Chapter 156: A Matter of Life and Death

“Nonsense! Why would I drag the plot? This whole matter is truly complicated, with many clues. If I don’t explain in detail, you’ll have a hard time understanding and might even accuse me of making it up… Later, when there’s time, I’ll definitely tell you.”

“Alright then, you promised. Tell me slowly later, don’t go back on your word!” Yi Ya said, moving closer to Lü Yang again. With so many corpses in the hall, saying she wasn’t scared would be a lie. But she had always been someone unwilling to show her inner emotions, so she stubbornly pretended not to be afraid.

Lü Yang’s mind kept turning… If this Mysterious Domain was something I created myself, what kind of Path of Survival would I set for it?

Yi Ya should already be rescued, but the task completion notification hadn’t sounded. It probably wouldn’t count until she was safely brought back to the real world. So, the condition of rescuing Yi Ya should already be met.

If killing the Death Killer couldn’t end this Mysterious Domain, and rescuing Yi Ya couldn’t end it either, then what exactly needed to be done to end this Mysterious Domain?

Liu Yin’s figure, holding Zhou Ling, finally completely vanished into the Black Mist outside the glass door. But the Mysterious Domain still hadn’t ended! It seemed the Path of Survival for this Mysterious Domain had nothing to do with killing Zhou Ling. Even completely destroying her corpse wouldn’t work!

Lü Yang! What exactly did you do? What kind of Path of Survival did you set? Why make things so difficult for yourself?

Crazy! Absolutely crazy!

Before figuring out the Path of Survival for this Mysterious Domain, Lü Yang remembered another very important matter.

The Death Killer Zhou Ling died in the Mysterious Domain. So, in the real world, she would likewise be erased. Once she was erased, the Butterfly Effect it caused would become a huge problem…

The Death Livestream would definitely be gone, but that wasn’t Lü Yang’s concern. However, a few things would have a relatively significant impact on Lü Yang’s life.

Without the Death Killer Zhou Ling, Lü Yang and Liu Hui would still not have met, because this ‘accidental’ reunion with Liu Hui was entirely arranged by Zhou Ling. Given that, after returning to reality, he still needed to avoid meeting Liu Hui again. From what Zhou Ling described and what Lü Yang himself sensed… she would be a very difficult character to deal with.

The death of the Lutou Mountain Mysterious Domain Private Investigation Agency detective Ji Zhen would probably affect Zhang Min’s investigation of him. But based on the experience from the first Mysterious Domain, the few deceased Porters could be replaced by other Porters. So, the Investigation Agency should also have another detective to help Zhang Min complete her investigation of Lü Yang.

Porters being replaced was nothing. Ji Zhen being replaced was nothing. He just hoped the Mysterious Domain wouldn’t produce some replacement for Zhou Ling. If it spawned an even more perverted, cruel, and insane killer, that would be a disaster for the human world.

It probably wouldn’t, right? A rare specimen like Zhou Ling should be a once-in-a-thousand-years occurrence.

The most significant impact of Zhou Ling’s erasure on Lü Yang would likely be his relationship with Yi Ya.

Without the Death Killer, there wouldn’t have been that night of searching and madness during the Torrential Rain. There wouldn’t have been the passionate kiss at the entrance of Jing’an Residential Area. Similarly, there wouldn’t have been that night in the Community Hospital room where they held hands and talked.

Ugh! Wouldn’t that mean they reverted back to being just ordinary friends?

Maybe, maybe not. That night when Yi Ya brought the Kissing Dolls over actually had nothing to do with the Death Killer.

But even if the two became ordinary friends again… it might not necessarily be a bad thing for her… This way, he could avoid dragging her into troubles she shouldn’t bear because of him.

Just like in this Mysterious Domain, she was truly too innocent.

Sigh…

“Xiao Ya, let’s go take a look over there. I need to find some clues.” Lü Yang pointed towards the direction of the four elevators in the hotel lobby. The fire escape was also in that direction. Since he couldn’t find the Path of Survival, perhaps walking through the entire Mysterious Domain might reveal some previously overlooked clues.

“Mmm.”

Yi Ya obediently took Lü Yang’s hand and walked with him towards the elevators. Along the way, Yi Ya stayed close to Lü Yang, looking upwards to avoid seeing the horrifyingly bloody scenes on the floor.

The four elevators, same as before, were completely unresponsive. The Iron Gate leading from the fire escape had been smashed open, and it looked very dark inside. The guests who fled upstairs from here, their current whereabouts were unknown. Lü Yang and Yi Ya stood by the Iron Gate but couldn’t hear any sounds.

Lü Yang led Yi Ya into the fire escape. From here, they could go down to the underground Parking Lot or up to the higher floors. Lü Yang first went down a few steps but quickly found the way down was blocked, sealed off by menacing Black Mist. It was impossible to get close.

Then Lü Yang led Yi Ya back up…

At the turn, a wall of Black Mist blocked Lü Yang’s path!

Lü Yang couldn’t help but be shocked. He remembered coming down from here, and the guests also escaped this way. But now, it was actually sealed off by Black Mist!

A sense of foreboding enveloped Lü Yang’s heart. It was very likely that the entire Mysterious Domain was shrinking! If he couldn’t find the Path of Survival soon, once the entire first-floor hall was also engulfed by the Black Mist, he and Yi Ya would be doomed!

“What’s with this Black Mist? It seems to be at the entrance too,” Yi Ya asked Lü Yang.

“This Black Mist marks the boundary of the Mysterious Domain. You must never touch it,” Lü Yang explained simply to Yi Ya.

“Why don’t you briefly tell me everything? Maybe I can help you figure out the Path of Survival! Two heads are better than one, right?” Yi Ya suggested again as they retreated back to the first-floor hall together.

“Alright, I’ll give you a brief summary… but you might find it hard to understand…”

“You’re so long-winded! Just tell me!”

“Let’s find a place to sit and talk.” Lü Yang led Yi Ya back into the hall, looking around for a place with relatively fewer corpses.

After all, explaining these things to Yi Ya wouldn’t be quick, and being surrounded by so many corpses and blood stains was truly unnerving.

“Let’s sit up there.” Yi Ya pulled Lü Yang towards the reception desk in the middle of the hall. She hoisted herself up onto it with her hands, then patted the space beside her, signaling for Lü Yang to sit up there too.

Lü Yang frowned slightly but still sat down next to Yi Ya.

“I’ll try to be concise, aiming to explain the whole thing within five minutes. Regardless of whether you understand or not, I’ll only speak for five minutes.” Lü Yang glanced at the clock at the hotel front desk and told Yi Ya.

“Go on.”

…

Yi Ya’s comprehension far exceeded Lü Yang’s expectations. Regarding many things he considered bizarre, she didn’t show much surprise. She even guessed the answers ahead of time when Lü Yang mentioned certain clues and traps! And her guesses were mostly close to the mark.

Once he actually started talking to Yi Ya, Lü Yang couldn’t effectively control the time. Coupled with Yi Ya frequently interrupting to ask key questions, even with his repeated streamlining, the whole explanation still took over half an hour.

Regarding the matter of the lingering passionate kiss Zhou Ling mentioned, Lü Yang tried to downplay it. Citing the time pressure, he refused to answer Yi Ya’s annoying questions like ‘Did your lips touch?’, ‘Did you open your mouths and use tongues?’ etc. He just claimed that Zhou Ling tried to force a kiss on him, but he didn’t let her succeed.

Although Yi Ya didn’t believe Lü Yang, under his ‘time is tight’ intimidation, she had no choice but to drop the subject.

Although the explanation wasted a lot of time, the fact that the Black Mist outside the glass door and in the fire escape hadn’t invaded the main hall yet gave Lü Yang some temporary relief.

“Your battle of wits with Zhou Ling at the Jinda Hotel this time was quite interesting… However… I still have to say… you really were quite dumb! If I were you, I would have suspected she was the Death Killer before entering the Mysterious Domain she created, and then directly pulled her into a Mysterious Domain. A simple matter was made incredibly complicated by you.”

“I’m dumb?” Lü Yang looked at Yi Ya with great displeasure. Such an exciting confrontation and reversal, and she called it dumb? It really hurt his pride.

“Think about it. She and Liu Yin came to your place, and then I went missing. So, the possibility that one of them was the Death Killer should have been very high. Later, you also knew that when I answered the phone, Zhou Ling went to your bathroom. When I knocked on the door, it was her knocking. Based on just these points, it was almost certainly her…”

“Nonsense! How do you know I didn’t suspect her? Even if I suspected her back then, could I act so rashly? I only had one Creation Card. If I failed, I would forever lose the chance to save you! If it only involved me, I would absolutely dare to gamble! But it involved you, your life was at stake. If I couldn’t ensure the highest possibility of saving you, how could I dare to gamble!?” Lü Yang looked somewhat angrily at Yi Ya.

Yi Ya fell silent. Concern leads to confusion. Being in the thick of it, constantly worried about her safety, Lü Yang of course couldn’t analyze things as calmly as she could now, being on the outside. And when handling the specifics, he indeed needed to be as precise as possible. From that perspective, he wasn’t wrong.

“Don’t be angry, I was just joking. I know, in this world, besides you, no one would make such great sacrifices for me.” Seeing Lü Yang was truly angry, Yi Ya quickly changed her tone and leaned her body closer into Lü Yang’s arms.

“I’m not angry. It’s all my fault for involving you.” Lü Yang gently hugged Yi Ya. At this moment, he felt extremely tired—physically exhausted and even more mentally drained. He really wanted to return to his Rented Room in the real world as soon as possible and get a good night’s sleep.

But if he couldn’t escape this Mysterious Domain, he wouldn’t get a chance to rest. Moreover, he had to remain vigilant at all times.