Chapter 14

The fourth night is almost here—why is the situation still so unclear? Has everything already spun out of control without anyone noticing?

At dinner that day, nearly every player had these questions swirling in their minds.

Xiyu no longer observed others in secret like before. Instead, he sat upright at the dining table, eyes lowered, as still and quiet as if he didn’t exist.

Since he had just returned, Wu Zhi hadn’t had the chance to report the “good deed” he had done. Several times he opened his mouth to speak, but held back the urge to talk in front of everyone.

Luo Xi, seated nearby, noticed that Xiyu’s once fair and slender fingers were now covered in wounds. Guessing he must have taken some new action, Luo Xi—uncharacteristically—fell into deep thought.

As soon as the surveillance time began, Xiyu stood up to leave.

But the white cat appeared on the beam like a drifting mist and leapt down, saying coldly, “You all took barely any action today and made no progress. Madam is very displeased!”

Luo Xi chuckled, “If she’s so displeased, she might as well come deal with us herself. Why always send you to deliver the message?”

The white cat bared its fangs at him fiercely.

Fang Hao quickly tried to calm things down: “Esteemed Spirit Cat, does this mean we’re being punished…?”

The white cat suddenly gave a twisted smile. “Madam said the main problem lies with the warrior players, who’ve been completely useless. Were the poison and antidote sent here just for fun?!”

Everyone looked at each other, a sense of unease settling in.

The white cat strutted to the center of the room and said coldly, “To tell you the truth, two bottles of poison have already been buried in the earth.”

Wu Zhi blurted out, “He Yingqi’s antidote went to Brother Xiyu, so that means both Zhu Ge and Yao Chenna picked poison?”

The white cat’s blood-red eyes curved into a sinister arc. “Either way, there’s still poison among you.”

A heavy silence fell over the hall.

The white cat announced, “Madam has decided to give the warriors one more chance. From now on, a warrior player may place either poison into someone’s teacup to eliminate an enemy, or antidote into any cup to protect a friend.”

As the words fell, a cup of green matcha appeared in front of each of the nine players.

Fang Hao gave a dry laugh. “Do we… have to drink this?”

The white cat replied, “Of course not. But if you do, you may ask Madam one question of your choice—except questions about identities or the fate of the flower cards.”A tempting reward—but you have to risk your life for it?!

A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples; everyone’s heart was shaken, including Xiyu.

He frowned and calculated: Pretending to be poisoned on the first day was fake, but the antidote was real. Counting the two potions rendered useless by the deaths, there are still three potions left in play! And it’s possible that all of them are poison! The chance of getting poisoned… is terrifyingly high…

At the same time, Wu Zhi awkwardly said, “Brother Xiyu was poisoned once already… so that means there are two potions left now…”

Xiyu clenched his fist silently. His hand, already covered in wounds from over-digging, throbbed with pain. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he looked sternly at Wu Zhi: Everyone knows about Princess Bai’s passive skill—if anyone dies because of this, and Wu Zhi witnesses the death, he’ll faint until the end!

Warned by this, Wu Zhi seemed to realize it too, his expression turning timid: “C-can I not participate? I don’t want to poison anyone… I don’t know who to save…”

Fortunately, Madam didn’t intend to push Princess Bai to the brink. The spirit cat lazily flicked its tail and said, “Of course. If you don’t want to take part, get lost.”

Wu Zhi pretended to hesitate, but to his surprise, Tang Yanyan was even more timid—she muttered an apology and slipped away.

“Teacher, are you leaving?” Wu Zhi looked pleadingly at Fang Hao, since Fang Hao usually held pacifist views.

Unexpectedly, Fang Hao shook his head.

Wu Zhi turned to Sun Xiuya: “Xiuya, what about you?”

Sun Xiuya thought for a moment, then said awkwardly, “I’m not participating either.”

Wu Zhi quickly moved over and left the tense Qingming Hall with her.

The white cat seemed to really enjoy watching them struggle inwardly. After a moment of entertainment, it finally said, “Alright. Six brave players remain. You can now make your decision mentally about whether to place the potion. You have one minute to think.”

With three people gone, the number of potions in play became unpredictable. It was the longest minute ever.

Though no one’s expressions changed, and the matcha on the table remained untouched, everyone here had already witnessed this world’s bizarre powers—no one doubted that a cup might now contain deadly poison.

The white cat yawned. “The warriors have made their choices in their minds. The potions are in the tea. If anyone wants to drink, now’s the time.”

Sitting alone in a corner, Huasheng didn’t even hesitate—he picked up the cup and gulped the entire matcha down.

The white cat gave a flattering smile: “Decisive! Anyone else?”

Everyone looked around at each other, but no one spoke a word.Xiyu’s heart pounded like a drum, but his beautiful face remained as calm as ever. Eventually, he gave a faint smile, said nothing, and simply lifted the cup and took a sip.

Almost instantly, everything around him vanished, leaving behind complete and utter darkness.

Xiyu truly thought he had been poisoned. As he stood there stunned, a woman in bloodstained clothing with black hair appeared in the distance.

She had no pupils, her skin was pale and swollen, and the spot where she stood was soaked in gleaming blood—she was utterly terrifying.

Xiyu tried to speak: “Are you… Lady Mirror?”

A cold female voice replied: “What do you want to know?”

Xiyu stared at her for several seconds, then asked, “Lady Mirror, are you… afraid of snakes?”

“Go on, is it really just two people drinking?”

The white cat’s voice pierced into his ears.

Xiyu blinked, his consciousness slowly returning to Qingming Hall. He saw everyone staring intently at him and couldn’t help but smile.

Ren Bo frowned and asked suspiciously, “You saw the Lady too?”

Xiyu nodded.

Ren Bo clearly hesitated, then gripped his cup.

Of course, the temptation was huge—but the cost of drinking poisoned tea…

Luo Xi suddenly laughed too: “On second thought, forget it. I’m not exactly popular enough for this.”

With that, he stood up to leave.

Unexpectedly, Ren Bo made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and said, “I’ll drink!”

Naturally, everyone’s attention shifted to him.

As soon as he said it, Xiyu knew this man was likely a warrior—and currently holding a poison. Only then would someone as selfish and life-loving as Ren Bo be driven to take the risk. After all, in Ren Bo’s view, Xiyu had already used up one hidden poison on the first day, so the chance of him being poisoned again was quite low.

Luo Xi looked at the fool, wanting to say something but holding back. He tried to stop him: “Hey, just give it up if you’re not the charming type. How do you know someone didn’t poison you?”Ren Bo’s face was grim: “But I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough! I want to know where the demon blade is! I want to end this nightmare!”

As soon as he finished speaking, he confidently took a sip.

Xiyu silently stared at him.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Ren Bo swallowed the matcha. Just as a smile began to form at the corner of his mouth, it froze instantly.

The anxious onlooker Fang Hao immediately cried out, “Ren—Ren Bo—he’s been poisoned! Do any of you have the antidote?”

Sure enough, in that very instant, Ren Bo collapsed to the ground, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Clutching his throat, he gagged desperately, trying to crawl toward Luo Xi: “Big brother, save me—save me—”

Luo Xi frowned: “I’ve already used up all the medicine I had.”

Ren Bo’s eyes were bloodshot, and he screamed hoarsely: “I’m Black… Black side… help me…”

The others stood in place, their expressions varied—helpless, sympathetic—but no one moved as they watched him struggle pitifully on the floor, unable to think of anything to do.

Xiyu stood up nervously and said in a hoarse voice, “I don’t have an antidote either… but…”

He looked around: “If someone did drop an antidote, then it must be in the one cup of matcha that’s still left—give it to him quickly!”

The white cat had been yawning but suddenly received a cold glare from Huasheng. It immediately leapt up to block them: “What a joke. You think I’ll let you cheat like this? The game is over. Goodnight, everyone.”

As it spoke, all the teacups disappeared.

The players left behind in Qingming Hall had no choice but to silently watch as Ren Bo struggled for a long time on the floor, until blood poured from his orifices and he died.

At last, Luo Xi knelt on one knee with an emotionless expression. He gently closed Ren Bo’s lifeless, unblinking eyes and softly said, “I’m not surprised no one saved you. Human nature is inherently selfish. But you were far too naive—that’s where you failed.”

With that, he dragged Ren Bo’s corpse away.

Fang Hao stopped him: “Hey, what are you doing?”

Luo Xi: “Burying him. Or were you planning to keep him as a bed warmer?”

Fang Hao looked him over: “Ren Bo begged you to save him just now. He said he was on the Black side, so you—”

Luo Xi grinned, but his smile was cold: “What do you care if I’m Black or White? Try touching me and find out.”Fang Hao looked grim.

Luo Xi roughly shoved him aside and dragged Ren Bo’s corpse straight toward the courtyard.

Xiyu thought for a moment and softly said, “I’ll go help…”

With that, he too left Qingming Hall.

Tong Leshan stared at his tall, slender figure and said, “Did any of you notice that when Xiyu was poisoned before, it didn’t look quite the same as Ren Bo?”

“That’s because he drank less, and He Yingqi saved him quickly,” Fang Hao countered tiredly. “I’m exhausted. I need to go lie down for a bit.”

Tong Leshan didn’t say much more, only added, “We’ve lost another person. Who knows if things will still be balanced tomorrow…”

That blockhead Ren Bo was still shouting that he was on the Black side even as he died—probably wasn’t lying. Which means the next to be eliminated by the spirit of the samurai will be someone from the White side…

That hidden danger naturally made the White side anxious and uneasy.

As if to emphasize Ren Bo’s meaningless and tragic death, it began to rain blood from the sky again.

In the courtyard, Xiyu and Luo Xi silently dug into the earth with their bare hands, not caring at all about the cuts and bruises covering them.

Luo Xi took the initiative to comment, “What’s with all this misery? Feels like we’re grave robbing.”

Xiyu was startled, then looked up at him with clear, pure eyes.

Luo Xi smirked without saying more.

Xiyu always felt a bit awkward in front of him, like he was being completely seen through. That’s why now, he was also eager to see through Luo Xi, to steer the situation toward the outcome he hoped for.

Luo Xi placed Ren Bo’s body into the shallow pit they had dug together, then asked, “What did you ask the Madam about?”

Xiyu almost blurted it out, biting his lip hard to stop himself.

Luo Xi burst into loud laughter.

Xiyu certainly didn’t think that just because the other hadn’t shown any murderous intent for now, he was trustworthy. After a couple of coughs, he finally said, “I realized that skills—those kinds of things—you can more or less figure them out even without the flower cards. But some things still need to be confirmed with the Madam personally.”

Luo Xi: “So did you confirm them?”Xiyu: “Pretty much spot on.”

He never expected that at this moment, Luo Xi’s expression would suddenly change. In a flash, he grabbed Xiyu’s face with one hand and lifted him up, roughly trying to restrain his arms: “Then you’d better tell me. Otherwise, I won’t let you off.”

Xiyu instinctively struggled at once, and though his mouth was pried open by force, it didn’t obey him: “The Madam is afraid of snakes. Even if she died and became a ghost, she couldn’t defeat that snake. She and General Bai are from the same clan!”

Luo Xi let go, satisfied—only to be punched hard in the face by Xiyu the very next second, the blow so strong it sent him staggering several steps backward.

Xiyu spat harshly in the rain and glared fiercely at the man in front of him, his entire body tensed.

Luo Xi laughed again: “Not bad. Looks like you’ve had some training.”

“Brother, are you okay?!” Wu Zhi came running through the rain toward Xiyu. Clearly, he had never gone back to his room and had seen the clash between them.

Xiyu ignored Ren Bo’s corpse, withdrew his stance, shook his head, and left with Wu Zhi.

Wu Zhi shot a wary glance at Luo Xi and lowered his voice as they walked: “Why did you fight him? Be careful not to get hurt.”

Xiyu held back the surprise in his heart and didn’t say anything.

In truth, Luo Xi hadn’t used much force just now—just a clever move to pry open his mouth. It felt more like… the technique used to feed medicine to kittens or puppies?

But clearly, the other players who had witnessed the scene from the corridor didn’t see it that way.

Tang Yanyan and Sun Xiuya, who had long since retreated, were also standing under the eaves watching the rain. When they saw Xiyu approaching, they each moved away—clearly, they’d also witnessed the confrontation.

Xiyu ignored them.

It had been a fruitful day, and his mind was full of thoughts. Back in his room, he lay on the floor and dozed off.

He already knew he wouldn’t see the Madam pass by again tonight.

At dawn, Tong Leshan was jolted awake from a nightmare by a splash of cold water.

Startled, he opened his eyes wide, only to see the Black General kneeling by his bed, holding the empty cup that had been used as the “crime tool.” Only then did he relax a bit and grumble, “What is it now?”

“Since Wu Zhi says he’s the Black Princess, have him test Luo Xi,” the Black General said. “That man gives me a headache.”

Tong Leshan rubbed his eyes. “Luo Xi? He’s probably on our team, right? A warrior?”The Black General sneered: “Let’s see what Wu Zhi says.”

Tong Leshan looked conflicted: “But… haven’t you long suspected Fang Hao?”

The Black General replied, “I have my own way of dealing with Teacher Fang. Just follow my plan. I’m ending this game today.”

“Alright.” Tong Leshan rubbed his short hair, then suddenly widened his eyes: “Then I’m going to make a move. Since you’re so confident, it looks like there’s no need to wait until nightfall. Besides, she hasn’t shown up the past couple of days—you’ve been safe.”

The Black General lowered his gaze: “Act according to the situation. Follow my command in everything.”