Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Qin Nan was still retching.
Jian Fan couldn’t bear to watch any longer and spoke up. “Since we arrived here, we haven’t felt thirst or hunger.”
Qin Nan stopped vomiting and turned his head toward him. “What do you mean?”
“It’s impossible for a person to maintain their physical stamina for this long without food or water. This isn’t our real body,” Jian Fan said. He didn’t explain things too explicitly because some of it was still just a theory he couldn’t yet confirm.
Qin Nan blinked.
What did that mean?
“It’s our brains that are experiencing all of this,” Qi Shuping said from the side, clarifying the point for Jian Fan. Everyone present turned their gaze toward her, including the two young men standing by her side.
Qi Shuping looked at the juniors before her and continued to clear their doubts.
“The Realm of Death has simply accessed our entire brains, allowing us to experience all of this within the Realm of Death using our own consciousness. As for the bodies we possess, they were created for us by the Realm of Death for us to command. It’s like playing a computer game; you use your own consciousness to control your corresponding game character inside the computer.”
“You can also understand the Realm of Death as a game world built with data. Everything here is likewise created and controlled by data. Because it isn’t the real world, you will sometimes face things that are impossible to achieve in reality.”
In reality, they couldn’t instantly jump from one place to another, but in a game, they could skip scenes. This also explained the principle behind how the Realm of Death ‘obliterated’ them-it simply reclaimed the body.
Qin Nan understood what Qi Shuping meant.
Qi Shuping looked toward Jian Fan. “Child, did you figure this out on your own?”
Jian Fan gave an affirmative grunt, then thought for a moment before speaking. “Professor Qi, I am a staff member at the QJ Research Institute.”
Qi Shuping was somewhat surprised, but after the initial shock, she began to smile-a smile that came from the heart. “I didn’t expect to run into a colleague here. I have some old acquaintances over at QJ. What is your name?”
“Jian Fan,” he replied, adding, “My teacher is Academician Gao.”
“Gao Yuemin’s prize pupil,” Qi Shuping smiled. “I’ve heard him mention you. Not bad. You must have already guessed the underlying principles of the Realm of Death, haven’t you?”
Jian Fan nodded. “I had some concepts, but they weren’t fully confirmed. Now that Professor Qi has spoken, I can say I’m certain.”
“Good lad. I believe you’ll do well.” As she spoke, Qi Shuping looked toward Qin Nan and Mu Xin, nodding. “You have two good teammates as well. Our generation is old; we’ll have to rely on you all in the future.”
Qin Nan stood by, listening in a daze.
He was shocked that the secret of the Realm of Death had been suddenly revealed, and equally shocked that Jian Fan-who had been his Partner for two worlds already-was actually a researcher. From the sound of it, he seemed like a pretty big deal.
Qi Shuping didn’t chat with Jian Fan for long.
“It’s already three minutes past midnight,” Qi Shuping said, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand.
The most critical thing right now was to quickly find a way to clear the stage.
Following Qi Shuping’s words, everyone pulled their thoughts back and began to observe the bar in front of them.
A different song was playing now. Perhaps because this song was softer, the lights had softened along with it, and the overall atmosphere of the bar seemed to have subtly changed.
Qin Weiyi walked over, leading Lu Jing.
He had been paying attention to everything over here, but because they were some distance away, it had taken a bit of time to walk over.
“It seems you’ve found something.” As soon as Qin Weiyi approached, he spoke directly to Jian Fan.
Jian Fan gave a brief hum of affirmation and replied, “Bloody Mary.” He pointed to the drink on the bar and added, “Blood.”
Qin Weiyi raised an eyebrow.
“Elder Qi, what do we do now?” The man behind Qi Shuping had no interest in listening to their small talk. Qi Shuping had been so focused on the time, and now that it was midnight, both men felt a surge of nerves.
Qi Shuping didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she looked at Jian Fan. “Child, do you have a plan?”
“The information we’ve gathered so far isn’t enough,” Jian Fan said.
Although Qin Nan had heard a legend about the Bloody Mary from the bartender, a legend wasn’t the same as direct information. What kind of information was hidden within that legend was something they still needed to figure out for themselves. Aside from the legend, that glass of blood was also a key element.
Jian Fan looked at Qi Shuping. “Professor Qi, why did you seek out that specific bartender?”
Qi Shuping’s expression was gentle. “There are several bartenders here. The others serve different drinks depending on what the customers order. Only that man serves the exact same drink to every single guest.”
Qi Shuping hadn’t been wandering aimlessly during those five laps around the bar. Through that walk, she had gained a thorough understanding of the bar’s general situation and, naturally, noticed certain details.
A bartender who only served one type of drink was one of them.
“Did those guests drink it?” Jian Fan asked.
Qi Shuping nodded.
Jian Fan turned his gaze back to the drink on the bar and spoke. “What kind of guest drinks blood?”
“Vampires?” The possibility in Qin Nan’s mind slipped out of his mouth.
In reality, it would be impossible for Vampires to exist, and they might have laughed at Qin Nan’s wild imagination. But in the Realm of Death, anything was possible.
This world was a Vampire world.
“Vampires,” Jian Fan repeated. He then looked at Qi Shuping. “Professor Qi, do you remember which people just ordered the Bloody Mary?”
Qi Shuping shook her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t pay attention to that.”
“Vampires and midnight-it certainly fits,” Qin Weiyi said, looking around the bar. “A Vampire’s revelry after midnight.”
Lu Jing frowned and asked, “Are all these people Vampires?”
Qin Weiyi pressed a hand to his forehead in exasperation. “If they all were, Jian Fan wouldn’t be asking Professor Qi those questions. I think the vast majority here are still ordinary humans. The Vampires are only a portion of them. And these humans…” Qin Weiyi grew serious. “They are all food for the Vampires. Including us.”
“Vampires begin hunting after midnight,” Jian Fan stated, offering a more explicit possibility.
“Why midnight?” a young man beside Qi Shuping asked, sounding somewhat confused.
Qi Shuping gave a small smile. “The exceptionally prominent time display and the completely different style of music in the bar before and after the early morning hours… these all imply that midnight is the dividing point.”
“Then are we just going to keep standing here?” the young man asked weakly, eyeing his surroundings warily.
No one spoke for a moment.
They had only just realized the Vampire connection and hadn’t come up with a good countermeasure yet. Furthermore, if Vampires existed in the bar and they couldn’t leave, it meant they were constantly within hunting range.
Rash actions would only make it easier to put themselves in danger.