Chapter 103

A rustling sound came from the window again, drawing their attention. Tang Ruo, wearing only a slip, had abandoned her cumbersome attire to move more freely. She skillfully pushed open the window and vaulted in with one hand on the sill.

“You’re here.” She didn’t seem surprised by Jiang Liu and Tang Rui’s arrival. She just cautiously closed the window, caught her breath, and then looked at Jiang Liu in a low voice. “I have a question. Can there be two NPCs in the same instance?”

Tang Ruo’s tone was laced with confusion; her little adventure had clearly shown her something she couldn’t comprehend. She and her brother had been recommended by a supervisor to go straight to the Points Arena, so they had experienced even fewer instances than Jiang Liu. This was the first time they had encountered such a situation.

Before Jiang Liu could speak, Tang Ruo looked at her brother and asked in a low, frowning voice, “Do you remember our first instance?”

Tang Rui was taken aback by the question. After some thought, he answered uncertainly, “The haunted school? Teacher Zhang?”

Tang Ruo nodded, tidying her wind-tousled hair. “I saw the mayor. It’s him.”

That teacher had been her Guide in her first instance, so Tang Ruo had a particularly strong impression of him.

Hearing this, Jiang Liu’s mind stirred. She exchanged a look with Xu Meng, and they both thought of the photo studio instance at the same time.

“I’ve encountered this situation before,” Jiang Liu said first, instantly recalling what Yang Caisi had said about a mission change when they first met. Logically, the appearance of an NPC was to guide the plot, but Yang Caisi had clearly not told them anything that would help advance the mission. It was as if she was only there to provide a place to eat and drink.

Then—the real guide in this instance should have been the mayor. And Qiao Ke had pulled some strings behind the scenes, having the mayor watched and kept here, leaving them clueless about the instance and forcing them to run around like headless chickens.

Hearing her words, Tang Ruo visibly relaxed. “Okay, we might need to go over there.”

The situation was now a bit tricky. Triggering the main storyline required at least three people, but they needed one person to stay in the room to ensure the guards wouldn’t notice anything unusual.

Xu Meng looked at their faces and hesitantly spoke up, “Why don’t I stay behind?”

“No.” Jiang Liu shook her head, gesturing at the size of the window. “The space to move is too small. Tang Rui probably can’t fit through.”

The atmosphere in the room quickly grew tense. Just as they were at a loss, a couple of noises came from outside the room, and someone gently inquired about the situation inside.

“Misses, are you two alright?”

Tang Ruo rolled her eyes and nudged Jiang Liu and Tang Rui, signaling for them to hide for a moment. She then yanked the door open, her expression instantly shifting to one of weariness and impatience.

“How can I possibly be alright with you people knocking on my door all day?”

Her tone was fierce, and she immediately gave the person a tongue-lashing. The guard didn’t mind her attitude, merely glancing around the room before quickly apologizing. “I’m sorry, but this is a critical time. We need to be responsible for your safety.”

He seemed about to say more but was cut off by Tang Ruo’s impatient voice. “Enough. Stop with the nonsense. Frina is not feeling well, and we need a good night’s sleep. Please stay away from our door.”

The man didn’t reply, just bowed his head and repeatedly apologized.

After dealing with him, Tang Ruo let out a long breath. She listened cautiously until the person had left before continuing, “We don’t have much time. Someone will be back to check in half an hour.”

They had been cooped up inside for the past two days. While it wasn’t dangerous, it was hard to get a good night’s sleep with constant interruptions. Xu Meng was already very familiar with their knocking schedule and couldn’t help but look at the window with some hesitation.

Jiang Liu rubbed her chin and suddenly grinned at Tang Rui. “We’ll have to ask you to make a sacrifice.”

A moment later, three slender figures squeezed out of the window one by one. Tang Rui gently closed the window, feeling the overly ornate dress on his body, on the verge of tears.

Fine, I’ll stay behind, but why did I have to wear this thing!

The moment they were outside, a cold, biting wind rushed down their necks. Tang Ruo helped Xu Meng tighten the sash of her coat and whispered a warning, “There are eight more people nearby. They don’t dare get too close, but we’ll be discovered as soon as we leave the fence.”

The three of them were currently squatting in a small garden below the window. It was more of a dense row of ornamental potted plants, which happened to conceal their figures. As long as they didn’t stand up and leave, they wouldn’t be easily discovered.

“Knock them all out?” Jiang Liu gestured with a throat-slitting motion and asked in a low voice.

Tang Ruo quickly shook her head. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe Jiang Liu had the ability, but she had some concerns. “No, one or two sleeping is fine, but if they’re all knocked out, it’ll be discovered tomorrow morning.”

Any incident on this side would cause trouble for the mayor.

But Jiang Liu was exceptionally calm. “I have a way to clear the instance before dawn.”

Her words were met with two pairs of astonished eyes. They had also read the notes. To leave, they had to deal with Yang Caisi. Could Jiang Liu really bring herself to do it?

Looking at their surprised expressions, Jiang Liu calmly averted her gaze, her tone still serene. “Don’t worry.”

Just two simple words, yet they inexplicably calmed the other two down. Tang Ruo looked up slightly and met Jiang Liu’s calm, unwavering gaze. Her deep black eyes seemed to hold the entire world, inspiring an instinctive trust with just a single look.

So she nodded. “Alright.”

She had already figured out the guards’ patrol patterns. Pointing in one direction, she said, “You go this way. We’ll each take out four.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Liu had already gripped her dagger, stood up, and, crouching low, quickly left the vicinity of the garden. As they had expected, Jiang Liu even spotted a familiar figure among the guards—the one from the church entrance the other day. Unfortunately for him, before he could even cry out upon seeing Jiang Liu, she had already knocked him out with a blow from behind.

A moment later, Tang Ruo and Xu Meng ran over to her, their faces filled with excitement. “It feels so good to just go for it. I’ve been so cooped up these past few days,” Tang Ruo said, stretching her limbs, her entire demeanor brightening up. If she hadn’t realized the mayor was an important character and been afraid of disrupting the plot, she wouldn’t have been so restrained.

Jiang Liu smiled at her words and followed her as they moved quickly through the manor. Their footsteps crunched on the uncleared snow, making a soft sound in the deserted night, but it didn’t attract any attention.

“I’ve checked. There’s basically no one here,” Tang Ruo said, her voice a little louder, tinged with relief.

The entire manor was empty. Under Tang Ruo’s guidance, they soon saw the central house. Looking through the window, they saw that a light was still on inside. Jiang Liu quickly walked up and pushed the door open, only to find it unlocked. Unlike the small room where Tang Ruo and the other were held, the moment they stepped inside, they could feel the frigid air.

“In here.” Tang Ruo shook the snow off her shoes and led the two of them to the bedroom at the back in a few quick steps.

There was no fire lit inside. Although the house blocked some of the cold wind, the entire room was still chillingly cold. In this kind of weather, even a healthy person would catch a cold inside. The whole house was empty, with all the drawers and cabinets open. The place was a mess, as if it had just been robbed. Even the old-fashioned sofa had been slashed open with scissors, its cotton stuffing pulled out, looking too dilapidated for anyone to live in.

“Someone probably wanted to find that thing from the mayor,” Tang Ruo, who had already surveyed the area, couldn’t help but explain when she saw Jiang Liu’s eyes constantly scanning the room.

Seeing Jiang Liu nod, she couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Did you find it?”

She didn’t know what had caused the residents to become so frantic, so she didn’t have high hopes for Jiang Liu’s answer. Who would have thought—

“I think so,” Jiang Liu answered faintly. Her tone sounded somewhat indifferent. Although she said “I think,” her tone was exceptionally certain.

Tang Ruo glanced at her and nodded thoughtfully.

Unlike the chaos outside, the mayor’s bedroom had clearly been visited. There were several muddy footprints on the floor. The light in the room was not bright, with only the last bit of a candle wick burning quietly, as if it would go out at any moment. A frail figure was curled up on the bed. His features were decent, but his eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his lips had lost all color. The heavy quilt seemed not for warmth but to weigh him down, making it impossible for him to break free.

The man’s eyes were tightly shut; it was impossible to tell if he had fainted from the cold or was asleep.

“His name is Zhang Yan, Number 075, our Guide at the time,” Tang Ruo explained, pointing at the man. “He was sleeping just now. I couldn’t wake him up, which is why I suspected that a single person couldn’t trigger the plot.”

Hearing this, Jiang Liu took two steps forward and cautiously pushed the person on the bed. Although he looked like he was at death’s door, his breathing sounded healthy, not like someone who was terminally ill. After a few pushes with no reaction, Jiang Liu frowned. She looked around, then lifted the quilt, opened the window, grabbed a handful of snow, and stuffed it down Zhang Yan’s neck.

Xu Meng gasped, shrinking her neck as if she herself could feel the cold. This method was indeed effective. Zhang Yan, who had been in a deep sleep constrained by The System’s rules, suddenly shivered and groggily opened his eyes, only to see three heads gathered around the bed, staring at him.

In the quiet of the night, three long-haired girls stared at him without blinking. The scene was as bizarre as it could be, and it scared Zhang Yan so much he jumped a meter high.

“Who are you???” he exclaimed, his head full of question marks. He hugged his arms helplessly and stared at Jiang Liu, shivering especially when he saw the snowball in her hand.

The three of them were speechless.

Jiang Liu was direct. She tossed the snowball aside and clapped her hands. “Are you the mayor?”

Zhang Yan subconsciously nodded, then his eyes widened as he stared at Jiang Liu, tilting his head in disbelief. “Wait, you seem to be the player Sister Yang mentioned…”

Yang Caisi?

Hearing that name again, Jiang Liu’s breath caught for a moment. She frowned suspiciously and looked at him. “What did Xiao Si say?”

She had thought it was all Qiao Ke’s doing. How could it be that Xiao Si was also involved?