Everyone fell silent, and Gu Zhan suddenly said, “Don’t let its line of thinking lead you astray.”
“What do you mean?”
Gu Zhan said, “Don’t forget the nature of this dungeon. It requires us to answer questions, and the answers are the real way to solve the dungeon. The clues we observe in the dungeon are not important; they’re just there to confuse us.”
Sang Yue suddenly remembered that when they first encountered Xiao Ming, their excessive caution about missing clues caused the plot not to develop according to their answers. Xiao Ming didn’t commit suicide, and they ended up being killed by him.
“Yes! That’s right.” Sang Yue snapped back to reality and asked the system: “Was the mother killed by the female teacher?”
The system replied, “No.”
Sang Yue asked again, “Is the mother’s death related to the father’s return home?”
The system replied, “Yes.”
The others began to ask the system questions one after another.
“Is the female teacher really dead?”
“Unrelated.”
“Did the father kill the mother?”
“No.”
“When the mother died, was the father still at home?”
“Yes.”
Gu Zhan suddenly interjected, “Was the father still alive when the mother died?”
“No.”
Everyone was taken aback. The father was dead?!
Gu Zhan had been pondering where the most difficult part of this question lay for them.
After thinking it over, it had to do with dealing with the father.
If it was just about guessing the answers, they could find them through frequent questioning.
The real challenge lay in executing the answers afterward.
So, the father definitely had to die; it could very well be…
Gu Zhan asked again, “Was the father killed by the mother?”
The system replied, “Yes.”
Everyone gasped. They finally understood what made this last question difficult.
Unsurprisingly, they had to play the role of the “mother.”
If the mother killed the father… that meant they would have to kill the father.
Gu Zhan asked, “Did the mother commit suicide?”
The system replied, “Yes.”
“Was the first person to harbor murderous intent the father?”
“Yes.”
“…” He took a deep breath and said, “The father became addicted to drugs and was imprisoned at home by the female teacher. When the teacher left, he wanted to go home, but having lost his sanity, he attacked the mother. The mother, in self-defense, accidentally killed the father and, filled with remorse, committed suicide at home.”
The system fell silent for a moment before saying, “Incorrect.”
Sang Yue was surprised: “Can an answer actually be incorrect?”
Gu Zhan continued, “The father fell in love with the female teacher. He knew the mother killed the female teacher and wanted revenge, so he attacked the mother. To protect herself, the mother accidentally killed the father and, filled with regret, committed suicide at home.”
“…What kind of neurotic story is this?” Yu Yezhou couldn’t help but complain.
Yet the system said, “Correct! It seems you know this family very well! You must understand, the strongest hatred arises from the strongest love. They simply loved each other; what’s wrong with that?”
Upon hearing this, even Gu Zhan couldn’t help but scoff.
This neurotic family—sorry, but they weren’t very interested in understanding them.
After the system finished speaking, the white walls once again revealed colors.
They were all suffering from PTSD from these scene transitions, but they couldn’t stop it, only watch helplessly as the colors spread once more.
This time, they were still in Xiao Ming’s house.
However, the scene that appeared was the kitchen.
A place that a mother often frequented.
Six people were squeezed into the kitchen; the space was slightly cramped, so they retreated from the kitchen.
As soon as they reached the living room, they heard a “bang bang bang” sound coming from the door.
Everyone instantly fell silent.
It didn’t take a guess to know that the one knocking at this time had to be the father addicted to drugs.
An He Yan asked, “What should we do now?”
Yu Ye Zhou replied, “Gu Zhan, what about that magical tool of yours?”
Gu Zhan touched his star map watch, but the wall-passing function still didn’t work. If he called Xiao Xiu out… he took a step back, returned to the kitchen, and turned on the faucet, but no water came out.
He then went to the bathroom, but still, no water.
Upon closer inspection, all the bottles and jars here were completely empty.
This system was targeting Xiao Xiu’s abilities.
Seeing his actions, everyone understood.
Xiao Xiu needed water to appear.
But now there was none.
So what to do?
Gu Zhan quickly rummaged through the kitchen cabinets, likely worried he might utilize the tools here; the cabinets were empty.
Gu Zhan frowned, “We have a guest, but why is there no fruit at home? I need to cut some fruit for the guest.”
Yu Ye Zhou, standing at the door, slightly raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
Who was Gu Zhan talking to? What was he saying?
But clearly, he wasn’t speaking to them. Everyone fell silent, and after a while, the system suddenly spoke up: “The one coming to her house isn’t a guest; it’s her family, so there’s no need to provide fruit.”
Gu Zhan stared at the empty cabinets in front of him. “The door isn’t open; no one knows who’s outside. What family? Aren’t my family members already dead?”
The system fell silent, seemingly stumped by Gu Zhan’s retort.
Gu Zhan remembered that Mo Tuo had said before, “The words ‘beyond the rules’ only apply to players; monsters must obey the rules.”
So what about the system? Did it also fall under the category of monsters?
As if sensing his thoughts, the system gritted its teeth and said, “You’re right; treating guests does require fruit.”
The next second, a plate of oranges appeared in front of him.
Though the oranges looked withered, it was enough.
Gu Zhan took an orange, peeled it, and began to squeeze the pathetic orange segments.
Ultimately, he managed to squeeze out some juice.
The meager orange juice dripped down drop by drop, with the last drop landing squarely on Xiao Xiu’s head.
Xiao Xiu: “…”
She looked up at Gu Zhan and said, “Can we negotiate? Next time, can you summon me with something decent?”
Though she didn’t mind…
“Wow, what a strong scent,” she said, noticing the lingering smell of oranges on herself after standing up.
Everyone had initially been wary of her because she was a monster.
But now, it was hard to be afraid of someone who smelled like oranges.
“What did you summon me for again?” Xiao Xiu asked, wiping the orange juice off her forehead.
Gu Zhan pointed to the door outside.
---
The man outside was impatiently knocking on the door.
The “bang bang bang” echoed through the narrow hallway.
His strength was increasing, becoming more forceful, as if he intended to break the door down if no one answered.
But just before he could break the door, it opened.
Standing inside was an unexpected woman.
“Why… is it you…” the man said dumbfounded.
Xiao Xiu stood at the door, suppressing a smile, and said, “Of course it’s me, who else were you expecting to see?”
The man seemed to short-circuit mentally; in his perception, the person in front of him should be dead.
In the previous cycle, Xiao Xiu had replaced the “female teacher” and become the mother’s sacrifice.
In this sub-chapter, she represented the “female teacher.”
The father had gone insane due to the death of the female teacher, but now, the female teacher was standing right in front of him. He seemed to lose his reason to go mad.
This didn’t align with the father’s character setting in the sub-chapter.
The father froze at the door, standing still for a long time.
Xiao Xiu gave him a slight smile, “Aren’t you coming in?”
“Come… come in…” the father nodded dumbly, taking a step forward.
In that instant, people hiding behind the entrance surged in, some wielding sticks, others holding knives, and some even brandishing mops, striking at the father heavily.
With a series of “clanging” sounds, the men outside collapsed.
Gu Zhan and the others, wielding these random tools, began to rain down blows on the father.
Every time the father tried to get up, as soon as he raised his hand, he was poked back down by Gu Zhan’s broom. Just as he managed to bend his legs, he was kicked back down by Sang Yue, landing right back where he started.
An He Yan and Xu Ke had been tormented by this father before, and with their anger from being dismembered by the mother and Xiao Ming previously, they unleashed their frustrations on one person.
Before long, the father was completely immobilized.
He had a bruised face, tightly bound by a rope by Gu Zhan.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh…” He struggled desperately, but ultimately, he was just a “human” body and couldn’t escape.
Xiao Xiu stood by, marveling; usually, it was her who frightened the players into a frenzy. This was the first time she had seen players subdue a monster without her needing to lift a finger.
“If you’re all set, then I’ll head back,” Xiao Xiu said, feeling a bit tired; it seemed that Gu Zhan’s summoning of her was limited. “Don’t call me next time; summon someone else instead.”
Gu Zhan nodded.
Xiao Xiu disappeared from the room.
An He Yan curiously asked, “Summon someone else? Are there more monsters like her in your tool?”
Gu Zhan said, "A little."
"A little?!"
An Heyan was instantly shocked.
Gu Zhan seemed to have never revealed his ability to control monsters in the instance. He knew he was strong, but he didn't expect him to be this strong.
Gu Zhan looked at the father, who was still moving around on the ground. He seemed to be quite powerful.
He bent down and tapped the father's face with his watch, trying to pull him into his space.
But it didn't work; apparently, the monster's choices were not influenced by Gu Zhan's will.
"What are you doing?" Yu Yezhou asked.
"Nothing." Gu Zhan stood up.
The system remained silent for a while, seemingly unwilling to acknowledge the result.
Gu Zhan looked up and said, "Why not announce it? Do we have to kill him?"
He wasn't particularly concerned about killing a monster; it seemed that monsters that died in the instance would be reborn when the instance ended.
Finally, the system spoke up: "Congratulations, you have completed the third cycle..."
After saying this, it fell silent again. Gu Zhan asked, "What about our rewards?"
"Rewards..." The system's voice was filled with a hint of teeth-gritting anger. "You are awarded thirty sanity points."
Sang Yue shouted, "Can you give us something useful? Sanity points are useless to us!"
The system growled back, "If you don't want them, I'll deduct thirty points from you."
"..." Sang Yue immediately dared not speak anymore.
After a moment of silence, the system said, "Entering the second story. Please prepare, players."
The expressions of the group changed; there was more to come?!
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