LGSG Chapter 31
by VolareShen Hua turned his head, tears welling up: “Boss…”
The boss’s character is simply amazing.
Shen Hua felt very embarrassed, after all, he brought it upon himself.
“The car’s here.” Fu Qu walked over carrying large and small bags, frowning, “What are you two doing?”
Only Fu Qu was still honestly waiting for the car. He had no idea what the drama next to him was about.
Xia Ran: “If the calculation is wrong, just pay him money, right?”
Shen Hua: “…Oh right.”
Mainly, he couldn’t swallow the feeling in his heart for some reason.
After all, the salary in the instance is earned by risking one’s life.
But indeed, if you lose your life, the money is useless.
“No way.” Gu Qiufeng said, “You broke my table, that’s a separate charge.”
Xia Ran said expressionlessly: “I can break you too.”
Little Xie next to him glanced at Xia Ran in surprise.
After all, Xia Ran had always been well-behaved and cute in front of Xie He, the type to blush easily.
This was the first time he’d seen Xia Ran’s temper.
Kind of cute.
Like an angry little buttered bread roll.
Gu Qiufeng: “…”
After Xia Ran grabbed his collar, his sunglasses fell off crookedly, revealing a pair of playful eyes.
He smiled and said, “I didn’t mean to provoke you. It’s like this… I just need you to take me to Fenghuang Village.”
Fu Qu asked suspiciously: “The car is right there, why don’t you go yourself?”
Gu Qiufeng: “Uh, I have some grievances with the driver.”
In fact, the town center isn’t far from Fenghuang Village.
Last time, Xia Ran and Shen Hua wanted to quickly complete the task, so they didn’t even take the bus and walked to the Village Chief’s house.
This time, it was mainly because Little Xie said he was too lazy to walk.
Besides, they were carrying quite a lot of weight. If Fu Qu wasn’t tall and strong, they’d probably be worried.
“Then let’s go.” Xia Ran said.
Shen Hua leaned close to Xia Ran: “Boss, don’t you think this guy is weird?”
Xia Ran: “Hmm. Anyway, he’s just going to Fenghuang Village, we can give him a ride, right? Besides…”
Besides, he hadn’t figured out if this person was a player or an NPC.
Can players be so free? But if he’s an NPC, he seems too intelligent.
But in any case, the other party doesn’t seem to be hostile.
Anyway, Fenghuang Village is so big, they can part ways after they arrive.
Shen Hua was still bothered by the interpretation of that tarot card: “Could I have been set up by him?”
“Tarot cards can be interpreted in both positive and negative ways, right?” Xia Ran said, “It can be death or rebirth. But combining the cards, maybe… rising from the ashes?”
Shen Hua’s eyes lit up: “I like that interpretation.”
Little Xie pursed his lips to the side.
He didn’t like Xia Ran focusing on discussing other people.
But because he was wearing a mask, his expression wasn’t very obvious.
The white-haired boy was sullenly angry. He silently walked next to Shen Hua, squeezed Shen Hua away, and gently tugged at Xia Ran’s sleeve.
“Does your earring still hurt? I’m worried you’ll get an infection.”
Smoothly diverting Xia Ran’s attention.
Since vaguely knowing that Little Xie might be a split personality of Mr. Xie, Xia Ran now felt a little uneasy.
He felt that the young version of Mr. Xie was expressing his emotions in an overly straightforward way.
Every sentence deliberately stirred the atmosphere into something ambiguous and romantic.
Xia Ran said embarrassedly: “Didn’t you say it was nothing?”
Little Xie said frankly: “This earring is also the first one he’s given to someone. No one knows what will happen specifically.”
Xia Ran: “Then can you help me take a look after we get on the bus?”
Little Xie: “Okay.”
Just like that, he brazenly occupied the seat next to Xia Ran after getting on the bus.
Fortunately, Shen Hua was easygoing.
He didn’t care about Little Xie’s secret competition at all.
Fu Qu first greeted the driver.
The driver also waited for them for a while.
As soon as he got on the bus, Xia Ran exclaimed in surprise: “Master, it’s you!”
It was that crudely modeled little black figure driver.
Shen Hua: “…”
Shen Hua wore a mask of pain.
How could it be a ghost driver!
Something’s really wrong with this Fenghuang Village!
Ghost Driver: “.”
Suddenly a head popped up next to him.
Gu Qiufeng smiled and said, “Hi, Master, long time no see. So, has the issue of your expired driver’s license been resolved?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he tripped and almost got crushed by the car door.
Fortunately, Xia Ran grabbed the back of his neck with one hand and pulled him back.
Gu Qiufeng gave him a thumbs up: “Thanks, I knew I wasn’t wrong. Power solves everything!”
Shen Hua: “.”
No wonder this guy needed to hitch a ride!
With such a suicidal mouth, the ghost driver probably didn’t want to see him at all!
“So you had a grudge against the driver before?” After settling down, Shen Hua leaned over the back of his seat to ask Gu Qiufeng.
Gu Qiufeng: “Slightly acquainted. You see, he still can’t forget me after all these years, I’m so touched.”
Shen Hua: “…”
If he were the ghost driver, he would have called the police.
Shen Hua: “What earth-shattering things did you do?”
Gu Qiufeng: “Nothing. I was just curious, given his age, which is close to being buried, if his driver’s license was expired, so I mentioned it casually.”
Xia Ran suddenly understood: “No wonder his attitude was bad when I got off the bus for the first time.”
Shen Hua covered his face: “Boss, you wouldn’t also…”
“No.” Xia Ran said, “It’s rare to see an NPC with such an abstract style, I just took a few extra glances.”
The bus crashed into a big tree with a bang.
The few people in the carriage were tossed around like crazy.
Fu Qu was speechless: “Can you not loudly chirp about the person involved?”
This crappy ride was making him carsick.
Gu Qiufeng spread his hands: “This is the downside of driving without a license.”
“You swindler, still trying to popularize the law.” Shen Hua muttered quietly.
Fu Qu frowned and looked at Gu Qiufeng.
“You’re a player?” he asked.
Gu Qiufeng: “Is it that obvious?”
Fu Qu: “…”
Are such abstract fun-loving people common among NPCs?
“So, this is your second time entering a instance?” Fu Qu’s attitude wasn’t surprised. “What are you here to do?”
Gu Qiufeng: “Do you know about the Fenghuang Village being sealed off before?”
Xia Ran: “Seems like it was not long ago.”
“Oh, so this timeline is quite chaotic. It was a long time ago for me,” Gu Qiufeng said, “No big deal. After Fenghuang Village was sealed off, the temple should be useless. I plan to steal the statue from there. I feel like I can make a lot of money.”
Shen Hua: “…”
A lawless criminal is right in front of him.
Little Xie, who had been silent all along, said, “Temple? The temple in Fenghuang Village seems to have been deserted even before it was sealed off, right?”
Gu Qiufeng: “Tell me about it?”
Little Xie: “Before it was sealed off, the temple seemed to have had problems because the statue was evil, leading to the deaths of some of the people involved in the sacrifices at the time. Later, they said that the statue in the temple wasn’t the genuine Phoenix God, but an evil god statue.”
Gu Qiufeng: “Mhm, mhm, I was there.”
Shen Hua: “How many outrageous things have you done?!”
Xia Ran looked at the white-haired boy.
He frowned unconsciously.
“What’s wrong?” Little Xie asked.
Xia Ran: “Nothing. I just feel… you know a lot.”
Gu Qiufeng: “What happened later? No one cared, so it was easier for me to steal the statue, right!”
Shen Hua: “…Isn’t it said to be an evil god statue? Isn’t it bad to steal that kind of thing?”
Gu Qiufeng: “It’s the 31st century, are you still engaging in feudal superstition?”
Fu Qu: “Look at him, he doesn’t seem scared at all.”
“If you want to steal it,” the white-haired boy said slowly, “you might have to put in some effort. It’s been torn down and turned into a mental hospital.”
Xia Ran: “…?”
Does a village even have a mental hospital?
Forget it, better not think too deeply about it.
But looking at it this way, the Fenghuang Village instance has quite a few horror elements.
Xia Ran usually records game commentary videos online as a game blogger and is considered somewhat famous.
He has played a little of more or less every popular and unpopular horror game.
But out of consideration for the age of the audience and some people with specific diseases, horror games aren’t allowed to use fully immersive virtual worlds as the platform.
Xia Ran felt that this game already had a bit of horror element.
He didn’t expect that it would actually have a small horror instance embedded in it.
It should be considered skirting the edge of policy.
“Boss, why are your eyes shining?” Shen Hua said, “Evil god temple explosively remodeled into a mental hospital, let’s stay away from this place…”
After getting off the bus, they arrived at the entrance of Fenghuang Village.
The village entrance was still covered in a thick fog.
The bus left, leaving only a few of them standing in the thick fog.
They could only see a boulder placed at the village entrance in the distance, with the words “Fenghuang Village” written on it in a flamboyant style.
The last time Xia Ran and Shen Hua visited the Village Chief’s house, they took a small path.
This was also the first time they had come to the main entrance of Fenghuang Village.
“The head chef stuffed a small note with the address into my hands,” Shen Hua said, taking it out, “but how do we find it…”
“Find what?”
An old voice suddenly popped up unexpectedly.
Shen Hua cried out and grabbed onto Fu Qu.
Fu Qu: “…”
Fu Qu couldn’t help but say: “Do you know you’re scarier than a ghost?”
Xia Ran looked over and saw that it was the Village Chief from last time.
He had a good impression of the Village Chief.
He had even invited them to drink tea and even offered to let them stay overnight.
It was just that Xia Ran had accidentally broken their table at the time.
Xia Ran felt very guilty about this.
He sincerely said: “Has your table been repaired?”
The question made the Village Chief stop.
He was wearing a Tang suit with copper coin patterns, his temples were white, and his face was pale.
When he came out of the thick fog, he looked like a thousand-year-old zombie.
Now, Xia Ran’s words had made his face rosy.
He looked at Xia Ran, his beard trembling slightly.
But considering that the other person could smash a table with one slap, the Village Chief reasonably suspected that his old bones couldn’t withstand it.
He tried his best to squeeze out an almost flattering smile: “Thanks to you, we got a new table.”
His words were full of resentment and sarcasm.
Xia Ran didn’t hear it at all.
He was flattered: “You’re too kind.”
Village Chief: “…”
He didn’t want to be polite at all!
“Oh, right, weren’t you at the police station?” Xia Ran felt that he should also be polite in return, “Were you just released?”
Everyone present fell into an awkward silence.
The Village Chief’s heart was really struck by consecutive arrows.
Killing someone’s heart and soul without even taking a breath?
If you say he’s provoking, his tone is quite sincere.
If you say he’s unintentional, the person involved is about to overheat from a dried corpse state.
Gu Qiufeng sighed: “I memorize jokes in bed every day, but I still can’t compare to a naturally talented player.”
Little Xia teaches you how to easily pull all the aggro in three sentences.
But the Village Chief really didn’t dare to show his face.
The Village Chief thought, he shouldn’t have been so full and checked to see what guests had come to the entrance.
“We want to find this address.” Shen Hua handed the note over. “Village Chief, can you take a look?”
The Village Chief said: “So, you’re relatives of Aunt Zhang.”
He didn’t want to entangle with these people any longer.
It would be better to send them away as soon as possible.
“Aunt Zhang, I remember she moved.” The Village Chief said, “If you want to find her, you definitely won’t be able to find her at the original address.”
Shen Hua was dumbfounded: “Then where did she go?”
The Village Chief said: “Didn’t you see the residential building on the north side? She went crazy a couple of years ago, and since she didn’t have any relatives around, they sent her to the mental hospital in our village.”
Shen Hua: “…”
His eyes darkened.
So, in the end, they still have to go to that place!
Shen Hua hesitated: “Then can we rest at your house tonight?”
The Village Chief smiled and said: “No way. My house isn’t big enough. The mental hospital has so many empty rooms, why don’t you stay there?”
Shen Hua: “…”
Revenge, it must be revenge.
He originally wanted to ask his teammates for help, but he found that everyone’s expressions were very calm.
Shen Hua first poked Fu Qu: “Aren’t you afraid?”
Fu Qu: “Do you think the Village Chief is anything good?”
Shen Hua: “…”
That’s true.
Shen Hua wanted to ask the boss for his opinion.
But when he leaned over, he heard the white-haired boy whispering to Xia Ran.
Little Xie: “Are you scared?”
Xia Ran: “It’s okay.”
Little Xie: “Um… I’m a little scared.”
Xia Ran: “I’ll protect you!”
Shen Hua: “…”
Clearly, they were talking about very normal topics.
But he felt like there was a barrier between him and them for some reason.
The Village Chief led them to the location of the old Phoenix God temple, now the mental hospital.
Saying it’s a mental hospital, it’s just a five-story residential building. A very high wall was built outside the building, and when you looked up, you could only vaguely see the iron railings on the wall.
There was a small wooden house next to the gate.
There was a small stool outside the wooden house.
An old man was sitting on the stool, dozing off.
“These few people,” the Village Chief walked over, his tone gleeful, “are here to the mental hospital to find relatives. Arrange three rooms for them tonight.”
The old man opened one of his eyes, which were barely slits.
He was too old, his skin was loose, and he had basically lost all his teeth. Many brown age spots appeared on his face, and his eyes were incomparably dim. When he stared at people, the twilight seemed to seep through along with his gaze.
“Give.” The old man took out three keys from his sleeve.
They were the most old-fashioned iron keys, with white pieces of paper attached to the keys, with the corresponding room numbers written on them in red pen.
Shen Hua said: “Then where is Aunt Zhang?”
Old man: “Go in, ask the doctor.”
After he finished speaking, he closed his eyes again.
Like a wooden sculpture.
Shen Hua didn’t understand, but he felt too creepy to talk to this person, so he looked at Xia Ran.
Xia Ran: “Anyway, we have to go in sooner or later, we might as well go in and find the person in charge first.”
The group entered the building.
Two nurses in white coats suddenly ran out from inside the wall.
They rushed to the old man, surprised: “Why did you come out on your own again?”
The old man opened his cloudy eyes and grinned, revealing his toothless gums.
He giggled twice.
“Head first… walking backwards…dongdongdong…” (onomatopoeia for knocking sound)
The nurse frowned and said, “This guy is talking about the female patient who fell from the building a year ago again…”
Another nurse said: “The fifth floor has been semi-forbidden since then. I don’t know how this guy stole the keys to those rooms… Hey, where are the keys?”
The old man stopped talking, only giggling strangely.
*
Walking into the old elevator, the inside was covered in rust, and the walls had all kinds of messy patterns painted with various paints.
Shen Hua complained: “That doctor was too irritable just now.”
After entering the lobby, they first went to the front desk, and the front desk nurse asked them to go to the data department on the first floor to find the doctor in charge of the files.
As a result, the doctor seemed very busy.
After seeing them, his attitude was very impatient.
“You guys check in first. I’ll talk to you in detail when I do rounds later. Aunt Zhang lives on the fifth floor…”
The phone rang.
The doctor roared into the phone: “What? You mean the patient lost the key…”
Then there was a bunch of crackling violence.
It seems that the mental state of the doctors in this mental hospital isn’t very good either.
They could only do what the doctor said first.
When they got upstairs, the five people were successfully assigned rooms.
Gu Qiufeng wasn’t familiar with anyone and was just hitching a ride to do errands, so he slept in a single room.
Living alone in a small map full of horror elements isn’t a good thing, but he didn’t have any strange expressions, and he kept smiling.
Fu Qu and Shen Hua shared a room, and Xia Ran and Little Xie shared a room.
They originally planned to search around on the fifth floor for the head chef’s relative, but they didn’t expect the middle of the corridor to be sealed off with a cement wall.
The cement wall was also covered with iron chains, with a red painted circle and a cross inside the circle.
It probably meant no passage.
Then they can only wait for the doctor to come.
The internal facilities of the ward were old, and the walls were covered with yellow rust, as well as fingernail scratches, dried blood stains, and mottled paint.
As soon as the white-haired boy went in, he sighed heavily.
Xia Ran wanted to laugh a little.
Mr. Xie is a bit of a neat freak and particular about things.
Not to mention that his own room is well-organized, even very antique, even the exclusive room where Xia Ran sleeps, Xie He will clean and tidy up on a regular basis every day. It’s as neat and clean as a standard hotel room. Now it’s really a bit of a disservice to let Mr. Xie sleep in such a room.
The ward has a separate balcony and bathroom, and wooden bunk beds.
The balcony was nailed shut with wooden boards, and not even a window was revealed, making the room even more cold and humid.
Xia Ran went to check the bathroom again.
The basic facilities could still be used, but they were all too old and simple.
But if they only stayed for one day, they could still do it if they refrained from taking a bath.
Xia Ran felt a little apologetic: “I shouldn’t have let you come with me.”
Mr. Xie is such a particular person, and he seemed to be afraid of ghosts on the bus just now.
He personally likes it very much.
After all, it has a very horror game feel.
I wonder what the clearing method for this small map instance is?
Xia Ran likes to play escape-type games.
“It’s okay, do you sleep on the top or the bottom.” After the white-haired boy collapsed visibly for a while, he quickly recovered.
“I’ll sleep on the bottom,” Xia Ran said, “Mr. Xie above me?”
“…”
The air suddenly fell silent for a while.
Xia Ran belatedly reacted.
Oops, slipped up.
A light laugh escaped from the masked white-haired boy’s throat.
The voice, without deliberately faking childishness, seemed exceptionally calm.
He took off his mask.
It was exactly the appearance of the master of Sui Yuan Ju.
Xie He found it funny: “I thought this disguise would last a long time. How did you recognize me?”
The black-haired youth was slow, but he didn’t expect to be so unusually sharp this time.
Xia Ran: “Why did Mr. Xie disguise himself to go out?”
“…One is that I don’t want to startle the others in Sui Yuan Ju. So, I switched identities with him,” Xie He said slowly, “Secondly, those two probably wouldn’t be willing to do tasks with me. I think I pretended very successfully.”
Xia Ran pursed his lips.
Little Xie is Mr. Xie’s split personality.
The personalities of the two are very similar.
As long as Mr. Xie wears a mask and changes his voice a little, it is indeed difficult for Xia Ran to see through.
But Mr. Xie is still different.
Compared with young people, his behavior has a bit more of the indifference after experiencing the world.
For Xia Ran, the most attractive thing about Mr. Xie is that restrained and profound temperament.
“Mr. Xie is Mr. Xie.” Xia Ran said, “No matter what, I will recognize you.”
Xie He stared at Xia Ran.
He thought, he couldn’t give up on this kind of fervent soul at all.
He lowered his eyes to hide his expression.
His expression was slightly restrained.
“I don’t want to agree with the suggestion of sharing a bed just now.” Xie He said.
Xia Ran: “Huh?”
Could it be that Mr. Xie prefers to sleep on the bottom.
Xie He: “Xia Ran, I’m scared.”
The young master of Sui Yuan Ju showed a faint smile.
“Can’t we sleep together?”