Thriller Paradise Chapter 206: Cangling Debate of Swords (14) - Novel Cool

Chapter 206: Cangling Debate of Swords (14)

Chapter 206: Cangling Debate of Swords (14)

After exchanging polite greetings with the group, Feng Bu Jue received the Key to Suite A-03 before the four departed.

[Name: Key]
[Type: Plot-Related]
[Quality: Common]
[Function: Holder and their team gain ownership of Azure Spirit Inn Suite A-03]
[Can Be Taken Out of Scenario: Yes]
[Background: As long as someone in the team holds this Key, the room can be freely accessed even without carrying the Key personally.]

"Oh, this thing can apparently be converted into a Puzzle Piece Card after the scenario ends", Feng Bu Jue muttered while reading the item description. "Better have Si Yu hold it—she’s the strongest, least likely to die, and her satchel probably has more space than mine."

"Hey, I’m the highest level here, and I’m a Class player! Shouldn’t I be the one with the most combat power?" Ji Bu interjected.

Feng Bu Jue immediately shifted topics. "Speaking of 'Class'... I’ve got a plan that needs your help."

"Huh? What plan?" Ji Bu frowned.

"Remember that beauty who commented on my martial arts at the inn’s first floor?" Feng Bu Jue asked.

"Yeah, Meng Jiu mentioned her surname was... Murong?" Ji Bu recalled.

"At the time, I was eavesdropping on the surrounding Npcs’ gossip. From their fragmented words, I gathered this Murong girl seems to be a 'bai xiaosheng'-type character", Feng Bu Jue mused, stroking his chin. "In other words, she possesses a wealth of intelligence."

"You want me to fish for information from her?" Ji Bu asked.

"Exactly. After all, you’re a Class player", Feng Bu Jue replied. "Use your professional skills to strike up a conversation. Once she’s warmed up, pretend you’re new to the jianghu and ask her for guidance."

"You mean ‘Class’ as in Class player, right? You’re talking about a Class gigolo!" Ji Bu snapped.

"Relax, I’m not asking you to sell your looks—just exchange a few words", Feng Bu Jue dismissed the complaint. "Interactions between players and humanoid Npcs follow Section D of the Player Interaction Regulations: [Regardless of gender, any system-determined sexual harassment—including attempts to act on such intentions via methods listed in Sections B and C—will be restricted by the system, preventing the player’s intent from manifesting. Repeated attempts result in forced disconnection and permanent addition of the player’s Citizen ID to the system blacklist for priority monitoring.]

"I’ve also checked the detailed rules about such interactions between players, humanoid Npcs, and monsters. Turns out, restrictions here are even stricter than between players. While players can engage in limited affectionate gestures with mutual consent, there’s absolutely no erotic interaction allowed between players and virtual characters. Npcs will never reciprocate such advances. However, Npcs might develop favorable impressions of players."

"In short, you can flirt fearlessly—she won’t take advantage of you."

"Hey! She’s a beauty, not some muscular bear of a guy! Don’t make it sound like I’m the one gaining something! Not being able to flirt back is the real loss here!" Ji Bu retorted. "But... how could you memorize the regulations verbatim and explain the no-romance-across-dimensions rule so clearly? What’s your deal?!"

"Oh, I once hugged a female Npc in a previous scenario", Feng Bu Jue replied calmly. "Of course, it was a ten-point-pure, platonic hug. Afterward, I got curious—where exactly is the line for these restrictions? So I took time to read the game manual."

"Ah, so us girls flirting with male Npcs would be easier, right?" Bei Ling joked. "After all, nothing can happen."

"Please, have some self-respect..." Xiao Tan turned, staring intensely at her.

"How would you flirt?" Feng Bu Jue asked. "The system directly blocks any intentional advances. As for physical changes, you can’t alter your appearance in the scenario to show skin or give ‘benefits.’"

"Hmm... True", Bei Ling nodded, shooting Xiao Tan a teasing glance. Her tone suggested she already knew the answer but just wanted to see his reaction.

"Alright, Jin Fugui, what’s your decision? Go or not?" Feng Bu Jue pressed.

"I’m warning you, calling me a gigolo is one thing..." Ji Bu began.

Feng Bu Jue cut him off. "Alright then, Gigolo Brother, what do you say? If I weren’t preoccupied with leadership duties, I’d go myself. With my silver tongue and relentless pestering skills, I’d never fail a negotiation. But right now, my approach would only repel Murong. You wouldn’t send Xiao Tan, would you? At least he’d avoid leaking our secrets."

"Just a negotiation—why not let one of us girls go?" Si Yu asked.

"Hahahahaha!" Feng Bu Jue laughed five times. "Great idea! I’ve always wondered—how would two strangers, one clearly with ulterior motives, start a conversation with the other?"

Si Yu glared at Feng Bu Jue in silence before sighing. "Fine... Let the professional handle it."

"Enough with the duet act. I’ll give it a shot", Ji Bu relented weakly. "But I’m warning you—if the Npc ignores me, I can’t do anything."

"Oh~ come~ on~ Gigolo Brother, don’t underestimate yourself", Feng Bu Jue drawled. "With your pretty-boy looks and effeminate charm, you’d definitely appeal to older women in ancient times. Even if she’s not interested, she’d politely say you have nothing in common and ask you to stop bothering her."

Feng Bu Jue paused, then continued. "But if Murong feels chatting with you is harmless, things get easier. If my guess is right, this Npc likely knows most of this martial world’s rules. What’s common knowledge to her would be invaluable intel for us. So ask her about anything that’s obvious to everyone but us."

"Got it, I’ll play it by ear", Ji Bu replied. "Right now, Murong should still be in the inn lobby. After your big scene earlier, if I—the broken sword tea house’s lodger—march downstairs now and greet her under everyone’s gaze, she’d struggle to respond. Let’s wait for a better moment."

"Agreed", Feng Bu Jue said, sliding the Key across the table to Si Yu, who silently pocketed it into her satchel.

"Moving to the second matter", Feng Bu Jue continued. "The Huaying Six Swords... Now they need help from someone with ‘Innate Pure Yang Inner Energy’..."

"Though we’ve delayed a day, tomorrow when Lin Chang finishes teaching you the martial arts technique, Su Shang will need you as her guard", Bei Ling pointed out. "Your lack of inner energy will definitely be exposed then. Solving this is far more urgent than gathering intel. If this fails, our situation becomes dire. Even if the Huaying Six Swords don’t turn hostile, they’ll have no reason to protect us or offer benefits."

"Right... This is tricky", Feng Bu Jue nodded. "Currently, I have two ideas. The first one I strongly recommend..."

"Kill Su Shang?" Si Yu immediately voiced Feng Bu Jue’s unspoken thought.

"Exactly!" Feng Bu Jue replied decisively. "And ideally, we should make sure she disappears without a trace. Let others never find any evidence of her death or even know whether she's alive or dead. At the very least, no one will bring up the matter of succession guardianship before the duel."

"You're being too ruthless..." Ji Bu looked at Feng Bu Jue with a surprised expression. "Last time I saw you killing zombies, I already felt you had a bit of a bloodthirsty killer vibe... Now you're talking about killing indiscriminately just to protect secrets, regardless of whether the target is good or evil..."

"When you're playing Mario and stomping on Koopas", Feng Bu Jue countered, "did you ever stop to consider if they were good or evil?"

Ji Bu blinked, then frowned after a few seconds. "That's not the same thing at all!"

Feng Bu Jue snorted and turned his head away in irritation.

"False equivalence", Si Yu remarked succinctly.

"Failed persuasion", Bei Ling added.

"I also oppose random killings", Xiao Tan surprisingly offered a constructive opinion. "Putting aside the fact that our target might possess Boss-level strength... Even if we could kill her, we can't guarantee no one would notice the fight or the corpse disposal."

"That's not a problem", Feng Bu Jue replied. "If we decide to kill her, I have plenty of methods. After cutting her into six pieces, we wrap the remains in rags, stuff them into a satchel, and no one will ever know."

"You've already planned this far ahead..." Ji Bu broke into cold sweat, wondering what kind of person he was dealing with.

"However... you all make valid points", Feng Bu Jue suddenly shifted tone. "You reminded me actually. I saw a forum post saying a player's behavior style in scenarios might affect future progression. For instance, players who follow moral principles and try to do good deeds generally achieve better story endings. Those who keep acting cruelly and evilly in scenarios might encounter more depressing plots. The post also mentioned that skills and items randomly assigned to players could relate to their behavioral patterns."

"Like your 'Demon Bat Phantom' skill", Xiao Tan immediately recalled the skill name Feng Bu Jue had received.

"Or 'Unpredictable Lunatic'..." Bei Ling added.

Feng Bu Jue continued, "If this system truly exists, it would explain many situations I encountered while solo queuing... Could this be considered a 'non-quantifiable attribute'?" Si Yu asked.

"Possibly", Feng Bu Jue mused. "By that logic, players marked as Lawful Good by the system versus those marked as Chaotic Evil would develop completely differently in later stages. Not just skills and equipment, but even their entire gameplay experiences would diverge significantly. This suggests we shouldn't kill indiscriminately. Within the main quest's boundaries, we should try to stand on the side of justice and act honorably. Otherwise, you might end up like me, marked as a villain by the system."

Ji Bu asked, "Then what's your second option?"

"If we can't kill, then injure", Feng Bu Jue suggested. "If Su Shang gets seriously wounded and can't attempt the Qi Gate breakthrough temporarily, we delay the matter indefinitely. With limited game time, we won't stay until the fourth day anyway. As long as we stall until tomorrow evening, the problem will disappear permanently."

"That's actually feasible", Bei Ling pondered. "But we need to discuss how exactly to injure Su Nüxia."

"Exactly", Feng Bu Jue said. "First, we can't attack her openly—we have to strike from the shadows. Second, we must avoid suspicion afterward." He crossed his arms. "If Bei Ling snipes her from a distance, we'd easily achieve the first point. But that would immediately make them suspect us. Only our group of weirdos would use methods they can't possibly explain."

"Even if we use conventional martial world techniques", Xiao Tan said, "we'd still be the prime suspects. You just accepted this mission from the Six Swords. If Su Shang gets ambushed within a day... honestly, even if someone else did it during this timeframe, people would still suspect us."

"I have a method that won't raise suspicion", Feng Bu Jue declared. "The most ideal approach—mass poisoning."

"You're..." Ji Bu almost lost words. Feng Bu Jue's logic always jumped to the most absurd conclusions.

"The logic is simple", Feng Bu Jue explained. "To hide our true target, we poison everyone. That way, Su Shang's poisoning appears random rather than targeted."

"Right..." Xiao Tan squinted, his lips twitching. "'Stand on the side of justice and act honorably'... you said that just now, right?"

Feng Bu Jue pretended not to hear. "To make it convincing, we should poison ourselves too as a distraction."

"You're completely insane..." Ji Bu muttered.

"Sometimes", Feng Bu Jue said, "to protect one lie, you must create even bigger lies. We're already in this situation. Understand—our current safety and freedom rest entirely on deception. One truth exposed, and the entire facade collapses like a house of cards. To survive in this town, we must keep pretending relentlessly. Every second counts—we must maintain Broken Sword Teahouse's image of mysterious strength. If outsiders discover our true power, this scenario becomes unplayable. Our only option then would be hiding in the mountains... assuming we survive long enough to leave this street, let alone the town."

"Correct", Si Yu agreed. "Our combat ability requires firearms to survive encounters with three Npcs matching last night's woman. Otherwise, we'd face party wipe quickly. If Bu Jue's deception gets exposed, they'll see us as frauds. Then practically everyone could turn hostile."

Feng Bu Jue continued, "Once they understand our tactics and learn about firearms, we're finished."

"Either keep pretending or become public enemies..." Xiao Tan mused.

"It's like a Jew accidentally attending a Nazi party in Wwii", Feng Bu Jue shrugged. "His only survival chance is convincing everyone he's German too."

"Back to the poisoning plan..." Ji Bu interjected.

"If successful, we achieve our goal without solid suspicion—even if the Six Swords suspect us slightly, they can't confirm anything", Feng Bu Jue replied.

Xiao Tan pondered, "Poisoning requires poison anyone can use. If only a few people get poisoned, suspicion falls on those with conflicts. But random mass poisoning makes it hard to pinpoint culprits. As long as we don't leave evidence and get poisoned ourselves..."

"Three issues", Bei Ling interrupted. "One, where do we find non-lethal poison for dozens? Two, how evenly poison everyone in the inn? Three, how accomplish both undetected and leave no traces afterward?"

"Excellent questions", Feng Bu Jue spread his hands. "No idea at all."

"Then why talk so confidently?"

"That's why I called it the 'most ideal method'!" Feng Bu Jue grinned. "We have one full day and night to figure things out."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end

Report