Chapter 561: Reincarnation and Puppets

Wan Yi stood frozen in place, feeling a sudden soreness in the eye sockets.

She stood at the doorway, watching Cheng Shuili finish a bowl of congee, finish a steamed bun, eat the side dishes cleanly, then set down the bowl and look at her.

"Anything else?"

Wan Yi shook their head, then nodded, then shook their head again.

Cheng Shuili watched their flustered appearance, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly: "I'm fine."

Wan Yi's eyes almost teared up.

They nodded firmly, took the empty bowl, turned and ran. After running out the doorway, they dared to lift a hand to wipe their eyes.

Lao Da said they were fine, so they believed it.

……

The car drove for two days on the endless highway, and Cheng Shuili finally saw the roadside gas station.

She got out of the car, and the scene here came into view.

No different from before, desolate and dilapidated.

Everything remained the same, only the people were different.

Cheng Shuili sighed, restrained herself from thinking of that person again, lowered her gaze, and walked into the gas station.

After Gu Yi left, this place became even more desolate.

Cheng Shuili walked to her usual spot; as she approached, the Light Gate seemed to sense someone coming and unfolded where it stood.

She fell silent for a moment, then entered the gate without hesitation.

Before her vision cleared, the noisy voices of several systems transmitted into her ears.

"... The last time a human came, I was terrified! But lately no humans have shown up for ages—how boring."

"What's that supposed to be? I've even recited the rules and regulations backward."

"Are you competing to see who made the bigger mistake? You don't compare the good points, only the bad!"

"It doesn't matter; I only know I'm prone to mistakes, and I've never had my wages docked for making them!"

"When will wages be paid next? I'm still waiting to repay other systems' game coins."

Before the words finished, several fluffy light groups froze simultaneously.

Because they noticed someone had arrived.

Cheng Shuili stood at the Light Gate's entrance, watching these several puffed-up little things, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly.

The leading light group reacted fastest, its light flashing violently, forcibly switching to a serious electronic tone:

【Warning. Detecting visitor entering. Permission verification in progress……】

Beside it, the talkative small light group couldn't help muttering softly: "It's her again—can't you skip that broken warning this time? It startles me every time……"

The light on the leading light group flickered, seeming embarrassed as well, but it had to grit its teeth and finish the procedure:

【……Permission verification passed. Player Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji, welcome back to the Rules Service Interface!】

Cheng Shuili had no time for pleasantries, speaking directly: "I'm here to handle grey-market business."

As her words fell, several fluffy light groups instantly seemed to have been muted.

The shock of the leading light group was obvious; the talkative small light group next to it instinctively wanted to mutter something, but a companion slammed into it hard, forcing the words back down, leaving the whole ball of light dimmed a bit.

The air hung still for a while, then the leading light group finally spoke.

However, the electronic sound it forced out also carried a hint of un concealable stiffness:

【……Please, please repeat your request.】

"I'm here to handle grey-market business." Cheng Shuili patiently repeated, her calm gaze sweeping over the several clearly beginning-to-panic fluffy balls: "Gu Er introduced me, saying you can handle anything here."

As the name Gu Er appeared, the several systems present obviously let out a sigh of relief.

Cheng Shuili heard a light group squeezed into the corner whisper softly: "Turns out it's an acquaintance who introduced them—looks like there's no problem."

The leading light group also clearly relaxed, its light no longer trembling as severely, yet it still retained that strained, tense stiffness.

It cleared its nonexistent throat, and the electronic tone lowered a bit.

【……So it was Gu Er who introduced you. You should have said so earlier.】

Beside it, the talkative small light group finally couldn't hold back, whispering: "Gee, it gave me a start—I thought it was an inspection envoy sent by Northern Star Boss. Moreover… luckily it's not about legitimate business; last time you left, we got chewed out by our superiors for ages, saying our service attitude wasn't professional, letting humans see a side of the system nobody knows……"

Another light group added: "And because we don't know which system's error dragged us down, we got a huge chunk of game coins deducted!"

The leading light group glared at them: 【Shut up! On duty!】

Then it turned toward Cheng Shuili, its light flashing, its tone taking on a strange enthusiasm:

【Since it's an acquaintance's introduction, the process is easy to explain. What kind of grey-market business do you want to handle? Reincarnation? Puppet fabrication? Or something else?】

Cheng Shuili's heartbeat skipped a beat.

Before coming, she had only heard a rough outline from Gu Yi, knowing only that game coins could bring the dead back to life, but Gu Yi hadn't explained the exact procedure.

She fell silent for a moment, then asked: "It should be reincarnation—I want to revive one… no, two humans."

As her words fell, several light groups froze simultaneously.

The light on the leading light group stiffened for an instant: 【Humans?】

"Yes." Cheng Shuili's voice was calm, but something in the depths of her eyes trembled slightly: "One named Su Rui, the other Zhao Hong—both deceased humans."

The small light groups chattered and began discussing again:

"This is the first time anyone's come to handle human reincarnation business!"

"Exactly, I thought humans were only interested in puppets."

"Anyway, I prefer the reincarnation business—making puppets nets us few game coins, all the profit goes to that badger beastman!"

"Can't help it—who made us unable to craft puppets?"

The leading light group was obviously a bit embarrassed, about to say something, when it saw the human's eyes before it suddenly sharpen.

"You said the badger tribe beastman," she stared at those few small light groups that had suddenly fallen silent, she asked word by word, "Is it called Tonglu?"

The air froze again.

The light on several light groups froze simultaneously; that Talkative Small Light Group instinctively shrank back a bit, muttering softly: "Oh no, oh no, my Game Coin is about to be deducted again."

The Leader Light Group glared at it fiercely, then turned toward Cheng Shuili: 【Do you know Tonglu?】

Cheng Shuili nodded, then shook her head, "I've only heard of this name."

This reaction of the light groups shows that the beastman who made the puppets is indeed Tonglu.

Cheng Shuili wasn't lying either; she really didn't know Tonglu, having only heard the name from Huo Po.

Initially, Huo Po had immediately recognized that the puppet that assassinated her was Tonglu's handiwork; now these light groups also say that a human came to do business making puppets.

With all these clues added together, aren't they connected?

Cheng Shuili asked with a hint of probing: "How many humans came to you to do puppet business?"