Upon hearing these two words, Han Meng froze on the spot.
Initially, Han Meng had assumed the other party to be a "calamity," but as soon as the other spoke, he hesitated... No, it was said that there were some rare highly intelligent creatures among the calamities, but such calamities were all of extremely high rank, at least seventh-rank or above.
However, since the other party could communicate, it meant they didn't hold much hostility towards him, and in the Gray Realm, there were almost no calamities that held goodwill towards humans.
So Han Meng was more inclined to think that the other party was a human.
After hesitating for a moment, Han Meng was about to make way for the other party, as it was too narrow here for two people to walk abreast.
Just then, a rustling sound came from behind.
Han Meng turned around and saw that the shadow centipedes clinging to the cliff wall had simultaneously retreated... It was as if they were deliberately avoiding that scarlet color, and in the blink of an eye, those black waves retreated back onto the cliff wall.
In the deadly silent valley, only he and the figure clad in a bright red theatrical robe remained, facing each other.
"Make way," was that not said to him?
Han Meng looked back at the figure, and deep doubt and caution emerged in his eyes... His thoughts from a moment ago began to waver again. How could a mere human possibly intimidate so many calamities with just one sentence?
Whether human or calamity, Han Meng couldn't tell. That red-cloaked figure was undoubtedly the most mysterious and eerie existence he had ever seen in his life. Just standing there, he represented endless mysteries.
At this moment, Chen Yifei was also confused.
His intention was to ask Han Meng to make way so he could kill those pursuing chickens himself, but he didn't expect that as soon as he finished speaking, those chickens directly retreated... When they were in the third district, why hadn't he seen them being so "polite"?
Both fell into deep thought simultaneously.
In this deadly silent atmosphere, Han Meng only felt that the silent black mask staring at him was increasingly eerie. He opened his mouth, intending to say something, but the scene before his eyes gradually blurred, his body swayed, and he collapsed onto the ground.
Chen Yifei was startled. He only noticed now that fresh blood was seeping from Han Meng's wound, and he didn't know when it had already pooled into a gray bloodstain beneath his feet.
He had lost too much blood.
"...Fortunately, you met me," Chen Yifei muttered under his black mask, "You saved me once, and I'll save you once... Now, we're even."
...
Crunch—
Crunch—
The sound of sand and gravel rubbing came from beneath, as if something was being dragged along the ground.
Han Meng's consciousness gradually returned to clarity. After a short few seconds, he saw himself like a corpse, being dragged across the black earth.
His palm subconsciously gripped the ground, intending to use the leverage to turn around and draw his gun, but a sharp pain came from all over his body, and he let out a muffled groan, forced to stop... At the same time, the person dragging his body also stopped.
Lead-gray clouds flowed in the sky, and the figure clad in the bright red theatrical robe calmly turned to look at him.
"You're awake."
The low voice carried no emotion whatsoever, and contrasted with that black smiling mask, it gave off an inexplicable sense of eerieness.
He loosened the collar at the back of Han Meng's neck, and the latter collapsed onto the ground. His brows were tightly knit, and he struggled to push himself up with his hands. That low voice came again:
"I don't recommend you stand up now. If the wound opens again, you'll die."
Han Meng's face was as pale as paper. He only now noticed that the dozen bone spines originally embedded in his body had been removed, and his windbreaker had been torn into ribbons, simply wrapped around the wound to stop the bleeding.
With his original injuries, if left untreated, he would probably end up dying from blood loss.
Han Meng looked up at him, his voice extremely raspy:
"Who are you?"
That black mask gazed at him without answering.
After a long silence, Han Meng asked a second question: "Why did you save me?"
After a while, the red-cloaked figure chuckled lightly and said in a casual tone, "It's rare to encounter a good seedling on the path of [Judgment]... It would be a bit of a waste to die here."
[Audience Expectation +3]
Chen Yifei naturally couldn't tell the truth. When Han Meng asked that question, he admitted that some mischievous thoughts arose in his heart... No, it should be said that he was trying to make the "plot" even more exciting.
Chen's Directing Principle, Eighth Rule:
Information disparity is one of the sources of plot excitement. When the audience watches a conflict plot from a omniscient perspective while the characters do not, they will naturally immerse themselves in it and anticipate subsequent developments. If the two characters in the plot with information disparity already have dramatic conflict, the sense of anticipation will be stronger.
Han Meng's eyes slightly narrowed, and in his gaze towards the red-cloaked figure, there was a glimmer of doubt and speculation...
"You're a Fusionist," he said.
Chen Yifei's eyes narrowed slightly under his mask, "Oh?"
"You have the appearance and communication abilities of a human, and you hold no hostility towards me, so you shouldn't be a calamity surviving in the Gray Realm. But you can intimidate those calamities with just one sentence, which means you must have something on you that makes them wary... The only explanation is that you're a Fusionist, and the calamity you fused with is of a very high rank."
Han Meng was indeed the chief law enforcement officer of the third district. At this moment, he didn't look like he had just escaped death, nor was he scared by Chen Yifei's words. Instead, he analyzed everything that had happened moment by moment, rationally giving his own judgment.
Han Meng's reasoning exceeded Chen Yifei's expectations, but upon careful consideration, it didn't feel strange... After all, he was Han Meng.
When Chen Yifei first arrived in this era and tried his best to hide the existence of the "audience," Han Meng was the only person in the entire law enforcement system who almost caught him... Chen Yifei still clearly remembered the oppressive feeling brought by Han Meng's terrifying observation and reasoning abilities at that time.
"So?" Chen Yifei didn't bother rebutting. He seemingly conjured a handgun from thin air and pointed it at Han Meng's brow.
Under the black smiling mask, his voice was cold without a trace of emotional fluctuation,
"Are you going to arrest me... Law Enforcement Officer?"
Han Meng calmly looked at him.
After a moment, he spoke again: "I don't like my fate being in the hands of others."
"So?"
"Although you saved me, now, I hope you can put the gun down first."
Before the words finished, the few strands of mental energy that Han Meng had recovered from his slumber were rapidly depleted, and a flash of sharpness appeared in his eyes. At such a close proximity, he suddenly sprang into action!