Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

Chapter 55

Upon the command of the small town’s mayor, the squad behind him immediately approached the players. Almost simultaneously, the seven players acted to hide all the crystal balls on them into their bags.

The bags and system watches were assigned to the players by the system; they all belong to something outside the instance logic, and NPCs would directly ignore them. Thus, even though the clothes the players were wearing were very suspicious, no crystal balls or similar witchcraft items were found on them.

Five minutes later, the players were invited into a very spacious commercial vehicle.

The players sat in three rows, with five men at the back and two women arranged in the front row, each held at gunpoint by two individuals.

In front of these three rows of seats, the mayor sat on a solitary, revolving, high-grade leather chair. Facing all the players, he scrutinized them with a discerning gaze.

“Hello, I’m Ryan.” After a long while, the mayor spoke in a deep and pleasant voice. “Hmm… Although all of you are dressed in witches’ clothing, there are five men, so we can temporarily exclude suspicion. As for the two ladies, sorry, we need to interrogate you separately.”

At this moment, Yin Jiujiu felt utterly drained. She never thought that, having just exploited her female identity to outmaneuver her teammates, she would now find herself in a predicament due to this very identity, along with her enemy, Situ Qing.

If she defended herself now, she would inevitably have to defend Situ Qing as well, but she had no choice.

A feeling of the turning of fortune arose in her heart. Yin Jiujiu frowned and said, “The seven of us are tourists who accidentally entered Beautiful Flower Town. We don’t even know what witches are. We were discovered by them in the town and then taken away. These clothes were also forced on us. We are definitely not witches.”

“Don’t worry. Beautiful Flower Town is a quiet, tranquil, and peace-loving town. As long as it’s confirmed that you are not witches, I will, of course, let you go,” Mayor Ryan said to her and glanced out of the window. “You accidentally entered Beautiful Flower Town? I am sorry you had to see such a dreadful town. Fortunately, we have completed the reconstruction work in the south. What you are about to see… will be a completely new town. I hope this will change your impression of this place.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian also looked out the window. When they were taken away from the magical town by Sarah and the other witches, he had only glimpsed the new southern town from the edge of the forest and hadn’t seen its full view.

The commercial vehicle was now taking another road—a mountain road not obstructed by any tall trees. Hence, from the high terrain of Weir Mountain, Zhou Qian could clearly see the appearance of the new southern town below the mountain.

This town was very different from his initial imagination. Each house was designed in a fluid shape, saving space and looking very technological; every piece of material used in the buildings there seemed to be extraordinary.

In short, the whole town looked quite upscale. Even from a distance, one could see that it was a town with a very advanced level of technology.

Withdrawing his gaze, Zhou Qian looked at both sides of the mountain road.

There were railings on both sides, plastered with signs reading “Warning”, “Research Base”, “Production Base”, “Unauthorized Personnel Keep Out”, and the like.

Seeing this, Zhou Qian couldn’t help recalling his conversation with Eva on the bus. On the way to Weir Mountain, besides showing Eva the diary and receiving a “phone” from her, Zhou Qian had also specifically inquired about Weir Mountain.

He asked Eva, “Is Weir Mountain a famous mountain locally?”

“A long time ago, the town’s electricity all came from Weir Mountain,” Eva said. “There’s a power station there. So… yes, Weir Mountain is famous; the residents of the town have an attachment to it. They worship this mountain.”

“Then… why is there a strawberry field near the power station?” Zhou Qian asked.

Eva said, “The power station—that was a matter of many years ago. Later, with the advent of newer power generation technologies, the power station at Weir Mountain was decommissioned. It once became an open tourist attraction, allowing people to visit and witness this great technology. It was only re-closed last year.”

“In short… many townspeople indeed worship the mayor and also admire the Weir Mountain power station. The mayor is the leader in technology. The townspeople regard him as a godlike figure, believing that he has indeed brought a lot of conveniences to everyone… People like the mayor, like Weir Mountain, so the town has been developing tourism around Weir Mountain, thus the existence of things like strawberry fields.”

Concerning more details, like what technology the power station used, Eva didn’t know.

According to her, many people in the town only knew that the mayor was very smart and powerful and had a background as a scientist. But what field he specialized in and his accomplishments in that field, no one could say.

However, at this point, even though Eva couldn’t provide more information, a very terrifying speculation was slowly forming in Zhou Qian’s mind.

He checked his life points, and the number recorded was “18”.

They hadn’t delayed here for too long, but the value had already sharply decreased by 4 points. It showed that Weir Mountain was indeed a place with substantial problems.

Fortunately, since getting into this luxury commercial vehicle, the countdown on the card had slowed down, almost the same as when they were at the witches’ base. Seeing this, Zhou Qian temporarily put away the card. He didn’t speak all the way, just leaning back in his chair, closing his eyes to rest, and quietly waiting for the commercial vehicle to take them to a new town.

40 minutes later. The players arrived at a place similar to a town hall. The building was built in a circular shape, with semi-transparent material connecting the building to the ground, and from a distance, it seemed like the entire circular building was floating in mid-air, which was quite an awe-inducing sight.

The players, with guns pointed at their heads, had just walked into the hall when the mishap occurred—

Wu Ren, whose one life point card had been cleared and the other card only had “2” left, collapsed unexpectedly. His head hitting the smooth floor made a “bang”, attracting the attention of everyone in the hall.

There were many working staff coming and going here; they all seriously looked at Wu Ren, who was lying on the ground, exchanging extremely frightened glances with each other.

Mayor Ryan was also quite serious; he raised his hand to call over two subordinates and said in a low tone, “Take him to the isolation treatment room. Have the rest undergo a unified examination. Also… take those two women to the interrogation room to see if they are witches.”

By this time, Yin Jiujiu, Situ Qing, and Zhou Qian had all recovered their strength. Hearing this, Yin Jiujiu immediately clenched her wine gourd, seemingly wanting to resist. She knew her actions had offended all her teammates except Li Buhui.

If she were imprisoned, no one would come to her rescue! On the other side, Situ Qing looked at Zhou Qian, seemingly to see his opinion. Soon she received a message from Zhou Qian through the system. “Eva mentioned before that two witch companions disappeared on Weir Mountain; maybe they are also in the interrogation room. Try to find them and talk to them.”

Seeing this, Situ Qing relaxed the hand holding the bell in her bag. Under the indication of the NPC in soldier uniform, she extended her wrists without any intention to resist, and then she was handcuffed and taken away.

Yin Jiujiu raised her gourd, seemingly wanting to fight. But the soldier shot faster, and something like an electric current quickly hit her wrists.

With both hands powerless, Yin Jiujiu almost clenched her teeth with willpower to hold on, so she didn’t let the weapon gourd fall from her hand, but she indeed couldn’t release her skills and could only breathe angrily.

Before being taken away, Yin Jiujiu, as if thinking of something, turned her head and looked at Zhou Qian with very complicated eyes. Zhou Qian looked at her calmly and mouthed to her, “Now you can only cooperate with Situ Qing.”

The implication was that if she refused to cooperate, Zhou Qian would also refuse to help her. Receiving Zhou Qian’s gaze, Yin Jiujiu glared at him fiercely and was taken away with gritted teeth.

The situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for the players.

Situ Qing and Yin Jiujui, one DPS and one tank, were directly taken away for interrogation. Another powerful DPS, Wu Ren, was unconscious and was also taken away.

Those still present were only Zhou Qian, Qi Liuxing, Ke Yuxiao, and Li Buhui, four people.

These four were quickly taken to a place called the “Isolation Testing Room”.

They each stood on a platform, and soon, two people in white protective suits came in, each holding a large sprayer, gesturing to the players to hold their breath and close their eyes before spraying them intensively.

Finally, those two left, and the room’s door was closed, and white gas sprayed from the ceiling, enveloping and washing over the four people. This was repeated three times.

After about ten minutes, the four were asked to change into regular clothes and then were taken to a reception room. A female staff member came over and poured them water, saying that Mayor Ryan would come to talk to them in a while.

This female staff member was wearing a loose dress, and her abdomen was visibly protruding, seemingly pregnant. She politely greeted everyone and was about to leave after placing the kettle down when Zhou Qian stopped her, his gaze unintentionally lingering on her abdomen before meeting her brown eyes. “Excuse me for asking, your child—”

“Oh… just four months,” the staff member smiled, touching her belly, then her eyes became slightly melancholic.

Zhou Qian caught her melancholy immediately. “My sister lost her child in the disaster. I wish she could, like you, move past the grief and have another child with her husband… Maybe it would comfort her. We have to keep moving forward.”

“Your sister’s child also…” The staff member sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. “What a tragedy… which child could survive such an incident…”

“What exactly happened? Who did this…” Zhou Qian pretended to be angry, slamming his fist on the table. “My niece was the most innocent and adorable. I can’t believe…”

“It seems… you are really not their accomplices.” The staff member frowned, anger in her eyes. “It’s certainly the witches’ doing! They keep harming people! We executed several witches last year. The townspeople hate the witches, and the witches hate the townspeople. This is their revenge on the whole town! Luckily…”

She shook her head, saying with relief, “Luckily, Mayor Ryan had planned the town relocation in advance. Although our old home was destroyed, we were able to move into a new one immediately… Haa…”

The suspicions about the mayor were growing.

Zhou Qian’s hand, placed under the table, slightly tightened as he asked the staff member again, “But where do these witches get such great ability? How did they do it? I heard that fireworks were set off on the night of the music festival. Could the emergence of the evil spirits be related to the fireworks? Do you know what’s the deal with those fireworks?”

“Fireworks? I don’t recall fireworks being set off that night…” The staff member recalled. “After the tragedy occurred, we didn’t immediately go up the mountain. The mayor was afraid that something would happen to us, so he let us stay away from the town first. Until… until the mayor let the research institute develop protective gear capable of resisting evil spirits. With the protective gear, he allowed us to act. Later, we, wearing protective gear, went to Mount Weir for an investigation… Indeed, we found fireworks. Those are the fireworks that are set off every year at the Strawberry Festival. But this year’s fireworks weren’t set off, they were still behind the square halfway up the mountain, all sealed in boxes.”

At this point in the conversation, beeping sounds came from the staff member, as if someone was contacting her. Then she nodded to Zhou Qian and the others and quickly left.

The large meeting room was temporarily left with only four players.

“So… what do you all think about the current situation?” The one who asked this was Li Bu Hui.

Zhou Qian raised his eyelids and glanced at him with profound meaning but did not respond immediately.

Realizing something, Li Buhui hastily said, “Is it because of Yin Jiujiu that you have a bad impression of me? Don’t be like that. Well… I had to cling to her to get the chance to enter this instance. Whatever she asks of me, I listen to her. I am just her follower, so I don’t have a choice. I am merely seeking to survive. I haven’t done anything wrong. Now, good… Both of them are locked up. This…”

Zhou Qian withdrew his gaze and didn’t look at Li Bu Hui anymore. He started to examine the conference room.

There was no visible air conditioning unit in the conference room, yet the walls seemed to breathe, providing ample oxygen and maintaining a very constant temperature, making it very comfortable.

Including the door…from inside this room, one couldn’t distinguish where the door was. It was seamless with the walls. It seemed that the technology of this town had indeed reached an advanced stage.

Then Zhou Qian asked, “What do you think about the ‘fireworks’ at the music festival?”

“The tickets for the Strawberry Music Festival had a background of fireworks… but according to the female staff member we spoke to earlier, there were no fireworks that night.” Qi Liuxing said, “But Lily’s diary explicitly mentioned fireworks blooming like shooting stars… Perhaps the root of the tragedy is related to the fireworks.”

Zhou Qian nodded and continued. “On the way to Weir Mountain, I asked Eva; she said there’s an abandoned power station on Weir Mountain. The power station used some advanced technology that brought much convenience to people’s lives. So, it was turned into a tourist attraction but was closed again last year. We can speculate… maybe it reopened this year, perhaps conducting some secret experiments.”

“I think we can make bold assumptions at this time,” Zhou Qian continued. “If the ‘monsterization’ of children’s bodies and the strange transformations of flora and fauna have nothing to do with magical fantasy, then it can only be explained scientifically. For example—‘genetic’ mutation.

“Based on this, we can also speculate what happened in this town. Look… the mayor and the soldiers he brought were all wearing special protective suits. What are those suits protecting against?”

At this moment, Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao almost simultaneously murmured the word, “Radiation.”

“Right. It’s radiation.” Zhou Qian said, “I suspect that the power station is something like a nuclear power plant. Assuming all our deductions are correct, last year this power station was secretly restarted, but for some reason… the mayor didn’t inform the other townspeople.”

“So, the festival proceeded as usual on the day of the music festival. Everyone sang, ate strawberries… and then a nuclear explosion-like accident occurred. The real fireworks that night hadn’t been set off yet. But the reason the children saw ‘beautiful fireworks like shooting stars’ was merely because some reactor at the power station had a problem, leading to an explosion.”

The power station was built at the highest point of the Weir Mountains.

The festival was held on the hillside of one of the mountains.

An explosion occurred at the mountain-top power station, and “flames” rushed from the experimental laboratory at the top of the mountain towards the night sky, creating fireworks, then turning into rain-like ash falling from the sky.

Unsuspecting children on the hillside plaza saw this scene and thought it was this year’s special edition of fireworks, just like shooting stars.

So, the children ran, laughed, played, and made wishes in the radioactive dust…

But they didn’t know, every particle of this dust had strong radioactivity.

The children went home covered in radioactive dust, and the radiation caused genetic mutations in their bodies, altering their appearances over time.

Then, they were seen as “possessed by evil spirits” by the ignorant witches.

Lily must have suffered immensely during her “mutation” due to radiation.

But she was locked up by her ignorant mother, even had her fingers and palm cut off, and eventually died in endless pain.

However, Lily was just one of countless tragedies.

Many children in the town went through similar experiences.

The explosion that night was already a massive accident.

But Zhou Qian knew that the accident was just the beginning of the tragedy.

Faced with such truth, Qi Liuxing felt suffocated.

He clenched his fists tightly for a long time before loosening them and asking Zhou Qian, “Then…what about Lina’s death? Didn’t we leave the study after answering correctly?”

Zhou Qian said, “That’s only the truth in Lina’s cognition. After all, that night in her memory, all the adults went on vacation to the neighboring town, leaving only Lily by her side.”

“Also, do you remember I asked Eva something about what she saw when she returned home in the early morning the next day?”

Qi Liuxing’s eyes widened involuntarily, muttering, “She said Lily was unconscious. She thought, Lily fainted temporarily because her body couldn’t bear the power of the evil spirit…”

“Eva also said, she took the opportunity to anesthetize Lily, cut off her fingers, and decided to summon her daughter’s soul…”

“Correct,” Zhou Qian said. “So, I suppose there’s no need for me to explain what the real truth is.”

Qi Liuxing’s face turned pale. “No need to explain. I understand. I originally wanted to ask… It’s one thing if it’s just one or two people, but why do all witches similar to Eva uniformly believe that their children are murderers possessed by evil spirits…

“Everyone has been manipulated. This is a shocking conspiracy. This is too, too horrifying…”

“Who the hell did these things—!”

Qi Liuxing couldn’t speak the rest of his words.

Because the doors of the conference room opened on their own, and someone came in.

After the person entered, the door, which separated and merged into the wall like water, slid out again in the same manner. The door then blended with the wall, indistinguishable.

It was Mayor Ryan.

This time, he wasn’t wearing goggles or protective gear and was dressed in just a suit.

He had golden hair, and his blue eyes were as mysterious as a lake.

When he sat down facing the four players, he asked with a smile in his eyes, “I am here to ask you some questions. Why were you all at Weir Mountain?”

Everyone was immersed in the shock of facing the brutal truth.

A moment later, Zhou Qian was the first to speak. “We were forcibly taken by the witches. They had us follow them up the mountain to search. We still don’t know what they wanted us to find.”

After answering, Zhou Qian took the initiative and asked, “What exactly is going on with this town?”

“Why don’t you first tell me what you all have seen?” Ryan asked.

Zhou Qian replied, “Monsters, giant flowers, even faces on the flowers… We also saw bodies, but those bodies weren’t like humans but like monsters. That’s about it. Is all of this caused by some evil magic?”

Ryan had the typical Western appearance, with very fair skin, and pronounced features.

As the mayor, he seemed to have great sympathy for the town’s residents, and he had high empathy. Hearing Zhou Qian’s words, his face showed great pain and anger.

After taking several deep breaths, Ryan calmed himself and said, “Of course, all of this is done by the witches. ‘The horror of the flower of evil… it blooms at the edge of hell…’ all witches are horrifying and malicious flowers of evil!”

The real flower of evil is probably not the witches, but you, the mayor, and the malicious intentions behind all of this.

This was what Zhou Qian thought in his heart, but on the surface, he just maintained an apparently very innocent and sincere smile.

All the doubts and incongruities had explanations.

The only thing Zhou Qian didn’t understand was—what experiments were being conducted in the power station after the restart, or rather, what research was the mayor conducting.

According to Zhou Qian’s understanding, radiation could cause cancer and mutations in unborn children.

Now in this instance, animals and plants had experienced such a degree of genetic mutation, obviously, the actual situation was much more complicated. Like butterflies having grown something similar to human legs—it was as if it copied a part of human genes.

Ryan took a deep breath, looked at Zhou Qian and the others. “Actually, I am willing to believe that you are not in league with the witches. After testing, indeed, there are no evil spirits or anything on you. How about this, I will take you to see a place. Let’s experience the new vitality of the town together.”

After finishing speaking, Ryan really led the four players out of the reception room.

Accompanied by a dozen soldiers, they reached the 11^th floor by elevator.

The moment they stepped out of the elevator, the scene the players saw was truly beyond expectation.

It was like a maternity hospital here. The people walking in the corridor, those sitting together talking in the rest area… all were pregnant women.

And the banners hanging around the floor were all encouraging childbirth, saying “For every additional child born, receive a government subsidy of three thousand yuan per month”, “Pregnant women can be properly cared for at the government’s childbirth center”, and so on.

“The witches are hateful flowers of evil. They killed all the children in the town.”

Mayor Ryan’s pleasing voice came again, but it carried a chilling tone.

“Fortunately, people have recovered from the pain. Through some incentive measures, people are still willing to have children again. Beautiful Flower Town will not be destroyed by the witches. The next generation… is coming soon. We humans, still have a future.”

The author has something to say:

1. The remaining part of the truth will be revealed tomorrow if there is still anything unclear.
2. The inspiration for this story comes from the Chernobyl incident.
3. One thing that must be clarified is that Epoh, Jiang Yuqing, including the mayor here—their character settings are all part of the instance plot and have nothing to do with Bai Zhou himself. Please do not let the character setting of the mayor affect your perception of Zhouzhou.

As mentioned earlier, Rank God players loading into NPCs can appropriately use the game rules to increase game difficulty and test the “Shepherd” they have chosen, but they cannot change the plot and character settings. In terms of plot and character setup, Bai Zhou is essentially just an observer living inside the NPC.

Kinky Thoughts:

Speaking of Chernobyl reminded me of the miniseries I watch of the same name. It’s quite a good historical drama which I recommend to everyone.

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

Chapter 54

Situ Qing’s eyes widened. Her pupils contracted like needles, reflecting a semi-transparent object like ice spikes enveloped by intense killing intent and alcohol. This object was close at hand, ready to take her life at any moment.

However, in this critical moment, there was a “bang”, followed by a “zzt”. A current of electricity swept towards her. It opened into a net, quickly enveloping the gourd and the alcohol pouring out from it that could condense into weapons, finally hitting Yin Jiujiu and causing her to collapse to the ground, her limbs paralyzed.

How… How is this possible?

Each of the five witches had such weapons—extremely powerful weapons. Logically, there should be no way for the players to escape from them!

In fact, the reason why the witches were rated Rank S, aside from the game setting and their substantial amount of health, was mainly due to the empowerment of their weapons. Their attack power shouldn’t be at Rank S; it was all due to these unerring weapons.

Under such circumstances… how did Zhou Qian and the others escape?

Wait, even if Zhou Qian and the others could escape, how could they even seize such a weapon and even… even return?

Did Zhou Qian guess her plan all along?

Yin Jiujiu crawled on the ground, frowning, forcing herself to raise her head with her hands, and indeed saw Zhou Qian and the others walking over.

Before, it was Zhou Qian and Qi Liuxing carrying Wu Ren.

Now the situation had changed. Wu Ren was being supported by Ke Yuxiao, and the person holding the witch’s weapon, who just attacked her, is also Ke Yuxiao.

As for Zhou Qian, he seemed to be leaning on Qi Liuxing as if he had no bones, and he too seemed to be affected, paralyzed due to the attack. At the same time, Zhou Qian was holding a small round object in his hand that couldn’t be identified.

As Yin Jiujiu was astonished, she met Zhou Qian’s smiling eyes.

She felt an extreme sense of foreboding from his smile.

What… What exactly is going on?

……

Moments earlier.

Zhou Qian and the three men escaped into the bushes, followed by the five witches.

If they had attacked the bushes impulsively due to not finding anyone, all four of them might have been affected and paralyzed.

Therefore, Zhou Qian jumped out first at a critical moment, attracting all firepower, becoming the target—at least three electric shots were aimed at him. Fortunately, his estimates were quite accurate; he fell to the ground and couldn’t use much strength but was still alive.

Before this, Zhou Qian had asked Situ Qing, who was affected, to pick up the stone from the ground to see if a person who was affected could still exert a little strength. Since Situ Qing could pick up the stone after being affected—

Of course, Zhou Qian could still use his strength to make a call.

While Zhou Qian attracted the witches’ attention and fell to the ground, the five witches checked his condition, and after confirming that he couldn’t move, they continued to search for his three teammates.

The time Zhou Qian bought was enough for them to run a certain distance, so they wouldn’t be affected by the witches’ random shots at the bushes and lose their strength.

When the witches turned around, Zhou Qian pulled out a small round object and dialed “26-111”—the mayor’s hotline he saw on his way to the witches’ base.

“Hello, mayor, I’ve been attacked by the witches. I’m in the southern part of Weir Mountain… maybe you can track my location? Oh, you can see it. That’s great.”

“If I die, I will have evidence that they indeed harm people…”

The witches heard his words, stopped immediately, turned around, and looked at him. After a period of hesitation, struggle, and contemplation, they surprisingly made a unified choice—to run.

During this, Qi Liuxing supported Wu Ren from the depths of the bushes, and Ke Yuxiao quickly followed the direction the witches were running, taking out his weapon, a long flute. The moment the flute sound rang, a sound wave targeted a witch’s wrist from a distance.

The witch, in her hurry to escape, dropped her weapon due to the pain and didn’t pick it up, immediately running with her teammates.

The four didn’t chase the witches but quickly went back to rescue Situ Qing, leading to the present scene.

Time returned to this moment.

Zhou Qian looked down at Yin Jiujiu, then glanced at the acquiescent Li Buhui behind her, and finally looked at the others.

“On the way to the witches’ headquarters, we can see the mayor’s hotline, a clear hint that when we encounter difficulties with the witches, we can seek help from the mayor. That’s one thing.”

“Secondly, the mayor, along with the rest of the townspeople, all despise the witches. The witches and the mayor are on opposite sides. If the witches want to harm us, the mayor will indeed help us.”

“Thirdly, on the way from Beautiful Flower Town to the base, the witch bus only dares to take small roads, hiding from sight. Moreover, just after getting off the bus and on the way climbing Weir Mountain, as you have seen, the witches have been acting very cautiously, saying that the mayor will send people to investigate. They are afraid of being caught, so everyone needs to be very careful…”

“In conclusion, the witches are very afraid of the mayor and his people. The mayor, being the head of a town, may have military power. Sure enough, with just one call, the witches were scared away by me.”

After Zhou Qian finished explaining, the players received a message from the system.

[Beautiful Flower Town North — Witch Base line, a regular clearance route.]

[Player Zhou Qian calls the mayor’s hotline unlocking the hidden plot: Beautiful Flower Town South.]

[Hidden plot has been triggered. Please look forward to the follow-up…]

Hidden plots often come with an exponential increase in game difficulty.

So… even though the mayor had resolved the immediate crisis for the players, whether he was a protagonist or antagonist in this instance was still questionable.

For a moment, the players even temporarily forgot the attempted murder that had just occurred minutes ago.

Soon, it was the would-be murderer, Yin Jiujiu, who brought up this topic.

She looked at Zhou Qian and asked, “When did you guess… about my actions?”

“I originally thought you wanted to kill me. But between ‘going to the square to watch the warlock being punished’ and ‘coming to Weir Mountain to investigate’, you chose the latter. I then realized that your target might not be me, or even any male player.

“In fact, at that time, these two choices weren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. After all, after watching the warlock being punished at the square, there might still be many opportunities to come to Weir Mountain, as the witches often need to investigate here. But to kill a male player surrounded by numerous witches is a golden opportunity.”

“So, if you wanted to kill me or any male player, you would not have missed that opportunity. Is there any better opportunity than when everyone is gathered at the square and execution tools are readily available to kill with the help of dozens of witches?”

“But you didn’t hesitate to say you wanted to come to Weir Mountain, so the only one you wanted to kill was a female player. Among those present, the only females are you and Situ Qing.”

“Therefore—” Zhou Qian smiled. “Just from that one thing, I knew you didn’t want to kill me. And when you asked the witches to attack Wu Ren, or even all the male players, I became even more certain that the one you really wanted to kill was Situ Qing.”

“You exposed our identities, not to take our lives, but to have the witches constrain us, depriving us of the ability to protect Situ Qing.”

Hearing this, Situ Qing, who had regained some strength, propped up her upper body from the ground and sat down.

She looked at Zhou Qian. “So… at that time you were…”

Zhou Qian looked at her, frankly saying, “Of course, there was an element of testing you. But you undoubtedly passed the test. See, you chose to trust me, and that’s how I could trust you. I told you, I won’t let you die.”

Situ Qing was stunned. Zhou Qian didn’t look at her but looked at Yin Jiujiu again.

“Of course, what I said just now was just the first objective. My second objective was naturally to probe your, Yin Jiujiu’s, background. I heard all the conversation you had just now. And I think… most of what you said is true.”

“Now you both have different stories, Yin Jiujiu says Situ Qing harmed her friend, while Situ Qing denies it. But from what I know of Situ Qing, she is straightforward and physically strong—not necessarily a good person. But she is indeed not good at lying. Under the circumstances just now, she actually had no need to lie, so—”

“Shut up, Zhou Qian.” Yin Jiujiu abruptly interrupted him. “I know your kind. You are not really a good person either. You’re not truly vindicating Situ Qing. You just want to temporarily convince me to cooperate with you.”

“Oh, but don’t you want to cooperate with me?”

Zhou Qian asked her with a smile. “You’ve seen it. I’ve unlocked the hidden plot. The achievement rate of this hidden plot is so low… Do you want me to remind you?”

At this moment, even Yin Jiujiu fell silent.

She didn’t care at all about unlocking hidden achievements; she was here truly just for revenge.

The normal clearance rate of this level was as high as 50%, so she was originally confident of clearing it alone.

Besides, judging from the previous situation, this level seems to be very friendly to women…

But now, Zhou Qian had forcibly triggered the hidden plot for everyone.

Facing only a 5% clearance rate, she couldn’t afford to gamble either.

“Wait—” The one who spoke at this moment was Wu Ren.

He turned his head and looked at Zhou Qian with a complicated gaze. “That thing in your hand… a device that can make calls—is it a cellphone? Where did you get a cellphone? The trading hall has similar communication tools, but not in this design. You—”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian raised his head and glanced in the direction of the foot of the mountain, seemingly wanting to see if a certain witch had already left.

After a moment, he said, “I got it from Eva secretly on the bus.”

“Why does she have it? And why would she give it to you? What, what did you tell her?” Wu Ren asked unavoidably.

Not only was he curious, but at this moment, everyone’s curious gaze was also fixed on Zhou Qian.

Zhou Qian explained, “It’s actually nothing. First, I handed Eva her daughter Lily’s diary. Of course, I only showed her the page that Lily wrote about the music festival. I reminded her—her daughter might not be possessed by evil spirits at all. She did show a glimpse of doubt but was soon defeated by long-established beliefs, thinking I was talking nonsense. Under such circumstances…”

Pausing slightly, Zhou Qian continued, “I didn’t forcefully ask her to believe me or to believe that magic doesn’t exist.”

“I just tentatively asked her if the TVs at her home and even the AI Barbie doll in her daughter’s room are still there. So, whether it’s for disguising as a normal person or not, there should still be some electronic devices in her life. After all, electronic devices can alleviate many unnecessary burdens and indeed bring convenience to our lives.”

“I guessed she might still have some similar devices. I did ask her explicitly if she kept any communication tools.”

“To avoid arousing her suspicion, I said at the time… the rest of her daughter’s diary is placed somewhere. After I find the diary later, I will contact her using communication tools.”

“As expected, she gave me this cellphone that can dial the mayor’s hotline. Though she told me… it’s against the rules, and we both need to act covertly. Haa…”

Zhou Qian shook his head. “She also emphasized to me in a low voice that she only kept the cellphone for convenience. She swore she absolutely didn’t betray the Witch Association.”

After hearing Zhou Qian’s words, Wu Ren remained silent for a long time.

He and his gambler seemed to be completely stunned.

After a while, he gave Zhou Qian a sincere thumbs-up.

Zhou Qian’s thoughts were so meticulous, and his actions were flawless.

Wu Ren had taken several blows in a row, discovering his physical condition, the accelerated decrease in life points, and the unlocking of the hidden plot… He felt he might really die in this instance.

But now, seeing Zhou Qian like this, he felt a surge of confidence that they could pass the level.

After a while, everyone heard footsteps.

Zhou Qian turned his head and saw another group of people coming from the main road.

They were almost fully armed.

They wore something like goggles. Special masks covered their faces, their hair was completely wrapped by some high-grade hats, and the parts like the neck and limbs were well protected. Nothing was exposed.

This was a small team of more than ten people; their steps were very neat, as if they had received professional training.

Each was carrying a huge weapon, somewhat similar to a gun.

The leader was tall and straight.

When he approached, Zhou Qian could see his eyes were a beautiful green, like the most beautiful jade or like a lake reflecting the trees.

“Hello, I am the mayor of Beautiful Flower Town.”

The man spoke.

His voice was deep, pleasant, very magnetic, and extraordinarily courteous.

Then he said two sentences.

The first, he gently raised his hand, made a gesture to the soldiers behind him, and said, “Check if there are any witches hiding here. If so, capture them.”

The second, he said while looking at Zhou Qian.

Glancing at the communication tool in Zhou Qian’s hand, he said, “You were the one who called for help, right? I’m glad you’re safe; it seems I came just in time. Come on, I will take you to see the real, new Beautiful Flower Town.”

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

Chapter 53

[Player Wu Ren experiences abnormalities in his body.]

[Player Triggers Plot: People with low life points seem to be more susceptible to evil spirit contamination.]

This was the plot prompt that all players received at this moment. Before the players discovered the truth, the system still used the word “evil spirit”.

Through the mask, Zhou Qian couldn’t see if there was anything wrong with Wu Ren’s face. However, based on Lily’s symptoms, the first part of her to “monstrify” was her face. But the first reaction on Wu Ren seemed to be on his limbs.

Was everyone’s situation different?

Quickly confirming Wu Ren’s condition, Zhou Qian turned his head to look at the five witches. They walked very carefully and attentively, as if trying to conceal their actions. There was, of course, a reason for this.

When they just stepped off the bus and were about to walk up the mountain path, Eva had reminded everyone to be careful. This place was still within the town’s boundaries.

The mayor was still sending people to investigate, trying to find out what happened during the festival. And the townspeople, represented by the mayor, still despise witches. If the witches were discovered or even captured by them, the consequences are unimaginable.

As Zhou Qian looked at the witches, a sudden change occurred. Unexpectedly, Yin Jiujui shouted—

“This Wu Ren is a man, and he has been possessed by an evil spirit!”

If Yin Jiujui was really from the Peach Blossom Legion, she should be dealing with Zhou Qian. Why would she suddenly attack Wu Ren?

This place was already within the boundaries of Weir Mountain. It was unknown what horrific events occurred here, turning so many children into murderous monsters. Even if she wanted to kill Wu Ren, she shouldn’t act rashly at this time and place.

What was she trying to do?

At this moment, Qi Liuxing, who had been observing everything, was truly perplexed. His gambler was also perplexed. After much deliberation, he could only send him a message with the words: [Be careful.]

Zhou Qian, who also received the gambler’s message, got a message from his main doctor Li Xuehai: [Yin Jiujui’s actions are unusual; it’s uncertain if it’s a diversion.]

In the blink of an eye, Eva had already sprung into action. She pulled out something that looked like a gun from her black robe and glared at Wu Ren with hostile eyes.

At the same moment, Situ Qing saw three lines of text sent by Zhou Qian on her wrist system panel.

[We have been wondering whether to trust you or not. Now it’s your time to prove yourself.]

[If you want me to believe you, you have to believe me first, do exactly as I say.]

[I am not like Mu Sheng. I will not send you to your death.]

These three lines flickered and disappeared in a flash. Soon Situ Qing lifted her head and looked in the direction of Zhou Qian, and further ahead, Eva had raised her gun.

Zhou Qian suddenly shouted, “Situ Qing, stand in front of Wu Ren. Use the power of ice and snow to block the gun for him! The abnormal condition appearing in Wu Ren’s body is an important clue to solving the level; we can’t let him be killed by the witch!”

All my skills need to be charged. Zhou Qian knows this very well! My skills can’t be as fast as Eva’s gun!

How can I use skills to block the gun? 

Zhou Qian means… he obviously wants me to block Wu Ren with my body!

Is he sending me to death?

Can I trust him……

Time was only a second, but countless thoughts crossed Situ Qing’s mind. But when the dark muzzle slowly rose, she had no time to think about anything.

When there was no time to use reason and logic to help judge, people could only make choices based on instinct. And all instincts were traceable.

In this instant, all of Situ Qing’s senses and thoughts seemed to condense into a scene in her heart. It seemed like she had entered the illusion related to fire again. But this time, the fire in the rental home wasn’t an accident; it was deliberately set by her.

She always returned to that rental home with a weary body, but after returning, she often couldn’t rest; she had to clean and cook. By this point, the rental home just made her physically tired.

Every time she returned to the rental home, what she feared most in her heart was facing Mu Sheng. Facing his unpredictable temper, facing his jealousy and rage that could erupt at any time, or facing his tearful eyes and heartfelt “Sister, I love you”…

Now she saw herself setting fire to that rental home, burning Mu Sheng to death, as if she had finally burnt the karmic ties of her past life.

Finally, the illusion disappeared. Situ Qing’s back was filled with the burning and pain brought by the explosive shock wave. But she wasn’t afraid at all. Zhou Qian stood in the light of the fire extending his hand to her. Behind him were Yun Xiangrong, He Xiaowei, and even Gao Shan.

She knew she was walking towards rebirth.

“Come with me. Let me show you the real light.”

“You can join us. You will have a new life like all of us.”

“As long as you are willing to believe in me.”

Her original family was broken, so did joining the team mean another kind of family?

Would that family be different? Would it bring some warmth to her?

But they all didn’t trust her… and indeed, she wronged them…

“We do doubt you now.”

“If you want to prove you are trustworthy, then you have to trust me.”

“I’m not like Mu Sheng. I won’t send you to your death.”

Bang—!

The moment the gunshot sounded, Situ Qing had already come to Wu Ren’s side, opening her arms to block the shot for him. But she didn’t die after all. What Eva’s gun fired wasn’t a bullet, but some substance similar to electricity.

Situ Qing’s body bounced and then crashed to the ground, but she couldn’t feel the pain as her limbs seemed to be numbed by the electrical current.

At the same time, she also breathed a long sigh of relief. She didn’t find the situation dangerous, but instead felt relaxed.

She made the right bet. Zhou Qian really didn’t let her die!

“Situ Qing, are you alright? Can you move?” Zhou Qian’s voice came. “Grasp the stone next to you and show me.”

Situ Qing, leaning on the ground, gasped for a few breaths. She didn’t know why Zhou Qian was asking her to grasp the stone, but she picked up a stone anyway.

She tried and found she could lift the stone but couldn’t hold it for a few seconds. She didn’t even have the strength to throw it away and could only let it slip from her palm.

At this moment, Yin Jiujiu loudly pointed out to the five witches. “There are four men here!” The witches, shocked, watched as Yin Jiujiu quickly identified four males in the group, excluding Li Buhui. The other four witches then raised their guns and aimed at the four men dressed as women, including Zhou Qian.

“Run!” Zhou Qian immediately said.

“I-I can’t…run!” Wu Ren said in a hoarse voice. “My legs feel like millions of ants are biting—itchy and painful! Damn, now I know how inconvenient it is to wear a skirt!”

“Xiao Qi and I will help you run!”

After saying this, Zhou Qian gave Qi Liuxing a look, and the two each supported one arm of Wu Ren and instantly hid in the nearby bushes.

Thanks to the mutated trees, the normal bushes became tall and dense, and the three disappeared in an instant. Ke Yuxiao followed suit, disappearing with them into the wilderness.

“We know this place better than they do. They can’t escape. Chase!” Eva sternly ordered, leading the other four witches towards the direction Zhou Qian and the others had fled.

At this time, Situ Qing was still lying on the ground. Her numbness was somewhat relieved, but she still couldn’t muster any strength. She was also a bit confused about the situation and didn’t know what was going on.

Taking a breath, Situ Qing barely turned her head, frowning at Yin Jiujiu’s position.

“Are you crazy? What are you trying to do?” she asked weakly.

“I’ve long seen through the so-called… relationships between each member of Zhou Qian’s small team,” Yin Jiujiu said, walking towards Situ Qing. “Zhou Qian and Qi Liuxing must trust each other the most, Ke Yuxiao is also okay. But you are somewhat lacking. Besides, under this setting of witches against warlocks, he can exploit you even more. As expected—”

“He also didn’t know what the witches’ guns were. He wanted to test it, so he let you block the gun for Wu Ren. Through your experiment, he probed out the result.”

“Of course, I think he actually didn’t intend to let you die.”

“Firstly, if the witches have guns that can kill… why didn’t the instance give some clues in advance? All the ‘monsters’ were cut with a knife, and warlocks need to be tied up and burned.”

“It seems now that their guns are just something similar to stun guns, only capable of rendering people immobile. The reason why warlocks could be easily caught and tied up by them is also due to this.”

“So Zhou Qian guessed it—the guns wouldn’t be fatal. He just wanted you to test the real utility of these guns.”

“Secondly, in this instance, the only ones the witches want to kill are the warlocks. But you are not a man. Even if you lose your ability to move, the witches won’t kill you. So, regardless of the internal relationships within your small team, the reason Zhou Qian let you test the gun is very simple. Just because you are the only girl in your team.”

“If a man gets hit and caught by a gun, he will die. But you will be fine. This is the reason he chose to let you experiment. So…”

At this moment, Yin Jiujiu had already walked up to Situ Qing.

She took out a gourd-shaped wine bottle, opened the lid, and took a big gulp, then looked down at Situ Qing with cold eyes. “By saying this, maybe you will feel a bit better, right?”

“Zhou Qian didn’t do it on purpose. He didn’t abandon you either. Under the special setting of this instance, he just did something he thought had relatively high benefits. He thought letting you test the gun could temporarily save other teammates and also keep you alive. But he didn’t expect one thing…”

Crouching down and grabbing Situ Qing’s chin, Yin Jiujiu said fiercely, “He didn’t know that the person I really want to kill is you!”

At this moment, Situ Qing really felt incredulous and asked, “Why?”

She quickly realized something and said, “I get it, Mu Sheng sent you, didn’t he? He hates me for betraying him? Or… are you from the Peach Blossom Legion? My mission failed, and you want to get rid of me? But I haven’t officially joined them. I don’t know any secrets of the legion—”

“What Peach Blossom, what Mu Sheng? I don’t know them at all!” Yin Jiujiu coldly snorted. “It seems you forgot about Meng Hui!”

Who is Meng Hui…

It took Situ Qing quite a while to remember this person.

She once wanted to level up quickly, so she rapidly ran instances, and of course, she met a lot of teammates and witnessed many deaths.

Meng Hui seemed to be one of her former teammates who died quietly, and she even can’t remember how that person died now.

Situ Qing looked into Yin Jiujiu’s murderous eyes and said, “I remember her. But her death has nothing to do with me. I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding is in this—”

Yin Jiujiu’s voice was full of anger. “Stop pretending! I was her gambler at that time. I saw clearly from the screen that you let her die!”

“Meng Hui was my best friend. Situ Qing, I entered this game and waited until today just to kill you. This instance finally gave me a chance, and I won’t miss it. I must avenge Meng Hui!”

Yin Jiujiu continued, “You might think I am crazy, might think I am insane—how dare I kill other teammates at this time, just to avenge my friend?

“To make you die more peacefully and feel less guilty, I can tell you another fact—”

“The witches now will only tie up men and then go to the square to burn them. Apart from the fact that they don’t have a weapon that can kill in one hit, they need a sense of ritual. For the things the warlocks did to them, they want to retaliate.”

“But I am a woman. I am absolutely safe here. So, when Zhou Qian and the others get caught and tied up, I will save them. I only have a grudge against you, not others.”

“The reason why I have to let them be temporarily controlled by the witches and choose to do it at this time is only one—under normal circumstances, I can’t beat you. But now you are injured by the witches’ weapon, and now at my mercy.”

“I’ve told you everything—the cause and effect of killing you and the subsequent situation of your teammates.”

“Situ Qing, you can now rest in peace.”

Yin Jiujiu said all she had to say.

She lifted the wine bottle high, and the liquor inside it condensed into an ice spike. The ice spike formed, accompanied by the pungent smell of wine, and stabbed straight towards Situ Qing’s forehead, who was lying on the ground, unable to move!

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