The surroundings were dim and silent, with only the sound of footsteps ahead and the breathing of the two of them.
Or rather… the sound of panting.
Yan Mingguang’s kiss was gentler yet more overwhelming than Yan Wei had imagined. The man’s lips carried a slight chill from having been in the cold for too long, but Yan Wei felt his entire body ignite from this icy touch.
He instinctively raised his arms to embrace Yan Mingguang, naturally and actively accepting the man’s advance.
It was an intimacy etched deep into their bones.
With his eyes closed, fragmented images seemed to surface in his mind. These images had nothing to do with the instance, but were all about him and Yan Mingguang. The scenes were blurry and distant, like a hidden treasure that had been pried open just a corner, yet the full picture remained elusive.
Memories from their last climb up the tower had been forcibly erased, supposedly sealed within the Swallow Coin that Yan Mingguang had mentioned. Yet, for some reason, these scattered fragments remained in his mind, often pulling out faint shadows.
Yan Wei was dazed for a moment before realizing what they were doing.
He abruptly opened his eyes, staring at the man’s enlarged face before him. Just as he was about to raise his hand, the man in front of him opened his eyes in even greater bewilderment.
Their lips were still touching. Yan Mingguang’s gaze met his, and the man only hesitated for a moment before immediately releasing Yan Wei and taking a step back.
Yan Mingguang looked at him, his eyes lingering on Yan Wei’s lips, causing Yan Wei’s ears to burn. But before long, the man averted his gaze without waiting for Yan Wei’s reaction, his eyes wandering left and right, just not looking at Yan Wei.
Behind those cold lenses, the usually calm and indifferent black eyes flickered with a hint of regret.
Regret…?
He had merely teased him to vent some frustration; it was Yan Mingguang who had kissed him first. Yet, before Yan Wei could say anything, it was Yan Mingguang who pushed him away, stepped back, and regretted it first?
Yan Wei instinctively raised his hand, pressing the coolness of his hand against his warm cheek, finally cooling down. In the dim light, Yan Mingguang couldn’t see his face clearly, which became his best disguise.
Though his entire body was burning, his voice deliberately remained cool and calm: “Ice block, we’ve slept together before, haven’t we?”
Yan Mingguang tilted his head slightly, seemingly glancing back at him. Then, the man nodded.
Yan Wei found it amusing: “Then what are you doing? Mr. Yan Mingguang, do you know that if someone saw your actions just now, they might think I was the one bullying you? When actually—”
Actually, it was Yan Mingguang who was bullying him.
But even though Yan Mingguang couldn’t see his flushed cheeks, and even though there was no one else around, Yan Wei couldn’t bring himself to say it.
He awkwardly hummed twice and said, “Actually, no one dares to bully you.”
What followed was silence.
Yan Mingguang stood in front of Yan Wei, his eyes fixed intently on him, yet he remained silent, as if the impulsive act that had just burst forth wasn’t something he had done.
Ahead, Lin Zhen had already watched the woman walk down to the bottom of the Stairway.
Lin Zhen weighed the longbow in his hand, turned around, and glanced at them, shouting, “Are you two serious? Are you walking with your noses? You’ve only covered this much ground in all this time!? I’ve already reached the bottom!”
The woman also turned her protruding, unfocused eyes toward them.
Yan Wei, worried that the woman might notice they had discovered something, shouted loudly, “You take this beautiful lady out first. My hands got dirty while navigating the maze earlier; I need to clean them.”
“?” Lin Zhen spread his hands. “So fussy. Beautiful lady, come with me first. Let this cleanliness freak take his time. We’ll go kill your adorable son later.”
“Beautiful lady” was at a loss for words.
After Lin Zhen and the woman exited the massive chamber, Yan Wei’s eyes wandered around for a while before finally settling back on Yan Mingguang.
He said, “Did we always interact like this in the past? Teacher Yan, were you always this dishonest?”
It was always Yan Mingguang who subconsciously acted beyond restraint, whose gaze was always scorching and revealing, yet it was also always Yan Mingguang who restrained himself from taking that final step.
If this man had acted like this back in the Death Schoolhouse instance when he first remembered, they probably would have already…
Yan Wei shook his head, dispelling the inappropriate images in his mind.
The man finally spoke, his deep voice reaching Yan Wei’s ears: “You still don’t remember anything.”
“Huh?”
“I wanted to wait for you to remember on your own,” Yan Mingguang said. “The things we’ve experienced, you have no recollection of them now. You only feel that we like each other because we’ve been together before.”
Yan Wei pulled at the corner of his mouth and chuckled lightly: “So you think I should remember first, and with those past memories combined with the present, doing these things with you would be more reasonable? I didn’t expect you to be so hesitant. I don’t care about those things.”
Yan Mingguang simply took his hand again and led him down the high Stairway, one step at a time.
They had been deliberately stalling earlier, but now Yan Mingguang pulled him along, quickly descending until they soon exited the massive chamber.
As soon as they returned to the tool room surrounded by black glass, Lin Zhen glanced at their clasped hands and sneered: “Little pet, do you need someone to help you down the stairs?”
Yan Wei rolled his eyes at him.
The woman seemed to be growing impatient. Seeing Yan Wei, she took a step forward, her hoarse voice tinged with urgency: “We’re out now. Ace will notice, and once he does, he’ll be furious. You need to kill him quickly! You must kill him quickly!”
Yan Wei merely gave her a faint glance.
He said, “Why the rush? If he gets angry, wouldn’t that be better? In this vast castle, it’s not hard for me to find the Man in Black Robe. If he gets angry, waiting for him to come deal with us at the Stargazing Platform would be exactly what we want.”
Yan Mingguang was already leading the way toward the Stargazing Platform. Yan Wei had Lin Zhen keep an eye on their rear and directly followed behind Yan Mingguang. The woman had no choice but to reluctantly follow.
“Yu Feizhou just contacted me using an Item,” Lin Zhen said from behind. “He met your Benevolent Automaton, and Xu Miaomiao was with them. Your Benevolent Automaton and Xu Miaomiao teamed up. Yu Feizhou said that since it was your Benevolent Automaton’s decision, it should be fine. Xu Miaomiao used Puppetry to create a fake Xue Wan and caused some trouble. Now, the Xue Wan at the Stargazing Platform has left to look for the other Xue Wan.”
Yan Wei immediately understood: “They’re trying to pit the two Xue Wans against each other, right? Xu Miaomiao’s Puppetry can be retracted. If Xue Wan goes looking and can’t find it, he’ll keep searching. If he does find it, the one he finds will be the real other him. With Xue Wan’s temper, they’ll definitely fight, and he won’t be back for a while.”
“That’s what Yu Feizhou said. He also mentioned that half of the Morning Star group has gone to search for coins, and Xue Wan took two people with him. Now, there’s only one person left at the Stargazing Platform… They’re really too arrogant.”
Yan Wei pondered for a moment.
This woman wasn’t a Benevolent Automaton; it was confirmed that she was lying to them. But her words likely mixed truth with lies.
It was highly probable that she was the Man in Black Robe, or she was opposed to another Man in Black Robe. The Ace she mentioned must exist; otherwise, this woman wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble.
She wanted to use the players’ hands to kill the Man in Black Robe she referred to as Ace. So, if she was the Man in Black Robe, the one who would come enraged might be the Man in Black Robe’s Benevolent Automaton, but there might have been some divergence or conflict between the True Self and the Benevolent Automaton. If she wasn’t the Man in Black Robe, she might indeed be the Man in Black Robe’s mother and genuinely wanted to kill the Man in Black Robe. But she wasn’t a Puppet; instead, she might be another owner of this castle.
Moreover, she really didn’t want to die.
Since she lied to them, it meant she had malicious intentions. Following her instructions would only harm themselves. If they didn’t follow her instructions…
What other methods were there?
The information and clues they had gathered far exceeded those of all the other players in this instance. But as Yan Wei pondered this, he suddenly realized their most helpless point.
They didn’t know what was right or what was wrong.
Yan Wei didn’t even have a standard or method to judge.
He turned back and glanced at the woman.
Half of the woman’s face was covered in dried blood, and her lower body was soaked in blood. With every step, her blood-soaked skirt dragged a trail of blood on the ground. Her steps were anxious, as if she truly feared that Ace would notice and come to kill them, feared that the players would act too slowly and fail, feared that if she died, no one would know the secret to breaking the instance.
The skirt dragging on the ground…
Yan Wei suddenly paused. He tapped the communication Item in his ear and said, “Yu Feizhou?”
“Yeah? Yan Wei, are you out?”
“We’re out. Are you with my Benevolent Automaton and Xu Miaomiao now?”
“Yes, we’re hiding near the Stargazing Platform. There’s only one Morning Star member on the platform now; the rest are players they’ve captured and tied up. Your Benevolent Automaton said he detected that the unorganized group is also lurking nearby, probably looking for a chance to turn the tables. But none of us have made a move. One Morning Star member isn’t hard to deal with, but if we act, he’ll definitely notify Xue Wan.”
Yan Wei raised an eyebrow: “All those players are on the Stargazing Platform? That’s… good for us.”
“Good for us? Why—”
Yu Feizhou’s words were cut off, replaced by a familiar, cool voice: “Yan Wei.”
It was his Benevolent Automaton.
According to Yan Mingguang, this was also a manifestation of the coin that carried his strength and memories.
When Yan Wei spoke to his Benevolent Automaton, he didn’t need to explain much: “Take them and rush into the Stargazing Platform now. Throw that Morning Star player out. Rescue the other players captured by Morning Star, find the Remaining Flower hiding in the shadows, and negotiate cooperation with them. I don’t need them to help me break the instance. I’m bringing a key NPC over, and the Man in Black Robe will come after us. We’ll have to confront the Man in Black Robe directly, and things will definitely get chaotic.”
“I just need them to help us block the Morning Star members and prevent Xue Wan from interfering. As for the benefits of cooperation, you decide. Whatever the Blackbird can offer, I can make the call.”
The other side simply replied: “Alright.”
Yan Wei snapped out of his thoughts and saw Lin Zhen still lounging around. He said, “Can you be serious? On our way to the Stargazing Platform, we need to stay alert. The Man in Black Robe could appear at any moment. Don’t get hurt and then have Yu Feizhou transfer your injuries again.”
Lin Zhen didn’t take it seriously: “Got it.”
Yan Wei was about to say more but suddenly paused.
He seemed to hear footsteps coming from all directions.
His Perception instantly spread out, extending along the corridor.
The expressions of Yan Mingguang and Lin Zhen also darkened.
—It was the sound of rhythmic, mechanical footsteps surging from every corridor.
Yan Mingguang grabbed Yan Wei’s hand and said, “Run!!”
“Huh? Not fighting?”
“To the Stargazing Platform!!”
Lin Zhen glanced at Yan Mingguang and Yan Wei, who had already started running ahead, then at the elderly woman beside him. Behind them, several Malevolent Automatons had already appeared, charging toward them.
Lin Zhen mimicked Yan Mingguang’s earlier posture, grabbed the woman’s hand, and started running, shouting: “Then I’m running too!!!”
