Chapter 608: Opening Verse (10/10, bonus chapter for

Wailing, Jing Yan was wailing.

His wails echoed through the prison, and finally woke the two unconscious Pangzi.

After a series of bewildered, hostile, malicious initial exchanges, Jing Yan reluctantly explained the current situation to them.

"So… we're locked up and can only play games? Play that Death Game?"

"Yes!"

"…And if we refuse?"

"Then there's no food!"

"Hmph! I don't believe it! If they've got the guts, they can starve me to death!"

Jing Yan ignored him—stubborn little brat, serves you right if you starve!

Jing Yan had originally sent Qingchen to investigate why players had suddenly started quitting the game in large numbers.

But after waiting half a day, it seemed more like Qingchen himself had quit the game.

This damn thing could cost people their lives!

Damn it, Lord Han's experiment isn't finished yet, and Captain Lin's situation is stuck in limbo—one death means two lives lost!

If Qingchen drops everything now, things will really get out of hand!

Although he always called Qingchen a scumbag, Jing Yan acknowledged Qingchen's technical ability.

Throughout all of Qingsi County, there wasn't a single person who would dare claim they could take over an experiment that Qingchen had half-completed.

If Qingchen never logged in again, Lord Han would really be done for! And Lin Ling probably wouldn't survive either.

After questioning the two fat boys, Jing Yan finally learned the whole story.

The problem was he had no idea what happened to Miaofa afterward—he'd already gone off to get himself killed and been thrown into a prison cell!

After entering the game, it was Fang Yue who drew the eerie matters away.

And after that, rebuilding Qingsi County and researching with Qingchen how to revive Lord Han—who had the mind to care about whether Miaofa lived or died? They weren't close to begin with!

Of course, he hadn't expected Miaofa to be so ruthless, directly playing the self-destruct card and dragging everyone down with him.

Well, now anyone who'd seen the in-game message probably knew that dying in the game would cause real-world trouble.

Who would still be willing to play such a terrifying Death Game?

And besides… this damn game has way too high a death rate.

The eerie things are brutally lethal, killing people over nothing—how could anyone handle that?

Everyone starts from the same point as the Natives, with only one life—wouldn't that be game over!

Those Natives have diligently cultivated the Martial Dao for ten or twenty years, and you, a player who's only been in the game for a month or two, think you can catch up? Impossible! You really think everyone's some freak like Ye Ge?

Jing Yan felt he was the type who could best represent ordinary players.

Even now he still hadn't entered the Martial Dao, just tagging along with Fang Yue—his lifespan wasn't a worry, but it wasn't useful either, just barely clinging to life.

He'd missed several chances to turn things around; once opportunities slip away, catching them again becomes hard.

Ignoring his two new roommates, Jing Yan entered the game once more.

Looking at the street, he saw quite a few people lying on the ground in strange postures—Jing Yan understood these were players who'd gotten wind of the news and quit the game directly.

As for what the United Front would do about this batch of people, Jing Yan had no idea.

Anyway, as long as they don't shove more people into my little prison, I'm fine—I'm having such a hard time…

Feeling depressed, Jing Yan stepped over several "corpse-lying" players and headed toward the Green Division.

Earlier, since Qingchen hadn't responded, Jing Yan had gone out himself to ask other players, but other players quit the game faster than he could approach them, screaming in terror "don't come any closer!" as they logged out.

Such a massive wave of quitting would have killed any ordinary game for good.

But this game… Jing Yan really couldn't say—this game was just too damn mysterious, giving people an unfathomable feeling.

In any case, Jing Yan was scared of this game; if he could leave, he'd quit without hesitation—but he couldn't.

Returning to the Green Division and arriving at the experiment room, Jing Yan froze.

He saw Qingchen already at work, with Lin Ling continuing to inject various Conditioning Agents, adjusting the ratio of body elements to better match Lord Han and facilitate fusion.

"You…"

Jing Yan opened his mouth, but was cut off by Qingchen.

"I know why the Drifters collectively quit the game."

Qingchen's eyes were red, as if he'd been crying in the game.

Jing Yan sighed: "I know too."

Not only do I know, I'm locked up with two unlucky bastards.

"You know?! You also saw…"

Qingchen didn't continue, but after a moment of silence, said: "The mistake has already been made, even if unintentional, not of my own will. But a mistake is a mistake, and what I can do is try my best to atone for the error I've committed, and help more people in the game survive!"

Wh-what?!

What is that glowing—it's Saint Qingchen!

Jing Yan was dumbfounded—this guy's moral caliber was way too high.

Just seal the Phoenix Organization experience away as a dark history and be done with it—who knew this game would be so twisted? You're completely innocent!

But seeing that Qingchen had already finished comforting himself and was no longer dwelling on it, Jing Yan didn't bring it up again.

"Then how about I assist you? At least let's get Lord Han revived first."

"Okay!"

An afternoon passed quickly.

When Jing Yan logged out of the game on time and was waiting to eat, he saw the two Pangzi clinging to the prison cell's iron bars, wailing outward.

Soon, the cleaning lady arrived.

This time, the cleaning lady had an electric shock device in her hand.

Before Jing Yan could figure out what was going on, the cleaning lady zapped the fatty once, and he fell to the ground shrieking and trembling.

Bang.

Only then did the cleaning lady set the food down in front of Jing Yan.

"Eat! If it gets stolen, you don't get seconds."

Cleaning lady!!

Jing Yan's eyes welled up with tears; he felt like he was being PUA'd into feeling something.

Plain white rice, smells so good!!

……

The mass exodus of players had limited impact on Qingsi County.

Because compared to the vast number of natives, the number of players was pitifully small.

After all, with scattered random spawn points, Qingsi County never had many players to begin with, and after this wave of departures, almost all of them were gone. Those who remained were people who had no idea what had happened and hadn't been present for those events in time, since all traces had been covered up by the Alliance.

Anyone who didn't learn the truth during that particular window of time would, through normal means, have no way of ever learning it.

Thanks to the efforts of Jing Yan and Qing Chen, Lin Ling's transplant of Lord Han's eyeball was just one final step away from completion.

It was on this very day.

People had arrived from the superior Qing Si.

The two of them were forcibly brought by Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu to the main hall of Qing Si to wait.

"Why'd you drag us here…" Jing Yan grumbled.

Qing Chen was also a bit displeased, but said nothing.

"I heard that the superior Qing Si who came this time were dispatched from the Qing Si headquarters in the Capital of Qing Guo."

What?!

The two of them were slightly stunned.

This backwater corner of Heiqing Shanmai was actually worth sending people from the Capital of Qing Guo to handle? Weren't they saying that for something like this, the Qing Si of Chunuan City could just send people to deal with the aftermath?

And… the Capital of Qing Guo is very far from here, yet they rushed over this quickly.

As the three of them and all the Qing Wei waited, a Silver-Clad Qing Wei in a silver outfit with gold-thread trim and a Wooden Silver Tablet hanging from his waist, like a fawning pug wagging its head and tail, obsequiously and ingratiatingly kept leading the way for a white-haired old man behind him.

A Silver-Clad Qing Wei, acting like this?

How spineless. Who is that old man?

Everyone muttered to themselves.

By then the white-haired old man had already arrived in front of Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu and the others.

"Who's in charge here."

Everyone looked at Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu.

"You? Just a little girl? What rank of Qing Wei are you?"

"…I'm not a Qing Wei."

"Not a Qing Wei??" The white-haired old man was taken aback, then anger rose to his face.

"Not a Qing Wei, yet you can make decisions for Qing Si? Just how chaotic have the lower Qing Si become?"

"Please calm down, You Lao, please calm down!" Mu Yinyi Qing Wei hurriedly smoothed things over, having already cursed the Qing Si of this backwater place ten thousand times over in his heart.

"Hmph! You shut your mouth too. Qing Cheng's Qing Wei aren't anything good either."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Mu Yinyi replied with an apologetic smile.

"Waste of time! You little girl, you're the one in charge, right? Where was Sisi buried?"

Everyone was stunned.

"You mean Sister You Sisi?"

"Obviously!"

"May I ask who you are…"

"I'm her grandfather! Never stops causing trouble, told her not to go out, not to go out, and she just had to go out, and now she's dead!" You Lao cursed and grumbled.

But that tone of voice made people feel a bit angry.

You Sisi was already dead, and her family had this kind of attitude!

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu clenched her small fists and, neither servile nor overbearing, said: "May I ask if You Lao has come to pay respects to Sister You?"

"Pay respects? I'm here to take her back."

"But, but Sister You is already dead, let her rest in peace…"

"Who told you she's dead? Before she finishes marrying that little bastard from Jingcheng, even if she's dead, she has to come back to life for me!"

……

You Sisi's remains, along with her coffin, were taken away together.

No one could stop them. Qing Chen was lost in thought, while the others were indignant.

This was too much, this was too much—even the remains laid to rest had to be disturbed. The You Family was far too cruel to their own people!

After the indignation passed, Qing Chen and Jing Yan finally implanted Lord Han's eyeball into Lin Ling's empty eye socket.

What remained was the nurturing; whether Lord Han could actually be revived would depend on whether Lin Ling could pull it off.

……

About half a month or so after You Sisi's remains were taken away.

An urgent Document was sent from Jingcheng to Chunuan City.

"Effective immediately, summon 【White-Clad Qing Wei】 Yese Liming to report to the Imperial Palace."

……

Gimme a monthly vote ticket — it's the last double period.

(End of chapter)