Those who had originally intended to curry favor with Rong Ping’an, after witnessing Xing Yun’s actions, all tucked their tails and behaved themselves. They dared not make any unusual moves, as Xing Yun’s every action was simply too unexpected; to say they were not afraid would be a lie.
Who could have guessed that a girl who appeared soft and weak on the surface could be so ruthless and decisive in her words and deeds?
Anyone who saw her current state would feel compelled to shout that she was someone not to be trifled with. After all, there were so many coffins lying on the road; who would dare to actually open one to take a look? She not only dared, but she could even shove two living people inside.
This left everyone wondering if Xing Yun was some child of destiny, incapable of attracting punishment no matter what she did.
Blood and tears still flowed from Xing Yun’s eyes, but she wiped them away with her sleeve without a care, which left the others even more dumbstruck.
The man who had just launched the attack clearly possessed mental enhancements or mental items. Any mental attack usually caused dizziness and nausea; at worst, it could inflict the pain of having one’s body torn apart. The light consequences involved lifelong sequelae, while the heavy consequences could lead to direct death. Yet, Xing Yun had endured the mental attack and remained as active as usual.
This was already beyond the realm of what an ordinary person could endure.
Could it be that her mental strength had reached a level where ordinary items could not easily cause harm? Some people secretly wondered.
One person blinked frantically and coughed, signaling others not to follow Xing Yun and her companion anymore, and to disperse near the forks in the road. Being near this “living ancestor” was too much pressure; what if she got annoyed and shoved them all into the coffins?
The big shot beside her did not seem like someone who wanted to uphold justice. Rong Ping’an walked forward quickly; not only was she unwilling to talk, but she also appeared quite exasperated.
Xing Yun looked at the person blinking frantically in confusion and sighed, “Is your eye uncomfortable?” The person stopped blinking, paused for a second, and switched to shaking his head wildly.
Xing Yun merely muttered that it was bizarre, and she watched as everyone scattered like birds and beasts, no longer following them.
Xing Yun rubbed her head in bewilderment, having no idea why.
On another path, Yu Xi shook his head and sighed. He could not bring himself to tell Xu Lang that the items he had found had been tricked away by a newcomer; it was simply too humiliating, and if it got out, he would truly be a laughingstock.
It was better to let it remain a secret between him and Xing Yun.
“You understand, after all, the strongest one is walking in front. What could I possibly find behind her?” Yu Xi feigned distress and helplessness.
Xu Lang did not think much of it and nodded in agreement. “That is also something that cannot be helped. That strongest one likes to pay attention to the environment; perhaps they were all taken by her. But I have a bold guess: what if God never set up any rewards at all?”
Yu Xi nodded absentmindedly, already cursing Xing Yun from head to toe in his heart.
He could not quite understand how Xing Yun had managed to trick him. Was Xing Yun’s mental strength simply too high, or had his own mental strength plummeted to rock bottom?
Yu Xi’s research into mental strength began after he cleared his fifth dungeon. He finally found an effective way to restrain NPCs and extended his “Absolute Perception.”
Initially, it was just a random attempt, but he had become increasingly proficient over time.
In the end, he was a veteran of the Infinite Game, so even if Rong Ping’an had been there, she might not have been able to trick him so easily.
He believed that the only one capable of doing this so effortlessly was God.
Yu Xi asked Xu Lang, “That newcomer, the one called Xing Yun, what exactly did she get from God?”
Xu Lang was silent for a moment. “It is better to know less about matters involving God. After all, if one clears enough dungeons, one will know sooner or later.”
Yu Xi lowered his head. “Yes, we are all restricted.”
On the other side of the wall, Xing Yun flexed her fingers and questioned Rong Ping’an, “How did you know that walking this path would lead to the person Yu Xi mentioned?”
“I did not, but isn’t it enough to just go in the opposite direction from Yu Xi?”
This was indeed a time-saving and effortless method.
However, in reality, they had not encountered any so-called people along the way, though the coffins frequently emitted strange movements after Xing Yun shoved two people into them.
Xing Yun was very laid back; whenever a coffin moved, she would give it a few kicks, and she walked the whole way without any trouble.
As they reached the exit of the room, Xing Yun saw the cloudless sky outside.
“We arrived?” Xing Yun muttered to herself.
In the next second, she saw a girl blocking the exit, wearing a long dress. Her eyes were timid, her frame was small, and her cheeks were slightly sunken.
It was not hard to tell from her slightly curly, yellowing hair that she was malnourished.
Rong Ping’an furrowed her brows. She did not lower her guard just because it was a little girl, no matter how harmless she looked.
Xing Yun thought the same. She rolled up her sleeves, intending to shove this little girl into a coffin as well, but Rong Ping’an grabbed her with lightning speed. “Observe for a moment.” She had been thoroughly defeated by Xing Yun’s ruthless and decisive manner.
Previously, it had been players, so being reckless was fine, but the one before them looked like an NPC at a glance, an NPC! How could she be so bold? Was she not afraid of triggering some terrifying plot?
“I am always very careful.” Xing Yun looked innocent and patted Rong Ping’an’s hand, which was gripping her tightly. “Relax.”
To Rong Ping’an, Xing Yun’s words lacked any persuasiveness. She felt a lump in her throat and her mouth twitched. Xing Yun reminded her of the settlement screen from the last dungeon. Xing Yun had been very comfortable with attacking NPCs; not to mention NPCs, she would even give a few kicks to a Boss.
She had even alarmed God, who came down to rebuke Xing Yun.
However, being able to survive after angering God seemed to be proof of her exceptional abilities. If she could handle God, would these creations of God not be even easier to deal with?
“You are wondering why she would dare to hit an NPC?” The little girl before them suddenly spoke, then frowned in confusion. “What is an NPC?”
Xing Yun was first confused about why one could not hit them, then cold sweat drenched her back, because she realized that what this girl had said must be Rong Ping’an’s inner thoughts.
Mind reading?
This was the situation Xing Yun feared encountering the most. Who did not have thoughts they would not want broadcast? If she were discovered, she could truly dig a hole to hide in right there.
The little girl tilted her head and looked at Xing Yun, saying word for word, “Your high school deskmate was a pretty girl… You wanted to do this and that with her. Eh, what does that mean?”
Xing Yun looked up at the sky, feeling like crying. It was the morning of the first snowfall; the transfer student sitting by the window had snow blowing onto her eyebrows and hair. She had immediately thought of candied hawthorn, but in the end, after the girl transferred away again, she never got to make candied hawthorn with her.
Xing Yun covered her ears. “Enough, I cannot keep making this up; that was the original meaning…”
The little girl looked to be about seven or eight years old, but considering her malnutrition, her actual age was likely higher; ten should be about right.
“Me? Honghong is twelve years old.”
The little girl seemed friendly and was able to answer basic questions.
“Do not think too much.” Rong Ping’an took a deep breath, trying to empty her mind, worried that the NPC reading her mind would have bad consequences for them.
Xing Yun glanced at Rong Ping’an, who had closed her eyes, but she did not think so. With great boldness, she greeted the girl: “Hello little sister, why are you blocking the road?”
Rong Ping’an, who was still observing, could not catch her breath and choked. She looked at Xing Yun in shock, trembling as she pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to keep her voice steady. “Do not just talk to her, be cautious.”
Xing Yun rubbed the tip of her nose. “She does not have human common sense and does not understand anything. Maybe if we talk to her, we can get some information? I bet she cannot understand a long string of words like that.”
Rong Ping’an: …
She usually followed the path of least resistance in dungeons; choosing boldly and handling things carefully was her motto. By doing so, she had ventured deep into dangerous places and gained many performance points through caution.
She felt truly helpless after meeting Xing Yun, yet Xing Yun’s reasoning was completely logical.
The little girl looked pleasantly surprised. “Eh, you are not here to hurt me?”
Xing Yun raised her eyebrows, failing to understand the situation. Usually, was it not the NPCs who hurt the players? Or had her reputation already spread from the last dungeon to the point where even the NPCs were afraid of her?
Xing Yun completely forgot her earlier thought of stuffing the little girl into a coffin. “Little sister, your big sister is not that kind of irritable person.”
“Then Honghong will share something interesting with you.” The little girl laughed happily, then lifted her dress in front of Xing Yun. In the next second, Xing Yun saw a horrifying scene.
Her upper body was covered in shocking wounds, stacked layer upon layer, crisscrossing like gullies on strange rocks. Some had healed, leaving only pale pink scars, while others were fresh, with blood staining the gauze wrapped around them. The lower half of the girl’s body was not human legs but tentacles resembling those of an octopus. The tentacles moved restlessly, and the mucus secreted by them gathered wet and sticky on the ground.
Xing Yun silently covered her eyes with her hands, trying hard to forget everything she had just seen.
The girl before her did not belong to the category of humans in any way.
“You want to vomit?” The little girl looked around at both of them, first bewildered, and then furious. “Why do you want to vomit when you see Honghong? Honghong just wants to play with you.”
Rong Ping’an assumed a defensive stance.
Xing Yun’s eyes darted around, and she immediately answered loudly, “I ate roast duck, roast chicken, roast goose, sauce chicken, bacon, pine flower stomach, and bacon sausage this morning… I am really so full that I feel like vomiting.”
The girl was stunned, then nodded blankly. She crawled over with her tentacles, the suction cups making a “pat-pat” sound as they stuck to the floor. This scene was truly too sanity-draining; Xing Yun could not help but close her eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again. To prevent her mind from wandering, she kept repeating the names of dishes in her head.
Rong Ping’an was shocked by Xing Yun’s reaction speed. No wonder Xing Yun dared to be so reckless; it turned out she had all kinds of crisis responses stored in her head. Her own mind also began listing dishes; once the brain was occupied, it truly would not think of other things.
The little girl circled around them, tentacles poking here and touching there. “You say so much, I am going to be dizzy because of you…”
But before Xing Yun could relax, she heard a loud noise from behind. The lid of the nearest coffin was pushed open, and a trembling hand reached out, clawing tightly at the coffin board as it climbed out.
Upon closer inspection, it was Quan Tianjiao, whom Xing Yun had just thrown into the coffin not long ago.
He was panting heavily, his eyes burning with hatred as he looked at Xing Yun.
He looked like he was about to take Xing Yun’s life; Xing Yun felt that if she were caught by him, she could be torn into two, and he would even slice open her stomach to play with her intestines as a jump rope.
Xing Yun somewhat regretted not dismantling his arms and legs before throwing him into the coffin.
Cut the weeds and dig up the roots; otherwise, the spring breeze will make them grow again. Xing Yun swore she had learned her lesson; next time, she would do it cleanly and decisively.
But it was clearly the first few coffins she had shoved him into; how had he crawled out of this one? Could it be that they were connected underneath, and the reason the coffin had been making noise was that he had been chasing her from below?
“Hey, what exactly are you trying to do?” Xing Yun blocked Rong Ping’an. “Do not worry, I can resolve the trouble I caused myself.”
Although she said so, looking at Quan Tianjiao, who looked like Sadako, made her skin crawl. After all, nobody knew what he had experienced in the coffin or what kind of existence he was now.
But her panic lasted only a moment. She decisively covered Rong Ping’an’s ears and said to Quan Tianjiao, “You want to play with this little girl.”
Quan Tianjiao looked confused, stopped, and stared at the little girl for a moment.
The little girl beamed with joy. “You want to play with me?”
Quan Tianjiao was stunned. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Xing Yun then noticed that his tongue had disappeared.
But even if the tongue was gone, one should still be able to make an “ah” sound. Since he made no sound at all, it was highly likely that his vocal cords had disappeared as well.
Whether it had been intentionally cut out or it disappeared upon entering the coffin, Xing Yun fell into thought.
The little girl had already happily entangled Quan Tianjiao. “Then you play with Honghong.”
Xing Yun watched from the side as Quan Tianjiao was dragged away by the little girl in horror. The girl’s direction was clearly toward the coffins; she was voluntarily going there.
As the little girl was dragging him, Xing Yun took the opportunity to walk over and give him two kicks; after all, he was the one who had ill intentions toward her.
She made a face at Quan Tianjiao. “Isn’t this place great? I even had a coffin prepared for you.”
Looking at Quan Tianjiao, who was so angry that he was grinding his teeth, Xing Yun laughed even more happily.
“Do not thank me, really, do not thank me.”
The little girl suddenly said, “he says you are not a human being, and that he hates you for something and he does not want to play with me. I do not quite understand the rest.”
Xing Yun smiled. “Big sister is familiar with him; this is just his way of speaking, do not mind it.”
“Really?” The little girl’s eyes lit up.
“Really, the more he likes someone, the more he acts like this toward them.”
“That is great! He is saying that about me too!”
Xing Yun curved her eyes. One could not blame her for utilizing the little girl’s ignorance and innocence.
Who told the one surnamed Quan to kick her iron plate?