Chapter 131

Chapter 131

Yin Qiao Village seemed to be inhabited by many paper people, but those fragile things that could catch fire with just a spark could never truly occupy this strange world.

In the depths of the night, a tall broadcaster carrying a burlap sack walked into a civilian’s basement, almost like entering an abandoned place. He kicked aside the broken boxes and old sewing machines scattered around before heavily setting the sack down.

Faint cries came from the bag.

The broadcaster crouched down, untying the sack and looked inside at Fei Ling, who had already cried out of fear. "Let you get some fresh air. It’d be bad if you suffocated."

Fei Ling's large, watery eyes were full of fear, seemingly unable to understand why this person had chosen to bully her.

In reality, this broadcaster was not the beautiful woman she appeared to be. His name was Wang Lou, and he had reached expert status on the Yun Tai platform. He was on good terms with Mu Yuan, but since entering the instance, he had always kept a low profile and thus hadn’t attracted much attention.

He grinned maliciously, "You're angry, right? But you're one of the weakest opponents here. Although the system doesn't allow us to kill each other, kidnapping you and making sure you can't complete your mission isn’t against the rules. The person who doesn't make that red dress tonight is going to die."

Fei Ling had already been alone and struggling to hold on, with little confidence left. Hearing this, she became even more desperate and terrified, crying even more pitifully.

Wang Lou pulled the shroud tied to her body and mockingly said, "Or maybe, what would happen if I burned this thing?"

Fei Ling's eyes widened instantly, and she desperately shook her head.

Wang Lou took out a box of matches from somewhere, and without hesitation, tossed one onto the shroud. Unfortunately, the tiny flame went out as soon as it touched the fabric, doing no damage at all.

He couldn’t help but click his tongue, "With props protecting it, this is really boring."

Fei Ling sobbed and even squirmed on the ground, begging.

Wang Lou remained unmoved. "I’m doing this for your own good. Do you think you’ll become the chosen one? That’s impossible. So, it’s better to quit now than to live in fear every day, right?"

With that, he stood up and left the basement without a second thought.

As the area fell completely silent, Fei Ling stopped crying. She squinted towards the direction where Wang Lou had left, her eyes filled with anger and defiance. Fortunately, she didn’t just wait to die. Instead, she crawled pitifully toward the staircase, no longer maintaining the cute idol image she usually had.

Controlling emotions wasn’t easy, but for someone like Xi Yu, who had long since given up hope, it was nothing too difficult.

He had already figured out how to see the paper people, and finally found a dozing "uncle" at a run-down newsstand by the side of the road. He immediately approached and asked, "Excuse me, do you know where the bodies are stored in Yin Qiao Village?"

The paper person was startled by his words. "W-what? B-bodies?!"

Xi Yu calmly nodded, "For candidates like us, if we die, where would the elder of the withered wood tribe put us?"

The paper person’s amusing features trembled. "This…"

Xi Yu acted pitiful, "Please tell me. It's very important."

Maybe his feminine appearance was too persuasive, as the paper person hesitated and, with stiff fingers, pointed in a direction. "Normally, they are temporarily stored in the body storage room to the north of the village, guarded by Xiao Gu, but they'll be dealt with soon…"

"Xiao Gu?" Xi Yu recalled the young man with the long knife and softly said, "As expected, a dangerous person."

Luo Xi remained calm. "It's fine. I’ll distract him. Since there’s someone named Ziye in the plot, she’s probably still there. But if we’re too late, it might be too late."

Xi Yu nodded and thanked the paper person before leading the way.

Luo Xi’s gaze darkened with a hint of surprise. He followed and asked, "What’s wrong? Why are you encountering paper people so frequently? Are you troubled?"

Xi Yu looked at him in surprise, then laughed, "Just thinking about troubles. Who doesn’t have troubles?"Luo Xi remained silent.

Su Ziyan, watching from the side, urged, "Keep talking, this is getting interesting. You two seem to be having fun."

Luo Xi didn’t hesitate to kick him lightly, probably aiming for his backside, and said, "Keep talking and you’re on your own!"

Su Ziyan stopped his chatter and muttered softly, "This promotion match is so bizarre. So far, no one’s even dared to dye any clothes, right? What are the viewers even watching?"

"The calmer it is, the more we need to be alert. Once it explodes, it might be more than you can handle," Xi Yu said, lowering his eyes. "No matter how the game is designed, what ultimately attracts the viewers is still conspiracy and fear. The Yun Tai planners are no different."

Strangely, his sarcasm did not trigger a system warning.

Luo Xi immediately chimed in, "Exactly, those damn planners. I hope I get to design a game for them one day."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the merciless broadcast announcement rang out.

[Anchor Luo Xi, please stop making dangerous statements. This segment will not be broadcast.]

While Luo Xi was deliberately playing with fire, other broadcasters were still running around trying to deal with the burnt Yin Yang Tree.

Ma Ruofei, who hadn’t had time to check the situation, was casually flipping through his "Silk Dyeing Method" while anxiously searching for clues. Suddenly, he spotted two small paper people crying and holding their heads in front of a house.

He cautiously approached, "What happened?"

One small paper person sobbed, "Bad people broke into our home."

The other cried, "They even broke the furniture!"

Ma Ruofei hesitated, "What bad people? Are they still here?"

The small paper person pointed to a cement house nearby. "In the basement, we didn’t dare go in!"

The ominous nature of the situation piqued Ma Ruofei’s curiosity. Since the Yin Yang Tree had turned to ash, he figured it was worth checking out for any unexpected encounters. "It’s fine, I’ll take care of it."

He then steeled himself and entered the pitch-black house, fumbling his way to the cramped basement. Using brute force, he managed to pry open the rusted lock.

To his surprise, the person he encountered was none other than the young idol Fei Ling, desperately trying to break down the door.

Ma Ruofei was stunned, "What happened to you?"

Fei Ling's mouth was gagged, but as soon as he helped her, she immediately sobbed and explained what Wang Lou had done.

Although Ma Ruofei wasn’t the type to spread good will, he had managed to survive this long, so he had some skill. He was somewhat disgusted by Wang Lou's bullying of a cute girl and thought Fei Ling was overestimating herself by signing up for the competition. With a slight snort, he said, "Crying won’t help. You should’ve been more careful."

Fei Ling rubbed her sore wrists and frowned as she stood up. "…I admit it. Thank you for saving me."

"No need for thanks. I only came because I didn’t have time to see the Yin Yang Tree," Ma Ruofei raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any clues? I feel like an idiot after playing this long."

Fei Ling shook her head and then proactively said, "But I can take you to ask Ying Zhixing. He’s still pretty kind."

Ma Ruofei almost choked on his own saliva. "…I’d rather go beg Luo Xi."

Fei Ling smiled bitterly, blinking her tear-stained eyes. "How did you find me?"Ma Ruofei shrugged and said, "You’re lucky, if you had run into Mu Yuan, he’d probably just watch and enjoy the spectacle, encouraging NC to handle you."

Fei Ling fell silent for a moment before suddenly having a flash of insight. "Even though the Yin Yang Tree was burned, those paper people must still know what it is. I'll go ask them."

With that, she staggered off.

The two poor little paper people were still crying at the same spot. Upon seeing Fei Ling rush out, they quickly helped each other and moved far away in fear.

Fei Ling awkwardly and cautiously approached them. "Don’t be nervous. It was that person who ruined your home. I was kidnapped too. I won’t hurt you."

The little paper people sniffled together, staying silent.

Fei Ling searched her body and finally pulled out a gift from her fans—fruit candy, and slowly offered it to them. "This is for you. I just want to ask one question..."

The paper people, mimicking children, hesitated for a long time before being moved. The slightly bolder one moved its eye, which was casually drawn on its face. "What’s the question?"

Fei Ling asked, "What color is the Yin Yang Tree?"

The little paper person answered quickly, "Red."

Fei Ling pressed further, "What kind of red?"

The paper person thought for a moment. "Blood-red, a bright red."

Ma Ruofei, who had been listening from behind, wasn’t very interested. "You can’t really explain this to them. There’s plenty of fuel in this village, and the color can change in many ways. It’s like the lipstick you girls use. How could two little paper people understand?"

Fei Ling hesitated, "So, what should we do?"

Ma Ruofei thought for a moment and said, "It’s better to find an ally you can trust. My brother worked with Luo Xi and the others before. They’re reliable."

Fei Ling didn’t dare bring up their past disagreements, but after a while, she nodded. "That… sounds okay, but it’s best if we can find additional clues. Exchange of benefits is more reliable than anything."

Ma Ruofei didn’t expect this delicate female broadcaster to have a rational side. He shrugged and said, "Right, let’s leave here first."

Fei Ling handed the fruit candy to the two little paper people and quickly left with him.

The little paper people looked at each other and forced a stiff smile.

Meanwhile, Xi Yu had already found the legendary corpse storage room.

It was just a simple, shabby courtyard with old furniture covered in dust. The room inside was equally eerie and dark, making it hard to see what was there.

Luo Xi squatted on the wall and said, "That A Gu isn’t here. There’s probably some other trouble in Yinqiao Village. He’s off playing the world police."

Xi Yu curled the corner of his mouth and led Su Ziyan bravely into the room, directly entering the inner chamber. Upon smelling the stench of decay, he quickly called out, "Come quick, there’s a female corpse!"

Luo Xi followed closely behind and entered the room, where he indeed saw a broken coffin.

He peeked inside and saw a pale, swollen woman lying there. She was indeed wearing a wedding dress, but all sense of beauty was gone.

Xi Yu casually tied his long silver hair, extended his slender finger, and lifted the woman’s dress. Then, he sniffed lightly and said softly, "Notice anything? It’s too strong."

Su Ziyan, panicked, exclaimed, "Yes! The smell of blood!"

Xi Yu shook his head. "No, besides that, there’s a fragrance... but I can’t tell what it is."Su Ziyan sighed, "Ah, if only there was a real girl here."

Luo Xi didn’t consult them and directly picked up the female corpse.

Su Ziyan, who really disliked dead bodies, immediately moved far away. "Luo Ge, what are you doing?!"

Luo Xi said matter-of-factly, "This is hard evidence we found with difficulty. Do you expect me to leave it for someone else?"

Su Ziyan responded, "But this evidence is a bit too big, don’t tell me you’re going to tuck it in your pocket?"

Xi Yu thought for a moment and said, "Bury it."

"..." Su Ziyan muttered, facing the two who never back down from their actions, "You guys really are cut from the same cloth..."