...No, it can’t be considered a body, because this person is still breathing.
However, this person’s condition is no different from being dead; his arm has been torn off halfway, revealing stark white bones and torn muscle tissue. His liver, crushed to mush, lies on the ground, intestines intertwined—it’s as if someone brutally ripped out these organs, leaving his belly open on the ground.
His life force is incredibly tenacious to have survived in such a state.
...But this looks worse than death. To be alive is nothing short of torture, akin to being bisected at the waist and having your organs pulled out. The pain is not something ordinary people can bear.
Su Ming’an examined him closely and noticed the man had brilliant blond hair and blood-soaked clothes, their color indistinguishable.
He squatted down to search the man’s clothes and suddenly saw the distinctly noticeable golden brooch and top hat.
A cane adorned with a blue rose lay beside him in a pool of blood.
Recognizing the familiar-looking cane, Su Ming’an’s heart skipped a beat.
The viewers in the live broadcast room already had an inkling upon seeing the man’s blood-stained clothes, which seemed more and more familiar.
[Could this be... Oh my god...]
[How could he die here? It shouldn’t be , how could he...]
Not just them, Su Ming’an himself was also taken aback.
...That can’t be right.
With this man’s level of acuity and wisdom, how could he have fallen to such a state on the third day of the competition...?
He quickly reached out to turn the man over.
As Su Ming’an turned him over, his own hand was stained with blood.
Perhaps due to pulling on his organs, the man gave a broken plea, his voice filled with agony. He reached out with a hand covered in a white glove now stained with dark blood. His lips parted slightly, and of his blue eyes, only one remained; even his facial skin had been mercilessly torn off, exposing raw red muscle tissue and running blood.
Who could have done something so cruel to him, practically flaying and drawing his bones while he was still alive?
"Noel?" Su Ming’an recognized the agony in his eyes.
"I..." Noel was barely able to produce a sound, with injuries even on his throat that looked as if someone had viciously scraped off a layer of skin.
His hand clutched Su Ming’an’s wrist, showing his ghastly pale skeleton, with the little finger completely missing, as if forcibly torn off.
The light from the watch cast a faint glow on his face, revealing to Su Ming’an a visage nearly destroyed.
Looking at him, it seemed Noel had no strength left even to respond.
Su Ming’an remained silent for a moment, not immediately providing aid. Instead, he rolled up Noel’s sleeve and carefully inspected it.
On his arm, the traces of two silver stars shone faintly, their authenticity uncertain.
Just then, an unexpected voice came from behind.
"—Adventurer, my mistress invites you to the guest room for tea."
Su Ming’an turned to see a female guard with a ponytail standing atop the stone steps. This was the guard of the Sacrificial Saintess Zhou Lili.
Su Ming’an replied and stood up.
Behind him, Noel’s plea for help continued, but Su Ming’an paid no heed and stepped over the bloody ground, ascending the stone steps to follow the guard to Zhou Lili’s room, leaving behind the deep darkness.
They took a secret passage here. After several turns, Su Ming’an saw a brightly lit, exquisite room.
Zhou Lili, as beautiful as a goddess, sat on a soft sofa brewing tea.
The fragrance of tea carried warmth throughout the room. She smiled, her cream-white dress trailing on the floor, her skin still translucent under the light.
"You may leave," she said to the female guard.
After the guard curtsied and departed, only the two of them remained in the room.
"Try the temperature?" Zhou Lili offered the tea to him.
Su Ming’an’s fingers brushed the teacup; the liquid felt somewhat cool.
"Is it too cold? Drink it anyway," Zhou Lili said with a smile, sensing his reluctance. "I remember, in days past, I also offered tea to a guest who disliked the cold. But, being under someone’s roof, he had to bow his head and drink the tea."
Listening to her words, Su Ming’an suddenly took the tea.
He had grasped her implication.
Without hesitation, he emptied the tea in the cup in one gulp.
[You have consumed the prop (Information Red Tea)]
[Information Tea: Player Noel’s crafted information red tea. Upon drinking, you will understand the information passed by the other party.]
[Noel Information: The First Tribe is under surveillance; I cannot communicate with you openly. My Guide is the Sacrificial Saintess Zhou Lili.]
In front of him, the beautiful Saintess brewed another pot of tea, the fragrance pervading the air.
Su Ming’an drank a second cup.
[Noel Information: She insists on dying as a sacrifice during the succession ceremony, even trying to lure me into dying with her.]
[Noel Information: So... I swapped identities with her.]
Seeing this message, Su Ming’an found it unsurprising.
What Noel just mentioned, the cold-fearing person who had to forcefully drink the tea, wasn’t that Su Ming’an himself when he once disguised as Qin Wang?
[...In days past, I also offered tea to a guest who disliked the cold.]
Noel’s words were hinting at his identity through previous instance’s plot, using actions once taken by Hui Shuhang from the Fifth World to signal to him.
He understood the hint clearly.
[...But, being under someone’s roof, he had to bow his head and drink the tea.]
Even more so, Noel’s statement also fabricated a "threatening" tone, holding a completely different dual meaning, so that the surveillance would not perceive it as passing information, only as a threat to Su Ming’an.
The hint was truly cunning. Not even the live stream’s viewers understood it.
Su Ming’an’s eyes lifted, gazing at this white-dressed "girl" who was making tea, supremely dignified and beautiful, even captivating Yamada Machiichi just moments ago. He suddenly felt,
In this instance, Noel had sacrificed far too much...