123. Go out and come back in.

The bank was vanishing. It first turned semi-transparent, then completely clear, leaving only a faint, shimmering outline that eventually faded into nothingness.

At the same time, the piece of "territory" held in the palm of the little girl ghost suddenly sprouted a new structure. It resembled a bank—square with thick walls and two massive doors, as if welcoming guests from all directions. It was the very bank that had just disappeared.

"It really feels like 'size at will' and 'a mustard seed containing the world'..." Chen Sheng remarked, finding the scene quite intriguing. Compared to other games where you simply click a building to move it or toggle it out of existence only to find an icon in your inventory, this felt remarkably immersive rather than artificial.

"Apprentice, apprentice, let’s go quickly!" The little girl ghost, having successfully relocated the bank, urged him on with great excitement. Seeing her anxious to leave before anything could go wrong, Chen Sheng nodded; there was nothing left worth seeing in this "Gourmet City" anyway.

Exiting the city, there was naturally no one who dared to stop them. As Chen Sheng followed the girl out, he glanced at his empty hands and asked, "Master, did we forget something?"

"Did we?" The little girl, skipping along happily on her short legs, turned her head in confusion. "We didn't forget anything!"

Chen Sheng nodded. He had no need for the "food" inside the Gourmet City. Even if it could potentially boost a player's stats, after witnessing what he had inside, he had lost his appetite entirely. He was just letting off steam in a game, not a psychopath.

On the way, the little girl was in an exceptionally high-strung mood, having reclaimed her original territory and snatched the bank from the Gourmet City. Skipping was no longer enough to express her joy, so she began to hum softly.

"In the green glow of hellfire, desire is summoned."
...
"Rouged faces, snake women, paper horses, prisoners of war."
...
"Rain-singing nights, coiled soul-breaths."
"Swallowing all the sorrows of base laughter."

It was a song Chen Sheng had never heard before. Even though the girl was tone-deaf and sang completely off-key, the melody felt like something not of this world. Just listening to it, one could almost envision a bizarre scene of demons dancing and altars stained with blood. Beneath it all was an undertone of extreme, repressed madness.

"What song is that?" Chen Sheng couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know..."

Seeing the blank expression on her pale, grey face, Chen Sheng decided the lazy developers of this "healing game" were just cutting corners. Distracted by his question, the little girl stopped singing.

Soon, Chen Sheng returned to the place where he had been "sucked in" by the television. Everything here was black—the ground, the surroundings—with only the white sky above. The little girl hurriedly set down her "territory." As it landed, patches of white appeared in the darkness, and the territory began to expand until it was the size of a table. Curiously, however, the bank was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's the bank?" Chen Sheng asked.

"My territory can hold it now, but I can't manifest it yet because it's too small," the little girl explained, looking a bit embarrassed.

Chen Sheng nodded. "In that case, work hard, Master. I'm off."

With that, Chen Sheng vanished before her eyes. He had logged out. Having seen him leave the "World of the Deceased" this way before, the overjoyed girl watched the spot where he had disappeared and promised, "I will work hard! I won't let them mock me for being lazy again! When you come back next time, I'll gift you an entire street!"

At that moment, the little girl was full of fighting spirit, much like when she had first taken him as an apprentice and offered him half her territory with a wave of her small hand.

Chen Sheng took off his gold-rimmed glasses and set them aside. He looked into the pitch-black living room, felt his way through the dark, and flicked the switch.

*Click.*

The lights flooded the room. It was late at night; Chen Sheng had waited until Yu Youxin was asleep to put on the "black-tech glasses" and play. He stretched his arms. He hadn't played this "healing game" in a while, and after logging out, he felt a strange sense of displacement, as if he had spent a large part of the day in the game despite only playing for an hour.

Glancing at the closed bedroom door, he considered getting a glass of water and sleeping on the sofa, but the door suddenly opened. A small head poked out. She was wearing a blue pair of his pajamas; because she was so small, the clothes hung loosely on her, looking more like a short dress with the hem reaching her upper thighs.

"Sorry, did I wake you with the noise?" Chen Sheng asked apologetically, given the late hour.

"Old Chen, you're back... Oh, are you awake? Shall we play that healing game together?" Yu Youxin asked, her eyes curving into crescents.

"You said that last time..." Chen Sheng muttered.

"I went to the Upper Sanjiang City to find you, but the Mist of Loss appeared too suddenly, so I had to dodge it. Where are you now?"

"I'm near the empty lot left behind after Upper Sanjiang City disappeared; there's a small town there." Chen Sheng began to reach for his glasses but paused. He looked at Yu Youxin’s empty hands and asked, "What are you using to play?"

"The same as you!" Yu Youxin turned and pulled a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from her room. She had prepared them specifically, though they were merely replicas and lacked the formidable ability of his—curse immunity.

"I'm logging in now. I'll wait for you at the town," Chen Sheng said, putting on the glasses. His vision began to shift as he entered the game.

To Yu Youxin, Chen Sheng simply vanished. She tucked away her glasses, took a step forward, and stepped into the bizarre world.

"Hmm, let me see... where is this town Old Chen mentioned?"