Chapter 155
Chapter 155
Xiao Qian was stunned.
Why had Xiao Huai done that?
Aggro.
He had been trying to redirect a god’s aggro.
Even if Xiao Huai did not die, Ling Chen would leave him half-dead.
The System might already have lowered Xiao Huai’s Luck because of the yellow insects.
If he was now crippled as well, how many paths to survival could remain?
Xiao Huai held his chin high, his Adam’s apple trembling with every breath.
The next second, the flames gradually receded.
Ling Chen raised a brow. “Why stop? Victoria’s fire can injure me. I’m barely managing to defend myself.”
How modest. How much had those flames actually hurt him?
When Xiao Huai said nothing, Ling Chen walked toward him.
The players’ hearts leaped into their throats.
This was bad. Xiao Huai had truly done exactly what he claimed he would.
He had committed an act of grave disrespect.
He had attacked and even injured the Commander. Throughout the entire horror game, how many people could have done what Xiao Huai just did?
Ling Chen stopped in front of him, his serpentine gaze settling on Xiao Huai’s pale lips.
“You’re right. I can’t attack one of my subordinates because of you and lose the people’s support.” He glanced at Xiao Qian. “So I’ve decided to spare him.”
The other players reacted first.
They did not dare speak, but their expressions said everything.
They were stunned by Ling Chen’s decision.
On one hand, they felt relieved for Xiao Qian. On the other, they feared even more for Xiao Huai.
Xiao Qian frowned. Ling Chen was sparing him.
That meant Xiao Huai’s actions had worked.
“But you…” Ling Chen narrowed his eyes and leaned close to Xiao Huai’s face. “You need to learn to behave.”
He snapped his fingers. The bullet buried in Xiao Huai’s flesh exploded outward like a blooming bomb.
Even Xiao Huai, for all his tolerance for pain, finally let out a low groan.
His left leg had been ruined.
His body lost its balance, and he dropped to one knee.
Ling Chen looked down on Xiao Huai with satisfaction in his eyes. “Xiao Huai, if you successfully evade the next three insect swarms, perhaps I’ll give you what you want.”
Xiao Huai did not look at him. His head remained bowed, bangs shielding his eyes.
Ling Chen crouched and tried to lift his chin, forcing Xiao Huai to look at him.
He had expected Xiao Huai to show little reaction. Even so, when he saw that calm indifference with his own eyes, it lightly hooked at his heart.
What would it take to make someone like this panic?
He truly wanted to keep Xiao Huai around a little longer and find out.
Ling Chen possessed the right to punish players in this instance. He could cripple Xiao Huai on the spot, then throw him into the insect swarm.
But he decided to spare him once and slowly watch his life wither instead.
Perhaps, if fortune favored him, Ling Chen might even receive one of the finest parts of Xiao Huai’s corpse.
“Let’s go. Leave him here to fend for himself.” Ling Chen rose and walked away, no longer paying him any attention.
No one dared defy him. They all followed, except Xiao Qian.
Xiao Qian hesitated. But if he hesitated for too long, would that not make Xiao Huai’s effort meaningless?
Gritting his teeth, he followed Ling Chen.
He kept watching Xiao Huai from the corner of his eye until Xiao Huai raised his head and silently mouthed,
“Don’t worry.”
Xiao Huai braced a trembling hand against the wall and tried to stand. The process was arduous, but he finally managed to lean against it.
The sight of such weakness left Xiao Qian’s heart crushed beneath the weight of a boulder.
He blamed himself. He was still not strong enough. If he awakened his secondary persona, everything would be different.
Without realizing it, he gripped his left arm again.
After they had gone, Xiao Huai leaned quietly against the wall. He could clearly hear insects crawling.
The earlier commotion had been considerable, and the smell of blood here was overpowering. It would not be long before the so-called first swarm came for him.
He was unfamiliar with the terrain.
Even after taking medicine, the wound in his left leg had not healed.
When the bullet first struck, the System had issued an alert.
[Ling Chen’s Exclusive Critical-Wound Effect: Wounds inflicted by the bullet cannot be healed for one hour. Healing methods include potions, a supernatural ability, and similar effects. Player, you are on your own.]
So much for being on his own.
Xiao Huai had witnessed plenty of unfairness, but now every injustice had turned on him at once.
Everything was trying to force him down the path the gods wanted to see.
Could he allow that?
Xiao Huai laughed softly and murmured his answer to the thought in his heart.
“Of course not.”
Whether the opponent was human or divine,
Once he compromised, he would yield again and again.
Everything he did from then on would become boring.
Was excitement not the most important part of a horror game?
His lips curved and cold light glittered in his eyes. If he wanted to seize the gods’ hearts, the most important thing was to remain rebellious to his very bones.
This might resemble a dead end, but as long as he stood firm and never changed, he could still break through it.
Only on the eve of becoming a butterfly did transformation bring rebirth.
Only then could he truly leave behind an indelible memory.
A faint golden glow radiated from Xiao Huai. In the next second, a girl in the gauzy dress unique to the Western Regions appeared beside him.
Na Ran arrived with a smile, but it vanished in an instant.
When she saw Xiao Huai’s condition, she immediately ran to him. She bowed respectfully, only for Xiao Huai to stop her.
In Na Ran’s eyes, Xiao Huai had given her a second chance. She had been raised in royal etiquette since childhood. Had her obsession with the war not later consumed her, she might have remained a proper young lady forever.
“My lord.”
“Don’t call me that…” Xiao Huai gave a faint smile. “Just call me Xiao Huai.”
Na Ran had once always called him a strange fellow.
People changed, especially when time flowed differently in a game world than it did for players.
Because of Xiao Huai, the Witch’s House where Na Ran existed had repeatedly transformed the players’ understanding of horror games.
It had blue skies and white clouds, with no killing and no war.
Utopia had been rebuilt. Players there seemed to attend one game party and carnival after another. All they needed to do was help the children rebuild their home to complete the mission and leave.
Xiao Huai had granted Na Ran system-level authority, and she was even his soul companion. The game System could no longer interfere with the Witch’s House instance or reverse what it had become.
Na Ran’s heart was not cold. She understood gratitude, and after Xiao Huai left, she witnessed the chain reaction he had created.
It was beautiful. It was the happiness she had dreamed of.
Since that was true, her benefactor deserved to be called her lord, never a strange fellow.
To Na Ran, it felt as though she had not seen Xiao Huai in a very long time.
He remained exactly as she remembered, always doing dangerous things.
And he… treated players and NPCs alike, without distinction.
When he said, “Just call me Xiao Huai,” he did not place himself above her.
Neither stood higher or lower than the other. They were friends and partners standing on equal ground.
“Xiao Huai.”