Two hours ago, on the T University campus, at the foot of Lovers’ Slope. Hu Jiayao crouched on the ground, motionless, with wide-open eyes, as if he was still awake. Beside him, Yang Mingzhong held two strands of "Intricate Threads" in his hands, a slight frown on his brow, focusing intently on every tiny tremor of the silk strands, like a patient fisherman. Suddenly, the "signal" from one of the silver threads, which was linked to a person, was completely cut off. This meant that the man had suddenly entered a space that did not belong to this instance map. Yang Mingzhong fell into deep thought, and the next moment, the phone in his pocket vibrated with a buzzing sound, and at the same time, a vibration came from Hu Jiayao’s pocket too. Hu Jiayao jerked awake, his whole body shuddered, and he instinctively clenched his fists, looking warily ahead. It was empty there, with nothing. He looked at the person beside him with some confusion, "... Why did I wake up?" Yang Mingzhong looked at him with difficulty, thinking to himself, shouldn’t you be asking yourself why you fell asleep while on watch? Realizing the issue, Hu Jiayao added, "No, I wasn’t asleep, I was just lost in thought." Yang Mingzhong shook his head, put down the "shuttle" with the interrupted signal, took his phone out of his pocket, and said, "There’s a message, it should be from the Guild Leader." Hu Jiayao, still dazed, hurriedly pulled out his phone upon hearing "Guild Leader" and indeed saw a new message from him, containing just one simple sentence— [Do your utmost to assist Yang Mingzhong.] Hu Jiayao was stunned for a moment, a bit puzzled. This request had already been given when they parted ways with the Guild Leader, hadn’t it? Why send a special message now to emphasize it again? Could it be that the Guild Leader forgot he had mentioned it before? Well, it made sense; the Guild Leader was so busy, handling this and that, forgetting a small detail or two occasionally was normal. Thinking this, Hu Jiayao turned to look at Yang Mingzhong, and found him staring at the tiny black and white phone screen, his face clouded. Has something major happened? Seeing this, Hu Jiayao’s heart sank, and he couldn’t help leaning his body over to "peek" at the message Yang Mingzhong received. Yang Mingzhong noticed Hu Jiayao’s movement, but did not evade — he understood well that, with Hu Jiayao’s intelligence, even if he saw the content of the message, he wouldn’t know what the Guild Leader actually wanted him to do. Sure enough, Hu Jiayao stared at the message on the screen, his brows furrowed in confusion. Yang Mingzhong’s message was a bit more detailed than Hu Jiayao’s, containing two sentences — [The grievances between you and that man probably can’t be resolved in this instance, so make sure to leave alive, do not seek death.] [Fulfill your mission, it might not impede our victory, rather it could be our greatest help.] Yang Mingzhong’s fingers clutched the phone tightly, trembling slightly from exertion, and the information contained in those brief sentences made his face change dramatically. Seeing this, the confusion on Hu Jiayao’s face deepened, "Old Yang, what exactly does the Guild Leader mean? Telling you not to seek death? Were you going to seek death?" Yang Mingzhong did not answer Hu Jiayao, lost in his own turbulent thoughts, unable to calm down for a long time. He should have realized it sooner. He was holding "Intricate Threads," once the most skilled player using this tool in the entire gaming world, apart from the Guild Leader of the Ghost Control Master Alliance. He had clearly spotted the clues from the threads on his fingertips long ago. Back on that blood donation vehicle, when the Guild Leader’s style of handling things was mentioned, he himself had suspicions. However, he had utterly disregarded these clues. He was blinded by revenge, clouded his judgment, and eventually, it took the Guild Leader’s reminder to realize the key issue. The Guild Leader wanted him to fulfill his mission... Yang Mingzhong instinctively placed his hand on the dagger tucked at his waist, his brows furrowed in thought. A long while later, his brow relaxed, "I understand now." "Huh? Understand what?" Hu Jiayao had been watching Yang Mingzhong, and seeing his sudden understanding expression, became even more puzzled, "Have you thought it through? No longer seeking death?" Yang Mingzhong stood up and started walking toward the Life Sciences Institute building, "Ah Yao, help me, find Wu Qing." Wu Qing was not in the Life Sciences Institute building. Although it was once her base, ever since Wei Zhe ordered Gan Tie to make a move on Wang Yajun’s lab, it had already "fallen." After leaving the Life Sciences Institute building, the two of them searched several other buildings, from the cafeteria to the teaching buildings, from the dorms to the gymnasium, scouring all imaginable places, but found no trace of Wu Qing. Yang Mingzhong’s mobility was limited, and Hu Jiayao’s ability to scan the area was insufficient, so eventually, Yang Mingzhong found a hidden spot, sat down, took out a map, and marked a few points on it: "The person is not on campus; she must have been hidden away by the Guild Leader’s female... friend. In my experience, they are likely hiding in a hotel or restaurant near the campus, where there is enough space to park the blood donation vehicle. So, the places situated in narrow alleys can be eliminated. This significantly reduces the locations you need to search, and now the few marked here, one of them is definitely our target location. "Follow the order I’ve marked and start searching from the most likely place, pay attention to whether there’s a blood donation vehicle nearby. The blood donation vehicle is large, and even if it’s camouflaged, it’s easy to spot." Hu Jiayao listened carefully to Yang Mingzhong’s instructions, nodded solemnly, put away the map, and stood up, "Rest assured, Old Yang, I’ll do my best to search and notify you immediately upon finding anything." Hu Jiayao had very strong execution abilities. And Yang Mingzhong’s keen sense in map scouting was far superior to other players of the same level, so it only took less than an hour. After searching the second building, Hu Jiayao saw the blood donation vehicle behind the door of a couple’s hotel. Fifteen minutes later, Yang Mingzhong arrived, and the two walked into the hotel together, taking the elevator directly upstairs. Initially, they thought they would have to search each room one by one, but as soon as the elevator reached the second floor and the doors opened, they encountered a familiar face— Yin Zhi’en appeared in the corridor, crouching at the end by a room door like a little watchdog. Hu Jiayao and Yang Mingzhong exited the elevator in sequence and looked at the door Yin Zhi’en was guarding—unlike other rooms, this one’s door was entirely white, as if built from ice and snow. This must be the place where Queen Wu Qing is hiding. Seeing the two approaching, Yin Zhi’en quickly sprang up, looking warily at Yang Mingzhong, then at Hu Jiayao. Finally, her gaze fell on Yang Mingzhong’s face, and her narrow eyes squinted, "I can sense it, you’re from the evil faction, aren’t you? An assassin? What are you doing here?" Saying this, Yin Zhi’en stepped back, using her body to block the entire white door, "I won’t let you in, I won’t allow you to make a mess." Upon hearing Yin Zhi’en first mention "assassin" and then "make a mess," Hu Jiayao was initially taken aback, then suddenly realized, looking incredulously at Yang Mingzhong behind him, "Old Yang, are you an assassin? Is the so-called ’mission accomplishment’ in that message meant for you to assassinate the Queen?!" Yang Mingzhong didn’t answer, which was tantamount to admitting, and gave Hu Jiayao a look that said, "You’re only realizing this now?" "Damn!" Hu Jiayao was annoyed, "I wasted my time helping you for so long, and it turns out I’m a rare fool!" With that, Hu Jiayao indignantly turned and switched sides to join Yin Zhi’en, "The Guild Leader isn’t here now, I won’t allow you to take this chance to make a mess. Old Yang, you’d better think clearly about what you’re actually doing!" Yang Mingzhong’s face was unusually calm. He considered asking, had Hu Jiayao forgotten what the Guild Leader had just instructed him to do in the message, going against orders so soon? But Yang Mingzhong’s gaze passed over Hu Jiayao to the Yin Zhi’en standing behind him, ultimately swallowing those accusatory words and letting out a light chuckle. Hu Jiayao was a bit puzzled, not understanding how the other could still laugh at a time . While pondering this, he saw Yang Mingzhong painstakingly adjust his injured leg, and then sit down against the wall, "You’re saying I’m making a mess while the Guild Leader isn’t here? If that’s what you think, fine, then I won’t go in. We’ll just sit here and wait. When the Guild Leader comes, we’ll ask him if I’m the one making the mess, or if it’s you." Being told this by Yang Mingzhong, Hu Jiayao was utterly bewildered. This man’s tone was too sure, so calm. Moreover, the Guild Leader’s previous message that Hu Jiayao had clearly seen was indeed instructing Yang Mingzhong to fulfill his mission. Yang Mingzhong, an [assassin], what could his mission be? Isn’t his mission to assassinate the Queen? Now it’s the perfect time to assassinate her, with the forces from the loyalist faction absent, isn’t it? Could it be that the Guild Leader’s intention was truly to have Yang Mingzhong eliminate the Queen? Hu Jiayao recalled the Guild Leader’s message at that moment and shockingly smacked his head, "Crap!" That’s why the Guild Leader sent an additional message to re-emphasize to him to unconditionally assist Yang Mingzhong? Because the Guild Leader wanted Yang Mingzhong to do something that would prevent their loyalist faction from winning, and whether what Yang Mingzhong did was right or wrong, Hu Jiayao had to support him unconditionally. This doesn’t seem right, why is that... Hu Jiayao felt a headache. His already insufficient brain cells were going to burn out. What should he do? Should he help the [assassin] take out the [Queen]?