Chapter 78 Sunset Town (3) Yu Xing Transforms into a Kidnapper Leader

Chapter 78 Sunset Town (Part 3): Yu Xing, the Abductor Ringleader

Huddling under Zhao Lan’s blanket, Yu Xing felt a little better, but she was still freezing—too cold to sleep. Her hands and feet were icy. She lifted her hands, trying to warm them with her breath, but only cold air came out.

Unable to sleep, she endured the cold until morning.

Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on Yu Xing’s face.

Yu Xing immediately climbed out from under the blanket. She first woke Zhao Lan and Da Ya, "Wake up, it’s morning."

Then she went to wake Miao Yuanjin, who was sleeping on the bed, "Wake up, wake up."

Miao Yuanjin lay still, unmoving. Yu Xing gasped, quickly pulling back the blanket to find her hands and feet ice-cold, her face covered with a thin layer of frost.

"What’s going on?!" Thinking Miao Yuanjin might be dead, Yu Xing immediately pressed on her chest.

"What happened to her?" Zhao Lan and Da Ya also gathered around. The three of them checked Miao Yuanjin’s condition and breathed a sigh of relief when they found a pulse.

"We need to leave here now," Yu Xing said.

By now, Da Ya also understood the gravity of the situation. A perfectly healthy person had suddenly fallen unconscious—something was seriously wrong here. She grabbed Miao Yuanjin’s arm and hoisted her onto her back, saying, "Hurry, let’s get out of here."

The three of them carried Miao Yuanjin downstairs and bumped right into Mayor Chen as soon as they reached the bottom.

Mayor Chen took one look at the situation and asked, "What’s wrong? What happened?"

Zhao Lan put on a polite smile and said, "Thank you for your hospitality, but we have urgent matters to attend to and must leave now."

Once outside the mayor’s house, they found the streets bustling with pedestrians. The empty streets from last night were now teeming with people. Some wore strangely styled clothes, walking around, smiling and greeting each other, strolling, eating, and even setting up stalls for business.

The scene was vibrant with life. A woman at a roadside stall even hailed them, "Want some wontons? My wontons are delicious!"

A flower vendor shouted, "Freshly cultivated lilies! So fragrant—they’ll stay fresh for weeks in a vase!"

The aroma of food drifted into their noses. Da Ya’s stomach growled, and she said, "I’m famished. We haven’t eaten in a full day and night."

Yu Xing had food in her storage ring and said to Da Ya, "We’ll eat once we’re out of this place."

"What about Shen Tanrong and the others?" Zhao Lan looked around. "Weren’t they supposed to meet us at dawn?"

Just as they were getting worried, Shen Tanrong finally arrived with the other passengers. Yu Xing automatically tallied them and was shocked to find that no one was missing. Several who had been severely injured the night before—even unconscious in sickbeds—were now walking with the group.

"Everyone’s here," Shen Tanrong said. He had put his protective suit back on but hadn’t lowered the visor. His exposed face was even paler than the night before.

Yu Xing caught that metallic tang again.

"Weren’t some people seriously injured?" Zhao Lan scanned the passengers. "They don’t look badly hurt now."

"Maybe their injuries improved." Honestly, Shen Tanrong thought it was odd too. "Let’s talk after we leave."

Everything here was bizarre, and they couldn’t pinpoint the source of the problem. The only thing they could do was leave as quickly as possible.

But then a problem cropped up. A few passengers stared at the food stalls, mouths watering. "We’re starving. Let’s grab a bite first."

"Yeah, we haven’t eaten all day."

"Injured people need proper nutrition."

"Can’t walk on empty stomachs..."

Yu Xing frowned. Seeing her expression, Shen Tanrong knew she was angry. He turned and shouted, "Eat what? Who said you could eat here? Anyone who doesn’t leave gets left behind!"

He thought his scolding would make them fall in line, but instead, a few of them sat down at the stalls.

"Fine, we won’t leave. This place is great!"

"I think so too. Plenty to eat, no danger here."

"No need to slave away..."

"And so much food—no need to drink nutrient solution..."

"Exactly. The houses are huge—actual private villas..."

"Who wants to risk running from city to city out there?"

As they complained, some of the quiet ones who had been following the group began to waver.

"Yeah, maybe we should eat first."

"I’m too weak from hunger..."

Shen Tanrong gave Yu Xing a troubled look. While she hesitated, Zhao Lan snapped, "They can stay, but we have to go. Yuanjin can’t stay here any longer."

This steeled Yu Xing’s resolve. She told Shen Tanrong, "We’ll go first. We can call for backup later."

Shen Tanrong nodded. He trusted Yu Xing’s judgment.

They immediately carried Miao Yuanjin and took the only three people still willing to follow them—all soldiers who had come with Shen Tanrong—and headed for the town’s exit.

The eight of them retraced their path from the day before, but no matter how hard they searched, they couldn’t find the yellow bamboo forest or even the thick fog.

They paced the town for a long time but couldn’t find a way out of Sunset Town.

"How is this possible?" Da Ya gasped, lowering Miao Yuanjin. "How can there be no way out?"

"Should we go find the mayor?" Shen Tanrong suggested. "Yesterday, when I said I wanted to leave, the mayor offered to escort me out."

Yu Xing glanced at him, then nodded. "Fine, you go find the mayor."

Shen Tanrong left to find Mayor Chen while the others sat by the roadside to rest.

Zhao Lan checked Miao Yuanjin’s condition and looked up at Yu Xing. "Miao Yuanjin seems really cold."

Yu Xing crouched down and examined Miao Yuanjin. Her face was purplish, her hands and feet icy—clearly freezing. And Yu Xing was cold too; she could feel her joints stiffening.

"Aren’t you cold?" Yu Xing asked.

"Not at all," Da Ya shook her head.

Zhao Lan also shook her head. "We don’t feel cold at all."

Yu Xing lowered her head. What was it that made her and Miao Yuanjin so cold while the others felt nothing?

They had all been together. Logically, they should have the same sensations. There was no reason for them to feel differently when they were in the same place. Was there something different about them?

What’s the difference?

Miao Yuanjin is a Chosen of the Moon God, particularly sensitive to corruption. Yu Xing herself isn’t fully aware of the situation and isn’t overly sensitive to corruption, but it rarely affects her.

Is this why? Have the others already been corrupted?

Thinking this, Yu Xing asked Zhao Lan, "Do you feel unwell anywhere?"

"Me?" Zhao Lan assessed how she felt and shook her head. "No, I feel fine."

Yu Xing pondered, wondering if this could all be a vast illusion, with everyone trapped within. Everything here was fake—Sunset Town was fake, and the people here were all fake too.

Just as she was pondering this, Shen Tanrong returned with the mayor.

The mayor appeared unchanged—cultured and mild-mannered, like a well-educated middle-aged man.

"You want to leave Sunset Town?" the mayor asked.

"Yes," Zhao Lan stood up. "Can you show us how to leave Sunset Town?"

Faced with Zhao Lan’s question, the mayor first smiled enigmatically, then countered, "Isn’t this place good?"

"What?" Zhao Lan was confused, not understanding why he would ask that.

"You said the outside world is full of corruption, where people face danger at every moment. And life is hard for most—wealth inequality, suffering, with only a few living comfortably." The mayor then asked, "What’s so good about that world? Why go back?"

Zhao Lan was stunned by the question and couldn’t respond immediately.

The three soldiers also looked bewildered.

"Sunset Town is wonderful," the mayor turned and gestured toward the town behind him, where smoke curled from chimneys. "Here, everyone has enough to eat, everyone has a home, no fear of danger, no worry of untimely death. Everyone here is happy."

As he spoke, his face wore a beatific smile. Da Ya shivered, feeling an inexplicable chill.

Zhao Lan took a deep breath and said firmly, "This place may be wonderful, but this isn't where we belong. Please tell us how to leave."

As soon as she finished speaking, the mayor's smile faded.

The others tensed up, staring intently at the mayor.

Finally, the mayor sighed and shook his head. "Honestly, I don’t know how to leave either."

Yu Xing frowned. "Are you playing games with us?"

"Absolutely not," the mayor said seriously. "No one has left Sunset Town for many years."

Yu Xing thought for a moment, then stood up and walked over to the mayor. She gently removed the glove from her right hand and grasped the mayor’s hand.

She stared at him, and he stared back.

After a moment, the mayor let go of her hand and turned away. "I’m not lying. I truly don’t know how to leave Sunset Town, and neither does anyone else here."

As the mayor walked away, everyone turned to Yu Xing, waiting for her decision.

Yu Xing watched the mayor’s receding figure. She had held his hand for a while, yet he hadn’t suffered any misfortune. There must be a source of corruption in this town—but what could it be?

Zhao Lan noticed it too. She asked Yu Xing, "What is the mayor? Why didn’t your Divine Skill affect him?"

To deal with the strange circumstances, they gathered to discuss their next steps.

Yu Xing said, "My Divine Skill works on both people and corruption, but it had no effect on the mayor just now. So he’s neither human nor corruption."

"Then what is he?" Da Ya felt uneasy. "Can we even leave? Yuan Jin’s condition is getting worse."

Yu Xing recalled Case 1601. The current situation was somewhat similar. She said, "Could we all be trapped in an illusion? Everything we see is fake?"

"Then how do we break out of it?" Zhao Lan thought for a moment, then pinched her own thigh. "Wake ourselves up through pain?"

Da Ya also started pinching her arm. Shen Tanrong, after some thought, drew a dagger and made a shallow cut across his palm. Blood welled up immediately.

The three tried their methods, but nothing around them changed, and they felt no closer to awakening.

"When I say illusion… I don’t mean we’re dreaming," Yu Xing explained. "We might all be awake, but what we’re seeing is false."

"Is that so?" Da Ya closed her eyes. "Maybe if we walk with our eyes closed, we can leave Sunset Town?"

With that, she stood up, eyes shut, and marched straight forward.

She took firm steps, but in front of her was a large tree. Yu Xing raised a hand to warn her, "Hey—"

Zhao Lan stopped Yu Xing’s hand and shook her head.

They watched helplessly as Da Ya walked resolutely into the tree and walked right into it.

"Ouch!" Da Ya cried out, falling to the ground.

Zhao Lan and Yu Xing hurried over to help her up. "Are you okay? Did you hurt your head?"

Da Ya opened her eyes and saw the tree before her. Weakly, she said, "Well, at least we know this tree is real."

Walking with eyes closed was one way to test an illusion, but if this was like Case 1601—where different time periods of Sunset Town were projected—then everything here wasn’t false but had once truly existed.

Regardless, the existence of this town must have a purpose. The clues must be hidden within Sunset Town.

"It seems we can’t leave for now," Yu Xing had to admit. "I believe there must be a source of corruption in Sunset Town. We need to find it."

"What is the source of corruption?" Da Ya asked. "The people here?"

A glint of ruthlessness crossed Shen Tanrong’s eyes. "My brothers and I can kill everyone in this town."

As soon as he spoke, the three soldiers beside him, as if receiving an order, simultaneously drew their daggers. It seemed that with one command from Shen Tanrong, they would immediately storm out and massacre Sunset Town.

"..."

They really should be in a mental institution—that was Yu Xing’s truest thought.

"What I mean is…" Yu Xing was exasperated. "We should search Sunset Town for clues. Like, is there anything unusual about this town? Ask the residents about Sunset Town? Maybe if we find the problem, we’ll locate the source of corruption. After all, I don’t believe a source of corruption could create a perfectly ordinary town. If this town isn’t real, there must be inconsistencies."

Then Yu Xing recounted her discovery from last night. "I found two very strange residents last night. One remained motionless on a bed, and the other continuously scrubbed the floor…"

They returned to the mayor’s house, announcing they would extend their stay.

The mayor greeted them warmly and asked if they wanted food, immediately telling his wife to prepare dinner.

"No need," Yu Xing lied smoothly. "We already ate outside."

They settled Miao Yuanjin onto the bed, secured the room, and the trio departed the mayor’s house to find the woman who had been scrubbing the floor last night.

Meanwhile, Shen Tanrong and the three soldiers set out to find the man who remained perfectly still on the bed.

Yu Xing and her two companions arrived at the small courtyard gate, peeking inside. They saw a woman tending to the plants in the yard.

"Is that her?" Zhao Lan asked.

"Yes," Yu Xing confirmed, recognizing the woman from last night. "It's her."

The three of them pushed the door open and entered. The woman in the yard wore a linen-colored dress and held a watering can. She looked over at them, unfazed by their arrival. Instead, she brightly waved and said, "Come look! Aren't my flowers pretty?"

Yu Xing glanced to the side and saw a bed of red flowers planted in the yard. She didn’t recognize the species, but they were quite pretty.

The three of them approached the woman directly, forming a half-circle around her.

The woman sensed something was wrong and asked with a smile, "Is something wrong?"

"What were you doing last night?" Da Ya demanded.

"Last night?" The woman looked taken aback. "I was sleeping."

"You're lying!" Da Ya snapped. "You were wiping the floor all night!"

The woman looked completely lost. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

With that, she turned and headed back into the house. "If you're not here to look at the flowers, please leave."

As she stepped inside and tried to close the door, Da Ya threw Yu Xing a pleading look. "What do we do? We’re not getting anything out of her."

Zhao Lan bit her lip. "Maybe we should ask again? This time, try being nicer—"

Before she could finish, Yu Xing strode forward, reached the door, and kicked it in with one sharp blow.

BANG!

The door flew open, slamming against the wall with a loud crash.

The woman inside her eyes went wide with shock.

Zhao Lan: "..."

Da Ya exclaimed excitedly, "Who needs niceness? Just go for it!"

Dragging Zhao Lan inside, Da Ya saw Yu Xing grabbing the woman’s wrists and pinning her against the wall. Yu Xing growled, "Tell the truth, or I’ll show you the consequences of lying."

The woman struggled. "What are you doing? I’ll scream for help!"

"Go ahead," Yu Xing sneered, still pressing her against the wall. She leaned in slightly and smirked. "Scream all you want. No one’s coming to save you."

Zhao Lan: "..."

Da Ya: "..."

"I don’t know what you want me to say!" The woman’s eyes were wide with innocence. "I really was sleeping last night, all the way till morning."

"Still not talking?" Yu Xing suddenly bent down and hefted the woman onto her shoulder.

Zhao Lan gasped. "What are you doing?!"

Yu Xing carried the woman straight toward the bedroom. Da Ya blinked in amazement. "Xingxing’s totally channeling a character from those novels I’ve read."

Zhao Lan: "...Hurry, follow her!"

Yu Xing carried the woman into the bedroom and dumped her on the bed. She was certain—this was the same bedroom where the woman had been wiping the floor over and over last night.

Jabbing a finger at the floor, Yu Xing asked, "Look at this floor. Don’t you feel the urge to wipe it?"

The woman shrieked, "Are you insane?!"

"Fine." Yu Xing nodded, then stormed out of the room.

"Xingxing," Zhao Lan called, genuinely worried by her behavior. "What exactly are you planning?"

Yu Xing first rummaged through the bathroom, then the kitchen, and finally a spare bedroom, where she found a rope. Something felt off. She glanced back—the house seemed completely normal, lived-in.

Returning to the bedroom with the rope, Yu Xing said to Zhao Lan and Da Ya, "Hold her down. I’m tying her up."

The woman thrashed in panic, "What are you doing?! Help! Someone help!!"

"What do we do?" Da Ya asked nervously, pinning the woman’s legs. "We look like complete lunatics. What if someone finds out?"

Yu Xing yanked off the woman’s socks and stuffed them into her mouth.

Zhao Lan: "..."

Da Ya: "..."

Staring at the woman—now bound, gagged, and squirming uselessly on the bed—Zhao Lan asked anxiously, "What exactly are you trying to achieve?"

Yu Xing set her hands on her hips. "I want to see how she wipes the floor tonight when she’s tied up."

"..."

That’s it? Zhao Lan was at a loss.

"So..." Da Ya looked at the woman on the bed. "What do we do now?"

"Let’s go see Shen Tanrong’s side," Yu Xing said.

So they went to find Shen Tanrong and his three soldiers. Arriving at the house of the man who had sat motionless the previous night, they found the front door bolted from within.

"What’s going on?" Da Ya asked, knocking. "Weren’t they supposed to be questioning him? Why’s the door locked?"

After a few knocks, the door cracked open slightly, and Shen Tanrong peered out warily.

Seeing it was them, he whispered, "Get in, quick."

"?"

Yu Xing and the others traded bewildered looks. Why was he being so secretive?

Once inside, they understood—all three family members were tied up.

Shen Tanrong bolted the door after them and pointed at the bound man. "He wouldn’t talk, so we’re making him talk."

"..."

Zhao Lan and Da Ya shared a glance, suddenly realizing that Shen Tanrong and Yu Xing were clearly cut from the same cloth.

"Get anything useful from him?" Yu Xing asked.

"He refuses to admit that he remained sitting still for hours last night," Shen Tanrong said, pointing at the man Yu Xing had seen the previous night.

This situation was quite similar to what Yu Xing and her two companions had just encountered. Yu Xing then turned her gaze to the man's wife and daughter, who were bound and seated nearby.

"Did they say anything?"

"They say they don't know anything," Shen Tanrong replied. "All they do is cry."

One of the soldiers hesitated before speaking up, "He doesn’t seem to be lying. Could he have sleepwalking?"

It’s normal for someone to have sleepwalking, but surely the woman scrubbing floors couldn’t have it too, right?

"So what's the plan now?" Da Ya asked while wiping sweat from her brow. "Who are we tying up next?"

She said this as a joke, trying to be funny. After all, she had always been law-abiding—it was only after meeting Yu Xing that she kept finding herself in these thrilling activities.

"The mayor," Yu Xing said.

"Huh?" Da Ya didn’t catch her drift.

"Next, we’re going to tie up the mayor," Yu Xing said matter-of-factly.

"..."

With that, Yu Xing waved her hand, and Shen Tanrong along with the four soldiers marched out behind her. Da Ya stood behind them in disbelief. "She’s not joking, is she?"

Grabbing Zhao Lan’s arm, Da Ya asked, "Why aren’t you stopping her?"

Zhao Lan replied in a complicated tone, "Let her tie them up. It’s not like she’s tying us. As long as she’s happy."

When they returned to Mayor Chen’s house, the mayor was still cheerful. "You’re back," he greeted them.

The next second, Yu Xing waved her hand again. "Tie him up!"

The four soldiers moved like a pack of wolves, quickly trussing up the mayor.

"He has a wife too," Yu Xing said, already scanning the room. "Find her and tie her up as well."

The five of them tore through the mayor’s house. Yu Xing rushed into the mayor’s bedroom—a spacious room with a double bed and a wardrobe. Suddenly, she felt something was off. The house felt wrong. To be precise, it wasn’t just the mayor’s family that felt strange. It hit her belatedly that she had felt the same way earlier in the floor-scrubbing woman’s home.

*Something's off here...*

Stepping out of the room, she saw that the mayor’s wife had also been found and tied up alongside him.

Yu Xing approached Shen Tanrong and asked, "When you were searching earlier, did you pick up on anything weird here?"

Shen Tanrong thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No."