Chapter 72 - 68: Killing to Seize Treasure, an Opportunity

Chapter 72: Chapter 68: Killing to Seize Treasure, an Opportunity

Xia Yu’s gaze was ice-cold.

This man before her, ugly both inside and out, had crossed her bottom line.

And anyone who crossed her bottom line...

"You’re courting death,"

she said coldly, her killing intent completely unconcealed.

"Courting death?"

"Heh heh."

"What can you do to me?"

"You, on the other hand... if you serve me well in a little bit, maybe I’ll let you live a while longer."

The Treasure House owner, far from being afraid, actually reached out a hand.

He couldn’t resist the urge to touch that tempting, perky rear.

"Found it!"

Just then, a child’s voice rang out.

The Treasure House owner’s heart skipped a beat. He instantly knew something was wrong.

The owner of the voice was... Little Nannan!

The source of the voice was... the secret room!

There was a ledger in the secret room!

The ledger he had deliberately hidden!

He had hidden it very carefully, deliberately not putting it in the safe. Even Xie Xiaolei hadn’t found it, so how could Little Nannan possibly have discovered it?

’She didn’t find it.’

’She definitely didn’t find it.’

The Treasure House owner chanted this over and over in his mind as he turned his head.

And then...

"Stop!"

His expression changed drastically, and he charged forward.

At that moment, Little Nannan was holding the ledger.

About to turn a page!

"That uncle is a bad man."

"Mommy said bad people have to be punished."

She was frightened by the Treasure House owner’s ferocious expression and hastily flipped a page in the ledger.

Instantly...

"No."

The Treasure House owner instantly felt himself enveloped by the power of a rule. His forward momentum halted, and he began to retreat step by step with extreme speed.

’How could I have forgotten about Little Nannan!’

’I really panicked just now and lost my composure.’

"Confine!"

Fortunately, at this critical moment, he didn’t lose his head and managed to confine Little Nannan.

Phew.

’I survived.’

His steps halted, and the Treasure House owner let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Little girl, I’ll lift your confinement. Just let me take two steps forward, okay?"

He couldn’t move now, and he was even closer to the mist than Xia Yu and Xie Shaokun. To have a chance at survival, his only option was to beg for mercy.

"Idiot."

Seeing this, Xie Shaokun was overjoyed. "Did you really think I was into men?" he said. "I just wanted to get your attention so you wouldn’t notice what Little Nannan was doing."

Just now, he had seen Little Nannan sneakily crawl into the secret room. He didn’t know what she was up to, but he knew he had to provide a distraction, so he chose to sacrifice his ’orientation’.

It worked!

"Nice work,"

Xia Yu praised.

’Yu praised me!’

’This is the first time Yu has ever praised me!’

Xie Shaokun was thrilled and utterly satisfied. He racked his brain for all his literary knowledge and squeezed out, "Know ye not what manner of god I am!"

"I was praising Little Nannan. What are you getting so excited about?"

Xia Yu said flatly, "I can’t bring you along to these Mist Events in the future. Just now, the mental energy I spent analyzing whether you were lying was more than what I spent on everyone else combined."

"Er..."

Xie Shaokun froze, utterly embarrassed.

Little Nannan said a bit shyly, "I was starting to panic just now. If Big Sister hadn’t gestured for me to go find the ledger in the secret room, I wouldn’t have known what to do at all."

"How did you know the ledger was in the secret room?"

The Treasure House owner looked at Xia Yu and couldn’t help but ask.

"You were very tense when Xie Xiaolei went into the secret room, and your muscles relaxed the moment she came out."

Xia Yu said calmly, "Ordinary money wouldn’t have caused such a strong reaction from you. It could only be the ledger!"

"The ledger that can control you!"

"I just didn’t know its exact location within the secret room. Thankfully, Little Nannan didn’t disappoint me and found it in time."

’Let a rule fight a rule!’

This was her only strategy for dealing with the Treasure House owner!

"When I was little, Mommy worked really hard to support me and didn’t have time to play with me, so she came up with a game: she would hide things and have me find them."

"I really loved that game."

Little Nannan said, "After a while, I got really good at finding things. There was nothing I couldn’t find. Even when Mommy forgot where she put something, I could help her find it quickly, even if I didn’t know where it was."

As she spoke, she started to cry again.

Xie Shaokun’s heart ached listening to her.

Xia Yu, however, just nodded and said, "From now on, Big Sister will play this game with you, okay?"

"Okay, okay."

Little Nannan was overjoyed, her tears turning into a smile.

’So resilient.’

Xia Yu was growing more and more fond of Little Nannan.

"AHH."

The Treasure House owner let out a bloodcurdling scream.

At this moment, the mist had already enveloped his right foot, which was stepping back and frozen in mid-air.

The sensation of his body ’melting’ filled him with both pain and terror.

"Please, I’m begging you, let me go!"

"I’m willing to lift the confinement on you."

To show his sincerity, the Treasure House owner first lifted the confinement on Xia Yu and the other two. "We can talk about this calmly," he said.

"Thanks,"

Xia Yu said.

Everyone: "???"

"BUZZ."

The next moment, the Rule Energy Crystal emitted a violent fluctuation of Spiritual Energy.

Its allure for everyone present skyrocketed.

Even Xie Shaokun could barely resist.

"SWOOSH."

Xia Yu snatched it and stuffed it into her mouth.

The Rule Energy Crystal dissolved the moment it entered her mouth, spreading rapidly throughout her body. An even more intense pain of being torn apart and reassembled washed over her, nearly causing her to faint.

"Rule-type resources change their location every so often."

Relying on her terrifying willpower, she forced herself to remain steady. As she put her clothes back on, she said, "Luckily, you lifted my confinement just in time. Otherwise, with my current ability, I wouldn’t have been able to grab it."

"You..."

Seeing this, the Treasure House owner felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly. Still, he forced a smile and begged, "I helped you. Can you help me?"

By now, the rule-based mist had covered his lower leg. If this dragged on any longer, his thigh would be gone too. He had no leverage to act tough.

"I can only promise that I won’t kill you."

Xia Yu said flatly, "Right now, it’s Little Nannan who wants to kill you. That’s not my business."

"You fuc—"

The Treasure House owner erupted in fury and was just about to start cursing and swearing.

Suddenly,

he retreated two more steps, walking straight into the mist.

"AHH."

A bloodcurdling scream rang out.

He never got to say the rest of his words.

Xie Shaokun jumped in fright. He turned to see that Little Nannan had turned two more pages in the ledger.

"Um... Mommy says we live in a civilized society now, so we shouldn’t use bad words."

"And I really hate people who swear."

Little Nannan stuck out her tongue playfully as she explained.

Uh.

Xie Shaokun’s mouth twitched. He felt this little girl was a bit...

Mischievous.

"HUMMM."

Immediately after, the ledger vanished.

The mist stopped spreading.

Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"It’s finally over,"

Xie Shaokun said.

Little Nannan collapsed to the ground. At her young age, her mental and physical energy had long been exhausted, leaving her completely drained.

Xia Yu glanced at the time and asked, "Little Nannan, are you willing to follow me?"

Little Nannan nodded decisively.

"After we get out, you’ll probably be a wanted person."

"For the next several months, you will be under constant surveillance by Xie Shaokun."

"In the future, I will also assign you dangerous missions."

"I’ll even make you take a Servant Spirit Species. It’s a means to control your life and death. You can ask Xie Shaokun what it is later, because he has taken one too."

Xia Yu asked again, "Are you still willing to follow me?"

"I am!"

Little Nannan didn’t hesitate for a second, her small face filled with determination.

"Good."

Xia Yu was very pleased.

Recruiting Little Nannan was the result of careful consideration:

First, Little Nannan had passed the test, saved her, and helped her avoid being defiled. She owed her a debt of gratitude.

Second, Little Nannan was resilient, sharp, and a good helper. She was also highly malleable.

In particular, as such a young girl, she would often cause others to lower their guard, making some missions easier to accomplish if entrusted to her.

Third, this Mist Event was not the time for her to expose her identity, so news of it absolutely could not be leaked.

She could only trust the dead.

But she still had her humanity and wouldn’t kill Little Nannan.

Her only choice was to recruit and monitor Little Nannan.

Fourth, having a trustworthy team was more convenient in the Apocalypse.

"Welcome to the team."

"Our little team has grown again."

Xie Shaokun extended a hand and formally introduced himself, "My name is Xie Shaokun. You may call me Brother Kun."

"Brother Kun."

Little Nannan also extended her hand and replied earnestly.

"Nan."

Xie Shaokun nodded, then looked at Xia Yu. "Yu, it’s your turn to introduce yourself."

Xia Yu: "..."

She couldn’t be bothered with Xie Shaokun, who was gradually devolving into a cringey teenager. She just said, "There are about ten-or-so minutes left until this Mist Event ends."

"Now, I’m going to give you two an opportunity."

"Consider it a welcome gift."