27: Chapter 27 I Don't Want to Be a Sacrificial Pawn

The history of the mighty Han and prosperous Tang dynasties is a major source of pride for the Huaxia nation. As weapons of these two eras, they are naturally sought after and loved by many young people.

Furthermore, Flying Fish Suits and Xiuchun sabers have maintained long-standing popularity due to their depiction in various films and television works.

In his previous life, before Chu Xuan went bankrupt, he had spent quite a bit of money collecting cold weapons like sabers and swords, and had even enrolled in a martial arts training class for a while.

The coach said he was exceptionally gifted, and that if he had undergone targeted training three to five years earlier, he might have even been able to participate in professional-level competitions.

However, when Chu Xuan discovered that even Kato Takas Hand could be listed in the System's regular skill bar, while there were no skills for sabers or swords, he knew he had been swindled.

In his heart, Chu Xuan had originally intended to choose a Tang Sword or a Xiuchun saber, but once he took the weapons from Xu Zhiyou, his mind immediately changed.

Although all three blades were sharpened, the Tang Sword and Xiuchun saber were too light, and the craftsmanship felt inferior—not much better than a fruit knife. They likely cost only a hundred or two hundred yuan.

The eight-sided han sword, however, was different. Its body was sleek, the craftsmanship exquisite, and it felt grand and heavy. It had a very substantial weight in hand, weighing about ten catties. Both its length and weight were different from common ones on the market; it likely cost no less than three to five thousand yuan.

A normal person couldn't wield such a heavy sword at all, but now that his strength attribute had reached 9 points, swinging it was easy. Moreover, this sword was ground on eight sides, inherently designed for both hacking and slashing.

Crack!

With a sudden swing from Chu Xuan, the wardrobe door was abruptly split into two pieces, cleaved open easily.

“Leave the Tang Sword for Tang Zheng, and you take this Xiuchun saber for self-defense.”

Chu Xuan handed the Xiuchun saber to Xu Zhiyou, but to his surprise, the latter pushed it back.

Xu Zhiyou shook his head and said, “Give it to Chen Yinghao. His physique is much stronger than mine, so it suits him better. It would be a waste for me to hold it; I might not even be able to kill a monster.”

“Letting me give him the favor?”

Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly. Seeing Xu Zhiyou's hesitant expression, he spoke bluntly: “You deliberately called me out here, so just say what's on your mind.”

Xu Zhiyou looked up suddenly and said, “I hope you don't treat me as an abandoned pawn.”

Chu Xuan was slightly taken aback, then smiled. “If you don't trust me, why bother acting with me? I never forced you. On the contrary, it was you who took the initiative to beg me to let you come along.”

After saying that, Chu Xuan carried the sword and blade directly out of Dormitory 115.

Xu Zhiyou's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly chased after him, whispering beside him, “Even though you say you want us to part ways, in reality, you've been guiding us all along, wanting us to follow you.”

Chu Xuan gave a faint, mocking laugh and continued checking the other rooms.

Xu Zhiyou grew anxious and blurted out, “I'm not sure if your words about 'jumping off the building to live' are true or false. I'm just afraid that if we don't follow you, you'll set us up to die just like you did with Huang Guangming.”

Chu Xuan's figure suddenly paused. He glanced back at him and said eerily, “Don't talk nonsense. Huang Guangming brought death upon himself; everyone saw that.”

“Huang Guangming did indeed seek his own death, but you deliberately gave him the opportunity! Back in the dorm manager's room, time was already extremely tight. You clearly could have had the rest of us drag the iron bunk beds while you were removing the iron door; that would have saved more time.”

Xu Zhiyou took a deep breath and continued, “But you didn't do that. Instead, you first led us to drag the iron bunk beds together, deliberately giving Huang Guangming the chance to steal the keys. It wasn't until after Huang Guangming locked the door and left that you went to remove the door, and only at the very end did you tell us that the exit gate was impassable.”

Chu Xuan said calmly, “This is ultimately just your conjecture. And most importantly, if Huang Guangming hadn't stolen the keys to leave, he wouldn't have died.”

“True, in this matter, he did indeed get what he deserved, but even if he hadn't stolen the keys, you would have found another way to kill him.”

Xu Zhiyou's tone was very certain: “You knew Huang Guangming held a grudge against you and was always playing petty tricks. You were worried he would continue to ruin things, but you couldn't kill him directly because you were afraid that if you killed a normal person, we would be terrified of you, become estranged, and wouldn't work for you wholeheartedly!”

“If you really intended to part ways with us, there would have been no need for you to explain the monster's characteristics to us over and over again, let alone deliberately reveal your extraordinary physique after killing Skinny Monkey. All of this was to make us trust you more, to make us feel that only by moving with you would we be safe.”

“You never intended to act alone, because the more people there are, the safer you are. Take the night we just experienced as an example: your strength is greater than ours and you know more about the monsters, so your chances of survival far exceed everyone else's.”

“And you're preparing to search for more survivors next. Perhaps there are other reasons, but the main one should be this same goal, right? With us around, we serve as your temporary core team. Under the herd mentality, scattered survivors will naturally follow your orders. They can work for you, and at critical moments, they can serve as human shields!”

“Furthermore, you have an almost obsessive desire to slay monsters! Others didn't notice, but I saw it long ago. Compared to when we just left Dormitory 412 on the fourth floor, you are clearly different now. Is it because killing monsters can increase your strength?”

“Otherwise, if it were just about finding Qin Qing, we could have just shouted on each floor—it would be simple and fast. Why bother searching every single dormitory?”

After Xu Zhiyou finished speaking, he stared at Chu Xuan without blinking, seemingly trying to read something from his face. Unfortunately, Chu Xuan's expression remained calm throughout, showing no emotional fluctuations.

By this time, they had finished searching the last dormitory. It was full of corpses with no one left alive, but Chu Xuan spotted a flashlight sitting on one of the desks at a glance.

He immediately stepped forward to pick it up and check it. Although the brightness and range weren't as good as a high-intensity tactical flashlight, it was perfectly sufficient for use in the dorms and much better than the homemade long-handled fluorescent lamp.

“You have a vivid imagination, but... even if you're entirely right, so what?”

Chu Xuan stopped, turned to look at Xu Zhiyou, and suddenly smiled. “Huang Guangming, Han Meimei, and those few people who still thought about escaping after being parasitized like Skinny Monkey—how exactly did they die? I remember you gave them all the same evaluation.”

“Thinking they were clever!”

As he said those four words, Xu Zhiyou also smiled. “I know, clever people are very annoying, especially those who just think they're clever. But did I ever expose you in public? No! I'm telling you this now not just to prove how smart I am, but more importantly to tell you that I have enough value to be of help to you.”

“For instance, just now, Yang Huancheng, He Ruhai, and Chen Yinghao only wanted to escape, but under my guidance and influence, it turned into them begging to help you! In their current perception, only by following you can they survive!”

“And I can tell you with certainty that in the upcoming actions, if we encounter unavoidable danger, I have ways to make them give up their chance of survival and take the initiative to cover our retreat!”