chapter 19

The man at the side stared at the scene, his face full of disbelief.

He killed him.

He killed him!

Ignoring the pain in his wrist, he scrambled to his feet and turned to run. He had barely taken two steps when a dagger flew from behind, cutting through the air and driving straight into his back, right through his heart.

He staggered a few steps and collapsed.

Shen Yubi walked over unhurriedly. His silver outfit was stained with blood; when he moved, the sound of metal colliding had turned strange and muffled.

“My apologies. I can’t have those guys knowing I joined this Instance, so I can only wrong you.”

Thinking of the last Instance he’d participated in, Shen Yubi’s eyes grew much darker.

He pulled the dagger out and wiped the blood clean on the dead man’s clothes, then put it away.

Only then did he amble over toward Chu Yue.

The boy’s features were delicate. Standing in front of Chu Yue, he reached into his clothes, fished out a handkerchief, and held it out.

“Brother, wipe it off.”

Chu Yue looked at his slightly curved eyes, then lowered his gaze to the handkerchief, but didn’t move.

He was still somewhat dazed. Watching a player get killed by a Monster and watching Shen Yubi kill a man were two completely different experiences.

The body beneath his leg was still warm, but it was already a corpse.

When he didn’t react for a long time, Shen Yubi simply drew his hand back.

The boy took two steps forward and raised his hand to wipe the blood off Chu Yue’s face.

But instead of cleaning it, his movement only smeared it, the blood spreading across Chu Yue’s features and making him look even more shocking.

Shen Yubi acted like he didn’t notice, calmly continuing to wipe.

“Very surprised?” Shen Yubi asked softly. “In this world, your life might belong to the Trading Center, or to an Instance, or to other players-but it’s the one thing that definitely doesn’t belong to you. If you want to live, you can only grind everyone who wants your life under your heel.”

Chu Yue looked up. The boy in front of him no longer had any of his earlier youthfulness. In its place was a coldness and maturity completely at odds with that face.

The two men on the 2nd Floor hadn’t caused them any actual, tangible harm.

But their existence was a hidden danger.

Here, they could not afford a single misstep. If blame had to be assigned, it was to the idea those men had entertained.

From what Shen Yubi had said, it seemed the main reason he’d killed them was to avoid exposing his identity.

Chu Yue didn’t think there was anything wrong with what Shen Yubi had done.

If it had been him, maybe he wouldn’t have been able to do it. But he also wasn’t about to start preaching, asking why Shen Yubi had killed the men who’d just held knives to their throats.

He just suddenly felt like the person in front of him was a little unfamiliar.

Then again, when he thought about it, they weren’t that close to begin with-they’d only known each other for three days.

As he stayed silent, Shen Yubi’s expression gradually cooled. His gaze on Chu Yue grew complicated, as if it contained a tangle of different emotions.

He suddenly gave a cold snort and flung the handkerchief to the ground.

“Makes sense. A Young Master like you, raised in a greenhouse and sailing through life without a hitch-how could you possibly understand how cruel this is.”

His face was taut. As soon as he finished, he turned to leave, but had barely taken two steps when he tripped over an arm on the floor and pitched forward, unable to catch himself.

Chu Yue reacted quickly; he reached out with his long arm, grabbed the back of Shen Yubi’s collar, and hauled him back.

Seeing the tips of his ears flush red in an instant, Chu Yue almost couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Chu Yue looked away. “I haven’t even said a word yet and you’re already about to blow a gasket?”

He glanced at Shen Yubi. Seeing that his face was still as dark as thunder, he went on, “I know they’re the ones who first started having thoughts they shouldn’t. If they really did anything tonight, we’d be the ones ending up dead instead.”

“As long as you know,” Shen Yubi finally shot him a sidelong look.

“All right, we’re done here, yeah?” Chu Yue changed the subject. “Doesn’t seem like there are any other clues. Where do we go next?”

In the end, they decided to go find Li Ergou.

In just a few days, Li Ergou’s mood and personality had changed noticeably. Maybe the Nighttime Li Ergou was gradually bleeding into his daytime self.

Before they left, Chu Yue looked at the two corpses on the ground, brows knotted in hesitation. “We’re just leaving them here?”

“It’s fine.” Shen Yubi didn’t care at all. “The Instance will take care of it.”

Since he said so, Chu Yue didn’t ask further.

They left the Plaza.

The two of them walked one in front and one behind. Chu Yue watched the small back in front of him, not quite sure why he trusted this person so much.

Was it really just because he was a little like the one in his memories?

On the way back, they both clearly felt that the atmosphere in the town had changed.

The once-empty streets were now full of people coming and going.

Most of the shops along the roadside had their doors open, and at the mouths of the alleys a few old men and aunties were sitting in the sun, chatting away.

A bit about Li Laosan’s daughter here, a bit about Li Laoda’s son there-this one was now of marriageable age, that one had just gotten divorced.

They muttered and gossiped, no different from the old folks back in a real hometown.

Chu Yue and Shen Yubi walked slowly along the street. The town’s residents kept right on chatting or drinking tea. The two living, breathing men might as well have been air to them.

But Chu Yue could feel it-countless eyes stuck to his back, filled with curiosity and some kind of nameless malice, leaving him with the queasy sense of being secretly watched.

He hadn’t expected the townsfolk to be awake already; he’d assumed they would sleep until tomorrow.

If things were like this, the prayer ritual would probably start tonight.

That vague pressure hanging over him grew heavier. If the Butcher Knife that daytime Li Ergou was looking for really was the one in the Monster’s hand, then they had to act tonight.

Chu Yue lowered his head a little. Time was tight. If Nighttime Li Ergou completely took over this body, then even if they got the Butcher Knife, they’d never have the chance to hand it to the daytime Li Ergou.

Business at the butcher shop was as good as ever. By the time the two of them arrived, Li Ergou had already sold the last piece of meat and was waving off the people still lining up behind.

They didn’t go up to him, instead watching his movements from behind a locust tree.

Once the crowd in front of the stall dispersed, the smile on Li Ergou’s face collapsed in an instant. He stared blankly out the window for a while, then shut the serving hatch.

They waited outside for about ten minutes before seeing him come out of the shop and pull down the roll-up security door.

For once, Li Ergou had taken off his black apron. He’d clearly tidied himself up; he hadn’t been bad-looking to begin with, and now he looked neat and refreshed-surprisingly decent.

Li Ergou was holding an umbrella. After locking the door, he turned and walked away.

Chu Yue and Shen Yubi had just been to his house yesterday. The direction Li Ergou was heading in was definitely not the way home.