Seven Days, Seven Nights

Su Er’s words broke the silence, but it ushered in a new wave of silence.

Several pairs of eyes gazed at him, and they were roughly divided into two types: ‘This man is crazy’ and ‘This man is toxic.’ (1) The first person who couldn’t stand it was Li Shouzhang: “We usually choose the Chief Guard from a prestigious family.”

“That’s no problem. Go secretly spread the news that I’m your long-lost brother.”

“…”

This person, I’m afraid you’ve lost your mind.

Ji Heng shook his head. After all, this was the team member he brought into the game. He looked at Shen Jiangbei: “I want to take Wen Buyu away.”

Shen Jiangbei frowned, but just as he was about to speak, Ji Heng continued: “I’ll tell you something in exchange. That man is poisoning his elders at home.”

Wan Yu and Shen Jiangbei had only caught evidence of their adultery and didn’t expect this had happened.

On the other side, Wen Buyu breathed a long sigh of relief, looked at Wan Yu warily and walked to Ji Heng leaning against the wall.

Su Er looked at the sky and believed it would be time to work again in half an hour: “Do we go back?”

Ji Heng shook his head.

Su Er: “It’s not a good thing to skip work.”

Ji Heng looked at Wai Yi and Shen Jiangbei: “Asking you two for help.” (2)

As they left the dark alley, Su Er took a glance back.

Ji Heng: “To get information on the Li family, they will go work for them in vain.” When dealing with Wen Buyu, his expression became stern again: “I hope the information you provide is of some value.”

Having just experienced a crisis, Wen Buyu’s complexion paled slightly. She forced herself to calm down and nodded.

“There’s something suspicious about the voting.” While observing Ji Heng’s face, she saw he had no special reaction and continued: “According to procedure, the Chief Guard who is about to leave his post will take out the votes one by one from the ballot box while another person registers the votes. Li Shouzhang handled registration last year. He said that the total number of votes was hundreds of more than the number of people in the village.” (3)

Su Er: “Maybe some residents voted a few more times.”

“Impossible,” Wen Buyu said. “Li Shouzhang said that the voting process is very strict.” She couldn’t help taking a break: “He reported this to the Chief Guard, but the Chief Guard only told him to keep silent after listening.”

She lowered her head and said, “Do you think the extra votes… will be cast by ghosts?”

“Perhaps,” Ji Heng replied calmly.

Wen Buyu let out an ‘ah,’ surprised by Ji Heng’s composure. (4)

Su Er remembered last night when he encountered the tongue-pulling ghost. The first question Ji Heng asked was whether there were any others similar to herself in this town. The female ghost had given a positive answer back then.

Ji Heng said indifferently: “Although my spirit value is not as high as Qi Yun’s, it’s not low.” (5)

When the spirit value exceeds 80, ghosts could possess you. Hearing that, Su Er had a guess: “Could it be…”

Ji Heng nodded directly: “On the first day we came here, there was a ghost that wanted to get into my body.” (6)

The body possessed by the ghost could still use the power of the ghost, so it was a relatively high risk. (7)

Su Er couldn’t help but be curious and asked, “Qi Yun’s spirit value is ridiculously high, so won’t there be a lot of ghosts willing to fight over his body?”

Ji Heng was certain this wasn’t an illusion. Any good words would indeed turn rotten once they came out of Su Er’s mouth. (8)

However, Wen Buyu looked yearningly: “You can sometimes even feel the positions of ghosts with a high spirit value. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.”

Su Er’s spiritual value was still a long way from the critical point. After the initial curiosity, he quickly focused on the current problem: “The number of votes is strange, but I still choose to ignore it. The Chief Guard must know something.” (9)

Wen Buyu added: “One more thing is that there are many people in the village who supervise the people’s words and deeds. Those who find any faults will report them to the Chief Guard immediately.”

Su Er guessed that the identity of the host must belong to this category.

At this moment, Wen Buyu looked a little nervous: “I’ve told you all that I know, and I just want to get out alive. Promise that nothing will happen to me next.”

Ji Heng: “Within the game setting, survival is based on your own luck.”

At least the words were not definite, and hope rose again in Wen Buyu. (10) Anyway, Ge Xuyan was dead. Since she had solved the big problem troubling her heart, this trip was not a loss.

 After walking for a while, neither Ji Heng nor Su Er spoke, and Wen Buyu had no choice but to suppress her doubts and follow them the entire way.

Finally, their footsteps stopped outside the ancestral hall.

There was no one guarding the entrance. On the contrary, the people in the village stayed away from the ancestral hall. Su Er rolled up his sleeves and saw the whiplash injuries were still vivid. He guessed he had to wait until he got out of the game to recover.

Obviously Wen Buyu also remembered being whipped when she first came here, and her face looked terrible.

The ancestral hall enshrined the memorial tablets of the Chief Guards of the past generations, among which the two surnames, ‘Li’ and ‘Zhou,’ appeared the most. The incredibly heavy ballot box was placed in a corner outside the ancestral hall. Half of it was covered with a red cloth. (11)

Ji Heng turned to look at Wen Buyu: “Has Li Shouzhang told you how they deal with the votes over the years?” (12)

“After the election, it seems they will all be destroyed together.”  (13)

Ji Heng walked to the ballot box and reached into it, but he soon pulled his arm out again. Su Er noticed a flashing light on the question marks next to Ji Heng’s force value: “Are you all right?” (14)

Ji Heng just shook his head and turned the box over. He went out to find a sharp stone and slashed at an inconspicuous place on the bottom. He smashed into this spot a few more times until the inside was finally exposed to be a ghastly white.

At first, Su Er thought this was because the paint had fallen off, but when he approached closer, he realized the reason for the color was the material: “This is… made from bones?”

Ji Heng nodded: “It seems that the bones were taken from the person while he was still alive. There remains such a heavy resentment.” After returning the box to its original place, he stood up and suddenly gave Su Er a choice: “Where do you want to go, to the Chief Guard’s house or to the cemetery?”

Su Er pursed his lips and didn’t answer immediately.

Wen Buyu: “…Do you still need to think about this?”

Normal people would rule out the cemetery option first.

Su Er: “Just to be safe, why don’t we go take a look at both sites?”

Ji Heng was quite satisfied with this answer.

.

It was tradition that the Chief Guard lived alone. Once he was elected, he had to distance himself from his family, indicating he would not speak of any human emotions during his tenure. The current Chief Guard lived in a secluded area away from the hustle and bustle of the town, and even the color of the dark was dark and gloomy.

Standing in front of the door and looking at the two majestic stone lions flanking its sides, Su Er could feel a kind of deathly silence.

Ji Heng stepped forward and knocked on the door.

It was a long time before the door was open. Even at home, the Chief Guard was dressed exquisitely. When he saw who the visitor was, he narrowed his eyes in displeasure.

Ji Heng respectfully said: “Since we were young, we had no family elders to teach us, so we made the mistake of drinking secretly. You are the most disciplined person in the village, so we wanted to listen to your teachings one last time before you leave your post.”

Su Er’s acting was passable and cooperated with Ji Heng by nodding repeatedly. Wen Buyu’s complexion was a bit strange. It was unexpected. Ji Heng showed a cold face every day, but his ability to lie with his eyes open was not small.

Being held up by such gratifying words, the Chief Guard’s expression eased a little. He lifted his chin slightly and said, “Come in.” (15)

There were hardly any modern items in the room. A set of solid wood furniture occupied most of the space, and several calligraphy and paintings hung on the wall.

The Chief Guard talked about a lot of great principles one after the other, during which Su Er kept his head lowered slightly. He seemed to listen attentively, but in fact, his mind had deserted his body a long time ago. Had it not been for the strange coldness lingering around him, he might have fallen asleep.

When the man spoke pretty much the same thing, (16) Ji Heng interrupted, “All sentient beings are lazy. How do you achieve complete self-discipline in your daily life?” (17)

The Chief Guard’s face changed, and his tone became a little cold: “Just form a habit.”

Ji Heng asked again: “Where will people who committed a grave mistake in the village be buried after death?”

With a suspicious look on his face, the Chief Guard asked, “why do you ask about this?”

Ji Heng: “I want to see it as a warning.”

As his assistant, Su Er raised his arm and naturally showed his wounds: “You woke us up that day in the ancestral hall. After visiting, we are going to write our experience and publicize it to the people in the Educational Hall.”

By their side, Wen Buyu couldn’t intervene at all but probably had nothing to say.

The Chief Guard didn’t know what to think. For a moment, there was a look of twisted joy on his face: “Yes, go have a look. Then you will know the end that awaits you for breaking the rules.” (18)

According to the directions he provided, the three of them found their destination smoothly. At the foot of the barren mountain were scattered graves. The names of the deceased were written in small letters, and most of the tombstones recorded the sins they had committed in life. Su Er also saw a new grave. It was the girl from the Li family who hung herself. Foul language was engraved onto the stone, insulting her eight characters. (19)

The wind was weak here, but there was a chill that couldn’t be dispersed from their bones.

“It’s so cold,” Wen Buyu raised her collar and put her hands in her pockets.

Su Er: “The temperature inside the Chief Guard’s house seemed to be much lower than that of the outside world.”

Ji Heng: “When I asked how to keep myself disciplined, how did the Chief Guard answer?”

Su Er: “You get used to it.” (20)

Ji Heng sneered: “The people in the village are kept bound by the chief guard, and the chief guard is kept bound by the ghosts.” (21)

Wen Buyu’s eyes widened: “There are ghosts in his house? Then aren’t we telling lies under the eyes of the ghosts?”

“Be careful,” Su Er said seriously: “I really will write my experiences down when I go back, so it’s not a lie.”

“,,,”

Ji Heng counted the number of graves: “You can collect a hundred ghosts to travel at night.”

Wen Buyu forced herself to smile, but she couldn’t help wavering: “They don’t need to be… all ghosts.” She swallowed her saliva: “a single ghost may just be casting the extra ballots.”

Ji Heng wasted little time talking to her. He looked at the tombstones with a sinking face.

Of course, Wen Buyu knew what kind of predicament they faced now. There were not many people in the village, so the decision-making power lied in the hands of the ghosts: “Actually, as long as the most popular candidates, the three brothers of the Li family, die, we can build momentum for Li Shouzhang and win by a lot.” (22)

This was her original plan, which was easy to implement, but it was indeed risky.

Su Er, who was pursing his lips again, said subconsciously: “That may not be possible. If we hadn’t discovered your affair with Li Shouzhang…” (23)

“Trouble you to change your words.”

“Friendship,” Su Er coughed lightly and continued: “If I voted for one of the three brothers of the Li family, the result may be that you win alone. Now that we are working together, there’s no way the game will easily let so many people clear the scenario alive.”

Ji Heng had reminded him more than once that the game had evil inclinations and favored ghosts. (24)

Wen Buyu was a little anxious: “What should I do then?”

Su Er frowned. Many of his ideas could only be realized if he had strength. He was currently as weak as an ant, with only some electricity at most. He subconsciously looked at Ji Heng, and the latter smiled: “Didn’t you want to be chosen as Chief Guard?”

He pointed at the barren graves in front of him: “Then you have to find a way to let them cast you.”

The cold, gloomy wind swept in from across the distant valley, bringing a strange echo. Ji Heng smiled meaningfully: “So what should you do now?”

Si Er faced the grave and thought for a while: “…Start my performance?”

The author has something to say:

Su Er: I’m ready to accept fate’s challenge.

Ghost: What did we do wrong?

 

FOOTNOTES

这人有毒 – This person is poisonous; internet slang which has many meanings lol. For example, “poisonous” is used to describe someone playing an online game particularly bad. Another explanation given was that it refers to someone who speaks about something normal but says it in a way that makes the listeners feel dirty or impure. Explanations were found on this post.“拜托二位了” – “Please both of you.” 拜托 is a phrase meaning “please” or “to respectfully ask someone to do something.” However, it can also be used to just say “Can you please do something for me.” It’s a more formal or polite way of saying “please” in English.猫腻 – tricky, fishySurprised that the other party showed no wavesQi Yun is a character mentioned in chapter 009 by Zhao Sanliang:
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“The boss has an achievement point called【Going from afar】and the remaining one is Qi Yun. He is the only player with a spirit value of more than 100 in the game. However, I suspect that guy has long since been turned into a ghost, so remember to avoid him if you meet him later.” 
.阴灵 – Yin Spirit; ghost – the ghost Ji Heng mentions here is not the tongue-pulling ghost fyi.阴灵上身可以借助鬼的力量 – Not sure how to translate this. 上身 means “upper body,” but 身上 can mean “start wearing.” This made me think it could mean the ghost “wearing” a person’s body, or just possessing it. Edit: I was told it means possession so yay“If good words come out of Su Er’s mouth, they will indeed taste bad.” Su Er keeps making things sound more lewd and strange than they are lol.Sometimes, when explaining things, CN novels do this thing where they explain the actions of others by putting themselves in the other person’s shoes. An example is from chapter 008 when Xuanyuan Aoyu explains a reason for why the ghost in the picture chose to enter a false dream created by the cult:
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Xuanyuan Aoyu shrugged: “I have invested so much. My family is broken and people are dead. How can I easily admit my mistake?”
.说死 – literally translates to “say dead,” but it means “to make definite.” Wen Buyu is saying that Ji Heng’s reply was not a certain rejection to her plea to remain safe until the end of the game.Raws says “covered with half a red cloth” but it didn’t seem to make much sense to meInterestingly, the author spelled Li Shouzhang’s name as “Li Youzhang” here. Previously, it was written as “李守章” (Pinyin: Lǐ Shǒuzhāng), but here it was written as “李有章” (Pinyin: Lǐ Yǒuzhāng). “After the election” was not part of the raws, but I put it in…Zhao Sanliang and Ji Heng use special props that cover up their force and spiritual values as mentioned in chapter 9.被好言好捧着 – held up by kind words; being flattered得差不多 – literally means “the difference is not much;” used to explain things are “more or less the same.” 众生 – “all living creatures,” “all sentient beings.” “约束” – “self-discipline,” “restraint,” “keep within bounds”“好知道破坏规矩的下场” – So as to know the consequences of breaking the rulesThe very last sentence in this paragraph was weird and hard to translate. “Eight characters” refers to a person’s birth date given based on the Ganzhi calendar. The Ganzhi calender, also known as the sexagenary cycle or “Stems-and-Branches.” The eight characters have been used by Chinese Taoists and astrologers since ancient times to calculate a person’s future/destiny/fortune.“习惯成自然” – “Habits become natural” but “Get used to it” sounded funnier lolMore literal translation from raws would be “and the chief guard was under the supervision of the ghosts”The author went back to writing “李守章” (Li Shouzhang) from here on out, so the previous “Li Youzhang” was probably a typo?“奸情” – “Adultery,” “affair.” And Su Er being lewd again oml“趣” – inclination, interest, taste