At that very moment, inside the virtual game lobby.
The gamblers belonging exclusively to Zhou Qian seemed a bit stunned.
A moment later—
“Damn, I think he has a point!”
“Who is this gambler? He’s kind of awesome! Isn’t he here?”
“If he’s not watching here in the lobby, he must be one of those gamblers who’ve been following Qian Ge all along.”
After discussing among themselves, many sent these insights to Zhou Qian.
[I think he’s right. This is terrifying!]
[I agree. Also, hey Qian Ge, it’s our fault for not sending you any alerts earlier as your gamblers.]
[Mainly, we feel we aren’t worthy.]
[Yeah, it’s not that we don’t want to help. It’s just hard for us to keep up with your thought process!]
……
Messages flooded Zhou Qian like a snowstorm.
After glancing at a few, he didn’t seem to mind and just looked back at Bai Zhou beside him.
Bai Zhou, catching his gaze, seemed to pick up on something and asked, “What is it?”
“Nothing, just received some tips from my gamblers,” Zhou Qian replied. “Don’t you Rank God players have gamblers?”
“No,” Bai Zhou shook his head, then questioned Zhou Qian. “What did your gamblers say?”
“It’s nothing. Just things I’d already considered.”
Zhou Qian stared at Bai Zhou for a while, then smiled. “However, there is one gambler who’s been consistently helpful, occasionally sending useful tips my way.”
“Who?”
“Someone I know in reality. He takes care of me in the real world too. Sometimes I feel…” Zhou Qian whispered into Bai Zhou’s ear, “He’s a bit like you.”
Hearing this, Bai Zhou didn’t respond. His expression remained unchanged, but Zhou Qian could feel him gripping his hand tightly and noticed Bai Zhou’s jawline tighten subtly.
After a thoughtful look at Bai Zhou, Zhou Qian smiled again and turned his attention to He Xiaowei, who was bouncing over.
Once He Xiaowei reached Zhou Qian, he took a deep breath. “Damn, Qian’er, I finally saw a familiar face. I think I’m going to cry. Did you notice? This building is terrifying!
“I can’t get out, you know! No matter which floor I press, when I come out, it’s always the 11th floor.”
“Ah… isn’t this like the legendary ghost hitting the wall*?”
*Idiom referring to losing one’s way in a maze-like place and ending up back where one started (AKA going in circles).
Zhou Qian looked at him. “Is it? But I’ve been on the 11th floor this whole time, and I haven’t seen you.”
He Xiaowei responded, “That means there are countless 11th floors! Damn, what is this sorcery… Wuwuwu, and I keep seeing this man and woman. The guy’s pretty handsome, and the girl’s in a red dress. They seem to be acting out a scene.”
Ignoring his ramblings, Zhou Qian asked, “Where’s Hidden Blade?”
“I don’t know. We got separated!” He Xiaowei replied.
“How did you lose him?” Zhou Qian inquired.
He Xiaowei explained, “Soon after we got back to our room, I went to take a shower. When I came out, Hidden Blade was gone. I tried to contact him but found I couldn’t send messages, as if there was no signal.”
“Then I received a system notification for a compulsory task. I went to the hallway and saw an old woman who had fallen. She asked me to help her downstairs. So I did.
“When I came back via the elevator… everything was off. I even knocked on your door at 1107. No one was there!”
From He Xiaowei’s detailed account, it appeared that perhaps everyone was carrying out a compulsory system task. Regardless of the task’s specifics, everyone had one thing in common—they had all been to the first floor and, upon trying to return to their own rooms via the elevator, ended up in a lost space.
Zhou Qian pondered for a moment, intending to ask He Xiaowei for more details, when suddenly there was a commotion from the direction of room 1112.
Without hesitation, Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou, and He Xiaowei quickly approached room 1112 to investigate.
Then they heard a very familiar voice.
It was from the chubby Li Yuan.
From behind the door, he menacingly demanded, “Swear your loyalty to Satan!”
“I don’t know any Satan!”
An old, frail voice responded, “I…I don’t understand what you’re saying!”
Li Yuan: “You don’t need to understand. Just repeat after me, or I’ll kill you right now!”
Presumably under some form of torment, the elderly voice, unable to bear it any longer, coughed loudly a few times before weakly repeating the words, “Fine… I… I will worship Satan—be loyal to Satan!”
“Good! Now go to hell and meet him!”
As Li Yuan’s words fell, the sound of a blunt object striking echoed.
Soon after, the old voice was silenced.
Another murder had taken place right under everyone’s watch.
After this, Li Yuan didn’t immediately exit the room.
As Zhou Qian was speculating whether Li Yuan was drawing an inverted pentagram inside, the elevator door opened.
A man and a woman emerged.
The woman was an NPC that Zhou Qian hadn’t seen before. She appeared strong and athletic, with pronounced muscles—perhaps she was an athlete or something similar. Intimately holding onto her was the bald man, Xiong Fei.
As Xiong Fei walked, he conversed with her. “Do you think your grandma will really accept me?”
“Of course. No problem,” the woman replied.
“Alright then. I was a bit worried. By the way, you’ve been competing for so many days, aren’t you tired?” Xiong Fei asked.
The woman shrugged her shoulders, smiling at Xiong Fei. “Tired, yes. But if I hadn’t come to Blue Harbor City for the boxing match and stayed at the Saiya Hotel, I wouldn’t have bumped into you! It’s fate!”
As she said this, the woman approached the door of room 1112.
The sight of blood seeping out from beneath the door caught her eye, immediately alerting her that something was amiss.
In a panicked rush, she quickly swiped her card, opened the door, and burst inside.
“Grandma! Grandma, are you okay? Are you—”
Before she could finish, Li Yuan, who had been lying in wait inside, lunged out and quickly pulled a nylon bag over her head!
The disappearance of the ring had a plausible explanation: another guest staying here had come out after hearing the quarrel and picked up the ring from the floor.
However, the room that should have been empty but wasn’t not only made this event inexplicable but also added a layer of mystery to the disappearance of the ring.
Zhou Qian immediately had an idea about what was going on. He grabbed Bai Zhou’s hand and bit the back of it fiercely, leaving a deep bite mark.
Afterwards, Zhou Qian extended the back of his own hand to Bai Zhou. “Come on, bite me too.”
Bai Zhou obviously understood Zhou Qian’s intention. He took Zhou Qian’s hand, but instead of biting the back, he gently bit the index finger, leaving a slightly bloody mark.
The reason Zhou Qian did this was, of course, to take precautions.
Having witnessed the strange phenomenon before him, he had a subtle hunch. Although he knew his guess might not be correct, it was always good to be prepared.
After biting Bai Zhou’s hand, when Zhou Qian tried to communicate with him through a private chat tool, he discovered the tool was unusable. This development seemed to align with his suspicions.
As for the secret hidden within the exhibition hall, before entering Hall C, Zhou Qian had a guess: different exhibition rooms corresponded to different points in time, suggesting that the exhibition hall could potentially connect to different time periods.
Analyzing from a game design perspective, if one considered the entire exhibition hall as a large instance and each virtual game within as small instances, hiding various secrets of the larger instance within the smaller ones was a common game design approach.
Zhou Qian and He Xiaowei had played in Halls A and B, but the information these two revealed was very limited and had no mention of “time connectivity”. Hence, the now more challenging Hall C might be linked to the concept of time.
Given this, when they returned to the 11th floor and witnessed a series of abnormalities, Zhou Qian’s first reaction was that they had been transported back to the 11th floor many years ago.
Since the concept of “time” was in play, there could be a parallel timeline trick at work. Zhou Qian was concerned that another version of himself and Bai Zhou might exist in this “past” space, which was why he marked their hands with bites.
What Zhou Qian thought of, Bai Zhou immediately realized as well. He tightly held Zhou Qian’s hand and said in a low but certain voice, “We’ll stick together.”
By now, more and more blood was flowing from room 1108. The woman’s screams grew fainter and eventually disappeared. The sounds of beating stopped briefly, presumably because the woman had died.
But after about 30 seconds, the beating sounds resumed. This time, instead of a woman’s cries, it was a child. The child, not as resilient as an adult, didn’t cry for long before falling silent.
Horrific brutality was taking place just beyond the door, its sounds causing Zhou Qian to frown deeply. Then he heard the “ding” of an elevator door opening. Looking towards the elevator, he saw two men walk out.
One man, an NPC Zhou Qian didn’t recognize, was dressed in a suit with oiled hair, appearing quite respectable. The other was the fat player from Hall D, who, by all accounts, should have been dead.
The reappearance of a supposedly dead player made Zhou Qian wonder: did this instance involve parallel timelines? Were the same group of “budget travelers” staying in the hotel from years past?
As Zhou Qian pondered this, he noticed something else. The fat man was walking effeminately, holding the hand of the man beside him.
They seemed intimate, even sharing a kiss once out of the elevator. But shortly after, the suited man quickly let go of the fat man’s hand, as if afraid of being caught in an illicit affair. The fat man stepped back, keeping a considerable distance.
The suited man walked straight down the corridor, passing Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou, and stopped in front of room 1108. He obviously noticed the blood seeping out.
Panicking, he hurriedly used his keycard to open the door. But the moment he did, he was met with a nylon hood.
His head was quickly covered, the door was shut, and a ruthless male voice demanded, “Swear to me—”
The suited man pleaded, “I swear! Please let me go! I’ll swear to anything!”
The aggressor demanded, “Swear that you will worship Satan and be forever loyal to him!”
The suited man responded in sheer terror, “I s-swear, I’ll worship Satan and be forever loyal to him!”
The response to him was a swift and powerful blow.
“Very well, I give you this opportunity! Now, I’ll send you to hell to serve! You’re going to be a loyal servant of Satan!”
After the malicious words, another quick and intense blow was heard.
After a while, the room became silent again, indicating that the man in the suit was probably dead.
However, the killer inside didn’t leave immediately. It seemed he was still doing something in the room.
By the time he emerged, three minutes had passed.
Three minutes later, holding a baseball bat, a man pushed open the door of room 1108 and entered the corridor.
After a few steps, he stopped, turned his head, and looked at Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou.
His baseball bat was covered in blood, and droplets of blood also adorned his forehead, nose, and face.
With a bloody, eerie smile on his lips, his bloodshot eyes squinted slightly, and he said in an incredibly hoarse voice, “Bai Zhou, Zhou Qian. Hello… I hope you’ll join me in serving Satan.”
Hearing this, Zhou Qian tried to read his data and the chubby man beside him through the system panel and, surprisingly, could get information about them as players—
The man with the shaved head holding the baseball bat, who had just killed someone in the room, was called Xiong Fei. The chubby man was called Li Yuan.
Through Xiong Fei’s words, Zhou Qian realized that they still recognized him.
But their personalities had drastically changed.
Li Yuan, the chubby man, gave Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou a glance that was somewhere between a smile and a smirk.
Xiong Fei picked up the baseball bat again and naturally draped his arm around Li Yuan’s.
The two turned around and headed towards the elevator.
Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou exchanged glances and went to room 1108.
The door was wide open, revealing three dead bodies inside: a man, a woman, and a young girl.
All three had nylon bags over their heads, their faces brutally beaten, and their organs damaged to varying extents.
As for the walls and floor, they were smeared with inverted pentagrams in fresh blood.
A family of three died in room 1108 on some date. The room was sealed with cement, and the room number was removed.
Later, the other rooms in this corridor were renumbered.
The room known as 1108 was no longer this one but was on the other side of the corridor near the elevator.
Years later, Zhou Qian and a group of tourists checked in here.
This should be the sequence of events.
Initially, Zhou Qian thought he had traveled through time, returning to the scene of the crime before room 1108 was sealed with cement.
However, if it was just time travel, they shouldn’t have met Xiong Fei and Li Yuan.
Zhou Qian hypothesized that there existed two parallel timelines, “past” and “present”.
In both timelines, eleven budget tourists checked into the Saiya Hotel.
However, if this were true, Xiong Fei and Li Yuan shouldn’t have changed so dramatically.
Thus, it seemed that the concept of time travel alone couldn’t explain the situation.
Why Xiong Fei and Li Yuan, both supposedly dead, appeared in a timeline that resembled the “past”; why Li Yuan appeared to have turned into a woman, leaning against the man in the suit as they emerged from the elevator… These questions remained to be answered as they continued further.
Zhou Qian pondered seriously for a while, then opened the system panel to check. “Can’t send messages to He Xiaowei. The system has a new restriction.”
Bai Zhou, holding Zhou Qian’s hand, led him back to the corridor. “There’s so much blood here. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Zhou Qian replied, catching something out of the corner of his eye and looking towards the elevator.
He noticed that Xiong Fei and Li Yuan were still standing by the elevator doors, probably because someone on another floor had pressed the elevator button, and it hadn’t returned to their floor.
While waiting, Li Yuan raised his head, yawned, and, to everyone’s shock, his head dropped to the floor.
His head was rather bouncy, as it bounced a few times before settling.
Li Yuan’s headless body seemed to panic and clutch onto Xiong Fei’s arm.
Shortly after, a huge wound opened up on Li Yuan’s neck, gushing blood.
Xiong Fei patted him on the shoulder, picked up his head, and placed it back onto Li Yuan’s neck.
The wound on Li Yuan’s neck vanished, and his head was securely in place. With Xiong Fei’s support, Li Yuan stood up.
Finally, the elevator arrived. The two, hand in hand, entered it and left.
Zhou Qian stared at the closed elevator doors for a moment, then walked with Bai Zhou to the room opposite the crime scene 1108. The door of this room still bore the number 1107.
Not long ago, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou were eavesdropping behind this door. They wondered if the door they had listened at was still the same now.
Taking out the room card, Zhou Qian tried swiping it. With a “click”, the door actually opened. No one was inside, and everything was as he remembered from his last visit. Even the towel filled with ice cubes that Bai Zhou had used to soothe Zhou Qian’s injury was still there.
Upon seeing the towel, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou exchanged a knowing look. Both had the same thought and left room 1107 together, heading in unison towards room 1109.
That room should have been occupied by He Xiaowei and Hidden Blade. If they hadn’t left, they might still be inside.
Bai Zhou pulled Zhou Qian behind him with his left hand and, with his right, held his Tang sword, knocking on the door with its hilt. However, no one answered. It seemed the two were indeed not there.
Zhou Qian had suspected this. With all the noise in the corridor, if they were inside, they would have responded.
After a brief consideration, as Zhou Qian was about to suggest they check another floor, suddenly, the door of room 1104 opened.
Not long ago, there had been an argument in room 1104 between a couple, ending with the wife being pushed out into the corridor.
A man from room 1103 soon joined her, and they were openly affectionate, even asking Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou to buy condoms. Now, from the same room 1104, a woman in a red dress identical to the previous one emerged.
The first time Zhou Qian saw her, she was on the corridor floor, looking very upset, until she saw the man from 1103, and then her mood lifted.
Her expression now was quite different. She seemed less than pleased but was not despondent. Her eyes and expressions were free from malice. After leaving room 1104, she headed for the elevator, walking lightly, showing she was in a relatively good mood.
As the woman in red waited for the elevator, suddenly, the door to room 1103 opened, and a man came out. This was the same man who had asked Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou to buy him condoms earlier.
Previously, he and the woman in the red dress couldn’t keep their hands off each other in the corridor. Now, they seemed like strangers. The man quietly approached the elevator and waited with the woman. When their eyes met, they just nodded as a polite greeting.
After a while, the elevator door opened, and the two entered, one after the other. Zhou Qian, exchanging glances with Bai Zhou, followed the two NPCs into the elevator.
The entire corridor was silent as a church. Except for the man and woman, there seemed to be no other NPCs around, and the whereabouts of the other players were unknown. Given the inability to forcibly break into all the rooms for the time being, Zhou Qian speculated that exploring this floor further would yield no new findings. Thus, he decided to take the elevator and assess the situation on another floor.
Inside the elevator, upon seeing Bai Zhou and Zhou Qian, the man and woman looked up at the two of them. They both took a few steps back, almost pressing their backs against the elevator wall, evidently making space for the newcomers. Following suit, Zhou Qian, holding onto Bai Zhou, entered the elevator and casually pressed the button for the 9th floor. No other floor numbers lit up on the elevator’s digital panel.
It appeared that the man and woman hadn’t selected any floors.
As the elevator doors slowly closed, Zhou Qian asked, “Which floor are you heading to? Shall I press it for you?” Turning his head around after posing the question, he found the space behind him empty.
The man and woman had vanished out of thin air!
Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou exchanged glances, remaining silent. The grip they had on each other tightened just a tad more.
The elevator quickly descended to the 9th floor. As they stepped out, they noticed that the entire corridor—from the ceiling to the sofa and tables in the lounge area across from the elevator—all of the furnishings were identical to those on the 11th floor.
Having a certain hunch, Zhou Qian, still holding onto Bai Zhou, headed straight to the end of the corridor.
As suspected, where there should have been a room, there was instead a wall. On the other side of this wall was a door with the number “1107” on it.
It was clear that they were still on the 11th floor.
Zhou Qian was about to frown when he heard a voice exclaim, “Qian’er! Damn! Finally, I see a familiar face!”
Recognizing the all-too-familiar voice, Zhou Qian turned around to see He Xiaowei rushing towards him.
At that moment, his wrist vibrated. Zhou Qian received several messages from Li Xuehai—
[The elevator might now be a medium leading to different spaces.]
[Something’s not right here. The teammates you see might not be the actual teammates, like this He Xiaowei. Also…]
[Given your intelligence, I probably don’t need to remind you. But I’ve noticed that your relationship with Bai Zhou is special, and he might deceive you.]
[So, I still want to remind you. Don’t forget, earlier, when you were showering in the room, he went down on the elevator by himself to ask the front desk for ice cubes. Have you ever thought…]
[Maybe the one who returned isn’t the real Bai Zhou?]
The lights in the workroom were brightly lit. The tattoo master Chang Shu started working quickly.
When He Xiaowei saw the dense needle piercing Zhou Qian’s arm, he watched and clicked his tongue twice. “Fuck, Qian’er, does it hurt? It’s a pity that the instance is special; I can’t heal you, or I would have healed you immediately.”
“It’s okay.” Zhou Qian replied to He Xiaowei, but his eyes were on Bai Zhou. “It’s better than when I ate that apple. Zhou Ge, you were pretty ruthless.”
Before Bai Zhou could respond, He Xiaowei curiously interrupted, “What apple? Does eating an apple hurt?”
Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou, and Hidden Blade: “……”
Bai Zhou seemed to want to say something but was interrupted by He Xiaowei. After glancing at Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou turned to Chang Shu and gestured for him to tattoo a “Z” on him as well.
Seeing this, He Xiaowei was even more surprised. “I understand Qian’er getting the ‘Z’, but what does your ‘Z’ mean, boss? Don’t follow Qian’er’s quirky trends. That—”
“Would you keep it down?” Hidden Blade interrupted, covering He Xiaowei’s mouth, and quickly pulled him towards the door to observe the situation in the main hall of the tattoo shop.
Inside the hall, a man and a woman stood by the entrance. The four from the Invincible Legion were quietly chatting in a corner. Even though their voices were very low, with his enhanced senses, Hidden Blade could hear them clearly.
Dami: “Boss, what do you think?”
Erdan: “I peeked outside and listened a bit. They really did tattoo the ‘卐’ on their hands. This is genuine.”
Batu Fei sighed. “Actually, the new recruit we had not long ago, Wen Bin, was pretty smart. It would have been great if he was here to give advice. Unfortunately… Unfortunately, he’s dead.”
Wen Bin was indeed present, but under the identity of “Liu Wansan”. Maintaining his cover, he responded in Liu Wansan’s tone, “Actually, I think we should listen to Zhou Qian. He led me and Erdan to clear the instance. As long as we don’t provoke him and decide to make peace, he won’t harm us.”
Batu Fei snapped, “You want me to ask him for peace? What have I become? Ma Luoluo probably died at his hands! I need to avenge Ma Luoluo!”
Liu Wansan reasoned, “Right now, we have no choice but to yield. The instance is designed to match Rank God players with ordinary players. We made a mistake there. I think the system favors Rank God players.”
“Why did the tattooist only choose two Rank God players? It’s all pre-arranged! So, Zhou Qian has a Rank God player to rely on, and there’s nothing we can do.”
“Yes, we made a mistake.” Batu Fei looked grim. “But isn’t he asking for too much?”
Liu Wansan: “We can hand over our items to friends outside the instance for safekeeping. This way, we will minimize our losses. As for gold, we can negotiate with him.”
“Right, you did remind me. Damn it, who do I give the items to? My only brother, Ma Luoluo, just died like that. If I give it to someone else, they might not return them to me!
“Damn… If I list them on the trading market and sell them, I might not even be able to buy them back! Besides, the gold coins from selling will still have to be given to Zhou Qian! I might as well not bother at all!”
Batu Fei grumbled and cursed all the way, his face as pale as a vegetable.
As for Wen Bin, who was using the alias Liu Wansan, the one thing he was grateful for was that he had already used up his secret camera.
This camera was compact and made almost no noise when pressing the shutter. He quietly took two photos of the people next to Zhou Qian without anyone noticing. After using up the film, he discarded the now-useless camera.
A short while later, after Zhou Qian finished getting his tattoo, he negotiated with the four of them and agreed to give them a 20% discount.
As a result, Zhou Qian successfully took 80% of the gold coins they had, as well as all the items they handed over.
“I know you guys took the opportunity to send away some of the valuable items you have just now, not wanting to give them to me. I didn’t fuss about it with you. See, I’m not really greedy. I take what I can get, and I’m content with that.”
The four who just handed over their items: “…”
In the end, Zhou Qian fed each of them an “I Can Only Speak the Truth” pill and asked, “I have only one question for you all. Have you truly handed over 80% of your gold coins and all the items you can offer?”
Everyone replied: “Yes.”
None of them were judged to be lying.
Zhou Qian scrutinized each of them with a discerning gaze. He didn’t further trouble them, though. After returning to the workspace and having the tattoo artist mark them with the swastika, he waited by the shop entrance.
At this time, the tour guide was hurrying everyone to board the bus, mentioning he had received a call from the hotel’s Receptionist Wang, saying the police were urging them to return for questioning.
Zhou Qian and his three companions, along with a skinny man from Hall D, boarded the bus first.
As they waited for Batu Fei and the others, Zhou Qian’s gaze drifted outside the bus window, as if he was observing anyone passing nearby. He seemed lost in thought, not really focused on anything in particular.
During the ride, the newly tattooed areas on his forearms began to itch and sting. As he unconsciously raised his hand to scratch, Bai Zhou stopped him in time. “Don’t scratch. We’ll apply some ice when we get back to the hotel.”
Zhou Qian turned to him, asking, “How will you apply ice for me? You’re not staying in the same room as me.”
Bai Zhou turned his head, directing his gaze to He Xiaowei seated behind. “We’ll swap rooms tonight.”
He Xiaowei: “…Oh.”
Even though I have no idea what’s going on from start to finish, it’s fine as long as I don’t encounter any ghosts.
Patting Zhou Qian’s shoulder, He Xiaowei asked, “Qian’er, you were staring out the window earlier. Do you think the murderer might be nearby?”
“Not necessarily,” Zhou Qian replied in a low voice. “I suspect the killer might be a hotel employee or even the owner.”
“Indeed,” He Xiaowei added, “the tattoos in the tattoo shop don’t have the swastika. But the human skin decorations in the hotel do. This indicates that those in the hotel weren’t bought from the tattoo shop but rather made by the murderer after killing someone and then carving the symbol into them.”
“Wait a moment… That’s not necessarily true. Since the murderer is fond of tattoo art, he might have bought a regular human skin tattoo ornament from the tattoo shop and added the swastika later on.”
“Regardless, since the murderer has the authority to arrange the rooms, the probability of him being a staff member is quite high!”
“Hmm. Besides what you mentioned, there’s another reason. We can infer why those two players died.”
Zhou Qian said, “The ‘risk of death’ they faced might be because the killer was pondering who to kill that night. Knowing that there were new tourists checking in, he suddenly decided to target them.”
“If there were two people in a room, the real risk of death might not be triggered, as the killer, facing two, might not be confident. But if someone is alone, according to this killer’s character, he might go all out. The two tourists from Hall D happened to be staying separately, one in 1101 and the other in 1102. They just walked right into his trap.”
“So, why would the killer know that a batch of new people checked into the 11th floor of the hotel? From this perspective, the probability of him being a staff member is quite high.”
“It could be the receptionist; it could be the cleaner who needs to clean the rooms in advance; it could be the lobby manager or the bellboy helping tourists with luggage; and the probability of the hotel owner being the killer is especially high.”
“So, the characteristics of this killer might be: first, he’s tall and powerful, very strong in combat. In a one-on-one fight, no one can match him; second, he’s a hotel staff member.”
By the end of the conversation, Zhou Qian, as if realizing something, seriously added, “Of course, this is just my preliminary judgment.”
“Haa. We must stay together tonight, always sticking together,” He Xiaowei said earnestly, looking towards the silent Hidden Blade. “Master, we need to protect each other.”
Hidden Blade: “……….”
“Ahem, I feel we’re getting close. Since we’ve identified the killer’s characteristics… we should be able to pinpoint who he is soon. Shouldn’t we try to kill him then? In this instance, everyone’s just a regular person, using ordinary means to kill.”
As He Xiaowei spoke, he leaned forward from the chair, positioning his head between Bai Zhou and Zhou Qian’s lines of sight.
Then he turned his head to Zhou Qian and asked, “Right, Qian’er? What do you think?”
Zhou Qian pushed his head away, looking serious. “Not necessarily.”
He Xiaowei: “You’re scaring me again!”
“It’s true. It’s really not necessary,” Zhou Qian said earnestly. “If you were the game designer, would you design similar scenarios?”
He Xiaowei: “Um…”
Zhou Qian continued, “Both groups of us and the people from Hall D have visited different exhibit halls, but just one each. The three exhibit halls had parallel difficulties and similar risks and solutions.”
“However, this time, the system seems to be leading all three groups here together, which obviously increases the difficulty. Don’t forget, this is a virtual game within the exhibit hall. While Blue Harbor City might lean towards reality, anything can happen in a virtual game. Maybe there really are ghosts behind that wall.”
“Damn, Qian’er, don’t scare me!” He Xiaowei cried.
Hidden Blade couldn’t take it anymore. “Enough. I’ll protect you. Among all your brothers, none of them cry as much as you. Don’t embarrass me.”
He Xiaowei: “…”
After the other four were tattooed with the swastika, the nine players boarded a bus back to the Saiya Hotel. The hotel was bustling with police investigating the two bodies.
Receptionist Wang from the front desk had been waiting at the hotel entrance. As everyone got off the bus, he quickly ushered them to sit in the waiting area of the lobby.
Soon after, two policemen came over to question them about their activities, whereabouts, and if they knew the deceased.
Everyone had a consistent answer, claiming they were just part of the same tour group and didn’t know the victims personally.
During the process, Zhou Qian overheard a conversation between two junior police officers nearby, roughly discussing how the hotel was cursed and frequently had deaths.
After some thought, Zhou Qian addressed the police officer in front of him. “Officer, may I ask how they were killed? If… If the killer hasn’t been caught, we can’t afford to stay anywhere else. If we’re staying here and he wants to kill again… can you tell us whether he used a knife or a gun, or something else? We’d like to be prepared!”
“The victims were killed with a knife,” the police officer replied. “Their throats were slit with a single cut, but after that, out of anger or spite, the killer stabbed them once more, as if venting frustration. So, rest assured. He probably had a grudge against those two. You don’t need to worry.”
Judging from the police officer’s response, there seemed to be no restriction in this instance against police revealing details of the murder case.
So Zhou Qian asked further, “Were there any symbols left at the scene?”
Hearing this, the two police officers exchanged uneasy glances, clearly becoming suspicious of Zhou Qian.
Zhou Qian quickly explained, “I’m afraid of ghosts, officer. I just got a protective tattoo at a tattoo shop based on the tour guide’s recommendation, so I’m naturally curious. I have an alibi. I was at the tattoo shop when the crime occurred.”
After a brief pause, the police officer responded, “Yes, a swastika symbol was drawn at the scene.”
Having said that, the police officers proceeded to question Receptionist Wang at the front desk.
Watching their retreating figures, Zhou Qian turned to the four members of the Invincible Legion. With a hint of malice, he said, “I’ve suddenly found a foolproof way to survive: turn yourselves into the police and get jailed. I doubt the killer would murder someone in a police station.”
“Why don’t you do it?” Batu Fei immediately retorted.
Zhou Qian replied, “Because I want to complete the hidden mission. How would I follow the plot or counter the upcoming conspiracies from inside a cell? But I advise you, if you have a chance to stay safe, take it. Don’t be like me.”
Flaunting his protective charm, Zhou Qian once again showed off Bai Zhou like a mascot and arrogantly said, “After all, I have the protection of a Rank God player, which you don’t have.”
Batu Fei was so angered by Zhou Qian’s words that he nearly spat out blood.
Wen Bin, impersonating Liu Wansan, quickly stepped forward, patting Batu Fei’s back to calm him down.
Then, something no one expected happened—
Erdan suddenly turned, ran towards the police, and shouted, “I’m the murderer! Arrest me!”
Surprisingly, he was indeed handcuffed and taken into a police car.
Letting out a regretful sigh that the “Egg Fried Rice” team hadn’t formed properly before splitting ways, Zhou Qian saw the police leaving in succession, while the hotel’s main entrance was completely sealed.
Erdan’s unexpected action stunned the other three members of the legion. Probably no one expected him to take such a step.
Eventually, it was Wen Bin who spoke, looking at Zhou Qian with a complicated expression. “Seems like after the last instance, he really trusts your words.”
“Compared to him, you fall short. I have no reason to harm the innocent,” Zhou Qian responded, walking towards the elevator with Bai Zhou. “Opportunities to stay safe are fleeting. Brace yourselves. The killing is about to begin.”
Inside the elevator, Zhou Qian’s expression grew cold and serious. Through the closing elevator doors, he stared at the glass entrance of the hotel’s lobby.
The police had cordoned off the entire hotel.
If this place was full of tourists, why set up a cordon?
The story was beginning to feel off.
Zhou Qian’s uneasy feeling seemed to be on the verge of coming true.
……
11 p.m.
Zhou Qian had taken a shower and was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out. The entire city was still shrouded in fog, making it impossible to see clearly.
While he was deep in thought, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw Bai Zhou, fresh from his shower, approaching.
“Did your tattoo get wet during your shower?” Bai Zhou asked.
“No, it’s just a small tattoo. It doesn’t matter,” Zhou Qian replied. He noticed that Bai Zhou was holding a bowl of ice cubes.
Wrapping several cubes in a towel, Bai Zhou approached Zhou Qian. “I went downstairs to get these from the front desk while you were showering. Let’s use them to cool down the swelling.”
Zhou Qian extended his hand, watching as Bai Zhou carefully placed the cold compress on his swollen skin. For a moment, Zhou Qian’s thoughts drifted to memories of his friends facing various perils.
When his focus returned to the present, all he could see was the red and swollen skin on Bai Zhou’s arms. Zhou Qian asked, “You always ask if I’m in pain. What about you?”
While continuing to apply the cold compress, Bai Zhou replied, “Zhou Qian, no matter what happens to me, it’s worth it.”
“Why?”
“Because if I hadn’t chosen this path, I would have died a long time ago.”
Zhou Qian understood.
If Bai Zhou hadn’t sought treatment for his ALS at the Spring Hill Mental Asylum, he might have succumbed to the disease by now.
“But that might not have been the case,” Zhou Qian countered. “Stephen Hawking had the same condition and lived a long life without letting it hinder his achievements.”
He stopped mid-sentence, seemingly coming to a realization. If it were him, he would have made the same choice as well. If given the chance to walk independently, who would want to rely on machines or others for their entire life?
The only thing Zhou Qian couldn’t understand was why Bai Zhou hadn’t told him everything at the start. Was it to protect him from the game, or was there another reason?
Before Zhou Qian could voice his question, a loud argument from the hallway interrupted them. The run-down hotel had poor soundproofing, allowing them to clearly hear a woman’s voice exclaiming, “You’re useless!”
A man retorted, “I’ve given you all my fucking money! What more do you want? After so many years of marriage, you’ll never be satisfied with me, right?”
The female voice replied, “Are you thinking it’s about the money? Can’t I earn money myself? What I’m saying is, you’re not even a real man!”
Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou both pressed their ears against the door to eavesdrop on the argument outside. This action brought their bodies incredibly close. Zhou Qian’s nose was so close to Bai Zhou’s face that he could even feel the warmth of Bai Zhou’s freshly bathed skin clearly transmitting to him.
Zhou Qian chuckled, nudging Bai Zhou’s leg with his knee. “If she’s not complaining about the money, she must be unsatisfied with… well, something else. Seems like her husband isn’t up to the mark.”
Bai Zhou looked expressionlessly outside, but Zhou Qian noticed a slight blush on his ears.
Reaching out, Zhou Qian grabbed the cold towel in Bai Zhou’s hand, filled with ice cubes, and tried to grab his ear. “Feeling hot? Let me cool you down?”
Bai Zhou swiftly grabbed Zhou Qian’s hand, stopping his teasing gesture, and gestured outward with a tilt of his chin.
Zhou Qian stopped teasing and once again pressed his ear against the door, hearing what sounded like a body being forcefully pushed out and falling to the ground. This was quickly followed by the loud sound of a door slamming shut.
From what they gathered, two people had been arguing with the door open, and now one had pushed the other out into the hallway and then shut the door on them.
Meanwhile, Zhou Qian saw the message notification sent by the system:
[Players from room 1107, please proceed to the corridor to view the storyline. This is a mandatory action.]
[NPCs will interact with players. Players must fulfill the NPC’s request.]
Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou exchanged glances, opened the door, and walked into the corridor together.
They saw a woman lying on the ground.
She was wearing a red skirt and had stunning makeup on. However, her expression was grim, sharply contrasting with her bright attire.
She slowly got up from the ground, took off the ring from her ring finger, and threw it away with force.
With a few “ding” sounds, the ring rolled into a corner of the corridor.
She didn’t even glance at it and spat toward the door of room 1103.
It seemed that she had just been pushed out of that room by her husband. Clearly, she was extremely disgusted with him.
At that moment, a man emerged from room 1104, which was opposite room 1103.
The man was tall and handsome. He quickly approached the woman and helped her stand.
The moment the woman leaned on his shoulder, all sorrow vanished from her face, and she seemed to melt, leaning heavily against him.
Zhou Qian watched the scene with interest and said to Bai Zhou, “I guess they had an affair before. Tsk, such cuckoldry, right across each other’s doors.”
Soon after, there were some flirtatious whispers. Zhou Qian looked up to find the two of them kissing right there in the corridor.
After the kiss, the woman hurriedly entered the room, while the man turned to Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou, handed them some money, and said, “I ran out of condoms. Can you help me buy some from the front desk?”
Zhou Qian thought to himself that he had checked his room 1107 thoroughly and hadn’t seen any. Moreover, given their role as frugal tourists, they would indeed run errands for money.
So, the system’s prompt did fit the storyline logic—players must fulfill the NPC’s request.
The only problem was… This man was too eager and hasty about intimacy, even having others buy such items for him?
Raising an eyebrow, Zhou Qian quickly took the money from the man and, together with Bai Zhou, headed downstairs.
In the elevator, Zhou Qian jokingly asked Bai Zhou, “It’s quite fun, isn’t it? Ever imagined one day we’d be taking an elevator together to buy that sort of thing?”
“In the past? If I’m not mistaken, are you referring to our first year in high school?”
Bai Zhou looked at him with a sidelong glance, asking rather seriously, “Did you ever think about it?”
“Not really,” Zhou Qian responded earnestly. “I’m not like you, getting love letters from girls all the time. Who would I buy it for? To blow up as balloons for myself?”
Bai Zhou: “…I never received love letters.”
Zhou Qian continued with a straight face, “And besides, we were underage! What were you thinking about all the time, Zhou Ge?”
Bai Zhou: “……”
After making their purchase without any fuss, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou returned to the 11th floor via the elevator.
As they reached the end of the corridor, Zhou Qian noticed something odd.
The room opposite theirs, 1107, was supposed to be just a wall.
According to Tour Guide Hua, a family of three died there. Afterward, anyone who stayed there committed suicide, so the room was sealed off with cement.
But now, there was a door labeled “1108”.
Suddenly, a chilling scream echoed from room 1108, followed by sounds resembling a bludgeon striking someone’s head.
Zhou Qian heard a fierce male voice sounding through the door. “Having made a mistake, who do you hope will protect you now?”
A faint female voice, filled with extreme fear, began to speak almost incoherently: “God, Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva… I don’t know. Whoever is there, save me, please…”
With a “bang”, another muffled blow landed.
The menacing male voice rang out again. “You’re wrong. You must believe in Satan. Swear allegiance to him; always be loyal to him!”
Sounds of several blows followed, and blood began to seep out from under the door, staining the carpet.
Zhou Qian frowned in displeasure and took a few steps back. Thinking of something, he turned to look at a certain corner of the hallway.
A total of eleven people walked into Hall C, subsequently entering a new virtual game instance. However, since two players chose to stay at the hotel, only nine players followed the tour guide, who was waving a small red flag, out of the hotel and boarded a minibus.
Driving through the fog-thickened city, they arrived five minutes later at the “Fluttering Dream Tattoo Shop.”
This was an enormous tattoo shop, almost akin to an art exhibition center. Inside the vast space, all four walls were adorned with exquisite tattoo designs. To the shock of all players, they recognized the material below these designs—it was human skin.
On one of the walls hung a particularly stunning piece: An entire human back of a beautiful woman.
The upper portion of the wall showcased a painted neck and strands of hair in oil paint, while the lower portion, the spine, was made of real human skin.
On this skin was painted a phoenix, its feathers meticulously detailed in shading, color, and gradient. It looked as though it was about to take flight in the next moment.
However, it could never rise from the ashes again. Its original owner was dead—not just dead—their entire back was skinned to become a specimen for a human skin tattoo.
Zhou Qian then looked towards the center of the room.
There were many glass display cases, all filled with various human skin tattoos. Different cases showcased tattoos with varying pigments. Surprisingly, one tattoo even had the texture of embroidery on human skin, giving the work a macabre beauty.
At this moment, all the players probably had the same thought—
Why are products made of human skin displayed so openly?
Suddenly, Zhou Qian approached some display cases to inspect them closely. He then turned to look at the wall in front of him. He noticed a detail—none of the human skins bore the “卐” symbol.
The players’ journey into the tattoo shop was led by their tour guide. Two employees, a man and a woman, guarded the area, but the rumored tattoo master hadn’t appeared yet.
After scanning the surroundings, Zhou Qian’s gaze landed on Bai Zhou, who was observing a piece of human skin.
The flamboyantly dressed tour guide sashayed over, saying, “Little Brother, do you like this skin? If you do, I can speak to the master for you. Maybe he’ll gift it to you. Hee hee.”
Before the guide could get close, Bai Zhou retreated a considerable distance, not even looking at him but focusing on another skin piece.
Zhou Qian approached him, laughing. “It’s just an NPC. Why are you avoiding it? It’s not like it’s some kind of evil spirit that’s going to eat you.”
Bai Zhou gave him a playful look, asking, “What kind of description is that?”
Zhou Qian didn’t respond, attempting to put an arm around Bai Zhou, but was quickly stopped by a wrist grip, which was then released.
What was Bai Zhou’s deal?
Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes, trying to figure him out. He noticed Bai Zhou had turned back to observing the tattoos. His face was expressionless.
Frustrated, Zhou Qian snapped, “You’re acting so serious now. You still haven’t told me what you did after you turned into a dragon last time.”
As soon as Zhou Qian finished his sentence, he noticed Bai Zhou’s previously calm expression didn’t change, but his posture became tense. It looked as if he was suppressing something.
Many times, Zhou Qian couldn’t understand Bai Zhou’s true intentions or what he was thinking. Now, he suddenly realized that if he just followed his intuition, maybe he would get answers when Bai Zhou could no longer hold back.
But now was not the time for that. So, Zhou Qian left Bai Zhou and approached the wandering tour guide.
He tapped the guide’s shoulder, asking, “What’s the deal with these human skins? Don’t the police care?”
The guide replied, “Are you joking? Why would the police care about this?”
Pointing at the phoenix tattooed back, Zhou Qian asked, “Where did this skin come from? That entire back…”
“It was done willingly!” the guide explained. “Whether from Blue Harbor city or tourists from elsewhere, everyone highly respects the master!”
“Who would want to be skinned alive?” He Xiaowei, having overheard, interjected. “Once you remove the skin, can they even survive?”
“Do you think this is a slaughterhouse?”
The person speaking wasn’t the guide but a man with an androgynous appearance.
He had long hair that reached his waist. His face was beautiful, and his eye makeup was striking, with colors as varied as a peacock’s feathers.
Through the system interface, they learned his name was Chang Shu, the owner of the shop and the tattoo master.
Emerging from the back workshop, Chang Shu said, “I’m an artist, not a butcher.”
Pointing at the phoenix tattoo, he revealed, “That skin was from my first love.”
He Xiaowei muttered to himself—”Damn, in this era, do murderers look so innocent and straightforward that they just confess?”
The next moment, he heard Chang Shu say, “She was diagnosed with a terminal illness. When she got the medical results, she said she hoped she could be reborn like a phoenix through fire. Even if it couldn’t be realized… she wanted to die beautifully.”
“When she was still healthy, her parents wouldn’t let her get a tattoo. She was afraid of being seen as a rebellious child in their eyes. But with the terminal disease, she no longer cared.”
“When I tattooed the phoenix on her myself, she was very satisfied. She said it’s a piece of art and shouldn’t be buried with her when she dies. Hence, leaving this skin behind was her request. Of course, this is my most cherished piece, and I won’t sell it. You can just look.”
He Xiaowei wore a skeptical expression and asked, “What about the other human skins? Where did they come from?”
“They were all willingly given to me. Some people’s skin is naturally suitable for such craftsmanship. When I tattoo them, I ask if they’d be willing to leave their skin to me after death. If they agree, I won’t charge them, but they must leave their skin to me after death.”
“We sign contracts. If someone dies of old age, their skin will no longer be beautiful, and I won’t want it. Besides, I might be dead by then too.”
“But if someone dies unexpectedly, I’ll retrieve the skin with the contract and bring it back.”
“I have many customers. So, having the skin of many who died young isn’t unusual.”
As Chang Shu spoke, he approached the group, scanning each one.
“Not everyone’s skin is suitable for such artwork. Perfect skin is rare—”
The tattoo artist stopped in front of Bai Zhou and seemed amazed, saying, “Your skin…ha, it’s amazing! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such perfection—”
Before Chang Shu could touch Bai Zhou, he was struck by a bone.
In this instance, the players’ abilities and weapons were restricted. Zhou Qian couldn’t unleash the full power of his Rib of God but using it as a mere stick to hit someone was more than enough.
“Stay away from him.” Zhou Qian glared at Chang Shu and coldly warned. He didn’t even know if that strike hurt, as Chang Shu seemed entirely lost in excitement and obsession.
“Such perfect skin… is ideal for craftsmanship. It doesn’t seem human. It’s too perfect…”
“Please, let me tattoo you!
“Your skin is awe-inspiring…”
Zhou Qian stepped forward to shield Bai Zhou, confronting Chang Shu, “Rare to find skin suitable for your art, is it?”
“Of course, it’s very rare,” Chang Shu replied, shifting his gaze from Bai Zhou to Zhou Qian. “Actually, your skin is not bad either. But you’re still human. The one beside you don’t seem like one…”
His eyes became even more obsessed. “Ah, this one is also special… I’m really lucky today. Haha, both of you have unique skins.”
“Please, let me tattoo you. I won’t force you to sign anything. Just let me feel it…”
Hmmm… Chang Shu singled out Bai Zhou and Hidden Blade.
Can NPCs identify which are Rank God players?
Zhou Qian quickly messaged Bai Zhou privately. “Will you follow my lead?”
Bai Zhou looked at him and nodded.
Zhou Qian then turned to the tattoo artist Chang Shu and said, “The one with the special skin is my brother. He’s afraid of pain. Let us discuss.”
“Sure, take your time. I hope you can appreciate my art and let me try on… their skin. When you’ve decided, find me in my workspace! I’ll wait no matter how late.”
Chang Shu left with an eager glance at Bai Zhou and Hidden Blade.
Tour Guide Hua remarked bitterly, “Hmph…I’ve never heard him talk so much. I had to beg* for my tattoos.”
*Begging grandpa and telling grandma. Colloquialism referring to the lengths someone goes to in order to achieve a certain result.
Zhou Qian asked him with a smile, “If you didn’t bring customers here, he wouldn’t tattoo you?”
“What kind of question is that?!” Tour Guide Hua glared at Zhou Qian angrily and walked away.
After a while, the tattoo shop was silent, with no more customers coming in.
The four members of the Invincible Legion stood together in a corner. Chen Dami kept following his boss, Batu Fei, and there didn’t seem to be anything unusual about the two of them.
However, the other two were different. Perhaps due to their experience with Zhou Qian in the earlier instance that saved them from Ruan Mei’s hand, they occasionally glanced at Zhou Qian, always watching his movements. It seemed that they intended to follow whatever Zhou Qian did.
As for the skinny guy who had been to Hall D, he initially didn’t stick with anyone. But he probably noticed the difficult nature of Batu Fei and the others, so he approached Zhou Qian and asked, “Can I join you?”
Zhou Qian nodded noncommittally, then went back to examining the human skins. At this moment, He Xiaowei whispered, “Qian’er, what do you think?”
“Blue Harbor City is a normal society with police and law. For a tattoo artist like Chang Shu to openly display the skins of people he’s killed… Do you think that’s reasonable?” Zhou Qian began, “So, even though it sounds incredulous and feels like an urban legend, what Chang Shu said might be true. There are people who greatly admire this tattoo art and are willing to dedicate their skin to him after death. It’s possible.”
He Xiaowei asked, “Hmm, he might not be a killer. But wouldn’t a killer target those with tattoos?”
“Yes, but also no.”
At this point, Zhou Qian had browsed the entire store and looked at every skin. A suspicion in his mind was gradually taking shape.
After examining all the skins, Zhou Qian approached a clerk and asked, “Can I make a call?”
“Yes.” The clerk led Zhou Qian to the front desk and handed him an old-fashioned landline phone. Picking up the receiver, Zhou Qian looked towards Tour Guide Hua, near the entrance, and asked, “What’s the phone number for the Saiya Hotel?”
Tour Guide Hua had been rebuked by Zhou Qian earlier and now looked very displeased, rolling his eyes without saying a word.
“Heh, you were so arrogant earlier, speaking to me so rudely. I bring tourists like you here, and I don’t earn much from it! Do you think I enjoy catering to your every whim?”
Hearing this, Zhou Qian didn’t show much reaction. However, He Xiaowei gave him a look that seemed to say, “See Qian’er, you still need me.” He hurried over to Tour Guide Hua and said some flattering words to him.
Tour Guide Hua looked at He Xiaowei. “Want my help, huh? It can be arranged.”
He Xiaowei nodded eagerly. “You tell us, and we’ll do whatever we can.”
Tour Guide Hua immediately cast a flirtatious glance at him. “Little Brother, give me a kiss, and I’ll tell you.”
He Xiaowei: “…”
Tour Guide Hua continued, “If you’re not willing, other handsome guys can do it too. Whoever kisses me, I’ll tell.”
He Xiaowei complained to Zhou Qian, “I have the worst luck. Last time, they wanted me to marry a ghost. Now a man wants me to kiss him.”
He Xiaowei wasn’t pleased and whispered to Zhou Qian, “My love life is truly filled with obstacles. Last time they wanted me to marry a ghost, and now there’s a guy asking me to kiss him.”
“Just give him a peck. It’s no big deal,” Zhou Qian suggested.
He Xiaowei retorted, “No way. Qian’er, we share a deep bond, true. But I can’t sell my dignity for you! Not happening!”
“Just imagine he’s a girl!”
“That still won’t work! Whether it’s a man or a woman, it’s not happening! I have principles! If there’s no feeling, it’s a no!”
“You’re right. We shouldn’t take such things lightly.”
“Exactly!”
“If you’re not going, should I?”
At this, Zhou Qian playfully looked over to Bai Zhou, who was not too far away. “Zhou Ge, how about you?”
Bai Zhou slightly furrowed his brows, looking like he was about to do something.
Hidden Blade, standing nearby, reacted with alarm. “Holy crap, my god! Once your knife is out, doesn’t it always draw blood? Let me handle this!” Before finishing his sentence, Hidden Blade had already drawn his sword.
With a flash of his knife, the back of the blade was quickly pressed against Tour Guide Hua’s neck.
Lifting his chin, Hidden Blade stared coldly at Tour Guide Hua. “Are you going to tell us or not?”
Choking back tears, Tour Guide Hua responded, “Fine, no kiss, but why are you pointing the knife at me?!”
Hidden Blade remained silent, pressing the blade closer to Hua.
With tears streaming down his face, Tour Guide Hua eventually stuttered out his phone number.
Zhou Qian clicked his tongue twice. “I almost didn’t catch the number he said—”
“You Rank God players are way too violent.”
Directing a meaningful glance at Bai Zhou, Zhou Qian chuckled, but without further delay, he picked up the phone to make a call.
Seeing this, He Xiaowei curiously approached Zhou Qian and eagerly asked, “Qian’er, why are you calling the hotel?”
Zhou Qian didn’t answer.
At this moment, his expression turned serious. He made a gesture of silence towards He Xiaowei as he heard a voice from the other end of the phone. “Hello, Saiya Hotel.”
Zhou Qian didn’t immediately pose his question but instead listened quietly.
Sure enough, he heard some commotion, as if many people were entering and leaving the hotel, shouting loudly.
Afterwards, Zhou Qian asked, “I’m a guest who checked in on the 11th floor this afternoon. Has something happened at the hotel?”
“How did you know?” Receptionist Wang drew a sharp breath and asked in surprise, “Did you do it?”
“Of course, it has nothing to do with me,” Zhou Qian replied. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“It can’t be unrelated to you guys! Two people are dead!” Receptionist Wang retorted. “Just so you know, you can’t run away. Everyone has to return to the hotel tonight for questioning. The police are waiting for you!”
Sensing that Receptionist Wang was about to hang up, Zhou Qian quickly asked, “Wait. The two people who died are—”
Receptionist Wang interrupted, “The two who came with you! Their blood seeped out from under the door onto the corridor. That’s how someone found them. When I used the keycard to open the door, I saw… It’s horrifying! The killer is absolutely ruthless!”
Zhou Qian further asked, “How did they die?”
Receptionist Wang responded, “How would I know?”
“Were their heads covered with nylon bags? Were their hands and feet tied?”
“No.”
“Alright, got it. Thank you.”
Zhou Qian hung up the phone.
Earlier, when the players noticed Zhou Qian making the call, they all gathered around.
While talking to Receptionist Wang, Zhou Qian deliberately held up the phone so everyone could hear their conversation.
Everyone’s faces turned pale. The thin guy completely broke down. After all, the two individuals from Hall D were his acquaintances. The sudden deaths of two familiar faces caused him to drop to his knees, shivering all over.
Zhou Qian gave him a glance and signaled to Bai Zhou and He Xiaowei with his eyes. Then, he started heading towards the back workspace.
“Wait—” The one who called out to Zhou Qian was the bald guy, Batu Fei.
He asked, “What do you mean?”
Without responding, Zhou Qian continued walking. Batu Fei stared at his retreating figure for a moment and then ran after him.
“Stop!”
“You thought to make that call and guessed that those two players died; does this mean you’ve already figured out the key to clearing this instance?”
“We all heard your conversation with the tattoo artist earlier. Are you going to him to get a tattoo now? Why?”
Zhou Qian paused, turned to look at Batu Fei, and surprisingly began to explain, “In Hall C, there are clearly two murder methods. If I’m not mistaken, there are two killers. One skins people, and the other puts nylon bags over their heads and beats them to death.
“As of now, the clues we’ve found likely relate only to the tattoo killer. So, let’s not analyze the nylon bag one for now.”
“In this case, if we only look at clues related to the tattoos, it’s actually not that complicated.”
Zhou Qian continued. “I don’t think the tattoo shop owner, Chang Shu, is the killer. I’m inclined to believe him. That is, after someone who got a tattoo at his place dies, he would collect their skin, bring it back to the shop for display and memory, and for some rare pieces, to sell.”
“So, the one who kills and skins people is someone else.”
“The key to distinguishing the two is that none of the skins in this shop have the ‘卐’ symbol on them.”
Batu Fei couldn’t help but ask, “But the designs on these skins are all so similar… The victims must have gotten their tattoos here, right?”
“Tour Guide Hua kept emphasizing one thing. Did you hear it? He said many people love the tattoos here. Shop owner Chang Shu claims that these are all works of art and that he’s creating great art.”
“I don’t know about art, but this tattoo shop is famous enough to be a tourist attraction. I saw many brochures about Blue Harbor City at the front desk, and the city promotes this tattoo shop as a tourist spot. Although Tour Guide Hua might have been exaggerating to attract business, he wasn’t making it all up.”
“Furthermore, the fact that so many people choose to leave their skin here… shows that the value and artistry of this tattoo shop have been recognized to some extent.”
“Therefore, it’s reasonable to infer that the killer also appreciates this kind of art.”
“Since it’s confirmed that two players have died, we can rule out Chang Shu. He’s been here the whole time.”
“Similarly, we can rule out Tour Guide Hua.”
“So, the killer is a hunter lurking in the shadows. He might be inclined to target those with beautiful tattoos, especially the clients of this shop. But then the question is, why is Tour Guide Hua unharmed?”
He Xiaowei caught on quickly and said, “Tour Guide Hua has the ‘卐’ symbol tattooed on his hand!”
“Right. Tour Guide Hua said this symbol can ward off evil and protect oneself. It appears that this symbol does offer protection, but it’s against people, not ghosts,” Zhou Qian said. “The killer won’t target someone with a ‘卐’ on them.”
“Hold on. I have a question,” He Xiaowei interjected. “The serial killer targets people with tattoos. If someone has a ‘卐’, he won’t kill them. I get that. But…”
“Why did he kill those two players? They didn’t have tattoos!”
Zhou Qian: “Simple. It means we’ve been thinking about this wrong. Whether the killer chooses to kill someone doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with tattoos.”
“Someone with a tattoo might catch his attention more easily, leading to them being targeted since he appreciates the beauty of tattoos. But I believe the killer doesn’t exclusively target people with tattoos. We don’t yet know his exact criteria; it might even be random killings.”
“Wait… hold on a second,” He Xiaowei continued, still puzzled. “The skins in Hall C and the hotel room all have the ‘卐’ symbol! How do you explain that? This doesn’t add up, Qian’er.”
“There’s a contradiction here. If the killer doesn’t target those with a ‘卐’, how do you explain the decorations we saw?”
“The answer is simple—the ‘卐’ symbols in the hall and hotel rooms were added by the killer, not the tattoo artist,” Zhou Qian replied.
He Xiaowei was taken aback. “Wait, what?”
“As for your two questions,” Zhou Qian continued, “there’s one theory that can explain everything—”
“As I just mentioned, the decision to kill isn’t necessarily based on whether the victim has a tattoo.”
“However, after killing, if the killer sees a tattoo on the victim, he might decide to skin them for decoration. In some sense, this is just a coincidence. Moreover, he would then add a ‘卐’ symbol to the tattooed skin.
“We don’t know the exact reasons for the killer’s actions, but one thing is for sure—if the intended victim already has a ‘卐’ symbol, the killer won’t target them.”
After digesting this information for a moment, He Xiaowei finally understood. “That’s pretty eerie. But in Buddhism, the ‘卐’ symbol is considered auspicious, right? Both ‘卐’ and ‘卍’* have positive meanings… they can protect us. So it seems like the killer is Buddhist?”
*Clarity: The symbol is a Swastika and carries many meanings depending on the religion, though it is usually a symbol of divinity and spirituality and is associated with good fortune. In Buddhism, it’s homologous with the dharma wheel, which symbolizes the eternal cycle. In Sanskrit, the word means “the mark of wellbeing”. Unfortunately, the Nazi party and neo-Nazis appropriated the symbol, which led to negative association with it.
“But, if he is, why would he kill?”
“He doesn’t necessarily believe in Buddhism, but in something else,” Zhou Qian said gravely.
“What does he believe in?” asked the bald man, Batu Fei.
“In Buddhism, the swastika symbol can be represented in two directions. The Nazi swastika, or hook cross, is the unique right-facing ‘卐’. Just like what we see.” Zhou Qian spoke up. “Have you heard the rumor? During World War II, the Nazis made lampshades out of the skin of prisoners in concentration camps.”
Upon hearing this, He Xiaowei and Batu Fei both exclaimed, “Fuck…”
“This symbol is also the emblem of the Nazi Party, but its color and angle are not exactly the same as the swastika in Buddhism. The ‘卐’ we see now is directly engraved on human skin. We can’t make out its color or angle. So, I say it might not be a Buddhist symbol; the killer might worship the Nazis.”
Zhou Qian continued, “With this in mind, everything makes more sense. The serial killer, who worships the Nazis, kills for fun. When he wants to attack someone and sees the ‘卐’ symbol on them, he considers them kin and doesn’t harm them. But if someone doesn’t have the symbol, he will be ruthless.”
“After killing, if the victim has an attractive tattoo, he imitates what the Nazis once did, cuts off the tattooed skin, engraves a ‘卐’ on it to express his beliefs, and finally, using some chemical methods of preservation, makes decorative items out of the tattooed human skin, just like in Exhibition Hall C.”
He Xiaowei asked, “Damn, if we go and get a ‘卐’ tattoo, does that mean we’ll become Nazis?”
“No, don’t feel burdened by that thought, Xiaowei.”
“It’s all about perception. We can view it as a Buddhist symbol for peace and luck.”
Zhou Qian comforted He Xiaowei briefly but kept a thought to himself. He had a bad feeling—could the entire Saiya Hotel become a concentration camp for the hidden butcher?
Zhou Qian took a few steps forward, then suddenly looked back and saw Batu Fei and his three underlings following. Zhou Qian smiled and gestured for them to stop. “Wait, what do you want?”
“Obviously, to get the tattoo artist to ink a ‘卐’ for us!” After saying this, Batu Fei felt uneasy.
Batu Fei looked at Zhou Qian, who was smiling pleasantly. “It’s not that simple. Have you listened to the tour guide? Master Chang Shu tattoos based on fate and mood. Even if you’re willing to pay a high price, he might not agree. However—”
Before Batu Fei could respond, Zhou Qian moved to Bai Zhou’s side. Like showing off a mascot, Zhou Qian presented Bai Zhou, saying, “The tattoo master said earlier that my brother’s skin is the most beautiful canvas! He was begging him for the chance to tattoo him. So, if my brother vouches for you, the master will definitely agree.”
Zhou Qian smiled innocently, but Batu Fei saw through his intentions. Trying to swallow his anger, Batu Fei hoarsely asked, “How much do you want?”
“Ah, Boss Ba! I enjoy dealing with smart and tactful people like you!” Zhou Qian said with a contented smile, then continued, “Look, it’s not that I’m taking advantage of the situation. You wanted to kill me on the beach! You accepted the bounty from the Peach Blossom Legion! I’m worried. I’m now helping you avoid danger. But after this… what if you try to kill me? Hand over all your money and items!”
Hearing this, Chen Dami, one of Batu Fei’s loyal followers, stepped forward, furious. “You’re not trying to help us, you’re trying to—”
“Indeed, if I don’t explain things clearly to you, you won’t understand.
“If you don’t understand, how will you obediently hand over the gold coins and items?” Zhou Qian hugged Bai Zhou’s arm even tighter and tilted his head toward Bai Zhou’s shoulder.
He then looked at Batu Fei and the others with a smile. “We’re about to get the symbol tattooed now. You should make your decisions quickly. I advise you to think broadly. In this kind of instance, items are not really that useful. As long as you have a future, you can always start over. A fortune spent can be earned back, right?”
“By the way, to emphasize, I want all your items and gold. Don’t even think about hiding any.”
“I have a pill that makes you tell the truth. This item won’t be affected by the instance’s restrictions. Later on, I will interrogate each of you to see if you’ve handed everything over honestly! If anyone lies or tries to hide something, I’ll send you straight to your death.”
With that, Zhou Qian, pulling Bai Zhou, gestured to He Xiaowei and Hidden Blade, and the group, along with a thin man from Exhibition Hall D, walked into the back room.
Inside, Master Chang Shu’s eyes lit up with excitement upon seeing Bai Zhou and Hidden Blade. “Oh my god, have you agreed?”
Zhou Qian took the lead. “Yes, but with a condition. We’ve heard a lot about you and want some tattoos too. Can you engrave us first?”
“Of course! As long as I can tattoo on their flawless skin, anything!” Chang Shu replied excitedly.
Zhou Qian offered his left arm. “I’ll go first. Carve a ‘卐’ for me.”
“No problem. You’re staying at the Saiya Hotel, right? That place is haunted. Having this will be beneficial.”
With that, Chang Shu began preparing.
Bai Zhou moved closer to Zhou Qian, silently offering his right hand.
“What for?” Zhou Qian asked.
“In case it hurts, you can hold onto me,” Bai Zhou replied.
Zhou Qian chuckled. “You think it’s like getting vaccinated in elementary school?”
Bai Zhou remained silent, just gazing at Zhou Qian. Zhou Qian looked back, then suddenly realized something significant.
What Zhou Qian thought of wasn’t related to the specific instance but rather the entire game.
Zhou Qian had to admit, Bai Zhou’s skin indeed looked good. However, he genuinely felt that Hidden Blade’s skin was rather rough.
Moreover, with so many players, why would the tattoo artist specifically think that only their skin was good for tattooing?
And, even if they hadn’t brought it up, given that everyone knew they were staying at the Saiya Hotel, the tattoo artist would probably have suggested tattooing a “卐” on both of them.
This boldly suggested that such a situation existed because the instance was protecting the Rank God players.
In the game world, the training system for Rank God players was entirely different.
Things related to them in reality were also quite complex, like Zone X in the Spring Hill Mental Asylum.
Unlike regular players, the cultivation of Rank God players seems to require a very high cost.
To allow Rank God players to match and practice with trainee Shepherds, the system had to place them in such instances to sync with the Shepherds.
At the same time, to prevent them from suddenly going berserk and slaughtering other regular players, their abilities were forcibly limited upon entering such an instance.
But since cultivating Rank God players was tough, the system naturally couldn’t allow them to die easily. So, these instances favor Rank God players to ensure their survival rate.
From this, it could also be seen that the system had different training directions for different players. Bai Zhou and Hidden Blade could demonstrate formidable combat power in the game. As for players like Zhou Qian, it seemed that most of the training probably focused on mental strength.
Noticing Zhou Qian lost in thought for a while, Bai Zhou lowered his head and asked, “What are you thinking about?”
Sitting in the chair, Zhou Qian looked up at Bai Zhou and smiled, “Nothing. I just feel that you could be my lucky charm for clearing levels.”
Finishing his words and without looking at Bai Zhou again, Zhou Qian extended his right arm to the tattoo artist Chang Shu and said, “I want the letter ‘Z’ here.”
Hearing this, He Xiaowei, standing behind Zhou Qian, yawned. “Haha, now I get it. The ‘Z’ stands for ‘Zhou’ in Zhou Qian!
“Look, Qian’er, I always said you have an alternative style. I’ve seen people do this, tattooing their names on their arms, but that was when I was in junior high! What adult does this?”
“Of course, in junior high, some would tattoo their boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s name on their arm. But Qian’er, I know your situation. You’re single, just like me!”
Kinky Thoughts:
Regarding what Zhou Qian said, it seems the Nazis did create lampshades made from human skins… along with other human skin artifacts, though it seems that this was only one instance and there weren’t any systematic efforts by the Nazis to make human skin lampshades.
From the outside, the Saiya Hotel exuded an artistic flair. It should have once been a rather upscale hotel, but just like people, it seemed to have not withstood the test of time. Now, it emanated a sense of decay and dilapidation.
Not far from it was a fountain park, and beyond were tall buildings shimmering with lights. However, the entire city was shrouded in a hazy fog, with the lights appearing like elusive ship lanterns on a boundless sea at night, seemingly close yet far out of reach.
Without a doubt, this was a large city, perhaps the Blue Harbor City of another time and space.
This was what Zhou Qian thought as he and the other players discovered that they were temporarily unable to leave the Saiya Hotel.
If they tried to move away from the hotel’s main entrance, they would receive a system notification, warning them that they were about to leave the story’s designated area. So, they all headed for the hotel lobby.
The lobby was spacious, but with a dim color scheme, and the furnishings looked very dated. A few guests, who seemed impoverished and were clearly NPCs, came in and out.
The receptionist, a tall man with a somewhat pale and thin face, greeted the eleven players warmly.
“You must be the tourists visiting Blue Harbor City. Welcome to the Saiya Hotel. My surname is Wang. You can just call me Xiao Wang.”
From Xiao Wang, the players gathered that their role was that of tourists. His words were also undoubtedly a hint. It confirmed Zhou Qian’s earlier thoughts—the story of Hall C still took place in Blue Harbor City—just not the “current” one but in a different timeline.
Zhou Qian asked him, “Where’s our tour guide?”
“He mentioned he’s stuck in traffic but should be here soon. Since you’ve arrived first, feel free to pick your rooms,” Xiao Wang said with a smile, handing over six room cards. “It’s the peak tourist season. The Saiya Hotel is quite popular, and we only have six rooms left. Choose as you like.”
Hearing this, all the players became tense.
The hotel had 12 floors and hundreds of rooms. If it was filled with guests and one of them was a serial killer…how would they identify the suspect?
“Hurry and pick your rooms. Though your tour guide informed us in advance, we’re quite busy. If other tourists come, I might have to give the rooms away!”
The players were concerned that if they couldn’t check into the hotel, they might be expelled from the designated story area and possibly die. So, they quickly took their room cards to check in.
Before taking his card, Zhou Qian glanced at Bai Zhou. He stood tall, looking both familiar and distant.
One thing Zhou Qian had to admit was that in the story of Hall A, both he and Bai Zhou were transformed back into their childhood selves. He was very familiar with Bai Zhou’s childlike appearance, making their interactions natural, as if they had never grown up.
However, after leaving Hall A, the tacit illusion was shattered, forcing both to face reality—they had indeed been apart for seven full years, making each somewhat unfamiliar to the other.
Now, Zhou Qian looked at Bai Zhou for a moment and then, with a sudden impulse, took a room card from Xiao Wang, looped his arm around He Xiaowei’s neck, and headed for the elevator. “I’ll room with Xiaowei.”
The other seven players had already chosen their rooms and taken another elevator. So, this elevator only carried Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei, Bai Zhou, and Hidden Blade.
Zhou Qian glanced at Bai Zhou and asked, “Which room are you and Hidden Blade in?”
Bai Zhou remained silent, and Hidden Blade cleared his throat, replying, “We’re in 1109. Where’s yours?”
Zhou Qian pressed the “11” button on the elevator panel. “Also on the 11th floor. Let’s go together.”
The layout of the 11th floor was very straightforward.
The elevator was located in the central position. Upon exiting the elevator to the left, there were a total of six rooms, with three rooms on each side of the corridor. Room No. 8 was opposite Room No. 9, and further to the left were Rooms No. 10 and 11 facing each other. At the very end of the left side were Rooms No. 12 and 13, opposite each other.
The right side, however, was a bit different. Rooms 1101 to 1106 had a layout similar to the left side, but uniquely at the end was Room 1107. Opposite this room, there wasn’t another room but rather a wall.
As such, the room Zhou Qian was in, Room No. 7, and the room Bai Zhou was in, Room No. 9, were numerically close in terms of room numbers, but they were quite far apart in distance, separated by an elevator and three rooms.
Minutes later, Bai Zhou and Hidden Blade headed left, while Zhou Qian and He Xiaowei turned right towards 1107.
Seeing that room 1107 faced a wall, He Xiaowei felt a pang of unease. Trying to suppress his fear, he followed Zhou Qian inside. Once in, He Xiaowei said, “You know, Qian’er, I’m glad I’m with you. My master is so aloof. Being with you is much more fun, and having company makes everything less scary!”
Unexpectedly, Zhou Qian responded, “Go to 1109 now and tell them you want to swap rooms with 137 to stay with your master. Then get 137 to come here.”
“?” He Xiaowei was confused. “You’re the one who brought me here. Don’t you want to room with me?”
Zhou Qian replied, “Just go. Why do you have so many questions?”
He Xiaowei persisted. “What are you up to?”
Zhou Qian approached He Xiaowei, staring into his eyes, and said seriously, “I just feel that it’s not safe for you to stay in this room. Haven’t you heard the saying? Never stay in a room at the end of a hotel corridor. It’s haunted!”
“So, Xiaowei Ge, I’m saying this for your own good.”
He Xiaowei: “…”
Zhou Qian continued, “The cases we’re investigating are all about murders. Many people must have died in this hotel. Who knows when a ghost might pop up—”
As Zhou Qian spoke, he raised his hands and approached He Xiaowei.
“Damn it, Qian’er! You’re always trying to scare me. Stop it. I’ll go change rooms right now!”
He Xiaowei, who was afraid of ghosts, dashed off. As he hurried alone towards room 1109, a realization hit him—Wait a minute? If Qian’er was genuinely concerned about me being afraid of ghosts, why didn’t he move to room 1109 with me?
What on earth is Zhou Qian thinking?
Does he not want to share a room with me?
But I didn’t offend him, did I?
Forget it. I can never understand Qian’er’s thoughts.
……
During He Xiaowei’s absence, Zhou Qian surveyed the room.
Undoubtedly, this poor and rundown hotel was one he would never choose to stay in the real world. The furnishings in the room were vintage, and the design was meticulous. The previous hotel owner must have been very particular about its design and decoration, and perhaps the hotel was once lavish, mainly for hosting dignitaries.
But that was decades ago.
After all this time, with no replacement of items or renovations, the room exuded an air of age and decay.
After a quick check of the bathroom, Zhou Qian returned to the main room, his attention drawn to the lamp by the bed.
When he first entered the room, he noticed this lamp, particularly its shade, which was very beautiful and reminiscent of one in the C-1 exhibition hall. However, while the exhibition hall’s lamp featured a peacock tail, this shade depicted a butterfly.
The butterfly, with its bluish wings, seemed so lifelike that it might flutter out at any moment. The shade’s color was still very dark, casting an old, yellowish light.
Upon closer examination, Zhou Qian noticed a “卐” symbol at the base.
After some contemplation, he shifted his gaze to the pillow on the bed.
Despite the bedding’s wear and tear, the pillowcase was exquisite. Almost immediately, Zhou Qian noted its material resembled the lampshade, dark with a beautiful design. This design was of a pair of mandarin ducks and, beneath them, two lines of text.
The first line was a famous verse from the Book of Songs, “In life or death, we’ll never part.”
The second read, “Chen & Huang,” with a heart drawn next to it*.
*Clarity: In Chinese culture, the mandarin ducks are a symbol of eternal love, devotion, and fidelity, as it is believed mandarin ducks only mate with one partner for life.
Some young couples, lacking a sense of public decorum, like to carve their names into tourist attractions. They would usually accompany their names with a love poem or some romantic gesture. But Zhou Qian had never seen such a thing done on a hotel pillowcase. And what was more…
Upon flipping the pillowcase, Zhou Qian unsurprisingly found the familiar “卐”.
This symbol seemed to have strong religious implications.
What kind of couple would mix declarations of love with such a strange symbol?
No matter how you look at it, the romantic verse combined with the peculiar symbol felt out of place.
After inspecting the bedding, Zhou Qian checked the wardrobe and drawers. His attention finally settled on a painting opposite the beds. The painting, with the texture of an oil painting, depicted a smiling noblewoman.
She wore an elegant earring that, from a distance, looked like a bird.
From a distance, one wouldn’t think that the material of the earring is different from that of the lampshade or the pillowcase.
However, upon closer inspection, Zhou Qian could see that the paint used for the bird on the earring had started to crack. The color peeking through these cracks was dark and yellowish, very reminiscent of the base color of the lampshade and the pillowcase.
After surveying the entire room, which took about five minutes, Zhou Qian brushed down the room with a cleaning brush he had acquired before sitting on the sofa. He began to wonder why Bai Zhou hadn’t come yet.
While calculating the time on his system panel, a knock sounded. Opening the door, Zhou Qian was surprised to find not Bai Zhou but He Xiaowei.
“What’s going on?” Zhou Qian frowned immediately.
He Xiaowei: “Oh, my master says 137 doesn’t want to switch rooms. After my unsuccessful plea, I came back. If they’re staying together, why don’t we switch with them? If this room is potentially dangerous, shouldn’t two Rank God players like them stay here?”
“You stay here.” Zhou Qian opened the door wider, looking displeased as he walked out into the corridor.
He Xiaowei: “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to bring your master here. Or—” Zhou Qian gritted his teeth. “I’ll bring 137 here.”
He Xiaowei was becoming increasingly bewildered. “What on earth do you want to do? You want to stay in the same room with my master?”
Zhou Qian replied, “Right. I should have a good conversation with your master. We are teammates now, after all. We should understand each other well. Wait for me; I’ll chat with him.”
He Xiaowei paused, feeling somewhat uneasy, and quickly followed him.
Without looking back, Zhou Qian said, “Remember to bring the room card!”
With that, Zhou Qian, full of determination, led He Xiaowei towards room 1109. However, behind his determined demeanor, he felt a hint of excitement.
Although Zhou Qian’s mental state had slowly improved in certain ways after entering the instance, he often struggled to genuinely feel emotions. There was one exception—whenever something related to Bai Zhou came up, things were different.
At times, Zhou Qian relished feeling angry. Only when one lost all emotional perception would they realize that experiencing the full range of emotions was a vital part of life. Without these feelings, genuine happiness was elusive. So, even though Zhou Qian was a bit angry at that moment, there was a slight thrill in his nerves.
However, Zhou Qian didn’t make it to 1109. As he reached the elevator, its doors opened.
A handsome man stepped out of the elevator.
He wore leather boots and shiny jeans, had many earrings in both ears, and sported a colorful shirt with most of its buttons undone, revealing a large portion of his chest and neck.
The skin there was also colored, and without closer inspection, one might mistake it for clothing. Only when Zhou Qian got close did he realize they were tattoos.
“Hey! Are you guys heading out? Are you here to greet me? How did you know I’d appear at this time? Hahaha.” The man gave Zhou Qian a once-over, his gaze laden with ambiguity. “This little brother is so handsome!”
Zhou Qian asked, “Who are you?”
“Hey, I’m your tour guide, Hua Hui. Welcome to Blue Harbor City,” the man replied with a grin, pulling out a horn and shouting down the hallway. “Tourists, let’s go! We’re heading to the first stop!”
As the guide’s voice faded, the other players began to emerge from their rooms. That was when Zhou Qian noticed that everyone was staying on the 11th floor.
The bald man Batu Fei, the leader of the Invincible Legion, shared room 1105 with “Ke Si” Liu Wansan, which was right next to Zhou Qian’s room.
“Ke Shi” Jian Erdan and Chen Dami, who had previously been with Batu Fei, were in 1106. Zhou Qian mentally labeled them the “Egg Fried Rice Duo*”.
*Clarity: The Dan (蛋) in Erdan means egg, and the Dami (大米) means rice.
The newcomers from Hall D were split, with one in 1102 and the other two in 1101.
While waiting for the rest of the players to gather in the hallway, Zhou Qian turned to the flamboyant guide and asked an essential question, “Where’s the first stop?”
He had a bad feeling, especially after noticing the tattoos.
“The first stop is the city’s most famous tattoo parlor, ‘Fluttering Dream’. Many come to Blue Harbor City specifically to get tattoos there!” The guide winked at Zhou Qian, showing off his shoulder tattoo, as if trying to entice him.
Indeed, Zhou Qian approached him. Not enticed, but to look at the tattoo—a detailed, adorable little fox. After studying it, he heard He Xiaowei behind him call out, “Master.”
Knowing that Bai Zhou and Hidden Blade were coming, Zhou Qian wasn’t in the mood to be angry at this moment.
In his mind, various images flashed: the designs of peacock feathers, butterflies, mandarin ducks, and flying birds on lampshades, pillows, and other places… leading to the little fox before his eyes.
These similarly styled intricate designs overlapped one after another and were all erased by Zhou Qian, leaving only one dark, yellowish-textured substance in his mind—
All these beautiful patterns were drawn on this very substance.
What exactly was this thing?
Upon seeing the tattoo on the tour guide’s skin, Zhou Qian had the answer in his heart.
The lampshades, pillows, and paintings were likely made of human skin.
The intertwined design of the mandarin ducks, the love poems from the Book of Songs, and the engraved names of the couple weren’t actually embroidered on the pillow.
The likely scenario was that one person in the couple had these designs tattooed on their back, arm, or perhaps thigh. Later, that person was killed, and the part of the skin bearing the tattoo was peeled off and turned into a pillowcase.
“Do we have to get tattoos if we visit the shop?” Zhou Qian asked the guide.
“Of course not!” the guide replied. “It’s expensive. You’d need a lot of money! No—”
“Money alone won’t do. The tattoo master chooses based on fate. He won’t tattoo those he feels no connection with.”
At this point, the tour guide chuckled and glanced at everyone, realizing that everyone was present. He continued, “Those who stay at the Saiya Hotel are usually the poor. It’s the only cheap hotel in Blue Harbor City. So, it’s always bustling here!”
“Rich people…haha…they come only to experience life. I can see you’re all not well-off. You probably can’t afford the tattoo shop prices, so why not just go for the entertainment?”
Zhou Qian quickly picked up on something and asked, “Experience life? Why would the rich come to experience a life of poverty?”
Previously, Zhou Qian couldn’t resonate with this sentiment. Growing up in affluent conditions, he sometimes became picky and demanding.
He would never approach such places, let alone come to experience life. Especially when his parents weren’t kind to him, he felt that if he didn’t spend all their wealth, he was letting himself down.
In response to Zhou Qian’s question, Tour Guide Hua winked mysteriously and said, “Because too many people have died here. It’s haunted! Some wealthy individuals come here specifically to witness paranormal activities. I think they’re just too idle.”
Hearing this, He Xiaowei couldn’t help but interject, “Then, why is there just a wall across from room 1107? There should be a room there, right? Does it have something to do with ghosts?”
Tour Guide Hua looked at He Xiaowei and replied, “Exactly. A family of three was killed in that room! Afterwards, every guest that stayed there committed suicide. Some jumped off the building, some shot themselves, and some slit their throats… There were various methods—”
Seeing He Xiaowei trembling, Tour Guide Hua patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t be scared. Later, the boss hired a Taoist priest to exorcize the place, filled the room with cement, and sealed the door. No incidents have occurred since.”
He Xiaowei looked perplexed and unconsciously moved closer to Zhou Qian. Zhou Qian then asked Tour Guide Hua, “You said nothing happened in that room anymore, but what about the other rooms? According to you, the whole hotel is still haunted. Why would you bring us to such a place?”
“It’s cheap. With the price you paid, you can only stay here.” Tour Guide Hua smiled at Zhou Qian. “Brother, don’t be mad!”
Zhou Qian asked him, “Aren’t you scared?”
“I’m not.” Tour Guide Hua rolled up his right sleeve, revealing a “卐” tattoo.
Tour Guide Hua smiled. “This is an amulet. With this, spirits and ghosts stay away! The master tattoo artist at the shop gave me this tattoo. He did this one for free, depending on his mood. Maybe if he’s in a good mood, he could tattoo you as well, and then you wouldn’t need to fear ghosts!”
“Alright, alright—” Tour Guide Hua looked at the time. “It’s time! Everyone, follow me!”
At this point, a crew-cut man addressed Tour Guide Hua, “You go ahead. I need to use the restroom. We’ll be down in a few minutes. Can you wait for us in the lobby?” This man was one of the players who had visited Hall D earlier.
Hearing his request, Tour Guide Hua didn’t hesitate and quickly turned to leave. Before departing, he left a remark, “Alright, make it quick. No more than a few minutes.”
After Tour Guide Hua left, the crew-cut man turned to the group. “What do you think about going to the tattoo shop?”
Noticing everyone’s silence, he approached Zhou Qian and inquired, “You asked a lot of questions earlier, so it seems you have some thoughts. Why not share them? In such a sinister place, I think it’s better if we collaborate.”
Zhou Qian pondered briefly and said, “I just have some speculations.”
“Like what?” the man asked.
Zhou Qian said, “We thought there were no bodies in the six exhibition halls. But it seems there are, or at least parts of them. Those intricate artworks are made of human skin. The patterns on them are tattoos.”
Hearing this, the crew-cut man and the other players went pale.
Zhou Qian continued, “I speculate that a serial killer might target those with beautiful tattoos. That’s why I asked if we could avoid getting tattooed. You heard the tour guide’s answer, right?”
“We did.”
After saying this, the crew-cut man said, “Considering the circumstances, I won’t be going to the tattoo shop. If we’re forced to get tattoos, it might make us vulnerable to the killer. Do you know the pattern I’m referring to?”
After speaking, he didn’t wait for a reply and headed towards his room. “Anyway, I’ve made up my mind. I’m not going. I barely survived the last game. The key principle behind this instance is—if the killer doesn’t see you, how can they target you?”
A moment later, not only did the crew-cut man return to room 1102, but another player, the plump one, also decided not to go to the tattoo shop and returned to room 1101. The skinny one, however, looked uncertainly at Zhou Qian and the others. “So, what are you all thinking?”
“We must go,” Zhou Qian said. “Getting through the game by mere luck has never been my style. Since the killer targets those with beautiful tattoos, he might appear near a tattoo shop. How can we identify the suspect and confront him if we don’t visit a tattoo shop?”
After speaking, Zhou Qian pressed the elevator’s down button. When the elevator doors opened, he walked in.
Bai Zhou, Hidden Blade, and He Xiaowei quickly followed him.
Among them, He Xiaowei might have preferred to stay safe, but he obviously didn’t want to stay alone in a hotel room that might be haunted.
Apart from the four of them, no one else entered the elevator for the moment.
Zhou Qian waited for a while and impatiently pressed the close door button.
But just as the elevator doors were about to close, they were quickly pushed open again.
Immediately after, the four members of the Invincible Legion and the skinny guy from Hall D squeezed in.
Zhou Qian glanced at them nonchalantly and looked away.
While the elevator descended, his mind paused from pondering the complex game details. He turned his head slightly, meeting Bai Zhou’s gaze directed at him.
Zhou Qian blinked and sent a private message asking, “Why didn’t you switch rooms with He Xiaowei earlier?”
Bai Zhou looked a bit surprised.
Zhou Qian quickly realized something—right, Bai Zhou didn’t know he had asked He Xiaowei to switch.
Still, Zhou Qian felt he needed clarification, so he asked directly, “Do you not want to see me?”
Bai Zhou shook his head, his voice soft but certain. “Of course not.”
Zhou Qian: “Then why?”
After a pause, Bai Zhou replied, “I thought you were mad at me.”
Zhou Qian: “?”
Bai Zhou: “It seemed to start in the rest area.”
Zhou Qian: “?? Wait, be more specific.”
Bai Zhou: “Well, you asked He Xiaowei for something instead of me and then shared a room with him. I thought you might be avoiding me, maybe mad at me. So—”
“I planned to talk to you in the morning after letting you cool down for a night.”
Zhou Qian: “……….”
A few seconds later, the elevator “dinged,” reaching the first floor.
Upon exiting, Zhou Qian walked ahead in silence. Bai Zhou followed with a slightly furrowed brow, “Zhou Qian?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“So you…”
Zhou Qian laughed, though there was a hint of exasperation.
Turning to Bai Zhou, his initial stern gaze gradually softened under Bai Zhou’s intense stare.
Zhou Qian then said reflectively, “We haven’t seen each other in seven years. It seems like we still need to adjust.”
Hearing this, Bai Zhou’s expression turned especially serious.
He seemed to gaze past Zhou Qian towards the streets outside the hotel lobby, or perhaps somewhere far away.
After a moment, he said, “Zhou Qian, over these years, I haven’t been in touch with… normal real life. I don’t understand society anymore and rarely interact with others. Sometimes… I even forget how to socialize.”
“If I ever said something wrong or upset you, or if—”
Before Bai Zhou could finish, he was startled to find Zhou Qian holding his hand.
“Zhou Qian…?”
Zhou Qian smiled, pulling Bai Zhou forward as they walked. “Yes, I overlooked it. You’ve been isolated for seven years…”
“Fortunately, I live the most worldly life. I like wealth and splendor, love schemes, and playing with people’s feelings. I understand this world and society very well.”
“Now, get to know me again.”
“After we leave this game, I’ll reintroduce you to the real world.”
……
Behind the two, He Xiaowei witnessed Zhou Qian’s actions.
He shivered slightly, turning to Hidden Blade and remarked, “Sometimes Qian’er can be so cheesy. But, it’s hard to tell whether he’s being sincere or just pretending.”
Hidden Blade: “…Don’t you see?”
He Xiaowei: “See what?”
Hidden Blade: “Never mind. Just be careful when we go to the tattoo shop.”
He Xiaowei: “Got it, Master!”
At the hotel lobby, Tour Guide Hua raised a small flag cheerfully and waved it at the players. “Let’s head to the tattoo shop!”
The staff hadn’t appeared yet to guide players into Hall C, and two groups of players gathered in distinct areas of the rest area.
Zhou Qian and his group of four were standing close to the merchandise counter, discussing in detail the scenarios they had each experienced. As always, Bai Zhou spoke little, while Hidden Blade was pretending to be aloof, leaving most of the talking to Zhou Qian and He Xiaowei.
While narrating, Zhou Qian recalled the entire sequence of events, especially the words spoken by Ke Zheng. Those words were uttered the day they killed Ruan Mei during lunchtime.
Ruan Mei had used a car to kill a child, and the next day at noon, Ke Zheng and Ke Yun accompanied her back to the villa and even had lunch with her.
At that time, Ruan Mei acted like she was filled with remorse, as if she might commit suicide at any moment. To console her, Ke Zheng had said, “A’Mei, don’t think too much. Maybe… Maybe this is the fate of the Ke family. My parents offended someone, and that person cursed us, saying our Ke family would have no descendants.”
“Everyone from the older generation knows about this. That’s why, see, mom and dad don’t blame you. We don’t blame you. Once we’re done with everything, I’ll accompany my parents to the temple to pray and find an expert to solve all this.”
Recalling this, Zhou Qian said, “Actually, after hearing this, I was convinced I had enough information to kill Ruan Mei.”
He Xiaowei, puzzled, asked, “What information? I’m lost. A curse? Damn, are there fantasy elements in this scenario?”
“No. In my view, this clue isn’t pointing towards fantasy. After all, everything we’ve encountered so far doesn’t relate to fantasy at all. Regarding this story, I always had two questions. First, how did Ruan Mei get acquitted in reality? Second, among the seven bodies in the exhibition hall, one has the surname ‘Xu’ instead of ‘Ke’. How is this different surname related to the story?”
“Now I think, if I combine these two questions, I can form a hypothesis—”
Pausing for a moment, Zhou Qian continued, “In our scenario, Ma Luoluo and Meng Pingping, who chose not to adopt the surname ‘Ke’, became adopted sons of the Ke family. They died first, purely due to their foolishness. But in the real storyline, this adopted child might not have been the first to die, but the last.”
He Xiaowei asked, “Ah? Why?”
Zhou Qian explained, “Ruan Mei got acquitted, and part of the reason was indeed due to the outdated investigative methods of that era. However, she would eventually make mistakes as she continued committing crimes. Why could she kill as many as seven people? I suspect it has to do with the influence of her in-laws. Did the Ke family always help her by hiring the best lawyers and even use other methods to assist her every time she became a suspect?”
“Considering this perspective, there’s another question.”
“Ke Yun and Ke Zheng trust Ruan Mei because they’ve been close to her and were truly deceived by her. But it’s unreasonable for their parents to trust Ruan Mei so deeply. The relationship between in-laws and daughter-in-law isn’t usually this harmonious.”
“Hence, the words Ke Zheng said during lunch became critical. He specifically mentioned the reason his parents believed in Ruan Mei and were willing to use the Ke family’s power to help her—they believed the Ke family was cursed.”
Ruan Mei appeared perfect to everyone, and she never complained about her life. Not only Ke Yun and Ke Zheng trusted her, but so did the neighbors. Ruan Mei often made pastries for the neighbors and even helped them with their gardens. Thus, apart from Ke Yun and Ke Zheng, when the neighbors who had more contact with Ruan Mei were questioned by the police, they all spoke highly of her.
However, it was unreasonable for everyone to trust Ruan Mei so blindly. For a prominent family like the Ke’s, they value their descendants. Under normal circumstances, the two elders of the Ke family wouldn’t believe everything Ruan Mei said, let alone use significant resources to help their son protect her.
But if they were highly superstitious and believed the successive deaths of their grandchildren were due to the curse, the story becomes more plausible.
Zhou Qian said, “Why Ke Zheng’s parents believed in the curse so deeply wasn’t explored in our scenario. But their belief in the curse probably stemmed from some wrongdoings in their youth. Considering the era, it’s quite possible for them to have done questionable things to become prosperous.”
He Xiaowei nodded in agreement. “Yes, that makes sense. Faced with the deaths of their children, Ke Zheng’s parents would feel very guilty. They not only wouldn’t suspect Ruan Mei but might even fear her blaming them.”
“Right. Following this line of thinking…” Zhou Qian said, “What do you think would change the perspective of Ke Zheng’s parents?”
He Xiaowei paused for a moment, then slapped his thigh enthusiastically. “I’ve got it! The issue of a different surname emerges at this moment! At first, only Ke Zheng and Ruan Mei’s biological children died, which led the elders to firmly believe it was some kind of curse in action. But when a child with a different surname died, they began to sense something was off.”
“Exactly,” Zhou Qian concurred. “If Exhibition Hall A displays all the victims who died at Ruan Mei’s hands, then she has undoubtedly killed seven people.”
“I suspect that the first six who died had the surname ‘Ke’, and only the last one was the adopted son with the surname ‘Xu’.”
“In this way, the story becomes more logically consistent. When the first six died, investigative methods were rudimentary, and with the protection of the Ke family, Ruan Mei was never implicated. However, after even the Ke family’s adopted son died, the old couple began to doubt that the curse had anything to do with it. They stopped shielding Ruan Mei and even began investigating her discreetly. Ultimately, Ruan Mei was likely captured.”
“Of course, this is just speculation. This is the only relevance I could think of for the ‘different surname’ clue. It’s a subtle hint—hinting that Ruan Mei had been arrested.”
At this point, thinking of the real and fresh corpses in the exhibition hall, Zhou Qian’s gaze turned grave, adding, “At least in the normal timeline and the course of history, she should have been arrested and perhaps even executed.”
“The normal timeline… What do you mean by that?”
Facing He Xiaowei’s question, Zhou Qian didn’t respond. He glanced at the four members of the Invincible Legion nearby, then turned to Bai Zhou. He had crucial information that he didn’t want the others to hear, so he chose to withhold it for now.
Bai Zhou understood Zhou Qian’s meaning and promptly sent him a private message. “I agree with your perspective. If we hypothesize this way, this exhibition hall isn’t quite simple.”
“Isn’t it just simple?”
Zhou Qian replied privately, “From the moment we entered that mini-game and found out it was the exhibition’s ‘virtual game’, I felt something was off. By the way, Zhou Ge, the instance we’re in is called ‘Harbor City 2301’. Does that mean the year 2301?”
Bai Zhou nodded. “Yes.”
Zhou Qian: “Then I have a bold speculation.”
The players were transported to a so-called virtual game in the exhibition hall, not the actual crime scene. So, what was the deal with the seven corpses in the exhibition hall?
The seven corpses couldn’t have been killed by Ruan Mei in a short span. This could be inferred from the varying death states of the corpses and based on Ruan Mei’s motive for murder.
After her eldest daughter Ke Xue passed away, Ruan Mei experienced an unprecedented level of attention. With a theatrical personality, she relished this attention.
Her unfulfilling family life made her psychologically twisted, leading to a horrifying notion: killing a child would get her the attention she craved.
If she killed all the children at once, Ruan Mei would receive attention only once. Naturally, she wouldn’t do that.
So, every few months or even a year, Ruan Mei would kill a child. Only after the attention from the last child’s death waned would she kill another.
The question now was—why were the very real-seeming corpses, who died at different times and in different manners, all found in the same place?
The scenario wasn’t unique to Exhibition Hall A; it was the same in Hall B. According to He Xiaowei, he was scared out of his wits upon entering Hall B-2.
As he and Hidden Blade entered, the lights suddenly came on, and he heard a crisp sound. Looking down, he realized he had stepped on a very fresh eyeball. Meanwhile, Hidden Blade accidentally touched a piece of flesh, which immediately bled, staining his shoelaces red.
Everything in that hall, from the eyeball to the dismembered bodies, was fresh, like a real crime scene.
Zhou Qian had initially thought that maybe the killer had just committed the murders and then fled, leaving the bodies behind in the exhibition hall. But this idea seemed illogical now.
The only outlandish theory that could explain everything came to Zhou Qian’s mind.
He said to Bai Zhou, “Perhaps this exhibition hall has some ability… to let items traverse through time. Or it’s situated in a unique space where different timelines overlap. Using Exhibition Hall A as an example, the corpses displayed in different halls could be from different timelines.”
For instance, if Ruan Mei suffocated an infant named Ke Hua in her bedroom in January 1993, that small temporal fragment of the room could have overlapped with the space of Exhibit A-1 in Blue Harbor City in 2331. Thus, when Zhou Qian and his group entered Hall A-1, the corpse they saw wasn’t from 2331 but from 1993.
The logic for other halls would be similar. If a drowned baby died in June 1994, then when they reached the corresponding hall, what they saw was a corpse from that specific time in June 1994.
Different numbered exhibition halls represented different classifications, pointing to different serial killers. The various halls inside each exhibition guide the players through paths leading to different times.
On the surface, Zhou Qian and his group were observing Halls 1 to 7 of Exhibition Hall A, but in reality, they were directly facing the seven victims from seven different timelines.
“Right, it should be good like this.”
Bai Zhou said, “The exhibition hall can connect different spaces. Then this brings up another issue. In this instance setting, can history be changed? This matter is of utmost importance.”
“I agree with you. The term ‘different surname’ and the superstitious information about Ke Zheng’s parents imply that in the original time-space, Ruan Mei was arrested. Normally, she would be sentenced to death. However, perhaps this exhibition hall will change her fate.”
As Bai Zhou spoke, Zhou Qian stood up and glanced down the corridor.
What Zhou Qian was looking at was the direction of Exhibition Hall A. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Let’s make a bold assumption… If we are going to see Ruan Mei, then she isn’t just an NPC from a so-called virtual game, but the real her.”
……
10 minutes later.
Deep within a pitch-black corridor, a section suddenly lit up.
Everyone then saw that there was another hall up ahead, labeled D.
The sign with the letter “D” flashed with a white light and quickly dimmed.
Soon after, three people came out from there. They all looked like zombies, clearly having gone through something horrifying.
A worker in a white dress appeared out of thin air, guiding the three people to a resting area. She said, “There are now 11 visitors. The requirements for opening Hall C have been met. Considering some people just came out of Hall D and need a rest, I’ll invite everyone to proceed to Hall C in a quarter of an hour. Please wait a moment.”
Seeing this, Zhou Qian signaled He Xiaowei.
He Xiaowei got the hint and quickly walked towards the three people, presumably to gather some information from them.
However, the three people sat down and began to sob inconsolably.
After waiting for a full 15 minutes, He Xiaowei couldn’t find an opportunity to speak and had to give up.
So, Zhou Qian and the others temporarily didn’t find out what they had experienced in Hall D.
15 minutes later, a group of 11 “visitors” finally entered Hall C.
The door to Hall C opened and then closed, trapping all the players inside.
The first exhibition room was labeled C-1, styled exactly like Hall A Zhou Qian had previously visited— the ceiling, floor, and walls were all uniform white.
However, there weren’t any corpses. Only a lamp was present.
The lamp was placed alone in the center of the room. The shade was beautiful, with a lovely pattern and many colors, including blue, purple, and green… The mingling of these colors formed countless hues, like a fine piece of art.
Upon closer inspection, it resembled the feather of a peacock with its tail fanned out.
Although the pattern was colorful, the lampshade itself was a dark yellow, reminiscent of aged paper.
As a result, the white light from within took on a warm yellow tone, a somewhat gloomy hue.
Next to the lamp on the floor was a placard with two characters: “Meng Lin.”
“Fuck, what does this mean? Is the deceased a lamp?”
“But it’s better than Hall B. That place was disgusting. Forget about NPCs, I might not eat meat for three months!” He Xiaowei exclaimed as he reached out to grab the lamp. However, Zhou Qian slapped his hand away.
Rubbing his sore hand, He Xiaowei looked at Zhou Qian in grievance. “Why did you hit me?”
Zhou Qian warned him, “Don’t touch these things. Who knows if this instance might be a fantasy-based scenario.”
He Xiaowei: “Really?”
Zhou Qian blinked. “Yeah. Rub the lamp three times, and you might summon Aladdin.”
Three seconds later, He Xiaowei exclaimed, “Qian’er, you’re pulling my leg again, aren’t you!”
Zhou Qian pulled He Xiaowei aside, saying softly, “To find clues and gather as much information as possible, we have to go to every exhibition room. But a friendly reminder, don’t touch anything. If you really need to, wear gloves. By the way—”
“Do you have any invisible gloves or similar items?”
“Oh, I do. I’ll get it for you.”
He Xiaowei indeed took out a pair of invisible gloves and handed them to Zhou Qian. “But why?”
“I’ll tell you once I’m sure. Just remember this. Don’t let the other players notice.” Zhou Qian quickly put on the gloves and extended his hand to He Xiaowei. “Give me another pair.”
He Xiaowei: ?
Zhou Qian: “I need another pair for 137.”
He Xiaowei: “But they’re a Rank God player. What props don’t they have? Why would they need my stuff?”
Zhou Qian straightforwardly asked, “So, can I have it?”
He Xiaowei sighed. “… Fine, take it.”
“You’re such a great person, Xiaowei Ge. Worthy of being the favorite in our team. Oh, I haven’t introduced Xiao Qi to you yet. With your friendly personality, he’ll like you as much as I do—”
Before Zhou Qian could finish, the collar of his colorful robe was suddenly hooked by a finger.
Turning around, Zhou Qian saw Bai Zhou.
Bai Zhou, holding onto Zhou Qian’s collar, led him back to the lamp.
“What’s the matter?” Zhou Qian asked.
Bai Zhou simply said, “There’s something on the lamp.”
Zhou Qian glanced and saw that the other seven had already rushed to the second hall. He handed the gloves he got from He Xiaowei to Bai Zhou and then picked up the lampshade.
Having already examined the lampshade itself, Zhou Qian now focused on its base.
There was indeed something there.
Zhou Qian found a symbol engraved at the bottom— “卐”.
“Did the others also see this?” Zhou Qian asked Bai Zhou.
Bai Zhou nodded, then seemed hesitant to speak.
Placing down the lamp, Zhou Qian curiously asked him, “What’s wrong? Do you have any thoughts about this symbol?”
Bai Zhou shook his head and began walking towards Exhibition Hall 2.
Zhou Qian followed with surprise. “What were you going to say?”
“Nothing.” Bai Zhou slowed down and finally said, “I have many gloves like this.”
Zhou Qian: “Huh?”
Bai Zhou: “You can ask me for them.”
Zhou Qian: “Alright. 69%.”
Bai Zhou: “?”
Zhou Qian, hooking his arm around Bai Zhou’s neck, directed him towards Exhibition Hall 2. “Never mind. Let’s move to the next hall!”
Exhibition Hall 2 indeed had a body.
The corpse’s head was covered with a nylon bag, and all four limbs were tied.
The body was in a twisted posture; the limbs completely deformed, as if someone had brutally beaten and forcibly broken them, then molded them into a specific shape.
Removing the nylon bag revealed the head was bludgeoned beyond recognition, making it almost impossible to determine the gender.
However, after removing the clothes for examination, it was evident the corpse was male. A particular mutilation made almost every male present feel a chill down their spine—a part of him had been cruelly cut off.
The victim appeared to have been beaten to death, and the state of the corpse, including the treatment it received, hinted at a mysterious ritualistic intent. Turning the body over confirmed their suspicions—there was a pentagram on his back.
Zhou Qian heard Bai Zhou whisper in his ear, “The pentagram is inverted.”
He Xiaowei, following close behind with sharp ears, overheard and immediately asked, “Why?”
Zhou Qian explained, “A normal pentagram has a single point at the top. An inverted one has two points up. This is a reversed pentagram.”
“What’s the significance?” He Xiaowei couldn’t help but ask.
Bai Zhou replied, “There’s a belief that the inverted pentagram leads people to hell. It’s the symbol of Satanism.”
Zhou Qian glanced at Bai Zhou, now communicating with him privately through a messaging tool. “Considering our earlier theory about the exhibition hall’s temporal overlap, we might be seeing a corpse from the past. We just can’t see the exact environment where it existed. If this truly involves Satan… perhaps he was tied to an inverted cross, which we can’t see.”
“It’s possible,” Bai Zhou said.
Exhibition Hall C had a total of 13 halls. Six of them contained no corpses and were filled with an artistic aura, similar to the lamp in Hall 1.
The other seven had bodies, both male and female, each with a nylon bag over their heads. While their manner of death was somewhat similar, the treatment of their bodies varied. If the treatment of the man in Hall 2 was akin to a punishment, what the women faced was completely different, suggesting a sinister ritualistic motive.
After visiting all 12 halls, the players returned to Hall 1.
[Welcome to Hall C of the “Murder Exhibition”]
[Face the horrors of humanity once again!]
[The museum owner believes that after your visit, your ability to protect yourself will be greatly enhanced!]
[This time, your experience spans four days. Your goal: to still be alive after four days.]
After these lines appeared, the scene shifted, and the players found themselves in an entirely unfamiliar city. Before them stood a 12-story hotel.
Amidst the dark night, a bright sign on the side of the hotel stood out, reading: [Saiya Hotel.]
[System Judgment: Players will not face any more danger and have completed the level ahead of time.]
As the system notification appeared, Zhou Qian realized something and immediately grabbed Bai Zhou’s wrist, seemingly instinctively not wanting him to be tainted by the blood. Just like years ago, he didn’t want Bai Zhou to be present at Zhang Yanjun’s villa.
However, his reaction was too late, and he watched as half of Bai Zhou’s body was stained red.
The young Bai Zhou was covered in blood.
Zhou Qian was instantly reminded of that day more than a decade ago.
That day, Bai Zhou, who had been alone at Zhang Yanjun’s villa and whom he hadn’t seen himself, did he look like he did now?
After a brief moment of distraction, Zhou Qian noticed the bloody scene dissipate, and Bai Zhou’s height and facial features reverted back to those of an adult.
Through the corner of his eye, he realized they were back in the exhibition hall.
Their positions remained unchanged.
He had Bai Zhou’s wrist in his grip, while Bai Zhou’s other hand was still resting on his shoulder.
The distance between the two was close but not overly intimate.
It seemed like they were leaning on each other yet also engaged in a silent standoff.
The underlying tension was palpable, as if on the brink of a breakthrough or collapse in a split second.
At that moment, Zhou Qian didn’t feel like they had just returned from a virtual game to the real-world exhibit hall. He felt like he and Bai Zhou had time-traveled from when they were ten to the present. The setting changed, time and space intertwined.
Yet their gazes remained unchanged throughout, giving Zhou Qian the illusion that not much time had passed between them.
After looking at Bai Zhou silently for a moment, Zhou Qian was about to speak when he was interrupted by a staff member at the entrance to Hall 1.
He turned his head and saw the eerie-looking worker.
She smiled and said, “Exhibition Hall A is closing. Everyone, please leave immediately. There’s a resting area ahead where you can relax. The next hall will open soon. Please wait patiently.”
Without realizing, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou let go of each other’s hands. Zhou Qian glanced at Bai Zhou, then at Ke Si and Ke Shi, and nudged Bai Zhou’s arm. “Let’s go.”
Three minutes later, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou left Hall A and returned to the corridor they had first entered.
Previously, there were two signs lit up, marked “A” and “B”.
Now, the “A” hall sign had dimmed, indicating it was temporarily closed.
“B” displayed a sinister red, likely meaning “currently being viewed, no entry allowed”.
Deeper down the previously dark corridor, two white signs illuminated, one marked “C” and the other “Resting Area”.
The long-haired worker in a white dress appeared like a ghost, guiding the players to the resting area.
“Each hall has a limit on the number of visitors. Your group has completed Hall A, but Hall B is still ongoing. Once they exit, if the number meets the requirement, you’ll be guided to Hall C.
“If not, you’ll have to wait.”
After saying this, the lady in white disappeared, leaving only Zhou Qian and the three others who had come from Hall A.
Sitting side by side with Bai Zhou on a couch, Zhou Qian looked at the rows of snack cabinets filled with drinks, snacks, and fruits, along with some boxed fast food. There were even microwaves on the tables.
These items had to be purchased using the universal currency of Blue Harbor City.
In the game, ten gold coins could only be exchanged for one Blue Harbor coin.
Ke Si and Ke Shi, whose real names were Liu Wansan and Jian Erdan, probably feeling hungry and thirsty, approached the snack cabinets but were quickly deterred by the prices.
“These prices are way too high, aren’t they?”
“Exactly! If it was in-game gold, it’d be one thing, but this is Blue Harbor currency! In reality, drinking water costs hundreds of thousands!”
“Forget it. Let’s bear with it. In the next exhibit, we’ll find NPCs for free stuff…”
Hearing this conversation, Zhou Qian turned to Bai Zhou beside him and joked, “Zhou Ge, you’ve been in the game for so long. You must be loaded, right?”
Bai Zhou replied, “You don’t eat fast food. Shall I get you some fruit?”
Zhou Qian responded, “No need. The prices are clearly a rip-off. The system shop has snacks and mineral water.”
“The system shop doesn’t have fruits,” Bai Zhou retorted. “Do you want an apple or an orange?”
“How about one of each?”
“Okay.”
Watching Bai Zhou go to buy the fruits, Zhou Qian smiled.
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind him—
“Qian’er?”
“Wuwuwu… Qian’er!”
Hm? Had He Xiaowei and the others finally emerged?
Zhou Qian turned around and indeed saw He Xiaowei.
He Xiaowei ran over with tears streaming down his face. The moment he saw Zhou Qian, tears gushed even more. He rushed over and hugged Zhou Qian tightly, crying out, “Qian’er! I thought I’d never see you again! You don’t understand; that instance was so terrifying! Ahh, a murderous maniac! I almost didn’t escape… Wuwuwu…”
“Calm down, calm down.” Zhou Qian patted him on the shoulder, then looked up to see Hidden Blade coming from behind.
Hidden Blade didn’t look well either. It seemed that the instance was indeed tough.
Behind Hidden Blade was the bald man.
Now, only one henchman was following the bald man. Both of them looked utterly defeated, like they’d been taught a lesson by the instance.
When they reached the rest area and saw only Liu Wansan and Jian Erdan behind Zhou Qian, they realized that everyone else, like Ma Luoluo and Meng Pingping, had died. The bald man almost collapsed but was caught just in time by his last remaining henchman.
They both sat on the floor, looking pale and completely different from when they first entered the instance. Before, the bald man had been the proud leader of the “Invincible Legion.” Now, his arrogance was entirely gone.
Zhou Qian glanced mockingly at the bald man, then turned to He Xiaowei. “So, what happened to you guys?”
He Xiaowei sobbed. “Serial killings… The killer was so twisted. You have no idea…”
Another serial killing? Could it be that in this exhibition, all the criminals had killed multiple people?
As Zhou Qian was about to ask something else, an apple appeared between him and He Xiaowei. It was from Bai Zhou.
Turning around, Zhou Qian looked at Bai Zhou. With a blink, Bai Zhou grabbed his wrist and pulled him over.
Moments later, Zhou Qian was out of He Xiaowei’s reach, seated on a nearby sofa. An apple was thrust into his hand, and Bai Zhou, sitting next to him, said casually, “Eat the apple.”
After glancing at Bai Zhou’s expression, Zhou Qian chuckled.
Without saying anything, he took a bite of the apple, and the number in his mind dropped to 60%. However, before he could take another bite, Hidden Blade came over. He said something to Bai Zhou with a serious face, who then got up and walked away with him, engaging in a quiet conversation.
Zhou Qian glanced at them, took another big bite of the apple, and frowned as the number rapidly increased to 71.2%.
He Xiaowei seemed oblivious to what had just happened.
He moved closer and sat beside Zhou Qian again. When he held onto Zhou Qian’s arm, his hands were still trembling from fear. Zhou Qian comforted him for a while before He Xiaowei finally relaxed.
After listening to He Xiaowei’s story, Zhou Qian got a rough idea about the instance they experienced.
In that story, a killer targeted prostitutes, claiming that all desires in this world were embodiments of sin. His purpose was to rid the world of passion and desire, cleansing humanity.
Zhou Qian snorted in disdain. “This killer is probably a woman-hating pervert. He comes up with high-sounding reasons, but they don’t hold up. Why doesn’t he target the clients?”
He Xiaowei, now a bit recovered, said, “Exactly! If he’s doing the godly work of cleaning up the world, why doesn’t he kill men? Anyway, he’s just twisted.”
“Wait a minute—” Suddenly, Zhou Qian grinned. “So, after entering that instance, you became…?”
He Xiaowei’s face turned red.
Zhou Qian pressed on, “It’s a pity I didn’t see it. Was it fun dressing as a woman, Xiaowei Ge?”
“Ahh, Qian’er! Don’t tease me! I was terrified!”
“The scenes after the murders… I won’t speak of it. Knowing that a killer is after you at any moment is scarier than ghosts! How can some humans become so terrifying?”
After rambling for a while, He Xiaowei seemed to remember something important and looked at Zhou Qian. “By the way, there’s something I never told you.”
Curious, Zhou Qian asked, “What is it?”
He Xiaowei said, “I was afraid of offending some big shot and didn’t dare to tell you. But I’ve come close to dying multiple times. During those moments, my mind was filled with regrets. One of those regrets involves you. I think I should tell you. Just in case you encounter him… If because I didn’t warn you, something happens to you… I would regret it for the rest of my life. I couldn’t bear it!”
Zhou Qian became more intrigued. “What is it?”
Grasping Zhou Qian’s wrist tightly, He Xiaowei said with deep concern, “In the ‘Last Wish’ instance, remember when you fainted? A creature resembling a dragon appeared. After it wrapped you up…”
Suddenly, He Xiaowei stopped talking. Zhou Qian urged, “What? Why did you stop?”
He then noticed He Xiaowei staring straight ahead, mouth agape, frozen in place.
Confused, Zhou Qian instinctively looked back, only to see Bai Zhou and Hidden Blade behind him. Bai Zhou was leisurely peeling an orange, while Hidden Blade chuckled awkwardly. “Haha, I wanted to get a potion to replenish my disciple’s state, but accidentally used the wrong prop and froze him. Ha… ha… ha…”
Upon hearing that, Zhou Qian raised an eyebrow and quickly narrowed his eyes. He swiftly stood up, grabbed Bai Zhou’s wrist, and took him aside, staring intently into Bai Zhou’s dark eyes.
When the two of them were together, Zhou Qian was always the talkative one, while Bai Zhou spoke little.
This time, Zhou Qian remained silent, just staring at Bai Zhou. After a moment, Bai Zhou finally asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Zhou Ge, you’re being sneaky.” Zhou Qian questioned, “What did you do to me?”
Bai Zhou’s gaze drifted to the center of Zhou Qian’s forehead. After observing it for a moment, he lifted his left hand, deliberately pressing his thumb against it. Quickly, he withdrew his hand. Just as Zhou Qian was about to press him further, Bai Zhou popped a piece of peeled orange into his mouth.
Zhou Qian: “…”
Bai Zhou: “Is it still sour?”
Zhou Qian: “……”
On the nearby sofa, He Xiaowei was paralyzed. He glanced down and noticed a system notification flashing before him:
[Player 137 used the prop on you: One, Two, Three, Wooden Statues*]
*This is referring to the game Red Light, Green Light, which has a variety of different names depending on which country you’re in. You can read the rules on Wikipedia.
[Effect: Unable to speak or move. Anyone who makes eye contact with you for more than ten seconds will be infected and turn into a wooden mannequin too, which will be released after 30 seconds.]
[Item Time Limit: 30 seconds.]
Once the effect wore off, He Xiaowei looked at Hidden Blade in horror. “Master…”
Hidden Blade patted him on the shoulder. “Talk less, do more.”
He Xiaowei: “I was just warning my brother! Last time, out of nowhere, a dragon suddenly appeared and kissed him. He was molested—”
Before he could finish, Hidden Blade hurriedly covered his mouth, his face showing a broken expression.
What…what?
What did He Xiaowei say?
What did 137 do?!
My God, he is…?
Why did He Xiaowei tell me this? If something happens, won’t I be implicated?!
It took a full minute for Hidden Blade to calm his internal turmoil. He cleared his throat and seriously said to He Xiaowei, “For the next instance, you must remain silent.”
He Xiaowei: “?”
Hidden Blade: “I am testing your composure. It’s up to you to pass.”
He Xiaowei: “…”
……
In the corner of the rest area on a sofa, the name “Ke Si” above his head had disappeared, revealing the real name Liu Wansan. Pretending to be afraid and despondent, he observed the others.
Not far away, Zhou Qian, 137, Hidden Blade, and He Xiaowei were discussing something. Nearby, their leader, the bald Batu Fei, and his henchman Chen Dami sat on the ground, looking defeated.
After a while, Batu Fei suddenly sat up aggressively, glaring viciously in Zhou Qian’s direction. However, his fury didn’t last long, as his eyes soon filled with fear again.
He entered this instance to pursue and kill Zhou Qian, resulting in the loss of many of his comrades.
So, he directed all his hatred towards Zhou Qian.
He desperately wanted to kill Zhou Qian to vent all his fear, anger, and resentment.
Yet, he was also afraid. He suddenly realized that he might not even have the courage to enter the next instance.
Liu Wansan observed all this with a slight downward curve at the corner of his mouth.
He didn’t speak immediately but rather opened the system panel, preparing for the next instance.
On the system panel that only he could see, his name wasn’t Liu Wansan, but Wen Bin.
In the virtual game at Exhibition Hall A, that night, he jumped from a car to evade a potentially fatal situation. He then ran with all his might, managing to return to the mountaintop villa within the stipulated time.
Of course, he didn’t enter the villa right away but chose to watch from behind a tree.
During this time, he noticed “Ke Shi” Jian Erdan and the real “Ke Si” Liu Wansan coming out.
After the two conducted some checks in the yard, Jian Erdan went to the backyard, leaving Liu Wansan alone in the front yard.
Seizing this opportunity, Wen Bin tried using a particular tool.
There were two paths before Wen Bin at that time.
The first was to openly appear in front of everyone, but that meant he would have to bow down to Zhou Qian and even beg him in every way possible.
Wen Bin knew that if he intended to stir things up, he had a chance to harm everyone. Therefore, Zhou Qian might not necessarily disagree with him joining forces. But Zhou Qian would surely act condescendingly, perhaps even mocking him.
Thus, unless absolutely necessary, Wen Bin wouldn’t choose this path.
His ideal choice was the second path.
But to tread this path, there was a precondition: He had to gamble on whether a treasured prop he had could be used in this instance.
This instance was extremely unfavorable to players. Players who thought they had figured out a way to avoid dangers could easily face death if not careful.
The instance was not only full of traps, but there were also strict restrictions on items.
Offensive items, strong defensive items, life-saving items, and escape items like the Universe Teleportation Mirror were all prohibited.
However, Wen Bin discovered that the tools for private chats between players were still functional. Based on this, he took a gamble and pulled out the [Identity Duplication Camera].
[Item Function: Aim the lens on the card at the target and take a frontal photo to capture their appearance, physique, voice, etc. The photo will slide out after 30 seconds. Place it on your forehead for 30 seconds, and you can disguise yourself as the person in the photo.]
[Disguise Time Limit: 24 hours]
[Note: The camera film is consumable and can only take three photos.]
The private chat prop was for players to use among themselves. So was this identity duplication prop.
Taking a deep breath, Wen Bin aimed the camera at “Ke Si” Liu Wansan, who was wandering around the yard. With a soft “click”, the shutter was pressed. The faint sound quickly blended into the night, carried away by the wind, leaving no trace.
30 seconds later, a photo slid out of the camera, slowly developing like a Polaroid.
Wen Bin pressed the photo against his forehead, and when he removed it, he had transformed into Liu Wansan, even having the title “Ke Si” above his head.
What Wen Bin needed to do next was to completely replace Liu Wansan’s identity. He continued to hide behind the tree, waiting for the right moment. About three minutes later, he seized his chance.
The real Liu Wansan approached where Wen Bin was hiding, which was near the front gate. Seeing this, Wen Bin picked up a stone and threw it towards the gate. As expected, Liu Wansan was alerted by the noise and approached the gate to investigate. Seizing the moment, Wen Bin sprinted forward and pushed Liu Wansan hard from behind.
Caught off guard, Liu Wansan fell forward, his upper body tumbling out of the front gate. Without hesitation, Wen Bin quickly grabbed Liu Wansan’s ankles and shoved him completely out of the gate.
Due to stepping out of the plot’s designated area, Liu Wansan quickly vanished. Fortunately, in this instance, the system didn’t announce players’ deaths in real-time, and Wen Bin breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, “Ke Shi” Jian Erdan ran over from the backyard. “I heard some noise. Is everything alright?”
Wen Bin looked at him, smiling and shaking his head. “It’s fine.”
Shortly after, Zhou Qian pushed open the villa’s main door and walked over. “How did your inspection go? I’ll review it with you once more and then tell you what we should do tomorrow.”
Successfully posing as Liu Wansan, with all his features, including the title “Ke Si” above his head, Wen Bin approached Zhou Qian. “We’re almost done. I’m really nervous. What exactly should we do tomorrow?”
……
Blue Harbor City, 1993.
Ke Family Mansion.
Ke Zheng retrieved the latest newspaper from the mailbox at the entrance. After scouring through it, he found the piece of information he was most eager to know—”According to police disclosures, there has been new progress in the city’s major serial child murder case. Numerous fingerprints have been extracted from the children’s bodies. There seems to be another suspect. The truth remains to be uncovered. Ruan Mei has been acquitted.”
It really wasn’t A’Mei…
He had always said so: How could Ruan Mei commit such a crime? It was impossible.
Ke Zheng let out a long sigh of relief.
By noon, there was a knock at the door.
Ke Zheng immediately opened it, welcoming Ruan Mei inside and holding her tightly. “Thank goodness you’re okay. Welcome home!”
Ruan Mei replied with a smile, “I’m fine. You can go to work. I’ll take care of the house.”
In the afternoon, Ruan Mei saw Ke Zheng off to work.
The only child they had left at home had been sent to Ke Yun for care.
Thus, after her husband left, the house felt eerily empty.
Ruan Mei went to the master bedroom on the second floor and sat quietly by the bed. After a moment, she noticed the straight baseboard at the corner of the wall in front of her bend slightly. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she found herself in Exhibition Hall 7 of the Blue Harbor City 2301 Exhibition Center.
The pitch-black hall slowly illuminated, and all the bodies of infants and children vanished. A short-haired staff member in a red dress approached her.
“Are you satisfied with everything we’ve done for you?” the staff member asked.
“I had already been arrested by the police. I thought I was facing the death penalty…”
Ruan Mei looked at her. “How did you manage this?”
“Because we can change history,” the staff member replied with a smile, handing Ruan Mei a red ribbon. “Please wear it on your left hand.”
Ruan Mei accepted the ribbon and indeed wore it on her hand.
She then heard the staff member say, “Welcome to the Murder Exhibition Hall. Those without a ribbon on their hand can become suspects. When the time comes, we invite you to view them.”
“By then, you can choose a substitute to your liking. They can replace you and become the ‘past’ suspect.”
In the afternoon, there’s a thin layer of clouds in the sky. The strong sunlight fluctuated with the mountains of varying heights. Inside the living room, the air conditioning was turned up high. Technically, it wasn’t sweltering, but after Zhou Qian answered Ruan Mei’s question, Ke Shi’s back was layered with sweat. It wasn’t long before his shirt was completely drenched, as if it had been washed with water.
Ke Shi was waiting. He was waiting for Ruan Mei’s response and also waiting to see if the system would send any prompts. The scythe of Death was already hanging in front of his neck. It all depended on whether Zhou Qian’s guess was right and if he had won the bet.
In fact, it wasn’t until last night, after Zhou Qian explained the rules to him, that Ke Shi realized how terrifying this scenario was.
Then, he and Ke Si, as instructed by Zhou Qian, checked both the front and back yards. After their round, Zhou Qian joined them for another round before returning to the living room.
Zhou Qian leisurely sat down on the sofa. Both Ke Si and Ke Shi looked at him, letting out their long-held question. “How does the death judgment of this instance work? Why did you make us check so many times?”
“Ruan Mei can only kill under certain conditions, that is, she won’t be seen by her husband or others as the murderer,” Zhou Qian began. “So, she needs some objective conditions to mask her killings as ‘accidents’. You know this. But what you know is just part of it.”
Zhou Qian continued, “From another perspective, the key word of this scenario is ‘murderous intent’. If the objective conditions meet Ruan Mei’s criteria to kill the child, she will harbor the intent to kill. Once she has this intent, she will succeed, and the system will judge us as dead.”
“The system’s judgment is based on Ruan Mei’s subjective will. That’s the biggest challenge in this scenario.”
Hearing this, Ke Si couldn’t help but interject, “That’s too overbearing! It’s not reasonable!”
“It might be overbearing, but it is reasonable,” Zhou Qian replied. “In Ruan Mei’s eyes, we aren’t ‘players’; we’re children. You must understand—real children wouldn’t know in advance that Ruan Mei is a killer.”
Zhou Qian looked at Ke Shi and Ke Si’s expressions and further explained, “For example, if Ruan Mei pulled out a knife in front of a child with the intention to kill, it would be too obvious. The child isn’t stupid and would surely hide.”
“Plus, if she did kill the child with a knife, covering up the crime would be harder. She’d have to come up with an excuse like ‘an intruder broke into my house and killed my child with a knife’, which would leave too many inconsistencies.”
“For these reasons, Ruan Mei won’t kill this way. A knife won’t satisfy her conditions for murder, so it won’t trigger her murderous intent. Under these circumstances, the system won’t declare death.”
“But conversely, if Ruan Mei plans ahead, whether she smothers the children in their sleep or tricks them into a car to poison them with carbon monoxide…”
“As long as the objective factors align with what Ruan Mei believes she needs to commit murder, her intent to kill will be activated, and the system will judge us as dead.”
“That’s why I said that the system’s judgment depends on Ruan Mei’s subjective wishes.”
After pondering for a moment, Ke Si and Ke Shi seemed to have understood. They whispered amongst themselves for a bit before looking eagerly at Zhou Qian.
“We know what to do!” Ke Si exclaimed. “By your logic, something like a knife won’t trigger her intent to kill. So, can’t we just confront her with a knife? Even if we don’t have skills, can’t use aggressive items, and our strength is comparable to children, can’t the four of us overpower her?”
However, Zhou Qian replied, “No, you can’t just do that.”
“Why?!”
“Once Ruan Mei realizes our intentions, it will be even more unfavorable for us. Because we would be immediately deemed dead.”
“Why? Based on what?!”
“It seems you didn’t fully understand what I just said. Think carefully about the logic in it.”
After a while, seeing the expressions on Ke Si and Ke Shi, they apparently didn’t get it. Zhou Qian continued, “You forgot the most crucial sentence I said earlier—Ruan Mei’s subjective will determines how the system judges.”
“The example I gave earlier about the ‘knife’ is under normal circumstances. Once there’s a change, causing Ruan Mei’s subjective will to change, the ‘knife’ might trigger her intent to kill.”
“For instance, if Ruan Mei sees us trying to kill her with a knife, alarm bells will go off in her mind—”
“’Did the children find out everything I’ve done? Are they trying to kill me? In that case, I can’t set up so many traps. I have to kill them quickly!'”
By this point, looking deeply into Ke Si and Ke Shi’s eyes, Zhou Qian seriously said, “In such situations, Ruan Mei’s subjective intention and mindset change, and the objective factors triggering murderous intent change accordingly.”
“For us, this situation is the most unfavorable. Not only can things like the ‘knife,’ which wouldn’t normally incite her murderous intent, become something she could use to kill, she might not even need any tools to kill us.”
“Let me give you an extreme example. If Ruan Mei directly grabs a child and throws him violently to the ground and then covers up the act afterward, theoretically, could it all be disguised as an accident?”
“She wouldn’t need the so-called trap and designs anymore. Once the urge to kill arises, she directly throws the child to death, then she can pick up a toy gun and shoot a toy bullet into the child’s eye.”
“Afterward, she can claim that the children were playing with the toy gun, shot each other in the eye, and the one who got blinded accidentally fell down the stairs and died… This is also a type of ‘accident,’ right?”
“Therefore, once we confront Ruan Mei, she will immediately become murderous.”
“In such cases, ‘killing us’ is the top priority, and the illusion of an ‘accident’ can be remedied afterward. In her subjective will, as a mother, she could totally throw her child off a cliff…”
“Once she has this thought, without any additional tools, the system will make an immediate judgment, and we will directly die.”
By this point, Ke Si and Ke Shi were pale faced.
They finally understood Zhou Qian’s meaning—
Under normal circumstances, Ruan Mei wouldn’t choose to directly stab or throw a child to death because the success rate was low, the risk was high, and there would be more loopholes, making it harder for her to evade guilt.
Ruan Mei would prioritize the easiest method for her to kill. Based on that, if she could minimize suspicion, it would be even better.
But if situations became “abnormal,” Ruan Mei wouldn’t care anymore. Her primary goal was to kill, and concerns about evading guilt would only come afterward.
When the thought “I can kill now” emerged in Ruan Mei’s mind, the system would declare the player dead.
On the surface, it looked like players could directly confront Ruan Mei with a knife. But in reality, they couldn’t. In this scenario, players truly had no advantage.
No wonder… so many players failed in this instance.
Ke Si and Ke Shi felt utterly hopeless about clearing this challenge.
The two finally understood why Ke Er and Ke San decided to run. Those two realized this aspect and thought that staying far away from Ruan Mei was the real solution.
Unfortunately, they missed one point—they didn’t realize that the last two bodies in the exhibition hall died because of a “car”. They didn’t expect that Ruan Mei wouldn’t stay in the villa to kill the other children but instead drive after them.
After a long while, Ke Si, having thought of something, asked Zhou Qian again, “Can’t we just hide? If the four of us restrain each other and play hide and seek with Ruan Mei, leading her here and there, and then just pass the remaining time?”
Ke Shi added, “Or, simpler, can’t we just avoid all the traps? Go to the lake? No. Swing? No. Basically, just refuse whatever she suggests!”
Zhou Qian decisively replied, “Neither of your suggestions will work.”
Ke Si and Ke Shi: “Why?!”
Zhou Qian said, “Actually, the logic is the same as what I just said. If all the traps and plans of Ruan Mei are evaded by us, that’s also an ‘unconventional situation’. If her designed methods to kill can’t be used, she can only resort to the simplest and crudest means. She might think, ‘might as well just throw them off and kill them’. Once she thinks this way, the system will immediately determine us as dead.”
“The game of hide and seek is the same. If she can’t find someone, her mentality will change. For instance, she might think, ‘might as well burn down the whole villa’.”
“To sum it up, once Ruan Mei’s mentality changes, her criteria for killing also change. Once her ideal conditions related to killing become flexible, we are more likely to be directly determined as dead.”
Ke Si and Ke Shi felt a shiver down their spines. The more Zhou Qian explained, the more they felt doomed. This wasn’t a strange game; it was directly designed to kill the players.
In the afternoon, under the advice of Ke Er and Ke San, they carefully checked the toys, envisioned all possible traps related to killing, and tried to avoid them. But it turned out they could only hide temporarily. If they managed to dismantle all of Ruan Mei’s traps, she would resort to brute force.
Ke Si even said, “I might as well commit suicide. Who knows what Ruan Mei would do to me? What if she lets me suffocate in a car? Isn’t that torture?”
Ke Shi earnestly looked at Zhou Qian and said sincerely, “Qian Ge, what should we do? We are relying on you! Without you, we would probably die here.”
Zhou Qian said, “Once we see through the way the system determines death, it’s not hard. Ruan Mei’s mindset has two stages.”
“First, in the regular state, she would choose a more secure method, making everything look like ‘accidents’, harming people without a trace, to absolve herself.”
“Second, in an unconventional extreme state, she would kill in a crude way. Once this state is triggered, we’re likely to be directly judged as dead.”
“What we need to do is simple: prevent her from reaching the second state.”
“To achieve this, we should follow three points.”
“First, do not confront her directly. She shouldn’t find out we intend to kill her.”
“Second, don’t just play hide and seek, as she might get angry if she can’t find us.”
“Third, don’t reject all her suggestions, even if we know it might lead us to death.”
Ke Si asked, “I understand the first and second, but what about the third? How do we judge that?”
Ke Shi continued, “Yes, actually I understand the previous points. For example, the first night, there were children in the room, no other adults, there were pillows, which can be the three factors for the system’s judgment.”
“Last night, Ruan Mei was able to drive the children to the supermarket alone, and objective factors also made her feel she could kill.”
“But this situation in the villa is more complicated! There are no adults around now, and the factor of no witnesses already naturally exists! Those toys, swings, and such naturally exist. The reason why the system didn’t make a judgment is because…. Because…”
Ke Shi suddenly became lost for words.
Zhou Qian laughed and said, “Indeed, here in the villa, various factors that could provoke Ruan Mei’s intent to kill objectively exist. The system hasn’t determined it because there are too many ways to die.”
“If there are too many ways to die, the system wouldn’t know how to judge. So, when we choose a single ‘way to die’, we would immediately be judged as dead.”
“For example, if Ruan Mei proposes to go to the swing, once we agree, the system will probably determine that we are going to die immediately.”
Ke Shi exclaimed, “Oh god… I can’t see how we can survive at all.”
Zhou Qian replied, “If Ruan Mei makes suggestions related to the villa facilities or toys, we should decline, or we would be judged as dead. However, if she suggests going to the lakeside, we wouldn’t die.”
Ke Si asked, “Why?!”
Zhou Qian explained, “Agreeing to go to the lakeside won’t cause an immediate death. There are many ways to reach the lakeside, by car or walking. By car, we might suffocate; walking, she might push us off a cliff.”
“Understand? ‘Agreeing to go to the lakeside’ isn’t deadly, which is why we haven’t been judged dead in the villa because it corresponds to various death methods, and the system can’t decide yet.”
Zhou Qian concluded, “Staying in this villa, we might encounter fire, gas explosions, gas poisoning, deadly toys… It’s impossible to guard against it. But if we go to the lake, there are many ways to die, but at least they can be anticipated.”
“In addition, there are children who drowned in the exhibition hall. Going to the lake will definitely be one of Ruan Mei’s suggestions. As long as we agree to this, we won’t have to decline all her suggestions, forcing her to desperately kill us directly.”
“Overall, going to the lakeside is the best choice.”
Ke Si and Ke Shi were eventually persuaded. “Agreed to ‘go to the lake’, and then?”
Zhou Qian said, “After that, before we leave the villa on the way to the lake, before Ruan Mei thinks ‘all the factors deliberately creating the appearance of an accident are in place, I can now start killing’, we will quietly kill her first.”
After this, not only did Ke Si and Ke Shi start to imagine ways to assassinate Ruan Mei, but Zhou Qian was also thinking.
First, spread oil, alcohol, and flammable materials on the road in advance, and then set Ruan Mei on fire when the time comes. But this carried a great risk.
No one could predict the movements of other adults and Ruan Mei the next day. If the trap was discovered in advance, it was likely to lead Ruan Mei to harbor a direct and brutal intent to kill. If the fire didn’t completely surround Ruan Mei and failed to kill her instantly, if she approached and smelled something… all of these could cause her mentality to shift, deciding to directly kill and afterward disguise it as an “accident”.
In that case, the system would determine that everyone was dead.
Secondly, make a bow and arrow overnight, find someone to ambush on the road downhill to the lake, and shoot.
This was also unreliable. Not to mention that players couldn’t leave the villa’s restricted area without interacting with NPCs, the tools in their villa were very limited. It wasn’t easy to create a tool that could kill with one hit.
Now they were all just kids. If the arrow wasn’t shot accurately, or because of craft issues, the arrow wasn’t sharp enough to kill immediately… As long as Ruan Mei was still breathing and harbored the “intent to kill”, the system might still determine that the players were dead.
……
After eliminating all other methods, in fact, only one method remains.
Zhou Qian spoke up, sharing his thoughts with Ke Si and Ke Shi. “This method is both difficult and simple. The ‘knife’ is a double-edged sword. I still hold my previous viewpoint. Under normal circumstances, it won’t invoke Ruan Mei’s intent to kill. Before she discovers everything, stab her with the ‘knife’. This is actually the most effective way to clear the stage.”
Upon hearing Zhou Qian’s words, both Ke Si and Ke Shi fell silent. Given the players’ current physical state, they were almost indistinguishable from real children.
It would be very difficult for them to kill an adult with a single stab. Furthermore, even if the knife pierced Ruan Mei’s heart, if she wasn’t killed instantly and realized what was happening, and harbored the intent to kill, the system, which judged based on her subjective intentions, might deem the players dead.
So, the person who would attempt to stab Ruan Mei must land a critical hit. Otherwise, not only would they be deemed dead immediately, all players would die with them.
Without any MP to use… who could confidently pull this off in the state of a child?
After both Ke Si and Ke Shi raised this concern, a voice responded, “I’ll do it.”
This time, it was Bai Zhou who answered.
Ke Si and Ke Shi turned to see Bai Zhou holding a bowl of shrimp soup, walking from the direction of the kitchen.
With a calm and gentle demeanor, he placed the bowl on the table in front of Zhou Qian. Without looking at Ke Si and Ke Shi, Bai Zhou looked at Zhou Qian and said, “You handle the preparations. I’ll take the final step.”
Zhou Qian scooped up a piece of shrimp and smiled at Bai Zhou. “So, you’re heeding my instructions now?”
Bai Zhou stared back. “It’s not about following your orders, but whether you trust me or not.”
According to Zhou Qian’s proposal, if there was the slightest error, everyone would die. This move required someone who could execute it flawlessly. With this in mind, Bai Zhou’s statement was really a question to Zhou Qian—whether he was willing to entrust his life to him.
“It’s said that a Rank God player is on the verge of entering the realm of the gods. If I were your Shepherd, you’d be my God, right?”
Zhou Qian offered the spoonful of shrimp to Bai Zhou and said with a mix of sincerity and jest, “Then this is my test for you, my God. Let’s see if you can pass.”
The conversation between Zhou Qian, Ke Si, and the others left the virtual hall spectators in shock.
“It’s over. If it were me, I’d definitely be dead.”
“Yeah, the answer ‘going to the water’s edge’ clearly leads to drowning. Everyone would think it’s a death trap! Who would think that it’s almost the only way out?”
“The game designer has a wicked sense of humor.”
“Do you guys feel that this 137 guy is getting weirder and weirder?”
“He’s especially weird towards Qian Ge.”
“Qian Ge is also a bit weird towards him. What did he mean by that? Usually, gods test humans, but he reversed it?”
“So what exactly is the relationship between this 137 and our Qian Ge…?”
……
Time returned to the present.
After Zhou Qian agreed to go to the lake, he looked at Ruan Mei and added, “We really want to go to the lake, but not by car. We want to walk down the mountain. There seem to be many butterflies on the path from the backyard, and we want to walk from there.”
Ruan Mei smiled at Zhou Qian and said, after a pause, “Alright. I’ll get some short T-shirts for you all.”
Hearing this, Ke Shi and Ke Si both let out a sigh of relief, completely relaxing.
Thus, 10 minutes later, Ruan Mei indeed changed the four “children” into short T-shirts. This almost entirely ruled out the possibility of players hiding anything on them.
“Let’s set off now!” Ruan Mei said.
Zhou Qian pointed towards the kitchen. “Could you get some fruit and a knife? We can eat some fruit on the way. I want you to peel an apple for me!”
When Ke Shi heard the word “knife”, his heart, which had just settled, once again rose in anxiety, every hair standing on end.
Last night, when he nervously asked Zhou Qian if everything was really okay, Zhou Qian emphasized, “I’ve said it before, as long as we don’t push her into an unconventional state, a ‘knife’ is fine. The risk of her using a knife on us and later being identified as the murderer is too great.”
“A knife, while looking dangerous and conspicuous, won’t provoke her murderous intent. So, we can use it to our advantage. It’s our key to victory.”
While waiting for Ruan Mei’s response and a system notification, Ke Shi could only reassure himself by repeatedly recalling Zhou Qian’s words. Fortunately, Ruan Mei soon smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll get the knife and fruits.”
Moments later, Ruan Mei, holding fruits and a knife in one hand and a picnic blanket in the other, led the four children to the backyard, planning to head down the mountain from there.
When passing the swing, she asked, “Do you want to swing for a while?”
All four firmly declined. Her smile slightly froze, but she continued walking.
Zhou Qian had a reason to choose the backyard route. The front yard led directly to the downhill path. If Ruan Mei wanted to push someone down, the players would be deemed dead the moment they stepped out.
The backyard, however, led to a large flat area. This area, probably planned by Ke Yun for a garden, hadn’t been worked on and was idle.
This space served as a buffer for the players, far from any steep slopes or potential danger points. Here, the only ways to kill were to throw a child forcibly to the ground or use the fruit knife. Both methods were too conspicuous for a sane Ruan Mei.
Her killing intent would truly be triggered closer to the steep slopes or at the water’s edge. Thus, this place became Zhou Qian’s chosen location to counterattack.
Leading the way, Zhou Qian turned back and signaled Ke Si and Ke Shi. Both, trying to suppress their fear, sat on the ground.
Ruan Mei looked at them. “What’s wrong? You can’t be tired after just a few steps?”
Ke Shi was afraid that their action might provoke Ruan Mei’s sudden intent to kill. But Zhou Qian walked to his side, patted his shoulder, and whispered, “We’ve already promised her we’d ‘go to the water’s edge’, so she can confidently proceed with her plan without any killing intent here. Stay calm.”
Ke Shi swallowed hard, trying to contain himself, and then smiled at Ruan Mei. “Mom, we’re suddenly tired and want some fruit.”
“Yeah.” Zhou Qian walked over and took Ruan Mei’s hand, leading her to sit on the ground. “Mom, you should rest too. You must’ve been so busy these past few days. We’re all worried about you. Can you peel some apples for us?”
With a smile, Ruan Mei sat down and, sure enough, began peeling the apples. Zhou Qian glanced at her and gave a subtle look towards Bai Zhou, who wasn’t too far behind her. Bai Zhou nodded in acknowledgment. Zhou Qian then turned and walked towards Ke Si and Ke Shi, who were sitting on the ground pretending to be too lazy to move, looking as though he wanted to playfully scuffle with them.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Qian suddenly fell to the ground and cried out. “Mom, come help me! It hurts so much!”
Always playing her part and ensuring the children had no suspicions, Ruan Mei immediately set aside the apple and knife, walking over to Zhou Qian and embracing him.
Her initial instinct was to stand up while holding Zhou Qian. However, each time she moved, Zhou Qian cried louder, so she could only remain seated, holding and comforting him.
Zhou Qian deliberately made Ruan Mei sit facing away from the fruits, the knife, and Bai Zhou to facilitate Bai Zhou’s subsequent actions. Given Bai Zhou’s current height resembling that of a child, it would be challenging for him to act if Ruan Mei stood up.
While crying in Ruan Mei’s embrace, Zhou Qian’s gaze passed over her shoulder, focusing on Bai Zhou behind her.
After a while, Bai Zhou picked up the knife, hiding it behind him, and moved silently closer, much like a ghost walking under the sunlight.
He quietly approached behind Ruan Mei and stealthily raised his arm. Seeing this, Ke Si and Ke Shi punched each other, immediately beginning to scuffle, attracting all of Ruan Mei’s attention.
Ruan Mei looked up, her gaze shifting from Zhou Qian to focus on Ke Si and Ke Shi. She immediately chided, “Hey, how old are you two now? Why are you still fighting?”
In the next moment, a hand wielding a knife quickly slid across her throat.
With one slash, her throat was slit. Ruan Mei choked and died instantly.
The moment blood spurted out, Ruan Mei was pushed aside by a hand.
A figure quickly rushed over, put one hand on Zhou Qian’s shoulder, led him sideways, and raised his other hand to cover his eyes.
After a while, Zhou Qian felt the palm in front of him move away. He looked down and saw not a single drop of blood on himself.
The sunlight, the mountain, the villa… All the scenery suddenly disappeared. Opening their eyes, the players returned to their adult appearance and returned to Hall 1 of Exhibition Hall A.
Unbeknownst to them, a figure flashed and appeared out of thin air in the location of Hall 7.
Ke Si and Ke Shi had been guarding the courtyard gate for a long time. Initially vigilant, they now struggled to keep their eyes open against encroaching sleep.
Suddenly, the chopping sound of a cleaver jolted them awake. Startled, they jumped to their feet, murmuring nonsensically in their drowsy state.
“Could it be? Is Ruan Mei wielding a cleaver?”
“I thought she only used methods related to ‘accidents’ to kill?”
“What are you thinking? If Ruan Mei really intended to kill, given your lack of alertness, you’d both be dead by now.”
It was Zhou Qian’s voice.
The two turned to see him yawning.
They quickly replied, “You’re right, Brother Ge! We’ll listen to you!”
The sound of chopping kept coming.
Both of them looked towards the kitchen and saw that the person with the cleaver was the Rank God player with the words “Ke Yi” on his head.
He was probably cooking, and with an indifferent expression, he was chopping something with the cleaver.
They wouldn’t have been hungry if they didn’t realize someone was cooking. But once they realized it, both of them suddenly felt hungry, and their stomachs started to growl.
Zhou Qian glanced at them. “Stop standing there. Use this time to check inside and outside the courtyard again. If Ruan Mei comes back and makes any move, we will all break the rules. However—”
“However, what?” The two were taken aback.
Zhou Qian said, “There’s no rush. If Ruan Mei comes back, it will likely be tomorrow.”
Ke Si and Ke Shi clearly didn’t understand.
“What do you mean? Why won’t she come back?”
“Oh, Qian Ge, please be clear. We have been scared for two hours!”
“If Ruan Mei wanted to return, two hours would have been enough for her to come back and then continue her killing plan. But since she hasn’t shown up for so long, it indicates she definitely won’t have time to return tonight. From a realistic point of view, this is actually more logical.”
Zhou Qian explained, “Because she has to find a sufficient reason to prove that the accident of locking the child in the car was due to some force majeure. Otherwise, involuntary manslaughter is enough to put her in prison.”
Ke Si and Ke Shi looked at each other, probably understood, but looked at Zhou Qian with difficulty. “Okay. Since she hasn’t returned for so long, should we set up a trap to get back at her? We have plenty of time now.”
Unexpectedly, Zhou Qian said, “Of course, there’s no need.”
Ke Si and Ke Shi: “???”
Zhou Qian said, “Tomorrow morning, the cooking auntie, the driver, and others will probably come over, and even many relatives like Ke Yun and Ke Zheng will come. If they trigger our traps beforehand, it’ll be difficult to deceive Ruan Mei. Unless we can kill all the adults without letting Ruan Mei notice, do you think that’s realistic?”
Ke Si and Ke Shi understood. “You have a point. Then we…”
Zhou Qian simply said, “We do need traps, but not the kind you’re thinking of that are meant to harm people. First, go check things out. I’ll explain in detail later.”
After instructing Ke Si and Ke Shi to get to work, Zhou Qian stretched lazily and went to the kitchen. Seeing Bai Zhou’s current state in the kitchen, Zhou Qian could hardly contain his amusement—
Everyone had become children, naturally shorter in stature. The now smaller Bai Zhou was having difficulty chopping meat directly, so he was standing on a small stool to reach the cutting board.
“Being small is really inconvenient. I almost couldn’t handle playing cards,” Zhou Qian said, laughing as he approached and sat next to the semi-open kitchen counter.
Resting his cheek on his hand, he intently watched Bai Zhou. “What late-night snack are you making for me?”
Bai Zhou continued chopping the peeled shrimp. “Vegetable, mushroom, and shrimp soup?”
“Sounds good.” Zhou Qian smiled and continued watching.
Bai Zhou, who had been silently chopping, felt Zhou Qian’s gaze and, after a while, looked up. “What are you looking at?”
“At you,” Zhou Qian replied naturally. “I noticed on the beach earlier; your weapon is a Tang sword. So… are you skilled with the blade? The hand that wielded a sword to kill enemies now holds a kitchen knife in the manner of a child… It’s quite intriguing. I should take the chance to watch more, as I won’t see this after leaving this instance.”
“Mm.” Bai Zhou nodded slightly. “Watch all you want.”
Zhou Qian gave him a once-over and asked, “When you first joined this game, you were not even 17, right?”
Bai Zhou, still chopping shrimp, nodded. “Mm.”
“It was dangerous a lot of times, wasn’t it?” Zhou Qian inquired.
Bai Zhou responded succinctly. “It was okay.”
Zhou Qian remarked, “I can hardly imagine how you managed to clear instances when you were alone.”
Bai Zhou looked up again. “The instances I entered didn’t have as many twists and turns.”
So, weren’t those instances both dangerous and tedious and also boring? Translated into game time, Bai Zhou’s solitary journey spanned well over seven years. What kind of belief or desire kept him going alone in the game for so long?
Zhou Qian remained silent.
After a while, noticing Bai Zhou’s consistent shrimp-chopping movements, he suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist.
“What is it?” Bai Zhou paused and looked into Zhou Qian’s eyes.
Zhou Qian motioned toward the cutting board. “This dish seems quite complicated. Actually, I don’t really need a midnight snack.”
Bai Zhou’s expression remained unchanged, but there was a deeper meaning in his gaze. “You won’t be able to eat it once you leave the game.”
Hearing this, Zhou Qian’s expression darkened.
Indeed, in reality, he wouldn’t be able to taste anything Bai Zhou made. The real Bai Zhou was bound in a straitjacket, immobile. Part of him might even be in an urn in his hospital room. Who knows what the real him has become?
Zhou Qian took a sip from the juice beside him. When he put the glass down, the gravity in his eyes had vanished, replaced with a smile. “I haven’t had it in seven years—what’s missing one more meal?”
Hearing this, Bai Zhou put down the knife and looked at Zhou Qian, asking gently, “I’ve finished chopping. Do you want to eat?”
“Eat, eat, eat. Use less salt,” Zhou Qian said, hopping off the stool and heading out. “I’m going to find Ke Si and Ke Shi.”
……
On the other side.
Ruan Mei drove to the supermarket with her child “Ke San”.
Turning on the air conditioner, she parked her car in the underground garage.
Ke Yun’s house was located in a remote area. The commercial district at the foot of the mountain was a newly developed commercial zone. The shopping mall where the supermarket was located was relatively quiet, especially at this time, there were hardly any visitors.
Hence, the underground garage had large vacant areas.
Ruan Mei drove into this already empty underground garage and finally parked her car in the most secluded corner.
In such a place, the chances of a passerby noticing a child left in a car were almost zero.
Ruan Mei kept the air conditioner on the whole time, finally locked the car, and left for the supermarket on her own.
An hour later, she was found on a remote path on the north side of the commercial district.
She was lying on the ground with a swollen bump on the back of her head where she had been hit. Her handbag was beside her, its contents scattered, and her wallet, empty of cash, was tossed nearby.
A passerby, seeing this scene, immediately assumed that Ruan Mei had been robbed and promptly called the police and dialed 120.
When Ruan Mei “woke up” in the hospital, it was already midnight.
Opening her eyes in a daze, she saw her husband by her bedside. Suddenly recalling something, she panicked, grabbed his arm, and said, “Oh no, Ke San is still in the garage, in the car! Go find him!”
“I’ve been feeling awful all day. I was so distracted… I just remembered… I can’t remember if I turned off the air conditioner… What should we do about Ke San…”
“I left the supermarket on foot, forgetting that I had driven there. I… I…”
“I wanted to go back! Later, I remembered I had driven there. I wanted to go back to the garage to find him! But then I was robbed! A’Zheng! We have to save Ke San! Hurry!”
Thus, to outsiders, this was the story—
Ruan Mei took her child to the supermarket to buy milk. Out of fear that he would run around, she locked him in the car. After suddenly losing her other four children, she cried all day, utterly heartbroken and distracted, forgetting to turn off the air conditioner.
When she left the supermarket, she forgot that she had driven there. As she walked up the mountain path and halfway realized her mistake, she was robbed and knocked unconscious, leading to the tragic death of her child Ke San.
Ruan Mei didn’t sleep that night. She saw her son Ke San for the last time, and went to the police station to give a statement… By the time all of this was over, it was noon the next day.
At noon the next day, Ruan Mei, Ke Yun, and Ke Zheng had lunch together in the mountain villa.
At the dining table, the four players didn’t eat much and just silently watched Ruan Mei’s performance.
She looked on the verge of a breakdown, seemingly seconds away from trying to harm herself.
Seeing her in this state, anyone would believe that it was indeed her distracted state combined with being knocked unconscious by a robber that led to another tragedy.
In an era without mobile phones, investigative techniques were primitive.
Moreover, the influential Ke family was deceived by Ruan Mei for a long time, completely believing her version of events. They defended her in front of the police, even hiring a lawyer for her.
Thus, Ruan Mei could still sit here and have a meal.
Ke Yun seemed to have aged ten years overnight and said, “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You didn’t mean for this to happen. This afternoon, I’ll ask the drivers and housekeepers to help you look after the children. Get some rest. My house is far from the city, surrounded by beautiful scenery. Just relax.”
Beside her, Ke Zheng looked very tired. But he knew that if he said anything harsh, Ruan Mei might immediately try to harm herself, so he didn’t dare rebuke her.
Sighing deeply, he said, “Yes, listen to my sister. I have an important meeting this afternoon. Otherwise, I’d definitely stay here with you and the children. I also need to comfort our parents… I’m afraid they’re taking this hard.”
Without knowing the whole story, Ke Zheng and Ke Yun comforted Ruan Mei for a long time, finally helping her to her bedroom to sleep. After ensuring she had no suicidal thoughts, they left.
At 1:50 in the afternoon, the Ke siblings left.
At 2:00 p.m., Ruan Mei got up from bed and went downstairs.
In the kitchen, she gave some money to the housekeeper, asking her to go to a pharmacy at the foot of the mountain to buy some headache medicine.
The housekeeper couldn’t drive, so the driver accompanied her.
Now, in the mountain villa, only Ruan Mei and the four players remained.
After closing the door, Ruan Mei went to the living room and looked at her four “children”.
She asked, “That lake looks so beautiful. Do you want to go see? There’s a car in the courtyard. Should I drive you there?”
Considering the intense heat, if the players agree to drive to the lakeside, there might be two potential risks—suffocation or drowning.
Ke Shi, who had just come out of the kitchen, became extremely anxious when he heard Ruan Mei’s words.
He immediately looked up at Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou, who were sitting side by side on the sofa.
Zhou Qian looked up and smiled at Ruan Mei. “Sure, we’d like to go to the lake. It’s really hot today. We want to play in the water!”
The car was long gone, and the villa on the mountaintop returned to its tranquility, with only the gentle rustling of the wind and the chirping of insects hidden in the grasses.
Zhou Qian watched silently as Bai Zhou approached. He turned towards the direction of the door upon hearing something—Ruan Mei stood there, fixated on the direction where the driver’s car had departed.
Due to the angle and distance, Zhou Qian couldn’t make out her expression, but he noticed her right hand gripping the door frame so hard that her knuckles seemed to deform.
Soon, Ruan Mei made a move, walking towards the four “children” in the front yard. By the time she reached them, her expression was again kind and gentle. Ruan Mei asked, “Would you all like some milk? The milk at Auntie’s home isn’t the brand you usually drink. Should I buy some for you?”
Standing at the forefront, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou noticed the kids didn’t answer. Ruan Mei then approached Ke Si and Ke Shi. Both had unwittingly joined the legion and the instance, and now they were confronted with a killer. They just nodded along to whatever she said. Both replied in unison, “Yes, we… We’ll drink it.”
“Good. There’s a supermarket just down the hill. It’s not far,” Ruan Mei smiled. “Stay put and go to bed early. Wait patiently for me to return.”
With that, she took out her car keys, started another vehicle, and drove away.
Watching another car depart, Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and said with a slightly heavier tone, “If Ke Er and Ke San were good people, I might have given them some advice to help them out. But not only did they want me dead, they also committed numerous misdeeds. Especially that Ke Er, who blatantly admitted to his wrongdoings.”
Mid-speech, Zhou Qian turned to Bai Zhou, only to find him peeling another orange.
Catching Zhou Qian’s gaze, Bai Zhou looked up at him. The expression on his face seemed to say, “Whatever game you want to play, I’ll go along with it.”
Seeing this, Zhou Qian’s imagination painted a vivid scene—
The world was at its end, with corpses and rivers of blood everywhere. Bai Zhou had just swung a blade, slashing through zombies or some other creatures, with blood still smeared across his face. Even in such dire circumstances, without wiping off the blood, he calmly and coldly peeled an orange. Then, with a gentle demeanor, he offered the orange, asking if Zhou Qian wanted a piece.
Indeed, Bai Zhou had a streak of madness—the kind that was hard to detect.
Caught up in his thoughts, Zhou Qian was interrupted by Bai Zhou asking, “Do you want more oranges?”
Zhou Qian wanted to point out how sour the orange was, almost unable to keep a straight face when trying to deceive Ke Er earlier. But rethinking it, he opened his hand, accepting the half orange Bai Zhou offered.
“Reciprocity is a virtue,” Zhou Qian said as he broke off a segment of the orange, removed the white pith, and handed it back to Bai Zhou.
Bai Zhou glanced at Zhou Qian and decisively accepted the orange, eating it, and immediately furrowed his brows.
Seeing his reaction, Zhou Qian laughed, teasing him, “A bit too sour for your taste, huh?”
Bai Zhou chewed the orange for a few moments before swallowing it. He then looked deeply into Zhou Qian’s eyes, playfully tucking a strand of hair behind Zhou Qian’s ear. With a hint of amusement, Bai Zhou succinctly responded, “No, it’s quite sweet.”
For a moment, Zhou Qian, a person who always seemed to have a quick retort, was taken aback.
He swiftly turned around, showing his back to Bai Zhou. In doing so, Bai Zhou couldn’t see Zhou Qian’s expression but could only see the small, shimmering earring on Zhou Qian’s earlobe, illuminated by the moonlight. It was part of Zhou Qian’s attire in this expansive instance. Once he left Blue Harbor City, those earrings would disappear.
Bai Zhou didn’t realize that at this moment, Zhou Qian’s mind was swiftly processing a series of numbers.
Zhou Qian had always been intelligent from a young age. He learned early on to read the room and understood the intricacies of human relationships. Mature beyond his years during his middle school period, he had long noticed that his relationship with Bai Zhou had surpassed that of ordinary classmates, friends, or even brothers.
If one had to describe it, there was just a thin veil separating them from acknowledging the true nature of their relationship. While at times Zhou Qian felt this veil might be a bit thicker, the general sentiment remained the same.
However, due to some qualities in Bai Zhou that Zhou Qian never quite understood, he maintained about a 30% uncertainty about their relationship during their middle school years.
Seven years ago, when Bai Zhou disappeared without a word, Zhou Qian’s uncertainty spiked to 200%.
It wasn’t until a particular game, guided by intuition and cautious probing, that Zhou Qian managed to corner Bai Zhou, gradually reducing his uncertainty to 90%.
Fast forward to today.
Under the guise of acting, Zhou Qian subtly tested the waters with Bai Zhou. There were moments when he felt as if he had been transported back to their middle school days, when he was utterly capricious and uninhibited in front of Bai Zhou.
In one’s youth, feelings of love and hate were pure and straightforward.
However, as they grew older, things became more complicated, especially after a seven-year separation. Zhou Qian realized he had learned to exercise restraint.
Before meeting Bai Zhou, Zhou Qian had contemplated numerous ways to confront him, determined to force out all the secrets Bai Zhou was hiding.
But the moment Bai Zhou allowed him to ask anything, standing by the sea and catching a glimpse of the look in Bai Zhou’s eyes, Zhou Qian found himself at a loss for words. He felt that pressing further would distress Bai Zhou.
Caught in the peculiar setting of the game, navigating their complex, indescribable relationship, Zhou Qian endeavored to simplify matters.
After spending a day together and reflecting on their shared memories, he adjusted the uncertainty in his mind to 80%.
Lastly, Bai Zhou was never one for flowery words.
When he spoke, it was always sincere and from the heart. So, when he commented on how sweet the orange was, Zhou Qian felt that he could reduce the number further, perhaps to 70%.
No, that might be too much of a leap. Maybe 72.9% was more accurate. That number seemed just about right.
All these thoughts flashed through Zhou Qian’s mind in the span of a couple of seconds. He quickly squatted down, picking up the orange slices he had theatrically discarded earlier, and tossed them into a nearby trash bin.
Without looking back, he walked towards the villa, calling out to Bai Zhou, “Zhou Ge, let’s discuss how to deal with Ruan Mei.”
Meanwhile, having watched Ruan Mei drive away, Ke Si and Ke Shi were a bit perplexed.
After a brief discussion, they approached the villa entrance. Predictably, they received another notification from the game system and returned in despair.
After whispering a few words to each other, they entered the house and approached Zhou Qian. Their faces were pale, clearly shaken by Zhou Qian’s previous performance, which had made them believe their lives were in grave danger.
“What’s our situation now? What should we do?”
“Are we going to die tonight?”
“Ke Er and Ke San betrayed us! They’re not our brothers!”
“Yes! We’ll follow you, for real!”
Zhou Qian, while listening, assessed the duo. He had suspected a trap when he saw the driver hand over the car keys to Ruan Mei earlier in the day. So, his declaration of leaving the villa with the driver was a ruse to test the loyalties of these four wallflowers.
He had already caught Ke Er and Ke San exchanging meaningful glances multiple times, clearly communicating on some private channel.
With his test, Zhou Qian confirmed his suspicions. Considering Ke Er and Ke San had admitted to committing multiple murders, Zhou Qian allowed them to walk into the trap without any warning.
It was likely that Ke Er and Ke San were doomed, but as for Ke Si and Ke Shi, even if they had intentions of betrayal, they lacked the intelligence to execute it. For the time being, it appeared they would obediently follow orders, making them useful tools.
To leverage their assistance, Zhou Qian needed them calm and composed.
“Relax,” he reassured. “The ones who’ll end up dead are Ke Er and Ke San.”
Both Ke Si and Ke Shi looked puzzled.
Zhou Qian continued, “Do you remember the last two exhibit rooms in Hall A and the condition of the deceased inside?”
Seemingly recalling the gruesome fate of those two children, both Ke Si and Ke Shi shuddered involuntarily.
Zhou Qian continued, “I never fully understood the exact nature of the ‘accident’ that caused their deaths. But this afternoon, after discovering an extra car and realizing that it was intended for Ruan Mei, I pieced it together.”
“You must have heard of such news stories—”
“Parents go shopping and accidentally lock their children in the car, leading to the kids suffocating to death inside.”
“The two children, a boy and a girl, both had damp hair and damp clothes. However, the dampness wasn’t so pronounced as if they had been submerged in water; they didn’t die from drowning. The moisture on them was sweat.”
“Especially the boy—not only was he sweating profusely, but he also had a nosebleed, and his face was eerily flushed. Why? From the heat, of course.”
“Imagine a car parked under the scorching midday sun. Adults step out, leaving the child locked inside. Within an hour, the temperature inside the car can soar. Once it reaches 42 degrees, it’s lethal. That’s how the boy died.”
Upon hearing this, Ke Shi’s teeth chattered in fear. He asked, “I remember the girl had many scratch marks on her. What happened to her? She didn’t have a nosebleed, did she?”
Zhou Qian replied, “Both children were likely locked in the car when they died. The boy succumbed to the intense heat from the sun. As for the girl… she most likely died from carbon monoxide poisoning.”
“When Ruan Mei left her car earlier, she didn’t turn off the air conditioner. The incomplete combustion of the engine releases increasing concentrations of carbon monoxide, leading to the girl’s poisoning. Trapped inside the car, unable to escape, she would have felt extreme discomfort and might even have hallucinated due to oxygen deprivation, which could explain her scratching herself.”
Glancing outside, Zhou Qian continued, “This afternoon, both the driver and his friend arrived in separate cars. When the driver’s friend handed the car keys to Ruan Mei, I heard her thank him for lending her the car. The car driven by the driver belongs to Ke Yun’s family. So, neither car belongs to Ruan Mei. Why did she borrow one? Considering the evidence from the exhibition hall, it was to commit murder.”
Pausing for a moment, Zhou Qian added, “In reality, Ruan Mei probably killed one child at a time over a period. Since the deaths could all be passed off as accidents, she remained uncaught for a long time.”
“But in this game, with only three days and the plot confined to this remote villa, her aim in the game is to kill all of us. So—”
“Even if we don’t voice our intentions to leave tonight, she might forcibly take a few kids under the pretext of ‘going to the supermarket at the foothills’, and then use the car to kill them.”
“And if we do decide to leave, she’ll likely chase after us. In that scenario, those who decide to leave will be in even graver danger.”
“It’s nighttime now. The driver and his friend will come to retrieve the cars in the morning, which means Ruan Mei can only act tonight.”
“Lastly, the method of using the sun’s heat won’t be applicable at night. So, the way Ruan Mei would deal with Ke Er and Ke San would likely be by leaving them in a car with the air conditioner on.”
It took Ke Si and Ke Shi a full three minutes to process the information, after which they broke out in cold sweats from fear. It was at this moment that they truly grasped the cunning of Zhou Qian.
All this time, everything was according to his calculations.
From another perspective, if Ke Er and Ke San did die, they likely perished due to Zhou Qian’s scheming!
Seeing the fear evident in their expressions, Zhou Qian offered a reassuring smile and said, “Don’t panic. Actually, if Ke Er wasn’t malicious, I would have warned him. Unfortunately, he seemed eager to meet his fate.”
After a moment, Ke Si, swallowing hard, asked Zhou Qian, “Are you absolutely certain about all this?”
“Well, not entirely,” Zhou Qian replied. “However, if players leave with an NPC, the probability of them being pursued and subsequently killed by Ruan Mei is likely above 80%. After Ruan Mei makes such a move, it would take her at least two hours to return, and she might even spend the entire night outside.”
He continued, “So, if we use this time to prepare thoroughly, our chances of survival are at least 50%.”
At this point, Zhou Qian noticed that instead of being comforted, Ke Si and Ke Shi seemed even more terrified.
They were initially only afraid of Ruan Mei, but now they seemed to fear Zhou Qian as well.
Seeing this, Zhou Qian quickly offered an innocent smile. “Don’t be scared. As long as you two stay honest and upright, I won’t harm you. If you follow my lead, you will undoubtedly survive.”
Emphasizing his point seriously, Zhou Qian corrected, “Let me amend my earlier statement. Our survival rate isn’t 50%, it’s 100%.”
……
On the other side,
The driver drove the car down the mountain. His friend dozed off in the passenger seat. The cook, sitting in the back seat, tried to strike up a conversation with the two “children”. However, when they ignored her, she felt a bit awkward and started dozing off as well.
Among the players, Ke San completely relaxed and fell asleep.
Ke Er, on the other hand, was very alert. Sitting by the window, he looked out into the pitch-dark night, his eyes filled with a faint sense of unease.
Suddenly, Ke Er felt a vibration on his wrist, signaling a message from his gambler.
After a player reached Rank S, their initial low-tier gambler was also promoted to a high-tier gambler. At the same time, these gamblers were given a chance to choose a new player. Initially, they could only stick with the player they first chose, but upon promotion, they could observe all the new players’ data and videos in the virtual game hall. The system then gave them some time to decide if they wanted to switch players.
Ke Er’s initial gambler had indeed left him, and it was unknown whom he had chosen next. But somehow, Ke Er caught the attention of another high-tier gambler.
This gambler saw potential in him. After a few collaborations, Ke Er found him to be reliable.
The message from the gambler read: [I went to the virtual game hall today and reviewed Zhou Qian’s past gameplay videos. I discovered he cheats, and he’s very good at it!]
Reading this, Ke Er hesitated but did not act immediately. Earlier in the courtyard, when they played the “Joker card game”, from the way Zhou Qian shuffled, Ke Er could tell he was good at card games. Moreover, Zhou Qian’s sudden desire to eat an orange seemed very suspicious, leading Ke Er to suspect Zhou Qian was manipulating the cards.
Ke Er saw everything, including how Zhou Qian tried to control the game by handling the two jokers. However, he didn’t point it out because he believed his skills were superior.
During the card drawing process, Ke Er noticed Zhou Qian discreetly drawing extra cards and then subtly returning them. Unfortunately for Zhou Qian, his reactions weren’t as fast as Ke Er’s. Through several maneuvers, Ke Er successfully managed to secure both jokers for himself.
Both Zhou Qian and Ke Er wanted to cheat, and both knew it. Zhou Qian, being outmatched, became frustrated, and even turned on his excessively close “brother”…
All of these moves seemed genuine and logically sound. Plus, it did seem like a good idea to leave the villa with an NPC…
Ke Er pondered for a long time but couldn’t identify any flaws. Why then did he feel uneasy?
At that moment, Ke Er saw more messages from his gambler, emphasizing Zhou Qian’s skills and urging him to trust his instincts and escape from the car.
At that moment, Ke Er received several new messages from his gambler:
[I’ve studied tricks like cheating extensively. In one of Zhou Qian’s previous games, he executed an impressive cheat. I’ve watched it multiple times, but I can’t spot any flaws.]
[Zhou Qian’s real card handling speed might be incredibly fast—so fast that my eyes can’t detect it. Thus, when you drew the joker earlier, it wasn’t because your skills surpassed his, but because he intentionally let you.]
[Wen Bin, your talent is the ‘Sixth Sense’, and intuition is crucial in this game. No matter what, trust your gut. Jump out of the car! Leave!]
Hesitating under the name “Ke Er”, Wen Bin finally decided to jump out of the car after being persuaded by the gambler.
He tried waking up Ke San with a nudge. Having been frightened the previous night and having not rested during the day, Ke San was extremely exhausted. At that moment, barely able to open his eyes, he gave a lazy yawn and looked at Ke Er, asking, “What’s wrong?”
After posing the question, Ke San immediately drifted back to sleep, and despite Wen Bin’s multiple attempts, he couldn’t rouse him.
Just then, Wen Bin noticed bright lights reflecting in the rearview mirror—it was the headlights of a car approaching from behind. Realizing it was Ruan Mei, panic set in.
Despite his attempts to wake Ke San again, he had to abandon his efforts. Quickly opening the car door, Wen Bin shielded his head with his arms and rolled out of the moving car.
Driving on the mountain road at night, the driver’s speed wasn’t very fast, so Wen Bin’s decision to jump out didn’t pose a life-threatening danger. However, the fall was quite rough.
He crashed hard onto the ground, rolling off the road and into the nearby woods. His injuries weren’t minor. Fortunately, the way he fell meant only slight abrasions to his head, and there were no severe injuries like broken bones in his limbs.
After sitting on the ground and resting for a while, once the stars stopped swirling in front of his eyes, he got up and walked to the roadside. Using the trees and the cover of night to hide, he looked towards the road. Observing what was happening, Wen Bin’s expression became more and more grave.
On the road, Ruan Mei had been chasing them in her car. After flashing her car’s hazard lights a few times, the driver of the car ahead understood and slowed down, pulling over to the side.
Seeing this, Ruan Mei also stopped her car. She then got out and went over to speak to the driver, saying, “I’m sorry, but after much thought, I’m still not at ease. If the children want to go down the mountain… I’d rather personally take them home.”
“But isn’t that too much work for you?” the driver asked, concerned.
“Don’t worry, I had a long nap in the car this afternoon. I’m okay. After dropping the children home, I’ll return to the mountain to check on the others,” Ruan Mei replied with a smile. But when she glanced into the back seat and saw only one person, her smile stiffened.
After a brief pause, her voice softened. “Child, get out of the car, say goodbye to the uncles and aunties, and come to mommy’s car. We’ll first go to the supermarket to buy some milk, and then mommy will take you home.”
In the back seat, Ke San, who was still half asleep, felt a vibration on his wrist.
Instinctively, he opened his eyes and, without fully comprehending the situation, saw a system notification:
[The key item determining NPC behavior for this instance: Car.]
[The car can be used as a murder weapon. The player is about to sit alone in the car, and Ruan Mei is about to drive without any witnesses present. The verdict is: Potential for murder can be triggered.]
[Ruan Mei is about to kill “Ke San”.]
[The verdict is immediately effective.]
……
Moments later, from within the small woods, Wen Bin, who was hiding, watched in horror as Ruan Mei carried “Ke San”, who was unable to resist due to system limitations, to another car parked behind. The vehicle with three NPCs quickly drove off the mountain road. After a while, Ruan Mei drove off the mountain road with “Ke San”.
Wen Bin’s eyes reddened.
There were many calculations and deceits in this game. Only Ke San had always been genuine with him, and he knew it. He had also sworn to himself to treat Ke San sincerely and be with him all the way. But now that Ruan Mei had caught up, he couldn’t guarantee that he could escape with a sleeping Ke San without being discovered.
He had no choice but to abandon him.
The pain and guilt were too much for him to bear alone. He transformed it into resentment towards Zhou Qian. Gritting his teeth, Wen Bin vowed to avenge Ke San.
After catching his breath, Wen Bin stepped out of the woods, trying to head down the mountain. However, he received a system message:
[Warning! Interaction with NPCs can expand the plot range. But now, since player Wen Bin has lost interaction with NPCs and has significantly deviated from the designated plot area, he has five minutes to return, or he will face direct death.]
Seeing this, Wen Bin immediately pulled out a pair of shoes designed to enhance speed, but they were inexplicably unusable. Swearing aloud in frustration, he forcefully kicked a tree in anger. Nevertheless, he had to use all his strength to run up the mountain. Having been upgraded to Rank S, his base attributes were decent, and he could move quickly.
Even so, he had to keep running without stopping to make it back to the mountaintop within the stipulated time.
……
Meanwhile, in the villa at the mountain peak, Zhou Qian finally began to examine the toys.
He was looking at a unique toy consisting of plastic pegs of varying sizes and shapes. They could be plugged into a plastic board to create any shape, number, or simple word. The toy aided children’s spatial imagination, numeric recognition, and basic literacy. Played more intricately, one could craft a sequence of stories using this toy.
However, it was also a very dangerous toy. The mushroom tacks were sharp, and incidents like swallowing them or accidentally poking oneself were possible.
While Zhou Qian was engrossed, Ke Si and Ke Shi were also analyzing the toys. Bai Zhou was gazing out of the window, deep in thought.
Sitting casually on the ground, Zhou Qian unwrapped the packaging and picked up one of the mushroom tacks to examine it closely for a while.
Then he looked towards Bai Zhou, who was standing by the window, and said, “The child with a hole in his forehead, it was caused by this toy, wasn’t it?”
Bai Zhou nodded. “Yes, most likely. But, they’re made of plastic. Piercing the forehead wouldn’t be that easy.”
Seeing this, Ke Si and Ke Shi also started discussing among themselves.
“There must be some sort of mechanism, right?”
“I noticed this afternoon that Ke Er and Ke San spent a long time researching by the swing. Do you think it’s possible that someone could be thrown off the swing and then land on the mushroom tack, causing it to puncture the forehead?”
“That sounds really difficult, doesn’t it?”
“But I always feel the swing isn’t safe. Let’s dismantle the swing first!”
Hearing this, Zhou Qian interrupted them. “If you dismantle the swing, there will be ready-made nails and broken wood. ‘A child accidentally falls, causing a nail or wood shard to puncture their forehead’… Isn’t this kind of ‘accident’ more believable?”
“What about setting it on fire? Burning always works!”
“The corpses displayed in the exhibition hall provide clues for players, allowing them to speculate in advance about which ‘accidents’ Ruan Mei might design. But just because an ‘accident’ isn’t hinted at in the hall doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the game. So, if you set the swing on fire, you might just inspire Ruan Mei to burn down the entire villa and then push you into the blazing inferno.”
Ke Si and Ke Shi looked like they were about to cry from Zhou Qian’s sharp words. “So, what should we do? Either way, isn’t it certain death?”
Zhou Qian exchanged a glance with Bai Zhou and then smiled at the duo. “You’re mistaken. While this villa is indeed a natural killing ground, who said Ruan Mei is definitely the one to kill us?”
“Ruan Mei has already set traps for us,” Zhou Qian said with a grin. “So, let’s work together to send her on her way.”
Kinky Translations 