Four Split Personalities

This is a regrettable accident...

Although Hei Fan did not specifically ask the knight to check on Qiu, it wasn’t because he didn’t care or had forgotten about the other player. He knew that Qiu was a player, just like himself. Thus, he didn’t think too much of it. After all, they were both playing the game, and there was no reason to expect the other to accompany oneself in any specific way. If they wanted to communicate, they could always exchange information via friend messages. Therefore, with the premise of "though far apart, friends are close at heart," there naturally was no need for the kind of comprehensive interaction one might have with an NPC.

If Qiu were not a player, but just an NPC girl, Motan would probably have asked the knight to visit Hover City and inquire about her situation and future plans. But Qiu was not an NPC; she was a player friend who could chat anytime, regardless of distance, or one could say, a little sister. And due to a misjudgment of Qiu’s true character, Motan didn’t consider it thoroughly.

Of course, Qiu herself was not a capricious child. After all, she did send several friend messages to her brother Hei Fan after the battle and received no replies. Regarding this, we can indeed attribute the fault to Motan, although not without reason...

Because after the Dirge of Souls campaign had ended completely, Motan received too many friend messages. Bear in mind that with the suicide squad nearly wiped out, the vast majority of players had perished. Those who were desperate to know what would happen next or eager to vent their excitement bombarded him with messages, asking for confirmation or expressing their emotions. During that time, due to leadership needs, Motan’s friends list was crammed with over a hundred players. You can imagine how chaotic and impressive his message list became after the news of victory spread through various channels.

And Qiu’s slightly coquettish messages, sent after the mutants’ numbers had dropped to zero, were undoubtedly drowned in this sea of messages. Motan, who had not replied to the vast majority, naturally did not respond to her. Not to mention replying, he simply didn’t see them.

We could say that Hei Fan was deluded by infatuation and didn’t prioritize any players except for ’Morning Forgotten Language’, but that was also understandable. After all, although he had a good rapport with Qiu, to Motan, she was just a endearing game friend, and a very sensible little sister at that. Plus, his friends list at the time consisted only of Double Leaf and a bunch of new friends from the real world—hardly anyone at all—so not prioritizing others was within reason.

Qiu, on the other hand, defined her brother Hei Fan as the first big brother who could truly play well with her (including in reality) and whom she could rely on. Thus, naturally, her feeling towards him differed.

And we cannot expect a child to be wholly rational, logical, or reasonable.

Thus, this tragedy that was enough to make the whole world sigh with regret unfolded unavoidably.

Qiu suffered a certain degree of psychological shock, and there and then, she murdered the knight who had gone to deliver a message to Gahares on behalf of Yu Chen.

And until now, neither Yu Chen nor Motan knew that Gahares was not an NPC either.

...

"A knight was attacked here, and the murderer is likely the evil spirit you sensed before, master. Judging by the state of these bone weapons, the person couldn’t have left long ago. If I go now, I might still have a chance to catch up."

Tai Shang briefly reported his findings to Guxiaole. To be precise, he reported to a paper effigy connected to Guxiaole, who was currently comforting the dead in the city of Sawa, very far from where they were.

"Wait a moment..."

The paper effigy spoke seriously, then hopped and skipped its way over to the site where the hundreds of crimson Bone Spears were located. It circled twice and begrudgingly squeezed close to the corpse of the Holy Knight at the center, paused for a while in silence, and then shook its head, saying, "Return immediately, do not attempt to track down the murderer."

Tai Shang was taken aback, his somewhat pale body frowning slightly, "But master..."

"No buts, the difference in strength is too great, we are not at the same level as our adversary."

Guxiaole interrupted her nineteenth husband in a tone that brooked no argument, speaking gravely, "If it were in my original world, it would be manageable. Even with a monster of this level, I could come up with a solution, and if I couldn’t overpower it, I could get someone to capture that monster. But not in this world, where the opponent’s power far exceeds ours. With Cole and Captain Boba gone, there’s no one in Misha County capable of dealing with that monster. If you pursue now, the only outcome is for your soul to be vanquished, and don’t forget, the adversary may also wield the power of ’Spirit’. In the worst-case scenario, you could be ’annihilated’, and even I, as a Master, wouldn’t be able to resurrect you. Understand?"

Tai Shang, a man of strong justice, clenched his teeth and nodded in submission, then said in a low voice, "But master, are we just going to let him go? If this disaster recurs, this place might..."

"The living will suffer untold miseries."

Guxiaole sighed and shook her head, "I know, but being unable to fight means just that. That’s why I’m planning to stay here for a while, keeping an eye on things. If necessary, I’ll seek help anonymously from some expert of the Holy Church Union. If the official routes don’t work out, I’ll go through Tan Jiang; he’s pretty close with that super wave Saintess, after all. He should be able to get some experts over here. Also, once you’ve fully regained your strength, you might be able to tail them unnoticed. Then we could conduct a thorough investigation if we wish. For now, the best we can do is this."