Chapter 3031 Human Hearts Are Like an Abyss

Talk about a massive amount of information. Things were getting more and more interesting to watch.

At that moment, the term "love-hate relationship" seemed to fully materialize right before his eyes.

Following the Long-Haired Man's statement, his lover refused to be outdone. Gritting her teeth, she offered up a completely different story.

Honestly, the logic even held up reasonably well.

Judging by his initial feigned ignorance, the Long-Haired Man was indeed much better at keeping his composure—ruthless, and a man of few words.

Fabricating a story to falsely claim the cat had already escaped would let them move into a more complex area and bide their time for a chance to break free.

As far as ideas went, it was actually quite commendable.

The only flaw, perhaps, was the "person" the Mad Cat Gunner claimed was guarding the very top of the passage.

But setting aside the fact that there appeared to be nothing but air up there, the Gunner himself had mentioned the cat was coming and going like a ghost.

Even if someone were standing guard, would it really be that strange for the cat to slip past them unnoticed?

In short, it was a gamble worth taking despite the risks.

But was dealing with a lunatic ever that simple? As was said a long time ago, true masters won by never gambling in the first place.

Gritting one's teeth and betting it all might look resolute, but it was usually just the red-eyed desperation of a losing gambler.

In this specific situation, the Long-Haired Man seemed to have prepared a backup plan in advance in case he lost the gamble—

If the Mad Cat Gunner believed him, everyone would be happy. If the Gunner didn't, then the Long-Haired Man wouldn't be the one who lied; instead, he would be the victim.

The biggest risk in the entire scheme was perhaps that the Mad Cat Gunner would not only believe it, but also decide an injured person was a hindrance and shoot him dead on the spot.

Not to mention that to counter this exact possibility, the placement of his wound seemed deliberately chosen.

It wasn't on his leg, so it didn't greatly affect his mobility.

His head was untouched, so it wouldn't hinder communication.

Finally, the arm left slightly inconvenienced wasn't even his dominant one; it was very easy to tell the man was left-handed.

All things considered, this truth the Long-Haired Woman had realized in hindsight sounded even more brilliant.

The only problem, perhaps, was the ultimate, unavoidable question: when had the two of them even communicated? Let alone conveyed something so complicated?

"What exactly is going on?" At that moment, even Yuan Shan could hardly conceal her confusion, leaning in to ask softly.

"Human hearts are like an abyss."

In response, Fu Qian sighed softly and shifted his gun's muzzle toward the Long-Haired Man.

"I believe you."

The drawback of Chief Yuan's reluctance to return to headquarters to report on her work became apparent right then.

She might have known about the characteristics of the Crowd, but when faced with a problem, she still hadn't formed the habit of subconsciously factoring them in.

Why did there have to be verbal communication?

All the brains within the Crowd were constantly influenced by other wills, their ultimate fate being mashed together into a muddy paste.

Therefore, for the lovers, it was theoretically entirely possible to achieve heart-to-heart communication in this place.

As long as they both believed some form of communication had taken place, there was no need to voice it aloud.

...

So what exactly had he believed? After his girlfriend exposed his "scheme," the Long-Haired Man had initially just sneered repeatedly, looking as if he couldn't be bothered to argue.

Yet at gunpoint, a single sentence from Professor Fu broke his composure entirely.

'Did this "believe" mean he believed my story, or that he believed I was the mastermind behind the scheme?'

Such an ambiguous statement at a critical moment was truly fatal.

It might even cost more than one person's life.

Believing one side meant rejecting the other. At that moment, the Long-Haired Woman's brain was clearly caught in the same turbulent swing.

Just like her lover, she stared intently at Fu Qian's face, waiting eagerly for him to say just one more word.

Not bad...

Unfortunately, the Mad Cat Gunner was far too composed. He merely gave a slight nod, remaining entirely silent.

What the lovers didn't even realize was that the nod had nothing to do with them.

The reason it felt not bad was because, right at that moment, Madam Three-Eyed finally graced Fu Qian's field of vision with her presence.

It made sense. With such a brilliant emotional drama unfolding, it was perfectly normal for a woman to be more likely to take an interest. In any case, seeming to sense the commotion, Madam Three-Eyed broke slightly from her robot vacuum-like pacing, walking right over and staring at the couple as well.

"So you believe what I said?"

Unfortunately, building up the audience's expectations too much had its drawbacks. At that moment, the male lead finally buckled under the pressure, speaking up first to confirm.

Oh?

Not wanting to subject him to the silent treatment, Fu Qian shifted his gaze back to the Long-Haired Man, his expression profound.

"Perhaps you haven't played that Wooden Man game, but haven't you even heard that in a cold war, whoever speaks first loses?"

With a soft sigh, he shook his head.

"I believe it was your plan."

...

The decision to open the connecting valve had indeed been correct; a love-hate relationship could make a person stronger.

Following the Mad Cat Gunner's verdict, the two bodies visibly trembled right before his eyes.

It wasn't just the Long-Haired Man, who had just tumbled from Paradise, but also his vastly relieved girlfriend. Dealing with a lunatic was so exhausting that one could completely empathize with their frayed, near-snapping nerves.

It was almost enough to make one worry whether those two round little heads could hold out much longer.

However, a rather gratifying scene unfolded. Once the initial shock passed, the first reaction of the obsessed lovers was to immediately snap their heads toward each other.

As their eyes met, the expressions on their faces were utterly spectacular, flashing and shifting as rapidly as a spinning zoetrope, each reflecting the other.

It was undoubtedly somewhat inhuman. Yet, it was precisely this rapid exchange that seemed to draw out the tremors in their bodies, neutralizing and dissolving the tension completely.

In just a few seconds, the speed of their shifting expressions slowed. By the end, they even shared a look of pure relief, as if they had just picked up their marriage certificate.

"Is this destiny? I can no longer remember why we came here, yet I feel like all of this was bound to happen... Did you really not foresee that you'd be found out?"

In the end, the Long-Haired Woman was still the first to speak, and there was no longer any trace of the anger she'd felt at being schemed against.

As for that profound of the profound reflection on life, thinking it over revealed a massive amount of information. It inevitably made one wonder just how much the two of them had managed to communicate with their "hearts" just now.

"Foresee..."

Her words seemed to have touched her lover as well. The Long-Haired Man didn't answer directly. Instead, he muttered to himself as he walked to the side and kicked a nearby octagonal stone pit.

The stone pit was about waist-deep and vaguely resembled a baptismal font, though it had long since dried up over the endless years—wait a moment, it seemed the water had arrived. The Long-Haired Man's kick was light, not nearly enough to break anything.

Yet within that antique-looking stone pit, red mist as thick as ink was actually condensing, rolling upward continuously.

Mist of the Abyss?

This was something Fu Qian was truly not unfamiliar with.

Not only had he seen it back in the Rotten Forest, but the last time he visited The Abyss, he had even thrown a cat into it.

"Teacher..."

Facts proved that cats did indeed have nine lives.

Amid Yuan Shan's sleepwalker-like murmurs, a black-and-white silhouette strikingly manifested within the red mist.