“Why! The Jiashi Chamber! Why suspect us!”
Several individuals who had been helping Zhang Xian clear out the Shi Qian Team at the shed master’s request were pushed forward.
They never dreamed that, just moments ago, they had helped the big client eliminate the Shi Qian Team, only to now be handed over to be sliced and diced on the chopping block.
These people shouted in terror:
“We haven’t done anything!”
Yang Zicang’ gaze swept past these people, looking toward the back.
Behind them, besides these individuals, there were also two or three residents from Rose Creek. Although they hadn’t arrived by train, they were still highly suspicious figures.
{It’s been three minutes now, hmm, even more people have died than the one-minute-a-person I mentioned.}
The bandaged doctor’s somewhat playful voice rang out, sounding full of mockery in people’s ears.
The crowd angrily looked around but found no trace whatsoever of the bandaged doctor.
One person in the crowd spoke with both wariness and anxiety: “Hasn’t anyone outside noticed the abnormality here yet?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a bandage shot across the sky, winding around him and instantly tearing him into pieces.
{Four minutes.}
“Fast, so fast! Without Rose Queen’s mental power to protect us, it’s true that no one can match that damn bandaged doctor!”
Everyone’s hearts were pounding loudly.
{Fifth minute, Redhead, it’s you again.}
“What!”
The Dutchman standing beside Xiao Yushan, trembling all over, burst into fury.
“Why me again!”
{I like the color of your hairstyle.}
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
“Stop fooling around,” Xiao Yushan said solemnly. “Let’s first find the murderer who killed Mr. Lin Site. We must know who did it!”
The red-haired young man quickly stepped two paces over to Lin Site, took the red Demonic Nightmare lighter from his hand, and looked around trembling in fear.
……
In any case, the group of over thirty people from Hubtown had been cleared of suspicion for now. This drastically narrowed down the number of targets.
Captain Qin glanced at these several tense residents of Rose Creek.
“If it was a last-minute move made possible through model and bandage coordination, then it’s one of the Red Model people. We’re all from Silverwhite Hubtown—no Red Model agents here. So it must be one of you present, right? Who was behind Xiao Lin just now?”
“Him! He was right behind Lin Site.”
Several people pointed at a neatly dressed man, and the tall, thin man instantly turned pale with fright.
“Me, but I have no motive!”
He waved his hands frantically, defending himself, “Even if I did kill Xiao Lin, I wouldn’t be able to get your Invisibility Orb. A few minutes ago, I didn’t even know what that thing was—I only knew you were coming over for a meal.”
“That makes sense.”
But he was quickly tied up anyway, while everyone warily looked around again.
The roaming White Shadow Nian Dragon and the bandages seemed to be conserving their Amplified Chrono, and their attacks had become less intense, giving the dozens of people a temporary sigh of relief.
They also prayed for more time to urgently locate the killer.
One person looked at the several suspects around, quickly stripped off their own clothes, tore at them, and said:
“I think we should tie them all up first, in case we miss the actual killer.”
“It wasn’t me, I’m innocent! You have no right to tie me up. I say this is exactly what the Bandage Doctor intended—to make us turn on each other.”
“Exactly, he definitely doesn’t have the strength to kill us all at once, so he’s trying to stir up internal conflict among us.”
A person wearing a hat said:
“Whether it’s the bandage doctor’s scheme or not, just bear with it for now. As long as we can find a way to break the restriction of the ‘Quiet Land’ and get in touch with the outside world, we’ll receive help soon.”
“Right, better to act on suspicion than miss the culprit!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the bandage net shook with a bang, putting the crowd on high alert. The red-haired young man swallowed hard, clutching the Demonic Nightmare lighter he had picked up from Lin Site, staring at the bandages that could come rushing down at any moment.
No matter how loudly the people around clamored, Yang Zicang just coldly stared ahead, utterly unmoved by their words or actions. He was like a warrior waiting amidst chaos for any fleeting anomaly, ready to deliver a thunderous blow the moment it emerged.
However, Morrie crouched down on one knee and whispered in Yang Zicang’s ear:
“Zicang… have you seen anything weird?”
The corners of Yang Zicang’s eyes twitched slightly, and his dark pupils shifted to the side, glancing at the man beside him.
“What did you see?”
Boboli looked at the two of them.
Morrie hesitated for a moment and then said:
“During the banquet, I saw a ring that doesn’t exist. I suspect… we might be…”
“A ring?”
“Wedding rings. They were the wedding rings I longed to put on my fiancée’s finger. Before coming to this world, I had already sought out a designer to craft that diamond ring. I knew its shape, I fantasized about slipping it onto Julia’s ring finger, and also imagined Julia putting that ring on my finger.”
Yang Zicang’s gaze fell on Morrie’s empty ring finger, but at this moment, what came to his mind was a previous scene.
The wine glass… and the burning candle reflected within.
He looked up at the two remaining incomplete iron chandelier rings.
“Could it be… that we are truly not in reality?”
Boboli’s look suddenly tensed with shock.
Morrie also felt a tingling sensation; he had initially had some doubts, but now with Yang Zicang’s words, he immediately sensed that at least eighty or ninety percent of it was plausible.
“We are in the Nianjing World!” Yang Zicang suddenly spoke in a harsh tone. “Stop bundling up.”
“What?”
The people ahead who heard their words immediately created a stir.
“Yang Zicang, what are you saying? The Nianjing World? Could it be that we are no longer in the real world?”
Yang Zicang anxiously rose to his feet and said: “Earlier, when I was explaining the ‘Proxy Contract’ to everyone, I seemed to catch a glimpse by chance in the cup of that iron ring chandelier fully lit with candles.”
“A burning chandelier? Ah, weren’t they not the ones unlit for candles?”
Yang Zicang analyzed gravely:
“The first time I saw these chandeliers, I thought it would look beautiful if they were all lit up with candles, like in an ancient castle from a magical world. Although I was very eager to see those iron lamps set ablaze, there was no justification for such an extravagant act in the Lost Frequency Zone. The Rose Queen wouldn’t engage in such a wasteful consumption either. So it was just a fleeting thought.”
The stern young man suddenly turned his profile to face Morrie.
“And you, Morrie, saw the scene you most longed to witness. Even though it was an illusion, within the psychic field, that scenario temporarily became reality, didn’t it?”
“It’s a bit like waking up in a dream and controlling its evolution according to your will. Even though the manifested things only last for a short while.”
Morrie suddenly reflected that his ring had persisted for quite some time, nearly a minute. Could it be that the magic rune, which Hong Haocheng had embedded into his spiritual sea, was strengthening his mind?
At this thought, he suddenly felt a flush of heat through his body, his heartbeat quickening as he said:
“I feel that we really are inside a psychic field! The Bandaged Doctor might not actually be the real enemy!”
“Th-this, is this true?”
The people around them all looked over, exchanging glances, as if nothing suggested they had been assaulted and plunged into a dream world.
“If that’s the case, I also recall seeing something unreasonable,” one person said. “I… I saw someone else’s figure from behind and mistook it for my wife’s from Earth, but later I realized it was just my eyes playing tricks on me.”
“I also thought I saw my discarded sword lying by the campfire brazier, only to realize later it was just a pair of tongs.”
“Ah, if that’s the case, are we all under the same mental attack?”
Once these words were spoken, one man said with a hint of fear:
“If we’ve truly all appeared in the mental power field together, then our bodies in the real world might be at someone’s mercy right now!”
Everyone felt their hairs stand on end.
Dozens of gazes turned in unison towards the Invisibility Orb at Yang Zicang’s feet. Yang Zicang also looked down, a chill running down his spine.
Was this thing fake?
Could it be that the real Invisibility Orb was already in someone else’s hands at this very moment?!
Boom, boom!
The bandages burst down from the intersecting web in the air.
{Just a mere hallucination before mental collapse, and scare you into thinking this isn’t reality? Hmph, you’re next, Red Hair!}
The bandages hurtled towards the young man with red hair.
This youth—standing beside Xiao Yushan—nervously flicked his lighter and brought it close to the fabric over his chest. Yet the lighter’s flame could not burn the model fused with his own skin, it was completely ineffective.
Yang Zicang narrowed his eyes, staring at the descending bandages.
“Killing in the Lost Frequency Land doesn’t absorb temporal order. So… what about those lives that started out withered, tightly wrapped in bandages?”
The bandages, rushing toward the red-haired youth, jerked to a sudden halt.
Everyone looked at this scene in confusion.
Yang Zicang said loudly, “Is it because they don’t know that lifespan won’t be transferred after death here?”
“Mr. Zicang… what does that mean?”
Someone in the crowd followed Yang Zicang’s gaze to the ground and then asked.
“You don’t know either?” Yang Zicang looked at this person from Hub Town. “If that’s the case, you would probably become a withered corpse if you die here too. So… we are indeed in a psychic field!”
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