After weighing things up, this only made David Harris even more determined not to give in. In this contest, whoever speaks up first or makes the first demand could easily fall into a passive position.

James Allen looked at David Harris, who remained silent, as if he had seen through his thoughts. He sneered and said, “Let me remind you, at any moment someone could report your act of harming a fellow sect member to the sect. You might as well just wait here to have your martial arts abolished and be kicked out.”

David Harris listened, but was unmoved. “I believe that setting is valid, but the problem is, if it weren’t for your instigation, the current players probably wouldn’t even realize the effect this kind of behavior could have, right?”

“So, you want them to realize it right away?” James Allen said.

“Before that, I suddenly realized another issue,” David Harris said.

James Allen just stared at him without asking further, so David Harris had to speak up himself: “You only said those witnesses could report it, but you didn’t mention yourself. That means, as the victim, you logically wouldn’t be recognized by the sect since you’re already dead, right?”

“This game, for the sake of realism, and yet because it’s a game, has really created a lot of tangled rules!” James Allen still didn’t speak, but David Harris seemed to forget his current predicament and suddenly became animated, talking non-stop. “You know this rule, so every time you kill other Wudang players, you make sure to leave no risk behind and wipe them out completely. This way, even though everyone knows what you’ve done, even if someone wants to use the sect rules against you, it’s impossible, because you’re exploiting a loophole in the system.”

“But are you really sure that every time you slaughtered a fellow sect member, no witnesses survived? I doubt it!” David Harris finished with a cheerful laugh. He admired his own cleverness for thinking of this at that very moment. After all, he was a witness when James Allen killed someone and stole a sword, which meant he also had leverage to get James Allen expelled from the sect and stripped of his martial arts. Plus, he still held onto the equipment that guy wanted back. In this standoff, it was clear he held more cards! The infamous James Allen who struck fear into everyone in Wudang was actually nothing special. He was just ruthless, but not very smart. He actually came running to threaten him with some game mechanic, and now look, he’d fallen into his own trap!

The more David Harris thought about it, the more pleased he became, especially looking forward to James Allen’s reaction after his speech. If he immediately panicked and started begging, that would be perfect. But to his disappointment, James Allen didn’t show a hint of fear. Instead, he curled his lips into a mocking smile: “You’re not slow, but you’re still an idiot. The biggest trait of an idiot is thinking everyone else is as stupid as he is. If things were really as you analyzed, and instead of secretly killing you to get my stuff back, I actually blocked your way just to explain this sect rule that almost everyone has forgotten, then I really would be as stupid as you.”

Hearing this, David Harris couldn’t help but get a little flustered, but quickly reminded himself to stay calm. After composing himself, he said, “Isn’t that the case?”

“Your deductions are all valid, but you missed one thing: I’ve already died once. Why don’t you use that idiot brain of yours to analyze whether, according to the system’s usual logic, someone like me who’s already died after the incident would still be punished by the sect rules?” James Allen said.

David Harris was taken aback. After thinking it over, he realized James Allen was right. In “Jianghu Online,” people revive after dying; that’s a basic setting of the game that can’t be changed. But the system still tries to reflect the consequences of death as much as possible—like failing a quest, witnesses not being valid, and now, even if you’ve broken the sect rules, you can use this to avoid punishment.

From this perspective, in “Jianghu Online,” after someone dies, it’s not a rebirth, but a new life. It’s just that you still keep a lot of your original things.

“If that’s the case, then as long as I die once now, I can also escape punishment from the sect rules.” David Harris felt he still hadn’t lost his leverage. In fact, because of this rule, James Allen had much less to threaten him with.

“Heh, I don’t mind if you die. You can die right now, I’m waiting!” James Allen said.

“I won’t die in front of you!” David Harris shouted, already preparing to use his lightness skill to escape. If you die, all your equipment drops, so in a situation where you know you have to die, the best thing to do is find a friend, so after you die, your friend can help you pick up your stuff. Otherwise, how is that any different from being killed and looted? David Harris had just turned to leave when he heard James Allen shout from behind, “Trying to run off and die somewhere else? Guess what might happen during that time?”

David Harris instantly couldn’t take another step. James Allen was warning him that during that time, the sect might find out about his violation of the rules by killing a fellow member. As for how the “kill” command would be triggered after that, David Harris didn’t know, and he couldn’t risk trying it, so he had no choice but to stop.