Chapter 18: Sharing the Same Name

“I’ll help you tie it up.”

No sooner had the words left his lips than Ji Chenling’s hand reached out.

He naturally fashioned her hair into a bun, then adjusted the cute little clip just so.

“Go wash your face with some water,” Ji Chenling said with a smile in his eyes. “You’re all dirty. You look like a little wildcat.”

Since she had crossed over, Lu Xi had indeed paid little attention to her appearance.

Given the harsh environment and the frequent need to flee for her life, looking disheveled had become her norm.

Lu Xi smiled sheepishly.

When Lu Xi appeared before the others again, the players all widened their eyes in surprise.

Wait… wasn’t this supposed to be the unlucky tagalong?

They had taken every precaution and still lost several players.

Lu Xi had fought alone, yet she was not only alive and well, she had even found herself a companion?

Jiang Yanyan looked at Lu Xi with a complicated expression.

This girl must be hiding some secret.

Moreover, even before Lu Xi appeared, Meng Yuanyuan—who had mysteriously vanished—had returned with tear-streaked cheeks and told everyone that Lu Xi had rescued her from the Punishment Space.

But the Punishment Space was known as the most terrifying place in the game world.

No one who went there ever came back.

Thus, in the dungeon world, players feared cursed events above all when carrying out missions.

Meng Yuanyuan was being held by her mother, Zhang Qiulan, as she approached.

“Thank you, Lu Xi,” Meng Yuanyuan said, her eyes still red from crying just recently as she had clung to her mother’s embrace.

Zhang Qiulan, who had thought her daughter was dead and now found her again, stepped forward emotionally and hugged Lu Xi tightly. “Child, good child, thank you… truly, thank you.”

“I heard your skill is a key?” Chen Yiyi curled her lip. “Honestly, that’s not so impressive.”

“Oh, right, Lu Xi, let me introduce you—this is my boyfriend, Jiang Chen.” She lifted her chin arrogantly and linked arms with Jiang Chen, looking proudly at Lu Xi.

Lu Xi: “...”

She finally understood—no matter the game world, there would always be a few brainless troublemakers.

See? Here one appeared right away.

A survival game, and yet they still had time to stir up female rivalry.

Jiang Chen’s face was icy cold as he stared silently at Lu Xi.

He tried to read some hidden emotion on her face—jealousy, anger, or perhaps vexation.

He wanted Lu Xi to understand the consequences of overplaying the act of playing hard to get.

In the real world, Lu Xi had shamelessly clung to him, persistent and unashamed, always chasing after him and pressing her warmth against his coldness.

Jiang Chen was confident in himself. Although he couldn’t compare in looks or qualities to Ji Yunxuan in their team, aside from Ji Yunxuan, no other man was better than him.

So he didn’t believe Lu Xi would completely give up on him over what happened in the real world.

He stared at her for a long while, his cold gaze almost piercing her face like a knife.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get the reaction he wanted.

Lu Xi’s response was too calm, seeming utterly indifferent to the matter.

The ice in Jiang Chen’s eyes shattered, and he clenched his fists in frustration.

Within Muguan Village, daytime was absolutely safe.

Everyone sat together, discussing matters.

“My clues say that although the village chief takes players’ heads every night to make lanterns, he only targets male players and doesn’t touch females,” Ji Yunxuan began.

He continued, “Also, all the other NPCs here obey the village chief and take orders from him.”

“There’s another point I think everyone already knows: aside from the village chief, the other monsters only attack players who are running away. If you stay completely still, they won’t attack you.”

Lu Xi pondered for a moment, then raised her hand to speak. “That doesn’t add up. If the village chief only beheads males, then why did he come after me last night?”

Her words fell into silence.

Especially Chen Yiyi, whose expression became particularly unnatural.

Meng Yuanyuan had been teleported to the Punishment Space before Chen Yiyi even activated her skill, and her mother Zhang Qiulan nearly went mad during her daughter’s disappearance.

So these two were completely unaware.

“The village chief came after you? How did you manage to escape?” Jiang Yanyan asked curiously.

Lu Xi sighed. “Last night, two 1.8-meter-tall rabbits kidnapped me and knocked me out. When I woke up, I found myself in the Punishment Space.”

“1.8 meters? Rabbits?” Meng Yuanyuan’s mouth dropped open.

The others were equally shocked and incredulous.

Jiang Yanyan smiled gently. “Well, Xi, you’re really lucky. I heard from other players that those rabbits love to eat players. Do you have some secret weapon you haven’t told us about?”

“We’re all players. No need to hide such things,” Jiang Yanyan joked.

At that moment, Ji Chenling, who had been silent until now, suddenly interrupted: “It seems the topic has strayed. According to the known clues, the village chief wouldn’t cut off a female’s head.”

“So then, who used their skill to transfer the curse onto Lu Xi?”

His words hit the heart of the matter.

Ji Chenling glanced at everyone with a half-smile, scanning the group before fixing his gaze on Chen Yiyi.

Chen Yiyi’s face immediately became awkward.

This man was strange—he bore an ordinary, unremarkable face, yet his gaze felt oppressively intense.

Under Ji Chenling’s scrutiny, every hair on her body stood on end.

“Enough. We can’t control the thoughts and actions of these monsters,” Ji Yunxuan said impatiently. “In this world, as fellow players, we should help and trust each other. No room for suspicion or doubt.”

He looked up calmly and said, “Since you’re new here, introduce yourself first.”

For some reason, Ji Yunxuan felt a strange familiarity about the man before him—a familiarity tinged with an unsettling chill.

“Ji Chenling.”

Crash.

Ji Yunxuan’s cup slipped from his hands, shattering on the ground.

“What a coincidence,” Jiang Yanyan covered her mouth to laugh softly, her voice warm and gentle. “So you’re from the same family.”

Both surnamed Ji.

Ji Chenling lowered his dark eyes, a faint, mysterious smile curling at the corner of his lips.

No one could guess the storm raging inside Ji Yunxuan’s heart, though his face betrayed his heavy unease.

Why that name?

How could he share the same name as that person?

Taking a closer look at Ji Chenling, Ji Yunxuan felt a slight relief.

This Ji Chenling was completely different from the madman he once knew—almost a different person altogether.

That other man had died many years ago in the real world, falling from a great height and left unrecognizable.

And back then, the survival game world hadn’t even existed.

A soft, fair hand slipped gently into his palm. Ji Yunxuan clasped it, glanced at Jiang Yanyan, and curved his lips slightly.

“Hello, Ji Chenling. Welcome to the team.”

Ji Chenling raised an eyebrow. “Who said I’m joining you?”

He turned and linked his arm around Lu Xi’s, smiling sweetly. “Wherever sister goes, I go.”

Lu Xi patted her clothes.

“What is it, sister?”

Lu Xi’s expression was blank. “Goosebumps fell off, so I’m patting them back on.”