dkrc Chapter 116 Traitor
Chapter 116 Traitor
Chapter 116 Traitor
"You are all cursed, yet you are all cursed and cannot break free?" Li Jiuhe asked.
Zhang Song nodded: "Actually, the training content this time was very simple. The four of us cooperated well and quickly put a curse on the target in this desolate city, and successfully found out the truth about the city's curse."
According to Zhou Yiwen, the old sorcerer, the Boundary Stone was created based on the changes in his sorcery power, and the trial grounds in the world are related to curses.
This is a characteristic of Boundary Stones, a type of sequence item; they can generate the world desired by the holder based on any sequence ability.
Everything is generated automatically in this process, similar to an AI that can generate results based on instructions.
Although the holder cannot fully control the various details of the world it generates, the final result is not much different.
After these trainees entered, because they were all curse users and cooperated well, they quickly found the truth about the curse of this desolate city. However, at this moment, the environment of the desolate city suddenly changed.
All the indigenous people developed a certain hostility, and once they discovered an outsider, they would immediately and relentlessly attack him.
Moreover, they showed no fear of death, as if they instantly transformed into zombies driven to madness.
There are too many indigenous people here; if each of them spat, they could drown these four people.
So after they inadvertently triggered a "mass uprising," they barely managed to extricate themselves from it, and then they all became extremely cautious.
They've been lying low in the city until now.
Most importantly, all four cursed individuals are currently under a curse, and they have no idea when the curse was placed upon them.
After Zhang Song's introduction, Li Jiuhe learned that the thin young man who had just spoken was the one who had unintentionally triggered the "mass uprising".
The young man's name is Fang Yi. Now he can only hide here and dare not show his face again.
It seems that everyone in the entire city recognizes him, and now, if he shows up, he will be torn to shreds instantly.
The other three are doing well; they immediately and carefully went into hiding and are currently able to move freely in society, but they also need to be careful not to be discovered by the indigenous people.
Meanwhile, Zhang Song had already figured out that these city residents were becoming increasingly bizarre.
The less suspicious you are, the better, as long as you behave like them from time to time, think outside the box, speak and act unconventionally, and are very familiar with the city.
That's why he asked Li Jiuhe to make a funny face just now, because it would quickly reduce suspicion against him.
"You said that each of you is under a curse, is it the same curse or different curses?" Li Jiuhe asked.
“They’re all different,” Zhang Song said. “The curse I received is that I can’t eat, so I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday. Whatever I eat, I vomit.”
The thin young man, Fang Yi, said, "I need to drink water all the time, otherwise my whole body will shrink."
After saying that, he raised the mineral water bottle and took a sip.
However, he was very careful. Although he really wanted to gulp it down, he only dared to take a small sip because his stomach was already so bloated that he couldn't stand it anymore.
It's been bloated since last night.
But Fang Yi's limbs do look somewhat atrophied; I don't know if it's just my imagination.
The girl raised her hand: "I have to kill a life every hour."
The girl's name is Guo Yunxi. She is pretty and cute, but she looks haggard at the moment, and it is clear that she is actually very disgusted by what she is doing.
The last man didn't speak, but simply looked up at Li Jiuhe.
Zhang Song said, "I'll speak for him. His name is Hong Xiaojun, and he's cursed to never say 'you,' 'me,' or 'him.' If he accidentally utters those three words, he'll most likely die instantly. So, for safety's sake, we told him to just keep quiet for now."
Hong Xiaojun nodded to Li Jiuhe without saying anything.
Strictly speaking, the curses that these four people were under were all fatal.
Because those who arrive here are physically present, not just consciously aware of their presence.
It may seem similar to the alternate dimension where Li Jiuhe entered the Morning Bell last time, but in reality, the Morning Bell space can control time at will, making its flow rate completely different.
However, the space inside this boundary stone seems to have the same time flow as the outside world.
Therefore, Zhang Song was unable to eat, and he was destined to starve to death in the long run.
Fang Yi keeps drinking water; he'll die of overeating sooner or later.
Guo Yunxi must kill one life every hour. If she does not comply, she will likely die instantly, just like Hong Xiaojun, who cannot say "you, me, and him".
The curses they were subjected to were incredibly varied and bizarre.
Li Jiuhe also learned that if these four people were not the ones who were cursed, they would not have been able to discover so quickly what kind of curse they were being cursed with.
This method of identifying whether they are cursed was taught to them by Zhou Yiwen.
This is a unique way of identification for those in the Cursed sequence, which cannot be mastered by those in other sequences.
After detailed questioning, Li Jiuhe learned that the four people had actually obtained the key to this training experiment, which was a USB flash drive. As long as they inserted it into the control room on the top floor of the Biecheng Central Building, they could open the exit and return to the real world.
However, because the entire city of Biancheng suddenly mutated, the central building was filled with a large number of Biancheng natives, who stood motionless in an eerie manner.
As for the interior of the building, there seems to be something even more terrifying.
Hong Xiaojun had previously tried to see if he could enter the building through normal means, but as soon as he got close, the original inhabitants all turned their heads and glared at him.
Their behavior pattern was the same as the passersby Li Jiuhe had just seen; they seemed ready to pounce at any moment.
This made Hong Xiaojun dare not make any further moves, and he had no choice but to leave.
During this time, Zhang Song and his team have been searching for ways to enter the building, including casting spells on the outside area to drive away the original inhabitants.
The four of them also joined forces and tried to control those people with the greatest power of their spells.
But Biecheng has changed. Once another native is cursed, they will immediately go mad and become uncontrollable, with extremely high aggression and destructive power.
After learning all the details, Li Jiuhe fell into deep thought.
The situation is indeed very tricky. If I lead them to force my way into the central building, I should be able to get in with my strong physique, at most I'll get a little injured.
However, the other four are all cursed, and none of them are strong in combat.
Their abilities are purely power-based; if they cannot be controlled or cursed, they have almost no physical attack power.
If he hadn't shown up, these four would indeed have been in a dead end.
Turning to look at Fang Yi, I saw that the guy had many scratches on his body, including on his face and neck. His clothes underneath were tattered, and he was wearing an outer garment that he had found somewhere.
Zhang Song took out a small, exquisite black USB drive: "Here, this is the key. If we can insert it into the computer in the control room, all of us outsiders will leave immediately."
Li Jiuhe looked puzzled, his gaze quickly sweeping across the four people's faces, and asked, "Don't you need to go into the control room just to plug the USB drive into the computer?"
"No need." Zhang Song shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't explain clearly. As long as we plug the USB drive into that computer, no matter where we are in Biecheng, we will receive a signal to leave. Then we can just open the nearest door and walk out."
The other three looked up at Li Jiuhe, because they also realized that Li Jiuhe's question was clearly loaded with meaning.
"Do you have a way to get into the central building by yourself and get to the control room on the top floor?" Guo Yunxi asked.
Zhang Song said, "You have to understand that if we are attacked by the natives, it will spread. The more it spreads, the more people will come. Soon, a huge number of natives will come to join the attack. If we are slow, we will be overwhelmed by the crowd. But if the attack is too fierce, we suspect that it may lead to other major changes in Biecheng, some terrifying changes that we cannot currently withstand."
Li Jiuhe nodded: "In other words, I need to act quickly, enter the central building and go to the control room without killing too many natives, and insert the USB drive."
"There's one more thing," Zhang Song added, "There might be unknown and terrifying things inside that building, so we can't let our guard down."
"No problem, I'll give it a try."
Li Jiuhe reached out and took the USB drive, his gaze quickly sweeping over the four people again.
"When will the operation take place?" Zhang Song asked.
"There's no time to lose, let's do it now." Li Jiuhe didn't have any more time to waste.
"Okay, let's go together. I'll explain the internal structure of the central building to you on the way."
As Zhang Song spoke, he opened the door and walked outside, gesturing for Li Jiuhe to follow him.
He then turned to the others and said, "You all wait here. If the operation succeeds, you can go back by simply opening this door."
Hong Xiaojun, who hadn't spoken until now, originally wanted to go with them, but Zhang Song stopped him and told him to wait inside with the others.
Guo Yunxi and Fang Yi did not seem to intend to come along.
Fang Yi looked very uncomfortable, probably because he had drunk too much water.
Guo Yunxi glanced at the time, then took out a transparent plastic bottle with air holes from her bag. There were many ants crawling inside.
It seems that her time to kill one life every hour is almost up, and she has to crush an ant again at this time.
Li Jiuhe withdrew his gaze and went outside with Zhang Song.
As they walked, Zhang Song lowered his voice and asked, "Investigator Li, since our mentor was able to get your headquarters to intervene, does he also think our current situation is very strange and unbelievable, and that the whole thing might not be so simple?"
Li Jiuhe shook his head: "He didn't go into details. He just told me that he didn't want to investigate who had harmed him anymore, as long as he could rescue you."
Zhang Song's expression darkened, and he sighed heavily, "Our mentor has always been like this, preferring to suffer himself rather than let us be wronged. I thought he would disregard everything and come to find us himself."
"So—is there anything else I don't know?"
Li Jiuhe had been observing these four people, and he actually had some doubts in his mind.
After all, it was quite unusual for Zhou Yiwen to organize a training experiment for these four trainees when he knew he was about to die.
If he, Luo Shuo, and Ma Li hadn't come to visit this time, Zhou Yiwen might have ignored his daughter's objections and come in to find the four of them, even if he was in a wheelchair, and then tried to get them out of there.
Even if Zhou Yiwen himself cannot leave, it doesn't matter, since his life is already on its last countdown.
Zhang Song glanced back at the door, took a step closer to Li Jiuhe, and lowered his voice, saying, "I suspect that one of the three people in the room is plotting against our mentor. That's why he used the opportunity of letting us into this training experiment to trap us."
Li Jiuhe looked surprised: "You mean, the mutation of this desolate city was caused by Zhou Yiwen?"
Zhang Song nodded: "My mentor suddenly became weak, and I was terrified when I found out. When I went to visit him, he mentioned that his sequence ability had been diluted, but I didn't know the specific reason. Then I suddenly received a notice that the four of us were to participate in this training experiment."
Li Jiuhe stroked his chin: "So he wants to use this experiment to find the person who harmed him and trap them here? But what he told me is that he doesn't want to pursue this matter any further, but rather wants to protect his family."
"There's no contradiction in doing this," Zhang Song explained. "Think about it, if someone tries to harm the mentor, wouldn't his family be in danger after he dies? Wouldn't he want to eliminate that person before he dies, to prevent any future trouble for his family?"
At this point, Zhang Song pondered and said, "I suspect that the mentor deliberately said that in front of you. The purpose was to prevent being overheard and to dispel any concerns the eavesdropper might have."
Li Jiuhe was taken aback and began to recall carefully.
He remembered that before he came in, besides himself, Luo Shuo, and Ma Li, there was Zhou Yiwen and his daughter in the room, as well as an elderly man in his sixties who seemed to be a butler or a guard, and a maid who was going in and out of the room.
Of course, if someone is eavesdropping, it could be through a bugging device.
"Didn't your mentor give you any hints about finding that person? Or did they just tell you who that person is and then find them out?" Zhang Song asked again.
Li Jiuhe shook his head.
"Huh, that's strange." Zhang Song also looked puzzled. "This guy is hiding very well. The curse on each of us might have been inflicted by him (or her).
"Since this person has already plotted against your mentor, why is he still targeting you?" Li Jiuhe asked, puzzled.
Zhang Song replied, "Because our mentor said that if any of us advances, he will give us that Boundary Stone—"
Before he could finish speaking, Li Jiuhe nodded: "Understood."
"Let's hurry up and go." Zhang Song looked up at the sky. "Let's get to the Biecheng Central Building as soon as possible; it looks like it's going to rain."
"rain?"
Li Jiuhe looked up at the sky, his brows furrowing slightly.
He didn't tell the four people that he was also a cursed person. Although Zhou Yiwen had removed most of the curse's power, he still couldn't get too wet.
If it rains, it will be a disaster for him, and he will have to take shelter.
The two chatted as they left the abandoned basketball court, pretending to be natives of the city, laughing and talking as they headed towards the central building.
In fact, Li Jiuhe was now wary of Zhang Song, because if what he said was true, and one of the four students was responsible for Zhou Yiwen's current state, then Zhang Song was the most suspicious.
Because Zhou Yiwen knew that he was looking for Zhang Song, he assumed that there was some kind of relationship between him and Zhang Song, so he didn't tell him anything before coming in, not even a hint.
It's even possible that Zhou Yiwen might consider Li Jiuhe as Zhang Song's accomplice.
"Could it be that the curse on me wasn't completely lifted because Zhou Yiwen did it on purpose?" Li Jiuhe couldn't help but have this suspicion.
Now it seems this matter is quite interesting, and not as simple as it appears on the surface.
As for the term "capability dilution," Li Jiuhe had never heard of it before.
But this also explains why Zhou Yiwen's abilities suddenly declined and his health collapsed.
If one of these four trainees is indeed plotting against Zhou Yiwen, Li Jiuhe will not only suspect Zhang Song, but he will reasonably suspect all of them.
Unexpectedly, the abandoned basketball court was not far from the central building; it only took about ten minutes to walk to the vicinity of the building.
It seems that the abandoned stadium wasn't a random place these four people chose, but rather a hidden spot for easy observation and proximity to the central building.
At a glance, one could see that the plaza outside the central building was filled with a large number of natives of Biecheng.
These people stood motionless, like wooden figures. When Li Jiuhe and Zhang Song got closer, those who were closer would turn their heads to look, their expressions blank and their eyes cold.
They give the impression that they might suddenly attack and hurt someone at any moment.
"It's not just this square, but also the back entrance of the building and the underground parking garage. They're all like these local residents, guarding it like soldiers," Zhang Song explained quietly.
"You should retreat to a more secluded spot," Li Jiuhe said. "I can charge in by myself; it's inconvenient to bring you along."
"Okay, be careful." Zhang Song nodded.
Li Jiuhe replied, "You should also be careful. If one of you really murdered Zhou Yiwen, then he (or she) will definitely not let the others leave here successfully."
"Yes, I will be careful." Zhang Song nodded again.
Snapped.
Just then, a drop of rain fell from the sky and landed right on Li Jiuhe's forehead.
A burning sensation immediately spread across Li Jiuhe's forehead, causing his face to twitch slightly, but his expression quickly returned to calm.
Without further ado, he rushed straight towards the entrance of the central building.
At the same moment, a large number of indigenous people standing there suddenly turned around, and several people, both men and women, sprang up and pounced on Li Jiuhe.
Shortly after Li Jiuhe and Zhang Song left.
In the locker room of the abandoned basketball court, Hong Xiaojun, who had been stopped and refused by Zhang Song and unable to go out with him, returned to the place where he had been sitting.
After sitting down, he looked very unhappy. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something to Fang Yi and Guo Yunxi, but he quickly held back.
After all, the word "no" is a common word, and if you want to speak, you might accidentally blurt it out, and you can't stop yourself from saying it. So it's best not to speak.
Fang Yi picked up the mineral water bottle, took a sip, and then looked at Guo Yunxi.
Guo Yunxi carefully put away the transparent ant box, without taking out the ants to kill them. Instead, she asked Fang Yi, "Do you think it's possible for that investigator from headquarters to get us out safely?"
Fang Yi nodded: "I think there's a very good chance."
"We don't even know his capabilities yet," Guo Yunxi smiled, then walked over to Hong Xiaojun and asked, "What do you think?"
Hong Xiaojun pointed to his mouth and remained silent.
Guo Yunxi stood beside him and shrugged: "It's really hard to get you to talk."
Then she seemed to remember something, "Oh, I almost forgot my time is almost up—"
As he spoke, he drew a gleaming kitchen knife from his waist and plunged it into Hong Xiaojun's neck, the tip of the knife piercing through the other side of his neck.