Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 113

For the child in your heart who is fickle and easily bored, don’t give too much candy at once, or they’ll quickly tire of it. It’s better to feed them little by little, enticing and then withdrawing, as if employing the tactics of hunger marketing. Only then will they truly cherish the sweetness for a longer time.

From this perspective, the words Bai Zhou spoke that night—”This can only happen one more time”—seemed to carry a deeper significance.

On this basis, if we were to imagine Bai Zhou’s intentions as somewhat more sinister… Perhaps he’s attempting to manipulate his own senses. In a way, this can be considered a form of control, one related to the senses and desires.

Bai Zhou wants to completely dominate this aspect of himself because he feels his fickle heart will lead to disinterest once he has obtained what he wants, especially if it’s plentiful.

At the moment Zhou Qian realized this, he felt displeased.

Firstly, can sex really be compared to candy?

Secondly, it’s one thing for someone like Wu Ren to misunderstand and tease him, but for Bai Zhou to think this way too?

But then, Zhou Qian thought about how long they had been apart, and that Bai Zhou couldn’t possibly read his mind, so his anger dissipated somewhat. After all, he does seem very good at scheming and sweet-talking others, making it hard for people to discern his sincerity.

Digging deeper, when Zhou Qian considered the true reason behind Bai Zhou’s actions, he wasn’t angry at all—

As for whether or not he truly likes him and how long that affection might last, he was unsure.

Previously, Zhou Qian couldn’t have comprehended why someone as seemingly perfect as Bai Zhou would harbor such almost self-deprecating thoughts. It was only after recalling Bai Zhou’s trembling hand during the ping-pong match and the tightly bound figure in the quarantine ward of Zone X through binoculars that he understood everything.

Zhou Qian was someone who, when mad, acted without care. But not everyone was like him, able to indulge freely in the dreamlike Blue Harbor City. Others certainly cared about what happened when the dream ended.

Bai Zhou, with his slender figure, walked through the neon lights of Blue Harbor City into the teahouse where they first reunited after a long time, carrying breakfast for Zhou Qian as if to place it on the dining table.

Without saying much, Zhou Qian stood up and grasped Bai Zhou’s hand.

“What’s wrong, Zhou Qian?” Bai Zhou asked.

“Nothing. Let’s go home for breakfast,” Zhou Qian said, leading him out, emphasizing the word “home” as if to make a point to Bai Zhou.

Inside the restaurant, Wu Ren, who had witnessed everything, was speechless—wasn’t Zhou Qian just angry a moment ago? How quickly had they made up? Is this what being in love is like? And why were he and He Xiaowei woken up so early for this?

He Xiaowei laughed happily. “That’s the good thing about Qian’er. His temper flares up quickly but also dissipates just as fast. It’s good that they’ve made up.”

Wu Ren laughed at his words and smacked his forehead. “That’s true. They’re about to enter an instance, and it would be troublesome if they were in a bad mood. Hey, while you’re up, can you grab me a Coke?”

“Okay!” He Xiaowei agreed as he walked out, adding, “But I must remind you, don’t let Qian’er see you drinking that Coke! Everything else is fine, but he’s really particular about food and drink.”

……

Meanwhile, in a trial instance in Blue Harbor City.

A waterfall cascaded from the heights of the heavens, a magnificent and majestic sight, as if it were devouring the mountains and rivers with its force. The splashing droplets had transformed into the deadliest hidden weapons; converging into an impenetrable net of lethal beads, they created a vast cavity upon contact with the skin of the players. The key to passing this instance lay behind the waterfall, in a cave; players must swiftly slash these murderous droplets with their swords to reach it.

This was a specialized training instance for swordsmanship, and now Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao had penetrated layer by layer, arriving at this final challenge.

At the moment, Qi Liuxing brandished his sword and created a fierce wind with his sword qi under his control, attempting to cut swiftly through the dense net of droplets but initially failing to completely sever the curtain of beads.

Taking a deep breath, Qi Liuxing focused and then swung his sword again, preparing to unleash a second strike, when suddenly, the melodious sound of a flute began to play—

Ke Yuxiao was standing on a rock beside the waterfall, executing his moves. His fingers rapidly moved over several holes of the long flute, producing moving melodies. The notes undulated, struck against the sword like waves of grain, causing the sword to hum in response as if in harmony with the flute.

As the flute and sword resonated together, Qi Liuxing glanced over, locking eyes with Ke Yuxiao across the distance.

Ke Yuxiao nodded slightly at him. Receiving the hint, Qi Liuxing faced the majestic waterfall again and fully unleashed the stored power in his sword. In that moment, a powerful intent to kill directly charged towards the waterfall from the heavens, as if even the light of the sun and moon paled in comparison, truly living up to the reputation of a Sword God.

In reality, the technique Qi Liuxing used was the same as before, but now it was enhanced with the buff from Ke Yuxiao’s flute play.

But with just a few notes of the flute, the suddenly intensified sword qi struck towards the waterfall, as if forming an invisible wall out of thin air, horizontally placed in the center of the curtain of beads formed by the droplets, temporarily cutting off the continuous fall of water droplets.

“Success!” Overjoyed, Qi Liuxing smiled at Ke Yuxiao, who returned the nod.

Seizing the moment when the overwhelming sword qi hadn’t yet dissipated, they quickly passed through the waterfall curtain to the cave behind it and secured the treasure chest for passing the instance.

As they awaited the ending animation of the trial, Qi Liuxing gripped his sword handle, feeling the sword intent in both the blade and himself, as if he had completely merged with his sword, achieving a unity of man and sword.

“I feel that both my sword and I… are very different now!”

After realizing this, Qi Liuxing’s eyes had an obvious smile in them.

He had always been unable to hide his emotions in front of acquaintances, especially when facing Ke Yuxiao. At this moment, he was almost exuberant and couldn’t help but say, “After getting out, I want to show Qian Ge a good look. Let him mock my swordsmanship again!”

Ke Yuxiao smiled and patted his shoulder. “I’ve always said you have no problems. You belong to the type who’s steady at first but explodes later. Now you’ve completely stepped up to a new level. Given time, I don’t think any ordinary player will be your match. Especially in swordsmanship.”

“Thanks to your buff boost. Our skills really do complement each other,” Qi Liuxing replied, looking firmly at Ke Yuxiao and adding, “Really, thank you. Without you, I wouldn’t have reached this point so quickly.”

Ke Yuxiao simply smiled and replied, “No need for such words. Our skills are complementary and suited for progressing together. Helping your sword move with my music benefits me as well.”

“Right. Together, we’ll be unstoppable in any challenge!” Qi Liuxing said, his eyes shining with enthusiasm, but then a shade of concern crossed his face. “You’ve been alright lately, haven’t you? No more… thoughts?”

Ke Yuxiao understood his concern and quickly reassured, “Don’t worry. I won’t have any more suicidal thoughts. The last incident in ‘The Flower of Evil’ was purely accidental, likely due to memory projection from the swamp nearby amplifying my negative emotions. I’ve truly recovered.”

After chatting a bit more, the ending animation concluded, and they went out for a meal together in Blue Harbor City.

After the meal, they returned to their hotel to rest well in preparation for the new challenge of the instance the next day, rumored to be a new and unpredictable addition to Blue Harbor City. They dared not take it lightly.

Tired, Ke Yuxiao fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and, unusually, began dreaming of standing on the edge of a cliff again.

“Jump down. Commit suicide,” he heard a voice say.

“You should jump off. Because you were never meant to exist…”

“You still don’t know… Your existence is just to deceive them.”

“False soul… You are just my tool.”

“Unfortunately, you still know nothing—”

“I am your master. I am you, too.”

About a month ago.

Jincheng. Whitewater Psychiatric Hospital.

In the ward, as Priest walked in, the first thing he did was look at Ke Yuxiao’s medical record.

Priest flipped through many pages, reading carefully.

But undoubtedly, the most critical term in the medical record was “split personality”.

Ke Yuxiao’s facial features were still handsome, but at this moment, his expression appeared very distorted, and the look he gave Priest was somewhat provocative, completely unrelated to words like gentle or peaceful.

Looking at Priest, he said, “What? Do you have something for me to do again?”

“Did you watch the video I sent you before?” Priest asked him.

“Zhou Qian playing in ‘Apple Paradise’? Yes, I watched it. So, what do you want me to do? Kill him?” Ke Yuxiao shrugged. “He’s very good. I’m afraid it will be difficult to kill him directly.”

Priest said, “We will try to kill him directly by sending someone else. They are overt operations. But just in case, on the other hand, we want to lay a long line, a roundabout dark line. So, I want to arrange for you to start with someone close to him… Like Qi Liuxing.”

“Got it. You want me to become Zhou Qian’s teammate through Qi Liuxing, right? But I’m already Rank S. How do you expect me to pretend to be a newcomer?” Ke Yuxiao raised an eyebrow.

Priest said, “Of course, it’s not for your main personality to get involved directly. Your special abilities are getting stronger, aren’t they? You can actively control all personalities within the body. So, I want you to split out a completely new personality. I will assist you through hypnosis.”

“We will create a new identity for this personality and make his skills suitable to match with Qi Liuxing. Also—”

“You need to shape this personality’s character according to my requirements. Make him completely compatible with Qi Liuxing, and also ensure that he can definitely gain Zhou Qian’s trust.”

Ke Yuxiao laughed. “Oh, you don’t need to remind me of this. Controlling so many personalities in my body… I certainly know what kind of person is suitable to get along with whom.”

“Hmm… The newly born personality will not know of my existence at all. He will have a complete identity and memory. He won’t know anything. He will have a completely clean memory. He won’t reveal any flaws.”

“Good. Now listen carefully to me. The next instance Zhou Qian is going to enter is ‘Last List’. I will arrange a pair of siblings to deal with him. If they fail, then the next instance opened for him will be ‘Flower of Evil’.”

Priest said, “According to the intelligence I received, there is a place in ‘Flower of Evil’ that will allow everyone to hear each other’s thoughts. So, in that instance, you have to arrange the personality you created, who knows nothing about anything, to go there. That way, you can thoroughly and genuinely gain Zhou Qian’s trust.”

Later, in “Last Wish”, Situ Qing and Mu Sheng’s attempts to kill Zhou Qian, as expected, failed.

Zhou Qian survived and indeed decided to go to the “Flower of Evil” instance.

Before officially entering “Flower of Evil”, Ke Yuxiao met with Priest again.

This time, Priest told Ke Yuxiao all the detailed information related to the instance and their plan, leaving no stone unturned.

After listening, Ke Yuxiao nodded. “I got it. Under your design, when Zhou Qian gets near the swamp, he will most likely fall into a nightmare due to past events and then walk into the marsh and die. Otherwise, Zhu Qiang will take the opportunity to kill him. In any case, I just need to ensure that Qi Liuxing is taken away.”

“Alright, no problem. When going to the swamp, I will lead Qi Liuxing in another direction, leaving Zhou Qian isolated and unsupported. And if—”

“Once Zhu Qiang fails, when everyone gets to the stage of thought communication, I will timely make myself disappear. That way… no one will be able to detect my existence. Right?”

“Correct.” Priest looked at him inscrutably. “After that, your position in the legion will be promoted.”

“Look at you.” Ke Yuxiao smiled. “I do this for the good of the legion. Only if the legion is well can I be well in the future. I see the long term. Besides… my skills are important to the legion, right? You will promote me sooner or later.”

At this point, looking at Priest, Ke Yuxiao tilted his head and said softly, “Dear Priest, I really admire and appreciate you.

“I am willing to be a chess piece in your hand. I will be the most useful one.”

Time returned to the present moment.

Ke Yuxiao’s main personality had completely taken control of the body.

He stretched and rubbed the back of his neck, then sat up from the bed and opened his knapsack.

After arranging the items inside, he returned the extra double experience cards to Priest through the trade line.

Seeing that long flute, Ke Yuxiao thought of the personality he had created, and the first time that personality teamed up with Qi Liuxing—Qi Liuxing opened a flute from the treasure chest and then gave it to another Ke Yuxiao. The innocent smile of the young man… made him feel that it was naively amusing.

With these thoughts, Ke Yuxiao’s normally gentle and jade-like eyes suddenly became as venomous as a viper’s.

Following Zhou Qian for so long… you haven’t made any progress at all. What a pity, you didn’t realize that the double experience cards and the entry ticket to Blue Harbor City were all deliberately thrown out by me?

The time has come.

This time, I will personally see you on your way.

……

The next day.

Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou, He Xiaowei, Hidden Blade, along with Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao—a total of six people—officially logged into “The Red God’s Banquet”.

This was an eight-person instance recently opened in Blue Harbor City, and currently, no one had received any information related to it.

Zhou Qian still logged in through forming a small team, this time as the captain, pulling six people in, and the system didn’t impose any restrictions.

Under such circumstances, Zhou Qian believed that the Peach Blossom Legion wouldn’t send two more people to be easily defeated.

Just as he was wondering about who the new two members would be, he saw two familiar faces.

At that time, just after logging into the instance, Zhou Qian and his team arrived at a quaint village.

It was sunset, and the tall and short houses were cloaked in red by the setting sun.

The statue at the entrance of the village was the same.

The landing point of the instance was right next to the statue, so Zhou Qian turned his head and saw it at first glance. Its unique design made him take several more looks.

It appeared to be a stone sculpture, made up directly of three heads with no body beneath them.

The three heads without a body looked the same; the size of the eyes, the width between them, the height of the nose bridge, and even the opening and closing of the mouth… all exactly alike, as if they were copied and pasted.

At the moment, one head was facing west, the direction where the sun sets. The sunset, burning red in the sky, also reflected a strange red in the statue’s eyeballs.

If you stood beside it and looked forward, the head on its left faced a fountain, beyond which there was a field that seemed to be past the harvest season.

Further out from the field was a large graveyard, with neat tombstones and some tall and short withered yellow trees visible from this spot.

As for the head on the right, it faced an inn.

There was a wooden sign hanging above the inn with the words “Tatat Inn” written on it.

According to the message from the system, this was where the players were going to stay for the night.

This time, the players’ identities were soldiers who had escaped from a place called the “Land of Silence” to take shelter.

They would first stay in this inn and later have to find work in the village, such as farming, blacksmithing, or weaving, among others.

From then on, they were no longer soldiers fostered by the Land of Silence, but ordinary civilians who needed to work for their food.

It was while Zhou Qian finished looking at the statue and turned to look at the name of the inn that he saw those two familiar people—

One was Yin Jiujiu, dressed efficiently and with heroic-looking eyes and brows.

The other was Yun Xiangrong, who looked soft at first glance but was actually braver than anyone else.

Yun Xiangrong’s features were delicate; her face was still gentle, but her eyes faintly bore more vicissitudes, indicating she had a hard time recently.

Yin Jiujiu hadn’t changed much.

Upon seeing Zhou Qian and other acquaintances, she nodded slightly as a greeting.

As for Yun Xiangrong, according to real-time, Zhou Qian hadn’t seen her for not too long ago.

However, despite the short time apart, seeing those vicissitudes in her eyes, he suddenly felt as if they were worlds apart.

Yin Jiujiu didn’t log into the instance with Yun Xiangrong; they logged in one after the other, with any further associations between them yet unknown.

But as for Yun Xiangrong… under such circumstances, the Peach Blossom Legion wouldn’t possibly send her to kill him.

So, they must be there to test Yun Xiangrong’s loyalty.

They wanted to see if he would turn against Yun Xiangrong.

Before reaching Rank S, Zhou Qian had only one gambler, and they could communicate.

But after reaching Rank S, it was normal to have one or two traitors among so many people. Thus, it was normal for the Peach Blossom Legion to know that he had “resurrected” Gao Shan in some sense.

Yet they still sent Yun Xiangrong into this instance. Their underlying intention couldn’t be any more sinister.

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The author has something to say:

Let me remind everyone, previously in “Flower of Evil”, Zhou Qian suspected Ke Yuxiao. When he suspected, everyone heard it together, and it was only him who felt embarrassed~

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