"Yo, she's out."
The moment she burst through the basement door, a lazy voice drifted into Lin Sanjiu's ears.
Standing in the dimly lit corridor, stepping on the broken wood shavings, she raised her head.
The flickering candlelight painted half the room an orange-red hue. Standing in the warm flickering light, Qing Jiuliu tilted his head and looked at Lin Sanjiu. He smiled, revealing a row of white teeth. His eyes, which were shrouded in shadows, glowed faintly like diamonds.
Standing on the other side of him was Ji Shanqing. When he saw Lin Sanjiu, he tilted his head slightly. His ponytail slid down his face, concealing his slightly embarrassed expression. However, his hands, which were pressed firmly against Carrot Lo on the dining table with Qing Jiuliu, did not move an inch.
Carrot Lo, whose face was pressed against the table, was surprisingly quiet. He did not struggle at all.
"You guys know that the basement can't hold me," Lin Sanjiu smiled bitterly.
Qing Jiuliu tilted his head like a child. His movements still carried a hint of drunkenness.
Every time he revealed this expression, everything else in the world seemed to fade into the background. Only Qing Jiuliu was shining brightly, and he was the only center of gravity. No matter what he did, he would be able to attract the attention of others, and they would not be able to look away.
Perhaps, it wasn't just because he was good-looking.
"I know," he said with a muffled voice. The mermaid in his hand was still pressed against Carrot Lo's ear, "I don't want to hold you. I just want a chance to restrain him."
Lin Sanjiu shot a glance at Ji Shanqing. The latter had found a knife from somewhere. The thin, sharp metal blade was pressed against Carrot Lo's artery.
"You two sure have a quick plan," Lin Sanjiu sighed again, "It's fine if it's a whistle since you can fake it. But what about the sound of the wind outside? Even the house was shaking just now. "
"After this guy pushed the [Tornado Whip] back to me, I secretly passed it to the grand prize," Qing Jiuliu said as he put a cigarette into his mouth nonchalantly. "There were a bunch of things on the table, so you wouldn't have noticed if one of them was missing since you were in a hurry."
Lin Sanjiu was taken aback. If she had only heard the whistle just now, it meant that the dimensional rift was still far away, and she wouldn't have gotten so nervous so quickly. However, she didn't expect Qing Jiuliu to have already predicted everything and used her own item to trick her.
Only someone she trusted would be able to trick her into such a trap.
"Then you —"
Lin Sanjiu was about to ask, "What do you plan to do?" However, before she could finish her sentence, Carrot Lo suddenly came back to his senses. As soon as the effect of the mermaid disappeared, he immediately reacted to the situation. As he struggled, he cursed, "Bastard! Let me go! "
It seemed that Carrot Lo was not afraid of the knife in Ji Shanqing's hand at all. After struggling for a while, his neck and face were cut by his own resistance. However, when the blood flowed down his face, Carrot Lo smiled resentfully.
"You guys have miscalculated!"
His face turned crimson, and he spat viciously on the table, gasping for breath. "I am a member of the Consular Officer Association. Haven't you heard? All the consular officers in the Twelve Worlds Centrum have to swear an oath when they join the association. They would rather lose their lives than to issue a visa under any coercion! "
Lin Sanjiu knew about this rule. Everyone in the Twelve Worlds Centrum knew about this rule. She had heard about it once when she was in Red Nautilus. It was precisely because of the deterrence and protection of this rule that the consular officers had the status they had today. As it involved the interests of the community, when the Consular Officer Association found out that someone had violated their oath, they would issue a kill order against both parties. Naturally, there were many people who were willing to become assassins for the Consular Officer Association.
Threatening a consular officer with force would not only bring endless trouble, but it might also result in nothing but a dead body. Carrot Lo probably thought of this as he struggled even more fiercely. He was certain that they wouldn't dare to do anything to him, so he became even more fearless. He shouted in a forceful manner, "If you don't let me go now, you will be sent to a random location! Let me tell you, even if a consular officer dies, it is because they refuse to issue a visa for free! "
"You have said so much," Qing Jiuliu turned around and said softly. He squinted his eyes and blew a puff of smoke at Carrot Lo's face. The white smoke spread alluringly under the candlelight. "You think we are here to ask you for a visa?"
Lin Sanjiu wasn't the only one who was stunned. Even Carrot Lo was stunned. "Isn't that the case?"
"Of course not." Qing Jiuliu laughed as if he had heard something interesting. His pearly white teeth gleamed under the dim candlelight, "Getting a visa can only solve a problem once. I want to solve it once and for all."
Carrot Lo blinked his eyes in confusion.
Qing Jiuliu didn't reply. He turned his gaze back to Lin Sanjiu. The candlelight cast a beautiful silhouette on his side profile. He smiled faintly and said softly to her, "You don't have to worry about this."
This was the second time Lin Sanjiu heard him say that. This time, the moment he finished speaking, the tip of the dagger had already pierced deep into Carrot Lo's carotid artery.
Under the candlelight, the spurting blood created countless black shadows. Ji Shanqing narrowed his eyes. His face was already covered in blood, and it slid down his skin. Half of his jacket was soaked in blood. He closed his eyes. Not only did he not pull the dagger out, he stabbed it deeper into Carrot Lo's carotid artery. When Carrot Lo's body stopped convulsing like a fish out of water, Ji Shanqing loosened his grip.
The black hilt of the dagger protruded from Carrot Lo's neck. Ji Shanqing took a step back. Carrot Lo's body lost its support and fell to the floor with a thud. Carrot Lo's eyes were still wide open as he stared at the ceiling. Confusion and mockery could still be seen on his face.
When Ji Shanqing stabbed Carrot Lo's carotid artery, Lin Sanjiu lowered her head and averted her gaze. She pressed her knuckles between her eyebrows. When she heard the blood splattering on the floor, she sighed deeply. She finally understood Qing Jiuliu's purpose.
It seemed like this man could cross that line without any burden at any time. When he wanted to do something, there were no taboos in this world for him.
Qing Jiuliu didn't look at her. He just said to Ji Shanqing lazily, "Try it."
Ji Shanqing wiped the blood away and called out softly, "Sis."
Lin Sanjiu raised her head and saw a newly-formed visa on the grand prize's open palm. She couldn't see the content of the visa from her angle, but the card was glowing under the candlelight. Without a doubt, it was a visa.
"It's the 'Olympics'," Ji Shanqing said softly to her. He approached her quietly as if she was a frightened little animal, "My ability has changed. I'm now a [Defective Consular Officer]. Sis, we can go to the next world together. You can continue to protect Magus. "
'Right, the grand prize has killed many people. '
Lin Sanjiu stared at him with her mouth agape. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. Just when she was silent, Qing Jiuliu put the cigarette between his fingers and suddenly smiled, "Are you relieved?" "Huh?
Lin Sanjiu was startled. She raised her head and stared at him.
"Don't look at me like that. I don't mean anything."
Qing Jiuliu turned his gaze away from her. It was as if he knew how Lin Sanjiu felt at that moment. When a person's innermost feelings were suddenly exposed to the light of day, the feeling of being naked was the most unwelcome thing to have an audience.
Looking at the wall on the other side, Qing Jiuliu opened his mouth slightly. The dream-like white smoke lingered around his lips and teeth, making him look like he was floating in the clouds.
"You are a good person. You have a conscience, and you have principles," he said softly, and Lin Sanjiu could hear every single word he said. "Every time I hear people say that someone has no other good points but is very kind, I want to laugh. People who live in a civilized society without any chance or courage to break the law all think they are kind and good people. Suddenly, being a good person has become the cheapest compliment in this world. Frankly speaking, I feel like throwing up. "
Lin Sanjiu's breathing quickened.
"But you, you are different. I've never seen anyone who has been through so many worlds after the arrival of the apocalypse, yet they are still like you … "Qing Jiuliu seemed to be at a loss for words. He paused for a moment before he continued," You remind me of a knight from the Middle Ages. Even in the darkness, you still walk towards the light. "
"What am I —" Lin Sanjiu couldn't bring herself to say the word 'good person', so she let out a self-deprecating laugh. She wiped her face and said, "Just as you said, I … I was relieved to see him dead."
"Because you are still a person. That is understandable." Qing Jiuliu turned his head and narrowed his eyes. "Being a person who sticks to his principles is a far heavier burden than you realize."
"After spending so much time with you, I realized that you will only kill people when you have no other choice." Qing Jiuliu chuckled. "To be honest, I admire that, but killing Carrot Lo is my style. But killing Radish is my style of doing things. I'm very happy that I killed him. It has nothing to do with you. "
"You are just saying that to make me feel better," Lin Sanjiu said with a bitter smile, "You guys are the ones who do all the bad things —"
"Shut up." Qing Jiuliu suddenly threw the cigarette butt at Lin Sanjiu. The flame drew a parabola in the dark sky and extinguished in a puddle of blood.
He stood up abruptly. He was leaning lazily against the table a moment ago, but now, he seemed to have lost his patience. He strode over and stood in front of Lin Sanjiu with his arms crossed. The grand prize looked from one to the other, but he didn't say a word.
"You are just a mortal. It's not easy to stick to your principles. "
"Admit your limitations. Admit that you can't do it this time. Accept this fact. It's up to you how you want to deal with this fact in the future. But remember, you are just a mortal. You can only try to be a good person for as long as possible because it's too difficult. "
Strangely, Lin Sanjiu felt a sense of relaxation coming from the depths of her body. It was as if someone had lifted a heavy weight off her shoulders, or as if she had stepped into a pool of hot water. Along with this relief, a deep sense of exhaustion engulfed her.
She knew that it was better to do whatever she wanted for the sake of benefits. Lin Sanjiu was afraid that once she took the first step, she would succumb to the temptation, and she would not be able to stop her downward trend. Along with this thought, Lin Sanjiu unknowingly became stricter and stricter with herself. It was as if the longer she lived in the apocalypse, the more she didn't dare to let loose.
Lin Sanjiu stared at the corpse on the ground for a while. Countless thoughts flashed through her mind, but at the same time, she didn't seem to be thinking about anything.
After a few minutes, she looked at the two silent people beside her.
"If we kill him, how are we going to explain this to Cyrus and the others?" She exhaled, and when she raised her eyes again, her usual clear amber color looked almost pure black in the firelight. "We can't give up the grand prize."
"Four consular officers have already died. It doesn't matter if one more dies," Ji Shanqing said with a chuckle. He seemed to have heaved a sigh of relief. Of course, to him, the death of a human wasn't that important, "We can send a letter to them and tell them not to come."
"Wait a minute," Qing Jiuliu suddenly waved his hand, "Have you forgotten that the consular officers who were killed by the mysterious killer have another special characteristic?"
Lin Sanjiu had just experienced a rollercoaster of emotions, so she didn't understand what he meant. She just stared at him blankly. When the two of them turned around and walked to the side of the corpses, she suddenly remembered.
Every dead Consular Officer had been looted clean.
"If you really want to go all out and not take anything, I won't object —" Qing Jiuliu grabbed the corpse's ankle and tossed the dead carrot upside down. "Personally, I think it's pointless to do so. He's dead anyway, so it's better to recycle him. Oh, you really don't want it? "
He retracted his gaze and threw the [Military Compressed Heat] on the dining table, "Fine. Don't eat it even if you starve to death."
Qing Jiuliu knew that she had been starving for a long time.
Lin Sanjiu covered her face with her hand. She didn't know what to say to him. After a long while, she cursed him with a hoarse voice. She snatched the [Military Compressed Heat] from the table and said, "You are a demon!
"I didn't spend 3,000 USD for an hour of counseling for nothing," Qing Jiuliu replied lazily. His body blocked Lin Sanjiu's view of the corpse.
When Lin Sanjiu felt a 1200KJ heat sink into her skin, she suddenly lowered her eyes when she heard the sound of it hitting her skin.
Even though the heat wasn't much, it still injected a strange warmth into her body. It was as if her organs were being nourished. Lin Sanjiu could clearly feel her energy rising.
The two [Oh no! My Wallet Is Gone] and the [Unfinished Painting] that Carrot Lo had taken out and placed on the table. They quickly found the [Wallet Gone] and the [Unfinished Painting] and placed them on the table. The [Compressed Heat] and the [Small Trash Can] were the things that Radish had taken out earlier but had not put them back. Therefore, they were able to find them immediately. However, most of his things seemed to be hidden in some kind of storage device. After searching for a long time, the two of them realized that there was a problem with his pants.
No matter what it was, as long as it slid along the seam of his trousers, it would instantly slip into the seam and disappear — the entire trousers were a storage device!
"Even so, I don't want to wear his pants," Ji Shanqing scrunched up his face, "His pants are stinky."
"I don't want it either," Qing Jiuliu concluded, "His legs are too short."
Lin Sanjiu pursed her lips and didn't say a word. The change happened too quickly, and she still needed time to digest it.
"Huh?"
The grand prize suddenly exclaimed, startling Lin Sanjiu. She quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
The two people sitting on the floor turned their heads at the same time. Their eyes lit up.
"He has a lot of things on him …"
(Seriously, I'm kneeling in front of you guys. I wrote the words' mockery 'clearly. Why do you guys look like I've lost my virginity?)
(Thank you to Facial Paralysis and Heshibi from @ LuanYu. Thank you for your support. I think this isn't the first time. I also want to thank Qiao Han, Winds of Ten Continents, Jujube Girl LLL, Magus's Bootlicker (what the hell) for their tips and their monthly votes!)
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