“Coach Du, farewell for now.”
As the evening approached, Zhushi Jiu bid farewell to Du Fei with a tired hand gesture. Du Fei’s eyes looked hazy as she nodded.
It wasn’t until Zhushi Jiu’s figure carrying the bow pack had gradually disappeared from view that she snapped back to reality.
“What’s going on…with this level of talent and effort, playing around with flower-patterned archery? It’s such a waste!”
Du Fei, who had directly encountered Zhushi Jiu without any prior buildup, was shocked by his abilities and talent. What shocked her even more was Zhushi Jiu’s terrifying training volume – practicing continuously for several hours without rest, seemingly unwavering in his dedication.
If only he could apply this kind of energy to traditional archery…
However, since the two of them didn’t have a close relationship like they did in previous loops, Du Fei worried about speaking too much and didn’t say anything more after Zhushi Jiu left.
Zhushi Jiu didn’t know about Du Fei’s concerns, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have paid attention.
Only one’s family knows one’s own affairs. His archery skills were honed through repeated life-or-death situations, and with his own convictions as motivation, it seemed like he was absorbing Du Fei’s archery experience like a genius.
…
After leaving the small forest, Zhushi Jiu took out his phone from his pocket.
The BBS (online forum) was already in an uproar, with postings about the capture of the Seven Schools area, interspersed with some promotional posts selling apps, which had been popular in the past but now sank to the bottom of the forum, unable to attract any attention.
Although it was only early evening, and there were still two hours until 8:20, they could already start taking action.
Zhushi Jiu sent two pictures to Bro CD (a character’s name).
Both pictures were rough sketches, one of a black-clothed man with a gas mask and gun, and another of a middle-aged man with a firm expression.
The former didn’t need much explanation; as long as Zhushi Jiu still remembered the black-clothed man’s equipment, it would be easy to recreate the image with the help of an art student.
The real challenge was the second sketch.
During the fourth loop, after removing his eye mask, Zhushi Jiu saw Li Hua’s tragic state, and at the same time, he saw the middle-aged man with an expression as cold as ice. Li Hua’s desperate cries before dying told Zhushi Jiu to remember the faces of the people who killed him.
Zhushi Jiu forced himself to imprint those people’s faces into his brain, even after Li Hua’s death, when he was tortured on the electric chair, he still didn’t give up trying to remember the faces of those lunatics.
Therefore, he clearly remembered the middle-aged man’s facial features, facial structure, and expression.
Of course, Zhushi Jiu, who didn’t have any artistic skills, could only seek help from an art student major.
In criminal cases, there was a well-known technique called “crime sketching.” It involved sketching the criminal’s face based on the witness’s description, then gradually confirming the details, one step at a time, until it closely resembled the criminal’s actual appearance.
Many people might misunderstand this technique, thinking it could only be done by a master.
But the difficulty didn’t lie in the sketching skills, rather in the witness’s description. If the witness’s description was vague, the sketching difficulty would be high, but if the description was detailed, the difficulty would decrease sharply.
It was fortunate that Zhushi Jiu’s impression of the middle-aged man was extremely deep, almost as if he was guiding the art student step by step to modify the details until the sketch resembled his impression.
The final presented sketch had an 80% resemblance.
It could be said that these two pictures represented Zhushi Jiu’s experience of repeatedly dying, information he obtained at the cost of his life, something valuable condensed into these two pictures, which would surely attract attention if sent out and seen by someone with ulterior motives.
After sending the pictures to Bro CD, the person on the other end of the phone hesitated.
“Old boss, what’s going on…”
“This is just a game promotional image; both pictures are completely fabricated and don’t involve real people.”
Bro CD might have felt something was off, but after thinking about it, he still yielded to Zhushi Jiu’s persuasion.
“Alright, old boss, I’ll post it. You can settle the payment whenever you’re convenient.”
Zhushi Jiu refreshed the BBS post, confirmed that Bro CD had already posted it, and smiled, saying, “No rush, I’ll look at the effect tomorrow. If it’s good, I’ll settle the payment then.”
Sorry, this loop is still just a small player.
Zhushi Jiu knew that after sending out these two pictures, the black-clothed organization would surely take notice of Bro CD, maybe even treat him like they did in previous loops.
However, Zhushi Jiu and Bro CD didn’t have a close relationship, only maintaining a purely monetary connection, with no extra conversation. He and Bro CD’s relationship was even worse than his relationship with Du Fei.
Zhushi Jiu felt a sense of guilt in his heart, but it couldn’t stop him from making up his mind to get through tomorrow.
So, he could only sacrifice Bro CD.
Perhaps in a future loop, after figuring everything out, he could completely let go of this tool person.
Sorry.
After apologizing in his heart, Zhushi Jiu suddenly said to Bro CD on the phone, “By the way, old buddy, want to play a game with me? If you can do it, I’ll add another thousand to the payment tomorrow.”
Upon hearing the money, Bro CD’s entire being lit up: “What game?”
“It’s 6 pm now. I need you to call me every half hour until 12 am, without any interruptions. If you fail to contact me within five minutes, the challenge fails. It should be an easy challenge, right?”
“Easy!” Bro CD said, “Old boss, you’re serious? As long as I can keep calling you every half hour until 12 am, it counts as a success?”
“That’s right, you can even set an alarm, I don’t mind how you remind yourself, but you can’t exceed the five-minute limit.”
“Alright, old boss, you’re really generous!” Bro CD seemed to think this old boss was crazy, but basically, he was sure this challenge was a giveaway.
Just like what happened on the BBS earlier, Bro CD felt this old boss was spending money like it grew on trees.
Zhushi Jiu, of course, wasn’t someone with money to burn; in reality, he didn’t have much left. The payment he promised Bro CD was just an empty promise, with little chance of being fulfilled.
He only asked Bro CD to do this to confirm his safety status.
If he could confirm when the black-clothed organization would find Bro CD, he could take a more proactive stance in the following loops.
This loop, he used his real phone number to contact Bro CD.
Not for anything else, just to let the organization that the black-clothed organization feared get in touch with him smoothly.
Could he, at least, have an organization with equal intelligence-gathering capabilities as the black-clothed organization? He had deeply experienced the black-clothed organization’s efficiency in previous loops, so an organization that could counter them should at least exist?
This time, he would be the one calling the shots.
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