Chapter 200: Exit

Heh heh......

All around, the corpse ghosts that were roused and gathered again let out hungry, thirsty howls.

Jiang Yuan watched those staggering monsters, his face showing no expression.

He simply issued the order in an unquestionable, king‑like tone.

"Go."

A single word.

The Shadow Legion moved!

It was a devastating, all‑cutting slaughter!

These Shadow creatures empowered by Shadow Ghost Power were far stronger than ordinary corpse ghosts!

They were like black tides, instantly drowning the stumbling flesh bodies.

Tear, devour, crush.

In just a few breaths, the entire passage was completely cleared.

Immediately after, those Shadow servants, having completed the task, turned into streams of black smoke and surged back into Jiang Yuan's body.

Packets of pure, icy energy merged into his limbs and bones.

Jiang Yuan could clearly feel that the number of "subordinates" he could command had increased.

He slowly lowered his head and looked at his palm.

Black vapors swirled.

What exactly am I now?

A Weird that has acquired human will?

Or a human who has mastered Weird power?

That question circled in his mind.

After a while.

Jiang Yuan gave up thinking.

What he is, doesn't matter.

What matters is that he still remembers the mission assigned by Wang Dui, and recalls his duties as an investigator.

He also remembers everything he cherishes and wishes to protect.

That is enough.

Jiang Yuan reined in the black vapors around him, checked his bearings, and began searching for the scattered companions.

The structure of the second underground level was labyrinthine, but for Jiang Yuan, who could now perceive every subtle movement in the shadows, finding people was not difficult.

He soon found a faint glimmer of fire at the doorway of a storage room.

The firelight was white.

Pale and cold.

When Jiang Yuan stepped forward, the firelight was snuffed out by a hand.

Immediately, the door was pushed open and a figure staggered out.

It was Chen Shao!

He wore glasses, his face still bearing a stunned pallor; upon seeing Jiang Yuan, he first froze, then his face erupted with huge delight!

"Jiang Yuan! You... you're still alive! That's great!"

Seeing Chen Shao, Jiang Yuan's tense nerves suddenly relaxed.

That's great.

There are still people alive.

"Chen Shao."

Jiang Yuan stepped forward and supported him, "Are you okay? What about the others? Did you see them?"

Chen Shao trembled lightly:

"All the monsters in the Corpse-wrapping Bags came alive, it's terrifying, I didn't dare go out looking, I..."

"It's fine now."

Jiang Yuan's heart sank.

He patted Chen Shao's shoulder and said gravely, "Now it's safe, let's go look, hopefully we can find others."

Following Jiang Yuan, Chen Shao's complexion was so gloomy it seemed it could drip water.

He never expected.

Jiang Yuan not only survived that situation, but, judging by his current appearance, it seems he has even resolved the trouble he had on himself.

That's not good news.

Jiang Yuan, with Chen Shao, almost turned the entire second underground level upside down.

In the end, they only found the trembling Ahu in a compartment of a ventilation duct.

As for Xiao Ma and Li Na, they were neither seen alive nor found dead.

Chen Shao secretly let out a sigh of relief.

Those two were probably already torn apart by the monsters he had drawn, then transformed into new corpse ghosts.

Without bodies, no one would know he was the one stabbing from behind.

Since they truly couldn't find anyone else, Jiang Yuan had to lead Chen Shao and Ahu toward the direction of the Exit as remembered.

They arrived at the place where the Exit was.

Beyond the door was a pure white that symbolized hope, a scenery that could not be seen clearly.

"Out... Exit?"

Ahu's voice trembled with disbelief.

Chen Shao also widened his eyes, his face full of the ecstatic joy of a narrow escape.

Only Jiang Yuan knit his brows.

He could feel that this door emitted no threatening aura.

Yet the more it seemed so, the more uneasy he felt.

To ensure nothing goes wrong.

Jiang Yuan turned his head to the two and said, "My current condition is rather special; even if there are traps, I should be able to handle them. I'll go in first and see; if nothing happens, you can follow me."

"Jiang Yuan..."

Ahu and Chen Shao looked at him with worry.

"Don't worry."

Jiang Yuan gave them a reassuring look, then, without any hesitation, stepped through that door.

One step out.

Seeing Jiang Yuan leave safely, Ahu's hanging heart finally settled, and his face erupted in ecstatic joy.

"We succeeded! We can get out!"

He shouted excitedly, about to rush toward the doorway.

But at that moment.

A hand gently pressed on his shoulder.

"Hold on."

A gentle voice sounded in his ear.

Ahu was startled, turned his head, and saw Chen Shao smiling at him.

But that smile looked strange no matter how he looked at it.

And at that very moment.

Chen Shao reached into his pocket and pulled out the white Candle he had previously extinguished, along with a box of matches.

The existence of the white Candle is his alteration of the second hidden Rule.

Ssshh.

A match struck, lighting up.

The pallid flame was lit again.

The instant the flame flared, that open, hope‑symbolizing Exit door slammed shut with a heavy bang!

The ecstatic joy on Ahu's face froze instantly.

"Chen Shao... you... what are you doing?!"

He stared at Chen Shao in terror, completely not understanding what had happened.

Chen Shao gave him no reply.

He slowly raised his hand and removed the blood‑stained glasses from his face.

Then, with his blood‑soaked hand, he swept his disheveled hair from his forehead backward in one motion.

A slicked‑back hairdo.

Just that simple action caused his entire demeanor to undergo a dramatic transformation!

The refined, cautious Chen Shao vanished.

In his place stood a tall, imposing stranger whose aura was suffocating!

He looked at Ahu, and in the lens‑free eyes there remained only a blade‑sharp keenness and a teasing amusement!

"You... you're not Chen Shao! Who are you!"

Ahu retreated repeatedly in fright.

"Me?"

The man smiled, and a surgical knife flashing with cold light slipped from his cuff.

"I'm just a person who needs to complete a mission."

A cruel expression appeared on his face.

"I originally thought that once Jiang Yuan died, I could leave directly. I didn't expect I would have to go through this extra step."

"But that's fine."

"Exactly ten people—neither more nor less."

Before the words finished.

He lunged forward to Ahu in an instant!

Pfft!

The icy surgical knife, without any resistance, pierced Ahu's heart.

Ahu's eyes bulged, he looked down, unable to believe the knife hilt in his chest, and finally collapsed weakly.

The man expressionlessly withdrew the blade, flicking off the blood.

The mission was completed.

He turned, extinguished the Candle, and walked toward the iron door with a composed stride.

He believed that at the moment he completed the mission, the Rules had already opened a true path of survival for him.

He reached out and pushed the door open.

However.

Behind the door, it was not the Corridor to the outside that he had imagined.

Instead, it was a…

…deep, bottomless, pure darkness.

The smile on the man's face froze.

"What's going on?"

"I completed the mission, I killed ten people… why?"

He stood at the entrance of the darkness, looking around bewildered, unable to comprehend everything happening before his eyes.

At that moment.

In the depths of that endless, deathly silent darkness.

A huge, indescribable, crimson eye suddenly opened.

In that eye there was no pupil, only the most primal, pure chaos and madness.

It just there, quietly, stared at the tiny human at the doorway.