Chapter 190: Don

It was a man with black blood trickling from his eyes, walking step by step toward her.

Bai Xiaoya sensed danger, whirled around, and instantly turned pale—her expression at that moment was a kaleidoscope of emotions.

From stunned shock, to disbelief, to furrowed brows in thought, finally settling into confusion and bewilderment.

That monster… was identical to the one she'd encountered in reality! Both had black blood dripping from their eyes!

What the hell is this thing? Weird… did those villagers call this kind of thing "weird"?

What exactly are they? Why do they appear in the game, and also in reality?

And the Green Jade Pendant too…

Bai Xiaoya was utterly lost, unable to make sense of any of it.

She had too many questions, but no one to answer them.

Only when the weird thing shrieked and charged at her did Bai Xiaoya snap back to reality, instinctively grabbing the torch beside her and swinging it wildly forward.

But the torch had no flame.

Earlier, the torch had been burning on that man's fire, yet it hadn't caught any ember.

Bai Xiaoya didn't know why—she simply swung her only weapon desperately to fend off the weird thing.

In that moment, she felt as if she had returned to the night she encountered the weird thing in reality.

She screamed, shrieked, then had her upper body slashed apart by the weird thing's claw.

Did I die?

Her vision went black, and Bai Xiaoya was forcibly logged out of the game.

She stared at the ceiling of her room, her mind flooded with the scenes from the game.

Lost in thought, Bai Xiaoya touched the Green Jade Pendant hanging around her neck.

"What exactly are you…?"

She got up and went to Fang Yue's room, raising her hand to knock—then held back the impulse.

"Not yet… I'll investigate on my own first!"

"This man saved me, but he hasn't mentioned a single word about the weird things—whether he's trustworthy is still up in the air."

Taking a deep breath, Bai Xiaoya returned to her room and sent a message to Yuan Jie, who was still working late.

"Yuan Jie, I want to know Fang Yue's game ID. Don't say I asked."

…

After Bai Xiaoya logged out of the game, the "her" inside the game—the body torn in half by the claw—lay still on the ground.

As time passed, and the sunrise rose, an unbelievable scene occurred!

The "her" whose body had been torn in half slowly reassembled itself!

Flesh and blood rejoined, soul returned to its vessel!

The "her" wore the Green Jade Pendant, glowing with a faint emerald light.

At the same time, her eyes also glowed with emerald light—just like… another Blue Elder!

With her body fully restored, the "her" glanced at the pile of corpses around her and began walking away.

That direction was… Gu Yue Cun!

"Sheep… skin… paper…"

…

【The types of weird objects are complex; some can only function within the game, and in reality, they serve only as decorations.】

【Some weird objects activate only when their holder dies.】

【And weird objects like the great and noble Sheepskin Paper Elder are extremely rare.】

Fang Yue stared grimly at the text floating on the Sheepskin Paper.

He'd just finished eating and wanted to check the Sheepskin Paper for any danger warnings before browsing the forum—only for this thing to spout some self-praise.

"So what are you trying to say?"

【I am Fang Yue. I obtained the Black Stone in the game, but it wasn't all my doing—I contributed only one-third of the credit.】

【The other two-thirds belong to the great and noble Sheepskin Paper Elder. As for Captain Shan and the others? Two words: luck!】

【My rational analysis was correct: the reward was divided into three parts—one Black Stone, one Black Stone, and 35g of Black Ember.】

【I presented both Black Stones to the Sheepskin Paper Elder, who contributed two-thirds of the credit.】

【For my one-third contribution, I received the reward of 35g of Black Ember.】

Looking at the text on the Sheepskin Paper, Fang Yue smiled.

"Watch my mouth—it's saying…"

"Get lost!!"

【Great and noble…】

The Sheepskin Paper continued to display text, but Fang Yue reached out to crumple it into a ball…

【Aaah! Don't touch there!!】

【Stop! You pervert!!】

【What are you doing to a piece of paper? Don't crumple it! Don't crumple it! It'll wrinkle! It'll crease!!】

【Aaaahhh!】

Fang Yue stopped his motion.

This thing… is so sensitive.

It's just a crumple—why is it screaming like that inside my head?

Fang Yue looked at the Sheepskin Paper, barely crumpled, slightly wrinkled—he smoothed it with his hand, restoring it to perfect smoothness.

This thing is, in a sense, even softer and smoother than skin, and it doesn't care about wrinkles at all—just rub it a bit, and it flattens right out.

【Huff-puff! There, there was rubbed… I'm not clean anymore, waaah! The great and noble parchment master is no longer clean!!】

Are you huffing and puffing at your mother?!

What are you, a piece of parchment, pretending to pant?! Not clean?! You're clean as hell!

Fang Yue's face darkened, and he locked it tightly inside the drawer, hoping to avoid seeing it and thus avoid the annoyance.

【Take responsibility! You're a jerk!】

Words appeared directly in his mind.

Fang Yue's face darkened again.

"Enough! You're throwing a tantrum over black stone, so I messed with you!"

【Rogue! Rogue!! You're the heartless one! You're the shameless one! You're the one throwing tantrums!】

"So you're not heartless? Not shameless? Not throwing tantrums?"

【Where am I heartless?! Where am I cruel?! Where am I throwing tantrums?!】

"You're heartless… wait, something feels off."

Fang Yue's tone grew heavy.

"Don't play this loop on me—don't forget, in reality you're bound to serve me unconditionally!"

【…】

The parchment fell silent, as if terrified of the contract.

Fang Yue snorted, somewhat pleased—in reality, the parchment was firmly controlled.

Next time there's an issue, if it's not urgent, I could just log out of the game and ask the parchment in reality… Wait, this might even be a loophole in the rules I can exploit!

A spark of joy lit his mind, and Fang Yue asked: "Parchment, tell me—will I encounter danger next?"

The parchment reluctantly displayed words in his mind.

【I am Fang Yue. A few days from now, I went to Jiangyun Temple with Bai Xiaoya, and I encountered danger.】

That's it?

Fang Yue froze.

He pulled open the drawer and took out the parchment.

"What danger?"

【…】

"Speak."

【…】

Fang Yue frowned: "The contract clearly states…"

【I am Fang Yue. I am not in danger now! I am throwing a tantrum at the great and noble parchment master!】

Damn it, this tantrum's never ending.

Fine, let me ask a different question then.

"I want to know—during my next escort mission in the game, what will happen? Will I encounter danger?"

【I am Fang Yue. I am not in danger now! I am throwing a tantrum at the great and noble parchment master!】

Fang Yue stared at the identical words, stunned.

"Are you mocking me?"

(End of Chapter)