Having witnessed Zhang Jingxu’s use of the Prophecy Art, Ling Ishikawa couldn’t help but smile and say, "Ling Ishikawa, your Prophecy Art seems a bit... how should I put it, unreliable, right? After all, you yourself admitted that the Prophecy Art is entirely random, and the targets of the prophecies are uncontrollable. So, I think, Ling Ishikawa, you might want to reconsider using that Prophecy Art."
Liu Xing nodded in agreent, sharing a similar sentint. "Zhang Jingxu is right. Ling Ishikawa, your Prophecy Art, to put it bluntly, is more of an entertainnt skill. It’s fine for amusent, but relying on it for useful information is nearly impossible."
Ling Ishikawa looked sowhat frustrated as he glanced at Liu Xing. He shrugged and replied, "Well, I do admit that the effectiveness of my Prophecy Art can be disappointing at tis. But in the previous module, my Prophecy Art did work to so extent. After all, it predicted that Matsui Yui had once acted in a small film. It’s just that you all didn’t believe my prophecy back then. Besides, we have so spare ti now, and using Prophecy Art once won’t hurt, right?"
Seeing Ling Ishikawa’s determination, Liu Xing relented, saying, "Alright, Ling Ishikawa, go ahead and use your Prophecy Art again. I hope this ti it will be as successful as in the previous module. However, it’s getting late now. How about you wait until tomorrow to use the Prophecy Art? It has a lengthy casting ti, and it’s already late at night. I don’t want to keep everyone waiting for too long."
After so consideration, Ling Ishikawa nodded in agreent. He understood that the Prophecy Art had a significant pre-casting delay, and it wouldn’t be fair to make Liu Xing and the others wait for an extended period in the middle of the night.
Liu Xing checked his phone and continued, "Alright, the Private Room ti is almost up. Let wrap this up. First, tomorrow we’ll et with Hu Cang to confirm the current tiline. Then, we need to find a way to deal with the troubleso Hu Li. At this point, Hu Li should be aware of our presence, just like the Hu Li from the previous tiline. She probably believes we are sent to deal with her. Knowing Hu Li’s personality, she’ll likely strike preemptively."
"Furthermore, Hu Li possesses highly covert thods. So, no matter how cautious we are, she has a high chance of cornering us. Escaping won’t solve our problem. We must confront Hu Li head-on. Of course, if we engage in a direct conflict with her, the chances of success are high, but it will co at a cost. While we can resurrect, we won’t be able to complete other missions during this tiline."
"So, I personally believe that the best approach to dealing with Hu Li is to appeal to her emotions and logic. Hu Li seems to genuinely care for her husband, so if we find the right approach, we might be able to persuade her to drop her hostility. I’ll take responsibility for this mission, as I had an extensive conversation with Hu Li after leaving the illusionary realm, and I believe I have a reasonable understanding of her."
The others readily agreed to Liu Xing’s proposal, understanding the gravity of the situation. They knew that if they didn’t resolve the Hu Li issue, their progress within this module would be severely hindered, as they’d have to tread carefully, fearing Hu Li’s sudden attacks at every step.
As for a direct confrontation, they all recognized its impracticality. Hu Li had considered them as enemies from the beginning, and she had complete control over their actions within the illusionary realm. Therefore, even before they reached Hu Li’s location, she might have set various traps, making it easy for her to eliminate them once again. They had no effective ans to counter her abilities.
So, entrusting Liu Xing to negotiate with Hu Li was the most sensible and inevitable option.
Reflecting on this, Ling Ishikawa added a warning, "Liu Xing, you should be cautious. Hu Li, or should I say, the ’demon,’ seems sowhat unstable. To strike back at Hu Cang, she resorted to unspeakable acts against Xiao Mochen. Combining my personal experience, I suspect she might have a particular fixation on a certain ’unntionable’ part. So, be prepared for her to potentially resort to such thods with you."
Ling Ishikawa’s words sent a chill down Liu Xing’s spine. His earlier impulsive decision to confront Hu Li alone now felt regrettable.
With a sigh, Liu Xing admitted, "I think I may not be able to handle Hu Li on my own..."
Before Liu Xing could finish, Zhang Jingxu patted him on the shoulder and said reassuringly, "Liu Xing, have faith in yourself. You’re the best."
The others nodded solemnly, though their faces betrayed amused smiles.
Liu Xing sighed again, realizing he might have bitten off more than he could chew.
At that mont, KP Snow Wind interjected, "Alright, the Private Room ti has ended. Players, please prepare to continue playing your roles. However, there’s one more thing I didn’t get a chance to ntion earlier. Although you can be resurrected in this module, you should be aware that it cos at a cost and has limitations."
"So, let explain the resurrection rules for this module. Each player has three chances to be resurrected. After the third death, you’ll be eliminated from the ga. Each resurrection will deduct 15 ’Truth’ points, and one of your skills will be randomly selected to have its value temporarily reduced by half in the next tiline."
Upon hearing KP Snow Wind’s words, Liu Xing quickly began to inspect his character card, only to discover that there were no abnormalities in the skill values listed on it.
Furrowing his brow, Liu Xing imdiately inquired of KP Snow Wind, "KP, why haven’t my skill values decreased? Is it possible that we’ll only find out during Judgnt?"
KP Snow Wind smiled and responded, "Because, players, this ti your deaths occurred as a result of triggering the Plot Encounter for the first ti within this module. Therefore, it hasn’t been formally counted towards your death count. As a result, you won’t face any penalties for this death. However, moving forward, regardless of the reasons behind your deaths, you will indeed be penalized. I hope you all proceed with caution."
Liu Xing nodded in understanding. It seed that this module was relatively forgiving in this regard. However, this realization shed light on why the "Truth" points for this module had been set at 650. Factoring in the penalties for the two deaths, 650 "Truth" points would just barely suffice.
With this in mind, Liu Xing couldn’t help but feel the pressure of the "Truth" points. If players died twice, it was highly likely that at least one of them wouldn’t have enough "Truth" points to complete the module. After all, each Side Quest offered a different number of "Truth" points, making it challenging for every player to reach exactly 100 points.
Now, Liu Xing understood the sinister intention behind this module. Despite appearing as a typical cooperative module on the surface, it cleverly utilized the point system, forcing players to engage in hidden competition while cooperating. They had to strive to reach 100 "Truth" points faster than their peers, especially when a Side Quest failed or players accumulated too many deaths, causing a shortage of "Truth" points. In such cases, the covert competition could easily escalate into open conflict.
To make matters more complicated, Liu Xing noticed that as this unwritten rule beca apparent, the atmosphere among the participants grew increasingly subtle.
Being prepared for any situation was always wise.
At that mont, footsteps could be heard coming from downstairs, indicating that Hu Cang had arrived.
As expected, Hu Cang looked at Liu Xing and the others without surprise and said, "Indeed, you all can resurrect just like . But it seems you won’t be able to stop Hu Li, will you?"
Liu Xing furrowed his brow. How was he able to understand Hu Cang’s words now? Had the Cthulhu Role-Playing Ga Hall encountered a bug?
Pondering this, Liu Xing tentatively asked Hu Cang, "Hu Cang, are you saying that it’s inevitable for Hu Li to take action during the wedding?"
Hu Cang nodded first and then looked at Liu Xing in astonishnt, expressing his confusion, "Wait a minute, how can I understand Mr. Ryuusei speaking Island Nation Language?"
Zhang Jingxu, too, was surprised as he looked at Liu Xing, nodding and saying, "That’s right, Mr. Ryuusei, you are indeed speaking Island Nation Language."
Liu Xing had a sudden realization and explained, "It seems that Hu Li did sothing to , because when I woke up from the illusion earlier, it seed that she used so kind of Magic Spells on , granting the ability for ntal communication, bypassing language barriers."
Zhang Jingxu thought for a mont and smiled, saying, "I do recall such Magic Spells, but they are not widely used due to their limited practicality and complex requirents. However, what Hu Li did might actually be helpful. It allows you to freely communicate with us, and you can use this ability to gather information, as others likely assu you don’t understand Chinese."
Liu Xing smiled and added, "That’s a good idea indeed. In front of a foreigner like who doesn’t understand Chinese, most people probably won’t be too cautious and might inadvertently reveal useful information."
This ti, Liu Xing consciously refrained from engaging in ntal communication with Hu Cang. As expected, Hu Cang appeared as though he didn’t understand. anwhile, Zhang Jingxu and the others reacted appropriately.
This put Liu Xing at ease, as it seed he could control this form of ntal communication. After all, if he couldn’t, he would have to be very careful with his words.
Returning to the main topic, Hu Cang continued, "In fact, there are three possibilities regarding Hu Li and Xiao Mochen’s wedding ceremony. The first possibility is that I didn’t attend their wedding, and nothing happened. The second possibility is that I attended their wedding, and just like what you experienced, everyone at the wedding was sohow srized by Hu Li’s thods, while I was captured and detained sowhere. The third possibility is that I attended their wedding, but in a mont of vulnerability, I was subdued by unknown individuals, likely Hu Li herself, and then detained."
Everyone exchanged glances. Hu Li clearly had a strong preference for Hu Cang, as evidenced by the differential treatnt. She had killed Liu Xing and his companions, while Hu Cang had only been imprisoned.
With this in mind, Liu Xing couldn’t help but ask Hu Cang, "Mr. Hu Cang, I believe you are aware that Hu Li had a strong affection for you. So, may I inquire about the reasons for your breakup?"
Hu Cang furrowed his brows, looking sowhat uneasy as he said, "Why are you asking this question? It shouldn’t have anything to do with us getting rid of the temporal distortion. So, I think I don’t need to answer this question."
Liu Xing sighed and spoke earnestly, "That may not necessarily be true, Mr. Hu Cang. I believe you already know the true identity of Hu Li, who is actually a fox that has cultivated to beco a spirit. According to the information we currently have, Panlong Town may still be inhabited by various demons and monsters, which could potentially be linked to the temporal distortion in Panlong Town. So, we need to find a way to deal with these creatures one by one."
"But, Mr. Hu Cang, you should also know or have guessed how powerful these demons and monsters are. Just us ordinary people won’t be able to handle them. Therefore, we must find suitable allies to assist us. And the most suitable ally naturally would be Hu Li. After all, to defeat the demons, we need the help of soone like her who possesses extraordinary abilities."
Liu Xing’s persuasive argunt left Hu Cang deep in thought.
At this mont, Zhang Jingxu seized the opportunity and added, "Ryuusei is right, these demons and monsters are likely the ones released by that fanatical cultist who ca to Panlong Town to spread his beliefs. Moreover, that cultist has a strong connection to the current temporal distortion in Panlong Town. So, we all believe that the best way to resolve the Panlong Town temporal distortion is by eliminating these creatures one by one. That’s why we need your support, Mr. Hu Cang. Hu Li is our only viable ally right now."
Hu Cang sighed and spoke with a conflicted expression, "You’ve all probably guessed it already, there have been so disagreents between and Hu Li about certain details, leading to the current situation. But I must clarify that Hu Li and I are not in a romantic relationship. The reason Hu Li likes is that I once saved her when she was still in her fox form."
Then, Hu Cang began to narrate the story of his encounter with Hu Li, a rather clichéd tale of a fox repaying a favor.
When Hu Cang was eight years old, he was playing hide and seek with his friends on a hill across Panlong River. Due to strong winds in the previous days, the hill’s trees were in disarray, so even uprooted.
During the ga of hide and seek, Hu Cang discovered Hu Li in her fox form, who hadn’t yet transford into a human. At that mont, Hu Li’s leg was trapped under a bowl-sized tree, and so Hu Cang rescued her and brought her to his ho for treatnt. After her leg had healed, he released her back into the forest.
Two years ago, when Hu Li had transford into a human, she ca to Panlong Town to repay her debt to Hu Cang. Initially, Hu Cang didn’t recognize her as he couldn’t fathom how an animal could beco human. However, he soon realized that Hu Li was excessively kind to him, in an abnormal way. Despite her intelligence, she exhibited childish behavior at tis and lacked common knowledge.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Hu Cang asked Hu Li why she acted this way. To his surprise, Hu Li openly revealed her true identity and reverted to her fox form.
Seeing this, Hu Cang’s worldview was shattered, and when Hu Li proposed being together, he chose to decline. He used studying dicine in Rongcheng as an excuse to leave Panlong Town. This decision led to conflicts between him and Hu Li, eventually leading to their current situation.
After hearing Hu Cang and Hu Li’s story, Liu Xing first criticized the clichéd plot, then felt that Hu Cang was still hiding sothing.
So, Liu Xing asked once more, "Mr. Hu Cang, I have another question. Why did Hu Li choose Xiao Mochen? Panlong Town has so many people, why did she specifically target Xiao Mochen, and why didn’t you tell Xiao Mochen the truth?"
Perhaps feeling pressed by Liu Xing’s questioning, Hu Cang responded with so irritation, "Why are you asking these questions? Do I have control over whom Hu Li chooses? And if I were to tell Xiao Mochen the truth, he might be in danger!"
With that, Hu Cang turned and walked away.
Liu Xing didn’t expect such a strong reaction from Hu Cang and found himself at a loss for words.
Therefore, Liu Xing simply shrugged and said, "Forget it. Since Mr. Hu Cang is unwilling to talk about it now, we’ll have to find the answers ourselves. But for now, we should all return to our rooms and rest. It’s getting late."
Everyone nodded and bid each other goodnight, heading back to their respective rooms to rest.
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