Volume One: Entering the City Chapter Sixteen: A Band of Villains

The Emperor’s words immediately startled the newcomers. “Why?” someone couldn’t help but ask directly.

“Don’t you remember what Fang Hao said? There were twenty-one survivors who escaped from the bus this time. And following the pattern of Death’s Game, it always ends with everyone being killed. That means Death probably has a set target number each day.

Think about it—if we keep protecting Tang Qi and help him survive the crisis, the order Death established would be broken. Who knows if Death might immediately start designing a new sequence? With so many of us, the chances of being next increase dramatically, and in a complicated environment like the Food Court, danger could come from anywhere. If that happens, the losses will be even greater.

On the other hand, once Tang Qi dies, we enter a safe period, giving us more time to prepare and avoid ending up in the same predicament.”

The Emperor’s reasoning was quickly accepted by the newcomers. Compared to Tang Qi’s fate, they were much more concerned about not being implicated themselves.

“Enough, go wait by the car. Kuangdao and I need to look for something.” The Emperor signaled for his teammates to take the newcomers away.

Soon, only Kuangdao and the Emperor remained. Kuangdao snorted coldly, “Hypocrite.”

He crouched down, his expression grave as he stared at the pair of scissors lodged in Tang Qi’s forehead. “Honestly, I wanted to save him. But these ordinary scissors—after clashing with my long blade—didn’t even get a scratch, and their trajectory barely changed. It’s as if some power was protecting them.”

“Could there be some other force involved? If that’s the case, then—” The Emperor didn’t finish his sentence, but Kuangdao already understood. “I said it seemed that way, but I didn’t sense any power at all.”

“This mission is going to be very tricky. I’m starting to regret letting those two roam free,” the Emperor sighed heavily as he stood.

The shrill wail of a siren drew closer, so the two of them left the Food Court. Neither noticed that, beneath the table right beside them, a newly installed micro-camera had recorded everything.

Not long after they left, a crack suddenly appeared in the scissors, splitting them in two right along the spot where Kuangdao’s blade had struck. In other words, at the moment Kuangdao hit the scissors, they had already split apart—yet they still pierced Tang Qi’s head as a single object, taking his life.

“Captain, what do we do now?” The Emperor’s teammate approached him.

The Emperor took a deep breath and looked at Lu Ningyu. “Any news from your protagonist friend?”

“I called just now but couldn’t get through,” Lu Ningyu replied, a bit anxious.

The Emperor frowned. “Isn’t there another person with them? Who has his number?”

“Tried that too, but still can’t get through,” Lu Ningyu said.

“Could something have happened to them? And what about the protagonist? Could he—?” the high schooler cried out in terror.

“Impossible. The protagonist can’t die yet. If something happened, it could only be to those two. The protagonist must still be in Sanel. Anyone coming with me, get in the car now!” the Emperor shouted, yanking open the car door.

The car sped down the highway. “Still can’t get through?” the Emperor shouted without turning his head.

“No, still nothing,” Lu Ningyu replied, making the Emperor slam his fist on the steering wheel and press the gas even harder.

So, when Lu Yi and Li Xinran finished agreeing on their story and arrived at the Security Bureau entrance, they found the other fifteen participants already waiting there.

“What are you all doing here?” Lu Yi asked, surprised to see so many people present.

He quickly noticed that, though they looked weary, none of them were wounded, nor were their vehicles damaged. Checking the time, Lu Yi realized he had left during the safe period, and clearly, the others had arrived even earlier.

He blurted out, “You guys are all fine?”

Kuangdao stood there, face stern, his long blade on his shoulder. The Emperor’s expression was equally grim. “That’s what we should be asking you. Weren’t you here waiting for the protagonist? Why are you coming from that direction?”

“We’re all fine? Did you want us to be otherwise? Did you know something and purposely keep quiet?” Deng Zhi suddenly jumped in, accusingly.

Fang Hao watched Lu Yi with an amused look, while the rest of the newcomers—including Li Xinran’s friends—glared at Lu Yi and Li Xinran in anger after hearing Deng Zhi’s words.

“We ran into a monster in town. Seeing you all arrive safe and sound ahead of us, I just asked out of surprise,” Lu Yi quickly explained.

“A monster? So, you were chased by a monster? And you two managed to handle it yourselves? We didn’t see any sign of a fight on the way. If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable,” sneered Xu Yuanbin.

The others—middle-aged man, high schooler, Deng Zhi, and Lu Ningyu’s group—all nodded in agreement, eyeing Lu Yi and Li Xinran with suspicion.

With most people showing their agreement, Xu Yuanbin grew even bolder. He feigned concern, “Look at this lovely lady, all glowing and radiant—so busy last night she couldn’t answer her phone, and up early today to show off. What a waste of such a good time.”

“Exactly! We were worried something happened here and rushed over, barely slept a wink crammed in the car—and look at them, who knows where they went to have fun last night,” Deng Zhi’s words made the others even more unfriendly.

Li Xinran was stunned—was she really as radiant as Xu Yuanbin claimed?

The truth was, she and Lu Yi had agreed to act unfamiliar to avoid suspicion, but before they could pretend, they’d already been spotted by everyone, which was awkward. She recalled how her friends had urged her to wait for the protagonist, and she had kept refusing. Now, they’d seen her come out at six or seven in the morning with a man she’d never met in real life, which was embarrassing enough—nothing like what Deng Zhi implied.

“Stop talking nonsense. We really did run into a monster. If it weren’t for a demon hunter, we would’ve lost our lives,” Li Xinran hurried to explain.

The group responded with a chorus of jeers. Li Xinran jabbed Lu Yi with her elbow. “Say something!”

Lu Yi patted her arm and gave her a reassuring look.

By now, Lu Yi saw through them all: some were selfish, some blindly followed others, each with their own agenda—a true rabble. It was pointless to waste words on them. He also understood why Fang Hao had chosen to stand aside alone; dealing with such people was futile—it was better to find a way to work with the seasoned participants.

Folding his arms, Lu Yi simply waited to see what more they would say. Li Xinran, catching his cue, stopped arguing as well.

Noticing how Li Xinran calmed down after receiving Lu Yi’s signal, Xiao Wen decided continuing the confrontation was pointless. She stepped up and said, “Come on, give it a rest—we’ve known Li Xinran for years, we know what kind of person she is.”

Seeing that Lu Yi and Li Xinran remained unmoved by their taunts, most of the newcomers lost interest. Xiao Wen’s words further quieted the room.

With the situation settling, Lu Yi took out an MP4 player and handed it to the Emperor. As the video played, the Emperor was visibly surprised. “You really did run into a monster.”

“What? They were telling the truth?” “If a seasoned participant says so, they must have proof.” “Videos can be faked, you know,” the group buzzed with renewed discussion.

“Oh, so you encountered a monster and the two of you sparked a romance—what was it called again?” Deng Zhi sneered.

“It’s called the suspension bridge effect,” the high schooler explained. “It means that when someone crosses a suspension bridge and gets scared, their heart races. If they meet someone at that moment, they might mistake the excitement for attraction, and develop feelings for that person.”

“Exactly,” Deng Zhi said, patting the high schooler’s shoulder. “Look at those two—completely in sync. It’s enough to make anyone jealous.”

“Why didn’t you show this earlier?” Li Xinran asked in the team channel.

“Now was the perfect time. Not only did it clear things up, but it also revealed the truth about some people,” Lu Yi replied with a smile.

“The truth?” Li Xinran was puzzled.

“The truth is, some people lack both intelligence and integrity, but they have no shortage of selfishness and greed,” Lu Yi sighed.