It's You, My Friend

In the end, Zhu Yan struggled to free one hand to hail a cab, carrying two shopping bags stuffed to the brim.

It was very close to the old district where he was staying, less than ten minutes away by car.

But as Zhu Yan hauled the two loads out of the cab, he spotted someone he should have had almost no chance of seeing.

Guan En...?

The sun still hung high on that August evening, and the hot air lay stagnant between the aging apartment blocks.

Guan En stood in the same spot where Zhu Yan had gotten out of a cab on his previous two trips. Despite the scorching heat, he was wrapped up tight in long sleeves and trousers.

But his face was completely uncovered, and he stood casually by the roadside, as though waiting for someone.

Fuck.

What was he doing here?

Zhu Yan cursed inwardly and walked past without looking aside, maintaining his "Zhu Yan" appearance.

There happened to be a surveillance camera at this intersection, and Zhu Yan did not dare reveal his new identity and appearance.

Even if he wanted to find Guan En, he could not just walk up and strike up a conversation.

Otherwise, all his previous efforts would come to nothing!

Zhu Yan hurried back to the guesthouse. As he stuffed everything into his ring, he slowly thought things through.

Was Guan En here to scout the area or lure him out?

...Impossible.

Under normal circumstances, seeing Guan En would only put Zhu Yan on guard and send him taking a detour—the farther the better.

The police certainly knew that.

The abnormal possibility was that Guan En had told them about the [Plague Exemption Period].

If the police had examined all the clues through Guan En's player personal center and guessed that Zhu Yan might need him, then they could certainly have sent Guan En out to stand here in plain sight.

But according to the original broadcast, the [Plague Exemption Period] was a personal benefit granted to players alone.

Guan En could go ten days without falling ill and remain unharmed, but that did not mean he was not carrying the virus.

Still less did it mean he could not infect others and cause the people around him to fall ill!

After all, [Merry Happy Land] had a completely different attitude toward non-players.

The mutilated corpse in [Cat-and-Mouse Game] was enough to show that.

Did the police dare take the gamble?

Gamble that [Merry Happy Land] would spare non-players and let Guan En swagger around outside?

Zhu Yan smiled.

He went out again, passing through the pitch-black corridors where there were no surveillance cameras.

In this situation, he was more inclined to believe that Guan En had deliberately concealed the parts related to the [Plague Ghost] in order to stay alive.

The man was standing there so conspicuously, as though afraid people would not notice him. It was probably deliberate, meant to attract Zhu Yan's attention.

Still, there should be plainclothes officers everywhere around here.

If the police did not want Guan En to tip him off, why had no one stopped him?

Zhu Yan changed back to his original appearance and wound his way through the old district, where surveillance coverage was incomplete.

Sure enough, Guan En was still standing where he had been.

Zhu Yan walked up and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you here for me?"

Guan En smiled faintly, still staring intently at his face, trying in vain to remember some of his features.

"Yes."

"Are there any plainclothes officers here?"

The question caught Guan En off guard.

"There were this morning and at noon." He smiled. "But not this afternoon. Lead the way."

Zhu Yan led him through the old streets and alleys.

No more plainclothes officers?

"Since you knew I was here for you, you must have already guessed about the [Plague Exemption Period]."

Guan En got straight to the point.

He turned to look at Zhu Yan and found that he could not even remember the contours of the bridge of his nose.

"Mm." Zhu Yan gave a monosyllabic response.

"This time, I need you," Guan En continued. "Since you chose to meet me, that means you need me too."

This time, Zhu Yan said nothing.

After a moment of silence, he asked, "What have you found out? What do you need me for?"

"And why are there no plainclothes officers here?"

Guan En followed him into a dark, old bicycle shed.

It had clearly been abandoned and was piled full of broken shared bikes.

"The plague has broken out," Guan En said. "The first outbreak came from an officer who came here to go door to door."

That was Captain Huang.

Zhu Yan nodded, thinking of the two people who had knocked on his door that morning.

He looked at Guan En. His eyes were as bright as they had been when they first met, but there was a haggard redness beneath them now.

"I infected him," Guan En said softly. "But everyone thinks it was you."

Well, it was not the first or second time he had taken the blame for this.

"Despicable," Zhu Yan remarked. "So you concealed your part in it and watched me take the blame?"

Guan En smiled faintly.

"If you didn't take the blame, I wouldn't have been able to get out. That wouldn't have done you any good either."

Zhu Yan could not argue with that.

He had a point.

If Guan En could not get out, Zhu Yan really would not be able to carry out his plan.

He narrowed his eyes and waited for Guan En to continue.

"One of the officers had contact with the officer this morning. He went to the hospital this afternoon and dropped dead on the spot."

"Was he infected in the early hours too?"

"Yes." Guan En's expression grew somewhat downcast. "The officer didn't take any time off, though. He was still with the task force this afternoon."

"Apparently, he suddenly started rotting in the office. By the time they took him to the hospital, blood had gotten all over the lobby."

"He dropped dead on the spot too."

For an instant, Guan En looked deeply distressed.

But the expression quickly disappeared.

"The same black spots appeared on quite a few police officers and medical workers. Only then did the police realize something was wrong—very wrong."

"They knew the name [Plague Ghost], so naturally they suspected that your deal with the [Plague Ghost] had brought some unknown infection into the old district..."

"How did they come to suspect that?" Zhu Yan interrupted him again.

Things seemed to have spiraled unexpectedly out of control once more.

His threat level at the police station had definitely gone up again.

"I don't know what you said to trick the [Plague Ghost] into transferring the [Cannibal House] to you."

Guan En answered very seriously and slowly.

"Based on my deductions, you entered the house as a horror creature. I found your milk tea cup under the flower bed."

Fuck, I overlooked that.

Zhu Yan cursed inwardly.

He would have to remind himself ten thousand times to pay attention to details from now on.

"I think you aren't strong enough, so it would have been easy for your disguise to be exposed."

"Given that, the [Plague Ghost] couldn't possibly have believed in you so firmly based on an empty shell alone."

"So you must have had more information, or offered some kind of terms in exchange."

"I lean toward the former, but after what happened today, the police lean toward the latter."

Zhu Yan seemed to understand something.

"They think you most likely agreed to help spread the plague in exchange for your life, remote teleportation, and other such benefits."

Zhu Yan's heart skipped a beat.

Wasn't he screwed?

"So now I've got another crime on my record?"

"Yes," Guan En said. "Another crime on your record. They won't rest until they catch you. The police station has been sealed off now. No one is allowed in or out, and everyone has been quarantined where they are."

"The bloodstained surveillance room and the office the officer had been in and out of have been disinfected and sealed off. No one is allowed inside."

Guan En explained the whole sequence of events in detail, then gave a bitter laugh.

"They can't watch the surveillance footage anymore, and all the plainclothes officers have been taken away for quarantine and observation."

"So that's also why I dared to show up here."

He glanced at the peaceful, happy little street outside and drew a deep breath of the aroma of food, rich with the bustle of everyday life.

"I can't say for sure. Later on, this place might be quarantined too."

"But I can't worry about all that anymore."

Guan En looked into Zhu Yan's eyes, and Zhu Yan finally saw the anguish and despair beneath the man's calm exterior.

"We're grasshoppers tied to the same rope."

"Just like you, I want to live."

"Once you're dead, you have nothing."