The Gift

It turns out that the heavy snow published in that newspaper many years ago was the starting point of the strange changes in Nanshui Town.

Fang Xiao's explanation was enough to connect some of the events. With this background, the viewers in Yu Xing's live broadcast room finally understood the worldview of Nanshui Town.

No wonder those townspeople, in their normal state, had neither human nor ghostly presence, because they were neither human nor ghost, but merely things written down.

[I understand a little, but what exactly does this written-down stuff mean?]

[From what I'm saying, after they were created, the townspeople had their own life trajectories. So, apart from the fact that their world is the world in the book, how are they any different from us?]

[Yes, if a townsman can live his life according to his own wishes, wouldn't that life be considered authentic...?]

This is indeed a sensitive topic for those who perform the deduction.

Simply put, they want to know whether the life described by Fang Deming, from the moment of its existence, can truly be considered a real life.

[You seem to be overthinking it. The townspeople can't even leave Nanshui Town. They have no intention of leaving the town at all. Can that really be considered independent thinking? They're clearly being controlled.]

[I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. Who can prove that we aren't just fictional characters? Aren't we also inseparable from Earth? What if Earth is just a "Nanshui Town" written for us by some being, watching us grow from primitive humans to our current state?]

Humans have landed on the moon and have been exploring the stars ever since.

[What if the planets in our solar system that are close to Earth are actually part of a newly created map? We can only understand the distant stars through observation; what if they're just dynamic textures and don't actually exist?]

[Don't we get to know many other worlds through our deductions? Perhaps we are the pioneers who can break free from the logic in books?]

[There's no need for this, friends. It's pointless to just daydream about this. Please, get yourselves doing something productive.]

[In other words, the premise of making bold assumptions is that you can find some evidence or clues in this regard. If you have nothing, there's really no need to guess randomly. Haven't you guys ever been to a mental hospital to do a simulation? Let me tell you, the mental patients there are just like you.]

The townspeople of Nanshui Town also had no clues, yet they were written about in the story!

[Who says there aren't any? Aren't there plenty of contradictions? Some people are freezing to death, and the guide is still wearing a skirt. Baibao Street is full of strange things; can't these be considered clues? They just haven't noticed them yet.]

[But our world has its contradictions too, right? Isn't the existence of the Deducer the strangest thing? Can't it be considered a clue?]

[...]

[...????]

[Oh no, this silence has suddenly come out of my head. Why does it suddenly make so much sense?]

As the discussion in the live chat became increasingly absurd and even started to make sense, someone finally couldn't stand it anymore and decided to debunk the rumors.

[Ren Yi: The townspeople are naturally "appendages" of the book. As appendages, their existence depends on the existence of the book. If the book is destroyed, they will all disappear as well, so they cannot be considered lives.]

[Zhao Mou: That's interesting. Kids these days have such rich imaginations. But it's a pity~ You can think of that book as a regional curse, and the townspeople as monsters derived from that curse, just like when you fold a paper crane by hand, you don't really think of a paper crane as a living being, do you?]

After the two leading theorists spoke, the enthusiasm for discussing this topic in the live chat subsided, and viewers refocused on the live stream.

In reality, the sofa is occupied by the Broken Mirror Squad.

Zhao Mou leaned back on the sofa armrest, and after sending this comment, he rested his chin on one hand and silently tapped the armrest with the other.

"Why that expression?" Qu Xuanqing had just returned from answering a phone call on the balcony when she saw the old fox deep in thought, clearly lost in some kind of contemplation.

Carlos, who was watching the live stream and practicing card magic at the table, did a practiced shuffle and said with a hint of amusement, "He just sent a 'mistakenly sent' comment."

"Misleading?"

Because she hadn't seen it before, by the time Qu Xuanqing tried to go back and look, Zhao Mou's comments had already been scrolled up to the top.

"People are discussing matters of life and death for the townspeople, and the vice-captain is using origami cranes as an analogy." Carlos shrugged. "Origami cranes don't live their lives according to their own will. It only seems reasonable at first glance because they're following Ren Yi. Eventually, someone will realize what's going on, right?"

Zhao Mou glanced at him, sat up slightly, pushed up his glasses, and his eyes behind the lenses narrowed like a fox. "As long as we dampen their enthusiasm for large-scale discussions, what if they realize it later? Besides, the townspeople aren't human beings, that's beyond question."

Zeng Ranran, who joined the live stream because her boyfriend was also participating in the simulation, said, "If it's really that simple, why did the vice-captain interrupt their discussion?"

Because of her consistently good skills and performance, and it was almost certain that she would join the Broken Mirror team, she was directly addressed as Vice Captain Zhao Mou.

This girl is a bit introverted, has a rather aloof personality, and is also naturally straightforward; she always asks whatever comes to mind.

There were five people in the room. After Zeng Ranran said those words, three pairs of eyes stared straight at Zhao Mou, as if they wanted him to explain.

Zhao Mou glanced over and saw that his brother, who didn't care about anything, was still at the other end of the sofa, head down, reading a book, his eyes shifting focus from time to time, clearly keeping a close eye on the live stream.

He kicked his younger brother's shin. "At times like this, everyone's eyes are usually on me, you know that?"

Zhao Yijiu glanced at the extra wrinkles on her pants. "..."

He pressed his knuckles expressionlessly, then propped the book upside down on his lap and said succinctly, "Speak."

Zhao Mou was finally satisfied. "The speculation that the townspeople's lives are at stake is pure nonsense, stemming from insufficient knowledge and experience. The problem is, these imaginative brats are trying to apply this to other situations."

"The real danger lies in questions like whether our world was created by something. Talking too much about it might inadvertently trigger some taboos and attract attention."

Carlos narrowed his eyes, his gaze quickly sweeping across Zhao Mou's face, as if confirming Zhao Mou's meaning. Two seconds later, he turned and smiled, "Is the vice-captain hinting at something to us?"

Zhao Mou returned his smile with a meaningful one, "I thought the Magician had already guessed it and didn't need my hint."

Zeng Ranran looked at this and that, and then noticed that Sister Qu was also leaning against the wall, deep in thought. She then realized that it was not the right time to speak.

After Carlos casually looked away and continued playing cards, Zhao Mou added, "Besides, could Ren Yi's and my answers really stop everyone from talking? The way these topics disappeared so quickly is obvious."

The system can only be quietly preventing these kinds of topics from continuing to appear.

Zhao Yijiu gave a faint "Oh" to indicate that she had finished listening, and was about to open the book when Zhao Mou pounced on her and irritably pressed her down. "Do you think this has nothing to do with you? It's mainly for you, so think carefully about what I said, and don't take it lightly."

The members of the Broken Mirror Squad had long been accustomed to a pattern—anything that Zhao Mou could hint at indirectly instead of directly stating was something that the system was paying special attention to, and that might be "heard" by the system if spoken aloud.

They had to rely on prompts to understand what Zhao Mou wanted to convey.

Having been specifically mentioned by Zhao Mou, Zhao Yijiu finally received more attention.

Is it related to him?

He knew Zhao Mou wouldn't leave empty-handed. The live stream had just shown Fang Xiao handing tea to Yu Xing and asking if Yu Xing was afraid. Zhao Yijiu's gaze fell on the long-absent person who was pretending to be weak, and he thought for a moment.

The Doctor in the Nanshui Town instance possessed a power that felt very familiar to him. Even though he didn't recognize him the first time because most of the live stream footage was blocked, the Doctor appeared several more times afterward. As long as he didn't get too close to the deducers, the live stream footage wasn't too blurry.

Zhao Yijiu had already sensed the similarity between the Doctor and his vengeful ghost state.

He had a hunch that the reason the Doctor was pursuing Yu Xing might be related to his vengeful ghost state—perhaps it was the existence of this vengeful ghost state that gave him this idea in his subconscious.

To be fair, the secrets the system is hiding shouldn't have anything to do with him for now, unless Zhao Mou also figured something out through this Doctor and realized that he would definitely appear in a place where he needed to be wary of the system's secrets in the future. That's why he took the initiative to interrupt the discussion in the live chat and insisted that Zhao Mou listen to his explanation.

Speaking of the highest-ranking and most dangerous place known so far, it can only be Yin Yang City.

After careful consideration, Zhao Yijiu concluded that the vengeful ghost had now become a part of his personality, an inseparable aspect of him, and this "other side" would inevitably make him appear on the list of people qualified to enter Yin Yang City.

Zhao Mou was warning him to be careful of anything related to "creating a world" after entering Yin Yang City?

Zhao Yijiu could only think of this possibility for the time being. If he was wrong, there was nothing he could do. He would think about it more carefully when he had time.

He adjusted the wide headband on his forehead and said in a low voice, "I'll be careful."

Zhao Mou watched as he pondered seriously for a long time before finally replying with these four words, then sighed helplessly, rubbing his forehead.

"Forget it, go watch your live stream. You're even more engrossed than girls who binge-watch dramas."

Zhao Yijiu stayed in Yu Xing's live stream room the whole time, unlike him, who had to run back and forth between different live stream rooms to take advantage of this live stream to collect more data on the predictors.

Zhao Mou could no longer enjoy the pleasure of watching a show from beginning to end; his brain was constantly working, leaving him exhausted.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yijiu ignored him and returned to silently watching the live stream.

The next second, his face was pinched hard by his impotently furious older brother. Zhao Yijiu didn't fight back, because Zhao Mou's strength was becoming less and less effective at hurting him.

He was actually considering whether to let the vengeful ghost out, perhaps it would discover more when it saw the Doctor in its ghostly state, but he was a little afraid... once the vengeful ghost's consciousness took over, it might say some unpleasant things.

If he actually did that, he had no doubt that the viewers in the live stream would suddenly see him speaking enthusiastically, every sentence filled with provocation towards Yu Xing, along with a few sarcastic remarks, such as, "So our dear captain is this well-behaved when he's playing the younger brother to someone else," or "I really want to see what the captain looks like when his perception is twisted to the extreme"...

Zhao Yijiu was startled by his own imagination. After all, he now understood his ghostly form very well and knew that he was most prone to getting caught up in some inexplicable details when he was in his ghostly state.

That scene would make him want to die.

So let's forget about it.

Zhao Yijiu convinced herself to suppress this terrifying thought, and watched as Yu Xing head back and drank the freshly poured cup of tea in one gulp.

He couldn't help but wonder how much of an impact the complete and detailed information he had "obtained" from Fang Xiao would have on Yu Xing's understanding.

"I'm not afraid."

After finishing her tea, Yu Xing wiped her mouth before giving a somewhat insincere answer.

His mind was clearly in turmoil. The mysteries that had troubled him since childhood were suddenly answered today. But answers are not solutions. Fang Deming was now paralyzed and lying in a wheelchair. The person in charge had long since become his older brother.

The fact that Nanshui Town is in this state today shows that Fang Xiao has a stronger grasp on the town's affairs than Fang Deming. Does this mean he really has no way to leave...?

Fang Xiao saw this very wavering and hidden fear and despair on Yu Xing's face.

In fact, Yu Xing is still quite lucid.

As for the matter of worldview, Fang Xiao didn't need to say anything; he had already guessed quite a bit himself. Although there were some discrepancies, the general idea was the same.

Because she deduced the possibility of a worldview from the smallest details, what Fang Xiao thought was enough to keep her brother tied up in the Fang Mansion and unable to leave was not that important to Yu Xing at all.

Moreover, Fang Xiao did not tell the whole story.

Yu Xing forced a calm demeanor, her neck and shoulders stiffening involuntarily. She forced a smile through gritted teeth and said, "What do I have to be afraid of? At least I've been out there and seen the real world."

It may seem like she's stubbornly trying to appear less insecure, but in reality, she knows which words will hurt the most.

Fang Xiao's expression froze for a moment, then he smiled and sighed, "That really is an experience I couldn't catch up with."

His eyes held a strange glint for a moment, and his tone seemed to contain a hint of resentment. "Although I'm now in control of this town, I still can't get out."

The next second, the resentment that shouldn't have been there on him was quietly erased by something. Fang Xiao's dark eyes were deep, and he continued speaking to himself, "However, going out isn't so good either. I can achieve whatever kind of life I want here. To others, this is a false world, but to me, who controls it, as long as I believe it to be real, then it is real."

"Brother," Yu Xing shifted back, every little detail revealing his distrust of the person before him, "You said when you found that book, the pages were almost all used up. So many years have passed, the book should be full by now."

"Of course." Fang Xiao snapped out of his somewhat strange state, a smile playing on his lips. "Without that book, Fang Deming has nothing to fear. What's already written can't be changed, and he can't deal with me once I've accumulated enough power to seize power."

"But how are you controlling Nanshui Town?" Yu Xing's face was pale. "I came in with a tour group, and what I saw along the way was very different from what I just heard in the story."

That is indeed a layer of truth.

But beneath that layer of truth, there is another layer.

The world created in the book will develop on its own once no more content is added, so all the townspeople should be living their own lives.

This made the evil spirits now roaming the town seem like a joke.

Moreover, returning to the initial discovery, Nanshui Town has two sides: one is the false scene presented to them, and the other is the strange real scene that is exposed in the town.

Fang Deming's book, however, only creates a single, unified scenario—the future he wants to see.

If the written content is also considered a fictional scene, the real scene would be a blank, an empty town devoid of anything, rather than a blood-soaked ghost town filled with overwhelming eeriness.

Therefore, what keeps Nanshui Town running now is not that book that has already been used up.

Fang Xiao wasn't surprised that his younger brother had thought of this, and he didn't deliberately hide anything when telling the story.

He became somewhat curious. "Can you guess why?"

Yu Xing warily shut her mouth.

Fang Xiao shrugged. "Actually, you've always been exceptionally smart. It was me who framed you, making others think you weren't good at studying, were stupid, and had poor character. Even Fang Deming and Mom thought so."

"So, the only one who understands you best is me. I bet my clever brother has already connected the dots after hearing that story. Didn't you say you weren't scared? Tell me."

[Huh? What? There's a plot twist?]

[So you mean this isn't entirely the town depicted in the story? The means of controlling the town now are different, right?]

[I felt something didn't add up earlier. Sure enough, even directly obtaining the worldview isn't that simple. Those who say it's unfair, if you were in that situation, you'd stop after hearing the story in the book, right?]

After a few arguments in the live chat, people started hoping that Yu Xing would continue to fill in the gaps in the story.

Even after Fang Xiao said that, Yu Xing still shook her head. "... I didn't think of anything."

"Younger brother--"

Yu Xing interrupted him, "How is my friend?"

The topic shift was quite abrupt, but it's understandable that I started to worry about my friend's safety after learning the truth.

Basically, apart from wanting to leave the Fang family, Fang Xiao seemed to be able to go along with Yu Xing in everything.

Seeing that Yu Xing's expression was a bit unpleasant, Fang Xiao patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, I know those two people are your friends. You find it hard to open up to others, so these two friends must be very important to you."

"I wouldn't do anything to them, even just to make you happy."

"Really?" Yu Xing seemed skeptical.

Fang Xiao smiled and explained, "Grandpa Gardener took them to the guest rooms and took good care of them. They have no worries about food and drink. Grandpa Gardener will ask them what they like. For example, if that beautiful young lady likes jewelry, the Fang Mansion can give her several boxes."

In Nanshui Town, everything is created. Whether precious or ordinary, it makes no difference to the creator. Their value is only determined by outsiders.

His smile turned deep, "Compared to you, who resisted this mansion since childhood, those two inexperienced outsiders should grow to like it here much faster."

Yu Xing Xingtong shrank back. "You're going to leave them here too?!"

"Yes, since they are very important friends to you, of course they should stay at the Fang Mansion to keep you company." Fang Xiao said matter-of-factly. "Little brother, think about it, if you let them go, you may never see them again. Are you willing to let them go?"

"I..." Yu Xing seemed to want to blurt out the word "willing to part with," but strangely, he swallowed the answer.

He didn't even argue that he would leave with his friends, as if his thoughts had subtly shifted without him realizing it after hearing the story.

Fang Xiao was satisfied with his silence and was about to continue the topic that had been interrupted when Yu Xing stood up again.

He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, seemingly resigned, and then said rather listlessly, "Take me to see my sister-in-law."

Fang Xiao: "?"

The older brother, who was almost the same height as Yu Xing but slightly more muscular, said, "I never expected your train of thought to jump around so quickly."

"I've met everyone else, except for my sister-in-law." Yu Xing lowered her eyes, her brows furrowing slightly. "By the way, what you said to me in your letter, does it still count?"

Fang Xiao tried to recall, but he couldn't quite remember what exactly was written in the letter.

It doesn't matter, as long as he made a promise in the letter, he wouldn't break it to his brother. He would only offer conditions that were acceptable to him, a habit he picked up during his youth dealing with other gangs in the port.

"It all counts. What, little brother, is there something you want me to fulfill right now?"

Yu Xing began to calculate. "You said if I didn't want to see Nanny Li, you would fire her."

However, dismissal is just a euphemism. Now that we know the true situation in Nanshui Town, dismissal is essentially equivalent to destruction.

Li, the nanny, was written by Fang Deming to monitor his two sons. Now she has clearly switched sides and become Fang Xiao and Xu Wan's person. She is also the most special type of character among those written. The omnipresent sense of being watched is enough to prove how troublesome she is in her ghost form.

Yu Xing was already considering weakening the Combat Power of the ghosts in the Fang Mansion. He would kill as many as he could, and it would be even better if he could Fang Xiao to make Li Baomu disappear directly.

He rubbed his head, then shook it, as if he were being troubled by the power of cognitive distortion, which made what he was about to say even more persuasive.

"If you insist that I stay..."

That perverted nanny must get out!

Fang Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly. "You still hate her that much?"

"She's disgusting. I feel like throwing up just looking at her." Yu Xing pursed her lips tightly. "I absolutely cannot stay in the same house as something like that. Ha! Do you want me to wake up in the middle of the night and see Li the nanny standing by my bed staring at me again?"

As he spoke his last sentence, he even seemed to revert to his previous softened attitude towards Fang Xiao, as if he were transferring his dislike for the nanny, Li, onto Fang Xiao.

Fang Xiao sensed his strong resistance and immediately said, "Don't be impatient, I'll kill her right now."

One sentence revealed his true character as a gang leader in the port; his tone was somewhat vulgar, and he took the style of not valuing human life to the extreme.

After he finished speaking, he stood still.

Yu Xing calmed down and stood there for a few seconds, as if nothing had happened. He turned to look at Fang Xiao and hesitated, "You've already killed her?"

Fang Xiao was taken aback. Only his younger brother, who had just learned of his inhuman abilities but didn't yet understand how they worked, could ask such a question.

For some reason, it's kind of adorably silly.

Fang Xiao burst out laughing, "Hahahaha... I never thought you could be this cute."

Yu Xing was a little annoyed by the laughter, and the corners of her mouth gradually turned down. "..."

Fang Xiao realized that he did indeed like his less aloof younger brother. Even though he had become much more temperamental after being away for a few years, he was still quite amusing. "Don't worry, I'll let you watch her disappear with your own eyes. Only then will you feel at ease, right?"

He walked to the door and pushed it open. "Come and see."

Yu Xing followed.

The few seconds Fang Xiao stood still just now were probably when he was "doing" something to get Li, the nanny, to appear in the yard.

The nanny, Li, who was completely covered up, hurried towards them. As soon as she saw Yu Xing, her dark gaze was almost instinctively fixed on Yu Xing.

The malice within was almost tangible, and Fang Xiao, who was facing the same direction as Yu Xing and standing very close to Fang Xiao, naturally felt it as well.

"So that's why you were so afraid of her when you were little." Fang Xiao's dark expression seemed to deepen. He sensed the suppressed anger of the person next to him, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Li, the nanny who was staring at Yu Xing, suddenly slipped.

Beside her was the artificial hill in Fang Xiao Courtyard, and the sharpest section of it jutted out in the direction she had fallen.

Instinctively, the nanny tried to grab something to keep her balance, but as soon as her hand touched the artificial rock wall, a sharp protrusion slammed into her eye.

"Ah!

!"

Blood splattered everywhere, and the nanny, Li, collapsed to the ground, clutching her bleeding eyes and screaming in agony.

Fang Xiao said casually, "Oh dear, how could you be so careless? You weren't watching where you were going, and instead you were staring at my brother. It's easy to fall."

"Let me see... Did the nanny's eyeball get shattered? How will she see anything in the future?"

The older brother, with his arms crossed, leaned against the doorframe, his tone still smiling, but there was no hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Young Master Fang... please forgive me..." The nanny, Li, struggled to her feet and stumbled toward Fang Xiao and Yu Xing. Having lost sight of them, she was like a headless fly, a headless fly with her face and hands covered in blood.

Yu Xing watched this scene, a knowing glint in her eyes. She curled her lips into a smile and deliberately took a step back.

"Stop." Fang Xiao had indeed noticed Yu Xing movements. He condescendingly announced the fate of the nanny, "What are you doing here? Do you want to smear your filthy blood all over me? It's disgusting to look at."

"Without your eyes, you're useless. And since we don't need a nanny right now, Nanny Li, you'll be moving out of the Fang Mansion from now on."

He spoke slowly and deliberately, like an executioner pronouncing a death sentence.

The nanny screamed in pain, her voice piercing, "Young Master, are you trying to—"

Fang Xiao was calm to the point of coldness. "You're fired."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Li, the nanny, utterly despondent, let out a wail and stumbled back to the artificial hill, where she began to bang her head against it.

"I've served the Fang Mansion for so many years. What meaning would my life have if I Fang Mansion?"

Yu Xing's eyes flickered, and he almost excitedly took a step forward, roaring with a mixture of venting and glee, "Then go die!"

The nanny, Li, rammed the car even harder.

Yu Xing stared intently at her, then grinned. "Hurry up and die! You pervert!"

Viewers watched his live stream for a day and a half, witnessing his usual composure and jokes, as well as his feigned vulnerability, but this was the first time they had seen him so emotionally expressive.

A mixture of hatred and pleasure raged within them as they watched the brutal scene unfold before them without a shred of compassion, even finding it exhilarating.

It almost seemed as if, if Fang Xiao hadn't been there, Yu Xing would have rushed up and forced Li Bao'er's head down to help her.

At this moment, he seemed more like a pervert than the nanny, Li.

[Brothers on the Fallen Path, it's your turn to specialize.]

[Hmm... was this all acted out?]

How much was he influenced by Fang Xing's character? Could it be due to a difference in perception that allowed Xing to genuinely experience pleasure?

[It can't be that bad. Longtime fans say his acting is really good, and besides, he's a top-level executive; he wouldn't lose himself so easily.]

The nanny's head was quickly mangled and bloodied, and she lay motionless on the ground.

Fang Xiao, with everything under control, calmly said, "Dead."

He turned his head and found that his younger brother's body was still trembling slightly, and he couldn't tell how much of it was from excessive excitement and how much from fear.

Fang Xiao hugged Yu Xing, a deep smile on his face, "Good little brother, now there's no one you hate the most in the house."

He lost a useful servant.

But by killing Li the nanny, he allowed Yu Xing to "gain" the favoritism of family and the pleasure of revenge.

He meticulously calculated the gains and losses of each project. For example, this time, his younger brother's thinking had reached the point where he wanted to stay in the mansion on his own initiative.

"Thank you, brother." Yu Xing recovered, looked up, and said in a slightly bewildered tone, "You still seem like the same brother who was so good to me before, and now you don't have to hurt me anymore."

"Who says otherwise? My becoming the master of the Fang Mansion is a good thing for you too." Fang Xiao seized the opportunity to win over Fang Xiao's favor. "Aren't you going to see your sister-in-law?"

"Hmm." Yu Xing calmed down a lot. Although she still subconsciously covered her head, she seemed to no longer reject Fang Xiao.

My sister-in-law Mingzhu's room is also in this courtyard, just a few steps away. Even though such a big thing happened in the courtyard, she didn't come out to see what was going on.

Yu Xing followed behind Fang Xiao and suddenly remembered to ask, "Is your sister-in-law sick? She hasn't shown up all day."

Fang Xiao paused for a moment. "No."

His laughter was somewhat chilling. "She can't get out."

Before Yu Xing could ask any more questions, Fang Xiao had already pushed open Mingzhu's door.

"Splash..."

The clanging of chains reached Yu Xing's ears. He paused for a moment and looked inside.

This room has the feel of a woman's boudoir.

Yu Xing retracted his previous belief that the two young masters' rooms were the best-preserved and most exquisite, because the Mingzhu room in front of him was the true luxury.

The walls separating the room were decorated with various exquisite trinkets. The jade ornaments were warm and gentle. In the outer room, a chaise lounge was covered with smooth brocade, and a set of jade teapots and teacups were placed on a tray in the center of a small table.

A sheer, light red veil hung from the roof beams, making the slender figure of the woman behind it appear hazy and graceful.

The beads strung together form a curtain, jingling softly, creating layers of alluring scenery with the gauze curtains, partially obscuring the view of the inner room's canopy bed and dressing table.

Jewelry and rouge were carelessly placed on the dressing table, piled high as if the owner had used them but was too lazy to tidy up.

The woman sat with her back to the door. Because of the veil, it was impossible to see what she was doing. Only her waist-length hair was visible, which was casually draped over her shoulders. She was wearing what appeared to be a nightgown, and her delicate, fair feet were barefoot and barefoot, resting directly on the blanket in the room. One of her ankles seemed to be encircled by something.

After letting Yu Xing look around the room and then curiously watch the woman's back for a while, Fang Xiao said gently, "Mingzhu."

The woman inside stirred, stood up, and walked out, her voice equally gentle and soothing. "Fang Xiao? Why are you here to see me at this hour?"

She then tugged at the things binding her feet, and the clatter of the chains was exceptionally clear.

Yu Xing reacted with surprise immediately. "Brother, what's wrong with you...?"

He whispered the second half of the sentence: "Is he imprisoning your sister-in-law?"

Before Fang Xiao could answer, the crimson gauze curtain was lifted, and a woman walked out gracefully, the sound of chains echoing in the air.

The moment Yu Xing saw her, he matched this woman with the afterimage in the Never Forget Dwelling room of Buwangju.

However, the woman in front of me was thinner, and she lacked the vivacity of the other women, but possessed more serenity, gentleness, and a more carefree attitude.

She casually draped the nightgown, which barely reached her knees, over herself, the waist tie loose, revealing large expanses of her fair skin, her breasts faintly visible, and some ambiguous marks and bluish finger marks remaining on her neck and collarbone.

This was also the first time Yu Xing had seen Mingzhu's face.

To be honest, Mingzhu was pretty, but that was all. She was far inferior to Xu Wan now, not to mention Medusa's somewhat bullying appearance.

However, the moment Yu Xing saw that face, his head buzzed. The cognitive distortion that had been building up since he entered the room seemed to erupt all at once, burning in his brain like flames.

This distortion is so pervasive that it makes one unable to resist; one becomes willing to accept it almost as soon as one becomes aware of the distortion taking place.

Yu Xing wasn't doing this willingly. When he noticed his heartbeat was off, he sounded an alarm in his mind. The power of the curse surged quietly within him, and once it sensed malice, it would suppress the force that was trying to distort his perception.

Being in the enemy's Fang Mansion, he couldn't immediately expel that force.

However, Yu Xing soon discovered that the burning sensation was not some kind of cognitive attack targeting him, but rather came from his own body.

Mingzhu's face seemed to possess a unique charm at this moment, so pleasing from every angle, and consequently, the marks on her body beneath her nightgown became clear and glaring.

His body was burning up, his heart was pounding, and the burning sensation all over his body eventually converged in one place, making that spot noticeably more prominent than usual.

Yu Xing's eyes widened for a moment, countless question marks popped into his head, leaving him unusually stunned.

It's a cognitive distortion...

He didn't know if his face turned red; even the well-traveled Yu Xing had never encountered such a situation before.

If one had to use the most accurate word to describe his feelings at that moment, it would probably be "heart-fluttering".

After all, his heart was pounding like crazy, a constant reminder of the woman's allure to him.

Yu Xing was still conscious.

He has his own judgment. Even when he looks at Mingzhu, he subconsciously thinks that this woman is to his liking, but he knows that this is all a result of his perception being manipulated.

He suddenly remembered something Fang Xiao had mentioned in his letter.

They've liked the same things since they were little; the woman Fang Xiao likes, Fang Xing must like too.

Yu Xing originally thought this was just a rhetorical device used by Fang Xiao, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be true.

Although it's unclear what exactly Mingzhu did to Fang Xiao affection for Mingzhu must have reached an obsessive level. Fang Xing, who shares the same Fang Xing as Fang Xiao, is also likely to develop similar feelings for Mingzhu.

Cognitive distortion gradually led him to merge with "Fang Xing," forgetting his identity as the deducer, seeing himself as a person of this world, and then identifying with the "beliefs" that now belonged to Fang Xiao.

Yu Xing had experienced the distortion caused by the ink-scented environment, which he had half-indulged in. In addition, he had "gained" all sorts of things, so he was bound to be affected. The things he had talked about with Fang Xiao before were too important and too serious, and he was very guarded, so this influence did not manifest itself.

Who knew that those influences would suddenly strike him in an area he had never Yu Xing considered?

Moreover, compared to the negligible "heartbeat" feeling in his mind, the physical excitement was obviously too absurd. He didn't know if the power of the Qianjie Domain had this effect by itself.

The space is too cramped; it's a bit uncomfortable.

He stayed away from Medusa precisely to avoid something like that happening during the live stream.

... That evil god Qianjie is really annoying.

A cold glint and killing intent flashed in Yu Xing's eyes.

He utterly detested losing control in such matters; it was far too much, crossing the line he had set for his reason. If that half-human snake were to appear before him now, he would probably be too lazy to care about anything and would kill it on the spot!

"Brother, this is your sister-in-law, her name is Mingzhu." Fang Xiao patted Yu Xing, whose expression was somewhat inscrutable, and then glanced at Yu Xing's pants with a smile.

... Unfortunately, the snake wasn't there, and I still had a quest to complete.

Yu Xing suppressed her sinister killing intent, pulled her open trench coat tighter to cover the source of her embarrassment, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Hello, sister-in-law."

Mingzhu probably didn't expect that Fang Xiao wasn't the only one who entered the room. When she saw Yu Xing, who looked somewhat similar to Fang Xiao but was Yu Xing, the woman's eyes widened in surprise.

"Could you be... Fang Xing?"

Fang Xiao nodded, then introduced her, "This is my younger brother. He just got home today. You'll see him every day from now on, so I brought him here to say hello."

Mingzhu smiled gently, "Hello, little brother."

Even after knowing who was in front of her, Mingzhu didn't seem to care about straightening her clothes. It was unclear whether she was simply indifferent or had lost some common sense.

Fang Xiao suddenly remembered what else he had written in the letter. He lowered his voice, leaned close to Yu Xing's ear, and teased, "I told you, you would definitely like Mingzhu. Our tastes have always been surprisingly similar."

"I told you I could share Mingzhu with you, so don't hold back. We have a long life ahead of us, a little chat won't hurt. I'm leaving, you stay. Consider it... a gift for your sister-in-law."

Yu Xing almost couldn't control her expression and her face darkened.

He let out a long breath and spoke in an extremely steady voice.

Yin said seriously, "It's just for blood flow, no need."