Teacher Jiang Still Carried Too Much Authority

No one paid any attention to Guan En's astonished expression, and no one lowered a shield to let him through.

"Hands on your head and squat down!" someone shouted. "Don't move!"

Guan En immediately understood. He squatted down in proper form and let his colleagues handcuff him.

That mysterious player had the ability to take on the appearance of other things.

Under those circumstances, the police wouldn't let anyone else leave here easily, either!

But that player...

Guan En recalled seeing him open the garden gate and escape.

Was he really still here?

"Take him away first. Interrogate him and take a statement."

A voice Guan En recognized rang out behind him. It was the superior who had come with him.

"Search the other areas. Only one person can survive this instance."

Yellow light shone on the dark gray pavement, dazzling Guan En's eyes and leaving his thoughts in a jumble.

"Wait!" he shouted, trying to turn and face his superior. "He's still alive! That player is still alive!"

"Captain Huang, I saw him leave! I got his belongings back!"

The officer addressed as Captain Huang paused and gave Guan En a careful look.

Since the person before him knew to address him that way, there was less chance he was the suspect in disguise.

But Captain Huang still only gave a slight nod.

"Take him to the vehicle first. Put more people on guard, gag him, and don't get too close."

"Everyone else, take the police dogs inside and search!"

Meanwhile...

On the [Monster Tram], Zhu Yan examined the furnishings with considerable curiosity.

Besides the luxurious-looking velvet chairs and small wooden tables, there was a ceiling that wriggled like a living animal and chandeliers of dangling bone claws.

Flames flickered within the closed bone claws, and the light and shadows swayed with every jolt of the tram.

A Voodoo Doll made of coiled hemp rope, only about as tall as a person's lower leg, carried a tray between the small round tables. Strange drinks sat on the tray.

Zhu Yan saw a shriveled eyeball floating in a glass of black liquid and nearly threw up again.

All right, he still hadn't gotten used to this.

The Voodoo Doll bounced to the rear half of the carriage and finished handing out the drinks.

Some horror creatures of a clearly higher level sat there—

Zhu Yan saw a skeleton, a wax figure that had partly melted, and a skeletal thing with four arms, like a human spider.

They gave Zhu Yan much the same impression as [Plague Ghost] Walter.

He guessed they were all around level 5.

The Voodoo Doll hopped over to Zhu Yan and raised a hand to point toward the back.

"If you'd like a drink, you can go to the VIP seats in the back."

Zhu Yan nodded, and the Voodoo Doll asked, "Are you a Pseudo-human? Why are you carrying the [Plague Ghost]'s virus?"

The [Plague Ghost]'s virus.

Zhu Yan remembered that the book had mentioned it when he looked up information about the [Plague Ghost] in "Coexisting with Forbidden Things."

"The [Plague Ghost] will transmit a deadly plague to humans without their realizing it."

All right.

After all that close contact with the [Plague Ghost], he didn't believe he could have escaped infection.

But there were always more solutions than problems.

Either way, he'd try to get some information.

Zhu Yan looked at the Voodoo Doll and ventured, "The bubonic plague?"

The Voodoo Doll's button eyes flashed wickedly, and Zhu Yan could see a hint of contempt in them.

"Then you're very ignorant, Pseudo-human. Once a [Plague Ghost] becomes a [Plague Ghost], it won't spread something like the bubonic plague anymore..."

"Uh, a disease that's easy to cure."

That was about what he'd expected.

Zhu Yan thanked it in understanding and showed the nightclothes in his hand to the Voodoo Doll.

"Maybe it's because of this nightgown. It belongs to the [Plague Ghost]."

The Voodoo Doll lowered its head to glance at the garment and spoke in a baffled tone.

"What do you want that for?"

Zhu Yan didn't answer it.

Following that question, he cleverly posed another one he wanted answered.

"Hmm. I wanted to ask, is there any way to kill the virus on this garment or wash it off?"

He didn't want to suddenly drop dead, nor did he want to become a source of infection.

Zhu Yan watched the Voodoo Doll's expression closely and saw that it made no attempt to hide its malice.

Its eyes were two damaged black wooden buttons, and its stiff, rigid stitching was chilling to behold.

"Kill the virus," the Voodoo Doll said in an exceptionally gentle voice. "Oh—hehe, you asked the right one, Pseudo-human."

It jumped onto the tabletop and turned stiffly in a circle, showing Zhu Yan its ugly, naked body.

"Look. I was made by a witch, in an age when certain plagues were breaking out."

That would be the Black Death, a thought suddenly popped into Zhu Yan's head.

"When she was alive, she used me to curse priests and the church. She lived a long time before dying of old age."

Ill-timed humor always arrived unexpectedly.

Zhu Yan looked at the Voodoo Doll, his mind briefly ignoring every external threat.

"I've learned something," he said. "Cursing priests and the church can help you live to a ripe old age."

The Voodoo Doll stopped spinning and seemed to glare fiercely at him.

"Anyway, you'll have to find her to kill the virus. But—heeheehee!"

Its expression suddenly turned cold, revealing an indescribable eeriness.

"If you want to find her, it won't be easy. Go play a stage-clearing game with that food, you disgusting cross-dresser!"

It burst out laughing, jumping and shouting on the tabletop.

The words "cross-dresser" struck a chord in Zhu Yan's mind, instantly putting him on high alert.

What did that mean?

Had he been recognized?

Zhu Yan didn't let his alarm show.

He asked politely, "What do you mean by cross-dresser?"

The Voodoo Doll spat at him.

"All Pseudo-humans are cross-dressers."

Zhu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

"You look just like food. Like ginger that looks like red-braised pork! Pah!"

"You can't leave ginger out of a meat dish, but [Merry Happy Land] can do without Pseudo-humans."

"Go to heaven!"

Zhu Yan nearly laughed out loud.

He watched the Voodoo Doll hop away in good spirits and leaned back in his chair, relaxed.

It had already been ten minutes—

A clear, pleasant female voice sounded in his ear, sparing no praise for Zhu Yan.

"Player, your performance was outstanding. You stood head and shoulders above the rest."

"Once again, you have fooled both horror creatures and humans at the same time. I'm pleased to see you gradually finding your footing as [Merry Happy Land] descends."

"Further praise is unnecessary. I will now announce the rewards you earned in this instance."

Zhu Yan perked up.

"The overall clearance results for the [Devouring Villa] instance are as follows."

"Two players in total, two cleared the instance, and both are about to die or mutate."

Because we were infected with the [Plague Ghost]'s virus, right?

Zhu Yan had been prepared for that and was even in the mood to make a silent sarcastic remark.

He would rather mutate.

"Of the two, you ranked first with the highest score. Your basic rewards are as follows."

"Rest days: ten."

"Current accumulated rest days: thirty."

"Of course, you may choose to enter an instance early. That is your choice."