Different Treatment

[If you are sure you want to leave the room, you must answer three questions.]

After obtaining the four clues about the past in the room, Yu Xing prepared to leave and, as expected, received a notification from the system.

[If you answer any of these three questions incorrectly, you will be trapped in this room forever.]

The system's female voice was devoid of emotion, its tone flat and without any fluctuations, yet for some reason, Yu Xing could sense the human-like thoughts contained within it.

From the first time he heard the system's female voice until now, every time the system communicates with him in a female voice, it intensifies this feeling.

It's as if he watched helplessly as the system collected and absorbed some kind of human data, eventually evolving to become more and more like a human, until one day, people could no longer distinguish between the system and themselves.

It's often said that humans like to create things similar to themselves, but once that resemblance exceeds a certain threshold, it creates the Uncanny Valley effect, making people feel afraid.

In fact, after entering Nanshui Town, Yu Xing subtly inquired with the other deducers and discovered that none of them had encountered the system speaking in a female voice; they still heard the familiar mechanical voice.

It seemed that the system only showed this side of itself to him.

That's just how he is. Any slightly perceptive strategist should be able to sense the system's emotional changes, but his thinking is quite different from that of ordinary humans. Even if he notices something, his first reaction is not to be alert and quietly start to take action, but rather to develop an interest in "seeing what it's trying to do."

The more Yu Xing learned about the inside story, the more interesting it became.

Upon hearing the consequences of answering the question incorrectly, Yu Xing didn't even find it particularly unfair. Instead, she asked with interest, "Being trapped in a room forever?"

"What if you answer incorrectly and then manage to slip away on your own?"

The system didn't hesitate at all, nor was it surprised that he would ask such a question. The female voice even seemed to have a slight, faint, almost illusory smile, like a deep-seated rebellion hidden beneath the surface of conformity.

That's your skill too.

It knew perfectly well that Yu Xing was capable of being unconstrained by the space of a mere room, so this answer was like a sarcastic remark about knowingly breaking the law.

--It had to create a small pit for Yu Xing because of some rule, but Yu Xing could easily step over it and avoid it. It was not angry at all, but rather pleased to see it happen.

"Alright, ask away." Yu Xing had roughly gauged the system's attitude towards him in Nanshui Town and was basically certain that, regardless of any ulterior motives behind its sudden enthusiasm, at least in this simulation, the system was on his side.

So, who is Mingzhu?

It seems that all three questions revolve entirely around the illusory past events displayed in the room. The first question is particularly simple; I wonder if the difficulty of the three questions gradually increases.

Yu Xing said succinctly, "The wife married by the eldest son of the Fang family."

What is the Fang family's attitude towards Mingzhu?

Yu Xing: "..."

Sure enough, the second question was much more difficult.

It's difficult to find a clear answer to this question in the shadows of the past; one can only rely on the deducer to speculate based on their own ideas.

Fortunately, the question was asked in a very general way. Some answers are not necessarily right or wrong, but some answers are like a panacea, and they can't go wrong no matter what.

He replied, "He has a strong desire for control."

Regardless of whether Young Master Fang likes Mingzhu or not, and regardless of whether that old man Fang Deming puts on airs like a feudal patriarch, his controlling nature is unavoidable.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have so swiftly and decisively poisoned Mingzhu's family when things were even slightly out of control.

The system paused briefly, presumably to determine that the answer was acceptable, and then continued asking:

What is the Fang family's weakness?

"Achilles' heel?"

Blood dripped slowly from his fingertips, forming a pool of blood at his feet.

Bloodstains also splattered on Hua Subai's cheeks, and the bloodstains under his eyes made him appear to melt into a dangerous and morbid aura.

The private room was even more disorganized than when he entered.

The influence of the past has long since vanished under the pale green light and shadow. In the corner, a suitcase is open, from which several heads have rolled out, piled together with the fabric of a little dress, thus becoming indistinguishable from one another.

Those people had wide eyes and bluish lips, as if they had just experienced an extremely painful suffocation.

On the surrounding walls, someone had scribbled words the size of human heads in blood, with a force tinged with resentment and hatred.

They will pay the price!

[Why?]

Why did I have to die in a place like this!

Why do I feel sorry for them? I'm the one who should feel sorry for them!

[Traitor]

Weren't we doing this for her? How could she just abandon us like this!

Not far from Hua Subai, on the ground, the other half of those heads—that is, the bodies—were piled up haphazardly.

These headless bodies were covered in lividity, but they were not completely decomposed. They were so cold that even when they were motionless, they emitted white mist into the air.

Those shattered hearts were torn out and thrown on the ground by Hua Subai, and those hands that had written bloody words were cut off by Hua Subai, strung together with flower vines, and placed on top of the pile of corpses.

Like a wreath sent by a compassionate person.

However, the wreaths were full of malice, but unfortunately the corpses had already been beaten back to an immobile state and could not be woken up again.

Hua Subai laughed out loud when faced with the system's third question.

"Is this the question to ask when leaving the first room?"

"The Fang family, who are portrayed as the biggest boss in town, are having their weaknesses so easily discovered. Isn't that going too far?"

[So you want to answer that you don't know?]

The mechanical system voice spoke sarcastically.

Long ago, the deducers knew a rule: once you reach the Despair level, you can greatly increase the frequency of communication with the system and also have certain privileges with the system.

If the Despair level is like this, the Reality level is even more so.

Hua Subai, a true-level being whose existence is unknown, is already an old acquaintance of the system.

Just like when the system speaks to Yiqing, it will use distinct emotional tones to express its dissatisfaction or agreement.

However, this emotion is very superficial. It is obvious that the system is intentionally imitating people's speaking habits and mimicking tone to achieve its expression purpose, rather than actually possessing these emotions.

That's why the strategists are always at ease.

Because their system is just a system.

Hua Subai remained unfazed by the system's sarcastic tone, a cryptic smile playing on his lips, "It's just one table, but I have to go through so much more than the people at the other two tables."

"Yu Xing told me that he didn't encounter any danger, but what about me?"

"Besides the red clothes, even things that appeared in the past are turning into ghosts to attack me."

Although the things that attacked him were now lying all over the ground.

Hua Subai stood in front of the door. None of this posed much of a threat to him, but it did make his appearance look disheveled.

At this moment, the florist's composure was only remaining in his micro-expressions.

"You're plotting against me, huh? Do you really want me to die here?"

I treat everyone fairly; there is no discrimination against anyone.

"Is that so? Isn't it because I've already discovered your secret that you're so eager to silence me with your death? System... Miss."

The moment she uttered the words "Miss," Hua Subai's body was suddenly torn apart like a rag, her severed limbs scattered all over the ground.

The system coldly "watched" this scene.

I am fair to everyone and never decide the life or death of a predictor based on my own selfish desires.

The system's female voice laughed in front of Hua Subai's scattered corpse.

[This is just a lesson; you won't disappear because of it, of course, but hopefully this hush money will make you think twice.]

"The Fang family's weakness..." Yu Xing's expression turned somewhat strange, clearly feeling that it was unreasonable for this problem to have surfaced so early.

But it didn't matter. He knew the answer, "Their weakness is probably their decline. Because they once had the most glorious history and the highest status in the town, they will realize that as the world becomes more interconnected, Nanshui Town is no match for those wealthy cities."

"And these local gentry, who would be utterly insignificant in other cities, would be subjected to the critical gaze of people from big cities, and their once-proud dignity would be labeled as 'feudal.'"

"The Fang family will definitely not accept this sense of loss."

"So, the Achilles' heel is decline? Am I right to say that?"

[As expected of you.]

The system praised her in a very good-natured manner, its calm tone carrying a hint of friendliness.

[Correct answer. The door is open; you may leave now.]