Chapter 6

Although the general's mansion was filled with an eerie atmosphere, and the game’s brutality and mind-bending nature were starting to show, the meals provided here were actually quite good: the ingredients were rich, and the dishes were visually appealing, a stark contrast to the harsh conditions of the tatami bedroom.

However, with everyone arriving at different times and the threat of poison and antidote hanging over their heads, very few dared to pick up their chopsticks.

Luo Xi found a corner to sit down, and the steaming hot food in front of him remained untouched.

Xiyu chose a spot near him and, as usual, wore a calm and obedient expression.

After waiting for about ten minutes, the scattered players finally gathered together.

Teacher Fang Hao adjusted his glasses and, as usual, spoke in the tone of a leader, "The designated time is long past. Since everyone has found some rules, let’s take them out and share them, that way it’s fairer."

The rich second-generation Ren Bo replied sarcastically, "What rules? And can you stop acting like such a big shot? You’re just a primary school teacher, thinking you’re some big deal."

"You!" Fang Hao frowned, seriously emphasizing, "I’m doing this for everyone’s benefit. If you haven’t found anything, just admit it. What’s the use of all this complaining?"

After saying this, he took out an elegant safety charm from his pocket, "Since I made the suggestion, I’ll go first."

With that, he pulled over a table and placed the charm on it.

Injured Sun Xiuyan glanced at Wu Zhi, who was on the same team, and walked over to whisper, "Xiao Zhi and I found one too..."

Although there was a chance to gain an advantage by hiding it, if it was exposed and they were seen as untrustworthy, it would be troublesome.

There were fewer people in the alliance now, so Fang Hao’s random team-up suggestion still held some weight. Seeing them so proactive, everyone started handing over the charms they had found in the garden. Xiyu was no exception. He was the last to place his charm down, counted the number of charms on the table, and softly said, "There are supposed to be seven rules, but there are only six here."

Fang Hao cleared his throat and seriously looked over the others, "Could someone have hidden one?"

Luo Xi, sitting in his spot, snickered, "I knew someone would be sneaky. Hiding other things is fine, but hiding the rules is underhanded. Why don’t we just search everyone?"

Zhu Ge disagreed, "If someone wanted to hide it, they would’ve destroyed the rules outside. Why bring them here? You suggest we search, do you have another motive?"

Luo Xi was not at all polite with the girl, raising an eyebrow and asking, "What, are you refusing to search because you’re guilty?"

Zhu Ge clenched her fist, "I don’t want to argue with you!"

"Alright, alright," Fang Hao intervened to calm things down, waving his hand, "Zhu Ge is right. No one would want to bring the rules here after finding them, so let’s not waste time. How about I read aloud these six rules to you all?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Zhu Ge shot Luo Xi a displeased glare. Luo Xi, however, didn’t care at all, lowering his head and fiddling with the wine glass in front of him.Rule 1: If either side's general dies, the other side's entire team wins.

Rule 2: Without the blessing of the demon sword, no player, except the general themselves, can harm the general player.

Rule 4: Princess players cannot be harmed by players from the same team who are samurais.

Rule 5: General players can choose to save the life of any teammate once.

Rule 6: The heir player holds the only item, the demon sword, which can kill the opposing general.

Rule 7: If the heir player dies, the same team’s princess player inherits the ability to kill.

General, heir, princess, samurai.

Black and white teams, choose one to survive.

These identities and rules split the twelve players in the Qingming Hall into four groups, making it difficult to digest. The atmosphere became tense and awkward.

Ren Bo spoke first, "Heh, since the general won't be injured by other people's attacks, let's just test it and see."

Tang Yanyan frowned, "What kind of joke are you making? The only ones who can't be injured are the general and the princess. Are you suggesting we start a free-for-all fight right now?"

"So, you're the princess? Which side's princess are you?" Ren Bo asked in return.

Tang Yanyan gritted her teeth in disdain, "Shut up, your IQ is worrying."

Fang Hao helplessly said, "Stop arguing. Although we don't know what Rule 3 is yet, we generally understand the situation. At least let's not blindly question each other's identities for now. It will only cause unnecessary conflict."

"Teacher's right," Wu Zhi said with a worried look on his doll-like face, sitting cross-legged. "Let's just eat first, then continue looking for clues... Didn’t we get notified last night? Each person’s skill flower card has a copy in the room, and there's another copy hidden somewhere in the general's mansion..."

Tang Yanyan also sat down, "Yes, but we don't need to exchange information right now."

Fang Hao nodded and returned to his seat, hesitating before picking up his chopsticks to eat.

Everyone had hardly eaten last night, and after being on edge all night, everyone was now hungry. So, despite some lingering hesitation, they finally began to eat.

Xiyu lowered his head, thought for a moment, then forced a few bites of soup noodles into his mouth with a flat expression, before picking up the tea beside him.

Just as he carefully took a sip, the teacup suddenly fell from his trembling hands, crashing loudly to the ground with a sharp, piercing sound."Hey!" Luo Xi saw Xiyu collapse helplessly and immediately got up to support him, saying, "What happened to you?"

Xiyu tightly clutched his throat, his originally clear and bright eyes filled with pain and turning red. His whole body was convulsing and shaking, and he couldn't speak a single word.

Luo Xi tried to pull his hand away, but he felt Xiyu using great force to resist, which made him pause for a moment.

After a while, other players hurriedly gathered around to check.

Wu Zhi nervously called out, "Brother! Are you okay?—He, he was poisoned, right?"

This statement caused a moment of stunned silence, and then everyone began whispering.

Fang Hao, seeing Wu Zhi’s hopeful gaze, hesitated and took out a flower card, saying, "This is what we found outside Qingming Hall. It has the samurai identity privilege written on it, along with poison and antidote... It seems someone really did poison him."

Wu Zhi frantically scratched his head and said, "I don’t have the antidote! Who has it? Please, save him!"

Zhu Ge frowned, "Yes, if anyone has the antidote, bring it out. If he's a key player from your team, this could be really bad."

Ren Bo: "At least if he dies this way, we know he’s not the general, so it rules out one suspect."

"Rule your mouth, are you crazy?" He Yingqi, from the Sports University, couldn’t help but take out a small blue bottle from his jacket pocket. Kneeling in front of Xiyu, he said, "I have the antidote. Here, take it."

Xiyu's face turned completely red from the suffocation. He couldn’t say a word and could only helplessly look up at He Yingqi’s face.

Without waiting, He Yingqi poured the antidote into his mouth.

As the sweet medicinal liquid entered, Xiyu released his grip on his throat and, with frantic and labored breaths, was helped into a sitting position. Wiping away his tears, he weakly and hoarsely replied, "Thank you..."

"Brother, you really should stop talking, just rest for now," Wu Zhi said angrily. "It's already bad enough being trapped here, and now there's someone who poisoned without any reason... Whoever did it, don't let me know who they are."

Xiyu listened to this sympathy and gave a bitter smile, remaining silent, not making eye contact with anyone.

What had already been an uneasy breakfast gathering turned into chaos because of the "poisoning incident."

Before long, everyone left in groups, finding various excuses to leave Qingming Hall.

In the end, only Xiyu, who was resting his throat, and Wu Zhi, who was still trying to eat, remained. Wu Zhi even kindly offered, "You can eat mine, it's fine. It's not good to stay hungry."

Xiyu smiled and shook his head, supporting himself on the table to stand up, and pointed toward the outside, signaling that he was going out.Wu Zhi nodded, "Then be careful. I think you've been targeted."

The kid had shown no malice from the start, so Xiyu treated him gently. He smiled briefly before hurrying out of the hall.

The area away from the residence was still shrouded in thick fog, with extremely low visibility.

Xiyu quickened his pace, wanting to quickly find his skill flower card, preferably ensuring that his flower card wouldn't be discovered.

But just a short distance out, he was stopped by a familiar tall figure.

It was Luo Xi again.

Xiyu raised his head warily and stared at him.

"You weren't actually poisoned, were you? You squeezed your throat so hard just to trick someone into giving you the antidote?" Luo Xi examined him. "Or were you trying to pretend to be mute?"

Xiyu's act was exposed, but his expression remained calm. He cast a cold glance and was about to leave.

Luo Xi stopped him again. "I don't have the time to meddle in your business. I just want to warn you: I haven't exposed you, so don't over-focus on me."

Who’s over-focusing on you?!

Xiyu almost blurted it out but ultimately bit his lip and kept quiet.

After all, his brain felt like it was malfunctioning; whenever he found something to say, he couldn’t help but speak. Pretending to be someone whose throat was injured and unable to speak was a desperate attempt.

Luo Xi said, "No need to rebut. With the way you keep sneaking glances at me, it's too obvious. If someone didn’t know better, they'd think we have something going on."

Xiyu was indeed somewhat concerned about this man's unusual behavior, but listening to his nonsense made him impatient. He grumbled and walked ahead, leaving him behind.

Luo Xi stood still, hands in his leather jacket pockets. He gave a faint smile in the cold mist, shook his head, and disappeared.

Skill flower cards, skill flower cards.

Nothing was more important than that right now.

Xiyu didn’t have time to observe much inside the residence. He moved stones, flipped leaves, and even checked the stone paths he stepped on, hoping to find more information before anyone else.

He diligently searched all the way to a remote lakeside. Suddenly, he was hit by a foul stench. When he got closer, he realized that the water in the lake, shrouded in fog, was a blood-red color, and the surface was littered with bloated corpses, looking particularly grotesque and horrifying. But... at the end of this terrifying lake, there stood a massive building, which made him very curious.As he was hesitating, he heard rustling voices from behind.

Xiyu, light on his feet, quickly found a fallen statue to hide behind.

It turned out to be Yao Chena and Huasheng, the young couple.

Yao Chena was crying, clearly in a bad mood, and even pushed away Huasheng's hand when he tried to comfort her.

Huasheng seemed a bit anxious, raising his voice slightly, "I had no choice, alright? Just tell me, I will protect you!"

Yao Chena mumbled something under her breath.

Huasheng, feeling frustrated, said, "Because I’m special, okay!"

Yao Chena had already reached the lakeside, clearly shocked by the blood-red lake before her. After a long while, she regained her composure and began hitting the male protagonist.

Huasheng, helpless, said, "If you don't believe me, I'll take you to prove it."

With that, he jumped onto a corpse and turned back to extend his hand to Yao Chena.

Yao Chena hesitated for a moment, wiped her tears, and followed her boyfriend, stepping across the corpses to cross the river.

Xiyu remained crouched in the distance, silent as a mouse, quietly pondering: The issue that could make them argue must have been a disagreement on team choice. From what was said earlier, it seemed Yao Chena was just an ordinary warrior, while Huasheng had a special identity.

What could be on the other side of the lake? How would Huasheng prove it?

Xiyu wanted to chase after them to take a look, but he worried about revealing his location. Dealing with the two of them later would be a hassle, so he decided to suppress his curiosity for now.

Once Yao Chena and Huasheng had completely disappeared into the fog, he stood up, and to his surprise, noticed a corner of a flower card sticking out from beneath the fallen leaves. He picked it up, pleasantly surprised.

[Moon Card / White Princess Active Skill: Can inquire about the causes of death of other players at the shrine in the lake.]

The shrine in the lake.

Xiyu suddenly raised his head, looking toward the faintly visible eaves of the building amidst the red water and thick fog. He tapped the card in his palm and smiled faintly: He didn’t expect his teammate to arrive so quickly.