Intelligent beings did not possess as many complex emotions as ordinary humans. Green Lotus Sage wasn’t angered by Su Er’s leisure, but instead said calmly, “So that’s how it is.”
Seeing his thoughtful expression, Su Er asked: “Does time flow at the same speed here as it does outside?”
Green Lotus Sage was very straightforward: “The same.”
This answer was beyond what most had expected.
Li Zicang cut in: “While we’re doing the task, what are the remaining players doing?”
Green Lotus Sage smiled: “I carefully checked Hope City to make sure no unconscious monsters were left behind to cause trouble. After eliminating any hidden dangers, I let the players move freely.”
Without monsters in the Deception, it was nothing but an empty city.
Su Er’s eyelashes trembled slightly: “So they’re just idle?”
Green Lotus Sage nodded with a smile: “Eat when they’re full, sleep when they’re tired, but strangely they’re all getting thinner.”
With that, he took the initiative to cut off communication.
The echo still lingered in the courtyard, and the expressions of the group were somewhat grim. Su Er sat up straight from the lounge chair and said, “That’s ruthless.”
For those players who had not chosen to enter the game, now they could only watch helplessly as others did the tasks.
“God gave us three days. In other words, the outside players will waste at least half of their time.”
The torment of such waiting was self-evident.
Li Zicang clicked his tongue: “We’ve already spent two days inside the Deception. After this three-day stretch, only two days will remain for them to search for hope.”
Compared to painfully waiting, risking one’s life in the task at least offered a shred of hope. This gave Li Zicang a strange sense of consolation. Chewing on a sour fruit, he said, “Shouldn’t we start discussing tonight’s division of roles?”
Yi Zhu raised her hand in surrender: “Dogs love chasing me, ever since I was little. Every dog that sees me wants to bite.”
Su Er, who had been unusually active lately, also quietly stood aside.
Ji Heng chuckled: “You’re afraid of dogs, too?”
It wasn’t exactly fear, but Su Er did feel uneasy around big dogs. Too proud to admit it, he frowned instead: “I’m a real dog as a person, like repels like, so of course the dog doesn’t like me.”
“......”a
Since he put it that way, no one dared make fun of it.
In the end, Wan Yi took on the task: “I’ll handle the dog later. If something goes wrong, I’ll knock it out.”
As they discussed, night gradually fell.
After dark, the villagers guarding the village gate gradually went back, and Su Er’s group seized the moment to head out. The big black dog was lying under the post, its powerful muscles pressed flat against the ground, looking a little less threatening.
Wan Yi slipped around to the back of the post, untied the rope, and held it tight in his hand while tossing a piece of meat he’d found in the kitchen.
The black dog opened its eyes. It didn’t attack, just sniffed the meat, licked it twice, then lost interest
Wan Yi tried leading it to the side, and strangely, the black dog cooperated.
“Wait.” Ji Heng said, “Don’t take it too far.”
Wan Yi had the same thought. Since the dog could ward off evil, and it was always kept at the village gate, whatever lay underground was probably not simple.
One heavy strike of the shovel, and Yi Zhu—who had a habit of checking her reflection constantly—thought some dirt might have gotten on her face. She pulled out her mirror, but the first thing she saw was a faintly glowing red heart in the darkness.
With every dig, the red heart’s pulsing grew faster. Everyone stopped at once.
Yi Zhu pinched her long nails together: “This is trouble.”
What lay buried underground was probably a deadly ghost.
Su Tangyi started wavering: “Maybe we should think of another plan?”
But with only two days left, finding new clues would be nearly impossible.
Ji Heng said calmly, “A dead end can be a way out. Only by surviving three life-and-death tribulations can we leave this place. Whatever’s down there, that’s one of them.”
That was assuming they survived once it was unearthed.
Easier said than done—no one dared act rashly.
“What happened to the Holy Infant?” Li Zicang nearly cried: “This is clearly a demon child.”
“At least one mystery is solved,” Su Er said with a grim face, “why so many players died here.”
The Holy Infant might provide protection, but its true nature was still that of a vengeful ghost—one that delighted in killing.
That created a vicious cycle: releasing the Holy Infant might allow them to resist the god, but the Holy Infant would also want their lives.
Wan Yi said, “If we release it now, we’ll be hunted for a whole day and night. If we wait until tomorrow night, our survival chances will be better…”
He trailed off mid-sentence. They all realized that earlier players must have thought of this too, and still, very few survived.
Su Er said: “Looking on the bright side, at least we can confirm the villagers aren’t that strong.”
If the villagers were really powerful, there’s no way they’d have let them swagger around all day. The true threats were the god and the Holy Infant.
Woof!
The black dog suddenly barked, though not loudly—more like it was mocking their helplessness.
Su Er squatted about three meters away from the dog, staring at it without moving.
Wan Yi thought he was about to vent his anger on the dog and was just about to persuade him when Su Er suddenly said, “I remember the Holy Infant protects the children under fourteen in the village, sparing them from the hunger and thirst of the night.”
Everyone had been present that afternoon when the children were threatened into revealing information, so upon hearing this, they only gave a perfunctory acknowledgment. Only Ji Heng glanced at Su Er, and Wan Yi noticed this, unable to resist asking: “What’s he trying to do?”
Ji Heng: “Reading comprehension.”
“......”a
It wasn’t a joke. When others were exploring the plot, Su Er really did dissect every line word by word.
Sure enough, his point of doubt was different from everyone else’s: “How does the Holy Infant distinguish children from adults?”
Normal people wouldn’t even consider this question. The Holy Infant could be seen as an evil spirit guarding the village—naturally, nothing in the village should escape its notice.
Su Er scooped up a handful of dirt: “If the Holy Infant could roam the village, I wouldn’t be asking this question.”
Wan Yi narrowed his eyes, understanding what he meant: “But it’s suppressed underground, pinned down by the black dog.”
Although they called out to the Holy Infant, the villagers clearly feared it.
Su Er smiled: “The villagers obviously fear the god more. Otherwise, during prayer they wouldn’t only ask for forgiveness of their sins.”
Before they came here, other players must have released the Holy Infant. Yet in the end, it was sealed underground again, surely through cooperation between the villagers and the god.
Wan Yi stroked his chin: “But it didn’t kill the villagers—instead, it helped protect the children.”
That didn’t sound like a Holy Infant at all—more like a Holy Father.
“Children’s minds are much simpler, but their obsessions run deep,” Su Er said. “The Holy Infant cares about the children themselves. Out of shared suffering, it’s willing to protect them.”
But once the children turned fourteen, that compassion vanished instantly. From then on, it allowed those very children it had protected to suffer the same torment as their parents.
Su Er stood up: “Back to the real question—how does the Holy Infant identify children?”
Yi Zhu was the first to answer: “The most direct way to recognize someone is through appearance and voice. Once more familiar, maybe through habits, personality, or even their eyes.”
None of those factors really fit the Holy Infant.
Buried underground, it couldn’t see. If it relied on sound alone—what if a newborn was mute?
“One method is missing.”
Yi Zhu looked up just in time to see Su Er step forward slightly and slowly say two words: “Smell.”
He paused, then added: “Like a dog. A dog’s sense of smell is more than a thousand times stronger than a human’s. Some scientists even claim dogs can detect terminal illnesses, which is why cancer-sniffing dogs are trained.”
Yi Zhu hissed: “But can dogs smell age?”
Su Er: “We’re talking about the Holy Infant.”
“……” Yi Zhu’s smile stiffened. Since he used dogs as an example, she instinctively substituted the Holy Infant into that role. Quickly changing the subject, she followed his line of thought: “If we assume the Holy Infant has this ability, it must be far superior to dogs. But discussing this right outside its lair… isn’t that a bit unwise?”
Su Er waved his hand: “It died at birth, with instinct but no wisdom.”
If it had even a little wisdom, it wouldn’t have been suppressed at the village gate time and again.
For a moment, no one spoke. The air grew still.
Voices, mannerisms, and even handwriting could be imitated. But smell—without a real sample, how could one mimic it?
Children lived with their parents for years, and even that didn’t confuse the Holy Infant. Stealing a piece of their clothing and wearing it probably wouldn’t work either.
Players were used to turning back the moment they hit a dead end—it was instinct, and also an advantage.
After all, smell was just a hypothesis. No need to beat their heads against the wall.
Realizing his suggestion would be discarded, Su Er looked toward Ji Heng and shrugged helplessly.
As if expecting this, Ji Heng said softly: “Human potential is limitless—it just hasn’t been drawn out.”
“So…”
“So we have to provide enough motivation.” Ji Heng smiled at him, then looked at the others: “Whoever can come up with a method, I’ll be the test subject to dig the thing out.”
Silence fell again, but this time it was different. Everyone racked their brains as if fueled by adrenaline.
Su Er probed: “If we can’t figure it out, we’ll just find another way.”
“There must be a way!” Li Zicang bit his finger, determined to push forward no matter what.
“......”a
Yi Zhu: “The Holy Infant instinctively protects children—we could use them as leverage.”
Several pairs of eyes turned to her. Yi Zhu remained indifferent: “After all, the villagers have done plenty of bad things—arson, murder, poisoning. Doesn’t it ease your conscience to say it like that?”
Having all once lived with twisted worldviews, no one could really condemn her.
Instead, Li Zicang offered a better idea: “We can’t change our own scent, but maybe we can try altering the children’s.”
Su Er’s eyes lit up slightly: “The feasibility is pretty high.”
At this moment, Wan Yi took out a bottle of potion: “Drinking this makes a person give off the stench of rotting flesh.”
Li Zicang’s face twisted with disgust.
Wan Yi: “It’s useful against low-level ghosts—they’ll avoid the smell.”
In other words, it was basically a useless item. Normal little ghosts were easy enough to handle, and stronger ones wouldn’t care whether it smelled like rotten meat or not.
Yi Zhu was much more reliable, producing a bottle of perfume: “It’s a scent humans can’t smell, and it lasts a long time.”
Wan Yi frowned: “There’s an item like that?”
It wasn’t just his suspicion—most items had at least some practical use, but this one sounded completely useless.
Yi Zhu’s hand revealed a beetle: “It’s a companion tracking item.”
She clearly felt reluctant—once the spray was used up, the beetle would be useless.
“What a treasure!” Li Zicang leaned in. “If we use it in advance, even if a ghost swaps someone in our team, we’ll know right away.”
Yi Zhu nodded: “Not only that, I once encountered an instance with twin ghosts committing crimes. This was how I told them apart.”
In just a few minutes, the situation brightened, and Su Er couldn’t help sighing that heavy rewards indeed brought forth brave efforts.
But he didn’t feel any distance because of it—it was only human to keep a life-saving card hidden. He was the best example himself. If it really came to the worst, he and Ji Heng could use “Coal-Face Concealer.” Done right, it could let them save themselves at the very moment the god came to reap lives.
To avoid missing anyone, Yi Zhu went house to house, spraying every sleeping child a few times.
At this time of night, the villagers were enduring hunger and thirst, and with doors left unbarred, their task was made much easier. Once every child carried the scent, Yi Zhu began spraying the players.
She wasn’t stingy—she gave Ji Heng and Su Er two extra sprays until the bottle was nearly empty.
True to his word, Ji Heng began digging up the thing underground once the others had retreated far away.
Su Er stayed with him, slipping him a small coal ball.
Ji Heng raised a brow.
Su Er whispered, “If our guess is wrong, you use the coal ball, I’ll use the crying child.”
That way, they could save one more use of “Coal-Face Concealer,” enough to keep them alive at the final moment.
He also pulled out the mirror to watch the red heart.
At the moment, that crimson heart was strange—at times it throbbed wildly, then fell into stillness again, as fickle as the weather.
Seven feet underground.
The Holy Infant felt deeply confused. The scent of one of the children it protected had suddenly disappeared, covered by something else. Then all of the children’s scents began to vanish, and not long after, several identical scents appeared.
Just as Su Er predicted, since it had died at birth, the Holy Infant had never received an education and couldn’t think about complex matters.
Its head nearly bursting with confusion, it was dug out of the damp, dark earth.
The Holy Infant wasn’t surprised—every so often, someone dug it out. And those people always tasted delicious. It was just about to feast when suddenly, from the person before it, came that strange scent—the one that had covered the children’s earlier.
The Holy Infant opened a blood-red eye.
So tall. So big.
Was this person really one of the children whose scent had been covered?
But why was he so huge?
Su Er deliberately babbled nonsense in baby talk.
After a long pause, the Holy Infant came to its conclusion… turns out it was a giant baby.
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