Chapter 49: Finding the Truthsayer
The next seven days, Xing Ye immersed himself in his work, not stopping for rest or sleep.
He always had to be keeping busy with something. He couldn't let his mind be still.
Xing Shuo's body had still yet to be cremated. It was like as long as Xing Ye stubbornly refused to hold a funeral, Xing Shuo could someday come back to life.
In those seven days, Xing Ye couldn't remember if he had slept or not. He seemed to lose consciousness for a few minutes just as he was about to sit at his desk, but quickly woke up before going back to work.
He forced himself to recall the QR codes in the game world and drew out Peaceful Spirit's Tune. He tried to scan it in the real world, but only received a 'this link has already expired' message. It seems like it can only be used in game.
Seven days later, at 1:30 AM, Xing Ye was sucked back into the game world.
The little mirror was still on the bookshelf in the system space, with the two books.
Seeing the little mirror, Xing Ye cracked open his first smile in seven days.
It was fortunate Lu Mingze still had hope. Otherwise, he really didn't know what the meaning was in continuing to press on in this game.
The mirror's surface glowed when he opened it up. Lu Mingze's happy voice chirped out, "It's been seven days already, I haven't moved at all, my back's about to break."
"You still have a back?" Xing Ye teased him, pretending nothing happened.
"My imaginary back's about to break, okay?" As always, the little mirror acted spoiled. Suddenly, he realised Xing Ye looked off, "Did something happen? Your face looks really haggard today, and you have a stubble, it looks so ugly."
Xing Ye paused for a moment before forcing a smile, "Work's just been busy lately."
"Liar," The little mirror said unhappily, "You're just like my dad. It's obvious that it hurts enough to cry, but you guys insist on pretending to be all big and strong."
Xing Ye thought back to when he visited Lu Dong earlier. His face was clearly haggard and he was even swaying as he walked, but he still put on a front of "I can do it, I can endure it all."
So that's how I look right now...
Xing Ye rubbed his face, his voice a little weak as he spoke to the mirror. "I really am tired, let me lean on you."
"Lean on me... where would you lean on me? Maybe if I was a full-length body mirror- ah! Don't!"
The little mirror started to panic when he saw Xing Ye's head getting closer and closer. He was just a little cosmetic mirror, so a huge face looming over him was very frightening.
In reality, Xing Ye's forehead was only pressing against the little mirror's surface, as if just touching the little mirror could give him strength. After all, he was his only acquaintance who understood him.
Xing Ye leaned on him for around five minutes, seeming to have fallen asleep. When he raised his head, his eyes were still a bit hazy.
"What a beautiful show of a master's love." The black and white rubix cube made a clapping sound.
"It's a show of friendship, brothership. Lu Mingze's just trapped in the mirror right now, he's still a human." Xing Ye corrected it in annoyance.
The little mirror was initially furious and hurt by the words 'master's love' but calmed down after hearing Xing Ye's words, feeling much happier.
With how capable Xing Ye was, why was he sad and forlorn earlier? The little mirror thought curiously.
But by now, Xing Ye's spirits were already recovered, as if leaning on the little mirror for five minutes was really enough to recover his strength. He rubbed his chin and said, "Too bad there's no razer here. Well, I should get a new body in the next world, so it's probably fine."
"It looks like you're prepared to enter the next world now," The black and white rubix said, "Aren't I considerate? I even gave you time to warm up."
Xing Ye was already used to the system's malice and ridicule.
The black and white rubix cube whirled, "Please wait a moment: currently generating a world and the number of players."
The rubix cube continued to spin, soon creating a QR code. When Xing Ye scanned it with his phone, he got a display showing information about the next world:
Game Type: Find the Truthsayer
Player Role: Ordinary Citizen
Number of Players: 5 from the following fate camp, 3 from the opposing fate camp
Victory Condition: Search through the entire city to find the resident that speaks the truth and help make the resident's wish come true to win. Whether you work together or not, as long as you put in effort to help the resident's wish come true, you will win. It's up to the truthsayer to decide whether you put in effort or not.
Rewards and Penalties: Winning players will be given a random number of points and the opportunity to draw a special QR code. Losing players will be deducted 50% of their points.
Xing Ye: "..."
What did it mean, a random number of points? There's not even a minimum guarantee of a hundred points?
The black and white rubix cube seemed to know what Xing Ye was thinking and explained, "The last world had a guarantee to at least win a hundred points, allowing the players the chance to at least use their starting abilities twice. The players in this world can win a very large amount of points, but there's also the chance that you'd earn nothing at all. It all depends on your luck~"
The 8600 point rich Xing Ye didn't care at all. He contacted Cao Qian with his phone, making sure she was already prepared before grasping the little mirror in his palm and speaking to the black and white rubix cube, "Let's enter the new world."
A familiar sense of dizziness overtook him. When Xing Ye woke up, the world was pitch-black and smelled of rotting wood. On rainy days at the factories in the south, it would sometimes smell like this.
He tried moving his body and heard sounds of 'clatter' 'clatter'.
Where was the sound coming from?
Xing Ye felt like his arm was very heavy and lifting it was very difficult. When he used all his strength to move his body, the clattering sounds became even louder.
Xing Ye felt like his body was too weak to move and used all his strength to raise a hand. With a 'bang!', something fell to the ground.
What fell? Xing Ye tried moving a finger, wanting to find what dropped, but then realised he couldn't even move his own fingers...
No, it wasn't that he couldn't move his fingers, it was because his whole hand was missing!
As soon as he tried to move, clattering and banging sounds would ring everywhere. The mirror was also nowhere to be found. This was the first time Xing Ye felt like he was useless. Was this how it felt to be unable to control your body?
What was his current situation?
"Is anyone here? Anyone? I need help!" Xing Ye shouted loudly.
His surroundings were dead silent. Even the sounds of breathing and wind could not be heard.
Great, there was nobody here, so he could find the little mirror.
"Little mirror?" Xing Ye asked.
His current voice was completely different from his own voice. It wasn't like Claire's female voice, or the high school pipsqueak Xing Ye's voice, but more like... that sound when you saw into timber. It sounded almost mechanical, but it wasn't in an intelligent robot sort of way either. It actually resembled... those old wind-up toys he used to see when he was younger.
"I'm here." After a while, the mirror's voice sounded in the darkness. It was even very soft, which sounded especially cute.
Thank goodness. When he heard the mirror's voice, an overwhelming feeling of relief surged over him.
"Do you think there's anyone else here?" Xing Ye didn't really trust his own luck and judgement in this darkness so before chatting with the little mirror, he first asked for his thoughts.
"I can't see, but I don't sense anyone. I feel like there's only the two of us here." The little mirror's voice sounded a little panicked.
"
Only then did Xing Ye feel at ease, asking, "I remember I closed the mirror before entering the world, so how are you able to speak? Did you change your body?"
"Yeah. I heard you calling me and it sounded like you needed help, so I used my equipped ability to change my body. I don't know where this is, but it looks like there was a suitable new mirror here I could transfer to... huh? I can move?" The mirror's voice rang with pleasant surprise as he repeated, "I can actually move!"
It could even move? What kind of mirror was this?
"How can you move? How are you moving?" Xing Ye asked.
"There's hands and feet, but moving around feels clumsy. Could I be fat?" After Lu Mingze spoke, Xing Ye heard another series of clangs and clatters.
"Are you alright? What was that noise?" In the darkness, Xing Ye could only use the sound to tell the direction.
"Wait a moment, I think I knocked into a wall or something. My body seems both flat and wide, with a very round belly. My god, do I have a beer belly?" Lu Mingze sounded like he was about to cry.
Xing Ye found he couldn't bear hearing the mirror cry and hurried to comfort him, "In the week I was in the real world, I paid a visit to your father and saw your body. You're still alive."
"Really?" The mirror asked happily.
"Yeah, your body wasn't possessed by some lonely ghost or anything. You're currently in a vegetative state. There's a specialist that massages you, helps you exercise, and get sunlight. It's been around a month, but your body's still healthy and as shockingly handsome as ever. Uncle Lu said that no matter how long you sleep, whether it's ten years, twenty years, or even after he passes away, there will be an institution set up for you, with lawyers hired to find people to take care of you until the day you wake up. So don't worry, once I find a way to bring you back to the real world, you'll wake up. I have some photos and stuff saved on my phone, I'll show you when we get the chance later." Xing Ye told the situation to the mirror.
But the mirror was no longer happy, his voice downcast. "My parents must feel horrible, sob..."
Xing Ye hid the news about how his mother had to be wheeled into surgery for heart disease, "I didn't see your mother, but your dad's just as you said. Although he feels terrible, he straightens his spine and doesn't give up. Don't worry, as long as there's hope, people will never fall. They are very strong."
He didn't try to fool the little mirror or say groundless lies like how his parents were happy and healthy. Instead, he told the mirror that it was fine and to trust the parents who raised him to be so outstanding.
Although the mirror was still sad, he perked up a little bit after hearing Xing Ye's words and worked hard to take a few steps. "Since this is just a temporary body, I'll deal with it. Being able to move is better than just being a mirror. Where exactly are we? There's so much clutter, I'm knocking into something every time I move."
"Be careful." Xing Ye couldn't move and was very worried about the little mirror.
Fortunately, the mirror's luck was pretty good. After stumbling through countless dangers, he finally arrived at Xing Ye's side and reached out to rub him.
Xing Ye found his sense of touch was very dull. He could sense something touching him, but couldn't tell whether it was skin or not.
"Your right hand's gone," The mirror said, startled. "There's nothing below your elbow joint. Your left hand's still there."
The hand Xing Ye had lifted earlier was the right hand. When his fingers disappeared earlier, he had already realized that this body didn't have a left hand.
"What do we do?" The little mirror asked worriedly, "Your ability strongly relies on your right hand."
He was referring to Redrawing Pen. It was pretty smart for the mirror to instantly connect it to his starting skills.
"It's fine, I can write with both hands." Xing Ye said, "My middle school teacher was just too boring, so I started practicing how to write with my left hand and became ambidextrous. Back then, I'd play around and do stuff like writing words with both hands symmetrically. Writing with my left hand isn't any slower than with my right."
"Woah, that good?" The little mirror said in surprise.
He was searching Xing Ye's body as he spoke, trying to find why Xing Ye couldn't move.
The little mirror froze when he touched a certain spot.
Xing Ye asked, "What happened?"
The little mirror whispered, "Xing Ye, I think there's something weird growing on your waist. Your tailbone isn't supposed to protrude this much, right?"