In the dark night, the tree shadows were rugged. The withered and hard branches looked like twisted human figures, silently screaming in the darkness.
White ghosts kept emerging from behind the tree trunks, their eyes hollow and lifeless, making one’s scalp tingle when gazing at them.
Even more bone-chilling was the sound they made, a mournful and resentful voice echoing in the ears, making one feel even more terrified.
It was in such an environment that, with the aid of lights, Ke Li and Xue Li were capturing ghosts with expressionless faces.
They didn’t know why things had turned out this way.
Originally, being surrounded by a large group of ghosts was an extremely terrifying thing, and according to their personalities, they would have already fainted.
But now, they were actually catching ghosts with their bare hands, making them want to applaud themselves.
At the moment when a large number of ghosts appeared, the siblings watched as Zhou Zhou happily went to greet them.
His expression was not like seeing ghosts, but rather like seeing something he loved, his eyes sparkling.
Then he started catching them, and the single balloon he had in his hand—no, a single ghost—turned into a group. The captured ghosts swayed from side to side, crying about how tragic their deaths were, and with so many of them, it almost sounded like a chorus.
Overall, the scene was extremely horrifying—for the ghosts, that is.
Moreover, since they could stretch, Zhou Zhou made the captured ghosts extremely thin, allowing him to hold even more in his hands.
If these were hydrogen balloons, with such a large number, Zhou Zhou estimated that he could probably even fly.
Xue Li and Ke Li’s expressions changed from fear and terror to shock, and finally, they became expressionless.
After confirming that the ghosts were harmless, they even helped Zhou Zhou catch them.
Gradually, their hands were also full of ghosts.
The three of them seemed to have forgotten their original purpose for coming here, and their appearance now resembled small merchants who had come to stock up, trying to grab as many ghosts as possible.
Ke Li even climbed up a tree to catch the higher-floating ghosts, completely forgetting that he had initially fainted from fear of the ghosts.
After capturing nearly twenty ghosts, the three of them still had a lingering sense of dissatisfaction.
Xue Li looked at the light and airy group of ghosts in her hands, no longer feeling afraid at all. “I only played like this when I was little, catching bugs. It’s quite nostalgic.”
Ke Li shook his arm, swinging the group of ghosts nearly two meters tall in his hand, sometimes to the east, sometimes to the west. Upon hearing Xue Li’s words, he stopped and said, “Don’t mention that, I never played with bugs. They’re so dirty, what’s fun about that?”
Without pointing out that her brother was actually very afraid of bugs, Xue Li handed the ghosts in her hand to Zhou Zhou.
“Here, take them. You like them, don’t you? Go play.”
Zhou Zhou had the most ghosts in his hands, and when he put them in front of him, they could even completely cover him. Upon hearing Xue Li offering these ghosts to him, his doe eyes blinked, and he happily said, “Really?”
Xue Li didn’t say much more and stuffed the ghosts into Zhou Zhou’s other hand.
Ke Li also stuffed his ghosts over.
Zhou Zhou’s hands were almost too full to hold them all, though they weren’t heavy since ghosts float, and had almost no weight. It was just that both of his hands were completely full.
Zhou Zhou was very happy, not because he had a preference for these strange things, but because this was something he had never seen before.
From the time he became conscious, he had lived within the confines of the school, so the things he could see were very limited.
His only way to understand the world was through the players he had encountered in the past, who would tell him about the things, people, places, food, and various skills they had experienced.
Zhou Zhou was constantly learning and absorbing these things, but they were ultimately just words, not as vivid as the novel things presented right before his eyes.
The ghosts should be considered the most interesting thing Zhou Zhou had seen in the school so far.
Of course, if the monsters in the dormitory building didn’t run so fast, they might also have received a positive evaluation.
Zhou Zhou wanted to hang these ghosts in his dormitory room, so that he could see them as soon as he opened his eyes, and hear their voices even with his eyes closed, making it quite lively.
Since all the ghosts had been captured, the group prepared to seize the opportunity and search for the heart-shaped gem in the forest.
The flashlight’s light source was too weak, so Ke Li shone the light on the group of ghosts in Zhou Zhou’s hands. After the semi-transparent group of ghosts was illuminated, they all turned into faintly glowing humanoid shapes, providing much better lighting than a single flashlight and making it easier to search.
Finally, they found the blue heart-shaped gem in the hollow of a laurel tree.
Now they had three gems, which should be the key to the school’s exit, but no one knew how many gems there were in total. If there were eight or ten more to find, they might not be able to find them all before the three days were up.
Moreover, where exactly was the exit? They had no direction at all.
The task panel didn’t release any further information after this, and the group found themselves in a predicament once again.
Zhou Zhou held the ghosts in both hands, with the sound of over twenty ghosts wailing in his ears, along with the voices of Ke Li and the others discussing the relationship between the heart-shaped gems and the exit.
It was very noisy, but to him, it was much better than silence.
Actually, he was content just having these ghosts.
“I know where the exit is,” Zhou Zhou said, looking at the two of them.
Half an hour later, the three of them, along with the group of ghosts, arrived at the edge of the school lake. The once clear and emerald-green lake surface now looked more like a trap lurking with monsters in the darkness.
Zhou Zhou pointed to the sculpture by the lake. “The exit is right here.”
Illuminated by the “ghost lamps,” a statue taller than a person’s height stood silently at the edge of the lake.
The lower half was a rectangular stone pedestal, carved with relief patterns, and the upper half was a statue of Cupid, holding a golden bow and arrow, with the arrowhead in the shape of a heart.
Ke Li and Xue Li circled the statue a few times but couldn’t find where the exit was.
“Is this really the exit?” Ke Li wondered, stroking his chin, unsure why he hadn’t noticed anything, and he didn’t recall any previous hints about this place.
“Zhou Zhou is so smart, it must be here,” Xue Li, on the other hand, had complete faith in Zhou Zhou.
Ke Li still couldn’t figure it out, so he asked directly, “Zhou Zhou, how did you know?”
Zhou Zhou: “Love, two people, Greek mythology, and laurel trees – these clues together should point to this Cupid statue.”
This was the only Cupid statue in the school. If the hint hadn’t explicitly mentioned Greek mythology and laurel trees, there was also a statue of the Matchmaker God on campus.
Both of them clicked their tongues, having completely failed to make the connection. After all, stories about Greek mythology, Cupid, and the like were from a long time ago, and they had only heard about them briefly. They would never have been able to associate these few words with this place.
“Impressive, I feel like I’m going to win this one by just lying down,” Ke Li sighed.
Xue Li mocked, “Didn’t you already lie down?”
Ke Li: “…If you keep making fun of me for that, I’ll reveal your dark history.”
Of course, Xue Li wouldn’t let her brother talk about that in front of Zhou Zhou, so she quickly changed the subject. “The task is to escape from the school, right? How do we get out? Do we need to move the statue?”
“Let’s try first.”
The two of them exerted all their strength in an attempt to push the statue aside, but no matter how hard they tried, the statue didn’t budge an inch.
Zhou Zhou silently watched them straining themselves, then looked at the ghosts in his own hands and shook them.
The cries of “I died so miserably” became even more mournful.
“We probably still need to use the heart-shaped gems,” Zhou Zhou reminded them. “There are three heart-shaped indentations on the pedestal.”
Ke Li quickly took out the gems and placed them one by one in the indentations on the pedestal, and sure enough, they fit perfectly.
After placing the three gems, Ke Li and his sister eagerly waited for the statue to move aside and the exit to open.
A gust of cold wind blew, but the statue remained motionless.
Zhou Zhou tilted his head. This shouldn’t be the case, all the clues pointed here, so why didn’t anything happen?
He carefully looked from bottom to top again and widened his eyes slightly when he saw Cupid’s bow and arrow.
They were still missing one heart-shaped gem!
In the dark night, the tree shadows were rugged. The withered and hard branches looked like twisted human figures, silently screaming in the darkness.
White ghosts kept emerging from behind the tree trunks, their eyes hollow and lifeless, making one’s scalp tingle when gazing at them.
Even more bone-chilling was the sound they made, a mournful and resentful voice echoing in the ears, making one feel even more terrified.
It was in such an environment that, with the aid of lights, Ke Li and Xue Li were capturing ghosts with expressionless faces.
They didn’t know why things had turned out this way.
Originally, being surrounded by a large group of ghosts was an extremely terrifying thing, and according to their personalities, they would have already fainted.
But now, they were actually catching ghosts with their bare hands, making them want to applaud themselves.
At the moment when a large number of ghosts appeared, the siblings watched as Zhou Zhou happily went to greet them.
His expression was not like seeing ghosts, but rather like seeing something he loved, his eyes sparkling.
Then he started catching them, and the single balloon he had in his hand—no, a single ghost—turned into a group. The captured ghosts swayed from side to side, crying about how tragic their deaths were, and with so many of them, it almost sounded like a chorus.
Overall, the scene was extremely horrifying—for the ghosts, that is.
Moreover, since they could stretch, Zhou Zhou made the captured ghosts extremely thin, allowing him to hold even more in his hands.
If these were hydrogen balloons, with such a large number, Zhou Zhou estimated that he could probably even fly.
Xue Li and Ke Li’s expressions changed from fear and terror to shock, and finally, they became expressionless.
After confirming that the ghosts were harmless, they even helped Zhou Zhou catch them.
Gradually, their hands were also full of ghosts.
The three of them seemed to have forgotten their original purpose for coming here, and their appearance now resembled small merchants who had come to stock up, trying to grab as many ghosts as possible.
Ke Li even climbed up a tree to catch the higher-floating ghosts, completely forgetting that he had initially fainted from fear of the ghosts.
After capturing nearly twenty ghosts, the three of them still had a lingering sense of dissatisfaction.
Xue Li looked at the light and airy group of ghosts in her hands, no longer feeling afraid at all. “I only played like this when I was little, catching bugs. It’s quite nostalgic.”
Ke Li shook his arm, swinging the group of ghosts nearly two meters tall in his hand, sometimes to the east, sometimes to the west. Upon hearing Xue Li’s words, he stopped and said, “Don’t mention that, I never played with bugs. They’re so dirty, what’s fun about that?”
Without pointing out that her brother was actually very afraid of bugs, Xue Li handed the ghosts in her hand to Zhou Zhou.
“Here, take them. You like them, don’t you? Go play.”
Zhou Zhou had the most ghosts in his hands, and when he put them in front of him, they could even completely cover him. Upon hearing Xue Li offering these ghosts to him, his doe eyes blinked, and he happily said, “Really?”
Xue Li didn’t say much more and stuffed the ghosts into Zhou Zhou’s other hand.
Ke Li also stuffed his ghosts over.
Zhou Zhou’s hands were almost too full to hold them all, though they weren’t heavy since ghosts float, and had almost no weight. It was just that both of his hands were completely full.
Zhou Zhou was very happy, not because he had a preference for these strange things, but because this was something he had never seen before.
From the time he became conscious, he had lived within the confines of the school, so the things he could see were very limited.
His only way to understand the world was through the players he had encountered in the past, who would tell him about the things, people, places, food, and various skills they had experienced.
Zhou Zhou was constantly learning and absorbing these things, but they were ultimately just words, not as vivid as the novel things presented right before his eyes.
The ghosts should be considered the most interesting thing Zhou Zhou had seen in the school so far.
Of course, if the monsters in the dormitory building didn’t run so fast, they might also have received a positive evaluation.
Zhou Zhou wanted to hang these ghosts in his dormitory room, so that he could see them as soon as he opened his eyes, and hear their voices even with his eyes closed, making it quite lively.
Since all the ghosts had been captured, the group prepared to seize the opportunity and search for the heart-shaped gem in the forest.
The flashlight’s light source was too weak, so Ke Li shone the light on the group of ghosts in Zhou Zhou’s hands. After the semi-transparent group of ghosts was illuminated, they all turned into faintly glowing humanoid shapes, providing much better lighting than a single flashlight and making it easier to search.
Finally, they found the blue heart-shaped gem in the hollow of a laurel tree.
Now they had three gems, which should be the key to the school’s exit, but no one knew how many gems there were in total. If there were eight or ten more to find, they might not be able to find them all before the three days were up.
Moreover, where exactly was the exit? They had no direction at all.
The task panel didn’t release any further information after this, and the group found themselves in a predicament once again.
Zhou Zhou held the ghosts in both hands, with the sound of over twenty ghosts wailing in his ears, along with the voices of Ke Li and the others discussing the relationship between the heart-shaped gems and the exit.
It was very noisy, but to him, it was much better than silence.
Actually, he was content just having these ghosts.
“I know where the exit is,” Zhou Zhou said, looking at the two of them.
Half an hour later, the three of them, along with the group of ghosts, arrived at the edge of the school lake. The once clear and emerald-green lake surface now looked more like a trap lurking with monsters in the darkness.
Zhou Zhou pointed to the sculpture by the lake. “The exit is right here.”
Illuminated by the “ghost lamps,” a statue taller than a person’s height stood silently at the edge of the lake.
The lower half was a rectangular stone pedestal, carved with relief patterns, and the upper half was a statue of Cupid, holding a golden bow and arrow, with the arrowhead in the shape of a heart.
Ke Li and Xue Li circled the statue a few times but couldn’t find where the exit was.
“Is this really the exit?” Ke Li wondered, stroking his chin, unsure why he hadn’t noticed anything, and he didn’t recall any previous hints about this place.
“Zhou Zhou is so smart, it must be here,” Xue Li, on the other hand, had complete faith in Zhou Zhou.
Ke Li still couldn’t figure it out, so he asked directly, “Zhou Zhou, how did you know?”
Zhou Zhou: “Love, two people, Greek mythology, and laurel trees – these clues together should point to this Cupid statue.”
This was the only Cupid statue in the school. If the hint hadn’t explicitly mentioned Greek mythology and laurel trees, there was also a statue of the Matchmaker God on campus.
Both of them clicked their tongues, having completely failed to make the connection. After all, stories about Greek mythology, Cupid, and the like were from a long time ago, and they had only heard about them briefly. They would never have been able to associate these few words with this place.
“Impressive, I feel like I’m going to win this one by just lying down,” Ke Li sighed.
Xue Li mocked, “Didn’t you already lie down?”
Ke Li: “…If you keep making fun of me for that, I’ll reveal your dark history.”
Of course, Xue Li wouldn’t let her brother talk about that in front of Zhou Zhou, so she quickly changed the subject. “The task is to escape from the school, right? How do we get out? Do we need to move the statue?”
“Let’s try first.”
The two of them exerted all their strength in an attempt to push the statue aside, but no matter how hard they tried, the statue didn’t budge an inch.
Zhou Zhou silently watched them straining themselves, then looked at the ghosts in his own hands and shook them.
The cries of “I died so miserably” became even more mournful.
“We probably still need to use the heart-shaped gems,” Zhou Zhou reminded them. “There are three heart-shaped indentations on the pedestal.”
Ke Li quickly took out the gems and placed them one by one in the indentations on the pedestal, and sure enough, they fit perfectly.
After placing the three gems, Ke Li and his sister eagerly waited for the statue to move aside and the exit to open.
A gust of cold wind blew, but the statue remained motionless.
Zhou Zhou tilted his head. This shouldn’t be the case, all the clues pointed here, so why didn’t anything happen?
He carefully looked from bottom to top again and widened his eyes slightly when he saw Cupid’s bow and arrow.
They were still missing one heart-shaped gem!
