Chapter 198 Blade Duel at Cang Lin 14

Chapter 198 Blade Duel at Cang Lin 14

After the perfunctory chat between the two parties, Feng Bujue obtained the key to room B of the Tian row, and the four left the room.

———

Item Name: Room Key

Item Type: Plot Item

Quality: Normal

Effect: Owner and their group gain access to room B of the Tian row.

Can be taken out of the scenario: Yes

Remark: Even if the key is not physically in your inventory, as long as it is within the possession of any member who is part of your group, entry to the room can be gained.

———

"Oh, this item can be taken out of the scenario, and it will change into a puzzle card after the mission is done." Feng Bujue looked at the item description. "Why don’t you take this, Passing Rain? You are stronger than me and won’t die so easily. Furthermore, I am sure your inventory is emptier than mine."

"Hey, of everyone in this room, my player level is the highest! Plus, I am a professional gamer. Shouldn’t you have given the key to me?" Atobe complained.

Feng Bujue changed the topic. "Speaking of the professional gamer... I have a plan that needs your help."

"Huh? What plan?" Atobe asked.

"Do you still remember that pretty woman that commented on my kung fu when we were on the first floor?" Feng Bujue asked.

"I do. That old man, Meng Jiu, mentioned that her surname is Mu Rong, right?" Atobe replied.

"At the time, I was paying attention to the surroundings. From the snippets of the conversation, I can make the safe assumption that Miss Mu Rong is some kind of know-it-all character," Fu Bujue said while scratching his chin. "In other words, she is a wealth of information."

"You wish for me to approach her to get information about this world?" Atobe asked.

"Indeed, that is what professional gamers do, right?" Fu Bujue answered. "Use your professional technique to approach her to chat or something. When the conversation gets going, just say that you’re new to the martial world, so you don’t know many things and wish to ask her for help."

"I am a professional gamer, not a professional host!" Atobe shouted.

"Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to go and sell your body. I’m just asking you to go initiate some conversation, and when the timing is right, ask some questions." Fu Bujue ignored the complaint. "With regards to interactions between players and game characters, one can always refer to Clause D of the gaming rules, also known as the player’s in-game behavior and interaction rule.

"Regardless of gender, any interaction or intention that is deemed by the system to have fallen into the categories of Clause B and C will be limited and suspended. The player’s intention will not be translated into actual actions. Repeat offenders will be forcibly disconnected, and said players will be added into the permanent ban list and closely monitored.

"I investigated it and realized that interactions between players and in-game characters or monsters are even more limited even when compared to interactions between players. With consent from both parties, intimate interactions to a certain degree are still possible between players, but there can’t be any sexually charged interactions between players and in-game characters even though that does not preclude them from having affection toward you.

"In conclusion, you can go ahead and talk to her. You won’t be taking advantage of her."

"Hey! That is a pretty woman, not a scary-looking brute! You are making it sound like it will be my loss, and not being able to be taken advantage of is the real tragedy here!" Atobe replied. "By the way, just what kind of person are you to rattle off the rules word by word and explain the prohibition that stops characters from different dimensions from being in a relationship so clearly? "

"Oh, that is because there was a hug between me and a female character in a previous scenario. Of course, it was a completely innocent and platonic hug," Fu Bujue answered calmly. "After that, I was inspired to see where the limitations for such interactions lie. Therefore, I took the time to read up on the related game rules."

"Eh, doesn’t that mean that it will be much easier for female players to go and seduce male characters? " Laughing Soul asked jokingly. "After all, we won’t be punished by the system."

"Girls, please mind your behavior." Xiao Tan turned around to stare with blazing eyes.

"If this setting is real," Feng Bujue said, "it can explain most of the situations that I’ve encountered in my solo queues..."

"Is this one of the hidden rules?" Passing Rain asked.

"Perhaps. With this as the basis, players who are deemed kind and rule-abiding and those who are deemed chaotic and evil will develop in different directions. Not only skills, titles, and equipment... their gaming experience will be wildly different as well," Feng Bujue claimed thoughtfully. "From the looks of it... it’s best that we try not to harm the innocent. We shall try to stand on the side of justice and do things that are qualified as heroic within the range allowable by the mission, just in case you are listed as an evil player like I am by the system."

At that moment, Atobe asked, "What is your second method?"

"If we can’t kill, then we shall injure," Feng Bujue said. "If Su Tang is injured to a degree that prevents her from pushing through to the next level of the Ming You Mantra, it’s natural that this shall be postponed, right?

"The gaming time is limited, and we won’t stay until the fourth day, so... as long as we can drag this out until the evening of the day after tomorrow, this shall be taken care of naturally."

"That might actually work." Laughing Soul hummed and said, "But... we need to carefully discuss how to injure that Miss Su."

"That is true. Firstly, we cannot be too obvious about it, and we can only attack her from the dark," Feng Bujue explained. "Secondly, we cannot let any suspicion fall on us after the fact."

He crossed his arms before his chest and shook his head. "If we have Laughing Soul snipe her from afar, that can easily accomplish the first point, but that will cause them to easily pin the blame on us. Only a bunch of strangers would ambush them with this kind of method that they are unable to explain."

"Even if we use a method that they are familiar with, we will still be the most suspicious," Xiao Tan said. "You have just given your promise to help the Six Blades. If, within that same day, Su Tang is injured by an ambush... honestly, even if someone used this opening to injure her, people would naturally suspect us."

"I do have an idea that will not direct the suspicion toward us," Feng Bujue said. "The most suitable idea that I have... is non-discriminate poisoning."

"Your way of thinking..." Atobe was speechless. Feng Bujue’s train of thought skipped so fast, but he could always end at a startling conclusion.

"The reasoning is simple," Feng Bujue explained. "To cover the fact that our target is Su Tang, we shall target everyone else. This way, at least from the surface, she will have just encountered a poisoning that doesn’t appear like it has her in mind as the target."

"Hahaha... ’We shall try to stand on the side of justice and do things that are qualified as heroic’..." Xiao Tan narrowed his eyes and repeated what Feng Bujue had just uttered earlier.

Feng Bujue could only act like he did not hear him and continue, "For an authentic effect, we shall poison ourselves to cover our tracks."

"Are you mad?" Atobe gasped.

"There’s no better solution. To ensure one lie is not seen through, one has to create a much bigger lie," Feng Bujue said. "At this moment, we have sunk into this kind of situation. You must understand that our current safety and freedom are built on the foundation of a lie. If this is exposed, the whole string of lies will collapse on its own. To wish to find a place in this town, or rather... to ’survive’, we need to try our best to act in our roles and push until the end. Every minute and every second of our lives needs to be spent to maintain the mysterious yet powerful image of this Broken Sword Chahitsu. If the people outside know about our real capability, this scenario is basically over. In that situation, the only solution that I can think of is to go hide in the mountains, but for that to happen, we must be able to leave this village... no, this street, with our lives."

"He’s right," Passing Rain said. "In terms of fighting ability, as long as three more people who are of the same level as that woman yesterday come to challenge us, we will have to pull out our guns, or else we will be wiped out instantly.

"At this moment, if ’Master’ Bujue is exposed, that will be seen as being an impostor. In this world, that might turn everyone hostile against us."

Feng Bujue continued from where she stopped. "In any case, if there is a real fight, after the group of wuxia heroes see through our gimmicks and know how the basic mechanics of guns work, we’re finished."

"Either we keep up this farce or become public enemies?" Xiao Tan sighed darkly.

"It’s like we’re Jews who accidentally joined the Nazis during the second world war. The only way we can survive is to trick the people around us into believing we’re true Germans." Feng Bujue shrugged.

"Let’s talk about the poisoning then..." Atobe sighed.

"If we’re successful, we will achieve our goal and won’t be suspected... or rather, even if the Six Blades are suspicious of us, they have no way of confirming it."

"Hmm..." Xiao Tan thought about it and said, "Anyone can commit poisoning. If only a small number of people or only one person is poisoned, the suspected party will swiftly be locked onto—those who had beneficial transactions or resentment toward the victim. But if it’s an indiscriminate poisoning with no specific target, then the real culprit will be hard to pinpoint. As long as we do not let up during the process and get poisoned after the fact, then..."

"Okay, three problems." Laughing Soul could not hold it in anymore and interrupted him. "One, where do we find this substance that will poison but won’t kill? Keep in mind that there has to be big enough to poison a whole inn of people. Two, how do we ensure that the poison will affect the people inside the inn? Three, how do we ensure that the poisoning will not be traced back to us after one and two are completed?"

"Good question," Feng Bujue replied. He titled his head and shrugged. "I have no clue."

"Why the hell are we even discussing this?"

"That’s why I said it is the most ideal solution, but as for how we commit it for real... we still have one more day to figure that out."