A Long-Held Wish (1) - A Good Person

Zhao Yijiu's mind was buzzing.

He felt both physical discomfort and a complex mix of emotions, including surprise and astonishment, after hearing what Yu Xing had said to him.

He always felt that this person, who was younger than him, seemed to know everything, yet cared about nothing.

This feeling was a bit strange. Although he felt at ease, he noticed the most peculiar thing about Yu Xing.

This person is like someone who has seen it all, and ultimately chooses to sit in a small boat and drift with the current.

All the onlookers felt that he was swaying precariously, as if he could be swept away by the wind and waves at any moment and sink into the sea without even making a ripple.

If you really try to provoke him, you'll find that he has long since become one with the sea, which is why he dares to be so unrestrained.

When Zhao Yijiu thought of this analogy, a conclusion naturally came to mind Yu Xing was being very confident in his arrogance.

Perhaps Yu Xing's hidden secret is far greater than his, so she really doesn't care whether he's different from ordinary people.

Zhao Yijiu covered her right eye more tightly with her hand, and coughed lightly. "I didn't believe you."

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow, knowing that this person was being hypocritical and stubborn.

Even if he was influenced by the Lingren's words just now, now that he has said this, I believe Brother Jiu can tell the difference clearly.

He still had a lot of faith in Brother Jiu's willpower.

Then Zhao Yijiu whispered, "There's nothing I can't say. Many high-ranking members of the Zhao family headquarters know, and Zhao Mou knows too. I'll tell you after the simulation is over."

Yu Xing smiled. He was just like when he used to take Qu Xuanqing and Zhu Yan, and he had to speak to them gently when they felt insecure.

He agreed gently, "Okay, I'll listen. Also, I don't know what your thoughts are on forming a permanent team... We'll talk about that later. If you end up joining me, I can introduce you to some people, and I can also tell you about my affairs and the affairs of the Lingren."

Zhao Yijiu paused for a moment. This matter still required Zhao Mou and the Zhao family to negotiate, so he couldn't agree directly and could only nod.

Zhao Ruru's head was buzzing.

She watched the two whispering in public, chin in hand, marveling at how they were friends from their early days as strategists, while glancing at the comments on the screen.

Zhao Yijiu was asked more than once. Although she showed her displeasure, Zhao Yijiu Yu Xing and ignored her completely, which made those on the Fallen Path and those who had grudges against the Zhao family lose interest in escalating the conflict.

There's no contradiction here, it's just a matter of escalating a teapot-like situation!

Some who wanted to target Yu Xing, after being reminded by their companions, learned a tragic fact: the first few celebrity predictors who came to watch the live stream seemed to be very interested in Xing.

We can't afford to mess with them!

Yu Xing, once again preoccupied with her mood, completely ignored the comments about herself on the screen, leaving only Zhao Ruru watching.

She had been planning to answer a few questions, but when she turned around and saw her two teammates chatting without including her, she immediately deflated.

She wanted to join too, sob sob. It was supposed to be a three-person deduction, but why did she always feel out of place? It was because she was the last one to join!

Based on this deduction, if she survives and returns alive, she will definitely cling to Yu Xing's coattails and never let go... Zhao Ruru also seems to have participated in the feat of killing the Lingren in a quarter of the battle.

Even if she did nothing, just by staying in this group, she would definitely be remembered by many people and put on their murder list. If she didn't protect Yu Xing, she could only protect the entire Zhao family, but it was clear that the Zhao family couldn't possibly protect her completely.

Because the Zhao family has many members, and many of them are outstanding, losing her wouldn't be a fatal loss, to be honest.

With a pout, Zhao Ruru was too lazy to answer the audience's questions. She was now planning to think carefully about the third phase of the mission and try to make some contribution in this phase so that Yu Xing would discover her value.

The audience was completely baffled.

They watched as the team that was in first place finished drawing the prize, chatted for a few minutes, and then began their strange rest mode.

The fortune teller quietly memorized the map, trying to remember the distribution of the additional rooms in the second phase.

Cold Wine sat there quietly, his back straight, his gloomy expression fading somewhat, his eyes closed, as if he were adjusting his mindset.

Fortunately, after thinking for a while, this guy actually lay down on the table and fell asleep in his fur collar, oblivious to everyone else!

That's fucking amazing! He managed to fall asleep in just over ten minutes!

However, everyone, including Zhao Yijiu and Zhao Ruru, believed that he had exhausted himself fighting the Lingren in the mist and was truly fatigued, and no one disagreed.

When the twenty-minute long table time ended, Yu Xing was woken up by Zhao Ruru and, still a little dazed, followed the system prompts to the conference room door.

Before leaving, he even swiped a piece of chocolate from the conference table and popped it into his mouth.

Then Yu Xing rubbed her throbbing temples. Putting everything else aside, her spirits were definitely not as good as before after being suppressed by the [Cage].

Normally, someone with a mental illness would be very energetic every day (not really).

[Long table time is over. Please proceed to the conference room door and enter the third phase of the simulation one by one.]

[Please open the door.]

This time, Yu Xing was the first person called by the system. He swallowed the chocolate and pressed the doorknob.

The cold door opened, and fog filled the air, obscuring everything.

Yu Xing pushed the door open, and before he could turn around and say "Be careful" to his two teammates, he suddenly felt a hard kick to the butt.

His last bit of drowsiness was kicked away; his eyes widened slightly, and his body stumbled forward as he was kicked.

In a flash of inspiration, he lost his balance and let himself fall to the ground.

The fog suddenly dissipated, and just like in the second phase, the simulated world instantly enveloped him. Noise, colors, and the tactile sensations of different clothing rushed in, manifesting in his five senses.

"Bang!"

The sound of the impact on the ground was quite loud, and a dull pain spread from the point of impact. Yu Xing hissed and touched his arm, which had been bruised, through his sleeve, while glancing around out of the corner of his eye.

It is quaint and charming, with smooth pebbles on the ground that form harmonious patterns; a few slender trees sway gracefully in the corner, and a water tank is embedded in the ground, where fish swim.

The decoration looks unfamiliar at first glance, but upon closer inspection, you can see that the entire layout resembles a fourth courtyard.

It seems this phase is indeed taking place within the Fang Mansion.

Along with the pain in Yu Xing's buttocks, knees, and arms, a sharp and sarcastic voice rang out behind him.

He turned around and saw a well-dressed, plump middle-aged woman with an angry expression. Beside her was a man in his thirties dressed in plain clothes, who was very clean and looked somewhat frail, but he was holding the middle-aged woman's arm as if trying to mediate the fight.

"You can't even do a good job. You lost Madam's earring the day before yesterday, and spilled Doctor Cui's medicine today. I gave you such a good position, but you don't do it properly. Are you sleepwalking?" The middle-aged woman's voice was very harsh. She walked over and pointed at Yu Xing's nose, scolding him. Many people in the courtyard dressed as servants stopped what they were doing and looked over.

"What are you looking at! Go do your own thing!" The middle-aged woman's anger shifted the next second.

The onlookers scattered like birds and beasts. Yu Xing understood what was going on. With an expression of obediently admitting his mistake and accepting scolding, he got up, turned to the woman, and lowered his head, looking uneasy.

This made the woman swallow back the words that were about to slip out. "What are you still doing lying on the ground? Like you're going to sleep here?"

The frail-looking man had been talking softly, but now that they were closer, every word he said reached Yu Xing's ears.

"Mama Liang, the little bit of medicine Xiao Jin spilled won't have any effect. You don't need to beat and scold him like this..."

The middle-aged, plump woman, referred to as Mama Liang, turned her head angrily, her tone finally softening. "Doctor Cui, even if you say that, the medicine is for the young master. The Master instructed that there can be no mistakes whatsoever. What if the Master remembers it..."

Her voice suddenly lowered. "This kid isn't someone you can protect by kicking him or scolding him a few times."

Her words made Doctor Cui suddenly understand, and he involuntarily let go of the hand that was trying to mediate the fight. His gaze towards the woman with her slightly loose and wrinkled face also changed.

He nodded. "Mama Liang is kind; I was just being nosy. The medicine has already been delivered by someone else, so there's probably nothing more for me to do. I'll go back to my room now."

Mama Liang quickly replied, "Doctor Cui, what are you saying? You don't need my permission to do anything you want. Doctor, you've worked hard, please go back to your room and rest."

After Doctor Cui left, Mama Liang turned to look at Yu Xing, who was standing there obediently without moving, and said sternly, "You're so clumsy and forgetful. You're not allowed to eat lunch today!"

Yu Xing bowed and said, "Mama Liang."

Before she could finish speaking, Mama Liang turned and left, leaving Yu Xing alone in the yard.

This means... we can leave now.

Yu Xing took a breath and pretended to be aggrieved as she walked towards the room next door.

He was standing there not only listening to the veiled meaning in Doctor Cui and Mama Liang's words, but also looking at the third-stage mission notification sent by the system.

[This stage of the simulation is a role-playing mode]

[You will play the role of a servant; your specific identity details have been transferred to your Persona Mask.]

[Main Quest: Observe the events and survive to the end. A team's observation rate of 60% is considered satisfactory at the end; for every 10% increase, the reward increases by one tier. Teams that fail to reach 60% at the end are considered to have engaged in passive investigation, will discard the truth, and will be eliminated.]

[Special Survival Requirement: There are three evil spirits hiding in this mansion among all NPCs. As an "outsider," you must not let the evil spirits discover your identity. Once discovered, you will be targeted by the evil spirits, who will kill you when no one is around.]

[Note: Evil spirits must not reveal their identities, otherwise they will be eliminated by the "Will of the World".]

[Time flow has been restored in this phase; the ratio of flow rate between the Absurd World and the real world is now 1:1.]

[Role-playing is mandatory at this stage. If any abnormality is detected by NPCs (except for evil spirits), the "World Will" will take measures to eliminate the individual, and the system will not provide protection.]

This role-playing experience is different from the second phase; it is significantly more demanding.

Furthermore, a hide-and-seek-like setting has been added, except that neither the seeker nor the seeker can be discovered; it all depends on how the deducer and the evil spirit play their roles.

Yu Xing found this quite interesting, which improved her mood, and she also noticed the wording of the Main Quest.

Observe, survive.

"That means the strategist has to follow the plot. Some hidden plot points require the strategist to find ways to connect with them, which will undoubtedly increase the chances of being discovered by the evil spirit. But if one doesn't take the initiative, it will be difficult to achieve the required observation rate." He pondered to himself.

"Then it's all about survival. There are no other rules, which means that during this stage, survival is the most difficult thing."

The fewer words Absurd Deduction Game require, the more terrifying they are. The instructions are very specific, and compared to deduction games that only have the three words "survive," any deduction player knows that the former is simpler.

In addition to the mission objectives, there is another mechanism unique to Death Parallel Line that finally appears in the third phase.

[In this phase, the timelines of different teams will converge.]

The three teams that participated in the Side Quest will meet in this phase. The quests are the same. Currently, there are 38 deducers in the deduction world.

[The first team to enter the simulation will observe from the beginning of the story, and the teams that enter later will fill in based on the time difference.]

[There are no mission conflicts among the three teams this time. I hope everyone works together smoothly.]

[You can earn points by killing members of other teams]

Damage!

Perhaps it was because she had been spending too much time with Tianjin lately, but when Yu Xing saw the last notification, this was the sentence that subconsciously came to mind.

It's been said that there are no conflicting tasks, and even killing is encouraged. This is only possible in November when everyone knows each other. In other months, this would definitely be praised by many players.

He looked at the number 38 and knew that one of the other two teams had already lost a member.

Hopefully, the team with only two members can arrive soon. Otherwise, since the observation rate is already harder to accumulate than other teams, if they arrive any later, they might not be able to reach the 60% requirement.

Coming in first might seem like a greater chance of being exposed, but it's actually just a test of acting skills.

If we arrive too late, the simulation will already be halfway through, and there might not even be a glimmer of hope left.

Yu Xing had already quickly browsed through the new character identity card and had a grasp of his own information. When he reached the door of the room, a young servant dressed similarly waved to him from inside the room.

"Xiao Jin! Come over here quickly!" The young servant was a boy who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old. He had a chubby face, big eyes, and appeared very innocent.

This "innocent" boy, after quietly calling Yu Xing, nervously closed the door and looked Yu Xing over and over again.

"What's wrong?" Yu Xing didn't know how to address him, so she waited to see what would happen.

"Do you need medicine? Remember how badly the butler beat me last time? I almost died. Doctor Cui treated me." The boy recalled the incident with a hint of sadness, looking at Yu Xing. "I secretly kept some of the medicine he prescribed, just in case something happens again and the butler won't let Doctor Cui treat me anymore."

"Mama Liang hit you really hard today. Tell me where you're hurt, and I'll bring you the medicine."

Yu Xing responded with a soft "hmm".

He touched his bottom and felt that he had no injuries at all. Considering what Mama Liang and Doctor Cui had said, he smiled and said, "Don't worry about me, Mama Liang is a good person."