If You Don't Let Me Live, I'll Make You Die

Within the Peach Blossom Paradise, before four phantoms could even settle, one of them let out an enraged roar.

"Tongue, I'll fuck your mother!"

The perspective then shifted to Bai Wei's side.

Bai Wei was also contemplating whether it was time for Tongue to make another appearance, much like how in a chat group, having both main and alt accounts active prevents others from noticing anything amiss.

However, playing two roles wasn't a simple matter; if he slipped up, it would be troublesome. Therefore, Bai Wei had pondered for quite some time before convening this Gathering of Corpse Friends. Yet, as soon as it began, before he could even get comfortable, Luo Qi's familiar roar echoed, making Bai Wei instinctively want to retort in a sarcastic tone, "Oh, has Mr. Thumb's elegant mood been disturbed again?"

But he quickly realized that was something Hand Eye would say, and he was currently Tongue, whose persona was that of another hot-headed old guy.

So, he replied with a grim expression, "Why are you shouting so loud, do you want to die? I can grant you that."

What Bai Wei never expected, however, was that Luo Qi wouldn't calm down. Instead, he directly stepped onto the table and pointed at Bai Wei's nose.

"Why are you pretending now?!" Luo Qi roared. "What? You're not going to honor what you did to me last night?! Or did you not expect me to still be alive?!"

If it weren't for that last sentence, Luo Qi's statement could have easily been misinterpreted.

But it was precisely because of that last sentence that Diana and Isaiah understood something.

Did Tongue go after Thumb last night?

They immediately sat up straighter, scrutinizing Luo Qi.

Although their true faces couldn't be seen in the Peach Blossom Paradise, it seemed possible to gauge the physical condition of their real-world bodies from the state of their phantoms. That's why Isaiah had always believed the phantoms in the Peach Blossom Paradise were projections of their souls.

And now, Thumb's soul was dim.

Did this mean Thumb had suffered a serious injury?

They then turned their gaze back to Bai Wei, wanting to see what he would say.

Bai Wei, however, simply sat there quietly, making it impossible to guess his thoughts... after all, he genuinely had no idea what was going on.

When did I go after Luo Qi? That guy isn't worth much... well, not entirely worthless, but he's certainly far behind the other two.

The focus seems to be wrong.

Bai Wei pondered why Luo Qi would say such a thing. Was he trying to bluff him?

That seemed too foolish. Moreover, judging by his appearance, he was indeed seriously injured, but who could have injured him? Even if he was foolish and slow-witted, he was still a Bishop of a certain faction, and he had a pure buff-type corpse piece. By all rights, very few people should have been able to beat him to this state.

Even if there were, why would Luo Qi assume it was him?

No, it wasn't assuming it was him, but assuming it was "Tongue."

Tongue, why would it be Tongue...

Bai Wei pondered for a moment, his expression gradually becoming strange.

Could it be that crazy girl?

Bai Wei's guess was confirmed by Luo Qi in the next second.

"Still pretending here?!" Luo Qi sneered. "You're putting on a good act. I originally thought you were a strong, tough guy like me, but I didn't expect you to be a man in the Peach Blossom Paradise and use a female body in reality. Ptooey! You hypocritical hermaphrodite!"

Bai Wei couldn't help but put his hand to his forehead.

It really was that crazy girl!

No, shouldn't she have been peacefully retired in Lyra? After finally getting her life back, why would she go to a place like that to cause trouble for Luo Qi?

Bai Wei couldn't quite figure out He Weiniya's objective for a moment, but if he couldn't figure it out, he could think about it later. The most important thing now was to handle the situation here.

After a brief moment of thought, Bai Wei realized that He Weiniya suddenly beating up Luo Qi wasn't a bad thing for him at all. Wasn't this a natural alt account? It was much more useful than him switching back and forth between his two accounts to chat.

At that instant, Bai Wei decided to solidify He Weiniya's identity. He let out a cold laugh and said with slight regret, "It seems I still didn't teach you a sufficient lesson last night, Mr. Thumb."

Seeing that Tongue had admitted it so readily, Isaiah and Diana's brows furrowed even deeper.

Tongue really went after Thumb.

But the question is, how did he find him?

Although Thumb doesn't seem very bright, he shouldn't have exposed his identity.

Could it be... that Tongue, with his three corpse pieces, can directly see through their phantoms in the Peach Blossom Paradise?

Isaiah and Diana immediately became vigilant.

Bai Wei also realized this and began to think urgently again.

The concealment of identity in the Peach Blossom Paradise was the most crucial factor for its continued normal operation. If this point were exposed, he would immediately become the target of everyone's arrows.

So, Bai Wei snorted coldly again, "I was looking for you? You're mistaken, Mr. Thumb. Weren't you the one who came looking for me?"

Bai Wei didn't know who was looking for whom, as anything could be expected from that crazy girl He Weiniya.

But he quickly thought that Luo Qi was in Nameless Town, and he had gone to Nameless Town to deal with Ai De Wen, so he was the one who initiated it. And He Weiniya shouldn't have known Luo Qi's identity. Her appearance in Nameless Town was likely due to encountering Ai De Wen.

Afterward, she might have started cooperating with Ai De Wen, or more likely, she used Ai De Wen as bait to lure others into a trap.

As for why He Weiniya would do this...

Could it be that she wants to draw attention to herself and reduce the pressure on me?

Does that mean she knows about the Gathering?

Hmm, it's not impossible. Although the Gathering is secretive, He Wei Ni Ya lived at Ina's house when she was in Lyra, meaning Ina is Ji Er's daughter.

Wait, Ji Er…

Bai Wei's mind immediately conjured the image of the Sword of Order standing tall on the land of steel, and he instantly understood everything.

So it was Ji Er.

Has this guy adapted to Lyra's body already?

Thinking this, Bai Wei couldn't help but curl his lips. It seemed he'd suddenly realized he wasn't completely alone in this world.

Of course, this was just Bai Wei's guess. He would need Luo Qi's confirmation next.

Fortunately, Luo Qi was very cooperative and quickly said in exasperation, "What do you mean I found you?! You were the one lying in wait there, waiting for me to fall into your trap. You've been with that guy since…"

At this point, Luo Qi suddenly stopped.

Even if he was slow to react, he realized that if he continued, he couldn't say for sure what would happen to Tongue, but his own identity would definitely be revealed by himself.

Ring Finger and the other guy were still watching!

Although Luo Qi stopped, the highly informative conversation still allowed Isaiah and Diana to guess something.

Lying in wait… fall into your trap…

Combining these two phrases, they immediately thought of Ai De Wen, the Forbidden Scholar of Eternal Nightmare. Only he fit the description of a trap.

Therefore, deducing from this point allowed for many conclusions.

For example, they were all currently in De La Town, and Tongue was protecting that Forbidden Scholar for some reason, while Thumb had run into Tongue while pursuing the Forbidden Scholar.

In this light, setting Tongue aside for now, Thumb's identity was almost certain.

Because they knew clearly that the church that went to pursue Ai De Wen was Eternal Nightmare and Rhine, Thumb must be someone from the representative delegations of these two major churches. With this limited scope, locking down the target was only a matter of time.

With this thought, Isaiah and Diana immediately decided that after escaping Peach Blossom Paradise, they would have their subordinates investigate which individuals from the Rhine and Eternal Nightmare churches were injured in last night's battle. The injured person would be Thumb!

They never expected that the first person to have their cover blown would be Thumb.

Well… it wasn't entirely unexpected, they just didn't expect it to happen this way.

Meanwhile, Luo Qi also realized what a foolish mistake he had made.

He had just outed himself like this!!!

From last night until now, not only had he inexplicably taken a beating and nearly lost his life, but after barely surviving, he had lost four fingers and become disabled, and now he had revealed his identity in Peach Blossom Paradise.

He, he, he…

Luo Qi trembled with rage, then abruptly turned his head, once again pointing the finger at Tongue.

It was all this guy's fault! All this guy's fault!

Damn it, I'll blow up with you!

Luo Qi pointed at Bai Wei's nose and roared, "This guy has the Score! That's why he can change into other people's appearances. He's currently using the body of some red-haired slut! And he's mixed up with that guy named Ai De Wen, and they're in De La Town!"

Seeing Luo Qi's reaction, Isaiah and Diana couldn't help but think.

He's flustered, he's flustered, they're both trying to expose each other.

And this kind of mutual exposure was exactly what they wanted to see. As long as it didn't involve them, the more others exposed themselves, the better.

Of course, they couldn't directly say what they were thinking.

So Isaiah cleared his throat, looked at Bai Wei, and asked gently, "Mr. Tongue, do you have anything you'd like to say?"

Facing Luo Qi's outburst and Isaiah's inquiry, Bai Wei's reaction was very calm: "I have nothing to say."

"Don't you want to explain anything?"

"Explain? Why should I explain? Is this some kind of 'happy family reunion' here?" Bai Wei's tone was full of mockery. "Do we need to report everything we do to each other? Besides, don't you already know my identity?"

"Not really already. In fact, there are still many things I don't know," Isaiah said with a smile, looking at Luo Qi. "For example, who is this Ai De Wen that Mr. Thumb just mentioned?"

Hearing Isaiah's words, Luo Qi's tense heart suddenly relaxed.

Right, why was he so nervous?

Come to think of it, he hadn't completely blown his cover yet, had he? After all, not everyone knew about Ai De Wen… no, to be precise, very few people knew him. Only the Contract Land and the six major church representative delegations attending the Gathering knew of him, and these two might not even be part of the delegations.

With this thought, Luo Qi subconsciously looked at Miss Ring Finger again. As expected, he saw Miss Ring Finger nod: "Yes, I haven't heard of such a person either. If you're willing to explain, I would be very grateful."

Hoh! Miss Ring Finger didn't know either!

Although he knew these two might be bluffing, Luo Qi still held onto a sliver of hope.

What if?!

What if they really didn't know?!

It wasn't that they would never know, but as long as they knew a little later, after he had recovered a bit, or after he had killed Tongue and obtained new corpse fragments, it would be fine for them to know then.

At least it wouldn't be as serious as the current situation, because the current Luo Qi was the weakest he had been since becoming a Bishop.

"In short, he's with a very troublesome guy!" Luo Qi still decided to hide his identity for now, so he shifted the focus back to Bai Wei. "The problem now is that this guy already knows who I am. He broke the initial promise and is still trying to snatch new corpse fragments!"

"What promise?" Bai Wei asked. "I don't remember."

"You said you wanted us to help you deal with the Hand Eye!" Luo Qi roared, "And now you're playing dumb?"

"Does that even count as a promise?" Bai Wei feigned indifference. "First, we never made any promises to each other. I didn't, and neither did you. Second... do you really think I didn't know the Hand Eye told you the same thing?"

Luo Qi was taken aback for a moment. "How did you know?"

As soon as he said that, Isaiah and Diana started to lose their composure.

"Oh?" Bai Wei slightly curled the corners of his mouth. "It seems there really was something to it."

"...You fucking tricked me?!"

"Heh, honestly, I truly believe that with your brain, you shouldn't even be here," Bai Wei said mockingly. "Talking to you too much only lowers my own IQ."

With that, Bai Wei stopped looking at the furiously raging Luo Qi and turned his gaze to Isaiah and Diana.

"I can tell you that my target has always been the Hand Eye," Bai Wei said. "Everything I've done is to deal with this guy, and approaching that Forbidden Scholar was for this too. If you're unwilling to accept my previous proposal, then I'll do it myself. Of course, I know you're not entirely unwilling to help me. At least one of you is making private deals with me..."

Hearing this, Isaiah's brow furrowed again.

Private deals? What was that about? Besides Luo Qi, who else had approached the Tongue?

No, besides Luo Qi and himself, there was only...

Isaiah looked at Diana, and Diana was looking at him too. Then, they both looked at Luo Qi together.

Could this guy be hiding his true strength?

"I will consider that proposal," Bai Wei continued slowly. "I have only one principle, and that is to survive."

His gaze kept drifting between the three of them.

"Whoever prevents me from surviving," Bai Wei said, enunciating each word clearly, "I will make them die first. It's that simple!"