Chapter 52: We Will Meet Again

Lou Su took the other bottle of water in his hand and hurled it directly at one of Guan Yu’s teammates from Team 2.

The four members of Team 2 had sat down like lifeless puppets after Guan Yu took his seat, remaining completely motionless.

Even when the bottle hit one of them square on the head, the person didn’t so much as flinch.

However, Guan Yu’s eyes narrowed sharply, and with a single hand, he crushed the bottle he was holding.

“So, you’ve figured it out?” Guan Yu sneered coldly. With a flick of his fingers, the four teammates stood up. “I was going to let you live a few more minutes, but since you’re so eager to die, I’ll grant your wish.”

When Lou Su threw the water bottle, he had already braced himself for a fight. He quickly retreated to Chu Xihen’s side, regrouping with his teammates.

Guan Yu also stepped back behind his four teammates. His fingers moved constantly, and his controlled teammates charged at Lou Su’s group like they were fueled by adrenaline.

Chu Xihen noticed Guan Yu’s hand movements and immediately drew his bow, aiming an arrow at Guan Yu’s hand.

But as if expecting this, Guan Yu flicked his finger again. One of his controlled teammates closest to him raised an arm to block the arrow.

The arrow pierced through the person’s arm, but they didn’t react as if they felt no pain. The wound healed instantly before Lou Su even had a chance to use his instant-kill ability.

Chu Xihen fired several more arrows in quick succession, but each was blocked in the same manner by Guan Yu’s puppets.

“He’s controlling them. You circle around and split up the battlefield,” Lou Su instructed Chu Xihen.

Chu Xihen nodded and began repositioning himself.

From their brief exchange with Guan Yu, Chu Xihen could tell he was a survivor from the game. His ability to control teammates meant they were essentially fighting five game survivors at once—a troublesome situation indeed.

Chu Xihen’s arrows put significant pressure on Guan Yu. Seeing Chu Xihen circling around him, Guan Yu had no choice but to assign two of his puppets to guard his rear and block Chu Xihen’s attacks. The remaining two puppets focused on Lou Su.

Why only Lou Su? Because Wang Heng and Ding Hui were no longer considered part of their team.

Ling Yao, unable to fight, hid behind a rock. From there, he saw Wang Heng and Ding Hui retreating while fending off attacks. The two Team 2 members seemed entirely focused on attacking Lou Su and ignored them completely.

When Wang Heng and Ding Hui reached the back of the rock, Ding Hui suddenly raised her hand and conjured an ice spike in her palm. Her target wasn’t a member of Team 2—it was Lou Su, who had been shielding them from enemy attacks!

“Brother Lou, watch out!” Ling Yao shouted with all his strength as he dashed toward Lou Su.

Hearing Ling Yao’s warning, Lou Su instinctively turned around and used his wind blade to deflect Ding Hui’s ice spike.

But he failed to notice that Wang Heng had also launched an earth spike at him.

A fist-sized earth spike pierced straight through Ling Yao’s throat as he rushed forward. He opened his mouth but could only emit a guttural sound.

Lou Su’s pupils contracted violently. Ignoring the two Team 2 members attacking him from behind, he immediately activated Time Rewind. Just before the earth spike struck Ling Yao’s throat, he pulled Ling Yao away—but there wasn’t enough time for him to dodge it himself. The spike pierced through his shoulder blade instead.

“Time Rewind?” Guan Yu gasped upon seeing Lou Su use this ability. Momentarily forgetting to control his puppets, he spoke with labored breaths: “I’ve finally found you!”

As he spoke, two arrows flew through the air and struck the heads of two Team 2 members attacking Lou Su.

Just as Chu Xihen suspected, destroying either the brain or heart was the only way to permanently kill those controlled by Guan Yu. Any other injuries would regenerate instantly.

With those two downed puppets eliminated, Team 15’s points surged dramatically on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Teams 9 and 12 both dropped to zero points—their names grayed out.

Chu Xihen glanced calmly at the leaderboard before drawing his bow again. This time three arrows appeared on the bowstring simultaneously—each aimed at Guan Yu and his remaining two puppets.

No—more accurately speaking—they weren’t really Guan Yu’s teammates anymore. They were survivors from Teams 5 and 20 who had been assimilated into Team 2 under Guan Yu’s control.

Chu Xihen released all three arrows at once. Two of Guan Yu’s controlled puppets fell immediately upon impact. However, Guan Yu remained unharmed because Wang Heng had willingly stepped forward to shield him from one of the arrows.

The arrow pierced Wang Heng squarely between the brows. He fell lifelessly to the ground with eyes wide open in disbelief. Beside him, Ding Hui collapsed into hysterical screams over her husband’s death.

Chu Xihen frowned in displeasure but refrained from firing another shot—because time had run out for this instance. The countdown had ended, transitioning into the score calculation phase where all participants became immune to attacks.

A jester appeared in the sky above them, delivering its usual taunting lines: “Hmph! Consider yourselves lucky this time! Hurry up and claim your rewards so you can scram out of this instance! Just looking at you makes me si—”

Before it could finish speaking, Chu Xihen shot an arrow straight through it, causing it to vanish mid-sentence.

“We will meet again,” Guan Yu said coldly to Lou Su before logging out of the game entirely.

With only two teams left standing—Team 15 in first place and Team 2 in second—Guan Yu saw no reason to linger in the instance since unclaimed rewards would automatically be transferred to his inventory store.

After Guan Yu disappeared from sight, both Chu Xihen and Lou Su spoke simultaneously: “Do you know him?”

They then shook their heads in unison: “No idea.”

Chu Xihen furrowed his brows slightly but decided not to dwell on it further. “Let’s pick our rewards first.”

Ding Hui remained inconsolable over Wang Heng’s death while Ling Yao lay unconscious after taking a fatal blow for Lou Su—though saved by Time Rewind, he hadn’t yet recovered consciousness.

With priority given to Chu Xihen and Lou Su for reward selection, they accessed their options first.

The reward interface displayed a long list of abilities categorized into fourteen elemental powers: Sun, Moon, Star, Light, Dark, Wind, Sand, Mist, Thunder, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.

Among these elements, Sun, Moon, Star, Light, and Dark were considered rare; Wind, Sand, Mist, and Thunder were slightly less so; while Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth were most common. However commonality didn’t equate to weakness—any element could become powerful with strong skills and proper usage.

This time players could choose any element along with an accompanying high-level skill as their reward.

The selection timer was short; after brief contemplation Chu Xihen made his choice just as Lou Su finished selecting his own reward as well. Together they exited the instance—with Lou Su carrying an unconscious Ling Yao in one arm while holding onto Chu Xihen with the other.

Once outside the instance realm both men immediately turned their attention toward Ling Yao lying beside them on the ground.

Though still unconscious Ling Yao instinctively raised both hands to clutch at his neck—as if Wang Heng’s earth spike were still lodged there causing him pain even now…

“Ling Yao! Wake up—you’re alrigh… huh?” Chu Xihen’s voice trailed off in surprise as he watched something incredible happen before his eyes.

Ling Yao struggled briefly then suddenly began shrinking rapidly until he transformed into a small white tiger roughly the size of a housecat!