Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 57

If things went as expected, the current President Sarah and Mayor Ryan were likely the same person.

However, it was improbable that Ryan had been disguising himself for over a decade; hence, Zhou Qian suspected that the real Sarah could be someone else. It was likely that Ryan assumed her role after a certain incident.

Despite Ryan potentially being adept at cross-dressing, this wasn’t plastic surgery. To impersonate flawlessly among numerous witches, he and Sarah must have had some resemblances. In addition, Ryan must deeply understand Sarah’s habits and tones to mimic her without any flaws. Upon synthesizing all these factors, there was a high probability that they were relatives, possibly siblings.

Therefore, Zhou Qian tentatively asked whether Ryan had any sisters. The relationship between Ryan and Sarah, who represented seemingly conflicting camps in this instance, must be crucial. As expected, not only did Zhou Qian perceive from Ryan’s expressions that he indeed had a sister or sisters, but he also unexpectedly triggered a side plot.

It seemed that uncovering the relationship between Ryan and Sarah was indeed a pivotal step in resolving the situation.

At this moment, the thick clouds in the afternoon sky blocked the sunlight, making the air absolutely uninhabitable for ordinary people.

Zhou Qian’s group was forced to travel in a commercial vehicle through a forest of bizarrely shaped trees to reach this secluded mountain top. Behind the high wall lay the town’s and Ryan’s deepest secrets.

Before him, Ryan’s emerald green eyes were as profound as a lake yet also as blazing as the sunlight.

Hearing Zhou Qian’s words, Ryan narrowed his eyes, then lowered his golden eyelashes towards Zhou Qian’s hand holding his. He looked up and said, “My sister’s lover… Why haven’t I heard of you? You must be mistaken.”

“Is that so? Alright, let’s assume I was mistaken. However—” Zhou Qian smiled, whispering into his ear, “You are so handsome; your sister must be a beauty. Since I am going to stay in this town, why not introduce me to your sister? We might become relatives. Didn’t you say that I am a gift from God?”

While asking, Zhou Qian wondered—is his sister dead?

According to Zhou Qian’s current speculation, Sarah was Ryan’s sister. For some reason, their relationship wasn’t known to the rest of the town. Subsequently, an explosion occurred on Weir Mountain, and the radioactive dust infected many children. Ryan went to his sister, hoping she would help him conceal everything.

Agreeing to this request would mean harming the lives of many innocent people. Sarah, of course, refused.

Therefore, it was very likely that Ryan might have killed his own sister and then assumed her place.

“Of course, I can introduce you,” Ryan replied with a deep look while holding Zhou Qian’s hand tighter.  “Wait until you come out. My sister will welcome you then. But for now, let’s not waste any more time.”

“My gift, please enter this enclosure. You will receive the reward I’ve prepared.”

“Oh yes, there are three ‘Evil Spirit Purging Stations’ inside. If you feel uncomfortable, rest there. I will come to find you guys after a while. Please listen to the broadcast.”

Three minutes later, all seven players entered the high walls. The gate closed silently, and the walls merged seamlessly with the environment.

Zhou Qian walked forward to touch the barrier where the wall had been, feeling an invisible shield. This was probably why the witches have never truly approached the truth—the wall was made of a highly advanced invisible material.

Turning back, Zhou Qian looked ahead—before him was a vast forest of mutated trees and peculiar flowers and grasses. Occasionally, strange creatures resembling long-legged butterflies would momentarily reveal themselves before vanishing.

What monsters might be hiding inside this forest were still unknown.

At this moment, everyone’s mood was rather somber.

Li Buhui was the first to ask, “What should we do now… Should we go in and explore first?”

Ke Yuxiao’s serious voice immediately rang out. “After entering here, our life points are rapidly decreasing.”

Wu Ren’s face had almost turned ashen. He said, “I only have 1 point left. But looking at the speed of this countdown… I can only live for less than 20 minutes.” After saying this, he looked at Zhou Qian.

Zhou Qian looked back at him and asked gravely, “Do you trust me?”

Even though Zhou Qian asked this, he actually knew that Wu Ren’s attitude had changed significantly compared to the beginning. Back when they were in Lily’s study, Wu Ren didn’t have much time left, having drawn only “2” points.

At that time, he had strong murderous intent toward Zhou Qian. But now it was different. He had truly sided with Zhou Qian.

Firstly, Zhou Qian gave him a “6” point card, which had sustained him until now. Secondly, during their first visit to Weir Mountain, if not for Zhou Qian, Wu Ren might have been taken away by the witches.

At this moment, Wu Ren clenched and then released his fists. His small eyes looked tired and lifeless, but there was no murderous intent or doubt within them. “Of course I trust you.”

“Good. Then everyone listens to me now.” Zhou Qian nodded. “The so-called ‘Evil Spirit Cleansing Station’ might be able to replenish our life points. Let’s find it first. Wu Ren, you are still our ‘king’. We will all help you.”

“We will split into three teams and search in three directions.” Zhou Qian turned towards the peculiar forest and continued, “Based on your previous conflicts, Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu will be in one group, Wu Ren and Situ Qing in another, and I will be with the remaining Sword and Flute duo.”

“I want to remind you all, everyone’s life value will decrease rapidly. The primary task now is to find a place that can replenish life points. Attempting to settle personal scores at this time would undoubtedly be foolish.”

Having said that, Zhou Qian looked forward. “My group will go in the middle. The other two groups will go in the left and right directions. Everyone can contact each other through the system at any time and inform others promptly after finding the target.”

Zhou Qian knew that even though he had reminded everyone to prioritize finding the target station, Yin Jiujiu, who joined this game solely for revenge, would most likely not miss such an excellent opportunity to kill teammates.

Additionally, Zhou Qian had another concern regarding whether the Peach Legion Army really hadn’t done anything.

Given these concerns and the potential dangers in this unknown domain, it was best for everyone to stick together.

However, Wu Ren really didn’t have much time left. Without his strong output at the forefront, not only would the team be extremely unstable internally, but the danger everyone faced when needing to attack NPCs would also increase. Zhou Qian, helping Wu Ren, was essentially helping himself.

Zhou Qian made such a three-way split arrangement in an attempt to prevent internal conflict as much as possible. His first priority was to prevent Yin Jiujiu from attacking Situ Qing, so he separated them.

Wu Ren, although lacking in life points, still had his attack power, so pairing him with Situ Qing was relatively safe for both. Also, by placing himself in the middle, Zhou Qian could relatively reduce the chance of Yin Jiujiu and Situ Qing running into each other.

After saying all this, Zhou Qian observed everyone, seemingly watching their reactions. At this moment, everyone received a message from the system.

[Players trigger main task 1: Explore thoroughly, survive, and uncover the secret that Ryan has hidden here.]

[Task 2: Mayor Ryan is very fond of the number “24”. When the players’ life points total “24”, the experiment ends, and he will come to take everyone away.]

[Hint 1: There are three “Evil Spirit Purification Stations” where life points can be replenished.]

[Hint 2: Some areas are densely infested with “evil spirits”, and the rate of reduction of life points will accelerate; please enter with caution. Some areas have tools that are dropped that can clear “evil spirits”. Using them can also increase life points.]

The system’s hints were undoubtedly aligned with Zhou Qian’s previous speculation.

So, temporarily, no one raised any objections. At least on the surface, it seemed like everyone agreed with Zhou Qian’s suggestion—to prioritize finding the “Evil Spirit Cleansing Station” first. So, they quickly split into three teams and proceeded in three different directions.

The high walls encircle a summit area.

The players were located to the north. Zhou Qian’s group was heading south, while Yin Jiujiu and Li Buhui were heading west.

Upon entering the forest, the light dims considerably. Yin Jiujiu held the card with life points in her hand, and after observing that the countdown speed didn’t continue to accelerate, she moved forward.

Li Buhui, also known as Zhu Qiang, scurried ahead of her and said awkwardly, “Let me go ahead. Just in case these mutant plants and animals attack us!”

Yin Jiujiu didn’t comment and just looked around.

She had always been fearless, but everything she saw still made her frown.

It was simply because everything was too bizarre, like an animal corpse she just stepped over, which surprisingly has the body of a fish and wings of a bird.

However, to Yin Jiujiu’s and Li Buhui’s surprise, their group’s progress was extremely smooth, and within five minutes they saw a bungalow.

Approaching the bungalow, they saw it boldly marked “Evil Spirit Purification Station”.

Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu looked at each other, both gripping their weapons, and cautiously opened the door.

But there was nothing inside that could attack them. Upon entering, they both felt their breathing become smoother.

Checking the card in hand, Yin Jiujiu discovered the countdown had changed significantly.

Originally, the countdown was reduced from [59:59] by an hour unit, but now the value not only reset but began to rise from [00:00], and very quickly at that.

It almost felt like charging oneself. Once it was fully charged by an hour unit, the player’s points would increase by one.

Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu both let out a sigh of relief.

Then Li Buhui asked, “Do we… need to tell everyone about this?”

Yin Jiujiu pondered for a while but shook her head.

She scanned the room and walked to a spot.

There was a control desk with a red button marked “Destroy”, and a note beneath—“Press the button to destroy the current ‘Evil Spirit Purification Station’”.

Li Buhui seemed to sense something. He swallowed and asked Yin Jiujiu, “You want to…”

Yin Jiujiu pulled out two pairs of shoes from her bag.

[Item: Thousand Mile A Day* Shoes]

*(日行千里) Idiom from the Book of Wei Tuyuhun Biography. It refers to running a thousand miles in a day, describing traveling at an extremely fast speed. Note: The mile is a Chinese mile (li), which is about 1/3 of an English mile.

[Effect: Experience the feeling of flying; take off, I want to take off, I can’t stop at all]

[Grade: B]

Yin Jiujiu said, “Zhou Qian intentionally separated me and Situ Qing. But I won’t let her go. I have no intention of harming Wu Ren. After finding them, I will tell him the coordinates here alone. But the premise is that he cannot protect Situ Qing by listening to Zhou Qian. This is a deal. To make him have to agree, we have to leave him with no other choices.”

Looking at Li Bu Hui, she continued, “Put on these shoes. Let’s go the way Situ Qing and the others went and destroy the station there first. If necessary, also destroy the station where Zhou Qian and the others are. In this way… Everyone can only beg me.”

……

On the other side.

Zhou Qian, Qi Liuxing, and Ke Yuxiao were taking the route straight south.

About three minutes out, Zhou Qian heard a faint female voice. “Help. Help me.”

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