CH 126

(Xingyue Bay)

Shen Dongqing decided to swoon in the following second to complete the play. 

It’s just that he’d barely closed his eyes and, before he could go down, he connected with someone else’s arms.

He opened his eyes a slit and saw a familiar face.

“Do you want me to carry you away?” Zhou Wenyan inquired, smiling.

Shen Dongqing stood up straight away, his dizziness vanished. He didn’t appear to have been in a car accident at all. 

“I truly want to carry you,” Zhou Wenyan said, placing his hand on Shen Dongqing’s shoulder.

“Don’t!” said Shen Dongqing, shaking his head.

It would be too embarrassing to be carried.

The two men disregarded White Coat, who said, “Do you want to go to the hospital for a full body check? Although some people are fine following a car accident, it’s actually impossible to tell if there is any internal bleeding…”

Shen Dongqing went to the hospital for a checkup at the strong insistence of White Coat.

After all, he was now a human being, and humans are extremely vulnerable. He would revert to a ghost if he was not careful.

Fortunately, he was unharmed.

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan were leaving the hospital when Shen Dongqing abruptly stopped walking midway. 

Zhou Wenyan: “What’s the matter?”

“I want to eat that!” exclaimed Shen Dongqing, his eyes shining as he pointed to the shopping complex across the street from the hospital.

Zhou Wenyan looked in the direction he indicated and noticed the eye-catching KFC sign board hanging on the shopping mall’s wall.

Shen Dongqing had never tried KFC before, so he eagerly ordered a table full of food. He sat down at a table, unwrapped a burger, and took a huge bite. 

Zhou Wenyan sat next to him, assisted him with inserting the straw, and pushed the Coke across.

“Where were you when you came in?” Shen Dongqing asked, sucking the Coke.

Zhou Wenyan: “At home.”

It’s possible that the game’s time lapse differed from the outside world’s. Zhou Wenyan didn’t know how many instances he’d experienced in the game, but when he came out, he discovered that only two months had elapsed in the outside world. 

He also learnt from the housekeeper that “he” had been developing the business in other cities for the two previous months, and no one had noticed anything out of the ordinary.

“I’m not sure what the game is capable of,” Shen Dongqing stated after finishing the burger in two or three bites.

After all, at the time he was only looking for work for the ghost soldiers and ghost generals under his command. So, when the game dropped in to discuss collaboration, he quickly agreed and became an arm-flinging shopkeeper.

Shen Dongqing’s table manners were still so childish that salad dressing was all over the corners of his mouth after eating the burger. “Do you know where the main body of the game is?” Zhou Wenyan said, taking a piece of paper napkin and wiping it for him. 

“I seem to know a little bit,” Shen Dongqing answered, tilting his head.

He was, however, an arm-flinging shopkeeper, and he had never gone to the location of the game’s main body. He had just heard what the collaborator said about it.

Zhou Wenyan realized the key point: “Collaborator?”

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Shen Dongqing was still busy eating: “Nom nom—”

Zhou Wenyan broke into laughter: “Don’t worry! Take your time.”

Shen Dongqing mumbled “Mn,” grabbed a hamburger, and stuffed it into Zhou Wenyan’s hand, saying, “You have one too.” 

Zhou Wenyan removed the hamburger’s wrapping paper. In comparison to Shen Dongqing next to him, he didn’t appear to be eating fast food, but rather a culinary delicacy at a banquet.

Halfway through eating, his movements came to a halt, and he turned to face the bustling shopping mall.

“What’s wrong?” inquired Shen Dongqing.

“Someone was observing me right now,” Zhou Wenyan replied, a bit unsure. 

When Shen Dongqing heard this, he also looked around and met the gaze of a young girl holding a mobile phone. She should have been taking pictures of them right now.

“There!”

Zhou Wenyan also noticed her. He set the hamburger down and walked over.

It turned out that the young girl saw Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan’s outstanding looks and thought they were internet celebrities, so she secretly took photos of them and planned to share them on her social network. 

Zhou Wenyan spoke with the young girl and requested that the photos be deleted. The young girl was a bit thin-skinned. She deleted the images and fled after being caught red-handed.

Zhou Wenyan returned to Shen Dongqing’s side.

“Is it okay?” Shen Dongqing inquired, his head bowed.

Zhou Wenyan: “It’s fine.” 

Even though he said that, he kept having the impression that something was watching them from somewhere, but the feeling was too weak, and made him think it was an illusion.

He couldn’t discover the source right now anyway, so he had to set this doubt aside for the time being.

Shen Dongqing devoured the last egg tart and dusted off his hands to remove the crumbs on his palm, saying, “I’m done.”

Zhou Wenyan handed over a paper napkin. 

Shen Dongqing took it and wiped his hands, thinking to himself, “Did we forget something…”

“No,” Zhou Wenyan decided after careful consideration.

Shen Dongqing naturally didn’t think much about it because Zhou Wenyan stated they hadn’t forgotten anything, and the two of them left the shopping mall, headed to the location of the game’s main body.

In a corner of the city. 

The brat squatted on the curb, watching the cars go by, and sighed softly, “Where is this place?”

And why are they both missing?

Despite the fact that Shen Dongqing had lived for so long, he still appeared innocent and cute, most likely because he was strong enough, and with the loss of part of his memory, he was utterly ignorant of the game.

Shen Dongqing only remembered the location of the game, and he pondered it: “It’s somewhere in Xingyue Bay.” 

“Xingyue Bay?” Zhou Wenyan looked at him for confirmation.

“Have you been there?” Shen Dongqing asked, nodding.

Zhou Wenyan: “That’s my home.”

As he spoke, he gestured for a taxi to stop and instructed the driver to take them to Xingyue Bay. 

The driver responded by pressing the accelerator and driving away.

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan sat in the rear seat.

Looking out the window at the scenery flying by, Shen Dongqing sighed, “In the end, it’s different from the one in the game.”

There were urban instances in the games as well, but they were always a little less human when compared to reality. 

Zhou Wenyan muttered “Yeah,” his mood not too good.

Shen Dongqing became aware of it, turned his head, and inquired with his eyes.

“I keep getting the feeling it’s not that simple,” Zhou Wenyan said.

Everything was going too smoothly. 

From entering Ghost City to acquiring the controller to returning to the real world, everything went too smoothly, with just minor twists and turns that did not fit the game’s character setting at all.

“Isn’t it good that everything is going so well?” asked Shen Dongqing.

Zhou Wenyan didn’t say yes or no, but he always thought that given the game’s character, it should do everything in its power to set them up for a trap.

“Maybe the game can’t work it out, so it can only resign itself to despair,” Shen Dongqing exclaimed loudly as he listened to Zhou Wenyan’s misgivings. 

The game had always wanted to kill them, but it had never been able to do it.

If the game were a person, it would have been depressed long ago.

However, Shen Dongqing also felt that Zhou Wenyan had a point: “Then let’s just be careful.”

The taxi came to a halt at this point, and the driver stated, “Here we are.” 

Outside the window, a stele with the words “Xingyue Bay” in traditional characters carved on it could be seen standing at the door.

Residents in this neighborhood were wealthy and respectable, and they would be too embarrassed to enter here if their cars cost less than one million yuan, thus this taxi was particularly conspicuous.

Zhou Wenyan got out of the car and gazed around at the familiar surroundings, but it felt like a lifetime ago. “I haven’t gone back in a long time,” he finally sighed quietly.

This was Zhou Wenyan’s home, but his parents flew outside all year, and he lived in the city by himself, rarely returning to this family residence. 

Because the taxi couldn’t drive inside, the two of them simply strolled in.

“Was this where you used to live?” inquired Shen Dongqing, looking around curiously.

Zhou Wenyan replied in a low voice, “I used to be in poor health. Because the fengshui here is believed to be good, I’ve been living here to keep my health.”

Shen Dongqing observed, “The fengshui is so-so,” without thinking it through. 

“Do you understand fengshui?” asked Zhou Wenyan.

“No, not really.” Shen Dongqing rubbed his hair, “I just feel that this place is not very good. It’s gloomy.”

In fact, the greenery of this location was fairly good, with birds singing and the aroma of flowers, as well as fresh air. Even if you don’t discuss feng shui, you will feel refreshed after staying for a long time.

But as soon as Shen Dongqing uttered these words, the clear sky became heavy, and even the birds and insects stopped singing for a moment. 

But, thankfully, only for an instant.

The surroundings had reverted to normal in the blink of an eye. There were loud cheers from the noisy children and helpless cries from parents coming from the small garden next to them, who were completely unaware of this bizarre occurrence.

Zhou Wenyan frowned slightly.

This was a typical occurrence in the game, but in the real world, it didn’t look right no matter how you looked at it. 

Shen Dongqing, on the other hand, was ecstatic: “I can see ghosts!”

“You’re so excited to see them?” Zhou Wenyan couldn’t help laughing.

“I want to examine how the ghosts outside differ,” Shen Dongqing said, nodding.

Were they, for example, more resistant to beating than the ghosts in the game? 

It’s a shame that the ghosts here presumably sensed the danger and had no plans to declare their presence. They were able to go without incident for the entire distance.

Shen Dongqing was already yawning with boredom, saying, “It’s so dull.”

There wasn’t even a ghost to add flavor. The outside was too boring.

Zhou Wenyan was the polar opposite, with a solemn expression on his face: “Do you want to keep going?” 

Shen Dongqing nodded tiredly and raised his index finger to the front, saying, “It should be there.”

Right in front of them stood a historic building with white walls and blue tiles. At the front door, two tall camphor trees were planted. People would assume they had traveled through time if it weren’t for the modern facilities outside the building.

Zhou Wenyan stared at the old house for a while before declaring, “This is my home.”

Shen Dongqing was still out of form and said subconsciously, “Your home? Your home is quite beautiful…” He interrupted his speech halfway through. “Your home!” he said again, his eyes like saucers. 

Zhou Wenyan: “Yes.”

He had a feeling something was amiss ever since Shen Dongqing claimed the main body of the game was in Xingyue Bay, and now that it implicated his family residence, he was much more suspicious.

“Let’s go ahead and take a look.”

“All right, let’s have a look.” 

The Zhou family’s home had been vacant for many years. Basically, the housekeeper came back every month to clean it. The yard’s gate was now shut, and no one could enter or leave.

“Did you bring the keys?” Shen Dongqing asked.

Zhou Wenyan: “No.”

Shen Dongqing pushed the door, and it was locked as expected. He was ready to open the door the conventional fashion but he stopped when his sleeves were rolled halfway. 

Zhou Wenyan: “Not smashing it?”

“This is your home,” Shen Dongqing remarked.

So he couldn’t use too violent methods, or the door would break, and they’d have to pay for the repairs themselves.

Zhou Wenyan remained silent for a moment before taking a step back: “Never mind. Just smash it.”