Jiang Che followed the footprints into the room, leaning against the door handle, gasping for breath.
This bunch ran like their lives depended on it, he almost lost track of them.
He ran slow, and his view was blocked by the evil spirit's body—he only heard two sharp noises, then saw one person's calf pierced with two holes.
Blood gushed out, and that person who was always following them dragged the injured away, probably to treat them.
Ever since entering the dungeon, he knew lots of people here looked a bit different from those outside—his parents' faces were a little off, too.
But can you really judge if someone's good or bad just by how they look?
Didn't you see, just now after someone got hurt, that guy with spider legs took them away for treatment?
Clearly, most people here are kind-hearted.
Hearing Jiang Che's voice, the two instantly whipped their heads toward the door. When they saw Jiang Che, their eyes opened wide as if they'd seen a ghost.
"You! You're still alive!" Zhao Qi couldn't help but take two steps back, scanning Jiang Che up and down. He thought Jiang Che had barely escaped the evil spirit's hands, but his entire body was spotless.
Not even a tear in his clothes.
How could this even be possible!
Zhao Qi's hand reached to his back waist, where his weapon was strapped.
"You…" Nurse Ya managed to steady herself, swallowing, "So just now, with the Spider Evil Spirit, how did you escape its grasp?"
"Spider?" Hearing that word, Jiang Che immediately knew who they meant. "Why were you all running? You ran so fast I couldn't catch up."
Zhao Qi pressed his temples—this lunatic's words were making less and less sense to him.
"What do you mean couldn't catch up? You were chasing us?"
"Yeah, you guys ran way too fast. We chased you for ages—then saw someone get injured, and that uncle took them away." Jiang Che sighed. If they hadn't run so fast, would someone have gotten hurt?
The uncle definitely wanted them to stop running, so no one would fall.
But the warning was too late, someone still got hurt, and the uncle took them for treatment.
"Wait… he didn't grab you?" Zhao Qi felt his worldview totally collapsing.
"I was trailing right behind him, chasing you guys—too fast." Jiang Che said helplessly, "I nearly lost track. You promised you'd take me to find my wife."
"Got it!" Zhao Qi smacked his own thigh!
"I know how to survive in weird dungeons now!" Zhao Qi hugged Nurse Ya, "I finally understand, hahahahahaha!"
He was so worked up, almost manic, "Don't run, don't run! If you run, you're doomed! Turns out the evil spirit only grabs those who run!"
He looked at Jiang Che, feeling like he'd suddenly cracked the code.
Nurse Ya seemed to get it too. She looked at Jiang Che, suddenly realizing this was the answer.
No wonder this lunatic roamed all over the dungeon—turns out this fool accidentally stumbled on the rules of Dungeon 9!
"Yeah yeah yeah, don't run!" She looked at Zhao Qi, tears spinning in her eyes.
Zhao Qi took a deep breath, then looked confidently at Nurse Ya, "From now on, we stick together. Now that I've figured out the dungeon's rules, I'll make sure you all survive."
He couldn't help but grin. If he became the first to clear Dungeon 9, he'd be a hero, and get first-clear rewards.
And everyone he saved would be his crew.
Dungeons are full of rules—if you follow a smart guy, your chances of survival rise, because he can crack the rules.
"Ya, you know, shooting just now was out of desperation." He turned to Ya, apologizing for earlier.
"But now we know the rules, relax—I'll definitely get us out of here. When the weird hunting grounds arrive in the real world, we still need to cooperate." Zhao Qi continued.
Ya was suspicious of his intentions, but hearing about needing cooperation once the hunting grounds descend, she instantly realized—a dead ally does him no good.
Everyone who survives a dungeon gets tougher, plus dungeon items—collecting them solo is slow, and using them comes with side effects. One person's body can barely handle them.
He needs allies,
"Brother Zhao, of course I trust you." Ya instantly changed her tune. "After we survive this, we'll be the kind of partners you can entrust your life to."
"So why did you all run?" Jiang Che looked at them, "Almost made me lose you guys."
"No more running, no more running. We won't run from now on." Zhao Qi patted Jiang Che's shoulder. This kid's brain might be broken, but he's definitely a lucky star.
With him around, they were discovering way more rules.
"Let's go, we'll find your parents first." Zhao Qi slung an arm around Jiang Che's shoulder, feeling pretty good, forgetting that Jiang Che was supposedly crazy.
The livestream viewers were completely dumbfounded.
[Wait, hold up, let me process…]
[These guys… he thinks it's this, another thinks it's that, but actually it's this… how can everything go so sideways?]
[Now Zhao Qi thinks Jiang Che's parents are human, and the hospital doctors and nurses are just bluffing him into behaving, right?]
[…Seems like it. Now he's going to follow Jiang Che to meet his parents?]
[Blood Slaughter? You want to see me?]
[Blood Slaughter: I knew letting that kid go, he'd definitely come back—didn't expect him to bring me dessert, though.]
[Damn, I swear I'm dying laughing. Proof: you really shouldn't team up with a lunatic in a dungeon, because you never know what he's thinking.]
[Jiang Che: Mom, Dad, I brought friends home! Blood Slaughter Couple: What a good child, remembers to bring Mom and Dad a snack too.]
...
The Spider Evil Spirit sensed the trio moving forwards over the bloody ground, heading straight toward Blood Slaughter's family.
He glanced that way, then looked away.
Because he and Blood Slaughter had agreed not to interfere with each other—even if prey wandered onto the other's turf.
Underfoot, Wang Bing was slowly being turned into a dried corpse, wrapped in webs.
Wang Bing's eyes were full of despair. He never thought, after all that hard training, he'd end up dying at his own people's hands.
"Want revenge?" At the edge of death, he heard a harsh, sharp voice from above.
He looked up—the Spider Evil Spirit was watching him, mocking, "I'll let you go back. You bring them to me. You all die together—how's that?"
He never said he wouldn't kill them, but promised they'd die together.
Wang Bing's gaze turned vicious—he didn't care about living anymore, he just wanted Zhao Qi to go down with him!
"Deal!"