Chapter 152

Chapter 152

The red rain in the virtual world continued to pour endlessly. This strange weather was unlikely to stop before the game ended.

Xi Yu walked along the small road of Yin Qiao Village with Ying Zhixing, feeling as though the game had been going on for a long time.

Although Luo Xi had already left and now he could only rely on himself, he didn’t feel nervous at all. Instead, he felt a long-lost sense of calm.

It was like when he first played games alone on livestream, simply wanting to win without too many attachments.

Ying Zhixing suddenly broke the silence: "If the streamers who died earlier are now disguised as paper figures, what would their weakness be?"

Xi Yu didn’t respond.

After walking for a while, Ying Zhixing rarely continued the conversation: "Right now, we don't even know who the losers are. Even if we find someone’s weakness, it’s hard to act on it."

Only then did Xi Yu speak with a startling statement: "Maybe just knowing who is who is enough."

Ying Zhixing turned around to look at him.

Xi Yu looked up, his brows slightly furrowed: "I think based on the game designers' previous patterns, the so-called weakness of the losers is that their name is called out correctly. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been disguised as paper figures to assassinate us."

Ying Zhixing thought for a moment, as if realizing something, and admitted, "Makes sense."

"But that’s not important. Right now, we just need to find a way to deal with the NPCs and leave. I don’t want to get too involved with anyone else, as long as they don’t bother me," Xi Yu replied.

Ying Zhixing nodded, wiping the rain off his face with his hand. His refined features remained cold: "You’re right. Let’s go back to the temple for now. Since we didn’t find any information at A Gu’s place, wandering around could lead to trouble. We’ll wait for Zi Ye to appear and try to get some quests from her. And by staying there, we can also prevent others from getting any information from her."

This person has become so talkative...

Xi Yu nodded: "Alright, the rule changes will definitely make many streamers anxious. Let them wear each other out first."

Having reached a consensus, the two highly capable individuals immediately changed direction and headed towards the unique building in Yin Qiao Village—the dilapidated temple.

Xi Yu silently watched Ying Zhixing’s back, his gaze growing increasingly complicated.

The taste of death was painful, but after experiencing it repeatedly, it was hard not to become numb to it.

Su Ziyan, who had been "burned" by Mu Yuan, appeared again on the streets of Yin Qiao Village, his heart still in shock.

This time, he was still a paper figure, but it felt a little different from before: the clumsy body of the paper figure seemed to have become a little lighter.

Although Su Ziyan usually seemed somewhat brainless, he was an old hand among the streamers. Naturally, he began to feel uneasy and instinctively found a place with a water basin to lower his head and look. To his shock, he discovered—his paper figure's hair color had become exactly the same as his own chestnut-colored hair.

Oh no, will I be recognized...

Su Ziyan’s heart raced, and he vaguely heard footsteps. He quickly hurried down the small road.

The dilapidated temple was filled with dust and cobwebs, with the ruined Buddha statues leaning this way and that, shrouded in darkness. The atmosphere matched the eerie Yin Qiao Village perfectly.

Xi Yu shook off the water from his body, unable to stay idle and began rummaging through the clutter around him.

Ying Zhixing glanced at him and said, "I’ve already searched here. There are only some cushions and Buddhist scriptures, nothing useful. We’re not going to start exorcising the demons in this ghostly place like monks, are we?"

Xi Yu smiled faintly: "Exorcising..."

Saying that, he moved a fallen table aside and saw the faded mural on the wall. For a moment, he seemed lost in thought.

The mural on the wall vividly depicted the Vajra Bodhisattva using a Vajra pestle to eliminate demons, though the golden paint outlining the figures had long since faded.

While lost in thought, Ying Zhixing suddenly hissed.

Xi Yu realized someone had appeared outside and quickly climbed up to the crossbeam of the dilapidated temple.

The person who had arrived was Mu Yuan.

Although there was no deep hatred between them, the adversarial relationship was impossible to change.

Xi Yu pressed his lips together.

Mu Yuan, despite his impulsive nature, was no fool. As soon as he stepped into the temple, he noticed the messy water stains on the ground and tightened his grip on the iron rod, scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes.

At the same time, Ying Zhixing gave Xi Yu a signal, indicating that they should attack this person.

Due to their brief alliance earlier and the great advantage in trapping Mu Yuan, Xi Yu bravely jumped down and immediately attacked Mu Yuan.

Mu Yuan, already on guard, swiftly retreated and swung his rod back fiercely.

The physical exhaustion caused by several days of the game hadn’t diminished their fighting spirit. The two had fought before, and within a short period, neither side gained the upper hand.

However, Xi Yu hadn’t expected that Ying Zhixing, who should have rushed to help him, would suddenly kick him hard from behind, knocking him to the ground.

He tumbled and rolled, but had no time to question this betrayal. He immediately understood that Ying Zhixing’s previous odd behavior was the reason for this.

It no longer mattered when Mu Yuan and Ying Zhixing had formed an alliance.

Regretting trusting others at this moment was useless.

Xi Yu, determined to survive, had no time for lingering battles. Instead, he swiftly sprinted towards the exit.

The two behind him weren’t slow either, and so the chase in the rainy night was especially intense.

Xi Yu used his clear memory of the map to climb walls and find paths, but he could still hear the relentless pursuit behind him. In a desperate moment, he saw A Gu's figure ahead!

This NPC was emitting a faint red glow, probably in a berserk state, looking even more terrifying than usual.

Xi Yu didn’t hesitate for a second, immediately charging forward and rushing past A Gu, who had suddenly turned around.

At that moment, A Gu locked eyes with Mu Yuan, who had caught up and immediately swung the knife in his hand!

Xi Yu looked back, seeing them being ruthlessly attacked by the NPC, and grabbed a wooden box from the roadside to throw it at Ying Zhixing.

Ying Zhixing dodged, but then "betrayed" and knocked down Mu Yuan before escaping amid the chaos.

[Streamer Mu Yuan was executed by A Gu, eliminated.]

[There are currently 9 players left.]

Xi Yu, fleeing in a panic, took refuge in the place where Zi Ye’s body was stored. The intense exercise made him unable to tell if the moisture on his skin was rain or sweat. His skin was hot, but his limbs were slightly trembling.

He had been too careless...

Still unsure of what exactly happened before, and not having seen Luo Xi leave the Yun Tai, this cursed place.

If everything were to be reset like this, it would be truly foolish.

Xi Yu lightly furrowed his brows, unable to spare any thought for Mu Yuan losing the game again in such a disgraceful manner. Instead, he finally came to understand, through Ying Zhixing's actions, the ruthless nature of the streamers.

It seemed that no matter how confident, calm, or briefly trusted they seemed, it didn't matter.

To survive, humans could do anything, even create artificial people.

Thinking of this, Xi Yu forced himself to calm down, turning back to look at the disfigured and terrifyingly abnormal female corpse.

Although Zi Ye in the game wasn't rotten, the appearance and smell were still difficult to endure.

Xi Yu wasn't sure what use this body still had, so he decided to strip off her wedding dress and various jewelry, planning to carefully examine them one by one.

To his surprise, Zi Ye’s body was covered in tattoos, and the designs were similar to the ones in the temple, resembling Buddhist Vajra illustrations of demon-subduing.

As Xi Yu was deep in thought, he also found two golden shards inside the wedding dress, identical to the items obtained from burning the paper man...

What are these?

They must have appeared after the rules changed, otherwise, Luo Xi should have found them earlier.

Xi Yu furrowed his brows and fiddled with the shards in his hand, noticing that they seemed to be part of a small object, though incomplete.

Could it be... that destroying more paper men disguised as streamers would continue to yield these shards, and they would be very useful?

Xi Yu was eager to leave the chaotic game that had started and decisively stood up, heading to the door to remove the lantern, which was on the verge of dying from the rain.

At that moment, the cruel broadcast rang again.

[Streamer Zhi Shan was found by Ying Zhixing’s weakness, eliminated.]

[There are now 8 players remaining.]

Ying Zhixing... Zhi Shan...

It seemed that his earlier guess was correct—calling out the name of the impersonator would disqualify them from the game.

This progress gave Xi Yu some relief. He took a deep breath and walked into the rain, holding the lantern.

The fewer the remaining players, the harder it was to encounter them in Yin Qiao Village.

Especially with the paper men in the dark and the surviving streamers in the open, danger could strike at any moment.

Xi Yu no longer trusted anyone, carefully observing the paper men along the way. He burned any that seemed suspicious but unfortunately didn’t find any more shards.

Just as he hurried along, a small paper man wearing a hat appeared around the corner.

It moved slowly, clumsily, and arrogantly.

It was no different from the other NPCs in Yin Qiao Village.

But Xi Yu noticed that the hair under this paper man’s hat was drawn with more detail than the others, and that familiar chestnut brown...

The paper man seemed unaware that it was being watched and continued to walk slowly forward.

Xi Yu: "Su..."

The paper man immediately stopped.

Xi Yu remained silent for two seconds before saying, "There are very few people who can win this game normally. In the end, there will likely be a voting round. Instead of wandering around, it’s better to find a safe place to hide."

The paper man stood there, still and unresponsive.

Xi Yu had already guessed its identity, but he didn't want to use Su Ziyan as a stepping stone for his own escape, so he sighed and prepared to leave.

"I just saw a paper man holding a knife. Its clothes are military green. It was wandering not far to the west." The paper man with the hat finally spoke.

Although the voice was unfamiliar, it could only be Su Ziyan, who was kind enough to give a warning.

Xi Yu's suspicion was further confirmed. Without saying more, he quickly rushed into the rain.

The paper man carefully adjusted its hat, trying to hide its noticeable chestnut-colored short hair. It looked pitiful.