The Shtick Must Survive - Chapter 3 - The Old House 3

Li Ke: “Xiyue, what are you doing?”

Gu Xiyue seemed to be startled by his voice, her eyes clouded as she turned around. “Someone just asked me for candy…”

Upon hearing this, Li Ke’s skin crawled with goosebumps.

“Are you out of your mind? There’s no one in front of you!”

The ghost child had disappeared, but before doing so, its gaze had chilled Gu Xiyue to the bone. Pretending to be confused, she whispered, “But there was someone just now…”

Li Ke had indeed seen Gu Xiyue standing next to a shelf as if she was talking to someone and even handing something over. He certainly didn’t think she was pretending; after all, there was no need for her to do that. Gu Xiyue wasn’t really trying to scare anyone; she was just telling a white lie.

After all, this wasn’t their first foray into the Realm of the Undead. Li Ke simply thought that something unclean had bewitched her, a common occurrence here.

Li Ke: “The undead have taken an interest in you, but you’re lucky nothing bad happened.”

Gu Xiyue: “I guess it’s because I have a strong affinity, so that little ghost just wanted a piece of candy, it didn’t harm me.”

Everyone’s talent abilities differ and even the same talent can have varying effects. Although Gu Xiyue’s talent wasn’t combat-related, her ability to be favored by the undead could lessen the chances of death. In that moment, Li Ke almost envied her, and he realized she might be more useful than he initially thought, advising her, “Stay back if things go south.”

Trouble was certainly brewing. Gu Xiyue nodded.

Their conversation hadn’t drawn attention. Everyone was on guard, anticipating that the Paper Man in the bucket might emerge at any moment. Clearly, the bucket served as a form of containment for the Paper Man, and even if it tried to escape, it would take some time. The first thing to emerge from the bucket was the Paper Man’s head, followed by its left hand, and then the right hand, the process being quite slow.

Slower than they had expected.

However, the right hand that emerged was peculiar-it was clutching a paper knife.

They thought they had plenty of time, and the paper knife didn’t seem very threatening, but then they saw the Paper Man swinging it, chopping the sturdy wooden bucket to splinters. One could imagine what such a knife could do to a human-it could easily chop through bone.

Those who were panicked had already run out of the storeroom. Gu Xiyue thought running to the study would be scarier since they couldn’t see what was happening here. The storeroom indeed had no other clues; they had even dumped out the incense ash to check, searched under desks, and through the cracks in shelves, but found no sign of the key.

The Paper Man was about to escape. Hua Meng made a decisive call: “Run!”

The last person to leave the storeroom shut the door and barricaded it with desks and chairs. No one looked back; they all ran towards the study. Gu Xiyue was in the middle of the group, her pace neither fast nor slow, which was much better than Li Ke who was lagging behind.

A dull thumping sound came from the end of the corridor-no need to look to know it was the Paper Man hacking at the door with the paper knife. It wouldn’t be long before the wooden door barring the Paper Man would meet the same fate as the bucket. Even if they hid here, they couldn’t hide for long.

Someone was already trying to force the lock on the door.

With a loud bang, the Paper Man had broken through the barrier, its silhouette quickly appearing in the room, now looking more like a living person. Its short hair, previously just painted on, had grown a bit, and its eyes were startlingly lively, able to rotate within their sockets. Its body was light, almost floating.

Gu Xiyue had thought the undead in this realm were all cowards, as so far, the only two attacks had been on newcomers. Unexpectedly, the Paper Man targeted Hua Meng, the seemingly strongest among the visitors, wildly swinging the paper knife, chopping up a lot of furniture.

The tourists were frantically kicking the door, not daring to run back as the narrow corridor left no room to hide if caught by the Paper Man.

Hua Meng narrowly avoided being chopped. He blocked the Paper Man with something, and it was repelled. Living up to his experience, he still had ways to deal with monsters, whether it was his talent ability or something else.

Realizing Hua Meng was a tough opponent, the Paper Man immediately changed its target. The two people standing next to him were slow, and just as it seemed they would be caught, they crouched on the ground awaiting death. The Paper Man, however, didn’t even glance at them but raised its knife to attack Li Ke, who was farthest away.

Li Ke dodged the knife by falling to the ground and immediately rushed towards Gu Xiyue while shouting, “Xiyue, save me!”

How shameless!

Gu Xiyue: “If I tell her I want to be friends with her now, will she spare us both?”

Li Ke: “…”

Oh man, is she still joking at a time like this?!

No, no, no, no, he just wanted the Paper Man to try to chop her, realize he couldn’t because of the shield, and then move on to the next target… That Xiyue is tough, unexpectedly. He only thought this briefly, and with the urgent situation, it quickly passed and he didn’t dwell on it.

If Gu Xiyue had run, Li Ke wouldn’t have been able to catch up, and he might have died, so she didn’t run. The hefty man realized this and unceremoniously took cover behind her. While she talked, she wasn’t just standing around; she grabbed a nearby candlestick, pulled off the lampshade, and the bright candle flame made the fiercely advancing Paper Man halt, even retreating slightly. Its fear was too obvious. Realizing this, the tourists began searching for candlesticks around them.

Hua Meng, approaching unnoticed, blocked the Paper Man’s path with a burning candle, gradually cornering it.

The Paper Man was not foolish; it immediately climbed the walls to escape. Hua Meng shouted at Gu Xiyue nearby: “Burn her!”

Gu Xiyue’s hand shook, but she tossed the candle accurately onto the Paper Man, flames engulfing it. Until then, the silent Paper Man was not mute; it let out a pitiful cry, shouting, “Second Madam, run… Second Madam…”

The “Second Madam” mentioned by the Paper Man was another vital clue.

The fierce blaze quickly reduced the Paper Man to ashes. Hua Meng, with a stick found somewhere, stirred the ashes around, scattering them everywhere, revealing a golden key hidden within.

Hua Meng: “…the key was indeed on it.”

Click. The door that had troubled everyone finally opened.

The map-marked grand door appeared before everyone, a massive crimson door without a lock or keyhole, firmly sealed with wooden boards, almost as if it were telling visitors there was no way through.

The possibility of the grand door being an exit was dashed, disheartening everyone.

Hua Meng suggested, “Let’s look around first!”

Gu Xiyue suddenly spoke up: “I think we should lock this door.”

Hua Meng: “Why?”

Gu Xiyue pointed to the black handprint on her waist: “There might be another unseen undead inside. Locking the door might prevent it from escaping.”

Hua Meng shivered at the thought, something he had indeed forgotten, especially since the Paper Man had captured all his attention. He agreed with Gu Xiyue’s suggestion; there definitely was another undead inside since the Paper Man couldn’t leave such a black handprint. If the undead that could leave the black handprint was indeed confined to the study, then locking the door would lessen the threat.

The door was locked.

With only candles for illumination on the entire first floor, everyone explored it thoroughly. Besides the study door that had just been unlocked and the grand door that couldn’t be opened, all other rooms were accessible to the visitors. They found no clues in the living room or dining room, while the kitchen was well-stocked, and the stove operational. Behind the staircase was the servants’ quarters, easily overlooked without the map, divided into two rooms based on gender, both quite spacious, with a total of five beds between them.

By now, everyone was somewhat hungry. Qiao Yuanbin went into the kitchen to inspect the ingredients, asking Gu Xiyue if she wanted noodles. Among the newcomers, Gu Xiyue was the only one Qiao Yuanbin actively engaged with; the others didn’t even get a glance.

Gu Xiyue volunteered to help in the kitchen, where only she and Qiao Yuanbin were present.

Qiao Yuanbin found a bag of flour in a cabinet, praising Gu Xiyue for her act of setting the Paper Man ablaze: “You’re quite brave!”

Gu Xiyue couldn’t really help much, mostly just handing things to Qiao Yuanbin. She was terribly clumsy with food, definitely not a cook, which fit her damsel persona.

“I often watch horror movies.”

“It seems I need to watch more horror movies after I leave this realm,” said Qiao Yuanbin. “By the way, how did you think to use fire to drive back the Paper Man?”

Gu Xiyue: “I didn’t think much at the time; I just tried it out. If there had been water in front of me, I probably would have tried splashing it. It’s made of paper, so it should be afraid of both water and fire, right?”

Qiao Yuanbin: “You’re very smart.”

Qiao Yuanbin’s probing was not very subtle, even blunt, which really didn’t suit her straightforward personality.

Following Qiao Yuanbin’s lead, Gu Xiyue shared her background: “Our family is quite fortunate. My dad, mom, brother, and sister all work in the agency, where employees are guaranteed safety and good benefits. My mom is a researcher, and everyone in my family believes that human living space on Earth will inevitably shrink, and escaping Earth is the only way out. Everyone had plans to join ‘The Plan’ early on, but they were worried about leaving me behind because no one would take care of me. I didn’t want to hold back my family, so as soon as I turned twenty-two, I secretly signed up. I’m not lacking in courage, and I even have a talent ability, slightly better than my brother’s.”

Qiao Yuanbin: “Aren’t you scared?”

Gu Xiyue admitted sheepishly: “Very much so. I was even afraid to get off the bus when we arrived.”

It wasn’t just about getting off the bus; Qiao Yuanbin noticed that Gu Xiyue had been frightened several times to the point of turning pale and trembling. This was probably the most terrifying thing she had encountered in her life. Yet, from her words, it was clear she had no regrets, supported by a certain conviction-a bit cliché, but that conviction was love.

Qiao Yuanbin: “You really love your family.”

Gu Xiyue smiled: “And they love me too.”

In the Realm of the Undead, Gu Xiyue might be labeled as a ‘damsel in distress,’ a typical young lady sheltered from the dark realities of the apocalypse. But this didn’t conflict with her being a wise person. She was growing rapidly under pressure and was smart enough.

Qiao Yuanbin was moved. Given that Gu Xiyue was raised as a pampered young lady, her actions and calm were all the more remarkable.

Qiao Yuanbin: “Survive well…”

Gu Xiyue, mentioning her family with a sweet smile: “Yes, I want to live to reunite with them one day, and from then on, never be apart again.”

= …… =

The Strongest Plant – Big Mouth Flower had been keeping a low profile since being scolded by Mr. Gold, deeply fascinated by the quirky streamer, enjoying trying to guess which of her statements were true and which were false. Unwilling to leave, he sneakily continued watching the stream. He was one of the early viewers reminded to pay attention to the discrepancies in the streamer’s profile panel, so he kept a close eye on the panel’s values, noticing that an energy bar appeared at the bottom of the stream right after the Paper Man was burned.

The Strongest Plant – Big Mouth Flower immediately contacted customer service, who explained that this was related to the streamer’s talent ability, added recently to give viewers a more intuitive understanding of her talents. When asked for more details, the customer service advised him to explore further on his own.

When the energy bar appeared, it was already half full. Then, The Strongest Plant – Big Mouth Flower noticed that the energy bar seemed to increase a little whenever the streamer spoke.

When the streamer finished talking about her family and smiled, the energy bar suddenly increased by half.

???

He wasn’t the only one who noticed. The stream had already attracted tens of thousands of viewers, including many attentive ones.

[Gu Xiyue’s Stream]

【Did you all see that? The energy bar suddenly went up by half…】

【I have a bold guess-whenever the streamer lies, the lies are converted into energy and stored…】

【So are you telling me that everything the streamer just said was a lie? That expression almost made me cry, and you’re telling me this beautiful damsel who entered the Realm of the Undead alone to avoid being a burden to her family is just a persona?】