Chapter 185: The black tower's illegitimate son.

Without giving the player any time to react, The black tower's hint catches Tang Mo off guard. In this room, Tang Mo and Fu Wensheng are working together, but they pretend not to know each other, and all four are wary of each other.

When The black tower gave the game prompt, they did not communicate immediately, but thought about it individually.

As the minutes ticked by, the young woman in black spoke first: "Do you all have any ideas about the rules that The black tower has just mentioned?"

Ning Zheng stared coldly at the woman, not speaking.

Tang Mo shakes his head in silence.

Fu Wensheng followed Tang Mo , saying without hesitation, "I don't know."

It was clear that none of the three people in the room were interested in cooperating, and the young woman raised an eyebrow. She didn't push, however, but looked through the window at the four shops outside.

Five minutes later, a faint, unnoticeable vibration sounded outside the room. Tang Mo's heart pounded, and the four of them immediately went to the window. Four light doors suddenly appeared on the road between the candy house and the four shops. These four light doors were facing the shop doors, and a bright red light shone in their frames.

Tang Mo suddenly thought of something and immediately turned around and ran to the other side of the candy house, looking out of the window on the other side.

Fittingly, there are four doors of light here too!

"Eight shops, eight gates of light ...... Each gate of light corresponds to a shop one by one." Fu Wensheng said in amazement.

The sudden appearance of eight light doors baffled players, but The black tower soon gave the answer.

The vibrations grew louder and louder, and the red light on the gates shone brighter and brighter. When the vibrations and light reached a peak, everything came to a screeching halt. Suddenly, only a light-coloured, glowing figure suddenly took a step out of one of the doors.

It was a figure covered in a red glow, with no indication of his appearance or clothing, except that he appeared to be a grown man. He was holding a bag of coins and rubbing his hands together as he walked through the lighted door and into the gift shop to the right of the candy house.

Tang Mo's mind instantly went to one word.

"Virtual customers?!"

The four men uttered in unison their surprise.

This red light man is just the beginning.

Immediately afterwards, one after another of the red light men emerged from the eight doors. The door from which they emerge does not mean that they approach the shop directly opposite that door. At the same time, they do not necessarily enter only one shop. After exiting the first shop, they may enter a second or a third shop, or they may simply return to the light door and disappear.

Countless virtual customers were moving in and out of the eight shops, and the whole street was bustling with activity as if it were a festival. Tang Mo was also confused for a moment, his eyes darting to the four shops on his left. But after looking at the ones on the left, he couldn't look at the ones on the right.

These customers are quick on their feet, walking in and out, making their purchases and then returning one by one to the light doors, thumping the earth.

Five minutes later, all the customers walked through the light door and disappeared. If the tremor of the footsteps shaking the earth hadn't completely dissipated, Tang Mo wouldn't have been sure if a red light man had just appeared. He quickly returned to his senses and looked at the other two people in the room.

Ning Zheng tried his best to hide his dismay, but his feigned composure revealed the fact that he too was confused. The black-clad woman named Mo Xue frowned as she looked at the eight shops to her left and right and turned her head to the three players in the room and said, "Those eight doors haven't disappeared."

The crowd immediately took another look.

Tang Mo : "The people have all disappeared but the door is still there. So that means ...... they will come back again?"

Ning Zheng : "When is it coming back, and is it the same group that came back earlier?"

In the next second, a clear child's voice rang out -

"Dingdong! Please prepare your reserve customers, the second batch of virtual guests will be arriving in five minutes."

Tang Mo closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, calming his violently beating heart. Fu Xiaodi notices his abnormality and looks at him worriedly. Tang Mo shoots him a reassuring look and Fu Wensheng looks away, pretending he doesn't know Tang Mo well again.

Tang Mo looked calmly at Ning Zheng and the young woman, and after a moment's silence, said, "I counted them all just now, and there are a hundred red light people in total, which is the same as the number of hundred virtual customers that The black tower said."

The four people in the room were no ordinary players and did the same thing Tang Mo did.

Ning Zheng hid the information she had found, but the young woman was much more generous and she said straight away, "I remembered sixty-seven of them. What is this little friend doing looking at me with such surprise." She laughed, "Although all those light people have no faces and no clothes, there are still differences in their height and build, so look carefully and you can see some differences and identify them."

Tang Mo also gave the young woman a surprised look, but she was only staring at Fu Wensheng and didn't seem to notice Tang Mo.

To be able to remember more than sixty almost identical looking light people in such a short time, this woman was more powerful than he could have imagined, I feared.

After the woman gave her information, she scanned the crowd present and asked again, "This time, does everyone have a clue?"

Ning Zheng stared at her warily, again without saying a word.

Fu Wensheng, thinking Tang Mo would also refuse, spoke up, "No ......"

"What happens if I say yes?"

The smile on the young woman's lips stopped and she turned her head to look at Tang Mo with a surprised look in her eyes, as if she hadn't expected Tang Mo to say that. Her bright, dark eyes gazed silently at Tang Mo, and Tang Mo looked at her quietly. They stared at each other for a moment before the woman smiled slightly: "What a coincidence, I have a clue too. So ...... Tang Mo , want to cooperate."

Fu Wensheng never expected that in a game where he and Brother Tang were in the same team (room), Brother Tang would not pick him to work with him, but ...... picked a woman to work with instead!

What the hell is this woman's relationship with Brother Tang!

Where is this goblin!

Tang Mo and the woman in black walk to the corner and quietly discuss their message. Ning Zheng narrows his eyes and stares at them. Fu Wensheng is tempted to run over to them, but he weighs his options and decides to keep his relationship with Tang Mo under wraps. As the child begins to doubt his life, Tang Mo raises his eyes and gives him a wink. Fu Wensheng froze and then reacted.

Brother Tang must have done it for a reason and he chose to trust Brother Tang.

Tang Mo and the young woman whispered so much that neither Ning Zheng nor Fu Wensheng heard them. As they walked back, the woman stopped beside Ning Zheng, smiled and asked, " Ning Zheng , would you like to join our team and work together?"

Ning Zheng hesitated for a moment before looking up and saying lightly, "No."

The young woman shrugged her shoulders as she walked back over to Fu Wensheng and leaned down slightly, "I haven't seen a child in a long time, let's go through together."

Fu Wensheng didn't understand what she meant by this, and when he did, he looked up at Tang Mo in disbelief.

Tang Mo opened his mouth, "It's about to start."

Buzz!

The ground trembled again and on either side of the room, red light doors flashed out in a dazzling glow. It was as if customers were actually coming out of the doors to shop for things, and the noise of talking flowed into the ears of every player. One by one, groups of blurred-looking red light people entered the shop to buy what they wanted.

They were surprisingly faster than the first round.

Like a red fallen leaf, it tumbled past the player in a dizzying clatter. Fu Wensheng watched wide-eyed, trying to identify as many Lightbearers as possible, as the young woman did, but he had only managed to distinguish twenty before his mind exploded and his eyes went dry.

Light people appear and disappear in rumbling batches.

Tang Mo's eyes are bloodshot, and he closes his eyes for a long time after the last Lightman has disappeared through the light door with the gift box in his arms. Tang Mo looks to the young woman, who nods at him. The two exchanged some quiet words and Tang Mo whispered, "Really? ......"

Ning Zheng clenches his fingers.

Woman in black: "Just confirm it a third time for good measure."

Tang Mo : "Hmm."

This time the woman in black walked to Ning Zheng's side again without stopping. But after she walked past, she turned back, "Do you still not want to cooperate?"

Ning Zheng was silent for a long time and turned his head to look at Tang Mo.

Given the current situation, Ning Zheng's desire to cooperate would mean that he has temporarily put aside his previous feud with Tang Mo. If it were Bai Ruoyao, he might be able to cooperate and sell Tang Mo out of this door. But Ning Zheng couldn't do that, and he couldn't take revenge on Tang Mo for the favour he had done. He didn't want to shake hands with Tang Mo for a simple game that wasn't life-threatening, there was so much more he wanted to do.

Ning Zheng's voice was calm: "No."

Young woman: "No really?"

Ning Zheng was alerted, "What are you trying to say?"

The woman laughed, "It's nothing. It's just that Santa is one of the few most powerful bosses in The black tower world, and it's better to be careful in his game."

Ning Zheng was about to speak when the earth suddenly shook gently.

Tang Mo : "Here it comes."

The four men immediately padded over to the window as quickly as they could. Tang Mo and Fu Wensheng on one side, the young woman and Ning Zheng on the other, each of them looking out of one of the windows. This time, the virtual customers appeared faster, and so did the speed at which they entered the shop and bought things. As if someone had pressed the accelerator button, the red lights overlapped, making it very difficult to even discern how many people were there.

Fu Wensheng's eyes were soon dry, and he managed to get through the five minutes only to hear The black tower say coldly -

"In one minute, all reserve customers will be asked to select the correct shop to enter."

"Please note that entering the correct shop is the only way to be converted to a full customer."

Fu Wensheng was confused and said, "What if I can't get a transfer?"

As if hearing his words, The black tower replied in a very humane way, "Game failed, player leaves Santa's Funky Shopping Street immediately."

--So it won't die after all?

The words rang in the minds of all four at the same time.

As the words The black tower fell, two red dots of light suddenly appeared on the marshmallow door of the candy house. The dots of light faded away, and before everyone's eyes were two small turntables made of malt candy. The top one was divided equally into two pieces, with "left" and "right" written on the left and the right. The lower one is divided into four pieces, each with a Q-tip lollipop, chocolate, cake and gift box drawn on it with sugar juice.

Turning the dial allows the pointer to point to any small block.

Fu Wensheng : "These two reels are asking us to choose any of the eight shops and enter the shop."

The first reel divides the eight shops into two teams, while the second reel directly asks players to choose a specific shop. With time running out, Fu Wensheng looks nervously at Tang Mo. He has an answer in mind, but he is not sure. The young woman had already said she would help Fu Wensheng through, so Tang Mo rightly went up to him, took the child's hand and helped him turn the two reels.

When he had finished, the turntable twisted back into place. A bright light flashed on the door of the marshmallow room and a line of writing surfaced on the door -

"All reserve customers are asked to select the shop they wish to visit. Once you have made your selection, the doors will open."

Next it was the turn of Tang Mo and the young woman.

Instead of exchanging words, the two men, who were clearly working together, each blocked the view and turned the dial.

Finally, only Ning Zheng remains.

Ning Zheng stood still and quietly looked at the marshmallow room door and the three men beside it. He lifted a step to the door and calmly reached out his hand and touched the first spinning wheel. Just as he was about to turn the dial, a female voice rang out, "The candy house on the left."

Tang Mo looks at the young woman in surprise.

Ning Zheng was also very surprised, and he looked at the woman with a strange look. After a long time, he said quietly, "Do we know each other?"

The woman in black laughed, "I don't know you, but I've heard of you. There aren't many China players on the Time Rankings, and you're very good."

Ning Zheng : "So why are you helping me?"

"You're a returnee."

Tang Mo was startled when he realised something.

Ning Zheng beat him to it, "You're a returnee too?!"

"Did I say I was a Returnee?" The woman in black raised one eyebrow and laughed, "Are you so hostile to the Earth survivors because you are a Returnee? Perhaps it is not necessary. We are all human, why should we be so divided. And ...... perhaps I'm not helping you."

Narrowing his eyes, Ning Zheng coldly tossed out the phrase "I'm guessing the candy house on the left as well" and quickly spun the wheel.

When he had finished his selection, the marshmallow door gave off a tantalisingly sweet aroma. In the midst of this rich aroma, The black tower's icy voice rang out: "One minute is up. Nineteen prep customers have been successfully converted and twelve have failed the game. Father Christmas thinks that only a dishonest bad boy wouldn't know that he runs a candy shop, or the best candy shop in all of Underlander. The bad boy will surely get his just desserts, and Santa's reindeer smiled and stretched out their hooves."

At the sound of the words, the door creaked open.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"

A dozen ear-splitting screams rang in the crowd's ears as the gates opened. By the time Tang Mo got a good look at what was in front of him, he saw eleven muscular reindeer extending their hooves and kicking eleven players hard in the buttocks. These players wailed in pain as the reindeer kicked them into the light gate and disappeared down the commercial street.

Tang Mo The four men immediately turned their heads and finally saw where they were.

It is a narrow, wide street, topped by a colourful neon gate with a line of large coloured lights -

'Santa's Quirky Shopping Street'

In the middle of the street, eight red light doors fade into thin air, and along with them, seven fake shops. From the room, Tang Mo did not realise that Santa's candy house was so huge. It looks like a palace standing on the side of the road, a huge lollipop hanging from the shop sign. And in the middle of the road are eight tiny candy houses.

Compared to Santa's candy house, these eight candy houses are as small as toys.

But just now all the players were sent to these candy houses. They thought they were playing the game alone, when in fact they were playing the same game at the same time. They saw the same red light people, and in the end twelve people didn't pick the correct shop, and nineteen others went on to the next game.

Tang Mo searched the crowd and spotted Chen Shanshan and Fu Wenduo.

Fu Wensheng was smart enough not to look at Fu Wenduo and ran straight to Chen Shanshan. When the two children reunited, the other players gave them one more look in surprise, not taking them seriously. Fu Wenduo finds Tang Mo and strides towards him. As he reaches Tang Mo, he spots Ning Zheng and a woman in black with a very strong presence.

Fu Wenduo's footsteps were halted, his gaze passing over Ning Zheng's body before finally settling on the woman in black.

As the group left the candy house, all the powers and props that had been restricted were released, and an unmistakable sense of oppression instantly pressed down from overhead. Tang Mo stands next to Fu Wenduo and examines the black-clad woman in equal measure.

Most of the players in the crowd were watching Fu Wenduo, Tang Mo and Ning Zheng, three well-known players, while only Bai Ruoyao stared at the woman in black with wide eyes. Slowly, the corners of his mouth grew wider and wider, and he gave a cheeky laugh that grew louder and louder, drawing sideways glances from those around him, but he continued to laugh as if no one was watching.

Fu Wenduo stared at the woman in black for a long time, his voice low: "What is your name?"

The woman in black did not answer, but uttered a name: " Fu Wenduo ?" Then she looked at everyone on the street and her eyes paused when she saw Bai Ruoyao. She laughed, " Tang Mo , Fu Wenduo , Ning Zheng ...... This game is a real surprise. Tang Mo , I noticed that guy looking at you with a very funny look, do you know each other?"

Tang Mo followed the direction of her finger. Bai Ruoyao waved at him and made the mouth shape " Tangtang".

Tang Mo said coldly, "I don't know."

The woman in black said, "Why don't we make a bet, if you guess who I am, I'll tell you who he is. It just so happens that I hate him a bit too. There aren't many people I hate, and it's rare that I come across a more annoying one before I die. He doesn't look like he's on good terms with you guys, so it's good to get on his bad side. But if you can't guess, I want your most important prop."

Tang Mo : "Are you sure you want to bet?"

Woman in black: "Yes. You don't want to make that bet? That's fine, I never force people ......"

"No, I'll make that bet with you."

The woman in black's voice stopped abruptly and she looked at Tang Mo with interest. She had never looked at Tang Mo with such seriousness, or rather, before Fu Wenduo appeared, Tang Mo had thought that this woman was interested in him and Ning Zheng, and she had never concealed that interest. But when Fu Wenduo appeared, a hot, belligerent fire was instantly ignited in the woman's eyes, a wariness that could not be concealed in her eyes.

But they don't know each other.

Today, she looks at Tang Mo with the same serious eyes.

The woman in black laughed, "You don't need to reconsider? I can tell if the props you give me are the most important to you."

"The first batch of virtual customers appeared and were able to identify sixty-seven red light people straight away without knowing anything about them. The second and third batches of customers in the frenzy were able to observe and remember the characteristics of the light people entering the four shops very easily and without any struggle at all."

Not far away, Fu Xiaodi is learning from Chen Shanshan how the game is really played. The child exclaims, "You have to remember every single shop that a hundred identical-looking light people enter? Remember them all?"

Chen Shanshan corrects, "They don't look exactly the same, there are differences. There are children and there are adults."

"That's too strong, a hundred eh, that short time, and they're still so ...... long androgynous." Fu Xiaodi found a suitable adjective.

Chen Shanshan spotted the confrontation between the Tang Mo duo and the woman in black as she observed the situation over there, "The second and third time won't be necessary. Just observe the shops where each of these children goes. Santa likes honest children, and children like Santa best. The first time you see all the children going to the candy house, you'll be able to deduce a vague target. Next, you just need to test your guessed answer to get through the game."

She makes it sound so easy, but of all the players, she is the only one who is qualified to say so. With her super-intelligent brain, Chen Shanshan knew the answer to the customer frenzy the first time, without even having to check it again, because her brain was able to handle such calculations and operations at the same time. Even Tang Mo and the woman in black did not know the answer until the second time.

Chen Shanshan asked, "Whisper, who is that woman who was just in the same room with you?"

Fu Wensheng nodded: "Her name is Mo Xue and she's quite a strange person. Sister Shanshan, you said earlier that normally two people working together would be the best way to get through this game. You don't know, but Brother Tang didn't choose to work with me, but with that woman instead. This woman is also very strange, she seems to be Cantonese, and she helped Ning Zheng to pass the game. Ning Zheng didn't appreciate her either."

Chen Shanshan's eyes widened and he turned his head and said, "Wait, you said she was Cantonese?"

Fu Wensheng rubbed his head, "Yes, she spoke Cantonese in the room, like Cantonese."

Chen Shanshan looked in dismay at the woman in black not far away, "Could she be ......"

Meanwhile, Tang Mo looked steadily at the woman and spoke those three words in a calm tone.

" Mu Huixue ."

Mu Huixue's pupils flinched, and then the corners of her lips curled up. Her hand touched the whip at her waist, and in the next second she suddenly drew it and flung it violently at Fu Wenduo. Fu Wenduo sidestepped the whip and at the same time reached out his hand to grab the end of it. But just as his hand touched the whip, it turned into a burning flame.

Fu Wenduo frowned and threw the whip away.

The whip returned to Mu Huixue's hand and changed back to its original form.

Mu Huixue didn't give him time to react as she let out a low bellow and lashed her whip to the ground, using her strength to leap into the air. The flexible whip made a crack in the ground and stabbed at Fu Wenduo with a speed that was hard to reach with the naked eye. Without thinking, Tang Mo quickly recited an incantation and opened his umbrella to block Fu Wenduo's face. But as soon as he raised the umbrella, a chill ran up from the bottom of his feet and he immediately realised that the umbrella would probably be pierced by the whip!

Fu Wenduo pushes his umbrella aside and with a fling of his right hand turns it into a black sharpshooter, blocking the long whip.

The two collided with an ear-splitting metallic clash.

Mu Huixue perked up as she looked at Fu Wenduo's right hand that had turned into a weapon: "Is this your power? Come again!"

No one knew why this woman had suddenly gone mad, but everyone could see that the battle between this woman and Fu Wenduo was not something that ordinary players could engage in. The other players avoided this scene, but Bai Ruoyao's eyes lit up. Fu Wenduo and Mu Huixue weren't fighting alone, and Tang Mo also stepped in to block. Bai Ruoyao found an opportunity to catch Tang Mo in the crossfire.

"Hehehe, let me find out, Tangtang."

Two silvery flashes of light, sharp butterfly knives like death's scythes, broke into the wind. Tang Mo, who had to watch out for Bai Ruoyao's sneak attack while dealing with Mu Huixue, blushed and was about to block it with difficulty. The red whip turned in the air and wrapped itself around Bai Ruoyao's wrists, tying his hands firmly in place.

Bai Ruoyao was startled, and for the first time the doll's face lost its smile.

With a tug of the whip, Mu Huixue pulled the baby-faced youth to his side and kicked him in the crook of the leg with a smile.

"Lucky Yao, number one on the most annoying list in the circle, you don't seem to be very lucky today, am I the first one to catch you?"

Bai Ruoyao moved his wrist and tried to break free of the whip. Fu Wenduo took out his props straight away and tied him with the karmic rope.

Bai Ruoyao : "......"

Damn, didn't these three just fight!

Tang Mo glanced at him, "Are you cursing me in your mind."

Bai Ruoyao : "......"

Mu Huixue : "No one has ever caught you in all these years, slippery lucky yao, that nickname makes me want to catch you. So putting on a show to drop you on the hook seems to be working well. I still seem to have a talent for acting."

Bai Ruoyao tried, but could not break free of Fu Wenduo's props. Surprisingly, he was not in a hurry and laughed again: "Mu Huixue, I don't think we know each other very well."

Mu Huixue : "Just because you don't know each other well doesn't mean you don't annoy people."

Bai Ruoyao would like to refute this statement, but he finds himself speechless.

...... He does seem to be hated by many, many, many people.

Mu Huixue just wanted to catch Bai Ruoyao, but as Bai Ruoyao said, they didn't have a deep grudge. So she turned her head to Tang Mo: "What are you going to do?"

What are you going to do?

Tang Mo didn't blink: "Kill."

Bai Ruoyao : "......"

A few moments later, the baby-faced young man scowled aggressively, " Tangtang, how can you let go of this, we are good friends. Don't do something you'll regret on impulse, think about it more, like talking to someone?"

Tang Mo gave a meaningful "oh" and looked at Fu Wenduo for a moment to discuss, "What do you think?"

Fu Wenduo did not hesitate: "Kill it."

Bai Ruoyao: "......" Soon, he said with displeasure, "Hey, hey, you'll really regret being so hasty, Tangtang."

Mu Huixue laughed, "Looks like you're not going to be lucky today."

Bai Ruoyao's gaze swept over the three men and he looked up at Ning Zheng, who was not far away, watching all this with a cool eye. He was about to say something when he heard a familiar Christmas song playing from the end of the street. The cheerful song grew closer and closer, resonating throughout the street. Father Christmas, driving his reindeer in a sleigh, laughed loudly, "Ha ha ha ha, Merry Christmas!"

Father Christmas soon drove up to the door of the candy house, he looked at the nineteen players outside the door and smiled, "My dear children, is this the day you come to visit my candy house? All the children who come here are good, honest and kind children, so you must not fight."

The black tower's mechanical beep sounded in the crowd's ears just as they finished speaking.

"Ding Dong! The use of psychic powers, props and all acts of violence are prohibited in Santa's Quirky Shopping Street."

Tang Mo : "......"

Fu Wenduo : "......"

Mu Huixue : "......"

In a flash, the psychic powers that had only just returned to the body were once again suppressed.

The prop rope tied around Bai Ruoyao's wrist swished back into Fu Wenduo's pocket, and the baby-faced youth froze for a moment before he raised the corners of his mouth and smiled crookedly, "Hee hee hee hee, Tangtang, as I told you at the beginning, my nickname is Lucky Yao."

...... You're not the bastard son of The black tower, are you?!