Chapter 288: Opening Time

GOR Chapter 288: Opening Time

“Can you get up on your own?”

Chen Xiaolian walked until he was standing before Qimu Xi and looked down at her before slowly reaching his hand out to her.

Qimu Xi stared at him with widened eyes. She hesitated a little before reaching out with her hand to accept Chen Xiaolian’s hand and climb up.

“You didn’t get hurt, did you?” Chen Xiaolian gave the girl a glance. Her eyes were red and there were tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. However, despite the aggrieved expression on her face, she shook her head.

Chen Xiaolian’s gaze was attracted toward the part of her clothes that were torn. There seemed like a white… he quickly moved his gaze away. Qimu Xi noticed where his gaze was resting upon and she blushed before swiftly putting both hands on her chest.

“Take this.” Chen Xiaolian tossed a coat to her without turning his head.

The coat belonged to Chen Xiaolian and was too big for Qimu Xi.

“I’ll give you a task,” said Chen Xiaolian. He pointed at Ta Wang with a smile and said, “You are responsible for looking after this fellow. If he tries anything, don’t hesitate to kill him. Don’t be soft-hearted.”

“Eh?” Qimu Xi looked at Ta Wang with a slightly terrified expression.

“Sigh.” Chen Xiaolian was able to see the timid look in the girl’s eyes. He sighed – he was being soft-hearted once again. He had wanted to give her a chance. However, she was just too cowardly. Someone like her was simply unsuited to the world of instance dungeons.

Perhaps, getting killed and refreshed into an ordinary person would be the best for her.

When Chen Xiaolian thought of that, the look in his eyes became furious. He looked at her and pulled out a dagger, which he shoved into Qimu Xi’s hands. “Take this! What are you shivering for? Take it!”

Qimu Xi was shivering.

“We’ll be setting out right now and you will be monitoring his actions. If he tries anything, just stab him with the dagger, get it?! If you are too stupid and you end up falling into danger once again, don’t expect me to help you!”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian turned around and walked until he was beside Ta Wang. He lashed at him with a kick and said, “Are you done resting? Take us to that place you were talking about!”

Ta Wang struggled to climb up. His cut arm had been covered with a layer of viscous liquid and was no longer bleeding – thus, Chen Xiaolian chose not to be so kind as to provide healing substance for him.

Although Qimu Xi was supposed to be keeping an eye on Ta Wang, Chen Xiaolian did not truly assign the matter to this weak and timid girl.

As they moved, Garfield’s doppelgangers followed alongside Ta Wang. One on his left, one on his right and one behind.

However, something about the trip annoyed Chen Xiaolian.

It would appear that Qimu Xi was more afraid of Garfield than she was of Ta Wang.

This girl is hopeless

. Chen Xiaolian felt more disappointed.

…

Ta Wang led them forward through the canyon. Chen Xiaolian did not comment on anything and simply followed him silently.

They walked for roughly more than one hour until the path within the canyon became narrower.

Chen Xiaolian pondered their situation while sneering at Ta Wang’s back. However, he did not say anything to stop their movements.

Ta Wang walked in the front and led them to an area where the slope was more forgiving and pointed to the top. “We need to go up from here.”

Chen Xiaolian directed what appeared like a smile at Ta Wang and replied, “Oh?”

Ta Wang became somewhat nervous and he said, “I am not lying. We really need to go up from here. You can’t possibly think that the safety zone would be at the bottom of this canyon, would you?”

Chen Xiaolian looked him in the eyes and said coolly, “I may not know where the safety zone is. However, I suddenly remembered there is one question I forgot to ask of you… since you know of this safety zone… it has been nearly one full day since you entered this instance dungeon, right? So, why are you at the bottom of this canyon?”

Ta Wang’s face sank.

Chen Xiaolian smiled deviously. While cold sweat poured out from Ta Wang’s forehead, Chen Xiaolian raised his head to look at the top of the canyon and asked, “Go up from here? How do you intend to get up there?”

Ta Wang was silent.

Chen Xiaolian sighed and said, “You are quite a clever one. We have three people here. With your eyes, you probably deduced that this female companion of mine is quite weak. She would not be able to climb up there alone and would need my help.

“So, here comes the question.

“Do I bring her up first and leave you alone here at the bottom of this canyon?

“Or, do I escort you up first? If I do that, I still need to get back down to help her up. That way, I will still need to leave you alone on top of the canyon…

“See? You’ve been deliberately walking for over one hour while cooking up this plan, right?”

Fear could be seen emanating out from Ta Wang’s eyes and he hesitated before saying, “You, you still have your War Pet. You can use it to keep an eye on me.”

“Since you could say that, I guess you must certainly have a method to escape my pet’s guard, right?” Chen Xiaolian laughed and continued, “Clearly, my pet would not be able to hold you.”

Ta Wang subconsciously took a step backward.

“So, what kind of insurance should I take? Ah, how about I cut off your other arm, or two of your legs? That way, you won’t be able to run away. At any rate, I only need your eyes to lead the way. Once we get up there, I have a car for travelling. Since that is the case, you don’t have any need for those legs now, do you?”

Seeing the cold look on Chen Xiaolian’s face, Ta Wang blurted out, “No!”

He stared at Chen Xiaolian and said in a heavy voice, “You… if you… if you harm me anymore, I won’t tell you about the place even if I die!”

Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes and looked at the fellow. Then, he suddenly laughed out. “I am just joking with you. Why so serious? Mm, we’ll be going up from here, right? Very well, let’s go.”

Ta Wang’s face was ugly to behold and he said, “Joke? That joke is not funny at all.”

“All right. Now then, how do we go up? Can you climb by yourself?” Chen Xiaolian looked at Ta Wang.

“What do you think? I only have one arm,” said Ta Wang as he shook his head.

Chen Xiaolian laughed and called out to Garfield. The three Garfield doppelgangers rushed over and surrounded Ta Wang.

Ta Wang was frightened and he took a step backward. He asked, “You, what are you planning to do?”

“Take it easy.”

Chen Xiaolian smiled and summoned Garfield back into the system.

Next, he extended his hand to grab Ta Wang over. He then raised his other hand and said to Qimu Xi, “You wait here. I will be coming down to get you.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian with Ta Wang in his grasp, jumped up the cliff of the canyon. He jumped up the cliffs agilely and was soon beyond Qimu Xi’s line of sight.

The cliff had a height of around 50 meters or more. Yet, Chen Xiaolian quickly made his way up and disappeared among the gaps on the rocky cliffs.

Qimu Xi stood alone at the bottom of the canyon and could not help but feel a tinge of fear growing within her heart.

…

Chen Xiaolian reached the top of the canyon and tossed Ta Wang down the ground.

He looked at Ta Wang and saw that he had his head lowered, seemingly in an attempt to hide his eyes from Chen Xiaolian’s sight.

Chen Xiaolian gave him a kick and said, “Here you go. I am going down to fetch that idiotic little girl. This is your best chance to run away. I will give you this chance and see what kind of trick you are going to perform… I hope you can give me a surprise.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian then walked to the cliff side of the canyon in a straightforward manner.

“You… you are not going to call out your pet to keep an eye on me?” Ta Wang asked.

“It’s not worth it.” Chen Xiaolian smiled and replied, “You can try to escape.”

“Ah?”

Before Ta Wang could finish, Chen Xiaolian had already jumped down the cliff.

Really… left?

He really did not leave his pet behind to keep an eye on me?

He… where did this strong amount of confidence come from?

How is it possible?

Ta Wang abruptly climbed up and went to the cliff side of the canyon. He looked down.

To his surprise, Chen Xiaolian was not hiding between some rocks while keeping an eye on him. He had really climbed down; his figure quickly disappeared within the bottom of the canyon…

He actually left?

Ta Wang swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

A conflicted expression could be seen upon his face.

He really wanted to run away – however, this action from Chen Xiaolian caused him to hesitate even more.

Finally, after a few seconds of hesitation, Ta Wang finally made up his mind!

If he did not run now, then when would he be able to?

He swiftly turned around and ran frantically toward the wasteland!

His figure moved quickly. Although he had lost an arm, his two legs were still capable of running as fast as a horse.

It was at that moment that something terrifying happened!

After running over 10 steps, Ta Wang suddenly felt a gust of cold wind rushing toward him!

He instinctively stopped running and threw his body down the ground. Next, he rolled away with all his might…

Boom!

A loud explosion erupted!

A snow like flash of brilliance descended from the sky, severing the grounds of the wasteland!

Dust and soil filled the sky and Ta Wang who was on the ground coughed violently. He was utterly shocked to see a deep gully on the lands of this wasteland!

It was as though some power had cut the earth apart! A split of over 10 meters in length appeared on the ground, with a depth reaching two meters! Appearance wise, it seemed like someone had forcefully dug out a trench on the ground!

Then, he heard a cold voice by his ear!

“Move one more inch, death!”

A white-clad man with average stature stood beside Ta Wang. His body exuded a cold aura while he held onto a translucent short sword.

…

When Chen Xiaolian finally reached the top of the canyon with Qimu Xi in tow, Ta Wang was already on the verge of collapsing!

Because he was standing so close to Bai Qi, he had to endure the seemingly tangible killing intent. It was such that he was nearly incapable of breathing!

Chen Xiaolian coolly gave Ta Wang a glance before waving to Bai Qi, who transformed into a beam of light and disappeared back into the system.

It was only then that Ta Wang was able to breathe a sigh of relief. With sweat soaking his entire body, he fell into a heap on the ground and gasped for breath.

He forced himself to raise his head and look at Chen Xiaolian. There was disbelief in his eyes and he asked, “That, that is also your pet? How could you have a humanoid War Pet?”

Chen Xiaolian smiled coolly and narrowed his eyes. He said, “You tried to run away, didn’t you? Have you given up now?”

“… … …”

Chen Xiaolian coldly continued, “And here I thought you had some special ability. How disappointing. Even so, you trying to run away puts me in a bad mood. It would be wrong for me not to punish you.”

After saying that, he moved over with the Sword in the Stone in hand.

Ta Wang screamed out wretchedly as blood sprayed into the sky. His left thigh was pierced!

As the blood sprayed out, Chen Xiaolian kept the Sword in the Stone back into this system.

“That viscous liquid from your body is very strange. There is no need for me to give you anything to stop the bleeding,” said Chen Xiaolian coolly. “Next up, we’ll be travelling through my car. There is no need for you to walk. So, if you try to run away, I will break your other leg.”

Ta Wang stared deeply at Chen Xiaolian; there was panic in Ta Wang’s eyes and also a hint of resentment and malice.

Chen Xiaolian smiled and handily summoned out the SUV from his Storage Watch. Then, he turned to Qimu Xi and said, “What are you staring at? Get on!”

Using Bai Qi who could only be used once every 24 hours may seem like a waste…

However, Chen Xiaolian believed that this was worth it.

This Ta Wang was incorrigible. Thus, Chen Xiaolian needed to find a way to stop him from having any ulterior motives.

By summoning Bai Qi out and letting Ta Wang enjoy the terror of Bai Qi’s power, he would end up seeing Chen Xiaolian as someone ‘unfathomable’.

This fellow would likely lose the desire to engage in any more trickery – especially regarding the secret of the safe zone. He would not dare to come up with any more lies regarding that.

Naturally, it was possible that he was still unwilling to get in line. However, he would at least stop struggling considerably.

Chen Xiaolian sat in the driver position while Ta Wang was at the first passenger seat.

After starting up the SUV, Chen Xiaolian turned to Ta Wang and asked, “Where do we go now?”

“To…”

Chen Xiaolian smiled coolly and said, “Think long and good before you open your mouth.”

Ta Wang’s heart became tense and he looked at Chen Xiaolian with a complicated expression. Then he said, “All right, I will tell you the truth.”

He whispered, “Truth is, which way we go makes no difference. The safe zone is not located at a certain spot. Rather, it is a special existence.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. He had more or less figured that out.

“Just now… I was at the bottom of the canyon in order to hide there,” Ta Wang continued in a whisper. “Although I know how to enter the safe zone, there is a time restriction to entering it.”

“Oh?” Chen Xiaolian’s eyes lit up.

“For normal instance dungeons, the entry time for Awakened ones and Players are different. Generally speaking, Players would enter the instance dungeon at a later time compared to Awakened ones. This is a mechanism of the system. Thus…”

“Thus, in punishment instance dungeons, Player mode will only open up after a certain time period,” Chen Xiaolian supplied, nodding his head. “How long does it take to open?”

“… 24 hours,” answered Ta Wang with a sigh.

“24 hours?” Chen Xiaolian frowned. “The safety zone of every punishment instance dungeon can only be entered after 24 hours?”

“No, each punishment instance dungeon is different.” Ta Wang shook his head and continued, it all depends on the situation and differences in each instance dungeon. The time period for its opening could be early or late. Generally speaking, it would not exceed 48 hours.”

“Then how do you know that this instance dungeon’s safety zone would take 24 hours to open?” asked Chen Xiaolian.

“I…” Ta Wang sighed. “I don’t want to lie to you. However, as things stand, I really cannot tell you. This secret is very special. Once I tell you the secret, you will know how to enter the safe zone. I fear that you will kill me once I tell you about it. Thus… I will only tell you about it after we enter the safe zone.”

“… … …” Chen Xiaolian gave him a long stare and said, “Very well, then.”