(Believe it or not, I’ll beat you up)
Zhou Wenyan took the lead. Shen Dongqing trailed a step behind, his arms clasped about his shoulders, the corners of his mouth habitually upturned, showing a shallow dimple.
The brat was at the back, occasionally looking at the two men in front.
Why does it feel strange…
The brat pondered.
“Wenyan ge,” Shen Dongqing abruptly called.
“Yeah?” said Zhou Wenyan, turning his head sideways.
“Why have you been going up?” Shen Dongqing inquired.
“Then where do you believe it should be?” Zhou Wenyan asked.
Shen Dongqing said, blinking: “It should be downstairs. Let’s walk downstairs and take a look.”
Zhou Wenyan abruptly came to a halt and questioned, “Who are you?”
Shen Dongqing’s demeanor remained unchanged, innocent: “What are you talking about?”
Zhou Wenyan had yet to say anything when the brat behind him screamed: “He’s not my dad! Fake! Come on, catch him!”
Zhou Wenyan scoffed at this late action, reaching out to restrain “Shen Dongqing” who, knowing that he had been exposed, stopped pretending and twisted his body to evade Zhou Wenyan’s grasp. When he raised his head again, his facial characteristics remained the same, but his brows had a trace of malice in them.
When he raised his hand, there was a cloud of black air around his fingers, and you could dimly hear countless vengeful souls wailing inside.
The brat was the most astute. When he saw the two fighting, he shrank to the corner to escape being affected. He kept an eye on the two battling, and his eyes gleamed with cunning.
Downstairs…the basement!
He looked at the two individuals who were fighting fiercely again, saw that their attention was not on him, and moved silently on tiptoe before sprinting downstairs.
The brat’s face lit up with a sly smile.
Sorry, but he was going to beat them to it!
This time, Shen Dongqing slept soundly and had a dream, which was unusual for him.
He dreamt he was wandering in a barren wasteland, with a strange light around him, and everything he saw became distorted, just like being in a warped universe, unable to differentiate direction, unable to preserve reason, so he could only go aimlessly forward.
He didn’t know how long he had been walking, but he always seemed to be wandering in the same area, unable to leave it.
Shen Dongqing looked down at his hand and was surprised to notice that it was also slowly twisting.
Thankfully, Shen Dongqing paused for a second and realized he was dreaming, so he abruptly opened his eyes, waking up from that bizarre dream.
He recovered and walked out of the room after staring at the ceiling for a spell. As soon as he came out, he was met by two bewildered faces.
Wu Jia and Fang Qi: ???
Shen Dongqing scratched his unkempt hair and inquired, a little dully, “Where’s everyone?”
Fang Qi: “You, you, you…”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“You what?” Shen Dongqing paused.
Qe Alj, rfflcu Mjcu Hl’r regqglrf, jrxfv lcrafjv, “Glvc’a sbe ub eqrajlgr klat Dgbatfg Itbe?”
Cr tf rjlv atlr, atf akb kfgf ajxfc jyjmx.
Prc’a atlr j mijrrlm tbggbg wbnlf rmfcf? Qtfc agjnfilcu abufatfg, atf utbrar gfqijmf mbwqjclbcr jcv ajxf qfbqif’r ilnfr klatbea jcsybvs cbalmlcu.
Dea ktb mjc qgbnf atja atf lcvlnlveji lc ogbca bo sbe lr atf jmaeji vfji lc remt j mjrf?
Shen Dongqing: “Why do I have to prove it?”
Fang Qi: “But…”
“I can kill you all without needing to disguise myself,” Shen Dongqing yawned.
Fang Qi: That makes sense.
This rationale instantly convinced the two of them, and Fang Qi was concerned about Zhou Wenyan: “Brother Zhou and that person left, would there be any danger?”
Shen Dongqing didn’t seem worried at all: “No.”
Wu Jia: “Why?”
Shen Dongqing: “Because he’s smarter than you and won’t be fooled.”
Wu Jia: ?
A little figure ran down from upstairs at this time. The brat was gasping for air and his voice was flustered: “They’re fighting, go help—”
Wu Jia and Fang Qi ran upstairs subconsciously after hearing his remarks, hoping to help Zhou Wenyan.
When Shen Dongqing noticed everyone else hurrying up, he put on his slippers and walked up calmly. The brat was suddenly the sole individual remaining in the hall.
When he saw that the strategy had worked, the brat covered his mouth and giggled. He bolted after laughing, looking for the basement entrance.
Shen Dongqing, who had walked halfway, seemed to have detected something, but when he recalled that Zhou Wenyan was upstairs, he hesitated briefly and decided to meet Zhou Wenyan first.
He saw the face that looked precisely like him as soon as he reached the top of the stairway.
Mr. Duplicate appeared to be capable. He had reached a standstill with Zhou Wenyan, and the combat had been evenly matched for some time. Wu Jia and Fang Qi, who had come earlier, were unable to intervene.
Shen Dongqing stood on the sidelines for a moment before rolling up his sleeves and joining in.
In the two-on-one situation, the fake Shen Dongqing, who was cockily exhibiting his skills just now, was pinned to the ground by Shen Dongqing before he could hold on for a second.
Shen Dongqing felt strangely upset when he saw this face. He casually grabbed something and smacked it, directly in the middle of the fake’s nose.
“Using my face to be so disgraceful,” Shen Dongqing said with disgust. “And you still want to bully my man!” Then he picked up the ‘something’ and smashed it again.
Zhou Wenyan, who was not bullied in any way, stood aside helplessly.
As Shen Dongqing completed venting, the person lying on the ground was disfigured, and you couldn’t see his previous appearance at all. Shen Dongqing let go of his hand, only to discover that he was holding a slipper.
“Alright,” Shen Dongqing breathed a long and deep sigh. “What are you doing here?”
Mr. Duplicate was totally stunned.
Shen Dongqing: “Hello? Did you hear what I said?”
Mr. Duplicate, sensing a dangerous aura, nodded hastily, “Hm—”
“Why do you use my face?” Shen Dongqing queried.
“Inborn,” Mr. Duplicate remarked vaguely.
Shen Dongqing: “Can you be born to look exactly like me?”
“Of course I was born like this,” Mr. Duplicate was about to cry.
Shen Dongqing had a lightbulb moment: “Orchestrated by the game?”
Mr. Duplicate nodded desperately: “Yes, yes, everything is that stupid game’s doing.” To save his little life, he could only insult the game first in order to acquire favor.
We’re friends as long as you curse the game.
Shen Dongqing’s expression improved slightly, but he was not deceived. Rather, he persisted in asking, “What are you doing here?”
Mr. Duplicate recognized he was no match for these two people, so he promptly spilled everything he knew to avoid being tortured.
His identity was this world’s behind-the-scenes BOSS. He used to be a ghost, but now he occupied a human body. While he was a “ghost,” he arranged all six yin locations.
Shen Dongqing wondered, after hearing what he said, “Why does it sound so familiar?”
“It’s you,” Zhou Wenyan reminded him.
“You even copied my experience?” Shen Dongqing suddenly understood.
“I didn’t mean to!” wailed Mr. Duplicate.
Shen Dongqing reluctantly believed him. After all, this could all be part of the game’s evil scheme, which had nothing to do with him.
“So why did you set up so many yin places?”
“In order to absorb the yin energy in the yin land and be promoted to Ghost King,” Mr. Duplicate explained through tears.
Shen Dongqing finally realized why the game had to arrange everything.
There had never been two ghost kings in the world since ancient times. If there were, one would undoubtedly perish. In this instance, the game had set up a scenario in which the ghost king would be born when the six yin sites awakened. Despite becoming a human, he retained the ghost king’s power and aura. The new ghost king would inevitably seek him out, driven by instinct.
At the time, the game only needed to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, regardless of who lived or died.
Shen Dongqing looked at Mr. Duplicate and questioned: “It can’t be that the game really believes that any ghost can become Ghost King?”
What kind of dumb thinking is this? It was too beautiful.
The entire Zhou family’s old house shook as soon as Shen Dongqing asked this question, cracks ripped wide in the ceiling, and the surrounding decorations all clanked and rolled to the ground.
“An earthquake?!” Wu Jia cried in alarm.
The shock persisted for a moment before subsiding, but before everyone could relax, there was another violent shock, as if the entire structure was about to collapse.
Mr. Duplicate’s face was filled with resentment: “Someone beat me to it. I never thought I’d make a wedding dress for someone else after all of my calculations for so long!”
Shen Dongqing couldn’t help but ridicule: “But you don’t look like you have a high IQ.”
Mr. Duplicate: …
Shen Dongqing finished roasting and turned around, wondering who got there first. Was there anyone else except the players who were still present?
“That child?” guessed Fang Qi.
Shen Dongqing: “That naughty boy!”
It must be the kid’s doing!
“Where is the core of the yin land?!” he inquired.
Mr. Duplicate stopped flinching and stated sullenly: “The yin land has already awakened. We shall all become his sacrifices as long as the ghost king is born, and none of us will be able to escape. We’re going to die anyway, so I won’t tell you.”
Shen Dongqing was too lazy to bother with him, so he grabbed his collar and shoved him against the wall.
“Ah- What are you doing?” screamed Mr. Duplicate.
“We’re going to die anyway,” Shen Dongqing blinked innocently, “so why don’t I send you there first.”
Mr. Duplicate was slammed once more, causing him to become woozy. He promptly threw away his lofty ideals and intentions and spoke faster than everybody else: “In, in the basement.”
Shen Dongqing flung the half-dead man aside and hurried to the basement.
Who knows what the brat did down there. The basement ground was shaking, and the walls were cracked with countless gaps. If they stayed any longer, they might not be able to escape.
“You guys go first, I’ll go down and look!” Shen Dongqing commanded.
In fact, there was no need to look for the brat. The sealed yin energy fully exploded after the yin land awakened, and this location had turned into a petri dish. If someone died here, they would instantly become an evil ghost. All they could do now was get to the center of the yin energy explosion.
Wu Jia and Fang Qi hesitated for a second before breaking into a run to go outside.
Only Zhou Wenyan didn’t leave. Instead, he approached and took Shen Dongqing’s hand in his: “I’ll go with you.”
Shen Dongqing: “I’m not afraid. At worst, I’ll turn back into a ghost.” He stuck out his tongue mischievously, “It’s just that pushing a ghost down doesn’t look nice.”
“Be careful,” Zhou Wenyan urged helplessly as he pulled the man over to avoid the falling rubble.
The two proceeded to the basement via the perilous corridor.
In comparison to the building above, which was on the verge of collapsing, the basement remained firm, as though supported by a force.
As Shen Dongqing saw this, he accelerated and went towards the location that had the strongest yin energy.
Shen Dongqin finally glimpsed a small figure after pushing open one door after another.
The brat had his back to the door. What he did is unknown, but a dark mass wrapped around his body, forming a massive body behind him.
This was what caused the shocks upstairs. The body was incorporeal, and the basement couldn’t contain it, and it was ready to break through and go higher.
“Naughty boy!” admonished Shen Dongqing.
The brat was apparently also responsible for the awakening of the yin land. They were dispersed when they entered the instance, and the brat had been outside for several days before appearing. Perhaps he did something surreptitiously during that time.
And they assumed the game was already finished at the time, and they had no reason to suspect anything.
Hearing this movement, the brat slowly turned around. His face was expressionless, and his eyes blazed with scarlet light. “I have become the ghost king,” he said emotionlessly to Shen Dongqing.
Shen Dongqing waited a minute but did not hear the next sentence, so he asked modestly, “Then?”
The brat fell through in an instant and lost his harsh expression: “Is there a next? Why don’t you hurry up and obediently kneel down to beg for mercy!” He placed his hands on his hips, looking insufferably arrogant, “Maybe this ghost king can let you go.”
Shen Dongqing’s expression was a little subtle. “Believe it or not, I will beat you up now,” he remarked after a moment.
The brat took a step back in fear, but then realized that he was already the ghost king and didn’t need to be afraid of Shen Dongqing anymore, so he stepped forward and said loudly, “Don’t believe!”
Shen Dongqing rushed towards him.
Honestly, the brat may have some experience pretending to be a ghost king, but experience fighting with ghost king power isn’t someting he has. I’m guessing Shen Dongqing will beat him up within an inch of his (ghost)life.🤔
Thanks for the chapter.
Ahaha the power of “and then?” when used on a self-important child. I love that there’s absolutely no hesitation, lots of stories like to throw in “someone else could become the ghost king with this ritual—!” routines and Shen Dongqing just. “No, if it were so simple, wouldn’t someone have done it already? How stupid can this game be…” Really “only a child would believe this”
Thank you so much for translating! <3
Wonder how will they punish this naughty kid?😁
Thank you for the chapter
Baby, father will punish you
Thank you for your translation 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
Ah ah that brat needs a good beating!
I guess I was wrong about the brat being fake 🤷🏻♂️