Chapter 24: If You Fall Down, Stay Down

The original owner of this body was a stroke of bad luck. Although she had transmigrated into this life, the fundamental essence of her misfortune remained unchanged.

She always felt that something was amiss.

Elsewhere.

Jiang Yanyan lowered her head, her gaze flickering. In her previous world, she had encountered players who had successfully cleared the Wood Official Village level and had even exchanged tips on how to beat the game.

They had told her that Wood Official Village was nothing more than a giant village of death; unless one used game points to trade for an escape tool, there was simply no way to break free.

In other words, it was an unsolvable predicament.

"Everyone, I think... I’ve roughly guessed who the lucky player is." Jiang Yanyan suddenly called everyone together, her expression grave. "I know there is an undercover agent among us, but it doesn't matter. There is only one mole, so we can join forces and work together to protect Lu Xi."

"Are you saying... Lu Xi is that lucky player?" Jiang Chen looked up in surprise.

Meng Yuanyuan’s eyes flashed with astonishment; she felt Jiang Yanyan was acting strangely. With ghosts hidden among the players, having the "lucky one" exposed was actually a disadvantage. She had heard that Jiang Yanyan possessed a divination skill, so it wasn't hard to guess that she could identify the lucky player, but revealing it publicly didn't seem very wise.

Jiang Yanyan nodded and suggested, "Why don't we all go find her? There is safety in numbers, after all."

But by the time they reached that place, Lu Xi would likely already be dead.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yanyan sighed, feeling a sense of pity. The reason she didn't find the Wood Official Village instance particularly difficult was that she had a general understanding of the ending here. Neither the village’s vengeful spirits nor the ghosts of the women who had been trafficked and died would help the players. Perhaps the malevolent ghosts might retain a shred of humanity under the clear light of day, but the vengeful female ghosts—that was not so simple.

Human hearts are terrifying; those vengeful ghosts were once living people too. How could those girls, who had suffered such humiliation and torture before their miserable deaths, possibly retain a shred of humanity?

"Yanyan, can you divine who among us is the mole?" Meng Yuanyuan asked suddenly.

Jiang Yanyan replied, "I'm sorry, the difficulty is a bit too high. I've tried several times and wasted a lot of points, but I couldn't get a result."

"It's fine. We have many people, and there's only one mole." Ji Yunxuan put his arm around her shoulder, his tone gentle. "We will supervise each other, but let's not make wild guesses, and certainly don't sling mud at each other without proof."

Everyone nodded. They all understood that they shouldn't fall into the ghosts' traps; internal strife was out of the question.

***

"My god, I'm so glad we didn't go out." Lu Xi felt a lingering fear.

Beside her, Ji Chenling pulled her waist tighter, resting his chin on her left shoulder, as if he wanted to bury his entire head into her. While others were delicate and fragile, he was more like an ostrich hiding away.

"It's fine, don't be afraid. That fire can't reach us." Even though she wasn't sure if Ji "Green Tea" was putting on an act or was genuinely frightened, Lu Xi patted him to offer comfort.

Just a moment ago, she had pushed open that door. Instead of entering immediately, she had quickly grabbed a wooden stool from the room and tossed it inside. The moment the stool touched the doorframe, a ball of black flame engulfed it and burned it up instantly. If a person had stepped inside, wouldn't they have been burned to ash?

Turning her head, she realized the female ghosts had already vanished.

Lu Xi didn't know that just as she was fully focused on the door, the ghosts had all lunged at her from behind. However, halfway through their pounce, Ji Chenling had lifted his eyelids and shot them a cold, sharp glare, causing them to freeze mid-air.

The ghosts thought: *Damn it, why does this player with the common face have an aura so similar to that Great Demon King?*

Thirty-six stratagems, fleeing is the best.

After the black flames vanished, she grabbed the wrist of the young man beside her and walked out. They then wandered aimlessly through Wood Official Village, looking for anything that might resemble a "door."

Light began to appear on the horizon. After struggling all night, they had achieved nothing.

Lu Xi slumped onto the ridge of a field and sighed. Although they hadn't successfully found the exit, well, it wasn't a total loss—at least they were tired, right?

"I'm a bit tired, and a bit sleepy." She yawned languidly.

Ji Chenling sat beside her and patted his thigh. "Want to sleep for a while?"

She wore a sour face, looking completely dejected.

"Let's sleep, let's sleep. If we can't clear the level, so be it. I had already mentally prepared myself to stay here forever anyway." After all, this damn life was just a series of ups and downs—mostly downs. Failure was just human nature.

"Ji Chenling, you should go. I don't want to play this shitty game anymore." Lu Xi found a comfortable position, rested her head on his lap, and closed her eyes to drift off.

Where you fall, you stay.

Ji Chenling curled his lips into a smile. "You don't want to clear the level anymore?"

"Nope."

"You want to stay in the game world forever?"

"That wouldn't be the end of the world."

The man let out a low, pleasant laugh. A few seconds later, his voice sounded again.

"Then I'll keep you company, sister."

Lu Xi opened her eyes, her long, thick eyelashes fluttering. "Aren't you leaving?"

She didn't belong to this world, had no real affection for the original body’s relatives, and didn't even feel a sense of belonging to this place.

Ji Chenling was always clinging to her. She considered him a friend and sincerely hoped he could survive until the end of the novel. Come to think of it, she hadn't finished the novel yet, but according to the synopsis, there was supposed to be a big villain who loved to cackle maniacally.

Who could the villain be?

"Ji Chenling, you entered this world early. Have you ever encountered anyone very powerful, but, um... someone with questionable morals who likes to hurt people for no reason, yet has impressive strength? Ghosts count too." Lu Xi weighed her words carefully.

"Are you asking about the villain?" Ji Chenling raised an eyebrow, a faint, ambiguous smile playing on his lips.

The girl nodded.

"Then, what do you think of me?" Ji Chenling suddenly leaned down, closing the distance between them.

Their noses were almost touching, their breaths intermingling, and the atmosphere instantly became ambiguous.

Lu Xi was amused and started laughing, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

Ji Chenling: "..."

Once she finally stopped laughing, she replied, "Ji Chenling, do you know what it feels like to me every time you try to act serious?"

The young man looked bewildered and subconsciously asked, "What does it feel like?"

"It feels like a mix of deep, calculated planning and the realization that all your ideas are terrible." She smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.

The amusement in the girl's eyes was contagious. Ji Chenling looked up at the sunrise, the stunning, vibrant red glow reflecting in his pupils, dazzling and beautiful.

The corners of his lips lifted.

If the rabbit were here, it would notice that the great pervert was in a remarkably good mood. It was a joy from the heart, not a calculated disguise.

"Let's chat." He reached out with his slender, knobby fingers and poked the girl’s rosy, white cheek. It was soft and chubby, like a stress-relief toy.

Lu Xi kept her eyes closed and spoke lazily, "Why do you insist on hiding your real face? You aren't ugly; it's not like you're unpresentable."

The young man let out a clear, crisp laugh and said, rather conceitedly, "Because I'm too handsome, and I'm afraid that if everyone falls in love with me, I'll be stuck with a basket full of lovesick fools."

Lu Xi was speechless: "Pfft!"

Shameless.

"There's one more reason." He wound a strand of her long hair around his index finger, circling it casually near her slender, fair neck.

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to attract any bad peaches." Ji Chenling lowered his voice, making it unusually magnetic. "I only want to be the devoted servant of you alone, sister. No one can take that away."

Lu Xi: "Ugh!"

She felt like she was going to throw up everything she'd eaten in her last life.

"Which idiot taught you to flirt like that?" Lu Xi sat up, her face full of disgust.