Chapter 238: The Fate of a Non-Chief is Still Fate

"How dare you address me by my name..."

Suddenly called by his name, Chu Yiping was stunned at first, then overjoyed, nodding repeatedly:

"Good, good, good!"

"I never expected you to be awake already!"

Good!

He is actually able to remember me!

Having hit a wall with Chu Hairen for so long, Team Leader Chu, finally seeing a glimmer of hope, sighed with emotion:

"It seems your condition is even better than I thought; you're just one final step away... Hmm? Why aren't you speaking?"

He had been talking for a long time, only to discover that Jiang Mingzhi's state seemed rather off.

After asking that one question, the other party had gone completely silent.

Chu Yiping frowned; he felt a chill in his heart being stared at by the other party's unblinking gaze.

"Hey! I'm asking you a question, why don't you say something?"

Staring at him for a long time, Jiang Mingzhi's eyeballs slowly rotated, and he whispered in repetition:

"Speak?"

"Pfft!"

Jiang Mingzhi suddenly burst into loud laughter with a pfft.

"Pfft, pfft... Hahahaha! Hahahaha!!!"

He laughed until his veins bulged, laughed until his whole body trembled, and saliva flowed from the corners of his mouth.

Chu Yiping:???

What is wrong with him?

How could he be so insane?

Watching Jiang Mingzhi's completely irrational appearance, Chu Yiping frowned and did not rush to speak.

He wanted to wait for the other party to finish his outburst, to wait until this surge of emotion was vented before asking.

"You want to trick me again!!? I won't fall for it!"

"Hallucination? It must be a hallucination!"

"I, I, I won't believe you people ever again!"

But just as Chu Yiping prepared to speak and soothe him, he heard a peculiar, faint sound.

Beep-beep-beep-beep—

【Patient emotional fluctuation detected, implementing forced calming measures.】

【Three, two, one... executing.】

Beep—

Along with the strange sound, a sizzling noise erupted from the iron box nearby, and two pitch-black tentacles extended from it.

Hmm!!?

Chu Yiping dodged, but he did not expect the two tentacles emerging from the iron box were not aimed at him.

They were aimed at the defenseless Jiang Mingzhi, pressing onto his two temples in one motion.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!!!

"Ahhhhhh—"

The Jiang Mingzhi who was screaming wildly a second ago was as if he had been hit with a mute button, entering vibration mode.

Buzz, buzz, buzz.

His eyes rolled upward, a large amount of white foam flowed from the corners of his mouth, and his whole body began to twitch irregularly.

The bizarre scene before him made Chu Yiping feel a sense of unease in his heart, and he retreated two steps.

Damn it.

What is this situation?

"Is this a Thunder Method? No, that's not right!"

It seems like a Thunder Method, but the power doesn't seem that strong...

While he hesitated, another change occurred on Jiang Mingzhi's side.

Without any warning, Jiang Mingzhi's trembling vanished; he seemed to have suddenly regained his composure.

Although white foam still remained at the corners of his mouth, his eyes had regained clarity.

He slumped on the bed, tilting his head to look at Chu Yiping, who had already retreated to the corner of the wall.

He said nothing, nor did he speak.

"... Jiang Mingzhi? Are, are you alright?"

Swallowing his saliva, Chu Yiping did not approach easily and asked tentatively:

"Do you know who I am?"

This time, Jiang Mingzhi did not continue to go mad, but nodded gently and said:

"I am very well."

He said:

"I feel better than ever before!"

Completely unaware of the two tentacles attached to the sides of his head, a blissful smile appeared on his face.

"Just now, I was reborn."

"I heard His voice!"

His voice?

Not daring to easily provoke the other party, Chu Yiping could only follow the other party's topic first and asked:

"Whose voice did you hear? What is He saying?"

Eerie.

Clearly, Jiang Mingzhi was much calmer at this moment than before, and logically speaking, he should be able to communicate normally, but the intuition Chu Yiping had cultivated over many years was telling him otherwise.

Jiang Mingzhi at this moment... was more dangerous than before!

Much more dangerous!

Sure enough, just as Chu Yiping's intuition had suggested, Jiang Mingzhi once again revealed something eerie.

The smile on his face grew wider and wider, almost reaching his earlobes, and he muttered in an eerie tone:

"Did you hear it?"

Hm?

"Hear what?"

The light in his eyes gradually vanished, and Jiang Mingzhi spoke gloomily:

"There is a voice calling out to me..."

"He says!"

"Return!"

Chu Yiping:!!!

He did not understand what was happening, nor did he understand where the crisis was coming from.

But the moment Jiang Mingzhi opened his mouth, everything seemed to change.

Hum—

Accompanied by an eerie tone ringing in his ears, the seemingly peaceful scene before his eyes suddenly shed its false disguise.

"What kind of hellish place is this!!?"

The snow-white walls turned into writhing walls of flesh, and the straps binding Jiang Mingzhi turned into pairs of pale corpse hands.

Not only that, but mouths and eyes appeared everywhere—on the ground, the walls, the ceiling...

They all stared at Chu Yiping in unison and spoke at the same time:

【Return...】

【Return~ Come back~】

【You wanderer roaming the ends of the earth~】

The World Voice itself, the great Father of Heaven's Mirror, the perfect being of unified virtue—Ren Yidao was happily humming a song.

【Return~ Come back~】

【Stop drifting about~】

Regarding what happened to Jiang Mingzhi and Chu Yiping, Ren Yidao stated that it had nothing to do with him.

Don't look at me like that; I just crafted a beginning for them that wasn't even that interesting.

But such a twisted development later on was not what I expected!

I really didn't expect it even a tiny bit.

Really.

Isn't this just the standard trope for Cthulhu-style scripts?

Besides, this whole thing about the indescribable babbling of Ancient Gods and hearing the voices of unknown entities follows the same logic.

It was you who insisted on listening; I didn't take the initiative to sing it for you.

Otherwise, go ask that old man Cthulhu; would He want a bunch of bugs shouting His name day and night?

What does that have to do with me?

I beg you not to come and disturb me.

You have no real work to do, but I do.

Right now, I am cultivating a vengeful ghost and have no time to deal with you!

By the way, that fellow Daoist Chu's luck really isn't very good.

The lad doesn't look like much, but his hands are quite "red" (lucky).

Right off the bat, he picked the two scenarios I carefully prepared: 【Red Dragon Disaster】 and 【Infatuation Electric Shock Dharma King】.

Moreover, this guy doesn't seem to know how to use the Dice...

"I remember telling him the general usage, didn't I?"

"Don't believe me? Well, believe it or not, it's up to you."

Although he had tampered with the script arrangements, Ren Yidao was still quite principled in other aspects.

Fair competition is what makes it interesting.

Hm.

At least on the surface, it has to look somewhat fair.

"I hope he tries his best; at least make the story a bit more interesting."

As for why Ren Yidao interfered with so much progress without being judged as cheating?

There are actually two reasons.

First, he is an Interferer, a legitimate participant.

Everything he did was within the rules, without borrowing the power of others to forcibly awaken them.

Secondly... because he wasn't advancing the progress at all!

Just look at what he has done!

First, Ren Yidao stuffed two outsiders into this competition.

Li Long is happily playing an immersive murder mystery game in various dungeons, acting as background characters of various identities.

The other is Yu Yu, though her identity is somewhat different from Li Long's; she is more like a player participating in a tabletop RPG.

And what these two people are doing will not advance the progress of the competition.

As for Ren Yidao himself... heh.

Don't make me laugh.

He is even hindering this group of contestants from waking up.

If you all wake up so quickly, then what am I supposed to play with?

What fun would I have to watch?

I know you are all very anxious, but don't be anxious yet.

It was not easy to gather so many people, and I have been busy and working hard for so long; can't I enjoy myself?

Let me have some fun first!

Once I have had enough fun, then I will consider the matter of letting you all wake up.

"I say... do I really have to carry this on my back?"

Li Fengyao's hesitant voice made Ren Yidao stop the song he was humming.

【Hmm? Is there a problem?】

"Yes."

At this moment, Li Fengyao looked different from the miserable state she was in back in the cave.

Although her complexion still looked a bit haggard and pale, her eyes were much brighter than before.

The wounds on her body had also healed, and except for her slightly unsteady footsteps, one could not tell she was a cripple not long ago.

Dressed in white like snow, with her waist straight as a pine, the bearing of the former Holy Son of the Zhengqi Sect seemed to have returned to her.

Except that she was currently carrying a massive yellow alien weapon on her back, making this image look somewhat strange.

"What is this thing?"

Ever since the day she agreed to take the other party as her Foster Father, he first easily treated her injuries, and then made her carry this heavy weapon.

【A ruler, isn't that obvious? Didn't I tell you before?】

【You must never underestimate this Profound Heavy, uh... triangle ruler; tempering your physical body is just its most basic function.】

Ren Yidao earnestly exhorted the shortsighted young person:

【A triangle ruler can also measure length, and even open up one's mind when necessary.】

Open up one's mind?

What kind of term is this...

Hearing the other party say such ambiguous words that felt like they hid deep meanings, Li Fengyao could only frown and remain silent.

Intuition told her that this sentence might not be as simple as it appeared on the surface.

"Is there something I haven't comprehended?"

Li Fengyao shook her head, shaking the doubts in her heart out of her mind.

Now is not the time to dwell on such trivial matters.

For the sake of revenge, she needs to see real, authentic power.

"Foster Father, I have one thing I do not understand."

【Oh, feel free to speak.】

"Although Foster Father has healed my injuries and restored most of my strength, please allow me to ask one more thing..."

She narrowed her eyes, touched the jade ring hanging on her neck, and asked in a low voice:

"When will I be able to make those people pay the price?"

Li Fengyao's way of asking was very clever.

She did not ask when she would possess a certain amount of strength, but asked when she could take revenge.

Because in many cases, revenge does not actually require very profound martial arts.

"If we follow this slow pace, I am afraid I will not be able to take revenge on everyone in time."

Ren Yidao: Oh?

Thinking it's too slow?

Hearing the meaning in Li Fengyao's words, Ren Yidao floated out from the jade ring, circled around her, and asked playfully:

【Do you feel that the current speed is a bit slow?】

"A little."

【Are you still suspecting that the restrictions I placed on you along the way were just to amuse myself?】

"... I dare not."

【No, you dare, and you dare greatly.】

You child, not only do you dare to speculate on my sincere heart with malice.

You even guessed right!

... What should be done about this?

This Second Prince, even if she is holding the script of a "trash protagonist getting their engagement annulled," is not so easy to fool.

That intuition is a bit too sharp.

But even if one's true intentions are seen through, the superficial act must still be performed.

Ren Yidao, playing the part of an expert, gave a light hum and flicked his sleeves.

【Since that is the case, then let me show you the results of these few short days of training!】

After estimating the position, Ren Yidao pointed toward the south of the mountain range and waved his hand:

【Head south!】

【If you walk south for a period of time, you will surely encounter your destined person.】

Destined person?

【When that time comes, you will be able to understand your father's painstaking efforts!】

【And you will also see clearly just how unnecessary your suspicions toward your father were!】

Li Fengyao's brows were locked in a frown; although she still had many questions she wanted to ask, the jade ring dimmed at this moment.

No matter how much she spoke, there was no response.

……

……

In a forest belonging to the outer perimeter of the Zhengqi Sect, less than ten miles from where Li Fengyao was, two women stretched in unison.

"Mm—ha!!!"

"Mm~"

【Having finished a long rest, Li Qiushui and Shi Xue had both recovered their spirits.】

【One walked out from the shadows of the missing tree branches, and the other had recovered her physical strength and spirit.】

【After spending a few days together, they had gradually begun to grow familiar with one another.】

【They learned of each other's identities, chatted about their respective experiences, and were both amazed by the other's bravery.】

【However, there was still one matter that weighed heavily on the Knight-Thief Shi Xue.】

【This young lady of the Li Family insisted repeatedly that she had never practiced martial arts, but could what she had seen and felt that day have been false?】

"It couldn't be that I saw it wrong, could it?"

Impossible.

As a thief, one's eye for detail is equally important.

Shi Xue simply did not believe she could have misjudged the situation.

You say you are an ordinary person, but I do not believe it.

Yet after spending a few days together, whether it was the way the young lady before her walked or went about her daily life, there was absolutely no sign of her being a martial practitioner.

That innocent and artless appearance made even Shi Xue begin to hesitate in her heart.

Could it be that I am the one who is wrong?

After enduring for a few days, Shi Xue finally could not help but make a test.

"Just a little bit, I'll just try a little bit!"

She designed a few small traps to see if Li Qiushui would fall for them.

And then...

They all failed.

Furthermore, they all landed on herself.

The laxative smeared in the cup ended up in her own mouth, she fell into her own hidden pit and sprained her ankle, the blowgun needle she blew bounced back and pricked her own body...

Shi Xue, who had tested nothing and ended up in a disheveled state, grew angrier the more she thought about it, and looked to the Heaven to ask:

"Why!!?"

Damn it, why!?

【Because your Dice roll was not high enough!】

No one wanted this situation to happen.

Ren Yidao: I gave you the chance, but you just couldn't make it work!

I gave you a pass on the check every time, but you failed every time...

【Although the fate of a 'non-chief' is still fate, one should not blame society for being a 'non-chief'!】

【The Dice have always been like this; it is not your own problem, have you been working hard enough?】

Li Qiushui was startled by Shi Xue's sudden wail and turned her head to ask:

"What's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing."

The corners of her mouth twitched; Shi Xue still felt too embarrassed to say it directly, so she changed the subject:

"We have already entered the territory of the Zhengqi Sect; I imagine we will encounter others if we walk a bit further."

Sad news: I had insomnia yesterday and only slept for three or four hours, so I'm not doing well today. I'll only do 4,000 words today and make up for it later.

Also, yesterday I posted 9,000 words across three updates, yet the subscriptions were the lowest they've been in days... I'm a bit confused myself...