Mysterious Little Card

Zhu Yan thought the timing was perfect.

For one thing, his cover was safe.

While manipulating the puppet and following the instructions to stuff the reader into Qiu Lingkai’s mouth, he followed Yang Zhanbai toward the emergency exit, cursing under his breath.

“Who did you just say almost died? Is your mouth incapable of saying anything nice?”

Yang Zhanbai was clearly still hung up on the eavesdropping incident. Supporting one ear with his hand, he climbed the stairs of the emergency exit with a deeply furrowed brow, completely ignoring Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan knew the man was eager to hear more.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t give Yang Zhanbai what he wanted.

“You said Commander Qiu wanted to kill me? What happened?” Zhu Yan asked, pretending to be surprised.

Yang Zhanbai shook his head and lowered his voice. “We’ll talk when we get back. This is a serious matter, and there are probably cameras in the emergency exit too.”

Although he hadn’t heard the crucial information that came afterward and had no idea what sort of identities Qiu Lingkai and this Qiu Dehai possessed, what he had heard earlier was explosive enough.

More than explosive enough.

If they followed the clues, they would definitely be able to uncover something!

Yang Zhanbai sorted through his chaotic thoughts, then pulled out a mask and gestured for Zhu Zeyu to put it on.

After the two returned to the dormitory, Yang Zhanbai sneakily pulled something else out of his bag.

Zhu Yan was speechless.

He stared at the detector in Yang Zhanbai’s hand. It looked remarkably like a fly swatter.

“Where did you get that?”

“From the sanctuary in the western suburbs,” Yang Zhanbai replied simply. “When you’re poor, you have to scrounge a little here and a little there. Besides, this knockoff works pretty well.”

Zhu Yan rubbed his nose. “There aren’t any horror creatures here. Why did you bring that thing—”

“What if there are eavesdropping items? Or surveillance items?”

As he bent down to inspect every inch of the walls, Yang Zhanbai continued, “Oh, right. You’ve never taken the Alliance training courses. You spend every day sleeping in.”

“What do you mean, every day sleeping in?”

“Let me explain. The items from [Frenzied Happy Land] all contain at least a little of something called [Trembling Delight]. This detector can pick up traces of it. I’ve tested it.”

Zhu Yan was speechless.

Yang Zhanbai poked him with the detector. The silver device immediately began buzzing like a fly.

“Here.” Yang Zhanbai’s expression turned grim as he moved the detector toward the bloodstains on Zhu Yan’s face. “See? This means the concentration of [Trembling Delight] in the blood is very high. It isn’t your blood, which means you killed a horror creature in the instance.”

Of course, it was Qiu Lingkai’s blood.

“We have to hold a meeting tonight.”

Zhu Yan swore he had never seen such a grave expression on Yang Zhanbai’s face.

“Perfect timing. My mother, Chen Zhaoxing, and the others have come out of the instance. They said they ran into some things too, and they need to tell us about them.”

“…Then I’ll take a shower first.”

Zhu Yan nodded and slapped away the bothersome detector, looking as though he had been scared out of his wits.

“I was practically scared to death.”

He ducked into the bathroom and locked the door. A moment later, the sound of rushing water reached Yang Zhanbai’s ears.

…

In the office, the Tuxedo Cat was happily crunching away on the bouquet of eyeball flowers Zhu Yan had brought back, purring loudly.

“It feels great to eat now,” [Fog] complained through the puppet Qiu Lingfeng. “That hit just now was really brutal.”

The Tuxedo Cat ignored him completely, purring even more enthusiastically.

Before long, the new puppet had transformed into Qiu Lingkai’s appearance. It stood properly in the middle of the office and pulled a uniform from Qiu Lingkai’s ring before putting it on.

Meanwhile, Zhu Yan sat comfortably curled up on the sofa. He took out the file belonging to Qiu Lingkai—the one he had brought back from the [Nightmare Bookstore]—and began reading it slowly.

Qiu Lingkai was dead. This was Zhu Yan’s reward settlement, and the file was the list of prizes.

“…Player abilities: [Veto], Level 6; [Absolute Command Authority], Level 7. Detailed explanations follow.”

“[Veto], Level 6: When an opponent takes a specific action, the player may expend their own vitality, [Trembling Delight], or mental energy to forcibly invalidate that action once.”

“This ability is effective against opponents of Level 6 or below.”

Holy crap.

Zhu Yan hadn’t looked closely before.

This ability could produce miraculous results at a critical moment.

“[Absolute Command Authority], Level 7: When issuing a direct command to any member of the Alliance or party, the commanded individual will receive physical enhancements that force them to carry out the order, block pain, and even allow them to continue completing the mission after losing a limb. The clearer and more specific the command, the stronger the enhancement.”

“This ability is effective against opponents of Level 7 or below.”

“Please note: an alliance must be formed first! Even if you are only temporarily grouped together, you must still have a party.”

What a cheat-level guy. What a cheat-level guy.

Setting everything else aside, both abilities clearly reeked of authority. Even if they hadn’t originally belonged to Qiu Lingkai, they had almost certainly been stolen from someone with considerable power.

These two abilities would be worth developing carefully in the puppet.

“Player account balance: 1.5 million bone coins.”

“[Hunter] account balance: 2 million bone coins.”

He had struck it rich.

Zhu Yan was thoroughly satisfied.

However, he hadn’t seen how much money was in Qiu Lingfeng’s account.

He would check at the [Hall of Mourning] later. That would probably bring another pleasant surprise.

The puppet Qiu Lingfeng pulled a lighter from his pocket and cautiously set the sheet of paper on fire. Then he happily began humming a song.

…

Elsewhere.

Zhu Yan, who had been lying cleanly in bed and preparing to sleep, suddenly shot upright.

“What did you send me?!”

Yang Zhanbai wore a solemn expression and gestured for him to keep quiet.

“I really do trust you. I thought it over for a while before telling you.”

Zhu Yan glared at him.

More precisely, he was glaring at the card clutched in Yang Zhanbai’s hand.

It was a brown paper card, about the size of a business card. On it, in handwriting that was unmistakably the work of an art student, were several viciously promotional slogans:

“Want horror creatures to stick to pots at a funeral home? Welcome to [Fangcun Mountain], where you can personally experience the joy of making rice crackers!”

“P.S. Crispy rice snacks are also available.”

An address was printed beneath it, but it was unfamiliar—not a place Zhu Yan knew.

Yang Zhanbai flipped the card over. Printed in black letters on the back were five words:

“Absolute confidentiality required.”

Those five words must have contained something special, or perhaps an ability had been used on them, because even Zhu Yan felt a weight pressing against his chest when he looked at them, along with an immense sense of danger.

Silence. Silence was the Cambridge of this night.

Zhu Yan’s hands were trembling.

“They told you to keep it confidential, and you turned around and told me? How long did you ‘think it over’—an hour? Do you know what you’re dealing with? What if you die for breaking confidentiality?”

“I only thought about it for ten minutes,” Yang Zhanbai said innocently.

“Looking at those words doesn’t scare you?” Zhu Yan asked again.

“I’m scared, of course. But I studied them carefully, and I don’t think I’ll really die. If it were anyone else, I absolutely wouldn’t tell them. But you and I have been through life and death together! Qi Yinming and the others don’t know anything.”

Yang Zhanbai was completely oblivious to Zhu Yan’s feelings. “Actually, I suspect they received the same thing too. Judging from their tone and the questions they asked…”

“Are you talking about what Chen Zhaoxing said?” Zhu Yan interrupted.

After a brief pause, Yang Zhanbai decided to be honest.

“Actually, it’s not mainly Chen Zhaoxing. Chen Zhaoxing only ever sends me parrots.”

“It’s mainly Xu Tongguang. He couldn’t keep it in any longer and quietly asked me whether there were any other organizations besides the [Human Alliance], like guilds or something.”

“I figured it out right away. I’m guessing these cards were distributed in batches to specific targets, so…”

Zhu Yan got up from the bed.

“Wait here a moment,” he said. “I’m hungry. I’m going downstairs to get some late-night snacks. Do you want anything?”

He couldn’t hold it in any longer either.

He had to send An Xuyin a private message and ask what was going on with [Fangcun Mountain]. What kind of hypocritical organization was it? What was the truth? What secrets were being kept?

An Xuyin had clearly told him before that no member was allowed to reveal their identity!