Chapter 223
Chapter 223
“Shi Chen is alone too. All his teammates died in earlier worlds.”
The information wasn’t important, so Yellow Hair didn’t hide it.
“That’s tragic,” Yang Zhen said, shocked.
Yellow Hair looked at her suspiciously.
Shi Chen hadn’t always been alone. If Yellow Hair remembered correctly, this woman had appeared by herself from the very beginning.
Noticing his gaze, Yang Zhen belatedly realized the same thing. She cleared her throat. “I never looked for teammates, so naturally none of mine could die.”
“Oh. Congratulations?” Yellow Hair said.
Yang Zhen: “…”
That sounded strange too.
Watching everyone else travel in groups made fighting alone seem like nothing to celebrate.
As they spoke, the other Players emerged from their rooms one after another.
The moment Yellow Hair saw them, he stopped chatting with Yang Zhen and hurried toward his usual Partner. She clicked her tongue but said nothing and made no attempt to join them.
She was used to operating alone.
Teamwork?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Once the Players had assembled, the familiar bus soon appeared before them again.
They boarded in succession.
Yang Zhen deliberately observed everyone.
Xia Zeqin was clearly a loner. He spoke to no one and chose a seat far from the others. Qin Nan, Jian Fan, and Mu Xin were obviously together, and Lin Junruo–the woman Yellow Hair had mentioned–stuck closely behind Mu Xin.
That was supposed to mean they weren’t together?
Yang Zhen suspected Yellow Hair was toying with her.
She continued studying the others. Qin Weiyi and Lu Jing were indeed a pair. Yellow Hair sat with Shi Chen, but although they shared a seat, they clearly weren’t close; Yellow Hair spent most of his time leaning toward Qin Nan’s group to talk.
Yellow Hair had no reason to deceive her. Had he actually told the truth?
Two small teams and three solo Players–how had they ever negotiated cooperation?
Yang Zhen, who had always worked alone, could not understand it.
While she puzzled over the arrangement, movement came from the bus entrance.
A man and woman boarded.
The woman appeared to be around fifty and was strikingly beautiful. Time had not diminished her looks; it had added mature charm and an air of intellectual elegance. Her makeup was flawless, though her expression looked tired.
The man was in his early forties. A scar marked his face, giving him a vicious appearance.
They had arrived together, yet boarded one after the other and chose seats far apart without exchanging a word.
This was the first time the group had encountered such a situation.
The pair had clearly emerged from the same world and were its only two survivors. They didn’t have to be teammates, but did their relationship need to be this hostile? Even strangers would probably get along better.
“Holy shit.”
As everyone wondered, Qin Nan suddenly exclaimed under his breath.
They immediately turned toward him.
“What is it?” Jian Fan asked.
Qin Nan lowered his voice. “Don’t you know who that woman is?”
“Who?” Yellow Hair instantly grew interested.
Was she another Big Shot like Qi Shuping?
“Zhou Jingying! The internationally acclaimed actress!” Qin Nan said excitedly.
Everyone: “???”
Who?
Lin Junruo was the first to remember. “Oh! I know–the Red Lady!”
Qin Nan nodded. “That’s her.”
“Zhou Jingying debuted at fifteen and won Best Actress for her very first film. She made many more afterward. The Red Lady, the role Lin Junruo mentioned, is one of her most famous. She was practically the nation’s goddess back then. Over a career spanning more than twenty years, she won too many awards to count. She was genuinely beautiful and an extraordinary actress. Unfortunately, she retired in her thirties to marry.”
Aside from people like Lu Jing and Jian Fan, who rarely watched film or television, and Qin Weiyi, who was too young to know her, the others finally began to remember.
“She did look familiar. Now that you’ve said it, I remember too.” Yellow Hair studied Zhou Jingying again.
Who would have imagined the Death Game would match them with an internationally acclaimed actress?
This truly was…
Qin Nan continued, “It’s normal you didn’t recognize her immediately. She’s been retired for more than a decade, but you must have seen her work as children. They say time is a butcher’s knife, but it clearly treats beautiful women with special kindness. She may not look as she did when she was young, but Zhou Jingying is still undeniably gorgeous.”
“Surviving this long means she can’t be simple,” Jian Fan said.
He cared nothing for celebrity gossip. Ability was all that mattered to him.
Qin Nan laughed. “That makes sense. Back then, corporate capital didn’t wield as much influence over the entertainment industry as it does today, but organized crime was heavily involved. The company Zhou Jingying signed with wasn’t based on the mainland either. It was a dark era. For her to become an internationally acclaimed actress, then marry into a wealthy family and secure her position as its matriarch, she must have been formidable. When it comes to navigating people and society, she’s undoubtedly exceptional.”
“Then she and that man…” Lin Junruo discreetly glanced at him.
If Zhou Jingying understood social relationships that well, then her decision to keep her distance from him…
“Do you know who that man is?” Yang Zhen had deliberately chosen a nearby seat so she could observe Jian Fan’s group.
Qin Nan had spoken quietly, but she still overheard him, prompting her question.
The instant she spoke, everyone fell silent–including the man she had mentioned, who turned to look at her.
Qin Nan’s lowered voice hadn’t carried beyond their circle. Zhou Jingying and the man couldn’t hear the details. Zhou Jingying was accustomed to being recognized and had probably guessed the subject without reacting.
Yang Zhen, however, had spoken at normal volume, so…
“Oh? You know me?” the man asked her.
Yang Zhen ignored him and looked at Qin Nan. “Want to know?”
She had observed that Jian Fan and Qin Weiyi were the smartest members of the group and seemed to be its leaders. Jian Fan, however, spoke little and was difficult to approach. His bond with Qin Nan was plainly deep. Qin Weiyi, meanwhile, was still a child. After weighing her options, Yang Zhen chose Qin Nan as her target.
Qin Nan paused.
Finally, he nodded. “Who is he?”
“Fang Kang. A wanted fugitive who massacred thirty-seven people ten years ago,” Yang Zhen said calmly.
Everyone: “???”
Their new matches were an internationally acclaimed actress and a wanted mass murderer?
Before anyone recovered, Yang Zhen added, “No. 137 on the Assassination Bounty List.”
What?