Chapter 567 - Betrayal and Truth

“Old Gui, are you still not acting?”

The moment Xu Muran finished speaking, Lu Jiuchuan saw a sharp knife pierce his chest instantly.

Blood spurted from his chest as he turned his head in disbelief at the familiar Old Gui in front of him. This man had gone through many life or death crises with him for so long. He was Lu Jiuchaun’s most respected senior and most trusted teammate.

He never thought that the traitor in the team was actually Gui Yuanzhang!

His consciousness quickly faded from his body. Before he fell down, he heard Tang Ci shouting in a trembling voice, “Brother Jiu!”

Lu Jiuchuan’s vision was completely blurred. He wanted to hold Tang Ci’s hand and apologize. He also wanted to apologize to Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou but he didn’t have time to do anything before he completely lost consciousness.

Tang Ci was furious. He wanted to question Gui Yuanzhang but Gui Yuanzhang was extremely decisive. He sharply swiped the brush in his hand and blew Tang Ci into the distance like a broken kite. The flames quickly wrapped around his body. Before the team members could react, they saw that Tang Ci was instantly engulfed in the fiery flames!

Chu Huaying immediately covered her body with an invisibility cloak and rushed away.

Her speed was the fastest of all of them.

After seeing her disappear, the man in the crowd hurriedly took out a white crystal ball to try and illuminate her. However, Chu Huaying was as fast as the wind and she had already escaped from the ring of fire in an instant. The man turned to look at the vast desert. Where was Chu Huaying?

Xu Muran’s eyes were cold and he gritted his teeth. “Don’t let her run. Hurry and chase her!”

A few hunters next to him immediately chased in the direction Chu Huaying had disappeared.

Old Mo stood there in a stunned manner. He wanted to use the invisibility cloak but he saw Gui Yuanzhang turn back to stare at him coldly. “Your speed isn’t as fast as Huaying. You can’t run away so don’t waste your effort.”

Old Mo asked in a trembling voice, “You… why betray everyone?”

Gui Yuanzhang’s eyes were cold. “Betrayal? I’ve always been a hunter. How can it be called betrayal? Joining you was nothing more than going undercover. Fortunately, we can solve you all at once in the final two jokers secret room.”

Old Mo stepped back as Gui Yuanzhang spoke. He wanted to use the invisibility cloak but the man holding the crystal ball released a beam of white light. The invisibility skill immediately failed. Old Mo didn’t have any light footwork cards. In the blink of an eye, he was surrounded by several hunters. The moment the sharp sword pierced his body, Old Mo stared straight at Gui Yuanzhang with disappointment in his eyes.

Gui Yuanzhang calmly put away his dagger and walked over to Xu Muran.

Xu Muran smiled and held out his hand. “Old Gui, it is a pleasure to cooperate.”

Gui Yuanzhang didn’t shake his hand and instead asked, “Are you sure that this promise is real? We can obtain immortality in the Card World if we kill the challengers in the final secret room?”

Xu Muran raised an eyebrow. “Of course. The identity of the master is one level higher than the keepers. His words are the rules.”

He stepped forward and patted Gui Yuanzhang’s shoulder with a smile. “We have waited too long for this opportunity. Xiao Lou’s group was too difficult to deal with. We can deal the decisive blow thanks to you hiding deep enough. Now Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci have been resolved. For the remaining Shao Qingge, we just need to wait until the transformation time of the bug king is over and we can handle him.”

Gui Yuanzhang said, “There should be two hours left for Shao Qingge’s transformation. We can use fire to deal with him before then but he can drill into the sand. We must first send someone to find his location.”

Xu Muran nodded. “Rest assured, I have already sent someone.”

The man holding the crystal ball asked in a low voice, “Brother Xu, what should we do about Liu Qiao?”

“We promised Liu Ying that we would spare her sister’s life as long as she completed the task.” Xu Muran narrowed his eyes slightly and his tone became cold. “Once we handle the others, we will kill the sisters Liu Qiao and Liu Ying so they don’t do anything bad.”

Then he released the Thousand Miles Sound Transmission card and said, “Ziyang, open the teleportation.”

The man with the crystal ball reminded him, “Long Sen hasn’t been found yet. Do we need to look for him?”

Gui Yuanzhang answered, “Long Sen is unconscious and has a high fever. He has only half his life remaining. He won’t be able to survive tonight without anyone to take care of him.”

Xu Muran smiled and waved to the two people next to him. “The two of you guard this place. If Long Sen happens to survive…” He made a swiping motion over his neck and the two people immediately nodded. “We understand, Brother Xu.”

Xu Muran gave an order. “Everyone else, follow me back to the oasis and get Shao Qingge and Chu Huaying!”

A teleportation prompt was sent from the oasis. Apart from the two hunters who stayed behind, the others disappeared without a trace.

The fire burned for a long time before it was gradually extinguished.

The crimson flames almost dyed the night sky red and the desert was covered with blood. Old Mo had fallen to the ground with wide eyes, Lu Jiuchuan’s face was full of anger when he died and Tang Ci was thrown into the fire so he didn’t have any bones left…

In the distance, there was the sudden loosening of the sand as if something was going to break through the ground. Immediately after that, a gust of wind blew over the surface of the sand and a cloud of sand was blown into the distance.

This all happened right behind the two hunters so they didn’t pay attention to it.

It wasn’t known how much later but several kilometers away from the place where Brother Jiu and the others were killed, a head suddenly popped out of the sand. His face was pale as paper as he sat on the ground. He was gasping for breath and his body was covered in bruises.

His lips were cracked and his body was trembling violently.

Long Sen woke up but he was too late.

The moment he woke up, he saw Qu Wanyue being torn to shreds by the black fog and heard with his own eyes Old Gui betraying and killing Lu Jiuchuan, Tang Ci and Mo Xuemin!

He had been turned into sand by Qu Wanyue and blended with the desert. He had to watch his wife and teammates be killed without being able to do anything. It was a terrible feeling!

Long Sen held his head hard.

The man who was in excruciating pain let out beast-like hoarse whimpers from his dry throat.

What to do?

Long Sen stared at the endless desert and his heart was completely at a loss. He took a deep breath, took out the grapes from his backpack and devoured them. Then he grabbed the bottle of streptomycin and a syringe. He aimed it at his arm and injected himself.

Qu Wanyue had given his medicine and her backpack to him. This was his only hope for survival. Direct suicide was too cowardly and he was sorry for his teammates who didn’t abandon him when he was seriously ill.

Even if he had to go to hell to accompany Qu Wanyue, he would find a way to tell Shao Qingge the truth.

_______________________________________________________________

The hospital in the oasis town.

Xu Muran took the hunters to the hospital and Gui Yuanzhang found that this was the base camp of the hunters in the two jokers secret room. Xu Muran lived in the dean’s office on the top floor. Gui Yuanzhang followed him all the way to the office before asking in a low voice, “How many hunters were sent on this mission?”

“30 people.” Xu Muran paused and stared at Gui Yuanzhang with narrowed eyes. “Old Gui, why are you suddenly asking about this?”

“Have you thought about how the rewards will be distributed after the mission is completed when there are so many people?”

Xu Muran turned around with a smile and poured a cup of tea for him. “The mission of the two jokers secret room will reward us with two Permanent Pass cards. Both of us will get one. Then the remaining Survival Time cards will naturally be distributed according to everyone’s contribution. Didn’t we already discuss this a long time ago?”

Gui Yuanzhang frowned slightly. “There is no need to say these high-sounding words in front of me. As the boss of the Eternal Kingdom Guild, you will definitely give priority to the people in your guild after getting the Survival Time cards. Then you will get rid of other hunters like Liu Ying as long as they don’t obediently follow your orders.”

Xu Muran’s true intentions were pierced but he wasn’t angry at all. He just narrowed his eyes and said, “The first time I saw you in the Hunter’s League, I said we could join forces and change the pattern of the Card World together. The name Eternal Kingdom was chosen by me and this means something. Old Gui, you should be aware of it.”

Gui Yuanzhang crossed his arms over his chest and replied casually, “Of course. You want to be like the keepers—a chess player and not a chess piece. Any challenger who has the potential to clear the secret rooms and leave the Card World will be wiped out by you. Can you now tell me why?”

Xu Muran leaned back in his chair, picked up the cup on the table and said slowly, “The sun and the moon are the same and the two jokers coexist. Yet in fact, you should’ve already noticed that the concepts of the two jokers aren’t consistent. As hunters of the moon camp, we just need to destroy the best challenger team on the sun camp’s side and the world will be tilted toward us.”

Gui Yuanzhang seemed to have caught a key point and his eyes suddenly turned cold. “What if there is a challenger who clears the level?”

Xu Muran shrugged. “Then our hunters will probably be annihilated.”

Gui Yuanzhang, “……”

The other person’s words made him frown deeply. “Annihilated? In other words, we will completely disappear?”

Xu Muran put down the coffee and looked up at Gui Yuanzhang. “It is like dawn. Once the sun rises, night will cease to exist. As long as any challenger clears the level and returns to reality, a butterfly effect will occur and completely change the Card WOrld. Do you now understand why I had you go undercover beside Lu Jiuchuan?”

A sharp light flashed in his eyes. “I didn’t expect that Lu Jiuchuan would actually come out of the J of Clubs Nightmare Room! I know him. I was afraid he would take stronger teammates through all the rooms and disrupt my plans!”

Gui Yuanzhang calmly looked at the other person. “So you modified the information of the Intelligence Bureau so that Tang Ci mistakenly thought I came out of the NIghtmare Room alive? Then you asked me to set up the Distance Association as a cover and to sign Xiao Lou’s contract book?”

Xu Muran smiled. “I know you have been waiting for this day for a long time. In the future, apart from the two jokers, everything in the Card World will be decided by the two of us. You will continue to lurk as a challenger, using the Distant Association to find good people. Then cooperate with me to kill all the good challengers. If this continues, no one will ever leave the Card World.”

Gui Yuanzhang’s always calm face finally showed a small smile. “Very good.”

He took the initiative to hold out his hand as he stared into Xu Muran’s eyes. “Happy cooperation, Captain Xu.”

Xu Muran stood up with a friendly attitude. “Thank you, Old Gui for your cooperation. Next, Shao Qingge and Chu Huaying are the only ones left.”

Gui Yuanzhang said, “Shao Qingge will be personally solved by me. I will hand Chu Huaying over to you.”

The two of them looked at each other and nodded as they reached a consensus.

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