Chapter 246 - The Calm And The Storm

In the next minute, it almost looked like there was a silent war between Li Ling and Zhou Xinyi to see who was able to break the wall quicker. 

As expected, the war was easily won by Zhou Xinyi who was a tad bit stronger and faster than Li Ling. 

After the two sides of the wall were broken, Kaoru immediately stepped forward as she exclaimed, "Now all we have to do is break this part as well and lift it." 

She pointed at the ground that was located in the middle of the shutter and before Li Ling could even react, Zhou Xinyi had already lifted the hammer and struck down, breaking it with a clean swing. 

"Wow!" Kaoru couldn't help but exclaim happily as she saw the lock breaking immediately as soon as Zhou Xinyi struck it, "You're really strong!" 

Zhou Xinyi nodded as he took the compliment but didn't bother saying anything as a response. 

"Of course, he is!" Wang GuiYing exclaimed proudly as if it were him getting complimented, "After all, he's my best friend! It's only natural that my best friend is amazing!" 

Wang GuiYing stepped up and hooked his arm around Zhou Xinyi's shoulder as he smiled brightly. 

Kaoru blinked as her eyes glanced at the hand around Zhou Xinyi's shoulder and then her eyes trailed up to Zhou Xinyi's ears that were a bit red.. 

"I see..." Kaoru muttered with a gulp as she understood some things that even the man's so-called best friend hadn't realized about Zhou Xinyi.

"Lift the shutter," Zhihao walked forward as he crouched down and held on to one side of the handle. 

Li Ling didn't bother hearing Zhou Xinyi's praises anymore as he turned and held on to the other handle. 

Zhihao and Li Ling's eyes met and both gave a nod before putting in all their strength to lift the shutter that was surprisingly not as heavy as they thought it would be. 

Just as they had expected, the three locks on the shutter were broken thanks to Li Ling and Zhou Xinyi who followed the instructions of Kaoru. 

"We are out!" Liang Feng sounded to be a bit too enthusiastic as he exclaimed loudly and almost jumped up in joy. 

"We are!' Kaoru also rejoiced as they all stepped out of the mall. 

Wang GuiYing chuckled as he commented proudly, "We have such talented players on our side, it's only natural that we got out of there this fast!" 

Kaoru giggled as she nodded her head and agreed with him, "Mastermo really is amazing."

Li Ling's eyes narrowed down on the girl and he didn't look to be very pleased as he saw the light blush on her cheeks. 

Zhihao sighed with a smile as he shook his head and responded, "I'm not the one who's amazing. You played a big part in it as well. If it weren't for you then we would not have been able to make it out."

Kaoru's cheeks turned even more red as she heard this, "N-No, that's not it! You're just flattering me!" 

Zhihao chuckled as he saw this embarrassed reaction, "I'm only stating the facts." 

Kaoru bit her bottom lip as she held her head down to hide her flushed face. 

Li Ling clicked his tongue loudly as he glared at the girl and pulled Zhihao closer. 

Kaoru looked at the man and blinked in confusion. 

"You did great, Kaze17," Li Ling put on a bright smile that was clearly fake as he looked at the girl and spoke. 

Zhihao couldn't help but feel that something was off as he side-glanced at Li Ling's face that didn't quite seem to be right. 

Kaoru smiled even more as she nodded her head and replied, "You too, Senpai!" 

Li Ling smiled as he nodded his head but Zhihao could clearly sense that the man was probably not happy at all. 

Zhihao nudged Li Ling as he questioned in a whisper, "Are you acting jealous right now?" 

Li Ling pouted and gave a nod as a response. 

Zhihao couldn't help but chuckle as he rubbed Li Ling's head and found the man to be looking a bit too cute when he was jealous. 

"She clearly likes you and it makes me jealous," Li Ling whined in a whisper so as the others couldn't hear him. 

"Likes me?" Zhihao blinked as he remembered a conversation he had with Kaoru a long time ago, "You don't need to worry about that. She clearly likes the gamemaster. She only feels respect for me." 

Li Ling pursed his lips together and gave Zhihao an unimpressed look as he wondered how dense this man was. 

At this point, even if someone were to come and kiss him, he would probably still claim that they held pure admiration for him.

"Um... You might all want to know this," Zhou Xinyi spoke up and the small smile that was previously there on his face was now turned down into a frown. 

Zhihao could immediately sense that it was something important so he turned serious as he questioned, "What is it?"

Zhou Xinyi gulped as he showed his phone screen and it took Zhihao a few minutes to understand what was wrong with it.

"The timer..." Li Ling muttered as his eyes widened and he realized something. 

"We... Were tricked," Zhihao scoffed as he clenched his hand into a fist. 

"Huh?" Wang GuiYing's eyebrows creased together as he looked at the screen, "Why the hell is that thing still ticking down?!" 

Zhihao's frown deepened as his eyes widened and he realized that maybe he had been wrong since the start.

"The mission was for us to survive," Kaoru spoke up, "Maybe if we just wait for the bomb to blow up..." 

"No." Zhihao refuted the idea immediately as he spoke sternly, "That would be foolish."

"..." 

"We can't put our lives at risk like that," Zhihao added as he felt his legs going weak. 

"Then... What do we do now?" Kaoru asked hesitantly as she walked to the side and sat down with her back leaning on the wall of the building, "We can't go back in... Right?" 

"There's no way we can go back in!" Wang GuiYing shouted anxiously, "We don't have enough time! If the bomb really blows up and we can't get out on time... We'll die!" 

Zhihao gulped as he realized this threat. 

Their options were limited. 

They still had no idea what the system wanted them to do and by simply standing here, they were risking elimination which would basically be killing them and if they went back inside then they were still risking death since there was no guarantee that they would make it back out alive. 

"A-Zhi, calm down and think," Li Ling patted the man's back, "I know we can do it." 

Zhihao gave the man a weak smile but said nothing to that. 

Li Ling frowned as he saw this response and he clearly guessed what Zhihao was so worried about so he leaned in and gave the man a hug as he whispered, "Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault." 

Zhihao nodded his head but didn't even hug the man back as his mind was already absent.

"A-Zhi, you stay here with the others and I'll go with Liang Feng, okay?" Li Ling looked into the man's eyes as he asked. 

Zhihao's eyebrows creased together in worry as he questioned, "Where are you going?"

Liang Feng also frowned as he heard this and asked, "What are you planning?" 

Li Ling smiled as he shook his head and tried to reassure Zhihao, "Don't worry about me. I'm going to find my sister. It's been more than three minutes." 

Zhihao's eyes widened ever so slightly as he felt a sting of guilt stabbing his heart, "Damn it..." 

He couldn't help but curse at himself. He had clearly promised Li Ling not to worry about her sister. He had reassured the man that if she were not to come back in three minutes, he would personally go and look for her but at the end of the day, he had still forgotten about her and it was Li Ling who remembered. 

Li Ling turned to head back inside the mall but was stopped by Zhihao who grabbed his hand and pulled him back. 

"Huh?" Li Ling muttered in confusion as he looked back at Zhihao. 

"You stay back," Zhihao instructed firmly, "I'll go look for her. Since I was the one who permitted her to go up there, I'll be the one to ensure her safety." 

Li Ling gulped as he saw the serious and determined look in Zhihao's eyes, "A-Zhi, I appreciate it but it might be too dangerous. It's better if I-" 

His words were cut short as Li Ling felt someone's arm hooking around his neck, "Mastermo, you can go ahead. We'll keep an eye on him." 

It was Wang GuiYing who smiled brightly as he supported Zhihao. 

Zhihao smiled and nodded as he silently thanked Wang GuiYing for his help.