Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Clearing his throat lightly, Su Jianglou realized his question was inappropriate, but he didn't dwell on it. He smoothly changed the subject: "My mistake. Third Brother meant, what are you up to? How are you settling in over the past couple of days?"

If the person could still answer the phone and speak, they were clearly alive.

It seemed he was overreacting. The slightest stir from his second brother always made him worry about Xiao Mu.

Yet, recalling his second brother's actions over the years, Su Jianglou understood why he was so sensitive.

On the other end of the line, Su Ximu also thought his third brother must have misspoke; otherwise, who would open a conversation by asking if someone was still alive?

Out of habit, he had stepped aside to take the call. When his third brother asked about his adjustment, he tilted his head, looking into the distance, and replied softly, "Yeah, I’m much more settled today than yesterday. Group Leader Lan242 has been very kind to me. We finished work together today and are about to head back to the dorm."

He thought he might have made his first new friend here.

Lan242... Su Jianglou searched his memory but couldn't recall the name. When he dropped Xiao Mu off at work, he hadn't paid much attention to the other *gui*.

Since he'd confirmed Xiao Mu was fine, Su Jianglou squinted at his eldest brother, Su Xuanxiao, who had just entered the living room. After exchanging a few more words with Xiao Mu, he hung up and challenged his brother. "Big brother, were you deliberately hiding the fact that second brother isn’t coming back today?"

"Why would I hide it from you?" Su Xuanxiao retorted.

"Because you’ve been holding a grudge against me lately," Su Jianglou shot back.

It was because he had acted on his own, created a new instance, and brought Xiao Mu back.

"On the first day, you beat me up, and it seemed like the matter was closed," Su Jianglou said darkly. "But you’re only biding your time. If second brother tries anything, you won’t stop him, will you?"

In fact, if his second brother planned something, Su Xuanxiao might even lend a hand—like casually delaying Su Jianglou for a day.

Su Xuanxiao, who possessed the most mature and steady demeanor among the three brothers, sank into the sofa and spread his arms. "I’m not that petty."

In his view, this was merely a game born of his brother’s boredom, not worth his serious attention.

If he had any dissatisfaction, it was minor. Nothing significant.

As children grow, their thoughts sometimes take circuitous paths.

The game had just begun, and Jiang Lou still found it novel. In time, he would realize how foolish self-deception truly is.

When that time came, even without Ju Zi’s intervention, he would learn his lesson.

Through repeated games, he would come to understand something he had long refused to accept: there may be countless Su Ximus across countless worlds, but no two flowers are ever exactly the same.

If they were, how could Ju Zi have ended up like this?

Ximu...

The man on the sofa clasped his hands. "Jiang Lou, you’ve reminded me."

With Jiang Lou’s new instance, he too was compelled to recall many things.

"Don’t bring this up in front of me again," Su Xuanxiao said, closing his eyes. "I’ve been tolerating your antics lately."

"When he stood before me, I was momentarily fooled. But we shouldn’t lose ourselves in illusions."

A *gui* skilled in weaving illusions had been deceived by its own creation.

Su Jianglou opened his mouth, then cursed under his breath.

He truly couldn’t understand why his eldest and second brothers reacted so strongly to him creating a new instance.

He didn’t think he was looking for a stand-in. *Gui* and humans, in a way, weren’t even the same kind of beings.

He felt that everything he was doing was akin to an older brother who had lost his younger brother, making a doll in his likeness years later, simply to keep his memory alive.

Yet some *gui* insisted on interpreting it as him seeking a substitute, always trying to tear up his doll.

But since he was under their roof, Su Jianglou decided to swallow his pride for the sake of his precious doll. He dropped the subject and smoothly shifted the conversation. "Fine, I won’t mention it again. But big brother, didn’t you say you were interested in that Tourism Park? How’s that going? Is the Director still avoiding you?"

Finally, his oblivious brother had brought up something that lightened the mood. Su Xuanxiao smirked. "Soon."

In the world of *gui*, takeovers could be tricky—sometimes complicated, sometimes straightforward.

If business methods didn’t work, other methods would have to be explored.

After all, his time was precious and shouldn’t be wasted on a pointless game of cat and mouse.

"I’m close to catching him."

***

After hanging up, the call from his third brother had distracted Su Ximu. Since Group Leader Lan242 didn’t seem interested in feeding the fish, they just stopped briefly by the pond before heading toward the side of the mansion.

On the way back to the dorm, Su Ximu couldn't stop thinking about the mushroom he had planted that morning. He wondered if it would survive.

"It should be fine," Lan242 assured him. "I picked it without damaging the roots. These mushrooms are very resilient."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted to other blue-hatted figures along the path. "If it does die, we can always pick another. There are plenty of blue mushrooms here."

"Plenty?" Su Ximu peered intently at the greenery under the streetlights, feeling a bit discouraged.

He had been carefully observing the route since morning, but he still hadn’t spotted the special mushrooms Group Leader Lan242 mentioned.

Lan242 confirmed, "Plenty."

Su Ximu blinked in surprise. "Were there any just now?"

"Yes," Lan242 said. "There was one red mushroom, five green mushrooms, and six blue mushrooms. There are lots of blue mushrooms, and gray ones are plentiful too."

A red mushroom?

Su Ximu vaguely recalled Group Leader Lan242 mentioning that red mushrooms were rare in the Tourism Park, as scarce as the Director’s red hat.

Had they really passed by such a rare red mushroom’s growing area just now?

"Was it in a place that’s hard to spot?" Su Ximu asked, genuinely wondering if his eyesight was that poor.

Fortunately, Group Leader Lan242 confirmed it. "Yes, in a very hard-to-spot place."

Seeing the young man’s curiosity piqued, Lan242 added sternly, "I can’t take you there. It’s dirty. You wouldn’t like it."

Dirty?

"The mushrooms here like to grow in places with decaying matter."

The lower-ranking mushrooms are cleaner because they aren't worthy of good soil.

Similarly, only such mushrooms are worthy of being planted in pots and cultivated.

Lan242, who had rejected the young man, felt a pang of regret.

That night, when Su Ximu had already returned to his dormitory, in the green space behind his dormitory building:

Two park staff dressed in wedding retainer uniforms walked arm in arm toward the dormitory entrance.

As they walked, they seemed to spot someone they knew. One of them casually raised a hand to greet: "Lan...!"

But after just one word, the two attendants' eyes went wide with fear.

A sticky red mist enveloped them.

In the next second, within the red mist, the attendants vanished into thin air. Two large blue mushrooms, already mature, fell from mid-air.

The newcomer crouched down, picked up the mushrooms from the ground, carefully planted them into holes he'd dug earlier, and then continued waiting by the roadside.

Still not enough.

A while later, the phone in the mushroom-planter's pocket rang. He answered the call.

"Hello? I'm tied up. Yeah, I'm on a business trip in Sunshine Neighborhood in the neighboring city."

*Sigh*, "I really don't have time. My time's valuable too—why should I help you catch some Tourism Park Director? It's too far away."

"? The Tourism Park Director you want to catch is also hiding in Sunshine Neighborhood?"

"..."

"Alright, I'll try my best."

After he hung up, Lan242 sighed.

If the Tourism Park Director was in the neighboring city, then what was lurking in the dormitory building now?

With a resigned sigh, he followed the direction he sensed.

When he arrived at the dorm supervisor's office and pushed the door open, there was only a small old man huddled like a rat beside the desk, wearing a silly red pointy hat on his head.

Around the red-hatted old man lay a scattering of dead mushrooms—yellow, green, blue-green...

In his hand, he was tearing apart an orange mushroom, and as he bit into it, faint, pained screams echoed in the small office...

***

Around eleven at night, someone knocked on Su Ximu's dormitory door.

He opened the door to see Group Leader Lan242 whispering in a mysterious tone to him: "I found a huge patch of mushrooms. Want to go see? There are even red mushrooms, and this red mushroom isn't growing in filth."

Su Ximu looked at Group Leader Lan242's messy work clothes, his shoes seemingly stained with mud, and a bit of dust on his face.

He pressed a hand to his chest somewhat helplessly, not quite knowing how to describe the feeling at that moment.

He just felt a tingling in his chest, a warm, swelling feeling rising within.

He nodded vigorously: "Yeah! Let's go!"

Lan242 smiled: "Then get a basket. Let's go mushroom picking."

***

With Group Leader Lan242, his superior, leading the way, Su Ximu learned that staff in the Tourism Park were allowed to pick mushrooms in the garden.

That night, he came back with a full basket.

The large patch of mushrooms Group Leader Lan242 mentioned was very close to the dormitory. Parting the wildly growing tall plants on the wasteland, colorful mushrooms stood among piles of dead leaves, like something from a storybook.

He didn't get greedy and take too many—for now, he only picked one red mushroom and two blue ones, meaning to grow them later.

As for making mushroom soup, it was already very late, and he wasn't really hungry yet, so he didn't need to eat for the time being.

The three newly picked mushrooms were planted by Su Ximu and Lan242 together in the pot on the balcony.

Su Ximu placed the red mushroom in the center, with the three blue mushrooms surrounding it, so it didn't look so lonely as when there was only one mushroom before.

The next day, as dawn was breaking:

A purple-hatted staff member returning from the night shift stood below the dormitory building. He looked up and, as if seeing something utterly unbelievable, stuttered and shouted: "The—the Director!!!"

"Q-Quick, come here, something weird!!!"

"The guy with connections planted the Director in a pot too!!!"

His voice was loud, waking many employees on the first floor.

Then, these awakened employees joined him in hearing the park broadcast: "A! Warm! Welcome! Su Financial Group officially acquires Tan Zhong Traditional Customs Tourism Park!"

"The Tourism Park will be closed for three days. All employees are requested to suspend their work."

"Please await the arrival of the powerful, wealthy, and generous Chairman of Su Financial Group, Mr. Su, to inspect and guide the Tourism Park!"

The three broadcasts reeked of sycophancy.

The broadcast was so loud it echoed throughout the entire Tourism Park, even reaching the Wang Family Mansion.

In the Wang Family Mansion, Rao Fei bolted upright in bed, clutching his rapidly beating heart.

He was about to clear the level with the key clues, and now the Tourism Park broadcast told him the park had new leadership?!

Would he get stuck in the instance now?

Su Financial Group—that name sounded damn familiar.

What kind of miser is the boss behind this financial group? How come his instances are everywhere in the *gui* world!

Author's Note:

Little Mu the connected guy transforms~~~