Gu Chi now believed Cui Sili.

Just because she died doesn't mean she can't give players tasks.

Gu Chi took a photo of Ling Mao's masterpiece with his phone and sent it to Dr. Chen.

Dr. Chen: "?"

After two seconds.

Dr. Chen: "9."

Gu Chi: "Have you found anything over there?"

Dr. Chen: "No. I haven't seen anything important."

Translated—Yes, and there is a major discovery. Dr. Chen is still in the Withered Zone, so his words need to be read in reverse. In other words, they are making a two-pronged attack, with Evelyn and Cui Sili both in action. Gu Chi was in a good mood. With the final goal in mind, the end of the level was not far away.

When Gu Chi left Daisy's house, it was already dark. It had never been bright. Most of the afternoon was spent taking photos of Cui Sili's paintings, in addition to the family portrait put together by Ling Mao, Gu Chi didn't miss any of the other paintings. Especially the "flyer."

Even the works of Cui Sili when she was young and positive, Gu Chi also took photos to confirm that nothing was missed, then said goodbye to Daisy and Ling Mao, ending today's task. The two did not go to the Withered Zone again, but headed towards the Spirit Realm and Andrew's hotel. On the way, Ling Mao looked at Gu Chi eagerly, almost writing "seeking praise" on her face.

Gu Chi asked knowingly, "What's up?"

Ling Mao pouted, "Don't you want to praise me?"

This was one of her few shining moments since becoming a player. Although Ling Mao knew that even if she continued to be foolish, Gu Chi would eventually discover the problem with the painting, it didn't change the fact that she had suddenly become smart!

Gu Chi said, "I just praised you in my heart."

Ling Mao: "I don't believe it!"

Gu Chi: "Really, you know I never lie."

Yeah right! Ling Mao didn't believe it. "Then I didn't hear it, it doesn't count, unless you say the words you just praised me with again."

Gu Chi: "6."

Ling Mao: "?"

"Is that it?"

"Yes."

Gu Chi showed the phone to the girl. "Dr. Chen also praised you like this."

Ling Mao: "..." They really are like brothers, so straightforward.

"Can't you praise me a little more?" Ling Mao looked at Gu Chi with watery eyes and coquettishly said, "Use a few more words, make it longer."

Gu Chi thought for a moment. "A few more words won't work, but making it longer is fine."

Ling Mao: "Huh?" How can you make it longer with fewer words?

Gu Chi: "Nice———"

Ling Mao: "..." I think you're even nicer. Ling Mao was full of resentment.

Gu Chi stopped teasing her. "I'll buy you something delicious as a reward."

Ling Mao's eyes lit up again. "What delicious thing?"

Gu Chi: "Just stay here and don't move." After that, he went into the nearby bakery and came out with a long, thick stick.

Ling Mao exclaimed, "French baguette!"

Gu Chi: "No, it's a Creepy Baron stick."

Ling Mao eagerly took the stick that Gu Chi handed her. It was hard and still warm. A freshly baked baguette was the most fragrant.

Ling Mao asked happily, "What's the difference between French and Creepy Baron?"

Gu Chi: "You'll know when you take a bite."

"Really?" Ling Mao held the stick in front of her eyes, looked left and right, then found the right angle and took a bite.

Her eyes widened suddenly. This baguette actually had a creamy filling! Her mouth was instantly filled with rich cocoa-flavored cream. They say that desserts can increase a person's sense of happiness, and Ling Mao's experience at this moment was particularly profound. Especially since the sweet stick was given by Gu Chi. Ling Mao took another bite, her eyes curved, almost overflowing with satisfaction.

She tried hard to swallow it and curiously asked Gu Chi, "How did you know that the bread from this shop is delicious?"

They hadn't eaten bread in the past few days in the instance, had they?

Gu Chi went back into the shop, leaving behind a sentence, "Now you know, right?"

Ling Mao: "???"

So this guy was using her as a guinea pig? Despicable, but... it really is delicious, sniff.

Night came.

Dr. Chen and Huang Ya returned from the blooming manor. Today's dinner was various types of bread and pastries, which was also a taste of the unique cuisine of the Creepy City. After all, in reality, French baguettes don't usually have a creamy filling.

"The taste of this stick is really good... Come, take a look at this." Dr. Chen took a bite of the baguette and took out a light green lady's underwear from his bag.

Gu Chi: "?"

Ling Mao: "?"

Only Huang Ya was not surprised.

"Don't look at me with that kind of look, look at this." Dr. Chen said.

Gu Chi: "Is this what Tian Tian wore?"

Dr. Chen: "?"

How could Tian Tian wear this kind of style? The color is not the color Tian Tian likes. Leaving the color aside, the style of this underwear is very avant-garde and bold. In simple terms, it's two-thirds less than normal underwear—two-thirds less horizontally, and the fabric is extremely thin, and it's lace with hollow patterns. Basically, wearing it is the same as not wearing it.

Gu Chi stared for a while, and a line of small characters jumped out in front of his eyes.

【Underwear Lock (Magic Type): Use it under the underwear to set a magic lock】

Gu Chi suddenly understood Dr. Chen's meaning. "This is Evelyn's Creepy Baron's personal item?"

Dr. Chen nodded. The underwear lock is a game item in the Pure Land Mall. It appeared in Evelyn's closet, which can only mean that Evelyn is also a player.

"That's not the point." Dr. Chen said.

Gu Chi continued, "The point is the version of the underwear lock."

Ling Mao was slightly stunned. "What do you mean?"

Gu Chi asked her, "Do you remember the update announcement for version 0.20 last week?"

Ling Mao: "I remember, the underwear lock was one of the new items added."

"No, no, no," Gu Chi corrected, "What's being put on the shelves is the underwear lock, not the magic version of the underwear lock." Along with the underwear lock, there was also a colorful version of the bamboo dragonfly - the word "colorful version" was marked, but not on the underwear lock. This means that the underwear lock in front of them is different from the one that was put on the shelves last week.

"According to normal logic, there should be an original version first, then an upgraded version and other fancy versions."

When you're just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Gu Chi carefully chose his words and said, "This should be something from the future of our real world - or the future version of the Pure Land game's mall item."

"But wouldn't this timeline be contradictory?" Ling Mao said, "If Evelyn is a player from the future, then she should have entered the game after us, right? Can she jump the queue?"

Gu Chi looked at the experienced player, Dr. Chen.

Dr. Chen denied, "No."

According to the rules of the Pure Land game, only if they fail to conquer a copy, will it enter the game library and open the game rights to other players - similarly, after Evelyn fails, this copy should also enter the game library and not appear in the summoning mode. If the conquest is successful, the copy will not even enter the game library, it will just disappear. From this, it can be seen that the time when Evelyn failed to conquer must be after theirs. Unless Evelyn and they entered different copies, but just happened to be the same map. But this still doesn't make sense - if Evelyn is really a player from the future, then her personal items should not appear in the present, no matter what.

There is only the theory of the past affecting the future, how can the future affect the present?

"If this underwear lock cannot be obtained through other means outside the store, the only reasonable explanation I can think of is that the future Evelyn returned to the past and entered a copy related to ours before us - it can't be the same copy," Gu Chi said, "Otherwise, the copy we are currently in wouldn't exist."

Dr. Chen: "......"

Ling Mao: "......"

Huang Ya: "......"

"Evelyn from the future returned to the past?" Ling Mao asked weakly, "Is that really reasonable?"

"Of course it is. What if there are time reversal props in the future?" Gu Chi said, "To be more reasonable, it might be the past Evelyn going to the future, buying something, then returning to the past and entering the instance."

Everyone: "......"

Dr. Chen complained, "The more you say, the more absurd it gets."

"Don't forget that our real-time is jumping," Gu Chi said, "Assuming the 'eye' exists in reality, the second possibility of repeated jumping is even greater than the first."

With the abilities currently displayed by the "eye," Gu Chi had no doubt that he could send someone to the future, travel around, buy some souvenirs, and then come back.

"Wait a minute," Dr. Chen was puzzled, "What is this 'eye' thing?"

Gu Chi glanced at Ling Mao, and Ling Mao immediately understood, and briefly explained the content of the instance of "The Eye of Time and Space."

"But didn't you guys succeed in conquering it?" Huang Ya was confused, "Can the 'eye' travel here on its own?"

Gu Chi: "That's in line with the name of the game, isn't it?"

Dr. Chen was dumbfounded, "So this is your doing?"

Not to mention the various accidents and disasters caused by time jumping in the real world, from the perspective of lifespan alone, everyone would lose 2/7 of their time. Currently, the birth rates in the vast majority of countries around the world are continuously declining, and with this wave, it's like a slow-motion apocalypse. Dr. Chen was still thinking at the time whether someone had deliberately released a big boss to cause trouble, but it turns out that the culprit was right next to me?

Gu Chi looked innocent, "You can't blame us. There is more than one City of T-Spooky. Whether we save it or not, the 'eye' still exists." After all, the mission of "The Eye of Time and Space" was for them to find the "eye," not to save it.

"Let's forget about this and discuss this issue when we get back," Dr. Chen rubbed his slightly feverish head, "Let's clear this instance first."

Ling Mao whispered, "Then you should put this thing away quickly."

It feels strange to have an underwear lock on the table while eating and chatting. Dr. Chen really didn't want to put it away. What's the matter with a big man carrying an underwear lock in his bag? But when he thought that he had a friend named Tian Tian who seemed to be short of money, Dr. Chen felt relieved. After all, it's a prop. If it's not needed, it can be sold. It's not a loss to have it!

Gu Chi casually picked up a piece of bread and took a bite, saying, "Let's talk about other clues."

Dr. Chen took out a silver greatsword. The sword was embossed with a pattern, and the hilt was simple and majestic, but for some reason, it lost its luster, like it was covered in dust and dim, and couldn't be cleaned, only the tip of the sword was slightly bright. This was the major discovery that Dr. Chen was talking about.

【The Murky Judgment: Can resonate with the Source of Distortion, giving you endless power, but unfortunately, darkness breeds, and light is no more, it has lost the ability to wield justice】

"Without any surprises, this is the sword that Evelyn cursed at," Dr. Chen said, "It's also the reason she was so powerful."

This sword is now ineffective, but in Evelyn's time, it should be usable.

"Does darkness refer to the Weird Rules?" Ling Mao's brain was squeezed dry again, "Without this sword, we can't kill the Weird Rules, but to restore the effect of this sword, we have to kill the Weird Rules first?"

Isn't this a dead end?

Meow meow meow?

Gu Chi looked at the girl with a heartache, feeling that this child was probably beyond saving.

Evelyn's goal is the same as theirs, to kill the Weird Rules, which means that the Weird Rules have always existed. If Evelyn unsealed this sword at that time, wouldn't it just indicate whether it was effective or not, regardless of the Weird Rules?

In addition to referring to the Weird Rules, darkness also refers to something else."Shadows," Gu Chi said as he took the greatsword, his palm gliding over the blade and pausing at the gleaming tip, "We've dealt with a shadow before, Huang Ya has too, and other players attending the ball probably have as well, so it has regained a bit of its luster."

So as long as all the shadows in the City of Intrigue were cleared, this sword could shine once more.

"I and Huang Ya think so too," Dr. Chen said.

Huang Ya nodded. She and Dr. Chen had discussed this briefly when they saw the sword in the afternoon; it was the most reliable answer they had.

"Any other findings?" Gu Chi asked.

"Yes," Dr. Chen replied, "The remaining two areas—the Weird Rules of the Statue Zone require one to be in a state of semi-consciousness, and in the Weathered Zone, one cannot walk upright."

These Weird Rules came from the map in Evelyn's study, which only had simple annotations. The rule for the Weathered Zone was easy to understand; bending at the waist should suffice. The Statue Zone's requirement to "remain semi-conscious" was more abstract. Before returning, Dr. Chen and Huang Ya made a point of visiting the border between the Statue Zone and the Withered Zone. There were many tobacco and liquor stores there; the type of tobacco was unclear, but the liquor was definitely strong, at least in terms of alcohol content. Almost every passerby in the area had a bottle in hand, staggering as they walked, as if a gust of wind could knock them over. The Statue Zone was where the most entertainment venues in the City of Intrigue were concentrated and also where the highest rates of crime and death occurred. If one didn't manage to have a drink soon after waking up the next day, they would end up like the statues of Evelyn, turned into stone figures in various poses.

"Additionally, there's another important place," Dr. Chen revealed the last piece of information, "Evelyn's mansion is cleaned regularly, but the cleaners don't seem to care much, as there's dust on many cabinets, and the traces of dust are uneven."

Ling Mao was taken aback, "Did players enter the mansion before us?"

Gu Chi pondered, "Maybe not players, just plain thieves?"

Players could see item information; it made no sense to leave Evelyn's signature greatsword behind. The lingerie lock should have been taken as well.

"Whether it is or isn't, the conclusion won't change," Dr. Chen said, "The clues Huang Ya and I found may not be all there is about Evelyn."

"That's okay," Gu Chi said, "We can clear the shadows while searching."

This would be a good opportunity to double-check if Cui Sili was a key NPC. The remaining two areas also needed to be visited to unlock the worldview and achievement conditions. Gu Chi was no longer in a hurry to achieve the Blood Mist Zone; after all, to defeat the Weird Rules, if it really came down to it, he could just go back and shout it out when the task was nearly complete.

"Let's settle on that then."

"Tomorrow, the Statue Zone, let's start grinding!"

The night outside the window was enticing.

Not long after dinner, while Gu Chi was in the bathroom taking a shower and Ling Mao was fantasizing about whether she would be tied up tonight, listening to the sound of water, the once-visited Blooming Manor welcomed two new guests.