Chapter 60: The Fox City 10

Chapter 60: The Fox City 10

For dinner, everyone stayed in and didn't go out to eat.

Ying Junshu had initially calmed down, but back at the inn, he started to act up again, repeating incessantly,

"What did you do with my blood?"

"Let me go. Let me go. What are you trying to do? Steal my blood again? You won't succeed... won't succeed."

He was like a madman, saying such things, standing up, pacing around the room, hiding from people, his crazed state intensifying.

His wife stayed with him in the room because he was too frenzied.

They couldn't ask him anything, so the group gathered at the table to discuss. His condition was undoubtedly related to Ying Junshu himself. They asked his wife to come down and speak, leaving Zhou You to accompany Ying Junshu.

Jiang Meili, crying, shook her head, "Ever since we entered the Fox City, things have been strange. He kept saying someone was following him, watching him. At night, he would check inside and out, but it was just paranoia, nothing else. Only today, after the ceremony at the Fox Temple, he started acting odd. He suddenly pointed to the embroidered bed and said to me, 'Meili, there's a ghost on that bed.' It scared me. During our nap at noon, he just stood upright with his arms raised, looking so strange!"

"Did anyone light incense in your room?" asked Pei Yi.

Jiang Meili replied in surprise, "Yes, how did you know?"

Pei Yi then asked Hong Jiu, "What about your room?"

Hong Jiu: "No." Bai Qi wanted to speak, but Hong Jiu glared at her, and she remained silent.

Pei Yi pondered, "So, it's just Ying Junshu and me." Why? What had they done to him and Ying Junshu? The incense, surveillance... Who was behind all this? Could he end up like Ying Junshu?

Lu Zai Chuan: "Me too. The room I shared with Xing Guang and Xing Yao also had incense lit. Also, Xing Guang once bled at the restaurant where we ate."

Zhou You: "So, it's the same for all of us. Do they want to drive us insane and then do something to us? What should we do next? We still have four days of the mission."

Avoiding madness seemed to be their breakthrough.

Bai Qi raised her hand, "I bled too, today."

Hong Jiu turned and snapped, "When did that happen? I didn't notice."

Bai Qi firmly stated, "Yes, right, I bled too."

Zhou You: "Oh my god, that's terrifying. Are we going to be possessed by ghosts? This Fox Deity is a ghost, and they're taking our blood to possess us and then kill us!"

Pei Yi nodded, "That's a possibility."

Lu Zai Chuan: "I don't think we need to worry that much. As long as we stay resolute, remove any incense we see, stop bleeding, and stop drinking the fox juice, we should be fine and not end up like Ying Junshu. Pei Yi's been like this, and he's okay, right?"

That made sense. Pei Yi had been clear-headed throughout.

Hong Jiu: "Lu Zai Chuan is right. We are being overly suspicious. Let's not drive ourselves mad."

Pei Yi glanced at her, thinking how apt the phrase 'driving oneself mad' was.

It seemed true. Ying Junshu had no evidence that the old man meant him harm, yet he unraveled first. Wasn't that giving opportunities to these ghosts and spirits?

"I agree," said Pei Yi. "I've been overthinking. Without any evidence, we shouldn't suspect anything here. We just need to be cautious. But I have an idea I hope everyone agrees with."

"What's the idea?" asked Lu Zai Chuan.

"Let's leave this place. We can't stay here any longer, not even for a moment."

Lu Zai Chuan said, "Alright. Let's go back."

It was pitch dark outside, but they needed to return.

As they were about to go upstairs, a terrifying scream came from above. It was Ying Junshu's voice, chilling and dreadful.

"Aaah—!!"

The six of them hurried upstairs and flung open the door, only to be stunned by the sight before them—

Ying Junshu's face was covered in bloodstreaks, self-inflicted with his own fingernails. He was now violently banging his head against the hard wall, creating a visible crack.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

It was as if he was possessed, the scene before them shockingly intense. What kind of agony could drive someone to this extent?

Jiang Meili rushed forward and embraced him, crying, "Husband, are you alright?"

"Husband, it's me!"

Ying Junshu then grasped his wife's neck, his face twisted in rage, and growled, "You wretched woman! Get away from me, away! Do you hear me?" He then fiercely slapped Jiang Meili.

Zhou You and Lu Zai Chuan quickly helped Jiang Meili out. The two girls, terrified, hid outside the door. Pei Yi stepped forward, grabbed Ying Junshu's arm, and pinned him against the wall, demanding, "Ying Junshu, what's wrong with you?"

Ying Junshu, upon seeing him, whispered in agony, "Pei Yi, save me! There's someone inside me."

These words turned Pei Yi's face pale with shock. But soon, Ying Junshu resumed his madness. Finally, Pei Yi knocked him unconscious with a blow to the neck.

The room fell into a deathly silence, broken only by Jiang Meili's sobs.

Out of ten people, two were dead, and one was now insane. If the Fox Deity could heal Xing Guang and Xing Yao, could it also restore Ying Junshu?

But Ying Junshu had said there was someone inside him...

Then Zhou You asked, "So, are we still leaving?"

Pei Yi said decisively, "Let's go, now. Chen Mo and Lu Zai Chuan, see if you can find any carts to borrow; it's still early, we should be able to get some. I'll stay here and watch. Hong Jiu, Bai Qi, and Zhou You, accompany Jiang Meili and head to the exit first, we’ll follow shortly."

His commanding presence instantly calmed everyone down.

They immediately set to work, as if resisting an invisible, formidable force. A single misstep could lead to their downfall.

This force was like a toxin, spreading throughout their bodies and striking at their minds. They were even unsure of where to exert their efforts.

The carts were quickly borrowed, only two of them. Chen Mo pushed one, while Pei Yi and Lu Zai Chuan pushed the other, which carried the bodies of Xing Guang and Xing Yao.

They walked one after the other. On the silent stone-paved road, only the three of them were present. By the time they had borrowed the carts, it was already past eleven.

Pei Yi deliberately slowed down, wanting to ask Lu Zai Chuan, "The story the guide told us this morning came true, but Ying Junshu and the others never slept on that embroidered bed."

"It might be related to that blood sacrifice ritual," Lu Zai Chuan suggested.

"We've all been together. It’s not possible that he's affected, and we’re not. There must be some difference, and that difference is our breakthrough," Pei Yi said. "Moreover, why do I have it, and you don’t? What’s the difference between us? — Zhou You doesn’t have it, Chen Mo does; Hong Jiu doesn’t, Bai Qi does." Pei Yi's magnetic voice echoed in the quiet night.

Hearing this, Lu Zai Chuan stopped the cart and asked, "What do you mean?"

Pei Yi also stopped. The two tall and slender men stood face-to-face on the road, their shadows elongated under the dim fox-shaped streetlights.

"Yesterday, when I had a fever from the cold, did I really act spoiled with you?"

Lu Zai Chuan raised a corner of his mouth, "When you had a fever, you were drowsy and clingy, it’s not unusual."

"But I'm not foolish," Pei Yi crossed his arms, "I wouldn't act coy or cute with someone I dislike."

Lu Zai Chuan frowned, realizing their relationship wasn't that close yet.

"Zhou You said I was acting spoiled with you, which means I probably didn't want to take the medicine. But honestly, I don't mind taking medicine at all. So, I couldn't have been acting spoiled. The only possibility is someone was forcing me to take it. If I had taken that medicine, what would have happened? Could I have ended up like Ying Junshu?"

"You suspect me? What would be my motive? I'm also a player."

Pei Yi replied, "Exactly. I've been pondering this for the past two days. What's the motive? You're also a player. My only guess is that you might be following a different quest line, that's all. And the same goes for Zhou You and the others."

Lu Zai Chuan responded, "Alright. Since you're suspecting me, let me be clear. I didn't do it. I can show you my quest log." Saying this, he opened his bracelet and showed Pei Yi his task list.

Pei Yi saw it was identical to his, the same seven-day itinerary. The main quest was also the same: to find the blue key.

"I'm sorry," Pei Yi said with a hint of apology, "Zhou You's behavior today was very odd. I asked him to distract the staff, but it seemed like he had no intention of running. I watched him for a while and... fortunately, I didn't trust him, or I would have been caught by the staff."

"You don't need to apologize to me, you're just being cautious. From now on, let's stay united."

Pei Yi felt slightly embarrassed, "Right, four days left. We still have a chance." After saying this, he pushed the cart forward. Lu Zai Chuan smiled faintly and followed.

In the darkness, several pairs of murky eyes watched them, never wavering.

They hadn't gone far when Zhou You, accompanied by three girls, hurried towards them, "Pei Yi! Lu Zai Chuan!"

Red Nine and Bai Qi looked terrified, "We can't find the exit!"

Pei Yi set down the cart, "That's impossible."

Zhou You pointed ahead, "Seriously, go and see for yourself. There was an old locust tree at the entrance, remember? That guide, Ali, was waiting under it, and we crossed a stone bridge. But now, they're nowhere to be seen. We've circled around three times, both ways. The town isn't that big; we couldn't have got it wrong!"

Pei Yi and Lu Zai Chuan walked together to the riverside.

This river was the same one used for the water burial ceremony. It meandered along, ending in a very tall wall, beyond which were trees even taller than the wall. They had entered through a forest path, but now, instead of the path, there was a wall.

Indeed, the entrance, or exit, to the forest path had vanished.

——They were completely trapped in the city.