CH 16.2

Leaving Dijia to one side, Bai Lixin began to search the room in earnest.

According to the system, Lady Rose died last night. He climbed onto the bed with the intention of seeing what wounds Lady Rose had on her body, but then recalled what Mr. Mo had just done on this bed and stopped.

Just when Bai Lixin was hesitating, a white bat flew to his shoulder and said, “She died of blood loss. There were no wounds on her body.”

Bai Lixin, “She bled out? Or was it sucked out?”

The white bat shook the fur on his body and said, “Probably not. If the Bloods had done it, there would have been bite marks on her body.”

It was then that Bai Lixin cocked his head and looked at Dijia, “Why are you looking like this again?”

The white bat was a little helpless. “I haven’t eaten since I was born. I have very little strength left, so turning into a bat saves energy.”

Bai Lixin, “What about when you eat? Can you regain your strength?”

White Bat, “Yes.”

Bai Lixin pulled back his collar to reveal his slender neck, “Will you drink or not?”

Dijia fell into deep thought.

When the most delicious food is placed in front of you and you are invited to eat it, do you eat it or not?

The answer was obvious.

But he couldn’t for now.

Bai Lixin only had his name now, and the two had not yet entered into a solid contractual relationship. But once he drank his blood, it would be the equivalent of the superior putting his brand on the inferior, and he would not be able to get rid of Bai Lixin for the rest of his life.

The sweet taste of blood kept stimulating Dijia’s taste buds, and Dijia ground the sharp fangs in his mouth before finally squeezing a word out of it, “No.”

Bai Lixin raised an eyebrow and decisively pulled up his collar, “You either love it or hate it.”

Dijia: “…” I’ve never been so speechless in my life.

Bai Lixin was about to look at the next detail point when the door was knocked on twice.

One man and one bat looked over in unison, and a whispered question could be heard from outside the room door, “Brother, are you in there?”

Bai Lixin’s frown eased slightly, “Come in.”

The door to the room was gently pushed open from the outside, and Xia Chi, dressed as a Blood guard, sashayed in.

He took a few quick steps and ran up to Bai Lixin, his face full of excitement. “Brother, I really didn’t expect to run into you. I’m so lucky. This will give me a chance to help you back!”

Xia Chi’s eyes fell on Bai Lixin’s shoulder and his eyes lit up, “Huh, there’s actually a little white bat. It’s quite cute. Where did you get it, brother? Can I touch it?”

Bai Lixin, “A gift from the system lottery, touch it and it will bite you to death.”

A chilling, murderous aura suddenly spilled out from the bat’s body, and Xia Chi’s soul trembled. Before he could react, he was already on his knees. Cold sweat beaded down from his forehead as his body spasmed uncontrollably.

Xia Chi landed on his knees and breathed heavily, his eyes filled with fear.

It was the bloodline suppression of the Blood clan.

Bai Lixin’s rounded fingertips dropped to the bat’s head and soothingly stroked the fur from the top of the head downwards.

The bat was so small that Bai Lixin could reach the tail in one gentle swoop.

Just when Bai Lixin reached the bat’s abdomen, the white bat shuddered violently, and it tilted its head to look at Bai Lixin incredulously.

Bai Lixin was confused, “What’s wrong?”

The white bat’s tongue twitched in its mouth, and in the end, it only shook its head in a stoic manner.

Dijia withdrew the bloodline suppression, and only then was Xia Chi freed from his despair at the near-death experience. He looked fearfully at the tiny bat on Bai Lixin’s shoulder and no longer dared to say anything more.

Instinct told him that this bat was dangerous, so dangerous that the next time he saw it, he had to run.

Bai Lixin, “Thank you for covering for me outside just now.”

Xia Chi, “It’s what I should have done. I was planning to come here to investigate too. I turned a corner and saw a figure enter the room that looked a lot like you. Then I saw the Count coming this way, and I had to help.”

Bai Lixin, “It was a big help. Did you find anything on the Bloods’ side?”

Xia Chi, “No, although I drew Blood status, I’m only a lowly guard. I don’t have access to the inner premises of the nobility, but I did find out a little.”

Bai Lixin walked over to Lady Rose’s desk, where he rummaged for clues and asked casually, “Tell me about it.”

“I discovered from one of the guards that Lady Rose was Mr. Mo’s second wife. His first wife gave Mr. Mo a boy more than twenty years ago, but his former wife died in childbirth.”

“The Count’s only son is now grown up. I heard from the guards that he does not like Lady Rose, and that they once saw the Count’s son and Lady Rose having a violent argument.”

“I reckon the Count’s son hates Lady Rose for stealing his mother’s place.”

Bai Lixin, “Does the Count’s son live here as well?”

Xia Chi, “Yes, I saw him just now, sneaking into a room.”

Bai Lixin looked up at Xia Chi who was searching for clues, and said, “You suspect that the Count’s son killed Lady Rose?”

Xia Chi, “I don’t know. I learnt from the first copy that things run quite deep. Some of the suspects that look to be the most likely culprits turn out to be innocent. So the murderer shouldn’t be so easy for us to find, right? But what if the copy does the opposite and we get screwed by it? Maybe the count’s son isn’t the murderer, but is also in the know.”

Bai Lixi, “Then let’s investigate him.”

With that, he returned his eyes to the desk. Lady Rose’s desk was very clean, with only a few books, a quill, and ink in the top left corner.

Bai Lixin picked up the top book. It was a large, thick book with ornate foil lettering rolled across the cover. He didn’t understand the script used by the Bloods and had no idea what was written on the cover.

Bai Lixin flipped through it and stopped at one of the pages that had lines marked out with a pen.

Bai Lixin looked at the bat standing on his shoulder, “Can you tell me what it says?”

Dijia swept a look over the book, he did not speak, but his voice reached Bai Lixin’s ears.

The lazy voice was full of disgust, “It is the Holy Book. It is similar to your human “Bible.” It is worshiped as the sacred book of the Bloods.”

“The circled line means: when all things are silent, the Holy will come in person.”

Bai Lixin looked at the book with a somewhat intrigued expression, “The Bloods who yearn for the night also believe in the gods?”

Dijia sneered, “Unlike humans who serve the gods of light, the Bloods serve demon gods or evil gods.”

Bai Lixin picked up another book and looked at it, but found nothing else in particular.

He walked over to the window and slowly lifted a corner of the curtain. The windows in this room were all nailed shut with wood, and the curtains were tightly drawn. It made him wonder if they were afraid that the sunlight would pour in during the day to accelerate the decay of Lady Rose’s corpse.

He could still vaguely see the scene outside through the gaps of the wooden planks. This was also Bai Lixin’s first time seeing the outside after entering the copy.

The system said that this was an ancient castle when he entered the copy, but he was still shocked when he saw the outside scene.

Outside the window of this room was a garden filled with red roses.

The wind blew and the roses swayed in the wind, just like a red sea.

Because the gap between the wooden bars was not very large, Bai Lixin could not see further to the side, but could only vaguely see that there were other buildings next to it.

Outside was silent. None of the Bloods who had been at the dinner earlier appeared in the garden.

It was as if the gardens were a private space that was independently enclosed and not open to outsiders. With Lady Rose’s love of flowers, one could only imagine who this garden is for.

The nails in the wood had faded a little in the sun, so it seemed that they had been in place for some time, and not because of Lady Rose’s death.

But if it was not to prevent the corpse from decaying, what was the reason for nailing the wood in that this sea of red, which had been meticulously cared for, would no longer please the beautiful Lady Rose?

As Bai Lixin pondered, Xia Chi approached.

Xia Chi’s expression was a little strange. “Brother, you smell so good,” he swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on the back of Bai Lixin’s exposed neck.

Bai Lixin was stunned for a moment, and he looked over at Xia Chi, “Which fragrance?”

Xia Chi licked the corner of his lips, “The scent of food. I’m so hungry, brother.”

After these words were said, Xia Chi’s entire body froze.

He looked at Bai Lixin blankly and covered his mouth in horror, “I… I… What’s wrong with me, brother?!”

Bai Lixin’s eyes darkened slightly, “You are now a Blood.”

How could the taste buds still be human when the body had turned into one of the Blood clan?

Xia Chi had already experienced a “hunger” reaction after only a few hours in this copy, and with four days and four nights left, he wouldn’t be able to hold out. The Blood clan fed on blood, and the craving for Blood will probably torment Xia Chi’s nerves for the next few days.

Bai Lixin suddenly questioned the so-called “reward” card lottery.

The seemingly glamorous status of a Blood clan comes at the price of drinking human blood. In other words, a rejection of humanity.

And his card draw was equally cruel.

If the True Ancestor didn’t turn out to be Dijia, he would have ended with one fate: a meal on a plate.

While hiding in that square coffin, he had felt the oppressiveness emanating from Dijia, and his current self was no match for the True Ancestor.

Xia Chi’s face, which was already pale because of his Blood identity, became even paler. “What about me, brother? I don’t want to drink human blood, but there are 4 days and 4 nights to go. I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold on!”

Bai Lixin turned to Dijia, “Is there a replacement for blood meals?”

Dijia’s voice rang in his ears, “If one doesn’t want to drink human blood, animal blood can also be used to feed the stomach, but there is also another way.”

Bai Lixin, “What other way?”

Xia Chi was puzzled, “Brother, are you talking to the bat?”

Dijia did not pay any attention to Xia Chi, “It is to endure. Not eating doesn’t pose any physical danger to himself. Bloods are very sturdy and starvation doesn’t kill them. He’ll just feel a bit physically exhausted.”

Bai Lixin conveyed Dijia’s words to Xia Chi as they were, and Xia Chi swallowed hard, “Then I won’t eat. If I really can’t hold on, I’ll go drink animal blood.”

He glanced greedily at Bai Lixin’s pale neck and brought his head against the gap to look out the window in an effort to divert his attention away from the sweet smell that persistently coiled in his nostrils. “Brother, there are so many roses outside!”

Wuwu, it smells so good. I want to stick to Brother Xin. I want to take a bite.

Xia Chi desperately shook his head, his eyes straining to look out the window. Just after focusing all his attention outside, a bandaged face dangled upside down through the window without warning.

A pair of bloodshot ferocious eyes met Xia Chi’s eyes unadorned, and at the same time crashed into Xia Chi’s heart at two hundred miles per hour.

That feeling was even more shocking than when he was watching a ghost movie and suddenly saw *Sadako crawl out.

Xia Chi’s eyes rolled up and he fell to the ground.

What the hell?!

Bai Lixin also saw the ghostly face as well. The other party was hanging completely upside down. His whole body was wrapped in bandages and only two eyes were exposed on his face. The rest that could be seen through the gaps in the bandages was rotting flesh and white bones.

The thing, which they didn’t know whether it was a man or a ghost, dangled from the window for a second, and then disappeared from Bai Lixin’s like the wind.

It came fiercely and left in a hurry.

With a wave of bandages, only a frightened Blood was left behind.

Bai Lixin looked through the gap and saw the thing flip through the air, land in the rose garden, and then quickly merge with the night.

“What was that?” Bai Lixin subconsciously asked Dijia on his shoulder for help.

Dijia hesitated for a moment, “I don’t know.”

Bai Lixin looked at the nailed down wood. Was the nailed down wood a barricade from the bandaged ghost from earlier?

Xia Chi’s legs were still weak. Just as he was about to speak, a system beep rang out in both their minds at the same time.

It was the prompt of death.

[Ding! Players dead X6, 36 players remaining.]

—

The wall lamp was dimly lit, and Bai Lixin nimbly dodged one guard after another to return to the bedchamber. Most of them had already returned, as the sudden death notice suspended everyone’s investigative actions.

Everyone sat disheveled on their beds, at a loss for words.

Six more beds had been carried out of the hall, and the room, which had been somewhat crowded when they first arrived, was now somewhat empty.

Dijia hid in Bai Lixin’s top pocket, where he curled up into a ball and found a comfortable position in the pocket; he was either resting or asleep.

Half an hour later, Wen Ziqing’s group, which had gone out to investigate, also returned.

The people who came back together with Wen Ziqing all had ugly expressions, and all of them sat down angrily, but no one dared to make any crying noises.

Wen Ziqing first counted the number of his teammates. All the members of the fifth group were wiped out.

After taking a sip of water, he said slowly, “The members of the fifth group were going to a secret passage. That is where the first wave of players did not manage to enter.”

Some of the players broke down and cursed, “You knew that no one had been there, so why did you let them go!”

“Someone had to go…” Wen Ziqing spoke with difficulty, “If it wasn’t them, chances are it was you guys. Any place could have the truth about Lady Rose’s death, and we’ll all be dead in a few days if we don’t find it.”

“And they didn’t die in vain. At least we know there must be something down there and that something is dangerous, very dangerous.”

The air suddenly stagnated.

14 people had died in just half a day of coming to this copy. In addition, not a single player from the previous group [The Blood clan] survived the first two days of the live broadcast.

The pressure of death and the fear of unknown forces had long since broken its banks, flooding the hearts of all the players.

But they couldn’t let it out yet, because if they did, they would be taken out to become the Bloods’ food on a plate.

The pressure could not be relieved and sanity was already stretched into a string. That string had not yet been loosened, and the force was hanging them over the cliff. In addition, beneath the cliff was a huge beast called the “slaughter” that was crying out for food. It seemed like they would fall straight down into the beast’s mouth with just a little force and become nourishment for their fears.

“So did you guys find anything?” A small voice rang out in the air.

The crowd looked over, and it was a player who had opted out earlier.

A player who had participated in tonight’s investigation was poked in anger, “Even if something was discovered, why should we tell you?! That was a clue we risked our lives to find, and since you didn’t participate in the quest, you don’t deserve to share the information with us!”

In that instant, it was as if the pressure that had been building up and swelling had finally found a breakthrough.

“That’s right! What makes you, a coward who does nothing, deserve to get something for nothing?! It’s obviously a team game with 50 people, but there are always some people trying to slack off at the back!”

“This shit game is only so hard to get through because there are always so many crap teammates assigned to each copy! If everyone was smart and brave enough, maybe it wouldn’t be so hard! Fuck!”

“Just hide under the covers and enjoy your springtime dreams. Be an at peace of mind food!”

Bai Lixin’s bed was in an inconspicuous corner position, and he looked at the somewhat out-of-control scene in front of him, secretly gauging Wen Ziqing, who stood silently behind him.

In his ears came Dijia’s voice, “One of these people is being dominated.”

Bai Lixin spoke in a voice that only two people could hear, “Dominated?”

Dijia, “One of the Blood’s powers is the “domination gaze”. The Blood clan can control the person’s mind by looking into their eyes, allowing them to perform certain actions unconsciously.”