Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Bringing the newly joined Chen Yuanye and three dart masters, they hurried back toward the stone house. By now, the weather was no longer as scorching as before.

Although Lin Yu had said there was no time for Chen Yuanye and Yue Zhenqiao to flatter each other, the two still managed a quick exchange along the way.

”So, the Female Warrior is actually a distinguished disciple of the Mingzhen Martial Arts School? Truly a prodigy... So young and already able to teach such a master!”

”A junior disciple could effortlessly subdue the Mountain Demon Leader? Making a demon submit is far harder than just killing it. That Mountain Demon Leader should be a Six-String demon... In other words, isn’t my junior disciple at the Eight-String level? Even stronger than I was at my peak!”

Both were straightforward people, and although they had ”exchanged information,” it didn’t expose Lin Yu. On the contrary, it further solidified her identity.

In Yue Zhenqiao’s eyes, Lin Yu had transformed from a mysterious expert into a distinguished disciple of the Mingzhen Martial Arts School.

As for whether she was truly from the Golden Fortune Escort Agency’s Willow Town branch... That no longer mattered.

Even if she had lied to him at first, so what? Hadn’t she helped his entire escort team survive the crisis on Fuyuan Mountain?

As a seasoned traveler, Yue Zhenqiao had already formed a conclusion in his mind: At the very least, this Female Warrior was most likely here for Chen Yuanye.

Of course, Lin Yu didn’t just let them chat aimlessly.

He listened the entire time. Once the conversation veered toward topics that might raise suspicion about him, Lin Yu would immediately interrupt and steer it elsewhere.

Fortunately, everything they discussed along the way was perfectly ”safe.”

The distance from Chen Yuanye’s room to the stone house wasn’t far, and no further strange incidents like Chen Yongde’s obstruction occurred.

But...

Once they reached the stone house and Lin Yu pushed open the stone door, he immediately sensed something was wrong.

”This... Where is everyone?!”

Yue Zhenqiao, following right behind, was even more shocked than Lin Yu. He murmured to himself.

Because only twelve people remained inside the stone house!

Among them, five were the players waiting here.

Yue Zhenqiao didn’t need to recall anything to know who was missing—there were a lot of missing people!

The three dart masters wore shocked and panicked expressions. Wu San stepped forward and grabbed his helpless younger brother.

”Wu Qi, how did it end up with so few people?!”

Li Nian spoke softly: ”Elder brother over there, don’t get so worked up. It’s not his fault...”

Lin Yu untied his clothes and tossed them back to Li Nian, then asked, ”What exactly happened?”

”One of the two dart masters who disappeared earlier came back. Though they forgot everything afterward, I still remembered his name,” Li Nian said calmly, catching the clothes Lin Yu threw. ”Qiao Shaowen. Not very tall. He rushed in shouting that he’d escaped from a demon and asked everyone to help rescue the other one.”

”I felt something was off and advised against everyone going, since it was the hottest time of day outside. But he seemed to completely ignore that fact... However, the Golden Fortune Escort Agency folks are very loyal. Immediately, five or six people followed him out.”

”Once the group was split, all arrangements fell apart. Besides, everyone’s state of mind seemed abnormal at the time,” Li Nian said softly. ”Master Wu Qi here was one of the more rational ones, but even he couldn’t maintain control of the situation.”

”In the end... as you can see, only these few are left.”

As Li Nian spoke, Lin Yu’s brow furrowed tightly.

”It seems the Mastermind does have its own consciousness. And it’s smarter, more cunning, and greedier than I imagined.”

But Lin Yu quickly realized this was an opportunity.

After all, he had already decided to use the Blade Demon Xie Chong’s corpse as bait. Earlier, he had been worried that Yue Zhenqiao wouldn’t cooperate.

But given this tense situation, Lin Yu was confident that if he proposed his plan, Yue Zhenqiao would almost certainly agree.

So seizing this chance, Lin Yu immediately turned toward Yue Zhenqiao.

”Dart Head Yue, under these circumstances, I’m afraid we can’t wait until the temperature outside becomes suitable before taking action,” Lin Yu said seriously. ”This is an exceptional situation. My suggestion is... in extraordinary times, use extraordinary measures.”

Even though Yue Zhenqiao was experienced and prudent, faced with a crisis he had never encountered before, he still couldn’t help feeling at a loss.

So when he heard Lin Yu speak, he naturally asked immediately.

”Please, Female Warrior, what is your opinion?”

”We need to get the entire escort cart out of Chen Family Fort immediately,” Lin Yu said decisively. ”But this isn’t abandoning the missing dart masters of Golden Fortune Escort Agency. Instead, we’ll use the Mutilated Body in the escort cart as bait!”

”Though past escort teams and merchant caravans left this place without encountering any further obstacles... We have to take a gamble. We gamble that this corpse holds immense temptation for the hidden Mastermind behind these multiple disappearances. It won’t be able to resist and will take the initiative to stop us!”

”Once it acts to stop us, things will inevitably change... Though we don’t know what that change will be, it’s still better than slowly being boiled to death like a frog in warm water.”

As Lin Yu spoke, Yue Zhenqiao hesitated briefly, then nodded heavily.

”We’ll do as you say, Female Warrior!”

This was the most readily Yue Zhenqiao had ever agreed to anything.

However, Li Nian raised a different opinion: ”This plan sounds a bit aggressive, but I’m in favor... However, it’s so hot outside. Is there any way to beat the heat?”

”Dart Head Yue has some precious heat-relief talismans,” Lin Yu said directly. ”Now that our numbers are smaller, they should be sufficient... Actually, we might not even need to use Dart Head Yue’s talismans right away. We can save them as a last resort. I also have some other types of talismans—they might not directly cool things down or release cold, but they have a similar effect. And they can be used on many people at once!”

Hearing this, Li Nian grew curious: ”What kind of talisman? You’ve been hiding something this good?”

”Rain-calling and cloud-summoning.”

Lin Yu said flatly, then pulled out a yellow Flavor Paper. But he deliberately kept it crumpled in his hand, not unfolding it.

”There’s no time to waste. Let’s go!”

With that, Lin Yu walked outside, pretending to tear the talisman. In reality, he simply put the Flavor Paper away.

The ”Rain Summoning” ability of the Prayer Water Necklace activated. Instantly, the sky outside turned dark and overcast—an extremely rare sight in the Fire Hell of Prison Mountain.

”Splash!”

Raindrops hit the ground and instantly evaporated, turning into steam that rose up, carrying away massive amounts of heat from the surface.

Though the rain falling on them was even somewhat warm, the sudden downpour still brought a significant local temperature drop to this otherwise deadly heat.

Watching this scene, Yue Zhenqiao was deeply moved.

”To use such a precious talisman... Female Warrior, you are truly righteous!”

”Let’s move quickly. Don’t waste this precious Rain-Calling Talisman!”

---