Several burnt matchsticks were scattered on the floor.
Jiang Lin sat on the bed, having stopped using matches.
Through his recent experiment, he knew his guess was correct.
As a semi-protagonist in the story,
These matches could be used as props.
In the story of the Little Match Girl,
The little girl, cold and hungry on a cold, snowy night,
Looked at the warm scenes inside the brightly lit houses.
Her fingers, stiffened by the cold, lit a match.
In the faint glow, she saw a warm stove, a delicious roasted chicken…
And now,
Jiang Lin lighting a match could also achieve a temporary 'wish' effect.
Or perhaps… a dream effect.
Carefree,
Without any external or internal dangers.
“I just don’t know if I can keep using them after I leave…”
Jiang Lin murmured, tidying up the remaining matches and putting them in his pocket.
If he could still have the same effect after leaving the black hole, it would be like finding a ghost artifact for free.
Bang bang bang!
The ghost outside the door continued to pound.
Several ghosts had also gathered by the window, peering in, looking for a way to enter.
The glass was also being knocked on with a thudding sound.
Jiang Lin felt the dense yin energy in the air, comparable to that of a mid-level cultivation room.
He suddenly felt this place was quite good,
Provided they didn’t randomly drag people in.
He reinforced the barrier inside the room and took out several paper figures, one meter tall, to guard his bedside.
Then he began his cultivation for the day.
Since it was a rule-based ghost domain, it would definitely follow its rules.
It couldn’t completely leave no way out for people.
As long as he stayed properly in the room,
Without carelessly responding, opening doors or windows to court death, and without feeling hunger.
There should be no problems.
Seeing Jiang Lin’s calm demeanor,
Six ellipsis dots floated across the bullet comments on the ceiling.
[…Ghosts everywhere, and he’s still cultivating!]
[Where’s the gore? The violence? I clicked on the ghost building live stream, and this is what you show me??]
[This is undoubtedly a big shot in this world. Looking forward to his performance on the higher floors of the ghost building.]
…
The human world.
Time in the real world was different from the black hole.
But it was also approaching evening.
Seeing the streamer eating turkey, people ordered takeout or made noodles.
Then they ate while watching the live stream.
When they saw the streamer cultivating, some viewers spat out their food.
Their families glared at them, “Just eat your meal, don’t be so dramatic.”
When they saw the hundred ghosts night parade,
Some people with trypophobia hid under their blankets and started playing ‘Makka Pakka’.
As the camera panned to show the complaining bullet comments on the ceiling,
The viewers felt particularly proud.
“You have no idea about the power of a ghost messenger.”
“Your live stream is nowhere near as exciting as ours!”
“Ghost building high floors? This ghost domain is called the Ghost Building?”
So after the streamer cleared this ghost domain, they would enter other floors?
…
Besides the viewers who were just spectating and being curious,
There were also families of some ‘missing people’ in the live stream.
Their family members had disappeared without a trace, and the police and surveillance cameras found no clues.
They had used all sorts of connections and networks, but there was no news.
Until these past two days, someone told them,
That they might find clues in this live stream.
Xia Qingqing’s parents were among them.
No matter what they did, one of them would always be watching the live stream.
Initially, they only held a sliver of hope, a tiny possibility.
They never expected to actually see their daughter here.
And in such a scene!
…
When Jiang Lin and Shen Luo entered the black hole,
The live stream orb split into three,
One remained in reality, one followed Jiang Lin, and one followed Shen Luo.
When Jiang Lin appeared in the Christmas scene,
In the split screen,
Shen Luo’s eyes shone brightly, and she also appeared in a scene.
There was a mist all around,
Only the gilded luxury building in front of her was clearly visible.
Three large characters, ‘Chess and Card Room’, were hung on the building’s facade.
“Chess and Card Room?”
Shen Luo let out a soft sound of surprise. Was it what she understood it to be?
As a ghost messenger who often visited the human world, she was quite familiar with many things there.
Chess and card rooms, as entertainment venues, typically offered:
Mahjong, poker, pai gow, baccarat, Chinese chess, Go, Gomoku, checkers, and so on.
These types of entertainment were not only found in the human world but also in the ghost markets of the underworld.
They had many enthusiasts.
Shen Luo had also played them.
“Are we going to play games?”
She explored the surroundings but found that the building was inaccessible.
The surrounding mist also yielded no discernible information.
“Chess and card rooms are usually for multiplayer entertainment…
So, is this the player matching phase? We can only enter when everyone is here?”
Thinking this, Shen Luo stood in place, waiting patiently.
She also checked her own condition.
Not long after,
Three figures appeared around them one after another.
They all appeared out of thin air.
The first was a man wearing boxer shorts, with a large accumulation of fat on his body.
Seeing Shen Luo, his first reaction was to cover himself, “Who… who are you?!”
His blushing face was almost as if he were being assaulted.
The second was an elderly woman holding a red and yellow fan.
Before appearing here, she seemed to have been dancing in the square.
After habitually twisting a few times, she realized she had changed locations.
She looked around,
Besides Shen Luo and the fat man,
There was only the vast white mist and that strange, gaudy golden building.
The elderly woman immediately clutched her chest, her face filled with panic.
“I… I died of overwork? Is this the path to the underworld?”
The last to appear was a little girl with a delicate face.
Large purple grape-like eyes, long eyelashes, and a baby-fat face.
She was still wearing cute pajamas.
Although she looked young, she was the most composed among the three.
As soon as she appeared, she surveyed the surroundings without speaking rashly.
It was as if she had experienced such strange phenomena before.
At this moment, four players had gathered in the white mist.
Shen Luo briefly introduced herself to the other three.
The man in boxer shorts was called Peng Fei.
The square dancing elderly woman was Zhou Xiaofen, and the little girl was Xia Qingqing.
“My name is Shen Luo.”
Shen Luo didn’t care if they were telling the truth about their names; after all, names were just for convenience and memory.
As she spoke,
A ‘ding’ sound echoed from the first floor of the building.
The gilded door in front of them slowly opened to the sides.
A woman in a qipao walked out, swaying her body.
Her exquisite face broke into a smile, as vibrant as the large red flowers on her dress.
“Welcome to the Chess and Card Room, four players, please follow me.”
…
In the live stream, the viewers were still bewildered:
“Are they dragging people in just to play cards???”
“Are the ghosts in here that bored??? They might as well drag them to the underworld to work!”
In front of the screen, Xia Qingqing’s mother suddenly stood up.
“Qingqing!”
She stared intently at the cute figure on the screen, examining her repeatedly.
Confirming that her daughter was fine and alive,
She then sniffled, looked up, and forced back her tears.
She quickly opened her phone keyboard:
“Xia Tian rewards the streamer with a plane*10! With a message: Streamer, please, what is this place? How can my daughter come back?”
…
(PS: Catching up on yesterday’s update.
Yesterday, I had writer’s block and was feeling a bit unwell, so the update was quite late. Thank you to those who waited for the update ❤. My update times have been a bit erratic lately, so if you don’t see an update in the evening, please check in the morning~)