Chapter 63: Inked World

Inside the side courtyard, rows of soldiers in armor stood, and the atmosphere was tense.

“15!”

“14!”

“…!”

Tang Feng blended into the crowd, listening to the countdown reminder as his disguise time was about to end. He was already mentally prepared to fight.

There was no other choice. Once the disguise ended and his true form was revealed, everything would be exposed.

He focused on sensing the Spring Breeze Delight with his consciousness while getting ready to call for his Second Fool father.

“Puff, puff…”

At this critical moment, all the lanterns, braziers, and torches in the Chief Historian’s residence suddenly went out at the same time.

This scene, like a malicious ghost blowing out the lights, came without warning and caused a sense of dread.

Suddenly, the entire courtyard was engulfed in darkness. Only the faint moonlight illuminated the outlines of people, but they were still too far to clearly see each other’s faces.

“Why… why did the torches go out?”

“Is there… a ghost?!”

“…!”

The courtyard erupted in chaos, with soldiers drawing their swords and ordering everyone to be quiet. But before the situation could be fully controlled, an even stranger scene occurred.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”

Countless shadows swept across the sky and instantly engulfed the entire Chief Historian’s residence.

Tang Feng, hidden in the crowd, suddenly looked around and found that the surrounding buildings, tables, chairs, even the ground and walls of the houses, had all turned pitch black, and their surfaces seemed twisted, as if black liquid was flowing over them.

Upon closer inspection, these buildings and surroundings, every plant and tree, looked as though they had been splashed with ink, and their outlines began to blur.

It was as if someone had poured a large basin of ink from the sky, dyeing the entire Chief Historian’s residence into a black ink painting.

The surrounding soldiers and guests were stunned, staring in disbelief at the strange scene.

“An immortal is casting a spell…!”

“We’re finished, we’re all finished!”

“…!”

The guests trembled in fear, uncontrollably wanting to flee.

“Silence!”

“Silence, no one move!”

The soldiers began drawing their swords and shouting orders, trying to maintain order. Compared to ordinary people, they had been to the southern border battlefield and had strong mental fortitude. Having seen many strange techniques on the battlefield, they quickly regained their composure after the initial panic.

“Boom!”

At this moment, a clear wave of Stellar Energy exploded in the crowd of guests.

At least five or six soldiers, looking at the crowd, saw a man suddenly transform into a woman. Her long hair cascaded down, and her chest suddenly swelled, appearing completely unexpected.

Yes, Tang Feng’s disguise had ended, and he reverted back to his female form. She eagerly looked at the soldiers and suddenly shouted, “The fire’s out, it’s dark now! If we don’t run now, are we just waiting for a second serving?! Run!”

“Whoosh!”

After shouting, Tang Feng dashed out in a single stride, heading toward the back of the house.

“Whoosh!”

Someone took the lead, and the guests scattered like chickens released from a coop, rushing in all directions.

The courtyard erupted into complete chaos. However, the chief officer of the Qingzhou Guard, who had taken the lead, immediately focused on Tang Feng’s retreating figure and ordered, “The target is her, chase her down. Use the signal arrow to inform the lord.”

“Whoosh!”

A group of soldiers with steel knives followed the chief officer and chased after Tang Feng.

At the gate of the courtyard, a soldier pulled out a special signal arrow, drew his bow like a full moon, and shot it into the sky.

“Whoosh~!”

The arrow whistled through the air, producing a sharp sound.

Outside the courtyard, Xing Tao, upon hearing the sound of the arrow, smiled, jumped off the sedan, and turned to Guo Cai’er, saying, “Found her, I’m going to check it out.”

Guo Cai’er nodded slightly as she sat in the sedan.

Xing Tao, with his personal guards, quickly rushed into the Chief Historian’s residence, which now resembled a three-dimensional ink painting.

At the same time, chaos reigned throughout the entire Chief Historian’s residence.

The soldiers couldn’t control the guests and began killing to restore order. The players hidden in the crowd, seeing someone display strange powers and plunging the area into darkness, also began to use their own abilities to escape.

Among them was the woman with a sharp and harsh appearance. She summoned a men’s dagger from the consciousness space and killed five soldiers before breaking out of the women’s courtyard.

“Whoosh, whoosh…”

Unexpectedly, as soon as she leaped over the wall, a series of arrows came shooting toward her.

“Stupid Qingzhou Guard Left Thousand-Household Commander!” The woman cursed through gritted teeth and, unwilling to stay and fight, turned and fled.

“This woman also knows magic, and she killed our people. Chase her down!” One of the flag bearer officers shouted, commanding the soldiers to surround and capture her.

Surrounded by darkness, with the buildings twisted and black ink flowing on their surfaces, only the faint moonlight from the sky illuminated the path ahead.

The woman, holding the dagger, killed over ten soldiers before reaching a relatively quiet courtyard. But there were still people searching nearby.

With no other option, she kicked open the door to a house and swiftly entered.

This woman player chose to fight her way out but didn’t want to reveal her identity in front of the Qingzhou Guard. This decision was made to protect herself. At this point, no one could tell if the Qingzhou Guard’s Left Thousand-Household Commander was an ally. If they were a court spy, exposing herself would mean certain death.

Once inside, the woman hid the dagger behind her back and was about to step forward when she heard a voice to her left.

“Who are you…?!” a woman’s voice called out in fear. “I’m the concubine of the Chief Historian’s housekeeper… You… You mustn’t do anything rash…”

“Swish!”

The sharp-tongued woman immediately turned to look.

The two were very close. Although the woman couldn’t clearly see the other’s face, she could make out that the woman’s abdomen was bulging—she was pregnant.

Upon hearing this, the female player immediately frowned.

The pregnant woman, seeing the dagger behind her, instinctively took two steps back, clutching her abdomen and pleading, “I… I have been pregnant for several months…”

“Swish!”

A flash of cold light.

“Poof!”

Blood spurted from the pregnant woman’s neck, her eyes wide with shock as she looked at the female player. Clutching her wound, she staggered backward, “W-why kill me…?!”

“Thud!”

The pregnant woman fell onto her back, her body crashing onto the bed.

The female player showed no sympathy in her eyes. She stepped forward, dragged the woman onto the bed, covered her with the bedding, and then hid in a nearby cupboard.

The room fell silent. Not long after, the pregnant woman’s abdomen started to make faint sounds. The little one inside, feeling suffocated, instinctively began kicking with its small feet and hands…

The female player, with her extraordinary senses, heard this noise, but she paid it no mind, her emotions completely unmoved.

For some players, the “enlightened” beings within the Star Gate, the locals, are regarded as life forms. But for a small number of players, they’ve never considered the gate spirits as people, let alone as creatures. Especially those who’ve gone through life-and-death experiences in the Star Gate—they become emotionally numb, extremely self-serving.

The Chief Historian’s housekeeper had too many connections. Even though the woman was pregnant, once she saw her, she had to die…

This female player was an extremely selfish person.

In the real world, her name was Zhang Meixuan. Her identity tag in the Qingliang Prefecture Star Gate was “Fiery Woman,” and she belonged to the Court Faction.

She had come to attend the “Sow Banquet” today, intending to secretly find a trustworthy teammate. However, she hadn’t expected to encounter the chaos caused by Qingzhou Guard’s Left Thousand-Household Commander. This made her regret coming and made her feel that she shouldn’t have taken such a risk.

In the real world, Zhang Meixuan was a lawyer. She had been married, but they had divorced because her husband had started to decline in recent years, and their incomes and social status became unequal. After splitting the money, they went their separate ways.

Currently, although Zhang Meixuan was a first-stage player, she had rich experience in the Star Gate. She noticed an important detail: the Star Gate randomly selects players, which often means many people come from the lower strata of society. In her eyes, these people were uneducated, lacked intelligence, and even when undertaking tasks, they didn’t know how to plan or strategize…

So, since becoming a player, she had won the final victory in many small Star Gates and earned generous rewards.

This time, she was sure she would win as well. The Court Faction was already very powerful, and with the possibility of cooperating with the Opportunist Faction… mixing that with a relatively small Prince Huai faction, her advantage was obvious.

For now, she decided to hide and observe in secret…

…

In the Hall of Washing Flowers.

Chief Historian Li Yan was completely surrounded by ink, resembling a clay figure, standing still and unmoving.

The ink-wash-like painting scene in the courtyard was the result of his extraordinary ability.

Li Yan’s token was the “Jade Ink,” also known as Li Ink, which has been renowned since the Tang Dynasty for being rarer than gold. This ink was as hard as jade and had a grainy texture like rhinoceros horn. It was considered the best in the world and was even used to describe a person’s character.

Jade Ink’s supernatural ability was called “Ink World.”

This ability had three characteristics:

First, it could isolate a region into an ink space, where others’ perceptions were greatly diminished, including Stellar Energy fluctuations. However, the user could increase their own sensitivity through the rhythmic movements of the ink, a dual-function ability.

Second, within the ink space, the user could teleport to any point.

Third, the user could repaint any landscape or object in the ink world.

This was a powerful ability, and although Li Yan hadn’t wanted to use it at this stage, the reckless behavior of the Left Thousand-Household Commander forced him to act in order to protect the interests of other players in the Court Faction.

After using his ability, Li Yan immediately used his Disc Command to notify others: “I’ve used my supernatural ability—Ink World. Don’t pay attention to the actions of that savage. Just run out of the house. We’ll re-identify ourselves after entering the Princess Tomb.”

“Chief Historian Li is great!”

“Understood!”

“…!”

Soon, responses came through the Disc Command, and everyone instinctively became closer to Li Yan.

In the cottage, after using the Disc Command, Li Yan did not leave immediately but instead released his powerful perception, searching for areas within the mansion where extraordinary energy fluctuations were happening, hoping to confirm them.

…

In the courtyard, Tang Feng ran furiously, all the while mentally scanning.

“One Stellar Energy fluctuation…!”

“Two…!”

“Three…!”

As she ran, Tang Feng saw five or six locations where Stellar Energy fluctuations had occurred, indicating that at least five or six players were currently in the mansion.

…

Outside the Chief Historian’s Mansion.

Second Fool, carrying Inviting Moon, hid in an ancient tree, his sharp eyes fixed on the courtyard.

He hesitated. He had noticed something interesting but wasn’t sure whether he should act…