Chapter 26: The Infant Tower

What were they waiting for? Obviously, they were waiting for the next scream—so they could come and clean up the aftermath.

From her position at such a tricky angle, so far away, Li Zhi had thought she wouldn’t be noticed. But just as she was peering over to observe them, Butler Chen suddenly turned his head in her direction, as if sensing her gaze.

Li Zhi couldn’t quite make out his expression, but she was certain—he was angry. He was already leading people over.

Since she’d been spotted, there was no point rushing. Li Zhi calmly steadied herself on the glazed tiles of the rooftop and leisurely sat down. Butler Chen approached, flanked by his attendants, his expression dark as soot when he saw her sitting there so nonchalantly. “Master, what exactly are you doing up there?”

Li Zhi replied, deadpan, “It’s hot. I came up to catch some breeze.”

A muscle twitched at the corner of Butler Chen’s eye. To his credit, he didn’t outright call her insane. His tone, however, was icy. “It’s dangerous up there. Best you come down now.”

Li Zhi lazily waved her hand at the people below, motioning for them to back away. Then she swung herself down from the edge of the pavilion roof.

Dusting off her palms, she met Butler Chen’s scrutinizing gaze and sighed with feigned regret. “Butler Chen… I lost the talisman pouch you gave me earlier. Could you get me another one?”

Butler Chen froze for just a fraction of a second. A quick frown flashed across his face, but he recovered instantly, remaining composed. “I see. I’ll have someone bring you another later.”

Li Zhi’s heart sank.

It was just as she suspected. Burning the talismans was pointless now.

After she left with her two teammates, Butler Chen finally let his mask slip, coldly ordering the servant beside him, “They’re starting to figure things out. Go inform the physician—give Madam the inducing medicine.”

—

Back at their quarters, the rest of the players quickly gathered around. “Did you find anything?”

Li Zhi shared her theory. “This courtyard has been arranged as a formation. We are the living sacrifices meant to activate it. The moment we moved in, the formation began working.”

“Why would they do this?!” someone demanded.

“Do you remember the Infant Tower in town?” Li Zhi asked. “According to the background investigation, this town has a long history of killing baby girls. They threw their bodies into the Infant Tower. Once, a powerful cultivator tried to destroy that tower but was stopped. I suspect the tower is what’s keeping the spirits of those murdered girls suppressed. And now… I think the grudge is too strong to be contained.”

Chi Yi’s eyes went wide with horror. “Vengeance finds its source. Once those baby girls’ spirits escape, the Jin family’s eldest madam—who’s about to give birth—will be the first target! So… they’re using the formation to make us take the curse for her?!”

Zhao Luan nearly lost his mind at how twisted this scenario had become. “Why the hell were they killing baby girls in the first place?! Are they so poor they can’t afford to raise daughters?! These people are out of their goddamn minds!”

Li Zhi suddenly spoke, voice cold: “What if all they wanted was a first-born son? A daughter would only take up space, so they killed them to make room.”

The sheer cruelty of it made everyone shudder.

Chi Yi was trembling with rage. “How many girls have they killed?! Are they even human anymore?! Didn’t they come from a woman’s womb too?!”

Tian Mingjie was starting to connect the dots. “So the first wife… both of her children were baby girls, and they were murdered. She couldn’t take it and drowned herself. And this wife… her first was also a girl, killed as well. No wonder she kept screaming yesterday that she wanted to give birth to a son. Only sons get to live.”

Only sons get to live.

No girls in the ancestral hall. No boys in the Infant Tower.

How absurd. How monstrous.

Another player couldn’t make sense of it. “But what the hell does that have to do with us? Why would summoning those ghost babies into us help them have a son? Isn’t that decided by the father’s chromosomes?!”

Chi Yi let out a bitter laugh. “They’re backward enough to kill girls to make room for sons. You think they believe in science?”

Li Zhi felt that they were close to the truth—but something key was still missing. Without that final piece, she couldn’t stitch the whole picture together.

But that wasn’t the most urgent issue right now. Her expression turned grim. “If the Jin family really intends to use us to bear the brunt of this curse, then once Madam starts labor, our situation will get worse. The closer it gets to her giving birth, the more restless those spirits will become. And with illusions masking them from her, we are the vessels they’ll use to be reborn.”

Tian Mingjie’s face paled. “Didn’t we already burn the talismans?!”

Li Zhi thought of Butler Chen’s calm expression and the slight smirk hidden beneath it. “I’m afraid the marks have already been made. Burning the pouches might only slow things down.”

As if to confirm her fears, shouts came from outside: “Madam is in labor early! Hurry!”

Before anyone could react, a shriek cut through the courtyard. One of the players, panic filling her eyes, clutched her stomach and stumbled toward Li Zhi, clearly seeking help.

She only managed two steps before collapsing. Blood gushed, and another horrific scene unfolded—ghastly infants crawling from her abdomen, reducing her body to a dry husk.

Everyone unconsciously pressed their hands against their own stomachs in terror.

This time, Butler Chen didn’t even bother to show up. Two servants with dead eyes arrived, mechanically collecting the newborn abominations.

Finally, the players fully understood: the system had never intended for them to leave this place alive.

If they wanted to complete the mission, they’d have to stay—and if Madam gave birth to a girl, they would then have to protect that child from being murdered by the NPCs.

But if they stayed, the activated formation would continue to treat them as vessels for the rebirth of the vengeful infants. They would be forced to stand here and wait for death.

This was the ending the system had prepared for them.

A dead-end.