Chapter 71. The Truth of the Plot is Straight to the Point...

Half a month later, Longya left the A-level secret realm Blackrock Land and returned to the capital.

During this time, Xiao Weizhi's level successfully rose to 160, and he obtained a new sixth-tier quest: [Exterminate one million monsters of level 80 or above and three BOSSes of diamond level or above].

When the target number of one million was revealed, the team members were stunned, exclaiming, "As expected of our leader, this sixth job advancement quest isn't something that can be completed in a day or two!"

[Promotion Quests: These are assigned based on each person's talents and abilities. The better the talent and the greater the ability of the professional, the greater the difficulty of the promotion quest.]

For example, Chen Feng's sixth-tier upgrade quest is: [Exterminate 200,000 monsters and one diamond-level BOSS].

Xiao Weizhi's promotion tasks were three times more than his, which shows just how high Xiao Weizhi's talent really is.

The group's original plan was to return to the capital to rest and replenish supplies.

Then go to the secret realm and complete Xiao Weizhi's sixth-tier upgrade quest.

But things didn't go as smoothly as the plan.

Xiao Weizhi's grandfather's curse has re-emerged, putting him at risk of death at any moment. He needs a curse-removing item of at least diamond quality to temporarily alleviate the curse.

After a period of fruitless searching, the Xiao family members were preparing to give up with heavy hearts.

They received mixed news: the good news was that someone had been found to possess a diamond-level antidote; the bad news was that this item was in Liu Duoxin's possession.

When Xiao Weizhi learned of this news, he sat in his study in deep thought all night.

As dawn broke, he returned to his room with wrinkled clothes, faint dark circles under his eyes, and an unshaven beard. He found Lin Xiaoxiao, who had also not slept well all night and looked somewhat haggard.

He sat on the edge of the bed, leaned over, and gently stroked Lin Xiaoxiao's cheek as she lay flat on the bed.

She explained the situation with a hint of guilt: "I'm sorry, my grandfather's condition is not good. He needs a curse-removing item of diamond grade or higher to alleviate it. Currently, the only person we know of who possesses this item is Liu Duoxin."

Over the years, Xiao Weizhi has obtained all the available tools to break the curse through various means of persuasion and cajoling, which is why the old man is still alive.

As for anti-curse items of color grade or higher, he had people search for them for so many years, but apart from the one he exchanged with the combat department several years ago, he had never seen one again.

Lin Xiaoxiao sat up in bed, leaned against the headboard, reached out and touched his stubble chin. When she smelled the strong smell of smoke, she wrinkled her nose and asked, "How many cigarettes have you smoked?"

Xiao Weizhi held her hand, lowered his head and rubbed his beard against his chin, his eyes filled with apology: "A little bit."

Seeing his pleading gesture, Lin Xiaoxiao knew perfectly well that Xiao Weizhi was worried that Liu Duoxin would overthink things if he went to her.

However, Xiao Weizhi had no idea that Lin Xiaoxiao's worry was not about his meeting with Liu Duoxin, but rather about his second ordeal.

Silence enveloped the two of them, and the atmosphere became oppressive.

After a moment, Lin Xiaoxiao sighed softly, "Then let's go find her. Grandpa Xiao's health is important."

She couldn't persuade Xiao Weizhi not to go; on one hand, there was Xiao Weizhi's ordeal, and on the other hand, there was his grandfather's life—it was a difficult choice.

Xiao Weizhi hugged Lin Xiaoxiao tightly, burying his head in her shoulder: "Thank you."

Lin Xiaoxiao hugged Xiao Weizhi back, one hand around his waist, the other hand reaching under his armpit and lifting up to gently stroke the fluffy short hair on the back of his head, the gesture conveying a sense of comfort.

Her gaze was fixed on a point in mid-air, her eyes calm and sharp, a faint smile on her face, but her tone was somewhat disgusted: "You smell so strongly of smoke, it's awful."

So what if fate is predetermined? She was able to break through the first barrier back then, and she can break through the second one now.

Xiao Wei rested his chin on her shoulder, tilted his head slightly, and gently bit her earlobe, teasing her in a tender tone: "You think it smells bad, but you're still hugging me so tightly?"

Lin Xiaoxiao tilted her head away, pressed her forehead against his, and gently retorted with a smile: "What can we do? It smells bad, but we can't throw it away. We can wash it and it will smell nice again, so we can keep it."

Xiao Weizhi's ears turned slightly red, his eyes were as tender as if they were filled with spring water, and he kissed the corner of her lips with his thin lips: "Yes, we can't lose it."

Sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating most of the room.

Xiao Weizhi, sitting on the edge of the bed, had half of his body bathed in sunlight, while Lin Xiaoxiao, sitting on the bed, was completely shrouded in shadow by the curtains.

The next step was to race against time to gather supplies and gather information about the Rising Sun Squad.

A day later, Xiao Weizhi led all the members of Dragon Fang to chase the Rising Sun Squad into a D-level secret realm. They spent five days clearing the secret realm, but unfortunately, they did not find Liu Duoxin.

Two days later, they followed the Rising Sun Squad into a C-level secret realm. It took them nine days to clear the realm, but they still couldn't find Liu Duoxin.

Keep chasing...

For more than a month, the entire Dragon Fang team chased the Rising Sun team through several low-level secret realms, but they could not encounter anyone from the Rising Sun team or Liu Duoxin, as if they were deliberately avoiding them.

In battle against a C-level dungeon boss:

Li Junxuan used both hands to lift the shield and slapped away a low-level monster that pounced on him.

He then wiped the sweat from his face and complained helplessly, "Damn it, those bastards from Xuri used to be like dogs that pounce on poop without even being called. We've been chasing them for almost two months now, and we haven't seen them even once."

Wang Hao stopped shooting, picked up a fist-sized rock from the ground, and threw it at Li Junxuan: "How dare you talk like that? You can be a son of a bitch, but don't drag us into it."

Jiang Tao flashed back and kicked Li Junxuan in the butt, then flashed back into the monster horde: "Get lost, you're the daddy."

When Chen Feng was slaying the monster, he accidentally bumped into Li Junxuan with the blade of his sword, sending him flying a meter away.

Liu Huihui, standing a meter away, tacitly tapped Li Junxuan with the blade of his sword, sending him flying back like a ball.

Cheng Cheng raised his staff in protest: "Junxuan, do you even know how to describe it?"

After being dazed for a while, Li Junxuan finally realized that he had spoken. He scratched the back of his head and explained with an embarrassed laugh, "Sorry, sorry, I'm a rough man, not very cultured, and I used the wrong words. It's my fault, it's my fault."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yijin withdrew the poison gas agent that he was about to accidentally throw out.

Huang Yuwei also withdrew her outstretched black hand.

Xiao Weizhi stared expressionlessly at the silver-level BOSS in front of him. The staff in his hand glowed, and he opened and closed his mouth, chanting a spell in a low voice. A huge, fiery red magic circle gradually appeared in mid-air.

Holding a silver-grade fully automatic shooting weapon that was half the height of a person, Lin Xiaoxiao's finger was on the trigger, and hundreds or even thousands of gold coins were fired from dozens of gun barrels, falling into the monster horde.

A moment later, the forbidden fire spell transformed into a meteor shower.

Along with the BOSS and the horde of monsters, they were blasted into dust. The dark, smoky ground was now littered with gold coins, resources, weapons, and treasure chests...

Xiao Weizhi took the core of the secret realm into his hands; Lin Xiaoxiao collected the power of faith that exploded in mid-air; and the other team members quickly picked up the loot that had been dropped and prepared to take it away.

Five minutes later, the entire Dragon Fang team left the secret realm.

They waited at the entrance of the secret realm for more than three hours, but did not see any members of the Rising Sun Squad.

Xiao Weizhi's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He guessed that Xuri must have left the moment the secret realm was broken. He could only sadly lead his team to the car and leave, preparing to send someone back to search for Xuri's whereabouts.

Not long after getting into the car, Xiao Weizhi received a message: 'Half an hour ago, the Rising Sun Squad entered an A-level secret realm. The location of the secret realm is...'

Upon seeing the message, Xiao Weizhi solemnly instructed Liu Huihui, who was driving ahead, "Go to the A-level secret realm, the Howling Peaks, 300 kilometers outside the South City."

With one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator, Liu Huihui slammed the steering wheel to its limit with his right hand, sending the car swerving in a semi-circle and making a sharp U-turn: "Roger that!"

The big guy sitting in the car was thrown about and swayed as the car drifted.

Once seated, the crowd, unable to contain themselves any longer, began to accuse, complain about, and condemn Liu Huihui.

Huang Yuwei, in the passenger seat, quietly clenched her fist, planning to give Liu Huihui a loving kiss after getting out of the car.

Amidst the complaints, Lin Xiaoxiao's lips pressed into a tight line, her stroking of Red Tail's back stopped, her eyes closed, and she leaned wearily against the chair, her breathing caught in her throat.

Grade A: Howling Peaks, is it really still that secret realm?

In the original novel, Xiao Weizhi lost one of his right eyes in this secret realm, and his left eye was also affected, leaving him with only a weak ability to see.

Xiao Weizhi noticed that Lin Xiaoxiao was in a bad mood, so he reached out and took her hand, whispering to comfort her, "Don't worry, the A-level secret realm is not difficult for us now."

During this time, Xiao Weizhi could always sense that Lin Xiaoxiao's emotions were not right, but he didn't know what the problem was, so he could only soothe her anxious emotions again and again.

Lin Xiaoxiao let him hold her hand, a pale smile tugging at the corners of her lips: "Yeah, I'm not worried."

Seeing this, Xiao Weizhi could only sigh helplessly and squeeze her hands a couple of times to signal her not to overthink it.

Five hours later, Longya successfully entered the A-level secret realm.

Upon entering the secret realm, they saw one of the members of Rising Sun standing with his hands behind his back, looking arrogantly at the Dragon Fang group that was chasing after them.

When his gaze fell on Lin Xiaoxiao, his eyes were filled with disgust, as if he were looking at a traitor. He said sarcastically, "Oh, who is this? Isn't this the traitor Miss Lin? So what if you're with the A-level team? You still have to follow us like a dog."

A traitor? A traitor who was abandoned in the secret realm with no strength and almost died?

Upon hearing this word, Lin Xiaoxiao's lips curled into a mocking smile.

To be able to twist the truth and portray the act of abandoning teammates as the original owner's defection, truly befits someone who can be teammates with Chen Zhuoran and Liu Duoxin—the same disgusting thought process.

Just as all the Dragon Fang teammates rolled up their sleeves, clenched their fists, and were furiously preparing to teach this foul-mouthed bastard a lesson with their fists.

Xiao Weizhi stretched out his right hand to stop his restless companions who were about to beat him up. He looked at the smug bastard in front of him with a blank expression and said coldly, "Chen Zhuoran and Liu Duoxin kept you here just to humiliate us?"

As if remembering something, the man snorted coldly: "Xin Xin asked me to pass on a message to you: if you want that antidote, come with me."

After saying that, the man turned and left without caring whether the Dragon Fang Squad would follow him.

Xiao Weizhi followed without hesitation, but Lin Xiaoxiao grabbed his robe belt from behind and, taking advantage of his inattention, pulled out the highest-level item from the items hanging at his waist and stuffed a diamond-level protective item behind his belt.

Xiao Weizhi felt an unusual sensation in his lower back, stopped in his tracks, and instead of taking out the prop, he turned around, took her hand, and quickly followed the members of the Rising Sun Squad ahead.

Even though the Dragon Fang squad knew there was a trap ahead and were worried, they followed without hesitation. Their backs were resolute and showed a desperate, all-or-nothing determination.

Following that member of the Rising Sun team, we walked for more than two hours, winding and twisting, until we arrived at the foot of a towering mountain that seemed to pierce the clouds.

Several familiar figures stood not far from the foot of the mountain, their eyes filled with disgust and hatred.

Here, Lin Xiaoxiao saw her familiar teammates from the original owner's memories, and the mocking smiles on their lips became even more pronounced.

This is the 'good teammate' that the original owner treated with all her heart.

The man pointed to the road leading up the mountain and said, "The captain and Xin Xin are waiting for you up there."

The implication was that they should let Longya and his group go up on their own, and they wouldn't accompany them.

In the darkness, Xiao Weizhi looked up at the winding mountain path, turned to his team members behind him, and said in a deep voice, "Wait for me at the foot of the mountain. I will take care of things as soon as possible and come back."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Xiaoxiao took his hand and said with a smile, "Okay, they'll wait for us at the foot of the mountain."

Xiao Weizhi looked at her smiling face, his eyes deep, and said helplessly, "Xiaoxiao, you stay with them and wait for me at the foot of the mountain. I'll be back soon."

Lin Xiaoxiao's smile remained unchanged, her voice soft but firm: "No, we are one, you can't abandon me."

She pointedly reminded Xiao Weizhi that leaving her here was pointless, as they had a pact: if he died, she would also die; if something happened to her down the mountain, he would also die up the mountain.

In the end, the entire Dragon Fang team went up the mountain together.

Xiao Weizhi couldn't abandon Lin Xiaoxiao, and as for the others, he neither agreed nor refused.

He simply followed silently behind Xiao Weizhi and Lin Xiaoxiao as they walked upstairs, and they wouldn't leave no matter what he said.

Just as the sky began to lighten and the sun was about to rise, the entire Dragon Fang team reached the mountaintop.

Liu Duoxin and Chen Zhuoran stood in front of a magic circle more than two meters in size, eagerly awaiting Xiao Weizhi's arrival.

The magic circle was drawn with jet-black dye, and a black crystal core was buried in a specific location inside as a condition for activation. There were also some bone fragments sticking out of it, so it didn't look like anything good.

When Chen Zhuoran saw Xiao Weizhi appear, he breathed a sigh of relief. He no longer had to worry about failing the mission and having to pay a heavy price.

When Liu Duoxin saw Xiao Weizhi carefully leading Lin Xiaoxiao out, her expression darkened.

Xiao Weizhi led Lin Xiaoxiao to stand three meters away from Liu Duoxin and Chen Zhuoran, with all of Longya's teammates standing behind them.

Xiao Weizhi remained expressionless, his eyes filled with coldness, and asked in a deep voice, "Liu Duoxin, I'm here. Where are the things? And what are the conditions?"

Earlier, Xiao Weizhi had asked someone to inquire with Liu Duoxin about the price she would have to pay to give up the diamond-grade anti-curse item she possessed.

Liu Duoxin only gave one sentence: Find her, and we can discuss the diamond-level antidote.

This is also the main reason why the Dragon Fang Squad kept chasing the Rising Sun Squad.

Liu Duoxin wore a bright red dress that looked as if it had been bleached with blood, and a wicked smile on her face. This smile distorted her beautiful face and made her look somewhat sinister and terrifying.

She pointed at the magic circle in front of her, her smile somewhat maniacal: "Originally, I wanted to spare your life; as long as you entered this magic circle, I would give you the item. However, I've changed my mind."

Liu Duoxin's finger moved from the magic circle to Lin Xiaoxiao: "I want you to enter this magic circle and then push her off the cliff."

Xiao Weizhi's chest heaved rapidly, his whole body trembled uncontrollably, his eyes widened as he stared intently at Liu Duoxin, his back teeth grinding together.

A moment later, he turned around and pulled Lin Xiaoxiao away.

Liu Duoxin spoke again: "Xiao Weizhi, as far as I know, the old man probably only has another month to live, right? Are you sure you want to abandon your grandfather for a woman?"

These words were like a knife piercing Xiao Weizhi's heart. He closed his eyes, paused for a few seconds, and without hesitation pulled Lin Xiaoxiao up again, preparing to leave.

Liu Duoxin laughed heartily: "This is the good grandson that Grandpa Xiao raised with all his heart and soul, hahahahaha."

Lin Xiaoxiao stood still, took the initiative to pull away Xiao Weizhi's hand that was holding her, and turned her head to look coldly at Liu Duoxin, who seemed a little crazy.

In an instant, everything that I couldn't understand before became clear.

Why did Xiao Weizhi chase after Liu Duoxin so closely in the original novel?

How could he not chase after someone who was being threatened with his grandfather's life?

Now we finally know why Xiao Weizhi's eyes were ruined—it was because of that magic circle, right?

Let Xiao Weizhi choose for herself: save her grandfather or save herself.

No matter which choice he makes, the person behind the scenes will not lose out; in fact, they will gain something.

A brilliant tactic, blatantly seizing Xiao Weizhi's lifeline; a well-calculated and open scheme.

Lin Xiaoxiao wanted to applaud the person behind the scenes; they were a master strategist.

Xiao Weizhi's eyes were bloodshot, and veins bulged on his forehead. He desperately suppressed his emotions, which were about to collapse, and tried his best to speak to Lin Xiaoxiao in his usual gentle voice: "Let's go home."

Lin Xiaoxiao looked at him, who was on the verge of going crazy but still trying to remain calm, and chuckled and shook her head: "No, we need to take the props back to save the old man."

After saying that, she took off several protective gears from her body and, in front of Liu Duoxin and Chen Zhuoran, brazenly stuffed them into Xiao Weizhi's belt and clothes.

Turning to Liu Duoxin, he asked, "If he enters the magic circle and I jump off the cliff, the props will be given to us, right?"

Liu Duoxin seemed completely unprepared for this turn of events, nodding somewhat blankly: "Yes."

Lin Xiaoxiao reached out and covered Xiao Weizhi's mouth, smiling as she said, "Sign the contract, and give the props to Chen Feng and the others."

Xiao Weizhi pulled Lin Xiaoxiao's hand away, his voice breaking: "Are you crazy?"

Lin Xiaoxiao raised a finger and put it to her lips: "Shh, I'm not crazy, be good."

After a commotion, Lin Xiaoxiao pressed Xiao Weizhi down and pushed the contract to be signed, then handed the props to Chen Feng.

Xiao Weizhi stood in the center of the magic circle, enveloped by a dark pillar of light for more than ten minutes, until the energy within the magic circle was completely depleted.

His face was pale, his robes were soaked with cold sweat, his eyes were closed, he was panting heavily, and he slumped on the ground with several fragments of props scattered around him.

Lin Xiaoxiao stood on the edge of the cliff, looking at the disheveled Xiao Weizhi with some heartache, and said in a very soft but firm voice, "Brother Feng, take Weizhi back. Send the props to the old man, and wait for me to come back."

He finished speaking without waiting for his teammates' response.

Without hesitation, Lin Xiaoxiao turned her back and fell backward, looking at Liu Duoxin and Chen Zhuoran with astonished eyes, and smiled gently.

She noted this down, saying she'd settle it another day; there was no rush.

The rising sun pierced through the thick clouds, shining on her falling body, and the prosthetic right leg gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen in the sunlight.

The next second, Lin Xiaoxiao's eyes widened in astonishment.

A moment later, she was pulled into Xiao Weizhi's warm embrace, his eyes still closed. His voice was low: "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

Lin Xiaoxiao wrapped her arms around Xiao Weizhi's waist, buried her face in his shoulder, her lips slightly upturned, and a hint of moisture welled up in her eyes.

Immediately afterwards, a voice devoid of emotion, yet imbued with divinity and contempt, rang out:

[Should we enter the City of Divine Favor?]

A soft voice drifted from mid-air: "Yes!"