Nightmare (24) - Grouping

The Side Quest is divided into two parts: one is to find the white jade, and the other is to kill the "Master".

Finding a small piece of jade in such a vast mansion, with an unknown number of servants patrolling and searching, would be an impossible task without any clues or hints.

Furthermore, the Lingren hasn't appeared since the start of the Side Quest, and it's unclear what he's up to, which adds a lot of uncertainty to the team's mission.

Therefore, taking advantage of the fact that Zhao Yijiu had obtained a relatively safe room for a short period of time by using his identity as the young master, the three people who had finally reunited in the second phase decided to seize the time to exchange information. Only by combining the information from both sides could they make a rough guess about Bai Yu's location.

Zhou Xue sat alone in the distance, at the end of the three strategists' line of sight, listening listlessly and fearfully to the footsteps coming and going outside, as well as the voices of those terrifying faceless people complaining and talking like normal humans, occasionally glancing in the direction of the others inside the house.

She felt that as a semi-protagonist in the whole incident, she had been completely excluded.

The ghost groom is one thing, but why are two people who usually pretend to be complete strangers as colleagues and neighbors, and who also claim to be professional ghost hunters, chatting happily with a ghost?

Just a quick plug: I've been using a novel app lately, and it supports both Android and Apple phones!

Am I not allowed to sit in on the proceedings? Why am I being relegated to the sidelines?

Ignoring the accusations in the eyes of the victim, Comrade Zhou Xue, Yu Xing, Zhao Yijiu, and Zhao Ruru sat at the wooden table in the room and quickly organized the clues.

Yu Xing briefly explained Liang Erni's situation to Zhao Yijiu, focusing on Liang Erni's own circumstances.

"I asked her a lot of questions at her tombstone. Although she only answered a small part of them, I can basically confirm that she was approached by the 'Master' back then, deceived in her feelings, and after being with Master for more than a year, Master gave her the white jade and then disappeared." Yu Xing chuckled. "This Master, according to the character description, should have the personality of Lingren. He deceived Liang Erni completely, and after disappearing, it just so happened that the political situation was turbulent. Liang Erni treasured the white jade and carried it with her at all times until a ghost kept haunting her. She had an encounter with the ghost bride Liu Xue, and only then did she realize that it was all a deception."

"Afterwards, she was overwhelmed by the burden, her original love replaced by resentment. She preferred death to prevent the Master from taking her to complete the wedding that was not allowed by the world. However, she did not expect that what the Master valued was her special constitution. Even in death, she could still meet the Master's requirements. Thus began her long life as a ghost. Bai Yu was like a leech that she could not escape even in life, and it was even more so after death."

Zhao Yijiu listened attentively. For some reason, the thought that the Master was now being played by Lingren made him feel that the Lingren be very good at deceiving other people's feelings.

Because he is the most difficult type to deal with among the many Fallen Path. He is a good actor, insightful, and his degeneration is not due to any personal gain, but rather catalyzed by a deep-seated disgust after truly seeing through the world. He is a completely anti-human and antisocial personality.

Impulsive crimes and crimes committed by highly intelligent individuals—it's obvious which is more terrifying.

The above impressions come from the Zhao family and the Research Institute's analysis of the elusive Lingren's personality. When Yu Xing Zhao Yijiu entrusted Zhao Mou to investigate the Single Prism, he took the time to learn more about this person.

Resentment arises from the erosion of trust... Could Yu Xing have also become enemies with the Lingren in this way?

Zhao Yijiu looked at Yu Xing, who seemed completely at ease, and thought to herself.

Yu Xing noticed his gaze, paused in her speech, and subconsciously glanced at Zhao Yijiu's right eye before looking away, pretending nothing had happened. "Liang Erni has existed as a ghost for many years and has gradually begun to master the power of dreams. Thus, she created this dream-within-a-dream world to deceive the consciousness of the Master left behind in the white jade, shifting the target to Zhou Xue. In other words, Zhou Xue, whom we are tasked with protecting, is actually a person who never existed from beginning to end."

"If the side quest isn't triggered, the mission will proceed as usual. Once the side quest is triggered, you'll learn that the one who truly needs protection is Liang Erni, which leads to the mission of stealing the white jade and killing the Master. As previously mentioned, the white jade can only be touched by a living person; ghosts will be burned if they touch it."

"So we stole and smashed the white jade to free Liang Erni, and killing the Master's clone was to completely free Liang Erni from the Master's control. If either of these steps is not accomplished, the Master will realize that Liang Erni is using an illusion, and thus will no longer be trapped by the dream. He will then find Liang Erni and take her to the wedding ceremony."

"During this period, the protection of Zhou Xue still applies, because if the Master successfully pulls her into the wedding ceremony, Master will know it's a ruse and will still go after Liang Erni."

After Yu Xing finished speaking, she toyed with the dice she found on the table and concluded, "From this information, we can learn that in order to accomplish something, the Master must arrange for certain living girls to marry the deceased young Fang Mansion family, who is the ghost groom you are playing. The selection criteria are very strict, and it takes many years to find one. Otherwise, he wouldn't need to pester Liang Erni so much."

"Liu Xue also fits this trait, but she's not as suitable as Liang Erni. After her death, the wedding ceremony failed, but the Master wouldn't make the same mistake twice. With Liang Erni dead, the ceremony should be able to continue. We don't yet know what the Master, or rather the Lingren, really wants, we only know... whatever his purpose, it's best to ruin it."

"Yes, the Lingren and we are definitely on opposite sides, so we should just destroy them." Zhao Ruru was also certain of this. "I just cast a divination, and in the entire deduction, there is no reversal that the Lingren and we are actually on the same side. We can confidently confront him!"

[Good heavens, I'm just fucking speechless.]

[Zhao Ruru really brave, I'm a fan now!]

[The person you're a fan of will soon be a corpse, huh? I really want to see how the Lingren will torture a woman to death~]

[I'd rather see Lingren apologize to Xing, the kind who tortures Xing to death while apologizing~]

Why do you guys on the Fallen Path like to use tildes in your comments?

Ignore them; they won't speak unless their tone is flirtatious.

[Even Lingren are like that; do you want him to see this?]

[Don't even mention Lingren, Sachi is sometimes too. So, according to you, Sachi is also a candidate for our Fallen Path?]

Before they knew it, a large number of viewers from the "Fallen Path" flooded into the live stream. They watched the live stream happily for quite a while, but once they spoke, they inevitably started arguing with people who had different values.

Yu Xing glanced at Zhao Ruru and noticed that her expression was still quite resolute. Amused, she asked, "Aren't you afraid the Lingren will beat you up after you leave?"

Zhao Ruru immediately deflated. "Not afraid? How could I not be afraid? I've already offended them, what's the harm in offending them even more..."

She rubbed her face, feeling wronged. "I only wanted to do Zhao Mou a favor in the first place. Who knew I'd end up getting myself involved? Putting everything else aside, the fact that the Lingren became a special guest and is now in opposition to the participants in the Death Parallel Line simulation is enough to throw our Three Great Families into a panic... This casualty rate is definitely a record high."

"So," Zhao Ruru's eyes widened slightly as she leaned closer to Yu Xing, "I've practically sold myself into your trap, so you should at least consider my future, right? I need a powerful figure's protection, otherwise I'll be assassinated any minute!"

Yu Xing moved back a little, away from her blinking eyes.

Is this about the future?

This girl can be incredibly shrewd sometimes...

He knew that the "big shot" Zhao Ruru was referring to was not him. In everyone's eyes, he was just a promising newcomer to the differentiation line, and there was still a long way to go before he became a so-called "big shot".

She was referring to Qu Xuanqing, and any potential star promoter behind him who could rival the Lingren...

In normal thinking, someone who can challenge Lingren must have some trump card, preventing even a villain like Lingren from killing at will.

Zhao Ruru was betting on this very trump card: rather than being disliked by the Lingren and dying silently, she preferred to openly join forces and find the protection of another powerful figure.

Moreover, she wasn't at her wit's end. The Zhao family, being such a behemoth, was one of the assets she had to choose from. That's why she could be more relaxed than others.

Zhao Yijiu frowned, seemingly touched by something, but he felt the request was inappropriate. Before Yu Xing could answer, he coldly interrupted, "Let's talk about this outside."

"Oh." The injured Zhao Yijiu left no room for argument; Zhao Ruru was now extremely accommodating to this seriously wounded soldier, granting her every request.

Yu Xing smiled without saying a word, smoothly changing the subject, and instead asked, "And you, Brother Jiu? Did you find anything in this mansion?"

Zhao Yijiu nodded. He touched the white gauze wrapped around his right eye, which Yu Xing insisted on bandaging, even though the bleeding had stopped.

He lowered his hand, his weak voice unable to conceal his cold demeanor. "This is the Fang Mansion. The madam of the Fang Mansion and the so-called Master seem to have some shady relationship. It appears that the Master is the culprit behind the young master and Liu Xue's wedding, while the madam was likely used by the Master, or perhaps has other motives."

"He once treated the young master's illness, and I suspect that he was even responsible for the young master's death. The madam played a significant role in it."

The overall story can still be connected to the first stage of the mission. The Master wanted to obtain something through a marriage between a human and a ghost, so he went to the Fang Mansion, took a liking to the young master, killed him, and then lured Liu Bingxian selling Liu Xue, whom he had previously chosen. This led to Liu Xue's suicide, and she transformed into a vengeful ghost, slaughtering all the living people in the Fang Mansion. For reasons they didn't yet understand, even the neighbors on the funeral street were not spared, becoming ghosts who hated Liu Bingxian and feared Zhou Xue.

Yu Xing pondered for a moment, "So, in this mission, the location of Bai Yu is either on the Lingren or in the lady's room, but we can't be sure yet. Besides the faceless servant and the Lingren, are there any other characters in this haunted house? Let's just say it's in the room for now."

That's enough information exchange; he has four hours to complete both tasks.

Perhaps the original mission was to be completed over two days, but he fed Zhou Xue sleeping pills to extend the time all at once, to prevent Zhao Yijiu from falling into a helpless situation, and to have enough conditions to end the second phase of the mission directly. He was too lazy to waste time here with the Lingren.

"Shall we go to Madam's room now?" Zhao Ruru asked.

"Yes, we must go and check first to have a complete response plan." Yu Xing knew that the Lingren's absence meant he was plotting something, because forcing them to fail their mission by hiding and not being found didn't fit the Lingren's aesthetic; he wouldn't be so disappointing and boring.

Zhao Ruru: "Then, shall we bring Zhou Xue along?"

"We definitely need to bring Zhou Xue along, but not all of us."

Yu Xing finished speaking, Zhao Yijiu looked up sharply and asked, "What do you mean?"

Yu Xing chuckled softly and pressed her hand down reassuringly, "I'll take Zhou Xue to Madam's room to find Bai Yu. You and Zhao Ruru stay here."

[What were you thinking, separating at this point? Didn't they say in horror movies that whoever separates dies?]

[The problem is, this isn't a horror movie.]

Would it be better to separate?

[Hmm, that depends on what Xing plans to do. I'm sure he has his reasons.]

[What reason could he have given? I think it's because he took Zhou Xue, who was attracting hatred, to run into the Lingren, leaving Zhao Ruru, who was Combat Power, and Cold Wine, who was injured, to hide and rest in the room.]

[It's very touching, but I don't think Cold Wine would agree.]

As soon as the comment was posted, Zhao Yijiu seemed to see it and immediately followed up with, "I disagree."

Zhao Ruru was also startled, her voice stammering, "Putting everything else aside, just the fact that you took Zhou Xue away... I don't doubt Zhou Xue's safety, but I doubt my own."

"You want to attract the attention of the Lingren, but have you considered this?" Zhao Yijiu's expression showed disapproval. "What if the Lingren come looking for you? Will you still have time to care about Zhou Xue?"

"Calm down, listen to me." Yu Xing's smile hadn't faded since the beginning, bringing a sense of reassurance to those around her. "This grouping is the most cost-effective one I've calculated."

"I'll take Zhou Xue with me. The Lingren is coming, and he'll most likely be after me. I'll distract Lingren, Zhou Xue can take the opportunity to run back to you," Yu Xing said. "She's wearing a wedding dress, just like you, so she's not an intruder. Therefore, she won't actually be harmed by the Faceless Man."

"If the Lingren is after her, that's even simpler; I have plenty of ways to draw his attention to me and turn it into the first scenario."

"Then what's the point of us staying here?" Zhao Yijiu pursed her lips. "If I go, I can protect Zhou Xue."

Yu Xing interrupted him, "I'll get distracted."

Zhao Yijiu: "..."

Yu Xing noticed that Zhao Yijiu seemed quite aggrieved, so she rephrased her words: "If you stay here, you can protect Zhao Ruru."

Zhao Ruru: "..."

I'm so wronged!