Wang Pengpai, who was thinking about something, shuddered. He realized that it wasnât good for him to be absentminded now and spoke to comfort Yu Hean, âBut how did you also become embroiled in the tours?â
âHuihui wanted to travel a lot.â
Yu Hean held the camera tightly and said, âIâve been looking for him since he disappeared, and I took part-time jobs to earn money to travel. Huihui always wanted to see the Hanging Coffins. I went to see them many times and thought, thoughtâŚâ
Thought about whether I would coincidentally meet Yu Hehui in the scenic spot. Even if the chance seemed slim, I didnât have another solution.
âThen, when I was travelling, I suddenly appeared on a tour bus.â
Yu Hean was selected by the International Thriller Travel Services. When he entered the Travel Services, he found that the Travel Services had all kinds of magical titles and props. Hope ignited in his heart, fuelling him to find his brother, but who would have ever thought thatâŚâŚ
Hm?
After hearing this, Wei Xunâs eyes flashed and he sank into deep thought. He found that he had misunderstood how the Travel Servicesâ selected tourists.
Because Wei Xun was selected when he was dying, he thought it was the same for everyone else who was selected by the Travel Servicesâ. In addition, Wei Xunâs identity was special. Therefore, he could not use other tourists as a reference. However, a human would remember their first impressions the best. He subconsciously thought that other tourists were selected in the same way.
But now, it didnât seem so. Or, at least it didnât seem so for Yu Hean. Was he chosen because of his strong desire to find his brother?
Wei Xun remembered that he was a Class X special tourist, so there must be other types of tourists. If Class X special tourists could activate their identities as reserve tour guides, would that mean that only Class X special tourists could become tour guides?
In this way, the selection criteria for tour guides was essentially different from the selection criteria for tourists. He could conclude that those who were dying and had a countdown to death were Class X tourists who could become tour guides. As for the other classes of tourists, were they selected because they were about to die? Or were they selected because of other reasons?
Did they have a countdown to death?
Wei Xun suddenly thought of this problem. The tour guides had a countdown to death to force them to use any means to obtain points. If everyone selected by the Travel Servicesâ was dying, naturally, there wouldnât be a problem.
But if the tourists didnât have a countdown to death and were all healthy people, tour guides who appeared strong on the outside would be the ones most in need of points and the ones that would die the easiest. Coupled with the extremely unequal point reward system between the tour guide and tourists, would the tour guide think it was unfair and feel unwilling, or even jealous when they saw their tourists?
The conflicting relationship between tour guides and tourists was like a landmine which had long since been buried in the ground. Because of the Travel Servicesâ different selection criteria and reward systems, the landmine was just waiting to detonate.
Thus, it seemed that the Travel Services secretly promoted the conflict between tour guides and tourists. What did the Travel Services want to achieve?
Wei Xun thought of *** and An Xuefeng.
What did they want to achieve?
âIâve always gone on tours to find traces of my brother, but Iâm too weak. I mainly survived due to the title of âReward Of Old Yellow Cattleâ again and again. I saved 50,000 points, went to the Travel Services to buy information, and asked them where Huihui was, and they told me he was in âIntoxicating Xiangxi tours.'â
Yu Hean was still blabbering. Zhao Hongtu and Xu Chen were moved by his words. They looked at each other, speechless. The information sold by the Travel Servicesâ was all very expensive. It would have been very difficult for Yu Hean to save 50,000 points. As everyone knew, the more points a tourist earned in a tour, the more the tour guide would exploit them.
If a tourist had some points remaining that were not exploited by the tour guide in a tour, they would usually spend them immediately when they returned to the virtual hall to strengthen themselves or buy props. Anyway, the points would be exploited by the tour guide, so wouldnât it be better if they used the points to simply strengthen themselves? Yu Heanâs title could automatically generate tears from the old yellow cattle. This was a special item and he would only earn benefits and not make a loss from this title. Reasonably speaking, given how many tours he had experienced, he shouldnât only be at such a rank, having such measly strength.
In the end, Yu Hean told them that he had saved up most of his points. Zhao Hongtu doubted himself inwardly and found that he couldnât have done what Yu Hean did. Yet, Yu Hean persisted in his efforts. Zhao Hongtu couldnât even recall much about the wish he had first made when he entered the Travel Services.
The cruel tours and the magical props caused oneâs desire to constantly become stronger and stronger. If you wanted to get more points to fulfil their wishes, you had to become stronger. If you wanted to become stronger, you had to consume more points.
It was a never-ending cycle, much like a racing car without brakes.
The more Xu Chen thought, the more creeped out he felt.
How many people would be lost amid this endless pursuit of power?
Yu Hean was able to firmly persist in working towards his wish. From this point of view, his willpower was very strong.
âI thought Huihui would be able to meet me on this tour.â
Yu Hean was in an unstable mood and covered his eyes with his hands. There seemed to be tears on his face.
âI didnât expect, I didnât expectâŚâ
He didnât expect to meet Yu Hehui under such circumstances.
Yu Heanâs hands shook as he opened the polaroid camera. The only thing there was their group photo. In the group photo, Yu Hean was laughing, his hands dangling as if they were on someoneâs shoulder.
But the spot right beside him was empty.
Yu Hehui couldnât be captured in photographs when he was alive, and he could not be photographed after death.
Yu Hean and Yu Hehui would never have a group photo.
âMaybe itâs just an illusion. Maybe the real Yu Hehui is still alive.â Xu Chen said in a gentle tone. Yu Hean shook his head and smiled bitterly. He almost couldnât utter, âThat was Huihui. I knew, I always knew it was him. That was Huihui.â
âBrother Yu, donât be sad.â
Wang Pengpai sighed and shook his head. âItâs already very great that you could meet him once. Itâs fortunate that you came on this tour.â
Yu Heanâs smile was bleak, his body shook, and he could hardly stand still. Zhao Hongtu couldnât bear to see this. He felt that he might as well allow Yu Hean to have some hope. At least he could hold onto the hope that Yu Hehui might be alive, as compared to the horrid state he was currently in, facing the cruel reality.
But when he thought about what happened to himself, Zhao Hongtu felt somewhat at a loss. If he had missing relatives, he was not sure whether he would rather never know their whereabouts and always be on the lookout for them, or whether it was better to face the cruel truth directly. The former resulted in endless pain that could never stop. The latter was a temporary pain, but at least, the endless pain of searching for a loved one would end there.
With this, Yu Hean would no longer need to pursue the past, and he could continue to move forward.
There was deep meaning in Wang Pengpaiâs words. Zhao Hongtu and Xu Chen couldnât understand it, but Wei Xun understood it somewhat. He had speculated that there were currently two ongoing tours in Intoxicating Xiangxi. Yu Hehui might have been the boss of the other tour. Now, it seemed like Wang Pengpai also knew about this.
Wei Xunâs heart couldnât help but feel itchy. He wanted to lock Wang Pengpai up and force him to reveal all kinds of confidential information about the Travel Services. Then, Wei Xun could be like the many lawyers who could better exploit the loopholes of the law after they were familiar with it. But Wei Xun also thought it was more interesting to discover the secrets of the Travel Services himself.
Like Pingping, Yu Hehui, An Xuefeng, andââ
âGuide, Guide III.â
Wang Pengpai was originally comforting Yu Hean, and quietly digging out more information about Yu Hehui from his mouth. But to his surprise, he suddenly felt a chilly sensation nearby. The hairs on his back stood up on end, and he was inwardly on guard. Wang Pengpai turned his head and put on a happy expression as he faced the bronze ghost mask of III-9.
What did III-9 intend to do?
Wang Pengpai pretended to be startled. His heart was beating rapidly. The greenish bronze ghost mask covered the upper half of III-9âs face, revealing only his blue eyesâŚblue? Was the original III-9âs eyes blue? No, it seems that his mask wasnât green before eitherâŚ
âThis rope is a good item.â
III-9âs words interrupted Wang Pengpaiâs chaotic thoughts. âLet me see it.â
âGuide III, Brother 9, no, Guide III, noâââ
Under Wang Pengpaiâs cries that would cause a lot of people to misunderstand what was happening, Wei Xun snatched the bundle of blackish-gold rope from his hand. Wei Xun was relying on the fact that Wang Pengpai was hiding his identity and didnât dare to stop him from snatching the rope. He only dared to call out âGuide III, no.â Wei Xun played the role of a villain in plain sight.
[Name: ***âs climbing rope]
[Quality: Unknown]
[Function 1: ???]
[Function 2: ???]
[Function 3: ???]
[You are not the owner of the climbing rope, so you canât see the specific information of the climbing rope]
Oh?
Wei Xun was surprised. Heâd only thought that he may be able to get some information from Wang Pengpai. But unexpectedly, the rope turned out to be ***âs item.
âWhat was the information that was censored, so that I wasnât able to see?â
Inwardly, Wei Xun was moved. He questioned the Travel Services in his mind and secretly adjusted his mood to ask, âI have signed an agreement with you. Canât I see the properties of a rope?â
The other party didnât respond. This was something expected by Wei Xun. He held the rope as he pretended to ponder, but he was actually glancing at Wang Pengpai from the corner of his eye. Although Wang Pengpai pretended to be anxious, the truth was he didnât seem to be too worried.
In fact, Wang Pengpai wasnât really worried. The anxious appearance he put on was just for the sake of pretending. After all, without the bossâs permission, let alone III-9, even he couldnât see the functions of the rope. Moreover, III-9 didnât have the ownership of the rope. Even if III-9 took the rope away now, wouldnât the rope return to him the moment he left the tour?
Heh, heâd just let III-9 take the rope and speculate about its functions.
Inwardly, Wang Pengpai smirked.
âRope, yes, rope!â
The commotion on their side attracted Zhao Hongtuâs attention. Yu Heanâs red and swollen eyes lit up and he stammered, âBrother Wang, can this rope really pull the ferry over? Wonât it be bitten apart by the piranhas?â
âIf nothing unexpected occurs, there should be no problems.â
Wang Pengpai said. He put on a posture of âSince Guide III likes it, Iâll give it to Guide IIIâ and gave III-9 a flattering smile. âGuide III should also have felt that the rope hasnât snapped yet.â
âMm.â
Wei Xun responded perfunctorily. The rope was really taut and hadnât loosened at all. It was as if the rope could stretch on infinitely. Calculating the distance, the ferry should have reached the opposite shore, but Wei Xun still had a small handful of rope in his hand.
âLook, arenât I right?â
Wang Pengpai said, âThe zombified flying fox king is already dead. Besides, we would never face a situation where one of us has to die.â
âDonât worry, no one in our tour group will really die.â
âThatâs good, thatâs good.â
Yu Hean repeatedly thanked the Buddha for his blessings. The look in Yu Heanâs eyes revealed that he was looking at Wang Pengpai as if he were the Tathagata Buddha. The light in his eyes made Zhao Hongtu uncomfortable. He turned his head and secretly scolded Yu Hean, âIdiot.â
Of course, no one in the tour group would die.
The person who would die wasnât considered someone in their tour group.
âYu Hehui, get off the ferry!â
On the other side of the stream, Miao Fangfei hurriedly picked up the ghost baby from Hou Feihu. She helped Hou Feihu off the ferry and turned to pick up Yu Hehui. It was now 7:25 p.m., only 35 minutes until the start of the beating three dynasties banquet. Next, the ferry had to go back and forth to pick up Wang Pengpai and the others. This would take at least half an hour.
Now, they were racing against time and couldnât afford to waste a moment. However, Yu Hehui was still sitting on the ferry, wrapped in cowhide. After hearing Miao Fangfeiâs words, his gaze just darted around and he handed over the basket containing the ghost baby to her.
âYu HehuiâŚâ
Miao Fangfei hesitated and looked at Hou Feihu. Hou Feihu shook his head in silence. She took a deep breath and reached out to pick the ghost baby up, but found that Yu Hehui wasnât letting go.
âProtect my elder brother.â
Yu Hehui said after a momentarily pause, âUnder circumstances that wonât endanger your life, please protect my elder brother on this tour.â
âYouâââ
Before Miao Fangfei could finish speaking, her eyes showed a look of surprise.
[Task name: Request of the (deceased) fox fairy]
[Task level: Medium difficulty]
[Task description: Protect Yu Hean on the Intoxicating Xiangxi tour, under circumstances that wouldnât endanger your life.]
[Reward: Fox fairyâs favor]
Yu Hehui stared at Miao Fangfei and saw her look of surprise. Her expression soon turned complex, before it grew peaceful. After that, she accepted the task. âRest assured.â
Yu Hehui loosened his grip and gave Miao Fangfei the basket containing the ghost baby. He finally looked at the shore. He was very close to the shore, but he couldnât get ashore. It was as if he had long died, and could not head to the human realm.
In the end, Yu Hehui could only disappoint his elder brother.
Yu Hehui didnât have more to say. He nodded to Miao Fangfei and turned to paddle back. Seeing his figure gradually disappearing in the fog, Miao Fangfei held the bamboo basket and sighed.
As the leader of the tour group, even if Yu Hehui didnât send this so-called task, she would do her best to protect the team members. However, taking on this task might make Yu Hehui feel more at ease.
âWhy didnât he get off the ferry?â Shi Tao wondered.
Just now, he was still thinking about who would be the one rowing the ferry to pick up Wang Pengpai and company. The person who rowed over would surely die, because the number of times they could board the ferry, as written on the ticket, had been exhausted. In order to ensure fairness, should they draw lots to decide who had to go, or rely on their prowess and allow the weakest member to head over?
Shi Tao hadnât expected that Yu Hehui would take the initiative to return!
âHe canât get off the ferry.â
Hou Feihu had seen it. Otherwise, since the rope on the ferry had not snapped, Wang Pengpai and the others could pull the ferry back without anyone rowing the ferry. If this was an ordinary stream and one wanted to pull the ferry back only by using the rope, they only required great strength to do so. But it was different in Mourning Stream. Regardless of how much strength one used to pull or paddle it, the speed of the ferry was the same on the stream.
In theory, as long as Wang Pengpai and company gently tugged it, the ferry would travel back at its regular speed.
Yu Hehui couldnât get off the ferry. That was the only reason. It was because he couldnât get off the ferry.