Chapter 237
Chapter 237
The young boy could not make sense of it no matter how hard he tried.
Mu Xin joined him in expressing confusion.
Although the boy never found an explanation, Mu Xin successfully befriended him, coaxed out his identity, and arranged to play together later.
After the boy left, Mu Xin did not go anywhere. Instead, she flew in front of Lu Jing, circled him several times, and said, “Why don’t you take off your clothes?”
Lu Jing: “???”
“Why?” Lu Jing immediately clutched the front of his clothing tightly.
Mu Xin paused at his reaction, then turned toward Qin Weiyi.
Lu Jing had drawn The Emperor’s New Clothes. When The Emperor paraded in his supposed new attire, a child blurted out, “He isn’t wearing anything at all.” Those were precisely the words the boy had just spoken.
The boy must have been the child who exposed the entire deception in the fairy tale.
His appearance and his line could not possibly be coincidence. The problem was that although the boy had followed the story’s sequence, Lu Jing’s side had stalled. Not only was he wearing clothes, he was covered from head to toe.
When the boy was still present, Mu Xin had not understood enough to ask Lu Jing to strip outright, so she had stalled him with nonsense.
That utterly absurd conversation had left the boy hopelessly confused–and successfully bewildered Lu Jing as well.
To discover the purpose behind the boy’s appearance, Lu Jing would need to remove his clothing and follow the predetermined story. Hence Mu Xin’s suggestion.
Lu Jing, however, clearly wanted to refuse.
Helpless, Mu Xin could only look at Qin Weiyi.
Qin Weiyi turned toward Lu Jing. He could not speak, but Lu Jing managed to discern a trace of his meaning from that expressionless stare.
Lu Jing clutched his clothes even tighter. “Xiao Qin, seriously? I really have to take them off? There are so many people. It’ll be embarrassing.”
“They’re all NPCs, not real people,” Mu Xin comforted him.
Qin Weiyi sympathetically patted Lu Jing’s shoulder.
Lu Jing had always struggled to refuse Qin Weiyi. Even he could see that removing his clothes somehow affected their search for clues.
After some thought, he began bargaining. “Can I take off only the top?”
Qin Weiyi could not answer. He merely swept his gaze over Lu Jing as a response.
Following his gaze, Lu Jing looked down at himself.
His current outfit was one continuous piece.
In other words, he could not remove only the upper half. After thinking, Lu Jing undid the top, bared his torso, then knotted the garment at his waist so that it still covered his lower body.
This was his final act of defiance.
“Will this work?” Lu Jing asked pitifully.
Qin Weiyi had no idea and could only turn toward Mu Xin.
Mu Xin did not know either, but there was only one way to find out.
“I’ll find the boy,” she said.
Lu Jing nodded frantically.
The boy had only just left. After scanning the crowd, Mu Xin quickly found him and flew over.
“Hi.” Mu Xin landed on the boy’s shoulder and greeted him.
The boy quickly noticed her and brightened. “Did you come back to play with me already?”
“That man changed clothes again, but it looks like he isn’t wearing anything. Do you want to come see?” Mu Xin asked with an innocent, puzzled expression.
The boy hesitated, then nodded. “All right. Let’s go look.”
Mu Xin successfully brought him back.
When the boy saw Lu Jing’s bare upper body, he finally relaxed and repeated his line. “He isn’t wearing anything at all.”
Mu Xin and Lu Jing immediately watched their surroundings carefully after he spoke, but nothing changed.
Lu Jing, however…
A voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
“Ding! Character Quest triggered. Before the ball ends at midnight, identify the two swindlers who told the enormous lie in The Emperor’s New Clothes. Success awards one World-Clear Hint. Failure results in erasure.”
Lu Jing blinked.
He patted Qin Weiyi’s shoulder. “Xiao Qin, I think I received a quest.”
Qin Weiyi immediately looked at him, as did Mu Xin.
The boy scratched his head in confusion. He wanted to speak with Mu Xin, but when he saw she had already flown back to Qin Weiyi’s shoulder, he thought for a moment and left.
The boy NPC had completed his function and had no reason to remain.
“What quest?” Mu Xin asked.
Lu Jing scratched his head. “It says I have to find the two swindlers from The Emperor’s New Clothes before midnight. Finding them gives me one clue; failing means erasure. How am I supposed to find these swindlers?”
Everyone knew the story, but it contained almost no description of the two swindlers. With so many people at the ball, how could they identify them?
Qin Weiyi frowned.
Complete a quest to obtain a clue; fail and be erased.
That could not be unique to Lu Jing. They should all have quests of their own. What would they be?
As for the two swindlers…
Qin Weiyi searched his memory of The Emperor’s New Clothes. The story truly offered no identifying clues. They would need another approach.
“The fairy tale never describes what the two swindlers look like. Searching this way is no different from finding a needle in a haystack,” Mu Xin said worriedly.
The lack of clues was one thing. Lu Jing being erased at the deadline was far more serious.
Lu Jing himself did not seem particularly concerned.
Qin Weiyi handled matters requiring thought. They would always solve it somehow.
After a moment, Lu Jing rubbed his bare arms. “Um, can I put my clothes back on now?”
Qin Weiyi: “…”
“You can,” Mu Xin said helplessly.
Lu Jing hurriedly pulled the garment back up.
“We’ll discuss Lu Jing’s problem later. I’ll see whether there are any other clues nearby. We can work out the details once we meet Jian Fan and the others,” Mu Xin proposed.
Qin Weiyi nodded.
Unable to speak, he had countless thoughts trapped inside. He could only hope Jian Fan would eventually articulate what he had discovered.
After giving Lu Jing a few instructions, Mu Xin flew off to search the surroundings for anything useful.
She did not dare travel too far, in case something happened to Qin Weiyi.
Yet Qin Weiyi remained perfectly safe. Mu Xin, however…
Someone caught her.