Chapter 24: The Vacation Villa

But clearly, Xiao Liang had no intention of telling her. So she merely pointed at the corpse on the floor. “Let’s deal with this first.”

Her interruption redirected Xiao Liang’s attention, who had been about to ask her a slew of questions. “Should we bury it?”

Su Man considered for a moment. Now, aside from Xiao Liang, no one else knew she could die and come back to life. If she tried to bury such a large body, the commotion would surely attract the remaining group’s attention.

Her gaze swept the room and settled on a wardrobe tucked away in a corner. “Let’s put it in there for now.”

Once the body was handled, Su Man wanted to ask Xiao Liang how he had managed to escape after she was killed, but when she turned, she was met with his dazzling, radiant eyes.

“Is something the matter?”

“Yes!” Xiao Liang’s voice brimmed with excitement. “Su Man, the more I see, the more I feel this trip was worthwhile. You’re going to be the one who walks furthest down this path!”

She had heard these words from Xiao Liang more than once.

“What path do you mean?” She tried every possible approach, hoping to extract all the information she could from him.

“The path to godhood!” Xiao Liang answered mysteriously, and no matter how she pressed, he wouldn’t say another word, muttering instead to himself about how he’d bet on the right horse.

Later, without Su Man needing to prompt him, Xiao Liang spoke up. “After you were killed, I used some tricks to escape from that woman.”

“I estimate that woman has reached the level of Resentful Wraith.”

Seeing Su Man’s confusion, he explained further. In the future game scripts, wraiths were artificially classified.

There were Common Wraiths—the lowest level, least harmful, and most frequently encountered, like Zhou Bin and Hu Meili from earlier. Both were Common Wraiths.

Above Common Wraiths were Resentful Wraiths, evolved from Common Wraiths whose resentment had reached a certain threshold. They were more dangerous, possessed human-like thought, and actively avoided attacks.

Beyond Resentful Wraiths were Malevolent Wraiths, almost indistinguishable from humans. They could eat and drink like ordinary people, their lethality was greater, many could manipulate minds, and some could even command Common and Resentful Wraiths.

What came after Malevolent Wraiths, Xiao Liang didn’t know. “I’ve only ever dealt with Malevolent Wraiths; there must be more powerful types beyond that, but I’ve never encountered them.”

He added that usually, Resentful Wraiths wouldn’t appear in introductory scripts, as they were too difficult for beginners. “But your identity is special... so... it’s understandable.”

Suddenly, he slipped up. Though he tried to gloss over his words, Su Man caught the key phrase.

Special identity.

Those words tied directly to what Xiao Liang had said about the path to godhood.

“Don’t look at me like that. I won’t say anything more. Not until it’s over will I utter another word.”

“Suit yourself. I didn’t plan to ask.”

Xiao Liang hesitated. “...Maybe you should ask, though.”

“No. If you want to talk, go ahead.”

In the end, Xiao Liang kept quiet.

But when Su Man said she was going to find Xin Ling, he became anxious.

“Xin Ling has become a Resentful Wraith now, and she’s got her sights set on you.”

“A Resentful Wraith’s resentment runs deep. If you want to redeem her, you’ll need to resolve her grievances. But I think her resentment toward you is the greatest—best to skip that approach.”

Seeing Su Man’s eagerness after his explanation of wraith classifications, Xiao Liang was truly baffled.

“When you said you wanted to redeem her earlier, I thought you were joking.”

Su Man had casually asked him once before if redeeming wraiths sometimes brought greater rewards. He’d assumed she was joking and answered offhandedly that it did, though he’d never actually tried it. In fact, no one wanted to redeem those emotionless wraiths—no one wished to put themselves in danger, and wraiths could turn hostile without warning. They were utterly untrustworthy, never speaking a word of truth.

“How would I know the outcome if I don’t try?” All Su Man cared about was the reward. She was risking her life for the best prize; she wanted money, to never be bullied again. Here, it felt like a new beginning. She wanted to lay a solid foundation, not let her life continue to be a mess, always suppressed.

Xiao Liang was speechless.

“Why not check on the rest of the group first? They’re bound to have clues.” He tried to persuade her indirectly after much deliberation.

Su Man thought his advice made sense. She only had one resurrection card left, and confronting Xin Ling directly might be troublesome if she was killed again.

So the two went to see the group with Skinny Monkey.

Now, Skinny Monkey’s clique was down to three: Skinny Monkey, Fatty, and a nameless member.

When Su Man had Xiao Liang kick the door open, the room was pitch-black. Despite it being broad daylight, heavy curtains blocked all light, and the air reeked of urine—an unbearable stench.

Xiao Liang wanted Su Man to wait before entering, but when he turned, he saw she had already found her way inside and, with precision, switched on the light.

The sudden illumination revealed everything.

“Ah! Ah!” Several shrieks erupted almost simultaneously.

“Don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!” Fatty’s unique piercing voice rang out. Su Man searched for a moment before spotting Fatty hiding under the table, wrapped in a blanket.

The other two cowered under blankets on the bed, shaking.

“What happened? Who scared you so badly?” Xiao Liang was astonished.

Su Man swept the room with wary eyes but found nothing amiss, then spoke, “They’re so mentally unstable, we probably won’t get anything useful from them.”

She walked up to Fatty. Before she could speak, Fatty, seeing her face, screamed louder. “I know I was wrong, I really do! I deserve to die, please, please, let that man spare me!”

Man? Was he terrified by Zhou Yan?

She lowered her gaze and soothed him gently, “I can promise you, but you need to tell me about you and Xin Ling. As long as you answer honestly, I’ll plead for you.”

Zhou Yan had already left; it was an easy promise to make.

“I...I...I don’t know who Xin Ling is!” Fatty’s face brightened at her first sentence, only to collapse in despair at the rest. “I don’t know the person you’re talking about...sob...”

That answer caught Su Man off guard. “You don’t know Xin Ling? Do you know Zhou Bin?”

“Who?”

“Then Hu Kan, A Ya...” Su Man listed their names one by one, but Fatty only grew more confused and distraught. “I don’t know any of these people! Maybe give me a bit more time, let me think it over carefully.”