Chapter 1288: Kindness or Grudge?
The two of them had destroyed most of the "doors" they encountered along the way. Jin Yuanxun turned his head to glance at the seemingly endless corridor, feeling that just smashing the doors to these "work zones" would cost them the entire night.
What about the "interview zone" next? Did they still have enough time to pull off this seemingly absurd plan?
"Brother, do we really have no help?" Jin Yuanxun stared deeper into the corridor and asked again.
"What the hell are you blabbering about?" Chen Junnan said. "I just came up with this plan on the spot, how the hell could I have any backup?"
"But..."
Jin Yuanxun felt something strange in the depths of the corridor. Far away, there seemed to be blurry figures moving around.
Were they "participants" trying to escape?
"Xiao Jin, what are you looking at?"
"Brother, I have great eyesight." Jin Yuanxun pointed into the distance. "There seem to be some people over there..."
Chen Junnan followed his gaze and saw two staggering figures far off in the distance. They didn't appear to be fleeing, more like lingering in place.
"Xiao Jin, this is exactly why I pulled you in the moment I saw you from afar," Chen Junnan said with a mischievous grin. "This 'train' runs straight through, and your ability makes you versatile. If you think there's something off over there, go check it out."
"Huh?"
"You don't understand my suffering." Chen Junnan said. "Even though this place looks like one straight road, I have to walk every step myself. It's exhausting. So with you showing up, you can both deliver messages and scout ahead for me. That's why I say a fool has dumb luck."
"Alright, brother, quit cursing. I'll go, okay?" Jin Yuanxun shook his head helplessly.
The next second, he vanished from his spot and reappeared far away. Chen Junnan squinted to look—the situation was a bit strange.
Jin Yuanxun suddenly appeared beside the two figures. Not only did they seem startled, but Jin Yuanxun himself was too. He stumbled back several steps, nearly falling, before the two steadied him. The three of them exchanged a few words.
A minute or two later, Jin Yuanxun nodded from afar, stepped back, and vanished again, reappearing beside Chen Junnan.
"What's the deal?" Chen Junnan asked. "Are those people willing to join us? We're in a hurry here—once we're done smashing these 'doors,' we need to go find Old Qi."
"Brother..." Jin Yuanxun's expression turned awkward. He gave a bitter smile and said, "I have to tell you something, but don't be scared, okay..."
Chen Junnan's face changed. "What kind of talk is that? I'm already scared after hearing that..."
"Well... well..." Jin Yuanxun shook his head. "I just ran into two sisters. One of them heard your name and said to tell that bastard to stay right where he is—she's coming over to have a personal talk with you. She seemed really pissed..."
"Alright, that checks out." Chen Junnan scratched his head. "I knew there weren't many people who could creep me out for no reason."
"So, brother," Jin Yuanxun tugged his arm, "did you kill someone before? Maybe you should run first, and I'll hold them off for you."
"Hold off my ass..." Chen Junnan let out a deep sigh. "You're making it sound like some great demon is coming... I didn't kill her. I just saved her at the wrong time, and somehow that turned into a grudge."
Footsteps grew closer as the two figures began hurrying toward them.
"Xiao Jin, you said there were two sisters. Who's the other one?" Chen Junnan stared into the distance.
"It's a 'zodiac,'" Jin Yuanxun said. "An ox sister. When I went over, I thought I was done for."
"Ox...?" Chen Junnan frowned. "No way... that's a weird combo. What are they doing here?"
"They're planning to destroy the 'doors.'"
"Huh?!"
A few minutes later, the two figures arrived in front of Chen Junnan. It was none other than Qin Dingdong and an Earth Ox.
"You bastard..." Qin Dingdong said. "How did you end up here?"
"Wait, hold on, Sister Dong." Chen Junnan waved a hand. "The way you said 'also'—I don't get it..."
"Is your mission to destroy the 'doors' too?" Qin Dingdong pressed. "You never mentioned it to me..."
"Mission...?" Chen Junnan went silent for a moment. "This is your mission?"
Qin Dingdong paused as well. "Are you fucking..."
She stepped forward, grabbed Chen Junnan's arm, and pulled him far aside. In a low voice, she asked, "You mean you stumbled into this place without even knowing about a 'mission'?!"
"I really don't have any mission," Chen Junnan said. "I was just wandering around looking for something to do. But I can't beat the 'zodiacs,' and I can't save the 'participants.' After thinking it over, I figured smashing the 'doors' was the wild card..."
"Are you fucking..." Qin Dingdong froze, then said, "Bastard... are you lying to me again? Trying to take my place in dying on purpose?"
"Huh?" Chen Junnan was at a loss for words. "No... I can't even clear this up. Sister Dong, you have to believe me. This time I really didn't plan to die for you. We just coincidentally ended up on the same path. Don't overthink it."
"So you're admitting the last time you deliberately died for me?" Qin Dingdong gritted her teeth. "Chen Junnan, you bastard..."
"Wait, wait—we're just talking. Why are you cornering me from both sides?"
"You stood there all righteous and told me 'you won't die,' then took a blow for me and vanished..." Qin Dingdong's anger grew with each word. "I thought you'd become an 'original inhabitant' or just disappeared. I felt guilty for seven whole years! When I saw you show up again with that smug face, I nearly exploded. When you play the hero, do you ever think about how other people live?!"
"Oh dear..." Chen Junnan took the scolding without any retort. "Sister Dong... let's not talk about this now..."
"I don't want to either! But you're still looking for death!" Qin Dingdong said. "When are you going to change this bad habit?"
"Looking for death?" Chen Junnan forced a bitter laugh. "Come on... I'm just damaging public property. That's not a capital offense, right?"
"You're smart one minute and stupid the next..." Qin Dingdong said with some anger. "For Qinglong and Tianlong, killing a 'zodiac' isn't really a capital offense—they can always make more zodiacs. But if someone dares to destroy these 'doors,' that directly cuts off their rule. There's no way they'd let that slide..."
"So what?" Chen Junnan retorted. "As long as this rebellion succeeds, it'll be fine, won't it?"