DSMC Chapter 65

Yan Jiyun had experienced the feeling of near-death once before at the end of the first instance. That moment of being stunned so badly he couldn’t even react was unforgettable.

Natural gas and gasoline followed the same principle. Ignite them and they caused massive harm; one exploded and the other burned. Both were terrifying.

Maybe it was because he never saw the thoughtful, flesh-and-blood Liang Yu as data, so he couldn’t bear to watch him die right in front of him. He had to use whatever strength remained to pull him back from the edge of committing a crime!

Why should innocent people bear the consequences of others’ sins? There were so many options, surely there was a way to punish them properly.

After leaping back into the building from the windowsill, he ran straight for Liang Yu.

At this moment, Liang Yu was holding a white plastic bucket. The gasoline in it had already been poured into all corners of the room, filling the place with an overwhelming stench. The entire structure was made of wood. It was already at risk of collapse, and now ready to burn to ashes with the slightest flame.

Ignoring the choking fumes, Yan Jiyun rushed forward and clung to Liang Yu’s pant leg. His claws pierced through the fabric, scraping the skin beneath. He using pain to remind him not to lose control.

Liang Yu could feel the sting. He had thought about perishing together with Chen Gang and the others — if only for a second — but the moment Oreo ran back to him, that impulse vanished completely. Even he couldn’t understand why the cat would come back for him. Then he saw Tang Shi climbing back inside too. Unexpected, but pleasantly so.

Tang Shi’s expression was dark. “I didn’t expect you to think of solving things like this. There’s no need. Chen Gang owes more than just you. He owes me too. Oreo risked its life to run back and call you out. Do you have the heart to disappoint him? Even a cat knows danger, but you still want to die?”

Liang Yu asked, “And why did you come back?”

Tang Shi replied, “Because I’m calmer than you. I don’t do stupid things like a mantis trying to stop a carriage.” Then he countered, “You’ve been hiding for years, yet now you lose your head? Your family fought to keep you alive. If you die now just to go see them sooner, you’ll bring more pain to those who loved you and joy to your enemies. The ones you need to deal with aren’t just Chen Gang, it’s all the villagers of Qingyun Village from back then.”

Liang Yu set down the plastic bucket. “Tang Shi, you finally said it. I’ve been waiting for that sentence for a long time.”

“You tricked me?” Tang Shi finally realized he had been played. He scooped up the still-trying-to-save-Liang-Yu Oreo. “Oreo, we’re leaving!”

“I didn’t trick you. The gasoline is real,” Liang Yu said. “You’ve never told me your goal. I was just curious. I don’t want to be deceived either.”

Tang Shi didn’t want to answer. He jumped back out to the balcony and said coldly, “Goodbye.”

Yan Jiyun was still in shock. Liang Yu went through all this just to force Tang Shi to reveal his true purpose?

Tang Shi wanted to go after not just Chen Gang, but the villagers of Qingyun Town?!

Had he been too naïve? Did NPCs all come equipped with eight hundred brain strategies?

Yan Jiyun wanted to bite Liang Yu twice. And to think he’d worried Liang Yu had been duped by Tang Shi’s gentle face, only for Liang Yu to still be fishing for information at such a critical moment. Bold didn’t even begin to describe it!

Yan Jiyun could control NPCs but had no mind-reading ability. If he did have it, he’d know all their thoughts at any time. Too bad the game didn’t give players that kind of power.

By now, Chen Gang and his people had reached the second floor, greeted by a thick wave of gasoline fumes.

Chen Gang thought his underlings disobeyed him and poured gasoline prematurely, asking if one of them had done it.

Liang Yu answered for his subordinates, honestly admitting, “Uncle Chen, it was me. Didn’t you want to burn me to death? I won’t trouble you, so I prepared everything myself. But before I die, I want to know about the things that happened in Siyun Castle. Uncle Chen, can you satisfy my curiosity? How did you kill the Siyun couple back then?”

Chen Gang finally understood that Liang Yu didn’t come with friendly intentions.

He barked, “What Siyun Castle? What murder? Don’t slander me.”

“Then where did you get your Revival Stone?” Liang Yu tossed two stones in his hand. “I just took back what belongs to me. These were never yours. And these two in my hand aren’t yours either. So why does everyone in your family have one?”

Chen Gang dropped the revival stone topic. His expression darkened like a soot-covered pan. “You’re that kid who escaped!”

Liang Yu replied with a smile that wasn’t a smile: “Yes, I’m that child. Do you know how I survived your hunt?”

Chen Gang followed along. “I really don’t. If I’d known where you were hiding, you wouldn’t be alive today.” He glanced around, noticing he was surrounded by his own people, so there was no need to hide anything about those old, unproven matters.

Suddenly, Liang Yu abandoned the topic and pulled out a lighter. “Since you admit you killed the Siyun couple, you can die here too.”

Chen Gang snapped, “Don’t you dare!”

Liang Yu continued, “Not only did you kill them, you stole all the money in the castle. You sold off their treasures. Your family’s first pot of gold came from that. And, it was your family who suggested robbing them in the first place. I’m right, aren’t I?”

Chen Gang sneered, “You’re absolutely right. Our Chen family only got where we are because those naïve fools built a castle in our remote village. We were eating scraps while they feasted every day. Who wouldn’t envy them? Who wouldn’t want servants? They flaunted their wealth. What’s wrong with us picking it up? See, didn’t I lead the entire village to prosperity afterward? Kids go to school, elders are cared for, the road to the county was built. Two deaths to bless the whole village, that was their good karma.”

Liang Yu had nothing more to say to someone who murdered without remorse. He had his answer.

He moved to the window, flicked on the lighter, and tossed it down. Flames shot upward, racing along the gasoline trail straight toward Chen Gang’s group!

Liang Yu said mercilessly, “Then you can die here too.”

Yan Jiyun: “…”

He told him not to kill anyone, so why did he still act?!

But hearing Chen Gang’s words, even he wanted to kick the man in the head. A murderer acting so arrogant?

Tang Shi had never actually left. After jumping to the balcony, he waited outside for Liang Yu.

Both he and Yan Jiyun were sure Liang Yu wouldn’t be foolish enough to die with them.

Maybe they shared a common goal, and both were testing each other. Tang Shi never planned to abandon Liang Yu.

When Liang Yu jumped out, he saw Tang Shi putting away a voice recorder.

Tang Shi explained, “I thought it might be useful, so I recorded everything.”

Liang Yu clicked his tongue. “I thought you’d call the police.”

Tang Shi replied, “I’ve lived here far longer than you. I know better than you whether calling the police works.”

Yan Jiyun: ‘If you know it won’t work, then why did you always call that Officer Yong?’

Maybe Officer Yong didn’t have much authority. He’s just someone who handled small disputes. Bigger matters needed higher approval. Or maybe Officer Yong wasn’t simple either. Being from the same village, his ties to the Chen family couldn’t be bad. They even attended the banquet together at noon.

Small rural places like this, take a walk and they’ll bump into a relative. Who would dare move against wealthy, powerful kin?

Seeing Liang Yu come out safely, Yan Jiyun finally breathed out.

The abandoned building crackled loudly as it burned. He could feel the heat even from the opposite side.

Chen Gang wouldn’t die, just be frightened.

Liang Yu hadn’t let hatred turn him into the same kind of murderer.

People leapt from the second-floor balcony, others jumped from the broken staircase. At least no one would break their legs, there were people below catching them.

The entire building was wooden. The fire spread rapidly, the smoke unbearably thick.

Just as Yan Jiyun finished feeling relieved that Liang Yu hadn’t acted recklessly, he received a system notification.

[The final “Number Tag Match” will begin in three minutes. All players must enter the arena. Please prepare yourselves.]

A forced PK match?

Damn it. This trash system always squeezed them dry.

This was the last forced PK. The game had successfully consumed the players’ high level props and intensified group conflicts.

Qiu Xi and Gu Wenzhu, who had just revived, would also be dragged in.

There were five groups total. They clearly intended to use this to thin out their team.

In the final stretch, players would probably use extreme methods to eliminate Qiu Xi and Gu Wenzhu.

After hearing the notification, Yan Jiyun ran down from the balcony, hid in an empty room, and transformed back into human form.

Qiu Xi and Gu Wenzhu were waiting downstairs. He rushed toward them.

“Do you still have any high level props left?”

Qiu Xi and Gu Wenzhu both said they didn’t have any left. Their high level props were all used up when Team A and C snatched their number tags.

Yan Jiyun immediately opened his own inventory to transfer props to them, but to his frustration, high level props couldn’t be transferred.

Gu Wenzhu patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s fine. You’ve already helped us a lot. I promise I’ll make it out alive.”

Qiu Xi nodded in agreement.

Yan Jiyun frowned at them, extremely worried. “You probably can’t use resurrection props inside, so be careful.”

Gu Wenzhu replied calmly, “You’re only in your early twenties, don’t make that ‘I failed to protect you’ face. Don’t forget, this is a team match. As long as we win in the end, we win.”

Qiu Xi nodded again, this time faster. 

Yan Jiyun suggested, “Let’s find a place to enter together.”

At least they’d come out in the same spot, and no matter who got hurt, they could notice it immediately.

While the players outside weren’t paying attention, they quickly slipped into a room. Yan Jiyun assigned the two NPCs to guard the door and let no one in.

When the time hit zero, the three of them entered the forced PK arena simultaneously.

The map was different again this time.

In front of Yan Jiyun was a room full of pillars. His opponent should have entered as well, but both sides hid behind the pillars. He couldn’t see the other person, nor could the other person see him, but he could hear exactly where his opponent was. Footsteps don’t lie.

Up in the audience, the annoying screens and obnoxious comments remained the same as ever.

“Oh look, No. 29 is back. He’s the one who made me lose a ton of money!” 

“I bet on him to lose just now and still lost money! No matter what, I’m earning it back this time. I don’t believe this! I’m betting on him to lose again!”

“Same here!”

“I’m different. I’m still betting on No. 29 to win. The guy’s looks and build are exactly my type. I like him.”

“I bet on No. 14!”

Of course, Yan Jiyun knew his opponent was No. 14.

He was the Team A player Gu Wenzhu eliminated first, and Team A didn’t redeem him afterward. Instead, it was Team D who exchanged for him.

Yan Jiyun still remembered him deliberately pushing Gu Wenzhu down, and he also knew the guy had a nasty streak in him.

No. 14 heard that No. 29 across from him wasn’t making a sound, and as time kept ticking by, he suddenly spoke.

“No. 29, thanks to your Team F, I spent around seven hours locked in the dark room.”

“You’re welcome. It was the least we could do,” Yan Jiyun replied even more shamelessly than him.

No. 14 paused, then laughed. “You’re pretty funny. Let’s stop hiding and fight fair and square, how about it? The system decides the winner; the loser gets eliminated once. It’s the last round anyway.”

Yan Jiyun chuckled. “Sorry, but I like hiding.”

Seeing his tactic fail, No. 14’s face stiffened. No. 29 really wasn’t easy to handle. He kept talking, but in reality, he was already shifting into a defensive stance.

Meanwhile, from the moment the match began, Yan Jiyun hadn’t relaxed for a second. He kept track of No. 14’s movements by the sound of his footsteps and maintained distance, while checking if any of his remaining high level props were suitable.

He only had four left: A Book with a Story, Toy Train, Piano, and an Unfinished Jade Seal.

He found “A Book with a Story” in a bookstore, likely related to an NPC who loved reading. The other three were found in the castle. Comparing them, the first item still seemed the most useful.

He didn’t feel bad about using many-against-one tactics. They had done exactly that to Qiu Xi and Gu Wenzhu earlier.

Yan Jiyun redeemed “A Book with a Story.”

A young man with hair so greasy it shone appeared in front of him, holding a pile of wuxia novels.

“New books arrived today. I have to finish reading them before the shop closes.”

No. 14’s face stiffened even more. He had been one of the earliest players eliminated in the first three rounds and had absolutely no high level props.

“No. 29, this is unfair.”

Yan Jiyun couldn’t be bothered arguing. He commanded the scruffy young man to throw books at No. 14’s position. As he threw them, the young man lamented, “Books are so precious, how can you throw them?!”

Yan Jiyun slipped behind a pillar in No. 14’s blind spot and let the scruffy youth continue harassing him with books.

No. 14 grew increasingly irritated.

This was exactly what Yan Jiyun wanted. He knew No. 14 had a terrible temper, and people who acted out of anger rarely thought clearly. They just straight up acted on instinct. Still, No. 14 was strong. He picked up the books thrown at him and hurled them back, but the scruffy youth was just as agile.

The young man twisted his hips sideways. “Watch my qinggong! Eh~ didn’t hit me!”

No. 14’s veins bulged. Where the hell did this idiotic wuxia-fan NPC come from!?

Hiding nearby, Yan Jiyun almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Meanwhile, the spectators wanting exciting combat: “…”

They wanted a refund. What kind of fight was this?

Humiliated and angry, No. 14 saw Yan Jiyun continuing to hide like a turtle and took out all his frustration on the scruffy young man. But the NPC was under Yan Jiyun’s control. He went wherever Yan pointed. No. 14 grew increasingly annoyed, charging in to try to beat him up. But of course NPCs getting chased would dodge, and that only made him angrier. His blood pressure soared. He wanted to smash the NPC’s head open.

“No. 29! If you’ve got guts, get out here!”

There was no way Yan Jiyun would step out just because of provocation. No. 14 was only angry right now, not desperate yet. It was when he became both anxious and furious that he’d make mistakes.

Among the countless pillars, Yan Jiyun moved flexibly, circling around, occasionally letting No. 14 glimpse his figure, enough to enrage him but never long enough to catch him.

In the art of annoying others, Yan Jiyun was second to none.

No. 14 wanted to kick the irritating NPC aside, even tear down every pillar blocking his path, but he had no usable items. Even though he rejoined Team D, their props were scarce. They barely had enough for themselves, let alone extras to give him. It was truly the embodiment of the saying: even a clever woman can’t cook without rice.

Yan Jiyun continued circling to kite No. 14. The latter had no strategy whatsoever; the more he failed to catch Yan Jiyun, the angrier he got, and the angrier he got, the worse his “strategy”.

After two minutes of being kited, just as No. 14 was about to catch him, a thick, dictionary-sized book slammed hard into the back of his head.

“Damn it, using sneak attacks!?”

No. 14 covered his aching head and glared toward the backstage where Yan Jiyun had jumped up to hit him, but Yan Jiyun had already slipped behind some pillar. All that was left in front of No. 14 was the NPCs messing up his line of sight.

Thirty seconds later, Yan Jiyun successfully ambushed No. 14 again, smashing the dictionary into the same exact spot.

He hit in the same place twice in a row. For No. 14, this was simply a massive humiliation!

As the third minute approached, No. 14 sped up his chase after Yan Jiyun, but it was still useless. As soon as he made a charge, he would crash into NPCs, unable to even touch the real target’s clothing, let alone eliminate No. 29.

At three minutes thirty seconds, Yan Jiyun succeeded in another sneak attack, once again striking the same spot. No. 14 was already wavering; his head was spinning, the pillars looked like they were stacked together, and he couldn’t distinguish anything at all.

Hearing his footsteps turn disorderly and noticing how he was swaying, Yan Jiyun, as the fourth minute arrived, directly forced No. 14’s head down and slammed it against a pillar.

With a thud, No. 14 collapsed unconscious on the ground.

Competition didn’t have to be hot-blooded. Tactics were extremely important. He was a person, not an entertainer.

Before he exited the 1v1 arena, he quickly flashed the audience a universal friendly gesture!

The audience:

“Is he provoking us?”

“Damn, I want to jump in there and fight him myself. Shit! He got me fired up! Excited!”

“No. 29, I’ll remember you. I’m picking you again next time.”

“Aahhh!! He’s really cute. Just don’t know when we’ll see him again.”

Yan Jiyun naturally couldn’t hear the strange comments from the audience. He had already returned to the room he first entered upon logging into the game.

There was still one minute left. Qiu Xi and Gu Wenzhu still hadn’t come out.

Compared to Qiu Xi, Gu Wenzhu was more worrying. His leg really was a problem. When the game ended, he’d remind him he could make a deal with the system to use points to buy a “normal walking” experience card, while Qiu Xi could trade for a “speaking” experience card.

One minute wasn’t long, but it was extremely anxiety-inducing.

They still didn’t know what was happening outside. After the house burned down, Liang Yu and Tang Shi’s situation was unknown, and Chen Gang probably wouldn’t die, but would definitely continue clinging to Liang Yu.

Yan Jiyun added another 5-minute card for himself.

Thud— someone came out!

The first was Qiu Xi, drenched in sweat, his clothes torn.

“How’d it go?”

Qiu Xi let out a relieved breath, patted his chest, and indicated he was okay.

From his gestures, Yan Jiyun understood that he had won.

Qiu Xi was not inferior to him or Gu Wenzhu.

As long as he could come out alive from a forced PK match, that was enough. He had gone in twice and only lost once.

Now they were just waiting for Gu Wenzhu.

Thirty seconds left.

Qiu Xi was even more anxious than Yan Jiyun. He kept pacing and counting the time, hands clasped together praying for Gu Wenzhu.

Gu Wenzhu’s opponent was Team A Player No. 28, the same player they had faced in the first round. They were afraid the opponent might go for the kill, since Gu Wenzhu had no advantage this time.

Yan Jiyun remained much calmer than Qiu Xi. The map changed every match; if it favored Gu Wenzhu this time, he could counterattack. Hopefully Gu Wenzhu’s luck wasn’t too bad.

Five seconds left.

Three seconds—

Two seconds—

One second—

A figure toppled to the ground, and Yan Jiyun and Qiu Xi rushed to support the pale-faced Gu Wenzhu.

Whether he won or was eliminated didn’t matter. Gu Wenzhu’s minimum requirement was to come out alive.

He did it.

But at great cost. His neck was bruised from being choked, and he was barely able to breathe.

Yan Jiyun immediately helped massage his chest so he could breathe more easily.

Gu Wenzhu passed out, showing no sign of waking, and his breathing grew weaker and weaker.

Only then did Yan Jiyun realize just how seriously he was injured. His left arm was bleeding, and even his good leg was now fractured. It was clear No. 28 had gone all out!

Gritting his teeth, Yan Jiyun said, “Qiu Xi, tear off your clothes and bandage him first. Don’t touch his leg yet.”

Gu Wenzhu needed treatment immediately!

Qiu Xi nodded. He pointed at himself, indicating he would go look for a pharmacy.

Yan Jiyun said, “I walked around last night. There’s no pharmacy and no hospital. From now on you protect Gu Wenzhu. The two NPCs outside will keep guarding you. I’ll handle the rest of the players. I’ll eliminate them as fast as possible. We need to leave.”

As long as Gu Wenzhu held on until the game ended, the system would heal him immediately after leaving the instance.

Qiu Xi nodded. He was willing to follow Yan Jiyun’s instructions. Since he couldn’t communicate quickly, it was better to stay and protect Gu Wenzhu rather than drag Yan Jiyun down.

The 5-minute forced PK session ended, and another player died in the arena.

Team C Player No. 6 killed Team E Player No. 8. Team E now had no remaining players in the instance, they were either eliminated or dead.

There were only 2 hours left in the game, but that no longer mattered to Yan Jiyun.

Outside, the fire in the dilapidated building continued to spread.

Gu Wenzhu was his teammate. He couldn’t die!

One person had just died in the forced PK match, and now all the players were likely exhausted.

Yan Jiyun stepped out of the temporary hiding place and flexed his wrist.

Until now, it had always been the other players hunting him, trying every method to eliminate him.

But now it was reversed. This time the players were hiding and playing defensively, and he would be the one hunting.

He would eliminate them all. Leave not a single one remaining!