"By the way, Brother Chu," the dragon boat slowed, and Fatty, who had been initially disoriented, had adapted. He sat idly before Chu Changge. "What do you think of the name I came up with?"
Fatty jerked his chin towards the bow, where the words "Doctorâs Gorgeous Fan Club" gleamed in the sunlight.
Chu Changge glanced at the bow but showed no reaction.
Fatty was puzzled. "Brother Chu, youâve been very quiet since we got back."
Although Fatty knew Chu Changge was typically reserved, today his silence seemed unusual. This prompted Fatty to suddenly ask, "Brother Chu, are you thinking about that teammate, 007? It felt like that person knew you."
Before Chu Changge could reply, Gu Mianâs voice came from nearby. "Whatâs wrong?"
Fatty turned his head and saw Gu Mian, who had crouched beside Chu Changge at some point without him noticing, staring at Chu Changgeâs face. "Your face is so pale."
Just then, the third challenge suddenly appeared before them.
[In one minute, you will enter the third challenge: Red Light, Green Light (One, Two, Three, Wooden Man).]
[Players must complete the game "Red Light, Green Light, donât speak, donât move" with the assigned NPC within five minutes. Failure will result in forfeiting the right to acquire a teammate from this challenge.]
Gu Mian knew the game Red Light, Green Light. One person stood at the front, back to the others, chanting "One, two, three, wooden man!" While "One, two, three" was being said, the people behind could run freely. But when "wooden man" was called, the person at the front would instantly turn around. The others had to freeze and couldnât speak. Anyone caught moving or speaking was out.
Gu Mian noticed a white-clothed female ghost about two hundred meters ahead on the waterâs surface, her back to them.
It seemed the NPCs for this event were all ghosts making guest appearances.
The current objective was likely to tag the NPC shouting "One, Two, Three, Wooden Man" to win.
Meanwhile, Gu Mian saw many red dots appear on the map above.
These red dots likely signified the dispatched NPCs. The game couldnât possibly have all participating players trying to tag the same NPC. If that were the case, the NPC probably wouldnât tolerate it.
"Looking at the numbers, not every dragon boat is assigned its own âWooden Manâ NPC. Several boatsâ players probably have to tag the same one," Fattyâs voice rang out. "This place is so remote, and weâre the only boat here, so this NPC can only be tagged by us."
Gu Mian nodded seriously. "Sheâs actually quite lucky. Other ghosts have to be tagged multiple times, and players might hurt them, regardless of how careful they are. But itâs different here. She only needs to be slapped once by me."
"Yes, yes!" Fatty agreed enthusiastically. "Doctor, one minute is almost up. Iâm ready."
Time passed quickly. Not long after Fatty spoke, Gu Mian heard a harsh, hoarse voice from ahead: "One..."
The ghostâs voice sounded as if it had been mauled by a dog.
But this clearly wasnât the time to ask what breed of dog had mauled her throat.
Xiao Hong and her brother were fast, but they couldnât cover two hundred meters in a second. By the time the female ghost uttered "Two," Gu Mianâs dragon boat had only advanced five meters.
This seemed intentional.
The "Two" hadnât even finished echoing when Gu Mian heard a rapid, machine-gun-like voice from aheadâ
"Three!"
Gu Mian was sure he hadnât even properly registered the previous "Two."
Immediately, the female ghost in front whirled around, revealing a rather ghastly face.
Gu Mian began to suspect the event organizers had chosen such terrifying female ghosts as NPCs specifically to startle players when they turned.
Indeed, some players fell for it.
The eerie sight of countless female ghosts standing on the river was already unsettling enough, not to mention the visual shock when they turned around...
Even though many players managed to steady their dragon boats, most experienced a jolt of fear the first time they saw a female ghost turn her head.
By now, the players had experienced numerous horrors and werenât so easily scared that theyâd jump straight from their boats into the water. Still, the chilling sight made their hearts jolt, followed by a sharp intake of breath.
Some people who shifted even slightly were eliminated immediately.
Some players communicated while the NPC was chanting "One, two, three."
"Five minutes... This ghost keeps turning around. Can we even row to her back?"
"Itâs only about two hundred meters... I think we can make it."
Gu Mian felt like the ghost assigned to them must have some kind of ailment. She always shouted "One, Two, Three" incredibly quickly but then dragged out the "Wooden Man" part with a long drawl.
He had observed other dragon boats on the river. They could row for at least six or seven seconds each time the NPC called out, but his group barely got two seconds of movement per turn.
Fortunately, their dragon boat was very steady. Even though the female ghost turned her head unexpectedly every time, the three of them on board remained still.
Four minutes passed. Some players had already tagged their ghost and passed the third challenge, but Gu Mianâs group was still twenty meters away.
When they were still twenty meters out, Gu Mian had already raised his hand in anticipation.
At ten meters, Gu Mian raised his hand a little higher, as if preparing to discipline a child.
When they were half a meter away, Gu Mian was already standing at the bow, hand poised to strike the back of the ghostâs head as she was yelling "Oneâ"
"TwoThree"âthe two syllables burst out almost as one.
The female ghost turned her head to see a palm stopped just in time, right in front of her face.
Even though it was supposed to be a game, no one was actually treating it as just a game.
Many had played Red Light, Green Light as children, and mischievous kids would often slap the person in front with all their might.
But now, no one used all their strength to tag the female ghosts. All of them were careful, gently laying their palms on the female ghostsâ shoulders, as if brushing away a strand of hair.
Only Gu Mian was different. As soon as the next "One" was called, a resounding SLAP echoed across the area.
Then the female ghost clutched her head and ran off, whimpering.