Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 57

If things went as expected, the current President Sarah and Mayor Ryan were likely the same person.

However, it was improbable that Ryan had been disguising himself for over a decade; hence, Zhou Qian suspected that the real Sarah could be someone else. It was likely that Ryan assumed her role after a certain incident.

Despite Ryan potentially being adept at cross-dressing, this wasn’t plastic surgery. To impersonate flawlessly among numerous witches, he and Sarah must have had some resemblances. In addition, Ryan must deeply understand Sarah’s habits and tones to mimic her without any flaws. Upon synthesizing all these factors, there was a high probability that they were relatives, possibly siblings.

Therefore, Zhou Qian tentatively asked whether Ryan had any sisters. The relationship between Ryan and Sarah, who represented seemingly conflicting camps in this instance, must be crucial. As expected, not only did Zhou Qian perceive from Ryan’s expressions that he indeed had a sister or sisters, but he also unexpectedly triggered a side plot.

It seemed that uncovering the relationship between Ryan and Sarah was indeed a pivotal step in resolving the situation.

At this moment, the thick clouds in the afternoon sky blocked the sunlight, making the air absolutely uninhabitable for ordinary people.

Zhou Qian’s group was forced to travel in a commercial vehicle through a forest of bizarrely shaped trees to reach this secluded mountain top. Behind the high wall lay the town’s and Ryan’s deepest secrets.

Before him, Ryan’s emerald green eyes were as profound as a lake yet also as blazing as the sunlight.

Hearing Zhou Qian’s words, Ryan narrowed his eyes, then lowered his golden eyelashes towards Zhou Qian’s hand holding his. He looked up and said, “My sister’s lover… Why haven’t I heard of you? You must be mistaken.”

“Is that so? Alright, let’s assume I was mistaken. However—” Zhou Qian smiled, whispering into his ear, “You are so handsome; your sister must be a beauty. Since I am going to stay in this town, why not introduce me to your sister? We might become relatives. Didn’t you say that I am a gift from God?”

While asking, Zhou Qian wondered—is his sister dead?

According to Zhou Qian’s current speculation, Sarah was Ryan’s sister. For some reason, their relationship wasn’t known to the rest of the town. Subsequently, an explosion occurred on Weir Mountain, and the radioactive dust infected many children. Ryan went to his sister, hoping she would help him conceal everything.

Agreeing to this request would mean harming the lives of many innocent people. Sarah, of course, refused.

Therefore, it was very likely that Ryan might have killed his own sister and then assumed her place.

“Of course, I can introduce you,” Ryan replied with a deep look while holding Zhou Qian’s hand tighter.  “Wait until you come out. My sister will welcome you then. But for now, let’s not waste any more time.”

“My gift, please enter this enclosure. You will receive the reward I’ve prepared.”

“Oh yes, there are three ‘Evil Spirit Purging Stations’ inside. If you feel uncomfortable, rest there. I will come to find you guys after a while. Please listen to the broadcast.”

Three minutes later, all seven players entered the high walls. The gate closed silently, and the walls merged seamlessly with the environment.

Zhou Qian walked forward to touch the barrier where the wall had been, feeling an invisible shield. This was probably why the witches have never truly approached the truth—the wall was made of a highly advanced invisible material.

Turning back, Zhou Qian looked ahead—before him was a vast forest of mutated trees and peculiar flowers and grasses. Occasionally, strange creatures resembling long-legged butterflies would momentarily reveal themselves before vanishing.

What monsters might be hiding inside this forest were still unknown.

At this moment, everyone’s mood was rather somber.

Li Buhui was the first to ask, “What should we do now… Should we go in and explore first?”

Ke Yuxiao’s serious voice immediately rang out. “After entering here, our life points are rapidly decreasing.”

Wu Ren’s face had almost turned ashen. He said, “I only have 1 point left. But looking at the speed of this countdown… I can only live for less than 20 minutes.” After saying this, he looked at Zhou Qian.

Zhou Qian looked back at him and asked gravely, “Do you trust me?”

Even though Zhou Qian asked this, he actually knew that Wu Ren’s attitude had changed significantly compared to the beginning. Back when they were in Lily’s study, Wu Ren didn’t have much time left, having drawn only “2” points.

At that time, he had strong murderous intent toward Zhou Qian. But now it was different. He had truly sided with Zhou Qian.

Firstly, Zhou Qian gave him a “6” point card, which had sustained him until now. Secondly, during their first visit to Weir Mountain, if not for Zhou Qian, Wu Ren might have been taken away by the witches.

At this moment, Wu Ren clenched and then released his fists. His small eyes looked tired and lifeless, but there was no murderous intent or doubt within them. “Of course I trust you.”

“Good. Then everyone listens to me now.” Zhou Qian nodded. “The so-called ‘Evil Spirit Cleansing Station’ might be able to replenish our life points. Let’s find it first. Wu Ren, you are still our ‘king’. We will all help you.”

“We will split into three teams and search in three directions.” Zhou Qian turned towards the peculiar forest and continued, “Based on your previous conflicts, Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu will be in one group, Wu Ren and Situ Qing in another, and I will be with the remaining Sword and Flute duo.”

“I want to remind you all, everyone’s life value will decrease rapidly. The primary task now is to find a place that can replenish life points. Attempting to settle personal scores at this time would undoubtedly be foolish.”

Having said that, Zhou Qian looked forward. “My group will go in the middle. The other two groups will go in the left and right directions. Everyone can contact each other through the system at any time and inform others promptly after finding the target.”

Zhou Qian knew that even though he had reminded everyone to prioritize finding the target station, Yin Jiujiu, who joined this game solely for revenge, would most likely not miss such an excellent opportunity to kill teammates.

Additionally, Zhou Qian had another concern regarding whether the Peach Legion Army really hadn’t done anything.

Given these concerns and the potential dangers in this unknown domain, it was best for everyone to stick together.

However, Wu Ren really didn’t have much time left. Without his strong output at the forefront, not only would the team be extremely unstable internally, but the danger everyone faced when needing to attack NPCs would also increase. Zhou Qian, helping Wu Ren, was essentially helping himself.

Zhou Qian made such a three-way split arrangement in an attempt to prevent internal conflict as much as possible. His first priority was to prevent Yin Jiujiu from attacking Situ Qing, so he separated them.

Wu Ren, although lacking in life points, still had his attack power, so pairing him with Situ Qing was relatively safe for both. Also, by placing himself in the middle, Zhou Qian could relatively reduce the chance of Yin Jiujiu and Situ Qing running into each other.

After saying all this, Zhou Qian observed everyone, seemingly watching their reactions. At this moment, everyone received a message from the system.

[Players trigger main task 1: Explore thoroughly, survive, and uncover the secret that Ryan has hidden here.]

[Task 2: Mayor Ryan is very fond of the number “24”. When the players’ life points total “24”, the experiment ends, and he will come to take everyone away.]

[Hint 1: There are three “Evil Spirit Purification Stations” where life points can be replenished.]

[Hint 2: Some areas are densely infested with “evil spirits”, and the rate of reduction of life points will accelerate; please enter with caution. Some areas have tools that are dropped that can clear “evil spirits”. Using them can also increase life points.]

The system’s hints were undoubtedly aligned with Zhou Qian’s previous speculation.

So, temporarily, no one raised any objections. At least on the surface, it seemed like everyone agreed with Zhou Qian’s suggestion—to prioritize finding the “Evil Spirit Cleansing Station” first. So, they quickly split into three teams and proceeded in three different directions.

The high walls encircle a summit area.

The players were located to the north. Zhou Qian’s group was heading south, while Yin Jiujiu and Li Buhui were heading west.

Upon entering the forest, the light dims considerably. Yin Jiujiu held the card with life points in her hand, and after observing that the countdown speed didn’t continue to accelerate, she moved forward.

Li Buhui, also known as Zhu Qiang, scurried ahead of her and said awkwardly, “Let me go ahead. Just in case these mutant plants and animals attack us!”

Yin Jiujiu didn’t comment and just looked around.

She had always been fearless, but everything she saw still made her frown.

It was simply because everything was too bizarre, like an animal corpse she just stepped over, which surprisingly has the body of a fish and wings of a bird.

However, to Yin Jiujiu’s and Li Buhui’s surprise, their group’s progress was extremely smooth, and within five minutes they saw a bungalow.

Approaching the bungalow, they saw it boldly marked “Evil Spirit Purification Station”.

Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu looked at each other, both gripping their weapons, and cautiously opened the door.

But there was nothing inside that could attack them. Upon entering, they both felt their breathing become smoother.

Checking the card in hand, Yin Jiujiu discovered the countdown had changed significantly.

Originally, the countdown was reduced from [59:59] by an hour unit, but now the value not only reset but began to rise from [00:00], and very quickly at that.

It almost felt like charging oneself. Once it was fully charged by an hour unit, the player’s points would increase by one.

Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu both let out a sigh of relief.

Then Li Buhui asked, “Do we… need to tell everyone about this?”

Yin Jiujiu pondered for a while but shook her head.

She scanned the room and walked to a spot.

There was a control desk with a red button marked “Destroy”, and a note beneath—“Press the button to destroy the current ‘Evil Spirit Purification Station’”.

Li Buhui seemed to sense something. He swallowed and asked Yin Jiujiu, “You want to…”

Yin Jiujiu pulled out two pairs of shoes from her bag.

[Item: Thousand Mile A Day* Shoes]

*(日行千里) Idiom from the Book of Wei Tuyuhun Biography. It refers to running a thousand miles in a day, describing traveling at an extremely fast speed. Note: The mile is a Chinese mile (li), which is about 1/3 of an English mile.

[Effect: Experience the feeling of flying; take off, I want to take off, I can’t stop at all]

[Grade: B]

Yin Jiujiu said, “Zhou Qian intentionally separated me and Situ Qing. But I won’t let her go. I have no intention of harming Wu Ren. After finding them, I will tell him the coordinates here alone. But the premise is that he cannot protect Situ Qing by listening to Zhou Qian. This is a deal. To make him have to agree, we have to leave him with no other choices.”

Looking at Li Bu Hui, she continued, “Put on these shoes. Let’s go the way Situ Qing and the others went and destroy the station there first. If necessary, also destroy the station where Zhou Qian and the others are. In this way… Everyone can only beg me.”

……

On the other side.

Zhou Qian, Qi Liuxing, and Ke Yuxiao were taking the route straight south.

About three minutes out, Zhou Qian heard a faint female voice. “Help. Help me.”

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 56

“Mayor Ryan is here!”

“It’s truly an honor to meet you, great mayor!”

“Mayor, I wonder if I can shake your hand!”

“Mayor, my child is already 6 months old, a boy, and I also want to name him Ryan. It is an honor for all of us to have a mayor like you in Beautiful Flower Town!”

Upon seeing Ryan in the production center, the pregnant women all gathered around to speak. It was evident that Ryan was dearly loved by the townspeople.

In the face of everyone’s enthusiasm, Ryan responded with a polite and gentlemanly smile, advising them all to be careful. After kindly shaking hands with everyone, Ryan went to the doctor’s office to inquire about everyone’s conditions.

Upon hearing that all the pregnant women and children were healthy, Ryan showed a very relieved smile. When leaving, he received many bouquets, each with a pink card inside. The female doctors and nurses sent out bouquets with shy smiles, leaving one to wonder about the content on the cards.

Before getting into the elevator, Zhou Qian stopped Ryan. “Wait.”

“What’s the matter?” Ryan asked Zhou Qian.

Zhou Qian asked, “Where are we going next?”

Ryan said, “How about going back to the reception room? If you are hungry, you can also get something to eat. When your friend wakes up and the interrogations of the two girls are over, if they are indeed not witches, I’ll escort you out together.”

“Do you have a place to stay? I would be delighted to welcome you to stay in Beautiful Flower Town; I can arrange houses for you.”

“That sounds great,” Zhou Qian responded naturally. “Can you arrange a house by the mountain and river for me?”

“No problem. I will have someone arrange it,” Ryan said.

“During the waiting period, we have nothing to do… Can we walk around on this floor?” Zhou Qian said, “My sister’s child was killed by a vile witch. Unfortunately, unlike these pregnant women, she hasn’t been able to walk out of the pain. I want to ask some pregnant women about their experiences in adjusting their emotions to help my sister later. Can you give me… one hour?”

Ryan’s beautiful green eyes narrowed for a moment, then he cheerfully responded, “Of course. In an hour, the problems on your friend’s side should also be resolved. I will send someone to pick you up then.”

Ryan left with some soldiers, leaving others to guard Zhou Qian and the rest. Qi Liuxing looked around and noticed that some pregnant women and nurses were curiously looking their way, as if wondering about the identities of these players.

After looking around, Qi Liuxing withdrew his gaze and asked Zhou Qian, “So, why do you want to stay here?”

Zhou Qian walked towards the nurse station with a smile. “Of course, to get the girls’ numbers.”

Qi Liuxing frowned immediately. “They are all pregnant, married women!”

Zhou Qian: “You underage kid, what are you thinking about all day?”

Qi Liuxing: “…”

“I, of course, have other uses. Also—”

Zhou Qian turned back and said to him and Ke Yuxiao, “You should also try to talk to them as much as possible. Let’s find a way to probe Mayor Ryan’s background.”

Following Zhou Qian’s words, Li Buhui also volunteered to join the “probing” action. Thus, the four players quickly split up to initiate their actions—talking to doctors, nurses, and pregnant women. After 30 minutes, everyone gathered in the family waiting area and discussed their findings, gaining a more comprehensive understanding of Beautiful Flower Town and even Mayor Ryan.

The town was located remotely, far from big cities, and development here was once very closed off. In the generations of people here, very few chose to pursue education, and there wasn’t much cultural knowledge.

All in all, it was a relatively backward town. Mayor Ryan chose to be the one to “step out.”

It was said that Ryan studied abroad and earned a Ph.D., learning a lot of knowledge.

He didn’t choose to stay outside but chose to return home to develop the town and give back to the land that nurtured him. He started as an ordinary government employee but was quickly promoted to mayor through his abilities.

The town’s electricity and water projects were planned and built by him, and the computers, TVs, telephones, and the like used by the residents were also technologies he brought from big cities.

In short, the townspeople went from being backward to prosperous, from laborious work to relying on technology for a convenient life, all thanks to Ryan’s efforts.

Thus, Ryan became a “godlike” existence in the hearts of the townspeople. The only group in town that refused to accept Ryan was probably the Witch Association.

Regarding this, doctors, nurses, and even the pregnant women, most of them gave similar comments. “Twenty years ago, the townspeople were all ignorant. Twenty years later, we have today, thanks to Mayor Ryan! It was he who led everyone out of ‘ignorance’.”

“But those witches are still as ‘ignorant’ as ever. No, they are not only ignorant, but they are also evil! The evil spirits they conjure… are terrifying!”

From the information received so far, Mayor Ryan wasn’t only a high-tech talent but truly loved this town and was indeed contributing to it.

Therefore, Zhou Qian could only temporarily attribute the tragedy on Weir Mountain to an accident, rather than something Ryan did intentionally.

However, after that accident, everything Ryan did to cover up the truth and protect his good image in the town was intentional.

Just then, Zhou Qian received a message from Situ Qing.

[We entered a place resembling a cell, and indeed, we saw two witches. They were motionless, most likely already dead.]

Sure enough.

Unsurprisingly, these two witches must have been silenced.

This undoubtedly confirmed Zhou Qian’s suspicion.

On the day of the Strawberry Music Festival, a very coincidental thing happened. Most adults had left the town for a vacation, and only a few stayed at home.

This coincidence gave Mayor Ryan the opportunity to whitewash everything.

That day, most of the town’s children went to Weir Mountain to attend the festival. A few, like Lina, who were unwell, didn’t go and stayed in town.

Afterward, an unknown accident occurred on Weir Mountain—an extremely radioactive power station or laboratory exploded.

Zhou Qian believed that with the high level of technological development in the town, the mayor should have remedied it in time, so the radiation only affected Weir Mountain and the northern town, and the adults who were on vacation that day were temporarily safe.

But not the people in the town.

The children who went to the festival on Weir Mountain were the first victims.

And the few adults and children who stayed in the town that night were likely also hit by radiation, but the adverse reactions in their bodies might be slower as they were exposed to less radiation, and it wasn’t so direct.

To prevent exposure, Mayor Ryan’s decision was to—kill all the people affected by radiation.

So, the few adults and children who stayed in the town that night were all killed, and it was disguised as abnormal phenomena such as hearts being removed, and heads being chopped off.

Ryan did this to blame everything on the “evil spirits”.

As for the children who attended the music festival on Weir Mountain, they weren’t directly killed by Ryan’s people.

Firstly, there were too many of them, and even Ryan couldn’t openly create so much slaughter.

Secondly, Ryan could use others to do the killing.

He deliberately created many murders in the town and blamed all the murders on the “evil spirits”, so naturally, he could let the witches handle the children who were “possessed by evil spirits”.

As for why the witches unanimously believed that many evil spirits appeared that night and then really thought everything was the work of evil spirits after “seeing is believing”?

This must be because they received a message from the Witch Association.

Ryan set up a radiation barrier in the northern town, even preventing mutated animals and plants affected by radiation from passing through. Witch Sarah claimed it was set by her magic.

Ryan let everyone wear protective clothing, saying it was a scientific way to prevent evil spirits, but what the clothes really prevented was radiation; similarly, Witch Sarah distributed special witch robes to everyone, claiming they were enchanted with protective spells, but in fact, they were just radiation-proof clothing.

The only person in the town who really “went out” to learn about technology was the mayor.

The technologically ignorant witches thought the clothes were really enchanted with spells that could protect against evil spirits after finding out they were really safe in them.

Moreover, the guns that Ryan’s military force used are similar to electric stun guns.

The weapons in the witches’ hands were surprisingly similar.

Zhou Qian didn’t ask the witches about this, but he could guess that Sarah must have told the witches that these were weapons enchanted by her, able to drain the strength of those who are cursed.

Finally, the crystal ball in the witches’ hands must also be a lie.

It should just be a device that can detect radiation levels, only made in the shape of a crystal ball.

Looking at it this way, Witch Association President Sarah seemed to be colluding with Mayor Ryan—their cooperation was too tacit.

On the surface, they seemed to be absolutely opposed.

But they were actually jointly maintaining a lie—that this world had evil spirits and magic.

To clear Ryan of his charges, Sarah deceived all the witches. She brainwashed them, telling them that evil spirits had appeared in the town, forcing witches like Eva to act against their own children with a heavy heart.

In order to perpetuate the lie, Sarah constantly performed, attributing “magical” meaning to all “technological” products.

Sarha led patrols every day, all for show. To maintain a good image of working “for the town and its people”, and to comply with the witches’ wishes and avoid suspicion, she had to pretend to be earnestly looking for survivors and exorcizing evil spirits.

Meanwhile, she also responded to everyone’s requests by sending people to investigate the origins of the evil spirits on Weir Mountain. But if any witch found the “power station” on Weir Mountain or any other evidence that might expose Mayor Ryan’s secrets, that witch would immediately be arrested by government forces and subsequently executed.

However, the cooperation between Sarah and Ryan seemed flawless, which raised the question, what was Sarah’s purpose and benefit in this?

She was so skilled with technological products; it seemed she knew everything Ryan did.

Was it possible that she and Ryan were the same person?

After all… it was Sarah’s suggestion to have some players cross-dress from the beginning.

It turned out she was the true master of disguise.

Ryan’s turquoise eyes and Sara’s blue eyes started to interchange in Zhou Qian’s vision. Ryan had blonde hair, and Sarah had blonde eyelashes. This seemed to serve as evidence.

Although they didn’t look very alike… Zhou Qian remembered, when he met Sarah, she was wearing heavy makeup. Makeup, of course, could make a person look very different. The color of the eyes could be solved with colored contact lenses.

Sarah was Ryan. Ryan himself was a man, and he cross-dressed to pose as a witch.

Zhou Qian was becoming more and more certain about this.

However, there was still a doubt. Such impersonation was possible in a short time, but it was highly improbable for Ryan to do this for more than ten years without slipping up. So, the earliest Witch Sarah should indeed have existed.

Where did she go, and how was she replaced by Ryan?

Furthermore, there was another small question in the whole affair.

Ryan couldn’t accomplish such a thing alone. He must have a team that was absolutely loyal to him, helping him manage everything. These people believe in him, probably even more than the witches believe in Sarah.

After all, everything Sarah did in front of the witches was an act. They believed in her disguise. But Ryan’s followers believed in the real Ryan.

They manufactured massacres, disguised crime scenes, and eventually made sure all informants—everyone who might expose the matter—were dead…

They should also be townspeople. Why would they do such things?

……

At this point, the four players present had almost sorted out everything. Qi Liuxing wondered, “So, what should we do next? This time, the system’s hints about the plot are very scarce.”

Ke Yuxiao said, “I think we should find a way to rescue Wu Ren, Situ Qing, and Yin Jiujiu first. Besides, Wu Ren has less than two hours left. I have a bad premonition.”

The two discussed for a moment and then looked at Zhou Qian, seemingly wanting his opinion. Zhou Qian didn’t speak for a while. He was unusually serious, and then also glanced at his watch. The system popped up a message from Li Xuexai—

[​The place where life points decrease quickly is where the radiation is severe. I’m very worried you all might be sent back to Weir Mountain.]

Seeing this line, Zhou Qian’s mouth curled, and he whispered, “Unfortunately, I think your worries are correct.”

Zhou Qian guessed right. So did Li Xuehai.

Soon, with a “ding” sound, the elevator door opened. Mayor Ryan walked in, surrounded by soldiers. He seemed like a completely different person.

He used to be gentlemanly and polite; his smile was gentle, and his eyes were always filled with concern. But this time, when he stepped out of the elevator, his eyes seemed to be shining.

When he saw Zhou Qian and the others, his eyes brightened even more. He walked up to Zhou Qian and firmly shook his hand as if holding some precious gift, unwilling to let go. “You are gifts from heaven, gifts for Beautiful Flower Town! Come! Follow me!”

Mayor Ryan seemed to be inviting the players into the elevator on the surface, but in reality, the players were forced to move forward with guns pointed at their heads.

This time, they directly took the elevator to the underground parking garage and then astonishingly entered a commercial vehicle.

When Zhou Qian entered the commercial vehicle, he was quite surprised to find that Situ Qing, Yin Jiujiu, and Wu Ren were already inside.

As for any discoveries each of the three made, Zhou Qian temporarily didn’t have time to ask. Only when everyone was in the vehicle and the car gradually drove away from the government building did he find that this car was indeed heading to Weir Mountain.

At this time, Mayor Ryan was still warmly shaking his hand; his eyes were shining as if a cheetah had seen its prey.

Zhou Qian looked back at him, the corner of his mouth hooking into a smile. “Dear Mayor Ryan, what did you mean by what you said just now?”

Ryan spoke with a laugh, his words somewhat incoherent. “It’s… you are all gifts… Your data has come out. I mean, when you first came to the government building, you went to the testing room. Besides removing the possible radiation, ah no, evil spirits from your body, I had people test you.”

“You are my gifts… There is something in your bodies… that can coexist with them… just like those animals and plants… you are not afraid of it…”

“Of course, there are differences in your constitutions. This person is a bit weaker…” Ryan pointed at Wu Ren and clutched Zhou Qian’s hand even more fervently. “But you are the best among you. You are my gift!”

Zhou Qian: “……”

Zhou Qian didn’t speak; he only frowned, sensing a rather ominous premonition. Although Ryan was somewhat incoherent and still hiding everything, Zhou Qian felt that he probably understood Ryan’s meaning.

In this town, humans undoubtedly fear radiation. After mutating, they would suffer, become ill, and eventually die. But animals and plants were different—especially plants.

They would grow taller and become bizarre in appearance, but they wouldn’t die. Now that Ryan had gotten the test data on the players, he believed that players, like plants, weren’t afraid of radiation.

Perhaps players would mutate and become bizarre in appearance, but they would not die but would survive under radiation.

Zhou Qian allowed Ryan to hold his hand, staring into his eyes and asking, “Do you mean that we can coexist with ‘evil spirits’? But why would you hope for such a thing to happen?”

Perhaps because Ryan was too excited at the moment or because the people in the car were his close associates who knew all his deeds, he didn’t hide much and spoke directly, “Because the development of technology cannot be separated from ‘evil spirits’. Evil spirits can provide the most efficient production… It’s greatly convenient for humans! If humans cannot coexist with it, its utility would be greatly limited!”

“You… You’ve appeared! This is great! If one day we humans are no longer afraid of ‘evil spirits’, how wonderful? Our lives will be full of convenience! We don’t have to worry about excessive deforestation or resource consumption. As long as we vigorously develop ‘evil spirits’, we will have inexhaustible resources!”

“We didn’t dare to easily use these resources before because we feared humans themselves would be backfired, afraid that we couldn’t adapt to such an environment. But your appearance means my thoughts were indeed correct!”

“Indeed… this accident reminded me that humans also need to make all changes to adapt to environmental changes, right?” Ryan’s eyes had become extremely fanatic at this point. He couldn’t help but look out the window at the town.

“This new town has been protected by me. But the humans here are too fragile. They are like flowers in a greenhouse. The pursuit of technological progress brought by a little bit of ‘evil spirit’ would make them fall… They are simply vulnerable.”

“You’ve appeared… I may be able to transform them.”

Returning his gaze, Ryan looked at Zhou Qian with fervent and gentle eyes, holding his hand tightly, and said, “I can feel that you seem to be not from this world. I don’t know if some accidents have affected time and space, causing you to appear… Anyway, you are gifts bestowed by heaven to me. So—”

“Please be my test subjects. You will make a huge contribution to humanity!”

Compared to the fanaticism in Ryan’s eyes, the players’ moods had undoubtedly hit rock bottom.

A moment later, they, as test subjects, without wearing protective suits, had already arrived at the most severely radiated core area—the top of Weir Mountain. Ryan and his soldiers were wearing protective suits, and they brought the players wearing regular clothes off the vehicle.

The air here seemed to be somewhat thin, and the moment Zhou Qian stepped off the car, he already felt a bit breathless.

Looking up, Zhou Qian then saw a high wall appear before him.

The wall was very high and very long, making it impossible to see its end at a glance.

The material seems similar to what he had seen in government buildings, with very smooth lines made of very high-quality materials.

Above the high wall, faintly visible were some strangely shaped plants protruding above. Zhou Qian even thought he saw a huge tail sweeping over the edge of the wall just now.

Hence, whatever was concealed within this wall, whatever kind of bizarre world it was… it really made one afraid to think deeper.

Zhou Qian could only guess that a circular wall had been built here, enclosing all the secrets about Mayor Ryan within.

Next, the players would step into it, learning the deepest secrets behind, but also facing an extremely dangerous world.

After a while, Ryan got out of the car and personally took out a button and pressed it. A door was drawn open on the wall.

Ryan, holding Zhou Qian’s hand, led him and the other players to the door. “Please enter to undergo the experiment. I will come to pick you up afterward! Maybe by then… you will not look the same as you do now. But the you by then will be in the form of an advanced human. You will be a role model for all of us. We will all want to grow up to be like you.”

Zhou Qian didn’t speak; he just inadvertently glanced to the side.

Then he saw a leaf growing out of the back of Wu Ren’s neck.

He actually had a leaf growing out of his neck.

Pulling back his gaze, Zhou Qian acted as if he saw nothing.

When Ryan released his hand, about to let him in, Zhou Qian instead held his hand and gently raised it. “Dear Mayor, for the evolution of humans, I am willing to undergo this experiment. But before that, I want to ask you a question.”

“What do you want to ask?” Ryan said.

“You look very familiar.” Zhou Qian smiled. “Do you have any… sisters?”

The color of Ryan’s face seemed to change slightly, then he countered, “Why do you ask this?”

“No reason. She was my lover.” Zhou Qian’s eyes narrowed. “I am just very concerned about her whereabouts.”

​[Player Zhou Qian initiated side plot: The Secrets Behind Ryan.]

Indeed.

He guessed it right.

The secrets behind Ryan must be closely related to the reason why he could disguise himself as Witch Sarah.

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 55

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for the players.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The suspicions about the mayor were growing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

However, Lily was just one of countless tragedies.

Many children in the town went through similar experiences.

The explosion that night was already a massive accident.

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

Faced with such truth, Qi Liuxing felt suffocated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Who the hell did these things—!”

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

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

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

It was Mayor Ryan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All the doubts and incongruities had explanations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

The author has something to say:

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

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

---

Kinky Thoughts:

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

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 54

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

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

How… How is this possible?

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

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

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

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

Did Zhou Qian guess her plan all along?

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

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

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

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

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

She felt an extreme sense of foreboding from his smile.

What… What exactly is going on?

……

Moments earlier.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Time returned to this moment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At this moment, even Yin Jiujiu fell silent.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He and his gambler seemed to be completely stunned.

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

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

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

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

After a while, everyone heard footsteps.

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

They were almost fully armed.

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

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

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

The leader was tall and straight.

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

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

The man spoke.

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

Then he said two sentences.

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

The second, he said while looking at Zhou Qian.

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

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 53

[Player Wu Ren experiences abnormalities in his body.]

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

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

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

Was everyone’s situation different?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What was she trying to do?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How can I use skills to block the gun? 

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

Is he sending me to death?

Can I trust him……

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She knew she was walking towards rebirth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“We do doubt you now.”

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

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

Bang—!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Run!” Zhou Qian immediately said.

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

“Xiao Qi and I will help you run!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who is Meng Hui…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yin Jiujiu said all she had to say.

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

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 52

Mist enveloped the tops of the trees; the valley was spacious and silent, devoid of any chirps of birds or hums of insects. The witches’ base was situated in a particularly quiet utopia.

As far as the eye could see, bungalows were densely packed, and vegetables and fruits were flourishing.

The witches going about their tasks had abandoned all modern equipment. They carried water on their shoulders and personally worked in the fields, looking extremely busy. But they all seemed to feel that they were doing the right thing, so their faces were filled with joyful smiles.

Their actions were in perfect alignment with the slogans posted everywhere here—”The development of technology is the original sin”, “Abandon technology, return to nature”, “Stay away from electronic devices, communicate with the universe”…

Looking around, Zhou Qian then turned his gaze to the cemetery in front of him. Quickly, he found the tombstone belonging to Lily. According to her mother Eva, buried beneath the tombstone was her favorite hairpin.

Looking at the tombstone, Zhou Qian quickly reviewed all the expressions of Eva in his mind. He realized he couldn’t find any flaws in Eva’s demeanor.

When accused of murdering her daughter, if Eva were to constantly refute, weep, and express sorrow for her daughter’s death, it might seem unnatural, perhaps with a hint of acting.

But Eva wasn’t like that. While sad, Eva had pride in her eyes, believing she was exorcising evil spirits, doing the right thing, and fulfilling her beliefs.

So, regardless of the true story of this instance, what Eva told them, at least in her eyes, was the truth and fact. Meaning, within her understanding, she hadn’t lied.

At this time, Zhou Qian was reminded again of the diary written by Lily that he had read.

An important part of the diary was the description of the fireworks at the music festival.

Lily mentioned that after the fireworks burst, they were like thousands of falling stars. Stars had always been associated with wishes. So, she made a wish, hoping it would come true.

Logically and chronologically speaking, this diary must have been written after she returned from the music festival.

Based on this, the tone and mood of all the contents in the diary indeed seemed to be written by Lily herself. Before the music festival, she recorded trivial daily life, occasionally complaining about academics; after the festival, she became increasingly angry. From the entire diary, the choice of words, grammar, and such, were all Lily’s habits.

Even when Lily later hated her own mother and wrote words of wanting to report her on the back of a photo, it was entirely logical.

She grew up in a town where everyone hated witches. After being locked up by her witch mother for a long time, she couldn’t escape. In her breakdown, the sentences that kept coming up in her mind were all the ingrained sayings she had heard since childhood, like “witches are evil; they should be burned to death.”

So, perhaps she was obedient and loved her mother before, but after being imprisoned and even being treated as an “evil spirit”, and suffering many tortures, her fear and hatred of her mother, and even thoughts of reporting her, were reasonable.

This diary had led Zhou Qian never to believe that Lily was really possessed. If she was really possessed by an evil spirit, or if her body was taken over, would the spirit need to write these entries? What would be its purpose?

Even if he ignored the behavioral logic, another strong evidence was that the thick diary recorded various trivial matters. The handwriting went from crooked to neat, but it wasn’t difficult to find that the handwriting in the diary was indeed from one person from beginning to end.

If Lily was really “possessed” at the music festival, why were the few sentences written after the festival not different from the handwriting before the festival?

Would the evil spirit need to imitate her handwriting? Or in other words, Lily really wasn’t possessed by any so-called evil spirit?

Now the most crucial question came. If Lily wasn’t taken over or possessed, if her mother Eva indeed didn’t lie…

Under such circumstances, how should Lily’s “monsterization” be explained and her act of extracting her friend Lina’s heart with her bare hands?

The sound of Eva urging everyone to go to their residences reached Zhou Qian’s ears. He shifted his gaze from the tombstone to her. “Can I ask you something?”

“Feel free to ask,” Eva said.

Zhou Qian asked her, “Have you read the diary written by your daughter?”

“No. I respect my child’s privacy,” Eva answered. “I have never read her diary.”

Eva had never read Lily’s diary before, and even after confining her, she never looked at the diary on the desk.

“What’s wrong?” Eva asked him.

The diary was now in Zhou Qian’s bag.

But he didn’t say anything and just shook his head at Eva. “Let’s go.”

……

When the players first entered this instance, they were in a closed study and had no sense of time.

Now they had learned that when they arrived, it was around 9 a.m., and now it’s almost noon. Eva had arranged two rooms for them to rest a bit, and she would take them to the dining hall for lunch later.

The witches had a very uniform schedule, and by rule, no one could cook their meals, and everyone must eat in the dining hall three times a day. The dining hall prepared meals for everyone, and there were strict rules on how much everyone could eat per meal—no more, no less.

“You are new here, so the dining hall hasn’t prepared your meals in advance. I’ll go and tell them to prepare seven more portions.”

After saying this, Eva prepared to leave.

Zhou Qian walked her to the door, seemingly whispering a few words to her, then returned to the room and closed the door himself.

In Zhou Qian’s room were Zhou Qian himself, Qi Liuxing, and Wu Ren.

Under Zhou Qian’s strong request, Ke Yuxiao went to the next room with Situ Qing, Yin Jiujiu, and Li Buhui.

Seeing Eva had left, Qi Liuxing looked at Zhou Qian. “When we go eat, we’ll have to eat together with others. We won’t be able to keep wearing our masks. What do we do? We can only eat after taking off our masks.”

Qi Liuxing blurted this out and was stunned by his words.

He couldn’t help but frown at Zhou Qian. “Why did you give me this voice changer with such a voice? Zhou Qian, you really…”

“The first method is to say President Sarah said, just in case, we better wear these so-called… clothes with protective spells for a while longer. As for the masks, of course, cannot be taken off. As for the second method…”

Zhou Qian smiled at Qi Liuxing and said in an encouraging tone, “Shall we go order some wigs and makeup?”

Qi Liuxing decisively said, “No thanks. I think the first method is good!”

Zhou Qian didn’t tease Qi Liuxing anymore.

He turned his head, opened the window, and looked at a large single-story building not far away through the thick black veil.

That should be where the kitchen and dining hall were located.

Smoke was currently rising from the large chimney; someone was cooking lunch.

“Actually, compared to this…”

Zhou Qian whispered, “Don’t you feel that the story, from the beginning to now, seems very strange and awkward?”

Wu Ren responded, “Indeed strange. Aren’t witches supposed to fly on brooms? Why haven’t I seen any?”

“Right. Just looking at the places in Beautiful Flower Town that are supposedly ‘corrupted by evil spirits’, there are strange butterflies and bizarre flowers and plants. It indeed feels like a fantasy drama.”

“But if this is really a fantasy drama, witches who can summon the dead and set protective barriers for the entire town… should logically be able to fly and escape easily, right?”

Zhou Qian shook his head. “But they are not. The so-called husband of Luna was gutted and dismembered. Sarah said herself that it was man-made. The reason for the brutal treatment of the body was just to fabricate lies, making people believe that witches did it.”

“Sarah said many seemingly strange events are created by people using the words ‘magic’ and ‘spell’ to escape guilt and ultimately blaming the witches. Moreover—”

“The witches plant crops and cook with their bare hands; the way we came here was by bus…”

“Do you think there’s a possibility that there’s no magic in this instance world?”

The road from the mountainside to this secluded valley was perilous and required a driver with very high driving skills.

If the players were brought into the valley by some eagle or even a dragon summoned by the witches, or if the witches directly flew them down on brooms, Zhou Qian would not doubt the worldview.

But the current experience was giving him an increasingly severe sense of dissonance.

A reasonable worldview should have balanced forces of good and evil.

Meaning, if the “villains” of this world were humanoid butterflies, flowers with human faces, and evil spirits capable of corrupting an entire town causing countless deaths…

Then correspondingly, the “heroes” like the witches, should at least be able to ride brooms, use magic wands for planting crops, and such. How else would they fight the villains?

But as present, the witches’ magic wands appeared to be purely decorative.

Zhou Qian hadn’t seen them having any actual use.

Qi Liuxing thought for a while and said, “If witches can’t perform magic… Could this be a normal world?”

“Yes, I think this world is probably similar to the real world we live in. Apart from this strange game, in ordinary people’s regular lives, there are no magical or metaphysical elements.”

Zhou Qian said, “In the world of ordinary people, technology brings absolute convenience to everyone. Mobile phones, computers, airplanes, high-speed trains—these are what people really need. In a normal world, bizarre monsters or plants will not appear, nor will there be witches who truly can perform magic. Under such circumstances, this President Sarah…”

Looking out of the window, his pupils shrank slightly. Zhou Qian’s mouth hooked, continuing, “She seems like some sort of ‘charlatan’ propagating a cult.”

“Look at the slogans in this village and the letter Sarah wrote to Eva. The words are all about ‘abandoning technology and communicating with nature,’ which is very obscure and impractical. She didn’t say to abandon technology and return to magic, claiming magic can make our lives more convenient. So—”

Zhou Qian concluded, “We can assume that there is no magic in this world. The so-called ‘magic’ is a big hoax created by Sarah.”

“Where there’s a will to condemn, there’s a way. Some seemingly inexplicable events, or sensational murders, can all be blamed on witches. As a result, many people indeed harbor resentment against witches.”

“But by the same token, events like ‘this person’s illness suddenly got better’, ‘the lost child was found’, and such, can also be attributed to witches, claiming it’s due to the power of witchcraft, guidance of the crystal ball, and such…”

“Simply put, public opinion can be manipulated. And due to herd mentality and other group effects, people are easily brainwashed.”

“The townspeople can easily believe that evil witches can curse and kill at will. Witches who joined this association, under each other’s influence, can also be easily brainwashed by Sarah, thinking they can communicate with the universe and obtain the power of magic.”

At this point, someone rang the bell outside.

Immediately, an authoritative female voice followed. “Everyone, please come to the dining hall to eat within one minute. During this critical time, be frugal. Everyone must finish their food and cannot waste. The food allocated to each person is limited; no extra is allowed.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian added in a deep voice, “The Witch Association has a kind of militarized management style. Sarah seems like the one who leads everyone. Under such circumstances, the people living here are even more likely to be brainwashed.”

Wu Ren couldn’t help but ask, “If this world doesn’t have that kind of real magic, then we weren’t brought here by magic. How did we come here? Besides, why did those children turn into monsters, which we saw with our own eyes? Why did the city’s flowers and plants become like that? Finally… are these witches, in this instance, good or bad?”

Zhou Qian replied, “Regarding your questions, I have some guesses, but nothing is confirmed. If we find an opportunity to visit the Strawberry Music Festival, maybe we will know everything.”

Wu Ren fell silent for a while and then said, “Alright. The most crucial thing now is the food issue. They asked us to arrive within one minute and mentioned no waste. We-we can’t avoid it—”

“We can.” Zhou Qian smiled. “When I took Eva out just now, I told her not to let the kitchen prepare extra food for us. So, there won’t be our share.”

Three seconds later, Qi Liuxing realized something and looked at Zhou Qian immediately. “Then you were still thinking about buying wigs and cosmetics just now!”

Zhou Qian grinned and turned to Qi Liuxing. “Xiao Qi, your voice is really cute now.”

Qi Liuxing: “…………”

……

Zhou Qian sent messages to Ke Yuxiao and Situ Qing through the system, asking them not to go out for meals and continue to pay attention to Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu.

After that, Zhou Qian kept observing the situation from the window.

In about 15 minutes, all the witches finished their lunch efficiently.

During this period, Zhou Qian counted and found that the number of witches here wasn’t too many—less than 20.

After that, Zhou Qian continued to monitor the situation outside. He noticed that Sarah left with a few people, not sure if she went to Beautiful Flower Town again.

Compared to Zhou Qian’s calmness, Wu Ren seemed somewhat anxious. “What’s the current situation? There are no obvious minor checkpoints or plots for us. I-I only have 5 hours left to live! Hey, wait—”

His tone changed. Wu Ren said, “It’s strange… Have you guys noticed? The countdown has slowed down!”

Indeed, the countdown had slowed down.

Zhou Qian took out his life point card. By rights, he should have 22 points left, and with the one-hour countdown almost ending, he would be left with 21 points immediately.

But now, surprisingly, he still had a full 23 points.

The countdown below the points, denoted in hours, continued, but the speed at which the seconds decreased had slowed significantly.

What was originally one second might have slowed to three seconds.

After a while, Zhou Qian put away his card, thoughtfully placing his hand on the black robe he wore and studying it a bit more.

Wu Ren took a deep breath, his voice steadier but still somewhat worried. “Although the time for point deduction has slowed down. I am still worried… I won’t be so unlucky, right? Even with an additional 6 points, am I still in last place? It seems like everyone else isn’t worried… We can’t wait here, let’s go find the plot.”

Unexpectedly, not long after he said this, a plot really emerged.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside.

“Many of the reports of witches in the past were done by warlocks!”

“It’s their turn now!”

“To avoid evil spirits, they dare to disguise themselves as women and blend in! Luckily we found out!”

“He must be put to death!”

“Take him to the ‘Square of Deliberation’ and burn him!!!”

“Agree! He must be burnt!!”

“All those who haven’t received a mission, gather at the square!”

“Quickly! Gather!”

Hearing this, the three men in the room exchanged glances.

It wasn’t hard to infer from these words that a man has disguised himself as a witch and had been discovered. Even if Sarah was here, let alone her absence, she probably couldn’t stop it—all the witches want to execute the warlock.

So, what Sarah said before was indeed mild. If a man disguised as a woman was accidentally discovered, he would really be killed by the witches. The longstanding historical conflicts between the two sides had reached a point that was very difficult to reconcile.

This incident also validated Zhou Qian’s speculation from another angle.

If they really knew countless magics, they should have ten thousand ways to punish the warlocks. Why must they use burning?

Moreover, when Eva recounted the incident, she also said that she injected anesthetic into the unconscious Lily.

If she could really control others with magic, why would she need anesthetics?

Regarding the subsequent events of cutting hair, fingers, and summoning spirits… She couldn’t really summon her daughter’s spirit. Whether this magic was really useful was also unverifiable.

Going to the window and glancing outside, Wu Ren asked, “Is this the plot? Should we go to the Square of Deliberation to see?”

“We can’t go,” Zhou Qian decisively said. “Now we clearly know that once our identities are exposed, the consequences are unthinkable.”

At this time, through the window, Zhou Qian saw four players from the next room had already gone out, seemingly wanting to check out the commotion.

His gaze became sharp, revealing a clear chill.

He said in a deep voice, “The place where we live is relatively remote. If anything happens, we can still escape in time. If we really go to the ‘Square of Deliberation,’ we would be unable to escape by then.”

After saying this, Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes, opened the door, and went out, seeming to want to stop those four players.

Qi Liuxing and Wu Ren exchanged glances and hurried to follow.

Then, unexpectedly, they found Eva walking over with five witches.

Eva, coming face to face with the seven players, couldn’t help but ask, “Are you going to the Square of Deliberation? What happened, you heard it, right?”

“We heard.” Zhou Qian stepped forward and asked her, “Where are you going?”

“We plan to explore Weir Mountain,” Eva said. “It’s the origin of evil spirits. Maybe we can figure everything out there. Do you want to come? We are short of hands. I can teach you how to find evil spirits.”

This time, the players seemed to be in a dilemma.

Now it seemed there were two plots to choose from: one was to go to the Square of Deliberation to watch the warlock being burnt; the other was to go to Weir Mountain, a place that once hosted the Strawberry Music Festival. Undoubtedly, the latter was a very important plot.

Zhou Qian didn’t answer for a moment, instead looking at the others, seemingly waiting for some of them to react.

However, the answers everyone subsequently gave were to go to Weir Mountain, including Yin Jiujiu, whom he most suspected.

Seeing this, Zhou Qian, under the black veil, couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows, but for now, he didn’t show any emotions or reactions. In his view, the Peach Blossom Legion might have sent someone else to kill him. If that person wasn’t Wu Ren, then the most likely person would be Yin Jiujiu.

The plot of “warlocks being burned” was likely not for players to pass levels and gain life points but rather for mutual sabotage. Traps for teammates to sabotage each other were hidden everywhere in this game. Now, the setting that “witches are hostile to warlocks” could undoubtedly be used well.

Moments ago, news had just come from outside that a warlock was to be burned at the Square of Deliberation. The four people next door went out immediately without discussing with Zhou Qian. In his view, they were likely deliberately led by someone. And that person was likely Yin Jiujiu.

Once all the teammates were brought to the assembly square, surrounded by many witches, if Yin Jiujiu revealed Zhou Qian’s male identity, then, without her doing anything, Zhou Qian would be attacked by many high-level witches. It would be hard for him to escape, and he would be burned to death.

From Yin Jiujiu’s perspective, there wasn’t even resentful energy here for Zhou Qian to use because all that was buried beneath the graves were clothes. As for Beautiful Flower Town, though many people died there, it was too far away—far beyond Zhou Qian’s skill range.

With this consideration, when Eva asked if everyone wanted to go to Weir Mountain with her, Zhou Qian didn’t intentionally answer; he was waiting for Yin Jiujiu’s reaction. But Yin Jiujiu quickly answered that she wanted to go to Weir Mountain. Li Buhui, who was clinging to her, quickly echoed.

With this, Zhou Qian wondered if he was overthinking or if they discovered that they could go to Weir Mountain and suddenly decided to do the main mission first.

Many thoughts crossed his mind in an instant. However, Zhou Qian’s tone didn’t reveal any change; in fact, everyone was wearing veils, so he didn’t even need to disguise his expressions. He just responded to Eva in the sexy female anchor voice: “Can you teach us how to find evil spirits? That’s great. We can’t just freeload here. We have joined the Witch Association; we should also contribute to the public!”

……

Another hour later. Zhou Qian and his seven companions, along with five witches, arrived behind Weir Mountain by bus.

The witches said that the road ahead was impassable by bus, and everyone needed to walk. Then they all got off the bus and began to climb the mountain.

After learning that the climb would take another twenty minutes, Zhou Qian asked Eva, “Have you sent people here before?”

At this moment, Eva was fully armed, wrapping her body tightly. She answered, “Yes. Six people came here this morning; only four returned. We don’t know where the other two went… We have to check. Hopefully, they are alright.”

“Oh right, I will give you the crystal ball later. You can’t learn advanced magic now. I’ll teach you how to detect evil spirits first… It’s really simple. Just look if the color of the crystal ball changes. If you find any evil spirits, call me. We will deal with it.”

Zhou Qian nodded seriously.

At this moment, he suddenly heard a clear “uh”.

He turned around to see that the sound came from Wu Ren. Zhou Qian walked over to him without changing his expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”

But he saw Wu Ren, pale, pull out his card. “It-its countdown has accelerated!!! I, uh…”

“Are you feeling okay?” Zhou Qian noticed he stumbled a bit.

The five witches were leading the way up front; Wu Ren glanced at them and quickly turned around, opening his black robe, revealing his sleeve. At this point, Zhou Qian and he both noticed something wrong—his skin had dense smallpox, and the color of his skin was faintly turning purple and blue.

“What the hell is this…” Wu Ren’s demeanor changed to one of horror.

His usually gloomy temperament was gone, and he was somewhat trembling.

Meanwhile, behind them, Yin Jiujiu sent a message to Li Buhui. “Be ready to cooperate with my actions.”

After sending this message, Yin Jiujiu looked in Zhou Qian’s direction. Zhou Qian, Wu Ren, Qi Liuxing, Ke Yuxiao, and Situ Qing were standing together. Situ Qing lagged behind, looking around.

If one looked carefully, they would notice that Yin Jiujiu’s gaze wasn’t on Zhou Qian but on Situ Qing. Facing another girl in the team, for the first time, a distinct killing intent appeared in Yin Jiujiu’s eyes.

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 51

“Many years ago, there was a girl named Luna. Her husband was murdered, his heart dug out and missing, and his limbs chopped off. Later, there were rumors claiming Luna was a witch, asserting that she took her husband’s heart and limbs to cast some sort of spell.”

“But in reality, Luna’s husband was unfaithful. He not only had an affair but also often abused Luna. During one of the assaults, Luna killed him. Luna indeed was a witch, but all she did was for self-defense.”

“As for the man’s heart, it was stolen by the mistress, who also mutilated the corpse. She merely wanted to hide her affair, attributing all misdeeds to Luna’s witchcraft.”

Sarah truthfully answered Zhou Qian’s questions, continuing with a sigh, “There has never been such a horrifying murder in the nearby towns. That mistress was a journalist. With her embellished writing, everyone started fearing witches.”

“Then, inexplicably… wherever there was a death, a theft, or even a wife having an affair… all the ungrounded accusations were blamed on witchcraft. So—”

“People, to cover up their crimes, blamed everything on witches. That’s why they are so detested now.”

Changing her tone, Sarah continued, “In conclusion, the aversion to witches is due to a series of long-standing misunderstandings. We are indeed hiding at the base now, unable to let others notice. But once we rescue Beautiful Flower Town, people will recognize our merits.”

By the end, Sarah’s tone was filled with inspiring power and a kind of magical allure.

“We will clear our names of all false accusations! We are not harmful demons. We are saviors! We will rid the town of all evil spirits and let everyone see us in a new light!”

“We won’t hide in the shadows forever. One day, we will stand under the sun with dignity!”

At her words, the two witches behind her immediately agreed—

“The president is right!”

“Your voice is choking, Madam President. You’ve been working too hard.”

“We have suffered so much over the years.”

“We will always follow in your footsteps!”

……

Moments later, the three witches were at the door, waiting for the players to change before leaving with them. Looking at their silhouettes, Qi Liuxing whispered to Zhou Qian, “The way she spoke… seemed very much like a pyramid scheme leader.”

The usually quiet Situ Qing unexpectedly said, “Haven’t you noticed that Zhou Qian is often like that too?”

Qi Liuxing: ?

Situ Qing raised her eyebrows. “So you haven’t realized that you have been recruited by Zhou Qian?”

Qi Liuxing blinked and saw that Situ Qing had already changed into her black skirt. He frowned at Zhou Qian and Ke Yuxiao. “No way, no way. We are not really going to wear skirts, are we? Rebel!”

Seeing no response from Ke Yuxiao and Zhou Qian, Qi Liuxing’s pupils dilated. “No, as a dignified man—”

“How old are you? Dignified man,” Zhou Qian retorted, naturally examining a dress. “It’s actually not bad. It’s similar to a warlock’s robe; it won’t look too feminine.”

“No—” Qi Liuxing frowned deeply. “A man can be killed but not humiliated! How can this be?! The system is crazy!”

Zhou Qian asked in surprise, “Don’t you find sneaking into the witches’ base in disguise exciting?”

Qi Liuxing gave him a “you must be sick too” look.

Then Ke Yuxiao said, “Xiao Qi, when we entered the instance, the system said we would undergo changes to adapt. This change may refer to ‘monsterization’.

“But now, the witches blame all this on evil spirits; this might be the real problem. If we enter the base as men, we might be attacked by real witches, so let’s disguise ourselves and investigate.”

Although Qi Liuxing still looked uncomfortable, he didn’t refute and obediently picked up the dress.

Seeing this, Zhou Qian, dressed in the black dress and robe, headed to the study while lamenting, “Situ Qing accuses me of running a pyramid scheme. Look, even if I did recruit a follower, how is it now? He follows others at a wave. Who is the real pyramid schemer? Definitely not me.”

Qi Liuxing, confused, asked, “Zhou Qian, what are you talking about?”

“I said you definitely wouldn’t save me if I’m drowning.” Zhou Qian closed the door forcefully.

Qi Liuxing: ?

Ke Yuxiao: ??

Situ Qing: ……

Alone, Zhou Qian entered the study room and changed into a witch’s clothes, his eyes focusing on the various clues they had found earlier. Catching on to something, he stepped forward, placed a few items in his bag, then opened the door and returned to the living room.

……

Ten minutes later.

All seven players, dressed in witches’ black skirts with black robes and capes and faces veiled with black gauze, left Eva’s residence and entered the town overtaken by bizarre flora.

Three witches skillfully led everyone forward. It was apparent that they often came here to look for survivors or to exterminate evil spirits, as they were taking paths with fewer plants. Thus, everyone could quickly pass through the town and leave. Otherwise, finding a path in a town full of strange flowers and plants without a guide wouldn’t be easy.

Soon, Zhou Qian and the others seemed to have reached the outskirts of the town, following the witches. Then they crossed a small bridge and entered a forest. All the trees in the forest were very strange. They were several times larger than ordinary trees, with twisted trunks and nauseating lumps, as if many flesh balls had grown out of thin air.

At the end of the forest, there was a bus parked.

When the witches called everyone to board the bus, Zhou Qian didn’t immediately go. Instead, he looked at the other end of the forest—there was another town not far away.

There seemed to be an invisible barrier between the other town and this forest. It was like a new world—without any strange flowers and plants—just a very normal town.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Qian saw another bizarre butterfly fly over. One side of its body had normal butterfly wings, but the other half had a large flesh ball on it, horrifying and nauseating. When this butterfly was about to fly out of the forest towards the opposite town, as if it hit something or was intercepted by some invisible force, it didn’t continue forward and had to turn around and fly back immediately.

A large shadow appeared above the players’ heads, disappearing after a while.

It was caused by the giant butterfly flying back over their heads.

A moment later, everyone got on the bus, and the driver started the vehicle. The driver, dressed in a black robe, must be the fourth witch waiting here. As for the previous three witches, after boarding, two witches sat at the back of the bus, and President Sarah sat in the front row.

The players chose seats in the middle of the bus.

Zhou Qian sat directly next to Sarah.

Probably, the sealed bus could also guard against evil spirits, so Sarah took off her veil and cloak at this moment. From the side, Zhou Qian could see her high nose bridge and golden eyelashes. He had to sigh again. Sarah was really beautiful—a kind of rare androgynous beauty.

Although she had heavy makeup on, her demeanor wasn’t feminine. It felt quite wonderful.

Looking past her perfect face, Zhou Qian noticed that every time they turned, the driver deliberately avoided the main road and chose to leave through a small road.

Zhou Qian particularly noticed a sign on the secluded mountain road they just passed.

It read: [If you get lost on the mountain or encounter any difficulties, you can call the Mayor’s Hotline: 26-111.]

The Mayor? The one mentioned by the system… The one who likes to play “24” points Mayor?

Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes, pretending to see nothing.

Then he turned his head and asked Sarah again, “What’s the deal with the town across from that forest just now?”

Sarah turned her head and met his gaze without hesitation.

Their eyes, one black and one blue, met in this strange and eerie instance. Sarah answered with her unique pleasant voice, “It’s also a new Beautiful Flower Town, just finished not long ago. It’s where the townspeople live after relocating. The river before entering the forest is called Little White River. The north side of the river is infected by evil spirits. The south side is temporarily safe.”

“Yes.” A witch added from behind, “It’s all thanks to our president, who set up a magic barrier at the end of the forest. You all saw just now; that strange butterfly couldn’t get across.”

“I see… President, you’re really great.” Zhou Qian sincerely complimented Sarah and then asked, “Do you know what’s the deal with the ‘Strawberry Music Festival’? Is it held every year?”

“Yes.” Sarah said, “It is the favorite festival of the children. There are many strawberry gardens on Weir Mountain. Every March 31^st, the mayor organizes children to go there to pick strawberries. On this day, the mayor also invites many bands and singers to perform for the children, allowing everyone to celebrate the festival. Well… picking strawberries during the day and listening to music and watching fireworks at night… that day is a great experience for every child.”

“Where is Weir Mountain?” Zhou Qian asked.

Sara replied, “It is at the northernmost part of Beautiful Flower Town.”

“So…” Zhou Qian asked her, “Has that place also been corrupted by evil spirits?”

“Yes. It is the most severe place,” Sarah said.

“Are these strange plants here… also because they are possessed by evil spirits?” Zhou Qian asked.

“It should be,” Sarah said. “There is only such an explanation. People are infected by evil spirits and turn into monsters that kill. Plants do not kill, but they also become strange in shape.”

Zhou Qian wanted to ask something more, but Sarah turned her head to look at him and made a serious gesture of silence. “We will be arriving at the base soon. You guys don’t talk, to avoid exposure. The few of us on this bus have no animosity towards warlocks. But others are not the same. If they bully you, just let it be. If it’s serious… they might kill you.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian was silent, but he secretly entered the system trade hall to buy props. He remembered seeing someone selling voice changers. Now he found it still listed there, with many voices to choose from.

Zhou Qian cheerfully ordered a [Cute Lolita Voice] changer and then gifted it to Qi Liuxing. Of course, he didn’t forget to mischievously order a [Sexy Midnight Female Anchor Voice] for himself.

……

Weir Mountain was located at the northernmost part of Beautiful Flower Town, where the Strawberry Music Festival was held every March 31^st.

No one knew what went wrong with this year’s music festival. The northern towns, including Weir Mountain, had completely changed. The plants had become strange and many children with them, and even started killing people.

People had left their original homes and rebuilt a town in the southern vicinity. So far, the southern town, separated by a forest and a river from the northern one, seemed to be still normal.

This was the information Zhou Qian obtained along the way.

It took about an hour to get from Eva’s house to the witches’ headquarters. Everyone’s points dropped by one.

Zhou Qian’s current life points were “22”.

The witches’ base was located deep in the valley. The bus raced along a very rugged mountain road, bringing everyone here. The valley was covered by numerous clouds and mist. Looking down from above, one would only think this place was a cliff. No one would think that there was a witches’ base at the bottom of the cliff.

The base was built like a normal village, consisting of many bungalows, where they also grew a lot of vegetables and fruits, allowing the witches to be self-sufficient.

Shortly after getting off the bus, Zhou Qian and his group encountered a woman. She had brown wavy long hair and was crouching by the roadside at the moment. With a pale face and a sad expression, she was arranging stones on the road into some shape, as if casting a spell.

When she saw Sarah, she stood up and nodded to her. “The president is back. These are…”

She glanced in the direction behind her and squeezed out a pale but very heartfelt smile. “Indeed, survivors have been found. Thank you all. You are going to search the town again in the afternoon, right? This time, you can call me. It’s my turn to help.”

“These survivors were found at your house.” Sarah explained to Eva and then turned her head to introduce to everyone. “This is Eva. I don’t know how you guys got trapped in her house. You can talk to her. I have something else to do. Eva, you arrange their accommodation.”

After speaking, Sarah left with the other three witches.

Eva looked at Zhou Qian and others somewhat excitedly. Of course, she couldn’t see their faces clearly.

Sarah specifically warned, in order not to expose their male identities, even if there was no evil spirit infection here, they still had to wear their masks first. So, the seven players were all wrapped up tightly.

“How, how did you appear in my house? Did you go to the study?” Eva asked.

“Yes,” Zhou Qian replied. “Why… would we come to the study in your house?”

Eva sighed. “I once cast a summoning spell in the study, saying it could communicate with people from other worlds. I was originally looking for my daughter’s soul. I didn’t expect that, after many days… It brought you here. Sorry, I brought you to Beautiful Flower Town. It has been occupied by evil spirits. Fortunately… President Sarah found you.”

Thus, Eva’s words explained why the players appeared in this world.

After hearing her words, Zhou Qian couldn’t help asking, “Your daughter…”

At this time, Eva burst into tears; she seemed to be unable to control her sorrow.

Squatting down, she continued to arrange the stones on the roadside and replied softly, “She’s dead. I set up this formation here, thinking… Maybe her soul is still in this world. I want to communicate with her. This formation can guide her soul to find me.”

“What happened to her? Can you tell us? Otherwise…”

Zhou Qian exchanged glances with the other players behind him; his tone became more threatening. “We will think you are the murderer. After all, we found two bodies in your house. Although we come from ‘another world’, we can still call the police and bring you to justice.”

Coming to the witch’s camp and meeting Eva was an unexpected gain. Zhou Qian had to seize the opportunity to ask about the details.

When Zhou Qian himself asked the question, his expression seemed very natural, without any discomfort.

However, Qi Liuxing, who was behind him, frowned more and more.

He thought that Zhou Qian’s sultry female anchor voice was simply… indescribable.

“I didn’t kill her… She was killed by an evil spirit!” Eva responded, her eyes red, “You saw two bodies… One is in the freezer, right? That’s the body of my daughter’s good friend Lina.”

“My daughter Lily was possessed by an evil spirit, and the spirit killed Lina through her hands. When I came back home in the early morning and saw everything… When I saw Lina’s heart taken out, I realized something was wrong!

“At that time, my daughter was already dead. Her flesh was occupied by the evil spirit, and her soul was already gone…”

Eva’s subsequent narrative was similar to Zhou Qian’s previous speculation but filled in more details.

According to Eva, when she returned home the morning after the Strawberry Music Festival, Lily had not yet turned into a monster.

She immediately realized that her daughter must have been possessed by an evil spirit. Lily and Lina, although not sisters by blood, were very close, and Lily absolutely had no possibility of killing Lina. Besides, where would a child have the strength to take a heart out with her bare hands?

After killing Lina, Lily’s body might not have been able to withstand the power of the evil spirit for a while. So, when Eva came back, Lily’s body was in a fainting state.

On the carpet where she fainted, there was a bottle of overturned nail polish. Perhaps before the crime occurred, she and Lina were playing by applying nail polish to each other, but the tragedy happened so unexpectedly.

Eva knew something had happened to her daughter, so she immediately took advantage of her convenience as a nurse and gave her a shot of anesthetic, then cut off one of her fingers and some hair, trying to summon her soul back through a spell.

But it was of no avail.

She couldn’t feel her daughter’s soul.

Hearing this, Zhou Qian finally got an answer about the finger and hair in the wardrobe.

Besides, the finger was cut off before Lily’s body turned into a monster, which was why it didn’t change like the rest of her body.

Eva continued, “At first, I didn’t directly deal with the monster. Because I was still fantasizing… maybe I could keep trying, and one day I could summon my daughter’s soul back. I have to ensure my daughter’s body is intact so her soul can return to the body and come back to life. So at first, I just locked that evil spirit in the room.”

Taking a deep breath, Eva wiped her tears and said, “But things gradually got out of my control. Her face was the first to change, growing lumps, and her tongue split in two. As for her forehead, it even grew… something like dark green scales…

“After that, her limbs, her torso—all were ruined. The word ‘monster’ isn’t enough to describe her appearance.”

“In the end, I received instructions from President Sarah… The child in her neighbor’s house turned into a monster, consuming the whole family. This is, it’s just too horrifying. I can’t let the evil spirit in my family continue like this anymore. Once it becomes stronger, if I can’t control it… it will kill more people. My only option is to get rid of it and dissect my daughter’s body, where it resided, placing the parts in different locations, to seal the evil spirit. Now you all…”

“If you remove the limbs, it will destroy my formation. I’m really afraid you would release that evil spirit… The consequences are unimaginable. However, Sarah will definitely check with her crystal ball. If she brought you here, you should be fine. This is truly a blessing in disguise.”

Her daughter was possessed by an evil spirit, and to prevent it from harming others, she had to dissect her daughter’s corpse herself. This act, for anyone, was extremely cruel. But at the same time, it was a great and selfless act.

Thus, Eva’s expression was very contradictory. When talking about dissecting, she first broke down crying but immediately thought that her daughter had already been killed by the evil spirit; she was just dividing a useless body into different parts, setting up a formation, and sealing the evil spirit. She felt that she had made a contribution to the other people in the town, so her eyes were gleaming faintly.

As a mother, she was saddened by this. But as a witch, and a witch wanting to contribute to the townspeople, she was proud of herself.

It could be seen that she was deeply influenced by Sarah.

Every witch here seemed to be very influenced by Sarah.

After wiping away her tears, she added a few more stones and finished the formation. Eva stood up and said to the players, “You have seen what the town has become. We are really working for the town. I am definitely not a murderer. Let’s go. I’ll arrange a place for you to stay.”

At this point, the players had no choice but to follow Eva further into the witches’ base. On the way, Zhou Qian noticed that one side of the entire road was occupied by stones arranged in some form.

They were soul summoning formations, arranged neatly, emitting a somewhat eerie feel, as if they could really guide the lost souls back.

Why are there so many soul summoning formations? Just how many people have died?

Zhou Qian and his group soon left the road, heading towards the reasonably maintained houses. Suddenly, Zhou Qian caught a glimpse of something and turned his head to the left, seeing a large graveyard next to a green vegetable field. The graveyard wasn’t small, with at least dozens of tombstones.

Some very bad premonitions and guesses had completely formed in Zhou Qian’s mind at this time. He stopped and looked at Eva, asking seriously, “These tombstones… do they all belong to children?”

Eva answered, “Yes. But there are no skeletons under the tombstones. After all, they are all in various places in the town. These can only be considered cenotaphs, just to commemorate. The tombstone I made for my daughter Lily… buried underneath it is her favorite hairpin.”

Behind Zhou Qian, Ke Yuxiao apparently thought of the same horrifying thing. He asked, “Did all the children in Beautiful Flower Town… die?”

“Yes. They’re all dead.” Eva’s pale face, illuminated by the sunlight, had no trace of blood.

She said, “Almost all the children in the town went to the music festival. After coming back, they were all possessed by evil spirits. Those like Lina who were sick, feverish, and didn’t go because of other reasons, were either killed by their possessed friends who gouged out their hearts or their intestines.”

On the other side. Li Buhui’s left wrist vibrated. He looked down and saw a message from the Female Warrior Yin Jiujiu.

“I have some ideas for the operation. Be ready. Follow my instructions. I might act at any time.”

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 50

After arriving in the living room, everything in sight was incredibly strange, which gave Zhou Qian a strong sense of discomfort.

This wasn’t just the visual impact brought by the peculiar flowers, plants, and the strange butterfly. If the entire world consisted of these bizarre things, it wouldn’t feel out of place—it would just be a whimsical fantasy world.

But that wasn’t the case here. The construction of the room, the original look of the streets, and even the television, sofa, and coffee table in the room felt very modern and tech-savvy.

The juxtaposition of ultra-modern furniture and the bizarre plant was the source of the dissonance.

The television in the living room was extremely thin, like a sheet of paper on the wall. The sofa’s material was indiscernible, and its design was ergonomic and inviting. The small coffee table was black and white, with a very unique irregular polygonal shape, and had a button on it.

After a moment, Zhou Qian paid no attention to the strange flower growing into the room or the flower bud with human faces. He walked over and pressed the button on the coffee table. It then ingeniously disassembled and reassembled itself, transforming into a perfect square dining table.

The previous study room had a classic design. Coupled with the “witch” theme, Zhou Qian had thought this game’s setting was of medieval Western context.

However, judging from the living room, this era had advanced technology, making the modern furniture feel out of place compared to the magic and strange plants.

Looking down, Zhou Qian noticed another button in the middle of the dining table. Upon pressing it, a small compartment sank and revealed a hidden section. Inside was a letter addressed to Witch Eva.

[Dear Eva,

Indeed, technological advancement is a sin. We should return to our beliefs and respect everything the ancient books and magic have taught us. I have dismantled all the TVs, computers, and the like in the house. I hope you’ll abandon them in your life soon.

Only by returning to our original state can we find a way to communicate with the universe, just like the ancient sages.

Looking forward to our next meeting at the ‘Witch Association’

— Sarah. October 1^st, XX85.]

From this letter, Zhou Qian could deduce why there was such a vast difference between the study and the living room’s styles.

It was likely that after receiving this letter from Sarah, Eva began to discard her electronic devices and started to redesign her house to make it more retro. However, she couldn’t complete the transformation before the witch hunts began in the town.

Given the circumstances, Eva had to keep her identity as a witch a secret. As a result, she only renovated her study, which was a private space, while leaving the living room, the public-facing area of the house, untouched as a decoy to assure visitors she wasn’t a witch.

The letter was dated ‘85, while the suspicious Strawberry Music Festival was in ‘92. This suggested that Eva became a witch long before, possibly just after her daughter was born.

The letter also indicated that there were multiple witches in the town since there was a mention of a “Witch Association”. Sarah’s tone in the letter suggested that she might be the leader or president of the association.

At this moment, Zhou Qian was the player closest to the bizarre flower. Qi Liuxing glanced at him, noting a flower bud with a human face almost touching his shoulder.

“Be careful, Zhou Qian,” Qi Liuxing warned.

Yin Jiujiu also stepped forward, surveyed the living room, and remarked, “These flowers are all over the streets outside. Are they the ‘Flowers of Evil’? However, based on my judgment, these plants are harmless for now. After all, if they wanted to harm us, we wouldn’t stand a chance since they’re everywhere.”

After a pause, Yin Jiujiu continued, “With that in mind, we can safely venture outside and investigate. We don’t need to fear these flowers. According to that little girl, we need to leave this house and investigate the place where the music festival was held to find out what exactly happened there.”

After saying this, Yin Jiujui looked at the others, seemingly trying to gauge their opinions.

Ke Yuxiao frowned and thought for a moment before speaking, “We must check the music festival. But before that, we should search this entire house again. The system has advised us to explore here thoroughly. Perhaps, we could not only find important clues but also gain additional life points.”

At this moment, Wu Ren walked to the door and tried the doorknob. It could be turned, but the door couldn’t be pushed open. From this, it was evident that the door was still barred with iron bars or covered with iron plates from the outside.

After forcefully pushing the wooden door several times to no avail, Wu Ren turned to the others and said, “You guys search for clues. I’ll find a way to open the door. Let’s divide and conquer.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian looked at him. Wu Ren glared back and loudly retorted, “Wasn’t it you who said? I’m the king, and you’re the pawn. Shouldn’t you be running errands?”

Zhou Qian chuckled, walked over to Qi Liuxing, patted him on the shoulder, and took him to the second floor.

On the way, Qi Liuxing asked him through the private earpiece, “What’s the situation with Wu Ren now?”

“Logically, if the Peach Blossom Legion wanted to kill me, they would send someone strong. After Situ Qing failed, sending someone even stronger like Wu Ren makes sense. However, I haven’t seen any flaws in Wu Ren so far. If he was really suspect, he would have agreed to cooperate with me much earlier. It was only at the last moment that he agreed. His reactions seem too genuine, not like he’s faking it.”

Zhou Qian continued, “However, if it’s not him, it’s a bit strange.”

“If it’s not him, is it Yin Jiujui? Hmm… It could also be Li Buhui. Or maybe the two of them are collaborating.”

Qi Liuxing said, “Why did his gambler emphasize that he would cling to Yin Jiujui and describe him as ordinary? Oh, and Li Buhui acted quite naively, even losing 6 points. Maybe he’s pretending to be dumb to gain your trust!”

Zhou Qian pondered for a moment and said, “The premise for pretending to be clueless is that he’s actually very capable. But as far as I know, there doesn’t seem to be any item in the system that can hide one’s strength. By the way, have you heard of the ‘Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather’ story?”

*Story regarding seven brothers born from a calabash (gourd) who tries to rescue their grandfather by going one by one only to fail. Only when they united as one did they finally manage to rescue their grandfather. It’s also now a catchphrase referring to the story illustrating how not concentrating combat power in games or team battles but fighting the enemy’s main force one by one eventually will lead to defeat. 

Qi Liuxing replied, “Ah, the seven calabash brothers went to rescue their grandfather by fighting the snake demon one by one and kept failing. If they had teamed up from the beginning, they would’ve won.”

“Exactly,” Zhou Qian said. “If it’s Wu Ren, Yin Jiujui, and Li Bu Hui working together against me, that makes sense. Especially with Situ Qing being unpredictable, they might have other ways to control her. But if it’s just Yin Jiujui and Li Buhui, it’s strange. They don’t need to send individuals like the Calabash Brothers.”

After a brief pause, Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and then shook his head. “Regardless, I have a plan. They won’t dare act rashly for now.”

After chatting with Qi Liuxing, Zhou Qian, accompanied by him and Ke Yuxiao, arrived on the second floor.

The villa wasn’t big, and there were only four rooms on the second floor.

Closest to the staircase was a toy room filled with children’s toys and some musical instruments in a modern style. These toys were unique, including an automatic train and even an advanced dynamic solar system model where the moon revolved around the Earth, which, while rotating, revolved around the Sun.

The other three rooms were bedrooms.

One was clearly a child’s room, probably Lily’s; another room only had a bed and wardrobe and seemed like a vacant guest room.

Both rooms were futuristic and high-tech. The Barbie doll in Lily’s room was especially advanced and had AI capabilities, teaching Lily letters and basic math. All room windows were sealed, consistent with Zhou Qian’s prior assessment.

The last master bedroom was probably Eva’s. Her room was similar to the study, with no modern equipment and strong medieval decor. Even her room curtains were dense, perhaps because she needed to avoid sunlight when using magic.

Zhou Qian entered the master bedroom, and the first things he noticed were a letter on the bedside table, two used bus ticket stubs, and a similarly used entrance ticket stub.

The letter wasn’t signed, but from its content, it was clear it was written by a friend very familiar to Eva.

Eva probably recognized her handwriting so well that they didn’t need to sign their letters to each other.

Moreover, in the background of this instance, TVs and toys were so advanced, they likely also have mobile phones.

However, if Eva and her friend still communicated via letters, it suggested her friend was probably a witch and also chose to abandon technology.

The letter was written on March 27^th.

[Eva, both our husbands are gone, and we are left to raise our children alone. It’s been so tiring over these years. Throughout the year, we only get one day off. The Strawberry Music Festival is finally here. The children will be going, and they’ll be taken care of the whole day. In previous years, we’d stay home and do chores. This year, let’s take a break and go on a holiday!

There’s a new scenic spot in the neighboring town. I’ve heard many adults are planning to holiday there during the festival. After all, it’s the only day we don’t have to care for our kids. I’ve already bought your ticket. Let’s take the bus and have a vacation together!]

Next to the letter, the ticket stub indeed read: [Maple Town Resort: A beautiful tourist spot to purify your soul and connect with the universe.]

As for the bus tickets, they indicated a round trip.

Eva left Lily Town at 1 PM on March 30^th and headed to the neighboring town, Maple Town, 100 kilometers away. She left Maple Town to return home at 5 AM on April 1^st.

The children attended the music festival on March 31^st.

According to Lina’s ghost, she was killed on the night of March 31^st or early morning of April 1^st.

So, after Eva returned home, she might have discovered that her daughter Lily had killed Lina. As to when she felt her daughter was possessed and when she locked her up, there was no evidence so far.

Half an hour later, Zhou Qian, Qi Liuxing, and Ke Yuxiao finished exploring the second floor. They found what seemed to be Lily’s two arms and a leg, then returned to the ground floor.

Their teammates on the first floor also found some evidence: the torso that belonged to Lily. Now, most of her body had been found.

After asking everyone where they found the parts, Zhou Qian sketched out their locations. Excluding a hand that was accidentally broken off under the windowsill, a solitary finger, and a strand of hair, when connected, her head and limbs seemed to form a three-dimensional pentagram. Her torso was right at the center.

This placement seemed intentional, as if following a pattern, possibly a ritual to seal an evil spirit.

Moreover, in the kitchen’s large freezer, another body was found. Compared to Lily’s monstrous and deformed limbs, this body was much more normal.

This frozen body showed the cause of death clearly: a hole in her chest, as if someone reached in and removed her heart.

This person was undoubtedly Lina, who was killed by her good friend Lily.

It seemed that after Eva returned from her vacation and discovered her daughter’s wrongdoing, she temporarily hid Lina in the freezer.

After inspecting the bodies, the first to speculate was Yin Jiujui. “Could it be… the music festival was organized by some demon? Did they curse the kids, turning them into uncontrollable monsters?”

“I don’t know. The clues related to the story’s background are too limited,” Li Buhui said, moving closer to Yin Jiujui. “Goddess Jiujui, please cover for me. I’m really, really scared.”

Yin Jiujui glanced at him without giving a direct response, continuing to inspect the two bodies.

One was made up of pieced-together limbs, while the other was still intact. With gloves on, Yin Jiujui conducted a detailed inspection, trying to find more clues.

At that moment, Wu Ren asked, “So, did you guys find any other cards related to life points?”

When asking this, Wu Ren first looked at Zhou Qian.

Zhou Qian shook his head at him. “Maybe we need to trigger a plot to get points. Let’s wait and see. Don’t worry. How about your side…”

Glancing at the door, Zhou Qian noticed that the wooden door had been completely removed, but outside, as expected, there was a railing made entirely of iron bars.

He asked Wu Ren, “Couldn’t find a way to open the door?”

“No. Damn it,” Wu Ren cursed. “I used a very precious tool and couldn’t break the railing outside. What a waste!”

“All the clues in this room should have been found. We need to go to other places in the town, especially where the Strawberry Music Festival is held,” Yin Jiujiu said seriously. “We can’t keep sitting here and let our life points decrease. The problem is… How do we get out?”

How to get out?

Should everyone try to demolish the entire house?

Before the players could decide, unexpectedly, three people dressed entirely in black appeared outside the door.

The trio wore thick black robes, black masks on their faces, and were shrouded in black cloaks. They were so fully wrapped that one couldn’t see their faces or even determine their gender.

After a while, the three of them actually walked to the front door of the house, seemingly observing the players inside.

Then they began to speak—

“You’re right, there are people in Eva’s house.”

“They are trapped.”

“We can’t let them continue to be locked in here.”

“We need to take them away.”

From their conversation, it became clear that they were all women. From their words, the reason for their arrival couldn’t be deduced—the seven players had been searching and exploring this room for over half an hour. During this time, the streets, or perhaps a house across the street, weren’t empty. Someone saw them through the gaps in the iron railing outside the room and called these women over.

After reaching the door, the women took out metal cutters and quickly sawed off the iron railings.

Their movements were very practiced, as if they were used to doing such things.

Then the three of them entered the room.

One still held the metal cutter, while the other two held black wooden sticks that looked like magic wands. They all appeared to be witches.

The lead witch was quite tall. She held a magic wand in one hand and quickly took out a crystal ball from her pocket with the other.

Holding the crystal ball, she walked half a circle around the room. The ball emitted a soft blue light, exuding a mysterious aura. After her circle, she nodded to the other two witches behind her.

Soon, the three of them uniformly removed their black masks, took off their black hooded cloaks, and revealed the uniform black dresses they wore underneath.

It was at this moment that Zhou Qian saw the face of the leading witch.

She had fair skin, deep facial features, a prominent nose, and looked typically Western. Beneath her long, straight golden eyelashes were eyes as blue as the sea, which were stunning.

“Good, you haven’t been infected. I can help you get out of here.”

The lead witch looked at the seven players and said.

Her voice was very melodious, like the spring breeze brushing over snow or the sound of a mountain stream trickling over stones.

The witch then counted the number of people present and had one of her companions take out seven robes, seven skirts, and seven masks from a bag. These items, identical to what the witches wore, were placed on the dining table and sofa.

The lead witch spoke again. “Please put on these clothes. I’ve checked with the crystal ball just now; the situation in this room isn’t severe. So you haven’t been possessed by evil spirits yet and turned into bloodthirsty demons.”

“However, the streets outside are filled with malicious spirits. A moment’s carelessness, and you could be possessed. These clothes are enchanted to protect you. Please wear them before leaving this house.”

“Who are you?” Zhou Qian took a step forward, looking into her beautiful eyes. “Why should we trust you?”

“I am the president of the Witch Association. My name is Sarah.”

The witch looked at him seriously and replied, “Right now, only I can protect you. Otherwise, you’ll be possessed and turned into bloodthirsty demons. Many people in this town… have been killed by demons. We patrol here regularly to find survivors, like you, and also to hunt and seal away demons.”

Zhou Qian asked again, “Where are you taking us?”

“To the main base of the Witch Association. Only there is safe,” Sarah replied. “You can’t stay in Beautiful Flower Town anymore. Please make sure to follow me back to the base and hide.”

Zhou Qian gave her a once-over and asked bluntly, “What if… we don’t agree?”

Sarah’s voice suddenly deepened, filled with a mixture of pity and resignation. “If you don’t come with me, to prevent you from being possessed by evil spirits and becoming murderous demons, I’ll have to kill you now to prevent further slaughter of innocent people.”

Upon hearing this, all the players felt a heavy weight on their hearts.

Through the system panel, every player could see that the levels of these witches were all as high as Rank S. Even Wu Ren, a Rank A player, was no match for them. Their stats were simply not on the same level.

It seemed the players had no choice but to act according to their instructions—to disguise themselves as witches and then return to the so-called main base of the Witch Association.

Exchanging a glance with Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao, Zhou Qian turned his attention back to Witch Sarah in front of him. This time, his tone was a bit gentler. “We’ll go with you to the Witch Association’s main base… Then what? Do we have to become witches too?”

Sarah nodded and said, “Yes. Evil spirits fear witches. Becoming a witch is the safest option for you.”

Qi Liuxing stepped forward from behind Zhou Qian, casting a glance at the clothes. He was clearly not pleased. With a stern and awkward face, he asked Sarah, “But we’re men. How can we wear skirts? Can’t we be warlocks?”

Sarah replied solemnly, “A long time ago, there was also a Warlock Association here. The two associations competed, and eventually, the Warlock Association was defeated, declined, and finally disbanded. But because of the past competition, many girls in the association hold grudges against warlocks. If you hide in our base as warlocks, you’ll be bullied. To ensure your safety, it’s best for you to disguise as girls for now. Later, I’ll order everyone not to fight among themselves. But for now, I need to focus on more important matters, like clearing the evil spirits from Beautiful Flower Town.”

“Now, hurry up and put on the clothes I’ve enchanted with a protection spell.”

After saying this, Sarah nodded to her two subordinates, and the three of them put their cloaks and masks back on.

Behind Zhou Qian, the players began to take action, taking the black skirts and robes one after another. However, Zhou Qian remained still.

Under the surprised gaze of a few players, Zhou Qian took a step towards Sarah and once again stared into her eyes from a close distance. “Wait, I have more questions.”

“What is it?” Sarah’s tone grew even more serious. “Please be quick. The windows here have been broken, and soon this place will be contaminated by evil spirits.”

“Alright, I’ll be quick. I’ve heard…”

Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes and asked, “Aren’t witches unpopular? If a witch’s identity is exposed… it seems they would be burned at the stake in public. If we become witches… can you really ensure our safety?”

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 49

[Player Zhu Qiang uses the item: “Disguise and Illusion”]

[Effect: Appear in the game with a fake name and face, deceiving everyone’s eyes, even their system. Want to split your personality in the game and test if your boyfriend/girlfriend can recognize you or be “seduced” by you? This will be a very useful item.]

[Item Usage Status: Normal]

[Remaining Duration: 72 hours]

At this moment, Zhu Qiang opened his item bar, confirmed that his item was working properly, and temporarily relaxed.

Zhou Qian took a full ten days off after coming out of “Last Wish”, but Zhu Qiang dared not stop at all.

After being admitted to Zone 2 of the Spring Hill Mental Asylum from Priest recommendation, he got the qualification to enter the game. After that, he was introduced by several veterans from the Peach Blossom Legion that specialized in leveling up in regular instances.

These regular instances were very different from those with hidden achievements and gave relatively low experience. However, Zhu Qiang was diligent. Guided by veteran players, he quickly reached Rank C and had relatively good attack power.

Of course, this was also because Zhou Qian had never practiced offensive skills, so even by the basic panel, Zhu Qiang was slightly stronger than Zhou Qian.

On the other side, by the fireplace, Wu Ren’s face was very gloomy. In contrast, Zhou Qian, who should have been the most likely to be killed by him, was laughing very relaxedly.

Sitting casually on the carpet, Zhou Qian seemed not to care at all that there was a charred head not far away and a slightly disgusting torso.

Looking into Wu Ren’s eyes, Zhou Qian whispered, “This ‘Escape the Study’ mini-game is just like a warm-up before the official match—very simple.”

“I think both you and your gambler are smart. You have probably already thought of the real answer. However, because the answer is too simple and can be guessed by luck, you are not entirely sure. You’re worried about missing some hidden clues and whether it’s the real answer or not…”

“In any case, you dare not bet. You dare not touch that doorknob and open the door.”

Glancing at the reactions of the other players, Zhou Qian continued, “I guess that Yin Jiujiu also figured out the answer. But she won’t open the door either. In fact, everyone in this room is waiting for your reaction. Do you know the real reason?”

At this point, Wu Ren’s face turned a shade paler.

Zhou Qian said with a provocative smile, “Even if you are 99% sure of the answer, you still dare not open the door. Because the consequences of that 1% error are too great for you to bear. So, your current life point is—”

Zhou Qian stated the harsh truth with a smile, “Less than ‘2’.”

Wu Ren’s eyes seemed to suddenly lose all their shine. Zhou Qian continued in a mesmerizing tone, “So, you be the ‘king’. I’ll open the door for you.”

Taking a deep breath, Wu Ren glanced at his watch and said wearily to Zhou Qian, “Li Buhui has tried three times, losing 6 points. He definitely won’t try again. Yin Jiujiu is ranked fourth by life points, so she’s not in a rush. As for the others…”

“Yes, I’m anxious, but Situ Qing and Ke Yuxiao, ranked second and third respectively, should also be anxious. Yet they haven’t made a move…”

“It must be because they all received your message. You told them not to act rashly, right?”

With a much darker tone, Wu Ren looked at Zhou Qian. “Don’t drag other innocent people into this. Isn’t it just you and that woman Yin Jiujiu who wants to test my score? You think I can’t see that?”

Zhou Qian sincerely replied, “Of course, you can see it. I’m not hiding anything. But you still have to let me open the door for you. It’s a clear-cut deal. I’ll try the door for you, ensuring you won’t lose 2 life points; you’ll be the ‘king’. Deal?”

“Alright. Deal.”

30 seconds later, Wu Ren finally said these words. He then stood up and said to everyone, “Let’s cooperate first. Anyone who dares to kill will face my wrath. If I say this, I’ll make sure it happens.”

After speaking, Wu Ren looked back at Zhou Qian and whispered, “I’ve said it. Satisfied? But Zhou Qian, don’t be too smug. You’ve revealed your own problem to me as well.”

“Oh?” Zhou Qian was still smiling. “How so?”

“Technically, your team has four members. You all could have grouped together. You could be the ‘king’ yourself. Why try to pull me in…” Wu Ren said with a sinister smile, his demeanor became more somber. “You don’t fully trust your teammates.”

“Oh dear…” Zhou Qian replied half-heartedly. “You noticed. But this means our cooperation will be stronger. You know my weakness, so you can trust me more, right?”

Wu Ren snorted coldly and didn’t continue discussing the matter. He just pointed at the door. “You can open the door now.”

Zhou Qian smiled at Wu Ren and then headed towards the door.

The town was called Beautiful Flower Town. Witches weren’t welcome here and would be burned publicly if discovered.

A little girl who had wavy brown hair named Lily lived here. Starting from around the age of seven or eight, she began to transform into a monster, possibly related to the “Strawberry Music Festival.”

Lily refused to admit she was a monster and was scared of her reflection, so she broke all the mirrors.

Meanwhile, her mother Eva was a witch who locked Lily inside the house. Lily resented her mother and wanted to expose her as a witch to get her burned, but she probably didn’t succeed.

Based on the clues the players found, this was all the information available. The deduction was that Lily’s killer could only be her mother, Eva. After all, players couldn’t make up a killer’s name out of thin air.

However, Li Buhui tried that. The answer was incorrect.

Why was it wrong?

With limited clues, there was only one possibility—

The deceased wasn’t Lily.

At this moment, as Zhou Qian approached the door, he said, “We initially thought the ‘ghost’ trapping us was Lily. They are both little girls with wavy brown hair. But they might not be the same person. After all, we never saw Lily grow up. Children’s appearances change rapidly. The baby and childhood photos in albums don’t reveal much. So—”

“The ‘Strawberry Music Festival’ ticket mentioned that it’s a grand event for all children in town. No adults attended. It’s very likely that Lily went to the festival with a close friend. Upon returning… Lily killed her.”

“I’ve always found it odd. Since parts of Lily’s body were sealed by her mother in various parts of the house and only a part of her was in the study, it’s possible she wasn’t killed there. So, why would her soul remain in the study, seeking an answer?”

“Now everything makes sense.”

Zhou Qian reached the door, placed his hand on the doorknob, and said, “It was Lily who killed you. She murdered you in this study. Deep down, you probably knew the truth. But you couldn’t face it and waited for someone to confirm it—”

“Because you couldn’t believe your best friend would kill you, right?”

Suddenly, a strand of wavy hair appeared in front of Zhou Qian.

A little girl appeared, hanging upside down.

This time, she didn’t strangle Zhou Qian. Instead, she gazed at him sorrowfully and said, “Was it really her? But we were best friends. I didn’t want to believe it…”

“But you’re right… That day, only she and I were in the study. Her mom wasn’t there, and neither was anyone else.”

“It could only have been her.”

Zhou Qian asked, “What exactly happened that day?”

The little girl sighed. “That day, all the kids went to the Strawberry Music Festival… There were caretakers for the children at the festival, so the adults took the rare opportunity to go on a vacation to the neighboring town…”

“I was supposed to go to the festival with Lily. I specially came to her house to join her. But I suddenly got a fever and stayed at her place to rest. She later went with other kids.”

“I remember… It was very late that day when Lily came back. Seeing that I was feeling better, she took me to the study of her house to read. Then… then I died… I don’t remember the details of how I was killed. I just wanted to find the killer. I was so young… I loved the world so much, and I loved Beautiful Flower Town. So I didn’t want to leave… I have a grudge.”

“So… the killer really was Lily. But why? I can’t understand… She was my best friend. Why did she kill me… and how did she kill me…”

“Please leave the study. I would like you to investigate what really happened at the Strawberry Music Festival!

“Oh yes, my name is Lina.”

Finally, Lina handed Zhou Qian a card. “The town seems a bit strange. I’m giving you something to protect yourself.”

Zhou Qian took it and found the number “6” written on it.

“This was stolen from you. Now I’m giving it back.”

The little girl took 6 life points from Li Buhui and gave them to Zhou Qian. Zhou Qian felt the gaze from Wu Ren, filled with cold, greed, and threats. With a smile, Zhou Qian held the card between his index and middle fingers, raised an eyebrow at Wu Ren, and taunted him with a shake.

Wu Ren quickly approached, reaching for the card, but Zhou Qian evaded him with a step back.

“Zhou Qian? I’ve agreed to the terms. Are you going back on your word?” Wu Ren immediately questioned.

Although Wu Ren didn’t reveal anything, dark clouds seemed to appear in the study, indicating he might take action.

Under the dark cloud, Zhou Qian laughed. “Don’t be so eager, Wu Ge. You’re skilled in using hidden weapons, and if you wanted to kill me, there’s no need for such a threatening stance. You won’t kill me.”

“What are you playing at?” Wu Ren was clearly agitated.

“Just a joke. Let’s be friendly.” Zhou Qian handed over the card.

Wu Ren took the card as sweat appeared on his forehead. He could hear his heartbeat slowing down, realizing he had an additional 6 hours to live.

By now, Lina had disappeared from the study. Zhou Qian turned the doorknob, which opened smoothly.

“Let’s go and see.” After saying this, Zhou Qian was the first to leave the study, entering a corridor.

Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao quickly followed Zhou Qian, with Wu Ren, Yin Jiujiu, and Li Buhui close behind. Situ Qing chose to walk at the back, perhaps to keep an eye on the new teammates.

Along the way, Qi Liuxing discussed with Ke Yuxiao. “Our actions don’t seem to be assisting any evil spirit. It’s not as complex as Li Buhui analyzed. Maybe Lily is the evil spirit. But the one who trapped us is Lina, whom she killed.”

“Right. I was overthinking things,” Ke Yuxiao replied. “These two girls have similar names, similar hair, and were good friends. But their fates changed after one attended the music festival and the other didn’t.”

Qi Liuxing remarked with emotion, “Indeed… if Lina hadn’t suddenly fallen ill and had gone to the music festival, she might have become an evil spirit or a monster.”

The two conversed briefly and followed Zhou Qian to the end of the corridor.

Exiting the end of the corridor, they should be in the living room.

They noticed that Zhou Qian’s steps suddenly halted.

Could there be something unusual in the living room?

Qi Liuxing immediately gripped his sword tightly.

Seeing this, those behind him also held their weapons in a defensive manner.

With the movements of his teammates echoing in his ears, Zhou Qian, with half of his body stepping into the living room, indeed halted because of a scene that surprised even him—

This room indeed belonged to a mansion and was elegantly constructed.

Exiting the corridor, there was a turn leading to a staircase going up to the second floor. The staircase faced a large wall, which was entirely built with floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, there wasn’t any iron sheet welded to seal it. Instead, it resembled a prison cell with thick iron bars vertically placed one after another.

Finding an iron sheet to seal the size of a window might be relatively easy.

However, sealing such a large floor-to-ceiling window entirely with iron sheets would be challenging. Perhaps for this reason, the Witch Eva opted to use thick iron bars instead.

Up to this point, everything was still somewhat comprehensible.

What truly astonished Zhou Qian and all the players was what was outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

The ground should have had a small path, but now that path was completely covered by massive plants.

Dark green vines, originating from an unknown place, danced in the wind, resembling countless green snakes.

Suddenly, something flew by, casting a shadow over half of the living room. After a while, it left, revealing a dazzling silhouette. Its back was truly magnificent, emitting a radiant blue-purple hue.

It resembled a butterfly magnified countless times, but it was much more terrifying than any butterfly.

Just as it moved away from the window, one could clearly see that it had feet, and its feet had five toes, eerily resembling human feet, smooth and white. The nails had a hint of pink to them, as if they were painted with nail polish.

But the most bizarre scene involved a gigantic red flower.

The stems and leaves of the flower covered the entire path. The bloom was so vibrant that it almost entirely obscured the villa opposite.

At this moment, the root of one of the flowers passed through the gaps between the iron bars of this prison-like house, breaking a glass pane, and directly entered the living room, allowing players a close-up view.

When the stem entered this room, the bud must not have been developed.

But at this moment, the flower was in full bloom, its five petals covering almost the entire living room, and the color was the purest bright red.

The flower itself should have been beautiful, but due to its enormous size, it was genuinely terrifying.

Especially the pistil at the center of the flower, which was a thick yellow, resembling writhing yellow snakes.

And the “head” part of each of those “snakes” actually had facial features…

From the pistil of the flower grew human faces.

“Fuck. What the hell are these things? So, did we really get a fantasy script this time?”

The one who cursed out loud was Wu Ren.

Having just escaped death, before he could even rejoice, he was thoroughly stunned by the scene before him.

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 48

Another ten minutes passed.

The entire study had been practically turned upside down.

Books from the shelf were taken down one by one, and no one could understand their content. They were filled with various symbols, and the writing consisted of unrecognizable letters, as if they were some sort of celestial text. They felt like magic books, all used for exorcism.

In the end, the entire bookshelf was moved by the players. After dismantling the wooden panel behind it, they discovered a hidden compartment containing a leg.

This leg was equally eerie. Its skin was a bluish-purple, crisscrossed with web-like structures, appearing as if the leg’s capillaries had swollen several times in size.

Moreover, like the hand they found earlier, the skin of the leg was also wrinkled, with numerous pus-filled blisters on it, making it look incredibly disgusting.

The leg from the bookcase, the hand from the windowsill, the head from the fireplace, were eventually placed next to the black box in the center of the room.

Along with them were the first-found finger and some hair.

The monstrous hand was missing a finger. This incomplete hand seemed to perfectly match the previously discovered finger, making a complete hand. However, unlike the grotesque hand, this individual finger appeared almost human, with normal-looking skin, even adorned with nail polish.

After thoroughly searching the study, this was all they found.

This confirmed Zhou Qian’s earlier suspicion—parts of the little girl’s body were scattered throughout the house, not just in the study. The study only contained a hand and a leg. The house’s main doors and windows were probably all sealed by the witch mother. However, the doors to the internal rooms weren’t sealed. The players couldn’t leave the study simply because the ghost of the little girl blocked the door.

Zhou Qian then went over to the leather chair in front of the desk and began to peruse the photo album. The album’s first page had the little girl’s name. She was called “Lily”.

Page by page, there were photos from her birth, babyhood, pigtails for school, learning the piano… Lily looked like any normal person.

The change seemed to occur around when she was 8 or 9 years old. There was only one photo of her at this age, and the rest of the album was blank.

In this photo, her face was blackened, making it impossible to see. But the brown wavy hair in the photo matched the hair placed on the floor, indicating that the limbs in the house indeed belonged to Lily.

Moreover, her neck in the photo appeared slightly green, but her arms, revealed by her short sleeves, seemed normal, not monstrous like the hand outside the window.

From this, one could infer that by this time, her entire body hadn’t fully transformed into a monster, but her face must have shown significant changes, which was why she blackened it.

After going through the album, Zhou Qian looked at the diary opened on the desk. The opened page mentioned the “flower of evil” and “grand fireworks”. Both entries were quite ambiguous, providing no immediate clues.

Other than that, the diary didn’t contain much useful information. Its content was quite detailed but consisted mainly of everyday events. From the start to the end, one could observe that the little girl’s handwriting improved over time.

From the protagonist’s name to the room’s background, everything seemed western. But it appeared the game might have automatically adjusted according to the player’s nationality since all the clues so far were written in Chinese.

At this moment, Situ Qing, who had been quiet for some time, approached.

She asked Zhou Qian, “I’ve read this diary, but there’s a detail I forgot, so I came back to confirm. On which date was the ‘fireworks’ entry written?”

Zhou Qian replied, “March 13^th, XX92.”

“Look at this—” Situ Qing handed over something like an [admission ticket]. “I just found it in a book.”

Zhou Qian took it and saw that, while the ticket was old, the promotional image on it was beautiful. It depicted an open area in front of a valley, possibly a park, with a picturesque lake and mountains under the moonlight.

Even more dazzling than the moon were the fireworks in the night sky, aligning with the “fireworks” mentioned in the diary.

The stub of the admission ticket had been torn off, indicating that it had been used.

Only the main ticket remained and was tucked between the pages of a book, likely as a keepsake.

It seemed that the event related to this admission ticket left a profound memory for someone; hence, it was treasured this way.

Written on the ticket was a line of text: [March 13^th, XX92, Strawberry Concert Admission Ticket, specially prepared for children. All children from the town are welcome!]

March 13^th, children, grand event, fireworks…

The ticket seemed to match perfectly with the diary of the little girl Lily.

Therefore, the text recorded by Lily—[We chased and played under the meteor shower… That night, I made a secret wish]—may be referring to her experience at the “Strawberry Music Festival”.

A diary, an admission ticket, grotesque severed limbs, shattered or blackened mirrors, and photos with blackened faces.

These were all the clues players could find.

Time was ticking away. It had already been a full hour since the players had been here.

Zhou Qian sat on a leather sofa, expressionless.

He only glanced at Wu Ren, who currently had the lowest life points. Indeed, Wu Ren looked extremely pale, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead.

Could his life points be that low? Maybe just one hour left?

Regardless, even after Zhou Qian gave him an extra hour… he still looked this anxious. His life points must be very low.

Zhou Qian looked away, pretending not to notice.

At this moment, he saw that Li Buhui seemed anxious as well.

He looked at everyone else and said, “I mean, we can’t make any judgments right now! You’re all overthinking. We just need to leave this study; it doesn’t mean we’re helping the evil spirit or releasing her or anything.”

“Furthermore, even if we do release her, we still have to do it. You all claim to be smart, but you’re not thinking broadly. I’ll tell you how to play this game—”

Ordinary Face Lu Buhui looked slightly smug.

He said, “We can’t just stay in this study or this house. We have to go out and trigger additional storylines. Otherwise, we’ll just waste life points.”

“Life points will keep decreasing, which means we have to ‘move on’. If ‘moving on’ will release the evil spirit, then we have no choice! Our next task might be to eliminate that evil spirit!”

“That means, ethically and logically, we shouldn’t help the evil spirit. But from the game’s perspective, we need to continue the story. What happens afterward is for later!”

After this speech, Li Buhui walked directly to the study door.

He touched the doorknob but didn’t force it open. Instead, he shouted out in a random direction. “I get it. The one who killed you is your mother. She’s a witch!”

The same scenario unfolded.

The translucent little girl appeared hanging upside down, wrapped her arms around Li Buhui’s neck, and whispered, “That’s not right. It doesn’t seem like she hurt me… No, she wasn’t there that night!”

[Player Li Buhui was embraced by “?”. Life points decreased by 2.]

“Fuck…” Li Buhui went pale, quickly turning to other players. “Do any of you know her mother’s name? Or maybe… I need to say her mother’s name!”

Yin Jiujiu replied, “I saw a signature in a book that looks like an adult’s handwriting. Her name is ‘Eva’, probably her mother’s name.”

Swallowing hard, Li Buhui tried again, touching the doorknob. “I know, Eva hurt you! Am I right?”

The same thing happened again.

[Player Li Buhui was embraced by “?”. Life points decreased by 2.]

This time, Li Buhui sat down on the floor. His forehead was instantly covered in sweat. He seemed too terrified to try again.

Time continued to pass, minute by minute.

The atmosphere seemed to grow increasingly tense.

The decrease in life points put immense pressure on the players, making it difficult for them to concentrate on any single thing.

At this moment, it seemed everyone had their own hidden agendas.

Yin Jiujiu took out a piece of paper that listed everyone’s names and their life point rankings. In the column for Li Buhui, there were three consecutive [-2] marks. Including the one point that Zhou Qian gave to everyone, his total was reduced by 5 points… However, the system didn’t announce any ranking changes.

Did the system not announce ranking changes at all… or did it mean that even after losing so many points, he was still in second place?

It seemed that everyone was focusing solely on the game itself and not on solving the current level. But Yin Jiujiu was calm and unhurried, as if she wasn’t in a rush about anything.

Perhaps she just wanted to make some other observations, so she was holding back for the time being.

On the other side, Qi Liuxing seemed to have thought of something and whispered to Ke Yuxiao in the corner.

He then asked Zhou Qian something through his headphones. Zhou Qian shook his head at him, signaling him not to say anything for now.

Situ Qing observed the actions of her three teammates.

But she seemed to have no idea how to get out of the study. She wasn’t deeply pondering the situation or worried about the life points decreasing with time. She simply held a bell in her hand and stood solemnly near the door.

For the powerful her, the only concern seemed to be about combat.

Among them, the most anxious were Li Buhui, who had lost 5 points, and Wu Ren.

With a sidelong glance from Zhou Qian, their eyes met.

If they didn’t get out of this room soon… He might be forced to kill.

Yet, the act of killing itself might open Pandora’s Box. The hidden life-and-death game among teammates was tense like a taut bowstring, and if Wu Ren indeed made his move, it would undoubtedly be the most dreadful arrow released from this demonic bow.

Facing Wu Ren’s gaze, Zhou Qian walked up to him and said, “You and your gambler are caught in a life-and-death struggle, focusing on ‘whether or not to kill me’ rather than on the instance itself.”

“Let me reiterate: you can be the king. Do you want me to tell you how to get out of this study?”

On the other side, near the door.

A man drenched in sweat sat, observing Zhou Qian’s every move.

This man was none other than Li Buhui.

In a corner where no one noticed him, his previously ordinary, even somewhat naive eyes, suddenly gleamed.

He then raised his left wrist to check the system.

In the top right corner of the system interface that only he could see, instead of the name “Li Buhui,” it read—”Zhu Qiang”.

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Kinky Thoughts:

For those that forgot, Zhu Qiang was Lu Mengmeng’s gambler and the one who killed Yu Xian, Zhou Qian’s previous gambler.

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