Chapter 13
If Yan Yue had simply asked a question, Xie Xubai would have dozens or even hundreds of excuses to get away with it.
But the man's tone was neither warm nor cold, more like a blatant test.
As expected, Yan Yue quickly found an excuse to send Xu Qingran away, and then said, "I suggest you think about it slowly, don't rush to answer, and don't try to fob me off with clumsy lies."
Xie Xubai's thoughts raced, and when he looked up, he already had a plan. Following Yan Yue's words, he changed his tone: "I don't know what you mean."
The young man's back muscles were taut just right, and Yan Yue, who was applying the medicine, naturally did not miss this "flaw".
The man was blunt and direct, his words succinct and insightful.
“You knew perfectly well that Xu Qingran wasn’t a resident of the neighborhood, and that saying you wanted to adopt a stray dog was just a pretext to get close to you, but you didn’t ask any questions, and even chose to stay when we displayed extraordinary ruthlessness. If you’re not incredibly naive, then you must have had ulterior motives.”
"It's because of the stray dog you feed, isn't it?"
He spoke slowly and deliberately, his deep voice carrying an irresistible pressure: "Perhaps we should respectfully call it—the King of Devils."
"...!"
Xie Xubai's upper body stiffened, his breathing became rapid, as if he had been hit by a sudden, heavy bomb and was dizzy.
Xie Xubai was indeed somewhat surprised, because Yan Yue's deductions were all correct. This man's selection as the temporary leader by the players seemed well-deserved.
What followed was silence, a long silence.
The players in the distance seemed oblivious to the tense atmosphere, whispering among themselves and discussing their next strategy.
The constant chatter only served to accentuate the deathly silence and desolation of the small open space.
Yan Yue, like a hunter waiting for his prey, continued to slowly and methodically apply medicine to Xie Xubai.
Finally, as if unable to withstand the invisible pressure, the young man compromised and said, "Saying that the Demon King is wicked and wreaks havoc everywhere is just the boss's one-sided statement. Do you really intend to believe him?"
"Why not?" Yan Yue prompted meaningfully, "After all, we have limited information, unless some enthusiastic citizens are willing to provide more intelligence."
Xie Xubai, a concerned citizen, lowered his eyes and said in a deep voice: "I don't know what kind of information you want, but at least I know that a city that has passed health and quarantine inspections will not have hundreds or thousands of rabid dogs and cats appearing out of nowhere."
It was a perfectly normal line of reasoning, yet it made Yan Yue pause in surprise.
Having experienced many trial dungeons, they have become numb to monsters. Even if there are many monsters, they will only suspect that the dungeon is increasing the difficulty, and rarely consider the rationality outside the story background.
As luck would have it, Yan Yue led his men to investigate the dry well and discovered a large number of cat and dog carcasses at the bottom, clearly showing signs of abuse.
The boss's face turned pale and then red, and he gritted his teeth and confessed that he did indeed have that kind of insane hobby, and that the vengeful spirits who killed him were vengeful and had a culprit to settle the score.
Here comes the important part.
Even if Yan Yue knew the boss was bad, he would have used Xie Xubai's help to deal with the Dog Harm, because the Dog Harm was the root of this trial.
Players are not unaware of the boss's wickedness, nor do they lack the desire to punish evil and promote good.
But compared to surviving a dungeon run, a sense of morality is an absolute luxury.
On the contrary, because the boss has revealed his true nature and weaknesses, they will be more likely to believe in the methods provided by the other party, since no one would want the Ghost King and the vengeful spirit to disappear more than the boss.
But there are no "ifs".
Xie Xubai promptly reminded Yan Yue.
—If there's more to the story behind the large-scale outbreak of rabies, and the slaughterhouse owner is the mastermind, then he must be hiding a secret conspiracy. Players helping him fight the Ghost King would be tantamount to throwing their lives away.
Seeing the man's furrowed brows, Xie Xubai knew that the seed of suspicion had been planted.
If players were even slightly more suspicious, the fat man's scheme would never have gone so smoothly.
There's one last question.
The fat man should have told Yan Yue Ping'an's location long ago, but Yan Yue didn't mention it at all. Undoubtedly, he wanted Yan Yue to help him lead the way and then take him hostage to threaten Ping'an.
This is something Xie Xubai absolutely cannot tolerate.
In the blink of an eye, his gaze changed again. He put down his clothes, turned around, and looked at Yan Yue: "So I will absolutely not tell you where it is. It is a victim, just like those vengeful spirits."
The young man spoke with a resolute tone and his eyes were filled with sorrow, which perfectly matched Yan Yue's stereotype of him.
A kind-hearted person who would shield a girl from a fatal attack, risk his life to enter a slaughterhouse for a monster, and believe that everyone would stand on the side of justice.
A complex emotion flashed across Yan Yue's eyes. He closed them briefly, and when he spoke again, he wore a helpless smile: "They are innocent, but is it really a good thing for them to continue living in this world filled with hatred? Can't you feel their pain at all?"
The young man paused, pursed his lips, and seemed speechless at the question.
"We don't intend to harm them, but rather to find an opportunity to free them. If we don't do this, they will eventually lose their minds and become truly monstrous, harming even more people. How innocent are those who are harmed? Harboring monsters is also harming people!"
Under his repeated persuasion, Xie Xubai's originally firm gaze gradually wavered.
“…Okay.” He seemed convinced, his voice hoarse like sandpaper. “Give me a little more time, and I will give it a final send-off. Before that, I want to cook it one last meal.”
Yan Yue patted him on the shoulder in approval: "Okay, go back and calm down. I'll have someone escort you home in a bit."
Looking at Yan Yue's rhetoric, he first used a show of force to intimidate others, and then used a strategy of retreat to advance, skillfully employing both soft and hard tactics.
However, he overlooked one thing: he thought he could control Xie Xubai.
Three hours later.
The player, ostensibly escorting Xie Xubai but actually monitoring him, frantically contacted Yan Yue, saying that Xie Xubai had gotten lost while shopping for groceries at a supermarket.
“I searched the whole supermarket but couldn’t find him. The tracker I put on him was offline, and no one was home.”
Yan Yue's face darkened: "We can't even use tracking devices?"
"It's unusable! The power of the Ghost King protects him, and no attack, control, or tracking item can target him."
Yan Yue rubbed his throbbing temples, deeply regretting that he had underestimated Xie Xubai because he was just an ordinary person.
Someone reassured them, "It's alright, our people are monitoring the alley entrance. Since the Ghost King is there, he'll go back sooner or later."
Yan Yue said, "He can choose to go back in ten days or half a month, but we can't afford to wait."
The crew-cut man, who liked to contradict Yan Yue, seized the opportunity to launch a barrage of sarcastic remarks: "Our Chairman Yan is really getting worse as he gets older, he can actually be completely fooled by an NPC."
Yan Yue's face was grim, but he did not refute: "This time it was my oversight, I'm sorry everyone."
Seeing him readily admit his mistake, the man with the buzz cut felt a little awkward and nonchalantly touched his nose: "Didn't we get the boss's knife? That weapon has a deterrent effect on the monsters in this dungeon. We can just use it to hold off the vengeful spirits, right?"
Yan Yue shook his head: "No, absolutely not."
Seeing the players' bewildered looks, he explained slowly and deliberately, "Don't forget this is the Ghost King's home turf. If all we need to do for these seven days is avoid the vengeful spirits, then what's the point of having the Ghost King?"
One player, realizing what was happening, asked in a trembling voice, "You mean the Ghost King will definitely make a move in the end? But it looks..."
"It seems like you don't have much of a murderous intent, right? That's the problem!" Yan Yue saw through it all, his eyes extremely serious. "The Ghost King doesn't want to kill, but the instance system will never allow such an 'unreasonable' thing to happen. It's very likely that it will intervene forcefully, and then it will truly be a matter of life and death!"
The players were in an uproar and looked at each other in bewilderment.
boom--!
As if responding to Yan Yue's words, a thunderclap suddenly sounded outside the window, dark clouds gathered, and a hurricane howled.
Everyone present changed their expressions abruptly, because of the system notification that suddenly rang in their minds.
[Ding! Due to prolonged lack of food, the A-rank Ghost King "Peace" has experienced increased hunger and agitation, approaching its threshold. In 24 hours, the Ghost King will officially enter a berserk state.]
[Berserk state: Bloodthirsty rage, loss of reason, indiscriminate killing until there is no living thing within a thousand miles.]
(A bunch of pitiful, weak insects, what power do you have to resist the enraged and out-of-control King of Demons? Don't hesitate, run! This is the most sincere advice.)
(Oh, I'm so sorry, I forgot your activity range is only within a hundred miles. In that case... may you have a safe journey?)
At the same time, Xie Xubai held the pale white skull in one hand and the Ancient Book of Controlling Ghosts in the other, quietly looking at the dejected vengeful spirit of the giant beast in front of him.
In Gouzi's safe territory, although the players only dared to observe from afar, they would definitely stand guard at the alley entrance to keep watch.
He didn't go back, but he was not far away.
The players probably never expected that Xie Xubai would rent a guesthouse right under their noses in the neighborhood next to the alley.
The saying "the most dangerous place is the safest place" may be a cliché, but it has always been useful.
Author's Note:
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