Not You Guys Who Asked Me to Come?

"It really is you guys." Seeing that the desired effect had been achieved, Yu Xing happily gave them a smile, "Long time no see."

"Oh, it's been a long time?" Ning Feng straightened his clothes, then put on a thoughtful expression. "For me, the last time we met was just last month... I understand, in your timeline, perhaps your last impression of me was as an exorcist holding a crucifix?"

"Well... it's been a long time, little detective."

Yu Xing pondered the meaning of those words. It meant that at some point in his current timeline, he had collaborated with Ning Feng, or at least had some contact with him.

That makes sense. Only through more contact and cooperation can the experience tester find a way to Time Imprint they can contact me with him. He doesn't think that the contact points in his memory are enough to make him someone the other party can trust.

The young man behind Ning Feng stepped forward and said coldly, "Nice to meet you. I am the one who plays the game."

"First time?" Yu Xing stared at the young man for a moment. "Just now in the corridor, you seemed to know me."

"Although we haven't met in the Yugi, both this madman and Yu Fengchen have described you to me, so I shouldn't fail to recognize you." The boy's gaze was indifferent, but looking at him now, he didn't seem to be the type who didn't like to talk; it was just that his tone was calm, like an emotionless robot.

He held the long-eared rabbit doll in his arms, its scarlet eyes staring straight at a point in the void ahead. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary, exquisite doll, but Yu Xing sensed a ghostly aura emanating from this rabbit that was no less powerful than that of the axe-wielding Female Ghost outside the general store.

This boy's strength is probably not low. What's strange is that in a neutral world like Dead Silent Island, all the sacrifices of the deducers are scattered in various places. Logically speaking, for the sake of fairness, the experiencers should be the same. But why is this rabbit still here? Is it because this boy found his sacrifice too quickly, or is this rabbit not a sacrifice for the boy, but a part of his body?

With just one glance, Yu Xing roughly guessed the secret about this "chess player." Because his gaze lingered a little longer, the rabbit moved and raised its head slightly.

A terrifying feeling enveloped him from all directions. Yu Xing's breath hitched slightly. He was currently in a phase where he was extremely sensitive to the aura of ghosts, and this experience was not pleasant for him. The next second, a hand pressed down on the rabbit's head, as if interrupting some kind of progress bar. The rabbit lowered its head again, lifeless.

The player holding the chess piece simply placed his hand on the rabbit's head and wouldn't remove it. Seeing Yu Xing's reaction, he calmly explained, "There's an evil spirit inside the rabbit. If you can't stand it, stay away from me."

"Luckily, it's fine as long as it doesn't look at me." Yu Xing smiled. "By the way, this rabbit seems quite possessive of you, so please be careful."

The player holding the chess piece glanced at him and nodded slightly. "Thank you."

"Little detective, ignore this little brother, look at me." Ning Feng noticed that Yu Xing's attention was completely diverted, so he waved his hand in front of Yu Xing and gave him a gentle smile like a friendly older brother. "I'm the captain. Whether it's discussing matters or exchanging information, you should come to me, shouldn't you?"

Being called "little brother" didn't elicit any other reaction from the player; instead, as if he were used to it, he simply stood quietly to the side, ready to be a silent background figure.

"I thought Shen was the captain." Yu Xing paused, feeling that this was different from the experience tester team he had imagined. "I met Shen once in the tomb palace last time, and his aura seemed more like... a leader?"

"You've seen Xiao Yuzi?" Ning Feng wasn't surprised, but he seemed a little disappointed. "Xiao Yuzi is sometimes called 'Iceberg' outside. His aura is indeed getting stronger and stronger. It's a pity I wasn't there for the Tomb Palace Yugi you mentioned. Damn it, he got to put on a show."

Although the two sides hadn't actually met much before, for some inexplicable reason, they didn't feel awkward at all after meeting, and instead quickly struck up a conversation.

Of course, it's also possible that Ning Feng and Yu Xing just happen to be good at socializing; talkative people can always find topics to talk about when they get together.

"..." Yu Xing was silent for two seconds, then suddenly remembered that the person next to him seemed too quiet. Even though he was sure the environment was safe, he didn't stand up. He turned his head and looked at his legs, and saw Zhao Yijiu squatting there with a serious expression, exuding a cold aura.

Has it reverted back?

Strange, this change at this moment... Who is the vengeful spirit hiding from? Ning Feng or the chess player?

Since confirming that the vengeful spirit was still trying to fight back, Yu Xing's mental radar started working. Now his mental acuity was extremely high, and he could almost detect the undercurrents beneath the surface with just a thought. He narrowed his eyes and stretched his hand out in front of Zhao Yijiu.

This means "to rise up".

Zhao Yijiu didn't grab his hand. Instead, after receiving his intention, she stood up on her own. Suddenly, there was another person in the room. Ning Feng's pupils involuntarily contracted, and after a moment, he smiled and asked, "Who is this person?"

Yu Xing introduced, "Cold Wine, this is my teammate."

Zhao Yijiu remained silent, nodded to Ning Feng, and ignored the other player who was also silent.

"Wow, this is Zhao Yijiu." Ning Feng seemed very interested in Zhao Yijiu, scrutinizing him with a gloomy expression as he looked at his posture, then his eyes flashed. "He's a cool guy, isn't he? This is a real iceberg, much colder than Xiao Yuzi. Oh, by the way, Xing, I don't know if you've heard of Chen's full name in your current timeline. His name is Yu Fengchen, I call him Xiao Yuzi. He's also on Dead Silent Island ~"

"Yes, I know." Yu Xing nodded. The message that the Time Imprint had given him directly stated that Shen would be on the island, but this was the first time he had heard Shen's full name.

"It's not just Xiao Yuzi, our whole team is here. Before, this little brother and another member of our team, Boss Chu, calculated that your team and our team have a strange mutual attraction. I guess this is what they call fate." Ning Feng pointed to the player holding the chess piece, then looked up at the sky with a playful expression.

Above the lounge was naturally the ceiling, but Yu Xing could sense that Ning Feng wasn't looking at this layer of ceiling, but at something higher, perhaps the sky, or perhaps a trajectory.

It was also clear from his tone that Ning Feng had no reverence for fate.

"So when we learned that this event was a competition against the deducers, we already guessed that fate might put you in the same scenario as us. Now, sure enough, it's not surprising at all." Ning Feng smiled and asked in a very sunny tone, "But how did you know? In this timeline, has your team also deduced the hidden connection between us?"

Yu Xing felt increasingly uneasy as she listened.

He looked at Zhao Yijiu and noticed that Zhao Yijiu's gaze had unconsciously shifted to his face as well. They exchanged a glance.

"No, that's not the case. Our team was only recently formed, and we haven't met any of your team members yet. In terms of intelligence gathered through timeline interactions, we currently have far less information than you do." Yu Xing was quite frank when it came to serious matters. After conveying his goodwill with a touch of sincerity, he asked a question, "But for this combat exercise, wasn't it you who messaged me and told me to choose this location?"

Ning Feng was taken aback.

The player holding the chess piece suddenly sharpened his gaze, his dark eyes surging like ripples in a deep pool. The boy took a step forward. "We don't."

Yu Xing: Oh wow.

"You mean we sent you a message?" Ning Feng tilted his head, his tone clearly denying the claim. "No, we haven't found a way to contact your team directly yet."

After he finished speaking, he and the player holding the chess piece exchanged a glance, and then the four of them stared at each other in the lounge.

That's really awkward.

Yu Xing believed that Ning Feng was not surprised by his presence because Ning Feng's team had sent him a message, so it was certain that he was also on the island.

Unexpectedly, the other team deduced that the two teams were connected by fate, so they had anticipated this and attributed the reason why their team appeared on the Dead Silent Island to the attraction of fate.

But he didn't expect that Ning Feng was completely unaware of the Time Imprint. If Ning Feng didn't know, Yu Fengchen wouldn't have kept the means of contact a secret from his teammates.

Now, both sides have realized the problem.

"That's interesting." A sickly gleam of interest crept onto Ning Feng's usually sunny smile. "Is someone stirring things up behind the scenes, or is our future reaching into the past?"

"Anything is possible. I think we should probably find a place to have a proper discussion, at least to sort out the timelines on both sides." Yu Xing had already heard other footsteps approaching the lounge. "Are there any other members of your team at the art museum?"

"There's another one, his name is Yun Si. It seems he discovered some traces of fakes on the second floor, so he went up first." Ning Feng composed himself. "The art museum isn't a good place to talk. How about this, let's arrange a place, and when the time is right, our two teams can meet."

Upon hearing this, Yu Xing's first reaction was to look at Zhao Yijiu, after all, Zhao Yijiu had traveled far more on Dead Silent Island than he had. "Brother Jiu, do you have any good recommendations?"

Zhao Yijiu lowered her eyes, and after two seconds said coldly, "Black Fish Street Building B, No. 23, is an empty house with no instance. If you progress normally, you can get to that area in 20 days. There's a telephone pole near the entrance with a lost dog poster on it. You can leave your information there, and if one of you gets there first, you can leave a mark on it and check it every morning. You can also arrange a meeting time on the poster."

Ning Feng looked at him with some surprise, seemingly unable to understand how he could be so familiar with a certain building after only being on the island for a short time.

"I thought you were a combatant, but it turns out you're a scout?"

"He is indeed skilled in reconnaissance, but if you underestimate his Combat Power because of that, you'll suffer the consequences," Yu Xing said with a smile, offering a vague statement.

"Then it's settled. It seems we have far more to deal with on the island than we thought. Sigh, I wonder who'll pay my overtime." Ning Feng shook his head in distress.

The player holding the chess pieces said calmly, "Indeed, no one is going to pay you, but as the team leader, you can settle our overtime pay."

"No money? Boss Chu has money, go ask him for it." Ning Feng said irritably. "Fine, the current goal is to complete the art museum instance. I was thinking of taking a break, but now I see, not only are there ten people competing for five spots, but now there are two more smuggled-in people. There's no time to rest."

When he said the word "smuggling," he emphasized it slightly, looking at Yu Xing with a hint of mockery. "You guys still managed to sneak in even though the dungeon is open? You're something else."

Yu Xing heard something else entirely. "Ten people? You have ten people who can get directly to this location on the island?"

This is supposed to be a combat scenario, but if so many testers can teleport, wouldn't that be way too powerful?

"Don't misunderstand, we didn't come here on our own initiative." Ning Feng winked at Yu Xing when he heard footsteps at the door of the lounge. "There are many mirrors all over the island, and you can see a separate building reflected in them. We found a mirror near the base that leads to this art museum, so quite a few people have walked through it."

"The mirror is like a teleportation point, but also a curse. Because when you see the scene in the mirror, you must step into it, complete the dungeon, and survive before you can leave." His explanation surprised Yu Xing. Sure enough, communication between the two sides was the best way to gather information. Mirrors were nowhere to be found near the inn, at least they hadn't discovered any yet.

"Oh, right, I need to confirm something. We both have missions to wipe out the other side, but you're not planning on doing that mission, right?" Ning Feng suddenly remembered this. "We're friendly partners, I trust you completely, and you should trust us too!"

"Hmm, wiping you all out is too difficult. We'd be better off setting other conditions for clearing the level." Yu Xing chuckled. "A mutually destructive outcome isn't what I want to see. Don't worry, at least this time we'll be complete partners."

"That's good. Let me tell you about this instance." Ning Feng gestured for the chess player to close the door to the rest room.

The player with the chess pieces moved over and said to the person outside, "There's someone sleeping inside, don't disturb him."

Then he slammed the door shut in a very domineering manner.

A woman's curses came from outside, but soon, it seemed another man, speaking with a very translator's accent, coaxed the woman away.

"Alright." The player who held the chess pieces completed the task simply and bluntly, his face expressionless.