Chapter 31

Xue Jin'an opened his game folder, and a list of software spanning three full pages popped up.

A homebody’s love for games is second only to his love for novels. His platform account contained hundreds of games, and he had played countless mobile titles as well. He was the type of person who enjoyed trying new things; lacking any specific preference, he played everything—from popular shooters and MOBAs to niche single-player titles like escape rooms and digital mazes, all the way down to ancient relics like Minesweeper, Snake, and Match-3. There was practically nothing he hadn't touched.

He was also somewhat sentimental. He would want a better phone but couldn't bear to part with the old one, eventually refining his thousand-yuan device into a "magical artifact" by loading it with all sorts of mismatched accessories. He never deleted his favorite games, even if he had beaten them centuries ago or if their servers had long since shut down.

Xue Jin'an scanned the list. Most of the games were still in an [Updating] state, and the ones that had finished loading were mostly small, low-memory single-player games. Their icons, however, had all turned grey and unclickable. The only one still lit up was a game featuring a small white figure as its icon.

It was a puzzle game that utilized forced perspective to find a path. The character controlled by the player was a faceless white figure, while the antagonists were crow-men. The white figure had to evade the crow-men to reach the destination. The geometric, block-style graphics possessed a certain exquisite, childlike charm.

Although the gameplay was effortless, the concept was novel and interesting, making it a hit upon release. Later, the homebody had even spent twenty-four yuan on the second installment, but finding it inferior to the first, he had deleted the sequel and kept the original.

Xue Jin'an opened the game. The white, polygonal block palace spun for a moment before settling on the Roman numeral I. A white light illuminated the icon, and the chapter title popped up:

【Yihe Palace | Here, Xue Jin'an begins a journey to uncover the truth.】

The moment he clicked the white circle to start the game, Xue Jin'an felt the already thin reserves of mana in his body drained away by more than half. His field of vision rose sharply, overlooking the entire palace.

Yihe Palace had transformed into the game's geometric style. He had become the faceless white figure, while the Fourth Prince across from him had become a blocky yellow cube with a single eye. Naturally, the eunuchs and palace maids had all become crow-men.

Xue Jin'an adjusted to the god’s-eye view, rotated the camera to locate his destination, and quickly mapped out a route. He clicked on the ground, preparing to guide his faceless white self forward.

However, just as the white figure reached the windowsill, the yellow cube followed close behind, and a dialogue box appeared.

Yellow Cube: "Where are you going?"

The white figure’s pointed hat tilted, seemingly gesturing with its "face" toward the destination.

Yellow Cube: "That’s the Buddha hall. Mother Concubine never lets anyone inside, and the door is locked anyway. Even if you dodge everyone’s sight, you won't be able to get in." One could tell from the tone that he spoke from experience.

"I’m not using the door," the white figure replied without further explanation, nimbly vaulting over the windowsill.

The yellow cube, topped with a confused question mark, followed closely behind.

Just as they exited the courtyard filled with rockeries, they saw a crow-man approaching along the corridor. The question mark above the yellow cube’s head turned into a red exclamation point: "Our mission is doomed before it starts! Aunt Ziyun has seen us. If word gets out that you snuck into Yihe Palace, you’ll definitely be punished. You’d better run—I’ll buy you some time!"

His words were incredibly earnest, painting a picture of a brother ready to go through fire and water for his friend. Had the thoughts inside his brackets not been exploding like fireworks, Xue Jin'an might have actually believed him.

Xue Jin'an watched silently as the dialogue box filled with hundreds of characters in a second, crowding the screen until it was almost pressed against his face.

Yellow Cube: (King of Hell, hurry up and leave! I won't see you off, and don't come back next time. If you’re really itching for blood and want to torture a brother for fun, I highly recommend Little Five. He’s sprinting down the highway of being punchable every single day; I’m sure he’s dying for your favor... Little Five, the King of Hell’s best partner, the one and only choice.)

(You two "kind, brave, beautiful, and generous" hell-dwellers should just be tied together forever—never separate. Perhaps, since extremes meet, one day you’ll return to the world of the living—I truly hope that day is the day I die of old age [Praying][Praying][Praying].)

The Fourth Prince’s heart was actually full of the Fifth Prince; it seemed they had a good relationship. Xue Jin'an, who only understood the literal meaning, silently affirmed the brotherly bond between the two.

Yellow Cube: (Huh, my back feels chilly. It must be Xue Jin'an... No, no, I can’t speak ill of him, not even in my thoughts. If I accidentally blurt it out, I’m finished. Better wait until the King of Hell leaves to curse him.)

"..." So, it was me he didn't get along with. Xue Jin'an understood.

Not wanting to leave just yet, Xue Jin'an controlled the white figure to pull the yellow cube behind a pillar. He rotated the camera, visually aligning two disconnected segments of the corridor.

Yellow Cube: "How is this single pillar supposed to hide anyone? Aunt Ziyun has sharp eyes. Even when the Bureau of Palace Attire sent clothes, she spotted a single misstitched cloud pattern on the hem... Wait? She just walked right past? She didn't see two people standing right here?"

(Aunt Ziyun, honestly, how much in bribes did you take? Is this how you let Xue Jin'an in!?) The yellow cube’s large eyes blinked, looking utterly heartbroken.

When he opened his eyes again and saw the crow-man suddenly appear at the other end of the corridor, his head was flooded with materialized question and exclamation marks. "No, how did she get past?"

"She just walked past," the white figure said truthfully.

The yellow cube’s eyes went dull and vacant. "Could it be... that Aunt Ziyun is actually a martial arts master?" Or had his brain been rattled, causing a momentary lapse in his senses?

The yellow cube followed the white figure, weaving back and forth, watching helplessly as no matter how perfunctory or absurd the white figure’s hiding spots were, the people in the palace simply ignored him. Time seemed to skip forward in blinks, and crow-men who were just in front of them would inexplicably appear at the other end. He began to wonder if something was wrong with them or with himself.

Just then, they were hiding behind a tree. Crow-men were patrolling in every direction, leaving them no path out, and there was no retreat behind them.

Xue Jin'an rotated the camera, using forced perspective to construct a path along the wall—a path that led directly to their destination.

Having been led through an unconventional route, told to stay still, stepped on by the white figure to reach a higher ledge, and then somehow appearing inside the Buddha hall, the yellow cube was stunned. "..."

The yellow cube ceased all thought.

Upon reaching the destination, Xue Jin'an lost control of the white figure. The figure stood still on its own, and a small, glowing red orb floated up, slowly settling into the designated spot.

【Congratulations on clearing the level!】

A flash of white filled Xue Jin'an’s vision. After a brief moment of dizziness, his perspective returned to normal. The art style of Yihe Palace reverted to its original state, and the Fourth Prince—no longer a yellow cube—stood nearby, staring at him in a daze.

The Fourth Prince rubbed his throbbing head, wondering if any of this was real. He was likely dreaming, right?

A dream with Xue Jin'an in it was undoubtedly a nightmare, so when would he wake up?

Xue Jin'an paid him no mind. He looked at the white polygonal palace on the game screen, which had turned to a grey Roman numeral II. He clicked it tentatively, and a dialogue box popped up: 【More maps are currently in development, please look forward to it...】

As expected. Xue Jin'an closed the game with an understanding, thinking: I wonder if this development requires me to trigger it by reaching the actual location, if it’s related to my mana growth, or if both conditions must be met simultaneously.

Hmm, I’ll go find the Fifth Prince tomorrow to test it; he’s currently being kept in Concubine Rong’s Minghua Palace. Much like big data algorithms that target familiar users, the "King of Hell" very naturally chose the person he was most familiar with as his next target of persecution.

If the Fourth Prince knew about this, he would probably be sleeping under the walls of Minghua Palace tonight, just to ensure he got a front-row seat to the drama involving his dear fifth brother.

Once his mind fully returned to his body, the first thing Xue Jin'an noticed was the weight on his wrist; it was lighter by 7.1 grams—exactly the weight of one blood-dragon wood bead.

Xue Jin'an touched his wrist and quickly counted. Indeed, one was missing. He looked toward where the red orb had rested in the game, and his gaze landed on the incense burner on the altar.

That self-exiled blood-dragon wood bead must be inside the burner.

This was Concubine Zhen’s territory, and she was unusually attentive to the blood-dragon wood bracelet. If she saw a piece of it here, she would surely be unsettled and might reveal some flaws, which would save him the trouble of testing her later.

It was a pity; this was an heirloom Concubine Zhen had left for the original owner, one of the few things left behind in this world. Human beings in novels always projected emotions onto objects, imbuing ordinary items with unique value and calling them "keepsakes."

Xue Jin'an did not understand, but he respected it. He had no intention of leaving the bead behind.

However, as Xue Jin'an stepped forward, before his hand could even touch the incense burner, he received a backend warning from the software: 【This data is critical. Deleting it may cause the application to malfunction. Do you wish to delete?】

Swap a bead for the destruction of the entire game? Xue Jin'an paused. From a data analysis perspective, he should choose to preserve the game data without hesitation. After all, the game was highly useful, allowing him to collect more clues. The only value in the blood-dragon wood bracelet lay in the human remnants of sentiment he didn't comprehend, and the bracelet had eighteen beads—losing one wouldn't matter.

Thinking this, Xue Jin'an nevertheless pulled his hand back and did not retrieve the bead.

In any case, leaving it here was likely the best choice.

He turned to see the Fourth Prince stealing a glance at him, only to quickly look away when their eyes met, pretending he hadn't been watching at all.

Xue Jin'an finalized his plans and began to examine the room.

The Buddha hall was not large. The doors and windows were sealed with yellow talisman paper, and yellow silk banners painted with deities divided the space in two. A long altar held a shrine containing a Bodhisattva, with two blank memorial tablets placed on either side.

The Fourth Prince had recovered his senses. It was his first time seeing a Bodhisattva and memorial tablets sharing a shrine, and he couldn't help but examine them closely. "This is too strange."

The tablet on the left was small, carved from a solid piece of high-quality black jade, engraved with auspicious dragons and cloud patterns. Despite being so exquisitely crafted, it bore no name. Pressed beneath the tablet was a plain silk handkerchief with cloud patterns.

The Fourth Prince was so curious that he stepped forward to unfold the handkerchief. Inside was a longevity lock; judging by its size, it was meant for an infant, and it was stained with large, oxidized, blackened bloodstains.