Lin Yu's Strategy

"Although there was no resistance, the mastermind behind this definitely didn't use hypnosis-like methods," Lin Yu summarized the pattern of the three disappearances and came to a conclusion that could be considered relatively certain at present. "This guy's professional skills are far inferior to yours, Old Zheng ... If it were you, you definitely wouldn't have left so many flaws."

Lin Yu was certain that if it were Old Zheng's home turf and he were in charge of arranging everything, Old Zheng would definitely not give Liu Chengyang the chance to Emotion Loss of Control and fire a warning shot.

Furthermore, the Player's Memory will certainly not be preserved.

Even if he's limited to manipulating NPCs' Memory, Old Zheng will at least make sure to remove Memory completely.

It is absolutely impossible for Yue Zhenqiao and the other bodyguards to remember such a serious mistake as the "total number of people," nor would it make Yue Zhenqiao realize the "unreasonableness" of not being able to send only one person.

Old Zheng would definitely fabricate a complete set of Memory and even temporarily modify Yue Zhenqiao firmly believe that everything was perfectly fine. In that case, even if he was exceptionally strong, he would inevitably be suspected, antagonized, and guarded against by Yue Zhenqiao and the other bodyguards.

Old Zheng also agreed with Lin Yu's praise, "Indeed, boss... So I think this further proves that the being who orchestrated all these disappearances did not have the ability to modify people's cognition and Memory through mental means and at the soul level—it wasn't some guy with Mental Power higher than mine who used methods I couldn't even see, but rather that he used other means to make these bodyguards lose their memories."

"That's what I'm curious about. Besides directly affecting the soul and spirit, are there other methods to modify Memory?"

Lin Yu asked in a deep voice.

"Of course there are. The soul and the body are like hardware and programs. Player or NPCs who are skilled in Mental Power, like me, are like Hacker. Modifying Memory is something we Hacker are best at," Old Zheng paused here, "But the Ten Realms are too big and too complex. There are always exceptions... The Truth Company's 'Emotion Technology' and related Alchemy are the best examples."

"In the Prison Mountain Realm, there are sects that can modify a person's Memory through acupuncture with Silver Needles and soul transfer using Talismans."

Old Zheng spoke, Lin Yu understood.

"I understand... So it's possible that a super martial arts master or a high-speed Yaomo ate people and then instantly gave all the bodyguards Acupuncture to make them lose their memory?"

As Lin Yu spoke, Old Zheng began to speak with deep sorrow.

"Although it sounds unbelievable, if the other party really has that kind of speed and can do it instantly, then this theory is valid."

"Tsk, this Prison Mountain Realm is not simple either."

Lin Yu stood up and looked at Yue Zhenqiao and the other two, who were quietly waiting for him to think and observe.

"Let's go, Biaotou Yue, let's go meet the one I sensed."

He now has more specific and concrete questions, and it's time to find someone to answer them.

Yue Zhenqiao generously affixed a Talismans to Liu Chengyang as well, and then the three bodyguards followed Lin Yu out of the cave.

Guided by Old Zheng's navigation, Lin Yu seemed to have a GPS on, heading straight for his destination without the slightest hesitation.

Although the roads in Chen Family Fortress are all small paths, they are generally straight and well-maintained. Even if there are occasional inclines, there are very few winding roads with twists and turns. They are mostly squares that separate the stone houses and low fortresses.

Lin Yu led three bodyguards straight to one of the stone fortresses.

As Lin Yu reached the door and was about to push it open to enter, he heard a voice behind him.

"Why are you four guests wandering around instead of staying indoors at Noon hour?"

"This is not good!"

Lin Yu turned around and saw Chen Yongde, the Village Head Chen Family Fortress, who had previously received him.

The old man appeared behind them like a ghost, standing right in the middle of the road.

More importantly...

The old man had no means of shade or shelter from the heat; he stood directly under the blazing sun, seemingly unconcerned about the intense heat.

He couldn't ignore the high temperature— Lin Yu could clearly see that the old man was sweating profusely, with beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolling down his body like rain; he was clearly suffering terribly from the heat.

He's standing here purely out of sheer willpower!

But that's the problem... Lin Yu couldn't see any sign of old man Chen Yongde putting on a brave face—he seemed completely unaware that he was about to be roasted and die from the heat!

Yue Zhenqiao, Wu San, and Liu Chengyang were also startled by the sudden appearance of the old man.

Subsequently, Chen Yongde's obviously strange behavior made the three bodyguards, who were unaware that there were dead people in Chen Family Fortress, realize that there was something strange about the old man, and the three of them were on high alert.

"Careful!"

Yue Zhenqiao spoke in a low voice, already prepared to face the enemy.

Wu San and Liu Chengyang also placed their hands on the hilts of their knives.

However, none of the three made a move.

Yue Zhenqiao looked at Chen Yongde and said in a low voice, "Old man, we've come to this house to see someone about something."

If possible, Yue Zhenqiao still didn't want to clash with this old man Chen Yongde on the other side's territory at Noon.

Listening to Yue Zhenqiao's explanation, Chen Yongde's tone remained calm. "Really? So urgent... But that's strange..."

"This house belongs to the second son of the Chen family's eldest branch, who is also my elder brother's son and my own nephew."

"My nephew is away learning a craft and hasn't returned to Chen Family Fortress for a long time," Chen Yongde's voice turned cold. "You're not planning to steal anything, are you?"

Yue Zhenqiao looked at Chen Yongde, whose expression had turned somewhat cold. Although the other party was just a withered old man, he still felt immense pressure.

"Grandpa, I..."

However, before Yue Zhenqiao could utter his new explanation, a swift shadow flashed past him.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, Chen Yongde collapsed to the ground.

Lin Yu put away the [Fear Torch] in his hand and exhaled.

"Done!"

Yue Zhenqiao looked at Lin Yu, startled. "Heroine, you... what are you doing...?"

"No time to waste on this old man," Lin Yu waved his hand. "Although this guy looks a bit strange, the fact that he's already sweating profusely means that his physical condition is at least at the level of a normal old man."

"But what if defeating him causes Chain Reaction...?"

Yue Zhenqiao said with concern.

"Probably not. I didn't sense any connection between his spirit and anything," Lin Yu said, narrowing his eyes. "The mastermind behind the strange events at Chen Family Fortress has been hiding all along. If it were to rush out and unleash some kind of anomaly to stop us just because I knocked out an old man, that would be exactly what I'd like to see."

"At least that means it doesn't want us to attack the people of Chen Family Fortress —if that's the case, then we'll have something to do!"

"What it doesn't want to see is what we have to do, so when the time comes, we'll just attack these villagers directly!"