And It's Just You Again

Zhu Yan couldn't help but shake his head.

Xu Tongguang's trick was actually quite clever, but his acting was just abysmally bad.

Anyone with normal intelligence would at least have a shred of suspicion!

That Skin Tailor wasn't particularly stupid either.

Outside the door, suspended in midair.

The invisible vortex paused suspiciously.

The Skin Tailor coldly looked down at Xu Tongguang, silently sneering.

Damn player.

That tone of voice—it was so obviously fake.

Trying this trick to lure it into attacking again and then get itself destroyed, right?

What a joke, how could it possibly be that stupid?

The Skin Tailor circled once lightly, then stopped cautiously in midair, unmoving.

Inside the door.

The puppet reached for the door again, only to have Zhu Yan block it once more.

"Caution!" he whispered in warning. "What if it's a trap set by a Hunter?"

After Xu Tongguang delivered that line, several seconds passed with no movement.

He needed to wait for a turn of events, at least to buy some time and figure out how to take out this Skin Tailor well enough, or at least severely weaken its strength.

The puppet stopped.

"Fine," it said. "Let's see what scheme this is."

From outside the door, Chen Zhaoxing's scolding voice came again.

Fortunately, Chen Zhaoxing's reaction perfectly compensated for Xu Tongguang's lack of finesse.

"What two hours? What are you talking about?"

Chen Zhaoxing tipped up the brim of his hat, revealing a pair of confused, wide eyes beneath.

"Xu Tongguang, are you lying to me too?!"

He shouted loudly, his voice trembling—Zhu Yan guessed he was barely holding back laughter.

"Your skill cooldown isn't only ten damn minutes? What are you trying to do?"

Xu Tongguang understood instantly.

He stammered, sounding guilty as he and Chen Zhaoxing stared each other down.

"Ah, I, I..."

Xu Tongguang glanced around again, putting on an anxious expression.

Thanks to Chen Zhaoxing's acting support, his expressions and tone became considerably more natural this time.

"Why are you exposing me?! Something attacked me just now, do you even know?"

If Zhu Yan had only heard this, he would've genuinely thought Xu Tongguang was furious.

Alright, alright—the acting had finally kicked in.

He turned his head and glanced at the Fog beside him.

This play should be stable.

If all went smoothly, that Fog's companion would end up dead, right?

Outside the door.

The Skin Tailor hovered in midair, squinting.

This was turning out to be interesting.

The reaction of that hat-wearing player didn't seem fake; and the weak player's later attitude and behavior were completely different from before.

Only ten minutes of cooldown time for his ability, huh?

It could try to seize the opportunity and see if it could steal a skin.

The Skin Tailor quickly scanned its surroundings.

At present, there were really only these two players here.

Chen Zhaoxing turned his head, looking left, right, front, and back.

"Where? Xu Tongguang, if you're lying to me over something this small, that's really hard to believe."

He let out a cold snort, flicked his palm, and a new pink cockroach appeared.

"I'm going to poison you to death with this!"

"Whoa!" Xu Tongguang cursed.

He wanted to run, but a faint, elusive chill at the back of his head forced him to stop dead in his tracks.

This must be the thing that attacked him earlier.

Zhu Zeyu was probably still in the shadows, trying to engage the horror creature.

He just had to help however he could!

Xu Tongguang gritted his teeth and deactivated his ability.

Instantly, the sharp, churning pain in his brain surged back, completely clouding his consciousness.

The Skin Tailor rapidly devoured Xu Tongguang's consciousness, feeling its body grow full again.

Great, just great!

It had been smart after all, and lucky too.

Thanks to that hat-wearing player's loose lips, and its own willingness to try.

The Skin Tailor gnawed even harder.

Seeing Xu Tongguang's body tremble in pain only excited it more.

Devouring a worn-out shell like this wouldn't take ten minutes at all.

At most, ten more seconds—or maybe five...

Xu Tongguang's teeth nearly pierced his tongue as he desperately clung to the last thread of clarity.

He could feel something in his mind gradually being replaced by more insane thoughts; that thing was consuming him.

But this was exactly what he wanted.

He needed it to let its guard down and devour more.

The more it devoured, the greater the damage, the stronger the rebound effect.

Wait another five seconds, or six...

Xu Tongguang grinned, his expression almost frenzied. A trace of blood from his tongue stained the corner of his mouth.

Now.

Xu Tongguang clutched his clothes tightly and reactivated his ability!

In an instant.

The Skin Tailor's swelling consciousness was drained dry.

It wanted to say something, but everything was silent—its screams and unwilling roars meant nothing.

Tricked—

That was the Skin Tailor's final thought.

A small puff of air softly burst in Xu Tongguang's mind, then vanished completely.

Xu Tongguang wanted to curse something, but Chen Zhaoxing was quicker—he shoved the pink cockroach into Xu Tongguang's mouth, sweating coldly and shouting frantically.

"Chew, chew it! I was just kidding, it's actually strawberry-flavored!"

"Are you okay?"

Zhu Yan hadn't heard any sound from Xu Tongguang, and he was starting to worry.

Had he died? And the Skin Tailor?

The Skin Tailor...

"Dead," a voice whispered softly in his ear—it was the broadcast woman's voice.

"How unfortunate, player. The Skin Tailor died quickly; while the system should reward you, it was somewhat lacking in the excitement department."

After hearing the first half, Zhu Yan felt satisfied.

What lacking in excitement? He didn't know.

All he knew was that the woman's voice had confirmed it: the Skin Tailor was well and truly dead.

Now, he could focus entirely on dealing with the Fog.

Zhu Yan looked at the two puppets eager to go outside and curved his lips upward.

"I'd like to claim that special reward in advance," he silently said to the woman's voice. "Can I choose it myself?"

The woman's voice paused for a moment, then emitted a stiff, mechanical but cheerful laugh.

"Oh, of course you can, player."

"Please note that the requested reward's value cannot exceed 100 bone gold coins."

"Your audience members are generous patrons. If you can provide them with sufficient entertainment, the viewer [The Pact of Lies] is willing to give you an extra tip after tonight's game ends."

This good?

Zhu Yan immediately said in his heart, "Thank you, generous patron."

Then, looking at the horror creature before him, he continued smiling slightly and stated his request word by word.

"I want a customized broadcast. Cut to that creature's—the Fog's—private channel."

The woman's voice replied instantly.

"No problem, player. However, 100 bone gold coins can only buy you one sentence. Please be sure to consider the content and timing carefully!"

"And, before daytime arrives, we will not announce the end of the night game to other players."

"Looking forward to your brilliant performance, player."