Chapter 228: Frog Hospital (20) Conspiracy

“Our baby, give me back our baby…”

The sharp voice was mixed with gurgling noises, as if the speaker had a mouthful of thick phlegm.

The “tap-tap” of footsteps and the “slish-slash” sound of umbilical cords dragging across the ground grew closer, bringing with them a palpable chill.

Huang Xiaofei understood Qi Si’s actions and pointed at the ladle in his hand with a strange expression: “You call that a Red Frog?”

“Close enough, as long as it works.” Qi Si smiled and raised the dead infant in the ladle toward her, “Human embryos and frogs look quite similar in appearance, don’t they?”

Although he said that, when used to lure Ghosts, a skinned frog and a bloody, messy dead infant evoke completely different feelings.

Even in a instance, where they knew everything was a prop, most people still couldn’t treat the corpses of their own kind and those of other species equally.

The nurturing instinct and conformity etched into their collective genes made them subconsciously cherish the young of their own kind, bury their corpses, and fear their deaths.

Qi Si ignored the players’ strange expressions, half his body already past the iron gate, and said matter-of-factly, “I’ll lure the Ghosts, you cover the rear. Hold them back for fifteen minutes before letting them through. Sound good?”

The capable ones do more work. Among the four people, Huang Xiaofei was the only one capable of fighting, so leaving her to cover the rear was understandable.

The woman nodded, consciously moved to the corner, and a handful of Paper Effigy appeared out of thin air in her hand, which she estimated could hold out for quite a while.

Sun Dekuan and Lu Zimo also stepped over the threshold and entered the thick fog behind the iron gate.

When they first came during the day, they might have worried about the unknown ahead, but after Qi Si fished out the dead infant from the iron barrel and attracted a large group of Pregnant Ghosts, passing through the iron gate and heading to the pond was the only choice left.

Within a few seconds, the leading female Ghost had rounded the corner, her black umbilical cord whipping wildly in the air, and her rotten arms stretching toward the players.

Qi Si seemed to remember something, suddenly turned back to the flat area, walked a few steps to Huang Xiaofei, and handed her a thin stack of paper.

Meeting her confused gaze, he said indifferently, “You can pay attention to the contents on it. Since we have already signed a Contract, any message can be transmitted through paper.”

Over a dozen female Ghosts surged into the flat area, an intense smell of decay mixed with bloodiness overwhelming them, and the clamorous noise, the words indistinguishable, poured into their ears in a viscous, turbulent stream.

Qi Si stopped lingering, turned, and slipped out of the iron gate again, plunging into the layers of white fog.

Lu Zimo walked at the very front, holding a lighter. The dim, flickering flame could not illuminate the dense darkness, serving only as a lonely guiding beacon ahead.

Qi Si and Sun Dekuan felt their way in the dark, stepping on the stairs one by one, and turned the corner of the staircase relying on their memory from the daytime.

In a certain instant, the faint firelight merged with an equally faint white glow. Cold, white moonlight spilled down from above, revealing a silvery-white pond resting quietly ahead.

The night was already deep, the frogs had rested, and in the profound silence, not even the sound of insects could be heard.

Walking closer, they could only see a pool of calm, waveless water. The grayish-blue shadow was bottomless, and they couldn’t see any tadpoles or frogs.

The statue of the Holy Mother sat draped in moonlight on the stone platform in the center of the pond, her lowered gaze falling into the void, not directed at the players.

The female Ghosts were blocked at the entrance by Huang Xiaofei; it wasn’t time for them to arrive yet.

Qi Si held the long-handled spoon containing the dead infant, turned his head to look at the hunched Lu Zimo, and smiled: “Now, tell me about you and Huang Xiaofei.”

Hearing him speak so abruptly, Sun Dekuan let out an “Ah,” barely managing to resist interrupting.

Lu Zimo lowered his head, the expression on his heavily dark-circled face murky: “My demands were already written on the paper, and you expressed your tacit agreement through your actions. No matter what happens next, we can’t turn back now.

“From the start of the instance until now, you must have noticed that I’ve been controlled by her the entire time. Everything is prioritized for her, and if a situation is uncertain, I have to test the waters for her. What you might not know is that after we leave, I have to hand over all the items and points gained from clearing the instance to her for safekeeping…”

Sun Dekuan clapped his hands: “I must say, isn’t that going too far? Even those major guilds don’t operate like this…”

Lu Zimo ignored him and continued: “The past few easy instances were fine. While she took most of the benefits herself, she could still pull me along like charity, giving me some paltry gains. But the instances will only get harder. There will be times when she can’t look out for me, and if we face a life-or-death crisis where only one can survive, she will certainly throw me in without hesitation.

“I’m sick of this life of surviving through her cracks. Maybe she is better suited for the Eerie Game than I am. Without her, I might easily die in a instance, but at least the gains and losses in life and death would depend entirely on my own choices, without having to rely on anyone else’s approval…”

At this point, the young man gave a self-deprecating laugh and stated decisively, “Therefore, having her die here is the choice that best aligns with my interests.”

Sun Dekuan asked, confused: “Didn’t you say she was your cousin at first? Why couldn’t you just talk things out… Wait, so what exactly is your relationship?”

Lu Zimo said flatly, “She is not my cousin. She wasn’t before, and she won’t be in the future.”

Sun Dekuan: “Huh? But… you guys…”

He stammered for a long time, unable to form a complete sentence, feeling like he had been kept in the dark the whole time, like a simple, cheerful boy.

Qi Si looked at Lu Zimo with a half-smile: “Why should I cooperate with you?

“Generally speaking, your value is far lower than Huang Xiaofei’s. Why do you think I wouldn’t sell you out to her?”

“Profit.” Lu Zimo uttered two words, raising his eyes to look directly into Qi Si’s. “If you cooperate with me, you can gain more profit.

“I know that the Contract must be signed on your red paper page for you to gain maximum dominance—I am willing to sign it.

“Huang Xiaofei is arrogant due to her talent. Even if you sell me out to her, she will see it as a matter of course and won’t concede many benefits to you. I, on the other hand, am in a weak position and have no choice but to rely on you. You can completely name your price.”

“What you say makes sense.” Qi Si smiled. “I know Huang Xiaofei’s personality. She preemptively took control of everyone the moment she entered the instance; she is also eager for quick success and profit, diligently pursuing te clearance.

“Once she discovers your betrayal and kills you, she will most likely dispose of the other players as well to pursue the bonus points for being the sole survivor.”

Lu Zimo didn’t know how Qi Si derived this stack of far-fetched conclusions, but considering the words were favorable to him, he still nodded: “Yes, that’s why I came to cooperate with you.

“I know Huang Xiaofei’s weakness. Most of her items can only inflict significant damage on Ghosts. Against humans, her close-quarters combat ability is only slightly better than an ordinary person’s. Once we return to reality, I also won’t give her a chance to pass on messages.

“As long as the three of us work together to deal with her…”

The last few words were drowned out by wailing sounds coming from afar. The night wind blew in a faint scent of blood, carrying away the heat of their bodies along with it.

In the direction of the hospital building, clusters of figures in white clothes could vaguely be seen.

The horde of Ghosts was about to attack, and Huang Xiaofei was probably arriving soon too.

Qi Si materialized a crimson Contract scroll in front of him and handed the quill pen to Lu Zimo: “Are you sure you can fulfill your promise? I recall that items stored in a player’s inventory do not drop upon death.”

Lu Zimo understood Qi Si’s concern and calmly explained, “The Book of the Dead is on me. Huang Xiaofei suspected you might be detrimental to her, so she entrusted the Book of the Dead to me for safekeeping, to conceal the truth.”

Qi Si nodded slightly, and his smile finally held a trace of genuine emotion: “Then, as you stated on the paper, I will help you kill Huang Xiaofei, and you will give me the Book of the Dead. How does that sound?”

A line of golden script appeared on the blood-red background, succinctly reiterating the Contract of equivalent exchange.

Lu Zimo knew that the simpler the terms, the less likely they were to contain traps, and given the entanglement of interests, Qi Si had no need to trick him.

Time was running out. He quickly read every word, raised his hand, and signed his name in the bottom right corner of the scroll.

The crimson color dissipated into the night sky, leaving no trace.

Sun Dekuan watched blankly from the side, feeling as if he had skipped a large segment of the plot.

What is all this about? What promise? What suspicion? What Contract?

Who am I? Where am I?

…At the Green Frog Hospital, Lin Chen stood side-by-side with the Female Teacher by the pond, clutching a bloody frog, his gaze slightly focused.

Qi Si had never cut off the Consciousness Link, so Lin Chen heard the entire conspiracy between the two clearly.

From Lu Zimo’s initial self-description of his plight and plea for help, to Qi Si’s direct statement of the pros and cons, and finally to the agreement they reached… The bloody relationship of interests was laid bare before his eyes. The ease with which the two decided to put someone to death caused a slight crack in the understanding Lin Chen had built since entering the game.

Could that powerful figure, who had treated him kindly and helped him clear instances from start to finish, actually possess such a cold and cruel side?

But why did Qi Si let him hear all this?

It couldn’t be that he forgot the existence of the Consciousness Link. He probably trusted him, which is why he wasn’t hiding anything… So what should Lin Chen do?

Lin Chen had always been incapable of actively harming others; even in a instance, he could not accept the act of murder.

In the past, if he heard others plotting, he would immediately expose them, or at the very least, part ways.

But now, the person involved was Qi Si—the Qi Si who had saved his life… Although Qi Si had many wicked tastes, he was definitely a good and kind person. How could he actively harm an innocent person?

Lin Chen replayed the conversation between Qi Si and Lu Zimo in his mind, gradually recalling some details.

Huang Xiaofei was autocratic and treated human lives like dirt. And at the very beginning of the instance, Qi Si was the one who answered the phone, meaning he was likely in a similar situation to Lin Chen at the time: being coerced by someone.

The person coercing Qi Si was very likely Huang Xiaofei.

If that was the case, then Huang Xiaofei was the same type of existence as Yu Kun, and her death would be no pity.

Lin Chen thought of how his momentary indecisiveness had prevented him from saving the player killed by Yu Kun earlier, and his eyes dimmed slightly.

It could be inferred from Lu Zimo’s words that Qi Si possessed a Contract-type skill that allowed him to control others. Yet, he had never mentioned it, despite having so many opportunities to trick Lin Chen into signing a Contract, clearly indicating that he was not the unscrupulous Slaughter-path players type.

Since someone trusted his useless self so much, what right did he have to doubt them when he didn’t know the full picture?

“Lin Chen, what are you thinking about?” The Female Teacher suddenly turned her face toward Lin Chen, her light gray eyes gazing hauntingly. “You’ve been distracted frequently since last night.”

“Huh? I wasn’t thinking about anything…” Lin Chen snapped out of his daze and quickly said, “I was just worried about whether we can find the exit today. That pond is so big…”

The Female Teacher nodded, shifted her gaze, and looked toward the hospital building: “The Ghosts are coming.”

The large cluster of white figures at the hospital entrance could now be clearly discerned. The half-rotted female Ghosts, dragging long umbilical cords, surged toward the pond, making rustling sounds like snakes or insects crawling all the way.

“Baby… our baby…”

Their calls were like sleep talk, obsessive and frantic.

Sun Dekuan shivered with cold, his chubby body jumping left and right twice before hiding behind Qi Si and Lu Zimo.

Qi Si remained silent, raising the long-handled spoon high in his hand, and flipped his wrist toward the pond.

The red dead infant dropped into the water, letting out a crisp “dong” sound that shattered the stillness of the pond.

The “quack-quack-quack” of frogs began to sound, small and fragmented at first, seemingly expressing resentment at being woken from sleep, but soon growing loud, singing a joyful song.

Splashes erupted one after another. Blue frogs and green frogs floated up from the bottom of the water, leaping and surging toward the dead fetus that had entered the water, biting it greedily.

“Baby! Baby!”

The female Ghosts’ cries became shrill, as if the biting pain was being inflicted upon themselves.

They waved their arms and rushed frantically toward the pond. The foul wind surged toward them, then plunged into the dark, deep water.

They jostled to jump into the pond, frantically grabbing the frogs swimming toward the dead infant and stuffing them into their mouths.

The frogs refused to be outdone. They turned and leaped onto the female Ghosts, fiercely tearing at their rotting flesh and umbilical cords.

Fragments of flesh fluttered down, and the pale pink pond gradually turned watery red, even crimson.

Frog croaks and miserable screams rose and fell, accompanied by splashing water, making the battle situation completely obscured.

Qi Si stood quietly by the pond, a strange smile playing on his lips, watching the chaotic spectacle in the water at his leisure.

Sun Dekuan wanted to look but dared not, his gaze drifting between the sky and the ground, unable to settle anywhere.

Lu Zimo’s attention, however, was not on the pond at all.

He stared at the hospital gate, watching the woman in black tight clothing walk gracefully toward them, stepping on the stark white moonlight, her right hand trembling slightly with excitement.

The idea of killing Huang Xiaofei had been planted in his heart many years ago, and it had taken root and sprouted under repeated ridicule, provocation, and bossiness.

The Eerie Game, through its extreme circumstances, magnified those threads of malice and provided an opportunity for implementation, causing his murderous intent to flourish day by day.

Through one instance after another, other players either obeyed Huang Xiaofei completely or kept a respectful distance from her. Only Qi Si in this instance had clearly expressed hostility and subtly gained the upper hand over her.

Lu Zimo realized the opportunity had arrived.

And he had always been someone skilled at seizing opportunities by any means necessary.

Huang Xiaofei walked step by step toward the pond. As the distance closed, her face became clear in the moonlight. Lu Zimo struggled to suppress the corners of his mouth, lest he reveal a smile of satisfied desire.

When she was only one step away, the woman suddenly raised her hand and made a gesture.

A Paper Chain burst out from underground, tightly coiling around the young man’s legs like a viper, and yanked violently backward.

Lu Zimo fell to the ground, his expression too late to react, showing only confusion.

Before he could figure out what had happened, he saw Huang Xiaofei lean over and sneer at him: “Lu Zimo, haven’t I been good enough to you all these years?”