The Night of Infinite Madness (9)

"Actually, there's one way," Little Wei said, taking a step back, finally feeling somewhat more comfortable.

"What?" Youyin looked up at Little Wei, surprised.

"Poison."

Youyin: "..."

Her face went numb.

"You're joking, right?" Youyin asked.

"I am joking," Little Wei coughed lightly. Besides, in this world, poisoning was impossible.

Moreover, the human body already carried plenty of viruses. If that monster hadn’t been killed by them, it must have had an inherent resistance to toxins.

Suppressing her disgust, Youyin carefully examined the debris and eventually pulled out a strange-looking lock.

There seemed to be writing on it.

Before she could get a closer look, she felt a shadow looming over her.

And then—

A white blade in, a red blade out.

So fast!

Both of them were gone.

When Zhao Xi saw this scene, she immediately bolted, sweat dripping from her pale forehead. But death moved faster than her legs.

In no time, Zhao Xi too collapsed in the ruins.

"What’s going on?" Youyin shuddered violently as soon as she woke up.

It had appeared too quickly—that doppelgänger seemed to materialize in an instant. She hadn’t sensed anything wrong before.

"You know what?" Little Wei’s voice suddenly sounded behind Youyin.

"What?" Youyin turned to see Little Wei sitting against the school’s outer wall.

Her face was even paler now, beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks. Little Wei coughed heavily before leaning against the wall to catch her breath.

"I saw it. That wasn’t a doppelgänger."

It was something that looked like Youyin but wasn’t her.

"It appeared in an instant. That wasn’t just some killer—it was a spirit, a ghost from legends," Little Wei said, locking eyes with Youyin.

If there was one thing she could tell, even if it were a doppelgänger, it would have been derived from the original, carrying some of the original’s traits. But the one she saw had none of Youyin’s features—except for the appearance.

Because Youyin had a tiny mole on her lip.

Rather than a doppelgänger, it was more like a terrifying creature that had learned to disguise itself, preying on the life force of normal humans in this world.

As for why it needed to disguise itself to do so, Little Wei couldn’t figure that out.

Maybe it was the world’s setting?

Or perhaps the creator of this world had limited power and couldn’t let the killers slaughter indiscriminately without rules.

Without a perfect hunting plan, this world would collapse entirely.

After all, the killers here were far too powerful.

Little Wei remembered she had only blacked out for half a minute. If that was the case, it meant one thing—everyone else who had escaped the school had already met their end.

Otherwise, the world wouldn’t have reset.

Having traveled through so many worlds, Little Wei had begun to understand their rules.

It was nearly impossible for one dominant force to exist unchecked. In the future world, there were the Zerg, but also the Battle Angels. In the apocalypse, there were zombies, but also the awakened.

And in the cultivation world, demons had to exist—they couldn’t be eradicated, or else spiritual energy would vanish, and the cultivators would be the ones destroyed.

It was a classic philosophical dilemma—everything in existence was defined by contradiction, always and inevitably.

If she followed this logic, did it mean that after this reset, a certain number of professional players would appear?

Otherwise, if things continued like this, the humans in this school would be utterly broken.

"Something’s wrong," Youyin’s voice snapped Little Wei out of her thoughts. "It seems… this time, it’s not just the school affected."

Youyin’s face paled.

Little Wei had just stood up when she saw a killer vault over the school wall.

Damn it!

There was no time to hesitate now.

"Little Nailuo, come out. Capture it alive," Little Wei pressed her lips together.

Hearing this, Little Nailuo immediately emerged. Investigating clues wasn’t her forte, but helping Little Wei fight? That was where she excelled.

Meanwhile, piercing screams erupted from the nearby residential area.

The noise made Little Wei’s head throb. Without thinking, Youyin scooped her up.

Though she didn’t know where the little girl had come from, there was no truly safe place left in this city now.

By then, Little Nailuo had already teamed up with her staff to subdue the attacking killer on the spot.

"Youyin, what did that lock say earlier? Do you remember?" Little Wei asked.

Pursing her lips, Youyin ran toward a secluded area, trying hard to recall the words on the lock.

The blurred text had been too uncertain for her.

But then, a phrase suddenly came to mind—one from the novel’s synopsis. The writing seemed similar to what was on the lock.

"Something like… 'The deeper the dream, the sharper the pain. Sink here, and there’s no return.'"

Little Wei spat out a mouthful of blood, her face growing even paler.

"Are you okay? Let’s find a pharmacy," Youyin’s voice was thick with worry.

Before the last death, Little Wei’s condition had already been terrible—her reflexes nearly gone. In this world, Youyin couldn’t bear to leave her alone.

Damn it. Unfortunately, with just that one phrase, there were no real clues to go on.

At that moment, Little Wei’s pupils trembled.

In an instant, memories flickered like reflections on water, revealing traces of the past.

"Gu Wei, do you know what a nightmare is?"

It was a girl in a green dress—Little Wei recognized her as Si.

"'The deeper the dream, the sharper the pain. Sink into it, and you’ll never return.' Actually, inner demons aren’t that hard to overcome. They’re just illusions. It all depends on your resolve. If your mind is steady, you can see through the illusion’s core."

An illusion?

Little Wei’s eyes snapped open.

She jumped out of Youyin’s arms and turned to examine the killer restrained by Little Nailuo.

Expressionless, Little Wei transformed her staff into a dagger and plunged it into the killer’s body.

Blood—human blood—gushed out. Little Wei smeared some on her fingers and inhaled sharply, letting the metallic scent clear her mind.

The three of them waited until, finally, a wisp of black smoke emerged from the killer’s body.

Then, it reformed into an identical killer.

"Ah, I knew it," Little Wei sighed.

If this killer were truly evil, the staff’s attack would have left no chance of survival.

Unless none of this was real.

She hadn’t dared act recklessly before, but now, there was no choice.

Coincidentally, the cultivation techniques to break illusions—Helian Chi had given her a few spells for that.

Just as Little Wei planted her staff into the ground, a figure appeared before her—the girl they had rescued earlier.

In the blink of an eye, she was right in front of Little Wei.

"Such a good find."

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