Mutual Redemption with the Villainous Boss [Infinite] - Chapter 26

The melody brought peace to the soul. The people gathered in the church ceased their agitation. Zhu Ci blocked He Fanghui’s attempt to curse and extended a hand: “Do you need a lift?”

He Fanghui gave a “humpf,” turned her head away, and refused to take her hand.

“You got me once, I got you once. We’re even,” Zhu Ci said, forcibly grabbing her wrist and pulling her up from the ground.

He Fanghui patted the dust off her clothes. “I didn’t actually succeed before, okay? Or perhaps you’d like me to try again…”

Dong—

Twelve chimes of the bell.

It was twelve o’clock noon.

As the ringing stopped, Zhu Ci stared at her. “Cut the nonsense. There are only five hours left. Have you found any clues?”

Noticing that the danger had passed, Chen Jian hurriedly ran back from a distance and pushed the two of them into the church.

“Yu Jiayi and I got separated,” He Fanghui said, her head drooping as she walked forward dejectedly. “We were originally inside the White Door. I was still inspecting the courtroom when she said she wanted to walk along the path leading from the back door to the main hall. After that, she never came back.”

Chen Jian asked in surprise, “I didn’t expect you to be so upset. I thought you’d be happy to be rid of her.”

“But, but…” He Fanghui stammered for a long time without saying anything definitive. She found Yu Jiayi’s constant management annoying, but once the girl was truly gone—especially in a dungeon—a seed of anxious unease began to sprout in her heart.

“Ai,” Chen Jian slapped his thigh like an old gossip. “This is love!”

This inevitably earned him a sharp glare from He Fanghui.

Inside the church, Zhu Ci did a head count. Besides the three of them, there were six others—three from each of the other teams.

Compared to the battle-hardened and outstanding talents in Ye Qingqing’s team, these three from Chen Liangyi’s team were relatively weak. They likely relied on Chen Liangyi to solve everything in previous dungeons.

At this moment, having lost the argument, they were huddled in the corner, looking somewhat tremulous.

It was still impossible to be completely certain that everyone here was “normal.”

“Staying here isn’t a solution,” Zhu Ci urged them. Since their captains were absent, chaos was inevitable. “To prevent the RM from sowing discord or mimicking us, we should first find the other team members. If everyone stays together, even if there’s a hidden monster among us, we can attack it together.”

She concealed the fact that Duan Jingchuan had turned into an RM.

If Chen Jian hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he probably wouldn’t have believed it either. Furthermore, before everything was cleared up, she didn’t dare make a final conclusion.

The three members of Chen Liangyi’s team deliberated: “We should find Brother Duan first. Otherwise, as leaderless flies, we won’t be able to do anything.”

“We also need to find Yu Jiayi. This time, everyone must act together.”

No one was in the main hall. Zhu Ci pushed open the White Door and took the elevator down to the underground courtroom with the other two.

“I’ve searched here already. The courtroom has no other exits,” He Fanghui spoke up. If there were other exits, they could have sneaked away during the trial yesterday; the dungeon wouldn’t leave such a loophole.

Zhu Ci nodded in agreement and pushed open the back door.

The back door remained as it was, with the crucifix hanging there. A raised platform stood above the floor, just large enough to hold a coffin.

“Even though it’s pitch black here, there don’t seem to be any secret doors,” Chen Jian said, feeling the wall while studying his compass.

Zhu Ci also began feeling the walls, trailing her hand down to the floor.

“I have a feeling Yu Jiayi isn’t here,” He Fanghui said, turning around restlessly, eager to leave.

Zhu Ci crouched on the ground. The floor felt like it had a heater beneath it, baking the entire surface with a certain warmth.

Why would the ground be hot?

Something fell into her lap. She looked up; it was Chen Jian’s compass.

“Here, you use it. I see you use it more accurately than I do,” he said with a pout, looking quite indignant.

In Zhu Ci’s hand, the wildly spinning needle of the compass stopped, settling in a specific direction.

She didn’t stand up. With the compass in one hand and the other hand on the floor, she crawled toward that position.

Finally, her hand reached the platform.

Chen Liangyi’s coffin had been placed here before, but now it was empty. However, the platform was as warm as the floor—even hotter.

“Why did you stop?” Chen Jian asked curiously.

“It’s under here.” Zhu Ci threw the compass back to him and began feeling around the platform.

“How can you be so sure—” Chen Jian cut himself off halfway.

He always felt that believing in Zhu Ci was the right thing to do.

The platform was incredibly smooth and free of dust. He Fanghui leaned over, felt the temperature, and began to inspect it seriously.

As time ticked away, they still hadn’t found a breakthrough.

Chen Jian slumped to the ground, his eyes aching from the dim light. He Fanghui also gave up, leaving only Zhu Ci to persist.

She had a premonition.

Time was running out.

They had been searching for at least an hour. Prowling on the floor for so long had exhausted her, and she eventually stood up.

Could the direction be wrong? Was it actually not here?

No, it definitely was.

She summoned the Path-Opening Pen.

Having missed two previous opportunities to use it, this was the moment for its true application.

She drew a vertical stroke against the platform.

The stone slab split open.

A shrill cry for help came from below.

“Help!”

“That’s Yu Jiayi’s voice!” He Fanghui hurriedly leaned over. The space beneath the platform was bottomless. She braced her body and jumped straight in.

“He Fanghui!” Zhu Ci and Chen Jian shouted from above.

“Chen Jian, where’s that hemp rope of yours?” Zhu Ci remembered a previous dungeon.

Chen Jian’s brain went into overdrive as he quickly opened the shop: “I’ll go buy another one!”

Zhu Ci was anxious. She didn’t know what had happened to He Fanghui and Yu Jiayi; there was no echo no matter how much she shouted.

Zhu Ci took the hemp rope Chen Jian had bought, tied one end around her waist, and the other to a pillar. She handed the slack to Chen Jian: “Remember to pull me up.”

With that, she grabbed the rope and jumped down.

She bought a lighter from the shop to illuminate her surroundings. It was very deep, and she descended slowly.

“I’m okay!”

He Fanghui’s voice drifted up. Zhu Ci breathed a sigh of relief: “Where’s Yu Jiayi?”

Her feet touched something solid.

She tested the ground before stepping off and landing.

“Come quickly, she’s showing signs of suffocation.”

Zhu Ci flicked the lighter and walked toward the voice. The faint silhouettes in the distance grew closer.

Yu Jiayi lay on the ground while He Fanghui held her hand and performed artificial respiration.

“It’s no use, she’s been deprived of air for too long.” He Fanghui pressed down on her chest, over and over, but still couldn’t get her to take a deep breath.

That cry for help might have been her final act of defiance.

Zhu Ci summoned her gun into her hand. The Mermaid Healing Card glowed, flickering incessantly.

The gun emitted a shimmering light.

She aimed at Yu Jiayi and fired a blank shot.

“Hah… cough cough…” Yu Jiayi’s eyes flew open as she took a massive gulp of air, followed by a fit of violent coughing until she managed to sit up.

He Fanghui patted her back to help her breathe. “Gosh, Yu Jiayi, you’ve been brought back to life.”

Yu Jiayi wanted to reach out and hit her, but He Fanghui caught her fist.

“I finally caught you at a weak moment.”

“Stop joking around. The air down here is really thin; let’s get up first.” Zhu Ci covered her face. Not only was the air thin, but it also had a strange metallic, rusty smell. This was likely the reason Yu Jiayi had been struggling to breathe for so long.

Chen Jian pulled Zhu Ci up first. He Fanghui carried Yu Jiayi on her back and tied them together with the rope, and the two above pulled them up together.

The duration of the Path-Opening Pen expired, and the crack sealed shut. Yu Jiayi was laid flat on the floor, her voice sounding airy: “Thank you… thank you all…”

“Don’t mention it. Tell me, how did you end up in there? I thought you ditched me on purpose,” He Fanghui said, shaking her, which made her dizzy.

“I don’t know. As soon as I entered the back door, I stepped into thin air, and then I was trapped there,” Yu Jiayi shook her head, her eyes still watery from coughing. “No matter which way I went, there was no path, and the air kept thinning. I shouted several times, but there was no response. It wasn’t until I heard a noise from above that I let out one last cry, and then I couldn’t open my mouth again.”

This dungeon was intentionally trapping people.

Not only had Duan Jingchuan turned into an RM, but Ye Qingqing had been replaced by a blood monster, and her actual whereabouts were unknown.

Earlier, the communication cards had worked in front of the church, but now they couldn’t connect.

This only proved that she had been safe until just now. After being transformed by the blood monster, something might have happened.

Yu Jiayi had also been mimicked by that blood monster to deceive her and Chen Jian.

Did this RM need to trap the person they intended to change into before they could mimic their appearance?

However, the personality mimicry wasn’t very accurate.

“Ye Qingqing and the others must be trapped too. Only one or two people from each team are trapped—what’s the motive?” Zhu Ci pondered, propping up her chin.

Yu Jiayi suppressed a cough: “Cough, I think this must be related to the nursery rhyme on the ceiling. Who killed Cock Robin? The most crucial ‘Robin’ has never appeared.”

The Robin?

This hint allowed Zhu Ci to grasp the key point through the fog.

The Robin had died long ago. A funeral would be held today at 5:55 PM, yet she had only smashed a picture frame at the start.

On the first day of this dungeon, a notice was posted on the wall: The trial of the Sparrow who killed the Robin.

Yet, the Robin’s funeral wasn’t until the third day.

Everything was happening in reverse.

Zhu Ci recalled the poem in the room.

The Sparrow killed the Robin—she had shot and killed Duan Jingchuan.

The Fox witnessed this—Chen Jian had followed behind and seen her kill him.

Why didn’t the blood monster simply revert to its original form instead of using deception and sowing discord?

Because it also needed to play a role.

It is Duan Jingchuan, and Duan Jingchuan is a player. A player must play a role.

In the past, he might have been the Fox, the Fish, the Hedgehog, or the Owl.

But now, he is the Robin.

Zhu Ci stood up abruptly and slapped He Fanghui on the head: “I’ve got it!”

“What? What is it? Tell us!” He Fanghui didn’t get angry and instead urged her on.

“I am the Sparrow.”

“Duh, everyone knows that.”

“And you,” Zhu Ci pointed at Chen Jian, “you are the Fox.”

Chen Jian was confused: “Why?”

“You are the Owl,” she turned to Yu Jiayi.

“Me?”

“What about me, what about me?” He Fanghui looked expectant.

“You… you are the Fish, or the Hedgehog. To be determined.”

“Tsk, it’s like you said nothing when it comes to me.” She curled her lip.

When the group asked for her reasoning, Zhu Ci merely acted mysterious: “No rush. We need to find the most important person first.”

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