31: Chapter 31 Better to Save Yourself

The moment he heard Qin Qing's name, Chu Xuan felt a heavy stone finally lift from his heart. He immediately asked, "Do you know where Qin Qing is?"

Lin Tong replied, "I don't know."

Sensing the coldness in Chu Xuan's eyes, Lin Tong shivered and hurriedly added, "She said she was going to look for some kind of node and told us to wait for her here. I don't know anything else! Really, I'm not lying to you..."

Node?

The ritual node!

These four words instantly surfaced in Chu Xuan's mind, and his eyes lit up.

He scanned the people on the eighth floor. There were about forty of them—the largest group of survivors he had encountered so far.

Looking further down the corridor, he could see several massive monster corpses amidst severed limbs and broken arms.

All of this was likely Qin Qing's handiwork.

"Chu Xuan, what should we do next? The people left here seem to be normal humans. Do we still need to search?" Xu Zhiyou asked tentatively from the side.

"Search!"

Chu Xuan uttered only that one word. Although the possibility was slim, he would not change his original plan. His cold, sharp gaze swept over the crowd as he said in a deep voice, "Everyone, stay right here. Don't move!"

Then, he glanced to his side and said, "Tang Zheng and Chen Yinghao, each of you take two people and go search! Be careful. If you encounter anyone being uncooperative, just cut them down!"

"Got it!"

Tang Zheng and Chen Yinghao both agreed, waved over a few support personnel, and began searching toward both ends of the corridor.

He Ruhai and Chen Huancheng spontaneously went to the fire door on the other side. Together, they moved the iron bunk beds blocking the way, opened the fire door, and shouted Qin Qing's name inside.

Xu Zhiyou led the remaining survivors to the nearby dormitories to see if there were any containers like mineral water bottles, intending to collect them to make more long-handled fluorescent lamps.

The group was hurried but not chaotic.

The survivors on the eighth floor watched this scene in silence, appearing somewhat at a loss.

"Brother, your name is Chu Xuan, right? We're all humans here; there's no need for this hostility. What happened just now was a misunderstanding. Please, put your sword down first..."

Lin Tong raised his hand, wanting to push the blade away, but he couldn't move it at all. As a cold, sharp gaze flicked toward him, he immediately raised his hands again to show he was harmless, laughing dryly.

"You haven't been searching floor by floor like this, have you? Sister Qing said before she left that she would come back to save us and take us away together. So you don't need to keep risking yourselves. Who knows how many Eerie Clones are still in this dormitory? It's too dangerous for you to keep searching like this. Why not stay here and wait for Sister Qing to return with us?"

Lin Tong wanted to say more, but he seemed somewhat afraid of Chu Xuan and didn't quite dare to speak out. After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally swallowed hard.

"But before that, we should turn off the lights and do a test. After all, so many of you came up from below; who knows if someone has been parasitized..."

Chu Xuan raised an eyebrow. "You people have experienced the night; has no one been parasitized?"

"No! Sister Qing said that as long as we all stay by the fire door and don't go into the rooms, the Clones split from the Specter can't parasitize us. Plus, she lent me a piece of black jade. The energy field it emits is enough to protect us for a short time. Consider it an extra layer of insurance."

Fearing Chu Xuan wouldn't believe him, Lin Tong pulled a black jade pendant from his pocket and continued explaining, "There are thirty-seven of us here. We've survived two nights, and not a single person has been parasitized."

"This black jade?"

Chu Xuan examined it closely. This Divine Stone was pitch black, thin as a coin, about an inch square, with the word 'Guard' lightly carved on it.

"That's right, this black jade..."

Before Lin Tong could finish his sentence, his vision blurred, and the black jade was already in Chu Xuan's hand.

"Hey, that's mine!" Lin Tong was shocked and tried to grab it back, but the sword blade was once again across his throat, and he instantly froze.

"This thing can prevent Specter parasitism?" Chu Xuan rubbed it. It felt cold and smooth, like some kind of artificial jade. Besides the word 'Guard' on the front, the back was inscribed with dense, tiny characters.

[Serial Number 09527]

[Created by Tan Linhai, Research Group 2]

It really was man-made. But which research institution was this? It only had a serial number and a creator, without even a name for the organization.

"I'm warning you, Sister Qing lent this to me. It has to be returned later. You'd better give it to me now, or if she finds out you stole it, she definitely won't let you off..."

Lin Tong blustered, but before he could finish his threat, Chu Xuan tossed the black jade back to him.

"You... you're really giving it back?" Lin Tong scrambled to catch it, looking somewhat incredulous.

Chu Xuan didn't answer. As the other man had just said, this thing only provided short-term protection. It was useless for him to take it, and there was no need to commit robbery, let alone antagonize the yet-unmet Qin Qing over it.

Future Tang Zheng had mentioned this woman before he died; clearly, their relationship was significant.

Sheathing his sword, Chu Xuan pondered for a moment before saying, "We are going to find Qin Qing now. You can continue to hide here, or you can follow us. The choice is yours."

Hearing this, Lin Tong shook his head repeatedly.

"Night falls in another ten minutes or so. Why don't you stay here for a while?"

Lin Tong's impression of Chu Xuan had improved significantly, so he suggested, "It's safer for more people to guard this place together. By the next daylight, Sister Qing might come back on her own."

"Choose for yourselves, but she might not have the time to come save you."

Chu Xuan simply mentioned it in passing without trying to persuade them further.

After all, one of his main purposes in searching for survivors was to ensure the monsters had as few people to eat as possible.

With these people gathered together behind the fire door, they should be safe for a short while.

As for after 4:00 AM, Chu Xuan couldn't care less. By then, he might have already completed the System mission and left, or he might have failed the mission and died.

However, Chu Xuan's indifferent attitude made Lin Tong begin to hesitate, his expression shifting uncertainly.

He felt that since Chu Xuan could lead so many people up here, he must have extraordinary abilities and wouldn't take blind risks.

"Rather than waiting for someone else to save us, it's better to save ourselves!"

Xu Zhiyou suddenly spoke up. "We started from the first floor and fought all the way here. There are only three floors left. Maybe we'll find Qin Qing right away. Besides, I believe Chu Xuan isn't necessarily any worse than Qin Qing. He's already killed nearly ten monsters, and he even knows the way out!"

"What?"

Lin Tong was struck with shock. "You've actually killed that many Eerie Clones? And Sister Qing doesn't even know how to get out, but you do?!"

As he spoke, Lin Tong looked again at the homemade fluorescent lamps and the blood all over Chu Xuan. He suddenly made up his mind and said through gritted teeth, "I'll go with you."

Lin Tong was prepared to follow Chu Xuan, but the others on the eighth floor were not having it.

"Lin Tong, if you're going, leave the black jade behind."

"Yeah, Sister Qing left this thing for all of us, not just for you alone."

"It's so good for so many of us to guard this place; why go out and take risks?"

"You've lost your mind. If you want to go, go by yourself. Don't doom the rest of us!"

Lin Tong's face turned ashen. This was completely beyond his expectations. Not a single person was willing to go with him, and they even wanted him to hand over the black jade.

He had thought his popularity was decent, but now even those roommates he had been on great terms with were averting their eyes after a moment of hesitation, not daring to look at him.

Lin Tong clenched his fists tightly and suddenly let out a laugh.