Chapter 87: Monsters and Demons

For a moment the atmosphere grew somewhat cold and rigid, and the group didn't know what to do, standing still in place, clearly at a stalemate.

Yang Yunsheng didn't expect Cheng Shuili to give him no face, and for a while he had no intention of speaking again.

Wang Lu, who had been rolling on the ground, suddenly stood up, trembling as she walked to Cheng Shuili's front, the pain having stripped away her previous arrogance.

She placed one hand on Cheng Shuili's shoulder and weakly said, "The debt of saving my life, I have no way to repay…"

Cheng Shuili: "…"

Why do both of them act like they're sick?

Both are in so much pain, yet they cling to these fancy words? Just say thank you.

"So you're just guessing based on that? You laid such a heavy hand—no, a heavy kick—on her, namely Wang Lu?"

A man who had been standing in the corner, silent after introducing his name, suddenly spoke, looking at Cheng Shuili in disbelief as if she were a murderer or had done something universally condemned.

Cheng Shuili was truly helpless.

She remembered that this person was named Du Yu.

She considered that Wang Lu might be temperamental and lash out at her, since although Cheng Shuili saved her life, in the heat of the moment the kick she gave her was indeed forceful, striking her abdomen, and the pain was obvious.

Cheng Shuili can tolerate Wang Lu's bad mood from the pain, but she absolutely cannot tolerate a person unrelated to the incident inexplicably stepping in to point fingers.

Wang Lu, standing nearby, furrowed her brows tightly, seeming to want to say something, but the emotional surge affected her stomach, causing her to wince in pain.

Seeing that she was clearly unreliable, Cheng Shuili decided to speak herself.

Just as she was about to speak, Yang Yunsheng, like a lackey, stepped forward and kicked Du Yu away, then, bending oddly at the waist, asked, "What does it have to do with you? How dare you step in like a dog catching a mouse?"

After speaking, he looked expectantly at the silent Cheng Shuili, as if waiting for her to say something.

Isn't it? What are you going to say?

Does Yang Yunsheng not realize that he himself is meddling like a dog catching a mouse?

Yet Du Yu especially cared about Yang Yunsheng's attitude; hearing him speak, he instantly became obedient, quietly crouching back in the corner like a mushroom.

What kind of monsters and demons are these?

Fortunately Wan Yi was also there; when Cheng Shuili was in a mess, Wan Yi was in the same mess with her—truly a great thing!

Seeing that Cheng Shuili showed no reaction and not giving up, Yang Yunsheng stood aside for a while, and when no one spoke, he put on a flattering demeanor and asked Cheng Shuili: "Now Qi Yue is dead; if you weren't here, we certainly couldn't get out of this Service Area. According to your thinking, where should we go now?"

This was also the question everyone else was concerned about.

For a moment all eyes focused on Cheng Shuili, except Wang Lu.

Wang Lu was annoyed by Yang Yunsheng's behavior; though her stomach still hurt, she now clearly had experience, and when she retorted her fury was not empty at all: "Ask ask ask ask ask your mother? Don't you have any brain?"

"Do you even have the right to speak here?"

Yang Yunsheng gave her no leeway at all.

The bald one left; in the crowd, everyone who seemed capable except Qi Yue followed the bald one. Now Qi Yue is dead, leaving three women and nine cowards.

Yang Yunsheng had just thought he was the boss, but who knew there was the clever Cheng Ershui among these women?

She is quick‑witted, bold yet meticulous; if we talk about who among them has the best chance of exiting the Instance, it must be her.

Although Yang Yunsheng didn't have much affection for women, his judgment of people was always sharp.

To get out of the Instance, Yang Yunsheng was willing to lower himself and follow her as a subordinate!

His doing so doesn't mean he agrees; he finds it extremely shameful, but a true man can be flexible! Using Cheng Shuili to lead him to the Endpoint, and when the time comes to deal with Cheng Shuili, it's still up to him.

He couldn't discern any clue from Cheng Shuili's kick; after all, Wang Lu was standing at the boundary edge, and kicking someone out was too simple to indicate anything.

Yang Yunsheng was still confident in his martial strength, even though he looked frail and wore glasses for 700 degrees of nearsightedness.

But that didn't matter; he believed he could easily subdue Cheng Shuili.

As for Wang Lu, Yang Yunsheng snorted in his mind, thinking she's just a somewhat sassy stupid woman, not worth his attention.

Wang Lu twisted her brows and cursed several times, but receiving no response from Yang Yunsheng, she fell silent.

When Cheng Shuili saw Yang Yunsheng's face, she knew what he was thinking; she hadn't seen many such people in a past life, but this life she meets them one after another.

Should she thank the system?

That it let her witness the diversity of the human species?

Just analyzing this issue, Cheng Shuili definitely doesn't want to turn toward the Endpoint now.

She now fully understands the attack logic of the Sound-Devouring Saliva; since the system placed this Service Area here, it indicates that this place certainly has exploratory value!

As for the Endpoint, Cheng Shuili has always believed that this Instance cannot have only one way out.

Perhaps some condition must be met, or perhaps it's hidden somewhere concealed.

It can't be that there's only that one path; distance and direction are written on the signs, letting players run that way without any other trials.

Cheng Shuili's thought was to re‑enter the Service Area to take another look, but she didn't want to bring these people back in.

What to do about being stabbed in the back? Especially with Du Yu looking like a lunatic, having to guard against monsters and these people—where does he find the mental energy?

But they can't just go straight in; if there's some taboo, like with Qi Yue, they'd die inexplicably.

After a moment of thought, Cheng Shuili said slowly, "I think we still need to go in and take a look."

"Go in again?"

The first to speak was Wang Lu; she had been seriously frightened earlier, almost dying. Forget the monsters; she now has a shadow over the Service Area.

"Really want to go in? There are monsters inside!"

"I won't go in, I don't want to go in."

A male player suddenly shook his head, his emotions seeming to collapse, his eyes filled with crimson blood vessels.

"Going in is a death sentence! Didn't you see Qi Yue's tragic fate? From the moment we saw the monster drag him away, it was instantaneous! Once those monsters latch onto you, it's definitely a dead end, ha ha, do you understand? Going in is a death sentence!"

"I won't go in! I want to go to the Endpoint; that's the way to survive, that's the only way to live!"

He roared with a heart‑wrenching shout, then turned his back and walked away.

The remaining dozen or so fell silent, too conflicted to make a decision.