Hospitalized

[Ding, item: Killer's Cleanup, grade A special-quality item

Trait: Creates a barrier that seals off the outside world. The holder locks onto one person as a target. The barrier can only be broken by killing the target or by the holder's death. Once broken, it erases the killer's traces and stages the target's death as an accident.]

[Ding, target locked: Yin Chao.]

It was more or less what he had guessed.

What surprised Yin Chao, though, was that the man was holding his own against Anna.

Although Anna's level wasn't high, as a ghost, her strength was far beyond an ordinary person's. Could that man be as high-level as Bai Xu?

He hurriedly stared at the man, hoping the system would provide some clues.

[Ding, player: Wu Shan, level 7

HP: 200, stamina: 100, mental power: 60, intelligence: 70

Specialty skill: Muay Thai.]

That's it?

With stats like those, he can fight Anna to a standstill?

Yin Chao's shock was written all over his face.

Just then, an androgynous voice sounded behind him.

"Quite a shock, isn't it? But this little girl has surprised me just as much."

Leaving his back exposed to a stranger was extremely dangerous. Yin Chao whirled around in alarm and saw a bizarre-looking, long-haired man.

His black hair hung loose, and he wore an outrageously flashy mesh crewneck shirt. He was thin, with sunken cheeks and prominent cheekbones, his face caked in foundation and his eyes painted bright green.

Yin Chao instinctively gave him a look of disgust.

The man flew into a rage, his affected voice beginning to slip. "You hick! I'll kill you!"

He wore pointed leather shoes with heels seven or eight centimeters high, but they didn't slow him down at all.

He darted in front of Yin Chao and drove an elbow into his abdomen.

Pain shot through Yin Chao as he was knocked half a meter away. He lay on the ground clutching his injury, feeling as though every organ inside him had been shattered.

Wu Shan kept Anna tied up in their fight, leaving her no chance to break away.

Yin Chao's vision gradually blurred. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he watched the man in pointed shoes approach, swaying his hips.

"Heh. Tell me, what item did you get from that grade B instance?"

The long-haired man crouched in front of him and tilted his chin up. After studying him for a while, he added, "You do have a pretty face. If you became mine..."

Before he could finish, someone kicked him away.

Yin Chao struggled to lift his eyelids. Seeing that it was Bai Xu, he felt inexplicably reassured and passed out.

When he opened his eyes again, everything in sight was white. Even Anna, sitting beside his hospital bed, was dressed entirely in white.

Yin Chao weakly raised his hand. Only then did Anna, engrossed in a mobile game, notice that he was awake.

"Where are we?"

Anna thought for a moment before answering, "Hospital."

"Did Bai Xu bring me here?"

Anna nodded.

After that, she hurriedly picked up her phone and began tapping with both hands.

Yin Chao glanced at her. "Who gave you that phone?"

"Bai Yu. She said, when you wake up, tell her."

So she was sending a message. Yin Chao couldn't help wondering when the two of them had become so close.

Within a few minutes, Bai Yu appeared in the doorway, panting.

She was carrying an insulated lunchbox, and her eyes lit up when she saw Yin Chao.

"You're awake!"

Yin Chao nodded and smiled. "Thank you and your brother for saving me yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Bai Yu covered her mouth and laughed. "You've been unconscious for almost eight days."

Eight days?

Yin Chao's fury at that flashy bastard reached its peak in that instant. One punch put me out of commission for eight days!

He hadn't managed to read the flashy man's stats that day, probably because he hadn't been focused beforehand and had been injured afterward.

He simply asked Bai Yu, "Do you know who that flashy bastard is?"

Bai Yu froze briefly at the nickname, then immediately understood who he meant.

"I wasn't there that day. My second brother went alone, but he said they were from the Ares Guild. The flashy bastard you're talking about should be one of their ten aces, Zhao Guojun!"

"Zhao Guojun?" Yin Chao repeated uncertainly. "Does he have long hair?"

Bai Yu nodded in confirmation.

Only then did he burst out laughing. "His name is Zhao Guojun? Hahahaha! I'm not-I'm not making fun of the name! Hahahaha! I'm just-just making fun of him! Hahahaha..."

Bai Yu laughed along, then added, "He calls himself Morika. If anyone calls him Zhao Guojun to his face, he cuts off their little willy."

"..." Yin Chao suddenly felt a chill between his legs and stopped laughing.

While they were talking, Bai Xu arrived as well.

"Feeling better?"

He asked.

Yin Chao nodded and said he was fine; the bruising on his stomach just looked frightening.

"Did Bai Yu tell you? The people who came that day were from the Ares Guild."

"She did."

Bai Xu seemed to have just finished dealing with something and looked a little tired. He took off his suit jacket, draped it over his forearm, and found himself a seat.

"Bai Yu, take Anna out to play for a while. I have some business to discuss with Mr. Yin."

Privately, Yin Chao didn't want to be alone in a room with Bai Xu.

He tried signaling Anna with his eyes, but the newly minted gaming addict didn't spare him a shred of attention.

Bai Xu began, "Let me explain the rules of the game in the real world first."

Only when the young man's gaze settled on him did he continue.

"Most players in the real world have a guild or organization backing them. As you know, people can kill freely in the game. If you go it alone, you might survive the ghosts only to die at the hands of another human player.

"But if you join a guild, things become entirely different.

"Every guild has its own rules. Members team up to enter instances and help each other, giving them a better chance of survival.

"The four major guilds currently hold one another in balance. There's the Bai Guild, run by the Bai family-in other words, my eldest brother and me; the Ares Guild, run by its ten aces; the Miracle Guild, run by the Prophet; and the Wanqi Guild, run by the Wanqi family."

"Mad Dog and the Owner are from the Ares Guild?" Yin Chao asked.

Bai Xu nodded, then picked up the insulated lunchbox Bai Yu had left on the bedside table, opened it, and handed it to Yin Chao.

"Ares. Among the gods of Olympus, Ares is the god of war, mutiny, slaughter, and riots. He's described as 'a bloodthirsty killer and conqueror of fortified castles.' He symbolizes strength and power and embodies bloodlust, bloodshed, and human calamity."

Yin Chao blinked, took a sip of chicken soup, and said, "So basically, this guild is full of bad people."

Bai Xu smiled and commented, "A fair assessment. Straight to the point."

"What about the other guilds?" Yin Chao asked.

Bai Xu shook his head. "We don't have many dealings with them, so I don't know much. But you have to believe that I won't hurt you."

Still suspicious, Yin Chao finally asked, "Is Mo Nan a member of your Bai Guild?"

Bai Xu understood. Yin Chao had seen how readily Mo Nan killed in the game and had decided that Bai Xu, being on his side, couldn't be a good person either.

He explained, "Mo Nan is admittedly rather unruly, but he recruited those people elsewhere. I investigated them too. They were all people who'd committed plenty of evil deeds. After all, your instance this time was unusual, so we couldn't openly recruit players within the guild."