IGSB – Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Entering the New World (Part 10)
Xia Zhiyi stood on the stone steps, looking at the backyard that was half the size of a basketball court and resembled a cemetery, and at the dangerous, dense fog that lingered beyond the walls. She no longer knew whether to say they had dug a pit for themselves or if the New World had dug one for them.
Absurd, utterly absurd.
Unconscionable, completely unconscionable!
“I really hate this place,” she sighed again with genuine feeling.
Jing Ruyu raised a hand and lightly patted her shoulder in a comforting gesture.
It was an unpleasant place, but to survive, what needed to be done had to be done.
“There’s no sound of water.”
Jing Ruyu stared intently at the backyard door.
“We have to open the door and see.”
Xia Zhiyi: “…”
She began to pray that there really was a surprise behind the door.
Jing Ruyu suddenly asked, “Do you want to go with me?
“If you’re scared, I can go alone. You can wait for me here. If I run into danger, you should first—”
“I’ll go,” Xia Zhiyi interrupted her, her reply firm. “I’ll go with you.”
She couldn’t develop a habit of relying on others in a place like this, or else how would she pass the trials to come?
Could the New World be so generous as to deliver Jing Ruyu to her every single time?
Seeing her answer so decisively, Jing Ruyu said nothing more.
In an instance, having a bit of an adventurous spirit was always better than staying put and waiting for others to feed you. The latter made it too easy to starve to death.
Jing Ruyu scanned their surroundings. “But before that, we need to deal with this grass first, and while we’re at it, see if anything pops out of these places.”
Xia Zhiyi looked up at the sun overhead, then at the empty backyard that didn’t even have a patch of shade. She pointed a finger at the sky and said, “Nothing should pop out, right? Although this sun couldn’t disperse the fog, making it a bit useless, it should still be pretty effective at suppressing ghosts, shouldn’t it?”
Jing Ruyu also glanced at the sky.
“True.
“This place probably only gets lively at night.”
She withdrew her gaze and then saw Xia Zhiyi, holding a long wooden stick she had found somewhere, carefully poking a mound of earth.
“…”
Jing Ruyu: “What are you doing?”
Xia Zhiyi: “Saying hello.”
She poked the mound of earth. “Hello, Mr. Ghost, are you home? We’re from a housekeeping company, here to help you with the weeding. If you’re there, just give a squeak. Don’t come out and cause trouble later, okay? The sun is quite strong outside, you’ll get a tan. Be good now.”
As a polite person, one should inform the other party before barging into their territory to do some cleaning.
Of course, she mainly wanted to see if these mounds of earth would respond to her.
In the end, the backyard was completely silent; not even the wind was blowing.
She pulled back the long stick she had found outside. “They’re not answering. They’re probably all asleep.”
As soon as she turned her head, she saw Jing Ruyu smiling. The smile bloomed softly at the corners of her lips, spreading all the way to her eyes, making her exceptionally captivating.
“?”
Xia Zhiyi: “What are you laughing at?”
Jing Ruyu reined in her smile a little and replied calmly, “Nothing.”
She was just reminded of how a certain someone used to raise fish.
They had once raised a few goldfish.
In the large fish tank, there were artificial coral rockeries, driftwood, and pebbles. Some fish would treat the rockery as a house, always hiding behind it or sleeping.
When Xia Zhiyi fed the fish, she would bend over, tap the tank, and ask just like she did now, “Mr. Fish, are you home? Time to come out and eat.”
It was simply, unreasonably cute.
She never expected that after their breakup, she would still be able to see this side of Xia Zhiyi in a place like this.
Xia Zhiyi looked completely baffled but didn’t press the issue. She then squatted down again and started digging at the dirt on the edge of the stone path with the stick.
The stronger the sun, the bolder she became. Right now, she just wanted to dig and see what was underneath.
Jing Ruyu stood quietly behind her, watching her dig, on full alert. If anything dared to rush out, she would be the first to strike it with her knife.
“Oh!”
The stick suddenly hit a hard object. Xia Zhiyi looked surprised.
“There’s something here!”
She eagerly dug a little deeper.
Soon, a white object was revealed before her.
She couldn’t help but stop, looking up at Jing Ruyu to ask, “What do you think this is?”
“A bone.”
“Great minds think alike.”
Following the tropes of horror movies, a white object dug up at a time like this would, nine times out of ten, be a human bone.
Xia Zhiyi stepped back a bit and continued to dig with the stick.
Before long, a complete hand bone was displayed before the two of them.
Just as expected.
Xia Zhiyi thought to herself, muttering a few words aloud, “No offense intended, please don’t blame me.”
Then she stood up and gently poked the hand bone with the stick, wanting to see if it could still move. If it could, their attempt to cross this area to open the door would undoubtedly be like testing for landmines with their feet.
Jing Ruyu looked at her, then at the skeletal hand, and proactively held out her hand, “Let me.”
She was stronger and had some fighting skills. If something happened, she could be the first to react.
Xia Zhiyi obediently handed over the wooden stick.
An escape game was no time for false bravado or courtesy. Jing Ruyu was more capable than her, so she should let Jing Ruyu handle it.
The moment Jing Ruyu touched the wooden stick, the limp skeletal hand suddenly grabbed the other end and began to pull back forcefully and relentlessly, catching them off guard.
Xia Zhiyi was startled.
Jing Ruyu raised an eyebrow slightly. Her five fingers tightened, veins popping on the back of her fair hand, and she began to pull back without any courtesy.
A tug-of-war match thus began inexplicably.
“It’s actually not afraid of the sun,” Xia Zhiyi said, stunned.
Jing Ruyu said, “Probably because it’s just a pile of bones.”
Xia Zhiyi looked at the creaking bones and worriedly reached out a hand. “Let me help you.”
Jing Ruyu gently pushed her hand away. “No need.”
She then shielded Xia Zhiyi behind her, her five fingers reaching for the short knife at her waist. “Now it’s time to see what’s underneath.”
With a sudden exertion of force, she flipped her wrist, flicking the wooden stick upwards. A skeletal arm was thus pulled out of the mound of earth, just like a radish.
Other than that, it was completely empty. There was nothing else.
“…”
Xia Zhiyi placed both hands on Jing Ruyu’s shoulders and cautiously peeked her head out, surveying the sunken pit.
“There’s nothing there.”
The ghost hand was still gripping the wooden stick, dangling and swaying in mid-air.
Under the bright daylight, its appearance was exceptionally comical.
It seemed a bit embarrassed. It had thought two weaklings had arrived, but it didn’t expect the weaklings to be so strong—is this a human? This can’t be a fucking human!
The difference in strength was too great; it chose to play dead and not move.
The two of them could vaguely sense the ghost hand’s embarrassment as they watched it play dead.
It was clear that it had no other tricks up its sleeve.
Xia Zhiyi: Heh, pathetic.
Suddenly recalling the ghost in the garden that Jing Ruyu had physically eliminated, her thoughts shifted, and she guessed, “If this ground is full of human bones, could they be the skeletons of the ghosts in the residence?
“Although their skin was melted by the sunlight, they didn’t die completely, so they were thrown here to guard the backyard and prevent players from passing?
“Xiao Qiao must have known this, which is why she agreed to let us come here, right?”
Jing Ruyu looked at the skeletal hand playing dead like a toy and said softly, “Very likely.”
If the guess was correct, then these people had been used by the Gu family from life to death. The Ghost King controlling all of this must be a member of the Gu family.
She once again thought of that Master Gu who had only appeared before them once.
Xia Zhiyi looked at the sickles they had placed by the wall. “No wonder Xiao Qiao only gave us sickles…”
In a place half the size of a sports field, who knew how many ghastly white bones were buried underground.
Outnumbered, they might not be able to finish cutting the grass, but they would definitely be finished first.
Qiao-zi, what a vicious NPC!
Jing Ruyu, however, smiled faintly. “We’ll just use another method. It’s not like we’re the type to obediently listen to NPCs in their eyes anyway.
“I’ve decided. We’ll just burn it all with fire.”
Unconscionable deeds, rebellious acts—they were going to do them all.
Besides, the ghosts made the first move. They were just trying to survive, so what bad intentions could they possibly have?
The moment her voice fell, they saw the ghost hand on the stick suddenly come alive again.
It hastily let go of the stick and scrambled back into the ground, hiding itself thoroughly. It looked as if… it was afraid of being burned by fire.
Xia Zhiyi raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“Oho, so they’re afraid of fire?”
Gao Hui was becoming more and more disheveled.
Just now, a kitchen knife had come crashing straight down at his head. He had barely managed to dodge it!
Annoying, so annoying, how did I end up in a place like this!
He should be at home drinking red wine, living his life with elegance and composure!
He suddenly thought of Xia Zhiyi and Jing Ruyu, whom he had seen at noon, and couldn’t figure it out at all.
Everyone was here for the first time, so how were the two of them in such good spirits, their complexions as good as ever?!
Was it because they were just thick-skinned? Or perhaps they were really enjoying some kind of special privilege!
He scratched his hair in frustration as time ticked away silently on his watch.
Xiao Ya, who was in the same group as him, watched him walk out of the task area to rest again. She silently averted her gaze and buried her head in her work.
She didn’t want to think about anything right now; she just wanted to finish quickly and go back.
It would be safe once they returned to the courtyard.
No, she should still call him back. More people meant faster work.
With that thought, she reluctantly got up to look for Gao Hui.
Unexpectedly, just as she reached the doorway, she heard Xiao Qiao’s voice: “This is a token of my young lady’s goodwill.”
She couldn’t help but freeze. Weren’t those words…
Outside the door, Xiao Qiao was holding a fruit platter, looking at Gao Hui with a half-smile.
“You eat it alone.”
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