Chapter 157 The Twilight Tavern Opens in the Infinite World + Real World, Joy...
What do you mean by 'the suffering of reincarnation'?
As the boss disintegrated, Xue Chao, from the peeling away of his Mirror Prajna consciousness, grasped Subhuti in the Electronic Cemetery and asked a question.
He already had a guess in his mind: This wasn't his first time participating in the Infinite Game, so some people recognized him, but he didn't remember anything. Could it be that his memories from the previous twenty years were fake?
What does reincarnation refer to? He doesn't have that kind of power to make the bizarre, infinite world restart with him time and time again, does he?
He acquired Infinite Corporation long ago, so he should be the ultimate evil god.
Before his consciousness shattered, the old monk laughed and said, "Arhats experience the confusion of being in the womb, and Bodhisattvas experience the delusion of being separated from the dead."
Xue Chao pondered these words for three days. So, it means that after reincarnation, all past lives are forgotten, and even Bodhisattvas must begin their cultivation anew.
The system malfunctioned multiple times in his room, and Xue Chao was currently the company's most promising host. In the end, Li Changying was sent to the Eternal Prison.
It's just a torturous little request. The company doesn't need to choose between the traitor and the new ace. On the contrary, the company appreciates Xue Chao's viciousness, which is an excellent quality that employees should possess.
Everyone knows he is Holder's successor, and several dungeons have proven his strength. Xue Chao's status has risen accordingly, but in response to the increasingly enthusiastic contacts from all sides, he chose to take the opportunity to send out opening invitations.
[Hot] Twilight Tavern is now open! Welcome to patronize. —Xue Chao]
A suspended tavern adrift in a region of broken belts. Even in an infinite world teeming with the bizarre, caution is advised.
On the opening day, the enthusiasm online did not translate into offline business. Half a day later, Xue Chao finally got his first customer.
The little fairy in blue robes, holding a flower basket taller than himself, tilted his head, revealing a lifeless, expressionless face.
"..." Xue Chao closed his eyes. "Didn't he give me a gift before?"
"Yes, so he said he was just joining in the fun."
Xue Chao placed the haphazardly arranged flower baskets at the door: "I thought he would come and join in the fun himself."
Before the last instance closed, Jiang Ming didn't even come out to cause trouble.
Jili remained suspiciously silent. Xue Chao looked over, and a rose in the flower basket twisted into the shape of lips, stole a kiss on his cheek, and said in a soft, feminine voice, "Don't miss me too much, mwah."
Xue Chao turned his head with a blank expression. The petals fell to the ground, and the evil magic disappeared.
Geely nodded expressionlessly and quickly left the place that had embarrassed him.
Xue Chao helplessly gathered up the other flowers that had been pushed away. The door opened again, and he thought Ji Li still had something to do, but instead a strange woman entered, bringing in a chill.
She was tall, about the same height as Xue Chao, with a smooth and powerful physique, combining agility and explosiveness. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, her eyebrows were sword-like, and her eyes were like the sharpest swords.
Xue Chao had never seen her before, but recognized her at a glance. He raised an eyebrow and said, "I was worried that no one would support us, but I didn't expect to be number one right away. What would you like to drink?"
Han Zheng sat down at the bar with him: "Iced water is fine."
“I thought you would say ‘the strongest liquor’,” Xue Chao said, judging by appearance.
“It’s important to stay clear-headed,” Han Zheng asked. “Aren’t you surprised?”
“No business owner is surprised by the customers who come to spend money.” Xue Chao pushed the ice water over. “But if you need to talk to me about something else, I need to be prepared with a certain expression.”
Han Zheng cut to the chase: "Do you know the player ranked second on the leaderboard?"
"Lü Lianshan? I met him in the last dungeon."
"His previous one."
Xue Chao opened his mouth and then closed it again. He was startled; he had no recollection of the second-place name.
The previous second-place player had been consistently on the leaderboard, but no player had ever encountered her, nor had any viewers seen her playing the game, earning her the nickname "the non-existent ghost leaderboard number two."
The most supported argument is that it's related to her superpowers, or that she has some shady dealings with the company.
In this boundless world teeming with ghosts and monsters, this could be considered a strange tale, and Xue Chao couldn't possibly miss it.
Just two weeks ago, the name of the person ranked second was removed, shortly before the end of the "Old Campus" instance... A thought pierced his heart, bringing a chill that shook his soul.
If all the bosses are corrupted by the players who finally clear the game, then at this point in time, who else could it be but Helena?
Xue Chao: "Although it caused quite a stir, I am indeed a newcomer. Fortunately, I was lucky. Thanks to my seniors, I have some friends. Do you need intelligence, messages, or revenge?"
Han Zheng stared at him silently, like a sword waiting to be drawn, already humming with bloodlust. But Xue Chao just lowered his head to wipe the cup, poured himself a glass of Butterfly Wine, and didn't care about her subtle coercion.
Han Zheng: "I was originally planning to play that campus dungeon last week, but you opened it a week early. It must be quite interesting. Which dungeons in the Troubleshooting thread left a deep impression on you?"
It's perfectly normal for the top player on the leaderboard to be interested in challenging dungeons; the forums jokingly say that the post is a special offering for expert players, making it easier for them to choose dungeons.
But Xue Chao knew that she was seeking confirmation from him.
She guessed the truth behind the "final victory," while he witnessed it firsthand.
"What hasn't the number one seen? If you really want me to say something impressive... There's a lot of talk on the forum about my love-hate relationship with that evil god. In that dungeon, he certainly left a 'deep impression' on me." Xue Chao used Jiang Ming to deflect the question. "You also need to be careful. He's good at disguising himself. It's important to distinguish between friend and foe."
"Skilled in disguise," "able to distinguish friend from foe"—Han Zheng got the answer, remained silent for a moment, and didn't ask any further questions: "That guy just now, the henchman of the most evil god?"
"yes."
"Aren't you afraid of Him?"
The word "fear" was too strong for them, so she changed it to: "There's always something to be wary of."
"He's the only boss who transcends the instance, has his own cunning thoughts and strange temper, and no one would be unafraid of him," Xue Chao said. "But that's precisely why I'm not afraid of him."
"Because you're similar?"
"Don't you think he's the most human of all the bosses?" The most evil god, the most human, is like the year's lame joke.
Han Zheng pressed the ice water against his cheek: "Only you think that way."
Xue Chao shrugged.
“But maybe you’re right, only you and he are intimate.” Han Zheng put down his empty cup, glanced at the flower basket full of confessional messages before leaving, and said, “I’ll go to your next dungeon.”
The beginning is always the hardest, and the hardest part is over. The tavern was bustling in the afternoon. The big guilds came to invite him to be an advisor, and Zhuo Yi and his friends also came to show their support. Wanji was even more enthusiastic, acting like he was coming home (mainly Huang Haitao). There were also other players who were just making friends and checking things out.
Twilight Tavern welcomes all guests and doesn't care why they come or what they talk about or do, but if they ask about Xue Chao's attitude, they will only get the answer, "This tavern is my attitude."
"What riddle are you giving?" Zhu Wen asked irritably, biting his straw as the pale green non-alcoholic beverage intensified, making his words unclear. "They're arguing around you, and you've started selling alcohol."
“I didn’t take any money either; this is more like a club,” Xue Chao laughed. “Why bother finding something to do after get off work? Why not just drink? That’s the answer.”
"I don't care about your business. What about mine?"
"We've reached an agreement with the band. You'll be transferring this weekend. As for how you'll coordinate and form teams in your new guild, you can discuss that yourselves."
Zhu Wen nodded in satisfaction.
Xue Chao: "Will the amusement park let people go?"
"So what if he refuses?"
That's right. The successor chosen by the amusement park guild leader first exhausted half of the guild's members, and then died unworthyly. The remaining members were also in a state of panic. Who would want to be constantly on guard outside the dungeon and be used by the guild's higher-ups to refine pills?
The only player worth mentioning is Zhu Wen. People naturally strive for better opportunities, so how can a guild that is already showing signs of decline retain its members?
No one can stay at the top forever. The amusement park's ranking has been dropping these past few days. With Zhu Wen gone, it will no longer be a major guild.
The tavern was bustling for two days. Xue Chao welcomed all who came to test him, turning them all into drinks. He even opened an entertainment area, including a chess and card room and a pool table. Zhuo Yi dragged Huang Haitao to play mahjong for two days.
On the third day, Xue Chao went home. As the tavern owner, he left the tavern key for his regular customers.
Back in the real world, Xue Chao received bad news: the piano exchange event originally scheduled for the neighboring city had been canceled.
Last week's piano exchange was held in Tokyo, the previous stop of the event in a neighboring city.
The event included a performance by a renowned pianist, but on the evening after the rehearsal ended, three staff members who had watched the rehearsal returned to their hotel and were caught in a fire, all of whom perished.
A death occurred the night before the event, which had a negative impact. However, after so much preparation, the organizers refused to give up and tried to suppress the incident. But the pianist caused a scene, demanding the cancellation of all subsequent events and flying back to the United States overnight.
It became quite a mess, and in the end, the pianist threatened to retire from the music scene and never perform again.
This renowned pianist was the biggest draw at the exchange event; everyone came specifically for him. Since he didn't participate and a fatal incident occurred, the subsequent activities were cancelled.
Xue Chao researched the pianist's biography and found that he was acquainted with Mingyang's friend. He had met Mingyang several times at piano events, and they were probably colleagues who knew each other but were not friends.
Is there any connection?
Xue Chao shared this with He Yang. They chatted in the tavern. In the real world, He Yang was a top-tier rich second-generation heir who was far removed from the struggle for succession. But with his smiling face, without the obstacles of the infinite world, he should have successfully taken over long ago.
In the real world, He Yang took the initiative to find him. Money really does make things easier. After exchanging information, the piano exchange event was handed over to He Yang to investigate.
Xue Chao had another matter to discuss.
In the recording studio on the second floor of the villa, he leaned against the computer, holding the headset in his left hand, listening to the private investigator's report, while his right hand, wearing the pearl necklace his sister had just found, moved the mouse and quickly read the information sent to him.
"...These are the reasons why members of the Crossing Society join. You should have noticed that almost none of them need redemption because of their own suffering. Their pain comes from people around them, especially 'losing someone.' The Crossing Society's doctrine is to move from the old to the new, which naturally attracts this type of traumatized person."
Fluorescent images kept flashing past Xue Chao's eyes, as if falling into them. Xue Chao said, "So the doctrine is the first layer of screening mechanism."
"Most of the cases are accidents, murders or manslaughter caused by interpersonal relationships or conflicts of interest. Those who die of old age or are born with disabilities are indeed relatively few," the private investigator said. "However, given these reasons, it's normal for the proportion to be high in a mutual aid society full of victims' families and friends."
Xue Chao hummed in agreement: "Is there anything else?"
"Contrary to your guess, not all of these 'someone's' are dead. Some are missing, some are in a vegetative state, some have mental illnesses, and some have suffered severe trauma that has led to memory loss, PTSD, or other conditions that prevent them from living a normal life."
Xue Chao hesitated for a moment, then said, "No, they are indeed dead."
"What?"
"Whether the missing are dead or alive is another matter, but for the others who are still alive, their bodies are still breathing, but their souls are already dead."
"...Now I need to consider whether my employer is mentally sound," the private investigator couldn't help but say. "Are you a believer? Am I just caught up in sectarian infighting?"
The "Save the World" group has the smell of a cult, and this man is even more sinister.
"Isn't the Ghost Mother's revenge case even more sinister?" Xue Chao read through the case a second time. "There are fewer supernatural explanations for these incidents than I thought."
The earpiece fell silent. The private investigator was not surprised that Xue Chao was investigating him; it was because of this case that he was dismissed from his post.
Five years ago, there was a sensational murder case. The perpetrator, Zhou, was drunk and violently killed his wife, Fang, dismembered her body and hid it in the house. When his daughter, who lived at school, came home for the weekend, she thought her mother had been beaten by him and ran back to her parents' house. She didn't want to be alone with her father, who was drinking silently, so she planned to sneak out in the middle of the night to stay at a classmate's house. However, Zhou discovered her and, in a fit of rage, he once again stabbed his daughter.
The daughter ran into her parents' bedroom, locked the door, and in a panic hid in the closet. Among the messy clothes, she found her mother's severed arms and fainted on the spot.
The police received a report from the elderly man upstairs the next morning. The man was very old, his wife had passed away years ago, his children were working in other places, and he lived alone. He had a heart condition and had been listening to the noise downstairs all night, which was louder than ever before. He took a handful of nitroglycerin pills and the first thing he did when he woke up was to report them for disturbing the peace.
They had mediated before and things had calmed down somewhat, but after only two months of peace, they suddenly escalated their behavior and almost caused the old man's death.
"But when the police arrived, the second body they found was not the daughter, but the abusive father. He died suddenly in the living room while drunk. The daughter was unconscious in the closet and escaped death. Most of the mother's body was hidden in the refrigerator, and the rest was stuffed into the closet, under the bed, and in the kitchen cabinets."
Xue Chaoping stated frankly: "The case is now clear and the evidence is conclusive, but in the daughter's words after she woke up, the second half is a different story. She excitedly told the visiting reporters that her mother protected her. She woke up in the middle of the night and her father was standing outside the wardrobe, smashing the door with the handle of a knife while cursing. She screamed, and her father's cursing suddenly stopped. Then she heard the sound of something being dragged away. Then she heard the sound of a knife being plunged into a body in the living room, as well as her father's screams. It was quiet until dawn."
He was deeply impressed by the case.
Private investigator: "She was traumatized. This was just her psychological protective mechanism coming into play. According to the testimonies of other neighbors, there were only arguments and screams in the first half of the night. When Zhou Xiong couldn't get the door open, he went back and continued drinking while cursing, and then died suddenly. There were no sounds in the second half of the night. The testimonies and the examination results are consistent."
"But the old man who called the police said that the noise lasted all night, and it got even louder in the second half of the night, which is consistent with the girl's account."
"That old man even staged a suicide attempt to trick his children into coming back for money in order to buy health supplements." Is his statement credible?
"The health supplements were indeed ineffective; he died six months later."
"He died of natural causes; he already had high blood pressure and heart disease."
“Natural death is indeed rare among these causes,” Xue Chao asked. “Then do you think this girl, who ultimately went insane, meets the criteria of the Crossing Souls Society? The fabricated tabloids say that when the police opened the wardrobe, they saw the mother, Fang Hui, with her arms wrapped around her unconscious daughter’s chest in a protective posture, which sparked a frenzy of paranormal theories. Is that true?”
Private investigator: "..."
The breathing in the microphone became heavier.
"Oh, I forgot, you didn't handle this case. Your understanding of the case is the same as mine, it's all based on the retrospectives of others... and it's not accurate either. She went missing twice after being picked up by her relatives, and you found her both times. Those relatives refused to pay for her medical expenses, and you even paid for them yourself. Good officer, did she ever mention to you those 'hallucinations' that triggered her psychological defense mechanism after she was traumatized?"
There was no response.
Xue Chao: "You're not here to investigate the executive's mistress. She used to participate in the Crossing Society's activities. You think she was tricked into joining the cult."
"...But the last thing she said to me mentioned something supernatural: 'Officer, you're a good person, but when the end of the world comes, neither good nor bad will exist.'" The private detective whispered. "She wasn't hysterical; she was very calm, like a normal person."
Xue Chao: "That night, she set herself on fire in the house where the murder had occurred."
After a moment of silence, the private investigator said, "She might not have wanted to self-immolate."
Xue Chao slowed his browsing, pondering his meaning: "Not to kill himself... but to destroy that house? What's in there?"
“I don’t know, maybe I’m the one hallucinating,” the private investigator said. “I’ve been looking into the information you’ve seen, and there aren’t many paranormal cases… maybe it’s because I haven’t met enough members.”
"Someone from the police force believes in this?"
I only believe in the truth.
Xue Chao closed the file: "I've secured sponsorship for you. Don't worry about funding, intelligence, or connections. Focus on investigating incidents involving members with similar supernatural legends, and we can push the timeline back further." Thank you, Young Master He.
The communication remained uninterrupted, and the detective thoughtfully asked, "Is there any type of case I should pay special attention to?"
"...A series of murders on campus." Xue Chao wanted to know whether the sense of déjà vu in Fang Tailai's story about the Ghost Mother's revenge case was a coincidence, or proof that there was some connection between the infinite world and the real world.
If there is a connection, the "second ghost" chosen as the boss of the old school dungeon may also leave traces in real-world cases.
"Buy one get one free, and I'll also keep an eye on the 'villa disappearance case' for you." The private investigator hung up the phone.
Xue Chao paused slightly. The earpiece went completely silent, but he heard a faint buzzing sound, like background noise that had always been there, only revealing itself when his mind was blank, taking him back to that distant morning.
The day his sister disappeared was like a dividing line; he couldn't figure out which was real and which was illusory for a long time. The villa that encapsulated his memories might just be a fairy tale in his mind.
Xue Chao shut down his computer. The clock went around once and returned to midnight, marking the end of his holiday. A faint thought slipped through his mind, like a gentle electric shock to his consciousness.
The AI boss, Tang, who shouldn't exist, ventures to send a message during the moment of interaction between the two worlds; it is a line of numbers: "142857".
The tavern was still bustling. Xue Chao pushed open the door and was greeted by a chorus of toasts. He nodded, took off his black overcoat, went around to the bar, rolled up his sleeves to his forearms, and mixed a "Godfather" cocktail.
He leaned against the bar with one hand, raised his glass with the other, took a sip, and glanced sideways at the fragrant violets in the vase: "Who put this here?"
Players near the bar responded enthusiastically: "A child wearing a blue robe and with red cheeks!"
"The makeup was weird and scary, like a paper doll. I'm sober now."
"He's drunk. Do you know him, bro?"
Xue Chao looked at Huang Haitao, who leaned forward and covered his mouth with his palm: "It was that little fairy by my side. He said he was ordered to deliver flowers, so I dragged him to have a few drinks."
"You two get along well?"
"Having more friends means having more options, and it'll be better for you to do things for me, boss." Huang Haitao chuckled. They were like the chief eunuchs serving the two tyrannical rulers, sharing a deep mutual respect.
Xue Chao twirled a petal; the chill lingered, like the snow on Xibei Mountain.
Huang Haitao: "We haven't gotten to the important stuff yet. What are the tasks for next week?"
With a new boss, the chronic illness didn't stop either. Xue Chao had members who had nothing to do come to work at the tavern, and there were also people responsible for investigating intelligence and running errands.
But the essence of the stubborn problem is an arsenal, responsible for burning themselves out in the dungeon, taking things by surprise. Xue Chao's ability to stir up trouble is no less than that of Holder, and there will be no shortage of places where their "real skills" can be used.
"Aren't the weekly game targets enough to keep you busy?" Xue Chao waved his hand. "Is there anything else?"
"No, no, then I won't bother you any longer next week!" Huang Haitao said with a smile, then paused, "Just one more question, has the next dungeon been decided yet?"
He didn't lower his voice, and the bustling pub quieted down slightly as everyone's attention drifted to the bar and focused on the host.
"I saw an interesting dungeon in the Troubleshooting section of the forum." Xue Chao finished his last sip of wine, smiled, and gestured to everyone with his empty glass. "Anyone who's not afraid of death is welcome to come and play with me."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com