Mutual Redemption with the Villainous Boss [Infinite] - Chapter 27

The clock struck two.

He Fanghui carried Yu Jiayi on her back, while Zhu Ci walked swiftly ahead toward the main hall, with the other three following closely behind.

Yu Jiayi felt a bit uneasy and patted the shoulder of the person carrying her. “I can walk by myself.”

“You’re too slow,” He Fanghui replied, her tone carrying a hint of undetectable delight; she had been in a state of continuous excitement for a while now. “Patient, you should just rest properly.”

Yu Jiayi didn’t speak. She lowered her head, burying her face in He Fanghui’s hair.

A faint fragrance wafted into her nose—the light scent of shampoo from He Fanghui’s hair, carrying a unique sensation that muddled her mind.

A madwoman.

Yu Jiayi thought that she was the one who had truly gone mad.

Time was running out. Zhu Ci was in a hurry; she needed to find that person.

The last person in the team.

“I suspect the others gathered on the grass in front of the church using the same method. Even though they didn’t discover things faster than I did, they arrived earlier. Someone must have pointed out a shortcut…”

Mid-sentence, Zhu Ci suddenly noticed a discrepancy. “He Fanghui, how did you get to the church?”

“Me? It was that Ye Qingqing…” She stopped halfway, remembering that “Ye Qingqing” was a transformation of an RM, and paused with a shudder. “She led me out through her bedroom window. I was still at the court looking for Yu Jiayi, and she just grabbed me and ran.”

“Thinking back, she was definitely suspicious, but I was in such a hurry then, thinking Yu Jiayi was at the church, that I didn’t pay it much mind.”

Yu Jiayi remained silent, twirling a strand of He Fanghui’s hair between her fingers. “I thought you’d be happy if I wasn’t around.”

“It was alright. I thought so too, but I found that when you were really gone, I actually wasn’t quite used to it.” He Fanghui spoke casually, yet it caused a faint blush to rise on Yu Jiayi’s face.

Chen Jian waved a hand. “Ah, love.”

He was promptly rewarded with a kick.

“So the few of us all climbed out through the bedroom windows, which was a bit slower, while the others…”

Before Zhu Ci could finish, the communication card rang.

The card Ye Qingqing had given her vibrated in her pocket. She hurried to answer it. “Ye Qingqing, are you okay? What just happened? Where are you?”

“…Miss Zhu,” a weak, exhausted voice came from the other side, taking a long moment to squeeze out a sentence. “I’m okay now, but Jiang He… he saved me, and now I don’t know what to do…”

Her voice trembled, with faint echoes in the distance.

“So, where are you?”

“The church.”

Zhu Ci told her to stay calm and compose herself. He Fanghui gently placed Yu Jiayi down on a bench, while Chen Jian went to check if there were any special routes in the hall leading to the church.

“Listen to me first. I’ve already figured out some of the mechanics of this dungeon.”

“Duan Jingchuan has turned into an RM.” As soon as she said this, both Yu Jiayi and He Fanghui looked at her in shock. Ye Qingqing on the other end was also stunned into silence for a long time. Zhu Ci continued, “It’s true. Humans can turn into RMs; they become part of the dungeon.”

Humans didn’t just die in the dungeon; they would wander here forever.

Everyone who heard this understood the implication.

The soul never leaves.

Zhu Ci didn’t have time to explain further and added, “We’ll talk about that later. What I want to say now is the dungeon’s mechanic: it used the RM that Duan Jingchuan became to push everyone to understand their own identities.”

“On the judgment stand, we are Sparrows. I killed the RM impersonating Duan Jingchuan, and Chen Jian witnessed it—he is the Fox.”

The Fox, with his little eye, saw Cock Robin die.

“Beneath the stone slab, Yu Jiayi was trapped—she is the Owl who digs the grave.”

The Owl, with her pick and shovel, digs the grave for Cock Robin.

Jiang He was also trapped, so it was obvious what he was.

Ye Qingqing clearly understood. After a burst of static over the communication card, she said, “I understand. Then the others on my side are clear as well.”

Two seconds later, she added, “Miss Zhu, you should belong at the top of the rankings.”

Before Zhu Ci could respond, a powerful surge of electricity erupted from the communication card, coursing through her body and forcing her to drop the card to the floor.

“You shouldn’t be telling them these things.”

A familiar male voice echoed throughout the hall.

Chen Jian rushed to help her pick up the card. It still carried a trace of electricity, which he tucked into his shirt as he asked, “What are you, some kind of ghost? Coming and going without a trace.”

The mysterious man stood by the white door, tilting the brim of his hat as if glancing at Chen Jian.

“What is the benefit of telling other teams the dungeon information?”

Zhu Ci regained her composure and faced him. “You should have realized by now that this isn’t some team-battle dungeon. Sharing information is only to gain greater benefits.”

“There have to be benefits first,” he said, holding a short rod that looked like a chopstick. “Information is very valuable.”

He flicked the short rod twice, and visible deep-purple electricity erupted from it.

Yu Jiayi tried to stand up, but He Fanghui blocked her with an arm and summoned her steel whip. Chen Jian retreated at the right moment.

Zhu Ci stood still.

“You have some courage,” the man let out a hum of laughter.

“It’s not that. It’s just, what is the point of you specifically intimidating us?” She appeared bored, indifferent to the weapon in his hand.

“Intimidation? Didn’t you get enough of a shock just now?”

The short rod pointed at Zhu Ci. Yu Jiayi screamed, “Watch out!” while Chen Jian gathered his courage from behind, intending to tackle her out of the way.

He was stopped by He Fanghui.

She looked grim, staring at the man, but she didn’t let the other two step forward.

Electricity condensed at the tip of the rod into a massive orb of lightning, emitting a sizzling glare, ready to be fired at Zhu Ci.

Zhu Ci raised an eyebrow, a cold sneer on her face.

The electric orb expanded larger and larger, but it remained fixed in front of the rod.

The man sighed.

He raised his hand upward, and the electric orb was tossed toward the ceiling, illuminating the entire hall.

“You win.”

The man retracted the short rod and said to Zhu Ci, “But if you continue like this, one day you will bring about your own end.”

“Doesn’t that apply to you for warning others?” She took two steps forward, her pace steady. “Telling everyone the shortcut to the church, warning me not to reveal information… you’re much more ‘kind-hearted’ than I am.”

“Heh, so you found out about that.” The man chuckled softly, his face obscured under the brim of his hat.

Zhu Ci wanted to keep questioning him, but he suddenly directed everyone’s attention to the green door. “The Cuckoo was killed by you; the green door can now be opened. That leads to the church.”

He retreated into the shadows of the white door, his left hand pressing down on his hat brim, as he lowered his voice. “Role-playing—I’ve done what I needed to do. The rest is up to you. Zhu Ci, I didn’t expect you to survive. Perhaps I was wrong; things aren’t as bad as I imagined.”

Zhu Ci was stunned, fragments of information flashing through her mind that she couldn’t quite grasp. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing much,” his voice turned gentle again. “I will come looking for you.”

The white door gradually closed.

“I am the Beetle.”

Chen Jian pointed his fingers between her and the white door. “Uh, do you two know each other?”

Zhu Ci shook her head.

“Agh, don’t think about it! At least he gave us two hints; we’re definitely getting out this time!” Once Chen Jian was out of danger, he became lighthearted again.

“He’s the Beetle, so I’m… what, what am I…” He Fanghui grew excited, her words tripping over themselves.

“The Fish,” Yu Jiayi added.

“Right! Yu Jiayi’s Fish! What was the Fish supposed to do?”

“Collect the blood of Cock Robin,” Zhu Ci pushed the lingering thoughts from her mind to focus on the task at hand. She looked up and took the compass from Chen Jian. “Let’s go, to the church.”

“Take it, take it. This will be your weapon from now on,” Chen Jian said dejectedly.

When the green door was pulled open, it led directly to a secret passage inside the church. He Fanghui bit her dry lips. “I’ve talked so much I’m dying of thirst. This door actually leads to the church; no wonder those people looked so surprised when we ran back from outside earlier.”

“And not a single person bothered to tell us, making us take so many detours,” Chen Jian grumbled.

“Maybe they didn’t think we had another way.” Zhu Ci inspected the church. There was no one inside, though she could hear faint voices from outside.

The four of them stepped out. Yu Jiayi originally wanted He Fanghui to leave her in the church to save her the trouble of carrying her, but He Fanghui refused. “We have to stay together, otherwise an RM might slip in.”

Outside the church were three teammates from Chen Liangyi’s group; two of them were weeping silently.

Zhu Ci stepped forward to ask what had happened. One of them replied between sobs, “Brother Duan is dead too. His body is lying over there on the grass.”

How could Duan Jingchuan’s body appear on the grass?

Hearing this, she frowned and backed away, whispering to her teammates, “Everyone, be careful. He Fanghui, back up toward the church.”

He Fanghui carried Yu Jiayi backward, and Yu Jiayi summoned her butterfly blades, gripping them in her hands.

The compass in Zhu Ci’s hand spun wildly, the tip of the needle coming to a halt directly in front of them, pointing straight at the three people.

The crying of two of them grew louder, their wails heart-wrenching, while the third person remained silent, mouth agape, staring up at the sky.

Suddenly, the two crying figures began to writhe and swell. Countless small pores appeared on their bodies, from which blood began to hiss and spray out.

Bang! The two human spheres exploded during their expansion, drenching Zhu Ci and Chen Jian, who were at the front, in blood.

“Zhu Ci, how can this be?” Chen Jian took the compass back from her, asking in despair.

“Why do humans turn into RMs!”

The blood spread across the ground, quickly condensing and merging, attaching itself to the man standing in the center with his head tilted back. It climbed upward, extending toward the sky.

It formed a monster taller than a two-story building.

It opened its mouth wide into a circle and spread its arms, swaying from side to side, unable to stand steadily as it struggled to control its body.

Half a minute later, it roared at the sky, a sharp, piercing shriek that threatened to burst their eardrums.

He Fanghui called out to Chen Jian, “Come here! Catch her!”

She shifted Yu Jiayi from her back to Chen Jian’s.

Chen Jian, who never exercised, found it a bit difficult to hold her and hoisted her up higher.

Yu Jiayi grabbed He Fanghui’s hand. “What are you going to do?”

He Fanghui pulled a smile, her manic nature fully on display.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to take its blood.”

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