Chapter 15: Relocating the Grave (3)

Page (1/3)

The flippant remark made Jiang Shengsheng exhale sharply in relief. Fortunately, there was still someone alive. Qi Yiqing had noticed the strange mist early on, guided by his instincts as a seasoned gamer. He had no pity for NPCs; after all, they were just a string of fabricated data—who cared if they lived or died? They were nothing more than a bunch of chirping, brainless cannon fodder.

The wandering gazes around them suddenly halted at one point. A flicker of surprise flashed in Qi Yiqing’s sharp, narrow eyes. Hmm, the little couple got separated… Tsk, the female NPC isn’t stupid, just too weak. He lazily raised his hand and made a gesture toward the pale-faced Jiang Shengsheng, muttering, “Hmph… I could strangle you with one hand.”

As he stepped behind her and reached out to catch her, Qi Yiqing thought absentmindedly that despite what the gaming forums said, he was clearly a guy who cared about NPCs.

“Thank you,” Jiang Shengsheng instinctively looked toward Qi Yiqing’s striking red hair. After steadying herself, her pupils suddenly constricted, and with trembling fingers, she pointed behind the man, her voice hoarse, “...There’s a ghost…”

The man, already past his youthful naivety, raised an eyebrow. His tall, broad shoulders shielded Jiang Shengsheng completely as he turned to look in the direction she indicated.

This dungeon was called [Grave Relocation], meaning the bus’s final stop was the dungeon location itself. The premise was:

【What are your parents’ full names?】

Players took on one of two roles—either tourists visiting the countryside or college students returning home to relocate graves.

Not far behind Qi Yiqing, a bespectacled man adjusted his black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. The ponytailed girl glanced at the trembling NPC and scoffed, “A big giveaway.”

In the eerie, dense tall grass behind Qi Yiqing, black shadows occasionally flickered through the white mist. Jiang Shengsheng faintly caught a whiff of rotting stench.

Drip, drip...

A few thick drops fell onto her forehead. Jiang Shengsheng, stiff all over, felt an ache spread through her jaw muscles as she hesitated and looked up.

Before her eyes was a grotesquely decayed mouth, maggots writhing visibly among the rotting flesh.

“…Hoo,” the corpse tilted its head, empty eye sockets fixed on Jiang Shengsheng, seemingly appraising her. “Ah—!”

It suddenly threw back its head and screamed, claws raised, ready to swipe at her.

“Tch, what a hassle.”

A voice murmured impatiently beside her ear. Coming back to her senses, Jiang Shengsheng’s legs turned to jelly, cold sweat breaking out all over.

Page (2/3)

The rotten stench lingered in the air, but the corpse that had appeared behind her vanished without a trace.

Qi Yiqing still held onto her collar, smirking with a roguish grin. “Hey, how do you plan to repay me for saving you?”

“Thank you, but you can just tell me that.” Before Jiang Shengsheng could break down in tears, the long-haired man pulled her into his embrace, comforting her while shooting a sharp glance at Qi Yiqing.

Qi Yiqing held his gaze for a few seconds, then deliberately looked away with a light chuckle. “No need. I’m quite happy today.”

His ambiguous words made Xia Junyao frown deeply. He shot Qi Yiqing a warning glare and then led Jiang Shengsheng aside.

Lowering his eyelids, Qi Yiqing stroked the fingers he had just touched—still cool, still trembling. Just thinking about it made his heart skip a beat.

How strange, NPCs felt so soft, nothing like him at all.

Sobbing softly, Jiang Shengsheng listened to Xia Junyao’s quiet explanation as he gently cupped her face, carefully wiping away tears from the corner of her eyes.

“I’m sorry, baby, it’s all my fault,” Xia Junyao said, the strangeness of the situation weighing heavily on his chest. “After I realized you were missing, I kept searching for you but got trapped in a ghostly maze.”

Warm kisses rained down relentlessly on her slender, fragile neck, consuming every part of her with wild obsession.

So obedient, so pitiful when crying.

Jiang Shengsheng was used to his skin hunger. Hearing his words, she timidly tapped his arm. “I’m glad you’re okay. You scared me to death.”

Seeing the worry in her eyes, Xia Junyao tightened his hold on her waist, his gaze darkening.

She had just escaped the gates of death, yet her fearful concern for him was unbearably adorable.

He wanted to possess her, to claim his precious baby so fiercely that even being marked harshly felt like a sweet indulgence...

Unaware of the dark intentions behind the man’s eyes, Jiang Shengsheng wrapped her arms tightly around his lean waist, burying her face in his chest, her voice muffled, “Junyao, we’ll be fine.”

“Of course.”

Leaning against a tree stump, the red-haired man watched Jiang Shengsheng’s flushed, heated ears with a heavy gaze. His tongue pressed against his cheek, causing a small bulge.

Annoying distraction.

After the corpse disappeared, the white mist dissipated visibly at a rapid pace.

Moonlight poured down gracefully, and beneath the eerie swaying shadows of the trees, their group’s silhouettes stretched longer and longer.

Deep in the dense forest, without any signal, they could not use real-time navigation to locate themselves.

Thankfully, before getting off the bus, they had taken a paper map from the tour guide.

“Almost there, just a little further.”

As the words left his mouth, a faint, ghostly glow appeared before them.

Page (3/3)

It was the service area!

“Thank goodness! We’re saved!”

The joyful crowd wept with relief, completely oblivious to the service station’s eerie silence.

Jiang Shengsheng smiled and took a few quick steps forward, only to have her wrist suddenly gripped tightly by a large hand appearing beside her.

She stumbled, nearly falling backward if not for Xia Junyao catching her.

“What do you want?!” Xia Junyao’s face darkened as he hissed, “Take your filthy hands off her.”

The flamboyant red-haired man grinned wildly, staring intently at the girl’s troubled expression. His tone was like a warning: “Don’t wander out at night, and don’t sleep too deeply.”

Jiang Shengsheng gazed for a long moment at Qi Yiqing’s retreating figure. Her cheek was pinched, and the man bit playfully at her puffed-up face.

“Are you close with him?” Seeing her shake her head in confusion, Xia Junyao’s dark mood lifted significantly. “You need to stay right by my side. There are a lot of bad men out there.”

Xia Junyao knew he was being unreasonable, restricting Jiang Shengsheng’s social freedom—but so what?

She was so obedient, so soft—who could resist?

There were too many wild dogs out there, smelling their scent and ready to pounce. If he didn’t keep a close eye, his wife would be snatched by someone else.

Inside the service station, the vacant lobby had only one staff member at the front desk.

“Something feels creepy,” the NPC muttered quietly.

The bespectacled man narrowed his eyes, lingering on the receptionist for a long time.

The receptionist’s smile looked stiff and forced, giving the impression of a lifelike mannequin.

Jiang Shengsheng and Xia Junyao shared a room.

The accommodation was subpar—after all, it was a service area built deep in the mountains, with scarce supplies.

Sitting on the bed, Jiang Shengsheng unzipped her backpack and took out a change of clothes and her phone.

Xia Junyao had carried the backpack the whole time, so she felt light and unburdened.

A chilling, voyeuristic gaze suddenly fixed on Jiang Shengsheng. Alarm bells rang in her mind as she clutched her clothes tightly and backed away step by step, pressing herself into the corner.

Just half an arm’s length away on her right, Xia Junyao was in the bathroom, taking a shower.

She scanned around nervously for the source of that burning, unignorable gaze... until she spotted half a head by the window.

“Ah!”