As her teammates acted, Zuo Tiantian had already identified the key point. Despite the shock of seeing the severed arm on the ground, she guessed that what was grasped in its palm was critical.
So she jumped over and stomped on the back of the severed hand, forcibly stopping its fingers from moving. Xiao Muyu reacted even faster, arriving just as Chen Kaijie’s knife fell.
With a slight darkening of her gaze, Xiao Muyu precisely inserted her bronze sword through the fingers of the severed hand. With a sharp twist of the blade, she pried open the fingers and took out the paper figure it was tightly gripping.
This paper figure was actually a small straw man, dressed in red paper clothes to look like a wedding dress.
A note was attached to the back of the paper figure, with Shen Qingqiu’s name and her birth details written on it: Shen Qingqiu, Year of Jiawu, Month of Renshen, Day of Wuxu, Hour of Jiazi. Xiao Muyu felt both pain and anger, quickly tearing off the note. At the same time, Shen Qingqiu, who had been standing still, suddenly came to life, stumbling a few steps before bending over and coughing violently. She coughed up a mouthful of thick white mucus, like paste.
Xiao Muyu, watching anxiously, ignored the ghost groom who had started to go mad after losing an arm, and ran to Shen Qingqiu, quickly supporting her.
“Qingqiu, Qingqiu?”
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t stand at all and collapsed softly. Xiao Muyu called out twice, pressing her hand tightly on Shen Qingqiu’s abdomen, feeling the sticky, hot sensation almost driving her mad.
“Su jin, Su jin!” She turned her head and shouted at Su jin, her face pale, eyes red.
If Su jin’s cinnabar brush touched the opponent’s forehead, the opponent would attack indiscriminately.
At this moment, the ghost groom was not attacking them but was running around, knocking over tables and chairs.
Hearing Xiao Muyu’s trembling voice, Su jin quickly ran over. She saw Shen Qingqiu’s clothes soaked, and blood still oozing from Xiao Muyu’s fingers pressed on her abdomen. Her heart clenched tightly.
She summoned a cotton cloth, quickly bandaging Shen Qingqiu’s wound while there was still time. That damned ghost had controlled Shen Qingqiu with the paper figure, and when it cut the figure’s abdomen, it not only cut through the red paper but also opened a wound on Shen Qingqiu’s abdomen.
Xiao Muyu, holding back her panic, opened Shen Qingqiu’s clothes. The wound was more than ten centimeters long, with flesh turning outward, blood continuously flowing out.
Su jin gasped, pressing the cotton cloth tightly to wrap it. Shen Qingqiu groaned in pain, groggily opening her eyes, her right hand instinctively reaching for the wound.
Xiao Muyu quickly grabbed her hand, her voice hoarse: “Qingqiu, it’s me. Hold on, Su jin is bandaging your wound.”
To prevent her from touching the wound, Xiao Muyu held Shen Qingqiu’s hand tightly. Seeing her blood-stained fingers dirtying Shen Qingqiu’s fair hand, Xiao Muyu’s throat felt like it was filled with lead, and she couldn’t hold back her emotions, choking up, “I’m sorry, I hurt you and got your hand dirty.”
Shen Qingqiu, still in a daze, heard Xiao Muyu’s voice, propped herself up with her left hand, and tried to turn her head to look at Xiao Muyu.
The person in front of her had slightly red eyes and was looking at her with a frown, almost crying. It was Xiao Muyu.
She reached out to touch Xiao Muyu, then hurriedly patted her body, asking anxiously, “Did you escape? Are you hurt?”
She seemed unaware of her own wound, struggling to check on Xiao Muyu.
Xiao Muyu shook her head, “I’m fine, not a scratch. Su jin and the others are here, everyone is okay. You’re hurt, don’t move.”
Shen Qingqiu sighed in relief, feeling both happy and disappointed, “I didn’t even have time to save you, but I’m glad you’re okay.”
She winced, glancing at her abdomen and around the room.
Su jin was bandaging her wound, while Chen Kaijie and Zuo Tiantian were fighting the ghost groom. She smiled self-deprecatingly, “I messed up, and made you worry.”
Xiao Muyu closed her clothes, gently wiped her sweat with a sleeve, and softly said, “Who says you didn’t save me? If not for you, I would have drowned in the river. And it’s not your fault, they were too insidious, and I was too slow. I’m sorry.”
Shen Qingqiu was a bit stunned, unable to process so much information at once. Xiao Muyu didn’t avoid Su jin nearby, lowering her head to kiss Shen Qingqiu’s forehead, “Rest for a bit, wait for me.”
Su jin’s cinnabar brush had a limited time, and no matter how much Xiao Muyu worried about Shen Qingqiu, she had to deal with the ghost first.
More importantly, no matter his reasons, he shouldn’t have treated Shen Qingqiu this way.
Su jin glanced at them and then looked away, her eyes sparkling.
Seeing Xiao Muyu help Shen Qingqiu sit steadily, she raised her sword and stepped on an overturned table, leaping gracefully like a crane.
At the same time, she swung her sword horizontally, telling Su jin, “Take care of the vice-captain.”
Xiao Muyu’s sword struck the ghost groom’s remaining hand. Although blocked, Xiao Muyu decisively slid under the ghost’s arm, slashing a large cut in the already swollen hand.
“Nice one, Xiao!” Su jin shouted excitedly, stomping her foot.
“Isn’t she great?” Shen Qingqiu, pale but smiling sweetly, touched her forehead, her lips curved.
Su jin nodded repeatedly, suppressing her expression to avoid laughing too wildly in front of Shen Qingqiu.
Despite the urgency, with Xiao Muyu in command and Shen Qingqiu out of danger, everyone felt relaxed. Su jin couldn’t help but smile, thinking about Xiao’s earlier actions.
Shen Qingqiu, watching Xiao Muyu fight the ghost groom, felt both relieved and happy. She coughed and whispered, “In this game, I’m the weak one. With Muyu here, I don’t need to be strong.”
Xiao Muyu showed no mercy to the ghost, her sword movements fast and overwhelming.
As the daughter of a guard, her character in the game could use skills assigned to her role, essentially giving her an advantage.
Even Xiao Muyu found this unusually convenient, wondering if the system was too generous.
When Xiao Muyu kicked off a hall pillar, leaping up, even Chen Kaijie and the others were amazed, let alone Xiao Muyu herself.
But she didn’t hesitate, slashing down at the ghost groom influenced by Su jin’s cinnabar brush, who was still struggling and roaring.
Xiao Muyu’s sword struck precisely at the groom’s neck, lodging itself in his throat. Mud and water spurted from the wound, creating a grotesque scene.
As the groom screamed in fury at Xiao Muyu, a foul stench of decaying earth emanated from his open mouth, causing Xiao Muyu to frown deeply.
Chen Kaijie seized the opportunity to clamp the groom’s body with fire tongs, and Zuo Tiantian joined in to hold him down forcefully.
Xiao Muyu, now on the ground, gripped the sword hilt. As the groom’s right hand reached for her, she kicked his elbow and followed with a strike from her left leg. Using the leverage from the sword stuck in his neck, she pushed against his bloated body with both legs, pinning his hand to his body.
Shen Qingqiu, watching all this, called out, clutching her abdomen, “Tiantian, Muyu needs support.”
Zuo Tiantian quickly understood, stood up, and extended her hand. Seeing this, Xiao Muyu grabbed her hand with her right hand.
Xiao Muyu, now in front of the groom, used Zuo Tiantian’s support to leap onto the groom’s shoulders.
Her cold gaze swept downward, and she whispered in the groom’s ear, “Even as a ghost, you should know your place. Some people, even if you become a ghost, you should never touch!”
With that, she yanked the sword upward with her left hand, and assisted with her right hand, while her right leg stomped heavily on the groom’s head.
With a crisp snap, the sword cut through the bone obstructing the blade and circled around the groom’s neck, severing his head completely.
With a thud, the groom’s head fell to the ground and rolled far away.
His eyes stared resentfully at Xiao Muyu, but in the blink of an eye, his body turned to mud in front of her. His flesh split open, and his headless torso quickly became bare bones.
The entire groom transformed into a skeleton, collapsing to the ground. At the same time, the scene in the room blurred, and the ground shook violently.
Xiao Muyu felt the ground beneath her tremble as if it was about to collapse. Without hesitation, she turned and ran towards Shen Qingqiu, shouting, “Chen Kaijie,Xiao Zuo, get out quickly!”
Shen Qingqiu, clutching her abdomen, was pulled up by Su Jin. Before they could leave, Xiao Muyu scooped Shen Qingqiu into her arms.
Shen Qingqiu’s heart skipped a beat. She instinctively wrapped her arms around Xiao Muyu’s neck as she was carried out.
Inside the room, dust and flickering candlelight made it impossible to see the exit. Xiao Muyu relied on her memory to run steadily towards the exit, stumbling a few times but finding solid ground.
On the other side, Chen Kaijie, holding Zuo Tiantian’s hand, ran out while looking back for Xiao Muyu and the others.
Seeing nothing, he pulled Zuo Tiantian towards the exit. Despite the ground shaking, they stumbled along, fortunately in the right direction.
Upon finding the door, unsure if Xiao Muyu and the others had found the exit, he shouted, “Captain Xiao, I’ve found the door! This way out! Did you hear me, Captain Xiao?”
He kept shouting until the view before him cleared, revealing Shen Qingqiu leaning against Xiao Muyu, watching him with interest, and Su Jin smiling nearby.
Chen Kaijie blushed but quickly smiled, “I’m glad you made it out. I was worried.”
“We’re fine. We watched you run out, shouting all the way,” Shen Qingqiu teased, her tone gentle and smiling.
Chen Kaijie glanced worriedly at Shen Qingqiu’s waist, “Is the wound okay?”
Shen Qingqiu turned to Xiao Muyu, smiled, and shook her head, “It’s fine. If it were serious, Captain Xiao would have to carry me. Right now, I’m a delicate Miss Shen who can’t take care of herself, and she’s the heroine who can run swiftly even while carrying someone.”
Xiao Muyu glanced at her helplessly, “You’re pale, yet you still talk so much.”
Shen Qingqiu sighed, “This time, the system is determined to target me. But it shows that teamwork is more crucial than ever; relying on one person is useless.”
She faced a near-death ordeal, with her birth date stuck on a paper doll, making her a puppet at the mercy of others.
If not for Xiao Muyu and the others rescuing her, especially Xiao Muyu’s sharpness in realizing her predicament, she would have been doomed.
She smiled despite her pale face, “You all did better than me today.”
Zuo Tiantian waved her hands repeatedly, and Su Jin quickly added, “Vice-captain, you don’t know how critical you were. Captain Xiao almost drowned in the White River, trapped in a coffin by that paper doll. I tried to pull her with Tiantian’s red string, but it got cut.
At the crucial moment, I used external aid, and you appeared, kicking the paper doll and diving into the river to save Captain Xiao. You were amazing.”
Shen Qingqiu, stunned, turned to Xiao Muyu, feeling her clothes, realizing Xiao Muyu was dry and unaware of the danger.
Her face turned pale, with lingering fear, “Did I really provide external aid? I thought I was dreaming.”
Xiao Muyu, feeling soft-hearted, nodded gently, “I told you, you saved me. Everyone did great today. Without Su Jin, you couldn’t have appeared; without you, I wouldn’t have survived.
Without Chen Kaijie and Xiao Zuo, I couldn’t have saved you. We all played crucial roles today.”
Xiao Muyu’s simple words made Chen Kaijie and the others happy yet emotional. It had been tough.
Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu were their anchors. When both were in trouble, the panic and helplessness they felt were indescribable.
Shen Qingqiu coughed a few times, and Xiao Muyu, seeing this, grabbed her hand nervously, “Are you cold, or is something wrong?”
Shen Qingqiu shook her head, “I’m not that fragile, just out of breath.”
Her body felt cold, possibly from the injury and the paper doll, making her feel like evil energy had entered her body. But she didn’t want Xiao Muyu to worry.
“Where are we now?” She quickly assessed the surroundings, drawing everyone’s attention to the situation.
Xiao Muyu, without a word, held Shen Qingqiu’s right hand, then glanced at her left hand.
Shen Qingqiu, puzzled, smiled and extended her left hand.
Xiao Muyu took her hands and tucked them into her sleeve. Shen Qingqiu’s hands were ice cold.
Although Xiao Muyu had fallen into the river, Chen Kaijie had a card to dry clothes, and fighting had warmed her up.
Standing beside her, Shen Qingqiu followed with an awkward posture.
They had just exited the hall where the ceremony took place. Logically, they should be in the outer courtyard, but clearly not.
The street before them indicated they were back in Yingzhou City, standing on the road leading to the city.
“Did we pass this level and return to Yingzhou City?” Chen Kaijie exclaimed.
“Something feels off, and the system is quiet,” Xiao Muyu replied, looking back at Shen Qingqiu. They walked close together, Xiao Muyu never letting go of Shen Qingqiu’s hand. The five of them headed towards the city.
“This is awkward,” Shen Qingqiu finally rested her head on Xiao Muyu’s shoulder, making walking even harder. Fortunately, Xiao Muyu adjusted her steps.
Xiao Muyu glanced at her, “Should I carry you?”
Shen Qingqiu’s eyes widened, whispering, “Are you really my Captain Xiao? You never said things like this before.”
Xiao Muyu bit her lip. Yes, she never would have said this before, but the near-loss of Shen Qingqiu filled her with a chilling fear. She felt like she’d just climbed out of an icy abyss, cold and terrified.
Relieved and fearful, she wanted to comfort Shen Qingqiu, even if she didn’t act spoiled.
Author’s Note: Another sweet chapter. This level was tough and life-threatening. Poor Xiao Shen, she was targeted, haha.
