84: Chapter 84 Was it all a conspiracy by the group owner?

As Hu Gualing recounted the experiences of the past few days, he led Xiao Niao, intentionally or otherwise, slowly walking in the direction of Tang Yao's residence...

Xiao Niao remained silent, frowning as he listened carefully to every word Hu Gualing said. He couldn't help but stop in his tracks and said, "It's a bit confusing. Let me think this over carefully."

After closing his eyes and thinking for a long while, he opened them and looked at Hu Gualing. "You first said that your initial entry here was before the group announcement was released? And at that time, you hadn't reached the Creation Realm in Text Jianghu yet?"

"That's right," Hu Gualing replied casually.

However, he soon realized something. His brows furrowed, filled with both surprise and confusion.

Because according to the announcement released in the group, the Ascension Platform that came with that update was the key to entering Fantasy Jianghu.

And when he first dreamed—which was actually the first time he entered here and was blasted away by the village chief—that announcement hadn't been released yet, and the Ascension Platform hadn't opened in Text Jianghu either.

Then how did he enter the game?

"That shouldn't be right. Why was I able to enter the game early?" Hu Gualing rubbed his cheek, unable to make sense of it.

"Indeed," Xiao Niao also said. "This is very strange. It gives me the feeling that... perhaps the Ascension Platform is just a facade, and there's another standard for entering the game, one that is being deliberately hidden from us."

"A facade? Could all of this be the Group Owner's conspiracy?" Hu Gualing shuddered at the thought.

Xiao Niao shook his head. "If this was all done by the Group Owner, then we wouldn't need to worry."

Hu Gualing thought for a moment and said, "That's true. The Group Owner has no reason to harm us. Besides, if it weren't for this game, you probably wouldn't be seeing me today. In that sense, the Group Owner saved my life, so even if he has some conspiracy, let it be."

Xiao Niao smiled, but sighed inwardly. Hu Gualing was certainly straightforward, but what he was worried about wasn't the Group Owner. As an ordinary person, the Group Owner surely couldn't have created a game like Fantasy Jianghu. There must be an invisible hand behind all of this.

However, the origin and power of this invisible hand were unimaginable. Even if he were lucky enough to find it, it wasn't something he could face.

It was better to relax like Hu Gualing and think on the bright side, simply treating this as a cross-era game, and themselves as lucky beta testers.

Thinking this way, Xiao Niao's mood lightened considerably. He smiled at Hu Gualing and said, "You're right. Such a magical game, others can't get in even if they want to. Come to think of it, this is our opportunity. Just like you, Gualing, you've only been playing for a few days and you're already in the news headlines."

Hu Gualing smiled sheepishly. "That's nothing. I just entered the game a few days before you. According to the Group Owner, all of us group members will log into the game one after another. I wonder what the real identities of the other group members are like..."

Speaking of which, Hu Gualing couldn't help but speculate. That Old Man Li in the group who loves role-playing always talks in an old-fashioned, pretentious way, and occasionally posts photos of parks and rivers in the group, pretending as if he really is an old man. Who knows how old he actually is.

And there's that Drunk Carefree. The username has some taste, but judging from his usual chats, he's foul-mouthed and loves to argue, which doesn't match his username at all. I'm afraid that in real life, he's also a petty and unlikeable guy...

Xiao Niao suddenly sighed meaningfully, "Our Group Owner is truly remarkable."

"Yeah, for a text game to actually have its copyright bought by a mysterious company and turned into a holographic online game like Fantasy Jianghu..." Hu Gualing, thinking this was what Xiao Niao meant, sighed in agreement.

Xiao Niao didn't continue that topic, but instead changed the subject. "By the way, you said you already saw Tang Yao the first time you entered the game?"

"That's right. She should be the first player of this game. Don't we all have a character number? Mine is 002, so I guess she must be 001."

"001? We both entered this game because we played Text Jianghu, but how did she enter? Does this game have other channels?"

"Who knows." Hu Gualing couldn't be bothered to think about it.

"I think this Tang Yao is a bit suspicious." Xiao Niao's expression was serious.

He had dealt with Tang Yao when he entered the game last time. Seeing that she had the money to post a construction quest and had a pet by her side, he naturally assumed she was an expert player.

But after hearing Hu Gualing's introduction of her, he realized that there were many things wrong with Tang Yao.

Not only did she not understand the game rules, as if she had never played a game before, but she didn't even know that Hu Gualing had made the news headlines.

It was really hard not to be suspicious.

Hu Gualing also knew that Tang Yao was a bit suspicious, but since he was going to borrow money from her, he felt really embarrassed to badmouth her behind her back. He just laughed it off: "It's fine, Tang Yao is a pretty good person." As he spoke, he stepped towards Tang Yao's residence.

Xiao Niao had no choice but to follow.

The two arrived in front of a small courtyard.

The gate was open. The wooden door panels weren't even carved with simple patterns; only the marks of the tree rings made it appear less dull.

As for the house inside, the walls built of loess hadn't completely dried yet, and the wooden beams and pillars inside, along with the straw used for filling, could still be seen. The roof was covered with thatch, looking very simple.

But neither Hu Gualing nor Xiao Niao dared to underestimate it. You have to know, the land for this courtyard, along with its construction, cost Tang Yao a whole one hundred taels!

At this moment, Tang Yao was squatting in the courtyard, holding a small shovel in her hand, with a small bag of seeds placed beside her. It looked like she was planting something.

On the stone path not far from her, a little pig with the name "Sharp Tooth" was lying on its side. Seeing people arrive at the gate with its small round eyes, it unwillingly rolled up from the stone slab, rubbed its head against Tang Yao's feet, and made "oink oink" sounds to remind her that there were visitors at the door.