Chapter 46
The boundless mist carried an ice-cold chill, rolling with speechless fear and horror, silently swallowing everything.
There weren’t any sounds at all.
It was as if all the sounds were swallowed, leaving only a terrifying and desolate deathly silence.
However, the terrifying mist coiled around Mo Yi’s sides and was rather docile, leaving a small blank space beside him, and wrapped itself tamely around his fingers as if it were ordinary mist.
Mo Yi’s heart was violently beating, and the sharp gasping for breath became almost the only sound in the entire space.
He subconsciously pressed against his left chest. The life-and-death moment just now made his heart soar to the highest level. Even now, his eyes were still a little fuzzy and dizzy.
It was pure white as far as the eye could see.
— It was as if there were no other colours in this world.
He had won this gamble.
Mo Yi took a deep breath and eased the violently throbbing heartbeat.
He had guessed it not long ago. Song Qi was the mist in the last copy.
So, during the confrontation just now, he chose to write words on the hollows of Song Qi’s palm, asking him to find the skeletons of the two brothers rather than seeking help from Wang Zezhi precisely due to this.
— And from the look of “Zhao Yicheng’s” facial expression turning pale with fright, the boss, “Song Qi”, was probably not low in level.
Mo Yi’s lips pursed, and he suppressed the intense feeling of uneasiness rising from the bottom of his heart.
Actually, what he did — including later directly opening the door of the orphanage, was equivalent to him gambling away his life, not knowing if this extremely dangerous existence was happy or angry, and the ins and outs of the matter.
This feeling of being out of control was really unpleasant.
It was like walking high in the clouds, light as a feather. There was no real place underfoot. Everything was brimming with danger and the unknown, surrounded by a sense of crisis and uncertainty.
At this moment, the mist before his eyes slowly began to gather together, and like at the end of the last copy, the mist little by little condensed into a human form.
Song Qi.
His appearance was slightly different from that in the copy. The extremely aggressive facial features were sharp as a knife, cold and detached, and the colour of his eyes was even more pale, as if it were a flowing light grey.
He stood not far away and said, “You already figured it out a long time ago.”
It was a declarative sentence.
Mo Yi’s eyes faintly darkened, stretched taught from head to toe, and didn’t respond.
“Song Qi” continued to speak, “It was an oversight on my part. After all …”
He stopped talking halfway through and casually changed the subject, “Wang Zezhi. I made him fall asleep. When the time for the copy is up, he’ll naturally be sent to the real world.”
Mo Yi’s heart slightly relaxed.
He narrowed his eyes and asked, “At the beginning of the copy, that woman opened the door once. Did you sneak in at that time?”
At that time, Mo Yi clearly remembered that the number of players he was counted was nine, and after the woman opened the door, after counting again, it had become ten.
At that time, he thought it was because the environment was too chaotic that the number was wrong — Now, it was very likely not that.
“Song Qi’s” facial features didn’t fluctuate. He answered, “Inside the copy, I can’t interfere with your game process. So, you must open the door, otherwise I would never be able to come in.”
This sentence had a double meaning.
Mo Yi slightly lowered his eyes, and the corners of his lips curled into a cold arc.
No wonder why a moment ago, “Song Qi” asked him to open the door instead of opening the door himself to let the mist pour in.
“Song Qi” slowly took a single step forward, dense mist curling around him. He gazed at Mo Yi with eyes of the same colour, and his manner of speaking suddenly became slow and deep, “You seem to have a lot of questions.”
Mo Yi looked at him without speaking.
His deep and low voice rang out in the empty space, carrying a hint of bewitchment, “A question can be replaced with another question. How about that? However, … it’s limited to only within this copy. After all — I can’t tell you the other information even if I wanted to.”
Mo Yi raised his eyes to look at the fluorescent blue countdown floating in the air: There were ten minutes left.
This business transaction was quite profitable.
He steadily looked at “Song Qi”, nodded, and then asked, “Why is the orphanage the spectator?”
The question had been nagging at him since just now. The spectators who paid for it clearly had no other connection to the orphanage other than the day of the massacre. And yet, how could it be the orphanage itself?
“Song Qi” raised his eyebrows. “After opening the side mission, the copy will increase in difficulty. In this copy, this meant that what happened on the day of the massacre will repeat. That’s why it needed the characters that showed up on the day of the massacre to help complete the reenactment.”
He continued to take a step forward and said, “The copy will assign the roles according to its own criteria. The orphanage itself has witnessed everything that has taken place. Because of this, the role of a spectator was chosen for it.”
Mo Yi nodded thoughtfully and asked, “What was the criteria for the distribution of the victim and perpetrator roles?”
“Song Qi” smiled. “That’s the second question.”
Hearing this, Mo Yi couldn’t help his eyebrows from twisting, a little annoyed, and then lightly nodded, motioning for the other party to ask a question.
“Song Qi” asked, “How did you know where the bones of those brothers were buried?”
“Firstly, the brothers were in charge of transporting the corpses. Secondly, the clue they used to give us a hint was the hangman game. Thirdly, every time a player died in the orphanage, their corpse would show up hanging in that spot. Fourthly, the direction that the poem was pointing at.”
After speaking, Mo Yi paused, and a trace of a smile suddenly appeared. “Of course, I also inspected the floors and walls of all the other rooms. There weren’t any secret compartments, and the doorway was the only area I hadn’t examined. Of course, it had the largest possibility.”
He tilted his head for a moment and continued to say, “…Actually, the last point is the main reason.”
“Song Qi’s” eyebrows unnoticeably jumped.
— So why did you just say so many things?
After receiving the answer, “Song Qi” was also no longer vague. As a result, he replied to Mo Yi’s last question, “That day, your food suddenly got better. Players who chose to eat the orphan’s food were selected as victims, and players who chose to eat the expensive meals were chosen to be the perpetrators.”
Mo Yi’s brows furrowed. “But wasn’t Sun Xiaoyan …?”
“Song Qi” replied like moving clouds and flowing water, “There only needs to be two perpetrator roles. And the other redundant characters will be recognized by the copy as orphans who have eaten the supervisor’s food and are the first to be hunted down.”
He finished speaking and took another step forward. Now, the distance between him and Mo Yi was no more than an arm’s length away. “Now, I’m two questions short of you.”
Mo Yi helplessly nodded, hugging his arms, and waited for the other person to ask questions.
“Where did you grow up?”
This question caught Mo Yi off guard, causing him to freeze. He pursed his lips, and his eyes became gloomy in a split second, “… Ryder Orphanage.”
“How old are you?”
“… Twenty-six.”
“Song Qi” nodded and said, “Well, it’s your turn.”
Mo Yi’s facial features were somewhat pale at the moment. He lifted his pitch-black eyes to look directly at “Song Qi”, and asked, “This copy originally wasn’t supposed to be very difficult, but now it had almost become a deadly situation. Why?”
“Song Qi’s” movements imperceptibly paused. He looked at Mo Yi with his light grey eyes and replied, “… Because I disturbed the progress of the game, the game increased the difficulty of the copy.”
As expected.
Therefore, from the beginning of the copy, under the seemingly ordinary surface, were hidden one deadly trap and nooses after another. In the end, it formed an almost absolute dead end — If they hadn’t opened the door at the last moment, this copy would have certainly become their burial place.
Mo Yi looked at “Song Qi”, heartstrings secretly stretched taught as if facing an enemy, waiting for his next question.
However, he only heard “Song Qi” ask, “Do you like chocolate or fruit candy?”
— What?
Mo Yi was dumbfounded, looking at Song Qi, confused and disoriented.
What was this all about, ah?
Unlike this strangely drawn question, “Song Qi” looked rather serious at this moment. A pair of light-coloured eyes were earnestly gazing at Mo Yi, intently waiting for his answer.
Mo Yi had no other choice but to force himself to reply, “… Fruit, fruit candy.”
“Why?”
“…Because, because there are more flavors?”
“Okay. I noted that down.” “Song Qi” seriously nodded.
Mo Yi: “…” ??
What irrelevant information are you noting down, hey ah?!
Mo Yi took the time to raise his head and looked at the fluorescent blue countdown floating midair: There was less than a minute left.
His eyes were suddenly solemn. He sped up and asked the last question, “Do you know me?”
Song Qi smiled. “I only answer questions concerning this copy.”
Mo Yi changed his wording, “Why did you save me?”
“Song Qi”, “I only answer…”
He hadn’t said anything yet when Mo Yi interrupted him, the expression in his eyes were sharp like a blade. “Then, in this copy, why did you save me?”
“Song Qi” was taken aback, and his facial expression was a little helpless.
He began to speak. Mo Yi heard familiar electronic music: “Congratulations on your successful escape!”
Damn. It was time!
But “Song Qi” still owed him a question!
Mo Yi’s eyes went black, losing consciousness like last time. Prior to fainting, his fuzzy gaze swept across his wrist —
Before he completely lost consciousness, the last thought that streaked across Mo Yi’s mind was ..
“So … that novice gift package was really a unique ornament of the day, ah.”
The Author has Something to Say:
Mo Yi: “… was pitted.”
Translator’s Note: ?The orphanage arc has come to an end! I might be taking a break next week before starting the next arc, so there might be no chapter next week! Thanks for reading and commenting!
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