Start Provocation

What a lunatic.

Zhu Yan was about to scream.

Could there be a more deranged horror creature than this?

There were plenty of things about this darkened version of “Zhang Xiaohong,” now turned into a horror creature, that Zhu Yan couldn’t understand.

For example, even though it could absorb its daughter’s soul and turn her into a [Walking Corpse], allowing it to extort money from people for its son again and again, it had chosen instead to preserve its daughter’s life and make her face everything as a living person.

And just now, Zhu Yan had already agreed to pay. It could have simply taken the money, yet it insisted on marrying off its daughter.

An Xu Yin, the art student, had once told him that horror creatures had obsessions all their own.

Could “Mother’s” obsession be her two children?

But Zhu Yan always felt that something was wrong.

Besides, marriage had absolutely nothing to do with the name of this instance, [Where Are All the Mothers]!

Zhu Yan fell silent again.

Upstairs, Li Laidi was still screaming. Her screams had gradually blurred from clear complaints into meaningless, shrill howls. [Mist] had no choice but to retreat from her once more, drifting back up to the ceiling.

“Why don’t I tell you the truth?”

Li Daochang suddenly picked up the conversation he had left unfinished.

He pushed the sheet of yellow paper being used as a contract across the table toward Zhu Yan, gesturing for him to take a good look.

“Didn’t you say you have a puppet? Then you should be able to tell that the sheet I kept separately is completely different from the stack I had that person take away.”

…

The old man surnamed Huang had indeed gone back.

Inside the bright yellow building, Zhu Zeyu silently compared the sheet Jin Rongxu had forcibly stuffed into Pot Lid’s hand with the one in Li Daochang’s possession.

Pot Lid was still trembling. Jin Rongxu had sliced open his finger, and blood was trickling down from his fingertip.

“Captain, I…”

They really were different.

On closer inspection, Pot Lid’s sheet was a pale grayish white, with a very faint embossed pattern in the middle. It looked like some kind of design, yet also like a natural texture in the paper.

The room was dim, and Zhu Zeyu couldn’t make out what it was exactly.

The paper Li Daochang had placed on the table was smoother and slightly yellower, more like ordinary yellow straw paper.

“So?” Zhu Yan asked Li Daochang.

There was no way Li Daochang would tell him the truth.

He needed to use “Zhu Zeyu,” the puppet, to probe the situation—ideally by getting right in Li Daochang’s face and provoking him until he left the house first.

That would give him a chance to be alone with Li Laidi upstairs.

Li Laidi was probably the only living person who knew the truth.

Whether he used [To Carry on the Family Line] or [Bring Glory to One’s Ancestors], he should be able to get something useful out of her!

…

Elsewhere.

Zhu Zeyu silently activated the ability [Bring Glory to One’s Ancestors] and began probing the Level-Two [Walking Corpse].

“What exactly is this thing?”

He turned toward Old Man Huang and launched into a string of complete nonsense that made no logical sense.

“And you really never took part in any transactions? You’re so old—you must have been a father long ago, right?”

“What about your son? As a father, naturally you’d have to think about your son.”

Zhu Zeyu’s main goal was to work the word “father” smoothly into the conversation.

Regardless of anything else, at least [Bring Glory to One’s Ancestors] had been used without leaving a trace.

“You didn’t arrange to split the profits with Li Daochang, did you? What’s this transaction really about?”

“We’re other people’s sons too. As a father, can’t you spare a thought for the other fathers? Without their sons, they’ll be devastated too.”

Zhu Zeyu had tried his best. He really had.

He had stuffed the word “father” into that rambling load of nonsense as many times as possible, and the effect was immediate.

Aside from the stunned [Walking Corpse], Old Man Huang, everyone else present fell silent.

Jin Rongxu narrowed his eyes. The army medic and Ma Dong exchanged a glance, then both looked at Zhu Zeyu as if he were insane.

Even Pot Lid forgot to tremble. He raised his head in shock and muttered to himself,

“…A moron like this can actually rank first at [Xishan University]?”

The [Walking Corpse] stared blankly at Zhu Zeyu, clearly having trouble making sense of the situation.

At the end of the day, the [Walking Corpse] was merely a controlled tool. It could still distinguish who its own son was.

Father.

This man in front of it was calling it “Father,” but he obviously wasn’t its own tall, sturdy, short son, Li Panlong, nor was he the son of the [Walking Corpse] itself, Huang Qiang.

And yet, the sense of familiarity produced by those calls of “Father” was indeed no different from that felt toward its own flesh and blood!

“You’re not Panlong!” the [Walking Corpse] suddenly shouted. “You’re not Huang Qiang either! What are you? What’s going on with you?!”

Zhu Zeyu nervously glanced at Jin Rongxu, only to find that Jin Rongxu’s expression had changed as well.

He studied the [Walking Corpse] with an investigative look, apparently unsure whether he had read something different from it.

…

Elsewhere.

Li Daochang did not speak immediately. He seemed to be assessing the situation—or perhaps he was merely stunned for a moment.

He raised a hand and rubbed his temples, then suddenly looked gloomily at Zhu Yan. “What’s wrong with that person on your team?”

Oh.

Zhu Yan understood.

It seemed that the [Walking Corpse] was indeed affected by its level restrictions.

Li Daochang, whose level was higher, could detect it. However, judging from what was happening with Zhu Zeyu, Li Daochang himself seemed to be affected by the [Walking Corpse]’s level restrictions as well.

More than ten seconds had passed since Zhu Zeyu called out “Father” and the [Walking Corpse] had become dazed, yet Li Daochang appeared to have done nothing at all.

It couldn’t be that he was unable to control the [Walking Corpse].

More likely, this form of control was itself affected by the [Walking Corpse]’s level.

Even if “Mother” could control the [Walking Corpse], it still couldn’t resist this influence.

If that was the case, there was much more room to maneuver.

Zhu Yan watched Li Daochang calmly, his plans clicking into place.

His goal of getting Li Daochang out of the house was almost achieved!

“I don’t really know either,” he said sincerely. “He’s a new recruit to our team. He’s a little crazy, and it’s hard to stop him.”

“Why don’t you go take a look yourself?”

…

Elsewhere, Zhu Zeyu turned toward Jin Rongxu and continued provoking him at point-blank range.

“Captain!” Zhu Zeyu shouted. “What the hell is this supposed to mean?”

As he shouted, he activated the ability [Complaining] and unleashed another barrage against the [Walking Corpse].

“Are you insane? Seriously, dude, I’m just asking about the transaction. Why are you bringing up your son?”

“Was that even what I was implying? Did your brain rot along with the rest of you after you became a horror creature?”

“Is your head actually your ass?”

“You moron! I’m asking what the hell this ghostly transaction is about!”

The [Walking Corpse] collapsed onto the floor like a limp noodle, and Li Daochang’s expression stiffened even further.

Jin Rongxu stared intently at Zhu Zeyu, greed flashing briefly in his eyes.

After Zhu Zeyu had spoken earlier, he had indeed read something different in the [Walking Corpse]’s thoughts.

There were large stretches of blankness, accompanied by crackling electrical static, as if the signal had been blocked or the program had malfunctioned.

Judging from those words—“son,” “Panlong,” and “Huang Qiang”—it seemed that Zhu Zeyu had accidentally activated some kind of switch, causing the dungeon NPC to malfunction.

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was that this 【Complaint】 ability was far too useful.

“What do you mean, what’s going on?” 【Walking Corpse】 said feebly. “This is just an ordinary transaction document. Press your blood onto it, leave a handprint, and then pay the money. Once the transaction is complete, you may be able to leave the dungeon!”

…

Meanwhile, Zhu Yan watched Li Daochang’s expression grow increasingly grim and heard the prompt from 【Everyone Has Their Own Fate】.

“【Everyone Has Their Own Fate】 warmly reminds you: A lie has been detected from the horror creature 【Walking Corpse】.”

“Please do not stamp, drip blood onto, or sign the transaction document. Avoid the resulting karma, lest you meet your death in the underworld!”

Oh. So the other kind of transaction would kill the players.

He was just about to let Zhu Zeyu continue courting death when Li Daochang finally could not take it anymore.

It said nothing. Turning around, it strode toward the door with stiff, rapid steps.