Chapter 223 - Battle Royale: Survival of the Jedi (XIII)
Chapter 223 Battle Royale: Survival of the Jedi (XIII)
Chi Xiaochi took an empty bowl and walked towards the uninvited guest.
”Don’t go.” Zhao Rou limped a few steps after him, trying to stop him.
She whispered a warning, “Do you know what he’s here for?”
Chi Xiaochi asks rhetorically, “Do I need to care what he’s here for.”
He said, with a gentle smile in his eyes, “What else could it be, if not friends, who are willing to join us now?”
Zhao Rou was so chilled by his laughter that she had to stop talking.
While he was feared, Zhao Rou also felt a strange sense of reassurance.
With the sudden appearance of Dan Shuang, countless eyes have been refocused on the A6.
Everyone was expecting a reversal.
As far as they were concerned, Dan Shuang would have been a fool not to kill someone for a bounty when he had a pig of a teammate who not only expressed a little suspicion but also approached him.
Chi Xiaochi walks up to Dan Shuang and holds the bowl flat.
The ceramic glaze reflects the face of Bai Anyi.
He said, “Demonstrate your psychic powers. Get this bowl out of my hands.”
Dan Shuang lowered his arm, which was already sore, and placed it in front of him in a disciplined manner, “Yes.”
He did not make any unnecessary movements, but with a sweep of his eyes, Chi Xiaochi felt an uncontrollable numbness in his hand muscles, his wrist went limp and the bowl tumbled silently, caught by Dan Shuang.
Dan Shuang holds the bowl in his hands, wondering if he has passed the aptitude test.
The man in front of him moved his wrists and shot him a glance: “Take the bowl, come and eat.”
With that, he revealed his back completely to Dan Shuang and walked straight back.
Zhao Rou was sweating for him, just watching.
If Dan Shuang does make a move, is he really 10 percent sure of taking him down?
Even Dan Shuang was confused, not to mention her.
…… is just a simple test, and he’s not convinced? That’s a bit hasty, isn’t it?
Dan Shuang was only half a metre behind him, and even if he had tied his hands loosely or hidden a short dagger on his body, he could have killed him in seconds.
Dan Shuang is guilty of muttering as he walks.
He remembered that when he was watching the pop-ups, they mentioned that there was someone on this team who could teleport.
Is that him?
But this man walked away without looking back, and unless he had eyes in the back of his head, how could he be sure he would not do it?
In his distraction, Dan Shuang doesn’t even notice that the shadowed reflection in the enamel bowl he is holding doesn’t belong to him.
–That was the face of ” Bai Anyi”, which was sideways, watching his every move closely.
If Dan Shuang dares to make any move, his neck is immediately snapped by the hand sticking out of the bowl.
Dan Shuang, who had been struggling all the way to the pot, felt that he should have been more sincere.
He offered, “Why don’t you search me?”
Chi Xiaochi, however, waved his hand and picked up his bowl, “Let’s finish eating. If we delay any longer, the fish won’t taste fresh.”
Dan Shuang holds the bowl with a complicated look on his face, occasionally surveying the strange group from above the bowl.
Chi Xiaochi didn’t care what he was thinking, so he took the fish and ate it while it was still hot. Lou Ying gave him some beef sauce and held a small bowl for himself as he watched Chi Xiaochi eat.
Chi Xiaochi ate a half-full meal before wiping his mouth and asking, “Do you know what we do and are about to join us?”
Dan Shuang was a little distracted, but after just a few bites his appetite was whetted and after a breezy meal there was only the bottom of the bowl left.
At that, he lifted up his sleeve and offered to show them his watch.
After moving on from the A12, Dan Shuang received a dozen more “bounty orders” one after another.
But he didn’t answer any of them.
Not only did he not take it, but he also removed the “bounty orders” one by one in front of Chi Xiaochi and others.
”From yesterday to today, I’ve been thinking about what I should really do for the best. Now, at last, I have figured it out.” Dan Shuang lowered his sleeve and said seriously, “Ask me to defend myself, fine; ask me to be an undignified instrument of murder simply to live, I might as well die.”
Lou Ying asked, “How do you know it’s safe to come to us? Not afraid we’ll kill you?”
When Dan Shuang wasn’t smiling, he looked like a cold-faced man with no mouth or heart, but who would have thought that when he smiled he would show two small, airless tiger teeth, “I’ve been watching the pop-ups on my way here. You obviously had three people already, yet you didn’t kill the fourth person you saved and bandaged her up ……”
He looks over at Zhao Rou and nods politely at her.
”…… I don’t want to kill anyone, but I don’t want to die alone either.” Dan Shuang said, “I’m here to find a companion. Take a step back, if you guys are really some kind of evil people, I can’t find a companion, I can find a death too, right?”
”At the end of the day, even if I do die here because I broke the rules and they injected me with poison, at least, I’ll die with you guys instead of dying in a corner where no one knows about it and slowly rotting away.”
Dan Shuang, a little embarrassed by all this, gestured to the pot and spoon: “…… Your rice smells good. Can I have another bowl?”
Chi Xiaochi : “Be my guest. By the way, what did you say your name was again?”
” Dan Shuang .” Dan Shuang says, “Graduate student in finance at U of B.”
After the meal, Chi Xiaochi put Dan Shuang on Zhao Rou’s back and led the group, which had grown to five people in a day, on the road.
Wei Shiliu leads the way with the dice, Dan Shuang and Zhao Rou in the middle and Lou Ying at the end with Chi Xiaochi on his back.
Together, the two are convenient for the rear and able to keep watch.
Lou Ying talks to Chi Xiaochi in her head: “Do you believe Dan Shuang?”
”I never trust a man’s mouth.” Chi Xiaochi is as calm as ever, “Even hearts can change. One moment he says he’d rather die than become a killing tool, but who knows what will change his mind about that the next? So, I will keep an eye on him and observe him. Don’t worry about it, I’m not that emotional.”
At his words, Lou Ying did not say another word, but placed one hand over his heart and rubbed it gently.
…… People’s hearts do change, ah.
He had lost almost all his memories, so he had no way of comparing how much his heart, in fact, had changed.
Will he be able to give Chi Xiaochi a complete heart and a complete liking or not?
But at such a time of crisis, he will not speak of his worries and interfere with Chi Xiaochi’s thoughts in vain.
In the end, the quintet chose a grass area on the waterfront in the A8.
Chi Xiaochi smoothed out the grass, crossed his arms, looked around and made his decision with a flourish: “We’ll camp here today.”
Dan Shuang and Zhao Rou look at each other.
At first, they thought that ‘camping’ was a way of saying that they were having fun while they were suffering.
But when Lou Ying took out four military tents, five sleeping bags, a full barbecue, a freshly killed and skinned sheep, coarse grains of barbecue salt, paprika, pepper and other seasoning supplies, their jaws nearly dropped straight away.
As Lou Ying took stock of the warehouse, he looked up and thoughtfully asked the crowd, “Does anyone smoke?”
Dan Shuang choked on his own saliva: “No, no smoking.”
Wei Shiliu, already accepting the fact that “Chi is awesome”, raised his hand and said, “Me, me, me! I’ll smoke!”
Lou Ying took out seven or eight packs of good cigarettes and asked with a smile, “What brand?”
In the pop-ups, those who had lost so much money already hated them to the bone, and when they saw how well they were doing, they were so angry that they wanted to vomit blood.
…… is dry and really thinks this is a fucking park.
As Lou Ying set up her tent, she couldn’t help but ask Chi Xiaochi, who was standing by, “Isn’t it a bit high profile to show off like that?”
Chi Xiaochi crosses his feet and plays human-computer chess on a game console: “It’s all about being high-profile. Not only do I want to piss them off, but I want them to advertise for us for free: we take in psychics and not only give them good food and drink, but also provide them with personal protection. This way, the shifter without killing intent will choose to defect to us, and I’m afraid the ‘catfish’ will take advantage of the opportunity to fish in the water. We don’t have to run around, they all have to come forward to us. Isn’t that good?”
Lou Ying smiled and looked at the console in his hand: “What made you think of playing this?”
Chi Xiaochi said, “Relax a little.”
Lou Ying put down the task at hand and looked at him, “Are you nervous? Why?”
Chi Xiaochi, eyes fixed on the screen, replied succinctly, “Not nervous, just want to play.”
He did, however, have a very important thing to do.
Chi Xiaochi ate very little for dinner and only drank some soup made from lamb bones before excusing himself and going into his tent to rest.
Apart from Zhao Rou, Lou Ying was the strongest fighter in the squad according to Wei Shiliu and Dan Shuang, so Lou Ying stayed behind until the end, waiting for the night shift to be arranged, watching everyone go to sleep and making sure the campfire was extinguished before he turned around and went into the tent to see if Chi Xiaochi had fallen asleep.
The tent’s steam light is off, the sleeping bag is locked up tight, and Chi Xiaochi is curled up in his sleeping bag like a big ball, not even breathing.
Lou Ying smiles.
…… how not to take care of yourself at all.
He unzipped the sleeping bag to let Chi Xiaochi breathe, but when he did, his fingertips touched a cold, sweaty, frighteningly cold patch of skin.
As soon as Lou Ying was appalled, he relighted the gas lamp and took Chi Xiaochi out of his sleeping bag.
He was biting down on a white towel, muffling his gasps and faint moans, his body spasming so badly that his calves seemed to cramp up and tense into a hard mass, and he didn’t seem to be aware of it, except that when he was next to Lou Ying’s body, he subconsciously grabbed his lapels and tightened them with force, his expression of distress wringing Lou Ying’s heart.
In his desperation, Lou Ying raised his hand against his brow, trying to use his system authority to force him out of his abnormal state.
However, Lou Ying hesitated when his fingers rested on his forehead, which was sweating like a spring.
He frowned for a moment, gritted his teeth and took Chi Xiaochi into his arms, telling him to rest on his arm and forcing himself not to interfere with what Chi Xiaochi was doing.
…… although he doesn’t know exactly what Chi Xiaochi wants.
But since he did it, it must have made sense.
Lou Ying stood by his side, not saying a word.
Until the spasm in his arms subsides and his eyelids move slightly.
…… Then he didn’t move, as if he had passed out.
What a way to get angry at people.
Lou Ying said in a deep voice, “I’ll hold you as long as you pretend to be asleep.”
Chi Xiaochi said, “I’m so sorry,” and opened her eyes, smiling and laughing, “I can’t take advantage of you, brother.
Lou Ying threw the towel, which had been changed three times, on the floor, fetched a set of dry clothes, put them on him and tucked him back into his sleeping bag, zipping it up in silence.
Chi Xiaochi, who was being fiddled with by him, tilted her head, a little disturbed, “Brother?”
Lou Ying looked at him and ignored him.
Chi Xiaochi pouting: “Brother.”
Lou Ying, unable to resist, stopped moving and waited for an explanation.
Chi Xiaochi sat up from his sleeping bag and pulled up the cuffs of his pyjamas as he said, “I’m off to confirm Bai Anyi’s memories before he died.”
Lou Ying’s lips twitched: “…… immersion?”
”There’s no other perspective either, is there?”
Chi Xiaochi sounded slightly regretful and said, “I looked underwater several times to see who the two men who killed Bai Anyi were, and I couldn’t really see them.”
Lou Ying’s face hardened a little.
…… No wonder.
Chi Xiaochi only drank liquid food in the evening because he was afraid of choking on his vomit.
Biting the towel for fear that the noise he made would be heard by others and for fear that the excessive pain would lead to biting his tongue.
The cramps and whimpers he emits are the result of his immersion in the experience of Bai Anyi’s drowning.
Chi Xiaochi, still unaware of the minefield he had hit, concentrated only on his findings: “The ‘catfish’ that had appeared so far were pink-skinned people with unknown powers; a woman who could minimise her bodily functions and was good at playing dead, and two, the ones who had killed Bai Anyi at the end.”
”I think that the number of ‘catfish’ is a bit strange.”
”By definition, there will never be more ‘catfish’ because only three will survive to the end of the pass, and if I were the organiser, I would definitely reserve all three places for the ‘catfish’. If I were the organiser, I would have given all three places to the ‘catfish’. It doesn’t count if the ‘catfish’ miss and get killed in the middle, that’s a matter of their own making, but the ideal state the organiser would have wanted would have been for the ‘catfish’ who listened to them to survive to the end and get the places, and for the ‘catfish’ The ‘catfish’ should not have internal disputes or infighting over their survival, otherwise their presence would be easily exposed. So I think that a reasonable number of ‘catfish’ should be equal to the number of survivors at the end, which is three.”
Chi Xiaochi rubbed his still throbbing calf and mused, “…… It’s supposed to be three, how come there’s an extra one?”
Lou Ying poured a glass of warm water and handed it to Chi Xiaochi, her voice a little muffled, “You played games this afternoon just to do this at night?”
Chi Xiaochi clutches her glass of water and takes a small sip to rehydrate: “Hmm. Regulate the mood.”
Lou Ying : “So have you thought about taking care of me a little bit?”