Chapter 199
Chapter 199
After hearing the entire script, Huo Dieyi said nothing for a long time. At some point, her eyes had begun to glisten.
Xiao Huai sat quietly beside her.
Several minutes later, Huo Dieyi spoke, her voice trembling slightly. “It’s as if you witnessed some of those events with your own eyes.”
“I did.”
Huo Dieyi removed her mask and wiped away the tears that had slipped from the corners of her eyes.
She was smiling, but the smile looked strained.
“You’re a strange one. Why insist on meddling in something that doesn’t concern you?”
“Because I want to try for a different ending.”
“Even if the ultimate outcome still can’t be changed?”
“Your ending can change,” Xiao Huai replied softly.
Huo Dieyi froze. She raised her head. Even though she could not see anyone, she still wanted to look at Xiao Huai.
Xiao Huai said, “The dead can’t come back to life, but those who survive still have to go on living, don’t they?”
Perhaps Huo Lanxu would have thought the same. So would Yang Nanqing.
Yet both of them had been trapped within the game, unable to break free of their cage.
“I understand.” Huo Dieyi put her mask back on and rose to her feet. Her gaze settled on the audience seats. “I accept. I’ll take part in the performance.”
Xiao Huai nodded. “I’ll have to trouble you for the next few days.”
He rose and headed outside. Exhaustion made his head swim when he stood.
Even so, he forced the fatigue down and walked toward the exit of Jinlemen Club.
That was when he discovered someone had been waiting for him by the door.
Lu Yuanshi held a foil-wrapped package. When he saw Xiao Huai, he opened it and offered it to him.
A roasted sweet potato.
This one had turned out much better. Its aroma alone promised a delicious sweetness.
Lu Yuanshi said, “It took me several tries. This one should taste the best.”
Xiao Huai accepted the foil, the corners of his lips lifting.
Just because he had not sensed Lu Yuanshi’s presence did not mean Lu Yuanshi had not been there.
For all he knew, Lu Yuanshi had already been waiting a long time.
Xiao Huai broke the sweet potato in half and held one half out to him.
“Half each.”
At that, Lu Yuanshi smiled again.
“All right.”
They walked outside together, Lu Yuanshi staying close beside him like someone escorting a student home after school.
On the way back, Xiao Huai glanced at Lu Yuanshi from the corner of his eye. “You heard the script too, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“How would you feel about playing one half of the couple?”
“I’d be delighted.”
“Then come rehearse with me tomorrow.”
“All right.”
Xiao Huai fell asleep early after they returned that day, while Lu Yuanshi continued to loiter in his room.
Perhaps it was precisely because Lu Yuanshi had stayed beside him that Xiao Huai slept so soundly.
* * *
The afternoon of the fourth day was far from peaceful.
Several rows of audience seats had suddenly appeared beneath the stage at the Yang Residence.
They had no idea who had arranged them. Meanwhile, Chen Chong and Jiang Wenmei had gone to East City on the third day to search for clues.
But neither of them had returned all day.
Zhong Jiangyuan and Shen Yun had gone into town and made a different discovery.
The blonde woman had not left the Yang Residence the entire day. No one knew what she was doing.
Moreover, whenever they returned from going out, new food boxes would be waiting in their rooms.
The System even placed notifications directly on the boxes, instructing the players to eat.
Refusal caused abnormal hunger, so Xiao Huai had forced himself to eat a little as well.
After returning from town, Shen Yun stood in the courtyard, deep in thought.
Zhong Jiangyuan leaned against a door and looked toward the wells in the courtyard. “I thought there was something strange about these wells on the very first day.”
“Eight wells, as though each corresponds to one of the eight players,” Shen Yun said.
The bald man in the suit had died on the first day, and his well had been sealed immediately. Its cover could not be opened at all.
The two of them had discovered that the residents of the town could not pass through the dense fog or travel too far, as though they were imprisoned there.
The players, on the other hand, could go anywhere.
Shen Yun rubbed his eyes. For some reason, his vision seemed to be growing blurry.
They always took precautions when traveling through the fog.
His worsening vision was definitely not an illusion. The game had to be advancing the plot.
So far, the most obvious measure taken by the System had been the food.
It seemed that eating what appeared in their rooms was causing their eyesight to deteriorate. If they truly went completely blind…
Then they would be fully integrated into the Town of the Blind, becoming part of the game itself.
After all, if they went blind, how could they ever find the man mentioned in the main mission?
The Town of the Blind seemed uneventful on the surface, but one trap after another lay hidden beneath it.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind them.
“If you want to know the truth, why not jump down and take a look?”
Xiao Huai pushed open the courtyard gate and walked in. Lu Yuanshi followed beside him, smiling faintly.
The two of them had just finished rehearsing. They had ended much earlier than the day before, not only because Xiao Huai was extraordinarily gifted, but because Lu Yuanshi was as well.
Shen Yun frowned in confusion. “Jump down? Aren’t you afraid it might be dangerous?”
“The more dangerous it is, the closer it usually lies to the truth. I’m curious where Butler Yang might be hiding.”
Shen Yun caught Xiao Huai’s implication.
He had said “hiding.” Butler Yang was not missing. He had concealed himself.
“You don’t actually think he’s hiding in one of the wells, do you?” Shen Yun asked in a low voice.
Xiao Huai said nothing, but his expression answered clearly enough.
Zhong Jiangyuan slowly crossed from the door to Xiao Huai’s side. “How do you want to investigate?”
He accepted Xiao Huai’s idea outright. Shen Yun was concerned, but even he felt tempted after hearing the suggestion.
Sometimes, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
“We’ll each take a separate well.”
One person per well, rather than all of them entering the same one.
That was actually more dangerous. If something truly waited below, every one of them would be alone.
Shen Yun hesitated. He knew exactly how much danger the proposal carried.
“Sure. Then I’ll take this one.” Lu Yuanshi casually pointed to a well.
As he spoke, he looked coolly at Shen Yun, mockery glinting in his eyes.
It was as if he were saying: If you’re that much of a coward, you may as well stay behind.
Shen Yun’s fingers curled slightly, and the corner of his eye twitched. He understood. He understood exactly what Lu Yuanshi’s look meant.
Clenching his teeth, he strode to another well. “I’ll take this one.”
Zhong Jiangyuan had not expected the habitually cautious Shen Yun to become so eager.
He moved to the other side and rolled his neck, readying himself.
Xiao Huai went to the well beside the one where the bald man in the suit had died.
That well’s cover could not be opened, so he chose the closest one instead.
There were four of them in all, and each began preparing the safety equipment for the descent.
They checked the ropes and flashlights several times over.
Xiao Huai looked at the others. “Let’s go.”
After everyone had descended, the door to one of the rooms slowly swung open with a long, creaking groan.