Chapter 163: Phantom Shadows of the Desolate Village
"We’ve just taken on a new job."
Since their cooperation was now settled, Yan Feishu didn’t hesitate to make his request: "It’s an old client of Peacock’s. Tianwen has secretly tried to poach them multiple times but failed. I suspect that bastard Hou Shao is planning to target my client in the next instance. If our failure rate gets too high, Peacock’s reputation will take a hit. Tianwen is using these underhanded tactics against me. When’s your next instance?"
Li Zhi replied, "Tomorrow."
Yan Feishu was surprised. "So soon? Didn’t you just come out of one? I remember you usually take longer breaks between instances."
Unlike professional players like them, who entered instances almost every other day.
Suddenly, it dawned on him. "Oh, you’re rushing in to see your boyfriend, huh?"
The forums had been exploding the past couple of days with gossip about Li Zhi and that friendly NPC officially becoming a couple. Even veteran players found it hard to believe.
Dating an NPC—what was the point? For anyone else, it might’ve been about securing a safety net in the instances.
But someone like Li Zhi didn’t need that at all.
Was it really… love?
Yan Feishu clicked his tongue when he saw Li Zhi smile, her gaze softening. "Yes."
"Alright," he conceded. "After you come out, I’ll have them delay the instance entry time."
Li Zhi nodded in agreement.
With their deal settled, Yan Feishu went inside to greet the others before leaving. Though he knew Li Zhi wouldn’t be poached, Ou Wendong couldn’t help asking, "Zhi-jie, you’re not joining Peacock, right?"
Li Zhi chuckled. "No. If I did, who’d cook for me?"
Living together, they’d discovered Ou Wendong had been a chef before becoming a belly dancer—his skills were exceptional. Quite the career pivot.
Ou Wendong grinned obsequiously. "If you go, you could take me with you!"
The others promptly tackled and pummeled him.
The villa returned to its lively atmosphere. Li Zhi noticed that after her mental energy had improved, her senses had sharpened. She could now detect even the slightest movement outside—a subtle, almost mystical sensation.
If mental energy were compared to water capacity, ordinary people’s would be like a well, while hers had once been a lake. Now, it was beginning to resemble an ocean.
She had a feeling this wasn’t her limit. Her mental energy could still grow further. Once it reached a critical point, perhaps a qualitative transformation would occur.
They gathered on the first-floor couch, playing games and watching a movie before finally retiring late at night. After washing up, Li Zhi lay in bed and pulled out the sunflower pendant from under her pillow—only to find cracks on its jade surface again.
The last time this happened was during the Yucai High School instance when she’d clashed head-on with the boss using her mental energy. Back then, Li Jianxi had restored it for her inside the instance.
Now that it had cracked outside, would it still work to contact him once she entered?
Holding the pendant, Li Zhi couldn’t help but worry.
The night passed without incident. The next morning at breakfast, she told everyone she’d be entering an instance in a few hours. After a brief moment of surprise, they all understood.
Zhi-jie was in love! And in the honeymoon phase, no less. Of course she’d hurry into the instance to see her boyfriend.
This time, they’d better not tag along as third wheels.
When Li Zhi had called Yao Mingfeng the day before, he’d said they hadn’t expected her to enter an instance again so soon. They didn’t have any suitable official players ready to send in with her, so this time, she’d be going in alone.
Everyone assumed this was a romantic getaway for her and Li Jianxi. Happy to stay out of their way, they contented themselves with shipping the couple from afar.
Ou Wendong even whispered to You Jingmeng, "Zhi-jie’s love life isn’t easy. I think I finally understand what Brother Li Feng meant."
There wasn’t much for Li Zhi to prepare. Unlike others who treated instance entries with solemn gravity, her team remained relaxed, eating and drinking as usual. You Jingmeng even asked what color confetti she’d like upon her return—would pink do?
When the three-day mark arrived, Li Zhi vanished from the villa on schedule.
Her prepared teammates immediately opened the live stream. On the homepage’s popularity rankings, Li Zhi’s name was now tagged with "Live Now."
The top ten players were displayed on the first page of the rankings, visible to anyone opening the app. Lower ranks required scrolling. This prime placement guaranteed massive exposure.
When Chi Yi entered Li Zhi’s stream, the viewer count had already surpassed several million—less than a minute after her entry.
Ou Wendong shuddered. "Phantom Shadows of the Desolate Village—this instance sounds terrifying! Good thing I didn’t go in!"
Inside the instance:
Li Zhi slowly opened her eyes.
Before her stretched a desolate wasteland, barren and lifeless, the trees and plants withered and yellowed. A dirt path led forward, where a village loomed amidst waist-high dead grass. The overcast sky pressed down oppressively. Scanning her surroundings, Li Zhi realized she might be the only living thing in this expanse.
Past experience suggested teammates should appear nearby, but with no cover in sight, she saw no other players.
She looked down to find a travel backpack at her feet.
After so many instances, this was the first time she’d been given supplies.
Raising an eyebrow, Li Zhi crouched and opened the bag. It was well-stocked: food, bottled water, a pickaxe, a palm-sized mirror, a pack of ritual offerings (incense, candles, and joss paper), two high-wattage universal chargers, and an assortment of phone mounts—wrist straps, headbands, and even a selfie stick.
At the bottom lay a book. Li Zhi pulled it out to see the title: Handbook for Paranormal Investigations. Flipping through it, she found methods for dealing with supernatural encounters and Taoist incantations.
Judging by the shoddy print quality, it was likely a pirated copy—questionable in reliability.
In the outermost pocket sat a smartphone.
Li Zhi turned it on to find her own photo set as the wallpaper. The only app installed was called "Adventure Live."
She had a feeling she understood this instance’s theme.
Retrieving the selfie stick from the bag, she mounted the phone, shouldered the backpack, adjusted her hair, and opened the live-streaming app.
The screen displayed a live interface, the camera facing her. Li Zhi startled at the grotesque image staring back.
Simultaneously, comments began scrolling across the screen:
—Holy crap!!! Host, you look terrifying!!!
—Now this is a paranormal investigator—even your face looks ghostly!
—Host, are you there yet? Point the camera at the haunted village! Stop showing yourself!
Li Zhi waved at the camera. "Hello, everyone! Sorry about that—the beauty filter was cranked too high. Let me turn it off."
The damn system had maxed out the slimming and beautifying effects, distorting her face beyond recognition. Once she disabled all filters, her appearance returned to normal.
The live chat erupted anew:
—Whoa! She’s actually gorgeous!
—Pretty girl, you’d do better dancing or singing! Why risk being a paranormal streamer? It’s dangerous!
—Pfft. Just another花瓶 (pretty face). Useless in this line of work. Bet she’ll faint at the first scare!
Ignoring the chatter, Li Zhi studied the interface. The top-left displayed likes (48), while the top-right showed live viewers (59).
According to the rules, each viewer could like once per hour. Spending 1,000 "Starlight" coins on gifts earned extra likes.
Unaware of the stream’s real-time comments, the external audience—having flooded in upon her going live—were outraged by the in-game comments:
[WTF! Calling our Zhi-jie a 花瓶?! I’ll beat your blind eyes out!]
[What even are these comments?! If they’re the stream chat, then what are we?!]
[So this time, Li Zhi has to stream for both us and the in-game audience?]
[The players’ roles are paranormal investigators—so cool!]
[System, you’re just trolling now.]
[Li Zhi! I never see you greet us like that! We’re your real audience!]
[These clueless NPC viewers are in for a rude awakening when Zhi-jie schools them!]
The interface resembled standard live streams. Once she’d familiarized herself, Li Zhi refocused on the scrolling comments.
As a paranormal investigator in this instance, these were her in-game audience. Currently, they were debating her looks, some suggesting she rebrand as a "pretty girl doing risque dances in a haunted village"—guaranteed to boost engagement.
Unfazed, Li Zhi smiled at the camera. "Alright, I’m about to enter the haunted village. Let’s immerse ourselves in the terror of the most infamous ghost village."
Switching to the rear camera, she aimed it at the decrepit village ahead. The comments shifted from her appearance to fear over the ominous sight.
With still no sign of other players, Li Zhi suspected this might be a solo mission.
Given the elimination mechanic, she couldn’t be the only one in the instance—that would nullify the "lowest-ranked elimination" rule. More likely, other players had been transported to separate planes, each conducting solo tasks within the haunted village.
Li Zhi followed the dirt path forward as the desolate village grew clearer on screen.
Comments recoiled at the bleak, chilling environment:
—I’m already scared before even entering! This really is the village of连环灭门 (mass family massacres)!
—They say no one who enters ever leaves. Host, think carefully!
—Survivors claim the murdered souls still linger, seeking替身 (substitutes) to move on.
As she walked, Li Zhi monitored the comments, finally spotting useful clues. Smiling, she asked, "Since you’re all here for the supernatural, let’s test your knowledge: What happened in the Liu Village massacres?"
The chat responded:
—Duh! The village chief’s eldest son had躁狂症 (mania). During episodes, he hacked multiple families to death—it was in the papers!
—Not quite. He didn’t kill them all in one night. It was one family every few days, always sneaking in at night. Psycho deserved to die!
—He did die. Then karma got the chief’s family—the maniac killed them too. Talk about自灭满门 (wiping out your own lineage)!
Gathering intel from the comments, Li Zhi stepped onto a raised platform. A ding sounded as the system announced:
—Player has entered Liu Village. Current storyline: You are a paranormal investigator exploring the infamous Liu Village, seeking the truth behind its dark history.
—Mission: Gather 5 million likes before death to clear the instance.