Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

[A Sword to Settle the Universe]: ...Damn, those aren’t city patrol guards, they’re main tanks with a built-in taunt aura! Bro, send your coordinates! You want a few of us to head over?!

[Kill One in Ten Steps]: No need! I want them dead! I want to watch their heads roll with my own eyes!

[Kill One in Ten Steps]: @[Tomb Raider] By the way, where the hell have you been, you son of a bitch?! Didn’t we agree to go disguise ourselves as refugees together? What, did you see the danger coming, sell me out on purpose, and let me go die alone? Don’t you have a conscience?!

[Tomb Raider]: Bullshit! You’ve got it all wrong! I was fucking planning to go today, but I got clipped into the terrain just outside the city!

[Kill One in Ten Steps]: ??? What happened to you? We said the city outskirts, so why did you run all the way outside the city? Were you planning to do something on the sly?

[Tomb Raider]: That’s not important. What’s important is that I think I slipped into a crevice in the ground, and now I’m completely stuck!

[Kill One in Ten Steps]: ...Are you using this as an excuse to go look for some hidden map again? Get your ass over here now!

[Tomb Raider]: The entrance to this cave is too narrow. When I made my character, I built him too tall and buff. Now I’m stuck at the hips. I can’t go up or down! Is that a breeze coming from below? And is that a light? Hiss— There really is a hidden map in here! Sorry! No way I’m respawning now!

[Kill One in Ten Steps]: ...You bastard, you really were going treasure hunting, weren’t you?!

[Tomb Raider]: Let me just reroll a skinnier model and try to adjust. By the way, bro, don’t be too impulsive. Those refugees don’t have household registrations, so the Daqian Law probably can’t be used against those nobles.

[Tomb Raider]: It might be legal for them to kill refugees. If you go and kill them, you’ll probably get a red-name warning.

[Kill One in Ten Steps]: You think I don’t know that? I came prepared! I’ll just go and create a "bloodshed within five paces" incident for Miss Su! I’ll make Miss Su take action and cut them all down!

[Leading Big Brother]: ...Hold on, bro. Hearing how fired up you were, I thought you were going to grab your sword, charge back in, and make them pay their blood debt. After all that, you’re just going to tattle to Miss Su and have her do your dirty work?

[Kill One in Ten Steps]: So what if I’m tattling? So what if I’m having her do my dirty work? You don’t expect me to fight them head-on with a red name, do you? When Miss Su makes a move, it’s called NPC infighting! This is called using the game mechanics to my advantage! Get it?!

...

「In a side hall of the City Lord’s Mansion.」

"This is such a headache..." Su Ling’er slumped into the Grandmaster’s Chair, completely disregarding her image, and vigorously rubbed her temples with both hands.

’How are these "worldly affairs" in Anhe City more agonizing than the missions back at the sect?!’

But amidst this utter mess, she had still managed to pull out a few suspicious threads.

Many leads seemed to connect back to the Anhe City bank, but for now, it was all just speculation without any conclusive evidence.

Besides Liu Yue, there were others at the bank: a manager called ’Miss Hua’ who was in charge of loans; a woman named ’Mrs. Zhang’ who appeared to be the bookkeeper; and a scar-faced guard named ’Zhao Si,’ who was a trained martial artist.

However, she had already sent Mr. Li, Li Chunfeng, to keep an eye on the bank, so she hoped he would make some progress.

Wang Xiedi glanced at the sun slowly setting outside the window, then at the table piled high with hair-pullingly frustrating documents. He suddenly spoke in a low voice, "Um... Senior Sister, isn’t today the day of Miss An’s burial?"

The hand Su Ling’er was using to spin her pen froze.

"Judging by the hour, it should be starting soon," Wang Xiedi sighed. "Even though we figured out it was a homicide, Mr. An doesn’t know. Eldest Senior Brother was merciful enough to finally return the body, but they still decided to lay Miss An to rest first. Should... should we go? To... pay our respects, at least."

Su Ling’er set down her pen, her gaze turning distant.

An image of the gently smiling woman surfaced in her mind—the young woman who, according to Mu Ling, had been joyfully embroidering her wedding dress and looking forward to the future.

Now, only a cold corpse remained, soon to be buried in the earth, forever silent. This, she supposed, was the impermanence of life.

Su Ling’er took a deep breath, stood, and smoothed the wrinkles on her clothes. "Let’s go. It’s the right thing to do, both emotionally and logically. After all... we knew her, in a manner of speaking."

’Besides... the suspects were close to Miss An, so they’re sure to be there today, right? Eldest Senior Brother taught me that people are most likely to let things slip when they’re extremely grieving or extremely relaxed! Although I already gave Mu Ling a few pointers... if I go myself, I might get lucky and crack this case.’

"Mr. Zhao, I’m leaving all of this to you! Deal with it promptly. Reprimand who you must, arrest who you must. If you fail to handle it properly..."

City Lord Zhao Decang, who had been trying to fade into the background by burying his head in paperwork, heard Su Ling’er and quickly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from his brow. He nodded frantically. "I understand, I understand! You are merciful, Miss Su! You are righteous, Miss Su!"

As Zhao Decang forced a smile, he was inwardly praying with all his might to every deity in the heavens.

’Oh, all you gods and ancestors! Please, don’t let any more trouble pop up... I’d kowtow three times to this desk if it would help! Anhe City has been terrifying these past few days! With one thing after another, anyone with a weak heart would have died of fright eight times over by now!’

’Please, I’m begging you! Stay calm! Everything must stay calm!’

Just as Zhao Decang pressed his palms together, piously making a wish to the empty air—

"BANG—!!!"

The heavy mahogany door to the side hall groaned as if it had been struck by a battering ram and was violently smashed open! Amid a spray of wood splinters, a staggering figure burst inside!

"Miss Su—!!!"

The person who had arrived was none other than the player, [Kill One in Ten Steps], who was brimming with unventable rage!

"Miss Su! It’s a disaster! The sky is falling! There’s a group of young masters on the outskirts of the city, slaughtering people wantonly! It looks like they’re hunting commoners for sport!!!"

"Those animalistic young masters! They’re not even human! They’re treating the refugees (me) like prey! Each one of them is holding a bow, just firing wildly! One arrow, one kill, just like they’re hunting rabbits!"

"I couldn’t stop them!!! That corpse (mine)... it was too gruesome! Just too gruesome!!"

Su Ling’er: "!!!"

Wang Xiedi: "!!!"

Zhao Decang: "!!!"

As for Zhao Decang, who had just been praying for peace and quiet, his expression froze solid when he was bombarded by keywords like "slaughtering refugees," "young masters," and "firing wildly."

In that instant, he could almost hear the sound of his official’s hat hitting the floor. It was a crisp, melodious sound.

’It’s over. A major incident is about to erupt!!!’