SFS Chapter 118 Even as a vengeful ghost, I will seek revenge.
Chapter 118 Even as a vengeful ghost, I will seek revenge.
Yan Xun, his teammates, and Song Baiyuan left the underground parking garage.
When he turned around, he found that He Jinqiu had rolled down the car window and was leaning on the steering wheel looking at him. She seemed not to have expected Yan Xun to turn around. He slowly sat up straight and then leaned half of his body out of the car window.
He wanted to say something to Yan Xun, but in the end he just smiled, waved, and got back into the driver's seat.
At the same time, the main system's voice and a picture appeared in Yan Xun's mind—
[Congratulations to player Yan Xun for achieving the hidden ending, "The Secret in He Jinqiu's House"!]
You've discovered a deity called Jia Ye, a name you've never heard of before. Yet, upon closer inspection, you find many people around you secretly worshipping this mysterious being. You suspect that He isn't a kind and righteous mythical being, and even believe your teammate's misfortune is due to his family's worship of this deity.
You remain skeptical, you are curious, but danger makes you decide not to explore further truth.
[Kejia will not let you get away with this.]
Along with this monologue, the image that resembled the ending CG of a game also appeared in Yan Xun's mind.
The image shows a dejected He Jinqiu, and only her own back view.
On the dashboard in He Jinqiu's driver's seat, there suddenly appeared a statue that looked like the one in his family's shrine.
This is something Yan Xun didn't see just now.
After the screen representing the ending appeared, a semi-transparent dialog box appeared in front of him, asking him to select the previous save point.
The top of the dialog box shows the tasks that Yan Xun has completed and those that still need to be completed.
[Main Quest: Who Has a Sister-in-Law?]
Hidden Side Quest: The Secret in He Jinqiu's House (Completed)
【? ? ? : Jia Ye's Gaze (1/5)】
Yan Xun's gaze lingered on the question mark in the last column for a moment. In terms of game logic, the instance he entered was, on the surface, a fun little instance to discover which teammates had a sister-in-law.
However, if you get too close to a teammate, you can trigger a hidden mission: to discover their secret.
He Jinqiu's secret leads to the discovery of a conman and a mysterious religious figure named Jiaye.
If Yan Xun's guess is correct, if he continues to contact his teammates, he will discover other fragments about Jia Ye, thus achieving the true ending.
But he only had four teammates...
Could it be that I also have a secret?
After thinking for a moment, Yan Xun chose the save point before he and He Jinqiu left.
……
Yan Xun woke up and looked at He Jinqiu lying in the bed next to his.
He walked over across the carpet and stood beside He Jinqiu's bed.
He Jinqiu was still asleep, but perhaps the feeling of being watched was too strong... He woke up from his sleep and saw Yan Xun standing by his bedside. He was a little surprised and thought something big had happened.
"...Your sister-in-law has revealed it?" He Jinqiu asked after a few seconds of stunned silence.
Otherwise, he couldn't have imagined why Yan Xun would stand by his bedside.
Yan Xun shook his head.
The first thing he decided to do after reloading the save file was: "Hello."
Yan Xun looked at He Jinqiu expressionlessly, "Song Baiyuan is my uncle."
Just as he chose to reload the save file, Yan Xun suddenly realized what He Jinqiu had misunderstood.
The image of a green frog squeaking immediately popped into his head!
How tacky!
How could He Jinqiu think that way?!
He Jinqiu had just woken up and her mind was not fully clear. When she heard Yan Xun say that Song Baiyuan was his uncle, words were still popping into her head.
Yan Xun, Song Baiyuan, uncle?
When He Jinqiu finally understood what Yan Xun was referring to, she first widened her eyes, then became embarrassed.
He didn't know why Yan Xun suddenly said this to him...
"...Ah...I see..."
"Yes, I see."
Yan Xun nodded.
Then, as if they had completed their mission, they left their dormitory.
As soon as Yan Xun left, He Jinqiu's face slammed into the blanket. He felt so embarrassed that he wanted to hang himself.
Finally, he opened his phone and solemnly announced in the group chat—
【We're not love-struck (34)】
[Who would have a crush on their roommate?: I want to die...]
[Who would have a crush on their roommate?: I'd rather die than admit it...]
[Who would have a crush on their roommate?: How could I have such filthy and disgusting thoughts!]
[Who would have a crush on their roommate? I'm such a piece of trash!]
【My colleague and I don't get along: ? Are you crazy?】
[My colleague and I don't get along: "Weren't you always pretty awful? Have you suddenly come to a new understanding of yourself?"]
He Jinqiu felt that this person's arrogant way of speaking looked very familiar, but she also felt that there was no such coincidence in the world, so she could only ignore this stubborn sycophant and talk about her inner thoughts in the group.
[Who would have a crush on their roommate? He told me the older man is his relative.]
[Who would have a crush on their roommate: ...Yeah, he's such a nice guy, how could he possibly be with an older man?]
[Who would have a crush on their roommate? I'm so despicable, so vile, so filthy. I'm ashamed to face him, I want to die.]
[My colleague and I don't get along: It's okay, maybe they don't even care about you, and they didn't know you were such a despicable person :)]
[My colleague and I don't get along: When you atone for your sins with your death, remember to wait a few days, otherwise Uncle Hat might suspect he's the murderer.]
[My colleague and I don't get along: Don't think you can haunt them even after you die; be careful, your resentment might run too deep and you'll be exorcised before you even get close.]
He Jinqiu stared for a while—he even wondered if this person knew him.
She even began to suspect the other members of the group, otherwise there would be no reason for a stranger to speak so viciously to her.
Perhaps sensing that something was off, the other people in the group finally spoke up.
[Who are you calling a simp?: Stop arguing, stop arguing, isn't it better to clear up the misunderstanding?]
[Who are you calling a simp? But how did you know the old man was his uncle?]
[Who has a crush on their roommate? He told me this morning.]
[Who would have a crush on their roommate: I woke up this morning and he was standing by my bed telling me that the older man was his uncle.]
[Who are you calling a simp?: ...]
My colleague and I don't get along: ...
[Who are you calling a simp? Why don't you restart it?]
[Who are you calling a simp? Why is he suddenly saying this to you? Did he see the chat history in the group chat?]
He Jinqiu's heart sank as he read on. He was certain that Yan Xun could not possibly have seen his chat history, and Yan Xun was perfectly fine before he went to sleep last night, so why was he talking to him about this as soon as he woke up...
He bit his finger, thought for a long time, and finally his gaze stopped at the bedroom door.
He got it.
There must be some scoundrel who whispered something to Yan Xun behind his back!
He Jinqiu bit her knuckles, determined not to let him know who it was... otherwise he would become a vengeful ghost and seek revenge.
……
After Yan Xun learned of He Jinqiu's secret, he simply considered her an unlucky fellow.
After all, He Jinqiu did not want to do anything bad. His parents used some unorthodox methods to make their business prosperous, but that had nothing to do with his own wishes.
But if Yan Xun were to think about it more carefully, he would realize that He Jinqiu is not a normal person either.
The fact that she could get along with her strange older brother at home so calmly for so long, and remain composed even after knowing that her brother wasn't human, clearly shows that her thought process is a bit strange.
At this moment, Yan Xun was unaware that her roommate had become jealous of some non-existent unlucky guy.
Leaving the bedroom, he saw Mu Yuanming, who had returned early, just like in the previous playthrough.
When Mu Yuanming saw Yan Xun, he was terribly sleepy, but knowing that Song Baiyuan had visited the dormitory yesterday, he forced himself to stay awake and asked, "Song Baiyuan came yesterday?"
Yan Xun discovered that they were genuinely concerned about Song Baiyuan's movements.
True, which slacking-off employee wouldn't want to know where their boss is?
They all wish they could install a GPS tracker on their boss so that employees would receive a "beep beep beep" notification as soon as he gets close to the company.
"Yes," Yan Xun replied somewhat absentmindedly.
He was still pondering the matter of Jia Ye, wondering if he should take advantage of Mu Yuanming's current drowsiness and unconsciousness to get some information out of him.
Yan Xun observed Mu Yuanming's expression and noticed that his eyes changed after he heard that Song Baiyuan had indeed come to the dormitory yesterday.
Finally, Mu Yuanming spoke up, "...Actually, Song Baiyuan isn't a good person."
Yan Xun: "..."
After passing through He Jinqiu's place, he suddenly felt as if he understood something.
"Do you know about my relationship with Song Baiyuan?" Yan Xun suddenly asked, his voice rising.
Mu Yuanming hadn't expected him to be so direct, and for a moment he almost forgot to control his expression. He first looked at Yan Xun, then looked away, as if he was having some kind of internal struggle. Just as he was making up his mind and thinking of words of comfort, he suddenly heard Yan Xun say something else.
"So you know that Song Baiyuan is my uncle and that I'm related by connections?"
"...Gah?"
Mu Yuanming let out a duck-like quack in shock.
“Song Baiyuan is your uncle.”
Yan Xun feigned surprise, "You're testing me like this, so you know that Song Baiyuan is my uncle, right?"
Mu Yuanming: "..."
He is now in the same situation as He Jinqiu.
He felt like his soul was being tortured, especially after seeing Yan Xun's (pretended) confused expression, he felt even more like a piece of trash.
That's true, Yan Xun wasn't particularly smart to begin with, Mu Yuanming thought.
He swallowed the words he was about to say.
"Yes," Mu Yuanming said.
"but……"
He looked toward Yan Xun's bedroom. "It seems like He Jinqiu doesn't know."
"If you don't tell him, I'm worried he might misunderstand something."
What's the misunderstanding?
He Jinqiu never expected that she would hear the murderer explode as soon as she left the bedroom.
He glanced at Mu Yuanming. "What do you think I've misunderstood?"
Mu Yuanming gave a forced smile, "You know perfectly well what's going on."
He Jinqiu really didn't know what Mu Yuanming was talking about. He subconsciously looked at Yan Xun and heard Yan Xun say—
“He Jinqiu knows.”
"You know?" Mu Yuanming asked.
“I just told him this morning.”
He Jinqiu was furious when she heard this!
He finally knew who that scoundrel who spread rumors and shifted blame everywhere was... He looked at Mu Yuanming and saw Mu Yuanming yawn.
I'm sleepy.
Mu Yuanming said.
He glanced at He Jinqiu, "So you knew..."
"Then why..."
He only said half of what he meant, which made people speculate even more, as if He Jinqiu had really done something bad.
Mu Yuanming seemed to remember something and took out the jewelry that Yan Xun had asked him to bring out from his pocket. "I almost forgot just now."
"The necklace is gone, only two rings remain."
Yan Xun looked at the ring handed to him and felt his eyelids twitching wildly—the plot had indeed changed quite a bit compared to the previous playthrough, and he was a little worried that he might have accidentally gone down the wrong side of the story.
"How much? I'll transfer it to you." He repeated what he said from last week.
"No need," Mu Yuanming said. "Consider it a gift from me."
Just like last week, he put the two rings on Yan Xun's finger before patting Yan Xun's shoulder and saying, "I'm sleepy, I'm going back to my room to catch up on some sleep."
Mu Yuanming had just returned when Ning Xinian heard the commotion and came out of his single room. He greeted He Jinqiu and Yan Xun.
The rest of the story remains completely unchanged.
Ning Xinian took Yan Xun to the gym, He Jingtang returned from his outing, and He Jinqiu extended an invitation to go out.
Yan Xun took a sip of the water and said, "No."
"I need to catch up on sleep in my dorm."
He Jingtang chuckled upon hearing this, stuffing a mouthful of hay into his mouth. "Then you can play games with me in the dorm."
"Let me tell you, I recently discovered a game that's really fun."
He Jinqiu wouldn't blame Yan Xun; he only blamed those scoundrels for spreading rumors and causing his relationship with Yan Xun to deteriorate.
He held the fork in his hand, then smiled and said, "Never mind then."
"I can go by myself."
He Jingtang looked at him with a sly grin and asked, "Where are you going?"
"Could it be that he's on a date with his girlfriend and has Yan Xun covering for him?"
"Let me tell you, Yan Xun is not going to be a third wheel."
He Jinqiu held the fork in her hand, picked up a piece of crispy fried bacon, and stuffed it into her mouth.
"I don't have a girlfriend, so why would I need Brother Yan Xun to cover for me?"
He took out his phone. "Qiuqiu is getting out of school today, I'll go pick it up."
Yan Xun looked at the lively Qiuqiu in the video, and then thought of Qiuqiu sitting in the back seat in the previous ending. He finally looked away and asked, "You'll come back after you pick up Qiuqiu?"
He Jingtang glanced at the Teddy in the video a few more times and indeed remembered that He Jinqiu had a dog named Qiuqiu at home.
"Let's take the ball home first."
He Jinqiu said, "I'll also go see my brother while I'm at it."
Yan Xun: "?"
He sensed something was wrong. Since joining the group, He Jinqiu had never mentioned that she had an older brother. Why would she suddenly bring it up now?
He Jingtang looked surprised. "You have an older brother?"
"I've never heard you mention that."
He Jinqiu smiled and said, "My brother doesn't usually go out. He's afraid of meeting people, so I never told him I had an older brother."
If Yan Xun didn't already know who He Jinqiu's brother really was, he would still have been deceived by his words.
"I'll go get Qiuqiu first," He Jinqiu said, picking up her tray. "Brother Yanxun, I'll definitely be back tonight."
As soon as He Jinqiu left, He Jingtang turned to Yan Xun and asked, "What did he mean by what he just said?"
"Threatening someone?"
"It's like telling the big villain that you will definitely come back."