Chapter 450: I Never Said

Qiao Qiao slowly stepped forward, her movements seemingly somewhat stiff and her pace slightly awkward.

While walking, she had to put her left foot forward before pulling her right leg along.

She slowly walked forward in such a manner through the dark corridor. Her long black hair flowed down beside her cheeks. Beneath her bangs, her pair of eyes was dark and profound.

When Soo Soo saw her, she cried out in shock. “Sister!”

Qiao Qiao did not respond. She struggled to awkwardly move forward.

The black silhouette stopped moving. It retracted its hand and turned quietly to face Qiao Qiao. Although its face remained indistinguishable, seemingly without eyes, it was obvious that it was looking at Qiao Qiao with interest.

Finally, when Qiao Qiao made it before the black silhouette, it spoke in a hushed and peculiar tone, “Darkness… … attribute?”

Qiao Qiao curled the corners of her mouth. “You too.”

The black silhouette sighed. “This is a surprise.”

“I am also very surprised,” Qiao Qiao replied in a tangled tone.

“An excellent surprise. I have just awoken to find two sumptuous meals for me.” The black silhouette burst into laughter.

However, its laughter quickly came to an end.

Black smoke had begun rising out from Qiao Qiao’s body. The black smoke swirled around her and her body gradually appeared translucent.

“Anti-materialization?” A trace of seriousness appeared in the black silhouette’s voice.

Qiao Qiao exhaled. It seemed as though talking was a difficult matter for her. “I don’t like to spout nonsense. As of now, it is either you or me. If so… … let us fight!”

“My Dark Abyss welcomes you.” The black silhouette sneered. Suddenly, its body twisted. Next, it transformed into a black beam of light that shot toward Qiao Qiao at breakneck speed.

Qiao Qiao remained immobile.

She simply stood there as the black silhouette shot toward her. The black beam shot ‘past’ Qiao Qiao’s body.

Qiao Qiao let out a cry of pain and her entire body instantly turned taut.

After shooting through Qiao Qiao’s body, the black smoke struck the wall and quickly turned around as it reformed its humanoid body. Qiao Qiao turned around as well, a peculiar smile on her face.

The black silhouette staggered and blurted out, “You… … what is your darkness type skill?”

“Yours is Corrosion.” Qiao Qiao pursed her lips. “I felt your power just now. As for me… … as it so happens, I am not afraid of you. Can you try guessing my darkness type skill?”

The black silhouette released a furious howl and the pair of black coloured wings behind it began vibrating with intensity. That was especially so for the black coloured feather connected to it. It vibrated violently and the black silhouette charged toward Qiao Qiao with unbelievable speed. It opened up its palm and a clump of black smoke spread open, enveloping Qiao Qiao’s body.

“Return into my Dark Abyss!”

The black smoke brought with it a powerful corrosive effect. It snaked its way around Qiao Qiao’s body, causing her clothes and exposed skin to begin decaying.

Qiao Qiao uttered out a growl of pain. But even so, her pair of black eyes grew more focused.

Her body quickly grew translucent.

The black smoke swirled around Qiao Qiao’s body, but her body had seemingly turned into a shadow, untouchable.

The black silhouette grunted in dissatisfaction. It quickly spread open both its arms and charged forward, both arms moving to embrace Qiao Qiao. Seeing what the other party was planning, Qiao Qiao sneered. She bit her lips heavily, readied her body and leapt forward.

The two of them met head-on. However, Qiao Qiao’s body simply moved past the black silhouette. No physical contact was made. It was as though two beams of light had just intersected one another and moved ‘past’ each other.

This time though, both of them released roars of pain.

The howl coming from the black silhouette contained more fear.

“You are committing suicide! The power of darkness should not be used in such a hostile manner. We should assimilate together into one…”

“Humph, I have no interest in coexisting with an inhuman thing.” Qiao Qiao clenched her teeth. Next, despite the great pain that caused even her eyebrows to tremble, she shot toward the black silhouette again.

Subsequently, the two of them began a vicious battle within the underground room… the two of them would transform into black smoke and continuously charge at each other, slam into each other, tangle with each other before separating.

Each time the two of them separated after an engagement, Qiao Qiao’s body would become more translucent while the black silhouette’s body would become more tangible, more distinct.

After seven to eight engagements, the contours of the black silhouette’s arm and face began to show. They were no longer as indistinct as before.

As for Qiao Qiao, she appeared increasingly faint… … it was as though someone had taken a picture and dialled down the colour and sharpness. She gradually grew blurry to the eye.

It was a very strange spectacle.

Soo Soo called out in shock, “Sister…”

“Don’t come over!”

After another engagement, Qiao Qiao stood and lowered her head to see that her pair of legs had practically disappeared. The outline of her upper body had also turned indistinct.

As for the black silhouette, its form was already revealed.

“You, you are committing a crime! According to the dark laws, powers of darkness should not attack each other! We should…”

Qiao Qiao did not give the black silhouette the chance to finish its words. She sneered, braced herself and shot forward once more.

“Must you drag me down with you to your death?!”

It appeared that the black silhouette had received a heavy amount of damage. The physical manifestation of its body seemed to be a terrible thing for it.

“Who wants to die with you? I just want to kill you!” A strange light suddenly shone from within Qiao Qiao’s eyes.

At that very moment, her killing intent was revealed.

The black silhouette was stunned… it blurted in shock, “You… no! Your darkness type skill is not just Anti-materialization! Could it be you have another?!”

“Too late.” Qiao Qiao shook her head. “Your body has become tangible. Now, you are no longer invincible!”

After saying that, Qiao Qiao spread open her arms. Suddenly, her figure split apart.

She split into black beams of light, shooting out everywhere.

Soo Soo watched as her sister’s body suddenly shatter apart, transforming into countless black coloured beams of light and she cried out in panic. She had just taken a few steps forward when she felt a black coloured shadow appear before her, forcing her to retreat.

Soo Soo fell to the floor and watched as the endless number of black beams shot toward the black silhouette.

The black beams flowed into the black silhouette and it instantly roared aloud.

Its figure began twisting in a strange manner and its pair of wings vibrated. Again and again it vibrated, growing more intense as time passed. At the same time, the black feather connected to the wing suddenly struggled in an attempt to move away from the wing and escape.

However, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed hold of the black feather. The hand gripped onto it tightly.

Surprisingly, it was the black silhouette’s own hand.

Its mouth curled into a sneer and it spoke in a peculiar tone, “You want to abandon this body and run? I won’t let you!”

The black feather struggled with all its might, causing the flesh to be stripped off the bones of the hand. Even so, the skeletal hand continued holding tightly onto the black feather.

In the end, the black silhouette stopped vibrating and the black feather held within its hand suddenly transformed into a beam of light before disappearing into… its body.

The black silhouette stopped moving and stood there quietly.

After a few seconds, its body began changing.

Its face and body wiggled and a distinct outline slowly formed, growing clearer and clearer.

Curved eyebrows, long black hair, light-complexion… slender body…

After its body stopped changing, the one standing there was…

Qiao Qiao!

Qiao Qiao opened her eyes, which remained dark and abstruse.

However, something about them seemed different compared to earlier.

“Si, sister?” Soo Soo stared with widened eyes at her.

Qiao Qiao forced out a smile and looked at Soo Soo. “It is me.”

“Ah!” Soo Soo jumped up joyfully and moved to pounce into Qiao Qiao’s arms. However, Qiao Qiao’s face sank and she quickly took a few steps back. “Don’t, don’t come over… … I have yet to stabilize my form, so we cannot be too close to each other. Also, your light attribute is counter to mine.”

After saying that, Qiao Qiao lowered her head and stretched out her hand.

A black feather gradually came into form on the palm of her hand.

The black feather rested obediently on her palm. With a flash, it then seeped into Qiao Qiao’s hand and disappeared.

“Unluckily for you, my second darkness attribute skill is Devour.”

…

The motorcycle reached the accident site on the road.

Shen stopped the motorcycle beside the wrecked cars.

Chen Xiaolian frowned as he inspected the damaged cars. There were traces of battle left on the ground and bullet marks could be seen on the surface of the cars.

When Chen Xiaolian spotted the bus situated not far away, his face quickly sank.

“You seem disturbed.” Shen looked at Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian did not reply. He quickly made his way to the side of the bus. Then, he moved inside.

Examining the interior of the bus, he saw two guns and a dagger inside the bus.

There was no need for a second look. He had already identified those items. Those items belonged to his teammates.

Chen Xiaolian’s heart sank even further.

He jumped down the bus and looked at the ground… there was partially dried up green coloured slime there… … strangely enough, there was nothing else.

Back then, the other members of Meteor Rock Guild had been ambushed here. They fought back and killed off a number of the zombie monsters, but the corpses of those monsters were now gone.

Chen Xiaolian did not know about that particular detail. However, he instinctively felt something suspicious about the green coloured slime. He walked over and was about to crouch down and examine the green slime when…

“I would not touch that if I were you.” Shen’s voice rang out from behind him.

Chen Xiaolian knitted his eyebrows. He stood up and turned to face Shen. “You know what it is?”

“A type of dark power, remnants of corrosion. It is very infectious.” There was amusement in Shen’s mouth. “If you touch it, in around an hour’s time, you will probably become a monster covered in this green slime.”

“Virus?”

“Not a virus. It is corrosion, a darkness type power.” Shen shook his head.

Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes. “You know quite a lot.”

Shen stared at Chen Xiaolian for a few seconds. Then, he said, “Knowledge by itself is without sin. Although I know about it, I am not the one who did this.”

“Just who are you?” asked Chen Xiaolian with a frown.

“And what about you? Who are you?” Shen smiled and continued, “At any rate, we had been travelling together. I had allowed you to sit behind me, exposing my back to you without any reservations. But up till now, all we have done is exchange names. You should know, in the Awakened circle, what I did is a great show of trust.”

Chen Xiaolian furrowed his brows and answered. “In this second phase, game participants cannot kill one another. It is forbidden by the system.”

Shen’s face grew solemn. “That is what made me most curious about you. When we first met each other, from the stance you displayed, it seems to me that you could attack me at any given moment. Why is that? It seems to me that you were simply shrugging off that rule.”

“What about you?” Chen Xiaolian sneered. “I can say the same about you. The system had stated clearly that any attacks on game participants are prohibited. However, you were prepared to snatch a vehicle from someone else. I could also sense, if just for an instant, that you were prepared to kill.  Aren’t your actions also an act of ignoring the rules?”

“… … …”

“… … …”

The two of them remained silent for a moment. After some time had passed, Shen suddenly smiled. “It seems both of us have our own secrets.”

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath. “I have no desire to argue with you here. If you want to make a move, then be quick about it. If not… … I am leaving!”

“Judging by the way you are acting, I assume your teammates were here? Something happened to them, right?”

Chen Xiaolian’s expression flickered.

“Don’t look at me with those eyes. I have nothing to do with whatever happened here.” Shen smiled as he spread open both hands.

Chen Xiaolian warily regarded Shen and moved slowly to the side.

“Hey, are you planning to just abandon a fellow Awakened?” Shen laughed out. Then, seeing that Chen Xiaolian was ignoring him, his smiled faded. “Are you interested to know what happened here? It just so happens that I know a bit about it.”

Chen Xiaolian immediately halted his movements and he cast a cold stare at Shen.

Shen shook his head and sighed. “All right. Truth be told, there are hidden branch quests within most of the instance dungeons. It is something that occurs randomly. However, Awakened ones would never receive the system prompt for it. Those who bump into the randomly occurring branch quest will be sucked into it and… … mm, you can measure opportunity with the same yardstick that measures the risk involved. I think there is no need for me to tell you what will happen if you fail. But if you succeed, the harvest will most certainly be spectacular.”

“Branch quest?”

“Correct. In the second phase of this instance dungeon is a hidden branch quest.” Shen sighed. “Originally, I really did not want to share this secret with you. However… … since your teammates had already encountered it, hiding it from you becomes pointless.”

“And what is this branch quest?” Chen Xiaolian asked subconsciously.

The moment the question left his mouth, Chen Xiaolian’s face froze.

He quickly took a few steps back. Pulling out the Sword in the Stone, he cast a grim stare at Shen. “That is not right! You said that an Awakened would never receive the prompt for the branch quest! But then… … how did you find out about it?”

Shen smiled.

He looked at Chen Xiaolian and spoke slowly, word by word, “I never said I am an Awakened.”

…