The lady driver stood up and first removed the small dolls and mini chandeliers around the driver’s seat. Then she picked up a bronze bell, gave it a shake, and got off the bus.
Following her, many corpses got off the bus one after another.
Players naturally blended in, following along.
Seeing the driver with dolls and mini chandeliers, and the corpses carrying luggage, Ning Su hurriedly brought a basket of stored food from under the bed.
Not only them, but also the corpses and players from other buses got off.
A procession of over two hundred “people” moved forward quietly in the dark night, making the players among them uneasy.
After a while, they realized why the bus had stopped.
They were on a very narrow road, let alone two vehicles driving side by side; it was difficult for even one vehicle to pass through.
Along the narrow dirt road, tall trees stretched their black branches recklessly, resembling devilish claws under the moonlight.
On this gloomy path, they didn’t know where they were going, and the further they went, the colder their hearts felt.
Finally, they reached the riverside, where a ship was waiting for them.
It turned out to be a transition from land to water.
Players breathed a sigh of relief.
But soon, they felt like cursing.
Ning Su and Fang Qi, upon seeing their new sleeping arrangements, immediately thought of the Flower Attendant Grand Hall.
The second floor of the ship, without any partitions, was filled with over a hundred beds, all bunk beds.
In other words, almost all players and corpses were gathered together.
Clearly, they could no longer freely discuss the corpses like they did whenever they got off the bus.
Many players secretly assessed and chose their beds.
The four of them still stayed together, two on the upper bunk and two on the lower bunk.
As they started to arrange their luggage and beds, the cabin gradually filled with conversations and other noises, and the players began talking.
Pang Yang looked out at the river surface. “Could this be the Wangchuan River?”
Wangchuan River, also known as the River of Three Crossings and the River of Head-Burial, was said to exist in the underworld.
It fits well with the setting of them walking the path of the dead.
The river surface outside the window and the visible riverbank only had three colors: black, white, and red.
It’s like a few white spots spreading in the black ink, giving birth to blood-colored gloomy plants.
Fang Qi: “I think, it doesn’t matter what river is outside the ship. What’s important is inside the cabin, which ones are players, and which ones are corpses.”
The two looked at Ning Su, and Ning Su sighed, “We should have brought the vines with us. It’s a pity.”
As he spoke, he looked at Ling Xiao.
“...”
When the other two were about to bury their heads in bed, they saw a player from the human pupa master group waving at them.
There were already several familiar players gathered there.
They came down one bus after another, so after boarding the ship, most of the people and “people” in each bus were still together.
Xue Wei was not far away, and a few players who had just walked over were there too.
All three guessed that Xue Wei wanted to take advantage of the time when the corpses were cleaning up and moving around to figure out who the players were.
This was good for everyone, so they didn’t hesitate and went straight over.
During this time, two or three more players walked over.
Xue Wei didn’t speak first, but looked at the people not from bus 01 who had gathered here.
Just in case, she should be confirming whether those people were real players. Finally, her gaze fell on a man and a woman.
Gu Xinghua pointed to the woman in the yellow shirt and said, “She’s a player. I saw her in the game hall before entering the instance.”
Someone else pointed to the man and said, “He’s also a player. I’ve seen him too.”
They all knew each other, forming a safe circle.
Only then did Xue Wei relax a bit. She whispered, “In this instance, if the corpses discovered us, admitting ourselves in front of them might get us killed by them. The only way at this point is to eliminate the corpses and keep them silent, but it’s confirmed that in this instance, killing players is not allowed, so before taking action, we need to genuinely confirm that it’s a corpse.”
The last half of the sentence was said with a hint of displeasure, with a somewhat gritted teeth.
The newly joined player asked, “How do we confirm?”
Xue Wei glanced at Gu Xinghua, “He unintentionally killed a player and was punished by the instance.”
Ning Su: “...”
This “confirmation” was open to debate.
Xue Wei didn’t want to dwell on this matter, and she continued with the previous topic, “Therefore, it is crucial that we confirm the remaining 20 players. We need players who can not only identify trustworthy companions, but also ensure that when the corpses approach and we need to silence them to survive, we won’t accidentally harm fellow players.”
She said, “The corpses are becoming cunning, so let’s introduce ourselves in detail in secret.”
Clearly, she remembered what Ning Su had mentioned—that the corpses could hear personal information and use it against them. This time, she came prepared with a pen and notebook, asking everyone to write down their details in order.
When the notebook reached Ning Su’s hands, the people before him had already written a lot.
Ning Su seemed like someone trying to meet the word count for a comprehensive humanities exam question. [Bus 01 - Ning Su, ‘Ning’ from Ning Caichen, ‘Su’ for free accommodation. Hobbies include eating and sleeping, life’s aspiration is to be a lazy person, and the ultimate goal is to have a thigh to rely on. Not a member of any guilds. This is the fourth instance.]
“...”
The next middle-aged woman who took the notebook, upon reading his self-introduction, shook as she wrote. It was unclear if it was from anger or amusement.
After everyone finished writing, a few of them compared their notebooks with each other.
In this ship filled with corpses, they confirmed at least ten players they could trust, which brought some relief.
“Xue Wei must be infuriated knowing she can’t kill players anymore,” Pang Yang said with a smug look. “With that in mind, we don’t have to be afraid of her anymore.”
Ning Su thought for a moment, climbed to the top bunk, and asked Ling Xiao, “Why did you hang Gu Xinghua upside down on a tree?”
This death move contributed significantly to this beautiful misunderstanding.
Ling Xiao replied calmly, “Couldn’t defeat him, so framed it on the system.”
Ning Su: “...”
How could he say that so calmly?
After asking, Ning Su didn’t leave; he just stared at Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao looked up and saw those peach blossom eyes staring at him intently. In the dim environment, they were bright and clear, like a handful of springwater, or a pool of starlight, more like a fold of spring peach blossoms blooming in the darkness.
After a few minutes, the other was still staring like that.
“...”
Another few minutes of silence, and Ling Xiao’s sleeve rustled as vines grew out.
Ning Su happily raised his kitchen knife.
Having a mattress, bed curtain, and a comfortable pillow again, with a small red flower on it.
The little zombie happily lay on a comfortable bed, glanced at the upper bunk’s bed board, and reached out to take paper and a pen from Pang Yang’s bed.
When Ling Xiao was about to close his eyes, a crumpled piece of paper flew up.
Vines wrapped around the crumpled paper and placed it in his hand.
Unfolding the wrinkled paper, there were strong and elegant characters on it.
[I will give you my heart. When we leave this instance, let’s go together to the ‘Flower Servant’ dungeon world. There, you can open my chest, cut my heart, and take your heart back, okay?]
The lady driver stood up and first removed the small dolls and mini chandeliers around the driver’s seat. Then she picked up a bronze bell, gave it a shake, and got off the bus.
Following her, many corpses got off the bus one after another.
Players naturally blended in, following along.
Seeing the driver with dolls and mini chandeliers, and the corpses carrying luggage, Ning Su hurriedly brought a basket of stored food from under the bed.
Not only them, but also the corpses and players from other buses got off.
A procession of over two hundred “people” moved forward quietly in the dark night, making the players among them uneasy.
After a while, they realized why the bus had stopped.
They were on a very narrow road, let alone two vehicles driving side by side; it was difficult for even one vehicle to pass through.
Along the narrow dirt road, tall trees stretched their black branches recklessly, resembling devilish claws under the moonlight.
On this gloomy path, they didn’t know where they were going, and the further they went, the colder their hearts felt.
Finally, they reached the riverside, where a ship was waiting for them.
It turned out to be a transition from land to water.
Players breathed a sigh of relief.
But soon, they felt like cursing.
Ning Su and Fang Qi, upon seeing their new sleeping arrangements, immediately thought of the Flower Attendant Grand Hall.
The second floor of the ship, without any partitions, was filled with over a hundred beds, all bunk beds.
In other words, almost all players and corpses were gathered together.
Clearly, they could no longer freely discuss the corpses like they did whenever they got off the bus.
Many players secretly assessed and chose their beds.
The four of them still stayed together, two on the upper bunk and two on the lower bunk.
As they started to arrange their luggage and beds, the cabin gradually filled with conversations and other noises, and the players began talking.
Pang Yang looked out at the river surface. “Could this be the Wangchuan River?”
Wangchuan River, also known as the River of Three Crossings and the River of Head-Burial, was said to exist in the underworld.
It fits well with the setting of them walking the path of the dead.
The river surface outside the window and the visible riverbank only had three colors: black, white, and red.
It’s like a few white spots spreading in the black ink, giving birth to blood-colored gloomy plants.
Fang Qi: “I think, it doesn’t matter what river is outside the ship. What’s important is inside the cabin, which ones are players, and which ones are corpses.”
The two looked at Ning Su, and Ning Su sighed, “We should have brought the vines with us. It’s a pity.”
As he spoke, he looked at Ling Xiao.
“...”
When the other two were about to bury their heads in bed, they saw a player from the human pupa master group waving at them.
There were already several familiar players gathered there.
They came down one bus after another, so after boarding the ship, most of the people and “people” in each bus were still together.
Xue Wei was not far away, and a few players who had just walked over were there too.
All three guessed that Xue Wei wanted to take advantage of the time when the corpses were cleaning up and moving around to figure out who the players were.
This was good for everyone, so they didn’t hesitate and went straight over.
During this time, two or three more players walked over.
Xue Wei didn’t speak first, but looked at the people not from bus 01 who had gathered here.
Just in case, she should be confirming whether those people were real players. Finally, her gaze fell on a man and a woman.
Gu Xinghua pointed to the woman in the yellow shirt and said, “She’s a player. I saw her in the game hall before entering the instance.”
Someone else pointed to the man and said, “He’s also a player. I’ve seen him too.”
They all knew each other, forming a safe circle.
Only then did Xue Wei relax a bit. She whispered, “In this instance, if the corpses discovered us, admitting ourselves in front of them might get us killed by them. The only way at this point is to eliminate the corpses and keep them silent, but it’s confirmed that in this instance, killing players is not allowed, so before taking action, we need to genuinely confirm that it’s a corpse.”
The last half of the sentence was said with a hint of displeasure, with a somewhat gritted teeth.
The newly joined player asked, “How do we confirm?”
Xue Wei glanced at Gu Xinghua, “He unintentionally killed a player and was punished by the instance.”
Ning Su: “...”
This “confirmation” was open to debate.
Xue Wei didn’t want to dwell on this matter, and she continued with the previous topic, “Therefore, it is crucial that we confirm the remaining 20 players. We need players who can not only identify trustworthy companions, but also ensure that when the corpses approach and we need to silence them to survive, we won’t accidentally harm fellow players.”
She said, “The corpses are becoming cunning, so let’s introduce ourselves in detail in secret.”
Clearly, she remembered what Ning Su had mentioned—that the corpses could hear personal information and use it against them. This time, she came prepared with a pen and notebook, asking everyone to write down their details in order.
When the notebook reached Ning Su’s hands, the people before him had already written a lot.
Ning Su seemed like someone trying to meet the word count for a comprehensive humanities exam question. [Bus 01 - Ning Su, ‘Ning’ from Ning Caichen, ‘Su’ for free accommodation. Hobbies include eating and sleeping, life’s aspiration is to be a lazy person, and the ultimate goal is to have a thigh to rely on. Not a member of any guilds. This is the fourth instance.]
“...”
The next middle-aged woman who took the notebook, upon reading his self-introduction, shook as she wrote. It was unclear if it was from anger or amusement.
After everyone finished writing, a few of them compared their notebooks with each other.
In this ship filled with corpses, they confirmed at least ten players they could trust, which brought some relief.
“Xue Wei must be infuriated knowing she can’t kill players anymore,” Pang Yang said with a smug look. “With that in mind, we don’t have to be afraid of her anymore.”
Ning Su thought for a moment, climbed to the top bunk, and asked Ling Xiao, “Why did you hang Gu Xinghua upside down on a tree?”
This death move contributed significantly to this beautiful misunderstanding.
Ling Xiao replied calmly, “Couldn’t defeat him, so framed it on the system.”
Ning Su: “...”
How could he say that so calmly?
After asking, Ning Su didn’t leave; he just stared at Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao looked up and saw those peach blossom eyes staring at him intently. In the dim environment, they were bright and clear, like a handful of springwater, or a pool of starlight, more like a fold of spring peach blossoms blooming in the darkness.
After a few minutes, the other was still staring like that.
“...”
Another few minutes of silence, and Ling Xiao’s sleeve rustled as vines grew out.
Ning Su happily raised his kitchen knife.
Having a mattress, bed curtain, and a comfortable pillow again, with a small red flower on it.
The little zombie happily lay on a comfortable bed, glanced at the upper bunk’s bed board, and reached out to take paper and a pen from Pang Yang’s bed.
When Ling Xiao was about to close his eyes, a crumpled piece of paper flew up.
Vines wrapped around the crumpled paper and placed it in his hand.
Unfolding the wrinkled paper, there were strong and elegant characters on it.
[I will give you my heart. When we leave this instance, let’s go together to the ‘Flower Servant’ dungeon world. There, you can open my chest, cut my heart, and take your heart back, okay?]
