Chapter 81
Chapter 81
Unlike when Sun Jian attacked, Yu Lingling had already anticipated Li Na’s move. Zhao Peng stepped in front of Yu Lingling and Tongyu without hesitation and struck back at Li Na.
Wang Hao hadn’t expected Zhao Peng to go so far to protect the siblings. His expression darkened. “Zhao Peng!”
Zhao Peng ignored him completely.
Xu Chao saw that the others had already started fighting, while the creatures in the audience twisted with excitement. He knew that if he didn’t put on some kind of performance, he might end up sharing the siblings’ fate.
Of the eleven people present, the only ones Xu Chao could risk attacking were Wu Bin and Li Na. It was always best to pick on the weakest target. After weighing his options, he led his gorilla over and joined Zhao Peng in attacking Li Na.
The chaos had already spiraled beyond Wang Hao’s control, and his face grew increasingly grim.
Liu Qian asked in a low voice, “What do we do?”
Wu Bin and Sun Yao had both reacted quickly, taking their animals out of the melee.
Zhou Ming frowned. “Li Na can’t die yet. As for Little Fish…”
Wang Hao had been thinking the same thing. At those words, he made his decision. “Snatch it.”
When Xu Chao saw the three of them approaching, he left one more wound on Li Na before immediately retreating. He had no desire to make an enemy of Wang Hao at a time like this.
Besides, from the information he’d gotten from Yu Lingling, Xu Chao knew that the creatures in the audience enjoyed blood and slaughter, and it didn’t necessarily have to come from the animals. Given his performance just now, there was no way he would come in last.
As for whether Yu Lingling and Tongyu lived or died, they would have to fend for themselves.
Zhao Peng could easily handle Li Na alone, but the arrival of Wang Hao’s group put him under immense pressure. He had to protect Yu Lingling and Tongyu while also keeping his parrot from being attacked. The situation instantly descended into chaos.
After a moment’s hesitation, Sun Yao ultimately joined forces with Zhao Peng. However, neither her strength nor her items could compare to those of the major-guild members who had entered fully prepared. The most she could do was barely help hold the line.
Gritting his teeth, Wang Hao growled, “I only want that dog.”
In other words, he had no intention of killing anyone.
But Zhao Peng refused to back down. “Wang Hao, the Vice Guild Leader ordered that I call the shots in this instance.”
A vicious look entered Wang Hao’s eyes. “Don’t make me do this the hard way.”
Zhou Ming’s target was clear from the start. He went straight for Tongyu. But just as he was about to grab him, Xu Chao – who had already withdrawn to the side – suddenly lost control of his body and lunged at Liu Qian.
Wang Hao and the others all regarded Xu Chao as an ally, so none of them had been on guard against him.
Tongyu’s expression remained indifferent. He held the puppy in one arm while moving the fingers of his other hand. Invisible Puppet Threads had taken control of Xu Chao.
The sudden turn of events stunned not only Liu Qian and her two companions, but even Zhao Peng.
Since Liu Qian’s skill was healing, she carried more defensive items than anyone else. She immediately tried to retrieve one, only to discover several Ghost Infant creatures wound around her hands.
The Ghost Infant creatures weren’t very strong, but they were more than enough to restrain Liu Qian for a single instant.
Tongyu was indeed kindhearted, but once he decided to act, he no longer hesitated.
Zhao Peng finally understood what Tongyu and Yu Lingling had planned. No wonder Yu Lingling had said Tongyu wouldn’t be punished. They had prepared for this from the very beginning.
Their decision to target Liu Qian had probably been calculated in advance as well. After all, Liu Qian’s animal was a pigeon.
Even though Zhao Peng thought Wu Bin’s claim was absurd, he wasn’t willing to gamble on the possibility that it might be true.
If attacking an animal was forbidden, then attacking its player was perfectly acceptable.
Therefore, even though Zhao Peng and Liu Qian belonged to the same guild, he made no move to save her. Instead, he directly engaged Zhou Ming and Wang Hao, preventing them from immediately rushing back to her aid.
If Xu Chao had been acting of his own volition, he would have held something back and left himself a way out. But under Tongyu’s control, he showed no restraint whatsoever.
Liu Qian’s blood stained the pigeon red. Still bewildered, the pigeon circled her corpse several times.
Xu Chao’s hands were drenched in blood. He whipped his head toward Yu Lingling. “It was you!”
He still couldn’t tell whether it had been Yu Lingling or Tongyu, but he knew it had to be one of the siblings.
The bloodstained pigeon fluttered around in the air, looking lost.
Once a player died, their animal became ownerless. If Xu Chao was willing to take it in, he would become the pigeon’s first choice. If he didn’t want it, however, the pigeon would choose another master.
Li Na had already lost the initiative, and after witnessing Tongyu’s uncanny methods, she was ready to retreat. Heedless of the risk of injury, she lunged for the pigeon and hugged it tightly to her chest.
Wang Hao and Zhou Ming’s expressions turned extremely ugly. They had never imagined they would lose a teammate on the second day. Their gazes shifted between Yu Lingling, Tongyu, and Zhao Peng.
The pigeon didn’t struggle at all after landing in Li Na’s arms.
Watching everything unfold onstage, Ah Bu couldn’t help applauding. “Now that was a spectacular dog-eat-dog show.”
At the word “dog,” the puppy in Tongyu’s arms flicked its tail in displeasure.
Li Na pulled some medicine from her System Inventory and swallowed it, breathing heavily as she watched the others.
Wang Hao and Zhou Ming gritted their teeth. Liu Qian was already dead, and judging by Zhao Peng’s position, they could no longer throw caution to the wind just to avenge Liu Qian. To them, clearing the instance was what mattered most.
“Holy crap, is the Blind Kid’s skill really that powerful? It has to be an Exclusive Skill.”
“Isn’t the scheme itself even more impressive?”
“With a surprise attack like that, why kill Liu Qian? Now his trump card has been exposed. He should’ve taken out Wang Hao or Zhou Ming first.”
“He’s only F-rank. Controlling someone above his rank definitely comes at a price. If he wasn’t absolutely sure he could kill a combat specialist like Zhou Ming or a C-rank like Wang Hao, of course he’d take out Liu Qian first.”
“You always take out the healer first in a team fight. Don’t you know that?”
Even though Yu Lingling hadn’t lifted a finger herself, every surviving player now looked at her differently.
Wang Hao suddenly remembered the threats they had made against Yu Lingling. Yet Liu Qian, the one who had told Yu Lingling that strength was all that mattered, had become the first player to die.
“Weren’t they threatening her before? Calling her ‘little girl’ and looking down on the siblings? Liu Qian probably never imagined, even at the moment of her death, that she’d fall victim to their scheme.”
“All that talk about treating them to a meal – I’m dying. They’re really choking on their own big words now.”
Wang Hao stared at Yu Lingling, only to find no trace of triumph on her face. She was perfectly calm, as though everything had been within her grasp from the beginning.
Xu Chao trembled with rage, but he forced it down. Fear rose in his heart instead. If Tongyu could control him and make him kill someone this time, then next time, Tongyu could control him and make him kill an animal, violating the instance’s taboo.
Kill Tongyu.
That was the only thought left in Xu Chao’s mind.
Sensing that the Puppet Threads had snapped, Tongyu deployed the Puppet Threads on Xu Chao for the third time.
Just as Yu Lingling had said, he couldn’t let anyone figure out his true limits. It was better to make everyone believe he could only control one person per instance.
After spending some time with Yu Lingling, Tongyu had gained a little of the playfulness a boy his age should have. He tugged on the Puppet Threads and made Xu Chao form a heart with his hands at the eerie spectators below.
It was a warning to Xu Chao – and to everyone else.
Xu Chao forcibly suppressed his murderous intent and eventually moved to Zhao Peng’s side.
The pigeon was far more useful in Li Na’s hands than it had been in Liu Qian’s. Sun Yao instinctively moved a little farther away from Tongyu.
Wu Bin glanced at Zhao Peng’s group, then at Wang Hao. In the end, since Wang Hao had more supplies at his disposal, Wu Bin chose to stand beside him.
Sun Jian stood off to one side, staring fixedly at Li Na. “Do you think you’ll be this lucky next time?”