–Why, Jiazi, why doubt us!–
Several people who had helped clean up the Shi Qian group at Zhang Xian’s tent were shoved forward.
They never dreamed that not long ago they had helped the Great Jia side wipe out the Shi Qian group, and now they themselves were being served up as fish on the chopping block.
Panicked, they cried out:
–We did nothing wrong!–
Yang Zicang’s gaze passed over them, fixing on something behind.
Besides them, two or three residents from Rose Creek stood further back. Though they hadn’t arrived by train, they were just as suspicious.
{Three minutes have passed. Hmm, more people have died than the one-per-minute I promised.}
The bandaged doctor’s voice rang out again, heavy with amusement and dripping with mockery.
The crowd glared around furiously, but saw no trace of him.
One man spoke, his voice sharp with anxiety: –Haven’t the people outside noticed something’s wrong here?–
The moment the words left his lips, a bandage shot from the sky, coiled around him, and tore him to shreds.
{Four minutes.}
–So… so fast! Without the Rose Queen’s psychic protection, none of us can stand against that damned bandaged doctor!–
Everyone’s heart hammered in their chests.
{Fifth minute. Redhead, it’s you again.}
–What?!–
The Dutchman trembling beside Xiao Yushan erupted in fury.
–Why me again?!–
{I like the color of your hair.}
–What kind of damn logic is that!-
–Stop messing around,- Xiao Yushan said gravely. –Let’s first find the murderer of Mr. Lin Site. We must know who the hell did it!-
The red-haired youth quickly stepped over to Lin Site, took the red Enightmare lighter from his hand, and nervously glanced left and right.
……
In any case, the thirty-plus people from Hub Town were temporarily cleared of suspicion. That narrowed down the targets significantly.
Captain Qin glanced at the nervous-looking residents of Rose Creek.
–If it was a spur-of-the-moment act and they contacted through Moxel and the bandages, then it’s someone from the Red Moxel. We all came from Silver White Hub Town—no one here belongs to the Red Moxel. So it must be one of you, right? Who was standing behind Xiao Lin just now?-
–It’s him! He was behind Lin Site.-
Several people pointed at a neatly dressed man. The tall, thin man’s face instantly turned pale.
–I—I have no reason!-
He waved his hands frantically in defense. –Even if I killed Xiao Lin, I couldn’t get your invisibility ability ball. I didn’t even know what that thing was a few minutes ago—I only knew you were coming for a dinner party.-
–That makes sense.-
But he was still quickly bound up. Then everyone turned to watch the surroundings warily again.
The roaming Paleshade Wyrm and the bandages seemed to be conserving their augmented Chronos; their attacks were no longer as fierce, which momentarily relieved the dozens of people.
They also prayed for more time to urgently find the killer.
One of them glanced at the surrounding suspects, quickly stripped off his own clothes, and began tearing them apart as he said,
–I think we should tie them all up first, just in case we miss the real killer.-
–It wasn’t me—I didn’t commit any crime! You have no right to tie me up. I bet the Bandage Doctor did this on purpose, trying to make us turn on each other.-
–Yeah, he clearly doesn’t have enough strength to take us all out at once, so he’s stirring up infighting.-
A man in a hat spoke up:
–Whether it’s the Bandage Doctor’s conspiracy or not, we’ll have to put you all under restraint for now. As long as we find a way to break the restrictions of the ‘Quiet Place’ and contact the outside world, we’ll get help soon.-
–That’s right—better to make a mistake than let anyone slip away!-
The moment he finished, the bandage net thumped and shook violently. The crowd tensed, on high alert. The red-haired young man swallowed hard, clutching the Enightmare lighter he had picked up from Lin Site’s hand, his gaze fixed on the bandages that might come lashing down at any second.
Despite the uproar around him, Yang Zicang only stared coldly ahead, utterly unmoved by anyone’s words or actions. He was like a warrior searching for that fleeting anomaly amid the chaos, ready to strike it down with thunderous force the moment it appeared.
But then Morri knelt on one knee and whispered into Yang Zicang’s ear:
–Zizang… did you notice anything off?-
The corner of Yang Zicang’s eye twitched. His dark pupils slid sideways toward the man beside him.
–What did you see?-
Popoli looked at the two of them.
Morri hesitated for a moment, then said:
–During the banquet, I saw a ring that didn’t exist. I suspect… we might be…-
–A ring?-
–A wedding ring. The very ring I most longed to wear with my fiancée. Before coming to this world, I had already gone to a designer to order that diamond ring’s style. I knew its shape. I fantasized about putting it on Julia’s ring finger, and I also fantasized about Julia putting that ring on me.-
Yang Zicang’s gaze fell on Morri’s empty ring finger, but at that moment, what came to his mind was a previous scene.
The wine glass… the reflection of a burning candle.
He looked up at the two remaining broken iron ring lanterns.
–Are we… really not in reality?-
Popoli’s eyes suddenly widened in shock.
Morri also felt a tingling sensation. He had been somewhat doubtful, but now, with Yang Zicang’s words, he instantly felt that the possibility was at least eighty or ninety percent.
–We are in the Nianjing World!- Yang Zicang suddenly snapped, –Stop tying.-
–What?-
The people ahead who had heard them speaking immediately erupted in commotion.
–Yang Zicang, what are you saying? The Nianjing World? Are we no longer in the real world?-
Yang Zicang quickly stood up and said, –Earlier, when I was introducing the ‘Proxy Contract’ to everyone, I saw, as if by chance, an iron hoop chandelier with candles all lit in the reflection of a wine glass.-
–A burning chandelier? Ah, didn’t they never light any candles?-
Yang Zicang analyzed with a grave tone:
–When I first saw these chandeliers, I thought how beautiful it would be if all their candles were lit—like being in a castle from a magical world. Though I wanted to see the iron lamps burning, doing something so extravagant in the Frequency-Lost Land would make no sense. The Rose Queen would never waste resources on something so pointless. So I just let the thought pass.-
The stern young man turned his head sharply to look at Morri.
–And you, Morri, saw the scene you most wished to come true. Even though it was an illusion, you temporarily made it happen within the psychic field, didn’t you?-
–It’s like becoming lucid in a dream and controlling its course to your will—even if the manifested things last only a short while.-
Morri suddenly remembered that his ring had lasted quite a long time—almost a minute. Could it be that the magic rune Hong Haocheng had implanted in his sea of consciousness was strengthening his spirit?
As this thought struck him, he felt a wave of heat wash over his body, and his heart began to race as he said:
–I feel like we’re really inside a psychic field! The Bandage Doctor might not be our real enemy after all!-
–Is this… real?-
Everyone turned to look at each other, exchanging glances—none of them showing signs of having been attacked and thrown into a dream world.
–If that’s the case, I think I saw something odd too,- someone said. –I… I mistook someone for my Earth wife from behind, but later realized it was just my eyes playing tricks.-
–I think I also saw my discarded sword lying by the bonfire pit, but later realized it was just a pair of fire tongs.-
–Ah, now that you mention it… did we all get hit by a mental attack at the same time?-
As soon as this was said, one person spoke with a hint of fear:
–If we really all appeared in a psychic field together, then in reality our bodies might be getting toyed with by someone right now!-
A chill ran down everyone’s spine.
Dozens of eyes turned simultaneously to the invisibility ability orb at Yang Zicang’s feet. He looked down as well, an icy dread creeping up his back.
Is this thing fake?
Could the real invisibility ability orb already be in someone else’s hands at this very moment?!
Thump! Thump!
Bandages burst forth from the interwoven net in the air and shot downward.
{Just a few hallucinations before a mental breakdown, and you’re already jumping to the conclusion that this isn’t reality? Heh, you’re next, Redhead!}
The bandages hurtled toward the red-haired youth.
This young man beside Xiao Yushan nervously flicked his lighter and held it close to his chest—but the flame couldn’t even singe the Moxel fused with his skin; it was utterly useless.
Yang Zicang narrowed his eyes at the descending bandages.
–In the frequency-loss zone, kills don’t absorb Chronos. So… what about those first few lives that withered away after being wrapped in bandages?-
The bandages rushing toward the red-haired young man abruptly stopped.
Everyone looked at this scene, somewhat confused.
Yang Zicang declared, –Is it because they didn’t know that after dying here, their lifespan won’t be transferred?-
–Mr. Zicang, what does… this mean?-
Someone in the crowd followed Yang Zicang’s gaze to the ground and then asked.
–You don’t know either?- Yang Zicang looked at this person from Hub Town. –If that’s the case, dying here would probably turn you into a withered corpse as well. So… we really are inside a psychic field!-
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