Chapter 49: Please Remain Calm, Passengers

Please remain calm, passengers.

Clearly, the judges of the Grand Tribunal have noticed the players’ presence.

Regardless of their reasons for not pursuing, those with self-awareness immediately abandoned any further action and returned to their rooms with grim expressions.

Tonight’s performance ended with the cost of a second life, amid the survivors’ terror.

Fang Jue and Du Xiguang walked toward the same room; their chaotic auras subtly avoided Cheng Shi.

The current situation is too chaotic to avoid linking it to the followers of [Chaos].

Although Cheng Shi did nothing, doing nothing made him even more suspicious.

Since the trial began, the group has felt as if they were being led by the nose.

Wherever they investigated, someone died.

This resembles past trials with [Chaos] followers, the only difference being that the deaths this time were more coincidental—and more plausible.

Cheng Shi could see their thoughts, so he didn’t bother chasing after cold shoulders.

Like a pilgrim, he silently went downstairs alone.

But he didn’t return to his own room—he went to Yun Ni’s room.

Yun Ni’s room was simple, even excessively so.

Not a single one of her personal belongings remained, not even the table, chairs, or benches provided by the inn.

Cheng Shi knew these items had been used by the assassin girl for her Yuxing.

The Yuxing of [Annihilation] is annihilation.

Finding no useful clues, Cheng Shi sighed helplessly.

Perhaps this is the hallmark of [Annihilation] followers—when they dedicate themselves to [Annihilation], all traces of their existence vanish.

As if they had never been here.

He lay on Yun Ni’s bed, gazing sideways at the knife slit she had carved into the wooden wall, feeling dazed.

Though only a dozen hours had passed since the slit’s creation, today felt as long as several days.

He suddenly recalled the moment Yun Ni shook his hand—her crimson fingernails still vivid in his memory.

Memories surged endlessly; each recollection tightened his brow a little more.

He wasn’t reminiscing about these fragmented details.

He was thinking.

Thinking about how the knife slit had come into being.

If he remembered correctly, the assassin girl could precisely sense Cheng Shi’s position through the wall.

That meant she possessed a detection or perception talent—and it was not low-grade.

If so, why hadn’t she detected anything unusual in the room before entering?

Even if the Grand Tribunal judges had ways to conceal themselves, an assassin—a profession famed for caution—could not have sensed no warning at all.

She had warned Fang Jue and the others the instant she opened the door.

But!

That warning itself was even more inexplicable.

Cheng Shi couldn’t help wondering: if he were in her place, upon sensing danger in the room, he would either flee with all his strength or prepare for a direct confrontation—he certainly wouldn’t waste precious time warning his teammates first.

He knew exactly how Yun Ni treated her teammates.

She might care about her so-called fairness, but she would never care about others’ lives.

Even teaming up with Fang Jue and the others to resist would have been more sensible than merely issuing a warning.

So why did she do it?

After thinking for a long time, Cheng Shi could find no reasonable explanation—only a Mianqiang plausible one:

She was controlled!

Likely not a prolonged control, but a momentary influence on her mind.

And that single moment of decision cost her life.

Someone hidden in the shadows could control thoughts!

Was it the killer—or a player?

Most likely the killer.

Of course, Fang Jue and Du Xiguang couldn’t be ruled out.

Cheng Shi’s expression grew heavier.

It seemed that in this trial, not only was there a perfectly hidden killer, but someone was also stirring up trouble in the chaos!

Danger surged in the night; murder lurked within the inn.

Fortunately, dawn was near.

Soon, daylight broke.

Passengers awoke one by one; the inn regained its bustle and vitality.

But the peace didn’t last—just as Fang Jue and Cheng Shi stepped out of their rooms onto the corridor, a group of uniformed Enforcers forcefully slammed shut the inn’s front door.

“Enforcer Bureau Order Issued:

At the request of Judge Mo Qiusi of the Grand Tribunal, all exits of Yongzhan Town are sealed, and the Ever-Blooming Inn is locked down.

Passengers, please remain calm—the judges have already secured the situation; your safety is guaranteed.

Please leave your rooms in an orderly manner and assemble on the first floor.

Repeat: please assemble on the first floor!”

The Grand Tribunal has moved!

Their speed far exceeded expectations!

The entire inn was sealed off.

Fang Jue and the others exchanged glances with Cheng Shi, then silently went downstairs.

Cheng Shi followed obediently.

The Grand Tribunal’s target isn’t the players.

Since they let them go last night, they wouldn’t come back today with such force to trouble them.

Their target is the killer.

As the players descended, their thoughts churned:

If the killer truly fell into the Grand Tribunal’s hands, would the clues end here?

Regardless of whether the final sacrifice was him, no one could interrogate a prisoner under the Grand Tribunal’s custody.

Especially not one who had instantly killed Yun Ni.

The passengers were stunned by the Enforcers’ announcement; chaos spread through the inn.

Everyone was bewildered, murmuring among themselves.

“What’s going on? Why seal the inn? Where’s the innkeeper—he should protest to the Autonomy Council!”

“Are you insane? This is a Grand Tribunal order! Do you even know what the Grand Tribunal is? If the judges up there had no evidence, why would they seal the inn?”

“Oh my god, is the killer in the inn? Praise [Prosperity], I’m still alive!”

“Wait, is the lead judge Mo Qiusi? My god, I’d give anything to see him—even just one glance!”

“Who? The Thunder Child?”

“That’s him! He’s a Level One Judge of the Grand Tribunal, a student of Grand Executioner Altaire, the most gifted elemental judge in history, and the most likely heir to the title of Grand Judge—the Son of [Order]!”

Even!

Even just one glance at him tonight would be a dream I’d remember for eternity.”

“You look like you’re flirting—it’s terrifying. Maybe for Mo Qiusi, seeing you would give him nightmares.”

“Are you looking for a fight?”

“By [Prosperity], the judges have already locked onto the killer—I’m not afraid of you anymore.”

“......”

The scene was a mess; players scattered through the restless crowd, carefully observing everyone and everything around them for signs of suspicion.

Before the Grand Tribunal’s verdict, they still hoped to uncover clues first.

But there were too many people, too much noise—in such chaos, it was nearly impossible to find someone who seemed “un Keyi ”; many passengers’ behaviors twisted into panicked, reactive extremes.

Cheng Shi sighed faintly and shifted his thinking.

Meanwhile, four Grand Tribunal judges quietly appeared at the four corners of the lobby, enclosing the entire inn with only four men.

Soon, amid the anxious murmurs, a judge in a long robe with violet eyes appeared at the inn’s entrance.

Mo Qiusi!

The Grand Tribunal’s elemental judge—the most popular Level One Judge in history!

“Do you know him?”

Du Xiguang stood among the crowd and asked quietly.

Fang Jue nodded and said:

“The Son of [Order] who died young—I saw his name in the Grand Tribunal’s historical records.

After his death, the Grand Tribunal gradually sank into the mud of war and began to weaken.”

“Died young... war?”

Du Xiguang was confused, but then he realized.

"Is this the end of the Civilized Era?"

"No, it’s even earlier."

"It should be the tail end of the middle phase—right now, the civil war has just begun, [War] has only just started to notice this land, but has not yet descended; as for [Chaos], even its name has not yet been spoken."

"!"

A flash of insight struck Du Qiyu—he suddenly understood why, despite a follower of [Chaos] having stood outside the door last night, the Inquisitors of the Grand Inquisition had not come to arrest him.

At this time, it was the early phase of the Civilized Era; thousands of years had passed since [Order] and [Truth] had descended, their followers had nearly unified the surface, but [War] had only just begun to notice Star Fall Continent.

"How did he die?"

"The Grand Inquisition’s records are vague—I never joined them, so my knowledge is limited."

"What is the [Child of Order]?" Du Qiyu asked again.

This time, Fang Shiqing did not answer him, but asked in return:

"What did you trade your memories for?"

Du Qiyu’s face tightened; he clenched his lips and said nothing.

Fang Shiqing seemed to guess something, and said nothing more.

The Inquisitor, whose eyes flickered with purple lightning, stepped forward one by one before the crowd, tapped the floor with his scepter, and signaled for silence.

Perhaps due to the pressure of [Order], or perhaps out of respect for the Grand Inquisition, the hall quickly fell silent.

He had not yet spoken, but merely bowed in the manner of [Order]’s followers—a thought of “obeying laws and discipline” instantly infected Cheng Shi, stirring within him an urge to “surrender himself.”

"......"

This was far more impressive than Fang Shiqing’s “confession” last night.

Just as everyone lowered their heads, preparing to “accept judgment,” Mo Li spoke.