Lying

This explained perfectly why neither Li Panlong nor Li Daochang could be reached.

Not far away, Zhu Yan’s true body, transformed into the form of 【Mist】, drifted back and began silently circling the group.

Just now, he had intended to move ahead in his 【Mist】 state and investigate the area thoroughly.

But he had no way to do so—

The village ahead seemed to be completely sealed off. No matter how far forward he went, after moving a few yards he would once again find the exact same tire tracks on the ground.

It seemed that the only way to move forward was to follow this old man.

Strange. Far too strange.

Zhu Yan really wanted to activate 【Bringing Glory to the Ancestors】 and call the old man “Dad” to see what would happen.

But he couldn’t.

Doing that in front of so many people would be far too undignified.

Jin Rongxu spoke up. “Uncle, what happened to Uncle Li’s family? His wife passed away not long ago, and now we can’t get in touch with him. We’ve been terribly worried.”

Zhu Yan felt a weight lift from his heart.

Excellent. Jin Rongxu had asked.

Could he just lie back and let his prey do all the work?

Zhu Yan waited eagerly for the old man’s answer.

But, contrary to his expectations, the old man let out a hoarse, icy chuckle from deep in his throat and threw the question right back at them.

“Didn’t Li Panlong send you here?”

“That boy didn’t tell you what happened to his family?”

The old man did not give Jin Rongxu a chance to explain. He turned his head, his unfocused pupils sweeping over Jin Rongxu’s neat uniform. Suspicion and scrutiny had already appeared clearly in his eyes.

“That uniform of yours certainly looks impressive. What kind of work do you do—ouch!”

Jin Rongxu moved so quickly that Zhu Yan didn’t even see what he had done.

A thick arm, rotting into a purplish blue, had suddenly emerged from beneath his neck.

It clearly did not belong to a human. It was extremely long—nearly as tall as most of Zhu Yan’s body.

At that moment, its veins bulged as it clamped tightly around the old man’s throat and hoisted him high into the air.

The old man was rasping and shrieking.

His body had lost its balance, and he could only clutch desperately at the hand around his neck while kicking wildly with both legs.

“What are you doing?! I warn you—”

“I’m the one warning you,” Jin Rongxu interrupted coldly.

The massive hand tightened its grip, while Jin Rongxu raised the corners of his mouth in a smile filled with pleasure.

“Old man, would something like you be afraid of dying?”

Anyone could tell that this was a threat, but that wasn’t the important part.

The important part was…

Zhu Yan stared intently at the old man’s struggling movements.

At first glance, there seemed to be nothing unusual. The movements looked like the natural reactions of an ordinary person.

But if one watched for long enough, it became apparent that, just like the road Zhu Yan had traveled while in his 【Mist】 state, the old man’s movements were repeating themselves.

Every few seconds, the old man would pause almost imperceptibly, then begin another cycle.

It was as though he were a puppet operating according to a preset program!

Jin Rongxu, however, noticed nothing.

Zhu Yan observed the other three people in the group. Pot Lid was the only one looking around in all directions like a startled rabbit. The other two seemed to trust Jin Rongxu completely.

They drew their weapons warily, already prepared to step in and assist at any moment.

Zhu Yan suppressed his urge to get involved.

There was clearly some existence here that exceeded anything he had imagined.

Since even the broadcast could not be trusted, there was no guarantee that anything the old man said was true either.

“Let me go! Let me go!”

The old man’s throat seemed to have been ruined, and his voice was filled with pleading.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you!”

Zhu Yan raised one eyebrow.

An old man who reeked of suspicion in every possible way was claiming that he could tell them “the information they wanted.”

This probably wasn’t an act of informing them. It was more likely an attempt to mislead them.

Still, words meant to mislead often revealed something about the other party—or the true purpose of the higher-level “existence” controlling them.

So Zhu Yan decided to remain silent.

The hand extending from Jin Rongxu’s neck relaxed slightly, lowering the old man to the ground, but it still remained clamped around his throat.

“Good. First question: What exactly did Li Daochang do?”

“Why has Li Panlong kept his mouth shut about us?”

Jin Rongxu was still being quite cautious, temporarily avoiding any disclosure of their true identities or purpose.

The two questions even perfectly turned the old man’s earlier interrogation back on him.

“Him?” A strange smile appeared on the old man’s face. “That bastard with no sense of decency. He sold his dead wife!”

This was information that the 【Human Alliance】 had already uncovered.

“How did he sell her? Was there something particular about it?”

The old man’s smile widened further, revealing several greasy yellow teeth.

“How he sold her?” he repeated. “You outsiders wouldn’t understand—ugh!”

The giant hand suddenly tightened.

Zhu Yan heard the crackling sounds of the old man’s windpipe and bones being crushed.

The old man’s eyes flew wide open. He frantically slapped at the hand Jin Rongxu had wrapped around his neck.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

He begged, “It was her flesh! He sold it so people could eat it!”

The explanation sounded perfectly reasonable.

The information in the 【Human Alliance】’s files said the same thing.

But the old man’s unfocused eyes did not blink. He stared straight at the group, inexplicably giving Zhu Yan the feeling that a fisherman was watching fish swimming inside his net.

Was it just his imagination?

Zhu Yan narrowed his eyes and studied the old man. Then, with a sudden shift in thought, he activated the Level Three ability 【Everyone Has Their Own Fate】!

He did not know what level the old man was.

But Jin Rongxu could read information about him, and had openly stated that this thing was not very advanced.

Although 【Everyone Has Their Own Fate】 was low-level, it was the only ability that could keep Zhu Yan out of the situation. It could make him immune to being implicated in missions by Level Three or lower players and horror creatures, meaning they could not harm him.

Under these circumstances, why not give it a try?

Zhu Yan watched the old man nervously, unsure whether 【Everyone Has Their Own Fate】 would work.

“Continue,” Jin Rongxu ordered.

The old man panted heavily. “It’s… this woman’s zodiac sign and life experiences both have particular significance. Eating her flesh would benefit us.”

The instant the old man finished speaking, two lines of red text suddenly appeared across Zhu Yan’s retinas.

“This instance is exceptionally complicated, and the levels of the creatures and players within it vary.”

“Therefore, 【Everyone Has Their Own Fate】 can only help you avoid being implicated by a small number of horror creatures.”

That made sense, but what did it mean for him?

The red text quickly vanished and was replaced by something new.

“Level Two horror creature detected: 【Walking Corpse】.”

“It is lying to you. Friendly reminder from 【Everyone Has Their Own Fate】: Please do not believe its lies.”

Zhu Yan glanced at the old man, a grin spreading through his heart.

So this was the 【Walking Corpse】?

Who would have thought? In an environment like this, 【Everyone Has Their Own Fate】 could even function as a lie detector.

His interest piqued, Zhu Yan advanced while controlling the puppet Zhu Zeyu and asked, “You just said that they sold this woman’s flesh?”

“Yes! Yes!” the old man hurriedly admitted.

Contradicting his words, another line of red text appeared before Zhu Yan’s eyes.

“[Walking Corpse] has lied to you again. [Everyone Has Their Own Fate] warmly reminds you: Please don’t believe its lies!”

Oh.

So it really wasn’t selling flesh.

But the transaction records uncovered by the [Human Alliance] couldn’t fool anyone.

Then what exactly were Li Panlong and Li Daochang up to?