Chapter 43: A Grisly Discovery

“Humph!” Mo Xiao’ai turned away in a huff.

“Xiaobai, stop it, okay?”

“Mmm~ I’ll stop only if you say so,” Xiaobai, leaning against me, laughed. It seemed he was already satisfied after teasing Mo Xiao’ai.

“Alright, alright, let’s go,” I urged.

Sigh… My heart was so tired. Those two—sometimes reliable, sometimes childish and goofy.

“Let’s go, let’s go. Are you going first, or me?”

Li Xiaobai’s knee injury seemed to have healed… He moved his left leg; he no longer needed my support. How could I put it? It was simply unbelievable.

As for Mo Xiao’ai, she was fine. Although she was just a girl and a high school student, she was abnormally strong in every aspect, but still within the realm of human capability.

But Li Xiaobai—whether it was his explosive strength and speed or his godlike reflexes, he gave me a feeling of surpassing normal human limits.

And the wound healing speed I’d just witnessed, plus that ability to sense people’s positions from earlier—these shouldn’t be things a human could do.

Could he be like those augmented humans or artificial humans from the movies?

Hmm—what a man full of mysteries.

But I didn’t dare ask. Even if I was a bit slow, I knew some things were better left unasked. Although we were teammates now, and Li Xiaobai and Mo Xiao’ai had been kind to me, strictly speaking, a few hours ago we were still strangers.

“What’s wrong, Donghui? You seem out of it.”

“A bit sleepy.” I rubbed my eyes, glanced at my wristband, and answered, “I only have one hour left.”

“Mmm~ We need to hurry. I’ll help you; you don’t need to do anything yourself.” He picked up my hat and ruffled my hair.

“Hey~ Don’t treat me like a kid.” I shook my head to shake off his hand, snatched back my hat, and pouted.

“Old habit. I know a girl who’s just like you,” he chuckled.

“Girlfriend?”

“Heh~ No. A little girl, seven or eight years old.”

“Are you mocking me?” I was speechless. Me, like a seven- or eight-year-old?

“No, a little girl just as cute as you.”

“And you say you’re not mocking me? ‘Cute,’ ‘girl’—which of those isn’t an insult?” I was full of black lines. I hated being mistaken for a girl.

“Heh~ Sorry.” He smiled.

“Stop the chatter! We’ve reached the end!” Mo Xiao’ai called back to us.

While we were talking, we had silently arrived at the first fork. Ahead lay another corridor. With the lesson we’d just learned, we dared not advance rashly.

We pressed against the wall, observing. This corridor was different from the last one—there were more rooms here. From three to six, on both sides.

More rooms meant more places for William to set traps.

“What do we do?” Mo Xiao’ai, bow in hand, leaned against the opposite wall, cautiously scanning the corridor.

“…” Li Xiaobai was silent.

Given the previous situation, even Li Xiaobai, who usually acted decisively and recklessly, couldn’t make an immediate decision. His expression flickered uncertainly. He whispered, “Let’s find something to throw in first.”

“Heh~ Great idea~” Mo Xiao’ai deliberately drew out her tone in mockery.

Li Xiaobai didn’t blush. Once he made a decision, he acted on it immediately. He lifted the old cabinet we’d just passed by.

He raised it with one hand and threw it into the corridor. Not far—it landed right at the door of the first ward.

“Looks like nothing’s happening~”

“Crack, crack, crack, crack~” Before he finished, noises from both side rooms answered him.

“Swish, swish, swish, swish…” A sudden barrage of black arrows shot out from the two rooms, riddling the cabinet in the middle like a hedgehog on both sides.

The old cabinet danced and twitched for a while before stopping.

“…” The three of us just watched, saying nothing.

A long silence.

“Damn~” Li Xiaobai could only utter a single exclamation. He turned to us and said, “I think we should go back to that pit and jump down to the second floor.”

“…Chicken,” Mo Xiao’ai said coldly, glancing at him.

“I only have 45 minutes left…” I said weakly.

“…” Li Xiaobai’s face darkened. He said coldly, “Sorry, forgot. No choice then. We’ll have to take him down to extend your life.”

With that, he picked up his broadsword and walked forward. Mo Xiao’ai glanced at him, then followed. Finally, I hurriedly caught up with Mo Xiao’ai.

Li Xiaobai stopped in front of the hedgehog-like cabinet.

“Sometimes overthinking just stops you from moving forward.”

He raised his foot and kicked the perforated cabinet like a soccer ball. Well, strictly speaking, it didn’t fly; instead, it rolled like a bowling ball all the way to the end of the corridor and slammed against the wall.

As the cabinet rolled, it triggered every silver-wire trap along the floor!

“Swish, swish, swish, swish…”

Except for the first ward, the remaining wards also shot countless black arrows from their doors, just like the first one. But with no target, all arrows missed.

“Let’s go.” Li Xiaobai didn’t look back, brandishing his broadsword as he led the way.

The déjà vu was strong—like watching a triad movie?

“Hope that helps,” Mo Xiao’ai said coldly, following him.

“Mmm~ Should be safe, right?” I clutched my scissors, walking behind Mo Xiao’ai.

We crossed the corridor without incident. It seemed there were no other traps besides the arrow mechanism.

At the last room on the left, we noticed something odd. A thick smell of blood wafted from within.

We cautiously peeked inside.

“Ugh~” I covered my mouth.

“…” Li Xiaobai stood at the door, his expression shifting—unreadable.

“…” Mo Xiao’ai just glanced coldly and walked on. As she went, she said in a chilling voice, “Be careful, or you’ll end up like them.”

Inside the room, over a dozen headless corpses were piled messily—likely contestants killed by William. He had stored them all here.

The scene was horrifying… Blood covered the floor.

“Don’t look, Xiaobai. Let’s go.” I tugged at Li Xiaobai’s sleeve.

“Oh, okay.” He responded but didn’t turn away immediately. His gaze lingered on the pile, especially on a headless girl’s body.

I had no choice but to catch up with Mo Xiao’ai first. I couldn’t stand the stench of blood.

“So this is what a true villain looks like…” Li Xiaobai suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left eye and immediately covered it with his hand.

But he wasn’t surprised—he understood the changes happening in his body. A wave of cold swept through him.

His blood was turning cold… the urge to kill. It seemed he had to let it heat up.

“Ah, so cold.”

“I thought people killed to survive… Guess I was too naive. I thought killing for myself would make my conscience feel better, but it doesn’t seem to be the case… Looks like I’m just like you now, William.” His hand holding the knife trembled.

“Now it seems I’ll kill for my own pleasure. My first target will be you… William,” he muttered to himself with a faint smile.

“Xiaobai?” I couldn’t hear his whisper, but I thought I saw him smile…

“Ah, it’s nothing. I’m coming.” He turned around, lowering his hand from his eye, and smiled.

It was still an ordinary eye, but as he lowered it, a flash of vivid yellow flickered.

In that instant, I saw that yellow beast’s pupil again…

“Let’s go.” He walked up to me and patted my shoulder.

“Oh, okay.” I was a bit startled.

On the surface, he was still that goofy, innocent boy, but deep down, I felt some indescribable change…

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