“That child named Little An really hates you, you know.” Huang Wei tucked her hair behind her ear, pointed a finger at Luo Chen, then withdrew her hand and folded her arms across her chest, looking every bit the wicked woman. “So after I proposed the deal, she agreed very quickly. As long as it could kill you, she was more than willing to do a few trivial things.”
Luo Chen’s brows furrowed deeply. “What… what was the deal?!”
“It’s very simple. I told her…” To Luo Chen’s ears, Huang Wei’s voice now sounded like a demon’s whisper. After he’d confirmed at the Mountain God Temple that Cheng Luyun was the big boss, his guard against Huang Wei had instantly dropped. She was just a small fry. Logically, she shouldn’t be able to threaten him at all.
But right now, Luo Chen felt a sense of horror creeping over him.
“Any player—doesn’t matter who—as long as they can kill you and obtain system-recognized proof, even just once, I will give them a piece of intelligence. Aside from the 【Whisper】 instance, no matter which instance, no matter what kind of intelligence, I can give it to them. All she has to do is spread the word.”
Upon hearing this, Luo Chen’s face went expressionless. It took him a long while to react. He shot his hand out, waving it violently. “What are you talking about?! How could such a thing be possible?! You! You can’t possibly do that! You can’t… know that intelligence!”
He became extremely agitated. His arms swung fiercely and erratically. Luo Chen’s heart was now completely thrown into chaos. Because he knew that if what Huang Wei said was true, then the enemy he faced wasn’t just NPCs in an instance, but those very players!
Those players were even harder to deal with than NPCs and bosses. They were just like him, possessing all sorts of bizarre and treacherous abilities. Every standard team had members with mental perception types. Finding him would be all too easy. And they were equally unafraid of death. Everyone could revive—who was afraid of whom?
Huang Wei’s offer was enticing enough, fatally attractive to players. Players did share intelligence with each other, but what they shared was generally common knowledge. They would hoard the more specific intelligence and never speak a word of it. If you wanted it, you’d have to pay an enormous amount of points.
But now, just by killing Luo Chen once, Huang Wei would give them intelligence. Compared to what they’d gain, what players had to give up was truly minuscule.
If it were Luo Chen himself, he’d make the same choice: kill the wanted player, get proof, and exchange it for the intelligence he needed.
But Luo Chen didn’t believe Huang Wei. What she said couldn’t possibly be true! Because she was just an NPC in an instance. How could she possibly know things from outside her instance, know the intelligence of other instances?!
Huang Wei had already seen through his thoughts. She answered: “Of course I can know. Just like I know your players’ intelligence, I also know the intelligence of bosses from other instances, the plot, even the trivial background story intelligence. I know it all.”
—Because Huang Wei was a reader.
This was something only Huang Wei, a transmigrator, could do. The countless instances the male and female leads had walked through until now, Huang Wei, who had read carefully, remembered them all in her heart. How to clear those instances, what key plot points each boss had—Huang Wei knew every single one clearly. Some unimportant minor details that the author didn’t describe, Huang Wei indeed didn’t know. But the players who wanted to clear the instances wouldn’t want to know about those trivialities anyway.
Thus, Huang Wei could provide intelligence. Whatever players wanted to know, Huang Wei could provide it all.
This was something only Huang Wei could do.
As an NPC, Huang Wei truly couldn’t thoroughly deal with a player. After all, they could revive. Even if they came to her instance next time, she could only kill him once. After he revived, he’d come again. But Huang Wei didn’t want to see Luo Chen again. He had trampled on her bottom line… Luo Chen, that bastard, actually dared to touch her two most precious people!
Unforgivable, unforgivable, absolutely unforgivable!
She wanted him dead, wanted him to never appear before her eyes again! She also wanted to tell all other players: don’t even think about laying a finger on them, or she would make them truly dead. Of course, at first, players might hesitate for certain reasons—like, if they made a move against him, that blade would eventually cut their own necks. But there would always be bold ones who took the first step. After that, it would spiral out of control.
People are the most faithful slaves to desire.
That desire to return home would coil around the players’ hearts and ultimately become the blade in Huang Wei’s hand pointed at Luo Chen.
Luo Chen was now completely flustered. But as a seasoned player, he forced himself to calm down. “Little An… Little An wouldn’t do that… Fox Eyes would have stopped her…”
“Ah, perhaps.” Huang Wei said it calmly, without any emotion. “But who asked Little An to hate you? Isn’t this your own doing?”
She watched Luo Chen’s face gradually crumble and let out a soft scoff. “Hmph…” She looked at Luo Chen, very satisfied with his expression. “Even if Little An didn’t say it, it doesn’t matter. The next batch of players, the batch after that—I’ll be able to make a pleasant deal with one of them eventually.”
“It’s fine. Just as players can keep reviving, the instance we’re in will keep cycling. My time is also infinite. I can wait patiently…” Huang Wei’s smile was very pleased: “Wait for that day when the first player arrives with the news of your death.”
While they were talking, Cheng Luyun had already freed Huang Chengcheng from the music box according to the method Little An had mentioned. The music box gradually disappeared, and specks of silver-white light appeared. A moment later, Huang Chengcheng fell into Cheng Luyun’s arms. Her hands were tightly clutching her doll, which was already somewhat deformed. The instant she saw light again, there were teardrops on her cheeks.
Seeing Cheng Luyun, Huang Chengcheng froze, then stretched out both hands. The doll she had been holding so tightly just moments ago fell to the ground as she clung around her neck and cried: “Mom… Mom…”
Cheng Luyun held her tight. The look she cast at Luo Chen was filled with killing intent.
Huang Wei watched this scene from the side, then gave Cheng Luyun a calming look. She also silently asked something with her eyes, and Cheng Luyun nodded. Only then did Huang Wei turn back to Luo Chen: “That’s all I have to say. Next… you probably thought we’d just kill you outright.”
Huang Wei still wore a smile. When Luo Chen heard this, he was stunned. He had indeed thought so. But before he could react, he felt his whole body grow extremely heavy. The soil beneath his feet was no longer firm but had turned into a mire.
From that mire, countless hands suddenly surged up, grabbing at him and dragging him down bit by bit. He gripped his blade and hacked fiercely at the pallid hands. But no matter how hard he tried, the hands only multiplied.
He was dragged inch by inch into the mire. Just before he sank completely into darkness, he heard Huang Wei’s voice: “You treated my daughter a certain way earlier. Now you can have a taste of it yourself. But you won’t be locked up for too long. After all, players can only stay here for seven days. Once the time’s up, you’ll return to the Main God Space.”
“I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you look like after you return to the Main God Space. Make sure to try hard to stay alive! Don’t waste that unlimited revival constitution the Main God gave you players!”
In the end, Luo Chen was dragged into the mire by Cheng Luyun. He would linger on in that dark swamp until noon on the 20th, when the time would be up, and only then would Cheng Luyun kill him. After that, he would live every day in constant fear until he had not a single point left and finally died for real.
Huang Wei clenched her fists. Actually, earlier, she had hesitated about whether to do this. She was an ordinary person. In the over twenty years of her life, she’d never even been to a crime scene. Yet at this moment, through her own actions, she was unmistakably taking someone’s life.
Although she wasn’t the one physically doing it, in the end, Luo Chen would die because of her.
Her hesitation lasted only a few seconds. Because in her eyes, Huang Chengcheng and Cheng Luyun were the most important. They were the only light in her otherwise lightless life. For their sake, she could do anything.
She slowly exhaled a turbid breath and turned to go to Huang Chengcheng and Cheng Luyun. Huang Chengcheng was still quietly weeping. Sensing Huang Wei’s arrival, she hung onto Cheng Luyun and turned her head. Seeing her arrive at her side, she immediately lost control. Still held by Cheng Luyun, her hands stretched toward Huang Wei.
“Mommy… Mommy… Chengcheng was so scared! It was so dark in there!”
“Mommy knows… I’m sorry, Chengcheng. Mommy and Mom didn’t protect you well.”
Huang Wei took Huang Chengcheng from Cheng Luyun’s arms. Huang Chengcheng clung to her, crying so hard she could barely breathe. It was a long while before she cried herself to sleep. It was Cheng Luyun’s ability that made her fall asleep. Huang Wei approved as well. Rather than let her keep crying, reliving the experience of being locked in the music box, it was better to let her have a good sleep.
Cheng Luyun carried Huang Wei and Huang Chengcheng back home. She stayed by Huang Chengcheng’s side while Huang Wei first took a quick shower. Then, taking Huang Chengcheng from Cheng Luyun’s arms, she gave her a simple wash-up before encouraging Cheng Luyun to also go wash up and soak in a hot bath.
Cheng Luyun, who had been sitting silently on the living room sofa, finally got up and headed toward the second floor. Huang Wei, holding Huang Chengcheng, followed behind her, watching as she walked toward the stairs, water trailing from her feet.
Cheng Luyun went into the bathroom. Huang Wei took Huang Chengcheng to the master bedroom, laid her on the bed, and spent some time blow-drying her own hair. While drying her hair, she heard Huang Chengcheng murmuring in her sleep: “Mom… Mommy…”
She put down the hairdryer, wiped her still-damp hair, and got onto the bed, pulling Huang Chengcheng into her arms. Feeling the warm embrace, Huang Chengcheng relaxed a little. Huang Wei gently patted her back, closed her eyes, and softly hummed a tune. Huang Chengcheng snuggled closer to her.
A little while later, Cheng Luyun came into the room. She took the hairdryer, pulled a chair to the bedside, plugged it into the outlet by the bed, and turned it on. Her fingers combed through Huang Wei’s hair, drying it.
