[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world":3,"chapter-survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-299":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Survival Guide in a Mysterious World",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2299268,4497,"Chapter 299: Ji Boying","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-299",299,"\u003Cp>After a night of wild passion, they finally collapsed into exhausted sleep by the early hours, Xia Yubing clutching Ning Zhe like a pillow, arms and legs wrapped around him like an octopus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Psychologically, sleeping while hugging something is often seen as a sign of insecurity; Ning Zhe looked at Xia Yubing’s peaceful face and wondered if she, too, felt deeply insecure right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe tried to pry loose the leg she had locked around his waist—it was even tighter than when she was awake. Forcing it open would surely wake her, so he simply became a cat and slipped off the bed in a flash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Passing the bar, crossing the indoor pool, Ning Zhe walked straight to the floor-to-ceiling window and gazed out from the 38th-floor apartment, taking in nearly the entire night view of Vivian Port.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This once-renowned international trade hub now looked anything but prosperous; many residents had already moved out early, leaving patches of abandoned residential zones embedded like dark smudges on a glowing screen, swallowing the massive cargo ships docked far offshore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe took a deep breath of the perfectly warmed air, stepped out the window, and leapt down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the bed behind him, Xia Yubing quietly opened her eyes, then silently closed them again, pulling the wool blanket into a ball and hugging it tightly, saying nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flap-flap—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seagull wings sliced through the evening breeze, cutting across the night sky; below stretched a long, winding, wide seawall, its shoreline piled high with three-legged, four-cornered concrete breakwaters, each wave crashing against them and dissolving into white foam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A young man in a woolen windproof cloak, beneath which he wore a pure black Zhongshan suit, stood silently on the breakwater, facing the broad sea beneath the moonlight, until a seagull landed at his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re late,” Lan Shiwen said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Got held up,” Ning Zhe replied without elaboration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where’s the ghost?” Lan Shiwen asked next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Right there,” Ning Zhe pointed to the pile of breakwaters below the seawall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Breakwaters” are artificial concrete structures, roughly shaped like zongzi, weighing up to tens of tons—in plain terms, giant cement zongzi. Their stacked, porous form provides natural stability and effectively dissipates wave energy, protecting shorelines, and are especially common along coasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to over-extraction of groundwater and population concentration, Vivian Port’s foundation has been sinking for years and was already below sea level by last century, hence this long seawall was built to prevent the city from being flooded by seawater.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lan Shiwen crouched down where Ning Zhe pointed and peered into the gaps between the breakwaters—pitch black inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He switched on a flashlight and shone it inside: a withered, skeletal face appeared before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lan Shiwen wasn’t startled, only frowned slightly as he studied the gaunt, skull-like face: faint golden strands of hair still clung to the skull, the bone structure was sharply defined, and only two teeth were missing…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This man must have been in his prime and in good health when he died,” Lan Shiwen stood up and asked: “Is he the disgraced one imprisoned in Vanessa Castle?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, him,” Ning Zhe did not deny it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did you use the Requiem to put him to sleep?” Lan Shiwen continued: “That thing’s highly unpredictable. A ghost lulled by the Requiem might sleep for ten or twenty years if undisturbed, but if startled by any accident, it’ll likely wake up instantly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, this skeleton was dangerous—could awaken at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Market ladies always complain that someone’s vegetables aren’t fresh; antique dealers always claim a buyer’s goods are fake.” Ning Zhe spoke calmly: “All just to drive down the price.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Figured me out,” Lan Shiwen showed no embarrassment, gestured with his hand: “Name your price. This ghost’s rules are valuable to the authorities—you’ll get a friend’s discount.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sorry, but this isn’t for sale,” Ning Zhe smiled and shook his head: “I’m keeping this ghost for myself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you’re not selling, why even call me out here? To mess with me? Lan Shiwen glanced at Ning Zhe: “You want to control this ghost? But from what I know, its rules can’t compensate for your flaw.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lan Shiwen didn’t know Ning Zhe’s core rule, but he’d been killed by him so many times before—he’d learned by trial and error.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forcing control over an anomaly that doesn’t integrate with your own system isn’t rational—it’ll only get you killed faster,” Lan Shiwen advised: “Better to trade this ticking bomb for something you truly need and can use right away. Many have done exactly that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s none of your concern,” Ning Zhe smiled, steering clear of the topic: “I called you here for something else.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tomorrow… wait, past midnight, so today—there’s a swimsuit show at noon here. I suggest you come if you have time.” Ning Zhe closed his eyes; the briny, cold sea breeze brushed his cheeks, reminding him of Xia Yubing’s warm breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I have no interest in that kind of thing,” Lan Shiwen frowned: “Better have a real reason.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s the last public event before Vivian Port is abandoned, so it’s being held on a grand scale—many social elites will attend,” Ning Zhe continued: “Like the Liu family members who fled overseas… or… relatives of Ji Bochang.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not a single word out of place!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lan Shiwen’s eyes widened instantly: “Who did you say?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Take a look,” Ning Zhe pulled out his phone, opened a photo, and handed it to Lan Shiwen: “This is the guest list I obtained from Fan Daike’s close friend under his identity. A few names here should interest you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Liu Hongwen, who fled overseas and escaped Lan Shiwen’s blood purge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Shen Changjiang, who fled with Liu Hongwen and joined the Yanzhou Merchants’ Union as vice-chairman in Europe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And also, the man who emigrated overseas long before Ji Bochang’s death—his biological younger brother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ji Boying.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe said calmly: “Ji Bochang is dead, his youngest son you killed, and only a daughter remains—if I recall correctly, Shi Yuru? You didn’t kill her, to preserve appearances and seize Yunshan Pharmaceutical’s shares.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I misjudged that,” Lan Shiwen sighed: “Shortly after the Yunmeng Marsh was unsealed, Shi Yuru, who was under house arrest, vanished without a trace. No matter how hard we investigated, we found no leads… so she was here all along.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Bochang was a cunning man; he had three sons and two daughters, but only his youngest son, Ji Yunying, and youngest daughter, Shi Yuru, stayed in the country. The rest left early, entrusted to his younger brother Ji Boying, who had emigrated first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“While Ji Bochang was still alive, he established ties with a European noble family. His brother Ji Boying and the children who later emigrated all received protection from this family—and passed along plenty of intelligence.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe took his phone back from Lan Shiwen and added: “Shi Yuru’s smuggling out under your noses was also aided by them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lan Shiwen memorized the surname circled in red on the guest list: “Frimismitret.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1167,"2026-06-20T06:29:22.815Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","9d5ea6945e4c66fed2469501ddae7b80cc3f5e97e59518521a58f4505d7649a2","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-300","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-298",353,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurvival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-cover.jpg"]