Seven Days, Seven Nights

Mr. Shuhai was serious and seldom spoke. He was like a majestic elder, making people dare not be in the mood to make trouble.

Dealing with Su Er, it was just because he took one more look at the achievement point marked on the other party’s badge. (1) Afterwards, he moved his eyes away and continued to stand in the corner.

Wan Yi: “It’s still early. Let’s act separately.”

No one retorted., so the players set off in twos and threes. Su Er noted they seemed to all know each other and asked, “Did they all use team props?”

Ji Heng: “Shen Jiangbei and Wan Yi should have used them. The rest are just coincidences.”

Some organizations paid greater attention to the number of people, so the quality was uneven. The advantage was that they could easily meet team members in a game and take care of each other when interests weren’t entangled. (2)

They could see many residents of the village outside. Most of them dressed in plain modern clothes. There was brief communication between them, but when they encountered an elderly person, they immediately stopped and made way for him. Parents led their children. Even when they saw the colorful candies on the side of the road, the child would only gaze at them with longing eyes and didn’t dare to ask.

Everyone has propriety, but the picture they create is lifeless. (3)

Su Er learned a lot of things. When he saw an elder, he not only made way but also bowed his head in a respectful posture. Sure enough, he received praise from passers-by. When they arrived in an inconspicuous place, Su Er said again: “The host and the chief guard have communicated with each other, so the host must have a reasonable identity here.” (4)

Ji Heng nodded. “It’s normal. In the last game, the host played the role of Zhao Sanliang’s grandfather.”

“…”

They regarded the identity of the chief guard as an honor, and countless people wanted to run for it. Everywhere they went, they’d hear people giving speeches to canvas votes. Out of curiosity, Su Er stopped and listened to one:

“I have been taught strictly since I was a child. I remember that when I was eight years old, I didn’t want to study. My father broke half my arm to make it a lasting memory…”

Su Er frowned when he heard this: “If you overdo it, you’re sick.” (5)

Ji Heng had experienced many games and had seen many strange things already. Along the way, he found that three people were most likely to succeed as chief of guard. An interesting thing was that they were brothers: Li Youzun, Li Yougui, and Li Youju.

After collecting information, they returned to the dilapidated old yard. The sun had just set.

Su Er and Ji Heng were the first to come back. Looking at the setting sun, Su Er suddenly said: “How are the people who entered this other world with me doing now? I don’t know.” (6)

Ji Heng: “You were very lucky. The quality of the novice players was not bad, but that doesn’t mean the players in this game are like that.”

Su Er nodded: “I know.”

Since ancient times, guarding the heart has been indispensable.

Ji Heng: “The game prohibits players from killing each other, but there are countless ways to kill with a knife.”

As they were talking, everyone came back, one after another. Wen Buyu considerately brought back several snacks to satisfy their hunger.

Ge Xuyan gnawed the chicken leg carelessly and said casually, “By the way, I saw someone I haven’t seen before talking to you in the alley.”

Everyone couldn’t help looking in Wen Buyu’s direction. The players have met each other, so according to Ge Xuyan, the person who talked to Wen Buyu was most likely an aboriginal of the town.

Usually, choosing to meet in alleys was for the means of discussing secret affairs. (7) There must be intel they could dig up.

Wen Buyu smiled but said nothing.

Ge Xuyan: “It’s all a game. There’s no need to hold back, right?”

Wen Buyu sat aside. Overall, she didn’t mean to answer him.

Ge Xuyan cursed. Throwing down his half-eaten chicken leg, he got up and returned to his room to rest. (8)

The meal broke up unhappily. Because of the tense atmosphere, no one was in the mood to talk. After deliberately cleaning up the trash on the table, Wen Buyu left with the female player named Bai Yan.

Su Er: “They don’t seem to be on good terms.”

“Ge Xuyan and Wen Buyu belong to the same organization, Dongfeng Wu.” Wan Yi looked at Wen Buyu’s retreating back. It wasn’t clear what he was thinking. (9) 

After a moment he continued: “Dongfeng Wu’s original captain was Wen Buyu’s husband. After he lost a previous game, Wen Buyu took over the organization. Ge Xuyan didn’t believe women could do anything and always wanted to replace her.” (10)

Su Er raised an eyebrow: “Gender discrimination?”

Wan Yu chuckled: “It’s just an excuse to gain more power. Dongfeng Wu is just a small organization with little cohesion.”

Shen Jianbei then said, “Wen Buyu has some means, but Ge Xuyan can barely exert any strength. I’m afraid their fight will affect the mission.”

Wan Yu squinted: “As long as the fire doesn’t burn us.”

Shen Jiangbei had no intention of continuing the topic: “Let’s all go back and rest early.”

Su Er was the first to get up. As he walked out, a voice suddenly came to his ear: “Where are you sleeping?”

Su Er looked at Ji Heng inexplicably and took out the small piece of paper that recorded everyone’s information: “It says I live in the northern wing.” (11)

Ji Heng: “I didn’t ask.”

“…”

Su Er recalled that the voice didn’t contain any emotions and looked at Mr. Shuhai.

“Where are you sleeping?” The other party asked sharply.

As the host, he must know everyone’s room, so this sentence had a different meaning. Su Er hesitated for a moment and asked Ji Heng: “Is he inviting me?”

Ji Heng asked calmly: “Do you want to agree?”

Su Er was silent for a moment before shaking his head. “Sorry, I don’t have that intention for the time being.”

The host stopped speaking and stood quietly in the shadows, like a wooden sculpture with no emotions.

The two walked out of the dining room side by side. Ji Heng suddenly asked, “Did you feel it?”

Su Er nodded. The host wanted to kill him. If he had agreed, even with the taser, he might not survive tonight. “I just don’t know the reason.”

Ji Heng: “Authority.”

Su Er understood a little. It was obviously a provocation to squash the Rose Gentleman. (12) After a while, he said bitterly, “It’s okay to set me up secretly, but I’m not a fool to accept so bright an invitation.”

“There will always be some people who pretend to be more impressive than they are and will say yes without thinking.” Ji Heng stopped: “I’m here.” (13)

The door to his room was more like a decoration. It didn’t even fit the doorframe properly, but Ji Heng didn’t care. After exchanging a few words, he walked in. Su Er’s room wasn’t much better. A tile shingle was missing from the roof. Fortunately, it didn’t look like it would rain tonight, or he’d have to fix it. (14)

Like a silent tacit understanding, no player proposed living together. Medium- to high-difficulty games contained many dirty things that could create hallucinations, and there were countless cases where someone got possessed and killed the other players. (15)

Night fell silently. Tonight, the moon hid behind the clouds, and the surroundings were deathly quiet.

Even hearing a frog croak or a cicada sing would be good. In this perfect silence, it felt like frightening footsteps would be heard at any moment. (16)

Su Er was lying on the bed, considering whether to fall asleep. His sleep quality was excellent, and it would be very troublesome if he couldn’t hear if there was a loud noise. However, he would have to stay here for a few more days, and it seemed unrealistic not to sleep.

While he was still deciding, someone else had already prepared to fall asleep.

In the west wing, Ge Xuyan was lying on the bed, getting ready to sleep. The first night was the least dangerous, so he had to seize the time to accumulate energy.

“Wen Buyu, that b**ch,” he turned over and muttered.

Ge Xuyan knew in his heart that neither he nor Wen Buyu were good people, and they could do whatever they could to survive. The problem was that Wen Buyu was good at pretending, and could calculate against people while wearing a smile on her face.

He couldn’t help but curse a few more harsh words before his eyelids gradually closed because of drowsiness. The chicken legs he ate in the evening were salty, and the water in the room smelled. Since he went to bed thirsty, after falling asleep, he subconsciously breathed through his mouth.  (17)

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when a cold feeling invaded him. The sense of crisis he’d cultivated from the countless times he’d been between life and death woke him up immediately.

The moon slowly appeared from behind the clouds. The bleak moonlight illuminated everything in front of him. Facing him was a young girl whose lips were torn. She smiled, and the tender flesh that had just scabbed instantly bled again.

Ge Xuyan took a deep breath. This girl was obviously not human.

His force value was far from being able to fight against ghosts. The best course of action was to escape. He had a good idea, but the previous coldness bit to the bones and made him grit his teeth in pain. He could hardly move a single step.

Just a little more. As long as he could clear this game, he would have accumulated 150 force points. Then, he could just barely fight ghosts and become the new organization’s leader. Unwillingness and resentment erupted in him in an instant, but he only took two steps when he was dragged back. At the last moment, Ge Xuyan yelled almost desperately: “Help—”

The female ghost’s smile suddenly widened, as if she had been waiting for this moment. She stretched out her skinny fingers and violently grabbed Ge Xuyan’s tongue. Under his horrified gaze, she pulled it out little by little.

….

The sun hadn’t risen completely, and the shadow of the moon remained faintly on the horizon.

Most of the players had woken up. After simply washing up, they gathered in the yard. Ji Heng came over and frowned when he saw no sign of Su Er in the crowd.

“It’s only the first night. Nothing will happen.” Wen Buyu said softly as they walked to Su Er’s room together.

Bai Yan looked around: “Ge Xuyan didn’t come either.”

After a while, she thought it out again. The first day wasn’t very dangerous, so the other party might have wanted to sleep in to recover more energy. This was a very common practice.

In comparison, Su Er, a newcomer, was more likely to have an accident.

Wen Buyu knocked on the door, and Wan Yi’s method was even simpler. He went straight to the window to peek inside and couldn’t help but curse “Damn it!”

Curious, Bai Yan also learned over and was shocked: “Dead or alive?”

A tremendous number of thin wires wrapped around Su Er’s body. The other end of the threads were tied to the door, windows, and other entrances, as well as to the beams and the roof. At first glance, it looked like he was made into a puppet.

Hearing the noise, the person on the bed slowly opened his eyes, turned his face, and calmly untied the thread in his hand before coming out to open the door.

“Good morning.”

Bai Yan looked at the threads speechlessly: “Aren’t you afraid that if a ghost comes, you can’t run out?”

“It’s not tight. You can break it when you pull it.” Su Er gave a demonstration: “I’m just worried that I will sleep so deeply that anyone can come in without me knowing it.”

“It’s fine as long as you’re okay.” Wen Buyu spoke softly. “Ji Heng was a little worried when he saw you didn’t come out.”

Su Er: “I know.”

Wen Buyu laughed. “Actually, tangled wire threads are not very useful. When ghosts come, the temperature and environment will change, so you will feel it. As for people… it’s unlikely they will visit us late at night.”

“Nothing is absolute.” Su Er looked at Ji Heng. “He came here last night.”

Several gazed converged on Ji Heng, who calmly said, “I heard some noises. I’m not sure where it came from, so I came here to have a look.”

The gigantic tree in the courtyard just blocked the moonlight. To not disturb the sleep of the people inside, he went to the roof.

Su Er pointed at the missing piece of the roof and said, “We just looked into each other’s eyes through that gap.”

Their brains pieced together the scene, and everyone shuddered.

Although the scene was terrifying, Su Er was actually very grateful. Although Ji Heng was a little cold, he was a qualified captain. (18)

Bai Yan swallowed, thought for a while, and said in a weak voice, “…Should we go see Ge Xuyan?”

Five minutes later, everyone stood in front of Ge Xuyan’s room. They hadn’t entered yet when they felt that something was wrong. The smell of blood wafted towards their faces.

Wan Yi had no scruples. He shared a look with Shen Jiangbei, nodded, and directly pushed the door open.

Half a tongue laid on the floor next to the threshold, and Wan Yi nearly stepped on it by accident. Ge Xuyan was on the bed, covered in blood, but most of the bloodstains were on his head. Wan Yi covered his nose and mouth with his sleeves as he approached. After examining for a while he said: “His tongue must have been ripped out forcefully.”

Wen Buyu was slightly startled and looked at Ji Heng: “So the sound you heard last night was probably…”

“Maybe,” Ji Heng said indifferently.

Wen Buyu whispered: “In fact, you could have stopped it.”

If you came here in time, you might have been able to save him.

Without waiting for Ji Heng to speak, Wen Buyu quickly apologized: “I’m sorry, I’m in a bad mood. No one here is obligated to bear the lives of others.”

It was normal for people to die in the game world. When the topic was about to pass, Ji Heng suddenly said: “You don’t know why he died?”

Wen Buyu let out an “ah!” and after a moment of confusion became angry: “My relationship with Ge Xuyan is a little bad, but we are from the same organization…”

“No words to eat, no words to sleep.” Ji Heng interrupted her with six words, his eyes as sharp as knives. (19)

As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone noticed the neglected detail, and their complexions quickly darkened. In a village that paid attention to rules and etiquette everywhere, talking while eating would be impolite behavior.

Not only did Ge Xuyan curse at the dinner table yesterday, but he also left without eating all the food. This was probably related to the tragedy of today’s tongue-pulling death. (20)

Wen Buyu’s anger dissipated, and she turned pale. It was obvious she had also reached this conclusion. Stunned, she asked, “How could this be?”

Her expression seemed so real that it was hard to tell whether or not she was acting. After all, it was quite common for modern people to communicate with each other during meals.

Wan Yi was not so good-tempered. The snacks were brought back by Wen Buyu, and they all had gathered around the table to eat. If Ge Xuyan hadn’t opened his mouth first, he didn’t know who would be the one to suffer today.

“I really hope this was unintentional,” Wan Yi glanced at her. Otherwise, this scheming would be a little scary. (21)

When only one player is left, the difficulty of the scenario will automatically be reduced. Many people encounter high-difficulty games, and when they see that reaching the clearance requirements is hopeless, they’ll go astray. (22)

Wen Buyu’s eyes were red with anger.

What was difficult at the moment was how to deal with the corpse. If they hastily buried it, they could be suspected of killing and hiding the body. Su Er noticed that Mr. Shuhai, who had always been in the shadows before, had disappeared for some time. When he reappeared, the chief guard was following him.

The older players had some basic acting skills. Wan Yi quickly adjusted his state to make a frightened expression: “Someone’s dead!”

Seeing the tragedy in the room, the chief guard looked ugly: “What’s going on?”

Wan Yi pretended to be dumbfounded, his words revealing he knew nothing.

Mr. Shuhai said at that moment: “Last night, the deceased spoke obscene words and wasted food at the dinner table. Perhaps he was condemned by God.”

After hearing such a ridiculous reason, the chief guard actually believed it.

Mr. Shuhai said stiffly: “He thinks there are no rules for eating, so it’s okay if he doesn’t want this mouth.” (23)

Facing the corpse, the chief guard immediately showed an expression of deep hatred. “What an uneducated child. I have to ask someone to write this in the newspaper so as to remind others.”

He muttered and walked out with his hands clasped behind his back. It seemed that he really was going to find someone to write an article.

Bai Yan bit her lip: “Say, do you think this chief guard is a man or ghost?”

How could anyone indifferently see the dead and still think about preaching?

Wan Yi: “Who knows?”

When everyone was concerned about the guard’s behavior, Ji Heng noticed that Su Er was observing his surroundings.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

Su Er: “If you do encounter a ghost, just don’t open your mouth and scream.”

Ji Heng: “It’s difficult to do.”

Su Er glanced at him: “Anyways, I’m not scared.”

Ji Heng raised his eyebrow.

Su Er said mysteriously: “In fact, I found a secret.”

Looking at each other, Ji Heng waited quietly for him to continue.

The ghosts here seem to have an unimaginable obsession with etiquette,” Su Er says. “If it dares to come, I will destroy its innocence even at the cost of my life.”

Ji Heng’s expression cracked slightly.

Su Er sneered: “Isn’t it just a tongue-pulling ghost… As long as I can breathe, my mouth won’t die.”

He could even force a kiss on others, which was terrible.

The author has something to say:

Tongue-pulling Ghost: I went. I got dirty. I’m leaving. (24)

I changed some details about Wen Buyu in the middle~. The original last paragraph was too obvious and a bit strange, so I adjusted the interaction between the protagonist and Ji Heng. (25)

PS: All the small theaters [The author has something to say] are irresponsible, exaggerated versions, and have nothing to do with the main text~~

FOOTNOTES

对待 – duidai – treat, deal with; “He had turned to Su Er just to look at the achievement point marked on the other party’s badge one more time.” – Not exactly how it was translated. I wanted to use this version above but I’m still trying to figure out how literally I should keep the translations, especially in cases where it makes things too vague or not as sensical as in English…纠葛 – entanglement; “when interests weren’t entangled”礼节 – etiquette, courtesy, propriety想必在这里也有一个合理的身份 Su Er is saying the speech giver’s father is sick for going too far with punishment游戏 – game; “people who first entered this game with me,” a.k.a. the tutorial game. At first I was confused because I thought he meant the other 5 participants in the current game they were in, but then I realized he wasn’t referring to them. Since just translating it as “game” was confusing, I changed it to “other world” to refer to the world of seven days, seven nights. More literally translated as “I don’t know how the people who entered this game with me are doing now?”专门挑巷子多半是说隐秘的事情- Picking the alleys is mostly about secret thingsMore literally, it was “Ge Xuyan cursed, threw down his half-eaten chicken leg, got up and went back to his room to rest.” I changed it to make it flow better though.东风错误 – Pinyin Dōngfēng cuòwù; Dongfeng Mistake, East Wind Mistake. Donfeng Mi (according to google translate); 错误, 错 and 误 have the same meaning (error, mistake).“折在了一个副本中” – “He folded in a copy.” Means he lost in a previous game. Changed it to be consistent, though once again I am thinking of retranslating game to just copy. “Game” feels awkward at times…我住北边那屋 – I live in the north house; I live in the room to the north吃瘪 – to flatten, beat up, squash; 瘪 – shrivel; Mr. Shuhai wants to kill Su Er to prove superiority over the Rose Gentleman who got screwed over by Su Er. Little does he know Su Er is a grade S gremlin that no one can defeat…总有人自命不凡 – “There always be some people who are pretentious” and respond without thinking瓦砾 – together, means rubble, but 瓦 means tile and 砾 means shingle. It made more sense if it was “a tile shingle was missing from the roof” than “a piece of rubble was missing from the roof”脏东西 – Dirty Things. As 404Error said in chapter 3, this refers to spirits, ghosts, demonic creatures, monsters, etc.极致 – used in context as “extreme, ultimate perfect”下午 means afternoon, but they just had dinner before going to bed, so I changed it to evening.Ji Heng slurking around like spiderman at 3 am watching Su Er while Su Er watches him while wrapped like a mummy in wire threads lmao“食不言，寝不语” – “No words to eat, no words to sleep.” Don’t talk while eating and don’t talk before sleeping. From the Five Analects of ConfuciusShook his sleeves/flicked his sleeves – meaning to go away; be down with a situationWan Yi is implying it would be very calculative if Wen Buyu gambled all of their lives to not only get rid of her competition within the guild but also everyone elseWhen people in high difficulty copies feel like it’s impossible to clear the game, they’ll resort to desperate measures, like killing every other player in the game to lower the requirements needed to pass. This is probably how the one player who killed everyone else in order to get an achievement point ended up being able to trap the boss of that game (Killing all the other players made the difficulty much lower, meaning it must either cause the system to weaken the boss or to put more restrictions on the boss). In future chapters, boss will also be changed to Ghost King once they are introduced in story.吃饭没个规矩 – “There are no rules for eating” – Everywhere I looked, this is basically what this phrase says, but it doesn’t make sense to me in context. Unless the host mean Ge Xuyan didn’t respect the rules while eating, so he doesn’t need a mouth.我来了，我脏了，我走了 – I’m here, I’m dirty, I’m leaving.What I translated is the author’s revised version of chapter 12. This note is referring to the author’s original version.