"Did we really make it out of the instance?" Dong Yue was still a bit dazed.
"Yes," Zhuang Xiaoxia sighed in relief. "I thought we were going to die in there. Good thing Boss Gu reacted quickly!"
Actually, they all understood the principle of taking down the leader first, and they knew they needed to deal with that second young madam first.
But in that situation, with ghosts attacking from all sides, their minds had completely short-circuited.
If it weren't for Gu Wanyin, they'd probably still be fighting those ghosts right now.
"You know, those accessories Boss Gu gave us really came in handy," said Bai Shuwen. "I remember this bracelet blocked several attacks for me during the fight!"
"Yeah, same with my ring! If I hadn't been wearing it, I definitely wouldn't have come out unscathed," Zhuang Xiaoxia added.
"By the way, where are Chen Sisi and Tao Jianchun?" Gu Han asked.
"They probably ended up at a different transfer point since we didn't enter the instance from the same place," Gu Wanyin explained.
"I see. Well, at least they're alive. It's a shame about that man who died earlier though..."
At those words, they all fell silent.
Although the death weighed heavily on their minds, people died in instances every day in this horror world.
Besides, Liu Zhuang had brought it upon himself - there was nothing they could have done.
So they tried not to dwell too much on what happened in the previous instance and quickly made their way to the transfer point.
The elderly man at the front desk looked surprised when he saw all five of them: "Well, well! All of you made it back? Impressive!"
"You're too kind," Gu Han said with a smile. "Sir, we'd like to leave the horror world now. How do we do that?"
"Leave?" The old man scoffed. "Dream on! Let me see... you need to clear at least six more instances first!"
Six more?
Gu Wanyin's brows furrowed deeply.
That wouldn't do!
If it was just her alone, she wouldn't mind.
But now, not only had she dragged others into this horror world, but her system was at risk too!
Clearing six instances would take who knows how long.
If the system stayed in the horror world too long, it could malfunction, and that would be disastrous.
"Six more instances?" To everyone's surprise, Dong Yue seemed excited. "I think these instances are quite interesting! Scary, sure, but thrilling!"
The old man: "..."
He looked at Dong Yue like she was crazy.
In all his time working here, he'd never heard anyone say they found horror instances interesting.
"No problem!" Bai Shuwen waved dismissively. "Six is fine, as long as we're together, there's nothing to fear!"
Zhuang Xiaoxia and Gu Han nodded in agreement.
Gu Wanyin felt a lump in her throat.
She knew they were saying this partly to keep her from feeling guilty.
Who wouldn't prefer to be back at the hotel, living peacefully?
They'd become experts at killing zombies, but dealing with ghosts was a whole different story!
She had to find a way to get them back to the hotel quickly.
Once the system was more stable, she'd have it try to contact Assistant Josey.
"Sir, will we be staying in the same room as before? How long can we stay this time?" Gu Han asked.
"Let me check! Ah yes, you'll be in 404 again, and you can stay for three days. You'll enter the next instance at noon on the third day, so be prepared!"
"Alright, thank you."
The old man continued, "Would you like to buy any food? You can use spirit orbs to pay, though I must warn you the food here isn't very tasty! Haha..."
The others: "..."
Not exactly something to laugh about.
However, something occurred to Gu Wanyin, and she asked, "Wait a minute, we didn't get any spirit orbs in the last instance."
"Oh, that's normal. Your last instance was a low-difficulty one, probably only had two or three spirit orbs hidden in really obscure places. That's why you didn't find any. They'll be easier to get once the difficulty increases!"
"Then how are we supposed to buy food now?"
The old man said, "You can get credit... but if you can't pay it back after your next instance, you'll have to pay with your lifespan."
His tone turned particularly eerie as he said this.
Dong Yue shuddered, "Really living up to the horror theme here..."
"Don't worry," Gu Wanyin said. "I still have some compressed biscuits and beef jerky in my bag. If we ration them, we can make it through these few days."
"Okay."
Just as the five of them were about to head upstairs, the door behind them opened.
Then, Gu Wanyin heard a familiar voice: "Big Sis!"
Gu Wanyin froze, then turned around.
It was the Black-Clothed Ghost!
"Black-Clothed Ghost? What are you doing here?" Gu Wanyin asked happily.
She had talked to the Black-Clothed Ghost before leaving, so he knew she was coming to the horror world.
"You told me you were coming to the horror world, remember?" the Black-Clothed Ghost said. "I got more and more worried about you, and then this woman named Qiao Xi contacted me, saying she'd help me come back to assist you."
"Hey! This is a transfer point for humans, what's a ghost doing here? Get out, get out!" the old man scolded.
"What's your hurry, old man?" the Black-Clothed Ghost bared his teeth menacingly.
Surprisingly, the old man actually backed down, saying weakly, "Fine, you get five minutes to talk!"
Gu Wanyin realized the Black-Clothed Ghost must hold quite some status in this horror world.
"Don't worry, Big Sis. If you're heading into another instance, I'll go with you. With me there, I won't let anything happen to you!" the Black-Clothed Ghost promised, patting his chest.
"That's wonderful," Gu Wanyin breathed a sigh of relief. "But won't you be bound by the rules now that you're back?"
"Don't worry, I'll find ways around them, and Qiao Xi said she'd help make the restrictions more lenient for me."
"That's good."
At least this would help ensure Gu Han and the others' safety.
"Well, Big Sis, I'll be going now."
"Okay."
After the Black-Clothed Ghost left, the old man looked at Gu Wanyin strangely: "Well, well! You even know the Black-Clothed Ghost of the horror world. Just who are you?"
"That's for me to know."
Gu Wanyin gave the old man a mysterious smile before leading the others upstairs.
The old man remained seated, thoroughly confused.
Back in their room, Gu Wanyin had the little squirrel system rest on the bed for a while.
The little squirrel system finally recovered its senses.
"Host, I was so dizzy!"
"System, can you contact Qiao Xi now? We need to ask her if there's any way to get us out early."
"Alright, I'll try..."
