Mu Shan and He Yuncong arrived at the town when a crowd had already gathered in front of the tavern.
David’s corpse lay stiffly on the ground, a white cloth draped over his face, and a pool of dried blood beneath him.
Most of the onlookers were players, with an elderly NPC native in the middle, his hair streaked with white.
Xia Xueqin had told her that this was the village chief, named Tasi Jifeng, a kind old man who had devoted his life to the village’s construction.
Mu Shan observed him. The village chief leaned shakily on his cane, his skin dark, hands rough, back hunched. His clothes were even more ragged than those of ordinary villagers, and he looked as if a gust of wind might topple him.
He glanced around, counted the people, and then spoke slowly. “Since all you adventurers are here, let’s begin the autopsy. This gentleman died in front of our village tavern, so we owe everyone an explanation.”
There should have been twelve players in the instance. Now one was dead. Besides the few she had seen in the tavern before, three unfamiliar players had appeared—two women and one man.
One of them, a plainly dressed man, stepped forward, put on a mask, and squatted beside the corpse to examine it. His technique looked professional.
As Mu Shan pondered, Xia Xueqin suddenly leaned close and whispered, “How did you end up coming with the Dream Faller? You both have grass bits on your heads and clothes. What were you two doing just now?”
Mu Shan: …
“We didn’t do anything. Just picking mushrooms.”
Xia Xueqin drew out her words meaningfully. “Oh, picking mushrooms, huh—”
Mu Shan wanted to explain something when the middle-aged man doing the autopsy suddenly stood up.
He wiped his hands, his tone measured. “The deceased did not die naturally. It was homicide. The fatal wound was a sharp blade slashing the throat, causing excessive blood loss. It wasn’t caused by insect monsters, because his body is intact. As everyone knows, insect monsters eat people.”
“From the amount of blood, the primary scene was right here—no secondary transport. Time of death was between 11 p.m. yesterday and 3 a.m. today. Players have such strong physiques that even after his throat was slit, he struggled for nearly ten minutes, so there are some friction wounds on his hands.”
The man looked around. “My skill tells me the killer is here right now. Meow.”
His words caused varied reactions among the crowd.
Not just because of their weight, but also because of that final “meow” from this ordinary middle-aged man.
Mu Shan looked at him. He had the look of any weathered middle-aged office drone, utterly unremarkable, but his ID overhead read 【Catwoman · Li Gang】.
She did indeed see a pair of cat ears on his head.
【Player [Li Gang] Skill: Beast Instinct
(Passive) An animal’s sixth sense connects to the universe
Humanoid danger detector
“No actress available, so a substitute.”】
So Catwoman could be a gender-neutral profession… She looked enlightened.
After about two seconds of silence, Xia Xueqin chuckled around her cigarette. “Who here hasn’t killed someone? This isn’t the real world under legal jurisdiction. Doing murder mystery deductions is just laughable.”
One of the unfamiliar middle-aged women spoke up. “You can’t say that. The Humid Heat Forest is clearly a cooperative instance. We’re all on the same front! Without David, who knows what Position 12 will be next. What if it’s a total newbie who knows nothing? The pressure on us will be huge!”
Her eyes swept over everyone present. “And think about it—the killer is either from the insect monster faction, unwilling to let us complete the task, or someone with a grudge against David.”
“You think we’re handling these every-three-days assaults easily?”
All twelve players in the Humid Heat Forest instance were veteran players. Mu Shan sized up the middle-aged woman. She was around fifty, burly and robust, with the ID 【Wang Dama · Wang Ruizhi】 overhead.
“By that logic, the only one with motive to kill him is you.” Huang Hongbo suddenly spoke, pointing at Mu Shan.
All eyes turned to her.
“David’s been here eight days without clashing with anyone else—just you.”
The guess was actually quite reasonable.
But suddenly becoming the target of everyone made Mu Shan find it amusing. “I wish it had been me who killed him, but it wasn’t. We’re all veterans—everyone here has blood on their hands to some degree. Nothing wrong with admitting it.”
If it had really been Mu Shan, her Hoarding Addiction III skill would have gained a new one, but it wasn’t her. Someone else had done it.
Player or NPC?
Her composed attitude puzzled the others, but Huang Hongbo pressed on relentlessly.
“You say it wasn’t, so it wasn’t? You clashed with David the moment you arrived. What were you trying to do?”
Mu Shan didn’t bother defending herself further when the man beside her suddenly stepped forward a few paces, right up to Huang Hongbo.
He Yuncong was half a head taller than him. Though both men, the difference in build was stark. Especially face-to-face like this, even with his mask hiding his expression, He Yuncong’s pressure was oppressively low, his posture clearly signaling anger.
The heavy atmosphere made the onlookers look away.
Xia Xueqin nearly laughed herself to death at Huang Hongbo’s deflated expression. “If we’re talking clashes, Position 1 broke David’s arm yesterday. Position 1 is the most likely killer—why don’t you ask him?”
The answer was obvious. Everyone knew He Yuncong wouldn’t wait until midnight to kill, much less do it sneakily.
At that moment, Yu Da, who had been silently standing by, suddenly squatted down and gestured at the corpse’s right arm.
“His arm was broken, crippled, combat power down—whoever could kill him.”
Mu Shan: So this big lug could talk.
Xia Xueqin clapped her hands. “Exactly. David was already injured, and he died in town. Ruling out insect monsters, it might not have been a player—could be an NPC.”
She looked at the frail village chief beside her. “Tasi Village Chief, was it you who killed him?”
The latter obligingly coughed softly.
Norman Nov was the first to object. “David had 39 points of strength no matter what.”
“Him?” He pointed at the short, frail village chief with his cane. “An NPC couldn’t possibly kill him!”
“Killing isn’t just about strength points.”
“Right, judging by brute force is ridiculous…”
As the argument stalled, the quiet female player suddenly spoke. “Village Chief, when you found the body, was there anything strange that dropped beside him?”
Players dropped items upon death.
Everyone whipped their heads around. The village chief blinked his cloudy old eyes. “Strange things? Doesn’t seem like it…”
The young female player nodded. “David’s items were taken, so the killer was probably a player. NPCs can’t use items.”
Huang Hongbo, Norman Nov, and Richard jumped in again, pointing at Mu Shan.
“Fine, so it was you!”
“Hand over David’s items.”
“Mutual killing at a time like this—you’re ruthless…”
Mu Shan rolled her eyes.
She looked at the female player who had just spoken. Her ID was 【Scavenger · Zong Rui】.
Around thirty-something, square-faced, in camouflage combat gear with a bamboo pole at her waist—her whole vibe was tough as nails.
And she was one of the three elite players in the current instance besides He Yuncong and Yu Da, with a five-digit ID.
Now all twelve in the instance were identified.
Well, eleven now.
“Alright, alright.” The village chief stepped in to mediate. “Calm down, adventurers. Without evidence, we can’t accuse anyone lightly. You’re all great benefactors protecting the village—we’re grateful. The village will prepare a tomb for this fallen hero, in a scenic spot with mountains and clear waters.”
He bowed deeply, devoutly. “The Savior will surely bless everyone with safety.”
No one present said a word, because they couldn’t care less about David’s grave or whatever.
A few villagers came to carry away the body, and the other players all went into the tavern to discuss next steps.
Mu Shan watched them go, suddenly thinking that this scumbag David had gotten lucky with a proper grave after death. How many players ended up without a complete corpse in instances?
She sidled up to the old NPC. “Tasi Village Chief, this Savior you keep mentioning—who is he? Can you tell me?”
The old man blinked, then smiled with narrowed eyes. “Of course. Esteemed adventurer miss, our village has a legend about the Savior.”
【Gold coins fell one after another, war, plague, and bloodshed followed in succession】
【The people existed on the boundary between life and death】
【The wind carried the Savior’s holy voice—no matter how rugged the path ahead, the suffering would eventually pass】
【The Savior holding the sun will stand atop the mountain peak.】
She noticed the old village chief’s gaze lingering on He Yuncong’s back for a long time.
Mu Shan: …
No way—the ‘Savior’ was He Yuncong?
In the tavern, the eleven sat in a circle.
“There’s a traitor among the players. Side Quest 1 might go wrong. What are your thoughts?” Wang Dama spoke first.
“Tasks are rigid, people are flexible. You really content to play the system’s tower defense game like good little pawns?” Huang Hongbo laughed. “All boasting as veterans with big egos, but now no ideas?”
Xia Xueqin jabbed at him. “Spit it out then. This isn’t stand-up—you waiting for someone to play straight man?”
Huang Hongbo choked, then forced out, “Ever thought of doing Side Quest 2 together?”
【Humid Heat Forest Side Quest 2: Kill this stage’s boss】
“Why Side Quest 2? Even if we win, reward’s just 100 gold! Better to kill a couple more bugs.” Richard grumbled in rebuttal.
“Afraid you won’t live to kill bugs.” Zong Rui spoke up. “The killer who took David could take you too. In my view, you lot are all equally weak.”
She said it matter-of-factly. Richard and Norman Nov looked stunned.
The other players showed speechless expressions, but Zong Rui didn’t realize she’d just spouted something brutal.
“I agree to team up for Side Quest 2. The Insect King can’t be soloed. Gold reward’s low, but there’ll surely be items and safe house rewards. Plus, killing the Insect King might stop the downstream insect assaults.”
The rest voted by show of hands.
“I agree.”
“Sounds worth a try.”
“Fine.”
“…”
Neither Mu Shan nor He Yuncong raised hands—she was conservative, and he followed her lead.
But it ended 6 to 5. In the end, they decided to go back today to pack, then set out at dawn tomorrow in two five-person teams to find the Insect Nest and kill the Insect King.
To prevent home raids, Zong Rui, the second strongest in combat, would stay at Position 2 safe house to guard the village as well.
Groups were decided by pure lottery. Mu Shan drew a red lot, as did Wang Dama, Catwoman, Xia Xueqin, and Huang Hongbo.
Mu Shan glanced at Huang Hongbo’s malicious smile. The next second, He Yuncong snatched his red lot.
The fire mage’s smile froze, but facing He Yuncong’s expressionless face, he could only grit his teeth and swallow it.
The five in the red group friended each other and agreed to meet at the upstream Position 9 tomorrow.
Xia Xueqin cracked her knuckles. “Good thing—no rain tomorrow.”
Mu Shan bid the others farewell. Seeing the man still following, she took out her bathtub raft and tossed it into the water. “Aren’t you heading back to your safe house? Where’s Position 1?”
He Yuncong silently pointed to the nearby hillside.
Mu Shan tiptoed to look but saw no sunroom, only a system prompt flashing in midair.
【He Yuncong’s Safe House】
Few players invited others into their base.
But He Yuncong seemed to have no such concerns.
Mu Shan went down the stairs. The basement iron door was still basic model. Inside was the largest bed taking up space, with water and food piled in the corner.
No cabinets—he hadn’t even modified the walls or floor.
Pure prison style.
For a full year and a half, he had lived in a place like a public toilet. Mu Shan stared in shock.
“Here, for you.” Something was suddenly stuffed into her hand.
“What?”
“A prop.”
She instinctively pushed it back, but He Yuncong gently held her hand, leaned over, and bent down to rest the side of his face in the hollow of her shoulder.
【Satellite Locator (Auxiliary Type)
Quality: Rare
Description: Each satellite can only mark one person’s location; it can be switched to a new target after the original dies.
Usage: Allows cross-instance teleportation after use (the teleport target must pay an equivalent price).
Note: “The world’s farthest distance is not a problem.”】
He Yuncong’s voice sounded muffled against her neck: “No matter where you go, I can find you.”