After Transmigrating as the Northeast CEO's Pampered Little Husband - Chapter 48

Gu Jiaoyang had been in a slightly gloomy mood since Liu Nuo was eliminated, but he didn’t show it outwardly. While he was concerned about the potential dangers of the virus systems, he knew this was the reality he faced, and all he could do was focus on strengthening himself.

“Great, we’ve both got one now.”

Since Li Lili had run off and they couldn’t find her, Gu Jiaoyang and Zhu Zhengwen continued to team up and search along the stream. Thanks to Gu Jiaoyang’s spiritual energy cheat, it didn’t take long before they found the second balloon. With one each, they were both guaranteed to pass the round.

“This is brilliant! A 100,000 yuan prize is a minor detail; I’m after that fixed spot on the front-page recommendation! If I can get first place, I can start accepting promotions, which means a steady stream of cash!” Zhu Zhengwen had high hopes for the competition. Gu Jiaoyang was also keen on the front-page recommendation spot, as it would allow him to open an online shop to sell his medicines, and the increased exposure would also serve as a form of security.

“Thank you very much for the support of our sponsors! Now, everyone gets a rest period. Tonight, our livestream cameras will be temporarily switched off to give you a pre-challenge night of fun!”

The host stood in front of the camera, handing out the badges for the central log cabin to every creator who had found a balloon. With this badge, they could enter the cabin for the night. Those who didn’t get a badge would be sent back to the hotel. They could either wait four days for the final awards ceremony or leave early.

The badges, once handed out, were theirs to keep as a souvenir.

“Come on, let’s go rest. I need to get a shower urgently. After walking all day, I’m covered in mud; I can’t stand it.” Despite being a big man, Zhu Zhengwen was quite particular about cleanliness.

Gu Jiaoyang was protected by his spiritual energy; dust couldn’t cling to his skin. Even when his skin regeneration cycle was due, a simple Dust-Abolishing spell would solve all hygiene issues.

That was why Gu Jiaoyang was the cleanest and most radiant creator at the final gathering, while everyone else was too exhausted to care about their appearance.

Still, he didn’t mind a shower to freshen up.

“Ugh, I hope no more virus systems try anything.” Gu Jiaoyang flopped onto the bed, wanting nothing more than to be a ‘salted fish’.

It started raining before evening fell. The rain wasn’t heavy, but there was occasional thunder. The planned BBQ had to be moved indoors. Everyone gathered in the main hall, drinking, gambling, and playing games, and the atmosphere was excellent.

Wu Ke, who had somehow infiltrated the organiser’s logistics team, winked at Gu Jiaoyang while serving drinks. He gestured towards the auntie in a uniform at the back, implying that if Gu Jiaoyang didn’t like the food, he could sneak off for a private meal with the nanny. The organisers wouldn’t interfere.

“…So, it really is good to be rich?” Gu Jiaoyang sighed at the corruption of capitalism, then shamelessly defected.

The food provided by the cabin was limited, and the subsequent days of the competition would only be filmed during the day, with just a few shots selected for the evening’s summary. This meant he could enjoy Nanny Liu’s care every night while competing during the day.

“Three fives, six sixes…”

“Sing! Sing a song, go on!”

“Hey, hey, hey, fill it up, fill it up…”

“Just one sip, come on, come on!”

Gu Jiaoyang wasn’t fond of overly noisy environments. Zhu Zhengwen, however, adapted well, drinking happily with a few male creators, strengthening their rapport and arranging future collaborative streams to boost their follower counts.

Gu Jiaoyang sat at a quieter table further away, surrounded by non-drinkers and those with calmer temperaments.

“What’s that smell?”

“A-Qing! Did your pot burn again?”

“No, I turned off the fire ages ago!”

“Go check it out, you lot. Keep drinking; it’s fine.”

“Come on, come on, drink this down, we’re all brothers!”

A faint smell of scorching began to permeate the air. Initially, everyone assumed it was the handiwork of some young woman whose cooking skills were atrocious. They had already smelled it twice tonight, resulting in a portion of blackened scrambled eggs and an exploded clay pot.

No one paid much attention. Even Gu Jiaoyang, having had a few sips of alcohol, was slumped over the table playing on his phone.

“It’s not good!!! It’s on fire!”

Everyone was continuing to drink as if nothing were wrong when the young woman who had gone to the kitchen rushed back, screaming.

“On fire? Then put it out!”

“That’s right, hurry up and put it out. You take them; I can’t move, hic!”

Since they hadn’t seen the flames yet, everyone froze for a moment. Only the relatively sober people at Gu Jiaoyang’s table rushed towards the kitchen.

“Quick, grab water!”

The fire wasn’t large, so everyone quickly grabbed pots and pans, scooping water from the water vat to pour on the flames. However, pouring water only made the flames more intense. In an instant, half the kitchen was engulfed.

“Holy crap… is that, alcohol??? Who the hell left alcohol uncovered in the water vat???”

The wooden cabin was old, and the smoke from the fire was incredibly acrid. In their rush to find water, no one had noticed that the vat wasn’t filled with water. Only after splashing the liquid and seeing the result did they sniff the containers they used, barely catching a faint scent of alcohol.

Gu Jiaoyang instinctively knew something was wrong. It was raining outside, and the wooden cabin was chronically damp. Even if they had poured alcohol on it, the fire shouldn’t have spread this fast. Furthermore, the smoke was clearly different from burning damp wood.

“What are you waiting for? Turn on the tap!”

But before they could turn on the kitchen tap, the flames had already consumed the sink area. Everyone had to rush to the next-door bathroom to fetch water.

“Damn it! Stop drinking! It’s on fire!!!”

“It’s on fire!!!!”

“Quick, put out the fire!”

The fire, unusual and surging as if pumped with hormones, expanded rapidly. When it reached the water vat and the vat exploded, the terrifying flames, carried by the spreading alcohol, scattered throughout the hall. It didn’t take long for the fire to reach the main room.

“This must be cursed! Why isn’t it working?” Water was being splashed, but the flames merely dimmed before roaring back to life, as if there was invisible, untouchable flammable material in the air.

There were fire extinguishers in the cabin. Someone grabbed one and rushed towards the flames, but after half-pressing the lever, nothing happened. When they were pulled back, they saw the extinguisher was expired and completely useless.

Bang…!

When the man angrily threw the fire extinguisher onto the floor, it exploded, causing everyone to scream and scatter.

“Damn it.”

Spiritual spells required time to prepare. Putting out this fire, which had spread across half the cabin, required two spells from Gu Jiaoyang: one to extinguish the fire and another to suppress the spiritual power used. Otherwise, suddenly putting out the fire with spiritual energy in front of so many people would certainly become a viral sensation.

“What a nuisance this is!” Gu Jiaoyang rapidly circulated his spiritual energy. He finally found a deserted corner, and drawing on his energy, he was about to cast both spells, which would nearly drain him completely.

“Geng Ji Enters Qian, Sun and Moon Light the Heavens… May the Fire Return to its Source! Seal!”

Gu Jiaoyang ran one hand in the Suppressing Seal and the other in the Fire Extinguishing Spell.

Ordinarily, he could have extinguished the fire by drawing on a small portion of his power to simply sever the connection to the flames. However, in this cursed environment, filled with screaming people and reckless people taking photos, he had to suppress the speed of his fire-extinguishing.

It was always harder to withdraw a spell than to cast one. Suppressing the spell consumed dozens of times the spiritual power of simply casting one Fire Extinguishing Spell. Gu Jiaoyang used half of his body’s spiritual energy to slowly retract the peculiar fire and extinguish it normally.

“I’m bloody exhausted…” Gu Jiaoyang sank to the floor after casting the spells, heedless of the damp ground from the rain, and slowly gasped for breath.

“I am a dog if I ever participate in this kind of activity again.”

The organisers were right next door. They were also exhausted from helping to put out the fire.

“What do we do now… we can’t sleep here…”

Although the fire was saved in time and there were no casualties, their accommodation was ruined. The cabin structure remained, but the bedding was burned.

“This is bad, this is bad!”

Gu Jiaoyang was getting PTSD from hearing those words. Sure enough, another person immediately followed up: “It’s bad, Lili is missing!”

“How can she be missing?”

“I don’t know! I ran out with her when the fire started. But when the fire was out, she was gone. Did she run into the forest?”

“It’s pitch black out there, and the organisers need to keep the light here… Fine, the male companions will go look. You girls stay here and try to figure something out.”

“Let’s go. She should be nearby. Did you add her on WeChat? Keep in contact!”

The fire had just been extinguished. Before Gu Jiaoyang could even greet Zhu Zhengwen, he was called away to search for the missing girl. The rain continued outside. The cabin’s wiring was burned, so they could only use the organisers’ searchlights.

A perfectly good gathering had been plagued by one incident after another. Fortunately, everyone was unharmed. Li Lili shouldn’t have run too far; as a girl, she wouldn’t have the courage to venture deep into the jungle.

“Hello? Li Lili? Where are you? Hello?”

Gu Jiaoyang and the other male creators dispersed to search the surroundings. The women were left behind, and the organisers tried to contact the hotel to arrange transportation back while soothing the traumatised people.

“Li Lili? Where are you?”

Gu Jiaoyang checked the shared real-time location. Everyone had agreed to search only the forest surrounding the cabin, not venturing too deep. If she wasn’t found nearby, they would have to wait until dawn.

“Sigh, no sign of her.”

WeChat voice messages poured into the group chat, one after another. Accompanied by the sound of rain hitting umbrellas, only the weak light of their phone torches illuminated the path ahead. The atmosphere became oppressive.

Gu Jiaoyang glanced at his phone signal. The continuous series of incidents gave him a strong sense of alarm.

“Little Zhi, scan the surroundings.”

[Scanning for you… No vital signs detected in the marked area.]

“Gu Yangyang? Is that you? Is the fire out?”

Gu Jiaoyang snapped his head around and found Li Lili standing behind a tree, speaking to him, her clothes neat and tidy.

“Little Zhi, you just said…”

“I’m so sorry, I was so scared that I ran quite far. Thank you for looking for me. Come on, let’s go back.” Li Lili seemed greatly relieved. She stepped out from behind the tree, intending to walk back with Gu Jiaoyang.

No vital signs detected in the marked area. Apart from the user, no living person was detected.

User, I’m scared.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Gu Yangyang? Are you sick? Why do you look so pale?” Li Lili made a move to reach out and touch Gu Jiaoyang’s forehead.

“Geng Ji enters Qian, Fire Spell, Go!” Gu Jiaoyang swiftly waved his hand. A serpent of flame ignited without fuel, roaring straight towards Li Lili’s face.

The thick, thigh-sized snake of fire was instantly extinguished and smothered by wisps of grey smoke the moment it touched Li Lili’s face, making an unpleasant sound, as if it had plunged into the sea.

“Little Zhi, I have a serious question for you.”

Say it… say it… Holy crap, Spirits of Heaven and Earth.

“Can the system’s protection mechanism shield me from harm?”

It can save your life once. Subsequent recharges will be required. User, is this… is this the specialty of your world, a ghost… a ghost?

The Overseer System was clearly deeply confused by the detected area showing no signs of life. This confusion turned to horror when it saw Li Lili completely unaffected by the fire snake, looking innocent as if nothing had happened.

To be honest, it was still a system baby that had only just debuted. The events happening now were too restricted.

“Illusion Array. The opponent’s cultivation level is higher than mine. I might have to take a gamble.”

“You couldn’t even detect the live terrain map, so this virus system must be quite high-level.”

Gu Jiaoyang habitually rubbed his wrist, staring intently at Li Lili, who had started smiling. He took a deep, deliberate breath.

“Turn the shield up to maximum. My life is in your hands, old man!”

With that, Gu Jiaoyang frantically circulated the small celestial cycle within his body. The compressed spiritual energy was unlocked and released, flowing to his palm, forming a pale blue vortex.

“I must have the worst luck in eight lifetimes. When I get back, I’m going to have a serious discussion with Mr Dai about the philosophy of life and boost my intimate life, so I don’t die too soon before I’ve recouped my investment.”

Gu Jiaoyang smiled back at Li Lili. The spiritual energy pellet he had formed in his hand was immediately pressed into the ground.

“Go to hell!”

The blue vortex sank into the soil, accurately locating and rapidly destroying the hidden array core underground. Within seconds, the structure of the buried illusion array was shattered, triggering a series of explosions. Li Lili slowly disappeared with the accompanying blasts. The surrounding trees also slowly faded to grey-white before disintegrating…

As the trees of the illusion array gradually vanished, the original terrain slowly revealed itself. Gu Jiaoyang looked closely and realised he had unknowingly walked to a slope quite far from the cabin. Looking closer still, the rumbling sound was no longer coming from underground but from the torrential mudslide surging down the slope.

“Holy crap…!!! Was this also part of that cursed virus system’s calculations?”

All his spiritual energy was used up. Gu Jiaoyang had thought that even lying on the ground, the Overseer System, with its fully charged protection skills, could keep him completely safe. But this surging mudslide…

With no spiritual power left, Gu Jiaoyang could only run. But no matter how fast he ran, he couldn’t outpace the mudslide rushing down.

User… I.

“Don’t bother. I’ve given up.”

“Anyway, with your protection mechanism, I won’t die. Once I catch my breath and my spiritual energy returns, I’ll just climb out.”

“Once I climb out, I’m going to kill that son of a turtle!!!”

Gu Jiaoyang resigned himself and collapsed onto the ground. Within a few breaths, the mudslide behind him completely buried him.

The Overseer System’s protection mechanism was triggered, forming a transparent shield between Gu Jiaoyang and the mudslide. Gu Jiaoyang lay in the small, instantly darkened space beneath the mudslide, completely exhausted. He closed his eyes to sleep and replenish his spiritual energy.

The mudslide had pushed down many trees and contained the effects of water spiritual energy. So, he only needed to circulate his energy a few times to absorb and compress it. He could easily climb out before the Overseer System’s protection energy was depleted.

He had originally thought the enemy wanted to attack after luring him into the illusion, so he had spent all the system’s energy on the protection mechanism. But unexpectedly, he was simply buried by a mudslide. It was a happy accident, in a way.

He could live without food, but the virus system must die.

Gu Jiaoyang silently swore an oath to the roast chicken: No virus with food, no food with a virus!

“Boss! It’s bad news!”

The secretary rushed into the office, urgently pushing open the door and running to Dai Gucan. But Dai Gucan seemed to have already received the news. The side of him that was always hidden a profound despair was abruptly laid bare before the secretary.

The secretary remained silent, tightly clutching his phone.

“She was right. I deserve this…”

“I deserve this. To be a lone star, destined for misery…”

Dai Gucan buried his face in his palms. The table beside him showed the recently disconnected call screen; Wu Ke’s number was quietly displayed.

“Yangyang… what should I do…”

In the huge office, this faint whisper was like dust. It vanished before it could be listened to closely.

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