Yu Zhengqing’s strength indeed couldn’t be considered top-tier.
He was merely one of the players in the Tower World who had reached instances above the 90th floor relatively early. Precisely because his strength wasn’t among the best in the higher floors, he was more conservative compared to the dazzling top-tier players of those floors.
He didn’t dare to risk his life.
Instances at the 89th floor and above didn’t have strict level requirements; as long as one had an invitation letter, they could enter. Thus, he had been shuttling between the 89th-floor instance, continuously obtaining invitation letters for floors above the 90th, ascending and descending between the 90th floor and the 89th, which was how he had survived until now.
When the first few top-floor instances ended without success, Yu Zhengqing had been surviving by traveling between the 89th and 90th floors.
A few years ago, when the legendary v was at the peak of his influence, and those prodigies challenged the Tower’s authority alongside him, Yu Zhengqing hadn’t participated at all. He hadn’t even seen v. That top-floor instance had ended with v’s disappearance.
Yu Zhengqing simply held onto his current position at Yue Mang, never taking the slightest risk. If the top floor hadn’t provided a descent path this time, he would never have entered.
So, although he was experienced, he only had more experience in high-floor instances, and his stats might be slightly higher than Lin Qing’s. But if it came to a life-and-death situation, he might not be as ruthless as Lin Qing and naturally might not be able to defeat her. Even just now, when he was ambushed by that masked person who might or might not be Lin Qing, he had remained conservative and hadn’t gained the upper hand.
Moreover, Lin Qing was someone who had followed v out, someone who had ascended the Tower, and except for the instance she had cleared with v, she had always been the Best Player.
Yu Zhengqing had some self-awareness, but being directly called out by Lin Qing still hurt his pride.
He stewed for a while, then threw the two arrows onto the stone table in the pavilion, saying irritably, “Who knows what you’re thinking? Ambushing is easier than outright robbery.”
Lin Qing glanced at the stone table.
He vaguely guessed what had happened, but his expression remained as calm as ever, without any anger or frustration at being questioned—he simply didn’t have such emotions.
If Lin Zhen were here, he would probably grab the arrows and yank Yu Zhengqing’s collar to fight. But Lin Qing was here, so he just calmly considered what Yu Zhengqing and Zhong Bufan had said, then replied indifferently, “Someone ambushed you, using a bow and arrows identical to mine.”
Zhong Bufan sat down, leaning on the cold stone table, and picked up the two arrow feathers, examining them left and right.
He said, “Old Lin, are you saying that the person wasn’t you?”
Lin Qing simply raised his bow again.
Yu Zhengqing instinctively prepared to act, but Lin Qing just glanced at him indifferently, drew the bowstring, and aimed the arrow at an empty spot in the air.
He lightly pulled the bowstring, and the black arrow shot through the cold air with a sharp whistle, embedding itself into a withered tree nearby.
“It’s easy to get my arrows,” he said. “My Item regenerates infinitely, so I never retrieve the arrows I shoot. For example, this arrow—I won’t take it back. If someone passes by after we leave and pulls it out, they’ll have my arrow.”
Players who use long-range weapons like bows usually keep some distance from others to enhance their effectiveness.
So even Zhong Bufan, who had encountered Lin Qing in instances and joined Blackbird, had never observed Lin Qing’s bow up close.
Thus, as long as the bow looked similar to Lin Qing’s from a distance, it could pass as his. The arrows could be picked up, and the bow only needed to look similar. With a mask, one could impersonate Lin Qing.
—But having the Items for disguise wasn’t enough; one also needed skills identical to Lin Qing’s, which was inexplicable.
“This isn’t something that needs to be considered,” Lin Qing said. “If I really wanted to ambush someone while wearing a mask…”
He paused, giving Yu Zhengqing a disdainful look, still reluctant to say the word “ambush.”
Yu Zhengqing snorted and turned his head away.
Lin Qing withdrew his gaze and continued with disdain, “If I really wanted to ambush him, why would I use my own Items? That would be too obvious.”
While Lin Qing was speaking, Zhong Bufan also grasped the key point. He smiled. “You’ve convinced me. Although I can’t completely let my guard down, what you said makes sense. But Old Lin, these are all matters of opinion. Whether it’s you or not, we can no longer place complete trust in each other, even including the juniors under you in Blackbird.”
Whether this was someone else’s deliberate act—it could be argued that Lin Qing was trying to cover his tracks by using reverse logic to ambush, or it could be argued that the other side was trying to sow discord.
Zhong Bufan understood that as long as there was no way to completely resolve this matter, the person who ambushed Yu Zhengqing, whether it was Lin Qing or not, had planted a seed of doubt. In a situation where two factions were fighting to the death, even the slightest seed of doubt could lead to a fatal flaw.
If this was a scheme by the opposing faction, then they had indeed succeeded. Because even if they knew it might be a plot, there was nothing they could do about it.
Zhong Bufan realized they had lost a step to the opposing faction in this confrontation. He fiddled with the two arrows irritably, his expression slightly gloomy.
Lin Qing’s expression didn’t change at all. He wasn’t even affected by Zhong Bufan and Yu Zhengqing’s doubts, simply saying, “This has nothing to do with Yan Wei.”
Zhong Bufan muttered, “You’re quite protective.” He usually wanted to ask Lin Qing about v whenever he saw him, but now was clearly not the time, so he unusually refrained from saying more.
Lin Qing sat down, quietly waiting for Yan Wei to return. Yu Zhengqing sat on the other side, staring at Lin Qing, clearly worried that Lin Qing might be problematic.
Arguing further about this was pointless. The three of them each had their own thoughts, sitting in silence.
Under the endless monument.
It was already night in the Tower World. Stars hung high in the sky, and the black monument pierced the night, blending into the dark sky. Only the surrounding projections were exceptionally bright.
In the projections, the instance was in daytime, and most of the views were filled with white snow, dazzlingly bright.
The entire Tower World was focused on this instance, and the players outside the instance had a clear understanding of the current developments. They could see the situation of Yan Wei’s faction as well as the progress of the other faction.
“The Guanyin Academy faction isn’t looking good… Lin Qing represents the high-floor players of Blackbird who entered. The five people from Blackbird basically make up half of the Guanyin Academy faction. With that mysterious player’s move, the Guanyin Academy faction is completely split.”
“Who is that mysterious player in the Shen Mansion faction? This move is quite cunning.”
“What’s going on with this top-floor instance? The internal strife is too severe. The instance pressuring the players is one thing, but the players are also fighting among themselves.”
A player who had been in the Tower World for many years said, “The last time a top-floor instance opened, it was like this too. But back then, it was because v took people in. His goal was the Tower itself, directly challenging the Tower’s authority. It’s very likely that the Tower assigned an instance with internal strife to stop v. I didn’t expect it to be the same this time…”
Xue Wan chuckled and glanced at Xiang Ying. “Yan Wei is already overwhelmed. It’s hard to say if he’ll survive the next task. You seem to have lost the bet.”
Xiang Ying showed no sign of tension.
He twisted the Buddhist prayer beads in his hand and said, “It’s still early. Kid, don’t be impatient.”
Not only was he not like the others, who were pessimistic about Yan Wei’s faction, but the more he watched, the more certain he became of his judgment.
Others were blinded by their assumption that v was unlikely to appear again, so they naturally wouldn’t think of Yan Wei in that way. But with this perspective, whether it was Lin Qing’s reaction or Song Cheng’an’s attitude from start to finish, it was clear that these two players, who were known to have interacted with v, treated Yan Wei completely differently.
Even though they seemed to interact with Yan Wei normally, their words and actions always revolved around him. Song Cheng’an was experienced and strong, and he was always aloof with others, but in front of Yan Wei, he acted like an ordinary player. Lin Qing, who managed Blackbird, always had a commanding presence, but in front of Yan Wei, he often used a tone of inquiry and seeking opinions.
Who else could it be but the one who had dared to openly challenge the impossible—v?
This attempt to sow discord seemed simple but was flawless. However, since it was that person, Xiang Ying blindly believed that he could resolve it.
He sighed.
Xue Wan raised an eyebrow and smiled. “What, do you regret betting?”
Xiang Ying murmured, “…I do regret it.”
He regretted not being decisive enough when he left the instance, not choosing to enter this top-floor instance.
He regretted missing the chance to chase the end with this person, now only able to watch from the sidelines, focusing on the confrontation between Yan Wei and the Tower while others were concerned with the factional battles.
On the other side, Yan Wei had noticed something was off with Song Cheng’an and the others earlier. Although he had taken Song Cheng’an aside, his Perception had been silently covering the Guanyin Academy area, keeping an eye on Lin Qing’s situation. The combined Perception of Lin Qing, Zhong Bufan, and Yu Zhengqing might not match his, so no one had noticed.
Sure enough, something had happened over there.
Yan Wei trusted Lin Qing’s abilities and didn’t show it, but he paid attention to the commotion while seemingly walking away with Song Cheng’an.
They stopped on a secluded path, and Song Cheng’an said in a low voice, “That wooden plaque you mentioned—we’ve roughly found out about it. It wasn’t hard to investigate; a simple inquiry was enough.”
Yan Wei took out the wooden plaque. “Can you confirm if this is the Hibiscus plaque?”
Song Cheng’an lowered his head. He usually waited for others to hand things to him, but this time he instinctively reached out with both hands, palms up, and respectfully took the plaque from Yan Wei.
He examined it carefully and said, “Yes, that’s it. This plaque isn’t hard to trace. It’s from a… cough, a brothel in Guanyin Town called Wanhua Lou. The women there are named after flowers, and if they have regular customers, they sometimes give out these plaques carved with their flower names, so the customers can return easily.”
Yan Wei wasn’t surprised.
The information he had gathered over the past few days about the deceased indeed had some connections to brothels.
The troublesome evil spirit was also a female ghost…
Could it be that the dark seawater and these rising corpses were related to Wanhua Lou?
“So, this is the plaque of a woman named Hibiscus?”
“Yes, we might need to go to Wanhua Lou to continue investigating. But before that, sorry…” Song Cheng’an returned the plaque to Yan Wei and frowned. “The reason I needed to speak to you alone is that I was afraid this information might be stolen by the opposing faction. I’m not doubting you, but just to be safe…”
He worried that Yan Wei might misunderstand and quickly explained what had happened with Yu Zhengqing’s ambush.
“Zhong Bufan and I got there quickly, so the Items weren’t stolen, but the arrows left behind were identical to Lin Qing’s. So, when we go back later, we’ll need to figure out a way to resolve this.”
Yan Wei understood why Zhong Bufan and Yu Zhengqing had looked so odd earlier.
He said, “It couldn’t have been Lin Qing.”
“I know, the possibility is very low. Zhong Bufan knows it too. But after this, none of us can fully trust each other. And the person who ambushed him had skills identical to Lin Qing’s…”
Yan Wei simply smiled.
He examined the Hibiscus plaque and briefly mentioned Lin Qing’s recent tasks and experiences.
“On his way here, Lin Qing also encountered a player who had switched two skills. He didn’t see their face. That person had been fighting Lin Qing along the way, so it would be easy for them to roughly know what Lin Qing’s Items looked like and to grab a few of his arrows. As for the identical style and skills…”
Yan Wei’s eyes curved, bright and clear. He said, “I do know someone with a skill like that, someone who can briefly imitate others they’ve seen. They reached the 90th floor very early, much earlier than Yu Zhengqing… No wonder. I wondered who could fight Lin Qing for so long without revealing themselves and had the decisiveness to abandon the task of killing Mr. Bai to kill the mage before Lin Qing and the others arrived. So that’s who it is.”
Song Cheng’an’s worries completely dissipated.
He trusted Yan Wei completely, and since Yan Wei could mention such a person, it only meant that their knowledge was too limited, and they didn’t know about this high-floor player who could imitate others’ skills. Someone who reached the 90th floor earlier than Yu Zhengqing… There were indeed very few they knew.
It seemed that Lin Qing’s situation was just a scheme by the opposing faction to sow discord. It seemed simple and easy to figure out, but it was effective. Even if they could guess it might be a plot, there was nothing they could do about it.
Song Cheng’an quickly grew concerned about something else. “Yu Zhengqing and Zhong Bufan… Without concrete evidence, they might not be able to completely dispel their doubts.”
“Then let them see that person with their own eyes and know that the skill to imitate others exists.”
Song Cheng’an was stunned.
“That person’s actions are quite obvious. He first took on a task opposite to Lin Qing’s, and after Lin Qing returned, he impersonated Lin Qing to ambush Yu Zhengqing, affecting our trust. The reason he imitated Lin Qing is that he hadn’t seen many players from the opposing faction these past few days, and Lin Qing was the one he was most familiar with. This instance doesn’t disclose the players’ information, so he didn’t know that Lin Zhen was also in this instance.”
“In other words, the opposing faction would think that there are only two players in this instance who use identical black bows—one is Lin Qing, who is naturally skilled with bows, and the other is their player who can imitate Lin Qing.”
Song Cheng’an’s eyes lit up. “But in reality, there are three. They just don’t know this information.”
So, if the opposing faction encountered attacks from two players using black bows in succession, what would they think?
They didn’t know about Lin Zhen. When they saw the first one, they would think of Lin Qing. When they saw the second one, who would they think of? Would they also think it was the player who could imitate Lin Qing’s skills, using Lin Qing’s guise to attack them? Would they suspect that player was a spy?
Yan Wei raised an eyebrow. “Returning their own trick back to them.”
The opposing faction used an easily discernible scheme to sow discord and make them doubt Lin Qing. They could also use this to turn the tables.
“Yu Zhengqing and Lin Qiao have been surface-level friends for so long, so he must know a bit about her skills, right? I’ll have Lin Qing and Lin Zhen join you later, and you can bring Yu Zhengqing and Zhong Bufan along. I’ll leave this matter to you. Have Yu Zhengqing figure out a way to find Lin Qiao’s teleportation points, at least find the whereabouts of one player from the opposing faction,” Yan Wei said slowly. “There’s no need to do much. Zhong Bufan can plan Lin Qing and Lin Zhen’s routes. Have Lin Qing attack that player first, exchange a few blows, and after the player escapes, have Lin Zhen block them. It’s best if you can seize an Item, but if not, it’s fine. Just make sure they’ve been attacked by Lin Qing and Lin Zhen.”
Song Cheng’an quickly agreed.
“What about you…?”
Yan Wei tossed the Hibiscus plaque and suddenly sensed Yan Mingguang nearby.
He said, “I’ve sent a message to Lin Qing. You take them to handle this matter. I’ll go to Wanhua Lou to investigate the female ghost.”
