Chapter 212
Chapter 212
Cheng Miao gestured for everyone to look at their tablets. “Since the Tree Deity is the only subject in the information we have to submit, it’s unlikely there are two deities.”
“Right. The question asks, ‘What is the essential nature of the Tree Deity?’ It has a specific referent. To the villagers, the deity who marries people is the Tree Deity, and so is the one who protects them. If there were two deities, we couldn’t determine which one the question meant.”
As a top student, Lin Zhu was very thorough in analyzing and understanding questions.
Tan Wu nodded. Tan Ge had been among the first group to enter the shrine, but neither sibling looked particularly anxious.
“We have too few clues to know what happens next. Everyone will just have to stay alert.”
Cheng Miao decided to visit the ancient tree again and hurried away with her companions.
On the way, she asked Qiudong, who remained beside her, “After what we just did to Zhu Cong, will Zu Gehan think we’re criminals?”
“No.” Qiudong had an excellent memory and led everyone into the grass.
“Zu Gehan has a strange sense of justice. It isn’t based on law or morality. Never mind Fang Jing insulting you first. Even if you used newcomers to test a path in the game, he wouldn’t consider that a crime.”
Cheng Miao nodded and stopped walking.
The ancient tree stood tall in the same place. Taken simply as a view, it really was a rare sight of beauty.
Cheng Miao quieted her thoughts and extended her buff outward.
Huh?
She opened her eyes in puzzlement. She hadn’t sensed the presence of any ghosts. The place was clean. There was nothing here.
After considering it, Cheng Miao asked Lin Zhu, “Could we leave Mini Lin here overnight and come back for him tomorrow?”
She needed to determine whether some spirit would emerge from the ancient tree at night, or whether, as in the Gejin instance, it might be someone’s true body.
Lin Zhu lowered his head to consult Mini Lin. The little figure seemed completely unafraid. He patted his chest with a tiny hand and boldly agreed.
For dinner, Qin Musong made egg fried rice. Cheng Miao and the others ate their fill with the pickled vegetables Aunt Song had brought.
“We went looking for Scabby again today, but still couldn’t find him. We waited all afternoon and got nothing.” Freckles ate dejectedly. She already knew what had happened that afternoon.
There was no denying that having Cheng Miao around made her feel much safer.
Before bed, Cheng Miao discussed things with the others. “Something has to come here to deliver the grass bracelets. Let’s take turns keeping watch. At least we can find out what we’re up against.”
Nobody objected. Tonight, Qin Musong and Qiudong would take the two shifts.
At around one or two in the morning, Qin Musong was on watch when the quiet night was suddenly broken by the soft sound of the door being pushed open.
His eyes sharpened, and his hand was already on the Eagle-Eye Gun.
Qiudong, who had been asleep, woke instantly. The disturbance was enough that everyone except Lin Zhu woke at once.
Cheng Miao narrowed her eyes and made out the figure entering in the darkness. For a moment, she didn’t know what expression to make.
It was Fang Jing, creeping inside. In the dark, she couldn’t tell who was who either.
She took a few tiptoeing steps into the room. Perhaps afraid of bumping into something, she didn’t go any farther. Instead, she felt her way along the wall to the table.
Cheng Miao saw her hide something near the table leg, then slip back out of the room, hunched over.
Once Fang Jing left, Lin Zhu, only just awake and still groggy, immediately lit the oil lamp. He shielded it with his palm to keep the light from shining too brightly.
“What was all that sneaking around? Why come into someone else’s room in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?” Qi Jiajia rubbed her eyes and complained irritably.
Lin Zhu rolled up out of bed and searched under the table by the light for a while. Then his voice changed. “Sister Miaomiao, that woman put her grass bracelet in our room.”
Looking at the bracelet in his hand, Cheng Miao couldn’t even muster any anger.
This woman had clearly lost her reason. For a start, daring to provoke them after what had happened that afternoon was already beyond anything a normal person would do.
Even setting that aside, putting a marked object in someone else’s room was not how a player who had experienced several instances should behave.
Never mind whether she could actually shift the blame. So many rules in an instance were impossible to guard against that there was no way of knowing whether giving the marked object to someone else would harm them or herself.
Cheng Miao got out of bed and took the grass bracelet from Lin Zhu. After considering it, she decided to take it outside.
Whether Fang Jing wanted it wasn’t important. It couldn’t be left to endanger her group.
As Cheng Miao reached for the door, Qiudong was already beside her, stopping her. “I’ll go.”
She frowned slightly. Before she could say anything, he had taken the bracelet and gone outside.
Qiudong usually didn’t participate in instances of his own accord. Did this mean going outside at night was dangerous?
In fact, Qiudong, now outside the door, wasn’t thinking anything of the sort. He was a cleared player and had spent many years as a cat. Although he was in human form now, he still had all his abilities.
For example…
When he wished, he could walk without making a sound.
Fang Jing hadn’t shut the door properly when she returned, probably for fear of waking the others with the noise.
So Qiudong pushed it open with ease. With his excellent night vision, a glance was enough to find Fang Jing, who had quickly fallen asleep after getting a worry off her mind.
He stood by the head of her bed and watched her for a while, his pale eyes carrying a faint trace of blue.
He glanced at Zhu Cong sleeping beside her, then reached decisively for Fang Jing’s throat.
When Cheng Miao woke after a night’s sleep, she found that nothing had happened to anyone yet again. Only Lin Zhu and Qin Musong were frowning, looking as though they hadn’t slept well.
“I think I had a dream.” Lin Zhu yawned. “Can’t remember it. Maybe I’ve been too tense.”
Qin Musong stood beside him, rubbing his temples without speaking.
As soon as they stepped outside, they heard retching and coughing from Zhu Cong’s room.
Everyone gathered at his door. Since that team included someone they disliked, nobody intended to ask what was happening. They all stood there quietly.
After all, if something had happened, they would find out eventually.
After a while, Ma Yang hurriedly pushed the door open. Ignoring the people gathered outside, she fetched a bowl of water from the well and went back in.
With the door open, everyone could see that all four were alive. Fang Jing alone was kneeling beside the bed, her head lowered as she retched.
Something seemed to be stuck in her throat. She looked miserable.
After considerable effort, she finally coughed it out. Those who saw what it was retreated a small step.
It was a grass bracelet, crumpled into a ball and flecked with bloody foam.
Yesterday, Fang Jing had received a grass bracelet. Today, she’d even coughed one out of her throat…
The players’ looks toward her changed.
Fang Jing drank some water and caught her breath before looking at the object on the ground. Once she saw it clearly, she raised her head in disbelief and found Cheng Miao among the crowd, her expression calm. Fang Jing’s face contorted.
“You! You did this!”