While the four were discussing their next plan of action, the fake Long Sen and the fake Qu Wanyue, who were tied up, were gazing at each other with teary eyes. The Character Card's "Holding Hands and Gazing at Each Other with Tears in Their Eyes" skill allows two designated people to stare at each other for 30 seconds, during which they cannot move or attack.
The 30 seconds were almost up. Chu Huaying gave Ye Qi a wink, signaling him to continue using his control skills. Ye Qi simply took out his piano music box, sat under the peach tree, and began to play a piano piece.
The piano music would immobilize hostile targets within a 500-meter radius. The control time and the playing time were equal. Ye Qi deliberately chose a piece of music that was about 5 minutes long. As soon as the crisp piano music started, the two Hunters could only continue to stare at each other in place.
Chu Huaying walked over to the two Hunters and searched them. Sure enough, she found a card holder that looked exactly like the Challenger's card holder. She quickly checked it and then handed the two card holders to Qu Wanyue.
Qu Wanyue opened the card holder. The first card was an S-level utility card [Mind Reading]. The skill description was: "After selecting a target, activate Mind Reading. Look directly into the target's eyes and you can read the target's thoughts at this moment, as well as all their memories from the past 30 days."
Qu Wanyue looked up at Chu Huaying: "She really does have a [mind-reading] card. She can capture the memories in my mind, which is why she was able to match our agreed-upon code perfectly..."
If Sister Ying hadn't tested him with a surprise attack, it would have been impossible to determine the truth from the conversation alone. This Hunter could read his mind at any time, and could give the correct answer no matter what question he asked.
Even more terrifying is that she accessed her memories from the past month, meaning she has completely mastered the "code" agreed upon by Xiao Lou and the others. If she passes this information to the other Hunters, the code might not work when they encounter Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, and the others again. Perhaps, at this very moment, information about the "code" has already been leaked?
Qu Wanyue was terrified and continued to check the card holder.
In addition to [Mind Reading], there is another card [ Thousand Mile Sound Transmission ].
Once activated, this skill allows you to record a voice message in your mind and transmit it to a designated target within a 1,000-kilometer radius. The recorded message will play in its entirety in the target's mind, with a maximum duration of 5 minutes. This is similar to Xiao Lou's Telepathic Connection, which is also a form of mental information transmission, and it allows you to send messages without the other person's knowledge through " Thousand Mile Sound Transmission."
The fake Long Sen also has a card in his card holder called [Navigation System]. This card allows him to share his current location/or specified map coordinates with all his teammates, enabling them to find him via navigation. After the navigation "target location" is shared, teammates will move towards that location at a speed increased by 500%.
This card is somewhat similar to Li Qingzhao's marker, except that Li Qingzhao's marker allows for group teleportation, but the user must personally arrive at the teleportation point, and there is a 5-minute delay. The [Navigation System] cannot be used for teleportation. However, the advantage of this card is that you can share your current location or map coordinates of places you haven't been to with your teammates for regrouping, making it very flexible to use.
In addition, the fake Long Sen's card holder also has the utility card [Red Sports Car], which can instantly conjure a sports car to escape; as well as two [ Invisibility Cloak ] cards, and some low-level cards.
Qu Wanyue handed the card holder back to Chu Huaying and said in a low voice, "These two should be the vanguard of the Hunters. They have mind-reading cards that can read our memories, including the coded messages we agreed on in advance. Then they can use the [ Thousand Mile Sound Transmission ] card to transmit the information discreetly and use the [Navigation Marker] to locate and summon their teammates."
Chu Huaying had obviously thought of this as well.
These two are essentially wartime "scouts," responsible for gathering information about the Challengers and sharing their locations with their teammates. They don't need to be very strong in combat, because their teammates will arrive to provide support quickly.
Chu Huaying said, "I put the entrance to Peach Blossom Spring at Western Restaurant. The [Navigation System] card skill is on cooldown. These two guys have obviously shared the location. There must be a lot of Hunters at Western Restaurant now."
Qu Wanyue asked nervously, "Should we go out now, or hide in Peach Blossom Spring for three hours before going out? What if there are several times more Hunters than us? Can the four of us beat them?" She had a psychological trauma from the Ghost City maze where six of them fought against thirteen in K Secret Chamber. If the number of Hunters was still far greater than theirs this time, and Professor Xiao and Captain Yu were not there, their chances of winning would only be lower.
Chu Huaying frowned and said, "The mission requires us to find all the Hunters and survive to the next world. It doesn't require us to eliminate all the Hunters —if we can't beat them, we can run away."
Ye Qi was very confident about their "escape," as were Long Sen and Qu Wanyue.
Qu Wanyue gritted her teeth and said, "Then let's go out. The longer we drag this out, the more reinforcements they'll have, and the better prepared they'll be."
Long Sen nodded: "Yes, you can't hide forever. You might as well go out and meet them."
Chu Huaying glanced at the bloodstains on his clothes: "Are you alright?"
Long Sen smiled and scratched his head: "It's okay, the bleeding has stopped."
When Chu Huaying made her move, it seemed ruthless, as if she really wanted to kill Qu Wanyue. In reality, she controlled her strength very well, her move was decisive and her recovery was also very clean. At most, she only scratched Long Sen's arm.
Seeing that Long Sen looked normal, she nodded and said, "Let's go."
Ye Qi glanced at the two who remained motionless and asked softly, " Sister Ying, what should we do with these two?"
Chu Huaying thought for a moment and said, "Let's lock them up in Peach Blossom Spring for now. They can't get out without our guidance."
Peach Blossom Spring is an "independent domain." Without the owner's permission, no one else can enter or leave. Locking these two people in Peach Blossom Spring is the best solution at present. Chu Huaying didn't want to waste any time, so she winked at Ye Qi and said, "Xiao Ye, come with me as soon as the piano music stops."
Ye Qi nodded, ending the piano piece he was playing. Immediately afterward, Chu Huaying led her three teammates away from Peach Blossom Spring.
The scene before everyone's eyes flashed, and they found themselves back at the familiar Western Restaurant.
Soft piano music played in the restaurant, and everything seemed unchanged.
A young and handsome waiter walked gracefully down the corridor carrying a tray. He arrived at the door of private room number 7, placed the tray on the table with a gentlemanly air, and said with a smile, "Your steak is served. Please enjoy."
Qu Wanyue had indeed ordered a steak set meal. She was just about to take the tray when Chu Huaying's fingers suddenly shot out and swiftly grabbed the waiter's wrist like an eagle's claw!
Sure enough, a sharp dagger slid out from his sleeve—the glint of cold light he had just seen was not an illusion.
Chu Huaying frowned, twisted her right hand in the opposite direction, and the waiter's expression changed drastically. Everyone heard a crisp "crack" sound of bones dislocating.
The waiter screamed in pain as Chu Huaying swiftly threw him to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw, whispering, "Get out of here!"
Ye Qi, Qu Wanyue, and Long Sen immediately followed her.
As the four rushed out of the private room, two neat rows of waiters stood in the corridor.
All the waiters were young men, dressed in black suits, white shirts, and bow ties, with formulaic smiles on their faces that looked like they were all made from the same mold.
Qu Wanyue couldn't help but think of those identical girls holding umbrellas in the dark alleys of K Secret Chamber.
A chill ran through her, and she whispered a warning: " Sister Ying, be careful. It might be another high-level Hunter. He has a card that can create twelve shadow clones to attack us alongside him."
There were exactly twelve waiters in the corridor, no more, no less.
Chu Huaying's gaze swept over the group of waiters, a flash of blood-red light appearing before her eyes. Suddenly, a spider dagger, sharp enough to cut through iron, appeared in her right palm. She coldly looked at the twelve waiters in front of her and said to her teammates, "I'll hold them off. You guys retreat quickly, jump out of the window, and wait for me in the square!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she charged forward alone—
Twelve waiters surrounded her simultaneously, like robots under machine gun fire, each holding a steak knife. Chu Huaying showed no fear; she moved among them like a nimble fish, her dagger flashing swiftly, the blood-red light like streaks of sharp lightning!
In an instant, blood mist splattered in the corridor, and the sounds of fists and kicks filled the air. Chu Huaying's dark brown sweater was covered in glaring blood. Ye Qi was horrified. Qu Wanyue pulled him aside and said, "Quick, let's go, listen to Sister Ying!"
There must be other Hunters in the restaurant. Ye Qi didn't have time to think much and jumped out of the window with Long Sen and Qu Wanyue!
The moment Long Qu and the other man jumped, their legs suddenly grew longer. Jumping from such a tall building, they felt as if they were on flat ground, without even blinking. They each grabbed one of Ye Qi's arms, letting Ye Qi experience the thrill of "jumping off a building" together.
As Ye Qi plummeted from a height of over 100 meters, his heart nearly leaped out of his throat.
Sister Ying shouldn't have a problem taking on twelve, since eleven of those twelve waiters were clones. But Ye Qi had no idea how many Hunters were waiting for them. He thought that if there were too many Hunters and he couldn't handle them, he would just transform into the Insect King.
After landing, he quickly surveyed his surroundings—the square was packed with people, many of whom were taking a stroll after dinner. The crowd seemed completely unsurprised that the three of them had suddenly jumped from the rooftop window.
Just then, two children came gliding towards them on skateboards. The two children were very cute, a boy and a girl, and their skateboards had colorful lights and music.
The girl shouted at the boy, "Brother, don't skate so fast!"
The boy laughed and said, "You're too slow!"
Just as the two skateboards were about to hit Ye Qi, Ye Qi instinctively dodged to the side. But before he could get away, the two children suddenly threw out a chain, and the two quickly surrounded him from the left and right, binding his waist with the chain!
The chain was covered with thumb-sized daggers. Ye Qi felt a sharp pain in his waist. As the two children slid around Ye Qi clockwise, the chain continued to bind and wrap around him. The daggers cut into the flesh of his waist, and the glaring blood instantly stained his sweater. Qu Wanyue cried out in alarm, "Little Ye!"
Ye Qi endured the pain, his face as pale as paper: "It was my carelessness."
He never expected that Hunter would disguise himself as such a young child... The two children looked to be under seven years old, with innocent and adorable appearances, yet the weapons in their hands were so vicious and ruthless!
Whether it was due to internal organs being cut open or not, Ye Qi felt a sharp, cramping pain in her lower back and, due to excessive blood loss, felt dizzy and almost couldn't stand. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue wanted to come and help, but several children on skateboards surrounded them.
Qu Wanyue was frantic. She activated her Dance King Card, maximizing her flexibility. She bent over like a snake, moving from the child...
She crawled through the children's "chain formation" to support Ye Qi. Just then, she saw Ye Qi's eyes suddenly turn blood red, as if they were stained with blood.
The boy with bloodshot eyes looked like a demon incarnate.
He looked coldly at the children around him, stretched out his hands, and grabbed the chain wrapped around his waist.
The chain around his waist was as flimsy as paper, and Ye Qi ripped it off with a "whoosh." Then, he grabbed the broken end, pulled hard, snatched the chain, and threw it violently. The children were instantly swept to the ground by Ye Qi!
Long Sen strode over and looked at Ye Qi, who was covered in blood, with concern: "Are you alright?"
Ye Qi said with a pale face, "It's okay, I've turned into the Insect King, everyone be careful."
His back wound was healing rapidly, and he felt no pain. However, Hunter's disguise as a child was something he hadn't expected at all.
Hurried footsteps came from behind. Ye Qi turned around and saw Chu Huaying, covered in blood, walking towards them with a cold face. Blood was still dripping from the spider dagger in her hand.
Qu Wanyue hurriedly went to greet her: " Sister Ying, how are you?"
Chu Huaying said, "I found the real person among the twelve waiters and have already dealt with him."
She spoke casually, but the blood-stained sweater and the bloodstains on her face spoke volumes about the perilous nature of the battle she had just fought. Ye Qi took a deep breath and said, "I wonder how many Hunters are left. This mission seems quite different from the last one at K Secret Chamber."
Qu Wanyue added, "Last time, the number of Hunters was twice ours, and each one was very strong. This time, the difficulty has increased. The Hunters vary in strength, and their numbers may exceed ours by several times. Moreover, they are mixed in with the crowd, making them very difficult to guard against!"
For example, the kids playing on scooters just now, Ye Qi really couldn't associate them with Hunter at all.
Chu Huaying said, "Let's go. Since the Hunters ' target is us, they will definitely appear in waves. Everyone be prepared, and be careful of anyone who gets close to us."
The four exchanged a glance and quickly walked forward.
I had only walked a few meters when I suddenly saw a familiar figure.
The man looked extremely anxious. Upon seeing them, he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "I was just about to go to the Western Restaurant to meet up with everyone when I saw you jump from the top floor. What happened?"
—It's Xiao Lou.
Qu Wanyue paused, then asked, " Professor Xiao?"
Xiao Lou nodded: "After I entered the secret room, I was drugged in the lab, and the cardholder is also missing. I just woke up and went to Western Restaurant to look for people. I saw you guys being attacked... Where are the other teammates?"
Chu Huaying and Ye Qi exchanged a glance, unsure how to respond.