The man let out a light chuckle. “You found me, you won the game of hide-and-seek.”
Bai Lixin promptly pressed the mask back onto the man’s face and turned to leave with long strides.
Dijia’s voice from behind sounded urgent. “You’re just going to leave like this?”
Bai Lixin stopped and glanced at the man hanging upside down. “What else? Should I have a wild encounter with you here?”
Dijia considered it. “I wouldn’t mind.”
Bai Lixin turned back and looked at the relaxed and carefree man even in such a position. “Did you pick the mushrooms?”
Dijia: “Yes, I did. Want them? Beg me.”
“Heh, Dijia,” Bai Lixin pressed the black barrel of the rifle against the man’s chest, “you’re getting more and more greasy and shameless by the day.”
Dijia: “We’ve been an old couple for so long, any so-called idol baggage is long gone.”
“Who’s an old couple with you? If I recall, someone marked me as ‘widowed’. I am legally single now, thank you.”
Dijia hesitated. “…That was my mistake back then.”
Bai Lixin: “Everyone has to pay for their mistakes, especially gods. Goodbye.”
As Bai Lixin walked further away, Dijia shouted from behind, “Let’s hold another wedding!”
Bai Lixin waved without turning back, leaving the meaning unclear.
…
Bai Lixin gathered the mushrooms and followed the little girl’s instructions to reach FairyTale Town.
The town was built from an assortment of adorable houses, painted in dreamy pastel colors.
He quickly spotted a mushroom-shaped house near the entrance—a bright red mushroom house with white spots.
The door to the red mushroom house was open, and an elderly white-haired lady in an apron dozed peacefully in a rocking chair at the doorway.
Bai Lixin glanced at the old lady and walked past her without stopping.
The old lady called out when she saw that he was leaving. “Young man, are you looking for the mushroom house?”
Bai Lixin did not step closer and simply replied from afar, “Yes.”
The old lady pointed to her house. “Isn’t this it?”
Bai Lixin: “This isn’t the one I’m looking for.”
The old lady: “How could it not be? This is the only mushroom house in the whole Fairytale Town. Come inside, child, and hand me the mushrooms you’re holding.”
Bai Lixin ignored the invitation and turned to walk further ahead.
After a while, he stopped in front of a column-shaped house.
The house was entirely white and surrounded by a ring of bright red flowers.
There was a fence outside and the gate was slightly ajar.
Bai Lixin paused, pushed the gate open, and walked inside.
On the columnar wall was a wooden door. He knocked on it, and soon a young voice called out from inside, “Coming, coming.”
The sound of quick, light footsteps approached, and the door was opened. The little girl from earlier stood behind the door, looking up at him with delight. “Big brother, you’re finally here.”
Bai Lixin handed over the basket in his hand. “Here are the mushrooms you wanted.”
The little girl took the basket filled with mushrooms.
But instead of the colored ones she asked for, it was filled with ordinary gray mushrooms marked with hand-drawn white spots.
Strangely, the little girl didn’t question the color inconsistency. She just lowered her head and carefully counted the number of mushrooms.
“One, two, three… twenty-nine, thirty!”
“Exactly thirty, just the mushrooms I needed. Thank you, Big Brother!”
Bai Lixin: “Are they correct?”
The little girl looked up at Bai Lixin with her big, shiny eyes. “Yes, they are! Thank you, Big Brother. With these mushrooms, Grandma and I won’t go hungry. There’s so much, we won’t be able to finish them all. Stay and eat with us tonight!”
Bai Lixin didn’t refuse. “Alright.”
Of course, they weren’t really going to wait until evening, this was just part of the plot.
The little girl led Bai Lixin into the house and then took the basket to the kitchen. After a while, she came out holding a plate of mushroom soup.
Steam was still rising from the mushrooms, and it looked freshly made.
The little girl carefully placed the mushroom soup on the dining table and set three pairs of bowls and chopsticks.
At that moment, the door opened from the outside, and an elderly woman dressed in dull gray clothes walked in.
The little girl waved at her joyfully. “Grandma, you’re back! Look, I made your favorite mushroom soup.”
The old woman with thin cheeks glanced dully at Bai Lixin and the little girl, then at the mushroom soup on the table.
She silently sat down at the table and picked up her bowl and chopsticks.
Bai Lixin took a sip of the mushroom soup; it was delicious.
The little girl and the old woman also drank from their bowls.
Afterward, the little girl and the old woman set down their bowls and chopsticks and smiled at Bai Lixin. “Congratulations, player. You have successfully completed the hidden quest ‘Mushroom Soup’.”
The little girl pulled out a sealed square box from a drawer. It was quite large, about the size of two palms. “This is your reward for the quest. It’s a rare mystery box.”
The old woman: “This is the first time I’ve had to step in. Wasn’t the task about finding a mushroom house? How did you find this place?”
“Many players before you have verified that there’s no little girl in the mushroom house, and entering it results in task failure.” Bai Lixin pointed at the little girl with his chin. “I saw her tail as she was leaving. By chance, I had seen that type of tail before—it was a bat’s tail.”
“Bats hang upside down, so some things appear upside down to them. When she said ‘mushroom house,’ it wasn’t a real mushroom house.”
“I just needed to find a house that looked like a mushroom when flipped upside down. This was it.”
The old woman and the little girl’s eyes sparkled. “Then why didn’t you pick the poisonous mushrooms I requested, but instead brought these non-toxic gray mushrooms? Did you guess we’d make you eat them?”
“Not exactly…” Bai Lixin laughed dryly. “The poisonous mushrooms had already been picked clean.”
The little girl raised her voice. “All of them?! Who would be that bored?”
Bai Lixin: “Haha.”
The old woman: “Then why did you pick so many gray mushrooms?”
Bai Lixin looked at the little girl again. “Because she’s a bat. A bat’s retinas only have rod cells, not cone cells for distinguishing colors. Bats are colorblind. Yellow, red, pink mushrooms—all look gray to them. I bet her character design doesn’t allow her to tell colors apart, so I picked thirty gray mushrooms.”
“I didn’t expect you to actually offer me mushroom soup.”
The little girl blinked, her tone filled with anticipation. “So, how was it? Was it tasty?”
Bai Lixin: “Was that just an appetizer?”
The little girl grinned. “How could an appetizer taste this good? I made it myself; I’m a chef, after all.”
Bai Lixin sized up the little girl. Although she seemed small and innocent, he noticed that her actual age was over thirty.
She wasn’t truly a little girl but a dwarf stunt performer playing the role.
The little girl and the old woman stared eagerly at the box in Bai Lixin’s hand. “Can you open it and show us? We’re just NPCs in this quest, and since no player has passed it before, we haven’t seen what the limited-edition figure inside looks like.”
Bai Lixin nodded and began to unbox it.
The packaging was exquisite, and it took Bai Lixin a moment to open it. Inside, he pulled out a pair of figures with standard proportions.
One had long hair and wore a bright red dress, while the other was dressed in an elegant white tailcoat, with red eyes, sharp eyes, and handsome features.
At first glance, the one in the red dress appeared female, but a closer look revealed an Adam’s apple and a flat chest—it was a cross-dressing man.
The man in the white tailcoat held the waist of the figure in the red dress as if dancing. Their movements were fluid, and the red dress flared out beautifully like a rose.
Bai Lixin: “…”
This seemed familiar.
Wasn’t this the appearance he and Dijia had in the Blood Clan copy?
The little girl and the old woman’s eyes widened. “Wow, it’s the rare NPC figurine from ‘Affectionate Blood Clan’! I thought this figurine was just a myth, but it actually exists.”
Bai Lixin: “…”
Should he praise Sun Ning for being thoughtful, or her knack for making money?
After receiving the quest reward, Bai Lixin left FairyTale Town.
A plush bear approached him and thrust a balloon into his hand.
Bai Lixin glanced at the plush bear and took the balloon.
The bear suddenly spoke. “Kind human, I’m lost. Can you take me home?”
Bai Lixin looked at the bear. “Sure, where’s your home?”
Plush bear: “I remember my house is somewhere high up, at the highest point in this amusement park.”
“The highest point?” Bai Lixin scanned the surroundings and his eyes landed on the iconic tower. “The tower?”
Plush bear: “It seems so.”
Bai Lixin: “It’s so obvious, and you couldn’t find your way? No wonder you got lost.”
The plush bear poked Bai Lixin’s shoulder with its short, stubby finger, and said coquettishly. “Please, kind person, take me home. I’m terrible with directions.”
Bai Lixin: “…”
‘So shameless.’
Seeing Bai Lixin unmoved, the bear wrapped its two thick arms around his arm and rocked him back and forth in an exaggerated manner. “Please?”
“Alright, alright, let’s go.” Worried that the bear would become even more shameless if he refused, Bai Lixin quickly agreed.
He led the cuddly bear to the tower, where a long line of people was queued up.
The bear seemed pleased, wrapping its strong arms around Bai Lixin from behind.
Pressed into the soft fur, Bai Lixin felt comfortable and simply leaned his weight against the bear, using it as a backrest.
His phone buzzed. He took a look and saw that it was from Xia Chi.
Xia Chi: [Brother, I finally made it out of the haunted asylum! It was so, so, so, so scary!!!! Where are you? Let’s meet up.]
Bai Lixin was about to reply with “at the tower” when the phone was snatched by a furry paw.
He glanced back at the bear, which quickly dropped its large head onto his neck. “It’s almost our turn.”
Bai Lixin looked up and realized it was their turn to get on the elevator.
In the “Yesterday Reappears” amusement park, many elements of the horror game were incorporated. The iconic tower was one of them.
Due to city planning regulations, the tower wasn’t built to 999 floors like in the game; it only reached 19 floors.
Each floor below the 19th was an entertainment venue, while the 19th was empty and unoccupied—a large, flat space.
Hardly anyone visited the 19th floor.
As the elevator ascended, the amusement park gradually shrank from view.
Passengers got off one by one at each floor, leaving only Bai Lixin and the white plush bear in the transparent elevator as it rose.
“Ding!”
A crisp chime announced their arrival at the 19th floor.
The vast, circular space was nearly deserted, with only a few scattered people.
Bai Lixin and the plush bear circled the floor once before Bai Lixin asked, “Is this your home, Mr. Bear?”
The plush bear shook its head. “It doesn’t seem to be.”
“Not here?” Bai Lixin stood by the window, looking down at the tiny figures on the ground. “Then how about you think again?”
Standing behind Bai Lixin, the bear’s large body pressed him against the glass, shielding him from view.
The bear removed its headpiece, revealing Dijia’s handsome face. “I remember now. My home isn’t fixed. Wherever Bai Lixin is, that’s my home.”
Dijia lowered his head, dark eyes gazing deeply at the young man. “But it seems I lost him.”
Bai Lixin smiled and placed his hand on the bear’s chest. The soft fur slipped between his fingers. “How careless, how did you lose him?”
Dijia: “Yes, how careless.”
Bai Lixin’s fingers traced the soft fabric, and his voice gradually became sultry. “Did you find him?”
Dijia’s eyes grew darker. “I did, but I don’t know if he’ll come home with me.”
Fingertips slid to the man’s neck, and a slender arm gently hooked around his neck. “Then ask him.”
“Alright,” Dijia’s voice gradually turned hoarse. He lowered his head, the sound seemingly coming from deep in his throat. “Bai Lixin, do you still want me? I miss you.”
Bai Lixin’s lips carried a faint smile, his eyes like rippling water, radiant and captivating. “Then I will reluctantly agree one more time. This time, make sure to keep an eye on me and don’t lose me again.”
Dijia’s dark eyes glistened faintly with moisture. He held the young man tightly in his arms, as if holding the entire world.
He promised solemnly, “Alright, I promise you.”
ahhh i love themmm