Zhao Yijiu Ran Off

Zhao Mou didn't know why either.

He may have realized that part of his behavior was out of control because he looked directly at the fish with a human face, but he wasn't quite sure what the point of what he was doing was.

For example, grouping Qu Xuanqing with himself is not the optimal solution for grouping.

Qu Xuanqing lowered her eyes, quietly and intently searching for any possible entrances to secret passages in the surrounding area. Zhao Mou stared at her for two seconds, narrowed his eyes, looked down at the clothes he was wearing that he had torn to shreds the moment he woke up, and suddenly realized something.

There must be some connection between "infidels" and "models".

Although everyone could conceal their identity at the beginning, their team knew each other's identities before entering the arena. Therefore, when he officially appeared on the island as a heretic, knowing that Qu Xuanqing was a model, this knowledge would have a certain bias influencing his behavior. After seeing the human-faced fish, this subconscious influence was amplified.

As someone who constantly challenges fate and time, he is extremely perceptive of changes in his own mind, which is why he was able to bypass a host of distractions and directly perceive the core of the problem.

As he surveyed the surroundings on both sides, he slowly approached Qu Xuanqing. He looked around and noticed that Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu were walking towards him with somewhat strange looks. Apart from them, no one else seemed to be paying attention to them. Reassured, he called out to Qu Xuanqing, "Wait a minute, may I take a look at the back of your waist?"

"Behind the waist?" Qu Xuanqing raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, but after hearing Zhao's calm and clear-headed tone, she chose to trust her teammate. "Okay, you see."

Zhao Mou reached out a hand towards Qu Xuanqing's waist, which was completely covered by Qu Xuanqing's long dress without any damage. However, just above the waist fabric, there was a very large hole, revealing Qu Xuanqing's fair back skin.

He pulled the fabric down a little by following the hole, and as if some unseen voice had told him beforehand, he indeed found a black mark on Qu Xuanqing's waist, like some kind of totem.

On his palm, there was actually a slightly different totem, which he concealed very carefully throughout the journey, never showing it to anyone.

"There is indeed a connection. If the NPCs on Dead Silent Island are divided into different factions, then you and I should belong to the same faction." Zhao Mou said confidently after comparing the two. "The system only told us that we wouldn't be forced into conflict because of our identities, but it didn't say that our identities wouldn't prevent us from showing favoritism on Dead Silent Island. I've thought about this for a long time; it should be a hidden rule. Now that you've confirmed it, I'm quite certain about many things."

"I see." Qu Xuanqing into a smile. "Even under the influence, you remained so calm; that's quite remarkable."

Zhao Mou smiled, pushed up his glasses, and glanced at Yu Xing and his younger brother, who clearly had misunderstood something and were looking at him with a hint of mockery. "Eliminating distractions and staying true to oneself are also essential skills for divination practitioners. Compared to me, your self-control is undoubtedly more perfect. I've been watching you for a long time and haven't noticed anything unusual about you."

"It's not about perfect restraint, it's just that it never existed to begin with. You know my physical condition; this physical form can only withstand very little interference. That fish didn't leave me with anything." Qu Xuanqing didn't explain much, but it was clear that even though the sacrifice was temporarily sealed, her body and soul were still in a separate state. In a way, her Wicked Grace and Yu Xing's unknown sacrifice were similar in that they could still produce some effect when sealed.

"By the way, have you made up your mind?" Qu Xuanqing noticed that Zhao Mou's fingers were still hooked on the back of her clothes.

"I think you've got it figured out. When you go inside the building, you can use the mirror to check yourself. The skin on your back... seems to have a crack." Zhao Mou's tone wasn't as certain as before, because he didn't really want to touch Qu Xuanqing's lower back; it would seem ungentlemanly. But to his naked eye, there was another square crack beneath the totem on Qu Xuanqing's lower back.

Her skin seemed to have a "crack in the shell," as if it could be opened from there. The moment he saw the crack, Qu Xuanqing's image in Zhao Mou's mind changed from a living person to a humanoid mannequin. Even though he knew this should be a matter of identity, the feeling still made him shudder, as if he had suddenly experienced the Uncanny Valley effect.

"... Is that so?" Qu Xuanqing's head moved, her delicate face strangely and inexplicably beautiful. "After waking up, I didn't feel any discomfort or anything different in my body. If it weren't for you, I might not have realized this for a long time. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Zhao Mou let go of her hand, and at this moment, Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu also came closer.

"What are you doing?" Yu Xing's gaze was a little strange, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Zhao Yijiu remained silent.

Zhao Mou's temples throbbed. Just moments ago, he had been somewhat amused, wondering just how deep their misunderstanding of him really went, but seeing their serious expressions, he felt a pang of heartache. "... Judging from the way you two look at each other, don't you seem to have a little too little trust in your vice-captain?"

"Zhao Mou has discovered a clue." Qu Xuanqing glanced at the two men's condition, her brows furrowing slightly. "On the contrary, you two seem a bit off."

Zhao Yijiu asked, "What clue?"

"..." For some reason, Qu Xuanqing met Yu Xing's gaze and then vaguely received a hint—don't reveal the clues.

This is a unique understanding between her and Yu Xing.

Yu Xing leaned lazily against a twisted, leaning, withered tree, just like before, seemingly boneless wherever he went. His tone held a hint of a half-smile as he said to Qu Xuanqing, "Something's not quite right. Brother Jiu said the influence I've received has lowered my intelligence, and I think he's absolutely right. He told me about some other people's unusual behavior, including how Zhao Mou and you were Group One for nefarious purposes, and I believed him."

Zhao Yijiu was taken aback and looked at Yu Xing.

Yu Xing's words were very strange. He no longer had the jarring, idiotic feeling he had when the two of them stood together. On the contrary, his tone sounded like he was harboring some malicious intentions. After listening to Yu Xing's words, Zhao Yijiu realized with some confusion that these malicious intentions seemed to be directed at him.

Zhao Mou's mind worked quickly. After noticing Yu Xing's attitude, a cold glint appeared in his eyes. "Are you saying there's something wrong with my brother?"

Zhao Yijiu: "I didn't..."

"He's talking way more than before, his enthusiasm is unusual," Yu Xing interrupted Zhao Yijiu. "His observation skills are somewhat understandable, but telling me that Wen Qinghuai and Huang Bai wouldn't be showing affection at a time like this is just absurd."

"Even if I had looked at their information before the simulation, Brother Jiu wouldn't know they were dating, nor would he understand the typical dynamics of a relationship. Not only would Brother Jiu not know, but even I couldn't possibly know."

In the blink of an eye, Zhao Mou Qu Xuanqing had already grabbed Zhao Yijiu by the neck. She had chosen a good angle, precisely because it was a blind spot created by the surrounding trees, so no one would notice what they were doing.

Zhao Yijiu's face turned cold. He instinctively wanted to resist, but after realizing something, he gave up and let Qu Xuanqing suppress him.

"Also, he just told me that the change in his personality was due to the big fish affecting the 'him' inside him, but that's even more impossible. His existence would only give Brother Jiu a greater advantage. Being in the same system, they should understand each other better, so how could it amplify the influence?" Yu Xing crossed his arms, clearly ready to watch the show. He tilted his head and said to Zhao Yijiu, who was being held by the neck but not resisting, "I noticed something was off about you on the way here. Your gait was flawless, but your eyes were different from Zhao Yijiu's."

"So I decided to test you, pretending I hadn't noticed anything. You thought I only noticed other people's problems after hearing Fei Jing's voice, but actually, it was after you told me about all the other people's problems that I noticed you."

Yu Xing: "Besides, Brother Jiu was able to resist the outside world for so many years, but here he's accepting all these influences without any resistance. Do you think he's a pushover?"

"..." Zhao Yijiu didn't speak, but her brows furrowed more and more tightly.

Zhao Mou stood beside Qu Xuanqing, his tone already quite unfriendly. "I was careless. All the way here, I only felt some kind of unseen connection with Qu Xuanqing, and my focus was off. Where's my brother? And what are you?"

Zhao Yijiu finally listened to the sudden accusations. After thinking about it for a moment, he realized that these accusations could actually be true.

Yu Xing was not actually affected, or rather, the aspect affected was not his intelligence, so Yu Xing seized upon the flaw in his performance, but...

If he isn't Zhao Yijiu, then who is he?

Zhao Yijiu said, "I'm sorry, I don't know anything. I thought I was Zhao Yijiu. My memories tell me that I am."

This answer surprised all three of them.

"If I weren't Zhao Yijiu, how would I know the true state of my body?" Zhao Yijiu looked at Yu Xing, "My reminder to you was correct."

He then looked at Zhao Mou: "Brother, I have all my memories. When I told Yu Xing about your strange behavior, it was also based on speculation, and I had no malicious intent whatsoever."

"..." Seeing this scene, Zhao Mou felt somewhat uneasy.

When did things start to become so strange?

Whenever his brother is involved, he always becomes biased. The person in front of him does have everything that A Jiu has, but he just... doesn't resemble A Jiu.

Yes, Zhao Yijiu and Yu Xing Group One on the other side just now, and he was too far away to notice them. But now, after Zhao Yijiu said a few words to him, he could feel the awkwardness.

It feels so out of place; it just doesn't look right.

"Hmm..." Yu Xing made a meaningful nasal sound, "You think you are, but you aren't; your memories are all there, but your personality is different; you understand us better, but you don't understand us enough—for example, no matter how much Zhao Mou is influenced, he wouldn't make a wrong decision at a time like this, and me, what influence could a madman like me have? My more insane state definitely doesn't include that kind of nonsense like mental derangement; my more insane side has actually been exposed before."

Zhao Mou suddenly asked, "Is it a shadow?"

"Hmm?" Yu Xing's voice rose at the end.

"This state is like A Jiu's shadow." Zhao Mou told Qu Xuanqing to release Zhao Yijiu. He took a step closer, his gaze suddenly sharpening, as if he could expose anyone. "Are you a shadow?"

Zhao Yijiu's identity is that of a high-level shadow wizard.

The shadow follows its master, so it shares the same memories, but everything it sees is one-sided, from an alternative perspective.

The moment she was called a shadow, Zhao Yijiu's body trembled. Suddenly, it was as if a 3D thing had been reduced to 2D. Her body instantly thinned, lost its color and lines, leaving only an outline.

It really was just a shadow!

The shadow still retained Zhao Yijiu's outline; it nimbly broke free from the group's encirclement and swayed on the ground.

"This means something terrible!" Yu Xing exclaimed. "This is a shadow. The real Brother Jiu seems to have... disappeared?"

"Where could he go?" Zhao Mou was no longer as worried as before. Because Zhao Yijiu's identity was that of a shadow wizard, after confirming that this strange Zhao Yijiu was a shadow, he could also confirm one thing.

This shadow is Zhao Yijiu's ability. The shadow has no ill intentions towards them; it was only exposed because of its lack of professional skills. Zhao Yijiu placed the shadow here, and since her own people are gone, it means that Zhao Yijiu left on her own.

To avoid causing them unnecessary worry, he used the abilities inherent in his identity to deceive his teammates, and even tried to keep it from his own brother—it's hard to say whether this had the opposite effect.

Qu Xuanqing's cold gaze swept sharply around, but he didn't see any other shadows. "I have a guess. Since that fish in the sea just now gave off a feeling of being a Kelvin-type ghost, it should mean that the ghosts on Dead Silent Island are more or less similar to Kelvin-types. The talkative one is also from this type. Could it be that after seeing the big fish, the talkative one needed to act alone for some reason, so he left a shadow here? If we knew, we would definitely stop him, so he didn't give us a chance to stop him."

This is based on experience after seeing many ghosts.

Yu Xing also leaned towards this answer. He had once faced the vengeful ghost in the Fear Hospital and inside Zhao Yijiu's body. When the vengeful ghost abducted the sea monster related to the deep sea, Yu Xing had already guessed that this vengeful ghost probably had something to do.

However, before the vengeful ghost could even go after the sea monster, he coincidentally discovered that the background of this deduction was also something he needed, so he left ahead of time.

As for the trigger, it must have been the moment when the giant fish with the human face had a psychological impact on everyone, since Zhao Yijiu was still perfectly normal on the shore.

If the vengeful ghost's consciousness awakens at that moment, and with its power amplifies its influence, temporarily giving Zhao Yijiu's other side the upper hand, then it would make sense.

Despite being influenced by the vengeful spirit Zhao Yijiu is still Zhao Yijiu himself. Therefore, he considers his brother and teammates and uses a shadow to create a fake version of himself. Unfortunately, a shadow is still just a shadow and does not achieve the desired effect.

After figuring out what had happened, Zhao Mou wasn't in a good mood. "Damn it, that brat, he's got a real knack for scaring his brother. He's probably afraid my heart is too strong, so he's trying to give me a real shock, isn't he?"

The vengeful spirit's consciousness has gained the upper hand, indicating that Zhao Yijiu is currently in a very powerful state. Perhaps if she is careful, she can avoid the ghosts on the island.

But at the same time, he left the team alone, and no one could find him. Even if he was in danger, they had no way to rescue him... Perhaps the ghosts that could put Ghost Wine in danger would only result in more casualties if they rushed to rescue him.

Zhao Mou thought to himself, "How sad. Why couldn't A Jiu discuss it with me? Is it really something that's good for A Jiu? Could I possibly stop her?"

Yu Xing patted Zhao Mou on the shoulder and smiled at the troubled Zhao Mou, "Alright, although this matter is a bit unexpected, if it's in that state, he's still quite reliable. He'll be fine traveling alone. At worst, once you find your spirit medium, the first thing you should do is divine his location, and then we'll go find him."

A flicker of memory crossed Qu Xuanqing's eyes, then she nodded, half-comfortingly and half-seriously patting Zhao Mou's head. "That chatterbox is very capable and intelligent, just like Yu Xing. Madness doesn't hinder their judgment, so you can rest assured. You can trust your brother more."

Zhao Mou: "...?"

He was speechless. "Comforting is one thing, but I'm twenty-eight years old, what kind of behavior is it for you to touch my head?! Don't touch me like that next time!"

"I didn't say anything when you pulled my clothes, so why can't I touch you?" Qu Xuanqing was indifferent; her logic was very straightforward. "Stop it."

Zhao Mou completely lost the will to speak.

A smile flashed in Yu Xing's eyes. He felt that Zhao Mou was really good to his own people. Ignoring his own advanced age, Zhao Mou was like the team's long-suffering elder brother.

"Oh right, I suspected earlier that Brother Jiu had been replaced, so I didn't ask you to share any clues. Now it seems I was overthinking it. What did you find after all that searching?" he suddenly remembered.

Zhao Mou told Yu Xing about the totem in a rather annoyed manner.

"Hmm, I wonder if I have any on me." Yu Xing couldn't see them herself. "Even if it's not a totem, it might have a number or something—"

It's unclear whether the A-level pollutant escaped from some laboratory.

"Hey, we've found the passage!" Just as the group was whispering to each other, Bai Junrui made a discovery not far away. They kept their voices down, but the news quickly reached Yu Xing.

They immediately headed toward the source of the sound. Yu Xing discovered that Zhao Yijiu's shadow, which had been idly swaying on the ground, had merged into Zhao Mou's shadow, and there was no difference between it and the previous one.

The two brothers naturally resemble each other.

On the other side, hidden by tangled weeds and rubble, Bai Junrui dug out a downward passage. The entrance was narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through. Through the gray clouds that glowed with moonlight, the researchers who gathered around could see what was around the entrance of the passage.

It was a curved, circular passage, with concentric rings of mud that provided some cushioning for anyone who slipped in. They didn't know where the passage led, but it was their only option.

"Who goes first?" Xu Huan asked.

Bai Junrui was the discoverer and made contributions, which almost implied that the Mysterious Eye, where he was located, did not need to be a pathfinder.

Zeng Lai looked at this and inexplicably recalled the scene where he and Yu Xing jumped into the abyss under the bed in Alice's Park. He could still vividly remember how terrifying the roses below were.

However, when everyone is basically incapable, scouting should be left to those with good skills. Unfortunately, he was a gambler who had always acted recklessly and recklessly in other simulation worlds. His good skills were universally acknowledged.

Actually, there are also Qu Xuanqing, Xu Huan, Zhao Yijiu, Dai Yuefu, and Bai Xiaobing, but... Qu Xuanqing and Xu Huan are both very cold-hearted and don't want to go down to explore. No one can force them. Dai Yuefu is a little weaker than him, and Bai Xiaobing doesn't have a good reputation with him. It seems that only he is the most suitable.

Zeng Lai looked around and was surprised to find that Zhao Yijiu was gone. However, seeing that Yu Xing and the others didn't seem very worried, he swallowed his question out of a sense of cooperation.

"I'll go first." He wasn't really too concerned. The possibility of danger always existed, but as long as it wasn't certain death, he was confident he could escape.

Yu Xing originally wanted Qu Xuanqing to go, as he didn't trust many people here, so he wanted Qu Xuanqing to get the first piece of information. But since Zeng Lai was the one who stood out, it didn't seem to make any difference.

No one objected to Zeng Lai's self-recommendation, but Zhao Yijiu's disappearance was still discovered, even though Yu Xing and the others hadn't tried to hide it.

"Where is he?" Fei Jing asked warily.

"The person is missing," Yu Xing said with a smile.

"You're so happy he's gone?" Fei Jing frowned. "You... you guys, aren't you on the same team?"

"Yes, our team trusts its teammates," Yu Xing replied. "Before he disappeared, he left us a message saying not to worry about him, so we just let him go."

"This is outrageous..." Fei Jing murmured.

"Every strategist has their own style. Our team, well, we just like to mess around." Yu Xing admitted that Fei Jing was right this time, but he was taking advantage of the loose command position among the twenty people. "Don't worry, he'll catch up soon."

Seeing that Zhao Yijiu's team was so at ease, even his brother didn't say anything, and the others didn't feel comfortable interrupting. Besides, not many people actually believed Yu Xing's explanation; they were all wondering if Yu Xing or Zhao Mou had discovered clues and sent Zhao Yijiu on some mission.

But because of their status, they had no right to ask.

The strategists wasted no time. Wen Qinghuai used the long rope he had just made from grass to tie Zeng Lai's waist, Zeng Lai quickly slid in through the passage.

This straw rope was made by him, Huang Bai, and Sha together. All three of them are very efficient and used the time they had just spent to make an absurdly long rope. And I must say, when Sha was sitting on the ground twisting the rope, he looked just like an autistic child who had found joy in doing so.

They didn't need the rope to be very strong, since they weren't expecting to use it for rock climbing. The rope was just a communication tool; if there were no problems down below, a couple of tugs on the rope would send everyone down.

Looking at Wen Qinghuai, who could make such a long rope in such a short time, Yu Xing guessed that he had used his identity skill, otherwise even if three more people worked together to make the rope, they still couldn't make it this long.

Hmm... craftsman? sports expert?

As expected, the rope did not end or break. When the rope stopped falling, two pulls came from the other end, indicating that it was safe.

One by one, everyone slid down.

Only Yu Xing was rather unhappy. It was so slippery that getting scrapes and abrasions was inevitable, and his amplified pain was truly distressing.

He showed some reluctance, which the others understood. He dawdled and soon became the fourth to last person. The people who hadn't gone down yet were Wen Qinghuai, Huang Bai, and Qu Xuanqing.

"Intentional?" With no outsiders present, Wen Qinghuai immediately saw through Yu Xing's plan.

Yu Xing suppressed her anxiety about not wanting to go down and chuckled softly, "Well, there's something I'd like to talk about."

Ten minutes later, everyone slid through the tunnel to the finish line.

Yu Xing followed Wen Qinghuai and Huang Bai, with Qu Xuanqing bringing up the rear. As expected, he suffered abrasions all over his body in the passage, making his already impoverished family even worse off. Except for his head, which he subconsciously protected, every part of his body ached.

His clothes also had many holes, but fortunately, his neutral gear position wouldn't be noticed for the time being.

After the deducers regrouped, they began searching the space below.

This is a somewhat winding passage, not vertical, but generally trending downwards. At the bottom is an unexpectedly clean space, full of traces of human life. The walls are relatively smooth, and there is a table, a bed, and some puzzling marks, as if someone had scratched here.

The space is quite large, about 80 square meters. After deducting the area occupied by the furniture, it would be a little crowded for 20 people to stand there, but it would be more than enough.

This looks like a secret room that someone used to live in!

On one side of the secret room was a door covered in rust. Some people had an excellent sense of direction and realized that if this door were opened, they would be facing the city in the basin. In other words, once they opened the door, they would officially step into the town on the Dead Silent Island.

But you need a key.

They didn't rush out, but continued searching the secret room. A secret room like this wouldn't appear out of nowhere in the mountain. Although the room was full of spider webs and holes gnawed by insects, and judging from the details, it hadn't been inhabited for a long time, there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be some crucial clues that would be used later.