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Chapter 897, Section 896: Your friend Gu Mian is on her way on horseback.
At this moment, the fat man thoughtfully took out a map and was gesturing to Hao Laoshi.

"Huluwa is on top, you see it on the map. This small area represents 100 kilometers. Let me see, Huluwa is over 800 kilometers away from Lianhua, and that's the straight-line distance, not counting detours." He calculated the distance from Hulu Gorge to Lianhua City for Hao Laoshi, but he also forgot the name and called the place "Huluwa" along with Hao Laoshi.

Hao Laoshi visibly grew anxious: "What are we going to do? It's over 800 kilometers, how long will it take to get back?"

The fat man patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, you can't let yourself die from holding your pee. At least you're still alive. Maybe you'll get some special item that can teleport you in the next dungeon, just like that girl's Mario item that teleported you to the sewers 800 kilometers away. You should send a message to your family to let them know you're alive. As long as you're alive, everything will be fine."

“Let me correct you,” Liu Ruyan said from the side, “The things that Anzhitinglan just took out can’t be teleported too far; they can only be sent to the nearby sewers.”

“Maybe they have a whole series of these items. There’s ‘Mario from the nearby sewers,’ and maybe there’s ‘Mario from the sewers 800 kilometers away,’” the fat man nodded confidently. “If all else fails, we’ll drive you back when the doctor comes back. If Miss 007 happens to be with you, we can pick her up too.”

At this point, the fat man checked the group chat again; 007 hadn't replied yet.

This is a little weird.

If he were to teleport out of the instance and find himself in another place, his first reaction would definitely be to ask everyone for help. But 007 has been out of the instance for so long and hasn't uttered a sound. Could it be that there is some danger in her place and she didn't have time to send a message in the group chat?
Hao Laoshi lowered his head in disappointment. He met Gu Mian in the hearse driving test instance and naturally knew that the other party had a hearse driving license. However, he was quite self-aware and knew that although he and Gu Mian had been matched together a few times, their relationship was not enough for the other party to drive him back to his home 800 kilometers away.

I wonder what the relationship between Mr. Gu and Gu Mian is like. Maybe their relationship combined will make Gu Mian decide to send them back.

Thinking this, he looked up at Guigu and asked, "Mr. Gu, do you think we can get back in a short time?"

Guigu then came to his senses and gave Hao Laoshi a complicated look.

Unlike Teacher Hao's anxious mood, Guigu felt a sense of relief when he came to Gu Mian's place after leaving the dungeon.

He hadn't experienced this feeling in a long time.

Long ago, he, Hanshan, Captain Feng, and many teammates established a base in Hulu Gorge to accommodate those who were willing to follow them.

Those people were just ordinary people, not very bright, and not physically strong enough to outrun ghosts. Their mortality rate was extremely high once they entered the dungeon.

Back then, the dungeon protection mechanism was still in place; dying meant losing attributes, special items, and in-game currency, which was exactly what they needed most. Hanshan then devised a plan to have these people entrust their in-game currency to someone outside the dungeon for safekeeping, so that dying inside wouldn't result in too much resource waste.

Later, the death protection mechanism was removed.

Hanshan then planned to reduce the frequency of those people entering the dungeon, and mostly assigned them to do logistical work, such as farming or searching for resources outside.

There are too many people to support, so these people enter the dungeon less frequently, while Guigu and his group have to enter the dungeon more frequently.

Back then, they entered dungeons very frequently, and every time they entered a dungeon, teammates would die. Although he felt pressured, he understood that it was their duty. Fortunately, the teammates who were still alive after each dungeon run would liven up the atmosphere and help everyone quickly get over the sadness of losing a friend.

We can't stay here; it won't be long before we have to enter the next instance.

As time goes by, there are still many people to support, but fewer and fewer former teammates remain.

In the end, even the few remaining familiar people left him, leaving him all alone.

Before he could recover from his grief, the heavy responsibility of the base fell on his shoulders.

The people in the base had long been accustomed to placing their hopes and future on a supreme person. Without this person, the entire base's beliefs would immediately collapse and disintegrate.

He had to put on a mask of glory to appease the people in the base and become their new support in place of Hanshan.

He forced himself to become more and more like Hanshan, learning Hanshan's every move.

Gradually, the people in the base forgot about the previous "god" and once again placed him in a supreme position.

Sometimes, as he walked through the base, looking at those faces, each one familiar yet so strange, Guigu felt that everyone had become the same, their heads turning into enormous mouths, black holes that could never be filled.

Guigu was perfect in everyone's eyes, but he saw the hole in his heart growing ever larger, like a pale windowpane torn by the winter wind, never to heal. He had long forgotten what ease felt like, until now.

He saw sunlight falling on the brown cabinet in the living room, on which sat a double-handled glass jar of fruit candy. He heard the lovely bubbling sound of a kettle boiling in the kitchen. He smelled the faint scent of laundry detergent in the air. A basin sat on the balcony, containing several pieces of clothing that hadn't had time to dry.

He hadn't noticed these things for a long time.

He didn't want to go back; the thought suddenly popped into his head.

He knew how shameful the thought was, how difficult it was to say. But after seeing the brightly colored fruit candies and smelling the comforting scent of laundry detergent, he knew he could never go back to facing that lonely winter.

"What happened to your hands and face?" Chu Changge glanced at his left hand, which was missing three fingers.

The death protection mechanism is now disabled, but the injury protection mechanism is still in place; injuries sustained in the dungeon will heal after you leave.

This indicates that Guiguzi's injuries were not inflicted in the dungeon.

Hao Laoshi was waiting for Guigu's reply, but when he heard Chu Changge ask this question, he was stunned for a moment, and then looked at the injuries on Guigu's face and hands.

He arrived at the base late, and by then Guigu already possessed these items.

Hao Laoshi had asked about it before out of curiosity, but had not received an answer.

Guigu chuckled self-deprecatingly, and when he laughed, a few twisted lines appeared on the scar next to his left eye: "When Hanshan was still alive, there was a riot at the base. Once, I wasn't paying attention when he went into a dungeon and got handcuffed in a room. Those people set the house on fire. I chopped off half of my hand with a knife to free it from the handcuffs, but it was too late, and my face was burned. My left eye was also burned, and my eyesight isn't very good now."

As he spoke, he adjusted the glasses he had removed from the right side.

The fat man thought the glasses looked familiar: "Aren't these Han Shan's glasses?"

Guigu nodded: "Where can you find a professional place to fit glasses these days? Just make do with these."

“It wasn’t done by our own people,” Chu Changge said again, not as a question.

Guigu paused for a moment: "It wasn't done by our own people. Those people thought that someone could make money by handing over the game coins for safekeeping, so this happened."

The fat man fell silent for a long time before finally speaking: "I think you're suffering quite a bit over there. Why don't you stay here a little longer? Comrade Hao, don't rush. You see, there's no use rushing now, right? Among us, only the doctor can drive you around. Why don't you stay here for a few days and discuss how to get back when the doctor comes back?"

Last time, Gu Mian was taken to Paradise World by the evil god and stayed there for several days. This time, she was taken away by the evil god again. Fatty doesn't know how long Gu Mian will be missing.

"The doctor has been offline every day lately, he's practically a missing person. I think those missing person posters we got will come in handy sooner or later. Maybe if the doctor doesn't come back soon, we'll have no choice but to go out on the street and show the missing person posters to people."

The fat man was referring to the "Wanted Poster for Ugly Mr. Gu" that Chu Changge and his companions obtained in the Paradise World.

Although there is a big difference between a wanted poster and a missing person notice, at least there is a photo of Gu Mian on it that can be shown to others.

Although it's an ugly photo.

Gu Mian was unaware that the fat man was looking at him and about to show him his unflattering photos; he was floating in the dark.

Just like the last time she went from the Ghost Expo to the Paradise World, it was pitch black all around. Gu Mian was very doubtful that she would see a little light in a while and then hear that classic line again.

History always repeats itself, and just as he was thinking this, a chilling remark came from behind him.

"With the brave warrior Gu Mian here, we will surely defeat the evil upper class!"

Your Gugu is on its way with a keyboard.