Absolute Death Game-Chapter 317 - 86: Meeting Dugu Han Again
Wang Lei groggily opened his eyes to find himself cradled in Dian Lan’s arms in the classic princess carry position. He was immediately stunned, "How did I get down here? What happened?"
Dian Lan was about to answer when suddenly, from afar, a loud boom was heard.
Boom! The intense explosion was even more deafening than thunder, causing the ground itself to tremble. The blast interrupted Wang Lei’s question as everyone turned to look in the direction of the noise. They all wore shocked expressions as a fountain-like flame mushroom cloud rose in the distance, strikingly conspicuous against the dark night. After the mushroom cloud dispersed, the flames continued to burn, painting half the night sky red.
Xiao Buli was the first to regain his composure, "Damn, you guys actually blew up the gas station."
Just before, the great move Wang Lei had employed had summoned down countless bolts of lightning, and evidently, one had struck the gas station, resulting in the explosion. "I blew up the gas station? How is that possible, I clearly—" Wang Lei glanced at the nearby metal tower, seemingly recalling something, and his face suddenly turned ashen as he murmured, "It was that voice!"
His voice was so low, nobody heard him.
"Let’s not worry about that now, we need to get out of here quickly," Lu Xinying urgently suggested, nervously looking toward the exit where their pursuers could arrive at any moment.
Both parties exchanged glances and, uncharacteristically of the recent hostility, promptly reached a consensus with one word—"Run." Considering that their opponents had a significant number of vehicles, both groups tacitly avoided the road, instead sprinting madly through the woods and fields ahead.
Being in the suburbs of City S, far from the city center, there were a lot of farmlands and wilderness. As it was summer, the dense vegetation and complex terrain made it ideal for escaping.
The group ran for over ten minutes before they stopped, having not been pursued. Thanks to the enhancements to their physiques in the game, most of them felt fine even after the long run, but two were panting heavily—one was Wang Lei and the other was indeed Qin Shimoon.
Although Qin Shimoon had undergone some military training, after all, she was a woman with a less robust physique. Keeping up with Xiao Buli and the others for so long had exhausted her, and despite the contractual restrictions that prevented her from stopping, she had to grit her teeth and continue. Now she was panting severely.
Yan Zhong and his companions naturally recognized Qin Shimoon, and upon noticing her, they were immediately puzzled, "Manager Qin? What are you doing here?"
Qin Shimoon’s face was as cold as frost, showing no intention of answering his question. However, Yan Zhong was beginning to sense that something was amiss. Observing Qin Shimoon’s uniform and sullen expression and piecing together the previous encounters, he roughly understood what had happened. His gaze swept over the four people before him, eventually settling on Xiao Buli, the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became of his guess, a stern look flashing in his eyes, "You bastard, you set me up!"
With that shout, tensions rose sharply once again.
"What, want to fight? I’m ready whenever you are," Xiao Buli drew his sword with a flourish, the blade emitting a chilling menace under the moonlight. Yan Zhong, however, displayed no fear, "I was thinking exactly the same, let’s settle our new and old scores together!"
"Why bother?" Lu Xinying interjected. "We have a common enemy right now; there’s no need to fight to the death, is there?"
Yan Zhong became even more irritated upon hearing this, "You’re no good guy either, we haven’t settled the score about Zhang Biao yet. Today, you two will die together here!"
"Boss, I don’t think this is a good idea," said Wang Lei as he tugged at Yan Zhong’s sleeve. His recent summoning of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder had expended all his mana and overdrawn his spirit. Now he could not even summon a Palm Thunder, and if a fight broke out, he wouldn’t be able to assist much, and would likely become a target for concentrated attacks.
Moreover, he noticed Lin Beifeng was not around, clearly gone. Now it was three against four on their side, with one incapacitated—it didn’t look like they had a winning chance.
On the other side, despite their roughed-up state, combat capability remained. He hadn’t realized Qin Shimoon’s strength and assumed she must be very strong. Yan Zhong pondered for a moment, finally letting out a sigh. Things were indeed troublesome, and it was clear they wouldn’t come out ahead if they fought. Yet swallowing his pride was something he just couldn’t do. Xiao Buli observed him but made no move to attack, aware that the Ancestral Dragon’s forces might catch up at any moment. If they didn’t have to fight, it was best not to.
"If we’re not fighting, then we shall part ways."
Having said that and about to leave, that whispering voice suddenly resurfaced in his ear, "Are you planning to just leave like this? You should take this chance to finish them off."
Dammit! Xiao Buli cursed inwardly, scanning the surroundings—"Mind’s Eye!" Ineffective, showing nothing.
—Omniscient Eye! Still ineffective, besides their own people there were no other shadows around.
Yet the voice fell silent again, as if what had just occurred was merely a hallucination.
"Did you guys hear any voices?"
"Not at all." Both Lu Xinying and Wu Min’er shook their heads, and Qin Shimoon did the same, though her eyes flickered with a cold, schadenfreude smile.
Wang Lei, however, exclaimed excitedly, "You heard a strange voice too?"
Xiao Buli looked at him quizzically, "What do you mean?"
Wang Lei said, "You’ve got Soul Departure Syndrome." He seemed surprisingly pleased, indeed he was delighted. Sometimes people can be strange—when misfortunes happen to oneself, it feels awful, causing self-pity and distress. But if the same thing happens to someone else, it can make one feel much better. Right then, that was exactly how Wang Lei felt.
"Soul Departure Syndrome? What’s that?" Xiao Buli asked curiously.
Just as Wang Lei was about to explain, Yan Zhong huffed a sound, cutting off his words.
Xiao Buli was about to press on with more questions when his gaze suddenly fell on a figure slowly walking out of the darkness ahead.
"Someone’s coming!" Lu Xinying said with alert, and both parties immediately became guarded.
When the figure became clearer, Xiao Buli involuntarily took a step back out of instinct.
Dugu Han!? Xiao Buli was shocked upon seeing the person, who else could it be but Dugu Han.
Dressed in a suit and leather shoes, he looked exactly like he did when he was ’taken out’, except the expression on his face was less arrogant and more devilish.
Both Wu Min’er and Lu Xinying also showed surprised expressions, especially Wu Min’er. She was the one who had pierced Dugu Han’s heart with a knife, and she exclaimed in shock, "You’re actually not dead!?"
"Disappointed, aren’t you?" Dugu Han said while walking over to Yan Zhong’s side. His presence instantly boosted the morale on Yan Zhong’s side.
Wu Min’er blurted out anew, "But I personally... personally killed you... Ha, don’t you know this game has many magical spells, skills, and enchanted artifacts? Some of these can even resurrect the dead. I happen to have a treasure that saved me from death. As for what it is, I have no intention of telling, especially not to a traitor," Dugu Han chuckled.
This seemed like an explanation, but no matter what, Xiao Buli still felt something was off, having personally witnessed Dugu Han being cut into seventeen or eighteen pieces.
Nevertheless, he wasn’t too tense. If he had been afraid of Dugu Han before, now Dugu Han was no longer a threat to him.
"What do you want? Revenge? If so, you’re going to be disappointed. I’m not the same person I was before."
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Dugu Han shook his head, "Nor am I the same Dugu Han I was." He said with a smile, a hint of malice in his grin and a dismissive tone in his voice that seemed to imply more than it said.
"What do you mean?"
"It means nothing. Let bygones be bygones. I have more important business now, and I need to propose a cooperation with you. Enough chit-chat, our boss wants to meet you." Enjoy new chapters from novelbuddy
Your boss? Xiao Buli thought to himself, as if I’d take up that offer, that’s like a lamb walking into a tiger’s den. He was confident in his life-saving abilities, but not to that extent. "I’m not interested."
Dugu Han smiled, "Our boss said you’d say that. He also said, if you did, then he’d like me to ask you a question. Don’t you want to know the origin of this game?"
"The origin of the game? Your boss knows it?"
"Of course!" Dugu Han said with pride, "Our boss was an old player from the internal test."
That indeed was a tempting surprise. The game’s secrets had always proven deeply troubling to him, particularly when that voice talking about ’Soul Departure Syndrome’ sounded quite ominous.
Xiao Buli looked at the others, "What do you all say?"
Lu Xinying looked at Wu Min’er, "I have no objections."
Wu Min’er said, "I also really want to know the secrets of the game, but I’m not going to gamble with my life. My fate has been out of my control for far too long."
Xiao Buli nodded, the point was valid, "Sorry, I can’t trust you. If you’re not here for revenge, then we should be leaving now."
Dugu Han sighed resignedly, "Alright, the boss said you’d probably say that. But he also told me to give this to you if you did." As he spoke, he pulled a card from his pocket and tossed it over.
Xiao Buli caught the card and saw a string of numbers ’297931938’ on it. He paused and asked, "What’s this?"
"It’s our boss’s QQ number. Remember to add him as a friend when you get back."
Xiao Buli: "........." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
