Hell App

hat job did she arrange for us?” 

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Facing everyone’s inquiries, Bai Yan immediately relayed the madam’s arrangements at once.
Everyone carefully took note of their corresponding tasks while simultaneously pondering on what hidden danger these jobs entailed.

“The madam told me to find her alone.
I think that there’s something odd there.” The maid, Su Xiaoqian said, “Both her sons are unwell and she wants me to deliver food to him alone.
Could he possibly be a ghost in this game?”

“There’s a possibility.” Bai Yan replied, “But don’t you think that the madam and her husband are both suspicious as well? Although I haven’t met her husband, judging the instructions that she gave, she and her husband seem to be healthy and normal.
So, it is possible that her sons are human, and the couple are the ghosts.”

“Yes, there is a saying that ‘Those who look more normal are in fact the abnormal ones.’ We’re in this ghost’s den now, there is no way that they are ordinary people.” Gardener Li Hao agreed.

“Not necessarily.
There’s still one possibility.
The four people living in this villa are all humans, I’m afraid terror has another way.” Lu Tianyi said, “The game’s NPCs… they sometimes die before we do, providing us clues on how to avoid death.
It is probable that the terror is the villa’s curse itself.”

“Do you think there is the possibility that the four residents of this villa had already died before, and now, their ghosts are haunting the place….” The cleaning woman, Yang Qi, couldn’t let herself be outdone and raised her theory.

“…”

Each person had a different thought and discussed it for a long while.
Everyone realized that if what they were thinking was right, anything could be possible.

There were still no definite clues, so these so-called guesses could only be considered as letting their imaginations go wild.
Knowing that the discussion wasn’t going to conclude, the lot simply shut up and didn’t debate on ‘who the ghost was.’ Instead, they talked about a more meaningful topic.

“To summarize, we need more information.
No information means that their guesses were merely flowers in a mirror and the moon reflected in the lake (1).” Having encountered difficulty in finding a place to rest.
An Qing set her crutches down to the side and sat on the bed, “Sorry.
My leg is inconvenient.
It could even possibly hold everyone back.”

Flowers in a mirror and the moon reflected in the lake: speculations without substance. 

An Qing knitted her long and slender eyebrows and apologetically said, “I’m unable to gather outside information but can only search in nearby rooms.
These next few days, I’ll do my best to look through the servant’s quarters to see if there were letters left by the previous servants or even hidden objects.”

“Don’t worry about it, sister.
Leave the outside to us.” Zhu Fugui took pity on An Qing, who had sustained a leg injury, and patted his chest in comfort, “How about you take a good rest in the room.”

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“My profession is a driver.
Inside this villa, I don’t really have much to do until tomorrow morning.
Li Hao and I will be taking a stroll by the gardens and looking around if there’s anything suspicious.” Liu Kui said, “Yang Qi, when you’re cleaning the rooms, could you be a bit more attentive and take advantage when there’s no one around to quietly search through the drawers? It’d be best if you found a diary, or a letter, or something like those.”

“…This wouldn’t be too good.” Yang Qi answered in dissent, “The game said, ‘The players must accomplish the master’s orders, otherwise, there will be consequences.’ The madam firmly explained to us that besides our work, we must not wander aimlessly inside the villa and also not rummage through her things.
If she were to find out, she will surely kick me out.”

“Anway, whoever wants it, should do it himself.
I won’t take any risks in doing this.”

“But how could you do nothing.
How are we going to find clues?” Su Xiaoqian angrily retorted.
“We won’t force you to search through the drawers when the master is present.
If you won’t do it, then you also won’t get any information from us.
You’ll just end up emerging and perishing on your own(2)!”  

To emerge and perish on its own: Sabotage oneself

What Su Xiaoqian said was cruel, but none of them spoke up for Yang Qi’s defense.

Lu Tianyi couldn’t bear to watch any longer and thought to save Yang Qi from embarrassment, but thinking that everyone was fearful as she was, how could they hope to undertake risks and let someone else enjoy the fruits of their labor without doing any work.
If so, then this game wouldn’t need to be played.

Seeing that no one spoke up, Yang Qi opened her mouth and reluctantly said, “Fine.
I get it.
I’ll do it when others aren’t looking and try my best to search through the drawers.
But if the madam is watching me at the sidelines, I absolutely won’t do anything dangerous.”

With Yang Qi’s embarrassed reply, Su Xiaoqian couldn’t put up with her cowardly behavior any longer and harrumphed, saying, “You guys should continue chatting.
I’ll first go find the madam.
She doesn’t seem to want anyone else coming into contact with her precious eldest son.
I’ll go ask and see if I could get something out of her.”

After saying her piece, Su Xiaoqian fixed her skirt and energetically marched out the door.

Lu Tianyi followed Su Xiaoqian as she went out.
Although the madam said that he didn’t need to follow the husband the whole time, Lu Tianyi felt that bodyguards who didn’t show his face for a day were inexcusable.
So, he went to report to the husband.

After the two left, Liu Kui and Li Hao thought that there was nothing to discuss left.
Together, they said their goodbyes and roamed around the garden to see the roses.

As for Zhu Fugui, he was a countryman to his core, always cooking in the countryside, and was unable to understand the high society’s taste for food in the urban cities, and so, he couldn’t help but worriedly walk to the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen, he was deep in thought on what dishes to prepare for lunch to please this family of four.