Chapter 285: Temporary Slacking Squad

Cheng Shuili was glad someone had run into her.

She was worried about insufficient information and didn't know enough about the others' strength.

Cheng Shuili immediately stopped, her body like a ghost silently retreating into the deeper shadows of the pipe, her breathing slowed, almost merging with the pattering rain.

The blade of Night Hunt refracted a cold glimmer in the dim light.

Her gaze locked firmly onto that container area.

A few seconds later, a figure similarly clad in lizard skin cautiously poked out, apparently also observing the pipe's side; evidently Cheng Shuili's swift movement earlier had drawn his attention.

His movements were slightly hesitant, he looked left and right, gripping a handgun tightly, highly alert but not very experienced.

"Just him alone? It looks like all the teams have scattered."

Cheng Shuili's mind instantly flashed with a judgment.

"This guy is a great target for gathering information."

"Moreover, he spotted her first; if left to go, he might expose her whereabouts, bringing more trouble."

"We must settle this quickly."

Cheng Shuili silently draped her cloak over herself; although her agility had increased and she felt confident she could make him hesitate to shoot, she didn't like risking her own life.

At the moment he hesitated whether to step forward to investigate, Cheng Shuili moved!

She didn't charge straight ahead; instead she darted toward a twisted metal plate behind her to the side-rear, creating a sound of movement in the opposite direction.

The player was indeed drawn by the sound, instinctively turning his gun and gaze that way.

"Now!"

Cheng Shuili sprang from the shadows like a leopard ready to pounce, her speed so great only a blurred black shadow lingered in the gray-yellow rain curtain!

The corrosive mire underfoot seemed unable to slow her at all.

The player heard the movement, snapped his head back, pupils contracting sharply, and hastily raised his gun.

"But it's too late!"

Cheng Shuili had already closed in; Night Hunt, with a tearing-air shriek, struck upward precisely!

With a crisp "clang," the handgun was flung straight up, spinning as it fell into the distant hissing acidic mire.

The player was horrified, his other hand frantically feeling his waist, apparently trying to draw a melee weapon.

Cheng Shuili gave him no chance; a flick of her wrist brought the icy tip of Night Hunt to his throat, barely piercing the raincoat's collar, conveying a chill and deadly threat.

"Don't move." Cheng Shuili's voice came through the rain, calm without a ripple, "Answer my questions, and you won't have to die."

The player's body instantly stiffened, hands raised high, he swallowed with difficulty, his face full of fear; he could feel the killing intent from the blade's tip, doubting not that she would strike immediately.

"You... you ask..." his voice hoarse from tension.

"How many are in your team? Did you scatter upon arrival?" Cheng Shuili asked quickly.

"Seven... seven! Split up! Everyone's split up!" he answered hurriedly.

"Seven?" Cheng Shuili narrowed her eyes, threatening, "Then you must have found something, right?"

"What thing? I don't know! Really don't know! As soon as I came in I was in this damned place, only managed to contact two teammates, they're far from me! Big brother... big sister! Spare me, I just wanted to scavenge some supplies, I didn't mean to clash with you!"

Cheng Shuili fixed him with a sharp gaze; after all, this is a Hell-level Instance—those who get in definitely aren't a pick-up team.

"No group chat?"

Cheng Shuili didn't believe it.

Night Hunt pressed a little closer; Cheng Shuili lowered her voice, asking, "What's your ID?"

"I... I..." the man seemed flustered, finally gulped, then blurted his ID: "My ID is Familiar Moyu Miji; I have plenty of supplies, I can give them all to you, don't kill me, don't kill me!"

"Oh?"

"This ID seems a bit familiar?"

"What rank was he again?"

Cheng Shuili squinted, thought a moment, then recalled: he was sixth place, sixth on the double list. That meant Cheng Shuili might have seized a team's core member.

"Saying 'hostage' isn't very polite."

"The fact is, she subdued him!"

"Exactly!"

"This guy wanted to attack her, but she subdued him first."

"Today is another day Justice Little Cheng protects lives!"

"What? Whose life is being protected? Obviously her own!"

Cheng Shuili felt no guilt, continuing to press: "As a double-list sixth, you can't even produce a group leader card? Come clean!"

Night Hunt's tip pushed forward another fraction; the stabbing pain made the player whose ID was "Familiar Moyu Miji" shudder all over.

"Yes! I have a group leader card!"

He almost shouted it, fearing that a second's delay would see the cold blade slash his throat.

"But our boss... our captain isn't me! It's Fengyun Tianxia! He's the group leader, really! I swear! I truly don't know what's going on! I joined this team just to provide a slot for this Hell-level Instance, honestly!"

"I also had no plan to meet up with them; I'm not interested in rankings; I just wanted to find a place to stay put and wait for the failure reward!"

"Fengyun Tianxia?"

Cheng Shuili recalled seeing this ID exposed on the regional channel, labeled a scammer who took money without confirming.

"But another question arises: why enter a regional-level Instance? Others avoid it like the plague, yet this 'Fengyun Tianxia' actively comes in?"

"When things go awry, there must be a demon."

"But interrogating this guy in front of her might not yield anything either."

Cheng Shuili was still somewhat dissatisfied.

"How can a double-list sixth player be such a coward? It makes Cheng Shuili feel a bit embarrassed to go all out. But if she doesn't go all out, she won't know whether this guy has spilled everything he knows."

Torment...

Why is she the one tormented?

A spark of inspiration flashed in Cheng Shuili's mind, and the corner of her mouth twitched into a barely perceptible curve.

She moved her wrist slightly, and the blade of Night Hunt deviated just a bit from the opponent's throat, yet the icy threat did not diminish in the slightest.

She lowered her voice, but her tone took on a strange, chilling 'sincerity': "Oh? You just want the failure reward? You're slacking off, right? I know all about that."

The one familiar with Moyu Miji stared for a moment, seemingly not expecting the other's reaction, and nodded nervously.

Cheng Shuili continued speaking in a leisurely manner, her voice almost blending into the patter of rain: "That works perfectly; our goals align. I have no interest in fighting and killing—I just want to survive safely until the Instance ends."

"Look, our meeting now is fate. How about… we form a temporary slacking-off squad?"