Chapter 80: Meeting at the Crossroads (3)
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Meeting at the Crossroads (3)
"If the opponent dies during the duel, would the victor lose his reward?"
This was the question that the White Team asked in the previous positioning, and the Red Team was only conscious of it now…
Now that they thought about it, they understood Mr. Dot’s answer: even if the loser died, his or her team members had to carry their dead body into the white fog so that their Active Skill could be offered.
Therefore, this must be the same case for B.Rabbit who seemed to have fainted and was unable to move by himself. Lin Sanjiu walked toward him silently and carried that little ball of yellow fur. The rabbit immediately flopped limply in her hands and appeared totally unconscious.
The remaining members of the Red Team watched as Lin Sanjiu back slowly disappeared into the white fog. At the moment, they looked at each other with a lingering fear.
"What should we do next?" Chen Fan’s forehead was covered with cold sweat as he turned to Zhong Junkai and continued, "Ignoring the others, we must avoid colliding with that huge man. He already stayed put in C3 the previous turn, so he will definitely move the next turn. But we simply can’t tell where he‘ll move next…"
Zhong Junkai pursed his lips, not knowing what to do either. The current situation was definitely against them — as both teams got the same hints, they'll be caught by the White Team if they go for the points. However, if they don't snatch the points, the White Team will easily rack up all the points. If the gap between their scores gets too wide, their team will likewise be thrashed by the White Team.
"If we really think about it, the scariest person in the White Team should just be that huge man, right?" Zhong Junkai said without much confidence, "If we have to fight with the other members, there's still a chance of winning…"
Chen Fan nodded hesitantly. "Um… the best option is still to gain points while we avoid a collision…" Actually, he knew that what he said didn't help one bit.
The black screen stood in front of them, blocking the view of their unpredictable opponents. As it had been some time since Mr. Dot had literally blown the fog away, columns of white fog snaked toward the arena once again. The members of the Red Team remained silent as they waited for quite some time before they spotted Lin Sanjiu walking back to them.
She placed B.Rabbit at the side of the grid and walked back to her tile. B.Rabbit laid on the ground and said nothing. He gave Lara a quick glance before he turned to look at the grid.
Next, just like before, they looked at the hints and confirmed their positions, then the black screen descended…
The only difference when the black screen came down was the contrast between the Red Team’s uneasiness and the White Team’s composure.
None of the tiles on both grids was glowing, which meant that no one got any points or lost any points.
"I'll announce the positions…"
White Team: Long-legs B2, Hu Changzai A2, Flowery shirt B4, Loser D4, Hai Tianqing D3, Old Woman C3.
Red Team: Old Wang C1, Lin Sanjiu B5, Zhong Junkai C4, Chen Fan C3.
Before Mr. Dot even said a word, Chen Fan jumped up and stared at the Old Woman standing on the same column and tile. "I collided with her?" he uttered.
"Did you think that since the huge man had to move away from C3, it would naturally become the safest place?" Old Wang, who was standing at the first tile sneered.
Chen Fan wiped the moisture on his face. No one knew if that was cold sweat or rainwater, but he didn't reply and turned to look at the platform instead.
"I already told you that the White Team members are after us. They had already predicted that someone would do that… Once that huge guy leaves, someone will immediately take over that spot!"
Just then, Mr. Dot prompted both contestants to climb up to the platform.
"So what if I collided with that woman from the White Team? Look at her, she is just a weak, sickly woman." He finally calmed himself and laughed.
After that, he walked out of the grid, reached out for the edge of the slate platform with both hands and leaped up onto the platform with one push.
Old Wang made a soft scoffing sound before he eyed the old woman, who was slowly walking away from the screen, intensely.
That woman didn’t look taller than 1.6m. She looked emaciated as if she had not eaten a filling meal for years. Her skin, hair, and expression were visibly dry and marked with the signs of age, she looked very different from the few of them who were only experiencing their first apocalypse. However, hidden beneath her ruined face, a flash of danger was lurking within her eyes.
The old woman walked slowly to the platform. She hung onto the platform and climbed up in a straightforward manner, not appearing nimble nor clumsy.
When it was time to fight, Chen Fan turned a little pale. "Madam, you look tired and weak." He looked at her doubtfully before smiling. "To be honest, I'm young and energetic. I'm a little embarrassed to take advantage of that. Why don't you just surrender?"
The old woman gave him a stoic face. Without even batting an eye, she got into a fighting position.
"I guess you can't hear me." Chen Fan remembered that they couldn't even hear the other in the arena. As if to encourage himself, he spoke a little louder this time: "I'll just have to fight! A person must harden his heart to survive."
As he said that, he hid his left hand behind his back, trying to make that action look casual. Unfortunately, it drew the attention of the opponent even more.
"There’s no need to hurry," Chen Fan murmured to himself as stared hard at his opponent and took two steps back, "I haven't fully summoned my pen."
The old woman frowned, crooking her head slightly as if she couldn't quite understand what was happening. Chen Fan didn't seem too worried about the old woman possible attacks so he lowered his head and mumbled as if that would speed up his ability, "Quick, quick! Create some kind of coincidences…"
The last few words of his sentence were blasted into powder as he was hit by an explosive attack. Blood and countless bits of destroyed innards spurted out from Chen Fan’s mouth like a fountain. The old woman had somehow shifted beside him and tilted her head, avoiding the spray of blood that flew past her ear and frowning as if disgusted by the filth. Despite that, a few drops of blood still landed on her wrinkled face.
She quickly bent down and stepped onto Chen Fan’s body which was moving backward following the momentum of the attack. She managed to stop his body before it fell off the edge of the platform, a smile slowly crept up her face.
"Lad, we can't hear each other because of the boundary line below. I’ve actually heard every single word you’ve said on the platform."
Chen Fan only realized that he couldn't dodge that attack when pain tore through all his internal organs. Anger filled his eyes as a mixture of blood and tears seeped out uncontrollably. Only at that moment did he recall that Lara had clearly begged for mercy, whereas he never even thought much about it.
He gurgled as blood filled his throat once again. He was unable to say a word. He looked at his left hand with much effort and saw his bloodied hand — the form of his fountain pen had almost reached the nip.
"What did you just say? Once that pen appears, it'll create coincidences?" the old woman asked softly as her skin crinkled with a smile.
"No coincidence can save you now." She stepped on him, exerting force. Just as the form of the fountain pen was finally completed, Chen Fan let out the last loud groan in his lifetime, then his body went limp, and he stopped moving.
The pen disappeared — all the members of the Red Team were dumbfounded.
"Oh, the Red Team contestant has died in the duel. Please send someone from your team up so that his Active Skill can be offered," Mr. Dot showed no special emotion, he used a tone as if he was ordering dinner.
The old woman stepped one step backward. Suddenly, she kicked Chen Fan’s waist, and the corpse rolled off the platform. It fell heavily to the ground with a thud creating a splash of mud and blood.
As Lin Sanjiu was standing closest to the platform, the gory mixture spattered across her face. She closed her eyes and wiped her face. She looked at the other two men who were in shock. She walked away from the grid without saying a word, then she lifted Chen Fan’s legs and dragged his dead body into the white fog. Chen Fan had died in a horrible manner — his entire chest cavity was covered by multiple bloodied holes.
"Even though I only knew you for a short time, I didn’t even speak much to you, and we were not even on good terms..." Lin Sanjiu lowered her head as she pulled his body along, mumbling to herself, "but you’re really too pitiful. Dying like this..."
After she said this, she reached the same place in the white fog where the same wooden chest stood, waiting for the next sacrificial offering.
Lin Sanjiu opened the chest with a creak. "We can be considered acquaintances so don’t worry..." she was composed when she took the dead man’s hand and placed it in the wooden chest. She saw a faint light being sucked out of Chen Fan’s palm as it gently floated to the bottom of the chest. "I will avenge you."
Chen Fan’s Active Skill had been offered. Lin Sanjiu pulled his hand out from the chest and closed it. However, she did not leave. Instead, she touched the bottom of the chest as if to ascertain something and nodded.
Lin Sanjiu dragged the corpse out from the white fog and threw Chen Fan’s body to the side of the grid. When Lara caught a glimpse of it, her face turned white instantaneously. She covered her mouth and crawled some distance away from it quickly.
When she returned to her own tile, the hints popped up once again with a "Ding dong", and words appeared on the ground once again.
Lin Sanjiu looked down. Just as before, the hint stated: "There is a +1 point reward in front of you."