Chapter 563 - New Captain

Xiao Lou had a premonition that his and Yu Hanjiang’s speculations about the rules of the Card World were getting closer and closer to the truth.

As early as the Headless General’s Tomb where the hunters had followed them to the ancient tomb, Xiao Lou had speculated that there must be people in the Hunter’s League who knew them very well.

Tang Ci said that the information of the Intelligence Bureau had been leaked so the card information of their 12 member team was accurately grasped by the hunters. However, Xiao Lou didn’t yet realize that the Hunter’s League was actually made up of humans. He thought that some traitors had appeared among the humans and joined the Hunter’s League.

Now it seemed that Ye Qi’s idea was the most reasonable. Xiao Ye had speculated that the Card World was like an MMORPG game. From the beginning, they were divided into two camps. The challengers needed to clear the secret room to draw cards while the hunters needed to kill the challengers to get cards from the challengers.

It was all about survival but the goal was completely different.

As challengers, they still followed the rules, stuck to the bottom line and never killed innocent people indiscriminately. Meanwhile, the hunters had long lost their humanity due to the long-term mission. They became cold-blooded and numb. They could kill people as easily as cutting vegetables, without caring about the feelings of the other person. They could disguise themselves as the challengers’ relatives or friends and then stab them in the back.

Xiao Lou wasn’t vigilant enough at that time so he was stabbed to death by Liu Qiao.

Yu Hanjiang thought of this and couldn’t help wondering, “You have never suspected Liu Qiao?”

Xiao Lou shook his head. “Liu Qiao can’t be a hunter. We have known her for so long. I don’t know her 100% but I believe in Xiao Liu’s character. She would never kill me in order to survive.”

“It seems that the Liu Qiao who killed you was a hunter in disguise?”

Xiao Lou was more inclined toward this statement. “Xiao Liu has the Twin card on her body that allows the user to copy any person seen within the last 30 minutes. At that time, there might’ve been a hunter hiding in the labyrinth. Liu Qiao and Ye Qi were pulled away. Then the hunter managed to control Liu Qiao, took her Twin card to pretend to be her and went back to the corridor to kill me.”

Yu Hanjiang added, “The hunter’s sneak attack has obviously been planned for a long time. You have always been cautious. If you suddenly meet Liu Qiao, you will definitely confirm her identity using the secret code or ask her some questions. Therefore, the hunter seized the opportunity of the labyrinth and replaced her in just a few seconds so you didn’t have time to think about it.”

From the time Liu Qiao disappeared to when she appeared in front of Xiao Lou, it took less than 10 seconds.

Xiao Lou really hadn’t expected Liu Qiao to be changed in such a short period of time. He frowned and said, “The hunters have always been aware of our movements. I suspect that they are the ones who let the gerbils bite you in order to deliberately lead us to the oasis to find the medicine. Then they built a fake hospital and waited for me to take the bait. Liu Qiao is the time bomb they put in the team and she will definitely continue to kill our other teammates.”

Xiao Lou couldn’t help turning pale as he said this. “At that time, Liu Qiao, Ye Qi and I were the only ones in the labyrinth. Ye Qi wasn’t around when Liu Qiao killed me. Next, Liu Qiao will definitely kill Ye Qi. Then she will bring the streptomycin back to save Long Sen, gain everyone’s trust and find an opportunity to do something to everyone…”

Yu Hanjiang became frightened the more he thought about it. Assuming that Liu Qiao could really enter the team, maybe she would kill their teammates one by one and let everyone die in the two jokers secret room!

According to the order in which they signed the contract book, the captain’s position should be handed over to Shao Qingge. It just wasn’t known if Chief Shao and the others could see through the conspiracy of the hunters.

Both of them were worried about their teammates but unfortunately, they were now unable to protect themselves.

it was time for the invisibility cloaks to end and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang appeared one after another. At this moment, there was a rustling sound in the distance as if something was crawling in the sand. The two of them immediately stood back to back and stared vigilantly at the ground.

Suddenly, several sharp sword-like spikes emerged from the ground one after another!

Yu Hanjiang’s eyes narrowed. He slammed Xiao Lou down onto the sand and they rolled more than a dozen times in a row. Xiao Lou was dizzy from rolling and there was a lot of sand in his mouth. Even so, he quickly determined that the spikes were the tails of the poisonous scorpions that lived in the desert.

The tail of these scorpions was as sharp as a sword and highly poisonous. Once stabbed, the two of them definitely wouldn’t be able to survive today.

Xiao Lou asked in a trembling voice, “Is it a group of scorpions again?”

Yu Hanjiang tightened his arms around Xiao Lu and his voice was low and hoarse. “Yes, there are more scorpions here than the two jokers secret room. They can burrow into the sand and move flexibly.”

The moment he finished speaking, a huge scorpion tail suddenly stabbed out from the ground. Yu Hanjiang was quick and pulled Xiao Lou to roll to the side. The spike almost rubbed Xiao Lou’s ear and ended up piercing the sand. Xiao Lou’s heart was about to stop beating and he hurriedly hugged Yu Hanjiang.

Yu Hanjiang led him to roll around in the sand to dodge while raising the submachine gun in his hand. There was the sound of several consecutive gunshots. Countless bullets shot out like torrential rain and a large amount of blood quickly dyed the sand red!

Yu Hanjiang suppressed the group of scorpions with ferocious firepower, forcing them back several meters. However, Xiao Lou knew this wasn’t a long-term solution. They would soon be overwhelmed by the scorpions if this continued.

Xiao Lou took a deep breath. “Hanjiang, let me try a card.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded and helped Xiao Lou get up from the sand. Xiao Lou simply summoned Su Shi.

When did the Bright Moon First Appear? Ask the Sky for Wine.

Su Shi unleashed the limited ultimate move that changed the current scene to a ‘full moon night’ for eight hours, stopping all targets within 500 meters for one minute. At the same time, Su Shi also refreshed the skills of all character cards and created dongpo meat.

Xiao Lou released three skills in a row and saw the Su Shi card turn into pieces in his hand.

He put the dongpo meat into the mineral water bottle and put it away. Then he looked up at the sky that had turned into a full moon night. Somehow, the sky that was divided into two was replaced by the full moon night created by Su Shi. Not only did the scorpions disappear but the desert suddenly became extremely quiet. Even the sound of the wind and sand had disappeared. There seemed to only be the sound of two people breathing in this empty world.

The strange silence made Xiao Lou very uneasy. He stared at the sky and said softly, “The sun representing the big joker is covered and the crescent moon of the little joker has also disappeared. The full moon night created by Su Shi can last for eight hours. Will we be safe for these eight hours?”

Yu Hanjiang answered, “We should still be careful. The Nightmare Room shouldn’t give us much time to rest.”

The two of them waited in place for a moment but no animals attacked them. Xiao Lou wondered, “Do you want to go forward?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Let’s go. If we wait where we are, the people in the labyrinth might come out to chase us.”

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, there was the familiar sound of footsteps behind him.

They were Yu Hanjiang’s relatives and colleagues who chased them with batons, guns and other weapons.

Yu Hanjiang’s expression sank and he hurriedly dragged Xiao Lou to escape. Fortunately, he had used Chief Shao’s Rich and Willful card to copy Light as a Swallow in the beginning. At this time, his submachine gun had run out of bullets. He threw the gun into the air to use as a landing point. He hugged Xiao Lou, stepped on the gun with both feet and flew forward like an arrow released from the bowstring!

These ‘relatives’ might be strong in combat but they couldn’t fly. Yu Hanjiang left them far behind within a few moments.

It wasn’t known how far they flew out. There was an endless desert under their feet and no traces of small animals. It was only then that Yu Hanjiang landed safely back on the sand. The two of them sighed with relief and Xiao Lou suggested, “Why don’t we eat something first and replenish our energy?”

Yu Hanjiang had dealt with his relatives and colleagues in the labyrinth and then he encountered the poisonous scorpions after getting out of the labyrinth. His physical exertion was excessive and his face was a bit pale. He obviously held on strongly so that he didn’t collapse.

Yu Hanjiang was indeed exhausted. He didn’t dare to be careless so he nodded. “I still have the supply card. Have you used up the supplies? We have to save some food.”

Xiao Lou’s card had already been used in the two jokers secret room. He fed the remaining mineral water to Yu Hanjiang when he had a fever but there was still a packet of biscuits.

Xiao Lou took out the biscuits and handed them to Yu Hanjiang. “You eat it.”

Yu Hanjiang opened the bag and gave him half of it. “Half for each person. You also need to replenish your physical strength.”

Xiao Lou faced his deep eyes and didn’t bother arguing. He took the biscuits and said, “Okay. Do you want to eat the dongpo pork separately?”

Yu Hanjiang shook his head. “Keep it. Maybe it will be useful.”

Fragrant meat was a great temptation for the hungry but they were reluctant to eat it because the meat had another function besides food. It could make animals in a large range gather after smelling it. It might be able to save lives if they encountered the attack of wild beasts in the future.

The two of them sat on the sand and ate the packet of biscuits.

Yu Hanjiang’s supply card was kept first. It was because Xiao Lou didn’t know how long they would have to survive in this harsh environment.

They had just finished eating the biscuits when a figure suddenly appeared in the distance.

The man was covered in yellow sand and almost blended with the yellow sand. He looked terrible and walked forward slowly, limping as if injured.

Xiao Lou immediately stood up alertly while Yu Hanjiang narrowed his eyes and gripped the pistol in his pocket.

The other person stopped at a distance of around 10 meters away from the two of them and his voice trembled slightly. “Professor Xiao, Group Leader Yu? Is it you?”

Xiao Lou was stunned. “…Ye Qi?”

The teenager’s face was smeared with yellow sand and his clothes were the same color as the sand. His appearance couldn’t be seen clearly but the voice clearly belonged to Ye Qi. Xiao Lou was about to step forward when Yu Hanjiang gently grabbed his hand.

Xiao Lou understood. He stopped and asked vigilantly, “Why are you here?”

Ye Qi’s voice was very frustrated. “I was killed by Liu Qiao.”

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other and their expressions became more serious.

_______________________________________________________________

The two jokers secret room.

Shao Qingge’s expression was hard to look at.

It was because there was the extra ‘Team Contract Book’ in his hand that appeared out of thin air.

Due to the deaths of Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, he actually became the new captain as the third one to sign the book! He couldn’t believe how someone as strong as Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang could actually die.

Before he had time to think, Chu Huaying’s voice came from his earpiece. “Chief Shao, quickly gather the team members!”

Shao Qingge took a deep breath and put down Li Qingzhao’s mark next to the vineyard.

Li Qingzhao’s mark could be modified five times. This was the last time and the card would become invalidated once it was used up.

It took five minutes for the marker to summon his teammates. Shao Qingge used this time to sneak into the vineyard and pick a large number of grapes to put into his backpack.

Five minutes passed quickly and his teammates appeared one by one.

They all had ugly expressions. Lu Jiuchuan was furious and the veins on the back of his clenched hands burst out. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Shao Qingge. “What is the situation? How could Xiao Lou and Hanjiang die?!”

Tang Ci gently shook his head and said softly, “Brother Jiu, calm down.”

Lu Jiuchuan took a deep breath and resisted the urge to beat someone. He looked at Shao Qingge. “Chief Shao, please explain.”

Shao Qingge frowned. “I don’t know. We were acting in teams. Huaying and I explored the left and right sides of the town while Xiao Lou took Liu Qiao and Ye Qi to the front.” He looked around and suddenly froze. “Where is Ye Qi?”

The teammates looked around and soon found that Ye Qi wasn’t here.

Qu Wanyue’s voice trembled. “Chief Shao, you are the new captain. Quickly look at the contract book and see if Xiao Ye’s name is still there!”

Shao Qingge opened the contract book to take a look. Then his expression became as dark as the bottom of a pot.

He was always smiling and everyone had never seen him look so ugly. The transformation of the bug king wasn’t over yet so Shao Qingge’s red eyes were as terrible as an angry beast. For a moment, everyone was silent. They watched him nervously, afraid of hearing the worst outcome.

After a moment, Shao Qingge closed his eyes and looked pained. “Ye Qi’s name is gone.”

Everyone, “……”

He opened his eyes to look at Liu Qiao, his eyes as sharp as a sword. “Xiao Liu, tell me what happened.”

Liu Qiao’s face was as pale as paper. Her shoulders shook slightly and she explained in a choked up manner, “We went to the hospital to find the medicine. As a result, we entered a mirror labyrinth. Both sides of the labyrinth were mirrors and many illusions of our relatives appeared in them. Ye Qi and I were pulled into secret rooms full of mirrors. Professor Xiao told us how to get out. As a result…”

She paused and looked at Shao Qingge with red eyes. “I returned to the corridor and found Professor Xiao lying in a pool of blood. Someone had stabbed him in the chest. There must’ve been hunters in the labyrinth! I sensed that something was wrong and quickly turned to return to the mirrored room. I didn’t see Ye Qi so I don’t know if he met a hunter or not.”

Lu Jiuchuan heard this and couldn’t help frowning. “Xiao Lou has always been cautious. How did a hunter get close enough to him to kill him with one blood? We were linked using Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings and I didn’t sense any danger signal from him just now.”

Tang Ci looked between Liu Qiao and Lu Jiuchuan before saying calmly, “Xiao Lou should’ve been killed by a card with a ‘one hit must kill’ skill. Otherwise, the death of a person will take a few seconds and he can use the team-limited resurrection card to give himself another life. Obviously, the incident happened suddenly and Xiao Lou didn’t have time to activate the resurrection card.”

He paused and glanced at the teammates beside him. “The thing that is certain now is that the hunter who killed Xiao Lou has a powerful card in hand that can instantly kill people. It also isn’t known what means the hunter used but they approached Xiao Lou without him being aware of it, or without any vigilance, and killed him.

‘Aware’ and ‘without vigilance’ had completely different meanings.

Lu Jiuchuan quickly understood.

If he wasn’t aware then the other person might’ve used a card such as ‘invisibility’ to approach Xiao Lou. If Xiao Lou was ‘not vigilant’ then the biggest possibility was… the other person pretended to be Xiao Lou’s very trusted teammate.

Lu Jiuchuan abruptly turned to look at Liu Qiao, his eyes extremely sharp. However, Liu Qiao didn’t show any guilty conscience. She took a deep breath, met Lu Jiuchuan’s gaze and took out a bottle of medicine from her pocket. “This is the streptomycin I found in the labyrinth. The mirrored room I was in had the hospital’s pharmacy behind one of the mirrors. I accidentally broke into the pharmacy and found this bottle of medicine. Later, I got lost and it was Chief Shao’s summoning that brought me out. If you don’t believe me, you can go check it.”

The team members looked at each other.

Liu Qiao paused and choked up. “I’m very sad that Professor Xiao was conspired against. I understand everyone’s feelings. If you doubt me, you can leave me alone in the desert or simply kill me and let me go to the Nightmare Room to find him!”

Qu Wanyue saw the girl’s trembling shoulders and her heart softened. She said softly, ”Xiao Qiao, how can we abandon you? However, Professor Xiao, Group Leader Yu and Ye Qi were killed one after another. It is difficult for everyone to accept it for a while. Of course, we are very happy you have survived but you are the only one who survived. It is normal for everyone to feel doubtful. Don’t mind it…”

Liu Qiao nodded. “I know. I don’t blame anyone but I really don’t know what happened in the labyrinth. I also don’t know if this bottle of streptomycin is real or not. Brother Long Sen’s condition is getting worse. Do you want to try and save him?”

Qu Wanyue looked at Shao Qingge and Brother Jiu with inquiring eyes.

Lu Jiuchuan frowned and remained silent.

Instead, Shao Qingge answered calmly, “Let’s save Long Sen first. There is still half the time left until the instance is cleared and we can’t have fewer people. Xiao Lou and the others might’ve been plotted against but I believe they will be able to return from the Nightmare Room.”

Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci looked at each other. The latter shook his head slightly and Lu Jiuchuan didn’t continue to target Liu Qiao. He turned his head and said softly, “The Nightmare Room of the two jokers is definitely more difficult than what we encountered. I hope they can survive.”

Not proofread