Shen Qingqiu silently withdrew her hand, her expression somewhat unpleasant: “Am I under an illusion?”
Apart from Xiao Muyu, the other three heads nodded repeatedly. At this moment, they were still full of relief. Considering Shen Qingqiu’s combat strength, they wouldn’t stand a chance against her.
God knows how excited they were when they saw Shen Qingqiu put away her sword. They almost wanted to kneel down and hug her leg, shouting, “Thank you for sparing our lives.”
Shen Qingqiu shook her head, turned to look at the wall, and indeed saw a painting of eight people. Her expression became a bit confused. She glanced at Zuo Tiantian, who indeed had a swollen face.
Xiao Muyu inexplicably knew what she was thinking and explained, “The images inside the painting can indeed control reality. Your first strike really subdued him. But since you interacted with the painting, you fell into an illusion.”
“Yes, yes, Miss Shen, your first strike was at the painting, but your second strike was aimed at the real Tiantian, so I tried to stop you from behind, but the result…”
At this point, he felt a sharp pain in his back. That fall truly shattered his bones. No further explanation was needed; the so-called four-person attack was merely to stop her.
She glanced at Xiao Muyu, and the usually thick-skinned Shen Qingqiu felt her face heat up, though she would never show it.
However, for the first time, she was thankful that she wasn’t a homicidal maniac who didn’t care about others’ lives, or else these people would have been skewered like candied fruit.
“This thing is quite sinister. It seems we can’t move it recklessly. Otherwise, once we fall into an illusion, we might end up killing each other.”
Chen Kaijie felt lingering fear. They were lucky this time. Another round like this could be fatal.
“But what if the painting starts acting up again?”
Zuo Tiantian was somewhat fearful. Looking at the eight paintings on the walls, they had returned to their normal state. However, the painting of Ni De still bore the marks from Shen Qingqiu’s strike, looking quite creepy. Being attacked out of nowhere was truly indefensible.
“We are in a passive position now, but let’s not forget our goal is to find an exit and leave. The sixth round of the game has no time limit. If we can’t get out, we’ll be trapped here forever,” Xiao Muyu said, his expression serious.
It didn’t make sense; the difficulty of the second level shouldn’t be this high. If there were no clues at all, they would be on a dead-end road.
But the place was clean and tidy, except for the eight painted walls, which provided no other hints.
Xiao Muyu could only focus carefully on the paintings. Su Jin and the others, seeing her scrutinizing, quickly followed to observe.
Xiao Muyu felt a strange sensation looking at the figure in the painting, dressed exactly like her. It was different from looking into a mirror; the static figure’s gaze held a smile completely different from her own, yet on closer inspection, it was expressionless.
Finding no clues on this painting, Xiao Muyu turned to look at the painting of Shen Qingqiu beside it.
As she turned her head, she suddenly felt a gaze fix on her. She immediately turned to look, but there was nothing there.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Qingqiu noticed her odd behavior and asked.
Xiao Muyu shook her head: “It feels like someone is watching me.”
Shen Qingqiu’s expression tightened as she carefully examined the eight paintings again, finding nothing unusual.
Just as everyone’s attention shifted away from the paintings, the corner of Xiao Muyu’s lips in the painting slightly curved upward. Her eyes, which had been cold and indifferent, stared straight at the real Xiao Muyu.
The once clear and profound eyes in the painting became eerie and sinister with the change in expression, and the figure’s stance shifted from standing to stepping forward.
With her back to her own painting, Xiao Muyu focused on the painting of the person who had initially attacked Zuo Tiantian, vaguely sensing something on the wrist.
Recalling the numbers on their wrists from previous rounds, Xiao Muyu locked her attention on it.
Just as she saw it clearly and was about to call Shen Qingqiu and the others over, she suddenly felt a cold wind on her back. Turning quickly, she was tackled to the ground, her throat immediately gripped, cutting off her breath.
She didn’t have time to see who attacked her. They rolled on the ground, and she struggled fiercely due to the strangulation.
Shen Qingqiu was pondering how to clear the level. When she realized what was happening, she saw two Xiao Muyus grappling on the ground. Unable to distinguish them in time, she quickly separated them.
Two identical-looking Xiao Muyus stood before them, their wary and cold demeanor exactly alike, making Chen Kaijie and the others extremely tense.
“Miss Xiao?” Chen Kaijie tentatively called out. Both turned to look at him, sending a chill down his spine. “Is this like the Monkey King dilemma?” he muttered.
Shen Qingqiu remained silent, her eyes fixed on the two.
But what you fear most often comes to pass!
At this moment, the system’s voice suddenly rang out again, “Player Xiao Muyu has triggered side quest 002. Please vote within one minute to determine who your real companion is.”
As the prompt sounded, everyone’s faces changed. Worse still, after the broadcast, both Xiao Muyus turned into statues, not speaking or moving their eyes, leaving them truly clueless about who was real.
The system continued explaining the rules.
“Before the game starts, each can make three statements, each no more than fifteen words. After one minute, confirm who is your companion. The chosen one will be your companion; the other will return to the painting. If you cannot decide, both will return to the painting.”
This mischievous system was at it again. Shen Qingqiu’s expression was grim as she looked at the two Xiao Muyus.
This meant that if it was a tie or a wrong choice, Xiao Muyu would be trapped in the painting forever.
Chen Kaijie and the others were now extremely anxious, frequently looking at Shen Qingqiu, evidently very nervous.
As rational people, they didn’t want to harm their teammate in this situation. Moreover, Xiao Muyu was outstanding among them and their hope for clearing the level. If they mistakenly chose the fake one, losing Xiao Muyu would mean losing a trump card.
Shen Qingqiu’s eyes never left Xiao Muyu. She added calmly, “Choose wisely. Without her, your chances of clearing drop by fifty or sixty percent. If you choose wrong and leave a ghost, it will be a team wipe.”
She said this because she didn’t trust them, warning them not to misuse their vote.
After Shen Qingqiu finished speaking, a ding sounded, and the 60-second countdown began!
Both maintained their statue-like poses, but the Xiao Muyu on the left spoke first, saying three sentences.
The first sentence: “After the first level ended, Shen Qingqiu was the first to leave.”
The second sentence: “In the second game, Shen Qingqiu was the first to enter.”
The third sentence: “There is a clue on Ni De’s right hand in the painting.”
The first two sentences were about the previous level, information Shen Qingqiu could verify, and unrelated to this level, giving them more credibility.
The second sentence could be verified by everyone present, while the third sentence was directly related to their success in clearing the level.
Due to time constraints, Chen Kaijie quickly examined Ni De’s painting, focusing on the right wrist.
Su Jin, noticing that the countdown had already passed 20 seconds, anxiously urged, “Chen Kaijie, hurry up. Next Xiao Muyu, speak quickly.”
However, the other Xiao Muyu remained silent.
Chen Kaijie nervously checked three times before finally noticing a faint pattern on the edge of the sleeve on the right hand of the figure in the painting. The transparency of the wall made it nearly invisible without the first Xiao Muyu’s hint.
Chen Kaijie turned back with a glimmer of excitement in his eyes, “It’s real. It looks like a letter.”
Time had already passed 38 seconds!
At this moment, the other Xiao Muyu finally spoke.
“There’s only 20 seconds left.”
“Shen Qingqiu, hurry up.”
“Vote quickly.”
Chen Kaijie and the others were stunned. Was this all she had to say? Did she give up because she thought she had no chance?
With only 15 seconds left on the countdown, Chen Kaijie and the others were extremely tense, swallowing nervously, their right hands poised and ready.
Shen Qingqiu stared at the second Xiao Muyu. When the countdown reached 10 seconds, she drew her dagger and pointed at the first Xiao Muyu, but then shifted her aim to the second one, smiling: “You have three seconds. Vote for her!”
“One!”
Her smile vanished, replaced by the predatory gaze of a cobra, instilling fear. Her message was clear: if you don’t vote, I’ll kill you.
Chen Kaijie was bewildered. What did this mean?
“Two!”
Shen Qingqiu’s voice was chilling, and the dagger’s blade was now directed at the three of them.
“Three!”
Shen Qingqiu’s ferocity was notorious. Even ghosts feared her, let alone humans. The three of them, already struggling to make a quick decision, immediately pointed at the second Xiao Muyu, who had spoken only the basic statements.
“I choose her!”
The countdown ended, and the system seemed momentarily stunned by this action, taking a while to respond.
After a brief pause, the first Xiao Muyu’s eyes showed a mix of fear and despair. She couldn’t speak, but her pleading gaze was fixed on the four of them, making Chen Kaijie and the others uneasy—had they made the wrong choice?
But there was no time for more doubt. The first Xiao Muyu’s expression gradually solidified, and her body deflated like a punctured doll, eventually becoming a piece of paper that was pulled back to the wall. The remaining Xiao Muyu immediately regained movement.
Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian were too scared to approach Xiao Muyu, their expressions tense. Su Jin asked with difficulty, “Did we really choose correctly? What if we were wrong…”
Chen Kaijie also looked troubled, his gaze at Shen Qingqiu changed, “Miss Shen, why did you force us to vote so decisively? We hadn’t figured it out yet.”
“Figured it out? Did the system give you enough time to figure it out?” Shen Qingqiu sheathed her dagger and replied calmly.
The voting time was only one minute, including the three statements from each person.
The first Xiao Muyu didn’t waste time during her statements, but each of her sentences was precise, hitting the fifteen-word limit with the precision of a machine.
As mentioned earlier, each of the three statements had clear purposes, especially the third one, which pointed directly to the clue they cared most about.
There was no doubt that to verify the truth and clear the level, Chen Kaijie and the others would immediately go to check it.
Such a hidden clue would take at least ten seconds to find and was indeed real.
In this situation, unless the second person could say something even more perfect and convincing, it would be completely meaningless.
People tend to favor the first impression. In one minute, everyone had already quickly considered the logic and authenticity of the first person’s statements.
Not to mention, the second person couldn’t repeat the first one’s arguments, which was difficult in itself. Even if they presented well, by the time they finished, it would almost be voting time, and even in a tie, the real one would lose.
Under immense pressure and the necessity to choose one of the two quickly, they were more likely to vote for the first person. Thus, the second person had no chance of winning.
“Did you have this bias in your mind at that time?” Shen Qingqiu asked the three after finishing her explanation.
Chen Kaijie didn’t speak, but eventually frowned and nodded.
“So her three statements were the wisest choice,” Shen Qingqiu said, glancing at Xiao Muyu with a slight smile.
“Ah?” Zuo Tiantian was confused.
Chen Kaijie, now more relaxed, thought quickly and smiled, “I get it. If she were fake, she would have tried hard to gain our trust, not be so perfunctory. Xiao Muyu’s statements showed she had autonomy and was too clever.”
“But it was risky. We don’t have minds as clear as Miss Shen’s,” Su Jin admired but also felt it was too dangerous. Not everyone could think so clearly under pressure.
Shen Qingqiu’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. She looked at Xiao Muyu and spoke lightly, “So she said three seemingly meaningless but significant sentences.”
Xiao Muyu’s eyes flickered, and her gaze lowered, darkening.
“What?” Zuo Tiantian was still puzzled.
When she looked up again, Xiao Muyu didn’t hide her words, “I let Shen Qingqiu vote. As long as she understood, you had no choice.” And indeed, Shen Qingqiu had forced the others to vote with her dagger.
Chen Kaijie was stunned, then shook his head in disbelief, muttering, “You really are crazy.”
Indeed, she was a lunatic. In such a short amount of time, she gambled her life on Shen Qingqiu understanding her, trusting her, and saving her.
The author has something to say: Xiao Xiao’s luck is oddly peculiar.
Xiao Shen, gripping her knife: Everyone, wise up and quickly help me choose a spouse. If you choose wrong, you’ll be skewered like candied haws!
Xiao Su, Xiao Chen, and Xiao Zuo: What did we ever do to deserve this?
