[Lu Family Courtyard] Orders

In the livestream, Ren Yi suddenly stopped in his tracks.

A familiar feeling filled his body, the positive emotion known as "happiness."

But his "magazine capacity" was only one, so the energy could only linger helplessly around him, gradually dissipating.

To absorb it, he had to use his ability once to empty the magazine.

Yet there wasn't a single "person" around him. As for using his ability on an adult ghost like "Watermelon Field," whose level was higher than his?

"Watermelon Field" was essentially a single individual, so he could plant only one seed at most. Besides, he couldn't discuss it with it right now. Simply doing it... would be rather rude.

Still, he only needed to conduct one experiment.

Ren Yi thought for a moment, then targeted himself with his ability.

Since awakening, he had never planted an Illusion seed in himself.

But there were plenty of ways to use an Illusion without it having an effect. Giving himself an invisible beauty filter was an Illusion, and quietly brightening the light before his eyes a fraction was one too.

As the "ammunition" was consumed, an intense feeling of fullness immediately filled his body, and the number of times he could use his ability was replenished.

That worked?

Ren Yi glanced at his Ghost Net panel to check. His progress had indeed increased a little.

But before he could celebrate, more positive emotional energy streamed toward him like sharks that had scented blood.

This is bad. Ren Yi felt a pang of dismay.

Ammunition Type ghosts counted "replenishing ammunition once" as one feeding, but his ability was "planting seeds." He needed a specific target to cast it.

Fortunately, there were plenty of targets in the Instance now.

On the livestream, Ren Yi merely studied the field for a moment before following the ridges toward the courtyard.

Just as the tip of his foot was about to cross the courtyard gate's threshold, a small, thin figure in black darted out from behind the gate and planted himself firmly in his path.

It was an old servant in plain black, front-fastened clothes. He was hunched over, and wrinkles crisscrossed his face.

"Servant, why have you stopped working without permission?" the old servant asked. His voice was hoarse and grating, like a rusty sheet of iron scraping against a blackboard, making one's scalp tingle.

Lu Qing had introduced this old servant yesterday too. His name was Master Fu, and he was serving as the Instance's steward for the time being. According to Lu Zihan, Master Fu had always looked after Lu Zihan's grandparents, and for some reason had joined the Instance this time as well.

He immediately gathered himself and bowed respectfully. "Steward, I've finished my work. I came to ask whether there are any other duties you need me to attend to."

[Servants should be diligent and strive to complete their work. Servants who fail to complete their work must be punished.]

The rule that "servants who fail to complete their work must be punished" was so straightforward that it was easy to overlook the opening words: "servants should be diligent."

A servant who slacked off after finishing his work certainly wasn't diligent. Perhaps there wouldn't be any punishment, but there wouldn't be any benefits either.

Of course, this was only Ren Yi's guess. As for whether it was right...

Come on, he was the young master here to "experience life." As long as he came up with a respectable excuse, the ghosts in the courtyard would be only too eager to give him special treatment and would naturally play along.

"Oh?" Sure enough, a flicker of surprise crossed Master Fu's cloudy eyes. He looked past Ren Yi toward the distant melon field, seemingly confirming that it had indeed been taken care of.

"Good, good." Master Fu nodded in satisfaction. His acting was clearly much better than Watermelon Field's. "Since you've finished your work, come with me to the study. The young master is making quite a fuss over there, and we happen to be a little short-handed."

Oh? Am I going to see Lu Zihan?

"Yes," Ren Yi replied, following Master Fu into the wooden building in the courtyard. But just as he crossed its threshold, a tremendous bang suddenly erupted in front of him.

A figure crashed heavily to the floor, landing less than half a meter from his toes.

Crack. The distinct sound of bones breaking reached Ren Yi's ears. He frowned slightly and instinctively took two steps back.

The person on the floor was still alive. His left leg was twisted at a bizarre angle, clearly broken in the fall. He was convulsing with pain and couldn't get up for the moment.

Ren Yi looked up and saw Lu Zihan leaning over the carved railing beside the second-floor study, peering down with a hint of impatience on his face. Several participants stood behind him, their faces as white as paper. They had clearly been frightened out of their wits.

It didn't take a genius to know that Lu Zihan bore a great deal of responsibility for this person landing in front of Ren Yi.

With a thought, Ren Yi silently connected to the Ghost Net:

[Ren Yi: What's this supposed to mean, young master? Trying to intimidate me right off the bat?]

[Lu Zihan: Huh? No, no! I really didn't do it on purpose!] Lu Zihan replied instantly, hurriedly defending himself.

[Lu Zihan: Why did you come in just now?]

[Ren Yi: I finished my work. Master Fu sent me in to hang out with you. So what exactly is going on here?]

[Lu Zihan: Don't even ask! I don't know what's gotten into these participants, but they seem to have figured out my rules. No matter what I say, all they do is go "yes, yes, yes" and "okay, okay, okay." It's no fun at all!]

[Lu Zihan: I got mad and told someone to jump down from here. Sure enough, he refused and talked back, triggering my rule, so I dealt with him on the spot. I wanted to try again to assert my authority, but this guy actually jumped. I didn't even have time to react!]

Oh, it's that rule about "obeying the orders of those above you."

But wasn't that rule too impossible to get around, and too favorable to the ghosts? Couldn't the master just order all the participants to die?

Ren Yi put the question directly to Lu Zihan.

[Lu Zihan: No, I have to act in keeping with my status as "master." Servants are valuable property. I can only set traps for them in secret; I can't even say those overly blatant orders.]

Ren Yi nodded inwardly. That was more in keeping with the "fairness" in the Instance mentioned at the start.

As for an order like "jump from the second floor," it wasn't fatal to the participants, since some of them had special abilities.

This participant was just a little too fragile.

While the two rapidly exchanged information, Master Fu had already turned a frown on Lu Zihan on the second floor. His voice grew stern. "Young master, what kind of nonsense are you up to again? Have you finished reading the books Madam told you to read?"

Lu Zihan's face instantly fell. His earlier impatience turned entirely to hurt, and he pouted. "Master Fu, they were the ones who disrespected me first! Get me some different people to serve me!"

"Just as well." Master Fu went along with it, stepping aside and pointing at Ren Yi. "Young master, I just found a promising servant named Seventeen. Let him attend to you personally. The other servants still have work to do, so please don't bother them anymore."

"Oh?" Lu Zihan looked at Ren Yi with interest. "Your name is Seventeen? Will you listen to me from now on?"

Listening to Master Fu and Lu Zihan play off each other, Ren Yi fought the urge to twitch at the corners of his mouth and bowed again. "Yes, young master. From now on, I will obey all your instructions."

"Good!" Lu Zihan immediately broke into a bright, slightly mischievous smile. He raised a hand, pointed at the participant wailing on the floor, and casually gave an order. "Then I order you to kill the person in front of you."