And that was how the entire incident ended.
It ended with the incarceration of the murderer, and the revival of her “innocent victim”.
But things were not that simple.
The players in the World Channel and the Map Channel had begun to piece the clues together. They were not certain of the identity of the murderer, but there could only be one logical answer: Gongzi You.
Of course, the “murderer” had already long switched off her World and Map channel on her way to the jail. She had made the decision to stay away from the madness of the two channels the moment Fleeting Time shouted for her to enjoy the scenery in the wisteria garden with him.
She could tell what was going on in those channels without looking at them.
Ye Ci had never had such a strong feeling before: Fleeting Time was like the bane of her existence. Nothing good would happen whenever they met, and she no longer wanted to see him.
But she was instantly filled with regret the moment she remembered her deal with Absalom. I should’ve let him kill me there and then! Who cares about the deal and Golden Era? They’ll probably leave Upwards Ho! alone anyways with how small we are. Didn’t my action guarantee the increase in my interaction with Fleeting Time?
I’m so stupid! I’m an idiot! Why did I ask for cooperation with his guild?
Fleeting Time, however, was not having a good time as well.
He had grown used to the presence of the crowd around him, but it did not mean that he liked it. Especially under such circumstances.
His death at the hands of Gongzi You, her arrest, and the ongoing discussion about the wisteria garden made the situation extremely uncomfortable. Of course, players would not dare to approach someone like Fleeting Time, but this would not stop them from gossipping, and he could feel the stares on him.
Fleeting Time pulled up his hood to cover his face, and summoned his signature steed, the Unicorn. He was ready to leave the scene.
Under normal circumstances, players who were not close with him would not have the courage to even speak to him. But with the especially large crowd around him, things were slightly different.
A Lycan Sorcerer called out to Fleeting Time just when he mounted his steed, “H-hey, Fleeting Time!”
Fleeting Time stopped and raised an eyebrow, “What is it?” he replied with a cold voice, indicating that the Lycan’s presence was not welcome.
It was obvious that the Lycan’s friends had pressured him into speaking to Fleeting Time. He cast a glance back at his friends when he noticed Fleeting Time’s tone, and one of them responded with a thumbs up, “Uhhh…”
Fleeting Time’s gaze swept across the group of friends before finally resting back on the Lycan, “If you have nothing to say, I’ll be on my way.”
“There is!” the Lycan grabbed Fleeting Time’s sleeve with a sudden burst of courage.
A frown appeared on Fleeting Time’s face when he noticed the hand on his sleeve. He glared daggers at the Lycan from underneath the hood. Despite his inability to see Fleeting Time’s face, the Lycan immediately shrunk back, releasing his grip in the process.
Fleeting Time continued to stare at the Lycan, waiting for him to speak.
Despite his reluctance to deal with strangers, Fleeting Time did not forget his manners. The Lycan Sorcerer had business with him, so he remained to hear him out. He might not be interested in what the player had to say, but he could still tolerate his presence for a minute or two.
The Lycan chuckled under his breath, and visibly gulped, “Fleeting Time, was Gongzi You the one who killed you just now?”
Fleeting Time was momentarily stunned by the question. But a quick glance at the World and Map channel allowed him to understand the situation. Arguments had erupted in both the channels, and the topic of their discussion was the question that had just been asked by the Lycan.
He offered the Lycan a smile, and avoided the question, “Why? Is it very important?”
And the Lycan chuckled awkwardly at Fleeting Time, “N-no, not at all.” before retreating back to his group of friends. Despite his desire for gossip, he knew that it was not a wise choice to be a bother to Fleeting Time, as nobody knew what he might be thinking at that moment.
The Lycan was welcomed with a smack from one of his friends, “Why did you say that it’s not important! I’ve even taken pictures of you! Do you know how good a topic this is if we post it on the forums? Don’t you know that the Top 3 posts of the month will receive a reward? How is that not important!?”
“Exactly! Why did you say that! We wouldn’t have gotten you to talk to him if it’s not important! We thought Fleeting Time did not like talking to strangers! Why did you let go of such a rare chance!?”
“You fool!”
“You idiot!!!”
The Lycan protested, “Who do you think he is? Of course I would not dare to bother someone like him!”
Fleeting Time cast a sideway glance at the Lycan Sorcerer and his friends and smiled. The Lycan would have received an answer if he had stayed longer.
He summoned his steed, and cast one last look at the players around him before heading straight to the city’s jail.
The crowd parted for Fleeting Time, allowing him an unobstructed passage to his destination.
Hero City’s jail was way larger than the jails of the other major cities in Fate. Players would be kept in different parts of the jail according to the crime they commited. A murderer like Ye Ci would naturally be placed in the deepest part of the dungeon.
“You’ve committed murder in the middle of the streets, Elf! Do you plea guilty for you crime?” the Head Judge of Hero City spoke in a weird voice.
“Yes.” Ye Ci yawned. This was her only option. She did not wish to be thrown into jail longer than she should for trying to trick the judge, nor did she want to get executed on the spot by the NPC soldiers. Pleading guilty to her crime was the only way to get a reduced sentence.
Of course, despite her response to the judge, Ye Ci felt that she was innocent.
The judge was apparently satisfied with Ye Ci’s response. He stroked his beard, and smiled at Ye Ci, “I see that you’ve come to your senses. I shall give you a light sentence, for this is your first offense. I hope you’ll turn over a new leaf, and be a better person in the future.”
Ye Ci resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and responded with as much sincerity as she could muster, “Yes, Your Honor. I will.”
And an NPC stood up to read out her sentence, “The Elf Gongzi You has been convicted of the murder of the Elf Fleeting Time. Her crimes had severely disrupted the public order in Hero City. As punishment, she will be imprisoned for three days, effective immediately!”
Thank God, it’s only three days.
Ye Ci listened intently as her sentence was read out. She was satisfied with the outcome of her trial. Perhaps due to the significantly lower population of criminals at the earlier stages of the game, judges would tend to give out a heavier sentence to players for the jail cells were relatively empty.
She had seen a sentence of an entire month of imprisonment be brought down upon an unfortunate player in her past life. But when the crime rate increased in the later stages of the game and the population of inmates in the jail soared, judges would simply order the execution of murderers.
Unfortunately for Ye Ci, the three-days sentence that she received would be counted in terms of in-game time, which meant that she had to spend 72 hours online in the jail.
With the wave of his hand, the judge called forth soldiers who immediately escorted Ye Ci to her jail cell.
A system notification appeared in the Map Channel at the same time, announcing Ye Ci’s sentence to the player population.
The news of Gongzi You killing Fleeting Time was many times more valuable as a gossip material than Fleeting Time’s death itself. Ye Ci’s inbox was flooded with messages from her friends as she was escorted into her cell.
Even her guildmates were excited at the news.
“Ahh!! You killed Fleeting Time in the middle of the streets in Hero City? That’s impressive, guild leader! You killed him in the middle of a bustling street without being detected!” came the message from Pea Cake.
Which was immediately followed by a response from Fruit Jelly, “Wasn’t she caught? And her crime was announced?”
“So how did Fleeting Time die if it was not the case?” Ideal Height 1.7m chuckled, “We all know how skillful of a player he is. There’s no way Gongzi could kill him silently.”
“That’s right. Something’s fishy.” came the almost instant follow-up from Let Go Of That Girl, “I can smell it.”
“Which one do you think is more worthy of gossip? The murder or the untold story behind those two?” even Pickled Pepper Phoenix Claw who barely participated in gossip had spoken up.
“Well, if you ask me, I’d say that there’s definitely something going on between those two.” concluded Blossom, “And we all know it’s the truth.”
Ye Ci pursed her lips as she read through their messages, “I’ve decided! I’ll follow you guys into every dungeon you go, and I’ll be the one looting the corpse.”
Silence fell upon the Guild Chat for three full seconds before Timely Rain appeared, “I think I should talk to Absalom. I’m sure he needs help from very skillful players in the exploration of the new dungeons. We can rent a certain someone to Genesis…”
“Ahh, I like the idea!!!” his proposal immediately received the praise of the members of Upwards Ho!.
Ye Ci gritted her teeth at the Guild Chat as she sat in her jail cell.
“Heh, Little Gongzi. Do you want some food? It’s a Hero City delight.” the voice of the last man Ye Ci wanted to see on Earth rang out in her ears as she was at the peak of her anger.
