Chapter 15 Cooperation Part 1 (Thank you, Pingchuwu Alliance Leader)
A real gun?!
Li Chengyi and Meng Dongdong were both startled. They couldn’t have imagined that in their daily lives, they would encounter someone carrying a gun.
In Yi State, the control over firearms is strict. To carry a gun, one must be a professional with a gun permit, such as a police officer, a high-end bodyguard, or a soldier.
The fact that this man was able to bring a gun inside indicates that his background and occupation might be extraordinary.
“Where’s the monster?” The man’s gaze fixed on Li Chengyi. “It was you who said there was a monster, right?”
Li Chengyi remained silent, clearly aware that this man’s attitude towards him was off.
The man narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression stern, his gaze at Li Chengyi filled with an inexplicable meaning.
“Answer me, was it you who mentioned it?” The man took a step forward. “Where’s the monster? Can you provide any evidence?”
Li Chengyi had no response; all traces had vanished on their own.
Where would he find any traces now?
The man suddenly pointed the gun at Li Chengyi.
Bang.
The gunshot sounded.
Li Chengyi shivered, a shallow pit appearing near his feet on the ground.
“Now, you should leave,” the man said coldly, staring at him.
Li Chengyi’s face turned extremely ugly, his heart pounding wildly. For a moment, he thought he had been shot.
Thankfully, the man didn’t really intend to kill him.
“I don’t know why you’re treating me this way, but I’ve already said. These doors are very dangerous. It’s best if you…”
“Leave!” Before Li Chengyi could finish, the man raised his voice to interrupt.
“That lady, you should stay away from him. I strongly suspect this person might have mental issues,” the man said while aiming at Li Chengyi, nodding towards Meng Dongdong, his expression becoming even more intense.
Meng Dongdong, without saying a word, quickly walked behind the man. This sturdy man seemed much more reliable than Li Chengyi.
Not just because of the man’s calm and steady temperament, but also because of the handgun that could fire real bullets at any moment.
Unaware of Meng Dongdong’s decisive movements, Li Chengyi’s focus was entirely on the gun pointed at him.
He didn’t understand why the man was treating him this way, but at this moment, the best course of action was to leave.
After a pause, Li Chengyi began to back away, then reached for his food bag.
“Put it down!”
The man shouted sharply.
“This is mine,” Li Chengyi protested.
“I told you to put it down!” The man’s voice rose again, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Li Chengyi’s expression tightened, and he placed the large bag he had picked up back down. Raising his hands, he moved backward slowly.
He kept backing away until he was nearly twenty meters away, his heart not relaxing but instead growing even more tense.
If things were as he suspected, then Li Chengyi’s focus remained locked on the man’s gun aimed at him.
At this moment, whether he lived or died was completely at the whims of the other party. This utter sense of powerlessness and profound fear caused his body to stiffen slightly.
Fortunately, the man showed no intention of killing outright but instead forced him to keep retreating until he rounded a corner, where the man finally lowered the gun.
Li Chengyi retreated to a slope, not relaxing until he could no longer see the man and Meng Dongdong.
His body gradually relaxed from its stiff state.
During his retreat, he had considered rolling sideways several times to dodge the gunfire.
But he held back.
He hadn’t practiced how to dodge gunfire or how to roll, and under such circumstances, his unprofessional rolling could not only fail to avoid bullets but might also provoke the other party, leading to even more trouble.
Moreover, from the man’s behavior, it was clear he was prepared. Unlike Meng Dongdong, this third person definitely knew the dangers of the dead end.
So, he stole my food.
Li Chengyi leaned against the wall, letting the cool sensation calm his emotions as much as possible.
In such a completely closed space, without the threat of monsters, food was undoubtedly very important.
But now, that guy had taken the things he had prepared.
In that bag, he had not only food but also a simple first aid kit.
In a critical moment, these were lifesaving treasures.
But now, they were all taken by that man.
‘If I still had the Huayi garment…’ Li Chengyi thought, but the idea was fleeting.
He didn’t know how strong the Huayi garment was or whether it could withstand bullets.
All he knew was that wearing the Huayi garment, his physical condition improved significantly.
Additionally, with the power of the Flower Language, he would be much better off facing firearms than he was now!
‘After getting out, I must explore all the abilities of the Flower of Evil thoroughly! This time was too rushed!’
Li Chengyi’s eyes darkened, decisively making up his mind.
He never wanted to be threatened with a gun again.
This kind of situation could never happen a second time!
He exhaled, not daring to stay on this floor any longer and immediately turned towards the upper levels.
Without food to replenish himself, he had to find a way out as quickly as possible.
Luckily, he hadn’t put all his eggs in one basket. The essential cassette player and headphones, which played a loop of songs when encountering a Dead End signal, were on him.
These items – the cassette, player, and headphones – were all in the inner zip pocket of his jacket.
He planned to find a place to replicate the situation when the first signal appeared, to see if he could find a way out.
Lifting his foot, he had barely taken three steps towards the bend in the slope.
Click.
Suddenly, a faint sound floated from behind.
The sound was clear in the confined silent environment. Li Chengyi could distinctly tell it was the sound of the maintenance room door handle turning!
His hair stood on end, his body tensed instantly, ready to flee.
Without the Huayi garment, he would not stand a chance against the face monster.
But just as he was about to run, the muscles in his calves relaxed forcefully.
‘If they are being chased by the monster, then maybe I can…”
This thought flashed through Li Chengyi’s mind.
With the effect of the Hand of Intoxication, he might try to seize the opportunity to snatch back his stolen belongings. Moreover, with someone else attracting the monster’s attention, using the Flower Language ability would be much safer.
He stopped, tiptoed, turned around, and quietly walked back to the corner of the wall, peeking out with one eye towards Meng Dongdong and the man with the gun.
From the bend, the two were more than a hundred meters away, with little visibility. He could only dimly see both of them facing the maintenance room door, seemingly talking.
Li Chengyi thought for a moment, quickly took out his phone, and turned on the camera function, then zoomed in.
Suddenly, the distant scene became clear on the phone screen.
Comparing with peering with his eyes, the phone camera was much safer.
In the phone screen, he used both hands to zoom in, then clicked on the focus on people, making the picture much clearer.
In the screen, the gunman stared at the maintenance room with a vigilant expression, raising the gun barrel aimed at the door.
Meng Dongdong stood by, her expression somewhat puzzled, apparently confused.
It seemed she had just opened the door and found nothing inside, but now there was sudden activity, making her alert.
Li Chengyi tapped the screen, focusing on the doorknob.
On the red maintenance room door, the white doorknob was slowly turning downward.
At this moment, Meng Dongdong said something to the gunman.
The man’s lips moved, replying a few words, but still aimed at the maintenance room door, his expression cold.
It seemed he was very confident in his gun.
Li Chengyi at this point already wanted to run, but he insisted on staying. He also wanted to see the effect of gunfire on the face monster.
Click.
The door finally opened.
A crack appeared.
As Meng Dongdong and the man’s expressions gradually turned horrified, a black and white, two-meter tall, one-meter wide human head slowly floated out from the door crack.
Ah!!!
Meng Dongdong’s scream erupted, followed by the man’s shocked curses, accompanied by a succession of gunshots.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The continuous gunfire, all accurately hitting the giant human face. Such a large target, even if the man’s hands were shaking badly, he couldn’t miss.
But the bullets only pierced a few holes in the center of the human face, which quickly healed and disappeared.
The black and white human face indifferently floated towards them, its speed evidently faster than when Li Chengyi encountered it.
By now, Li Chengyi had reacted, putting away his phone, and started sprinting upwards.
He had initially planned to sneakily retrieve his things, but seeing the increased speed of the human face, he knew he had no chance.
So, he decisively put away his phone and ran.
Panting.
Panting.
Panting.
Li Chengyi gasped for air, rushing to the upper level without stopping and continued sprinting upwards.
After reaching another floor, he started to see large amounts of white spots in his vision, his head filled with drowsiness, craving sleep, while his chest strove for air, constantly feeling short of breath.
His legs became so weak they almost couldn’t support his body anymore, ready to collapse at any moment.
His heart pounded madly, as if his temples and forehead were pulsating along.
His ears began to lose the ability to hear external sounds, everything other than his heartbeat seemed to be covered by a thick membrane, drifting away.
This was a precursor to complete physical exhaustion.
‘No good! I must find somewhere to hide. If my guess is right, that monster has a time limit to its presence. As long as it reaches its limit, I should be able to make it through!’
Li Chengyi realized this and started to scour this level of the parking lot with whatever strength he had left.
Soon, he spotted a corner despite the snowflakes dancing in his vision and quickly made his way there.
But just as he was halfway there, he felt something flicker by his side.
‘!?’
He abruptly stopped and turned back.
He saw that on a white wall he had just passed, a narrow, dark crack had somehow appeared.
The crack was on the side of a bearing column, perfectly concealed in the shadows of the light, easy to overlook if not carefully inspected.
The gap wasn’t wide, just enough for a person to squeeze through sideways, with a small black mark beside the entrance.
From the outside, Li Chengyi could only see darkness, with no indication of how deep the crack went. The light from outside illuminated only about a meter in.
‘I’ve been here before, and there definitely wasn’t this crack!’ He was quite certain.
In his search for an exit earlier, he meticulously inspected every inch of the wall, impossible to miss such a significant crack.
But now…
(End of chapter)
