Re-selecting was impossible. Lin Xingchi could only accept his fate and lead Gu Lin to room 44.

The room was on the second floor. The hotel furniture was mostly wooden, vintage and old, and under the dim lighting, it further emphasized the haunted house vibe.

They walked through the wooden corridor, all the way to the end of the corridor, before finding room 44.

Even the room’s location was remote and desolate.

Lin Xingchi had just raised his hand, about to swipe the card to enter the room, when a passing spider brazenly drifted across the door panel.

Lin Xingchi: “…”

Lin Xingchi was terrified of these kinds of bugs – spiders, cockroaches, rats, snakes, anything like that. Just looking at them made his scalp tingle, and goosebumps quickly crawled up his arms.

However, the next second, there was a scene that shattered his worldview even more.

He saw the little cub, who only reached his knees, daringly stretch out his soft, fleshy little hand and quickly and accurately pinch the spider, which wasn’t slow either.

Lin Xingchi: “…………”

Holy crap!!!

How else could you explain it? The fastest speed in the world was a child’s hand speed. He hadn’t even seen clearly what had happened before the thumb-sized black spider was already in Gu Lin’s hand.

This scene, completely beyond Lin Xingchi’s comprehension, made him feel unwell.

Gu Lin, however, didn’t notice his reaction. Pinching the chubby spider, he brought it up to his eyes for a look, then pulled on Lin Xingchi’s fingers, holding it up for him to see, showing it off like a treasure: “Dagege, zhuzhu.”

Lin Xingchi: “……………….”

Ahhhhh, don’t come near me!!!

9527: …Good heavens, little streamer, what are you doing?!

*

[Ahhhhh, who understands, family!! Holy crap!!!]

[Wow, grabbing a spider with his bare hands?]

[At this moment, I deeply empathize with Lin Xingchi. I feel so sorry for him. That must have scared him half to death!]

[Wuwuwu, auntie’s good cub, your dagege is about to be scared to death by your zhuzhu. Be good, throw it away quickly!]

[Cub, be good, don’t want that one, don’t want it. Auntie will buy you a toy zhuzhu to play with [Reward Points x100]]

[Cub, remember to wash your hands after you go inside]

[What are you panicking about? I’m not panicking. The cub didn’t even put it in his mouth. What’s wrong with pinching it?]

Thinking of how children would eat anything, the aunties collectively panicked.

Could someone please put a “Do not eat” label on it?

But the cub was so young, he couldn’t even count, let alone read. They cried.

Before Lin Xingchi could spit out white foam and roll his eyes, he raised his hand and flicked the big spider out of Gu Lin’s hand.

After flicking it away, Lin Xingchi’s face was ashen. He felt that this hand was contaminated and couldn’t be saved.

If he hadn’t been worried about hurting Gu Lin, he would never have touched it directly.

Gu Lin let out an “Eh” and bent down to look for it on the ground.

Where was zhuzhu?

Gu Lin didn’t have a father, didn’t have a mother, didn’t have friends, only gege.

But gege not only had to take care of him but also had to work hard to support the two of them, and couldn’t play with him every day.

With no one to play with, Gu Lin could only play with other small animals. He used to play with zhuzhu often and really liked playing with zhuzhu. He had always considered zhuzhu a friend.

But he still had to find the little pearls. It wasn’t convenient to bring zhuzhu along. He’d wait until he found the little pearls, and then he’d go find his friends to play with.

The livestream panel could be hidden and wouldn’t appear in front of him all the time.

Gu Lin didn’t see the aunties’ bullet comments, so he didn’t know that dagege was almost scared to death by his zhuzhu.

–

After entering the room, Lin Xingchi’s first act was to take Gu Lin to wash his hands.

Fortunately, the room had a separate bathroom, and there was even hand soap on the sink. Lin Xingchi carefully washed both of their hands several times before breathing a sigh of relief.

Half of his life, which had died, was now revived.

After washing their hands, Lin Xingchi put Gu Lin on the bed and began to observe the entire room.

The room had two beds, a table, and two chairs, and nothing else.

It looked very normal; nothing seemed wrong to the naked eye.

Gu Lin was also very well-behaved. While dagege inspected the room, he sat on the bed with his short legs crossed, opened his Ultraman backpack, and prepared to find a bag of snacks to eat.

Seeing the lollipop Ye Yuhan had given him earlier, Gu Lin’s little face became sad. He put the lollipop back in his backpack and didn’t eat it.

If he had kicked the big bad guy away sooner, then jiejie wouldn’t have died.

Gu Lin was still young, after all. Emotions came and went quickly. Soon, his attention was focused on eating again.

He took out a bag of Mimi shrimp crackers.

9527 said considerately: [Little streamer, eating too many snacks isn’t good. Do you want me to buy you a bottle of naimnai to drink?]

Gu Lin’s little hand paused, his little brow furrowed in a moment of internal struggle. Thinking that gege also didn’t allow him to eat too many snacks, he compromised: [Okay then.]

After putting it back, Gu Lin carefully zipped up his little backpack and even patted this, his only possession, with his little hand, as if it were very precious.

9527: …

Lin Xingchi finished inspecting the bathroom and returned to the bedside. He saw Gu Lin sitting on the bed with his short legs crossed, drinking milk and pulling at the threads on the quilt.

Lin Xingchi: “…”

Just get used to it.

What else could he do with such a small cub besides letting him eat?

Lin Xingchi went to check the window, pulling open the curtains and looking at the street outside.

Outside, people and fish were coming and going, bustling with activity.

He didn’t know how these Split-Tail Mermaids and humans coexisted peacefully. Although it was strange, it was strangely harmonious.

Gu Lin finished a bottle of milk in one go, yawned, threw the empty bottle into the trash can next to the bed, rolled onto the bed, and patted his own little tummy, preparing to lull himself to shuijiao (sleep).

He was also humming some tunes, like a lullaby, but he was so out of tune that it was impossible to tell what tune it was.

He could even lull himself to sleep?

9527 couldn’t help but ask: [Little streamer, what are you humming?]

Gu Lin hummed as he answered 9527: [Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.]

9527 was stunned: [The one that goes “Twinkle, twinkle, little star”?]

Gu Lin: [Yes.]

9527: …

If you listened closely…it really didn’t sound like it.

Lin Xingchi looked at the street outside for a while. He had a faint feeling that the Split-Tail Mermaids here were abnormal. They looked different from the mermaids in popular perception, and it seemed like there was a big secret hidden behind them.

And if they wanted to complete the mission, they had to uncover this secret.

But for now, everything was still unknown.

As for how to obtain the mermaid’s tears, it was hard to say.

Those mermaids all wore exaggerated smiles, which was the opposite of what the players wanted, which was for them to cry. The mermaids in the fog had completely white eyeballs. Normally, they looked normal, but what if they looked normal but couldn’t cry?

Lin Xingchi suppressed his thoughts, withdrew his gaze, and turned his head. He saw that Gu Lin, who had been sitting on the bed drinking milk, was now lying on his side on the bed, a small ball, already fast asleep.

Lin Xingchi: “…”

Stay calm.

What else could he do with such a small cub besides letting him eat his fill and sleep?

Lin Xingchi was startled, realizing belatedly, wasn’t this just “eat well, drink well, shuijiao well”?

“…” Wow!

Livestream:

[Hahaha, the cub does nothing but eat and sleep, a proper little piglet]

[He’s also lazy. He’s been carried by dagege almost the entire way. Apart from when he walked up the stairs earlier, he hasn’t taken many steps]

[Wuwuwu, the cub is so cute even when he sleeps. He even lulls himself to shuijiao. He’s so cute it’s deadly!]

[Have you aunties all heard clearly what song the cub was humming? Forgive my deaf ears, I couldn’t make it out for a moment]

[I couldn’t make it out either. It’s probably a song the cub made up himself, haha] [Good cub, sleep soundly. Auntie is right here guarding you]

Even though the little cub was sleeping, the aunties in the livestream chat didn’t leave. They were all guarding the little cub while he slept.

–

Gu Lin was woken up by hunger. His stomach had been growling in his sleep.

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up. The little treasure was a little dazed for a moment. He looked at the unfamiliar room, his expression blank, before he remembered that he was in the game, not at home.

He had just shuijiao’d and dreamed of a lot of yuyu, all the ugly yuyu from the fog.

Those ugly yuyu were all chasing after him.

It was foggy all around, but it didn’t affect Gu Lin’s vision. Seeing those ugly yuyu attacking him, Gu Lin kicked them one by one, kicking yuyu for a long time.

Then, kicking and kicking, he got hungry, and getting hungry, he woke up.

Gu Lin saw Lin Xingchi lying on the other bed, also asleep. He called out softly, “Dagege,” but got no response.

Dagege seemed to be sleeping very soundly, not making a sound.

Gu Lin hung his little head, clutching his empty little tummy, and asked 9527 pitifully: [Can I chi fanfan now? Cub’s tummy is hungry!]

9527: [It’s only ten o’clock now, it’s not mealtime yet, little streamer. Do you want me to buy you another bottle of naimnai?]

Gu Lin’s little face became even more aggrieved, and he pouted: [Cub wants to chi fanfan!]

9527: …

Ever since entering the game, Gu Lin had basically been in a constant state of hunger.

Although he had eaten a lot in the canteen earlier, as an auspicious beast, yanking hair in the canteen and kicking Scarface flying with one foot were both very energy-consuming. He had also kicked ugly fish for a long time in his dream, and his energy had been almost completely depleted.

That Black-Faced Shushu said that lunch wouldn’t be until twelve o’clock, but he was already so hungry his stomach was growling.

He was usually well-nourished by his gege. He could eat snacks occasionally, but when Gu Lin was really hungry, only a proper meal could fill him up.

Just then, Gu Lin’s little expression changed, his little ears twitched, and suddenly, a gleam appeared in his eyes.

9527: …

Gu Lin, with his excellent hearing, twitched his little ears again, listening carefully for a moment. Then, using both his hands and feet, he crawled on the bed, crawling to the edge of the bed.

The bed was relatively high, and his feet couldn’t touch the ground. He lay on the bed and whoosh slid to the ground.

He performed this series of actions clumsily yet efficiently, making 9527 and the aunties in the livestream chat nervous and anxious. They didn’t know what the little cub was going to do.

After getting off the bed, Gu Lin deng deng deng ran to the window.

But the window was also too high. Without dagege holding him, his little body couldn’t reach it at all.

Gu Lin furrowed his little brow, so anxious he was spinning in place.

9527: …

Livestream: …

Gu Lin turned around twice and saw the chairs and table nearby.

His little brain lit up. He immediately pulled the table and chairs over. Fortunately, the little cub was relatively strong, and he easily pulled the table and chairs to the window.

Despite this, Lin Xingchi still wasn’t woken up.

His small physique limited Gu Lin’s capabilities.

For an adult, just standing by the window would allow them to see the scene outside, but he had to go through a lot of effort. He finally climbed from the floor to the chair, and from the chair to the table.

During this process, his little body wobbled, and he almost fell several times, making 9527 and the aunties in the livestream chat incredibly anxious, holding their breath.

What was the little cub suddenly doing? What did he want to do?

Soon they knew.

Gu Lin climbed onto the table and finally, through the window, saw the scene on the street outside the hotel.

People and fish were mixed on the street. Gu Lin’s eyes lit up, staring at a certain figure. He pointed a little hand, his childish voice filled with excitement: “Scooter-gege!!”

9527: …

Livestream: …

He’d gone through all that trouble, not even caring about eating. Turns out he was thinking about someone else’s scooter?!

Gu Lin’s movements were quick but the steps were complicated. He tululued from the table to the chair, and from the chair tululued to the ground.

He was afraid that Scooter-gege would ride away and he wouldn’t be able to catch up. He quickly put on his Ultraman backpack, spread his short legs, and rushed straight for the door.

9527: [Little streamer, what are you going to do?]

Gu Lin: [Cub wants to ride cheche too!]

His tone was full of longing, making it clear that he really wanted to ride the other person’s scooter.

He had seen Scooter-gege on the street earlier and wanted to ride the young man’s scooter, but at that time he was a little sleepy and wanted to shuijiao first.

He had already shuijiao’d, so now he could ride cheche.

The doorknob wasn’t too high. Gu Lin jumped up, grabbed it with both hands, his feet leaving the ground, his entire little body hanging from it.

With his weight of over twenty jin, plus the weight of the Ultraman backpack filled with snacks, he pulled down hard on the doorknob, quickly opening the door.

Gu Lin was very experienced in how to open doors.

When gege wasn’t home, if he wanted to go out, he would open the door like this. He had practiced it many times.

9527 was dumbfounded watching his series of actions. Gu Lin had used all his strength just now, probably even the strength he used to feed.

And Lin Xingchi, who was asleep, frowned, looking like he was struggling, as if fighting against something, but he wasn’t successful and fell back into a deep sleep.