Chapter 127: Companions

“Neither of you come any closer!” Wang Zixian pointed the gun at Ji Zhen and Li Ping, then quickly aimed it back at Lü Yang.

“Two!”

Lü Yang continued counting, raising his voice a little more.

“Don’t force me!”

Wang Zixian shouted out loud. His expression also turned crazy.

“One!”

With the shout of “One,” Sun Haibo, who had quietly crept up behind Wang Zixian amid the distraction of Ji Zhen and Li Ping’s earlier shouts, suddenly swung the cleaver in his hand. He chopped it right onto Wang Zixian’s neck, cutting his head off, which fell to the ground and rolled away.

Wang Zixian’s headless neck spurted blood like a fountain. Then his body went limp and fell to the ground.

Li Ping quickly turned her head away. Although she had seen a lot of death today, she still didn’t seem too comfortable with such a gruesome sight.

“Player Wang Zixian has died. Remaining players: four.” An electronic voice sounded in everyone’s ears, as if reminding them this was just a game.

But no one would think it was only a game now.

Lü Yang frowned as he looked at Wang Zixian’s body, then turned to look at Sun Haibo.

Where did Jinda Hotel find this security guard?

Sun Haibo picked up the handgun that Wang Zixian had dropped. He checked it very skillfully, looking a little nervous. He glanced at Lü Yang, then at Ji Zhen and Li Ping beside him. After hesitating a moment, he held the gun barrel upside down in his hand, walked over, and offered the handgun to Lü Yang. “Boss, it seems your gun is out of bullets. Switch to this one…”

Lü Yang expressionlessly reached out and took the handgun Sun Haibo offered. He inspected it carefully. The magazine for this handgun held ten bullets. Because the kidnapper leader who had held the gun earlier, after shooting Wang Zixian, never got another chance to fire, there were still nine bullets left in this magazine.

Then Lü Yang crouched down and searched the body of the kidnapper leader. As a result, he found a dagger and two more ten-bullet magazines. Finding so much ammunition made Lü Yang feel much more secure inside.

“I think it’s better if the boss keeps the gun. It’ll be more efficient and could save our lives in critical moments. If we hold it, we’ll only waste bullets,” Ji Zhen walked over and said to everyone. On one hand, he wanted to please Lü Yang; on the other hand, he probably felt that although Lü Yang was violent, he at least wouldn’t kill innocents randomly. In critical moments, he was also willing to risk himself to save companions. Sun Haibo might not be the same; he always gave people a strange feeling.

“Yes, the boss’s shooting is really accurate. If it weren’t for the boss’s shot, I’d be dead already,” Li Ping walked over and agreed with Ji Zhen. She kept touching her injured shoulder. Earlier, a Dark Kidnapper had cut a deep gash in her shoulder, but now the wound didn’t hurt anymore and was healing quickly. It felt really strange.

“Your arm isn’t broken. Rest a little more and you’ll be fine. This game has a self-healing setting,” Lü Yang walked over to check the injury on Li Ping’s shoulder and told her, then walked over to the door of the room where Liu Hui was being held.

“Has everyone fully charged their flashlights?” Lü Yang stood by the door, charging his own three flashlights first, then turned back and asked everyone. In the Mysterious Domain, it’s never wrong to be more cautious.

“Charged!”

“It’s full!”

Everyone answered Lü Yang right away. After Wang Zixian died, the team seemed much more united. Plus, after the earlier battle, no one would doubt Lü Yang’s combat and leadership abilities anymore.

…

“Xiao Hui?”

Lü Yang held a flashlight and shouted into the room, though there probably weren’t any kidnappers left inside. But he still had to guard against the possibility that Liu Hui had turned into a Dark Predator, suddenly rushing out to kill if he let his guard down.

“Uh huh…” Liu Hui obviously had her mouth taped shut with transparent tape and couldn’t reply to Lü Yang.

Lü Yang suddenly leaned in and shone the flashlight’s strong beam into the room. After confirming there were no Dark Kidnappers inside, he turned off the strong light and walked over to the big wooden chair where Liu Hui was tied up.

No black mist surrounded Liu Hui in the chair. It seemed she hadn’t transformed into a Dark Predator.

Was this Liu Hui an NPC in the game? Could she have memories from the real world?

When Liu Hui saw Lü Yang, she kept making “uh huh” sounds, seeming very excited. Lü Yang walked over, tore off the transparent tape on her mouth, and used the dagger to cut the ropes binding her body one by one.

“You saved me again!” Liu Hui looked at Lü Yang excitedly, reached out and grabbed his arm. Her big eyes sparkled in the darkness.

“Again?” Lü Yang was stunned. Could this Liu Hui not be a computer NPC?

In the dark, the two were very close. This kidnapped Liu Hui was clearly very different from the last time. Last time she looked disheveled and full of fear. This time she didn’t show as much fear, and there was clearly something more in the way she looked at Lü Yang.

Liu Hui was very beautiful. Unlike Yi Ya’s cold pride and keeping people at a distance, Liu Hui’s beauty gave people a naturally intimate feeling—a touchable gentleness. And right now, her eyes looking at Lü Yang were filled with this gentleness.

Lü Yang looked at Liu Hui. Because they were so close, he even felt her exhaled breath and that faint, unique scent of a young girl’s body. This made Lü Yang’s heart stir, but he quickly averted his gaze.

“Just a moment ago I was still in the hotel room, then somehow ended up here. And these kidnappers looked so scary, like ghosts! I thought I was having a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from!” Liu Hui said to Lü Yang with lingering fear, her chest rising and falling.

“You remember things from the real world?” Hearing what Liu Hui said, Lü Yang’s heart sank. Could it be that this Mysterious Domain created by the Death Killer had also forcibly pulled Liu Hui inside?

After entering this Mysterious Domain, Lü Yang had seen too much death. But Lü Yang didn’t have feelings for those people, so he wasn’t sad about their deaths. Even with people like Sun Haibo, Li Ping, and Ji Zhen, his attitude was to save them if he could, and if not, he could only give up.

Liu Hui was different. Lü Yang didn’t want his own matters to involve her, but it seemed that had already happened.

“Real world? What is this place exactly? How could… we come back here again? Who… are they?” Liu Hui seemed to realize something, her face full of confusion.

“It’s a bit complicated. It’s not safe to stay here long. I’ll rescue you first and get you away from here, then we can talk,” Lü Yang looked at Liu Hui seriously for a long time, then told her.

“Okay.”

Liu Hui had seemed very scared earlier, but now that she saw Lü Yang, she didn’t look afraid at all. And ever since she confirmed that the person rescuing her was Lü Yang, her eyes hadn’t left him for a moment.

Ji Zhen worked at a special firm. Although he knew Zhang Min worked in the legal department of Yida Group, he didn’t know Liu Hui, and Liu Hui didn’t know him either. But Liu Hui’s reaction upon meeting Lü Yang made Ji Zhen, Sun Haibo, and the others believe that what Lü Yang had said earlier about having done this kind of task before was indeed true.

Lü Yang cut the last rope binding Liu Hui and rescued her from the big wooden chair. At the same time, the game’s electronic voice prompt sounded in everyone’s ears…

“The task to rescue Ms. Liu Hui has been completed. Next task: Successfully escort Ms. Liu Hui to the stream at Lǚyīn Creek…”

Along with the prompt for the second task completion, a video appeared before everyone’s eyes, showing the target location for the second task. Lü Yang looked carefully—it was exactly the place where he and Liu Hui had drilled wood to make fire that night!

Not only that, but a semi-transparent map also appeared above the field of view, indicating the route everyone should take for the second level. After observing this route carefully, Lü Yang quickly realized… this route was exactly the path he and Liu Hui had taken to escape to the streamside where they drilled wood for fire.

Needless to say, this Mysterious Domain must have used Lü Yang’s memories as the blueprint to construct this so-called third round of the game.

Such a huge and complex Mysterious Domain—Lü Yang didn’t believe he could create it on his own. So, it was very likely this Mysterious Domain was created by the Death Killer. Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that both of them created Mysterious Domains at the same time, causing an anomaly.

However, Lü Yang couldn’t believe he would use this memory as the blueprint to create a Mysterious Domain, because this kidnapping memory had nothing to do with the Death Killer.

If such a large-scale Mysterious Domain this time was entirely created by the Death Killer alone, it further proved the Death Killer’s power—so powerful that Lü Yang had almost no possibility of defeating him. But Lü Yang believed that the more powerful someone was, when facing a much weaker opponent, they would often underestimate them too much and make mistakes they themselves wouldn’t even realize.

What Lü Yang needed to do now was to first follow the other’s intention and complete this so-called third round game. Then, from these issued tasks, find clues to lock onto the other’s real identity, counterattack from a desperate situation, and eliminate the opponent in one move.

The Death Killer was also human. As long as they were human, they would have weaknesses.

Never underestimate yourself.

For now, focus on ending this Mysterious Domain. Only by completing the next three level tasks could this Mysterious Domain be ended. Only then could there be a chance to figure out the Death Killer’s purpose in creating this Mysterious Domain, and the truth hidden behind it all.

After all the electronic voice prompts ended, there was no mention of Lü Yang receiving Eerie Points rewards. It seemed if he wanted to get rewards from the Mysterious Domain again, it would probably only happen after the third round game was completely over.

At the same time the electronic voice ended, lights also turned on in the room—very bright lights that gave people a warm and safe feeling.