S-Rank Grandma Mi

On the path by the Lotus Pond.

Song Linjia watched Li Ran, who was conversing with the old woman in the distance, with great interest.

For some reason, she always felt that there was a mysterious aura about Li Ran that drew her in.

It was like a failing student looking up to a genius; problems that were insurmountable to her could be solved by the genius without the slightest effort.

This must be the gap between people.

Perhaps within the instance, Li Ran was the genius she had to crane her neck just to gaze upon.

This time would be no exception; the genius would surely complete the mission smoothly.

"Hmm, from now on I must cling tightly to the genius's thigh, gather as much information as I can, and strive to be a useful little sidekick."

Song Linjia sat on a large rock nearby, resting her chin on her hands like a flower, her eyes filled with admiration as she looked at Li Ran talking to the old woman.

Even though he was wearing a tattered denim jacket, Li Ran's calm, fearless, and confident demeanor truly captivated her.

"Damn it, confident men are just too charming."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Li Ran was lifted into the air by the old woman with one hand.

To be precise, the old woman's hand had transformed into a terrifying Tentacle, tightly strangling Li Ran's neck.

The plot took a sudden turn, happening in the blink of an eye.

Song Linjia's expression shifted drastically, and she stood up in terror.

Before she could react, Li Ran let out a miserable scream and was flung into the pond by the old woman.

"Li Ran!"

Song Linjia's face turned deathly pale.

A second ago, she was still daydreaming about how to cling to Li Ran's thigh.

The next second, the thigh had been insta-killed by the old woman?

"It's over, it's completely over now."

Song Linjia's small face was ashen; terrified, she quickly hid behind the large rock, covering her mouth as tears streamed down uncontrollably.

"I won't be fooled again, don't even think... don't even think about tricking me..."

The old woman stared blankly at the pond, muttering to herself.

"Not my grandson... not... not..."

Suddenly, as if the old woman had realized something, her sunken eyes widened. Octopus-like Tentacles sprouted grotesquely from her limbs, and she lunged into the air, diving into the pond.

Seeing this, Song Linjia's face turned the color of death.

This meant that the last glimmer of hope for Li Ran's survival after falling into the water had been extinguished.

Inside the Lotus Pond.

Grandma Mi had struck suddenly, and Li Ran, caught off guard and with almost no defenses, had been strangled.

Just as he was about to lose his breath, he was thrown into the pond by Grandma Mi.

After falling into the water, he, already on the verge of suffocation, still couldn't breathe.

In this emergency, Li Ran remembered the Underwater Breathing Potion he had purchased.

He immediately took out the potion and used it.

At the very moment he reached the limit of suffocation, Li Ran gasped, taking in deep, heavy breaths.

The scene that should have happened—water flooding his lungs and drowning him—did not occur.

On the contrary, Li Ran could breathe deeply in the water.

It was just like breathing the air on land.

Li Ran treaded water and paddled his hands, his expression filled with lingering fear.

After gradually calming down, Li Ran realized that the Golden Finger's hint hadn't been wrong.

Aside from not being recognized as the grandson, the Luck Aura from the tattered clothes must have been in effect; he hadn't been killed outright, which must have been the Luck Aura triggering.

The Underwater Breathing Potion had also worked.

"The Golden Finger shouldn't be wrong. Which part went wrong?"

While he was puzzled, his gaze swept across the bottom of the pond.

"That is..."

He saw, deep within the dense roots of the lotus flowers at the bottom, a skeleton half-exposed from the silt. Judging by the size, it was a teenager. The floating clothes had long since rotted away from being soaked in the pond water, and a black backpack was hanging from the skeleton's left arm, with the other strap tangled around a lotus root...

Li Ran pushed aside the slender, curved lotus roots and slowly swam above the skeleton.

"Could this be Grandma Mi's real grandson?"

The tattered, small-sized denim jacket he was wearing had also been picked up from the Lotus Pond yesterday; it stood to reason that after the body rotted, the clothing had been washed to the surface by the current.

"The corpse has turned into a skeleton, yet the clothes and backpack have only rotted?" Li Ran felt a bit puzzled.

Perhaps it was because they were in the water; microorganisms, fish, and shrimp would all consume decaying matter, causing the body to decompose faster, or perhaps there was some other reason.

In any case, this was not the time to dwell on it.

Li Ran swam above the skeleton, snapped off the lotus root stalks, and carefully retrieved the backpack from the skeleton's arm.

The zipper of the backpack could still be opened normally, but the contents inside had long since rotted away.

"Splash!"

At this moment, Li Ran heard the sound of something hitting the water.

He squinted to look, and it was actually Grandma Mi who had caught up.

At this moment, Grandma Mi's head still maintained its original appearance, but her body was indeed that of an Octopus.

The moment Li Ran thought about how Grandma Mi was still an S-rank monster with unknown ghost power, his handsome face turned deathly pale with fright.

"Holy crap!"

His two legs kicked faster than a propeller.

But how could the speed of human legs compare to that of an Octopus?

Even though Li Ran exerted all his strength, he still couldn't escape Grandma Mi's Tentacle.

Li Ran only felt his right leg being coiled, and then a great force came, dragging him out of the water.

He only felt the world spinning before he was back on land, his entire being still dazed.

It wasn't that he didn't want to resist.

In front of an S-rank Mental Infector with ??? ghost power, his resistance was meaningless.

An S-rank monster could kill him as easily as crushing an ant.

Li Ran thought he was going to die, thinking that Grandma Mi had chased him into the Lotus Pond to finish him off.

However, when Li Ran saw the Grandma Mi in front of him looking at him with a kind expression, he was even more bewildered.

He truly couldn't connect the heartbreaking old lady before him with the terrifying Octopus monster from just a moment ago.

"Grandson... is it you? Let Grandma take a good look at you."

The old lady's eyes were clouded with tears as she reached out a hand like old tree bark, trembling as she touched Li Ran's face.

Li Ran stood frozen in place, allowing the old lady's hand to stroke his face.

Was she starting to mistake him for her grandson again?

Li Ran gave a dumbfounded, bitter smile: "It seems the tattered clothes are still useful; it's just that I wasn't recognized at first."

[Triggered Task: Play the role of Grandma Mi's grandson]

[Task Reward: Ghost Power +10, Points +100]

The sound of the task being triggered rang in Li Ran's ears.

Li Ran remained rooted to the spot, staring blankly at the tear-streaked old woman before him; he could clearly feel the rough friction of the old woman's hands and the meticulous, loving care she radiated.

Perhaps it was because of the tattered denim jacket on his body, or perhaps it was the black backpack he was holding.

The way Grandma Mi looked at Li Ran was just like looking at her own grandson—gentle and kind.

If Grandma Mi knew that her real grandson had died in the Lotus Pond, how heartbroken would she be?

Perhaps, not knowing the truth allowed for a glimmer of hope.

At the very least, he was Grandma Mi's grandson for now.

It wasn't just because of the task, but from the bottom of his heart, Li Ran truly felt that an old person had it too hard, and his heart was filled with pity.

"Grandma."

"Yes."

"Grandma, Grandma."

"Yes, yes."

Grandma Mi wept with joy, holding Li Ran's hands in great excitement.

Grandma Mi was as happy as a three-year-old child.

Lying is wrong.

But what if a white lie could grant an old lady a second life?

[Task Completed: Play the role of Grandma Mi's grandson]

[Completion Reward: Ghost Power +10, Points +100]

[Triggered Task: Grandma Mi's entrustment.]

[Task Reward: Ghost Power +20, Points +200]

The cold voice rang in his ears once again; while completing the task, a new one had been triggered.

Clearly, Grandma Mi represented a quest chain, and it was not going to be that simple.

Otherwise, it would not be worthy of Grandma Mi's S-rank status.

Not far away, Song Linjia's jaw was practically hitting the floor. A few minutes ago, she had already mourned Li Ran in her heart, yet in the blink of an eye, Li Ran had come back to life and even become Grandma Mi's grandson.

What kind of plot was this, anyway?

Song Linjia was completely lost.

A quest without any hints—was this even something a normal person could complete?

Who could have guessed that one had to be killed once before even starting this quest?

That Li Ran could complete the quest while staying alive could only be described as incredible.

I don't admire anyone, but I admire Li Ran.

On the other side, Li Ran continued to play the role of the obedient grandson, chatting with Grandma Mi.

"Good grandson, your parents haven't been back for a while. Go check on them; they run a Mutton Restaurant on the street by the north gate of Happy Home. Your father is a meddlesome man who always calls it a sense of justice. I don't know what a sense of justice is, I just think that one should keep a low profile and not be too headstrong. That personality of his will be his undoing sooner or later."

"Once you arrive, give this to them."

As she spoke, Grandma Mi took out a letter and handed it to Li Ran.

"Understood, Grandma." Li Ran nodded and accepted it.

"If you don't manage to give this letter to your parents, return it to Grandma when you come back next time."

"I will definitely deliver it to them."

"Alright, off you go. Grandma needs to head home."

"Grandma, let me walk you—"

Before Li Ran could finish his sentence, Grandma Mi transformed into an octopus monster and dove into the water.

He had assumed Grandma Mi lived in one of the buildings like the other residents; who would have guessed she lived in the Lotus Pond?

Then again, if she lived in the Lotus Pond, it should be impossible not to find that skeleton.

"Sigh, Grandma Mi couldn't even recognize me, so she definitely wouldn't recognize those remains. Besides, her mind is a bit muddled..."

"Fine, I'll just play the grandson to the end."

Li Ran shrugged helplessly and tucked the letter into his spatial inventory.

Only then did he walk back to Song Linjia's side.

"Your 50 points, I've transferred them over."

Points could be directly allocated to teammates within the points mall, saving the trouble of going to the Happiness Supermarket.

Li Ran was a man of his word and would never take advantage of anyone.

He wouldn't dream of peeking at the letter Grandma Mi gave him; that was a matter of basic personal principles.

Song Linjia looked at him with pure adoration, her eyes sparkling like stars: "How on earth did you do it?"

Li Ran couldn't be bothered to explain; he had given her what was owed, and that was that.

Right now, he only wanted to complete more quests as quickly as possible, obtain more rewards, and improve his strength.

"Since Grandma Mi's entrusted quest is also in the Back Street, I might as well go finish the Bar Rich Woman's quest while I'm at it."