When Wu Wang saw the note, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had thought this Instance offered no clues, forcing players to bluff their way through. But now, it seemed there were important items to be found after all.

The Chou, or Clown, was likely afraid of others discovering his shamanistic identity. Still, he didn’t want his ancestral arts to be lost.

So, he must have hidden the scrolls in places that were hard to notice, locations that could never be traced back to him even if someone found them.

From this perspective, the other players probably had similar items scattered about.

No wonder they were all so eager to explore tonight but refused to act together. They were most likely off to retrieve clues that only they knew about.

That was why he hadn’t rescued Xiaoxiao right away, even when he saw her slowly turning into a Marionette.

Instead, he’d first rummaged through the chests and cabinets until he found the scroll on discerning the Five Elements and calculating the Eight Characters of Birth Time. Only then did he go back to save her.

She should be thanking me!

“Is… is that so?”

Xiaoxiao looked at Wu Wang with suspicion.

To be honest, she found it hard to judge his explanation.

If a level-twenty-something player claimed to have never seen an attack involving Mental Contamination, she would have called them a liar.

But this Pending Death before her was only level ten. It was entirely possible he’d never encountered such a thing.

Maybe the Marionettes only affected those on the stage? Since he’d never gone up, he wasn’t attacked. Instead, he had stumbled upon a way to save her.

“Alright, I’ll consider this a debt I owe you. Let’s head to the next place.”

Seeing his demeanor, she knew she couldn’t get anything more out of him. Besides, she doubted she would find anything if she went backstage now.

The guy had been sitting in the audience, treating a Marionette’s head like a basketball while singing, dancing, and rapping. It was unlikely any useful items were left.

“Please, ladies first.”

Wu Wang turned sideways, bowing and gesturing with his hand in an exaggeratedly gentlemanly manner.

Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes and started walking toward the next building.

The next second, an immense pressure enveloped the area. It felt just like the Jiangshi Prince’s gaze after he had consumed the pill.

Behind the door, it felt as if tens of thousands of ghostly shadows were running rampant, just waiting for someone to wander in so they could be torn to shreds.

Xiaoxiao, who had just reached the entrance, froze like a startled cat.

With incredible speed, she shot back behind Wu Wang in two quick movements, her eyes wide with alarm.

“What the hell is that?” she asked in a panic.

“Oh, that’s the Nuo Opera garden, where they perform Spirit Jumping Rituals,” Wu Wang said casually. “I discovered a while ago that we couldn’t get in.”

“I was just worried you wouldn’t believe me,” he continued. “For the sake of our revolutionary friendship, I decided to let you try for yourself. See how good I am to you?”

“Yes… just great…”

She practically spat the words through gritted teeth.

This Pending Death guy is such a bastard!

“If you couldn’t get in, how did you know it was the Nuo Opera garden?” she asked, catching the flaw in his statement.

Wu Wang gave her a look one reserves for an idiot.

He pointed to the wall behind her.

“Eldest Sister,” he retorted, rolling his eyes. “With a place as big as the Yi Garden, don’t you think they’d worry about guests getting lost? There’s a map on the wall!”

Just then, the clouds parted, and the moonlight brightened.

The simple, hand-drawn map on the wall made Xiaoxiao wish she could dig a hole and bury herself in it.

Why do I always feel like he’s leading me around in circles? What am I missing?

Wu Wang shrugged and started down the path toward another garden.

He glanced at his status panel, saw the skill marked as 【In Use】, and couldn’t help but smile faintly.

【Insidious Schemer (Title)】

This Title Skill allows the user, when plotting, to make the target of the scheme overlook abnormal details, increasing the success rate of the user’s ploys.

【Note】 You schemers are all black-hearted!

The Title Skill mechanism of the Spirit Calamity Game was something players both loved and hated.

They loved it because it could grant a player an extremely useful skill out of thin air.

They hated it because the criteria for obtaining titles were incredibly abstract. It was even possible for two people to perform the same action, yet one would receive a title while the other got nothing.

Acquisition was determined entirely by the Spirit Calamity Game’s system. Furthermore, a player could not actively switch their title.

Wu Wang could no longer use his previous title, 【Fear Monger】. His current one, 【Insidious Schemer】, was obtained after he killed Zhuge Yue.

The skill’s effect seemed vague and lacked a definite criterion, but Wu Wang was now using it with considerable ease.

For example, under the effect of his Title Skill, Xiaoxiao had completely failed to notice him taking the fortune-telling book. Nor did she harbor any real suspicion about the monstrous Marionette.

The two of them proceeded to the other gardens, continuing their busy night of exploration.

Although the other players had split up to explore alone, there were still instances where their paths crossed.

Apart from Wu Wang and Xiaoxiao working together, two other players had just met in the Main Opera Building.

But unlike the tense cooperation here, the air over there was thick with the smell of gunpowder.

“Buddy, how about you let me go first and sing a few lines?”

The blue-haired 【Executioner】 stared menacingly at the man opposite him. “You can go wander somewhere else. I’m worried my tone-deaf singing might pollute your ears.”

A smiling man walked out from behind the stage curtain.

He shrugged. “Apologies, but this is a public space, is it not? You have no right to make me leave.”

The person confronting him was the 【Study Attendant】, the same effeminate man who had been the first to notice Wu Wang at the start of the instance.

Hearing this, the blue-haired Executioner narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning vicious.

“Looks like we can’t be friends, then? Are you here to pick a fight? Do I know you?”

He was well aware that he had offended other players in past instances.

Sometimes, due to bad luck, he was matched with them. Most players had experienced the fury of encountering an old enemy, which was why he asked.

But to his surprise, the Study Attendant just shook his head and shrugged.

“No. I rarely even go to the plaza. Not many players know me.”

“Then what is this about?”

The only possibility the Executioner could think of was that this guy also had a secret hidden in the opera building.

The situation became awkward. Neither of them would let the other search the place first. What if they took what the other needed?

But a real fight seemed unlikely. It would cause too much of a commotion.

If they alerted the Prince, they would both die on the spot.

“I’m very interested in what your character has hidden, and also…”

Swish.

Before the blue-haired Executioner could process the words, a sharp pain blossomed in his neck.

Then, his vision went dark.

His body collapsed to the ground.

A glaring pool of red blood spread across the floor, the Executioner’s corpse lying in its center like a lonely, desolate island.

The Study Attendant’s slow footsteps echoed as his voice continued, finishing his earlier sentence.

“…and also, a distinguished client has offered a price I cannot refuse.”

“They require you to die here tonight.”

He smiled down at the body. “If there was some misunderstanding that made you hesitant, thinking a fight between us would cause too much of a commotion…”

“For that, I am deeply sorry.”

The smile never left the Study Attendant’s face.

He took an exquisite small knife from his pocket and began to elegantly dissect the body.