Chapter 35 Aquaman 16

Since the young master had completely lost his combat ability, the curse power on Xia Qi gradually faded away.

He steadied himself against the greasy pillar, pulled out a clean sleeve from his wrist, and wiped away the tears and sweat from his face bit by bit.

He blinked hard and finally managed to see clearly what was in front of him.

Not far from him was a small pit that had been scorched black.

As a cold wind blew, the smoke gradually dissipated, revealing the young master lying motionless at the bottom of the pit.

The young master's once exquisite face was now covered in soot, as if smeared with coal dust. Most of his hair was gone, leaving only a thin layer of curly black hair clinging to his scalp.

His clothes were tattered, making him look like he had just crawled out of a coal mine, no longer resembling the refined and elegant figure he had been when they first met in a five-star hotel.

Xia Qi thought that even if Cha Gong stood in front of the young master now, he probably wouldn't be able to recognize him.

"Hmm."

The young master lay in the pit for a while, then suddenly his chest heaved, and he spat out a cloud of black smoke.

From the young master's current state, it seemed he was barely hanging on.

After coughing up a few more round clouds of black smoke, the young master let out a low moan and called out affectionately, "...Dazhuang."

Dazhuang frowned and looked at the young master hesitantly.

Although he was disappointed by the young master's coldness, they were still teammates, and he couldn't just leave him there.

After a brief struggle, Dazhuang relented, stepped forward, and helped the young master up.

With one hand supporting the young master's waist and the other gripping his shoulder, the young master smiled gratefully at him, their relationship seemingly back to normal.

However, after Dazhuang had stabilized the young master, the young master's expression changed. Suddenly, he drew a golden knife and stabbed it forcefully into Dazhuang's abdomen!

"Ah!"

Feeling a sharp pain in his stomach, Dazhuang cried out, falling backward in disbelief, his lips trembling.

"Lin Qing... why..." Dazhuang stared at the young master, dumbfounded, wondering why he would kill him.

Seeing that he had succeeded, the young master finally relaxed, weakly leaning on the ground, coughing up blood that had been suppressed in his throat. He said coldly, "Did you think I didn't know you gave the box to Xia Qi?"

Hearing this, Dazhuang's face instantly turned pale. The young master knew?

"In your hand was the box containing the item to activate the third pillar, which is why the octopus came for you on the third night..." Watching Dazhuang's face turn increasingly pale, the young master's eyes reddened slightly, and he shouted, "And today, the third pillar was activated by Xia Qi! The only explanation is that you gave the box to Xia Qi!"

The young master's words struck Dazhuang like lightning, causing him to tremble.

That's right; he did give the box to Xia Qi because Xia Qi had saved him!

Comparing this to the young master's indifference towards him, Dazhuang felt utterly disappointed. He wondered how he could have been so blind to follow the young master for so long.

"The reason I gave the box to Xia Qi was all because of you!" Veins bulged on Dazhuang's forehead as he yelled at the young master, "As my teammate, you watched me get dragged away by the octopus. Are you even human? I'd rather throw the box into the sea than give it to you!"

Due to his intense anger, Dazhuang spewed saliva onto the young master's face. However, the young master seemed used to such fierce questioning, and Dazhuang's rebuke did not make him feel any guilt.

The young master's expression remained unchanged, and instead, a vicious glint appeared in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, "I never betray anyone; I... will never allow anyone to betray me! This knife won't kill you immediately; it will only let you bleed slowly..."

"Lin Qing, you're beyond redemption!" Dazhuang was so enraged by the young master's audacity that he spat out a mouthful of blood.

After spitting out blood, Dazhuang's wound began gushing like a faucet, and the young master burst into laughter.

"This is the fate of those who betray me." As the young master laughed, tears slowly streamed down his face.

To consolidate the Lin family's power in the game of sin, he had taken on the family's legacy of betrayal magic.

From the beginning, he knew that once he took this path, there was no turning back.

The reason he clung to Cha Gong was that being close to him allowed him to gain betrayal points from Xia Qi.

For three months, he had intermittently accumulated countless betrayal points from Xia Qi until Xia Qi entered the escape game, and the points slowly decreased.

After Xia Qi attended a banquet, the betrayal points almost stopped increasing, and the young master lost interest in Cha Gong, feigning illness and avoiding the game.

"Cough, cough, cough..." The young master covered his chest and coughed up more blood.

"Lin Qing, you're so ruthless." Dazhuang grew weaker, and after uttering his final words, he fainted.

Seeing Dazhuang finally fall, the young master's lips curled slightly.

"I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me," he insisted, accomplishing what he wanted until the end.

"Lin Qing, you've gone too far."

After witnessing the grudge between Dazhuang and the young master, Xia Qi raised the magic wand and approached the young master step by step.

When he reached the young master, Xia Qi kicked aside the purple magic wand on the ground, then took three steps back, maintaining a safe distance to prevent any sudden attacks.

"Xia Qi... you can't attack me." The young master lifted his head, his blood-red eyes glaring venomously.

"Why?" Xia Qi tightened his grip on the magic wand and asked coldly.

The young master suddenly smiled, a mocking expression on his face: "The S-grade lottery ticket in your hand belongs to my brother. Your life-saving items should belong to our Lin family... Besides, don't you want your USB drive and bullets back?"

Xia Qi furrowed his brows, thinking, here we go again.

"So, you can't attack me." The young master's eyes sparkled, looking at him with certainty.

Though Xia Qi had never known him before, the young master knew who Xia Qi was and what kind of person he was.

"Fine, I won't lay a hand on you. Consider it as paying back the lottery ticket." Xia Qi said coldly, taking a step back.

After speaking, Xia Qi looked up at the gloomy sky and frowned uneasily.

"Hahaha... I knew it! You can't do anything to me!"

Seeing that Xia Qi seemed afraid, the young master raised his head and laughed confidently.

As the sky darkened, Xia Qi could barely see the young master's dark face; he only saw his teeth, gleaming like they were brushed with black toothpaste, shining in the night.

"Pfft."

The young master laughed shrilly. At that moment, the sound of a sharp object piercing flesh echoed, freezing the young master's smile on his face.

Confused, the young master looked down, seeing a golden weapon piercing through his chest, unable to comprehend what had happened for a long time.

Xia Qi took a step back, looking at the mermaid's spirit behind the young master without any surprise.

"I indeed won't lay a hand on you, because you triggered the death condition," Xia Qi said to the young master.

At this moment, perhaps due to the ritual, the mermaid's spirit had become very solid and had even grown familiar features.

"How... How is this possible..."

The young master spat out a large amount of blood, looking at Xia Qi in disbelief. The intense pain began to distort his expression.

He had been so focused on taking revenge on the strong man that he forgot the cliff was the true altar of Mermaid Island.

"If you hadn't gone after Wang Dazhuang, you might not have died." Xia Qi shook his head and sighed.

Clearly, from the young master's dark expression, Xia Qi knew he had understood, but unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret.

The young master, who had been smart all his life, had foolishly acted on impulse and sealed his own fate.

"I..."

The young master convulsed violently on the spot, his eyes filled with hatred and deep resentment.

Why did he die just because of one mistake?

Why did Xia Qi get the True Love Magic Wand while he inherited the Betrayal Magic Wand?

He didn't lose to Xia Qi in talent but to the limitations of the Betrayal Magic Wand's song...

No... He wasn't willing...

"Rip—"

The mermaid's shadow mechanically pulled the trident out of the young master's body, and a bright splash of blood shot up. The young master covered the hole in his chest with his hands, his blood-red eyes wide open, as he slowly fell to the ground.

After executing the young master, the entire cliff fell into a deathly silence. Xia Qi stood straight, not daring to move.

After a while, the mermaid's shadow suddenly lifted its head, its dark green eyes glowing with an eerie light, staring at Xia Qi.

Xia Qi looked down at the lingering scent of the Passion Rose Perfume on him and thought, "Oh no."

This was the charm perfume preserved by Margaret. Although the item description used the pronoun "TA," Xia Qi could guess who it would affect.

Even more terrifying were the few lines of special instructions that made his scalp tingle.

Not wanting to suffer the side effects of "you know it's good for both of you" and "deep love from your mother-in-law," Xia Qi gritted his teeth and carefully took a step toward the rope.

The mermaid's head turned with him, still staring intently.

Xia Qi took another step, and it turned again.

Xia Qi took two more steps, three more steps, and the mermaid, like the center of a compass, turned its body along with him.

Seeing the rope getting closer, Xia Qi tentatively extended his foot, testing the edge of death. Just as he was about to touch the rope, in a flash, the mermaid transformed into a blur and pounced on him like a tiger attacking its prey, knocking him to the ground.

"Smack!"

In an instant, Xia Qi was caught off guard and fell to the ground, almost breaking every bone in his body.

His mind raced, wondering why even a spirit could be so fierce.

Before Xia Qi could resist, the mermaid restrained his hands with one hand, pinning them above his head. Due to the disparity in strength, Xia Qi couldn't break free and could only struggle desperately.

Seeing the mermaid's green eyes becoming increasingly fierce, looking at him as if he were salmon sashimi, Xia Qi shouted, "Calm down!"

Unfortunately, the mermaid's spirit had no consciousness and, stimulated by the Passion Rose Perfume, was acting purely on instinct.

Xia Qi roared and lifted his knee to strike the mermaid's tail. The mermaid took the hit but seemed unaffected, then thrust its tail, forcing Xia Qi to sit up!

"Let go!"

Xia Qi felt a sharp pain in his lower back, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.