Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 174

The sound of “beep, beep, beep” from the countdown continued, becoming faster and sharper.

[Friendly Reminder: The effect of “Rubber Good at Imitation” will expire in 30 seconds.]

[You only have 30 seconds left.]

[The system has launched Version 7.0 of the Deluxe Burial Package service. It’s only 998! Yes, only 998! Isn’t it tempting?]

……

At one corner of the board, six people weren’t frightened by the system’s morbid humor. Instead, they steadily continued their planned actions…

In the farthest corner, Liu Shui quickly removed his orange wristband, preparing to switch it for a blue one.

The other five people in the two rows beneath him were also quickly removing their rubber wristbands, ready to put on real orange ones.

But at that moment, an unexpected turn occurred—

Priest took out an item from his pack.

Zhou Qian’s pupils shrank sharply. Behind him, the sound of a blade rang out as Bai Zhou drew his Breaking Dawn and pointed it at Priest from afar.

At the same instant, every member of the Peach Blossom Legion around Priest raised their guns toward Bai Zhou.

In the next breath, Hidden Blade drew his scimitar. His three disciples moved at the same time.

They stood on three squares of the board, each facing a Peach Blossom Legion member. All three aimed their guns at those in front of them, forcing those three to redirect their guns away from Bai Zhou and toward Hidden Blade’s disciples.

The six of them were locked in a standoff.

Given the nature of the bullets, if anyone fired, all six would die together.

Meanwhile, not far away, Qi Liuxing suddenly drew his sword and aimed it at Priest’s back.

A cold gun barrel pressed against his forehead the next second—courtesy of Ke Yuxiao standing to his left.

The scene was on the brink of erupting, tension mounting dangerously.

Any reckless movement could spark an all-out chaotic slaughter that would claim many lives!

Yet at that critical moment, something unexpected happened—everyone suddenly froze, unable to move.

All were stunned, unable to even utter a sound.

The ones most terrified, naturally, were the six trapped in the corner of the board.

Because they couldn’t move, their wristband swap was left incomplete.

Realizing this, they knelt on the ground, tears streaming silently.

The same thought haunted all of them: They were doomed! They were dead! It was over! And the ones who killed them were Priest and Zhou Qian!

Before death, they memorized their enemies’ names. Would there even be a chance of resurrection afterward?

Thankfully, when the 30 seconds ran out, nothing happened. No one died from a rules violation.

They exhaled in relief, sweat dripping from their foreheads onto the board squares.

Now, the only person able to move or speak was Priest.

He seemed like a god holding the reins of everything. At this moment, all system rules failed. Even the system itself was gone. Everyone’s life or death hinged solely on Priest’s decision.

As Zhou Qian stared at him, he couldn’t help but think: Is there really such an OP item?

Zhou Qian had asked Bai Zhou before about the strongest items in this system.

According to Bai Zhou, there was no item that could completely break the game’s balance, especially not in the higher stages.

The last time Zhou Qian had seen something similar was when Situ Qing’s younger brother, Mu Sheng, used it in “Last Wish”—he entered the game himself and helped thousands of S-level soldiers revive.

But back then, there was still a rule allowing god-tier players to insert NPCs into the game.

God-tier players could help within the rules. So Mu Sheng’s item hadn’t truly broken the balance.

Now it was different.

In the high-stage games, there was no such NPC insertion mechanic. An item freezing everyone, including the murderers, shouldn’t even exist.

Just what was going on with this Priest?

Fortunately, things weren’t as bad as Zhou Qian had feared—

Before Priest, a door appeared out of thin air.

It was merely a self-preservation item. It offered no stat boosts or rewards but allowed players to leave the dungeon safely.

[Item Name: Anywhere Door]

[Effect: When activated, the dungeon pauses briefly. You may use this door to escape. No matter the danger, it guarantees your safe exit!]

[Note: Despite the name, it does not teleport you anywhere. It takes you to the nearest transfer zone. After resting there, you may exit to reality or, if you belong to a legion, return to its territory.]

Even after opening the door, Priest didn’t step through right away. He raised his head and met Zhou Qian’s gaze.

His eyes remained compassionate, as if he didn’t care about Zhou Qian’s harsh words or about losing.

Zhou Qian’s stare dripped with mockery. He was convinced Priest was acting.

How could he really be indifferent? This was just him saving face.

From beginning to end, he’d behaved like a detached bystander, almost as if he wanted to excuse his loss by claiming he hadn’t intervened—because his useless subordinates, like Ke Yuxiao, couldn’t even count the number of wristbands properly.

But thinking of Bai Zhou’s hints back at the church, Zhou Qian realized it wasn’t so simple.

Priest wasn’t just calculating. He had the same twisted humor as this game system. He watched everything Zhou Qian did as a spectator, just like the murderers beyond the cage watched the players now.

Even knowing this, Zhou Qian felt no urge to unravel the man’s mystery.

He simply continued to gaze mockingly at Priest.

Priest then finally spoke. “Zhou Qian, I was just a spectator all along. Entering as a player was only to meet you. This match thrilled me. You truly… exceeded my expectations.”

“I’ll leave you with this. You know full well, without those people helping you, you’d never have won.

“Your temperament is vile. I once believed you’d never make genuine friends in this game. People like you trade benefits for benefits, and only such people would stay near you.

“But now… your luck is obscene—enviable, even.

“Understand this: They follow you not because you are good, but because they are.”

“You were born rich yet disdain your family. Do you know that while you complain about stale caviar, there are countless people who can’t afford a meal?

“You’ve had people who truly care about you, yet you insist the world is malicious and spread your bitterness without restraint.

“You hate this world so much, but it still gave you love and family. So tell me, how do you see it now?

“Zhou Qian, someone like you don’t deserve this world’s gifts.”

Then, four words rang in Zhou Qian’s mind: Don’t listen to him.

He still saw Priest and the door before him, but he also saw a classroom, the one where he’d celebrated Bai Zhou’s birthday.

He instantly realized this was Bai Zhou’s mental domain.

Bai Zhou had heard Priest too. Zhou guessed he was forcefully connecting to him via mental power.

It wasn’t easy.

With their stats, forming a mental domain link without contact was impossible unless aided by the little dragon.

Even close together, without a scale as a medium, it was barely doable unless the god-tier player’s focus was at its peak, especially when Priest was using the Anywhere Door.

In the mental domain, the young Bai Zhou stepped down from the podium, concern written across his face. He walked up, gripped Zhou Qian’s hand tightly, and spoke with grave seriousness. “He has no idea what you’ve been through. Don’t listen to him.”

“Yeah, I won’t. I don’t care what they say,” Zhou Qian replied.

Bai Zhou suddenly asked, “Then are you afraid I might misunderstand you?”

Zhou Qian stared at him, lips curling slyly. “Misunderstand what? Didn’t you like me just as I am since we were kids? Besides—

“If you dare misunderstand me, I’ll tie you up.”

Bai Zhou firmly shook his head. “I’ve always said you’re not like that.”

“Why?” Zhou Qian asked.

Bai Zhou pointed at the classroom around them. The meaning was obvious.

Zhou Qian chuckled. “Tch. Buying my Zhou Ge for life with just a few cakes? What a bargain.”

Bai Zhou laughed softly too. Then, more seriously, he repeated, “You always act like you don’t care, Zhou Qian, but I know you do. Because you care, you—

“Anyway, don’t believe a single word from Priest.”

Zhou Qian nodded, smirking at the boyish Bai Zhou. “Tch. My earnest little boyfriend. Think I’ll listen to you?”

“Of course you will.”

Despite his youthful look, Bai Zhou’s stance was commanding, unlike the calm steadiness Zhou Qian knew now.

Amused, Zhou Qian teased. “Grow up before bossing me around. You’re too small now.”

“Zhou Qian—”

Sensing something, the young Bai Zhou frowned, his gaze darkening in disapproval.

Zhou Qian wanted to tease him further but snapped back to reality. He saw Priest step through the Anywhere Door.

The moment it closed, the frozen dungeon resumed.

The six in the corner were still dazed.

“Swap your wristbands, now!” Zhou Qian barked.

They jolted awake and fumbled to switch bands, finally saving their lives.

Afterward, they collapsed on the ground, panting hard, needing time to recover from their near-death terror.

Zhou Qian pressed on, directing the board until, half an hour later, they won.

The system declared victory and told them to wait for the next ruleset.

While waiting, the Peach Blossom side and Zhou Qian’s split the cage evenly.

Peach Blossom stayed silent, but Zhou Qian’s side erupted in cheers. They were now fully devoted to his Invincible Legion.

He Xiaowei shouted the loudest. “See?! Didn’t I tell you? Our Qian’er is unstoppable! Peach Blossom? Priest? All nothing!”

Yet Zhou Qian merely stood at the corner, observing the murderers outside.

The murderers pressed closer, smiling eerily like they were about to feast.

The contrast sobered Zhou Qian’s face.

Bai Zhou joined him, instantly sensing Zhou Qian’s focus wasn’t on the murderers but on pondering Priest.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Bai Zhou asked, “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Zhou Qian replied. “Just thinking that you were right.”

He meant Bai Zhou’s kiss and its implication in the church.

“Hidden Blade saw Priest at the start of ‘Banquet of the Red God’, but Priest let him roam free to help me.

“He never needed to enter this dungeon and could’ve left long ago with that door.

“But he came anyway and left only now… like he’s been watching a circus act.”

“He’s telling me no matter how well I overturned the board, to him, it was always a predictable show.

“He caught Hidden Blade then freed him; ignored Ke Yuxiao’s obvious incompetence with wristbands; stayed hands-off in solving anything…

“He’s saying he’s been holding back since freeing Hidden Blade, leaving now because he believes I’ll die in the next stage.”

“Just trust me, and that candy,” Bai Zhou said.

“Yeah.” Zhou Qian’s eyes glinted sharply as he leaned closer. His voice was low, edged with threat. “If you dare lie to me, I’ll hunt you down even as a god of this game. No matter where you run, I’ll catch you and then…

“Zhou Ge, I will lock us away forever. That candy bought you for life. You’re not escaping.”

Moments later, as the murderers pressed closer, the system chimed:

[System evaluation complete: Player count is within capacity.]

[Special Edition: King’s Game is about to begin]

[Murderers count: 55. If players fall below this, you will be massacred.]

[Current surviving players: 81, exceeding the murderers count. The game continues…]

Many people’s faces undoubtedly changed upon hearing this, especially those led by Xu Yang. If they had stuck to the plan, they would have been slaughtered.

Xu Yang could help but glanced bitterly at Zhou Qian. Damn it, he was right!

This system existed to watch regret burn in people’s eyes.

The system went on:

[King’s Game rules: Each King selects two people for a one-on-one kill mission—one must be a murderer, the other a player.]

[Whether the player dies depends on the clues you’ve gathered.]

[Victory in the Chinese Checkers match went to Yellow. You may now send a representative to speak directly to the murderers and try to win a death exemption token. You have one minute to choose.]

[King’s Game begins in 20 minutes.]

[Enjoy your game!]

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 173

Under the dark gray sky, more than eighty people were trapped inside a cold, hexagonal iron cage.

Surrounding these cages were assassins from different eras, each with distinct clothing and personalities.

They watched the struggle inside the cage with great interest, seemingly deriving immense pleasure from the spectacle.

Despite the large number of players inside and assassins outside, a surprising silence prevailed at the moment.

Amid the howling wind, one sound stood out distinctly…

“Beep, beep, beep…”

It was unmistakably a countdown of some sort.

It wasn’t hard to tell where the sound came from. Soon, everyone turned toward a single spot. The beeping came from five players wearing orange wristbands.

The five wristbands had originally been betrayal tools left behind by the Feidu Legion, but through a twist of fate, they ended up in the hands of the Peach Blossom faction and were distributed to a few lone players they had recruited.

Now, the five players looked completely bewildered as they all made the same motion…

They raised their left wrists and stared at the bands.

The countdown sound was actually coming from their wristbands.

[Item Name: Rubber Good at Imitation]

[Function: It’s just ordinary rubber at first glance, but it can transform 72 times! Grow, shrink, become pretty. It can change into anything you can imagine.]

[But the power of rubber is far more than that. Not only is it good at shapeshifting, but it can also perfectly disguise itself as a dungeon item. No one can see through its secret!]

[Note: Just like Cinderella must leave the ball before midnight, fake is fake. The rubber cannot maintain its disguise indefinitely. It only lasts for 3 hours. Manage your time wisely!]

[Grade: S, extremely rare. Occasionally dropped in god-level trial dungeons.]

This rubber was obtained by Hidden Blade during a trial dungeon he cleared long ago.

Inside the mansion where Bloody Mary once lived, he and his disciples spied on what Xu Yang had buried in the forest. Later, his first disciple dug up the five orange wristbands.

At that time, they were planning to coordinate with Zhou Qian from within. Of course, they couldn’t have foreseen everything that was happening now. But regardless, swapping the wristbands using the rubber as a disguise, having a backup plan, was never a bad idea.

So, Hidden Blade reluctantly spent all his rubber items and had his first disciple plant the five fake wristbands back.

Because of that, Xu Yang’s confidant was able to “dig up” those five wristbands and bring them back to him…

Not because he was skilled enough to escape from Hidden Blade and four of his disciples, but because they let him.

Later, after Gao Shan’s soul arrived at the mansion, he discussed strategy with them and conveyed Zhou Qian’s intentions.

During this time, Hidden Blade of course told him about the swapped wristbands.

When Gao Shan returned, he faithfully reported it all to Zhou Qian.

At that point, none of them could have imagined a chess match like this would emerge. But Zhou Qian just happened to use the “fake wristbands” to pull off a brilliant reversal.

In reality, six-color checkers means six factions compete against each other.

But not in this dungeon.

Too few pieces and you can’t win; too many pieces and it becomes harder to win. The ideal is just the right number. Choosing one well-sized group and guiding it to victory, with all other pieces serving as bridges. That was the winning formula.

When the orange faction had only two players on Zhou Qian’s side and five on the opponent’s, he had to give up his two and let them join the Peach Blossom-controlled orange team.

Thus, Zhou Qian fought using yellow and violet, against four colors controlled by the opponent.

Since Zhou Qian had absorbed many players, the yellow and violet pieces involved in the game numbered 21 each, filling up two triangular zones with a total of 42 people.

But among Peach Blossom’s four factions, apart from green, the other pieces were relatively few. Orange had the fewest, just five.

If Peach Blossom wanted to win, they would need far fewer moves than Zhou Qian.

And the easiest win lay in the orange faction.

After absorbing the two orange players from Zhou Qian’s side, Priest only had to move those seven orange pieces to the opposite corner according to checkers rules to win. It couldn’t be easier.

At this moment, six of Priest’s pieces were already in the target corner. With his turn approaching, he only needed to move the final orange piece to the fourth row to secure victory.

But…there was a condition.

That condition: all six orange pieces already in position had to be real.

Unfortunately for him, five of those six were fake.

The only one wearing a real orange wristband was a player Zhou Qian had inserted: Liu Shui.

Liu Shui appeared to be under coercion, being moved at gunpoint by Peach Blossom. But in truth, every step he took had been calculated by Zhou Qian.

And so, Zhou Qian’s genius lay in this: He had completely arranged the current formation of the six orange pieces. Once Liu Shui reached the far corner, he occupied the very first row, the grid with only one square.

Below him, in the second row, were two fake oranges; and in the third, three more fake oranges.

One real orange and five fakes, this was the current layout in the opposite corner.

According to system rules, if a player removes their wristband without cause, they are supposed to die immediately.

But thanks to the [Rubber Good at Imitation], which could mimic item traits, these fake wristbands weren’t flagged by the system as violations—so long as they were worn during the three-hour duration.

But that time was almost up. If those five didn’t switch out their wristbands soon, they would die.

Zhou Qian’s plan was simple: at the critical moment, have them remove the fake wristbands and put on others.

The system never stated you couldn’t switch wristbands mid-game.

While reviewing the rules, Zhou Qian had seized on this loophole.

And once he learned of the wristband swap by Hidden Blade’s disciple, the idea for this brilliant reversal was born.

Now, these five fake oranges completely occupied the second and third rows.

Once they switched bands, they would immediately transform into other colors, effectively trapping Liu Shui, the real orange, in the corner…

And simultaneously blocking Priest’s last real orange from entering.

The inside couldn’t get out, and the outside couldn’t get in.

That final orange could never reach the second row.

At that point, Priest would lose…

Once Priest’s orange lost, the remaining blue, indigo, and green factions stood no chance.

Their only role had been to serve as steppingstones for the orange.

Due to their low numbers, the three were scattered and mixed up. No single color could reach the far corner quickly enough to win.

But Zhou Qian was different. He needed fewer turns to win than Priest.

He was guaranteed to get yellow to the far side first.

At this moment, as the countdown beeped on, the five players wearing fake wristbands were terrified to see a message from the system…

[Friendly reminder: The duration of “Rubber Good at Imitation” is about to end. Please switch to new wristbands within 3 minutes. Failure to do so will result in death. Reminder: You only have 3 minutes.]

The five tried to run. But one, Ke Yuxiao already had his gun trained on them and the system forbade players from leaving the board before the game ended.

So they panicked and turned to Peach Blossom.

“Please, give us wristbands!”

“Give us new wristbands!”

“We still have value! We know tons of information!”

……

But their pleading earned no sympathy from Ke Yuxiao or Priest.

Seeing that neither moved, the five dropped to their knees.

At death’s door, pride meant nothing.

They knelt and kowtowed to the Peach Blossom leaders, begging for a sliver of mercy.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qian placed his hand behind his back and signaled a “five” to Hidden Blade out of Priest’s sight.

Then he looked calmly at Priest.

Priest’s irises were pale. Under the gray sky, they almost looked ghostly gray.

Smiling, Priest said to Zhou Qian, “You’ve recruited a lot of people. That’s impressive. But most of them are solo tourists or non-core members of Feidu and Peach Blossom. That means…

“They don’t carry spare wristbands. The ones on their wrists are all they’ve got.

“Those five with fake orange bands don’t have extras. And you can’t give them any. Not even one.

“You swapped out the real ones, which means you’ve got only five orange wristbands total. So, Zhou Qian, now you face a hard choice.”

Priest’s eyes glinted with amusement.

“I’m not giving them five multi-colored wristbands. Why would I save them? Their fate now lies in your hands.

“If you want to save them, give them the five real orange wristbands. But then they stay orange, and when it’s my turn, my orange pieces will still reach the destination. One move, and you lose.”

“If you don’t give them the real wristbands… they’ll die.

“That’s five pieces gone. I’ll have fewer bridges, but I might still reach the second row before you do… I’ll probably win faster.

“But I’ll make a deal. If you let them die, I promise I’ll let you win. So Zhou Qian…”

“I’m dying to know, what kind of person are you?

“Will you sacrifice five to win? Or will you save them?”

He grinned. “They’re in this mess because of you. If they die, it’s on you. You’re messed up. Your sense of guilt is very small, or maybe you have none at all for those five. But I feel that… This game has changed you? Maybe you’ll save them?”

Zhou Qian lifted his left wrist and glanced at the panel: Hidden Blade had just traded him the five real orange bands.

And a message from Hidden Blade’s eldest disciple came in too.

At that moment, the five with orange bands were terrified to the brink of collapse.

And then Zhou Qian’s next words made them crumble completely:

He said to Priest, lightly, “What to do? I really don’t want to lose this match.

“Silly me. I assumed you’d protect your people. Even if you were heartless, I thought you’d keep using them.

“I didn’t think Peach Blossom would be this cold-blooded. Didn’t you promise these people victory if they joined your team?”

“Tell me your answer,” Priest said, his eerie gray pupils flickering for the first time. “You have to decide soon. Time’s running out.”

Zhou Qian spread his hands and made a helpless gesture.

“No choice. Maybe I’ll let them die. After all… If I lose this match and don’t get the killers’ info, everyone with me dies.

“But if I win… I save most of them.

“Sacrificing five to save the majority. What would you choose? We have no choice. Don’t be silly, Priest. I won’t feel guilty.”

At that moment, the five fell apart.

They turned to Zhou Qian, kneeling and begging incoherently.

They’d all survived so much by now.

They might’ve accepted death if the situation were hopeless.

But it wasn’t. It all came down to one person’s whim.

Meng Bie stepped forward, unable to bear it. “Zhou Qian, save them! Priest is bluffing. He won’t honor that promise!

“Look at the board! If they die, Priest can still win in three rounds! That’s not enough time for you to win with yellow!

“He verbally promised he would let you, but does he really mean it?

“You’ll lose even if you sacrifice them. You’ll never get the killers’ clue! You… You can’t save all of us by sacrificing those five! Don’t fall for it!”

Meng Bie had once distrusted everyone. She didn’t believe Zhou Qian or Bai Zhou, so Zhou Qian hadn’t expected her to be the voice of reason now.

Under Meng Bie’s urge, many people started speaking up…

“Yeah, save them!”

“If you don’t, we’ll lose faith in you!”

“He Xiaowei, you’re a liar! Zhou Qian will send us all to die! This incident shows us his true nature.”

…

Amid pleading, kowtowing, and scolding, Zhou Qian looked at Priest with an unchanged expression and a smile on his face.

Then he said, seemingly helpless, “I’d love to let them die. But listen to the others. If I start sacrificing people at random, who’ll still stand with me?

“Whether I have a conscience is none of your business. But for my own benefit, I’m afraid I’ll have to save them. Shame, really.

“As for your little ‘test question’…”

His smile vanished.

His face hardened and his gaze turned razor sharp.

With scorn, he said, “Why should I answer your question? Who do you think you are? I choose neither.”

“Priest, right? Listen well…

“I’ll save them. And I’ll win this match.”

After saying that, he turned to the five. “Open your packs. Time’s almost up.”

Only 30 seconds remained.

The five all received real orange wristbands Zhou Qian had sent. And one more person received a blue wristband, Liu Shui in the corner.

That blue wristband? Credit went again to Hidden Blade’s disciples. They found four blue bands in the mansion hub. Three they wore, one they didn’t.

These three had never appeared in public so no one knew about the bands.

Peach Blossom had counted all wristbands and noticed the missing blue.

But they hadn’t searched the entire dungeon and assumed the missing bands were just system tweaks, so they never reported it to Priest.

Thus, the blue became an untracked wild card.

No one thought that Zhou Qian would bring it out.

With this wristband, Zhou Qian could save all five and stay unbeatable.

Once the five changed into real orange, the second and third rows were sealed with orange.

The blue in the corner couldn’t exit, which meant Priest’s last piece couldn’t get in.

Even with guns, he couldn’t force Liu Shui who was wearing the blue wristband out from the inner corner fast enough.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qian could maneuver yellow and violet freely, and using the white piece’s swap ability, completely block Priest’s final orange.

In this way, Priest was doomed to lose.

“The system says we have to keep playing a few more turns. But you can see… I’ve already won.”

Zhou Qian stared coldly at Priest, lips curled in a mocking smile.

“So tell me, who the hell do you think you are, giving me test questions?”

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 172

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet; seven colors. These were the parameters the Peach Blossom Corps designed for this instance.

Now, while the red-colored killers observed the players’ duel from outside, only the remaining six colors would truly participate in the checker match.

Excluding red and white, each of the remaining six colors had 25 wristbands, totaling 150. But with only 100 players, the surplus wristbands meant that some people could hold multiple colors, giving them greater freedom to choose which faction to join during the game.

Six colors, six factions.
But due to previous confrontations, the actual chessboard was split into just two sides: Zhou Qian’s side and the Peach Blossom Legion.

Originally, Zhou Qian’s faction only had yellow, but after collaborating with Hidden Blade and absorbing most of Feidu’s members, he now controlled a large number of violet. Additionally, orange had been used by Xu Yang for a “betrayal” strategy. They had initially controlled violet, then moved to the orange region, and after using up green bands, managed to recruit two players with orange bands as well.

So Zhou Qian’s team had violet, yellow, and orange.

The Peach Blossom side, on the other hand, had green, blue, indigo, violet, and orange.

Violet was sparse on their end. There was only two bands. Violet originally belonged to Feidu. Xu Yang and his follower, now with Peach Blossom, brought over two violet bands.

Next sparsest was orange. Xu Yang had buried five orange bands behind the estate. Later, when his sister Xu Feiyu was captured, a loyal follower retrieved them at great risk and delivered them back to him. Those five bands then entered the Peach Blossom faction.

Before the match began, players were given time to move to starting positions according to their band color.

Zhou Qian’s team hadn’t moved yet; they were awaiting his command. The newly joined members trusted him because He Xiaowei had hyped him up relentlessly. 

As for older followers like Meng Bie, they had witnessed firsthand how Zhou Qian could tip the scales with minimal effort.

He Xiaowei couldn’t resist asking, “In regular life, when we play Chinese checkers, there are usually 6, 10, or 15 pieces per color, right?”

“Mhm.” Zhou Qian nodded. “Six would be arranged in three rows: 1, 2, 3. Ten is 1 through 4, and so on.”

“Tsk, this instance has 21 tiles per faction, more than the real-life version with 15. The system is so sly. It must’ve known lots of people would die. Also, Qian’er, are you sure we can win this?”

Looking at He Xiaowei, Zhou Qian smiled. “Actually, it’s all thanks to you guys.”

He Xiaowei blinked. “Us? I don’t get it.”

“Just wait and see.” Zhou Qian tilted his chin upward. “We’re definitely going to win.”

“Then… mind if I analyze a bit?” He Xiaowei asked.

Zhou Qian nodded. “Go ahead. You seem to have something on your mind.”

He Xiaowei said, “This game is very different from traditional checkers. In real checkers, each color has the same number of pieces. Ours doesn’t.”

“Correct. That’s a crucial point,” Zhou Qian said.

“Also, it’s not six factions competing. It’s just two. That simplifies things. We might have three colors, but we only need one to win. The other two? They’re just support pieces. Used to build bridges or block enemies.”

He scratched his head. “Right? Did I understand it correctly? The key to checkers is laying paths for yourself and blocking the enemy!

“All three colors are yours. So whichever wins, you’ll gain the killers’ info. So just focus on one color and let the other two assist!”

Zhou Qian gave him a sincere look of approval. “I completely agree.”

He Xiaowei beamed when he got Zhou Qian’s approval.

He rubbed his hands together and added, “Then here’s more! Our orange has only two pieces. Moving just two to the opposite end should be easy than 21 pieces… This is how it looks like at face value, but the reality is, it’s not…

“If the system forces them to start at the first and second rows—just the single tile and two-tile rows—they can only leap over each other. That wastes many rounds. Meanwhile, enemy pieces with more coverage can already rush forward!

“And with four enemy colors, Peach Blossom can easily block those two oranges. So, we can’t use orange.”

“Mhm. And another reason not to choose orange is that most of it is in their hands. If orange wins, the crucial points are controlled by them. So orange is out,” Zhou Qian said.

“Right. So we’re left with just two colors against their four?”

“But even though Peach Blossom has green, blue, indigo, violet, and orange… their violet is also weak. There’s only two, like our orange. So they won’t choose violet either.

“The main color must not be too many or too few. Something in the middle is best. So they’ll likely go for… Oh crap, Qian’er! I get it now!

“Are they thinking…”

“Fuck! I gotta praise myself! I’ve improved. I’m catching up to you!”

“Shh.” Zhou Qian made a hush gesture and walked toward the board. “Let’s see if the system announces entry order and who plays first. That matters.”

……

On the other side, Priest sat calmly in a corner.

Ke Yuxiao walked up and said in a reporting tone, “I talked with Shan Sheng and Ren Yi. Zhou Qian can’t use orange. It’s a dead end. We can use our remaining four to block him. We’re going to win.

“He thinks having more people gives him the edge? It’s actually a disadvantage in this game. Think how much effort it’ll take to move all of them across the board.”

Sneering a bit, Ke Yuxiao continued, “We’ll use three colors as support to protect a main force. The main color should be small. Our violet only has two, from Xu Yang and his man. It’s not good enough. But we have five oranges. That’s just right. I’ve told five of ours to equip orange bands. If we move them to the opposite corner, we win.”

After Ke Yuxiao finished talking about his tactics, Priest nodded. “Good.”

Ke Yuxiao hesitated. “But what if Zhou Qian sees through this? Should we change our tactics”

“Then let him. There is no difference. If you pick a different main color, he’ll still figure it out. May as well use orange and cut violet out from the start. The rest depends on how your performance goes.”

Ke Yuxiao looked at the green wristband on Priest’s hand. “You’ll command personally?”

“I will. I’ll go meet with Zhou Qian. It’s my first direct confrontation with him. I’ve been looking forward to it. I want to see him when he thinks he’s about to win.”

Priest, who had been sitting the entire time, finally stood. “He’s cute when he smiles smugly at the end. Don’t you think so?”

Ke Yuxiao: “……”

“I always felt he had a strange innocence. Maybe others don’t think so, but I do.”

As he said this, Priest glanced across the field toward Zhou Qian

At this moment, Zhou Qian was already arranging his troops, dispersing the crowd so his line of sight was less obstructed. With the obstruction removed, Priest didn’t see Zhou Qian, but met Bai Zhou’s indifferent, but cold eyes.

What kind of eyes were those?

It was eyes forged through countless bloodbaths and darkness that had been removed from the world for countless years.

There was little warmth in them that only showed when they were looking at Zhou Qian.

But even then, it seemed like that was just an illusion.

More often, it was like frost and snow that could freeze for thousands of miles.

At this moment, those eyes that looked over felt like the God of Death passing through the crowd, giving him a warning.

Priest’s eyes didn’t change, and even a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He turned around and patted the iron pillar with a meaningful look.

Bai Zhou, Bai Zhou. No matter how powerful you are, what’s the use? You’ve been trapped in a cage all your life. Can you really accept that?

……
Moments later, the match began.

The system updated the rules:

First of all, if the number of pieces of a certain color exceeds 21, the extras may be left out; aside from this situation, no one is allowed to refuse to go on the board.

Under this rule, the two orange-band players in Zhou Qian’s hand had no choice but to join the five-member orange team on Peach Blossom’s side. Thus, the orange pieces composed of people wearing orange wristbands totaled seven.

As soon as these two orange-band players stood on the enemy’s grid, guns were already pressed to their heads. They were ordered to act strictly according to Priest’s commands and were unable to help Zhou Qian by bridging gaps or blocking paths.

Secondly, the board consisted of six rows, with each row containing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 grid spaces, respectively. The system stipulated that movement must begin from the first row. That is, the row with only one space.

This rule meant that trying to secure a quick victory using only a few pieces wasn’t very feasible.

As a result, Zhou Qian could only opt for the yellow pieces, which had relatively fewer members.

Bai Zhou, Hidden Blade, and He Xiaowei, on the other hand, remained within the violet faction, which had the most members on the opposing side, serving to assist Zhou Qian.

This was clearly not a fair match.

Priest’s side only needed to move the seven orange pieces to the opposite corner.

But Zhou Qian’s yellow faction, including himself, had as many as 21 people. In comparison, the difficulty level was far higher.

Before the “pieces” of each color took their positions, the system announced one final rule.

When choosing which corner to move toward, each color’s choice order would be determined by a random drawing conducted by the system.

At first glance, a random draw sounds fair, but only in a balanced 3-versus-3 setting.

Zhou Qian only had control over two colors from the start, placing him at a natural disadvantage.

How the six colors were distributed across the six corners was ultimately up to Priest.

In the end, the corner assigned to Priest’s seven orange pieces happened to be the one occupied by his own faction’s violet pieces. And there were only two violet pieces, Xu Yang and his confidant. This setup minimized the risk of the orange pieces being blocked.

Every aspect of this game board favored Priest.

He could easily move all seven orange pieces to the opposite corner.

Compared to Go or Chinese chess, checkers wasn’t nearly as complex and didn’t require a high level of skill.

So, although Zhou Qian made some beautiful moves, Priest’s advantage was simply overwhelming. By the time he had moved six of the orange pieces to the opposite corner, 30 minutes still remained in the game.

As for the seventh piece, Priest didn’t need to give further instructions. Anyone with eyes could see that one more round was all it would take for Priest to win.

When it was Priest’s turn to “move”, the grid he stood on happened to be very close to Zhou Qian’s position, close enough for the two to clearly see each other’s expressions.

Priest looked at Zhou Qian with some regret. “It seems you’ve lost.”

“Is that so?”

Amid the rising murmurs of alarm and doubt from his teammates, Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Not necessarily.”

Surprisingly, Priest’s expression showed a hint of appreciation. “Oh? You’ve got a reversal move? I thought I wouldn’t get to see any brilliance from you this time. That would’ve been such a shame.”

Zhou Qian merely raised a hand and pointed to his ear, smiling as he asked, “Do you hear something that sounds like a countdown?”

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 171

100 players entered this game. Now, 82 remained.

All 82 were locked inside a massive cage while countless killers stood outside with gazes filled with a mix of curiosity, scrutiny, malice, and excitement… but also a shared, undisguised hostility.

At first, everyone assumed the Murder Exhibition was for tourists to view crime-related corpses and uncover the killers’ identities and motives.

But at this moment, the tourists themselves had become the ones on display, and the murderers, the spectators.

It turned out this was a display about the victims.

All players were undeniably uncomfortable now.

They had once visited zoos to look at animals. Now, they were the ones in the cage, being watched and judged.

Behind the bars, Zhou Qian’s gaze was steady.

He locked eyes with Ruan Mei.

Until now, Zhou Qian had only seen Ruan Mei in the Murder Exhibition’s virtual game. That version wasn’t the real historical figure but a game NPC, with many scripted behaviors.

So this moment marked his first true encounter with the real historical Ruan Mei.

As Ruan Mei slowly approached and peered at him curiously, Zhou Qian stared into her eyes and calmly said, “I know what you did. I know the exact day, the order of your murders, and the methods you used…

“I know everything about you. I hold the most critical evidence of your crimes.”

Behind him, He Xiaowei squeezed through the crowd, finally reaching Zhou Qian’s side. He’d arrived full of pride, eager to report his success. How he’d guessed many of Zhou Qian’s intentions and completed the mission he’d been assigned.

He never expected that just as he arrived, he’d hear Zhou Qian utter such bold words to a deranged NPC.

Though instinctively inclined to trust Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei’s heart still skipped a beat.

He couldn’t help but think, Damn, Qian’er really is fearless, saying something like that to an NPC without knowing anything. What if Ruan Mei retaliates? I’m nervous!

But in the next moment, He Xiaowei noticed Ruan Mei’s expression shift.

Though the depths of her eyes held no trace of kindness, she still wore a mask of gentleness, the smile of a dutiful, tolerant mother.

Looking at that smile, no one would believe this housewife could be a monstrous killer.

Zhou Qian’s words had ripped that mask off.

Her gaze turned fierce and shadowed, shooting Zhou Qian a look full of menace before turning and leaving.

Having followed Zhou Qian for so long, He Xiaowei was starting to catch on.

He figured Zhou Qian was testing something.

And judging by Ruan Mei’s reaction, the test had worked.

Once she walked off, He Xiaowei couldn’t help but ask quietly, “Qian’er, what was that all about?”

Zhou Qian smiled faintly. “Just confirming a theory.”

He Xiaowei: ?

Seeing Zhou Qian remain vague, He Xiaowei turned to Bai Zhou beside him and asked hopefully, “You get what he means, right?”

Bai Zhou looked at him and nodded.

He Xiaowei pressed, “Then…”

Bai Zhou tilted his chin behind He Xiaowei. “Ask your master.”

He Xiaowei: “……”

Just then, a soft chuckle sounded. He turned to see Hidden Blade walking over.

Zhou Qian glanced at He Xiaowei and smiled. “You guys did great. Without you, things would’ve been much trickier. How did you get the weapons?”

He Xiaowei took out a pair of private chat devices, handing one to Zhou Qian, then quietly explained the secrets of the mansion and added, “We stayed inside so long that Xu Feiyu brought her people in to ask about our progress. So of course we had to use the haunting devices to scare them!

“Haha, you should’ve seen it. Those two lackeys were so scared they dropped their guns, and we snatched them right away!

“By the way… that magician was amazing, building something like that in his time… and never getting discovered!”

After listening to the full account, Zhou Qian returned the private chat tool and mused, “Looks like having more disciples has its perks. This reminds me… I haven’t checked out the virtual game hall yet. I should go watch some footage, maybe recruit a few apprentices too.”

At that, Zhou Qian noticed He Xiaowei madly winking at him.

Zhou Qian: “Hm?”

He Xiaowei kept gesturing, whispering, “Behind you!”

Zhou Qian calmly replied, “With two god-level players present, no matter how quiet you are, they’ll hear you.”

Then he turned and saw Bai Zhou silently watching him, eyes noticeably darker and deeper than usual.

Hmm? Is Bai Zhou… jealous?

Zhou Qian smiled and teased, “So, what do disciples call their master’s boyfriend?”

Before Bai Zhou could answer, He Xiaowei chimed in, “Eh? I thought you’d just call him ‘husband’.”

Zhou Qian didn’t turn his head. His words were directed at He Xiaowei, but his eyes never left Bai Zhou, clearly speaking for his benefit:

“Why say something like that in public? I’ll tell Zhou Ge in private.”

He Xiaowei: “……”

Even He Xiaowei now realized, Fuck, Qian’er’s really good at flirting. If I had even a tenth of his skills, I’d have a girlfriend by now!

Curious, he looked toward Bai Zhou….only to see the man purse his lips, seemingly suppressing something.

Even though the sky was dark, He Xiaowei could tell his ears had turned slightly red.

Then Bai Zhou grabbed Zhou Qian’s hand and led him to a quieter corner of the cage.

He Xiaowei: “Ah…”

These two… their relationship is really good. I’m so jealous!

In the corner, Zhou Qian stopped joking and began scanning the people around him.

An hour ago, when Hidden Blade used that special picture, Zhou Qian’s system panel began lighting up nonstop…

It was full of people requesting to join his faction, believing the picture’s story and Bai Zhou’s words.

Zhou Qian approved them all.

Now, among the 82 survivors: Originally, Peach Blossom had 32, Feidu had 26, Zhou Qian had 21, and Hidden Blade’s three disciples were still hidden in the mansion.

At this point, regardless of wristband color, Zhou Qian had gained 23 more people.

Xu Yang and his remaining followers had defected to Peach Blossom, Xu Feiyu was captured by Hidden Blade’s disciple, and even her usual subordinates had switched sides to join Zhou Qian.

The previous three-way balance had completely shifted.

Zhou Qian now had 50 people, Peach Blossom 32.

In addition, Zhou Qian noticed something else.

When Ruan Mei had left earlier, she tucked her hair behind her ear. Her sleeve slipped, revealing a red wristband…

Red, corresponding to the first stripe of the rainbow.

Not just Ruan Mei. Watching the other killers pass by outside, Zhou Qian saw red wristbands on all their left wrists.

So the killers belong to the Red faction?

All these killers, drawn from different eras and brought here weren’t just to hasten the world’s collapse… What was the real goal?

Would the players eventually have to fight them?

As he was thinking, Bai Zhou whispered, “Zhou Qian, this prison cell feels… off.”

“What do you mean?” Zhou Qian asked.

“The shape’s wrong,” Bai Zhou replied. “Let Little Dragon scout it out.”

“Alright.”

As expected, Zhou Qian sent Little Dragon to explore.

When it returned, Zhou Qian finally saw the truth through its eyes.

Because the cage was so massive and Zhou Qian had been shoved into a corner while looking outward, he’d subconsciously assumed it was square.

Now, with Little Dragon’s view, he saw that the center of the cage was actually a perfect hexagon. Six equilateral triangles extended from each side, and only beyond those were the actual iron bars.

Six colors. Six triangles…

Zhou Qian suddenly understood. He turned to Bai Zhou. “This is a board. A Chinese checkers board.

“Don’t tell me… the system is making us play Chinese checkers?”

As he said this, he looked first at Bai Zhou, then, sharing Little Dragon’s view, he saw another familiar face… Priest.

Coincidentally or not, Priest also noticed Little Dragon and locked eyes with it across the Peach Blossom players.

Thus, Zhou Qian and Priest made eye contact, from a distance.

Zhou Qian could see Priest’s face clearly, but the reverse wasn’t true.

Still, Priest’s expression was natural, as if Zhou Qian were right in front of him. He even smiled and waved.

That gentle expression and smile unsettled Zhou Qian.

In his mind, Priest was a ruthless, unscrupulous man.

In his life, Zhou Qian had met many heartless people, like his father or the scum Zhang Yanjun.

Their cruelty was bone-deep and obvious.

But Priest was different.

He looked kind, almost compassionate. Sitting there quietly with his legs crossed, he resembled a benevolent Bodhisattva.

Zhou Qian felt Bai Zhou squeeze his hand tighter.

He must’ve also noticed Priest’s gaze.

Zhou Qian looked away, called Little Dragon back, and stowed it in his bag.

Immediately, everyone felt the ground shift again. The iron pillars shot from the earth, dividing the grass into grid-like squares.

As Zhou Qian suspected, they were chessboard tiles.

Then the system prompt arrived:

[The Chinese Checkers game will begin in 20 minutes. Those wearing different color wristbands belong to different factions. Please move to your faction’s corner. You will now fight for your team.]

[Gameplay: Each player is a “piece”. If an adjacent tile has a piece, and the next tile beyond is empty, you may jump over to the empty one. Multiple jumps are allowed in a single move. Maximize each turn by chaining jumps.]

[Victory: All pieces of one color must reach the opposite corner. First team to fully occupy their target zone wins.]

[Special Rules: White wristbands = white pieces. White has a privilege: they may ally with any color and cannot be killed by others.]

[Additionally, white pieces can bypass obstacles and forcibly swap places with an adjacent piece, up to 3 tiles per turn.]

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qian didn’t look at his own white wristband. He looked at Bai Zhou. The message was clear.

Bai Zhou smiled and whispered, “You were wrong before. Meeting you is when my luck truly began.”

“Mhm. I’ve always been lucky, especially when I’m with you,” Zhou Qian replied with a grin.

The system continued:

[For the past 10 hours, the system has been searching for the evil force behind the city’s collapse. However… that force now dominates. The system can no longer stop it.]

[The killers wish to observe this game. Players, do your best.]

[The winning team will receive crucial info from the killers, a potential key to survival.]

[The game begins in 20 minutes and lasts 1 hour. Good luck!]

Zhou Qian quickly scanned the prompts. Then he saw He Xiaowei’s eager eyes.

“What is it?” he asked.

He Xiaowei: “You’re amazing, Qian’er. Chinese checkers should be easy for you, right?”

Zhou Qian shamelessly accepted the praise. “Of course.”

“So… how do we play this game?”

He Xiaowei asked expectantly, “I’m still wearing the violet wristband. Although I’m in a different camp from your big yellow arm… I can help our yellow army build bridges. So this isn’t a battle of six colors and six camps at all. It’s more like…”

“I’m afraid this is a battle between Priest and me.”

Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes that gleamed mischievously, something that He Xiaowei was familiar with.

“Priest always lurked in the shadows, composed and aloof… Well now, the game has forced him to face me directly.

“There are a million ways to win this game. I’ll choose the one that makes him lose most convincingly.”

---

The author has something to say:

I reread earlier chapters and realized I forgot to credit the inspiration for the first dungeon, Apple Paradise (though I swear I did in a dream or something lol).

It was inspired by performance artist Marina Abramović.

At an Italian exhibition, she numbed her whole body and only kept her mind stayed awake, and allowed the audience to do anything they wanted.

At first, people just did makeup or touched her hair, but things escalated fast… knives, guns, etc.

(If you’re interested, you can search for the details. Her love story is touching too.)

While conceptualizing, I was reading The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, which explores how individuals are devoured by group mentality.

That gave me the idea of a vine-bound god, which morphed into the Apple, Adam, Eve, and the snake that tempted her… and so the dungeon was born.

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 170

Green faction, Peach Blossom Legion base, inside a small country cabin.

Ke Yuxiao was inspecting the clues Qi Liuxing had found during his investigation there.

After some time, someone knocked at the door.

The messenger had just rushed back from Liuguang Street. Upon seeing Ke Yuxiao, he quickly relayed Feidu Legion’s message: Xu Yang and his group wished to fully defect to the Peach Blossom Legion, just to secure a chance at survival.

Ke Yuxiao smiled.

He didn’t answer Xu Yang’s request immediately. Instead, he turned with interest to Qi Liuxing beside him.

“I invited you to join Peach Blossom earlier and you refused. But did you hear what he said? So many people want to join Peach Blossom but can’t. Don’t you think you were a bit ungrateful?”

Qi Liuxing kept his head down, examining clues, not even looking up. His face was completely calm. “No need to ask such pointless questions. I won’t join, and you won’t let me. What’s the point of me joining the Peach Blossom Legion? So you can kill me again? Or do you just really want me to kill you this time?”

Ke Yuxiao laughed, as if he’d heard something amusing. He looked at Qi Liuxing and said, “Xiao Qi, you can’t kill me. You know why?”

There was a twisted, morbid edge in his eyes and tone, but Qi Liuxing’s mind had already begun blocking out everything related to Ke Yuxiao. He didn’t pick up the implied meaning and just remained silent.

Ke Yuxiao looked at him with fascination. “I suddenly think killing you might not be as fun. Maybe it would be better to make you willingly join Peach Blossom and serve us. The more unwilling you are, the more I want you to stay. What do you say?”

Qi Liuxing ignored him. The subordinate at the door, however, prompted, “Uh, Captain…”

Perhaps due to Qi Liuxing’s silence, or something else entirely, Ke Yuxiao’s expression darkened. He said with a sneer, “Someone like Xu Yang thinks Peach Blossom is some place he can just stroll into? He and his trash subordinates… Peach Blossom doesn’t need them. And a man who serves three masters… who would ever trust that? He’ll get what he deserves.”

At the door, the subordinate hesitated before adding, “But Xu Yang claims they’ve destroyed all their wristbands. Also, they’re willing to hand over their weapons on the spot for inspection. If we don’t want the weapons, he’ll shoot out all his bullets right there.

“He says Zhou Qian firing blanks made both factions think he wasn’t a threat and start fighting each other… and that made him realize something: if he gives all his bullets to you, he becomes no threat. If neither he nor Zhou Qian threatens you, then obviously, you’ll choose to kill Zhou Qian first. Lastly…”

The subordinate paused, then added, “They’re also willing to hand over Hidden Blade and He Xiaowei.”

This finally sparked Ke Yuxiao’s interest. He looked at Qi Liuxing and said, “Then I’ll just take your friends. If you won’t join Peach Blossom, I’ll kill you again.

“And not just you, I’ll kill Hidden Blade and He Xiaowei too. That way you’ll have company on the road to hell. Right, Xiao Qi?

“Looks like Zhou Qian’s finally stumbled. In other instances… Sure, he could flip the whole game on his own. But now? How can he compete with two whole legions? He’s too naïve. All of you are too naïve. This time, I’ll wipe out every last one of his people!”

……

Meanwhile, Xu Yang sat on a barren patch of land.

After sending his subordinate, he’d been waiting for news.

During the wait, he looked up at the gray-blue sky, then down at the gun in his hand, his expression briefly dazed.

But soon, his gaze hardened into one of grim determination.

It was the kind of look someone has when they’ve hit rock bottom and must survive at any cost.

He had to hang on. If he collapsed, the whole legion would fall.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Yang tightened his grip on the gun.

Originally, when planning with his subordinates, he’d wanted to bury the extra wristbands and weapons to leave himself a way out.

But in the end, he decided to keep the weapons on him, just in case.

He could always claim the extra wristbands had been destroyed.

Even if Peach Blossom wanted to investigate the matter and find them, it wouldn’t matter much…

Wristbands can’t kill. Peach Blossom would realize Feidu just wanted a safety net. And even then, the wristbands might be useless unless their colors matched Peach Blossom’s core members.

But if Peach Blossom found he had no weapons, they would definitely question his sincerity.

Now that he needed their protection, Xu Yang had to either hand over the guns or shoot out every bullet in front of them.

“Thank you, Zhou Qian…” Xu Yang muttered to his gun, “You taught me: sometimes, having nothing at all can turn weakness into strength. A barefoot man isn’t afraid of someone wearing shoes. So this move… I learned it from you.

“Now, just like Peach Blossom, I only want you dead.”

……

Soon after, Xu Yang saw Shan Sheng, Zhang Datie, Yun Xiangrong, and another Peach Blossom team captain named Ren Yi arrive with their men.

Xu Yang and his remaining subordinate handed over five guns and their spare green wristbands.

Xu Yang said, “My sister still has three more guns. When she gets here, we’ll give those too. Together, that’s everything Feidu has left.

“If you’re willing to let us join Peach Blossom, we’ll transfer over now. If not… it’s fine. We’re out of weapons. I’ll still help you and share all the intel we have.”

“Not everyone qualifies for Peach Blossom. You do. Your subordinates… we’ll see. But this matter isn’t urgent, we’ll return to it later. Let’s get back to now…”

Shan Sheng looked at Xu Yang and said, “You say that’s everything. That’s just your word. I’ll need to verify. How about gathering everyone? Shouldn’t take long. You’ve probably explored this whole area, right?”

“Sure. I was planning on that anyway. Already told everyone.” Xu Yang sent his subordinate to round them up. “Bring them all here.”

“Thanks for cooperating,” Shan Sheng said.

After the subordinate left, Xu Yang asked, “That guy Yu Huang… what happened to him?”

“Yu Huang? He’s dead. All his men too. He’s the one who leaked secrets to you, right? You two were working together?” Shan Sheng added, “Our captain executed him personally.”

“But…”

Xu Yang glanced at Shan Sheng, then at Ren Yi, and suddenly wondered…

Was one of them the real source of the intel? He couldn’t be sure.

Zhou Qian’s logic made sense.

Yu Huang gave him fake info, tricked him into entering the instance recklessly. Xu Yang, in turn, had framed Yu Huang as a traitor and sowed chaos in Peach Blossom. Then Zhou Qian leaked his movements, causing Zhang Datie to hunt him down. It all lined up.

Either way, Xu Yang couldn’t afford to offend Shan Sheng or Ren Yi now.

Even if he had doubts, he had to swallow them.

At this moment, Xu Yang didn’t expect that the real blow had yet to come.

……

The meeting point between Xu Yang and Shan Sheng was Liuguang Street. It was a place where both sides could retreat if needed.

After the subordinate left to gather everyone, he rushed all over calling them to the meeting. By the time he reached the manor where Xu Feiyu was, it was nearly too late.

While waiting, Xu Yang kept glancing around anxiously. Slowly, his team began arriving, along with many of the players they’d recruited. The narrow old street soon filled with people.

With everyone except Xu Feiyu and two guards present, Xu Yang turned to Shan Sheng. “There are a lot of us. Why don’t you start inspecting now? Maybe we’ll have time to explore more areas later.”

“Alright. Thank you for your cooperation, Commander Xu. Let’s go one by one,” Shan Sheng said.

But then something unexpected happened. Xu Yang’s subordinate came sprinting back, drenched in sweat and panic all over his face. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

He reached Xu Yang and whispered through a private chat device. “I dug the wristbands back up… all five. But things have gone really wrong!”

Before Xu Yang could ask how, he saw something that made his stomach twist in agony…

Hidden Blade walked out in front, leading a line of captives. Behind him were He Xiaowei and four others.

Xu Feiyu and her two guards were all tied up, strung together like fish, the rope held by He Xiaowei.

Behind him stood three unfamiliar players holding three guns; guns that should have been Xu Feiyu’s.

Where did these people come from? Why were they holding her guns?

Then he saw Hidden Blade glance toward the Peach Blossom team and lock eyes with someone.

He pulled out a scroll.

It unfurled in midair and hovered above everyone.

Xu Yang instinctively looked up and was stunned by what he saw.

The image first showed scenes of him and Xu Feiyu recruiting for the Feidu Legion, gathering players and searching for clues, everything exactly as it had happened.

Then the story raced forward with the plot progressing rapidly, soon reaching the final ending…

Xu Yang, Xu Feiyu, and three subordinates suddenly switched from purple wristbands to orange.

Then they pulled out five guns and massacred everyone else.

Blood, corpses, laughter—the five celebrated their victory, drunk on power.

The image was so vivid that Xu Yang almost believed it. It felt real, like he’d already won.

But he knew it was fake. Two of those subordinates were already dead.

What was that scene just now?

Wait…!

What about the others? Had everyone else seen it?

What would they think?

Cold sweat poured down his back making him look like he’d been caught in a downpour.

And just then, he heard Hidden Blade speak loudly to the crowd. “You see? This is what the Feidu Legion brought you in for. Once they get your info, they’ll kill you. They’ve done it before to set an example.”

“Most of you don’t even have legions. Join our Invincible Legion—we welcome you!

“If you do have a legion, I’ll buy you a transfer card. Even Peach Blossom and Feidu members, we welcome all who want to come over!

“I believe many of you were forced into this. It’s not too late to turn back!”

“Our leader wears the white wristband, the true symbol of victory!

“Follow us if you want to win! Green, violet, any other color will just kill you.

“But white—white can redeem you!”

As his words ended, everyone heard a loud retching sound. It was Xu Yang, coughing up blood from sheer fury.

…….

Elsewhere, on the peak of Purple Mist Mountain.

Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou sat together atop a towering tree, gazing into the distance.

Zhou Qian had been watching through binoculars for a while.

“This sky’s too dim to see clearly,” he said, “but that dark cloud… that should be the ‘You Start with a Picture, Everything Else You Make Up’ I gave Hidden Blade. Looks like they pulled it off.”

He’d anticipated Xu Yang would gather everyone. If not, Shan Sheng would force him to.

Once gathered, Hidden Blade would use the item to tell a damning story and absorb Xu Yang’s followers.

It was a dirty trick.

And the dirtier it was, the more Zhou Qian grinned.

Putting down the binoculars, he looked at Bai Zhou with bright eyes. “Zhou Ge, do you think Xu Yang’s coughing blood right now?”

“I’d bet on it,” Bai Zhou replied. “He’s not the first you’ve done that to. Remember Zhu Qiang? He died horribly.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian laughed. “That instance where you were Sarah one moment, then Ryan the next… I thought you were just playing your character. But you were watching me the whole time?”

Just then, the system issued a message…

[The 10-hour timer is almost up. All players must gather at Purple Mist Mountain within 1 hour. Anyone who fails to arrive will die immediately!]

The mountaintop wasn’t steep. It was broad, with a huge flat area.

One hour later, players from all across the instance gathered there.

This was the area marked by the system.

Zhou Qian specifically glanced at Xu Yang, and saw a huge bloodstain on his chest.

Yep. He really had coughed up blood.

Then the ground rumbled with thunderous noise. The entire mountain shook.

No one knew what was coming.

Bai Zhou gripped Zhou Qian’s hand tightly.

And then…they watched as two massive iron pillars erupted from the earth, rapidly enclosing them. Above them, the pillars stretched and fused together, as if they were alive, forming a massive iron prison.

All remaining players were trapped inside this iron prison!

Above, below, front, back, left right, they were surrounded by the indestructible iron pillars. They had no escape!

Then came the sound of dense footsteps, as if there was an army marching…

A horde of dark figures approached.

At the front of the crowd, Zhou Qian spotted an old acquaintance: Ruan Mei.

[System Announcement: The exhibition has officially begun.]

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 169

Beneath the gray-blue sky, Xu Yang stumbled back to the territory of the purple faction.

Two of his three trusted subordinates were dead. Only one remained. When that man saw Xu Yang’s expression, his heart sank hard. “Boss… don’t tell me… Zhou Qian tricked you? The others…?”

“They’re all dead. I barely made it out.” Xu Yang spat out the words bitterly. “Damn it… how many of us are left?”

The subordinate replied, “If those five brothers are all gone… we only have 26 people left in the purple-orange alliance. We brought 16 men in, and now just 11 of our own are left. The other 15 are outsiders.”

“Those outsiders include Hidden Blade and He Xiaowei? Where are they?” Xu Yang’s expression sharpened, concern in his eyes. “Feiyu’s with them?”

“They’re at the manor. I’ll take you there.”

The subordinate led Xu Yang toward the manor and added, “I heard that place is haunted. The deputy commander didn’t go inside, just waited outside with two of our men. They should be fine. But… what do we do now?”

“I let Zhou Qian trick me… and it’s my own greed to blame. I actually thought I could beat the Peach Blossom Legion here. But I forgot. Even if I beat them in this instance, what happens after we get out?”

Xu Yang nearly coughed up blood in regret. “Liuguang Street has both our people and theirs posted. It’s our dividing line. Go negotiate with them. Tell them… tell them we’re willing to cooperate.”

The subordinate hesitated. “But there’s that ‘maximum value’, right? What if they make us change wristbands and then kill us later? They probably still have spare green ones.”

“Zhou Qian said the ‘maximum value’ would be large. That part was probably true. We won’t necessarily die. Besides, if we keep our original wristbands hidden, we’ll have a fallback.”

Xu Yang thought for a moment and added, “They’ll probably use scan tools to check if we’ve hidden wristbands, so… I’ll hide all the spares. Weapons too. The manor is our base. We’ll stash everything behind it.

“I remember the manor’s surrounded by trees. With this kind of sky, you can’t see anything clearly from the building. We can use the trees and dim light for cover to sneak around back.”

“Let’s stash everything first. You memorize the location. If we need them later, you’ll know where to get them. After that, you go negotiate with Peach Blossom.”

“Wow… you really think of everything for us!”

The subordinate was moved by Xu Yang’s care, unaware that just earlier, Xu Yang had used two other loyal subordinates as human shields.

Right now, he was only too happy to help Xu Yang hide the wristbands.

As soon as the Feidu Legion entered the game, they seized 25 violet wristbands and some weapons.

Because they had intel on the orange wristbands’ location, they quickly moved with weapons into the orange area, killed some players wearing orange wristbands, and forced others to join the violet faction.

They then found eight more orange wristbands. One member switched to orange to build up that faction, but he had died shielding Xu Yang.

The remaining orange wristbands were split between Xu Yang, Xu Feiyu, and three others.

These were reserved for a “rebellion” at the end.

If they switched to Peach Blossom, the orange wristbands could become a backup for betraying them later.

Xu Yang still had five orange wristbands, now potential tools for betraying Peach Blossom.

As they walked to the manor, his subordinate thought through the plan but was still uneasy.

He voiced his concern. “Commander, we did kill some of Peach Blossom’s people. Will they even believe us now? I mean, if I go negotiate…”

Hearing this, Xu Yang felt even more stifled, but he swallowed it.

“Survival is everything. As long as the green mountain remains, there will always be firewood*.

*Idiom referring to as long as the fundamental thing is still there, you don’t have to worry about not achieving anything in the future.

“If it comes to it… we’ll spend big money to buy ‘Switch Legion’ cards. We’ll tell Peach Blossom we want to join them. We’re the fastest-growing faction right now. They’ll want to absorb us. Everything else, we’ll deal with later.

“For now, just test the waters. We still have leverage.

“Peach Blossom has always wanted Zhou Qian dead. I thought he really wanted to work with us, but now I see, he just wanted to watch us fight each other.

“We have to work with Peach Blossom now.

“This manor and the surrounding zones… They haven’t been explored by Peach Blossom. They’ll want our intel.”

While planning their next steps, Xu Yang and his subordinate quickly reached the manor.

Seeing Xu Feiyu standing guard with two Feidu soldiers, Xu Yang finally relaxed a little.

He walked up to her and asked, “What’s the situation inside?”

Xu Feiyu said, “It’s haunted. Something to do with Bloody Mary. I had Hidden Blade and He Xiaowei investigate. I checked in earlier. They’re still exploring. Nothing else suspicious.”

“Alright. Come with me.”

Xu Yang dismissed Xu Feiyu, taking her and the subordinate to the back of the manor.

They found a strangely shaped tree to use as a landmark, dug a hole next to it, and Xu Yang personally buried the wristbands.

Then he looked at his sister and said, “Letting Hidden Blade and He Xiaowei explore is fine. Once they’re done, tie them up and use them as bargaining chips. No need to send them anywhere else. They’ll just cause trouble.”

“What? But that’s such a waste! We risked contacting god-level players so they could help us—”

Xu Feiyu’s protest was cut off sharply. “Do as I say!”

“I… Got it.” Realizing something must’ve gone very wrong, she didn’t ask further and just followed orders.

Exhaling his frustration, Xu Yang turned to his subordinate again and reminded him, “Go now. Make contact and negotiate. Tell Peach Blossom: If they ally with us, we’ll hand over Hidden Blade and He Xiaowei.

“They want Zhou Qian dead. Those two can be the bait. They won’t refuse.”

Xu Yang thought himself a brilliant tactician.

What he didn’t know was that everything he was doing had already been seen by Hidden Blade’s group.

Moments earlier, after Xu Feiyu entered the house to check on things, Hidden Blade and He Xiaowei had moved from the control hub back to the main hall, pretending to investigate like nothing was wrong.

After seeing her off, they began planning how to use the manor to deceive Peach Blossom.

That’s when Hidden Blade remembered a special item Zhou Qian had given him:

[You Start With a Picture, Everything Else You Make Up].

After some thinking, Hidden Blade and He Xiaowei received a new system announcement:

[Orange – 7; Yellow – 21; Green – 24; Blue – 10; Indigo – 9; Violet – 21]

Hmm?

Green and violet had never dropped before, and now they had.

What did that mean?

Just as Hidden Blade was about to discuss it with his disciples, his sharp hearing caught the sound of footsteps.

Xu Yang, being a god-level player, had deliberately masked his movements.

But his sister and subordinate were ordinary players so they couldn’t hide their tracks.

So Hidden Blade heard one set of steps come near, followed by two others heading toward the back of the manor.

He immediately sent everyone back to the control hub.

Using a special device there, Hidden Blade saw a group moving into the forest behind the building.

Xu Yang had carefully avoided visible areas from the windows, but never imagined a hidden camera was still operational, placed there long ago by the magician who once lived here to monitor girls who might escape.

Because of that, Hidden Blade saw everything, clearly watching them bury something.

After Xu Yang and his men left and Xu Feiyu returned to the gate, Hidden Blade sent his fastest disciple, who also had a talent for finding objects, to investigate.

Soon after, the disciple returned with five orange wristbands.

Staring at the wristbands, Hidden Blade and his disciples had one question:

Why bury these five?

Back in the control hub, Hidden Blade kept monitoring the gate while summoning his four disciples for a brainstorming session.

He said, “Green and violet hadn’t decreased before. This means they’re Peach Blossom and Feidu’s factions.

“Now that we know Feidu is violet, then Peach Blossom must be green.

“If both dropped in number… Zhou Qian probably made a move.

“They found weapons early; Zhou Qian didn’t. So Peach Blossom and Feidu likely fought due to his manipulation. That would explain the losses.”

“So here’s the real question: Why is Feidu burying extra wristbands? What exactly is going on outside?

“Everyone, brainstorm. Think logically. The system’s severed contact between players. There were no private messages at this distance.

“We can’t talk to Zhou Qian. We can only try to reconstruct his thinking. That way, we can coordinate and win.

“Hey… He Xiaowei?”

Hidden Blade frowned, noticing He Xiaowei sitting cross-legged, palms together as if he had suddenly converted to Buddhism and was chanting prayers.

Hidden Blade couldn’t help but asked, “What the hell are you doing?”

He Xiaowei: “Don’t disturb me, Master. I’m attempting long-distance brainwave resonance with Qian’er, to guess what he’s done.”

Hidden Blade: “……”

He Xiaowei closed his eyes and continued, “Qian’er! My wise, flawless, all-seeing Qian’er! Let me read your mind just this once!”

Hidden Blade: “So… is it working?”

He Xiaowei: “Still trying, Master. You all continue brainstorming.”

Hidden Blade muttered, “This is so weird. I’m telling Qian’er you’re cursing him. Who even can protect you? When I need blessings, I go visit our ancestors’ graves.”

He Xiaowei’s eyes widened immediately. “Fuck! I didn’t mean it that way, Master! I swear I didn’t!”

Hidden Blade raised a brow. “Then think seriously. Out of all of us, you understand him best.”

……

Meanwhile.

After a period of rest, Gao Shan regained some strength.

Zhou Qian sent him to meet with Shan Sheng in the Peach Blossom Legion to gather intel.

When Gao Shan brought the information back, Zhou Qian confirmed: His plan had succeeded.

Though Xu Yang, being a god-level player, had narrowly escaped death.

Currently, Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou, Gao Shan, and Yin Jiujiu were all midway up the mountain.

Yin Jiujiu asked Zhou Qian,

“But… we’ve basically provoked Xu Yang, right? He’ll… he’ll probably try to work with Peach Blossom now!”

“True,” Zhou Qian said calmly.

“But… Xu Yang killed Peach Blossom members. Whether they’ll trust him is uncertain. Unless he convinces them, he has no way to betray them—meaning, no spare wristbands.

“But a guy like Xu Yang… would he really destroy all his wristbands? Of course not. Peach Blossom won’t trust him, and he won’t trust them.

“If I were him, I’d stash them and leave myself a way out.”

Hearing this, Gao Shan immediately said, “I’ll go look with the little dragon!”

Zhou Qian smiled. “Good. After getting played by me, Xu Yang will definitely worry about his sister, whether she’s in Hidden Blade’s hands.

“That kind of psychological pattern is common. Once he’s safely back at base, he’ll likely check on her first.

“Chances are, he stashed the wristbands right after seeing her. That way she knows where they are too and can go back to doing her own thing after.

“So, Shan Ge, when you get to Feidu, start your search with that logic. You might find them faster that way.”

“You really are sharp.” Gao Shan admired Zhou Qian for thinking of such details.

Zhou Qian looked at him and said, “While you’re there, try to get an accurate headcount of Feidu. Also, see if you can meet Hidden Blade and learn how they’re doing.

“Xu Yang’s lost five men. We’ve basically succeeded. Ideally, we’ll coordinate with Hidden Blade from within and completely turn the tables!”

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 168

Blue Harbor City, Qingfeng Pavilion.

This was originally a teahouse, but now, no customers remained.

No one knew how Priest had found such a place in this apocalyptic world. Of course, it was possible he had someone design it just for him.

Ever since entering the instance, he had essentially stayed here, not intervening in any of the conflicts in the instance, as if none of it concerned him.

At this moment, Ke Yuxiao walked up to the door, knocked three times, and waited for Priest’s permission to enter. His expression was somewhat grave. He had come to discuss matters related to the traitor and Yu Huang.

Originally, at Priest’s instruction, the Peach Blossom Legion had selected a few high-ranking members to use capsules to activate this instance.

These elites then faced a harsh trial. They had to pass through a series of testing instances to complete the mission and fully realize the capsule’s power.

The scope of Blue Harbor City was enormous, and the difficulty of the trial instances was high. Only the most elite of the Peach Blossom Legion had been selected.

In the end, only three survived and successfully converted Blue Harbor City into a closed instance.

Among them, two god-level players served as the main forces of the operation and participated in the core design.

According to the original design under Ke Yuxiao’s direction, a large number of weapons were concentrated in the area with green wristbands, with smaller amounts stored in the blue and indigo zones.

But someone had tampered with the design, placing a significant amount of weapons in the purple area instead and passing that information to the Feidu Legion, luring them into the instance.

Those two god-level players were Yu Huang and Shan Sheng, so one of them had to be the traitor.

In truth, both Ke Yuxiao and Priest had already suspected this.

As soon as they entered the instance, they noticed discrepancies between what they saw and the original design.

At that time, Priest told Ke Yuxiao: Do not address the traitor for now.

So Ke Yuxiao continued with business as usual and didn’t mention the matter.

The other members of the legion hadn’t been informed of the instance’s details beforehand, and some didn’t even know that their own people had designed it.

Unaware of any betrayal, they simply followed Ke Yuxiao’s orders and worked together.

But now, the situation had changed drastically.

On the church rooftop, Zhou Qian publicly mentioned the word “mole” in front of the Peach Blossom Legion, planting a seed of doubt in everyone’s mind.

Afterward, the Feidu Legion committed murder, and Yu Huang was suspected of helping them escape. That seed of doubt had grown into wildfire.

In an instance about mutual slaughter, people no longer dared to trust their teammates, especially when the team already had several high-level factions.

Shan Sheng and Yu Huang were god-level players of similar strength, and they’d never gotten along.

They managed surface civility, but their subordinates were constantly clashing behind the scenes. Neither side would concede.

With Zhou Qian fanning the flames and Xu Yang taking action, both groups had reached their limits and now wanted the other dead.

As a result, Ke Yuxiao wasn’t sure how to deal with Yu Huang. Should they investigate who the real traitor was between him and Shan Sheng? That’s why he had come to see Priest.

After Ke Yuxiao knocked three times, a few seconds later, Priest allowed him in.

He was sitting on the ground reading a book, with a glass of plain water beside him.

Ke Yuxiao gave him a glance but didn’t waste time and succinctly explained the situation.

Without even lifting his head, Priest said mildly, “Observe and wait. Do nothing. There are only three hours left until the ‘maximum value’ is revealed, and key clues haven’t been fully explored.

“Right now, what’s most important is gathering information. Remember, now is not the time to deal with a traitor. We cannot afford internal strife.

“Even beyond that, don’t forget. Whoever opened the capsule carries a vital mission. Only if he survives and clears the instance will Blue Harbor City belong to our legion.”

Ke Yuxiao thought for a moment and understood. “Got it.”

“Then why ask me again?” Priest said.

Before Ke Yuxiao could answer, Priest looked up at him, seeming to figure it out himself. “Ah. Zhou Qian said something in front of everyone today?”

Ke Yuxiao replied, “Yes. Our team’s morale is now unstable.”

Priest didn’t seem surprised at all, as if Zhou Qian’s actions were expected.

He gave a faint smile and looked at Ke Yuxiao. “You still can’t keep your cool. That’s where you fall short of Zhou Qian.”

“I do fall short of Zhou Qian. I fall short of many. As the main personality, I’m not even as good as the other personalities in my own body…” Ke Yuxiao pressed his lips together, then smiled.

There was a trace of madness in his eyes, and his tone took on an unhinged edge. “So… I’ll just stop being human! I already promised you. I won’t be human anymore. Hahaha…”

Priest looked at him, a touch of compassion in his gaze.

He said, “Many mental patients are under treatment, but sometimes I wonder… why treat them?”

Ke Yuxiao clapped lightly, matching his tone. “Yeah! Why treat them? Let them go mad!”

“Exactly. Why force them to wake up and return to reality?” Priest smiled. “Isn’t it better to live in fantasy? I think many people in the asylum were happier.

“In the eyes of ‘normal’ people, they’re abnormal. But maybe in their eyes, it’s the normal people who are insane. Don’t you think?”

“Absolutely! Living in illusion is great! The real world is what makes people miserable! Like my brother… He only ever liked a personality I created. He never loved the real me!”

Ke Yuxiao looked at Priest like he was a spiritual guru, eyes full of fanaticism and reverence.

“So, I sent him to hell. Will he go to the hell you created?”

“He will.” Priest gave him a profound look and patted his shoulder.

“But now, you need to calm down. You’re in command. Didn’t you say you wanted to prove your worth to me?”

“Yes! That’s exactly what I want!” Ke Yuxiao said. “I understand. I’ll do it your way!”

“Good. Remember…” Priest emphasized, “Keep them alive. If something goes wrong, even saving one is enough. I don’t care who the traitor is. Don’t waste effort investigating it.

“What matters is that one of them clears the instance and claims Blue Harbor City. All debts will be settled after we leave the instance. If needed, neither of them has to live.”

Ideally, both would survive. But if that wasn’t possible, saving just one would do.

With those instructions, Ke Yuxiao left Qingfeng Pavilion and headed toward the White Spire area.

For some reason, he brought Qi Liuxing along.

The atmosphere in the White Spire zone was incredibly tense.

Inside the hall, Shan Sheng and Yu Huang were facing off, each with three subordinates.

Shan Sheng’s team all wore green wristbands, while Yu Huang’s team wore indigo, making it convenient for both sides to kill each other.

Originally, Shan Sheng hadn’t planned to come, but when his subordinates got into an argument with Yu Huang’s people, accusing each other of being the traitor.

Shan Sheng rushed over with the rest of his team upon hearing his men might be surrounded. That led to the current standoff.

Ke Yuxiao brought two of his own people and climbed the tower steps with Qi Liuxing, silently listening to the arguments below.

“Yu Huang, just admit it! I’ve always thought you guys were shady. You’re all traitors!”

“Calling the kettle black, huh? I don’t even know Xu Yang! Who the hell said I helped him? You planted that rumor yourselves!”

“Captain Ke is here. Let’s hear what he says!”

……

Upon hearing this, Ke Yuxiao received several gazes but simply watched the scene in the hall and said with a smile, “Go ahead and argue. I need to hear both sides to make a decision.”

He let them keep quarreling, then turned his eyes to Qi Liuxing beside him.

Qi Liuxing was clearly observing the scene, and there was Yun Xiangrong, who had joined Shan Sheng’s side in the Peach Blossom Legion.

“Worried about her?” Ke Yuxiao asked after noticing his gaze. His voice had a slightly deranged edge.

Qi Liuxing’s expression was grim, and he didn’t even look at him. “Someone like you would never understand.”

“Is that so…”

Ke Yuxiao grew angry, reached out, and grabbed Qi Liuxing by the neck, forcing him to look at him.

Qi Liuxing’s body radiated killing intent, and his longsword instantly appeared in his hand.

At the critical moment, Ke Yuxiao raised his right hand and pressed a gun to Qi Liuxing’s forehead.

“What, want to die with me? Not yet. I won’t give you that chance.”

With a vicious grip of his left hand, Ke Yuxiao watched the veins bulge on Qi Liuxing’s neck and smiled. But upon seeing the deep hatred in Qi Liuxing’s eyes, that smile disappeared.

Ke Yuxiao had a unique skill. He could feel what his sub-personalities felt. So he had once felt the warmth of being cared for by Wu Ren as a “younger sister”, and remembered clearly the way Qi Liuxing had once looked at… another Ke Yuxiao.

The young man’s admiration, respect, joy, even dependence was all laid bare.

But now, Qi Liuxing looked at him with only loathing and killing intent.

Worse, there was unmistakable disappointment.

Why disappointed?

Because he now believed he’d been wrong about him or had seen his fall.

“You were amazing, Yuxiao. You don’t know. I recently met a guy named Zhou Qian. He’s impossible to read. I feel like if I blink, he’ll trick me. But you were different. I could always relax around you. No pressure.”

That was something Qi Liuxing had once said.

But now, he only trusted Zhou Qian, never him again.

So what now?

Break that belief completely.

Make him understand: that person never existed.

When Ke Yuxiao let go, Qi Liuxing instinctively clutched his neck, coughing hard.

When he looked up, he saw Ke Yuxiao’s deranged expression.

What’s he planning?

“Xiao Qi… seeing the hate and disappointment in your eyes irritates me. Because… the ‘Ke Yuxiao’ you knew never existed. He was an act I put on. Didn’t he say even in a death game, he wouldn’t harm teammates? So he took a support class, only to boost you?

“That version of him… How hypocritical.

“Now let me show you the real me. Last time I killed you, you were too deep in the game to see clearly. This time, open your eyes—”

Ke Yuxiao smiled and suddenly turned his gun on the hall below, firing four shots!

Gunshots rang out.

Qi Liuxing shouted instinctively, “Yun Xiangrong, look out!”

Then he remembered, Ke Yuxiao wore a green wristband.

So he’d targeted the indigo faction.

Sure enough, Yu Huang and his three men fell right in front of Qi Liuxing’s eyes.

Ke Yuxiao’s voice rang out again.

He looked at the stone-faced Shan Sheng and said, “Captain Shan, I trust you. In a critical moment like this, traitors must be dealt with immediately. Don’t you agree?”

Then he turned with a smile to Qi Liuxing.

“Good. I hope I don’t see disappointment in your eyes again. Hate me if you want. Kill me if you want. Just don’t be disappointed in me. Okay, Xiao Qi?”

……

Meanwhile, Xu Yang, with two lieutenants and three teammates, was fleeing back to his purple base with Zhang Datie’s help.

Along the way, Xu Yang asked, “You said you’re a subordinate of someone named Shan Sheng?”

“Yeah. Yu Huang always targets us. I’m happy to help. Got a problem?” said Zhang Datie.

“Wait a second…” Xu Yang’s pupils shrank. “How did you know we were coming? Knew to guard the White Tower and help us dodge Peach Blossom’s defenses? You—”

Xu Yang sensed something was wrong and went to draw his gun on Zhang Datie.

But his instincts as a god-level player warned him of even greater danger behind.

In a flash, he yanked one lieutenant behind him as a shield and dove to the ground.

At the same time, he swept his leg, kicking another lieutenant to the front.

Thus, the sniper aiming from behind, and Zhang Datie’s shot from ahead, both hit Xu Yang’s subordinates instead.

Bang!

Bang!

Xu Yang lost two men and fled with his remaining three teammates.

His teammates, shocked by how casually Xu Yang had used people as shields, ran with confusion in their steps.

They hesitated and lagged behind.

Zhang Datie and another of Shan Sheng’s men seized the chance, quickly gunning down all three.

Zhang Datie tried to fire one last shot at Xu Yang, but the system signaled that the target couldn’t be identified. Xu Yang had escaped with incredible speed.

Still, he had lost far too much from this.

Zhang Datie turned to his teammate and said, “Let’s go claim our credit.”

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 167

The sky remained a perpetually unchanging gray.

On Purple Mist Mountain, towering trees stretched in succession, painting a bizarre and unique apocalyptic landscape.

Halfway up the mountain, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou sat side by side.

Bai Zhou glanced at a small scar on the corner of Zhou Qian’s mouth, reached out, and gently placed his thumb against Zhou Qian’s cheek. “Does it hurt?” he asked.

Zhou Qian gave him a glance. “This? It’s nothing. Barely a scratch.”

At this, Bai Zhou was briefly taken aback, then smiled faintly, though his eyes remained dark and heavy.

Zhou Qian seemed to sense something and looked him in the eyes, saying with mock innocence, “I only say stuff like this to you. I don’t say it to anyone else.”

Bai Zhou was amused and pinched his ear. “Alright.”

Zhou Qian also smiled, then asked, “By the way, you mentioned on the way here… something about a capsule that can change an instance’s nature?”

Bai Zhou nodded. “A long time ago, I heard Shao Chuan mention it. But I couldn’t confirm it before. After talking to Shan Sheng, that guess turned out to be correct.”

After giving a general explanation of the capsule’s function, Bai Zhou continued,

“There’s an instance in Blue Harbor City that opens from time to time. It’s only open for half a day at a time and closes quickly. No one has ever fully cleared it with 100% completion, and thus no one’s obtained its hidden rewards.”

In certain instances, it’s not that players aren’t capable of triggering or completing hidden tasks. It’s that the system hasn’t made them available at all.

Why? Was it because some prerequisite condition hadn’t been met?

Zhou Qian asked, “Is it that instance… Murder Exhibition?”

Bai Zhou nodded. “Yes, that one.

“The hidden rewards related to Genesis, based on legend, number seven in total. The earlier ones aren’t that hard to get, but the later ones are increasingly difficult. Despite the Peach Blossom Legion’s vast manpower, they’ve never collected all seven.

“This time, after finally obtaining some clues and analyzing them, they concluded that if they could fully convert Blue Harbor City into a closed instance, it might meet the activation conditions for Murder Exhibition hidden task and allow them to trigger it. And as for the result… You’ve seen it for yourself.”

Zhou Qian looked down the mountain, his gaze showing clear interest. “Yeah, they succeeded in triggering the hidden storyline. At the start, the system even said that when the instance ends, we’d see a god.”

He changed tone and added, “You just said using that kind of capsule allows someone to design the instance. But from what I know about the system, it doesn’t give full control to that designer, does it?”

“Correct,” Bai Zhou said. “Even if a player uses a capsule to design an instance, the system will still intervene to maintain balance.

“Also, converting an instance as large as Blue Harbor City is extremely difficult. The larger the area and the more built-in storylines and settings, the harder it is to modify, and the smaller the player’s influence becomes.”

At this point, Zhou Qian finally understood how this instance came to be.

Put simply, the PVE elements—the storyline parts—were still designed by the system.

Only the PVP parts, the player-versus-player mechanics, were designed by the Peach Blossom Legion.

The Murder Exhibition Hall already contained secrets linking different timelines, gathering many killers and presenting the possibility of bringing them together.

However, the system had never actively opened the corresponding hidden story. How those timelines were connected, and what the hall was really for, was never explained.

The Peach Blossom Legion turned Blue Harbor City into a closed instance, triggering the conditions to activate the hidden storyline. Only then did the plot finally reveal itself.

But that plot was entirely designed by the system. It had nothing to do with the players.

The only parts the Peach Blossom Legion could control or design were the wristbands and weapons.

Grasping this key point, Zhou Qian smiled and said, “So the real method of clearing this instance, and what those killers will ultimately do, Peach Blossom doesn’t know. They only designed the wristbands and weapons, trying to get 100 players to kill each other.

“As for why they need to kill so many people… After talking with Priest about his concept of hell, I think I get it. Also…”

Zhou Qian looked to Bai Zhou and asked, “This game is dangerous, but the system has never forced players to die. In terms of game balance, it should intervene even in the PVP parts, right?”

Bai Zhou clearly understood what Zhou Qian was getting at and answered immediately, “Yes. Shan Sheng was involved in the design. I confirmed with him. They didn’t design a white wristband.”

The Peach Blossom Legion created seven colors of wristbands: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, along with their wearing rules, and designed the strongest weapon: guns and bullets.

But the system would still make balance adjustments based on the players’ plans.

This resulted in “unexpected” elements that even the Peach Blossom Legion couldn’t control…

First, the system set a yet-unannounced “maximum value”.

The Peach Blossom Legion couldn’t determine what this “maximum value” was.

Second, although they designed the red wristband, it never appeared for players. This was presumably the system’s doing. No one knew where the red wristband had gone.

Finally, the appearance of the white wristband was also completely unanticipated.

The Peach Blossom Legion had carefully planned the location of every wristband and nearby weapon, ensuring they could rapidly gather them all when the game began.

Under their design, there were no weapons near the yellow wristband.

To balance the game, the system placed three bullets and one gun in that area and also a white wristband.

“So, we can turn the tables.”

As Zhou Qian said this, his eyes fell on the wristband around his wrist.

Smiling, he said, “They tried to design around me, so I’ll let them die by their own design. This system really does share my personality. And…”

He raised his arm, revealing the white wristband. Looking up at Bai Zhou, he added, “White really is my trump card. Zhou Ge, see? I told you white is my lucky color.”

……

Thirty minutes later, Xu Yang arrived as agreed.

His expression was extremely unpleasant upon seeing Zhou Qian, but he forced himself to keep it under control.

In contrast, Zhou Qian looked relaxed and cheerful. He casually gestured to a rock beside him. “Have a seat.”

Xu Yang impatiently said, “Cut the crap. How do we kill the Peach Blossom Legion?”

Back when the game started, Zhou Qian had already met Xu Yang.

At the time, Xu Yang had been arrogant and aggressive.

He came into the instance with a mindset to slaughter everyone, fully confident that he would win and claim the ultimate prize.

But now, his demeanor had completely changed.

When Zhou Qian met him at the church rooftop, he was no longer blindly confident or relaxed.

They agreed to meet again in an hour. Zhou Qian said little at the time and just had him come to Purple Mist Mountain.

Xu Yang had been clearly frustrated, but he still swallowed his pride and came in person.

The change in attitude was easy to guess.

The Feidu Legion had been expanding rapidly and aggressively, but Xu Yang wasn’t reckless.

If he knew the Peach Blossom Legion held a clear advantage, he wouldn’t have come.

The reason he had come, and the earlier confidence he had, could only mean one thing:

He believed he had an edge over the Peach Blossom Legion.

Why?

He must have been fed information by a supposed mole and he trusted that mole deeply and believed everything they said.

Zhou Qian imagined the mole had said something like: “Commander Xu, I’ve infiltrated the Peach Blossom Legion and risen to a high rank. I got confirmed intel about this Blue Harbor City closed instance. When I reported to leadership, I deliberately hid and altered some information.

“There are two major weapon stockpiles. I disguised the smaller one as the larger and fed that to Peach Blossom.

“The location I’m giving you holds the real stockpile. Whoever controls the weapons, controls the game.

“You can defeat Peach Blossom and claim final victory!”

But thanks to Shan Sheng, Zhou Qian knew the truth.

Shan Sheng had discovered the mole and deliberately passed them false information to lure Feidu into a trap.

Xu Yang didn’t know this. He’d walked in thinking he held all the cards, only to watch everything go sideways.

The Peach Blossom Legion had killed many and was using bullets freely. They clearly weren’t short on ammo.

They brought in many powerful leaders.

So what was the real “maximum value”? Wasn’t it supposed to be low?

And Zhou Qian’s white wristband… What did it mean?

Xu Yang must have asked himself repeatedly: What went wrong? Why was all his intel false?

Now, Zhou Qian looked at him and asked, “Even though I said that on the church rooftop, I’m guessing… your mole never actually entered this instance, right?”

Xu Yang’s face went pale.

Seeing this, Zhou Qian, who’d only been 90% sure, was now completely certain.

Xu Yang was full of doubt but couldn’t find his mole. That’s why he had no choice but to come to Zhou Qian for an alliance.

Zhou Qian pressed, “You think your mole betrayed you?”

“Impossible!” Xu Yang snapped. “He’d never betray me! I trained him myself! I saved him countless times. I trust him completely. But for some reason… he really isn’t here.”

“Then he was used,” Zhou Qian sighed. “I thought you were smart. Can’t believe you didn’t see that. Or do you trust him so much that you think he couldn’t possibly be exposed?”

Xu Yang frowned harder. “You mean…”

“You don’t get it yet? Your mole was exposed long ago. The Peach Blossom Legion found out who he was, but didn’t act. Instead, they let him think he was manipulating them with fake reports. But in reality, everything he did played right into Peach Blossom’s hands.

“Why did Peach Blossom do this? Isn’t it obvious?”

Zhou Qian looked him in the eye and said firmly, “They wanted to lure you into this instance…and kill you. As for the reason…

“The Peach Blossom Legion might still be ranked third, but the top two haven’t been active in years. Right now, they’re number one.

“And your Feidu Legion is rising fast. You’re the biggest threat. Of course they want you dead.”

Xu Yang exhaled deeply.

Zhou Qian continued, “Peach Blossom is full of brilliant minds. They’d never let a mole actually climb to power. The facts already say everything. Unless you work with me, your only option is death.”

“You remember Qi Liuxing? The swordmaster who followed you before?” Zhou Qian asked.

“Yeah,” Xu Yang replied. “My people said he went off with someone named Ke Yuxiao. They…”

Zhou Qian said, “They had some past conflict, but they’re still friends. Otherwise, Ke Yuxiao wouldn’t have risked entering your purple base to take him away.”

Xu Yang frowned. “Ke Yuxiao? I saw him at the church. He’s leading Peach Blossom’s operations, right? He’s friends with your guy?”

“Friends, enemies—sometimes it’s just a matter of perspective.” Zhou Qian smiled. “In short, Qi Liuxing is still with Ke Yuxiao, so he hears a lot. If you trust me, trust me all the way. Your mole got played. Want revenge?”

Xu Yang, ever the pragmatic commander, said, “Of course I want revenge. But let’s be clear. First we have to take out Peach Blossom and survive.”

“Why not both? That mole got you into this mess. Don’t you want him dead too?”

Zhou Qian said, “The real designer of this instance isn’t Ke Yuxiao, but a man named Yu Huang. Peach Blossom only sent a few commander-level personnel to participate, and he is among them. He used your mole to send you fake intel.

“If you want revenge and to take down Peach Blossom, then the best move is to turn Yu Huang into the real traitor, right?”

Zhou Qian saw Xu Yang waver and pressed on.

“In this instance, Ke Yuxiao runs operations, Yu Huang designed the instance. I’m confident I can create confusion that even Yu Huang can’t explain, so Ke Yuxiao starts doubting him.

“With luck, they’ll clash. You just do as I say.”

“So what do I do?” Xu Yang asked.

“Go see Yu Huang. Make it look like you’re conspiring with him,” Zhou Qian said.

“That’s easy to say. How do I actually pull it off?” Xu Yang asked.

Zhou Qian laid out his plan and said, “But don’t rush. I’m waiting for a message from Qi Liuxing. We need to confirm Yu Huang’s movements before we act.”

So far, everything Zhou Qian said sounded airtight.

But Xu Yang couldn’t help doubting him.

Zhou Qian seemed too confident, too in control.

Could I be getting played?

Xu Yang asked, “Why should I trust you?”

“If you don’t… what’s your plan?” Zhou Qian smiled. “You know what the white wristband is? You know the ‘maximum value’?”

“But based on your plan, I’ll waste a lot of bullets. What if—” Xu Yang hesitated.

Zhou Qian looked into his eyes and replied firmly: “The final ‘maximum value’ won’t be low. This system loves messing with people. It says ‘fewer survivors is better’, then in the end announces a huge number, just to see us regret it.

“So trust me. You’ll have enough bullets.”

“You, you’re guessing! You have no evidence!”

“Then I’d better explain how this instance came to be. Ever heard of a capsule?”

He paused, then shared the conclusions he’d reached with Bai Zhou.

Zhou Qian said, “Even if we ignore the system’s logic, you should believe the Peach Blossom Legion. If the maximum value were small, would they have brought so many people? Of course not.”

Zhou Qian’s expression turned solemn. “If they win, they’ll claim all of Blue Harbor City. Do I need to explain how massive that map is? They’ll become the number one faction and dominate the game. We’ll all live under their rule. So…”

“Xu Yang. Three hours left. Do you have any better plans to turn the tables? You don’t want to lose to either sides, right? Use me. My white wristband, and the intel I’ve got.

“Xu Yang, let’s win this fight together. Right now, you have no other choice but to follow me.”

……

Half an hour later.

Huai River Park.

A Peach Blossom squad was suddenly attacked with gunfire. Two were killed instantly.

After the kills, the assailant fled immediately.

The attacker could only be from the Feidu Legion.

After realizing this, the surviving Peach Blossom squad members gave chase and saw the Feidu troops heading toward the White Spire area.

The news was soon delivered to Ke Yuxiao.

“Our people have gone after them. A firefight’s about to start. Captain, how do we handle this? That White Spire area… Yu Huang was searching there with someone. It’s gotta be him. Yu Huang’s the traitor, isn’t he?”

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 166

The door panel made a loud bang as Zhou Qian’s back slammed hard against the door.

His lips were bitten, and he winced from the pain. When he opened his eyes, they met Bai Zhou’s deep and unreadable gaze.

A faint metallic scent of blood spread between their lips. A dangerous, excited gleam flashed in Zhou Qian’s eyes. Then, unwilling to back down, he hooked his arms around Bai Zhou’s shoulders and kissed him back.

Neither of them had much experience with kissing, but that didn’t stop them from following their instincts and chasing after each other.

Every fervent movement, every stifled gasp, spoke of how desperately they wanted to melt into each other’s very bones.

As the kiss deepened, Zhou Qian’s back slowly slid down the door involuntarily, and Bai Zhou wrapped an arm around his waist to pull him back up.

At some point, Zhou Qian’s legs had already hooked around Bai Zhou’s waist, and his entire weight was now supported by Bai Zhou’s hands.

The lack of oxygen turned Zhou Qian’s face slightly red, and his eyes shone with a moisture born of the kiss. There was both exhilaration and daze in his expression.

His breathing grew heavier and more erratic. Bai Zhou, hearing it, finally pulled back slightly.

But Zhou Qian didn’t want him to stop. He leaned forward again.

Bai Zhou freed one hand and gently patted the back of his neck several times, as if to soothe him.

“Wait a second,” Bai Zhou said hoarsely.

Zhou Qian’s voice held a hint of dissatisfaction. “Wait for what?”

Bai Zhou whispered in his ear, “We’ll kiss again in a bit.”

“Why?”

“Catch your breath.”

With his arms around Bai Zhou’s neck, Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes meaningfully. “Are you looking down on me?”

Then Bai Zhou pressed him back against the door and, in the end, pushed Zhou Qian’s head in and kissed him again.

……

A long while later…

Zhou Qian lay on the floor with Bai Zhou’s jacket spread beneath him. Above his head was a stained-glass window with one section shattered.

Through the glass, he could see the sky. Part of it was gray, while the rest was dyed with vivid, almost blinding colors.

In this ruined world, this was the only burst of vivid color he had seen.

After staring at that color for a few seconds, just as Bai Zhou leaned down again to kiss him, Zhou Qian suddenly grabbed his collar and sat up.

He twisted his body, flipped Bai Zhou onto the ground, and leaned down, staring deeply into his eyes.

Maybe it was the colored light reflected in them, but for once, Bai Zhou’s normally cold and distant eyes looked different.

And Zhou Qian felt a surge of joy.

He had always wanted to see Bai Zhou look at him with passion, desire, and longing, but he’d never managed to.

Even that night not long ago, when Bai Zhou lost control, Zhou Qian hadn’t been fully conscious and couldn’t remember the details, much less Bai Zhou’s eyes.

Now, he could finally see the uncontrollable emotion and desire in them.

At this moment, the lingering uncertainty in his heart finally neared zero.

“Zhou Qian…”

Bai Zhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he spoke. His hand moved to the back of Zhou Qian’s head again.

Zhou Qian caught his wrist just in time, stopped him, then leaned down until their noses touched. “Don’t move. Let me do it.”

And Bai Zhou didn’t move, except for his eyes.

He watched Zhou Qian come closer and closer. When Zhou Qian’s lips were just about to touch his own, they stopped.

So close. Every breath from Zhou Qian could be felt clearly, the heat of each one unmistakable. But he didn’t actually kiss him.

The almost-touching sensation was both a tease and a provocation.

Zhou Qian had probably gotten what he wanted from the earlier intense kiss.

Now that he was satisfied, he wanted to take control.

Maintaining this close-but-not-quite distance, Zhou Qian subtly teased Bai Zhou for a long time.

Whenever Bai Zhou looked like he couldn’t take it anymore and was about to move, Zhou Qian would finally lean down, but only kissed the corner of his mouth.

“Today’s Zhou Ge is a bit off,” Zhou Qian murmured by his ear. “Who did you go see? What did you say?”

Bai Zhou responded by grabbing Zhou Qian’s waist with both hands and, with a push, laid him back down.

Then he lowered his head and kissed Zhou Qian’s ear.

Zhou Qian asked, “When players do this kind of thing, does the system censor it?”

“Mm,” Bai Zhou replied beside his ear. “Can’t let anyone see you like this.”

Zhou Qian laughed and asked, “Then, did you want to use this moment to whisper something to me?”

Bai Zhou’s voice was still a little hoarse, but his expression had turned serious.

Looking down at Zhou Qian, the intensity of earlier had faded. His tone was solemn. “Zhou Qian, you have to trust me.”

“Of course.” Zhou Qian raised his hands to cup Bai Zhou’s face. “I’ll always trust you.”

Bai Zhou leaned down again and whispered into his ear, “No matter what happens, no matter what you see, I will not leave you again. You must believe that.”

Zhou Qian stayed silent for a long time.

Something he had long suspected was finally confirmed at this moment.

Their next shared gaze carried a mutual understanding, wordless yet clear.

“Okay,” Zhou Qian said.

Seeing this, Bai Zhou’s previously stern eyes softened.

He reached out and gently traced Zhou Qian’s forehead, eyebrows, nose, lips, then jaw, as if memorizing his face deeply.

Then he said, “You once said… you weren’t afraid of me.”

Zhou Qian shook his head. “I’m not afraid.”

Bai Zhou smiled. His hand slid downward, fingertip pressing lightly on Zhou Qian’s neck. “Even if you were, it’s too late now.”

“I’m curious what I’ll see then. Go ahead, Zhou Ge.”

With that, Zhou Qian opened his arms and lay in a more comfortable position.

The buttons at his collar had been torn open at some point.

His smooth neck and part of his collarbone lay exposed, just inches from Bai Zhou’s fingers.

As Zhou Qian spread his arms, his already loose neckline slipped further.

He could clearly hear Bai Zhou’s breathing above him grow heavier.

Chin slightly raised, Zhou Qian looked up at Bai Zhou with curved eyes and a smirk. “Now, I permit you to keep kissing me.”

At last, their lips met again, closer than ever.

After a long time, Zhou Qian felt Bai Zhou slip something into his mouth.

It was round. He barely had time to taste it before Bai Zhou tilted his chin and pushed it deeper with his tongue. Zhou Qian swallowed it.

He felt warmth bloom near his heart. His pulse quickened.

At the same time, Bai Zhou’s kiss turned exceedingly gentle, as if trying to soothe something inside him.

Between breaths, Zhou Qian asked in a hoarse whisper, “What did you just make me eat?”

“A candy,” Bai Zhou said in a coaxing tone. “A sweet one.”

……

When Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou returned to Purple Mist Mountain, only 3.5 hours remained until the system revealed the “maximum value” at the 10-hour mark.

Thanks to the intel Bai Zhou had gotten from Shan Sheng, Zhou Qian now had a clearer understanding of the three factions’ numbers.

There were 15 members of the Peach Blossom Legion here. Most originally wore green wristbands. Two squad leaders had taken blue and indigo groups.

Those three wristband colors, green, indigo, and blue, were used to recruit solo players.

Now, the Peach Blossom Legion had evolved into: 25 players in the green faction, 7 in indigo, 6 in blue; for a total of 38 people.

Zhou Qian wore a white wristband. Bai Zhou still had on violet.

The remaining 19 players were all wearing yellow wristbands.

From earlier broadcasts, it was clear that 9 players had died.

With a total of 91 players, that left 32 in the Feidu Legion, mostly with orange and purple wristbands.

Looking at it differently:

The Peach Blossom Legion controlled green, blue, and indigo.

That meant they only targeted players with other colors.

They couldn’t act against purple and yellow for now, so orange was their main target.

Any other color reductions were likely caused by the Feidu Legion.

Xu Yang and the Peach Blossom leadership would definitely keep some spare wristbands from other colors for later massacres, so Feidu’s real numbers had to be lower than 32.

Zhou Qian did a quick calculation and said, “To survive, everyone will have looked for weapons and clues. During that, they would’ve had to put on any wristbands they found.

“The game’s gone on for nearly 7 hours. Everyone should be wearing at least one by now.

“There may still be some who haven’t been found by either legion. Take away Xu Yang and his sister, their three close confidants, plus the Peach Blossom Legion’s spare wristbands…”

He looked at Bai Zhou and smiled. “Thanks to Zhou Ge’s intel, Xu Yang’s side doesn’t have more people than we do. And I haven’t even counted Xiao Wei’s team yet. I can really milk Xu Yang for this.”

“You already know how to proceed?” Bai Zhou asked.

“Yeah, I do.” Zhou Qian nodded. “Even before you returned, I told him to meet me here in 30 minutes. He should be arriving soon.

“Earlier, when he left here with Xiao Qi, he was arrogant as hell, saying we were doomed.

“Well, now the tables have turned. He’s coming to pay respects to me, the king of the mountain. Oh…”

Zhou Qian looked at Bai Zhou. “Xiao Qi left with Ke Yuxiao?”

“Mm. Don’t worry. I told Shan Sheng.” Bai Zhou replied through a private messaging item. “As for Yun Xiangrong, he’ll keep an eye on her too.”

“This Shao Chuan is quite something,” Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes. “When we get out, I want to meet him. But for now…”

Bai Zhou asked, “What do you think about what Shan Sheng said?”

“No problem. Let’s go with his plan. I can handle it.”

With a faintly lowered tone and a smile in his eyes, Zhou Qian said,

“Let’s act on Shan Sheng’s suggestion. I’ll sit here and wait for Xu Yang to take the bait.”

---

The author has something to say:

If anyone didn’t catch the hints between Zhou Qian and Zhou Ge, don’t worry. It’ll be explained later~

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 165

In the collapsed version of the instance, there were three locations related to the word “Fly” that Bai Zhou had seen.

The mole hidden within the Peach Blossom Legion used such a word that was common for places in Blue Harbor City, but it wasn’t unique either, for a deliberate reason.

If the chosen word was too common and appeared in too many street names, the reference would be unclear, and it would be hard to connect with Zhou Qian’s side.

But if the word pointed to only one location, that would also be a problem. If other Peach Blossom Legion members saw it and then guarded that place, the traitor could be exposed.

Ultimately, the mole probably didn’t fully trust Zhou Qian either.

By leaving three possible routes and not setting a specific meeting time, he gained a lot more opportunity to observe from the shadows, change plans, and retreat if needed.

After all, someone who could be a spy within the Peach Blossom Legion had to be quite meticulous.

Bai Zhou understood this clearly and moved with caution. He went to Feiyun Road and Feixia Road* first but saw no one.

*Clarity: The word is [fei] (飞) which means fly.

The last place didn’t explicitly have the word “Fly”, but there was a fountain sculpture featuring a great bird spreading its wings, about to take flight.

Bai Zhou waited there a while, and with the sharp senses of a god-level player, he picked up on some movement a hundred meters away in a school building. He began walking in that direction.

For someone to know he had arrived from afar, to not fear being seen by gamblers, and to have infiltrated the Peach Blossom Legion to such a high-ranking position with access to core secrets…

All of it suggested he was also a god-level player.

Many thoughts flashed through Bai Zhou’s mind as he made various guesses about the person’s identity.

Moments later, he saw the man inside the school auditorium.

Inside the auditorium.

The man was seated before an old pedal-operated piano. He wore tight black clothing that was suitable for combat. With his side profile facing Bai Zhou, his figure was lean, sharp, and cold.

When he saw Bai Zhou enter, he picked up a hollow spoon-like object.

He blew into the hollow section, and a transparent membrane spread out instantly, enveloping the entire space…

This ensured their conversation couldn’t be overheard.

Next, he stepped on the pedals, placed his ten fingers on the keys, and began to play.

The melody was full of sorrow and loneliness. The sound of this piano was much heavier than a standard one, giving the tune a deeper gloom.

It was Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”.

Bai Zhou looked at him and asked lightly, “Do you like classical music?”

The man stopped playing and looked up at Bai Zhou. “Embarrassingly, this is the only piece I know. Otherwise, I’d offer you the seat. Want to try?”

The two exchanged a silent glance. Both of them: “……”

The code phrase Shao Chuan gave them was really hard to describe.

Bai Zhou’s system identified his name: Shan Sheng.

Shan Sheng stood up and grumbled, “Shao Chuan is a complete literary nutcase. When he gave me this contact code, I asked him, what if I can’t play the piano? He actually told me it’s a beginner’s piece, super easy, and that if I really couldn’t manage, or if the instance didn’t support it, I could just hum it instead. Ridiculous!

“Ahem, anyway… That Zhou Qian’s not bad. If it were him, he probably wouldn’t trust me so easily. Us meeting like this is much more efficient.”

Bai Zhou asked directly, “You have a plan? How do you want us to cooperate?”

Shan Sheng replied, “All the team leaders took part in this instance switch task. Of the group, only one other named Yu Huang is a god-level player. If they suspect anyone, it’ll only be the two of us to choose from.”

Bai Zhou: “And you still dared to come out?”

Shan Sheng: “They sent us out on separate tasks. Right now, Ke Yuxiao is in charge of everything. According to him, the game’s already been going for over 5 hours. Before the 10-hour limit hits, the murderers on the map need to be found. I confirmed that Yu Huang’s been stalled, so I came here.”

Bai Zhou asked again, “Priest came too. He’s not interfering with all this?”

Shan Sheng’s expression turned serious: “Yes, he’s completely uninvolved. Don’t tell me… he’s testing Ke Yuxiao’s ability? That guy’s been promoted really fast lately. Could Priest be handing this whole instance over to him?”

“What has Priest been doing since entering the instance?” Bai Zhou asked.

“Nothing. That’s what’s strange. He acts like he’s a bystander, just watching from the sidelines,” Shan Sheng said. “Actually, ever since I joined Peach Blossom, I rarely saw him. He hardly ever appeared openly to handle things. That Xie Huaying or whatever, I’ve never seen them either.”

At this point, Shan Sheng looked toward Bai Zhou. “Let’s put aside everything else. Just based on how calm Priest is acting in this instance… don’t you think there’s something going on behind it?

“If you ask me, while you and Zhou Qian’s side look to be in serious danger and I’m in some trouble too, there’s still hope. We can win. But for Priest to stay hands-off… Is it because… No matter what we do, we can’t disrupt his real plan? Has he already secured the win?”

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhou’s expression didn’t change. He only asked, “What you’re doing this time—it’s a big risk of exposure. So why? Was it under Shao Chuan’s orders?”

“Turtle Fairy sensed massive negative energy from the Feidu Legion. If it’s allowed to grow, it’ll become a disaster. Xu Yang is a brutal man. If he continues to lead Feidu, they’ll be the second Peach Blossom Legion. So Shao Chuan wants to pit the two against each other. Also—”

Shan Sheng looked at Bai Zhou. “Shao Chuan told me to protect Zhou Qian. It doesn’t matter if I’m exposed or in danger. He ordered me to ensure Zhou Qian’s safety and to help you both.”

Bai Zhou said nothing.

When he had risked everything to become a dragon among humans to save Zhou Qian or entered the instance as an NPC to accompany Zhou Qian, Shao Chuan had known and didn’t stop him.

So this had all been intentional. He had known that the Peach Blossom people would kill Zhou Qian.

If Shao Chuan had foreseen all of this…

Then the reason he had chosen Bai Zhou to become a god-level player… Was that worth reexamining?

Noticing Bai Zhou’s silence, Shan Sheng waited a moment before asking, “If my guess turns out to be true, should we still go on? Think about it: didn’t he set this whole thing up as a game? He treats strategy as an art exhibit. He came here just to watch the final act! He’s here to witness the ending!”

After a pause, Bai Zhou said, “We have no choice but to continue. Otherwise, everyone will die.”

“And Zhou Qian?”

“I’ll protect him,” Bai Zhou said simply. “Tell me the details of your plan.”

……

An hour later, Zhou Qian returned to the church.

He had successfully met with the Feidu Legion, specifically with Xu Yang.

As expected, Xu Yang proposed a collaboration. Zhou Qian agreed, but didn’t reveal his own theories about the instance. He only confirmed how they would contact each other later, made one condition, and then returned without delay.

Bai Zhou hadn’t returned yet, so Zhou Qian directed the other 18 players to move toward Purple Mist Mountain.

The condition he made was for his people to be allowed to pass through the Feidu Legion’s encirclement and return to Purple Mist Mountain.

Both sides of Liuguang Street were surrounded by the Peach Blossom and Feidu Legions. If Zhou Qian’s group did anything, countless eyes would be watching them.

Purple Mist Mountain was different. It had no murder-related buildings or clues, so the legions had no reason to waste manpower occupying it. Plus, the terrain there was much more complex, with many abnormally tall trees for cover. Operating from there would be much easier.

After his teammates left, Zhou Qian stayed behind, alone in the empty church, waiting for Bai Zhou.

He suddenly found it a little amusing…

In this clearly countdown-based instance where they should be racing against time, he had spent the last moments on Purple Mist Mountain waiting alone, and now in the church, he was once again waiting alone.

He seemed to have become quite free, to the point where he had time to stare at the shattered glass on the ground, caused by Bai Zhou, and count the pieces.

Back in Ward 1 of the asylum, after being sedated, Zhou Qian would often space out like this, bored enough to stare out the window and count the leaves.

He had never realized that, beyond those leaves, farther out…

Lay Bai Zhou.

Some time passed before Zhou Qian heard footsteps.

He looked up and saw Bai Zhou.

He immediately stood and walked toward him. “Was it smooth?”

“Smooth,” Bai Zhou nodded, stepped into the church, glanced around, and seemed to guess what Zhou Qian had done. “Sent them to Purple Mist Mountain?”

“Yeah. I wanted to wait for you.” Zhou Qian naturally reached out to hold his hand.

But he couldn’t pull Bai Zhou out.

Just before they were about to leave the church, Bai Zhou yanked him back. Zhou Qian was pulled inside instead.

Bai Zhou raised his other hand and shut the door. Then he leaned in.

Zhou Qian felt the cold iron door against his back with no escape.

In all this time since they’d reunited and practically lived together, Bai Zhou had never initiated any kind of intimacy.

Even last time, when Bai Zhou lost control from reaching his mental threshold and they were so close, he hadn’t kissed him. Even when Zhou Qian had an episode in their shared villa and things had gotten very intimate, they never took that final step.

So Zhou Qian had already ruled out the possibility of anything intimate now.

Which only made him more curious about what Bai Zhou was doing.

He tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes at Bai Zhou, his gaze sly and teasing.

From his angle, looking at Bai Zhou was a strange experience.

Bai Zhou often wore a blank expression and gave off an ascetic seriousness.

At this moment, the cross in the church behind him only amplified that holy aura.

Right now, he looked like a saint: pure and untouchable. Which only made Zhou Qian want to corrupt him.

After staring at him for a while, Bai Zhou lifted his hand, gently touched Zhou Qian’s face, then leaned in and whispered in his ear, “No rush to regroup.”

“Okay, no rush,” Zhou Qian agreed easily. “So you want to stay here. What do you want to do?”

Bai Zhou didn’t respond.

He simply let his lips slide from Zhou Qian’s ear toward his mouth, slowly…

But still didn’t kiss him, as if he was still unsure.

Candy metaphors, trials, the night when he ultimately did nothing…

What was Bai Zhou still worrying about?

Zhou Qian looked at him for a while and asked softly, “Zhou Ge, us doing this in a church… is it appropriate?”

So cunning.

Bai Zhou hadn’t even kissed him yet. But this sentence already defined what they were doing.

Whatever Bai Zhou had been hesitating about, now he was the one backed against the door with no way out…

But it was Bai Zhou who was truly cornered.

Zhou Qian glanced downward and saw Bai Zhou’s Adam’s apple bob. Then he heard him ask: “So… do you mind?”

“Me?” Zhou Qian smiled. Leaned in close, whispered in his ear with a deep and loaded tone, “I find it very exciting.”

Bai Zhou said no more.

With one arm around Zhou Qian’s waist and the other hand cupping his face, Bai Zhou finally kissed him. Deeply.

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The author has something to say:

Hahaha, Qian Qian and I haven’t forgotten about the doctor~

As for him, I think there is a hidden setup. Hmmm~

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