Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Yu Lingling looked at Sun Jian. “In your current condition, if you keep following the normal route to clear the instance, I doubt you’ll survive another three days.”
Sun Jian knew she was telling the truth. If Yu Lingling could discover the issue with the lamp oil, the others would figure it out within two days at most. If they could not obtain more oil, then the best solution was to reduce the number of people consuming it.
“I’m only an E-rank. Taking three members of the Abyss Guild to the grave with me wouldn’t be a bad trade.”
He claimed it was a fair trade, but the muscles in his face twitched, betraying his unwillingness to accept his fate.
Right in front of Sun Jian and the others, Yu Lingling raised a hand and deftly moved her fingers. Several childlike entities appeared inside the tent.
Zhao Peng immediately said, “Your skill allows you to control entities.”
Yu Lingling had copied Tongyu’s hand motions. “It’s more of a symbiotic relationship.”
Realization dawned on Xu Chao. “No wonder your… your brother managed to map out the terrain of this instance even though we never saw you take him anywhere.”
Yu Lingling’s Exclusive Skill naturally had nothing to do with controlling entities, but she had no intention of revealing her true abilities now.
“I mentioned two unusual tents earlier. There’s something inside each of them that even the entities fear.”
She was speaking directly to Sun Jian.
“Also, the night is extremely dangerous, but perhaps not as dangerous as it seems.” Yu Lingling frowned slightly, looking somewhat puzzled herself. “These lesser entities can only relay limited information, and they can’t venture too deep.”
Sun Jian understood what she meant. Either of those options could offer a path to survival – or lead straight to his death.
There was uncertainty in Yu Lingling’s voice, but that very uncertainty made her words all the more believable.
Yu Lingling looked at Sun Jian. “Even the Circus employees are afraid of the things outside at night. While we were on the road, I tried reaching beyond the oil lamp’s light.”
She held out her left hand. A faint palm print marked its surface.
Showing it to Sun Jian, Yu Lingling said, “It was humanoid.”
It was human rather than an animal. That was why Yu Lingling suspected there might be a slim chance of survival at night.
She stated bluntly, “Even if either option offers a way out, your odds of surviving are one in ten at best. You should be safe until the Circus begins its show tomorrow night.”
The viewers in Sun Jian’s Livestream Room were also discussing Yu Lingling’s words.
“Is she trying to trick Sun Jian into getting himself killed?”
“I think she’s telling the truth. Sun Jian dying now wouldn’t benefit her at all.”
“Then why warn him?”
“To stop him from dragging everyone else down with him. She and her brother are the weakest players here. Besides, haven’t you noticed the way Sun Jian looks at them?”
Sun Jian held the goat in his arms and sank into thought.
Zhao Peng glanced at Sun Jian, whose emotions had stabilized. Yu Lingling truly excelled at manipulating people. No wonder her skill involved controlling entities.
First, she had made Sun Jian realize that Wang Hao and Zhou Ming had no hope of clearing the instance. Then she had shown him that, despite the danger, he still had a chance to survive.
Sun Jian looked at Zhao Peng and Xu Chao. “Wang Hao and the others could choose those two routes as well.”
Zhao Peng sighed. “If you hadn’t been forced to kill the elephant, would you believe the information Wang Hao and the others had gathered, or the word of two F-ranks?”
Sun Jian fell silent. If he had any other choice, he would never have trusted the two routes Yu Lingling had proposed.
“They don’t even believe the two of you?”
Neither Zhao Peng nor Xu Chao answered.
Looking at them, Sun Jian suddenly understood. “You’re not going to tell them. If all four of us chose the two routes Chacha mentioned, the rest of you would have no chance of clearing the instance.”
Despite belonging to the same guild, Wang Hao and the other two had already become expendable pawns.
Xu Chao was candid about it. “If we hadn’t discovered what we know now, we’d be the ones discarded. We may belong to the same guild, but if they needed to step on us to clear the instance and complete the guild mission, they wouldn’t hesitate.”
Sun Jian let out a derisive snort and returned to his sleeping spot with the goat in his arms, saying nothing more.
Zhao Peng turned to Xu Chao. “Wu Bin privately shared a piece of information with me. Only one animal of any given type can exist in this instance.”
The moment Xu Chao heard Wu Bin’s name, he recalled the relevant details. Wu Bin’s animal was an orangutan, while his was a monkey. Then he thought about Zhao Peng coming to this tent, and cold sweat broke out all over his body. “You two made a deal.”
Zhao Peng wasn’t acting because he trusted Yu Lingling’s judgment. He trusted the information he had gathered himself. “He’ll take care of Liu Qian’s pigeon for me, and I’ll take care of your monkey for him.”
Remembering what Yu Lingling and Tongyu had said, Xu Chao understood. Zhao Peng had abandoned his intent to kill him and shared this information, not out of camaraderie between guildmates, but because of the consequences that might come from killing an animal.
Looking at Xu Chao, Zhao Peng said bluntly, “This instance keeps tempting and forcing us to attack the animals.”
Xu Chao didn’t dwell on the fact that Zhao Peng had previously intended to kill him. “But what if that really is the condition for clearing the instance?”
Zhao Peng answered without hesitation, “We can’t kill the animals, but we can kill people. Then we can see what happens to animals without owners.”
Xu Chao fell silent for a moment. “All right.”
It would be difficult for Xu Chao to kill Wu Bin on his own, but with Zhao Peng helping him, that was a different story.
Zhao Peng had also revealed all this to put Sun Jian at ease. “The conflict between Liu Qian and me can’t be resolved. This information may be false, but I’m not willing to gamble on that possibility.”
Tongyu sat behind Yu Lingling. Keeping his hand hidden beneath his clothes, he took out a piece of jerky and secretly fed it to the puppy that had just woken up.
Yu Lingling noticed that Sun Jian hadn’t mentioned Li Na. Given Sun Jian’s personality, there was no way he would let Li Na off. If he wasn’t bringing her up, he must have other plans.
With that in mind, Yu Lingling didn’t press him. Instead, she asked, “What kind of person is Sun Yao?”
The question was directed at Zhao Peng, since he had interacted with Sun Yao more than the rest of them.
Zhao Peng thought for a moment. “She’s somewhat clever and knows when to yield.”
“She used an item to communicate with animals.” Xu Chao pointed to his ear. Since Yu Lingling had already figured out his ability, he no longer bothered hiding it. “Before she tried communicating with the horse, she activated an item.”
Zhao Peng asked, “What did she say?”
Xu Chao repeated Sun Yao’s exact words. “Why can’t I hear anything? This item couldn’t have failed. What’s going on? Does it not have any thoughts at all?”
As they spoke, the animals belonging to the three men began growing restless. The only exceptions were the kitten in Yu Lingling’s arms, which looked barely alive, and the puppy in Tongyu’s arms, which was busy gnawing on jerky.
It wasn’t just the animals. Everyone felt as if their stomachs were burning with hunger, and their lips had become dry and cracked.
Xu Chao and Zhao Peng had both prepared in advance. They had stored food in the System Inventory before entering the instance and took it out now.
Zhao Peng had a parrot, while Xu Chao had a monkey. Both were small animals and didn’t eat much. Sun Jian’s goat, on the other hand, had a relatively large appetite.
Sitting in the corner, Yu Lingling and Tongyu took out compressed biscuits and water, nibbling and sipping slowly. Right in front of the three players, they even crushed some of the biscuits, soaked the crumbs in water, and fed the mixture to the animals in their arms.
Sun Jian didn’t have much food in the System Inventory, but he knew how important supplies were in an instance like this. There was no chance anyone else would simply give him theirs. After thinking for a moment, he took out a meat-floss bun and walked over to Yu Lingling and Tongyu.
“I’ll trade you this bread for some compressed biscuits. Your animals are both carnivores. Biscuits alone probably won’t be enough for them.”