These words were like a needle, accurately piercing the defense the Little Ghost had built with anger. Its movements suddenly paused, and then it struggled even more frantically, its little fists randomly smashing against Qi Xu.
Qi Xu reached out, hesitated for a moment, and then gently placed his hand on top of the Little Ghost's head. It felt a bit prickly to the touch, like hair that hadn't been properly groomed in a long time.
"I won't kill you. You are not a true Evil Soul Entity, and you're not the one who actually did anything wrong. It was your parents; they were the ones who made a mistake. You are a very cute and kind little kid."
The Little Ghost's crying paused. Sobbing, he looked up at Qi Xu, his eyes full of confusion and wariness. "I am! I am the Evil Soul Entity! Kill me and you can clear the stage!"
Qi Xu smiled and fished another peach-flavored fruit candy out of his pocket, pink and tender.
"Here, for you." Qi Xu handed it over. "Let's not eat cotton candy anymore; let's have fruit candy."
The Little Ghost stared at the fruit candy, then looked at Qi Xu. Tears still hung on his eyelashes, making him look like a kitten drenched in the rain. His little hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, yet he hesitated to make a move.
The setup of this instance was very contradictory.
If you could find this Little Ghost at all, you definitely wouldn't have the heart to kill him. He had done nothing wrong; he was merely abandoned by his parents.
With so many players challenging the haunted house amusement facility, why hadn't a single person passed? Was it really because all the ghosts here were too weak? The players weren't exactly pushovers either.
After all, the clue for this level was quite obvious. The Phantom Monster had three large words written on its back: Scare three ghosts.
Qi Xu had been pondering this very point yesterday.
Now, everything made sense.
That creepy nursery rhyme was composed from the perspective of the child's parents. Since the known truth didn't match the nursery rhyme, the rhyme itself seemed very awkward.
The parents were pointing the clues for the Evil Soul Entity toward this pitiful child in front of him. Therefore, the real Evil Soul Entity wasn't this child, but his parents.
If his guess was correct, only by clearing the haunted house could one officially find the clue to meet the child's parents—the true Evil Soul Entity.
The reason the child was stopping the numerous players from successfully passing was to protect his mom and dad. Even though he had been abandoned, he still wanted to do everything in his power to protect his parents.
This was the only possible explanation.
"You have protected them many times already, doing everything you possibly could. Let them out and listen to them offer a sincere apology, okay? As long as they are willing to say sorry to you, I promise I won't kill them.
Look, this is a forced instance exit card for us players. Even if I don't win this instance, I can just exit directly, and it won't matter. Believe me, I'm telling the truth."
Qi Xu half-squatted on the ground, speaking slowly, word by word.
The pale-faced child tilted his head in confusion. "If they apologize to me, you won't kill them."
"Yes, that's right."
"And what if they don't apologize to me?"
Qi Xu smiled faintly. "Then you can come with me. My team has a lot of people; we will take care of you from now on, giving you whatever you want to eat.
If you want to fight, you can come out and fight alongside us. If you don't want to fight, you can follow our chef, who will definitely fatten you up by ten pounds in a week."
The soul entity child firmly refused. "I only want my mommy and daddy, and I don't want to go with you either."
"Then let me clear the stage first."
The soul entity child sat helplessly on the ground, deeply conflicted and unsure of what to do.
Just then, Qi Xu suddenly leaned in and shouted "Ah!" The soul entity child, immersed in his own thoughts, was so startled that his limbs violently twitched.
"Okay, I've passed! I successfully scared three ghosts!"
There were probably only these three ghosts in the entire haunted house. Even if the previous Little Ghost and female ghost were a bit weak and often frightened by players, this soul entity child had long been prepared.
It was impossible for him to let players pass successfully.
Fortunately, Qi Xu had taken advantage of the moment the child was lost in sad contemplation to launch a zero-frame sneak attack.
The soul entity child was initially very angry, feeling he had been deceived, but then he let out a huge sigh of relief. This was fine too; he no longer had to worry about what to do.
He turned directly and headed deep into the haunted house. When Qi Xu tried to follow him inside, he found himself instantly teleported back to the haunted house's entrance.
The Phantom Monster's eyes widened. "Boss, you're amazing! You actually handled that child?"
Before Qi Xu could ask, the Phantom Monster started playing the victim. "It's really not that I didn't want to tell you, but there are rules in place; we can't tell players the secret to clearing the stage."
"Don't worry, I understand. We're old friends; how could I not know?"
The Phantom Monster grinned, baring its teeth. If one day it was discovered they weren't good friends, would this human player make him pay back the money...
He absolutely had to keep up the disguise!
"Boss, here is your stage-clear clue and the refunded ticket fee. Good luck!"
Qi Xu had no idea the Phantom Monster's inner thoughts were so colorful. He opened the slip of paper handed to him and felt incredibly thankful that he had taken two extra rides on the carousel earlier, memorizing exactly what he encountered on every lap.
"The carousel spins and spins, people disappear at two and a half laps~"
The reason the cotton candy stall could only be seen at three and a half laps was because, during the first and second laps, looking from the perspective of sitting on the carousel, there was a loving couple. The father was holding a two- or three-year-old child in his arms, making them very memorable.
At the three and a half lap mark, they had left, revealing the cotton candy stall. Now, he just needed to find a way to locate this loving couple.
Having taken off his NPC disguise, Qi Xu exited through the gate keeping an extremely low profile.
He began searching for people all over the amusement park again. Only this time, knowing their specific appearances and clothing, the search was noticeably easier. It didn't take much effort to find them next to the spinning teacups, taking pictures beside a cartoon mascot.
There were quite a few players around, so Qi Xu chose not to make a move right away. If someone else took advantage of the chaos to snatch his target, it would be deeply frustrating.
The family of three left after taking their photos, so Qi Xu kept tailing them. As they walked toward increasingly remote areas, Qi Xu readied himself for combat.
Although his three-dimensional stats had dropped significantly, his combat sensitivity and technical skills remained. If he could find a way to use momentum and clever maneuvers, he wasn't entirely without the power to fight.
The only trouble was the promise he had made to that soul entity child...
Just as the family of three walked into a quiet garden, Qi Xu caught up with them.
"Hi!"
The family of three responded with smiling nods.
But Qi Xu immediately dropped a bombshell right to their faces. "You're the ones who abandoned your sick child, right? I'd like to ask, do you regret it? Can you apologize to your child?"
..........
