However, after waiting for a while, he still did not see Dong Xiu’s sword coming down. Xin Meng opened his eyes and was surprised to see Dong Xiu illuminated by a beam of light, as if the pause button had been pressed on him, maintaining a bent posture of attack, completely motionless!
He immediately followed the beam of light and found that the source was his own raised dagger!
The black stone on the dagger, which looked completely unremarkable, like a broken stone picked up from the ground, was now emitting a bright and massive glow. The light condensed into a beam, slowly enveloping Dong Xiu, who seemed to be petrified by a true Medusa, his whole body stiff as stone, with only his eyeballs moving in terror!
As the saying goes, take advantage of the situation when someone is down. Xin Meng had not yet figured out what was happening, but he would never let such a good opportunity slip away. He gritted his teeth, endured the pain, got up from the ground, tightly gripped the dagger, and limped towards Dong Xiu. Dong Xiu’s eyes moved to him, staring intently, but Xin Meng did not care whether the emotions within were regret or pleading; his heart was as cold as iron, and he thrust the sharp dagger into Dong Xiu’s left chest!
The bright tip of the knife tore through flesh in an instant, severing blood vessels, and plunged into the heart. Blood gushed from the wound, staining the high-end white shirt a deep red.
The light on the dagger disappeared, and Dong Xiu’s body went limp, falling to the ground with a thud. Blood flowed from his chest and the corner of his mouth. He rolled his eyes and convulsed for a moment before gradually stopping breathing.
Truly… unwilling to accept this…
Crash!
With the master’s death, the yellow barrier vanished like a burst bubble, and the people inside the barrier regained their connection with the outside world.
He looked up and saw You Yi had already arrived at the square, frowning as he first assessed him. Seeing that he was not mortally wounded, he let out a sigh of relief and walked straight towards him, ignoring the corpses scattered around.
Having just gone through a chase and fight, Xin Meng had consumed a lot of energy, lost quite a bit of blood, and had been on edge, thinking he was going to die and was frightened. Now, seeing You Yi, all the suppressed emotions surged up, and his legs went weak, unable to support him any longer. When You Yi reached him, he lunged into the other’s arms, feeling the other’s arms tightly wrap around his waist, and then he fainted with relief.
When he woke up again, he was already lying on a large red bed, his wounds treated and bandaged, the blanket pulled up to his chin.
There was only him in the room.
He lifted the blanket and sat up, just about to get out of bed when You Yi walked in holding a tray.
Seeing You Yi’s gaze, Xin Meng shrank his legs back, obediently lay back down, leaned against the headboard, covered himself with the blanket, and innocently blinked at You Yi.
[Awake?]
You Yi did not mind, walked over, sat at the edge of the bed, and placed the tray in front of Xin Meng. On it was steaming rice porridge, along with fragrant stir-fried vegetables and rice.
As soon as Xin Meng caught a whiff of the aroma, he could no longer hold back; his stomach began to rumble. Just a moment ago, he hadn’t felt anything, but now he immediately thought he had turned into a starving ghost.
He picked up the porridge and took a sip. The warm sensation traveled down his throat to his stomach, and then his whole body felt warm.
“How long did I sleep?” Xin Meng asked.
You Yi reached out and wiped the porridge that had splashed onto the corner of his mouth, [A day.]
“Ah? That long!” Xin Meng was taken aback, almost knocking over the bowl of porridge. “Then the third match has already ended?”
You Yi caught the bowl and placed it back on the tray, shaking his head.
[The third match is scheduled for three days later.]
“Why is there a gap of a few days?” Xin Meng was puzzled.
[Other legions suffered heavy losses. Wrath burned the square, Gluttony fell from his chair and broke his left leg, and Jealousy and Greed fainted from anger. They need three days to recover.]
“How could Greed faint?” Xin Meng asked. “Isn’t Qi Xiaokui still alive?”
[Several arrows broke, and it is said that there are scratches on the bow that cannot be repaired.]
Xin Meng: “…Then what about Qi Xiaokui?”
[She is fine.]
Xin Meng felt relieved, grabbed You Yi’s hand, and said with a hint of emotion, “It’s clearly their own problem. Why should we wait for them to recover? Isn’t that too unfair to you!”
You Yi said nothing, placing the tray on his lap. Xin Meng obediently picked up the bowl and ate the vegetables with the rice.
After finishing the meal, Xin Meng remembered the magical weapon that had saved him. He looked around and indeed saw the dagger placed beside his pillow. He picked it up and handed it to You Yi, who did not refuse, taking it and holding it in his palm, the black stone side facing up.
Xin Meng reached out and touched the now unremarkable black stone, asking, “What is this?”
[Magic stone.]
“It can freeze people? That’s so convenient.” Xin Meng didn’t quite understand, just nodded and casually remarked.
He did not know that in order to exchange for this stone from the Jealousy Demon General, You Yi had agreed to the other party’s exorbitant demands. Later, after the second match ended, the other party used this as a threat to gain that precious three days.
You Yi had no intention of telling him.
“I thought this matter would be easy to resolve, but unexpectedly, three people died at once,” Xin Meng recalled the previous events, feeling a bit helpless. “Even now, I don’t quite understand why Li Yougen hates us to this extent. I also didn’t expect Dong Xiu to be so obsessed with the Demon King’s legacy. I can solve many puzzles in the game, but I can’t figure out human hearts.”
You Yi rubbed his head.
[Very normal.]
Xin Meng’s mouth twitched, “What do you mean by very normal? Are you saying I’m this stupid and it’s normal?”
You Yi was amused by him but just shook his head without explaining.
So he took it as acquiescence. Xin Meng felt a bit angry, but it wasn’t real anger. He leaned back on the bed, watching You Yi place the tray on the floor, sit beside him, and lean against the headboard together.
“Are we just going to wait for them to recover slowly?” Xin Meng felt a bit unwilling. “I always feel like we should do something.”
[I have a plan, and it’s already in progress.]
“What is it!” Xin Meng couldn’t sit still. “I want to participate too!”
[You should focus on healing.]
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll recover in the next game anyway,” Xin Meng looked at him expectantly. “It would be such a pity not to participate!”
In fact, it was because You Yi had always followed him around, only acting as a bodyguard, and had never felt like he was part of the game. Finally, seeing him display such prowess this time, although he had become an NPC, his role was even greater than that of a player, making Xin Meng feel that the other had finally stepped down from the high pedestal and was closer to him.
But it wasn’t enough; he wanted to be even closer, to be even more intimate.
Xin Meng couldn’t quite articulate what it meant to be the closest. After all, they had done what they should and shouldn’t have done, yet he still felt unsatisfied, instinctively seeking more.
Let’s start by participating in his plan.
You Yi seemed to see through his thoughts, sighed helplessly, ruffled his hair, and finally nodded in concession.
“Awesome! So what should I do?” Xin Meng was suddenly overjoyed.
[We need to find Qi Xiaokui for help. I will temporarily bring her out in a bit; you will have ten minutes to talk to her.]
“Sure thing.” Xin Meng agreed immediately.
When Qi Xiaokui was brought into the room, she was in a state of confusion.
“Where is this?” She looked around blankly and then saw Xin Meng sitting at the foot of the bed. “Xin Meng? What are you doing here? Where is this? Why did I suddenly come here?”
The rapid-fire questions left Xin Meng bewildered as well. “Huh? Didn’t You Yi tell you?”
“You Yi?” Qi Xiaokui looked blank. “I haven’t met him yet. What is he supposed to tell me?”
Well, it turned out that You Yi had brought her over without even showing himself!
Xin Meng’s mouth twitched, wanting to complain about him, but he was still mindful of the time. It was said that there were only ten minutes; otherwise, Greed would find out.
“Long story short, how has Greed been these days? With the bow and arrows in that state, he hasn’t made things difficult for you, has he?”
Qi Xiaokui shook her head. “No, you guessed it right. Although we lost, I didn’t receive any particularly heavy punishment. He just locked me in the treasury, saying he would demote me and make me responsible for guarding the vault. If I lost a gold coin, he would kill me. His mood hasn’t been great these days; he doesn’t even hug his favorite mountain of gold all the time. Sometimes he goes out himself to continue looting gold coins, which seems to improve his mood.”
As soon as Xin Meng heard this, he clapped his hands. “Great! That’s just convenient for us to make a move.”
“How do we make a move?” Qi Xiaokui asked.
Xin Meng handed her a candle and said, “Just place this candle in his treasury and switch it with the other candles.”
Qi Xiaokui took it, played with it for a moment, and seeing that this candle looked no different from the most common candles in the castle, she curiously asked, “What’s wrong with this candle?”
“It was made by You Yi. It’s said that when lit, the fragrance it emits can amplify the emotions in a person’s heart. I’m not quite sure what specific effects it will have. Also, these…” Xin Meng handed her several fist-sized golden objects. “Throw one into each pile of gold coins.”
“Why are we giving him gold?” Qi Xiaokui looked at the golden objects with a complicated expression.
“He didn’t tell me what these are…” At this point, Xin Meng felt a bit dissatisfied. “He said I would see for myself later.”
“Fine,” Qi Xiaokui said helplessly. “I understand; you’ve been completely taken in by him.”
Xin Meng’s face turned red, feeling a bit embarrassed as he coughed twice. “In a bit, he will send you back. Just find an opportunity to do these two things…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Qi Xiaokui suddenly disappeared.
You Yi happened to walk in from outside, and Xin Meng immediately grabbed his arm, panicking. “Why did she suddenly disappear?”
[Didn’t you say it was done? I sent her back.]
Xin Meng: “…”
No wonder Qi Xiaokui looked so confused; he was also feeling a bit lost…
At least leave a buffer!
“Greed has made a move here; what about the other demon generals?” Xin Meng asked. “Do I need to do anything else?”
[No need. I’ve already made arrangements; you’ll be able to see it soon.]
After saying that, he pulled open a translucent screen, and a massive figure almost filled the entire screen.
The person on it was… the Gluttony Demon General?
