‘What the hell is this? It’s one thing to be connected to someone else, but why am I stuck with Situ Qing like this?’
‘Yin Jiujiu, you’re seriously messed up. Apart from me, everyone here is a guy. Wouldn’t it be more inconvenient for you to be fused with a guy?’
‘So annoying! Why can she hear my thoughts directly?’
‘I don’t want to hear it either! If you’re so smart, stop thinking altogether!’
‘How can I control that?’
‘You’re so annoying.’
‘Fuck off! Did I speak out loud?’
‘The “you” in my head is very loud!’
……
Without uttering a word, Situ Qing and Yin Jiujiu could somehow hear each other’s thoughts directly. This made things extremely awkward and troublesome.
However, through this unique connection, Yin Jiujiu made an unexpected discovery—regardless of whether Situ Qing was good or bad, she realized that Situ Qing truly didn’t kill her friend.
After all, while one could lie with their mouth, it was much harder to hide instantaneous thoughts.
‘So… damn it, should I apologize?’
‘Huh? She wants to apologize? This is becoming even more awkward. Should I accept? I could, but not immediately… I have my pride too, and she almost killed me twice…’
‘Situ Qing, aren’t you the noisy one now?’
‘You claim to be smart, right? Figure out what’s happening then.’
‘Then stop distracting me. Let me think.’
After a full five minutes, the two girls finally stopped their mental bickering and managed to move forward despite sharing a leg. Taking a deep breath, Situ Qing heard words related to ‘genes’ and ‘cloning’ in Yin Jiujiu’s thoughts. Not understanding, she forced herself to ignore it. About five minutes later, a strange thought suddenly popped into Situ Qing’s head. ‘Mew, I want some dried fish.’
“Yin Jiujiu, you’re really weird!” Situ Qing blurted out loud.
Yin Jiujiu shot her a glare, retorting, “You’re the weird one! At a time like this, you’re craving dried fish?!”
After a brief pause, Situ Qing frowned. “I… I didn’t think that. I assumed it was your thought.”
Yin Jiujiu’s gaze at Situ Qing grew complicated. A chilling realization dawned on them both.
Without realizing it, had they begun to share thoughts with a third entity?
Wait, the one craving dried fish… might not be human.
With a sinking feeling, Yin Jiujiu redirected the flashlight to herself and Situ Qing. They saw that both of their hands had grown fur, and their nails had become very sharp… as if a part of their bodies had transformed into a cat.
The passage was eerily quiet, so quiet that they could hear their own heartbeats. As they continued forward with a foreboding feeling, they soon saw a cat.
Or perhaps, calling it a simple cat would be an understatement. It was roughly ten times larger than an ordinary cat, with a pair of bird’s wings on its back and its limbs adorned with scattered leaves and grass, looking extremely bizarre.
The moment they saw the giant cat-like creature through a net, Situ Qing immediately grabbed her bell, while Yin Jiujiu quickly took out a liquor gourd.
Both were on high alert, but the creature seemed merely curious, even blinking at them.
‘Huh? New humans? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen humans…’
‘Do they have any dried fish?’
This thought sent chills down Yin Jiujiu’s spine, even more so than when she found herself attached to her enemy, Situ Qing.
At least Situ Qing was human. But now, they were communicating with a cat!
“What kind of experiment did Mayor Ryan conduct?” Yin Jiujiu muttered. “At first, I thought we might have the genes of other species. But now, it seems far more complex.”
“It’s as if all beings—humans, plants, animals—are merging. If we all become one entity, whose thoughts will dominate? This is terrifying. We need to leave.”
Situ Qing furrowed her brows, not speaking aloud but thinking, ‘What is she talking about?’
“Look, who’s the one with low intelligence now?” Yin Jiujui couldn’t help but retort upon hearing her inner thoughts. She then explained in a more serious tone, “First, find out Ryan’s secret; second, collect 24 points. These are the two tasks the system has assigned us in this level.”
“At first, I wondered if there are places in this level that can add points and places that can subtract them. Wouldn’t the task of collecting 24 points be easy? Now, I realize I was wrong. There is a third, hidden task in this level—a time limit.”
Si Tu Qing asked, “What kind of time limit?”
Yin Jiujui explained, “Think of it this way. In the end, all people, plants, and animals will merge into one giant monster. If Ryan doesn’t erect any barriers and allows the radiation to spread across the entire planet, the planet will eventually become a single entity. In that case—”
She paused, then continued, “Plants don’t think, and animals are rather primitive. So, their wills would likely be suppressed easily.”
“But there are so many humans. Each one thinks, each one has a brain. Whose will would the planet follow?”
Situ Qing seemed to grasp something and said with a mix of astonishment and seriousness, “Initially, the system said we were seven tourists visiting Beautiful Flower Town. But actually, we can consider our true identities as just seven ‘brains’.”
“Our bodies may mutate and blend with the environment and perhaps even control plants and animals from miles away. Thus, our physical forms might not matter.”
“We belong to the environment, and the environment belongs to us. This is similar to that mystical concept…what’s the word…”
Yin Jiujui filled in, “You’re thinking of ‘The Unity of Heaven and Man*’. Or you could say, ‘I am the world, and the world is me.'”
*(天人合一) A Chinese philosophical and spiritual concept that emphasizes the interconnectedness and interdependence of humans and the natural world. It reflects the belief that humans should live in harmony with the natural world and follow its patterns and rhythms (the harmony between man and the universe).
Situ Qing nodded. “Exactly. Our bodies uncontrollably merge with everything, but what we truly possess and can control are our brains and spirits. We seven players are seven ‘brains’.”
“If a single entity has multiple brains, who will it listen to? In the context of this level, if the seven of us become one entity, there will inevitably be a struggle for control over the ‘body’. When that time comes, it might become a ‘7 into 1’ situation.”
“This is the time limit I’m talking about. We have to complete the task and leave before the great merge!”
Yin Jiujui looked seriously at Situ Qing. “You’d better pray that the two of us don’t continue to merge!”
At that moment, they both suddenly felt something and simultaneously looked towards the cat. The cat raised its eyes, locking gaze with them.
Instantly, the same scene played out in their minds.
It was a graveyard.
Row after row of gravestones stood neatly aligned. One particular gravestone looked newer than the others, perhaps recently erected.
While the other graves were unadorned, this new grave was decorated with fresh flowers, suggesting recent visitors.
It seemed to have rained recently, leaving muddy paths and footprints all around. The crowds that had come for the memorial had left, leaving only a boy and a girl behind.
On the tombstone, there was a photo attached. The woman in the photo was very beautiful, with a head of golden hair, making her the most popular blonde. Her eyes were as blue as a lake, reflecting the brilliance of everything in the world.
In front of the tombstone, a young girl held a cat in her arms, silently crying as she gazed at the tombstone, seemingly overwhelmed with sadness due to the departure of a loved one. Beside her, a boy picked up his bag, ready to turn around and leave.
In the moment he turned to leave, the girl grabbed his arm. “Ryan, are you really leaving this place?”
“You’ve been deceived by that so-called doctor! It was him insisting on performing that surgery on her, which led to her death! The so-called ‘technology’ killed her! I hate it! I hate the doctor and this so-called technology! Why are you leaving to pursue this ‘technology’?”
“Sister, you’re wrong. The people of Beautiful Flower Town are too ignorant. Mom fell ill because she didn’t have advanced help and overworked herself. Her accident during the surgery wasn’t due to medicine or technology being at fault, but because our equipment here wasn’t advanced enough.”
“I’m grateful to the doctor who came from the outside world. Thanks to him, I realized how the world outside of our town is… I must leave this place and bring back real technology.”
The young man’s steps grew distant, fading from the scene.
All that echoed in the emptiness was the girl’s resolute voice. “You’re wrong. You must be! I’ll make sure you realize that you are wrong!”
The scene ended there.
Yin Jiujui and Situ Qing were taken aback for a moment before reacting.
Both felt something peculiar, as if… as if a memory that didn’t belong to them was directly implanted into their minds.
‘Could this scene be about… the younger days of the head of the Witch Association, Sarah, and Mayor Ryan? They were siblings. After their mother’s accidental death during surgery, the siblings took two different paths—the sister despising science became a witch, while the brother left the town in pursuit of technology?’
‘Yes, it seems so. But where did this memory come from? How did we suddenly have such a memory?’
‘It’s the cat! The young girl had a cat in her arms!’
‘Could it be that before this strange cat mutated… It was the pet of Ryan and Sarah when they were young? We… We really got its genes and can access its memories?’
‘It’s very possible. But I don’t know why it’s trapped here.’
At that moment, due to this scene, all the players received a system notification.
[Players have collected a memory fragment: “Between Siblings.”]
[Memory Fragment Progress: 1/4]
……
At the same time.
Elsewhere, with 30 seconds left on his life timer, Zhou Qian successfully reunited with Wu Ren, gaining 3 life points.
Later, while searching for Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao, they unexpectedly obtained the second memory fragment.
Zhu Qiang, with his legs feeling weak, could barely stand. He gripped the Rib of God in Zhou Qian’s hand as if it was a lifeline, and with his other hand, he clung to Zhou Qian’s shoulder to support his body.
“What… What are you talking about? What did I overlook?”
Zhou Qian smiled and said, “You said it yourself. You’ve seen my analysis in ‘Apple Paradise’ about how game designers like to play with people’s hearts—the most dangerous places often offer players the greatest opportunities.”
“So what makes you think that I would really be trapped by these plants?”
Zhu Qiang: “You…you…”
“In fact, if you used your brain a bit more, you would have found the issue. But when you entered this instance, you thought you had obtained enough information. That was information the Peach Blossom Legion worked hard to collect; it’s very important and very reliable. So, with such a premise, you lost the motivation to think independently.”
“You focused all your thoughts on dealing with me and neglected the information in the instance itself. This is actually the most critical. After all, our real goal is to clear the stage, not to use the so-called traps in the instance to kill each other.”
Zhu Qiang’s face became paler and paler, and Zhou Qian’s smile became more and more pleased.
“So now, let me give you the answer to the puzzle.”
“‘Ordinary tourists cannot survive here… Maybe some changes will occur in you to adapt to this environment.’ —This is what the system told us at the beginning.”
“A very key piece of information revealed by this sentence is that the changes in us are produced to adapt to the environment.”
“Besides, before entering these high walls, the words of Mayor Ryan are also worth exploring. He said we are gifts from heaven, and we can adapt to the ‘evil spirits’.”
“So in my opinion, ‘evil spirits’ refer to some kind of radiation in this instance that ordinary people can’t adapt to. Ryan’s words imply that we can coexist with this radiation, and our life forms may deviate from the norm and undergo great changes.”
“Lastly, it’s all the clues related to ‘genes’ given from the beginning until now.”
“Qiang Ge, why not think outside the box? What forms do you think species or life exist in?”
Zhu Qiang couldn’t answer Zhou Qian’s question at all.
He even somewhat didn’t understand the meaning of the question itself.
Zhou Qian continued, “Wu Ren has leaves growing on him with very unique patterns, like the patterns on marble. We have seen such leaves—when we just ascended Weir Mountain, there were many of those trees.”
“Wu Ren, having the lowest life points, mutated first. And when his mutation began, there were those trees around.”
“The same goes for Ke Yuxiao. He has special ink-colored grass growing on his arms, just like the grass around us. I calculated the time and found that when he began to mutate, he was passing by this ink grass area.”
“Therefore, I suspected at that time that our body’s mutation is related to the environment at that time.”
“And it proved that my guess was correct. Look, I mutated in this place and indeed grew ink-colored grass.”
“Now we can conclude that—when we start to mutate, the ‘mirror’ in the instance will implant the genetic code of the plants nearby our location into our bodies, changing our genetic code and causing rapid mutations. But what’s next?”
“Shouldn’t this ‘mutation’ have some meaning?”
“After my body grows the ink-colored grass, what will I become, and what can I do?”
At this point, Zhou Qian glanced at the location of his left wrist and then looked at Zhu Qiang. “After escaping from the swamp, I received a message from Wu Ren. He briefly mentioned Yin Jiujiu wanting to kill Situ Qing. Additionally, he provided me with an important message—”
“He said that he felt a bit cold while sprinting, and then the leaves, which looked similar to those growing on him, actually went to surround him, as if warming him up.”
After a slight pause, Zhou Qian continued, “This sentence undoubtedly confirmed some of my guesses. So I came to try it out. Indeed, I guessed correctly.”
The voice of Zhu Qiang had already become hoarse to the point of weakness. “Zhou Qian, you, damn it, stop fucking beating around the bush. You—”
“Qiang Ge, look. If time could go back, when you got your first payment from this game, you should have gone to school and supplemented your knowledge instead of being brainwashed into calling for violence all day long. When one acts, relying solely on cleverness won’t do. You still have to weigh your own abilities, especially with technical tasks like killing.”
“Look, I’ve spelled it out for you. How can you still not understand?”
When Zhou Qian looked at Zhu Qiang, his eyes were full of undisguised mockery.
“I asked you just now if you knew that there could be many forms of life. Now, let me tell you a fact—in this instance, after we mutate, we can become a special form of life with the corresponding plants.”
“Take me and this ink-colored grass as an example.”
“I possess their genes, and part of my body has indeed become like them. You verified it yourself just now; I don’t even have blood anymore. But at the same time, these grasses don’t think. I, however, have a brain.”
“The mask on your head should be protecting your brain from being influenced, so you don’t fall into illusions.”
“Furthermore, the reason you haven’t mutated is also due to this mask’s added effect. You think it saved you. But in fact, it also completely stopped you from discovering the truth of this instance.”
“The truth is, after the mutation, I have completely symbiosed with these ink-colored grasses; we have formed a collective living entity. This is a very special form of existence. They, without a brain, will share one with me. In other words… they will obey my commands.”
Zhou Qian’s gaze became profound, and the smile at the corner of his mouth became exceedingly pleasant.
“So, the reason you could see me being entangled by the grass was because I commanded them to do so.”
“As for those chicks finding their way… Haha, sorry, which chicks got trapped by the grass, and which chicks could safely walk up to me, were also temporarily commanded by me.”
“Qiang Ge… There are no so-called traps here.”
“You, from the beginning to the end, have just been played by me!”
By this point, Zhu Qiang had finally understood.
Not long ago, he thought Zhou Qian’s limbs were trapped. He couldn’t even lift a finger because there were traps in the ink grass! He thought Zhou Qian, in his panic, had blundered into a trap and got himself stuck!
He also thought Zhou Qian used a “provocation strategy”, just to provoke him into the trap so that they would both be trapped here.
So, to demonstrate his willingness to kill Zhou Qian, to break these traps, and to walk into the ink grass field, he used the chick props capable of pathfinding, using them to avoid the traps to prevent himself from being entangled by the ink grass…
He was so proud, thinking he could easily see through and break every move Zhou Qian made.
Even just now, when he realized he fell for the card duplication trap, even if he knew he would die immediately, he just thought he had lost in this final step!
But he was wrong! He was completely wrong from the beginning to the end!
Now he knew, all of this was Zhou Qian’s performance!
Zhou Qian was never controlled from the beginning to the end! He could even control these ink grasses, making every strand of grass follow his command!
Zhu Qiang vomited several mouthfuls of blood violently. The frustration in his heart was beyond words.
All his pride, all his meticulous calculations… had become a complete joke!
Throwing knives to test the grass, carefully holding the lighter, sending out chicks to scout…
The actions he took at that time… in Zhou Qian’s view, were probably like watching a monkey show, right?!
Zhou Qian had been toying with him from the start!!!
If, if he hadn’t worn such a mask, he would have mutated too! Being in this ink-colored grass, he would also have possessed their genes and become a symbiotic life form with them!
In that case, he would have noticed! He would have found out that he could also command them!
But he… wore the mask.
Suddenly, Zhu Qiang remembered Priest, who appeared before him before entering the instance.
“All tools are prepared for you, especially that mask. It’s crafted by a high-level player blacksmith. Our goal is to lure Zhou Qian into the illusion. This mask can keep you unaffected by the marshland swamp.”
“Go. We will succeed in killing Zhou Qian.”
The confidence of the past had now become a complete joke.
The mask that could protect his brain, that could protect him from the so-called illusion erosion… It also blocked him from discovering the truth, reducing him to just Zhou Qian’s toy.
After a moment of shock, Zhu Qiang suddenly thought of something and immediately raised his left wrist to take a look.
But the system panel’s message menu was empty, showing nothing.
His gambler, Priest, had sent no messages.
In fact, Zhu Qiang had immense faith in Priest’s abilities.
Before Zhu Qiang entered the instance, Priest’s speculations about genes were very similar to what Zhou Qian had said. He didn’t know the real secret of this instance because he hadn’t witnessed it firsthand. But now, having observed the situations of Wu Ren and the others from his perspective, he should be able to guess!
He should have come to the same conclusion as Zhou Qian: that after humans mutate, they can form a life symbiosis with corresponding plants and subsequently control them…
But why didn’t he tell me or warn me?
No matter how much he doubted, Zhu Qiang could no longer wait for Priest’s answer.
He looked up at Zhou Qian, a mix of desperation and extreme fatigue in his eyes. “So… what are you trying to say? You lowered your health to the minimum… just to watch me act like a monkey in front of you? Why didn’t you just command these plants to kill me?”
“For someone like you, simply killing you would be boring,” Zhou Qian replied. “Your expression now—that’s what’s interesting.”
“Enough. It’s about time to send you on your way.”
As Zhou Qian said this, all the ink-like grass bindings on him withdrew on their own.
In Zhu Qiang’s desperate gaze, Zhou Qian made a simple move—grasping the Rib of God, pulling it from the terrified and weakened grasp of Zhu Qiang, and gently pushing him.
Using the Rib of God, Zhou Qian froze time in a small area.
But outside this area, time flowed normally.
If Zhu Qiang stepped out of the time-frozen area into the normal time zone, it would be as if he’d leapt nearly two minutes forward.
Zhu Qiang had dared to enter this time-frozen area earlier, thinking he could afford to spend extra time tormenting Zhou Qian, relying on the fact that he had picked up four cards totaling 24 health points.
But those were duplicated fake cards, utterly useless.
So, when Zhou Qian took the Rib of God and pushed Zhu Qiang out of the time-frozen zone, Zhu Qiang returned to the regular time point. His health instantly depleted, and he collapsed, no longer breathing.
Life points were a special setting given to players by the instance.
The higher the radiation in an area, the faster these points would deplete. When they reduced to a certain level, players would face imminent death and be in the utmost danger.
However, precisely at this time, players could discover an incredibly crucial hidden setting within the instance.
Players would absorb the genetic information of animals and plants from their surroundings during mutation and begin to mutate rapidly.
If a particular animal or plant was abundant in the environment, players would prioritize obtaining its genetic code, most likely manifesting related mutations first.
When Zhou Qian entered the ink-colored grass zone, his life points decreased rapidly, triggering mutations, and his body grew ink-colored grass. Whether human, plant, or animal, all were affected by the “mirror” within the instance.
Thus, while Zhou Qian was influenced by the grass, the grass was also influenced by him. In a sense, Zhou Qian formed a symbiosis with the grass. The grass could understand the signals from his brain and obey his commands.
Everything happening now validated Zhou Qian’s suspicions.
But he still had one lingering doubt.
If the game simplified an intricate sci-fi setting, then Zhou Qian could predict the subsequent progression—each person’s mutation direction would be fixed. Right now, Zhou Qian mutated under the influence of the ink grass, grew ink grass on his body, and commanded the grass, but that would be the extent of it.
However, if the game didn’t simplify but instead developed based on a more realistic sci-fi setting, the course of events would become complex. If Zhou Qian mutated next to fish after replenishing and then lowering his life points again, could he then also form a symbiotic relationship with the fish?
What if, taking things further, the six players could also absorb each other’s genetic codes? In appearance, everyone would still be distinct, but in reality, all might become the same person.
Excluding Zhu Qiang, suppose only the six players entered within the high walls. Their genes would influence and alter the environment, but they would also be changed by it…
Would everything within the walls—every animal, plant, and human—ultimately merge into one life form?
That life form would become the god of this place—every blade of grass, every drop of water, every butterfly obeying its command. They would merely be parts of its life. It would become the true master of all things.
If things did progress to that stage…
Whose brain among the six players would dominate?
As these thoughts raced through Zhou Qian’s mind, he quickly moved out of the ink-colored grass zone.
He now had only one minute. After sending a message to Wu Ren, he hurried in the direction Wu Ren had indicated. Wu Ren had previously sent Zhou Qian a third message that he hadn’t told Zhu Qiang about—[I’m at the purification station. Only two cards can be ‘recharged’ at the same time.]
After verifying that he could indeed command the grass, Zhou Qian had them wrap around him while he gave his location to Wu Ren, asking him to send over a recharged card, adding, [Don’t come from the wetland side. It’s easy to get trapped in an illusion.]
Thus, only after confirming he wouldn’t die, did Zhou Qian dare to lower his life points rapidly and put on a show using his ability to control the grass.
Wu Ren had informed Zhou Qian of the clearing station’s location, but in order to assist Zhou Qian as soon as possible, he was already on his way with a “recharged” card.
Now, Zhou Qian was on his way to meet up with Wu Ren.
Throughout this time, constant messages flashed across Zhou Qian’s wrist.
[Zhou Qian, you didn’t need to do that. You could have just had the grass bind Zhu Qiang. Why did you toy with him?]
[You took such a risk just to mock Zhu Qiang! How were you so sure Wu Ren was trustworthy? What if he didn’t give you the card or lied about the purification station’s location? Was it worth it to punish Zhu Qiang by reducing your time to just one minute?]
[Forget it, what’s done is done. But you need to put on those speed shoes and hurry to the purification station! Why are you walking so leisurely? What if Wu Ren changes his mind and doesn’t give you the card?]
……
“Hiss…” Zhou Qian quickly glanced at the messages, immediately looking away.
He raised his head, looking up into the void. He wasn’t sure Li Xuehai could see his face from this perspective, but…
He still said, “Doctor Li, you’ve become quite talkative for someone who’s usually so aloof and old-fashioned.”
Li Xuehai responded with: [……]
Zhou Qian smiled, then turned serious. “You heard my conversation with Zhu Qiang, didn’t you? So, I think… rather than worrying about Wu Ren, you should consider which of your colleagues might be a problem. This game isn’t simple. And… where do you think Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao went? When I saw the illusion, you didn’t see it with me, did you? Did you notice where they were?”
Li Xuehai: [They headed toward the east side of the swamp, one ahead of the other and quite far apart. It seemed like they were both trapped in the illusion. They didn’t go south into the swamp. They just headed east. I’m not sure what’s there.]
Zhou Qian didn’t look at the system again and continued heading northwest. He had less than a minute left. He had to ensure his own survival first and then find Qi Liuxing and the others. Finally, he also had to locate Situ Qing and Yin Jiujiu. These two girls were powerful fighters and would be useful later.
Meanwhile, on the other side, in a pitch-black corridor.
Situ Qing and Yin Jiujiu were still trapped in the [Sky Net].
Moments earlier, Situ Qing had used a flashlight to inspect their surroundings and realized they were in a tunnel beneath the ground. The tunnel was lined with high-grade metal and was spacious enough for both of them to walk side by side.
Currently, considering the rate of decrease in life points, Situ Qing had 120 minutes left to live, while Yin Jiujiu had 140 minutes.
Unable to communicate with the outside world, they had to find a way out or locate tools to restore their life points.
“The range of the ‘Universe Shift’ is within 500 meters, so we’re not far from Station A12. We can get back to the surface,” Yin Jiujiu said. “Moreover, the Sky Net’s effect lasts for one hour. After that, we’ll be able to leave. When the time comes…”
“When that time comes, if Li Buhui kills Zhou Qian, do you really believe he’ll take you with him?” Situ Qing retorted.
Yin Jiujiu glared at her. However, she knew this wasn’t the time for internal conflicts. They had to work together to find an exit.
They moved strangely, shoulder to shoulder, legs entangled, both trapped by the net. Using the flashlight, they inched forward like snails, dragging the net with them.
After posing her question and getting no response, Situ Qing glanced at Yin Jiujiu and asked, “Honestly, how did Li Buhui deceive you? I’m not making fun of you. I once had contact with a terrifying group. They told me if I killed Zhou Qian, I could join them. I tried to kill Zhou Qian and failed. Afterward, I decided to follow him. So, understand? If you’re not with that group, then you were used by them. Li Buhui must be associated with them.”
Yin Jiujiu frowned, clearly reluctant to engage in this conversation. But she knew she had been used, and the existence of the group annoyed her.
After some hesitation, she said, “During a time when I was rapidly leveling up, I met Li Buhui. He was useless, just a freeloader. But he was willing to run errands for me, so I let him tag along. I genuinely didn’t see anything wrong with him.”
“Now that I think about it, he only started sticking to me after discovering I had a ticket to enter ‘Flower of Evil’. Actually, I had the entry ticket to this hidden instance for a long time but didn’t dare to enter because it was challenging. It wasn’t until Zhu Qiang casually chatted with me, mentioning players like Zhou Qian and Situ Qing entering…”
“That I decided to join.”
After a while, Situ Qing said, “I’m not a good person. One thing I deeply regret is killing Gao Shan. But before that, I didn’t kill anyone without a good reason. Like when out of five players, only four could survive, we had to fight. If I had Zhou Qian’s wisdom, perhaps I could find a way to clear the game without harming anyone. Actually, my gambler back then probably knew a way, but he wanted to see me kill someone for him, so he didn’t tell me.”
“I’m not saying this to vindicate myself. But I’m not a born killer. Especially after the first time I did it, I broke down for a long time.”
“In this game, I remember the name of every person I’ve killed. But I haven’t killed any of your friends. I think there’s more to this story. From the beginning to the end, you’ve been used.”
By the time their conversation reached this point, they had already traveled a significant distance in the tunnel. Situ Qing didn’t hear a response from Yin Jiujiu, but suddenly a thought crossed her mind—She’d never believe me. She’s just afraid I might kill her again.
“W-What did you say?” Situ Qing asked Yin Jiujiu.
“What? I didn’t say anything,” Yin Jiujiu responded instantly.
“You said you’d never believe me,” Situ Qing persisted.
“I…” Yin Jiujiu’s eyes widened. “You can read my thoughts? I only thought that for a moment…”
Then, another thought popped into Yin Jiujiu’s head—Is she dumber than me? After all that’s been said, she still doesn’t believe me. At this point, why would I lie?
“Situ Qing, it’s enough for you to fucking mock me once. Who would take someone like Li Buhui seriously? I was just careless. I’m not stupid!”
Yin Jiujiu shouted, then noticed Situ Qing’s puzzled gaze. “You can… You can read my thoughts too?”
The moment their eyes met, both of them felt utterly puzzled.
Just then, with a “snap” sound, both of them lost their balance and unexpectedly fell to the ground together. The instant their four hands propped them up from the ground, they both grabbed the Sky Net. Then, they tried to stand up one after the other, but their legs were uncoordinated, like they were tangled with each other, causing them to fall down again.
In the end, they both propped up their upper bodies with their hands and turned to look at their legs. As a warrior, Yin Jiujiu obviously had better physical strength. She propped herself up with one hand, while the other hand held up a flashlight.
The two girls, one with a fiery temper and the other cold as an iceberg, had both seen their fair share of challenges and could usually handle sudden situations with calmness. However, after shining the flashlight on their legs, they were both rendered speechless.
Somehow, Situ Qing’s left leg and Yin Jiujiu’s right leg had fused together.
The author has something to say:
I want to explain Zhou Qian’s ability.
Zhou Qian’s skill is to slow down or even stop time. Take the instance when Gao Shan died: if both he and Zhou Qian were in the area where time was stopped, they shouldn’t be able to speak since everything stops in frozen time, including vocal cords, and sound cannot be propagated.
But in this story, there’s a concept where the holder of the “Rib of God” stands outside of time. Meaning, the person holding the Rib of God isn’t affected by any time constraints. So, when Zhou Qian freezes time and everyone else is still, unable to hear or speak, both he and Gao Shan, by touching the Rib of God, can communicate “outside of time”.
When time resumes, Gao Shan reaches the point in time where he dies.
Zhu Qiang experienced a similar phenomenon.
Some readers might not understand this, so I wanted to explain it further.
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?”
“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?”
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!”
Zhou Qian and his party left the plant that emitted the eerie cries for help and continued to head south.
As they walked, Ke Yuxiao was the first to encounter a problem. He paused, feeling great pain on the back of his hand.
Quickly lifting his hand to look, he watched as a black hole appeared on it. A grass, moving like a sentient blood vessel, suspiciously moved under the skin of his hand before finding the black hole and… abruptly crawled out from within.
Finally, it even shook a little, as if it was satisfied with the current situation—it had sprouted from inside.
At this moment, Zhou Qian and Qi Liuxing had also stopped, both frowning at this curious scene.
Judging by the life points, Ke Yuxiao was the third from the last and also the third to exhibit strange changes after Wu Ren and Situ Qing. After watching the strange grass for a while, Qi Liuxing reached out his hand, seemingly wanting to touch it, but fearing injuring Ke Yuxiao, he eventually retracted his hand.
This grass was probably now a part of Ke Yuxiao’s flesh and blood, so it absolutely couldn’t be carelessly pulled or cut off.
Moreover, unlike the green color of ordinary grass, this grass was more of a dark green, with a more complex texture on it, like the strange patterns on marble or batik, even having some artistic beauty.
“Wait a minute—” After a moment, the one who spoke was Zhou Qian. “Have any of you noticed… that this grass looks very familiar?”
“Familiar as in…” Qi Liuxing didn’t understand his meaning for a moment.
Zhou Qian side-glanced at Qi Liuxing. “We passed a meadow earlier. It had a lot of this kind of grass.”
Qi Liuxing: “Eh?”
“I think you two were too busy chatting and didn’t notice.”
Zhou Qian shook his head and walked back the way they came, wanting to go back and check for further confirmation.
After walking briskly back for about half a minute, Zhou Qian stopped and pointed.
Following his finger’s direction, this time Qi Liuxing did indeed see the part of the grass hidden in the strange forest. There were so many bizarre plants here that a patch of dark green, intricately textured grass didn’t seem out of place among a bunch of exotic plants; it was even amazing that Zhou Qian noticed it.
“Let’s go. Let’s get closer and have a look.” Saying this, Zhou Qian took a few steps forward.
But the moment he stepped onto the dark green lawn, he felt something was wrong—the air here was extremely unpleasant, almost pungent. He looked at the card, noting the life points, and saw that the countdown had indeed accelerated rapidly.
Turning his head, he saw Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao walking towards him. Zhou Qian seriously shook his head at them and then led them back to the main path, quickly opening the system map to take a look.
On the map, all the explored areas were clearly visible and could be marked by players. The unexplored places were still in a non-displayed state.
Zhou Qian reviewed the route they had just taken on the map and marked the area where the dark green grass was located with a red mark, noting it as “Life Points Rapid Reduction Area”.
“I temporarily don’t know why the grass on Ke Yuxiao’s hand is the same as the one here. Xiao Qi, keep an eye on his condition in case of any accidents.”
After reminding them of this, Zhou Qian held the Rib of God in his hand, turned around, and headed south again.
Their primary goal now was to find the purification station to increase life points. The exploration of clues can be put on hold for now.
This time, after about a minute and a half, Zhou Qian finally entered a relatively open area.
It was a large wetland-like area.
They had been walking in a dense forest, and the already tall trees had become even more colossal and robust after mutation, blocking out the sun and making the area poorly lit with limited visibility.
Now it was different. The wetlands were vast, with no tall trees in the middle, providing excellent visibility. Looking up, they could see meadows, lakes, low shrubs, and some exposed mud pits.
It wasn’t yet evening at this time, and the weather was still quite bright. The sky was clear, extending into the endless blue, meeting the green wetlands in the distance, and ultimately forming a light gray.
Such a scene, ordinarily common, became anomalous, surrounded by bizarre plants.
“Moving further, we need to be careful. There could very likely be swamps hidden in this wetland.”
After Zhou Qian said this, he didn’t hear any reply.
He frowned and looked back. There was no one behind him. Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao had actually disappeared.
What happened?
He didn’t hear any noises, so how could they have disappeared?
Zhou Qian raised his wrist, about to try to contact Qi Liuxing through the system, but found the system to be completely blank.
He blinked again. Even the watch on his wrist had disappeared.
Zhou Qian almost immediately realized that he had unwittingly entered some kind of illusion.
Whether this was a trap inherent to the instance itself, Zhou Qian wasn’t sure.
Fortunately, his consciousness was still clear.
Soon he heard voices that should never appear here—
“Raise!”
“I’m all in!!”
“Hahaha, Lao Zhang, you’re likely going to bleed a lot today!”
Zhou Qian was all too familiar with such voices—a casino.
He had been exposed to gambling since he was a child, influenced by his father Zhou Chongshan.
He had been to the casino too many times.
Currently, Zhou Qian had only heard the noise of the casino, yet he was still in the wetland.
But soon the scenario changed. The surroundings, like a colorful ink painting, had water splashed onto it. The colors mixed and rotated, becoming distorted, sticky, and mixed. Eventually, the whole painting turned gray black but in a flash, a new scene was painted—
Zhou Qian had arrived at the casino.
He saw himself, who was less than 10 years old.
From a viewpoint high above, Zhou Qian watched his younger self carried by his father, step by step, enter the casino.
Then, at some point, as if his soul had descended, Zhou Qian fell from the void and into his younger self, viewing this strangely lively and subtly dangerous world from the eyes of his younger self.
Zhou Qian had been pretty since he was a child; his eyes were particularly attractive and clear. When he stared innocently, he appeared pure and naïve.
Such a him, whether in temperament or age, seemed utterly out of place in the casino, but Zhou Chongshan didn’t care and brought him in anyway.
Dice, poker, colorful cocktails, joyful shouts, sad and angry roars… The casino, filled with all kinds of novelties, was an incredibly novel world for the young Zhou Qian.
This bizarre world made him curious but also frightened.
But perhaps inherently fond of such games, Zhou Qian, held by Zhou Chongshan, watched them play cards and began to calculate in his mind. Gradually, he found it enjoyable and forgot his fear.
At this moment, a game of poker was unfolding.
Zhou Chongshan was at a crucial stage of a game against a pot-bellied middle-aged man.
“Raise?” The man asked.
A bead of sweat dropped from Zhou Chongshan’s forehead, but he decisively said, “All in.”
“Lao Zhou, let’s play big. I’ll add ten million more. You can add a little more. Do dare you?”
“Ha… Lao Zhang, you’re really in high spirits today. What do you want?”
“Your son!”
The one called “Lao Zhang” looked at Zhou Qian, who was less than 10 years old, with a sort of sticky, sinister gaze, then he said with a husky voice, “If you lose, give your son to me. Do you dare?”
Zhou Chongshan was stunned for a moment, but soon he decisively said, “What would I not dare? Hahaha—”
Inside the casino, the hustle and bustle continued.
Zhou Chongshan didn’t notice that Zhou Qian, whom he was holding with one hand, instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
Zhou Qian’s gaze seemed unchanged, appearing to be in some kind of vacant state, still looking innocent. Only, this time, within the innocence, there was also a touch of confusion. Not a single so-called adult present, who saw his gaze, knew—in fact, he understood everything.
The room, seemingly narrow from the outside, felt surprisingly spacious once inside. The nearly gray-white walls displayed a noticeable metallic texture, devoid of any pattern.
Outside the window, myriad strange grasses and different blooming flowers could be seen, and occasionally, a bird flying by revealed scales on its body.
In such an environment, no one could feel at ease.
Now, Situ Qing faced the intense killing intent brought by Yin Jiujiu, undoubtedly feeling more weighted. But she decisively said to Wu Ren, “You should leave. You’re running out of time. Save yourself first. Don’t worry about me.”
Wu Ren was quite moved for a moment. “Situ Qing, if Yin Jiujiu dares to act here, she surely is prepared. Since she and Li Buhui have arrived here in advance, there must be an ambush. You—”
“If you stay here, it’s like sending yourself to death with me. It’s pointless. Just go.” Situ Qing extended her hand, clutching the bell tightly, and looked seriously at Yin Jiujiu.
A breeze came from outside the door, causing the bell to jingle. Amidst the crisp sound of the bell, Situ Qing added, “I will try to delay as much as I can. Maybe after you save yourself, you can notify Zhou Qian, and they can come to rescue me. Even if I… never mind. Just… go.”
In the end, Situ Qing wanted to say, “Even if I die, you will know who the murderer is, and can avenge me.” But she realized that perhaps no one would avenge her, so she said nothing.
Unexpectedly, Wu Ren responded, “Sister, thank you. You are quite righteous. Don’t worry, I will figure something out. If anything happens to you, I will definitely avenge you!”
Situ Qing glanced at Wu Ren and noticed he left with teary eyes.
At that moment, her heart started to beat faster.
Is this what it feels like to do good deeds?
Her past life was actually a life despised by others. Because of her birth mother Situ Xue, she was despised by Mu Sheng’s mother, by Mu Sheng, by neighbors, acquaintances, and even Situ Xue herself neglected her.
It was even more so in the game.
She, abiding by Mu Sheng’s demands, walked every step unscrupulously and ruthlessly, earning everyone’s disdain. She thought she was used to it. She thought she didn’t care about the gazes of others. But at this moment, she realized what she truly desired was acceptance and acknowledgment from others.
At the same time, Situ Qing discovered something else. Previously, in life-or-death situations, her first reaction was to raise her left wrist and check the messages from Mu Sheng. She was pushed into traps by him, yet always waited for his redemption.
But this time, she didn’t instinctively look at the system panel on her wrist. She made the choice for herself—to let Wu Ren go and face Yin Jiujiu alone. Whether life or death, it was a duel between her and Yin Jiujiu.
As a result, at this supposed tense moment of life and death, when Situ Qing further realized what she truly wanted, she became extremely relaxed.
…..
30 seconds later.
Wu Ren and Li Buhui, each wearing a pair of fast-walking shoes, were running through the forest of strange flowers and plants. When passing a tree trunk, Wu Ren suddenly stopped. Behind him, Li Buhui, caught off guard, found a visible nail appearing on his forehead.
Li Buhui dared not take another step forward and had to step back until his back was against the tree trunk. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he feigned fear. “Ah, Wu Ge, what are you doing? You can’t delay any more. You are about to…”
Wu Ren coldly interrupted him, “Tell me where the purification station is right now. I’ll go myself. Then you go back and save Situ Qing. Otherwise—”
“I will kill you now! If I kill you, I will get your life points. What fear do I have of death?!”
“Ah… Wu Ge, you yourself said before, we shouldn’t kill each other for life points. If we set such a precedent, the consequences are unimaginable. We would be falling into the system’s trap of making us slaughter each other.”
“Can’t you spare me? I promise you, isn’t my promise enough?!”
Li Buhui, with a grin yet not really smiling, put his hands together in a gesture of pleading.
However, he saw Wu Ren reach for his hidden weapon with his right hand and quickly take out a pill from his bag with his left hand.
“Open your mouth. Otherwise, I will kill you right now! Or we can die together if need be!”
Wu Ren spoke harshly. Li Buhui tightened his lips, then had no choice but to open his mouth again. Wu Ren immediately threw the pill into his mouth and watched him swallow it.
[Player Li Buhui consumed the pill: “I Can Only Speak the Truth”]
[After consuming the pill, the player can only speak the truth when answering the administrator’s questions; otherwise, they will die on the spot.]
[Effective Time: One minute.]
“Were you thinking of casually deceiving me and misleading me haphazardly? You think I won’t have enough time, and after I die, what threat would I pose to you? How about now? Didn’t expect I had this kind of pill, did you?” Wu Ren sneered coldly. “Firstly, quickly tell me the real location of the purification station. Secondly, go back and protect Situ Qing.”
“Wu Ge, really, why use such a drug? I have no intention of harming you, nor do I intend to harm Situ Qing. Right now, we are actually on the periphery of this small instance. We have no idea if deeper inside, there are demons or monsters hiding. If you two key damage dealers die, how will we continue playing?”
Li Buhui looked sincerely amiable. “Look, I didn’t die, did I? I am speaking the truth! I am sincere!”
As he spoke, seeing the nail hovering in front of his forehead moving forward and about to touch it, Li Buhui could even clearly feel the chill of the sharp point of the nail. He dared not waste words and quickly pointed a way for Wu Ren. “Go, please go. I will go back now to check on Situ Qing’s situation!”
No one could lie under the effect of the “I Can Only Speak the Truth” pill. Wu Ren got quite a satisfactory answer from Li Buhui and then quickly sent a message to Zhou Qian, informing him of the situation here.
Li Buhui, or rather Zhu Qiang, actually did return to the clearing station A13, where the two girls were.
This time, no one except his gambler could see Zhu Qiang’s expression, so he no longer needed to pretend and laughed unrestrainedly.
Under those circumstances, he had no choice but to swallow that pill. But indeed, everything he said was the truth; he had no intention of causing Wu Ren’s death arbitrarily. He had no grievances with Situ Qing and had no intention of harming her…
Besides, Yin Jiujiu was actually quite sharp. If he truly intended to harm her, he probably wouldn’t have survived until now.
So Zhu Qiang didn’t exactly lie in front of Yin Jiujiu; what he said in front of Wu Ren wasn’t lying either.
He only said he didn’t intend to harm Situ Qing but didn’t say he wouldn’t go back and make other moves. Under such circumstances, he naturally didn’t trigger the effect of the pill; he just concealed some truths.
In that life-and-death situation, with only a few minutes left to live, Wu Ren didn’t have time to think deeply about his words.
As for Zhu Qiang, his only goal from the beginning to the end was just Zhou Qian.
His strongest reliance wasn’t his own damage output, but the information he got from the Peach Blossom Legion about this instance and Zhou Qian himself. He felt he had completely seized Zhou Qian’s weakness.
With the help of the speed shoes, Wu Ren quickly returned to clearing station A13. At this moment, the battle between Yin Jiujiu and Situ Qing at A13 had reached a fever pitch.
Neither of them used their ultimates, probably saving their critical mana for the possible “monsters” they may face soon. However, the scene was still thrilling.
The jingling sound of the bells continued nonstop; the walls, ceiling, and floor were all covered in layers of ice and snow. In contrast, the wine spilled from Yin Jiujiu’s gourd, different from the sharpness and solidity of ice and snow, was boiling hot, pouring out and flowing freely, intending to melt all the frost.
At this time, Yin Jiujiu could barely see where Situ Qing was. Her vision was completely blocked by the layers of snow. Luckily, water was pervasive. Suddenly, Yin Jiujiu found an opening, instantly controlling the flow of the wine to form a pillar, piercing through a gap in the ice and directly attacking Situ Qing’s chest.
“Swish, swish, swish.” The sound of melting snowflakes falling.
In an instant, Situ Qing’s feet were quickly covered in flowing water. The ground became slippery, making walking inconvenient.
With the naked eye, Situ Qing saw the protective wall she erected of ice had found its gap, the water pillar coming straight at her like iron.
In a flash, Situ Qing swiftly dodged against the wall; her left shoulder was hit by the water stream, and blood gushed out immediately.
At the same time, due to the slippery ground, she lost her footing, stumbled, and fell. The ice and snow immediately fell to the ground with her.
Seeing the situation, Yin Jiujiu was overjoyed and instantly took out a semi-automatic bow and arrow from her bag, aiming it at Situ Qing and preparing to launch it.
However, Situ Qing, having been through life-and-death situations many times and being a strong Ice Queen, utilized the flowing water around her to reduce her charging time significantly. She immediately created a wall of ice on her chest to act as a barrier.
On the other side, just as Yin Jiujiu was about to shoot her arrow, ice swiftly attacked her wrist, freezing her entire forearm. Yin Jiujiu’s right arm almost instantly lost sensation, forcing her to release her grip. The arrow fell to the ground with a “ding” sound.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Situ Qing, who had fallen to the ground, immediately stood up and initiated a new round of normal attacks by shaking the bell. Yin Jiujiu, meanwhile, used another normal skill as a new wave of ice approached, with water continuously flowing from the gourd’s mouth, spreading out to cover the sky and the ground.
Both of their skills were long-range attacks. It seemed like a battle in the air, but the scene was no less thrilling than any close combat. The view in the room was clear for only half a minute before it was again covered by numerous flows of water and ice and snow.
Further obscuring their vision was a flash grenade thrown by Yin Jiujiu, covering the chilly ice and scalding liquor in colorful smoke of a fantasy punk style.
The combination of fog, snow, and liquor created the perfect cover for Yin Jiujiu. During the fight, she intentionally positioned herself near the doorway.
At this moment, if she left the room and activated the [Sky Net] she had set up in advance with the remote control, she could trap Situ Qing inside, making her a sitting duck. Then, she could take out another bow and arrow or any blade to kill Situ Qing.
Everything was under control, and everything was going incredibly smoothly. Yin Jiujiu thought the developments would continue as she expected. But just as her hand touched the door, a trap hidden in the wall suddenly activated!
The indestructible Sky Net began to close, cutting through all the colorful smoke and ice and snow, trapping both Yin Jiujiu and Situ Qing.
The net closed up and hung from the ceiling. Yin Jiujiu never expected that she and Situ Qing would be trapped together. Peering through the net, she vaguely saw someone entering and placing something bright on the ground, which flashed in her eyes.
However, due to the obstructed view, she couldn’t see who it was. All she could do was shout angrily, “Who are you? What did you put on the ground? What are you trying to do?”
Yin Jiujiu didn’t receive any response. The person seemed to raise their hand, and she felt the net that bound her start to fall!
What is this person trying to do? Does he want to drop us to our deaths?! But this height isn’t enough!
While she was wondering, there was a clinking sound, and Yin Jiujiu felt like she hit some glass. She and Situ Qing were both confined in a pitch-black space.
Yin Jiujiu suddenly realized something and exclaimed, “[The Great Shifting Mirror of the Universe]! Who brought us here?!”
“It’s…” She suddenly understood something. “It’s Li Buhui. The [Sky Net] was given to me by him. But the remote control is with me. How did he…? …Was I deceived by him…”
Yin Jiujiu’s heart sank heavily. In the darkness, she couldn’t see Situ Qing’s face, but she could hear her exhausted voice close by. “Yin Jiujiu, I dropped out. I didn’t even finish high school. I always thought I was uneducated and not smart. But now I realize… maybe you are even more stupid than I am.”
Hearing this, Yin Jiujiu could only clench her fists and remain silent.
After a while, she heard the rustling of clothes. It seemed like Situ Qing sat up from the ground, trying to do something.
Then she heard Situ Qing’s voice filled with worry. “Where the hell is this place? Why can’t I send messages through the system?”
After a deathly silence, Yin Jiujiu swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, “It… It’s the effect of the [Sky Net]. It can block system messages, preventing anyone from calling for help. This is… a literal, inescapable Sky Net*.”
*Clarity: The item is called [天罗地网] which is a metaphor referring to a situation where one is surrounded by a tight, inescapable net or trap, much like a spider’s web that covers both the sky and ground. This prop used is literally the meaning of that.
Another deathlike silence ensued, and then Yin Jiujiu once again heard the exhausted voice of Situ Qing. Only this time, her voice carried a trace of mockery.
“Didn’t expect this scenario… did you?”
“Then prepare yourself to die here with me. Or—”
“Do you want to continue fighting with me inside this net?”
Deep in the jungle, such faint cries for help continued to emanate. Zhou Qian frowned and asked Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao beside him.
“Did you guys hear that?”
Qi and Ke, one holding a sword and the other holding a flute, both nodded seriously and said in a low voice, “Heard it.”
At this moment, all three were thinking: Are there other people here as well?
Did Ryan conduct some secret live experiments here? Did he artificially create some monsters?
With great doubt in their minds, the three exchanged glances and still moved towards the direction of the sound.
Along the way, they encountered strange trees and huge flowers taller than a person, growing in clusters with countless stamens swaying between them. The piece of paper that looked like a human face seemed to mock the players passing by.
Soon, the three passed through several strange trees and flowers and arrived at a relatively open area.
Unlike the densely packed weird plants they encountered along the way, there were hardly any plants in this area, and no animals could be seen, making the only grass in the center especially conspicuous.
The grass was tall, reaching Zhou Qian’s shoulders.
It had several slender stems and leaves, swaying gently in the breeze and dancing with the wind. And when they approached it, it was easy to hear that the cry for help was coming from it.
“Help me…wuwuwu…”
“Why is there an explosion… “
“It shouldn’t have… such an accident…”
“Hurry… notify the mayor…”
After the grass muttered several phrases, it repeated the cries Zhou Qian first heard. “Help… Help me…” After that, it kept repeating senselessly.
When he heard it repeat all the sentences in a set order three times and discovered that it was just swaying in the wind without any other abnormal reactions, cold sweat broke out on Qi Liuxing’s back. He couldn’t help but say, “Is this something like a recording device? Or did it mutate into a human and learn human speech? However, it seems to have no thought… it’s just like parroting.”
“I don’t know.” Zhou Qian also frowned. “But what it said seems to depict the scene on the night of the accident at Weir Mountain. For example, some researchers stationed at this experimental base might have said these words after the accident. However—”
“Let’s not worry about what it is. Our goal is to pass the level, not to really study genetic mutations. The system said, our task is to find Ryan’s secret.”
“Yes. Zhou Qian… What do you think about the 24 points?” Qi Liuxing asked him.
“It’s essentially a time-limited task. I, the one with the most points, now have only 18 points, and all our points are rapidly decreasing. If all the items that can be used to increase points are used up, and if our total points are less than 24, and we haven’t found the ‘truth,’ there will only be a dead end for us.”
Zhou Qian said, “So I hope… our teammates won’t foolishly destroy the device that can steadily increase points.”
Taking out his notebook and recording what the grass said, Zhou Qian turned and continued to walk south. “We need to find an ‘Evil Spirit Purification Station’ as soon as possible. I bought a concealment item. We will hide it first. I’m still worried about Yin Jiujiu.”
……
On Yin Juijiu’s side, the progress of her plan was smoother than expected.
She didn’t act immediately but planned to leave after adding 2 life points with Li Buhui, which meant 40 more minutes.
During this time, she and Li Buhui searched and found that this “Evil Spirit Purification Station” was numbered: A11. Not only that, she also learned about two other purification stations, A12 and A13.
There was originally a fourth station, A14, but it was abolished.
Additionally, the A11 station not only marked the names of the other two stations but also drew their directions, undoubtedly greatly facilitating Yin Jiujiu’s search process.
So, in just 5 minutes, Yin Jiujui and Li Buhui had found the A13 Evil Spirit Purification Station, which, by visual estimation, was the nearest and most likely to be found first by Situ Qing’s team.
However, the two didn’t leave but instead set up traps inside the station, waiting here and increasing their life points quickly, expecting Situ Qing’s team to show up.
At this moment, Situ Qing and Wu Ren, oblivious to what was about to happen, were searching for the purification station.
After treatment in the government building, Wu Ren could move without issues, but the mutations in his body were undoubtedly getting more severe. Situ Qing saw his neck had almost completely turned green; some parts indistinguishable from leaves.
What kind of monster would humans turn into as Ryan wanted to create life that could grow under radiation?
Soon, Situ Qing realized her condition wasn’t much better. Her hand itched, and blisters were appearing.
When she raised her hand to see, the blisters looked like budding flowers, ready to bloom at any time.
Seeing this, Situ Qing felt a chill and simply turned her hand back away—out of sight, out of mind.
Time was running out for Wu Ren, and even though his body was feeling unwell again, he gritted his teeth and moved quickly. About 10 minutes later, he and Situ Qing finally saw a room clearly marked “Evil Spirit Purification Station”.
They exchanged a glance and a smile and hurried in, only to find Yin Jiujui and Li Buhui already inside.
What’s going on?
Had they circled around and met so quickly?
It shouldn’t be…
The place was vast, and they hadn’t walked along the wall; this shouldn’t have happened…
Situ Qing sensed something was wrong and then saw Yin Jiujui press a button.
“What…what did you do?!” Wu Ren roared.
As he entered, he quickly checked his cards. He sighed in relief when he saw the countdown reversing—finally, a rescue!
However, before he could rejoice and before his points increased by “1” unit, the countdown started again! He had only gained a few more seconds compared to before entering this room. In a flash, Wu Ren immediately guessed what Yin Jiujui had done.
“Are you sick, woman?! If you want to deal with Situ Qing, can you discuss it outside? You’ve messed with her twice, but actually, it affected me! What is your problem?!”
After cursing, Wu Ren seemed shrouded in a gloomy aura, as if he was ready to perish together with Yin Jiujui.
Yin Jiujui calmly looked at him, handed him a pair of shoes, and said, “I have no grudge against you, I won’t harm you. These shoes are still usable. It only takes two minutes to go to another purification station. You won’t die.”
Wu Ren was a bit confused and asked with a frown, “What do you mean? You want me to leave so you can deal with Situ Qing alone? Can you even handle her? And, I can tell Zhou Qian about this now!”
“You don’t have much time left, right? Maybe not even five minutes. If Zhou Qian knows about this, before your points are exhausted… you won’t know where another purification station is. Look here—”
Yin Jiujui uncovered a curtain and pointed. “You see, each purification station has directions to the other two. So, after I found mine, I quickly found and destroyed the remaining two.”
“Are you fucking crazy—” Wu Ren raised his hand. Numerous silver needles seemed ready to strike Yin Jiujui down.
Yin Jiujui said, “Let’s make a deal. Li Buhui will watch you go to the only remaining clearance station in this instance. If he confirms that you haven’t told Zhou Qian, he will guide you to the right location.”
“Wu Ren, I don’t need you to do anything. I just need you to leave. I want to leave this place to Situ Qing and me. Even if I am not as strong as her… I want to fight her to the death. I could suppress my hatred when I didn’t see her. Now I can’t control it. Situ Qing—”
Yin Jiujui turned to Situ Qing and said coldly and murderously, “How do you feel? I heard you want to be a good person now? So now… will you spare Wu Ren and let him go?”
At this moment, in a hidden corner unseen by everyone, Li Buhui, who seemed to be an indifferent and ordinary bystander, finally couldn’t control it and revealed a mocking smile.
If things went as expected, the current President Sarah and Mayor Ryan were likely the same person.
However, it was improbable that Ryan had been disguising himself for over a decade; hence, Zhou Qian suspected that the real Sarah could be someone else. It was likely that Ryan assumed her role after a certain incident.
Despite Ryan potentially being adept at cross-dressing, this wasn’t plastic surgery. To impersonate flawlessly among numerous witches, he and Sarah must have had some resemblances. In addition, Ryan must deeply understand Sarah’s habits and tones to mimic her without any flaws. Upon synthesizing all these factors, there was a high probability that they were relatives, possibly siblings.
Therefore, Zhou Qian tentatively asked whether Ryan had any sisters. The relationship between Ryan and Sarah, who represented seemingly conflicting camps in this instance, must be crucial. As expected, not only did Zhou Qian perceive from Ryan’s expressions that he indeed had a sister or sisters, but he also unexpectedly triggered a side plot.
It seemed that uncovering the relationship between Ryan and Sarah was indeed a pivotal step in resolving the situation.
At this moment, the thick clouds in the afternoon sky blocked the sunlight, making the air absolutely uninhabitable for ordinary people.
Zhou Qian’s group was forced to travel in a commercial vehicle through a forest of bizarrely shaped trees to reach this secluded mountain top. Behind the high wall lay the town’s and Ryan’s deepest secrets.
Before him, Ryan’s emerald green eyes were as profound as a lake yet also as blazing as the sunlight.
Hearing Zhou Qian’s words, Ryan narrowed his eyes, then lowered his golden eyelashes towards Zhou Qian’s hand holding his. He looked up and said, “My sister’s lover… Why haven’t I heard of you? You must be mistaken.”
“Is that so? Alright, let’s assume I was mistaken. However—” Zhou Qian smiled, whispering into his ear, “You are so handsome; your sister must be a beauty. Since I am going to stay in this town, why not introduce me to your sister? We might become relatives. Didn’t you say that I am a gift from God?”
While asking, Zhou Qian wondered—is his sister dead?
According to Zhou Qian’s current speculation, Sarah was Ryan’s sister. For some reason, their relationship wasn’t known to the rest of the town. Subsequently, an explosion occurred on Weir Mountain, and the radioactive dust infected many children. Ryan went to his sister, hoping she would help him conceal everything.
Agreeing to this request would mean harming the lives of many innocent people. Sarah, of course, refused.
Therefore, it was very likely that Ryan might have killed his own sister and then assumed her place.
“Of course, I can introduce you,” Ryan replied with a deep look while holding Zhou Qian’s hand tighter. “Wait until you come out. My sister will welcome you then. But for now, let’s not waste any more time.”
“My gift, please enter this enclosure. You will receive the reward I’ve prepared.”
“Oh yes, there are three ‘Evil Spirit Purging Stations’ inside. If you feel uncomfortable, rest there. I will come to find you guys after a while. Please listen to the broadcast.”
Three minutes later, all seven players entered the high walls. The gate closed silently, and the walls merged seamlessly with the environment.
Zhou Qian walked forward to touch the barrier where the wall had been, feeling an invisible shield. This was probably why the witches have never truly approached the truth—the wall was made of a highly advanced invisible material.
Turning back, Zhou Qian looked ahead—before him was a vast forest of mutated trees and peculiar flowers and grasses. Occasionally, strange creatures resembling long-legged butterflies would momentarily reveal themselves before vanishing.
What monsters might be hiding inside this forest were still unknown.
At this moment, everyone’s mood was rather somber.
Li Buhui was the first to ask, “What should we do now… Should we go in and explore first?”
Ke Yuxiao’s serious voice immediately rang out. “After entering here, our life points are rapidly decreasing.”
Wu Ren’s face had almost turned ashen. He said, “I only have 1 point left. But looking at the speed of this countdown… I can only live for less than 20 minutes.” After saying this, he looked at Zhou Qian.
Zhou Qian looked back at him and asked gravely, “Do you trust me?”
Even though Zhou Qian asked this, he actually knew that Wu Ren’s attitude had changed significantly compared to the beginning. Back when they were in Lily’s study, Wu Ren didn’t have much time left, having drawn only “2” points.
At that time, he had strong murderous intent toward Zhou Qian. But now it was different. He had truly sided with Zhou Qian.
Firstly, Zhou Qian gave him a “6” point card, which had sustained him until now. Secondly, during their first visit to Weir Mountain, if not for Zhou Qian, Wu Ren might have been taken away by the witches.
At this moment, Wu Ren clenched and then released his fists. His small eyes looked tired and lifeless, but there was no murderous intent or doubt within them. “Of course I trust you.”
“Good. Then everyone listens to me now.” Zhou Qian nodded. “The so-called ‘Evil Spirit Cleansing Station’ might be able to replenish our life points. Let’s find it first. Wu Ren, you are still our ‘king’. We will all help you.”
“We will split into three teams and search in three directions.” Zhou Qian turned towards the peculiar forest and continued, “Based on your previous conflicts, Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu will be in one group, Wu Ren and Situ Qing in another, and I will be with the remaining Sword and Flute duo.”
“I want to remind you all, everyone’s life value will decrease rapidly. The primary task now is to find a place that can replenish life points. Attempting to settle personal scores at this time would undoubtedly be foolish.”
Having said that, Zhou Qian looked forward. “My group will go in the middle. The other two groups will go in the left and right directions. Everyone can contact each other through the system at any time and inform others promptly after finding the target.”
Zhou Qian knew that even though he had reminded everyone to prioritize finding the target station, Yin Jiujiu, who joined this game solely for revenge, would most likely not miss such an excellent opportunity to kill teammates.
Additionally, Zhou Qian had another concern regarding whether the Peach Legion Army really hadn’t done anything.
Given these concerns and the potential dangers in this unknown domain, it was best for everyone to stick together.
However, Wu Ren really didn’t have much time left. Without his strong output at the forefront, not only would the team be extremely unstable internally, but the danger everyone faced when needing to attack NPCs would also increase. Zhou Qian, helping Wu Ren, was essentially helping himself.
Zhou Qian made such a three-way split arrangement in an attempt to prevent internal conflict as much as possible. His first priority was to prevent Yin Jiujiu from attacking Situ Qing, so he separated them.
Wu Ren, although lacking in life points, still had his attack power, so pairing him with Situ Qing was relatively safe for both. Also, by placing himself in the middle, Zhou Qian could relatively reduce the chance of Yin Jiujiu and Situ Qing running into each other.
After saying all this, Zhou Qian observed everyone, seemingly watching their reactions. At this moment, everyone received a message from the system.
[Players trigger main task 1: Explore thoroughly, survive, and uncover the secret that Ryan has hidden here.]
[Task 2: Mayor Ryan is very fond of the number “24”. When the players’ life points total “24”, the experiment ends, and he will come to take everyone away.]
[Hint 1: There are three “Evil Spirit Purification Stations” where life points can be replenished.]
[Hint 2: Some areas are densely infested with “evil spirits”, and the rate of reduction of life points will accelerate; please enter with caution. Some areas have tools that are dropped that can clear “evil spirits”. Using them can also increase life points.]
The system’s hints were undoubtedly aligned with Zhou Qian’s previous speculation.
So, temporarily, no one raised any objections. At least on the surface, it seemed like everyone agreed with Zhou Qian’s suggestion—to prioritize finding the “Evil Spirit Cleansing Station” first. So, they quickly split into three teams and proceeded in three different directions.
The high walls encircle a summit area.
The players were located to the north. Zhou Qian’s group was heading south, while Yin Jiujiu and Li Buhui were heading west.
Upon entering the forest, the light dims considerably. Yin Jiujiu held the card with life points in her hand, and after observing that the countdown speed didn’t continue to accelerate, she moved forward.
Li Buhui, also known as Zhu Qiang, scurried ahead of her and said awkwardly, “Let me go ahead. Just in case these mutant plants and animals attack us!”
Yin Jiujiu didn’t comment and just looked around.
She had always been fearless, but everything she saw still made her frown.
It was simply because everything was too bizarre, like an animal corpse she just stepped over, which surprisingly has the body of a fish and wings of a bird.
However, to Yin Jiujiu’s and Li Buhui’s surprise, their group’s progress was extremely smooth, and within five minutes they saw a bungalow.
Approaching the bungalow, they saw it boldly marked “Evil Spirit Purification Station”.
Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu looked at each other, both gripping their weapons, and cautiously opened the door.
But there was nothing inside that could attack them. Upon entering, they both felt their breathing become smoother.
Checking the card in hand, Yin Jiujiu discovered the countdown had changed significantly.
Originally, the countdown was reduced from [59:59] by an hour unit, but now the value not only reset but began to rise from [00:00], and very quickly at that.
It almost felt like charging oneself. Once it was fully charged by an hour unit, the player’s points would increase by one.
Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu both let out a sigh of relief.
Then Li Buhui asked, “Do we… need to tell everyone about this?”
Yin Jiujiu pondered for a while but shook her head.
She scanned the room and walked to a spot.
There was a control desk with a red button marked “Destroy”, and a note beneath—“Press the button to destroy the current ‘Evil Spirit Purification Station’”.
Li Buhui seemed to sense something. He swallowed and asked Yin Jiujiu, “You want to…”
Yin Jiujiu pulled out two pairs of shoes from her bag.
[Item: Thousand Mile A Day* Shoes]
*(日行千里) Idiom from the Book of Wei Tuyuhun Biography. It refers to running a thousand miles in a day, describing traveling at an extremely fast speed. Note: The mile is a Chinese mile (li), which is about 1/3 of an English mile.
[Effect: Experience the feeling of flying; take off, I want to take off, I can’t stop at all]
[Grade: B]
Yin Jiujiu said, “Zhou Qian intentionally separated me and Situ Qing. But I won’t let her go. I have no intention of harming Wu Ren. After finding them, I will tell him the coordinates here alone. But the premise is that he cannot protect Situ Qing by listening to Zhou Qian. This is a deal. To make him have to agree, we have to leave him with no other choices.”
Looking at Li Bu Hui, she continued, “Put on these shoes. Let’s go the way Situ Qing and the others went and destroy the station there first. If necessary, also destroy the station where Zhou Qian and the others are. In this way… Everyone can only beg me.”
……
On the other side.
Zhou Qian, Qi Liuxing, and Ke Yuxiao were taking the route straight south.
About three minutes out, Zhou Qian heard a faint female voice. “Help. Help me.”
“Mayor, my child is already 6 months old, a boy, and I also want to name him Ryan. It is an honor for all of us to have a mayor like you in Beautiful Flower Town!”
Upon seeing Ryan in the production center, the pregnant women all gathered around to speak. It was evident that Ryan was dearly loved by the townspeople.
In the face of everyone’s enthusiasm, Ryan responded with a polite and gentlemanly smile, advising them all to be careful. After kindly shaking hands with everyone, Ryan went to the doctor’s office to inquire about everyone’s conditions.
Upon hearing that all the pregnant women and children were healthy, Ryan showed a very relieved smile. When leaving, he received many bouquets, each with a pink card inside. The female doctors and nurses sent out bouquets with shy smiles, leaving one to wonder about the content on the cards.
Before getting into the elevator, Zhou Qian stopped Ryan. “Wait.”
“What’s the matter?” Ryan asked Zhou Qian.
Zhou Qian asked, “Where are we going next?”
Ryan said, “How about going back to the reception room? If you are hungry, you can also get something to eat. When your friend wakes up and the interrogations of the two girls are over, if they are indeed not witches, I’ll escort you out together.”
“Do you have a place to stay? I would be delighted to welcome you to stay in Beautiful Flower Town; I can arrange houses for you.”
“That sounds great,” Zhou Qian responded naturally. “Can you arrange a house by the mountain and river for me?”
“No problem. I will have someone arrange it,” Ryan said.
“During the waiting period, we have nothing to do… Can we walk around on this floor?” Zhou Qian said, “My sister’s child was killed by a vile witch. Unfortunately, unlike these pregnant women, she hasn’t been able to walk out of the pain. I want to ask some pregnant women about their experiences in adjusting their emotions to help my sister later. Can you give me… one hour?”
Ryan’s beautiful green eyes narrowed for a moment, then he cheerfully responded, “Of course. In an hour, the problems on your friend’s side should also be resolved. I will send someone to pick you up then.”
Ryan left with some soldiers, leaving others to guard Zhou Qian and the rest. Qi Liuxing looked around and noticed that some pregnant women and nurses were curiously looking their way, as if wondering about the identities of these players.
After looking around, Qi Liuxing withdrew his gaze and asked Zhou Qian, “So, why do you want to stay here?”
Zhou Qian walked towards the nurse station with a smile. “Of course, to get the girls’ numbers.”
Qi Liuxing frowned immediately. “They are all pregnant, married women!”
Zhou Qian: “You underage kid, what are you thinking about all day?”
Qi Liuxing: “…”
“I, of course, have other uses. Also—”
Zhou Qian turned back and said to him and Ke Yuxiao, “You should also try to talk to them as much as possible. Let’s find a way to probe Mayor Ryan’s background.”
Following Zhou Qian’s words, Li Buhui also volunteered to join the “probing” action. Thus, the four players quickly split up to initiate their actions—talking to doctors, nurses, and pregnant women. After 30 minutes, everyone gathered in the family waiting area and discussed their findings, gaining a more comprehensive understanding of Beautiful Flower Town and even Mayor Ryan.
The town was located remotely, far from big cities, and development here was once very closed off. In the generations of people here, very few chose to pursue education, and there wasn’t much cultural knowledge.
All in all, it was a relatively backward town. Mayor Ryan chose to be the one to “step out.”
It was said that Ryan studied abroad and earned a Ph.D., learning a lot of knowledge.
He didn’t choose to stay outside but chose to return home to develop the town and give back to the land that nurtured him. He started as an ordinary government employee but was quickly promoted to mayor through his abilities.
The town’s electricity and water projects were planned and built by him, and the computers, TVs, telephones, and the like used by the residents were also technologies he brought from big cities.
In short, the townspeople went from being backward to prosperous, from laborious work to relying on technology for a convenient life, all thanks to Ryan’s efforts.
Thus, Ryan became a “godlike” existence in the hearts of the townspeople. The only group in town that refused to accept Ryan was probably the Witch Association.
Regarding this, doctors, nurses, and even the pregnant women, most of them gave similar comments. “Twenty years ago, the townspeople were all ignorant. Twenty years later, we have today, thanks to Mayor Ryan! It was he who led everyone out of ‘ignorance’.”
“But those witches are still as ‘ignorant’ as ever. No, they are not only ignorant, but they are also evil! The evil spirits they conjure… are terrifying!”
From the information received so far, Mayor Ryan wasn’t only a high-tech talent but truly loved this town and was indeed contributing to it.
Therefore, Zhou Qian could only temporarily attribute the tragedy on Weir Mountain to an accident, rather than something Ryan did intentionally.
However, after that accident, everything Ryan did to cover up the truth and protect his good image in the town was intentional.
Just then, Zhou Qian received a message from Situ Qing.
[We entered a place resembling a cell, and indeed, we saw two witches. They were motionless, most likely already dead.]
Sure enough.
Unsurprisingly, these two witches must have been silenced.
This undoubtedly confirmed Zhou Qian’s suspicion.
On the day of the Strawberry Music Festival, a very coincidental thing happened. Most adults had left the town for a vacation, and only a few stayed at home.
This coincidence gave Mayor Ryan the opportunity to whitewash everything.
That day, most of the town’s children went to Weir Mountain to attend the festival. A few, like Lina, who were unwell, didn’t go and stayed in town.
Afterward, an unknown accident occurred on Weir Mountain—an extremely radioactive power station or laboratory exploded.
Zhou Qian believed that with the high level of technological development in the town, the mayor should have remedied it in time, so the radiation only affected Weir Mountain and the northern town, and the adults who were on vacation that day were temporarily safe.
But not the people in the town.
The children who went to the festival on Weir Mountain were the first victims.
And the few adults and children who stayed in the town that night were likely also hit by radiation, but the adverse reactions in their bodies might be slower as they were exposed to less radiation, and it wasn’t so direct.
To prevent exposure, Mayor Ryan’s decision was to—kill all the people affected by radiation.
So, the few adults and children who stayed in the town that night were all killed, and it was disguised as abnormal phenomena such as hearts being removed, and heads being chopped off.
Ryan did this to blame everything on the “evil spirits”.
As for the children who attended the music festival on Weir Mountain, they weren’t directly killed by Ryan’s people.
Firstly, there were too many of them, and even Ryan couldn’t openly create so much slaughter.
Secondly, Ryan could use others to do the killing.
He deliberately created many murders in the town and blamed all the murders on the “evil spirits”, so naturally, he could let the witches handle the children who were “possessed by evil spirits”.
As for why the witches unanimously believed that many evil spirits appeared that night and then really thought everything was the work of evil spirits after “seeing is believing”?
This must be because they received a message from the Witch Association.
Ryan set up a radiation barrier in the northern town, even preventing mutated animals and plants affected by radiation from passing through. Witch Sarah claimed it was set by her magic.
Ryan let everyone wear protective clothing, saying it was a scientific way to prevent evil spirits, but what the clothes really prevented was radiation; similarly, Witch Sarah distributed special witch robes to everyone, claiming they were enchanted with protective spells, but in fact, they were just radiation-proof clothing.
The only person in the town who really “went out” to learn about technology was the mayor.
The technologically ignorant witches thought the clothes were really enchanted with spells that could protect against evil spirits after finding out they were really safe in them.
Moreover, the guns that Ryan’s military force used are similar to electric stun guns.
The weapons in the witches’ hands were surprisingly similar.
Zhou Qian didn’t ask the witches about this, but he could guess that Sarah must have told the witches that these were weapons enchanted by her, able to drain the strength of those who are cursed.
Finally, the crystal ball in the witches’ hands must also be a lie.
It should just be a device that can detect radiation levels, only made in the shape of a crystal ball.
Looking at it this way, Witch Association President Sarah seemed to be colluding with Mayor Ryan—their cooperation was too tacit.
On the surface, they seemed to be absolutely opposed.
But they were actually jointly maintaining a lie—that this world had evil spirits and magic.
To clear Ryan of his charges, Sarah deceived all the witches. She brainwashed them, telling them that evil spirits had appeared in the town, forcing witches like Eva to act against their own children with a heavy heart.
In order to perpetuate the lie, Sarah constantly performed, attributing “magical” meaning to all “technological” products.
Sarha led patrols every day, all for show. To maintain a good image of working “for the town and its people”, and to comply with the witches’ wishes and avoid suspicion, she had to pretend to be earnestly looking for survivors and exorcizing evil spirits.
Meanwhile, she also responded to everyone’s requests by sending people to investigate the origins of the evil spirits on Weir Mountain. But if any witch found the “power station” on Weir Mountain or any other evidence that might expose Mayor Ryan’s secrets, that witch would immediately be arrested by government forces and subsequently executed.
However, the cooperation between Sarah and Ryan seemed flawless, which raised the question, what was Sarah’s purpose and benefit in this?
She was so skilled with technological products; it seemed she knew everything Ryan did.
Was it possible that she and Ryan were the same person?
After all… it was Sarah’s suggestion to have some players cross-dress from the beginning.
It turned out she was the true master of disguise.
Ryan’s turquoise eyes and Sara’s blue eyes started to interchange in Zhou Qian’s vision. Ryan had blonde hair, and Sarah had blonde eyelashes. This seemed to serve as evidence.
Although they didn’t look very alike… Zhou Qian remembered, when he met Sarah, she was wearing heavy makeup. Makeup, of course, could make a person look very different. The color of the eyes could be solved with colored contact lenses.
Sarah was Ryan. Ryan himself was a man, and he cross-dressed to pose as a witch.
Zhou Qian was becoming more and more certain about this.
However, there was still a doubt. Such impersonation was possible in a short time, but it was highly improbable for Ryan to do this for more than ten years without slipping up. So, the earliest Witch Sarah should indeed have existed.
Where did she go, and how was she replaced by Ryan?
Furthermore, there was another small question in the whole affair.
Ryan couldn’t accomplish such a thing alone. He must have a team that was absolutely loyal to him, helping him manage everything. These people believe in him, probably even more than the witches believe in Sarah.
After all, everything Sarah did in front of the witches was an act. They believed in her disguise. But Ryan’s followers believed in the real Ryan.
They manufactured massacres, disguised crime scenes, and eventually made sure all informants—everyone who might expose the matter—were dead…
They should also be townspeople. Why would they do such things?
……
At this point, the four players present had almost sorted out everything. Qi Liuxing wondered, “So, what should we do next? This time, the system’s hints about the plot are very scarce.”
Ke Yuxiao said, “I think we should find a way to rescue Wu Ren, Situ Qing, and Yin Jiujiu first. Besides, Wu Ren has less than two hours left. I have a bad premonition.”
The two discussed for a moment and then looked at Zhou Qian, seemingly wanting his opinion. Zhou Qian didn’t speak for a while. He was unusually serious, and then also glanced at his watch. The system popped up a message from Li Xuexai—
[The place where life points decrease quickly is where the radiation is severe. I’m very worried you all might be sent back to Weir Mountain.]
Seeing this line, Zhou Qian’s mouth curled, and he whispered, “Unfortunately, I think your worries are correct.”
Zhou Qian guessed right. So did Li Xuehai.
Soon, with a “ding” sound, the elevator door opened. Mayor Ryan walked in, surrounded by soldiers. He seemed like a completely different person.
He used to be gentlemanly and polite; his smile was gentle, and his eyes were always filled with concern. But this time, when he stepped out of the elevator, his eyes seemed to be shining.
When he saw Zhou Qian and the others, his eyes brightened even more. He walked up to Zhou Qian and firmly shook his hand as if holding some precious gift, unwilling to let go. “You are gifts from heaven, gifts for Beautiful Flower Town! Come! Follow me!”
Mayor Ryan seemed to be inviting the players into the elevator on the surface, but in reality, the players were forced to move forward with guns pointed at their heads.
This time, they directly took the elevator to the underground parking garage and then astonishingly entered a commercial vehicle.
When Zhou Qian entered the commercial vehicle, he was quite surprised to find that Situ Qing, Yin Jiujiu, and Wu Ren were already inside.
As for any discoveries each of the three made, Zhou Qian temporarily didn’t have time to ask. Only when everyone was in the vehicle and the car gradually drove away from the government building did he find that this car was indeed heading to Weir Mountain.
At this time, Mayor Ryan was still warmly shaking his hand; his eyes were shining as if a cheetah had seen its prey.
Zhou Qian looked back at him, the corner of his mouth hooking into a smile. “Dear Mayor Ryan, what did you mean by what you said just now?”
Ryan spoke with a laugh, his words somewhat incoherent. “It’s… you are all gifts… Your data has come out. I mean, when you first came to the government building, you went to the testing room. Besides removing the possible radiation, ah no, evil spirits from your body, I had people test you.”
“You are my gifts… There is something in your bodies… that can coexist with them… just like those animals and plants… you are not afraid of it…”
“Of course, there are differences in your constitutions. This person is a bit weaker…” Ryan pointed at Wu Ren and clutched Zhou Qian’s hand even more fervently. “But you are the best among you. You are my gift!”
Zhou Qian: “……”
Zhou Qian didn’t speak; he only frowned, sensing a rather ominous premonition. Although Ryan was somewhat incoherent and still hiding everything, Zhou Qian felt that he probably understood Ryan’s meaning.
In this town, humans undoubtedly fear radiation. After mutating, they would suffer, become ill, and eventually die. But animals and plants were different—especially plants.
They would grow taller and become bizarre in appearance, but they wouldn’t die. Now that Ryan had gotten the test data on the players, he believed that players, like plants, weren’t afraid of radiation.
Perhaps players would mutate and become bizarre in appearance, but they would not die but would survive under radiation.
Zhou Qian allowed Ryan to hold his hand, staring into his eyes and asking, “Do you mean that we can coexist with ‘evil spirits’? But why would you hope for such a thing to happen?”
Perhaps because Ryan was too excited at the moment or because the people in the car were his close associates who knew all his deeds, he didn’t hide much and spoke directly, “Because the development of technology cannot be separated from ‘evil spirits’. Evil spirits can provide the most efficient production… It’s greatly convenient for humans! If humans cannot coexist with it, its utility would be greatly limited!”
“You… You’ve appeared! This is great! If one day we humans are no longer afraid of ‘evil spirits’, how wonderful? Our lives will be full of convenience! We don’t have to worry about excessive deforestation or resource consumption. As long as we vigorously develop ‘evil spirits’, we will have inexhaustible resources!”
“We didn’t dare to easily use these resources before because we feared humans themselves would be backfired, afraid that we couldn’t adapt to such an environment. But your appearance means my thoughts were indeed correct!”
“Indeed… this accident reminded me that humans also need to make all changes to adapt to environmental changes, right?” Ryan’s eyes had become extremely fanatic at this point. He couldn’t help but look out the window at the town.
“This new town has been protected by me. But the humans here are too fragile. They are like flowers in a greenhouse. The pursuit of technological progress brought by a little bit of ‘evil spirit’ would make them fall… They are simply vulnerable.”
“You’ve appeared… I may be able to transform them.”
Returning his gaze, Ryan looked at Zhou Qian with fervent and gentle eyes, holding his hand tightly, and said, “I can feel that you seem to be not from this world. I don’t know if some accidents have affected time and space, causing you to appear… Anyway, you are gifts bestowed by heaven to me. So—”
“Please be my test subjects. You will make a huge contribution to humanity!”
Compared to the fanaticism in Ryan’s eyes, the players’ moods had undoubtedly hit rock bottom.
A moment later, they, as test subjects, without wearing protective suits, had already arrived at the most severely radiated core area—the top of Weir Mountain. Ryan and his soldiers were wearing protective suits, and they brought the players wearing regular clothes off the vehicle.
The air here seemed to be somewhat thin, and the moment Zhou Qian stepped off the car, he already felt a bit breathless.
Looking up, Zhou Qian then saw a high wall appear before him.
The wall was very high and very long, making it impossible to see its end at a glance.
The material seems similar to what he had seen in government buildings, with very smooth lines made of very high-quality materials.
Above the high wall, faintly visible were some strangely shaped plants protruding above. Zhou Qian even thought he saw a huge tail sweeping over the edge of the wall just now.
Hence, whatever was concealed within this wall, whatever kind of bizarre world it was… it really made one afraid to think deeper.
Zhou Qian could only guess that a circular wall had been built here, enclosing all the secrets about Mayor Ryan within.
Next, the players would step into it, learning the deepest secrets behind, but also facing an extremely dangerous world.
After a while, Ryan got out of the car and personally took out a button and pressed it. A door was drawn open on the wall.
Ryan, holding Zhou Qian’s hand, led him and the other players to the door. “Please enter to undergo the experiment. I will come to pick you up afterward! Maybe by then… you will not look the same as you do now. But the you by then will be in the form of an advanced human. You will be a role model for all of us. We will all want to grow up to be like you.”
Zhou Qian didn’t speak; he just inadvertently glanced to the side.
Then he saw a leaf growing out of the back of Wu Ren’s neck.
He actually had a leaf growing out of his neck.
Pulling back his gaze, Zhou Qian acted as if he saw nothing.
When Ryan released his hand, about to let him in, Zhou Qian instead held his hand and gently raised it. “Dear Mayor, for the evolution of humans, I am willing to undergo this experiment. But before that, I want to ask you a question.”
“What do you want to ask?” Ryan said.
“You look very familiar.” Zhou Qian smiled. “Do you have any… sisters?”
The color of Ryan’s face seemed to change slightly, then he countered, “Why do you ask this?”
“No reason. She was my lover.” Zhou Qian’s eyes narrowed. “I am just very concerned about her whereabouts.”
[Player Zhou Qian initiated side plot: The Secrets Behind Ryan.]
Indeed.
He guessed it right.
The secrets behind Ryan must be closely related to the reason why he could disguise himself as Witch Sarah.
Kinky Translations 