While Feng Bujue and Passing Rain were exploring the mountain, Xiao Tan and Laughing Soul’s search was proceeding systematically. There was not a specific target to their search, and they had it quite easy. Even if they did not find anything at the end of the day, that could not be helped. That was the case with the scenarios in Thriller Paradise. If the player had a good attitude, they might encounter an excellent quality item in a non-conspicuous place, and the procurement process would be easy. If the person had a worse attitude, it was normal for them to find nothing throughout the scenario.
Their search started from the eastern side of the town. They looked through house by house, room by room. Even though the abandoned houses were practically empty, one could not ignore the possibility that there might be an item hidden under the dusty boxes, inside cans, on the roof beams, under the floorboards, in the walls, and under the beds. In any case, this was like a game of Where’s Waldo but inside a wuxia-inspired world, and they were looking for a gaming item, not a person.
“Hey… I have something I want to ask you.” When Xiao Tan told Laughing Soul that, he was peering inside a wooden stove top, and it was unclear what he was looking for. Maybe some rotten buns?
“Okay, I am still single.” Laughing Soul pulled open a cupboard filled with cobwebs.
“Er… that’s not my question.”
“Huh?” Laughing Soul replied without turning her head around like this conversation was of no consequence to her. “Then what is it? Why are you using this strange tone to talk with me when we are alone?”
She seemed to have thought about something and instantly followed it up with. “I’m warning you, I’m not that kind of girl!”
“What are you talking about?” Xiao Tan said. “I was meaning to ask, is Gu Xiao Ling your real name?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Gu as in Gu Dai (Historic age)?”
“Yes, yes,” Laughing Soul replied. “Xiao as in Xiao Qi (Stingy) and Ling as in You Ling (Ghost).”
The way she explained her name showed how unique this girl’s personality was.
“Hmm…” Xiao Tan frowned thoughtfully.
“Laughing Soul is merely a different way of putting my name. When you heard my cousin call me Xiao Gu Tou (Little Bones), you should have guessed that there is the word Gu in my real name, right? When a girl has a term like that in their name, it should be their surname, and Gu could only have been Gu (Old), Gu (Seed), or Gu (Care).”
She was yammering on by herself but spoke with an impatient tone. “Sigh… But you sure are dumb. Is your head just for decoration? You should use it more often…”
Xiao Tan did not mind being mocked. Actually, he was thinking about something else and did not quite hear what she said.
“This is weird. There is an old teaching from my ancestors… that I should not befriend people with the surname Gu,” Xiao Tan said.
“Huh?” Laughing Soul was stunned. “Hahaha…”
Suddenly, she started laughing. “That is such a coincidence. Because I have the same teaching. It said that if the descendants of the Gu family ever meet anyone with the surname Wang, do not hesitate to bully them.”
“I’m not joking,” Xiao Tan said seriously.
“I’m not joking either. It’s for real,” Laughing Soul replied mockingly.
“But Wang is such a common surname,” Xiao Tan argued.
Laughing Soul tapped Xiao Tan lightly on his head. “That’s why… who would treat these things seriously‽ You dummy!”
She did not mean any offense by her action, so her action was not stopped by the system.
Xiao Tan shrugged. “You’re right. It’s probably ancestor of mine made an enemy with someone with the surname Gu and then made this stupid…”
Before he finished, he was whacked on the head again. “What is it this time?”
“Are you trying to insult my ancestors as well?” Laughing Soul grumbled with annoyance.
“Fine, just act as if I didn’t say anything…” Xiao Tan cried. To avoid being attacked again, he climbed up on the stove and leaped up to the roof beam. With his character turning into an agile character, this kind of action was a piece of cake for him.
“Oh right, since we’re alone, I have something to ask you as well.” Laughing Soul chose that moment to speak.
“I am single too,” Xiao Tan replied. “But I am not that kind of boy either!’
“Ha… ha… ha.” Laughing Soul gave three dry laughs and considered that a reply. Then she said, “I’m talking about something serious. Is our guild leader the kind that would never buy in-game currency with real money?”
“It’s not often that we play paid games, and in the few that we’ve tried, I have not seen him use any money items before.” Xiao Tan crawled on the dusty beam. He knocked on the wood inch by inch, checking for any hollow compartments. “But for games with point card systems, he often buys monthly or seasonal cards. He probably thinks that topping up individually is very troublesome.”
“Oh, in that case, it’s not that he’s stingy. It just depends on convenience as to whether he’ll invest real money into a game or not, right?” Laughing Soul asked.
“How shall I put this? Brother Jue is a complicated person. It’s hard to speculate what his ’philosophy’ is,” Xiao Tan said. “It’s as if whenever he realizes he’s about to cross the line, he moves the line…”
“Sound likes you’re saying that he is someone with no bottom line,” Laughing Soul concluded.
“Haha…” Xiao Tan laughed. Suddenly, with a crack, the beam broke from the middle. This place had not been used for a long time, and the inside of the wood had been eaten through. Xiao Tan was leaning on the beam, so when the beam broke, his face was facing downward. Therefore, he could react in time and easily adjusted his posture in midair. He changed into a standing position before landing, planning to land on his feet. Unfortunately, when he touched the floor of the building, he felt a softening from his feet. Then, there were a few more cracks, and the floor crumbled.
Underneath the kitchen was completely hollow. Due to the passage of time and lack of maintenance, the floor had weakened. When Xiao Tan and Laughing Soul were walking on it normally, the floor could hold their weight, but when Xiao Tan dropped down from the roof and stood on it, combined with the hefty weight of the broken beam, the floor gave way and crumbled.
Laughing Soul reacted quickly. She reached out to grab Xiao Tan. In that moment, she grabbed hold of the man’s arm tightly. However, she was much lighter than Xiao Tan. The cracks were getting bigger, spreading across the whole room. Laughing Soul herself was standing on loose ground, and she had nothing solid to grip.
Therefore, she fell down as well…
The two fell down a dark abyss. In that moment, they dropped several meters. They had no idea whether it was giant rocks or graves of swords underneath. But from the distance they were falling, even if it was a muddy ground underneath, they would not have a smooth landing…