Yu Yezhou was somewhat capable; after two days of effort, he managed to bring An Heyan into the guild.
It seemed that An Heyan wasn’t here willingly, sitting in the guild’s reception room with Sang Yue on his left and Yang Lin on his right.
Xu Ke was nowhere to be found, leaving only An Heyan.
Seeing Gu Zhan approach, An Heyan looked at him with a half-smile, "Is this your way of hospitality?"
Gu Zhan, sitting opposite An Heyan, replied expressionlessly, "It’s not me; it’s him."
He pointed behind him, just as Yu Yezhou entered through the door.
Yu Yezhou, having caught the tail end of the conversation, asked in confusion, "What about me?"
Gu Zhan said, "Sit."
Yu Yezhou sat next to Gu Zhan, and at that moment, Xu Ke followed in.
An Heyan casually draped his hand over the back of the chair. "Now, tell me, what’s going on?"
Yu Yezhou said, "We have a dungeon and would like to invite you to participate."
An Heyan's expression was skeptical. "You want to invite me to join your dungeon?"
Yu Yezhou smiled and said, "Don't be nervous. Let's have a detailed chat. Don't worry; the players in this instance are all teammates, so there's no chance of betrayal."
...
Yu Yezhou was very articulate, especially when it came to persuading people.
As he eloquently persuaded An Heyan, Gu Zhan suddenly understood why so many new people had joined the guild after he visited the instance—Yu Yezhou must have tricked them into it.
In the end, An Heyan agreed.
With him and Xu Ke, they had just enough for a party of six.
Before they set off, An Heyan approached Gu Zhan and said, "Don't worry, this time we’re on the same side; I won’t do anything to you."
Gu Zhan had never considered this matter; he didn’t care. "Do as you like."
Yu Yezhou happened to overhear this and chimed in, "He definitely won't care. Recommending you to join is already his interest."
This surprised An Heyan, who raised an eyebrow and looked at Gu Zhan again.
—
They entered the instance three days later.
On that day, the six of them met at the entrance of the instance.
"Are you ready? If you are, let's go in."
Yu Yezhou said.
Gu Zhan stepped forward first, walking into the instance.
They used a party item, so they weren’t worried about getting separated, but Gu Zhan was quite decisive.
Yu Yezhou sighed and followed closely behind.
[Welcome to the six-player instance <A Loving Family>. Xiao Ming's family was happy and joyful, but one day, after school, Xiao Ming returned home to find an unfamiliar woman in his house, and he committed suicide. Why?]
The familiar voice of the system echoed above them.
At that moment, the six of them stood side by side in a white room.
The room was about the size of a small bedroom, with white walls all around and nothing else inside.
The white wasn’t just a color; it felt like an emptiness.
It was as if the game had a bug and the modeling hadn’t rendered properly.
Aside from the white walls, there was nothing else.
"What’s going on?" Sang Yue looked around and asked.
At that moment, the system asked again, "Please answer the question promptly: Xiao Ming’s family was happy and joyful, but one day, after school, Xiao Ming returned home to find an unfamiliar woman in his house, and he committed suicide. Why?"
An Heyan quickly reacted: "Is this a riddle?"
Gu Zhan asked, "Is Xiao Ming’s suicide related to the woman who suddenly appeared in his house?"
The system replied, "Yes."
Starting off with a riddle question was quite fresh.
Sang Yue asked, "Did Xiao Ming know that woman?"
The system answered, "Yes."
"Is she his mother?"
"No."
Sang Yue was about to speak again when Yu Yezhou suddenly raised his hand to stop her.
He signaled everyone to look aside, and they saw that the white walls, which had been several meters away, seemed to have moved forward a bit.
Sang Yue also realized this and widened her eyes, looking at Yu Yezhou. Could it be that the walls were moving closer as they asked questions?
Yu Yezhou nodded to confirm.
Sang Yue fell silent.
A heavy silence spread among the group as they struggled to think of a question that could solve the entire mystery.
But soon, An Heyan noticed something wrong and shouted, "It’s not about asking questions; it’s about time! The walls are closing in!"
Only then did everyone realize that since Sang Yue's last question, the walls had moved significantly closer.
The invisible sense of pressure made everyone instinctively take a step back, now back-to-back against the walls.
"Quick, ask questions," Yu Yezhou said urgently. "Has the woman been living in Xiao Ming’s house?"
The system replied, "No."
"Did the woman just arrive at his house today?"
"Yes."
"Did the woman do anything to Xiao Ming?"
"That is unrelated."
Time was running out, and after a barrage of chaotic questions, the walls continued to close in.
Gu Zhan, standing closest to the walls, was almost touching them and had to back up to stay close to the others.
The closer they were to the walls, the more they could see the turbulent white swirl inside. Although it was all white, the swirling white vortex seemed to threaten them with danger.
They couldn't touch those walls!
The thought arose in everyone's mind simultaneously.
"What exactly is happening? Is that woman some kind of special assassin who killed Xiao Ming?"
In a panic, Sang Yue asked randomly.
As soon as she finished, the walls moved even faster.
Yu Yezhou slapped her on the back: "Don't speak carelessly!"
Sang Yue was dissatisfied; she never imagined that a moving wall would speed up because of her questions.
The system replied leisurely, "That is unrelated."
The group’s minds were in chaos, unable to calm down to think clearly, and they unconsciously looked at Gu Zhan.
Gu Zhan had been silent, seemingly deep in thought.
Finally, he spoke: "Is that woman Xiao Ming’s teacher?"
The system replied, "Yes."
"The reason Xiao Ming committed suicide is due to the pressure from his teacher's home visit?"
The system: "Yes."
Yu Yezhou raised his eyebrows in surprise: "How did you know she was a teacher?"
While it was reasonable for her to be a teacher, there were countless identities in the world; why did it have to be a teacher?
Gu Zhan asked with certainty; it wasn’t a question but a solid answer.
Gu Zhan explained, "To reconstruct the story: the woman is Xiao Ming’s teacher. Xiao Ming has poor grades, and after the exam, the teacher visited his home. When Xiao Ming saw this, he felt immense pressure, leading him to commit suicide shortly after."
The system confirmed, "Correct answer."
Only then did Gu Zhan have the chance to answer Yu Yezhou's question: "It’s simple. The question clearly states that Xiao Ming came home from school."
If that woman did not belong to Xiao Ming’s original family, then the only place she could appear would be the school.
Who, besides the teachers, could come from the school to this room?
The system said, “Congratulations, the crisis has been resolved.”
As soon as the words were spoken, the wall that had been pressing against Sang Yue's nose began to retreat, revealing the other colors of the room as it moved back.
Indeed, this was a bedroom—a small room of about ten square meters. By the window, there was a desk, and next to it was a bed.
On the opposite wall, there was a shelf filled with various study materials. Gu Zhan took a quick glance and realized that this “Xiao Ming” was likely a junior high school student.
The group dispersed to carefully observe the room.
At that moment, the system said again, “Please leave this bedroom.”
“Leave the bedroom?” Yu Yezhou muttered quietly, “What kind of challenge is this?”
Sang Yue's voice came from the doorway, “We’re locked in here.”
Everyone moved to the door and found the doorknob was completely unresponsive.
An He Yan asked, “My props and personal abilities can’t be used. Can yours?”
Gu Zhan still wore his watch on his wrist. He approached the wall and tapped it with the watch face, but there was no response.
“Mine can’t be used either,” Gu Zhan said.
With that, the group stopped trying. They all knew Gu Zhan’s props were of a high level; if even he couldn't use them, then the rest of theirs wouldn’t work either.
Yu Yezhou said, “Let’s think of other methods. Spread out and look for any clues in this room.”
They began rummaging through the room.
This bedroom must be the one belonging to the story’s Xiao Ming. As a junior high student, there were homework books left on the desk, but not a single problem was solved—just doodles.
Sang Yue picked up the homework and said, “No wonder he committed suicide; he spent class time drawing little people. How could his grades be good?”
An He Yan countered, “I think that’s not necessarily the case. If he has the mood to draw in class, how could he feel pressured over poor grades? I remember when I was in school, I even took pride in my bad grades.”
Sang Yue raised an eyebrow, “I didn’t expect you to be such a bad student.”
An He Yan replied, “Who defines what a good student or a bad student is?”
While they were talking, they suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside the door.
They immediately stopped what they were doing and huddled at the doorway, listening to the sounds outside.
From the footsteps, it sounded like two people entered the room, one following the other, and one of them began to pace around inside.
They seemed to be talking—two women’s voices.
But the content of the conversation was muffled and unclear.
After a moment of silence outside, suddenly, there was a loud thud, as if a heavy object had fallen.
Then came the sounds of “bang, bang, bang,” like something was forcefully hitting the ground.
Accompanying these sounds was the distinct impression that something was being smashed…
“What’s going on?” Yu Yezhou whispered.
Sang Yue’s face turned pale; she felt something terrible was happening outside.
The sounds persisted for a long time, and even the smell of rust began to seep through the crack of the door.
Yu Yezhou, who was standing at the front, staggered back, nearly pushing An He Yan over.
Gu Zhan steadied An He Yan, preventing him from falling.
“What’s wrong?” Sang Yue asked.
Yu Yezhou looked down at his feet, his expression difficult to read.
But he noticed crimson blood slowly seeping through the gap at the bottom of the door.
Sang Yue gasped, “It’s already this intense? What are they doing outside? Dismembering someone?”
As soon as she finished speaking, they heard the system's cheerful voice: “Correct answer. Poor woman, she was dismembered as soon as she arrived at this house.”
“Congratulations, players. Now, you may leave this room.”
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