They are not human! (From chapter 61)

127

"Brother Xing, why are you playing on your phone so early?" Xiao Chen stood at the guest room door, yawning and staring blankly at the figure on the sofa.
"Is there a new case?"
"No," Xing Ze said, looking down at the inactive message interface. After a while, he said to Xiao Chen, "I'm contacting the boy who called yesterday."
"Something feels off."
Xiao Chen scratched his head, stared at Xing Ze for a moment, and cautiously asked, "You... you don't think it's Wen Qing, do you?"
Xing Ze looked at his phone without speaking.
"Hey..." Xiao Chen sighed, limping into the living room. He couldn't help but say, "He has your phone number. Why would he call the bureau to find you?"

"Besides, you've been in the hospital for over half a year, and he hasn't come to see you or even called. Why would he look for you now?"
Xing Ze leaned against the sofa, staring expressionlessly at the sun outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
Xiao Chen couldn't stand to see him like this. He made him a cup of tea and continued to persuade him, "When you called him, he didn't respond either."
"Brother Xing, I think you should forget about this person. He might think you're in cahoots with Ji Yu and Xia Yansi."
Xing Ze pursed his lips and frowned slightly, "It's not because of that."
"He didn't intentionally avoid contacting me."
"How is that not intentional?" Xiao Chen was shocked, counting on his fingers. "When you went abroad to find him with injuries, did he see you? No."
"You stayed at his school for a week, and he didn't see you."
"How could it not be intentional unless the teacher tied him up?"
Xing Ze pressed his lips tighter and repeated, "Wen Qing didn't do it on purpose."
"Xiao Chen, stop talking."
Xiao Chen opened his mouth, but when he saw the dim look in Xing Ze's eyes, he swallowed the rest of his words.
Xing Ze had heard these words countless times over the past three years.
Xiao Chen sighed inwardly. You can't wake a person pretending to be asleep.
The phone vibrated, signaling a message notification.
Xing Ze immediately opened the message, but it was spam. He frowned and reopened the previous message conversation.
[Hello.]
[Are you looking for Xing Ze?]
[May I ask why you're looking for him?]
[If you don't mind, I can pass on the message.]
There was still no response.
After finishing his morning routine and breakfast, Xiao Chen turned around to see Xing Ze still sitting on the sofa, staring at his phone.
Unable to stand it any longer, Xiao Chen made a call: "Hello, Xiao Yang, can you check a phone number for me?"
"It's the number that called looking for Xing Ze yesterday."
"Okay, thanks."
After a while, Xiao Chen placed his phone in front of Xing Ze's eyes: "Hey, that number is registered to a student at Dezhi High School."
"Named Song Xuan, not Wen Qing."
Xiao Chen asked, "Do you know him?"
Xing Ze: "No."
Xiao Chen looked puzzled, "Then why would he call you? And know which bureau you're from... someone named Song..."
Xing Ze glanced at the time and pinched the bridge of his nose, "It's getting late. You should go to work."
"I'll call later."
Seeing that Xing Ze was still unwilling to give up, Xiao Chen reluctantly agreed and limped out.
Xing Ze closed his eyes, frowning deeper.
Dezhi High School, Song Xuan.
Ji Sheng's high school...
...
[Advanced task 50% complete.]
[Player can leave the dungeon after lifting the restrictions.]
Wen Qing's pupils contracted in disbelief. Could it really be Ji Yu?
Did Fu Ranxiu really make a deal with Ji Yu?!
What does lifting the dungeon restrictions mean?
Wen Qing hurriedly asked 001 in his mind: [What restrictions need to be lifted?]
001 didn't answer directly but repeated the advanced task: [Advanced task: Find out the reason for Class 1's improved grades and successfully leave the dungeon.]
Wen Qing's eyelids twitched. He began to understand.
No wonder the students in Class 1 made no effort to hide anything from them.
No wonder Fu Ranxiu didn't hesitate to share those details.
Finding out why the grades improved was easy; the difficult part was lifting the restrictions and leaving the dungeon.
Wen Qing's eyelashes trembled, and a strong fragrance suddenly wafted towards him.
Jiang Yan's enlarged face was right in front of him.
"What are you thinking about? So seriously?" Jiang Yan propped his chin, lazily blinking at him.
Wen Qing snapped out of it and glanced at the office door.
The door was closed, so he couldn't see Song Xuan, and Song Xuan couldn't see them.
Wen Qing leaned close to Jiang Yan's ear and whispered, "I just heard the system prompt. The advanced task is fifty percent complete."
Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.
"Fu Ranxiu and..." Wen Qing opened his mouth, wanting to tell Jiang Yan that Fu Ranxiu had made a deal with Ji Yu.
But he found he couldn't say Ji Yu's name, not even forming the words.
Wen Qing pressed his lips together: [System? What's going on?]
001 remained silent.
Wen Qing frowned slightly: [Isn't it true that players can't discuss the dungeon game with the original inhabitants?]
[But Jiang Yan is a player, so why can't I tell him Ji Yu's name?]
001 was silent for a while before tactfully saying: [It's not that you can't tell Jiang Yan.]
Wen Qing was used to 001's half-told information and thought for a while before understanding.
It had nothing to do with Jiang Yan; he simply couldn't say Ji Yu's name.
He tried again and found he still couldn't say Ji Yu's name.
Not just Ji Yu, but even the homophonic Ji Yu couldn't be said, as if anticipating he would hint at Ji Yu, preventing him from making a sound.
Jiang Yan watched his changing expressions, narrowing his eyes and guessing the reason.
He tapped his finger lightly on the table, hinting to Wen Qing, "There are many rules that aren't explicitly told to players."
"In other words, each dungeon has its own set of rules that aren't completely the same."
In this dungeon, you have to follow its rules.
Wen Qing pressed his lips together, giving up on mentioning Ji Yu's name.
He thought for a while and hesitantly said, "Fu Ranxiu made a deal with a god."
Jiang Yan rested his chin in his hand, and then, with a smile, he said, "No prompt."
Wen Qing was stunned, "Why?"
"I... I clearly heard the system prompt..." He paused, quickly telling Jiang Yan, "I'm not lying to you."
"I know," seeing Wen Qing's somewhat flustered look, Jiang Yan couldn't help but pinch his cheek, "It's not wrong, just not enough."
Wen Qing frowned slightly. Did he have to say Ji Yu's name?
But he couldn't tell Jiang Yan it was Ji Yu...
As he was thinking, Jiang Yan lazily said, "Fu Ranxiu made a deal with Ji Sheng."
Wen Qing was stunned, looking up at him.
Jiang Yan casually said, "Advanced task 50% complete. Player can leave the dungeon after lifting the restrictions."
Wen Qing stared blankly at Jiang Yan. It was completed?
Even a deal with Ji Sheng counts?
He looked bewildered, "But, but Ji Sheng is a person."
Jiang Yan twirled his fingers, lazily leaning back in his chair, taking out a cigarette, "He might be human, or he might not be."
"In any case, he must be related to a god."
Jiang Yan held the cigarette in his mouth, not lighting it, and looked at Wen Qing. Seeing Wen Qing's confused expression, he smiled and said, "Meng Meng."
Wen Qing was still in a daze and responded instinctively.
Jiang Yan, with a playful smile, said, "You have more and more secrets."
Ji Sheng, gods...
"Mmm... Meng Meng is becoming more and more attractive."
Wen Qing: "..."
After a moment of silence, he handed Jiang Yan another piece of chocolate.
Jiang Yan smiled and accepted, "Thanks for the chocolate, Meng Meng."
Wen Qing lowered his head, pondering Jiang Yan's earlier words.
The system prompt wouldn't be wrong; Fu Ranxiu did make a deal with Ji Sheng.
Ji Sheng was related to the gods.
Ji Yu and Ji Yu looked exactly alike, and Ji Sheng also bore some resemblance to Ji Yu, as did Xia Yansi.
Wen Qing's eyelid twitched, thinking about how the three of them nearly acted like Ji Yu...
A chill ran down his spine. Could they all be related to Ji Yu?
But Mistral is a human-level dungeon, and Dezhi High School is an otherworldly-level dungeon...
Wen Qing fell into deep thought.
Jiang Yan quietly watched him.
When Wen Qing was deep in thought, his eyelashes trembled lightly, his dark eyes looking somewhat vacant, unfocused.
Facing him directly, Jiang Yan had the illusion that Wen Qing was staring at him.
Thinking of himself, while imagining other men?
Jiang Yan's fingers paused, slowly tearing open the chocolate wrapper.
The crisp sound of the plastic wrapper pulled Wen Qing back to reality.
Wen Qing blinked, his eyes refocusing, instinctively looking toward the source of the sound.
Jiang Yan broke off a piece of chocolate and met Wen Qing's gaze.
He raised his hand, placing the chocolate to  Wen Qing's lips, his fingertip slightly tilting, pressing against his soft lips: "After lifting the restriction, we can leave immediately."
"Do you know what the restriction is?"
"I don't know." Wen Qing instinctively opened his mouth to answer, the finger near his lips moving inward.
The chocolate slipped into his mouth, and his tongue tasted the smooth, rich flavor.
Jiang Yan withdrew his hand, looking at the slightly wet fingertip, and analyzed, "You mentioned before that Song Xuan and the others are waiting for some opportunity."
"Nothing happened on the first day."
"By the next morning, they began to change."
Wen Qing nodded, following Jiang Yan's line of thought.
Jiang Yan continued feeding him chocolate, saying, "We didn't do anything unusual, indicating the deal doesn't require our participation."
"Fu Ranxiu can complete it alone."
"What did Fu Ranxiu do on the first night?"
Wen Qing recalled, truthfully saying, "Just reading and taking notes in the dorm."
"But it wasn't ordinary books; it was those ones I showed you before..."
Wen Qing pursed his lips, "Should we go back to the dorm to find more clues?"
"We should," Jiang Yan nodded, smiling, "But not now."
"Those people are still in the dorm."
Wen Qing agreed.
Jiang Yan broke off another piece of chocolate, placing it at Wen Qing's lips.
Wen Qing leaned back slightly, avoiding Jiang Yan's hand, "You eat."
Jiang Yan didn't retract his hand, keeping the chocolate at his lips.
The chocolate touched his warm lips, slightly melting, staining Wen Qing's red lips with a faint black color.
Wen Qing had no choice but to open his mouth and bite the chocolate, mumbling, "I'm full."
Jiang Yan hummed in response, wiping the black off his lips, and slowly raised his hand, sticking out his tongue to lick it, "Sweet."