Chapter 130 Night Candle Rules 8: Betrayal.
Nanmen Jue always acted with maximum efficiency. She wasn't sure how much of Zhang Jin's humanity he could retain. Perhaps after he realized he wasn't the only one with a brain, he would make arrangements for the other shelters. If that happened, she would encounter even greater resistance if she tried to do anything. So she sped up, leaving Zhang Jin no time to do anything, and quickly destroyed three more bases with Mo Gui.
After the conversation on the rooftop, Mo Gui seemed to be in better spirits. At least now he didn't need to be tied up to walk anymore; he would follow Nanmen Jue on his own, like a personal pet.
Mo Gui himself couldn't understand what he was still holding on to, or what he was trying to find in Nanmen Jue. He realized with some despair that even though he watched Nanmen Jue go on a killing spree, what she said on the rooftop still inevitably affected him. He rationally thought he couldn't believe it, but his emotions were still irrevocably swayed to the past, as if as long as Nanmen Jue was willing to explain to him, no matter how absurd the reason, his heart was willing to believe it.
So he just followed Nanmen Jue, numbly watching her kill people, only feeling that her movements were much more skilled than when she first killed Tang Shi; perhaps she had accumulated a lot of experience in the past few days.
They rushed to the next shelter.
Upon arriving at a factory shelter, an unexpected situation arose.
The factory gates were wide open. The two walked in and saw a mess everywhere. It was the mess left behind by people who had hurriedly left. Various daily necessities and non-daily necessities were scattered all over the ground, showing how hastily they had left.
Mo Gui looked at Nanmen Jue's face in astonishment, but Nanmen Jue didn't seem surprised at all.
"It seems Zhang Jin didn't completely abandon them. These people should have all gone to the prison for refuge." Nanmen Jue said, stepping over the messy things on the ground as he walked in. There was even a pink plush elephant. Nanmen Jue didn't kick it away, but just walked around it.
They've all moved away, so what are we still looking for here? Mo Gui was a little confused, but he didn't ask or follow them. He stood near the door, curiously looking around at this place where many people had once lived.
He also saw the pink baby elephant. Against the dark and gloomy background, the baby elephant stood out, like a vivid mark. Mo Gui couldn't help but stare at it for a long time.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted, and not far from the baby elephant, under a triangle formed by a pile of miscellaneous items, he saw a pair of clear eyes.
Mo Gui felt a lump in his throat. Before he realized what had happened, he quickly turned his head to look in the direction where Nanmen Jue was.
His heart pounded violently. After failing to see Nanmen Jue, he stiffly took a few steps forward and used his body to block those eyes.
As they drew closer, Mo Gui could see the owner of those eyes clearly: a petite girl with arms as thin as sticks, and on her gaunt face, a pair of exceptionally large, yet remarkably bright, eyes.
She had been watching the pink elephant, and when she saw that Mo Gui had spotted her, she wasn't afraid. She even smiled at Mo Gui and then tried to climb out.
Mo Gui was horrified and shook his head frantically at her.
Once she crawls out, she will have no hope of surviving. The only way is to keep her hidden until he and Nanmen Jue leave, then she will have a sliver of hope to live.
Please, please don't suddenly turn back...
However, the sky above the Ghost Realm was blocked by something strange, and the heavens did not hear Mo Gui's prayers. When Mo Gui felt a sudden jolt on the back of his neck, he stiffly turned around and saw Nanmen Jue standing expressionlessly behind him, his gaze fixed on the little girl.
At that moment, every hair on Mo Gui's body stood on end.
"Brother Jue! You...you calm down." Without thinking, Mo Gui spread his arms and stood in front of the little girl. Looking into Nanmen Jue's emotionless eyes, he hesitated for a long time before pleadingly saying, "She's just...a little girl. Killing one less of her won't make much difference, will it?"
Nanmen Jue's eyes flickered. "Why do you think I would kill someone?"
"Because... what do you want to feed her?" Mo Gui lowered his voice, his eyes darting around. "Brother Jue, I know your situation is dangerous. You need weapons to deal with those Jin Mings. I understand you, but this girl... just let her go, okay?"
Nanmen Jue laughed.
Mo Gui actually interpreted her previous statement in that way? He thought she was feeding some kind of weapon with human lives!
What weapon? Do you think she's an evil sword immortal?
She actually laughed, then pursed her lips again, "If I don't kill her, do you think she can survive?"
“She…” Mo Gui looked back. The girl couldn’t hear them clearly. She was looking at them with clear and innocent eyes. When she saw him looking over, she smiled sweetly on her thin face. Mo Gui was heartbroken and said hesitantly, “But at least… there is still a glimmer of hope.”
"You want her to live?"
Mo Gui, thinking there was hope, showed a delighted expression. "Of course! I hope she can live!"
Nanmen Jue sighed and looked at him with an almost apologetic expression.
Mo Gui suddenly realized what was happening and rushed forward to grab Nanmen Jue's arm: "No!"
Nanmen Jue had already raised his hand to fire. No matter how fast Mo Gui moved, how could he outrun a bullet? He grabbed Nanmen Jue's arm, and Nanmen Jue's bullet pierced the little girl's forehead.
Blood splattered out, splashing far and wide, reaching the pink elephant, making it even more vibrant and out of place in its surroundings.
Mo Gui turned his head to look blankly, but Nanmen Jue turned his head back.
"Let's go." Her tone even softened. "There are no living people here anymore."
Mo Gui hadn't yet recovered from the shock of this dramatic turn of events when Nanmen Jue put his arm around his shoulder and gently led him away.
After taking a few steps, the sound of sobbing came from behind. Nanmen Jue turned his head and met Mo Gui's tearful eyes.
"Why...why?" Mo Gui said in despair, "Can't you just let this one go, just let her fend for herself?"
Nanmen Jue gave him a deep look but did not answer the question.
Aside from the prison shelter, there was only one other place left. When Nanmen Jue arrived, they were evacuating. They were obviously trying to do the same as the people in the factory shelter, risking their lives to seek refuge in the prison, but Nanmen Jue caught them red-handed.
Mo Gui did not try to stop him this time. He stood there and watched Nanmen Jue rush into the crowd and reap lives in the flames. His eyes showed great pain. He held his head and slowly squatted down, muttering something under his breath.
When Nanmen Jue returned, he heard clearly what Nanmen Jue was muttering.
"It's all fake, just a game. Killing NPCs in a game is nothing... it's all fake..."
A complex expression flickered in Nanmen Jue's eyes.
She had personally convinced him of the reality of these reincarnation worlds, and now, after he believed it, he had to hypnotize himself into believing that they were all fake.
Nanmen Jue remained silent for a moment, then hardened his expression again.
The toughest battle is yet to come.
...
"Are you really going to just go like this?"
As they approached the prison shelter, the light dimmed, indicating that it must have been night. Nanmen Jue didn't check his watch; time had lost its meaning here. Only the last objective remained. Once that was resolved, they could then devise a way to destroy the anchor point.
Nanmen Jue was surprised that Yu Mogui would still talk to her.
Mo Gui followed behind her, head down, not looking at her, speaking quickly, "Zhang Jin must already know I escaped and informed you, so his defenses will only be stronger than before. You just go over there like that... can you withstand the bullets?"
“No,” Nanmen Jue said, “but I must go.”
Mo Gui quickly looked up at her, and Nanmen Jue was about to continue forward when he heard his voice again.
“Why… I mean, why do you have to run into him head-on here? It’s not good for you,” Mo Gui said. “Go find the anchor point to get out first. No matter how powerful Zhang Jin is, he can’t possibly be in two places blocking you. He’s definitely in prison.”
It's impossible for it to appear in two places? No, it is indeed possible.
Zhang Jin might not be able to use this skill, but Zhou Yiming, who cooperates with him, has a mechanical puppeteer under his command who has caused Nanmen Jue to suffer.
"Even now, you still want me to live?" Nanmen Jue asked.
Mo Gui gave a weak laugh. "I don't understand... I don't understand what you're thinking, but Lao Wei risked his life to send me out to save you, so I can't let his efforts go to waste."
Nanmen Jue looked at him and said, "Mo Gui, you are a very good person. It's definitely not your fault that your brother wanted to kill you."
Mo Gui looked up in surprise, but Nanmen Jue had already turned away.
There's no need to tell Mo Gui the truth, no need to make him worry about these things. He's only seventeen. He should go back to reality and go to college under the sun with his schoolbag.
Once he leaves the cycle of reincarnation, everything here will have nothing to do with him anymore.
Not only was Mo Gui anxious, but even Zhang Jin was surprised that Nanmen Jue would so brazenly show up outside the prison.
The prison fence resembled a small ancient city wall, with guns and heavy sniper rifles mounted on it. Zhang Jin stood surrounded by candles, looking down at Nanmen Jue as he approached, letting out a sigh that was hard to tell whether it was admiration or a sigh of regret.
“Nanmen Jue, I thought you would be smarter, like sneaking in and killing me, or directly destroying the anchor point. But you chose the stupidest way,” Zhang Jin said. “But it’s understandable. You’re a newcomer, and newcomers always think they’re omnipotent.”
There were many indigenous people present, and even someone as strong as Zhang Jin didn't speak too bluntly, knowing that Nanmen Jue would understand.
He looked around at her. "Why are you all alone? Where's the little boy who ran away? His friends are still here with me. Isn't he worried at all?"
Nanmen Jue looked up and saw Wei Chongru standing next to Zhang Jin, bound hand and foot. The sight was rather unsettling, like a villain in an ancient drama tying up the female lead to threaten the male lead. It was unclear whether Wei Chongru himself had considered this, but as a hostage, his expression lacked fear and was rather strange.
"Why waste so much breath?" Nanmen Jue said. "Do you really think you can keep me here?"
Jin Ming wasn't invulnerable, but both of them knew that with their current strength, they absolutely couldn't kill Nanmen Jue. In the end, it would depend on how much Zhang Jin was willing to pay.
However, Zhang Jin could not exert all his strength here, because this apocalypse had only just begun, and there were so many Jin Ming around. Zhang Jin was not the kind of person who would sacrifice himself for others, and he would rather exhaust himself in order to kill Nanmen Jue.
The two looked at each other across the wind, snow, and distance, and smiled at the same time.
Now that we're facing each other head-on, there's no need to hide any of our plans.
"What did you put around here?" Nanmen Jue asked.
“Some small things that can detect when someone is coming,” Zhang Jin said.
In other words, it's impossible for Nanmen Jue to sneak in here undetected. If she did, the damage would likely be greater than if she attacked head-on.
After all, a frontal assault can only rely on artillery suppression, and once you fall into Zhang Jin's trap, you might not necessarily suffer any negative consequences.
"Why not just go and guard the anchor point?" Nanmen Jue asked again. "Are you so sure that I have to kill everyone?"
“I’m not sure, I just tend to think you’ll do it,” Zhang Jin said. “Even if you destroy the anchor point and leave, I won’t lose anything, right?”
As expected, Nanmen Jue was once again certain that Zhang Jin wouldn't expect to kill her here.
If Zhang Jin wanted to kill her at all costs, he should have chosen to ambush her at the anchor point. Tang Shi knew where the anchor point was, so there was no reason why the other shelter leaders wouldn't know. Zhang Jin didn't care about the lives of the natives. As long as he guarded the anchor point, he would definitely wait for Nanmen Jue. But he didn't do that.
The reason is simple: he just wanted to take this opportunity to see if he could severely damage Nanmen Jue, and he didn't intend to risk his life himself.
Having figured this out, Nanmen Jue's face revealed a hint of sarcasm. "You guessed right, I'll give you a round of applause. Alright, let's keep things simple and jump straight to the threat stage. What do you plan to do with Wei Chongru?"
Upon hearing this, Wei Chongru was slightly taken aback, his face showing a hint of helplessness. He muttered a few words under his breath. Nanmen Jue looked over from a distance and guessed that he was probably saying something like, "Why do you still talk so incoherently?"
Zhang Jin was also stunned for a moment, then laughed even more happily, "Nanmen Jue, you are more interesting than I imagined. I'm almost reluctant to see you die."
Nanmen Jue was genuinely getting impatient. "Can you cut the nonsense?"
Zhang Jin cleared his throat. "Okay, since you asked—"
With a bang, his words came to an abrupt halt.
Nanmen Jue also looked astonished.
Zhang Jin slowly lowered his head, blood seeping from his chest. Behind him, Dong Zhizhuan gripped a gun, his chubby face pale but resolute.
"Die," he muttered, then roared, "You're not trying to save us, you're a devil, die—"
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Author's note: I'm really not being lazy; I sit for long hours every day, but it's really sluggish, lol.
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