85

“You’re up late.”

Bai Yan blinked in a muddled state and reached out for his phone out of habit, glancing at it and seeing that the time was already 10:30.

He opened his mouth, his voice still a bit hoarse, “Why didn’t you call me?”

In response, Ye Shangyu just pointed to his side, and when Bai Yan turned his head, he saw Kenta was still lying down beside him, looking like a large black mountain as he laid on his side, fast asleep.

Seeing that Bai Yan was awake, Jina continuously nudged Kenta, rousing the large black man from his sleep.

Bai Yan didn’t ask any more questions after he woke up, going to the kitchen first to fetch a glass of water, giving his throat some relief.

Last night, the players didn’t drink water.

The risks of going to the toilet in the middle of the night were too high, so to avoid further trouble, the players simply didn’t drink water. This was also what led to Bai Yan feeling thirsty as soon as he woke up.

Kenta and Jina stayed back in the house to keep a close eye on the old lady as Bai Yan and Ye Shangyu brought some items with them and began to head to the village, walking up to the very first house.

On the dirt road, where it was nothing but open space and where there was no place to hide, Ye Shangyu suddenly leaned towards Bai Yan, whispering into his ear, “Be careful of Xu Lanfang.”

“Could it be that she’s…” Seeing how cautious Ye Shangyu was, Bai Yan also lowered his voice, “How did you find out?”

Ye Shangyu didn’t say anything, and the atmosphere around them remained eerily quiet. Bai Yan realized that it couldn’t be said out loud and didn’t ask any more questions, his heart sinking into deep thought.

Ye Shangyu once stayed at a research institute that studied ghosts, and towards understanding these ghosts, her understanding was more profound than other players. She also doesn’t joke about uncertain matters.

Since she was this sure, then that Xu Lanfang must definitely be a ghost.

Xu Lanfang was a ghost, then the old granny’s anomalies could be explained. Eating with a ghost, living with one for so many days, and turning into a person with a ghostly appearance, wasn’t that normal?

Furthermore, maybe the old lady had also turned into a ghost.

“Xu Lanfang is, then what about that old lady, is she also one?” Bai Yan quietly asked.

“She’s not.” Ye Shangyu said, “But last night, when I saw the old lady eat the chick, that’s when I was sure that Xu Lanfang was…”

For fear that these sinister ghosts could sense that they know, the two people specifically avoided using the word ‘ghost’ out in the open.

Bai Yan originally assumed that Ye Shangyu saw that there was something wrong with Xu Lanfang before concluding that she was a ghost. But, he didn’t expect Ye Shangyu to base it on what happened to the old lady and deduce that it was Xu Lanfang with the problem.

The old granny had been living with Xu Lanfang for a long time, so her appearance transformed into a ghost… Then thinking back, people who had a lot of contact with ghosts would become terrifying beyond comparison in the end, which won’t end well.

For some reason, Bai Yan ineffably recalled the president from ‘Real Ghost Stories.’

The Supernatural Club’s president, who was engrossed in courting danger, always went to places that were filled with ghosts, even arranging archives about them.

Unlike the ignorant old lady, perhaps, in the end, the president has already noticed that his appearance was slowly turning into a ghost’s, that’s why he was able to warn his childhood sweetheart and find a place where he could isolate himself.

After escaping through the clutches of countless ghosts, the president was clear on what a ghost looked like.

Thus, he was afraid and didn’t want anyone to find him.

The funny thing was that in the end, his school also couldn’t escape.

The him that transformed into a ghost was merciless towards everyone during his lifetime.

Under the meticulous guidance of the app, most of the player community still regarded NPCs as mere data, but Bai Yan knew that this was a real world.

With that being said, NPCs were like this, but what about the players?

After experiencing so many levels in the game, every player has a lot of exposure to ghosts, and for the players who had lived through the twelve levels, were they still truly considered as humans?

‘Such ‘people,’ when they come back to the real world, what kind of appearance would they have?’ Bai Yan could only close his eyes and gander a guess.

Thinking of this, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he used a lot of effort to restrain himself from laughing out loud.

Seeing how Bai Yan’s chest was moving but his face was trying not to smile, Ye Shangyu rolled her eyes and slapped his back, causing him to cough violently.

“Don’t laugh, it’s really unsightly.”

When Bai Yan’s coughing fit subsided, he turned his head to glare at her, but Ye Shangyu just faintly said, “If you want to laugh, then laugh slowly on the way back. I don’t have the time to watch you be happy.

I only know that she’s… But, I don’t know how she became like… that. If we don’t figure this mystery out soon, then during the last day, we can only run away. And, when the time comes when she chases after us, being able to escape her will all come down to luck.”

Bai Yan coughed twice and couldn’t help but feel a bit depressed. If Ye Shangyu hadn’t suddenly whacked him, then he wouldn’t have had a coughing fit.

But, Bai Yan didn’t dwell on the issue any longer. The number of people dying in this village was significant, but going up to every remaining family was time-consuming, they really didn’t have time to waste.

The two followed the dirt road, and as they walked for a short while, they saw an elder on a mazha(1), sitting near the door under the blistering sun.

Upon seeing this, the two people walked towards the old man and started up a conversation. As they were chatting, a disagreement arose between the two anchors and the two players.

“You two, next, my girlfriend and I will be going in here to do a live broadcast, so you both should leave this place and don’t follow us anymore!”

In front of the run-down house, Fang Niu was holding up his phone while also staring at Lu Ruichao and Ozawa Hiroshi, his face rigid, “We’ll be doing an exploration and supernatural live broadcasts, and that is the atmosphere we want to get! If you accompany us both, then you’ll ruin the atmosphere! Yesterday, there were complaints among the audience of the live broadcast, but I didn’t bother you all about it. Today, don’t be annoying!”

Fang Niu’s tone was cold, and the two players could clearly hear the displeasure in his voice.

Fang Niu suddenly turned hostile against them, which the two didn’t expect.

Naturally, they didn’t want to part with the two anchors, however, Fang Niu’s will was firm, and if they still followed them, then he’ll beat his opinion onto them.

In response, the two people had no other choice but to take a step back, saying that they wouldn’t follow them.

Fang Niu gave them the side-eye before opening up the live broadcast and signaled to Bai Cui, whose face was still full of confusion, to go in through the window of the run-down house, tumbling through the window into the house.

They called it a run-down house, but in reality, it was just an abandoned farmhouse, similar to the one of Xu Lanfang’s family.

Bai Cui simply took a spin inside the farmhouse, and there was also a kitchen, a few rooms, and a large yard in this place.

On the outside of the yard, there was a big iron gate, which still had a chain latched on the inside as if there were still people that lived in this farmhouse.

This was quite strange for Bai Cui.

If the people of this farmhouse had already left, the chains should be locked on the outside.

As a matter of fact, Bai Cui had long felt that something was weird.

This farmhouse looked shabby, but the inside seemed to be full of traces of life.

The farmhouse was filled with all sorts of items, and the kitchen still had some leftover food, there were even a few unwashed bowls there.

In addition to the several heatable brick beds in the farmhouse, some quilts were messily left on some of the beds. Overall, it looked like the family suddenly left this place without even packing their bags.

What did they come across that made them act this urgent?

Bai Cui was left extremely puzzled and expressed her bewilderment to the audience of the broadcast, feeling satisfied from seeing ‘Think about it carefully’ comments pop out.

After deducing for a while, Bai Cui suddenly thought of something and turned her head around, saying, “Little Tanned Brother, earlier, the two travelers also wanted to go in, why didn’t you want them to come with us?”

Fang Niu was still holding the phone up as his expression turned miserable, saying, “I didn’t rest well last night. In the middle of the night, I kept getting the feeling that there was something wrong with those travellers!”

“Are you referring to when they asked the child about the nursery rhyme?” Bai Cui mumbled, “They’ve already explained. They also came here to do some supernatural investigation to get some excitement, so them asking wasn’t that strange at all.”

“No, you haven’t noticed that they’re intentionally following us!”

Fang Niu’s tone was extremely cold, but Bai Cui took interest in his words, not giving it much thought and switching her attention to the camera, “Is that so? I think it’s quite normal, and they’re not so deliberate, right? To put it shamelessly, I’m an anchor, and meeting an anchor in real life is kind of rare. Maybe they also want to get some exposure and experience what it’s like to be in a live broadcast themselves.”

Speaking until this point, the more Bai Cui felt that Fang Niu’s attitude was too excessive.

Fang Niu was a guy with a good temperament, so she’s never seen him so angry before.

Frankly speaking, she was a bit scared.

She glanced at Fang Niu’s expression just now and really thought that he was about to hit someone.

Bai Cui couldn’t understand where Fang Niu’s sudden fury came from. But, she still thought hard about what he just said.

As she was pondering, a cold voice was suddenly produced by the phone, startling her.

[The Ghost Is Beside You: Sister Bai! Run quickly! Those two travelers aren’t ghosts, it’s Little Tanned Brother that’s the ghost! Believe me! Run! Hurry, run!!]

As the mechanical voice read the comment without feeling, a chill couldn’t help but run down Bai Cui’s back. She instinctively raised her head and looked at Fang Niu in the eye, her heart holding a bit of skepticism since Fang Niu was behaving differently from usual.

But in the next second, Bai Cui causally shook her head, feeling that she’s making a fuss about nothing.

She had never seen Fang Niu get angry or get angry at someone, so naturally, he wouldn’t be the same.

As a result, she calmed her heart, looking into the camera and smiling, “Don’t scare me. This prank was played several times yesterday, so Sister Bai won’t believe them!”

Saying this, she flashed a smile at Fang Niu, “Right, Little Tanned Brother?”

Bai Cui wanted to interact with Fang Niu and sprinkle in some affection to appease his fierce mood.

However, Fang Niu didn’t respond to her. Bai Cui looked at Fang Niu’s face, wanting him to say something. But, as she looked at him more, her smile froze.

Because Fang Niu’s face suddenly exposed a sinister grin!

He stared at her bitterly, using an overcast voice to say, “Who told you that I wasn’t a ghost?”

“You’re up late.”

Bai Yan blinked in a muddled state and reached out for his phone out of habit, glancing at it and seeing that the time was already 10:30.

He opened his mouth, his voice still a bit hoarse, “Why didn’t you call me?”

In response, Ye Shangyu just pointed to his side, and when Bai Yan turned his head, he saw Kenta was still lying down beside him, looking like a large black mountain as he laid on his side, fast asleep.

Seeing that Bai Yan was awake, Jina continuously nudged Kenta, rousing the large black man from his sleep.

Bai Yan didn’t ask any more questions after he woke up, going to the kitchen first to fetch a glass of water, giving his throat some relief.

Last night, the players didn’t drink water.

The risks of going to the toilet in the middle of the night were too high, so to avoid further trouble, the players simply didn’t drink water. This was also what led to Bai Yan feeling thirsty as soon as he woke up.

Kenta and Jina stayed back in the house to keep a close eye on the old lady as Bai Yan and Ye Shangyu brought some items with them and began to head to the village, walking up to the very first house.

On the dirt road, where it was nothing but open space and where there was no place to hide, Ye Shangyu suddenly leaned towards Bai Yan, whispering into his ear, “Be careful of Xu Lanfang.”

“Could it be that she’s…” Seeing how cautious Ye Shangyu was, Bai Yan also lowered his voice, “How did you find out?”

Ye Shangyu didn’t say anything, and the atmosphere around them remained eerily quiet. Bai Yan realized that it couldn’t be said out loud and didn’t ask any more questions, his heart sinking into deep thought.

Ye Shangyu once stayed at a research institute that studied ghosts, and towards understanding these ghosts, her understanding was more profound than other players. She also doesn’t joke about uncertain matters.

Since she was this sure, then that Xu Lanfang must definitely be a ghost.

Xu Lanfang was a ghost, then the old granny’s anomalies could be explained. Eating with a ghost, living with one for so many days, and turning into a person with a ghostly appearance, wasn’t that normal?

Furthermore, maybe the old lady had also turned into a ghost.

“Xu Lanfang is, then what about that old lady, is she also one?” Bai Yan quietly asked.

“She’s not.” Ye Shangyu said, “But last night, when I saw the old lady eat the chick, that’s when I was sure that Xu Lanfang was…”

For fear that these sinister ghosts could sense that they know, the two people specifically avoided using the word ‘ghost’ out in the open.

Bai Yan originally assumed that Ye Shangyu saw that there was something wrong with Xu Lanfang before concluding that she was a ghost. But, he didn’t expect Ye Shangyu to base it on what happened to the old lady and deduce that it was Xu Lanfang with the problem.

The old granny had been living with Xu Lanfang for a long time, so her appearance transformed into a ghost… Then thinking back, people who had a lot of contact with ghosts would become terrifying beyond comparison in the end, which won’t end well.

For some reason, Bai Yan ineffably recalled the president from ‘Real Ghost Stories.’

The Supernatural Club’s president, who was engrossed in courting danger, always went to places that were filled with ghosts, even arranging archives about them.

Unlike the ignorant old lady, perhaps, in the end, the president has already noticed that his appearance was slowly turning into a ghost’s, that’s why he was able to warn his childhood sweetheart and find a place where he could isolate himself.

After escaping through the clutches of countless ghosts, the president was clear on what a ghost looked like.

Thus, he was afraid and didn’t want anyone to find him.

The funny thing was that in the end, his school also couldn’t escape.

The him that transformed into a ghost was merciless towards everyone during his lifetime.

Under the meticulous guidance of the app, most of the player community still regarded NPCs as mere data, but Bai Yan knew that this was a real world.

With that being said, NPCs were like this, but what about the players?

After experiencing so many levels in the game, every player has a lot of exposure to ghosts, and for the players who had lived through the twelve levels, were they still truly considered as humans?

‘Such ‘people,’ when they come back to the real world, what kind of appearance would they have?’ Bai Yan could only close his eyes and gander a guess.

Thinking of this, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he used a lot of effort to restrain himself from laughing out loud.

Seeing how Bai Yan’s chest was moving but his face was trying not to smile, Ye Shangyu rolled her eyes and slapped his back, causing him to cough violently.

“Don’t laugh, it’s really unsightly.”

When Bai Yan’s coughing fit subsided, he turned his head to glare at her, but Ye Shangyu just faintly said, “If you want to laugh, then laugh slowly on the way back. I don’t have the time to watch you be happy.

I only know that she’s… But, I don’t know how she became like… that. If we don’t figure this mystery out soon, then during the last day, we can only run away. And, when the time comes when she chases after us, being able to escape her will all come down to luck.”

Bai Yan coughed twice and couldn’t help but feel a bit depressed. If Ye Shangyu hadn’t suddenly whacked him, then he wouldn’t have had a coughing fit.

But, Bai Yan didn’t dwell on the issue any longer. The number of people dying in this village was significant, but going up to every remaining family was time-consuming, they really didn’t have time to waste.

The two followed the dirt road, and as they walked for a short while, they saw an elder on a mazha(1), sitting near the door under the blistering sun.

Upon seeing this, the two people walked towards the old man and started up a conversation. As they were chatting, a disagreement arose between the two anchors and the two players.

“You two, next, my girlfriend and I will be going in here to do a live broadcast, so you both should leave this place and don’t follow us anymore!”

In front of the run-down house, Fang Niu was holding up his phone while also staring at Lu Ruichao and Ozawa Hiroshi, his face rigid, “We’ll be doing an exploration and supernatural live broadcasts, and that is the atmosphere we want to get! If you accompany us both, then you’ll ruin the atmosphere! Yesterday, there were complaints among the audience of the live broadcast, but I didn’t bother you all about it. Today, don’t be annoying!”

Fang Niu’s tone was cold, and the two players could clearly hear the displeasure in his voice.

Fang Niu suddenly turned hostile against them, which the two didn’t expect.

Naturally, they didn’t want to part with the two anchors, however, Fang Niu’s will was firm, and if they still followed them, then he’ll beat his opinion onto them.

In response, the two people had no other choice but to take a step back, saying that they wouldn’t follow them.

Fang Niu gave them the side-eye before opening up the live broadcast and signaled to Bai Cui, whose face was still full of confusion, to go in through the window of the run-down house, tumbling through the window into the house.

They called it a run-down house, but in reality, it was just an abandoned farmhouse, similar to the one of Xu Lanfang’s family.

Bai Cui simply took a spin inside the farmhouse, and there was also a kitchen, a few rooms, and a large yard in this place.

On the outside of the yard, there was a big iron gate, which still had a chain latched on the inside as if there were still people that lived in this farmhouse.

This was quite strange for Bai Cui.

If the people of this farmhouse had already left, the chains should be locked on the outside.

As a matter of fact, Bai Cui had long felt that something was weird.

This farmhouse looked shabby, but the inside seemed to be full of traces of life.

The farmhouse was filled with all sorts of items, and the kitchen still had some leftover food, there were even a few unwashed bowls there.

In addition to the several heatable brick beds in the farmhouse, some quilts were messily left on some of the beds. Overall, it looked like the family suddenly left this place without even packing their bags.

What did they come across that made them act this urgent?

Bai Cui was left extremely puzzled and expressed her bewilderment to the audience of the broadcast, feeling satisfied from seeing ‘Think about it carefully’ comments pop out.

After deducing for a while, Bai Cui suddenly thought of something and turned her head around, saying, “Little Tanned Brother, earlier, the two travelers also wanted to go in, why didn’t you want them to come with us?”

Fang Niu was still holding the phone up as his expression turned miserable, saying, “I didn’t rest well last night. In the middle of the night, I kept getting the feeling that there was something wrong with those travellers!”

“Are you referring to when they asked the child about the nursery rhyme?” Bai Cui mumbled, “They’ve already explained. They also came here to do some supernatural investigation to get some excitement, so them asking wasn’t that strange at all.”

“No, you haven’t noticed that they’re intentionally following us!”

Fang Niu’s tone was extremely cold, but Bai Cui took interest in his words, not giving it much thought and switching her attention to the camera, “Is that so? I think it’s quite normal, and they’re not so deliberate, right? To put it shamelessly, I’m an anchor, and meeting an anchor in real life is kind of rare. Maybe they also want to get some exposure and experience what it’s like to be in a live broadcast themselves.”

Speaking until this point, the more Bai Cui felt that Fang Niu’s attitude was too excessive.

Fang Niu was a guy with a good temperament, so she’s never seen him so angry before.

Frankly speaking, she was a bit scared.

She glanced at Fang Niu’s expression just now and really thought that he was about to hit someone.

Bai Cui couldn’t understand where Fang Niu’s sudden fury came from. But, she still thought hard about what he just said.

As she was pondering, a cold voice was suddenly produced by the phone, startling her.

[The Ghost Is Beside You: Sister Bai! Run quickly! Those two travelers aren’t ghosts, it’s Little Tanned Brother that’s the ghost! Believe me! Run! Hurry, run!!]

As the mechanical voice read the comment without feeling, a chill couldn’t help but run down Bai Cui’s back. She instinctively raised her head and looked at Fang Niu in the eye, her heart holding a bit of skepticism since Fang Niu was behaving differently from usual.

But in the next second, Bai Cui causally shook her head, feeling that she’s making a fuss about nothing.

She had never seen Fang Niu get angry or get angry at someone, so naturally, he wouldn’t be the same.

As a result, she calmed her heart, looking into the camera and smiling, “Don’t scare me. This prank was played several times yesterday, so Sister Bai won’t believe them!”

Saying this, she flashed a smile at Fang Niu, “Right, Little Tanned Brother?”

Bai Cui wanted to interact with Fang Niu and sprinkle in some affection to appease his fierce mood.

However, Fang Niu didn’t respond to her. Bai Cui looked at Fang Niu’s face, wanting him to say something. But, as she looked at him more, her smile froze.

Because Fang Niu’s face suddenly exposed a sinister grin!

He stared at her bitterly, using an overcast voice to say, “Who told you that I wasn’t a ghost?”