Chapter 41: The Second Instance

“Aaaah!” Ling Yao’s left arm flew off, and he writhed on the ground in pain.

Lou Su and Chu Xihen quickly crouched down, one holding him down while the other stopped the bleeding and bandaged the wound.

Then, the two saw white fur rapidly sprouting all over Ling Yao’s skin. From the white hair on his head, a pair of fluffy, semicircular ears also emerged.

Lou Su had never seen anything like this before. He felt as if he’d been burned and quickly pulled his hand away from Ling Yao.

Even more miraculously, the hand Ling Yao had just lost was slowly growing back!

“Whoa, your ability can do this too?” Chu Xihen exclaimed in surprise.

Ling Yao was covered in sweat from the pain. Hearing Chu Xihen’s words, he laboriously raised his head and glanced at his arm. He saw the furry limb still growing and promptly fainted from the shock.

After he passed out, Chu Xihen noticed that the growth rate of his arm accelerated.

“Is this why you picked him up?” Lou Su’s ability to accept things was strong. He was shocked when he first saw Ling Yao covered in white fur, but he calmed down after a while.

Given Chu Xihen’s lazy nature, not even wanting to pick himself up if he got lost, the fact that he suddenly brought back a child meant something was definitely up.

“Have you ever heard of a situation like this?” Chu Xihen asked.

Lou Su observed Ling Yao and said, “If I’m not mistaken, this should be a case of atavism. His ancestors should have White Tiger blood, and his ability also has regenerative properties.”

“Atavism? It does seem like it.” But what Chu Xihen hadn’t expected was that Ling Yao’s regenerative ability would be so strong.

Moreover, this ability couldn’t be triggered by minor injuries. It only activated when he lost a limb.

After about twenty minutes, Ling Yao’s arm had completely grown back. However, the white fur on his face and body hadn’t receded yet, especially the pair of ears on his head, which seemed even larger than the ones he had grown out previously.

Taking advantage of Ling Yao being unconscious, he couldn’t resist reaching out and stroking his ears.

“You’re into this kind of thing?” Lou Su found it somewhat surprising.

He hadn’t seen Chu Xihen keep any pets before the apocalypse.

“Just wanted to touch them.” He simply found Ling Yao’s ears exceptionally adorable, and the feel of them didn’t disappoint him.

“Those ears look like they belong to a tiger cub that hasn’t reached adulthood yet.” Lou Su reminded.

Chu Xihen narrowed his eyes at him. “Mr. Lou, your thoughts are a bit beastly.”

Besides, Ling Yao was already an adult!

Lou Su smiled. “Just reminding you, no other intentions. Don’t overthink it.”

“Shut up!” Chu Xihen reached out and covered Lou Su’s mouth, taking the opportunity to pin him to the ground and sit on his well-defined abdominal muscles.

“Right, I’ve been meaning to ask, what are you going to Kyoto for?” Chu Xihen released Lou Su’s mouth but didn’t get off him.

They had just killed many Variants here, and other Variants could sense the aura of their kind dying, so they wouldn’t appear for the time being. They would wait here for Ling Yao to wake up and see when the clown would pull them into the instance.

“To find someone.” Lou Su asked him, “Do you remember the day we first met? A Taoist priest found me, taught me how to awaken my ability, and made a deal with me. He told me that if the apocalypse descended two years later, I should go to Kyoto to find him.”

At the time, he thought the Taoist priest was crazy and didn’t completely believe him, until he really awakened his ability, and the apocalypse arrived as scheduled.

Since he had received benefits from others, he still had to keep his promise.

“A Taoist priest? Is he a game survivor?” Knowing so much information two years ago and also knowing how to awaken abilities could only mean he was a game survivor.

“Initially, I didn’t know his identity. After hearing Hao Ren’s words after the apocalypse, I guessed he was probably a game survivor.” It was also because he suspected the other party’s identity was special and shouldn’t have died in the apocalypse that Lou Su insisted on fulfilling his promise.

“Alright, I’ll go with you to find him.” Chu Xihen rolled over and lay down next to Lou Su. “After completing this task, we’ll find a quiet place to live in seclusion, and only enter an instance once a week.”

Retiring and living in seclusion had almost become his obsession.

“Whatever you say.” If it hadn’t been for the agreement made two years ago, Lou Su would have wanted to take Chu Xihen to find a relatively safe place to live now, so they wouldn’t have to work so hard every day and would have time to live their lives properly.

As the two were lying down, fantasizing about the future, a clown face suddenly appeared in the sky, hitting them head-on.

Seeing the clown face, Chu Xihen’s hands itched again. He wanted to take out his bow and arrow and shoot another arrow at it.

“Vermin, wake up!” After the clown shouted this sentence three times, its head disappeared, replaced by the instance rules.

As before, the rules posted outside the instance were uniform, and other rules would only be known after entering the instance.

This time, Lou Su tightly gripped Chu Xihen’s hand. Watching the countdown to entering the instance reach zero, they entered the instance hand in hand.

The environment before their eyes changed, from night to day, and there were many people around, noisy and clamorous.

“Huh? Brother Chu, my wound healed… Ah!” Ling Yao hadn’t finished speaking when he crouched down, clutching his head.

Chu Xihen also noticed the white fur all over him, as well as the two ears on his head. He quickly exchanged for a cloak from the mall and draped it over him.

“What’s going on? Someone got injured as soon as we came in?” The people next to them heard Ling Yao’s scream and thought he was injured.

“No, the kid hasn’t seen the world and got startled.” Lou Su explained, standing on either side of Ling Yao with Chu Xihen.

They hadn’t expected so many people to be teleported here this time, and all gathered together.

The instance rules stated that the number of people entering the instance was proportional to the difficulty. The first instance was so difficult with only five people. This time, at a glance, there were at least a hundred people. How difficult would this instance be?

While everyone was feeling uneasy, the clown’s image appeared in the sky.

“Listen up, vermin! This instance requires teamwork. Your teams are selected with five people per 500 square meters. If there are not enough five people, the shortage will be filled up to five people according to the rule of majority rule. Those with the same number tag on them are a team.”

After the clown finished speaking, everyone looked down at the number tag on their chest.

Chu Xihen’s was number fifteen. He glanced at Lou Su and Ling Yao’s, and the numbers were the same, indicating that the three of them hadn’t been separated. Two outsiders would be added to their team.

The clown hadn’t finished stating the rules. “This instance is very simple: kill the Variants in the forest to earn points. After forty-eight hours, the ranking will be based on the total points of the team. The higher the ranking, the more rewards. Those with individual points less than ten thousand, die!”

Speaking to this point, a strange smile hung on the clown’s face, and he paused slightly.

Someone took advantage of this gap to say in the crowd, “Sounds like it’s not difficult. Just kill the Variants desperately.”

As a result, after hearing the clown’s next words, the color instantly drained from that person’s face.

“Points Rules: Kill a green Variant to get one point, a blue Variant two points, a purple Variant three points; kill an elite Variant and the points double; kill a team and get all of the opponent’s points!”