Chapter 30: Deadly Room Number (Part 10)

Shen Qingqiu silently withdrew her hand, looking somewhat unpleasant. “I fell into an illusion?”

The three other than Xiao Muyu nodded their heads repeatedly, filled with relief. They knew all too well that they were no match against Shen Qingqiu’s combat skills.

Heaven knows how thrilled they were the moment they saw her put away her dagger. They almost wanted to drop to their knees, clutch her legs, and cry out, ‘Thank you for sparing us, boss!’

Shen Qingqiu shook her head, then turned to look at the wall. Sure enough, there were eight portraits. Hers had a somewhat vacant expression, and when she glanced at Zuo Tiantian’s, her portrait’s face was indeed swollen.

Xiao Muyu, as if sensing what she was thinking, explained, “The portraits really can control reality. Your strike did subdue him, but when you touched the portrait, it probably dragged you into an illusion.”

“Yes, yes. Your first strike did hit the portrait, Miss Shen, but your second one was aiming for the real Tiantian. And, that’s why I tried to stop you from behind, but…” As he spoke, Chen Kaijie winced, feeling the sharp pain in his back. That fall had really rattled his bones.

The rest didn’t need much explanation. The so-called four-person ‘attack’ on her was merely an attempt to prevent her from harming anyone.

Shen Qingqiu glanced at Xiao Muyu. Even though she was usually thick-skinned, she felt a bit embarrassed, but she certainly wouldn’t show it. Still, for the first time, she was grateful that, although she typically didn’t care much about others’ lives, she wasn’t some bloodthirsty maniac. Otherwise, these people might have ended up skewered like candied haws.

“This thing is rather nasty. Looks like we can’t act recklessly. If we fall into another illusion, we’ll end up killing each other,” Chen Kaijie said, still shaken by the experience. They had been lucky this time, but the next time could be fatal.

“Then what if those paintings start acting up again?” Zuo Tiantian asked with some fear. The portraits on the eight walls had returned to normal, with even a visible slash on Ni De’s image from Shen Qingqiu’s attack. Yet, they had no real way to defend against invisible enemies.

“We’re in a tough spot right now, but don’t forget,” Xiao Muyu reminded, her expression serious. “Our goal is to find the exit and leave. While the sixth round has no time limit, if we can’t get out, we’ll be stuck here forever.”

It didn’t make sense; the difficulty of the second instance shouldn’t be this high. If there were no clues provided at all, how could they possibly move forward?

Yet the room was spotless, with no other hints beyond the eight walls and their portraits.

Xiao Muyu could only scan the portraits carefully, and when Su Jin and the others noticed, they quickly followed suit.

As Xiao Muyu looked at the figure with her appearance and outfit, an indescribable, uncanny feeling rose within her. It was nothing like looking in a mirror; the static figure’s face held a smile entirely different from her own, but looked expressionless after a careful inspection.

When she didn’t find any clues, Xiao Muyu shifted her attention to Shen Qingqiu’s portrait next to hers. Just as she turned her head, she suddenly felt a gaze on her, and whipped around to look, but there was nothing there.

Shen Qingqiu noticed her unease and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Muyu shook her head. “I feel like someone’s watching me.”

Shen Qingqiu’s expression tightened. She scrutinized the eight portraits, and found nothing unusual.

However, as everyone’s attention drifted away from the portraits, the once-expressionless likeness of Xiao Muyu subtly lifted the corners of her mouth, her gaze fixed intently on the real Xiao Muyu. The originally clear and deep eyes of the portrait Xiao Muyu took on a sinister glint, and her stance shifted from standing still to stepping forward.

Xiao Muyu had her back to her portrait, her gaze locked on the figure that had attacked Zuo Tiantian at the start. She vaguely sensed there was something on the figure’s wrist.

Xiao Muyu thought of the numbers on the wrists of the ghosts in the previous rounds, and suddenly focused on that figure’s wrist. Just as she was about to call Shen Qingqiu and the others to take a look, she felt a chill rush down her back. She turned around on instinct, only for someone to tackle her. As her throat tightened, it cut off her breath.

She didn’t even have time to see who was attacking her. She and her attacker rolled on the floor, and as she felt constriction around her throat, she immediately began to struggle and resist.

Shen Qingqiu was too busy contemplating how to clear the round. When she finally noticed what was happening, the two Xiao Muyus were already struggling against each other on the floor. For a moment, she couldn’t tell them apart, before she quickly rushed over to separate the two.

Two Xiao Muyus, identical in demeanor and appearance, stood before them, wearing the exact same alert and cold expression. Chen Kaijie and the others tensed up, thinking, ‘It’s over.’

“Miss Xiao?” Chen Kaijie called tentatively. Both of them simultaneously glanced at him, and his heart dropped. He mumbled, “Are we playing True and False Monkey King¹ even here?”

Shen Qingqiu remained silent, her gaze firmly locked on the two.

But just as they feared, something happened!

At that moment, the system’s voice suddenly announced: “Player Xiao Muyu has triggered Side Quest No. 002. Please vote within one minute to determine which one is your true companion.”

Everyone’s expressions changed after the announcement. What was even more alarming was that the two Xiao Muyus seemed to have turned into statues, unable to speak or even blink.

For a while, the group was truly unsure which of the two was the real Xiao Muyu.

The system paused for a moment before resuming the rule explanation.

“Before the game starts, both sides may each make three statements. Each statement must not exceed fifteen characters. After one minute, other players must determine which one is your true companion. Please note, the person with the most votes will be your companion, and the remaining one will return to the portrait. If there is no decision, both of them will go into the portrait.”

‘This troublesome system is at it again.’ Shen Qingqiu grimly looked at the two Xiao Muyus. In other words, if there was a tie, or they made a wrong choice, the real Xiao Muyu would forever be trapped as a portrait.

Chen Kaijie and the other two girls became restless. They constantly glanced at Shen Qingqiu, clearly nervous. As normal people, they certainly didn’t want to accidentally harm their teammate, especially since Xiao Muyu had performed outstandingly. Her exceptional intelligence was their hope for clearing this round. If they accidentally chose the fake one, and killed the real Xiao Muyu, they would lose one of their aces.

Shen Qingqiu’s gaze never left Xiao Muyu as she calmly added, “Please choose wisely. Without her, your chances of clearing this round drop by at least 80%. If you choose wrong, we will have a ghost among us, and it will wipe out the whole group.”

She said this because she didn’t trust them. It was a warning not to think they could abuse their voting rights just because they thought it didn’t concern them.

After Shen Qingqiu finished speaking, a chime sounded, and a 60-second countdown began!

Both Xiao Muyus maintained their statuesque postures, but the one on the left presented her three statements first.

First statement: When the first instance ended, Shen Qingqiu was the first to leave. (第一次副本结束, 沈清秋第一个离开。)
Second statement: In the second round, Shen Qingqiu was the first to enter. (第二轮游戏, 最先进去的人是沈清秋。)
Third statement: There is a clue on the right hand of Ni De’s portrait. (倪德画像上的右手处有一条线索。)²

The first statement was about the first instance, which Shen Qingqiu could verify. Since it wasn’t related to the current instance, it added more credibility to this Xiao Muyu.

Everyone present could verify the second statement.

As for the third statement, it was about clearing the round.

Due to the time constraint, Chen Kaijie hurried over to Ni De’s painting and carefully examined the right wrist.

Su Jin, seeing that 20 seconds had already passed, anxiously urged, “Chen Kaijie, hurry up! The next Miss Xiao, give your statements quickly!”

However, the other Xiao Muyu didn’t speak right away. Meanwhile, Chen Kaijie nervously checked Ni De’s portrait three times before finally discovering a pattern hidden near the edge of the right hand sleeve. Because the wall was translucent, if Xiao Muyu hadn’t mentioned it, the others wouldn’t have noticed it even after multiple close inspections.

Chen Kaijie turned around, a hint of joy in his eyes as he exclaimed, “It’s true! It looks like a letter.”

38 seconds had passed!

At that moment, the remaining Xiao Muyu finally spoke.

“There are just over 20 seconds left.”

“Shen Qingqiu, hurry up.”

“Vote quickly.”

Chen Kaijie and the others were stunned. Was that really her statement? Did she feel so hopeless that she gave such perfunctory responses?

There was only 15 seconds left on the countdown! Chen Kaijie and the others gulped, and their right hands tensed up, ready to act.

Shen Qingqiu looked at the second Xiao Muyu. When ten seconds were left on the countdown, she drew her dagger and raised her hand to point at the Xiao Muyu who had spoken first. But in the next moment, without turning her head, she shifted her finger to the second woman who had spoken. She glanced at Chen Kaijie and the others, and her lips curled in a smile.

“You have three seconds to vote for her!”

“One!”

Her smile vanished right after counting ‘one’, and her gaze became like that of a cobra locking onto its prey, unnerving the others. Her message was clear: if you don’t vote, I’ll kill you.

Chen Kaijie and the others were stunned—what did this mean?

“Two!”

Shen Qingqiu’s voice was terrifyingly cold, and she had flipped her dagger, so that its blade pointed at the other three.

“Three!”

When Shen Qingqiu became truly ruthless, even ghosts would fear her. The three were already struggling to make a decision in such a short amount of time, and now, intimidated by Shen Qingqiu, they immediately raised their hands, all pointing at the Xiao Muyu who had arrogantly split one sentence into three.

“I choose her!” they all exclaimed in unison.

The countdown ended, and for a moment, it seemed even the system was stunned by their choice, as there was no immediate response.

After a brief pause, the first Xiao Muyu—the one they had abandoned—showed a look of terror and despair in her eyes. She couldn’t speak, but her eyes stared at the four, as if pleading for help. Chen Kaijie and the others began to feel uneasy. Had they chosen the wrong one?

But there was no more time to reconsider. The first Xiao Muyu’s expression gradually froze, and her body began to deflate like a punctured doll, slowly shriveling until she turned into a sheet of paper. Finally, a force pulled her back into the wall, and the remaining Xiao Muyu regained her ability to move.

Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian looked anxious. They were both too scared to approach Xiao Muyu. Su Jin glanced at Shen Qingqiu, who was still holding the dagger, and hesitantly asked, “Did we… did we really choose correctly? What if we were wrong? Wouldn’t that mean…”

Chen Kaijie also seemed uncomfortable, and he looked at Shen Qingqiu in a different light. “Miss Shen, why did you force us to choose? We hadn’t figured it out yet.”

Shen Qingqiu sheathed her dagger, and replied indifferently, “Figure it out? Were you given enough time to do that?”

There was only one minute for them to vote, and for both Xiao Muyus to make their three statements. Although the first Xiao Muyu hadn’t intentionally delayed, her three statements had been precisely 15 characters each, as if machine-calculated.

As mentioned earlier, each of the three statements had a clear purpose, especially the third one, which directly pointed to the clue they cared most about. There was no doubt that, whether for verifying authenticity, or for clearing the round, Chen Kaijie and the others would immediately go to check it.

The hidden clue would take them at least ten seconds to verify, and it turned out to be true. In that situation, unless the second person could provide statements even more perfect and convincing, whatever she said would be pointless.

People were inclined to make snap judgments, and with only one minute to decide, those present had quickly processed the logic and truthfulness of the first person’s three statements.

Not to mention, the second person couldn’t use the same arguments as the first. Even if her statements were reasonable, by the time she finished speaking, there would hardly be any time left for voting. Furthermore, in case the votes tied, the real one would lose.

In an emergency, under such pressure, and with no certainty, where they had to choose one or the other, they were far more likely to vote for the first person. In that case, the second person stood no chance.

Once Shen Qingqiu was done explaining, she asked the three, “Tell me. At that moment, did you guys already have that kind of bias in your minds?”

Chen Kaijie remained silent, but ultimately furrowed his brows and nodded.

“So her three statements were actually the smartest choice.” Shen Qingqiu glanced at Xiao Muyu, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

“Huh?”                                            

Zuo Tiantian was a bit confused.

Chen Kaijie was already calming down, as his mind worked quickly, and he also smiled. “I get it. She did the opposite. If she were the fake, she would’ve tried every trick to win our trust and wouldn’t have been so dismissive. By speaking so curtly, Miss Xiao was actually showing she had her own consciousness. That’s way too clever.”

“But that’s so risky! We don’t have Miss Shen’s clear head.” Su Jin was impressed, but she also thought that it had been incredibly nerve-racking.

Not everyone could think as clearly as Shen Qingqiu in such a short amount of time. If they had followed their subjective judgment and voted for the wrong person, Xiao Muyu would have been in serious danger. In fact, just as Shen Qingqiu had said, the chances of them choosing wrong were much higher.

Shen Qing Qiu’s eyes sparkled with obvious delight after hearing this. She looked at Xiao Muyu and said in a lighthearted tone, “That’s why she said three statements that seemed meaningless but were, in fact, incredibly significant.”

Xiao Muyu’s eyes wavered slightly, and then lowered as the light in them dimmed.

“What?” Zuo Tiantian still sounded confused.

When Xiao Muyu raised her head again, she showed no signs of hesitation, and she said, “I had Shen Qingqiu vote. As long as she understood, you all wouldn’t have a choice.” And that was exactly the case—Shen Qingqiu was quite domineering, and she had drawn her dagger to force the other three to vote.

Chen Kaijie was stunned, then shook his head in disbelief, murmuring, “You’re really crazy.”

Xiao Muyu was indeed crazy. In such a short amount of time, she had gambled her life on the hope that Shen Qingqiu would understand her, trust her, and save her.

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Footnotes:

1. 1. This is the title of a Chinese Sun Wukong movie that came out in 2020. ↩︎
2. 
   2. I included the original Chinese text so you guys can count the characters yourselves and confirm Qingqiu’s observation. ↩︎

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Author had something to say:

Xiao Xiao has such weird luck.
Xiao Shen grips her dagger: You all better have some sense and quickly pick my wife. Choose wrong, and I’ll skewer you each like candied hawthorn!
Xiao Su, Xiao Chen, and Xiao Zuo: What did we do to deserve this?
This round is the most detailed and complicated