Chapter 136: Trap

“I followed them secretly just to surprise them suddenly. Ruining the surprise by calling them would spoil the fun.” Liu Hui shook her head.

“During those two days you stayed nearby, did you ever go to Donkey Tail Town?” Lü Yang asked Liu Hui. This was a very important question for solving the mystery of this Mysterious Domain.

“Yes, I did. I went down the mountain with you and entered Donkey Tail Town. I went into the Police Station, and then you disappeared…”

“I’m not talking about the time you came down the mountain with me. I mean the day you followed your uncle and aunt. Before the car hit me, did you go to Donkey Tail Town?” Lü Yang corrected Liu Hui.

“That day? I don’t remember… Anyway… all the small towns here look exactly the same…” Liu Hui shook her head again. She was terribly bad with directions. That day, she had just driven around looking for her uncle and aunt. She didn’t even know whether she had stayed in Lutou Town or Donkey Tail Town that night.

“Did you go to an Internet Cafe during those two days? Or… after we parted, did you visit any Internet Cafe in Donkey Tail Town?” Lü Yang asked Liu Hui the most important question.

“Internet Cafe… go to an Internet Cafe?” Liu Hui looked confused, as if she couldn’t quite remember.

“An Internet Cafe, it’s a place with lots of computers… rows of tables and chairs…” Lü Yang reminded her.

“I know what an Internet Cafe is…” Liu Hui looked slightly annoyed at Lü Yang, as if she thought his detailed explanation implied she was stupid.

“Think about it. Did you go to an Internet Cafe?” Lü Yang asked her again, his expression very serious.

“Internet Cafe… Oh! I remember now!” Liu Hui patted her forehead. “I did go to an Internet Cafe. It was on the first night I arrived… A classmate wanted to send me some files. The signal here was bad, and I tried many times on my Mobile Phone but couldn’t download them. Eventually, I had to go to an Internet Cafe to download those files.”

“Was the wall of that Internet Cafe completely red? Were the walls, chairs, tables, and computer cases all red?” Lü Yang followed up.

“How did you know?” This time, Liu Hui remembered clearly. Because the Internet Cafe’s name had the word ‘red’ in it—it was called something like ‘Red Heaven.’ All the decor was mainly red, and the color made a strong visual impact. With Lü Yang’s reminder, she recalled it immediately.

“Not only do I know that, but I also know the Internet Cafe wasn’t on the street level—it was upstairs in a building.” Lü Yang looked toward the only lit building in Donkey Tail Town, now completely sure of his earlier guesses.

“Yes, the Internet Cafe only had a small door on the street. I went upstairs to get inside. But you still haven’t told me how you knew all this?” Liu Hui looked at Lü Yang curiously.

“That lit place is the Internet Cafe you visited. And I, or rather, my True Body, is inside that Internet Cafe right now.” Lü Yang was now fully convinced of his speculation, and it made him break out in a cold sweat.

Fortunately, he had uncovered the trap in time. Otherwise, he would have fallen into the Death Killer’s scheme and ended up destroying himself!

The so-called game mentioned by the Electronic Voice was not a game on the computer. From the moment Lü Yang entered this Mysterious Domain, he had essentially entered the game world the Electronic Voice described.

The computers in the Internet Cafe were the biggest illusion. Their purpose was not for players to play games; they were just a medium—a tool for transferring souls between players in the “game”!

The first and second rounds of the game had only one goal: to deceive Lü Yang, making him believe that each round was truly a game on the computer screen, and if the game character died, the player in the Real world (in the Internet Cafe) would die.

Through round after round of gameplay, Lü Yang had firmly believed this up until now.

In the earlier stages of the third round, ammunition was scarce, and all the players around him died. Lü Yang and Liu Hui struggled to reach the final stage. In the Mute Old Man’s yard, they found plenty of supplies and heavy weapons, and unexpectedly, Lü Yang was equipped with Black Fog Armor…

Normally, most people would think these heavy weapons were meant to clear out the large number of Dark Predators outside…

In reality, these heavy weapons and the set of explosives capable of destroying all of Lutou Town were not meant for the Dark Predators. They were meant to deal with his own self inside the Red Heaven Internet Cafe in Lutou Town!

If the body sitting in front of the computer in the Internet Cafe was called the First True Body, then the body controlled through the computer in front of the First True Body—which was essentially a soul-transfer device—now tainted by darkness, could be called the Second True Body.

The rules of this Mysterious Domain, especially the one stating that if the controlled character dies, the player in the Real world dies, probably meant that only when the player is controlling the character, if the character dies, the player dies in reality. The game wasn’t the three rounds on the computer; the game started the moment Lü Yang entered the Internet Cafe.

The First True Body in the Internet Cafe was the character in the game. If that character died, Lü Yang would truly die in the Real world! It wasn’t just about the character in the computer game (the Second True Body) dying, causing the character in the Internet Cafe (the First True Body) to die.

Now the Second True Body was under the control of darkness. If Lü Yang continued to carry weapons into Donkey Tail Town and set up the Timed Explosive Device in Lutou Town, then…

Not only would Donkey Tail Town be destroyed, but Lü Yang’s First True Body inside the Red Heaven Internet Cafe would also be destroyed!

The so-called computer game was not a game at all. The Internet Cafe Lü Yang was in was itself part of this third round of the game. The Mysterious Domain used the computer in front of him to transfer his soul to the Second True Body near the construction site at Donkey Head Mountain.

The Second True Body could exit the game at any time using the floating menu, allowing the soul to return to the First True Body…

The First True Body had been in the third round of the game all along. According to the game rules, if the Second True Body died, the First True Body would die—and Lü Yang in the Real world would die.

Even if the Second True Body didn’t die, if the First True Body died, Lü Yang in the Real world would also die!

The Death Killer set up a trap, making Lü Yang’s First True Body control the Second True Body, go through great hardships to reach Donkey Tail Town, and then set a bomb to kill his own First True Body.

Moreover, once this darkness-tainted Second True Body lost control when Lü Yang exited the game and switched back to the First True Body, it would surely become a fully armed, super terrifying Dark Predator, and might even attack the unarmed First True Body.

In any case, if Lü Yang fell into this trap, he would be stuck in a situation where he would end up killing himself.

In the fourth stage of the third round, the Task of placing the Timed Explosive Device to destroy all of Donkey Tail Town had to be completed. During this process, neither Lü Yang’s First True Body nor his Second True Body could die. Moreover, he had to successfully escape with Liu Hui to a place more than ten kilometers away from Donkey Tail Town to end this Mysterious Domain.

So, figuring out how to complete this Task while keeping both the First and Second True Bodies alive, without them killing each other, required careful planning.

It was now almost certain: this was a large trap-style Mysterious Domain created by the Death Killer. The trap exploited Lü Yang’s instinct to struggle for survival to make him kill himself.

Moreover, Lü Yang had been making a big mistake all along. It wasn’t until he stood on the hill overlooking Donkey Tail Town that he realized this Mysterious Domain wasn’t created by the Death Killer based on his own memories—it was based on Liu Hui’s memories!

…

“Now, you need to go to that Internet Cafe alone.” Lü Yang pointed to the only lit place in Lutou Town and explained to Liu Hui.

“Alone? No… I won’t leave you…” Liu Hui looked at Lü Yang in confusion. Staying in such a terrifying place, she hadn’t been too scared because he was with her. But now he wanted her to walk alone on that long, dark road.

“During the last kidnapping case, I saved you, right?” Lü Yang looked at Liu Hui.

“Yes.” Liu Hui nodded vigorously.

“This time, it’s your turn to save my life… You must…” Lü Yang explained in detail to Liu Hui.

Liu Hui’s presence was indeed very important for this Mysterious Domain. If he couldn’t safely escort her all the way here, even if Task failure didn’t force the player to die, this Mysterious Domain would become an impossible situation.

After hearing Lü Yang’s explanation, Liu Hui didn’t fully understand concepts like First True Body and Second True Body, but she did understand one thing: she had to go to that lit building, use the Timed Explosive Device Lü Yang gave her to blow open the Internet Cafe’s door, and rescue Lü Yang’s True Body trapped inside.

Otherwise, he would die.

If he died, she wouldn’t be able to survive either.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll use Flares to light your way. After you blow open the Internet Cafe’s door, my True Body will be waiting for you inside.”

“I’m not afraid…”

“You’ll be carrying quite a lot of things, and they’re heavy. After you see my True Body, give them to him…” Lü Yang packed the Submachine Gun, Timed Explosive Device, some ammunition, Hand Grenades, and other supplies as lightly as possible and tied them together for Liu Hui to carry.

There were no Dark Predators in Donkey Tail Town. Lü Yang was now tainted by darkness. He guessed that if his darkness-tainted Second True Body stepped into Donkey Tail Town, something bad would surely happen. So, to be safe, it was better for Liu Hui to take these things to his First True Body.