As this message appeared, an illusory sticky note materialized in everyone's hands.
*Grimm's Great Adventure... This Dominator-grade item is called Grimm's Great Adventure? The name doesn't sound like an item from a local profession. Where did the Pure Yang Sect Master get it from...*
An illusory sticky note also appeared in Zhang Yuanqing's hand—a blank one.
He held it for a few seconds, and its information surfaced:
[Name: Voting Sticky Note]
[Type: Consumable]
[Function: Vote]
[Description: A consumable produced by the game 'Grimm's Great Adventure.' Hold the note and gaze at your chosen target for over ten seconds to cast your vote for them.]
[Remarks: Grimm's Great Adventure is truly an interesting game.]
By the time he finished reading the item attributes, the others had also figured out how to use the note.
A female guest looked around, her tone somewhat helpless and flustered. "Who... who should we vote for?"
"Don't look at me! Everyone, lower your eyes! Don't look around at people!"
"Be careful! Don't end up accidentally casting your vote!"
Hubbub erupted. Many guests consciously lowered their gazes, avoiding looking at their companions, or let their eyes wander without fixing on anyone.
Those present were all official Spirit Realm walkers, experienced individuals. Though momentarily unsettled, they did not lose their heads.
Liu Zhiyi glanced all around and called out loudly, "We're trapped inside a Dominator-grade item. The danger level is even higher than an instance. In an instance, you can at least find a sliver of hope by cracking the clues, but items don't follow reason.
"How about this? I propose everyone cast their votes for the waiters. Pick any two at random. In the worst case, once we get out, we can pay a generous compensation to their families. If we can't get out, it means we're all going to die anyway. What difference does it make whether someone dies first or last?"
The guests looked at one another, briefly exchanging glances before casting their eyes downward again.
"Perhaps we can resist with defensive items? Why do we have to follow the game's prompts? We should fight back," someone spoke up.
The moral baseline of Order-aligned professions was relatively high.
A Saint shook his head. "It's useless. Unless it's a defensive item of the same grade, it's completely meaningless."
Before a Dominator-grade item, Saints weren't exactly ants, but they weren't much better.
"Then... then I have nothing more to say..." The person who had suggested resisting fell silent.
"If no one has any objections, should we start voting? We only have three minutes. Voting for the waiters is better than having two of us randomly obliterated," Liu Zhiyi urged.
Miao Teng'er furrowed her brow tightly. As a Wood Monster, she had a gentle, soft-hearted disposition. The waiters had been hired by her, so she truly could not bear to see them become sacrifices. Yet she knew she could not go against the majority, and a wave of dejection washed over her.
Glancing over, she saw Lingjun and Yuanshi Tianzun circling the board game, their eyes sharp and focused, paying no attention to the voting at all.
"What are you looking at?"
She walked over and whispered, "They're going to vote the waiters to death. Do you two have any way to stop them?"
"There's no way," Lingjun said, continuing to inspect the board game. "When a group is under threat, sacrificing pawns to protect the king is the right call. Though it's cruel, mercy is meaningless in a crisis; it will only hold us back."
"Mercy is always meaningful, but implementing mercy requires strength." Zhang Yuanqing sighed. "Breaking this Dominator-grade item or rooting out the Pure Yang Sect Master is the best way to show mercy. Have you found anything?"
Lingjun shook his head. "I was trying to figure out which profession this item belongs to, but I can't tell. In any case, it's not a local one. What about you?"
Zhang Yuanqing said in a deep voice, "I have a rough guess about its origins. There are two items left that haven't been found from that President—Number 2 and Number 9. This 'Grimm's Great Adventure' is likely one of them. I didn't expect it to fall into the hands of the Pure Yang Sect Master.
"You saw the message earlier, right? This item has a safe period. From the moment we realized the clubhouse was sealed until the timer ran out, it was roughly ten minutes. That means we have a ten-minute safe window.
"Once this vote ends, we must find the Pure Yang Sect Master within ten minutes. Otherwise, when the die rolls again, more people will die."
Lingjun mused, "Getting someone to speak the truth isn't hard. There are plenty of lie-detector items, and with so many Spirit Realm walkers here, there's bound to be a way. Also, you checked everyone's physiognomy with Star Physiognomy earlier—did you memorize everyone's Fate Palace?"
The Fate Palace represented destiny, and every person's Fate Palace was unique.
"Of course!" Zhang Yuanqing nodded.
"Then it will be easy. He either stays put and waits for us to dig him out, or he tries to possess someone and gets spotted by you," Lingjun said. "What I'm more curious about is: when Yan'er died, why didn't you see his spirit body flee?"
Zhang Yuanqing shook his head. "I can't understand it. He's an ancient cultivator and also practices Illusionist arts. He has far more tricks up his sleeve than we do, making him hard to predict. Still, as long as he dares to possess someone again, we will definitely catch him."
Listening to the conversation between her cousin and Yuanshi Tianzun, Miao Teng'er suddenly felt a strong sense of security, and her heavy mood eased considerably.
*That's right. There are so many experts here—especially Cousin, Yuanshi Tianzun, and Yin Ji. The three of them are the elite of the elite.*
*It won't be easy for the Pure Yang Sect Master to deal with them.*
At this moment, the three minutes were up. The guests had already settled on two waiters as the sacrificial lambs. After the majority directed their gazes at the two poor souls and stared for ten seconds, the message projected in the air changed:
[The countdown has ended. Congratulations on choosing the companions to be abandoned!]
The moment this message appeared, the two pale-faced male waiters stiffened and collapsed straight onto the floor, their life force completely extinguished, turning into two corpses.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately walked toward the crowd and called out, "Everyone, listen to me..."
He explained the properties of "Grimm's Great Adventure" that he had just deduced to the gathered guests.
"We have to find the Pure Yang Sect Master within ten minutes? That shouldn't be hard. The Pure Yang Sect Master came for the four of you, so he must have possessed one of you right now," Xie Lingyun said.
Yin Ji shook her head slightly. "None of them have been possessed."
Broken Bridge Residual Blood, the young genius from the Hang City branch, nodded. "Directly possessing a Night Walker would be too obvious. He wouldn't make such an elementary mistake."
Lingjun said, "Right now, we need to gather everyone in the clubhouse. Teng'er, how many staff members did you hire in total? Is there anyone left on the first and third floors?"
Miao Teng'er said, "Counting waiters, cleaners, and security guards, there are thirty in total. Most of them are right here."
Zhang Yuanqing said immediately, "That means some people are still missing. Gather them immediately. Do it within two minutes."
Miao Teng'er nodded and gave Uncle Yang a look.
The latter left quickly, returning precisely two minutes later with eight terrified waiters and cleaners in tow.
Once everyone was gathered, Zhang Yuanqing said, "Now, all security guards, cleaners, and waiters, please stand by that dining table. Saints, stand by the other dining table. Everyone else, stay where you are."
Under his arrangement, the people present were divided into three clearly demarcated groups.
"From what I know of the Pure Yang Sect Master, he lacks the capability to possess a Saint. Therefore, he is hiding among the Transcendent-stage walkers and ordinary mortals," Zhang Yuanqing said. "Now, I need a lie-detector item."
Hearing this, Gaoshan Liushui, the Deacon of Puning District, spoke up. "I have a lie-detector item."
With that, he retrieved a black iron token from his inventory. It was composed of a rectangle and a semicircle, carved with four characters: "Military Orders Are Like Mountains."
"This item comes with a drawback: while holding it, you cannot lie." The calm, gentle middle-aged man looked toward Yuanshi Tianzun. "It's Saint quality. Is that sufficient?"
As he held the item, his aura shifted into something dignified and sharp, like a general leading troops into battle.
*Saint quality should be enough. I originally planned to use the Houtu Boots' 'Honest Man' drawback, but this token is more convenient and specialized...* Zhang Yuanqing nodded slightly and said, "It's more than enough!"
At the same time, he counted the time in his head. There were six minutes left.
"Who goes first?" Gaoshan Liushui swept his eyes over the Transcendent walkers.
Xie Lingyun volunteered, "Me!"
She took the black iron token and said, "I am Xie Lingyun, not the Pure Yang Sect Master."
Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment and added, "Say one more sentence: 'I am not an ancient cultivator.'"
"I am not an ancient cultivator!" Xie Lingyun repeated.
Finishing her words, she let out a gentle breath and passed the token to her close friend beside her.
The token was passed among the Transcendent walkers. Every person who held it recited the exact same lines as Xie Lingyun without any hindrance.
Just as it was passed to Danqing Shengshou, an unexpected incident occurred. This mascot of the Xie City branch suddenly stored the token into his inventory!
"What are you doing?!" Gaoshan Liushui's face changed drastically.
That was his item!
The people around him backed away in unison, putting distance between themselves and Danqing Shengshou.
Witnessing this, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly felt fortunate that he hadn't taken out the Houtu Boots.
"Mine! This item is mine!"
Danqing Shengshou's handsome face was twisted with greed. He snarled viciously, "With this item, I can become a Saint! I can rise straight to the top! None of you will take it from me!"
With that, he spun around and bolted.
In an instant, everyone sprang into action.
Gaoshan Liushui's arm transformed into a green vine, twisting out to wrap around Danqing Shengshou.
The Ghost Bride emerged and possessed Danqing Shengshou from behind. Lingjun transformed into a massive striped tiger and pounced on him, pinning him down.
*Bang! Bang!*
Two gunshots rang out. Danqing Shengshou's head burst into fragments, spraying bone shards, blood, and brain matter everywhere, killing him instantly.
The one who fired was Broken Bridge Residual Blood. His expression was fierce and ruthless, his breathing slightly ragged, like a stress reaction born of sudden terror.
Zhang Yuanqing and the three from the Taiyi Sect activated Spirit Devouring simultaneously, but they saw no trace of the Pure Yang Sect Master's spirit body. Instead, the residual spirit body lingering inside Danqing Shengshou was stirred and slowly drifted out.
"He isn't the Pure Yang Sect Master." Yin Ji's delicate brows furrowed.
"How could that be..." Broken Bridge Residual Blood looked astounded.
*We were feinted...* Zhang Yuanqing's expression darkened.
Clearly, this was a countermeasure orchestrated by the Pure Yang Sect Master. Having cultivated Illusionist arts, he could see through a target's psychological flaws. Danqing Shengshou's flaw was likely his burning desire to shed the label of being a mere "mascot."
Thus, the Pure Yang Sect Master had exploited this flaw to amplify Danqing Shengshou's greed, rendering him defenseless against a Saint-grade item and driving him to take reckless risks just to claim it for himself.
Simultaneously, the Pure Yang Sect Master had magnified the fear in Broken Bridge Residual Blood's heart, driving him to make the extreme move of ruthlessly eliminating an enemy without leaving any loose ends.
Zhang Yuanqing had clashed with Illusionists plenty of times, but compared to the Pure Yang Sect Master, those Illusionists were like failing students who hadn't even graduated.
Of course, fundamentally, the Dominator-grade item was restricting them, and the Pure Yang Sect Master was no ordinary Illusionist—ordinary Illusionists couldn't possess bodies.
As thoughts flashed through his mind, Zhang Yuanqing saw the message projected in the air shift:
[The safe period timer has ended. The die is rolling. Please wait...]
The die hovering above the illusory round table spun at high speed once more.
Ten minutes had passed.
A few seconds later, the die gradually slowed to a halt, finally settling on six.
Under everyone's tense gaze, the small figurine moved along the winding line to position number nine.
As the figurine moved, the dense fog parted, revealing a line of small text annotated at position number nine:
"You have gained another roll of the die."
The soccer-ball-sized die spun once more.
This time, it landed on two.
The little figurine on the board took brisk, cheerful strides, advancing two steps forward.
The dense fog parted. Position number eleven turned out to be a rice paddy, in the middle of which stood a scarecrow.
The information marked in that area was:
"You have entered the Scarecrow Domain. You may not move for ten minutes. Those who violate the Scarecrow's will shall be obliterated!"
[Ding! Countdown begins!]
"Don't move! Nobody move..." Miao Teng'er urged immediately.
Hardly had she finished speaking when a waitress cried out with a weeping voice, "I—I don't want to stay here! I want to go home..."
The waitress bolted toward the dining hall's entrance, but after only taking two steps, her body suddenly stiffened, and she pitched forward flat onto the ground, dying soundlessly.
Her death did not serve as a wake-up call to the crowd; instead, it plunged many into even deeper terror.
Two Transcendent-stage walkers broke down emotionally and charged toward the dining hall's entrance with shrieks of horror, as if something terrifying were chasing them from behind.
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
One after the other, both collapsed and returned to the Spirit Realm.
Panic continued to spread and infect the crowd. Even elites like Liu Zhiyi and Broken Bridge Residual Blood began trembling in their legs, sweat dripping from their foreheads as their eyes darted behind them repeatedly, as if a great horror and mortal crisis lurked at their backs.
*Damn it! He's using the staff members' deaths to amplify everyone's panic and sow fear! The Saints aren't affected much, but the Transcendent-stage walkers can't hold out at all. If this goes on, the Transcendent walkers might collectively collapse any second...* Zhang Yuanqing was alarmed.
Among the Transcendent walkers were two Night Walkers. If they died and their spiritual energy was absorbed by the Pure Yang Sect Master, this ancient cultivator's strength would surge dramatically, making him even more difficult to deal with and find.
If that happened, it would be almost impossible to stop Grimm's Great Adventure, and everyone might be toyed to death by him.
He had to find a way to curb the spread of panic, but right now no one could move, nor could they take items out of their inventories.
He didn't possess an Illusionist's methods either...
A single Dominator-grade item was giving him a taste of S-grade instance difficulty.
*If only there were a Musician here right now. A Musician's soothing ability is the perfect counter to an Illusionist's emotional manipulation. If I'd known, I would have brought Xie Lingxi along.*
*Wait... There is a Musician here!*
Chapter 392