Words can kill.
The first person Qi Si killed with words was a girl named Qi Xinyue—his cousin.
At sixteen, Qi Si had been curled up inside a trunk in the attic, listening to the hysterical arguments outside. From the screams, he pieced together the full story: the girl had been bullied, had asked her parents for help, and had been viciously scolded for her trouble.
So later, when she was pressing a cigarette butt against his skin, he stared intently at her arm and said, "You're hurt."
Perhaps finding someone she could finally confide in, the girl began to weep. The sobs were thick with grievance as she rambled on and on about her miserable ordeal.
Qi Si put on a look of understanding and listened patiently until she was finished. Then he told her, "I can help you plan a murder. One that no one will ever trace back to you."
The girl recoiled, shaking her head frantically. "I can't... I can't kill anyone..."
Those accustomed to bullying the weak often fear the strong. Perhaps it was because they were so saturated with malice from those above them that they felt compelled to pour it out, with interest, upon those below.
Qi Si felt the urge to vomit, but instead, he smiled. "I've heard that people become ghosts when they die," he said. "And most people are afraid of ghosts."
The girl took her own life six months later. It might not have been a direct result of his suggestion; after all, the human vessel is a fragile thing. When filled with enough pain, it will crack like glass exposed to a sudden change in temperature.
But before she died, she had indeed changed into an ominous red dress, and after her death, she brought about a considerable disaster.
...
At the wedding feast, when Shang Qingbei heard the news of Xi'er's suicide, he instantly understood how he had inexplicably completed his side quest.
The objective was to ruin Xi'er's happy occasion, so having one of the couple die certainly accomplished that. The logic was sound, but what kind of normal person would ever think of that as a solution?
Besides, the voice in his dream had said the reason for ruining the wedding was because Xi'er would die *after* she married. From its tone, it had clearly wanted to save her life...
The memory of the bizarre, layered dreams sent a shiver down Shang Qingbei's spine. He instinctively glanced over at Qi Si, who was making his way toward a less crowded spot.
With the pale sun at his back, the youth's white shirt seemed to glow, its edges blurred into a phantom-like silhouette. His scarlet eyes were as uncanny as an evil spirit's.
Not far away, Auntie Xu stood as still as a ghost, her wrinkled face devoid of any trace of a smile.
The groom's relatives swarmed forward, dabbing at their eyes with false sincerity as they all spoke at once.
"How could such a fine girl just die? Auntie Xu, didn't you promise us nothing would go wrong?"
"Our Ah Lin has such terrible luck! He was supposed to get married, and just like that, she's gone..."
They complained, their voices devoid of grief, seeming more like they were just looking for an excuse to cause a scene.
Auntie Xu let out a cold laugh. "I've been doing this for years, and when have I ever not arranged things perfectly? I'm in the wrong this time, and I'll give you a proper explanation. But don't you dare push your luck and think this old woman is easy to bully!"
Her years of authority were enough to silence the raucous villagers. She turned her head, her back stooped, and began whispering instructions to the few people beside her.
Their voices were so low they were inaudible just a few feet away. Du Xiaoyu, who had been standing nearby hoping to catch some gossip, saw that no one was paying him any attention and tried to inch closer to the group to overhear.
The moment he looked up, he was met by Auntie Xu's warning glare.
Her eyes were as cold and menacing as a viper's, leaving him with no doubt that if he took one more step, he would feel fangs sink into his throat.
Du Xiaoyu wasn't an idiot. It took him only a few seconds to put it all together. Nothing like this had happened in decades, but as soon as the players arrived, the bride was dead. Auntie Xu had to be blaming them.
Following that line of thought, he suddenly remembered that Qi Si had gone out alone that morning and had spoken a few words to Xi'er...
The villagers huddled together, murmuring as they discussed what to do. The players, meanwhile, slipped away to gather in a deserted alley.
As official players, it was easy for them to work backward from the outcome and piece together the sequence of events. The other four all turned to Qi Si, waiting for him to explain.
"A wedding turned into a funeral. I suppose you could say we got our feast one way or another," Qi Si said, making a dark joke only he could appreciate.
Facing their wary gazes, he abandoned the thought of explaining the finer points of his morbid humor and stated calmly, "When I went out this morning, I gave Xi'er a blade. I imagine that's what she used to kill herself."
He could have kept lying, of course. Qi Si could have concocted a thousand plausible explanations to absolve himself, confident that his performance—from his expression to his gestures—would be flawless. But there was no need.
The utility of a team wasn't as great as one might think. In many situations, it was more of a liability.
Qi Si decided it was time to prepare for his departure from the group.
There were contradictions between the clues and the facts. This instance's puzzle was likely difficult, and who knew what hidden mechanics lay behind it.
The main quest was to rescue Xu Wen, but the information she provided was unreliable. It was even possible she wasn't in Double Happiness Town at all.
Once the players realized that unraveling the world's lore and completing the main quest would be difficult, they would most likely opt to trigger the fail-safe death count mechanism.
The fate of Yang Yundong in the second instance was still a vivid memory. Qi Si had no desire to become the target of everyone's desperation.
He recounted the morning's events truthfully, concluding with a humorous tone, "As for why she was so decisive about it, I suppose it's because I said a few things that helped her see things clearly."
Li Yao's brow furrowed. "Why would you do that? Xi'er was no threat to us."
"To create chaos. To disrupt the original storyline." A small smile touched Qi Si's lips as he patiently explained.
"Haven't you all noticed? We've been completely passive since entering this instance. The places we go are all arranged by Auntie Xu. The clues we get are fed to us by our phones. Everything we do, everything we see, is part of the instance's script. If we continue like this, the best we can hope for is a Normal End."
"I'm something of a perfectionist, you see. I hate being led by the nose to an imperfect conclusion. So, I had to do what I could to throw a wrench in the works, to see if I could fish in troubled waters."
How do you gain an advantage when you're playing in someone else's carefully constructed game? It's simple. You shuffle the deck, make a mess, and flip the entire board.
As long as the situation was chaotic enough, the information disparity would cease to exist. Players and NPCs would be brought to an equal footing, and an unfair game would finally have room for genuine strategy.
"Why did you lie to us this morning? You said you were just going to ask for clues..." Liu Bingding's voice trembled slightly. "You could have just told us the truth."
"Why would I tell you the truth?" Qi Si sighed softly. "If one of you had a sudden attack of conscience and decided to cause a scene, things would have gotten messy."
None of the five players present were saints who would lose sleep over harming an NPC, but Qi Si's act of deceiving his own teammates was still a step too far.
Shang Qingbei let out a cold snort. "You said we were a team. If you hide things from us, how can we trust you not to withhold key clues in the future? You snuff out a life so casually. Today it was Xi'er. Who's to say it won't be one of us tomorrow?"
It was a classic slippery slope fallacy, but in this context, it sounded disturbingly plausible.
Qi Si's gaze swept over the group. "Is anyone here a vegetarian?"
The answer, naturally, was no. There had been meat at dinner last night, and no one had held back.
Qi Si continued on his own. "For the sake of pleasure, or perhaps balanced nutrition, we kill animals. For a limited number of opportunities, we enter competitions and push out our rivals. To survive, we do everything in our power to increase our odds."
"When the benefits are great enough, it is human nature to profit at another's expense. I am no different from any of you. But it is undeniable that, in the short term, we are a community of shared interest. For me to hide clues or harm you would be detrimental to my own success."
"Until something actually happens, any grand declaration of righteousness is just hypocrisy. After all, the drive to survive and to profit is etched into our very genes, is it not?"
The players exchanged uncertain glances.
Qi Si's assertions and worldview undoubtedly fit the profile of a "slaughter-stream" player, and his actions were certainly reckless. But if he truly was one of them, why would he be telling them the truth now?
Li Yao muttered to herself, "But we're still human, not beasts."
Qi Si was amused by this. He tilted his head and looked at her. "And why can't humans be beasts?"
Within the youth's dark pupils, a wisp of scarlet bled outwards like a spreading haze, bottomless and devoid of light. The smile never reached his eyes, leaving them as expressionless as a void.
An inexplicable chill ran through Li Yao. She opened her mouth, wanting to say more.
But Qi Si had already looked away, his voice flat. "Discussing this now is meaningless. There are only two things we can do. First, explore all of Double Happiness Town. Second, wait for Xu Wen's call and messages."
"I suggest we split up. Two people will go back to Xi'er's house and see if you can find anything in her room. The rest of us will go to the Joy God Temple."
No one objected to his plan. The Joy God Temple was clearly the more dangerous location; it was only logical to send more people there.
"I'll go to Xi'er's house," Li Yao proposed, following the plan she and Qi Si had discussed earlier. "I have skills in stealth, so I can slip past the villagers and investigate."
Liu Bingding quickly followed up. "I'll go to Xi'er's house too. I have a similar skill."
Qi Si looked at Li Yao and laid out the plan. "We'll head out first. You two follow Auntie Xu in a little while and act when you see an opportunity."
"Alright," Li Yao agreed with a nod.
Though she was still unsettled by Qi Si's earlier speech, she offered a well-intentioned warning. "The feng shui of the Joy God Temple is very strange. I glanced inside when I passed the gates earlier. The yin energy in there is incredibly dense, like it's a place for raising ghosts to devour each other. It feels like they're using poison to fight poison, to suppress something."
Qi Si gave a slight nod. "Understood. Thank you."
With that, the players went their separate ways.
On the blue-stone-paved alleyway, Qi Si led the way in silence, with Du Xiaoyu and Shang Qingbei following close behind.
After they had walked for a while, Du Xiaoyu spoke, his voice strained. "Qi Si, was what you said back there... true?"
His primary goal since entering the instance had been to ride Qi Si's coattails. To be told now that Qi Si was a self-serving, slaughter-stream player... what kind of joke was this?
"It is what I truly think," Qi Si said with a smile. "After all, I don't know any of you well. Wouldn't it seem fake if I promised to sacrifice myself to save you? Lending a hand when it costs me nothing is good enough."
He didn't voice the second half of that thought. He wasn't the type to lend a hand; he was the type to trip someone up or stab them in the back.
"But, Qi Si, on the first day, didn't you say we should all stick together?" Du Xiaoyu asked.
"Unity and self-interest are not mutually exclusive," Qi Si replied. "This is a team instance. Unity brings the greatest benefit, so what reason would I have to harm you?"
"In the prisoner's dilemma, if neither prisoner confesses, both achieve the best outcome. Unfortunately, when a chain of suspicion exists, an individual's rational choice often leads to a collectively irrational result. That's why I wanted to speak openly—to eliminate that suspicion between us, so that our group as a whole can make the most rational choice."
The same event, when viewed from different angles, can easily lead to diametrically opposed conclusions. Even established facts and logical deduction can be intentionally guided toward a completely false result by a skilled manipulator—that is the essence of rhetoric.
At the perfect moment, Qi Si lowered his gaze and sighed with an air of helplessness. "I thought I was making myself perfectly clear, but it seems I've had the opposite effect."
Du Xiaoyu, who had already been led by the nose by Qi Si's logic, was utterly bewildered. He quickly pledged his loyalty. "Qi Si, I believe you!"
He shot a disdainful glare at Shang Qingbei. "In the end, it was just an NPC that died. If certain people hadn't started spouting nonsense and stirring up trouble, what would the big deal be?"
Shang Qingbei, targeted out of the blue, immediately defended himself. "Qi Si didn't say a word! How was I supposed to know what he was thinking? After what he did, it's hard not to be suspicious, all right?"
Even as he said it, he couldn't help but mentally review the events since entering the instance. He realized that Qi Si hadn't really done anything too outrageous; a careful tally showed his words and actions had been largely consistent.
So why did he still find this young man so suspicious and detestable?
...
The town's paths twisted and turned endlessly. Houses with white walls and black-tiled roofs rose and fell on either side, their uniform architecture creating the dizzying illusion of walking in circles.
Qi Si had been intentionally memorizing the route, so he knew the way. Having just finished manipulating his temporary teammates, he couldn't be bothered with further conversation and simply walked on ahead.
Unseen, a white mist began to curl up from both sides, weaving together into a vast, blank sheet that blurred the world ahead. Soon, they were like a ship sailing a foggy sea, their bodies drenched in the damp air, every breath they took feeling moist.
From the distance came the piercing wail of a suona, mournful and desolate, accompanied by a high, pinched chant:
"Whose daughter, plain and slow, a simple fool, an easy life."
"Whose son, a ruined rake, a pretty penny for a bride."
"A coffin for a wedding chair, white ash to pave the ghostly way."
"Let husband, wife, share life and death, one soul, one grave, on this same day."
The sound drew rapidly closer, reaching their ears in a matter of seconds, the music droning on and on, tirelessly.
Remembering the "Folk Song Collector" achievement, Qi Si pulled the recorder from his inventory and pressed the record button.
"Qi Si, look! Over there..." Du Xiaoyu's voice called out faintly from behind him.
Qi Si strained his eyes and saw a massive black shadow moving slowly through the fog ahead, now approaching, now receding.
It was a coffin.
Double happiness, double happiness. First, a wedding. Second, a funeral. The wedding had already been a spectacular performance. And now, the "funeral" had arrived.
Qi Si quickened his pace, drawing near until he was just half a step behind the coffin, following it at an unhurried pace.
A sound came from within the coffin. It was as faint as a mosquito's hum, yet incessant. It sounded like quiet sobbing, mixed with indistinct cries for help.
"Help me... Let me out..."
Qi Si tilted his head as he listened, a sudden urge rising in him to open the coffin and see what was inside.
Coffins were for the dead, and the dead do not speak. So where were the cries coming from? He was dying to find out...
"Qi Si, why don't we open the lid and lie down inside together?" Shang Qingbei's voice coaxed from beside him.
Qi Si stroked his chin in thought. Two seconds later, he refused. "No. You didn't wash up yesterday. You're dirty."
"Let's lie down inside... and never come out..." the voice continued its persuasion.
Growing annoyed by the noise, Qi Si whipped his head around to look.
Behind him, there was nothing. At some point, he had been left completely alone.