Chapter 24: The Twenty-Fourth Cup

Chapter 24: The Twenty-Fourth Cup

Q-jam had just regained control of his body from "World Voice" and immediately started whimpering, wanting to dive into He Wuning's arms. Unfortunately, as the instance returned to normal, the Minotaur Butcher also moved.

After the hostage escaped, it freed its hands. Its right hand, which had been holding Xiao Zhi, now pulled out another bone-chopping knife from behind, gleaming with a cold light. Its blood-red eyes locked onto He Wuning, who had just injured it. With a loud moo, it raised both knives high and swung them down ferociously.

He Wuning didn't even dodge, standing right behind the milk tea cart door.

The Minotaur Butcher clearly lacked intelligence and didn't know how to go around obstacles. It swung its two shiny bone-chopping knives like it was chopping meat.

Q-jam immediately turned and hid behind the milk tea cart, not wanting to bother He Wuning: "Durability -1-1-1... It's dropping too fast, I can't keep up!"

"So stupid," He Wuning said disdainfully, lifting an eyelid. "There shouldn't be any fragments."

Yi Luo's gun clicked as he loaded a bullet, aiming at its head and causing a burst of blood. However, the Minotaur Butcher, still fixated on He Wuning, continued its mechanical attacks as if it felt nothing.

Yi Luo glanced back, casually asking as if inquiring about dinner: "What's its deal?"

He Wuning stepped forward to continue attacking, the rough edge of the skinning knife leaving a shallow wound as it glided across the skin. He wasn't rushing to launch a fierce assault; instead, he seemed to be testing the knife's movement on the brown fur.

He moved quickly but didn't overextend himself, merely keeping the Minotaur Butcher's attention on him so Yi Luo could focus on dealing damage.

Li Xiaoyi had already rushed to the injured youth's side, frantically using healing items on him. She almost didn't realize Yi Luo was talking to her.

But even when she did, it didn't seem to help much. She lowered her head, embarrassed: "Its damage is very high. It suddenly charged out, and Xiao Zhi was hit, his health dropped instantly. But it didn't kill us right away; instead, it tried to stuff us into that... that meat grinder..."

She shuddered, clearly still shaken by the experience.

"Oh, a special killing mechanism monster," Yi Luo nodded, reloading and shooting smoothly. "Weak point?"

His tone was calm and steady, somehow reassuring. Li Xiaoyi's trembling hand stopped, and she whispered: "Sorry, we didn't even manage to hit it..."

He Wuning chimed in: "Hands."

"Hmm?" Yi Luo raised an eyebrow.

He Wuning dodged the bone-chopping knife that grazed his chin, then kicked hard at the Minotaur Butcher's wrist. His dagger spun, plunging into its palm, forcing it to drop the knife.

He stepped on the sharp bone-chopping knife embedded in the ground, his gaze calm: "Two hands are stronger than one."

Yi Luo had a sudden realization: "Oh, so it's weaker when it has a hostage?"

Li Xiaoyi flinched, her eyes flickering as she looked down, then bit her lip and stood up: "I can..."

Xiao Zhi, extremely weak, grabbed her arm: "No, you can't."

He struggled to sit up, "Let me go. I've already been a hostage once..."

"No! You're already injured!" Li Xiaoyi teared up, "I... I can protect you!"

He Wuning turned around, reaching out and gently pressing Q-jam, his expression surprisingly tender: "Help out."

Q-jam: "Chirp?"

In the next second, He Wuning swung his arm and threw Q-jam with the speed of a professional pitcher. Q-jam's pitiful "No" echoed through the slaughterhouse.

The Minotaur Butcher instinctively caught the ball with its left hand.

Li Xiaoyi: "..."

Xiao Zhi: "..."

Yi Luo glanced at their tearful, clasped hands and chuckled: "What melodrama, is it really that serious?"

Li Xiaoyi responded numbly: "...Probably not."

Q-jam shouted: "You're jealous! You're just bitter, single dog! You won't find anyone like this!"

Yi Luo raised an eyebrow: "It was He Wuning who threw you, why are you yelling at me?"

"How can throwing me by my beloved be considered throwing?" Q-jam retorted indignantly, "It's my beloved's expectations, ah ah ah no no, my head is going to crack!"

"You guys are abusing the system!"

"Will the monster attack system penalize us?" He Wuning avoided an attack, approaching Q-jam, who covered its face coyly in the Minotaur Butcher's grip: "I knew my beloved would care about me..."

He Wuning firmly grasped the dagger stuck in the Minotaur Butcher's wrist and said without remorse: "I'm taking the knife."

"Just wait a bit."

He pulled out his dagger, mercilessly dodging the attack, showing no intention of rescuing the system.

Q-jam: "..."

It had misread the situation.

The Minotaur Butcher roared in pain and anger, flinging Q-jam away. The innocent system screamed as it hit the wall with a thud and rolled to the ground.

Q-jam extended its tiny hand, trembling: "Beloved, avenge... me—ah!"

It lay motionless on the ground.

He Wuning felt a momentary pang of worry, but Yi Luo chuckled: "Quite the drama, do you still have durability?"

Q-jam lifted its head: "What do you want? Don't steal the spotlight!"

The Minotaur Butcher took a step, reaching for the bone-chopping knife, ignoring He Wuning, who should still have its attention.

He Wuning thought for a moment, then swiftly grabbed the bone-chopping knife and tossed it to Yi Luo beside the milk tea cart.

Yi Luo dodged the cleaver that flew at him like a knife, protesting with a "tsk": "Hey, throwing knives is dangerous!"

He Wuning raised his chin, gesturing toward the Minotaur butcher who immediately turned and chased after him.

Monsters without fragments only act according to system logic. In the Minotaur butcher's logic, picking up the knife takes priority over attacking the player with the highest aggro.

Yi Luo playfully juggled the cleaver in his hand, waiting until the Minotaur butcher was right in front of him before tossing it back to He Wuning at the last moment.

The Minotaur butcher, now standing before him, breathed heavily. Yi Luo could smell the beastly scent emanating from it. If not for its mechanical behavior, he might have suspected these creatures were real.

He Wuning caught the cleaver, and the furious Minotaur butcher quickly turned its head, seemingly reluctant but forced to follow the rules.

After healing Xiao Zhi and helping him sit up, Li Xiaoyi watched the scene expressionlessly—once a terrifying Minotaur butcher that nearly killed them both, now behaving like an energetic dog playing fetch between He Wuning and Yi Luo.

Clearly, He Wuning had more than just playing with it in mind. Glancing into the depths of the dungeon, he saw there was space beyond the roaring meat grinder. He nodded at the two recovered players: "Get in the car."

Li Xiaoyi hurriedly helped Xiao Zhi stand up, fearing she would slow down the two powerful players.

He Wuning fought while retreating, holding the cleaver. Qjiang, lying on the ground pretending to be dead, rolled over and blocked the Minotaur's path, shouting to He Wuning: "Honey, go ahead! I'll trip it!"

The Minotaur butcher mercilessly stepped on Qjiang with its hooves.

He Wuning: "..."

He thought he heard a squishing sound.

He sighed lightly, then charged forward with the cleaver, slashing fiercely at the Minotaur butcher's hoof. He looked up, his eyes filled with a cold killing intent: "Lift your foot."

This cleaver was far better than his level 1 skinning knife. The Minotaur butcher let out a moo, losing balance and falling to the ground. He Wuning seized the opportunity to scoop up Qjiang from the pit and threw it into the milk tea cart window. He ran a few steps, leaped lightly, and hung onto the window.

—He also grabbed the cleaver along the way.

Shaking in fear inside the milk tea cart, Li Xiaoyi looked back. The weaponless Minotaur butcher roared angrily and sprinted behind the speeding cart.

She glanced at the two fearless players, hesitating to speak: "In this dungeon, we... we shouldn't be able to run away..."

Yi Luo laughed: "What do you mean by 'run'?"

Feeling a bit braver being with such daring players, Li Xiaoyi cautiously asked: "Then what are we doing?"

Yi Luo nodded: "This is called tactical relocation."

Li Xiaoyi: "..."

Yi Luo found her expressive face amusing and chuckled, pointing at He Wuning hanging outside the cart: "Honestly, I don't know either, but it seems this player who can always show off wants me to drive, so I did."

"Now, please explain your tactical plan, Comrade He Wuning."

Without turning back, He Wuning watched the bloodstained meat grinder recede before him, his clothes flapping in the wind. He pressed his black hair down: "There's definitely another one inside. Fighting them one by one is too slow. Let's take them both on."

Li Xiaoyi hesitated: "Are you saying... you plan to fight the second boss and the final boss together?"

He Wuning lazily responded with a "Hmm."

Li Xiaoyi was stunned, unsure if she or the two people in front of her were crazy.

The milk tea cart sped forward, and the scenery suddenly changed. Li Xiaoyi suddenly smelled cooked meat, which made her face pale, almost causing her to vomit considering the dungeon's background.

The towering final boss, labeled as the "Minotaur Chef," slowly lifted its head and suddenly spoke—

"Ingredients."

"Ingredients, why haven't they arrived yet—"

With its angry roar, the entire dungeon shook.

"Ahhh—" Li Xiaoyi and Xiao Zhi hugged each other tightly, screaming in fear as Yi Luo drove straight into the Minotaur chef without slowing down.

It didn't fly, but its movement paused momentarily.

Qjiang yelled: "Wow, honey, be careful! It's immune to knockback!"

He Wuning had already jumped out, the gleaming cleaver reflecting his cold profile. He looked up: "The ingredients are here."

As he spoke, the gleaming cleaver plunged into the heart of the Minotaur chef.