WTNL Chapter 61

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Chapter 61: “Hurry up! He’s from Dark Fire!”

The Concealment Cloak only lasted for one minute.

Soon, the figures of the two men appeared in the corridor.

Although the danger was far from over, they had a limited number of Concealment Cloaks and had to use them sparingly in case more critical situations arose later.

Wen Jianyan recalled the intaglio engraved on the Bagua mirror in his mind.

After all, he was the only one who knew that they were currently inside a Soul-Locking Urn, and the intaglio lines on the Bagua mirror formed the map of the inner world.

In such complex terrain, this was a massive advantage.

However, there were simply too many streamers. If even one of them realized they had been tricked and communicated with other squads, an encirclement could easily form. Escaping then would be exceedingly difficult.

Su Cheng watched both ends of the corridor nervously. His muscles reflexively tensed, concentrating entirely on any sounds from all directions.

He subconsciously leaned against the wall, trying to shrink his presence as much as possible, ideally hiding entirely in the shadows:

“W-what do we do next?”

Su Cheng deliberately lowered his voice, which trembled slightly under extreme tension.

Wen Jianyan spared a glance at him and said in a steady voice, “Don’t be nervous.”

“…”

Su Cheng broke down a bit.

“Is this the kind of situation where you can just ‘not be nervous’ because you say so!”

They were literally enemies of the entire instance right now!

“Of course it is,” Wen Jianyan said rapidly while looking down and flipping through the manuscript he had snagged from Granny Wen’s room. “Believe me, I’m definitely panicking even more than you are right now.”

Su Cheng blinked, staring intently at Wen Jianyan beside him. He repeatedly scrutinized the other’s expression and body language, but the young man before him looked completely normal, save for a complexion slightly paler than before.

He said in disbelief: “Really? I can’t tell at all.”

“…”

Wen Jianyan paused, stopped flipping through the notes, looked up at Su Cheng, and said with utmost seriousness:

“It’s the kind of panic where if you handed me a bucket right now, I could throw up directly into it.”

Su Cheng: “…”

Suddenly, many scenes he had witnessed before seemed to make sense now.

“Moreover, I’m actually much easier to scare than a normal person.”

After all, he was a scammer extremely sensitive to danger and exceptionally afraid of death. He had innately developed an instinct to pursue fortune and avoid disaster. Even in situations where many normal people wouldn’t react, Wen Jianyan would reflexively tense up.

It was precisely because of this oversensitive instinct for danger that he could leverage his advantages and specialties. Consequently, it was impossible for Wen Jianyan to get used to being frightened.

In other words, he was a streamer with very little courage.

And it was unlikely to grow much in the future.

Wen Jianyan lowered his head, continued flipping through the tattered pages in his hand, and said rapidly:

“However, getting overly invested in emotions interferes with rational judgment. If you’re dominated by the instinctual fear of death, you’ll reflexively scramble around blindly, overlooking many ways out hidden within dead ends.”

Wen Jianyan folded the tattered pages of the manuscript, shoved them back into his pocket, then looked up at Su Cheng and summarized with utmost seriousness:

“Therefore, the first lesson to becoming a successful scammer is to control your nervousness.”

Su Cheng subconsciously nodded: “I underst—”

The rest of his words got stuck in his throat as he suddenly realized: “Wait? What? I never planned on learning how to be a scammer from you!”

A dense wave of “Hahahahahaha” floated across both their live broadcast rooms simultaneously.

[Fuck, I feel like I just witnessed how a scam syndicate expands!]

[Help… how is my cute little streamer gradually being led astray by this dog scammer opposite him!]

[Dying of laughter. Finally know why the dog scammer throws up violently after every crisis ends. This guy is actually terrified!]

[Wait, but I remember someone saying he was an alt account of some advanced streamer? And looking at many previous replays, he doesn’t seem like a newbie either. Why did the story change again!]

[But only a newbie would be this scared, right?]

[Not necessarily. Maybe the scammer is just faking all this to lower our suspicion and guard so we won’t figure out his true identity!]

[Then maybe it’s the other way around…]

[Fuck, my brain is a mess. I don’t know who’s playing 4D chess anymore. Anyway, I’m definitely the one in the basement.]

Watching Wen Jianyan’s movements, Su Cheng’s eyes lit up slightly:

“Have you thought of a solution?”

“Pretty much.”

Wen Jianyan rubbed his chin.

“Let’s hear it?”

The young man raised his eyes, which sparkled brightly, and smiled:

“Since I’m already an evil spirit follower now, I might as well do things an evil spirit follower would do.”

An ominous premonition slowly rose in Su Cheng’s heart: “Wait, you’re not actually thinking of awakening the evil spirit, are you?”

Wen Jianyan put on a pained expression, as if having a toothache:

“…Yes, but also no.”

The ambiguous answer left Su Cheng looking bewildered: “Ah? What do you mean?”

Truth be told, if this evil spirit wasn’t an old acquaintance he had a massive grudge against, awakening the other party would actually be an excellent choice.

After all, Wen Jianyan’s current identity was an evil spirit follower. With his consistent modus operandi, he would absolutely not hesitate to fan the flames as a fanatic once the other party awakened. He would let the evil spirit fight Granny Wen’s followers of the evil Bodhisattva, while he kept himself out of the fray, reaping the benefits in the ensuing chaos.

But…

The blurry figure he caught a glimpse of deep within the mirror flashed through Wen Jianyan’s mind, and his expression involuntarily twisted slightly for a moment.

He had no doubt that if he really awakened that guy, the first one to die wouldn’t be Granny Wen, but himself!

So, he had to find a compromise… but he wasn’t sure if this method would succeed either.

Wen Jianyan looked at the bewildered Su Cheng and said with composure:

“It’s fine, you’ll know when the time comes.”

Looking at the young man before him, who appeared exceptionally calm, as if victory was already in his grasp and everything was fully planned out… although Su Cheng still didn’t know what the other’s “plan” was, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of blind confidence.

Since this guy said so, he must have a pretty good grasp on succeeding!

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[No way? Did this guy really find a BUG, or is he just bluffing?]

[Can’t tell…]

[Although I don’t know what the streamer is going to do next, I believe whatever this dog scammer is planning is absolutely nothing good! [Tipped 100 points]]

[Exactly! This scoundrel! [Tipped 100 points]]

[Bad thing! [Tipped 100 points]]

[It’s so funny watching you guys curse the streamer while tipping him every time. Wake up, don’t be manipulated by this streamer! [Tipped 100 points]]

[??? The person above is tipping too!]

[If the wife isn’t bad, the husband won’t love (wild statement). Go, dog scammer! [Tipped 100 points]]

Relying on the fact that his familiarity with the map was the highest among all the streamers, Wen Jianyan cleverly dodged the pursuit and interception of many streamers.

After all, although those streamers should have all received the high-difficulty side mission by now, they weren’t entirely of one heart and mind. Many were still trying to snatch the Soul-Locking Urns. Thus, in this situation of outward compliance but inward plotting against each other, they were bound to be unable to cooperate without any reservations.

Under the dark red light, the atmosphere was taut, ready to ignite at any moment.

Among the streamer squads, morale was fluctuating; everyone harbored their own hidden agendas and plans.

A streamer wearing familiar clothes stumbled forward in a panic. He was half-bent, one hand clutching his bleeding abdomen. His face was pale and sweaty, his hair a mess. He gritted his teeth, his voice trembling with pain and anger:

“That… that evil spirit follower attacked our squad. He has accomplices! Quick!”

“What? Where?” All the streamers couldn’t help but tense up.

The young man’s legs grew weak, forcing him to lean against the wall to catch his breath. He pointed behind him with a bloodstained finger: “—In that direction! Hurry… any later and it’ll be too late!”

From that direction came the familiar sounds of a melee. Amidst the chaos, a shrill voice could faintly be heard: “The evil god follower is right here!”

“Quick! He’s from Dark Fire!”

“Catch him!”

All the streamers instantly perked up.

That’s right!

Messy, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor as they rushed toward the direction the person pointed.

[Blurred Mask has expired.]

Like thin snow melting under the midday sun, the intense emotional expression on the young man’s face rapidly faded, leaving only a calm, composed look.

Wen Jianyan straightened up. He reached out with the hand covered in black patterns, which had been cleverly hidden in the shadows of his clothing folds, and quickly took off the bloodstained jacket he was wearing, balling it up and tossing it into a corner.

He had just stripped this from a heavily injured streamer thrown into a corner during a fight between two squads. The blood on it was still warm. By using his movements, he could very easily divert the other party’s attention away from his hand.

The item [Blurred Mask] was actually originally meant for ghosts. Its basic function was: if you are in a group of streamers, this item will lower your presence, reducing the likelihood of drawing concentrated aggro from ghosts.

According to Wen Jianyan’s testing, this item was equally effective on streamers.

Especially in such a fast-paced melee, it was simply the perfect companion for fishing in troubled waters, disrupting the battlefield, and diverting attention.

Su Cheng ran out from a corridor in another direction.

He was sweating profusely, his expression tense and panicked, still clutching his phone tightly in his hand.

Under Wen Jianyan’s guidance, he had just used an item to amplify an audio recording on his phone, lured those streamers toward another squad’s direction, activated his last Concealment Cloak, and then taken a shortcut back.

Wen Jianyan didn’t hold back his praise: “Beautifully done!”

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Fuck, I’m dumbfounded.]

[Hahahahaha Dark Fire: Such bad luck!]

[Dying of laughter. Why does Dark Fire have to take the blame for this streamer every day!]

[Dark Fire, who didn’t even send a single streamer into this instance but was inexplicably demonized: Your mom.]

[Hahahahahaha I just came back from a neighboring live broadcast room. They all think this instance is a faction instance, and Dark Fire sent in a whole squad, all of whom are evil spirit followers!]

[Fuck! I’m dying of laughter!]

__

Author’s Note:

Pass it on: Half of the people in the entire instance are evil spirit followers from Dark Fire!