Lawless

Hearing this, Cheng Shuili's anger did not subside in the slightest. Such critical information, yet this Ring Spirit fellow only answered when she specifically asked.

If things went on like this, wouldn't it be total lawlessness?

Cheng Shuili pondered for a moment, still feeling uneasy, and asked again: "Do I have any means to restrict you?"

"Restrict me?"

The Ring Spirit retorted with a beaming smile, yet it confessed the method of restriction with incomparable candor:

"Of course, my dear Master. What you wear on your finger is not just a ring, but a cage that binds me. You can directly command me to enter a dormant state through your thoughts. During this period, I will be unable to perceive the outside world, communicate with you, or exert any power. Of course, the basic functions of the ring itself will not be affected."

Its voice still carried that lazy tone, but if one tasted it carefully, one could detect a trace of subtle tension.

"Dormant?" Cheng Shuili silently recited in her heart, her fingertips gently brushing over the ring's surface. The cold touch now seemed to carry a different meaning. "And the duration?"

"It is up to you, Master."

The Ring Spirit answered quickly, "It can be a moment, or it can be... eternal. Until you awaken me again."

"However, I must remind you that during the dormant state, you will be unable to use any of my active abilities, such as the tracking you just used, or the small help I provide in moments of crisis."

Cheng Shuili heard this and realized something was wrong again.

"Small help in moments of crisis?" Cheng Shuili narrowed her eyes. "When I was being assassinated by that person, how come you didn't make a sound?"

The Ring Spirit's lazy tone instantly froze.

Cheng Shuili even strangely felt a trace of an extremely subtle, 'guilty' emotional fluctuation through the ring.

"Well, about that..."

The Ring Spirit's voice rarely carried a hint of hesitation, but it quickly resumed its previous tone.

"My dear Master, you must know that the warnings of fate are not always clear. Sometimes, it is like a reflection in the water; the slightest ripple will shatter it."

"Speak human language." Cheng Shuili coldly interrupted it, tapping her fingertip on the ring surface with measured force.

The Ring Spirit was silent for a moment. When it spoke again, that irreverent attitude had subsided quite a bit: "Alright, to be honest, I was... not fully awake at that time."

"Not fully awake?"

"Yes. The power of the Abyss Ring is not always at its peak; it needs... um... recharging. And at the moment you were assassinated, I was in a kind of... semi-dormant, energy-saving state." It paused and hurriedly added: "But please believe me, I am much more awake now! Next time, absolutely, absolutely nothing like that will happen again!"

As it spoke, it added: "You can fully control me, so you can fully trust me."

Cheng Shuili listened to this guarantee, but her skepticism toward it grew even stronger.

It was too strange; this fellow seemed particularly eager for her to trust it.

Cheng Shuili slowly rubbed her fingertips over the Abyss Ring. The Ring Spirit's words of eager loyalty not only failed to put her at ease but, like a stone thrown into a still lake, stirred up layers of ripples of doubt.

Fully trust?

A Ring Spirit of unknown origin with strange powers, which happened to be semi-dormant when she was in a life-or-death crisis?

This fellow could indeed provide her with a lot of information, and it definitely had its uses.

Cheng Shuili lowered her eyes and tried the method it described. A panel indeed jumped out in front of her.

【Please set the sleep duration for the Ring Spirit. It can be awakened at any time.】

Can be awakened at any time?

Cheng Shuili's eyes brightened, and she directly set the longest time: permanent!

Anyway, it could be awakened at any time; if she needed it, she would just wake it up. Having this fellow awake made Cheng Shuili feel truly uneasy.

After making the selection, the Ring Spirit's voice actually became panicked: "Master? Wait! What are you doing? I still have many uses—"

The Ring Spirit's voice stopped abruptly, like a hung-up phone.

Cheng Shuili could clearly feel that this fellow had indeed fallen into the deepest sleep.

The faint warmth originally emitted by the ring had also completely cooled, becoming as icy as the most ordinary metal.

She tried to communicate with the storage space through her thoughts, and the function of storing and retrieving items remained smooth and unobstructed.

Very good.

The basic functions were unaffected, and the effect of Insight should still be there. That was enough.

It seems the Ring Spirit didn't lie, which Cheng Shuili was satisfied with, but there was no doubt that it definitely had some ulterior motives.

Cheng Shuili exhaled as if she had set down a burden and reconsidered the Li Changyou issue.

The reminder from 001 came at this moment: "Boss, there is an important piece of information waiting for your reply."

Cheng Shuili paused and told 001 to pull up the message.

【Cai Bao】: Boss Crow, did you really kill Guild Leader Li Changyou? I was in Dragon Soul before. The highway just merged, and I think I saw Li Changyou... Am I seeing things?

Cheng Shuili's private message settings were configured not to notify her of messages from strangers, so by the time she saw this message, the other party had already sent two. The other one was: "I saw the ID. I recognized the wrong person. This person is named Danggui, not Jing Shui Liu Shen."

What?

Cheng Shuili was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

Isn't this a coincidence?

She was just planning to put out a bounty, and someone had sent her Li Changyou's new ID!

It was like someone handing her a pillow just as she felt sleepy!

Cheng Shuili and Su Rui moved the supplies onto the vehicle, then pulled out another Designated Player Duel Card.

"Are there still people to kill?"

Su Rui saw Cheng Shuili's action and immediately opened her eyes wide.

Cheng Shuili paused, realizing she hadn't synchronized the information with her. She gave a brief account of the current situation. Su Rui pondered for a moment and said: "Is it really such a coincidence? That he happened to have his highway merged with the people from Dragon Soul?"

This was indeed a problem.

But...

What was the point?

Cheng Shuili smiled and said nonchalantly: "Let's just go and see. We've only just seen Li Changyou; if we see the real person, we'll definitely recognize him. If it's true, we'll..."

She raised her hand and wiped it across her throat, the meaning obvious.

"And if it's not true, we'll go and trouble this Cai Bao!"

As Cheng Shuili spoke, her fingertips had already deftly entered Danggui's ID into the duel card.

Su Rui naturally had no objections. Her previous skepticism had come from her own perspective, but now, realizing Cheng Shuili's strength, she suddenly felt: Yeah.

How could there be so many conspiracies and twists and turns?

Just follow Cheng Shuili and kill her way to the truth.

The card turned into a stream of light and dissipated, and the surrounding scenery switched again.

The scene in front of them switched instantly. Not far away, a rusty blue truck was parked quietly, its hood even emitting a faint white smoke, looking like it had broken down.

The driver's side window was rolled halfway down. One could vaguely see a figure with their head lowered, wearing a hat. Their face indeed seemed to have some dirt and wrinkles, and their build was somewhat similar to Li Changyou's.

The two looked at each other and observed carefully for a while.

The other party also noticed them, and then, as if frightened by something, stood up abruptly.

Cheng Shuili wasn't sure at first, but at this moment, she laughed directly.

It seems they really had caught the person.

The other party had just seen this vehicle, and now, having this kind of reaction was perfectly normal.

However... they hadn't seen each other for long, and this fellow had become so wretched?

Cheng Shuili didn't hesitate, pushed the car door open, and leaped out first, with Su Rui following closely behind.

"Guild Leader Li, long time no see?"

Cheng Shuili's voice carried a cold, mocking smile as she approached step by step. "This trick of the cicada sloughing off its shell, you played it well. Unfortunately, it wasn't careful enough."

This Danggui—that is, Li Changyou—seeing that the person who came was really Crow, saw all the color instantly drain from his face, leaving only extreme terror and disbelief.

He shrank backward violently, seemingly wanting to crawl into the car, but his hands and feet were trembling, and his movements were clumsy.

"You... how could you..."

His voice was hoarse and incoherent.

"How could I find you?"

Cheng Shuili finished for him, stopping five steps away from him. This distance was enough to deal with any sudden situation. "You're just unlucky. Your highway merged right after you escaped. And it happened to merge with people who know you, and they thought they'd run into a ghost, so they came to me to verify if you were still alive. Isn't it a coincidence? Even the system didn't want you to escape just like that."

Cheng Shuili's words completely shattered the last shred of luck in Li Changyou's heart.

The terror on his face twisted into desperate madness. Seeing Cheng Shuili and Su Rui closing in, he let out a roar that didn't sound human, attempting to flee back into the car to drive away.

He had obviously forgotten that his vehicle was already broken.

Cheng Shuili was unhurried, her movements like a leisurely stroll, but her speed was already far beyond Li Changyou, who was at the end of his rope.

Almost the moment he turned and took his second step, Cheng Shuili had already approached from behind, leaped up, and kicked him hard in the back of the knee!

"Crack!"

A crisp sound of bone breaking accompanied by a shrill scream rang out. Li Changyou fell forward, crashing heavily onto the rough highway surface, clutching his twisted and deformed right leg and wailing endlessly.

Su Rui had also arrived by this time. A sturdy rope appeared in her hand from nowhere, and she deftly tied Li Changyou's hands behind his back, binding him tightly.

"Let me go! You let me go!"

Li Changyou was streaming with tears and snot, struggling and shouting.

"Crow! Crow! Spare me! I'll give you all my supplies! My vehicle, my points, I'll give them all to you! Just spare my life!"

Cheng Shuili looked down at him from above, her eyes devoid of any pity, filled only with cold mockery.

"Guild Leader Li, don't you think it's too late to say this now?" She squatted down and looked into Li Changyou's terrified eyes. "When you sent people to kill me, you didn't think about sparing my life, did you? When you were hiding in the shadows, staring at us like a venomous snake, you didn't think about negotiating terms, did you?"

"I... I was blinded by greed! I was stupid! I deserve to die!"

Li Changyou begged incoherently, "Please, give me a chance. I'll be your servant from now on..."

Cheng Shuili tapped the ground with Night Hunt and said: "Hand over the Silver Piercing Bullet."

Silver Piercing Bullet?

Right! He still had the Silver Piercing Bullet!

A final glimmer of hope burst forth in Li Changyou's murky eyes, as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw.

"Silver Piercing Bullet! Right! Silver Piercing Bullet!" He endured the sharp pain from his leg and struggled to point with his bound hands toward the trunk of the dilapidated truck. "It's inside! A black safe! Except for me, no one can open it! Spare my life, as long as you spare my life, I will hand this item over to you!"

"It ignores all defense! As long as it's a mortal, they will have their life taken away! That's a life! Crow, you must have enemies that are hard to deal with, you will definitely need this item..."

Li Changyou spoke faster and faster, as if he had seen hope.

Cheng Shuili used the scabbard of Night Hunt to tap Li Changyou's face lightly, interrupting his eager words.

"Guild Leader Li, did you get one thing wrong?"

Her tone carried a hint of amusement. "Right now, you don't have the qualifications to negotiate. As for the item, I'll take it myself."

Li Changyou's face turned pale. He wanted to say something more, but Cheng Shuili had already stood up and said to Su Rui: "Watch him."

She walked straight to the dilapidated truck and scanned the trunk.

There was indeed a black metal safe embedded in the vehicle body. It was a standard rectangular block, looking very sturdy, with no keyholes on the surface, only a small touch screen glowing faintly.

Cheng Shuili looked at the safe, her brows slightly raised, but she had no idea how to open it.

Does she really have to spare Li Changyou's life?

No, absolutely not.

This person is a problem as long as he's alive.

Just as she was thinking, 001 suddenly popped out: "Boss! I see a lock. Do you need me to open it?"

Cheng Shuili's eyes brightened and she asked: "You can open it?"

001's expression suddenly became very proud: "Of course I can! I am the most powerful auxiliary system! This kind of lock that doesn't exist in reality is a piece of cake for me! Do you want to open it, Boss?"

"Open it." Cheng Shuili ordered crisply.

001 became excited: "Boss! You need to put your hand on the safe because I don't have a physical form and need your body as a medium."

Cheng Shuili followed instructions and pressed her hand onto the cold safe door.

Immediately, a faint humming sound, like the operation of a precision instrument, came from inside the sturdy metal cabinet door.

The light on the touch screen began to flicker irregularly, and strings of garbled characters flashed by rapidly.

Li Changyou saw this scene, his eyes almost popping out, and he shrieked: "No! Impossible! This is a system-certified lock! How could you..."

His words stopped abruptly.

With a crisp "beep" notification, the light on the touch screen stabilized, turning into a green checkmark symbol. Then, with a "click," the safe door popped open a crack.

The whole process took no more than two or three seconds.

The moment the door opened, a chill permeated the air.

Inside was lined with black velvet, and a bullet lay quietly in the groove.

The bullet was a strange dark silver color. The warhead was not a usual cone shape but had spiral patterns, with a deep purple crystal like a teardrop embedded at the tip.