Chapter 61: Gao Ji Academy (Twenty-Six)

Chapter 61: Gao Ji Academy (Twenty-Six)

The forthcoming scene was something Dou Siqi would remember for a lifetime.

They were in a dark and damp basement, with Dou Siqi hiding in a corner while the NPCs seemed ready to charge at him with murderous intent.

After Tong Xinxin and Tan Chen used their personal skills to blast open the basement, a sliver of moonlight seeped in from behind them.

Seeing that NPCs had surrounded Dou Siqi, without any word, the two jumped in directly through the blasted hole.

Soon, the nearby Liu Hui and Yue Haiyang heard the noise and hurried over.

The four of them were like droplets merging into the ocean, yet they stirred up tremendous waves.

Tong Xinxin led the way with her skills, sprouting scarlet blood spines from her body, which moved at a speed that nearly made them invisible. Before Dou Siqi could utter a word, he was hoisted up by her, along with Zhao Zhe who was lying nearby.

With Tong Xinxin carrying one in each hand, Dou Siqi realized the source of the explosive sound.

Tan Chen.

This seemingly gentle and weak girl sliced open her own arm without a hint of emotion, using her own flesh and blood as grenades.

Dou Siqi was greatly moved, "You all..."

Yue Haiyang interrupted him, "No time for that, hurry, hurry, Brother Jie will be here soon!"

Tan Chen increased the pace of her grenade-throwing.

Everyone struggled step by step to retreat back to the hole. During this, Guo Siming and others also rushed over. The six who could move were carrying the two who couldn't. When they were under the hole, a familiar voice resonated from above.

"Wow, everyone's here!"

Jie Fangcheng peered down and in the next second, with his stick on his shoulder, he too jumped down.

Dou Siqi quickly understood why Yue Haiyang was urging everyone to hurry... primarily to make room for Jie Fangcheng.

Jie Fangcheng stretched his limbs a bit; the ensuing scene was akin to a wolf entering a flock of sheep... no, more like an eagle preying on chicks.

Whichever direction Xie Fangcheng ran towards, the NPCs in that direction would scream and scatter in panic, fleeing frantically. The formerly eerie and terrifying NPCs now looked downright delightful as they cried out in fear and desperation.

Initially, Xie Fangcheng was too slow to catch up with this group of NPCs. However, in the confined environment of the basement, where the number of NPCs was not insubstantial, there were always a few lagging behind who ended up getting caught and mercilessly beaten by him.

The eight of them huddled in a corner under a crevice, watching the scene unfold.

Dou Siqi hesitated for a moment.

"Xie...Bro, he's fighting the NPCs by himself while we just stand by and watch. Isn't this wrong?" he queried.

Tong Xinxin promptly restrained him.

"Don't create more chaos for him, I'm telling you," she warned sternly.

Just then, a muffled bang echoed from a distance.

Dou Siqi's pupils dilated abruptly: "Brother Xie!"

Among this group of NPCs, the most formidable ones were undoubtedly a few of the security guards.

The guns held by these security guards were devastating, to say the least. Not only could a direct shot grievously wound players, but even a near miss, with the wind it generated, could slice through flesh like a sharp blade.

The majority of the injuries Dou Siqi sustained were inflicted by the bullets fired from these guards' guns.

Despite their ability to kill him with a single shot, these guards sadistically chose to merely wound him, toying with him as a cat would with a mouse.

Dou Siqi considered himself to be quite powerful, yet these guards were terrifyingly formidable.

He was aware that Xie Fangcheng had once battered these guards to an unrecognizable state, but that was when he was prepared for the confrontation.

Now, with the surrounding situation so chaotic, Dou Siqi sat up straight, anxiously focusing on the direction where Xie Fangcheng was.

Over there, coinciding with the sound of the gunshot, Xie Fangcheng seemed to fall in response.

His upper body fell backward, disappearing from Dou Siqi's line of sight.

Surely, he must be alright...

The NPCs in the distance were also attentively watching the scene, creating a brief but palpable silence.

In the next moment, Xie Fangcheng's upper body gradually straightened back up.

He erupted in fury, swinging the stick in his hand even faster, "Dare to fight back, huh?! Who fired that shot just now??"

The NPCs screamed and scattered again in a frantic escape.

The scene was utter chaos, and Dou Siqi breathed a sigh of relief.

The group of eight huddled in a corner, where individuals like Tong Xinxin and Tan Chen, who possessed long-range attack capabilities, managed to lend a hand occasionally, while the others could only cheer them on, akin to a cheerleading squad.

"Brother Xie, the guard is to your left!"

"Brother Jie! Brother Jie!"

"Be careful, Brother Jie!!! That NPC is trying to escape!!"

Dou Siqi was originally squatting silently on one side; he had no points left, and the wounds on his body looked utterly miserable, with blood constantly flowing.

It was Liu Hui who silently handed over a bottle of medicine.

"...Thank you."

Dou Siqi indeed needed this very much.

Liu Hui shook his head: "This was given to me by Haiyang. Remember to transfer the points to him when we get out."

Dou Siqi opened his mouth, finally responding with a subdued acknowledgment.

The points of the players were all very precious. They were struggling to survive in these horrifying instances to accumulate points, hoping to exchange them for a chance to return to the real world.

While they seem to down the bottles of medicine quite readily, it was actually because they knew they would die if they didn't recover, so no matter how reluctant, they had to drink it.

Spending one's own points to exchange for restorative potions for "teammates"? Dou Siqi had never even dared to think about this scenario before.

Liu Hui had obviously spent all his points earlier, but he was now healthy and unharmed. Yue Haiyang was even willing to exchange potions in advance for Liu Hui to carry, these people really... could there be genuine friendship existing in such a game?

After drinking the medicine, Dou Siqi stared blankly at the empty bottle in his hand, lost in thought.

At that moment, Zhao Zhe, who was lying next to him, finally sat up with a frown, clutching his head.

"Damn, am I still alive?"

Due to overusing his abilities, his head felt as though it was being pierced with needles. After a two-second delay, he saw Dou Siqi beside him.

"Damn, you're still alive too?"

Saying that, Zhao Zhe looked towards where the NPCs were being chased... oh, one was caught. The basement space wasn't large, and the NPC who fell behind was sent flying to Zhao Zhe's feet with a single swing of Jie Fangcheng's stick. Zhao Zhe was startled, he didn't have time to dodge, but the NPC screamed and rolled up from the ground and ran away without even looking at him.

Zhao Zhe was dumbfounded: "...Damn!!"

He then lifted his head, quickly joining the chanting of "Brother Jie, Brother Jie."

Dou Siqi watched for a while, his facial expression evolving from complex to as if realizing something. He also turned his head and started acting as a cheerleader like the others around him.

On the other side, Jie Fangcheng was having a great time fighting, but he became a little too forceful when hitting the security guard who had dared to shoot at him earlier, smashing a hole in the wall.

Instantly, the surrounding NPCs disregarded everything, screaming and fleeing through that hole as if they had seen a ghost, even those who were half beaten to death mustered all the strength they had to run away.

Jie Fangcheng chased for a few steps, then came back, quite frustrated.

Tong Xinxin waved her puppet doll like a cheerleading captain, chanting: "Brother Jie is mighty! Brother Jie is domineering!"

Jie Fangcheng raised his hand: "Of course, of course."

These NPCs had scattered and fled with no trace to be found, so the group had no choice but to leave the basement.

Retracing their steps — a bundle of rope was dropped down from the hole above. After Dou Siqi climbed up, he realized that Zhang An was waiting up there, the other end of the rope tied to a nearby tree.

Tong Xinxin asked: "So, are we heading back to the dormitory now?"

Jie Fangcheng glanced at the villas before them and immediately shook his head: "Why go back to the dorm? Isn't this place ready-made for us to stay?"

Thinking about the teachers' NPC corpses buried in these villas, Dou Siqi couldn't help but speak up: "But this area isn't very safe."

After he explained everything he knew, Jie Fangcheng asked: "What's unsafe about it?"

Dou Siqi paused, then soon realized.

Indeed, with Jie Fangcheng here, which NPC would dare to approach him? They'd resent having only two legs to run away with.

Meanwhile, Zhang An started speaking: "That one seems to be where the teachers stayed. I noticed that these three buildings look a bit older compared to the others, and according to this school's traits, the teachers' dormitories are more rundown than the students'."

Well, they've even identified where to stay already.

Tong Xinxin and the others clearly had no objections. Leading the way, Jie Fangcheng reached the front door of a villa and knocked symbolically. After a two-second wait without any response, he kicked the door open with one foot and swaggered in first.

Upon entering, he even "clicked" the lights on, then unscrupulously pulled down the curtains to wipe clean his stick, which was coated with an unknown fluid.

The curtains, stained with red, white, and grey marks, swayed under the ghastly moonlight, giving off an especially eerie vibe.

Jie Fangcheng said: "It's late, everyone just find a room to sleep in."

After saying that, he nonchalantly walked a few steps, then turned and twisted open a door near the staircase.

Screams from NPCs emanated from inside the room.

Jie Fangcheng closed the door as if nothing had happened, walked a few more steps, and opened the door to the next room.

This time there were no NPCs. He switched on the light, inspected the room, nodded in satisfaction, then waved to everyone: "Good night."

The door closed.

Dou Siqi: "..."

Zhao Zhe stood by, his eyes wide and his spirit lifted.

He said with a face full of envy: "Damn, I wish I could be as brazen as him someday!"

Tong Xinxin snickered.

Zhang An moved to the room next to Jie Fangcheng’s. He knocked first, and upon hearing no response from inside, he entered the room with a composed expression.

The surrounding players were all yawning, bidding each other goodnight as they chose rooms for themselves.

Zhao Zhe became even more flabbergasted.

"Eh... Are we really going to sleep in this villa?"

He asked.

No one responded to him.

Though they came to rescue them tonight, they weren't actually teammates.

It was Zhang An who proposed the rescue, his demeanor indifferent: "If you want to come, come; if not, let it be."

Though that's what was said, it was clear that Jie Fangcheng intended to go, and after exchanging looks, everyone else followed as well.

Jie Fangcheng initially had some doubts: "I could have gone by myself; there's no need for everyone to come, right?"

However, Zhang An shook his head: "Clearing this instance is easy, but conquering the instance within one's heart is challenging."

These people have the help of Jie Fangcheng in this instance, but the next one will not have such assistance.

So, in the next instance, will they revert back to their original selves or undergo a transformation?

Dou Siqi and Zhao Zhe were still standing in place when, at that moment, Liu Hui patted their shoulders.

"Let's go."

"Huh?"

Liu Hui gave a small smile.

Those among them who had cleared numerous instances could understand Zhang An's intentions.

Indeed, for a rescue, Jie Fangcheng alone would have sufficed, but aiding others was never solely the "privilege" of the powerful.

Let's not forget that they are still humans!

"At least in this instance... let's live like normal people."