Chapter 74
Chapter 74
Yu Lingling remained seated, and the child-shaped creature she had controlled earlier had vanished.
A meat floss bun was naturally worth more than a compressed biscuit, but inside the instance, the compressed biscuit would clearly last longer and be more filling.
Still, as Sun Jian had said, whether it was a puppy or a kitten, it needed some meat in its diet.
Sun Jian did not want to offend Yu Lingling and the others. “I only need half in exchange.”
The compressed biscuit in Yu Lingling’s hand was as large as an adult’s palm, while Sun Jian’s bun was roughly the same size.
“Deal.”
With that, Yu Lingling broke the compressed biscuit in half. It already had a scored line down the middle, so it snapped easily.
She gave Sun Jian the untouched half and took the bun from him.
Sun Jian returned to his spot with the bread.
Zhao Peng glanced over and tossed him two steamed buns. After a moment’s hesitation, Xu Chao handed Sun Jian a bottle of water as well.
Sun Jian knew exactly why they were giving him food. They wanted him to feel that he still had some hope of surviving. As long as he had hope, he would not recklessly try to take them all down with him.
Xu Chao said bluntly, “Every grievance has its culprit, and every debt its debtor. If you’re going to drag someone down with you, make sure you go after the person who did this to you. We just want to clear the instance.”
Sun Jian did not answer right away. Instead, he broke off pieces of a steamed bun and fed them to the restless goat.
Once it had food, the goat settled down again.
Xu Chao frowned in displeasure. He began wondering whether they should strike first. They could kill Sun Jian without touching the goat.
Only after feeding the goat did Sun Jian take a bite of the compressed biscuit and chew. “Fine.”
Xu Chao gave him a look. Although he did not trust Sun Jian, he made no move against him.
The only sound left in the tent was that of chewing.
Sun Jian suddenly chuckled. Under the dim yellow light, his smile looked particularly eerie. “There’s so much meat on an elephant. It should be enough to feed those tigers and leopards for two days. But once the elephant is gone, my goat will be next. And once the goat is gone, whose turn will it be then? That bitch Li Na really thinks she’s safe.”
No one said a word.
Sun Jian did not have much food. He ate only enough to take the edge off his hunger, took a small sip of water, then lay down to rest with the goat in his arms.
Zhao Peng turned to Yu Lingling. “The last punishment in this instance was spending a night locked inside the Red Tent. It wasn’t fatal, but none of us knows what will happen this time. Are you sure you still want to take your little brother in there?”
At the mention of the Red Tent, Sun Jian bolted upright and stared at Yu Lingling.
Yu Lingling looked at Zhao Peng. “Yes. During the performance, Wang Hao and the others saw what all of you did and how the creatures in the audience below reacted. They’ve probably figured it out too. They plan to control their animals and use them to attack the others, so Little Fish and I are the easiest targets. Besides, I think there are clues inside the Red Tent.”
Sun Jian fixed Yu Lingling with an intense stare.
She met his gaze. “If I find anything, I’ll tell you.”
Sun Jian narrowed his eyes, not immediately convinced.
Xu Chao grew impatient. “All that information came from her in the first place. If she wanted to keep it from you, she could’ve told you only about the nighttime and never mentioned the Red Tent.”
Some members of the Special Department watching Yu Lingling’s Livestream Room were puzzled.
“Is Yu Lingling usually like this? She wasn’t like this in You Are a Security Guard.”
Song Siyuan understood what she was doing. “She’s teaching Tongyu.”
Professor agreed with Song Siyuan. “If Tongyu weren’t here, how do you think she would choose to clear the instance?”
Granted, without Tongyu, Yu Lingling would never have entered this instance in the first place. Every player around her was stronger than she was, but the Professor still couldn’t help wondering what she would have done on her own.
Song Siyuan thought of Yu Lingling’s Exclusive Skill and her four Anomaly Dolls. “She’d probably trap them and kill them.”
She could use the Anomaly Dolls and her Exclusive Skill to eliminate every being that harbored ill will toward her.
But if she hadn’t brought Tongyu along, how exactly would Yu Lingling have gone about it?
At that moment, Yu Lingling and Tongyu were lying on the same filthy bedding. The bunk was small, but neither of them was an adult yet. Tongyu might be older, but he was thin and slight, so they could both fit if they squeezed together.
Tongyu knew what Yu Lingling was planning, but he was also wondering what she would have done without him.
To everyone else, they merely appeared to be lying there. In reality, Suisui and the others were hidden in the shadows around them.
Tongyu knew Yu Lingling was awake, so he traced his question on her palm.
Ever since deciding to bring Tongyu with her, Yu Lingling had only considered plans that would let them clear the instance together. But since he had asked, she gave it some thought before tracing a line of words on his palm in return.
Once Tongyu figured out what she had written, he froze in surprise.
Yu Lingling would have taken advantage of the Anomaly Dolls and the fact that her Exclusive Skill could be activated for one hour each day. After entering the tent where they chose their animals, she would activate her Exclusive Skill, hide her chosen animal inside it, and entrust Suisui and the others with caring for it before walking out empty-handed.
That way, the other players would see no reason to pay any attention to Yu Lingling. Afterward, she could have the dolls pose as members of the Circus and feed the players whatever information she wanted them to know.
As the sky began to brighten, Zhao Peng made sure that the unknown beings outside were gone before extinguishing the oil lamp. Looking at the lamp and seeing that most of its oil had been consumed, he said, “I’ll check how much lamp oil Wang Hao’s group has left. Someone needs to stay here and guard ours.”
Yu Lingling and the others had no objections.
After a moment’s hesitation, Xu Chao asked, “Should we try buying or trading for lamp oil from those anomalies?”
Some anomalies in instances could be bribed or bargained with.
“It’s worth a try,” Zhao Peng said immediately.
Hearing that, Xu Chao glanced at Yu Lingling and Tongyu, then at Sun Jian. “I’ll stay here and guard the lamp oil, in case the others notice something and come steal it.”
Zhao Peng had already tested the lamp the previous night. It was fixed inside the tent and couldn’t be removed, but the lamp oil was another matter.
Players had plenty of ways to extract the oil without moving the lamp itself.
Sun Jian sneered inwardly at Xu Chao’s petty little scheme. Xu Chao was plainly trying to make either Yu Lingling and Tongyu or Sun Jian approach the anomalies and test the waters. That came with real danger.
“Don’t look at me,” Sun Jian said.
This was Zhao Peng’s first time working with Xu Chao, and Xu Chao’s behavior was starting to irritate him as well. After all, Yu Lingling and Tongyu had proven far more useful than Xu Chao. “How about you go check Wang Hao’s group, Xu Chao? I’ll question the staff and see what I can find out.”
Xu Chao clicked his tongue. “Then who’s staying here to guard the lamp oil? Those siblings aren’t strong enough, and Sun Jian’s motives are unclear.”
That was so blunt it was practically the same as pointing at Sun Jian’s nose and accusing him of planning to steal the oil.
Zhao Peng stared at Xu Chao as if he were looking at an idiot. He also suspected that Sun Jian might steal the lamp oil and use it to leave after dark, but there was no way Sun Jian would do it now. The oil from a single tent wouldn’t be enough.
All Xu Chao had accomplished was exposing his own selfishness and stupidity.