A bullet hole appeared in Lu Qingzhou’s temple, and blood slowly oozed out from it.
There was no sign of life left in his body, and everyone present could clearly sense this with their abilities.
Lu Qingjia’s expression was somewhat surprised, not because Lu Qingzhou had died so easily, but because he had not expected him to pull the trigger so decisively.
However, after the initial shock, Lu Qingjia’s face showed no further emotion.
There was no sense of triumphant vengeance, nor the melancholy that might follow a sigh of relief. It was as if the game was not yet over, and the other party had merely performed a minor act of daring as a punishment, waiting quietly for the next round.
In contrast, the three players on the Trickster’s side showed expressions of shock, at a loss after Lu Qingzhou’s death.
However, they did not display any signs of despair or ruthlessness.
Sure enough, after a moment, the wound on the Trickster’s temple began to heal, the blood receded, and it visibly returned to its original state.
The bullet was pushed out and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
The Trickster slowly opened his eyes and sat up from Lu Ji’s embrace.
There was no confusion in his eyes; they quickly focused, and he looked at Lu Qingjia with a smile: “I’m a bit afraid of pain. A bullet through the brain can make me die instantly without any pain. The process was too fast, so I might not have satisfied your desire to see me suffer in agony. My apologies.”
As he spoke, he touched his temple again: “But the sensation of the wound healing is a bit swollen and itchy. I don’t like it either. I’ll have to turn off the feeling next time.”
No one was surprised by his resurrection.
The Administrator was such a terrifying existence. To some extent, death had lost its meaning for them.
Otherwise, how could the Musician choose to explode into countless fragments and escape amidst the spiritual power scattered by the explosion in the cultivation world while evading Lu Qingzhou’s pursuit?
Therefore, a mere gunshot wound through the head was no different from a scratch from a fruit knife for them.
The other party’s body had indeed experienced a state of death, which did not violate the rules of Truth or Dare. It was just that they could come back to life.
Lu Qingzhou asked Lu Qingjia, “Are you satisfied?”
Lu Qingjia curled the corner of his lips: “As a preview, it’s a bit lacking. But it’s enough. I prefer the surprise when the main story exceeds expectations.”
Lu Qingzhou, as if completely unbothered by the murderous intent, said with some anticipation, “Is it my turn again?”
“My question is—”
Before he could finish, Lu Qingjia interrupted, “Wait!”
Lu Qingzhou smiled tolerantly, “What? Afraid I’ll ask a difficult question?”
“Not really,” Lu Qingjia said, “but I’m not so engrossed in the game that I don’t care about the surroundings.”
“I think you need a short break.”
Lu Qingzhou showed a surprised expression, “Really? Why?”
“Because you have something to deal with.”
As soon as Lu Qingjia finished speaking, Lu Qingzhou’s expression changed slightly.
Lu Qingjia smiled, “Seems like you noticed it too.”
He stood up, and a gap appeared in the circular sofa for him to pass through.
Lu Qingjia went to the open kitchen and took out a tray of freshly baked butter cookies from the oven.
In fact, this batch of cookies had been baking from the beginning. When everyone entered the room, they could smell the buttery aroma.
Mixed with the scent of tea and fruit in the room, the entire hall had the warm, festive atmosphere of a family gathering during the holidays.
Lu Qingjia poured a few cups of freshly ground coffee and brought the tray of butter cookies to the coffee table.
He picked up a piece and took a bite. The crispy texture and the rich, buttery aroma of the freshly baked cookies were very satisfying.
Especially while watching Lu Qingzhou’s somewhat tense expression.
Lu Qingjia picked up one of the coffee cups and raised it towards the others, “Help yourselves?”
At this moment, who had the mind to enjoy the food?
In contrast, Lu Ji, who had been like a robot all along, silently picked up a cup of coffee and a cookie, slowly eating it.
Lu Qingjia looked at him in surprise for a while, then couldn’t help but reach out and wipe a small crumb from the corner of Lu Ji’s mouth.
This action made Lu Ji’s body pause. He turned to look at Lu Qingjia, but his eyes, devoid of emotion and like glass beads, remained unchanged.
However, after a moment, Lu Ji also reached out and smoothed Lu Qingjia’s slightly overgrown hair.
Lu Qingjia’s pupils contracted—
He had the ability to control the length of his hair, an ability that seemed plain compared to other flashy powers. But since hair was part of the body, it was the most direct reflection of Lu Qingjia’s strength.
The stronger Lu Qingjia was, the more indestructible his hair became.
These past few days, he hadn’t participated in the ranking matches, staying in this area instead. Although he didn’t provoke others, there were always those who wanted to make him their trophy.
All of them had been dealt with by Lu Qingjia. Just a few minutes before Zhong Liyu and the others entered the game, Lu Qingjia had finished dealing with one of them.
This had caused a slight deviation in the length of his hair.
At this moment, Lu Qingjia’s hair was longer than usual, and Old Uncle was particularly concerned about his clean appearance and neat image.
When Lu Qingjia was first brought home by Old Uncle, he had grown up with unreliable parents. Even though he had learned how to use his cute appearance to win the sympathy of the women around him, ensuring he wasn’t starved by his forgetful parents.
But after all, he had lived in a chaotic neighborhood, where there was no sense of dignity.
The first thing Old Uncle did after bringing him home was to teach him to always maintain personal cleanliness, keep his hair neat and tidy, showing his face and eyes, and face the world with dignity.
Given Old Uncle’s somewhat old-fashioned personality, his current slightly long and somewhat messy hair would surely be criticized.
Lu Qingjia’s eyes warmed up, and he turned his head away. When he looked back the next second, he had regained his composure.
Meanwhile, Lu Qingzhou had also picked up a cup of coffee, as if his troubles had been resolved.
He looked at Lu Ji and Lu Qingjia, uncle and nephew, and smiled, “If it weren’t for these unnecessary people, this would be a perfect afternoon, right?”
A family of three, a room not too large but filled with warmth, freshly brewed coffee, and sweet pastries still emitting a rich aroma.
Lu Qingjia had already adapted to the other’s way of thinking and didn’t mind.
He just smiled, “The unnecessary people in your heart are definitely different from those in mine.”
He then asked, “So? Is the problem solved?”
“As expected of an Administrator, even in another dimension, you can still control everything.”
Lu Qingzhou showed a surprised expression, “Why such a sigh? Isn’t everything you prepared based on the certainty that I could intervene?”
“Even if you weren’t sure, Mr. Zhong and the Lucky One would have told you what an Administrator is capable of, right?”
After saying this, he curiously asked, “But I am indeed curious how you got the coordinates of my real world.”
“Honestly, I was really startled just now. After all, during the last question, you had only guessed the outline of my past.”
Although it seemed like a lot of information, such as the decline of the family and the betrayal of parents and relatives, without the real-world coordinates, it was meaningless.
During the last question, he was still asking about the coordinates, and not long after, he received a warning that his world was almost invaded. Even though Lu Qingzhou had never underestimated Lu Qingjia, he was still amazed by his cunning.
Lu Qingjia said, “What’s so strange about that? Although I kept mentioning the God Envoy, trying to make you think that I was always probing your past through his means.”
“But for the real-world coordinates, I didn’t necessarily need his guidance, right?”
As he spoke, Lu Qingjia’s gaze fell on Lu Ji.
Lu Qingzhou smiled knowingly, “So, making me die just now wasn’t for venting anger? It was just to free up a little time.”
“So that Mr. Zhong or the Lucky One could probe enough information from Ah Ji’s mind.”
Ouyang Bai raised his hand, “I did it, and I feel like I’ve suffered a lot of damage. I need compensation.”
His hand was slapped down by Zhong Liyu.
Ouyang Bai was instantly furious, “Is the reason you wanted to play rock-paper-scissors with me because you expected there would be a lot of inappropriate content?”
Zhong Liyu said matter-of-factly, “Of course, I don’t want to see anyone’s naked body except Jiajia.”
Although Lu Ji was now a walking corpse, since he could normally pass levels and even become a quasi-Administrator level player, in terms of physical functions, he was no different from a living person.
His brain must have memories, otherwise, how could he cultivate and become stronger? Relying solely on muscle memory could not take him this far.
It’s just that, like a computer, he had no soul or emotions.
But the worlds he had experienced, the daily life he had lived, these memories were all stored in his brain.
Although the God Envoy was the key to finding the Trickster’s real world, Lu Qingzhou himself was also likely to have returned to the real world.
Moreover, given the inseparable state of Lu Qingzhou and Lu Ji, Lu Ji was also likely to have been there.
Therefore, as long as Lu Ji’s memories were searched and the worlds he had experienced were classified by level, the highest level would inevitably be the real world. Although the screening would take time, the result would be precise.
Thus, the Trickster shooting himself and the brief moment of death was the opportunity to search Lu Ji’s memories.
Apart from the Trickster, the other three players, although they were among the top of the advanced players, would never see through the two Administrators’ tricks.
Lu Ji himself might have the ability to resist, but he was not attacked, the Trickster’s death briefly disconnected him, and Ouyang Bai’s actions were fast enough.
So before he could decide on any reaction, the matter was already over.
Lu Qingzhou didn’t mind. He looked at Lu Qingjia, as if he liked him more and more.
He smiled, “How did you contact the Musician?”
The person who had just obtained the coordinates and intended to invade Lu Qingzhou’s real world was none other than the Musician, who had already killed the fake Trickster in Infinite City and regained his seat as an Administrator.
Lu Qingzhou said, “If it were just a matter of exchange student matches with extreme players, you couldn’t have refined it to this extent. After all, the clues you had at that time were only enough for you to deduce that we might meet here.”
“To be precise to this extent, at least you had to return to the world where I met your uncle, learned that his body had been taken away by me, and had this information.”
Lu Qingjia smiled, “Of course, before you entered the competition, I bribed two Infinite Game players.”
“As long as the benefits were enough, they agreed to withdraw from the competition early.”
The players in Infinite City were different from the horror players. Horror players lived in reality, and the game, for the sake of concealment, ensured that no matter how long the players spent in the instance, they would return to reality two seconds later.
But Infinite City itself was a huge prison that couldn’t be escaped, so this setting was meaningless.
Therefore, the time spent by Infinite City players in instances was generally synchronized with the time in Infinite City.
Of course, a few instances would be compressed, such as those with long cycles, spanning several months or more, such as those related to cultivation, which would definitely be different.
But for a competition that lasted only a week, there was no need for compression.
So if it were as Lu Qingjia said, that he bribed two players to withdraw midway, then they would have passed by the Trickster’s group and could serve as a bridge for him to communicate with the Musician.
However, this premise was that the Musician had indeed succeeded in taking his position.
Yet, after hearing his answer, Lu Qingzhou didn’t hesitate to say, “Liar!”
“In this world, although there are many items that can communicate across worlds, with your cautious and cunning nature, you would never take such a risk in front of me.”
“But at the same time, coordinates are such precise data, requiring detailed communication.”
Lu Qingzhou’s gaze swept over Zhong Liyu and finally landed on Ouyang Bai, “It’s the Lucky One’s ability, right?”
“But this also has a premise, that the Musician must have become an Administrator again.”
The Administrators of the three major games, even if they didn’t participate in the competition, could still peek into the competition at any time. Because supervision was also one of the duties of the Administrators.
Ordinary players couldn’t escape the eyes of the Administrators, but participating Administrators could block the peeking.
Here, the Administrators didn’t just have the strength of Administrators, but were truly seated in the Administrator’s position, able to exercise various rights and obligations.
Although the real Trickster was Lu Qingzhou, the fake one was the one who always appeared in public and performed various duties.
By overthrowing the fake one, according to the rules, the Musician would have regained his seat.
However, at this moment, Lu Qingzhou was in the game, and the Administrator wouldn’t lose his seat for no reason, so his current position was very special.
That is to say, at least at this time, there was an extra Administrator in the Infinite Game. After the competition was over, either one would die, or the two would fight it out.
Then, coming back, after the Musician became an Administrator, he could peek into the competition.
Lu Qingzhou would definitely block his surroundings. If it were just Lu Qingjia, he would also be covered by his blocking range.
But he had Zhong Liyu and Ouyang Bai, two Administrators, and Ouyang Bai’s ability ‘Peeking at Heaven’s Secrets’ was so powerful that he could directly see the current situation in Infinite City.
As long as Ouyang Bai and the Musician cooperated, then passing on a small coordinate would be a piece of cake.
Lu Qingzhou said, “Rumors say that the Lucky One is favored by heaven. I hadn’t experienced it before, but it’s truly well-deserved.”
At this point, Lu Qingjia smiled, “Since you guessed that Ouyang Bai could connect us to the outside world in real-time, you should have expected that you’d be in trouble again.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the three players on the Trickster’s side were furious, “Hey! Are you done yet?”
“Playing tricks non-stop, is it fun? Have the guts to face us directly.”
Zhong Liyu said, “Did I hear correctly? The Trickster’s lackeys are telling people not to play tricks?”
The Trickster was known for his cunning in the three major games. Saying such a thing was like admitting defeat on behalf of the boss.
The faces of the three turned green.
Then they turned back and saw blood slowly dripping from the corner of the Trickster’s mouth.
His already pale face became even more transparent, his lips pale, in stark contrast to the color of the blood.
Even beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, something that hadn’t happened even when he shot himself earlier to temporarily die.
It was clear that Lu Qingzhou was now seriously weakened.
The three exclaimed, “Boss.”
They then instantly drew their weapons and attacked Lu Qingjia, “You sneak attacked.”
However, before the gun could reach Lu Qingjia, it was caught by a hand and easily snapped.
This should have been the player’s life-bound treasure, overflowing with spiritual energy and imbued with a thick killing intent, but in Zhong Liyu’s hands, it was like cheap plastic.
The moment the gun was snapped, the player spat out a mouthful of blood, then was thrown aside by Zhong Liyu along with the gun barrel, losing most of his life.
Zhong Liyu said coldly, “Don’t humiliate yourselves. Not fighting openly is us accommodating your weakness, understand?”
The other two players were furious and wanted to fight him.
But a pale hand reached out and stopped their impulse.
Lu Qingzhou looked up and gave Lu Qingjia a weak smile, “Well done.”
“I knew that idiot would eventually drag me down, although his existence is insignificant.”
The God Envoy was dead.
And it was Lu Qingzhou himself who killed him.
The rule of Infinite City was that Administrators could not kill their own weaknesses in any way.
This rule was so absurd, but it had to be followed.
Lu Qingzhou naturally wouldn’t let the God Envoy die, and had to ensure his safety.
He wished for him to die in an accident, but he couldn’t have any arrangements or thoughts of his own, so the Trickster used resources to pile him up, indulging his arrogant and foolish behavior, hoping he would kill himself.
This way, it wouldn’t be his responsibility.
However, such people, who were possible breakthroughs for Administrators, seemed to have a particularly strong life force. The God Envoy had actually never been stabbed in the head.
Even when Lu Qingzhou had deliberately sent him to Lu Qingjia, he hadn’t been killed.
If Lu Qingjia had killed the God Envoy out of anger at that time, then now he wouldn’t have the opportunity to use that guy to stab Lu Qingzhou.
Lu Qingzhou had to marvel at the drama of it all. He had calculated everything, but it seemed his luck wasn’t very good.
Lu Qingjia had designed for him to choose death, used the gap to get the coordinates from Ah Ji, and sent the coordinates to the Musician.
The Musician had a deep-seated hatred for him and naturally couldn’t wait to invade his real world to find his weakness.
Thus, Lu Qingzhou had to temporarily close the passage to his real world.
He was an Administrator, and the real world from which the Administrator originated was defaulted to be under his jurisdiction. As the highest-level world, as long as the barrier was closed, even other Administrators couldn’t invade.
However, this was only temporary. The passage to the real world couldn’t be closed for long, as it was still necessary to screen players. But it was enough to buy time for him to return to Infinite City and deal with the Musician.
But it turned out that none of this was Lu Qingjia’s goal.
He didn’t expect the Musician to successfully invade, otherwise he wouldn’t have spoken up to remind him.
What he wanted was for Lu Qingzhou to close the passage, and at that precise moment, have someone incite the God Envoy to use an item to temporarily return to the real world.
After all, the God Envoy was an idiot, and the Trickster’s forces were crumbling. Given his cowardice and stupidity, it was easy to hook him.
But just as he returned to the real world, the passage was closed, and he died in the space between.
To control the timing so precisely, naturally, someone needed to be in constant contact with Infinite City for Lu Qingjia to issue orders.
Therefore, Lu Qingjia’s statement, “Since you guessed that Ouyang Bai has this ability, you should have expected to be in trouble again,” meant this.
Lu Qingjia looked at Lu Qingzhou’s somewhat disheveled appearance and finally showed a satisfied smile.
He said, “What’s the matter? It’s common sense to be prepared for any possible crisis, isn’t it?”
“Your current performance doesn’t match your reputation.”
The backlash of the rules was severe. If Zhong Liyu and the others were to act now, Lu Qingzhou might really die.
But he steadied his breathing, and when he looked up, he had mostly recovered.
He looked at Lu Qingjia, still with that tolerant smile on his face—
“Silly child, the Celestial Bloodline was originally prepared for you.”
This sentence, seemingly out of nowhere and nonsensical, made Zhong Liyu’s expression change.
But it was too late, Lu Qingjia’s skin cracked inch by inch, and countless streams of blood spilled out.
Author’s note:
After reading the comments from the past two days, I’ll say a few words.
First, regarding the redemption of villains? Why do some people think that liking a villain means wanting to redeem them? Take, for example, the scumbag boss and Dio that I’ve been obsessed with recently. Liking them and wanting to see them die are not mutually exclusive.
Second, it’s understandable to dislike the Trickster, but there’s no need to stand on a moral high ground and mock those who like him. When I created this character, I didn’t do so with malice. This character has given me a lot of inspiration. Express your own opinions, but please refrain from being overly critical in others’ discussions.
Third, threatening to leave negative reviews is unnecessary. A Yin is not an author who just lies down and takes the insults.
