To take a perfectly ordinary storage item and repurpose it into an instrument of murder — this spoke not only to Ye Chong’s cunning, but also to his ruthlessness.

Facing an opponent like this, simply eliminating him would not be enough to put Bai Youwei at ease.

This was only the second battle. Even if Ye Chong lost, he likely still had room to stage a comeback, and she had no desire to face a bugged player like this in the finals.

Bai Youwei told Shen Mo: “Tomorrow, still have you and Yu Chaohui take him on together. Don’t get too close — if you can get a rope loop around his hands, that would be best. With both hands tied together, he shouldn’t be able to retrieve anything from the glove, right?”

Shen Mo felt this was workable and nodded his agreement, then asked, “What about the others?”

Bai Youwei thought about it. “The ones eliminated were the elephant and the fox. Ye Chong is the bear. The muscular man and the girl are likely the lowest-tier — the cat and the mouse. The remaining few would be the lion, leopard, and wolf. On our side, only A’Long’s tier is a match. Zhang Yu and Ashalina’s tiers aren’t high enough — that is a bit of a problem…”

Shen Mo furrowed his brow. “We can only adapt as we go. If it comes to it and they truly do face each other, Ashalina handles the cat and mouse, and A’Long and Zhang Yu handle those three. Once you and Yu Chaohui are done on your end, go help them.”

Bai Youwei rubbed her little hands together, looking a bit eager. “We’re short on people — should I go help too?”

“You?” Something flickered in Shen Mo’s eyes — some amusement, some surprise, and also the faintly disdainful look an adult gives a child.

Bai Youwei pouted. “What’s the matter? I’ve never been in a fight in my entire life! I want to try — is that not allowed?”

Shen Mo gently patted the top of her head. “Stop fooling around.”

—

Morning.

The sun rose through the lush canopy of leaves, casting dappled and brilliant halos of light through the forest.

A beam of sunlight fell on Hu Dashan’s eyes. Stung awake, he opened them only to realize he’d fallen asleep during his watch.

Having spent so long in the game world, it seemed as if his energy diminished more and more with each passing day.

He jolted upright, turned to look left and right.

Ye Chong hadn’t come yet.

Hu Dashan exhaled in relief, then noticed that Han Lu beside him was also dozing off in a stupor. Immediately irritated and helpless, he reached over and nudged the girl: “Hey. Wake up.”

The girl drowsily lifted her head, her complexion pallid, her eyes bleary and vacant.

Hu Dashan sighed. “Pull yourself together. Ye Chong could come at any moment! The two of us are on the second half of the night watch — we can’t be sleeping before the next shift comes to relieve us!”

Only then did Han Lu stir fully awake. Forcing herself upright, she even went so far as to pinch her own arm hard to clear her head.

They were all afraid of Ye Chong.

In the time that followed, the two took turns walking up to the hillside, patrolling back and forth, and ate the last few scraps of food left over from the day before to fill their stomachs. They finally managed to recover a bit of energy.

Not long afterward, Ye Chong’s voice came through the wristbands:

“Everyone regroup at camp. The cat stays on the hillside to keep watch.”

Han Lu heard this and her whole body relaxed somewhat. As far as she was concerned, keeping watch was the easiest job, because it meant not having to face Ye Chong — and therefore not having to face his anger or punishment.

Below the hillside was where the cave was located.

Ye Chong, Tian Li, Xiao Qi, and the muscular man left their respective safe houses and convened in the cave.

Hu Dashan put on the air of someone thoroughly dutiful and responsible, hunching his neck as he reported: “Last night was very quiet. No activity of any kind was detected. He… he also hasn’t moved. He’s been unconscious the whole time.”

He — meaning Tan Xiao.

Tian Li, as if deeply concerned for Ye Chong’s sake, said, “The people on the other side seem to rarely take the initiative to attack. Even such a good opportunity as a nighttime ambush they let slip — I wonder what they’re scheming.”

Ye Chong’s expression remained neutral. He walked straight into the cave, came to stand before Tan Xiao, then crouched down and casually probed at a puncture wound on Tan Xiao’s leg.

Tan Xiao was jolted awake by the pain. He glared at the face in front of him and cursed, “What are you doing?! …Ah!!!”

He let out a scream of agony.

—