Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 63

The sky had darkened slightly. The color of the eerie grass became even more ink-like.

The color of the plants was bizarrely unpredictable, and the invisible substances floating in the air were extremely dangerous. They constantly read the DNA of humans, simultaneously integrating the genetic codes of other animals and plants at random, altering humans and causing rapid mutations.

Behind his transparent mask, Zhu Qiang was unaware of the principles behind these phenomena.

He simply looked up at Zhou Qian, who stood among the inky grasses, like a fish on a chopping board that had given up struggling and didn’t even bother to move.

For the “last question” that Zhou Qian had posed, Zhu Qiang was evidently unwilling to answer. He suddenly realized that Zhou Qian wasn’t just casually talking about his life principles or his thoughts.

Zhou Qian was clearly trying to extract information from him. Was Zhou Qian’s objective to get revenge with the help of that Rank God player?

After a moment, possibly recognizing Zhu Qiang’s reluctance to answer, Zhou Qian said, “Hmm. It seems you’re too afraid to answer this question. Even if I were about to die, you still wouldn’t dare. Well, that’s fine… I won’t ask you anymore. But I have something to tell you. In this game, one has to be utterly ruthless to make it to the end.”

“What do you mean?” Zhu Qiang frowned, seemingly not grasping why Zhou Qian would make such a comment.

Zhou Qian looked up at him with a hint of madness in his eyes. “Do you know what I would do if I were in your place? If I saw you tied up here, unable to move, I wouldn’t just stand outside talking. I would come in and kill you myself. Don’t you get it? If you let the trap in this level kill me, my death will be attributed to the trap, and you’ll gain nothing. But if you kill me yourself, you can take my life point cards. Although I don’t have many points left, who knows? Maybe those points will save your life in the end. To kill me means gaining points, but it also means you have to come in and consume more of your own points. However, if you’re fast enough, killing me would be beneficial.”

Considering the situation, Zhou Qian couldn’t be playing any tricks, could he? He shouldn’t be able to.

“Ha ha…”

Zhu Qiang’s hesitation made Zhou Qian burst into laughter, further infuriating Zhu Qiang. “What are you laughing at, Zhou Qian?!”

Zhou Qian responded, “Of course, I’m laughing at your cowardice and fear. Look, even in my current state, you’re still afraid of me. You don’t dare come in.”

Zhou Qian continued with a smirk, “I walked straight into a trap set by the Peach Blossom Legion. You claimed that even though the legion planned it, you were the executor. Yet here I am, bound and unable to escape, and you… you can’t even approach me.”

“Admit it, Zhu Qiang. You’re a coward!”

Zhu Qiang was unwilling to admit it, but he had no choice but to acknowledge one thing—Zhou Qian was speaking the truth.

It was clear that the person who was bound and waiting for death was Zhou Qian, and he, Zhu Qiang, was the one looking down upon him from above!

However, their states were incredibly disparate.

Zhou Qian might have appeared to have given up struggling, but he was genuinely calm and composed, while Zhu Qiang felt like he was just putting on a show. Clearly, Zhou Qian was the one in the position of the captured prey, and he was the hunter who captured him!

Yet, when Zhu Qiang looked into his eyes, he paradoxically felt like he was the prey who had walked into a trap.

Because of this twisted perception, Zhu Qiang’s first reaction to Zhou Qian’s suggestion that he come and kill him was indeed—as Zhou Qian said—hesitation.

Zhu Qiang had long decided to kill Zhou Qian.

He even adopted the alias “Buhui*” to showcase his determination.

*Clarity: [Buhui] (不悔) means no regrets/unrepentant.

But in the end, why did he hesitate to take Zhou Qian’s life? Why shouldn’t he?

He should definitely end Zhou Qian’s life and take his life points!

Zhou Qian, being the kind of person who holds grudges, just wanted to mock him one last time in the final moments of his life!

Or perhaps, realizing that he couldn’t survive, he wanted to provoke him to walk into the trap and die here with him!

That was all there was to it. Zhou Qian could only possibly play these two tricks!

He obviously didn’t need to be afraid! He could go in and kill him with his own hands!

“Zhou Qian, of course I dare to kill you. Thank you for reminding me that I can also obtain your life points card by killing you with my own hands.” Zhu Qiang sneered and took out some items from his bag. It was surprisingly live pet chicks purchased at some unknown time.

[Player Zhu Qiang used item: Scouting Chicks]

[Function Description: Can’t decipher maze traps? No problem. The chicks are here to help! Five clever chicks know how to navigate mazes and identify traps; there is always one that can find the correct path!]

[Grade: B]

Five chicks came out in a line, landing on the ground. Zhu Qiang used them as scouting tools, each taking different paths towards the ink-colored bushes.

They were all fine walking in the outer area, but as they approached Zhou Qian, they fell into traps one by one, entangled by the ink-colored grass. Finally, only one chick didn’t step into a trap.

It successfully reached a spot very close to Zhou Qian and then temporarily stopped moving.

Seeing this, Zhu Qiang’s eyes curved in amusement.

That was enough; as long as he got to where the chick was now, this distance… was sufficient to kill Zhou Qian himself. As long as he followed the path it just took, he wouldn’t step into any traps.

Nevertheless, facing the overly intelligent Zhou Qian, Zhu Qiang still didn’t dare to let his guard down.

He looked at Zhou Qian and examined him carefully once again. Indeed, Zhou Qian’s limbs were all tightly bound. The ink-colored grass penetrated every part, even entering every crevice of his ten fingers, wrapping around each one of them.

Besides, the grass growing from Zhou Qian’s body itself was intertwined with this ink-colored grass, seemingly inseparable. From top to bottom, even Zhou Qian’s fingertips were trapped. He absolutely couldn’t lift his hand or move his fingers; he couldn’t even take any items out of his bag now!

The only thing Zhou Qian was holding, also entangled by countless ink-colored grasses, was his Rib of God. But there wasn’t resentful energy for him to use here, and he couldn’t harm himself to below 10% health to unleash his ultimate move. Secondly, his regular skill induced illusions, but Zhu Qiang was fully prepared against this.

To avoid being affected by the swamp, Zhu Qiang prepared a mask in advance. This transparent mask, given by Priest, was very thin but highly effective, ensuring that the brain nerves wouldn’t be disturbed by any external factors.

Thus, wearing this mask, Zhu Qiang wouldn’t fall victim to the illusions created by the swamp or Zhou Qian’s skills.

Unable to use ultimate and his regular skills were ineffective against Zhu Qiang, and there was absolutely no possibility to get other items from the bag…

That meant Zhou Qian only had one remaining skill—to slow or stop time.

But this could only delay his death. Even if he stopped time, when his mana was exhausted, he would inevitably meet his demise.

After confirming this again, Zhu Qiang felt temporarily relieved and took out two items from his bag—a knife and a lighter.

The knife was just a regular one; Zhu Qiang held it and threw it towards the chick nearest to him that was entangled by the ink-colored grass. His aim wasn’t bad. The tip of the knife accurately sliced the ink-colored grass; thus, he discovered that this type of grass could still be cut by a regular knife.

Even with the chicks scouting the path, Zhu Qiang was still wary. He tested the magical grass with the knife to ensure he could cut it to free himself if needed.

Zhu Qiang believed he was adequately prepared, unlike Zhou Qian, who fled here in a panic, holding the self-rescue knife and fire in his hands. After taking a breath and gripping the items tightly, Zhu Qiang eventually stepped into the area with the ink-colored grass.

In the beginning, Zhu Qiang took steps very slowly, observing the situation as his points decreased.

He wasn’t calculating whether the points gained from killing Zhou Qian, subtracted by the decrease in his own life points, would still yield any profit.

After all, his entering proved that he wasn’t afraid of Zhou Qian’s schemes and dared to kill him with his own hands; this was the main goal.

Zhu Qiang just wanted to roughly calculate the speed of the points decrease to ensure that he wouldn’t foolishly die here due to a delay, and then he would dare to act.

After making sufficient preparations, Zhu Qiang, step by step, followed the path found using his props and arrived very close to Zhou Qian. Here, he could kill Zhou Qian and also easily pick up the life point card that fell from Zhou Qian’s body.

But at this moment, Zhu Qiang suddenly noticed something abnormal. He saw several cards scattered behind Zhou Qian.

The system had mentioned that many items that could increase life points were randomly hidden in the instance.

Could it be that these cards were hidden in such places? 

That is great!

Zhu Qiang thought about it carefully and found this design very reasonable.

Cards conspicuously marked with life points were the ultimate temptation tool. They lure the players closer! But once the players approached, they would find themselves trapped in a place where life points were rapidly drained; they not only failed to increase life points but also perished completely!

Lifting his foot to walk in that direction, Zhu Qiang subsequently withdrew it, looked at Zhou Qian in front of him, and laughed. “Is this your plan? You want me to die with you? Hahaha…”

“At this point, Qian Ge, I have to thank you. When watching you play ‘Apple Paradise’, I remembered something you said through the screen. The designer of this game likes to play with people’s minds. Placing cards that increase points in places that decrease points is his trick. The most tempting places are the most dangerous! And the most dangerous places are relatively safe… tsk tsk tsk—”

“You wouldn’t have been trapped because you were unintentionally running in that direction to pick up those cards, would you?”

“It proves that the illusions in the swamp still greatly affected you. When you hastily escaped here, indeed you didn’t have time to clear your thoughts. That’s why you fell for it so easily.”

“Haa, it’s a pity. You’re more meticulous than I imagined. A miscalculation.” After sighing lightly, Zhou Qian seemed to have completely run out of words. He just lowered his head, his face completely pale.

Zhu Qiang sneered at him and then took out five chicks to help him scout the way, eventually successfully reaching the place where several cards with life points were scattered.

After comparing the first card he drew, Zhu Qiang found no problems with these cards and picked them up.

Four cards, each with 6 points, and the countdown below the numbers hadn’t appeared yet; this was reasonable. Zhu Qiang knew from Wu Ren’s situation that when the points on the drawn cards were cleared, only then would the countdown on the subsequent cards begin.

Thus, Zhu Qiang found that he had gained 24 points in one go. In this instance, excluding the special areas where points dropped faster, 1 point in the normal areas was approximately equal to 20 minutes.

This meant he now had an additional 480 minutes!

He didn’t even have to rush; he had plenty of time to torment Zhou Qian!

After putting away the cards, Zhu Qiang returned to Zhou Qian’s side and then saw him make a move, tightly holding the bone in his hand and muttering something.

Subsequently, Zhu Qiang felt a slight distortion in the space; when he walked towards Zhou Qian, everything was normal at first, but when he got in front of Zhou Qian, his steps uncontrollably slowed down.

Sure enough, Zhou Qian could only use the time-slowing move!

He had slowed the time in the small area he was in. The smaller the area of slowed time, the slower the mana consumption.

But what use was this? Was he still hoping someone would come to save him?

In order to synchronize with Zhou Qian and not feel awkward when killing him, Zhu Qiang reached out and directly gripped the bone in his hand; thus, they both stood outside of time together.

Lifting the knife in his hand, Zhu Qiang said to Zhou Qian, “It’s the most common knife. It helped me deal with those grasses just now in case of an emergency and can be used to kill you. Is there any meaning for you to stand outside of time?”

Zhou Qian suddenly looked up at Zhu Qiang. “Let’s go back to the initial question. How do you know Zhang Yanjun?”

Zhu Qiang didn’t answer; he just decisively stretched out his hand and stabbed Zhou Qian in the chest with the dagger. But he found that no blood flowed from Zhou Qian’s body.

“Oh my, it seems like I’ve mutated. I don’t even have blood.” Zhou Qian smiled at Zhu Qiang. “Qiang Ge, it seems you have to think slowly about how to kill me. Why not chat a little more? At least I won’t be lonely before death.”

“You son of—” Zhu Qiang was extremely furious, feeling a sense of being played.

But how could he give up? If Zhou Qian’s entire body had turned into grass, then he might as well just burn him!

Right. Burn him! Only by burning him can he be completely destroyed!

Yet, he heard Zhou Qian say, “Not far away, there’s grass that seems to cry for help. From its speech, it seems to have memories of the night of the accident at Weir Mountain. But if you listen closely, it’s just mindlessly repeating those words, as if it recorded that segment of memory like a video tape or a recorder, but it itself currently has no thoughts.”

“So, we can temporarily rule out the hypothesis that one of the researchers here has turned into grass. It can be understood that the grass, after mutating, has gained a part of human memory. Perhaps memory can be stored in genes. So, this implies… there is something within the high walls that can duplicate genes.”

“When a person looks in the mirror, a reflection appears. The ‘mirror’ inside these high walls seems to directly reflect the genetic code of humans, splice it into different segments, copy these segments onto other animals and plants, and finally, make them grow rapidly…”

Surrounded by ink-colored grass, Zhou Qian, who was outside of time, looked at Zhu Qiang and said, “If such a world truly exists in reality, it is undoubtedly terrifying. Luckily, we are still in an instance. I am just slowly becoming like grass, but I haven’t grown butterfly wings yet. It’s as if I also haven’t read the most feared memories of Qi Liuxing.”

“If such a situation exists in the real world, it is undeniably frightening. The appearance of this ‘mirror’ would mostly cause unpredictable and uncontrollable changes to species.”

“But in the game instance, since there’s a way to clear it, it must not be entirely random.”

“Otherwise, it would be too hard for the players, without even a 5% chance of clearing it. Tell me, if the memories of seven players are intertwined, who could distinguish the truth and escape from the illusion?”

Zhou Qian asked Zhu Qiang, “So, tell me, among so many players, there’s no reason that you could only read my memories. Right? The ‘mirror’ read my most feared memory and ‘reflected’ it to me in front of the swamp, causing me to enter a hallucination. But you didn’t receive the ‘reflection’ from the ‘mirror’ like I did, did you?”

“Can I assume that the Peach Blossom Legion has been watching me for a long time and has checked all my information?”

“Or let’s simplify the proposition. So many people in the insane asylum are involved in this game. How could the doctors and nurses know nothing? Have some of the doctors also been involved?”

Zhou Qian asked Zhu Qiang, “They could see my medical records and thus know about the existence of Zhang Yanjun. Moreover—”

“Why are so many murderers, like Dong Xiang and you, identified as having mental problems? Which doctor handled all this and deceived the police?”

Hearing this, Zhu Qiang said, “Zhou Qian, you don’t need to talk to me about this. Really. The more you guess, the more I think… the likelihood of your dying in the game increases. How could they let you take these secrets out?”

“Qiang Ge, I am already at your mercy. You can even burn me. But just burning me is a bit of a waste. I have guessed a lot about this game, the legion, and the system. Do you want to hear it? For instance, have you ever thought about a problem—”

Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and asked Zhu Qiang, “The legion is so powerful; they could let you, who should have been a murderer, leave prison and enter a mental hospital… So why don’t they just kill me in reality? There are people among the doctors who could poison me or secretly kill me… It’s actually easier than in the game. After all, I have no special abilities in reality. So why don’t they?”

By this time, Zhu Qiang had already taken out a machete, intending to directly chop off Zhou Qian’s head. But because of Zhou Qian’s question, he actually stopped his hand.

Yes, why? Their power is so strong.

I could escape from the role of murderer because of Priest’s help. So why… don’t they kill Zhou Qian in reality?

“This means gods do exist,” Zhou Qian said with gleaming eyes. “Players can make wishes to the gods. And as I said before, there’s a Rank God player, my master, who can resurrect me. Even if I die in reality… he can wish for me to live.”

“So killing me in reality is meaningless for the legion’s people. Death in the game is actually the real death, right?”

“Dying in the game of the gods means you’re truly done for, with no chance to start over.”

When the conversation reached this point, Zhou Qian’s expression became somewhat dimmed.

“Of course, if that’s the case… it’s a real pity for Gao Shan. He won’t have the chance to revive again. Well wait—”

“Perhaps we can see it from a different perspective! Maybe it’s just that people who die in the game don’t get a chance to re-enter this game created by the gods, that’s all.”

“Just think about it… There are no unprovoked enmities in this world. Why would the Peach Blossom Legion kill me? And at such a great cost? It can only be because if I continue to stay in the game, I will, in some ways, really affect their interests in the future. Although I don’t know the specific reason… it can only be this. In short, they can’t let me continue to participate in the game.”

“If they killed me in reality outside the game, I can be revived by my master and re-enter the game. But if I die in the game, even if my master revives me, I no longer have the opportunity to come back in.”

“Well…” Zhou Qian sighed, and the eyes that had dimmed just now regained their brightness. “In this way… Gao Shan still has hope. I was too pessimistic just now.”

Zhou Qian kept chattering on.

From gene replication to game mechanics to speculations about the Peach Blossom Legion, he talked so much that even Zhu Qiang found it tiresome.

Finally, Zhu Qiang couldn’t bear it anymore and raised his machete, ready to act.

At this moment, he suddenly heard Zhou Qian say, “Qiang Ge, there’s one more thing I forgot to ask you. I swear this is really the last question I’m going to ask you—”

Zhu Qiang: “What the hell do you want to ask?”

Zhou Qian: “Did you not do well in math?”

Zhu Qiang: “………”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

At this point, Zhu Qiang was both annoyed and a bit confused.

“Let me teach you a simple math problem,” Zhou Qian said softly. “When I came to this place, I had 17 life points left. Calculating each point as 20 minutes; originally, I could live for 340 minutes.

“But as soon as I entered this patch of grass, my life points dropped sharply. I can only live for 5 minutes. That means the rate of life point decrease here is 68 times that of other normal areas in this level. You can calculate this, right? Just divide 340 by 5. As for you—”

“You, me, Qi Liuxing—we are the top three with the most life points. I originally had 24 points, and Qi Liuxing had 16. You, who were originally second, lost 6 points in the small level where we were looking for the murderer and surprisingly still remained in second place…”

“This can only mean, you initially drew 23 points. So, after reducing 6 points, you have 17 left—one more than Qi Liuxing, allowing you to remain in second.

“So, by this calculation, when I first entered the ink-colored grass, I had 17 points left, and you had 10.”

“Have you calculated how many more minutes you can live after entering this ink-colored bush?

“Your remaining 10 points originally could sustain you for 200 minutes, but due to the 68 times faster life point decrease in this ink-colored bush area, you can only live for 200 divided by 68, which is 2.94 minutes.”

“You released the chicks twice to find the path, which probably took about 1 and a half minutes. And right now, we have been chatting outside of time for so long, which took another one and a half minutes…”

At this point, Zhou Qian laughed. “You are fine now because we are standing outside of time and space. But the flow of time outside is normal. Once you let go of the bone in my hand, you will return to normal time and space, equivalent to instantly jumping to 90 seconds later… By then, you will die immediately because your life points will be depleted.”

“You, you’re spouting bullshit!” Zhu Qiang immediately raised the four cards in his hand. “I have so much time! What kind of joke are you making?”

“But… these are all fake cards. I duplicated them,” Zhou Qian said with a smile. “Haven’t you thought that I deliberately left them there?”

“Cut the crap!” Zhu Qiang said harshly. “Haha, of course, I have had such suspicions. But that’s impossible! Zhou Qian, don’t try to scare me. The system said cards cannot be copied!”

“Skills and items related to duplication, theft, and plundering are ineffective against cards recording life points.”

“The only way to seize a card is to kill the corresponding player.”

Zhou Qian repeated these two rules and then said, “When these two rules appeared at the same time, I was wondering—does the system mean that, after copying a card, the points on the duplicated card cannot be used as life points, making it a fake card, or does it mean that the cards cannot be duplicated at all?”

“So, when I received the reward from Ghost Lina, I deliberately didn’t give the card to Wu Ren immediately. When the card was fumbling between my hands, I had already copied one with the copying prop hidden in my sleeve.”

“It was then that I confirmed that the card could be copied, but the points wouldn’t be effective.”

“As the friend of my gambler, you should know that I am good at cheating.”

“Moreover, generally speaking, even if my actions were noticed at that time, everyone would definitely think that I gave Wu Ren a fake card. After all, such a precious life card should be kept for oneself.”

“This is the danger of a fixed mindset. But I did give Wu Ren the real card. Later, when you all found out Wu Ren did indeed survive… Naturally, no one thought that I had played any tricks in the delay. So, this little episode was rightfully forgotten by you all.”

“It’s impossible!” Zhu Qiang interrupted Zhou Qian vehemently. “I haven’t experienced any mutations! If my points are as low as you said, how could I possibly have been fine from start to finish?!”

“Zhou Qian, I’m not so easily deceived! Don’t think you can lie to me!”

“Oh, why haven’t you mutated?” Zhou Qian looked at his mask and laughed again. “Is it because of your mask?

“You didn’t expect that—the mask protecting you, in the end, is harming you? Tsk, it made you let your guard down. Haa, when analyzing problems, all factors should be considered. How could you forget about your mask? However—”

“Thank you. You helped me solve a big problem. I don’t know about the real-world situation. But once turned into a game, in this simplified setting, the key to mutation is likely related to the brain nerves.”

Hearing every word, Zhu Qiang almost stumbled, and then he felt a tightness in his chest, and he spat out a breath with great effort.

He almost crushed his molars.

He clutched Zhou Qian’s shoulders, exhaled a breath with the taste of blood rust, and said with an extremely hoarse voice, “So what, Zhou Qian? You are trapped by the grass! You can’t get out either! You were wasting time talking to me about illusions, Zhang Yanjun, and Bai Zhou, for a minute! You only have one minute left! We might as well die together! Hahaha…”

“I’ll still kill you! I reached this step. Even if it costs my life, I will succeed in killing you!!!”

“Silly Zhu Qiang. Of course I won’t be trapped.”

Zhou Qian seriously looked at him and spoke lightly as if he were just helping a classmate solve a problem. “Actually, if you hadn’t fallen for the fake card just now, that would be fine. I would stop acting and deal with you in a normal way.”

“However… the reason I wanted to act this out is that, without elevating you to the highest, how can I enjoy watching you fall from grace as your plans fall apart?”

Zhou Qian wore a pleasant smile, but the gaze he cast on Zhu Qiang was profoundly deep.

“Zhu Qiang, how do you feel now?”

“Don’t be angry. Consider this revenge for being stupid.”

“I don’t believe… Zhou Qian, I don’t believe you can get out of this grass…” Zhu Qiang spat out another mouthful of blood.

Zhou Qian was trapped by the grass. How could he have other ways?

He just wanted to anger him to death! He just wanted to make him angry!

“I think, the reason you’re so confident is because you acquired a lot of information through the Peach Blossom Legion. But after just a few words of conversation with you, I know that you haven’t understood the real setting of this instance. So… one should rely on oneself in everything, and not overly depend on information given by others.”

Zhou Qian smiled. “Actually, the system gave us hints for the solution from the beginning. You keep wanting to use the traps in the instance to kill me. But how come you didn’t even understand its most basic principle?”

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 62

“The water you drunk is sweeter, my little sweetheart.”

“I want your son.”

……

Not far away, Zhang Yanjun lay motionless on the big bed. Looking at his big belly, Zhou Qian repeatedly recalls the words he had said. His face, limbs, and every word he spoke were extremely nauseating.

Suddenly, Zhou Qian’s memories overlapped with the illusory scene.

He saw Zhang Yanjun covered in blood. The vivid red blood ignited his own blood like fire. He became furious and irritable. Every cell in his body was clamoring—telling him to kill Zhang Yanjun.

But just as Zhou Qian clenched the knife, the blood color suddenly overlapped with the sunset again.

It seemed like he came to a certain ward in a trance. He opened his eyes and could see the sunset slowly disappearing into the night outside the window.

Hearing some noise, he turned his head and immediately saw Bai Zhou by the bedside.

Bai Zhou was peeling an apple.

The fragrance of the apple covered all the bloody smell, gradually soothing all of Zhou Qian’s restless emotions.

In this faint fragrance, Zhou Qian heard Bai Zhou’s voice—he said with a slightly emphasized tone, “From this morning, we have been together all the time.”

“We have been together all the time.”

After experiencing immense panic and anxiety in his childhood, Zhou Qian deeply remembered this sentence.

Once the truth came out, he would tell this to everyone.

Bai Zhou was his alibi.

But now, when Zhou Qian thought back to that memory, he realized, if looked at from another perspective, could it be interpreted as—

Actually, Bai Zhou was making himself act as his alibi?

Yan Ya once said: “Bai Zhou called this morning… said he was going to deliver homework to Xiao Qian… I gave him the address…”

And after Zhou Qian ran out of Zhang Yanjun’s villa, Bai Zhou found him in just five minutes.

So… maybe Bai Zhou had already sensed what had happened?

Now recalling the past, Zhou Qian realized that his cut was indeed very shallow.

Generally speaking, it would be difficult to kill someone with a piece of broken glass without protecting oneself. If he were to use enough force to actually cut someone else, his own palm would definitely be cut as well.

All the details of the memory, intentionally blurred by the brain due to the excessive pain, appeared incredibly clearly in Zhou Qian’s mind at this moment.

Zhou Qian clearly remembered that he wasn’t injured at the time.

So, under the circumstances where his palm wasn’t cut at all, the wound he inflicted shouldn’t be fatal.

When he was a child, he had limited cognition and thought that all the blood in Zhang Yanjun’s body had drained.

Now, through his memories, he found that Zhang Yanjun actually didn’t lose much blood, so he definitely didn’t sever his abdominal artery.

In other words, Zhou Qian could now be pretty sure that he didn’t kill Zhang Yanjun.

But Zhang Yanjun still died in the end.

Who did it?

Could it be Bai Zhou?

The hospital was only a few minutes away from the Purple Banquet Villa by running.

During the time he was unconscious in the hospital, Bai Zhou could have finished the job.

But Bai Zhou… Why didn’t you tell me?

Clean and flawless you, why would you tarnish yourself with this?

Closing his eyes and opening them again, Zhou Qian found that the environment in front of him had changed again.

He curled the corners of his lips and, without hesitation, made a motion to grip the knife in his hand tightly, taking a big step forward.

In the trees not far away, Zhu Qiang watched excitedly as Zhou Qian indeed stepped into the quagmire step by step and surprisingly didn’t struggle at all—Zhou Qian was completely immersed in the illusion! He was beyond saving! Beyond saving!!

Due to excessive excitement, Zhu Qiang even started panting heavily.

Then he watched as Zhou Qian, with half of his body already in the quagmire, started struggling as if waking up from a dream.

But how could one struggle in a swamp?

The more Zhou Qian struggled, the faster he sank.

Endless mud and sand were like countless ghost hands extending from the depths of hell, trying to drag him into the underworld!

Zhou Qian is doomed.

He’s dead… He’s finally dead!

Zhu Qiang let out a long breath, unable to suppress his laughter.

Zhou Qian is done for.

Zhou Qian, who seemed omnipotent, is dead!

Who accomplished all this?

It was me! Only me!

Many people wanted to kill Zhou Qian, but they all failed! Only he succeeded!

This was definitely something worth celebrating!

The Peach Blossom Legion would heavily reward him! Maybe he could even infiltrate the management layer!

Zhu Qiang didn’t want to hide anymore.

He jumped down from the tree and couldn’t help but laugh out loud, then walked step by step to the edge of the swamp.

At this moment, he couldn’t control his desire to gloat. He wanted to walk up to Zhou Qian triumphantly and tell him—Look, I killed you! So I am stronger than you!!!

A moment later, Zhu Qiang reached the edge of the swamp.

Facing Zhou Qian’s back, he shouted out. “Zhou Qian! I bet you never thought you would die by my hands, did you?! Hahaha…”

In the swamp, Zhou Qian turned around upon hearing this and looked at him in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief. “You, you… Why? Li Buhui… I have no grudge against you. Wait… Is it just because you want my card? No…”

“Of course it’s not just about the card. Haha, even you have times when you can’t figure things out.”

Zhu Qiang said with a mocking tone, “What Li Buhui? You haven’t recognized me yet?! Hahaha! You’ve been deceiving everyone. Now you’re finally deceived by me, right?”

“Let me tell you! My name is Zhu Qiang! Because of you, I got involved in this game! Yu Xian… Yu Xian was also killed by you! Today, I am going to avenge him and myself! Once I kill you… I will be the king of this game!”

“Oh. So, it’s Zhu Qiang.” Suddenly, all the shock and horror on Zhou Qian’s face vanished, and he looked incredibly calm.

His expression was one Zhu Qiang knew all too well—it was the expression of someone who has succeeded in scheming.

But that’s impossible!

What could his countermove possibly be?!

Zhu Qiang swallowed, continuing mockingly, “I know, you’re very capable. Your basic skill is creating illusions. Last time, you subdued Situ Qing with it, didn’t you? But did you ever think that this time, you would be the one to fall for it?! You are dying in your own illusions and inner demons!”

However, Zhou Qian responded, “Yes, I pretended to be caught. If I didn’t pretend… how could I draw you out while you’re so self-satisfied? If you could bear not to come out, then my feigning distress would have been in vain. Thank you, you didn’t let my acting go to waste.”

“You, you… What did you say?” Zhu Qiang’s hand subconsciously trembled.

During their conversation, Zhou Qian didn’t struggle, so his body was only slowly sinking.

At this moment, his two hands were still exposed, and Zhu Qiang saw him quickly take out a mirror from his bag.

It’s the [Universe Teleportation Mirror]!

Impossible.

Impossible…

Zhu Qiang’s face instantly turned extremely ugly.

All of today’s events weren’t solely planned by him but by Priest from Peach Blossom Legion.

Priest made very comprehensive plans and had intended to buy the [Universe Teleportation Mirror] from the trading hall very early on.

So, in Zhu Qiang’s knowledge, once this mirror appeared in the trading hall, it would immediately be bought by people from the Peach Blossom Legion. How could Zhou Qian have it?!

Besides, it was a rare item. The chances of getting it from the treasure box were extremely low.

Each time a player cleared an instance, the video could be seen by Rank S people. Priest had watched all of Zhou Qian’s clearance and told him that he didn’t earn this mirror from any of the rewards.

So how could he possibly…

While surprised, Zhu Qiang heard Zhou Qian say, “From your expression, I see clear surprise. So… the mirror disappearing immediately after appearing in the trading hall was you, wasn’t it?

“But you shouldn’t have so much money. Hmm… so this is related to the Peach Blossom Legion, right? They actually found you. What, high-level players can’t enter low-level instances, so they could only send you?”

“Where did you get that mirror?” Zhu Qiang couldn’t help but ask.

“My master gave it to me.” Zhou Qian smiled, then took a deep breath and, with the mirror, sank into the swamp.

However, his body didn’t enter the swamp. With the help of this mirror, he instantly went to another place.

At the edge of the swamp, Zhu Qiang, who witnessed this scene, almost gritted his molars to pieces.

But fortunately, he had other tricks up his sleeve!

The scope of the Universe Teleportation Mirror was only 500 meters, so Zhou Qian couldn’t have escaped too far. To the south, the terrain remained marshy, so it was likely still a swamp, or perhaps there were even more dangerous things. Zhou Qian wouldn’t go that way. He could only turn and head north!

Pulling out a mask and putting it on, Zhu Qiang quickly turned and headed north, in the direction they had come from.

Zhu Qiang felt he had the upper hand, mainly because the Peach Legion Army had some information about the instance.

Actually, the system originally had restrictions on this kind of thing.

If a player knew how to pass all the levels in an instance, then the level of the monsters in the instance would multiply; thus, even if the player knew the answers to the puzzle, they would still be unable to clear the instance easily.

This kind of restriction didn’t matter in instances meant for ordinary monster fighting and leveling up, but it did in instances involving puzzles.

This was one way the system prevented spoilers in special instances with an exploratory nature.

In addition to this, players who cleared a hidden instance couldn’t explicitly provide information; otherwise, hidden instances in the game would be permanently closed to them, preventing them from acquiring hidden achievements.

The Peach Blossom Legion collected information about “The Flower of Evil” from various sources. They pieced together scant bits of information, forming a small portion of intelligence, which constituted Zhu Qiang’s current reliance.

This time, their seven people were divided into three teams. Yin Jiujiu took the western route, Wu Ren and Situ Qing took the east, and Zhou Qian, who went south through the middle, happened to be in the most dangerous route.

Just south of the marshland they were in was the core area of the level. The information Zhu Qiang received was limited. He didn’t know what was in the core area, but he knew about the area from the entry point to the swamp.

The player with the lowest combat power would draw the card with the highest life points. This piece of information was known to Priest.

Yin Jiujiu, who had a grudge against Situ Qing, was naturally attracted to this instance following Zhu Qiang under Priest’s arrangements.

When the players followed the witch up Weir Mountain for the first time, Yin Jiujiu made a move and tried to kill Situ Qing, which was all within Priest’s expectations.

Therefore, based on the conflict between the two girls, Zhou Qian intentionally separated them after entering this level, which was also within Priest’s calculations.

Zhou Qian arranged for his teammates to act separately, chose to go through the middle himself, and walked into the most dangerous area, eventually being influenced by illusions and entering the swamp to die.

This was the result Priest meticulously designed and could foresee.

As to why Priest was sure Zhou Qian would experience illusions, it was also due to external information he obtained.

According to the information controlled by the Peach Blossom Legion, the effect of the swamp was extensive. Almost all players who head directly south towards the swamp would experience a condition—seeing the most terrifying nightmare in their memory.

That swamp was like a mirror. The intermittent water not only reflected the color of the sky but also people’s memories.

The images and sounds of these memories could even be captured by plants.

It was like the jungles near the swamp had many plants that could talk in human language.

They probably had no thoughts. But when someone’s fearful memory was remembered by the swamp and “played” on a stormy night, the neighboring plants also remembered it and mimicked the cries for help.

“This is an interesting dungeon. I feel like the inside of the high wall is a large… gene-editing related experiment. You feel it too, right? Sometimes we have ‘past life’ memories. Why? Because it’s very possible that memories can actually be stored in genes and passed down through generations.”

“Some device inside the high wall has the function of reading and copying genes. When a person approaches, it reads their genes and, hence, their memories. It can even completely copy a person’s segment of genes and implant it into the surrounding plants… This way, plants have a part of human genes and memories.”

“In this view… that device inside the high wall seems to be the hand of God. Humans, plants, animals… What they eventually grow into is determined by genes. Now it has broken and recombined all species’ genes. What kind of world will it create?”

“Oh, I’ve gone off topic. Let’s get back to the point. In short, there is a device within the high walls that can fully capture a person’s memory.”

“As for that marshland, it can project the most horrifying nightmares from one’s memory, creating an illusionary dream. Players will get lost in this illusion, wander into the swamp, and eventually die.”

This was what Zhu Qiang had heard from Priest himself. He didn’t quite understand the talk about gene duplication. But there was one thing he knew—once Zhou Qian approached the swamp from the south, he would see his most feared memory.

From what Zhu Qiang heard, many players weren’t able to escape, and all died in the swamp.

Occasionally, a few who managed to escape did so, like Zhou Qian, using an item that allowed instant teleportation after suddenly waking up. This was why the Peach Blossom Legion monopolized all teleportation items.

It was unexpected that Zhou Qian could actually obtain such a mirror. Fortunately, Priest had a backup plan. After all, countless people had died on this perilous road, and it was far more than just a trap in the swamp.

Now, Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao were also missing, presumably falling into some sort of illusion. They didn’t enter the marsh, but they must have walked into some other trap and gotten entangled. Without any help, Zhou Qian was simply a sitting duck.

With a determined mind, Zhu Qiang put on a mask that prevented him from being affected by the marsh and searched inch by inch to the north.

About three minutes later, he found Zhou Qian.

It was a place covered with dark green grass.

Zhu Qiang immediately recognized the situation of this place.

According to the information provided by the Peach Blossom Legion, once a player entered this place, their life points would drop exceptionally fast. So, Zhu Qiang stopped immediately, not daring to step further.

Taking a light breath and standing outside this area, he looked inside and couldn’t help but laugh again upon seeing Zhou Qian’s situation.

The dark green grass accelerated the depletion of life points. If players quickly realized this and left the area promptly, there would be no issue. In a way, this was also a hint given by the instance level—that there are traps inside, so don’t continue forward.

Zhu Qiang thought to himself, normally, Zhou Qian would certainly have noticed something wrong with this area and left in time.

But Zhou Qian had just been trapped in the swamp, so he must not have had time to adjust the coordinates when he used the teleportation item, so he set a random place to the north and, unfortunately, landed here. Or maybe he landed nearby and ran hurriedly to avoid being caught, not having the time to check his life points…

In any case, Zhou Qian accidentally delved deep into this dark green grassland and finally fell into the trap.

Zhou Qian’s limbs were all entangled by the dark green grass, completely immobilized. At the same time, his life points must be rapidly decreasing. Zhu Qiang realized that he didn’t even have to do anything now; Zhou Qian was going to die.

“Zhou Qian, ha… You can’t get out, can you? Any last words?” Zhu Qiang asked him.

Zhou Qian lifted his expressionless, somewhat pale face. After a moment, he said softly, “Before being completely entangled by the grass, I glanced at my card. According to the current countdown speed… I probably won’t live more than 5 minutes.”

Zhu Qiang sighed in relief and sat down on the grass. “5 minutes… that’s actually enough for us to have a chat.”

“Chat?” Zhou Qian lifted his eyes to look at Zhu Qiang and suddenly said, “Hmm. I indeed wanted to talk to you. Did you know, I have suspected you for a long time.”

“How could that be?” Zhu Qiang scoffed.

Zhou Qian said, “You revealed your flaws long ago. I just didn’t know who you really were, so I just made that probe earlier. I didn’t expect that you are Qiang Ge.”

Zhu Qiang frowned and asked him across the dark green grass, “What did I say that was flawed? I don’t believe you.”

Zhou Qian said, “When Mayor Ryan took Situ Qing and Yin Jiujiu away, you said—you had the opportunity to enter this instance because you hugged Yin Jiujiu’s thighs. You had to listen to whatever she asked. You were just trying to survive.”

“You wanted to express that you just wanted to blend in, and you didn’t want to do anything. If you don’t enter the instance on time, you’ll die. You’re just completing the task. But if so… why did you let Yin Jiujiu bring you to this hidden instance? That’s so risky.”

“Entering a hidden instance, either you want to farm achievements, level up fast, get a lot of gold coins, meet the so-called gods in this game, and have them grant your wishes; or you have ulterior motives. But in any case, it shouldn’t be ‘you just want to survive’. So—”

“At that time, I knew you were lying.”

“Cough… Alright. So?” Zhu Qiang shrugged indifferently. “You knew I was lying at that time, so what? You knew I had ulterior motives. But seeing me being ‘ordinary’ from start to finish, impossible to achieve great things, you simply look down upon me, don’t you? Zhou Qian—”

“Don’t play the wise man after the event. Regardless of the process, the result is here—you have already lost!”

“…Heh, yes, I have lost. I admit defeat. But what are you so proud of? Is the person who defeated me really you?”

Zhou Qian gave a cold smile, his gaze full of mockery as he looked at Zhu Qiang. “You thought I was really caught in the trap and about to die, so you couldn’t wait to appear and even voluntarily reveal your identity—”

“What? You are afraid that even as a ghost, I wouldn’t know who harmed me? Qiang Ge, you are really proud. But…”

“Is the one who defeated me really you? I’m afraid not. I’m very curious. Who is the person directly commanding you behind your back?”

“It was I who defeated you!”

Zhu Qiang couldn’t restrain his anger.

This Zhou Qian is simply too hateful, provoking me even when he’s at death’s door!

But soon, realizing Zhou Qian’s intention, Zhu Qiang laughed in anger.

Reminding himself not to fall into the trap, Zhu Qiang took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. After a while, he even mimicked the nonchalant expression that Zhou Qian often had and asked him softly, “Anyway, it was I who defeated you. Are you unwilling to accept?”

“Qiang Ge, who actually defeated me, you and I know well. It’s the power of a legion. They could deal with me like this… Who knows what they will do to you in the future? Look at Situ Qing’s fate.”

“Why did Yin Jiujiu appear? The legion was using her to kill Situ Qing. Looking at Situ Qing’s fate, do you think you’ll have a better future?”

Hearing Zhou Qian say this, Zhu Qiang restrained himself for a while but seemed to be unable to hold back in the end and burst into laughter. “Zhou Qian, indeed, your purpose was this! You’re out of moves, so you would say such divisive words, right?”

“This kind of trick… I saw you use it on Situ Qing. She had issues with her gambler, so you succeeded. As for me? Would I fall into the trap? Don’t joke, haha… Really…”

“I never thought I’d see the day—you, in desperate straits—could also resort to such amusing tactics.”

“Zhou Qian, whatever you want to say, feel free… I won’t save you! Hahaha!”

Zhu Qiang shrugged. “Alright, I admit. It wasn’t me personally who defeated you. But you don’t have to belittle me. I can still continue to be proud. Even if the legion helped me plan a lot, after all, the person who successfully implemented all this in the end is me!”

“I want to defeat you and feel extremely proud because of it…”

“You have seen through this, so besides sowing discord, you want to disgust me one last time before your death and make me uncomfortable, right? Hahaha, unfortunately, I won’t be. Zhou Qian, seeing you die… As long as you die… I’ll be happier than anyone!”

“And doesn’t this prove the power of the legion?”

“Before, killing you in this game? I wouldn’t even dare to think about it. But I actually did it now!”

“The Peach Blossom Legion is really strong. They enabled me to kill you. In the future… it will bring me more and more.”

“Zhou Qian, you will die. And I, will get what I want the most!”

After that, Zhou Qian fell into a long silence.

It seemed like he had been outmaneuvered by Zhu Qiang in every word.

Now, even he was completely out of options. He could only accept his fate.

After a long time, Zhou Qian seemed to finally give up struggling and choose to accept his fate.

He was pale, with no spirit in his eyes.

Zhu Qiang looked up at him, hearing him ask, “Oh? What do you want to gain from this game?”

Zhu Qiang immediately replied, “After getting close to godhood, any wish can be granted. I can even bring Yu Xian back. Right?”

“Killing him at that time… was my last resort. I will bring him back!”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian actually laughed.

“What are you laughing at?” asked Zhu Qiang.

He’s going to die. What’s he laughing at?!

But Zhou Qian asked, “I’m laughing because… haven’t you thought that I can also be resurrected?”

“Who would resurrect you?” Zhu Qiang gave a cold smile. “Qi Liuxing and the others? Those few have been fooled by you and became part of your team. They will be targeted by the legion!

“Now we’re all in a low-level instance, so there are restrictions. High-level players can’t enter, but it won’t be the same in the future! Everyone will be upgraded to Rank S soon! By then… they can encounter legion members anytime!”

“Can they beat the Peach Blossom Legion?”

Zhu Qiang concluded with a cold voice. “Zhou Qian, everyone will die because of you!”

“You misunderstood, Qiang Ge. What I’m talking about isn’t these little kids.” Zhou Qian said, “You forgot, I just said that I have a master.”

“A master? Who is your master?” Zhu Qiang narrowed his eyes.

“My master is a Rank God player.” Zhou Qian smiled. “So, I’ve realized, since I can resurrect, what am I afraid of? My master will definitely save me. Hmm… your expression has become interesting again. You want to ask who my master is, right?”

Zhu Qiang clenched his fists, his expression involuntarily becoming serious. Meanwhile, he noticed that not only were Zhou Qian’s limbs tied by the dark green grass, but his whole body was almost turning dark green at a visible speed—many dark grasses were growing inside his body.

Wu Ren had the lowest life value and was the first to show mutation reactions.

Now Zhou Qian was like this, indicating that his life value was also rapidly declining, showing a mutation reaction!

Zhou Qian was about to die!

He really had no chance of surviving!

So, what he just said was very likely to be true. After all, Zhu Qiang had also heard Priest mention—that gambler called Mu Sheng loaded himself into the game but encountered a terrible attack from a Rank God player!

“Do you want to know… who that person is, right?” Zhou Qian glanced at his arm, now grown with dark green grass, felt somewhat uncomfortable, and hooked his mouth. His smile looked rather innocent. “Hiss, it’s really weird having grass growing on the body. I just hope my head doesn’t turn green.”

Zhu Qiang: “……”

Zhou Qian looked up at Zhu Qiang again. “Oh, let’s get back to the point. I probably have three more minutes. Do you know why I woke up from that illusion?”

“It’s weird, right? Normally, I should have taken that knife and slashed Zhang Yanjun to pieces, right?”

Zhu Qiang indeed found it strange. He paused for a while, then asked Zhou Qian, “Then why didn’t you do it?”

Zhou Qian smiled; his eyes suddenly became very gentle, as if recalling a beautiful memory. “If it only concerned me, I could act as I pleased and kill if I wanted to kill. But this matter involves Bai Zhou—”

“Do you know that I am a principled person?”

Zhu Qiang didn’t know why Zhou Qian asked this, and he didn’t really want to deal with Zhou Qian. But for some reason, when he saw Zhou Qian’s eyes at that moment, he still shook his head at Zhou Qian.

Seeing Zhu Qiang shake his head, Zhou Qian smiled satisfyingly. Then he said gently, “Because there are too many bad people like you in this world. I haven’t met many good people in my life. So, good people are rare creatures in this world. They should be protected.”

“Bai Zhou is a good person.”

“He has good grades, is handsome, has a good personality, has been the class president since he was a child, and even his sports scores are good… How could such a perfect person be a murderer? So, if time could go back, I would definitely not do that.”

“Now, I have ten thousand ways to give a life worse than death to scumbags like Zhang Yanjun, so tell me… Why should my hands, especially Bai Zhou’s hands, be stained with blood?”

After a while, Zhu Qiang looked up at Zhou Qian and felt a very strange feeling. All the complex emotions brought about by the thought of “I defeated Zhou Qian”… suddenly disappeared. It seemed like he was the one who was sick and couldn’t feel emotions.

Zhou Qian’s eyes seemed to have magic. Or, his ability to empathize and control people was too strong. So strong that Zhu Qiang now dared not look into his eyes, as if he were a god that mortals couldn’t face.

Realizing something, Zhu Qiang quickly averted his eyes.

Then he said, “Hmm, yes. You make sense, Zhou Qian. But—”

After taking a deep breath and adjusting for a while, Zhu Qiang finally dared to raise his head to look into Zhou Qian’s eyes again. “But the choices you made can only happen in illusions. What has happened has happened, and time cannot reverse. And you’re about to die. I don’t think you have a chance to resurrect. Even if you have the so-called ‘master’, even if he is a Rank God player. How can he fight against the entire Peach Blossom Legion alone?”

“Is that so? Let’s not talk about my resurrection. Let’s talk about my illusion. Then do you think… Does Zhang Yanjun deserve to die?” Zhou Qian suddenly asked, “He’s scum; you have no doubt about this, right?”

“He’s definitely scum.” Zhu Qiang replied, “I admit, I am not a good person. I’m selfish and greedy. But in my eyes, adults who hurt children are not human!”

“Oh. Is that so? Then let me ask you one last question before I die.”

Zhou Qian smiled lightly, staring into Zhu Qiang’s eyes with his dark pupils, and asked again, “Why do you know… who Zhang Yanjun is? Why do you know what he has done?”

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 61

Boys actually tended to easily admire their own fathers.

To Zhou Qian at that age, Zhou Chongshan’s only flaw seemed to be that he rarely came home, causing his mother to worry and be upset.

With his concepts of right and wrong still not fully formed, he didn’t yet understand that his father’s gambling addiction was something that was incredibly improper.

Zhou Qian was really too young; he thought his father was very trendy and would play with him, letting him wear the best clothes, ride in the most expensive cars, eat the best food, and buy the most expensive toys… It seemed like he was very good to him.

After all, when he was dropped off at school in luxury cars, many classmates would say, “I’m so envious of Zhou Qian for having such a good dad.”

Zhou Qian admired and loved his own father.

Until he heard that sentence from Zhou Chongshan in the casino.

He suddenly realized that to his father, he might just be an object, just like the colorful chips on the gambling table. It was like he later understood that his father married his mother just because he found her attractive and presentable.

However, after a brief moment of fear and doubt about his father’s attitude, the young Zhou Qian regained his composure, even managing a smile. He felt that everything in the casino couldn’t prove anything. Zhou Chongshan might have just been impulsive at the moment and would surely not really give his own son to a pervert.

Mm, it must be fine. If Zhou Chongshan really lost, he could just pay more money. He was willing to spend money on himself. No matter what toy he wanted, no matter how expensive, Zhou Chongshan was willing to buy it!

But the facts proved Zhou Qian wrong.

Zhou Chongshan did lose, and then actually made an appointment with that “Lao Zhang” at the Purple Banquet Villa 09, on this Saturday.

On Friday evening, after school, Zhou Qian was picked up by the driver and had dinner with his mother.

His mother, Yan Ya, who had long been alone and seldom socialized, looked spiritless and had no vitality, even though she was still quite young.

For Yan Ya, her whole daily life consisted of lying in bed until noon after waking up in the morning, eating a bit at noon, watching TV on the sofa in the afternoon, and waiting for Zhou Qian to come home from school.

The only busy time for her was in the evening because Zhou Qian would come home for dinner. But all she had to do was pick the dishes and give the list to the cook.

That night, after Zhou Qian finished eating and drank a sip of the bitter brain-nourishing soup made from numerous herbs, he looked at Yan Ya, who only ate a few bites of vegetables to maintain her figure.

Taking a breath, Zhou Qian asked, “Tomorrow morning, no, tonight. Mom, can you take me away?”

Yan Ya put down her chopsticks, looking at Zhou Qian somewhat blankly. “Leave? Where to?”

Zhou Qian took another breath and then said, “Zhou Chongshan lost a bet. He wants me to go to the Purple Banquet Villa to play with Uncle Zhang tomorrow.”

Yan Ya’s gaze paused for a moment; her face became even paler.

Then she lowered her head, avoiding Zhou Qian’s eyes, and picked up a slice of cucumber with her chopsticks, softly asking, “You don’t want to go play?”

Zhou Qian retorted, “Do you know what he means by ‘play’? Zhou Chongshan thinks I don’t know. But our health teacher just taught us.”

Yan Ya’s hand trembled a bit, but she didn’t say anything.

Zhou Qian threw his chopsticks, stood up abruptly, and slammed his bowl. “Mom, you…you know everything?”

His voice involuntarily became sharp. It was because what he was witnessing was too unbelievable.

After a long silence, Yan Ya looked up at Zhou Qian, her eyes filled with pleading. “Zhou Qian, last month I forgot to order the limited edition sneakers you wanted. You were angry with me for a long time. But do you know those shoes might cost as much as your classmates’ living expenses for a year? You want the best in food and clothing. If we leave here with just me, how can I afford to raise you? Besides—”

“Your dad can’t offend that man. If he doesn’t purchase from our company this year, the company may face financial issues, and we may go bankrupt. We…”

Although Zhou Qian was still young, he knew he and his mother didn’t need to continue this conversation.

She was a caged canary; without Zhou Chongshan, she didn’t know how to survive.

That night, Zhou Qian took advantage of Yan Ya going to take a bath, sneaked into her room, and found the sleeping pills she needed to take regularly. Yan Ya needed to take medicine every night to sleep. The doctors who prescribed this kind of medicine had strict dosage limitations. Zhou Qian, fearing she would notice something amiss when she picked up the medicine bottle before going to bed, didn’t dare to take too much, only taking three tablets.

Then he returned to his room, picked up a paper cutter, and his bright eyes gradually became dark and heavy.

Zhou Qian maintained a posture for a long time, motionless, lost in thoughts.

Later, his phone rang.

It was Bai Zhou calling him from the home landline.

The phone rang for a long time. Zhou Qian just stared at it but forgot to answer. Only when the call automatically hung up and Bai Zhou called again did Zhou Qian finally pick up the phone, as if awakening from a dream.

At that time, touchscreen phones weren’t prevalent, and Zhou Qian’s phone had buttons. He pressed the green answer button with his thumb, and then he heard Bai Zhou’s voice.

“Zhou Qian, why did it take you so long to answer the phone? Is everything alright?”

“It’s fine. Hey, what’s up?”

“Not much, just a reminder about the class group activity tomorrow. We meet at 8 am at the school’s west gate, then a school bus will take us all to the zoo—”

Before Bai Zhou could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Zhou Qian. “I’m taking a leave; I can’t go tomorrow.”

Hearing this, Bai Zhou asked him worriedly, “You were very enthusiastic when I was collecting opinions about where everyone wanted to go. Didn’t you really want to go to the zoo? Why are you taking leave? Are you sick?”

After a long silence, Zhou Qian, gripping his phone, said, “Do you remember the case mentioned by the teacher in the health class last week?”

Zhou Qian was fortunate to attend a good school.

Regarding the health education class, initially, the school intended to let the homeroom teacher conduct it. However, as the homeroom teacher was quite conservative and old-fashioned in this respect, and after the school leaders observed her superficial approach to the subject, they specially hired a young psychology expert to come and teach it instead.

The expert, worthy of the title, not only spoke openly and directly, presenting many real-life cases from reality, but also knew how to soothe the students’ psychology, enabling them to form correct perceptions so they wouldn’t feel excessively fearful or utterly repulsive when talking about “sex.”

“This matter, when you all reach adulthood, under the circumstances of taking protective measures and mutual consent, happening between people who are in love, is very wonderful. It’s precisely because your parents came together with love that you all exist.

“However, at your age, if an adult asks you to do such things under the pretext of ‘playing with you,’ it’s absolutely not allowed. This is criminal behavior. At such times, everyone must tell their parents and seek help from the police. Everyone must know how to protect themselves!”

As for seeking help from parents, Zhou Qian failed.

He felt there was only one path he could take.

In Bai Zhou’s somewhat static voice that night, he asked, “What happened, Zhou Qian? Why bring this up all of a sudden?”

Staring at the three white pills and a sharp paper cutter on the desk, Zhou Qian eventually just shook his head and understated, “It’s nothing. Just some family matters. I won’t be going. We’ll talk about it some other time if there’s a chance.”

His family always appeared immaculate in front of Bai Zhou. He had always been domineering.

How could he let Bai Zhou discover that his arrogance was all bluff—that he couldn’t rely on anyone in this home?

How could he let Bai Zhou know… that he got involved in such a dirty matter?

The next day, Saturday morning.

Yan Ya didn’t appear, either due to her habit of getting up late or not wanting to face Zhou Qian. Zhou Chongshan, who rarely stayed at home, was exceptionally at home that morning, even warmly heated milk for Zhou Qian with unprecedented gentleness.

He also kept observing Zhou Qian’s expression as if wanting to know if he had discovered anything.

In the end, Zhou Chongshan even personally sent Zhou Qian to the car and reminded him, “Your Uncle Zhang isn’t here right now. You can play with the housekeeper first. He should be back by around 10.”

Zhou Qian was planning something in his head based on the information revealed by Zhou Chongshan’s words. On the surface, he just pretended to be ignorant and asked, “Does Uncle Zhang have Transformers models? Oh, also, I want to play with the toy train.”

“He has many toys there. Take a look. If anything is missing, tell the butler uncle, and he will buy it for you.”

Subsequently, with a “bang,” Zhou Chongshan closed the car door.

In that instant, looking out through the window, Zhou Qian seemed to see that Zhou Chongshan’s expression was a bit complicated. At the same time, his hand was lifted and placed back on the car door, as if he wanted to change his mind and open the car door again.

But in the end, Zhou Chongshan did not change his mind; he silently withdrew his hand.

Redirecting his gaze, Zhou Qian remained silent, leaning back in the rear seat and closing his eyes.

At 9:30 in the morning, Zhou Qian arrived at Purple Banquet Villa No. 09.

An elderly man met Zhou Qian at the door.

Undoubtedly, he was the “butler” Zhou Chongshan mentioned.

The old man looked at Zhou Qian with a complicated expression, but eventually welcomed him in with a kind and gentle tone.

He must have done this many times.

He was also an accomplice.

Zhou Qian understood immediately.

However, Zhou Qian still appeared obedient and innocent on the outside, even acting overly lively, bounding around as soon as he entered the house, scanning almost every room. The elderly butler, holding his waist, had to chase after him to keep up.

Finally, Zhou Qian ran to the kitchen and saw things like red dates and goji berries boiling in a glass container.

He asked the butler, “Is this what Uncle Zhang wants to drink?”

“He doesn’t drink this.” The butler smiled. “This is for me.”

He poured some of the goji berry and red date soup into a glass cup. He didn’t cover it, probably waiting for it to cool down. It seemed like he intended to drink it soon.

Zhou Qian understood and left the kitchen, heading towards the second floor, saying, “So boring. I’d better go upstairs and wait for Uncle Zhang. Which room is he in? Oh yes, please get me a bottle of water.”

“Do you want juice or something?” the butler asked.

Zhou Qian counter-questioned, “What does Uncle Zhang like to drink?”

“He only drinks a specific brand of mineral water. In the fridge—”

“Oh, then could you please get me a bottle of that mineral water.”

10 minutes later.

Zhou Qian was sitting in Zhang Yanjun’s bedroom.

It was the end of May by then, and the weather was already very hot.

But after finding the air conditioner remote, Zhou Qian deliberately increased the temperature.

Midway, through the window, Zhou Qian noticed the butler leaving the villa and going to a small house in the backyard. He faintly heard barking from the yard. He guessed that the small house was for dogs, and the butler went there to feed them.

Seizing this opportunity, Zhou Qian went downstairs to the kitchen and put a crushed sleeping pill in the butler’s cup of soup, then went back to the second floor, looking at the bottle of mineral water on the table.

He had added two sleeping pills to the water.

The room temperature was getting higher and higher.

Zhou Qian was sweating on his forehead and back, but he endured.

Until 10:10, Zhang Yanjun indeed came back.

Through the window, Zhou Qian watched his car go directly into the underground garage, then he likely took the elevator inside the house to the second floor, not seeing the butler at all on the way.

Zhou Qian didn’t know if the butler had fallen asleep, but Zhang Yanjun not talking to the butler and coming directly to the master bedroom obviously facilitated his subsequent plan.

The moment the door was pushed open, Zhang Yanjun saw the less-than-10-year-old Zhou Qian holding a deck of cards and smiling. “Uncle Zhang, you’re back. What do you want to play with me today? Can you teach me how to play poker? My dad is always so impatient. He never plays with me! You are so nice!”

“Poker? Haha, alright. Hiss… I feel that you are a sensible and obedient child. I will play cards with you for a while. Will you… also play a game with Uncle later, okay?”

Zhang Yanjun approached; his eyes fixed on Zhou Qian.

Zhou Qian pretended to be naive and just smiled. “Sure, I wonder what game Uncle wants to play with me.”

Moments later, Zhang Yanjun sat on the sofa and indeed started playing cards with Zhou Qian.

Soon, he couldn’t stand the heat; loosening his tie and removing his suit didn’t help, and he felt extremely thirsty.

“The temperature isn’t right… Why is it so hot?”

Zhang Yanjun stood up and checked the air conditioner, finding that the temperature was set very high. “Hey, what’s going on—”

Zhou Qian exclaimed with a “Ya”. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have touched things. I was playing with the remote.”

Zhou Qian, who also got up from the sofa, picked up a bottle of mineral water from the bedside and pretended to unscrew it with effort. Then he handed the water to Zhang Yanjun. “Uncle Zhang, drinking some water will cool you down. Don’t worry, I haven’t drunk from this bottle.”

Zhang Yanjun gave Zhou Qian a profound look, pinched his face in response, and then took the bottle of mineral water, saying hoarsely, “What does it matter if you have drunk from it? The water you drunk is sweeter, my little sweetheart.”

The room temperature was already over thirty degrees. Zhang Yanjun almost finished the bottle of water in one breath.

As expected, he soon felt sleepy.

After yawning, he lay on the bed and patted Zhou Qian’s head before closing his eyes. “Oh, it seems uncle is old… played too late last night… Now I’m very sleepy. Let uncle sleep for a while, and when I wake up, I’ll play with you…”

Watching Zhang Yanjun close his eyes, Zhou Qian didn’t act immediately.

He first took a pair of plastic gloves from his bag and put them on. After confirming that Zhang Yanjun was asleep, he took out a mobile phone from his pocket.

The phones at that time were flip phones, and the batteries could be easily removed.

Zhou Qian directly removed the battery from Zhang Yanjun’s phone and threw it under the bed to prevent him from calling for help later.

Next, Zhou Qian unplugged the telephone line of the master bedroom’s landline and went downstairs to check.

Zhou Qian found the housekeeper in the butler’s room on the first floor. He was indeed asleep, even forgetting to close the door.

After closing the doors and windows of this room, Zhou Qian left. When the door was closed, he noticed that the sound of the housekeeper’s snoring was immediately inaudible.

It seemed that the soundproofing in this room was very good.

After unplugging the telephone line in the living room, Zhou Qian finally returned to the master bedroom.

He took a glass, went to the bathroom, closed the door, broke it without waking Zhang Yanjun, then collected all the fragments with a towel, brought them back to the master bedroom, and spread all the pieces on the floor.

Then he stuffed the towel into Zhang Yanjun’s mouth, undressed him, raised a piece of glass, and was ready to take action.

Up to this point, everything was smoother than Zhou Qian had imagined.

Because he hasn’t used the paper cutter yet.

It was originally prepared for himself in case his plan was exposed. If he was exposed, he would use this knife to fight Zhang Yanjun to the end, even if it meant perishing together.

But now, Zhou Qian found that he had thought too simply.

Holding the glass piece, he couldn’t do it.

This was a decision Zhou Qian had made after thinking for several days. He even felt anxious last night.

He knew clearly that hurting or threatening Zhang Yanjun was useless.

He had much more power and influence than the Zhou family, and if he only angered him this time without killing him, he would only be harassed by him in the future.

Now he was unguarded, and the best thing to do was to get rid of him.

As for the method to get rid of him, of course, there was only one—kill him.

Zhou Qian took several deep breaths and finally acted after constantly persuading himself for three minutes—

He cut Zhang Yanjun’s belly with the glass piece.

But what happened next was beyond his imagination.

The sight of blood gushing out, the yellowish-white layer of fat overflowing, and a short piece of intestine-like structure protruded…

Seeing all this, Zhou Qian began to tremble uncontrollably.

He subconsciously took out a second towel to cover Zhang Yanjun’s belly, but soon that towel and his hands were all stained red.

Blood…

How could there be so much blood?

How could a person bleed so much?

Zhou Qian, not yet ten years old, was actually a very emotional, exceptionally delicate, and sensitive person.

He loved Zhou Chongshan and Yan Ya very much, so he was extremely heartbroken by their choices.

Such a person was definitely not a born killer.

All rational analysis told him that if he didn’t want to get hurt, killing Zhang Yanjun was the only way.

But now he simply couldn’t make the second stab.

The sleeping pills Zhang Yanjun took weren’t many, and under severe pain, he quickly woke up and struggled.

However, because of the towel in his mouth, he couldn’t make a sound.

But his limbs began to shake violently, undoubtedly causing more blood to gush out, spraying all over Zhou Qian’s face and arms.

Zhou Qian couldn’t take it anymore; he was on the verge of collapse.

Reacting to something, he used all his strength to push Zhang Yanjun off the bed, making him fall onto the pile of broken glass. He then quickly turned and ran away.

Zhou Qian fled from the villa without looking back, darting into the woods behind the villa area.

He quickly took off his blood-stained clothes, vigorously wiped his face and hair clean, then placed the bloody clothes into his backpack and changed into clean clothes he had previously prepared and placed in his backpack.

Then, he started to feel scared. His clothes were quickly soaked with cold sweat.

Is the villa under surveillance? Can sleeping pills be detected?

No…… There are just too many flaws. I simply can’t kill anyone either.

And I don’t seem to have actually killed him. The cut was quite shallow.

I’m not actually sure if the intestines came out… It might have been just fat and flesh…

I didn’t manage to kill him. He’ll get back at me. He’ll get back at me when he’s saved!

Big deal. In the worst case, I’ll turn myself in. I’m still young. I won’t get the death penalty.

Even if I go to jail… it’s better than being molested by him.

Yes, it doesn’t matter if I go to jail…

If this kind of thing was leaked, the shame would fall on my parents and Zhang Yanjun. It absolutely wouldn’t be on me! Everyone will sympathize with me! I’m the victim here!

As Zhou Qian’s mind was in a mess, he felt a vibration coming from his thigh area.

It was only then that he realized it was his cellphone.

Zhou Qian took out his phone and answered it, hearing Bai Zhou’s voice. “Zhou Qian, where are you?”

At that instant, Zhou Qian didn’t know why, but tears overflowed his eyes all of a sudden. He gripped the phone and couldn’t answer. Under Bai Zhou’s constant questioning, he couldn’t hold it back any longer and cried out “Wah”.

After only 5 minutes, Bai Zhou had found Zhou Qian.

In the face of Bai Zhou’s inquiry, he didn’t say a word, except that he felt uncomfortable.

The nearest hospital was only less than a kilometer away from here. Bai Zhou quickly and compulsorily took Zhou Qian to the hospital.

Zhou Qian just cried all the way. He suffered from anxiety and insomnia all last night. Now he had just experienced something extremely frightening. The scene of blood gushing from Zhang Yangjin’s body as he struggled began to flash in front of Zhou Qian’s eyes over and over again… Besides being frightened at the same time, he also felt dirty and nauseated.

Zhang Yanjun’s disgusting, bloodstained body seemed to have merged with his own image. Zhou Qian felt as if he had become equally dirty and disgusting.

When they arrived at the hospital, Zhou Qian was on the verge of a mental collapse; even his blood pressure became abnormal.

In the end, Bai Zhou helped him get a bed in the emergency room, and the doctor prescribed him medication through an intravenous drip.

Under the effect of drugs with a slight calming effect, Zhou Qian’s emotions that were on the verge of going out of control gradually calmed down, and then he fell asleep.

When he woke up again, it was already nighttime.

It was twilight, and the emergency area seemed incredibly noisy.

Amidst the clamor, Zhou Qian opened his eyes. His beautiful eyes stared straight at the white lights on the ceiling, looking a little confused.

It was only after a while that he recalled what had happened.

And when he turned his head to one side, he saw Bai Zhou, who was sitting in front of the hospital bed, peeling an apple for him.

“Zhou Ge—” Zhou Qian blinked and asked him in a dry voice, “You didn’t go through my book bag, did you?”

“No. What, afraid I’ll check your homework?” Bai Zhou smiled and handed him the apple. “Eat it. After you eat, I’ll send you home.”

After a moment’s pause, Zhou Qian asked him again, “You’ve been—”

“I’ve been guarding you at the hospital today.” Bai Zhou’s eyes darkened a little, staring intently into Zhou Qian’s eyes as he added emphatically, “The two of us have been staying together since this morning.”

That night, Zhou Qian felt quite uneasy on his way home.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his actions were too hasty.

His plan of trying to create a scenario where Zhang Yanjun broke a cup, fell on broken glass, and died accidentally was simply full of flaws.

On top of that, he had no idea where to stab to cause a person’s death.

The more Zhou Qian recalled, the more he felt that he had only made a very shallow cut. Zhang Yanjun would definitely not die.

Since he wouldn’t die, his own end would definitely not be good.

Also… did Zhou Chongshan know about this matter now? What will he do to him?

After returning home, Zhou Qian saw his parents, whose expressions were permeated with a different sense of strangeness.

From their mouths, Zhou Qian learned that Zhang Yanjun had died.

Zhou Qian then heard Zhou Chongshan ask, “You went to the Purple Banquet Villa in the morning… and then what?”

Zhou Qian said, “While the housekeeper went to the yard to feed the dogs, I ran away. I know what you guys mean by ‘play’. I couldn’t stay there. I had to run. I stayed with my classmate all day today. His name is Bai Zhou.”

Immediately after Yan Ya spoke up, she jumped in front of Zhou Chongshan and almost knelt down, her face pale as she said, “You’re really overthinking this. How could Xiao Qian do something like that? I did receive a call from Bai Zhou early in the morning. He asked me where Zhou Qian had gone and said he wanted to send him his homework. I told him the address and asked him to find Xiao Qian later… They must have gone together, ah? Xiao Qian is not even 10 years old. What makes you think… He could do something like that?”

This matter, including Zhang Yanjun’s blood, had become Zhou Qian’s most terrifying nightmare.

For a long time, he would feel scared whenever he thought about this incident.

Even when he saw his parents, he would shiver involuntarily, feeling endless pain.

So, he forced himself to close off his heart, not allowing himself to experience intense emotional fluctuations.

That way, he wouldn’t feel the pain anymore. He would still have the courage to face such parents and continue to live in this home.

But from then on, the way he viewed the world was never the same.

Later on, this whole incident had almost forcibly been removed from Zhou Qian’s mind, deliberately so.

Especially Bai Zhou in this matter.

Zhou Qian absolutely didn’t want him to know what he had experienced, so he gradually blurred his memory of his connection to this incident.

Over time, he succeeded; his memories of everything that happened during that time became increasingly unclear.

Until this very moment.

Because of an illusion, memories that had long been buried all rushed into Zhou Qian’s mind in an instant.

It was also at this moment that he discovered many suspicious details.

Like the role Bai Zhou played in this story.

But now Zhou Qian had no time to think carefully.

Because he was still in the illusion.

The illusion didn’t meticulously enact everything that happened in reality.

In the real timeline, a few days passed after the casino incident before it came to the Saturday that could be said to have changed Zhou Qian’s life.

But in the illusion, the casino, constructed of hazy lights, dice, and poker, quickly receded. The scene then shifted to the master bedroom on the second floor of the Purple Banquet Villa.

On the big bed, Zhang Yanjun had fallen asleep under the effect of sleeping pills.

Zhou Qian saw himself holding a knife at the door.

A voice told him, “Go over there. Take the knife and go kill him. You can’t be soft-hearted anymore. This time, you must kill him with your own hands!”

Seeing Zhang Yanjun, all the repressed negative emotions inside Zhou Qian truly surged forth.

He became angry and irritable, desperately needing an outlet for release.

Zhang Yanjun was like a fish, ready to be slaughtered. Zhou Qian undoubtedly wanted to rush forward and cut him to pieces.

He was no longer the child who couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He could easily kill Zhang Yanjun, just as he had killed Li Dafu, who was similar to Zhang Yanjun, in the instance.

Killing should indeed be very easy!

Venting anger should also, inherently, be an easy thing!

He just needed to hold the knife in hand and go over there!

There was nothing simpler than this…

On the other side.

Zhu Qiang, perched in the tree, laughed sinisterly.

With a voice only he could hear, he said in a low and gloomy tone, “Yes, Zhou Qian… Take the knife. Go there. As long as you go… you can have your revenge.”

“Two more steps forward… and you’ll fall into the swamp. Then you go to the underworld—and take your revenge!”

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