Yes, Conscience Is Not Lost

What should he do?

Zhu Yan suddenly remembered that, just about ten days ago, he was truly just an ordinary high school graduate.

He wanted to live, but not as a completely inhumane thug.

Seeing strangers die because of him with his own eyes, Zhu Yan only felt his psychological defenses taking a massive hit.

Things had escalated to this point step by step, and if they continued to develop like this...

Let alone how high the levels of Hunters and Players could rise after merging with [Thrilling Joy], or what methods or information he could acquire in the process, his own mental energy would be completely drained by internal friction first.

This wouldn't do.

Zhu Yan stood up from beside the toilet and turned on the faucet.

He finished washing up as quietly as possible, forcing himself not to think about anything.

Ten minutes later, Zhu Yan sat neatly dressed on the sofa, still quietly eating a piece of freshly baked cake from the supermarket yesterday.

The cat jumped up beside him, pawing at his shoulder with its front claws, and stretched its head out to snatch half of the cake.

Zhu Yan didn't mind.

He finished his breakfast, chewing slowly, and felt the rationality that had just been overtaken by emotions gradually returning.

After confirming that he could think normally, Zhu Yan took out the card from the failed art student from his pocket.

The old handwriting made him feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"Hello, friend who is using my treasure!"

"If a thriller creature uses this, this message will not pop up."

"So, you must be a player or a being like us."

"..."

"If you also want to resist the corruption of [Carnival Paradise], please come to the designated location to find us."

"We welcome those who are destined to join [Mount Fangcun]!"

"P.S.: I like milk tea, cupcakes, and chicken cutlets..."

The food mentioned at the end wasn't the point; the phrase "resist the corruption of [Carnival Paradise]" was.

[Thrilling Joy] should also be considered a type of corruption from [Carnival Paradise], right?

He wondered if [Mount Fangcun] would have a solution.

Zhu Yan opened a bottle of mineral water, taking small sips as he thought.

The fact that could be confirmed at present was that the failed art student and [Carnival Paradise] were indeed not on the same side.

Otherwise, when [Carnival Paradise] gave him that printer, it wouldn't have said it was "stolen" from the art student.

Making a trip there to ask shouldn't be a problem.

Zhu Yan made up his mind and leaned back against the sofa, wanting to calm his nerves a bit more.

However, a voice rang out at that exact moment, forcefully pulling him back to reality.

"Is anyone in 401?" It was a woman with a loud voice; she didn't knock.

"I'm from the sub-district office!"

"What is it?" Zhu Yan replied while transforming into the appearance of Zhoo Yen.

With the experience of the previous secret police visit, he subconsciously started acting, asking about the situation like a completely oblivious ordinary person.

"I'm coming. Excuse me, what happened downstairs?"

He stood up from the sofa and walked toward the door, but the woman outside stopped him.

"Don't come over and open the door!" she shouted in panic. "Absolutely do not!"

Was she afraid of an infectious disease?

Zhu Yan thought of the situation downstairs and the plague outbreak Guan En mentioned last night, and stopped in his tracks.

"Okay," he said obediently, looking out through the peephole. "I just wanted to ask, what exactly happened downstairs?"

"Why is it so terrifying right after waking up?"

The woman outside was fully armed in protective gear. She wasn't standing at the door but on the stairs quite a distance away.

This woman was afraid of something; her posture looked as if she was ready to retreat even further at any moment.

"I'll explain it to you in a bit, just don't open the door." The woman loudly emphasized again. "You haven't been out today, right? How do you know about what's going on downstairs?"

Well, this probably wasn't someone from the police department.

People from the police department, at least Guan En, wouldn't ask such an obvious question.

But Zhu Yan didn't dare lower his guard.

"No," he said reassuringly. "I saw it from the window."

"Then I will ask you some questions, and you just answer them," the woman finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did you go downstairs to eat soup dumplings yesterday? At Little Li's Soup Dumpling Shop, the surveillance camera caught you."

Oh, right.

When Zhu Yan went downstairs to eat soup dumplings and buy things, he used Zhoo Yen's face.

Judging from the police cars downstairs, the police department had regrouped and resumed operations quite rapidly.

It seemed they had already checked the surveillance footage from the soup dumpling shop.

If they wanted to, they would definitely also know that Zhu Yan had been to the supermarket.

"I did," Zhu Yan didn't deny it, cautiously giving the reaction an oblivious ordinary person should have.

"So what's wrong? What exactly happened down there?"

Behind the peephole, the woman took another step back.

She said, "Please tell us your itinerary first."

"Why are you asking this?"

Zhu Yan prudently acted it out a bit more.

During the last secret visit, those officers only knocked on his door, which was enough to show he was a key suspect.

Now that the incident involved him, even if the person at the door wasn't an officer, it was impossible for the police department not to pay close attention.

There were police cars right downstairs; it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

If they found out something from the woman, who knew what trouble it might bring.

"You had close contact with an infected person, and we suspect you are carrying the virus."

The woman seemed to truly just be an ordinary person, explaining the reason to Zhu Yan in very specific terms.

"You currently need to isolate at home and cannot go anywhere. Additionally, as a close contact, we need you to provide your specific itinerary."

"What virus?" Zhu Yan continued to act. "Is it the one spreading in the group chats? Am I going to drop dead?"

The woman grew a bit impatient.

"Just tell me your itinerary from yesterday first, okay? Roughly what time and where you went. I'll tell you about the virus later."

Seeing that he didn't need to act anymore, Zhu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

He truthfully recounted the part about going to the supermarket and coming back, concealing his subsequent meeting with Guan En, taking a taxi, and entering the instance.

"That's all," he said. "I haven't been out since then."

The next step should be asking about his infection status.

If the two people at the soup dumpling shop weren't infected because Zhu Yan went there, then Zhu Yan himself should reasonably have contracted the plague.

However, Zhu Yan was not afraid.

He could now travel to [Carnival Paradise] at any time through the passage in his house, and he also had the art student's printer to swap into a new identity.

The woman fell silent for a moment.

"Okay," she specifically instructed. "Make sure you do not go out these next few days. Someone will come to put a seal on your door."

"By the way, have any black spots appeared on your body? Are the spots dark in color? Are they large in area?"

Here it comes.

If he didn't lie, the police department would inevitably increase their suspicion of him.

Lying would only ruin the identity of Zhoo Yen.

"...Yes," Zhu Yan feigned a panicked tone.

"I didn't notice yesterday, I only just found out when I woke up."

"What exactly is going on? Why can't I go to the hospital?"

The woman took another step back.

"There are no beds left at the hospital," she lied to Zhu Yan. "Just wait at home for now. We will arrange for a doctor to come to your door immediately."

If this person truly didn't have long to live, later on, there would just be an extra puddle of black flesh in the apartment.

"There are people guarding the entrance of the building, and your entire street has been sealed off. Make sure you listen and stay quarantined at home."

"Got it," Zhu Yan said.

Through the peephole, he watched the woman leave in a hurry.

He didn't waste a single moment. He quickly returned to the bedroom, drew the curtains, and swiftly stuffed the bedsheets, blankets, and clothes wholesale into his ring.

Drawing the curtains was a subconscious habit for Zhu Yan; doing bad things in a completely concealed environment gave him a sense of security.

He also took all the daily necessities he had used, along with the guesthouse's electric kettle and the fake IDs he had hidden in the cabinet.

The cat leaped lightly onto his shoulder, seemingly already aware of his intentions.

Five minutes later, after making absolutely sure he hadn't left anything behind, Zhu Yan crawled under the flimsy dining table and pressed his right hand flat against the floor.