Chapter 106

As he spoke, Gao Yuan dipped his finger in some tea and wrote two words crookedly on the tabletop. The strokes were not complicated, and even though they were upside down, Jiang Liu recognized them at a glance—

Lin Jiao.

She remembered that name.

Time seemed to rewind to the last instance, Under the Sea. After leaving the Mermaid Palace, Gao Yuan had casually mentioned Tang Ruo’s name, claiming to have heard of her from Lin Jiao, who described her as an extremely outstanding player. The supervisor for Tang Ruo and her brother had once handled the experimental group she was in. So, could the appearance of these two by her side also have been arranged by someone?

Jiang Liu was reluctant to think too deeply about it, but ever since she entered The System, everyone who appeared around her seemed to be deliberately guiding her in an unknown direction. This feeling of being controlled was very unpleasant. She felt a wave of irritation and reached for a glass of water, nearly knocking it over. Just as she was frowning, a pair of slender hands reached out, steadied the cup, and gently wiped the water from her wrist with a smile.

“Don’t be anxious.” Yang Caisi turned her head and gave a sweet smile. This was a gesture she often made in the past, but coming from her as an NPC, it had a sense of dissonance and contrast. Gao Yuan and Zhao Ziming found it a bit hard to watch and averted their gazes.

Yang Caisi seemed oblivious to their strange behavior. She reached out and grasped her fingertips. Her seemingly slender yet powerful fingers tightened, instantly calming Jiang Liu’s slightly agitated heart.

That’s right, she couldn’t be anxious. Xiao Si had endured far more than she had. She had struggled in the game for fifty years, all for this very moment.

Jiang Liu took a deep breath and calmed down again, trying to find something unusual in her past experiences. Before, when she didn’t know the situation, Jiang Liu had subconsciously assumed that Qiao Ke was behind everything, so it was normal for the players to be separated. But if the church mission was still led by Xiao Si, then she had no reason to spawn Tang Ruo and Xu Meng on the mayor’s side, allowing them to discover the real clues to clearing the instance.

So, in that strangely fractured instance, could someone else have interfered? She unconsciously moved her fingers, tracing circles in Yang Caisi’s palm. After a long while, she asked softly, “In the last instance, were you the one who separated Tang Ruo from us?”

Yang Caisi’s lips curved into a smile, her expression holding a hint of admiration, but her words were the complete opposite. “It wasn’t me.”

Then there was only one other person left. The two words surfaced in Jiang Liu’s mind, and she felt her guess was probably correct. Besides this, she also remembered something else.

During the Under the Sea instance, Zhang Xiaochen had used Jiang He to guide her to recall the past, and among the items was a rusty dagger. Now that her memory had returned, she clearly remembered that it was a self-defense weapon she had a blacksmith forge after leaving the game to survive in the world, which was why it was so crude and simple at the time. Admittedly, it did contain her memories of Yang Caisi, but to make her remember everything, wouldn’t it have been more effective to use the real one?

At that time, the real dagger was already in her hands, and Zhang Xiaochen’s memo didn’t mention the old one. So that knife… who gave it to him? All the clues connected, and she couldn’t help but squeeze Yang Caisi’s hand again, asking a question that left Gao Yuan and the other man baffled.

“Do you have the authority to view Zhang Xiaochen’s instance records?”

Jiang Liu was probing, so her tone was very light. Yang Caisi might be affected by some rule and unable to answer questions about herself, but this kind of roundabout questioning, based on her expression, might indirectly reveal something.

She could feel her hand being squeezed tightly. The light in Yang Caisi’s eyes clearly showed encouragement, and the curve of her lips became more pronounced, as if she was praising Jiang Liu for quickly getting to the point.

“I can.”

With that one sentence, Jiang Liu finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, she didn’t press her for more information. Instead, she relaxed back in her chair, picked up the glass of cola that had almost been knocked over, and drank it in one gulp.

She probably understood now.

Gao Yuan and Yang Caisi still had things to attend to, so they left the restaurant early after the meal. Jiang Liu and Zhao Ziming walked along the street, feeling a cool breeze on their faces.

“It really is autumn,” Jiang Liu said, closing her eyes in comfort, listening to the sound of leaves being blown by the wind, her heart filled with peace and tranquility. In contrast, Zhao Ziming, walking beside her, looked hesitant. He carried a box of food and glanced at Jiang Liu from time to time, as if he had something to say but couldn’t bring himself to say it.

He had been very quiet ever since Gao Yuan started the topic. No matter what Jiang Liu did, she could feel him following her every step, his gaze like a needle on her back. Finally, she couldn’t bear it anymore and stopped, glaring at him with a headache. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

This guy used to seem quite straightforward. When did he start mincing his words?

Zhao Ziming smiled sheepishly at her words and cautiously took two steps back to look at her, his eyes filled with amazement. “No wonder I always thought you were ridiculously strong. Turns out you’re already so old.”

Jiang Liu’s brow twitched. “So what?”

“Nothing, nothing.” Zhao Ziming quickly waved his hands. Seeing that her expression was relatively normal, he chuckled. “It’s just that I used to think Sister Yang was an old cow eating young grass, but now I know you’re the one who’s…”

Before he could finish, Jiang Liu couldn’t resist punching him. Her carefully maintained composure finally cracked, and she glared at him through gritted teeth. “What did you say?”

Zhao Ziming deftly stepped back, dodging her fist and zipping his lips, indicating that he would absolutely not mention it again. Jiang Liu was almost amused to the point of anger. So this kid had been mulling over this one question all this time? But she wasn’t one to hold grudges. After a threat, she let it go and changed the subject. “Did Tang Ruo say what they needed to see their supervisor about?”

“I don’t know.” Zhao Ziming shook his head. He clearly had no supervisor either and wasn’t familiar with such conversations. But judging from Tang Ruo’s attitude when she left, it was most likely about Xu Meng. After all, from a certain perspective, it seemed like she and her brother had been tricked into this. Now that they had the chance, with Tang Ruo’s personality, she would likely go and argue about it.

Jiang Liu thought for a moment without speaking, but then turned and walked in the opposite direction of the hotel. Zhao Ziming was already used to her habit of acting alone, so he quickly followed her, not forgetting to ask, “Where are you going?”

“To join the fun.” Jiang Liu shrugged and walked towards the NPC villa area, a path Zhao Ziming was also familiar with from his frequent visits to Gao Yuan. After a few steps, he figured out Jiang Liu’s intention and couldn’t help but lean in curiously. “Are you really going?”

Why not go? Jiang Liu didn’t speak, just gave him a faint glance. The so-called Special Experimental Group must be related to what Zhang Xiaochen called ‘Defective Products’. If her guess was correct, then the other players in the same batch must have also received the same special treatment as her.

In other words, her long life was given by The System. So the question was, why did The System, or rather, Qiao Ke, do this? What was his position when he established this experiment? As she pondered, Jiang Liu’s pace gradually slowed, and her thoughts drifted to the scene when she saw Zhang Xiaochen’s phone.

In the beginning, Xiao Si had clearly been leading her through instances as a supervisor. Later, when she realized this wasn’t improving efficiency, she gradually gave up on the idea. But there was one photo that didn’t belong to The System. Jiang Liu remembered it clearly. It was a candid shot taken at their home in the real world, from an angle they would never have expected. Did this mean that after she left the game, Qiao Ke’s eyes were already watching her every move?

Her death, and even Yang Caisi entering the instance—was all of this within his control? Lost in thought, she had unconsciously arrived near Xiao Si’s house. The doors and windows were tightly shut; clearly, the owner hadn’t returned since leaving the instance. Jiang Liu couldn’t help but stop, staring at it for a long time.

Zhao Ziming was still behind her. Seeing her stop, he was a little curious, hesitating about whether he should continue forward, unsure of where Lin Jiao lived. Just as he was about to ask, Jiang Liu, who had been lost in thought, suddenly withdrew her gaze and turned to look at him. Her dark eyes shone brightly in the sunlight. The direct gaze made Zhao Ziming unsure of how to react, and he could only stand there helplessly. “Wh-what’s wrong?”

There shouldn’t be anything wrong with him, right? Why was Jiang Liu looking at him like that? “I just suddenly remembered, I never asked you why you came in here,” Jiang Liu said with a sigh, but she didn’t take another step forward.

Because right at the junction between Gao Yuan’s and Yang Caisi’s houses, a figure stood under a tree. As if sensing her gaze, the person was looking up in this direction. Qiao Ke really liked standing under trees.

This thought suddenly popped into Jiang Liu’s mind, and she recalled their first meeting. At that time, her family was ruined, and she was wandering alone in a chaotic world, often so hungry she couldn’t even get a full meal. She would pick up whatever others didn’t want and eat it, regardless of whether it was spoiled. She was a girl who had been sold and had escaped, surviving until her teens by gritting her teeth. She was truly terrified of hunger.

So when Qiao Ke said he would give her a full meal, she had unhesitatingly extended her hand and stepped into the bottomless pit of the Lost Way Game. Probably, if you added up all the players in The System, no one’s wish would be simpler or more rustic than hers.

Her gaze left Zhao Ziming, and she saw Qiao Ke seem to open his mouth, clearly saying something. He even waved at her, as if beckoning her over. But Jiang Liu had nothing to say to this old acquaintance. She ignored his gesture and sat down on the ground without a care, waiting for Tang Ruo and the others to come out. Since Qiao Ke was here, there was no point in her going to look for them anymore.

Her mind was preoccupied with too many things, immersed in the past and unable to break free. Naturally, she didn’t notice that after she asked her question, Zhao Ziming had frozen in place. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then pursed his lips. He followed Jiang Liu’s example and sat down, a bitter smile also appearing on his face.