Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Stay and keep “Chen Xue” company?
Not a chance.
Yet as Yu Lingling and the others stepped onto the stage, they could still feel “Chen Xue’s” razor-sharp gaze boring into their backs.
If looks could kill, they would have already been cut to pieces.
Yu Lingling felt she was completely innocent. Chen Xue’s death had nothing to do with her. Did turning into a monster mean she could hold everyone collectively responsible?
This time, Ah Bu stood closer to the edge of the stage and wore trousers. Smiling at the monstrous spectators below, she announced, “Today is the newcomers’ third day at the Circus. Anyone who hasn’t received a single flower will be punished. Please enjoy the performance that follows.”
Wang Hao and the others had already prepared themselves. As soon as they entered, they mapped out an escape route. What they hadn’t expected was for explosions to erupt again the moment Ah Bu finished speaking, one after another.
The monstrous spectators waiting for the show were all startled.
Animals were especially frightened by noises like explosions and firecrackers.
Yu Lingling and Zhao Peng hurled their lit firecrackers and fireworks into the audience. Then, taking advantage of the chaos, they bolted for the tent exit without hesitation.
This time, Xu Chao stayed close behind Yu Lingling and the others.
Even Ah Bu, who had previously agreed to cooperate with them, was trembling with rage.
Backstage, Tongyu hunched his shoulders slightly. Using the position of his Puppet Threads as a guide, he hugged the edge of the tent and made his way outside.
When Wu Bin was nearing the tent entrance, he took advantage of the chaos to attack Li Na. However, he only had one arm, and Li Na had come prepared. She immediately activated her skill, and Wu Bin vanished. When he reappeared, he was in the middle of the monstrous audience.
Hearing Wu Bin’s screams behind her, Li Na rushed outside without hesitation, only to run straight into “Chen Xue,” who was holding an oil lamp.
Her expression changed instantly. She had only just used her skill and couldn’t activate it again, so she pulled out her weapon and stabbed viciously at “Chen Xue.”
Li Na hadn’t actually expected to hurt her. She merely wanted to force her aside and seize the chance to escape.
But “Chen Xue” neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, she wrapped her arms tightly around Li Na. “You killed me, so stay and keep me company.”
Li Na trembled all over, wildly swinging the weapon in her hand. “It wasn’t me! I didn’t kill you! It wasn’t me…”
Zhao Peng shielded Yu Lingling as they fled. Every one of them was covered in wounds left by the monstrous spectators and the unknown creatures lurking in the darkness.
Since night had only just fallen, those unknown creatures weren’t particularly powerful. Using their blood, the group managed to fight their way out.
Yu Lingling called out directions every so often. “Left. Now straight ahead…”
Regardless of whether anyone else believed her, Zhao Peng followed her directions without the slightest hesitation.
In the end, Wang Hao and the others chose to follow them as well.
The Circus clearly wasn’t very large, yet it felt as though they had been running for ages before they finally saw the open front gate.
The Circus gate was normally kept shut, but now it stood open. It seemed Yu Lingling had been telling the truth after all.
Unfortunately, everything outside was still shrouded in fog, and no road could be seen.
Ecstasy flashed across Wang Hao’s and Zhou Ming’s faces, but a faint sense of unease stirred in Wang Hao’s heart.
Zhao Peng was about to escort Yu Lingling through the gate when Wang Hao and Zhou Ming blocked their path.
Xu Chao suddenly felt himself lose control of his body. The item in his hand lashed out and forced Wang Hao back.
To Wang Hao and the others, it looked as though Xu Chao had picked up the monkey and headed outside without hesitation. The instant Xu Chao crossed the threshold, they seemed to see the monkey grow larger and drive away the fog. It took Xu Chao by the hand and led him down a narrow path.
Xu Chao and the monkey soon vanished, while the gate swung one-third of the way shut. If the gate closed by a third every time someone left, then only two more people could get out.
Wang Hao recalled the earlier incident involving someone resigning and leaving. This time, he didn’t hesitate. “Go.”
Zhou Ming slashed his blade at Yu Lingling, forcing Zhao Peng to shield her and retreat. Wang Hao and Zhou Ming seized the opportunity to charge through the gate with their animals. Their animals also grew larger. More importantly, both men could now see the path and even make out the faint outline of a bustling town at its end.
Wang Hao wore a vicious grin. He turned to look back at the gates of the Circus, which had already closed completely. He had been about to make a few mocking remarks when he saw Yu Lingling watching them calmly.
There was even a hint of a smile in her eyes. She raised a hand and drew a finger across her throat.
“Go die.”
Wang Hao’s grin froze. Before he could figure out what was going on, a chill had already raced down his spine.
Zhao Peng noticed the change in Wang Hao’s expression, but thick fog soon swallowed them, hiding them from sight.
“It was a trap.”
“It was the path out of the Circus.” Yu Lingling’s eyes curved into crescents, like a good child waiting to be praised after doing a good deed. “They left the Circus.”
Zhao Peng saw someone emerge from the darkness carrying an oil lamp.
“Little Fish?”
Tongyu, whom he had thought had already left, stepped into view.
Zhao Peng suddenly realized something. “Xu Chao was being controlled when he walked out. And the gates… Did you close them on purpose?”
Tongyu handed Yu Lingling a Snake Scale.
Yu Lingling passed it to Zhao Peng. “I had Little Fish quit on your behalf. Once you use this, you’ll only lose a bun-sized piece of flesh. You can go.”
Zhao Peng’s heart pounded. He finally understood. Of those who quit and left, the first really did pay the smallest price. Sun Yao’s price had been ten times higher because she was the second.
Everything had been part of Yu Lingling’s calculations. He and Sun Yaoyao had cooperated with her and had never harmed either of them, so they had been allowed to leave after paying only a modest price.
But Wang Hao and the others all had grudges with Yu Lingling.
Liu Qian, who had threatened Yu Lingling and said the siblings would die if they didn’t know their place, was dead. Wang Hao and Zhou Ming might have appeared to escape, but what awaited them would undoubtedly be worse than death. Xu Chao, Li Na, and Wu Bin were also doomed to die, while Sun Jian’s fate remained unknown.
Not one person who had borne malice toward Yu Lingling or offended her had met a good end.
For the first time, Zhao Peng, a C-rank player, felt afraid of an F-rank player. The most terrifying part was that not a single one of those people had been killed by Yu Lingling or Tongyu’s own hands. They had merely laid the traps, then lured their enemies into them one step at a time, letting them court their own deaths.
Yu Lingling and Tongyu were already walking hand in hand toward the Black Tent.
Zhao Peng hesitated no longer and crushed the scale. In the next instant, he found himself in a room resembling a conference room. Sun Yao was sitting inside, and she rose as soon as she saw him.
Sun Yao swallowed, suddenly at a loss for words.
Utterly drained, Zhao Peng found a place to sit down.
Sun Yao asked quietly, “Did we really clear the instance?”
Zhao Peng practically collapsed onto the floor. “Probably. We just have to wait for those two siblings to come out.”
Sun Yao had panicked when she first arrived here. “We can watch the livestream.”
Zhao Peng did not understand at first.
Sun Yao repeated, “We can watch the livestream from here. We just can’t post comments or communicate with the outside world.”
Zhao Peng immediately sat up and opened the livestream. He wanted to see what had happened to Xu Chao and the other two first.
The three of them had arrived in a fairly prosperous town, but it was populated by grotesque creatures that looked like twisted fusions of humans and animals.
None of the players’ items could be used there. Their respective animals took Xu Chao and the other two back to their homes.
The Livestream Room went black. All that could be heard were screams and pleas for mercy.
When the feed lit up again, Zhao Peng saw the monkey, tiger, and leopard with blood and scraps of flesh smeared across their mouths and faces. Each of them had also gained part of a human body.
Candle emojis filled the screen as Zhao Peng watched. Then the Livestream Room for Xu Chao and the others went dark again. This time, it turned gray and disappeared completely.
Sun Yao had also been watching them. “Did she tell us not to grow too attached to our animals because we’d eventually fuse with them?”
Zhao Peng did not answer. He was thinking about the animals belonging to Yu Lingling and Tongyu.
Sun Yao recalled what Pony had told her. “What will happen to them?”
What would happen to them?