Gu Rong had obtained the Jiangshi teeth from seven Jiangshi, fourteen teeth in total.

But unfortunately, he was exposed and had no choice but to turn and flee.

Behind him were the houses. Gu Rong hopped into a house, panicked and disoriented, looking for a place to hide.

Laifu looked left and right, hesitated for half a second, then decisively chose to follow Gu Rong, even slapping the door shut with a paw.

Wu Sandeng clutched his injured arm, his face growing uglier. This disloyal dog!

But now wasn’t a good time to chase Gu Rong. Not only was Wu Sandeng injured, but several players had also been scratched. Even Shen Hanxiao had taken a direct blast of strange air from a Jiangshi and fainted on the spot.

For some reason, these Jiangshi became much fiercer upon reaching the summit of Yin Mountain. Caught off guard, the group suffered heavy casualties.

Being scratched or bitten by a Jiangshi, or even inhaling their strange breath, could infect one with Jiangshi poison.

The antidote was to grind Jiangshi teeth into powder and drink it within twenty-four hours.

But now, none of these Jiangshi had teeth; they had all been taken by Gu Rong.

Zhuang Yu supported Shen Hanxiao, his expression grave.

Huang Daoren still had some skill. He struggled to subdue the seven Jiangshi, feeling increasingly suspicious.

Something’s wrong. Logically, this place was where these Jiangshi stayed before they died. Why, upon arriving here, did they show no joy at all, instead becoming much more ferocious? Could it be… they were murdered here?

–

Gu Rong ran to the rearmost house, squatted behind the door, clasped his little hands together, and remained silently quiet.

Laifu squatted beside him, staring straight ahead with its dog eyes, tongue lolling out, looking utterly foolish.

Squatting like this, the dog was a whole size larger than the cub. Gu Rong looked ridiculously tiny.

[Ding! Congratulations Little Jiangshi, for obtaining 4 Jiangshi teeth. Reward: 200,000 points~]

Gu Rong was an NPC. NPCs also had a hidden task: to obstruct players or provide clues.

Gu Rong collected Jiangshi teeth. Although it wasn’t explicitly stated why, once Gu Rong collected the teeth, players infected with Jiangshi poison couldn’t use the tooth powder antidote and would inevitably become NPCs.

Gu Rong didn’t know this; he was just obediently doing his tasks.

006 said: [Little host, don’t be afraid. Once we finish the task, we can clear the instance and leave.]

Gu Rong, however, wasn’t afraid. He clutched his little tummy and said: [Hungry.]

006: […]

Gu Rong’s system backpack still contained plenty of food bought for him by Lin Lu, enough for him to eat for another day.

Gu Rong took out two chicken legs from his bag, gave one to Laifu, held the other in his small hand, and sat directly on the floor to eat.

Neither cub nor dog was particular about cleanliness; they were both covered in dust.

Laifu was entirely black, but after running around, his body was covered in dust, looking quite chalked up.

Gu Rong’s Little Jiangshi clothes were dirty, and his fair little face was also smudged with quite a bit of ash, turning him into a little flower cat.

After finishing the chicken leg, Gu Rong held a bottle of milk to drink. Showing great loyalty, he even shared a couple of sips with Laifu.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Gu Rong used Laifu as a pillow, lying against the dog to digest.

Seeing Gu Rong full, fed, and now lying down, 006 said urgently: [Little host, we need to hurry up and do the task!]

Gu Rong patted his little tummy, leaned against Laifu, lay there for two minutes, then, with a “Heh!”, performed a carp jump and sprang up from the ground.

Gu Rong clenched his little fists, his face full of fighting spirit: [Okay! Do task, earn points!]

006 couldn’t help but smile.

The [Little Jiangshi King] card’s usage time could be accumulated. Gu Rong had already used half an hour.

Now, he used the [Little Jiangshi King] card again, mentally summoning the other 13 Jiangshi.

He even knew to tell the big Jiangshi to sneak in through the back door, not to alert the grass and startle the snake (idiom: don’t act rashly and alert the enemy), disturbing the others.

Soon, the Jiangshi arrived. They broke straight through the door, came before Gu Rong, and knelt down in a rustling wave.

Gu Rong, tiny as he was, stood before these Jiangshi, both small hands clenched into little fists.

Laifu, seeing these Jiangshi, was still somewhat timid. It hid behind Gu Rong, only poking out its dog head.

006 said: [Little host, these Jiangshi have already gained intelligence. They definitely know how they died. Why don’t we ask them? Maybe we can find out the connection between them and the gold bars.]

Gu Rong nodded: [Okay!]

Gu Rong didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly: “How did you die?”

The Jiangshi chattered, dozens of hands flailing wildly, gesturing even faster than Gu Rong could.

Jiangshi couldn’t speak, only gesture. Fortunately, Gu Rong had learned some gestures. He watched their gestures seriously with his little face… watched for a long time… Good grief, he couldn’t understand at all.

Gu Rong had only learned the basics of gestures, hadn’t mastered them. Overly complex gestures confused him.

006 asked: [Little host, what are they gesturing?]

Gu Rong scratched his head: [Bu ji dao ya.] (Don’t know.)

006: […]

006 thought for a moment and said: [Why don’t we ask Daoist Priest Zhao to take a look? Maybe he can understand.]

Gu Rong said: [If Zaizai go find Daoist Brother, Big Jiangshi run away!]

His [Little Jiangshi King] card had a time limit; he couldn’t use it indefinitely.

Gu Rong quickly thought of a good solution: [Got it! Zaizai learn Big Jiangshi gestures, show Daoist Brother!]

006 praised: [Little host is so smart! We just need to decipher these gestures. Showing Daoist Zhao is the same.]

Saying learn, he learned. Gu Rong’s little mind was indeed sharp. After two tries, he learned the gestures of these big Jiangshi, mimicking them quite well.

No time to delay, Gu Rong turned around, wanting to go find Zhao Jiuquan and the others.

006 quickly said: [Little host, the Jiangshi teeth! Haven’t taken the teeth yet!]

Gu Rong: [Oh.]

Gu Rong ordered the big Jiangshi to obediently offer up their teeth.

The Jiangshi were also quick. Kacha, they broke off their sharp fangs, seemingly feeling no pain, and respectfully presented the teeth with both hands.

Gu Rong took the teeth. Now all the Jiangshi teeth were in hand, gaining another 1.3 million points.

Just from Jiangshi teeth alone, Gu Rong had earned 2 million points.

Gu Rong happily shook his head, his little face beaming.

006 said: [2 million points obtained! Even if we can’t figure out the relationship between the gold bars and the Jiangshi, we can still clear the instance at any time.]

Gu Rong, however, was clear-headed. In a tender voice, he said: [Zaizai still needs to get the Devil’s Key, so Lord Devil doesn’t eat Zaizai! You forgot?]

006: […Little host is right!]

–

Gu Rong moved carefully, using cover all the way, not daring to show his head openly.

The mountain area was full of grass, trees, and rocks. Gu Rong was small; squatting anywhere, even his shadow couldn’t be seen. Exceptionally good at hiding.

The group was still in the previous location, having not moved.

The coffins were also there. Gu Rong hid behind a coffin, carefully poking out half his little head, secretly observing the group.

Wu Sandeng had Jiangshi poison; he didn’t seem to care much. He stood by the edge of a mountain stream, staring blankly into it, lost in thought.

Shen Hanxiao’s skin had already turned somewhat green, his eyes dark like panda eyes. The Jiangshi poison was spreading rapidly.

Zhao Jiuquan was boiling glutinous rice porridge for him.

Glutinous rice couldn’t completely detoxify, but it could temporarily suppress the poison.

Gu Rong scanned the group and quickly saw Shen Hanxiao: [Little Brother poisoned!]

006 said: [Not good! He has Jiangshi poison! He must use Jiangshi teeth to detoxify! Otherwise, in 24 hours at the latest, he will completely turn into a Jiangshi.]

If a player completely turns into a Jiangshi, they will be permanently trapped in the instance.

Although it was said to be 24 hours, transformation could happen at any time, possibly within a few hours, depending on individual constitution.

Gu Rong had the Jiangshi teeth from 20 large Jiangshi, a total of 40 teeth.

Gu Rong said tenderly: [Zaizai have Jiangshi teeth, give Little Brother detoxify!]

006 said: [Little host, giving those Jiangshi teeth to Little Brother will cost 100,000 points per pair to be deducted.]

Gu Rong asked: [Then, Little Brother dies, what do?]

Although Gu Rong was small, Big Brother and Little Brother were good to him. He already considered them his real brothers. Naturally, he couldn’t stand by and watch one die without helping.

006 thought the same. The little host couldn’t possibly watch Shen Hanxiao turn into a Jiangshi and be trapped forever in this instance as an NPC.

Players becoming NPCs was different from Gu Rong. Gu Rong was a non-fixed NPC and could leave instances. But players, once turned into NPCs, would remain as NPCs in that specific instance for eternity, unable to escape.

Gu Rong didn’t reveal himself directly. Instead, he picked up a few small pebbles from the ground and sneakily threw them towards Zhuang Yu’s trio to attract their attention.

Gu Rong had great strength. The pebbles landed right at Zhao Jiuquan’s feet.

Zhao Jiuquan was alert and immediately looked up towards Gu Rong’s hiding place.

Gu Rong peeked out from behind the coffin, quickly making hand gestures towards Zhao Jiuquan, telling them to come over quickly.

Knowing sign language had this advantage: when speaking wasn’t convenient, a gesture could convey meaning silently and stealthily.

Zhao Jiuquan immediately understood Gu Rong’s meaning. He put down the iron spoon stirring the glutinous rice porridge, and turned to signal Zhuang Yu and Shen Hanxiao.

–

A few minutes later, the trio and the cub met in the room where Gu Rong had hidden earlier.

Laifu squatted on the ground; the large Jiangshi had already left.

Gu Rong didn’t waste words and immediately started making hand gestures, hopping back and forth, left and right, while gesturing.

Zhuang Yu and Shen Hanxiao didn’t understand what Gu Rong was gesturing, but they were utterly charmed by him.

Zhao Jiuquan, however, watched intently, his expression growing serious. It seemed he understood Gu Rong’s gestures.

Gu Rong had a good memory. He mimicked all the gestures he had learned from the large Jiangshi, drawing them from memory. After finishing, he panted tiredly and wiped his little forehead with his small sleeve.

Shen Hanxiao was poisoned, and his face looked quite comical, but he himself felt alright, not too serious.

He crossed his arms and joked, “You little ghost, what kind of Tai Chi was that you were performing?”

Gu Rong frowned his little eyebrows and spread his small hands: “Zaizai also bu ji dao ya!” (Don’t know!)

Shen Hanxiao: “…”

Gu Rong said: “Asked Big Jiangshi who killed them, Big Jiangshi gestured, I also don’t understand!” His little expression was very aggrieved.

Zhuang Yu and Shen Hanxiao exchanged a glance. Zhao Jiuquan was thoughtful.

Shen Hanxiao asked: “Senior brother, what did those hand signs mean? Did you understand?”

Zhao Jiuquan nodded, then shook his head again.

Meaning: Understood, but too many words, he didn’t want to speak.

Shen Hanxiao: “…”

Gu Rong also understood Zhao Jiuquan’s meaning. He blinked his eyes, clasped his small hands, tilted his neckless little head, looked at Zhao Jiuquan, then looked towards Big Brother and Little Brother.

Seeing Shen Hanxiao’s increasingly green face, Gu Rong temporarily put the gestures aside. He took out two Jiangshi teeth from his system backpack, ran dadada over, and handed them to Shen Hanxiao: “Little Brother, Zaizai has Jiangshi teeth! Save Little Brother!”

Seeing Gu Rong take out two Jiangshi teeth, Shen Hanxiao was stunned, then his heart was overwhelmed with emotion.

Zhuang Yu and Zhao Jiuquan also looked at Gu Rong, moved.

Gu Rong deserved to be doted on. Just looking at his obedient, kind-hearted, cute little appearance, who wouldn’t dote on him excessively?

The aunties in the livestream chat were almost crying their eyes out. Zaizai really is the best cub in the whole world!

Shen Hanxiao immediately picked Gu Rong up, tossed him in the air, and laughed heartily: “You little ghost! Little Brother didn’t spoil you for nothing! After clearing this instance, I’ll give all the points I earned to you!”

Gu Rong’s eyes lit up. He was absolutely not vague when it came to points. He hugged Shen Hanxiao’s head with his small hands and accepted without ceremony: “Thank you, Little Brother!”

Zhao Jiuquan, perhaps moved by Gu Rong saving his junior brother with Jiangshi teeth, after a brief silence, finally spoke: “I write.”

The two adults and one cub: “?”

006: […]

Livestream Chat: […]

You’re really something else!