Playing the Foolish Beauty in a Deadly Game - Chapter 77

“Wait,” the Perfumer said in disbelief. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Was it because they didn’t want to kill Lin Qiao and were preparing to tough it out for ten days or so? If that was the case… then she would just kill Lin Qiao and see how they could persist.

Apart from Dao Zhang, Nelson, Yatagarasu, and the black cat all stared at the Perfumer with a gloomy look in their eyes.

Dao Zhang quickly said, “You mustn’t even think about targeting Lin Qiao. If Lin Qiao dies, not only will they not agree to your plan, but they might even turn on each other.”

“Think about it, both Nelson and Yatagarasu have the ability to kill you and me. They could easily compete for the last spot to clear the game. Why would they sacrifice their own get-out-of-jail-free cards for you?”

The Perfumer thought she had been too obvious and forced a laugh, “Hehehe, of course I know that.”

Dao Zhang, waving his whisk, knocked away an approaching ghost and said, “I really don’t know whether to call you clever or foolish, young lady.”

“Now, Nelson and Yatagarasu probably want to kill the others and then commit suicide, leaving Lin Qiao as the last player to clear the game.”

And since Nelson, Dao Zhang, and Yatagarasu all had means to protect themselves, the only one who would truly die was the Perfumer.

This move was truly a case of hoisting oneself by one’s own petard.

Nelson suddenly sighed with regret, “We originally planned to kill the other players and leave only the top five to reduce the pressure.”

“Now it seems better to let a few more of them live. Don’t worry, Yatagarasu and I won’t kill you for now.”

After saying this, Nelson let out a soft laugh, while Yatagarasu remained silent without denying it.

The Perfumer’s scalp tingled. The ghosts in the forest, wearing masks, were densely packed as far as the eye could see. The various masks were grotesque and terrifying, but they were far less frightening than the gazes of Nelson and the others. The Perfumer realized then that she had truly brushed past death just now.

She took a few steps back, forced herself to appear calm, and then turned and ran.

Dao Zhang didn’t run because he had a get-out-of-jail-free card, but she didn’t have one. She couldn’t afford to take that risk.

The Perfumer ran as fast as she could, even exchanging a hidden item for herself. Unfortunately, the ghosts didn’t rely on sight to find people.

A crowd of masked spirits followed the Perfumer closely. No matter how fast she ran, the masks were like shadows, following her every move. They cried and laughed, making rustling noises.

The Perfumer didn’t dare to stop. She hadn’t known it was a trap when she came to the wedding and hadn’t brought much incense ash. It was too late to prepare more, so she had to use the small amount of perfume she had with her. She just had to hold on a little longer, to get out of here.

Run out and find a place to hide. With Nelson and the others together, they would be a bigger target and could attract more attention. Her chances of survival would increase if she could just get out of here.

The invisibility item could deceive the eyes of human NPCs. She had to find an opportunity while it was still the early stage of the roundup.

Closer now, the end of the forest was the exit, she could run out soon!

“Detected a large number of ghosts gathering and chasing, a sacrifice has left the group.”

“Report, target not found.”

“Request to launch weapons for bombardment.”

“Weapons ready…”

The huge roar accompanied by vibrations, the artillery attack flattened the trees, and the flames turned blue where they were ignited. The presence of the ghosts prevented the fire from spreading into a forest fire.

Countless frightened birds broke through the ghostly barrier and the forest obstruction, but they died and fell when they touched something like a barrier in the air.

After several rounds of bombardment, the name Perfumer disappeared, replaced by another player. Many ghosts chose to head towards the Perfumer’s direction, they would devour the Perfumer’s body, while more stayed by Lin Qiao’s side, unwilling to leave.

Dao Zhang flicked his whisk and took a sharp breath. Lin Qiao realized that Nelson had just been bluffing the Perfumer.

Nelson didn’t seem to regret the Perfumer’s death at all, as if it hadn’t been him who had provoked the Perfumer to leave.

Dao Zhang spoke: “I’ll use my get-out-of-jail-free card to leave the game. That way, only three of the top five will be trapped here, and the other two spots will go to other players, which will draw away many ghosts.”

Dao Zhang’s words explained why Nelson had done what he did. Lin Qiao had always been curious why Dao Zhang was cooperating with Nelson and was even willing to sacrifice his precious get-out-of-jail-free card to help.

Dao Zhang didn’t give Lin Qiao an answer. He bit his finger, took off his clothes, and drew strange symbols on himself. As he drew, he said: “I’ve never used this forbidden technique before. This is the first time I’ve had the chance to use it.”

“I saw the general position of the turrets on Yatagarasu’s snake form just now. I’ll help you blow one up.”

“By the way,” Dao Zhang, now bare-chested with large and full pectoral muscles and well-defined arm lines, looked as fit as Nelson and not at all like a middle-aged man, continued, “while I haven’t used the item yet, you still have one last chance to change your mind. Are you sure you won’t regret it?”

Nelson shook his head and smiled, “You’re so talkative. Just go already.”

Dao Zhang flicked his whisk and slowly walked away, resembling a hermit retreating into the mountains.

From beginning to end, Nelson never let go of the paper effigy of Lin Qiao. He would even carefully brush off the dust that fell on the paper figure. Of course, he also protected the white kitten Lin Qiao very well.

About ten minutes later, with another loud bang, the ground trembled again. In the live stream, the name of Dao Zhang among the top five also disappeared, replaced by another player’s name.

At the same time, Lin Qiao also understood what the symbols Dao Zhang had drawn on himself were for. It should be to use the power of the artillery fire to kill the surrounding ghosts. The ghostly presence around them had thinned considerably, giving Lin Qiao and the others a chance to catch their breath.

The sky here was dark and gloomy, making it impossible to tell whether it was day or night. There was also a shortage of water and food. If they really stayed here for ten days, they would starve to death even if they weren’t killed by the ghosts.

Lin Qiao “meowed” at the black cat, trying to convey his meaning. He wanted to tell everyone to hold on a little longer, as things would soon take a turn for the better.

The black cat, whose human language was not very good, still tried to speak: “Lin Qiao says, he is not here.”

The black cat didn’t seem surprised at all, and neither did Nelson and Yatagarasu.

Terribly, Nelson interrupted the black cat and deduced all the truths himself: “I know.”

“Now the white cat’s body is a decoy item, just like how you used a decoy item to evade the church’s inspection back then. Your real body is somewhere else.”

“Let me guess, the dog took the real you away, right?”

“To create the current situation, two conditions must be met: first, the location was changed to the current white kitten, and second, the real body should be very portable.”

In addition to this, Nelson also guessed that Lin Qiao couldn’t turn into a human at the moment. Otherwise, according to Lin Qiao’s character, he would have turned into a human during the black cat’s vows to fulfill its wish.

Moreover, the current situation clearly showed that the human form was more convenient for clearing the game, but Lin Qiao had been staying in Nelson’s arms all along. Nelson didn’t think Lin Qiao was there because he liked him.

Finally, the leader of the Miaomiao Sect praised the black cat as “worth it” because the black cat, knowing the truth, chose to stay without hesitation to avoid suspicion.

Nelson held Lin Qiao up to his eyes: “The white cat decoy will disappear once its time is up, just like the body I saved in the temple.”

At that time, the location would return to Lin Qiao’s real body. Once the NPCs realized they had been tricked, they would give up Nelson and Yatagarasu to go after Lin Qiao, which would mean Lin Qiao would draw most of the fire.

Nelson revealed everything he knew without asking Lin Qiao about changing the location. It should be noted that the location was not set by NPCs but was a rule of the Horror Game.

Lin Qiao had the power to change the rules of the game, but Nelson didn’t care about that. What he cared about was: “Can I have a kiss? I know it’s sudden to say this now, but if I’m not mistaken, bro would rather let Yatagarasu live.”

Nelson called him “bro” again, knowing that once he did, Lin Qiao would remember being deceived and get angry, thus agreeing to his request to sacrifice himself.

“Bro was gentle enough to make vows with the black cat. Can’t you give me a kiss?”

“I’m going to use up my precious get-out-of-jail-free card and let the top five spots go to other players. When bro’s cat decoy disappears, I’ll go back to the hub.”

“Only Yatagarasu will be left here, and there will be fewer ghosts. If I don’t use my get-out-of-jail-free card and keep surviving, once bro’s decoy disappears and we’re both here, I can’t guarantee I won’t kill Yatagarasu.”

Lin Qiao wasn’t sure if these two would fight, so after hesitating for a moment, he still raised his cat paw. He scratched Nelson’s face, pressed his paws against his nose, and then stretched out his furry head to gently touch his forehead.

Nelson held him carefully, not moving until it was over, and then handed Lin Qiao to the black cat: “Some guy said I’d never get a kiss from you in this life.”

Nelson paused for a moment, then reminded, “Now the three of us had better split up.”

Otherwise, if a shell came over and hit all three of them, it would be game over. Dao Zhang had already blown up one turret, and Nelson was going to blow up another one to make it easier for Yatagarasu to escape later.

Yatagarasu had no objections, but he said two words to Lin Qiao: “Stay alive.”

The black cat carried Lin Qiao and began to move away. Lin Qiao looked back and saw Nelson still holding the paper effigy of Lin Qiao.

After everyone had left, Nelson took action. When he got close to the target turret’s attack range, Nelson said, “System, use the resurrection item.”

[Player resurrection item quantity: 0.]

[Player resurrection item transferred, transfer target: Dao Zhang.]

“Ha!” Nelson laughed. He held the waist of the paper effigy of Lin Qiao and openly exposed himself within shooting range.

Nelson wasn’t wearing that flashy suit. In the human’s scope, Nelson and Lin Qiao were holding each other in an intimate pose.

“Sacrifice Nelson appears, requesting shooting instructions.”

“Has he gone mad? What is he doing! Is he dancing?”

The monitor transmitted Nelson’s deep humming voice: “Who is he, he is the dirty kid who has never eaten bread, he is the bad guy who steals jewelry…”

“The only thing that never changes is his name, Nelson, no one will remember him.”

“A liar’s last lie is kept for himself, a liar’s last truth is never believed.”

“He puts on a suit but doesn’t look like a gentleman, dear mother forgive him…”

The artillery fired, and amidst the earth-shaking explosion, Nelson held the paper effigy of Lin Qiao. He wanted to kiss Lin Qiao’s lips, but when he got close, he kissed Lin Qiao’s forehead.

“Dear mother, just forgive him…”

“He just…”

“Can never forget his mother again.”