38 - Gushan Notes

Translated by rabbitrisu

If enough time was given, perhaps many people could think of the things Su Zimo mentioned, but because there wasn’t much time, Su Zimo, who could determine that in such a short time, appeared even more powerful to the other trainers!

“He really is worthy of being the top student of Shoushan No. 1 Secondary School.” Du Xin looked at Su Zimo with sparkling eyes. He seemed to have a pair of ears and a fluffy wagging tail.

“Shoushan No. 1…” Cheng Yun, who was standing next to Du Xin, repeated softly.

“Really, it’s awful to have only found this out now.” Su Zimo wasn’t happy because of that. “The title of top student doesn’t make much sense. After all, everyone has something they’re good at. And if the task clearance is failed, this title will be meaningless for trainers like me who have insufficient nightmare points.”

Su Zimo actually felt a little depressed. He felt that he has become the most active one among the trainers, but he isn’t actually one of them. For Su Zimo, collecting ghost tools was the top priority, but intuition told him that compared to the open first and third floors, there was a higher possibility of ghost tools on the second floor. But, if he wanted to enter the second floor, he would have to follow the path of this nightmare world step by step.

If the malicious spirits could really come out of the second floor, then there should also be a way to enter the second floor.

“In short, we now have new clues.” Jin Lei forced a smile in the tense atmosphere and looked at the trainers who had ghost tools — they may not even know that their props could be called ‘ghost tools.’ “That everyone should have an identity.”

“But what does it mean to have an identity. Should we all wear the staff members’ clothes like you?” Du Xin scratched his head before coming out of the maids’ room. “The clothes are all yellow and faded, like cheap antiques.”

“Exactly as you said.” Jin Lei, as the only person with a clear identity among the trainers, looked around at Su Zimo, the rough guys, and the girls, and twitched the corners of her mouth minutely. “I don’t remember the order from before anyway. Everyone will play the role according to their room this time. The chef’s room will put on the chef’s clothes, the maids’ room will wear the maids’ clothes, and the gardener’s room will have the gardener’s tools, okay?”

“Yes.”

What shocked everyone was that the first trainer who spoke up to agree was Liu Xu, who hadn’t said more than ten words from the beginning! The dark-skinned trainer was relieved as he put away the glove on his right hand.

Su Zimo remembered that, except for this time, Mr. Liu seemed to have come out of the maids’ room. But this time he was assigned to the chef’s room, so he had escaped the fate of wearing a maid costume.

“This…” ‘Cheng Yun,’ who was assigned to the maids’ room three times in a row, seemed to feel a deep hostility, but because of the real Cheng Yun’s personality, he just showed hesitation.

“Should we change now?” Cheng Yun couldn’t help frowning. “I can wait a second.”

“But we don’t know when we’ll be rearranged, or how long a ‘day’ is in this nightmare world.” Dr. Jin sighed. “At least the first and second days were spent completely differently. Maybe the third day will pass in just a few minutes. Leader Cheng, we have very little time left. We can’t miss any important clues.”

What Dr. Jin said was reasonable, but to Su Zimo, she just seemed to want to see Cheng Yun wearing a maid costume.

“There are a total of three sets of clothes in the maids’ room. Including Dr. Jin, we still have three women here, and I, a big man, shouldn’t need to join in the fun.” Cheng Yun obviously didn’t accept the matter of wearing a maid outfit. He even glanced at Su Zimo, who was silent. “Even Mr. Su would look better than me. If this is a live show, there must be more people who want to see ladies and Mr. Su’s maid costumes, don’t they?”

“This isn’t a show.” Bai Main, who had been standing beside Cheng Yun as his assistant, said softly, “Everything is just for task clearance.”

“Yeah, Leader Cheng is the only person except me who has stayed in the same room three times.” Dr. Jin smiled flawlessly. “Look, I put on a white coat long ago…”

“I know.” Cheng Yun’s face sank for the first time, but he smiled again in the next second, and everyone who noticed it couldn’t help but want to applaud and praise him. “Everyone change. While dressing, check the room for new clues.”

Seeing Cheng Yun agree with a smile, some old members of Dawn Organization just nodded their heads. The two new members, Du Xin and Qi Xiaomin, who were maids this time, didn’t say anything. As for the other trainers who had no relationship with Cheng Yun, they naturally wouldn’t have any opinions.

As long as they weren’t forced to wear maid costumes, they would do it!

As for Su Zimo, as long as they’re slow to realize that he’s the odd man out, they could do whatever they want.

After everyone agreed to the suggestions, they returned to their rooms one after another, hoping to find a hidden lifeline in this role-playing nightmare world.

The reason why they chose to go back to the rooms one at a time was taking into consideration the sexes of the trainers in the maid and gardener’s rooms. They were different, so they acted separately.

The first one to come out was Liu Xu. Maybe because the chef in the villa was a big fat man, the yellowish white chef uniform was like a sack draped on his body. If the chef hat wasn’t folded, he might’ve also had his entire head covered.

Then there was Bai Man in the bodyguard’s room. Because the bodyguard of the villa didn’t have any special uniform, she asked Su Zimo for the tactical pen, which she held as a tool in her hand.

Fang Qin, Xiao Huo, and Wan Ling in the gardener’s room also didn’t have special uniforms, but Elder Fang Qin carried his Tai Chhi sword behind him and had a folding shovel in his hand. The metal part was rusty. The small shovel in Xiao Huo’s hand couldn’t be folded, but the weight looked similar to that of Elder Fang’s.

Even more off-putting was Wan Ling, who was particularly silent, wearing her long white skirt and holding a pair of half-length garden shears. He didn’t know where they were found, but they seemed to be used to trim giant shrubs. When Wan Ling held the oversized scissors in her hands, the little girl who was already thin and petite seemed a little horrified.

What surprised Su Zimo the most was that the pair of scissors she found… turned out to be a ghost tool!

[Ghost Severer (Two Stars)]

[Sale Price: 50 yuan]

[Description: Huge garden shears that have been hidden in a ghost-filled environment for a long time and have been eroded by their presence. It seems that a certain change has occurred. This change allows the holder to use these shears to cut the tie between some people and ghosts. It is extremely effective for mild possession and can cause some damage to ghosts.]

Not just any ghost tool, but a two star ghost tool…

After discovering this, Su Zimo felt a bit sorry for himself, but was still glad that the girl found a good self-defense tool.

“Xiao Ling, will the tool be too heavy?” Jin Lei couldn’t help asking since she had been stuck to by the girl.

Wan Ling just shook her head quickly, then hugged the ‘Ghost Severer’ shears in her arms as if she could feel the security brought by the ghost tool. From the beginning, the girl followed Dr. Jin’s actions, and she was able to discover that Wan Ling was a trainer who acted based on feelings.

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Then the madman came out of the chauffeur’s room. He didn’t change into the chauffeur’s old suit, but just hooked the keys of the fancy car around his fingers, dangling them and looking slovenly.

Su Zimo couldn’t find the housekeeper’s uniform. The closet with the safe was full of ordinary and unrecognizable clothes. It wasn’t like the dismissed Housekeeper Bai, who had a cabinet of black tuxedos and white shirts, so in the end, he simply returned to the corridor with a copy of ‘The Housekeeper’s Self-Cultivation.’

And the final grand debut was naturally the three trainers in the maids’ room.

There was no psychological pressure for her, so Qi Xiaomin was at the forefront. If you ignored the yellowing of the outfit, she looked like a young and energetic little maid. Even her original simple ponytail had been changed to double pigtails, which looked very fitting.

The situation with Cheng Yun and Du Xin wasn’t so optimistic….

Cheng Yun had a normal man’s figure, but he was definitely not thin. Du Xin was a university student who worked part-time as a fitness coach. His clothes were all snug on his muscles, so it was impossible for those two to wear the two ‘one-size-fits-all’ maid uniforms.

When the two of them came out slowly, even Elder Fang Qin, who had always been very open, couldn’t help but start rubbing his temples. He murmured under his breath, “No need, really no need.”

He saw that because of the size difference, the two people had tried hard to put the maid outfit on their bodies, but the zipper in back couldn’t be closed at all. The outfits could only be hung on the shoulder like they were wearing aprons. The skirt also had a bow tied around their waists like rugged belts. It could be said that there were as many misfortunes as possible. It was a bit embarrassing.

“Let’s do this.” Cheng Yun’s expression at the moment wasn’t pleasant, but he went straight to sit at the table without saying another word.

In fact, if they wanted to experiment, Cheng Yun didn’t necessarily have to wear they maid outfit, but maybe this was because Jin Lei and Bai Man saw him use that key. Although they didn’t want to startle the snake, they seemed to irritate Cheng Yun either intentionally or unintentionally.

The other victim, Du Xin, also quickly returned and stared at Su Zimo with a pitiful expression, as if he was terribly wronged. “I was a gardener before. The ghosts here are such bullies!”

“This is also to find the ‘lifeline’ for the task.” Su Zimo turned over the book ‘The Housekeeper’s Self-Cultivation’ for a while, then closed it because it was meaningless. He adjusted his glasses and said, “Everyone, the first line of the task was for us to pay attention to the mirror, right?”

“Yes.” Jin Lei nodded. “During this time, we should have completely avoided anything reflective, so there’s no problem with that.”

“So no one knows what’s in the mirror?” Su Zimo whispered softly enough that no one heard.

“Speaking of…” Elder Fang Qin played with the folding shovel in his hand and said suddenly, “Where do you think that large amount of money in the housekeeper’s room came from?”

The trainers who had changed their clothes and sat around the dining table looked like they were attending a banquet. After hearing Elder Fang’s question, they thought about it separately. Their biggest discovery in the nightmare world of the day, in addition to the speculations provided by Su Zimo, should be the things in the housekeeper’s safe. Since the account books have already been investigated, then the money in the safe should also be a clue.

“Elder Fang, what did you think of?” Su Zimo felt that the old man with the Tai Chi sword was unusual.

“Well, after all, I’ve heard similar things before.” Elder Fang glanced in the direction of the stairs. “It seems that there was a study on the third floor?”

“En. It’s already messed up, though.” Dr. Jin nodded.

“This old man hasn’t seen the third floor, but he’s very interested in the study.” Elder Fang said, already leaning on the folding shovel in his hand and rising from his chair.

“I’ll accompany you to take a look.” Su Zimo also got up and didn’t forget to take ‘The Housekeeper’s Self-Cultivation’ with him.

Not all the trainers went this time. Only Dr. Jin and Bai Man got up along with Su Zimo. After the four people walked to the stairs, the silent Liu Xu also rose and followed behind them.

Su Zimo naturally welcomed the extra three star ghost weapon.

The group of people arrived quietly on the third floor. Su Zimo glanced at the corner between the second and third floor stairways where the vase was removed, and watched as Dr. Jin and Bai Man entered the family doctor’s room on the third floor. The atmosphere felt as if they were waiting to discuss something.

Su Zimo followed Elder Fang Qin into the study next door, thinking that Liu Xu, who followed them, would also enter. He didn’t expect that he would turn around without a word and go straight to the master bedroom where Su Zimo first appeared.

“It’s really tragic.” After Fang Qin entered the study, he saw various books scattered on the floor.

Su Zimo, who followed him, looked around and found that the entire area of the study was very large. The broken bookshelf covered almost four walls. The books scattered on the ground covered it in a thick layer, making the floor almost invisible.

Elder Fang Qin didn’t seem to have the heart to step on the books, but because he couldn’t bend over, he could only use the folding shovel in his hand to carefully push them aside. Su Zimo helped to clean up the nearby books and cleared a path from the door to the sealed window for the elderly man.

In the process of picking up the books, Su Zimo found that there weren’t just books scattered on the floor, but also some flat boxes of about the same size. Most of them were carved wooden boxes, but they were empty.

“This is a collection box dedicated to storing precious and ancient books.” Elder Fang took one of the boxes from Su Zimo’s hands and gently stroked the carved flowers on top with a wrinkled hand. “Not to mention the original treasures within it, the box itself is worth a lot of money.”

“Elder suspects that the servants of the family stole the ancient books from the study and sold them for money?” Su Zimo quickly understood Elder Fang Qin’s idea.

“Well, in order to make quick money and keep it secret, they might have been shameless and sold them at low prices.” The old man sighed. “Although it sounds ridiculous, I’ve heard a lot of things like this.”

“They were willing to leave the boxes to deceive people’s eyes and ears.” Su Zimo put the heavy boxes back on the empty shelves one by one. “Whether it’s the family doctor’s work log, those absurd light and dark account books, or these empty boxes, the housekeeper and servants disguised all of them in order to not expose the scandals they’ve caused.”

“It’s ridiculous.” The old man took a deep breath and knocked the broken wooden floor roughly with the folding shovel in his hand.

Su Zimo found a small side door opened between the shelves. The door frame had fallen out, so he could see the room next to the study through the door. There were some completely destroyed plush dolls and plastic toys in the room. It should be the playroom that Dr. Jin mentioned before.

The owner of the playroom should be the little girl in the family picture Su Zimo saw in the master bedroom before, but he didn’t know why the owner of the villa would specially add a door between the study and the playroom.

“What?”

At that time, Elder Fang Qin suddenly found a stack of paper on the ground covered in books, With a surprised expression, he tried to bend down to pick up the stack, but his movements were strained.

“Xiao Su, please help.” This time, Elder Fang didn’t use, ‘Mr. Su’ to call Su Zimo.

Su Zimo helped pick up the stack of papers, and found that it was a stack of old manuscripts. It was filled with vigorous and powerful writing, and it wasn’t surprising that it was an excellent copybook. ¹

[Lost in Busy Streets, It is Better to Walk the Lonely Mountain] ²

“You probably haven’t seen this?” Fang Qin took the stack of manuscript pages, and said with some emotion, “I used to have an old friend who wasn’t that good. He used to like a book called ‘Gushan Notes.’ The book is neither ancient nor a masterpiece, only about a busy old man who is tired of everything in his life, so he seeks a ‘hypocritical’ quiet area in the busy downtown. Of course, this is just my evaluation of the book. At the time, my old friend and the author of the book were both cold old men. It didn’t look good to anyone or anything, so they could resonate with the book, right?”

“At that time, my old friend, that darling, read the book once a day, and found a box even more expensive than those, and wanted it to be a family heirloom.” Mr. Fang Qin pointed to the boxes next to him. “The most ridiculous thing is that he later put the book on a shelf and never read it again.”

“Since he liked it so much, and resonated with it, why would he put it on the shelf again?” Su Zimo felt it was strange.

“Hahaha.” Elder Fang Qin couldn’t help laughing a few times. “Because the old man’s daughter-in-law gave him a baby grandson. The weird old man with the cantankerous temper turned to the baby who pissed on him every day. How could he still afford those busy streets, where could he find that lonely mountain?”

Elder Fang’s eyes looked thoughtfully at the spectacled youth in front of him.

“But this doesn’t seem to be part of the owner’s book collection.” Su Zimo looked at the manuscript in the old man’s hands. “It seems to be a handwritten manuscript.”

“That would be terrible.” Elder Fang Qin’s smile suddenly pinched, and he looked seriously at Su Zimo. “If the owner of the study is the author of ‘Gushan Notes,’ then doesn’t that mean that… our experiences in the nightmare worlds are real?”

“Okay, don’t say that.” Elder Fang coughed a few times and handed the manuscript to Su Zimo. “There seem to be no other clues in this study. It’s better to go down and join the other children.”

“Aaaaah!”

Just as Su Zimo and Elder Fang were about to leave the study, Xiao Huo shouted suddenly in the hall. Because they didn’t know what caused a grown man to make such a terrified cry, Su Zimo supported the old man and accelerated their pace. Together with Dr. Jin, Bai Man, and Liu Xu, who left the other rooms, they quickly went downstairs to see.

Footnotes

<ol>Copybooks are like lined or graphed sheets of paper used for calligraphy. Lonely mountain is ‘Gushan’</ol>