A few seconds before the voice fell, Ji Heng glanced at Wei Jun, who gave a slight nod.
Su Er, standing nearby, clearly saw that several physically stronger players were already prepared to flee.
In these dungeons, some ghosts could be fought to the death, but others… like the old man, the chances of winning were extremely slim.
Ji Heng had made arrangements last night. The old man placed great importance on these snakes. If he made a move, they would immediately attack the snakes and then scatter and flee.
Right now, they were about to max out the old man's anger level.
“Reckless.” With a low growl, the old man, provoked by the sight of the dead snake floating in the well, suddenly had scales cover one of his hands and reached toward Su Er.
Su Er was dumbfounded—why him, of all people?
Trying to steady himself, he tilted his head back and shouted loudly toward the sky, “Divine Seer, save me!”
That shout caused the old man's hand to freeze mid-air—not because of anything else, but because Su Er looked too calm and confident. Feeling embarrassed about being startled by a junior, the old man sneered coldly, “Today, I’m the King of Heaven…”
Before he could finish, he was struck hard and forced three steps back.
Wei Jun glanced at Ji Heng, who had been about to help Su Er, puzzled by how powerful his tool must be to strike a ghost at a distance.
“It wasn’t me,” Ji Heng shook his head.
Wei Jun was startled. Looking ahead again, an extra figure had appeared.
The Divine Seer still wore his tattered clothes, holding a small stool in his left hand, and shook his head in disapproval. “Heaven cherishes life. One should show proper respect. ‘Today, I’m the King of Heaven’—that kind of talk isn’t right.”
A trace of fear flashed in the old man's eyes. The scales on his hand disappeared as he tried to defend himself, “I just wanted to teach them a lesson. I had no intention to kill.”
The Divine Seer smiled slightly, unclear if he believed him.
Su Er rejoined the group, and several gazes swept toward him in unison, making him feel like he was under a spotlight. He swallowed nervously. “…Why are you all looking at me like that?”
Song Jiayue looked conflicted. “You and the host… what exactly is your relationship?”
Su Er had an idea of what she was wondering and replied, “Even the Ghost King is bound by the rules. If they want to kill, they have to create the conditions first—otherwise, how would we survive?”
For example, the red paper from the skeleton served both as a vote to ensure survival and as a ghost-attracting curse. And although the old man was provoked into attacking just now, it wasn’t within the rules—since none of the players’ actions had directly triggered a kill condition.
Enforcing the rules is one of the host's duties. Naturally, he had to intervene.
Song Jiayue opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. Seeing this, Ji Heng shook his head. The handbook really needed to be revised—many high-level players had excessive fear of the host, forgetting that if used well, the host—even if personally desiring their death—still had to protect them in action.
The Divine Seer raised a single finger with a smile. “No next time.”
The old man was unwilling but, being in the wrong, had to swallow it.
“Carry on,” said the Divine Seer as he walked out the door and disappeared completely.
Once he left, the atmosphere became subtly tense.
The old man, who had always maintained the image of a reclusive sage, now had to continue acting even after his mask had cracked. He glared at everyone fiercely.
Ji Heng remained calm. “The snake drowned. What will happen to my friend?”
The word ‘drowned’ rubbed the old man’s ego raw. He looked at Ji Heng and said, “With your capabilities, raising snakes is beneath you.”
Off to the side, Su Er muttered, “No, the snake loved me. I love raising snakes.”
His voice was barely audible, yet the old man immediately turned and looked at him.
Ji Heng sighed lightly. Before the old man's anger could build again, he quickly redirected his attention. “We’d like to choose again.”
The old man stared at him for a moment. His resentment slowly faded, and he suddenly said, “Fine.”
With last night’s specimen as reference, when the players picked again, they all focused on snakes that had almost fully formed human faces. Some snakes even took the initiative to approach them.
Li Li, staring at the large patterned snake following him, got goosebumps. “Won’t this scare pedestrians on the street?”
Surprisingly, the old man answered, “Everyone knows these snakes are from me. No one will question it.”
As he said, when the group walked out with their snakes, passersby not only made way but also looked on with envy.
“Such good luck! Clearly caught the master’s favor.”
Similar whispers were heard from time to time.
As one of those being envied, Li Li still felt uneasy. “I don’t know when we can get rid of these things.”
The old man hadn’t specified when the snakes would be returned—only saying that when fate ended, the snakes would return on their own. Just remembering that eerie gaze still made him shiver.
Suddenly, Su Er said, “Cao Ledao might be in trouble.”
Li Li replied, “Should we bring him back for another round?”
As soon as she finished speaking, several people simultaneously shook their heads.
Walking beside her, Song Jiayue said, “The snake has to be fed with your own blood.”
Given Cao Ledao's current condition, he couldn’t possibly endure it. Even if he barely managed, being followed around by such a yin-heavy creature would only cause him more harm.
Li Li said, “But if he doesn’t take the risk, he doesn’t even have a hope of surviving.”
“In your dreams,” said the white fox, flicking its tail. “That snake is clearly partially awakened. If it encounters someone weaker than itself, it’ll treat them as food.”
Wang Xun was talking to someone at the door. When he saw them, his face lit up with joy. “You’re all still alive!”
He immediately realized how that sounded and scratched his head to recover: “You didn’t return last night—I thought something might’ve happened to you.” Then he caught sight of the white fox and jumped back in fright. “Why is that still here?”
Ji Heng said, “The master has more important matters to handle and told us to wait a few days before heading over.”
Wang Xun was clearly intimidated by the white fox, but when he saw the patterned snakes, he showed no fear and instead flattered them, “The master must really favor you.”
Ji Heng didn’t want to continue the small talk. He promised to rest for a bit, then go inspect the estate for anything unusual.
Wang Xun wisely chose not to press further.
Meanwhile, Cao Ledao was still weak. At first, he was happy to see them return and leaned on the doorframe to look outside, but the next second, several snakes slithered toward him, sending him stumbling backward in terror.
The flower-patterned snakes were almost uncontrollable—though held at the neck, they still lunged toward him.
Cao Ledao had no choice but to shut the door. Only then did the situation ease a little.
The white fox gloated, “Told you—he’s prime nourishment for snakes right now.”
Ji Heng gave her wounded form a glance, and Su Mei was forced to shut her mouth, visibly frustrated
Through the door, Ji Heng asked about the fortune reading from the master.
Cao Ledao’s voice was full of despair. “One more day. Death by falling.”
Ji Heng only told him to rest well, making no further promises.
Everyone returned to their rooms to wash up. Then they wandered around the estate like some kind of exorcists, half acting, half searching. With the white fox present, Wang Xun didn’t dare follow and merely instructed the servants not to disturb these ‘masters.’
Passing a quiet pavilion, Wei Jun finally said, “We need to find a breakthrough.”
So far, they had been dragged along by the nose—and that was extremely dangerous.
Ji Heng was the most capable among them. Everyone instinctively looked to him first. He didn’t hold back and said, “Tianyi Gua looks like a ghost, but years ago, he gave the scholar a consecrated jade pendant. That’s contradictory.”
A ghost consecrating a jade pendant—just hearing it sounded absurd.
Su Mei raised a paw. “If I answer, will you let me go?”
Ji Heng only glanced at her.
She got smart and didn’t try to bargain. “Tianyi Gua used to be an extraordinary master. But later, his mindset became twisted. He believed that demons were insane and cruel, yet they had far longer lifespans than humans. It was unfair.”
They didn’t fully trust the white fox’s words.
She added, “For a while, Tianyi Gua captured many demons for study. Some were from my own kin.”
What she said roughly matched what they already knew.
Su Er mused, “When Tianyi Gua tried to attack me, his arm was covered in scales. There’s a good chance he’s already half-human, half-snake.”
Song Jiayue looked regretful. “Snakes fear the cold. It’s a shame we’re heading into summer, or else we could’ve…”
Ji Heng raised a hand to cut her off. His gaze suddenly darted toward a distant tree… A child around three or four years old had somehow climbed up and was clinging to a low branch, swaying precariously.
He looked like he was about to fall. Song Jiayue rushed forward to catch him.
Before she could even check if the child was hurt, the estate steward came hurrying over and slapped the child. “What are you running around for?!”
The child didn’t cry, just sucked on his fingers and giggled blankly.
Song Jiayue frowned. “Is this your child?”
“He’s the master’s youngest son,” the steward said with an awkward smile. “Pardon him for the offense.”
The child’s clothes were filthy. At first, they assumed he’d just been playing too much, but seeing even the steward treat him so roughly, it was clear no one cared for him.
The steward cursed as he pushed the child ahead.
Song Jiayue found it odd and stopped a servant to ask a couple of questions.
Normally, servants would keep their mouths shut, but the master had specifically told them these were important guests, so the servant’s attitude was very different. “You noticed something strange about that child, too, didn’t you?”
Song Jiayue half-heartedly hummed in agreement.
The servant said, “He killed his birth mother at birth. The servants who cared for him kept meeting with accidents. Even his wet nurse fell into a well and died last year.”
Song Jiayue was shocked. “That cursed?”
“No kidding!” The servant sucked in a breath. “The master’s been contacting temples. He plans to send the young master there next month.”
Song Jiayue looked at Ji Heng, who was watching the direction where the steward had left. “Let’s go check it out.”
The farther they walked, the fewer maids or servants they saw.
They found the child under a tree. The steward wasn’t around, and the child was digging at the roots with his hands and eating them. When he saw someone approaching, he simply gave a silly smile—and even reached out as if trying to share his food with them.
The scene looked heartbreaking, but in a game instance, no one dared act recklessly.
Su Er suddenly walked over and handed the child a piece of candy, patting him on the head.
After a while, the child stuffed the tree root into his sleeve and ran back to the room through a small open door.
Song Jiayue said, “This child… should be human.”
At least for now, she hadn’t found anything suspicious.
Su Er added, “I took a breath just now—didn’t feel anything either.”
The flower snake seemed hungry, hissing nonstop. They each returned to their rooms to feed it snake blood. The delay made them miss lunch, so Wang Xun had food sent separately to each of their rooms.
Ji Heng only gave the flower snake two drops of blood. The snake, dissatisfied, flicked its tongue at him, but Ji Heng ignored it. He lightly stirred the fried rice with chopsticks and, upon spotting small red objects the size of soybeans mixed in with the meat, picked them out and crushed them on a plate.
After staring for a few seconds, he walked out. Just then, Wei Jun came toward him. “There’s poison in the food.”
Clearly, he had made the same discovery.
Wei Jun quickly went to warn the others, but two players still got poisoned. After being forced to vomit, they lost a huge chunk of their physical power.
His face darkened. “I checked. Found this near the kitchen firewood—just don’t know where the poison came from.”
In his palm was a small tree root, dirt still clinging to it, inevitably bringing to mind the child from earlier.
Ji Heng said, “There’s a lot of rat poison placed around the estate.” Halfway through, he looked up. “Where’s Su Er?”
Wei Jun replied, “I just went to his room—no one’s there. His food’s still on the table, untouched.”
Ji Heng thought for a moment and pointed in a direction.
Wei Jun froze. “If Su Er really acted out of pity and went looking for him… that’s not good.”
Now it seemed that the servant hadn’t been exaggerating. That child might not be as harmless as he looked.
Through the tender green shadows of the trees, Su Er’s face in the window appeared particularly gentle. “Can you understand me?”
The child had never received attention since birth. No one had taught him to speak, so naturally he couldn’t understand either. He just lowered his head, focused on gnawing the root.
But when the flower snake slithered and hissed, he mimicked it with a ‘hiss’ of his own.
Su Er pulled out some boiled eggs he’d previously asked the steward for. The child put down the root, eyes filled with yearning.
“Want some?”
The child didn’t understand, but followed his instincts and reached out.
Su Er said, “Home.”
He repeated the word over and over.
After a long time, the child slurred out the word. Each time he got it right, Su Er gave him a bite of egg.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting mottled light on their bodies. For a moment, it almost looked like a father lovingly teaching his son.
The others approached from a distance, the heartwarming scene entering their view.
Wei Jun sighed lightly. “When we were chatting down the mountain before, Su Er mentioned that his parents had passed away.”
Now it seemed he was projecting some of his longing for family onto this child.
No matter how smart he was, he was still young, and his heart was soft.
As they got closer, they could clearly hear the voice inside—
“Father is Su Er.” It was the first full sentence the child had learned from Su Er.
Each time he said it, Su Er fed him a bite of egg. Eventually, the child formed a habit—he didn’t need to be prompted; he’d say a sentence after every bite.
Su Er gently stroked the child’s head. “Earlier during my nap, I knew it was you who tried to light my room on fire.”
Though the child had run quickly, his unwashed body left behind a lingering scent in the air.
The child didn’t understand. He finished eating and gave a silly smile, then started mimicking the snake’s hiss again. His nails were filled with mud, with scrapes from digging in the ground.
Su Er lowered his eyes and peeled the last egg.
“Father is Su Er.”
The child had made that sentence his catchphrase, as if he knew saying it meant food.
Su Er didn’t disappoint him and handed over the egg.
While the child devoured it, Su Er’s tone remained gentle. “You wanted to burn me alive, but I can’t do anything about you… just yet.”
Killing a completely defenseless child—even knowing the kid was far from innocent—was still hard to do without flinching. And if the child was some powerful evil spirit, making a move might just get him killed first.
He wiped away crumbs at the boy’s mouth. “But that’s fine. As long as you keep saying that sentence, the grudge won’t go unavenged.”
The host travels between different game instances. One day, this child might cross paths with people like Mister Rose or Mister Book of Sea.
And with how many times Su Er has entered instances—meeting more and more hosts and ghost kings—the chances only grow.
Su Er gave a faint smile. “Someday, the world will hit you hard.”
The child had eaten his fill and turned his attention to the snake.
Su Er let him come close and pet the flower snake. Surprisingly, it didn’t bite him—just curled up quietly nearby. The cold, sticky touch spread across his palm, but the child simply squinted in pleasure.
He wanted to touch again, but Su Er grabbed him back.
A flash of cold glint passed through the child’s eyes. Su Er didn’t flinch, instead beginning to teach another phrase: “Everyone here is trash.”
With previous experience, the child picked it up quickly.
Each time he said it, Su Er let him play with the snake. The clearer his pronunciation, the longer he could play.
Half an hour later, it started to pay off. Whenever the child wanted food or playtime, he would haltingly say: “Home… Father is Su Er… Everyone here… is… trash.”
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