The Highest Level of Performance is to Act Well as Yourself

"Bang!"

"Damn it! This is so fucking frustrating!" Watching the tree collapse before him, Xiong Tao cursed, unable to vent his pent-up rage.

They had actually been pushed to this extent by a group of monkeys.

Although they had shaken off those damn monkeys, the losses were significant, and they hadn't gained a single bit of profit—they had even lost Old Third.

This was something Xiong Tao found hard to accept.

By contrast, Yang Zixuan, who sat on a rock nearby wiping his flying blades, was far more composed. Seeing Xiong Tao so furious, he shook his head.

"This is normal. You think you're already strong, but don't forget, in reality, before becoming a certified player, we are all bottom-tier trash!"

He said this with a hint of self-mockery.

Xiong Tao had been full of rage, but upon hearing the words "certified player," he deflated like a punctured ball, all his anger instantly vanishing into thin air.

Recalling the guy they had encountered back then, a sense of deep despair pressed down on his head like a massive mountain.

"Just endure it a bit longer. We're almost there with our script points. As long as we reach the standard for a certified player..."

Yang Zixuan didn't finish his sentence, his eyes fixed on the flying blades in his hands, filled with longing for the future.

[Warning! Temporary team member Chen has dealt fatal damage to Xu Chen (Zhang Hu), resulting in the death of member Xu Chen!]

[Warning! Temporary team member Chen has violated the temporary contract rules and has been removed from the team.]

Suddenly, the notification of Zhang Hu's death rang in their ears, catching them off guard. The cold, mechanical voice instantly pulled them back from their fantasies to reality.

"How is this possible??" The two stared at each other, unable to accept the result.

They could accept the death of Old Third; as script-killing players, no one dared to ignore the probability and risks of death.

But what they couldn't accept was that the one who killed Old Third wasn't those damn monkeys, but the timid, cowardly livestock in their eyes.

"Impossible!!"

After a brief moment of shock, Yang Zixuan shrieked, his face twisted in disbelief, no longer possessing his previous calm demeanor.

He didn't believe it, couldn't accept it—it was simply a fairy tale.

Had he misjudged him??

He couldn't help but recall every detail of meeting Xu Tong.

From the way he rubbed his hands against his pant legs unconsciously when he walked into the room, to the way he sat on the chair, only daring to occupy half the seat out of nervousness.

All these details flashed through Yang Zixuan's mind like a revolving lantern.

Could these have been faked???

Thinking of this, Yang Zixuan couldn't help but shiver, the more he thought, the more terrifying it became.

Was this guy a Best Actor graduate from the Central Academy of Drama?

Yang Zixuan suddenly felt his vision go black, nearly fainting on the spot.

"Find him! Find him! Get him for me!!" He roared hysterically, his facial features contorting.

Xiong Tao had never seen his boss lose his composure like this, unaware that Yang Zixuan's head was buzzing.

There was only one thought: find this guy, peel his skin off, and see clearly with his own eyes if he had truly misjudged him!!

"Achoo!"

Watching the spray of spit he'd let out, Xu Tong reached up to rub his nose, muttering, "The wind is too strong at night. If I'd known, I wouldn't have given that coat away."

As he spoke, he tightened his clothes. Under the campfire's glow, his face looked like gold paper—waxy and yellow—and even his eyes were bloodshot.

"Drink some water! Are you sure your injury is okay?"

Yang Guanjin handed him the canteen, her peripheral vision catching a glimpse of Xu Tong's lower abdomen. She couldn't help but wonder why her blade had only pierced so shallowly.

"It's fine, it's almost healed, isn't it?"

He smiled as he took the canteen, pointing to the wound on his abdomen wrapped in black gauze.

In truth, the moment she stabbed him, he had already activated the title [Retributor].

Reducing mental damage by 80% and physical damage by 30%, combined with the fact that he was in the state of [Demon King Descent] and protected by a layer of black demonic flame armor, he had deflected a massive amount of damage, leaving him with only superficial wounds.

Of course, the price was quite heavy. At this very moment, he not only had to endure the curse brought by the title skill but also the aftereffects of [Demon King Descent].

Don't let his chatting and laughing with Yang Guanjin fool you; in reality, the clothes on his back were soaked with sweat. His body alternated between freezing cold and burning hot, feeling as if it were filled with lead, to the point where he didn't even want to move a finger.

If Yang Guanjin were to strike him now, heh, he would be nothing but meat on a chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered.

However, he believed she wouldn't do that, because he was the only one who could help her now.

So, he took the water and drank it without the slightest hesitation, causing a strange look to cross Yang Guanjin's face.

She sat down slowly, added a few more logs to the fire, and asked seemingly at random, "When did you realize there was something wrong with me?"

"Heh!" His eyes lit up. If there was anything else, he might have been indifferent, but when it came to acting, he was full of spirit.

"If someone saved my father, and did it twice, I'd be happy to kneel and kowtow to them, rather than giving them a coat, saying some polite nonsense, and packaging myself as a filial, obedient girl."

After saying this, he even mimicked Yang Guanjin's expression and gaze from that moment, demonstrating it for her.

Yang Guanjin was taken aback. She had considered many possibilities, but never that she had shown her tail from the very beginning. Yet, she remained unconvinced; she didn't believe these things alone were enough to pin the blame on her.

"That hardly seems like enough evidence."

"Of course it isn't!" Xu Tong fixed his gaze on her. "From the moment the Golden Dagger appeared at the crime scene to the time Zhou Huasheng arrived with his men, less than 24 hours had passed. Even if I took a truck, it would take me nearly half a day just to get from town to the Forest Farm. What does that tell you?"

Yang Guanjin raised an eyebrow.

Seeing her remain silent, Xu Tong continued, "There are two possibilities. One is that this era has mobile phones."

"Mobile phones?" She looked blank. Xu Tong nodded. "Of course, this thing doesn't exist yet, so the other possibility is that someone tipped off Zhou Huasheng in advance."

"So what!"

"So, you are a suspect. You returned to the Forest Farm right after us. Although you claimed to be patrolling the mountains, no one can verify that."

"Originally, I was only suspicious, but then I realized something: who benefits the most from my death? Without a doubt, it's you."

"Because you couldn't send the message directly to Zhou Huasheng, you couldn't guarantee he would receive it or when he would arrive. What if he missed the message or got delayed by something?"

"The safest move at that point was to just kill me, the newcomer, while you were at it. That way, no one would replace you as the forest ranger, and you could stay at the Forest Farm."

As he spoke, he pulled his clothes tighter, edging closer to the campfire.

"Also, that coat—it was way too big for me, and it wouldn't fit your father either. You prepared those clothes half a month in advance; surely they weren't for a ghost?"

"So, I compared them to Zhou Huasheng's clothes and found that the sizes were a perfect match. Isn't that a coincidence?"

Xu Tong took a piece of Zhou Huasheng's clothing from his Prop Catalog. He had found it in Zhou Huasheng's suitcase, which was exactly why he had insisted on searching the room the moment he knew Zhou Huasheng wasn't there.

"You were provoking me on purpose!" Yang Guanjin recalled how Xu Tong had suddenly and snidely pointed out the flaws in her story on the road, and it finally clicked.

Xu Tong shivered and stopped paying attention to Yang Guanjin. It wasn't that he didn't want to continue, but he suddenly felt an indescribable itch all over his body, as if ants were crawling through the marrow of his bones.

This must be the effect of the curse. As expected, one only truly understands the feeling once they experience it themselves.

Though the discomfort was real, the harvest was a pleasant surprise.

By killing Zhang Hu, he had been kicked out of the temporary team and docked 15 Script Points. The precious five-second stun counter-attack time was negligible now that Zhang Hu was a corpse.

But compared to the gains, these were trivial.

According to what Mad Dog had told him, if a player kills another player, they can either take one prop card from the victim's Prop Catalog or choose to take all of their Script Points; they can only choose one.

Faced with this choice, he didn't hesitate to take all of Zhang Hu's Script Points.

560 Script Points wasn't a massive amount, but it was enough to cover the total savings of a player for two or three Script Worlds.

Add to that the two top-tier prop cards he had swindled from him, and he had walked away with a fortune this time.

In truth, killing Zhang Hu wasn't the best option.

If conditions had allowed, he could have kept him controlled, slowly torturing him bit by bit until he had drained every single prop card and Script Point from his catalog.

That way, he could have continued to blend into Yang Zixuan's Jie Team, playing the double agent in peace while waiting for the next opportunity.

But that relied on the conditions being right, and he couldn't guarantee when Yang Zixuan and Xiong Tao might appear before him.

He had no choice but to choose the path of maximum profit and harvest Zhang Hu quickly.

Beside him, Yang Guanjin watched Xu Tong's increasingly pale face and finally asked the question that had been weighing on her heart: "Why did you help me? Do you know that, actually, all of this is..."

"Shh!"

Before she could finish, Xu Tong pressed his hand against her cherry lips. "The reason I helped you is because you've already botched your performance. You shouldn't have lured them into the Mountain God Temple to ambush them."

After what happened last night, Yang Zixuan was already suspicious of her. Whether Zhang Hu lived or died, the first person Yang Zixuan would kill upon seeing her would likely be her.

If Yang Guanjin were killed, it would mean losing a powerful ally. He needed Yang Guanjin's ability to control the Monkey to keep Yang Zixuan in check.

He lowered his hand. "I have no interest in your plans or your stories. I helped you only because we have a common goal. Also, your acting is truly terrible. Remember this: the highest level of performance is to play yourself well!"

As his voice faded, a figure slowly emerged from the bushes nearby: "Finally found you!"