INSIDER Chapter 92

7 was clearly in a non-human state now.

Lu Chu met his gaze for a moment and reached out, attempting to touch his cheek. His movements were slow, but just as he thought he was about to touch 7’s face, his hand passed right through 7’s body.

Lu Chu paused, frowning slightly. He pulled his hand back a bit, fingers curling as if to caress, and mimicked touching the contours of 7’s handsome face in the air.

7’s gaze was deep as he looked straight at Lu Chu. “My spirit body isn’t solid yet.”

Lu Chu was puzzled. “How does it become solid?”

“It just needs some time.”

Lu Chu withdrew his hand, which had been reaching for 7’s cheek, and thought for a moment with half-closed eyes. Then he touched the mark on his chest and asked, “Does your appearance in this state have anything to do with this mark?”

7, floating beside Lu Chu, extended a semi-transparent hand and lightly touched the red mark on Lu Chu’s chest with his long fingers.

In the next moment, Lu Chu felt a gentle warmth from the copper coin-like red mark, warm but not burning.

“I’m a wandering spirit,” 7 said, “attached to that copper coin you saw earlier.”

Lu Chu turned his head to look at the red string with the copper coin hanging on the doorknob. “How did you get attached to the copper coin?”

7 replied, “There was a trace of spiritual energy on it.”

Since 7 was a ghost, Lu Chu wondered if the gust of wind that extinguished the incense and candles the other day was related to 7… Thinking of this, Lu Chu asked him.

After hearing Lu Chu’s account, 7 asked, “Which day was that?”

Lu Chu: “New Year’s Eve.”

7 shook his head. “It wasn’t me. Without a place to attach my spirit, I was at a shaman’s house in the neighboring village. After sensing your presence at your mother’s place, I attached myself to that copper coin. I’ve only been by your side for the past three days.”

“Didn’t the shaman notice you?” Lu Chu asked worriedly.

In this “round,” 7 was in the form of a soul, basically a ghost. Just now, 7 mentioned that the copper coin Lu Chu wore had some spiritual energy. Since Lu Chu’s mother got the coin from a shaman in the neighboring village, it suggested that the shaman had some genuine skills. People with real skills and powers usually had more hostility towards ghosts, eliminating them on sight. Lu Chu was worried that the shaman might target 7.

“It’s alright,” 7 said, knowing that Lu Chu was worried about him, his eyes filled with hidden tenderness. “She doesn’t pose a threat to me.”

Concern leads to chaos.

Hearing 7’s confident words, Lu Chu remembered 7’s immense power, capable of sweeping away thousands of enemies, even if his current position in the “round” was relatively weak. For 7, a capable shaman in the “round” was nothing more than an ant he could easily crush.

Not to mention that 7 had another identity—a cleaner endowed with special abilities and rights by the “rules.”

A cleaner could kill any living being in the “round.”

After a few more words, 7’s figure became increasingly transparent. Seeing this, Lu Chu realized that his spirit form couldn’t hold for long, so he worriedly asked, “Is there anything I can do to help you?”

7 smiled faintly and said, “This is enough.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head and brought his forehead to the red mark on Lu Chu’s chest. Startled by his sudden proximity, Lu Chu instinctively raised his arms as if to embrace 7’s head resting on his chest. Realizing that this gesture was too intimate, he remembered that 7 was in a spirit form and couldn’t be touched, feeling a mix of relief and secret disappointment.

Unexpectedly, the next moment, his hands actually touched 7’s cold, frosty body.

At that instant, the icy sensation spread from Lu Chu’s hands, which were touching 7, to his entire body, eventually manifesting as a blush at the roots of his ears.

A fleeting, indulgent smile appeared in 7’s dark eyes. He reached out and gently pinched Lu Chu’s warm, soft earlobe.

Following that, Lu Chu felt the mark on his chest heat up suddenly, and then 7 turned into a flash of light and disappeared before his eyes. Lu Chu touched the still-warm spot on his chest, his heart pounding.

He lightly brushed his reddened ear, feeling the lingering warmth from where 7 had pinched, a gentle smile spreading across his face.

---

The next day, Lu Chu set off from home to go back to school.

His mother, filled with reluctance, kept nagging him with reminders while stuffing sausages, washed apples, bread, and homemade snacks into his suitcase and backpack.

Lu Chu smiled helplessly. “Mom, that’s enough. I can’t eat all this, and my bag is almost bursting.”

“Who says it won’t close,” his mother insisted, always finding space in the almost overflowing suitcase and stuffing in more things. “There’s still room here. Let me get you some more things for the journey and for school…”

When Lu Chu finally managed to stop his mother from continuing to stuff things into his suitcase and backpack, he had to sit on the suitcase to close it, and the backpack couldn’t be zipped at all.

Reluctantly, his mother had to pick out some items.

Even so, the suitcase and backpack were so heavy that Lu Chu struggled to carry them.

After packing, his mother said, “I put the red cloth at the bottom of your suitcase. Remember to take it out when you get to school and place it under your mattress. Bring it back during summer vacation so I can return it to the shaman as a vow.”

Lu Chu agreed to everything.

His sister, Lu Ling, was also reluctant to see him go. She accompanied their mother to the small road, waving goodbye to him.

Lu Chu was again taken to the train station by his father and uncle in the borrowed van.

His uncle drove while his father remained silent in the front seat. As they neared the county train station, his father finally spoke. “Study hard when you get to school.”

Lu Chu nodded. “Yes, Dad, I will.”

“Don’t follow those who spend all their time playing games and surfing the internet.”

“Got it.”

“If you run out of money, call home. And video call your mom often. She keeps thinking about you when you’re not home.”

“Dad, don’t worry. I don’t spend much at school.”

“Remember to…”

After his father’s series of reminders, the van stopped in front of the train station.

Lu Chu put his backpack on his back, pulled his suitcase, and went to the automatic ticket machine to get his ticket. Since he needed to pass through the ticket gate, his family couldn’t accompany him inside, so he waved goodbye to his father and uncle from the entrance.

From the ticket gate, Lu Chu could faintly see his father’s eyes turn red.

Lu Chu felt a stir in his heart.

His father’s genuine emotions and the love his mother showed him were perhaps meant for the player participating in this “round” of the game, whether that player was named “Lu Chu,” “Zhang San,” “Li Si,” or “Wang Wu.” Such a family was a setting imposed by the “rules” on the player.

But within this setup, the human emotions genuinely touched him.

They made him think of his own parents in countless details.

---

After a journey of over ten hours, Lu Chu arrived in the city where he attended university.

He was the first to reach the dormitory.

As soon as he entered, he opened the windows and doors for ventilation. Then he washed and aired out the sheets and bedding. After that, he unpacked his suitcase and backpack and organized everything, before cleaning the dormitory.

After a round of cleaning, the dormitory welcomed the second person.

Tang Shizhe walked in and immediately exclaimed, “Wow, Lu Chu, you’re amazing! The dorm is suddenly spotless, bright, and clean!”

When they left for the holidays, Lu Chu was the first to leave, and Tang Shizhe and Gao Yong were the last to go. They had only swept the floor casually before heading home. Now, seeing the clean dormitory that looked completely different from when they left, Tang Shizhe started praising Lu Chu’s housekeeping skills.

Lu Chu laughed. “You guys didn’t even take out the trash when you left.”

Luckily, it was winter break, with low and dry temperatures. If it were summer, with the heat and humidity, the dormitory would have become a nightmare after fermenting for two months.

Tang Shizhe scratched his head sheepishly and laughed. “I forgot…”

Then he started praising Lu Chu profusely again.

Lu Chu couldn’t help but laugh. “You should start unpacking your own things now. There’s still time in the afternoon for the sun. Air out what needs airing. I wanted to do it for you guys, but it’s not right to touch your stuff, so I waited for you to come back.”

“We’re brothers. You can touch our stuff anytime,” Tang Shizhe said as he dragged his suitcase into the dorm. “But this really was a lot of trouble for you.”

Lu Chu replied, “It’s no problem. I didn’t have much to do when I got back to school.”

As Tang Shizhe took his bedding out to air, he suddenly remembered something. “The other two guys won’t be here until the evening.”

“Really,” Lu Chu looked at him. “I’ll call to confirm. If they’re arriving tonight, we’ll help them air their bedding. Otherwise, their beds will be too damp to sleep on.”

Tang Shizhe nodded. “Good idea.”

Lu Chu called the other two and found out they would indeed arrive in the evening. He told them he’d air their bedding, and they were very grateful, saying it was great to have brothers and they’d treat him to a meal when they got back.

By eight in the evening, Gao Yong and Chen Hong arrived at the dorm one after the other.

Gao Yong brought a lot of local specialties and, exhausted, dropped his suitcase and bags on the floor, collapsing onto the desk.

Chen Hong also had many things. But just as he sat down to rest, his girlfriend called, summoning him to pick her up.

Chen Hong hung up, sighed, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said to his roommates, “Brothers, I have to go pick up my girlfriend.”

Then he grabbed his keys and left.

Watching his back, Tang Shizhe sighed. “Even when he’s exhausted, he has to be there for her. This must be what they call ‘pain and pleasure.'”

Hearing this, Gao Yong grinned mischievously. “Do you think he’ll come back tonight after seeing his girlfriend?”

Tang Shizhe immediately understood and grinned. “You’re not talking about a trip to the kindergarten.”

Lu Chu: “…”