The moment Zong Jiu finished that terrible joke, the ward sank into an even deeper silence.
Only then did he belatedly realize that instead of easing the atmosphere, he had somehow made it several degrees colder.
He immediately tried to recover.
“I meant it as a compliment,” he said seriously. “Not sarcasm.”
[…]
The livestream chat instantly flooded with rows upon rows of ellipses.
Everyone watching looked completely dumbfounded.
[Uh… can someone explain who Zhuge Liang is? Is he famous?]
[I wanted to ask too…]
[But judging from the white-haired guy’s tone, he doesn’t sound like he made it up.]
[Never heard the name before, but somehow it feels strangely familiar?]
The moment that comment appeared, countless others echoed it.
[Familiar +1]
[+10086. It even sounds like the name of someone extremely intelligent.]
Nobody understood what was going on.
Tens of thousands of comments swept through both livestreams, yet not a single viewer recognized the name “Zhuge Liang.”
Even Zhuge An himself looked at Zong Jiu with faint curiosity in his eyes.
“Who is Zhuge Liang?”
Zong Jiu blinked.
“Courtesy name Kong Ming. Also known as the Sleeping Dragon. Chancellor of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era.”
Zhuge An frowned slightly.
Only then did Zong Jiu suddenly remember—
he was a transmigrator.
But even after remembering that, something still felt wrong.
These people had all originally come from the real world, hadn’t they?
So how could nobody know Zhuge Liang?
And among the countless historical instances inside the Infinite Loop, there were even contenders who specialized in ancient divination and Chinese metaphysics. There was no way they should be completely unfamiliar with that name.
Something was clearly missing from the picture.
Zong Jiu hesitated.
Should he ask directly?
After a brief silence, he finally decided to take the risk.
“…Are you Chinese?”
Despite Zhuge An’s sharply defined features, he still looked unmistakably Asian. Combined with the surname Zhuge, it was difficult to imagine him as anything else.
The moment the word “Chinese” left his mouth, Zhuge An’s eyes lifted sharply.
For the first time, a ripple of genuine emotion crossed that eternally indifferent face.
Then the dark-haired man suddenly raised one hand.
His fingers spread slowly through the air as though grasping something invisible.
A black-and-white Yin-Yang symbol materialized above his palm.
Taiji.
The twin fish rotated in perfect balance, forming a massive diagram of Yin and Yang.
At the same time, countless dark lines appeared out of nowhere, weaving themselves into the Eight Trigrams surrounding the Taiji symbol like stars orbiting a celestial body.
The entire ward instantly transformed into something almost surreal.
Against the pale white walls of the hospital room, the scene looked impossibly mystical.
The livestream chats exploded.
[WHAT THE HELL?! Why did everyone disappear from the screen?!]
[Where did the two of them go?!]
[That’s Zhuge An’s S-rank prop, right?!]
[I’ve always wondered what that thing does!]
[Isn’t that the legendary S-rank prop he obtained from the instance Investiture of the Gods? I heard only Zhuge An survived that instance.]
[…]
Zong Jiu stared blankly at the phenomenon before him.
He genuinely couldn’t understand it.
What surprised him even more was the faint halo now surrounding the Taiji formation.
The glow quietly enveloped the two men in hospital gowns, and for a brief moment, Zong Jiu felt completely cut off from the outside world.
Even the ward itself seemed subtly different now.
Carefully, he asked:
“Is this some kind of isolated space?”
Zhuge An looked at him with faint approval before calmly reciting:
“Heaven and earth possess fixed positions. Mountains and rivers correspond to one another. Thunder and wind move in harmony; water and fire do not conflict. The eight trigrams generate mutual balance. To understand the past is to follow natural order; to glimpse the future is to defy destiny. Stir the trigrams of the present, and all five elements fall into chaos.”
Zong Jiu stared at him for two full seconds.
“…Can you speak like a normal person?”
A pause.
“No, wait. Speak standard Chinese.”
The hint of appreciation in Zhuge An’s eyes vanished instantly.
“All you need to know,” he said coldly, “is that the livestream can no longer see or hear us.”
Then he narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Now explain something to me.”
His tone sharpened.
“The ‘Zhuge Liang’ and ‘China’ you mentioned earlier… what exactly are they?”
Zong Jiu: “…?”
A question mark practically materialized above his head.
Meanwhile, near the stairwell, He Jianlan’s group had nearly finished pulling up the rope.
The livestream audience was so nervous the comments were moving at insane speed.
[I’m freaking out. Are they finally about to find out what’s down there?!]
[If something horrifying appears, someone please spam the screen with comments so I can block it out.]
[This instance is way too brutal. If they don’t find the critical clue soon, they might actually get wiped out.]
Everyone around the stairwell had tensed to the limit.
Messiah’s high priest staff continued emitting a soft golden glow through the freezing corridor as he remained alert for whatever might emerge from below.
The moment the Knotted Lasso had descended, it had immediately bound itself to something.
The only question was—
what.
Slowly, the sound of strained breathing drifted upward from the darkness below.
It sounded like someone gasping in agony.
He Jianlan adjusted his glasses.
“…It sounds human.”
Everyone fixed their eyes on the stairwell.
Then an ashen face finally emerged from the darkness.
Meng Tianlu offered no warning, which meant it likely wasn’t a ghost. The tension in the crowd eased slightly.
The man’s eyes were rolled back white.
His breathing came in ragged bursts, and most of his body still hung limply into the darkness below.
Several trainees recognized him immediately.
He was the same E-rank newcomer who had completely lost control in the cafeteria earlier that morning—the one who had screamed at the nurses before storming out.
Seeing him in such a miserable state made many of the lower-ranked newcomers go pale.
“Don’t pull him all the way up yet,” He Jianlan warned quietly.
He didn’t finish the sentence, but every veteran understood.
There were countless cases inside the Infinite Loop where isolated contenders had been replaced by non-human entities.
And this newcomer was only an insignificant E-rank. Nobody here knew him well enough to verify anything.
Jiang Yuan grabbed a bottle of water and dumped it directly over the man’s head.
“Wake up.”
The freezing shock jolted the newcomer violently awake.
Immediately afterward, he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood.
Jiang Yuan failed to dodge in time and was sprayed all over the legs.
“Fuck!”
His expression twisted instantly.
“You little bastard!”
The heavy stench of blood and saliva spread through the air.
Jiang Yuan was just about to kick the newcomer when He Jianlan abruptly pulled him back.
Only then did Messiah’s expression soften slightly.
Golden particles of light gathered around the high priest’s staff before flowing gently onto the newcomer’s body.
Almost immediately, color slowly returned to the man’s corpse-like face.
As consciousness returned, the newcomer began gasping desperately for air.
His entire body trembled violently with terror.
“Don’t panic,” Messiah said softly. “Take your time. If you can’t speak properly, nod or gesture instead.”
The healing light continued pouring into the newcomer’s body.
“I’ll ask questions. Just answer however you can.”
The newcomer looked at him with desperate gratitude.
Messiah lowered his voice.
“What’s in basement level two?”
Instantly, terror exploded across the newcomer’s face.
He shook his head frantically like a broken machine.
His teeth chattered violently, every muscle in his face twitching with panic.
Not a single coherent word came out.
Even though everyone already suspected something horrifying was down there, his reaction still exceeded expectations.
He Jianlan stared closely at the newcomer’s face, searching for any sign of deception.
There was none.
Messiah sighed softly but didn’t press further.
“Then let me ask something else.”
“Is there anyone else downstairs?”
This time, after hesitating briefly, the newcomer nodded.
The veterans exchanged glances.
At this point, basement level two was the only unexplored area remaining.
Vincent had vanished ever since entering the instance, and now every clue pointed downward.
The newcomer’s answer confirmed their suspicions.
But another question remained—
why hadn’t Vincent returned?
As an A-rank half-vampire, Vincent possessed exceptional survivability in supernatural instances. Creatures aligned with Yin energy typically targeted ordinary humans first before dealing with beings like him.
That had always been the Night Clan’s greatest advantage.
Yet now Vincent was missing.
Either he was dead—
or trapped below.
Neither possibility was reassuring.
Messiah was just about to continue questioning the newcomer when the man suddenly began thrashing violently.
His eyes filled with tears.
“Help… save…”
He Jianlan’s expression changed instantly.
“Shit! Something’s pulling him back down!”
Almost simultaneously, Qin Ye grabbed the rapidly descending rope.
Veins bulged violently along his arms.
Despite possessing immense strength from his werewolf abilities, even he looked strained.
Whatever was below possessed terrifying power.
The newcomer screamed as his arm scraped brutally across the concrete floor, tearing away skin and leaving a horrifying trail of blood behind him.
Everyone could tell how this would end.
Yet faced with the newcomer’s desperate pleading gaze, nobody could bring themselves to say the words:
Let go.
Just as Messiah was about to make a decision, the pulling force below suddenly intensified.
The newcomer’s face went deathly white.
Then—
whoosh.
He vanished back into the darkness.
Qin Ye staggered violently forward.
A sickening tearing sound echoed up from the stairwell.
His pupils contracted.
Instinctively, he released the rope.
A heavy impact sounded far below.
Nobody spoke.
The veterans remained expressionless, long since accustomed to death.
Only Messiah quietly drew a cross over his chest and whispered a prayer.
The newcomers turned away and vomited dryly.
In barely over a day, they had already witnessed more bloodshed than most people would see in an entire lifetime.
Even the wealthy newcomer who had once tried to hire Messiah as a bodyguard was now curled up silently in a corner, trembling.
After a long silence, He Jianlan finally reeled the Knotted Lasso back in and stored it away.
The prop remained spotless.
No trace whatsoever remained of the man who had just been torn apart while bound to it.
Everyone understood the truth.
Another dead end.
After a moment, Messiah spoke quietly:
“Let’s eat first.”
He lifted his gaze.
“After lunch, I’ll personally lead a small team to scout basement level two.”
The atmosphere immediately changed.
Everyone understood what that meant.
Messiah continued calmly:
“I know nobody wants to risk their life. But since entering this instance, we’ve stayed grouped together and avoided every truly dangerous challenge.”
“That may keep us alive temporarily, but it also means our final evaluation will suffer. Some of us may even be demoted.”
He paused.
“Of course, I won’t force anyone.”
“But if there are trainees who want to push for a higher rating…”
“They can come speak with me privately during lunch.”
Several people immediately began wavering.
Following Messiah into danger was still infinitely safer than facing danger alone.
Opportunities like this wouldn’t come twice.
The group gradually returned upstairs in silence, each person lost in thought.
At the very back, Jiang Yuan suddenly noticed Sheng Yu trying to quietly slip away.
A vicious sneer crossed his face.
“Hah. That mole still dares come here to spy?”
Earlier, Jiang Yuan had utterly embarrassed himself during his clash with Zong Jiu.
Even if nobody openly mocked him, he had still noticed newcomers whispering behind his back.
He needed to regain face somehow.
After confirming Messiah had already gone upstairs, Jiang Yuan lowered his voice.
“You lot stay here and keep watch.”
“If that E-rank and F-rank return later, report everything to me immediately.”
How could ordinary newcomers dare refuse a C-rank veteran?
They hurriedly agreed.
Satisfied, Jiang Yuan nodded coldly and walked away without looking back.