Admiration

Cheng Shuili listened quietly from beginning to end, and seeing that their leader had no reaction, the others were even less likely to act on their own initiative.

The Remnant Remains found its recounting increasingly strange.

Shouldn't the players who came here be silenced by fear for ten minutes, forget the time while listening to its tale, miss the peak, or be bewitched into helping it pull out the dagger?

Why had this group been checking the time constantly?

Checking the time was one thing, but what exactly was the meaning of that slightly perfunctory concern?

What was up with those expressions that said, "If it weren't for the rewards, I wouldn't be listening to you at all"?

Dungeon NPCs are still NPCs, okay?! Please show some respect for the NPC!

These were the true thoughts of the Remnant Remains, though these words could never be spoken to the players; it could only complain in its heart.

Cheng Shuili had no idea what the Remnant Remains was thinking, and nothing could be discerned from that skull-like face anyway.

Cheng Shuili only felt that this guy had too much nonsense to say.

Was it really that hard to recount what happened here? Perhaps it was because this guy had mixed in too many personal emotions.

Cheng Shuili was somewhat silent, but thinking that this guy's experience was likely true, she didn't say much; it was simply a skeletal version of Xiang Lin's Wife.

"I am so foolish... truly. I only knew that doing this would make me a target, but I never expected that my only best friend, the person I trusted most, would choose to stab me in the back... I am so foolish."

Cheng Shuili couldn't help but shift her posture and check the time again. They needed to save half an hour to find Qian Xun, so it would be best if this guy's drivel could be kept to a minimum.

After a few more sentences, a panel suddenly popped up in front of Cheng Shuili and the others.

【The current team has qualified to obtain the core reward! The core reward will be automatically distributed to the leader of the current team! If the leader dies, the core reward will be distributed to the player who killed the leader!】

Cheng Shuili patiently read through the text and immediately fell silent.

This... this wouldn't be a notification sent to all players in the dungeon, would it?

No, this kind of trick is only interesting once; doing it again is just dull.

Cheng Shuili looked up, and the others were all looking at her, clearly having received the same reminder. She felt a bit helpless, shook her head, stood up, and stretched.

The rest of the group immediately stood up, eyes fixed on Cheng Shuili, looking as if they would strike wherever she pointed.

In fact, Cheng Shuili guessed that this system prompt had likely only been received by the few people present.

If this were a temporary team, they would probably be in an uproar by now, right?

But these people were those Cheng Shuili trusted absolutely.

The audience had suddenly stood up, and the Remnant Remains, still recounting its tragic history, was stunned and asked: "Are you going to help me pull it out?"

Cheng Shuili chuckled. Her mood was decent, so she answered with a show of kindness: "It's that we are leaving."

The Remnant Remains no longer had flesh on its face, but its jaw hung slightly open, looking blank.

It was actually quite human-like, and Ginger Candy couldn't help but tease: "We're leaving now, you can just stay here."

The Remnant Remains' mandible opened and closed unconsciously, emitting a faint "click-clack" sound, and those two points of ghostly purple light flickered violently, revealing great confusion and... a trace of panic?

It seemed to have completely failed to anticipate this development.

The story was finished, the reward was obtained, and these people were just going to leave?

What about it? It was still pinned here!

"Wait... wait!"

Its voice became even more hoarse and urgent, even carrying a kind of sharp static, like a radio with a bad signal, crackling away.

The sound was harsh and grating to the ears.

"You... you cannot leave! Help me! Pull it out! I beg you to end my suffering!"

It struggled to lean forward, its bony arm reaching futilely toward the door, and the bone blade in its chest vibrated slightly from its intense movements, emitting an unsettling hum.

That posture was, in truth, quite miserable and pathetic.

But Cheng Shuili only gave it one last glance, her eyes showing no sign of wavering, only pure coldness.

Heaven knows what would happen if the dagger were pulled out, and the Abyss Ring had already said not to listen to it; naturally, Cheng Shuili would not do something that could put herself in danger just for a bit of kindness.

She turned around without hesitation and was the first to squeeze sideways through the narrow crack in the door.

The others followed closely behind.

Ginger Candy even turned back to make a face at the Remnant Remains as she passed the doorway, muttering under her breath: "Don't think you can trick us!"

When they stepped out of these ruins, there were forty minutes left until the next peak.

Cheng Shuili suddenly felt an extreme inner peace. The dungeon was not yet fully over, but this should mark a comma in their journey.

From here on, they just needed to follow the plan and quietly wait for the dungeon to end.

They encountered a few monsters on the way to the shelter, but because they had sufficient time, Cheng Shuili simply led her group on a detour.

With twenty minutes left until the peak, Cheng Shuili and her group arrived at the shelter smoothly.

Apart from Qian Xun and his people, no other strangers appeared here.

Looking at it this way, the team that had the gunfight with them in the warehouse must have been wiped out.

Too many people had died along the way, and naturally, Cheng Shuili couldn't waste any emotion on those few.

After passing the peak successfully, this dungeon could be considered over.

Before Qian Xun led his three companions out, he turned back very deliberately and let his gaze fall on Cheng Shuili, suddenly saying: "I didn't expect the only player to have been announced to the entire server to be a woman."

Cheng Shuili hadn't intended to say anything more to him, but upon hearing this, she turned her head slowly, looked into his eyes, and asked: "Is there anything worth being surprised about in that?"

Qian Xun paused, suddenly realizing the condescending judgment hidden in his previous exclamation, as well as the arrogance of binding "strength" and "top-tier" to being male.

That was exactly what Cheng Shuili found unpleasant.

After being retorted with that one sentence, Qian Xun's eyes cleared up instantly. He adopted a sincere attitude and said in a low voice: "My apologies."

Cheng Shuili said nothing, only giving an almost imperceptible nod before withdrawing her gaze.

No further words were needed.

Silence itself was a gesture of accepting an apology while still drawing a clear line.

Qian Xun breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, knowing that this page had been turned, but he no longer dared to utter a single superfluous word.

He truly could not afford to offend this person, and his attitude toward her had to be careful and cautious. The more one says, the more one errs; that previous sentence was something that shouldn't have been said.

Of course, Qian Xun hadn't been convinced from the start.

He had harbored the intention of testing her, especially after the trade in the warehouse. Being outdone by another player was always uncomfortable.

After the trade was completed, Qian Xun had told his team members to leave with the supplies first, while he himself stayed behind to observe the warehouse for a while.