Card Room

Chapter 572 - The Last Scene

Tang Ci first returned to the Peach Blossom Spring to explain everything to Liu Qiao and Long Sen. Liu Qiao’s mind had been dazed after hearing Senior Gui’s voice on the voice channel. She thought she had auditory hallucinations. Now Tang Ci explained it and she finally understood.

Long Sen also realized it. “No wonder Mr Tang wasn’t burned to death. It turns out that Old Gui did it deliberately?”

Tang Ci nodded. “He wouldn’t have thrown me into the fire if he wanted to kill me.”

Liu Qiao clenched her fists. “Mr Tang, how should I cooperate with you to perform this scene?”

Tang Ci stared into her dark eyes and asked in a low voice, “Xiao Liu, would you be willing to join them to save your sister’s life if the hunters really want to kill your sister?”

Liu Qiao replied without hesitation, “Absolutely not. It is better to die rather than surviving by killing innocents indiscriminately. I don’t want my hands to be covered in blood and to be woken up every night by nightmares.”

Tang Ci nodded with relief. “Okay. Then you will be treated as an undercover hunter. Forget everything I just said and perform to your true colors.”

10 minutes was the deadline that the hunters gave them or Liu Ying would lose her head.

Apart from Long Sen, Ye Qi and Tang Ci who stayed in the Peach Blossom Spring, the ones who were still alive on the surface, Shao Qingge, Chu Huaying and Liu Qiao, went to the place designated by Gui Yuanzhang to perform the last scene with Old Gui.

Chu Huaying’s invisibility cloak hadn’t expired and she silently moved beside Liu Qiao. Shao Qingge’s transformation hadn’t ended so he burrowed into the sand and followed the two of them. So when Gui Yuanzhang escorted Liu Ying to the hospital entrance, he only saw a thin girl heading toward him.

Liu Qiao’s footsteps were calm but her face was indescribably pale. She stood in front of Gui Yuanzhang, her eyes and voice extremely cold. “Senior Gui, I never dreamed that you are actually a traitor!”

Gui Yuanzhang told her indifferently, “The Card World is originally a world of ‘survival of the fittest’. I am just completing my own task. You were too stupid.”

Liu Qiao’s entire body trembled with anger. She raised her head, pointed at Gui Yuanzhang and declared sharply. “You are cruel and unscrupulous! Professor Xiao called you ‘Senior’ and all of us respected you and trusted you yet you have been providing clues to the hunters! In addition, Brother Jiu and Mr Tang have experienced so many life or death crises with you. How can you do this? Are you still worthy of being called a human?”

Liu Ying stared blankly at Liu Qiao. Then she recovered and hurriedly said, “Xiao Qiao, don’t be stubborn. Join us! The hunters aren’t as cruel as you think and it isn’t necessary to kill people. As long as you listen to Brother Xu’s words and complete other tasks, you can get survival time…”

Liu Qiao glared at her sharply. “Sister, you have disappointed me so much! Do you think this is a fairy tale world? As long as you smile at Brother Xu, he will keep you alive like a kind, living Bodhisattva? You still don’t understand anything. He is just letting you live because you are my sister and you are worth using! The moment my teammates die, you will be the next one to go!”

Liu Ying was stunned. Her body started trembling and tears flowed uncontrollably like a faucet had been turned. It was because she suddenly felt that her sister’s words were the truth.

No matter what they did, neither of them would survive.

Liu Ying was just about to speak when she saw a girl in red appear in front of her. This was followed by Liu Qiao while the girl in red appeared in the distance. They changed spots and a sharp dagger aimed at Gui Yuanzhang’s chest!

Gui Yuanzhang flicked the brush in his hand and Liu Qiao’s body was knocked into the distance by the wind. She rolled in the sand several times before getting up. She wiped the sand from her mouth and glared fiercely at Gui Yuanzhang. “Even if I die, I will drag you down to hell with me!”

Another girl in red appeared behind Gui Yuanzhang. Liu Qiao and Little Red Riding Hood changed places again and she stabbed at Old Gui with the knife.

She might not be good at close combat but Little Red Riding Hood allowed her to move instantly and be extremely flexible.

Unfortunately, Old Gui waved the brush to create a wall of wind that formed an impeccable barrier around his body. She just felt numbness before the dagger was rebounded. Liu Qiao was also knocked into the distance.

Liu Qiao fell from the sky and slammed into the ground with a thud. She coughed up a large mouthful of blood.

Liu Ying shouted with all her strength, “Xiao Qiao!”

Gui Yuanzhang frowned and glanced at her. He suddenly grabbed her neck with his hands and lifted her up like she was a chicken. Liu Ying’s legs frantically struggled but the strong sense of suffocation made Liu Ying’s face pale quickly.

Gui Yuanzhang stared coldly at Liu Qiao, who was coughing up blood in the distance. “In any case, I don’t plan to keep you sisters. Since you are so stubborn then… go to hell.”

A huge inkstone suddenly appeared in the air and slammed down toward Liu Qiao’s head.

Before Liu Qiao could raise her head, she was instantly crushed by the inkstone and a dazzling mass of blood flowed out from below the inkstone. Liu Ying stared with horror but her neck was strangled by Old Gui. She was unable to make any sound.

Before her eyes closed completely, her lips trembled and she mouthed silently, ‘Liu Qiao, I’m sorry.’

The girl no longer struggled and Gui Yuanzhang threw the dead Liu Ying far away like a rag doll. He was just about to turn around when a sharp dagger suddenly pierced his chest!

There were blood-colored lines on the dagger like spider webs.

Chu Huaying, who was wearing an invisibility cloak, approached him quietly. The moment he relaxed, a knife stabbed him in the back. Gui Yuanzhang looked at Chu Huaying with an ugly expression, “Huaying, you…”

Chu Huaying coldly interrupted him. “You were just this decisive when you killed Brother Jiu, right?”

She pulled out the dagger and hot blood splashed over her face like a fountain. She didn’t even bother to wipe it. The woman in black looked like a demon who returned from hell as she stared into Gui Yuanzhang’s eyes. “All my former teammates are dead and there is no meaning to me living any longer. However, I must personally kill you and Xu Muran, you two traitors!”

Chu Huaying failed to stab him to death. She immediately swung the dagger in her hand and stabbed straight at his throat. Gui Yuanzhang covered his chest while dodging sideways. He strongly waved the brush in his hand and forced Chu Huaying to retreat several meters.

Chu Huaying still wanted to go forward. The next moment, she heard Xu Muran’s voice from the window on the second floor. “Huaying, why are you so stubborn? You should also go to the Nightmare Room and choose to be a hunter when you do. With a first-class killer like you, the three of us will join forces and enjoy the Card World…”

Chu Huaying directly cursed him. “F*k off!”

She flew up and headed straight to the second floor office where Xu Muran was located. At the same time, Shao Qingge also emerged from where he was hiding in the sand. He jumped up and instantly came to Xu Muran’s side!

Sharp black nails rose from Shao Qingge’s fingers and attacked Xu Muran’s throat.

Xu Muran suddenly summoned a giant tortoise and hid inside the tortoise’s shell. The shell was thick as a city wall and unbreakable. Chu Huaying’s spider dagger stabbed at the shell and made a harsh sound while Shao Qingge’s nails broke immediately.

The two of them looked at each other with surprise.

Xu Muran’s voice came from inside the tortoise shell. “Are you just watching the show? Are you still not acting?”

The hunters lying in ambush rushed out.

Cheng Ziyang ran to Gui Yuanzhang’s side and while dragging him over to the side, he took out a healing card to help him heal his injuries. The other hunters who were ambushing in high places neatly set up their sniper rifles and aimed the black muzzles directly at Chu Huaying and Shao Qingge!

Xu Muran rolled from the second floor window to the ground. His shell grew bigger and bigger as he rolled and soon turned into a huge sphere with a diameter of over five meters.

He might be hiding inside the shell but he controlled the hard sphere like he had eyes on the outside and aimed it toward Chu Huaying and Shao Qingge. They would definitely be crushed once hit by the sphere!

Chu Huaying and Shao Qingge’s expressions changed and they immediately separated to avoid it. Shao Qingge jumped straight to the roof while Chu Huaying used her agility to escape inside the hospital.

Just then, Xu Muran changed the tortoise shell so it became a wall.

He stood behind it and stared coldly at the hospital roof. Then he waved to the hunters behind him.

Everyone quickly retreated to his side.

Then the sound of an explosion entered their ears.

The entire hospital was blown to pieces in an instant!

Flames soared into the sky and dyed the night sky red. Bricks and glass fell down like a rainstorm and the entire area was filled with smoke. Xu Muran’s tortoise shell was placed in front and blocked the shockwave generated by the explosion. The entire hospital was razed to the ground within three seconds.

Shao Qingge, who climbed to the roof, and Chu Huaying, who rushed into the hospital, didn’t have time to escape in three seconds. One of Shao Qingge’s arms was blown into the distance and Huaying was also surrounded by fire!

Xu Muran looked at the raging fire in front of him and he finally smiled. He said contemptuously, “Bug king? As long as there is a weakness, you won’t escape the fate of death. This is the end when going against the hunters.”

He put away the tortoise shell and walked over to Gui Yuanzhang. “How is your injury?”

Cheng Ziyang answered, “Chu Huaying’s knife was too ruthless and she directly stabbed Old Gui. Fortunately, Old Gui avoided it in time and his heart wasn’t pierced. The injury isn’t fatal and I can save him.”

Xu Muran said, “That’s good.”

Cheng Ziyang stood up and respectfully asked, “Brother Xu, now Shao Qingge, Chu Huaying and Liu Qiao are dead. Is our mission complete?”

Xu Muran shook his head. “It isn’t cleared yet. We have to survive in the desert for three days before we can get out of the Two Jokers secret room. The rules still need to be kept.” He smiled slightly and joked, “Still, we have already occupied the oasis and living for three days won’t be difficult. Take your brothers to eat and drink. We will take a vacation in the desert.”

The cheers of the crowd rang out around him.

Gui Yuanzhang slowly opened his eyes and stood up. “Xiao Cheng, your healing card is quite useful.”

Cheng Ziyang humbly put away the card. “It isn’t as good as Shao Qingge’s Bug King card. It can only save people who aren’t fatally injured. Old Gui, you are the one blessed with a great life.”

Gui Yuanzhang said casually, “After all, I know Chu Huaying very well. Even if she is silent, I could still feel her breath when she approached and managed to avoid it in time.”

Xu Muran gently patted his shoulder. “You’ve worked hard. Will the contract book be in your hands after they died?”

Gui Yuanzhang shook his head. “No, my signature was fake and the contract wasn’t activated. If all the challengers are dead, the contract book will disappear temporarily. If they can get out of the Nightmare Room, the contract book and disappeared names will be reproduced.”

Xu Muran touched his chin. “Do you think they can come out of the Nightmare Room?”

Gui Yuanzhang answered, “Probably not. The difficulty of the Two Jokers Nightmare Room is much higher than the J of Clubs Nightmare Room that we originally experienced.”

“Still, we will take precautions just in case.” Xu Muran looked at Cheng Ziyang and lowered his voice. “For the remaining two days, don’t forget to take turns patrolling near the oasis. The moment you see someone returning from the Nightmare Room, kill them without mercy! They can’t be given the opportunity to fight back!”

Cheng Ziyang quickly nodded. “I know, Brother Xu.”

Gui Yuanzhang looked at Cheng Ziyang and asked, “Were there any casualties among the hunters in this secret room?”

Cheng Ziyang smiled. “Don’t worry, I will count the number of people.”

Gui Yuanzhang hummed and fell silent.

At the same time, Shao Qingge looked at the unfamiliar environment around him. He heard the conversation between Old Gui and these two people and was a bit confused for a while. He was surrounded by green mountains and blue water. The world of the ink painting was no worse than the Peach Blossom Spring.

Where was this place?

The confusion lasted until Gui Yuanzhang’s voice was heard in his mind. “Chief Shao, their doubts about me have been completely put down. I will pass on information to you through the world of the painting. You are currently in my painting.”

Shao Qingge was slightly stunned. “The world in the painting?”

Gui Yuanzhang explained, “Everyone knows about my four cards: the brush, ink, paper and inkstone. The Painting card was a harvest from the newcomer level in a solo secret room and I didn’t tell anyone about it. The first card skill is to pull a specified person into the world of the painting and communicate with the other person through the mind. The second skill is the magic pen Ma Liang that can turn drawn objects into a real object to confuse the other person.”

Back in the interstellar secret room, Old Gui drew a false teammate in the merpeople’s palace. He said it was the effect of combining his paper and brush cards. Unexpectedly, he had hidden another trump card, the Painting card.

This card was the key to passing on the information acquired.

Just now, Old Gui dragged Shao Qingge into the painting the moment Xu Muran lit the explosives.

Shao Qingge finally understood why Old Gui had the team members come and cooperate with the scene. It was so he could bring a teammate into the painting and be the eyes and ears of that teammate.

Next, Old Gui would take this painting with him and Shao Qingge could follow him everywhere. The two of them would cooperate to find out the secrets of the Hunter’s League. Then Shao Qingge would find a way to pass it onto his teammates.

There were only two hours left before they had to use Time Reversal. Shao Qingge didn’t ask if Liu Qiao and Huaying were dead. He had been really heartbroken when he saw Liu Qiao being crushed by the inkstone. However, Liu Qiao’s acting skills were too good and Old Gui had to kill her. Huaying also stabbed Old Gui to make the hunters completely believe in Old Gui.

They had paid too high a price in order to find out the details of the hunters!

It was a desperate gamble this time.

If they succeeded, there was a chance of survival. If they failed, everyone would die in this place.

Shao Qingge took a deep breath. “We have to find out everything from the number of hunters and their cards to where the traps around the hospital are hidden!”