The town mayor entered the door panting, rushing as if he had been in a hurry to get there.
As he entered the room, he looked up and saw that most of the wall had become empty. Out of the corner of his eye, he met Yin Xiu's gaze, who was holding a painting.
Their eyes met, and the atmosphere became somewhat stiff.
After a moment of silence, the mayor slowly said, "Those are all my collections..."
"I know." Yin Xiu nodded, unmoved.
The mayor thought for a moment and then added, "My collection is usually very valuable, and I don't allow anyone to touch it."
"Oh, really?" Yin Xiuping said calmly, still showing no intention of putting down the painting.
The mayor's expression instantly became complicated.
How can someone take things from someone's face when the owner comes back! This is worse than robbery!
He stared at Yin Xiu, then looked at Li Mo, and for a moment he found it difficult to back down, even more so than Yin Xiu himself.
Sensing the oppressive atmosphere emanating from the mayor, the players still in the lobby instantly shrank into a corner, trembling with fear.
This scene looks like it's going to kill people. When gods fight, ordinary people suffer. They'd better stay away.
"I hope you can let it go, okay?" The mayor was still very polite to Yin Xiu, but it would be hard to say the same thing to anyone else.
"Can't I take it back to my room to admire it?" Yin Xiu asked back.
"Can't."
"What if I insist on taking it?"
"..."
Yin Xiu practically danced on the mayor's sore spot, effortlessly causing the mayor's anger to skyrocket.
The player trembled again, glancing at the gloomy-faced mayor and the nonchalant Yin Xiu; neither side showed any intention of backing down.
Just when everyone thought the mayor was about to make a move, he spoke up.
"If you like them, you don't have to take them all. I can let you take one or two back to your room, how about that?"
He compromised! He backed down!
Players outside the screen couldn't tell whether he was showing leniency towards Yin Xiu or holding back out of fear of Li Mo, but the current situation was that even though Yin Xiu was taking advantage of him, he didn't make a move.
Then, Yin Xiu shook his head, "No, I want them all."
The players still in the lobby gasped in shock, wishing they could slap themselves for not leaving earlier and instead getting caught up in the mess.
The mayor's expression turned somewhat grim. He stared intently at Yin Xiu, his brows furrowed, as if he were deep in thought.
He stared at him for a while, then turned to look at Li Mo behind him, his brows furrowing even more.
He wasn't facing just one bandit, but two, two armed bandits who broke into the house.
After a minute of silence and stillness, the air in the lobby turned icy cold. Every breath felt like being doused with cold water, and the players huddled in the corner were almost in tears.
After a long silence, the mayor took a deep breath and slowly relaxed. He wiped the gloom from his face, smiled slightly, and looked at Yin Xiu with gentle eyes, "Alright, if it's you, I'm willing to leave these precious collections with you."
"After all, you are special; no amount of portraits can compare to your preciousness."
His words were profound, leaving the audience outside the screen with complex expressions.
"This town mayor is so strange. He's not angry at all, and he even tries to flirt with Yin Xiu."
"A deep love indeed. Let's applaud the mayor who has lost his collection."
"So why doesn't he intervene even though Yin Xiu is acting like this? Don't let me witness some kind of treacherous romance, will I?"
"Oh no, I clearly invested in my roommate, but now I'm having second thoughts! I'm starting to lean towards the mayor!"
"I suggest you vote for your roommate. The mayor might not be able to control you, but your roommate will definitely give you a piece of your mind through the screen."
"Okay, I'm awake now, thank you."
"You're welcome."
Despite the mayor's gentle concession, Yin Xiu didn't seem particularly grateful, simply nodding indifferently, "Then I'll take it."
"Hmm." The mayor watched with a smile as Yin Xiu took away a wall of paintings and handed them to Li Mo.
He looked at Li Mo with fierceness, hostility, and indifference.
He looked at Yin Xiu with gentleness, politeness, and doting affection.
The double standards have left many people confused.
Yin Xiu was also very impolite. He said he wanted to take the paintings, so he took all the paintings in the entire hall, including the one at the entrance to the basement. All the portraits were stacked up and held in Li Mo's hands, covering him completely. The entire pile of paintings stood tall, but it was held steadily in Li Mo's hands.
"I'm leaving." After retrieving the painting, Yin Xiu waved casually to the mayor and turned to go upstairs.
"See you tonight." The mayor replied with a smile, then watched Yin Xiu go upstairs with the stack of paintings.
After Yin Xiu left, his smiling expression instantly crumbled, his eyes darkening as he stared at the empty walls around him, unable to conceal his grief. The coldness emanating from him made the players still in the lobby shiver.
"The mayor's house was ransacked by Yin Xiu, right? All his collections are in this building, aren't they?"
"It hurts, it really hurts, but it's so funny, hahaha."
"That's surprising. I didn't expect him to value Yin Xiu more than those paintings?"
"It's not just that he values Yin Xiu; it must be because his roommate is around. If there were no threat, he would definitely take Yin Xiu by force and turn him into a painting right now."
"You, the one in front, know how to seize by force."
"But what exactly does Yin Xiu want with all those paintings the mayor took? What kind of deal did he make with his roommate?!"
"Just watch, they're definitely planning something big."
Everyone watched with great interest as Yin Xiu directed Li Mo to move all the paintings back to his room, piling them up in two or three stacks in the corner.
"Hiss... There are so many portraits in this little shabby building?" Zhong Mu was stunned. Any player who had read the diary could now realize that these portraits depicted people killed by the town mayor, and they were somewhat numb to the fact that, "...How many people must there be?"
"The more people, the better." Yin Xiu glanced indifferently at the sky outside the window, drew the curtains, and then pushed Zhong Mu out the door. "You can go now."
Zhong Mu was led to the door with a bewildered look on his face.
Then, the little girl who was drooling over the painting was also taken to the doorway.
"Remember to keep a close eye on Ya Ya."
Zhong Mu was confused, and so was the little girl. Before they could say anything, Yin Xiu closed his door, leaving Li Mo alone in the room.
Those outside were completely bewildered, but the players watching on the screen were eagerly anticipating what Yin Xiu was about to do.
Yin Xiu and Li Mo didn't leave the room all afternoon. The little girl and Zhong Mu went out for a stroll and came back, but the door was still closed.
"Why hasn't my brother come out yet? Did that naughty guy eat him?" The little girl clung to the door with a worried look on her face, trying to listen inside, but she couldn't hear anything.
"That person... really does eat people?" Zhong Mu was sweating profusely.
"Whether he eats my brother or not, it's getting dark soon. If my brother doesn't come out soon, he'll still be eaten by someone else." The little girl turned to look out the window. Dusk was approaching, and the townspeople were slowly coming out of their houses.
As a sacrifice to be offered to that woman tonight, they are determined to capture Yin Xiu. In fact, they have already begun preparations long before it gets dark.
Those carrying weapons took them, those monitoring the houses lingered nearby, and some townspeople were even sharpening knives in the square.
They would take action as soon as it got dark.