Chapter 61
Chapter 61
Granny Snake shook her head in silence, letting the rain soak her shawl and drip from its fringe.
Nearby, crazed NPCs noticed something happening here and charged over with weapons.
The masked man stopped them before they could draw close. Even in such an urgent situation, Zhao Xiuming remained unhurried.
He left Granny Snake no room to evade the question, looking endlessly patient.
As though, until she spoke, they would all continue standing here in the rain.
It could hardly be called a threat. Granny Snake could turn and leave whenever she liked.
But when she raised her head and saw the half-smile in Zhao Xiuming’s eyes, her heart sank, little by little.
Apart from moral coercion, she had no bargaining chips whatsoever. Things had already gone beyond her expectations.
Granny Snake couldn’t understand why. In a situation like this, shouldn’t a normal person investigate to the very bottom of it?
Become involved in the main storyline, understand the players’ purpose, approach the instance boss, do what needed to be done.
Zhao Xiuming, by contrast, had helped Ah Hao and Shuai Zai without making contact with the gangs.
He had killed Liu Wenhe and let Huang Jinsheng go.
Encountering the dark green door, he had resisted his curiosity and never entered.
Even after meeting the players once, he hadn’t tried to learn what they were doing.
Granny Snake could sense that Zhao Xiuming was curious. Nor was he so wicked that he would simply let people die.
A possibility occurred to her: perhaps Zhao Xiuming didn’t need to investigate further. Perhaps he already had the answers he wanted.
Was his question now meant to confirm something, or did he truly not know?
Granny Snake’s lips moved, but for a long time no words came.
Zhao Xiuming lifted his eyes indifferently, his voice filled with amusement and malice. “You can’t tell me.”
“Because you don’t know either.”
“How embarrassing.”
“And there you were, so righteous in your accusations. Turns out you were pursuing your own selfish interests too, trying to trick me into getting myself killed.”
Granny Snake lowered her head awkwardly. She hadn’t originally thought there was any problem.
Having Zhao Xiuming, so much younger than her, point it out left her a little ashamed and annoyed.
But only for an instant. In her aged voice, Granny Snake argued her case. “How could it have nothing to do with you?”
“Think about it, child. If it had nothing to do with you, would that dark green door appear in your room?”
“Would an old woman like me be projected into your world, meeting you on the very first day when you came to rent a room?”
“That contract appeared before me out of nowhere. I knew it was his doing. He deliberately let you stay.”
“He let you move in alive. He must have some connection to you!”
“I wouldn’t lie to you, child. I’ve already waited sixty years!”
Zhao Xiuming rubbed his chin. It seemed Granny Snake really didn’t know why. But…
He feigned surprise. “Sixty years. That’s a long time.”
The accusations and moral coercion had been an attempt to deceive him. Granny Snake had noticed something special about Zhao Xiuming.
But she didn’t know the reason. She merely wanted him to use that “specialness” and give it a try.
Success would bring Granny Snake only benefits and no harm. Failure would merely mean Zhao Xiuming’s death.
Belatedly, Granny Snake realized she was about to lose her last chance.
She could have used Zhao Xiuming’s uncertainty to invent a whole story of love and hatred between him and the anomaly boss!
Granny Snake tried to salvage it. “In sixty years, I must have learned more than you.”
Zhao Xiuming drew out his words. “Then… prove it to me, Granny.”
“Preferably, tell me something I don’t know.”
“To help you pick out the things I want to hear, why don’t I tell you what I already know first?”
Granny Snake’s eyes widened. She couldn’t understand Zhao Xiuming’s approach.
Granny Snake imagined herself in Zhao Xiuming’s place, pretending to know everything in order to draw out information.
Or she imagined herself truly knowing everything and deliberately toying with her prey like a cat with a mouse.
Either way, she wouldn’t reveal what she knew so easily. The more mysterious she remained, the more wary her opponent would be.
Why do something so unnecessary?
What was wrong with Zhao Xiuming?
For a moment, Granny Snake couldn’t tell whether he was playing dumb or playing clever.
Zhao Xiuming enjoyed the changes in her expression, smiling gently.
Then his next words struck like a thunderclap. “No need to think so hard, Granny.”
“You’re actually a player.”
Thunder cracked in the rainy sky. It boomed inside Granny Snake’s head too.
Even the hand gripping her walking stick trembled faintly. Zhao Xiuming hadn’t meant to reveal his own secrets. He meant to expose hers!
It was a malicious provocation:
I know even your most deeply hidden secret. How much else do you think I know?
Granny Snake closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wanted to ask how Zhao Xiuming had figured it out, but wasn’t sure whether he would lie.
In the end, she decided to gamble. “Come with me. I’ll show you your connection to him.”
Zhao Xiuming followed her to the Spirit Medium Hall. Granny Snake did have some abilities.
At least it was quiet here. The crazed, possessed people all seemed unable to see the Spirit Medium Hall’s entrance and went around it.
Granny Snake went behind the table and took out a box.
She opened it. Inside were newspapers and photographs, along with several videotapes.
Little Darling had followed too. He looked around at the Spirit Medium Hall’s decorations.
His gaze roamed everywhere, except toward what Zhao Xiuming was holding.
The System’s voice also held a trace of mockery. [Gege, are you sure you want to look?]
Zhao Xiuming didn’t reach for the contents of the box. He tapped his knuckles against the table’s corner, thinking.
He knew he couldn’t believe everything Granny Snake said. There was only so much he could learn here.
Now that the situation was clear, Zhao Xiuming really had no need to wade into these muddy waters.
He looked at the box. Granny Snake goaded him. “Are you afraid to look, child?”
“Afraid it really is connected to you? Afraid you’ll have no choice but to become a savior?”
Zhao Xiuming’s expression grew amused, and he picked up the contents of the box.
Elsewhere, in Xiuli Palace’s sumptuous penthouse suite, Number Six was uneasy. She tried to contact her teammates with the linked instrument.
For a long time, there was no response. But the system hadn’t announced any player’s death.
The captain and the others were probably all right, then. Perhaps they had merely lost contact.
On the Longhu Society’s Incense Master’s personal orders, the gang members in Xiuli Palace treated Number Six courteously.
At least she didn’t have to worry about food or drink, or go downstairs and deal with NPCs who had lost their reason.
The Longhu Society had even selected several dancers from Xiuli Palace and given them the “clearheadedness” medicine to prepare food for everyone.
A gang member saw Number Six pacing around the suite, looking anxious.
He also saw Huang Jinsheng’s “daughter” sitting silently on the sofa, playing with a doll.
So he brought up one of the dancers who was cooking, saying she was there to keep Number Six entertained.
Number Six was baffled. She was a girl herself. Use another girl to entertain her?
The dancer only knew she had to go upstairs to keep watch. She had done this kind of thing before. Called surveillance, it really meant keeping a boss company.
Keep him company and watch him. Report immediately if anything seemed wrong.
So the dancer came in a pretty, low-cut dress. After opening the door, she and the female player stared at each other.
The player declined. “I don’t need you to entertain me. You can go.”
The dancer put on a pitiful look. “Please, little sister. Let me stay here.”
“You don’t know, do you? It’ll be much worse for me downstairs.”
“They brought a few girls back to their senses to serve them.”
“Look at me.” She pointed to the red marks on her neck. “I really don’t want to go downstairs.”
Number Six relented and let her in. With no desire to meddle, she simply told the dancer to find somewhere to sit.
The dancer nodded gratefully, then said with embarrassment, “I’d like to use the bathroom.”
Number Six pointed toward it. Thanking her repeatedly, the dancer pushed open the bathroom door.
The moment she entered, her mouth and nose were covered, her limbs restrained. She couldn’t make a sound.
Normally, she couldn’t have seen who was behind her. But through the mirror, she could see her attacker’s face.
It was Dahu.