Chapter 136: Fang Xi Joins the Team

Outside the city, Fang Xi’s angry voice rang out:

“Xu Mingli, have you lost your mind?”

“Do you have any idea that this is attempted murder? There are still several teammates who haven’t made it out!”

Xu Mingli sneered:

“Are they teammates who didn’t make it out, or is it just your little lover who didn’t escape?”

“Did you think I didn’t know about your little schemes in private? You wanted to cultivate a teammate of your own so you could abandon me and join a party with him, right?”

Fang Xi looked at him in disbelief:

“You lunatic! Those two didn’t even provoke you, yet you got them killed.”

Xu Mingli pointed at her and sneered:

“Take note: you were the one who opened the portal. It has nothing to do with me. If they want to settle the score, they’ll be coming for you.”

Crossing his arms, he added coldly:

“You only have one choice now: keep following me. Otherwise, everyone will soon know that you intentionally left them to die. Let’s see who would dare to join a party with you then.”

“You’re a total moron.”

Fang Xi could no longer maintain her ladylike composure and lashed out:

“I have data logs showing that you were the one who changed the team settings. Don’t take others for fools just because you’re a simpleton.”

“Heh, we’ll see!”

Xu Mingli’s expression shifted slightly. He gave her a thumbs-up, sneered, and turned to leave.

The other two team members followed him without hesitation. As Wang Bo walked away, he remarked bluntly:

“You’re going to be with another man anyway, so what’s wrong with sticking with the boss? You’re truly pathetic.”

“Captain, it really does look like you were the one who changed the team settings.”

“So what? I just changed it by accident in the panic. Besides, our team opened the portal; letting them use it was a favor, not an obligation.”

“Furthermore, since they died there, they’ll most likely be turned into undead. They can’t be saved. If you and I don’t say anything, who can touch us?”

When Chu Cheng arrived, he found Fang Xi standing all alone in the wasteland. Seeing him approach, she wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, turned around, and composed her face:

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Chu Cheng glanced around and asked:

“Where are they?”

“They left.”

“You should know, I cannot let this injustice go unavenged. I am definitely going to kill him.”

“They are no longer my teammates.”

Chu Cheng nodded and said:

“Let’s form a party. Though it’s a bit earlier than I anticipated.”

She did not answer immediately, instead putting on a pitiful expression:

“They will pin the responsibility for this accident on me, claiming I intentionally kept them outside to save myself. If you party with me, it will affect you.”

Combined with the lingering tear tracks on her face, she looked incredibly fragile.

Chu Cheng smiled slightly and said:

“You’re overthinking it. It’s not about who complains first. Your notification panel should have the data. We’ll share it with everyone, and the truth will be clear.”

“Let’s go find my team now and have them bear witness.”

“Alright!”

A smile appeared on Fang Xi’s pretty face as she said:

“You’re the captain from now on, so I’ll leave these matters to you.”

“Rest assured, leave it all to me.”

He turned to contact Lei Ming:

“Captain, where are you? I’m coming to rendezvous with you.”

Lei Ming immediately provided coordinates.

“I’ll be there shortly.”

Two minutes later, he brought Fang Xi to meet up with Lei Ming and the others. Fortunately, everyone was present; no one had died.

At this moment, everyone was grateful that they had chosen to be hired for payment rather than taking the lead, meaning the first wave of the Plague Knight’s outburst hadn't reached them, giving them enough reaction time to flee.

Feng Lingxing glanced at Fang Xi following behind him and gave a thumbs-up:

“You’re tough. Going to such lengths to flirt, daring to stand alone against a Plague Knight.”

“By the way, how did you escape at the end? You just disappeared in the blink of an eye.”

“It was my Hero Skill.”

“Impressive!”

Knowing it was a Hero Skill, Feng Lingxing wisely didn’t ask further.

“Right, I need to tell everyone something.”

Chu Cheng clapped his hands to draw their attention:

“Lingxing and Yao Ning should have seen it just now: Fang Xi opened a portal to get everyone out, but due to a personal grudge, Xu Mingli exercised his authority as captain to intentionally change the settings to ‘team mode,’ which prevented us from using the portal.”

“Xu Mingli is going to go around spreading rumors that—”

Chu Cheng said with murderous intent:

“He wanted to kill me. It’s either him or me, but this is a personal grudge between us. I won’t burden you all with it; I just wanted to inform you that Xu Mingli is the one who caused those two brothers’ deaths.”

He looked at Fang Xi and said:

“Senior, show everyone the evidence.”

She nodded and shared a log of data with everyone:

“Notification: You successfully cast Portal, summoning a persistent portal. Portal duration: 60 seconds.”

“Notification: You used the portal.”

“Notification: Your team member Xu Qing used the portal.”

“Notification: Your teammate Wan Zhihe used the portal.”

“Notification: Your teammate Xu Mingli used the portal.”

“Notification: Your team captain has exercised captain authority to change the mode from Public to Team.”

“Hmm.”

Everyone stroked their chins as they read it, nodding one after another:

“This is solid evidence.”

Lei Ming also nodded:

“Save this evidence. We’ll contact Wu Yuanfeng’s group later so they know, and when we return, we’ll submit it to your instructors.”

“Will the instructors punish him?”

Lei Ming shook his head:

“There will be a reprimand and a penalty, but expecting him to pay with his life is impossible. Besides, if you report it to the instructors and they punish him, it signifies that the grudge is settled—you won’t be allowed to seek revenge yourself.”

“I understand.”

“I’ll ruin his reputation first. Once I reach level 30, I’ll find an opportunity to take my revenge. He is no match for me.”

Lei Ming gave him a thumbs-up:

“You can do it!”

“By the way, Captain, she has left Xu Mingli’s team. Can she join our party?”

“Of course.”

Two seconds later, a notification arrived confirming Fang Xi had joined their temporary party. Everyone welcomed her with goodwill.

“You should leave his team now. We’ll start with a temporary party, and once I promote at level 30, we’ll get a formal party contract.”

Fang Xi nodded. Without any visible movement, she suddenly gritted her teeth and let out a pained groan. Chu Cheng caught her immediately, noticing her aura drop significantly in an instant.

“I’ve left his team. All my attributes dropped by 20 points.”

Feeling her physical weakness, Chu Cheng helped her sit down and said:

“Even though the attributes dropped, they can all be recovered.”

She gritted her teeth and nodded, her expression firm.

This was one of the main reasons she had delayed breaking ties with Xu Mingli until now. A formal party contract provides significant boosts to a member’s strength and survivability, but it naturally comes with constraints.

Depending on the quality of the contract and the level of the team, leaving by force carries heavy penalties.

Usually, it deducts several dozen base attribute points.

Base attributes are directly linked to personal strength, so no one would dare to leave without being fully prepared.