The sound of that sigh was exceptionally clear in the banquet hall, where only the sound of footsteps rubbing against the floor remained.
Everyone looked at her subconsciously.
Cheng Shuili wore a look of helplessness on her face, as if she were dealing with an unreasonable child.
She did not take the attendant’s hand, but instead pulled something else out from her Abyss Ring.
It was a palm-sized…
A voice suddenly rang out from among the players behind her: “A speaker??”
Oh? It seems there are people who know their stuff.
Cheng Shuili turned back to give the person an appreciative look before placing the item carefully on the round table, right where the phonograph had previously been sitting.
Never mind the Faceless Jester, even the players from other districts had never seen a scene like this!
And besides…
Her dance partner had been holding its hand up for so long; could this person, Crow, really not be violating the rules yet?
The moment this thought popped into a player’s head, he was astonished to see Crow place her hand into her partner’s, yet when it came to dancing, she had absolutely no intention of swaying her body.
But as for refusing the invitation…
Uh… didn’t she just put her hand into her partner’s? How could that be considered a refusal?
This move was practically exploiting a bug!
The air pressure around the Faceless Jester plummeted. One could imagine just how unhappy it was, but what good would that do?
Cheng Shuili didn't care about any of that. She looked up and gave the Faceless Jester a sincere smile, one that even carried a hint of “Are you satisfied now?”
Then, she pressed the play button.
Perhaps the electronic equipment in this ghost of a place wasn't of very high quality, but after a couple of static crackles, the speaker finally began to play.
Suddenly, a dynamic, high-tempo rhythm filled with power and vitality swept across the dead-silent dance floor like an explosion!
“Boom-cha-cha! Boom-cha-cha!”
It was the classic square dance anthem! 《The Most Handsome National Style》!
The intro ended quickly, and the moment the vocals hit, everyone couldn't help but gasp.
“The vast horizon is my love, flowers bloom at the foot of the rolling green mountains…”
The high-pitched, resonant singing, accompanied by deafening drum beats, crushed the eerie, stagnant atmosphere with unreasonable force!
Never mind the horror and the strangeness; even those few people from the Dragon Country started to hum along.
Every monster, including the Faceless Jester, completely crashed!
Their movements froze solid, and their hollow eyes were filled with massive question marks.
What… what is this?!
This terrifying rhythm! This… this vulgar cheerfulness! This unreasonable music!
Cheng Shuili swayed her shoulders easily to the beat of the music, smiling at the completely petrified female attendant in front of her and the Faceless Jester on the head seat who looked as if he’d been struck by lightning:
“Don't you want to dance?”
“Come on, I’ll provide the music for you myself.”
“How’s this for taste? Do you like it?”
“Never seen it before? That’s right, it’s a local specialty from my hometown! I’ve broadened your horizons this much, why don't you hurry up and say thank you?”
It was indeed a local specialty; everyone from the Dragon Country had heard it.
But that didn't stop those few people from the Dragon Country from being dumbfounded. The female teammate rescued by Cheng Shuili from the Panshi team had her eyes wide as saucers, her mouth subconsciously humming a few notes before she abruptly covered it. The look she gave Cheng Shuili had evolved from “worship” to “watching a goddess descend to earth.”
“Is it even… possible to do this?” she murmured.
Panshi himself had a twitching mouth. He tried to analyze the deeper meaning behind Cheng Shuili’s actions, but looking at her smile—which held a hint of a prank successfully pulled off—he felt that…
This big boss might really just find it fun and happened to want to disgust this pretentious boss.
The foreign players were even more completely stunned. They couldn't understand the lyrics, but the addictive melody and powerful beat were attacking their eardrums and perceptions without discrimination.
This was even more… than facing a monster charging straight at them.
At a loss!
Yes, they were simply at a loss!
So, should they continue dancing now? Or… hum along for a bit?
As long as they remembered to follow the rules, that was all that mattered.
The Faceless Jester’s emotions had completely spiraled out of control. It roared, attempting to regain control of the situation:
“Stop! Stop!! This is not the music of the feast! This is not my music! This place… is only allowed to play my music! You… you are blaspheming! This is an insult! Attendants, eliminate this detestable offender.”
But those attendants and guests were in a much worse state under the continuous bombardment of 《The Most Handsome National Style》.
Their movements were stiff. They tried to obey the command and approach Cheng Shuili, but because of the rhythm, they looked like computers infected by a Trojan virus, walking with their hands and feet on the same side, looking both ridiculous and eerie.
Cheng Shuili’s dance partner, the female attendant, had scarlet murderous intent and confusion alternating in its hollow eyes. Clearly, it wanted to execute the Faceless Jester’s order, but the hand clutching Cheng Shuili was limp, lacking any strength. Even with the rhythm of the music, her fingertips were twitching slightly.
She was clearly immersed in it!
“Look,” Cheng Shuili shrugged at the Faceless Jester, her tone innocent yet infuriating, “your attendants and guests seem to like my local specialty quite a bit; they’re all swaying along. Isn't this just immersion in the joy of the feast? I’m just helping you liven up the atmosphere.”
“You… you are twisting logic!” The Faceless Jester stared at her like a predator, its pressure bearing down heavily on Cheng Shuili.
Unfortunately, this human’s mentality was damnably good. She didn't take this terrifying threat to heart at all, and even swayed her head along to the beat as if in provocation, nearly angering the Faceless Jester to death.
The ball fell into a stalemate.
No matter what music was playing, there would always be a group of people who were happy.
Only, the one who was happy before was the Faceless Jester, while now, it was these players who didn't fear the chaos!
After a moment of this stalemate, the Faceless Jester suddenly snorted. Perhaps it had been angered into stupidity, as its tone became normal: “I’ll give you one last piece of advice. Now, put away your trash. I officially announce that the ball is over. You have one hour of free time. You had better take this time to find something useful, otherwise…”
There was only that one sentence, but the Faceless Jester seemed to have coaxed itself into a better mood, and its tone became slick once more. It cackled, seemingly looking forward to the next segment, “Otherwise, the upcoming dessert time might make you… find it hard to digest.”
As the words fell, it vanished in the same way it had appeared just before.
The other guests, as if they had lost their target, turned their heads in confusion a few times before returning to their respective seats, picking up their knives and forks to start eating again.
Cheng Shuili silently turned off the speaker. She looked at the direction where the Faceless Jester had disappeared and was still somewhat stunned. This tasteless fellow had actually just run away; didn't it know that the cultivation of art was very rare?
How could it be so unappreciative!
But no matter what she thought, for now, the result seemed good.
The other players slowly gathered around, their faces still retaining the confusion of having survived a disaster and having their worldviews shattered.
“C-Crow…” Panshi cleared his throat and said solemnly, “Just now… thank you.”
Although the process was overly absurd, the result was indeed that Cheng Shuili had used her shocking “local specialty” to forcibly interrupt the deadly ball, thereby buying everyone a chance to catch their breath.
Kyle stood a little further away with a complex expression. His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.
Though arrogant, he wasn't a fool; he knew that if it weren't for Cheng Shuili, they might have already suffered more casualties on the dance floor.
“Big boss! You’re too awesome!”
Hao Hao had no psychological burden at all and went straight to Cheng Shuili’s side, her eyes sparkling, “Where did you get that speaker? Do you have any other songs? Can you play 《Big Apple》 next time?”
Cheng Shuili: “…”
This person really had quite the adaptability.
She put away the speaker and scanned the ruined banquet hall and those eerie guests who had resumed eating. Her expression returned to its usual calm: “No need to thank me. It gave us one hour; the next segment is likely to have considerable danger as well.”
Panshi coughed lightly, his face showing an expression of self-reproach.
He had been a captain for so long that, whether in age or experience, he was surely a cut above this Crow. But now, not only did the dungeon’s progression need her to push it forward, but the discussions between players also needed her to initiate them.
This person… had practically become the backbone for all the players.
Panshi suppressed the subtle feeling of sentimentality in his heart and quickly entered the state: “Crow is right, time is tight. The next segment sounds dangerous, and the time given far exceeds the last time, so the content we need to find must be substantial.”
He looked at Cheng Shuili, his tone naturally seeking advice: “Miss Crow, do you have any ideas?”
Hearing this question, the eyes of the others naturally fell on Cheng Shuili as well.
It seemed they intended to do whatever she said.
Cheng Shuili didn't answer immediately; she really wasn't interested in being a savior.
If she remembered correctly, everyone was supposed to be in two different factions, right? Clearly they were competitors, so why were they acting like inseparable partners now?
She spread her hands, her tone carrying obvious detachment: “Of course, just do whatever you want. Didn't the host say so? It’s free time now.”
Cheng Shuili’s “don't bother me” attitude was like a small bucket of cold water poured onto the small flame of collectivism that had just been ignited.
Everyone looked at each other, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.
“Cough,” Panshi was indeed a veteran captain, his thickness of skin directly proportional to his experience. He nodded immediately and smoothly, “Crow is right, free activities have higher efficiency. We will split up to look for clues and gather here in half an hour to share information.”
He mainly said this to his own team and those few foreign players.
As for Cheng Shuili and that Hao Hao who was firmly following her?
Forget it, the big boss’s style of doing things was not something they could fathom.
Kyle snorted and was the first to turn around, taking his teammates toward the depths of the curtain on one side of the banquet hall, clearly not wanting to stay for even another second.
The other players also dispersed, carefully avoiding the guests who were still eating mechanically, and began to search the massive dining area.
Cheng Shuili stood in place. Seeing that they had all dispersed, she pulled Hao Hao over and said, “Go find a guest and confirm your identity.”
“Ah?” This sudden instruction caught Hao Hao off guard: “Confirm identity? Big boss, you mean… use that method from before, and directly ask an attendant if I am a guest?”
“Mm.” Cheng Shuili nodded, her gaze scanning the attendants moving between the dining tables, “We need to determine if players from the same team only have one type of identity, and whether guests can actually lie.”
Although Hao Hao was a bit nervous, she had a nearly blind trust in Cheng Shuili’s judgment.
She took a deep breath, her gaze scanning the attendants with their stiff movements, and finally locked onto one that looked… relatively less terrifying.
Its movements were slow, its eyes were hollow, and it was slowly wiping a bottle, appearing somewhat gentler than its other agitated peers.
“I’ll go try!” Hao Hao cheered herself on and lifted her foot to head over.
Cheng Shuili stared at the guy she had chosen, and a strange thought suddenly popped into her heart.
Was this “attendant” really an “attendant”? Why was it… so different from the other attendants?
Hao Hao walked up, and Cheng Shuili stood in the distance, watching quietly.
This person was, after all, one of the top players in their district. Even if she couldn't beat this attendant, she at least had a mouth and knew how to say “I’m sorry.”
And it just so happened that she still had her forgiveness count, so Cheng Shuili was very at ease.
She watched quietly as Hao Hao walked up to the attendant who was slowly wiping the wine bottle, tried her best to squeeze out a required smile, and asked: “That… may I ask, I would like to ask, am I a guest or an attendant?”
Cheng Shuili: “…”
She was quite polite.
The attendant’s movements stopped.
It slowly raised its head, its hollow eyes looking at Hao Hao.
That gaze wasn't cold and piercing like the other attendants, but instead carried a kind of… indescribable focus, as if it were carefully identifying something.
Time passed second by second, and Hao Hao felt her own heartbeat was exceptionally loud in the silence.
Just as she was almost unable to hold her smile, the attendant’s cracked lips moved, and its voice was unusually hoarse, even carrying a hint of strange hesitation: “Why would you ask me this question? Aren't we colleagues?”
Colleagues?!
The blood on Hao Hao’s face faded instantly. She recoiled a step, looking at the attendant in front of her in disbelief.
She was an attendant?!
Crow was clearly a guest! In other words… they were not in the same faction at all?!
But they were teammates!
This realization was like a bucket of ice water poured from above, making her limbs feel cold.
She subconsciously looked back at Cheng Shuili, her eyes filled with panic and seeking verification.
Cheng Shuili, however, was calm. She stepped forward and stared into the attendant’s eyes. Before anyone knew it, Night Hunt was already in her hand.
“Colleagues?” Cheng Shuili’s voice was very light, “Are you sure?”
Facing the clearly extraordinary long blade in Cheng Shuili’s hand, the attendant stopped wiping the wine bottle completely. It slowly raised its head, its voice still hoarse, but it carried a hint of certainty, as if it were afraid that Hao Hao wouldn't believe its words.
“Of course… sure. We… are all attendants… serving… this feast.”
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