The cloak was of excellent quality, and it was likely an item.
Although the other party wasn’t wearing a mask or any other covering, once the cloak’s hood was pulled up, Lu Qingjia couldn’t make out their face—even with his ability to see through objects.
Fortunately, the cloak’s defensive capabilities were average, or at least not strong enough to withstand the destruction of an Advanced Player.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, and with Lu Qingjia having anticipated some level of toughness, he used his spiritual power to tear it apart.
The cloak immediately split into pieces, and the smooth black fabric scattered to the ground.
The other party stood while Lu Qingjia sat on the sofa, forcing him to look up to see their true face.
As the large black fabric fell out of sight, Lu Qingjia’s pupils constricted sharply.
Although he had expected it, when it truly appeared before him, he couldn’t suppress his intense reaction. His hand still clutched a fragment of the cloak, but his fingers had turned white and were trembling slightly.
It was the same face, bearing a resemblance to his own, someone who should have been all too familiar. Yet now, Lu Qingjia felt an overwhelming sense of strangeness.
The familiarity was even less than when he had discovered that corpse in the Mountain God Village.
Yet Lu Qingjia knew that this unfamiliar person was his Old Uncle.
Having lost his covering, the man stared directly at Lu Qingjia, the one responsible for his current state.
His eyes were dark. In the past, they had always been filled with helplessness and overflowing warmth when looking at Lu Qingjia. But now, they were like two lifeless glass beads, and Lu Qingjia couldn’t even see his own reflection in them.
His expression was blank, but not tense, indicating that this wasn’t an emotional outburst but rather that he was like a walking corpse.
It was only then that Lu Qingjia realized for the first time that his Old Uncle’s appearance was of a cold and aloof type, and in terms of looks, he was even more aggressive than Lu Qingjia himself.
However, this man’s heart was too soft, and his brows and eyes always exuded a sense of tolerance, making everyone, including Lu Qingjia, unconsciously overlook this fact.
Now, uncle and nephew faced each other across a distance of less than a meter. Despite being family who had relied on each other for survival, after years of separation and life-and-death struggles, their reunion held no trace of warmth.
The bottle of filthy water in Lu Qingjia’s heart seemed to be catalyzed, the source stimulated, continuously overflowing with thick ink, almost spilling from his dark eyes.
He took a deep look at his unfamiliar Old Uncle, then turned his gaze to the Trickster. The tangible killing intent emanating from him almost made the three behind the Trickster draw their weapons.
But the Trickster remained calm, as if scolding a child for prematurely unwrapping an unfinished gift—
“You already guessed it, so why bother with this extra step?” He reached out and took the tea Lu Ji poured for him.
Looking at Lu Qingjia with a hint of helplessness, he said, “If possible, I wouldn’t want you to see this either. After all, it’s not easy for family.”
“When you speculate about me, you’re too biased, thinking every move I make is malicious, but that’s not the case.”
The Trickster put down the teacup, producing a crisp sound, and said, “I had him wear the hood to give your emotions some buffer.”
Lu Qingjia’s expression was unreadable, but Zhong Liyu and Ouyang Bai’s brows were tightly furrowed.
Honestly, even as outsiders, they were almost nauseated by the Trickster’s demeanor.
What was this? Was this guy really standing on a senior’s pedestal, lecturing Lu Qingjia while he was angry and grieving? Adding salt to his wounds?
It was as if he was saying, “See, what good does it do you to keep talking to yourself?”
Zhong Liyu and Ouyang Bai exchanged glances, feeling the urge to strike first.
No matter what backup plans the Trickster had, if the two of them attacked together, they could at least secure Lu Ji’s body.
Even if Lu Qingzhou managed to survive this time, without the leverage that mattered most to Lu Qingjia, there would be plenty of time and opportunities to deal with him later.
However, Zhong Liyu glanced down at Lu Qingjia and dismissed the idea.
Because he could clearly see that Jiajia couldn’t wait any longer.
He was stubborn and decisive. Once he made up his mind, anyone who stood in his way would become his enemy.
But his heart was far from calm. Could he remain composed while being provoked? Was this really the right time for revenge?
Zhong Liyu wasn’t sure, and he felt uneasy.
Lu Qingjia remained silent for a long time, until Lu Ji returned to the Trickster’s side, standing motionless like a statue.
Honestly, the fact that he didn’t lash out immediately already impressed everyone with his strong endurance and deep thoughts.
Lu Qingjia’s first words were directed at the Trickster: “This didn’t happen recently, did it?”
Lu Ji’s strength far surpassed what it had been when he died as an intermediate-level player—easily surpassing the level of a novice Advanced Player. Lu Qingjia was now considered a top-tier player, but he couldn’t gauge Lu Ji’s true depth.
It was Zhong Liyu who had made the judgment earlier. When the Trickster’s group first appeared, he had used a mental connection to inform Lu Qingjia about the strength levels of the newcomers.
The Trickster, as an administrator, was naturally beyond question. The other three were also top-tier Advanced Players, each stronger than Lu Qingjia, while the black-robed figure was at the quasi-administrator level.
What was a quasi-administrator? Someone whose strength was slightly below that of an administrator, or equal to an administrator but lacking a bit of luck or opportunity. Occasionally, there might even be one or two who surpassed regular administrators but didn’t hold the position for various reasons.
If judged solely on individual strength, treating a quasi-administrator as an administrator was basically correct.
Take the most recent example: among the administrators of the Horror Game, the most high-profile was the Mermaid. Her brother was also a quasi-administrator-level player.
In terms of combat strength alone, Zhong Liyu believed he even surpassed the Two-Headed Snake. But since two seats among the administrators already belonged to their faction, the Mermaid’s brother would never become an administrator—
Unless his sister and brother-in-law died.
In other words, quasi-administrator-level players were also a height that most people would never reach, requiring long-term accumulation and opportunities.
Lu Qingzhou had only stolen Lu Ji’s ashes a few months ago. In such a short time, even with frequent participation in the game and intense leveling up, it might not be difficult to rise from an intermediate-level player to an Advanced Player. But a quasi-administrator? Let’s be clear, quasi-administrators aren’t mass-produced cheap goods. They can’t be created just by piling up resources, can they?
If that were the case, the Emperor would have long since created his own quasi-administrator army and rebelled against the game. Why would he need to compromise?
The only possibility was that the Trickster had taken Lu Ji’s body after his death in the instance, reviving him and turning him into his personal puppet, advancing through the game together. The recent theft of the ashes was just to complete the process.
Sure enough, Lu Qingzhou nodded in response, placing his hand on Lu Ji’s arm.
Lu Ji was now dressed in black combat gear, his figure tall and robust, perfectly proportioned. Even through the fabric covering his arms, one could see the explosive power in every muscle.
Lu Qingzhou’s fingers were long and slender, his skin pale and almost translucent, indicating that he wasn’t a strength-type player. His wrists appeared slimmer than those of an average man, and his hands looked like fragile glass art.
The contrast between his hand and Lu Ji’s arm was striking.
Lu Qingzhou’s fingers slowly traced down Lu Ji’s arm, and even such a simple action carried an ambiguous intimacy.
He said, “He lost half his body and his soul. No matter how hard I tried, he quickly hit a bottleneck.”
“But fortunately, although he couldn’t break through in recent years, the continuous consolidation of his strength became the foundation for his current leap.”
“You see, in just a few months, he’s already been able to break through the barrier and reach his due strength.”
Lu Qingjia smiled, his gaze sharp: “Without you, he would have reached his due level long ago.”
Lu Qingzhou also smiled: “There’s no point in saying that.”
“From the moment I met you, I knew we were the same type of people.”
“Certainly, from your perspective, my actions are utterly heinous, and it’s natural for you to want to grind my bones to ash.”
“But ask yourself this: if fulfilling your own desires required harming others, and these people weren’t completely insignificant, would you stop?”
Lu Qingzhou paused, staring at Lu Qingjia’s unreadable expression, and stated with certainty, “You wouldn’t, would you?”
“We’re both the type to put our own interests first. Once we weigh the gains and losses, we won’t be swayed by anything.”
“I’ve never considered such strong determination to be a bad thing.”
He glanced at Zhong Liyu: “Take Mr. Zhong’s situation, for example. Although the process was harsh, the result was good, wasn’t it?”
“Rather than being paralyzed by temporary guilt, it’s better to climb to greater heights. Once there, you’ll find that many outcomes can be handled with ease.”
Zhong Liyu laughed upon hearing this: “Are you saying that even if you’ve caused so much pain, as long as the result is somewhat positive, the harm done along the way doesn’t matter?”
“How shameless can you be?”
Lu Qingzhou looked at him in confusion: “Mr. Zhong, your tone suggests that not only do you harbor no resentment toward Jiajia for sending your father to prison, but you’re actually applauding it?”
“Exactly!”
“…”
Even Lu Qingzhou, who had seen his share of storms and was a bit of a lunatic himself, was left speechless by Zhong Liyu’s response.
As for the three players behind him, their expressions conveyed a single thought—
Being an administrator is not a role for normal people, because they’ve already lost at the starting line.
Zhong Liyu sneered, “Don’t flatter yourself by comparing yourself to Jiajia.”
“You might share some similarities in behavior, but Jiajia would never involve the innocent. His nature has changed; he’s a gentle person.”
“You’re different. You’d cut everyone to pieces just to maintain your fake ideal world.”
Back then, when Lu Qingjia exposed Father Zhong’s identity, revealed the nature of the Zhong family’s business, and even turned over evidence of Father Zhong’s crimes while being cornered by Zhong Liyu, Zhong Liyu had been shocked but didn’t stop him.
Moreover, given the Zhong family’s influence, the local police couldn’t have done anything to them. Without Zhong Liyu’s own intervention, the Zhong family wouldn’t have fallen. There wouldn’t have been a prison football star or the world’s most handsome prisoner.
Father Zhong’s aggressiveness and the crisis that led to his downfall were also factors, but when Zhong Liyu later reviewed the situation, he realized that even before he exposed Lu Qingjia’s ulterior motives for getting close to him, Lu Qingjia had already gathered evidence and prepared to send Father Zhong to prison.
In fact, Zhong Liyu could clearly see from the clues that Lu Qingjia had agonized over how to persuade him.
His closeness with Madam An, as revealed in later inquiries, showed that he had already gauged her stance.
Because Lu Qingjia had gleaned a significant portion of the game’s rules from Zhong Liyu, one of which was, “Do not use the game’s conveniences to commit crimes, endanger public safety, or disrupt social order.”
This was a serious offense. Those who violated it would become Villainous Players or Gold-digging Players, targeted by Hunter Players. Even if they were strong enough to survive for a while, from the moment they became Villainous Players, the path to the top would be closed to them.
Just as there were no precedents of Villainous Players becoming administrators.
To become an administrator in the game, one must have a fatal and obvious weakness controlled by the game. Did that mean players of the Horror Game could do as they pleased?
Players of the Horror Game who became administrators must have a stronger sense of responsibility for maintaining the reality and the instances.
What was Father Zhong’s daily life like as a Southeast Asian crime boss? What was his future?
His daily activities were crimes and disrupting the real world’s order. Before Zhong Liyu returned home, he had no connection to the family business and hadn’t been involved in it at all.
But what about the future?
If he inherited the family business—or even if he didn’t, if he intervened to protect his family during conflicts or helped his father in any way, any action favoring the family would mark the beginning of his disqualification as a player.
Because his family’s existence was a sin.
Rather than dragging things out until everyone was doomed, Zhong Liyu chose to end it himself.
At least his father and elders faced legal punishment, rather than him being targeted by the game and dying in a mission, leaving the family in chaos without an heir, and allowing enemies to invade. His father couldn’t stay young and strong forever to protect his mother.
And when Villainous Players were punished, the help they had provided would backfire, leading to their families’ tragic fates.
For example, the human trafficker Lu Qingjia had killed in the game. After she died unexpectedly in the real world, her husband and son, who had been her accomplices, were quickly brought to justice.
This was the harsh reality he faced, even though he was already a top-tier player at the time.
Lu Qingjia seemed heartless, causing his family to fall apart, but the consideration and gentleness behind it were something Zhong Liyu understood.
That’s why he had never hated him.
Lu Qingjia looked up at Zhong Liyu, and the bottle of filthy water in his heart suddenly stopped overflowing.
He turned back to Lu Qingzhou and said, “After all this talk, you still haven’t given me an answer.”
“Want to play a game with life as the wager?”
Lu Qingzhou smiled, “Why? Your previous chips aren’t enough to move me.”
“Although you’ve now grasped the idea of how to eliminate me, an idea is just an idea. Killing someone only requires a dagger, but having a weapon doesn’t guarantee success.”
“Moreover, you’ve only found clues about where the weapon is stored. You’re still far from achieving it.”
“As for holding my people hostage, I could say the same to you. Do you really think I’d stand still and let you hit me out of love for you?”
Lu Qingzhou leaned forward and asked Lu Qingjia with a smile, “So, you currently don’t have the chips to make me cooperate.”
Lu Qingjia raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure?”
“If I didn’t have chips, why would you come to me specifically? Why enter this room? Why waste so much time on meaningless talk?”
“Your curiosity about me isn’t deep enough to spend so much time chattering here, is it?”
Lu Qingzhou smiled, “So what if it is? Have you realized your own value? If you don’t know where your value lies, how can you use it as a chip? A chip that can’t be used correctly is no different from having none.”
Lu Qingjia’s smile deepened, “Like using me to find my Old Uncle’s soul?”
Lu Qingzhou’s smile froze for a moment, but it was so brief it was almost imperceptible.
Instead, he admitted openly, “Indeed, if you couldn’t even guess something so obvious, you wouldn’t be sitting before me today.”
But Lu Qingjia wasn’t pleased with the confirmation.
In truth, with an administrator’s abilities, having a complete corpse made resurrection a simple matter.
If it hadn’t succeeded, there were only three possible reasons.
One, Old Uncle had already reincarnated. Two, his soul had dissipated. Three, there was some other, more complicated issue.
Apart from the first, none of these were good news.
Lu Qingjia’s expression darkened, but he quickly regained his composure.
Judging by Lu Qingzhou’s intentions, it seemed there was still some hope.
However—
What he thought of, Zhong Liyu instantly realized as well.
Zhong Liyu’s face darkened as he looked at the Trickster and said only, “You’re full of crap. Don’t even think about it.”
With that, a cold blade appeared in his hand, “Letting you blabber on for so long was a mistake.”
Seeing the blade, the three behind the Trickster became alert and drew their weapons, all of which were top-tier magic items from the highest-level worlds. If a fight broke out, the house would be reduced to ash in an instant.
But the Trickster didn’t even glance at Zhong Liyu, because he knew very well that the one holding the reins from start to finish was Lu Qingjia.
As for Zhong Liyu losing control, Lu Qingjia had ways to rein him in.
So he directly agreed to Lu Qingjia’s request, looking at him and saying, “Alright, let’s play a game. What do you want to play?”
Lu Qingjia replied, “How about Truth or Dare?”
“Just the two of us?” Lu Qingzhou asked.
“Just the two of us, but our companions can participate as our tools.”
“Huh? Hey—” Ouyang Bai was dumbfounded, “Bro, helping is one thing, but this is going too far, isn’t it?”
Lu Qingjia looked at him strangely, “Are you afraid of losing out?”
Ouyang Bai thought for a moment, “Right!”
Unless the Trickster himself participated, others would be even more unlucky.
Lu Qingzhou smiled and nodded to the puppet-like Lu Ji, who then moved to Lu Qingjia’s side.
As Lu Qingjia’s expression grew darker, Lu Qingzhou said, “It’s a bit unfair in terms of numbers. You probably wouldn’t trust the other three, so I’ll lend Ah Ji to you for now.”
