Zhou Qian’s current environment was incredibly stifling.
The pitch-black corridor was narrow and cramped. The path ahead was blocked by a thick solid wall, and the path behind was endless. However, at the end of that road, there is still another solid wall.
But wait… After traveling this long distance, would everything behind him change?
In many games involving mazes, there was a common routine—when you wander around, get lost, find that you can’t get out anywhere, and don’t know what to do, it might be a good idea to go back to the starting point. You may find a new exit there. The beginning might also be the end.
But this wasn’t the case now. As Zhou Qian turned his head, even before he had a chance to walk back, he found another thick wall behind him.
Zhou Qian clenched his fist and knocked; the wall was solid.
This only made the atmosphere in the tunnel even more oppressive. Zhou Qian was now trapped in a small, square space. Solid walls surrounded him on all sides, even the ceiling. On his left and right were two glass doors.
On one side, the young Jiang Yuqing pressed his hand against the glass door, gazing at him with desperate eyes. On the other side, an older Jiang Yuqing’s eyes were murky, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. The distant rumbling noises and the occasional shaking further intensified the tense atmosphere.
Ten minutes to make a choice was relatively ample time.
Zhou Qian first looked at the young officer on his left. This figure slowly overlapped with the officer writing poetry in the photo illusion.
But Zhou Qian clearly knew one thing: in a way, all the young officers that appeared in this memory world weren’t entirely the same individual.
The first time Zhou Qian encountered the officer in the photo illusion, the officer was writing poetry. After finishing the poem, he burned it because he clearly remembered that Bei He had died.
Moreover, upon seeing Zhou Qian and other players behind him, he expressed great astonishment and said, “In my lifetime, I can actually see you again?”
When Zhou Qian entered the illusion earlier, the officer he met was still him. He didn’t believe Bei He would appear, thinking all of it was just his hallucination.
Because he still knew that Bei He had long been dead.
Thus, the young officer in the photo illusion was indeed the same person from beginning to end. His emotions were consistent—he was deeply saddened because he clearly remembered that every member of the Falcon Squadron had died.
However, thinking back, the Jiang Yuqing in the main plot of the “West Pier”, although young, didn’t initially have similar memories or understanding.
He was immersed in the Cypress City storyline, waiting for Bai He and the other Falcon Squadron members to save him. It was only on the pier, when he saw Bei He and everyone turn into ghosts and unable to leave Cypress City, that he realized or recalled that they had all died.
Hence, Jiang Yuqing in that level, though youthful in appearance, actually corresponds to the older Jiang Yuqing with dementia.
The elderly Jiang Yuqing revisited old grounds in a young shell, reliving similar past events and recalling everything.
It was evident that many young Jiang Yuqings appeared in this game. But this didn’t mean these young Jiang Yuqings were the same entity. They weren’t all on the side that would help the player survive.
Only the young officer in the photo illusion remembered everything. He would guide players to survive, reminding his older self of the past.
But the young Jiang Yuqing in the illusion, or in a specific level, might not be the same.
So, Zhou Qian knew deep down that the Jiang Yuqing on both sides, one old and one young, might not offer any lifelines.
Through the glass door on the left, looking at the handsome face of the young Jiang Yuqing, Zhou Qian thought of the cruel question he asked Jiang Yuqing by the dim candlelight in the illusion not long ago.
“Do you feel guilty? If you were to live the rest of your life alone, what would your truest wish be?”
Jiang Yuqing’s answer was crystal clear and still echoed in his ears.
“Countless times in my dreams, I always dream of the same scene.”
“In the tunnel where Bei He and I made our last escape, it’s endlessly long. This way, we can hold hands and keep running…”
“But even in my dreams, I was still lucid. I knew very well that the moment when the shells would drop, or the bullets would fly, was inevitable.”
“So, the end of the dream was simple—”
“I walked with Bei He to an exit of the tunnel, climbed out together, and then I died alongside him.”
“We would never betray the oath we made when we joined the Seventh Army, nor would we betray our faith. But at least, we could die together.”
Then, abruptly changing the topic, Jiang Yuqing in the photograph illusion said, “But dreams are just dreams. If history could repeat itself, I would make the same choice. I couldn’t turn back and leave the tunnel to die with Bei He. Because my life… was not my own. The times bestowed upon me a mission; I had my duty, so I had to survive.”
“Everyone… Everyone wanted me to survive. They wouldn’t let me die.”
“Even Bei He said… With great power comes great responsibility. I indeed had to survive.”
“They called me a hero, a great man, saying I was crucial.”
“They said the nation needed me, the people needed me, and I had to continue my research…”
“But maybe… when I’m old, losing my memory, and can’t do research anymore, I can finally belong to myself. By then, I want to live for myself, even if it’s just for a moment.”
“I don’t know how long I will live. But if I can live to an old age… I’m afraid by then, everyone I know will be dead. Bei He, Dong Shui, Nan Hu, Xi Jiang… all gone. And the rest of the Seventh Army, perhaps all have passed away one after another—”
“The Falcon Squadron’s tasks were all confidential, and their records have been gradually destroyed.”
“See, they made such sacrifices, but no one in the world will know or remember.”
“No one remembers they were heroes… except for me.”
“In this world, only I remember their efforts, the blood they shed, and their sacrifices…”
“So, I cannot forget them.”
“Perhaps old age, brain degradation, and atrophy will uncontrollably make me forget everything.”
“If that’s the case, I hope to die before I forget completely.”
“I want to die holding onto the memories of them.”
Walking along this long tunnel, Zhou Qian realized that everything in front of him was actually in line with Jiang Yuqing’s words in the photograph illusion. This seemingly endless tunnel, which eventually would have an end, was the recurring dream of Jiang Yuqing.
In the dream, he finally let go of his identity and mission and impulsively lived for himself. Even in the dream, he wouldn’t desert, nor would he betray the Seventh Army to join the S Army. He just wanted to die with Bei He.
Now, the young Jiang Yuqing stood to Zhou Qian’s left.
From his perspective, Bei He, so close yet untouchable, was right there. This was the end of the tunnel. All he had to do was grab Bei He’s hand, turn around, escape through an exit, and they could die together under gunfire…
So, he couldn’t choose the left path.
Opening that door, the next thing would be gunfire and explosions. Zhou Qian was certain that he might be blown to pieces.
What about the right side?
The older Jiang Yuqing on the right was very close to the real Jiang Yuqing at this moment in time. He was old, forgetful, and continuously erasing memories.
Moreover, this Jiang Yuqing has manic episodes and once became a Rank B “monster”.
Zhou Qian didn’t even need to think about it; he knew that once he entered that room, the older Jiang Yuqing would become murderous again. Representing the disease of “dementia”, he would surely kill himself. Now that Jiang Yuqing’s life was in its last day, the condition of dementia was likely worsening. Therefore, the “monster” in this conscious world might become stronger, not just Rank B.
There was no resentment for Zhou Qian to utilize here, and no one to help boost his vitality. His ultimate ability was basically useless. In this situation, he was really weak. So, for him, entering the room on the right also meant certain death.
Both paths led to death.
The only difference was whether he would be killed by gunfire or killed by Jiang Yuqing himself.
Zhou Qian raised an eyebrow slightly, checked the time on his wristwatch, and once again looked around the narrow tunnel.
He suddenly realized that if he looked at it from a different perspective… Perhaps the situation of this tunnel was different from that of the “West Pier”.
If the former nursing home and Room 701 that the players entered represented the first layer of Jiang Yuqing’s consciousness world, then the Checks and Balance level and the West Pier level were deeper layers within that consciousness world, namely the second layer.
At first, Zhou Qian thought that this tunnel, just like the West Pier and Check and Balance, was also the second layer of consciousness.
But as he saw the tunnel becoming narrower and narrower until he was completely blocked by walls on both sides, Zhou Qian realized something was wrong.
Perhaps the tunnel did start as the second layer of consciousness.
But it was possible that the outer first layer had already collapsed.
Today was the third day Zhou Qian had been in the nursing home. It was also the last day of Jiang Yuqing’s life.
Jiang Yuqing’s life was coming to an end, with his condition at its worst. Before, only the caregivers, vases, security guards, and the front desk had disappeared, but now it seems that the entire former nursing home might have vanished.
The first layer of consciousness irreversibly collapsed, with this second layer merging with it and then replacing it, becoming the primary layer of consciousness.
And this was the only consciousness world that the elderly Jiang Yuqing could sustain.
Every tunnel has its end.
This was a dream that Jiang Yuqing had, letting go of all external responsibilities.
Now the space of consciousness was further reduced to a cube.
The last memory point in Jiang Yuqing’s mind was also here.
……
Zhou Qian was just pondering this when suddenly, a massive cannon sound rang out again.
The ground shook violently before him.
Once he steadied himself, he found that the walls had moved closer.
It wouldn’t be long before Jiang Yuqing in the real world passed away. He wouldn’t even be able to maintain this last bit of tunnel memory space.
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Qian turned to the left and approached the young Jiang Yuqing.
The young Jiang Yuqing immediately showed a joyful expression. He spread his arms as if wanting to embrace Zhou Qian, welcoming him to come and take him out of the tunnel towards a shared fate in death.
Zhou Qian walked to the glass door, even pressing his palm against it.
But he didn’t open the door; he just looked at Jiang Yuqing and said, “Actually, once a person dies, it’s all over. Death isn’t scary. Living is the hardest. So I think… in a way, you are braver than Bei He.”
“Jiang Yuqing, you’re a brave and determined person. Even in dreams, you’ve never betrayed anyone.”
“Such a person as you is a true hero.”
“And because of this, this dream is just that—a dream. You wouldn’t want to die alongside Bei He in a past story. If you die, no one in the world will remember those heroes whose names aren’t even mentioned in the archives.”
“So, dying with Bei He under the bombardment of Cypress City is not your final wish.”
“And me… I’ll find you. Bei He promised to meet you. I’m here to fulfill that promise on his behalf.”
“I will, in the name of Bei He, go to the end of your life to greet you.”
With that said, Zhou Qian waved to the young Jiang Yuqing and turned to walk to the other end of the tunnel.
On both sides of the narrow tunnel was the same Jiang Yuqing, but they existed in different times and scenarios.
Now, Zhou Qian was like walking from one side of his life to the symbolic endpoint on the other side.
He stood quietly in front of the glass door on the right side for a moment, gently pushing the door open.
The moment the glass door opened, the ground shook again.
Looking back, Zhou Qian saw the glass door close by itself.
Through the door, the young Jiang Yuqing was pounding on his side, but he couldn’t open it or run out.
……
After a violent shake, another door vanished, replaced by another wall.
Then, with a series of loud “clangs,” three walls kept closing in.
In no time, the spot where Zhou Qian stood for the multiple-choice question was occupied by a solid wall.
The consciousness world further collapsed and converged, leaving just a small space.
And in this tiny space, only Zhou Qian and the elderly Jiang Yuqing remained.
Before leaving the photo illusion, after answering Zhou Qian’s cruel question, Jiang Yuqing had handed him a celadon bottle.
Now, Zhou Qian finally understood what was inside that bottle.
“Come on, Jiang Yuqing.” Looking at the elderly man with cloudy eyes, Zhou Qian spoke up. “Either you kill me, or I kill you.”
[Target: Jiang Yuqing]
[Rank: S]
[Specialty: ???]
[Warning: The target’s attack is extremely strong! Player Zhou Qian cannot resist his attack at all!]
[Warning: The target’s defense is super high! Player Zhou Qian cannot harm him at all!]
The target was the incarnation of the master of the conscious world.
Indeed, how could one defeat the master of this world while in the conscious world?
[Player Zhou Qian, the system has recently launched new tombstones. You’re welcome to purchase—]
The agitated form of Jiang Yuqing indeed appeared again.
His attack power had clearly increased, and his eyes had turned bright red.
He raised his palm, showing no mercy, and slapped Zhou Qian.
Killing Bei He and erasing memories associated with him was the only directive given by this diseased brain!
Amidst the intense killing intent, Zhou Qian looked up at Jiang Yuqing calmly.
Surprisingly, Zhou Qian’s eyes were rather gentle. Speaking in Bei He’s tone, he softly said, “Mr. Jiang, I love you. That’s why I’ll… gently kill you.”
Zhou Qian saw a line pop up in the message bar: [My body is trapped, but my spirit can enter the games. Hidden Blade is my teammate.]
Zhou Qian: [Oh.]
[137]: [So… um? Just click ‘Agree’.]
Zhou Qian: [Ah, this situation makes it very difficult for me.]
[137]: [?]
Zhou Qian: [It seemed that Hidden Blade was very sincere. Although you said you asked him to take me as a disciple, when I chatted with him, he said he admired me very much, thought I was formidable, and wanted to accept me as his disciple.]
[137]: […From what I know, that doesn’t seem to be the case.]
Zhou Qian: [What do you mean? Oh, you think I’m not formidable or qualified enough. You’re looking down on me.]
[137]: [Of course not.]
Zhou Qian: “No? Oh, if you’re not looking down on me, then it’s Hidden Blade who is. Did he badmouth me?”
[137]: [He didn’t either.]
Seeing the reply, Zhou Qian grinned mischievously.
A moment later, [137] messaged: [Zhou Qian, click ‘Agree’. I need to log off soon.]
Zhou Qian replied: [Oh, then you can log off. I have something else to do.]
[137]: […What are you up to?]
Zhou Qian: “Going to find Jiang Yuqing. I’m going to brush up on our relationship line. Bye.”
[137]: “……”
Ignoring the system panel, Zhou Qian reached out and took out a scale from his bag.
Can this scale bring the little dragon back?
Zhou Qian wasn’t sure. He tried aligning the scale to his watch but couldn’t access its function through the system.
He put the scale away and walked out to room 701 across the hall. Through the glass, Zhou Qian saw Jiang Yuqing turn over, get out of bed, walk to a bookshelf, and start reading. He looked more awake than before.
Perhaps because the players completed the mission, Jiang Yuqing began recalling some past events.
In fact, his current behavior was completely in line with the preset settings. Zhou Qian remembered the front desk mentioning that Jiang Yuqing is quiet at night, implying that players didn’t need to attend to him during the evening. During the day, players challenge levels, and at night, they rest. This was the routine for players in this particular instance.
Lost in thought, Zhou Qian glanced at the man on the bed. He tried messaging [137] again.
The system indicated [137] was offline.
Zhou Qian stared at the notification for a while, then browsed through recent chat records. He intended to bother Qi Liuxing or He Xiaowei, get updates on their situations, and introduce them. But his plan was interrupted when he noticed [Hidden Blade] was online.
Seeing this, Zhou Qian quickly messaged: [Hey, isn’t this my master?]
[Hidden Blade]: [???]
[Hidden Blade]: [We’re definitely not that kind of relationship! Stop spreading nonsense!]
Hidden Blade sent two messages consecutively. Zhou Qian calmly replied, [Weren’t you going to accept me as your disciple? Why the sudden change?]
[Hidden Blade]: [What? I clearly told you it was for a friend! I never wanted you!]
Zhou Qian: [Why does your friend go by ‘137’?]
[Hidden Blade]: [How would I know?]
Zhou Qian mischievously replied: [By the way, 137 said you’re mediocre.]
He Xiaowei has praised Hidden Blade to the skies, even swearing to take him as a master. So, wouldn’t anyone with real skill be upset upon hearing such words about themselves? How would Hidden Blade react? Were he and 137 truly good teammates and friends?
Zhou Qian didn’t expect [Hidden Blade] to reply: [What? He actually praised me as ‘mediocre’? That’s amazing! Thanks, Zhou Qian. I’ve always dreamed of his praise!]
Zhou Qian: [………]
[Now I’m going to run an instance. Let’s chat later. Please, stop calling me ‘Master’. I wouldn’t dare compete with his choice.]
After leaving that message, Hidden Blade stopped responding, probably entering the instance.
Zhou Qian raised an eyebrow and glanced at Jiang Yuqing through the glass, then returned to his room.
……
The next morning, due to having had a good rest, Zhou Qian woke up very early. While washing up, he looked in the mirror. The reflection he saw was someone he no longer recognized. For now, he completely resembled [Bei He].
Jiang Yuqing’s life had only three days left. Despite his dementia, he was reluctant to forget himself or his teammates.
After passing through two levels, his memory had been restored to the point where he could recall himself and his teammates. As a result, in the world of memories, the appearances of those teammates, including Jiang Yuqing himself, became clear. Moreover, having cleared a high difficulty level, the players even achieved a hidden achievement—making Jiang Yuqing remember that all his teammates had sacrificed themselves in Cypress City.
So… what could Jiang Yuqing’s third wish be?
Could it be a desire for Bei He to be resurrected? Even if it’s just a false resurrection in the memory world?
While pondering all of this, Zhou Qian didn’t immediately go to Room 701 to find Jiang Yuqing. Instead, he headed to the elevator and went to the ground floor lobby. The hall was empty. The security, receptionists, and other caretakers were all gone.
It seemed that only Zhou Qian and the elderly Jiang Yuqing remained in this entire building.
The main door was wide open, and the sunlight and green lawn outside seemed to be beckoning Zhou Qian to leave this false world, abandon the side mission, and return to reality.
Zhou Qian slowly walked to the door, looking at the enticing green grass. However, after a deep breath towards the sunlight, he resolutely turned around and headed for the elevator.
Inside the elevator, the buttons for the other floors still seemed fake, unable to be pressed. Zhou Qian tried a few and then returned to the seventh floor. This time, he went straight to room 701.
Inside room 701, the elderly Jiang Yuqing was reading. As Zhou Qian knocked and entered, Jiang Yuqing looked up and smiled at him.
Zhou Qian glanced at the table, which was empty. He wondered if Jiang Yuqing had eaten the osmanthus cake from yesterday or simply forgotten about it.
After a few steps into the room, Zhou Qian asked Jiang Yuqing, “Do you still remember me?”
At first, Jiang Yuqing nodded, but then his gaze became a bit distant, and he shook his head.
Suddenly, something caught Zhou Qian’s peripheral vision. He noticed that the blue and white porcelain vase on the bedside table had disappeared right before his eyes.
So, the elderly Jiang Yuqing was still “killing” objects in the memory world.
As Zhou Qian looked back at Jiang Yuqing, he saw him yawn, put down his book, and head towards the bed. He was about to go to sleep, indicating that the next level was about to begin.
Zhou Qian quickly called out, “Mr. Jiang, wait.”
He took out a piece of the osmanthus cake he had taken from the lobby two days ago and handed it to Jiang Yuqing. As expected, Jiang Yuqing was still very interested in it and began to eat.
After temporarily preventing Jiang Yuqing from sleeping, Zhou Qian turned to the photos on the wall. The images of the four people were clearer now—they were the players who successfully completed the main quest and survived. His gaze passed over each one, finally settling on the young officer in the photo.
Touching the photo, a familiar sensation came over him. Through that cold, damp touch, Zhou Qian was transported again to that dreamlike scene—Jiang Yuqing writing poetry by candlelight. The first time Zhou Qian touched this photo, he felt an uncommon surge of emotion—a deep-seated sadness that nearly took his breath away.
At this moment, Zhou Qian finally understood where this sadness came from. In the dream, Jiang Yuqing was sad while writing the letter. Bei He was dead, and no one would receive his letter. Jiang Yuqing’s heartfelt letter could only be sent by burning it, a way to express his sorrow.
“Jiang Yuqing, do you remember me? I’m Bei He.” In the dream, Zhou Qian spoke to the man bathed in soft light.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuqing immediately looked up, his eyes filled with joy. “Bei He! You’re here? How… why are you here…”
Unlike previous dreams where the handsome officer’s features were always vague, this time the light illuminated his handsome face, which was a sight to behold. After a moment, he looked down, finished writing the letter, folded it, and placed it near the candle flame.
But this time, before he could burn the letter, Zhou Qian promptly spoke up to stop him, saying, “Were you writing to me? ‘Night Rain Addressed to the North’… is the ‘North’ referring to me?”
Jiang Yuqing seemed to be caught off guard by the question, his ears reddening. He quickly hid the letter. “You’re talking nonsense,” he stammered.
Zhou Qian extended his hand with a smile. “Don’t burn it. Give it to me. I’m right here.”
“You… You…”
Was there an opportunity for the unspoken words to be voiced? Those covert and ambiguous feelings—would he ever understand?
Jiang Yuqing hesitated but eventually handed over the letter as Zhou Qian had asked.
In this illusory environment, the scene was always bathed in a dim yellow glow of antiquity. It seemed to be raining outside, and the room was filled with dampness.
Zhou Qian felt as though he was standing under warm, hazy candlelight while Jiang Yuqing was slowly approaching him, ready to hand over the letter. But just as Jiang Yuqing was within reach, just when Zhou Qian felt the touch of his fingertips—
Jiang Yuqing suddenly withdrew his hand. Tears appeared to form in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Zhou Qian asked.
Jiang Yuqing shook his head in sadness and despair. “It’s not real. It’s my fantasy. You… you died… in Cypress City… I’m dreaming again.”
Zhou Qian squinted, not pressing him to hand over the letter but instead asking, “How did I die?”
“Bei He, you—” Jiang Yuqing choked back tears and seemed to recall some painful memories. Taking a seat, he covered his heart, his shoulders trembling.
The current Jiang Yuqing looked genuinely pitiable. But Zhou Qian, without mercy, pressed, “Jiang Yuqing, you must tell me. I’m trapped in hell and can’t remember how I died. If this continues, I fear I won’t be able to be reborn!”
“You—! You were a hero. How could this happen?” Jiang Yuqing looked at Zhou Qian in horror.
Zhou Qian responded, “Then tell me the truth.”
After a moment, Jiang Yuqing gave Zhou Qian the answer he sought. Observing his surroundings, Zhou Qian noted that with the restoration of some of his memories, the environment seemed clearer.
He could now see the details of the room, like the kettle, cups, trinkets, and paintings, all of which showed signs of an older era.
Turning to Jiang Yuqing, Zhou Qian asked, “What era is this? Have we won?”
Jiang Yuqing clenched his fist and nodded. “We won! Everything is fine now. There’s no war. I… I’ve aged.”
Zhou Qian laughed. “No, you haven’t aged a bit, still as dashing as ever.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yuqing’s eyes turned dazed again. “Are you just a figment of my imagination, or have you really come from the underworld to see me?”
At that moment, Zhou Qian heard a sound from outside this illusory world. It was the older Jiang Yuqing getting up to go to bed.
Seizing the last moments, Zhou Qian looked at the man in the illusion. “I want to ask you one last question.”
Jiang Yuqing nodded. “Ask.”
Zhou Qian’s question was brutal. “All of your trusted comrades, including me, died. They all died protecting you. Do you feel guilty?”
“If you were to live the rest of your life alone, what would your truest wish be?”
Five minutes later, Zhou Qian was outside room 701. Behind him, he could hear Jiang Yuqing’s deep breathing, indicating he was asleep. Zhou Qian took one last glance at him and then turned the doorknob, stepping into a new scene.
It was a dark, narrow corridor that barely allowed one person to pass through. Zhou Qian could only judge this because of the light seeping through the slightly ajar door of room 701.
But as the door closed, the corridor plunged into complete darkness. Unsure of any lurking dangers, Zhou Qian didn’t turn on the light but lifted his left wrist to access the system panel.
In this game, all NPCs could only act according to the predetermined plot. One noticeable thing was that the system seemed to have set it up so that the NPCs wouldn’t react to the player’s watch or system panel.
Furthermore, only the player could see their own system panel and couldn’t view those of others. But when the system interface popped up from the watch into the air, there was a faint glow visible only to the player’s eyes, though this light was very dim.
Therefore, at this moment, Zhou Qian was using the extremely faint light from the system panel to explore the corridor.
Zhou Qian didn’t immediately move forward. Instead, he turned around to look behind him.
The door to Room 701, which was originally here, had disappeared. Zhou Qian cautiously moved forward in the pitch-black environment and unexpectedly touched a wall with his outstretched hand.
He knocked on it and found it solid. This meant there was no way forward in this direction, and he would have to turn and go another way.
However, Zhou Qian didn’t turn around immediately. He stood still, raised his watch, looked up, and tried to push upwards. But above him, there was also a solid wall. So, at least from where he stood, there was no way out.
Naturally, there was a reason why Zhuo Qian tried to push upwards.
From the current information, the elder Jiang Yuqing was the one intending to kill the players, while the younger Jiang Yuqing was the opposite.
In the side mission “Checks and Balance”, Room 701 always existed, and players could return to the room at any time to view the photo. The photo triggered illusions that allowed the young Jiang Yuqing to provide clues.
But from the “West Pier” mission onward, Room 701 disappeared.
Therefore, if the young Jiang Yuqing from the illusions could still provide clues to help the players, it would most likely only be before the official start of the mission.
At that time, Zhou Qian would use the osmanthus cake to distract the elder Jiang Yuqing, preventing him from falling asleep, and then enter the illusion to seek out the younger Jiang Yuqing for clues.
The current side mission was called “Night Rain Addressed to the North”. It was undoubtedly a story that revolved around the two main characters, Bei He and Jiang Yuqing.
So, most of Zhou Qian’s questions in the illusion were related to Bei He. One of the critical questions was about Bei He’s real cause of death.
In West Pier, the young Jiang Yuqing witnessed his comrades turning into ghosts, realizing that they had all died. He should also have remembered the true cause of Bei He’s death.
Indeed, in the illusion, Jiang Yuqing recounted the story with profound sadness. It was during the invasion of Cypress City that the Falcon Squadron risked everything to find him and then tried to break out with him. However, during their escape, all five comrades died, leaving only Bei He to flee with Jiang Yuqing.
The two managed to escape into underground tunnels under grave danger, aiming to get to the city’s outskirts. But halfway through, they were discovered by a squad of more than ten soldiers from the S Army.
Some of the vanguard soldiers of that squad opened a household’s stove, intending to pursue Jiang Yuqing through the tunnels.
Bei He, after shooting a few of them, prevented them from entering the tunnel. He hid Jiang Yuqing and jumped out of the stove to single-handedly confront the squad.
Bei He, being a member of the Falcon Squad, fought valiantly against ten, showcasing unparalleled bravery.
After a fierce battle, Bei He was severely injured, but the enemy soldiers suffered even worse losses, with more than half of them dead. In the end, only four of them were left, and they didn’t dare confront Bei He, whose eyes were bloodshot from rage. Under his intense gaze, they turned and fled.
Worried, Jiang Yuqing came out, intending to drag the injured Bei He back into the tunnel.
But Bei He decisively sent Jiang Yuqing back into the tunnel and turned to leave.
Jiang Yuqing grabbed Bei He’s hand, pleading, “This is the last stretch. Once we escape from here, we can leave from the dock. Bei He… Come with me!”
But Bei He firmly shook his head. “Some of those soldiers escaped. They already know the tunnel’s location. If they report to their superiors, you might be doomed. Yuqing…”
“Wait for me in Nancheng. If I survive, I’ll find you.”
After saying this, he pushed Jiang Yuqing into the tunnel, rearranged the stove equipment, and left to chase the remaining S soldiers.
In the end, Jiang Yuqing escaped safely.
But for the rest of his life, he never saw Bei He again.
Jiang Yuqing didn’t witness what happened to Bei He after he entered the tunnel alone.
But he could guess—Bei He and those S Army soldiers must have perished together. To prevent them from leaking the tunnel’s location, Bei He gave up his life.
At this moment, Zhou Qian slowly walked in a narrow, lightless corridor, continuously reaching out above and around him, attempting to find an exit.
He guessed that he might be in Cypress City again.
However, this Cypress City seemed more real than the illusory, allegorical ghost city he’d experienced before.
Regarding this corridor… perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a tunnel.
This tunnel, in real history, should correspond to the final route Bei He and Jiang Yuqing took when they fled together.
As expected, a loud noise emanated from below, and Zhou Qian felt the surrounding walls and the ground shaking violently.
He was in a tunnel, and the entire city outside was probably under the bombardment of shells and gunfire.
Zhou Qian had another thought—Why wasn’t Jiang Yuqing with him now?
In Jiang Yuqing’s conscious world… how would he construct this route?
Did he wish to escape the tragic city with Bei He?
Did he hope that for the rest of his life, Bei He would always be by his side?
Or… did he just hope to confess the hidden, unspoken love to Bei He before his death?
There were so many unresolved regrets in this world.
What did Jiang Yuqing truly desire?
Having walked a considerable distance without hearing any noise or encountering any danger, Zhou Qian no longer cautiously used the dim light from his system panel but finally turned on his flashlight.
Shining the flashlight forward, its long beam was immediately swallowed by the endless darkness.
Looking at the unfathomable blackness ahead, Zhou Qian slightly raised his eyebrows. Could it be that this endless tunnel was another of Jiang Yuqing’s desires?
After all, in this way, he could keep walking with Bei He. As long as they didn’t reach the tunnel entrance where they were discovered by the S army, Bei He wouldn’t die.
But this route eventually had an end.
After walking for about two hours, Zhou Qian shone his flashlight forward, only to find a wall.
When he tried to push it, the wall was solid and immovable.
Moreover, on his way here, Zhou Qian had been continuously tapping the ceiling and walls, but he never found an exit.
So now the only unexplored areas were to the left and right of this wall.
Zhou Qian first shone his flashlight to his left.
Surprisingly, there was a glass door there. When his flashlight illuminated it, a light inside suddenly turned on.
Under the light stood a young and handsome man—it was Jiang Yuqing.
Upon seeing Zhou Qian, the young Jiang Yuqing immediately approached.
He pressed his hands against the glass door, seemingly desperate to get out, but he couldn’t open it. He just gazed at Zhou Qian with increasing urgency.
This scene was indeed a bit unexpected.
Zhou Qian then shone the flashlight to his right.
There was another glass door to the right.
Similarly, as soon as the flashlight illuminated it, the light inside the door turned on. This time, an elderly Jiang Yuqing stood inside.
Unlike the anxious young Jiang Yuqing, the elderly Jiang Yuqing stood still, his expression numb, eyes dull and lifeless, resembling his previous dementia-like state.
At this moment, the system sent a message.
[Among the two glass doors, only one can be opened; the glass door can only be opened by the player, not NPCs.]
[Please choose one of the glass doors to open. Once opened, the next plot will be triggered. The player may pass or may die.]
[Player Zhou Qian, please make a choice within ten minutes.]
Zhou Qian’s words always had a mix of truth and deceit, making it difficult to discern how much of it was an act and how much was genuine. But the look in the eyes of the person listening to him at this moment was undoubtedly very serious.
His gaze was as deep as the ocean and as gentle as the softest wave on the sea surface.
Hearing him speak with the same gentleness, Zhou Qian said, “Bei He, I will never blame you. As long as you’re alive, I am happier than anything else.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qian gave Jiang Yuqing a thoughtful look and then heard He Xiaowei’s voice. “Alright! We’ve found the boat! Do we just need to get Jiang Yuqing on board and consider our mission accomplished?”
Yun Xiangrong chimed in, “Let’s try.”
Hearing this, Zhou Qian stood up and looked at Jiang Yuqing. “Let’s go.”
“Okay.” Jiang Yuqing nodded, and with Zhou Qian’s support, they headed towards the boat.
Moments later, Zhou Qian, assisting Jiang Yuqing, was the first to board. But as Jiang Yuqing got on board, Zhou Qian, for some unknown reason, slipped and fell back to the shore. He Xiaowei, who was right behind him, tried to catch him and board the ship, but he too slipped off.
Sensing something was wrong, Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong tried to get on, but they couldn’t either.
Facing the sea breeze, Zhou Qian stood by the sea, his feet stepping on the rough sand. He looked up at Jiang Yuqing on the boat.
The sea breeze carried mist, blurring Jiang Yuqing’s features. Through the mist, Zhou Qian could see a very puzzled expression on Jiang’s face, seemingly clueless about the situation. But Zhou Qian quickly waved at him and said, “After a long journey together, it’s time to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye? Aren’t you coming aboard?” Jiang Yuqing asked with a hint of urgency. “When will I see you again?”
Hearing this, Zhou Qian remembered the poem Jiang Yuqing had written in the dim candlelight. At this moment, the images of Jiang Yuqing against the vast ocean and that in the candlelight overlapped and then separated. Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and waved to the man on the boat.
With a smile, he whispered, “When it rains in Bashan at night.”
A system message appeared at this moment.
[Players have cleared the main level “West Pier”]
[A cutscene will play next. Rewards will be given after the cutscene. Please wait…]
“Holy crap, Qian’er! Your face!”
He Xiaowei exclaimed next to Zhou Qian, followed by, “Oh damn, your feet!”
Zhou Qian turned to He Xiaowei, and as expected, He Xiaowei’s face had turned pale and his feet were gone—he had become a ghost.
Suddenly recalling something, Zhou Qian took out a box of Wangji osmanthus cakes that he had picked up earlier. The unique fragrance of the cakes was gone, replaced by a foul odor. Opening the box, Zhou Qian found the cakes had turned moldy.
“What… What’s going on?” He Xiaowei asked.
Zhou Qian frowned and replied, “The S Army massacred Cypress City and brought Jiang Yuqing here. The Falcon Squadron risked their lives to rescue him, enabling him to take the vital technology out and save countless lives. The Falcon Squadron fulfilled their mission, but at the same time, they all perished.”
“This is probably… a real historical event.”
In the real timeline of Jiang Yuqing’s life, he hadn’t written the poem “Night Rain Addressed to the North” at this point in time. Maybe during his time in Cypress City, he hadn’t realized his true feelings until Bei He was forever lost in Cypress City.
For countless days and nights afterward, Jiang Yuqing spent his time missing Bei He. He repeatedly wrote that poem in his letters. But none could be sent because Bei He was dead.
Every time after writing, Jiang Yuqing would burn the letter.
Zhou Qian wondered if Bei He in the afterlife would understand his deep longing and unspoken love.
……
[After the player cleared the side quest “Checks and Balance”, Jiang Yuqing remembered himself. He remembered the vague figures in his memories and who they were, as well as the enemy, the S army. However, he couldn’t remember why those people left.]
[In order for the players to help him recall everything, the nursing home loaded the player into the main mission “West Pier”.]
[The players brought Jiang Yuqing to the west pier to board a ship, but everyone couldn’t leave Cypress City except for Jiang Yuqing himself. This successfully made Jiang Yuqing recall that to protect him, all his comrades had sacrificed themselves. Therefore, now the players in his memory world have also suddenly turned into ghostly figures.]
[Before Jiang Yuqing’s death, he had two wishes. The nursing home will do its best to help him fulfill them.]
[Jiang Yuqing’s first wish is to remember who he is.]
[Jiang Yuqing’s second wish is to remember those comrades who sacrificed themselves for him.]
[The first wish has been achieved. As for the second wish, from the perspective of each player, ensuring their survival in the memory world means they haven’t been forgotten. So, from the individual player’s perspective, the mission has been achieved.]
[Also, although each player has completed the mission, due to varying levels of completion, the rewards will differ.]
[Among them, Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei, and Yun Xiangrong have a conversion rate of 100% and a completion rate of 100%. Situ Qing has a conversion rate of 80% and a completion rate of 80%.]
[Players He Xiaowei, Yun Xiangrong, and Situ Qing can leave through the nursing home. You have completed the mission and successfully achieved the hidden achievement.]
[Player Zhou Qian was the first to trigger Jiang Yuqing’s vision of writing poetry and presented Jiang Yuqing with Wangji Osmanthus Cake in the “West Pier” main storyline, initiating the side mission “Night Rain Addressed to the North” and triggering Jiang Yuqing’s latent third wish. Current progress is at 50% completion.]
[Player Zhou Qian can choose to stay in the nursing home to complete the side mission or leave with the other players.]
[Once the side mission is completed, player Zhou Qian can achieve the ultimate hidden achievement.]
Messages from the system came one after another on the panel above the wristwatch.
As the players read the messages, it seemed like their memories were also being restored at the same time.
Six joined the Seventh Army, coming from all over the country, each with a distinct appearance and character. After rigorous selection and testing, they became members of the Falcon Squadron.
From then on, they abandoned their original names and identities, dedicating themselves entirely to their homeland.
Based on their hometown’s geographical direction, they named themselves Bei He, Dong Shui, Xi Jiang, Nan Hu, Zhong Liu1, and Xi Xi2.
1Middle Steam 2West Creek
They dreamt of eliminating the enemies and returning to their hometowns one day.
Unfortunately, they all stayed in Cypress City.
At this moment, on the vast ocean, a ship carrying Jiang Yuqing gradually moved away, disappearing over the horizon.
The blazing sun finally rose, illuminating the entire sea and the city on the east.
Witnessing this, the players thought—
May the members of the Falcon Squadron be blessed in their next life, with tranquil seas, peaceful rivers, and a world without wars.
……
The ocean vanished, the sun disappeared, the ruins faded…
The players returned to Room 701. Jiang Yuqing was still sleeping, but there seemed to be a sign that he was about to wake up.
They had been in the peculiar level for an entire night.
But returning to the nursing home, it was only just noon.
The system prompted the players who cleared the game to leave, so the four temporarily left 701 and took the elevator to the lobby.
There was no security guard in the lobby now, and the main door was wide open, allowing players to leave at any time.
Watching He Xiaowei, Situ Qing, and Yun Xiangrong head for the door, Zhou Qian just leaned against the front desk, standing casually with crossed legs.
He Xiaowei couldn’t help looking back at him repeatedly. “Qian’er, why not just leave it be?”
Zhou Qian replied seriously, “I can’t. I’m staying to level up the relationship.”
He Xiaowei frowned deeper. “Man, you’re weird. Why are you leveling up a relationship with a man?”
Zhou Qian smiled without answering. He Xiaowei continued, “I get it; it’s for the ultimate reward. But what if the level is too hard?”
Zhou Qian replied, “It should be fine. Jiang Yuqing likes Bei He. Why would he hurt him?”
He Xiaowei quickly reminded him, “Hey, did you forget? There are two Jiang Yuqings. The young one won’t hurt him, but the older one, representing dementia, wants to kill him!”
“It’s okay. I can rest for a whole day.”
Zhou Qian yawned and stretched. “Jiang Yuqing has only three days to live. A wish for each day… now, there’s only the last day remaining. I want to stay here and accompany him on his last journey. You all go ahead.”
Watching his teammates leave, Zhou Qian returned to the empty seventh floor.
When he reached the door of Room 701, he peeped inside through the window.
Jiang Yuqing had fallen into a deep sleep again.
Looking at him, Zhou Qian couldn’t help but think that this ‘instance’ wasn’t exactly as he had previously imagined.
Perhaps in the real world of this instance, the nursing home was a very special one, capable of restoring certain memories. According to the system’s messages, the so-called “caregivers” seemed like tools used by the system to help the elderly restore their memories.
Now, what Zhou Qian and his team were responsible for was the memory exclusive to Jiang Yuqing.
In the memory world, the elderly Jiang Yuqing fell asleep again.
After silently watching him for a while, Zhou Qian entered the room, left a piece of osmanthus cake on the table, and then returned to his room across the hallway to rest.
Zhou Qian purchased some food from the system’s official trading hall and ate it. After taking a shower, he slept all afternoon.
Zhou Qian’s condition was pretty good. Ever since he had the dream about stars, his vitality had been fully restored. However, after battling in the instance all night, he was mentally exhausted.
In the evening, Zhou Qian woke up. The first thing he did was access the trading section, listing items he wanted to purchase. He then started browsing the trading hall, trying to find useful items.
At that moment, he received another disciple invitation message, surprisingly from the quirky [137].
Zhou Qian stared at the number for a moment and simply sent back a question mark: [?]
After a while, the reply came: [Click ‘Agree’.]
[I won’t,] Zhou Qian quickly replied. [I was considering accepting [Hidden Blade’s] invitation. He asked first. Maybe I should accept him as my master.”
[137] replied, [He’s my friend. Due to some limitations, I can’t be online often. I wanted [Hidden Blade] to take you as his disciple so that when I’m not around, if you need anything, he can help. His skills also have to do with crowd control. I think he could be of help. But now I’ve reconsidered. I’ll do it myself.”
Zhou Qian responded promptly, [Hidden Blade… does his skill have to do with blades? This time, when I faced danger, someone saved me. Based on my teammates’ descriptions, this person seemed to gather wind or something to form a blade. When he slashed with that blade, it was terrifying. Was it Hidden Blade who saved me? He seems quite skilled; maybe I should take him as my master.]
About a minute later, when Zhou Qian thought the person had gone offline again, [137] finally sent another message.
[He’s not that impressive. Just average.]
Zhou Qian: [If he’s not impressive, are you?]
Before [137] could reply, Zhou Qian asked, [Wait, how old are you? If I’m older than you and have to call you ‘Master’, it wouldn’t be fair!]
30 seconds later, [137] replied, [I’m older than you.]
With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Zhou Qian retorted, [Oh? In what way are you older?]
There was a moment of silence on the other end before the question was thrown back, [What do you think?]
Zhou Qian replied swiftly, [How would I know? I don’t know you.]
Before the other could reply, Zhou Qian quickly added, [How about you? Do you know me?]
[137] replied immediately, [Yes.]
Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and typed, [Can we meet in real life?]
[137]: [No.]
Zhou Qian: [Why?]
[137]: [I’m temporarily trapped.]
Zhou Qian didn’t respond but stared thoughtfully at the words sent by [137].
After a while, he saw [137] type: [Due to certain rules, I can’t reveal too much to you right now, as it would be detrimental to you. But this restriction won’t last for long. Just click ‘Agree’ for now.]
Zhou Qian took a deep breath, the tension in his face relaxing. [[Hidden Blade] gave me a lot of things when he wanted to take me as his disciple.]
[137]: [Open the trade hall now. I’ve sent you some items. What else do you need?]
Zhou Qian indeed went to the trade hall and accepted the items happily.
Afterward, tapping a few more times with his index finger on the dial, he asked, [What kind of friend is that Hidden Blade to you? You’re trapped and limited by so many rules… How do you have time to make friends?]
The author has something to say:
Zhou Qian, the relentless interrogator.
Hidden Blade: ??? (Hey, why is this concerning me?)
In the midst of a ruined wall, thousands of enemy soldiers lay defeated. They had once ravaged this land, and now they repaid it with their own flesh and blood. The resentment of countless ghosts was appeased, and the dark clouds that had lingered dispersed. Above the sky, stars and the moon reappeared. Beneath this starry canopy, Jiang Yuqing stood tall, revealing an exceptionally handsome and pleasing face.
After a while, Jiang Yuqing felt warmth in his palm. He quickly let go, then swiftly grabbed Zhou Qian’s hand, finding the bandage on his wrist soaked red with blood.
Indeed, Zhou Qian was suffering. Having stormed his way here, his stamina was completely drained. Moreover, intentionally dropping his health to below 10%, the excessive blood loss made his head spin.
At this moment, he had a deeper realization about his ultimate ability—he was literally burning his own life force to summon the power of vengeful spirits.
With the support of his ultimate ability, Zhou Qian could still walk and shoot. But now, its effect had ended, and he was struggling. Feeling drowsy, Zhou Qian unconsciously leaned forward, but Jiang Yuqing took a step and steadied him, allowing Zhou Qian’s head to rest on his shoulder.
As Zhou Qian’s consciousness faded amidst a haze of red, he still managed to ask with a smile, “Hey, you could barely stand, and yet you’re supporting me?”
Elsewhere. Inside a gaming room booth. In front of a flat screen.
Mu Sheng watched everything unfold with a nearly malicious grin on his lips. “Ha, as I expected! Sacrificing one’s own health for power… Foolish. Do you think it’s over?”
Hearing this, Priest, who was next to him, raised an eyebrow and calmly responded, “If it followed the original settings of this level, it would have ended.”
“It’s different now that I’m here! It’s not over! I’ve been waiting for this moment! Zhou Qian… your health is at 9%, and your teammate’s mana is almost depleted! I want to see how you can win now!”
“No one can take away my sister. I want you dead! You’re going to die!!!”
With that, Mu Sheng quickly pressed a button on the screen, accessing the system menu with the privileges of a high-level gambler, and opened the item bar.
[Advanced Gambler Mu Sheng used the item: Joyful Modifier]
[Effect: Can forcibly change the storyline; an extremely rare item.]
[Note: Please follow system instructions and input your desired changes within a minute.]
[Advanced Gambler Mu Sheng used the item: NPC Loader.]
[Effect: Can load your consciousness into any NPC; an extremely rare item.]
[Note: NPCs have a hard life. Choose wisely; you have 30 seconds to change your mind.]
……
Seeing Mu Sheng’s actions, Priest frowned. “I advise you to consider carefully. After all, you’ve never been a player, never been to the real game world. Do you really think… you can adapt?”
Mu Sheng replied, “Now is the perfect chance to kill Zhou Qian. I can’t miss it! Zhou Qian, I will repay you in your own coin!”
Before loading into the game, Mu Sheng turned to Priest with manic eyes. “I’ve gone mad, just as you’d like, right?”
……
Inside the game.
The entire playground had turned to ruins.
In the center of this destruction, two figures leaned on each other, resembling the most trusting of comrades or the most intimate of lovers.
Zhou Qian felt more and more dizzy.
After a while, he heard He Xiaowei’s voice. “Qian’er, hey, I’m here. Are you okay? I have a tiny bit of mana left, enough for a basic healing skill. It doesn’t heal much, but it’s better than nothing. Let me try! Wait… Oh my god! What… What is that?!”
Yun Xiangrong’s voice deepened. “My God…”
Situ Qing, usually composed, exclaimed in shock, “How can this be?!”
The voices of his teammates filled with extreme surprise and profound fear echoed around. Zhou Qian blinked tiredly, and then a deep rumbling noise surrounded him, reminiscent of distant thunder. This thunderous sound carried a dangerous aura, like the deep roaring from the sea before a terrifying tsunami.
Raising his head with difficulty, Zhou Qian looked over Jiang Yuqing’s shoulder and gazed ahead.
The situation had indeed changed.
Countless corpses of the S Army, whether intact, twisted, or fragmented, surprisingly stood up under the influence of some invisible force.
The scene was incredibly bizarre because it didn’t conform to the settings and logic of the instance.
In a reasonable game, hints for passing the level would be discreetly embedded in advance. Players could find ways to pass by searching for clues and understanding the storyline. It shouldn’t suddenly introduce a life-threatening monster without any prior clues or methods to defeat it.
So… What on earth was happening?
The next moment, an even stranger event unfolded before the four players.
After countless S Army skeletons stood up, they rapidly converged mid-air, forming a tremendously large humanoid monster.
This creature was made of a pile of corpses, so immense that it seemed to step on the ground and touch the sky. Surrounding it was a gray mist-like substance—the spirits of the deceased S Army!
He Xiaowei couldn’t help but exclaim, “What the… What the hell is this?!”
Yun Xiangrong was almost holding her breath. “This skill looks like Zhou Qian’s! It’s as if… someone copied Zhou Qian’s skills and power?!”
“But that’s impossible. I’ve cleared so many instances and never encountered this,” Situ Qing began, her face turning pale as she seemed to recall something, clenching her fists tightly.
Soon, the giant monster began to move. It twisted its grotesque and incredibly heavy head from side to side, then fixed its gaze on the players. With a menacing intent, it took heavy steps toward them. Each step was accompanied by a loud rumbling sound, shaking the ground as if the entire city would be destroyed beneath its feet!
“This isn’t logical!”
“What’s happening?”
“It’s raising its hand!”
“It seems to be targeting Zhou Qian! It’s going to attack him!!”
Amidst the cries of his teammates, Zhou Qian seemed somewhat indifferent.
He looked ahead, his eyes cold as ice, but he didn’t move.
He truly had no strength left.
Zhou Qian had no ability to counter such a monster. All he could do was think quickly and consider any possible means of survival.
But he couldn’t think of any.
Before the game started, he had observed the trading hall for a long time and hadn’t bought items like the [Universe Teleportation Mirror] that could allow him to teleport instantly. Even if he had, it wouldn’t be of much use against such a gigantic beast.
The teleportation range usually didn’t exceed a thousand meters, which was a distance that the giant monster could catch up with within a few steps.
He Xiaowei was always loyal. He quickly ran to Zhou Qian’s side, holding his guqin. Despite his fear, he said, “Qian’er, I’ll try to heal you. I also have protective items like cloaks and arm guards. Hold on, I’m giving them to you now.”
Yun Xiangrong, standing behind He Xiaowei, turned completely pale.
It’s useless. Zhou Qian’s ultimate skill is limited. With only 9% health left, if he can’t kill the monster instantly, he’ll be killed by it.
He Xiaowei knew this too. As he looked at Zhou Qian’s pale face, tears welled up in his eyes. With a swift pluck of the guqin’s strings, he used up the last of his mana.
[Player Zhou Qian’s HP restored to 13%]
It’s over.
Zhou Qian is finished.
All of us are probably done for.
Suddenly, He Xiaowei noticed a figure with a rifle rushing to the front from behind him.
It was Situ Qing!
Compared to the gigantic monster formed from thousands of spirits and corpses, Situ Qing seemed utterly insignificant, as tiny as an ant or even a speck of dust. Yet her advancing figure seemed fearless and determined, as if she was ready to fight this immensely powerful creature to the death!
This act clearly enraged the giant creature.
It roared, causing the entire ground to shake violently.
The monster then raised its palm, and a whirlwind formed in its grasp, striking fiercely towards Zhou Qian.
In that moment, it seemed as if the gods, in order to punish the criminal who committed a heinous crime, unleashed a wrathful force from the heavens, intending to obliterate him with a single strike.
Under such divine might, no one could find redemption.
He Xiaowei’s heart thudded wildly, as if about to burst. Realizing something, he quickly turned his gaze to Zhou Qian, wanting to assist him in his last moments. After all, it was thanks to Zhou Qian that he had come this far.
But then, an unexpected event occurred!
At a glance, He Xiaowei saw Jiang Yuqing, seemingly dead, devoid of any life force, collapsing backward unexpectedly.
Ignoring Jiang Yuqing’s situation, He Xiaowei rushed to support Zhou Qian by the shoulder, trying to prevent further damage from a potential fall.
Suddenly, the earth trembled even more violently!
Weak and exhausted, Zhou Qian could no longer withstand the shaking and passed out. Seeing this, He Xiaowei instinctively shielded the unconscious Zhou Qian with his body. As the palm formed by the vast grudge force brutally descended, he couldn’t help but let out a desperate scream, which was immediately swallowed by a terrifying storm.
However, moments later, the anticipated divine-like destructive power didn’t arrive.
Surprised, He Xiaowei quickly straightened up and looked up. Along with the shocked cries of Yun Xiangrong and Situ Qing, he saw a dragon!
Its origin was unknown.
Hovering high in the sky, it resembled a deep blue lonely moon, casting a faint blue veil over the entire sky and land, fluctuating with the wind.
The dragon’s tail was incredibly long, covered in deep blue scales, reminiscent of a flowing galaxy or the most beautiful ribbon floating in the air.
With a slight movement of its tail, a strong gust formed into the shape of a blade. This blade faced the storm created by the monster and split the black whirlwind in half, vanishing it in an instant; the next moment, the blade whirled forward and hung over the creature’s head for a split second before slashing down—
The monster was literally bisected alive!
“Roar—!”
The severed beast howled and, under the resentment, quickly reformed. It leapt towards the dragon in the sky.
The dragon, still hovering high, simply swished its tail again, creating another blade of wind. This time, the sharp blade struck the monster head-on. In an instant, the massive creature, formed by countless corpses and spirits, as well as the many buildings and trees behind it, were all turned into dust! Large sections of the city’s ground were lifted, inch by inch!
Even the vast ocean in the far west was affected by the wind blade, as giant waves surged and countless ships were caught in the waves, on the verge of sinking…
This was the true thunderous force—a nearly world-ending power!
In the nick of time, staring at the rising waves in the far west, the dumbfounded He Xiaowei realized something and shouted at the dragon in the sky, “Stop! We still need the ships to clear the level!”
The wind ceased.
The monster vanished, and all the corpses of the S Army turned to dust. Most of the city was completely leveled.
The world fell into silence.
After a while, the dragon in mid-air lowered its gaze, seemingly looking at the center of the playground.
Sensing something, He Xiaowei quickly embraced Zhou Qian again, guarding him closely. Feeling the responsibility of being the only “healer” on the team, he watched the massive dragon warily.
Although it seemed to have helped them earlier, who knows the real intention behind such a terrifying creature?
Suddenly, the dragon vanished from the sky, only to reappear right in front of He Xiaowei. The luminous tail swiped towards him, but without any force, simply nudging He Xiaowei’s hand away.
The moment He Xiaowei touched the frosty dragon tail, his whole body shivered, and he was immediately repelled by an invisible force, landing on his ass in a nearby pit.
Brushing off the dirt as he stood up, just as He Xiaowei was about to question the dragon’s intentions, he saw it coil its tail on the ground of the playground, then wrap Zhou Qian entirely within its lengthy tail.
It was at this moment, due to the close proximity, that He Xiaowei realized it wasn’t entirely a dragon. Its body and tail resembled a dragon, but its ears didn’t. Instead, the ears looked like those of elves from Western fairy tales.
The horns on its head didn’t seem to be those of dragons either. Those twin horns were incredibly sharp, shining coldly in the night, as sharp as knives.
So, it’s not a dragon but rather a dragon-like… monster?
At this moment, Zhou Qian seemed both awake and sleepwalking.
He unconsciously raised both hands, continuously sliding them over the dragon’s scales, occasionally pinching one and flicking it as if intending to rip it out. After playing with the scales in one area, he moved on to another, seeming to enjoy himself immensely.
Zhou Qian’s actions made He Xiaowei’s heart race.
The dragon would feel pain if played with like this, right?
What if it gets angry? Wouldn’t it annihilate us in seconds?!
Yet, the dragon seemed very patient. Regardless of how Zhou Qian toyed with it, its icy-blue eyes merely gazed at Zhou Qian with a gentle expression.
After a moment, its tail wrapped tighter, bringing Zhou Qian up to the area around its neck. In his drowsy state, Zhou Qian naturally leaned in and hugged its neck tightly.
Then the dragon did something that almost made He Xiaowei’s jaw drop.
It bowed its head, gently pressing its lips to Zhou Qian’s forehead, as if tenderly kissing him.
He Xiaowei immediately exclaimed, “Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?! Zhou Qian! Qian’er, wake up! You’re being taken advantage of—”
Suddenly, a cold gaze from the dragon swept over. He Xiaowei found himself unable to speak. The next moment, a chunk of wall flew from somewhere, embedding itself into the ground before him, blocking his view completely.
He Xiaowei: “…………”
……
Zhou Qian felt as if, in a daze, he had fallen into a sweet dream.
It was as if he were sinking deep into the sea or floating among the stars.
He was surrounded by deep blue. The blue should have been cold, but Zhou Qian felt safe.
Zhou Qian often felt exhausted.
Always having to think, always being on guard against others. But now, he felt relaxed. There were no schemes, no guards up; he just needed to sleep peacefully. He wasn’t sure where this sense of safety came from, but he instinctively let down all his guards.
It seemed Zhou Qian dreamt of playing with stars. After some time, a cool yet gentle sensation touched his forehead, and all his pain was healed in that instant.
……
In the virtual game hall.
Mu Sheng was ejected from the system, collapsing on the ground, bleeding from all his orifices. However, only his spirit had entered the game hall, so he wasn’t dead yet, giving Priest a chance to temporarily save him.
Priest gave Mu Sheng a pill and sighed. “You could have been a talent if you weren’t so obsessed. Such a pity…”
As Mu Sheng coughed up blood, he grabbed Priest’s wrist. “What… What power is that?”
“It’s the power of a God Rank player,” Priest said. “A God Rank player entered the instance as Jiang Yuqing. He’s selecting his shepherd.”
Priest sighed again. “There’s a game rule. To select a qualified shepherd, a God Rank player can create some challenges for players without violating the original character design, game plot, rules, and settings. However, they are not allowed to help the players or go out of character.”
“In other words, they can only increase the game’s difficulty, but not reduce it. But there’s an exception—”
“That exception is, when someone outside the game uses an item to forcefully change the game’s plot and significantly increase the difficulty, God Rank players can help the players with their own power. That’s why I said… you really brought it on yourself.”
Priest laughed, glancing mockingly at Mu Sheng. “But I should thank you. Thanks to your actions, I now know who the God Rank player interested in Zhou Qian is.”
Mu Sheng, who had fallen to the ground, coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. He clutched Priest’s calf with both hands. “I promise you. I’m willing to go to Zone X. I’ll accept the transformation! Let me… let me become a God Rank player! I can’t stand being just a gambler hiding behind the scenes! I want to be a player!”
……
Inside the game.
When Zhou Qian woke up, the sky was already tinged with the rosy hues of dawn, marking the end of this lengthy night.
As he stood up from the playground, he felt slightly dazed and somewhat lost. Frowning, he opened his palm and saw a deep blue, shiny scale.
Hmm, so that dragon… wasn’t just an illusion.
It saved him again.
After staring at the scale for a while, Zhou Qian put it away. Looking up, he saw He Xiaowei treating Jiang Yuqing’s leg wound nearby.
The bullet hadn’t hit the bone but had passed through the calf, making it relatively easier to deal with.
Not too far on the other side, Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong were both lying on the ground, asleep. They must’ve been exhausted, not minding the fact they were resting amidst piles of corpses.
Zhou Qian looked to the west and noticed that a significant portion of the city had been destroyed. Tall buildings that once stood tall were now reduced to mere rubble.
The battlefield was in disarray, but at least the enemy was completely wiped out.
The city awaited the people who could breathe life back into it.
Zhou Qian then approached He Xiaowei and Jiang Yuqing. On seeing him, He Xiaowei exclaimed, “Qian’er! Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Zhou Qian replied, then asked, “What happened… while I was unconscious?”
At that moment, He Xiaowei really wanted to blurt out something he had been holding back.
“Qian’er, it seems you were molested by a dragon… ah, no, rather, a monster! It’s weird; there were two beautiful ladies there, but the creature didn’t even glance at them. Why did it go after you, a man? I must tell you, that was no ordinary dragon…”
But recalling the look the dragon gave before it disappeared, he refrained.
So, He Xiaowei simply said, “A dragon appeared and saved us! What the hell is this instance? Or what’s going on in Jiang Yuqing’s consciousness? In any case, the strange monster made up of thousands of S Army corpses was defeated by the dragon. None of us were harmed… Maybe it was some cutscene in the game? Anyway, it doesn’t matter to us clearing the game, right? Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense!”
Thinking of the scale in his hand, Zhou Qian didn’t say much but cast a thoughtful glance at Jiang Yuqing. Then he asked, “Mr. Jiang, are you alright?”
Jiang Yuqing nodded. His pale face still showed signs of weakness. He whispered, “Thank you, Bei He. I’m fine now.”
Zhou Qian smiled at him. “I’m glad we managed to save you. Let’s rest a bit and then take you to the west pier.”
An hour later, He Xiaowei, Situ Qing, and Yun Xiangrong were walking ahead while Zhou Qian, supporting the injured Jiang Yuqing, followed.
After another two hours, they reached the sea.
The clouds over the sea had completely dissipated. The dawn was glowing red, and the vast sky and boundless sea were painted in layers of red and blue, blending into different shades of purple, ultimately merging with the horizon in a distant gray ribbon.
While the other teammates went in search of an intact boat, Zhou Qian and Jiang Yuqing sat on a rock by the sea.
Zhou Qian turned to him. “He Xiaowei told me that when the dragon appeared, you passed out. He was scared and thought you died.”
Jiang Yuqing seemed to not understand, lost in the game’s character setting. He replied, “Thank you, Bei He, and the Falcon Squadron, for everything you’ve done for me and our people.”
Zhou Qian added, “After looking into your eyes, I’m even more convinced that you resemble someone I know.”
Jiang Yuqing blinked as if he still didn’t comprehend.
Turning his gaze back to the vast sea, Zhou Qian said, “This dungeon was really dangerous. But I vowed to get out alive. I dug up his ashes and even took down his tombstone. So, I must live to see if the tombstone I ordered has been prepared, so I can give him a proper burial. Otherwise, if I meet him in hell—”
Zhou Qian turned back, looking deeply into Jiang Yuqing’s eyes. “What if he blames me?”
The streetlight cast a sinister silhouette of the high-ranking officer from the S Army, making him appear like a viper slithering in the darkness.
Inside a nearby single-story house, the four players could only hold their breath, waiting for him to leave the alley. They refrained from taking any shots, not wanting to raise an alarm prematurely.
The area could be full of ambushes. With the assistance of the ghosts, they had cautiously made their way here, and they couldn’t afford to act recklessly now.
Only after the man was out of sight did the four emerge, one by one, jumping from the windows. They then circled back to the rear gate of the school.
The vast playground was brightly lit, and countless skeletal remains, glaring eerily under the illumination, seemed restless in death, as if yearning for revenge. Regrettably, their restless spirits were sealed by numerous talisman papers, rendering them unable to escape.
In the middle of the playground, there were about thirty wooden stakes with dark, dried blood visible on them. It was clear that many had been tied there and lost their lives. At the moment, 27 people were being herded under gunpoint and subsequently tied to the stakes. Through binoculars, Zhou Qian could see Jiang Yuqing prominently positioned at the center.
Once everyone was tied, a soldier approached Jiang Yuqing and spoke to him. Due to the distance, Zhou Qian and his team couldn’t hear the conversation, but they could guess that they were threatening him for some formulas or something similar.
About half a minute later, a series of explosions reverberated. The outskirts of the city’s core were under attack, with buildings being destroyed as the S Army advanced.
Now that Jiang Yuqing had been located, they didn’t hold back. Their intent was clear: destroy every possible hideout of the Falcon Squadron and, ideally, annihilate them.
Zhou Qian looked back to see half of the city ablaze.
However, upon closer inspection, the S Army had spared parts of the city. They probably didn’t want to damage the talismans and dog’s blood set up in haunted areas to avoid unleashing hordes of ghosts.
Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes slightly, then waved at his teammates, leading them back into the single-story house.
“Damn it! So frustrating!” He Xiaowei couldn’t help but whisper angrily, then quickly added, “Wait, how did Jiang Yuqing attend the wedding at the venue earlier?”
“I had thought that he might have slipped through the city’s smaller streets because there were fewer people. But now that doesn’t seem… possible.”
Yun Xiangrong pondered for a moment and replied, “Didn’t the officer mention that Jiang Yuqing was hiding in a basement? Maybe there are tunnels in this city? He could’ve used a tunnel to get to the wedding venue and then returned?”
Recalling the bizarre scene at the wedding where he had seen Jiang Yuqing, Zhou Qian nodded. “That’s very likely. Given that Jiang Yuqing and the others were found in the basement of the school cafeteria, maybe compared to other parts of the tunnels, the school offered better ventilation, ample food, and water supplies, making it their base.”
“The trapped scholars, with no combat experience, stayed hidden, unsure of potential ambushes in the city. Attending the wedding was an exception for Jiang Yuqing, given that he wanted to celebrate his comrade’s big day; hence, he took the risk.”
Zhou Qian lowered his voice. “No wonder he hurriedly gave the gift at the wedding, didn’t stay for the ceremony, and left without even entering the main hall. He needed to return to the city center urgently, concerned about his compatriots.”
“If the S Army found his compatriots while Jiang Yuqing was there, there might’ve been room for negotiation. Jiang Yuqing could’ve bartered his knowledge of the formulas with the S Army in exchange for their lives. But if they found out he wasn’t present, they might’ve simply executed them.”
Thinking of the bones on the playground, the two children forced into complicity, the bride in her fiery red dress, and the clear eyes of the girl from the photograph…
He Xiaowei’s anger bubbled, his chest heaving with rage.
Soon after, he heard Yun Xiangrong say, “Our mission is to take Jiang Yuqing to the west pier to catch a boat. So, if we follow the normal approach, we openly seize Jiang Yuqing, then take him through the heavy encirclement to the west pier… This is obviously impossible. It’s already hard for us to deal with the elite forces on the playground, not to mention the many more outside.”
“So, should we find a way to contact Jiang Yuqing and ask him for the location of the tunnels? Then we can use the tunnels to employ guerrilla tactics, moving outwards and escaping to the west pier?”
He Xiaowei said, “That’s also tough! How can we approach Jiang Yuqing and ask him where the tunnel is? How can we remember the complicated tunnel routes in such a short time?
“This world is actually constructed from Jiang Yuqing’s consciousness. In the real historical process, he might indeed have escaped through the tunnels. But for us, in this scenario, this task seems impossible!”
Walking to the window, He Xiaowei looked at the tower of the school from a distance and sighed deeply. “I heard Qian’er talk about his plan before, and it sounded so inspiring! I originally thought that we would rush to the tower and overlook the entire city center. We would take that highest ground, and whoever dared to approach would eat our bullets!”
Once the players captured the highest ground, when the S Army found Jiang Yuqing, whether they brought him to the playground or elsewhere, the city center was so small, and besides the tower, there were no other tall buildings. So, players could see every move of the S Army.
If things went smoothly, they could take down the enemies one by one. After that, they could take Jiang Yuqing and escape, shooting and throwing explosives and grenades along the way, with the four of them cooperating seamlessly until they brought Jiang Yuqing to the west pier…
However, all of this was just a fantasy in He Xiaowei’s mind.
He never expected the city center to be so brightly lit, and he never expected so many elite S Army troops, let alone… Jiang Yuqing and so many of his compatriots were now tied to the stakes on the playground.
“If we can’t come up with a solution… If Jiang Yuqing and those compatriots die. Our mission fails, right?” He Xiaowei said angrily, “I don’t care about the mission now; I just want to kill those S Army troops!”
For quite some time after this, only He Xiaowei and Yun Xiangrong spoke.
Situ Qing, always a woman of few words, remained silent, which was normal. Although she was a strong fighter, she rarely offered constructive suggestions when wisdom was required.
But now even Zhou Qian had been silent for a long time, which seemed unusual.
He Xiaowei turned to look for Zhou Qian. He saw Zhou Qian standing in the shadows of the building, in a spot the streetlight outside didn’t reach. All his expressions were hidden in the darkness, making him hard to read.
He Xiaowei walked over and asked, “Qian’er, don’t scare me. If you’re out of ideas… Wait, didn’t you say you had a real plan?”
After a moment, Zhou Qian’s deep yet confident voice came. “Don’t worry. I led you through the side quests, and I brought you into this main quest of this difficulty level. So I will definitely get you out.”
He Xiaowei uncertainly asked, “So, what now?”
Zhou Qian succinctly replied, “Wait.”
He Xiaowei: “Wait… for what?”
“For the two little dragons I sent out,” Zhou Qian said. “I can sense they are still alive. Now the external S Army has accelerated their sweep, moving quickly towards the city center. This might actually work in favor of my plan.”
“So your plan is—” He Xiaowei’s heart began to beat fast in excitement.
“When the time is right, you all follow my instructions.” As Zhou Qian said this, his eyes gleamed in the darkness.
Zhou Qian quickly stepped out of the shadows and opened the window. The depths of his eyes lit up brightly when hit by the lamp’s light.
“The S Army outside is heading towards the city while bombing houses on their way. They might bomb this place soon, so we need to leave this single-story house quickly.”
“By the end, a large number of the S Army will probably gather at the playground. It will be even more challenging for us to enter at that time. So, while there are only about ten people there, we should find a way in.”
Glancing in the direction of the school’s back playground, Zhou Qian continued, “There are a few big trees near the edge of the playground, close to the back door. Their canopies are dense and away from the light source. Let’s hide there for now.”
After issuing instructions to his team, the four of them quietly returned to the back door.
Through the iron gate, everyone attentively watched the movements on the playground.
The dozen or so S Army soldiers seemed to be waiting for their officer and the rest of the troops. Although the main forces were not present, they remained alert, each holding a gun, vigilantly monitoring their surroundings.
After observing for a while, Zhou Qian noticed a consistent and apparent pattern in their movements.
They all faced west uniformly, turned right to the north after two minutes, and then turned right again to the east two minutes later, and so on.
So, when they all turned their backs, Zhou Qian quickly signaled Situ Qing and He Xiaowei.
The two promptly drew their weapons and used their abilities, minimizing the noise.
After a moment, very soft bell and string plucking sounds emerged, fading quickly as if carried away by the night wind, almost like an illusion.
But this wasn’t an illusion. The sound was real.
The sound waves, together with a slight snowy breeze, swept across the ground. Two minutes later, from the alley behind the single-story house to a part of the back door of the playground, the talisman paper and dog blood vanished.
Time was limited, and the area they cleared was small. But for now, it was enough.
After clearing the ground, Zhou Qian threw a few pebbles he had picked up earlier onto the road behind.
The rhythmic “tap-tap-tap” of the pebbles was a pre-agreed signal with the hidden ghosts.
At that moment, upon hearing Zhou Qian’s signal, a dozen ghosts appeared.
At Zhou Qian’s gesture, they quickly passed through the school’s back door, heading straight to the playground.
A significant part of the playground was still covered with talisman paper. If the spirits rashly entered the covered area, they would be sealed.
But the S Army soldiers stationed at the playground didn’t know that the talisman paper near the back door had been cleared. When they looked at the back door and saw a group of ghosts rushing at them, they initially believed that the talisman paper was ineffective against them.
The soldiers of the S Army were thrown into a momentary panic. Their formation quickly disintegrated, and they hurriedly discussed countermeasures. Two even ran off with their guns, perhaps to seek advice from an officer.
However, their confusion didn’t last long.
Firstly, these soldiers were well-trained elites from the S Army and would not flee easily when faced with danger. Secondly, they soon realized that the ghosts only hovered near the back door and couldn’t approach them.
After a while, they noticed the ghosts had retreated.
No matter how powerful those two kids were or how many ghosts they sealed, there must be some that slipped through the cracks in the city.
Regardless, with the talisman paper and dog blood covering the playground, it seemed the ghosts couldn’t get in.
This was what the soldiers thought.
They were unaware that during their brief moment of chaos and negligence, four people had sneaked into the playground using the ghosts as a distraction. These individuals then climbed up two tall trees and concealed themselves among the dense canopies.
After the four players successfully sneaked into the playground and hid in the trees, they waited, just as Zhou Qian had suggested.
About fifteen minutes later, the main forces of the S Army arrived.
The school’s back door faced a residential area, with long streets on the other three sides.
From their vantage point in the trees, the players could vaguely see that the three streets were packed with people, giving a sense of the scale of the S Army’s numbers. It was indeed not a situation where players should confront them head-on.
The three wide streets were packed with people. Not only that, but in no time, the back field was occupied by countless soldiers from the S Army. Looking around, the entire field had been divided into squares, with only the central area left empty. That was where our 27 compatriots were tied up.
Soon after, the interrogation of Jiang Yuqing officially began.
The officer that the players had seen before walked out, and he started to loudly berate and threaten Jiang Yuqing.
As befitting someone of a general’s stature, his voice was intimidating, making one’s blood run cold upon hearing it. Even the soldiers from the S Army standing next to him straightened up, not uttering a word or even daring to blink.
Hidden in a tall tree, Zhou Qian remained as still as a mountain, staring intently at the bound Jiang Yuqing.
Though he held a military rank, Jiang Yuqing was always a scholar, having never held a gun. His demeanor was still scholarly and refined. Yet, at this moment, he showed no sign of fear.
Zhou Qian couldn’t see his facial features clearly, but he could see Jiang’s head held high, never once bowing down.
The officer from the S Army approached Jiang Yuqing and whispered something, then suddenly fired his gun.
The target wasn’t Jiang Yuqing, but a compatriot to his left. After a loud gunshot, blood sprayed out, staining half of Jiang Yuqing’s face red. However, he still looked straight ahead, displaying unwavering determination.
Only his clenched fists subtly revealed his inner rage and injustice.
Raising his pistol, the officer blew into the muzzle of the gun. He then had someone untie Jiang Yuqing.
After being freed, Jiang Yuqing was held at gunpoint by two people. Soon, a table was placed in front of him, and a pen was forcibly shoved into his hand.
The officer shouted, “Write down what we want, and we’ll treat you well! But if you’re stubborn, just like how your compatriot just died… the others will suffer the same fate. Every ten minutes, one will die!”
As soon as the officer finished speaking, someone among the compatriots shouted, “Dr. Jiang! Don’t tell them! Once we develop that weapon, we can annihilate all of them! Then, our country will never be in this situation again!”
Another person chimed in, “Yes, Dr. Jiang! Our lives don’t matter! You must never reveal the secret of the weapon to the enemy!”
Two gunshots rang out, and the two individuals were immediately killed.
Jiang Yuqing’s shoulders began to tremble uncontrollably.
The officer pointed his gun at Jiang Yuqing’s face, tapping him with it and said, “You’ve just lost twenty minutes.”
Jiang Yuqing looked at him almost calmly and said, “The experimental data and formula have already been handed over to the Seventh Army’s experimental base. You can kill us all. Consider it as us giving our lives for the people of Cyress City. But don’t expect to hear a word out of me—”
Jiang Yuqing’s words were interrupted by a gunshot, hitting him in the shin.
He stumbled, almost kneeling, but even with the excruciating pain, he managed to hold onto the table and stand.
He’d sworn never to kneel before the enemy!
“You have ten minutes left. After ten minutes, another one dies,” the officer declared. “If I kill six of you, that would take an hour… We don’t have that much time to waste on you. The first six are lucky; I’ll shoot them in the head. The rest… will be tortured. An hour later, I’ll start with their eyes and ears, use electric torture, waterboarding, one by one. When all of them are dead, it’ll be your turn, Dr. Jiang.”
At this moment, near the back door and up a tree, Zhou Qian could feel that He Xiaowei, who was very close to him, was trembling with rage to the point that the treetop started to sway. Pressing down on his shoulder, Zhou Qian said, “Hold on.”
He Xiaowei whispered, “I can’t stand it anymore. I’m so angry! Qian’er, what are you waiting for?”
Even though the situation was dire, Zhou Qian still said, “Wait a little longer. Stay calm.”
Ten minutes later, there was another gunshot as the S Army’s officer executed another person.
He Xiaowei, drenched in sweat, turned to Zhou Qian, but Zhou Qian just sat quietly on the tree trunk, lips pursed tightly together, not saying a word.
Another ten minutes later.
The third compatriot was killed.
This time, he didn’t die from a gunshot. Instead, two people simultaneously stabbed him with their knives.
Out of what seemed like sheer fury, they repeatedly stabbed him, causing blood to instantly flood the floor. Even the white paper placed on the table in front of Jiang Yuqing by the enemy was completely stained red.
The red color seemed to further excite the commander of the S Army.
He chuckled softly, picked up the paper to smell it, seemingly enjoying its scent, and then instructed his subordinates to replace it with a new sheet for Jiang Yuqing to write data and formulas.
The scene was too much for He Xiaowei to bear. He turned to Zhou Qian, almost growling, “Qian’er, you—”
Suddenly, Zhou Qian interrupted in a deep voice, “They’re here!”
Who’s here? What’s here?
Following Zhou Qian’s gaze, He Xiaowei looked towards the bungalows behind them. He saw two little dragons, escorted by ghosts, moving through the darkness and lamplight from the deep alleyways.
The two little dragons hopped around adorably. One held a uniform from the Seventh Army, and the other held a peculiar brush. It was unclear what its purpose was.
The scene was eerily humorous—two frolicking little dragons followed by countless pale, footless spirits.
But He Xiaowei didn’t find it amusing. Sensing what Zhou Qian planned to do, his blood began to boil.
“What’s that brush?” He Xiaowei asked with uncertainty.
Zhou Qian replied, “It’s the [Bling Bling Brush] we got from the last instance. Blood, mud, sweat stains, dust… everything can be cleaned by it. That’s what the skill description says.”
He Xiaowei exhaled a hot breath. “So…”
“So, imagine how powerful the resentment energy would be from the countless spirits in this city, and from all the corpses?”
Zhou Qian drew a knife and made a cut on his wrist.
He spoke softly yet firmly. “I’m amplifying my power.”
Zhou Qian’s abilities were limited. Without the power of resentment, his ultimate skill would be harmless. But the damage from this ability had no limit. With the entire city’s population massacred, Zhou Qian could now channel the city’s anger and injustice to avenge all of them!
As the blood dripped from Zhou Qian’s wrist, He Xiaowei gasped in horror, “Those two little dragons—!!! Oh my god!”
Before He Xiaowei could elaborate, Zhou Qian saw it—the two little dragons had fallen. The city center had been heavily surrounded by the S army. It wasn’t easy for them to get this far under the protection of the ghosts. They probably got shot earlier but forced themselves to run here to show Zhou Qian.
The S Army used two children to seal the ghosts.
Earlier, Zhou Qian had the two dragons discreetly clean up all the dog’s blood and talisman papers in the city to unseal all of them. Using the uniform of the Seventh Army as a signal, he summoned all the spirits to the city’s center. The little dragons, having accomplished their task, turned into dull scales as they collapsed.
Glancing at them, Zhou Qian’s eyes reddened with anger. He then looked back at the center of the playground. Gripping his knife tighter, his health began to drop rapidly.
[Player Zhou Qian’s HP has dropped to 70%]
[Player Zhou Qian’s HP has dropped to 40%]
……
“He Xiaowei, you have two tasks. First, in the chaos, work with Situ Qing to clean up the dog’s blood and talisman papers on the playground; second, keep my health stable at 9%!”
At this moment, spirits surged from all directions, forming an overwhelming tide about to engulf the playground. Cries of sorrow, anger, and hatred echoed as they all targeted the S Army.
In the past, they were ruthlessly slaughtered, but their attachment to their homeland kept them lingering.
Today, as powerful spirits, they would seek revenge for themselves, their loved ones, and their violated lands!
Dark clouds loomed abruptly, and the radiance of the stars and moon in the sky was completely devoured. A chilly wind swiftly swept across the entire playground. With the sudden drop in temperature in this region, it was as if the gates of hell had flung wide open, letting out an icy wave tinged with the scent of death. Every member of the S Army shivered, nearly wounded without even battling.
Meanwhile, up in the tree branches.
[Player Zhou Qian’s HP has dropped to 9%]
Ignoring his pain, Zhou Qian quickly wrapped his injured left wrist with a bandage from his toolkit. He then raised the Rib of God with his right hand, standing tall atop a tree.
“Being the villain that I am, driven by circumstances, if this instance demands me to play the hero, then I shall honor that role.”
“Those who invade our land and massacre our brethren—all must die!”
As his words faded, Zhou Qian leapt down from the tree.
“Bang, bang, bang”, several bullets shot towards him.
Yet, astonishingly, several skeletons appeared rapidly in front of him, blocking all the bullets before falling apart onto the ground.
Seeing this, the officer nearest to Jiang Yuqing was taken aback. He lifted his gun and fired another bullet at Zhou Qian. Yet Zhou Qian, unfazed, continued forward, waving the bone in his right hand. The shattered bones at his feet swiftly reassembled into humanoid forms. Within moments, they surged up again, blocking another bullet for him!
From 300 meters away, that officer panicked, his gun-holding hand trembling. Suddenly, the temperature on the playground dropped further. Thousands of ice and snowflakes solidified from thin air and descended layer by layer, followed by a massive sound wave that flattened the snow and wiped away every talisman and drop of dog blood on the ground.
Beneath the playground lay the corpses of hundreds of teachers and students. At this moment, the seals were suddenly lifted, and hundreds of ghosts appeared. Driven by their own hatred and the Rib of God in Zhou Qian’s hand, they headed towards every soldier on the field.
Simultaneously, as Zhou Qian waved the bone, hundreds of skeletons also rose to their feet. At his command, they charged at the soldiers!
The well-arranged squads on the playground became chaotic. No matter how advanced their weapons, they were no match for the spirits or the fury and thirst for vengeance. Even their elite training didn’t help, as they ran around like headless chickens.
The skeletons feared no bullets; even if blown apart, they could instantly reassemble. The ghosts were impervious to weapons, attacking the myriad of soldiers as if meeting no resistance!
In no time, over a thousand soldiers on the school’s back playground were killed by the skeletons or ghosts. A few who managed to escape the chaos and run out of the school gates found themselves facing hordes of spirits coming in like a tide from the city’s outskirts, consuming them in an instant.
And to their horror, they realized that the main forces on the three streets were entirely disarmed, decimated by the pervasive yin qi, collapsing to the ground in agony.
The situation was more favorable than expected.
The S Army feared ghosts, making children seal them; if they found a way to lift the seals, the ghosts would deal with the S Army. It was a straightforward logic to clear the level.
The most challenging part was dispersing the dense talismans and dog blood in the heavily guarded city core. Without resolving this, spirits from other places couldn’t advance, even if their seals were lifted. But Zhou Qian’s unique skill could forcibly summon spirits from kilometers away under the effect of the Rib of God skill, assembling them into an unstoppable army.
Amidst the overwhelming victory, Zhou Qian stepped forward until he reached the once arrogant officer, now trembling in fear on his knees.
Pulling out a gun he had previously acquired, Zhou Qian pressed it against the officer’s forehead. Without hesitation, he blew the man’s head off.
Blood splattered, and Zhou Qian, with a look of displeasure, stepped aside to avoid the mess. Once the blood had settled, he continued walking. With countless spirits behind him and surrounded by skeletons, amidst the triumphant cheers of the spirits, he approached Jiang Yuqing.
Jiang Yuqing seemed a bit stunned. Due to a gunshot wound in his leg, he couldn’t stand firmly and still clutched the table for support.
Seeing this, Zhou Qian walked over and gently grasped Jiang Yuqing’s wrist, helping him to stand.
Zhou Qian then smiled at him and said softly, “Mr. Jiang, I’ve come to save you.”
Jiang Yuqing turned his head to meet Zhou Qian’s gaze. In that moment, it was as if an invisible dark cloud had dispersed. Zhou Qian could finally see his true appearance.
In front of Building A, the bodies of two snipers lay silently on the ground.
Zhou Qian didn’t let his team go out for the time being but waited for three minutes.
During these three minutes, ghostly whispers continued to emanate from the building. No new snipers emerged from inside or outside, and no other potentially lurking S Army troops nearby noticed any anomalies and rushed over.
Thus, after confirming that there were only these two snipers here, Zhou Qian gestured and walked over with his other three teammates.
In less than half a minute, they quickly stripped the two corpses of their bullets, guns, and other tools.
During the process, He Xiaowei tried to strip off their clothes, thinking that if they could wear the uniforms of the S Army, maybe they could blend in later on. But he realized he couldn’t do that.
Because these gunmen had no faces and no tangible clothes. They were like shadows formed into human shapes, able to see, hear, speak, and kill, but they weren’t really humans.
While his teammates gathered the spoils, Zhou Qian slowly walked to a spot 200 meters directly in front of the building, illuminated by a streetlight. He bent down, and after a while, he found a dull scale that hadn’t been washed away.
He reached out, placing the scale in his palm, and stared at it intently, as if deep in thought.
He Xiaowei came over with a gun, squatted next to him, and also looked at the scale. After a while, he patted Zhou Qian on the shoulder. “You’re quite an enigma. You don’t seem as cold-blooded as you appear.”
“Huh?” Zhou Qian asked in surprise. “Do I come off as ruthless? I feel like I’ve been very friendly to all of you. Haven’t I?”
He Xiaowei: “…”
Putting the gathered bullets and gunpowder into their bags, He Xiaowei then asked, “Ahem… What’s with that dragon? Is it some kind of… mental creation of yours?”
When players exited the game, all their injuries would be healed. So, He Xiaowei speculated that they didn’t enter this game with their bodies but with their minds.
Their training and leveling up in the game were actually upgrades on a spiritual level. Therefore, it was entirely possible for the mind to differentiate itself into some creature or even a human within the game world.
Zhou Qian, looking at the scale in his hand, said, “It might be. But I feel… they are not entirely the product of my mind alone.”
He Xiaowei was puzzled. “Huh? What do you mean? If not just yours, then whose?”
Zhou Qian remained silent, recalling how the little dragon seemed to have its own consciousness the previous night, heading towards Room 701 with a clear goal—Jiang Yuqing.
Zhou Qian was led into the game by a dragon. Although everything since then related to his own choices and all the hidden instances were opened through his own efforts, he always felt as if someone was expecting him to follow a predestined path.
Zhou Qian clearly didn’t like being “arranged”. After all, he was always the one arranging others.
But at that moment, he didn’t say much more. He just packed up the scale, stood up, and looked back at Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong. “Let’s go. Our next target is Building B.”
……
Half an hour later, the snipers in Buildings A, B, and C had all been dealt with in a similar manner by Zhou Qian’s team. Now, the city’s second safe zone was theirs for the taking.
In games, monsters usually appeared where important treasures were. After killing these monsters, apart from what you could loot from their bodies, searching their surroundings would often lead to finding valuable items.
This pattern held true in this instance too. The four of them gained a lot, finding many weapons, including smoke grenades, flashbangs, and explosives.
Now better armed, they set up explosives as traps on a main road, anticipating the incoming S Army from the outskirts. Then they hid in Building A, the building closest to the west pier.
Upon entering the building, they were surrounded by a horde of ghosts. But quickly, all four took out their Seventh Army uniforms, and the ghosts joyfully welcomed them.
“Ah, the Seventh Army is here!”
“They’ve come to save us!”
“Are you tired? Thirsty?”
Zhou Qian only said one thing to the ghosts, “The S Army will arrive soon. Within ten seconds, you need to extinguish all the lights. After that, no one should speak. We will set an ambush here.”
Once Zhou Qian finished speaking, the ghosts immediately complied. Their shared hatred for the S Army enabled them to swiftly complete Zhou Qian’s instructions.
True to his word, within ten seconds, all the lights in Building A went out. Furthermore, the building fell silent, with none of the ghosts speaking.
Of course, before returning to Building A, Zhou Qian and his group had given the same instructions to the ghosts in Buildings B and C. From a distance, all three buildings appeared silent and dark, as if nothing had happened recently. It seemed as though S Army snipers were still lurking there.
After choosing an optimal vantage point at the top of Building A, the four-member squad took their positions to ambush.
About five minutes later, members of the S Army started to arrive. They came from three directions—east, north, and west—covering all directions that Buildings A, B, and C faced.
The most significant group headed towards building A, as it was the closest path to the second main road, right into the ambush set by Zhou Qian. The smaller squads took other paths, heading in the west and north directions.
Only the southern direction was unoccupied.
Zhou Qian considered three possibilities.
First, the wasteland might genuinely have landmines.
Second, countless citizens of Cypress City were buried there, making it a cemetery. But since the area lacked items like dog blood and talisman paper, perhaps the S Army was superstitious and chose to avoid it.
Third, with only a few trees and no buildings, the wasteland offered little cover; it was unlikely that Jiang Yuqing would be hiding there, so there was no need for the S Army to search that area.
From the top of Building A, Zhou Qian watched a large troop approach using his binoculars. They didn’t head straight to the main road. Instead, they methodically searched house by house, looking for Jiang Yuqing. People kept entering and exiting houses. Those exiting shook their heads to indicate that Jiang Yuqing wasn’t found.
Once the troop finished searching the whole street and was sure Jiang Yuqing wasn’t there, Zhou Qian signaled Yun Xiangrong. She immediately took out her flute and played a soft note.
The flute’s sound was melodious but subtle from the building’s height. As she played, soft willow catkins surrounded her. In the past, these fluffs could heal wounds. Now, they became weapons.
However, this time, Yun Xiangrong’s weapon wasn’t the catkins itself. She used it as a medium. As the catkins gathered, He XIaowei quickly ignited it with a lighter. The catkins transformed into glowing embers and dispersed as Yun Xiangrong played a more urgent tune. The embers floated out of the building and began to fall.
Discussions erupted among the S Army below.
“What’s that?”
“Fireflies? Are there fireflies in Cypress City?”
“That doesn’t seem right!”
“What harm can fireflies do?”
Suddenly, the dark night was lit up by countless falling sparks, resembling a meteor shower. But this beautiful sight was deadly.
The embers aimed not at the troops on the road but at the edges. The faint “pop” sounds were the fuses of the hidden explosives igniting—a sound all too familiar to veterans.
“It’s an ambush!”
After a shout, the well-trained troops scattered. But it was too late. Explosions resonated throughout the street, turning it into an inferno. The flames, like a monster, devoured every escaping S Army member.
On the main road, the entire S Army troops were obliterated. The flames almost turned the sky red.
The S Army squads from other directions realized the danger and ran with their guns drawn. However, by this time, Zhou Qian and his group had already silently left Building A, heading straight to the last “safe zone”—the core area of Cypress City!
……
Leaving the second main road, Changjiang Road, the four players checked along the way for any signs of dog blood and amulets on the ground while moving forward in the dark.
When they reached a certain point, Zhou Qian made a gesture, and all four of them stopped.
The reason he wanted everyone to stop was simple: about five hundred meters away, almost every place was brightly lit.
Why, in the central area of the city, were all the lights on in every household?
Zhou Qian suppressed the doubts in his heart and rearranged the team into pairs. After grouping, everyone did the same thing as before—climbing trees or getting on top of buildings to check the situation in the city center and see which tall buildings had talismans around them.
The central area of the city was relatively small, covering an area of about three kilometers in diameter. This time, it took less than ten minutes for them to roughly check the area and regroup.
However, everyone looked serious. The situation seemed much more complicated than they had imagined.
Not far ahead was the very center of the city. The largest building there was a school.
The school had many buildings, and one of its towers was the tallest structure in that area, a place Zhou Qian was keen to take control of.
Three sides of the school were surrounded by wide, straight roads connected to many alleys and various buildings, while the remaining side had a row of low houses.
Initially, the players speculated that most of the S Army was on the outskirts of the city, fearing the numerous ghosts in the city. They let two children slowly sprinkle dog blood and paste talismans until most of the ghosts were sealed.
Under such circumstances, the number of S Army members who initially entered the city center would not be large, approximately the same as the snipers in the three ABC buildings.
However, their findings contradicted this. Fortunately, they stopped in time. Starting from about 300 meters ahead, almost everywhere was covered in talismans. In the dark night, the many bright yellow talismans almost formed a river, laid out on every road.
This suggested that there could be ambushes in every building in the city’s core area.
“What the hell is going on?” He Xiaowei whispered in shock. “Not only are there so many S Army on the outskirts, but there are also so many in the core area! We initially thought there were hardly any people here!”
Zhou Qian slightly frowned, then said, “So we need to revise our initial judgment. But if you think about it, this makes more sense. Remember the two plot points we triggered?”
“Yeah,” He Xiaowei immediately replied. “The first was about marrying a ghost bride, and the second was being robbed by ghost children on the main street!”
“Right, in both plots, Da Shou and Xiao Pang appeared. They first went to the place of the marriage ceremony and then to the main street. Compared to the outermost main street, the alley where the ghost bride event occurred is closer to the city center. So,” Zhou Qian continued, “we can infer that these two children started from the center of the city and moved outwards. Therefore, based on our current observations, the real situation might be that a team from the S Army arrived in Cypress City first and directly reached the core of the city. Da Shou and Xiao Pang might have been in the very center of the city from the beginning.”
For various reasons, a team from the S Army came to the city’s core area first.
It could be speculated that there were no landmines or the like in this area because these people need to run around here. That was why they pasted talismans all over this place.
From the beginning, Da Shou and Xiao Pang were brought by this S Army team to the very core of the city. It was this team of the S Army that forced them to move from the city’s core area, scattering talismans all the way to the west pier, paving a path for the rest of the large forces to easily enter the city center.
So, the two children started from the city center and moved towards the outskirts, leaving talismans in many ghost-prone areas under the S Army’s instructions. They also placed many talismans in tall buildings where snipers might be stationed.
In this way, they first encountered the ghost bride, sealed her, and then retreated to the city’s outermost main street, where they tried to seal a large number of ghosts.
Hearing this, He Xiaowei couldn’t help but ask, “When a unit from the S Army initially arrived at the center of Cypress City… what were they there for?”
Yun Xiangrong replied, “Perhaps it’s related to the storyline. Isn’t there a school in the city center? Maybe there’s some kind of laboratory inside. Or perhaps Jiang Yuqing left some notes at that university. They needed to search the school. Jiang Yuqing’s notes are crucial, so despite the ghosts not being sealed, they went in first.”
Zhou Qian, who was sitting in a tree, squinted towards the direction of the school.
“Actually, the full sequence of events could be that a contingent of the S Army first arrived in Cypress City, and at the same time, they captured Jiang Yuqing.”
“Maybe, as Yun Xiangrong suggested, Jiang Yuqing had visited this school before and left something behind; or perhaps a professor here was classmates with Jiang Yuqing and knew some related information and wrote down some draft notes related to formulas…”
“In any case, this S Army brought Jiang Yuqing to the school, forcing him to write down the formula while simultaneously searching the school.”
After a brief pause, Zhou Qian continued, “However, later on, Jiang Yuqing was rescued. Meanwhile, all the exits from this city were occupied by the S Army. This pretty much ensured that Jiang Yuqing hadn’t left the city and is still hiding somewhere. Afterward, they arranged for children to spread talisman papers and other things. Due to the ghost disturbances, some people retreated to the pier, but because the mission was urgent, others continued to stay around the school searching for information.”
“My guess now… is that, based on the principle that the most dangerous place is often the safest, Jiang Yuqing is hiding in that school, or nearby. The troops outside the city will search layer by layer, but those left inside are also scouring every inch for him. So maybe… Jiang Yuqing will soon be found. Moreover, the above speculations indicate a very important matter.”
With a tense expression, He Xiaowei hurriedly asked, “What important matter?”
Zhou Qian’s gaze became grave. “The S Army currently located in the city center is the vanguard. This means they are the real invading force. The citizens all over the city… were first slaughtered by them!”
The elite force that invaded Cypress City and massacred its residents was right now in the city center. Those on the pier were partly the reserve force, arriving only after the vanguard successfully captured Cypress City.
As such, the combat capabilities of the S Army in the city center might be entirely unmatched by the small fries they had encountered before. They were a formidable team, but also extremely brutal.
Having understood many key points, Yun Xiangrong couldn’t help but frown. “This level… cannot possibly be just a level-two difficulty. Where does the 60% pass rate come from?”
At this moment, Situ Qing glanced at Zhou Qian next to her and said, “I guess there are two main tasks. If we hadn’t completed the side quest named ‘Check and Balance’ yesterday, today’s main task would be much easier.”
“But now… we’re going for hidden achievement. So this mission seems too hard. Not to mention that the enemies in the city center are very tough to deal with. Even if we manage to deal with them… we have no idea how many are at the pier. How can the four of us go against an entire army?”
After discussing for a while, the three players looked at Zhou Qian with indescribable expressions. They saw Zhou Qian casually taking out a piece of paper and a pen, starting to sketch out a map of the city center.
He then said, “The elite S Army inside is elite, but they are just more accurate snipers, stronger and more brutal. However, their weapon configurations must be similar; they won’t suddenly bring out a powerful weapon that deviates from the game’s logic to deal with us.”
“Moreover, having slaughtered the city, they’ve likely used up a lot of their ammunition, significantly weakening their strength since their siege. Lastly, there must be a way to clear the game. If the three safe zones are seen as three small levels, then the rules given in the first two levels must also apply to the third one.”
“Otherwise, the storylines and levels provided earlier would be meaningless. If game designers capriciously changed the rules, then this isn’t a game. Why wouldn’t they just kill players outright?”
“Therefore, avoiding light can prevent sniping; cleaning up dog blood and removing talisman papers can unseal the ghosts. These rules will continue to apply. Let’s think positively; the only added difficulty in the final level is that previously, we only had to deal with Buildings A, B, and C. Now, the area we have to cover is just a bit larger.”
Everyone thought to themselves—This is what you call a bit larger?
In the urban core area, everywhere was littered with talisman papers and dog blood. All the places were brightly lit, making it impossible for them to hide. Another 500 meters, and they would be exposed under all those lights.
How the hell were they supposed to handle this?
Situ Qing was the first to speak. “Cleaning up such a vast area of dog blood will deplete my mana. Without it, we won’t be able to use our abilities against the S Army. Sniping by myself… I doubt I can take them all down.”
He Xiaowei sighed repeatedly. “I wish I had learned to shoot earlier.”
Yun Xiangrong bluntly said, “Even if you had learned earlier, it wouldn’t make a difference. Given the vast difference in numbers, whether Situ Qing is the only one sniping or both of you are, the outcome will be the same. We have to think of another way.”
He Xiaowei was taken aback. “What do you mean by that?”
However, Yun Xiangrong turned to Zhou Qian and asked, “So, what’s your plan?”
Zhou Qian quickly drew a rough sketch on a draft paper, then he highlighted a path. “Based on our two teams’ reconnaissance, I’ve drawn a map. The path I’ve marked has the fewest talismans, dog blood, and lights combined.”
“All three of you, cooperate and do one thing.”
“Yun Xiangrong, follow this path and use willow catkins to cover the streetlights, bit by bit, silently. After covering one-third of the distance, as you continue to cover the lights ahead, blow away the catkins from behind so that the previously obscured lights light up again, so it doesn’t seem suspicious if the entire path goes dark.
“He Xiaowei and Situ Qing should follow the previous method and clean up the talisman papers and dog blood on this path.”
“If we’re only dealing with this path… our mana should be more than enough. But—” Yun Xiangrong glanced at Zhou Qian’s map. “Does this path lead to that school?”
“Yes. Following this route, we can pass through a row of residential houses and reach the school. From my observations, it’s the back entrance of the school.”
Zhou Qian elaborated further, “Since the S Army’s primary target is the school, it’s likely the first place where a massacre occurred. Da Shou and Xiao Pang might have been nearby, possibly even attending school here. The S Army might have decided to keep them after seeing the talisman on them and realizing they knew some occult techniques.”
Zhou Qian circled the location of the school and added, “The school’s labs, library, or offices are suitable for Jiang Yuqing to write. So after the S Army finds Jiang Yuqing, they’re likely to bring him to the school.
“Instead of trying to infiltrate the school later, we should take advantage of the fact that the main forces haven’t arrived yet and sneak in now. That’s the first reason for heading to the school.”
“As for the second reason—” Zhou Qian’s tone grew solemn. “Given the high probability of a massacre at the school, there must be many ghosts here. So, by breaking the seals, we can utilize a lot of spirits.”
“This means going deep into enemy territory and turning the tables.”
……
After about seven more minutes, following Zhou Qian’s method, the four successfully navigated the narrow path and reached the back door of the school directly.
Inside was the school’s rear playground.
The night seemed incredibly long and heavy.
There was no moonlight to be seen, but the lights from the edge of the playground revealed bones scattered all over.
How many students, teachers, and citizens were massacred here?
Hiding behind the wall next to the back door, the players felt an overwhelming weight on their hearts.
Just then, footsteps suddenly echoed near the back door, and everyone quickly retreated to a nearby house.
While they were clearing the talisman papers and dog blood earlier, they had unsealed many ghosts. Not only did they ask them to stay quiet, but they also had them scout the area, confirming that at least this row of houses had no S Army. The reason for the talismans here was likely that the S Army needed to search the houses for information, look for Jiang Yuqing, and collect supplies.
At this very moment, they all crouched low, hiding in a civilian house. Separated by two walls, they could hear the back door being opened.
The sound of heavy military boots resonated in the alleyway.
A voice from an S Army soldier soon followed. It was him speaking to someone over a walkie-talkie.
“Yes, notify the main troops outside the city that Jiang Yuqing has been found. There’s no need for them to continue searching everywhere.”
“Where was he? Haha, there’s an old saying here that it’s darkest under the lamplight*. Turns out it’s true. He was actually hiding in the school’s cafeteria! There’s a very concealed basement under the wine cellar. Damn… how much effort did it cost us?”
*A colloquialism referring to not seeing or noticing things and events close to them. It stems from the idea that although the lamp illuminates its surroundings, the area right beneath it might remain in the dark or in shadow.
“Of course, we’ve already tied him up.”
“What’s the next plan? Haha, did you know, besides Jiang Yuqing, there are also quite a few students and teachers in that basement. I suspect there are also some of their national intelligence agents. Probably around twenty or so in total.”
“Hmm… send out the message to tie Jiang Yuqing and those people up in the schoolyard.”
“Have Jiang Yuqing start writing the formula immediately. Of course, we have plenty of time to wait for him, but every ten minutes, we will shoot one of his compatriots! Until he completes it!”
The fire blazed up into the sky, with Zhou Qian standing with his back to the direction of the flames. After glancing around, he climbed up the tree he had used earlier for cover. Fortunately, it was night, which greatly facilitated the players’ stealthy movements.
Zhou Qian had also purchased a high-magnification binocular in the game. Now he took it out again, aiming it at the high-rise building on the second main road.
He knew the sniper was inside the building but didn’t know his exact location.
The little dragon had been killed about two hundred meters away from the main entrance. It was a fairly smooth street with street lights. The sniper rifle should have a wide range, but from his previous observations, Zhou Qian realized that the little dragon was only spotted by the sniper when it entered the area illuminated by the light and was subsequently killed.
Before moving in the dark, the little dragon hadn’t attracted the sniper’s attention.
From this, Zhou Qian deduced one thing: as long as they stay out of the light, players should be safe for now.
At this moment, Zhou Qian wasn’t using the binoculars to find the exact location of the sniper but rather to observe the environment around the building. He was looking for something specific.
After a while, Zhou Qian found what he was looking for.
Illuminated by the streetlights, he could clearly see many yellow talismans scattered along the street. In many places, the street was stained a dark color, as if splashed with paint or perhaps… dog blood.
In this game scenario, the story involving dog blood and talismans indeed had a deeper meaning.
All the city’s inhabitants had perished under the gunfire of the S Army. All the ghosts harbored deep resentment towards the S Army.
That was why the S Army had hesitated to enter the city: they feared these vengeful spirits. They left behind two children from Cypress City, Da Shou and Xiao Pang, who were unlikely to raise suspicions. On one hand, they hoped the children would lure out the hidden Falcon Squadron and instigate internal strife. On the other hand, they needed these children, who weren’t targeted by the ghosts, to seal the spirits using talismans and dog blood. Only when all the ghosts were sealed would they dare enter the city boldly.
Zhou Qian had previously speculated that there were probably no S Army soldiers in the city. He was wrong, but not entirely off the mark. After witnessing the little dragon’s death and the talismans, he made a more accurate assumption: The bulk of the S Army was still on the city’s outskirts. The number of S Army soldiers in the city center must be very limited. Furthermore, their hideouts would be surrounded by dense talismans and dog blood to ensure their safety from vengeful spirits.
From this, it could be inferred that areas with talismans and dog blood might be ambush spots. If a building was almost entirely surrounded by these items, especially if it was a high-rise ideal for ambushing, it was highly likely that one or two snipers were inside. Conversely, if there were no such signs around a building, it was safe.
After observing the high-rise on the second main road, Zhou Qian started scanning the nearby buildings with his binoculars. Moments later, a series of explosions echoed. Zhou Qian recognized the sound as the detonation of the outermost “safe zone”.
Looking back, at first glance, Zhou Qian could see smoke enveloping the entire main road. But upon closer inspection, the S Army hadn’t destroyed all the buildings. If the entire street was on fire, they would have difficulty passing through in a short time.
They targeted large structures. After the bomb blasts, there were numerous gunshots, as they methodically searched each house to ensure no one escaped.
It would take some time for the S Army to clear the entire street and surrounding shops and houses. This gave the players ample time to head towards the second main road.
Zhou Qian turned his attention to the nearest building. It was a typical Chinese architectural compound with courtyards and pavilions, resembling a theater.
After confirming there were no talismans at the entrance, he descended from the tree, avoiding illuminated areas, and approached in the dark. He didn’t enter immediately but circled the theater for a thorough check.
After a while, sure of its safety, Zhou Qian entered. Once inside the courtyard, he hid in the shadows and listened intently. Hearing nothing and seeing no lights, he sent a message to his three teammates with his location and advised them to avoid talismans, dog blood, and light on their way.
After standing quietly in the darkness for a while, Zhou Qian summoned the third little dragon.
Throwing a scale on the ground, the third little dragon appeared. He bent down to embrace it and whispered instructions to it.
Once he finished instructing, Zhou Qian emphasized again, “Did you understand? First, find your older brother. Although I’ve told him to avoid the light, I’ve now found places with talisman papers and dog’s blood, which may not be safe. Both of you should follow my instructions but avoid the lights and high buildings. Only act in other places as I’ve directed. If there’s danger, relocate immediately. Later, meet up with me in the city center. Can you sense my presence and find me?”
The scales on the third little dragon seemed lighter, but other than that, it looked no different from the first dragon. It obediently nodded at Zhou Qian, then opened the door and peeked out both ways. After waving goodbye to Zhou Qian, it hopped away, searching for the presence of the first dragon to meet up.
……
About five minutes later, Situ Qing, Yun Xiangrong, and He Xiaowei all arrived at the theater and met with Zhou Qian. After Zhou Qian briefed them on the situation he deduced, they began the second phase of their plan.
“Our task now is to deal with the sniper in the second safety zone,” Zhou Qian began. “From here to the second main road, there are two main routes, north and south. First, we’ll split into two groups, one going south and the other north, with the aim of checking which high-rises along the way have talisman papers and dog’s blood. Remember to stay in the shadows and never expose yourself to light. In fifteen minutes, we’ll regroup here and then discuss the safest route to approach the buildings that might have snipers. After that, I’ll inform you of the next step.”
With that, Zhou Qian quickly took action with the group. He went north with He Xiaowei, while Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong headed south.
Throughout their journey, there were very few places not illuminated by streetlights, so both teams used methods like climbing trees and looking from balconies to scout. They essentially sketched a 3D map in their minds.
Fifteen minutes later, both teams reconvened at the theater, sharing their observations. After extensive discussion, they found a relatively safe route.
Five minutes later, the four of them were slowly approaching a tall building via this route.
From their observations, there were three tall buildings surrounded by obvious talisman papers and dog’s blood. The tallest one, where the sniper shot the dragon, was labeled by Zhou Qian as Point A.
To its east and north, roughly a kilometer away, there were two other tall buildings, labeled as Points B and C. Expectedly, snipers were hiding in all three buildings. These points roughly formed an equilateral triangle, covering three directions.
For the S Army, this layout protected against enemies from the east, west, and north. The only direction they missed was the south.
Zhou Qian decided to approach the three buildings from the south and defeat them one by one. The four stealthily moved to the city’s southern part, deciding to head north and first deal with the sniper in Building A.
However, before proceeding, Zhou Qian stopped them. “Unlike other directions that are filled with buildings and alleys, the southern area is all barren. Aside from a not-so-tall fruit orchard, it appears to be a cemetery with hardly any buildings, making it hard to hide. The snipers from the S Army must have assumed that the Falcon Squadron would never walk this route openly, as it’d be too easy to expose. That’s why they didn’t set up an ambush in the building facing this direction.”
“However, we still need to be cautious. If there are landmines here, the consequences would be dire. So—”
“I’ve bought three ‘Flying Ropes’ for you guys. We can swing across using the nearby fruit trees. These things have gotten expensive lately—200 gold coins each. I’ll sell them to you for 150—a discount.”
Everyone: “…”
Without even looking at the expressions of the other three, Zhou Qian took out a rope and said, “For the S army, the undead should corrupt them. So, we will stop 200 meters away from Building A, in a place not illuminated by the lights. The first thing we need to do is to destroy the talisman paper on the ground and wash away the dog blood on the surrounding streets.”
“For this, I think the skills of He Xiaowei and Situ Qing should be combined.”
“Buildings A, B, and C are quite far from each other, making it easier for us to defeat them one by one.”
“So, we start from Point A—let’s move now!”
In about five minutes, in a desolate area resembling a graveyard in the south, the four of them quietly approached Building A using flying ropes and stopped 200 meters away from it.
The little dragon from before was instantly killed as soon as it stepped into the light-covered area.
The four found a small grove to conceal themselves and simultaneously looked at Building A.
The first to act was Situ Qing.
Gazing at the building, following Zhou Qian’s instructions, she first gently shook her bell. Ensuring she hadn’t attracted the attention of the gunmen, she continued to use her skills. Soon, countless droplets of water formed out of thin air, solidifying into a layer of frost that quietly landed on the ground.
He Xiaowei played a few chords on his guqin. The soft sound waves, though small, had a significant force. The invisible waves rapidly surged forward towards the street in front of the building, instantly sweeping over the frost and accelerating its melting. He Xiaowei plucked once more, and another wave directed the melted water to wash over that part of the street.
All around the building, everything was refreshed. The dog blood and talisman papers were thoroughly destroyed.
Packing up their respective weapons and drawing their guns, Situ Qing and He Xiaowei both turned their gazes to Zhou Qian. In the darkness, Zhou Qian squinted at the tall building and signaled them to wait. The two did nothing for the moment.
Zhou Qian continued to gaze at the building, his profile looking especially stern and cold. A while later, he noticed the light of an apartment on the third floor turn on, revealing a little girl in a red dress on the balcony. She looked pale, clearly a ghost.
As if contagious, several other apartments also lit up, eventually illuminating half the building. The building then resounded with lively voices, as if many people had suddenly come alive.
Without the dog blood and talisman paper, the ghosts that had been sealed inside the building have indeed reappeared!
At that moment, a voice tinged with evident fear echoed from the building.
“You… you, don’t come here!”
This was followed by the sound of gunshots. It seemed that the gunman was trying to fend off the ghost with bullets. However, it was clearly in vain, as he soon let out even more terrified screams.
Indeed, the ghosts posed a significant threat to the S Army.
Only now did Zhou Qian turn to Situ Qing and He Xiaowei, nodding to them to prepare. The two almost simultaneously raised their guns, aiming at the exit of Building A.
About three minutes later, thanks to the lights illuminating the front of the building, the four players clearly saw two S Army snipers being forced out by the ghosts. As they ran, they spread talisman papers on the ground.
“Those kids used these talisman papers before, right?”
“Yes! I just used one, and the ghosts in my room disappeared immediately! They work!”
“Alright, let’s put the talisman papers around the building again. Once the ghosts disappear, we’ll go back to our sniping positions!”
But they never had a chance to return.
As the first man bent down to place a talisman, “Bang!” Situ Qing fired first, blowing his head off.
The second man, in terror, tried to run back into the building for cover, but another “Bang!”, this time from He Xiaowei, hit his thigh.
It was He Xiaowei’s first time shooting someone, especially the nefarious S Army. Thrilled, he shot again, hitting the man’s heart from the back, immobilizing him instantly.
After catching his breath, an exhilarated He Xiaowei walked up to Zhou Qian, seemingly seeking affirmation. Zhou Qian patted him on the shoulder. “Well done. Keep it up. Next—”
Squinting, Zhou Qian’s cold gaze shifted to another direction—their next target, Building B.
“Destroy the snipers in these three buildings, ABC, and this second safe zone is basically ours.”
“The thing we need to do next is first, claim the bullets and guns from the sniper corpses.”
“Second, set up an ambush in this second safe zone to deal with the S Army that will come later. The more we kill, the better.”
“Third, investigate the third zone in the same manner, which means the core area buildings of this city. After we annihilate all the snipers inside, we can look around to see if we can find any other useful weapons. Meanwhile, we should choose a strategic location to occupy as our sniper spot.
“Finally, we can hide in the sniper spot and wait for the S Army to bring Jiang Yuqing right to us.”
Zhou Qian’s words fired up He Xiaowei’s passion. “Damn, Qian’er, you’re so awesome. I’m so pumped right now! I feel like what we’re doing is so exhilarating!”
Turning to He Xiaowei, Zhou Qian smiled and said, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. When Jiang Yuqing shows up… that’s when my real plan is just beginning.”
Xiao Pang was killed, implying that the hidden S Army was about to launch a roundup plan on the few remaining members of the Falcon Squadron.
On the eastern side of the long street, there was a bank. It was the tallest building on this block. After Zhou Qian received a message from the system, he quickly assessed the situation of the entire street and then swiftly directed the other players to take cover inside the bank.
At that moment, Situ Qing was still struggling emotionally, but after Zhou Qian tapped her on the shoulder and asked, “Do you really want to die here?”, she finally wiped away her tears and quickly entered the bank.
Meanwhile, everyone received another message from the system.
Except for Situ Qing, who was slightly behind, the other three players were at the same rate. Zhou Qian estimated that by the end of this task, the three of them would directly reach 100%.
As for the subtask he triggered by gifting the mooncake, he probably had to find Jiang Yuqing to complete it.
Among the four, Zhou Qian was the last to enter the bank. As he was quickly figuring out the next move in the game, he took out an item from his bag.
[Item: Snail Transmitter]
[Function: Made up of snail brothers. Only the size of a real snail, but it’s great at picking up sounds! Stick the younger snail somewhere discreet and place the older snail in your ear. Whatever the younger hears, the elder will relay to you!]
After sticking the younger snail on the lamppost behind Xiao Pang’s body, Zhou Qian didn’t immediately enter the bank. He scanned the surroundings, then sent out the small dragon he always carried with him.
After giving it an item and whispering a few words to it, Zhou Qian felt that he was adequately prepared. Only after completing these two tasks did he finally enter the bank.
Upon entering, Zhou Qian immediately closed the door and went straight up to the top floor, the seventh floor, via the stairs. Looking out of the window, he was vigilant for any signs of the S Army.
At this moment, He Xiaowei approached him, crouching. “Hey… Could the S Army possibly plant bombs, seeing us hide here, encircle us with them, and blow us up?”
Narrowing his eyes and looking around, Zhou Qian accessed the system’s map to check something, then said, “It’s certainly possible.”
He Xiaowei: “What?!”
Zhou Qian continued, “But remember, this isn’t a real war setting; it’s a heavily scripted game. The shot that hit Xiao Pang indicates the onset of the S Army’s rampage, yet the hidden sniper hasn’t acted against us right away.”
He Xiaowei realized. “Right. So, the game gives us some prep time to find cover.”
Zhou Qian responded, “Exactly. Knowing this, I sent my dragon out covertly to accomplish a task during this brief window.”
He Xiaowei curiously asked, “What task?”
“Let’s wait until it succeeds before I tell you.”
Zhou Qian added, “However, what you mentioned earlier could indeed happen, so we definitely can’t stay here for long.”
As they spoke, Yun Xiangrong and Situ Qing approached, each holding a large box. Inside were two guns and three grenades.
Yun Xiangrong said, “While you were coming up, we searched the ground floor and found a basement. It seems to be an intelligence agency’s hideout. Look, these guns have a ‘7’ symbol on them.”
“Good find.” Zhou Qian looked at them and asked, “But among you, who knows how to shoot?”
After a moment of silence, Situ Qing took the initiative to pick up a rifle. She skillfully changed the magazine and then just as expertly attached the silencer. Her movements were clearly professional.
“Damn, how do you know how to use a gun?” He Xiaowei looked at her in surprise.
Situ Qing walked to the window and looked out, saying indifferently, “I worked at a shooting range and often played with the guests. They liked to challenge people. I usually let them win.”
A little later, He Xiaowei and Yun Xiangrong went into the building to look for more usable weapons.
Situ Qing stood by the window with her rifle, acting as a temporary sniper.
Zhou Qian continued to study the city map. The city was well planned, with several main roads crisscrossing, leading everywhere. Buildings neatly lined both sides of the roads, connected by countless small alleys…
In such a big city, where could Jiang Yuqing be hiding?
With the limited information they had, it was hard for the players to decide. Searching inch by inch was clearly impossible, especially with countless S Army troops possibly about to flood the city.
After a while, Yun Xiangrong and He Xiaowei returned. As expected, He Xiaowei brought back a can of oil from the kitchen. However, they didn’t find much else.
While Zhou Qian was deep in thought, studying the map, Situ Qing whispered, “Two people are coming!”
Zhou Qian looked out the window and saw two armed figures in the streetlight, looking similar to the gunmen from the 12 rooms.
They walked over and glanced at Xiao Pang. Using the snail tool, Zhou Qian easily heard their conversation.
One asked, “Are you sure it’s here?”
The other replied, “Yes. A scout killed this kid and reported seeing members of the Falcon Squadron nearby. At the time, only the scout was here. The Falcon Squadron members are all skilled, so he only killed the kid and fled, not daring to act rashly against the others.”
“Then they’re probably hiding around here. Send people to search every house!”
“Yes.”
“And see if Jiang Yuqing is hiding on this street too!”
“Yes.”
“I’ll remind you again, Jiang Yuqing has something very important… He’s too cunning. He hasn’t left a single draft! All the formulas are in his head! We must capture him alive. Don’t harm him.”
“Understood, boss.”
Having overheard this, Zhou Qian quickly relayed their conversation to his teammates. He Xiaowei immediately frowned. “Damn, this level is hard. We’re just four, but the S Army is countless! It’s already hard to escape under their noses, let alone searching the whole place for Jiang Yuqing. It’s impossible! This mission is impossible!”
Zhou Qian said, “That’s why I think—searching for Jiang Yuqing isn’t our job. We should let others do it for us.”
He Xiaowei: “Huh?”
Zhou Qian continued, “Didn’t they say? They want to capture Jiang Yuqing alive because of the important data he has. So, it’s not wise for us to search the city for him. The real way to pass the level is to let them find him. We follow them discreetly, and once they find him, we rescue him.”
“Although the S Army outnumbers us, we have the advantage of surprise.”
In reality, He Xiaowei didn’t feel that his group had much of an advantage. The enemies had guns and cannons, and to exaggerate a bit, they might even have poison gas grenades. But his own group only had two rifles and three hand grenades.
At this moment, Zhou Qian coldly watched the two men on the street, continuing to eavesdrop.
The commander said, “Search this street quickly! If Jiang Yuqing isn’t here… I don’t care where the Falcon Squadron is hiding. Just plant explosives and blow up the entire street!”
“Yes.” One of the subordinates pulled out a walkie-talkie, said something, and quickly entered a nearby three-story building. He came out a minute later.
By this time, over ten more S Army troops had arrived, beginning their door-to-door search.
Having taken in the entire scene, Zhou Qian glanced at the time displayed on the system panel, saying, “They’ll find our building in about five minutes. So, listen closely to my deployment plan—”
“Situ Qing, you’ll take one minute to teach He Xiaowei how to use a gun. I don’t need him to be precise, just to be able to fire the bullets.”
“He Xiaowei, after you’ve learned how to shoot in one minute, leave this building first. The street runs north to south, and the S Army is searching from south to north. Therefore, exit the bank building through the back door and run north through the alley outside. After passing four buildings, find an appropriate sniping position. You must complete this within three minutes.”
“Three minutes later, Situ Qing will snipe from our current position. He Xiaowei’s task is to shoot from a building four buildings to the north, covering her.”
“He Xiaowei, just shoot freely. If you hit someone, great; if not, no worries. Our real sniper is Situ Qing. Just cover her and protect yourself.”
“Yun Xiaorong will leave with He Xiaowei. Follow him to the sniping position four buildings away, and within three minutes, set up an ignition mechanism using this barrel of oil. The fuse must be placed just right. When He Xiaowei shoots, time it right and ignite the fuse to explode the barrel.”
“If the trap works to its full potential, it’s best to trap the enemy army when they try to enter the building to shoot He Xiaowei.”
“Of course, even if it doesn’t kill the enemy, it’s okay. Its primary purpose is to help you and He Xiaowei escape. Once the building catches fire, they will be blocked and can’t directly pass through that building to the alleyway where you’re escaping.”
“So, I need to emphasize, measure the fuse correctly. It shouldn’t explode before you and He Xiaowei leave the bank. Time it perfectly. If it doesn’t kill, it’s okay; the primary goal is to ensure your escape.”
After listening, the three of them asked Zhou Qian in unison, “What about you?”
You’ve planned for us meticulously; what about yourself?
Zhou Qian said, “This city has three main roads. The street we’re on is on the outermost layer. I guess the S Army will close in layer by layer, searching every house for Jiang Yuqing and us. By the way… have you played PUBG*?”
*PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. A battle royale game in which up to one hundred players are parachuted onto an island where they scavenge for weapons and equipment to kill other players while avoiding getting killed themselves.
He Xiaowei immediately responded, “Yes! I have!”
“That’s right. In PUBG, there’s the shrinking play zone, right? 100 players drop onto a map, shooting at each other, and the safe zone keeps changing, getting smaller, forcing the remaining players into a tiny point for a final showdown…”
“It’s similar for us now. We can consider these three main roads, along with their surrounding alleys, as three safe zones.”
“Currently, we’re in the outermost zone. The S Army will probably spend less than half an hour checking this entire area. Once they confirm Jiang Yuqing isn’t here, they’ll bomb this place. By then, this initially safe zone will no longer be safe, and we have to flee to the next zone, the second main road—Changjiang Road.”
“The enemies will keep increasing. During our escape, we take down whoever we can. So, I’ve devised this plan, especially since a few of their leaders seem to have emerged. We must eliminate them first.”
“Let me reiterate the overall plan—Situ Qing will try to shoot as many S Army soldiers as possible. He Xiaowei will provide cover from the building four structures away. Once he attracts the enemy, Yun Xiaorong ignites the fuse, and they both retreat. Situ Qing, remember to withdraw in time. Don’t expose your position. If you don’t hit anyone, it doesn’t matter; first, preserve your life and run.”
“Remember, your retreat location is Changjiang Road.”
At this point, Zhou Qian pointed towards the east, where a cross faintly appeared, signaling a church.
“The church is located on the second main road, Changjiang Road. That’s our next safe zone. Do you see the tall building next to the church? That’s our rendezvous point.”
“That building is the tallest on the second main road. It’s similar to this bank and is an excellent vantage point.”
“After all, this is just a game. If all the tall buildings are filled with snipers, it becomes too hard for us. So, I assume, like this bank, that tall building hasn’t been occupied by the S Army.”
“The idea remains the same. The S Army is encircling from the outskirts of the city, layer by layer searching inwards, bombing buildings, until they locate Jiang Yuqing. Hence, there probably aren’t any enemies inside that building for the time being.”
“But this is just my initial guess. It may not be 100% accurate. There might still be snipers hidden inside. So, while you all move, I’ll act immediately.”
“You just asked me, ‘What about me?'”
“Now, I’m telling you. I’ll reach that tall building first to check if there are any ambushes from the S Army.”
“If I die, He Xiaowei—” Looking at He Xiaowei, Zhou Qian said, “Please persuade Yun Xiangrong to use the Tick Tock Clock to save me. If I’m alive, I’ll message you through the system, instructing you to regroup here.”
To save time, Zhou Qian explained everything swiftly. Given the urgency, hardly anyone had time to doubt or discuss better options. In such situations, absolute obedience was the most efficient response.
Zhou Qian was the first to descend the building. Exiting from the bank’s back door, he went through an alley and hid behind garbage bins, peeking out to observe the street’s situation. After a little over half a minute, he heard movement behind him. As expected, He Xiaowei and Yun Xiangrong followed.
Utilizing the sparse light from the street, He Xiaowei gestured to Zhou Qian, then quickly moved into another alley, heading to the northern four-story building. Yun Xiangrong, carrying an oil barrel and moving slower, tried to keep pace.
The layout of Cypress City was clear. The sea lay to the west of the city, hence the name West Pier. The first main road from West Pier to the east was the very street the S Army was sweeping. The bank where Zhou Qian and the others were located was near the main city area, on the eastern side of the street.
This meant they could avoid crossing the main road during their escape and could directly reach the tallest building on Changjiang Road through a maze of alleys.
At the moment, many S Army soldiers had gathered on the main street. They searched house by house, swiftly clearing each alley, moving from south to north. After clearing a building, they planted explosives, intending to blow everything up soon.
Witnessing all this, Zhou Qian hoped that the explosion Yun Xiangrong would cause with the oil barrel might ignite the bombs the S Army placed prematurely, inflicting heavy casualties. But that was quite an idealistic hope. If everything went according to plan, just reaching the next rendezvous point after killing some S Army soldiers would be great.
Three minutes later, a gunshot was heard. It was Situ Qing acting punctually. Without any bravado, she shot the leader’s head. A dozen S Army soldiers instantly raised their guns, rushing out of various buildings, looking for the shooter. Another shot was fired by He Xiaowei from the outskirts of the four-story building, shattering a streetlight, drawing the soldiers’ attention.
“Over there! Throw grenades at that building!”
“Yes!”
After this command, three soldiers with grenades moved towards He Xiaowei’s location. However, four crisp gunshots rang out from Situ Qing. All her shots found their marks. The three grenade-bearing soldiers fell before reaching He Xiaowei’s building, and the commander who ordered the grenades was also killed.
[Situ Qing, you might be exposed. Run now. Saving your life is most important.]
Upon receiving this message from Zhou Qian, Situ Qing immediately fled. Just as she left the building and hid in an adjacent alley, shouts were heard on the main street. “Wrong! The real sniper is in the bank! Move in quickly and eliminate them! This Falcon Squadron is too cunning!”
At this very moment, Situ Qing, who was desperately running for her life in the darkness, felt her heart skip a beat.
He’s different. Zhou Qian really… is different from Mu Sheng.
Upon reflection, she thought she should have realized this earlier. Most people in this world weren’t like Mu Sheng.
Mu Sheng was an anomaly—a demon dragging her down with him. She should have… should have left him long ago.
Elsewhere, Zhou Qian quickly sent messages to He Xiaowei and Yun Xiangrong.
[Successfully took out two of their minor leaders. Without a leader, they’ll be more chaotic; the mission is accomplished. Run now.]
After sending the two messages, Zhou Qian dashed toward the tallest building near the second main road.
He estimated that it was unlikely for an ambush to be there, but he wasn’t completely sure.
As he ran, Zhou Qian pulled out a second dragon scale, quickly summoning another small dragon.
After giving the dragon its orders, it flew from his embrace, heading straight for the tall building.
The dragon carried Zhou Qian’s life essence and would be treated as if it were a human.
It could test if there was a sniper hidden in the building.
After the dragon left, Zhou Qian stopped momentarily in a small alley far from the main street.
He stood with his back against a tree, blending into the shadows of the night. His gaze remained fixed in the direction the dragon had gone, not wavering in the slightest.
However, just a minute later, “Bang”—
From a distance, the sound of a gunshot echoed, and something fell, motionless.
At this very moment, Situ Qing, Yun Xiangrong, and He Xiaowei had split into two groups, each rushing towards that tall building. They had temporarily hidden in secluded spots, waiting for a definite message from Zhou Qian before converging at the building.
But they all heard the gunshot unexpectedly.
He Xiaowei almost shouted, but Yun Xiangrong covered his mouth just in time.
“Qian… What if something happened to him?” He Xiaowei’s voice shook uncontrollably. “Even if you guys had disagreements, objectively speaking, he’s not the main culprit. Without him, we might not get through the next level. This—”
Yun Xiangrong’s voice was also grave. Her dark eyes stared intently at the building, trying to locate the sniper.
She whispered, her voice hoarse, “Don’t worry. After all, he is Zhou Qian. I don’t think he’d die so easily. Let’s wait for further updates and not panic.”
As Yun Xiangrong spoke, a loud noise erupted behind them.
It was an oil drum trap set up by Yun Xiangrong, now detonated.
The resulting fire spread rapidly, engulfing the entire building in moments.
Among the flames, distant shouts of the S Army could be heard.
“We should retreat to the perimeter!”
“Right, retreat! We’ve set up so many bombs; the fire will surely set them off!”
“Jiang Yuqing is definitely not here; otherwise, they wouldn’t cause an explosion!”
“Retreat to the pier! Then blow this place up! We have many men… after the explosion, let them all come down, and we’ll push towards the city center!”
“Right! They won’t have anywhere else to run!”
Hearing this, He Xiaowei said, “Qian was right! The safe zone is shrinking… we have to keep moving towards the city. And did you hear? They’re getting reinforcements from the west pier! Isn’t their army on the ships? Did I hear it wrong?”
“You heard right,” Yun Xiangrong replied. “Their main forces are at the west pier.”
He Xiaowei exclaimed, “But our mission is to escort Jiang Yuqing to the west pier to board a ship! Do we really… have to take them all out as Qian said? How can we do that? With our mana, we could run out at any moment… How can we fight so many soldiers?! This mission is impossible!”
On the other side, Situ Qing had similar thoughts.
Zhou Qian turned out to be different from what she had imagined. Mu Sheng always pushed her to take risks. But although Zhou Qian was the team leader, guiding everyone’s actions, he also took risks himself. But…
Is he dead?
This mission was like facing a hundred enemies with just one person.
Can we really succeed?
Zhou Qian, the man everyone was worried about, was standing beneath a tree.
He watched as the dragon he had dispatched fell in the darkness. Its body slowly became transparent until it turned into a dim dragon scale, impossible for him to find.
Upon hearing the loud explosion, Zhou Qian turned around emotionlessly, looking at the building behind him that was engulfed in roaring flames.
The reflection of the fire in his unfathomably cold eyes made them seem as if they were ablaze.
He faintly felt that this time… he might actually be a little angry.
The moonlight was like water, and hundreds of ghosts surged out like waves from various alleys.
Zhou Qian stood with his back to the crowd of ghosts, leaning slightly against a streetlamp. The light illuminated his long and beautiful eyes, making him appear calm and composed but also cold and ruthless.
Silently, he pulled out a snow-white and eerie object—it was the Rib of God.
He then raised his eyes and calmly gazed down the long street, the corner of his mouth curling up with a determined smile.
Ahead of him, Yun Xiangrong and He Xiaowei saw the message he sent. Pretending to walk towards Situ Qing, they slowed down after a few steps and quickly moved away from her.
Situ Qing was oblivious to what was happening behind her.
She just shivered all over and took a long breath. The sensation of the ghosts crawling on her just now was terribly uncomfortable, reminding her of eels. That cold and chilling sensation seemed to penetrate her soul, making every cell of hers tremble, completely different from her own icy aura.
By comparison, Da Shou standing next to her felt much warmer. Now, she just wished for a living person to come closer.
With that thought, Situ Qing took a few more glances at Da Shou. She found his appearance and demeanor reminded her of Mu Sheng when he was young.
When they were both young, there was no rift or conflict between them. They were of the same status—neighbors, childhood friends, closer than real siblings. She was two years older than Mu Sheng. They went to school together, and she helped him with his homework. However, Mu Sheng was so smart that he soon didn’t need her help, sometimes even solving problems faster than her.
Back then, he often cheerfully called her “sister” without any mockery. His innocent and kind expression was exactly like Da Shou’s just now.
Outside the game, separated by a screen, Mu Sheng saw Situ Qing actually walking with Da Shou. He shook his head slightly and quickly sent her a message: [Stay away from this kid. He will hurt you.]
But Situ Qing didn’t see it in time because Da Shou had grabbed her wrist.
In the game, Situ Qing felt a vibration at her wrist, but Da Shou’s position blocked her view of her watch panel. She didn’t push him away immediately, partly because she longed for the warmth on her wrist, especially after being surrounded by the coldness of the ghosts. She was desperate for the warmth of a living being.
However, after just thirty seconds, she tried to pull her hand back but found that Da Shou had a firm grip on her, making it hard for her to break free. Realizing something was amiss, she pushed Da Shou away, quickly accessed her system panel, and saw Mu Sheng’s message.
But it was already too late. Before she could turn and run, she saw Da Shou take action—he removed his jacket, revealing explosives strapped to his waist. He intended to take both of them down!
Situ Qing heard him say, “Sister, I’m sorry. But if I don’t do this, I won’t be able to see my mother. I just want to see her… I miss her so much!” Then with a click, Da Shou triggered the explosives.
Situ Qing’s heart sank.
She knew she couldn’t escape. In theory, her special ability might be able to freeze everything, including the explosives that hadn’t detonated. If Mu Sheng had sent the message earlier, she would have had time. But all her skills had a long casting time, and she would be blown to pieces before her icy powers took effect.
She knew she couldn’t make it. Mu Sheng’s message came too late, and she saw it half a minute too late.
She knew she was going to die in this instance.
Despite knowing she couldn’t survive, her survival instinct made her turn and try to run back. At that moment, she saw Zhou Qian standing under a nearby streetlight—under its illumination, he was holding up a bone and seemed to be murmuring something.
Then, the entire street, including the reflected moonlight and streetlights, started to warp. The explosion behind her didn’t happen immediately, and her running became extremely slow.
Zhou Qian has slowed down time!
Did he use such a massive amount of mana just to save me?
Why would he waste mana to save me?!
Wait, he only slowed down time. He didn’t stop it entirely.
Just as Situ Qing realized this, she heard a massive “boom” behind her.
The bomb had exploded!
A heat wave suddenly rose, and the entire back of Situ Qing was engulfed in flames, causing her so much pain that she couldn’t help but scream.
At that moment, she realized that there was not an inch of good skin left on her back.
[Player Situ Qing’s HP has dropped to 50%]
By the time she saw this prompt, Situ Qing was drenched in cold sweat.
But she knew she wasn’t dead yet. She was only slightly hurt by the outermost layer of the explosion.
Immediately after, time slowed down even more, so much so that the truly life-threatening shockwave was still delayed.
Biting her teeth hard, Situ Qing trembled from the pain. She then looked up and saw Zhou Qian slowly approaching her. He looked like a demon about to slay her, but at the same time, like a god who could save her.
Zhou Qian was smiling.
In Situ Qing’s eyes, that smile was endlessly mocking.
Situ Qing knew Zhou Qian was toying with her.
If he wanted to kill her, he wouldn’t need to slow down time.
But if he wanted to save her, why did he wait until after she was hurt by the outermost shockwave to further slow down time?
Does he want to save me or send me to my death?
The intense pain from her back made Situ Qing’s mind a bit foggy. She could even smell her burnt skin. Cold sweat had completely soaked her forehead, neck, palms, and back.
“What do you want?” Situ Qing managed to ask him, her voice hoarse.
She wasn’t even sure if she had actually said the words.
Because her time was also slowed down, perhaps she never got the words out.
But Zhou Qian seemed to have understood her.
Holding the Rib of God, he walked step by step towards her, looking down on her, and said, “Of course, I want you to beg me. Beg me, and I might consider saving you.”
“Don’t you see? Who pushes you into hell, and who saves you?”
“You… you…” Situ Qing wanted to argue, but she had to admit that Zhou Qian was right.
Considering Mu Sheng’s intelligence, he should have known that the child was problematic, so why didn’t he tell her sooner? Why wait until the very last moment?
Suddenly, Situ Qing looked at her watch again, as if trying to question Mu Sheng through the system panel, who was watching her in danger.
From this action, Zhou Qian saw right through her.
Walking up to Situ Qing, he placed the Rib of God on her shoulder.
And with that, Zhou Qian took Situ Qing out of time.
Unable to bear the pain on her back, Situ Qing almost collapsed.
Zhou Qian chuckled softly and said in a deep voice, “He pushes you into grave danger, and just before that danger strikes, he sends you a warning to save you. This way, you’ll become more and more reliant on him.
“He’s the one who sets the trap for you, but he’s also the one who rescues you. It’s like him slapping you and then offering you candy… Gradually, you can’t break free from him. Not only can you not leave him, but you might even begin to feel sympathy for him, empathizing with him to some extent…”
“Situ Qing, this isn’t love. You’re sick. This condition is similar to Stockholm syndrome*. He’s the kidnapper that trapped you. How can you fall for him?”
*Condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors.
“I guess he’s used this method many times. But if you walk in the night too often, you’ll eventually encounter ghosts*. Maybe the previous times he saved you at the last second. But just now… seems like he made a mistake. If he had warned you a bit earlier, would you be in this situation?”
*Idiom referring to if one constantly engages in risky or dubious activities, they will eventually face negative consequences or run into trouble.
While gasping in pain, Situ Qing asked Zhou Qian, “Putting me in extreme danger and then saving me at the last moment… Zhou Qian, isn’t what you’re doing now the same?”
Zhou Qian laughed again, looking into her pain-filled eyes. “Of course not. I’m not asking you to love me.”
“There’s no emotional entanglement between us. If there is any, it’s just hatred. After all, you killed a good man named Gao Shan.”
His tone turned cold as he looked into her eyes. “Situ Qing, I’m just trying to wake you up. You’re in an extreme emotional state because of him. How can I wake you up if I don’t use extreme methods?”
“Come on, Situ Qing, grab this bone and come see the light with me.”
No, I cannot be swayed by him.
How can there be any light on him?
I’m just stepping from one abyss into another.
The constant pain in her back reminded her that if she didn’t hold onto that bone, she would die. She would definitely die.
“Come, Situ Qing. Look behind you.”
Zhou Qian pressed the bone against the side of her head, forcing her to turn and look behind her.
Immediately, Situ Qing saw a sight that filled her with unspeakable terror.
A mushroom cloud from an explosion was just a stone’s throw away from her.
The mushroom cloud almost illuminated the sky, blindingly bright yet seemingly having the power to obliterate everything.
If… If Zhou Qian were to release that bone, she would be instantly blown to smithereens.
Situ Qing shivered uncontrollably, her survival instincts overtaking her rational mind and any mental defenses, making her swiftly grab the bone pressed against her head.
Seeing this, Zhou Qian gave a faint smile, turned, and ran with her out of the explosion’s range.
Then he deactivated his skill, and time returned to normal.
“Boom—!” The mushroom cloud bloomed, like the most magnificent flower.
But apart from the explosion’s epicenter, no one died.
Watching this from a distance, sweat poured off Situ Qing as if she had been drenched in water countless times.
The boundless terror and never-ending pain had completely sapped her strength, and she collapsed onto the ground.
After catching her breath for a moment, she looked up at Zhou Qian beside her. “What did you—”
Unexpectedly, Zhou Qian had used an ordinary skill on her.
[Bone Nightmare]: Induces the target into an illusion, with a 30% backlash chance.
This ordinary skill of Zhou Qian had a unique feature.
If the target’s mental and physical conditions were good, the induced illusion would be extremely basic, similar to seeing an elf in water when drinking. It would be neither harmful nor particularly offensive.
However, if the target’s mental state was compromised, Zhou Qian could exploit it.
He remembered the detailed skill description mentioning that his current level was too low to maximize this skill’s potential. If he tried, he might suffer a backlash that could even threaten his life.
But when he reached a higher level with stronger base attributes, he could create and control the illusion.
Currently, Zhou Qian couldn’t craft or control an illusion to make Situ Qing completely lost in it.
But given her current fragile state—pain from the explosion, fear of death, threats from Zhou Qian, combined with her feelings of disappointment, fear, love, and hate towards Mu Sheng—all these negative emotions were overwhelming her.
In such a state, Zhou Qian could show her the illusion she feared the most.
……
The intense pain on her back made Situ Qing drift in and out of consciousness.
The moment the bone passed before her eyes, she felt a weight on her head and fell unconscious.
She felt like she was back in her childhood, with scenes from her past fast-forwarding before her eyes. At first, she was an observer, but eventually, she merged completely with her past self, reliving her life.
Situ Qing’s mother was named Situ Xue, who, to many, seemed as pure and beautiful as snow*.
*[Xue] (雪) means snow.
Situ Xue raised Situ Qing by herself. When Situ Qing was nine, they moved into an apartment where she met Mu Sheng. They were neighbors, living door-to-door.
Situ Qing and Mu Sheng weren’t siblings, but their bond was even stronger. She was very kind to Mu Sheng, largely because Mu Sheng’s mother was kind to her and her mother.
Mu Sheng’s mother, feeling sorry for the mother-daughter duo, always invited them over whenever she made something tasty.
Thus, the two families got along very well.
But no one expected Mu Sheng’s father to end up with Situ Xue.
They claimed they were in true love. Mu Sheng’s mother went through immense emotional pain, eventually falling into depression.
One day, while she was driving to pick up Mu Sheng, her mental state was compromised. It was unknown if it was due to a momentary lapse or if she wanted to end both their lives. Regardless, a tragic accident occurred.
After the accident, Mu Sheng’s mother passed away, and Mu Sheng was left with a lifelong disability.
At his bedside, Situ Qing was consumed with guilt. She kept apologizing to Mu Sheng, saying she would dedicate her life to make up for it.
Finally, Mu Sheng said to her, “Then let’s run away. I can’t stand being in this house, even for a moment. How can I face my father and your mother? They are murderers. Maybe I’ll lose control and kill them.”
And so, Situ Qing really took him with her.
No one had ever told her that the mistakes of adults should not be something a child should bear.
Yet, she felt so guilty towards Mu Sheng. Because of her mother, his entire life was ruined.
In reality, Situ Qing’s life trajectory had also been completely altered.
Back then, Situ Qing was only in her second year of high school.
To pay for Mu Sheng’s school fees and their living expenses, she dropped out of school early and worked various jobs, doing loads of work every day.
She was tired and resentful but bore it silently. Even when Mu Sheng’s temper was extremely bad, even when he dragged her into a bottomless abyss with him.
There was one incident that Situ Qing remembered particularly well.
One day, she was working at a milk tea shop. As it was close to the end of the year, many office workers from nearby buildings were working overtime and having lots of meetings. Hence, the demand for milk tea was particularly high.
That afternoon, Situ Qing made almost 300 cups of milk tea. She was almost exhausted to death and didn’t finish work until midnight.
She was so worn out that she could barely walk. She texted Mu Sheng that she wouldn’t come home that night and would spend the night at the milk tea shop and return the next morning.
After sending the message, Situ Qing laid down on the shop’s sofa to rest.
But she barely rested before deciding to return home.
She was worried about Mu Sheng being alone at home. If she didn’t cook dinner, Mu Sheng might not eat at all, especially given his mobility challenges.
Dragging her exhausted body, when Situ Qing arrived home, she encountered something she’d never expected.
Below their rented apartment, she saw Mu Sheng’s father’s car.
The next day, Situ Qing asked Mu Sheng, “Did your father find us?”
Mu Sheng replied, “Sister, how can you be so naive? We’re two minors. Is it hard to find us? They reported it to the police and found us long ago. It’s just that you were working that day, so only I met them.”
Situ Qing asked, “Didn’t they ask us to go back?”
“Of course they did. But I told them if they dared to force us, I’d not only kill myself but also take you with me. They got scared and let us stay out for the time being.” Mu Sheng chuckled. “My father foolishly believes… in at most half a year, I’d cool down and be willing to return. Who does he think he’s driven to death?”
Situ Qing, puzzled, inquired further. “Then… What was your father doing here last night?”
Mu Sheng’s gaze became inscrutable. “He came to see me and brought some money. I told him to just transfer it to my bank account in the future.”
Situ Qing frowned. “If he knew where we were all along, has he been sending money before?”
Mu Sheng nodded, “Of course. They’re afraid we won’t have enough to eat or wear.”
“Why then… Why…” Situ Qing clenched her fists. “I could have continued studying and not worked. Why did you…”
Interrupting her, holding Situ Qing’s hand, and looking into her eyes, Mu Sheng said, “Because I love you, sister.”
Situ Qing found herself unable to understand Mu Sheng’s actions. “What… What did you just say?”
“I said I love you.” Whispering into Situ Qing’s ear, Mu Sheng continued, “Without seeing you willingly sacrifice for me, how would I know you love me? I just wanted… you to prove your love for me.”
“Sister, I’m disabled. How can I be sure you’ll stick with me for life?”
“I just wanted to make sure… you were truly willing to sacrifice everything for me.”
“No, Mu Sheng… my mother wronged you, but I have my own life. I could’ve—”
“Sister, I just love you too much. Maybe I’m young and don’t know how to handle our relationship. After all, I hate your mother, and you resemble her… but I truly love you. Can you forgive me? I was just too afraid you’d leave me.”
“Mu Sheng…”
“If you knew my father would give us money, you might just abandon me.”
Situ Qing didn’t know what to say. Her grievances turned into tears.
But she couldn’t push Mu Sheng away.
She’d rushed to the scene of the accident and saw Mu Sheng’s mother in a pool of blood, her eyes staring at her as if Situ Qing had committed an unforgivable sin, owing her too much.
“Sister, don’t cry.” As Mu Sheng wiped her tears, he said, “I don’t want to use my father’s money. It feels dirty. Only what you give is good. I just want to love you.”
When this incident first happened, Situ Qing was deeply shocked. However, as similar incidents occurred more frequently, she seemingly became accustomed to it, even becoming numb.
What could she do even if she felt terrible? How could she leave such a Mu Sheng? She already owed him, so how could she really abandon him with his disability?
For a long time, Situ Qing had been having a recurring nightmare. After preparing breakfast for Mu Sheng, she forgot to turn off the stove and hurried to work. A fire indeed broke out at home, but since she was out working to earn money, she knew nothing about it. Poor Mu Sheng, due to his physical disabilities, couldn’t escape and perished in the flames.
In her dreamlike state, Situ Qing never imagined that this dream would come true.
Dragging her tired body, Situ Qing returned to the entrance of her building only to see her rented apartment engulfed in flames. Thinking of the helpless Mu Sheng, she felt she had once again failed him—because she was busy working and couldn’t attend to him at all times, leading to this disaster.
Fear and guilt surrounded Situ Qing, and she recklessly tried to rush into the fire.
“It’s dangerous, young lady!”
“Don’t go! The firefighters are here!”
Such voices continuously echoed in her ears, and she was held back by the crowd.
After an unknown period of worry and anxiety, when guilt and concern nearly suffocated her, two firefighters carried out Mu Sheng. However, by that time, Mu Sheng had turned into a charred corpse.
Mu Sheng was dead, completely and utterly.
“No—!”
Situ Qing knelt on the ground, completely devastated. The person she loved the most, who also tormented her for a lifetime, was now dead. Her world suddenly felt empty. It seemed like she couldn’t feel anything.
It seemed like Situ Qing and Mu Sheng had been intertwined for a long time. Both were young, but they seemed to have been entwined for countless days and nights. Love or hate between them was indistinguishable. Who owed whom was also blurred.
All Situ Qing knew now was that all her guilt, concern, secrets, heaviness, and twisted love and attachment had abruptly left her before she could thoroughly understand it, before she was prepared.
Her world used to be colorful and sweet. Back then, the boy next door was adorable, her mother was beautiful, and the neighboring aunt and uncle were friendly… Later, after a sudden change, she lived alone with Mu Sheng, working tirelessly. Her world turned black and white.
Now… Staring at the charred corpse, where even the facial features were indiscernible, Situ Qing felt her world was empty. It seemed like she lived in a world where nothing existed. No Mu Sheng, no parents, no one. That world was void of even black and white.
This emptiness lasted for a long time until Situ Qing gradually regained her senses. She realized she was kneeling on the street with many kind-hearted people around, seemingly comforting her. They must have been doing it for a while, but she felt deaf to it all.
It was only then that her senses gradually returned, and Situ Qing started feeling the pain in her heart. It felt as if someone was tightly squeezing and crushing it, the pain even surpassing the severe injuries on her back.
Wait…
Where did the injuries on her back come from?
At that moment, Situ Qing abruptly woke up from the most terrifying dream and found herself in tears. She hadn’t cried when she was close to death or when her back was severely burned by the explosion wave. But she was utterly shattered because of a dream.
Instinctively touching her face, feeling as if it had been repeatedly drenched in rain, Situ Qing took several breaths and opened her eyes, seeing Zhou Qian looking down at her. His eyes were cold and cruel. He was mocking her—the most ruthless and terrifying devil in the world!
With all her strength, Situ Qing reached out and tightly grabbed Zhou Qian’s shirt.
“Zhou Qian, I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill you!”
Zhou Qian’s face remained calm. He looked at Situ Qing with deceptive eyes while speaking in a soft voice. “Situ Qing, tell me, what was your most genuine feeling just now? Face me honestly and face yourself honestly. When you saw his corpse, what was your first reaction?”
“I…”
Seemingly recalling a feeling of emptiness, as if everything was drained from her, Situ Qing was left speechless.
The deep voice of Zhou Qian continued, “Situ Qing, be honest. You’ve felt it, haven’t you? Let me see if there’s any hope left for you.”
“I… I…”
Tears streamed down Situ Qing’s face once again. She couldn’t help but break down. Unconsciously, she let go of Zhou Qian’s shirt, which she had been gripping. She covered her face and began to sob uncontrollably.
Ever since the day after Mu Sheng’s mother died, she started suppressing herself, holding back all the pain, even the longing for her mother. And now, for the first time in so many years and countless nights, she cried her heart out.
Amidst this emotional breakdown, she answered Zhou Qian with sobs. “I felt… relieved, as if a weight had been lifted. I feel liberated. I feel free now. I feel like I should be happy… I feel like I can have a normal life. I… Zhou Qian…”
“When I saw him die, my first reaction was… relief. So, Zhou Qian…”
“Are you satisfied?!”
“Are you satisfied now, Zhou Qian?!”
Zhou Qian waited quietly for her to cry for a full minute. Then, he extended his hand and patted her shoulder. “This proves there’s still hope for you. Remember this feeling, Situ Qing.”
“Remember this feeling of freedom, liberation, and relief.”
“Now you can let him go.”
“Forgive yourself and live for yourself.”
Outside the game, in front of the tablet screen.
Mu stared as Zhou Qian looked up. His cold gaze seemed to pierce through the screen, staring right at him. With a malicious, mocking tone, he said, “Did you hear that? Seeing you dead, her first reaction was relief.”
“The thing she feared most in her life was causing your death due to her negligence.”
“But what she most looked forward to was also—to see you die.”
Later on, this game video of Zhou Qian was watched countless times, garnering the highest attention and eliciting numerous comments.
[Holy shit, that’s next-level strategy! I’ve never seen such a crafty move! He’s so skilled at winning people over!]
[I don’t get it. He expended so much mana, just to anger Situ Qing and turn her against her gambler? So, what’s Zhou Qian planning for Situ Qing next?]
[I don’t know about later, but in this instance, his move was worth it.]
[Right? Among the four of them, who could deal normal damage? If he doesn’t win over Situ Qing now, then when? There’s a tough fight coming up!]
[I kind of feel sorry for Situ Qing.]
[To the person above, there’s something hateful in every pitiable person!]
[That might be true… She was forced into this. Let’s see if she can make amends in the future. Maybe she’ll work hard to earn gold coins and finally trade them to Yun Xiangrong to get Gao Shan back?]
[I think you guys are missing the point. Why would a low-level player like Situ Qing, who seemingly has no past grudge with Zhou Qian, attack him? Whose orders?]
[Peach Blossom Legion, perhaps? I heard they gave her a pass to enter this hall…]
[Why would Peach Blossom want to kill Zhou Qian? Didn’t their senior retire?]
[Didn’t Priest analyze for us last time? Zhou Qian caught the eye of a Rank God player, who wants to train him as his “shepherd”!]
[Is Zhou Qian caught in a struggle between Rank God players? I heard there are factional struggles among high-level players… Could that be true? I’ve heard rumors that Rank God players are selecting who can truly stand beside the gods!]
[Yeah, isn’t it a contest between [Scholar] and [Blood Demon] for the top spot? Whoever’s on top will rule the game and lead all of us!]
[I’ve heard the same. They’re even forcing players to pick sides. There’s a big battle brewing between them! It’s unclear which side the Peach Blossom Legion is on. High-level players are currently vying for powerful [Shepherds]. For someone like Zhou Qian… it’s better to kill him if they can’t have him!]
[Having only completed two dungeons, Zhou Qian is already the most watched newbie, currently ranking first. So being pursued is the treatment for the top newbie? I really don’t envy that!]
[Yeah, high-level players, please don’t give me the same attention as Zhou Qian! Leave me be; I don’t want to be your [Shepherd]. Let me be free, thank you!]
[The two above are so narcissistic. Do you see anyone paying attention to you?]
Inside the private room, Priest silently observed everyone’s comments and, for some reason, sighed softly.
Then he opened a letter he had received, bearing a distinct peach blossom mark at the corner.
……
At this moment, in the game.
Dark clouds approached, obscuring the moonlight.
The long street became even darker.
Situ Qing broke down in tears, while Zhou Qian looked towards the street.
Not long ago, Da Shou, with explosives strapped to him, wanted to drag the players to death with him. However, he failed in the end, and only he died.
On the other side, Xiao Pang ran swiftly down the entire street, scattering dog’s blood everywhere and sticking talisman papers.
As a result, all the ghosts that were in groups vanished one after another.
After receiving a message from Zhou Qian, Yun Xiangrong and He Xiaowei not only quickly distanced themselves from Da Shou but also quickly paid attention to Xiao Pang’s movements.
When Zhou Qian used the “Bone Nightmare” skill on Situ Qing, Xiao Pang had just dealt with a horde of ghosts. Seeing that Da Shou blew himself up without taking any players with him, Xiao Pang rushed towards the players again.
He Xiaowei’s eyes widened instantly. “Fuck, does he also have a bomb on him?”
Yun Xiangrong said in a deep voice, “Quickly, use the guqin to control him!”
As soon as Yun Xiangrong spoke, He Xiaowei took out his guqin and began to play it.
The system didn’t provide any warnings about the danger of Xiao Pang and Da Shou. This meant that they were not the “monsters” that needed to be defeated in the instance. Their attacks were covert, without any special skills, which also meant they were vulnerable.
Sure enough, when He Xiaowei plucked the strings aimed at Xiao Pang’s feet, Xiao Pang immediately tripped.
As he fell, Yun Xiangrong swiftly attacked, with willow catkins falling, precisely targeting Xiao Pang’s arms.
Yun Xiangrong’s damage output was mediocre, but it was enough to handle Xiao Pang, an NPC that wasn’t even considered a monster.
Once Xiao Pang was incapacitated, Yun Xiangrong quickly brought out a rope, first tying his hands behind him to prevent him from triggering the explosive. Once the explosive risk was neutralized, she tied up his feet.
He Xiaowei rushed forward to help, and in the end, together with Yun Xiangrong, they tied Xiao Pang to a lamppost.
After staring at Xiao Pang for a while, He Xiaowei heard footsteps and turned to see Zhou Qian.
“Qian’er, I don’t understand. What’s happening?” He Xiaowei nudged Zhou Qian’s arm and glanced at the still-crying Situ Qing.
Zhou Qian said, “Using some mana now is worth it. Otherwise, it’ll be troublesome later. With Situ Qing around, things are a bit easier.”
He Xiaowei glanced at Xiao Pang again and couldn’t help but ask Zhou Qian, “So… what’s going on? Why did they want to harm us? Are they children? The ghosts… don’t pose a threat to us?”
Zhou Qian counter-asked, “Did you see any ghost hurt you?”
He Xiaowei rubbed his hands. “Well, not really.”
Zhou Qian continued, “It’s all easy to deduce. Think about it, what’s the background of this city?”
He Xiaowei replied, “The S army invaded… The Seventh Army protects the civilians!”
“Right,” Zhou Qian said. “Now, think about it, what did the old lady ask us to do when she saw us?”
“Aha, I get it,” He Xiaowei exclaimed. “She said there are many traitors in the city lately and warned us not to reveal our identities. She asked us to take off our military uniforms. In a way, she was protecting us!”
“Exactly,” Zhou Qian replied. “Additionally, remember when you were about to get married as Dong Shui, the young Jiang Yuqing appeared. In his perspective, he didn’t see those people as ghosts. He looked at them the same way he looked at us.”
“Don’t forget, we deduced early on that young Jiang Yuqing would protect us and is on our side.”
“So, his appearance, besides introducing a subplot, was also a hint from the game—that the ‘ghosts’ in this level are actually on the good side.”
After a brief pause, Zhou Qian added, “Recall not long ago when we were surrounded by those young beggars. They didn’t intend to harm us. They didn’t know they were dead and continued to rob, just like when they were alive. But when they saw me take out the uniform of the Seventh Army, they immediately stopped and were overjoyed. They spread the word that the Seventh Army had arrived. They thought… they could be saved.”
He Xiaowei paused, then said, “The old lady told us to change our clothes. But we were still exposed. We…”
After a brief moment of distraction, he said, “We’ve been exposed for a while! Hearing the suona sound on the way to the wedding, we wore our military uniforms. We were seen by people long ago. But, the people who saw us were… were…”
He Xiaowei’s gaze turned to the tied-up Xiao Pang. He furrowed his brow tightly, as if feeling that the truth he discovered wasn’t only saddening but also so incredible that it was almost hard to accept.
“In times of war, nothing is impossible,” Zhou Qian said. “When the S army invaded Baicheng, they slaughtered the civilians… Miss Zhang couldn’t wait for her Dong Shui to return and had already passed away.”
Thinking of the smiling expression in Miss Zhang’s eyes in the photograph and thinking of the piece of red wedding dress and the embroidered shoe found in the mass grave, tears welled up in He Xiaowei’s eyes.
“This is a world of mixed truth and illusion,” he continued. “What happened in that mass grave probably really happened. This city is empty because nearly everyone in Baicheng was slaughtered back then. As for the wedding of Dong Shui and Miss Zhang, it never really happened. This was Jiang Yuqing’s vision. He knew everyone was dead, but he hoped that even in ghost form, his comrade and Miss Zhang could have their wishes, so he created such an illusion in this conscious world.”
Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and said, “Real memories and false visions together make up this world. We need to discern which parts are real and which are fake. For example, the malicious intent of those two children may be real.”
Jiang Yuqing’s memory couldn’t have possibly conjured the bones and mass graves from thin air. This was probably from what he had seen with his own eyes. The most logical guess was that after Dong Shui and Miss Zhang broke off their engagement, they left Baicheng, met up with the rest of the Falcon Squadron, and began the mission to escort Jiang Yuqing to Nancheng.
Perhaps during their escape, they passed through Baicheng and saw the desolation and emptiness left behind by the war. They came across numerous bodies, found many mass graves, and even discovered parts of Miss Zhang’s wedding dress and the embroidered shoe.
But entering Baicheng must have been extremely dangerous, as it would have been filled with S Army forces. So, what role did these two children play at that time?
Being locals and children, they would have easily gained the trust of the Falcon Squadron.
Perhaps at a moment of crisis, Xiao Pang and Da Shou appeared and said, “Big brother, big sister, follow us. We can save you.”
Maybe someone in the Falcon Squadron fell for it, and the children detonated the bombs they carried, sacrificing themselves in the process.
He Xiaowei looked at the tied-up Xiao Pang, struggling to find words, and then asked Zhou Qian, “But why? If the entire city was surrounded by the S Army, wouldn’t it be easy for them to exterminate the Falcon Squadron? Why would they force two children from Baicheng to do this? Why would the children agree?”
Zhou Qian’s expression turned cold. “The S Army is like their name implies—they are venomous snakes. Perhaps even more venomous than snakes. They not only wanted to kill the people of Baicheng but also wanted to watch them kill each other. Perhaps ordinary killing methods no longer satisfied them, so they forced two children from Baicheng to turn against those they originally looked up to in the Seventh Army.”
He Xiaowei’s eyes reddened, and he was rendered speechless. Zhou Qian walked towards Xiao Pang and asked, “Did they force or trick you by using your mother? Did they tell you that if you carried the bomb and led us into a trap, they would spare your mother?”
Looking up at Zhou Qian, Xiao Pang trembled and tears flowed. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to find my mom… I just wanted her to come back.”
Just then, there was a “bang”.
Xiao Pang was killed, lying in a pool of blood.
The S army had killed everyone in the city, leaving only Da Shou and Xiao Pang. When the Falcon Squadron entered the city, they were trapped, and the two children were tasked to kill them. If they succeeded, the S Army would have enjoyed a cruel spectacle of brethren killing each other. If they failed, the S Army would simply take care of the Seventh Army members themselves.
Now, the two children had undoubtedly failed, and the S army lurking in the shadows was about to emerge.
Zhou Qian stepped closer to Xiao Pang. Although Xiao Pang could no longer hear, Zhou Qian whispered, “You don’t need to apologize. You’re not our enemy, the S Army is.”
“Qian’er, we… we…” He Xiaowei swallowed hard, torn between fear and rage.
The system soon sent a message.
[Player triggered main plotline: Jiang Yuqing was captured by the S Army in Baicheng, where they tortured him to extract scientific research secrets; Jiang Yuqing would rather die than betray but was later saved by a spy from the Seventh Army hidden within the S Army inside Baicheng.]
[Player Mission: On behalf of the Falcon Squadron, locate Jiang Yuqing and take him to the western pier to escape by boat.]
“Xiaowei Ge—”
Suddenly hearing this voice, He Xiaowei turned to look at Zhou Qian.
At this moment, the clouds had dispersed, and the moonlight made Zhou Qian’s gaze exceptionally clear.
“What’s…what’s up?” He Xiaowei asked.
Unlike his usual comedic demeanor, affected by the plot, He Xiaowei’s tone was dull, lacking energy.
Then he saw Zhou Qian, with his shining eyes, say, “How about we go all out?”
“How do we go all out?” Seemingly influenced by Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei gradually became somewhat excited.
Zhou Qian said, “In reality, we can only be the villains. So, in this instance, let’s be… heroes.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Of course, to annihilate all the members of the S Army and avenge everyone!”
The bride as beautiful as a blooming flower, the enthusiastic old matchmaker, the kind and approachable parents, the guests chatting and drinking at the banquet…
All vanished in an instant.
He Xiaowei’s “husband and wife bow” ended up being made of thin air.
For a moment, he should’ve felt relieved, perhaps even exhilarated from narrowly escaping a dangerous situation. Yet, strangely, looking at the now-empty wedding hall, he felt a sense of loss, as if he had truly lost his bride.
After some time, He Xiaowei quickly took off his wedding clothes and ran to Zhou Qian. “Qian’er, what’s…”
But he saw Zhou Qian facing a direction, seemingly waiting for something. After a while, a little dragon climbed over the white wall and jumped into Zhou Qian’s arms.
Without turning his head, Zhou Qian said, “See? You’re so undesirable, even a ghost bride didn’t want to marry you.”
Unable to hold back, He Xiaowei retorted, “Damn it, Zhou Qian, your mouth is too poisonous! You weren’t like this when you needed my help!”
At this point, everyone had a question in their minds—was that it?
One player was forced to marry a ghost bride, while others were made to attend… Everyone was constantly on edge, thinking there might be some greater danger lurking.
But now, the ghosts just vanished out of thin air. The players, vigilant for so long, were unsure whether to relax or brace themselves for further risks. This game was so bizarre, keeping their nerves taut as if they had no room to relax.
Suddenly, a system notification sounded.
A new exclamation mark appeared on the map, instructing players to head to that location to trigger the next part of the storyline. It was a location everyone was familiar with—the wide street they had walked down twice when they first left the pier and entered the main city.
Having read the system prompt, He Xiaowei blinked twice. “So, should we go now?”
Zhou Qian petted the dragon’s head, saying, “You guys go first. I’ll catch up.”
Upon hearing this, Situ Qing was the first to ask, “Where are you going?”
Seeing that Situ Qing seemed keen to follow and fearing he might harm Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei immediately said, “Then I’ll come with you!”
If both of them were to accompany Zhou Qian, it seemed unreasonable for Yun Xiangrong to go alone to the street.
She said, “Then I’ll come see as well. For now, the system hasn’t set a time limit for us to trigger the next event. Before we go, it might be necessary to explore freely.”
Zhou Qian didn’t look at the two ladies and just nodded at He Xiaowei. He then left the wedding hall from the back door, went to the west chambers, passed its courtyard, and reached the back door of the house.
Pushing the door open, he found a narrow alley. Following the alley, he arrived at a large orchard.
“Why are we here?” He Xiaowei asked, pulling a powerful flashlight from his bag.
“When you changed into the wedding clothes, I explored the alley and had the little dragon help me find something.” Zhou Qian pointed ahead and continued, “There—”
Though the system stated that the little dragon didn’t have any special skills, was weak in offense and defense, and couldn’t heal, its advantage was that it had human-like life energy. It obeyed commands and could walk, jump, and search for things just like a human.
So, Zhou Qian had instructed it to find an open area like a lawn, wasteland, or garden. The more open, the better. If it found such a place, it was to dig. The dragon quickly located an open orchard and actually dug up something. It swiftly returned to Zhou Qian’s side and led him back.
At that moment, when the flashlight shone in the direction Zhou Qian was pointing, everyone could see that its beam was shaking erratically—because He Xiaowei’s hand was trembling violently. When he saw what was buried in the orchard, he was so terrified that he could hardly control himself.
Zhou Qian stepped forward, patting He Xiaowei’s shoulder to steady him and raising his arm for better illumination. With He Xiaowei serving as his makeshift spotlight, Zhou Qian moved closer to inspect what the light revealed—a vast pit filled with one skeleton after another.
This place appeared to be a makeshift mass grave. Many corpses were discarded here, hastily buried under the soil, making it easy for the little dragon to unearth them. At this moment, the little dragon let out a couple of whimpering noises at Zhou Qian.
Zhou Qian looked at it and nodded, and the little dragon immediately jumped out of his embrace, then rummaged through the dirt for a while. In no time, the little dragon had found numerous clues.
As the group of curious onlookers approached, Zhou Qian put all the clues into his bag. He Xiaowei was taken aback. “Qian’er, what do you mean by this?”
Zhou Qian glanced towards Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong. “My little dragon and I spent so much effort exploring, and you two just want to reap the benefits? If you want to see the clues, we can negotiate a trade. I’ll show you the clues, but in return, you need to promise not to backstab or harm me until this instance ends.”
Situ Qing frowned. “What if you want to kill me? If you attack me, shouldn’t I defend myself?”
“It seems you still harbor intentions to kill me. Even if you change your mind now, I won’t show you the clues. Xiaowei Ge, let’s go somewhere private to look.”
Zhou Qian didn’t need to look to guess that Situ Qing made an unpleasant expression. Knowing she was upset, he felt extremely pleased.
With a joyful smile, Zhou Qian indeed led He Xiaowei to another corner of the orchard.
Before leaving, he heard Situ Qing say to Yun Xiangrong, “No matter who you want to seek revenge on after the instance ends, right now you don’t have the strength to confront anyone. I think—”
“No need to consider. The one I want to deal with is Zhou Qian. He’s not completely evil and still has a shred of humanity. Because of Gao Shan, he won’t hurt me. But unfortunately, without him, Gao Shan wouldn’t have died. I will definitely seek revenge on him.”
Yun Xiangrong’s voice was cold and heavy. “I was willing to destroy all my skills at this stage. I fear nothing. And of course, you’re next. After Zhou Qian dies, if I’m still unsatisfied, maybe it will be your turn.”
“Your current skills are useless. We won’t need you for the next challenges,” Situ Qing told her. “Aren’t you afraid I might kill you now?”
Yun Xiangrong scoffed, “At least I have a brain, and it works better than yours.”
Situ Qing paused, seemingly not angered by this. “By damaging your skills like this, are you trying to show your allegiance to me? Showing that you have completely broken ties with Zhou Qian while also demonstrating that you’re presenting yourself to me defenselessly, so I should trust you? After all, in your current powerless state, you can only cooperate with me.”
Yun Xiangrong replied indifferently, “I see. You’re not that dumb after all.”
Situ Qing asked her, “What kind of grudge… makes you willing to cooperate with his enemy to kill Zhou Qian?”
“The love of my life is dead. From now on, I will live only for revenge. Is that reason hard to understand?”
Situ Qing pressed. “How can I be sure… you won’t seek revenge on me later?”
“As I said, I definitely will. But Zhou Qian is my top priority. You can cooperate with me, and after he’s dead, you can deal with me. Or, if you don’t trust me, you can kill me now. Consider which option is more beneficial for you. The only promise I can make is—” She took a step forward, looking directly into Situ Qing’s eyes. “During our cooperation, I won’t turn against you. I’ll plan my revenge meticulously.”
With that, Yun Xiangrong headed towards the mass grave. “Let’s also find some tools to dig. The little dragon might have missed something. There might be more clues here.”
On the other side, as He Xiaowei walked away with Zhou Qian, he overheard the conversation between the two women.
“Shit, they’re openly discussing a conspiracy against you!”
Zhou Qian seemed unconcerned. “So, are you going to team up with me or them?”
He Xiaowei decisively replied, “With you. Women… I can’t handle even one. The heart of a woman is like finding a needle in the sea… But, speaking of which, figuring out what’s on your mind is even harder than guessing a woman’s. That’s like finding a needle in the Pacific Ocean…”
Feeling the murderous glare from somewhere, He Xiaowei quickly changed the topic. “Oh, Miss Zhang, my heart belongs to her…”
Zhou Qian ignored his rambling and, feeling they had put enough distance between themselves and Situ Qing, stopped and took out the clues found by the little dragon. “Perhaps among these clues, there’s a story about your beloved Miss Zhang.”
Using a flashlight, the first thing the two of them saw was a black-and-white photo.
The people in the photo were easily recognizable—it was a photo of Dong Shui and Miss Zhang.
Both were dressed in school uniforms, indicating it was taken during their student days.
This couple truly were childhood sweethearts, deeply in love.
After Zhou Qian looked at the photo, He Xiaowei quickly took it, holding it as if it were a precious treasure, as if he really saw himself as Dong Shui.
Zhou Qian then looked at another photo.
It was a group photo of six people with the caption: [Falcon Squadron Memorial Photo, December of XX36.]
Upon seeing it, He Xiaowei exclaimed, “There are only six people in this? Eh? Jiang Yuqing isn’t in it!”
Zhou Qian pondered while holding the photo. “Jiang Yuqing never really seemed like a soldier. He should be a physicist.”
After thinking for a moment, He Xiaowei said, “Jiang Yuqing and us belong to the Seventh Army—the seven of us are comrades-in-arms. However, Jiang Yuqing isn’t a frontline soldier; he’s a researcher and not a member of the Falcon Squadron. Only the six of us here are squad members.”
“Yes, that seems about right,” Zhou Qian concluded as he put away the photo and found a letter.
The letter was signed “Dong Shui,” likely written to Miss Zhang.
“A’Hua, the Falcon Squadron has received a very important task, and I will be temporarily leaving Baicheng. A doctor surnamed Jiang has just returned from studying abroad. He possesses vital knowledge that might completely change our nation’s passive fate. However, he’s been targeted by the S Army. I heard that the S Army either wants to capture him alive and make him serve their country or kill him.
“The Falcon Squadron needs to escort him to Nancheng. The journey is perilous, and I can’t guarantee my return. Our engagement, merely a verbal joke from our parents, shouldn’t be taken seriously. I’m heading north to join the rest of the squad. If I don’t return within a year, find a good man and marry him. Don’t wait for me.”
After reading the letter, a part of the buried historical truth was truly revealed.
The “Dr. Jiang” mentioned must be Jiang Yuqing.
It seemed he indeed wasn’t part of the Falcon Squadron. He and the Falcon Squadron belonged to the Seventh Army and was an important researcher. To protect him from being captured by the enemy, the Falcon Squadron’s mission was to escort him to Nancheng.
Zhou Qian wondered—Yun Xiangrong said that Jiang Yuqing liked Bei He. Could it be that he fell in love with Bei He while the Falcon Squadron was escorting him? Did Bei He like him?
He Xiaowei, who took the letter, read it three times, then asked Zhou Qian, “If I’m understanding correctly, this…this…”
Zhou Qian replied, “You’re not mistaken. Dong Shui never married Miss Zhang. Neither the Falcon Squadron nor Jiang Yuqing came to Baicheng for the wedding. Judging from the beginning of the letter, Dong Shui wrote it after leaving Baicheng. When he wrote the letter, Jiang Yuqing might have been nearby. That’s why, deep in his consciousness, there’s the memory of this letter.”
He Xiaowei exclaimed, “So you’re saying…all of this might be Jiang Yuqing’s wish?”
“He must have visited Baicheng when he was young; otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a vivid city environment deep in his consciousness. So, what we’re seeing is probably a mix of reality and fiction. We need to keep investigating to understand the whole truth.”
After saying this, Zhou Qian looked at the last two clues found by the little dragon.
The first was a piece of red cloth, possibly torn from a red wedding dress.
The other was a red embroidered shoe, which also seemed to be worn during a wedding.
Upon seeing these items, He Xiaowei’s hands trembled. “Could this be…”
Without saying much, Zhou Qian handed him the items and headed down the street. “Let’s go to the next location marked with an exclamation point. By the way, where’s the military uniform you took off? Did you leave it at that house?”
“No! It’s in my bag,” He Xiaowei replied.
“Good.”
“Is the uniform…useful?”
“It is. Just wait. After so much foreshadowing… the climax is probably coming.”
……
A short while later, Zhou Qian and He Xiaowei arrived at the marked location first, with Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong trailing behind.
When they first arrived at this street, it was close to dusk.
But now, the entire street was shrouded in darkness.
A crescent moon hung high, illuminating the road. Streetlamps stood silently on both sides of the street. From a distance, they looked like shining stars, echoing the moon in the sky.
In the curve of the moonlight, Zhou Qian once again saw the beggar he had glimpsed through the little dragon’s eyes. The little girl was still squatting at the street corner, holding a broken bowl.
But unlike before, when she was alone, this time there were many children behind her. These children, boys and girls of varying heights and weights, looked different in age. Some appeared to be in their late teens, around sixteen or seventeen, while others looked as young as six or seven.
They all had one thing in common: dirty faces, ragged clothes, and none of them had feet.
The group of children initially went about their own business, but as Zhou Qian and his party approached, their eyes immediately turned towards them.
Under the moonlight, the children’s eyes shone eerily, like a pack of hungry wolves spotting their prey.
He Xiaowei was the first to retreat. For him, ghosts were already terrifying, but ghost brides and ghost dolls, which were often featured in countless horror stories, were even more so. He never imagined he’d encounter both in such a short span of time.
He Xiaowei was the first to move back and was also the first to be noticed by the little ghosts. A child of about eight lunged at him. He let out a piercing scream and was immediately surrounded by seven or eight of them.
In no time, not just him but everyone was completely surrounded by these ghosts. He Xiaowei couldn’t scream anymore as one of the little ghosts had covered his mouth, making him feel like he couldn’t breathe.
Even Situ Qing took out her bell, summoning wind and snow to try to fend off the ghosts. But it was no use. These ghosts seemed to fear neither weapons nor the biting cold.
Zhou Qian glanced at the other three players and then at the children surrounding him. A very young child jumped onto his shoulder, his cold breath chilling Zhou Qian’s ear, feeling even colder than Situ Qing’s icy spell.
Another child hung upside-down from his neck, patting his chest. Ghostly hands swiftly moved over Zhou Qian’s waist and thighs. But soon, Zhou Qian realized that they were just searching for the pockets in his clothes.
It seemed their main interest was money, not causing harm.
With this realization, Zhou Qian calmly stood still, glancing in both directions of the street. He quickly spotted Xiao Pang and Da Shou, holding a variety of items, likely things like dog’s blood and talismans, presumably to exorcise ghosts.
They peeked out from behind a streetlamp, curiously observing Zhou Qian and his group, pondering their next move.
Pretending not to notice them, Zhou Qian shifted his gaze back to the other players. They were all being entangled by the ghosts, and the more they resisted, the tighter the grip became.
Among them, Yun Xiangrong was the calmest. Perhaps after experiencing the death of Gao Shan, she felt nothing could be worse. Still, facing this situation, her face turned pale. Unlike the previous wedding scene, where none of the ghosts touched her, these ghosts clung to her, their icy touch sending chills down her spine.
Beside her, the “Ice Queen” Situ Qing was also rattled.
It felt as though the gates of the underworld had opened, and every ghostly touch felt like an invitation to hell…
Zhou Qian momentarily pondered how he’d feel under normal circumstances, concluding he’d probably be afraid. But unfortunately, he was currently emotionally impaired and felt no fear.
Seeing that the three players were tied up by the little ghosts, Zhou Qian relaxed.
With the ghosts tugging at him, he slowly moved backward, then addressed the ghost child around his neck. “Trying to steal something?”
A ghost child skillfully replied, “If you want to pass through the West Pier, you have to pay the toll!”
“Oh? Quite young, but seems you’re quite seasoned in mischief,” Zhou Qian remarked, and from that, he had a rough idea of the children’s background.
It was a time of war and chaos, and there were too many people who were neither well-fed nor well-clothed.
Coastal cities, however, were relatively prosperous during that period. In places like the docks, there were many visits from high-ranking officials and aristocrats. As a result, homeless children gradually formed a small organization, often banding together to steal or rob at this place.
During the day, probably wary of the patrol guards, they would act discreetly, begging innocently or looking for opportunities to steal. But when it became dark and the streets were deserted, they would brazenly rob.
Zhou Qian couldn’t help but think, ‘This is Jiang Yuqing’s conscious world. Everything here isn’t fabricated out of thin air.’
The wedding of Miss Zhang and Dong Shui may not have actually happened, but it might be Jiang Yuqing’s hope and imagination. He wished for his comrade Dong Shui to find happiness in life; hence, the wedding existed in his consciousness.
As for the robbery by the young beggars… Zhou Qian doubted Jiang Yuqing would imagine himself being robbed. Thus, this scene likely stemmed from the real-life experiences of the scholarly Jiang Yuqing.
For someone like him, if he was harassed by a bunch of rascals, he probably wouldn’t know what to do. Imagining him trying to manage urgent matters while being bothered, but unable to harshly reprimand the hungry and cold kids due to his sympathy, Zhou Qian thought that the scene must be quite amusing.
However, Zhou Qian’s analysis wasn’t meant to mock Jiang Yuqing. He actually realized a crucial point— the presence of these kids in this conscious world indicated that they had a profound impact on Jiang Yuqing.
Zhou Qian thought that based on this judgment, he knew what he should do next.
Moments later, on a street facing away from his three teammates, Zhou Qian took out a military uniform from his bag. He deliberately displayed the part marked with the number “7” and made a “shush” gesture to the children.
Their eyes lit up immediately, and they quickly started to laugh. They seemed very happy, wanting to shout out loud but holding back after reminders from their peers.
“It’s the Seventh Army!”
“I can’t believe it’s someone from the Seventh Army!”
“You’re here to fight the S Army, right? I knew you’d come! Please drive them away!”
“This is great! I need to tell others! I need to inform everyone!”
“Me too! I want to tell the entire city!”
In an instant, the seven or eight kids surrounding Zhou Qian disappeared. He Xiaowei couldn’t handle it anymore. After being surrounded and freed repeatedly, he yelled out desperately, “Qian’er! Qian’er, help me! My Qian’er, where have you gone?”
Suddenly, He Xiaowei saw Zhou Qian standing alone under a streetlamp, not bothered by any ghost. He shouted, “Qian’er! How did you do that?! Teach me! Help me! I’m about to be eaten! Ahhh, little brats, where are you touching! Wuwuwu Qian’er—”
After his loud cry, Situ Qing and Yun Xiangrong also looked towards Zhou Qian, wondering how he always finds solutions so quickly. But before they could relax, they saw a more terrifying scene. Those kids had come back, and they brought a horde of ghosts.
Men, women, tall, short, elderly, children, and even crawling babies… a large group of ghosts surged towards the players like a tidal wave. Every ghost had a ghastly pale face, and when gathered together, they shone even brighter than the moonlight.
None of them had feet, but they floated swiftly towards the group of players.
He Xiaowei’s legs gave out, and he knelt down. “Now I’ve really seen what a ‘sea of ghosts’ looks like…”
Just then, he heard a child’s voice from behind. “Brother, sister, come with us. We can handle these ghosts.”
Turning around, He Xiaowei saw two children, one thin and one chubby. They looked normal and had feet.
Finally seeing humans, he let out a sigh of relief. The chubby child then sprinkled some black blood from a bottle around them, followed by the thin child placing some talismans. The surrounding ghosts vanished instantly.
Seeing the effectiveness of the two children, He Xiaowei laughed. “Damn, that’s impressive! Wait a minute. Zhou Qian mentioned there were exorcists outside the wedding earlier. Were you guys the ones?”
The two children nodded and then urged them to leave quickly.
Xiao Pang said, “There are too many ghosts here. We’re not sure if we can handle them. Anyway, you guys go with my elder brother first. I’ll stay behind and try to seal them as much as possible so they can’t catch up!”
Da Shou then took the hand of the nearest Situ Qing. “Yes, let’s go quickly, sister.”
The word “sister” seemed to make Situ Qing momentarily dazed.
Then she nodded, lifted a foot, and prepared to flee with the two children.
Not far away, a large group of ghosts was pouring out of the alleyway, heading their way.
If they intended to harm anyone, Zhou Qian would undoubtedly be the first victim.
However, with a bright moon overhead and street lights shining like stars, the mountain of ghosts surged forward… Zhou Qian stood motionless against such a backdrop, expressionless, as if he were a detached bystander.
He turned his back to the group of ghosts, looking distantly at the two living children.
Da Shou was leading Situ Qing and the others away, while Xiao Pang was sprinkling dog’s blood and throwing talismans along the way; both of their expressions were tense.
Squinting slightly, Zhou Qian raised his left hand, accessed the system panel, and quickly sent two messages.
Then a smile crept onto his lips.
Previously, he thought it would feel satisfying to kill Situ Qing in the side quest. He had to thank Yun Xiangrong for sparing her life. Indeed, what’s the use of killing a puppet?
Destroying all of the puppet’s beliefs, completely controlling it…
Then the master behind her would truly… feel enraged.
At that moment, outside of the instance, in Game Hall A711.
In a certain private room.
On a wheelchair, a pale and sickly young man named Mu Sheng was quietly watching on a tablet, but he hadn’t sent any messages for a long time.
Sitting next to him was an inscrutable figure, Priest.
Priest asked him, “Mu Sheng, you haven’t sent a message for a long time. Don’t you care about her?”
Mu Sheng pressed his lips together, not responding.
Priest continued, “Ah, I see. Do you want her to be in danger? Wait for her to fall into peril, then send instructions, rescuing her at the crucial moment… so she’ll be grateful and can’t leave you?”
Mu Sheng lifted his cup and took a sip, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. “She hasn’t improved at all. She can’t even see such an obvious trap.”
Priest laughed. “In my opinion, it’s not that she hasn’t improved. It’s probably that child’s calling her ‘sister’ that softened her heart.”
With that, he glimpsed a hint of amusement in Mu Sheng’s eyes as Priest added, “So you see, she cares about you. And you still care about her. I suggest you send her a message soon. Otherwise… I’m afraid Zhou Qian will beat you to it.”
“Zhou Qian…” Mu Sheng’s eyes turned icy. “Even if I have to use that thing, I… will make sure he dies in this instance!”
Kinky Translations 