Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Bai Fuling had played all sorts of games like Extreme Speed Racing, Street Rampage, Racing Legends, and that car crash simulator or whatever—aside from the last one, all his experience came in handy here.

At first, the controls felt a bit awkward, but Bai Fuling, relying on the sheer perseverance he'd honed from fishing in games like *Stardew Valley*, stubbornly mastered the steering.

You absolutely cannot lose the minigames in an RPG!!

Liao Zhiqiu was squeezed into the wobbling trash can. Even facing such an explosive situation, his expression remained calm. His eyes, framed by heavy dark circles, glanced back and he asked, "Why is that car chasing you?"

Bai Fuling was busy tugging on the rope to steer the Grey Wolf. Seeing the dialogue box pop up on the screen, he initially wanted to reply, "It's not chasing me, it's chasing you," to then initiate the story dialogue and gather more quest information.

But before speaking, he suddenly remembered the character profile for Liao Zhiqiu he had just opened and couldn't resist testing one more thing before proceeding with the quest.

—Regarding the relationship between Liao Zhiqiu's favorability and animal-like behavior.

So, after a brief half-second of thought, he typed into the dialogue box: "Probably because... I bit his pet bird?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw a small pink favorability number pop up above the Dark-circle Pixel Character's head.

Bai Fuling: ...Wait, it really just added favorability that easily?!!!

Although he had suspected it, witnessing it firsthand was still quite astonishing.

Bai Fuling felt he had figured it out. In front of Liao Zhiqiu, the more one's appearance and behavior resembled a small animal, the easier it was to gain favorability.

Come to think of it, Liao Zhiqiu seemed a bit unable to distinguish between humans and animals. This wasn't an insult, but an objective observation. The Dark-circle Pixel Character seemed to have a moderate cognitive impairment.

Bai Fuling didn't think a normal NPC would evaluate another person as an animal and genuinely believe they were one.

"You bit his pet bird because you were hungry—that's instinct," Liao Zhiqiu slowly analyzed. "Chasing you for that is him being emotional; that's impulsive."

"—So, he's wrong."

Upon hearing this, Bai Fuling leaned back in a tactical retreat, feeling a surge of respect: What, is he really this biased in favor of small animals? He's practically the righteous judge of the animal kingdom!

He paused, suppressed the internal snark, and decided to steer the conversation back to the main point, revisiting the quest itself: "I heard that man say he was coming to find you." Bai Fuling extracted and relayed the key points from what the tall male NPC had said earlier. "It seems to be your grandfather's request."

After saying this, Bai Fuling saw a cluster of black lines appear above the Dark-circle Pixel Character's head. Then, the other slowly drew a knife from his waist.

Bai Fuling's first reaction was: Wow, I knew NPCs could automatically refresh weapons!

Then he realized: Why draw a knife? Is he really that resistant to going home to inherit millions? Can't such a good opportunity be given to the player—

"...Oh. That day is here again," Liao Zhiqiu said, stroking the knife in his hand.

"That day?" Bai Fuling skillfully seized the key point in the NPC's line, pressing for more.

"The cat's day," Liao Zhiqiu said. "Tomorrow is its birthday."

Such a touching owner-pet bond; it sounds like a very wholesome quest, Bai Fuling thought.

Combining the grandfather + Liao Zhiqiu's attitude, it felt like a beginner's quest: a conservative grandfather opposes spoiling a pet too much, and the player helps the young master evade the guardian to celebrate the pet's birthday.

...But upon closer thought, this tone didn't quite match the description of the [Cat's Secret] quest.

Bai Fuling reopened the quest panel for another look.

"[Cat's Secret]: One day, the cat at home stopped meowing. Grandfather forbade anyone from mentioning it again. But Liao Zhiqiu still remembers this day. Grandfather has been trying to stop him."

Bai Fuling reread this string of text. Based on puzzle-solving requirements, he didn't think this was simply a birthday issue.

The cat stopped meowing... Is the cat still alive? Why is the grandfather so fixated on this day? Liao Zhiqiu has a moderate or severe cognitive impairment; in the quest text, is the 'cat' a cat or "cat"?

Thoughts flashed through his mind. Bai Fuling paused for a moment and asked, "Is that so? Happy birthday to your cat. Where will you spend the day?"

Liao Zhiqiu didn't answer. He looked at Bai Fuling and said, "You're injured. I'll take you to the clinic for treatment later."

Hey, why isn't the quest launching when it's ready to go? Do I need to fully restore my status to continue the plot? Bai Fuling quickly said, "No need, no need! Just give me a few more Cat Sticks!"

Food is the player's universal cure-all! His health bar was almost full now; a bit more would remove the bleeding status.

"I don't have any more," Liao Zhiqiu said. "I'll bring you some next time."

Oh no. If only he hadn't tested the window glass in the cabin and then jumped off the car and rolled around earlier. Bai Fuling felt a twinge of regret. His earlier antics had turned into stumbling blocks for the quest later!

Fortunately, the next trigger for the quest seemed to be tomorrow, so restoring his health bar wouldn't cause him to miss it. So Bai Fuling pressed on: "Where will you wait for me tomorrow?"

Liao Zhiqiu didn't overthink it. He simply assumed Bai Fuling was asking for a place to get Cat Sticks. So he gently curled the corner of his lips: "Still at the back gate of the campus alley. Come in the morning."

Good. Bai Fuling breathed a sigh of relief. Confirming the time and place from the NPC meant the progress was successfully recorded!

It was also at this moment that he noticed the Grey Wolf's running speed seemed to have slowed down, and the blue bar above its head had dropped to about one-sixth remaining.

—Stamina is running out!

Well, objectively speaking, dragging a trash can carrying people while running on the main road is too strenuous. Bai Fuling understood. It's normal for the blue bar to drop quickly.

It must be said, the game's mechanics design is quite reasonable. Jumping off buildings, windows, or cars reduces the health bar, and pulling people, vehicles, or performing grinding tasks depletes the mount's blue bar at different rates.

Even a resourceful player like him can't always think of ways to exploit loopholes.

Luckily, one of the chasing cars had already been shaken off—the ambulance followed for a while but then stopped. Perhaps they realized the patient was more lively and spirited than the doctors, and continuing the chase might raise the question of who should be hospitalized.

Only the van persisted relentlessly, biting at their heels.

Bai Fuling rotated the screen view. They were now on a bridge spanning a river.

Three seconds to think: if they wanted to evade the van's pursuit, where should they run next?

The Grey Wolf's stamina was almost gone. Continuing to race forward would be the stupidest option; they definitely couldn't outrun the van.

So the correct answer was—climb up!

Climbing onto the tall decorative pillars supporting the bridge would work; the van couldn't go up there. Then it would be a contest of who could climb higher, faster, and better.

Bai Fuling was very confident about this; he had practiced in school. Although here he had the added factor of Liao Zhiqiu, it shouldn't be a problem.

At worst, he could treat Liao Zhiqiu as a back accessory—come to think of it, can NPCs be used as back accessories? If they really could, would it lower favorability?

Bai Fuling's thoughts wandered for a second before he refocused, concentrating on the next step ahead.

Tarzan minigame, activate!

Bai Fuling grabbed the rope, steering the Grey Wolf into a sharp turn toward the bridge pillar. A piercing horn blared as a large truck sped toward them.

Huh? Aren't the pixel cars in RPG games just background elements? They can actually collide with the player?

Bai Fuling was curious, but he didn’t try it. After all, he had another NPC with him—sure, players might not die from a crash, but what if the NPC died? The quest would definitely fail automatically!

So Bai Fuling controlled the Grey Wolf, using his years of racing game experience to drift and dodge, just barely avoiding the speeding truck!

But then he heard the screech of brakes behind him.

Bai Fuling swung his view around and saw the van that had been chasing them crash through the bridge railing, fly out, and plunge into the river!

The van had mimicked his turn but hadn't slowed down. Then it met the oncoming truck, swerved in panic, and crashed into the side of the bridge.

After dodging, Bai Fuling had already stopped. He stared in shock as the van fell into the river.

Huh, NPCs can get into car accidents too???

Liao Zhiqiu climbed out of the trash can. He stood there, his expression completely unruffled—he was indifferent to others, and witnessing an accident didn’t stir any thoughts in him, especially since it was someone sent by his grandfather.

So he just said, “Oh. Let’s go.”

But Bai Fuling didn’t turn and leave. Instead, he rushed toward the broken bridge railing, hurdled over it, and jumped down.

—Normally, NPCs wouldn’t get into car accidents. So there must be some plot here!

Besides, if he remembered correctly, that tall NPC still had clues about finding the killer for [Sweet Dream]. This NPC couldn’t die now.

Bai Fuling jumped into the river, steering the pixel character to quickly swim toward the sinking, damaged van.

The van’s windshield was almost completely shattered. Guan Jizhong in the driver’s seat was semi-conscious from the massive impact. The seatbelt still held him in place, blood mingling with the river current.

...Is this how I’m going to die?

Guan Jizhong thought hazily.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to reunite with my sister... But I haven’t found the killer yet, haven’t avenged my sister... No, I can’t die yet!

Guan Jizhong wanted to struggle, but he didn’t even have the strength to unbuckle the seatbelt. His whole body ached terribly. In the end, he could only rely on instinct, trying his best to hold his breath to keep the cold river water from flooding his mouth and nose, but it was just a futile delay of death.

In his dazed state, Guan Jizhong vaguely caught sight of a swaying Angel Halo. The halo emitted a faint, warm glow, becoming the only light source in the dark river.

...So I’m really going to die... Hah, so there really are angels and heaven in this world...?

Before his consciousness faded completely, he saw the figure with the angel halo approach. It was a very pretty face, with slightly soft, cute cheeks. Even underwater, his dark eyes were incredibly bright and clear, and the small fishtail braid by his left ear floated gently.

Wait a minute.

Guan Jizhong’s thoughts, for once, came to a halt.

Why does the angel coming to take him to heaven look so much like that elusive guy who was bouncing around earlier???