Qi Wu watched Chu Qingjiu stare blankly at an empty patch of ground, his long lashes lowered. He reached out and touched his arm. "Big brother, stop spacing out."
Chu Qingjiu immediately snapped out of his thoughts and shifted slightly aside, resisting Qi Wu's touch.
First, Qi Wu was an enemy he had to kill. Second-Qi Wu was nowhere near as friendly as he appeared.
Despite cheerfully calling him "big brother" at every turn and touching him from time to time, Qi Wu's affection toward him had remained at 0.
Even Zhao Yang, who disliked him, had 10 affection points toward him. Yet Qi Wu could maintain 0 affection while acting so intimate. It was truly... too strange.
Chu Qingjiu could only conclude that he was good at pretending and not someone to trifle with. For now, he had no intention of dropping the pretense.
He picked up a mourning garment and spread it out for a closer look.
The mourning garment slipped on like a coat, with a hood at the neckline. It was made of coarse hemp cloth that felt scratchy to the touch.
Naturally, Chu Qingjiu had not entered the instance wearing that lavish Western-style formal suit. He had only dressed that way because the instance required it; he disliked anything too cumbersome.
He wore a simple white T-shirt and black trousers, with the white mourning garment pulled over them. However, the fabric rubbed directly against his exposed arms, its intermittent scraping making him itch.
Chu Qingjiu reached out to scratch an itchy spot, and Qi Wu happened to see him. Qi Wu chuckled twice and teased, "Are you having an allergic reaction, big brother, or are you just too delicate?"
Chu Qingjiu abruptly stopped, forcibly suppressing the urge to touch it.
"..."
Suddenly, Qi Wu took some rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs out of the backpack he carried with him and smiled innocently. "Disinfect it, big brother. It'll feel a little better."
Looking around carefully, Chu Qingjiu found that all seven of the others had backpacks containing things like daily necessities and medical supplies.
The instance did not provide players with these things, and there was no system shop where they could buy items. They could only rely on the most basic methods.
Any injuries sustained inside an instance could be healed after leaving it.
So as long as they had one breath left and a shred of sanity, they could survive.
Unsure what he was feeling, Chu Qingjiu accepted the things Qi Wu offered and said softly, with some awkwardness, "...Thank you."
But even this could not change his intention to kill him. At most, he would give him a quick death.
Whether it was psychological or the disinfectant really helped, Chu Qingjiu's arms no longer itched.
Only after all eight of them were ready did the head steward finally take them to meet Master Xu and the Eldest Young Master Xu.
Fortunately, it was not far. Chu Qingjiu could manage by adjusting his breathing, but Qi Wu seemed so worried that he kept his hand on him the entire time.
Chu Qingjiu figured he might as well make use of the free labor and let Qi Wu support him as they walked.
When they arrived, the first person Chu Qingjiu noticed was the man seated on the east side, just below the second seat of honor. His face was deathly pale, with dark circles beneath his eyes, and he looked as though he had lost his soul.
He looked exactly like a lifeless puppet under someone else's control.
Chu Qingjiu put all his thoughts aside and let the head steward arrange for them to take their seats in order. Once they were seated, the head steward respectfully addressed the honest-looking, middle-aged man in the seat of honor:
"Master, everyone is here."
Master Xu gestured for him to withdraw. The head steward obediently left, closing the door behind him.
Only after everyone uninvolved had left did Master Xu speak. "Peiling's death from illness was so sudden. Once midnight passes tonight, tomorrow will be the Ghost Festival. Peiling's Seventh-Day Rite is also tomorrow. I hope everyone will cooperate so that we can see her again."
"Peiling... really died of illness?"
Chu Qingjiu looked at the seemingly honest and straightforward Master Xu and suddenly asked.
His voice was soft, but in the quiet room, everyone could hear him clearly. The other players thought Chu Qingjiu was about to launch into some incisive remarks, only for...
The moment Chu Qingjiu finished that single sentence, he began coughing violently. Every finger gripping the chair's armrest turned white from the force, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
By the time his condition finally eased a little, he no longer had the strength to speak.
The intense pain in his lungs brought tears to his eyes. Slightly reddened, they made him look pitiful and endearing.
He had bitten his pale lips until they flushed with blood, as vivid as flowers.
The players, who had been expecting something: "..."
Chu Qingjiu raised his head to look at the middle-aged man in the seat of honor again, only to discover that the man's original 40 affection points toward him had suddenly dropped by 10.
The man's brow creased slightly, then immediately relaxed. "Of course. Peiling had always been in poor health ever since she married into the family. You all know that."
The players: "..." We don't know.
This was because of the truth underlying the instance. Their assigned identities were relatives of the deceased eldest young madam, so they could only swallow the grievance in silence.
"No... Peiling wasn't..."
The Eldest Young Master Xu, who had remained silent with unfocused eyes, suddenly spoke.
"Zhijie!"
Master Xu abruptly cut off Xu Zhijie's words, his brows drawn sharply together in anger, as though afraid Xu Zhijie might say something shocking.
Given this abnormal reaction, Master Xu probably had something to do with Peiling's death.
The players put aside their respective thoughts and waited for Master Xu to continue.
After being snapped at, Xu Zhijie seemed to regain some awareness. He blinked blankly, then pressed his lips together and fell silent.
"You must all be tired from your journey. Please go to your rooms and rest. I'll send someone tonight to inform you of the arrangements."
Master Xu stood and looked at the eight players. After a moment's thought, he continued, "You may walk around if you like, but remember not to go to the rear courtyard. No matter what you hear, do not go there."
Having finished, Master Xu took Xu Zhijie by the arm, intending to lead him out. But just then, Chu Qingjiu, who had been seated the whole time, also stood.
"Master Xu."
Chu Qingjiu stopped Master Xu as he was about to leave with Xu Zhijie. Clutching his chest, he asked with difficulty, "Does the eldest young master often do things that are... inexplicable?... Especially at midnight?"
He had to pause after every sentence, or he would feel suffocated, unable to breathe properly, while inexplicable stabbing pains shot through his heart. This body was far too weak.
By the time he finished those few sentences, he had broken out in a cold sweat and could barely stand.
Fortunately, Qi Wu noticed his weakness and reached out to support him, preventing Chu Qingjiu from collapsing back into his chair.
At Chu Qingjiu's words, Master Xu jolted as though suddenly frightened. His gaze held a hint of terror as he looked at him.
"You..." Master Xu seemed to hesitate over something, but ultimately left his sentence unfinished. He simply dragged Xu Zhijie away at a particularly hurried pace.
It seemed Xu Zhijie was being controlled.
A Puppeteer could not control a puppet without limits around the clock. The easiest time for a Puppeteer to exert control was between midnight and one in the morning.
That was when a person's soul was weakest, making it easier for a Puppeteer to exploit the opening. And turning someone into a puppet did not necessarily require Puppet Strings.
Knowing a person's birth date and time and obtaining a drop of their blood, having them regularly consume food containing the Puppeteer's blood, or spending a prolonged period together with them could all bring them under control.
Puppet Threads, however, could achieve control without so many stringent conditions.
Both methods had their advantages and drawbacks. Although the former took effect slowly and came with many restrictions, it allowed the Puppeteer to share the puppet's senses, because the Puppeteer possessed the other person's blood, and the other person had also consumed the Puppeteer's blood.
Blood connected them, allowing shared sensation.
The latter worked quickly, but offered less control over the puppet. If the puppet realized they were being controlled, they could regain their senses quite easily.
"Big brother, you look like you know something. Why don't you tell us?"
Qi Wu looked relaxed and harmless, but his question directly brought the fact that "Chu Qingjiu knew something" out into the open, leaving Chu Qingjiu facing two unfavorable choices:
First, swallow the grievance and freely share his reasoning and clues to avoid offending the other players.
Second, risk offending every player by saying nothing and acting alone.
But with his body so frail, things would be troublesome without the other players' help. He could only control one puppet, too.
Chu Qingjiu looked into Qi Wu's clear eyes with some confusion. Sometimes he genuinely wondered whether Qi Wu had recognized him as the Puppeteer.
But players could not have a clear impression of an instance boss's appearance. The instance would never allow that to happen.
So he was probably just a hypocritical, nasty piece of work who happened to act this way. After all, he kept calling him "big brother" so affectionately, yet his affection remained at 0.
Chu Qingjiu was not angry. He said mildly, "I just thought his condition looked a little like... possession."
There was no way he would give them clues for free. What did it matter to him whether the players lived or died? He only needed to clear the instance himself.
Ideally, everyone would follow the false lead he gave them and die.
Before you continue