I Am Performing

As Zhu Zeyu spoke, he split off a thread of [Mist], which slipped away from the puppet without anyone noticing and began drifting around the house.

The old man still hadn’t mentioned anything about assigning rooms.

As a result, the group remained cautiously gathered in the living room downstairs.

Ma Dong looked as though he was waiting for Jin Rongxu to give the order. The military doctor maintained his silence, while Pot Lid huddled fearfully beside Zhu Zeyu, glancing up at the ceiling from time to time.

Given Pot Lid’s ability, it was practically certain that there was something above the ceiling.

Thus, [Mist] found its target and rolled up the stairs toward the second floor.

The old man looked at Zhu Zeyu, and that corpse-like face actually stiffened for a moment.

It turned its head toward Jin Rongxu, then turned back to Zhu Zeyu and forced a smile.

“What are you talking about, child?”

“Didn’t I already tell you? I had nothing to do with that sort of transaction. If you want to make a deal, that’s fine too, but…”

Li Daochang clearly wanted them to make the trade.

If this [Walking Corpse] was working together with Li Daochang, then the two horror creatures were obviously in cahoots, pushing toward the same goal.

Zhu Yan still couldn’t understand why.

If Li Daochang simply wanted money, that wouldn’t be a big deal. It could drive all the players together.

So why insist on strength, and specifically send the strongest person in the group, Jin Rongxu, off somewhere else?

Zhu Yan nervously watched the corpse’s face.

“But what?”

The old man let out a cold snort.

…

At the same time.

[Mist] drifted up to the second floor and slowly squeezed through the crack beneath a locked door, entering a cramped little room.

The situation in the second-floor corridor was very bad.

There was no carpet here, but a small amount of blood had smeared across the tiles, mixing with the dust. It looked as though someone had struggled violently in this place.

The bloodstains had already turned the color of rust, suggesting that some time had passed.

They extended from the locked, cramped room.

Inside, the scene was even more horrifying. Several concentrated, radiating rust-colored marks stained the white wall, looking as though someone had repeatedly slammed their head against it with all their strength, desperate only to die.

In front of the bloodstains stood a dim ancestral altar.

Two tiny eternal lamps burned before it, their flames flickering as they illuminated the two memorial tablets behind them.

“…An altar for the family ancestors?”

Zhu Yan couldn’t help muttering to himself in the form of [Mist].

Unfortunately, [Mist] couldn’t actually speak, so the words amounted to nothing more than an internal aside.

The memorial tablet on the altar bore the name “Huang Qiang.”

Huang Qiang. That was an interesting name.

Zhu Yan remembered that, in the information Jin Rongxu had given him, one of the buyers had used the WeChat name “Qiangqiang.”

He had no idea whether the two were connected to the same person.

Behind the memorial tablet was a black-and-white photograph. The man in it looked to be in his forties, and he bore some resemblance to the old man downstairs.

“His son?”

Maintaining the shape of [Mist], Zhu Yan swayed back and forth in front of the photograph.

Could he [Play a Role] and impersonate this [Walking Corpse]’s son, then pull off something huge?

If they weren’t in the middle of a dungeon, Zhu Yan would really have loved to try it.

He sighed inwardly in regret, then turned his drifting form toward the other memorial tablet.

This tablet was considerably more interesting.

It read “Huang Qiang’s ghost wife, Lady Zhang.” There was no photograph behind it, only a small porcelain jar.

Lady Zhang. Lady Zhang.

In the information Jin Rongxu had shown him earlier, the key figures in the dungeon were “Li Daochang” and “Zhang Xiaohong.”

That familiar, bone-deep chill seeped from the porcelain jar, threading its way into Zhu Yan’s bones.

The sensation was exactly the same as what he had felt from the jar of ashes in Li Daochang’s home!

Only, the influence here was much weaker. After all, going by what Li Daochang had done…

Zhu Yan thought of the powdered milk and lime in Li Daochang’s bedroom.

The ashes mixed from those two things should not have contained very much actual material.

So could the “ghost wife, Lady Zhang,” be Zhang Xiaohong?

And what exactly was a ghost wife?

What kind of profitable business was selling ashes?

Wasn’t Zhang Xiaohong Li Daochang’s deceased wife?

…

Downstairs.

“But there’s a condition. I know of a contract. If you want to make this deal, you’ll first have to sign—”

“Stop.”

This time, it was the military doctor who interrupted the old man.

Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, he asked, “Didn’t you say you’d never been involved in any transactions? Then how do you know so much about them?”

The old man let out another cold laugh and raised a hand, pointing in the direction of Li Daochang’s house.

“You little brat, I’m warning you. Don’t be so ungrateful.”

“It’s true that I’ve never participated in a transaction. But I do know how to get you out of here safely.”

The military doctor didn’t believe him.

He turned to look at Jin Rongxu. Jin Rongxu’s expression was blank, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

…

Inside Li Daochang’s house.

“All right, boy.”

Li Daochang’s voice reached Zhu Yan’s ears, cold and chilling.

“You said you were a clone. Then you should have a clear view of what’s happening on the other side.”

“The man you brought is turning his head to look at you.”

He was referring to the military doctor looking at Jin Rongxu.

“I hope you’ll agree to the transaction soon.”

Zhu Yan studied Li Daochang, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

There were far too many twists and turns here.

First, what did Li Daochang hope to accomplish by splitting them into two groups? Second, how was the content of the transaction related to the dungeon?

Once he solved those two mysteries, would he be able to find the other pieces of “Mother”?

“So why did you separate us? They can make the trade here just as well, can’t they?”

Zhu Yan had indeed discovered that the contents of the transaction differed from what he had initially imagined as “human flesh.” What they were trading was actually ashes.

And this should be an important clue.

But judging from Li Daochang’s expression…

Li Daochang was grinning at Zhu Yan, revealing two rows of filthy teeth.

It seemed impossible to get it to explain the truth honestly.

“You’ll know when the time comes, boy,” Li Daochang said. “I can guarantee that you’ll survive.”

Zhu Yan nodded. “Fine.”

He wasn’t worried about Jin Rongxu at all.

That guy could read minds, but everything he read was wrong.

Even if Zhu Zeyu didn’t say anything, Jin Rongxu would most likely agree to the transaction.

Zhu Yan was thinking about something else entirely—

When he had faced the jar of ashes in Li Daochang’s house earlier, he’d had a theory: when these ashes controlled horror creatures, there might be certain limitations.

For example, that Level Two [Walking Corpse] had been unable to detect the existence of [Mist].

Then what if he used his ability [Bringing Glory to the Ancestors] on the Level Two [Walking Corpse]?

Would Li Daochang notice?

Could he succeed?

…

Jin Rongxu looked at the old man in front of him and smiled.

“All right. I agree.” He grabbed Pot Lid by the collar. “Let him make the trade alone first. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”

On the other side.

Zhu Yan looked at Li Daochang and added, “Let one of my subordinates make the trade with you first.”

“I’m only putting on an act. Otherwise, they might become suspicious, and that wouldn’t be good.”

“That’s not too much to ask, is it?”