Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 140

Zhou Qian, Yun Xiangrong, Yin Jiujiu, and Alayne each killed the leaders of Fire, Thunder, and Rain.

After the killings, they arranged the bodies to form a specific curved knife shape to frame the Land of Silence.

Due to a special setting, to prevent the bodies from being resurrected, they all prepared the [Dream-Back Mirror] to be used here.

This way, even if these leaders were resurrected, when someone went to investigate the south, north, and west gates, they could see the leaders’ bodies with curved knife-shaped wounds through “scene reenactment”.

Thus, framing the Land of Silence would be guaranteed to succeed.

However, this wasn’t completely foolproof.

The players needed to completely control when and how the Kingdom of Words discovered this and their reaction to ensure the plan would proceed smoothly—

If the people of the Kingdom of Words discovered this and failed to contain the news or decided to confront the Land of Silence directly, the situation could turn dire.

After all, if the king of the Land of Silence knew before entering the city that the people of the Kingdom of Words suspected him of sending assassins to kill the three leaders, he would worry about walking into a trap upon entering their city.

In such a case, the king of the Land of Silence wouldn’t proceed but would immediately return home.

This would prevent a direct conflict between the two nations.

Betrayal, resentment, and war would not occur, and perhaps Difu would never appear.

To ensure no mistakes in this regard, Zhou Qian assigned He Xiaowei a special task.

Previously, when Gao Shan went to the palace for investigation, he brought back not only the information that the kings of both nations would meet at the racecourse but also other important details.

Among these details, one was crucial—the most powerful magician in the Kingdom of Words was named Liu Shui, and the most powerful in the Kingdom of Words was named Bo Lu.

After leaving the racecourse, Gao Shan didn’t immediately leave the palace but wandered around and found a bustling area, which turned out to be Bo Lu’s residence.

Bo Lu was preparing to welcome the king of the Land of Silence at the east gate, and his place was bustling because many maids were coming and going to prepare his attire.

The meeting of the two kings was a grand occasion, and Bo Lu, of course, wanted to ensure he didn’t appear disrespectful.

Besides attire and grooming, Bo Lu also prepared various magical instruments, creatures, vessels, and materials in case of emergencies.

With so many people busy around the magician Bo Lu, his importance was evident.

Gao Shan also specifically learned that the king had once said that only Bo Lu could match the highly skilled and unpredictable magician Liu Shui of the opposing nation, and everyone’s actions today must follow Bo Lu’s commands.

At this point, He Xiaowei’s task was quite clear.

After experiencing the incident with Wen Bin, Zhou Qian found the [Identity Duplication Camera] very useful and specifically sought to purchase one from the trade hall at a high price, eventually succeeding.

He Xiaowei’s task was to sneak into the palace with this special camera, take a photo of Bo Lu, and, after Bo Lu left, appear disguised as him to issue a “false decree”.

Thanks to Gao Shan’s effective reconnaissance, He Xiaowei smoothly entered the palace—

The palace guards were concentrated on the paths and gates through which the Land of Silence’s delegation would pass, with other areas being more relaxed.

After the race, there was to be an official banquet, and knowing this, Gao Shan considered that ingredients would need to be prepared. After leaving Bo Lu’s residence, he found a path to the kitchen to check the situation.

The palace here didn’t have large vegetable gardens or poultry, so fresh ingredients had to be brought in from outside. Gao Shan followed a cook and found a less guarded route used for deliveries, which was very narrow and unadorned, entering through a small door.

Thus, after meeting outside the palace, He Xiaowei stunned a servant delivering vegetables to the palace with his qin, changed into the servant’s clothes, and successfully sneaked in through the small door.

Once inside the palace, they followed the winding paths to Bo Lu’s residence, just in time to see the neatly dressed magician leaving for the east gate.

Bo Lu mounted his horse, led by two people, and was escorted by countless admirers. Everyone highly revered him, for it was his presence that ensured the Kingdom of Word’s peace.

While in the crowd watching Bo Lu leave, He Xiaowei easily took his frontal photo with a small camera hidden in his sleeve.

Minutes after Bo Lu and his entourage left, the crowd of onlookers dispersed, and the area temporarily returned to quiet.

Ten minutes later, He Xiaowei found a secluded spot to transform into Bo Lu using the photo.

The west gate, closest to the racecourse, was the necessary route for the Land of Silence’s delegation to enter the palace racecourse. It was heavily guarded, similarly to the east gate, by the Wind branch.

Since Bo Lu had left through the west gate, all those stationed there had seen him leave.

Therefore, He Xiaowei didn’t go to the west gate but instead went to the south, north, and east side gates, delivering a letter to the captains of the three branches stationed there.

The captains, belonging to the Rain, Thunder, and Fire branches, all looked up to “Bo Lu” with great respect.

“What brings you back, sir?”

“Do you have any orders for us?”

“Sir, please command us!”

He Xiaowei handed them the letters, saying the same thing to each. “I foresee some ominous events. In 20 minutes, when the people from the Land of Silence arrive, open this letter and act accordingly.”

“Yes!” the three captains answered in unison.

At this point, He Xiaowei’s task should have been smoothly completed. Unfortunately, at the last moment, he encountered some trouble—

By then, he had already visited the Rain and Thunder branches, delivering the letters and his message, with the Fire branch at the palace’s east gate being his last stop.

Facing the Fire branch, He Xiaowei still proceeded smoothly, having delivered the letter and message, and was about to leave the palace through the east gate when the captain walked him a few steps away from his colleagues and suddenly knelt before him.

Based on the information from Gao Shan and his first impression of Bo Lu, He Xiaowei thought Bo Lu was a serious and rather aloof magician.

So, He Xiaowei asked the captain coldly, “What is it?”

The captain said, “Sir, I don’t know if you’ve looked into the matter I asked you about last time… How did it go?”

He Xiaowei: “……”

Fuck, how would I know what it’s about?

In a place where no one could see, He Xiaowei’s back was drenched in sweat. “I’ve been very busy lately and haven’t had the time”, “We’ll talk about this later”… He dared not answer hastily, fearing he might say something wrong and raise the captain’s suspicion.

Gao Shan, who couldn’t be seen by NPCs, was also anxious. He had intended to play a ghost to scare people, assisting He Xiaowei in diverting the topic by performing a ghost-catching play.

However, after repeatedly undertaking tasks far from Zhou Qian’s “Rib of God” in the instance, his vitality was significantly drained, now unable to materialize in front of NPCs or interact with them.

In this critical moment, He Xiaowei suddenly had an idea—what would Zhou Qian do in this situation?

The captain’s words contained several key pieces of information: he had asked Bo Lu for a favor and wanted to know the progress.

It’s likely he asked Bo Lu to divine something because he asked what Bo Lu had “seen”.

However, in this instance, even the Red God couldn’t predict the future, and Bo Lu might not be a diviner. If He Xiaowei tried to divert to divination-related topics, he would definitely expose himself.

In this situation, with asymmetric information, he was completely passive!

As if enlightened, He Xiaowei remembered something Zhou Qian once said.

“Don’t panic when faced with difficulties. I’ll teach you a key element to solving problems—no matter what method you use, always keep the initiative in your own hands.”

“’Turning passivity into activity’ is often the key to solving problems. This is true for deciphering instances…” Zhou Qian nodded confidently and said with a smile, “And it’s actually the same for dating.”

Turning passivity into activity.

After repeating this phrase in his mind three times, He Xiaowei had an idea.

At that moment, when the captain of the Fire branch saw him silent for a long time, he frowned and pressed, “Sir? Can you tell me the outcome? Are you… feeling unwell?”

He Xiaowei didn’t immediately respond. Instead, his right hand quickly reached into his virtual bag, and when he took it out, he was holding a small green ball, about the size of a fingernail.

[Item: Disgusting Caterpillar]

[Function: A giant green caterpillar that is extremely disgusting; a great tool for pranks and annoying people.]

[Note: Before harming others, make sure you can handle it yourself, as it may cause you to vomit during use.]

[Grade: F, Common]

Holding the green ball between his fingers, He Xiaowei raised his hand and made a profound gesture, motioning for the captain to lean in to listen.

The captain, getting the hint, stepped forward and brought his ear close to He Xiaowei’s mouth.

He Xiaowei’s hand, hanging in mid-air, moved forward, circled to the back of the captain’s head, and patted it, before he retracted his hand and exclaimed, “Huh?”

The captain looked puzzled. “Sir?”

He Xiaowei’s expression suddenly became very serious. Not knowing what “Bo Lu” had seen, the captain’s face tensed up, and then he looked horrified at the hand in front of him—

A disgustingly dark green caterpillar was being held between the “Bo Lu’s” index and middle finger, constantly wriggling and spitting out fresh green liquid.

The captain made a retching gesture on the spot. “This, this…”

He Xiaowei sternly said, “At such an important occasion as the meeting of the kings of the two nations, such a foreign object appeared, hidden in your collar… This isn’t a good sign. I must quickly investigate what exactly it is.”

The captain was shocked. He stepped back a few steps, distancing himself from the utterly disgusting worm, and said, “Ah? Could this be related to the Land of Silence? Aren’t they here to talk peace? We…”

Imitating Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei stared into the captain’s eyes and asked, “Do you trust me?”

After a pause, the captain answered, “Of course! You are Master Bo Lu! Our Kingdom of Words’ top magician! Of course, I trust you! Look, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even know I had this worm on me… Maybe it would have eaten me by now!”

His tone was very fearful by the end.

He Xiaowei continued in a cool tone with a straight face, “If you trust me, then do as I say. Open the letter I gave you after 20 minutes and follow the instructions inside! For now, we need not speak further of this worm.”

……

At this moment, on the second floor of a breakfast shop.

He Xiaowei took several large gulps of water and said, “Ah, I tell you… I didn’t feel it at the time, but after I came out, I was scared to death… Pretending nothing was wrong as I walked out of the palace, once I was out of sight of those guards, I just couldn’t hold it in any longer and hurriedly ran to a nearby alley. My legs were so weak, I could barely walk! After removing the disguise, I rested there for a while before I came to find you!”

Yin Jiujiu looked at him. “So you were late not because you encountered danger, but because your legs were weak? Couldn’t walk?”

He Xiaowei: “Exactly!”

“……” Yin Jiujiu nodded. “But it’s good that you kept your cool at the crucial moment.”

“Indeed! Qian’er entrusted me with such an important task, I couldn’t let him down!” Saying this, He Xiaowei tapped Zhou Qian’s arm and laughed. “Qian’er, I have to thank you. I tried using your way of thinking and suddenly felt… Wow, so exhilarating!”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian smiled and said nothing. He just glanced out the window towards the east gate.

He Xiaowei took another sip of water, glanced at the ancient floor-standing mechanical clock in the restaurant on the second floor, and swallowed. “Only 15 minutes left… The people from the Land of Silence should be arriving soon, right? I’m a bit nervous…”

“Relax.” Zhou Qian suddenly stood up and walked outside. “Everyone has completed their tasks, and I’m very satisfied. Now let’s split up and continue with our tasks.”

“Me, Yun Xiangrong, and Yin Jiujiu will go to the west, south, and north to monitor if those leaders have been resurrected. If they are, we’ll use the mirror immediately. Xiaowei Ge, you and Gao Shan take Alayne to sneak into the racecourse, then come to meet us. We’ll regroup at the racecourse.”

Yun Xiangrong seemed unable to hold back any longer. She stood up suddenly and crushed the cup in her hand. She asked Zhou Qian, “Gao Shan… he…”

“He’s not my slave. Like us, he’s just doing his part.” Zhou Qian didn’t look back as he walked to the staircase. “Compared to me, he probably wants you to pass the instance even more.”

“Can he hold on?” Yun Xiangrong asked with a frown.

Zhou Qian’s eyes narrowed, and he continued down the stairs, “He’s currently sustained by my life force. As long as I’m alive, he can live.”

……

A quarter of an hour later.

The east gate opened wide, and the king of the Land of Silence entered the city of the Kingdom of Words, escorted by seven magicians and more than thirty guards.

The king seemed very old. Yet, he looked surprisingly young, as if he were in his mid-twenties.

The person walking closest to him must be the magician Liu Shui.

He was dressed lavishly, and his appearance was also youthful.

These two seemed to maintain their appearance, which, in this instance world, might also be considered a form of magic.

At the same time, the captains of the three guard branches at the east, south, and north gates of the palace timely opened the letters from “Bo Lu”, which mentioned only two sentences—

“1. The leaders have been killed. Hurry to the city gate to investigate; 2. This matter is most likely related to the Land of Silence. Do not publicize it. Stand by without action first and set an ambush at the racecourse. Wait for them to enter the trap before confronting them.”

Seeing this, the captains of the Fire, Rain, and Thunder branches immediately called some of their subordinates to secretly rush to the west, south, and north city gates to check the situation of each leader.

The Fire branch, while passing through an alley, heard unusual sounds.

Entering the alley, they were surprised to find—a pink gelatinous substance had burst open, revealing inside more than twenty colleagues trapped in a giant web!

“Thank goodness you’re here! There are spies from the Land of Silence! I’ll notify the others right now!”

The moment one of the soldiers saw his comrades arriving, tears fell, and as he spoke, he immediately took out another signal flare, planning to notify the other branches of Wind, Rain, and Thunder.

But he was immediately stopped by the captain. “No! Do not publicize this matter!”

“Master Bo Lu has foreseen everything! He already has a plan! We’ll first go to the city gate to check the situation! If it’s true, we’ll set up an ambush at the racecourse and report this matter to the king!”

After speaking, leaving two people to help untangle the giant web and rescue their colleagues, the captain continued with the others towards the west gate. Upon reaching the city gate, they indeed saw the body of the leader!

Apart from the Fire leader, there were also three other soldiers brutally murdered.

After a preliminary investigation, they confirmed—the leader and the three colleagues were undoubtedly killed by the Land of Silence soldiers’ unique close-quarters assassination techniques.

The expression of the Fire branch captain became extremely serious. Calling over his subordinates, he said, “Let’s first return to the palace, meet up with the other branches to see if similar incidents occurred on their end, and also…”

Summoning one person, he continued, “The Land of Silence’s delegation should have entered the city by now. Once they leave the main road and turn towards the palace, close the city gate!”

“Go to the east gate immediately and inform the soldiers there. This is an order from Master Bo Lu!”

Five minutes later. On the main street, at an intersection.

The group turned a corner and headed towards the west gate of the Royal City.

Unbeknownst to them, the city gate behind them was slowly closing.

Suddenly, at the front of the procession, Bo Lu paused in his steps, turned around, made his way through the crowd, and approached the magician Liu Shui.

“Master Liu Shui, long time no see.” He spoke lightly. “Shall we have a chat?”

Hearing this, Liu Shui bowed his head, whispered a few words to the king beside him, then nodded to Bo Lu, and the two of them went to the back of the procession.

The large group paused briefly and then continued towards the royal palace in front.

No one saw that the two magicians at the end both sighed.

Bo Lu said, “You once said that a future that can be foreseen is not a real future.”

Liu Shui glanced at him with a faint smile on his lips. “This lifetime has been too long for both of us. Now everything should come to an end.”

“See, I’ve always said. You and I, our fates are tied to these two nations. Neither of us has a real future.”

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 139

Zhou Qian had observed earlier that most of the soldiers stationed at the west gate were gambling with cards in the morning. He thought he might be able to use this to his advantage to lure them away.

This plan was somewhat idealistic and not guaranteed to succeed. So, he approached it with a try-and-see attitude.

Using stratagems to achieve results without bloodshed was, of course, the best option, as it would allow him to conserve as much mana as possible. If that failed, he was prepared to confront them directly.

At this moment, stepping into the alley and hearing the noise behind him, Zhou Qian knew he had succeeded.

It seemed that every detail in this instance was intentional and potentially beneficial.

Considering what Alayne had said, the soldiers’ actions weren’t surprising—when the top is crooked, the bottom would be too. The Fire leader betrayed the former Day, Moon, Star, Cloud to attain his current position. How could such an opportunist leader teach his soldiers to be loyal to their duties?

The fortunes of both the Kingdom of Words and the Land of Silence were indeed coming to an end.

When they rise, the people suffer; when they fall, the people suffer.

The players were merely passersby in this instance. They couldn’t save everyone or stay to clean up afterward, but at least after eliminating Difu, the whole world wouldn’t fall into a doomed fate.

Quickly, over twenty soldiers followed Zhou Qian and the young man into the alley, only to see a small blue dragon appear, which suddenly whisked the young man away.

Sensing something amiss, the soldiers turned to flee, but it was already too late.

A trap previously set up in the area, [Heavenly Net*], was activated instantly, ensnaring them all within its grasp.

*(天罗地网) Idiom referring to a situation where someone is completely surrounded and trapped, with no way to escape.

Before the soldiers could even react, they were hanging in midair.

Then, they saw Zhou Qian walking out from the other end of the alley.

Zhou Qian, shirtless, with his hands in his pockets, strolled over, chewing bubble gum. Looking up at the soldiers hanging in the air, his gaze showed a bit of surprise, as if he was completely unaware of the situation.

Then he smiled, his look turning mischievous, as if watching some kind of animal performance.

Seemingly amused, he smiled at the soldiers and then puffed his cheeks… and actually began to blow a bubble with the gum.

Seeing a pink gel-like substance emerge from Zhou Qian’s mouth and grow larger, the soldiers in midair had no idea what it was and were utterly captivated by it for a moment.

After staring at the pink bubble curiously for a while, they began to question Zhou Qian—

“Who are you?”

“What do you want?!”

“Not good. This man is most likely a spy from the Land of Silence!”

Zhou Qian laughed. The pink bubble detached from his lips, floated into his palm, and then he looked at the trapped group and said, “Correct. You’re too smart. I am indeed a spy from the Land of Silence.”

One of the soldiers hurriedly said, “I’ll notify—”

Before he could finish, the soldier quickly took out a flare from his pants leg, seemingly planning to throw it through the gaps of the [Heavenly Net] to the ground.

But he couldn’t complete this action. The strange gel-like pink sphere in the stranger’s palm suddenly expanded and then enlarged in front of him, somehow surrounding them from all directions!

In just a moment, the twenty or so soldiers suspended in the air were surrounded by pink gel below their feet, above their heads, and all around, as if they had fallen into a giant pink ball.

They didn’t know what the material of the ball was, but it seemed elastic and highly reflective of sound.

The unfinished sentence of the soldier started bouncing around within the “balloon”, creating an unbearable cacophony.

Realizing this, everyone dared not speak, as every word they uttered would continuously create an almost undiminishing echo, quickly filling the “balloon” with noise.

Adding insult to injury, the flare thrown by the soldier also exploded inside the “balloon,” and the red smoke bounced off the inner walls, making everyone tear up and unable to open their eyes.

At this point, they were completely blind to the outside world, could not hear any external noise, and were totally unable to communicate any messages out.

[Item: Giant Pink Bubble House]

[Effect: Can trap a large group of people inside a bubble gum constructed house, blocking all sound and images, lasting for 30 minutes.]

[Note: The effect is quite amazing, but the success rate of use isn’t high. You must blow the bubble in front of the target, under their gaze, and continue blowing for 30 seconds. But perhaps by the time you finish blowing the bubble, the enemy has already fled.]

[Grade: Uncommon]

This item was uncommon, and its effect was hard to achieve on players.

After all, it was classified as uncommon, and most players were familiar with it and would be wary, not foolishly staring at it for 30 seconds.

But using it on instance NPCs who hadn’t seen much of the world and didn’t know what bubble gum was, was more than sufficient. Especially when they were trapped in the [Heavenly Net] and planning to question Zhou Qian, this “spy”.

Collecting money, gambling, blowing bubbles…

Zhou Qian easily trapped over twenty soldiers.

Turning to leave, he only left them with a message. “Of course, you need to spread the word that I am a spy from the Land of Silence, but there’s no rush. After 30 minutes, you can fire the flare again.”

With that, Zhou Qian draped his shirt over his shoulders and walked away nonchalantly, indifferent to whether those people could hear him or not.

Half a minute later, Zhou Qian appeared under the west gate.

There was no one around, and no one noticed the anomaly here.

However, three soldiers who weren’t interested in gambling had stayed behind, likely indifferent to their duties. They lazily leaned against the city wall, yawning, with swords at their waists.

After sending the little dragon to watch from the rooftops of nearby houses, keeping an eye on the Fire leader’s arrival, and monitoring for any other unusual activity, Zhou Qian took out a [Flying Rope] from his bag and silently climbed up the city gate.

Holding a knife, and with the speed gained from soloing two high-difficulty trial instances, he swiftly passed by the three men.

By the time they realized something was wrong, they were already collapsing with ruptured carotid arteries.

Conveniently, there were many shields on the ground. Zhou Qian laid their bodies down, stripped their armor, and hid it all in his bag, then made several cuts to their faces and bodies.

What has happened, cannot be changed.

They might be resurrected later, but Zhou Qian couldn’t control when they would come back to life, so just in case, he tied them up with a special rope and hid them under the shields.

All that was left for Zhou Qian to do was wait for the Fire leader to appear.

According to the information provided by Alayne, Village Chief Ab was a rare individual who had mastered all the skills of the Day, Moon, Star, Cloud families and was thus unanimously chosen as the village chief.

Therefore, the Fire leader’s strength was probably weaker than Ab’s.

With his skills, the little dragon’s assistance, and the aid of various items, killing him wouldn’t be too difficult.

However, the soldiers of the Land of Silence were skilled in close-quarters assassination with curved blades. If the Fire leader’s body showed obvious signs of unusual death, it would be problematic.

In this case, Zhou Qian had to minimize mana and health consumption while killing him up close with a sword, which was a bit more challenging.

Of course, for Zhou Qian, it was just slightly more difficult.

Facing the city area, he took out a mirror from his bag.

[Item: Dream-Back Mirror]

[Effect: Placed in the scene, it can fully restore the story that once happened in the scene, making people feel as if they were there; Range: 300m; The scene time can be adjusted, but it can only restore up to 24 hours before; The past scene can last for half an hour.]

[Note: Can be used to reminisce about people who were here within the last 24 hours, or to reconstruct a crime scene and search for clues; However, the scenes produced by the Dream-Back Mirror are all illusions. Don’t indulge too much, for illusions are ultimately empty…]

20 minutes later.

Crouching behind the city wall, Zhou Qian received a message from the little dragon—the Fire leader had appeared and would enter the street directly opposite the city gate in one minute.

Upon receiving the message, Zhou Qian hung the Dream-Back Mirror on the city wall within 30 seconds.

All he had to do next was to hide and wait at the city gate.

As soon as the Fire leader turned into the street leading to the west city gate, he entered the range of the Dream-Back Mirror.

What appeared before him was the scene of soldiers dutifully standing guard at the city gate.

Feeling a sense of déjà vu, the Fire leader shook his head, thinking the scene was very similar to what he had seen that morning.

But after thinking it over, it seemed there was nothing wrong with that—soldiers wearing the same uniforms and standing in the same places naturally looked similar.

Thus, the Fire leader didn’t notice anything too unusual and continued toward the city gate.

Arriving at the gate, he yawned and walked up the stone steps next to the rampart to the city wall.

The soldiers stood guard at the city gate without moving, a few facing towards the city interior while the majority faced outward, appearing very serious and dutiful in their posts.

However, the Fire leader eventually noticed something odd—why didn’t they greet him?

It was as if they hadn’t seen him at all…

Wait… Why was the light reflecting off their armor so strange?

The sunlight falling on the armor and every brick of the city wall displayed a distinct orange color, the shade of dawn when the morning sun first rises.

But now, the day was fully bright. Such a phenomenon shouldn’t be occurring. What… What is going on?

As the Fire leader pondered in confusion, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a sight that made his heart race with fear—he turned his body to look down the street below the city gate and saw another version of himself striding towards him!

In shock, the Fire leader hadn’t even fully comprehended the situation when the shields lying on the ground next to him started moving on their own!

Holding twin blades, the Fire leader turned his body, highly alert towards those shields, only to see a few shields fall aside, revealing four bodies emerging from underneath.

The faces of these four bodies were all scratched, unrecognizable, and in addition to their clothes being removed, their bodies were covered in wounds.

No, upon closer inspection, there were only three bodies. One was still alive!

The survivor, upon seeing the Fire leader, shouted, “Greetings, Leader!”

Then he attempted to rise from the ground, only to fail immediately, falling back down and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Afterwards, he spoke very weakly to the Fire leader. “Not good… The Land of Silence… It’s the people from the Land of Silence… They used magic that made us hallucinate… unable to distinguish what’s real from what’s fake… I was attacked by another version of myself… but no matter what I did… I couldn’t harm him at all, I… cough cough…”

Attacked by another version of oneself?

This man hadn’t clarified the situation, but the Fire leader clearly caught a crucial sentence. So he looked down the street at the other version of himself again, finding that he had already walked to the middle of the road.

Suddenly, the Fire leader swung his blade, sending a cloud of fire down the street towards the person.

The murderous intent-filled fire cloud surged powerfully, but upon hitting the other Fire leader, it dissipated into nothingness. It was like punching soft cotton, utterly ineffective.

On the street, the Fire leader walked with ease, his expression unchanged, as if nothing had happened.

This scene undoubtedly agitated the Fire leader at the city gate. He then executed several more moves, but the Fire leader on the street remained unharmed!

The Fire leader’s heart pounded, and he nervously looked towards the soldiers around him.

After standing for a while, they occasionally whispered to each other, as if slacking off. But from beginning to end, not a single one looked at him, as if he didn’t exist at all.

This isn’t right…

What in the world…

At this moment, the Fire leader heard the man lying on the ground speak again. “Leader, only you, me, and these three dead brothers beside me are real. Everything else is fake. But they will kill us and then replace us in the living world! As long as they kill all of us, they can replace us! Ah…”

After saying this, the man spat out blood and became motionless, probably dead like the three others beside him.

Not only did the Fire leader’s heart beat wildly, but his ears also rang.

No, of course he couldn’t be replaced!

With twin blades in hand, the Fire leader quickly ran around the city gate, executing countless moves. Normally, these soldiers would have been incinerated by his fire cloud technique. But now it was different. Those people remained unscathed!

Disbelieving, the Fire leader connected his twin blades, unleashing a powerful move. Two blades of light collided, creating a massive firestorm, like a wildfire fanned by spring winds, instantly targeting every soldier!

The fire was fierce, as if it would burn everything to ashes. But moments later, the flames dissipated, and everything on the city gate remained unchanged, as if nothing had ever happened.

At this moment, the Fire leader suddenly realized what was wrong.

He turned around and saw the other version of himself walking up to the city wall, and the nearest soldier turned to him, saying, “Good morning, Fire Leader!”

The other Fire leader replied, “Good morning, everyone! Did you have a good breakfast? I usually turn a blind eye to your behavior, but not today! Today, of all days, you cannot slack off!”

These were the words he had said that morning.

The scene before him was exactly what he had experienced.

Something that happened in the morning was happening again…

Is this… my memory?!

I’ve entered my own memories!

They can’t see me. They’re not harming me. They’re all from my memory…

Wait, when I first came up to the city gate and noticed that no one looked at me, that the armor had dawn’s light on it, I had already started thinking in this direction, because of that…

It was that man who suddenly appeared covered in blood! He said the other version of myself would kill me!

He was deceiving me! He was misleading me!

Who is he?!

What does he want?!

The Fire leader gripped his twin blades tighter and took steps towards the blood-covered man on the ground.

Suddenly, the man sprang up from the ground.

With a smile on his lips, he raised his hand, his thumb sliding across the corner of his lips, wiping off the blood there, then wiped his eyes as if to clear his vision.

Then the Fire leader saw those bloodthirsty eyes looking back at him.

“You’re even dumber than I thought,” Zhou Qian said with a smile. “With your mana gone and your ultimate on cooldown… what are you going to fight me with?”

……

Five minutes later, Zhou Qian arrived at the breakfast shop they had dined at in the morning and went straight to the second floor.

This was the place they had agreed to meet up after completing their tasks, and upon Zhou Qian’s arrival, only Alayne was there. Alayne was responsible for the Rain leader at the south gate.

Seeing Zhou Qian, she nodded, indicating that she had taken care of the Rain leader.

The other players hadn’t arrived yet. Zhou Qian wasn’t in a hurry. He ordered some food and drink, which was soon delivered.

Breakfast time had passed, and many civilians were trying to squeeze their way to the east gate to watch the spectacle, so there weren’t many customers in the shop at this time.

Although Zhou Qian ordered the food and drink, he didn’t touch it and instead just sat by the window waiting.

After a while, Yun Xiangrong and Yin Jiujiu returned.

They were responsible for the Thunder leader at the north gate.

Thunder corresponded to the former Star, both proficient in utilizing the power of the stars. Yin Jiujiu’s clothes were clearly torn, and her skin underneath appeared charred, suggesting she was struck by lightning.

Fortunately, she specialized in tanking, so she endured it, but now her health was only at 15%.

Yun Xiangrong was slightly better off, with her health at 25%.

The two girls looked pale, already not fully recovered from the previous battle, and having to undertake a highly difficult assassination task was truly taxing.

After both sat down, Zhou Qian asked Yin Jiujiu several questions but didn’t ask Yun Xiangrong anything.

Yun Xiangrong ignored him, sitting down and drinking water without lifting her eyelids, clearly continuing some unspoken performance between them.

But now, both had some other thoughts about the reason why the Peach Blossom Legion had sent her—

Firstly, to keep Zhou Qian’s attention on her and Yin Jiujiu, whose stance was unclear, completely ignoring Ke Yuxiao.

Secondly, now that they had triggered the hidden completion condition, it was clear this instance was very special. Perhaps the Peach Blossom Legion also coveted the rewards of the hidden achievement. If the Peach Blossom Legion sent someone else, Zhou Qian would never let that person win the reward, but if it was Yun Xiangrong, it might not be the case.

Bai Zhou was assigned the task of infiltrating the racecourse and monitoring Difu’s movements, so he wouldn’t be back for a while. The only one they were waiting for now was He Xiaowei.

As they waited, he had already missed the final time agreed upon by everyone.

Yin Jiujiu glanced at the system panel’s time and said anxiously, “Could something have happened to him? The Land of Silence’s troops are about to arrive. His task may not involve assassination, but it’s still crucial. If something goes wrong—”

Zhou Qian tapped his index finger on the table. “Xiaowei Ge might be a bit jumpy sometimes, but he’s never let us down at crucial moments. We should trust our teammates more.”

“I know…” Yin Jiujiu exhaled. “I’m just a bit worried. If he messes up, all our injuries would have been for nothing.”

Zhou Qian’s expression remained unchanged, only looking out the window. “No rush. Gao Shan is with him. He can help. Besides, Zhou Ge is close to him. He’ll be fine.”

With that, Zhou Qian summoned the little dragon, petting its head. “Xiao Long, sneak over to the east city gate. After the Land of Silence people arrive, follow them. I’ll be watching everything through your eyes. Be careful not to get caught.”

“Yip!” The little dragon let out a soft cry and flew out the window.

Yin Jiujiu watched this scene anxiously, only to see Zhou Qian looking out the window with a smile. “Look, our Xiaowei Ge is back.”

---

The author has something to say:

Zhou Ge fights: Single strike style.

Qian Ge fights: Gambling cards and pretending to be dead, then using all kinds of flashy tricks.

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 138

Inside the Royal City.

The fires that burned throughout the night in every household were finally extinguished, and the day was fully bright. Shops along the street gradually opened, and bustling crowds took to the streets.

The faces of the people were mostly filled with joyful smiles—they had survived, safely passing the perilous Samhain, and from this morning on, they could truly celebrate this day as a festival.

The little dragon was summoned by Zhou Qian and quietly flew out of the city. Through its eyes, Zhou Qian gathered much information—

Last night, to safely get through Samhain, the group from the Land of Silence didn’t travel overnight but stayed in a nearby town. They were now heading towards the Royal City and would arrive in about an hour.

Their procession included seven magicians and about thirty guards, all elite.

On the other hand, Gao Shan, acting as a bone spirit, went to scout both inside and outside the palace.

With his transparent soul, he could freely avoid various guards and eavesdrop on their conversations without being discovered. The only thing he had to beware of were animals in this world that could see spirits or magicians with special abilities.

After some scouting, Gao Shan found out that the kings of both countries would meet in the palace’s horse track. They both enjoy horse racing and plan to discuss state affairs while racing horses and drinking.

As for the general layout of the royal city, it had been thoroughly explored by the players before they went to the breakfast shop.

The Royal City was square, with a city gate in each of the four directions. People from the Land of Silence would enter through the east gate, follow the main road all the way to the palace, then enter the horse track directly through the west side door.

Guards were stationed at all four gates, especially at the east gate, where defenses were exceptionally strict. From the city gate, along the main road, to the west side door of the palace, not only were the guards strict, but there were also ceremonial troops specially prepared to welcome the Land of Silence.

Due to barriers set up, no ordinary citizens passed through the king of the Land of Silence necessary route from the city gate to the horse track.

In this situation, once a player walked past, they would immediately become the target of everyone’s attention.

During this time, Alayne also went out to scout.

As a citizen of the Kingdom of Words, she infiltrated and wandered around the city, bringing back a piece of news after some investigation.

“The replacements for the Day, Moon, Star, Cloud four great guard armies stationed in the Royal City are Wind, Rain, Thunder, Fire. Inside the palace, these four guard squads jointly protect it, and as for the city gates, Wind guards the east, and Rain, Thunder, Fire respectively guard the west, south, north. I inquired about the names of the four guard leaders and found something complicated…”

“These four leaders and some of their subordinates were once from Day, Moon, Star, Cloud. When I passed by the west gate, I even made eye contact with that leader. I have been reborn, so he doesn’t recognize me, but I recognized him at a glance. Back then…”

Sighing, Alayne’s eyes filled with deeper hatred. “The battle against the Red God, when I died, I fought alongside them. My squad and I all died in battle, but they survived unharmed and even became leaders here.”

Because of Amei and the golden feather, Day, Moon, Star, Cloud were expelled to become commoners. But not everyone from these four families went to Nameless Village.

After being reincarnated as Alayne, she heard the old folks mention their names and fates—they were executed.

Back then, because the golden feather was stolen, the Land of Silence waged war against the Kingdom of Words, which at that time couldn’t resist the Land of Silence. They not only had to hand over Amei but also had to punish her family sufficiently to appease the Land of Silence’s anger and avert an imminent war.

Thus, for Day, Moon, Star, Cloud, most were expelled, and a few were executed. Among those expelled to Nameless Village, no one thought there was anything unusual. They all believed that those few people had truly died.

But now Alayne realized there might be more to the story.

She thought for a moment and said, “I understand. Day, Moon, Star, Cloud each mastered a unique skill, and with these four skills working together, the king could sleep soundly. This has always been the support of the four great families. They thought that by handing over Amei, the king would definitely not harm them, but unexpectedly…”

“It seems these four betrayed their own families. They revealed the secrets of the unique skills to the king in exchange for their own prosperity. With control over the four unique skills, they reformed Wind, Rain, Thunder, Fire, which could replace the former Day, Moon, Star, Cloud in protecting the king. Then, for the former four families… the king could expel them without worry. Even…”

Clenching her fists, Alayne said, “Even further back in time, I was betrayed by them! The queen hated the four families and the king, so she became the Red God and caused chaos. But she never harmed the civilians. This I learned after dying and going to another realm, seeing the queen.”

“If the massacre of so many civilians wasn’t done by the queen, then it was most likely these people committing crimes under the guise of the Red God’s orders.”

Everyone thought the Red God was the calamity of the Royal City. Alayne, to protect the civilians, fought on the day of Samhain when the Red God appeared, exhausted her strength, and died.

But she never imagined the real culprits were her own family.

These people had long harbored the intention to betray, secretly turning their blades against their own.

When Alayne was still Beilan, she died under their betrayal. Day, Moon, Star, Cloud were expelled and became commoners because of their betrayal, and then directed all their hatred towards Amei alone, continuously framing her during her years of suffering…

At this point, Alayne suddenly felt uncertain about whom to hate.

She remembered what Amei said—the people here are too wicked, so wicked that Amei would rather stay as the Red God in the other world forever than return to the human world.

After hearing Alayne’s story, Zhou Qian quickly understood all the causes and effects.

He slightly raised his eyebrows, glanced towards the east gate, and then smiled. “I see… Then there’s even more reason to kill them.”

“So, this is another betrayal. It seems ‘betrayal’ indeed is the theme of this instance. Then, let them be our first targets.”

Having said this, Zhou Qian stood next to the breakfast table and buried his head on the desk. He put one hand on the table, drew a map with the other, and laid out specific tactics.

Finally, he spun a pen in his fingers and, with a snap, placed it on the table.

Zhou Qian turned to everyone. “Does everyone understand? Since the east side is heavily guarded, we’ll act from the west, south, and north. We’re perfectly disguised as defectors from the Land of Silence. ‘Framing’ this on the Land of Silence couldn’t be easier. Don’t forget, the solution to this problem was told to us by the people of Nameless Village—”

He Xiaowei reacted immediately, saying, “I got it! When they killed Qi Yunsi and framed us, they mentioned that the soldiers of the Land of Silence have a unique curved weapon! I’ve seen Qi Yunsi’s body. I know what that mark looks like! We can kill these betrayers and then make the wounds look similar!”

“Right. So… let’s get moving.”

Zhou Qian placed his other hand on the table with a snap, as if to boost everyone’s morale.

One after another, they left, leaving only Bai Zhou behind.

Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou stood facing each other by the window.

Outside the window was a street full of exotic charm. The morning glow’s orange light dissipated, and the sunlight began to intensify, casting a halo of hazy light and shadow around their side profiles.

Despite their days together, they had always been in the game world.

Zhou Qian had never seen the part of Bai Zhou hidden in the shadows.

But it seemed Zhou Qian never cared about that.

Now, he just looked at Bai Zhou seriously, smiling slightly. “I’m going to command you now.”

Bai Zhou smiled back and didn’t say much. He just stepped forward, took Zhou Qian’s right hand with one hand, lifted it to his lips, lightly kissed the back of his hand, then put his hand down.

“See you in a bit. Be careful.”

With those words, Bai Zhou turned and leaped towards the window, his tall and slender figure disappearing as if merging with the daylight.

Zhou Qian first looked down the long street through the window—not a trace of Bai Zhou could be seen.

Then he lifted his hand, glancing at the back of his hand a couple more times, though not spending too much time on it.

Taking a quick deep breath, Zhou Qian, with the Rib of God in hand, also took action.

He left the bed, walked down the stairs to the first floor, through the hall towards the street, “accidentally” bumping into many customers along the way.

Thus, before entering the breakfast shop, he had no money, but upon leaving, he had acquired a significant amount of currency from the Kingdom of Words.

Moments later, Zhou Qian changed into a new outfit—one that was currently fashionable in the Royal City of the Kingdom of Words—and arrived at the west gate.

His task was to kill the leader of Fire, who was in charge of this location.

The reason he took on this task was simple—when he passed by here earlier, before dawn, he noticed a few soldiers gambling with cards at the base of the city wall.

Although the cards held by the soldiers of the Kingdom of Words and their way of gambling were very different from what he was used to in modern society, the principles were the same. Zhou Qian, with a good memory and proficient in gambling, had figured out the game after watching just three rounds.

When Alayne came here to scout earlier, she coincidentally encountered the Fire leader arriving at this location to assign tasks to the soldiers stationed here.

From a distance, Alayne was able to recognize him as someone from the former four great families.

Alayne had described in detail the appearance and clothing of the Fire leader, which Zhou Qian had memorized thoroughly.

Now, after walking around the inside of the city gate, Zhou Qian found that the Fire leader wasn’t here.

The four great guard armies of Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Fire were responsible for the security of the entire Royal City, both for guarding the city gates and the palace. As the leader of one of these four branches, the Fire leader would likely patrol back and forth between the city gate and the palace to check if his subordinates were slacking off.

His absence meant he had probably gone back to the palace to inspect the defensive arrangements there after assigning tasks at the city gate in the morning.

The Fire leader would surely return.

And his absence provided Zhou Qian with an opportunity to deal with him.

Aside from the temporary absence of the Fire leader, there were also no civilians near the west gate at the moment.

Hearing that people from the Land of Silence were coming, most had crowded to the eastern side of the Royal City. The east gate area had several taller buildings, like inns and bookstores. Unable to go to the streets, they resorted to this way to join in the excitement and catch a glimpse of the king of the Land of Silence.

Zhou Qian managed to catch a passerby and talked him into playing cards with him.

Of course, the cards were also bought with the money he had “borrowed” at the breakfast shop.

The place where Zhou Qian gambled with the man was very close to the west gate.

Because it was quiet due to the absence of people around, the noise from their spot easily reached the west gate.

The civilian Zhou Qian had randomly grabbed and coaxed into gambling with him was a young man in his early twenties, with delicate features and dark green eyes.

Now, he was regretting his decisions, unable to stop exclaiming, “Why could you win ten times in a row against me?”

“That’s not right. Your cards were so small at the beginning, how could you bet you would win? Do you have x-ray vision?”

“Are you cheating?”

“No, no, let me shuffle!”

……

“Oh my god… Impossible! How did I lose again?”

“Who exactly are you? Are you a magician? If so, I’m going to have someone beat you up! Magicians aren’t allowed to gamble. That’s a rule everyone knows! Everyone will help me beat you up! Be careful!”

“You’re a foreigner, aren’t you? I’ve never seen you before! You definitely can’t beat my people!”

“Anyway, I’m right no matter what!”

The young man’s ramblings were interrupted by Zhou Qian’s action—

He simply took off his shirt.

“You…?”

“You were suspicious of me hiding cards, right? Now, I can’t cheat. Oh, and you were suspicious of me using magic? You can search me to see if I’m hiding anything. Magicians need tools to cast spells, and I definitely don’t have such things.”

The young man indeed inspected Zhou Qian from head to toe, even grabbed his hair a few times, and found that he indeed had nothing on him that could be used for magic.

Finally, seeming confident, he said, “Then, then I’m raising the stakes!”

Zhou Qian replied, “Great! I could tell you’re a rich man from your clothes!”

“If I lose again, I’ll give you all the money I have on me!”

“I was wrong before. You’re not just straightforward. You’re really bold! I love playing cards with people like you.”

During this time, the soldiers at the west gate had their eyes and ears focused in this direction.

They were all muttering among themselves—

“That guy doesn’t use magic or hide cards, yet he won so many times in a row. He must be a real pro. Is that guy with green eyes an idiot for raising the stakes?!”

“But how does the pro do it? I’m really curious…”

……

Meanwhile, they were extremely curious about whether the young man would lose all his money to Zhou Qian.

Five minutes later.

The young man lost another five rounds and sat on the ground, actually starting to cry.

Zhou Qian patted his shoulder. “Hey, don’t be so sad. Consider this my good deed for the day. Or how about I teach you?”

“You-You’ll teach me? If you do… Can I be like you…”

“Of course. I guarantee it.” Zhou Qian nodded affirmatively. “You’ll be the next gambling god of the Kingdom of Words. You’ll win a lot of money! But—”

Zhou Qian nonchalantly stood up shirtless, casually draping his shirt over his shoulder, and turned to walk into a nearby alley. “But this place is too public. It’s not convenient. My secret technique is not to be shared. Come into this alley. I’ll tell you secretly.”

At that moment, all the soldiers’ eyes showed greed.

“Should we follow?”

“Who’s going to guard the city gate if we do?”

“But if we don’t follow, we’ll miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

“How about we pick someone to follow, and he can teach us when he comes back?”

“Who do we pick? We know each other too well. We’re a bunch of gamblers—who would really teach us if they learned this skill? I don’t believe it unless you send me!”

“Fine, let’s all go together! Fire boss went to the horse track to assign tasks! He won’t be back anytime soon!”

“Actually, today’s matter doesn’t concern us. It’s all about the east gate’s task. Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“Agreed, we won’t have this chance again!”

With his back to the crowd, Zhou Qian stepped into the alley.

The backlight outlined his lean and muscular upper body as he smirked, revealing a familiar smile of pleasure on his face.

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 137

The Kingdom of Words, Royal City.

It was the moment between night and dawn when the sky wasn’t clear yet.

The moon was still high in the sky, and every household’s courtyard was adorned with jack-o-lanterns and ghost masks, while fireplaces burned with flames that never died, warding off invaders from the other world.

From afar, the city was enveloped in a myriad of flickering lights, as if a giant fireball had descended upon it, breaking into millions of sparks scattered across the land.

Due to the special Samhain festival, the city transformed into a sleepless royal capital.

Everyone anxiously awaited the arrival of daylight.

Fortunately, their wait came to an end as a hint of light appeared on the horizon, signaling the passing of the perilous season.

Zhou Qian and others, with the help of the queen, gently landed in a secluded corner of the street. They then traversed the entire city, excluding the royal palace, to get a good grasp of its layout.

The city wasn’t very large, and with a basic attribute speed boost, their journey through the city took just over an hour.

After their initial exploration, as dawn covered the city, they found an open breakfast shop at the street corner. They walk in, bathed in the morning glow, and head upstairs to a window-side table.

With the Red God temporarily gone, only Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou, He Xiaowei, Yin Jiujiu, and Yun Xiangrong, along with an NPC named Alayne, remain.

Having been through quite an ordeal without proper food, they now order plenty to eat and drink, using the NPC Alayne’s money.

He Xiaowei barely managed to swallow a few bites of dry and hard bread, then looked towards Zhou Qian, who was gazing out of the window. His chin was slightly raised, and his eyes were indifferent, seemingly having no intention of touching the shoddy food provided by the breakfast shop.

Next to him, Bai Zhou seemed to have developed culinary skills or found something in the trade shop—

He was able to cook shrimp with boiled eggs for Zhou Qian in this instance.

Bai Zhou’s actions were meticulous and cold, resembling a scientific experiment more than cooking.

As Zhou Qian waited for his shrimp and eggs, he leaned his cheek on his hand and stared towards the city gate, narrowing his eyes as if plotting something.

“What are you thinking about, Qian’er? Do you have a plan?” He Xiaowei asked.

Previously, He Xiaowei would have thought such a task impossible.

According to the queen, the king of the Land of Silence came in peace. His personal arrival in the Royal City of the Kingdom of Words signified sincerity. Yet, to protect himself, he brought numerous magicians and a strong guard contingent.

The king’s magician alone was capable of imposing deadly commands in minutes, indicating strong abilities, not to mention the other magicians accompanying him.

How could the players confront so many magicians and snatch something from their king?

It wasn’t that the players couldn’t defeat these magicians.

But spells like prohibitions and curses were the magicians’ forte; a barrage of such spells against the players would be overwhelmingly difficult to counter.

Moreover, this place was the heavily guarded Royal City of the Kingdom of Words, filled with countless guards and court magicians.

With both countries negotiating peace, the king of the Land of Silence personally visited, demonstrating both nations’ sincerity.

If he faced danger, the Kingdom of Words would naturally assist him. The players would then face the threat of both countries’ armies and magicians.

With merely five players, possibly not entirely united, to confront the forces of two entire nations…

No matter what He Xiaowei thought, this felt like an impossible task.

They might not survive until Di Fu appears.

However, by now, He Xiaowei fully trusted Zhou Qian’s intellect, so unusually, he didn’t express any fear or difficulty.

He took another bite of his bread and waited for Zhou Qian’s response.

At this moment, Bai Zhou offered Zhou Qian a spoonful of egg-wrapped shrimp. Zhou Qian smiled at him before he ate it. He Xiaowei shivered and watched as Zhou Qian turned back towards the city gate and said, “The hidden achievement wasn’t specified by the system. But our current mission is clear: we stand with the queen and Alayne against Difu.”

“Even if we put the mission aside, for Xiao Qi’s sake, we must proceed.”

“And obtaining the ‘Key of Freedom’ is one prerequisite for confronting Difu. Are we all in agreement?”

“No doubts,” He Xiaowei replied.

Zhou Qian continued, “The Red God Queen isn’t here now, but she hinted at something.”

He Xiaowei, puzzled, looked at Zhou Qian, who turned to him. “She brought us here to cooperate with Alayne in killing Difu. But why does she believe Difu will appear here?”

He Xiaowei was taken aback.

Zhou Qian explained, “There are several possibilities, and we must prepare for them. First, the kings of both countries might not really be negotiating peace. A war could break out here soon. If the meeting between the kings involves great lies and betrayal, along with bloodshed and killing, Difu, anticipating this, would certainly come to absorb energy.”

“The second possibility is that the kings are indeed negotiating peace. But for Difu to miss such a significant event to create chaos would be illogical. She might deliberately cause confusion, making each king believe the other has betrayed him.”

After a pause, Zhou Qian narrowed his eyes, and his gaze became ominously serious.

He said, “But just in case, we need another plan. It is already dawn. Today is likely our last chance to complete the mission. If neither possibility occurs and Difu doesn’t show up all day, we won’t be able to save Xiao Qi or complete our task.”

“What do you mean then…?” He Xiaowei asked, frowning with a foreboding feeling.

“If Difu doesn’t appear, we’ll have to lure her here,” Zhou Qian declared.

He Xiaowei: “You…”

“Exactly.” Zhou Qian nodded. “If the kings are truly seeking peace, we must incite betrayal between them, thereby drawing Difu out.”

“This approach serves multiple purposes, not only to draw Difu but also because we stand no chance against the powerful forces accompanying the kings. Only by pitting them against each other can we benefit*—seizing the ‘Key of Freedom’ when the power around the king of the Land of Silence is greatly diminished. If we’re lucky and he also brings the golden feather, we can directly use it to save Xiao Qi.”

*The snipe and the clam fight while the fisherman benefits. It comes from a fable describing a situation where two parties are locked in a struggle that exhausts them both, allowing a third party to swoop in and take advantage.

Hearing this, He Xiaowei fell silent for a moment, sharing Yin Jiujiu’s sentiment.

She hesitated before asking, “Is there no other way? I feel… this involves the safety of both nations’ people… If we do this, and it leads to years of war, how many will die because of us?”

Zhou Qian’s expression was stern as he remained silent. He Xiaowei couldn’t help but speak up at this moment. “I definitely want to save Xiao Qi, but Jiujiu’s words also resonate with me. I feel… uneasy about this.”

After a long silence, Yun Xiangrong spoke up. “They are NPCs, not real people.”

“Even so…” He Xiaowei sighed deeply. “Well, let’s just say I’m being sentimental. That Qian’er… anyway, the people from the Land of Silence haven’t arrived yet. Before they do, can we think of any other way?”

“Or at least, should we try to warn the citizens of this city, let them evacuate first? If the magicians and soldiers of both countries are going to fight, let them fight, but the civilians are innocent…”

“We can’t warn the civilians. We don’t have the opportunity to reset and must ensure absolute certainty of success. Doing anything extra now could expose us to the people of both countries, resulting in complete mission failure. Then we won’t be able to save Xiao Qi, and we’ll all die here.”

Zhou Qian immediately rejected He Xiaowei’s suggestion. “The king of the Kingdom of Silence likely has spies in the Royal City of the Kingdom of Words. If a spy learns of this and informs the Land of Silence, their king might not even step foot here.”

“But… then…” He Xiaowei could no longer bite into his bread, letting out a heavy sigh.

Zhou Qian looked at him and said, “Xiaowei Ge, you really don’t need to feel burdened. I haven’t finished speaking. Let me ask you. What point in time have we arrived at?”

He Xiaowei was stunned for a while, then his eyes widened. “You mean…”

“What I mean is—” Zhou Qian said solemnly, “‘What has happened cannot be changed,’ this is a constant setting throughout this instance.”

“The queen doesn’t truly have the ability to foresee the future, as can be proven from the conversation between Alayne and the queen relayed by Alayne. The queen didn’t know Alayne’s true fate or whether she could kill Difu. But the queen sent us here because she knew beforehand that Difu would appear here.”

“The only explanation for this—”

“’Difu’s appearance’ is something that has already happened, belonging to the ‘past’. ‘Whether Di Fu will be killed by Alayne’ is unknown, belonging to the ‘future’.”

“It seems that the time difference between this ‘past’ and ‘future’ is very small, possibly all occurring within today. Meaning, the time we are currently in is very close to the real ‘present’, just less than a day apart.”

He Xiaowei started to understand, and his expression gradually became less despondent.

Zhou Qian continued to explain, “In short, ‘Difu’s appearance’ belongs to the ‘past’, and her appearance itself is accompanied by lies, betrayal, chaos, hatred, and slaughter. This indicates—”

“The animosity and betrayal between the two countries also belong to the “past’, and it is something that will definitely happen.”

“How the peace talks between the two countries fail could happen in many ways. If not guided by us, there would be other triggers. But if we completely control the situation, we can ensure every detail serves our needs, not just ‘historical progress’.”

Yin Jiujiu seemed persuaded, nodding her head. “I understand. We’re only changing the specifics, not the course of history or everyone’s destined fate. If someone is destined to die, regardless of what we do, they will still die; the only difference is whether they die an hour earlier or later…”

“It’s like… like Alayne’s good friend, Qi Yunsi—during Samhain when Alayne was 8, in the original history, he died in her place during the vigil. We went back to the past, intervened in history, and neither he nor Alayne went to the vigil. But in the end… he still died!”

“Exactly. All the story set-ups before this imply this point, which is very important and can be seen as a hint from the system on how to clear the instance.”

“So, we can guide the two countries to hostility without any guilt because it has already happened.”

Zhou Qian glanced at He Xiaowei’s expression and added, “Moreover, setting aside this, Amei, Beilan… and many others we don’t know about, in every corner, have died because of Difu’s evil.”

“Today, there is only the Land of Silence and the Kingdom of Words. If we don’t eliminate Difu and allow her power to grow stronger, in the future, countless countries around the world will go to war under her influence, and then people all over the world will suffer. So, even looking at the bigger picture, we can only make the choice we are making now.”

“Between the civilians of two countries and the entire world’s populace, I can only choose the world.”

“Between NPCs of no importance and Qi Liuxing, I can only choose Qi Liuxing.”

“I understand, Qian’er… I actually get what you’re saying.” He Xiaowei scratched his head. “I just wanted to lament a bit. Sometimes wanting the best of both worlds… is really hard.”

“The world never conforms to one’s desires. That’s the normal state of life.”

Zhou Qian said, “Everyone wants to find a perfect, flawless solution that doesn’t let anyone down. But before we can save everyone, we also have to weigh our own capabilities. We’re not omnipotent gods; we can’t take care of everyone and have to make choices. We… must accept the imperfections and flaws we carry.”

At this point, Zhou Qian didn’t look at He Xiaowei but turned towards Bai Zhou, who was close by.

Bai Zhou was preparing a second shrimp and egg dish, seemingly nonchalant, but Zhou Qian knew that Bai Zhou had already prepared for many complex situations in his heart.

He was composed because he was strong.

Yet, at the same time… he also demanded too much of himself.

When Bai Zhou handed over another shrimp and egg, Zhou Qian grabbed his wrist, looked into his eyes, and spoke through the private chat tool. “Zhou Ge, the last thing I said was really meant for you to hear.”

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 136

Two minutes later, everyone, including the NPC Alayne, had arrived in the cellar.

“Are we here looking for Xiao Qi and Xiao Ke? Why would they come to the cellar? Is there some secret hidden here?” He Xiaowei muttered as he jumped down into the cellar.

He was the last person to enter the cellar, which, despite being filled with many people, was eerily quiet. He Xiaowei was surprised at this silence when he saw the scene that completely froze him in place, his eyes immediately reddening.

Zhou Qian turned around, glanced at He Xiaowei, who had just entered, then looked at the others. In front of them, he closed the lid of the freezer holding the head and placed it into his backpack.

“Ke Yuxiao is still in this time-space. He might head up the mountain, trying to find a way out through the Red God’s inn. But as the inn serves as a connection point between spaces, there’s only one such prop, and now that we have it, he can’t escape.”

“What we need to do first is obtain the golden feather to heal Qi Liuxing’s body. After that, I can use the Tick Tock Clock to resurrect him.”

“Then we will settle the score with Ke Yuxiao.”

“Also, we need to be cautious about one thing. When we came over here, we specifically checked, and the Temple of the Goddess of Prayers is still next to the Tartar Inn. Probably because of the spy situation, there are now many people in ghost masks stationed there, and villagers keep entering, likely to carve curse tablets.”

“Under such circumstances, it’s less likely for Ke Yuxiao to get through. But we still need to be vigilant later on to prevent him from directly entering the temple to curse all of us.”

Hearing this, Hidden Blade frowned and said, “Ke Yuxiao… his situation is very abnormal. Xiao Qi’s talents have already been activated, making him very powerful. But after thoroughly understanding Ke Yuxiao’s skills, he doesn’t have any significant offensive capabilities.”

“Normally, even if Xiao Qi had spent a lot of mana, he shouldn’t have died so easily at Ke Yuxiao’s hands. Ke Yuxiao must have hidden his attack power and life force. But that’s almost impossible…”

“Indeed, some disguise items can completely transform one person into another, with attributes adjusted accordingly, but this adjustment is limited and cannot turn someone from a hundred thousand health to ten thousand.”

“Moreover, the attribute panels of ordinary players and Rank God players are worlds apart. It’s impossible for them to disguise as each other.”

“So, you suspect Ke Yuxiao is a Rank God player?” Zhou Qian asked.

“Yes. But even Bai Zhou and I probably don’t know why he could disguise as an ordinary player. This might be…” Hidden Blade looked at Bai Zhou. “Some new item researched by the Peach Blossom Legion, or a new skill they’ve developed for Rank God players? After all…”

Hidden Blade’s following words were left unsaid, but everyone present understood.

This matter was likely related to the Peach Blossom Legion. They put up such a big show just to have Ke Yuxiao kill Qi Liuxing, and there must be a deeper conspiracy behind it.

They certainly weren’t targeting Qi Liuxing alone, but Zhou Qian. But what could be the reason that made them believe killing Qi Liuxing would also kill Zhou Qian?

Bai Zhou’s gaze darkened. “There are some things that Shao Chuan has never told me. After we get out, I will ask him for clarity.”

Zhou Qian glanced at Bai Zhou, then said, “I’ve had my suspicions about Ke Yuxiao since our time in ‘Flower of Evil’. But during the brain interconnection, I didn’t notice any anomalies from him, as if he could completely hide his thoughts…”

“We can verify this later. Let’s go get the golden feather first.”

Hidden Blade stepped forward. “You guys, go get the feather. I’ll stay here and guard the temple to prevent Ke Yuxiao from cursing all of us.”

“Master, it’s very dangerous for you to be alone!” He Xiaowei immediately said, “We now don’t know his capabilities—”

“Indeed, we don’t know the extent of his abilities, but if he is a Rank God player, which is almost certain given his unique disguise skill, then—”

“Guarding this time-space’s temple to prevent him from cursing us must be done by a Rank God player. Difu is too powerful, and Bai Zhou is indispensable in dealing with her. So, it’s best for me to stay here.”

He Xiaowei: “Then I’ll stay and help you!”

“No need,” Hidden Blade interrupted He Xiaowei, as he conjured his curved blade, shining like a crescent moon.

Holding the blade handle, Hidden Blade smiled at He Xiaowei, “The title ‘Master’ shouldn’t be taken lightly. Since you’ve acknowledged me as your master, you should trust me.”

Hearing this, He Xiaowei still looked worried, so Zhou Qian stepped forward and patted his shoulder. “If Ke Yuxiao really can control thoughts at will and switch identities freely… his skills are indeed special. But on the other hand, it shows he specializes in these abilities rather than others like output.”

“Thus, from a one-on-one fight perspective, Ke Yuxiao definitely isn’t strong. Otherwise, he could’ve easily disguised as an ordinary player to approach me and kill me effortlessly with his Rank God player identity in the instance.”

Zhou Qian looked at He Xiaowei and further explained, “Bai Zhou’s identity was exposed in front of the Peach Blossom Legion only towards the end of ‘Wish List’. It’s not something they knew in advance, nor did they know he would secretly protect me.”

“At the start of ‘Wish List’, the people they sent to kill me were Situ Qing and Lu Mengmeng, not Ke Yuxiao. Perhaps they underestimated me, but they also didn’t dare to send Ke Yuxiao without absolute certainty.”

“Ke Yuxiao’s skills are highly valued by them, and they couldn’t afford to let him die easily, so they didn’t risk sending him to kill, even fearing he couldn’t pass such a difficult hidden instance.”

“Their step-by-step strategy has told us, aside from that special skill, whether in terms of one-on-one fighting ability or the ability to find clues and pass instances, Ke Yuxiao isn’t strong at all. So—”

Approaching Hidden Blade, Zhou Qian also solemnly patted his shoulder. “I believe you’ll be fine. But still, be careful.”

“Sure. Don’t worry,” Hidden Blade said.

Zhou Qian looked at him, then added, “Before we leave, we’ll explain to Alayne and ask her to find a way to help you. In case of an emergency, regarding Ke Yuxiao, kill if necessary. Don’t insist on capturing him alive. Preserving your life is the most important.”

“No problem,” Hidden Blade said.

Zhou Qian then said, “I’ll give you an item. I think it’ll be very useful.”

Looking down at his wrist, Hidden Blade indeed received an item: a combination of a pen and paper—

[Item: Starting with a Picture, The Process Depends on Imagination*]

*It’s an internet phrase that refers to a lot of relevant information can be fabricated with just one picture. For instance, someone posted a picture and then added their own caption to it describing the event (but it could be completely made up).

[Function: The map you draw, the story you imagine, might one day become reality… Perhaps everyone has had such a beautiful dream? This item can satisfy all your imaginations! Go on, defeat your enemies with your imagination!]

[Note: Please try to draw accurately. If it’s not recognizable, it’s not the item’s fault; those with poor drawing skills use with caution. Beware of injuring oneself]

Zhou Qian also sent a message with tips on using the item.

After reading it, Hidden Blade: “……”

Subsequently, Hidden Blade’s wrist received another notification, this time from Bai Zhou, giving him some self-defense and escape items.

Lowering his wrist, Hidden Blade looked at Bai Zhou. “Thanks.”

Bai Zhou shook his head. “Be extra careful.”

Minutes later, Zhou Qian and the others left Alayne’s house and headed down the mountain path away from the village.

He approached Alayne first, asking, “Do you know how to find Difu?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping Amei would tell me… I didn’t remember at the time, and I wanted her help to find Difu, which is why I let her take me to her inn.”

Alayne looked at Zhou Qian. “I thought you knew the way, seeing as you were leading.”

Zhou Qian said, “If you don’t know, then pretend I know.”

Alayne: “?”

Zhou Qian turned back to the other players, explaining, “If the NPC has information, it should be considered accurate. But since Alayne doesn’t have any clues, we have to deduce from the information we’ve collected.”

“We eight were separated by the statue at the entrance of the Tartar Inn into different time-spaces—three groups, each with an eight-year gap according to this pattern. Using the mini time prop we got from the Red God’s Inn, we indeed managed to go back eight years.”

“So, the three colors on these two props are temporarily set to an eight-year interval. However, Zhou Ge previously heard about Alayne’s near sacrifice by the village chief when she was ten, and we don’t know exactly from what time we returned to when Alayne was eight.”

“These two incidents don’t necessarily relate to the number ‘eight’. What we can be sure of is that the different times the time prop can adjust are not entirely based on eight-year units.”

Looking into the distance, Zhou Qian said, “Right now, just by manipulating this prop, there are two possible ways. One is to return to the Red God’s Inn and find that golden bird to see if a reaction can be triggered between the two. After all, the golden bird is quite special. Even though it’s a statue, it might actually possess a part of Difu’s power.”

“The second way… is to go back to the village entrance and see if the two time-controlling props, one large and one small, will work together.”

“Of course, if neither of these ways work, there’s a third option—” Zhou Qian looked at Alayne. “And that is for you to wake up Amei, who you’ve knocked out, and force her to lead us to Difu.”

Alayne: “…………”

“Young man, why not choose the fourth and simplest way?”

The speaker was a strange woman’s voice. Zhou Qian looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman in red coming from the depths of the woods.

He heard Alayne whisper softly, “The queen?”

This person was indeed the wife of the once King of the Kingdom of Words and the Red God, who had once shown Alayne the way in the otherworld.

Looking at Alayne, she said, “I’ve calculated… It’s about time. Samhain has brought me to the human world, and I’ve met you. As I once said to you, I will provide help when necessary. Now is the time.”

“Can you teach us how to traverse space and find Difu?” Alayne asked. “I can only feel the strength of her power, but it envelops me. She is everywhere, and I really am…”

“When Samhain arrives, each inn exists in multiple spaces. Of course, I also know the way to traverse space.” The queen raised her hand, and a red circle appeared in front of everyone’s feet. “Go to my inn. I will take you to the royal city. However, be careful. The royal city is especially crowded today, and the guards are extraordinarily vigilant. The king of the Land of Silence has arrived.”

“The Land of Silence?” Zhou Qian asked.

“Yes. The two countries have been at war for a long time. It’s time for peace talks. But he’s obviously still wary of the Kingdom of Words, bringing countless magicians to protect him…” The queen said, “Well, if you’ve made up your mind, step forward. I’ll take you there.”

Alayne didn’t hesitate and stepped directly into the red circle, disappearing in an instant. At this moment, the players finally received a clear prompt for progressing through the game—

[Congratulations to the players for surviving until now. You have triggered the regular ending mode: Alayne has left, and the Red Lotus will soon lose its effect, unable to trap Amei. Players will face Amei’s attacks.]

[You need to find a way to survive under Amei and the spirits she can summon and find a way to return to your true timeline as deserters.]

[At dawn, all dangers will end, the deserters can return to normal life, and you can leave the instance.]

[If you choose the regular ending mode, do not step into the red circle.]

[Stepping into the red circle will trigger a hidden achievement, which, upon completion, grants a rare reward.]

[The success rate for achieving the hidden achievement is 3%. Players, please choose wisely.]

This time, without Zhou Qian needing to say much, everyone stepped into the red circle, including Yin Jiujiu, whom Zhou Qian couldn’t fully trust yet.

Lastly, Zhou Qian gave Yun Xiangrong, who was standing inside the red circle, another look, but didn’t say more, simply gripping Bai Zhou’s hand next to him.

Soon after, Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou together entered a world bathed in red.

It was as if someone had paved a road with blood for them, forcing them to step on it and keep moving forward.

Then, Zhou Qian felt Bai Zhou’s palm cover his eyes.

Lifting his arm, Zhou Qian held his wrist. “I’m okay, really. I was mentally prepared when I saw the name of this instance.”

Bai Zhou simply said, “This color is harmful to your condition. Better to see less of it.”

“Okay.” Zhou Qian nodded, thought for a moment, and then said, “Zhou Ge, I’ve just realized… Hidden Blade is indeed a good person. You see, you’re a good person, and the friends you make are also good people. This is called ‘birds of a feather flock together’.”

Bai Zhou told him, “You’re also very good.”

Facing the oncoming wind, Zhou Qian smiled. “That’s something no one would believe if it got out. They’d only say you see me through rose-tinted glasses or that I’ve bewitched you.”

Bai Zhou gave him a look and shook his head. “That’s because many people don’t understand and only see the surface.”

“When did you see the ‘inside’?” Zhou Qian asked him.

“A long time ago.”

“How long is a long time?”

“Probably around the third grade in elementary school.”

“Huh? Elementary school? We were just kids then. What could you see? It’s just that you’re too good, so you think I’m good too.”

Bai Zhou laughed softly and reached out to smooth Zhou Qian’s hair.

Despite the eerie scene of both of them wearing ghost costumes and surrounded by red light, the atmosphere between them was unexpectedly warm and tender. When Bai Zhou’s hand moved away, Zhou Qian looked at him deeply and took his hand.

The smile on his lips gradually faded, and he said, “Zhou Ge, having you by my side at times like this feels especially good.”

“We will bring him back,” Bai Zhou said, his tone not much different from usual, but it carried an undeniable force to Zhou Qian’s ears.

“I know.” Zhou Qian smiled and said, “Normally, when I do this kind of thing, my confidence is 99.9%. Now with you here…”

Bai Zhou: “It seems I haven’t brought much of a bonus.”

Zhou Qian said seriously, “No. With you here, my confidence is 200%!”

“Actually, if from a mathematical perspective—”

“How can you view this from a mathematical perspective?”

“…Then what did you mean by 27.6% that one time you saw me?”

“I won’t tell you. Just guess.”

……

Elsewhere, on a hillside five hundred meters east of the graveyard.

Ke Yuxiao, dressed in a black robe, hid his figure under the cover of trees.

From his vantage point, he could clearly see the surroundings of the temple. When necessary, he would enter to attempt a curse.

After all, leaving here would mean he could clear the instance.

Whether the curse born of hatred and betrayal he casts for Difu would increase her power significantly, he didn’t care.

Just then, an unusual figure flashed in the distance, clearly not an NPC but the speed only a Rank God player could have.

With the sharp senses of a Rank God player, Ke Yuxiao quickly recognized him as Hidden Blade.

Hmm… He’s alone?

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 135

About thirty years ago, there was turmoil caused by a Red God in the royal city of the Kingdom of Words. The people were protected by the branches of the four great guardian armies: Sun, Moon, Star, Cloud. Beilan bravely fought against the Red God, exhausted her strength, and died.

After an unknown period, Beilan opened her eyes to find herself in complete darkness, with the only light being a faint red glow in the distance.

Approaching the red light, Beilan discovered it was a sign. It was an inn.

Beilan immediately realized where she was—she had died, her soul had arrived in another realm, and now she was wandering near the Red God’s inn.

It was said that the inn offered endless delicacies, and if you wished, you could live there forever, free of worries.

But Beilan didn’t want to live there forever; she wanted to return to the human world.

After entering the inn, Beilan met the Red God and was surprised to find she had the same face as the queen.

Seeing that Beilan wasn’t interested in the meat soup in the meat pool or the wine in the wine pool like the other ghosts, the Red God asked her, “You don’t like it here?”

“I just don’t want to indulge in it like they do. I want to go back,” Beilan said.

After a long look at Beilan, the Red God suddenly said, “I actually know who you are. You are a member of the guardian army of the Kingdom of Words. And me… I utterly despise those four guardian armies.”

Hearing this, Beilan immediately frowned.

The Red God smiled, saying with a rather gentle tone, “But to me, you are different from them. See, among those who fought me to the last moment in the human realm, only you remained.”

“In a way, you were abandoned by them. We share the same fate. The four guardian armies serve the royalty, including the king and queen. Yet, they seem to have forgotten all this and even helped the king and his mistress against me…”

With a sigh, the Red God continued, “As a woman, I pity you. If you want to go back, I can show you the way.”

“Can I go back? Can I be resurrected?” Beilan asked incredulously.

The Red God quickly shattered her illusions. “Of course you cannot be resurrected as Beilan directly. You can only return to the human realm according to the rules here—as a newborn.”

When Beilan was alive, there was an old maid in one of the four great families who had never married. She had heard a fortune teller say to her, “Oh, what’s this? There are three souls ‘in heaven’ waiting in line for you. Only when you marry and have children can they come to the human world. They like you and have been waiting for you. Don’t let them wait too long. Otherwise, they might leave and be born to someone else’s family. Then you would miss the connection, which wouldn’t be good for you. Hmm… It should be within these two years.”

Whether the fortune teller said this just to urge the maiden to marry, to match her with someone else, or if it was true, Beilan didn’t know at the time. She was merely curious about the idea of a dead soul being reborn as a newborn in the human world.

She didn’t expect the notion that a dead soul could return to the human world as a newborn to be confirmed by the Red God today.

“I-I’m not afraid to start over. But when can I go back?” Beilan eagerly asked the Red God.

Amei was young and could live for a very long time. Beilan didn’t want to wait alone in another realm for decades or even centuries; naturally, she hoped to return to the human world sooner to have a chance to reunite with her.

The Red God said, “The other realm is vast. This dimension is far broader and deeper than you can imagine. What I have is just an inn that can host lost souls.”

“You’ve seen it; many people indulge in the life here and forget to move forward. Such people can never return.”

“How can I go back?” Beilan asked.

Afterward, Beilan learned some secrets of the other realm from the Red God.

Upon death, souls first arrive in this inn area. This was a vast region that even many Red Gods didn’t know the full extent of. It was filled with countless roads, intricate crossroads, and innumerable inns, each offering endless delicacies.

Initially, everyone wanted to leave this area because they were told there was a road leading to the human world. Finding the right path would take them to a queue area, and then one by one, they would be reincarnated as humans.

But very few could truly leave this place.

Walking around, they would only find themselves lost in a maze, unable to find a way out. Most would give up after experiencing this numerous times.

They would turn to indulge in the dreamy life of the inns—since there were endless delicacies here, why bother being human? If they found this life boring, they might as well drink until they forget everything. Once drunk, boredom would disappear, and everything forgotten.

“The inn is a haven for souls. On Samhain, when the doors between two realms open, they can briefly return to the human world to enjoy themselves… Many are content and choose not to leave. If they tire of it, they can simply move to another inn. But they hardly have a chance to be human again. I can tell you’re different from them.”

After saying this, the Red God stood up, led Beilan out of the inn, and walked along a dark path for a long time.

At a crossroads, illuminated by the red light from another inn’s sign, the Red God pointed Beilan to a road. “I cannot guarantee this road leads to the human world. But from my observations over the years, the few who left my inn and never returned all took this road.”

Beilan’s eyes lit up. “Thank you!”

After thanking the Red God, Beilan was about to leave, but the Red God stopped her first. “Wait. I have something else to say.”

“Yes. Please speak,” Beilan said.

“Even I don’t know what lies ahead. But reincarnation isn’t so simple. Even if you leave the inn area, you may face many challenges and trials ahead. After all, so many wish to be human, but the number of babies born each year is limited. Consider carefully if you’re truly ready.”

Beilan didn’t hesitate at all. “I’ve thought it through. I’m ready. I need to return as soon as possible.”

The Red God continued, “You won’t remember anything from this life, nor will you remember me. Moreover, I can’t guarantee where you will be reborn or what kind of person you will become.”

Beilan thought for a moment, then replied, “It doesn’t matter. I don’t care.”

“Then, my guidance to you is considered a kindness I’ve shown you, agree?” the Red God said. “Otherwise, you might spend decades, even centuries, wandering aimlessly in the inn area.”

“I agree. I’ve said it before; I’m very grateful to you,” Beilan frowned. “I’m serious. I resisted you… to save the people, not because of the four great families. Now I know, you actually never harmed any of the common people’s lives…”

The four great families had separated Beilan and Amei, declaring their love a disgrace to the families and the Kingdom of Words. Beilan had always harbored hatred towards them.

And the Red God in front of her, despite causing several disturbances, had only ever killed those from the four great families and the royalty who had betrayed her.

Glancing at Beilan’s expression, the Red God then said, “Since you’re grateful to me, in exchange, promise me one thing.”

“What is it?” Beilan asked her.

The Red God said, “I can’t control your fate. I can’t guarantee you’ll return to the human world, nor do I know what you will become once you do. These are the truths.”

“However, that doesn’t mean I know nothing about your future. I can see a remarkable talent in you. This talent may be proven on your journey forward to the human world, where you’ll face trials and become stronger…”

“If you manage to return to the human world with this talent, I hope you can find a way to do something for me.”

With that, the Red God opened her hand, and a golden bird appeared in her palm.

It flapped its wings, looking beautiful and lively, as if it could fly out of the Red God’s hand at any moment and into the outside world.

It wasn’t until the Red God closed her hand into a fist that Beilan realized it was just an illusion.

“Many secrets about this world were revealed to me after I became a Red God. Who created this vast world… I do not know. But what I’ve learned is that the operation of this world is based on certain codes. These codes grow and change from their original form, gradually developing the world into its current state.”

“The ancient spells are actually a form of these codes. Spellcasters can break dimensional constraints through incantations, performing feats beyond the ordinary; fortune tellers can predict the future by training their brains to connect their thoughts with the universe through the codes, seeing events in different dimensions…”

“Color runes are also a way to connect with the codes.”

Hearing the Red God speak, Beilan said, “I understand this. Our family likes to keep white dogs. The purer the white of the dog’s fur, the easier it is to contact another realm, the easier it is to communicate with beings from another realm.”

“Right. The purer the color of an animal, the easier it becomes a spirit. And there has never been an animal that is pure gold, except for the one you just saw.”

The Red God said, “It’s a pity… When it evolved, it absorbed the purest form of malice from the human world. Lies and betrayal are its favorite elements. Such things are abundant in the human world, so much so that it has become powerful enough… to go to worlds that are difficult for all others to reach.”

“Are you saying… the divine realm?” Beilan asked.

“Yes. It entered the divine realm. Isn’t it ironic? Why would the divine realm accommodate such malice? I can’t see through it.”

The Red God stared into Beilan’s eyes, her gaze suddenly filled with sorrow and anger. “I only found out recently that the person who harmed me was actually her! This bird must be familiar to you, right? Amei was forced into marriage, precisely to steal this feather. But this feather… was deliberately offered to the king of the Land of Silence by this golden bird.”

Seeing the hatred clearly reflected in Beilan’s eyes, the Red God emphasized. “Remember, she is now called Difu. For my sake and your own, you must kill her. When necessary, I will help you.”

Following the road pointed out by the Red God, Beilan indeed left the inn area and embarked on a long journey of trials. Only by surviving these trials could she have a chance to be reincarnated as a human.

In the years that followed, Beilan walked a long and arduous path of trials. This trial lasted for ten years. The more difficult the journey, the more Beilan hated Difu and her former family—the four great families of Sun, Moon, Star, Cloud.

She resolved to kill Difu and all members of the four great families to avenge herself and Amei.

Along the way, Beilan grew increasingly powerful, and her hatred deepened. She returned to the human world as quickly as she could.

Many would spend decades or even longer. But she managed to return to the human world in just ten years.

What Beilan didn’t know was that in the tenth year, Amei died and became one of the many Red Gods. She also didn’t know that after becoming a Red God and failing to find her, Amei went to the temple and cursed all the villagers to death.

After being reborn as a human, Beilan lost the memories of her previous life, but the hatred and killing intent towards Difu and the villagers had already merged into her bones.

At the same time, at the moment of her rebirth as a human, Amei’s curse took effect—Nameless Village needed a complete slaughterer. Beilan, who harbored hatred for the village, was naturally chosen by fate.

The innate red lotus was the power bred from the strongest curse. It would devour all the villagers of Nameless Village, including Beilan, or the person now known as Alayne.

……

Inside the inn, the sounds of killing suddenly rose.

These were the spirits from eight years ago in the time-space, rushing over again. Fortunately, those who have been lingering in the inn for years, indulging in eating and drinking, didn’t have strong attack power, and so far, the players hadn’t faced too much danger from them.

Bai Zhou, Hidden Blade, Yin Jiujiu, Yun Xiangrong split up to fight, while He Xiaowei monitored everyone’s health bars and called out to Zhou Qian. “Qian’er? Shall we retreat together?”

“Give me half a minute.”

After saying this to He Xiaowei, Zhou Qian stepped forward, grabbed Alayne from the ground, and looked into her eyes. “What’s your decision now? Do you regret it? Are you ready to give up, thinking you might somehow survive, or do you still intend to find Difu and fight her?”

Alayne didn’t hesitate and met Zhou Qian’s dark pupils, saying, “I’ve fought in the darkness for ten years to find a way back from the other realm to the human world. I won’t regret it—never! I will still kill Difu. Amei’s power is growing stronger, and I’m afraid she will continue to be exploited…”

Taking a breath, Alayne walked out. “She doesn’t need to know about this. She has always been looking for me. But under these circumstances… there’s no need to let her know I am Beilan.”

“Now, let’s go save your companions. Then we’ll find a way… to eliminate Difu!”

……

Elsewhere. Moments before.

Alayne’s mother woke up in the graveyard. For some reason, the surroundings were full of noise. After casually grabbing a villager to inquire, she learned that spies from the Land of Silence had come—two in total.

Alayne’s mother couldn’t remember why she fainted, but she vaguely remembered seeing those two people.

Before tonight, she had secretly taken her daughter to see a fortune teller in a distant city. The fortune teller, after seeing Alayne’s future, bled from the eyes and nose and said she would bring doom to Nameless Village and kill everyone.

The fortune teller suggested that to avert the tragedy, Alayne’s mother should kill her while she was still young; otherwise, once the calamity brewed, it would be too late to save her.

Thus, that night, during the handkerchief game, Alayne’s mother intended to kill Alayne in the graveyard discreetly and bury her.

But she knew she couldn’t go through with it. When faced with the dug pit, she couldn’t imagine actually placing her daughter inside.

She was about to abandon the plan when two strangers appeared.

She suspected they were from the Land of Silence and knew they had seen everything.

If they spread what they saw, whether the villagers would suspect her intention to kill her daughter was one thing, but if it led to further investigation into Alayne’s fate, resulting in her execution, everything would be over.

With this in mind, of course, Alayne’s mother had to act against those two “spies”.

However, what happened next, she now had no memory of.

She could only guess that she was injured during the confrontation and fainted.

Now, she couldn’t be bothered with that much. Her only concern was the most crucial matter—where had her daughter gone in her absence?

As she followed the noisy crowd toward the square, Alayne’s mother kept asking everyone if they had seen her daughter. By the time she approached the square, she finally eased her worries—her daughter was being carried over by the young village chief Ab, who said someone found her behind a haystack not far away. Her crying was loud, making it easy for everyone to find her.

In reality, Qi Liuxing took her daughter to use the infant’s cries to attract other villagers to deal with Ke Yuxiao. After successfully drawing the villagers’ attention, he hid her behind a haystack on his way past it.

Soon, Ke Yuxiao would come to kill him, and perhaps a fierce battle with the villagers would ensue. Before that, he hid the baby to prevent her from being trampled to death.

Even under the influence of the curse, the infant wouldn’t really die, but Qi Liuxing, in a desperate escape, still unhesitatingly did this.

Having almost been killed by her own mother, she had suffered enough. Despite Qi Liuxing’s young age, despite the betrayal by his most trusted friend, and despite the infant knowing nothing… he still wished she could feel more of the world’s kindness and tenderness.

Of course, Alayne’s mother didn’t know the full story.

But the fact that those two men took her daughter without killing her was right in front of her.

They not only didn’t kill her, but they likely took her because they thought she intended to kill her. They were trying to save her!

When Alayne’s mother reached the square with the crowd and saw the head lying next to the large iron pot, she thought she understood the whole truth—

Perhaps those two were indeed from the Land of Silence, but not all were spies.

Clearly, one of them killed the other. The one who was killed… might not have wanted to be a spy, hence his companion killed him.

Under these circumstances, the one who attempted to save her daughter and hid her behind the haystack before being beheaded, preventing her from becoming another soul under the sword of a Land of Silence soldier, could only be the person who now lay decapitated before her.

The head lay on the ground—the pale and thin face of the young man was smeared with blood and mud.

Due to its proximity to the fire under the iron pot, his hair even showed slight signs of being singed.

Village Chief Ab was discussing with others how to deal with the head.

“What’s the situation here?”

“No matter the situation, he’s a person from the Land of Silence. In my opinion, we should just throw his head into the fire, especially since Samhain is coming. Just use his head as a sacrifice!”

“No, I think that’s inappropriate. He was killed by his companion, which means there’s something fishy going on. Could he be carrying some information on him? Maybe he wanted to reveal something to us but was killed before he could succeed?”

“I think we should invite a powerful fortune teller tomorrow. His brain is still there; maybe the fortune teller could see something through spells and magic!”

“If he had relatives here, I could understand his actions. But he’s a complete stranger. Why would he leak information about the Land of Silence to us?”

……

Opinions among his subordinates weren’t unified. As Ab was pondering what to do, Alayne’s mother stepped forward and said to him, “We haven’t been at war with the Land of Silence recently. This kid looks young; he probably hasn’t spilled our people’s blood. The person is dead, so there’s no need to burn his head.”

“I just felt unwell and came out for a walk with Alayne when another slender person snatched Alayne away. Alayne is still alive now, so it seems this boy saved her, so…”

“Perhaps you can discuss it first. There’s no rush to decide. Before you make a decision, how about we keep him at my place? I have a lot of ice stored in my cellar, which can prevent his head from rotting.”

……

On Zhou Qian’s side. After the other players temporarily controlled the spirits, he confirmed Alayne’s decision—she would still kill Difu.

However, when the group decided to leave the Red God’s inn of this time-space, they found the inn’s main door seemed to be enveloped by a layer of mist, with individual spirits walking in from outside, but the players couldn’t exit.

Subsequently, everyone received a notice—

[Attention: The area ahead is an unknown region and cannot be explored.]

“What the hell?” He Xiaowei’s forehead dripped with sweat.

The energy from the outside area emitted a strong sense of horror and weirdness, making him instinctively feel something was wrong.

Glancing outside, Zhou Qian said, “It’s probably because Samhain in this time-space hasn’t officially arrived. The time-space prop should allow us to traverse freely, but currently, we only know how to use it to go eight years back or forward.”

“Additionally, I think, although we can return to eight years ago, there’s a certain margin of error when it comes down to the exact hour or minute. Just wait a bit longer, and we should all be able to get out.”

“The system says the area ahead cannot be explored because the outside is another realm, hell, not included in the map of this instance. We wait for Samhain to officially start, when this place can connect with the human world. Then we can go through this door to the human world.”

Zhou Qian was right.

Five minutes later, the thick fog outside the main door had indeed dissipated.

Stepping out of the door, they found themselves on a mountain, with Nameless Village lying at the foot of the mountain below.

Taking a few steps, Bai Zhou reached out to Zhou Qian. “Let me carry you. It’s faster.”

“Okay.” Zhou Qian nodded, grabbed Bai Zhou’s shoulders from behind, and was lifted onto his back.

As Bai Zhou was about to proceed, Alayne spoke again. “It’s not effective to search blindly like this. I now remember some things from my childhood. Sometimes, I felt my mother would kill me. She looked at me with conflicted and complex eyes. She was struggling. She probably knows something about me. So, she might understand why she could see ‘the future me’.”

“Let’s go to my house first. I’ll ask my mother if she has seen your companions.”

With Alayne willing to help, it couldn’t be better.

As she suggested, they first rushed to her room.

Bai Zhou, carrying Zhou Qian, and Alayne were the first to arrive.

Alayne entered first, briskly walked into her parents’ bedroom, simply knocked her father unconscious, and then covered her shocked mother’s mouth in one swift move. After briefly explaining who she was, Alayne didn’t say much else but asked her mother if she had seen any strangers.

With her mother’s eyes full of suspicion, she pointed towards the kitchen. Alayne then signaled Bai Zhou and Zhou Qian outside the window.

Outside, following the hint, the two men immediately headed to the kitchen and found the cellar, jumping down into it.

In the dimly lit cellar, a faint light illuminated the dust floating in the air.

Zhou Qian turned on a flashlight towards a small table and then saw Qi Liuxing’s head.

Qi Liuxing’s complexion was already turning blue. His eyes were closed, and the frown on his brow hadn’t relaxed.

Despite this, Zhou Qian, who had been keeping a heavy feeling in his chest, finally let out a sigh of relief.

He had prepared for the possibility that they might not find any part of Qi Liuxing’s body.

Even so, he would still confront Difu.

If necessary, after obtaining the golden feather, he would return to this time-space to continue the search, regardless of how low the chances might be of finding any remains.

Now, things had turned out much better than the worst-case scenario he had imagined—

Qi Liuxing’s head remained intact.

As long as they got the golden feather, there was still hope for resurrection.

Taking out a portable mini freezer from his pack and placing it on the table, Zhou Qian lifted Qi Liuxing’s head with both hands. Before placing the head into the freezer, Zhou Qian stretched out his thumb and firmly rubbed the young man’s tightly furrowed brow.

Then, with a light-hearted tone, he chuckled, “Still trying to be a deep, old soul after death? Didn’t you say you’d stop pretending in front of me?”

Exhaling softly, Zhou Qian then spoke more seriously. “Xiao Qi, I promise that I and everyone else will get the golden feather for you. My promises always count. I’ve never truly lied to you, right? And—”

His gaze suddenly became terrifyingly solemn, and with a hoarse voice, Zhou Qian solemnly said, “The hatred for being dismembered… after you’re resurrected, you can personally return it a hundredfold, a thousandfold! If you can’t bring yourself to do it, leave it to me. I’ll make sure Ke Yuxiao suffers beyond measure, wishing for death!!!”

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

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Chapter 134

Finally seeing Zhou Qian, He Xiaowei couldn’t help but immediately share his experiences with him.

Not long ago, he felt as if he had made eye contact with the blue pupils on the statue. When he closed and then reopened his eyes, he saw several players instantly disappear from their spots.

He counted carefully: Zhou Qian, Bai Zhou, Yun Xiangrong, and the “Sword Qi Xiao Heart” duo—a total of five people were gone, leaving only Hidden Blade and Yin Jiujiu by his side.

Just as He Xiaowei got to this part, Zhou Qian interrupted him. “Are you sure it was just the three of you?”

“Yes, for sure.” He Xiaowei didn’t understand why Zhou Qian would ask this question, showing a somewhat puzzled expression, then continued, “Oh, Hidden Blade and Yin Jiujiu were dealing with people from the other world inside the inn. They should be coming out soon. I came out first to scout which time and space we’ve come to and unexpectedly ran into you!”

It seemed that Qi Liuxing was in the same time and space as Ke Yuxiao.

Indeed, it was Ke Yuxiao…

With this thought, Zhou Qian frowned, and his expression became very serious. His appearance made He Xiaowei unavoidably nervous. After all, it was rare for Zhou Qian to show such an expression.

“Qian’er? What’s, what’s wrong?” He Xiaowei didn’t wait for an answer but looked towards Bai Zhou instead.

Bai Zhou didn’t answer immediately but shook his head at him.

Then Zhou Qian changed the subject. “It’s nothing. Continue.”

“Oh. After we noticed you all disappeared, the three of us quickly discussed and guessed that you had traveled through time. But the three of us didn’t travel; we were still in the original time and space because those villagers immediately revived and chased after us again. Then we ran up the mountain!”

“Let me interrupt again,” Zhou Qian said. “Are you sure you saw a blue light?”

“Yes! It was a blue light!” He Xiaowei asked, “So—?”

Zhou Qian then said, “We can make a conclusion now. The red light takes people ‘back’, the yellow light ‘forward’, but this so-called ‘future’ and ‘past’ are relative. The baseline for relative calculation is the blue light, which signifies ‘now’.”

Zhou Qian was now completely certain of the time rules corresponding to the three colors.

When the players first arrived at the instance, before staying at the Tartar Inn, that was the real, historical moment. At that time, the eyeballs on the statue facing west were red.

Later, under the invitation of the innkeeper transformed into Difu, they went to the second floor to choose rooms and found a prohibition during this period.

While they were choosing rooms, the statue outside the inn turned unknowingly. The red eyeballs looked in every direction, thus taking everyone back to the past—to the time when Alayne was eight years old.

When the players walked out of the inn, they had already returned to the past.

Under Difu’s guidance, they went to the square to participate in the handkerchief throwing game. At that time, the eyeballs of the statue facing the square turned blue, but in that situation, that paradoxically meant “now”.

The red eyes of the statue rotated once, taking everyone back to the past, followed by the appearance of blue eyes, which then fixed that segment of time as the present.

Next, if continued to be illuminated by “red” eyes, players would go even further into the past.

Thus, “relative time” was the real meaning of the three colors on the magical tool.

Thinking this, Zhou Qian asked He Xiaowei, “How did you get here then?”

“This!” He Xiaowei took out a silver artifact. “Found it in the inn.”

The silver artifact He Xiaowei took out was as big as a palm, with three skulls on it.

The base of the three skulls resembled a Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheel, engraved with a dense array of incantations. Twisting the base would rotate the skulls, and the color of the eyes would change accordingly.

“Actually, I still haven’t figured out exactly how to use it. I just tried it, and unexpectedly found you!” He Xiaowei slapped his forehead. “Hey, my luck is really good!”

Zhou Qian took the silver artifact to examine it, then asked him, “Okay, now you can tell me what you discovered about Beilan.”

……

After Zhou Qian and the others disappeared, the players illuminated by blue light remained in the current time and space.

Hidden Blade was the first to notice that the villagers were reviving one after another, perhaps soon finding their way here.

Relying on his sharp hearing to judge the speed of the villagers’ revival and the direction they were heading, Hidden Blade then led everyone to run up the mountain.

But the villagers weren’t easy to shake off; their special origins and training quickly allowed them to detect the players’ location and swiftly pursue.

Chased by the villagers, the three of them hid here and there, accidentally reaching a valley and then seeing a grave with “Beilan” inscribed on the tombstone.

Such a character, who lived only in the story and was hardly discussed or mentioned from start to finish, actually had a grave in the instance, with a tombstone to boot…

Moreover, he wasn’t buried with the other villagers of Nameless Village but was laid to rest on a mountain outside the village’s boundaries. This information was enough to form a very obvious hint.

The name “Beilan” inscribed on the tombstone seemed not just a name, but a glaring message: “Come dig me up!”

Having been playing this game till now, no one shied away from digging graves anymore. They immediately began to dig up the grave, only to find that there was no body underneath—just a ceremonial mound.

He Xiaowei deliberately left a cliffhanger at this point, asking Zhou Qian, “Guess what we saw after we dug up the dirt?”

Zhou Qian cooperated very well, asking him, “What did you see?”

“Underneath were buried a dress and hair accessories!”

He Xiaowei seemed quite good at telling stories. The tone of shock in his voice suddenly intensified, almost exaggeratingly saying, “Beilan was actually a girl!”

In all stories related to Amei, Beilan’s gender was never explicitly mentioned.

Everyone knew she had been a guard, had escorted Amei to her wedding, and had heard that Amei loved her, so they automatically assumed she was a male.

After hearing He Xiaowei’s narration, Zhou Qian glanced at Amei, only to see her already asleep under the constraint of the red lotus.

There were some questions Zhou Qian couldn’t directly ask Amei, but he had already guessed the general idea in his heart.

He Xiaowei then said, “Actually, when we reached the ceremonial mound, the villagers didn’t continue to come after us. We guessed that area was already Red God Amei’s territory, so they dared not come.”

“So, thinking along those lines… since the ceremonial mound was established by Amei, she obviously built it near her base. Indeed, after leaving the ceremonial mound, it didn’t take us long to find this inn.”

Previously, Bai Zhou had been to the Red Gods Inn, but he took a different route and didn’t discover the tombstone.

Entering the inn, he found that Difu was likely the golden bird.

But at that time, Red God Amei had already gone to Zhou Qian’s side, and he, concerned for Zhou Qian’s safety, didn’t have time to explore further and immediately returned.

Now, recalling the details he saw related to the golden bird statue, Bai Zhou asked He Xiaowei, “The golden bird stretched out one claw to the ground, with three fingers on it, one of which had dust around it that seemed off, showing slight signs of movement. So, the mechanism is on that?”

“Yes!” He Xiaowei looked at Bai Zhou and replied, “We moved that finger, and the golden bird’s wings opened, then it revealed another claw holding the prop in my hand!”

Zhou Qian asked him, “Did you use the prop in front of the golden bird?”

“Yes!” He Xiaowei said, “The golden bird seemed to light up for a moment…”

“This world has three-dimensional spaces… It seems that even if the powers of the Red God and the Goddess of Prayers are great, they cannot traverse freely but need a medium, or rather, a spatial connection point.”

“These two inns are the spatial mediums.”

“Also, our travels back and forth all happen on the day of Samhain, which must be some kind of agreement between Amei and Difu.”

When Zhou Qian said this, he took the lead towards the inn, asking Alayne beside him, “When did you feel that you are the embodiment of the gods killing intent?”

Alayne was silent for a while, then followed Zhou Qian’s steps.

“When I was very young, I had a fierce energy about me. My mother said I’ve been hostile and wary of the people around me since I was a child, and they all said I was a difficult child to get along with.

“When the red lotus appeared, the thoughts of killing in my mind became clearer. And when… when the red lotus fully bloomed… I could clearly understand my mission.”

“At that moment, a thought just appeared out of nowhere in my mind—I have to eliminate all the villagers and Difu.”

“In other words, it’s like you were born with a murderous urge towards the villagers and Difu. But this urge was sealed and suppressed at first. As you grew up, it gradually became clear and exploded?”

“In a sense.”

“Hmm, when the red lotus was in full bloom, that’s when the killing intent fully formed. But besides that—” Zhou Qian asked her, “Do you have any memories, like from a past life?”

Alayne frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You seem to be quite good to Amei. Why?” Zhou Qian asked her.

“Because we were betrayed by the same group of people. I thought we could understand each other,” Alayne said. “But now I realize I was wrong.”

Zhou Qian suddenly said, “But just like Amei said, if we look solely at your experiences in this life, your hatred seems a bit excessive.”

“What do you mean?” Alayne was puzzled.

Zhou Qian continued, “The moment the red lotus was in full bloom, you felt the killing intent transmitted by your brain. You thought it was the killing intent bestowed upon you by the gods. But what ‘gods’ does this refer to?

“Is there really a war in the realm of the gods? Is there really a god guiding you?”

“Or let me rephrase the question. Does Difu really have a lover, and her lover is a malicious god, and she is so love-struck that she concocted all these conspiracies and schemes to help the malicious god?”

Alayne’s tone suddenly became somewhat panicked. “What… What exactly are you saying?”

Zhou Qian simply said, “What I mean is, what you believe to be ‘divine will’ might just be the power of a curse.”

“The gods who you believe are conveying killing intent to you might not be the ones from the so-called god wars who want to eliminate Difu. It could actually be Difu herself.”

After saying this, Zhou Qian arrived at the inn’s entrance, just as Yun Xiangrong finally got there, and Hidden Blade and Yin Jiujiu were coming out of the inn, both bearing significant injuries.

After coming out, they quickly performed a unanimous action—moving the seven pots of meat soup farther away.

Zhou Qian immediately understood their intent. “Did you hear our conversation?”

“We did. We were dealing with ghosts just now and couldn’t come out in time.” Hidden Blade wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. “Luckily, the prop allows the inn to exist in different time dimensions at the same time, so the ghosts were dispersed, and we didn’t have too many to deal with.”

“Are those inside now trapped by you?” Zhou Qian asked.

“Yes. I used my secondary control skills to trap them for a minute. Once they break free, hopefully, these pots of meat soup can divert their attention, so they won’t attack us again.”

As Hidden Blade answered Zhou Qian, he and Yin Jiujiu had already moved all seven pots out.

“Just to be safe, everyone put on the ghost costumes that Difu brought earlier. Save as much mana as possible now.”

Zhou Qian turned and spoke loudly to everyone. After changing into a ghost mask and a long black robe himself, he threw a set to Alayne.

After a while, everyone was dressed up, and they walked in together. Indeed, all the otherworldly beings were frozen in place, temporarily unable to move.

As Zhou Qian fiddled with the prop trying to traverse time, some ghosts freed themselves first but didn’t attack the players dressed as ghosts; instead, they were drawn away by the meat soup. The rest still couldn’t break free.

Before Zhou Qian operated the prop to traverse time, he asked Alayne a question. “How old are you now?”

Alayne frowned and said, “16.”

“When we met you, you were 8, so the time difference for each color is exactly 8 years,” Zhou Qian said. “Qi Liuxing and the others returned to 8 years before that. Maybe that’s when you were just born.”

With this, Zhou Qian looked at the other players. “Let’s first go back 8 years to find Xiao Qi.”

Among those present, only Bai Zhou and Zhou Qian knew that something happened to Qi Liuxing.

Yun Xiangrong, although in the same time space, had been following them from a distance. The rest, such as He Xiaowei, came from another time space and had no idea about the condition of their teammate.

Zhou Qian, with a serious expression, didn’t explain further. After asking He Xiaowei how he had used the prop before and confirming its pattern was the same as the statue at the entrance of the village, he operated it, making one of its pupils turn red.

As the red pupil rotated around, everyone went back 8 years.

“It should work now. Let’s go.”

As Zhou Qian turned to leave, he saw Alayne suddenly kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down her eyes.

Just then, Zhou Qian received a message from the [Memory Eyeball].

The Temple of the Goddess of Prayers contained countless cursed tablets, with too much information for players to read and memorize quickly, so Zhou Qian used this item to help remember everything in the temple.

When Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou were watching Alayne massacre all the villagers, they used this item to search for information stored about the temple, with the keywords [Alayne] and [Amei].

Searching for words related to Amei was, of course, to further clarify her story and verify whether she truly cursed all the villagers as she claimed.

As for searching for Alayne, it was because Zhou Qian wanted to know if she had also gone to the temple to inscribe a cursed tablet. After all, being betrayed by the villagers and harboring hatred, it would be easy to attract the temple’s appearance.

The [Memory Eyeball]’s search function took some time, so Zhou Qian only now received its answer, which contained no curses related to Alayne, but quite a few about Amei.

The content of Amei’s curses matched the information obtained by the players through their investigations—she cursed herself to become a Red God, cursed Nameless Village to live in her shadow with many dying every year, cursed the villagers to betray each other for a chance to live…

The last was about the curse related to the death of all villagers.

Regarding Amei’s ultimate curse, Zhou Qian and the others previously learned about it through eavesdropping, but at that time, they didn’t know the specific content of the curse until now—

“I originally thought to spare them. Watching the play of betrayal year after year, I’ve actually had enough. But now I’ve found that I can’t even find Beilan’s soul. She has never visited my inn. Why? Is she hiding from me?”

“I thought becoming a Red God would at least let me wait for her… but things turned out contrary to my wishes. My separation from Beilan in life, in death, and even not meeting after death… It’s all their doing.”

“I curse them all to die!”

“I want to use all my power to curse them! For this, I’m willing to give up everything! I have nothing left to cherish… Goddess Difu, take whatever you want.”

Putting away the [Memory Eyeball], Zhou Qian looked again at Alayne, who was in tears. In the moment the prop was activated, the overlap of multiple timelines must have brought all past events to her heart, causing her to show such an expression.

Zhou Qian couldn’t help wanting to test her current attitude.

After all, if she decided not to kill Difu anymore, then the difficulty for Zhou Qian to obtain the golden feather would further increase.

Thus, Zhou Qian asked, “Have you remembered everything? You’re 16 now. If we calculate based on the timeline you’re in, Amei’s visit to the Temple of the Goddess of Prayers to curse, happened exactly 16 years ago. Which means—”

“Right after she inscribed the cursed tablet in the Temple of the Goddess of Prayers that would lead to the death of the entire village, you were born.”

“Alayne, you are not the incarnation of divine killing intent descended into the human world. You are Amei’s killing intent.”

“You were born from Amei’s curse. But at the same time, I think… you are also the reincarnation of Beilan. Thus, by some twist of fate, Amei’s killing intent also included you.”

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 133

In this time and space, the time had reached 1:10 in the morning.

Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou stopped 300 meters away from the Red God Inn because the Red Gods, Amei and Alayne, stopped and turned their heads to look at them.

Perhaps the inn and a certain power of the Red Gods were closely related, so that when they were near the inn, the Red Gods could sense their presence.

When their gazes met Zhou and Bai, both Amei and Alayne showed murderous intent.

Before they could act, Zhou Qian spoke while stepping down from Bai Zhou’s back. Looking at the two ladies, he said, “You should be chasing after Difu. You should be able to feel her power, right?”

Alayne extended her hand, and the lotus in her palm gathered and dispersed, but soon it gathered again, about to strike Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou.

Bai Zhou quickly drew his Tang sword, but Zhou Qian pressed down on his wrist and looked at Alayne again.

As the red lotus was about to burst into bloom in mid-air, Zhou Qian timely asked, “Has Difu’s power increased?”

Indeed, Alayne countered, “How do you know?”

“You really don’t remember me. I snatched your handkerchief when you were eight,” Zhou Qian said.

“Handkerchief? Are you talking about the one used for Samhain…” Alayne’s gaze was quite cold. “No, I have never seen you before.”

“That’s because, under the curse of Difu’s power, you remember nothing. Or should I put it another way—” Zhou Qian looked at Amei. “Actually, it’s your curse. You once cursed that everyone in the village would die. Now, Alayne has killed everyone, and it seems that everything has come true. But in fact, one person is still alive.”

His gaze then shifted back to Alayne. Zhou Qian said with a smile, “You haven’t died yet.”

Hearing this, Alayne’s expression became more serious, and her complexion was slightly pale. Zhou Qian smiled and said, “Time has actually gone much farther than you think. The fate of Nameless Village and yours has been predetermined, and everything that should happen has already happened. The ‘you’ now is actually still living in the ‘past’ you. You can’t know your ‘future’ fate.”

“Although you are the killing intent sent by the gods to the human world, essentially, you are the same as us, all human. Even if we have great power, we cannot transcend time.”

Changing the topic, Zhou Qian continued, “But Amei and Difu are different. Heaven, the human world, and hell make up the three dimensions of this world. We are in the human world, so we can’t escape the time of the human world.”

“But Amei and Difu aren’t mortals; they can stand outside of time to watch us and move freely within our time.”

“That’s why you want to use Amei and her inn to find Difu’s whereabouts. Without the Red God Inn, a medium that transcends worlds and time, you would have no idea where Difu is.”

Many gamblers in the hall seemed not to understand Zhou Qian’s words at this point.

[Wait, after checking my notes… After the handkerchief tossing game, 137 went to keep watch, while Zhou Qian and the others returned to the second floor of the inn to stay. Then Red God Amei went to find Difu, saying she wanted to curse everyone in the village to die. She specifically mentioned that she was different from the Red Gods. She couldn’t stand outside of time!]

[Right, then Amei can’t traverse time! Since she went to the inn to find Difu to curse everyone in the village to death, how could she be from the future and know they all died?]

[But what Qian Ge said also makes sense. Have you guys noticed that there haven’t been many ghosts along the way? Could they have gone to a different time and space?]

[I’ve been wanting to say, this village isn’t very big, but theoretically, there should be many people from other worlds. It turns out they went to Nameless Village in different times and spaces, so they’re dispersed and can’t meet…]

[Hey, actually, there’s no need to analyze this. Amei herself has already admitted to Alayne that her inn can indeed track Difu. So, just like Qian Ge analyzed before, the Red God Inn also exists in multiple time-space dimensions, and Amei, like Difu, can freely traverse time and space!]

[So what exactly happened that night at the inn? Amei’s words and her abilities contradict each other! She clearly said she couldn’t stand outside of time. This means she stayed in the time space where Ab and others were still alive, so she cursed them all to die…]

[I got it! There are two possibilities—]

[First, the conversation between Amei and Difu that night didn’t happen in real-time in the inn’s hall!]

[Amei must have gone to the inn to find Difu before, to talk about cursing the whole village.]

[The conversation we and Qian Ge heard might just be because Difu “played” back a conversation she had with Amei at some point in the past through the statue’s eyes, specifically for the players to “hear”!]

[As for Difu’s purpose, of course, it was to make the players doubt Nameless Village, then hate the villagers, and even lie to find out everything. These are the negative factors Difu needed.]

[Do you remember, Hidden Blade Boss said Difu’s attitude towards players was “chaotic”. She had no murderous intent towards them. Now I understand. She indeed had no direct murderous intent at that time. After all, living people can provide negative emotions for her to feed on!]

[Wait, let me interrupt. Your answer has a bug. At that time, Amei was already speaking in an incomprehensible language, indicating she had become a Red God. If she is a Red God, not belonging to the human world, and can transcend time, why would she say she can’t stand outside of time?]

[That leaves only the second possibility—Amei was lying.]

[Damn, I also realized, there’s only one answer that explains everything that night—Amei said that deliberately. She was misleading the players!]

[Isn’t it? How could two such powerful gods, able to exist beyond human dimensions, not know the players were ‘eavesdropping’? Amei did it on purpose!]

[Shit, holy shit, so Amei has always been Difu’s person?!]

In the game.

Looking at Zhou Qian, Alayne said, “I of course know they can traverse time and space. But what about you? If you are also a mortal and cannot ‘transcend time’, how did you travel from what you call ‘my future’ to ‘my present’?”

Zhou Qian said, “You already understand Difu well. You know she has a magical tool, right? It’s the statue at the village entrance. We were brought here from your ‘future’ to this moment by her using that magical tool. I know her power has increased because the ‘betrayal’ she anticipated happened.”

“Difu brought us back to the past of Nameless Village using the magical tool, to let us feel the betrayal of the villagers and then generate hatred and slaughter, so that she can absorb power from it.”

“Now she has sent our companions to different times and spaces, aiming to further provoke our mutual betrayal. As far as I know, my companions died because of her design. So, we should cooperate.”

At this point, Zhou Qian’s eyes glinted in the night, as if he was making an irresistible proposition.

His expression wasn’t that of someone seeking to survive from a powerful person, nor was it negotiating; rather, he was making a demand.

“Alayne, if my companions continue to betray each other, Difu will become stronger. Consequently, your chances of winning will decrease. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is help me find out where my companions are in the vastness of time and space.”

“In return, we will help you. We can not only help you deal with Difu but also help you steal the ‘Key to Freedom’. After all, we are deserters from the Land of Silence. We know it very well. As for Amei…”

“Amei can’t be trusted…” Zhou Qian hadn’t finished speaking when a sudden change occurred—

Countless red and white ghostly auras rapidly gathered together, aiming not at Zhou Qian and Bai Zhou, but striking at Alayne’s back!

By the time Alayne reacted and turned her head, it was already too late. But fortunately, a flash of sword light zipped past her spine even faster, acting like an indestructible wall, pushing all the ghostly auras away.

Alayne was half a step slow, not because she lacked power, but because she truly did not want to believe that Amei would make such a move!

Amei stood on Difu’s side. For this, even though Zhou Qian had hinted at it, knowing rationally was one thing, but actually seeing it was another.

Alayne incredulously looked at Amei. “You…”

Responding to her was Zhou Qian’s ruthless words. “She has been cooperating with Difu for many years—even her inn enshrines Difu’s idol.”

“Do you really think she would believe you with just a few words?”

“She probably wants to find an opportunity to deal with you later, or simply throw you into the vortex of time, trapping you forever. Unfortunately, I’ve told you the truth ahead of time, so she had to take action. Anyway, she won’t help you steal the key. You can only rely on us now.”

Alayne didn’t pay attention to Zhou Qian, just continued to look at Amei. “You…”

“I have enough reason to hate the villagers. But you don’t. At least you shouldn’t hate to the extent of slaughtering the village. You say you are the killing intent sent by the gods—I believe this. Now you can kill the villagers in the name of the gods, and in the future, you can also kill me and the spirits living in my inn in the name of the gods.”

Amei said. “So I have a need to cooperate with Difu.”

Seeing a subtle expression emerge on Alayne’s face, Amei continued, “Additionally, regarding everything you said, I don’t agree. Regarding what I’ve experienced, maybe Difu is a disaster, or perhaps she played a role in exacerbating the situation, but in fact, the real betrayal and hatred come from my home and country.”

“Difu came to the human world with evil intentions, perhaps similar in nature to earthquakes, tsunamis, and diseases. But as a god, she’s too powerful. She doesn’t need to betray me. If she can’t absorb power through me, she would simply find the next person. She doesn’t need to betray me.”

“Those who would betray me are always humans.”

Alayne was almost startled by these words. “What about you? Aren’t your current actions a betrayal of me?”

Amei was silent for a while before saying, “No. You and I were never on the same side. Maybe I was human once. But now, I am a Red God from another realm. I will forever hate humans, including you. Even if you were born with inhuman power.”

After saying this, Amei turned around and walked towards the inn. Her speed was very fast, but the red lotus was faster.

Red, silk-like petals quickly wrapped around her wrists, ankles, and neck.

But that was all.

The petals didn’t twist her head off like they did with the villagers. The flower just took root, trapping Amei in place.

Afterward, Alayne finally looked at Zhou Qian, yet didn’t speak, as if still weighing something.

Zhou Qian said, “Lies and betrayal will increase Difu’s power. If Amei betrayed you, you could feel Difu’s power increasing, right? But at this moment, my words haven’t increased her power. So, you know I’m not lying.”

Alayne didn’t respond, but her complexion turned even paler.

Good. It seemed that in these few seconds, no one else nearby had lied, so Difu’s power had indeed not increased, allowing him to fully convince Alayne.

With this thought, Zhou Qian fixed his eyes on Alayne’s and continued, “Whether it’s the Tartar Inn opened by Difu at the village entrance or the Red God Inn that connects two worlds, they both hide the secrets of time and space. They are the link points of the three dimensions in this world.”

“You should now fully believe me. Once we enter the Red God Inn, perhaps with the effect of all dimensions being interconnected and various times and spaces linked, you will remember everything—

“You will remember that I once stole your handkerchief, that my companions had kept watch for you.”

“You might also remember your future.”

At this point, Zhou Qian paused, and his eyes gave a meaningful look before he continued, “For example, in your future, like the other villagers, you also died.”

Just at this moment, from the direction of the inn with the bright red sign, suddenly came a familiar voice.

This even surprised Zhou Qian—

Looking towards the voice, he immediately saw He Xiaowei running towards him.

“Qian’er! Is it really you?! This isn’t an illusion, right?!”

“I have a big discovery to tell you!”

“Remember Beilan? There’s a problem with his identity! A big problem! Totally unexpected!”

---

The author has something to say:

To prevent everyone from forgetting, Beilan is Amei’s childhood sweetheart. They were forcibly separated.

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 132

The long-term instances had sharpened Qi Liuxing’s senses to a fine edge. At this moment, he could feel a killing intent from behind him that was far more intense than that of the woman before, by more than a thousandfold.

Ke Yuxiao was truly determined to kill him!

When he turned around to look at him, Qi Liuxing’s movements were somewhat stiff, and at the same time, his eyes were red, as if he couldn’t believe that all of this was really happening.

The next instant, he saw Ke Yuxiao picking up the flute that both of them were extremely familiar with.

Now, the bamboo flute’s outer shell was rapidly shedding, revealing a thin, long sword.

At the same time, Qi Liuxing saw that Ke Yuxiao’s health points suddenly increased more than tenfold.

Qi Liuxing was utterly astonished. “You, you’re a Rank God player too? But how could you enter before reaching S rank…”

Because split personality is my special ability. Each of my personalities can exist independently and start the game as a new player.

All personalities will obey my commands. I decide whether they live or die.

I am the master of this body and soul. The other personalities are my pawns and chess pieces.

But Ke Yuxiao didn’t reveal the truth to Qi Liuxing. He simply said, “It’s because of a special item.”

“Are you also a member of the Peach Blossom Legion?” Qi Liuxing asked him.

Ke Yuxiao replied, “Let me tell you a secret. Actually, Blue Harbor City was built by Shao Chuan, and many of the NPC citizens there were once players like you. This is one of Shao Chuan’s foolish plans. He said—they failed in their quest for immortality, but there’s still a way to exist in another form.”

“Blue Harbor City will collapse along with Shao Chuan’s wishes. As for you… rather than letting you witness such a cruel scene, it’s better for you to die by my hand now. Consider it my benevolence. You’ve seen, with my ability, I could kill you at any moment.”

“Why wait until now to act?” Qi Liuxing gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, staring coldly at Ke Yuxiao, still appearing calm. But only he knew that his arms were trembling slightly, and his palms were soaked with cold sweat.

“It’s not because you’re afraid Zhou Qian would find out, right? If it’s just the two of us in the instance, killing me would make you too suspicious.”

“But now he can’t confirm whether we are in the same space-time. So you—”

Ke Yuxiao sighed again. “Xiao Qi, you’re still too naive. You’re indeed a decent swordsman now. But when I first met you, you were quite mediocre. Why did I approach you so early?”

“So, of course, it’s not just about killing you. My and the Peach Blossom Legion’s goals have always been focused on Zhou Qian.”

“If you hadn’t met him, maybe you could have lived much longer. Unfortunately, look… being mediocre from the start has its advantages. You wouldn’t attract my killing intent too early like Zhou Qian did.”

Qi Liuxing’s gaze suddenly became sharp. “You’re killing me to get to Zhou Qian? What is your real plan?”

Hearing this, Ke Yuxiao narrowed his eyes, and his look towards Qi Liuxing suddenly filled with incredulity.

After a while, probably finding the situation in front of him too ludicrous, he almost couldn’t help but chuckle. “Your hands are shaking, but I can see it’s not out of fear. You just can’t believe I would deceive you. You’re reacting with disappointment and anger, right?”

“Look at you. You’re about to die, yet you don’t feel tense or afraid. But why, when I mention Zhou Qian, do you become tense and murderous?”

“Qi Liuxing, I can deceive you. Zhou Qian can also deceive you. Even your death now is because of him. Don’t you—”

At this point, Ke Yuxiao suddenly became somewhat frustrated, his voice dropping several octaves as he asked with emphasis, “Shouldn’t you hate him?!”

“It’s different.” Qi Liuxing suddenly said, “Zhou Qian and people like you are completely different.”

“Hasn’t he ever lied to you?” Ke Yuxiao asked.

Qi Liuxing replied, “He has tricked me, and he’s good at scheming. He’s not a perfectly good person. He may have many faults. But he’s not malicious! He wouldn’t deceive me in such a way. He wouldn’t want my life!”

“Oh. Then, when you see him in hell, you can pledge your loyalty to him all you want. The time has come. The arrangements, link by link, have reached their final critical stage. Zhou Qian can’t escape anymore.”

With those words, Ke Yuxiao launched an attack without any mercy, his short sword swiftly striking towards Qi Liuxing’s face!

At the critical moment, Qi Liuxing lifted his cloak, and the S-grade defensive cloak immediately absorbed 70% of the damage, causing the short sword to bounce off.

Despite the cloak’s protection, Qi Liuxing couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

After a series of chaotic battles, his health had plummeted to 19%!

Qi Liuxing threw a flashbang, and the brilliant lights momentarily illuminated the graveyard.

Using the smoke to obscure Ke Yuxiao’s vision for that moment, Qi Liuxing scooped up the unconscious baby and ran off.

On the run, Qi Liuxing didn’t care for anything else. He pinched the baby’s arm hard as he headed towards the square.

The baby woke up crying in pain immediately.

Qi Liuxing was filled with sorrow and rage. He intended to shout to attract attention, but when he opened his mouth, he realized he could no longer make a sound.

Fortunately, the baby’s crying was loud enough to draw people from the direction of the square.

Seeing this, Qi Liuxing quickened his pace. But suddenly, a very strange wind surrounded him. It was probably Ke Yuxiao using some kind of item or skill that drastically reduced his movement speed.

Thus, before he could reach the crowd with the baby, three short swords struck Qi Liuxing’s back, stabbing into his neck, spine, and heart with irreversible momentum.

Qi Liuxing had no chance of survival.

His health dropped to 1%, and as his body issued a red warning, he received that system-generated ad for an upscale tombstone, which made him want to cry without tears.

In his dying moments, Qi Liuxing thought of the scene in reality where he accompanied Zhou Qian to buy a tombstone.

“I want the most expensive and best one you have!” Zhou Qian had said.

Qi Liuxing had asked him later, “Really, when a person is dead, what’s the point of all these ceremonies? If your high school classmate really died, could he see these tombstones? Would he actually rest in peace?”

Zhou Qian looked at Qi Liuxing and said, “Xiao Qi, let me tell you something. There are many things in this world that we can’t grasp, like time or feelings. So, if there’s something we can buy with money, we shouldn’t hesitate to spend.”

Qi Liuxing was skeptical. “Your words sound quite like ‘why not eat meat paste.’ You don’t understand frugality because you’ve never been poor. You’re just talking without understanding the pain.”

Zhou Qian seriously replied, “I’ve been poor. My family went bankrupt!”

Qi Liuxing shook his head. “A starving camel is still bigger than a horse*.”

*Idiom referring to when something is in decline, it’s still better than something that is just starting out. || In this case, Zhou Qian going through bankruptcy is still better than someone who was poor from the start.

“You’re too young to understand what I mean,” Zhou Qian said. “I’m not telling you to waste money recklessly, nor am I advocating for spending beyond one’s means. I’m just saying that when you can afford it, there’s no need to be stingy. Money is a good thing. Spending money is the easiest thing to do in this world, so why not enjoy it?

“But money is also the most useless thing. Can I use money to buy back Bai Zhou’s life? No.”

“So, what’s the use of money?”

Qi Liuxing remembered giving Zhou Qian a huge eye roll at the time and saying, “If you posted this online, you’d definitely get tens of thousands of hate comments.”

Even at the end of his life, Qi Liuxing still couldn’t understand Zhou Qian’s values.

Even in the last phase of his life, he didn’t splurge, opting for the simplest tombstone given by the system.

Afterwards, he used the system’s legacy gift function to leave all his money and items to Zhou Qian with a note: [Ke is with the Peach Blossom Legion. Be careful. Their target is you. Visit my parents when you can. Thanks. And my brother… I still believe he exists. Spend the gold coins I gave you wisely.]

That was all Qi Liuxing managed to type out. Before his consciousness completely faded, he vaguely sensed Ke Yuxiao approaching.

“In this space-time, the villagers don’t know our identity and might think we’re spies sent by the Land of Silence. By drawing them here, did you hope to die together with me?”

“Pity, Xiao Qi. I can’t die now, and I won’t take them seriously. As for you—”

What followed was the sound of a dagger being drawn. Ke Yuxiao’s merciless words echoed in the wilderness, but Qi Liuxing could no longer hear them.

Ke Yuxiao said, “I guess Zhou Qian will use the [Tick Tock Clock] to save you. But to use it to save someone, the person’s body needs to be intact. Actually, I’m not a sadist, I’m not heartless, nor do I have a taste for cruelty. Unfortunately…”

Not far away, the villagers had already arrived. Lifting Qi Liuxing’s body, Ke Yuxiao, with his extremely fast movement technique, played hit-and-run among the tombstones with the villagers. His speed was something neither Zhou Qian nor Qi Liuxing had ever seen before. At this moment, Qi Liuxing was carried by Ke Yuxiao but could no longer sense anything.

Unexpectedly, behind a row of tombstones, Ke Yuxiao encountered two villagers.

He swept past them like a gust of wind, and by the time he left, both men lay on the ground with long, thin cuts on their necks. Silently taking down these two, Ke Yuxiao looked around and quickly fled towards the square.

In this space-time, the game of throwing the handkerchief before the eve of Samhain had just begun not long ago.

The incident in the graveyard interrupted everything, and the villagers temporarily left to chase after someone. Therefore, when Ke Yuxiao arrived at the square, there was no one there but just large pots of meat stewing, intended to feed dogs.

Ke Yuxiao quickly took out a sharp machete, dismembered Qi Liuxing’s limbs, and threw them into the large pot, leaving behind a bloodied head with eyes closed.

Glancing at the head indifferently, Ke Yuxiao was about to throw it into the pot when his hand uncontrollably shook and then moved away from the direction of the pot. Finally, his fingers uncontrollably loosened, and the head fell to the ground.

“You can actually come back to life?”

Ke Yuxiao muttered to himself, his features suddenly contorting as if he was fighting for control with someone.

Then, his grim expression faded, his features softened, and his tone changed significantly. His eyes showed another kind of hatred and murderous intent. Speaking with a hoarse voice trembling with extreme fear, he said, “Don’t you dare touch him again. Get lost!”

“It’s you who should fucking get lost! You should have disappeared a long time ago!” Suddenly, Ke Yuxiao’s originally gentle features became twisted again as the dominant personality regained control.

He quickly took out something resembling a silver needle from his bag and stabbed it into his own head, then coldly said, “Hiss, I didn’t manage to kill you last time… Why don’t you just hide like my other personalities?”

“You’re just a pawn. How dare you even dream of killing your master? How dare you think you could be a hero? Ha—”

Ke Yuxiao laughed. “He doesn’t even know you exist. How does it feel, ridiculous? Alright, now I’ll completely kill you. No need to thank me.”

After that, Ke Yuxiao’s expression never changed again, as if the gentle personality that Qi Liuxing knew had never existed.

Twisting his neck as if shaking off a persistent soul, Ke Yuxiao then crouched down, preparing to pick up Qi Liuxing’s head to throw it into the pot. But by then, he was already sensing the immense killing intent coming from behind him.

“Hey, who are you?!”

“My God, what’s with the head on the ground?!”

“I just found two bodies on the ground. It was him!”

“Let me cast a spell to check… He’s indeed not right. He has the aura of someone from the Land of Silence!”

“Catch him. Catch him! He must be a spy. We can’t let him escape!”

Amidst such chaos, Ke Yuxiao swiftly fled.

He didn’t engage in a prolonged fight for a simple reason: he might have to face the big boss later, as well as Hidden Blade and the formidable Bai Zhou. He needed to conserve his mana.

The mission was already complete; there was no need to confront those people head-on. He had to save his skill points and escape.

……

Elsewhere.

Zhou Qian, carried on Bai Zhou’s back, was able to follow Alayne and Amei to the Red God’s inn unnoticed, thanks to Bai Zhou’s Divine Breath Technique.

Midway, Zhou Qian received a notification alert and looked at his system panel, only to see a large sum of gold coins and items transferred to him. He immediately realized something had happened, and then he saw Qi Liuxing’s note.

Zhou Qian’s expression seemed unchanged at first glance. But Bai Zhou, carrying him, immediately felt his body stiffen. “What’s wrong, Zhou Qian?”

After a moment of silence, Zhou Qian said, “Zhou Ge, we need to change our strategy.”

“What do you want to do?” Bai Zhou didn’t even ask why.

“We might need to confront Goddess Difu head-on,” Zhou Qian said. “I want to force her to show herself and take a golden feather from her.”

Outside the game, in the virtual lobby, the gamblers hearing Zhou Qian’s plan were baffled and expressed their confusion and concerns.

[What does that mean? Damn, Difu is a goddess in this instance, with unimaginable power. Why would Qian Ge…?]

[I’m wondering the same thing. According to the storyline and game design, players aren’t supposed to fight NPCs of such level! Alayne and Amei will team up to kill Difu, so Zhou Qian and his team just need to assist at key moments to clear the instance!]

[Wait, look at Qian Ge’s system. He received so much money… Who died?]

[The Sword God, the Sword God Brother died! I have a friend who bets on him. I just got the news, he… Damn Ke Yuxiao, that son of a bitch! (The system has automatically blocked discordant terms)]

[I get it now. The “golden feather” has the power to heal anything. Zhou Qian must want it to heal the Sword God Brother.]

[But if the person is already dead, what’s there to heal?]

[Did you forget? The brother gave Zhou Qian the [Tick Tock Clock].]

[But the [Tick Tock Clock] has a condition for use—the body must be intact! Ke Yuxiao knows he has the [Tick Tock Clock], so to prevent revival, he would definitely destroy the body completely!]

[You’re not getting it. That’s exactly why Zhou Qian wants the “golden feather”. It can heal anything. I guess… even if the brother is missing limbs, it could heal him.]

[But if I were Ke Yuxiao, I’d completely destroy the body. There are fires everywhere for Samhain, and the fire from the bone pyre could be used to burn bones. By the time Zhou Qian gets the golden feather and finds the brother’s body in the vastness of space-time… there might not even be ashes left! In such a case, without any trace of the person left, the golden feather might be powerless, right?!]

[Indeed, Qian Ge wouldn’t have overlooked this. His actions are basically futile!]

[Ah, this really isn’t a rational choice!]

[This is too hard. My heart’s racing…]

[Ever since I started betting on Qian Ge, I’ve aged a lot… he’s going to scare me to death.]

Inside the game, on a desolate mountain.

Because Bai Zhou was moving so fast, Zhou Qian, lying on his back, could feel the autumn wind cutting through his skin like a knife. In the darkness of the night, Zhou Qian’s pupils were bottomless.

Facing the wind, he asked Bai Zhou, “What I’m about to do is a huge gamble, with maybe only a one in a thousand chance of success. Are you in?”

He then heard Bai Zhou’s voice, “You just need to tell me the plan.”

---

The author has something to say:

Taking a moment to lighten things up.

When Qianqian meets Epoh: I’m going to pluck his hair.

When Qianqian meets Difu: I want to pluck her feathers.

The gods: ???

---

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

Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

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

---

Chapter 131

At this moment, in the space-time where Zhou Qian was.

Atop a square, red lotuses bloomed fiercely with strong hatred, covering the sky and the ground in blood in an instant.

When the flowers bloomed at their most splendid, their petals resembled a vast piece of red silk, except this silk was alive. As it fluttered, it swept heads into its fold. The silky and beautiful petals suddenly turned into the most terrifying blades, slicing through skulls so precisely and ruthlessly that hardly a sound was made.

In just a moment, only headless corpses remained beneath the square.

In the night, hundreds of headless corpses didn’t fall but instead all kneeled on the ground, as if repenting their sins.

Adding to the eeriness was a pyre of bones burning in the center of the square after the lotus disappeared.

It seemed that this night still belonged to Samhain, only in another year. The flames cast a ghostly blue light on the headless corpses, making them appear more terrifying than specters from another world.

After a while, a red shadow drifted from another direction. It was Amei.

When Amei arrived at the square, Alayne was swiftly decapitating the villagers and drinking their blood. Seeing Amei, Alayne casually picked up a head, slapped its crown off, and handed it to Amei as if offering a delicious dessert.

“Only by consuming the brains and blood of our enemies can our hatred be completely eradicated,” Alayne says expressionlessly.

Amei was somewhat stunned.

After a while, although she took the head, she didn’t actually consume the brain inside.

She just looked at Alayne and said, “With their death… I suddenly don’t know what the purpose of my life is anymore. What about you?”

Alayne simply said, “I have only just understood the meaning of my existence. I live to kill, to use evil to control evil.”

“Do you want to kill me?” Amei asked.

“No. You’re not the evil I seek to punish,” Alayne replied. “The one I want to kill is Difu. In fact, she is your enemy as well.”

Amei sighed and didn’t speak.

Alayne looked at her and said, “Abu is abhorrent, and the kings of two nations are certainly despicable, lacking in responsibility, always ready to push women forward when trouble arises, when someone needs to take the blame. But sometimes… it’s women who harm other women. Those who harm their kind are even more despicable and foolish.”

“You mean… Difu?” Amei asked.

“Yes, Difu!” Alayne said. “You don’t know her true story, do you? Let me tell you—”

“The God of Imprisonment, Vels, liked Difu and, fearing she would disappear into space-time, used a chain called the ‘Shackles of Eternity’ to bind her, forbidding her from traversing through space-time. Why did Vels do this? Because he knew Difu traversed space-time to commit evil.”

“When Difu absorbed malice in the human realm, she was limited to a certain geographical area. For example, if she stayed in the capital of the Kingdom of Words for a period, she could only absorb malice from that place. If she felt the malice there was insufficient for her consumption, she would return to the past and go to the capital of the Land of Silence to absorb malice during the same period. In this way, Difu managed to absorb malice from two regions separated by thousands of miles at the same time, effectively saving time to absorb as much malice as possible.”

“Even so, she wasn’t satisfied. To consume more evil, she would deliberately create misunderstandings, leading people to betray each other. For instance—”

“She seduced the king of the Kingdom of Words, causing him to be cursed by the queen, then she gave a feather capable of healing all pains to the king of the Land of Silence. It was she who originated your tragedy.”

“She absorbed so much evil… to become stronger?” During the conversation with Alayne, Amei’s tone fluctuates between anger and despair over the complete annihilation of the villagers.

Now, she curiously asked, “As an incarnation of evil thoughts, a god who cannot die or be destroyed, why does she need… such strong power?”

“For a man,” Alayne said. “A great war in the realm of gods is coming. Everything Difu has done was to gather strength for the man she loves.”

“Vels couldn’t stand by and watch her walk a path of no return, so he locked her up. But the king of the Land of Silence used the ‘Key to Freedom’ to unlock Difu, and now she has started to commit evils again.”

“So, Amei… please join me in seeking revenge. You need to go to the king of the Land of Silence and get that key. Only by re-imprisoning Difu within a single space-time can we have a chance to weaken her and truly kill her. She is a foolish woman, harming us to please a man. We must kill her!”

After a long silence, Amei asked, “How do you know so much about the gods?”

Alayne responded with a calm tone, “Because I was sent to the human realm by the gods. The man Difu loves is named Miwa, a malevolent god. If he wins the divine war, everything will perish. He must not receive any more power from Difu.”

“The gods dispatched the strongest intent to kill to the human realm, specifically to eliminate Difu.”

“This intent to kill refers to me. I am the murderous intent born from the gods, and also the knife they sent to the human realm. You asked me what the purpose of my life is. Now I tell you—my only purpose is to slaughter!”

……

Far away, on a hillside, Bai Zhou listened to all that Alayne said. Whether it was a coincidence or not, her words bore a striking resemblance to what he once heard from Shao Chuan.

“Bai Zhou, you are the knife chosen by the heavens.”

“You may call this trial by any name—ascension, cultivation, enlightenment, transcendence… all are applicable. The legends about ascension aren’t entirely fabricated.”

“This world has gods. Invisible yet omnipresent, they can hear our calls and can summon us.”

“This is a game left behind by the gods. They have chosen you to be their knife, and slaughter is the mission bestowed upon you by the heavens. Our battle has just begun.”

The young Bai Zhou looked at his shattered body, at what barely qualified as his abdomen, and noticed a bloodied scale growing out. The scale was half embedded in his flesh and blood, half exposed.

He asked Shao Chuan, “Will I become a god, or will I turn into a monster?”

Shao Chuan replied, “That’s not called a monster. People are just used to calling anything that doesn’t look like them a ‘monster’. But in fact, many of the so-called ‘monsters’ seen by ancient people were actually gods.”

“Was the corpse I saw yesterday a god’s corpse?” Bai Zhou asked.

“Yes,” Shao Chuan answered. “He should be the last god existing in the human world. His name is Shi Hu. He went to hell seeking death.”

“Did you steal his body?” Bai Zhou asked.

“Studying the ‘god’s’ genes is just to make the god-making project smoother,” Shao Chuan said. “The disappearance of the ancient gods happened very uniformly; perhaps they were disappointed in humanity and left this planet at the same time to go to another universe. Apart from Shi Hu, what the gods left us is only this game.”

“So, Shao Chuan—” Bai Zhou looked at him expressionlessly and asked, “Did the game choose me, or did you choose me?”

After a long pause, Shao Chuan simply said, “The heavens chose you. Your talent is not something I gave you. Not everyone’s transformation can be as successful as yours.”

“Now, you have no choice but to follow this path. There are always people in this world you want to protect, right?”

“Sometimes, the way we choose to protect is just a bit more difficult than it is for ordinary people.”

Bai Zhou said, “It sounds like you’re encouraging me to be a ‘hero’.”

“You overestimate me. I really don’t have such great abilities. I’m just a mere mortal…” Shao Chuan said with a smile. “It’s the times that make heroes.”

At this moment, halfway up the hill. Hearing Bai Zhou’s message suddenly stopped, Zhou Qian nudged him with his arm. “Zhou Ge? Are you lost in thought? What are you thinking about?”

“I’m just wondering what the gods want to tell us through this game,” Bai Zhou said softly, summarizing Alayne’s words from the square below in the distance.

Hearing this, Zhou Qian laughed. “Well, now we have a way to deal with Difu. But first, we need to find a way to traverse space-time. The statue is Difu’s magical instrument, so it might not be usable… We…”

His eyes slightly flickered as Zhou Qian said, “Actually, besides Difu, there’s another person who traverses space-time—Amei. Although space-time is constantly changing, no matter which year it shifts to, it’s always the night of Samhain.”

“The moment Samhain arrives is chaotic, with yin and yang reversed and time disordered.”

“Amei’s inn appears in the human realm every year during this chaotic festival. In fact, the inn and Amei exist simultaneously in different space-times. Every year’s Samhain festival in the human realm is the same Amei.”

As Zhou Qian said this, not far away, Alayne and Amei were also conversing.

Bai Zhou looked towards him and said, “You’re right. Amei has agreed to Alayne’s request. They’re now going to the Red God’s inn, trying to track Difu’s traces through the angles of space-time, and then kill her.”

……

On the other side.

After Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao finished their brief conversation, they headed towards the graveyard, where voices were heard.

Before entering the graveyard, both of them donned black cloaks.

Having reached their current level, they could ensure that their footsteps made no sound. Thus, with the cover of black cloaks, they entered the graveyard, unlikely to be easily discovered.

Upon entering, what they thought were “voices” turned out to be the sobbing of a woman.

As they approached her, they realized she was there alone.

In her solitude, the two men relaxed significantly. They positioned themselves behind a row of tombstones near the woman, using them to conceal their presence, and then observed her—she was actually digging a grave with her bare hands!

For some reason, the woman was digging while stifling her cries, presumably over the loss of a loved one.

Then, unexpectedly, the sound of a baby’s cry came from in front of her. Her body blocked the baby from Qi and Ke’s view behind her.

The two exchanged glances, then moved to the other side of the tombstones in front of her to quietly observe her actions.

They discovered a swaddle next to the hole in front of the woman.

The baby in the swaddle had woken up, apparently sensing some danger, and was crying heartbreakingly.

The woman took out a small bottle of alcohol, opened it, poured some on her index finger, and put her finger in the baby’s mouth. The baby immediately stopped crying and fell asleep under the influence of the alcohol.

She probably did this to avoid attracting others’ attention.

But what was she doing? Was she planning to bury the baby alive?

“I’m sorry…” the woman sobbed softly. “But I have no choice. What I saw was too horrifying. You, you would kill everyone. I must kill you now… While you’re still not grown… I have to kill you now.”

Qi Liuxing frowned, and upon seeing her face clearly, he was somewhat shocked—the woman was actually Alayne’s mother.

He remembered Zhou Qian mentioning that statues with eyes of different colors could send them to the future or the past. Could it be that he and Ke Yuxiao had arrived in the “past”?

To avoid alerting the woman, Qi Liuxing immediately used a private chat tool to talk with Ke Yuxiao. “When we were playing the handkerchief game, Qian Ge grabbed Alayne’s handkerchief, and Alayne lost the game, becoming an outcast of the whole clan. At that time, her mother knelt down to plead for her… She clearly loves Alayne, so why would she kill her? Wait, no. This baby might not be Alayne. Maybe she’s Alayne’s sister or brother?”

Ke Yuxiao said, “Regardless of whether it’s Alayne or not, this matter is very strange. From the woman’s behavior at the time, she doesn’t seem like someone who would kill randomly. So, could it be that the illusion has already begun?”

“The reason we see the woman burying the baby alive is because we are hallucinating?”

Hearing this, Qi Liuxing seriously said, “Not necessarily. She’s crying so sorrowfully. So, she must be doing this out of sheer desperation.”

“Mm. You reminded me,” Ke Yuxiao said as he began walking towards the woman. “So we need to talk to her, try to get some story out of her.”

“Yu-Yuxiao, what are you doing?”

At this moment, Qi Liuxing couldn’t help but ask.

Everyone in this village had formidable abilities, even a seemingly weak woman. It was Samhain, and this woman was clearly trying to secretly kill a baby while everyone else was gathered in the square.

She would definitely not let anyone else know about this. If a player rashly approached her now, she would surely kill to silence them!

Ke Yuxiao was always calm and wise. Why would he make such mistakes one after another?

But Qi Liuxing had always trusted him. The two have faced countless dangers together in trials, with Ke Yuxiao risking himself to save Qi Liuxing time and again.

Even aside from this, during “Flower of Evil”, Zhou Qian had doubted Ke Yuxiao. But at that time, everyone’s thoughts were interconnected, and Ke Yuxiao’s thoughts couldn’t be hidden from anyone.

In such a situation, he couldn’t possibly lie. So he must indeed be an ally. How could he…

Just in the nick of time, Qi Liuxing grabbed Ke Yuxiao’s wrist.

After quickly considering a possibility, Qi Liuxing asked him, “Have you been affected by some illusion? Tell me, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere? Let me help you.”

“I don’t feel uncomfortable,” Ke Yuxiao looked back at him and said, “Xiao Qi, I know what you’re worried about. You’re worried she’ll attack us. But we should still have mana, right?”

“No, it’s dangerous to go out rashly because my mana is only enough for—” Qi Liuxing’s words were suddenly swallowed.

He paused and looked at Ke Yuxiao. “You, you’re trying to trick me. You want to know how much mana I have left? You want to kill me? Yuxiao, you, you…”

Ke Yuxiao looked deeply at Qi Liuxing and ambiguously said, “Xiao Qi, it’s all just an illusion. Or in other words, a dream. He never existed, and he should never have existed.”

“As for me, I’m really just trying to gather information.”

Ke Yuxiao pushed Qi Liuxing’s hand away and walked straight towards the woman, raising his voice to ask, “Is the baby you’re killing Alayne? Why are you killing her? You said she harmed everyone…”

“Do you have the ability to foresee, to see her killing all the villagers?”

The response to Ke Yuxiao was a palm wind containing a strong intent to kill!

The palm wind condensed into a knife in mid-air and swiftly stabbed towards Ke Yuxiao’s chest. Surprisingly, Ke Yuxiao didn’t evade. Under the stars and moonlight, his silhouette in the graveyard appeared very gentle and elegant, a figure of a refined gentleman, just like when Qi Liuxing first met him.

He was about to die.

Whether he was real or an illusion, whether he had been deceiving Qi Liuxing from the start, he was now facing great danger…

Perhaps this was the outcome he wanted—to see himself exhausting his last bit of mana in the confrontation with the woman… but if Qi Liuxing really did nothing, he would certainly die immediately!

The knife formed from the palm wind was about to reach Ke Yuxiao’s heart when a flash of cold light appeared, and a long sword suddenly emerged, its qi firmly deflecting the palm wind back and dissipating it.

The woman, both shocked and angry, immediately pulled out a dagger. Qi Liuxing had no choice but to respond.

But this time, no one used the sound of a flute to enhance his attack.

Moments later, the woman lay on the ground.

She was about to revive. But Qi Liuxing had already exhausted all his mana.

Standing still, Qi Liuxing didn’t turn to look at Ke Yuxiao.

In the night, Ke Yuxiao’s tone had completely changed, completely different from his usual self.

He seemed to sigh lightly. “I thought Zhou Qian taught you… In this game, you won’t last long being a good person.”

“Look at you. Even if you keenly sensed something wrong with me, what about it? Even if I admitted to you that I had a problem, what about it? You still saved me.”

“Pity, Xiao Qi. From the beginning I appeared, I was meant to kill you.”

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