Darkroom

After leaving the alley.

Bo Shuo suddenly paused, took a deep breath, and asked Xu Ji Mo, "Don't you think something's wrong?"

Xu Ji Mo observed their surroundings and quickly understood Bo Shuo's meaning.

"It's been a bit too peaceful on our way here."

More than just peaceful.

They were heading towards the Village Chief's house, but along the way, let alone any obstacles, even the patrolling 'villagers' were visibly decreasing in number.

It was like playing a game with a hellish difficulty, dying and reloading countless times, finally reaching the last level, only to find it was a Candy Crush level—absurd.

(Beep, your Black Faction faction teammate Sang Yu has sent you a message, do you wish to receive it?)

Something had happened.

Bo Shuo pursed his lips and quickly confirmed receiving it.

The message was a single, short word.

Help.

Help with what? Help me live?

Bo Shuo's heart sank.

Xu Ji Mo said thoughtfully, "It seems something has happened."

His senses were sharp; he could smell the scent of blood from not far away, and his nerves tingled with excitement.

As expected, after a few more steps, they saw several bodies lying haphazardly in the snow.

They were villagers' corpses.

The bodies had lost all warmth, their limbs a deep purple. They had been dead for over two hours.

"Someone went to the Village Chief's house before us."

Xu Ji Mo, crouching on the ground, pushed aside a corpse and revealed a deep knife mark on its neck, "A single blow, instantly fatal."

Bo Shuo's gaze also fixed on the mark, and a bad feeling washed over him.

Wait, this knife mark looks so familiar.

007 sighed faintly, "Host is correct, this mark was also made by a scalpel. Judging by the matching edges of the cut, it should be the same model as your scalpel."

Someone operating outside of their two teams, able to mimic his scalpel.

Instantly, a name popped into his mind.

Bo Shuo said with certainty, "Xi Guici."

Hearing the name, Xu Ji Mo paused, then said, "I've heard of him before."

He spoke with a tone of regret.

"A rising newbie, he advanced very quickly. Unfortunately, because he refused all invitations from major guilds and offended too many people, all the guilds united to blacklist him."

Xu Ji Mo said this, but his eyes were fixed on Bo Shuo, implying something.

"There are limited spots for high-tier examinees. They are basically all tightly held by the major guilds. A lone wolf with no backing dares to defy them."

Xu Ji Mo scoffed and directly concluded.

"Like a moth to a flame."

It wasn't wrong to say that. The Lost Paradise was severely divided by factions and extremely exclusive, making it very unfriendly to solo examinees.

"Is that so? What a shame."

Bo Shuo pretended not to understand Xu Ji Mo's veiled threat and echoed him expressionlessly. The coldness in his words finally made Xu Ji Mo stop talking.

What an ungrateful wretch.

Looking at the young man's slender figure ahead, Xu Ji Mo raised an eyebrow. Perhaps it was the first time he had encountered someone like Bo Shuo, and it felt somewhat novel.

He still hated him, of course, wishing he could cut the young man before him into a thousand pieces.

But he couldn't help but feel a spark of interest ignited by Bo Shuo.

Now he really wanted to know what exactly Bo Shuo was planning to do.

*

They had returned to the familiar courtyard of the Village Chief.

The night was deep, and a few figures could be seen approaching in the distance. Heavy footsteps crushed the snow on the ground, making crunching sounds.

They were unnervingly uniform, as if trained, with even the slight arcs of their steps being almost identical.

Extremely eerie.

(Stealth Cloak constructed using Emotion Points x1)

Bo Shuo draped the item over himself, ignoring Xu Ji Mo beside him.

Xu Ji Mo accepted this well, after all, their relationship could hardly be called close; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them enemies. Even if Bo Shuo gave him the item, he would still be wary and unsure if he dared to use it.

Using the innate skill of one of his contracted ghosts, he hid in the darkness.

"Thump, thump."

The footsteps grew heavier, and the figure not far away gradually approached. Only then did Bo Shuo clearly see the face of the person outside.

Still villagers, or rather, unconscious villagers.

Their eyes were wide open, their gazes unfocused, and their faces were deathly pale from excessive blood loss. Blood continuously seeped from their necks, dyeing the entire snowscape a scarlet red.

Then, their limbs moved forward slowly in a bizarre, twisted posture, their joints emitting creaking sounds.

The entire scene was extremely eerie, as if invisible threads were tightly wrapped around these villagers, manipulating them like marionettes.

Suddenly, Bo Shuo's pupils contracted. He saw a familiar figure trailing behind the group.

It was Sang Yu!

Her expression was slightly dazed, clearly not yet fully controlled. She kept walking, following at the very end of the group.

As the group continued to move forward, Bo Shuo grabbed Sang Yu's shoulder with one hand, forcibly keeping her behind.

With her shoulder held, Sang Yu struggled desperately like a beached fish, her unfocused eyes staring straight ahead.