Mutual Redemption with the Villainous Boss [Infinite] - Chapter 25

“Duan Jingchuan” collapsed. Blood continued to seep from the gunshot wound as the light in his eyes completely faded.

That shot had pierced his heart.

Chen Jian clutched his compass tightly and stumbled. “I—I wasn’t following you. They said you went back to the bedroom, so I chased after you. I didn’t expect…”

“Didn’t expect what?”

Zhu Ci took a step toward him, and Chen Jian reflexively retreated.

“Things aren’t what you think,” she said, her voice tinged with surprise as she tried to approach him without alarming him further. “Truly, I didn’t kill anyone. That was an RM.”

The corpse on the ground twitched twice at just the right moment.

Chen Jian’s expression grew even more terrified.

Zhu Ci slowly drew closer to him, softening her footsteps. “Just now in my room, Duan Jingchuan turned into an RM. He was covered in blood; I saw it with my own eyes. I tried calling Yu Jiayi and Ye Qingqing on the communication cards, but no one answered. You have to believe me.”

Chen Jian bit his upper lip and furrowed his brow, but he stopped retreating.

Seeing a bit of progress, she continued to coax him: “Do you really think I would do something like this? This dungeon is Medium difficulty despite having no roaming RMs. That means there must be NPCs capable of deception. Besides, I have no reason to kill him.”

Chen Jian held up the compass; the needle was spinning wildly, showing no sign of stopping.

“Are you really Zhu Ci?” he asked with a hint of suspicion.

Zhu Ci affirmed that she was.

He lowered his head, trying to think of another way to prove it. “Then…”

“Why are you two here?”

Chen Jian and Zhu Ci turned at the same time.

Yu Jiayi walked over, waving at them with a smile on her face. “What a coincidence? Oh, the person lying on the ground is…”

Upon seeing the person on the ground clearly, she let out a sharp gasp and covered her mouth.

“You—you, you,” Yu Jiayi’s hand trembled as she pointed at Zhu Ci. “How could you kill him!”

Zhu Ci narrowed her eyes, already sensing something was wrong.

Chen Jian looked between the two, intending to explain for Zhu Ci first, but was suddenly cut off by Yu Jiayi: “Just because Duan Jingchuan had an argument with you, you actually opened fire and killed him!”

An argument? Chen Jian searched his memory; there seemed to be no such event.

“When did I argue with him? And how do you know I used a gun to kill him?” Zhu Ci asked coldly.

Yu Jiayi explained piece by piece: “Last night, you two were arguing incessantly. Furthermore, on my way here, I heard a gunshot.”

“Is that true?” Chen Jian looked at Zhu Ci.

Zhu Ci ignored him, keeping her eyes fixed on Yu Jiayi. “Specifics? What were we arguing about? And roughly when did the gunshot go off?”

“The gunshot… it went off a few seconds ago. You were arguing over trivial matters.” Her eyes darted around, and her speech was halting.

It was full of holes.

“Just now on the communication card, didn’t He Fanghui tell me she was coming to find me with you? Where is she?” Zhu Ci asked nonchalantly.

Chen Jian also realized something was amiss and began quietly observing Yu Jiayi’s reaction.

She still had her hand over her mouth as she mumbled, “She—she’s coming soon. She already went to the outside of the church.”

“Is that so?” Zhu Ci glanced at her. “Isn’t He Fanghui’s communication card currently in Chen Jian’s hand?”

Total exposure.

Chen Jian clutched his compass and hid behind Zhu Ci. Zhu Ci summoned her knife and gun, crossing her arms as she curled her lip at this “Yu Jiayi.”

“What kind of thing are you, mimicking a human here?”

Zhu Ci fired her last bullet, then planted her left foot, spun her body forward, and slashed directly at the creature’s face with her knife.

The “Yu Jiayi” was cleaved in two.

Both halves dissolved into blood, writhing on the ground as they merged with the other “Duan Jingchuan.”

They became a monster nearly five meters tall, drenched in dripping, oozing blood.

Chen Jian trembled, his scalp tingling. “This is disgusting. Zhu Ci, is this the ‘Blood RM’ you mentioned? Are you sure he was transformed from Duan Jingchuan?”

Zhu Ci was certain that the one in the room initially was the real Duan Jingchuan.

But how he had turned into an RM was something she couldn’t explain for now.

With every step the blood monster took, a large pool of blood formed on the ground. It didn’t congeal, and the air was thick with a pungent metallic stench.

The only weapon left to use was the watermelon knife.

“Chen Jian! Give me the compass!”

Disoriented, Chen Jian did as he was told and handed it over.

The moment the compass reached Zhu Ci’s hand, the needle suddenly snapped to a fixed position. Chen Jian was stunned, but before he could ask anything, she grabbed him and pulled him along in that direction.

The blood monster pursued them relentlessly. After the mist cleared, they found themselves in a vast grassland. With no landmarks to navigate by, they could only rely on the compass.

“Wait, why does that thing listen to you so well?” Chen Jian asked, breathless as he ran. “It was just spinning around earlier and ignored me completely!”

“It means I have a stronger aura,” she quipped, though she didn’t know why herself.

The blood monster was fast; every time they blinked, it seemed to pick up speed.

The grassland felt endless. Even after running for a long time, the creature remained right on their heels, the distance between them refusing to widen.

Then came another burst of melodious singing.

It was the Robin.

The Robin’s song was graceful and moving, drifting from the direction they were heading. Chen Jian suddenly found a second wind; he grabbed Zhu Ci’s hand and ran even faster.

The singing grew louder.

In the distance, the silhouette of a building topped with a cross emerged.

The Robin stood at the very peak of the church, one hand leaning against the cross and the other pressed to her chest, singing loudly.

On the grass in front of the building, several people were arguing with each other.

Chen Jian shouted at the top of his lungs: “Run! The monster is coming!”

No one paid him any mind. They continued their quarrel, some even drawing weapons.

As Chen Jian ran closer, he yelled again: “What are you all doing? The monster—”

Suddenly, he skidded to a halt.

A dagger was pressed against his throat.

Zhu Ci stood firm, pulling Chen Jian behind her and blocking him with one hand. “He Fanghui, what are you doing?”

“To approach, one must verify,” Ye Qingqing said, appearing from behind, panting heavily.

Chen Jian turned around. The blood monster that had been chasing them had vanished without a trace.

The Robin’s song continued, unaffected by the commotion below.

“It’s so noisy,” He Fanghui muttered, though it was unclear if she was annoyed by the questions or by the Robin singing on the roof. “The two of you, stay away from each other. If you mutate, I won’t be able to save you.”

Ye Qingqing took a breath and said, “Miss Zhu, please prove your identity.”

Prove it? Zhu Ci took out the communication card the other had given her. “Will this do?”

After verifying it was correct, He Fanghui pulled her over, then pointed the dagger at Chen Jian. “Your turn.”

“I—I…” His compass was with Zhu Ci. After a moment of thought, he also pulled out a communication card. “This is the one you shoved at me.”

He Fanghui took it, inspected it carefully, and even placed a call before returning it to him. She pulled him over as well, and they all hid in the shadows outside the church doors.

“The crowd is a mess right now. Some people can’t prove who they are at all. Currently, there are only the four of us,” Ye Qingqing said, glancing at the others.

“What happened? Where are your teammates?”

“It’s hard to explain in a hurry. They’re over there, but no one is certain about anyone else yet. I don’t know where Jiang He went either.”

“Yu Jiayi is missing too. That girl actually dared to run off and leave me behind!” He Fanghui grumbled, her tone sounding more like a petulant complaint.

“We should go stop them,” Chen Jian said worriedly. “It feels like they’re really about to start fighting.”

He Fanghui flicked his forehead. “Stop them for what? We’re missing two teammates ourselves and can barely protect our own skin. Why bother with others?”

Ye Qingqing agreed. “Yes. Until everyone is verified, it’s best not to act rashly.”

During their exchange, Zhu Ci remained silent.

He Fanghui nudged her with an elbow. “Say something. It’s time for the ‘Captain’ to save the day. Are you scared stiff?”

Zhu Ci seemed to snap out of it. “I think we should go help.”

After saying that, she looked at Chen Jian. “You think so too, right?”

Chen Jian nodded like a woodpecker.

“Then you go.”

Zhu Ci suddenly grabbed his wrist and threw him out of the shadows with immense force. Chen Jian couldn’t keep his balance and tumbled directly onto the ground.

“Oh! My bad!” Zhu Ci cried out in mock surprise, rushing over to help him up.

This series of actions left the other three stunned.

She grabbed Chen Jian by the back of his collar, hoisted him up, and pulled a communication card from her pocket.

She said “Hello” into it twice.

“Hello, Miss Zhu? Did something happen?”

The voice coming from the card was Ye Qingqing’s, yet the Ye Qingqing standing right in front of them hadn’t moved a muscle.

Chen Jian reacted instantly, turning to grab Zhu Ci as they bolted.

Behind them, an ear-splitting scream filled the air:

“Zhu Ci! You set me up!”

He Fanghui was in disbelief; Zhu Ci had actually run off with only Chen Jian without giving her even a hint of warning.

Beside her, the “Ye Qingqing” transformed into the blood monster. He Fanghui held her dagger in her right hand and summoned a steel whip in her left.

The whip lashed out in a series of attacks, striking the blood monster’s body, while she followed up with the dagger, barely managing to sever an arm.

The arm hit the ground and turned to ash, but the monster immediately began absorbing blood from the earth, trying to reconstruct its limb.

He Fanghui didn’t give it the chance. She unleashed another flurry of strikes, aiming directly for the monster’s left leg.

The monster dodged. Its movement speed was not slow; it lunged sideways to counter her. Seeing the monster reveal itself, the others stopped fighting and swarmed toward the church.

The blood monster raised its intact arm and slammed it down. He Fanghui couldn’t dodge in time; she was struck in the back and sent flying, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

The monster lunged after her, raising its foot to crush her.

Zhu Ci performed a sudden leap, grabbing He Fanghui and rolling away, narrowly escaping the monster’s foot.

He Fanghui grabbed Zhu Ci’s shoulder, baring her teeth. “You mother—”

“Watch out!”

The monster attacked again. Zhu Ci rolled again, causing He Fanghui to get a mouthful of grass.

The Robin’s singing stopped.

She looked up, gazing down at everything happening below. She spoke only two words: “Enough.”

The blood monster’s foot froze in mid-air. Sounds began to emanate from its blood-soaked mass, a sort of whimpering moan, as if it were pleading or protesting.

The Robin merely gave it a cold, sweeping glance.

The blood monster collapsed, shrinking into a ball as if it were feeling an intense cold or fear.

Finally, before everyone’s eyes, it vanished completely. Not a single drop of residual blood remained on the ground.

The Robin looked down, her gaze meeting Zhu Ci’s. Then, without a word, she looked away.

The song resumed.

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