Chen Xiaolian turned over his body as he lied on the ground; the intense pain on his leg caused him to be unable to stand up. He first glanced around to search for Han Bi. After seeing Han Bi standing together with Sara and Takashimoto Shizuka and Soo Soo being safely held on by Du Ya and Pattern Man respectively… he felt his heart easing up.
Han Bi directed a complicated gaze at Chen Xiaolian. He hesitated and chose not to move over.
They were in a stone chamber. Although the place was dark, there were some fragments of pearl like items affixed upon the ceiling. They emitted a faint light.
The stone chamber was not big and another stone door lied to the side.
“Everyone is still alive, right?” Newton sat on the ground, brushing off the dust on his body.
“We are all alive,” Sara moved over and helped Newton up. “But it truly was dangerous. We were nearly buried alive. The kid’s plan was too dangerous.”
“But it was a success. The danger was caused by someone doing something they should not have done! That caused an error to occur in the timing of explosions.”
Newton’s face suddenly turned dark. He abruptly walked before Damon; he raised his hand and slapped Damon in the face!
Pa!
A deep and clear sound rang out!
The slap caused Damon to stumble backwards. In anger, he raised his gigantic sword.
“What, are you thinking of slashing me to death?” Newton remained immobile and simply looked at Damon coldly.
Damon’s complexion turned red; he wheezed as he breathed heavily. Finally, he gritted his teeth and released the sword.
“The reason I beat you is because you disobeyed my orders. In addition, you did something you should not have done!” Newton violently lashed out. “I assigned you to provide cover for Xiaolian while he sets up the explosives. When you saw him being attacked by the Stealth Hound Demon, why did you run away? If not for me saving him, he would have no time to press the detonation button! He was able to thanks to my help! Even so, an error had occurred in the timing of explosions! The direction of the collapse spread beyond my estimation and all of us were nearly buried alive!”
After saying that, Newton suddenly delivered a kick towards Damon’s stomach. The kick threw Damon aside, a mouthful of blood spraying out from his mouth.
“I need an explanation!” Newton did not simply let this matter slide.
“He is an eyesore to me; I just want to kill him,” Damon forcefully wiped his mouth. “In addition, I suspect his origins! This guy could potentially be an ‘Awakened!”
Awakened?
Hearing this strange term, Chen Xiaolian’s mind was filled with doubts. However, it was clear that to the members of the Wind Slasher Guild, the term Awakened was not a welcomed name. In addition, the other team members too eyed Chen Xiaolian with eagle like gazes!
Newton’s face turned severe, he restrained his fury. “You… do you have evidence?”
“None, so far I have only been suspecting,” Damon coldly replied. “But I have reasons to be suspicious.”
“State your reasons,” Newton spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Back then, for the sake of saving a little girl who is a NPC he ended up getting wounded. This level of concern, is it not suspicious?” Damon sneered. “Also, his suggestion to use explosions to trigger the collapse, the idea is certainly good… however, I believe that the reason he suggested it was to stop us from using the two NPCs as bait. That is why he suggested the plan – he only wanted to protect the two NPCs.”
“This is not enough to confirm it,” Newton replied with indifference. “It is only your speculation.”
“Hmph, Newton, you yourself should be clear on whether my words are logical or not,” Damon sneered.
Beside them, Pattern Man, Sara and Du Ya had strange looks on their faces. Pattern Man slowly said. “Newton, I feel that the things Damon said are indeed suspicious. Who would let themselves get hurt to save a little girl who is a NPC?”
Newton grunted, he turned around and stared at Chen Xiaolian who was on the ground. “Xiaolian, I will give you a fair chance to defend yourself. Why did you want to save the little girl?”
“…” Chen Xiaolian thought about it, and then sighed before smiling bitterly. “If I say… it is because I am a lolicon, would you believe me?”
… …
…
Naturally, no one believed those words.
“Just kill him. Since he is unable to defend himself, better to unjustly kill than to not kill. Besides, he is just a newbie,” The one who spoke out was Du Ya who sneered at Chen Xiaolian.
Newton’s face remained still, his expression solemn, not speaking up at all.
“Actually, there is another reason to suspect him,” Damon slowly said after pondering. “From the very first time we brought him into our camp, I have had this suspicion. When Sara was introducing our team, she told him that our team is the Wind Slasher Guild. This guy did not show any reaction at all. Heng! Even though our Wind Slasher Guild is not a top-level team, we could still be considered famous. For a newbie to be able to enter Wind Slasher Guild, even if they are only the temporary members, they should show some reaction, right? However, after hearing our guild’s name, he did not even bat an eyelid. Moreover… when Sara revealed that you are called Newton, this guy also remained calm, as though the name he heard was Dick or Paul.[1]
“Hmph! For a newbie, would these actions not cause any suspicion?”
Chen Xiaolian’s mind was stunned!
He finally realized where his initial flaws were!
He ended up exposing himself after all!
Clearly, by observing the Wind Slasher Guild’s actions within this instance dungeon and the attitude shown by the other players, one would be able to make a conclusion: Within their world, this Wind Slasher Guild had some amount of status and fame.
As for him… a minor newbie, to suddenly be able to join a team with such a status, his expression then was simply too indifferent.
When you are aware that a big celebrity with thunderous reputation is standing right before you, you would definitely reveal some traces of surprise.
“But… his level of strength is too poor,” Sara could not resist. “Could there be such a weak Awakened?”
“Perhaps he is a newbie Awakened,” Damon replied coldly. “I agree with Du Ya, better to unjustly kill than to not kill. Even if this is an unjust kill, he is but a newbie.”
Newton finally opened his mouth.
He looked at his team members. “Do you all agree? Kill him?”
None of them replied. But the meaning behind this action was clearly that of a silent agreement.
“I just want to remind everyone something… earlier, Damon intentionally brought harm to him. However, he still turned back to press the detonation button! If not for that, our plan would have failed! All of us may have ended up being buried alive!”
“From this point of view, this kid could be considered our saviour.”
Newton said in a slow and sombre tone.
“Newton,” Sara suddenly gave a light smile. “You keep speaking out for this kid time and again… do you really value this newbie so much? But if he is an Awakened… when we return how do we explain this to the Guild Leader?”
“I have no need to explain myself to anyone,” Newton scoffed.
“… or perhaps, you still have lingering emotions? We all know about how you once fell in love with an Awakened. Thus… could it be that you are still holding on to the ridiculous mind-set, which shows compassion to those Awakened folks?”
Sara’s words had seemingly pierced Newton’s sensitive spot.
Newton’s complexion turned red, he growled like an angry leopard and rushed forward. With one hand, he gripped Sara’s neck, lifting her high into the air before heavily slamming her onto the wall!
Bang!
Sara screamed sharply in pain. “You, you have gone mad! Newton!”
She moved her hands about as she struggled with all her might, but Newton’s hands was as tough as steel.
At long last, Newton slowly regained his senses and loosened his grip. Sara then fell to the ground and coughed continuously.
“… I had indeed fallen in love with an Awakened! However, I had personally killed that person in the end! Remember, if someone dares mention that incident again… I will kill that someone!”
Newton ruthlessly spoke out, a murderous aura billowing off him!
He abruptly moved to Chen Xiaolian’s side and looked at Chen Xiaolian in a commanding manner.
“I really do value you. You have a clever mind, reaction, courage, all of them are good! Even though your current strength is somewhat weak, strength can be enhanced while state of mind cannot. Because of that, I think highly of you. I had even decided, after this quest is complete, I will definitely recruit you into our guild and make you an official team member. In addition, I will be giving you some opportunities and nurture you properly so that you can become a core member of our team.”
Newton’s voice showed not a shred of emotion as he coldly continued. “However, their suspicions are justified. As the Team Leader of this team, I cannot show favouritism. Even more so, I cannot tolerate having an Awakened entering our ranks! If you are an Awakened, then even though I think highly of you, I will definitely kill you!”
“Still, in order to be fair, I will give you a chance to prove yourself!”
Newton suddenly pulled out a gun and threw it before Chen Xiaolian.
He walked away and pulled Soo Soo over, ignoring the little girl’s sobbing. He then threw her towards Chen Xiaolian’s side.
Newton looked at his own team members. “Your biggest suspicion towards him is because of his attitude towards NPCs, right?”
Du Ya and Pattern Man nodded.
“Very well!” Newton lowered his head to look at Chen Xiaolian. “Xiaolian, there is a gun before you. Pick it up and kill this NPC, then I will believe that you are not an Awakened!”
“…”
Chen Xiaolian was startled!
He looked at the gun placed before him…
Soo Soo’s cries turned increasingly loud, the little girl tightly gripped onto Chen Xiaolian’s clothes while her body leaned onto his figure.
Finally, Chen Xiaolian let out a sigh.
He stopped looking at the gun. Instead, he raised his head to look at Newton and gave a bitter smile.
“Well, I cannot do it.”