Xia Yun was amazed and couldn't help clapping. When the little mermaid blew flying kisses to the audience, it didn't even seem like a blessing or a curse anymore!
At that moment, Mu Anqi thought of her list of insane handstand spins and backflip splits… The little mermaid, it seemed, probably… couldn't really do the splits?
Fortunately, the little mermaid's second move was a street dance routine.
Mu Anqi looked toward Fang Xunjiu and Xia Yun. At this time, the two teammates had broken free from the charm—Xia Yun hadn't been much affected in the first place, but as for Fang Xunjiu… it was like he had opened the door to a whole new world.
Mermaid magic dance, mermaid street dance—Approved!
In just two short dances, the mermaid girl's expression had already shifted from terror, to disbelief, to numbness, and finally she looked at Mu Anqi with a pleading face.
This… sigh, nobody wanted this either.
Mu Anqi nodded, switched to demon bullets, and as the street dance ended, she blew the mermaid's head off, ending this illusionary "performance."
"Bang—"
The illusion shattered.
Fang Xunjiu jolted awake, only to see his sister and Wu Sansheng sitting to the side watching him, while he himself was tightly bound with ropes. Fang Xunjiu knew they were helping him, so he wasn't too surprised, but he couldn't help saying: "Why didn't you let her perform a few more numbers? That was a mermaid, you know, and her singing and dancing were so beautiful." He had even thought about going to collect a "good person card" from the mermaid elder sister.
"I was afraid she'd randomly get the splits." Mu Anqi said so. She couldn't imagine how a fish tail could do the splits. If it tore right from the tail up through the waist and belly, that would be far too horrifying. Better to cut it short.
Fang Xunjiu fell silent, thinking Mu Anqi made a lot of sense.
Wu Sansheng and Fang Yunjui quickly came over to untie them: "You guys watched a performance inside the illusion? Bro, but why did you start eating at the very beginning?"
"Uh, well, I got caught at the start. But once Mu Anqi opened her mouth, that mermaid couldn't focus on charming me anymore, so we just enjoyed the mermaid's performance." Fang Xunjiu scratched his head, not looking very embarrassed, just grinning with a bit of aftertaste.
After being untied, Mu Anqi looked at the blood-colored shard that appeared in her palm, a little helpless. "After killing that mermaid, the illusion broke, and I also got this."
"Strange." Wu Sansheng looked at the shard. "Why didn't those two shark demons drop one?"
"…Right."
But no one could answer this question. After all, who would have thought those shark demons were just temporary reinforcements? Since their roles were suddenly added, the preparations were naturally insufficient, so it was normal that no blood-colored shard was left behind.
Mu Anqi and the others didn't dwell on it. After being untied, they stretched their bodies a little. "Just now we only killed the mermaid inside the illusion. There might still be a second or even third wave of illusions. We'd better not separate during this period." As Mu Anqi spoke, she took out the token from her storage ring and kept it close. After entering the illusion, she hadn't lost control like Fang Xunjiu, perhaps because of the General's token. Of course, it might also be that the mermaid's charm technique wasn't as profound as the White Fox Demon King's, so Mu Anqi had a bit of… resistance?
Mu Anqi herself didn't really understand why. Maybe it was simply because she didn't like fish—only fluffy things.
The five of them lay lazily on the deck for a while longer, basking in the sun. Afterwards, Fang's younger sister went back to cooking, while Mu Anqi and the others searched the ship once more. In the end, Mu Anqi spread the nautical chart out on the deck.
"If we're talking about treasure, then where is it?" Mu Anqi and the others studied the nautical chart together. Since those "NPC" ghosts had all revealed greed and treasure in their lines, then there should be some kind of mysterious grand prize in this game, right? Since it was a treasure meant for players to find, it ought to be an item that could be taken out and used repeatedly. With physical attacks, ghost attacks, and even the mermaid's charm illusion—if ordinary players boarded this ghost ship, they might really never come back. Judging from this difficulty… that item had to be worth at least two hundred points, right?
It didn't matter if the item itself couldn't be divided equally; they could always split the points.
The players inside the game began studying the treasure, while the planners and the person in charge outside the game looked at each other in dismay.
"The mermaid went on strike? But she died inside the illusion, she should still be able to keep appearing, keep singing, keep luring them!" The planner was getting frantic. "How could she just go on strike? What happened inside the illusion?"
"…What happened, you can probably guess." The ghost in charge looked helplessly to the sky. What else could have happened? Wherever Mu Anqi the demon was, the game's style would get so twisted the planners themselves couldn't even recognize it. "Jia Guansi, remind her about the breach-of-contract penalty again. Anyway, just make her show up for a few more rounds. Have her control the illusion and target only that male player who looks easiest to bully."
Planner ghost: "Fine, one kill is better than none." As for picking them off one by one—forget it. They suspected that even if they whittled the group down until only Mu Anqi was left, she'd still be an unbreakable final barrier.
After finally coaxing the injured mermaid beauty, the planner checked the game stream—and froze: "They're still thinking about treasure?!"
Are they even human anymore? This is a survival game! A game about surviving seven days! Sure, there's a storyline, but that plot… best not even mention it. The planner just felt bitter inside. Where was he supposed to get treasure from? It was nothing more than a background prop thrown in now and then!
Treasure… what kind of player would still be thinking about treasure on a ghost ship full of lurking monsters, rampaging sea demons, and watchful mermaids! Surviving at all was good enough!
"Let them search. There isn't any anyway." The planner ghost leaned back in his chair, utterly fearless. Something unprepared—could the players really dig one out? Seriously, they'd beaten up his extras, bullied the shark demons, and toyed with the mermaid, and now these players still wanted to freeload an item? How could they think so beautifully?
The ghost in charge rubbed his nose and chuckled. Forget treasure—just figuring out the extras for the next few days was already giving them a headache. Ghosts in the Entry Phase were nothing but cannon fodder, and even ghosts in the Barrier-Breaking Phase had to strike first to stand a chance. As for the Underworld's side… the ghost in charge would rather die than invite them again. The destructive power of the demon clan was too great—if they weren't allowed to wreck the ship, they couldn't bring out their real strength, and if they held back, they'd just end up as fodder.
Budget, budget… But the way this batch of players kept pulling off wild plays, maybe they could spin this for publicity—it might even sell big! Adjusting his mindset, the ghost in charge looked at the planner ghost. "Let's stop struggling. Just slap a comedy tag on it."
"But we could also ask Jia Guansi to bring in some more famous ghosts. Anyway, once they run into General Ji, that money tree, they'll still just be cannon fodder. Might as well focus more on entertainment value."
Planner ghost: "…I can't believe it, I really can't. Even you, with your thick brows and honest look, have betrayed us!"
But the bloody reality was right there in front of them. No matter how much the planner ghost struggled, it was useless. Watching the live game feed, he let out a heavy sigh. "Let's try one last time!"
Hire a stronger ghost—if they still can't subdue this bunch of "villains," then just switch over to comedy. Mm, after all, there's plenty of comedic material anyway.
…
"The ingredients are still a bit too simple." Mu Anqi sighed as she ate the fragrant vegetable rice. "But vegetable rice really tastes good no matter how you cook it. Fang little sister, you're amazing."
"Tasty is tasty, but if only we could have hotpot." Fang Xunjiu sighed as he served himself a second bowl. The rice was delicious, but hotpot was even better! Unfortunately, there clearly wasn't any hotpot base on this ship, so they could only dream.
Wu Sansheng quietly finished hee meal, then said: "It seems like this game didn't set up any treasure at all." The nautical charts had no markings, and the diaries or clues on the ship didn't reveal even a trace of treasure. Although the NPCs had mentioned it, that felt more like background flavor.
"It doesn't matter. What if the blood-colored shards don't combine into a weapon, but instead into a treasure key?" Mu Anqi comforted. "Since this is the Spirit Ghost Voyage, even if there is treasure, it might not follow the usual rules."
"…What you're saying makes sense."
After eating, Mu Anqi got ready to go back on deck to sunbathe. But as soon as she stepped onto the deck, she saw a dark figure quietly hiding behind the mast, pretending to be its shadow—except the problem was, you're thicker than the mast! How can you have the nerve to pose as its shadow?!
"Wishing you prosperous business and great fortune at your door!" The blessing phrase was cast out. Just as the shadow figure was randomly given the "Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg" move and Mu Anqi was about to pull out her handgun to finish it off, it happened in a split second—a sudden sense of danger surged up. Without a thought, Mu Anqi immediately pulled out a substitute paper doll, using it while her mouth continued speaking another blessing phrase: "May everything go smoothly." At the same time, she swung her dagger backward—
"Rip!" The substitute paper doll had just appeared when a black claw pierced through its heart. The space where Mu Anqi had just been twisted violently. Under the effect of her blessing phrase, a tall, unfamiliar ghost lunged at nothing, its body stiffening mid-movement, and Mu Anqi's dagger mercilessly cut away half of its yin energy!
This ghost could stealth! The shadow by the mast had only been a decoy to distract her.
Nearly caught, Mu Anqi was both shocked and furious. In the next instant, she raised her gun and shot the ghost dead. Then she dashed forward, continuing to chant one blessing after another. It wasn't just these two ghosts! Mu Anqi could easily guess that the ghosts on this ship probably had it in for her; when she split off from her teammates to sunbathe, these shameless things had come to ambush her! Blessings spilled continuously from her lips as she holstered her gun and pulled out the candy cane, blasting wildly.
But just then, the mermaid's song drifted softly into her ears—
Not good!
"—Evil God Possession!" Mu Anqi hadn't heard the earlier chanting, but she clearly caught that "Evil God Possession" and the next "Hand of the Evil God." Fang Yunjui had arrived! Just before her consciousness was about to be dragged back into an illusion, Mu Anqi quickly used another substitute paper doll. Her vision blurred, and when she opened her eyes, she was at the bottom of the sea, once again face-to-face with the singing mermaid.
"Peace through all four seasons." This time Mu Anqi had no mood to watch any performance. Thinking of how her physical body was still in danger, she wished she could fly back immediately. A blessing phrase slipped from her lips as she quickly switched to demon bullets. Mu Anqi fired several shots in rapid succession—bang, bang, bang—hitting the mermaid. The freshly loaded illusion shattered with a crack.