Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

The sky was turning a fish-belly white.

A cacophony of noises from outside the inn roused Wang Sheng from a deep sleep. But something felt wrong in his bed. He couldn’t stretch his arms, and the entire space felt terribly cramped.

’What’s going on?’

To avoid prying eyes, he’d specifically chosen this small inn, the Anhe, to make it easier to meet with his old flame. By all rights, they shouldn’t have been disturbed.

He slowly opened his eyes. By the faint morning light filtering through the curtains, he saw a face—the face of a complete stranger, a man, lying right between him and the woman at his side.

The man’s eyes were closed and his breathing was even. There was even a trail of drool at the corner of his mouth.

In that instant, Wang Sheng’s brain shut down. The blood in his veins seemed to freeze, and a cold dread washed over him.

’Has our affair been discovered? Is this a thug hired by Mrs. Li’s butcher husband?!’

The woman beside him, Mrs. Li, seemed to sense the cramped conditions as well. She tried to roll over in her sleep, but found she couldn’t.

She wondered why the bed felt so ridiculously small all of a sudden, making it a struggle just to turn over. When she opened her eyes, she saw another face—also that of a strange man.

"Ah—!"

Mrs. Li let out a short shriek, but in the next instant, she remembered her illicit situation and quickly clamped a hand over her own mouth.

The cry scared Wang Sheng out of his wits. Terrified of attracting the inn attendant or other guests, he shot up, yanked Mrs. Li from under the covers, and sheltered her behind him.

The two of them got out of bed and stood barefoot on the floor, their clothes in disarray, staring in horror at the two extra figures on the bed.

The commotion on the bed seemed to wake the two men. They feigned confusion, groggily opening their drowsy eyes and sitting up.

Wang Sheng’s heart was hammering against his ribs. He didn’t dare make a sound. ’If this is a posse sent by Mrs. Li’s butcher husband to catch us, one shout from me and I’ll be dead by this time next year!’

Zhang San and Li Si finally received their cue to get started. After waking up, they exchanged a glance, then looked at the two "NPCs" by the bed and also began to scream in panic.

"Who are you?! How did we end up in your bed?"

"Yeah! What did you do to us?!"

Their questions threw Wang Sheng for a loop.

’They’re not here to catch us? Could it be they don’t know how they got here either?’

Mrs. Li clutched Wang Sheng’s sleeve, hiding behind him and trembling from head to toe. If her husband found out she was cheating on him, he would skin her alive!

As a traveling merchant, Wang Sheng had been all over and prided himself on being a keen judge of character. Looking at the two raggedly dressed men on the bed, his mind reeled with suspicion.

Still, he forced himself to remain calm, putting on a brave face as he demanded in a low voice, "What’s going on here? We... we rented this room. Why are you here? You’re not thinking of trying anything, are you? I’ll have you know, I’ve had some martial arts training!"

"How should I know! The nerve of you, pointing the finger at me!" Zhang San gestured to his own tattered beggar’s rags, then pulled a broken bowl from his sleeve and waved it in Wang Sheng’s face. "Look at me. Do I look like someone who can afford an inn? I’m a beggar. What do you think? Do I look like I can pay for a room?"

He grew more agitated as he spoke, turning the tables and pointing at Wang Sheng and Mrs. Li. "I think it’s you two fiends who coveted my handsome physique and kidnapped me to bring me here!"

Li Si nodded vigorously in agreement. "That’s right! Think before you speak, will you? If we had those kinds of intentions, we’d be sleeping with this pretty lady here. Why would I be pointlessly snuggled up next to a big oaf like you? Use your head! Does that make any sense at all?"

"Besides, why are you still standing there unharmed? If we had done something, that wouldn’t be the case! This has nothing to do with us! I was just happily packing up my steamed bun stall, getting ready to go home and sleep. Next thing I know, everything went black, and I woke up here. I sell so many steamed buns every day, and this is my reward? Running into perverts like you!"

Seeing his chance, Zhang San plopped right down on the bed, slapped his thighs, and began to wail.

"Oh, heavens! Oh, cruel earth! You said it yourselves, this is your room! You don’t know what happened, yet you have the gall to ask me, a simple beggar! My innocence! My pure, untouched body! It’s been sullied by you two fiends and your... special tastes!"

A herd of ten thousand mythical alpacas stampeded through Wang Sheng’s mind.

’Wait a minute... You two grown men mysteriously appear in my bed, and you’re claiming *we* defiled *your* innocence?’

’Besides, we snuck out to get a room to have some fun, not to find a couple of smelly men to play these kinds of sick games! If word of this got out, how could I ever show my face in public again?’

Behind him, Mrs. Li’s face had turned the color of liver, and she looked as if she might die of shame and indignation.

Li Si watched Zhang San’s heartbroken sobs, then stepped forward to pat his shoulder with a look of complete agreement. "Brother, I think you’ve got a point. How else do you explain two grown men like us appearing in their room out of thin air?"

"Sigh, who would have thought. You two... you look so respectable on the outside, but to think you’re into such kinky stuff in private! To go so far as to drug a bun seller and a beggar and bring us to your bed for... for *this*!"

As Wang Sheng listened to their accusations, cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Their voices were getting louder and louder. If they attracted a crowd and someone checked their identity papers, they’d discover he and Mrs. Li weren’t married...

Just then, Zhang San leaped up from the bed and made a show of rushing for the door.

"No! I can’t take this humiliation! I’m going to the authorities! Don’t anyone try to stop me! You tell me, what could I possibly want from you? I blinked, and suddenly I’m in your bed! I’m a beggar who doesn’t even have the strength to tie up a chicken! What could I possibly do to you two?!"

The bun seller, Li Si, nodded along, filled with righteous indignation. "Exactly! We have to go to the magistrate to get justice! Let the entire city come see the true faces of this ’couple’! Let all the neighbors come and pass judgment!"

Those words sent a jolt of terror through Wang Sheng and Mrs. Li.

’Report to the magistrate?! Let the whole city see?!’

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Li’s knees went weak. She clutched Wang Sheng’s sleeve, her voice trembling uncontrollably. "My love... no... if they..."

She was incoherent, the terror in her eyes almost spilling out. If this got to the magistrate’s court and their affair was exposed, she would be drowned in a pig cage!

Wang Sheng’s mind was also in turmoil. Of course they couldn’t go to the magistrate! He had a family, and so did Mrs. Li. If this got out, both of their reputations would be ruined, and it could very well cost them their lives!

He looked at the two boisterous "victims" threatening to rush outside and gritted his teeth.

’I don’t know what happened last night, but judging by their act, they don’t seem to know the real situation. It must have just been a coincidence.’

’As long as I can shut them up, what’s a little money?!’

’My life is more important than money!’