Chapter 231
Tang Mo covered the eyes of Fu Wensheng, who was closest to him, at a very fast speed. At the same time, Mu Huixue covered Chen Shanshan’s eyes.
Tang Mo felt something wet hit his palms as the boy in his arms trembled, tears flowing down in an unstoppable manner.
Chen Shanshan was calmer. She pulled down Mu Huixue’s hand and spoke in a hoarse voice, “…It’s okay.” Her voice was so hoarse that the little girl also fell silent. After a while, Chen Shanshan looked at the ruined Beijing City and opened her mouth again. This time, her voice was firm. “It’s really okay.”
Nobody said anything.
In the face of this extremely shocking death, the six people stared silently for a long time.
Finally, Fu Wenduo pulled the curtains closed and everyone woke up.
Fu Wensheng wiped his tears, his heart still a bit uncomfortable. He knew that the black tower said that in these seven days, more than 2,000 black towers would disappear every day, along with the humans in that area. But…
“It wasn’t hard to beat the circus leader after the four of you joined forces. Then why, why…”
It was only when he saw the collapse of human civilization that he understood how cruel the game was.
How many people could they save?
Every day, more than 2,000 black towers would disappear. There were only six of them and there were five black towers in the world.
Andrei suddenly stood up. “I will go to Berlin.”
The group understood what he meant. Mu Huixue rose to her feet and told him, “I will go with you.”
Andrei looked at her darkly, his voice depressed. “You stay.”
Mu Huixue was stunned.
Andrei stared deeply at Mu Huixue and didn’t give the reason. He picked up the coat that he had taken off during the healing and walked out of the building. The tall and strong Russian walked on the desolate road. The Changping District was full of players who fled from Beijing City. They all fled north.
In this swarm of people, only a tall figure went against the crowd and headed firmly west.
He was heading to Europe.
He might not be able to get there in seven days and he could die at any time from the black tower disappearing, yet he had to go.
Fu Wenduo stood on the upper floor and looked at Andrei’s back. A moment later, he said, “Let’s go to Beijing first to see if there are any survivors. Tomorrow we will move to Guangzhou.”
“Okay.”
The disappearance of the black tower in Beijing City meant it became a deserted wasteland. Everything was clear and there was no change from one end of the road to the other. Everything had become cement fragments.
Tang Mo stood in the middle of the road and extended his hand to the intersection of two districts. He turned around and declared, “Nothing. It seems that one way to live during these seven days is to find an area where the black tower already disappeared and stay there. Most people should be able to think of this method and will soon return to hide here in a stable manner.”
They headed to the 80th High School.
It was a pity that they didn’t find any Tian Xuan members. It was unknown if they died in Beijing City or smoothly escaped.
The broken bricks of a tall building piled up in a hill on the ground. It was only when all modern buildings collapsed that people discovered the civilization built by humans on this land had gone beyond nature itself.
Beijing, the Chaoyang District.
Tang Mo took the opportunity to find any surviving humans as well as searching the ruins for information about the disappearance of the black tower. Chen Shanshan and Fu Wensheng rested during this time. Fu Wensheng was greatly shocked tonight. He was the one with the worst psychological quality among the six people. He thought back to his mistake earlier in the evening and felt guilty.
He quickly hardened up.
There wasn’t much he could do. He could only spend as much energy was possible to make more advanced mineral water.
Chen Shanshan was writing in a book. She looked up and observed the surroundings, suddenly finding that Mu Huixue was gone. The little girl frowned, thought about it and got up to look for the other person.
Bright moonlight shone on the ruins of Beijing City. It was empty and lonely because traces of people couldn’t be found at all.
Chen Shanshan naturally didn’t know that the Mu Huixue she was looking for was lying on tell of a hill of fragments. She rested on her right hand and looked up at the moon. For a long time, she stretched out her left hand and squinted. The moonlight passed through the gap in her fingers and cast shadows on her face.
In this way, the world’s most powerful returnee basked in the moonlight and stared at the moon.
Five minutes later, Mu Huixue laughed. “Now that you are here, why don’t you come out? I thought we were friends or… teammates?”
Deep footsteps were heard from the other end of the hill.
The person was wrapped in a thick coat and his face buried by his hat, only a pair of green eyes showing. Andrei stepped on the broken glass and walked to the top of the hill. He didn’t speak or explain why he had gone and then come back. He just stared at Mu Huixue with a calm gaze.
Mu Huixue looked at the moon and asked, “Why did you come back?”
Andrei’s was silent for a long time before replying in a low voice, “I was walking before deciding to come back and kill you.” His voice abruptly stopped and Andrei glanced to the side. Then he looked back at Mu Huixue and said, “I’m sorry but we both know… you must die.”
Mu Huixue wondered, “Are you afraid of death?”
“I’m not afraid. If you don’t like it, I can kill myself after killing you.”
However, she must die.
Andrei didn’t say these words.
Mu Huixue understood what he meant and smiled at the moon. “In fact, I’m not afraid to die. Since you aren’t living for yourself, why kill me? Do you still want to resurrect your daughter or your wife?”
“I won’t resurrect Valentina. I promised you. You killed 78 people and I lost the bet. Thus, I won’t kill you to resurrect Valentina. Still, there are more than three million humans in this world and it is the world where Valentina lived. Even if more than three million people die… I don’t want to let the world disappear. That is why I’m going to resurrect him.”
“What if that isn’t the truth? What if we can’t find the last tower despite killing me and resurrecting him?”
Andrei closed his mouth.
Mu Huixue raised her arms in the moonlight and smiled. “It might be a 1% hope but we can’t not try it.” The next moment, she said, “Why are you still hiding? Come out.”
A few seconds later, Chen Shanshan silently emerged.
Andrei and Mu Huixue had been talking in Russian. Mu Huixue glanced at the child and spoke in Russian, “You can understand.”
It was normal for a small child to not know Russian.
Yet this was Chen Shanshan.
Chen Shanshan was silent for a moment before replying in Russian, “Teacher taught me.”
Mu Huixue was stunned. “You are the smartest child I have ever seen. I know this is your ability but I’m curious. The conversation I had with Andrei just now, did you understand what we were talking about?” She winked. “If you can guess, I will tell you a secret.”
Chen Shanshan wanted to say she didn’t want to know Mu Huixue’s secret but she didn’t. She closed her eyes and thought about the conversation between the two people. She opened her eyes and said quietly, “Killing the first person on the time leaderboard can resurrect a player who died in the game. Andrei came back because he was afraid you wouldn’t kill yourself and resurrect this person. He was worried that you are afraid of death and came back to kill you with his own hands.”
Andrei showed a surprised expression and stared seriously at Chen Shanshan.
This wasn’t the first time Mu Huixue had played against this little girl. She held her knees while sitting on the ground, staring at Chen Shanshan with great interest. “Continue.”
“Andrei said he wouldn’t kill you to resurrect his wife or daughter. It seems that previously, he was chasing you to resurrect them. Now he doesn’t want to do it anymore. It isn’t for his own sake that he has to kill you. Then the only reason for his decision… the person he wants to resurrect has to do with the seventh floor’s tower attack game. Chen Shanshan paused and raised her head, speaking in a positive tone. “That man knows where the last tower is.”
Mu Huixue clapped. “You are truly the smartest child I have ever seen. No, you might be the smartest player I’ve ever seen. Your answer is 100% correct, apart from the fact that Andrei and I aren’t sure if that person knows the last black tower. However, you can guess who Andrei will resurrect. This is a friendly tip. You also know that person.”
Chen Shanshan’s fingers clenched as she watched Mu Huixue.
“…Is it him?”
“Yes.”
Chen Shanshan cried out, “Why?”
Mu Huixue replied, “For a reason you don’t know, only he knows where the last tower is.”
Chen Shanshan opened her mouth but she soon calmed down. The little girl glanced between Andrei and Mu Huixue.
In the ruined Beijing City, the black woman with the high ponytail sat on the highest hill and smiled at her. Moonlight covered her body, cold and lonely. By her side, the bear-like Russian player stood silently. His eyes weren’t murderous but his attention was always focused on the woman in black.
If she ran away, he could catch up with her and kill her using any methods.
Mu Huixue didn’t intend to escape. As Chen Shanshan turned to leave, she said, “Let this girl kill me.”
Chen Shanshan paused.
Andrei lowered his head to look at her. “The little girl?”
Mu Huixue spread open her hands. “Since it is death, does it matter who kills me? I would rather die at the hands of a child than a man like you. She is a lot more loving than you are.”
Andrei watched Mu Huixue and found that she was laughing but her eyes were firm and she was determined to die.
She wasn’t afraid of death.
“Okay.”
The Russian player walked down the hill and stopped talking about killing Mu Huixue.
For the first time, Chen Shanshan was at a loss. She stood on the ruins and saw Mu Huixue taking out a small and delicate compass. She said, “Previously, I asked Major Fu and Tang Mo to kill me. I said I wanted to die but in fact, I still wanted to live. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not afraid of death like Fly. I don’t want to live as much as him. It is as the circus leader said today. He can’t kill me and none of you can kill me. Because… I have this.”
She held the fallacy compass while pulling out a dagger with her other hand. She pointed the tip at her heart and stabbed it in.
Chen Shanshan was shocked, “You?!”
“It is nothing. I can’t die from this type of injury thanks to the fallacy compass.” The pulled out dagger contained a trace of blood. Mu Huixue wiped the blood on her lips and applied the blood on the dagger to the compass. She patiently used the blood to dye the pointer of the compass and said, “Speaking of this smart friend, a long time ago, I cleared the fourth floor of the black tower. At that time, the two worlds merged. Can you guess why I clearly succeeded in the fourth floor only to suddenly fail? Then why did I clear the game after 10 days?”
Three months ago, the black tower sang a song for a strange player. The always indifferent black tower praised the player with great enthusiasm and expressed its love for the player.
At that time,Mu Huixue cleared the fourth floor and almost opened the black tower’s 4.0 version. Suddenly, her instance clearance came to an end and the black tower update was temporarily suspended. Almost half a month passed before she cleared the instance again and opened the black tower 4.0 version.
Chen Shanshan thought about it. “Was it due to the fallacy compass?”
“Wow, you are really a smart kid.”
Chen Shanshan didn’t understand Cantonese but she knew the meaning of this sentence. She explained, “You just said that you can’t die because of the fallacy compass. Then you asked this question. Obviously, you failed the fourth floor because of the fallacy compass.”
“You finally guessed wrong.”
Chen Shanshan was startled.
“It wasn’t because of the fallacy compass. At that time, I attacked the tower to let a black tower boss kill me in the game. I didn’t want any returnee to kill me and let them resurrect someone as well as half my rest time. Thus, I chose to go the attack the fourth floor. Unfortunately, I cleared the game. I had just cleared the instance when I saw the fallacy compass…” Mu Huixue’s blood completely dyed the pointer of the fallacy compass. She smiled and said, “Ordinary black tower monsters can’t kill me. Then what about the fallacy compass? The moment I cleared the instance, I snatched the compass.”
Chen Shanshan’s eyes widened. She had thought of many possibilities but she never thought Mu Huixue would steal the rare prop and have her fourth floor stopped.
The blood on the compass dripped to the ground. The moment it touched the ground, a sound emerged from Mu Huixue’s throat. Her face was pale, as if something had disappeared from her body.
Mu Huixue threw the fallacy compass. It moved in a parabola and hit the ground. However, it only flew halfway when it disappeared into the air.
Mu Huixue opened her mouth. “The circus leader said that this type of prop shouldn’t be owned by a player. This is a bug, a bug caused by my ability. Perhaps now the black tower has recovered it.”
Chen Shanshan’s brain worked quickly as she guessed three of four possibilities. However, she couldn’t be sure.
After returning the stolen fallacy compass to the black tower, Mu Huixue patted her clothes and stood up. She approached Chen Shanshan and smiled. “Now you can kill me whenever you want. I won’t resist.”
Chen Shanshan stared at her and finally couldn’t help asking, “…Why me?”
Mu Huixue was stunned, not expecting the child to ask this question.
She looked down at the girl who was always calm and smart enough to be terrible. Then she reached out and touched Chen Shanshan’s head. “It is because the one who was resurrected by me and later killed by me resembles you.”
A nostalgic smile appeared on Mu Huixue’s face. Chen Shanshan watched her, lips slightly parted. She didn’t ask for an exit.
A few seconds passed before Chen Shanshan said quietly, “Since you have decided to die, let Brother Tang kill you.”
Mu Huixue thought she heard wrongly. “What?”
Chen Shanshan had an analytical expression on her face. “You might’ve already guessed but Brother Tang’s ability is to collect other people’s abilities. The difficulty is too great. The stronger the ability, the harder it is to collect. In fact, the only way he can get your level of ability is by killing you.” The little girl’s pure and innocent face had a serious expression on it. “Since you have decided to die, it is better to let Brother Tang take away your ability.”
Mu Huixue, “…”
Mu Huixue’s fingers curved and she flicked Chen Shanshan’s forehead.
The little girl’s forehead instantly turned red and she reached out to cover her forehead.
Mu Huixues expression was blank. “This is where you and her are slightly different. I’m obviously going to die. Can’t you say something good? Kid, you can’t be like this.”
Chen Shanshan raised her head., “Can I ask Brother Tang to come?”
Mu Huixue, “…”
“Okay, go. I’ll wait here.”
Chen Shanshan replied, “Okay.”
Chen Shanshan ran away. Mu Huixue watched her back and a moment later, she lay down, bathing in the beautiful moonlight. It was as if she didn’t want to waste one second and she would never see such a view again in her life.
She didn’t know that the little girl clenched her fingers as she ran down the ruins. Her nails were deeply embedded in her palms. Her eyes were wet as the terrible and sensible little girl used someone’s death for a final use.
The moment before her tears fell, she raised her hand and wiped her tears, still looking calm.
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo had just returned to the hill of ruins and encountered Chen Shanshan.
The little girl watched Tang Mo with no expression and told the story. Tang Mo was stunned and glanced at Fu Wenduo. The two of them walked up the hill together and saw Mu Huixue lying on top of it.
She discovered they came and Mu Huixue lazily stood up.
She went to Chen Shanshan and once again flicked the little girl.
Andrei had been hiding in the darkness for a long time. He saw Fu Wenduo and Tang Mo and also came back, standing silently to the side.
Mu Huixue smiled heartily. “She told you everything right? In fact, I have no sense of death. I’m not afraid to die and I sometimes feel that living doesn’t have much meaning. I am more valuable dead. Andrei is right. The third clue given by the black tower doomed me to death. If you don’t do it, Andrei will do it or I might even kill myself. I don’t want to waste my death and there is no law stating you can’t get it. Thus, it is better to kill me and use my ability, Tang Mo.”
Xiao Fu learnt the truth from Chen Shanshan and exclaimed, “No Sister Mu, you really want to…”
The child couldn’t say the word. He didn’t understand it. IN the daytime, they worked together to attack the black tower. How did it suddenly become like this?
Mu Huixue showed unexpected patience to the child. She knelt down and touched Fu Wensheng’s head. “This city is gone.” She touched Fu Wensheng’s head and took him to look at the devastated land under him. “It wasn’t until Andrei and I saw the clue that we understood the black tower’s meaning. We knew it previously but it was only after Beijing City disappeared that we were willing to face it.”
Fu Wensheng gritted his teeth. He wanted to say something but couldn’t.
Fu Wenduo asked, “Do you really have to do this?”
Mu Huixue raised an eyebrow. “Major Fu, I have returned the fallacy compass to the black tower. Now you are saying this?”
Fu Wenduo didn’t answer
Tang Mo opened his mouth. “You don’t have to be like this. It isn’t the last moment yet. Maybe there is a chance to turn things around and find the tower through another method.”
“Then for the next six days, every day, many people will disappear.” Mu Huixue smiled. “Since the black tower gave this clue, it means this is the only way. Today, Grecia said the black tower would retaliate against me and I suddenly understood something.”
“Tang Mo, clearly that person always had good luck. Why was he suddenly unlucky and met two teammates when he went outside? If two powerful players hadn’t gone outside or if it was only one of them, he wouldn’t have died. Yet he is dead. Think about it. This isn’t the black tower retaliating against him. This is the black tower retaliating against me.”
“Maybe he isn’t the only one who can find the tower. Perhaps he is the only one who can attack the tower.”
“So… Tang Mo, kill me.”
Tang Mo’s fingers clenched as he stared at Mu Huixue. After a long time, he took two silver butterfly knives out of his pocket.
Mu Huixue glanced at Chen Shanshan and showed a brilliant smile. “Later on, bask in the moonlight for me. I told you that if you guessed, I would tell you a secret. I don’t really have a secret. It is just that a long time ago, when I hadn’t killed the person who looked like you, she told me that she wanted to return to Earth and see the moon. There is no moon in the world of the returnees, only the day. I’ll pass this baton to you now. Enjoy the moonlight.”
Chen Shanshan remained calm and didn’t say anything.
Mu Huixue smiled. “Hrmm?”
“…Okay.”
At this time, Tang Mo walked in front of Mu Huixue.
Mu Huixue maintained her smile and stared at him. “Let’s start…”
She raised her eyes with a firm expression. “Tang Mo, kill me and resurrect Bai Ruoyao.”
The refreshing female voice was blown away by the evening breeze as Mu Huixue showed a calm and optimistic smile.
Two days ago, the sixth floor of the black tower, Noah’s ark.
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo didn’t notice that as they opened their red paper and saw the words on it, Mu Huixue and Andrei also opened their paper.
There were only three characters but these three characters were enough to make the two powerful sixth floor players stunned.
The moment they saw the words, they felt an incomparable mocking.
Mu Huixue and Andrei saw the clue and the paper turned into ash. However, the words were branded into their hearts and could never be forgotten. The three characters were:
[Bai Ruoyao]
“Today’s moonlight is really beautiful.”
The silver knife flashed and this moment was brighter than the moonlight.