City of Sin and Fog (The Black Death) Chapter 121: The Court of Dayun City

“You, shameless as you are, actually know that such despicable things should be whispered quietly.”

To be honest, it did sound a bit like that.

Wu Hui hesitated to speak, but his roommate’s words abruptly cut off his train of thought.

The younger roommate raised an eyebrow at him: “Looks like it, right?”

Wu Hui was left speechless.

He was merely a passerby, someone who might soon leave this city. Frankly, the things in this place didn’t concern him much.

But some people were different.

“What’s going on?” The newly appointed squad leader of the Tribunal, a level-five player named Guan Shanting, arrived at the crime scene with a serious expression.

“A player is suspected of committing a crime, but no evidence was found at the scene. We’d like you to take a look,” said a police officer, likely the team leader, approaching with a solemn face to speak to Guan Shanting.

He knew Guan’s habits well—he despised flattery or joking around. The more serious, the better.

They had been in close contact lately, as the city’s crime rate inexplicably remained high, with numerous cases involving suspected player offenses.

Guan Shanting was somewhat impatient. Wearing his teal dragon-patterned mask, he took a deep breath to calm himself.

The weather hadn’t been good these past few days, or perhaps it was some internal irritation—he felt restless. This was no good omen.

Moreover, daylight struggled to break through, casting a gloomy pall over everything.

Overall, Guan Shanting was a good man in the traditional sense. Such people were rare even within the Tribunal.

But they were short-staffed and had to lower their standards.

“There are indeed traces of supernatural power,” Guan Shanting said, touching his mask. It seemed everyone in the Tribunal had this habit—wearing a mask just made you want to touch it.

Understandable. If you had something like that on your face, you’d want to touch it too. People wearing glasses often push them up from time to time.

But Guan usually exercised restraint. Lately, though, he found himself stroking the mask more often than usual.

He seemed unable to resist many things recently.

There was a problem, but he couldn’t pinpoint where it stemmed from.

“Captain Guan?”

The voice of the chief detective pulled him from his thoughts. Guan rubbed his brow. “Check the suspect’s social connections first. If there’s a suspect, come find me.”

This city was gradually unraveling.

Wu Hui had known before arriving that the crime rate here was high, but it was a global trend and thus not particularly remarkable.

However, since their arrival, something seemed to have changed. Everything quietly felt different. The streets were filled with irritable pedestrians.

“The people in this city are downright unfriendly. Let’s just go back to the apartment,” Li Xiaoyue said nervously, edging closer to Wu Hui.

Wu Hui tapped the leg of his glasses. “Hypnotize me.”

Li Xiaoyue blinked. “What?”

“No, I mean give me a psychological suggestion. Make sure I don’t forget,” Wu Hui replied.

“Forget what?” Li Xiaoyue was puzzled.

Wu Hui pressed his hand to his head, and after a moment, suddenly said, “Let’s keep moving.”

At that moment, Li Xiaoyue felt a chill.

Had they been affected by some power? Wu Hui told her not to forget, yet promptly forgot the matter himself.

She wasn’t dumb, just not as sharp as Wu Hui or Ren Yin. Li Xiaoyue scanned their surroundings warily, but saw nothing unusual—only her twin sister Li Xiaojing shared her vigilance.

“Wu Hui!”

The bespectacled man turned to meet her gaze. Li Xiaoyue activated a mental link and relayed everything before subtly implanting a suggestion in Wu Hui’s mind, who offered no resistance.

“Whenever I hold your arm, you’ll remember this information.”

Mental suggestions require a trigger, preferably something common yet distinctive in daily life, accompanied by a strong sensory impression.

Wu Hui sensed something wrong, and also felt that his awareness was being suppressed by some force.

Li Xiaoyue’s expression was somewhat blank.

The twins, flanking him on either side, linked arms with Wu Hui, resembling children vying for attention.

But once the twins released him, Wu Hui inevitably forgot the unsettling feelings he had sensed. This seemed to stem from demonic power, something no novice player could easily resist.

A game was unfolding in Dayun City.

Its scope was vast, and the casualties severe. Yet no game mechanics were discernible.

Clearly, this was a plague game—

Death.

Destruction.

Catastrophe.

If not for the counterbalance of other demonic gods, the Black Death would have long wiped out humanity on Earth. The exact method remained unknown. In the last world Wu Hui visited, it was the Seal Beasts that exterminated everyone. But it could just as well be plague, darkness, or some other monster.

Few had experienced the Black Death game on the forums.

Because it started at level five, low-level players rarely encountered it, and mid-level players could choose to abstain. Still, some insane or unlucky ones got caught up in it.

Outside Dayun City,

The level-twelve Tribunal player Tie Shou stood at the roadside, brows furrowed beneath his iron mask.

“So they really won’t let us in? Are we just to wait here until it’s all over?” Tie Shou gazed at the sky, almost wanting to confront the demonic god directly.

But it seemed impossible. All their powers derived from demonic gods, and the rules themselves were unbreakable. Like NPCs in a game, no matter how powerful their stats, they could never affect the creators.

So Tie Shou could only sigh and wait outside the city.

He could of course call those inside, but they wouldn’t remember after hearing him.

All he could do was pray the players inside failed soon.

A black cloud still shrouded the city.

From Tie Shou’s perspective, immune to mental influences, it appeared as a thick black mist enveloping everything.

People came and went, but only he was shut out.

That night, at a buffet restaurant, Wu Hui, the girls, the younger roommate, and his cousin Ke Wenbei were dining together.

The buffet was fairly upscale. The younger roommate shouted about breaking even and was ravenously devouring seafood, which was rather embarrassing.

Wang Xiaodie felt the urge too, but now that she had money, she didn’t have to worry about breaking even.

So much for elegance and refinement—how one behaved at a buffet boils down to how much money one has.

Wu Hui ate quietly, occasionally pausing, until a sudden scream shattered the calm.

Someone had died in the restaurant.

Li Xiaoyue instinctively clung to Wu Hui’s arm.

He was jolted awake.

Unbeknownst to them, a black smoke had already begun to spread around.

With each breath, the smoke was inhaled and exhaled, though how many unknown substances remained within was unclear.

Meanwhile, the younger roommate and Ke Wenbei had already rushed over to watch the commotion.

P.S. Tsk, the recent days’ progress has been mediocre. The release is almost here, and it’s still like this.