Chapter 196: Don't Trust Me

“The one that the subway station’s vengeful spirit was after is Dr Mu? How could that be?” Bei Tai exclaimed. “He… isn’t he… an ordinary person? Also, he is the system’s guide character.

“Is it because he touched the deceased’s body? The first to touch it? Because he appeared at the scene of murder, he incited the hatred of the vengeful spirit?

“This is one bitch ass puzzle.”

Bei Tai exclaimed.

“I have a speculation,” Lun Tai slowly said. He extended a hand to pat his younger brother’s shoulder before continuing, “The key issue is not just why the subway station’s vengeful spirit would attack Dr Mu. Rather… why did the vengeful spirit of Black Annie appear in the apartment to attack Dr Mu?”

There was a very solemn expression on Lun Tai’s face and he said, “If we are to look at it this way… perhaps, our earlier deduction was wrong. Back in the apartment, the vengeful spirit spread out her attacks to distract us. But her true target is Dr Mu?

“But why would Black Annie attack Dr Mu? She was killed in another place. Logically speaking, there is no connection with Dr Mu.”

Chen Xiaolian frowned. “Maybe this is just a speculation, or maybe we were wrong…”

“Maybe he’s Jack the Ripper!”

The one who said that was Dagger.

The moment he said those words, everyone fell silent.

“Did you forget? The conclusion we obtained after analysing this matter is that Jack the Ripper is someone highly familiar with medical surgery! This fellow is a doctor to begin with! Additionally, back in the subway station, he was the first to appear at the scene of murder. When we arrived at the scene, he was already there beside the corpse. Who knows, the one who committed the deed might be him!”

“Impossible.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head and said, “When Black Annie died, Dr Mu was not at the scene. He was in the apartment!”

“That is correct. We can bear witness to that. Dr Mu did not leave the apartment,” Lun Tai said.

“Maybe he knows magic, or maybe he knows witchcraft. He could even have a doppelganger skill or perhaps his soul can leave his body!” Dagger shouted. “Isn’t it clear? This is simply a trick by the instance dungeon! The murderer has always been by our side!”

As he spoke, he pulled out a short blade and moved toward Dr Mu with a face filled with killing intent.

Chen Xiaolian quickly stepped forward to stand before him. With a heavy looking face, he asked, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Kill him!” Dagger raised his eyebrows. “Perhaps by killing him, we can complete the quest! He is the murderer!”

“Can you be certain on that?” Chen Xiaolian sneered.

“… … …” Dagger clenched his teeth and shouted, “Move aside!”

“Idiot,” said Lun Tai who was standing by the side. “Did you forget what the system said? Dr Mu is the guide character! We need to ensure his survival! His death equates to our quest’s FAILURE!”

“… … then we won’t kill him. We’ll just torture him first! Hmph!” Dagger gritted his teeth and continued, “Maim both his arms and legs! As long as he does not die, that is fine! Without both his hands and legs, we’ll see if he can still do anything!”

“If you even touch him, I will maim both your arms and legs.” Chen Xiaolian forcefully pushed Dagger away, forcing him to take a few steps back.

“You bloody dare to touch me?!” A murderous intent emanated out from Dagger’s expression. He stepped forward and stabbed. His dagger shot toward Chen Xiaolian’s throat!

Ding!

Chen Xiaolian was quick to summon out his Fearless War Axe to deflect the incoming dagger. He then followed up with a Head Cleaver attack!

Dagger quickly retreated. He flew backward by a few steps and was about to charge forward again…

"Enough! Stop it!"

Phoenix's figure appeared behind Dagger. She had one hand out as she held down Dagger’s shoulder. Her fingers gripped tightly and she pulled Dagger back a few steps: "Dagger, you are being too impulsive!”

“I…” Dagger’s eyes darted to the side as he looked at Phoenix. “Guild Leader! Why do you keep helping these outsiders?”

Phoenix narrowed her eyes and she looked at Dagger. Then, she said in a cool voice, “Are you accusing me of being unfair?”

“… … I did not say that!” Dagger’s neck snapped straight, his face turning red. “Is my deduction wrong? He is just an ordinary person. If the system does not allow us to kill him, then we can let him live. It is fine if we just cripple him! As for our suspicions, as long as we cripple him, he would no longer pose any threat! Is there anything wrong with what I am saying?”

Phoenix knitted her eyebrows. She looked at Dagger and turned to look at Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian coolly said, “He may be just an ordinary person to you all. However, I am acquainted with him. He had helped my friend before. I will not allow you to touch him!”

No matter what, Chen Xiaolian believed that the Dr Mu that he knew was a good person. Furthermore, he was also acquainted with Dr Mu – he feel that someone as good as Dr Mu should not end up getting hurt just because of a guess.

Another way of looking at it would be that he could not be like Dagger… just because he was an Awakened, he could view other ordinary humans as lambs that he could slaughter whenever he wished to.

Chen Xiaolian could not accept this form of mentality.

Phoenix lowered her eyes. Without looking at Chen Xiaolian’s eyes, she took a deep breath and said, “Then, let’s compromise.”

“What do you suggest?”

“Dr Mu… we can choose not to ham him. However, he must be closely guarded,” Phoenix said with a heavy tone. “Although Dagger was being impulsive, I believe that there is some truth to his deduction.

“Guild Leader Chen Xiaolian, maybe this Dr Mu is your friend.

“However, you have to understand… he is not our friend.

“This is a quest that we must all complete. If anything goes wrong, you may be willing to bear the consequences. However, we have no obligation to accompany you as you endure the consequences.”

“I understand.” Chen Xiaolian sighed. After pondering it for a moment, he said, “Lun Tai, Bei Tai, find a way to wake up Dr Mu… then, in the following time period, you two will be responsible for guarding him! Understand?”

Lun Tai was a very meticulous person. He was able to quickly grasp what Chen Xiaolian meant.

There were two meaning to guarding. The first, keep an eye on Dr Mu to ensure that there was nothing abnormal with him. The second, protect him from harm.

“All right, leave it to us.”

Phoenix watched as Chen Xiaolian gave the orders and she smiled. “Well then… we’ll leave it at that for now.”

Dagger took a step back. Then, he stood by the doorway and threw a cold stare at Chen Xiaolian. He abruptly raised an arm to perform a throat slitting action.

Without showing any fear, Chen Xiaolian stared back. Then, Dagger turned around and walked out of the lounge.

“Can we have a discussion in private, Guild Leader Chen Xiaolian?” Phoenix looked at Chen Xiaolian.

“Sure.”

…

At the roof of the warehouse, Chen Xiaolian and Phoenix found a clean place to sit down.

Phoenix pulled out a bottle of wine from her storage belt. She waved it and handed it to Chen Xiaolian. “Have a drink?”

Chen Xiaolian looked at it. Without showing any hesitation or concern, he accepted the bottle of wine and gulped down a big mouthful.

“Are you not afraid that I had poisoned it or something?” Phoenix smiled as she observed Chen Xiaolian.

“Guild Leader Phoenix, I have great deal of respect toward you,” said Chen Xiaolian as he looked at Phoenix. “The things that happened back then have proven your sincerity toward our cooperation. That is why I trust you.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian deliberately smiled. He pointed toward the bottom of the roof and said, “It’s just that some of your team members appear unfriendly toward us.”

Phoenix sighed gently. She took back the bottle of wine from Chen Xiaolian, wiped the top of the bottle and took a small gulp herself.

The wine entered her throat and Phoenix sighed. After swallowing the wine, she frowned and smiled wryly. “I really do not understand. Why do you men like to drink wine. It tastes so pungent.”

“Men are not the only one who likes to drink wine,” said Chen Xiaolian. He glanced at her and said, “Didn’t you say that a good girl does not drink wine?”

“Occasionally, even good girls would want to drink wine.” Phoenix shrugged her shoulders.

She turned her attention to the distance… it was presently morning. The sun had come out and was hanging in the sky.

“It’s really rare to be able to see such a good weather in London,” said Phoenix. She observed the distant sky and suddenly said, “Actually, Dagger… he is not opposing you.”

“Eh?”

“He is opposing me,” Phoenix said softly. “In one of the previous instance dungeons before this, something happened to my guild.”

Chen Xiaolian did not say anything… he felt that it was not right to ask about other people’s affairs.

However, it appeared that Phoenix did not intend to stop talking. She kept observing the distant sky and said with a calm and slow voice.

“In one of the previous instance dungeons, our guild lost three comrades. Two of them were very close to Dagger. One was his bro, and the other was his… woman.” Phoenix smiled wryly. “The last person to die is our Guild Leader… en, more accurately, our former Guild Leader.”

Chen Xiaolian was stunned.

“Thus, I am a new Guild Leader.” Phoenix smiled softly and continued, “If my guess is correct, your situation should be roughly the same. After Qiu Yun’s death, you accepted the Guild Leader position. This should have happened only recently.”

Chen Xiaolian did not say anything.

“Perhaps it was due to the death of his friend and woman, Dagger placed the blame on me… because, in the instance dungeon, he believed that I made some mistakes when giving orders, leading to deaths… personally, I did not think so. However… I have no excuse. Human emotions cannot be measured using reason,” Phoenix said coolly. “Perhaps there is another reason. After the former Guild Leader died, he was not satisfied that I was the one to become the new Guild Leader. Of course, he has quite the qualifications. Perhaps, there are some hidden factors there.”

Chen Xiaolian remained silent.

Phoenix suddenly asked him, “Have you suffered from a team member’s death before… I mean, after you become the Guild Leader.”

“… …” Chen Xiaolian hesitated for a moment.

Does Nicole count? Although she was just a temporary member, but… she should count as one.

“Yes,” Chen Xiaolian slowly said. “In the previous instance dungeon, we lost a very outstanding guild member. It could be said that she had used her life to save us all in the end and kill off a very strong enemy.”

“Your guild members… did they not question your leadership?” Phoenix looked at Chen Xiaolian. “You are lucky. We are both young, both new Guild Leaders… yet, your guild members never questioned you? Thinking about it, your situation is much better than mine.”

“Everyone had their own issues to deal with,” Chen Xiaolian replied vaguely.

“Our old Guild Leader had always taken very good care of me,” Phoenix said slowly. “Thus, the other guild members had always viewed me differently. Some chose to express it, like Dagger, while others chose not to express it…

“The old Guild Leader was a senior that I know of. A few years back, both of us were sucked into an instance dungeon and we became Awakened ones. I would always call him uncle. But, he is actually one of my teachers… I studied arts and he is a very famous painter.

“I became his student at the age of fifteen. Since then, I have been following him and learning to draw from him.

“After becoming an Awakened, he took very good care of me. This level of care, in the eyes of the other guild members, might be a form of unfairness.”

“I think that’s very fair… everyone has people who are close to them…” Chen Xiaolian tried to comfort her.

“… ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!” Phoenix suddenly burst out in laughter. Her laugh was as bright as the sun. However, a strange light seemingly shone out from her eyes.

“What are you laughing at? Were you just messing with me?” Chen Xiaolian frowned.

“You are really naïve,” said Phoenix. She suddenly picked up the bottle of wine and gulped down a big mouthful. Perhaps it was because she was drinking too quickly, she ended up choking and coughing a few times. Her charming cheeks turned red.

Suddenly, Phoenix violently threw the bottle of wine down onto the ground. It hit the ground and shattered apart.

“Chen Xiaolian! You are too naïve! Your kind-heartedness is unbefitting of one who has to live in this game!”

Phoenix's eyes suddenly became cold!

“Let me tell you! That old Guild Leader, my teacher… the reason he treated me so differently is because he had always had an interest in me!

“At that time, I was only fifteen years old! As for him, he was even older than my father!

“There had been many instances where he tried to take advantage of me! In the beginning, I could only resist and run… furthermore, I was very fearful, because he was very strong. I knew that if I were to forcefully resist, I would not be a match for him. I would only anger him and make him angry.

“I could only pretend to be a young, simple-minded person who did not understand the implications of his hints… I used that method to deal with it, to avoid, to resist and to protect myself!

“Fortunately, it appeared that he enjoyed those actions of toying with his prey! Thus, I was able to protect myself for a very long time and he did not get to do what he wanted.

“Do you know? Every night, when I am sleeping, I would hide a knife under my pillow!

“Externally, he appeared to be looking out for me with the utmost care. However, he was actually supressing me so that I will not have the opportunity to enhance my strength. Him caring for me was simply to tell others not to have any interest toward me, I am his private property, a pet!

“No! Truth be told, he had been suppressing the strength of all the other guild members! All in order to ensure that his strength could have a suppressive and overwhelming authority!

“I could only secretly use every method I could think of to secretly enhance my own strength under his very eyes.

“I have always been living like a frightened rat! Facing a cat that is always wanting to eat me, I can only carefully preserve myself and carefully enhance my strength little by little…

“Later though, he gradually lost his patience. He became increasingly furious toward my resistance and refusal.

“Do you know how he died in the end?”

Chen Xiaolian was shocked.

Phoenix took a deep breath, her eyes turning colder and colder!

“He finally lost his patience. In the previous instance dungeon, when we were resting, I refused his secret approach. He became furious and attempted to… forcefully rape me!”

“… …” Chen Xiaolan was stunned and he looked at Phoenix.

Phoenix suddenly produced a dagger in her palm. It was a near invisible looking dagger.

“I pretended to be fearful, pretending to not have the desire to fight back, made him let his guard down… then, I took advantage of the time when he was taking off his clothes to use this dagger and STAB his neck, cutting off his throat!”

After saying that, Phoenix sneered, “That fellow, even in death, he failed to get me! I created an illusion to make everyone think that he died in the hands of a monster from the instance dungeon.

“After the instance dungeon ended, I became the most powerful one in the guild!

“You know? After the instance dungeon ended and I returned home, the first thing I did was to lock myself up in the shower room. I washed myself tens of times! I finally washed away the fear that has been suppressing my heart for years!

Chen Xiaolian was at a loss for words.

Phoenix fiercely stabbed the dagger down the floor between the two of them!

“You… why are you telling me all these?” Chen Xiaolian looked into the young woman’s eyes.

“I am telling you to not be so naïve and kind-hearted,” Phoenix sneered. “Don’t be too trustful of anyone – that is, if you wish to live longer within this game.”

…