Volume Two, Devil's Game: Chapter Thirty-one, An Unpleasant Encounter

"How is this possible?" Yang Tonghua was clearly unable to accept this outcome.

"Nothing is impossible. Perhaps for the Guardian, death is actually a reward? I once saw someone purified and turned into a tree," Liang Feisong remarked.

"Enough. Lu Yi, how do you explain your situation earlier?" Ge Wendong threw another question at Lu Yi.

Lu Yi felt a sudden surge of irritation. If they wanted to ride his coattails, they should at least show some respect instead of coveting what was in his pot while still acting like masters.

"Captain Ge, that is exactly what I was going to ask you," Lu Yi replied with a look of astonishment.

"What do you mean?" Ge Wendong frowned.

Lu Yi gestured to his own clothes. "Do I look disheveled to you?"

"You look quite neat," Ge Wendong said, then paused, momentarily stunned.

Lu Yi continued with a bizarre expression, "Captain Ge, do you think the Guardian is my relative, standing there letting me do as I please? Or do you think that in the short time since I sealed the Guardian, I managed to find time to change my clothes before appearing in front of you?"

Without waiting for Ge Wendong to retort, he quickly added, "I have been hoping you could provide an explanation for what just happened. When I arrived, I saw your squad looking tattered and covered in dust. It could only mean you had fought the Guardian, and I have always believed that such a feat was accomplished by you, Captain Ge."

Hearing this, everyone turned their eyes toward the Zhufeng Squad. Sure enough, they looked exactly as Lu Yi had described.

"Are you certain you didn't do it?" Ge Wendong pressed him again.

Lu Yi immediately unleashed a triple denial: "It wasn't me. I don't have that ability, and I, too, would like to know which badass heavyweight or team managed to pull that off."

Lu Yi wore an expression of hopeful admiration as he added, "That person must be incredibly cool and powerful. I wish they could take me under their wing."

Shen Yixue almost burst out laughing but managed to keep a straight face. She whispered in the team channel, "Captain, aren't you ashamed of bragging about yourself like that?"

"Captain Ge, was it really not you?" Tan Weiwei asked first.

Ge Wendong frowned, and Yang Tonghua jumped out again, pointing at Lu Yi. "You're lying! You must have seen that Guardian earlier, otherwise you wouldn't have used the word 'hacked.' I suspect you discovered something, which is why you were able to seal it."

Lu Yi rolled his eyes. "If the Guardian didn't use a hand-blade to hack me unconscious, what was it—did it pull out some flowers and prick my pressure points to make me faint? Didn't you all see it? Are you all selectively blind?"

"I..." Yang Tonghua was rendered speechless. He looked at Wang Ge, who gave a slight nod.

Lu Yi continued, "Captain Ge, I suspect you are hiding secrets. You simply refuse to disclose them, which is why you keep clinging to that scene you saw of me. Time is running out; don't you intend to share any information?"

Lu Yi sneered inwardly. It wasn't that he couldn't reveal the secret, but it had to be on his terms. At the very least, others needed to clearly recognize that it was Lu Yi looking out for everyone, sharing his experience selflessly—not Captain Ge, who "observed everything with keen insight" and discovered that the selfish Lu Yi was withholding important information, leaving the Captain with a noble image while he, Lu Yi, was left looking like a villain.

At this point, everyone turned their eyes toward Ge Wendong. Lu Yi had a point; after Ge Wendong stopped the initial argument, he had focused all his fire on Lu Yi, trying to steer everyone's attention toward him. Had his own squad fought the Guardian? Had they gained any experience? Why hadn't they shared anything?

Ge Wendong pondered for a moment, then gave a breezy laugh. "What could there possibly be to hide?"

Wang Ge and Deng Yuqi’s expressions changed instantly, and Yang Tonghua looked ready to explode, but out of trust for their captain, they pulled him back silently.

"We only learned one lesson: that relying on our own strength to confront the Guardian is meaningless and only increases the Guardian's capabilities," Ge Wendong said with a serious look. He scanned the crowd. "In these final moments, I still hope those who accomplished that feat will step forward and guide everyone."

After Ge Wendong finished, silence fell over the group. Lu Yi pretended to be just as eager to find these experts as everyone else.

Soon, time was up, and a repulsive force drove everyone back to their original positions.

Back at their starting point, Ge Wendong looked around, then turned his gloomy face toward Peng Kai. "What are you panicking about? If you haven't done anything wrong, what are you afraid of? It was your shouting that made Lu Yi suspicious."

"Captain, do you still think it was that Lu Yi?" Deng Yuqi asked softly.

"It has to be him. Otherwise, why would he be followed by Shen Yixue and that frog? He clearly needed help, but since others weren't easy to find, he had to drag that stupid frog along to make up the numbers," Ge Wendong said bitterly.

Wang Ge thought for a moment and nodded, evidently agreeing. "Captain, what do we do now?"

A cold sneer appeared on Ge Wendong’s face. "Heh, if Lu Yi is desperate enough to recruit a frog, what he did couldn't have been easy. Perhaps he was planning to recruit others during this meeting, but because of what we did, his plan has fallen through." He looked back at his team. "So, although we are behind now, we won't stay behind forever."

Ge Wendong looked at the people around them. "There are only fourteen people left, and we have eight. Are we really not as good as the two of them? Wang Xun, I'll give you some paper talismans shortly. Spread out in front; if you encounter the Guardian, lead it to us. I refuse to believe that if Lu Yi can do it, I cannot."

On the other side, Lu Yi was also in a foul mood. As Ge Wendong had suspected, he had indeed intended to recruit some help. According to his predictions, a water or fire-type Guardian would descend soon, and in his mind, Liang Feisong, with his earth-related talent, was the perfect candidate to deal with them. But after the Zhufeng Squad's interference, no matter how much Lu Yi wanted to recruit him, he could no longer bring it up.

Lu Yi took a deep breath, mentally reviewed the map once more, and beckoned to Shen Yixue and the Jade Toad. As they moved forward, he explained his general plan to them in the team channel.

Just as they were pushing ahead, a pillar of red light shot into the sky from the four corners of the world. A wall of light appeared and began to slowly advance toward the clock tower—the map was shrinking.

The red light soon reached the small lake, pushing an iron boat on the water to one side before vanishing.

Lying in the iron boat was Ma Yan. Back when she had watched Lu Yi toy with the Guardian at the lakeside, she had had a realization. She believed this lake was a safe zone; after all, what Guardian could enter the water without making a sound? Not only was there sound, but it might even end up at the bottom like the last one.

So, after the Guardian flew away on its long blade, she had boarded a small boat and rowed to the center of the lake. That was why she had remained silent during the meeting and hadn't mentioned Lu Yi playing the Guardian like a fiddle.

As Ma Yan lay in the boat humming a tune, she was unaware that a transparent figure on the shore was watching her. The figure walked slowly to the water's edge and dissolved into it.

Soon, strange ripples appeared around the boat. Water began to rise silently into the air, quickly forming a human silhouette.

The silhouette moved, and spheres of water formed around the boat, floating upward. The transparent figure reached the boat silently, covering Ma Yan's mouth and nose while the water spheres dispersed inside.

The iron boat sank instantly. Ma Yan struggled the moment she was muffled, flailing her limbs, but she couldn't strike anything. She slapped hard at the spot covering her face.

This time, she felt a hand. After knocking it away, she tried to swim toward the surface, but before she could reach it, two hands grabbed her feet and dragged her back to the bottom.

After several desperate struggles, Ma Yan finally sank to the lakebed.

At the same time, a blue light bloomed in the sky: "One challenger has been executed. 13 people remain."