“Bing… Bingying?” Luo Tianchen stammered, disbelief lacing his voice. She had been killed right before his eyes; the bloodstains on her clothes hadn’t even dried. How could she now be standing beside him? Had everything just been a dream? Or was he dreaming now?
“No, this isn’t my blood,” she explained, likely noticing his bewildered gaze. “In any case, I truly am fine. As for what happened… you’ll understand if you just look.”
Luo Tianchen’s eyes immediately darted to where Bingying had been held captive. There, a severed arm, still clutching a pistol, lay grotesquely on the floor. The Server, her face ashen, was frantically bandaging her own right arm.
Most of her uniform was drenched in blood, which pooled at her feet, creating a horrifying spectacle. A blood-stained dagger, its sharp edge dripping crimson, was embedded in the pristine white wall nearby.
He instantly grasped the situation. The Server had indeed fired her weapon, but a flying dagger, appearing from nowhere, had severed her arm. Seizing the opportunity, Bingying had broken free, falling to the ground.
Her clothes were stained with the Server’s blood, yet Luo Tianchen, tormented by past memories and confusion, had mistakenly believed her dead. Afterward, Bingying had rushed to his side, calling out in concern for his state.
“Thank goodness…”
The situation had, thankfully, not escalated to its worst possible outcome. His efforts, then, had not been in vain.
He felt a profound sense of gratitude that Bingying was alive.
“Huh? What?” She hadn’t understood his murmured relief.
“No, it’s nothing.” Luo Tianchen quickly cut the conversation short. The immediate priority was to discover the identity of this incredibly skilled individual who could sever an arm with a single throwing knife and embed it into a wall.
Was it some reclusive master? Or a hero from a wuxia novel? This newcomer might not be an ally, and he had to prepare for the worst.
“Who are you? Who are you?” The Server snarled, her gaze fixed on the splintered wooden door, her thoughts unreadable.
Slowly, the door creaked open, revealing a girl in a red dress standing before them.
“Yao Xinchang!” Bingying gasped, startled. “Um, why are you here? No, now’s not the time for that—run! It’s too dangerous here, or we won’t be able to escape!”
Hearing Bingying’s voice, Yao Xinchang turned her gaze towards them. Her eyes flickered, as if recognizing them, and then… she smiled.
Danger! His body’s instincts surged to the forefront. The moment he perceived that killing intent, Luo Tianchen reacted instinctively, lunging to push Bingying away.
They both tumbled onto the floor, sliding forward under the force of inertia until they collided with a table and finally stopped.
“Um, Luo Tianchen, if you’re going to do something like that, wouldn’t it be better to go back to our room?” Bingying murmured, her face flushed as she averted her eyes. “Everyone is watching, you know…”
‘What on earth is going through this woman’s mind?’
Luo Tianchen unceremoniously flicked her forehead, hoping to snap her out of it.
“Don’t speak.” Luo Tianchen made a ‘shush’ gesture and pulled Bingying further under the table, attempting to avoid their opponent’s gaze. It was a move akin to an ostrich burying its head in the sand to escape a predator.
Yet, it seemed to have some effect. Both the Server and Yao Xinchang ceased paying attention to them, likely realizing their presence was irrelevant, and that only each other posed a true threat. As for An Yueyin, she had already hidden herself beneath another table at some point, now grinning and waving at them.
“What on earth is going on?” Bingying’s mind was completely muddled.
Luo Tianchen took a deep breath, his voice grave. “If I haven’t guessed wrong, both of them are probably here for that ‘thing’.”
While he didn’t believe in anything that could grant all wishes, he surmised it must be a treasure of immense value. Otherwise, it wouldn’t provoke such a desperate fight between these two.
“But, Bingying is clearly…” Bingying trailed off, unable to complete her thought.
“Our classmate, whose father is the CEO of a real estate company. She always seems so delicate, as if a gust of wind could knock her over. Why would someone like her be here? More importantly, she should be dead. That’s what you want to ask, isn’t it?”
Indeed, there were far too many unanswered questions, and Luo Tianchen found himself unable to untangle his thoughts for the moment. Regardless of what they were fighting over, was that cold-blooded killer truly Yao Xinchang?
In that fleeting moment, she had undeniably intended to kill Bingying. If he hadn’t pushed her, Bingying would now be a cold corpse.
Could this be her true face? Was her usual demeanor merely a facade, and the girl now smiling maniacally as she slaughtered her true nature? Had that earlier incident merely been a deliberate ruse to mislead others?
He refused to believe, or perhaps, didn’t *want* to believe, that the shy girl who had confessed to him was a fake. Something was definitely wrong. He vaguely sensed an anomaly, yet couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
“So, what do we do now?” Bingying asked, her voice tinged with worry.
“Wait,” Luo Tianchen replied succinctly.
The battle had escalated to a fever pitch. Both Yao Xinchang and the Server were fighting with furious intensity, closing in and separating with dizzying speed.
Bullet holes and knife slashes marred every surface they passed. It was fortunate the room was so spacious, otherwise they would have been caught in the crossfire.
Bingying and An Yueyin watched, mesmerized. Bingying, in particular, felt the stark difference in their abilities, biting her lip in frustration.
Luo Tianchen, however, found himself utterly engrossed, his only regret the lack of popcorn and soda, and the growing ache in his back from lying prone on the floor for so long.
“It looks like they’ll be fighting for a while,” An Yueyin observed.
“No, if you look closely, you’ll see the Server is already at a disadvantage,” Luo Tianchen countered, sighing. “She only has her left hand, and her blood loss is severe. She’s barely holding on.”
“She’ll likely be killed within a few more moves, and then we’ll be next. What a pity; I thought she’d at least last until the guards arrived.”
“Guards? Why would there be guards?” An Yueyin asked, perplexed.
“Because the boss of this establishment was likely already killed by Yao Xinchang,” Luo Tianchen explained. “Though she seems to have changed clothes, the bloodstains on her shoes haven’t been washed away. If the subordinates can’t reach their boss, they’ll surely come up to investigate.”
“The Server was banking on this, too. At that point, she could pretend to be fighting the assailant, and all the club’s guards would become her allies. She might even ‘accidentally’ silence us. But it seems she won’t make it that far.”
Thinking back, Yao Xinchang must have initially sought a male companion specifically to attend this banquet, he realized. Whether it was that older man or the other “lucky” guest, they were merely pawns in her grand scheme.
Luo Tianchen felt a faint twinge of regret for accompanying Bingying into this mess, but it was too late for regrets now. More importantly, they needed to figure out how to escape.
“Hey, there are numbers under this table,” An Yueyin suddenly announced.
“Seriously, at a time like this, why do you have the leisure to look for something like that?” Bingying chided her.
“But it’s really strange, and it can even turn, look!”
“…Wait a moment. Bingying, go take a look. My eyes are a bit blurry.”
“Huh? What’s wrong with your eyes… isn’t that blood?!”
So that was it. No wonder his right eye had been stinging so fiercely, with a warm liquid seemingly oozing out. It appeared Yao Xinchang’s thrown dagger had indeed grazed his eyeball.
“It’s nothing, really. Just go take a look quickly,” Luo Tianchen said, feigning nonchalance.
“How can it be nothing! And it must have been when you were protecting me earlier…” Bingying exclaimed, vexed.
“Listen. Even if I ignore my eye now, the worst that can happen is it gets worse. But if we stay here, we’ll all be killed. Do you understand?”
“…I understand,” Bingying conceded, intimidated by his seriousness. She ultimately complied, crawling obediently towards the table.
A moment later, Bingying’s surprised voice drifted from the other side: “It really is a dial! It has twelve numbers, and a pointer on the side… Don’t tell me!”
“Ah, if I’m not mistaken, this must be the final puzzle,” Luo Tianchen said with a wry smile. “We just need to turn the dial to ‘3’.”
He hadn’t expected to overthink it so much. He knew the table was suspicious, yet he’d forgotten to check underneath, almost getting Bingying killed in the process.
“I’ll try… There!”
With a soft ‘click,’ a small box dropped from a hidden compartment in the table, landing in Luo Tianchen’s hand. Both combatants, as if on cue, ceased their struggle and stared intently in his direction.
Unsure of his own impulse, he slowly opened the box.
In that instant, the world shifted, a sea of blood churned, auspicious five-colored clouds soared into the sky, and divine lightning tore through the firmament…
Except, none of that happened.
Inside the box, a blood-red crystal lay silently. He couldn’t discern its material, but an unsettling aura emanated from it.
‘Was it for this, then, that so many lives were taken?’ He gently gripped the crystal, a chilling sensation spreading from his palm directly to his heart.
He felt a strange amusement, and indeed, chuckled aloud. Everyone stared at him, bewildered, unable to comprehend his sudden fit of madness.
“Hand it over,” Yao Xinchang demanded, her voice low and dangerous, her eyes fixed on the intricately carved dragon-patterned sandalwood box in his hand.
“Fine, you want it, don’t you? If you want it… then take it!” Luo Tianchen yelled, putting all his strength into throwing the box away. Then, he shouted at the two stunned women, “Run!”
They instantly understood his meaning. While the two combatants scrambled for the box, Bingying and An Yueyin followed him, running with all their might towards the door.
“Listen,” Luo Tianchen instructed them, speaking with urgent rapidity. “We’ll split up now. I’ll go one way alone, and the two of you go together.
“Run as fast as you can, and head for the most crowded place possible. Understand?”
“But…” Bingying began, attempting to protest, but An Yueyin yanked her along. “No ‘buts’! This way, our chances of survival will increase!”
‘Truly the daughter of a gang boss. She’s incredibly decisive.’
‘I’m entrusting her to you.’
Luo Tianchen let out a soft chuckle, watching their figures vanish into the winding corridor, then sank to the floor.
Approximately fifteen seconds later, Yao Xinchang appeared before him, covered in blood. She seemed slightly startled to find him still at the doorway, but quickly regained her composure. “Hand it over.”
“You win, then,” Luo Tianchen said, utterly unfazed. He offered her a faint smile, showing his empty hands. “The item is indeed on me, but… you’ll have to find it.”
Danger! In an instant, his head snapped violently to the right. A dagger now protruded from where his head had just been.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he joked, though his nerves were stretched to their breaking point. “I’m still the man you confessed to, you know. Is it really okay to be so decisive in your attacks?”
Truth be told, he didn’t feel he had any chance of survival. But all he had to do was stall for time. The longer he could hold her off, the greater Bingying and An Yueyin’s chances of escape.
This was the only thing he could do.
Yao Xinchang ignored him, merely closing her eyes for a moment. Just as Luo Tianchen wondered what she intended, death arrived as expected.
Once again, he felt the oppressive power of despair engulf his entire being.
‘No, I can’t dodge this. I will definitely die!’
‘Unavoidable. A direct hit means certain death.’ His brain rapidly screamed this message at him.
‘Is this what death feels like? So calm, so solitary, so terrifying.’
They say a person’s life flashes before their eyes before they die, but his mind was utterly blank, unable to recall anything. Did this mean his life had been utterly worthless? He gave a self-deprecating chuckle.
‘This should be enough. I’ve done my best.’
‘No.’
His body trembled uncontrollably. He had thought himself accustomed to death, but only now did he realize he was, in fact, terrified of it.
‘I don’t want to die.’
There were so many novels he hadn’t read, so many games he hadn’t played, and so many words he hadn’t spoken.
‘I don’t want to die.’
Yet, no matter what he thought, he couldn’t escape the path to death.
‘What should I do?’
‘Then, face it directly.’ The voice echoed in his mind once more.
‘Face it directly?’
‘Open your eyes. Look directly at this world.’
Obediently, enduring the sharp pain, he opened his right eye.
Then, he witnessed the truth.
Infinite data unfolded before him. Humans, trash cans, houses—everything transformed into streams of unknown information.
‘Is this the true nature of the world?’ He stared blankly, shocked by the bizarre world before his eyes. The world seen through his left eye was still, while the world through his right eye flowed at high speed as data streams.
The two worlds overlapped, forming a realm of data and information he had never seen before.
He couldn’t comprehend it, couldn’t decipher it, but he noticed the massive data flow swirling around Yao Xinchang’s position. His intuition told him that was the key to his survival.
Yao Xinchang opened her eyes. Simultaneously, the information representing her began to move.
He twisted his entire body as much as possible, dodging every incoming stream of information. When he came to his senses, the attack was over.
‘I survived?’ He looked down at his body in disbelief. Aside from a few gruesome-looking but not deep wounds, there were no fatal injuries. On the wall behind him, iron daggers were densely embedded. A single glance sent cold sweat down his back. It was a miracle he had survived such an assault.
Yao Xinchang watched him, her expression a mix of surprise and uncertainty, seemingly unable to fathom how he had evaded her attack. After a moment of hesitation, she raised her dagger once more.
‘Good, just like that again… huh?’
His body wouldn’t move.
It hurt, it hurt, it hurt so badly! Only now did he feel the agony caused by his extreme movements, as if his entire body had been put through a meat grinder. Tears streamed down his face, completely obscuring his vision.
‘This isn’t good. If this continues… I’ll truly die.’
Yao Xinchang seemed to notice his abnormality and silently threw her dagger.
He couldn’t dodge. His body couldn’t move even a millimeter.
‘Is this how it ends?’
“This is far enough.”