DSMC Chapter 62.2

That round was incredibly risky!

Fortunately, Tang Shi reacted quickly. No. 19 never expected Chen Xiaoyu to grab the backpack instead of the chair, and that it would bring about his elimination.

Yan Jiyun rarely made a move, but when he did, he took the tag and left everyone stunned.

Two strong teams still couldn’t deal with him. Too difficult!

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“AAAAH I’m so excited! Another elimination!”

“The kitty almost got swung like a sandbag. Thank goodness he reacted fast.”

“Kitty Baby never disappoints. He always strikes at the perfect moment, never wastes a single opportunity. He’s done it again!”

“Props to the cat, but I have to say: Tang Shi’s combat ability seems pretty high too? That No. 19 thought he could control him, but Tang Shi twisted his wrist like nothing. Someone who knows the original instance, who was actually the strongest NPC in the original scenario?”

After No. 19 was eliminated, he disappeared from the NPCs’ and Yan Jiyun’s sight. Chen Xiaoyu was no longer under player control, so she didn’t remember anything about No. 19 disappearing.

The Chen family rushed into the outer hall. They saw Tang Shi holding a black cat, and Chen Xiaoyu holding a backpack, and nothing had happened.

Players from Teams A and C were among those who rushed in. They looked around. No sign of No. 29!

Where had he eliminated No. 19?

Damn! He escaped again.

But No. 29’s NPC was still here.

Then Liang Yu came out of the inner courtyard with Chen Xiaoyu’s father. The elder praised him for being young and promising. On their way out, he asked why so many people were gathered here.

Liang Yu saw Tang Shi and the exposed Oreo and looked at him as if asking what happened.

Tang Shi didn’t really know. It seemed he had argued with Chen Xiaoyu, and she suddenly went crazy and rushed at him, trying to swing his backpack, then Oreo opened the zipper himself and jumped onto his shoulder in fright.

Chen Xiaoyu’s father asked, “Why is everyone standing here?”

Chen Xiaoyu’s uncle said, “Xiaoyu told us to come catch a thief, so I brought people to search, but we didn’t find anything.”

Chen Xiaoyu said, “He probably ran away.”

Her father didn’t want anything happening during the old master’s birthday feast, so he waved everyone off.

“If nothing’s wrong, go back out and eat and drink. Don’t disturb the mood. It was all a misunderstanding.”

This farce ended with Team C losing one player.

Team C was now headless, while Team A was already suspicious and irritable by nature.

As they walked toward the outer courtyard, the members of Team C exchanged a look.

Then, without warning, Team C suddenly charged at Team A, grabbed them without a word, and began trying to snatch their number tags!

Yan Jiyun, walking behind with his two NPCs, saw the scuffle break out ahead and couldn’t help exhaling in relief.

He knew it. Only by breaking the balance between Teams A and C could the game continue moving forward.

After Team C Player No. 19 was eliminated, two more players from Team A were eliminated. Their tags snatched before they even had time to react. They were alert, but never expected their “allies” to betray them so suddenly, making for a perfect “backstab by teammates” scene.

The number of players was decreasing, but no one had collected any more Revival Stones.

Yan Jiyun had resolved his own crisis and shifted the danger onto the other teams. As long as Teams A and C no longer allied, the others wouldn’t be able to sit on the sidelines. The war among all teams would continue.

[Surviving Players: 16/30] 

[Remaining time until instance ends: 7 hours 0 minutes 9 seconds]

Only seven hours left!

There were still 2 resurrection props missing.

Yan Jiyun didn’t know whether Liang Yu had found anything while talking with Chen Xiaoyu’s father earlier.

Liang Yu followed behind Tang Shi. He lay on Tang Shi’s shoulder and looked back. Liang Yu wasn’t carrying anything, but he had already retrieved the backpack from Chen Xiaoyu.

Tang Shi followed Yan Jiyun’s gaze downward. “What do you have with you?”

Liang Yu lifted the backpack. “A backpack.”

Yan Jiyun knew that when Liang Yu said “nothing,” it actually meant “something.” He definitely had something in his pocket. But whether it was the resurrection props or not, he didn’t know.

He hoped Liang Yu wouldn’t disappoint him.

Seven hours left. Yan Jiyun needed to eliminate players to win. Revival Stones were secondary now.

He still didn’t know where his own number tag was. He passed this thought to Tang Shi.

Tang Shi suddenly remembered something and said to Liang Yu, “Right, Oreo’s collar hasn’t been found yet. I’ll ask Uncle Yong again, see if he found the thief.”

Liang Yu took Yan Jiyun, placed him back in the backpack. They would soon leave the inner courtyard, carrying a cat outside would attract attention from other players.

Back in the backpack, Yan Jiyun found that something hard was poking his backside.

[Congratulations! Team F Player No. 29 has obtained the resurrection prop “Revival Stone”.]

Liang Yu really had found the stone.

The backpack wasn’t transparent, but he could feel the stone’s regular carved edges.

He opened his prop inventory.

He had collected seven Revival Stones, only one remained.

The stones appeared in seven separate slots, and he could tap each to view a larger image.

Each stone was a 3D model. Yan Jiyun tried assembling them, seeing if they formed a single large stone.

It was like a jigsaw puzzle.

Move this one left, that one right. The largest stone broke into four parts and was already partially assembled.

He pieced them all together: a dark, incomplete lump of a stone, with nothing on its surface.

He enlarged it. He only saw stone textures, no other visible traits. 

He wanted to ask why Liang Yu was looking for these stones. Was there a treasure map hidden inside? Otherwise, why did the villagers keep them?

Tang Shi found Uncle Yong in the outer courtyard. Uncle Yong wasn’t in uniform today. He just looked like a gentle neighborhood uncle.

He returned to Liang Yu and Yan Jiyun with bad news.

Yan Jiyun understood. Uncle Yong hadn’t caught the thief.

Tang Shi said to Liang Yu, “Uncle Yong said because there’s suddenly a lot more foot traffic, it might’ve been a thief from another village. He probably can’t find them anytime soon.”

Liang Yu: “If he can’t find them now, he can take his time. I’m sure Oreo will understand.”

Yan Jiyun: ‘No I don’t!!!’  

His number tag was important, okay!?

The other players saw No. 29’s NPCs preparing to leave the banquet, and they also started withdrawing.

They were already numb to No. 29 casually finding resurrection props. Some even felt that if he didn’t find the last one, it wouldn’t match his earlier performance.

The two NPCs returned to Tang Shi’s house. Yan Jiyun hadn’t examined the place during the first round; now, with no forced PK, he could search freely.

The second floor had the living room, dining room, and master bedroom. Tang Shi’s bedroom was on the third floor, along with another living area.

Actually, Tang Shi wasn’t poor at all. Compared to Chen Xiaoyu, perhaps, but by most standards, he lived quite well.

Yan Jiyun focused his search on Tang Shi’s bedroom.

It was simpler than expected. Many classic books filled the shelves, it seemed he was an avid reader.

Yan Jiyun noticed the old wooden desk had a little wooden bear sculpture. The base and the bear were separate.

He tapped it lightly. The chopstick-tall bear toppled over. Its belly was hollow. Something was inside.

He reached in with a paw and fished out a black stone.

The system response was slower than usual, then announced to all players:

[Congratulations! Team F Player No. 29 has obtained the final resurrection prop “Revival Stone”.]

[All resurrection props available have been collected. There are no more~]

But Yan Jiyun was less concerned about the tenth stone and more puzzled about. Why did Tang Shi also have one?

Had he been pretending not to know all along?

He knew it. No NPC was simple.

Wait, let him sort through the relationship map.

Liang Yu was possibly the son of the deceased castle owners from Siyun Castle. He came to Qingyun Town searching for the truth and the Revival Stones that were important to him.

According to Liang Yu, everyone who possessed a Revival Stone was connected to the castle owners’ deaths, even possibly the suspects he intended to take revenge on.

Then what about Tang Shi’s adoptive parents? Were they important figures in the castle incident? Otherwise, why would Tang Shi have a stone?

Could Tang Shi also be one of the villains from the castle incident?

Liang Yu heard something fall upstairs. He went up on Tang Shi’s behalf to look for Oreo.

“Oreo, what trouble are you causing up here?”

Yan Jiyun pressed his paw over the stone, but it was too late. Liang Yu saw it, lifted his paw, and took the stone.

Just then, Tang Shi came up too. He stood behind Liang Yu, looking at the stone in his hand.

Liang Yu’s dark eyes deepened. “Tang Shi, why do you have this Revival Stone?”

Their eyes met.

The not-so-spacious room was filled with a strange tension.

Yan Jiyun suddenly regretted searching too quickly!

If his two NPCs turned on each other, who was he supposed to help??