CHAPTER 403: CHAPTER 171: TOOLS, CROSSING INTO THE NETHERWORLD (5K)

At a glance at that skinny little figure, plus the occupation, and that hint just now, Wen Yan immediately knew who it was.

His face darkened—this little thief clearly still doesn’t have enough homework to do. He’d just cleaned him up a while ago and sent him home to study properly, and yet here he is again.

Look at that tight Nightwalker Clothes—still just as unprofessional. Didn’t he tell him to wear pure black? In the deep night, even with a sliver of moonlight, it actually stands out quite a bit, you know?

But anyway, seeing a living person, and a familiar one at that, Wen Yan could clearly feel the Yang Energy inside this kid—so it looked like he wasn’t dead. Wen Yan relaxed a little. Since someone else could make it in here, he could definitely get out.

So he just sat there waiting, curious what this little rascal was up to.

...

The young thief used the stealth moves he’d learned online, keeping his body low as he moved through the wasteland.

He knew full well this wasteland didn’t even have weeds, so what he was doing was basically useless, but even if it didn’t work, he still had to practice more, to make that kind of awareness second nature—only then could he better protect himself.

He searched this barren expanse for a long time, finally spotting a mansion in the distance with a flicker of firelight, which gave him the courage to approach.

Circling the massive manor, all he saw were some moving paper figurines. The smiles frozen on their faces, touches of blush, and those beady, spinning eyes full of Spiritual Light—they really sent chills down his spine.

He could practically feel one of the paper men noticing him, but none of them would leave the boundary of the residence. As soon as they got to a certain point, they would turn and walk back.

As he understood it, this was just like pulling aggro or leaving the map boundary.

It was just like in games—the maps look connected, but in reality they’re broken up into little grids, and as long as you haven’t started fighting, monsters from one grid won’t cross into another.

He circled around and ended up at the front entrance. There, by the big front gate, was a person in a loose, long robe leaning on a chair, almost dozing off, while a skinny Ghost sat nearby on the stone steps, spacing out.

As he got closer, he squinted and spotted an introduction above the ghost’s head.

"Coachman. When going certain places, you’ll need to be led by the coachman."

Obviously, that was an NPC. Most NPCs did look this blank.

But the other person—no matter how hard he looked, there was nothing above his head.

Plus, when that man raised his head, he just felt the guy’s face was really familiar, but it was too far, too dark—he couldn’t really see.

"Fu Guangfei! Have you had enough fun yet? Do you know what time it is? Don’t you have school?"

The little thief froze, shuddered, glanced all around, and then turned his head—only to see the guy at the door rolling up his big sleeves and motioning for him to come over.

"Ah..."

Now the little thief finally saw the man’s face clearly. His hand shook, and he didn’t even dare to run.

"Wen... Brother Wen?"

"Get over here."

The little thief twisted and squirmed, shuffling over nervously. If he feared anyone, it was definitely Wen Yan.

Not only was Wen Yan fearless enough to scare kids and even poison them, he could directly track him to his school and ambush him at the gates. And just his ties to the Scorching Sun Department were like a goddamn buff in his eyes.

The person the little thief feared most was definitely his uncle.

Especially an uncle like Wen Yan, who could just go find their headmaster and call his parents straight over.

The little thief crept closer anxiously. When he finally reached him, Wen Yan, still sitting in his chair, picked up a toothpick and flicked his finger lightly.

In a flash, the toothpick went whooshing by the little thief’s cheek, the tip flicking against his face and making him feel a sharp, burning pain.

Scared, he clutched his face and leapt to his feet.

"Brother Wen... this..."

"First lesson for you: In a place like this, anyone who looks familiar or anyone who can call your name—none of them might be real people. Some might be here just to kill you.

If they just want your life, you’re lucky. Worse ones don’t just want your life—they want everything you have.

You, as a thief, seriously lack vigilance. That toothpick just now? Count yourself dead."

"I’m actually pretty careful—it’s just that after I realized it was you, Brother Wen, I dared to come over..."

"Did it never occur to you that me being here makes no sense at all?"

"Nope, I think it’s completely logical for Brother Wen to be here." Fu Guangfei sounded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. To him, Wen Yan just had that kind of presence.

"..."

Wen Yan glanced back at the eerie paper dolls in the yard. What kind of image did he have in this little thief’s mind, that he’d find it perfectly reasonable for him to show up here?

"Aren’t you supposed to be in class? Why are you here?"

"It’s the weekend! Just playing some games. Brother Wen, you play this too?"

"Game?" Wen Yan kept a straight face.

"Yeah, though this game’s nothing special—other than being super realistic, it’s pretty empty. No idea who developed it, total waste of power."

"Alright, start from the beginning—how did you get in? Tell me from the top."

"Last night, I was surfing the forums and saw someone say they’d found this super special virtual game—claimed it was 100% immersive and felt totally real. Said they didn’t know which Professional made it, probably still in beta or something, but they’d found it."

"And then?" Wen Yan gestured for Fu Guangfei to go on.

"And then...I tried it out. Just clicked the link, it downloaded instantly—didn’t even need to register. Supposedly, one person can only make one account."