61 It's so cold

I will kill her myself.

At the moment Li Yiqing was injured, everything seemed to be in slow motion.

Qi Qiuxue saw the blood splattering from her and the panicked expressions of the players around her. She could also feel Li Yiqing's cold fingertips and her body trembling unconsciously due to the pain.

how so.

“…”

No matter how detailed and careful the planning was, an accident still occurred, and this accident was far beyond her expectations.

Almost instinctively, Qi Qiuxue swung the knife in her hand with force, and the bone knife pierced into the monster's brain in a beautiful arc. The monster took a few steps back, struggled and cried, and finally collapsed to the ground and turned into a pool of thick water.

Qi Qiuxue didn't have time to hesitate. She quickly took out the antidote she had brought with her from her pocket and injected it into Li Yiqing's neck.

"Aqing, hold on!" She quickly pushed the colorless and transparent medicine into Li Yiqing's blood vessels. Li Yiqing obediently let Qi Qiuxue inject him, but his breathing became heavier.

The monsters in the underground area carry far more viruses than any patient. Rock Saint's research on the antidote is very slow. The antidote samples he currently has cannot completely cure even low-level viruses. It is simply nonsense to want to cure Li Yiqing who is infected with a high-level virus.

Even though the antidote had been injected, it could only temporarily slow down the speed of Li Yiqing's transformation. Lu Jin, Wu Shanyue, Xu Gui and others who were not far away cooperated to deal with the last wave of monsters and quickly rushed over.

"Axue, what should we do?" Wu Shanyue's eyes moistened, her voice trembling. They had finally come this far together, and she didn't want to lose any of her teammates. "Will Yiqing..."

"No." This was perhaps the first time Qi Qiuxue gave an irrational answer. She stared intently at Li Yiqing, unaware that her fingertips were trembling slightly with excitement. "Hold on."

"There must be a cure in the dungeon." She held Li Yiqing's arm tightly, as if she would disappear completely if she let go. "I'll find it, quickly."

After he finished speaking, Li Yiqing slowly raised his eyes as if he had something to say.

Her voice sounded a little weak: "No need, Axue."

"You know, it's too late."

...At this moment, her condition is indeed not optimistic.

Qi Qiuxue saw that her skin was even paler than it looked just now. The pain of resisting the mutation had made her weak all over. Her lips trembled, and beads of sweat slid down her temples, mixed with the bloody smell of despair. Her eyes were no longer their original color, but turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The antidote had just been injected, and it had been less than two minutes since Li Yiqing was injured. The effect of the virus was too powerful, so powerful that there was no way to stop Li Yiqing's transformation process.

Just like she said, it's too late, everything is too late.

Qi Qiuxue looked at her in silence. For a very short period of time, she did not answer, and no one knew what Qi Qiuxue was thinking.

But after a moment, she finally pulled herself together.

"Shan Yue." She called the players' names, her eyes no longer filled with hesitation or confusion. "You all should disperse first."

"Ah Qing." She leaned forward, bent down, and picked up her bone knife. Then she turned back and looked at the person in front of her. "Can you still walk on your own?"

"Yeah." Li Yiqing gritted his teeth and nodded slightly.

"For everyone's safety, I have to lock you up temporarily." Qi Qiuxue met her gaze with a sidelong glance and said sincerely, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." After saying that, Li Yiqing tried to smile, "Axue, you made the right decision."

"I might turn into a monster too," she said with difficulty. Even though her mind was beginning to fade, she forced herself to pull herself together. She obediently let Qi Qiuxue hold her hand and walked forward with her. "If I do something to hurt everyone by then, you must kill me without hesitation."

After he finished speaking, Qi Qiuxue did not answer.

So Li Yiqing asked her again very patiently: "Promise me, okay?"

"..." Qi Qiuxue paused and replied with some difficulty, "I will."

Li Yiqing smiled again: "Then I feel relieved."

The two walked to the nearest cell. As a place specially used to hold monsters, the door lock here was extremely strong. Once locked, it could not be opened unless a card with the highest authority was used or the main control system was used.

Li Yiqing cooperated very well and walked into the cell. Her eyes were much redder than before, the color of blood. Veins began to appear on her cheeks and neck, making her look horrible and painful.

Maybe in the next second, she will completely turn into a monster and do something that is difficult to control.

But at least now, while she can still be considered "human", she wants to show her best side to Qi Qiuxue.

"Axue, live on." She raised her lips and chuckled, with reluctance and nostalgia hidden in her eyes. In the past, she always liked to act coquettishly and cling to people, pestering Qi Qiuxue like a big dog, even secretly using talismans to force herself into the same copy with her.

But now, she was resolute and closed the cell door without waiting for Qi Qiuxue's response.

"Beep—" the display screen on the door lit up again, and a few strings of numbers popped up at random. Then with a "click", the door was locked tightly.

After that, the surroundings became completely quiet, as if the player named "Li Yiqing" had never existed.

Qi Qiuxue looked up at the dark door in front of her, then after a moment she leaned over and sat down silently in front of the door.

Wu Shanyue, Zhu Lan and the others looked at each other, then silently stepped forward. They looked at Qi Qiuxue who was sitting on the ground, not knowing what to say for a moment.

The joy of victory had long been diluted by this sudden accident. Even though they had not been together for a long time, they were teammates who had been through life and death together. How could they have no feelings for each other?

Wu Shanyue couldn't help crying out loud, and the faces of the others were also filled with grief. They didn't say anything, but just imitated Qi Qiuxue's posture and leaned over to sit in front of the prison door.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Lan finally spoke: "What should we do next?"

"Just get through these two days." Even though she had just experienced such a tragic scene, Qi Qiuxue's mind was still clear. "Wait until midnight tomorrow night, and we'll get down to the last floor on time."

"Okay." Zhu Lan nodded, paused, and then said, "What about Li Yiqing?"

Qi Qiuxue said calmly, "Before I leave this floor, I'll unlock the door and go in to check on her condition."

"If, I mean if." Zhu Lan pursed her lips after hearing this, "If she really became a monster, what would you do..."

"I will kill her." Qi Qiuxue answered firmly.

Zhu Lan's eyes widened, as if unable to accept it. "Haven't you two been friends for a long time? How could you really do that to me?"

"This is the best ending for her." After going through so many things, Qi Qiuxue's body temperature seemed to have risen a little. Under the effect of the fever, her cheeks and the corners of her eyes turned a faint red, her whole body felt weak, and her chest was swollen and painful.

But she acted as if punishing herself, refusing to reveal any vulnerable emotions. Her tone remained as calm as ever. "Rather than leaving her as a mindless, uncontrollable monster forever trapped in the dungeon or being taken away by the government for research, I would rather end her life myself. This way, she'll suffer less."

She held the bone knife tightly in her hand and said softly, "After this, I will try my best to survive and kill all the monsters here."

“…”

Time passed quickly and it was early morning.

The players were hungry, cold and exhausted, and had already fallen asleep in each other's arms. Only Qi Qiuxue was still unable to fall asleep.

She listened attentively, unwilling to give up any sound from the other side of the wall, but even so, she could not hear any sound. No one could tell how Li Yiqing was doing now, whether he was alive or dead.

She kept turning the bone knife in her hand. That night, Qi Qiuxue reviewed the previous battle in her mind more than once. If she had been more focused, perhaps this would not have happened. Li Yiqing exchanged his life for hers, and truly did as he promised before and protected her well.

But this was not the result she wanted.

Qi Qiuxue closed her eyes, leaned back and leaned against the prison door behind her. This night was different from last night.

It's so cold.

【Author’s words】

Here I come. I didn't update yesterday. I'll give you guys a small red envelope in the comment section of this chapter as compensation. I'll give it to you tomorrow when I update the next chapter~