Chapter 261
Chapter 261
Probably because he had climbed it so many times before, Fang Kang had finally gained some experience. This time, he didn’t fall back down. Still, he climbed very slowly. The whole ordeal had genuinely frightened him, and he was terrified that one careless move would cause yet another accident.
And so, he climbed with painstaking care.
He had no idea what was happening at the ball. He heard the gunshot and the screams, followed by the return of the lively festivities, but he couldn’t have cared less. At that moment, his entire world had only one objective: climb out of the fish tank.
His efforts finally paid off.
Fang Kang had made it out of the fish tank again!
This time, he didn’t dare linger. The moment he climbed over the rim, he carefully began making his way down the glass on the outside of the tank.
Afraid of losing the Golden Ball, he was especially cautious on the way down. It took him a long time before he finally landed safely on the floor.
By then, Qin Nan and the others had already split up to search for clues.
Once Fang Kang reached the floor, he looked at the Golden Ball in his mouth and breathed a sigh of relief.
He spat it out and held it in his arms, his eyes darting rapidly around as he surveyed his surroundings.
He had found the Golden Ball. His next task was to find the princess, return the Golden Ball to the Little Princess, and get her to kiss him!
The thought that completing the task would turn him human again filled Fang Kang with renewed determination.
Of course, being determined was one thing. Actually finding the princess was another.
In the fairy tale, the frog hopped out and immediately saw the Little Princess. Fang Kang, on the other hand, had no idea what the princess looked like. He didn’t even know what her voice sounded like. With princesses everywhere he looked at the ball, this task was anything but easy.
While everyone else was busy searching for clues, what was Xia Zeqin doing?
After making a circuit of the ballroom, he slipped back into the crowd.
Then he began repeatedly inviting pretty young women to dance.
It had to be said that Xia Zeqin’s looks were quite deceptive. Combined with his disguise and cultivated, gentlemanly demeanor, they won him the affection of quite a few female NPCs.
While everyone else was busy looking for clues, Xia Zeqin danced with one young woman after another.
Naturally, he had also noticed the commotion caused by the gunshot.
Hidden among the crowd, he watched Jian Fan and the others clash with the Prince.
His expression remained perfectly calm. After the confrontation ended and Jian Fan’s group split up once more, disappearing into the crowd, Xia Zeqin merely glanced at them. Then he turned back to the young woman beside him and invited her to dance.
He behaved exactly like the other NPCs, as though he were merely an NPC following a predetermined program instead of a Player.
The ball was large, but Xia Zeqin hadn’t deliberately concealed himself.
Qin Nan and the others had failed to spot him earlier simply because he had been lost in the crowd, or because they had been looking in the wrong direction and missed him.
Now, however, Qin Nan saw him.
He tugged on Jian Fan’s clothes.
Puzzled, Jian Fan stopped and turned toward Qin Nan. Following his gaze, he looked in the same direction.
Naturally, he saw Xia Zeqin as well.
Xia Zeqin was dancing with a beautiful young woman, their bodies pressed intimately together. At that moment, Xia Zeqin lowered his head and whispered something into her ear, making her cheeks flush scarlet.
“What is he doing?” Qin Nan genuinely couldn’t understand Xia Zeqin at all.
Whenever they were assigned separate tasks, Xia Zeqin seemed to give up on searching for clues altogether. At least when he was with the rest of them, he still made a show of looking.
Jian Fan didn’t answer.
He had some answers in mind, but they still weren’t enough to explain everything. That was why he wouldn’t tell Qin Nan.
Everything in the Realm of Death carried risks. He could only trust himself, even if Qin Nan was the teammate he had chosen, and even if he trusted Qin Nan completely at this moment.
After all, there was a very real possibility that their memories could be extracted in the Realm of Death.
That was why he continued to keep many important things to himself.
Perhaps Qin Nan and Jian Fan had been staring too intently, because Xia Zeqin seemed to notice them.
He turned to look at the two of them.
Xia Zeqin wasn’t surprised to see them. Instead, he raised his hand and mimed firing a gun at them.
More precisely, at Jian Fan.
Qin Nan turned to look at Jian Fan.
Jian Fan simply withdrew his gaze and said coldly, “Let’s go.”
“Xia Zeqin…” Qin Nan began tentatively, but in the end, he didn’t ask the question. He merely nodded and said, “All right.”
The two left side by side.
Xia Zeqin soon looked away. He seemed utterly unconcerned, quickly returning his full attention to dancing with the young woman before him.
Mu Xin and Lin Junruo were also searching for clues.
Unfortunately, although they had obtained a few page fragments as time passed, finding clues at the ball had only become more difficult.
They made a full circuit of the venue but found nothing amiss. Even the conversations around them had dwindled to nothing but polite small talk.
For example–
“The weather is lovely today.”
“Have you eaten yet?”
“That dessert is delicious. You should try some.”
“Your dress is beautiful. Which designer made it?”
“You’ve gotten even prettier.”
“…”
And so on.
No one was gossiping at all. A major conflict had clearly broken out just moments ago, yet once the ball resumed, everyone seemed to have forgotten it completely. Not a single person mentioned what had happened.
It wasn’t that they were afraid to talk about it. Rather, they genuinely seemed to have no memory of the incident.
Mu Xin had reached that conclusion based on the expressions and tones of the NPCs around them.
“How is that possible? None of them remember what just happened?” Lin Junruo was startled by Mu Xin’s theory. But after taking another look around, she had to admit that it did seem to be the case.
Mu Xin frowned.
Why?
Why was this happening? Was it to ensure that the ball could continue as normal? If so, why had some people been made to leave at the time?
Mu Xin couldn’t make sense of it.
Just then, a cluster of flowers caught the corner of her eye.
They were floating in midair.
The people of Flower World were so tiny that Mu Xin hadn’t been able to spot them at first, but a group of flowers hovering in the air was far too conspicuous to miss.
And wasn’t the flower at the very front the one belonging to the Flower Prince?
Mu Xin considered the situation for a moment, then came up with an idea.
“Lin Junruo, go back and keep an eye on Shi Chen. I’ll find the Flower Prince,” Mu Xin said.
The Flower Prince was also one of the NPCs at the ball. She could use him to determine whether he remembered what had just happened. Besides, enough time had passed that she ought to remind him of her presence again.
After all, there were less than two hours left before the mission deadline.
Hearing Mu Xin’s words, Lin Junruo also noticed the patch of flowers.
She nodded, then cautioned, “Be careful.”
Mu Xin nodded. After glancing around, she said, “Just put me down beside that sofa.”
Lin Junruo did as she asked.