Chapter 27: Danger

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Wang Guo stood up. “Today is—”

Liang Dan lowered her voice. “Danger!”

No sooner had she spoken than arrows came flying in. Wang Guo lightly raised her hand, and all the arrows fell to the ground.

The five of them quickly gathered together, their eyes fixed on the empty space outside the door.

An androgynous voice spoke slowly, “You’re far more alert than I expected. Such a high-quality group of players must be carrying plenty of valuable things.”

Liang Dan asked, “Were you the one who killed those players last night?”

“So what if it was me? What if it wasn’t?” The voice chuckled softly. “If it were me, would you, the paragon of virtue, kill me to avenge them?”

Wang Fa sneered, “You want our stuff but don’t have the guts to face us? You don’t think we’re all just scared, do you?”

A violent gust of wind blew through, instantly scattering the five who had been standing together. Liang Dan slammed heavily into a statue, toppling it over.

Yang Liuqing and Shen Si crashed into the offering table, overturning it and scattering incense all over the floor.

Wang Fa fell to the ground, and Wang Guo collapsed on top of her, then suddenly vanished.

The two of them had merged into one.

Liang Dan’s eyes widened. “What kind of fusion technique is this?”

“It’s not a fusion,” Yang Liuqing scrambled up, looking disheveled. “It’s a clone being absorbed back into the original body.”

Shen Si spat out a mouthful of blood, then stood up abruptly, pointing outside the door and cursing loudly, “Damn, you pretender! If you’re so tough, come in and fight us directly. If you’re too scared, then get lost!”

Silence fell.

Not only did the wind cease, but even the androgynous voice disappeared.

The four exchanged glances and quickened their pace, rushing out. Liang Dan clenched her fists but glanced cautiously around the doorway.

Shen Si was furious, grasping her right arm with her left. “Damn it, he got away again.”

Wang Fa said, “You and Yang Liuqing search behind the temple. Liang Dan and I will check the village.”

Liang Dan followed Wang Fa down the main road, panting. “There are too many cornfields here. If he’s hiding in one of them, we could search for a year and still not find him.”

Wang Fa seemed unwilling to give up, hopping on the spot as she peered toward the village. After a moment, she ground her teeth and said, “Damn it. He better not fall into my hands, or else I... What are you doing?”

Liang Dan was crouched on the ground, picking up a brick by the roadside. Hearing that, she stood up, holding half a brick.

“My scissors must have been blown away by the wind. I need to grab another weapon quickly.”

She walked toward Wang Fa, who laughed. “He’s so strong, and you’re going to fight him with a brick? Who would fall to something like that—”

Suddenly, Wang Fa collapsed to the ground, bright red blood pouring from her head.

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“You,” Liang Dan crouched down, “You can be taken down by something like this.”

Wang Fa’s body vanished instantly, leaving not a single drop of blood behind.

Liang Dan’s expression grew grave.

She was right: this person was also a clone.

Without hesitation, Liang Dan sprinted toward the temple, shouting loudly, “Yang Liuqing! Shen Si!”

No response.

She dashed into the temple, which looked no different from before—worn and damaged.

Liang Dan circled the entire temple but found no one; it was completely empty.

She sank to the ground, despair washing over her like a tidal wave.

She was a player who could create clones. The ones shooting arrows and killing NPCs were either her or her clones. Wang Guo and Wang Fa were her clones.

Yesterday, they had moved so many bodies outside, placing them atop the ruins, but today, all those bodies were gone.

Were those really the corpses of players, or were they all just her clones?

What was her true purpose, masquerading as so many people?

Could it be simply to make them lower their guard, then capture them unawares to steal their skills or items?

Liang Dan felt a wave of regret. She had never asked Yang Liuqing how a player could steal another player’s belongings.

If she had known that, maybe she wouldn’t be so passive now.

Clutching the brick, she carefully considered the scenes so far.

A ruined village.

A ruined tall building.

A small temple with only one room.

A long red brick road.

A cornfield.

Looking at it this way, the first four locations offered no hiding places. So the three of them could only be hiding in the cornfield.

Liang Dan slapped her forehead in frustration and muttered, “I shouldn’t have mentioned the cornfield is good for hiding. If the three of them are hiding there, how long will it take me to find them? When I do, will Yang Liuqing and Shen Si still be alive?”

She got up unsteadily and staggered into the temple, which was in disarray. An iron basin lay overturned on the ground, next to it were her scissors.

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Liang Dan picked up the scissors and stabbed them forcefully into the iron basin, piercing it instantly. The scissors touched the ground.

“Liang Dan, paragon of virtue, deliberately damaging public property. You’re dead!”

*

Liang Dan’s hand brushed lightly against the sharp tip of the scissors. She hadn’t used much force, yet a streak of blood appeared on her hand.

“So sharp.”

Every farming tool here was so finely honed. Ordinary rural families would only buy based on price, not quality.

Only a village dedicated to killing would demand such perfection from every item around.

Liang Dan staggered forward, righting the fallen offering table and picking up the scattered incense sticks, placing them carefully back on the table.

She muttered to herself, “I need to restore the temple interior first. Once that’s done, I’ll go find Yang Liuqing and Shen Si.”

She approached a fallen statue and slowly crouched beside it.

The statue was of a little girl, her face rosy, a red dot on her forehead, smiling gently.

Liang Dan raised the scissors and plunged them hard into the statue’s bright red mouth.

“Ah!”

A scream echoed from within the statue.

Liang Dan’s heart tightened—it was Shen Si’s voice.

“Liang Dan, paragon of virtue, deliberately causing death by injury. You’re dead!”

*

Looking at the blood streak on her finger, Liang Dan muttered, “I have to restore the temple’s interior properly so the system won’t consider me out of character.”

She stood up, propping the fallen table upright and picking up the candles one by one, arranging them in their original order.

Beside the table lay another fallen statue, also carved as a little girl, seemingly slightly older than the first.

The girl had a pink dot on her forehead, wore a beautiful red dress, and smiled gently.

Liang Dan raised her hand and drove the scissors deep into the statue’s belly. The sensation of piercing clay and flesh spread through her entire body.