Gu Lin wanted to go to the guild for a free meal, and the others, after thinking about it, decided to go along.

Free food, why not?

At this moment, however, Lin Xingchi said, “Sorry, I might have to go back to Mermaid Town. I won’t be joining you for the meal.”

Others: “…”

The others were stunned for a moment, and then surprised.

Why was Lin Xingchi speaking like this? Why did his tone suddenly change?

No, that wasn’t the point. The point was, they had just barely escaped Mermaid Town with their lives, and now he was voluntarily going back. Was he crazy?

Su Qiao was also dumbfounded: “Huh? You’re going back into the Mermaid Town instance?”

Lin Xingchi smiled: “Yeah, I left something there.”

Hearing him say this, Su Qiao remembered that Zhuang Mu-xiaoge had seemed to give him a pearl before he died, asking him to give it to the dumpling. But he didn’t seem to have given it!

Could it be that he had dropped the pearl?

Yu Youmian had already given Gu Lin a pearl, but that was the other person’s dying wish, of great significance.

Zhuang Mu had also saved his life!

Lin Xingchi wanted to go back and retrieve the pearl, although it wouldn’t be the same one, but it would make him feel a little better.

Su Qiao sighed, patted him on the shoulder: “Go ahead. After all, it’s a life-saving grace. I understand you.”

Lin Xingchi: “…”

Gu Lin was still being held. Hearing that dagege was going back to Mermaid Town, he volunteered to get down.

Lin Xingchi placed him on the ground.

Gu Lin raised his little face: “Dagege, after you go back, help me say hello to Mayor-yeye, Doctor-shushu, and Zhuang Mu-gege. Cub will always miss them!”

He didn’t know that the instance would refresh, and the NPCs wouldn’t remember the players.

Lin Xingchi’s eyes flickered slightly, and he raised his hand to rub his fluffy little head.

Wu Jin raised an eyebrow, looking at him: “Entering the same instance requires spending points, and even if you clear it, you won’t get any points for a high ranking, only audience reward points. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair to new players.”

Very few players would enter the same instance twice, because the gains didn’t outweigh the losses.

In order to maintain the game’s balance, the system would also set up some specific challenges targeting that player.

In short, unless a player was out of their mind, no one would willingly enter the same instance twice.

Moreover, what he didn’t say was that in the Mermaid Town instance, Yu Youmian had never shed a tear.

This was the only time a player had obtained a pearl.

Yu Youmian gave Zhuang Mu a pearl, for him to give to Gu Lin. Yu Youmian also personally gave Gu Lin a pearl. Two pearls were all for Gu Lin.

As soon as the players exited the instance, the Starry Sky Guild had rushed ahead of the Deep Sea Guild to snatch people, not only because this human cub was jade-like and cute, but mainly because this little mengwa‘s combat power was very strong.

No one had ever obtained a pearl, but he had. This was enough to prove this little cub’s strength.

Lin Xingchi smiled, not explaining, and crouched down in front of Gu Lin, saying, “Kid, gege can’t carry you anymore. Can you walk by yourself?”

Gu Lin tilted his little head and said, “Why do you call me kid, just like Zhuang Mu-gege?”

Lin Xingchi: “…Dumpling?”

Gu Lin’s voice was crisp and tender: “Cub’s legs have turned back, and cub can walk by himself.”

Others: “…”

Just how many steps had he taken in total!

Lin Xingchi insisted on going to the Mermaid Town instance, and the others couldn’t say anything.

After Lin Xingchi left, the players turned to look at Gu Lin again, and found that this little cub was already standing on a small scooter.

The scooter was small, and Gu Lin was also small. The scooter was simply tailor-made for Gu Lin.

Everyone: “…”

Uh, what about walking by himself?

Where did this scooter come from?

–

Lin Xingchi walked to the game login entrance.

At this time, another mocking voice sounded in his mind: “Hypocrite!”

Lin Xingchi… No, it should be said, Zhuang Mu.

Zhuang Mu smiled: “Yeah, no NPC doesn’t want to usurp a player’s identity.”

Lin Xingchi: “…Then why didn’t you just do a soul exchange directly?”

Zhuang Mu’s smile remained, but he didn’t answer this question.

Lin Xingchi was silent for a long time, his voice tinged with anger: “So, you went to all that trouble to find a pearl for the dumpling, not out of kindness, but because you were targeting the dumpling from the beginning, wanting to use the pearl to usurp his player identity?”

Good heavens, what sinister intentions.

He originally thought he was a beautiful and kind-hearted xiaogege, but he turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

This question also went unanswered.

However, the smile on Zhuang Mu’s face faded.

Lin Xingchi said, “How do you know that I won’t regain control of my body?”

Zhuang Mu: “You’re too weak, little friend.”

Lin Xingchi was stunned. After a moment, he snorted coldly: “I’m older than you, stop acting so mature.”

Zhuang Mu smiled, not saying anything else.

Seeing that he was about to log into the game, Lin Xingchi couldn’t help but ask, “I thought you left Mermaid Town because you hated that place. I didn’t expect you to willingly choose to go back. So what did you come out for?”

Zhuang Mu was silent for a moment, then answered irrelevantly: “I heard that as long as you have enough points, you can fulfill any wish.”

Players risked their lives to go through instances and earn points precisely because as long as they had enough points, they could exchange them for anything.

Reaching a certain number of points, you could fulfill any wish.

Yu Youmian was like a god to the mermaids of Mermaid Town.

Zhuang Mu was also once a mermaid of Mermaid Town.

He just wanted to save his god.

–

The scooter was very small. Gu Lin had one little foot on the scooter and the other little foot on the ground, kicking his little short leg with a surprising purpose, and he was quite skilled.

The others, seeing this, were all charmed by the scene of the little cub riding the scooter.

Su Qiao followed closely behind him, afraid he would fall.

9527: [Little streamer, this is an electric scooter. It can run on its own, oh.]

Gu Lin, while kicking his little leg, said, [How does it run on its own?]

9527 told him to put both feet on the scooter and then told him to hold onto the handlebars.

Gu Lin obediently grasped the handlebars.

9527 helped him turn on the electric switch.

The next second, the scooter, carrying Gu Lin, “whoosh” darted out.

Gu Lin: ?

9527: ?!

Everyone: ???

Su Qiao was startled, and couldn’t even call out: “Linlin, Linlin!!”

She hurried to chase after him, but couldn’t catch up for a while.

The other players, after being stunned, also hurried to chase after him.

Wu Jin and Wu Lan exchanged a glance, both dumbfounded.

Gu Lin’s little hands were small, but his strength was great. He held on tightly and didn’t fall, but he couldn’t control the direction.

The scooter seemed to have a mind of its own, taking Gu Lin into the crowd.

Everywhere he went, everyone turned to look at him, all looking in surprise at this little cub riding a scooter by himself.

So small, riding so fast? This was almost like taking off!

Fortunately, the game lobby was very large and the ground was very flat. The scooter didn’t encounter any obstacles.

But soon, a step appeared ahead.

Gu Lin didn’t know how to stop, and 9527 was startled, immediately applying the emergency brake for him.

At the last moment, before hitting the step, the scooter stopped.

The rear part of the scooter, carrying Gu Lin, tilted up half a meter into the air, then “thump” landed steadily.

Players: “…………”

Su Qiao hurried over: “Dumpling, are you okay?”

Gu Lin jumped down from the scooter, surprisingly not frightened, and said, “The cheche ran too fast.”

The scooter was an instance item, and of very good quality.

Su Qiao, seeing that he was fine, breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: “You stand on it, and jiejie will pull you.”

Gu Lin showed a smile, sweetly thanking: “Thank you, jiejie.”

For the rest of the journey, Gu Lin stood on the scooter, and Su Qiao pulled the scooter.

She didn’t have Lin Xingchi’s strength, and carrying a little chubby baby all the way would probably be too much for her. Having a scooter made things much easier.

Soon they arrived at the Starry Sky Guild canteen.

The canteen was very large, with a rich variety of dishes. The players, upon seeing it, couldn’t help but sigh. As expected of one of the largest guilds in the game, even the canteen was like a hotel.

As soon as he saw the food, Gu Lin dengdengdeng ran over.

After getting their food, everyone sat down together.

Wu Lan pushed over a baby chair: “This is a baby chair specially tailored for our guild’s little players, oh.”

Everyone: “?”

Were they this considerate?

Song Ran picked up Gu Lin and placed him in the baby chair. It was a perfect fit.

Sitting in the baby chair was more convenient for Gu Lin than sitting in a regular chair. The baby chair also had a small table attached, where his child-sized meal tray could be placed.

The child’s meal tray was also specially made for Gu Lin by the Starry Sky Guild, and it had cartoon designs on it.

Wu Lan brought over a small bib. The pattern on the small bib was actually Ultraman, catering perfectly to his preferences.

“This is also specially made for our little players,” Wu Lan said with a smile. “There are many other styles of bibs.”

Su Qiao tied the small bib around the cub’s neck.

Gu Lin’s system backpack also had a bib, the one Yu Youmian had hand-sewn for him, which had been put away by 9527.

The baby chair and the small bib had been rushed out by the Starry Sky Guild, in order to snatch the child. When they had been watching the instance and heard the Mermaid Town Mayor mention it, they immediately had someone make them.

As soon as Gu Lin saw Ultraman, his eyes lit up. He pointed his little finger at the Ultraman on the bib and said in a childish voice, “Aoteman.”

Everyone: “…”

What man?

Song Ran: “Forgive my poor eyesight, but isn’t that a genuine Ultraman?”

Gu Lin tilted his head: “Yes, it’s a genuine Aoteman.”

Song Ran: “…”

Alright, you win.

Song Ran turned his head, looking at Wu Jin and Wu Lan, and couldn’t help but ask in confusion: “Why did you go to the trouble of rushing out a baby chair and bib? Are there no children in the whole game? Is this little ghost the only child?”

Wu Lan paused, then smiled and said, “Well, so far, I’ve only seen this one little player. The youngest before was 16 years old.”

The players looked at each other, their confusion growing even deeper.

Su Qiao said, “There were no children in the Mermaid Town instance either. Are there children in other instances?”

Currently, Gu Lin was the only young player in the game. What about the NPCs in the instances?

Wu Jin picked up the thread of conversation and said, “Well, you’ll know once you enter a few more instances. However, if you join our guild, not only this information, but much more, we will share.”

Hearing him say this, everyone was silent for a moment, then lowered their heads and concentrated on eating.

Wu Jin: “…”

–

After finishing the meal, Song Ran and Su Qiao didn’t want to join the guild. Gu Lin would go where jiejie went; Su Qiao wasn’t joining, so he wasn’t either.

Li Nan and Xia Xue wanted to join, but the guild didn’t want them.

Li Nan said, “Well, I’ll be going first. I’ll see if any other guilds will take me. We’ll meet again sometime.”

After leaving the game, it was rare to travel together.

Soon Xia Xue also left.

Finally, Song Ran, Su Qiao, and one little cub were left.

Song Ran said, “Are you going to enter another instance, or rest for a couple of days?”

Su Qiao thought for a moment, touched Gu Lin’s little head, and said, “The Mermaid Town instance only took three days, and Lin Xingchi is entering the instance a second time. He should be out soon. Linlin and I will wait for him for a bit.”

She asked for Gu Lin’s opinion: “Dumpling, shall we wait for dagege?”

Gu Lin nodded emphatically: “Mm-hmm, wait for dagege!”

Song Ran said, “But what if he can’t clear the instance…”

Under Su Qiao’s glare, Song Ran coughed, spread his hands, and said, “Alright, alright. The time flow in the rest stop is different from the instance. In the time it took us to eat a meal, the game could have cycled through dozens of times.”

Su Qiao was stunned: “Are we in a rest stop now?”

Song Ran nodded: “Except for the game lobby, time flows very slowly in other places.”

Su Qiao frowned and said, “Then Lin Xingchi should have come out of the instance a long time ago. Why hasn’t he come to find us?”

Song Ran also didn’t speak. That’s why he had just wondered if Lin Xingchi hadn’t cleared the instance.

Su Qiao’s expression was solemn: “I’m going back to the game lobby to take a look.”

Song Ran nodded, deciding to go with them.

The two adults and one child walked towards the game lobby.

Just as they reached the game lobby, they heard several players loudly complaining: “Holy crap, there’s an idiot named Lin Xingchi who keeps going through the Mermaid Town instance. I don’t know what he’s getting out of it, he’s already run it more than a dozen times.”

“He’ll be out of the game soon. Barring any unexpected events, he’ll definitely choose Mermaid Town next time. Come on, come on, let’s make a bet, place your bets!”

“But why is he so obsessed?”

“Haha, I don’t know. Maybe he fell in love with a mermaid? Or maybe he’s been bewitched. Otherwise, I really can’t understand the point of him constantly running the same instance.”

“Hey, it seems like the Mermaid Town instance is missing the mermaid NPC named Zhuang Mu. I don’t know why, but he suddenly disappeared from the instance!”

–

Su Qiao and Song Ran exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other’s eyes.

They had just reached the game login exit when, less than two minutes later, Lin Xingchi came out.

He was covered in injuries, but the wounds healed at a visible speed. Once he exited the game, the wounds automatically healed.

He nonchalantly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, turned his head, saw Gu Lin and the other two, and was stunned for a moment.

Zhuang Mu, possessing Lin Xingchi’s body, saw Gu Lin and smiled gently, walking towards him.

Gu Lin stretched out his little short arms to him: “Dagege.”

Zhuang Mu was about to pick him up, but Gu Lin just gave him a hug. The little cub was very considerate: “Dagege is hurt, don’t carry cub.”

Zhuang Mu was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and smiled.

Su Qiao and Song Ran both looked at him with complicated expressions.

Song Ran said, “You’re trapped in an instance and can’t get out. You’re not going to enter Mermaid Town again, are you?”

Zhuang Mu nodded, his tone casual, his eyes seeming to be covered with a layer of mist that was difficult to see through: “Yeah.”

Song Ran: “…”

Su Qiao: “…”

Zhuang Mu didn’t say much to them. After saying goodbye to the dumpling, he quickly left again.

Seeing Zhuang Mu enter the Mermaid Town instance again, Song Ran couldn’t help but say, “This is too hardcore.”

Su Qiao: “?”

Are you sure this is hardcore and not insane?

Song Ran decided to enter a new instance.

Su Qiao thought for a moment, then felt that staying in the rest stop was also boring. Anyway, she didn’t need to wait for Lin Xingchi anymore, so she asked Gu Lin: “Dumpling, shall we enter an instance?”

Gu Lin was a little disappointed because dagege had left, but his emotions came and went quickly.

Gu Lin nodded: “Mm-hmm, enter instance!”

He actually didn’t understand what entering an instance meant. He was even more like someone just there to fill the numbers than the Double-Cap Big Shot.

The two adults and one child walked to the game login entrance. They were about to let Gu Lin choose one, then remembered the 44th room Gu Lin’s little hand had grabbed before.

However, the number 44 was only considered bad by them, but in reality, nothing had happened. It wasn’t any worse than other rooms with lucky numbers.

Superstition about numbers was unacceptable.

Su Qiao said, “Let’s let Linlin choose.”

Song Ran had no objections and picked up the little cub.

Gu Lin was fleshy and quite sturdy. Song Ran said, “Little ghost, pick a simple instance that we can clear with our eyes closed. If you pick well, shushu will buy you candy.”

Su Qiao: “…”

This was too much pressure on the cub.

Choosing an instance was very simple. If a player had a specific instance they wanted to enter, like Zhuang Mu, they could directly pay a certain amount of points to enter. If there was no specific instance, then they had to choose blindly.

Entering a new instance didn’t require spending points.

At the game login entrance, there was a super large screen, with countless instances scrolling on it.

The terminal was connected to a small touch screen, and players could choose an instance through the small screen.

Gu Lin obediently let Uncle Song Ran hold him. Being a brave little cub, he wasn’t hesitant or nervous at all. His little hand randomly touched the screen, and then the screen stopped.

A card popped out, flipped over, revealing an image. It depicted skeletons, butterflies, roses, and withered trees, a multitude of overlapping elements.

It was eerie with a hint of beauty, and beautiful with a hint of eeriness and horror.

The skeleton’s eyeballs were even rolling around, looking at the two adults and one child.

Song Ran: “…”

Su Qiao: “…”

Gu Lin saw that the skeleton’s eyeballs could move, and wanted to reach out his little hand to poke them.

The eyeballs seemed like bouncy balls.

The skeleton seemed to be able to see the players outside the screen, staring straight at this little cub, its gaze following his finger that wanted to poke its eyeballs.

Skeleton: “?”

The next second, the skeleton disappeared, and two large words slowly appeared on the card—Skeleton Kingdom.