Each Harboring Ulterior Motives, the Book-boy's Identity

Xiaoxiao followed the other players as they went to find the troupe leader. The blue-haired executioner's body had to be delivered to him, after all.

Her gaze fell on the book-boy's thin back at the front of the group, and her eyes narrowed with vigilance.

To be honest, she didn't trust him.

Everything he had done so far seemed to help the players, pushing the mission forward and revealing strategies. Without him, they wouldn't have understood so many things so quickly.

Even their crucial realization that they were in the "Yin World" had come from him. If he hadn't pointed it out, they might have figured it out far too late.

But she couldn't shake the feeling that the book-boy was hiding something.

Of course, among players, it was normal for everyone to have their secrets. But the book-boy felt different. He was like an unfathomable abyss.

She sensed that he didn't actually care about the instance's progress or the lives of the other players. He was only here to achieve some personal goal.

And his secrets might determine whether any of them could leave this place alive.

More importantly, Xiaoxiao hadn't come here just to clear a Nightmare-level instance.

She was here to 【Remove the curse on her body】.

That damned curse had trapped her in the body of a little girl. If it were just a physical change, she could have tolerated it.

The real problem was that she was getting used to it. She no longer resisted her childlike appearance.

This wasn't just a physical or visual adjustment. Her mind was changing, too. Her common sense, her awareness, and even her intelligence were beginning to regress to match her apparent age.

She was turning into a real child in every sense of the word.

If this continued, the day would come when she could no longer call herself an experienced player. The day she entered an instance with the mind of a child would be the day she died.

Xiaoxiao quickened her pace, catching up to Zi Jin.

"Sister Zi Jin, that Talisman Paper of yours… can it really clear away any curse?"

The other woman raised an eyebrow, answering with a hint of confidence.

"I wouldn't say any, but it can instantly remove the vast majority of curses. Unless it's so powerful that it needs a Legendary-grade effect or higher to break, I can't do anything. What's wrong?"

Hearing this, Xiaoxiao took a deep breath. She pulled the other woman aside and spoke in a low voice.

"I can pay you with items and equipment. Let's trade. I need you to remove a curse for me, just once."

There was a reason she had entered this specific instance.

She had once met a strange old man while trading in the 【Spirit Calamity Plaza】. It was rare to see an elderly player, one with gray hair who looked to be in his seventies. Surviving instances at that age was a miracle in itself.

At the time, Xiaoxiao was trying to sell an item from her settlement rewards, a thing that looked like a radio.

Even a familiar appraiser couldn't identify its effect. They could only determine that the item was merely 【Fine Quality】. Some idiot had put a seal on it that would require a Legendary-grade appraisal to break, all for a worthless item.

Finding a higher-level appraiser would cost more than the item was worth.

Just as she was lamenting her bad luck, the old man approached her, wanting to make a trade.

He called himself the 【Divine Fortune-teller】.

He said that if she gave him the radio, he would give her three divinations in return.

Xiaoxiao thought the man was crazy.

But then he pointed out that she was cursed. He even knew its name.

The 【Child's Heart Lock】.

No one had ever been able to see her curse at a glance, let alone name it.

So, with a "might as well try" attitude, she traded the useless 【Fine Quality】 item to the 【Divine Fortune-teller】.

The man performed three divinations and gave her the names of three instances.

【Masquerade Ball】, 【Old Days' Battlefield】, and 【Anecdotes of the Pear Garden】.

He told her that within one of these three instances, she would find a way to remove the 【Child's Heart Lock】. Whether she could seize the opportunity or not was up to her.

She had reluctantly believed him.

She went to 【Masquerade Ball】 but failed to remove the curse and was nearly killed by a vicious woman who could turn into a black cat.

She couldn't even enter 【Old Days' Battlefield】. She was never able to find a Bronze Token. Later, she heard the instance had collapsed and would never appear again.

This was her last chance, 【Anecdotes of the Pear Garden】.

Right now, Zi Jin's Talisman Paper seemed like her most promising lead.

If this didn't work, and she left this instance alive but still cursed… she was going to find that old codger and have a very physical argument with him.

Zi Jin sized Xiaoxiao up carefully.

Finally, she shook her head.

"I refuse."

Xiaoxiao frowned, puzzled.

"Why? The payment is negotiable. Shouldn't we at least haggle a little? Who refuses right off the bat?"

But Zi Jin just spread her hands helplessly.

"It's not about the payment. I can't sense the aura of any curse on you at all."

She added, "How am I supposed to use a Talisman Paper to remove a curse that isn't there?"

At these words, Xiaoxiao fell silent.

She was right. If Zi Jin couldn't even sense the 【Child's Heart Lock】, she certainly couldn't remove it.

Damn that 【Divine Fortune-teller】! Just where is this opportunity you spoke of!

She remained quiet until the group found the troupe leader near the opera building. He seemed to have just finished a discussion with the Prince and was walking out with the refined-looking Li Ling.

Seeing them approach, he frowned.

"Where is Bai Sha? Where did he go?"

The players looked at each other, dismayed. They hadn't expected him to ask about Pending Death first.

The book-boy stepped forward to explain.

"He's still in the Nuo Opera Garden. He said he had some private matters to attend to and didn't want you to worry, so he sent us ahead with the body for you to handle."

With a single sentence, he shifted all responsibility away from himself and the others, acting as if Bai Sha had chosen to stay behind.

Strangely enough, the troupe leader didn't ask any more questions.

Instead, his gaze shifted to the blue-haired executioner's body. Li Ling immediately understood, stepping forward to hoist it onto his shoulder and carry it away.

Then, the troupe leader pointed to the opera building. With a stern expression, he spoke.

"The Prince will be watching the opera again tomorrow. You are to rest well tonight, as usual. Don't mess up tomorrow's performance, understand?"

The players exchanged a look and nodded repeatedly.

This was probably a trap, meant to mislead them. If they still believed the only dangers were the various gardens and the daily performances, they would surely die on the fifth day.

As for tomorrow's opera… based on today's events, fighting the Prince was actually the least dangerous option.

During the performance, the Prince was bound by certain restrictions. He had to act according to the plot of the opera. With all their items and equipment, the players had a high chance of survival.

The other strange phenomena, however, were impossible to guard against.

Their true task tonight was to find a way to get the troupe leader to help them return to the Yang World.

"Mo Hun, you stay. The rest of you, go back and rest," the troupe leader said suddenly.

The others raised their eyebrows and looked at the book-boy. Mo Hun was his stage name in the Yi Garden.

The previous night, he had kept Pending Death behind. Now, it was the book-boy. What did the troupe leader want with them?

But the three of them couldn't object, so they turned and left.

Once they were gone, the troupe leader led the book-boy into the opera building.

The Prince was still sitting in the audience, sipping wine. His tall, imposing back was impossible to miss.

Hearing someone enter, he spoke without turning his head.

"How did it go?"

"It's alright," the book-boy said nonchalantly.

The troupe leader's brows knitted together. He slapped the boy's forehead and cursed.

"What do you mean, 'alright'?! This concerns the Prince's grand plan for resurrection! If you delay the auspicious time, I'll take your head first to atone for the crime!"

With that, the troupe leader walked to the Prince's side, picked up another cup of wine, and downed it in one go.

He glared at the boy, his expression ferocious. "Mo Hun, you don't want to end up like your old master, do you? Hacked into eight pieces and tossed by the roadside for wild dogs to feast on?"

He continued, "Right now, only you understand the specific details of the 【Five-Flower Melody】. If anything goes wrong, you'll be the first to take the blame. Understand?"

If the other players were here, they would have been shocked.

The book-boy's true identity was clearly not, as he had claimed, an escaped suspect being blackmailed by the troupe leader.

He faced the troupe leader's threats with remarkable composure.

With a nonchalant air, he walked forward, picked up the last cup of wine, and took a delicate sip. He smiled as if he were watching a good show.

"Don't be in such a hurry, Troupe Leader Yu. Even the Prince is keeping his cool, so what are you getting so worked up about?"

He paused, his smile widening.

"Could it be that you plan to use the 【Five-Flower Melody】 for something you don't want the Prince to know?"

At these words, the Prince glanced at the troupe leader, then at the book-boy, saying nothing.

Seeing the book-boy's shameless calm, the troupe leader seethed with frustration. He was, in fact, worried about being exposed.

The Prince was completely unaware of the troupe leader's true plans.

In this instance, two people needed the 【Five-Flower Melody】 ritual.

One was the troupe leader, who wanted to resurrect his beloved Lou Yu.

The other was the Prince, who wanted to resurrect himself and escape his Jiangshi body.

The troupe leader had also believed Bai Sha needed it. He knew Bai Sha had a wife he loved who had recently died. That was why he'd used the promise of the 【Five-Flower Melody】 to trick him into identifying the other players' birth dates and zodiac signs, making him believe he could save his wife.

Of course, that plan was now moot.

But the core problem remained.

Only one doll could be created for the 【Five-Flower Melody】. This meant that only one of them, the troupe leader or the Prince, could get what they wanted.

Obviously, the Prince's overwhelming power was the greatest threat. If he found out the troupe leader was plotting to use the ritual for someone else, his rage would likely raze the entire garden to the ground.

"Stop talking nonsense!" the troupe leader hissed. "Back then, your old master was executed after performing the ritual in the Nuo Opera Garden precisely because he was gossiping behind people's backs."

He leaned in closer.

"Do you want to suffer the same fate?"

The book-boy just shrugged, paying the man no more mind. The troupe leader's words had already confirmed his real identity.

That's right. The role the book-boy was playing was the personal disciple of the Taoist priest who had performed a ritual when the Nuo Opera Garden was first haunted.

The Prince had discovered that this Taoist was the only one who knew of the 【Five-Flower Melody】. Unfortunately, the Prince's death had been too strange and sudden. He never had time to learn the final steps of the ritual from the priest, the part about summoning a spirit from the Yin World to the Yang World.

He just so happened to die in the Nuo Opera Garden's well right after the Taoist finished his work.

The soldiers loyal to the Prince immediately concluded that the old Taoist had murdered him with evil arts. Without another word, they killed the priest to avenge their lord.

But the old Taoist had a prominent reputation outside the palace, having helped many commoners with spirits and curses. After his death, many people grew resentful, believing the soldiers had framed him instead of finding the real killer.

To quell the people's anger, the soldiers spread a new story. They claimed the old Taoist had insulted the Prince's corpse and gossiped that his death was heaven's will, that he deserved to die.

Given the god-like worship the Prince received from the common folk, public opinion quickly turned. The people who had once supported the old Taoist began to curse his name, denigrating him until he was worthless. Even those he had helped began to check their homes for evil objects, terrified he had planned to harm their families all along.

This world was just that absurd.

If you wanted to kill someone, you just had to pin a grand charge on them to create a righteous pretext. Then you could kill them without worrying about the messy details.

And now, the book-boy's purpose in this instance, and the reason he was so knowledgeable, was clear. He was the only person left who knew the final procedure for the 【Five-Flower Melody】.

Therefore, the troupe leader had long ago told him about all the dangers in the garden and had him assist Bai Sha in killing the others to take their body parts.

As for why the troupe leader and the Prince didn't do it themselves, the reason was simple. There was another rule for creating the 【Five-Flower Melody】.

The summoner must not be stained by blood in the near future. Otherwise, they would fail to summon their intended target and instead attract vicious Lonely Souls and Wild Ghosts to the doll.

This crucial point was known only to the three people currently in the opera building.

This was one of the reasons the book-boy was so brazen. He knew that neither the troupe leader nor the Prince could kill the players personally. In fact, performing with the Prince wouldn't lead to true death. At most, he would wound you heavily before handing you over to the book-boy or Wu Wang to be dealt with.

He had known this all along but had never told the other terrified players.

Of course, his reason for killing the blue-haired executioner wasn't to complete the ritual. It was simply because he had accepted a bounty in the 【Spirit Calamity Plaza】. He was a professional respecting his ethics. If doing so also allowed him to gain the trust of the instance's two main bosses, then why not?

But now, he had discovered something even more interesting.

【Pending Death】, how much of an impact will His mark have on this instance?

Thinking of this, the book-boy looked at the Prince and the troupe leader. He grinned.

"Let's get back to business."

He bowed his head slightly toward the silent figure in the audience.

"Your Highness, this humble one went to the well to have a look."

A pause.

"The 【Extraterrestrial Object】 does indeed exist…"