“It’s Mister Rose,” Ji Heng corrected coldly and without mercy. “Alive.”
Su Er’s eyelid twitched. He stared at that icy, handsome face and tentatively asked, “On vacation?”
When the illusion collapsed, Su Er, Ji Heng, and Xia Zhi were together. After being transported out, only the three of them were in this area.
Mister Rose said, “What do you think?”
Su Er didn’t give up. “Took a wrong turn while swimming?”
If that were true, he’d belt out Across the Ocean to See You on the spot.
“Heh.”
What he got in response was a mocking chuckle.
Mister Rose still had to notify other players. He didn’t have time to dwell on personal grudges. His gaze swept across them. “The previous host has been suspended due to certain reasons. I’ll be taking over the remaining duties.”
His hosting style was completely different from the Gravekeeper’s Servant. He skipped the players’ self-guided exploration and went straight to the point: “The stamp is the key to breaking the game. You have two options—either exhaust yourselves searching, or take out the guide and steal the stamp.”
The guide role is played by the host. Unless they’re tired of living, they wouldn’t let that happen easily.
Noting the group’s expressions, Mister Rose gave a faintly cold smile. “There’s also a trainee guide in town. Not that strong. You should be able to handle them.”
Su Er recalled the young man who had followed Gravekeeper’s Servant. He must’ve been the trainee guide.
Before they could ask more, Mister Rose vanished into thin air—presumably to notify the other players.
“Why the sudden host switch?” Xia Zhi was confused.
Su Er replied airily, “Maybe some kind soul filed a report.”
Xia Zhi tilted her head, and out of the corner of her eye, she seemed to see one of the little clay figures in his arms twitch. “Those clay figures you’re holding… what are they?”
Su Er looked compassionate. “Just scooped them up while leaving the illusion. Probably something Xu He made.”
He dumped the blame without the slightest guilt.
Xia Zhi didn’t fully believe him, of course, but now wasn’t the time to argue over details. “Xu He is a player. He can’t be the Drug King the mission refers to.”
The game had never blatantly encouraged players to kill each other.
Su Er lowered his gaze to the ash smudged on his sleeve. Even after leaving the illusion, a faint strange fragrance lingered.
“Poppy,” he guessed. “The incense burner probably sealed a poppy flower demon.”
Ji Heng had emphasized that the creature only devoured human flesh. That trait lined up with the effects caused by poppies.
He looked up at Ji Heng, who had been silent for a while, seemingly seeking confirmation.
“Highly likely,” Ji Heng replied. He climbed a wall to determine their location and, after jumping down, added, “The incense burner in the adult shop was weak in power and not sealed with red paper. Whatever was sealed in it must’ve been moved elsewhere.”
Their mission was to destroy it. Meanwhile, Wang Sansi and his group, who were on the opposing side, were clearly tasked with protecting it.
Xia Zhi looked grim. “The odds aren’t in our favor.”
The current staff of the Regulation Bureau had already been replaced—they were now all accomplices of the drug dealers. Wang Sansi could easily use them to track the group down. As one of the original owners of the incense burner, he was likely the only one who knew where the Drug King had been transferred.
But she wasn’t foolish. The instance wouldn’t tip the scales entirely to one side. There had to be some advantageous element yet to be uncovered.
“Door dog,” Ji Heng suddenly looked at Su Er. “That line wasn’t just mocking you.”
You laugh, I cry, shut the door on the dog.
Su Er’s eyes flickered. What they were really looking for might be a drug-sniffing dog.
Ordering the Stamp Ghost to deliver a personal insult had been a smokescreen—to make him overlook the line’s deeper meaning.
“What for?” Su Er frowned.
If the poem hadn’t been given at the start, none of this would’ve followed.
“The truth was staring you in the face, but you didn’t see it,” Ji Heng said with a laugh. “If he only revealed it just before your death, wouldn’t you die with regrets?”
Xia Zhi had long given up trying to understand just how much these two had done behind the scenes. She focused on the goal: leaving the instance. “Should we look for the other two informants and form an alliance?”
Su Er, still irritated by the Gravekeeper’s Servant’s baffling conduct, shook his head. “The mission specifically says you represent chaos. That means informants can be double agents and betray us at any moment.”
Too many uncertainties.
Hearing this, Xia Zhi’s thoughts stirred.
Su Er said lightly, “You’ve been sticking too close to me. Even if you defect, Wang Sansi won’t trust you.”
The fact that they’d shared a room for three made it impossible for Xia Zhi to switch sides now.
Knowing there was no turning back, Xia Zhi accepted her fate and suggested they hurry to find the dog. She’d been beaten enough to know where to find strays—often hiding in dark corners and alleyways.
Su Er thought for a moment. “Only demons can deal with demons. The drug-sniffing dog probably died long ago.”
It was summer, and Xia Zhi couldn’t help shivering. “So what we’re looking for… is a ghost?”
No matter how kind a creature had been in life, only those filled with resentment could return as spirits. Like the Stamp Ghost—it might’ve been a good person before, but now its soul lingered, its memories forgotten, finding joy only in killing.
A dog’s instincts were sharp, and a trained sniffer even more so. Approaching recklessly would be suicide.
Ji Heng stood in a well-lit area, displaying the stamp he’d gotten from the adult store. The many-limbed female ghost that once dragged Su Er into a coffin was now quietly printed on it like a portrait.
He looked at Su Er. “The stamp is the key to breaking the game.”
Su Er instantly understood. “We need to find the stamp with a dog on it.”
Ji Heng nodded and gazed into the pitch-black night sky.
Time within the illusion had passed the same as reality, which was fortunate—otherwise they might have emerged into broad daylight, making movement more difficult.
After estimating how long until sunrise, he made a swift decision. “We split up.”
Three people moving together made too much noise and slowed them down.
Xia Zhi didn’t refuse. Splitting up would undoubtedly increase the danger, but under the current circumstances, it was the best plan. Besides, even the weakest among them—Su Er—hadn’t refused. She had no reason to back out either.
Just as she was thinking this, she saw Ji Heng casually take out several items and hand them to Su Er. “Protect yourself.”
In that moment, Xia Zhi’s heart sank to the bottom.
The three of them searched in different directions. To be blunt, at this point it was all just a matter of luck.
With the dark night and high winds, Su Er felt like a sewer rat, wandering aimlessly through the shadows.
The little clay figures were hard to carry, so he used his coat to make a small pouch and tied it around his waist.
Along the way, he picked up two stamps, both useless. Su Er's eyes shifted, and he suddenly ran to another street, climbed over a wall into someone’s home, and deliberately made a bit of noise.
“Who’s there?” A sturdy auntie came out holding a wooden stick. She paused in surprise when she saw Su Er.
This was the same auntie Su Er had run into on the first day of the instance. At the time, she had falsely accused him of groping her, causing Su Er to be taken to the Regulation Bureau. Later, after Su Er recited love poems outside her door all night, she was moved and introduced him to the owner of the adult store to do business.
You could say that at his most prosperous, Su Er owed much to her.
“Well, if it isn’t you, you little rascal.” The auntie walked over and gave him a theatrical slap on the shoulder.
Out of the corner of his eye, Su Er saw that poppies were growing in the yard and quickly averted his gaze.
In this backward and remote place, the townspeople only cared about making money and living well, unaware of the dangers involved.
He composed himself for a moment, then spoke mysteriously, “I want to ask you about someone—Xu He.”
The auntie immediately looked wary.
Su Er pretended not to notice and went on, “Sister Zhang let it slip when she was drunk that Xu He has a chest of gold hidden somewhere. I want to steal it. We can split it fifty-fifty.”
At her age, she wouldn’t be fooled by a fantasy of running off together. Tangible benefits were what really mattered.
“A chest of gold?” There was clear greed in the auntie’s tone.
“That’s why I need more information.”
The auntie said suspiciously, “What if you keep it all for yourself…”
Su Er gave a bitter smile. “Then you can just report me to the Regulation Bureau. A chest of gold is heavy—you think I could run far with it?”
Money moved hearts. The auntie licked her dry lips. “I’ll think about it.”
Su Er kept the conversation going with occasional remarks. In less than half an hour, the auntie made up her mind and said gravely, “Xu He likes to recruit widows, drunks, and gamblers to work for him. We grow the stuff, and he gives us a small amount of money regularly.”
Su Er asked, “But the Xu family isn’t very well-known in town.”
The moment he said it, he realized he’d slipped up. That information had come from Wang Sansi and might not be accurate.
Sure enough, the auntie looked at him in surprise. “Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t know anything.” After a moment, she added, “But he did move recently. Said staying low-key would make the money flow longer.”
Su Er asked urgently, “Where did he move?”
The auntie leaned closer and lowered her voice instinctively, even though no one else was around. “Not many people know this. I only found out by chance—he’s at the cemetery.”
Su Er’s pupils trembled slightly.
“Didn’t expect that, did you…” the auntie said proudly. “His parents died recently, so Xu He used the excuse of building a graveyard to make a secret base there.”
Su Er asked, “Are you sure?”
The auntie said, “The caretaker at the cemetery used to be my old flame.” Then her eyes lit up. “Why don’t we bring him in too…”
Su Er said coldly, “That’d be one more person to split the gold with.”
The auntie instantly dropped the idea.
With useful information in hand, Su Er once again disappeared into the night.
About twenty minutes after he left, the door to the auntie’s house was kicked open.
People from the Regulation Bureau barged in without a word and searched the house. Finding nothing, they angrily interrogated her about Su Er’s whereabouts.
Greedy for the gold, the auntie didn’t give Su Er up and insisted she didn’t know. “He’s been messing around with the adult store owner these days.”
So the Regulation Bureau stormed off to the adult store.
Sister Zhang looked completely confused.
One of the agents sneered, “According to our intel, the only people in this town he’s close to are you and that widow.”
Sister Zhang sighed. “A cunning rabbit has three burrows. Su Er is a two-timer. He’s got at least three love nests nearby.”
Dark night, fierce wind, a night for murder—not just for assassins and fugitives, but also for those scheming to harm others.
Mister Rose issued a command to the Stamp Ghost: “You had quite a bit of contact with Su Er in the illusion, and you were once on the side of justice. He’ll lower his guard around you.”
The Stamp Ghost hadn’t expected a change in boss so soon, but it didn’t matter—it just needed to follow orders.
Mister Rose continued, “Su Er and Ji Heng are both smart. They’ll find the cemetery eventually. Many ghosts sleep there. First, negotiate with them…” As he spoke, his lips curved into a cruel smile. “You know what to do next without me saying.”
“The little ghosts are tricky. If they outright refuse to cooperate, it’ll be a problem.”
Mister Rose replied, “Offer some suitable benefits. I’ll provide the goods.”
With that promise, the Stamp Ghost nodded and went off to carry out the order.
Floating like a ghost through the tranquil night, it carefully pondered how to proceed.
Its thoughts were still shaped by the former boss, the Gravekeeper’s Servant. Since Miser Rose didn’t talk much, the Stamp Ghost naturally assumed both bosses shared the same goal—pairing Su Er and Ji Heng up, using love to further the mission, then destroying it with that very love.
From life experience, it knew there were two main reasons humans would come together:
For love—or for wealth.
There was affection between the two, but unfortunately, it was brotherly. So the only way was to spend money to buy fate.
After careful analysis, the Stamp Ghost quickly formed a detailed plan:
Step one: Greet the ghosts in the cemetery and ask them to help host an unprecedentedly extravagant ghost wedding.
A ten-mile bridal procession, drums and gongs, trumpets and suona—go big or go home!
Step two: Make it rain flowers—romantic pink, intellectual blue, mysterious purple, every color imaginable!
Step three: Prepare ten boxes of one-time-use props, usable only in this instance.
Betrothal gifts will be provided by the boss. As long as they’re willing to marry, the props will be delivered—whatever they want!
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