Chapter 49: Guests Need Not Panic
Clearly, the Grand Tribunal's Magistrates had already noticed the players' presence.
Whatever their reasons for not pursuing them last night, the self-aware group decisively abandoned any further action and returned to their rooms with grave expressions.
Tonight's performance had cost a second life and ended amid the survivors' terror.
Fang Jue and Du Xiguang headed toward the same room, their disordered auras noticeably circumventing Cheng Shi.
The current situation was too chaotic. It was hard not to connect everything to a follower of [Chaos].
Though Cheng Shi had done nothing, doing nothing was itself more suspicious.
From the trial's start to now, the group felt as though they were being led by the nose.
Wherever they investigated, someone died.
This closely resembled previous trials that included [Chaos] followers. The only difference was that this time, the deaths were more coincidental and more plausible.
Cheng Shi could see what they were thinking, so he didn't press a warm face against a cold backside.
Like the Ascetic Monk, he silently went downstairs alone.
But he didn't return to his own room. He went to Yun Ni's room instead.
Yun Ni's room was spare, even excessively so.
Not only was there not a single personal item of hers, but even some of the tables, chairs, and stools provided by the hotel had vanished.
Cheng Shi knew that these items had likely been used by the Assassin lady for her Rite of Communion.
The Rite of Communion for [Annihilation] was annihilation itself.
Finding not a single useful clue, Cheng Shi sighed helplessly.
Perhaps this was simply the hallmark of [Annihilation] followers. When they offered themselves to [Annihilation], every trace of their existence disappeared as well.
As though they had never been.
He lay on Yun Ni's bed, turned on his side, and stared somewhat dazedly at the blade slit she had carved in the wooden wall.
Only a dozen-odd hours had passed since that slit was born, yet today felt so long it seemed like several days had gone by.
He suddenly recalled the moment Yun Ni shook his hand. The red nails on those jade fingers remained vivid in his memory.
Images of memory kept welling up. With each scene he recalled, Cheng Shi's brow tightened another fraction.
He naturally wasn't nostalgic for these fragmented details.
He was thinking.
Thinking about how that blade slit had come to be.
If he remembered correctly, the Assassin lady could pinpoint Cheng Shi's exact position through a wall.
This meant she possessed some sort of detection or sensory talent, and a high-ranked one at that.
If that was the case, why had she failed to notice the abnormality inside the room before entering?
Even if the Grand Tribunal's Magistrates had all sorts of concealment methods, as an Assassin, a class renowned for caution, it was impossible for her to have zero warning of danger.
She had clearly warned Fang Jue and the others the instant she opened the door.
But!
This act of warning was even more incomprehensible.
Cheng Shi couldn't help but think: if it were him, upon discovering danger inside a room, he would either go all out to escape first, or gear up for a head-on fight. He certainly wouldn't divert his attention in the very first instant to warn his teammates.
He remembered all too well what Yun Ni's attitude toward teammates was like.
She might care about her so-called fairness, but she would never concern herself with others' lives.
Even allying with Fang Jue and the others to resist on the spot would have been more reliable than a mere warning.
So why did she do it?
Cheng Shi thought for a long time, unable to arrive at a reasonable explanation. He could only cobble together one answer:
She had been controlled!
Likely not prolonged control, but a split-second influence that seized her mind in that instant.
And that momentary decision had cost her life.
Someone hiding in the shadows could control a person's thoughts!
Was it the killer, or a player?
Most likely the killer.
Of course, Fang Jue and Du Xiguang couldn't be entirely ruled out either.
Cheng Shi's expression grew increasingly grim.
It appeared that this trial contained not only a perfectly concealed killer, but also someone fishing in troubled waters!
Danger surged through the darkness, and murderous intent lurked within the hotel.
Fortunately, dawn was near.
Before long, the sky brightened.
Guests woke up one after another, and the hotel regained its bustle and vitality.
But the good times didn't last. Just as Fang Jue and Cheng Shi simultaneously pushed their doors open and appeared in the corridor, the hotel's front entrance was forcefully shut by a group of uniformed Enforcement Officers.
"Announcing the Enforcement Bureau Action Order:
At the request of Grand Tribunal Magistrate Moorsius, all entry and exit points of Everbloom are sealed, and the Surging Light of Life hotel is locked down.
Guests need not panic. The Inquisitors have secured the situation. Your personal safety is guaranteed here.
Please leave your rooms in an orderly manner and gather on the first floor.
Repeating: please gather on the first floor!"
The Grand Tribunal had made its move!
Their speed far exceeded expectations!
The entire hotel had been sealed.
Fang Jue and the others exchanged a glance with Cheng Shi and headed to the first floor without a word.
Cheng Shi followed obediently.
The Grand Tribunal's target wouldn't be the players.
Since they'd let them go last night, they wouldn't mobilize on this scale today just to hassle them again.
Their target was the killer.
As the players descended the stairs, their thoughts churned:
If the killer truly fell into the Grand Tribunal's hands, would the trail go cold?
Whether he was the final tribute or not, no one could wrest a prisoner from the Grand Tribunal's grasp for interrogation.
Let alone a Magistrate who had instantly killed Yun Ni.
The guests were thoroughly shocked by the Enforcement Bureau's announcement. Chaos spread through the hotel.
Everyone was bewildered, buzzing with discussion.
"What's going on? Why seal the hotel? Where's the manager? He should protest to the autonomous committee!"
"Are you out of your mind? This is the Grand Tribunal's order! Do you know what the Grand Tribunal is? The exalted Magistrates would never seal a hotel without evidence."
"Heavens, the killer is in the hotel? Praise [Prosperity], I'm still alive!"
"What, the Magistrate leading this operation is Moorsius? My God, I'd give anything to meet him, even just a single glance!"
"Who? The Son of Thunder?"
"That's him! He's the Grand Tribunal's First-Class Magistrate, a student of the Grand Executioner Altael, the most gifted Elemental Magistrate in history, and the Child of [Order] most likely to inherit the title of Grand Magistrate!
Even!
Even if I could just look at him once, tonight would be an unforgettable dream for the rest of my life."
"The way you're fawning is genuinely terrifying. One look at you and Moorsius would probably have nightmares!"
"Are you trying to start a fight?"
"[Prosperity] be witness, the Magistrates have already locked down the killer. Right now, I'm not afraid of you."
"…"
The scene was a tangled mess. The players stood apart within the surging, restless crowd, gravely scrutinizing every suspicious person and event around them.
On the eve of the Grand Tribunal's judgment, they still wanted to find clues one step ahead.
But there were too many people, and too much noise. In such a chaotic situation, it was nearly impossible to identify a single "unsuspicious" person. Many guests' behavior had become distorted and reactive due to panic.
Cheng Shi sighed softly and began shifting his approach.
Simultaneously, four Inquisitors from the Grand Tribunal silently appeared in the four corners of the lobby, boxing in the entire hotel with just four people.
Before long, amid the anxious murmurs, a purple-eyed Magistrate in judgment robes appeared at the hotel's entrance.
Moorsius!
The Grand Tribunal's Elemental Magistrate, the most popular First-Class Magistrate in history!
"You know him?"
Du Xiguang stood in the crowd and asked in a low voice.
Fang Jue nodded and said:
"The Child of [Order] who died young. I once saw his name in the Grand Tribunal's historical archives.
After his death, the Grand Tribunal was gradually dragged into the quagmire of war and slowly declined."
"Died young… war?"
Du Xiguang was momentarily confused, but then it clicked.
"Is this the late Civilization Epoch?"
"No, a bit earlier.
It should be the tail end of the middle period. At this time, the civil war had just begun. [War] had only just started gazing upon this land and hadn't yet descended. As for [Chaos], His divine name hadn't even begun to spread."
"!"
A flash of insight struck Du Xiguang. He suddenly understood why last night, when a follower of [Chaos] was right outside the door, the Grand Tribunal's Magistrates hadn't come to arrest him.
It turned out this was the early Civilization Epoch. By now, the descent of [Order] and [Truth] had passed several thousand years ago. Their followers had nearly unified the surface world, but [War] had only just noticed the Land of Hope.
"How did he die?"
"The Grand Tribunal's records are vague. I never joined them, so what I know is limited."
"What exactly is a 'Child of [Order]'?" Du Xiguang asked again.
This time Fang Jue didn't answer. Instead, he asked:
"What did you trade your memories for?"
Du Xiguang's face tightened. He pressed his lips shut.
Fang Jue seemed to have guessed something and said no more.
The Magistrate whose eyes flickered with violet thunder walked step by step before the crowd, tapped the floor with his Scepter, and signaled for silence.
Whether due to the pressure of [Order] or out of reverence for the Grand Tribunal, the lobby quickly fell quiet.
He hadn't even spoken yet. He merely performed a salute in the manner of [Order] followers, and a wave of "law-abiding obedience" instantly infected Cheng Shi, stirring within him an urge to turn himself in.
"…"
This was way more powerful than Fang Jue's [Confession] from last night.
Just as everyone bowed their heads, ready to "accept judgment," Moorsius spoke.
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