A Guide to Surviving the Mysterious Dungeon and the Twelve Talismans

After a long while, Wang Mei stopped crying, not because she had stopped crying, but because she couldn't cry anymore.

My tears have all dried up, and my voice is hoarse.

"Little girl, where are your parents? Are you all alone at home?" the aunt finally asked.

Li Shengsheng sobbed as she said, "My...my parents are divorced, and they...they both started their own families. I grew up with my grandmother."

"They, they're going to sell me, one for 200,000 and the other for 150,000, to prevent me from taking the college entrance exam and to make me get married."

"Waaaaah~~!" Li Shengsheng cried even harder as she said this.

"Oh dear, what a tragedy! How could they have such parents?" Aunt clapped her hands and looked at Li Shengsheng with deep sympathy.

After a while, Li Shengsheng stopped crying: "Uncle, Aunt, can I go back with you? I want to see Brother Zhou An one more time."

Wang Mei opened her mouth, wanting to speak, but her voice was too hoarse to utter a word.

Zhou Cheng said, "Little girl, do you want to come back with us? You should be in your senior year of high school, right? The college entrance exam is in two months."

"Well, my lease expires next Monday, and I'm afraid my parents will make me go to someone else's house..."

"I will come back to school after attending the funeral. It won't delay my college entrance exam. I got the highest score in the whole school."

"Is it okay, Uncle and Aunt?" Li Shengsheng looked timidly at Wang Mei and Zhou Cheng.

"Oh dear, this is such a terrible thing, brother-in-law, sister, let's take the little girl back with us, so she can keep you company."

The aunt thought about it a lot. Now that they were all alone, it would be good if the little girl could keep them company in the future.

The main issue is that the little girl's background is also tragic.

Wang Mei couldn't speak, but she could nod. She held the little girl's hand and nodded to Zhou Cheng.

Zhou Cheng wanted to say something, but seeing that his wife had agreed, he didn't say anything more.

"You guys pack up first, I'm going downstairs to buy some water and food," Uncle said before leaving.

However, the second uncle did not go to buy food, but went directly to the landlord's house to ask if Li Shengsheng's situation was true.

Half an hour later, my second uncle returned with a bag of water and bread.

The things are almost packed up.

"Young lady, we need to move our things down and head back to Xiaoxiang City immediately."

"Why don't you go back and pack your clothes from the past few days? And Xiaozhi, why don't you go with the young lady to pack her things?" Uncle said to his cousin Zhou Zhi.

“Okay,” Zhou Zhi nodded in agreement.

The two quickly went downstairs.

At this moment, the second uncle spoke up: "I asked the landlord, and the girl's ordeal is true. It's a terrible tragedy."

"She was stuck with such parents, and her grandmother was the one who died of anger because her parents wanted to sell her."

The aunt sighed again, "Oh dear, such a beautiful girl, with such good grades, yet her parents treat her like this, showing her no love or care."

"If I had a daughter like that, I would love her to the heavens."

Zhou An saw everything inside the house.

To be honest, at first he thought Sheng Sheng was faking it, but later he was probably just getting emotional.

And so, Zhou An possessed Li Shengsheng's body and followed Zhou Cheng and his group to Xiaoxiang City.

My second uncle drives a minivan, which he uses specifically to haul things.

My cousin drives a small car, which he uses to transport people, and it's big enough to fit everyone.

Li Shengsheng didn't have many things, just two large bags, mostly clothes and some of her grandmother's belongings.

……

Two days later, Li Shengsheng knelt in front of the mourning hall, dressed in white, and accompanied Wang Mei as they burned paper money.

Zhou An stood aside, watching quietly.

He was attending his own funeral.

People would come from time to time to pay their respects and offer incense; they were all acquaintances of Zhou An.

He had five college roommates and two close college classmates.

Several high school classmates I'm still in touch with, and a few childhood friends I'm on good terms with, all came.

Also, leaders from the former company came.

Of course, most of them were Zhou An's relatives.

Many relatives whom I hadn't seen for years gathered together at this moment.

The funeral hall was bustling with activity, with gongs and drums being played and people wailing.

It was even more lively outside because there were so many people, and forty or fifty tables were set up.

Some tables were still playing cards and laughing, while others were chatting about everyday things, showing no signs of the sadness one would expect from attending a funeral.

Zhou An died, and only his closest relatives and friends were saddened.

The rest of the people were simply there to have a meal.

……

The convoy set off the following morning.

They dragged Zhou An's coffin toward the burial site.

In Changsha, cremation is the common practice, and one still needs to purchase a burial plot.

In the rural areas of Xiaoxiang City, traditional burial is permitted.

Zhou An's parents hired a feng shui master to find a place with excellent feng shui for Zhou An.

After a series of procedures, Zhou An was successfully buried.

The funeral was now complete. Some of the relatives and friends who had accompanied Zhou An said goodbye to his parents and then prepared to return home.

Zhou An watched all of this silently.

It wasn't until evening that Zhou An's parents and aunt returned to their home in the city.

By 10 p.m., only Zhou An's parents and Li Shengsheng remained in the house.

Chapter 21 Entering the Dungeon: The Mysterious Doctor's Clinic on Tongcheng Street

"Sheng Sheng, Zhou An's cousin Zhou Zhi is also going back to Changsha for classes tomorrow."

“You’re in your final year of high school now, so focus on your studies. I’ll have my second uncle pick you up tomorrow so we can go back together.”

"Your sister Zhou Zhi is a sophomore at Central South University. I'll have Zhou Zhi help you rent a place so you can focus on your studies."

Wang Mei is still not in very good spirits, but she is much better than she was a few days ago.

Before Li Shengsheng could reply, Zhou Cheng continued, "Your Aunt Wang and I have also discussed it. We will help you with your university tuition and living expenses from now on."

They were all alone now, and there was no point in keeping the money they had. Since they liked Li Shengsheng very much, they decided to sponsor her schooling.

Upon hearing this, a hint of emotion flashed in Li Shengsheng's eyes: "Uncle, Aunt, I am indeed in dire need of money right now, I accept your assistance."

“I will take care of you in your old age in place of Brother Zhou An. From now on, I will be your daughter.”

"Alright, alright, then we'll take you as our goddaughter." Wang Mei finally smiled.

In any case, it's always better to have a child they like by their side.

Zhou Cheng thought so too.

Moreover, both my second uncle and my aunt have mentioned it in the past few days, indicating that they have seriously considered it.

“My parents always wanted a daughter, but they never expected that after I died, we would actually have a daughter,” Zhou An said with a sigh.

Li Shengsheng didn't reply. With her godparents in front of her, how could she possibly answer?

……

The next morning, her second uncle drove over to pick up Li Shengsheng and take her back to Changsha.

"Sheng Sheng, if you're sleepy, take a nap in the car. If you're hungry, have some steamed buns. Your sister Zhou Zhi bought a lot," Uncle said as he drove.

“Okay, Second Uncle.” Li Shengsheng nodded.

"Here, I didn't know what you liked to eat, so I bought red bean buns, vegetable buns, vermicelli buns, and tea eggs." Zhou Zhi handed over a large, warm bag.

"Thank you, sister." Li Shengsheng said, taking the two red bean buns and eating them in small bites.

"Help yourself to eat whatever you want. I'm so sleepy, I'm going to take a nap." Zhou Zhi put the bag aside and leaned back in her chair to rest.

More than three hours later, my second uncle and his group arrived near the No. 1 Middle School in the city.

The three of them spent the whole afternoon helping Li Shengsheng rent a single room with a private bathroom and kitchenette for 800 yuan a month, which was not bad.

"Sheng Sheng, if anything happens, just call your sister Zhou Zhi."

"Yes, call me if you need anything, don't think it's too much trouble." Zhou Zhi also felt sorry for the beautiful Li Shengsheng.

"Yes, I know, Second Uncle, Sister." Li Shengsheng nodded.

"Remember to lock the door before you go to bed tonight. We'll be going now." Uncle Er and Zhou Zhi said this before leaving.

Thus, only Li Shengsheng and Zhou An remained in the room.

"This house, although not as nice as the one you lived in before, is still pretty good. It's only one kilometer from the No. 1 Middle School, so it's a quick walk," Zhou An said with a faint smile.

"Yes, I'm going to school tomorrow," Li Shengsheng replied.

"Oh, by the way, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to run a dungeon today," Zhou An suddenly said.

"Are we going to run a dungeon so soon?" Li Shengsheng was stunned. She had no idea that seven days had passed so quickly.

"Today is the seventh day, and we need to enter by midnight at the latest," Zhou An explained.

The time allotted for entering the instance is quite reasonable.

As long as it's the seventh day, you can choose any time to enter the instance.

"Then be careful," Li Shengsheng said blankly.