Chapter 31: Can't Stop at All

The all-controlling Red Queen, the ubiquitous tide of zombies, and the utterly terrifying Lickers—any one of them was enough to strike terror into the heart, to say nothing of this immersive style of viewing, which truly made one worry that a single accidental scratch of the skin might turn them into such an ugly monster.

As the plot unfolded, Lanyan discovered that not only was the entire story extraordinarily brilliant, but the clean, decisive hand-to-hand combat and gunplay, along with the final grand battle against the Lickers, also left the audience feeling both tense and deeply satisfied. The longer she watched, the more shocked she became in her heart!

"How on earth was this accomplished?!" Her mind was filled with utter astonishment.

It was, safe to say, far too novel! At the same time, it was far too soul-stirring!

This was something she had never even imagined before! How could there be such a miraculous thing in this world?!

She finally believed that everyone had not been bewitched into coming here at all, but rather because—this place itself possessed enough charm to draw them in!

"Is what we saw real?" Nalan Mingxue had also finished watching. Although her expression was much calmer than Lanyan's, a careful observer could still catch a fleeting, barely perceptible trace of shock within her cold eyes!

"Who knows? Perhaps it happened in some unimaginably distant world, or perhaps, it is merely a story." Fang Qi replied casually.

"Is that so?" Nalan Mingxue could clearly feel that a certain change was taking place within herself; for instance, she had gained quite a bit of insight into her current self-mastery and some meticulous, subtle techniques!

Although her cultivation level had not changed in the slightest, if she were to truly engage in battle, her strength would have increased by at least a whole tier!

Fang Qi shook his head: "I am accustomed to calling it a movie."

"A movie...?" She carefully pondered the meaning of this term.

"Is there anything else?" Lanyan asked impatiently, "What exactly was that 'game' mentioned earlier?"

"I seem to recall someone earlier saying I was deeply scheming and bewitched people's minds? That everyone in the shop belonged to me?" Fang Qi looked at her, a half-smile playing on his lips.

Not just Fang Qi, but even Song Qingfeng and the others were staring at her with burning gazes.

"I..." She was still under the watchful eyes of the crowd, with everyone staring at her ignorance; if there were a crack in the ground right now, she would have wished to dive straight into it.

Lanyan fell into a fit of immense embarrassment—it was simply too mortifying!

Lanyan's heart was awkward to the extreme: "I previously... actually said this shop was a fraud... bewitching people's minds?"

Just moments ago, she had been looking at these cultivators and scions of noble families, whom she believed to be bewitched, with the gaze one reserves for fools, but looking at it now... she felt that she was the fool!

"I admit I underestimated your little shop just now!" She looked at Fang Qi, wanting to cry but having no tears, finally understanding what Fang Qi meant by his phrase regarding the ignorance of the fearless.

Fang Qi laughed heartily and guided the two of them to click open the game.

Four hours later...

"What?! You say we can only play for six hours?!" Lanyan abruptly stood up from her seat, her eyes wide as she glared at Fang Qi.

"No way!" Lanyan said indignantly, "At least wait until I have solved the riddle of that whatever-it's-called Book of Curses!"

The people around them could not help but burst into laughter: "The boss's rules have never been altered by anyone."

"Is that so?" She stuffed a handful of spirit crystals into Fang Qi's hands, saying proudly, "Is it acceptable now? I will pay ten times the price!"

"Ten times?!" One had to know that the highest Song Qingfeng had ever offered was only five times!

She actually offered ten times directly?!

Twenty spirit crystals for an hour?!

Quite a few people swallowed hard; this was simply an astronomical price!

Looking at these spirit crystals, Fang Qi's heart stirred slightly; if the system allowed it, he wished he could grab them and make a hundred-meter sprint.

But unfortunately, the system, true to form this time, did not give him any response at all.

"I am very sorry..." He could only reluctantly put the money back with an air of righteous severity, "Our shop is very strict about rules."

"...?!" Refusing ten times the price? Is this man a fool?

One had to know that this bag of spirit crystals could match the income of a player playing for over ten days!

And he actually refused it?

"Then how much do you think it should be?" Nalan Mingxue spoke up, her tone icy, letting one feel that she did not possess much patience to haggle with Fang Qi.

"A thousand times? A ten-thousand times?" Fang Qi's expression remained flat, "Even if you give more, a rule is still a rule and will not change."

"The boss truly is a man who keeps to the rules!" The mustachioed youth stroked his beard; seeing Fang Qi place such emphasis on rules, he felt at ease, knowing that at least since these computers and things were not sold to him, they would not be sold to anyone else either.

Wu Shan and the others had originally been quite resentful of Fang Qi's time limit, but now, seeing someone offer ten times the price and still receive the same result, their minds felt much more balanced.

Recalling his own encounter back then, Song Qingfeng once again gloated in his heart: "We tried this trick a long time ago."

"Completely... unmoved?" Lanyan felt an urge to spit blood, because she discovered that she could no longer stop herself!

But now, she was not allowed to play!

If she hadn't witnessed the extraordinary nature of this little shop just now, Lanyan would have even had thoughts of murder!

Originally, she had only regarded Fang Qi as a cunning swindler, but now she found out—could there be such an upright swindler?!

Even money couldn't sway him?! If this kind of person were a swindler, then everyone in the entire world would be a swindler!

"I want so badly to keep playing..." Lanyan stamped her foot fiercely and said, "Can't you make just a little exception?"

"No."

"It's absolutely intentional!" Lanyan gritted her teeth and glared at Fang Qi, while Fang Qi, in contrast, remained entirely unmoved.

After a long while, Nalan Mingxue suddenly spoke up: "Let's go."

Lanyan was plagued by a burst of immense embarrassment, and though she was unwilling to admit it, she still murmured: "...But... I want so badly to keep playing..."

"Ah... Miss!" By the time she reacted, Nalan Mingxue had already stepped out of the internet cafe, and she hastily gave chase.

Walking out of the internet cafe with a lingering sense of unfulfilled desire, Lanyan's expression appeared exceedingly complex: "Miss Nalan... I find that this shop does not seem to be what we imagined."

"Why is it that I don't find this strange world fake at all?"

"And those zombies, guns, viruses, and whatnot, they all talk about them as if they're real..."

"And... I feel as if quite a lot of combat insights have been added to my mind..."

"And... my strength seems to have improved."

"I wonder what the plot after Resident Evil is like... I want so badly to know..."

"This boss is truly detestable, actually refusing to let us keep playing... I really want to give him a good lesson!"

"I truly want so badly to play..."

Lanyan chattered endlessly, unexpectedly spilling a whole grand torrent of words, until finally, Nalan Mingxue turned her head back, her gaze carrying a rare, unusual brilliance that differed from her ordinary self: "Let us come tomorrow as well."

"..."

At this moment, inside the Cloud Mountain Tavern.

Xiao Yulv's matter had, to a greater or lesser degree, still exerted some influence over them.

What they cared about most at present was still Xiao Yulv's affair and those three mysterious bolts of lightning punishment in Fang Qi's shop.

"The boss is simply too fierce!" Big Black appeared to have some lingering fear in his heart, "He even threw Xiao Yulv out!"

"I wonder if this matter will bring about any trouble." Liang Shi sighed softly.

"What trouble?" Big Black chuckled, "Do you think the boss looked like he was courting trouble for himself at the time? He didn't place that person in his eyes at all!"

Liang Shi raised his wine cup and toasted Liang Shi, smiling bitterly: "It was fortunate back then that Brother Liang pulled me back, otherwise..."

He shook his head and drained the wine in his cup in a single gulp.

Wu Shan laughed heartily and said, "Why talk so much about it? It has nothing to do with us anyway, just play the game in peace! The boss's rules, I respect them!"

"Who would dare not to?" Li Kuan smiled awkwardly.

It had to be said, from the perspective of sheer, heart-stopping impact, the Resident Evil movie version was indeed much better executed than the game version.

The massive hordes of zombies, the horrific scenes of bodies shredded in the laser corridor, and the utterly chaotic city at the very end—all of it left a profound, indelible mark on their minds!

For a crowd that had never witnessed this genre of work before, it was undoubtedly a monumental shock!

On the other hand, the fact that watching the film could grant combat techniques and greater mastery over one's own body had already become well known to the audience; though the improvement was not as prolonged and sustained as in the game, it was immediate and effective enough.

To the point where some people began to wonder, "Is this really just virtual? The combat, the weapons, everything is real! Could this truly be a recording of actual battle scenes from some unknown corner of the world?!"

Lingyun Academy.

With the release of the movie version, the daily discussions among these students had grown considerably richer.

As the place with the highest concentration of players, even along the academy's corridors, one could occasionally overhear discussions regarding Resident Evil.

Naturally, there was no shortage of players with a rather twisted sense of humor among them.

Song Qingfeng and his companions had just finished another martial arts class, and by the time they dismissed, evening was already settling in.

On the path leading from the martial arts arena to the main gate of the academy, there happened to be a rather secluded, tree-lined lane; because of its remote location, this path was rarely tended to, and the tall paulownia trees flanking the road had woven their green leaves together, resembling a massive, green vaulted corridor.

Because a thick canopy of leaves blocked out the sun, the light appeared somewhat dim, and it was precisely at this moment that Song Qingfeng noticed two figures standing beneath the trees ahead.

The clothing of these two individuals was somewhat tattered as they slowly shuffled toward him; because their heads were lowered and the light was insufficient, their faces could not be clearly seen.

Song Qingfeng instinctively felt that something was amiss, asking in bewilderment, "You two, what are you...?"

Right at that moment, the pair abruptly snapped their heads up, actually revealing faces where half the flesh had rotted away!

Immediately following that, the two let out a savage howl and lunged fiercely at Song Qingfeng!

"Zombies?!" Song Qingfeng was instantly scared witless on the spot; how could there be zombies in the real world?!

By the time he snapped back to reality, the two "zombies" had already lunged right before his eyes!

One of the zombies had even managed to grab hold of his arm!

.