Chapter 49: The King of Hell’s Wedding (29)
After a bout of chaos, the hall finally returned to peace.
He Qingzhou looked utterly wronged as he defended himself. “I really wasn’t the one who told the ghost child to scare you! I mean, come on—you people kill NPCs and even real players all the time, don’t you? And yet a little kid bleeding from all seven orifices scared you this badly…?”
After a moment of deadlock, he quoted something Jian Yuntai had once used to mock him. “Did you all get into the Livestream Team just by checking in every day?”
“……”
At that point, whether or not yesterday’s insult had come from him no longer mattered—he had successfully aroused public outrage.
He Qingzhou was beaten again until he howled in pain.
The commotion belonged to everyone else. Fatty, however, was left alone, hissing through his teeth as he limped toward a corner.
Jian Yuntai picked up a stool from the mess on the floor and set it down for him. “What happened to you?”
Fatty sat down gingerly, his face twisted in pain, and asked mournfully, “Did you, uh… do that thing last night?”
“No,” Jian Yuntai answered honestly. “I pretended to be sick and muddled through.”
“?!” Fatty stared at him in shock. His expression turned extremely complicated as he trembled and said, “You’ve got some nerve, Jian Dadan! Yesterday you told me to take it off, and then you went and pretended to be sick?”
Jian Yuntai frowned in confusion. “I said delay it. Pretending to be sick was just another way of delaying things, wasn’t it?”
Fatty’s face went blank. It took him several seconds to process before he reacted. “You meant ‘delay’ as in delay?”
Note: wordplay again…basically Chinese characters can be split apart and it could mean different things, so previously Jian Yuntai told Fatty to delay it but he worded ‘tuo 拖’ which could be ‘tuo yan拖延’ as in delay but Fatty confused it as ‘tuo 脱’ take off as in 脱’裤子 take off the pants….
Jian Yuntai raised an eyebrow. “What else would I mean?”
Fatty: “…..”
Jian Yuntai was sharp enough to guess most of it just by looking at his expression. The corner of his mouth twitched. “You thought I meant take off your pants?”
“……” Fatty kept his mouth shut.
Luckily, he had been quick-witted last night. Halfway through undressing, he had decided he couldn’t suffer alongside Jian Yuntai like that. So he had rolled over, pulled his pants back on, and fought with his destined person instead.
Of course, he had lost.
The reason he was limping so badly today was entirely because of last night’s glorious battle scars—earned in the noble defense of his backside.
He had just been about to explain when he saw Jian Yuntai press his lips together, turn his head slightly, and struggle not to laugh. “Did you keep your livestream on the whole time last night?”
Fatty replied numbly, “Why are you asking that?”
Jian Yuntai couldn’t help laughing. “Yesterday I was thinking, if any streamer really dared to go that far, I’d respect him as a true savage. Who would’ve thought the savage was right beside me?”
“……” Fatty snapped, “You’re overthinking it. I didn’t!”
Jian Yuntai asked, “Then why are you limping?”
Fatty snapped back even harder, “Because I got into a fight!”
Jian Yuntai patted him on the shoulder. “This time it was my fault. I unintentionally dragged you into it. When we get out of this instance, I’ll treat you to a meal. Order whatever you want.”
Fatty’s vision went black. “I told you, I didn’t!”
There was no clearing this up anymore.
Fatty’s eyes shifted. Gritting his teeth through the pain in his leg, he limped over and dragged Sun Bin—the only son of the political elite—into the circle of streamers.
“It was all to save you!” Fatty nearly pointed at Sun Bin’s nose as he scolded him, his eyes filled with incomprehension. “Why on earth did you come to a C-level instance? You’ve dragged so many people into risking their lives for you, and now we’re all trapped here!”
The moment Sun Bin appeared, everyone’s attention shifted to him—including Jian Yuntai.
After all, this man was their primary objective.
Sun Bin didn’t look very old. He was his political elite father’s late-born son. Before entering the instance, Jian Yuntai had seen his photo—just an ordinary, delicate-looking college student, raised in comfort and well-fed, fair and slightly chubby.
But after three months of hardship in the instance, he had lost at least thirty pounds. That was why Jian Yuntai had failed to recognize him several times while searching the main hall.
Although he was the son of the political elite, Sun Bin was not particularly overbearing. He simply trembled as he sat on the ground, tears welling up in his eyes.
“Stop scolding me, stop… sob… I regretted it from the very first day I came in. If I can get out, I swear I’ll never enter an instance above E-level again. I’ll just cling to E-level strategies and survive.”
“You might not necessarily get out this time.” Cha Huafeng lowered her gaze to look at Sun Bin, sighed, and then looked at all the streamers. “This time we’re not in opposing camps, so I’ll speak plainly—we have to cooperate.”
No one objected.
Jian Yuntai dragged a stool over and sat beside Fatty. Many other streamers did the same.
They surrounded Sun Bin in the middle.
The veteran players on the left hesitated, not daring to approach. They could only eavesdrop from where they stood as the streamers discussed their strategy.
Quite a few of them looked utterly miserable: Bosses, please look at us! We’re begging you to take us along!
As Cha Huafeng spoke, she kept glancing at Jian Yuntai, feeling a trace of anticipation.
Last time, she had lost the main quest to Jian Yuntai—and she had lost convincingly. Although she now had clues, she had no idea how to proceed. She could only share them and see whether Jian Yuntai had any ideas.
In a sense, what she was about to say was mainly meant for Jian Yuntai to hear.
“The key to the side quest lies in the Three Taboos of the Yin officials. Every Yin official in the Underworld has three taboo points. The first taboo is called ‘Do Not Speak of the Past.’”
Cha Huafeng pointed at Sun Bin. “Let’s use him as an example. Sun Bin’s destined person is the destined official Zhang Zhiyan, whose eyes can see both Yin and Yang. When Sun Bin first entered the instance, the background narration said that the King of Hell coveted those eyes and gouged them out. Later, after Sun Bin cleared the ‘Do Not Speak of the Past’ taboo, he learned that Zhang Zhiyan had once made a deal with the King of Hell. He would dig out his eyes and give them to the King of Hell, and in return, the King would provide a certain immortal elixir to save his gravely ill mother.”
She paused, then sighed. “The King of Hell was truly inhuman. After Zhang Zhiyan dug out his eyes and handed them over, the King of Hell broke the agreement unilaterally… In the end, his mother wasn’t saved, and he lost his eyes as well. That’s why Zhang Zhiyan hated the King of Hell to the bone.”
As soon as she said this, Jian Yuntai immediately understood.
What the instance background narration had said differed from the actual truth. To clear the ‘Do Not Speak of the Past’ taboo, one had to uncover exactly where that discrepancy lay.
When they entered the instance, the narration had mentioned that Cui Yu and the King of Hell had fallen out because they could not endure their shared sensations.
It seemed it wasn’t just because of that.
There had to be some hidden secret.
No sooner had this thought surfaced in his mind than the instance narration rang out:
[Player Side Quest Updated]
[STEP2: Do Not Speak of the Past]
[Chief Judge Cui Yu and the King of Hell were twin brothers born of the same mother. They had shared sensations since childhood and were deeply affectionate. A thousand years ago, they fell out over a certain matter and became mortal enemies. Since then, the King of Hell had grown tyrannical and incompetent, while Cui Yu had become cold and detached. Players, please uncover the truth behind their split.]
[Reward for this task: Fifteen days of survival time]
[Additional reward: 40 Soul Contract points]
Jian Yuntai frowned slightly, deep in thought.
Cha Huafeng had been watching him the entire time. The moment she saw his expression, she knew he had triggered the first taboo!
Delight rose in her heart. She had not misjudged him—Jian Yuntai was indeed perceptive and didn’t require any special prompting.
“The second taboo of the Yin officials is called ‘Do Not Speak of Secret Treasures.’ Every destined official in the Underworld possesses a natal magical artifact. These treasures are as important to them as their very lifeline, and they cherish them deeply. The current known strategy is to borrow and use the artifact once in order to clear the second stage.”
“Don’t underestimate this second stage. A lifeline is a lifeline—an official won’t easily let anyone else use it. Even if you’re their destined person, you’re no exception.”
Jian Yuntai almost immediately thought of Cui Yu’s Register of Life and Death and his soul-reaping brush.
…Was it one of those two?
A streamer asked, “What’s the third taboo of the Yin officials?”
Cha Huafeng shook her head regretfully and said, “As far as I knew, the player with the fastest progress had already cleared the second taboo. But they still hadn’t managed to trigger the third taboo. So… at this point, no one knew what the third taboo actually was.”
After she finished speaking, the expressions of the streamers present had already grown extremely heavy.
In truth, they weren’t even sure they themselves could clear the instance, let alone drag along an extra burden—Sun Bin.
He Qingzhou had an impatient temperament. Irritated, he said, “So in other words, not only do we have to clear the three taboos of our own Yin officials, we also have to help Sun Bin clear the second and third taboos?” As he spoke, he shot Sun Bin a fierce glare.
Sun Bin immediately behaved obediently and said, “N-No, no, no! Bosses, I’ve already cleared the second taboo. And I don’t need to clear the third one anymore either—my soul contract points are at 217.”
The moment those words fell, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
“Two hundred and seventeen? You haven’t even cleared the third taboo—how did you get over two hundred?”
“Doesn’t that mean once this cycle ends, you’ll clear the instance directly?!”
“Damn, so are we just handing over our heads for free this round?”
“No, no, that’s not it!” Sun Bin flailed in a panic, trying to calm the agitated crowd, but to no avail. Left with no choice, he grimaced and simply untied his outer robe, pulling off his upper garment.
The great hall fell silent in an instant.
Even a flicker of shock crossed Jian Yuntai’s brows as he leaned in for a closer look. “How did this happen to you?”
Sun Bin’s upper body was truly unbearable to look at—his entire back was covered in bluish-purple frostbite sores, some of which had already scabbed over.
He hissed in pain and said miserably, “The more cycles you go through, the higher your base soul contract points start. Several times, I began at over 170. I only needed to repeat what I’d done before, and once I cleared ‘Do Not Speak of the Past,’ I could basically go straight over 200. But…”
Sun Bin let out a long sigh and shook his head. “I can’t even remember how many rounds I’ve gone through. It must have been close to twenty by now. At this point, even the slightest defiance of Zhang Zhiyan’s wishes—if I made him sad or jealous—would cause frostbite sores to grow all over my body. My soul contract points would also keep dropping.”
Every time he got close to the end of a cycle, forget 200 points—he couldn’t even maintain 100.
“Then can’t you just stay away from him?!” Fatty said anxiously. “Keep your distance from him these next few days. If you’re worried about random ghosts deducting your soul contract points, then just follow another destined official instead.”
Sun Bin replied helplessly, “Who could I follow?”
Fatty instantly choked on his words. “…”
It wasn’t hard to see that Sun Bin’s destined person, Zhang Zhiyan, had already maxed out his darkening value.
In that state, even if Sun Bin merely refused to eat a dish Zhang Zhiyan picked up for him, Zhang Zhiyan would probably overthink it, causing Sun Bin’s soul contract points to continuously decline.
If Sun Bin actively tried to follow another destined official, that would be like poking a hornet’s nest!
Once Zhang Zhiyan’s jealousy flared up, it wouldn’t be surprising for the soul contract points to drop by over a hundred in one go. Just thinking about it was terrifying.
It was a deadlock.
Just as everyone was at their wits’ end, Jian Yuntai suddenly spoke in a calm tone. “What if Sun Bin ‘wasn’t willing’ to follow another destined official?”
“???” Everyone looked confused.
Sun Bin asked humbly, “What do you mean?”
“Have another destined official directly demand him from Zhang Zhiyan. Force Zhang Zhiyan to hand him over,” Jian Yuntai said.
Cha Huafeng immediately shook her head in disapproval. “That won’t work. All the destined officials are of equal rank. Why would Zhang Zhiyan hand him over?”
Jian Yuntai raised an eyebrow. “If I remembered correctly, the Yin officials of the Underworld are one rank higher than the destined officials, right?”
“Yes…” Cha Huafeng’s expression froze, then she suddenly gasped. “You mean Chief Judge Cui Yu? You want him to go demand the person?!”
The moment she said that, the uproar in the hall grew even louder than before. Even the veteran players on the left, who had been quietly observing and learning, looked utterly horrified, their survival instincts practically written across their faces.
Boss, what are you thinking?!
Had you already forgotten the tragedy of the previous round? Cui Yu had staged a coup before and nearly wiped out all the players in the instance in one fell swoop.
Zhang Zhiyan’s jealousy was indeed terrifying, but if Cui Yu’s vinegar jar got overturned, that would be thunder colliding with wildfire. Just recalling the miserable end of the previous round made everyone’s hair stand on end, waves of lingering fear and heart-palpitating dread washing over them.
In their eyes, Cui Yu was no different from a ticking time bomb—he was even more terrifying than one!
At least a bomb had a timer; everyone knew when it would explode. But Cui Yu… he could explode at any moment!
Compared to the shocked and frightened veteran players, the streamers present were far more resilient under pressure.
After exchanging glances, they had already begun discussing how to persuade Cui Yu to demand the person.
“First of all, we absolutely can’t let Cui Yu get jealous!”
“We also need a perfect reason—something that won’t make him suspicious or doubt the relationship between the two of them.”
“What kind of reason would work?”
While everyone was discussing, Jian Yuntai stood up from his stool and walked a few steps over to Sun Bin.
He lifted Sun Bin’s clothing and took a glance.
An idea immediately formed in his mind.
Lightly tapping the frostbite sores on Sun Bin’s chest with his fingertip, Jian Yuntai lowered his gaze and asked, “Do you have a knife?”
“W-Why do you need a knife?!” Sun Bin’s face was filled with terror.
Jian Yuntai replied casually, “I need you to bleed a little more.”
“…” The words already sounded frightening enough, and the way Jian Yuntai said them—like he was casually remarking, “Let’s kill a chicken for dinner tonight”—made Sun Bin’s face turn deathly pale.
He weakly tried to struggle a bit more, but the streamers had already begun solemnly discussing another key point: “The most important thing—don’t forget. We absolutely have to keep this from Cui Yu!”
“Keep what from me?” A cold, hoarse male voice suddenly rang out.
“…………”
The entire great hall fell abruptly silent.
The veteran players all turned their heads. With just one glance, their souls nearly left their bodies—they were so frightened they almost died on the spot.
—It was Cui Yu!
The streamers had been arguing so loudly that not a single person noticed the palace doors had opened long ago. Cui Yu and many other destined officials were standing by the entrance. They had returned two hours earlier than usual!
Jian Yuntai turned back in surprise as well.
Wasn’t official business supposed to end at noon? It was only ten in the morning—how had they all gotten off work early?
When he came back to his senses, his heart skipped a beat. As if throwing away a hot potato, he quickly let go of Sun Bin’s loosened inner robe.
Damn it! Jian Yuntai cursed inwardly. There was clearly nothing going on—so why did he feel inexplicably guilty?!
The hall was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.
It was as if the entire scene had frozen. Everyone stared at Jian Yuntai in fear, then shifted even more wary and terrified gazes toward Cui Yu. Back and forth between the two of them, over and over. Quite a few people sucked in sharp breaths, their vision dimming in waves.
In the suffocating atmosphere, Cui Yu fixed his gaze on Jian Yuntai—and on the disheveled Sun Bin beneath him.
It was as though a jar of aged vinegar had been overturned. Cui Yu’s pale eyes darkened abruptly, storm clouds gathering within them. When he spoke, his voice carried a trace of suppressed anger, each word enunciated clearly and deliberately.
“You… what are you doing?”
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