absurd deduction game.

On their first night back in reality, the Broken Mirror Team had no time to pay much attention to the discussions on the Deducers' Forum.

Zhao Mou skillfully evaded the questions from various guilds about Jiang Chong's carrier—the little mud figure—and then reviewed the noteworthy events that had occurred in other instances since he entered the simulation.

For example, two more tickets appeared.

One card, hidden in a rather niche folk custom instance, was obtained by Xu Shu of the Xu family. Another card, located in an instance that has garnered considerable attention, has yet to find its final destination, which remains a mystery.

For some reason, many Fallen Line Deducers appeared in that instance. After brutally killing each other, the five survivors actually formed a cooperative relationship. The most popular guess now is that these five people were originally a group belonging to the most mysterious Fallen Line organization - Single Prism.

If any of them gets a ticket, it will most likely end up being taken by the performers. If there are any tickets left over, the performers will redistribute them.

Zhao Mou felt a throbbing pain in his temples whenever he thought about it.

It's so annoying! That idiot Prism, that idiot Actor. Yin-Yang City is already dangerous enough, and then we'll have to deal with this bunch of antisocial idiots. What's more, their team will definitely be targeted by Prism. They have no sense of righteousness, only personal grudges.

And speaking of this...

Zhao Mou looked up from the sea of ​​information, glanced at the dimly lit room, and got up to turn on the desk lamp.

He sent Zhao Yijiu a message: "How is Yu Xing doing?"

……

Next door, separated by just one wall, Zhao Yijiu was eating a late-night snack sent by Zhang Yuqun.

His phone beeped softly. He opened it, glanced at it, paused for two seconds, and then took a picture of Zhao Mou and sent it to him.

The other side: "...Okay, you can keep watching."

In the photo, apart from the dining table where Zhao Yijiu eats, almost all the furniture is being covered by translucent, illusory branches. These "dead branches," some thick and some thin, move around with a sense of self-awareness, and the grating friction sounds are incessant.

On the ceiling, walls, carpet, and even on the rim of Zhao Yijiu's noodle bowl... Just as he was replying to a message, a tiny tentacle casually reached out, climbing along the bowl like ivy, and under Zhao Yijiu's silent gaze, dipped its tip into the noodle soup.

It tasted it, perhaps found it unpalatable, then shoved the table aside and left ruthlessly and swiftly.

Through the gaps in the thick, ancient tree-like branches, Zhao Yijiu saw Yu Xing turn over on the sofa, making muffled muttering sounds from her mouth, which was taped shut. The words that could be barely made out were: "The taste is too bland."

Zhao Yijiu: "...If you want it spicy and vinegary, come and eat it yourself."

He paused, then emphasized, "Walk over on foot."

...Three hours ago, they had just recovered from a long and arduous dungeon run, done a brief debriefing, summarized their gains, and were preparing to go back to their rooms to rest, some to sleep and some to eat.

The aftereffects of Yu Xing's cross-level curse dungeon's pseudo-god boss came without warning.

The effect of the Curse Tongue depends on the target of the skill. If the target is a rat, even if it dies instantly the next second, Yu Xing will not feel any discomfort. If it is a human or an ordinary ghost, there will only be differences in the strength of the curse effect.

However, if it is a false god, in addition to the inevitable backlash of being "unable to speak," it will also produce the aftereffects of mental pollution.

Just like the two days when Yu Xinggang obtained the Cursed Tongue, his cognition was affected by this tongue, causing him to become somewhat unclear-headed.

At that time, Yu Xing's inability to speak debuff was still active. After Zhao Mou announced the adjournment of the meeting, Qu Xianqing, who had just returned from another instance, was planning to take Yu Xing to Zhu Yan's school to play. He mainly wanted to take advantage of Yu Xing's inability to verbally reprimand them and quickly experience the joy of bullying her brother with Zhu Yan.

Who knew that Yu Xing, who had stood up normally just a second ago, would lift Qu Xianqing into the air the next second and say, "A body without a soul tastes as bland as drinking water, and the blood doesn't taste good either."

The people still inside at the time: ?!
Qu Xianqing, who was suddenly lifted into the air by a thick branch and felt it rubbing against her skin, quickly calmed down after her initial surprise and even asked curiously, "Tell me in detail, how did you taste it?"

Essentially, it was about empathizing with the branches and tentacles, using them simultaneously as eyes and tongues, sensing that Qu Xianqing's body was merely an empty puppet shell. But this scene was truly horrifying and difficult to assess.

Zhao Mou immediately activated a local area control item, confining all anomalies within the house. The others exchanged bewildered glances: "This is... the silence has been lifted, but the cognitive distortion has begun?"

Having dealt with a similar incident before, they immediately figured out the reason.

This cognitive distortion intensifies dramatically when the Cursing Tongue can speak, but its influence diminishes when it cannot speak, helping Yu Xing regain her senses.

Therefore, as soon as the backlash from the silencing disappeared, cognitive distortion swept over the area instantly.

After confirming that Yu Xing's perception had only changed and that she still recognized them, and that she had not shown any aggression other than thirst for blood, Zhao Mou persuaded Yu Xing to tape her mouth shut through verbal therapy.

This process sounds simple, but it actually took a lot of effort from everyone... because Yu Xing, with her distorted perception, was still particularly difficult to deal with!
Everyone was exhausted, and they couldn't just stand around Yu Xing doing nothing, especially Zhao Mou, who still had a lot of information to process.

So, after discussion, it was decided that Zhao Yijiu, who was the most free, would stay and look after Yu Xing. Zhao Yijiu only glanced at Yu Xing before agreeing.

This isn't the first time; for him, Yu Xing will never actually be a problem.

……probably.

At this moment, Zhao Yijiu, watching Yu Xing use the branch as a leg, intending to just grab the kitchen spices and drink them straight from the bottle, was speechless.

No, it's still quite troublesome.

He swiftly stopped the tentacle, sighed, and moved into the shadows to the sofa, facing Yu Xing directly, asking, "Are you hungry?"

"Mmm (Of course)."

Yu Xing looked up and pointed to the duct tape tightly sealing her mouth: "Mmm... (I can't eat here, I have to rely on other organs.)"

"Mmm... (Speaking of which, Brother Jiu, can I suck you dry? I'm really hungry.)"

Several tentacles, resembling those of a jungle, reached out and hovered eagerly behind Zhao Yijiu.

Zhao Yijiu: "..."

It seems that the tongue expended even more energy this time, so the thirst for blood is more severe. Yu Xing didn't mention anything so dangerous last time.

He said with a dark expression, "Try to think about it again. What would happen if you sucked me dry?"

Yu Xing really thought about it.

He leaned back on the sofa, head tilted back, staring blankly at the ceiling: "Ugh...you're going to die, aren't you?"

"Ugh... (It's so strange, you all die so easily. But I just can't die, even if I'm riddled with holes. Oh right, I can drink my own blood, poke a few holes in it and drink it all, that way I won't hurt you. I'm so hungry, I'm so hungry.)"

Although startled by Yu Xing's thoughts, Zhao Yijiu still found the series of "mmm" sounds quite abstract. He pressed his temples and, both sincerely and as a way to change the subject, suggested, "Stop mmming, let's type on our phones."

As he spoke, he shoved the phone next to him into Yu Xing's hand.

Yu Xing did not move.

He remained quiet for a while, when suddenly a branch sprang up and slapped him hard across the face.

Zhao Yijiu's expression changed: "What are you doing!"

He grabbed the materialized branch and pulled it back, revealing a long, bloody welt on Yu Xing's face.

But within seconds, the bloodstains disappeared thanks to Yu Xing's terrifying self-healing ability.

Yu Xing's pupils were unfocused, and his expression was somewhat listless.

He picked up his phone and started typing with one hand: "I'm such an idiot, I said something that made me want to hurt myself again." Even in his current state of cognitive dissonance, he still remembered what he had promised his teammates, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt that he had made a mistake.

“Yu Xing…” Zhao Yijiu’s pupils contracted, a complex emotion welling up in his heart. His voice was a little hoarse as he advised, “Slapping yourself is also hurting yourself. Don’t do that.”

"Okay." Yu Xing typed two words, then frowned. Perhaps finding it too troublesome, she simply tore off the tape from her mouth, her movements so quick that Zhao Yijiu didn't even have time to stop her.

"Yu——"

“It’s no use.” Yu Xing interrupted Zhao Yijiu, his pupils unconsciously revealing an icy blue light, and a flash of blood appeared on the tip of his tongue. “I can feel it.”

He stared at Zhao Yijiu's neck, and after a moment, he suppressed the urge to pierce the other's blood vessels and said, "Brother Jiu... this time is different."

“My hunger is far greater than last time, I’m starving to death.” He stood up, his expression strange as he approached Zhao Yijiu. “Speaking won’t help, I need blood, lots and lots of blood…”

A ghost tree is growing rapidly inside him, requiring a large amount of blood as essential nutrients. He is this tree, and his tongue is part of its roots.

This time, without enough blood, he will wither, he will decay, he will... he will become something unknown.

Perhaps it was the intense aggression in Yu Xing's eyes that made Zhao Yijiu sense danger. She instinctively wanted to draw her dagger, but fearing she might actually hurt Yu Xing, she could only retreat step by step until her escape route was completely blocked by the network of branches.

"Does it require a lot of blood?" He wavered, even starting to wonder if it would be difficult to recover from losing half his blood; being sucked dry was definitely not an option.

Or, if the cost were split equally among the members of the Broken Mirror Squad...

But will Yu Xing feel guilty when she wakes up?

Yu Xing was already right in front of him.

Zhao Yijiu took a deep breath, a flash of inspiration struck her, and she made a firm decision: "I'll have Zhao Mou go find Ren Yi!"

"Before that, you can drink my blood to fill your stomach. The maximum amount of blood loss I can tolerate right now without affecting my health is..."

"Shh." Yu Xing looked down at the reckless child and covered his mouth with her hand. "You should have had your brother keep an eye on me. You have no bottom line with me."

His hands trembled slightly from hunger, and he felt weak: "Don't give me another chance to hurt someone... If I touch your blood, I really won't be able to resist drinking it all—whether you like it or not."

He wants a huge amount of blood.

This is far from something that can be solved by a single person's entire blood.

Zhao Yijiu sensed that his body was trembling and knew that the situation was more serious than they had anticipated. She made a quick decision: "Then I'll go and call Zhao Mou."

While resisting the craving for blood on her tongue, Yu Xing couldn't help but laugh: "If he comes here, he won't even have a chance to escape."

As for Ren Yi...

This is reality. Ren Yi doesn't even know which province he's in yet. By the time someone comes to deliver blood, he might have already drained everyone on the entire floor.

Although Yu Xing knew that her way of thinking was definitely distorted and she couldn't think like a normal tree... no, a normal person, she still came up with a good idea.

He said, "I'm going to run a dungeon."

Zhao Yijiu was startled.

Yu Xing thought his idea was excellent; the blood he wanted now could only come from humans or ghosts.

The former is real "human blood," and the latter is a substance containing ghostly energy; both are the nutrients that the Ghostly Sinking Tree likes the most.

It was his food.

He doesn't want to kill people... so why not just kill ghosts instead!
Zhao Yijiu's first reaction was that it wouldn't work. Yu Xingcai had just come out of the dungeon and hadn't even had a night's rest. How could someone who usually loved to sleep in possibly keep up!

Furthermore, Yu Xing is still experiencing cognitive distortion; what if she gets hurt in the dungeon...?

and many more.

Zhao Yijiu was stunned.

Despite his distorted perception, Yu Xing's strength will not decrease; on the contrary, it can be considered an improvement to some extent. He will not wrong himself, but he will simply be unable to resist hurting others.

Once you're in a dungeon, is it even a big deal to hurt other players (especially ghosts)?

Thinking about it this way, going into a dungeon to find food is actually the best solution right now!

Even in this state, Yu Xing's mind is still as sharp as ever... Zhao Yijiu's emotions instantly stabilized. He breathed a sigh of relief, opened the deduction system to filter, and agreed, "Okay. Which instance should we go to?"

If you need a lot of blood... then choose the one with the most ghosts... a large one...

"Yorikev's investigation notes?" Yu Xing was also selecting, and had found the target before him.

Zhao Yijiu found this in her system interface and discovered that it was neither a live simulation nor a new instance that was about to open, but a special instance that the system had specifically listed.

[Large-Scale Simulation: Yorickf's Investigation Notes]

[Type: Role-playing 30%, Confrontation 30%, Survival 40% (New)]

[Difficulty: Extreme]

[Main storyline phase one completed, remaining participants: 24/50]

We are now recruiting 26 participants for the second phase of the simulation (the number may increase before midnight)

In the seemingly tranquil town, eerie whispers have quietly descended, and deeply buried secrets are resurfacing under the public eye. The more you know, the faster madness and death will catch up with you—the investigators of the ideal world are the exception. Or rather, they are idealists who knowingly confront danger, a group of rebellious individuals marching towards a dead end.

You arrive in this strange town, wanting to investigate the secret that caused the deaths of most of your previous colleagues.

[Remaining spots: 2]

Survival is a new simulation type that was introduced in the past year. Since Yu Xing had never played it before, a "new" icon appeared on his interface.

"There are exactly two spots available." Zhao Yijiu said calmly. Just as she was about to sign up, she saw the remaining spots suddenly jump to 0!

Yu Xing shook her phone, which displayed a chat interface: "I asked Qu Xianqing to go with me."

Zhao Yijiu: "...?"

Yu Xing glanced at him: "This dungeon is obviously a counter-type, and the level is high, so we're very likely to encounter [He]. How could I possibly let [He] sense you before we enter Yin Yang City?"

When she said these words, Yu Xing seemed to be completely lucid.

Zhao Yijiu pursed her lips and asked unwillingly, "Then why does it have to be this particular instance?"

"Because I'm starving and don't want to spend too long choosing." The branches around Yu Xing danced happily. "And I sensed Yi Qing. Carlos and Yi Qing should be in this instance."

"Lots of familiar faces, so we had a great meal!"

"I want to grow into a terrifying tree!" (End of Chapter)