By now, the unfortunate green host was probably still weeping somewhere.

Chu Changge nodded. "We do need their help for the time being, granted they may not be willing to aid us... but Gu Mian should have a way to make them submit."

At this, Gu Mian sounded incredibly righteous, "I never oppress others!"

"Alright," Chu Changge glanced out the window, "we can't drive any further right now. Let's take this opportunity to enter the instance. Gu Mian, seize any opportunity you can. Otherwise, you might be stabbed to death by other players."

Of course, Gu Mian didn't want to be stabbed to death by other players.

Yet, capturing a live ghost was much harder than capturing a dead one.

"Let me get this straight. You're not suggesting that I catch some ghost from the instance and bring it out with me, right?" Gu Mian sounded somewhat frustrated. And even if I wanted to, there's no guarantee I could actually bring one out.

Chu Changge nodded. "Correct. You don't need to capture ghosts. Just do what you usually do in the instance. Just be on the lookout for special items that are related to ghosts."

He stopped to consider for a moment before speaking again, "Like those IOUs from the Nine-headed Baby, or Pursuit Orders. Owning these types of special items can make ghosts surround you."

Though being surrounded by ghosts wasn't exactly something to be happy about...

Chu Changge continued, "Especially things like Pursuit Orders. There's already a ghost hunting you down. It hasn't shown up for quite a while because it's busy doing something else."

Fatty took a deep breath of the crisp air and began to complain, "Brother Chu, you know so much about this, it makes me think you're the ghost that's after the Doctor..."

Gu Mian was a little curious. "What is it doing?"

Chu Changge adjusted his glasses. "Remember that group of people who camped out beneath our hotel before the event started? The ones who were hostile towards us? Fatty caught footage of the ghost entering their tents, and the next day, people from the tents died."

"I was wondering back then, if that ghost's target was you, why would it attack other players? Later, halfway through the lantern riddle event, that cloaked man suddenly appeared and gave us a piece of information."

"He said there was someone with malicious intent following us during the event, and that person was also being followed by something that didn't seem alive. That 'something that didn't seem alive' is very likely the ghost that's hunting you."

"It was then that I suddenly realized something: all the players targeted by that ghost were people who could potentially pose a threat to you."

Upon hearing this, Gu Mian rubbed his chin. So, the ghost that was supposed to kill me not only didn't, but it even took care of everyone who was hostile towards me?

He spread his hands. "I don't think my handsome face made it abandon the dark side for the light."

Fatty couldn't help but spit. "I've never seen someone so shameless!"

Chu Changge ignored their banter and continued, "I suspect that because its mission is to kill you personally, it dealt with anyone who showed ill will towards you beforehand. If you were killed by someone else, it wouldn't be able to complete its mission."

"The reason it hasn't made a move against you yet might be because it's waiting for the right moment. It obviously understands that a rash move could lead to immediate mission failure."

Gu Mian was amused. This ghost is quite self-aware.

Chu Changge glanced at Gu Mian. "Don't laugh. That ghost could pop out and kill you at any moment, whether in an instance or in the real world."

"But let's set that aside for now. Your main threat currently comes from other players, so you still need to continue collecting these ghost-related special items. Once we find a way to enhance your physical abilities, you can stop..."

At this point, Chu Changge paused for a moment before continuing, "...collecting them."

Unfortunately, Fatty was incredibly tactless.

"'Done with the grinding, kill the donkey?'"

"Brother Chu, you were about to say, 'Done with the grinding, kill the donkey,' right?"

Chu Changge had already closed his mouth, seemingly unwilling to speak to the tactless Fatty.

"Alright," Gu Mian pressed down on Fatty's head, which was the only part of him protruding from the quilt. "Stop wailing. We'll enter an instance soon."

Recruiting thugs will probably be very difficult. I need to figure things out first.

And hopefully, I can use my invincible Doctor skills in the next instance.

At this moment, Gu Mian could already picture a teammate with a half-severed neck waiting for his treatment.

Once pinned down by Gu Mian, Fatty withdrew his head. "Entering an instance is great; it's warm inside."

After speaking, he subconsciously glanced out the window, only to find that the sporadic snowflakes had, at some point, turned into a heavy snowfall. Thick flakes, like goose feathers, were falling from the grey sky, twirling in the fierce wind as they descended.

If the snow continued at this rate, by the time they came out of the instance, the snow on the ground would likely reach their calves.

"Such heavy snow in March..."

Fatty shivered violently as he spoke, and looking at the heavy, feather-like snow outside seemed to make him feel even colder.

A few people were walking hurriedly nearby. The players venturing outside were all heavily bundled, almost wrapped into balls, with not even their faces exposed.

If they did reveal their faces, they would undoubtedly be haggard.

Everyone had assumed this cold snap would only last for a few days. Initially, almost everyone hid at home, waiting for the severe cold to pass.

Unexpectedly, the temperature just kept dropping, showing no signs of warming up.

Only now were people, driven by food scarcity, nervously leaving their homes, wanting to enter an instance.

"COUGH, COUGH—"

A desperate coughing sound suddenly came from not far away.

Listening to it made Fatty wince; it sounded as if the person was about to cough up their lungs.

The three of them looked towards the source of the sound. The coughing came from a middle-aged man, with a woman beside him, apparently his wife.

They were not far from their car.

The man was heavily bundled, though not as much as the woman beside him.

The woman was wrapped up like a cocoon, her figure entirely indistinguishable.

One could, however, make out a bit of the man's original build.

The woman was continuously patting the man's back, saying, "We're very close now. Just a little further, and we'll be there; it'll be warm then."

Her voice was low, but Gu Mian and the others could faintly hear her.

The man, who had been bent over coughing violently, straightened up. Without wasting time, he muttered an affirmative "mn" and pulled the person beside him, quickening his pace.

As they walked, the man covered his mouth with his other hand, seemingly suppressing a few more light coughs.

Vaguely, the three of them thought they heard the man say, "We need to hurry; Ruru is waiting for us at home."

Fatty's gaze remained fixed on their receding figures until the man and woman disappeared into the blizzard.

He spoke with a hint of worry, "Speaking of which, Doctor, haven't we seen a lot of sick people on our way here?"

That was a wild claim; Gu Mian and his group had only encountered a little over thirty people on their journey, hardly enough to be called "a lot."

Proportionally, however, the number of sick people did seem quite high.

Of the thirty-odd people, almost half had coughs, whether severe or mild. Of course, Gu Mian could only determine if they were sick by hearing them cough.

This was because the faces of the players on the street were almost all completely covered.

Of the four traditional diagnostic methods—observation, listening/smelling, inquiry, and palpation—Gu Mian could only manage the "listening" part.

Chu Changge withdrew his gaze. "This should be the flu... If it's more severe, then it's an epidemic."

Fatty shuddered.

Just then, Gu Mian suddenly opened the car door, "Those two people should be heading to an instance. If we follow them, we should be able to find the ticket booth."

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