"Oh? You have two minutes left," He Pu said after hearing You Qiwen’s answer, his interest waning.
"Two minutes is probably not enough," Xu Huo said. "I could wrap it up in a sentence or two, but that would be no fun. You prepared this music concert to amuse yourself, right? I also think it’s too dull to just pass the level without any fun, so why don’t we have a good chat? Who knows, if we have a nice talk, I might even help you out."
He Pu glanced at Mr. Dong before saying, "I can give you that time, but if I’m not satisfied with the outcome, I’ll turn you into a doll while you’re still alive."
Xu Huo, unfazed by the threat, turned to Mr. Dong and said, "Please tidy up the tea room and bring some snacks; nobody had much to eat just now."
"Vegetarian is fine," he added.
He Pu nodded at Mr. Dong, "Fulfill your duties as the butler."
Mr. Dong left without a word.
As He Pu was about to leave, Flay suddenly said, "If we’re going to chat, then everyone should come out and chat. It’s not quite right to be missing someone."
He said this while pulling out the contract they had signed earlier, pointing at several signatures on it.
From this distance, the players could see clearly that the signatures of the dead Fang Min and the missing Li Chao had disappeared, but the signature of the likewise missing Yu Shuai remained.
"I almost forgot about him," He Pu turned around, touched his baton to the wall, and a ripple spread rapidly through the room. Accompanied by a sharp, piercing sound, the thud of something heavy hitting the floor came from the direction of the stage. When everyone turned, they saw Yu Shuai kneeling on the ground, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"You’re not dead...!" Liu Zhengping blurted out, but before he could finish, all players, except Flay, received a notification that their first task had been completed.
"Calm down!" You Qiwen was the first to speak, drawing everyone’s attention, and looked at Xu Huo with a complicated gaze, "It’s nothing unusual for a player to have one or two life-saving tricks."
The other players tacitly remained silent, but Xu Huo, relishing in Yu Shuai’s misfortune, said, "You really are unlucky."
Yu Shuai, with fresh wounds atop old ones, was not to be outdone, "What are you happy about? I haven’t found the corpse yet."
"You won’t find it thinking like that. Let’s go downstairs," Xu Huo replied, turning.
The tea room was on the first floor. When the players went downstairs, the snacks and tea had already been arranged. Other servants seemed completely unaware of the commotion upstairs, with not one coming out. Mr. Dong stood inconspicuously in a corner, and what secretly relieved You Qiwen and the others was that He Pu hadn’t released Hu Shan; otherwise, their earlier efforts would have been in vain.
Although they weren’t necessarily a match for He Pu, it was better to have one less formidable enemy.
Moreover, if Xu Huo was correct about the truth, they wouldn’t have to risk their lives at all.
"Are you really confident?" The Chen Brothers, who had been guarding the mirror, couldn’t help but ask.
Xu Huo didn’t answer the question but instead sat opposite He Pu and began to relay his conjectured truth.
"First of all, You Qiwen was partly correct about one part of the truth; you are indeed not He Pu."
"Judging from the signs of life in this castle, He Pu was a true scholar five years ago, passionate about art and engrossed in medicine. From the texts he left behind, this person appeared open-minded and at the same time very humble, not one to be vain or boastful."
"But you are different," he raised his eyes to look at the man opposite him, "Narcissistic, arrogant, fond of showing off. The way you eat, dress, and even the nice things in the room upstairs, you want to show them all off."
"Furthermore, though you claim to love music, you lack basic appreciation and can’t even play an instrument, while the real He Pu had a baron’s title and social connections. Simply wearing a disguise wouldn’t fool anyone; thus, pretending to be ill was your only option. In short, you’re a hollow, inferior imposter with not much skill."
Listening to Xu Huo’s insults was quite satisfying, but seeing He Pu’s face darken, Yu Shuai couldn’t help saying, "When you talk, can you not include so many personal attacks?"
"Having fun," Xu Huo countered with three words that silenced everyone, took a sip of tea, and continued, "That’s why I think it’s unlikely for someone like you to be the owner of the Rose Castle instance."
"He’s not the instance boss?" You Qiwen was astonished, "If he’s not, then who is?"
"Mr. Dong," Xu Huo provided the answer, "Although at first glance, the owner of the castle seems more likely to be the instance owner, the current He Pu is not the real He Pu, but a newcomer. Thus, it wouldn’t be strange for Mr. Dong, who has been around longer, to become the instance master."
"That doesn’t seem right," Flay interjected at this point, "The Rose Castle instance only started five years ago; that can’t be the basis for your guess. You’re just speculating."
"It wouldn’t stand to reason if we looked at cause and effect, but if we reason backwards from the result, it’s easier to understand," Xu Huo said. "Because Mr. Dong is the instance owner, that’s why He Pu can disappear both guests and corpses from the castle at will, without leaving any way for the players to survive, which violates the rules of game instances."
"Not all players abide by instance rules. If he’s determined to act this way without regard for consequences, that’s barely a reason, but unfortunately, that reason doesn’t hold."
"Why doesn’t it hold?" Liu Zhengping asked subconsciously.
"Because of time," You Qiwen said. "The Rose Castle instance has been around for five years, near the Zone 011 Game Government Base, and it’s a fixed location instance. The game would certainly manage the instance owner. Instance bosses might exploit game loopholes to kill people, but they can’t completely ignore the rules set by the game."
"As you said, I’m neither the castle’s owner nor the instance owner. If I’ve impersonated He Pu, then where is the original He Pu?" He Pu spoke up at this moment, "If I killed him, why would Mr. Dong still listen to me?"
The other players also had this question. When You Qiwen earlier exposed He Pu as an imposter, Mr. Dong didn’t seem surprised, clearly aware of this fact long ago. Thus, for him to coexist peacefully with the false He Pu, it’s uncertain whether they had a tacit understanding or he just didn’t care about the real He Pu’s life or death.
"The real He Pu should be dead, whether or not you killed him is hard to say," Xu Huo said. "But it isn’t difficult to keep Mr. Dong from harming you, you could blackmail him with He Pu’s life or corpse."
"Assuming what you said is correct, is that the truth?" He Pu asked, slightly lowering his head but shifting his eyes upward to look at Xu Huo from a lower angle, "You’re just repeating what others have said."
"Before the concert started, I thought uncovering your false identity was enough, but the game doesn’t recognize that truth; apparently, it wants to know something else," Xu Huo interlaced his fingers, tapping his right index finger on the back of his other hand, "Besides you not being the instance owner, it must be about your identity."