It was a coincidence, or maybe not, but near the city gate, they did run into a teammate, Shen Mengchen. However, she was hastily fleeing at the moment. Ju Jingyi initially wanted to greet her, but seeing a black-clad pursuer behind her, she exchanged glances with the two people beside her. With unspoken understanding, they turned around and ran in different directions, scattering the trio completely.
Yi Xing kept looking back as he ran, checking if the Hunters were catching up. His heart was filled with anxiety, worried about his companions being caught and fretting over how to complete the mission. Even with three of them together, they struggled, and now that they were split up, it was even more difficult.
He quickened his pace, quickly escaping the area. There was nothing he could do about Shen Mengchen being caught. He couldn't possibly rush in, sacrifice himself, and hold a Hunter to create an opportunity for her to survive. His character wasn't that noble, unless it was absolutely necessary.
Soon, a new eliminated person joined the termination room. Now Dou Xiao wouldn't be bored; at least there was someone to chat with, snack on, drink milk, and enjoy the sight of others being pursued by Hunters. It was simply delightful.
After this little interlude, the already scarce time dwindled from less than five minutes to just two minutes. Yi Xing had no hope left of completing the mission. He sighed helplessly and said to the camera,
“I can’t help with this mission. I hope they can complete it successfully. But a smaller area is fine; it makes no difference to me.”
Not long after he finished speaking, he received a message on his phone that read:
“With the help of four Accelerators—Tian Liang, Ada Choi, Jia Nailiang, and Wang Likun—Bai Mofei and Lu Yingying successfully obtained 35 coins and completed the mission. The city gate will now be permanently open.”
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, a look of relief spreading across his face. He then said to the camera, “Good thing they were there, otherwise we would have lost contact with our teammates on the other side.” He then put away his phone and walked in the direction Ju Jingyi had fled. Compared to his cousin, the former certainly needed more protection.
Yi Xing hurried along, not forgetting to pay attention to his surroundings, fearing a Hunter might suddenly rush out. He couldn't handle surprises. Soon, he arrived at a small alley and was walking inside when a voice came from behind him.
“Yi Xing, over here.”
He looked in the direction of the voice and found Ju Jingyi hiding around a corner, breathing slightly heavily, her expression still a little tense. She had clearly just escaped a Hunter's pursuit.
“Xiao Ju, are you okay right now?”
“I’m fine. A Hunter just passed by me, and it scared me so much. Luckily, I hid fast enough, otherwise you wouldn’t be seeing me here.”
“Next time, run in the same direction as me. I’ll protect your safety.”
“How will you protect me? Are you going to sacrifice yourself like last time when a Hunter comes?” Ju Jingyi asked curiously, wanting to know how he planned to protect her.
“Of course not. I have a brilliant plan. You’ll know when the time comes.”
“Hey, why are you like that? Tell me, please?”
Yi Xing looked at the girl pouting in front of him. He couldn’t resist her offensive, so he smiled helplessly and finally caved, spreading his hands and saying, “Alright, alright, you win. If we encounter a Hunter, won’t he only catch the slowest one? I’ll deliberately run slower than you and lead him to another place, so you’ll be safe.”
“How is that any different from directly sacrificing yourself?!”
“There’s a huge difference! Don’t you believe I can survive from a Hunter’s grasp?”
“I do believe you, but it’s still too risky. It’s okay if I get caught, because I’ve already been an Accelerator King once. You’re different; you haven’t, so you need to stay alive.” Ju Jingyi strongly disagreed with his so-called brilliant plan, arguing her point.
Hearing her words, Yi Xing smiled. He thought this plan would be immediately agreed to once proposed, after all, who wouldn't want to survive a little longer? The longer one survived, the more screen time the show would give, a direct correlation between the two. Being rejected was unexpected for him. He rubbed his nose and said with less confidence,
“Actually, I’m confident I can escape safely.”
“Then tell me how confident you are. Can you ensure success every time?” She crossed her arms, still not quite agreeing, her eyes scrutinizing.
“Th-thirty percent confident.”
“Alright, I know. I’m unilaterally vetoing this brilliant plan. If I see you do that, I’ll just let the Hunter catch me. It’s not like I don’t know how to sacrifice myself.”
“No, no, no, then let’s just rely on our own abilities.”
“Okay, I agree.”
Ju Jingyi extended her hand to him, four fingers curled down, leaving only her pinky finger. It seemed she intended to pinky swear with him; mere words weren't enough to reassure her.
“We’re grown-ups, and we’re still pinky swearing.”
“Never mind that, just tell me if you’ll do it or not?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Yi Xing’s lips curved slightly upward. He extended his pinky finger and gently hooked it with hers, simultaneously reciting the oath: “Pinky swear, hang in there, a hundred years no change, whoever changes is a puppy.”
While these two were flirting in the alley, outside, a drastic change occurred. The 15 Accelerators were reduced to 13, with Da Zhang Wei and Huang Qishan being eliminated.
As soon as Da Zhang Wei returned to the termination room, he complained to his other two teammates, “Huang Qishan’s voice was really too loud! It immediately attracted the Hunters, and two came at once, one in front and one behind! I didn’t even know where to run!”
This is what happened at the time: the two were hiding perfectly behind a door when a Hunter passed by. Huang Qishan, seeing him leave, thought he wasn't that formidable. She pulled Da Zhang Wei and started chatting loudly, which attracted the Hunter back, who also brought a companion. In an instant, the two decided to give up resistance and let themselves be caught.
Shen Mengchen heard these words and couldn't help but laugh. The latter commented, “Huang Qishan is too carefree! I deeply sympathize with your plight, but I’m not surprised at all that you two were caught, hahaha!”
“Da Laoshi, it’s okay, it’s okay. At worst, we’ll just come again next time.” Dou Xiao patted Da Zhang Wei’s shoulder, comforting him.
“I’m not coming again! This show of yours is too scary! These Hunters are elusive; you can’t hear any footsteps.” Da Zhang Wei quickly waved his hands in refusal. He wasn’t planning to come again, unless the money offered was enough, then he might consider it.
The Accelerators surviving in the game area received the detailed information for the second mission. Compared to the first mission, the difficulty had increased several times over.