Close your eyes

Five in the evening.

Zhao Xun met Lisa as agreed.

With Lisa leading the way, he entered the Duke's Manor through a small side door without any trouble.

A long line had already formed outside the manor's main gate, with many commoners hoping to enter and enjoy a delicious, lavish meal.

As Zhao Xun passed, he also spotted a rather disheveled Shen Yalong.

Shen Yalong seemed so hungry that he had no strength left. He sat slumped on the ground in line, his head hanging low, as though even lifting it was a struggle. He never noticed Zhao Xun.

Zhao Xun did not linger. He merely glanced at him before following Lisa away.

He was not surprised to encounter other players here.

It would have been stranger if he never ran into any of them.

Although their missions differed, they were likely connected in some way.

Since he needed to enter the Duke's Manor to gather clues, other players might also enter for different reasons.

Once they were safely inside the Duke's Manor, Lisa eagerly turned to Zhao Xun. "About what we agreed earlier..."

She left the sentence unfinished, but her meaning could not have been clearer.

Zhao Xun smiled. "Close your eyes."

Lisa obediently closed her eyes and tilted her face up to wait.

Zhao Xun raised a hand to gauge the distance, then delivered a crisp knife-hand strike to the side of Lisa's neck.

Lisa collapsed before she could even make a sound.

Zhao Xun immediately dragged her into the nearby bushes, only setting her down once he reached an unnoticed corner.

Then he took his suitcase out of his storage slot and retrieved the rope and rags he had found at Xiao Ai's home that day.

He gagged Lisa securely and bound her tightly with the rope.

This ensured that Lisa would have no chance to wake up and call for help before he left the Duke's Manor.

As for afterward... a maid who had failed to get a kiss could hardly make a big scene and search everywhere for him over it.

He had nothing to worry about.

Once everything was done and he had confirmed that no one was passing nearby, Zhao Xun quickly emerged.

He brushed the blades of grass from his trouser legs and cleaned the dirt off himself before leaving to explore the entire Duke's Manor.

Just as Lisa had said, sculptures were everywhere in the Duke's Manor.

Some were palm-sized and stood on tables, while others towered over people in the garden.

Every one of them was lifelike and beautiful.

But merely looking at them gave him no way to tell whether any of these sculptures was special.

Zhao Xun was considering how to pick out the one he needed from so many sculptures-or whether he should simply dig into each one's chest and take a look.

Suddenly, he heard the faint sound of wet chewing up ahead.

He crept toward the sound, rounded a large tree, and discovered Shen Yalong hiding behind it, gnawing on a piece of fruit.

"The banquet will start soon. Why are you hiding here eating fruit?" Zhao Xun asked outright.

Shen Yalong had been wolfing down his food with his head lowered. The sudden voice made him jump, and the half-eaten fruit in his hand rolled into the grass.

A pained look crossed his face. He jerked his head up, ready to curse whoever had startled him, but swallowed every word when he recognized Zhao Xun.

"I... I was just too hungry," Shen Yalong explained meekly. "I haven't had a single bite since boarding the Endless Train. The banquet won't officially start for another hour, and I was starving. I happened to spot some wild fruit here, so I picked one to eat."

Zhao Xun studied Shen Yalong without speaking for a long while.

In his current state, Shen Yalong could have passed for a refugee fleeing a famine.

Zhao Xun had no idea what he had gone through in the full day since the previous evening. Not only was Shen Yalong filthy and disheveled, but he also looked far more haggard and bedraggled than when he had gotten off the train.

It did not look like hunger alone. He seemed to have been robbed as well; otherwise, his clothes would not have been so dirty.

Zhao Xun was not staring at Shen Yalong out of sympathy.

He simply felt that Shen Yalong had not come here just for food.

Shen Yalong's excuse sounded reasonable, but it did not stand up to scrutiny.

Even if he was too hungry to wait another hour for the banquet to officially begin, he should have gone to the banquet hall for desserts.

When Lisa had brought Zhao Xun inside earlier, she had mentioned in passing that drinks and desserts would be served before the banquet officially began.

If he truly was starving, he should have eaten desserts in the banquet hall rather than coming all the way out to the garden for fruit.

Besides, someone visiting the Duke's Manor for the first time would have no idea whether there was any edible fruit in the garden. If there was none, wouldn't the trip have been wasted?

Zhao Xun's stare made Shen Yalong squirm. He could not shake the feeling that Zhao Xun had seen right through him.

"I'm telling the truth." He wiped the remaining fruit juice from his mouth and could not help insisting, "I only came here to get something to eat!"

Zhao Xun chuckled softly. "I never said you had any other motive. Why are you so nervous?"

Shen Yalong's expression froze. He knew he had overreacted and given himself away instead.

Neither of them spoke for a moment, and an eerie silence settled between them.

A few seconds later, Shen Yalong suddenly turned and bolted.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten that his height and leg length put him at a complete disadvantage against Zhao Xun, whose reflexes were faster as well.

Shen Yalong had barely taken two steps before Zhao Xun caught him firmly by the shoulder.

The instant he was caught, Shen Yalong abandoned all resistance, turned with the motion, and dropped to his knees.

"Bro! I admit I came here for my main mission, but I promise I won't interfere with you at all!" He looked up at Zhao Xun with an earnest expression. "I just want to do my own mission in peace, clear the game, earn points, and stay alive. I have no intention of getting in the way of your mission, much less doing anything to harm you!"

"Is that so?" Zhao Xun smiled noncommittally.

In truth, both of them knew perfectly well that whether Shen Yalong would harm him was not entirely up to Shen Yalong.

If their main missions conflicted, Shen Yalong would have to oppose him even if he did not want to.

His words were therefore not particularly convincing.

Still, Zhao Xun had not grabbed Shen Yalong to beat him.

"Tell me," Zhao Xun said, looking down at Shen Yalong. "You didn't do the personal mission issued by the Endless Train yesterday, did you?"

Shen Yalong froze for a moment, clearly not expecting Zhao Xun to ask that question so abruptly.

Still, he answered quickly. "That's right. I didn't."

"Then were you punished?" Zhao Xun asked.

"No." Shen Yalong shook his head.

"Just as I thought." Understanding showed on Zhao Xun's face.