Chapter 26

The guesthouse had few rooms, most of which Xi Yu had already observed, except for the boss's room.

The rules of the game were still unclear. Could there be crucial information hidden inside?

What role did the boss play in this game?

—After saying goodbye to Chef Wang, Xi Yu found himself standing in front of Lily’s door, staring at the copper lock, lost in thought.

Just as he was about to place his hand on it, a childish voice came from behind: "You can’t just barge in, the key is with her."

Xi Yu turned around to see it was A Lan. He crouched down, smiled, and seriously asked, "Why did you give money to Sister Lu for the crystal? Stealing from one person to give to another, what’s in it for you?"

A Lan’s clear eyes held no trace of falsehood: "Brother, what are you talking about?"

"What I’m talking about, you know very well." Xi Yu tried to reach out and pat his head. "Tell me why, and I’ll give you some pocket money."

Gold coins should be quite tempting in this world.

However, the once-friendly A Lan immediately dodged and tried to leave.

Xi Yu grabbed the child: "You didn’t succeed yesterday. Did you succeed today? Is your target still money deer today?"

A Lan couldn’t escape Xi Yu’s grip and was so frightened that he immediately burst into tears.

Xi Yu had no choice but to let go. When Aunt Qing hurried over, he looked innocent: "I don’t know what’s wrong with him, he suddenly started crying."

Aunt Qing’s concern for A Lan wasn’t fake. She immediately shielded him and apologized: "My son is still young and doesn’t understand. Please don’t mind, guest."

Xi Yu had no reaction, nodded, and left. When he reached the door, he glanced back.

A Lan shot him a resentful look, looking somewhat malicious.

That expression, almost like an adult’s, made Xi Yu feel an odd sense of unease.

Back in his room, Xi Yu sat at the desk, dipping his finger in water and drawing aimlessly on the small table.

Day 1:

Tour Guide → Zhou FangfangAunt Qing → Me

A Lan → Money Deer

Day 2:

Tour Guide → Wu Zhi

Chef → Me

...

At that time in the moving maze, it was the tour guide Xu Lei who intentionally had Zhou Fangfang hide the crystal, and after Zhou Fangfang died, the tour guide was in a great mood.

In addition, Aunt Qing and A Lan’s deliberate actions, their goals were very clear.

Unfortunately, today the system had a confidentiality requirement, and the situation became murky.

What is the motivation behind these NPC employees in the guesthouse working with the system to harm players? And how are the objectives assigned?

Xi Yu frowned, changing his position, and recalled the rules he had already found:

[Money is life]

[Those in the Rust City have no right to refuse the game]

[In the shadows of the night, the dawn of victory lies hidden]

Could it be that the NPCs are trying to obtain the gold coins from the players? Is it the greedy shopkeeper who drives them to do bad things?

And… what is the purpose of the night watchman?

Thinking of this, Xi Yu knew that he absolutely had to investigate at midnight, when the first clue to the mystery would surely be revealed.

As he was lost in thought, without warning, a fat cat with wings fell into the room.

Not only did the cat’s cute appearance clash with its surroundings, but even the game environment came to a complete standstill because of it.

Xi Yu cautiously grabbed the cup on the desk: "You..."The fat cat patted its body and, hands on its hips, said smugly: "To the test broadcaster Xi Yu, nice to meet you. I am the Cloud Platform Messenger."

Xi Yu frowned: "Messenger?"

The fat cat answered as if reciting: "Due to your outstanding performance, you have impressed the audience watching the live stream. They personally paid to send you gifts, please check them out."

Gifts?

While Xi Yu was still in a daze, the fat cat conjured up a small purple bowl-shaped flower out of nowhere and placed it on the table. Then another, and another... Soon, the narrow wooden table was piled high with glowing purple flowers.

It sighed softly and wiggled its chubby mouth: "My mission is complete! I wish you good luck in the game."

With that, the fat cat vanished in an instant, and the stillness in the bedroom returned to normal.

???!

Xi Yu stared blankly at the countless ominous flowers before him, and after two seconds, he noticed that each bundle had a note attached to it.

After picking them up to read, he was even more bewildered.

— By order of Sister Rabbit, specially here to throw flowers!

— I envy you for having Sister Rabbit as your master, I’m a lemon essence! Eating my own wind bell grass!

— Little brother, marry me?

— Sister Rabbit wants to give you wind bell grass, giggle...

— Gift: A bunch of wind bell grass

...

It seems these flowers appeared because of Xu Tu?

Although the messages were mostly nonsense, there must be a reason for her doing this.

The phrase "I’m a lemon essence, eating my own wind bell grass" suddenly reminded Xi Yu.

In that moment, his mind flashed, and he realized something. He stood up with cold sweat on his forehead: The flower on the card was just like this, called the wind bell grass. According to records, the god of the wind bell grass first appeared in Greek mythology and was beloved by the sun god Apollo. The jealous West Wind threw a disc at the wind bell grass' head, and the blood spilled onto the ground before these little flowers bloomed. That’s why the wind bell grass has a very special flower language—jealousy.The English word for jealousy is "Envy," and its first letter is E, which corresponds to the blood-red characters on the card!

The item being sold by the chef today allows players to exchange others' high scores, and it is based on this feeling of envy!

With this in mind, let's look back at what happened on the first day: the fortune-telling result was a chest with the blood-red character 'G', the number of treasures was limited, and the distribution was difficult to balance. The person who obtained the treasure didn't care about the others who didn’t get anything, which could be described as selfish and greedy. If I'm not mistaken, the 'G' should represent the English word 'Greed,' right?

Therefore, following this line of thought, we can reinterpret the fortune-telling card. The real danger to the players isn't the crystal or the wind bell grass, but human nature's flaws!

The more Xi Yu thought about it, the more he felt he was right, but he also started to feel anxious: no one is perfect, everyone has an Achilles' heel. How virtuous does a broadcaster need to be to win this game?

It seems that the next few days will require even more caution, rejecting all temptations!

He took a deep breath and then looked at the brilliant wind bell grasses. Suddenly, he had a rare mischievous thought. He quickly tore off all the notes from the audience, then, holding the flowers, threw them at Zhao Zhusheng's door.

As expected, Zhao Zhusheng, who had finally left his room before dinner, immediately became enraged in the hallway and had a big argument with Aunt Qing and the others. Xi Yu, who was hiding behind the door, found it incredibly amusing.

At dinner time, the atmosphere was tense, and the only sounds in the dimly lit living room were the clinking of dishes and cups.

Xi Yu’s thoughts had made clear progress. He didn't choose to coldly watch, but instead deliberately prompted: "Don’t you think something’s strange?"

The three players, who were struggling to eat, stole glances at him.

Xi Yu smiled: "The rules of 'Bloody Demon Blade' were very clear back then, but now, with the game almost halfway through, everyone is still confused."

Qian Lu scoffed: "Not everyone is confused. Can you swear that you're absolutely honest with us?"

Xi Yu raised an eyebrow at her.

"You can’t, no one can," Qian Lu smirked. "So why say useless things? Everyone has their own little plans, and the more innocent you are, the more likely you’ll be the next Zhou Fangfang."

"But this game is about scores," Xi Yu had a bad premonition about her, and said seriously, "I believe that so far, we all have the same score."

Qian Lu: "I don’t think so. Who knows how many points you three got in the two days you were out?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Zhi became angry again: "Hey, how come you’re always so annoying? You clearly don’t want to leave the guesthouse, but make it look like we betrayed you!"

"We weren’t even companions in the first place, so there’s no betrayal," Qian Lu remained indifferent.

Xi Yu looked into her eyes: "At this point, you should know who we need to watch out for."He said, and his gaze drifted toward the NPC dining table next door.

Qian Lu took a sip of water, showing no reaction.

Xi Yu: "Don't agree to any of their requests."

"Hey, she doesn’t listen to anyone, why bother saying so much? We don’t have an obligation to tell her how many points we got," Zhao Zhusheng replied impatiently. "Hurry up and eat, get some rest."

This indifference angered Qian Lu: "What are you three trying to persuade me to do? Zhou Fangfang is out, and now you’re targeting me?"

"No such thing," Xi Yu set his spoon down. "I’m done eating. You all do as you please."

After saying that, he left the living room first.

Qian Lu, fuming, stayed seated with a sour expression, glaring at Zhao Zhusheng. "What are you looking at? Don’t think I don’t know that your room is full of those creepy flowers. You’re doomed!"

To Qian Lu’s disappointment, it wasn’t Zhao Zhusheng who died that night, but herself.

When the incident happened, Xi Yu stood by the door, listening to the sounds of the army ants chewing, the gunshots, and Qian Lu’s agonized screams before her tragic death. His heart was conflicted with mixed emotions.

It seemed that Qian Lu had been so worried about being surpassed by other broadcaster players in score that she had been deceived into buying the dice. And the dice must have had some tangible reaction, making her unwavering in her decision.

Why did the system deceive the players like this?

After all, new broadcasters who had gone through "Bloody Demon Blade" would treat the system’s voice as an imperial decree.

Who knows what temptation tomorrow's fortune-telling card will hint at?

After the corridor fell silent, Xi Yu slowly sat back down by the bed, waiting for the night watchman from the dark depths.

At midnight, a loud knock echoed.

Suddenly waking, Xi Yu immediately opened the door upon hearing the familiar voice and said, "Today, can I still accompany you for a drink?"

The night watchman’s hideous head swayed, and he grinned widely, saying, "Of course, let’s have a drink together! Young man, let’s go."

Xi Yu took a deep breath, bracing himself, and stepped out into the pure black void outside the door.

This space had no direction; the only guide was the night watchman holding the flashlight.Fortunately, they hadn't walked for more than five minutes when a dilapidated cave appeared ahead of them, surrounded by army ants and the remains of humans. Apart from that, there were piles of shimmering gold coins, as large as small mountains!

The night watchman moved steadily, muttering, "It's right there."

Xi Yu paid close attention to the appearance of the gold coins, trying his best to endure the strange, foul stench coming from him, and asked, "Why didn’t you ask me to drink on the first night, but only started from the second night?"

The night watchman replied, "That day, I drank too much..."

"Oh? Who drank with you?" Xi Yu asked further.

The night watchman said, "Someone like you."

The weight of this information was overwhelming, and Xi Yu’s head buzzed. He asked, incredulously, "Do you mean, you can only drink five cups of alcohol each night?"

The night watchman laughed, "That's right. It’s because my alcohol is too strong."

Now it made sense.

Anger rose uncontrollably in Xi Yu’s chest. He silently followed the night watchman to a table near the cave entrance and sat down, speaking softly, "Coming here with you, it can’t be just about drinking, right?"

"Of course, let's do something interesting first." The night watchman bent down with difficulty, scooping up a large handful of gold coins from the ground. Showing his blood-soaked teeth, he asked, "Young man, how about we gamble?"

Xi Yu wasn't surprised at all. His bright eyes locked onto the night watchman’s dark, hollow ones. "How do we gamble?"

"You give me two garis and bet on a companion's name." The night watchman played with the coins, seemingly enjoying their clinking sound. "If that person dies tomorrow, I’ll not only return the two garis to you, but I’ll also give you two more."

Xi Yu pressed his lips together, his fists clenched tightly under the table.

The night watchman continued, "Of course, the winning player will also receive an additional 5 points."

So this was the way to earn points and make money. Xi Yu finally spoke up: "Can I bet on anyone like me?"

"Yes, as long as no one else has placed a bet on them." The night watchman’s voice sounded like a death knell. "Who do you plan to bet on? Wu Zhi? Or Zhao Zhusheng?"

"I'll bet on—" Xi Yu said with displeasure, "Xu Lei."

The night watchman fell silent for a moment. "Really?"

"Is that a problem? Actually, those five people are players, right? Your words have already hinted at the truth," Xi Yu said. "You only drink five cups of alcohol, which means you bring five people to gamble. The reason the first night was fully booked was because of those five pretending to be NPCs. On the second night, since we were down to only four people, they didn’t want to bet on the same partner and break the illusion. So, one person must have not placed a bet, which is why you came to us. Unfortunately, although Zhao Zhusheng and I opened the door for you, we didn’t come along with you."The night watchman laughed loudly after hearing that, his laughter deafening, and after a while, he responded, "Alright, then bet on Xu Lei. This will bring new changes to the game."

"You should be happy that I'm betting on her, right? She killed Zhou Fangfang, and she has a lot of money on her. If I win, most of it will be yours." Xi Yu suddenly darkened his face and said loudly, "But why is it so unfair?!"

The night watchman said something contradictory: "There's nothing unfair about it. Nothing in this world is fair."

Xi Yu fell silent, taking out two gold coins from his pocket and giving them to him.

The night watchman took them with pleasure and instructed, "Listen carefully, you can't use violence to kill your target. You can only follow the death omen from the fortune card. Any other causes of death don’t count."

Xi Yu frowned: "Those fake NPCs are already familiar with the routine. The hints from the fortune card are so obvious, and when the time comes, everyone will just ignore each other, right? Won’t it become a deadlock?"

"I told you, if you bet on Xu Lei, the game will change," the night watchman said, taking out a large glass bottle and pouring two cups of scarlet wine. "Here, let’s drink, and the bet is now official."

Xi Yu saw the severed limbs of huge ants floating inside the glass bottle, and he felt disgusted. But at that moment, his desire for revenge was stronger than anything else, and he immediately grabbed the cup and drank it in one gulp.

The spicy liquor burned down his throat, and a system notification rang.

[Streamer Xi Yu, score accumulated 4, remaining 6 garis.]

Just two seconds later, Xi Yu felt light-headed and dizzy, collapsing onto the table.

When he woke up again, he was safely back in his room, seemingly after a night had passed.

Xi Yu hesitated, sitting up from the bed, rubbing his aching temples, and took out the six remaining gold coins from his pocket, confirming that last night had not been a dream.

He then thought again about how the five fake NPCs had toyed with him, and immediately got up, rushing out of the room and slapping the doors of Wu Zhi and Zhao Zhusheng.

No one could take responsibility for Qian Lu. After several reminders, they had done all they could.

The three of them didn’t care that her body was still warm, and gathered in Wu Zhi’s room to lay everything out.

Wu Zhi was the first to express his anger: "So that’s what happened, but... where did the company find those five strange-looking streamers to fool us? And there were even kids?"

"The appearance of the artificial humans isn’t difficult to control. Maybe they thought it would be more interesting this way," Zhao Zhusheng clicked his tongue. "I was careless."

Xi Yu looked at his eyes: "Who set you up yesterday?"

Zhao Zhusheng replied, "The one carrying the tray, Lin Ye.""Looks like the ones winning money off Qian Lu are either Qing Yi or A Lan. They're partners," Xi Yu said. "Tonight, you guys need to go gamble, and try to get Qing Yi away from that kid."

"Isn't that too cruel..." Wu Zhi said, unable to bear it.

"Wake up. From the company's perspective, A Lan probably just has the appearance of a child, but his intelligence might be even higher than yours," Zhao Zhusheng sneered. "Let me handle them."

"Mm," Xi Yu said. "From now on, there are still two nights to gamble. The three of us don't need to target each other for now; in fact, it's worth supporting each other. Understand?"

Wu Zhi nodded. "Got it. So... next we just pretend we don't know anything?"

Xi Yu replied, "We can't pretend. The night watchman clearly hinted at me twice that the game rules will change, so they must have realized they were exposed. We just need to keep our attitudes ambiguous, and never trust any easy money that falls from the sky."

Zhao Zhusheng snickered. "Got it. After we check the fortune cards, we can rethink our strategy. I want these scammers to pay for their deceit."

"Our funds are limited, and their funds are probably also limited. The money they lost can't be reclaimed, so most of the fake NPCs should already be strapped for cash," Xi Yu nodded and added, "Earlier, I couldn't figure out the situation, so I didn't recklessly buy the store owner’s items. Today, we can study it a bit."

Wu Zhi pounded his chest. "Leave it to me. I'm willing to pay!"

After Xi Yu stepped out of his bedroom, he instinctively peeked out and noticed there were only three wind chimes left. He thought of something, suddenly abandoning the other two and rushing toward the employee passage. Sure enough, a wind chime had also appeared in front of Xu Lei's door!

It turned out that these things were markers.

Xi Yu instinctively took the wind chime off, intending to take it with him. But after just two steps, the wind chime gently vanished from his hand and reappeared in front of Xu Lei's door.

He sighed inwardly, realizing the system didn’t allow him to hide information, and had no choice but to give up.

At the same time, Xi Yu heard the faint sound of someone preparing breakfast. He decided to walk into the kitchen and test things out. "Brother Wang, I regret it. I want to buy that dice."

The chef, who was serving porridge, was momentarily stunned, then looked up in confusion. "What dice?"

"The one you showed me yesterday. Didn't you say if I regretted it, I could come find you?" Xi Yu acted innocent.

The chef, losing patience, slammed the spoon into the pot. "I don’t know what you're talking about. We're about to eat. Go find the store manager if you want to buy something."

... Truly impressive acting skills. The chef obviously wouldn’t give up the two garis for the dice. It seemed the dice really was an item that appeared because of the fortune cards, and it had already expired today.

Would he, who also placed a bet, receive a hint too?

Xi Yu thought to himself, and as soon as he returned to the living room, he saw Zhao Zhusheng and Wu Zhi gathered around the store owner, Lily, looking at her shelf of disgusting products.Lily greeted them with a smile: "Guests, did you sleep well?"

"Not bad," Xi Yu asked. "What are you interested in?"

"I want to buy this! I just found it!" Wu Zhi excitedly whispered, "Prophecy fish bait!"

Xi Yu frowned as he looked at the test tube bottle he held up. Inside, a bunch of wrinkled pink worms were swimming, creating a rather disturbing visual.

Lily cleared her throat. "Exclusive formula, it can attract prophecy fish."

"Really?" Zhao Zhusheng said. "Looks like just a scam. Don't waste your money."

Lily shrugged.

Xi Yu looked it over for a moment, then unexpectedly asked, "How much?"

Lily showed her fang-like teeth. "Two garis each!"

Xi Yu smiled. "Alright, I'll buy one. I'll try my luck again today."

For the first time, Wu Zhi received Xi Yu's support, immediately jumping in, "I'll buy one too!"

Lily reached out to take the four gold coins, then turned and poured the bait into small bottles for them.

Xi Yu leaned closer. "Store manager, you finally made a sale. Aren't you happy?"

Lily blinked her red eyes. "I'm happy."

With that, she handed them the prophecy worms and went back to the counter to nap.

Zhao Zhusheng gave the two "partners" a disdainful glance and whispered, "Don't forget—money is life. You only have four coins left, right?"

Xi Yu calmly replied, "I believe every part of the game is useful. I've chosen to invest."

"Actually," Zhao Zhusheng continued, getting more ominous, "if we kill everyone else and wait until the fifth day, we could easily win."

"The night watchman warned against violent killings. I don't think that's a joke. If you want to test if the system has penalties, I will choose to defend myself," Xi Yu said in a low voice, then led Wu Zhi to the dining table to sit down.

It was time for breakfast.The waiter, Lin Ye, appeared with a nervous expression, carrying a tray, and placed the extremely unappetizing food on the table one by one, not daring to make eye contact with anyone.

Now, the real battle after the exposure of identities had truly begun.

Xi Yu, as usual, remained calm and composed. He looked up and smiled at Lin Ye: "Where's Director Xu? We still want to go fishing today."