Crossing the Sea Under Camouflage

Qiu Lingfeng wanted to stall for as long as possible—or better yet, coax Hunter No. 1 into making another wish.

That unreliable bastard Qiu Lingkai had never told him that this level-up card required such a long wind-up!

Zhu Yan couldn’t help laughing.

Fog adjusted its position, aiming straight at Qiu Lingfeng’s back.

“So, my wish is…”

Qiu Lingfeng clenched his teeth.

The voice of Hunter No. 1—no, Zhu Zeyu—remained as calmly monotonous as ever.

But his words were like a sharp icicle, pressing down precisely on Qiu Lingfeng’s heart.

“To make Qiu Lingfeng die, then take his head to the Carnival Paradise to report…”

“How dare you?!”

Qiu Lingfeng screamed furiously, cutting him off.

“How dare you—”

Suddenly, he sucked in a sharp breath. Something seemed to catch in his throat.

A hand had seized his heart. It was slightly cold, filling his entire chest.

Qiu Lingfeng slowly lowered his head.

He couldn’t see what was happening inside his own body, but he knew that hand was gradually tightening its grip, applying more and more pressure. His heart could only struggle pitifully, beating one labored pulse at a time between the person’s fingers.

“I dare.”

Hunter No. 1 spoke.

Outside the wooden crate came the crisp sound of heels striking the stone tiles.

Then Zhu Yan stopped. Pinching the genuine silver card between two fingers, he slid it partway through the gap in the crate door.

“This is what you wanted to use, right?”

The sliver of silver light drew Qiu Lingfeng’s gaze.

For one instant, he froze. Then a tremendous force suddenly compressed his heart. He felt that pitiful lump of flesh squish out between the person’s fingers like mud.

“I…”

Qiu Lingfeng opened and closed his mouth.

But he couldn’t say anything. He could only stare with his eyes wide open.

In the final seconds before his consciousness vanished, all he saw was the splintered wooden slat in front of him.

…

Zhu Yan leaned against an old pillar.

Only after the dull thud of a body hitting the wooden boards rang out did he leisurely straighten up and pull open the crate door.

Qiu Lingfeng’s lifeless body slumped out of the crate.

Perhaps because he was already dead, the skin suit he wore had separated from the body beneath it, hanging like a silicone costume that had never been properly glued together.

Zhu Yan quickly searched him and found the opening in the back of the skin suit. He peeled it off Qiu Lingfeng with ease and tossed it aside.

Qiu Lingfeng still wore Zhu Zeyu’s face.

The features of that face were twisted in pain. His complexion was deathly pale, and his lips had turned an unnatural purplish blue.

Zhu Yan pressed his lips together.

That face was his own, after all.

Although he had been mentally prepared for it, seeing “Zhu Zeyu” in such a state of death still made his stomach clench faintly.

“…Whatever. Who cares.”

Muttering to himself, he drew the Level 13 military knife and cleanly chopped off Qiu Lingfeng’s head with a sharp crack.

Scarlet blood gushed repeatedly from the severed neck. Zhu Yan checked the condition of the head, then put it entirely into his ring, leaving the body outside.

“As long as it’s enough to hand in. Urgh…”

With a thought, he brought out the blank-faced puppet given to him by Fangcun Mountain.

Several lines of instructions had been written carefully in ink across the puppet’s back.

“Puppet instructions,” Zhu Yan read aloud. “Place your hand on the puppet and silently recite ‘Allow memory retrieval’ three times…”

“Then silently recite the name of the person you want the puppet to become three times. Note: the target must be human…”

“The appearance-change process generally takes thirty seconds. Players are advised to allow sufficient time and confirm that the target is dead.”

“After the puppet’s appearance changes, it will automatically inherit the target’s abilities, identity, and everything else from the Carnival Paradise system, including memories and genuine emotional responses to events.”

Thirty seconds was still enough.

Only about ten minutes had passed since he activated the Conceal the Heavens, Cross the Sea Talisman.

By his calculations, Zhu Yan should be able to arrange everything just as the talisman expired.

He followed the instructions and clearly pronounced Qiu Lingfeng’s name.

The puppet’s appearance changed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Fog that had killed Qiu Lingfeng slipped into the puppet’s body. Two minutes later, Zhu Yan controlled the puppet and, with a thought, put Qiu Dehai’s skin suit back onto it.

Only after the Conceal the Heavens, Cross the Sea Talisman had completely cooled down and lost its effect did he control “Qiu Dehai” to speak the lines he had prepared to himself.

“You really came up with a great idea for us,” “Qiu Dehai” said. “Honestly… if you’d told me earlier that Zhu Zeyu was your puppet, why would I have gone to all that trouble?”

Under Zhu Yan’s control, it extended a foot and kicked the headless corpse on the ground before walking out with a loud laugh.

“It’s just a shame to lose such a fine tool. But if it can secure our cooperation this time and future glory and wealth…”

Zhu Yan slid half of the sandalwood bracelet off his wrist. Pleasure surged through his mind in waves, like the tide.

He could no longer hold himself back. He laughed, nearly delirious, and finished the puppet’s sentence.

“…then it’s well worth it!”

…

In the courtyard, the people who had completely lost consciousness had already formed a line of their own accord.

Fog relinquished control of its body to Qiu Lingfeng’s puppet. Having inherited Qiu Lingfeng’s memories, the puppet led them naturally toward the hidden chamber behind the Guanyin Hall.

According to Qiu Lingkai and Qiu Lingfeng, a Buddha statue was enshrined inside the hidden chamber.

The Vine-Cage Woman had said that the Buddha statue possessed clues related to Ji Xiting.

Zhu Yan didn’t go himself because the horrifying creature called Ji Xiting had already crossed swords with Hunter No. 1.

Under such circumstances, he had no idea whether the possibly sentient Buddha statue would honestly provide the information he wanted.

But if he asked in the identity of “Qiu Lingfeng,” everything would become much easier.

Zhu Yan found a corner to lean against and took a hamburger he had packed long ago from his ring. While eating, he split his attention to monitor the situation around Qiu Lingfeng’s puppet.

There was only one living person left in this small courtyard.

She watched Zhu Yan’s movements through the gaps between her fingers. After hesitating for a moment, she slowly pushed herself to her feet with the support of the wall.

“Are you a player who came here to make a wish too?”

“Excuse me…”

The girl was probably only eleven or twelve years old.

Zhu Yan couldn’t be bothered to care whether she lived or died. “You’re asking how to get out of here?”

The girl nodded.

The puppet had already reached the hidden chamber’s door.

While concentrating on that, Zhu Yan gestured perfunctorily toward the Guanyin Hall.

“Go inside and make a wish. You’ll live once you complete your mission.”

That was the truth.

The Guanyin statue itself possessed no power to twist reality, and the offerings were all in place.

This was an excellent opportunity. The girl could complete her player mission with ease.

The girl was clearly skeptical of Zhu Yan’s words.

But there was something dark and strange about the man in front of her, and she didn’t dare ask anything else.

She crouched down again and began to sob, while Zhu Yan had no desire to waste any more breath trying to persuade her.

Fog hid behind the puppet’s eyes, watching with interest the small Buddha statue in the niche ahead.