PTYS Chapter 28

Shen Qingqiu laughed, handing the dagger to her with her right hand. “I’m here now. Is your mood better?” Xiao Muyu didn’t take it. She stood up, gave her a look, and walked to the door, stepping out while saying, “I called her Qingqiu, and she didn’t react. If it were you, you’d handle things smoothly even if I wanted to ride a donkey up a slope. Also, I smelled a faint rotten odor on her. She tried to prove her identity by using the dagger, not knowing you have a small habit when handling it.”

Shen Qingqiu was stunned, her smile freezing. She asked curiously, “What small habit?”

Xiao Muyu stared at her right hand. “When you hold the dagger, your right thumb unconsciously rubs it before tightening your grip.”

Shen Qingqiu put the dagger away and then took it out again, indeed showing that habit.

She laughed. “I didn’t even realize I had such a habit. Muyu, does this mean you’ve always been paying close attention to me?”

Her expression was a bit smug and pleased, which wasn’t annoying but also not exactly happy. It was happening again.

Xiao Muyu didn’t want to engage with her, but she felt a bit strange inside. They weren’t very close, so why had she noticed such a small habit? She couldn’t explain it; she just saw it and remembered it.

Shen Qingqiu was clearly delighted, but when she looked back at the mirror, her eyes darkened. She said, “Since there were two Shen Qingqius, we can’t be sure there won’t be two Xiao Muyus.”

Xiao Muyu paused, understanding her meaning. They needed to find the others quickly.

When she stepped through the door, Xiao Muyu was stunned. It was a long, winding corridor. Behind her, she could faintly see two open doors.

“I came out from there. The first door I opened revealed Su Jin. After waking her up, we split up to find others. Fortunately, when I opened another door, I found you.” Her tone seemed slightly comforting.

“Su Jin is awake too?” Xiao Muyu was a bit surprised.

“Yes, let’s check on the others.”

Just as she finished speaking, a door banged open, and Su Jin rushed out in a panic, followed by Zuo Tiantian wielding an axe, seemingly ready to strike her.

“Miss Xiao, Miss Shen, help!”

Shen Qingqiu frowned, and as Su Jin ran over, she mercilessly stabbed her with the dagger. Su Jin’s expression froze, then she screamed and turned to ashes.

Zuo Tiantian, holding the axe, was stunned and then disappeared instantly, dropping the axe.

Xiao Muyu was surprised. “How did you know they were fake?”

Shen Qingqiu raised an eyebrow. “These reflections look exactly like the originals, but their acting is lacking. This Su Jin was too pretentious.”

Xiao Muyu walked over and picked up the axe Zuo Tiantian had dropped. This one hadn’t disappeared, indicating it was part of the game.

Hearing Shen Qingqiu’s words, she said indifferently, “You seem to know Su Jin well. I thought nothing could catch your eye.”

The implication in her words was intriguing. Shen Qingqiu quickly walked over, tilted her head, and smiled. “How could that be? Muyu, you caught my eye at first glance. As for the others, I wouldn’t overlook anything necessary for clearing the game, but they can’t compare to you.”

Xiao Muyu pressed her lips together, not wanting to engage with Shen Qingqiu, and continued walking.

On serious matters, Shen Qingqiu naturally wouldn’t be so frivolous. She composed herself and said seriously, “In this round, the teammates we encounter might not be real teammates. If we don’t realize this, few will make it out alive.”

Even for them, if they hadn’t encountered a duplicate Shen Qingqiu first, they wouldn’t have suspected the fake Su Jin. It seemed the game had become more deceitful.

They checked every door they could open along the way. They opened two doors—one room was empty, and in the other, they found Zhang Qiang.

He lay quietly in front of a large floor mirror, his expression peaceful, but his abdomen had a large gaping wound, and he was already dead.

Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu watched silently. After a moment, Shen Qingqiu stepped forward and searched his body, finding the bandage tool still on him. It was indeed something others could take.

Shen Qingqiu stood up and said, “At least he didn’t die in pain. Let’s go.”

Zhang Qiang had lost an arm. He wouldn’t have survived much longer in this situation anyway.

Xiao Muyu glanced at him, nodding. She had long lost the capacity to feel sorrow over death.

As they exited the room, they encountered Su Jin, Chen Kaijie, and Zuo Tiantian.

Chen Kaijie also had several new wounds and looked disheveled. His eyes brightened upon seeing them.

“Miss Xiao, Miss Shen.”

Xiao Muyu quickly glanced at Shen Qingqiu and then spoke. “Mr. Chen, we finally found you. How did you three end up together?”

“Miss Shen and I split up to search for people. The first room I opened had Zhang Qiang… Zhang Qiang is dead.” Su Jin’s face turned pale again at the mention.

“I continued down the hall and opened another door, finding Chen Kaijie. He was almost pulled into the mirror. I broke the mirror to wake him up. We were about to go look for you when we ran into Tiantian.”

Shen Qingqiu nodded in approval after confirming Su Jin’s account, then looked at Chen Kaijie and Zuo Tiantian.

Chen Kaijie, still shaken, glanced gratefully at Su Jin. “I owe my life to Su Jin. That mirror was truly evil. As soon as I entered, I got confused and thought I was… I was home.” His eyes turned red with loss and sorrow.

Zuo Tiantian, hearing this, began to cry. “I saw my mother and almost hugged her. Then I heard a noise and woke up, only to see… a disheveled woman.”

She shrank back, looking terrified.

“Good to see everyone’s alright. We still need to find Lin Hai, and we haven’t heard the clearance conditions for this round yet. We must stay vigilant. Let’s keep going.” Xiao Muyu said, walking ahead with Shen Qingqiu.

After the five regrouped, Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu led the way, followed by Su Jin, Chen Kaijie, and Zuo Tiantian.

Shen Qingqiu appeared to be staring ahead but kept glancing at Xiao Muyu from the corner of her eye. Xiao Muyu also glanced at her a few times, clearly counting on her fingers.

Three, two, one!

Shen Qingqiu immediately turned around, only to see Zuo Tiantian somehow lagging behind. At this moment, a sinister smile hung on Zuo Tiantian’s face, her skin cracking inch by inch and covered with blood. Her hands extended with long claws, poised above Su Jin and Chen Kaijie’s heads, ready to strike.

Shen Qingqiu’s dagger flew straight into Zuo Tiantian’s forehead, and with a leap, she kicked her away. Zuo Tiantian let out a miserable scream and turned into ashes.

Su Jin and Chen Kaijie were stunned, finally coming to their senses after a while. “Wasn’t she Zuo Tiantian?”

“This level also has mirrors, but this time they don’t attack directly. Instead, they blend into the group, disguised as the originals, and strike when the opportunity arises,” Xiao Muyu explained quickly. The four continued their journey.

“How did you know she was fake and we’re real?” Chen Kaijie asked nervously.

Shen Qingqiu, annoyed by questions at such a time, said coldly, “If you’re real, a stab will tell. Want to try?”

Chen Kaijie immediately shut up; this woman was too fierce.

“Zuo Tiantian couldn’t escape alone so easily, let alone for such a clumsy reason as being startled by a noise.”

Shen Qingqiu mercilessly continued, pointing out that Zuo Tiantian’s red thread could only bind people and had no alarm function. Even Xiao Muyu was almost caught; how could Zuo Tiantian wake up on her own?

Chen Kaijie opened his mouth but then closed it again. So, Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu woke up by themselves?

As they walked cautiously, Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu suddenly stopped, gesturing for silence.

Actually, Chen Kaijie and Su Jin were already too scared to speak.

About ten meters ahead, a man in a gray jacket knelt on the ground with his back to them.

The clothes and neatly combed hair identified him as Lin Hai.

But something was very wrong. Chen Kaijie felt a chill run down his spine from that figure, indescribably eerie.

He couldn’t pinpoint the strangeness at first. After staring for a while, he realized it, his facial muscles twitching.

Lin Hai’s back wasn’t straight. His shoulders slumped as if he was kneeling with his head down, but his head and neck were unnaturally upright, an anatomically impossible posture that made him extremely eerie.

At that moment, Lin Hai moved—or rather, his neck moved. His head turned rigidly like a robot, his body unmoving, just his head twisting around to face Xiao Muyu and the others.

The feeling of one’s heart turning cold, no more than this.

“You… are here.” That face, expressionless and dead, mouthed the words.

No one responded or moved. Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu merely tightened their grips on their weapons, eyes vigilant.

Lin Hai seemed puzzled by their lack of response and looked down at his back, suddenly realizing.

In the next moment, he stood up with his head still twisted backwards, joints moving stiffly like a rusty machine, knees and ankles twisted, as if about to collapse.

And he held a ball in his hand, making Chen Kaijie and the others even more terrified.

“Is… is this Lin Hai? Is he holding…” Chen Kaijie broke out in a cold sweat.

“Yes and no,” Xiao Muyu said gravely.

The body was Lin Hai’s, but the consciousness was not. This confirmed her suspicion—Lin Hai had taken Niede’s ball and used it, but still failed to escape.

In the next moment, this seemingly unsteady Lin Hai dropped the ball and lunged like a bullet, frighteningly fast.

Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu sidestepped, but Lin Hai was surprisingly agile. His stiff arm raised, clawing at their throats.

Shen Qingqiu accurately wedged her dagger into his fingers, twisting it to stop his hand.

Xiao Muyu swiftly chopped with her axe, forcing Lin Hai to retract his hand.

The two worked in perfect unison, both kicking Lin Hai in the stomach, sending him flying a few meters.

They clearly saw Lin Hai had two heads. One, unconscious with eyes closed, hung on his chest. The stiff head on his neck controlled the body.

This miss clearly angered Lin Hai. He roared, climbing the corridor’s ceiling and rushing over.

Chen Kaijie quickly readied his frying pan, looking comical but more prepared than the unarmed Su Jin.

“Run! Find the door; this level is still about unlocking!” Xiao Muyu realized the real challenge had begun. Lin Hai was gone, and Zuo Tiantian was likely out too. The only way out was to find the exit.

“The sixth game’s condition is simple: escape successfully. The consequence of failure, remaining here forever,” the system announced.

The timely system confirmed Xiao Muyu’s guess, though offering no help.

Su Jin and Chen Kaijie, understanding the situation, immediately ran, only to despairingly find another Lin Hai and another Xiao Muyu blocking their way.

Zuo Tiantian, covered in blood, stumbled toward them, wailing.

Chen Kaijie, alarmed, shouted, “Stop, you’re not Zuo Tiantian!”

He swung his frying pan, hitting Zuo Tiantian who fell, crying and pleading desperately.

Xiao Muyu blocked Lin Hai’s attack and took a moment to say, “She should be real. The fact that they’re using force now means confusion is no longer effective. It’s either escape alive or die!”

Chen Kaijie finally breathed a sigh of relief, quickly reached out to pull Zuo Tiantian over, and swung his frying pan to fend off their attackers.

Now, the situation was five people facing attacks from three mirrors, and it was even more intense than the fourth round.

“There’s no door here; we have to get past them!” Shen Qingqiu’s dagger flickered, keeping Lin Hai at bay for the moment, but she had multiple wounds, and with her larger movements, they began to reopen, slowing her down significantly. She wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.

Xiao Muyu’s axe was heavy. After a few clashes with Lin Hai, her arm was already trembling.

So, the two of them forced Lin Hai back once more, quickly retreating, and kicked the blocking “Chen Kaijie” and “Xiao Muyu” against the wall.

Shen Qingqiu, without hesitation, checked their clothes for numbers. Finding nothing, she ruthlessly slashed “Chen Kaijie’s” throat with her dagger, while Xiao Muyu, without blinking, chopped off her own mirrored head.

Chen Kaijie felt a chill run down his neck just watching, his face turning pale.

Author’s Note: Author: Let’s talk about how ruthless you all can be.

Little Shen: When I get ruthless, I’d even slit my own throat.

Author: You’re a werewolf.

Little Xiao: I’d chop off my own head without a second thought, and if I get really ruthless, I’d stab my wife without hesitation.

Little Shen: …

Author: You’re a savage beast!