Alice's Hell (29)-That Was Not the Case

[Information obtained: "Persona Mask, Throat Cutter", sacrificial offering "6" can be removed]

[Statistics in progress...]

[The intact sacrificial offerings "Forbidden Chair", "Throat Cutter", and "Mud Swamp"]

[Damaged sacrificial items "Withered Reagent", "Smiling Angel", "Death Split" (Damaged premium items are those currently in the simulation, which were used to their depletion by the previous owner. In this case, the sacrificial items extracted are unusable and will be recycled by the system)]

[You have obtained the sacrifices "Forbidden Chair", "Throat Cutter", and "Mud Swamp". It has been detected that you have obtained four sacrifices. You have "2" empty sacrifices available. You must discard one of these three sacrifices.]

[Choosing "Forbidden Chair" requires a payment of 4000 points]

[Choose "Throat Cutter", requires 1200 points]

[Choosing "Mud Swamp" requires paying 1400 points]

[Note: The current offering has not yet been fused with "Persona Mask, Happiness," and its abilities are currently undetermined. Deducers are advised to choose carefully.]

"Hmm? So this is how the sacrifice is stripped away?" This was the first time Yu Xing had touched a fragment of a mask that contained a sacrifice. A series of system prompts made him understand.

On Han Xinyi's mask fragment, the offering slots are fully equipped, meaning there are six offerings.

He initially thought this method of inheriting sacrifices was too unbalanced. What if a diviner with zero sacrifices happened to find a mask fragment with six sacrifices? Wouldn't that be an instant power spike? Or, what if someone who already possessed six sacrifices received six more, bringing their total number of sacrifices to an astonishing twelve?

Keep in mind that a life-or-death simulation only offers a chance to obtain a single sacrifice. If inheriting sacrifices is so easy, then the rewards of killing the simulation participant far outweigh the simulation itself. Would anyone still be willing to dedicate themselves to the simulation Yugi?

Now, the system's prompts made Yu Xing realize that he shouldn't treat the system like a fool.

There are three restrictions on the inheritance of sacrificial offerings. The first comes from external threats. In other words, the more dangerous the simulation Yugi is, the more sacrificial offerings the original holder will temporarily lose, and the fewer sacrificial offerings can be inherited by others after death.

The second factor comes from the strength of other predictors. As we all know, the more offerings one carries, the greater the chance of survival. In this case, someone who carries many offerings will see their gains from inheriting other people's mask fragments decrease significantly. For example, someone with five offerings can only inherit one offering from others at most, and they may not even be able to choose the most suitable one based on the current abilities of those offerings, because the abilities will change after merging with their own mask.

The third layer comes from the system, and also from the choices made by other strategists. After all... even if one can choose the sacrifice to inherit, it still requires points! Rather than giving the sacrifice directly, it's more accurate to say that the system gave the strategist a "limited-time purchase" opportunity through mask fragments.

It's important to understand that many strategists don't accumulate many points at all. They either exchanged them for offerings in the free market or used them to enhance their physical abilities. At most, they can only save around two thousand points.

Yu Xing glanced at the three available offerings. "Throat Cutter" was probably Han Xinyi's knife, and "Mud Swamp" was likely the black mist she used to attack Yu Jiaming and defend against Yu Xing's dagger. Both of these were worth over a thousand points, totaling two thousand five? That's roughly the points earned from three S-rank evaluation simulations. Individually, it's something a normal simulation player could afford after accumulating points for a period of time.

The "Forbidden Chair" was priced at 4000 points by the system? This was a price that most ordinary strategists simply couldn't afford, clearly indicating that the system wanted to take it back.

"Is it because of the word 'rules'?" Yu Xing pondered for a moment.

"Hmm..." Yi Qing stood behind Yu Xing, her face partially hidden by a fan, leaving only her deep blue eyes fixed on Yu Xing's figure, who seemed to be deep in thought.

The hint given to Yu Xing? He received the exact same one, so he naturally guessed what Yu Xing was thinking.

As a ghost among the sacrificial offerings, he originally didn't have such great authority, but he couldn't resist the Absurd Deduction system's requirement for him to monitor this strange deducer.

He could not only see the notifications Yu Xing received, but there were even a few more.

[It has been detected that the strategist possesses enough points to pay for the "Forbidden Chair." Please guide him to relinquish the offering so that the system can reclaim the rule-based offering.]

When this message appeared, Yiqing's mental response was. "No."

[Based on predictions, this person is not suitable for contacting rules.]

"What are you afraid he'll find out?" Yi Qing's lips curled into a smile, and the system, which sounded more like it was chatting with him than giving a prompt, said, "This isn't one of my tasks, so don't expect me to do it."

[Please Sheqing Ghost Yi Qing, prioritize the overall situation.]

"What's the big picture? It's boring." Yi Qing's refined demeanor couldn't hide the willfulness ingrained in his bones. "I only want to see interesting things."

The system looks like it's about to explode with anger.

It had just failed to communicate with Yi Qing when Yu Xing decisively chose the [Forbidden Chair].

System:...

Yu Xing hadn't used any of his points; they were still saved up. He currently had 5502 points left, enough to buy the Forbidden Chair and then choose another one. His expression was strangely similar to Yi Qing's, who was covering her face. As if he had thought of something, a smile curved his lips, "I'll take this one. Forget the other two."

[Is it confirmed? The Forbidden Chair is expensive, and its ability to be re-fused is unknown. Deducers should choose carefully.]

"Extremely cautious, confirmed." Yu Xing's eyes were filled with a strong sense of mockery. He guessed correctly; the system seemed to be intentionally preventing him from obtaining the Forbidden Chair.

He really needs to see for himself what makes the system so wary.

Hmm... as a Mutation Path, it's normal for the system to be so infuriating, right?

[You have obtained the sacrifice "Forbidden Chair", losing 4000 points, remaining 1502 points]

Two seconds later, the system responded as if everything was normal.

[This offering will merge with your Persona Mask after this deduction concludes.]

At this point, Yu Xing felt that she could move around normally again.

Although his body hasn't fully healed yet, the clothes cover him, so as long as others don't touch him, they won't notice anything unusual.

"It's time to go." He didn't look at Han Xinyi's body again, picked up his own smiling mask that had fallen to the ground, pushed open the door of the sculpture classroom, opened the corridor door, and returned to the messy open-air sculpture exhibition hall amidst the slight steam.

The fog that had enveloped the venue had dissipated, and the countdown had ended. Yu Xing was taken aback, suddenly realizing that she hadn't received a notification that the Side Quest had ended.

Was there a warning at the time of his death that he missed?

That's not right. He was still within the mission time limit after he was resurrected, otherwise killing Han Xinyi would have directly attracted the Corpse Researcher.

Yu Xing glanced at it and found that there was indeed no notification that the Side Quest had ended; only the time-limited quests showed the message "(Completed)".

He muttered, "The time-limited mission is over, but the Side Quest are still ongoing?"

In other words, the Side Quest he received was actually a long-term quest?

"Ring ring..."

Suddenly, a clear bell sound rang out above Yu Xing. His pupils contracted, and he immediately put on his mask before looking up.

The sound came from the fourth floor, opposite the bedrooms on the third floor where the deducers lived, on the other side of the building separated by the sculpture exhibition hall. The only things visible on the fourth floor were railings and corridors.

A figure peeked out from behind the railing, and the bells rang even more cheerfully.

Alice, with her bloodshot eyes, met the gaze of the young man standing amidst the ruins of the sculpture, a man wearing a mask and covered in blood.

"Ha..." She opened her mouth and uttered an excited syllable.

Blood clung to her serrated teeth in her mouth. Her hand rested on the railing, and a small golden bell, which hadn't appeared before dinner, hung on her wrist.

She didn't recognize Yu Xing's identity, but now that she was on the monster side, it didn't matter who she saw!

At that moment, under Yu Xing's astonished gaze, she vaulted over the railing like a gecko, her limbs clinging to the wall, and actually climbed down in a way that could only be described as grotesque.

"What the heck?" Yu Xing really hadn't expected this. He thought that Alice, a ghost who cared so much about her appearance, would be wearing her Lolita dress and leisurely using her familiarity with the castle to chase after the deducer.

Who would have thought that she would use a similar method to Yu Xing in going downstairs?

They climbed directly up the outer wall!

The gorgeous dress showed signs of burning from the waist down, tattered and torn, and even Alice's bare legs were covered with scorch marks and unsightly scabs.

At that moment, she truly resembled a demon that had just crawled out of the fires of hell.

Yu Xing turned around and ran back to where Han Xinyi had come from. That was another entrance to the open-air exhibition hall. It seemed that there was only one way to leave the sculpture hall.

He doesn't need to worry about where the road leads; as long as there's room to run, he can always find where he wants to go.

The bells rang incessantly. Yu Xing didn't waste any time looking up, but he could tell that Alice was climbing very fast and approaching him at an astonishing speed.

Yi Qing followed Yu Xing in concealment. Yu Xing slipped into the heavy, unclosed door and slammed it shut.

"Bang!"

A heavy thud came from outside the door, followed by Alice's beautiful face squeezing through the crack in the door.

"Ha..." She stared with bloodshot eyes, her excitement undisguised, and reached in with one arm, trying to grab Yu Xing who was closing the door.

Yu Xing let out a sneer from behind her mask, nimbly dodging Alice's hand and kicking Alice in the face.

"Ah!" Alice was completely unprepared for the immense force coming from this "tourist" and fell backward without warning.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yu Xing closed the door completely, and seeing a lock on the side of the door, she locked it.

He muttered to himself, "Hmm, I'm starting to understand what it feels like for Zhao Yijiu to kick down doors. The feeling of kicking something solid is actually quite satisfying..."

There were several loud bangings on the door, and the ringing of the bell was giving me a headache.

Yu Xing walked into the rooms on either side of the corridor where she was located, and as expected, these rooms were already occupied.

He still had two rooms to claim. The toilet wasn't considered a room, and the second sculpture classroom was also claimed by Han Xinyi first.

But... it doesn't matter anymore.

He came out of the room, and the banging on the door had stopped. It seemed that Alice realized this place was difficult to navigate and had found another route to ambush him.

"Hmph... on the other route, I might not be the first one I encounter." Yu Xing wasn't worried about that. He followed the wall lamps on both sides and walked towards a place he hadn't been before.

"Yiqing, do you know the way to the fourth floor?"

Yi Qing's expression remained calm as she smiled and said, "I already know the roads around the library, but I 'Zeng Lai to the place you're walking in, so naturally I don't know it."

"Oh." Yu Xing narrowed her eyes with a hint of regret. It seemed that this was the only way to search.

The wall lamps flickered with a dim light, and the further you went, the more retro their style became, gradually departing from the steampunk aesthetic.

At the end of the corridor, there is only one staircase leading upwards.

Yu Xing went up the stairs to the second floor and found that there were many forks in the road. He stood at the intersection for a moment and looked at the far left.

Based on his remaining sense of direction and the three-dimensional map that has formed in his mind so far, the leftmost angle is more likely to lead to a route he is familiar with.

Since there was no precise map anyway, Yu Xing followed her intuition and took a step forward.

Yi Qing is a restless person. When others are around, he can be so quiet that he seems to be non-existent, and even Yu Xing often forgets about him. But once Yu Xing is alone, this Sheqing Ghost becomes very talkative.

He stood firmly on solid ground. "Yu Xing."

"Hmm?" Yu Xing was trying to figure out the direction and gave a perfunctory reply.

Yi Qing tidied her long, black hair, which resembled wolf hairs. "You just said that the goal has been achieved, so what about Han Zhiyong?"

This guy was also an accomplice in the Throat Cutting Case and a member of Single Prism; he also did many harmful things.

He refused to believe that Yu Xing let Han Zhiyong go.

But Yu Xing really didn't intend to kill Han Zhiyong in this simulation. "I still need him."

"Oh?" Yi Qing's dark blue eyes lightened slightly, then she seemed to realize something. "You want to find Han Yan through him?"

"That's right." Yu Xing chuckled softly, her footsteps echoing in the empty corridor. "Whether it's true or not, we can't verify that Han Yan hasn't had any contact with Han Xinyi for so many years. But, as Han Yan's appointed guardian for Han Xinyi, Han Zhiyong should know Han Yan better, right?"

"Now that uninvited guests like me and Xiao Ququ have appeared in Fuhua City, Han Zhiyong can't handle it on his own. He will definitely report it to someone who can handle it. Whoever it is, it will help me. You seem to know a lot about me?" Yu Xing suddenly changed the subject halfway through her sentence and looked at Yi Qing.

Although Yi Qing had gone with him to his promotion prediction, but...

He had not fully told Yiqing about his feud with Single Prism; in his daily life, he was only investigating the Throat Cutting Case.

Yiqing's reaction wasn't actually inappropriate, but her tone made it sound like she knew a lot and was just answering naturally.

Yi Qing covered the lower half of her face with her fan. "That's not true."