Mutual Redemption with the Villainous Boss [Infinite] - Chapter 3

It was a very obvious red, flushing all the way to the roots of its ears; it even raised its arm to shield its face.

What was it doing?

This time, not only Zhu Ci, but Xiao Chuang was also dumbfounded, watching that RM across from them covering its face one moment and turning its back the next.

Before long, it actually lowered its head, turned around, and ran away.

“Player, you are amazing! This is the world’s first instance of using a tactic that makes an RM run away out of shyness. I’m going to give you another achievement: The Mightiest Defeater,” Xiao Chuang said, giving a thumbs up.

“If you can shut up, I’ll give you an achievement too,” Zhu Ci replied, her mood clearly loosening up as she bantered with Xiao Chuang.

Although she didn’t know what was going on, at least she didn’t have to hack anyone with a knife. After that RM, who shared her face, left, the entire forest fell into a dead silence, leaving only the sound of the wind.

White clouds, soft as blossoms, drifted gently above. The sky was as blue as pond water, like a piece of eerie, silent, and lingering art.

It was too quiet.

Zhu Ci summoned her knife. Xiao Chuang wanted to say something, but she silenced him with a “shh.”

The daytime sky, which had been clear just a moment ago, changed color, forming a spiral-like vortex dyed a vivid red. Two eyes were gouged out of thin air, moving eerily for a few moments before locking onto a single spot.

With a snap, Zhu Ci retracted her knife again.

“Player, have you given up resistance?”

How are you supposed to resist that thing! She rolled her eyes at this artificial idiot in her mind and turned to run down the mountain.

Those eyes spotted the figure running through the woods. Dark red bloodshot veins surged in the whites of the eyes, as if they were about to fill the entire eyeball.

The two eyeballs began to rotate rapidly, chaotically, and irregularly—at one moment bulging out, at the next sinking in—as if they couldn’t wait to drill out of the sky and jump down to the ground.

A drop of liquid streaked across Zhu Ci’s face. She reached out to wipe it, and a red smear rubbed against the back of her hand.

More “raindrops” fell on her face and body. She lifted her head and saw their true nature.

Those weren’t raindrops at all; that was bloody water.

An irresistible sour, stinking smell permeated the air, carrying a faint, imperceptible scent of rot. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. Burying her head, she clutched her bag to her chest and sprinted toward the foot of the mountain.

The places on her body where the bloody water touched began to sting with a burning pain.

With great difficulty, she reached the foot of the mountain. Zhu Ci immediately ducked into the nearest house, huddling under the eaves and desperately shaking the water off her body.

But it was no use. The pain didn’t lessen at all; instead, it burned deeper into her body. Her internal organs felt as if they were being roasted over a fire. The pain made her scream, and she finally lost her footing and collapsed to the ground.

“Player, you have points! Quickly use the mall to exchange them, hurry! Otherwise, you’ll die!”

Xiao Chuang’s reminder brought her back to her senses. She lay flat on the ground, unable to lift her hand, and could only silently command the mall to open.

Instantly, the mall popped open. The semi-transparent interface was incredibly clear and user-friendly. The first option that appeared was “Enchantments,” and at the top were several low-point exchangeable enchantment items.

Zhu Ci was in unbearable pain and had no patience to browse. She chose a 30-point item called “Sensory Vanisher.”

Once the card was selected, it was automatically sucked into the third row of slots. Her watermelon knife emitted a flash of light as it fell to the ground; the card had been enchanted onto her knife.

Zhu Ci gripped the hilt tightly. A numbing sensation immediately washed over her entire body, and the pain lessened significantly. Before long, she no longer felt any pain at all.

She caught her breath and finally sat up to properly study the enchantment card.

Sensory Vanisher: Randomly removes three senses. Duration: One hour. No cooldown. Usage interval: Once per day. Total uses: 5.

Randomly removes three senses? Besides the sense of pain, which other two senses had disappeared?

“Player, stop researching. If you don’t find a solution within an hour, you will still die from the pain,” Xiao Chuang kindly reminded her.

“Are there no antidotes or anything in the mall?” Zhu Ci clicked through the mall, studying the interface carefully, but ultimately found nothing.

Enchantment cards that could completely treat or remove negative effects were too expensive, costing tens of thousands of points—she couldn’t afford them for now.

The bloody water was still pouring down, and those eyes were still searching, presumably looking for her tracks. She could only take a gamble. If all else failed, she’d throw the knife into the sky and poke out whatever eye she could hit.

“Anyway, my sense of pain is gone. It shouldn’t matter if I get soaked in the water, right?”

Zhu Ci muttered to herself and walked directly into the bloody water. The entire town was shrouded in red, and in the midst of it, a person came walking through the blood rain. She searched left and right, unhurried, her entire body covered in bloody water, her face unrecognizable.

At this moment, she felt like a Rakshasa in the rain.

Xiao Chuang sat on her shoulder. Since he was just a mechanical projection, he wasn’t affected at all. “Are there any rumors in your town?”

“No rumors,” Zhu Ci said as she walked forward, looking left and right for any clues. “But…”

After walking for nearly ten minutes, a low-slung building appeared before her, evoking her deepest memories and reminding her of something from long ago.

“But, there was a news story a few years ago.”

The town where Zhu Ci lived used to be part of a poverty alleviation project. Many customs and social atmosphere were still quite rigid—especially among the elderly who had lived here all their lives. Although the people were kind-hearted, their thinking was stubborn.

For example, the preference for sons over daughters was still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in this town.

Five years ago, when Zhu Ci was still in middle school, she was on her way home from school one day when she saw a crowd gathered in front of a house. She and her friends went to see what the commotion was about, only to find it was the home of Uncle Li, who ran the small convenience store. Many police officers had arrived at his house, cordoning it off with tape, and many reporters were taking photos.

The news reports in the following days publicized the incident extensively.

A small-town convenience store owner had actually dismembered his two daughters, hidden them in the ice cream freezer, and told people it was frozen meat.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ci felt a faint wave of nausea. In middle school, she and her friends had occasionally gone to that store to buy cold drinks. The owner, Uncle Li, had been very kind and would always give them a few extra pieces of candy.

Since then, that convenience store had been sealed off.

Uncle Li had already been sentenced to death. Although many years had passed and the details of his motive were a bit blurry, she might be able to remember more if she could see the news from back then.

The building in front of her was that very convenience store—Uncle Li’s house. He had converted the first floor into a small supermarket, selling snacks and toys to attract children passing by after school.

As Zhu Ci walked inside, she said, “If we want to escape this world, it seems we have to start from here. Thanks for reminding me, Xiao Chuang.”

Xiao Chuang flapped his wings and raised his head proudly. “It’s nothing. A little hint like this is mandatory for a newbie world. I have high hopes for you, Player.”

The iron gate outside was secured with a heavy black lock, and long seals were pasted across it—they were aged and looked as if they were about to fall off.

Thinking for a moment, she noticed the adjacent wall wasn’t very high. Zhu Ci planned to climb straight over. The top of the surrounding wall was covered in shards of broken glass to prevent outsiders from climbing, but she had been mischievous since childhood; this little obstacle couldn’t stop her. She reached out to grab the wall, kicked off the surface with her foot, and with a surge of strength, leaped into the yard.

The withered plants in the flower pots made a “hissing” sound as the water hit them. The inner door was open, revealing a gap wide enough for a person. The area shielded by the eaves was clean and free of bloody water, but a trail of blood extended from there into the house.

Someone else had climbed in here, just like her, and then walked inside.

Zhu Ci was very nervous and swallowed hard.

She summoned the knife into her hand to gain a sense of security, then lightly slipped through the gap sideways.

Her footsteps made a splashing sound on the ground. Xiao Chuang covered his mouth, matching her pace as they headed inside.

At the entrance was a long counter with a few cigarette boxes inside, covered in a thick layer of dust. The cement floor was the same, the dust making Zhu Ci want to cough, but she held it back as much as possible to avoid making a sound.

The bloodstains on the floor stopped at the door of the room on the far left. She didn’t dare act rashly, so she hid and observed for a moment.

After a long time without any movement, she decided to enter that room.

If that person came out… she would just slash them first.

Zhu Ci used her knife to push against the door. With a bit of effort, the ajar door was pushed open, letting out a creaky, aging sound.

There was no one inside.

It seemed the person had already left. Zhu Ci entered cautiously, scanning the entire room.

The large room was pitch black, with only a small window letting in a sliver of light. The only things in the room were a box in the corner and a dilapidated folding table, the kind usually used for temporary meals.

There were a few pieces of paper on the folding table. She picked them up and examined them.

“September 17th. My wife went to the hospital. The doctor said she’s pregnant. My Li family finally has an heir. The doctor said it’s twins. Dad has already picked out names for them: Zhao Fu (Bring Luck) and Cai Zu (Wealth to Ancestors).”

“March 20th. My wife and Mom had a fight. There’s no choice; my wife’s belly is big, so Mom has to be the one to feel wronged for now. At night, I heard Mom crying in her room. My heart felt heavy.”

“July 9th. My wife went to the hospital. I’m going to see my two treasures.”

“It’s two without handles (girls).”

The last sentence was written with such force that it tore through the paper. Zhu Ci could only piece the fragments together to barely make it out.

She picked up the remaining pieces of paper.

“September 14th. My wife is pregnant again. This time Mom found an acquaintance at the hospital to check secretly. It’s another girl.”

“November 4th. My wife is pregnant. This time it’s a boy. Dad said to use the name Cai Zu first.”

“The family is almost out of money. Those two little girls eat like thieves.”

“September 17th. Cai Zu is out. My baby Cai Zu, he’s the treasure of the whole family.”

“September 30th. The family is really going to run out of money.”

“Tomorrow is November 8th. My wife agreed. I bought a lot of candy.”

There was only this much content on the papers, but it chilled Zhu Ci to the bone. When she had discovered that incident on her way home in middle school, it was during the late autumn/winter season when it was about to snow—specifically, November.

In other words, was this Uncle Li’s diary? Why were there only a few scattered pages instead of a whole notebook?

A cold wind blew across the back of Zhu Ci’s neck, making her shiver. She was just about to complain about the strange wind when she realized something was wrong.

She was clearly inside the house with the windows shut tight—where did this wind come from?

Another gust of wind came, blowing her newly dried hair. She felt a strong sensation of being stared at from behind. She didn’t dare turn around, her body going stiff.

The feeling became very close, very close, as if someone were pressed right against her back.

At this moment, Zhu Ci really wanted to clasp her head and crouch down to beg for her life. Whoever was behind her, please stop scaring her.

Finally, pride overcame fear. She spoke in a raspy voice, “Who is it?”

The newcomer did not answer.

Finally, after a long standoff, she decided to turn around and take a look.

Zhu Ci braced herself, then whipped around suddenly.

The “self” who looked exactly like her saw her turn around so abruptly; its mouth fell open in surprise before closing again.

“Why is it you?” Zhu Ci asked, speechless. She had been prepared to face a bloody, gaping maw.

That RM’s eyes flickered away, then it looked up and spoke its first words: “Why did you get soaked? Don’t you feel anything?”

It was referring to something specific. Zhu Ci looked down at the bloodstains on her body—was it talking about the bloody water she’d been rained on?

Seeing her looking herself over but not responding, the “self” asked again, “Did you use an item card?”

Zhu Ci didn’t want to answer. This RM was wandering around here, yet it had no traces of that bloody water on its body. Although it didn’t show any hostility, it seemed extremely suspicious.

Seeing that Zhu Ci wouldn’t speak, it pursed its lips, turned around, and left, leaving behind a sentence: “Don’t go running around for now.”

The door was closed, and the rusted wooden door made that piercing sound again. The footsteps outside grew further and further away until they could no longer be heard.

Xiao Chuang was even more baffled than Zhu Ci. He seemed to have never encountered something like this before: “RMs actually say things like that to players?”

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