Chapter 673: Chapter 531: Arrived_3
Yang Xiao felt a premonition, "Who is it?"
"Sky No.97, Prisoner No.44," Yang Cha whispered.
Hearing this, Yang Xiao frowned. Both individuals had come from Rongcheng and had surprisingly survived past the third challenge. Originally, four people had come from Rongcheng; Dragon No.243 was the first Venerable One of the Resentment Sect’s Xiu Sect, who got slaughtered during the amusement park mission.
Yang Cha couldn’t help but sigh, "It’s said, Yang, that Rongcheng truly produces talents. These two aren’t ordinary—they’ve passed three challenges. Be extra careful if you encounter them."
"Can you find any more information on these two, anything at all?" A sense of foreboding grew stronger within him, and Yang Xiao couldn’t help but ask urgently.
It was clear that the other side of the phone was having a hard time, and after a moment, Yang Cha hesitantly spoke, "Yang, I really can’t do this. To tell you the truth, the Academy’s confidentiality level for personal information is extremely high. Not even the elders would be able to find out; it’s the rule."
"It’s fine, I’ll be careful," Yang Xiao reassured as he looked at the mask he had taken off and placed at the corner of the desk. He suddenly asked, "Tell me something—if you take off your mask during a mission, what happens?"
Yang Xiao had only been warned not to remove his mask in the mission world, but he didn’t clearly understand why. Could it be to avoid mixing up humans with ghosts?
"I know this—the mask conceals your identity. Ghosts will treat you as an original existence of that world. You can think of it like this—once the mask is lost, the ghosts in that world will quickly sense it and come looking for you."
Pausing for a moment, Yang Cha continued, "Moreover, this is crucial: only those wearing masks can be transported back to the original world after the mission ends. The material used to make the masks is special and is repelled by the forces maintaining the Nightmare World."
"Regardless of whether there is a character on the mask, everyone will be transported back, right?" Yang Xiao needed a final confirmation.
"Correct," Yang Cha nodded.
After repeatedly advising Yang Xiao to stay safe, Yang Cha was about to hang up. "Wait!" Yang Xiao instinctively interrupted him.
"What’s the matter?" Yang Cha asked, puzzled.
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Xiao decided against it, shaking his head, "It’s nothing; times are a bit unstable lately, make sure to take care as well."
"Rest assured, take care."
"You too."
Yang Xiao didn’t trust phone communication; there were things he couldn’t explain to Yang Cha. However, the killing of two elders was no small matter and had already caused a stir among the Academy’s upper echelons. These people, far more experienced than him, were sure to uncover some clues.
In the evening, Yang Xiao received notification of the next competition. This competition was Class B and involved ten participants. Unlike the previous rounds, there were no restrictions on survivors this time—anyone who left alive passed.
But Yang Xiao was not too optimistic. Based on his past competition experiences, the survivor restrictions were nearly useless; many ruthless individuals would kill without limit, hoping to eliminate all competitors if they had the strength.
At 9 p.m., just after Yang Xiao had finished washing up and was planning to rest early, he heard a series of footsteps in the hallway outside. Soon, the footsteps stopped right outside his door.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Someone was knocking.
"Is this Tao Zi No.31?" A man’s voice came from outside, sounding like a middle-aged man with strong confidence, "We are from the Academy Law Enforcement Team. We’d like to speak with you about some matters, please open the door."
Yang Xiao remained calm and silent; however, the next second he panicked. The men outside only asked once and, after waiting about fifteen seconds with no response from inside, started unlocking the door—they had the key!
By the time the door opened, Yang Xiao had just reached it from behind. Standing outside were seven or eight people, led by a middle-aged man in Academy uniform, about 40 years old, tall, with an old scar on his right cheek and alert leopard-like eyes glaring at Yang Xiao, who demanded, "You’re home, why didn’t you open the door?"
"My head hurts," Yang Xiao answered, "I was just coming when you all..."
"Why did you barge in? This doesn’t seem respectful, contrary to the hospitality of Ru Lin Academy," Yang Xiao countered.
But the leading middle-aged man didn’t buy his argument, calmly replying, "We’re here today to gather some information from you and, please, know your place. You were not invited as a guest by our Academy; you registered yourself."
They sat down on the sofa, and the middle-aged man got straight to the point, "Where were you when the murder happened last night?"
Yang Xiao had recently received a notification from the Academy alerting that a murder had occurred inside, advising them to avoid going out unless necessary to prevent misunderstandings. However, the notification didn’t specify when the murder occurred.
"I don’t know the exact time," Yang Xiao looked at the man.
"According to my investigation, you were at Contemplation Pavilion last night, around the time you returned, you passed the crime scene," the middle-aged man looked up at Yang Xiao, his tone suddenly intense, "I want to ask you why the murderer killed everyone who passed by during that time, but spared only you?"
The man’s imposing presence didn’t waver, the necklace around his neck creating a "shush" sound from the friction, an impressive Magic Artifact. Most ordinary people would panic facing such an imposing interrogator, but Yang Xiao did not. Under the middle-aged man’s pressure, he stretched out both hands and placed them together in front of the man, a gesture that confused the middle-aged man and the group he had brought with him.
