If everyone initially had some doubts about Lu Jiuchuan's appearance, Yu Hanjiang's arrival completely dispelled their suspicions—the explanation that Lu Jiuchuan and Captain Yu completed a preliminary mission in the world three years ago before coming to this world to reunite with everyone made perfect sense. However, Hunter, disguised as Tang Ci and Old Gui, seized the initiative and even gained Ye Qi and the others' trust.
The four of them thought about it carefully and were still shaken. Fortunately, Lu Jiuchuan and Yu Hanjiang were calm enough to appear at the crucial moment and expose Hunter's conspiracy; otherwise, Ye Qi and the others would definitely have been killed by the fake Tang Ci and the fake Old Gui!
Yu Hanjiang's bullet struck " Tang Ci " in the back, causing a large amount of blood to flow onto the ground. While dodging quickly, " Tang Ci " threw out the metal shield that had saved Ye Qi, protecting herself completely.
The bullets couldn't penetrate his special metal shield. Yu Hanjiang frowned and immediately changed tactics to deal with Old Gui.
The Hunter, disguised as Old Gui, has Old Gui's calligraphy brush card. This brush can control the wind and make a designated target float in the air. After swinging the brush and sending Long Sen and Qu Wanyue flying, he immediately pointed the brush at Chu Huaying.
At this moment, Hua Ying was frozen into an ice sculpture by Ninth Brother's Ice Sword. The frozen state had not yet been lifted. If she were thrown off the roof, her internal organs would definitely be shattered.
Upon seeing this, Ye Qi quickly teleported over, intending to take Chu Huaying away.
Just as he reached Chu Huaying's side, a hurricane swept in, the powerful force instantly blowing Ye Qi and Chu Huaying away. Ye Qi reacted quickly, decisively extending his sharp nails and digging them into the wall as he fell.
Fortunately, he brought Chu Huaying with him in time using his teleportation card.
Ye Qi used his fingernails as leverage, suspending his body from the wall of a tall building. If someone were to pass by the square at that moment and look up, they would see a boy hanging from the wall with one hand and holding onto a woman with the other, looking precarious. In reality, Ye Qi knew that his fingernails were incredibly strong and could support the weight of both of them.
Yu Hanjiang could clearly see this scene through the scope— Ye Qi rescued Hua Ying, and Ninth Brother went after " Tang Ci." Yu Hanjiang narrowed his eyes and gently pulled the trigger of the sniper rifle.
With a sharp gunshot, Gui Yuanzhang, who was about to escape with his calligraphy brush, suddenly had a burst of blood bloom on his back, which instantly soaked through his white shirt!
Gui Yuanzhang turned around in disbelief. The distance was too great; in the darkness, he couldn't see Yu Hanjiang's expression clearly. He only saw a soft, luminous pearl - like light flash across the rooftop of the distant financial building. Immediately afterward, he collapsed to the ground.
— Yu Hanjiang missed when he fired his first shot at Tang Ci, so of course he won't miss the second shot.
He anticipated the direction the other party would flee and aimed his gun at that location in advance. Sure enough, " Gui Yuanzhang " fled to the location predicted by Yu Hanjiang, as if he had deliberately run into the trajectory of a bullet.
Old Gui was killed instantly by Yu Hanjiang, who had set up a sniper rifle!
Lu Jiuchuan gave his younger brother a thumbs-up in the distance: "Well done."
Just then, Chu Huaying, who had been frozen into an ice sculpture, suddenly regained her mobility. Although she was frozen solid, she could hear and see everything that had just happened. The moment she regained her movement, she smashed open the window on the side of the building and jumped into the Western Restaurant.
Ye Qi realized what was happening and immediately followed behind her, saying, " Sister Ying, let me help you!"
The Western Restaurant was plunged into darkness. The two Hunters, disguised as waiters, clearly sensed something was wrong and turned off all the lights, preparing to escape through the fire escape. Just as they reached the emergency exit, a dark figure appeared like a ghost, instantly blocking their path. They couldn't see who it was, only a dagger gleaming with a cold, blood-red light.
The dagger was covered with dense patterns, like a spider web. A flash of blood-red light appeared before my eyes, and a chill ran down the Hunter's neck on the left. Blood gushed out immediately afterward!
Seeing his companion killed, the other man hurriedly turned and ran in the opposite direction. But as soon as he turned around, he met a pair of clear and beautiful blood-red eyes. The boy, who had transformed into the Insect King, blocked his way and said indifferently, "Plan failed. Do you think you can still escape?"
No sooner had the boy finished speaking than he felt a cold blade pierce his back. A cold wind rushed into his body, and he saw a sharp sword appear in his chest. Then, under the boy's complicated gaze, he collapsed to the ground.
Chu Huaying sheathed the dagger, and two more lines appeared on the spider dagger.
Ye Qi looked at the two corpses on the ground, remained silent for a moment, and then said in a low voice, "Let's leave that fake Tang Ci to Ninth Brother and Captain Yu. Let's search again to see if there are any survivors."
Chu Huaying nodded: "Thanks for earlier."
Ye Qi was taken aback, then realized she was thanking him for using his teleportation card to take her away in the emergency. He smiled and scratched his head, saying apologetically, "It's nothing... I was afraid I wouldn't be able to help."
Chu Huaying glanced back at him: "You're calmer and smarter than I thought. Believe in yourself, there are so many experts in our team, you're just as good as them."
Ye Qi was in a good mood because of the praise, especially from Sister Ying. He could brag about it to CEO Shao for a year.
By the way, CEO Shao...
Thinking of Shao Qingge, Ye Qi suddenly felt a little worried. The Shao Qingge in this world was definitely not the real person. He wondered if that sugar daddy was also facing a life-or-death crisis at this moment.
Ye Qi's smile
The composure quickly faded, and he took a deep breath, saying, "Let's hurry. We need to find the other Hunters and clear this world so we can reunite with our teammates."
Chu Huaying walked ahead, with Ye Qi following behind her, and the two conducted a thorough search of Western Restaurant.
At the same time, on the rooftop.
The fake Tang Ci sealed itself inside the metal sphere, and neither Lu Jiuchuan's sword nor Yu Hanjiang's gun could break through the strange shield for the time being. Lu Jiuchuan frowned and walked to the shield. There was a transparent window in the middle of the shield for observing the outside. Through the window, he could see the " Tang Ci " inside.
At this moment, Tang Ci's face was as pale as paper, probably due to a back injury and excessive blood loss.
If the injured person were the real Tang Ci, Lu Jiuchuan would be heartbroken and do everything he could to heal him. But this imposter, even though he had the same face as Tang Ci, only evoked disgust in Lu Jiuchuan's eyes.
The more important a person is, the less they can be replaced.
Tang Ci is a unique existence in the world, seemingly gentle but actually incredibly resilient. He broke both legs alone in the Nightmare Secret Room of Plum Blossom J, yet he managed to crawl out alive without ever uttering a sound of pain. This kind of strong Tang Ci is something no one can fake.
This person, wearing Tang Ci's face, was hiding inside a metal shell. Lu Jiuchuan looked at the other person's pale face, and his anger reached its peak. He wished he could crush the person in front of him to pieces and make this strange face disappear from his sight immediately!
The sword couldn't penetrate the metal shell, so Lu Jiuchuan simply sheathed his sword. He stared at the person inside the metal shell, a cold smile playing on his lips: "You think I can't do anything to you just because you're hiding in this turtle shell?"
A flash of light appeared on Lu Jiuchuan's fingertip, and everyone heard a clear chime.
The Vermilion Bird, a divine beast engulfed in flames, suddenly appeared in the sky above the city.
The mythical beast spread its enormous wings and circled above Lu Jiuchuan's head. Lu Jiuchuan leaped up, and the Vermilion Bird, as if it were sentient, immediately flew forward to catch him. Lu Jiuchuan landed steadily on the Vermilion Bird's back, and the Vermilion Bird carried him around the tall building once.
Looking down at the metal shell on the rooftop from high above, Lu Jiuchuan gently touched the Vermilion Bird's wings and whispered, "Burn it."
Upon hearing this, the Vermilion Bird suddenly spewed out a ball of flame.
The crimson flames instantly engulfed the metal sphere on the rooftop. At that moment, " Tang Ci, " hiding inside the sphere, finally showed a hint of terror on his face. Immediately afterward, a heart-wrenching scream erupted from within the metal sphere—
"Aaaaaahhhhhh—"
The invulnerable metal sphere melted into a puddle of ashes in an instant!
Long Sen, who was standing on the roof of the building opposite, was horrified when he saw this scene: "This... Suzaku's flames are terrifying!"
Lu Jiuchuan calmly looked at the ashes on the rooftop and said in a low voice, "The Vermilion Bird Heavenly Fire can incinerate everything. His protective shield can only block ordinary weapons and flames, but it cannot stop my Vermilion Bird."
However, the Vermilion Bird's fire also has drawbacks. Its destructive power is too strong, and if not controlled properly, it can easily injure innocent people. Furthermore, Heavenly Fire is a limited skill that can only be used once per secret room.
Lu Jiuchuan actually used the Vermilion Bird's ultimate move to kill this fake Tang Ci, which shows how much he hates this person.
Seeing this from afar, Yu Hanjiang calmly lowered his sniper rifle. Lu Jiuchuan, riding the Vermilion Bird, flew to a distant rooftop and gently landed beside Yu Hanjiang.
The two brothers exchanged a glance and gave each other a simple high five.
Ye Qi and Chu Huaying soon arrived on the roof. Chu Huaying said, "Xiao Ye and I searched carefully. We didn't find anyone who slipped through the net at the Western Restaurant, and we didn't see any Hunters behaving strangely near the square."
Ye Qi asked, "This mission required us to find all the Hunters, so we should consider the mission complete, right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, several lines of prompts simultaneously popped up in the floating boxes in front of the six people—
[Congratulations to Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan, Ye Qi, Chu Huaying, Long Sen, and Qu Wanyue for completing the first leg of the relay.]
[Please wait for your teammates to complete the second stage of the relay.]
[If a teammate fails the mission, the entire team is eliminated. If a teammate succeeds, the next world will be unlocked.]
Upon seeing these lines of text, Ye Qi, Chu Huaying, Long Sen, and Qu Wanyue exchanged bewildered glances.
Chu Huaying frowned: "We can't participate in the second round?"
Ye Qi couldn't help but ask in confusion, "What does this mean? After we complete the first part of the relay task, shouldn't we meet up with Professor Xiao and CEO Shao to do the second part of the task?"
Yu Hanjiang and Lu Jiuchuan remained calm, seemingly having anticipated this outcome. They exchanged a glance, and Lu Jiuchuan shrugged helplessly: "Looks like my prediction was correct; the missions will be carried out in batches, with everyone converging at the end."
Yu Hanjiang asked, "Has anyone here ever run a relay race?"
Ye Qi was taken aback: "Relay race? Each leg is a different person?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Yes, we run the first ring, then pass the baton to our teammates to run the second ring, the third ring... Only after we have run a whole lap will the final world be opened, allowing everyone to gather together."
Lu Jiuchuan said, " Hanjiang and I only completed the preliminary missions in the first world. If we hadn't survived, none of us would have been qualified to run this relay race. Now that we've run the first leg, I wonder who will be the second leg?"
Everyone: "..."
This is outrageous!
If even one teammate makes a mistake, the entire team will be wiped out.
In the past, when encountering puzzles in escape rooms, Professor Xiao and Captain Yu would ask; when fighting, Ninth Brother, Captain Yu, Sister Ying, and Senior Gui would be involved; when investigating, the Longqu Couple and Liu Qiao would be there; and when navigating mazes, [there were others].
With Lao Mo leading the way, if you need money, just ask CEO Shao. Ye Qi is proficient in multiple musical instruments. Everyone has their own strengths, so we can work together. Even if you don't know how to play, you can rely on your teammates to carry you to victory.
However, this time, everyone will have to use all their skills to complete the relay race.
Ye Qi silently prayed in his heart—"Second leg, get ready!"