Chapter 282: He's so pretentious

Let us slightly rewind time, back to the moment when Chi Jinan just "killed" Ying Duo.

The fluorescent green hair strands were soaked in the blood pool; their originally bright color completely dimmed, as if some rare fluorescent mineral had been violently crushed, losing its intended function.

And the unharmed Ying Duo stood strangely beside his own corpse, his golden eyes calmly regarding this corpse that was almost identical to his own, as if looking at an exhibit unrelated to him.

If he had any thoughts, it would probably be: this hair could actually be used to show signs of life?

After a while, Ying Duo finally squatted beside his own corpse, trying to poke it with his hand.

However, a lifelike mechanical phoenix-tailed butterfly fluttered over, lightly landing on Ying Duo's fingertip, stopping his next action; as its wings opened and closed slightly, it scattered specks of light.

Almost simultaneously, the edge of Yang Yixie's computer screen began to show countless translucent purple butterfly effects, fluttering around the game window, exuding an indescribable eeriness.

Now this is the true cutscene CG.

Shadows rippled like water, and a figure leisurely stepped out from within.

His figure was tall and well-proportioned, looking about thirty years old, his face handsome to the point of being almost demonic.

His deep purple hair was loosely tied at the back, leaving a few strands of stray hair hanging at his cheeks; his skin was pallid, his features deep-set, the corners of his mouth naturally upturned, wearing a smile-not-smile arc.

The mechanical phoenix butterfly that had landed on Ying Duo's fingertip suddenly flew up, landing on his left shoulder, occasionally trembling its wings slightly.

The man walked up to Ying Duo, his purple eyes blinked and he even had the leisure to give a wink, while raising a pale, slender finger to lightly press against his own lips—a "shush" gesture.

"Shh—watching the show, kids don't move around."

Ying Duo snapped his head around.

"........" Yang Yixie couldn't help but mutter in front of the screen, "This guy is so pretentious."

He actually felt greasy on a pixelated little person's body?

Yang Yixie couldn't help rubbing his arms, feeling goosebumps all over his body about to rise.

Dieyu Zhe seemed completely unaware that his entrance was inappropriate; he naturally reached out to grab Ying Duo and walked toward Min Tianyou and Shen Zexi.

"Come on over, kids, this way."

Their steps were soundless, as if stepping on a thin membrane of another space, causing no energy ripples or air disturbances.

【Name: Si Jing (Lv. 46)】

【Title: Dieyu Zhe】

【Age: 31】

【Race: Human】

【Faction: Undercurrent】

【Affection: 10 (a pitiful child, how did he get targeted by Chi Jinan)】

【Mutation Value: 13】

【Status: Healthy】

【Likes: Jewelry,....... (to be unlocked)】

At that moment, Min Tianyou seemed to suddenly sense something, his brows furrowed as he turned his head toward the direction where Dieyu Zhe and Ying Duo were hiding.

Almost at the same moment Min Tianyou turned his head—

"Whoosh!"

A sharp breaking-through-the-air sound rang out, a blood crystal shot toward the shadow where Dieyu Zhe was hiding.

The blood crystal grazed past, barely missing the strand of deep purple hair on Dieyu Zhe's forehead; the gust it generated cut off a few of his hairs, which lightly drifted down to the ground.

Dieyu Zhe's smile froze instantly, then his whole expression collapsed.

He clapped a hand over his forehead and cried out in anguish:

"Chi—Jin—An——! You maniac! Bullying a kid is bad enough, but you messed with my hair! Do you know how long I've spent styling this hair?"

His shout left everyone on the clearing stunned.

Chi Jinan slowly rose to his feet, looked at Dieyu Zhe, then glanced at Ying Duo beside him, whose expression was a bit dazed; his pure black eyes showed no surprise at all.

As expected, there was deceit.

Shen Zexi, who had been fixedly staring at the direction of Ying Duo's corpse, widened his eyes as he saw the Ying Guang Lu corpse lying in the blood pool, like a sand painting blown apart by the wind, suddenly turning into countless translucent butterflies that fluttered away and dissipated in the air.

Meanwhile, the real Ying Duo stood obediently beside that flamboyant purple-clad man; although he still bore many wounds, at least he was alive.

"Ying Duo!"

Shen Zexi practically lunged over in an instant, grabbed Ying Duo's shoulder, examined him up and down, his palm once again emanating a soft blue healing light as he treated him while asking softly.

"How are you?"

Ying Duo let him examine him; his golden eyes glanced at Shen Zexi's anxious face, then at Dieyu Zhe still mourning his hair nearby, and finally at Chi Jinan in the center of the alley, whose grim look seemed about to drip water.

"I'm fine," Ying Duo told Shen Zexi, his tone still flat, as if it weren't he who had just "died" once.

After the CG ended, the previously missing functional plugins popped up; Yang Yixie looked at the screen's now-normal operation interface and status bar, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He immediately had Ying Duo move a little to confirm that character control was smooth.

He'd say, his computer specs are maxed out—how could it lag at such a crucial moment and cause his character to die?

But the sense of danger Chi Jinan just gave him was no act; Yang Yixie truly worried that if Ying Duo died, there would be some penalty that might also implicate him.

Unlike Shen Zexi's one-sided concern for Ying Duo on this side, over there Chi Jinan was also one-sidedly outputting Dieyu Zhe.

All that could be heard was Chi Jinan coldly speaking to Dieyu Zhe, his tone full of disdain for him.

"Playing god, disgusting."

Dieyu Zhe had just fixed his messed-up hair; hearing that, he immediately bristled.

"Who are you calling disgusting?! Chi Jinan, I may not be able to beat you, but believe me—I'll go find someone to get you later!"

Dieyu Zhe's whole shtick is being unreasonably bold; if he can't win a fight, so what—he's just a pitiful, helpless illusionist, and fighting is definitely outsourced to others.

Speaking of which, how did his Aberrant Arts fail so quickly? He originally wanted to use illusion to watch Chi Jinan spin around like a headless fly, but it suddenly shattered.

Logically, as long as even one person was fooled by his illusion, his illusion field shouldn't collapse so easily.

The Butterfly Speaker's doubtful gaze swept over each of the few people one by one; Min Tianyou needn't be mentioned, this guy is clearly a prophet yet highly sensitive to illusion, and Chi Jinan relies entirely on intuition, not his brain.

Finally, his gaze locked firmly onto Shen Zexi.

"That's not right…," the Butterfly Speaker said, stroking his chin as if talking to himself.

He stepped forward two paces, closing in on Shen Zexi, who was treating Ying Duo's wound.

The Butterfly Speaker's voice was full of doubt, "Kid, how did you notice something was off? I clearly sensed that your previous sorrow and anger were genuine, not false."