Ancient-style Alley Has Serious Problems

The overly enthusiastic auntie hadn't even come close before her perfume nearly sent Jiang Qiao straight to the grave.

"Brother, need a room?"

"It's very cheap."

He took two steps back to put some distance between them.

After running the Simulator several times, Jiang Qiao realized that night had fallen without him noticing.

Sure enough, playing games made time pass faster!

"Auntie, is your lodging legitimate?"

Jiang Qiao asked.

Since it was already dark, he needed to find somewhere to stay. He couldn't seriously become homeless on the street, could he?

He had happened to pick up several wallets during the simulations. The Vicious Ghosts hadn't wanted them, and there was quite a bit of cash inside.

"Legitimate, legitimate! Ours is the most legitimate!"

When the auntie saw Jiang Qiao responding, her face blossomed into a chrysanthemum-like grin.

Who knew Jiang Qiao would turn around and leave?

"I'm not going somewhere legitimate. Who goes to a legitimate place for no reason?"

I'm an unregistered person. Going to a proper inn or hotel would be insane, wouldn't it?

"Oh, oh, don't go, Brother!"

The auntie hurriedly grabbed Jiang Qiao to stop him from leaving.

"Don't go, Brother. Ours isn't legitimate. Ours is the least legitimate place around!"

As she spoke, an ambiguous smile appeared on her face.

"You should've said it wasn't legitimate earlier!"

In the end, Jiang Qiao followed the auntie into a small inn in the alley beside them and rented a room.

Aside from charging extra for Wi-Fi, the inn was alright. The owner was quite welcoming too!

After Jiang Qiao said that he had lost his identification and was still applying for a replacement, the owner immediately raised the Room Fee from fifty yuan a night to one hundred and fifty.

Jiang Qiao expressed his understanding, then skillfully brought out the Salty Fish Dragon-Slaying Saber and slashed the price down to fifty cents.

In the end, they settled on forty yuan per night.

Both of them smiled, very satisfied with the result.

Perhaps this was what they called a win-win situation!

After booking the room, Jiang Qiao went out again to buy some personal supplies at the supermarket.

Toothpaste, toothbrushes, a razor, towels, and tissues.

As well as undershirts, underwear, and flip-flops.

The electric kettle in the room had a strange smell. Jiang Qiao suspected someone had used it to boil socks!

So he bought several cases of bottled water as backup.

There was no rush to stock up on supplies for life after the Vicious Ghosts descended. He hadn't sold his Gold Necklace yet, and he did not have enough money.

He would settle in first and deal with everything else later!

While shopping, Jiang Qiao ran the Simulator another two times!

However, no high-level talents appeared, and the simulations were fairly ordinary, offering little useful information.

Watching the Simulator enter its countdown again, Jiang Qiao wandered around out of boredom and unknowingly entered an Ancient-style Alley.

The alley was lined with snack shops selling milk tea, grilled squid, and stinky tofu, but the place was deserted and had almost no business.

Jiang Qiao bought some milk tea and grilled skewers by the roadside, eating as he walked.

Ahead of him, a Brother was talking loudly on the phone.

"What? There are only a few of you?"

"Bring more people! How can you catch a cheater with so few people?"

"I'll call over a few vans full of people right away."

"Don't worry, don't worry. The people I'm calling are all old neighbors from back in the day. We're all friends, so they definitely won't spread it around!"

"..."

This Brother was so loud that his voice could be heard across the entire street.

He kept giving advice over the phone and even claimed they could start a livestream to preserve evidence!

Listening from behind, Jiang Qiao felt his scalp tingle. His brother must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to become brothers with him.

With your efforts, how could he possibly fail to achieve social death sooner or later?

And so, the Brother talked on the phone in front while Lin Zhou listened to the gossip behind him. Together, they walked down the street.

They soon reached the exit on the other side.

The Brother walking ahead suddenly turned left into a side alley.

Jiang Qiao followed close behind and passed the entrance to the side alley, but suddenly stopped in his tracks!

"Where did he go?"

"Where did such a huge person go?"

Jiang Qiao discovered that the side alley was actually a dead end!

It was completely empty now. The Brother who had been loudly talking about backing up his friend just seconds ago had vanished without a trace.

What the hell?

A faint chill of fear rose within him, and Jiang Qiao instinctively activated his Thunder Art.

Black currents surged beneath his clothes.

Feeling that icy, tingling sensation, Jiang Qiao's slight panic gradually calmed down.

Fortunately, he had permanently fixed the Lightning Thunder Fist!

"Let's get out of here first!"

Jiang Qiao had no intention of investigating where the Brother had gone. Instead, he slowly backed out of the alley with a wary expression.

He clenched the icy, eerie lightning in his hand, ready to strike with a heavy punch at any moment!

But in the end, nothing strange happened again.

Jiang Qiao let out a breath and mentally blacklisted the entire street.

"What are you doing!"

Just as he was about to leave, a voice suddenly came from beside him.

Jiang Qiao turned and saw an Old Man in a security uniform striding toward him.

"Who told you to go in?"

"Didn't you see the sign next to it? The food street won't officially open until next Friday!"

"Get out of here!"

The Old Man pointed at the notice board on the wall, looking extremely angry.

His trembling appearance frightened Jiang Qiao into quickly taking a step back.

At his age, working as a security guard, it was hard to say who was protecting whom.

A thief would probably not even dare move after encountering the Old Man. One careless mistake, and he could end up spending the rest of his life in prison!

But—

"It won't officially open until next Friday?"

Jiang Qiao froze, then abruptly turned to look into the alley!

The Ancient-style Alley, which had just been brightly lit, was now illuminated only by the orange glow of scattered streetlights.

The storefronts on both sides were tightly shut, pitch-black. Where were the milk tea shops and skewer stalls?

"Holy crap!"

"I really saw a damn ghost!"

He had originally thought only that Brother was abnormal. Who would have thought the entire street was haunted!

But then...

What was going on with the milk tea in his hand?

Jiang Qiao touched the paper cup, which still held some warmth, and inwardly exclaimed, Well, damn.

Were these ghosts all such good actors?

They had actually made him a cup of milk tea!

He subconsciously took a sip.

Damn, it was actually pretty tasty!

Back at the inn,

Jiang Qiao sat on the edge of the bed, frowning slightly.

"Although there are still six days left, strange things have already seeped into this world."

That meant it was not safe even before the Supernatural Revival.

That street had seemed rather harmless today, and the milk tea girl's smile had been sweet, but who knew whether she had been the Pregnant Female Ghost in disguise!

"So I need to improve my strength as quickly as possible."

"Only with enough strength can I establish myself amid the world's drastic changes!"

That trip outside had made Jiang Qiao's Heart feel even more urgent!

Reality was nothing like the Simulator.

The Simulator could be restarted infinitely, but reality offered only one life!

Strength!

It was still all about strength!

And to gain strength, he needed to rely on the Simulator!

"Before simulating again, I need to adjust my mindset and approach."

"Going to the Shelter Camp may be the best choice for ordinary people, but it isn't the best choice for me."

"My mindset hasn't changed, so every time I simulate, I leave together with the Search and Rescue Team."

"There are too many people at the Shelter Camp, and the Search and Rescue Team repeatedly risks entering the city. That makes it far too easy to attract the ghosts' attention!"

"Next, I need to act alone for the time being."