A Guest Should Pay Up

He could see through his disguise.

That meant he had been watching him all along and was particularly perceptive about this sort of thing.

To have found someone who wasn't quite so stupid among a bunch of idiots—what a surprise.

Bai Zuo perked up. "Disguise?"

Du Jiashi said, "Isn't it? I don't understand. Why would you stir up conflict between them? We've all been dragged into this dungeon. Shouldn't we work together to clear the game?"

"Because I want to see something."

Du Jiashi was a little confused. "What?"

Bai Zuo waved his hands, gesturing vaguely. "You know, that thing!"

"Don't you think that when they attack each other, the Sin Flower watered by their malice will be the most wonderful sight when it blooms?"

"Don't you agree, Du Jiashi?"

Du Jiashi's heart gave a jolt. Faced with the viscous malice clinging to Bai Zuo, so thick it seemed almost tangible, he trembled uncontrollably. His face pale, he didn't dare say a word.

What was this man talking about?

Bai Zuo's words were like poison, piercing into his brain.

Who was he, really?

How could he call evil something beautiful?

Du Jiashi's face twisted with anger. "Is that how you see evil? The people who bully others because they're stronger, those damned dregs of society, the ones who thoughtlessly attack and criticize other people's appearances!"

"You think people like that are wonderful?"

"No! They're trash! Vermin! Scum! Tumors that shouldn't exist in this world!"

Bai Zuo watched him get worked up and tilted his head, puzzled. "Don't you believe in the same law of the jungle? The strong bully the weak, and the weak turn their knives on those weaker than them. Just like how you tortured animals that couldn't fight back."

Du Jiashi's face went pale. He stumbled backward and said in disbelief, "Y-you know? No, it wasn't my fault. I was just—just under too much pressure!"

"It was all their fault! If those people hadn't bullied me and laughed at me, how could I have done something like that? I..."

Bai Zuo looked at him with some puzzlement. "I didn't say it was your fault. Could it be that there's still a sliver of conscience left inside you? Do you think what you did was wrong?"

Du Jiashi broke down. He hadn't expected that he would come here to confront Bai Zuo, only for Bai Zuo to uncover the ugliness buried deep inside him—the part he least wanted anyone to know about.

It was as if Bai Zuo could see right through his thoughts. In front of him, every ugly thought and feeling was laid bare.

"I didn't! I didn't do it on purpose!"

"It wasn't my fault!"

Unseen by Du Jiashi, a spider thread burrowed into his brain, constantly stirring up the kind side of him and rousing his guilt, unease, and remorse.

Du Jiashi fell to his knees, clutching his head and sobbing.

"I was wrong! I shouldn't have tortured those little animals. I shouldn't have taken out my resentment on them just because people bullied me."

Bai Zuo stood in front of him. "It wasn't your fault. You just went about it the wrong way."

Du Jiashi looked up at Bai Zuo and gazed into those eyes that seemed to roil with endless malice. Helpless, as if speaking to a saint, he asked, "What should I do?"

"What do you want to do?"

"What do I want to do?" Du Jiashi repeated Bai Zuo's question blankly. "I want..."

"I want to atone!"

Tears streamed down Du Jiashi's face. He was overcome with regret for the wrongs he had done in the past. Now, all he wanted was to atone for his mistakes.

Du Jiashi felt a sharp pain in his brain.

His memories from the past suddenly grew hazy. He began to slowly forget everything. His old sorrows, his pain, and even his happy memories and laughter would all be shattered and rearranged.

Then he would become a new person, someone who atoned for the wrongs he had committed in the past.

But at that moment, Bai Zuo stopped.

"Tsk!"

He looked at Du Jiashi, whose eyes were vacant and whose mind had gone blank.

With just a thought from Bai Zuo, Du Jiashi's entire memory would be erased, turning him into a puppet who lived only for Bai Zuo.

Too bad.

Ever since Bai Zuo had used this ability on Xu Zhou once, its use had been strictly forbidden. Unless he received special permission, it would remain sealed.

When Bai Zuo stopped, Du Jiashi's memories began to return. He blankly touched his face, feeling as if he had nearly lost something very important just now.

"Thank the Aberration Association for existing," Bai Zuo muttered quietly. Then he asked, "You want to atone?"

Du Jiashi nodded eagerly.

"Then offer up your body and become its puppet on a string from now on!"

Du Jiashi murmured, "Offer up my body? I want to atone. If I offer up my body, I can atone... All right!"

A white spider slid down the web thread and landed on his forehead. Then it burrowed straight into his head.

Contract established.

"Mind Control!"

The others faintly heard Du Jiashi sobbing, but they were all looking for keys. Only Han Shitao, curious, went out to find him.

By the time she reached them, Du Jiashi had gotten up from the floor, wiped away his tears, and was quietly following behind Bai Zuo.

Han Shitao glanced at his reddened eyes, curious. "What's wrong?"

Du Jiashi answered coolly, "Nothing."

Han Shitao pursed her lips. She didn't dare get too close to Bai Zuo now, because she could always sense a faint, dangerous aura coming from him.

And was it just her imagination? Du Jiashi seemed like a different person.

They searched tirelessly and soon found the keys to several floors, making their way to the tenth floor.

It was now midnight.

All the lights in the restaurant went out.

They couldn't search for keys in such darkness, so they had no choice but to gather in a private room and figure out how to deal with the waiter who might show up.

"Will the waiter come here?"

"What's the payment the hint mentioned? Money?"

Li Ke and the others hid anxiously.

Only Bai Zuo strolled into a private room on that floor where food had been served and sat down.

Li Ke and the others hadn't eaten all day and were starving. When they saw the food in the room, they didn't dare go near it, afraid they wouldn't be able to stop themselves from eating what was on the table.

Bai Zuo sent Du Jiashi to look for something.

As soon as midnight arrived,

the waiter pushed a cart from room to room, checking each floor.

When he reached the tenth floor, he found Qiang Ge and Xu Rou hiding on the balcony.

The waiter was thin and frail, so emaciated that he looked like skin and bones. His sinister eyes stared straight at them. "Guests, it's time to pay up."