"No need," Yu Yaqing replied coldly, lowering her head to continue searching for the key.
The gardener, hearing this, didn't leave but instead slowly approached her.
"Stop!" Yu Yaqing suddenly turned around, a steel sword pointing directly at the gardener. "Stop right there! Speak! What do you want to do?!"
"You seem very averse to men." The gardener raised his hands, indicating he had no malicious intent. "Please believe me, I won't hurt you. I just want to save you from here…"
"I don't need you to save me!" Yu Yaqing said coldly. "I'll save myself! You're just a game NPC, what way could you possibly have to save anyone else? I think you're just trying to play tricks to please your Duke master!"
She looked at the gardener with extreme disgust, venting the resentment in her heart. "I won't believe you! You, the Duke, the Inspector, and this damn game are all hateful! You only want to enslave us!"
The gardener looked at her.
After a long silence, he said calmly, "You don't need to be angry. As you said, I am an NPC. I'm here only to tell you a clue."
Yu Yaqing frowned. "What clue?"
The gardener said, "There is more than one key. Some are real, and some are fake."
Yu Yaqing's expression changed slightly…
"Why tell me this?"
"Everyone will receive clues, and everyone's clues are different."
The gardener looked at her. "Your clue is that only one key is real—you can choose to share this clue, but I must remind you that your companions may not share their clues with you."
Yu Yaqing was stunned, lost in thought, not knowing what she was thinking.
The gardener unknowingly walked in front of her.
He looked thin, but only when he stood before her did she realize he was, after all, a man. Men were always taller and stronger than women… He looked down, blocking the light in front of Yu Yaqing, and then leaned over, speaking into her ear:
"The fewer people who clear the game, the richer the rewards. Those who survive can get the rewards of the dead players. If only one bride is left at the end, she can get seven times the reward.
"Oh, of course… I believe you'd rather save your companions than get the rewards, but your companions…
"Do you think if they get the real key, they will be willing to share it with you?"
Yu Yaqing pursed her lips, not speaking.
The gardener sighed quietly, "Are you going to make the same mistake twice? … Back then, you and a group of girls were imprisoned in a cellar. To escape, you tricked your master, wanting a hairpin. Then, you secretly ground the hairpin into a wire, planning to use it to pick the lock on the door, but—
"Your plan failed.
"Because you were too kind. You wanted to take everyone with you, but they betrayed you! Just because you were more favored by the master!
"The days of imprisonment wore down their will, and ridiculous jealousy increased their stupidity! They were informants! They were traitors! They clung to men, lost their self-respect, and even sold out their companions, causing you to miss the opportunity to escape and suffer a beating!…"
"Stop talking!!!"
Yu Yaqing roared!
She grabbed the gardener's collar!
"Why do you know all this?!"
"I don't know…" The gardener looked calmly into her eyes. "The moment I saw you, this information entered my brain automatically. Perhaps this is the game's arrangement, to test you."
Yu Yaqing pushed him away angrily!
The corners of the gardener's mouth curled into an almost imperceptible smile. His body leaned back from the force, and he crashed into the display cabinet behind him.
Clang!—
A small, exquisite box fell from the top of the cabinet, the lid breaking open upon impact!
The key inside also fell out!
Yu Yaqing was stunned.
After a long while, she bent down, picked it up, and looked at the key in her hand.
The gardener smiled and said, "Congratulations, the key you found is the real one."