Did you collude with him

A [Walking Corpse] emerged from the bushes ahead, its movements stiff, its legs swinging at astonishing speed.

“Son?!” it cried in alarm, its voice suddenly rising to a sharp pitch. “What’s wrong with you?!”

Li Panlong lay sprawled over the little table, one thick arm hanging limply at his side.

For two seconds, the vitality vanished from his body. He no longer smelled like a living player.

The [Walking Corpse] was terrified. “Son?!”

“What are you yelling about?”

“Li Panlong” opened one eye, his tone highly irritated. “I’m trying to sleep! What are you yelling about?”

The [Walking Corpse] sniffed. That sweet scent belonging to a player had returned.

Whew. That was close.

Zhu Yan, hidden inside Li Panlong’s body, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Part of him was concealed within Li Panlong’s body, while a small portion remained outside, ensuring that the [Walking Corpse] would definitely be able to smell him.

Back in the [Metabolism Module], when he had hidden inside a puppet to fool the horrifying creatures under the [Eye of the Abyss], those things had still been able to smell the scent of flesh and blood through the puppet.

A dead Li Panlong was ultimately different from a puppet.

If the [Walking Corpse] happened to smell the scent of death as well, something would definitely go wrong unless he concealed it perfectly.

Zhu Yan forced himself to keep acting, praying all the while that Tuxedo Cat would be all right.

“I want fried meat. Is my meat ready yet? If it isn’t, then why are you bothering me?”

Judging from the [Walking Corpse]’s reaction, the memorial tablet had probably been carried away.

It hadn’t asked who Li Panlong had been talking to, which most likely meant it hadn’t heard anything at all.

Looking through Li Panlong’s eyes, he stared at the horrifying creature before him. As expected, the [Walking Corpse] rubbed its hands together and launched into the same explanation as always.

“Son, something just took your mother’s memorial tablet away.”

“Your mother was worried that something had happened to you, so she hurried over to check.”

“Son, are you all right?”

It seemed that Zhang Xiaohong really had spoiled Li Panlong rotten when she was alive.

If this had been any other horrifying creature, it would have already begun searching everywhere for the culprit and asking for details.

But Zhang Xiaohong didn’t care about any of that. Her ghastly eyes remained fixed on “Li Panlong,” as though “Li Panlong” mattered more to her than her memorial tablet.

Zhu Yan felt a little relieved.

That look was clearly not the kind of concern born of human feeling. It was more like a twisted, obsessive desire to control.

But what did that have to do with him?

He had already accomplished his initial goal.

“What memorial tablet? I fell asleep on the table just now. All I heard was you hollering.”

He quickly glanced over the table, then pretended to be startled and cursed, “Fuck! Where’s the memorial tablet?!”

Another [Walking Corpse] emerged from the lush vegetation.

It held the red memorial tablet in its hands, its slack dead face hanging limply.

“I don’t know what pressed it down,” it said resentfully. “Someone bit me just now and dragged me away. Then they pressed me down with something hairy, so I couldn’t hear a thing!”

“Someone bit you?” Zhu Yan manipulated Li Panlong into jumping furiously out of his chair. “What a shameless bastard! Mom, you really didn’t see what kind of audacious piece of trash it was?”

Zhu Yan had already formed a theory.

The [Walking Corpse]’s sensory descriptions were extremely imprecise.

Compared to a human, Tuxedo Cat was just a tiny little thing, and its teeth were very sharp. Yet “Mother” had only described it as “someone biting me.”

As for the “hairy thing,” Zhu Yan guessed that Tuxedo Cat had simply sat on her with its rear end. But “Mother” hadn’t been able to sense that accurately either.

Clearly, the memorial tablet’s “vision” and “sense of touch” were both rather unreliable.

Sure enough, the [Walking Corpse]’s answer confirmed Zhu Yan’s guess.

“How would I have been able to see clearly?” it complained. “Son, how can you be so careless? How many times have I told you already?!”

Zhu Yan immediately took up the conversation, imitating Li Panlong’s expression to perfection.

“You don’t know me? Besides, you’re so long-winded. Can’t you just say it all again?”

Although he had only observed them for a few minutes, he had already figured them out.

Li Panlong treated Zhang Xiaohong much like his younger brother treated his aunt.

He never lowered his head or admitted fault. All he did was issue orders with overwhelming arrogance.

What had “Mother” said to Li Panlong?

Once he coaxed a little more information out of her about the memorial tablet’s function and importance, there should be no problem.

“This is your mother’s lifeline! Your mother’s lifeline!”

“Son, luckily we found it this time. You mustn’t be so careless again!”

Lifeline?

Zhu Yan glanced at the red piece of wood.

Wasn’t the [Nightmare Book] Zhang Xiaohong’s true lifeline?

According to what Li Lai had told him before, the [Nightmare Book] was very likely a tattoo on Li Daochang’s back.

Then what was this memorial tablet supposed to be?

Was Zhang Xiaohong deliberately deceiving her precious son?

Zhu Yan shot a sidelong glance at the [Walking Corpse], then adopted the air of the village prince, leaning back in the rocking chair with one leg crossed over the other.

“Mom, you never explain yourself clearly. All you ever say is ‘lifeline, lifeline.’”

“You never tell me exactly how it’s a lifeline…”

With anyone else, Zhu Yan wouldn’t have dared to probe so directly. It was too risky.

But this was Li Panlong.

He would bet one spicy snack that Li Panlong was an idiot who remembered nothing except money.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you before?” The [Walking Corpse] stomped its foot angrily. “The memorial tablet is with you, and the other thing is with your father. If this thing falls into someone else’s hands and they go looking for your father, then your mother might be done for…”

Zhu Yan’s eyes lit up.

“Who would go looking for my father?”

So the memorial tablet could be used to find his father.

“You’re making a huge fuss over nothing.”

Zhu Yan reached out and snatched the memorial tablet from the [Walking Corpse]’s arms, holding it tightly.

“I’ll hold it for you. I’ll keep it with me. Is that good enough?”

“Mom, tell me—who do you think took your memorial tablet just now?”

With the memorial tablet in hand, Zhu Yan immediately shifted the conversation.

Perhaps he could use this opportunity to ask a few more questions and find out what the wedding ceremony was really about.

Zhu Yan’s thoughts shifted.

After all, that cowardly good-for-nothing Jin Rongxu was only…

…

He was merely running around in a panic.

Jin Rongxu stared at the empty room, his mind already exploding.

A wisp of [Fog] twisted and danced cheerfully outside the darkened window.

Unfortunately, Jin Rongxu had no way of knowing the joy Zhu Yan felt at getting hold of the memorial tablet.

After finally breaking open the door, he had found the room completely empty.

This was a disaster.

The door was still locked, and the window was open only a crack, but the person was already gone.

Zhu Zeyu must have climbed out through the window alone, then closed it again to cover his tracks.

Even worse, he hadn’t sent Jin Rongxu a message to explain anything or reported where he had gone!

His profile picture was clearly lit up, yet he hadn’t replied with so much as a single word.

Jin Rongxu turned around and met the dark, gloomy eyes of several “teammates” behind him.

“Captain, he’s gone.” The military doctor’s voice carried a hint of chill. “This thing doesn’t seem simple.”

Pot Lid chimed in, his thick bangs covering half his face as he kept his head lowered.

“Captain, where did he go? Captain, did you ever…?”

Pot Lid rolled his eyes upward, revealing half the whites, and fixed his gaze on Jin Rongxu’s face.

“…conspire with him?”