The bedroom, which wasn’t far from the well in the yard, could be reached with a two minute walk.

The red hued moonlight fell onto the well. The illumination revealed the brown well water inside.

“Tatata–“

He heard the sound of staggering footsteps. Under the moonlight’s illumination, a pair of white skeletons walked around the entire house. Because they had no flesh or blood as support, they relied only on the yin qi to pull their bones, and it was easy to destabilize.

Walking, walking, the yin qi in the skeletons gradually changed their appearances, turning them into ‘people’ glowing with black qi.

They had no consciousness and could only walk without interruption. Their footsteps were slow and loud, like a staggering and weak old man.

Gu An also heard the sound. He narrowed his eyes and wanted to go outside to take a look.

He strolled straight past Zhao Yuan and Wen Feifei on his way out. The pair looked at each other; they also heard the noise.

Between following Gu An or hiding in the house, the two chose to do the latter. They pulled the quilt off the bed, rolled up inside of it, and hid under the bed.

~ The House Path ~

Gu An jumped over the wall and stopped beside the branch of a tall tree near the main house. He looked at the groups of white skeletons dragging themselves toward the main house.

Seeing that scene, 521 shivered with fear. It shut its eyes and didn’t dare to open them again.

Gu An watched the white skeletons come closer. As they approached, he could make out the voices of some ghosts.

“They actually returned! Brothers, let’s go and feast!”

“Come on, ah! I’m starving to death! Just in time for a wave of yin qi!”

“Hahahaha! Such strong yin qi! Laozi wants to eat all of you!”

Gu An focused on the white skeletons and ghosts with all his attention, so he ignored the abnormalities.

The surging ghosts were like starving wolves. They pounced fiercely on the white skeletons, sucking the yin qi from them with all of their strength.

The white skeletons resisted harshly, but the evil ghosts were extremely vicious. The white skeletons weren’t worthy opponents of the ghosts at all. They could only passively be drained of the yin qi in their bones.

The yin qi was sucked out of their bones, and the bones were scattered on the ground in front of the main house as if there was nothing sticking them together.

Under the light from the scarlet moon, it appeared too strange.

Gu An watched that scene from the branch, recalling the information provided by the bracelet.

The bones that appeared inside the house……

He looked at the silent fight beneath him. Could it be those bones on the ground?

But why did those white bones go to the main house, and why do the ghosts absorb the yin qi from the white skeletons? And where did the bones come from? Why were they in the house……

Anything and everything was a mystery, and he couldn’t figure it out.

After the ghosts drained the yin qi from the white skeletons, they floated away.

Gu An followed behind them, maintaining a short distance. The ghosts seemed to know where they were going, and strands of black yin qi drifted in one direction.

Gu An, who followed behind them, stood on the wall and watched the ghosts drift somewhere.

— The dilapidated courtyard.

By the time he reached the courtyard, the ghosts had long since disappeared. Only the weeds the height of his knees remained, dancing in the wind, lengthening under the moonlight. From a distance, they looked like frivolously dancing ghosts.

Gu An walked through the courtyard. When he first awakened, he didn’t pay any attention to the courtyard. As he looked at it now, he found a wooden door in the corner, broken down by wind and rain.

He walked over and looked through the wooden door to see what’s behind it.

–It was a rose. The petals were as bright as blood, and it was larger than ordinary roses. If he looked closely, there were threads of black yin qi on each rose petal.

~ At This Time On the Other Side ~

The originally quiet well suddenly let out an abnormal noise. The harsh sound of nails scraping against the wall emerged, as if something inside the well was struggling to escape, but kept falling into the water again and again, causing bursts of splashing sounds.

After a while, the entity seemed to settle, no longer trying to climb out.

Yet there was a cloud yin qi coming from the well, and it floated in the air for a while.

It drifted toward the unconscious Yu Miao.

After being possessed, Yu Miao opened her scarlet eyes, stood up, opened the door, and walked out to face the red moonlight outside.

TL Notes: Here’s chapter 2! Chapters 3 and 4 are completely translated already. I may post them early because I get excited and impatient, but I’ll be trying to build a stockpile (∩^o^)⊃━☆