“What do you mean?” Yuwen Xuan paused before asking, surprising Xu Shuhan with his unexpectedly calm tone.
Ling Mo, with an expressionless face, replied, “You just mentioned ‘above ground’? But I remember you saying it was dangerous ahead. Or were you just trying to keep us moving forward with you?”
“You won’t regret it…” Yuwen Xuan didn’t deny it, instead speaking with a sincerity that was almost disarming.
“So why don’t you tell me now, what exactly is it that you want us to see?” Ling Mo didn’t seem angry. Despite Yuwen Xuan’s slightly mad demeanor, Ling Mo appeared quite serious. To Xu Shuhan, he even seemed a bit grave.
Yuwen Xuan chuckled, shaking his head, “If I told you now, you’d turn back immediately. But trust me, once you see it, you won’t think that way. I’m doing this for your own good… Think about it, if there wasn’t something worthwhile, why would I insist on leading you there, even in my current state? If you’re worried about the risks, I can honestly tell you… there are risks, but I assure you they’re within a controllable range, as evidenced by my escape… And it won’t take much time…”
“So, what do you think? I’ve said so much already. I know you have doubts, but since we’ve come this far…” Yuwen Xuan continued.
“It sounds reasonable…” Xu Shuhan thought silently, feeling a bit at a loss. The madman’s logic, though risky, only piqued her curiosity more. As he said, they were just a hundred meters away… If they wanted to stop, they should have done so firmly from the start!
“Since we’re already here, might as well jump into the trap with you… Is that what you’re trying to say?” Ling Mo interrupted coldly.
“A trap? What the heck!” Xu Shuhan was on the verge of losing it…
Yuwen Xuan seemed taken aback, pausing for a couple of seconds before saying, “There is danger, but it’s not a trap… I’ve been in there once already.”
“Where’s Yuwen Xuan?” Ling Mo suddenly asked impatiently.
His voice was still low, but to Xu Shuhan, it sounded like something had exploded.
Yuwen Xuan? What does that mean? Could it be…
“No way!” Xu Shuhan’s eyes widened, pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating.
Unlike Xu Shuhan’s stunned reaction, Yuwen Xuan, after a moment of silence, suddenly laughed, “What are you talking about…”
“Do you know my relationship with Yuwen Xuan? Tell me,” Ling Mo said.
“What’s the point of asking that, or are you… having some kind of hallucination? Maybe you’ve been unknowingly affected?” Yuwen Xuan coughed twice, frowning, “Perhaps that’s the hidden danger?”
“Still pretending? Fine…” Ling Mo’s eyes glinted with a hint of mockery as he said, “Honestly, your appearance is well-disguised. But in other aspects, you’re full of holes. From the moment you spoke your first word, I knew something was off.”
“First word?” Yuwen Xuan leaned against the wall, asking with a hint of amusement, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, what appearance, what holes…”
“You said, ‘You guys are here…’ right?” Ling Mo asked.
“Yes, but what does that prove?” Both Yuwen Xuan and Xu Shuhan were puzzled. Although she didn’t think Ling Mo was affected, the situation was indeed confusing…
“Heh… The sentence itself isn’t wrong, but stating that fact became your first and biggest mistake.”
Ling Mo took a step forward, blocking Xu Shuhan, “Remember? We were standing in such a way. Not only that, we were in the dark. With human vision, at a distance of over ten meters, you can only see a silhouette, and that’s if your senses are sharp…”
“So what? Even if I couldn’t see you clearly, who else would be here with a flashlight?” Yuwen Xuan said angrily, shouting at Xu Shuhan, “He’s definitely affected, don’t listen to him. If necessary, knock him out first…”
“Hold on.” Ling Mo waved his hand.
Xu Shuhan looked confused, but upon meeting Yuwen Xuan’s gaze, she silently took a step back.
“What are you doing? If we let him continue like this, we’re in danger! I didn’t expect there’d be something like this here… If you’re suspicious, I can stay away, and besides, I’m injured, how could I be a threat? But he… at least you should control him…” Yuwen Xuan shouted anxiously. ꞦåΝОβÈṣ
Ling Mo listened quietly, and only after Yuwen Xuan stopped shouting did he speak calmly, “See, that’s what I call the second flaw… You’re shouting so loudly, yet there’s no reaction around us. Most importantly, after you appeared, the monsters that were originally approaching us stopped coming…”
Xu Shuhan’s heart skipped a beat! Yes, when they killed that decoy monster, Ling Mo did mention there were more troubles ahead… But as they followed Yuwen Xuan here, those “troubles” never showed up… Her attention had been entirely focused on the danger ahead…
Now, hearing Ling Mo point it out, she suddenly realized.
Thinking about it, it was indeed suspicious!
“Those monsters are just afraid to come near here! Otherwise, how did I manage to hide until now? And that monster you killed, it only turned back when it reached here!” Yuwen Xuan said excitedly.
“I figured you’d say that. Let’s go back to the first point… Even if you could guess who was coming, how did you say ‘you guys’ without seeing us clearly?” Ling Mo asked.
“Because… it couldn’t be just one person…”
“No, you weren’t guessing, you were certain. And at a distance of ten meters, I could feel your gaze. You weren’t looking at a vague silhouette; you were looking directly into our eyes. I’m sure Host Xu felt the same, right?”
Ling Mo spoke calmly, and as he finished, he suddenly removed Xu Shuhan’s mask with a swift motion, then sneered, “You’ve disguised yourself well, and you calculated that in such a short time, we’d easily be led by the nose. By the time we realized something was wrong, it would be too late. But there’s one thing… Yuwen Xuan doesn’t know about her zombie identity. Otherwise, how could he not react upon seeing her eyes?”
Xu Shuhan’s pupils contracted.
Indeed, Ling Mo was right. The moment Yuwen Xuan looked up, she did make eye contact with him… She had thought he hadn’t seen clearly, but in her tension and anxiety, she had overlooked such a detail… And despite finally finding Yuwen Xuan, Ling Mo had maintained such rationality and observational skills…
“Even if you can explain that, there’s one thing you can’t cover up. No matter where Yuwen Xuan was hiding, if he heard the commotion and saw the light, he would rush over immediately, not wait for the light to dim before approaching. But this, I suppose you’ll never understand, right?” Ling Mo asked.
Opposite him, Yuwen Xuan remained silent, head lowered. After several seconds, he slowly raised his head, and his stiff lips curled into an eerie smile, “Humans are indeed troublesome.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his body suddenly twisted, and under the watchful eyes of Ling Mo and Xu Shuhan, “Yuwen Xuan” began to undergo a wild transformation all over…