Chapter 161
Chapter 161
Little Magician was beside himself with nerves. Xiao Huai’s lashes trembled, but in the end, he ate the cookie.
“There. Satisfied?” Xiao Huai showed no obvious reaction after eating it.
Even the System issued no notification.
There was no alert about restored Sanity or any other effect, which meant it was only an ordinary cookie.
Little Magician stood up with wide eyes. He held both fists loosely before his abdomen and watched Xiao Huai’s every movement.
Xiao Huai suddenly frowned. For no apparent reason, his head had begun to spin.
“You didn’t… really poison me, did you?”
Poisoned food truly would not trigger a notification.
But with Xiao Huai’s current constitution, ordinary poison could not kill him.
At worst, it would leave him dazed and drowsy.
His vision blurred. Just before he lost consciousness, he vaguely remembered
Little Magician beginning to glow and rapidly transforming into an adult.
The man caught Xiao Huai by the shoulders and murmured,
“Master wants you to sleep well. It isn’t poison, so don’t worry.”
Xiao Huai’s eyelids grew heavy.
Sleep well?
Now?
When he woke again, he was lying on his own bed.
A silver lock sealed the door. No one outside could break in, and no one inside could leave.
Xiao Huai abruptly sat up.
Moonlight already filled the view outside. He checked the time.
[11:37 p.m.]
It was almost midnight.
Xiao Huai frowned, his red eyes exceptionally cold beneath the moonlight.
Someone else was in his room.
Little Magician was still there.
But he no longer looked like the tiny doll from before.
Silver sequins decorated his black tailcoat. He wore white gloves, and his left hand tightly gripped a small wooden box.
He leaned beside the window and did not turn toward Xiao Huai until he woke.
“You woke earlier than I expected.”
Little Magician’s voice broke the silence in the room.
“Master asked me to give you this.” He offered Xiao Huai the wooden box.
Xiao Huai took it and rested his hand on the lid. Before opening it, he raised his head and met Little Magician’s gaze.
“Before I open this, can you answer a few questions?”
In his adult form, Little Magician always carried a faint melancholy around his eyes.
He fell silent for a moment. “If I am able to answer, I can tell you.”
“In that case, you only need to say yes or no.”
Xiao Huai climbed out of bed and stood in front of him.
Xiao Huai asked, “First question. Did I know him before?”
“No.”
“Second question. Do I know one of his friends or relatives?”
“Yes.”
“Third question. Is he connected to Foxslayer?”
Little Magician had answered the first two questions quickly, but he hesitated at this one.
That brief hesitation made the answer even more obvious.
“I understand. So he really is that remarkable big shot.”
The guild leader of Foxslayer was notoriously elusive.
Apart from certain members of the guild who had seen their guild leader, many people did not even know what he looked like.
Had Xiao Qian not made it obvious enough?
Rumor held that Foxslayer’s guild leader possessed extraordinary abilities. Most famously, he could create items.
Every clue surrounding Xiao Qian supported Xiao Huai’s guess.
Xiao Huai opened the wooden box.
The instant the lid rose, he froze.
Three gold coins lay inside.
After a long silence, Xiao Huai heard Little Magician speak. “He obtained a gold coin on the first day. In fact, he only needed one more today to leave… But it seems it may be better for the customer to leave first. The extra coin is his apology to you.”
“He asked me to say goodbye, and to thank you for looking after his younger brother.”
Xiao Huai lowered his gaze to the three gold coins. The System had already issued a prompt.
Blue light began radiating from his body, heralding his departure.
[You have obtained enough gold coins. Would you like to leave the game instance immediately?]
[Yes/No]
Xiao Huai smiled faintly and selected without the slightest hesitation:
No.
The blue light vanished instantly.
“Now I know where the strange feeling came from.” He opened the *Vampires* information panel.
Four players had been selected for the Corpse Cage that day.
Among their numbers was…
Fifty-two.
When he first returned, he had not checked which players had been selected that day. Then, as soon as suspicion arose, he ate Little Magician’s cookie and slept until now.
Little Magician said he had woken earlier than expected. Perhaps Xiao Qian had intended for him to sleep until morning.
By then, there truly would have been no room to turn the situation around.
Xiao Qian had left Xiao Huai an escape route, allowing him to leave the game instance immediately.
Surprise flashed through Little Magician’s eyes when he realized Xiao Huai had not left.
But the next second brought an even greater shock. Xiao Huai seized his collar and slammed him against the corner.
Though Xiao Huai held no weapon, the coldness in his eyes seemed capable of mercilessly piercing the air, driving a chill straight into the soul.
“I hate being manipulated more than anything, and I hate owing people even more. So he won’t get what he wants. I’m going to bring him back myself and make him apologize properly.”
Little Magician’s fingertips trembled. “He might not come back.”
Even if he did, he might no longer be himself.
Little Magician looked into Xiao Huai’s eyes. “Once Master’s secondary persona awakens, it may take permanent control of his body. His primary persona may never wake again.”
That was why he had given the gold coins to Xiao Huai.
What difference was there between the demon persona and becoming a monster?
He could no longer even distinguish one person from another.
Xiao Huai released his collar. “Tell me his name.”
This time, there was no question in Xiao Huai’s voice. It was an order that brooked no refusal.
Little Magician saw the emotion in Xiao Huai’s eyes. His lips parted, and he spoke his master’s true name.
“Lu Qian.”
*Qian.*
Lu Qian’s relationships with others were as shallow as his name, like thin water: neither deep nor intense.
He never opened his heart. Every relationship remained on the surface.
He was solitary and unbound by emotion.
The only people he treasured in this world were his family and a tiny handful of friends.
Everyone in Foxslayer had killed before. They were villains, but they were also pitiable people.
Foxslayer valued trust because their guild leader had once said,
When promises could be broken at will, rules would collapse and true chaos would descend.
Xiao Huai stepped back and repeated the name several times. He lowered his head to the wooden box, and faint golden light began radiating from his body.
In the blink of an eye, two men appeared beside him.
Xiao Huai looked up at Joseph and Carr.
Finally, his gaze settled on the west wing outside the window.
“Joseph, Carr, I’m about to steal someone back from a god. Are you willing to come?”
The two men exchanged smiles. “As you command.”