ICSST CH18: The Suona Begins

This was far beyond just a little bit of shock.

The college student’s face turned pale. “You want to set fire to the manor… and cause explosions? Are you trying to make sure nothing survives here? That’s just too—”

“Too much of a waste, right?” Zhou Qi’an said. “After all, the house wasn’t cheap to build.”

The college student opened his mouth to say something, but Zhou Qi’an looked at him with a half-smile. “Not for the house? Are you actually sympathizing with the monsters?”

The college student swallowed back his words.

Han Li suddenly spoke. “You never passed reading comprehension growing up, did you?”

Zhou Qi’an gave her a look that said, How did you know?

Every time he tried to draw inferences from a passage, his teachers would scold him for going too far—when in reality, the essence of reading comprehension was just extreme overthinking.

Han Li’s expression turned dazed. Did that even need to be asked?

Turning a single “Liangye Manor” into arson and forest fires—no top-tier reading comprehension master of today would dare go that far.

After politely explaining himself, Zhou Qi’an asked, “By the way, do you think setting the fire this way is appropriate?”

“!!!”

You already started the fire, and now you’re asking if it’s appropriate? Isn’t it a little late for that?!

“Speaking of helping out,” Zhou Qi’an’s cold gaze swept over the group from beneath his glasses. “Does anyone have any accelerants they can contribute?”

His tone was mild, yet it sent chills down everyone’s spines.

Silence was the only response.

Zhou Qi’an’s smile became exceptionally bright. “No need to go fishing anymore—you should all be happy.”

Why wasn’t anyone smiling? Were they just naturally serious people?

“Don’t underestimate this fire… Based on what I’ve figured out so far, fire has a restraining effect on the NPCs here.”

They feared fire so much that even the stoves in the kitchen wouldn’t be lit.

Han Li opened her mouth but couldn’t find a way to argue.

The candles during night vigils always ignited mysteriously and burned out at dawn. Xun the Wealthy never dared to go near them. The incense sticks placed in the burner would light up on their own. In this enormous villa, there wasn’t a single tool for making fire.

After a long while, she finally choked out, “Then how did you light your torch?”

“By rubbing wood together.” Zhou Qi’an expressed his gratitude to the wisdom of the ancients.

Then, he repeated his question about accelerants. “My dear accomplices, lend me a hand.”

From the moment he threw the torch and they didn’t react immediately, they were already in the same boat.

That made them accessories.

The word accomplices successfully infuriated the group.

“You…”

At this point, there was no room for complaints. Report him? Tell Xun the Wealthy that four of them had witnessed a single skinny young man setting a fire, and they couldn’t stop him? Xun the Wealthy would probably burn them first.

Han Li calmed down.

Looking at it positively, the players wouldn’t be wiped out by the fire. Even if the instance punished them, the worst that could happen was that the arsonist himself took the hit.

Zhou Qi’an added, “The law doesn’t punish the masses, and besides, the bird that sticks its head out gets shot first. I’m that bird—what are you afraid of?”

Han Li rubbed her temples. “There are no accelerants. Things like food, medicine, and even elemental materials like water, fire, earth, and wood aren’t sold in the in-game shop.”

Zhou Qi’an frowned. “Then what do they sell?”

“Contract items—they sell out every year,” Han Li answered, giving the same response as Chen Jian.

“But there’s something similar to corpse oil on the lake. We can collect and use it.”

She glanced at Han Tiansheng. The latter thought for a moment before saying, “I can summon some small insects to apply the flammable substances in key areas without attracting Mr. Si’s attention, which should help spread the fire further.”

Zhou Qi’an was surprised. “So there’s a summoning class in this game too?”

Han Tiansheng replied, “My initial species evolution path was a type of marine parasite.”

Zhou Qi’an fell into thought. It seemed like he couldn’t underestimate anyone’s abilities.

Chen Jian didn’t want to just stand around. “I can refine the oil to make it more effective. Also, I have a few tools that can create small, localized flash explosions to help intensify the fire.”

Zhou Qi’an looked like he had something to say.

Chen Jian already knew what he was thinking. “These flash explosions have almost no effect on the monsters—they need several seconds to ignite.”

They weren’t on the same level as A Really Good Charger.

The college student murmured, “Even with all this, it might not be enough. To make the fire spread, we need the right timing, terrain, and cooperation.”

But Han Li shook her head. “If fire is truly the core restraining element in this instance, then its effectiveness here will be far greater than in reality.”

Everyone was busy with their tasks. The mountain wind was strong, and Zhou Qi’an spontaneously composed a modern poem:

“When the wind blows, the fire grows—”

“That is the dawn of hope.”

“……”

Suddenly remembering something, Zhou Qi’an turned to the college student and said, “You’re still young, and it’s easy to confuse the game with reality. Arson is a serious crime. When you get out of here, never, ever try to copy this.”

A lunatic. And yet, he’s lecturing me about following the law.

The college student then muttered sadly, “Can we really still get out?”

Just as Han Li had said, once the fallen leaves caught fire, the flames spread even faster than expected—far beyond the energy of real-world fire.

Right at that moment, Chen Jian’s flash explosion devices went off. Accompanied by several loud bangs, flames shot skyward.

Everyone instinctively stepped back again, feeling as if the embers were about to land on their faces.

The temperature soared, illuminating half the sky.

For a moment, even the sun seemed to retreat behind the clouds, avoiding the blaze.

“…It stinks.”

The acrid smell in the air interrupted the college student’s sorrow.

The experienced players squinted—it was the scent of burning corpse oil.

By now, the fire had reached the lake, the source of the stench.

Zhou Qi’an said, “Who knows how many people have died here? The game took away our phones—maybe to prevent anyone from calling emergency services.”

Whether anyone would’ve actually called was unknown, but within the roaring flames, a massive rabbit head suddenly appeared.

Even among the trees, its towering height was unmistakable.

The college student gasped, “It’s Mr. Si!”

The giant rabbit-man was carrying a fire extinguisher as he emerged from the inferno.

Normally, a wildfire in the mountains would be impossible to put out with human effort alone. But wherever the mist from Mr. Si’s extinguisher touched, the flames seemed to freeze over, instantly dying out.

It seemed that not just the fire, but even the fire extinguisher’s power was far greater than in reality.

Zhou Qi’an frowned. If he had known an extinguisher could be this effective, he would have checked the villa for one first.

This was the short-sightedness of a beginner—he had assumed too much.

Zhou Qi’an silently committed this lesson to memory and told himself, Next time, for sure.

The others didn’t hear what he muttered, but a sense of unease crept into their hearts.

Mr. Si was already approaching.

The flames cast eerie reflections in his blood-red eyes, and beneath the fire’s glow, the rabbit face twisted into an unnervingly human-like expression of fury.

His icy gaze swept across the group, and instinctively, everyone turned to look at Zhou Qi’an.

In an instant, Mr. Si stood before him. “You started this fire?”

Zhou Qi’an glanced at the others.

A gathering is like a flame—but when it scatters, everyone flees without hesitation.

Terrified of being implicated, the other players immediately distanced themselves.

Mr. Si couldn’t kill players directly, but he could easily arrange for someone to die a miserable death.

Yet, Zhou Qi’an was surprisingly generous—he waved his hand, signaling for them to leave first.

Someone hesitantly took a step away. Realizing they weren’t being stopped, the rest bolted, running faster than rabbits.

The fire scene was now empty, save for Zhou Qi’an and Mr. Si.

Zhou Qi’an didn’t bother with meaningless explanations. Instead, he asked, “Did you find it?”

His tone was so natural, as if they had previously agreed on something.

Mr. Si’s massive rabbit head tilted downward, his voice eerie and quiet. “Find what?”

The subtle vibration in his tone sent a tremor through the eardrum—evidence that he truly had killing intent.

Zhou Qi’an remained utterly calm. “The real inheritance, of course.”

After working in the corporate world for years, Zhou Qi’an had honed his ability to read people.

From the start, when Mr. Si had mentioned taking care of Xun the Wealthy to get his inheritance, he had licked his lips with barely concealed greed. During his application for the stone carving job, he had emphasized that its purpose was to guard the house and protect wealth.

Protect wealth? Now, that was interesting.

He had brought a group of scammers here to rob and kill—how did that relate to protection?

So what was being protected likely wasn’t Xun the Wealthy’s fortune, but rather something Mr. Si already considered his own possession.

Mr. Si wanted Xun the Wealthy’s inheritance too.

But if something could attract the attention of a game staff member, it couldn’t be something as mundane as gold and silver. He hadn’t made a direct move for the inheritance—perhaps because his role as staff restricted him, or maybe because he didn’t know where the treasure was. Or both.

“They say fires reveal what people value most.”

In a disaster, the first thing someone saves is the thing they treasure most. Instincts don’t lie.

“I gave plenty of warning before setting the fire.”

Zhou Qi’an spoke softly. “The first word I said to you each day, strung together, was: I’m going to set a fire.”

I’m going to find someone.

Why don’t you say it instead?

Don’t worry, troublemakers live long lives.

The fire’s at our doorstep—move aside.

“…” Damn cryptic arson warnings.

Zhou Qi’an’s tone grew even more sincere. “Otherwise, why would I bother starting this fire?”

Arson had almost no benefits. The NPCs weren’t easy to kill. Logically, its only purpose was to escape a fishing mission.

“You’re smart—you must’ve figured it out. I set the fire, and you followed Xun the Wealthy to find the real treasure hidden in the manor. So? Did you find it?”

Zhou Qi’an met Mr. Si’s horrifying red eyes without flinching.

That same shade of red—when Xun Er’s pupils changed color, they also turned a burning orange-red. An unnatural, lifeless hue.

But Mr. Si’s gaze was the kind that made it seem like he could swallow a person whole.

“If Xun the Wealthy finds out I started the fire, he’ll remove me from the inheritance list first. Then I’m as good as dead.” Zhou Qi’an gave a little shudder, as if imagining his grim fate. “But to help you, I still took the risk and lit the fire.”

The way he looked—like he was sacrificing himself for a greater cause—almost made it seem like if Mr. Si admitted he hadn’t followed Xun the Wealthy to find the treasure, he would be gravely disappointing Zhou Qi’an.

Zhou Qi’an continued, “Of course, I had my own motives. From the start, I never planned to suck up to the veteran players—I knew it wouldn’t work. But flattering you? That was much more useful. The reason I kept provoking you before was to avoid revealing too early that I wanted to work with you.”

“If this fire ends up causing an unexpected change in the game, you can just pin the blame on me.”

After years of working as a corporate grunt, aside from technical skills, Zhou Qi’an had mastered only two things: dodging responsibility and flattering his bosses.

Every pause in his speech, every shift in his expression—he had rehearsed them countless times in real-life practice.

For a few seconds, the air was deathly silent.

Under Zhou Qi’an’s expectant gaze, Mr. Si’s three-lobed mouth twitched slightly. For a moment, he found it hard to admit that he hadn’t even glanced inside the villa.

After putting out the explosion-induced fire, he had immediately gone back to extinguishing the rest of the flames outside.

So this whole fire was…

Pointless?

Zhou Qi’an, his pale and refined face unreadable, thought to himself, Pointless? Not at all. Just because Mr. Si didn’t pay attention doesn’t mean no one else was watching.

If everything went smoothly, he would soon be able to pinpoint the location of Xun the Wealthy’s family heirloom.

Standing near the outskirts of the manor, Zhou Qi’an surveyed everything around him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed something near an old tree by the slanted road.

He paused.

If he remembered correctly, the Rabbit Bus had been parked there before—so why was it gone now?

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Inside the Villa.

The many eyes of the multi-eyed spider all turned at once.

Zhou Qi’an’s words from last night still echoed in its mind.

“…I’ve set up the explosion point in the kitchen. Inside the statue’s belly, my mother left a lot of snakes—they’ll be responsible for setting the fire.”

“…When the fire starts tomorrow, watch Xun the Wealthy. See where he runs first.”

“…My dear fiancée spider.”

The young man’s pale, slender fingers had tapped against its swollen abdomen—the very place where Zhou Qi’an’s mother had once forcibly stuffed a sea snake inside.

Finally, his deep, hushed voice had been no less chilling than a serpent’s whisper:

“…It’s just a simple surveillance task. You mustn’t—absolutely mustn’t—disappoint me.”

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Author’s Note:

Zhou Qi’an: When you visit a place, isn’t it normal to bring back a souvenir? That heirloom looks pretty nice to me.