The movement was swift and sudden, without the slightest warning. With a dull thud, it struck the man squarely on the head.
The man's eyes flew wide, and his body toppled backward in a daze. He didn't even have time to cry out.
The players around him were stunned. Their smiles froze on their faces, and their eyes filled with shock and confusion. For a moment, the hall fell deathly silent.
Even the game NPC was dumbfounded. He stood there, the welcome speech he had been programmed to deliver interrupted by the sudden turn of events before he could finish it.
With the professional dedication of a program, he continued in a raspy voice, "Welcome, guests who have traveled from afar. It is my honor to receive you here for the duke's birthday.
"However, with this important day approaching, an uninvited guest has slipped in among you. I would therefore like to ask you to find the troublemaker. Then, kill them."
The players all turned their gazes toward Fan Daoyi at the same time.
It's him, right? He came in and knocked someone out with a shovel without a word. It's definitely him, right?
It was time to put his acting skills to the test again.
Fan Daoyi understood their suspicion, so he cleared his throat and explained to everyone, "He made the first move. He tried to establish a mental connection with me and alter my thoughts. He did the same to all of you. Didn't you notice anything strange?"
His expression was utterly serious, and his gaze was equally sincere. He had them so thoroughly fooled that they began to doubt what was true.
"What?" They looked at one another and began to be led astray.
Fan Daoyi explained very patiently, "In this kind of game where you have to find the traitor, it's hard for a guide to give you an exact way to clear it. You have to rely entirely on your own subjective judgment.
"And he used mental control to make us more inclined to believe him. If he were the troublemaker and we kept defending him at every turn, do you dare imagine what would happen?"
That was what he said, but there was hardly a word of truth in it. The man he had knocked out was indeed a mental ability user, but his ability wasn't mental control.
The man looked a little familiar. He was that arrogant Condensation Realm cultivator from the test. His name seemed to be... Mo Chengyuan?
The guy had tried to attack his mental power. How could Fan Daoyi put up with that? Naturally, he'd treated him to a shovel.
"That makes sense." The players had been successfully taken in. They nodded, feeling that Fan Daoyi's words seemed to have some merit.
Just then, however, Fan Daoyi raised the shovel to strike again. A player who still had a conscience immediately grabbed his arm. "Wait, wait, wait! Why are you hitting him again?"
To kill him and silence him, of course, Fan Daoyi thought.
If he let the guy wake up, his lie would be exposed. He still didn't know how strong the other players were, and Flower Tender and Apothecary might be ready to turn on him at any moment. Taking on so many players was far too risky.
So he had to nip that possibility in the bud first.
He looked at the player holding him back and said with a serious expression, "People who use mental abilities are all sly and cunning. If we let them regain consciousness, there's no telling when we'll fall victim to them. Take yourselves, for example. Did you notice when he altered your minds?"
The players fell into thought again. That seemed to make sense too?
Just as they were about to believe him, someone raised an objection. "How did you discover that he was using mental control on you? Unless you're a mental ability user yourself, it's hard for other ability users to resist his control."
"See? You're starting to take his side because of his ability." Fan Daoyi shrugged and spread one hand, as though regretting the other player's failure to understand. "Have you forgotten that, besides relying on yourself, you can also use items?"
"An item?" The man searched Fan Daoyi's appearance but didn't see any item, and his brows furrowed slightly. "What item?"
Fan Daoyi thrust the shovel in front of him. "Hold it and see for yourself."
Still doubtful, the man decided to give it a try and cautiously wrapped his hand around the shovel handle. The shovel had spent a long time in the flower field and had picked up some hallucinogenic pollen. The moment he grasped it, a subtle sensation welled up inside him.
Taking advantage of that moment of disorientation, Fan Daoyi guided him. "Relax. Your mental connection was suddenly severed. It's normal to feel dizzy."
The hallucinations followed the direction of their thoughts. As long as he kept suggesting that Mo Chengyuan had used mental control, they could create that strange sensation themselves.
In an environment full of the unknown and fear, people were often more receptive to seemingly reasonable suggestions and would unconsciously match their own feelings to them.
The doubter released the handle and gave Mo Chengyuan, who lay on the ground, a grave look.
"He deceived me. At first, I never doubted a word he said. Now I finally understand."
Then he turned to Fan Daoyi and said sincerely, "Thank you. If it weren't for you, I might still be in the dark."
Seeing this, the others all wanted to borrow Fan Daoyi's item for a moment too.
Fan Daoyi no longer needed to guide them. With someone else having shown them the way, they all believed what he had said.
Just then, Mo Chengyuan woke from his stupor. He clutched the back of his head in pain, still somewhat dazed after regaining consciousness, and strained to open his eyes and make sense of what was happening before him.
Before he could get a clear look at his surroundings, however, he saw the shovel come down again with a bang, without the slightest restraint. This time, it wasn't even Fan Daoyi who had struck him.
"That was close, really close. If we'd let him wake up, wouldn't we have fallen victim to him again?" The player holding the shovel patted his chest, still shaken.
Then he returned the shovel to Fan Daoyi. "We really have you to thank for opening our eyes."
Fan Daoyi smiled faintly, putting on an innocent, harmless act. "This kind of game where you have to find the undercover player gives mental ability users too much of an advantage. I was just taking precautions."
"Then shall we introduce ourselves first?" At that moment, a rather refined-looking person wearing glasses made the suggestion from among the crowd.
Everyone agreed. They could also take the opportunity to share the identities they had received.
The man with glasses introduced himself first. "My name is Chen Yang. My identity is a reporter. I was invited here mainly to publish news of the duke's birthday in the newspaper."
"My name is Chu Yue, and my identity is a flower shop owner. I originally came to deliver flowers for the duke's birthday, but the butler invited me to stay and join the celebration." A gentle, beautiful woman spoke after Chen Yang.
Another man, slightly plump and kindly looking, gave a simple, honest grin. "My name is Sun Ruijie. My identity is a merchant who came to offer congratulations. The duke is famously a good man, and he invited us here."
"I'm Olivia Clark. My identity is a distant noble relative of the duke." Olivia lifted her chin slightly. Her golden curls hung loose, with a few strands falling on either side of her cheeks, and she carried herself elegantly.
When Fan Daoyi's turn came, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and his tone was light and casual. "My name is Fan Daoyi. My identity is... an unemployed drifter."
As soon as he said this, several streams of Origin Source headed toward Fan Daoyi, probing him.
He licked his dry lips and thought to himself, There's more than one mental ability user hiding among them, and they're all pretending. They really are sly and cunning.
A flicker of excitement and amusement flashed in Fan Daoyi's eyes. Good, good, good... You all like acting, huh? This is far too interesting.