Mutual Redemption with the Villainous Boss [Infinite] - Chapter 23

The function of that pen…

Zhu Ci pondered; it seemed very similar to the one she had purchased in the Mall.

After the rift was passed through, it reverted to its original state.

The players all decided to head toward the back door first. Chen Jian snorted, looking at the retreating back of that man: “What a prick.”

“He’s a teammate after all, yet he always acts alone like this. I didn’t expect him to be so unsociable. If there’s another team dungeon next time, we should definitely recruit in advance,” Yu Jiayi said, feeling annoyed for the first time.

Several players had already walked toward the back door. Chen Liangyi’s teammate hoisted Duan Jingchuan over his shoulder and checked, confirming he was still alive.

“Does anyone have a healing item? Can someone help?” the teammate carrying him shouted.

Jiang He raised a hand: “Let me see.”

Zhu Ci thought of her own Mermaid Healing and intended to step closer.

After an examination, Jiang He waved them off: “No need for healing. He was knocked unconscious by an electric shock. It happened a while ago, and the current has already dissipated. He’ll wake up on his own.”

“You can tell just by looking? What item card are you using?” the teammate asked in surprise.

“Before I came here, I was a doctor.”

His eyes went vacant for a moment, as if he were remembering something.

Chen Jian pulled on Zhu Ci’s sleeve and pointed toward the back door: “Let’s go, those two have already gone in.”

The back door appeared narrow from the outside, but the interior held a hidden world. It was even more spacious than the courtroom outside. The Lark and the Wren stood on either side with lowered eyes, and a massive coffin was placed right in the center. A person with loose black hair stood on a step in front of the coffin, her head covered by a white silken veil and her long robes trailing on the ground.

She held a cross large enough to cover her entire face, chanting in an unintelligible language. The Lark placed an index finger to his lips, gesturing to the entering crowd: “Shh, the High Priest is performing a requiem for the soul.”

Once all the players were inside, the back door creaked shut. Ye Qingqing asked, “Who is lying in the coffin?”

“The Cuckoo?”

“No, they said before, it’s Chen Liangyi.”

As soon as these words were uttered, everyone’s attention focused on the coffin.

Zhu Ci was absolutely certain that a human was lying inside.

The teammate carrying Duan Jingchuan set him down and leaned over the coffin: “Is it real? Is it really Brother Chen?”

The Lark and the Wren moved in to pull him away. The High Priest finished her chanting and raised the cross.

A melodious song drifted from afar, reaching everyone’s ears.

The voice was crisp and ethereal, singing the nursery rhyme depicted on the ceiling.

The owner of the voice was tall and slender, dressed in a nun’s habit. Her black skirt reached the floor, revealing the tops of deep black leather shoes as she slowly walked forward.

Bright golden hair was wrapped within a headscarf, with only a tiny bit of the edge escaping.

With a face that was both fearless and divine, her mouth opened and closed in song.

The High Priest shook the cross, its short end pointing toward the coffin: “Rest in peace.”

Dong. Dong. Dong.

Three tolls of a bell rang out from the distance.

The person in the nun’s habit ceased her singing.

The High Priest took a soft breath: “Linnet, let the deceased rest in peace.”

The woman in the nun’s habit, called the Linnet, raised both hands and pointed toward the Lark and the Wren.

“Rise.”

A single word, yet it was powerful and resonant.

The two supported the coffin, lifting it as easily as if it were a piece of foam.

The Linnet retracted her hands and waited for the two of them to move the coffin out through another door, which then clicked shut.

The High Priest cradled a book and stepped down from the dais.

“Travelers from afar,” she said with a gentle expression, holding the cross to her chest, “do not worry. We are merely messengers seeing off the departed soul. He shall go to heaven.”

“Is heaven such a great place? He’d probably be happier if he were resurrected inside the dungeon,” He Fanghui remarked with disdain.

The High Priest gave her a faint smile: “The dead cannot be brought back to life.”

After that, she no longer interacted with the players, merely instructing the Linnet to finish the final rites.

The Linnet moved with slow steps, took the cross from her, ignited a section of holy fire, and tossed it into the air.

The scent of the holy fire stung the throats of some players. She then placed the cross on the ground, pointing it in her direction.

The High Priest offered a prayer.

The Wren slipped back in from outside and whispered, “Dinner is ready. Guests, please move to the main hall.”

Zhu Ci breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the day was finally coming to an end, but then she heard the Linnet call out: “I need one guest to stay and finish the final sermon with me.”

While everyone looked at each other, the Linnet seemingly at random pointed at Zhu Ci: “You, then.”

The crowd in the room dispersed. Even the High Priest and the Wren went out, leaving only the Linnet and her alone.

In the insufficient light, Zhu Ci gazed at the cinched waist and shapely curves beneath the form-fitting nun’s habit.

The Linnet stepped across the wooden floor in her open-topped leather shoes, reaching Zhu Ci in just a few strides.

“The sermon begins.”

Her tone was light and devoid of any charm. Zhu Ci snapped back to her senses and asked, “What should I do?”

“Just stand where you are and close your eyes.”

Zhu Ci obeyed.

With her eyes closed and visual senses removed, her hearing became more acute.

The entire room was silent; she couldn’t even feel a breeze. She could even hear the thundering beat of her own heart.

“Repeat after me: God granted humans instinct.”

“God granted humans instinct.”

“A thousand shall fall at your right hand.”

“Ten thousand shall fall at your left hand.”

“But death shall not come near you.”

“But… but death… shall not come near you.”

As Zhu Ci repeated the words, she pondered their meaning. Was this what was required for a sermon?

“Your soul is released, your mind seeks home, and you shall ultimately be saved.”

“All humans have things they like.”

“What do you like most?”

“What do you… huh?” Zhu Ci snapped her eyes open, looking at the peaceful, divine-looking Linnet.

Having asked the strange question, the Linnet merely shifted her gaze as if the words she just spoke were perfectly normal: “What is it?”

“Nothing…” Zhu Ci even doubted if she had heard correctly.

The air was as still as if it had solidified.

“So?” The Linnet was the first to break the silence. “You haven’t answered me yet.”

What exactly was she supposed to answer…

Zhu Ci suspected this was some sort of random test. She rolled her eyes and stuttered for a moment, unable to come up with a follow-up, while the Linnet simply waited.

“I like… I like…”

She felt as though the Linnet’s eyes were filled with expectation.

“I like the mechanical female voice the most at the moment of clearing a stage!” She racked her brain to come up with one. She had originally wanted to say she liked eating fried dough sticks and soy milk because she didn’t get any this morning, but since those weren’t available here, she might as well make a wish that could come true.

“The mechanical female voice?”

Was it an illusion? She thought she saw the Linnet’s eyes narrow slightly upon hearing this.

But the Linnet didn’t say there was a problem. She turned and circled to Zhu Ci’s right side, saying, “Final step: go pick up the cross.”

She did as told.

The cross looked large, but it was actually very light in her hand. She gripped the long handle at the bottom and observed it from left to right.

“May the Lord bless you,” the Linnet prayed, and Zhu Ci hurriedly bowed her head as well.

During this bow, she saw a fleeting glint of light behind the cross.

Touching it with her hand, she felt a slight indentation.

While the Linnet was praying with her hands clasped, Zhu Ci turned the cross over and slid a card out from a slot at the very bottom. Acting as if nothing had happened, she tucked the card into her clothes.

“Good, it’s over. You may go to the main hall now,” the Linnet said, taking the cross back from her hand.

Zhu Ci hurried toward the door, about to leave.

Only to hear the Linnet’s voice rise from behind her: “Do you really like that mechanical female voice the most?”

In the gloom, she couldn’t see the Linnet’s face clearly.

“Mainly, I just like clearing the stage,” Zhu Ci said, giving her a bright smile.

Before returning to the main hall, while in the corridor, she took out the item card and attached it to her sleeve to check its function.

SR-Grade Thought Card: Absolute Subjugation Activation: Triggers once at a fatal moment to turn defeat into victory.

She had heard Little Creator mention before that Enchantment cards were the most common because they had a limited number of uses and disappeared afterward.

Next were Weapon cards, and finally, Thought cards.

Thought cards accounted for only seven percent of all item cards, and she had suddenly acquired two—both of which were SR-grade.

Zhu Ci bit her lip; it seemed her luck had indeed improved here.

It was just that Linnet—some of her behavior was incredibly bizarre.

Why did she ask that question? Was that really part of a sermon?

Moreover, her movements and gaze gave off a familiar impression…

Zhu Ci shook her head. There were too many familiar sensations in this dungeon; relying too much on familiarity wasn’t a good thing.

Upon returning to the main hall, her teammates were waiting for her. He Fanghui handed her a piece of smoked ham wrapped in tin foil, which was piping hot: “Quick, try this. This stuff is delicious! When I get out of the dungeon, I’m going to use my points to trade for a pile of it!”

Yu Jiayi sat beside her, resting her head on her hand and watching her with an expression slightly different from usual.

Chen Jian patted the chair next to him for her to sit, took a spoonful of black truffle mushroom soup, and had a sip: “Guess what? That guy showed up again just now. He acted so tough, I thought he’d cleared the dungeon already. Tsk, turns out he’s still here.”

“Where is he then?” Zhu Ci was also hungry and asked as she bit into a piece of toasted, golden-brown bread.

“He vanished,” Chen Jian said, making it sound like a ghost story.

After the meal, the Wren served everyone a cup of tea to aid digestion and stood back beside the Lark.

Compared to his gentlemanly demeanor in the morning, the Lark looked slightly exhausted. Perhaps the Cuckoo’s death had a significant impact on him. He bowed: “Guests, please rest well in your bedrooms tonight. If you need anything, you can ring the bell at your bedside to call the Wren.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the two returned to the green door without a hint of lingering.

“You’re like their nemesis now,” Chen Jian said, giving Zhu Ci a thumbs-up in praise.

“I think… maybe it’s because he personally killed a fellow RM like the Cuckoo? It left some psychological shadow. I didn’t expect RMs to have some kind of similar emotions,” Ye Qingqing said, her brow furrowed as she discussed this unexplored theory of the game.

For some reason, Zhu Ci recalled Luo Yongcheng from the last dungeon. He had repeatedly deceived for the sake of Butterfly, and even though he ultimately volunteered for punishment, it was to hide all of it.

So it could be said that RMs did indeed have feelings.

And that person…

They said they would see each other in the next dungeon, but it had been so long, and she still hadn’t come to find her…

Zhu Ci’s lips quirked secretly; she was unwilling to admit that she had actually begun to hope for her appearance.

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