Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

After a while, the sound of dice rolling from the other side continued incessantly, making Liu Xing increasingly uneasy. Just by listening to the dice hitting the ground, he could tell that the battle between Zhang Jingxu and the others against the Water Ghost was intense. However, fortunately, at this point, Jingxu and his group had not suffered any casualties.

Just then, the Black Cat Demon returned.

This time, the Black Cat Demon carried a yellowed booklet in its mouth and a small stone.

The Black Cat Demon placed the items on the table and said, "Kid, it seems like your companions have been attacked by a Water Ghost."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, not expecting the Black Cat Demon to know about the Water Ghost attacking Zhang Jingxu and the others. However, this provided him with a reason to go and help.

So, Liu Xing feigned surprise and said, "What? My companions were attacked by a Water Ghost? I can’t let that happen. I need to go help them right away!"

Liu Xing was about to leave the room, but the Black Cat Demon didn’t give him the chance.

"Kid, you can’t go help your companions right now. I can sense that this attack by the Water Ghost was deliberate, someone intentionally lured the Water Ghost here. I suspect it might be that Gralki’s follower causing trouble. And his purpose in doing so is likely to frame you," the Black Cat Demon said seriously.

Liu Xing was genuinely surprised this time. "What? Are you saying that the hoodlum wants to frame me? That’s strange. He can’t just accuse me of sending the Water Ghost to attack them without any evidence, can he? His only reason is that I didn’t accompany them?"

In Liu Xing’s opinion, whether it was Li Dian or Wan Chongshan as the hoodlum, neither of them would be foolish enough to frame him like this. After all, they should know that he had a good relationship with Ling Ishikawa and Zhang Jingxu. Unless they had solid evidence, Ling Ishikawa and Zhang Jingxu would not suspect him.

Wait a minute!

Liu Xing suddenly realized something. The hoodlum didn’t need to convince Ling Ishikawa and Zhang Jingxu to suspect him. He only needed to convince Li Dian or Wan Chongshan!

Because at the beginning of this module, players were divided into two groups: Liu Xing with Ling Ishikawa and Zhang Jingxu, and Li Dian with Wan Chongshan.

So, even if Li Dian and Wan Chongshan didn’t know each other at the start of this module, after a few days of interaction and getting along, their relationship should have improved. So, now assuming the hoodlum was Wan Chongshan, he would know that according to the module’s progress, they only needed one or two more time points to resolve the issue with Gu Master Chaxi and the Water Ghost. Then they could have the final showdown with Gralki’s avatar.

At that time, Gralki’s avatar’s power wouldn’t have fully recovered to its best state within this module. So, Wan Chongshan believed that even if he betrayed his group, he might not be able to help Gralki’s avatar eliminate the other players. Moreover, the other players would likely turn their anger against him, and he might end up being surrounded and killed.

So, now Wan Chongshan, if he’s not foolish, would realize that he had only two options. The first option was to find an opportunity to delay the progress, buying time for Gralki’s avatar to recover. But in the current situation, unless he informed Gu Master Chaxi and the Water Ghost to escape early, they would undoubtedly be doomed. However, Wan Chongshan couldn’t find a suitable solo action, and if Gu Master Chaxi and the Water Ghost suddenly fled, it might raise suspicions of leaks.

Therefore, Wan Chongshan could only choose the second option, which was to sow discord.

First, Wan Chongshan knew that the three-person group of Liu Xing, Ling Ishikawa, and Zhang Jingxu, although not inseparable, had a good relationship. So, it wouldn’t be easy to sow discord among them in a short time. Therefore, Wan Chongshan’s best target was Li Dian.

After all, after some time of interaction, Wan Chongshan and Li Dian’s relationship must have progressed, at the very least to a friendly level. So, this provided a basis for communication. Wan Chongshan only needed to find a suitable opportunity to sow discord between Li Dian and the trio of Liu Xing, causing Li Dian to stand on his side. Then, Wan Chongshan and Li Dian could betray Liu Xing’s group together.

This way, as long as the betrayal succeeded, Wan Chongshan would essentially secure a victory.

And throughout this text, "Wan Chongshan" can be replaced with "Li Dian."

Thinking of this, Liu Xing realized that he shouldn’t go and help because it might expose the Black Cat Demon’s presence. Even if he made up a reason to help, the hoodlum might use it as an opportunity to cause trouble.

So, Liu Xing knew that the best thing he could do now was to stay in the room and wait for Zhang Jingxu and the others to return. After all, at this stage of the module, players could "die and come back to life," so killing other players wouldn’t have any meaning.

At this point, the Black Cat Demon spoke again. "Kid, I see you’ve figured it out. Now, stay in this room, study the book I brought you. If you have talent, you might learn the Insect Control Technique in one or two hours. Then you can advance to become a Gu Master. Alright, I’ll go take a look over there. Maybe I can identify who is Gralki’s follower."

With that, the Black Cat Demon left once more.

Liu Xing sighed, picked up the small booklet from the table.

"Gu Master’s Beginner’s Handbook," a booklet that recorded how an ordinary person could become a Gu Master. Due to the author’s limitations and reasons, reading this booklet required passing an 80% success rate Judgment. After passing the Judgment, the reader needed to spend 1d10 hours reading the book and would lose 1d5 sanity points. Afterward, the reader would learn the skill: Insect Control Technique.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised by how peculiar this Beginner’s Handbook was. The fact that he had to pass a Judgment due to the author’s writing skills was unexpected, but luckily, the success rate of the Judgment was high and almost impossible to fail.

However, Liu Xing suddenly realized a problem: he didn’t understand Chinese at all!

After all, mental communication couldn’t work with written text. Unless this was a talking book...

Liu Xing opened the Beginner’s Handbook hopefully and found that he indeed didn’t recognize the characters.

Frustrated, Liu Xing scratched his head and sighed, "How am I supposed to learn this?"

Liu Xing lay on the bed in resignation, contemplating life.

First of all, he couldn’t bring out the Gu Master’s Beginner’s Handbook to have Zhang Jingxu or Hu Cang translate it. Liu Xing couldn’t explain where he got the handbook, and its nature was very sensitive. Panlong Town had only one Gu Master, which was Chaxi. Liu Xing didn’t want to be mistaken for a follower of Gralki.

Liu Xing sighed and turned over, only to find his head hitting something.

He reached out and found his phone.

His eyes lit up, and he quickly unlocked his phone and opened a translation app.

Before coming to China, Watanabe Ryuusei had anticipated possible language barriers and had downloaded a translation app. Now, it seemed like it was coming in handy.

Liu Xing checked his phone’s battery, which was at 36%. It should be enough to translate the Gu Master’s Beginner’s Handbook.

So, Liu Xing began translating the handbook diligently.

Just then, KP Snow Wind suddenly spoke, "Congratulations, players, on successfully defeating the Water Ghost and completing the corresponding Side Quest ahead of schedule. The rewards for the Side Quest have been distributed, and you can check them in your character cards."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised that Ling Ishikawa and the others had managed to defeat the Water Ghost, and it seemed there were no casualties.

However, Liu Xing realized that since he hadn’t been present, he wouldn’t receive any rewards for defeating the Water Ghost.

So, Liu Xing felt like he had missed out on this one.

Since Ling Ishikawa and the others had defeated the Water Ghost and were likely to return soon, Liu Xing focused on translating the handbook.

The Gu Master’s Beginner’s Handbook was only five thin pages, so Liu Xing quickly finished the translation. However, due to the app’s limitations, the translation had a 20% reduction in accuracy.

Just as Liu Xing was about to attempt the Judgment for the Gu Master’s Beginner’s Handbook, he heard hurried footsteps approaching, indicating that Ling Ishikawa and the others were back.

Liu Xing decided to put away his phone and leave the room.

Upon leaving, he saw Ling Ishikawa and the others, all covered in injuries. Each of them had varying degrees of wounds.

Zhang Jingxu, who was most severely injured, had already fallen into a coma. There were horrifying claw marks on his chest.

Liu Xing furrowed his brows and feigned surprise, saying, "What happened to you? Were you attacked by the Water Ghost?"

Ling Ishikawa, with lighter injuries, nodded tiredly. "Yes, we were attacked by the Water Ghost on our way back after obtaining the pre-made animal traps from Wang Anquan. Thankfully, Wan Chongshan reacted quickly and dodged the Water Ghost’s initial attack. We engaged in a direct battle with the Water Ghost. Fortunately, we had purchased some good iron knives from Wang Anquan; otherwise, we might not have been able to defeat the Water Ghost."

After Ling Ishikawa’s explanation, Liu Xing noticed that Wan Chongshan and the others were holding decent-looking iron knives, all stained with blood.

At this moment, Hu Cang arrived with a first-aid kit.

Zhang Jingxu had been placed on a table, and his clothes had been removed, revealing the terrifying claw marks that extended from his left shoulder to the root of his right thigh. The wounds were deep, exposing bone, and fresh blood oozed from the injuries.

Liu Xing furrowed his brows, realizing that Zhang Jingxu might be in serious danger this time.

Fortunately, in a few hours, Zhang Jingxu would come back to life.

So, apart from Hu Cang, the others’ emotions were relatively stable.

Indeed, despite Hu Cang’s best efforts, Zhang Jingxu ultimately died due to excessive blood loss.

Hu Cang sighed and said, "It looks like we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see Zhang Jingxu alive again."

After properly arranging Zhang Jingxu’s "corpse," Ling Ishikawa and the others changed into clean clothes and tended to their minor injuries before returning to the third-floor living room together.

Hu Cang took a sip of water and asked, "How did you encounter the Water Ghost? I’ve been in Panlong Town for so long, and I’ve never encountered a Water Ghost or even heard of one."

Ling Ishikawa sighed with lingering fear and explained, "The situation was like this. Just as we passed the bridge behind Panlong Town, the Water Ghost suddenly emerged from the nearby bushes. While Wan Chongshan, who was in the front, managed to evade the initial attack, Li Dian, who was behind, was struck and thrown. This disoriented our formation, leading to a chaotic battle. In the end, we managed to kill the Water Ghost with our knives, but it cost us Zhang Jingxu’s life, and we all sustained injuries."

Liu Xing nodded and said, "It seems we were too relaxed. We didn’t expect the Water Ghost to attack us proactively, especially during your return. It caught you off guard. Thankfully, you killed the Water Ghost, and the price wasn’t too high. By the way, did you inform Hu Li about killing the Water Ghost to collect materials?"

Ling Ishikawa shook his head, looking puzzled. "No, we specifically looked for Hu Li on our way back, but she wasn’t home."

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