Mutual Redemption with the Villainous Boss [Infinite] - Chapter 13

The spotlights flickered and shone, their brilliance blurring the vision. Isaac clapped his hands, demanding a silence that felt entirely unnecessary.

“Alright, let’s get to the point. Who is the person chosen by today’s vote?”

Everyone looked at one another. Yu Jiayi raised her head, her exquisite features appearing even more moving under the play of light and shadow. “Give us a little time.”

“Of course, beautiful lady,” he agreed. The flickering lights stabilized, casting a translucent white glow upon everyone’s faces. “But time is a very precious thing.”

“Is there even a need to deliberate?” He Fanghui said condescendingly. She walked up to Zhu Ci, leaning close to her face. “Why don’t you try to guess who it is?”

Zhu Ci frowned slightly, a flash of displeasure crossing her eyes. She took a step back without leaving a trace.

Tanna stepped forward, tilting her body slightly to shield Zhu Ci behind her.

“Why don’t you vote for me instead?” Tanna said, meeting the other woman’s gaze.

He Fanghui clearly had a psychological shadow regarding Tanna; she quickly turned her face away and gave a couple of awkward laughs. “I didn’t say it was her.”

She tilted her head to the left, looking toward the rear.

“It would be better to first pull up the root that has been fishing in troubled waters among us.”

Following her gaze, everyone looked at Xiao Die, who was standing with the other girls.

Sensing everyone’s eyes on her, Xiao Die’s face turned pale. Her hands unconsciously gripped her sleeves tightly, and her eyes were filled with panic and confusion.

The girl who had been with Xiao Die all along took her hand, offering a bit of encouragement.

“Still refusing to admit it even now? You really are quite the actress.” He Fanghui summoned her dagger weapon and walked toward Xiao Die with steady steps.

No one could stop her. Xiao Die let out a scream of terror.

Unexpectedly, He Fanghui merely passed her by, the gust of wind from her movement fluttering her clothes as she headed straight for the person hidden behind her—

Luo Yongcheng.

Seeing that she was actually coming for him, Luo Yongcheng fell to the ground in horror, then scrambled up using both hands and feet, shielding himself with one arm. “Don’t, don’t, it wasn’t me…”

When Zhu Ci saw He Fanghui walking over, she had originally intended to stop her.

Of everyone present, she was the only one who had carefully examined the two corpses. If one were to speak of Li Jiangong’s death, Xiao Die was a huge suspect; not only was her speech erratic, but she also lacked an alibi.

This was why Zhu Ci had paid extra attention to her while in the surveillance room.

But with the appearance of that girl’s corpse today, she realized she had been wrong.

If Xiao Die had attacked Li Jiangong, who was beside her the first time, why didn’t she attack the girl who was always by her side the second time?

They lived together and walked together; there were countless opportunities.

Furthermore, staying with that girl constantly would only tie her hands and make it difficult to carry out a murder.

Even as an RM, even if one could modify surveillance footage, one cannot be in two places at once.

Therefore, if Tanna were not considered, there was one person who was extremely suspicious.

At the start of the dungeon, this person appeared as a peacemaker and was close to Li Jiangong, ensuring that no one would harbor suspicions against him.

It was easy for him to enter Li Jiangong’s bedroom, and in today’s surveillance, no trace of him was found.

However, Zhu Ci hadn’t expected that He Fanghui would not only be one step ahead of her in realizing this but would also take immediate action.

She swung her dagger and directly severed Luo Yongcheng’s arm!

Luo Yongcheng let out a great cry, but no blood seeped from the arm; instead, it turned into ash.

She sneered at this, a light snort escaping her nose. “A Roaming-type RM? Doesn’t look like much after all.”

“Don’t underestimate the enemy,” Yu Jiayi’s indifferent voice rang out. “He hasn’t fully manifested yet.”

Luo Yongcheng clutched his arm. Within three seconds, the arm grew back.

He Fanghui prepared to strike again, but he simply raised his left hand, his voice shifting to sound like a machine: “No need. Vote for me.”

“Tch, how boring.” She said it dismissively, but internally she was hesitating, curious as to why he had changed so rapidly.

Tanna said in a volume only the two of them could hear, “He is breaking the rules like this; he will be punished.”

Zhu Ci was surprised. “Why? Is it because he didn’t continue the struggle?”

Tanna nodded.

“Then when you helped me before, were there always punishments?”

“No,” Tanna looked up at her and replied. “Don’t worry about me. I am different from them.”

“Besides, the things I have done have never strayed from the rules.”

Isaac watched the commotion below for a long while. Seeing that it had stopped, he clapped his hands.

Men with guns entered and dragged Luo Yongcheng away.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Die suddenly grew violent, trying to stop the group, but she was pinned down firmly by the surrounding players.

“No, no!” Her tears burst forth like a flood from a broken dam, dripping from her chin as if telling a story of endless sorrow and pain.

“What exactly happened?” Yu Jiayi asked her. If she hadn’t done it, why did she lie in the beginning?

Xiao Die couldn’t speak; she simply hugged her head and crouched down.

Zhu Ci walked over to her, also crouching down, and asked, “What did Li Jiangong do to you?”

Only then did she raise her head to look at Zhu Ci.

That happened last night.

Xiao Die and Li Jiangong had returned to his room, and the two were preparing to shower and rest.

Xiao Die showered first. When she came out, she was suddenly grabbed from behind by Li Jiangong, who was waiting at the door.

The man was panting, breathing heavily, and his foul, stinking breath wafted into her nose. “Your name is Xiao Die… ah, what a beautiful name.”

“What are you doing? Let me go!” Xiao Die struggled hard, but Li Jiangong’s strength was much greater than hers. She tried to summon her weapon, but he snatched it away.

“It’s the end of the world, don’t you know, you bitch!” Li Jiangong was incredibly agitated. He slapped her to the ground and pressed himself onto her, tearing at her clothes.

“We might be dead tomorrow. Don’t you want to enjoy yourself a bit? You agreed to stay with me—isn’t that a hint?”

Xiao Die desperately tried to break free, her hand brushing against her confiscated weapon lying nearby.

It was a three-clawed steel blade, not even as long as an arm. She picked it up with one hand and plunged it into his back.

His heart was pierced. Li Jiangong opened his mouth wide but could make no sound as he collapsed on top of her.

Luo Yongcheng happened to enter the room to check on Li Jiangong’s situation at that exact moment and saw Xiao Die pushing him off her with all her might.

Luo Yongcheng said he would help her.

She just needed to leave for two or three hours, then come back and do exactly as he said.

“Are you stupid? That RM was just exonerating himself and shifting the blame onto you,” Yu Jiayi said, frustrated by her weakness.

“Exactly. What are you afraid of? If you killed him, you killed him.” He Fanghui spread her hands and glanced at Yu Jiayi. “We’re in this dungeon—is there a policeman coming to arrest me?”

Xiao Die murmured, “I didn’t know, I didn’t know… Xiao Chuang said that if I killed an RM with that weapon, they would only turn to ash. But… but he was human, and that feeling…”

She looked at her hands, trembling.

Zhu Ci believed it wasn’t just that.

If it was only to escape suspicion, why did he give up and surrender just now instead of continuing to resist?

He was even willing to take on an unimaginable punishment.

And then there was the terrified look and posture Li Jiangong had before he died…

The banquet ended, and the ceremony on the deck had been completed. Having removed a major threat, everyone’s mood relaxed considerably, and they were even laughing and talking as they returned to their rooms on the second floor to rest.

Taking advantage of Tanna’s inattention, He Fanghui pressed close to Zhu Ci. “So, don’t you think I’m incredibly smart? One guess and I hit the mark.”

“Stay away from me,” Zhu Ci said sharply, not wanting to waste words with her.

“Don’t be like that. Don’t you want to know how I figured it out?” Tanna was glaring at her from the side, but she pretended not to see. “If you want to know, let’s team up after we get out of this dungeon?”

The woman said it jokingly, and her tone wasn’t entirely serious, yet it didn’t seem like she was just speaking casually.

In truth, this person was very useful. If she could team up with her…

But she was also like a time bomb, difficult to control.

Zhu Ci glanced at her sideways. She had just started to ask “Really?” when she was pulled away by Tanna. He Fanghui was about to chase after them but was grabbed by the collar from behind by Yu Jiayi.

“The moment I look away, where do you think you’re going?”

He Fanghui grew anxious and shouted at their retreating backs, “I’m serious, I’m serious! Team up with me and get a ‘buy one get one free’ deal—there’s an inseparable Yu Jiayi included!”

As soon as she finished speaking, she received a beating and was dragged back.

Tanna walked very fast, gripping Zhu Ci’s hand tightly without looking back, all the way to the second floor.

When they reached her room, she stopped. She didn’t speak, nor did she let go of the hand.

Combined with her child-like appearance, it was as if a little kid was sulking.

Zhu Ci pulled at her. “What’s wrong? Are you angry?”

“No. I don’t get angry.”

“And here I thought there was no such thing as someone who doesn’t get angry,” Zhu Ci said, amused by her.

“I’m not human anyway, I’m a monst—” Before she could finish, she was pulled into a familiar embrace.

Zhu Ci held Tanna in her arms, gently stroking her long hair. “In my heart, there is no difference between you and a human.”

Being held this time made her unhappy. “You’re always hugging me. Do you just see me as a child?”

“How could I?” Zhu Ci stroked her head, getting more into it as she went, her hands moving more vigorously.

Tanna’s hair was rubbed into a fluffy mess. She reached up to smooth the top of her head and said, “You are not allowed to team up with her.”

Zhu Ci gave a couple of laughs and said, “I’m not. I wasn’t thinking that.”

Tanna stared at her, staring until Zhu Ci felt uneasy, before saying, “She bullies you. If I’m not around, I can’t protect you.”

“I can protect myself. When you weren’t here, I survived just fine.”

“Is that so?” Tanna raised an eyebrow. “You were almost discovered.”

Zhu Ci thought back and was suddenly startled. “The thing in that room… how did you know?”

Tanna didn’t speak.

“Ah, you were that Calamity!” Zhu Ci made the connection and felt a bit of excitement. “You found me and saved me once again.”

“But I can’t rely on you to save me every time. I need to be capable myself, otherwise, if you’re not there one day, I’ll be finished.”

Tanna’s eyes wavered, and she lightly bit her tender red lower lip. “You just want to team up with her.”

Zhu Ci wanted to explain further, but Tanna interrupted her. “I’m leaving now. Time’s up.”

Zhu Ci swallowed her words and nodded.

Before she left, Tanna turned back to look at her and said, “Then just work hard on clearing this dungeon first.” She waved the paper with strange characters on it—the one she had taken during dinner.

“This… I won’t tell you for now.”

With that, she closed the door and left. She used a lot of strength, and the door closed with a loud thud.

It seemed she was truly very angry.

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