Chapter 287: Justice Isn’t Just About Shouting Slogans!
A baffling scene appeared on the massive screens back in Dragon Country.
Zhang the Celestial Master was resting in his room early in the morning, while his guide dog had run off on its own.
Other Chosen Ones were practically exploring every waking moment, yet here was Zhang Yangqing, taking it easy.
But since it was Zhang Yangqing, the audience didn’t dare say much—they just figured the Celestial Master had his own plans.
Truth be told, this all started five minutes earlier.
After dispatching the villa’s owner on some errand, Zhang Yangqing had returned to his room.
He’d actually had a special skill all along—one he’d obtained from the Strange Rental House: [Mark].
Mark: Allows you to control an animal smaller than yourself and share one of its senses for 1 hour. Cooldown: 24 hours.
He hadn’t needed to observe anything yesterday or the day before, so he hadn’t used it.
Today, however, he activated the skill on his guide dog and directed it toward the villa’s backyard.
Once the skill was active, Zhang Yangqing could share the dog’s vision.
He was also the first Chosen One in this Horror Tale world who could actually see.
At that moment, it was like he was wearing VR goggles—sitting on the sofa, taking in the outside world.
“So this place really is a den of weirdness.”
Now that he could see, Zhang Yangqing realized that everyone here was quite peculiar.
The maids all had bizarre appearances—not a single one looked human.
Zhang Yangqing even wondered if these people were demons serving the villa’s owner.
According to the Key Demon, demons grew stronger at night; during the day, they simply looked like ordinary humans.
The furnishings all radiated a sinister, evil aura.
If this place were turned into a haunted house, it would truly be terrifying.
Following Zhang Yangqing’s commands, the guide dog had made its way to the backyard.
It happened to catch the villa’s owner and the elderly maid in conversation.
It was then that Zhang Yangqing noticed the owner had green hair and a face as white as if it had been caked with several layers of powder.
You could even say it looked like he’d been slathered in paint.
He wore some unfamiliar garment, with a high-collared cape hanging from his back.
As Zhang Yangqing had expected, the villa’s owner assumed the maid wouldn’t dare defy his orders and simply walked off.
The elderly maid, after heading some distance toward the pond, detoured to the old butler’s quarters.
Their subsequent conversation was about asking the old butler to use a concealment spell to hide the fish she’d raised for decades.
The old butler didn’t want any trouble, but the elderly maid said, “Either you help me, or I expose you.”
With no choice, the old butler complied.
From this, one could infer that the villa’s owner wasn’t truly the master—he might have been replaced, or perhaps controlled.
From there, one could make an even more ruthless deduction: sow discord.
If you wanted to become the villa’s owner, you’d have to find a way to eliminate him, strike some kind of contract, or accomplish it together.
By driving a wedge between the villa’s owner and the others, you’d gain more and more information.
Right now, the relationship between the villa’s owner and the elderly maid was already strained—all you’d need to do was fan the flames.
However, Zhang Yangqing wasn’t in a hurry. His progress was already too fast; he still had plenty of skill time left, and he could use the guide dog’s perspective to observe other goings-on in the villa.
He’d already visited the gallery, the weapon collection room, and even the library.
Just as time was running out, he spotted the loli girl.
She had golden curly twin-tails, facial features no different from any ordinary beauty—except for her teeth, which looked rather unsettling.
Right then, his vision went black, and he could see nothing at all.
The skill’s duration must have expired.
But after waiting ten minutes, Zhang Yangqing noticed that the guide dog still hadn’t returned.
Logically speaking, he’d given the dog its orders; given its speed, it should have been back by now.
So he went out to look for it—after all, he’d likely need the guide dog’s help going forward, and he couldn’t let it die here.
When he reached the spot where the “signal” had vanished, he heard the loli girl playing with the dog.
The guide dog, upon spotting Zhang Yangqing approaching, kept struggling in the girl’s arms.
If this woman weren’t the owner’s friend, it would have bolted long ago.
When Zhang Yangqing took the dog back, the loli girl complained, “I was just petting it—why are you in such a rush to take it away?”
She sounded almost unsatisfied.
“You have no idea how important a guide dog is to a blind person.”
With that, Zhang Yangqing left with the guide dog, leaving the loli girl frozen in place, stunned.
She was baffled—if you didn’t tell people you were blind, no one would ever know!
The morning passed just like that. The other busy Chosen Ones had also gathered plenty of crucial intelligence.
Many of them had already made preparations to kill guests that night.
Some of the bolder ones had even started sowing discord. The Chosen One from the Land of the Rising Sun, Kim Jeong-ki, hadn’t initially noticed the rule hints and had chosen to latch onto a powerful ally.
He’d been eager to curry favor with the husky-voiced old man.
Because he wasn’t sly enough—others inside the gallery would pretend to be quiet and fumble around whenever they heard footsteps. Kim Jeong-ki, not catching on, thought he had to pick a side.
So he stuck with the husky-voiced old man, only to naturally be spotted by other guests passing by.
This made killing the old man extremely difficult for him, especially since his guide dog—despite being strengthened—was still terrified of him.
After a night of deliberation, Kim Jeong-ki decided to intensify the conflict between the husky-voiced old man and the other guests, using his powerful patron to eliminate the rest.
That was today’s plan for Kim Jeong-ki.
Success or failure hinged on tonight.
His approach was similar to Zhang Yangqing’s: since he couldn’t invite the other guests into his room, he’d have to take the offensive.
But currying favor with the husky-voiced old man did have its perks. Once his affection reached a certain level, the old man removed one of his own fingers and gave it to Kim, telling him to keep it in his pocket.
If danger arose, he was to reach into his pocket and pinch the finger—then the old man would come to his aid promptly.
Kim Jeong-ki was so moved he nearly cried. Two days of groveling, 360-degree full-on pandering, and he’d finally earned a reward from the big shot.
This fit the Land of the Rising Sun’s long-standing strategy: suck up to the strong, and you’ll get the bones they toss your way.
The guide dog, watching its master act so pathetic, thought to itself: Who’s the real dog here—me, or this master of mine?
How is it that he’s better at being a dog than I am?
Sidney was the type who didn’t rush things. His progress seemed slow but steady.
That relieved Gregori, who had just woken up.
Gregori had nearly died in his last run. Right after detoxing, he’d been forced to channel holy energy and fight a larval-stage mother insect.
It was a narrow victory, barely scraping an SSSS rating.
This time, he’d drawn a growth-type seed resource that wouldn’t bear fruit for fifteen years.
Truth be told, Gregori had always known there was a gap between him and the Dragon Country Celestial Master. But after watching the recordings, he realized just how vast that gap truly was.
He’d used 20% of his strength just to struggle against a larval mother, while the other guy was casually slaughtering with only 10%.
Gregori hurriedly fast-forwarded through the past few days of the Horror Tale world.
After watching Sidney’s performance, he let out a sigh.
This puzzled the others nearby—was Sidney’s pace too slow to secure resources?
“That’s not it. Sidney’s playstyle is similar to Goncharov’s from last round—he can’t afford a single mistake. If he makes even one, he won’t get SSSS.”
That was Gregori’s assessment. After all, he’d been through four Horror Tale worlds and had a fair understanding of the scoring system.
In Gregori’s view, only by keeping pace with the Dragon Country Celestial Master would you earn what they called “bonus points” for speed.
He’d managed to keep up last time, and despite a few minor slip-ups later on, he’d pulled through with his extraordinary skills.
If Sidney couldn’t keep up, it would come down to how he handled the finer details.
Just as Gregori was watching the big screen, another unexpected development occurred in the Horror Tale world.
The Transcendent from Britannia, Earl Campbell, had performed quite well this morning, obtaining information that even the Dragon Country Celestial Master hadn’t gotten—the villa’s “surveillance zone” map.
With this chart, he could pinpoint the villa’s blind spots with precision.
Although he was blind and his guide dog couldn’t speak, the Key Demon he’d acquired last night could see and talk.
Aside from not being able to leave for now, the demon could help Campbell analyze a great deal.
At this stage, many Chosen Ones who’d obtained Key Demons realized they needed to increase their number of servants—it would benefit them greatly.
If the maids didn’t show up at night, he could use the surveillance blind spots during the day to kill them and gain demon servants.
Because Zhang Yangqing had been coasting this morning, many Britannian viewers felt that Campbell—fighting on “home turf”—had already caught up to Zhang Yangqing, or even surpassed him.
If Zhang Yangqing knew what they were thinking, he’d probably say: “Is it possible that, if I wanted to, I could just ignore the surveillance blind spots altogether?”
Zhang Yangqing had a special understanding of the Horror Tale world. As long as these things weren’t explicitly covered by the rules, they were essentially side quests—you could pursue them for benefits, and they’d make the final kill easier.
I couldn’t even be bothered to grab poison or contamination potions—why would I hunt for surveillance blind spots?
The reason Zhang Yangqing had deliberately slowed down and taken it easy was precisely because he was afraid that if he went too fast, the plot wouldn’t keep up, causing him to miss crucial details or even get stuck.
He’d already slowed his pace as much as possible, and still, most Chosen Ones couldn’t even come close.
Only when the settlement rules appeared would Zhang Yangqing accelerate.
The bell tolled—lunchtime.
Without needing the maids to urge them, the Chosen Ones seemed to have developed a habit.
It was also a “skill” they’d learned in the Horror Tale world.
Not the kind of skill you could actively use, but a special ability: a sense of time.
Having been blind throughout this period, they heard the bell every two hours.
Naturally, they’d developed an internal definition of time.
The Chosen Ones could all sense it when the time was roughly right.
Beyond that, all the Chosen Ones in this Horror Tale had seen dramatic improvements in both hearing and smell.
This was precisely why the more dangerous the Horror Tale, the stronger the survivors became.
In the afternoon, following his memory, Zhang Yangqing led his guide dog to the villa’s backyard.
The guide dog was nearly in tears: Master, you finally remembered you have a dog, huh?
There was a large pond in the backyard. It looked lifeless at first glance, but if you paid close attention, you could catch a faint fishy smell and the sound of fish splashing about.
The villa’s owner only gave orders—he never came here to check.
The elderly maid came twice a day: once after breakfast, and once after dinner.
So Zhang Yangqing planned to continue searching for other clues—for instance, whether the old butler knew how to become the villa’s owner.
Just then, he heard footsteps approaching.
The guide dog didn’t seem particularly alert, and the steps were light—it was probably the loli girl.
Zhang Yangqing wondered what she was doing here at this hour.
After asking, he learned that she’d just heard from a maid that the villa’s owner intended to have the elderly maid poison all the fish in the pond.
Brimming with a sense of justice, she’d come to check it out. Unlike those hypocritical “saints,” this loli girl genuinely tried to make a difference through her own efforts.
She was still lamenting by the pond, saying how pitiful it was that she hadn’t been able to stop it in time—it made you want to comfort her.
But then, her next words made Zhang Yangqing’s mouth twitch.
“These little fishies didn’t do anything to anyone. I wonder which heartless person made the villa owner do this.”
Zhang Yangqing wasn’t sure if she genuinely couldn’t guess who it was, or if she was deliberately mocking him.
Isn’t the person you’re talking about… me?
Heartless? Fine, fine. So that’s how you want to play it? Watch me have fun with you.
Zhang Yangqing had originally planned to just clear the game smoothly, but this loli girl wouldn’t stop chattering—and he even felt a bit offended.
So he decided to give her a surprise—something she’d never forget for the rest of her life.
“What do you think it takes to carry out justice?”
Zhang Yangqing suddenly spoke, catching the loli girl off guard.
She thought for a moment, then replied, “Courage and determination, of course!”
Hearing this, Zhang Yangqing almost laughed, but he held it in.
No wonder she was so naive—her thinking was too simple.
This loli girl was like a blank piece of paper, just begging for someone to scribble all over it.
Since there was nothing else to do in the Horror Tale world, Zhang Yangqing decided to start brainwashing her.
“Wrong answer. Determination and courage only make things more complicated. The only thing you truly need to carry out justice is… strength.”
At first, the loli girl objected, insisting that strength only led to resistance and chaos.
Zhang Yangqing had anticipated this. He found a special angle to approach her from—the feeling of powerlessness.
He told her that only people with flawed morals would cause resistance and chaos after gaining power.
But she was a person of upright character. If she wanted to carry out justice without the ability to do so, what then?
That struck a chord within her.
She’d always been ignored in everything she did. Even on the first day in the gallery, when she’d left everyone speechless, she couldn’t actually do anything to them—and they didn’t care about her opinions anyway. That was precisely the lack of ability to enforce justice.
Especially recently, after being pushed around by Zhang Yangqing so miserably, the feeling of helplessness had taken root inside her.
Zhang Yangqing understood human nature all too well. People do change—it’s just a matter of whether they encounter the right catalyst.
He kept prodding her with words, making her realize the importance of strength.
If she had power, she could do so many good things.
Without it, everything she thought or did was just empty talk—and she’d be looked down upon.
That reignited her fighting spirit—though it fizzled out just as quickly.
“Easy for you to say. How am I supposed to get stronger? It’s not something that happens overnight.”
The loli girl sighed.
Zhang Yangqing had been waiting for that line. Once you say that, it means you want to become stronger.
All that talk, and I was just waiting for you to say that. Watch me break you.
So he immediately responded, “There’s a Key Demon in my room. You can use it to summon demons. If you summon a powerful one and form a contract, you’ll be able to do so many things you’ve wanted to do but couldn’t.”
“No way—that’s evil! How could I use something like that?” The loli girl shook her head, her twin-tails swaying like a rattle-drum.
“A demon is essentially just a weapon. It only obeys its master’s commands. If the master doesn’t order it to do evil, it won’t. Weapons themselves have no moral alignment—only the actions of those who wield them can be judged as good or bad. If you use it for good, isn’t that a form of redemption?”
The loli girl fell silent, meaning those words had struck home.
After all, if Zhang Yangqing hadn’t built up all that talk about helplessness first, and had just come out and said this, she would have refused outright.
And if she didn’t refuse, didn’t that mean she was thinking about it?
Zhang Yangqing pressed on while the iron was hot, continuing his seduction: “Think about it—if you summon a demon to do good deeds, then it’s no longer a demon. It becomes an angel guarding the mortal world. All the justice you want to uphold—they could help you achieve it. Isn’t that the best of both worlds?”
Those words made a light sparkle in the loli girl’s eyes—as if she’d figured something out.
Because what Zhang Yangqing said was true: give her a weapon, and how she used it was up to her.
Since she had the ability, she could fulfill many of her unfulfilled wishes.
If she was powerless, no matter what she said, others—even if they stayed silent—wouldn’t care about her feelings.
At that moment, Zhang Yangqing knew the fish was about to bite. But he didn’t rush to reel in the line—if he got too eager, the fish might break free.
Finally, he added, “If your sense of justice is just for your own self-gratification, then pretend I never said anything. But if you truly want to do what’s right, come to my room tonight.”
With that, Zhang Yangqing left the backyard and headed toward the old butler’s quarters.
That final remark was meant to provoke her. These days, so-called “positive energy” is often just people shouting slogans, making themselves feel like righteous individuals while being utterly powerless.
The whole point is: “I tried, so I have a clear conscience.”
Every night, they’d pat themselves on the back for having once wanted to help others.
Even worse are the ones who deceive themselves.
People who “call for global environmental protection” while stuffing their pockets with fame and fortune.
Or those who stage videos of themselves “studying hard,” with titles like “Self-Study for Postgrad/PhD,” only to end up failing even a junior college entrance exam.
These people haven’t been exposed, yet they’ve reaped both fame and fortune.
Zhang Yangqing was using this kind of rhetoric to needle the loli girl. Justice isn’t just about shouting slogans! If you don’t want me to laugh at you—then prove it by doing something!
