"I'll keep an eye on these two. We'll discuss the rest when you get back. Let me know with flowers when you return."

The energy transmission was immediately cut off to prevent the noise from disturbing Shekh.

Around 8 p.m., Linlang brought Zhou Xiao back to 206. Just then, Shehe woke up, and the group reunited in the living room.

Shi Jinzhe stretched out his arms and gestured for the two of them to sit.

Zhou Xiao hesitated: "Just the four of us...?"

"You and your companion with the buzz cut are very close?"

"It's alright. We teamed up in the last dungeon and got a good impression of each other, so we used a team card to clear the dungeon together this time. He..."

Zhou Xiao suddenly realized something from Shi Jinzhe's question.

"Was he replaced...?"

"Yes," Shi Jinzhe gave Zhou Xiao a definite answer.

“This game truly doesn’t offer any lasting companions.” Zhou Xiao’s shoulders slumped, his body hunched, and he buried his face in his hands.

Two seconds later, he asked again, "In this situation, can he be considered to have failed to pass the level?"

If it can be considered a failure, then there is still hope for this person.

"I don't think so." The truth always seems heartless, but when the time comes, it still has to be said.

"What the system wants is you as a person, not a body that will bring danger to the original world. The soul controlling his body is already a ghost here. What do you think the system will do?"

"…destroy?"

Almost there.

The system even seeks opportunities to eliminate players who have lost their humanity; how could it possibly allow ghosts to escape?

"You heard what Wu Yu said that night. When they replace the living, they eat people. Ghosts eat souls, and the system destroys the body. If neither of them remains, how can it revive you?"

"..."

Zhou Xiao lowered his head, looking somewhat depressed, and didn't say anything more.

Shi Jinzhe gave him some time to think it through, then turned to Linlang and asked, "What did you discover?"

Linlang will tell Shi Jin that she found the human skin bookmark and the fairy water in the wine bottle in room 602.

"The bookmarks have a very realistic texture. I suspect they are made of real human tissue. Each one is marked with a capital letter Z. The handwriting is different, like it was handwritten. This is why I suspect they are Xiao Zhao or Zheng Jingjing. Their names both start with Z."

"Also, although Xiao Zhao and Lao Zhao had a falling out because of their artistic youth, their relationship seemed genuine. When I was acting, Xiao Zhao was very bothered by me calling Lao Zhao 'Dad'."

Linlang paused for a moment before continuing, "That malice felt very real, like an invisible attack hitting my body. My arm still hurts."

She rolled up her sleeves to show the group the scars on her hands.

The long, bluish mark resembled a braid. Shi Jinzhe tapped it twice with his scepter and discovered that the wound had reached the bone. It didn't look serious because the skin hadn't broken and there was no bleeding.

"Take out the gold leaf I gave you."

Linlang took out a gold leaf from her pocket, and Shi Jinzhe immediately noticed the problem with it.

Golden Leaf's energy storage is depleted very quickly. If it weren't for the protective array, Xiao Zhao's attack would probably have taken away most of Linlang's life.

He took the leaf and re-infused it with life energy. "If Xiao Zhao really is the boss in this instance, unfortunately, you've already attracted aggro."

"..." Linlang was speechless for the second time, and she and Zhou Xiao, who was dejected, lowered their heads and didn't want to talk.

"Don't be discouraged so soon. There's still a 50% chance it's Zheng Jingjing."

“I think there’s a greater than 50% chance that Zheng Jingjing is the one,” Shekh said abruptly, his face still showing a blank expression as if he had just woken up.

"The two characters 'Qingxin' can be combined to form the character 'Qing' (情). Everyone calls Xiao Zhao's husband an artistic youth. 'Qingxin' refers to both him and the recipient of the letter. And Zheng Jingjing's name also contains the character 'Qing' (青), which means 'qingxin' (青心), 'jingxin' (静心), and 'jingxin' (静心)."

Shi Jinzhe chuckled, "Hmm?" "That's interesting. How did you come up with that?"

Shekh didn't take it to heart: "I learned to write characters, and since they all have the character 'qing' in them, I just associated them together."

Based on her experience watching melodramatic dramas, Linlang immediately concluded: "So, among the three of them, you love me, I love him, and he loves her?"

Zhou Xiao also looked up: "Ah, you're a boss now and you're still getting involved in romance? Isn't that so low-class?"

Shi Jinzhe raised his eyes: "As long as you have the ability, that's enough."

If we go back six months, he wouldn't have understood what magic love could have that could change a person so drastically, but now, he feels that reason is valid.

Upon closer reflection, this possibility cannot be ruled out. Wu Yu said that artistic youths have good tempers and are friendly to everyone, but in reality, he is someone who can produce a lot of false reports for the sake of sensationalism.

Before time restarted, Zheng Jingjing lived alone at home for many years, and that night, she came downstairs...

Shi Jinzhe asked Zhou Xiao, "Do you remember what time it was the night you recognized us?"

"Around... a little after eight, almost nine?"

Zhou Xiao stroked his chin: "Xiao Zhao brings dinner to Lao Zhao every night and doesn't come back until nine or ten o'clock. If she's not there, what is Zheng Jingjing doing upstairs?"

"She's not some clueless young person who hasn't entered society yet. She's in her thirties, has some experience, and Zheng Jingjing always understands the principle of avoiding suspicion."

They spent quite a bit of time in the hallway on Tuesday. If she was just delivering something or going to the seventh floor to find Xiao Zhao, then the time she spent there was rather long.

“If that’s the case, then what was Xiao Zhao doing when he called the artsy youth six times in a row, but didn’t answer any of them?” Sheh glanced meaningfully at Shi Jinzhe. “I think you should have some experience with this.”

Shi Jinzhe remained expressionless: "Then he must have been quite engrossed."

"...Are you saying what I think it means?" Zhou Xiao's ears turned red as he stammered, "Is it that the artsy young man and Zheng Jingjing are...having an affair?"

"It's just a guess," Shekh said. "The death of the artsy youth and the magic potion given by the teacher haven't been connected into a reasonable line yet, so this speculation is untenable."

Linlang hesitated and said, "Xiao Zhao and the artsy young man have been married for ten years, while those letters are from the last two years. If they are really together, it would be cheating on their marriage. What if Xiao Zhao finds out? Will she turn evil?"

Turning into a villainous boss is a reasonable reason, at least that's what Linlang thinks.

Zhou Xiao: "But Zheng Jingjing might also be placing her affections on an artsy young man because her boyfriend has violent tendencies. What if she doesn't want to be a mistress in the shadows and wants to become his official lover?"

"...Do you want to hear what you're saying?" Linlang was speechless: "If she wanted to get a promotion, she should have killed her boyfriend and Xiao Zhao, instead of being a 'literary youth'."

“That magical potion might have been intended for Xiao Zhao by Zheng Jingjing, but it ended up being drunk by the artsy young man by some twist of fate.” Zhou Xiao clapped his hands. “Hey, look, we’ve made contact now.”

"Then why did the teacher give Zheng Jingjing the 'miracle water'?"

"The teacher was greedy and gave him money."

"Stop, please.

"Shi Jinzhe interrupted the two, "The death of the artsy youth had another cause, not from consuming too much of the 'miracle water'."