The noodle restaurant owner gave Bai Liu two coins as change, and Bai Liu slipped them into his old wallet. The kind-hearted owner hesitated for a long time before finally giving Bai Liu the couple's address and phone number. In a sorrowful tone, he said that if Bai Liu could help them, then he should. It wasn't easy for people to survive.
It started to drizzle when Bai Liu left the restaurant. Holding a black umbrella, he took a bus to the cemetery the owner had mentioned. In front of a silent gravestone, he quickly found the couple who had appeared on TV.
They weren't holding umbrellas. They stood in front of their daughter's gravestone with red, swollen eyes. Their only umbrella was placed over the gravestone, shielding the black-and-white photo of Guoguo, who was smiling brightly.
"You are… Bai Liu?" The mother's voice was rough and hoarse from crying all morning. She looked at him with hostility. "You called and said you have a way to bring Li Gou to justice? What can you do? What do you want? Money?"
Bai Liu smiled in the rain. The mist around his face gave him a strange sense of holiness. "I'm here to make a deal with you," he said, "but I don't want money."
This might have been the first time in his life that Bai Liu said, "I don't want money."
"I will help you fulfill your wish and get rid of Li Gou," he told them. "In return, you will sell me your souls."
The mother sneered, as expected. "My soul? Another liar."
She turned her head and stared at Guoguo's black-and-white photo with reddened eyes.
The father watched Bai Liu vigilantly. Because of Guoguo's case, they had sought help from many people during this time. They had tried every possible method and encountered countless swindlers.
They had already prepared themselves to face another liar when they came to meet this person who claimed he could make Li Gou pay. They only wanted to try their luck. Unexpectedly, Bai Liu said something so outrageous. It was the first time they had met a liar who wanted to buy their souls. He was clearly playing with their grief.
The father gave a cold warning. "Liar. Get out of here."
Unmoved, Bai Liu crouched down on one knee and stared at Guoguo's photo on the gravestone.
"Li Gou, 47 years old. A few months ago, he killed Liu Guoguo, a female student, at the entrance of Majia Alley and was sentenced to death. A week ago, all the evidence related to the case suddenly disappeared. The relevant personnel also developed vague memories and claimed they couldn't remember whether they had seen the evidence. The case has now gone up for retrial."
Hearing these facts, Liu Guoguo's parents' eyes filled with resentment. They gritted their teeth and clenched their fists as they glared at Bai Liu.
Bai Liu didn't seem to notice that the two of them were enraged and ready to strike him. He continued calmly, "If my guess is correct, Li Gou has already said he will be released without charge and that the evidence will disappear."
"How did you know?" the mother asked in astonishment.
They had been paying close attention to Li Gou's situation in prison. At first, he had been irritable and hysterical. Knowing he might be sentenced to death, he shouted all day, filled with anger and resentment, threatening to retaliate against them.
But not long ago, his attitude suddenly changed. In the past one or two weeks, Li Gou had even been humming in a good mood. He claimed that sooner or later, he would leave that damned place and that the evidence would disappear. God wouldn't wrong a good person.
It was as if he already knew he would be released. They suspected that someone was protecting that beast.
"Yes. You can think of it as Li Gou making a deal with a devil and selling his soul. That's why he was able to erase the evidence." Bai Liu stood and looked at them. "I'm here to steal business from that devil."
Liu Guoguo's parents looked at Bai Liu suspiciously, clearly unconvinced, but a trace of desperate hope flickered in their eyes.
Well-informed people could investigate these matters. They couldn't rule out the possibility that Bai Liu was deceiving them. But they had truly exhausted every method. They had even asked someone to perform rituals to help Guoguo's soul find peace, despite once mocking such "feudal superstitions." They had done it several times.
"What are your conditions?" Liu Guoguo's mother asked cautiously. "Is it money? We don't have much."
Bai Liu smiled. "I told you from the beginning. I don't want money. I want your soul debt."
He was curious. What would happen to the system if he bought the souls of these reserve players before they entered the game? Would he gain a higher level of authority than the system itself? If Bai Liu had greater soul authority over the parents than the system did, could he manipulate their system interfaces through them? Could he eventually dominate the system?
Bai Liu liked money, but he hated being controlled by someone above him to earn it. It made him feel like a low-level corporate drone at the bottom of a company. Therefore, he wanted to try controlling the system in return and gain the highest authority.
As if sensing Bai Liu's dangerous thoughts, the coin on his chest began to heat up. An alarm crackled in his ears like a faulty electric current.
[System warning: zzzi—forbidding player Bai Liu—zzii—from acquiring the soul debt rights of reserve players! Player Bai Liu is prohibited from trading with non-players outside the game!]
[System warning: Will soon—zzi—seal player Bai Liu's Empty Old Wallet skill!]
Bai Liu sighed regretfully. The real world was being monitored by the game. It seemed he couldn't seize the souls of reserve players targeted by the system. Of course, the game wouldn't allow players with higher authority than itself to exist. If Bai Liu were the designer, he would stop it, too. Still, he had to try, even if he failed.
Just as Bai Liu was about to give up, the fish scale hanging around his neck began to slowly expand, wrapping itself around the coin. The cold scale encased the burning coin and cooled it instantly. Then the system emitted a sharp electric sound that resembled a scream.
[Warning—zzzi—abnormal data from the fish scale is invading—bug data intrusion—clearing abnormal data—failed to clear abnormal data—system occupied by abnormal data—zizizi.]
After the chaotic electric noises subsided, a new voice sounded—cold, magnetic, and distinctly male.
[System: Hello, player Bai Liu. Do you wish to activate your personal skill?]
Bai Liu raised an eyebrow at the voice. It sounded subtly familiar. Though electronic, it was clearer than the previous system's voice. It was a few degrees colder, yet still pleasant to the ear.
Bai Liu thought the voice sounded somewhat like the NPC Siren King he had once encountered…
Bai Liu laughed.
[Of course, I want to use it.]
Liu Guoguo's parents couldn't understand some of what Bai Liu had said. They hesitated, but they truly had no other choice. Even if Bai Liu was a liar—or someone from an MLM scheme trying to trick them—they still needed to give Guoguo a glimmer of hope. Even if it was fake.
The mother took the lead and collapsed to her knees, crying. "As long as you can kill Li Gou, you can take whatever you want! Take everything! I can give you all my money!"
She was practically treating Bai Liu like a gangster.
Bai Liu smiled. "No. I'm not asking you for money. On the contrary, I will give you money."
He took out the two coins the noodle restaurant owner had given him and placed them on his open palm. Bai Liu lowered his gaze. "I will use one coin to buy your soul. Are you willing to make this deal with me?"
The mother gritted her teeth and took a coin. The father hesitated for a few seconds before also taking one from Bai Liu's hand.
"I'm willing."
It didn't matter what this person did or whether he was a madman spouting nonsense. As long as he was willing to help them avenge Guoguo, they were willing to try.
[System reminder: Player Bai Liu has used two yuan (RMB) to purchase the souls of Liu Fu and Xiang Chunhua.]
[System reminder: Player Bai Liu is the first purchaser of Liu Fu and Xiang Chunhua's souls. You possess the highest authority and may transfer part of Liu Fu and Xiang Chunhua's soul debt.]
The moment Xiang Chunhua heard these words, she felt a strange sensation in her body—as if something heavy had been removed and stored elsewhere. She looked at the smiling young man before her and felt an inexplicable sense of trust and sincerity rise in her heart.
Stunned, Xiang Chunhua asked, "You're Bai Liu, right? What do you do? Where can we find you?"
"I'm unemployed—a poor wanderer," Bai Liu replied, looking down at the new coin in his wallet. "You'll find me in a game. I hope that when we meet again, you will have survived your first game."
On the coin was an image of Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu standing on either side of the gravestone, crying in despair. The two gently stroked the top of the stone as if stroking their child's head. Liu Guoguo's photo smiled beneath the umbrella, shielding it from the rain.
In the lower right corner of the coin were the words "2 yuan." On the back, it read "Soul Coin," followed by a small line of text: Issued by a non-system bank. The highest authority belongs to the owner, Bai Liu, not the system.
The corners of Bai Liu's mouth curved upward slightly.
[Hey, new system. Good job.]
The system was silent for a few seconds.
[Thank you for the compliment.]
The fish scale wrapped around the coin on Bai Liu's chest warmed briefly before turning cold again.
There were still two days left before the one-week deadline to enter the game, as stipulated by the system. But Bai Liu was ready.
He sorted his belongings and sent Mu Ke a message saying he was about to enter the game. Then he called Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu several times, but no one answered. They didn't pick up the landline either. Bai Liu had a rough guess—they had probably already entered the game and fallen asleep.
Bai Liu took a bath and changed into his favorite, most comfortable clown nightcap with pom-poms and his pajamas. He pulled the quilt over himself and held the coin against his chest.
[Log in to the game.]
[System: Does player Bai Liu confirm that he is logging into the game?]
Bai Liu closed his eyes. [Confirm.]
[System: Logging in…]
[Wait!] Bai Liu suddenly opened his eyes again. He got up, went to the bathroom, and turned off the electricity switch, natural gas valve, and water supply before lying down again in satisfaction.
[While I'm logged in, if something leaks while I'm asleep, I'll lose money.]
[System: ...]
[System: Logging into the game…]
Bai Liu fell into a whirlpool of black sleep. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in a bustling hall filled with people.
[System: Since player Bai Liu has some popularity, would you like to use part of your appearance value to conceal your identity?]
[You can adjust my appearance data, too?] Bai Liu grew interested. [Can I design it myself?]
He was quite skilled at altering his face.
[System: Yes. You need to pay 300 points to enter the facial adjustment program. Does player Bai Liu wish to proceed?]
[It costs money?] Bai Liu immediately gave up. [Then you can adjust it for free however you like.]
[System: Entering random facial adjustment program: eye color changed (black → blue), hair color changed (black → multicolored), lip color changed (natural → black)…]
Soon, a person with messy, multicolored hair and black lipstick—resembling something straight out of Ai Shi ①: A Kind of Sorrow—wandered casually through the game hall, attracting stunned and bewildered stares.
Cheap options were rarely good. Bai Liu had already expected that a free adjustment wouldn't produce anything attractive, so he calmly accepted his non-mainstream, shamate-style appearance. In any case, he couldn't see himself.
And Bai Liu didn't care how terrible he looked in other people's eyes.