Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 65

‘What the hell is this? It’s one thing to be connected to someone else, but why am I stuck with Situ Qing like this?’

‘Yin Jiujiu, you’re seriously messed up. Apart from me, everyone here is a guy. Wouldn’t it be more inconvenient for you to be fused with a guy?’

‘So annoying! Why can she hear my thoughts directly?’

‘I don’t want to hear it either! If you’re so smart, stop thinking altogether!’

‘How can I control that?’

‘You’re so annoying.’

‘Fuck off! Did I speak out loud?’

‘The “you” in my head is very loud!’

……

Without uttering a word, Situ Qing and Yin Jiujiu could somehow hear each other’s thoughts directly. This made things extremely awkward and troublesome.

However, through this unique connection, Yin Jiujiu made an unexpected discovery—regardless of whether Situ Qing was good or bad, she realized that Situ Qing truly didn’t kill her friend.

After all, while one could lie with their mouth, it was much harder to hide instantaneous thoughts.

‘So… damn it, should I apologize?’

‘Huh? She wants to apologize? This is becoming even more awkward. Should I accept? I could, but not immediately… I have my pride too, and she almost killed me twice…’

‘Situ Qing, aren’t you the noisy one now?’

‘You claim to be smart, right? Figure out what’s happening then.’

‘Then stop distracting me. Let me think.’

After a full five minutes, the two girls finally stopped their mental bickering and managed to move forward despite sharing a leg. Taking a deep breath, Situ Qing heard words related to ‘genes’ and ‘cloning’ in Yin Jiujiu’s thoughts. Not understanding, she forced herself to ignore it. About five minutes later, a strange thought suddenly popped into Situ Qing’s head. ‘Mew, I want some dried fish.’

“Yin Jiujiu, you’re really weird!” Situ Qing blurted out loud.

Yin Jiujiu shot her a glare, retorting, “You’re the weird one! At a time like this, you’re craving dried fish?!”

After a brief pause, Situ Qing frowned. “I… I didn’t think that. I assumed it was your thought.”

Yin Jiujiu’s gaze at Situ Qing grew complicated. A chilling realization dawned on them both.

Without realizing it, had they begun to share thoughts with a third entity?

Wait, the one craving dried fish… might not be human.

With a sinking feeling, Yin Jiujiu redirected the flashlight to herself and Situ Qing. They saw that both of their hands had grown fur, and their nails had become very sharp… as if a part of their bodies had transformed into a cat.

The passage was eerily quiet, so quiet that they could hear their own heartbeats. As they continued forward with a foreboding feeling, they soon saw a cat.

Or perhaps, calling it a simple cat would be an understatement. It was roughly ten times larger than an ordinary cat, with a pair of bird’s wings on its back and its limbs adorned with scattered leaves and grass, looking extremely bizarre.

The moment they saw the giant cat-like creature through a net, Situ Qing immediately grabbed her bell, while Yin Jiujiu quickly took out a liquor gourd.

Both were on high alert, but the creature seemed merely curious, even blinking at them.

‘Huh? New humans? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen humans…’

‘Do they have any dried fish?’

This thought sent chills down Yin Jiujiu’s spine, even more so than when she found herself attached to her enemy, Situ Qing.

At least Situ Qing was human. But now, they were communicating with a cat!

“What kind of experiment did Mayor Ryan conduct?” Yin Jiujiu muttered. “At first, I thought we might have the genes of other species. But now, it seems far more complex.”

“It’s as if all beings—humans, plants, animals—are merging. If we all become one entity, whose thoughts will dominate? This is terrifying. We need to leave.”

Situ Qing furrowed her brows, not speaking aloud but thinking, ‘What is she talking about?’

“Look, who’s the one with low intelligence now?” Yin Jiujui couldn’t help but retort upon hearing her inner thoughts. She then explained in a more serious tone, “First, find out Ryan’s secret; second, collect 24 points. These are the two tasks the system has assigned us in this level.”

“At first, I wondered if there are places in this level that can add points and places that can subtract them. Wouldn’t the task of collecting 24 points be easy? Now, I realize I was wrong. There is a third, hidden task in this level—a time limit.”

Si Tu Qing asked, “What kind of time limit?”

Yin Jiujui explained, “Think of it this way. In the end, all people, plants, and animals will merge into one giant monster. If Ryan doesn’t erect any barriers and allows the radiation to spread across the entire planet, the planet will eventually become a single entity. In that case—”

She paused, then continued, “Plants don’t think, and animals are rather primitive. So, their wills would likely be suppressed easily.”

“But there are so many humans. Each one thinks, each one has a brain. Whose will would the planet follow?”

Situ Qing seemed to grasp something and said with a mix of astonishment and seriousness, “Initially, the system said we were seven tourists visiting Beautiful Flower Town. But actually, we can consider our true identities as just seven ‘brains’.”

“Our bodies may mutate and blend with the environment and perhaps even control plants and animals from miles away. Thus, our physical forms might not matter.”

“We belong to the environment, and the environment belongs to us. This is similar to that mystical concept…what’s the word…”

Yin Jiujui filled in, “You’re thinking of ‘The Unity of Heaven and Man*’. Or you could say, ‘I am the world, and the world is me.'”

*(天人合一) A Chinese philosophical and spiritual concept that emphasizes the interconnectedness and interdependence of humans and the natural world. It reflects the belief that humans should live in harmony with the natural world and follow its patterns and rhythms (the harmony between man and the universe).

Situ Qing nodded. “Exactly. Our bodies uncontrollably merge with everything, but what we truly possess and can control are our brains and spirits. We seven players are seven ‘brains’.”

“If a single entity has multiple brains, who will it listen to? In the context of this level, if the seven of us become one entity, there will inevitably be a struggle for control over the ‘body’. When that time comes, it might become a ‘7 into 1’ situation.”

“This is the time limit I’m talking about. We have to complete the task and leave before the great merge!”

Yin Jiujui looked seriously at Situ Qing. “You’d better pray that the two of us don’t continue to merge!”

At that moment, they both suddenly felt something and simultaneously looked towards the cat. The cat raised its eyes, locking gaze with them.

Instantly, the same scene played out in their minds.

It was a graveyard.

Row after row of gravestones stood neatly aligned. One particular gravestone looked newer than the others, perhaps recently erected.

While the other graves were unadorned, this new grave was decorated with fresh flowers, suggesting recent visitors.

It seemed to have rained recently, leaving muddy paths and footprints all around. The crowds that had come for the memorial had left, leaving only a boy and a girl behind.

On the tombstone, there was a photo attached. The woman in the photo was very beautiful, with a head of golden hair, making her the most popular blonde. Her eyes were as blue as a lake, reflecting the brilliance of everything in the world.

In front of the tombstone, a young girl held a cat in her arms, silently crying as she gazed at the tombstone, seemingly overwhelmed with sadness due to the departure of a loved one. Beside her, a boy picked up his bag, ready to turn around and leave.

In the moment he turned to leave, the girl grabbed his arm. “Ryan, are you really leaving this place?”

“You’ve been deceived by that so-called doctor! It was him insisting on performing that surgery on her, which led to her death! The so-called ‘technology’ killed her! I hate it! I hate the doctor and this so-called technology! Why are you leaving to pursue this ‘technology’?”

“Sister, you’re wrong. The people of Beautiful Flower Town are too ignorant. Mom fell ill because she didn’t have advanced help and overworked herself. Her accident during the surgery wasn’t due to medicine or technology being at fault, but because our equipment here wasn’t advanced enough.”

“I’m grateful to the doctor who came from the outside world. Thanks to him, I realized how the world outside of our town is… I must leave this place and bring back real technology.”

The young man’s steps grew distant, fading from the scene.

All that echoed in the emptiness was the girl’s resolute voice. “You’re wrong. You must be! I’ll make sure you realize that you are wrong!”

The scene ended there.

Yin Jiujui and Situ Qing were taken aback for a moment before reacting.

Both felt something peculiar, as if… as if a memory that didn’t belong to them was directly implanted into their minds.

‘Could this scene be about… the younger days of the head of the Witch Association, Sarah, and Mayor Ryan? They were siblings. After their mother’s accidental death during surgery, the siblings took two different paths—the sister despising science became a witch, while the brother left the town in pursuit of technology?’

‘Yes, it seems so. But where did this memory come from? How did we suddenly have such a memory?’

‘It’s the cat! The young girl had a cat in her arms!’

‘Could it be that before this strange cat mutated… It was the pet of Ryan and Sarah when they were young? We… We really got its genes and can access its memories?’

‘It’s very possible. But I don’t know why it’s trapped here.’

At that moment, due to this scene, all the players received a system notification.

[Players have collected a memory fragment: “Between Siblings.”]

[Memory Fragment Progress: 1/4]

……

At the same time.

Elsewhere, with 30 seconds left on his life timer, Zhou Qian successfully reunited with Wu Ren, gaining 3 life points.

Later, while searching for Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao, they unexpectedly obtained the second memory fragment.

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