Chapter 16: Background Story [2]

"Who killed the chef?"

In reality, it should be "who wanted to kill Wu Yong?"

After all, the chef had taken the fall for Wu Yong.

The answer was obviously laid bare.

In the previous scenario question, Ma Hui liked Chunju.

And in the recreated scene, Wu Yong and Chunju were a couple, and there was an irreconcilable conflict between Wu Yong and Li Qiang.

Who exactly was the person behind this?

Was it Ma Hui or Li Qiang, or did both of them make a move?

The ticking sound of the scenario system was inexplicably urging, stimulating people's nerves and tightening their heartstrings.

Seeing the cold sweat oozing from Hu Wei's forehead, Xie De couldn't help but feel a bit anxious, "Gibberish, who exactly is the murderer?"

"Don't rush."

Gibberish hissed, the dense 0s and 1s running continuously on the phone, searching through the stolen world plotline to see if there was an answer.

Wei Yanchi and Lao You both remained silent at this time. Perhaps the two of them already knew the answer, but they were both looking at Xie De's expression. After all, Hu Wei was Xie De's person. Whether to save her or let her die was entirely up to Xie De's thoughts.

They couldn't see clearly whether the expressionless man was testing Hu Wei's ability or estimating her usefulness.

Now it has entered the 20-second countdown.

Xie De still hadn't made any movement, as if Hu Wei's life or death had nothing to do with him.

Indeed, people in the scenario put profit first, and the weak are prey to the strong. If Hu Wei couldn't even answer such a simple question, then naturally there was no need for utilization or cooperation.

But she didn't dare to gamble. She had thought she was right, thought Mr. 39 would save her. Mr. 39 wasn't a kind person to begin with, shouldn't she have known this from the very beginning?

Mr. 39 had already been completely benevolent and righteous, leading her to dodge so many fatal traps, yet she was still such trash…

Hu Wei's eyes reddened at the corners, her fingernails leaving deep marks in her palms, oozing drops of blood.

This 30-second countdown was actually so long, yet so fast. Her life seemed to be slipping away in this countdown.

Then she would just gamble.

There were still ten seconds left.

Hu Wei opened her mouth, her voice so faint it was almost inaudible: "Ma Hui..."

Gibberish shouted loudly.

"Found it, found it! It's Ma Hui, Wang Qiang, Zhang Zhi, and Chunju! They are all murderers!"

Xie De seemed to let out a very soft chuckle, "Ma Hui, Wang Qiang, Zhang Zhi, and Chunju are all murderers."

Hu Wei snapped her head up, her eyes brimming with tiny tears. She sniffled and hurriedly answered the scenario system's question without the slightest hesitation.

"It's Ma Hui, Wang Qiang, Zhang Zhi, and Chunju!"

At this moment, the scenario system's voice sounded like heavenly music.

"Correct answer."

Hu Wei quietly wiped her tears, moved that Mr. 39 had actually saved her again at the very last moment.

The head outside let out another desperate and angry roar, "I won't let them off!!"

Then it rolled away like a rubber ball just like that.

Has the danger passed? Not necessarily.

The head had just disappeared.

In the collapsed ruins, a paralyzed and rotting headless corpse crawled out with difficulty using its fingers. Its walking posture was like a zombie from Train to Busan, and a terrifying "heh, heh" sound came from its lungs, as if a terminal cancer patient was laughing maniacally.

It rushed madly to the door of the utility room and smashed against it desperately, "My head, my head, give my head back to me!"

Good lord, doing it twice.

Xie De felt he couldn't always call Gibberish a little pitfall. After all, the scenario system was much more dog-like than Gibberish.

The old wooden door of the utility room simply couldn't hold on for long. It was already shaking from the smashing and would be knocked open soon.

Xie De's first reaction was to hurriedly push the cabinet over to block it!

But the remaining three people didn't think so.

Under Xie De's astonished gaze, Wei Yanchi picked up a stool nearby, walked over, and pulled the door open. The headless ghost hit a brick wall. Before it could unleash its frenzy, a stool was smashed directly onto where its head should be.

Hu Wei stood in front of Xie De, determined not to let Xie De do it himself. As soon as Wei Yanchi smashed with the stool, she nimbly leaped into the air with a beautiful backflip, kicking the headless corpse directly to the ground with both feet.

Smack! Thud!

The previously arrogant headless corpse fell into an extremely miserable dog-eat-dirt posture, its defenses broken. Eyes red with rage, it hurriedly got up on all fours, roaring furiously.

The surrounding glass was shattering, the overhead lights flickered incessantly. The headless ghost was about to unleash its ultimate move!

But in the blink of an eye, Wei Yanchi's eyes held a thousand-year-old glacial chill. He formed a complex hand seal, so fast it couldn't be seen clearly. The next moment, he stepped forward, a yellow talisman mysteriously pinched between his index and middle fingers, and thrust it forward.

A powerful current of energy rippled between him and the headless ghost.

When they came to their senses, the yellow talisman was burning. The headless ghost let out a shrill scream, and its skin rapidly withered like a flower instantly drying up.

The three veteran players walked out with entirely normal expressions.

Xie De was dumbfounded by the big shots' moves. He silently followed behind them, once again realizing the difference between himself and the protagonist.

He felt like whatever he said would lack impact.

"Gibberish, I think this method of pretending to be a big shot is a bit inappropriate. Did you see that just now? The protagonist, the protagonist just grabbed like this, then went up, and then, a yellow talisman directly toyed that headless ghost to death! Damn, holy shit, so handsome, holy shit. This is a real big shot. I don't think I can do it!"

Gibberish was somewhat used to its host's lack of worldly experience, and said somewhat knowingly.

"How normal. If he didn't act cool, he wouldn't be the protagonist. What are you panicking for, host? With me here, just keep your composure! Besides, the reason the protagonist is so badass is because he was influenced by his environment since childhood. Hiss, I remember now, the protagonist seems to be a Daoist."

"A Daoist?"

"Yeah, before entering the infinite loop, the protagonist was an authentic Zhengyi Daoist."

Xie De silently asked a question.

"Sounds so high-level, but what is Zhengyi? Are there factions among Daoists?"

"Of course there are." Gibberish gave a brief science lesson, "It's mainly divided into the Zhengyi sect and the Quanzhen sect."

The Zhengyi sect mainly originated in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Founded by Zhang Daoling, it is also known as the Way of the Celestial Masters or the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice.

Daoists of the Zhengyi sect can practice at home, and their lives are relatively secularized. They can marry and have children, and they do not abstain from meat, but there is a saying of the "Four Non-Edibles" (not eating beef, dog meat, mullet, or wild goose). Their main practices include drawing talismans and reciting incantations, praying for blessings and averting disasters, and subduing evil spirits and driving away ghosts.

Xie De laughed helplessly upon hearing this.

"So you're saying the scenario brought a real master upon itself?"

Gibberish sighed, "That's true, but the dangers in the scenario aren't that easy to resolve. In many cases, the protagonist is not omnipotent."

They walked back to the place where the factory's machines were placed.

Those numb ghosts became even more realistic. Their bodies were covered in traces of being burned by fire, looking like chunks of black charcoal.

The ground they stepped on was also covered in black ash.

Everything was enveloped in boundless resentment, unable to be freed.

Yue Xiamo stood silently in the corner, her dark eyes looking towards them.