He spoke softly, his tone gentle and sweet, watching Ji He trapped in the black mist and black flames, like a turtle in a jar, not worth mentioning.
Seemingly because he was freed from his constraints, Jiang Shihe was in a very good mood and said, "To be honest, Global Thrillers is really ridiculous. They usurped my world and even tried to imprison me as an NPC."
"Therefore, I am very grateful for your intelligence, Ji He. As a player, you are quite qualified and very good at discovering hidden things. Although you fell into my trap from the beginning, you are indeed very capable."
In that instant, Ji He even felt that Jiang Shihe was scolding her, but the approval in his eyes was genuine; he genuinely thought she was very smart.
Seeing that she could not escape at all, Ji He finally gave up the futile struggle, watching the black mist and black flames getting closer and closer, forming a circle.
Her face was grim, and she said in a deep voice, "At least let me die knowing why..."
"It's very simple. Your goal in clearing the pass is to protect Jiang Shihe, but not me."
Jiang Shihe paused, pointed to his head, and smiled slightly: "You've been going in the wrong direction from the very beginning. To be precise—the Jiang Shihe that Global Thrillers wants you to protect is the one in my head."
"The him in your mind? The Jiang Shihe in your mind?"
Ji He was increasingly confused. Even though she was a veteran player, she couldn't understand the reason for a while.
Jiang Shihe then said, "Actually, Global Thrillers will give you hints from the very beginning, but unfortunately—this is a world I created, so of course I can change some parts."
"I erased that part of the clues, so as players, it's hard for you to imagine that in the global horror dungeon setting, you are actually entering the past Fengxian Village to protect the me of the past."
"The one who cannot be killed is Jiang Shihe, not the person I created in reality. The reason why previous players failed to complete the game was because they were protecting me."
"But in my mind, the Jiang Shihe who exists in the nightmare has died with the passage of time, so their mission failed, not because I died."
Jiang Shihe paused, then continued, "As for why, in the previous dungeon, I died but did not break free of the restraints, it was because it wasn't the players who killed me; only when the players killed me could I break free."
Hearing this, Ji He finally understood why she had always felt that this instance was too big and so similar to reality. It turned out that this world itself was not an instance.
Therefore, this copy is so large and follows the same order as the real world.
Furthermore, Jiang Shihe's control over the instance is far greater than that of other NPCs; in some ways, his control even surpasses that of Global Horror.
This is also why, even after Global Thrillers provided clues, Jiang Shihe was able to handle them. This instance was not essentially meant for players to complete, but rather for Global Thrillers to imprison Jiang Shihe...
Upon realizing this, Ji He's heart sank completely: "So, in the end, we players are just your tools?"
Jiang Shihe didn't speak, but just looked down at her. But in the next moment, behind Jiang Shihe, a formation made of yellow talismans suddenly appeared, trapping him inside.
Ji He, who had previously looked dejected, now had a serious expression, her eyes resolute as she stared intently at Jiang Shihe: "I do want to understand the reason behind all this nonsense you've been rambling on, but the most important thing is—"
"Jiang Shihe, do you really think you've got me cornered? I did fall for your tricks, I did get into your trap, and I even helped you escape, but I, Ji He, haven't been around all these years for nothing!"
As Ji He spoke coldly, the instant she trapped Jiang Shihe, she immediately used her props to rush out of the black mist and black flames, and then—she immediately reported the incident to the Global Horror Report.
The anomaly of this copy has been discovered, and Global Thrillers cannot ignore it. Only if we can contact the system can Ji He's life be saved!
But just as she was making contact, she realized that Jiang Shihe, who was trapped, was not flustered at all. He was just suspended in mid-air, looking down at the yellow talisman array that trapped him, and yawning.
He merely watched Ji He anxiously contact the global horror system and sneered, "If you still possessed the 'Heavenly Guide' item, it would likely cause me even greater trouble."
"'Heavenly Guidance' is the only item that can allow the globally terrifying system to directly and forcibly intervene in the instance. It's just that you used it when you were dealing with my Miss Ruan."
"How...how did you know?"
Ji He's hand stiffened, and once again she had a vague feeling that things were getting out of her control: "What do you mean?"
Jiang Shihe's smile remained unchanged. With a wave of his hand, he directly dispelled the yellow talisman array that was blocking him, and casually said, "It's very simple. The power that my Miss Ruan possessed was also given to me by me."
Upon hearing this, Ji He couldn't help but curse—why did she ever choose this instance to complete the achievement quest in the first place!
Jiang Shihe looked down at her, his smile growing wider and wider, even carrying a hint of twisted madness: "Now that you've used up your backup plan, it's my turn."
"What?!"
After discovering that she really couldn't contact the global horror system, before Ji He could panic, she suddenly felt as if something was grabbing her foot.
Her body stiffened, and she subconsciously looked down, only to find that it was a pair of hands that were grabbing her.
In the boundless black mist and black flames, Ji He finally saw what had captured her—
It was Zhang Da, who had become a shriveled corpse;
It was Xia Changhong, bitten and torn to shreds;
It was Li Hua who mutated after eating the strange food;
It was Cheng Yuwei who was strangled to death by the ghost who hanged her...
Every dead person is a demon that crawled out of hell, shrouded in black mist, reaching out to Ji He, trying to drag her into hell.
—Because every victim killed by the black fog is manipulated.
Zhang Da, Li Hua, and Cheng Yuwei died at the hands of Ruan Qing'an, while Xia Changhong, who died in the Ghost Realm of the Past, was killed by Jiang Shihe's power.
Jiang Shihe looked at Ji He with smiling eyes and said softly, "Face all the people you killed, and then—go to hell."
After saying that, Jiang Shihe's body solidified once again. He landed lightly and prepared to walk out of the archives. Behind him, Ji He's miserable screams continued.
But no matter how pitifully she screamed, she was still dragged down to hell by those ghostly hands and the players who died here...
Just before Ji He was dragged into the black mist, she glared at Jiang Shihe with venomous eyes. As he was about to leave the archives, she hysterically cursed him—
"You and Ruan Qingan will never be happy!"
"Does she know you're a murderer? Do you know she's a psychopath?!"
As the last second ended, her twisted laughter became even more sinister and vicious, but Jiang Shihe ignored her and walked out of the archives room on his own.
Outside the archives, a familiar figure stood with her back to him, petite and delicate, seemingly hesitant to come in for fear of disturbing him.
When she heard the voice behind her, she finally turned her head, revealing her beautiful face. Ruan Qing'an looked at him with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, I was really worried about Mr. Jiang."
“…Miss Ruan”.
"What's wrong, Mr. Jiang?"
Jiang Shihe paused, then suddenly said, "I killed all those people. I am the murderer."
Ruan Qing'an was stunned for a moment, blinked, and before he could speak, he heard Jiang Shihe say, "Also, your hand-ground coffee is very good."
The moment those last two sentences were uttered, it was as if all the fig leaves had fallen away, but then Ruan Qing'an suddenly laughed, her voice both coquettish and sweet.
—Yes, the morbidly bad young lady and the crazy murderer have always been a perfect match.
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