Absolute Death Game

"Damn, what's going on here?" Xiao Buli didn't see it coming and got a solid poke. Fortunately, the guard was just an ordinary White Name soldier. A -7 appeared above his head, his Spiritual Energy Shield took a little durability damage, but other than that, he was fine.

However, getting stabbed straight by a grunt was quite a jolt for Xiao Buli, who prided himself on his expert gameplay. Take this! A Chain Sword Strike! Swish, swish, swish — three consecutive slashes landed on the guard, and the soldier, with less than two hundred health points, was finished instantly.

But immediately, Xiao Buli realized his trouble had just grown, as the guard fell, a whole row of archers popped up on the city wall — these weren't the White Name scrubs from before, but a group of blue-colored elites — 'Nine Dragons City Archers.'

Without a word, a volley of arrows shot down at him. Find your next read on My Virtual Library Empire

Xiao Buli quickly activated Skimming Shadow Steps, vanishing from the city gate and sprinting far away. Only when he was safely out of the fight did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Even though he had encountered some trouble, he didn't lose his desire to enter Nine Dragons City. Instead, he was even more eager to find out what exactly was happening inside the city.

He hadn't gone far into the city when he saw a wanted poster on the wall, with a sketch that was clearly his likeness.

Xiao Buli muttered to himself in disbelief and tapped on the poster.

System prompt: You have triggered the quest 'Pursuit of the Demon Clan Spy'. Do you accept? Yes/No.

Quest details: Pursue the fleeing Demon Clan spy 'Xiao Buli'. Kill him and bring his head to the Nine Dragons City Military Office or capture him to receive a reward.

Quest reward: 100 Gold Coins, random chance to obtain a gold-tier piece of equipment.

"Damn, I've really become infamous!" Xiao Buli muttered to himself in front of the screen. Without a doubt, this wanted poster must be the work of the Ancestral Dragon — it was a campaign of outright annihilation. 100 Gold Coins and a gold-tier piece of equipment as rewards — was it really necessary to spend so much?

Suddenly, a thought struck Xiao Buli — if he accepted the quest, wouldn't it become unavailable to others? With that in mind, he hastily clicked to accept it, but the poster didn't disappear.

System prompt: You have accepted the quest 'Pursuit of the Demon Clan Spy'. This is an event quest available to all players.

Upon seeing the system prompt, Xiao Buli was dumbfounded. What kind of situation was this where he had unwittingly become an event BOSS? With this, wouldn't the whole city become his enemies? A hundred Gold Coins plus a gold-tier item would surely drive many players mad with desire. What did it matter to kill? Back then, Qin Dahai killed Xia Zuowei over a few coins, and now the rewards had increased tenfold; Xiao Buli really had to be more cautious.

With that thought, he didn't dare stay in the city any longer and swiftly left.

After several Cloud Thunder Leaps that took him far away, he entered the wilderness area and finally relaxed again. He glanced around and saw an old temple's half-exposed eaves barely visible through the trees. Xiao Buli headed over. The temple looked long abandoned and probably hadn't seen visitors in years. He entered the dilapidated temple and then logged out of the game.

After a big yawn, Xiao Buli got up and went to Qin Shimoon's room. She was lying on the lower bunk bed, her petite body curled up into a small ball under the covers, breathing steadily like a cat. Xiao Buli nodded to himself, recalling the enticing scene he had witnessed that morning.

It was quite tempting indeed, Xiao Buli thought. Should he make a move? Better not. He might not be a gentleman, but he wasn't a lowlife either. Plus, in this godforsaken place with just the two of them, it was best not to strain their relationship too much.

As he mulled it over, he closed the door and left. The moment the door shut, Qin Shimoon, lying with her back to him, suddenly opened her eyes, a cunning gleam flickering in the darkness.

Xiao Buli then returned to his own room. It seemed he was just being overly suspicious after all. If Qin Shimoon had been with Ancestral Dragon all this time, it made sense for her to know more about anything related to him, including General Huo's military base. Perhaps her reserved nature just made her reluctant to explain more. Thinking of the days they spent together and looking forward to returning to the game to improve his abilities, Xiao Buli drifted off to sleep...

"Xiao Buli, you have been arrested for betraying humanity by providing intelligence to the Demon Clan; you may remain silent, but everything you say will be used as evidence in court."

To Xiao Buli's surprise, he found himself standing in the dock of a courtroom. He looked blankly ahead, only to discover that sitting in the judge's position was Huo Guangxiong.

"No, I'm not a spy for the Demon Clan; he is the spy for the Demon Clan!" Xiao Buli pointed at Huo Guangxiong and shouted. A burst of laughter erupted around him. Startled, he looked around and saw the jury, each with the face of the Demon Clan, and the guards, stenographer, and lawyers all bore the faces of the Demon Clan as well. Xiao Buli was utterly confounded. What was going on?

"I now pronounce that the charge of betraying humanity against Xiao Buli is confirmed; you are hereby sentenced to ten thousand years of imprisonment, to be carried out immediately."

Ten thousand years? I'm even more wronged than Illidan. Xiao Buli struggled to draw his sword, but two guards grabbed him. The scene in front of him flashed, and he found himself in a prison, the iron doors of the cells were securely locked.

"Click, click click, click click click" The sound of the iron doors locking suddenly became real, deafeningly loud. Xiao Buli jolted awake to find himself in the familiar surroundings of the base's resting room—it had all been just a dream. He breathed a sigh of relief, but the sound of metal clanging continued to ring in his ears.

"No, this is not a dream." Xiao Buli leapt out of bed, rushed out of the rest room, and entered the main hall. Under the lighting of the base, he could clearly see the only big door opposite was closing, as thick as one's arm, iron axles were extending from hidden recesses with continuous clicks, slowly coming together and slotting into opposite holes. Qin Shimoon was standing outside the base, her body equipped with gear, watching the door close and Xiao Buli emerging from his room. She smiled triumphantly at Xiao Buli and blew him a mocking kiss.

Though it was only a matter of seconds, the few dozen meters to the door never seemed so long; it felt like an entire century to reach the edge of the door, which now had only about twenty centimeters left. Xiao Buli couldn't make it in time, and the Mysterious Ice Slash had already been launched. Then, soaring high with his treasured sword, he struck down heavily on the iron axle that had just been hit as he fell, only to feel a numbing vibration in his hand. Looking at the iron axle, he saw it had only a fine crack.

How could this be? He raised his treasured sword and delivered another Mysterious Ice Slash, but the door slammed shut with a loud clang.

"No," Xiao Buli shouted, hacking and slashing at the door regardless. Sparks flew, but the door didn't budge. "Qin Shimoon! Qin Shimoon~you come back here, that's an order!" Xiao Buli yelled, but Qin Shimoon's laughter was heard outside the door, "An order? I'm not quite inclined to obey, I'm afraid. Let me offer you a suggestion: stay put inside this base. Of course, if you don't like it here, you can always go somewhere else. I'm very generous that way; it doesn't matter if you don't comply."

The voice was coming from an old-fashioned loudspeaker next to the door, seemingly some sort of antiquated communication device. Hearing Qin Shimoon say this, Xiao Buli calmed down and asked the loudspeaker, "Does this mean the contract is null and void? How did it become void? At least let me know where I went wrong."

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, but you'll naturally understand when you get out. Goodbye, Xiao Buli. Since you saved me once, I'll give you a piece of advice: if you want to seek revenge, you should first improve your strength, as I can't guarantee what kind of terrible things might be waiting for you by the time you escape."

Xiao Buli was stunned for a moment; Qin Shimoon's words were cryptic. He wanted to ask more, but there was no more sound from the loudspeaker. Clearly, Qin Shimoon had left.

Reflecting on Qin Shimoon's actions over the past few days, Xiao Buli's understanding finally became clear. It had all been a trap, luring the enemy deeper. This morning, she had been unguarded against him, which was out of character. Then at noon, she'd mysteriously knocked over the pot, and with Hei's disappearance, she had her best chance to take action.

Looking at the vast base around him, Xiao Buli knew that this was the prison meant to hold him. Even with all his skills, he was unable to use them here: Earth Escape would not work, as the ground was made of solid rock; his Qigong, even at its most powerful, was not as strong as explosives; and the great door and the rock were not something his Qi could penetrate.

Xiao Buli quickly assessed his current situation, identifying his strengths and weaknesses. The unknown factors were: why Qin Shimoon had locked him up, what her objective was, and whether she had left for good or had gone to call for reinforcements to capture him. If she had left for good, there was no immediate danger to him, but if she had gone for reinforcements, who could she bring back?

Ancestral Dragon had tried to eradicate her; even if she were to rejoin him, disregarding past grievances, it was questionable whether Ancestral Dragon would trust her, let alone bring troops to besiege such a useless piece like himself.

And if she went to other forces, regardless of whether Qin Shimoon had the power to do so, no organization or individual would do something pointless. What benefit would killing him serve them? Without the backing of Ancestral Dragon, what leverage did Qin Shimoon have to negotiate with? So after some calm consideration, Xiao Buli was almost certain that Qin Shimoon had locked him up to escape from his control. If that was the case, the situation wasn't too bad for him.

The base had water, food, electricity, and he had a computer. So this wasn't too different from his initial intention of finding a safe place to improve his capabilities. The only difference was that he couldn't come and go as he pleased, but if he could improve his power in the game, Xiao Buli was confident that one day, this place won't be able to hold him. With this thought, Xiao Buli's mind gradually calmed. He returned to the resting room, looked at the computer, took a deep breath, and thought it seemed he was going to become a serious homebody.

(End of Volume Two) (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)