Chapter 113

From Zhao Ziming’s account, Jiang Liu finally learned some of the truth.

Having just returned from a trip to another world, Zhao Ziming’s mood had clearly not yet stabilized. His fingers, gripping the cup, were slightly stiff, and he held it as if he had forgotten to put it down.

“Qiao Liang has a twin sister named Qiao Pan’er.”

His eyes were slightly unfocused as he recalled Qiao Pan’er’s drenched appearance. A hint of pity entered his gaze, along with an indescribable bitterness.

The child had been pushed into the water and drowned by Xiao Liang just before they were about to leave their old home for the county town.

They were clearly their own flesh and blood, yet the Qiao couple seemed to care nothing for their daughter’s life. Instead, they hastily packed their things and took their son to the county elementary school, leaving their innocent little daughter behind.

Hatred and resentment lingered, turning Qiao Pan’er into what she was now, able to survive only by clinging to the crevices.

This coincided perfectly with Jiang Liu and the others’ investigation.

They exchanged a look. Xu Meng closed her eyes as if feeling the same pain, her expression tinged with anguish. “How can there be parents like that in the world?”

Jiang Liu lowered her gaze, hiding the fleeting sigh in her eyes.

Whether in the past or the present, there were far too many people like that.

The atmosphere instantly grew heavy. Although they had never actually met Qiao Pan’er, they still mourned for this pitiful and fragile life.

Zhao Ziming looked up at his companions, his voice unconsciously taking on a hoarse quality. “There’s something else—”

“Qiao Pan’er is Lin Jiao. She hopes we will voluntarily give up on this instance because she has no intention of letting this go.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but in the spacious living room, it was clearly audible. To the others, it was like a clap of thunder, causing them all to look up, momentarily unable to decide.

Failure and abandoning an instance led to the same outcome.

If they couldn’t clear the level, players would be trapped here forever, never to see the light of day again. But if they actively gave up, while they wouldn’t lose their lives, they would face even harsher penalties.

Otherwise, if players could just give up whenever they couldn’t solve a problem, the entire operation of the instance would be for naught. How could there be such a good deal in the world?

Xu Meng was stunned for a moment, then she sharply caught the key name “Lin Jiao.” Her body instantly tensed, and she leaned forward slightly to ask nervously, “Then where is Xiao Ruo?”

Zhao Ziming’s voice paused subtly, then he shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“This is outrageous! Don’t tell me this Lin Jiao is using them to threaten us into giving up?” Jiang He finally understood and slapped his forehead, guessing loudly.

He was already a hot-tempered person. Now that he had figured out Lin Jiao’s intention, his face was flushed with anger, and he started shouting about reporting her to The System.

Zhao Ziming frantically grabbed his arm. “No, they’re still in her hands.”

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Jiang He became anxious, his face darkening as he looked at Zhao Ziming, at a complete loss.

They had bet more than ten times their usual stake to enter this Points Arena. If they gave up now, wouldn’t all the dangers they had faced in the past have been for nothing? They would have to start all over again.

Zhao Ziming gave a bitter smile at his words. Clearly, he didn’t know what to do either. He could only force himself to look at Jiang Liu. “Qiao Liang is Qiao Ke.”

It was normal for a child’s appearance to differ from an adult’s. Plus, they hadn’t considered this possibility, which was why they had overlooked the subtle similarities.

But now that Lin Jiao had revealed the truth beforehand, when they thought back, they could instantly connect the noisy child with the refined supervisor from their memories.

The others didn’t notice Zhao Ziming’s look, but Jiang Liu caught the hidden meaning in his eyes.

He was the only one in the team who knew about the conflict between her and Qiao Ke. Lin Jiao must have known this as well, which was why she had told him the truth.

Qiao Liang was the enemy, the culprit, the root of all evil. Logically speaking, Lin Jiao’s proposal should be more attractive to Jiang Liu. In fact, more than giving up, she would rather witness Qiao Pan’er’s revenge, even if it meant failing the mission.

But Tang Ruo and her brother were her companions, and she wouldn’t abandon them either.

Now, they were left with only one choice. Xu Meng looked at the silent Jiang Liu, then glanced at the grim-faced Jiang He, and gritted her teeth. “I’m giving up on this instance.”

She couldn’t just stand by and watch her family and loved one fall into Lin Jiao’s hands, their fate unknown.

Especially when she recalled the human-skin paper person she had seen last night. The image of Xiao Ruo’s face on it still replayed in her mind. Even if everything could return to normal after leaving the instance, she was still unwilling to let her suffer.

Xu Meng spoke with great determination. Her usually hesitant eyes now shone brightly, and her voice was firm and powerful.

Jiang He followed suit immediately. “Me too!”

He could understand how Xu Meng felt. The disappearance of Zhang Xiaochen, in particular, had made him toss and turn at night, unable to sleep. He certainly wouldn’t disregard his companions’ lives for his own selfish interests.

Their gazes quickly fell on Jiang Liu, as if waiting for her decision.

A hint of anticipation unconsciously appeared in Xu Meng’s eyes. Having come this far together, she knew Jiang Liu’s character. If they encountered such a situation, she would usually be the first to state her position.

But not this time.

An unusual silence filled the air.

Jiang Liu kept her head slightly bowed the entire time, her longish hair falling from beside her ear, conveniently hiding her eyes.

Where others couldn’t see, her gaze was fixed on the restless Zhao Ziming. It seemed like a casual observation, yet it carried a certain pressure.

Her intuition told her that something wasn’t right.

What Zhao Ziming said could indeed explain most things and stood up to scrutiny from anyone’s perspective, but it seemed a bit… superfluous.

As a veteran NPC in The System, it would be easy for her to deal with a few players. There was no need to use the two siblings to threaten them into abandoning the instance.

Wouldn’t it be much simpler to just kill them all, causing the mission to fail directly? Why resort to such tactics?

What’s more—

To some extent, they were invited here by Lin Jiao herself.

From their brief meeting at the coffee shop, Lin Jiao didn’t seem like someone who would do unnecessary things. So, her taking the players and inviting her into the game must have some purpose.

Jiang Liu pressed her lips together tightly, suddenly remembering the information Gao Yuan had dug up.

Lin Jiao and Qiao Ke were both supervisors of that former experiment group. They should logically be on the same side, so why were they assigned to an instance with such a hostile relationship?

Could it be that these two had a conflict?

This possibility was the first thing that came to Jiang Liu’s mind, and her deep eyes instantly lit up.

If that was the case, she might be trying to extend an olive branch to her through this method, as if silently inviting her—to deal with him together?

Jiang Liu relaxed her posture slightly, subconsciously turning the ring on her left hand. A plan began to form in her mind.

“The mission ends in five days. We still have time. Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Jiang Liu finally looked up, her gaze resting on the anxious Xu Meng, her tone carrying a subtle hint of reassurance.

“But…” Xu Meng was clearly still hesitant. She looked at Jiang Liu with a hint of disapproval, but out of her long-standing trust in her, she didn’t say the rest of her sentence.

Jiang Liu saw her concern and patted her arm. “Don’t worry. If we still have no leads in three days, I’ll give up.”

Reassured by her, Xu Meng finally let out a sigh of relief and nodded.

Beside them, Zhao Ziming’s posture also finally relaxed. He drained the remaining cold water from his cup in one gulp, his palm already covered in sweat.

He casually tugged at his clothes, not wanting Jiang Liu to notice his nervousness.

“Then it’s settled. Lin Jiao didn’t demand we leave immediately. Sister Jiang is right, we still have time,” Zhao Ziming’s expression returned to normal, and he finally sat up from the sofa and rubbed his stomach.

“I’m hungry. Have you guys eaten?”

The clock’s hands were already pointing to one-thirty in the afternoon. After all this turmoil, they were indeed starving. Xu Meng’s expression relaxed, and she also headed to the kitchen. “I’ll help.”

Watching the two of them leave, Jiang He scratched his head. “Then… I’ll go look for Xiao Liang?”

Jiang Liu didn’t say anything, her gaze fixed on the kitchen, unmoving for a long time.

An instance would only have one main supervisor. With both Qiao Ke and Lin Jiao present, who was the one guiding the plot?

This was something that would easily come to mind, but Xu Meng was in disarray over her loved one and had overlooked it.

Besides—

Jiang Liu lowered her gaze slightly, her eyes falling on the ring. The black material, when hit by the sunlight, faintly shimmered with an iridescent glow.

She silently clenched her fist, her somewhat chaotic mood instantly calming down.

A voice inside her kept telling her that Xiao Si was here too.

A grand performance starring three high-level NPCs. There had to be something crucial in all this, something related to her.

***

“That kid’s mental fortitude is too weak.”

In the space between the crevices, Lin Jiao shook the dripping water from her body, her tone tinged with helplessness.

Yang Caisi, maintaining her paper-thin form, flowed like a puddle of water to her side and shrugged in a nondescript manner. “At least it’s going smoothly.”

Lin Jiao couldn’t help but glance at her, her eyes holding a hint of subtle complexity.

Originally, the way to clear this instance was simple. Since the task was to protect Xiao Liang, all they had to do was clean out the monsters in the crevices.

If she hadn’t come, would Yang Caisi still have killed herself at the critical moment to ensure Jiang Liu’s clearance, just like before?

“Don’t look at me like that.” Yang Caisi felt a little creeped out by her stare and took a disgusted step back, shaking her head. “I won’t do anything stupid again.”

She had promised Jiang Liu.

Lin Jiao rolled her eyes, not minding Yang Caisi’s attitude, and just disgustedly shook the water from her hair. “I’ve said what I needed to say. Now it’s up to her to figure out the trick on her own.”

She then let out a faint sigh, thinking to herself that if it weren’t for wanting to quickly resolve the mess she had created a hundred years ago, she wouldn’t want to turn into this slimy monster and stay in the crevices.

Her gaze shifted to a spot not far away, where the white light gradually distorted into the image of the living room. Jiang Liu was leaning against the sofa, resting with her eyes closed.

As the longest-surviving experimental subject, this Miss Jiang was truly not to be underestimated.

Lin Jiao now only hoped that Jiang Liu was clever enough to perceive the message she wanted to convey without alerting Qiao Ke, and not let her efforts go to waste.