Don't go near blue-name NPCs, they'll make you unlucky!
Zhang San looked up at the sky above the village. The drizzling rain hit his face, his clothes were soaked with muddy water, and he looked utterly miserable. Yet at this moment, he was actually relieved he hadn't received any negative buff; that meant this blue-name NPC hadn't been angered or become disgusted with him. That was probably the only good news after being thrown over the shoulder…
"Sorry, I'm not used to people suddenly coming close." The red umbrella tilted. Xia Yun wasn't a real NPC—she could see the red umbrella, so of course she could also see everything else. Thinking carefully, of course it made sense: the player must have thought she was being entangled by a ghost and wanted to save her. It was just that—Xia Yun glanced discreetly at the talisman paper that had been soaked by rain and then scrunched into a ball of almost yellow mud by the player. She thought to herself, could something with absolutely no offensive power like this really drive away the red umbrella?
"According to your understanding, this is probably like putting microwaved durian in front of someone who vomits from smelling durian, trying to drive them away with the smell." The red umbrella's voice echoed in Xia Yun's mind. After saying this, she added, "But I belong to urban legends, a derivative of ghosts, so I can barely tolerate the smell of talismans—it won't make me vomit instantly."
Xia Yun understood. She reached out her hand. "Are you okay? I'll walk you home?"
"Ah? Ah… n-no, I'm fine!" Zhang San replied, stammering. He instinctively lifted his hand, then saw how muddy it was, and awkwardly dropped it quickly, scrambling up by himself. "Ms. Xia, this umbrella… how did you get it? I think it looks so pretty."
"It suddenly rained today, and I didn't bring an umbrella. When I was leaving, this umbrella was at the entrance of the academy. I waited a long time and never saw the owner—probably a student left it behind." Xia Yun smiled and lied smoothly. "Once I'm home, I'll have to send the umbrella back again."
Zhang San was a little dumbfounded. What kind of ghost story was this? Yes, there were many stories about scholars and female ghosts. But although Ms. Xia was a teacher, she was a woman! And with skills like that, she had nothing in common with weak scholars. What kind of eyesight did the female ghost inside the red umbrella have?
"Ms. Xia, I didn't bring an umbrella either. I wonder if I could walk you home and then take the umbrella with me. I can go home first and then return the umbrella to the academy."
Now Xia Yun wasn't sure what to do. She'd only used the red umbrella because she didn't want to get wet. She hadn't planned for the urban legend and the player to come into contact so soon. Didn't she see how many players had run to the outhouse? Even the "Public Toilet" urban legend hadn't made a move. According to Mu Anqi, they should give players some buffer time, let them relax for a couple of days during daylight.
Mu Anqi saw this from the control room and messaged Xia Yun privately.
[Mu Anqi]: Give it to him. If anything's off, the red umbrella will escape itself. If it latches onto this player, it'll earn quite a bit of emotion value.
"Then thank you." Xia Yun said, and then noticed the nearby steamed bun shop. "Why don't I treat you to some buns? The meat buns here are truly incredible." Before Zhang San could refuse, Xia Yun, holding the umbrella, bought ten large meat buns and stuffed them all into Zhang San's arms, then had him walk with her.
Holding the meat buns, Zhang San walked beside Xia Yun, careful not to touch her. He suddenly felt that these blue-name NPCs seemed quite nice. As for the mishap… wasn't it just a misunderstanding! He, a grown man, suddenly rushed over to pat Xia Yun on the shoulder—of course a blue-name NPC would instinctively defend themselves.
Thinking it through like this, by the time they reached Xia Yun's home and he received the red umbrella, Zhang San even felt a little embarrassed. After Xia Yun entered her house, he took out three pieces of talisman paper and stuck them onto the umbrella handle, successfully forcing the female ghost inside not to come out again. Holding the umbrella, he went home. Taking advantage of his parents not paying attention, he quickly bathed and changed into clean clothes. He placed the red umbrella with the talismans stuck onto it by his side. He'd wanted to share everything with the other players immediately, but looking at the muddy clothes he had just changed out of… Zhang San didn't dare let his parents see them. Rolling up his sleeves, he earnestly began to wash them.
When he finally finished everything and turned around, the living room where he had placed the umbrella was completely empty, leaving behind only a crumpled ball of yellow paper and… a floor covered in vomit!?
Why was there vomit!? Zhang San stared wide-eyed. The ghost actually ran away? And even puked all over the place?
"Zhang San! What nonsense are you up to now—" Before the words finished, Zhang Mama's steps halted when she saw the scene in the living room. She instantly turned, grabbed an oversized bamboo broom from the corner, and charged toward him swinging it.
"No, no, it wasn't me! Mom, listen to me, listen—ah!"
After the chaos of chickens flying and dogs jumping, only ten large meat buns could soothe the wounds in Zhang San's heart.
Since the red umbrella had been discovered, Mu Anqi thought for a moment and decided to let the urban legends show off their abilities in advance. They didn't need to harm the players—just scare them a bit. After all, players had many methods; it would be bad if they ended up killing an urban legend.
Thus, that afternoon, right after listening to the limping Zhang San finish sharing his encounter with a ghost, Huangfu Tiezhu got up laughing and went to the toilet. But within just three minutes, a heart-tearing scream erupted from the public outhouse!
Wang Erma and Yuchi Goudan heroically kicked the door open, only to see Huangfu Tiezhu trembling and pointing at the red brick wall. "S-something touched my back—aaahhh—!"
"That thing first asked me whether I needed red paper or blue paper. I didn't dare to make a sound. Then something poked my back!"
"…Are you sure you were poked, and not just so scared you stepped back and hit that slightly protruding brick behind you?" Wang Erma looked at the uneven wall, speechless. But Tiezhu was genuinely terrified. Thankfully, he was fully dressed… Not thinking too much, the two players helped him out.
"This village has started to change." Tiezhu steadied himself and said seriously, "Maybe the festival is approaching. The mountain god might have sealed many ghosts, and the seal must be reinforced once every year. The closer it gets to the time for reinforcement, the weaker the seal becomes… The ghosts will grow more active during this period!"
"Tonight, everyone must work hard to find artifacts. Maybe artifacts can suppress these ghosts."
"And also… if blue-name NPCs get entangled by ghosts, to be safe, if you encounter it, you should try to help within your abilities." Zhang San hesitated but still mentioned it. The players had no objection; they were also afraid that if a blue-name NPC died, the game would change again.
But when Mu Anqi heard this, she had a new idea. In that case, wouldn't it be perfect to stage some scenes and let ghosts wander around Xia Yun and the others?
Night fell, and the players eagerly entered the dream realm. Shangguan Cuihua, who already possessed the Silver Zen Staff, wasn't particularly anxious. In her view, she had nothing left to worry about. However… would the urban legend planners—and Mu Anqi, obsessed with emotion value—really let the players enjoy an early vacation in the game?
—Of course not.
Upon opening her eyes, Shangguan Cuihua found the fox-like beauty from the night before reclining upon her tail, casting a languid glance her way: "You're here?"
With a casual swipe, another cloud condensed into a screen.
"Learn. Finish your performance training. If you can't satisfy me by the end of tonight, I'll be taking the Silver Zen Staff back~"
Shangguan Cuihua: …
She felt like she was still dreaming—this had to be an unreal illusion!
Unwilling and resentful, Shangguan Cuihua didn't want to learn any new singing or dancing at all! There were still five whole days before the festival! And most likely she wouldn't be spared on the night before the festival either. What did that mean? Was she going to become a singing-and-dancing performer after this game? Even a crash course shouldn't be THIS much of a crash!
However, when a ball of light floated out of her body, with the miniaturized Silver Zen Staff inside it spinning and drifting farther and farther from her, Shangguan Cuihua endured humiliation: "No! I'll learn, I'll learn right now!"
Damn it, even if she wasn't King Zhou and couldn't enjoy the service of a fox spirit, why did she have to serve a fox spirit inside an illusion!?
Although Wang Erma had reserved the kasaya, he still couldn't just do nothing after entering the illusion. He first tested the golden light according to Shangguan Cuihua's instructions, stood before the kasaya, saw the direction of the artifacts, and then casually picked the direction of a thumb ring to walk toward. He didn't actually want the artifact; he just wanted to make some preparations to obtain the kasaya later.
Then, Wang Erma encountered little Xia Fenghua again. This time, the child sat upright before a Go table. Seeing him approach, the child glanced at him and said calmly, "You're the one who wants the kasaya? Before the six artifacts find their owners, you must pass my trial."
The illusion was this powerful? It could even see through his thoughts? Well, it was his own dream after all. Wang Erma thought through everything and then sat across from the child at the Go table. He took the black stones, Xia Fenghua took the white. Before making his first move, Wang Erma quietly sighed in relief: thankfully his late grandfather had loved playing Go, and he had learned a bit. He wasn't very skilled, but at least he could try to please the blue-name NPC.
Just because this NPC looked like a child? It was just a skin. With this illusion, changing appearances would be easy.
Without rudely asking what the trial was, Wang Erma carefully studied the board and started playing seriously. But… why couldn't he understand this girl's strategy? What kind of playstyle was this? His Go skills were lacking, so he assumed there was some deeper meaning and responded cautiously. Until Xia Fenghua placed a stone and said with a smile, "Oops, you lost!"
"Huh? How did I lose?" Wang Erma was dumbfounded. He didn't react until he looked again at the move she had just made—five in a row…
"This is Five-in-a-Row!?"
"So what?" Xia Fenghua raised an eyebrow impatiently. "You don't want to play with me?"
"…No no no, of course I want to, of course I do." Wang Erma took several deep breaths and accepted his fate. And so, they played for an entire night.
The experience was truly awful. When he won, the blue-name NPC's expression would turn unpleasant. But if he lost too much, the blue-name NPC would find it boring and start disliking him. Wang Erma felt he had met the hardest-to-please blue-name NPC ever. Winning was bad, losing was bad—at this point he almost wished he were back dancing like yesterday.