Chapter 65
The man never expected Jiang Liu to possess such explosive power. His wrist was still throbbing with a dull ache, and the cold blade was pressed firmly against his neck. Years of experience told him that the person behind him was definitely not joking.
If she wanted to, she could easily end his life with a casual flick of her wrist.
This realization made his body tremble uncontrollably. He endured the pain and raised his hands high in a gesture of surrender, speaking in a very soft voice, “I… I won’t move! Just let me go first!”
As he spoke, he could almost feel the blade shifting against his throat, and he didn’t dare to breathe.
So timid?
Jiang Liu raised an eyebrow in confusion. Using the light from the still-working flashlight on the ground, she squinted to get a better look at the man she had subdued.
It would be more accurate to call him a boy—he had a messy buzz cut, his eyes were wide with terror, and his expression was a comical mix of fright and youthfulness.
After determining that this person was not a threat, Jiang Liu released him and said thoughtfully, “Are you a player?”
Her voice hadn’t even faded when, the moment she let go, the boy slipped out from under her arm like an eel and took off running, practically shouting at the top of his lungs, “Sis! Help me!”
He has backup? Jiang Liu’s eyes widened slightly. The next thing she heard was a whooshing sound as something fast and fierce shot straight at her left shoulder.
Jiang Liu didn’t try to be a hero. She bent down, supported herself with one hand on the ground, and quickly flipped backward. In an instant, she had taken off the dark sunglasses from her face, and a figure finally came into clear view.
Three meters directly in front of her, a young woman dressed all in black was hiding behind a tree, holding a slingshot. Her long hair flew wildly behind her as she watched Jiang Liu cautiously.
The boy from before ran as fast as a rabbit, stumbling directly to the woman’s side, panting heavily. He seemed to have said something to her, as the woman’s grave expression softened slightly. She put away her slingshot and made a “pause” gesture, her clear voice carrying on the sea breeze to Jiang Liu’s ear. “Are you a player?”
Their gazes met for a moment in mid-air. Jiang Liu patted the sand off her hands and nodded faintly. As expected, she saw the girl let out a sigh of relief and run towards her with the boy.
From a distance, it wasn’t clear, but now that they were closer, she could see that the two of them looked very similar between the eyes and brows; they were likely siblings.
The older sister in the lead was dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt and pants, which blended almost perfectly with the night. A couple of leaves were stuck in her long hair, but she didn’t seem to care enough to tidy them, her eyes simply observing Jiang Liu.
At the same time, Jiang Liu was sizing her up.
Her features weren’t stunning, but they were very pleasant to look at. Both her appearance and her attire exuded a sense of competence, especially her sharp, eagle-like eyes, which seemed as if nothing could escape their notice.
It was worth noting that she wore a butterfly-shaped earring on her left ear. A pattern extended from the wing, hooking over the top of her ear cartilage, which Jiang Liu found vaguely familiar.
“Hello, my name is Tang Ruo.” The girl was the first to look away, offering Jiang Liu a faint smile and extending her right hand.
Putting aside their earlier conflict, Jiang Liu’s impression of her was quite good. She smiled back and extended her hand. “Jiang Liu.”
Tang Ruo grunted in acknowledgment. It was clear she wasn’t a talkative person. She got straight to the point. “This is my brother, Tang Rui. First, I apologize for what happened just now. This place is a bit strange, so I have to be cautious.”
At this, she couldn’t help but look at Jiang Liu again, her gaze lingering on her soaked clothes for a moment.
After the fight just now, Jiang Liu was soaked from head to toe. Besides the salty smell of the sea, she was also covered in the stench of blood. Her originally white shirt was stained with a light red, which was indeed something to be wary of in this dim environment.
Jiang Liu shrugged nonchalantly. “I understand.”
Tang Rui grinned, his eyes curiously sizing up Jiang Liu. He was clearly very impressed by the skills she had just displayed. “We heard singing just now. Did you fight with a Sea Demon? What does that thing look like?”
Jiang Liu was momentarily surprised, but she quickly concealed it, just lowering her gaze slightly.
From his words, it seemed these two didn’t yet know what a Sea Demon was.
According to the mission description, Sea Demons and players were supposed to be on opposing sides. For now, she didn’t reveal the side quest she had just received. Instead, she gathered her thoughts and gave a simple description, “It’s similar to the legendary mermaids, but it was seriously injured and left without much of a fight.”
Tang Ruo had been listening quietly. Hearing this, she couldn’t help but frown. Looking at Jiang Liu’s current state, she pointed to a spot not far away. “We have a camp nearby. It’s dangerous here. Let’s go over there and talk.”
The “camp” she mentioned was just a makeshift tent. The space inside was not large, barely able to accommodate two or three people.
Tang Ruo was clearly a veteran of these instances. She pulled out a backpack from a corner and found two sets of clothes, handing them to Jiang Liu. “It seems you didn’t prepare anything. The sea breeze is strong at night, and you’ll catch a cold easily. If you don’t mind, change into these first?”
This girl looked cold, but she was surprisingly meticulous and caring.
Jiang Liu couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you.”
The two of them left first to give her space to change. Jiang Liu quickly changed out of her wet clothes. The moment she felt the dry fabric, she finally felt comfortable. While tidying up, she observed the inside of the tent. Apart from the two backpacks in the corner, there was nothing else.
When she went out, the siblings had already started a bonfire. Tang Ruo sat on the beach, quietly looking at the sea. Tang Rui, on the other hand, had a lively personality and curiously sidled up to Jiang Liu to ask questions.
“How did you come here alone? Where’s your handler? And you didn’t even prepare anything. Are you a newbie? But you don’t look like one!”
Thinking back on Jiang Liu’s swift and clean moves, his wrist, which had just started to feel better, seemed to ache again.
The two siblings had completely different personalities, but they weren’t annoying. Jiang Liu thought to herself and pointed to the small bag at her waist. “My things are in here.”
Tang Rui’s expression was one of disbelief. “How much can that hold? I wish I could bring a suitcase every time!”
Jiang Liu gave a wry smile at his words, thinking to herself that she was already used to it and hadn’t even considered that aspect.
Looking at the state of the siblings, they had prepared everything from food and clothing to shelter and transportation. They must have long since adapted to the fact that there was nothing in the instances.
But she was different! Ever since entering the instances, she had run into Yang Caisi every single time. Not to mention housing and clothes, even her meals were personally prepared and served by an NPC.
If it weren’t for the last two instances where she heard from Zhao Ziming about the state of ordinary players, she would have almost thought that everyone received this treatment!
It’s true that it’s hard to go from luxury to frugality!
Jiang Liu sighed, missing Yang Caisi more and more.
In every previous instance, there had been traces of her. Now that she had suddenly disappeared, she felt unusually out of sorts, her mind filled with all the little moments of being taken care of in the past.
Looking at it this way, she really was slow. It was only now that she realized her feelings for Yang Caisi.
In the blink of an eye, Tang Rui had rattled off several more sentences, asking what Jiang Liu used to do. It was the first time he had seen a girl with better skills than his sister.
Jiang Liu’s face darkened as she listened. The kid was throwing out questions so fast that before she could answer one, another had already appeared.
Fortunately, Tang Ruo had gotten up and returned at some point, her tone laced with helplessness. “Aren’t you tired of talking so much?”
As soon as she spoke, Tang Rui immediately shut up, sitting on the side with an embarrassed smile and not saying another word.
Tang Ruo had an apologetic look on her face. “That’s just his personality. Don’t mind him.”
Jiang Liu shook her head. “It’s fine.”
According to Tang Ruo, they had entered a day earlier than Jiang Liu and had been circling this beach the whole time. They hadn’t seen the fisherwoman Xiao Ya or any Sea Demons. Helpless, they decided to set up camp temporarily and wait to see what the situation was like in the morning.
What happened next was a matter of course. Lin Sa’s song attracted their attention, but when they rushed over, they only found Jiang Liu standing alone by the sea, which made them wary.
At this point, Tang Ruo’s gaze turned to Jiang Liu. “Do you have any leads?”
Jiang Liu didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she thought for a moment and asked a question unrelated to the mission.
“Isn’t the time for entering instances fixed?”
Tang Ruo’s usually calm expression finally cracked for a second, her tone filled with unconcealed surprise. “Is this your first time in the Points Arena?”
She had assumed that with Jiang Liu’s skills, she must be a veteran of the Points Arena.
Jiang Liu tilted her head innocently. “Yes.”
Tang Ruo: “…”
She seemed a little speechless, staring at Jiang Liu for a long time before slowly speaking, “The Points Arena is different from normal instances. The number of players who enter varies depending on the number of bets, so it’s natural for the entry order to be different.”
After speaking, she looked at Jiang Liu suspiciously again. “Didn’t your handler mention it?”
Jiang Liu was slightly taken aback. She quickly remembered that Tang Rui seemed to have mentioned those three words just now and quickly asked, “What’s a handler?”
Tang Ruo was even more surprised. She looked Jiang Liu over from head to toe, and after a long moment, she asked an irrelevant question, “You don’t even have a handler. How on earth did you get into the Points Arena?”
Seeing her staring at her as if she were looking at some kind of freak, Jiang Liu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
She wanted to know too! But she hadn’t even entered this damn game voluntarily, so no one had ever mentioned it to her!!!
Fortunately, Tang Ruo quickly composed herself, though her tone still carried a complex, indescribable quality as she patiently explained.
“There are two types of players in the Lost Way Game. One type finds out about the game through some means and enters voluntarily. The other type—is approached by a high-level NPC, bound to a handler, and then enters.”
She and Tang Rui were the latter type of players. At the time, her girlfriend had gone missing, and Tang Ruo was in a state of panic. That was when a handler contacted her, promising that she could find her if she completed the corresponding tasks.
Tang Rui didn’t agree to her taking the risk. Plus, as a young man, he was naturally interested in these kinds of strange and mysterious events and was prepared to enter alone to help. Unfortunately, he was still young and was completely seen through by his sister.
Tang Ruo discovered his unusual behavior in time. After some discussion, the siblings made a deal with the handler: they would only agree to enter if they were guaranteed to always act together.
“That’s why the two of us are matched together every time,” Tang Ruo said, pointing to Tang Rui, who was looking down at his phone on the other side, her tone relaxed.
“Of course, this is just an example. There are many other conveniences a handler can provide for a player.”
Jiang Liu fell silent after hearing this.
How was she supposed to explain to Tang Ruo that she didn’t fit into either category?