Lin Qing Reappeared, Now Able to Catch Up

At this very moment.

In the event channel.

"Guys, we've run into a dog!"

"We fought tooth and nail, and suddenly they were snatched away by a dog!"

"Yes, it's still invisible. Luckily, the game event highlighted the Longevity Water."

Everyone immediately burst into curses.

Suddenly someone said, "Haha, it's actually the same where I'm from."

"Damn it, I saw that guy get into that airship and drive off right away."

"We can't catch up with them!"

"Yeah, that guy should be in the Safe Zone by now."

"I saw lights flashing in the warehouse in the Safe Zone."

"Damn it, does that mean we can't loot anymore once we're in the Safe Zone?"

"That's probably true, at least I won't be able to get one."

"The key is that dog!"

"He can even pilot a flying boat and fly straight back, making it impossible for us to catch up."

"This game is such a rip-off!"

"Yes, it's absolutely outrageous."

"But what can you do if someone cheats you?"

"There's nothing we can do."

Everyone was very angry, but their anger was useless.

All that could be seen was Wolf Snake Island, East Wolf Village, in the backyard of the ancestral hall.

Gao Linzhi has already handed over the six bottles of Longevity Water to the underground laboratory.

As for the fact that this would expose the location of the laboratory, it doesn't matter.

Because no one can get in, and no one can cause trouble within the Safe Zone.

"Damn it, what do we do now?"

"Is all this effort just for nothing?"

"We can clearly see where that thing is, we should rush in and grab it!"

"No, I just tried to enter a room, but I got a message saying I can't enter other people's rooms in the Safe Zone."

"Damn it, it was my first time playing, I didn't know the tricks, and they scammed me!"

"Yes, if I had known this would happen, I would have grabbed the Longevity Water and used the flying boat to get back to the Safe Zone."

The players all chimed in with their opinions.

They were very angry.

Sure enough, at that moment...

Suddenly, a notification appeared in the game:

"Ding! Congratulations, players!"

"A player has already successfully obtained the Longevity Water and brought it into the Safe Zone."

"This game event has been successfully completed."

The event will end in 24 hours.

The rankings are as follows:

[Rank, ID, Points]

[1, Can Xue Waves Across the Map, 1.1 million points]

[2, Empty 2086, 100,000 points]

[3, Jiangnan1912, 15,000 points]

[4, Riding the wind to Luo Shao, 10,000 points]

This time the gap was particularly large.

Many people only received the shared score, resulting in many having poor rankings.

They clearly had the same score, but someone else's score was higher.

Some people got very angry after seeing this.

"How did this ranking come about? Everyone has 1000 points, but he's ranked 100th, and I'm ranked over 50,000th?"

"Isn't this outrageous?"

"It should be based on who took the lead; those with stronger capabilities, who set off earlier, and who received the news earlier, will naturally be at the front."

"Those bastards, they're so damn lucky. We wanted to be last, but we didn't get any."

Finally, someone asked, "How did you manage to snag it?"

"Alas, we have two prefects here, gambling against each other."

Finally, they brought out six bottles of the Longevity Water, saying whoever grabbed them first got to keep them.

"And what a turn of events! We fought for ages, only to have the dog steal it."

"This is a total rip-off!"

"It's the same here!"

Upon seeing this, many players suddenly realized what was happening.

"Sigh, our progress is about the same."

"Yes, we also have two opposing NPC factions from the imperial court. They offered the Longevity Water and asked us to come and snatch it from each other."

The players only began to communicate and exchange ideas thoroughly as the event was nearing its end.

They then discovered that they had all experienced almost the same things.

This shows that they were completely tricked.

What does this tell us?

"This shows that the imperial court is trying to trick us!"

"It's the same old routine."

"Damn, if it weren't for the game's resurrection system, at least half of us players would have been wiped out."

"Damn it, we've been tricked by those game NPCs!"

Everyone then realized what was going on.

Then someone else said, "Actually, we noticed it a while ago. We saw someone mention it in the event channel."

"Haven't you guys checked the event channel?"

"Damn it, we were so busy grabbing stuff that we didn't have time to check the event channel!"

"Yes, there weren't many messages in the event channel at first."

"You'll understand once you look back."

"Many people have said similar things before, but you didn't pay attention. Now that you think about it, we've actually been fooled."

"It's just that everyone is greedy and blinded by the Longevity Water.' Even knowing there's a problem, they still get scammed."

"Damn it, why isn't the game giving me any hints?"

"Isn't this just the game ripping us off?"

"Perhaps the game is just about seeing who's smarter."

"Those who manage to survive to the end and get the reward are the truly smart ones; they are exactly the kind of talent the game needs."

"Damn it, when playing this game, you can't just rush forward from the start. You have to be selfish and stay in sixth place to dominate the leaderboard."

"Damn, that Canxue powerhouse has exactly 1.1 million points, ranking first. Looks like he's taken this spot from us, hasn't he?" someone suddenly said.

"Very likely."

"Damn, he clearly has a million points, yet he still wants to compete with us for them. Is that what you call a big shot?"

"It's true, the richer you are, the less you're willing to relax, and the less you're willing to relax, the richer you become!"

In an instant, in East Wolf Village, thousands of players, except for those directly related to Gao Linzhi, were all very angry.

Gao Linzhi naturally couldn't be bothered with them.

Resources are simply left there.

How could he possibly give it away to someone else for nothing?

He's a time traveler, having lived two lives.

He knew all along that no matter how good you are to these ordinary people, they will still criticize you in the end.

He doesn't care about these insults.

Mediocrity is the only thing that doesn't make people hate you.

Just then...

The players rushed into the Safe Zone, trying to get an explanation from Gao Linzhi.

This is naturally futile.

They crowded into the backyard, almost filling it to capacity.

As for why they didn't go to the village Elder Council Hall, it was naturally because there was a village Patrol Team protecting them there.

"Hey, Canxue boss, you stole the Longevity Water, you owe us an explanation!"

"That's right, that thing doesn't just belong to you alone."

"We fought hard in several matches, and even died once!"

Just as everyone was getting excited, suddenly, they all felt a cold, damp, fishy smell coming from their nostrils.

Someone was suddenly awakened.

They turned to look outside the ancestral hall.

Suddenly, wisps of White Mist appeared in the village, wriggling like living things, and slowly approached the eaves of the ancestral hall.

From within the fog came a low call—not a voice, but a name that surfaced directly in their minds:

"Liu Da..."

"Zhang Ma..."

"Li Gou..."

Everyone held their breath.

"What happened?"

Some people still don't understand what this is.

"Damn it, we must have gotten too excited and attracted something strange!"

"That should be it. I remember the villagers reminding us not to get too excited in the group, otherwise our voices and emotions will attract strange followers."

"I feel like this White Mist is luring us out?" someone said, keenly observing the White Mist outside the Safe Zone.

Run!

By this time, the villagers had already poured into the ancestral hall, hiding themselves in the pre-prepared concealment spots.

"This is the Faceless Man's White Mist anomaly. If you respond to those names, your face will become his, and you will die!" At this moment, the Second Elder appeared and quickly came over to warn the players.

"Everyone stay still! Stay still! Don't speak! Don't answer! Don't answer!"

He emphasized it several times.

The players calmed down slightly, and looked out of the ancestral hall in fear.

Many quick-thinking players also hurriedly slipped into the various rooms.

There were still quite a few players crowding into the backyard.

And at this time...

The White Mist grew thicker and thicker, completely engulfing the stone steps in front of the ancestral hall.

Some people became even more terrified.

"Wait, isn't this Safe Zone?"

"Why can the fog still get through?"

"That's because the fog itself isn't strange; it's just a natural phenomenon remotely controlled by the strange."

Therefore, the ancestral hall will not reject them.

"The Faceless Man is the monster itself; it cannot be entered," the Second Elder patiently explained.

At this moment, blurry figures began to appear in the White Mist in everyone's eyes.

Those were their grandfather, mother, and deceased friends...

These people had smiles on their lips, their mouths moving, yet they were all repeating the same words, all calling out their names—

"Liu Da..."

"Gao Linzhi..."

"Bangs..."

Surprisingly, Gao Linzhi's name was among them.

Gao Linzhi, however, remained completely calm.

He merely gritted his teeth slightly and took a step back inside the underground laboratory.

Meanwhile, Hai Zida, the director of the laboratory, had excitement in his eyes.

At that moment, one of the players outside was standing on the roof of a building.

He broke a tile with the sole of his shoe.

The sound of shattering tiles echoed in the fog, like some kind of signal.

Suddenly, many Faceless Man, shadowy figures appeared in the White Mist.

They don't have real faces, only simple facial features.

After they appeared, they all looked up.

Their mouths were split open to their ears, revealing a dense array of teeth, which was absolutely terrifying.

Gao Linzhi took a deep breath and quickly sorted through the clues in his mind:

This Faceless Man was strange; he had seen him several times before.

Escaping directly won't work; the best approach is to remain silent inside the room, and it will leave.

This time, however, it seems to have mutated, or rather, evolved.

These White Mist can only lure players with their "real names".

As for why we do this?

This is clearly due to the emergence of the Safe Zone.

The opposing team needs a line to pull the player out of the Safe Zone.

It cannot invade the Safe Zone, but if the prey comes out on its own, it has nothing to do with it.

Secondly, it cannot force players to answer.

Finally, it relies on the "sound" within the White Mist to travel.

As Gao Linzhi was pondering this, he suddenly saw through the laboratory's observation mirror that a player had made a response.

It was someone I knew.

To be precise, it was an acquaintance I hadn't seen in a long time.

The other person suddenly ripped off their belt, bit their fingertip, and wrote three bloody characters on the inside of the belt.

"Lin Qingyuan."

That's right, she is Lin Qing, who has been hiding for a long time. For some reason, she has suddenly stepped forward today.

Gao Linzhi very curious.

This must be Lin Qing's real name, which she has never told anyone.

A name that doesn't exist in household registration, family genealogy, or the memories of friends and colleagues.

At least Gao Linzhi had never heard anyone else call Lin Qing that before.

Lin Qing raised his belt high and shouted loudly into the mist:

"My name is Lin Qingyuan!"

"If you're so capable, then say my real name!"

"You're nothing special!"

The players had no idea why he was doing this; had he gone mad?

The shadowy figures froze instantly, their smiles freezing in place, as if a pause button had been pressed.

The next second, the entire White Mist began to churn violently, making a sound like shattering glass.

The misty shadows screamed, twisted, and collapsed, eventually turning into countless tiny water droplets, which were then scattered by the night wind.

And so, those Faceless Man monsters vanished.

After the fog cleared, a broken jade pendant remained on the stone steps in front of the ancestral hall, with a line of small characters engraved on it:

"A true name is a life, a false name is a blade."

And at this time...

Lin Qing stepped forward, picked up the jade pendant, wiped away the bloodstains, and smiled slightly.

Upon seeing this, Gao Linzhi realized that the other party had used a non-existent "sword" to sever the appearance of the strange entity.

Sure enough, the game notification appeared.

"Ding! Congratulations to the player who has successfully thwarted the monster's attack on the Safe Zone. You have received a temporary reward of 5 Free Attribute Points."

"I'll take the test, this works too."

"This must be a hidden quest!"

"Wow, that woman is amazing, she's so brave."

"Yes, once you're afflicted by a monster, even being able to resurrect isn't enough."

They were naturally unaware that Lin Qing's talent was resurrection.

The players rushed over and surrounded Lin Qing.

Everyone looked at the broken jade pendant with envy.

They began to vie for the question:

"Hello, goddess, what exactly happened?"

"Yes, tell us! We were confused just now."

Lin Qing just smiled and said:

"It's nothing, I just thought about it a bit more, and then I solved it in my own way."

"Actually, this anomaly is using everyone's names to lure people away from the Safe Zone."

"Since that's the case, I'll try it with my real name, and it turns out it can't hear my real name."

No one understood the logic behind this.

It seems to make no sense at all.

However, the bizarre is inherently illogical.

"Oh, I see," someone imagined, "It's like someone calling my real name, and I respond with my real name—it's like fighting fire with fire, right?"

"Yes, that makes sense."

Actually, Lin Qing was just trying it out casually, wanting to mock that strange person.

Aren't you very capable?

How come you can't even pronounce my real name correctly?

The White Mist never appeared again.

Lin Qing, of course, carefully kept the jade pendant safe.

Someone immediately offered a high price to buy it.

Of course, she didn't sell it.

She simply gazed intently at the ground.

She knew Gao Linzhi was hiding underground.

The gap between this guy and her is widening.

Fortunately, she has been working hard for a long time and is now finally starting to catch up.