Yun Xiangning was momentarily stunned.
For the sake of her daughter, she had been cautious, cold, and selfish, watching indifferently as corpses killed players.
On the contrary, Ning Su, for the sake of his daughter, acted in the opposite manner. Despite being someone who usually avoided meddling in others’ affairs, he took the initiative to save people.
Yun Xiangning turned to see two children leaning against a bed, looking at them with innocent and bright eyes, capturing every move in their hearts.
If her daughter looked at her that way on that night, observing her selfish act of prioritizing her own life over others’ survival, what would happen?
Before Yun Xiangning could say anything to Ning Su, he had already left.
Taking the two children with him.
No ghosts came their way.
Other than him, three players experienced death without any lingering regrets, without losing their favorites, and without harboring intense resentment.
It’s hard to say whether it’s heartless or lucky.
Ning Su returned to Ling Xiao’s side, gazing at his emotionless profile in silence for a while before letting out a sigh.
Ling Xiao turned to him. “Why the sigh?”
Ning Su: “You have no heart.”
Ling Xiao: “...”
Ling Xiao: “Indeed, my heart is inside you.”
Ning Su: “...”
He covered his chest. “You say you have no heart, yet you still threaten people.”
Ling Xiao: “...”
The silent expression on Ling Xiao’s face, which resembled that of a statue, appeared to be on the brink of collapse.
He looked again at the people and ghosts filling the entire cabin. There was no emotion in his gaze, yet emotions lingered within him.
At this moment, he felt a strong desire to say something to the person beside him, yet he was unsure of what to say.
It is related to life and death, to the connection between humans and ghosts, to emotional fluctuations, and to drifting and attachments.
He still didn’t know what it was.
In the heart-wrenching cries, he placed his hand on Ning Su’s hand.
The hand that Ning Su covered over his heart.
His fingers were slender, slightly bent, and the palm felt warm with a hint of dryness.
Ning Su felt the sudden thumping of the two hearts under his hand, unsure which heart was driving the powerful beats.
A very strong pulsation, propelling the surge of blood, transmitted through his hand.
Ning Su looked up at Ling Xiao in a daze.
It was a gaze Ling Xiao was very familiar with, a vision that often appeared in his mind.
Countless people kneeling before him, conveying countless wishes, yet none dared to meet his gaze.
Through the years, they knelt with bowed heads, yet no one truly tried to look at him.
Except for one young man, kneeling in the crowd, sitting upright with peach blossom eyes devoutly focused on him, exuding sincerity and fondness that even a god would be moved by.
He remembered the young man singing hymns to him.
He remembered the young man saying he would take him away.
Ning Su turned his hand around, pressing it beneath the other. “Feel free to touch if you want. I haven’t mistreated your heart. Inspect as you please.”
Ling Xiao: “...”
Just as he was about to retract his hand, he saw the young man lowering his head, eyes sparkling as they both felt the beating heart together. The young man pursed his lips, a faint smile playing on his lips.
The subtle vibrations of heartbeats traveled from the thin chest to the palms, suppressing the wails filling the entire cabin.
He couldn’t retract his hand.
Two players died again this night.
One they knew, and the other was unfamiliar to many.
When the body of the player was carried away, some speculated it was the absent player from bus 07, while others started suspecting if there were ghosts among the players they recognized.
Ning Su thought it was more likely the player from bus 07.
After communicating with each other, an interesting discovery was made: the ghosts who came to visit last night appeared in front of players who were relatively timid and weak.
Yun Xiangning and another player, as well as the two deceased players, fit this description.
The player from bus 07, cautious and distrusting, hid alone among both the living and the dead.
Those timid and weak players likely harbored deep resentment towards those who did the most harm to them.
Pang Yang said, “Only two days left. There shouldn’t be another round, right?”
Fang Qi replied, “The remaining focus should be on the system’s prompts.”
The system prompted, [Do good deeds, don’t inquire about the future], but so far, the meaning of this hint hadn’t been revealed.
Both of them looked at Ning Su.
Ning Su: “...”
Ning Su immediately turned his head, pretending not to hear or see, leaving them with the smooth back of his head.
The two: “...”
After a moment of silence, they began to discuss and speculate on their own.
Pang Yang: “Do you think this prompt is to restrict players from killing and disposing of bodies? It makes sense; otherwise, someone like the Human Pupa Master would have no qualms about killing all players and corpses, clearing the game in an instant.”
Fang Qi: “Is there any other perspective? Considering the standpoint from the underworld.”
Pang Yang: “Yin path, underworld, death, ghosts... good deeds. Is there anything that can be connected?”
They pondered in this direction.
Seeing that the two were taking a while to come to a conclusion, Ning Su added, “Don’t forget, we are anomalies.”
The more they thought, the more their faces drooped, gradually turning into bitter melon faces.
Fang Qi said, “Regardless, the system has already said to do good without asking about the future. Isn’t it just asking us to do good, regardless of what lies ahead?”
Pang Yang embraced a carefree attitude. “Right, doing good deeds and not asking about the future are both system prompts. We just focus on doing good deeds, regardless of why, and everything will be fulfilled!”
Ning Su: “...”
They tidied up and went to do good deeds.
In these two days, other players have gradually realized the importance of “doing good deeds.” Initially surprised and resistant, they can now slowly communicate with ghosts and do things for them.
Among these actions, the most crucial was appeasing the ghostly corpses.
These ghosts had slowly become aware that something was amiss, about to approach the truth of their deaths. As a result, they became particularly uneasy and prone to outbreaks of unrest.
Ning Su knew that comforting wasn’t the most useful approach; what mattered was making them truly accept their situation.
These players who hadn’t experienced death probably couldn’t fully comprehend, perhaps accepting death was more challenging than accepting anything else.
Ning Su approached the old man with the two children. The old man was staring at the vegetable basket on his legs.
As they approached, the old man asked Ning Su, “How long have we been on this ship? Why do these vegetables look wilted?”
Then, he took out a map from his pocket and asked Ning Su, “Why is there blood on this?”
After asking, he fell silent.
The young man with a backpack in the bunk above anxiously touched the acceptance letter. His constant squeezing had softened the once stiff acceptance letter.
They were both good-tempered in their previous lives, so there were no riots at the moment. They were just either restless or silent, with subtle signs of an impending outburst.
It must be something really difficult to accept 😥
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update