CH 19.1

The players were at peace throughout the day.

According to the Bloods, adequate rest was also a way to keep the blood fresh. After coming out of the Rose Garden, they went to their rooms to sleep on the orders of the three Bloods.

Apart from Xia Chi, who had turned into a Blood, there were 35 players left, and some were already starting to get hungry.

“I’m so hungry now, I really want something to eat.”

“Me too, I regret not eating more this morning. I felt sick at the sight of the steak, so I only finished off the mashed potatoes and milk.”

“Who knew there was only one meal a day, I’ll eat it tomorrow even if I’m served the whole thing raw.”

“Brother, you have a heavy taste, hahaha.”

“I thought I was a goner today. That Blood from last night warned that you can’t make a sound when you eat, but as soon as I came up, the chair squeaked.”

“Ah, man, sorry, it’s all my fault! You can pull my chair tomorrow as payback!”

“Forget it, you didn’t do it on purpose and I’m fine. It’s all the Bloods’ fault; they’re scaring us.”

“I made a noise too! I was scared to death, I really thought I was going to die.”

“But we can’t take it lightly. It’s better to be careful when you eat tomorrow. Who knows when the Bloods will be in a bad mood and take it out on us?”

“That group of perverts, each and every one of them, is so powerful, and we can not beat them. What a bug copy. The hidden mission is to kill Mr. Mo, but I can’t even kill a guard.”

“What’s even more ridiculous is that we have to clean ourselves up and deliver ourselves to their mouths to eat. We’re a meal delivered itself to the door. Don’t you think it’s funny?”

“Fuck, it’s so pitiful. If I ever get the chance, I must kill this bunch of shit.”

Bai Lixin faced the wall and opened the task bar.

[Task 1: Survive in the castle for four days and four nights (0.7 days and 1 night/4 days and 4 nights);

Task 2: Find the real murderer of Lady Rose. (Answer: _________)]

[Additional task: Kill Mr. Mo.]

The time shown in the top right corner of the quest bar was also 24 hours just like in reality.

The time now was 16:00, which is 4:00 pm, so there were 5 hours before 9:00 pm.

Task 1 showed the time progress, but Task 2 was only followed by a bracket.

It no longer gave them prompts like the Trial copy did, and it no longer showed what percentage of progress had been made.

The second task was followed by a small line of hidden words: [The answer can only be filled in once; filling in the wrong answer will result in a game penalty (punishment: beheading)].

There was only one chance, and the tolerance rate for this question was 0.

Bai Lixin half-hid his head under the quilt and opened the copy of the Holy Book that the old man had given him before he died.

The Holy Book was so thick that he had no place to hide it, but the Bloods didn’t care where he had conjured it from; they were only amazed that he could read the Blood’s Holy Book.

One of the Bloods even asked if he wanted to transform into a Blood.

Transform into a Blood?

Could players be transformed into Bloods?

Bai Lixin carefully opened the book to the 12th chapter of the New Testament.

He did not know the words in the Holy Book and could only find those pages by graphic memory and general page count.

The old man had really overestimated him.

He gave him the Holy Book with great hope, but had forgotten to ask if he was illiterate.

Bai Lixin searched for a while and stopped at a certain page.

He had not yet found that exact phrase he had seen in Lady Rose’s room, but he found one that looked similar to that text pattern.

The location was before the 12th chapter of the New Testament. It was the same as that marked out in Lady Rose’s book, except for the two symbols in the middle.

Bai Lixin shamelessly asked for help on the spot.

He poked Dijia, who had burrowed into his collar to sleep, and pointed wordlessly at the phrase.

Dijia lazily opened his eyes. His gaze casually swept across the phrase and his hoarse, hazy voice reached Bai Lixin’s ears, “When faith is silent, despair will surely come.”

“This is from chapter 10 of the New Testament. It’s about the believers who questioned their god, who left them after being disappointed. From then on, the Bloods were gripped by despair. After that comes chapter 12; when all things are silent and repentant, the god of the believers accepts the call to return to them.”

Bai Lixin flipped back a few pages and asked in a low voice, “And what does chapter 11 say?”

They were surrounded by players, so Bai Lixin had to keep his voice down. His mouth was almost to Dijia’s ear so that only he could hear.

The hot, humid breath blew ripples on Dijia’s milky white fur and then into his ears as well.

Bai Lixin usually spoke in a gentle manner, but now with his voice lowered, his gentle voice was slightly tilted upward, like a lover whispering.

Dijia’s ears were instantly tickled and the earlobes heated up.

Seeing that Dijia didn’t answer, Bai Lixin started his daily stroking again. His technique was gentle, but he didn’t spare any place.

He started at the top of the head. He rubbed the ears, then stroked the slightly thicker mane on the neck, and finally followed the line of his belly down to where his lower abdomen was.

All of Dijia’s fur trembled in response, and his wings unfurled abruptly.

He felt a nameless fire blazing and raging in his body as Bai Lixin’s fingers caressed his body.

Wherever Bai Lixin’s fingers went, a blazing fire broke out.

Bai Lixin still didn’t know what was happening, and when he saw Dijia shaking his fur, his lips pressed more intimately to Dijia’s ear, “Are you alright?”

Dijia coughed lightly twice and retracted his wings awkwardly. His suppressed voice reached Bai Lixin’s ears, “Chapter 11 is about the devastation that befell the world of believers after their god of faith left. Fire from heaven fell to the earth, and the land was barren.”

Bai Lixin flipped through the contents of the eleventh chapter and found a sentence that was very similar to the two sentences earlier.

A soft voice rang in his ears, like a kitten scratching Dijia’s heart, “Then what does this sentence mean again?”

Dijia took a deep breath, took a look and replied in the calmest tone possible, “When despair sweeps over, repentance will come.”

Bai Lixin glanced at Dijia suspiciously, “Are you not feeling well? Why does your voice sound strange? Are you faint with hunger? Do you really not want a bite? Or do you have a fever?”

Dijia was stunned, and his body was suddenly lifted up. Before he could react, his belly was pressed against a smooth forehead.

The cool, delicate touch hit his belly, and it collided with the burning heat from earlier.

With a “bang”, all the hairs on Dijia’s body exploded.

The True Ancestor wanted to die on the spot.

Dijia stiffened his body, “I’m fine. Put me down, I want to sleep.”

Since there was no fever, Bai Lixin gathered the bat’s fur and put it back into his collar.

In his mind, he lined up three sentences in chapter order.

‘When faith is silent, despair shall come.”

When despair sweeps in, repentance will come.

When all things are silent, the Holy will come.’

After repeating the words twice more in his head and making sure they were completely committed to memory, Bai Lixin closed the Holy Book and set it aside.

He didn’t know what the three sentences meant yet, but they wouldn’t be useless since they were clues found in Lady Rose’s room.

On the side, the players’ chatter continued.

“What floors do you all live on?”

“I’ve just entered this game not long ago, and I haven’t passed that many copies, so I’m staying on the fourth floor.”

“I live on the thirteenth floor.”

“I live on the tenth floor.”

A player shouted, “Wen Ziqing, what about you? What floor do you live on?”

A gentle voice rang out, “I live on the fifty-second floor.”

“Wow!” Shock exploded in the room, “Fifty second floor! That’s awesome! Boss, fifty-two floors would mean over 50,000 performance points, right? How long have you been playing this game? Have you passed many copies?”

Wen Ziqing. “Not much, just a dozen or so.”

“Wow, a dozen or so copies and you can go above the 50th floor?! You really are a big boss. I’ve heard from players that the living environment changes drastically every 50 floors, is that true?”

“Yeah, tell us about it. What’s it like where you live?”

Bai Lixin pricked up his ears.

Wen Ziqing smiled gently, “It’s not much, just more options.”

“Options? What options?”

“The first level only has the game lobby, which is for exchanging information, while every 50 floors has an entertainment venue.”

“I’ve only been to the upper 50th floor, so I only know there’s a big gaming lobby there.”

One player wailed, “I’m throwing up! Haven’t I played enough of these copies? Why haven’t they given me a gaming lobby?!”

Wen Ziqing said, “That’s different. The gaming lobby is basically filled with the little games we played in our childhood. There are players against machines, players against players, and players against NPCs, and as long as you can beat the game, you get a chance to draw a lottery.”

“The prize pool has everything in it. Some players are lucky enough to be able to designate the next copy of the game. Isn’t that the equivalent of a gold medal for avoiding death? Some players even drew chances to double their performance score and went straight to the 100th floor.”

“The treatment is different every 50 floors up to the 999th floor. The one who resides on the highest point is an emperor-like existence. Even the system has to respect that person by some percentage.”

One player exclaimed, “You know a lot. Is there actually someone living on the 999th floor? I thought it was just a decoration.”

“Isn’t the first place on the rank list having a performance score of 9 digits? Is he the one living on the 999th floor?

“I don’t know how long he’s been in this world, but he’s survived so many levels, and that’s saying something.”

“But how do you know so much, Wen Ziqing?”

Wen Ziqing, “I also heard it from the seniors. My level is not good enough in front of the big guys, the president and vice-president of our guild live above the 300th level now.”

“Wow!!!” There was another gasp.

The tail of Bai Lixin’s eyes swept over Dijia. The furry little bat’s eyes were slightly closed and its abdomen was rising and falling regularly. It looked to be asleep.

Sure enough, the higher they climbed, the more resources and privileges the players acquired, and they had to keep upgrading if they wanted to peek into the essence and secrets of this game.