The [Little Alarm Clock] clearly displayed the current time: 23:59.
There was only one minute left until the advent of midnight.
The night was as cool as water. Zhou Qi’an remained standing where he was, quietly waiting for this minute to pass. The second hand ticked past the last mark, yet there was still no movement from the young woman’s room.
A trace of regret flashed in Zhou Qi’an’s eyes.
Under normal circumstances, NPCs would make a move on players after midnight.
If the other party were like the crazed woman from last night who randomly hacked with a knife or pestered players with mini-games, he could have gotten some information about the Whalers’ Association from the young woman. But now she was staying behind closed doors. Unless he forced his way in, he wouldn’t even be able to see her.
Zhou Qi’an suspected there might be a second trap in the room, just waiting for him to walk into it.
“Forget it.”
He made a decision in his heart. It was better not to walk the path set by others. There were other, less conventional ways to obtain information about the association.
After midnight, the temperature in the courtyard dropped a little more.
The residual smell of the smoke bomb prop was very pungent, and Zhou Qi’an couldn’t help but let out a couple of low coughs.
In the past, he had imagined many ways to die, but none were like what had just happened, where death arrived so unannounced.
The terror of stepping into death, the lingering shadow of surviving a close call, and the unconcealable fatigue… all these complex, interwoven emotions had no one to be shared with.
Closing his eyes, he suddenly felt an exceptional longing to see a certain person.
————
Damn it.
If it weren’t for the smoke bomb, he might have been done for right there.
On the street, a figure was running wildly in a sorry state.
The man cursed inwardly, his eyes bloodshot with pain.
Unlike most people who were matched into this instance, the man had been in contact with the Whalers’ Association long before entering it, and had specifically used a instance passage to enter the Silent Museum.
[If it weren’t for the fact that the illusion-skilled player we found before had an accident, it wouldn’t have been your turn.]
The Whalers’ Association’s attitude was haughty.
Originally, he had been somewhat displeased, but with the information provided by the Whalers’ Association beforehand, he had indeed been thriving in this instance.
Unfortunately, the man did not know how the previous player with the same skill had met his end.
Toxic Dragon, who possessed an illusion skill, was used as a pathfinder by Shen Zhiyi, beaten into the hospital’s intensive care unit, and finally died on the operating table.
‘So close.’
The more the man thought about it, the more unwilling he felt. If Zhou Qi’an hadn’t been overly cautious, holding a weapon even while in the illusion, he could have succeeded with a sneak attack.
Just as the man was thinking about how to turn the tables, he suddenly sensed something.
The sense of crisis developed from long-term instance crawling made him immediately look up warily in one direction. He saw nothing at first glance. Just as he was about to retract his gaze, he suddenly shuddered and almost instantly adopted a defensive posture.
Under a brick wall, a strange figure blended with the shadow of a tree, its light-colored hair messy in the wind. Such an obvious person, yet he hadn’t noticed him at all before.
Shen Zhiyi took two steps forward.
A moment ago, the Heart of Nightmare had beaten extremely slowly for an instant. There was no doubt that something had happened on Zhou Qi’an’s end.
When he rushed over, he encountered the night watchman halfway. Zhou Qi’an’s bad luck meant that when Shen Zhiyi came looking for him in a critical moment, he would inevitably encounter obstacles.
After dealing with the night watchman, the sound of hurried running came from a distance. Shen Zhiyi didn’t pay any attention to the person’s appearance or weapons. With just a glance, he judged that the man’s arm had been injured by the Holy Relic.
You…
He couldn’t speak in the small town. The man swallowed the question on the tip of his tongue, feeling that the newcomer did not come with good intentions.
Just as he was considering taking a detour, the figure under the brick wall disappeared.
Where did he go?!
The man hurriedly looked left and right. The next moment, a gray figure flashed before his eyes. Before he could react, his heart was pierced by sharp nails.
Slowly looking down, the man stared incredulously at the bloody hole in his chest and fell to the ground with his eyes wide open.
Monsters have to follow rules to kill people. This is definitely not an NPC.
The two of them clearly had no grudge. They just ran into each other on the road. Why would the other party kill him to silence him?
Before he died, he asked the first and last sentence he would ever speak in Silent Town: “Why…?”
Shen Zhiyi expressionlessly withdrew his hand.
The Heart of Nightmare had resumed its regular beating. The trouble over there should be resolved, so there was still time to kill a person. Although he didn’t know who the man was or what he had done, since he had a wound from the Holy Relic, it meant he was someone Qi’an wanted to kill.
There was no reason to leave him alive.
The process of killing took only a few seconds. Shen Zhiyi’s footsteps hardly paused. He followed his memory of the new residence the sheep-headed man had arranged today, and a moment later, Shen Zhiyi arrived outside the young woman’s house and silently vaulted over the courtyard wall.
In the courtyard, Zhou Qi’an, who was about to turn and go back into the house, seemed to sense something and abruptly turned around.
The night was very quiet.
The presence of an extra person did not cause any additional noise.
Zhou Qi’an raised his eyes and carefully studied the figure, as if to confirm with great care. A moment later, he tilted his head slightly and revealed his first genuine smile of the night.
In those grayish-white eyes, there existed an illogical guilt, a reality that even an illusion could not fake.
Only Shen Zhiyi would awkwardly feel that all the harm he suffered was because he hadn’t arrived in time.
The silent eye contact did not last long.
Shen Zhiyi strode forward and suddenly hugged him tightly.
At this close distance, Zhou Qi’an smelled fresh blood.
The gentle disguise of the past was shed, revealing the truest side.
In the thick smell of blood and shadows, the blood in Zhou Qi’an’s whole body was entangled by an aggressive aura, as if he had fallen into the embrace of a deep-sea monster.
As a legendary monster, Shen Zhiyi’s true yin energy was far more astonishing than that of any ghost.
Due to the leakage of emotions, a wisp of yin energy also leaked out. Zhou Qi’an’s back immediately went numb, and his body began to tremble instinctively. When the psychic constitution sensed yin energy, it was incredibly sensitive.
This damn constitution.
In the end, even his shoulders were trembling.
Shen Zhiyi finally released his restraining arms.
When he stepped back, Zhou Qi’an was looking up at him, his slender eyebrows furrowed, seemingly dissatisfied with the lingering yin energy, a hint of accusation in his beautiful eyes.
However, when the night wind blew past, his eyelashes trembled lightly again.
Meeting such a face, Shen Zhiyi couldn’t help but look away. The momentary infatuation caused his yin energy to leak out a little more uncontrollably.
His self-control was pushed to its absolute limit at this moment. Reason reminded him that according to the laws of the human world, he could not cross the line without the other party’s consent.
“…Using violence or threats to go against another’s will and force them to act is against the law…”
Shen Zhiyi silently recited the reference answer he had read when brainwashing the Taisui clone a hundred times in his heart.
Unfortunately, the other part of his emotions, the less rational shadow, represented his truest impulse.
Mine.
Mine.
Mine…
The black shadow entangled him like a dodder vine, showing a dependent weakness, but in reality, it was like spreading thick ink, transforming into tentacles that first tightly wrapped around his wrists and ankles. Then, from his shoulders to his calves, the tentacles continued to tighten. The strong sense of restraint reminded Zhou Qi’an of the restraint straps at Cyclamen Hospital…
In the end, it became even worse, even wanting to go deeper.
A flash of anger appeared in Zhou Qi’an’s eyes, and he glared fiercely at Shen Zhiyi.
Being looked at like that, Shen Zhiyi’s throat moved suspiciously. He timely wrote in his palm: Is there anyone you want to kill?
He would go out and kill an NPC to calm down.
“…”
In the end, the monster-killing plan was not carried out. Zhou Qi’an did want to slaughter the Whalers’ Association, but there was too little useful information right now. There was no need to force a confrontation with the young woman in a short period of time. If she died, he would have to change residences again tomorrow, which would bring another unknown risk.
Zhou Qi’an chose to go back to his room to rest.
Shen Zhiyi silently followed behind.
Upon entering the room, Zhou Qi’an gestured with his hands.
Players were all staying separately in the homes of the town’s residents. Two people in the same room at night would most likely trigger a rule.
Shen Zhiyi continued to write in his palm: [I will wake you before I leave.]
He was well aware of the setting that players could not stay under the same roof for a long time.
For now, it was just to ensure that the other could get a brief rest. Having just experienced a crisis, it would probably be difficult to get a moment of good sleep this night.
Zhou Qi’an thought for a moment and didn’t refuse again.
After entering the room, he lay directly on the bed and began to close his eyes to rest. With someone by his side, his emotions quickly relaxed. He was already exceptionally tired, and after a short while, his breathing became even.
He fell asleep quickly, but the frown between Zhou Qi’an’s brows never completely smoothed out.
The after-effects of the illusion erupted in his dream. Whenever he was about to fall into a deep sleep, the little flower-selling girl would approach from a distance, the basket swaying with her, a white cloth covering it.
“Buying flowers?”
Zhou Qi’an unconsciously lifted the white cloth. Underneath were all paper flowers used for mourning the dead. The paper flowers were stained with blood, and the Whalers’ Association’s symbol was soaked in it.
At the same instant, the little girl’s face transformed into that of an adult man under his eyelids. His features were blurry, and he could only feel the strange, upward curve of his lips.
I won.
The other party said so.
…The breathing of the person on the bed suddenly became rapid.
Shen Zhiyi gently held the young man’s half-hand that was hanging over the edge of the bed. The fingers, seeping with cold sweat, were slender and cold. Zhou Qi’an clung to it tightly like a drowning person grabbing a straw, the force enough to cause pain.
Shen Zhiyi sat where he was and let him hold on, looking at their fingers intertwined like snakes, and patted the thin body soothingly.
He didn’t ask what Zhou Qi’an had encountered tonight. Experiencing it once and then recalling it again in a short period of time was definitely not a good thing. He also didn’t directly invade Zhou Qi’an’s dream. When one’s nerves were tense, these actions could cause additional burden.
The nightmare was a breaking point.
After the residual emotions burst out in an instant, in the dream, Zhou Qi’an turned the tables and fiercely pressed the mocking head into the flower basket. As the basket shattered, the paper flowers, the little girl, and the bustling street completely disappeared.
His breathing became calm again.
Outside the window, the moon’s trajectory shifted bit by bit.
Around three in the morning, the pressure of the formless rules grew stronger. Shen Zhiyi knew he was reaching the limit. He shook Zhou Qi’an and woke him up.
Some color returned to Zhou Qi’an’s face. He stretched his back, loosening up a little, and once again showed his extraordinary and resilient vitality.
Shen Zhiyi was relieved.
Before he was about to leave, Zhou Qi’an also put on his shoes and got out of bed.
The Holy Relic became an excellent lighting tool. After buying a stack of paper from the mall, Zhou Qi’an took out his Dream Pen, clearly preparing to do something. Finally, he didn’t forget to write a note and stuff it to Shen Zhiyi.
Shen Zhiyi couldn’t help but chuckle after reading it. He really didn’t let revenge wait overnight.
…
The next day, at the crack of dawn, Zhou Qi’an didn’t waste time meeting the young woman and left the courtyard early.
A few familiar figures stood outside the small town. Last night, before Shen Zhiyi left, the note Zhou Qi’an stuffed him was very brief, asking him to help notify the others to gather at the town entrance early today.
No one had a very peaceful night.
The university student was like a listless quail. Fortunately, the homeowner he encountered was one of the few relics from the Risheng Pavilion, much easier to deal with than the relics from the Xishi Pavilion, which was full of fakes.
“Brother Zhou, Brother Zhou…” he chirped like a myna, calling out a few times.
Staying in the small town all night without speaking was suffocating.
Zhou Qi’an nodded slightly, mainly looking at Ying Yu and his superior. “There was a little accident last night. I’ll be issuing a death notice later.”
He first briefly explained what had happened.
When they heard that a player and an NPC had simultaneously used illusions to create the false impression of entering a relic world, everyone’s expression changed somewhat. A triple illusion—this simple, crude, yet extremely sinister method was simply impossible to guard against.
Red Cloak pushed her chestnut hair behind her ear. “It seems the means they used against me weren’t too vicious.”
At least in the trap set for her, many information points were clear.
“…” Let’s not compete over this.
Shen Zhiyi stood near the stone tablet. With every word Zhou Qi’an spoke, his eyes darkened a shade, and the shadow on the ground became so heavy it could almost rival ink.
In the end, only one thought remained: All relics should return to dust.
The superior, who was grumpy in the morning, his eyes narrowed even more like a viper’s upon hearing this. Someone actually wanted to exploit the company’s labor? And a cheap laborer who was destined to have no wedding leave at that.
Zhou Qi’an’s eyelid twitched at the sight.
The word ‘cheap’ was practically written in his pupils.
He cursed his superior in his heart and turned his head to look at Ying Yu. “Do you have any prop that can help me scatter these papers to the various courtyards in the town?”
Ying Yu took out something similar to a drone, with several claws at the bottom.
Zhou Qi’an pursed his lips. He really had every kind of prop.
The claw drone liberated the ‘cheap labor.’ At least Zhou Qi’an didn’t have to run the errands himself.
The university student curiously scanned the paper.
As Zhou Qi’an had said, it was a death notice, or more accurately, a death forecast. There were only two short lines:
[A courtesy demands reciprocity.
At twelve noon, I will take Li Yún’s dog life (bone.jpg).]
The bone alluded to the Death Curse Bone.
Zhou Qi’an’s meaning was very clear. He was cheated once last night, and today he would have it paid for with the life of a Whalers’ Association member.
“This is good! Hit their morale hard. There’s still a while until twelve o’clock, maybe we can even lure the snake out of its hole!” The university student suddenly thought of something. “Brother Zhou, are you trying to use yourself as bait to lure out this association member?”
Zhou Qi’an gave a helpless smile.
The superior’s eyes narrowed even further, but this time he was looking at the university student.
This laborer is a bit stupid, easy to control.
Unfortunately… he has backing, not cheap.
The claw drone automatically collected the thick stack of paper into its compartment and flew into the air. It was quite intelligent, with the control handle in Ying Yu’s hand. Every time it flew a certain distance, the claws would automatically take out a few sheets of paper and start scattering them over the courtyards. In the town shrouded in a light mist, the paper had a naturally aged effect.
Under the cold wind, the rustling sound of the paper was incessant.
Last night, Zhou Qi’an had even specifically bought [Red Ink that Can Create Slight Dizziness] from the game mall. With heavy application, he had dyed the Death Curse Bone a vivid blood-red.
Under the gloomy sky, the blood-red papers now fluttered in the air, gradually landing on tree branches, rooftops… and the ground.
It truly looked like unlucky paper money for the dead.
The small town gave off a desolate feeling of long-term neglect, filled with trash everywhere.
Zhou Qi’an had been writing since three in the morning. The quantity of notices was large and satisfying. Now, almost the entire area of the small town was covered. For the people in the town, no matter where the paper landed, even on the eaves or at the bottom of a well, as long as they wanted to see it, they could retrieve it with a slight movement.
Some players still in the town were baffled when they saw the notes.
This clearly wasn’t something an NPC would do. Who would litter at their own doorstep? The content on the paper was also a bit scary. They didn’t know which great master’s work it was, to be so arrogant.
One of the papers fell into a certain courtyard.
The person who picked it up didn’t think much of it at first, but when they saw the name on it, their expression suddenly changed.
After everything was arranged, Zhou Qi’an set off for the museum.
Some distance away from the small town, the morning sun pierced through the clouds and sprinkled onto the earth. A wisp of blood-red light from the moon still lingered on the clouds.
This was only the second day of entering the game, but the instance environment had already deteriorated. The number of crows outside the town entrance this morning had clearly increased. A few could still be seen even at the foot of the mountain.
The university student was horrified to discover that although they had set off for the museum together, at some point, the superior, Ying Yu, the hound, and… even Shen Zhiyi, had all disappeared.
Things he could discover, others certainly could too, but Red Cloak and Yuan were still walking forward as if nothing had happened. The whole team was permeated with an alternative kind of terror.
As if knowing what he was worried about, Zhou Qi’an said, “They took a detour back to the town through the back mountain.”
Leaving specifically just to sneak back could only be to cover their tracks. The university student tried hard to think of the reason for doing so.
The faint light of dawn cast a shadow on Zhou Qi’an, light and shadow accompanying him all the way.
He asked, “If it were you, knowing that the person who sent the death notice holds a Curse prop, is vengeful, and is a person of their word, how would you deal with it?”
The university student said without thinking, “I would come find you first.”
After saying it, he scratched his head in embarrassment.
This was indeed the most instinctive and primitive reaction. One definitely couldn’t handle it with personal strength alone. The only way to survive was to ask for help.
The university student thought a second time, and the answer was the same.
Just then, he suddenly realized something. “That person named Li Yún, might they go find the association’s leader?!”
Zhou Qi’an gave a faint “mm-hmm.”
The members of the Whalers’ Association in this instance had no more than two roles: pretending to be players, and pretending to be town residents.
The former group was almost completely wiped out. The escaped members certainly wouldn’t dare to go to the museum alone again.
So currently, the members of the Whalers’ Association were all concentrated in the small town.
“Anyone who can live doesn’t want to die.”
The Death Curse Bone came from a instance designed by the association. They knew better than anyone about that eighty percent mortality rate. One could imagine how panicked the target would be after seeing the letter.
When faced with a problem they can’t solve, people will instinctively seek help.
It would be even better if they didn’t seek help.
Li Yún might be the association leader himself, or at least a powerful second-in-command.
Then there would be no need to hesitate, just write directly on the Death Curse Bone.
“Actually, I quite like Silent Town…” Zhou Qi’an smiled faintly. “Because it’s very quiet.”
So quiet that…
Any slight movement would be infinitely amplified.
…
Silent Town.
The places where the sun could not shine were always a hazy gray.
The few who had disappeared and the hound were now secretly guarding a direction each.
Except for Ying Yu, neither Shen Zhiyi, the superior, nor the hound exuded the aura of a living person, so they naturally wouldn’t be noticed by the town’s residents.
Ying Yu, once again out of place, quietly stayed in a hidden street corner, using a prop to temporarily create the same non-human effect.
He didn’t have the monster-like sensitive hearing of the others, so he had installed listening devices on the street beforehand for convenience.
After sunrise, the few other players who had chosen to return to town had all set off. The entire town was as quiet as it was at night.
Time ticked by. After an unknown amount of time, in the dead silence, a sound came from one of the streets—
The old gate of a courtyard, with a creak, was anxiously pushed open by a figure.
