Even if Shen Zhiyi and the others hadn’t come, the invisible ghost wall was about to be broken.
The arrival of the shadow further accelerated this process. It directly drilled through the cracks.
There were two stationary relics at the scene, but from the university student’s desperate rescue efforts, it was not difficult to determine which member’s relic world Zhou Qi’an was trapped in.
The black shadow grabbed the fragments and tore them apart violently. The barrier, which had been on its last legs, instantly shattered like glass hit at its core.
Shen Zhiyi had also arrived in front of the young woman by this time. The aura emanating from his true form was even more terrifying than the silent shadow.
Half of the mountainside was cast in an extra shadow.
He looked at the members of the Whalers’ Association as if they were dead objects. In practice, he did just that, directly killing the woman.
With more people, the efficiency immediately went up.
On the other side, Ying Yu was walking towards the association member standing in the dense forest.
Red Hood’s judgment was very accurate in one aspect.
After the NPC playing a town resident left the town, their power would be depleted and restricted. Originally, they could not be disturbed while viewing a relic, but now with the rules balancing things out, Ying Yu only needed to use some extra means to smoothly approach the target.
As for the superior, with others doing the work, he couldn’t be bothered to lift a finger. He petted the dog, enjoyed the breeze, and wiped the blood from his hands that he had gotten earlier.
The hound was angry but dared not speak. Not smelling Yuan’s scent made it a little uneasy.
“Someone went to rescue her.”
The superior explained good-naturedly, a single sentence that suppressed the hound’s anxiety. He added, “Come be a security guard at our company, the benefits are very good.”
The hound had been very agile in the small town earlier, and could be satisfied with a single portion of dog food, saving on the three insurances and one housing fund, as well as wedding leave.
This dog was born to be a worker.
“!!!”
Memories of the Ghost Market flooded its mind, and the hound’s bones trembled at the words.
It desperately bolted forward a few steps, passing the young woman who had transplanted the Micro-carved Horse. The woman’s chest had just been opened with a bloody hole by Shen Zhiyi, and a stream of foul-smelling blood sprayed onto it.
Pale knuckles fished out a micro-carved pony from the woman’s body. The patterns on one half were already collapsing, and several new cracks were added when it was violently removed. The pony’s hooves were moving, as if desperately trying to escape the man’s palm and return to its original place to absorb flesh and blood.
The young woman, standing there like a porcelain doll, spat out a mouthful of blood. With her symbiotic partner being forcibly torn from her chest, her entire heart felt a pulling sensation.
Her heavy eyelids tried to lift several times, but all failed.
Like the micro-carved pony, she seemed to be desperately trying to get something.
“Heart…” The young woman’s consciousness was already a bit blurry, obsessively repeating this word.
She wanted Zhou Qi’an’s heart.
Once she obtained the thing hidden in the other’s body, whether it was cracks or wounds, everything could be restored.
A flash of extreme disgust appeared in Shen Zhiyi’s eyes. His fingers tightened slightly, his strength controlled perfectly throughout the process. The half of the micro-carved pony’s body did not completely collapse but produced more fine cracks. His sharp nails further pierced the horse’s abdomen.
After creating three or four such collapses in succession, the micro-carved pony was riddled with holes.
The red light flashed ethereally and then completely disappeared. A figure appeared about two or three meters away.
The young man was almost kneeling on the ground, his long hair disheveled, his whole body soaked in sweat, and the corners of his clothes had burn marks from sparks.
“Brother Zhou…” The university student, who had been standing by, was originally prepared to use his healing skill at the cost of overdrawing himself, but the other’s condition was much better than he had imagined.
Zhou Qi’an did not respond to him for the time being.
Forced to watch a meteor shower in the relic world, his blue-tinged eyes were now seeing everything in a blur. After a brief pause, when he saw a blood-stained shadow swimming over, he knew that Shen Zhiyi and the others had arrived.
Finally regaining some strength, Zhou Qi’an first looked at his panel:
“Current progress 3/4.”
He was only one more relic appreciation away from gaining the right to purchase the cultural and creative products of the Xīshí Pavilion.
Then, he strenuously opened the fake relic catalog, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. The scraped palm had not yet healed. He used the blood to draw a diagonal line over the record of the Micro-carved Horse.
Another candidate for the leader of the Whalers’ Association had been eliminated.
Almost at the same time, Shen Zhiyi also came to his side, knelt on one knee to help him up, and frowned upon seeing the many scrapes on his fine white skin.
“I’m fine.” Compared to the previous few times he entered a relic world, this time was very smooth.
Before Zhou Qi’an could finish his sentence, his hand was grabbed.
He looked up in surprise.
Shen Zhiyi didn’t speak, using his finger as a pen, but this time it was stained with the blood of a Whalers’ Association member.
Holding Zhou Qi’an’s hand, Shen Zhiyi slowly drew lines over two other names: Gold Paper, Longevity Lock.
These were the relics transplanted by the two Whalers’ Association members they had just killed in the small town.
At this moment, their posture seemed overly intimate, yet in the eyes of outsiders, it was exceptionally harmonious.
Like the King of Hell calling the roll, and the fake relic catalog was the Book of Life and Death. Any relic whose name was crossed out with a bloodstain by them would be taken into the underworld by the King of Hell.
A red light erupted from the dense forest on the other side. Ying Yu’s side also had results. Shen Zhiyi only needed one look to judge the essence of the relic through the strange red light.
Lowering his head, he drew another red line on the small bronze pou.
On the side, Red Hood’s expression was a bit strange. She had previously joined others in laughing at the fake relic catalog Shen Zhiyi had drawn, at that time thinking it looked like maggots.
Now she couldn’t laugh anymore.
This was purely a death note.
Zhou Qi’an, on the contrary, grew to like this fake relic catalog more and more. The excitement in his eyes dyed them with a bloody light that only a villain would have, and the edges of his entire silhouette became sharp.
Red Hood couldn’t help but take another step back.
One was more dangerous than the other, fitting the four words ‘a match made in heaven.’
“Silver Needle, Iron Armor, Tooth Pendant, Imitation Jade Rice, Gilt Bronze Buckle, and the Divine Bird Golden Mask…” Zhou Qi’an looked at the remaining few relics and said, as if sighing, “These six precious lives, I wonder when they will pass away.”
The bloody light in his eyes suddenly intensified. “Which of these relics do you think the leader of the Whalers’ Association transplanted?”
Shen Zhiyi hadn’t specified just now. It seemed the extra fish they hooked today was not the association leader.
As if knowing what he was thinking, Shen Zhiyi spoke of what had happened in the small town: “We’ve locked down the general area of his residence, among the few courtyards at the end of the south road.”
From the place where Li Yún was intercepted, there were only seven or eight courtyards ahead. The game had imposed restrictions in this regard. When he tried further to obtain more information from the association member, he failed.
“Ying Yu tortured an extra piece of information out of him in the back mountain.”
Zhou Qi’an raised an eyebrow.
Are you sure it was Ying Yu who did the torturing?
Shen Zhiyi continued calmly, “Relics cannot arbitrarily change their residence courtyards.”
Zhou Qi’an had actually already guessed this rule. Otherwise, the sheep-headed man wouldn’t have needed to lead him to another courtyard to stay. He could have just had the young woman and the madwoman swap residences, which could have had unexpected effects.
“It’s a good thing he can’t easily change places. But searching one by one is too risky. We need to find a way to lock onto him directly.”
Shen Zhiyi nodded. “Don’t go exploring that area alone…”
He narrowed his eyes. “I vaguely sense some kind of restriction.”
The possibility that the Whalers’ Association had left some hidden trick could not be ruled out.
“What about the qualification to enter the database?”
Shen Zhiyi: “We got it. You can’t speak in Mo Town, but Ying Yu discovered that after taking the person to the back mountain to torture them, exposing the identity of the relic thief afterward can also trigger the hidden side quest.”
As they were talking, Ying Yu, whom Shen Zhiyi had described as enjoying torturing others, walked over, holding a small bronze pou less than two centimeters in size.
The small bronze pou was filled with flesh and blood. Like the micro-carved pony, it had been torn out, skin and all.
The hound was originally going to rush towards Yuan, who had finally come out of the relic world, but was once again held hostage by its superior halfway. The latter led the large dog to Ying Yu’s side and patted its shiny fur. “Leader, wipe your hands here.”
The hound: “…”
I’d rather die than work for this company!
Ying Yu calmly thanked him and declined, taking out a tissue from his own backpack.
The hound fled to its master.
Yuan patted the hound that rushed over. One of her sleeves was torn. If she hadn’t gotten out quickly, she probably would have lost an arm. Being pulled into another relic world the moment she came out of one, without the hound by her side, one could imagine how it felt.
But soon, her anger subsided.
They had already updated the Longevity Lock once before. With their current numbers, they could just finish updating the information for the remaining relics.
Zhou Qi’an also tilted his head back and bathed in the sunlight. “The numerical advantage is finally on my side!”
Indeed, if you live long enough in the game, anything can happen.
In the past, he had always won against superior numbers. Now… Shen Zhiyi’s fake relic catalog only counted the lost relics suitable for transplantation, which didn’t mean they were all members of the Whalers’ Association.
In other words, the Whalers’ Association, including their leader, had at most six members, and possibly even fewer.
And on their side…
Seven people and a dog!
Zhou Qi’an suddenly looked at Ying Yu and asked in a low voice, “Do you have a death-substitute item?”
Ying Yu nodded slightly. “I have one.”
Then it was eight people and a dog!
Zhou Qi’an: “Haha!”
“…”
·
Too much time had already been wasted on the small path. Amidst the strange laughter, the group set off again and, after a while, arrived at their destination smoothly.
Under the large tree outside the Silent Museum, the sheep-headed man was standing by the sheep cart.
Upon seeing Zhou Qi’an, the covetousness and regret in its eyes were undisguised. It had failed to take the other’s life last night, but it didn’t matter. Tonight, it would find another good place for the young man.
The university student couldn’t help but turn his head away.
His Brother Zhou always took revenge, but the sheep-headed man seemed invulnerable.
First, the sheep-headed man had no car.
Second, the sheep-headed man had no car.
In other aspects, players couldn’t inflict much harm on the staff either.
Being treated as food, Zhou Qi’an was surprisingly calm. He didn’t even spit, just walked past without looking.
This calmness gave those who knew him an ominous premonition.
As he stepped over the threshold, Yuan took the initiative to speak to distract Zhou Qi’an. “Now there’s one last question. What if the remaining members of the Whalers’ Association choose to lie low?”
Before, it was either a deliberate design to make the association members hidden among the players reveal themselves, or the other party actively came looking for them. Once these people temporarily held back, even if they grasped their weaknesses, they would have no place to use them.
Red Hood knew more about human nature and sneered, “Just wait. It would be strange if they could resist making a move.”
No one could bear sunk costs.
After losing so many members, if Zhou Qi’an smoothly passed the instance, they probably wouldn’t have a chance to do anything in the future.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Qi’an suddenly spoke, “No need to wait.”
He had been staring at the courtyard.
There were many players in the courtyard, most of them looking tired. Dealing with the floating corpses from the well at night was not an easy task. Zhou Qi’an’s gaze swept past them and finally stopped at the Ridie Pavilion in the center.
“Of the remaining six relics, which one do you think the leader of the Whalers’ Association is least likely to have transplanted?”
The others weren’t sure. In the end, only Shen Zhiyi and Ying Yu answered him, and their views were consistent: Iron Armor.
Zhou Qi’an clearly thought so too. “The armor is heavy, and long-term symbiosis would be a great burden on the body.”
In comparison, it wasn’t even as suitable for transplantation as He Yang’s wedding dress.
“I’m going to the Ridie Pavilion for a bit. I’ll see you at the data repository later. Don’t update the information on the Iron Armor yet.”
After saying that, he walked quickly towards the Ridie Pavilion.
Red Hood frowned. “What’s he going to the Ridie Pavilion for?”
The scope of subduing demons and monsters in the Ridie Pavilion did not include relics.
Shen Zhiyi looked in the direction Zhou Qi’an had left, seeming to have thought of something. A thoughtful look appeared in his eyes, which then turned into uncontrollable admiration.
“Let’s go to the data repository first.”
There was a ten-minute interval between updating each piece of relic information. It would take nearly an hour to update all of them.
The others didn’t waste too much time pondering Zhou Qi’an’s purpose. Anyway, everything would be explained when he returned.
…
Ridie Pavilion.
This was the first time Zhou Qi’an had come to this pavilion. Unlike the other two pavilions, the atmosphere inside was cold and solemn, naturally exuding a kind of majesty.
Since the requirement to visit this pavilion was to bring a relic to catch ghosts, players were not forcibly pulled in to visit before renting a relic. There were no screens set up in the pavilion, so one could approach and observe at will.
At a glance, many of the display cases were empty, having been rented out by the players in the courtyard. The remaining artifacts were of various types, from small and simple objects like wooden fish beads to rare items like the Vajra Demon-Subduing Pestle.
Zhou Qi’an looked at them one by one, from the first floor to the second, having seen almost every relic label. Finally, his footsteps stopped at an empty display area. Based on the area of the empty space, the exhibit that was once displayed here should have been a rather large relic.
Now, only the lonely relic introduction was left in the display area. The real exhibit was nowhere to be found, seemingly rented out.
“In the past few days, no one actually noticed the abnormality,” Zhou Qi’an shook his head.
Under normal circumstances, a player would not choose such a large item, as it was simply not convenient to carry.
A large relic not being in the pavilion was clearly not logical.
Standing here, Zhou Qi’an’s gaze fixed on the relic introduction, a smile playing on his lips. “Found it.”
[GJ-0041: Blood Coffin
The coffin of Zhao Mo, the Zhenbei King of the Zhao Kingdom. In X32 AD, Zhao Mo’s rebellion failed. The emperor made him wear a golden thread blood garment…]
He read it three times, not missing a single word, even more carefully than he had read any previous relic introduction.
After confirming that he had firmly memorized all the information on it, Zhou Qi’an slowly turned and left.
The moment he went downstairs, the unobstructed sunlight shone on this area.
On the surface of the relic label, the faint outline of a coffin appeared. The entire coffin was vaguely visible with iron chains and talisman papers, tightly wrapping the coffin itself. Under the sunlight, the dull label showed a hint of evil.
…
Data Repository.
Unlike the Ridie Pavilion, this was a special sealed space where sunlight could never enter. Only the dim light from computer screens illuminated a fan-shaped area.
The door of the data repository was opened again. The university student, who was about to enter a code, was stunned when he saw the person who came.
So fast?
He had thought Brother Zhou was going to commit murder and arson and would take some time to rendezvous.
Zhou Qi’an was neatly dressed, not even slightly out of breath, and walked over at a steady pace.
This state was enough to prove that he had really just strolled around the other pavilions and hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary.
As he walked, Zhou Qi’an said, “I’ll go first.”
The university student’s heart stirred.
Is it an illusion?
In the mottled light and shadow, the faint calculation hidden in his eyes, the slightly upturned corner of his mouth, it felt as if Brother Zhou was even more evil than the sheep-headed man this morning.
In a daze, Zhou Qi’an had already started entering the code. Since the code was very unfamiliar, the university student subconsciously asked, “Is this also a fake?”
Zhou Qi’an: “A real relic.”
Everyone around cast surprised gazes.
The university student was stunned. “Entering a real relic in the data repository, won’t that attract retaliation from the relic?”
Bloody words also popped up on the computer screen:
[Do you want to refresh the latest data for the relic?]
“Friendly reminder, if you misjudge, you will attract the relic’s retaliation. Please be careful!”
Zhou Qi’an hummed in agreement and pressed the enter key with a click.
[Update complete].
The others looked at him with very strange eyes. He really didn’t hesitate at all.
Only then did Zhou Qi’an answer the university student’s question, winking with rare playfulness. “The real relic can’t catch up for now, but it’s not certain later.”
As if echoing his words, a few minutes after the information was updated, there was no system warning sound, let alone any retaliation from the related relic.
The entire data repository, the desktop computer jumped back to the input interface.
Everything was calm.
As if nothing had happened.
At this point, Zhou Qi’an was completely convinced of his judgment.
At this moment, everyone also realized that the relic that had just been updated might be different from the other relics and had some kind of special feature.
The superior seemed to have thought of something and squinted at him.
Zhou Qi’an turned sideways to face the others first. “The number of opponents has been sharply reduced.”
He methodically stated his next plan, the words all pointing to one central theme: counterattack.
——————
The angle of the sun had shifted slightly.
The sheep-headed man felt something was not right. At this time yesterday, the museum was not this quiet.
Just in case, it prepared to go over and take a look.
But when the sheep-headed man reappeared in the courtyard, it only found Zhou Qi’an alone. None of his teammates were there. The latter was sitting alone by the well, his fine white hand skimming through the cool water, looking as if he were playing with fish in the water.
The sheep-headed man became vigilant, guarding by the well. Is he waiting to snatch the limited-edition copper coin?
But soon, its eyes could not move away from the young man’s chest.
Now that Zhou Qi’an was like a lone commander here, if he encountered a life-or-death crisis, it could totally find a way to pick up the pieces.
A thick, slightly barbed tongue licked its lips. The sheep-headed man kept its eyes on Zhou Qi’an. The thing hidden in this body, just its aura had a taste of being both real and illusory.
It couldn’t imagine how happy it would be if it obtained it.
Zhou Qi’an looked at his reflection in the water and silently pulled out a smile as well.
