Under the burning gaze that felt like encountering a kindred spirit, Ji Heng calmly withdrew his hand and stuck to the point. “I looked into it— the Guard Chief is in charge of punishment. The number of people who died under his hands is too many to count.”
Su Er wasn’t very surprised. It was only thanks to players having higher physical stats than normal people that he could endure that whipping at all. Anyone else would likely not have made it through. But his gaze toward Ji Heng remained unchanged.
Being labeled the villain for no reason, Ji Heng didn’t seem to mind. “I’ll go find someone to make a replica pendant—might as well drop by the Guard Chief’s place too.”
“There might not be enough time,” Su Er said. “It’d be easier with help.”
Ji Heng reminded him, “In the game, try not to rely on others. It pays off better in the end.”
Once he left, the surroundings fell into a rare quiet. Su Er sat in the room for a bit, then caught sight of a figure through the open window. Walking out to take a look, he saw the old lady had somehow come out of her room and was standing by the wall, gazing at wildflowers with a gloomy expression.
“It’s a nice day. Why don’t you take a walk with me?” she said.
Su Er thought for a moment, then followed her.
The old lady talked about her younger days—unrequited love in her youth, mistreatment by her husband after marriage, rebellious children. In the short walk, she nearly summarized her entire life.
Her steps halted in front of a small door. She reached out and pushed it open. Inside the ten-square-meter space stood a straw mat. She moved it aside, revealing a jar of liquor.
“Jun’er always believed his father was poisoned by me. But actually, it was alcohol poisoning.” The old lady removed the red cloth stopper. A rich aroma of liquor filled the air.
She went into the courtyard, fetched a small cup, scooped up some wine, and offered it to Su Er. “Try it.”
Su Er refused without hesitation.
The old lady drank it herself. “Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned. I’m just afraid that one day I’ll die at the hands of a ghost, and this good wine will go to waste.”
Saying that, she scooped another cup and offered it again.
Su Er still didn’t drink.
She didn’t force him either and downed it herself. Just as she was about to step out of the hut, she suddenly pulled a sharp blade from her sleeve and stabbed toward Su Er’s head.
Su Er had been wary of her already. He tilted his head to dodge, and to be safe, sprinted several steps forward. In the blink of an eye, the distance between them had stretched to over ten meters.
The surprise from missing the strike wasn’t nearly as much as the shock she now felt—any young man with even a bit of spirit would instinctively try to snatch the dagger or retaliate. But this one had fled so decisively, she was left speechless.
Now, from a safe distance, Su Er even started analyzing things with her: “The town restricts alcohol. Alcohol poisoning is a hard condition to achieve. Next time, pick a better excuse.”
Despite her age, the old lady had sharp eyesight. She clearly saw the mockery in his eyes. “You knew I was going to kill you?”
Su Er nodded. “As long as I’m here, that ghost will definitely come for me tonight. Of course you wouldn’t leave behind such a threat.”
Their eyes met. Su Er spread his hands. “Don’t get so worked up. Look at it this way—if the ghost comes after me, they won’t have time to go after you.”
In truth, the old lady’s biggest reason for wanting to kill Su Er was to prevent him from stealing the pendant. Before, there had been two strong young men—too much to handle. Now, with one of them gone, she figured she could deal with him separately.
Too bad… old age comes with physical limitations.
And she’d underestimated Su Er. According to her plan, his focus would be entirely on whether the wine was poisoned, his mind fully alert. Right before leaving, his vigilance should drop—that was her moment.
Unexpectedly, Su Er took a small step forward. The old lady reflexively stepped back and nearly tripped over the threshold.
“You must be tired,” Su Er switched back to formal speech. “It would be better to go rest in your room.”
Unable to tell what he was up to, the old lady gave him a look and entered her room, never loosening her grip on the dagger until the door was shut.
After it closed, Su Er’s face darkened. He sat in the courtyard, flipping through a pamphlet to kill time. Suddenly, a clamor arose from outside. Some nearby households were all rushing in the same direction.
Su Er walked out and stopped one of them. “Excuse me, what happened?”
“The three Li brothers—one had a stroke last night, the other two just dropped dead.”
Su Er was half skeptical. “That’s incredibly unlucky.”
But inwardly, he was sure this had something to do with Li Shouzhang.
“The Lis are good people. We’re going to pay our respects…” The person’s words were cut off by someone ahead urging them to hurry.
The person didn’t speak further to Su Er and quickly moved on.
“Pfft.” The old lady, who had opened the door at the noise, scoffed at the scene. “Pay respects? More like checking if the competition is really dead—everyone’s aiming to become Guard Chief.”
Su Er asked, “Dying in such a suspicious way—no one investigates?”
The old lady responded indifferently, “They said it was an accident, not murder.”
Su Er frowned, and she smirked. “Everyone in this town follows the rules. There’s no such thing as a murderer.”
Coming from her, the words were dripping with irony.
Su Er quickly made the connection. In this place, it was normal for parents to beat their children to death for wrongdoing. Many townsfolk had died at the Guard Chief’s hands. There were no laws, only rules—and that was far more terrifying.
Then it hit him: Ji Heng had just left, and the Li brothers were already wiped out. Most likely, Ji Heng had told Wen Buyu to have Li Shouzhang take action.
Sure enough, Ji Heng was the real sly one.
As Su Er was thinking this, the man himself showed up. Ji Heng was holding a wooden box, casually stepping over the threshold without a hint of urgency.
Su Er: “That fast?”
Ji Heng: “Promise enough profit, and there's nothing you can’t get done.”
Since it was the last day in the instance, any leftover coins were useless. He had gone to Wen Buyu, pooled together all their money, and handed it to the jade artisan.
A moment later, he said solemnly, “I passed by the Guard Chief’s house earlier. He was devastated by the tragic news of the Li brothers, and his body suddenly gave out.”
Su Er gave him a long look but didn’t question it.
Ji Heng got to the point: “When I came back, the Guard Chief had already announced the vote would be moved up.”
Su Er frowned as he recalled, “If I weren’t running for Guard Chief, you could’ve cleared the instance two days ago.”
Feigning illness, eliminating the three Li brothers, and paving the way for Li Shouzhang to rise—everything executed in one go.
Ji Heng shook his head: “The host called this instance a game. World exploration percentage matters.”
Like when Su Er uncovered the hidden boss, the Ghost King—it would help with the final score.
After speaking, he handed over the pendant from the wooden box.
Having almost been stabbed by the old woman, Su Er wasn’t feeling merciful. He grabbed a hatchet for show, kicked the door open, and knocked the woman unconscious under her frightened gaze.
After swapping the pendant, he handed it to Ji Heng.
Ji Heng: “You keep it.”
Su Er hesitated. He’d already used half a Ghostbone Flower, and now he was getting a pendant—it felt a bit much.
“Training a new team member takes time,” Ji Heng said directly. “Right now, you're the weakest in the group. Staying alive is what matters.”
Su Er: “I’m worried someone will steal it.”
Ji Heng didn’t care: “Then steal it back. Make the thief pay some interest while you’re at it.”
The vote was scheduled for the afternoon. The Guard Chief truly wasn’t doing well—he could barely speak.
As they walked through the street, overhearing bits of gossip, Su Er couldn’t help but ask, “What did you do to the Guard Chief?”
“I simply guided the souls who died unjustly at his hands back to him,” Ji Heng replied calmly. “Too much yin energy. A living body couldn’t handle it.”
Guiding ghosts while still alive?
Su Er gave him a sidelong glance.
The once-quiet town had grown restless from the series of accidents. Even the secluded house of the old woman was now within earshot of the commotion. Only the grave mound remained eerily silent.
The coffin, unearthed before, still sat alone on the bare yellow earth. Su Er and Ji Heng exchanged a glance, then stepped forward to knock on it.
The coffin suddenly jolted, and Su Er quickly stepped back. Even then, he got a face full of dust.
Suppressing the earthy taste in his mouth, Su Er said, “As agreed, you’ll recommend me for the Guard Chief’s post.”
If it were any other ghost, Su Er wouldn’t believe it. But the Ghost King’s obsession was with rules and order. Even if it didn’t want to, its actions had to follow its promise.
No reply came from within the coffin, but Su Er took the silence as acceptance and continued: “The vote is this afternoon. Please keep your word.”
“There are still two days before the election,” a hoarse voice finally replied.
Su Er: “You overslept.”
Clearing his throat, Su Er corrected himself: “Just a joke. In truth, the Guard Chief fell gravely ill, so the vote had to be moved up.”
“Sick?” For the first time, the raspy voice sounded sharp.
Su Er stayed calm. “If I were heartless, I could’ve waited until after the vote to tell you. By then, if I wasn’t elected, it would’ve been your breach of contract.” He closed his eyes for a second and opened them slowly. “We were a couple once, so I came to inform you out of courtesy.”
As soon as the words fell, the surrounding branches trembled. Every tiny movement stirred the leaves on the ground with loud rustles. Under the forceful wind, Su Er felt the wound on his arm reopen. He had wanted to stand with hands behind his back, posing like a world-weary lone swordsman—but the wind was too strong, making him stagger and stumble backward.
He backed all the way to Ji Heng’s side. Ji Heng caught him and gave a faintly amused smile.
Su Er rubbed his nose and made a new resolution: ‘Play it safe. No more reckless moves.’
Just then, the coffin creaked open slightly. “Red paper.”
Only two words, but they carried a murderous chill.
Su Er took the red paper from Ji Heng and stepped forward to hand it over. A ghastly hand reached out from the crack, its razor-sharp finger bones coming within a breath of his fragile pulse.
“I’ll go wait for the result,” Su Er said before leaving. “In return, I’ll retrieve the pendant from the old woman’s hand.”
A gesture of submission—to give them both a way out.
Once they had fully left the grave mound, Su Er said, “The old woman wanted to kill me. The Ghost King will take care of her. The Guard Chief’s illness repays those lashes from before.” He paused and looked up at the sky. “The books weren’t wrong—good and evil will be repaid in time.”
It was a meaningful statement, but Ji Heng, hearing it, couldn’t quite figure out who the ‘good’ side even was.
That afternoon, the sun was harsh and blazing. The Guard Chief, pale and frail, stood in front of the ancestral hall with the help of others. In front of him stood the voting box.
The outside was packed to the brim; townsfolk stood shoulder to shoulder, all holding their breath as they stared at the knee-high voting box like it was a rare treasure, eyes shining with anticipation. The players had arrived early. Wen Buyu was the first to get there and had secured a good spot—standing on a large stone beneath an ancient tree, away from the crowd and with a clear view.
Bai Yan was also present— Su Er had nearly forgotten this player even existed. She looked a little embarrassed. On the third day of the game, an infected wound had kept her bedridden most of the time. She’d thought she was going to die but somehow managed to win by doing nothing.
Seeing Ji Heng and Su Er arrive, she quickly waved and whispered, “What took you so long? The votes are already in.”
She had followed Wen Buyu’s lead and voted for Su Er.
Su Er only said he’d gone to take care of something, then turned to Shen Jiangbei and Wan Yi.
“We voted for you,” Wan Yi said with a smile.
The early vote was definitely connected to Ji Heng. Looking back, they’d made a rookie mistake—focusing too much on who to vote for and overlooking the possibility of manipulating the timing itself.
Just then, a huge dark cloud rolled across the sky, blocking the scorching sunlight in an instant.
The weather cooled, and without the sun beating down on him, the town chief looked much better.
Su Er stared at the voting box. He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but it seemed to have shifted forward slightly. Just as he was about to speak, Ji Heng placed a finger to his lips: “Shh.”
Then he pointed in a direction.
Su Er followed his gaze and saw that a half-skeleton had appeared in the ancestral hall, crawling toward the voting box. The bottom layer of the box had originally been made from part of Zhou Linjun’s bones. Now, it was like magnetic poles drawing toward each other—two halves firmly locked together.
It was a terrifying sight, yet neither the townsfolk nor even the nearby Guard Chief seemed to notice. Su Er looked more closely at their eyes—there was a small red dot deep in each one, unfocused and blank.
Wen Buyu was starting to feel dizzy too and muttered, “It’s the ghost’s doing.”
She struggled to open her eyes after stepping back a bit, only to see Su Er standing there like nothing was wrong. She couldn’t help but be puzzled. Based on physical ability, he was the weakest among them—so why was he the only one unaffected?
The truth was, Su Er was barely holding it together, staying conscious by sheer willpower and occasional jolts of self-inflicted electric shocks.
Luckily, the episode didn’t last long. As the dark cloud slowly dissipated, Su Er saw the voting box fill with hundreds of red slips of paper. In the blink of an eye, the red faded, and they looked no different from ordinary votes.
As the skeleton turned to leave, it paused near Su Er—probably debating whether to kill him then and there.
Ji Heng, coldly: “The new Guard Chief hasn’t been announced yet.”
The skeleton, unwilling to give up, remembered that moving around during the day meant it would have to return to slumber sooner. Weighing its options, it decided to go take the old lady’s life first.
“I’ll remember you,” it said.
It had already left, but suddenly turned back with lightning speed and slashed at Su Er’s arm with its claws.
It couldn’t take his life, but teaching him a lesson was still fair game.
Su Er seemed to have expected it. Before the skeleton could attack, he had already started to dodge. Its claw froze mid-air, awkwardly suspended, as if stunned.
Panting, Su Er said, “We’re husband and wife—our hearts are as one.”
At that moment, the ghost king was just inches from Wen Buyu, whose legs were practically shaking with fear. Fortunately, the skeleton gave up and vanished down the street at incredible speed.
Even if Su Er hadn’t dodged, the pendant he carried would’ve protected him. But he didn’t want to reveal the existence of the item just yet.
Ji Heng walked over and quietly reminded him, “That item’s effectiveness on you is less than one-tenth of what it was on the old lady.”
In other words: don’t rely on it too much.
Su Er nodded—he understood. The old lady and the ghost king shared a mother-son karmic bond, and the pendant, infused with umbilical blood, was tailored to protect her life.
Gradually, the townspeople began to regain their senses. The town chief asked Li Shouzhang to stay behind to tally the votes while the others slowly dispersed. A few looked longingly at the voting box on their way out, still dreaming of becoming the next chief.
Before entering, Li Shouzhang glanced at Wen Buyu, remembering the promise she made that morning: once the election was over, she’d leave town, and the matter of him poisoning his father would be buried along with the funeral.
The votes were scattered—originally, the three Li brothers had the highest popularity, but after their deaths, the townsfolk had no clear favorite. With the vote being moved up, people ended up voting in small groups for those closest to them.
With the ghost king’s help, Su Er won by an overwhelming margin.
The Guard Chief coughed several times upon seeing the result, clutching his chest in shock—it was a completely unexpected outcome.
Li Shouzhang had already known, but his face still looked awful. If things hadn’t gone sideways, he could’ve built momentum after his father’s death, earned the town’s sympathy, and won the election. Now, he had no choice but to watch the position fall into someone else’s hands.
Unable to accept it, he muttered, “Was there… something wrong with the votes?”
The Guard Chief’s face turned cold. Already pale from the yin energy in his body, he now looked completely bloodless. He barked, “Where do you get the guts to question the results?!”
If he’d had the strength, he’d have whipped him then and there.
The fear ingrained in Li Shouzhang by the Guard Chief made him shut up immediately.
“The one with the most votes becomes the new Guard Chief,” the chief said, suddenly lowering his head. A strange laugh rasped from his throat. “Doesn’t matter. Once you’re chief, you can’t make even the smallest mistake.”
He knew that better than anyone.
That afternoon, in front of everyone, the town chief officially announced the new town chief.
It was a moment of great importance. Even if some still had doubts, no one dared question the result in public.
Su Er stood beside the Guard Chief, his gaze sweeping across each face without much expression. He only said a few brief words, and since the former Guard Chief was in poor health and needed support just to stand, the succession ceremony ended quickly.
That suited the players perfectly—any delay and the sun might set, bringing who knew what kind of trouble.
As the former Guard Chief was helped away by Li Shouzhang, the townspeople began to disperse as well.
Wen Buyu asked the other players for their opinion: “Back to the courtyard?”
Wan Yi shook his head. “The host will come to us.”
As he predicted, only moments later, Mister Sea of Books appeared before them.
“Congratulations on clearing the game,” he said, his gaze lingering a moment longer on Su Er, killing intent flickering in his eyes.
Su Er had seen that same look before—on Mister Rose.
“Fate brings us together,” Mister Sea of Books said coldly. “I look forward to seeing you all again.”
With a flick of his sleeve, beams of light enveloped the players’ bodies, gradually dissolving them into nothingness.
They didn’t leave the game world directly. Just like after the first dungeon, Su Er found himself standing in an open field. The scent of blood filled the air. Turning his head, he saw an injured woman lying under a nearby tree, her wounds healing at a rate visible to the naked eye. Beside her was a girl sobbing uncontrollably.
“Good thing we made it out alive,” the injured woman comforted her companion.
Around Su Er, apart from Ge Xuyan, the rest of the players from the same instance had also reappeared.
Wen Buyu immediately checked her point total. But before she could say anything, the sky above them abruptly turned black, as if ink had been poured into the clouds.
Su Er’s eyelid twitched… this scene felt familiar.
Sure enough, the next moment, a cold mechanical voice echoed through the world: [Congratulations, player Su Er has achieved: ‘The Vanished Lover’.]
After the announcement, the surroundings fell into dead silence.
Even the girl who had been crying non-stop wiped away her tears with her sleeve, looking around in disbelief. The announcement had just ended, meaning that the player it referred to had only recently cleared the game—possibly someone standing right next to them.
Su Er had already made a bit of a name for himself—his actions in the beginner zone had been publicly broadcast. Soon, people began recognizing him.
Ji Heng suddenly spoke up: “Come with me.”
Without hesitation, Su Er followed.
The curious stares behind him felt like knives in his back. If not for Ji Heng’s presence, the other players might have already surrounded him, bombarding him with questions about the achievement.
Wen Buyu didn’t want trouble, so she didn’t reveal that she had been in the same instance as Su Er. While everyone was distracted, she quickly logged out of the game.
At the supply point of Grave Return.
There were only three members in the tent. One of them looked up and said, “There’s hot water on the table.”
Su Er happened to be thirsty. He let it cool a bit and then took a sip.
The three inside had also heard the announcement, and their gazes toward him were complex. Their leader only had one achievement point, and yet here was a rookie with another new one, becoming a rising star in the game.
Though they were usually quiet, basic curiosity got the better of them.
One of the teammates asked, “Would you mind telling us about it?”
Other players from the same instance were backed by various groups. Su Er knew that even if he didn’t speak now, they’d find out sooner or later.
“As for how I got the achievement, you all probably understand better than I do—it’s about fulfilling a hidden condition set by the game,” he said. “I just stumbled into it.”
The teammate gave a wry smile. “Exactly. It’s not that the conditions are harsh—we just don’t know what they are.”
Just like those madmen from the past who didn’t hesitate to slaughter other players— constant trial and error was all they could do. That’s why they were so curious what Su Er had done. After all, the game had existed for a while—experienced players had tried almost everything.
Su Er looked a bit awkward, trying to think how to explain, when Ji Heng spoke for him: “He just had a ghost marriage with a ghost king. Newlyweds for three days—then he ran.”
To the ghost king, wasn’t Su Er literally the vanished lover?
“…,” the teammate twitched his mouth. “Boss, don’t joke around like that.”
Ji Heng said coldly, “I officiated the wedding.”
“…” The teammate stood up, went to the table, and downed three cups of water, then turned to Su Er: “Respect.”
Su Er truly felt a headache coming on.
Ji Heng’s next comment snapped him back to reality: “Your charm stat went up.”
Su Er looked down at his chest badge. His previous ‘59’ had been replaced by a shiny new ‘69’.
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