Chapter 17: The Gu Tribe, Part 16

Are we there yet—

The footsteps grew closer and closer...

Zhou Zhou was nervously trembling, taking tiny, hesitant steps toward the edge of the bed. She pressed her body tightly against Liang Ye, afraid of being left behind.

Her palms were sweaty. Liang Ye grasped her hand gently. “Don’t be afraid.”

The boy with striking white hair spoke quietly.

Zhou Zhou’s heart skipped a beat.

At that moment, the bed creaked ominously as a tall, handsome man crawled out from underneath it.

“What are you doing here?!”

Liang Ye’s eyes instantly sharpened with suspicion, furrowing his brows as he spoke coldly.

Wasn’t this the NPC from the other room? What was he doing hiding under a young girl’s bed in the middle of the night?!

Zhou Zhou stared at the tall man before her, feeling bewildered.

Who was this guy?

And yet, this towering figure was hiding under her tiny, cramped bed?

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hide here,” Ning Jidong smiled wryly.

He had originally planned to sneak out unnoticed.

But since he had been discovered, continuing to hide would only make him seem more guilty.

He avoided looking at the girl, afraid to meet her disgusted gaze.

After all, he must look like a pervert, hiding under her bed for so long.

“I had my phone confiscated by Zhou Shan earlier, so I couldn’t contact the outside,” Ning Jidong explained. “I came here to find my phone, and the reason I was hiding under the bed…”

He paused.

“…is because the phone was found there. I wanted to leave, but then I heard voices, so I had to hide temporarily.”

Liang Ye’s eyes flickered briefly.

He knew Ning Jidong was telling the truth.

In this scenario, their phones were all confiscated by the boss, and even if they had them, there was no signal at all.

But so what?

“Heh, who’s going to believe that?” Liang Ye sneered coldly.

“Who knows what a creep like you is up to, sneaking into a little girl’s room at night?”

“I’m not a pervert,” Ning Jidong snapped, looking down on him.

“You, with your messy white hair, coming to harass a young girl in the dead of night — you’re the real pervert, got it?”

“You’re talking nonsense—”

Liang Ye was arrogant and couldn’t tolerate being mocked by a despised NPC. His gaze turned dangerous.

“I came here openly and honestly. How can I be compared to a scoundrel like you, hiding under people’s beds and caught red-handed, yet still spouting lies?!”

If it weren’t for system restrictions, he would have dealt with this NPC already.

“Whether I’m lying or not, you know yourself.”

Hearing their bickering, Zhou Zhou’s mind became a bit fuzzy.

[...Was the person under the bed just now a player?]

System: [No, an NPC.]

[Oh, so what he said… was true?]

System nodded, [Yes.]

Zhou Zhou pressed her lips tightly and said seriously, [...They are visitors; Zhou Shan confiscated their phones.]

[So, everyone’s phones were taken?]

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[Yes.]

The system didn’t hide anything from her about the facts she guessed. It nodded straightforwardly.

Giving her such a special hint was allowed within the escape game’s rules.

Zhou Zhou thought to herself, in this isolated village, Zhou Shan confiscated so many phones, cutting off all contact with the outside world — if they died here, no one would even care.

This thought sent a chill down her spine.

What exactly was he planning to do…

The game scenario mentioned that every villager here raised venomous insects...

Did their method of raising these insects involve killing people?

The two men continued their sharp verbal sparring.

Zhou Zhou felt her head about to explode.

“…Please stop arguing…”

She whispered, but her voice was too soft to be heard.

The girl couldn’t help but raise her voice, sulking, “...Can, can you please stop? My head really hurts...”

“Zhou Zhou?”

Liang Ye immediately forgot about the other man, anxiously grasping the girl’s soft, cold hand with one hand and placing the other on her pale forehead.

A faint cool sweat had formed there.

“It’s all my fault... sorry for disturbing you…”

The tall, handsome white-haired boy’s eyes reddened.

“I’m... fine,” Zhou Zhou’s cheeks flushed again.

What was Liang Ye doing? Acting so embarrassingly in front of another man...

It made her extremely uncomfortable.

Zhou Zhou?

Is that her name?

Ning Jidong silently repeated the name.

“Um…”

Zhou Zhou maintained her “ten-year-old IQ” persona, awkwardly twisting her hands and speaking childishly.

“Uncle, now that you’ve found your phone, can you please go out?”

The sky was too dark, and the dim light in the room masked the girl’s vacant expression.

So the mature man in his thirties didn’t realize she had a low IQ, only feeling a bit deflated at being called “uncle.”

Had he really gotten that old?

The proud and refined man felt a bit defeated.

Liang Ye of course wouldn’t miss the chance to tease the NPC’s momentary loss.

He almost laughed.

Uncle? Yeah, definitely an old man.

“Uncle?” Zhou Zhou called him again.

This snapped Ning Jidong back to reality. The man said to her, “…Sorry for disturbing you tonight. I’ll leave immediately.”

The girl didn’t respond.

Liang Ye, who had been anxiously comforting her, turned and glared coldly at the man upon hearing his words.

The silver-haired youth kicked the door open.

“…Idiot, you should’ve left a long time ago.”

...

Ning Cheng and Ning Yan had been waiting outside for a long time.

“Why isn’t he out yet?”

They were stationed a little farther away, not because they didn’t want to be closer, but because Ning Jidong had instructed them to keep a safe distance to avoid being noticed.

So none of them realized someone had entered the house.

After waiting one or two hours, both men grew uneasy.

Ning Yan whispered angrily, “Damn, did something happen?”

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Ning Cheng raised his eyelids coldly. “Shut up and wait a bit longer.”

If Ning Jidong didn’t come out in another ten minutes, they would go in to find him.

The wait dragged on painfully. Ning Yan grew restless and asked, “Brother, is it ten minutes yet?”

“Probably.”

Ning Cheng stretched his cramped body, pressing his lips together. After such a long time, it seemed their father had run into trouble.

“Let’s go,” he said, standing up to head toward the house to look for Ning Jidong.

Just then, a blurry figure ran toward them.

“Xiao Cheng?”

The man looked puzzled as they prepared to enter the house.

Ning Yan exclaimed happily, “Dad, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Xiao Yan,” the man answered gravely.

“I found the phones.”

He pulled three phones from his pocket. After they each took their own and turned them on, the light from the screens flickered eerily across their faces.

“…No signal,” Ning Cheng’s pale, handsome face darkened.

Not a single bar.

“Do you guys have the same problem?”

“Yeah,” Ning Jidong nodded, his gaze unusually serious. “This village is abnormal.”

Their phones were custom-made, and even deep in the wilderness, there was never no signal.

“I fucking knew something was off... Where the hell are there bugs that eat people—”

After a brief silence, Ning Yan began ranting incoherently.

“Wasn’t this village supposed to be fine?! That woman died last night; are we next?!”

“Shut up!”

Ning Jidong frowned. “Can you be quiet for once? Does blind rage help now?”

“...Dad,” Ning Yan sneered coldly, “What right do you have to lecture me? Now that our aunt is dead, is your fatherly love from all these years finally lost?”

“Smack!”

Ning Jidong looked at him coldly. “If you have a problem with me, take it outside.”

“Now’s not the time for your tantrums.”

Ning Yan fell silent, licking the bloodied corner of his lips. Ning Jidong’s slap hadn’t held back at all — it really hurt.

He smirked indifferently, his usual shyness replaced by a biting sarcasm.

“Yeah, yeah, you—”

Before he could jab further, his older brother Ning Cheng abruptly interrupted.

“Father.”

Ning Cheng, who had been silent all along, called out to the man.

He stared at Ning Jidong with a strange, subtle expression, his voice low and serious.

“Did you put on perfume?”

“I was about to ask the same thing.”

Ning Cheng’s voice was hoarse as he looked coldly at his father. “Where exactly did you go…”

“On my body,” Ning Jidong said oddly. “Why do I suddenly smell so fragrant?”

The scent was mouthwatering, not the usual smell on Ning Jidong himself, but like something he had picked up somewhere else.