Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The safe house always had a warm atmosphere. The little lion was curled up among the food, purring as it napped, making it easy to grow drowsy and forget the danger outside.

But Xi Yu was not someone who went with the flow. Even if he could be protected, he preferred to take risks and win through them.

So, once inside, Xi Yu wasted no time. He lifted his blood-soaked clothes and used clean water to wash his festering, blurred wound. Then he tore strips from the bedsheet and wrapped them tightly around his waist, again and again, using all his strength to ensure the wound wouldn’t split open.

Although his condition clearly wasn’t suited for any vigorous activity, leaving Luo Xi out there alone just felt too selfish.

He took a deep breath, went to the table, hurriedly drank a bowl of porridge, and then abruptly trapped the little lion under a bowl before flinging the door open and leaving.

The exit of the safe house was at the end of the second-floor corridor.

There was no light here at all. The deathly silence in the dark felt like paper—poke it lightly, and it would tear.

Xi Yu pressed his ear against the wall. Only after confirming there were no sounds nearby did he carefully begin to move.

There were very few players left alive now. If someone triggered a game that required more participants, it would bring everyone together.

So he wasn’t worried about not finding Luo Xi. He was more anxious about the one hiding in the dark waiting to ambush him.

This sudden appearance was meant to use up that final ambush and avoid further uncertainty.

To ensure he’d be ready for any sudden attack without panicking, Xi Yu picked out a piece of wood with nails from the trash and quietly followed a passing oversized clown doll, trying to avoid running headlong into that ghostly nun with monstrous strength.

—That thing belonged to Wu Junhong. Could he be nearby?

Before Xi Yu could think further, a familiar force suddenly yanked him up—and in an instant, he was transported to another dimension!

In the activity room shrouded in black mist, books and toys were scattered everywhere, as if children had just been playing there a moment ago, only to vanish the next.

Four players were already gathered in the game room—You Xue, Du Li, Wu Junhong, and Luo Xi were in the corner, facing a little boy NPC covered in colorful stains.

Xi Yu’s sudden appearance clearly caught them off guard.

Luo Xi rushed over first. “Do you really have to hit the wall before you’ll listen to my advice?”

Xi Yu supported his wound and stood up, speaking softly. “I’ve done a basic patch-up and replenished some energy. After all, expecting you alone to beat two people using fragments is pretty much impossible.”

It was already the fourth night, and between them, they’d only collected four fragments—so his words were simply the truth.They could only blame themselves for wasting so much time the past two nights, getting too caught up in the spectacle.

Luo Xi sighed helplessly and led Xi Yu back to the little boy. “All five of us are here. What do we need to do? What’s the reward?”

The little boy pulled out four gemstones from his overalls. “I have lots of them!”

Five people—only four gemstones?!

Luo Xi blinked, feeling like his luck had suddenly turned around.

“Hehe, let’s play a game of passing notes,” the little boy said, wiping the paint stains from his face vigorously. Then he picked up five ragged paintbrushes from the floor and distributed them while saying, “You’re not allowed to write—use drawings to pass the message and help your friends guess the answer!”

Du Li chuckled lightly. “So, it’s just a game of Pictionary? That simple?”

The little boy immediately stopped what he was doing and touched his chin thoughtfully. “That is too simple... how about this instead…”

He gently raised his hand, and suddenly the center of the activity room collapsed into a massive pit. Soon after, with a bubbling gurgle, the pit filled with thick, vividly colored paint, and the smell was overwhelming.

You Xue stepped back uneasily. “What… what is this… It’s my first time playing a game like this…”

The little boy clasped his face with a childlike smile. “A note for a friend must be sincere and heartfelt! To make sure you all take it seriously, I’ve specially prepared this brush-cleaning pool!”

As he finished speaking, the paintbrushes in the five players’ hands suddenly grew huge and floated into the air above the pit, forming a perfect circle at equal distances.

Then, ropes appeared out of nowhere, binding the players around their waists and suspending them from the five giant paintbrushes—completely against the laws of physics!

You Xue instantly panicked and struggled. “No! Don’t do this! I’m afraid of heights! I can’t swim!”

The little boy comforted her sweetly, “Even if you could swim, it wouldn’t help. These paints are much heavier than cement.”

Du Li, experienced and focused, gripped her rope tightly and called out anxiously, “Enough, just explain clearly how we’re supposed to play!”

The little boy joyfully skipped around the edge of the pit, then picked up a few pieces of paper and casually tossed them toward the players.

A strange thing happened—the papers floated in midair and aligned precisely in front of the five players.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, the little boy looked up and said, “From now on, cards will appear in front of each of you in turn. But you won’t be able to see your own card—only the others can. And they’ll need to draw what they see to help you guess what your card says.”

Xi Yu and Luo Xi exchanged a glance, quietly realizing there might be a chance to cooperate.Wu Junhong clung to his rope and sneered, “There’s no way it’s that simple. Be more specific about the rules.”

The little boy also smiled. “Since it’s a message-passing game, no talking is allowed while drawing. If anyone talks, the rope will automatically loosen! Also, you’re not allowed to draw the exact content of the card—only things related to its meaning. Most importantly, if two people draw the same thing, both drawings are void!”

Luo Xi nodded. “All reasonable conditions. But how do we determine who wins or loses?”

The little boy pulled out some gemstones from his overalls and toyed with them. “Right now, you’re hanging three meters above the pit. Guess your card correctly—rise two meters. If the drawing is helpful, rise one meter. If the clue is invalid or void—drop one meter. If you guess wrong—heehee—drop two meters! We’ll play until only four players are left. That way the gems are easier to split! But… if two or more of you drown in the paint, I’ll take the extra gems back.”

Only death ends the game… That line made all five streamers visibly tense.

Xi Yu said quietly to Luo Xi, “Your luck really is terrible. Looks like this round has a fixed death rate of over twenty percent.”

Luo Xi looked completely unfazed. “As long as I’m not the one who dies.”

Wu Junhong protested anxiously, “The rules are basically asking us to provide clues that are vague and useful, but those two are close—they’ll go easy on each other!”

“You can make friends with someone too!” the little boy replied cheerfully. “Besides, drawings that are too easy to guess are also likely to get duplicated!”

Wu Junhong glanced at Du Li, clearly annoyed, then at You Xue, who looked like she resented him deeply, and he shut up.

Only then did the little boy stand up. “Don’t worry, the cards are all simple. Now, let the game begin! We’ll start with the biggest gege here!”

As he spoke, he clapped his hands. A delicately patterned card immediately floated in front of Luo Xi—but unfortunately, he couldn’t see its content at all.

Xi Yu stared at the card for a moment, then looked at Luo Xi, his eyes filled with worry.

Luo Xi understood instantly: there was no way this was going to be simple. It was probably some obscure word you’d never use in a lifetime.

Across from him, You Xue nervously raised her hand.

The little boy was quick to respond. “What’s wrong? No more paintbrushes? Well… you’ll have to figure that out yourselves! All the brushes have already been used.”

The streamers: “…………”

Up to now, You Xue had always kept to herself, barely noticeable. Other than some conflict with Wu Junhong, she had no interaction with anyone.

Naturally, she didn’t want to mess with anyone now—just hoped to get through it smoothly. So she imitated Du Li and bit her finger, using the blood to draw on the blank sheet floating before her.

Luo Xi carefully observed everyone’s expressions, but couldn’t discern anything. He did, however, notice that Xi Yu was painting with the blood seeping from his own waist wound, which made him visibly more concerned.The little boy clasped his hands behind his back and said, “No signaling or random gestures between each other—otherwise, the ropes won’t hold properly.”

Luo Xi said, “Who would dare? We’re the most obedient ones here. But come on, give me some kind of hint!”

The little boy immediately scolded, “The guesser should stay quiet too! Alright, let me check your drawings! Hmm… two of them are duplicates—invalid! And Xi Yu’s? Completely off the mark, hmph! You’re just wasting the opportunity!”

With that, only Xi Yu’s and Wu Junhong’s drawings turned toward Luo Xi, while Du Li’s and You Xue’s sheets crumbled into fragments and scattered into the pit.

Luo Xi focused on the drawings and froze in place: Xi Yu had drawn a simple piece of sheet music, while Wu Junhong had presented a very abstract world map, stained with varying shades of blood and marked with several strange arrows.

What the hell was this? A visual on the global spread of musical culture?

Xi Yu glanced at You Xue, then at Du Li, looking visibly frustrated.

Luo Xi thought to himself: Could it be that Xi Yu deliberately chose a more obscure clue because he was sure others would offer simple ones, and didn’t want me to be misled? So he sacrificed clarity to give this unusual sheet music hint?

The little boy craned his neck and urged, “Have you figured it out? Hurry and tell me the answer!”

Luo Xi ignored him, deep in a mental whirlwind. He stared at Wu Junhong’s map and recalled how the guy bragged about his photographic memory—this map had to be scientifically accurate, or the NPC wouldn’t have approved it.

Something related to the world map… migration… and Xi Yu’s sheet music…

It hit him in a flash of inspiration. He blurted out, “Genome map!”

Xi Yu let out a sigh of relief.

Du Li snapped, “That’s way too far-fetched! My DNA strand drawing got shredded and he still got it right? They definitely had some secret signal!”

Wu Junhong adjusted his thick bottle-cap glasses. “My drawing was the useful one. It’s the global human population distribution and migration routes proven through genome mapping.”

You Xue groaned, “Seriously, how many brain chip upgrades have you two given yourselves?”

The little boy raised his voice. “No more arguing! Du Li, You Xue, and Xi Yu, drop one meter! Wu Junhong’s clue was valid and unique—rise one meter! Luo Xi guessed the card—rise two meters!”

The ropes suspending the five child streamers immediately shifted.

You Xue clung tightly to hers, too scared to open her eyes.

Luo Xi asked Xi Yu in a low voice, “Were you afraid I’d guess something like ‘gene’ instead?”Xi Yu nodded.

Luo Xi said, “No need for that. Just make sure you climb higher first.”

The little boy ran underneath the two of them. “No whispering! This round, it’s Xi Yu’s turn to guess!”

In an instant, a card appeared in front of Xi Yu, its face turned away from him.

The other four took a look, each with a different expression.

The little boy grinned. “Isn’t it easy? I’d never make things hard for you!”

Xi Yu silently watched as everyone drew with blood, wondering to himself: Could it still be another scientific term? This game seems to be testing the streamers’ knowledge base...

A minute later, the little boy strolled around the edge of the pool with his hands behind his back, then sighed and announced, “Luo Xi, Du Li, and You Xue’s drawings are duplicates—invalid! Wu Junhong’s information is valid!”

In the blink of an eye, three drawings turned into fragments and scattered into the air.

Xi Yu stared blankly at the lone “survivor”: a Go board.

Luo Xi couldn’t help but let out a tch.

The little boy looked displeased. “What’s that for? You unhappy with the result?”

Luo Xi said, “How do you even define duplication? I don’t believe mine was the same.”

The little boy crossed his arms. “Even if the drawings are different, if their essence is the same, it still counts.”

Xi Yu ignored the argument and studied the board seriously, unsure whether to answer with something Go-related or to think in a different direction.

Just then, Luo Xi suddenly said to the little boy in a mechanical, emphasized tone, “Alright, you win.”

Du Li’s face immediately changed. “Hey, they’re cheating!”

At the same time, Xi Yu suddenly made a connection from the mechanical tone to robots, and from there to the famous Go matches in the early 21st century, where the world’s top Go player had lost three games in a row to an AI—an event now marked in history. He instantly blurted out, “Artificial intelligence!”

The little boy immediately looked conflicted.

Luo Xi clung to the rope and muttered, “You baited me into talking. Can’t blame me—I just talk like that.”The little boy shook his head. “Alright, alright, let’s say Xi Yu won! Xi Yu goes up two meters, Wu Junhong up one meter! The rest of you—each drop one meter!”

Seeing Du Li and You Xue already dangerously close to the pool, the situation grew tense.

The little boy continued, “Next up, Du Li, your turn to guess!”

Du Li stared pale-lipped at the card floating before her, red eyes filled with panic.

Xi Yu glanced at her, then at the card’s content—“Black Hole”—and felt conflicted: should he take a tricky, obscure angle, or give her a helpful hint?

Truthfully, their grudge back at the guesthouse should have ended by now. Although Du Li had been furious, she hadn’t caused much trouble this round. Even that sniper card didn’t seem to be her doing. Maybe it was time to stop going head-to-head.

With that thought, Xi Yu carefully drew a human figure slumped in a wheelchair.

If Du Li didn’t recognize Stephen Hawking, the man who proposed black hole theory, then she’d deserve to lose.

After the drawings were submitted, the little boy walked a circle around them and announced seriously, “Wu Junhong and You Xue’s drawings are duplicates—invalid! Luo Xi and Xi Yu’s are valid!”

At that moment, the most desperate person wasn’t Du Li—it was You Xue!

Failing three times in a row meant dropping three meters—she was now touching the paint pool!

Was her mind really that slow? Had she not managed to provide a single useful clue the entire game?

Xi Yu glanced at Luo Xi and accidentally caught sight of the nonsense he had drawn. He frowned.

Du Li was furious too. “What’s with your little dot drawing, Luo Xi?! I wasn’t even targeting you just now!”

Luo Xi looked innocent. “It’s very useful.”

The little boy angrily shushed them. “No helping each other!”

Du Li looked again at Luo Xi’s single dot, then at the crude stick figure of Hawking, and finally gritted her teeth and said, “The Big Bang!”

“Wrong answer! It was a black hole! A black hole singularity!” the little boy scolded, exasperated. “You Xue and Wu Junhong drop one meter, Xi Yu and Luo Xi rise one meter, Du Li… drops two meters!”

“Ah!!” Du Li screamed as her body plunged into the thick, foul-smelling paint pool.

From one meter above to one meter below—that was the distance to death!If it were their normal adult height, there would still be plenty of room to struggle—but now they had been turned into children!

Du Li, who looked no older than seven at best, strained to stand on tiptoe in the pool, barely keeping her nose above the surface, and was at constant risk of sinking at any second.

In this state, if she lost again...

Cold sweat beaded on the girl’s forehead—it was truly a matter of life and death.

Xi Yu said quietly, “The rule is the game ends when someone dies. Any situation can still be turned around.”

Du Li forced her heartbeat under control and looked up at Xi Yu, suddenly regretting drawing that robot for him earlier. Not only had it failed to sabotage him, it ended up causing her own steady drop—completely counterproductive.

The little boy, seemingly unconcerned with how critical the situation was, happily skipped under Wu Junhong. “Your turn!”

At this point, it was obvious all the guesses would involve scientific terminology.

Wu Junhong, with his photographic memory and deep knowledge reserves, nodded calmly.

The other four began drawing with various expressions, and for a moment, the playroom was utterly silent.

“Are you done yet? I’m so bored…” The little boy paced back and forth impatiently, then finally put his hands on his hips with satisfaction. “Let me see… Xi Yu and You Xue—duplicate content! Invalid!”

Their two drawings were instantly shredded to bits.

Xi Yu sighed in frustration.

Next, Du Li’s paint-covered drawing was pulled up, and the paper shook itself slightly to reveal a clear diagram of a cell.

As for Luo Xi’s drawing… it was a pair of little girls holding hands, looking just like the two NPCs who had made them play the "big sister–little sister" game that day!

Wu Junhong frowned. When the little boy didn’t accuse anyone of drawing nonsense, he swallowed hard and said, “Identical twins!”

“Aiya! Wrong!” The little boy looked disappointed. “It was obviously cloning technology. What were you thinking?”

Wu Junhong finally realized and turned to look at Luo Xi. “You misled me on purpose?”

Luo Xi swung leisurely on the rope. “Heh, I drew two people who looked exactly the same and you still didn’t get it. Blaming others makes you feel better, huh?”

Wu Junhong clearly hadn’t expected to fail. His face flushed red with anger, and then he turned to glare at You Xue.You Xue, now just inches from the dye pool, said pitifully, “I drew Dolly the sheep… but… it’s not my fault…”

The little boy stood with hands on his hips. “Obvious hints like that are bound to be repeated! This round: Xi Yu and You Xue, down one meter! Du Li and Luo Xi, up one meter! Wu Junhong, down one meter!”

Du Li was slowly lifted out by the rope and immediately gasped for breath, ragged and desperate.

Meanwhile, You Xue was now in the same miserable state Du Li had been in moments ago—struggling in the pool of dye, shivering and on the verge of sinking.

The little boy leaned in close. “Your turn, little sister!”

You Xue looked pleadingly at everyone, hoping they’d give more useful information this time.

Though no one was actively trying to eliminate her, Xi Yu’s head throbbed the moment he saw her card: “The Eye of God.”

It was a famous spiral nebula in astronomy, beautiful and eye-like in appearance—but completely unguessable without the right knowledge.

After a moment’s thought, Xi Yu assumed someone else would draw an eye, so he carefully drew the Pisces constellation instead, since the nebula lies within Pisces.

Not long after, the little boy stomped his feet impatiently. “Alright, alright, let me see! Hmm… This round… Luo Xi and Du Li: duplicated info! Wu Junhong didn’t draw anything. Only Xi Yu’s info is valid!”

You Xue’s eyes welled with tears as she looked at Wu Junhong in disbelief.

Wu Junhong smiled smugly.

His intention was obvious: the game only required one person to die, and You Xue was already at zero meters from the pool. If she got this wrong, she’d drop two meters, making any chance of recovery impossible! It was also the perfect way to settle the score after their earlier argument.

Choking on her sorrow, You Xue stared at Xi Yu’s drawing and said, “Pi… Pisces…”

“Answer… wrong!” The little boy clasped his hands together. “Xi Yu, up one meter. Du Li, Luo Xi, and Wu Junhong, down one meter. You Xue, down two meters! Looks like our fun game is coming to an end!”

“I won’t forgive you—I’ll never forgive you!” You Xue growled through clenched teeth, but could only be slowly submerged as the rope lowered her. Soon, her voice was gone.

The little boy let his arms drop, a lonely look on his face. “Well then, the gemstone shard is yours. I hope you'll come play with me again someday.”

As his voice faded, Xi Yu felt a powerful wind drag him away. In an instant, he had been pulled out of the eerie dungeon.

When he returned to the corridor, it was still silent night.

Unfortunately, the clown doll was long gone from its spot—leaving Xi Yu alone in the darkness, unprotected.He had expended quite a bit of energy earlier and didn’t dare delay any longer. After pocketing the gemstone, he immediately moved forward.

But the hidden enemies lurking in the dark weren’t about to give him a moment’s rest. Without warning, a broadcast suddenly blared, shattering the quiet of the night!

[Regretfully, little friend You Xue has left us forever…]

[Little friend Xi Yu has been sniped for the third time]

Once is unfamiliar, twice is practice, three times makes it second nature.

Xi Yu calmly picked up the nail-studded wooden stick. The moment he saw the ghost nun appear, he slammed it hard into her face, then turned and sprinted in the opposite direction!

After several days, he had grown familiar with the terrain of this level.

Though his running speed wasn’t fast, he was able to use nearby obstacles to buy himself a bit of time.

Panting heavily, Xi Yu clutched his stomach, fully focused on searching for the doll. After all, receiving protection from the doll was his best shot at survival!

Unexpectedly, instead of finding his savior, he ran headlong into a small figure in a black cloak during his escape.

…What was that?

Xi Yu’s steps faltered. Thinking of the destructive power of the ghost nun behind him, he instinctively grabbed a dusty box from the side and threw it at the small figure.

To his surprise, the figure merely dodged slightly and didn’t retaliate in any way—instead, it raised its hand and pointed to the right.

Xi Yu thought, puzzled: Do they know me?

But in a moment like this, he had no time to hesitate. He chose to trust the figure and dashed to the right.

…A lion!

Xi Yu had finally managed to exhaust the sniper card’s attempts. He took a deep breath in relief and waved to the clumsy doll: “Come here! Take me away!”

The nun halted in fear when faced with the doll.

The small cloaked figure looked around from its spot, then turned and drifted into the darkness.

At the same time, an unharmed Fei Ling and Guan Sheng were walking side-by-side in another direction, whispering to each other.Fei Ling frowned and said, “Who did Xi Yu offend? He gets sniped every single night.”

Guan Sheng shook his head. “No idea. That’s why it’s best not to get involved with him, so we don’t get dragged into it.”

Fei Ling nodded with a complicated expression.

But just then, a strange laugh echoed from the shadows in the corridor: “Xi Yu still has his past popularity, and he’s good-looking too. Pairing him with the goddess is way more eye-catching than you, you dumb fatty.”

Guan Sheng looked around in a panic and snapped angrily, “What nonsense are you spouting?”

The laughter grew even more brazen. “Everything I said is just the plain truth.”

Fei Ling couldn’t hold back and stepped forward to argue: “I don’t care who you are—please don’t project your malice onto me, or else—ahhh—!!”

Before she could finish her sentence, her foot accidentally stepped into a trap that had been set in advance, and she was instantly yanked upside down into the corridor!

Guan Sheng rushed over to help. “Don’t be scared, I’ll get you down!”

The one who had been deliberately provoking them finally emerged from the dim light—a child also wearing a cloak, though their face was completely obscured by shadow and their features couldn’t be seen at all.

The child’s voice was unfamiliar and chilling: “Dumb fatty, I’d suggest you run fast. The ghost nun will be here any moment.”

With those words, the figure vanished like a phantom, as if they had no physical form.

Fei Ling, hanging upside down, her beautiful face flushed from panic, waved her arms and screamed, “Untie me! Guan Sheng, I don’t want to die—I don’t want to be eliminated! I only have two gemstones! I’m doomed!”

Guan Sheng dragged over a box and tried to climb up, muttering, “You won’t… you won’t be eliminated…”

Fei Ling’s terror was raw and real, her voice choked with sobs as she cried out, “I don’t want to lose my memory… Please, I’m begging you…”

But at this critical moment of mental collapse, Guan Sheng’s weight caused an unexpected disaster—the already fragile box snapped beneath his foot!

Through her inverted view, Fei Ling saw the rotting, corpse-covered nun step into the end of the corridor.

Overwhelmed with fear, she screamed and cried without any regard for her image: “No!!”

Guan Sheng scrambled to his feet, looked back at the goddess in her pitiful state, then at the nun closing in step by step, and finally made up his mind: “I’ll… I’ll go instead! She seems to only take one each night… I’ve already been reset… I’m not afraid…”

Fei Ling was stunned in that instant.Guan Sheng lowered his head. “I’ve wanted to die for a long time. Other than hearing you sing each night, there hasn’t been a single moment of happiness in my life.”

Transparent tears welled up in Fei Ling’s eyes. Through her blurred vision, she watched Guan Sheng walk toward the ghostly nun, and in that moment, other than sobbing, she couldn’t make a single sound.

As the boss of this level, the nun didn’t care who she captured. Seeing an attackable target appear in front of her, she immediately reached out her bony hand and directly lifted Guan Sheng into the air.

At that moment, Fei Ling finally broke through her fear and forced a broken, incomplete song from deep in her throat.

The song had originally been professionally produced by the company, and her voice had been perfectly tuned for the album—it was nothing like now: trembling, low, and barely pieced together.

But this was the hardest time Fei Ling had ever sung. She couldn’t bear to imagine what Guan Sheng was feeling as he listened to this as his final memory.

[Unfortunately, little friend Guan Sheng has left us forever…]

[The demon has finally gotten its meal…]

No one knew how much time passed. In the chaotic corridor, aside from Fei Ling still hanging in place, only a pool of blood remained.

She heard the announcement and was so exhausted she nearly passed out—when footsteps echoed once again.

Fei Ling’s eyes flew open in fear—it was Luo Xi!

Luo Xi tilted her head, holding a filthy little blazer, and glanced at her. “Yo, the backup guy died for you?”

Fei Ling snapped, “Don’t talk about him like that!”

Luo Xi: “Alright, alright, I’m leaving.”

“Let me down!” Fei Ling screamed.

Luo Xi strolled over. “Then let me check how many gemstone shards you’ve got.”

Fei Ling frowned. “You… you think I’m the traitor?”

“What if losing your gemstones was all just for show?” Luo Xi said lazily. “I’m a gentleman. If you don’t agree, I won’t touch a thing.”

Fei Ling was silent for a moment, then gritted her teeth. “Fine, search me!”

Luo Xi didn’t hold back—she swiftly patted down Fei Ling’s dress with practiced ease and pulled out two gemstone shards. “Turns out it’s true. Alright, you can come down now.”With quick movements, he dragged over two boxes, climbed up, and untied the rope.

Fei Ling hit the floor hard.

Luo Xi tossed the gemstones back to her. “Two pieces won’t guarantee you won’t be eliminated—better step it up.”

Fei Ling hurriedly picked them up, her delicate brows furrowing tightly.

At that moment, the demon’s broadcast finally arrived.

[Phew… So full…]

[The meat today… was especially tender…]

[Since you’re all suffering so much… I’ll give you a chance…]

[Tomorrow night… you may go to the voting booth in the small auditorium and vote for the traitor you suspect… If you guess correctly in the end…]

[Then the child who voted for the traitor… will get to split the gemstones in the traitor’s pocket…]

The news instantly lifted Fei Ling’s spirits. She sprang up and said, “Do you have any idea who the traitor is?”

Luo Xi raised an eyebrow.

Fei Ling continued, “Five gemstone shards went missing these past couple of days. If we find the thief, we’ll gain five more—we…”

Luo Xi crossed his arms and smiled. “I really don’t know who it is. But since you’re interested, if I do figure it out, you’d better be on my side.”

With that, he turned and began to walk away.

Fei Ling thought for a moment, then hurried after him. “Let’s search for gemstones together. My token ability can help you. Xi Yu’s already hurt and probably back at the safe house, right?”

Luo Xi immediately pushed her head aside. “Not just anyone qualifies to be my teammate. Have some self-respect.”

Fei Ling’s expression darkened at once.

Luo Xi didn’t seem to feel there was anything wrong with his coldness. He gave a snort of laughter and quickly disappeared without mercy.

At that point, Fei Ling couldn’t afford to waste time either—she had no choice but to leave in a rush and find another way.As for Xi Yu repeatedly leaving the safe house, Luo Xi had already given up trying to stop him. After all, that guy was very opinionated in his actions, and he had indeed managed to completely disable the sniper card.

However, now that the game was nearing its end, even Luo Xi himself had no real leads on who was secretly pulling strings from behind the scenes—truly a failure on his part.

At this moment, he had three gemstone shards, and Xi Yu also had three—nowhere near enough to secure victory.

So Luo Xi was no longer leisurely watching from the sidelines. Taking advantage of the fact that the nun had already gone to rest, he began searching room by room, hoping to trigger a new mini-game.

Effort pays off for those who persist.

Finally, when he reached the top-floor director's office, he discovered a brand-new NPC outside the door—surprisingly, an old woman.

Luo Xi quickly stepped closer. “Hey, got any gemstone shards?”

The old woman was skin and bones, her clothes stained with blood, and her eyes filled with sorrow.

But Luo Xi wasn’t the least bit afraid, pressing again, “Do you or don’t you?”

At last, the old woman let out a hoarse voice: “Of course. Are you willing to enter the director’s memories? If you can manage to escape, not only will you get shards, I’ll also grant you a special item.”

Every game includes some kind of surprise event. The addition of special items brings more suspense to the match—a common trick in game design.

But Luo Xi never imagined that such a tremendous stroke of luck would ever come to him. He froze for two seconds before nodding. “I’m in.”

“…” The old woman’s expression grew serious. “But if you fail to escape, you risk immediate elimination. Are you really willing?”

Luo Xi rolled his wrists and responded just as seriously, “Look, I’ve got zero patience for endless NPC dialogue. Can we just start already? This is ridicu—”

Before he could finish complaining, a surge of black mist swept him up and slammed him hard into the director’s office!