Chapter 283: Don

Time is like sand grains held in the hand, slipping away slowly.

When the raging wind suddenly stops, everything returns to calm.

The souls that completed the Task reluctantly bid farewell to the school, lining up in an orderly queue to return to their original spots.

Sight this scene, Li Zhangge couldn't help but sigh, "They still retain their pre‑death nature; even in death they haven't forgotten to line up."

Lai Siyao couldn't help but give him a white look, "Don't force me to slap you at the most moving moment."

Li Zhangge sheepishly touched his Nose and obediently shut his Mouth.

He only wanted to say something to ease the heavy atmosphere, after all Lai Siyao had already become a tear person.

"They are all so pitiful, can we do something?"

Su Yang fell into contemplation; from the current situation, only the students show their heads.

The strange object has not appeared.

That also means the strange objects have all been eliminated.

"Butcher" is also most likely the case.

"Only the final stage remains, let's go." Li Zhangge rubbed his fists, his eyes showing resolve.

In this decisive battle, he is determined to make Tang Hui taste the flavor of death!

"No rush, before that, let's go downstairs to see the corpses," Su Yang said.

"Do you suspect Ruan Ziliang's identity has issues?" Qin Weiyang asked curiously.

"Let's look first and then speak," Su Yang said calmly.

When the four went downstairs, they arrived at a scene covered in bloodstains.

Two corpses lay in twisted postures, their eyes wide open, Vision Perception already scattered.

Su Yang used a knife to tear open their clothes and turned them over.

Only a Fire‑red bird‑shaped creature Seal Mark was on Dong Ya's back.

But Ruan Ziliang had none on his back.

"Guardians also have tattoos?" Li Zhangge was as amazed as if discovering a New Continent.

"Ruan Ziliang isn't a Guardian?" Qin Weiyang furrowed his Brow.

Strangely, this outwardly innocent youth always appears in each scene with uncanny coincidence.

In the initial bullying incident, Wang Qi openly attacked him in the cafeteria.

Then Su Yang, near midnight, returned to the dormitory and happened to meet him, who helped untie the anti‑theft net.

Next, he was captured in the Passage, and after returning to the dormitory, a fire broke out and he vanished.

Finally, when they saw him, Tang Hui captured him and used him as a hostage for intimidation.

"Indeed it's odd, he's clearly just a Normal Difficulty person, why can he always take part in our actions?" Li Zhangge Scent Perception a hint of something off.

"Could it be… some kind of 'hidden' Innate Talent?"

Saying that, Qin Weiyang reached out to touch Ruan Ziliang's back.

The feel was no different from the rest, with no abrupt sensation.

"He's not a player, the number of participants is already full," Su Yang shook his head.

"Then the last Guardian…" Lai Siyao asked.

Su Yang turned his head toward the male dormitory building, squinting his eyes, "Vice Principal—Liao Chen!"

Is that him?

The three showed strange expressions, but upon closer thought it seemed reasonable.

"So the person you mentioned with the greatest energy and power…" Li Zhangge suddenly understood.

No wonder Guardians always grasp their movements at First Place moment.

It turned out there was a massive Buddha seated behind, holding the place.

Except for a brief appearance during the school‑wide assembly on the First Place afternoon.

The rest of the time he was like an invisible person.

Li Zhangge initially had a conjecture, but could not confirm.

Now, with such a massive fire in the dormitory building, the leadership of Luoshui Middle School all arrived.

Only Liao Chen was absent.

From Tang Hui's behavior, it's clear he must have abandoned the vehicle to protect the commander and met the other party.

"Hidden deep enough, this guy…" Qin Weiyang's gaze grew cold.

At this moment, Lai Siyao suddenly noticed something and exclaimed, "Look, Dong Ya has a knife wound on her chest!"

At those words, the three's gazes darted together.

They saw a stark knife scar on the pale skin.

"A follow‑up cut?" Qin Weiyang's Pupil narrowed slightly.

Su Yang took a folding knife, thrust it from the original wound until the blade was mostly embedded before feeling resistance.

It's clear this slash pierced the heart, completely ending Dong Ya's life.

"Why do that? She fell from such a height, she was already certain to die," Lai Siyao's eyes were full of incomprehension.

Doing this to someone already destined to die is indeed hard to fathom.

Moreover… who made this slash?

"Ruan Ziliang has no weapon on him, and he landed on the back of his head, making homicide impossible," Qin Weiyang said.

"Suicide?" Li Zhangge suddenly thought of a possibility.

He explained, "Her Innate Talent is 'Puppet'; could it be that she wants to make herself Fake Death and then turn herself into a Puppet?"

As soon as those words were spoken, the three of them stared at each other, each seeing "disgust for stupidity" in the other's eyes.

"How can a Dead Person use Innate Talent, let alone turn themselves into a Puppet, who would command?" Lai Siyao said irritably.

"Liao Chen or Tang Hui?"

"She is so foolish as to sacrifice her own life and then hand over the War Spoils?" Su Yang retorted.

"Tang Hui has been resurrected once; perhaps he used this method to cheat her into Death and Rebirth?" Li Zhangge said.

That possibility is not nonexistent.

But no one would wager their own life.

"Wait, Resurrection?" Su Yang suddenly thought of something.

Li Zhangge, seeing this, instantly rejoiced, "You also think my Reasoning is reasonable, right?"

Qin Weiyang was startled, she looked at Su Yang with a strange expression.

She thought, he wouldn't agree with such a ridiculous claim, would he?

In fact, Su Yang wasn't even considering whether a conspiracy lay behind this at all.

He was pondering the price of Resurrection!

"We discussed before that Tang Hui's Resurrection requires a price, to complete his Task, remember?" Su Yang asked.

Qin Weiyang looked at the wounds on the corpse, her heart stirred, "You mean…"

"He needs to kill people to sustain his life!" Su Yang furrowed his Brow.

Boom!

Those words exploded in the three people's brains like a heavy Bomb.

The turmoil in their hearts was even harder to calm.

Li Zhangge exclaimed in horror, "Exchange others' lives for one's own?"

"So he set the dormitory building on Fire, just to have these few hundred people renew his life?"

"No, Normal Difficulty people aren't included; it must be players." Su Yang said gravely.

"Then Shen Yuran was killed by him?" Qin Weiyang was shocked.

Su Yang looked toward the rooftop, his eyes flashing, "Tang Hui only transferred in today; on the First Place day, what he did is unknown to anyone."

"What is certain is that he never stopped scheming, and his purpose is simple and brutal."

"It's simply to take people's lives!"

"Wang Qi?!" Qin Weiyang blurted out.

Su Yang nodded slightly, "Ruan Ziliang is highly likely the piece he placed beside us."

He is not a player, yet he always manages to partake in the game.

Moreover, upon seeing the underground Passage and the strange object, he showed no surprise or panic.

On the contrary, he was extremely excited.

This clearly defies common sense.

"So he deliberately provoked Eternal Night?" Lai Siyao asked.

"Why? Doesn't this make the Guardians more passive?" Qin Weiyang felt it was unreasonable.

Su Yang fumbled the key in his pocket, and suddenly recalled the scene of using Deception to Summon Treasure on the First Place night.

At the same time, he tried to Summon again in the Secret Room beneath the dormitory office, but to no avail.

"Deception" is omnipotent, yet both attempts failed.

Initially he doubted Deception's energy, but never suspected someone was covertly meddling.

Now it seems…

"He had already taken the Treasure, everything we did…"

Su Yang inhaled deeply and said slowly, "It's all Useless work!"