Living Our Lives Well is More Important Than Anything

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Chapter 7:

After waking up, Hong Dou still insisted on leaving Spring Flowers Tower, not even touching the lunch sent to her at noon.

When Chihong reported Hong Dou’s situation to Li Chunzhou, it was already past noon. Li Chunzhou had just changed into a comfortable dark blue outfit and was about to leave with a little chicken in her arms.

After hearing Chihong’s report about Hong Dou, Li Chunzhou nodded and said, "If she doesn’t want to eat, let her be. You don’t need to watch her closely. Oh, and if her parents want to ransom her, ask for ten gold coins. If they refuse, just send them away."

Li Chunzhou put on her hood and said, "You take care of the rest, I’m going out to play, okay?"

Chihong nodded slightly, hesitated for a moment, then looked up and advised, "Miss, it’s not very safe in the town lately."

The young master of the Qi family hanged himself because of a prostitute, causing a commotion in Shengjing City. The prostitute performed in a second-rate brothel. It’s said that the young master went mad after the incident, staying at the door and talking nonsense every day.

Li Chunzhou had already hurried outside, her clear and energetic voice could be heard from afar, "Don’t worry, A’xuan is with me!"

Qi Leyuan, who was being held in her arms, suddenly remembered Li Zhexuan. He turned his head to look at Li Zhexuan and wondered why he could always make people inexplicably ignore his presence.

Lost in his thoughts, Qi Leyuan suddenly opened the communication channel, acting almost on instinct.

After a while, over twenty people chatted for a while. Qi Leyuan quickly browsed through hundreds of unread messages and unexpectedly learned a lot of new information, mainly focused on three points:

1. Thirty players were randomly assigned different roles, with most of them within the city limits, but seven unlucky ones were sent to remote villages and were now packing to head to the city.

2. The names in the chat channel were not their real-life names but their "true names" in this Dungeon World.

Among the players, some are government officials, and they are already discussing the player who died this morning.

Shi Gu (Beggar) said, "Even if we can’t change our names, let’s all note our roles in the Dungeon. There are too many of us to remember individually."

Qi Leyuan looked at the message, feeling confused. As a "chicken," should he change his note to "Qi Leyuan (Chicken)"?

He scrolled through the chat history and saw various roles like: prostitute, brothel worker, merchant, beggar, fisherman, and so on.

Qi Leyuan made a bold decision to change his note to "prostitute."

He had his reasons for doing this. Firstly, marking himself as a "chicken" was too strange. Secondly, he always followed Li Chunzhou now, so any information he gathered would be related to her. By noting himself as a prostitute, it would be harder to reveal his true intentions when interacting with other players.

Zhong Zhiye (Cabinet Minister), "I have a high-ranking position, but the Department of Personnel handles this case, so it’s not related to me."

Cheng Yingchu (Prostitute), "No, not being involved now doesn’t mean it won’t change in the future."

Zhong Zhiye (Cabinet Minister), "What do you mean, sis? Can you explain more clearly?"

[Cheng Yingchu](Prostitute), "Please don’t call me sister. To become a Cabinet Minister in this era, one would likely be around forty or fifty years old, right?"

[Zhong Zhiye](Cabinet Minister), "That old man is indeed in his fifties. He fell down two days ago and hurt his knee badly, but I myself am only twenty years old in the real world (tears up)."

[Ji He](Fifth young master of Ji family), "Um… I have been wanting to ask, am I the only one whose gender has changed? I used to be a girl and now I’m a boy…"

[Lai Xiang](Consort), "!!! My gender has also changed! And that old man, Prince Kang, always bosses me around. It’s so annoyingヽ(‘⌒？メ)ノ!"

[Gu Cai](Merchant), "@Cheng Yingchu, what do you mean by ‘not necessarily’? Are you trying to make a big deal out of this?"

[Yan Qingze](Merchant), "Right! Making a big fuss will definitely catch the emperor’s attention. Maybe he will even appoint you to handle this case, @Zhong Zhiye."

[Zhong Zhiye](Cabinet Minister), "But how can we make this matter big?"

[Kong Yangping](Brothel janitor), "With so many of us, we can spread the news together, right?"

[Shi Gu](Beggar), "The beggars here are quite united. I think this plan will work."

A’ping (beggar): "Big brother, veggies, bring some! I’m also a beggar like you! Where are you? Can I come find you? It’s my first time in this Dungeon, it’s been over a day since I last ate, wuwuwu…"

Shi Gu (beggar), "@A’ping, I’m in the southern part of the city, come over."

You Rurong (investigator), "This situation is indeed unusual." (picture) (picture)

You Rurong sent two pictures, showing the autopsy results of a player found dead this morning.

Players who have completed several Dungeons have seen many bodies, but these two pictures still made most people feel quite uncomfortable.

Qi Leyuan also furrowed his non-existent brow.

In the photos, Zhenxing’s skull was opened, with the place where the brain should be empty, bloodstains everywhere, as if someone had scraped his brain away.

Linlang (maid), "Where’s his brain?"

Yan Qingze (merchant), "Everyone, could you please give a heads up before sending such photos next time, I was just eating tofu pudding!! (sad)"

Cheng Yingchu (prostitute), "Right now, the gender of this body should be random. Don’t worry, it will return to normal after leaving the Dungeon @Ji He@Lai Xiang".

You Rurong (coroner), "During the autopsy, it was like this. I don’t know if that ‘thing’ from last night had something to do with it."

Shi Gu (beggar), "We must not let this matter be closed just like that… How about using the disappearance of the dead person’s brain as a gimmick, once the news spreads out, it will make things easier for our investigation."

Ji He (Ji family’s fifth young master), "Really? That’s great, thank you dear! @Cheng Yingchu".

Currently, only players with good mental state are able to send messages, while the timid ones have lost their interest in speaking.

After noon, when the city drum sounds, the shops will open.

In Shengjing City, every day at noon, the drum will be beaten three hundred times in both the east and west markets. Then the shops will start operating. Before sunset, seven quarters til sundown, the gong will be struck three hundred times, and the shops will close.

After nightfall, martial scouts often patrol back and forth for fire and theft prevention. After sunset, it is not allowed for people to come and go casually.

Now is the busiest time in the east and west markets of Shengjing City, where there is a rich supply of goods. Not only are various local items being bought and sold, such as silk clothing stores, jewelry shops, rouge and powder shops, there is no shortage of anything; there are also merchants from the Western Regions doing business, famously known for their unique Hu Bing pastries, sesame Hu Bing with its hot steam, golden and crispy crust, both fragrant and crunchy, catching Li Chunzhou’s eye.

In the end, she couldn’t resist and bought one. As she ate her cake, she held Li Li’s hand and walked through the streets, passing various ancient bookstores, street performers showcasing acrobatics, playing instruments, and telling fortunes to earn money.

Qi Leyuan looked around in amazement. Daliang didn’t seem as outdated as he had imagined from ancient times – there were various entertainment and delicious food options available.

Li Chunzhou stopped in front of the notice posted by the authorities, squinting her eyes to read today’s official news.

Today’s official news indeed featured the threatening letter discussed in the morning chat channel. Qi Leyuan looked around at the crowd, wondering if the culprit could be among them.

Not finding any suspicious individuals, Qi Leyuan opened the chat channel and messaged, "It seems like the official news has been posted. What does the Cabinet say? @Zhong Zhiye"

[Zhong Zhiye](Cabinet Minister), "Originally, Prime Minister Gu didn’t take that letter seriously, but a few ministers disagreed. They argued that Prime Minister Gu isn’t afraid because he has the Emperor’s Jinwei Guard protection, while they don’t have such protection and are not willing to take the risk. Also, there have been many rumors circulating in the city about this matter, so Prime Minister Gu agreed to publish the official news."

[A’ping](Beggar), "I’m sorry, it’s my fault… This morning, I misread the news and thought it was about spreading the news of the headless corpse case…"

[Cheng Yingchu](Prostitute), "So, to summarize, our main tasks now are three things: first, investigate the death of Minister Liu; second, investigate why Player Zhenxing’s brain disappeared; third, follow the clues in the nursery rhymes provided by the system."

[Liang Fengyu](Farmer), "Is it necessary to investigate the case of Minister Liu? I feel like it’s not related to our main mission."

Gu Cai, "Simpleton, can you guarantee that there is nothing? Can you promise?"

Liang Fengyu, "I was just talking, why are you getting so angry?"

Gu Cai, "Well, your brain might not make it to the third day anyway."

Liang Jiayou, "Um, actually I’m quite curious. This is another murder case with a warning letter. The killer seems quite interesting. And Minister Liu’s death was so unjust. I think we can seek justice for him."

Liang Wenshi, "It’s all fake, just a program set by the Main God System. Why do you care so much about an NPC?"

Hongwu, "Besides these three matters, I think we should also consider the rules set by the system at the beginning."

Liang Wenshi, "That’s right, breaking the cage or killing Him can end everything. What exactly is this cage and who does He refer to?"

Shi Gu, "Don’t forget, one of the six rules is fake."

Chapter Correction (Paid)