By the time the entire regimen was over, it was already well into the night.
“It is late, Young Madam. Please rest. I will be on duty in the outer room. If you have any instructions, feel free to call for me at any time.”
Jinghong packed up the medicine bowls and utensils, handing them to another maid.
She bowed and excused herself, heading to the daybed in the outer room to rest.
The door to the inner chamber was gently closed, shutting out the lights and shadows of the outer room. The surroundings fell into absolute silence.
Just as Bai Ci lay on the bed, silently reviewing what she had seen and done during the day, she heard a rustling sound.
The originally tightly shut door was stealthily pushed open, leaving a small crack.
A slender, agile dark shadow squeezed into the room through the crack, walking on tiptoes. His movements were indistinguishable from a thief's.
It felt a bit like a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Bai Ci almost burst out laughing.
Before sleeping, she had positioned herself facing the door. Thanks to the dim candlelight from the outer room, she was able to clearly see the attire of the person sneaking in.
And because of that, she felt completely relaxed.
Lin Wenyu was no longer wearing his sack-like ancient attire from earlier. Instead, he wore a highly modern black leather jacket.
And as luck would have it, it was the exact same jacket Bai Ci had seen him wearing when they first met in the Chaosheng Apartments instance.
The one he claimed had the effect of lowering his presence.
Judging by his actions now, the jacket really did have that effect. Otherwise, why would he wear it to sneak around?
It couldn't be just because it was his only black outfit and he wanted to cosplay as a ninja, right?
Bai Ci reached out, pulled the thin quilt around herself, and sat up.
This sudden movement startled Lin Wenyu, who was still tiptoeing closer in the dark.
Lin Wenyu instinctively clamped his mouth shut to prevent his gasp of surprise from escaping.
Only after a few seconds did he lower his voice and say with a trace of resentment, “Whew—Bai Ci, you almost scared me to death.”
Bai Ci didn't take the bait, instead saying, “I'm just glad you recognized me.”
“I was worried those few short sentences during the day wouldn't be enough for you to realize who I was.”
Hearing this, Lin Wenyu immediately chuckled softly.
As he laughed, he stared straight at Bai Ci, looking like someone who had accumulated a stomach full of news and had finally found someone to confide in.
“Actually, we had guessed long ago that the bride brought into the Xu estate for the auspicious wedding was highly likely to be a player.”
“Of all the players named Bai Ci, you're the only one I know. Plus, hearing your voice during the day made me completely certain it was you.”
As he spoke, his tone carried a hint of irrepressible pride and just the right amount of showing off, practically begging her to ask for details.
Bai Ci played along and asked, “Now I'm curious. Who is this 'we' you're talking about? And why did you guess so early on that the bride was a player?”
Regarding the latter point, she was genuinely curious.
She had entered the game in a rush. The moment she entered the instance, she was already in the bridal sedan chair, and her movements had been restricted the entire time. She hadn't been able to touch a single external clue.
She hadn't expected that the players on the outside had already locked onto her identity.
Seeing her ask, the smugness on Lin Wenyu's face deepened. Finally getting his chance to show off, he rattled off the explanation in a brisk tone.
“'We' refers to me and Boss.”
“The one I mentioned to you before—our team's super smart leader.”
“Hehe, this time I'm finally in the same instance with Boss and you, Bai Ci. You absolutely have to experience it. I wasn't exaggerating at all before. Being carried by Boss is an incredibly smooth ride.”
Speaking of his boss, Lin Wenyu was full of praise.
“As for why we guessed the bride was a player, Boss figured it all out.”
“Think about it. Your current identity is the daughter of a rural farming family, right?”
“This is ancient times. Most of those lower-class farming families can barely read a single character. We verified this ourselves when we went to investigate the bride.”
“Not only are they illiterate, but they're also extremely sexist. It's already a stretch for them to give their daughter a common name like A'hua or A'cao. How could they possibly come up with a scholarly name like 'Ci'?”
“Such a glaring mismatch makes it obvious at a glance that it's the player's own name.”
“And there's another piece of supporting evidence,” Lin Wenyu added.
“All of us with refugee identities are male players.”
“Since this is ancient times, and with the refugee status, if there were female players, it would be very unfavorable for them. You know what I mean.”
“Anomalous Infection isn't a completely heartless place, so female players probably have other arrangements—like having the identity of a local resident.”
“While ensuring basic personal safety, for the sake of balance, they wouldn't have the same freedom as the male players with refugee status. It makes perfect sense.”
Lin finished in one breath, then stared at Bai Ci, waiting for her reaction.
Bai Ci understood.
Anomalous Infection was indeed like that. It would allow players to die horrific deaths, and it didn't care if players suffered setbacks or humiliation, but it would try its best to prevent them from experiencing that kind of violation.
The logic behind this latter deduction was sound, and when combined with the previous point about Bai Ci's name, the reasoning actually fell into place perfectly.
At the same time, Bai Ci realized that Never-Ending Curtain Call had indeed taken effect.
However, they had already predefined Bai Ci's identity as a player, and a 'player' was an identity that could fit into any role.
Through a bizarre double-negative effect, Lin Wenyu was able to recognize her normally.
Bai Ci sighed in her heart.
Sure enough, in the instances of Anomalous Infection, there was no such thing as an absolutely foolproof disguise.
A disguise you thought was seamless might expose a flaw in some unexpected detail, causing you to lose your cover completely before you even knew it. It was impossible to guard against.
Suppressing her thoughts, Bai Ci stopped dwelling on the issue of her cover. Since she had finally met up with a teammate, uncovering the main quest of the instance was the top priority.
“Lin Wenyu, have you guys found any clues about the main quest?”
Bai Ci's tone carried a hint of helplessness as she admitted frankly,
“As soon as I entered the instance, before I could even figure out the situation, I was pushed into marrying into the Xu family for the auspicious wedding. I've had almost no freedom of movement, so I haven't been able to grasp even a single thread of the main quest.”
When it came to business, Lin Wenyu's expression turned serious.
“We found something. The core main quest of this instance is related to a cult in the town.”
“This cult is hidden very well, like rats. There are only some rumors circulating that they possess a secret technique that can resurrect the dead.”
Lin Wenyu already trusted Bai Ci's character, and since his boss had also told him not to hide anything, he naturally revealed the entire progress of their investigation.
“We originally found a breakthrough. Boss successfully intercepted a donation slip from a mid-level cult member.”
“Unfortunately, right after we got the clue, that member got into a conflict with someone over greed and was beaten to death on the spot. Our follow-up clues were completely severed, leaving us with no way to continue the investigation.”
“However, based solely on that donation slip, we've locked onto Madame Xu.”
“She is a core, high-value client of this cult, providing them with several large sums of financial support.”
Rate on N.U.
