Chapter 193: Xiao Fu

The crimson car handler scanned the surrounding grasses, slowly stopping, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths.

In his haste to flee earlier, he hadn't paid attention to others' positions, and before he knew it, they were scattered.

In his hand he held the mission battery; at his feet, Flame Rat, Pichu, and other Pokémon guarded him.

These little ones had been trained to stay silent, but they had just witnessed their companion, Blaziken, brutally murdered, and their spirits were crushed.

The handler stroked his Pokémon with a complicated heart—something hellish was that the killing ground was riddled with danger and too many incomprehensible things.

Dying cleanly and swiftly wasn't even the worst outcome.

After a brief moment of sorrow, the handler's expression hardened again as he began to strategize.

The killing ground never issues impossible missions—there must be one or more paths to complete it.

Perhaps, as Master Pi Fu said, the grass held clues still undiscovered by other players.

Perhaps the second battery is inside Cliff's belly—kill him, and it'll drop out.

Of course, no matter the final outcome, the immediate priority was to find the others and regroup.

Rustle-rustle—

The grass ahead suddenly parted, revealing Zhao Zijing, her expression weary. Her soles hovered two or three centimeters above the ground, as if unwilling to leave footprints.

"It's you."

The handler exhaled in relief, lowering his voice: "Where are the others?"

"Not found yet," Zhao Zijing said calmly. "Hold onto the battery. Let's move together."

Zhao Zijing checked the direction on her radar compass, then gestured for the handler to follow, walking diagonally toward the blue arrow's direction.

The handler and his remaining Pokémon hurried after her, afraid of getting separated again. "Aren't we going back to that open ground?"

"No. We only have one battery—going back would be pointless."

Zhao Zijing explained without turning back: "Better to use the time to explore the grass and search for other clues—"

Before she could finish the word "clue," the handler's Pokémon simultaneously unleashed their moves—Wind Blade, Thunderbolt, Fireball, Leaf Blade—hurtling toward Zhao Zijing.

Thud!

All attacks were blocked by an invisible barrier of telekinesis. Zhao Zijing stood unharmed, her eyes turning cold as she turned to face the crimson car handler scrambling backward with the battery.

She raised both arms and slashed sideways—the tall grass before her parted like Moses dividing the sea.

The handler, struck by the telekinetic surge, stumbled and fell into a mud pit, the mission battery tumbling beside him.

The Pokémon nearby immediately tried to counterattack, but Zhao Zijing used telekinesis to seize the handler's hands, forcing him to pull out Poké Balls and recall all his Pokémon.

Then she smashed the Poké Ball switches, rendering the Pokémon unable to escape.

Having finished, Zhao Zijing stepped forward, looking down at the handler in the mud pit, and asked calmly: "Why did you attack me?"

"You're not Zhao Zijing. Not the one I know."

The handler gritted his teeth. "I have a skill that detects whether someone has killed recently and accumulated karmic debt."

The real Zhao Zijing had no karmic debt—you do."

If you didn't kill Cliff, then you must have killed someone else just now."

Zhao Zijing frowned. "Because of that?"

"More than that," the handler clenched his fist. "When Cliff first appeared, he was already badly injured—and he said, 'Who should I kill this time?'"

Also, in the pit where the Bismuth-Yellow corpse lay, Master Pi Fu and the others claimed they saw two Katherines—one of them was beheaded before their eyes, and the body was taken away."

Combining these clues, this entire stretch of tall grass is exactly like Master Pi Fu said—a time loop, like in *Triangle of Fear*."

At the same moment, there are two or more groups of us players."

The Zhao Zijing I know could never kill a teammate in just a few minutes."

Which means—you're the future Zhao Zijing from this time loop."

"Zhao Zijing" looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. "You're smarter than you look."

"Too kind."

The handler's smile looked worse than crying—his Pokémon were sealed in Poké Balls, his own body only slightly stronger than an ordinary human's, and he had no chance against this corrupted Zhao Zijing.

Trapped in desperation, the handler calmed down. "In time-loop horror films, ordinary people always panic."

But players must be more rational, more calm. Facing another version of yourself, another group of allies—it's not impossible to sit down and cooperate."

You never considered cooperation—not to kill Cliff together, nor to use both batteries to open the gate and complete the mission."

That implies that, in your future, you gained some information confirming cooperation is impossible."

Maybe only one group can escape, while the others are trapped here forever."

Or maybe you must kill every other living person to escape the grass."

"You're right. Too bad there's no reward."

"Zhao Zijing" snapped her fingers.

Telekinesis flowed silently, piercing through skin. The handler's internal organs were shredded; fragments of flesh and organs spewed from his mouth—exactly as depicted in the prophecy painting.

In his final moment, he forced a smile, pulling an explosive device from his backpack slot.

"Zhao Zijing" immediately retracted her telekinesis, forming a thick wall before herself—next second, the bomb detonated with a roar.

The telekinetic barrier blocked the full force of the blast, but the mission battery was launched high into the air, soaring above the tops of the tall grass.

"Zhao Zijing"'s face darkened—the handler had tricked her one last time. Previous players had tested: anything crossing the grass's treetop vanished.

Back then, to avoid mission failure, no one had tested the battery.

Now, by detonating the bomb and launching the battery, if it vanished upon crossing the grass top, it was revenge against Zhao Zijing—none of them would get out alive.

If it didn't vanish, and successfully crossed the grass top, it could serve as a warning to potential allies like Master Pi Fu.

"Zhao Zijing" stood still, releasing telekinesis to catch the falling mission battery.

Fortunately, the battery itself was undamaged—its charge still at 40%.

Others and that Cliff could appear at any moment; she grabbed the battery and used telekinesis to crush the racer's corpse and the Poké Ball repeatedly before retreating swiftly.

Moments later, the tall grass parted again; Li Cheng and Hui Yu stared at the scattered remains of the racer, silent.

After all, they had been comrades on a mission; Li Cheng had no stomach for hellish jokes and carefully examined the surroundings.

Hui Yu asked, "Could it have been that Cliff guy?"

"It's Cliff," Li Cheng said without looking up. "You're thinking of Khrushchev—the former Soviet leader."

Hui Yu froze. "Huh? Isn't Khrushchev Doraemon's friend?"

"That's Suneo."

"Isn't Suneo a character from *Jade Dragon Sword*?"

"That's Ji Xiaofu."

"Isn't Ji Xiaofu that iron-toothed minister?"

"That's Ji Xiaolan."

"Isn't Xiaolan Shinichi's girlfriend?"

As they spoke, footsteps drew nearer; the bandaged man arrived, saw the shattered corpses in the explosion crater, and his voice trembled: "This… this is the Racer?"

"Yeah, that's how it was when I got here. The mission battery seems to have been taken too."

Li Cheng carefully inspected the action camera carried by the Crimson Racer—completely shattered, beyond any possibility of restoration.

The bandaged man finally broke down, collapsed onto the ground, clutching his head and rocking back and forth.

That Cliff is a Level 20 transcendent; players already struggle to defeat him. Now both Midnight Howl and the Crimson Racer are dead—the situation is dire.

"I need to go home," the bandaged man said, as if remembering more, in pain: "My wife is sick. My daughter's at a special education center. I need to go home."

Typically, the Killing Field System selects ordinary people with distinct traits and immense potential to become players.

As the saying goes: when Heaven intends to bestow a great responsibility upon someone, it first torments their spirit and exhausts their body. Among players, far more have suffered worse fates.

And the bandaged man seemed among the worst off.

His parents died early; his wife suffers a grave illness; his daughter has congenital defects requiring constant care; as a firefighter, he suffered severe burns in a fire—and now he's been dragged into the Killing Field.

Soon after, Zhao Zijing and Catherine, drawn by the battery flying into the sky, arrived at the crater's edge; all survivors regrouped.

"Only the Racer's footprints are in this area,"

Zhao Zijing observed briefly, frowning: "Naval Six Styles include Moon Step—a technique allowing brief levitation by stepping on air. Could he have done this?"

"Hard to say. As a summoner, the Racer's physical strength is limited. If Cliff ambushed him, I'd guess he was instantly killed—no sound at all."

Li Cheng shook his head, then suddenly seemed to realize something—he sniffed the air sharply.

A faint, elusive fragrance.

His eyes lit up; he immediately pulled from his 3D warehouse an industrial-grade olfactory analyzer (electronic nose), and used the 【Assembled Doll】 effect to mount it on his nose.

The olfactory analyzer consists of an array of gas sensors, signal preprocessing, and pattern recognition modules, widely used in chemical, food and beverage, environmental odor detection, and medical diagnostics.

Once mounted on his nose, the extremely faint fragrance instantly became clear—and pointed unmistakably toward three o'clock.

Li Cheng sprinted ahead in that direction, explaining as he ran: "In the Pokémon world, Bellossom has male and female variants.

The female's pollen emits an extremely potent stench, detectable over two kilometers away. The male's odor is far milder.

After air dilution, it becomes a faint fragrance.

The Racer's Bellossom was male. Before he died, he must have made the Bellossom coat the battery—or possibly his killer—with pollen or nectar, to guide us."

If the Racer were still alive, he'd weakly cry out: "This is my final ripple, Master Pi Fu!"

Catherine, forced to sprint behind, gasped for breath: "I-I don't think it's a trap, right?"

Li Cheng couldn't be bothered to reply; Hui Yu glanced at Catherine and retorted: "Auntie, do you even have a choice?"

What auntie? I haven't even graduated college yet!

Catherine's expression twisted—but the term wasn't wrong; strictly speaking, Hui Yu was only seven or eight months old. To anyone, he had every right to call them "Uncle" or "Auntie."

Following the fragrance through the air, they advanced—before even parting the grass, they heard a shrill, unmistakably familiar female voice ahead: "Impossible!"

Bursting through the tall grass, they saw a second Zhao Zijing kneeling in a mud pit.

Her expression was dazed, desperate—as if severely traumatized—before her lay a dried male corpse clad in camouflage.

The corpse emitted labored, rasping breaths, suspended in a bizarre state between life and death.

A mission battery was plunged through its chest, its charge fully depleted. Beside the body lay dozens, nearly a hundred empty batteries of the same model.

Seeing the second version of herself, Zhao Zijing beside Li Cheng was utterly stunned.

She opened her mouth to speak—when the other Zhao Zijing raised her palm, launched a telekinetic dart, and pierced her own skull, dying instantly, no time to intervene.

Another perfect replication of the prophecy painting.

All this happened within seconds; the surviving Zhao Zijing lunged forward, dragged up her dead self from the mud, and examined her closely.

No disguise, no face mask—every mole, every tooth on the decapitated corpse matched her exactly. This was Zhao Zijing herself.

"The grassland contains a time loop—two versions of oneself existing simultaneously."

Zhao Zijing's mind raced; she recalled the second Catherine she had seen earlier—and reached the same conclusion as the Racer.

Li Cheng's focus, however, was on the empty batteries.

The batteries were piled chaotically—nearly a hundred of them. If all were part of the loop, then this cycle had repeated at least a hundred times.

Where had all the previous Lis gone?

Li Cheng thought calmly, stepped forward, and gazed down at the dried corpse—using his Skull Reconstruction skill to reconstruct its original face.

A Caucasian male, early thirties, square-jawed.

This face pointed to the leader of the Mercury Alloy Guild—the Level 30 transcendent, Silver.

"Silver?"

Li Cheng raised an eyebrow, staring at the half-dead corpse: "You're not quite dead yet?"

"Just revived."

The withered corpse spoke weakly, its voice hoarse and rough like a cracked gong. "You must be that suicidal woman's teammates, right? Bad luck for you—same as Mercury Alloy, trapped here to die."

"Judging by all these dead batteries around us, this should be the ninety-eighth time we've repeated this conversation."

"What exactly is going on? What did you just say to the second me that made her kill herself?"

Zhao Zijing dropped the corpse, her gaze coldly fixed on Argent.

In her 【Pixel Detection】 skill display, Argent, originally Lv30, currently had life energy equivalent only to Lv10–Lv12.

"I only told her the truth about this patch of grass."

Argent said quietly, "Kill everyone, and there's a chance of breaking out of the loop. Otherwise you'll be stuck here forever, just like Cliff and me."

(End of chapter)