Chapter 1189: The Trap is Meant to be Entered
"Capture her!" The NPC"s angry shout accompanied his upper body as he lunged out from behind the counter. "Capture her, and you"ll get a reward!"
He was a step too late. By the time these words echoed through the air, Bohemia had already halted, narrowly dodging Lin Sanjiu"s fist. In that momentary eye contact between the two, countless lines of dialogue flashed through, none of which had time to be spoken, such as, "How did you come out of there?" "You always seem to get into trouble," "Maybe I should pretend not to know you," and "Do you think our relations.h.i.+p is worth an NPC"s reward?"
Lin Sanjiu was certain that Bohemia hesitated for a moment at the word "reward" before feigning surprise and falling back.
It was too fake, and she even avoided a patch of mud.
At the same time, the NPC grabbed Wus.h.i.+ Ming"s body and pushed it off the counter, making sure he didn"t obstruct the guards. Lin Sanjiu didn"t need to look back to know that the guards had climbed onto the counter. Although she found Bohemia, it wasn"t the right time to turn back. She grabbed Bohemia"s arm, and without stopping her feet, rushed out, shouting, "If you come any closer, I"ll kill her!"
"Help! I"m being kidnapped!" Bohemia cried in a perfunctory manner. When she was lifted, she used her toes to hook a cloth bag from the ground and into the air. After securely holding it, she added, "She"s kidnapping me— d.a.m.n it, why are you guys still chasing?"
2
Because the other side simply didn"t care whether a player lived or died.
Lin Sanjiu glanced at her hastily and said in a low voice, "Where do we go?"
She spent most of her time in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the hospital and was unfamiliar with the bottom of this dim, cylindrical building. Bohemia muttered something indistinct in frustration and pointed, saying, "Right, right, there"s a small courtyard! There"s a hiding place there!"
As someone who grew up in the Twelve Worlds, this person quickly adapted to the situation and even found a hiding place. While marveling at this, Lin Sanjiu followed Bohemia"s instructions, making several turns among the labyrinthine high walls. After losing the guards behind them, she finally saw a small square-like open s.p.a.ce ahead.
However, there wasn"t even a bench in this open s.p.a.ce. Neat red bricks separated it from the surrounding labyrinth. Several thick grapevines wound around an overhead wooden frame, and a drinking fountain-like pool stood in the shade cast by the grapevines. Unless they turned into chewing gum and stuck themselves at the bottom of the pool, Lin Sanjiu couldn"t see any place to hide.
"Hurry, stand by the pool," Bohemia urged while pointing. Before Lin Sanjiu could respond, Bohemia had already shaken off her arm and taken a few steps to reach the pool. Bohemia tidied her hair. It was only then that Lin Sanjiu noticed her arm had recovered, except for the second bone segment above her right hand. Bohemia placed her incompletely healed right arm behind her and, with the other hand, raised a small cloth bag as if offering it to someone. She tilted her head slightly, gazing motionlessly in one direction.
Lin Sanjiu was somewhat suspicious of her friend"s behavior, wondering if she had finally succ.u.mbed to the pressure and gone mad. However, just as she was about to speak, she suddenly stopped and blinked hard.
That"s right, Bohemia was just here... but now she was gone. In her place was a female statue, with one hand extended forward, as if lost in thought.
"What are you waiting for?" The plaster lips of the statue moved slightly, urging Lin Sanjiu with a breathy voice. "Quick, strike a pose!"
If she had lost both her arms, she could have posed as the Venus de Milo. Lin Sanjiu felt like she was in a dream and, following the statue"s gesture, she walked to the other side of the pool. Her severed arm was too conspicuous, unlike Bohemia, who could hide it by clenching her fist. So, Lin Sanjiu hugged her right arm against her chest with her left arm and squatted down.
"What is that?" Bohemia managed to comment, even with her mouth unable to open. "Is that a statue that has diarrhea?"
Just then, two guards entered the square from a narrow path. They were probably searching separately, as there was no one else behind them. Bohemia instantly transformed back into a competent and graceful statue.
The two guards faced away from each other, scanning their surroundings vigilantly, before stepping into the square. They first checked the wooden frame above their heads and, finding it empty, their gaze swept past Bohemia—but then, as if slamming on the brakes, they halted their eyes on Lin Sanjiu.
Because she was afraid they would recognize her from her statue-like face, Lin Sanjiu kept her head low and watched as a pair of leather shoes appeared in front of her, stopping right in front of her. She could even feel the black holes getting closer to her head, and at such a close distance, she could almost sense the cold, fishy smell emanating from the black holes.
What if they became curious and touched the statue?
Lin Sanjiu was quite certain that the floor they were standing on was embedded with some kind of Special Item. It was probably impossible to remove it once implanted, which was why it lay here ownerless, temporarily turning anyone who stepped on it into a statue. In case the guards did encounter them, which power would prevail—theirs or the Special Item"s?
"This statue looks poorly made," said one of the guards, standing up straight.
"Keep looking," the other guard said. "She might be ahead."
Upon hearing those words, Lin Sanjiu"s entire spine relaxed—metaphorically speaking, as right now, her back was stiff as a plaster statue and couldn"t relax. As she watched the shoes disappear from her vision, the sound of their footsteps gradually faded away. Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh of relief in her heart, about to stand up again.
But when she tried to exert force, her body remained frozen and unwilling to move.
"Oh, it will last about ten minutes," Bohemia"s voice drifted over from the side. "You can"t leave until then."
"But can I talk?" Her lips could only open slightly, and her tongue wasn"t as agile as before, but she could still communicate.
"You can talk."
This was simply unreasonable. Lin Sanjiu had long given up trying to reason with this world, so she had no choice but to maintain the pose that looked like she had diarrhea and wait for the ten minutes to pa.s.s. She sighed and thought for a moment before asking, "What happened after you came in? Are you okay?"
"I just wanted to get out as soon as possible," Bohemia said with some impatience, "but I still need two High-efficiency Nutrient Solutions to regain enough strength to leave the hospital."
It seemed that she hadn"t wasted any time in the past few rounds of the game. Maybe she knew more about the hospital than Lin Sanjiu did.
"You just went to exchange for nutrient solutions?" Lin Sanjiu asked.
"Nutrient solutions and the patient room," Bohemia said, her annoyance more apparent now, half complaining and half explaining. "Without the patient room, I can"t use the nutrient solutions, not to mention it"s too unsafe. Remember the lockdown everywhere before? Those who were locked in the patient rooms were relatively safe, but the players blocked outside the patient rooms were anything but normal. You have no idea how tough it was for me... Wait."
She paused.
"Was the lockdown because of you? Are you the fugitive?"
Well...
Before Lin Sanjiu could think of a response, Bohemia exploded into a torrent of rage. For the next minute, she showered Lin Sanjiu with eloquent and unrelenting accusations—though accusations was a more polite way to put it. When she finally had to stop for a breath, Lin Sanjiu carefully said, "Well... it seems you"ve adapted well?"
"Better than you," Bohemia huffed, her anger not completely dissipated, "you only have half an arm."
"Well, that"s great," Lin Sanjiu said sincerely. "I need your help."
"I need you not to need my help."
"All the tasks are simple, really."
"All the tasks?" Bohemia"s voice rose two degrees. "Multiple tasks?"
"Take it easy. The first thing I need you to do is go back to the payment counter... Isn"t that perfect? You can continue to exchange things, and I might even give you some extra points."
Bohemia fell silent for a few seconds upon hearing Lin Sanjiu"s request. When she spoke again, she was full of suspicion, saying, "What exactly do you need me to do? If you have extra points, why don"t you just grow your hand back yourself?"
To explain everything, it would take a long time. Lin Sanjiu thought it over in her mind, preparing to tell Bohemia her entire experience—after all, they still had quite some time left, both stuck motionless on the ground.
"How much longer until we can move?" she asked softly. "Seven or eight minutes?"
"About that," Bohemia replied.
"That"s enough time. I can tell you everything from the beginning," Lin Sanjiu said. She cleared her throat, about to begin, but suddenly stopped.
She almost forgot. This world was a place where everyone had to deceive each other to survive.
"Just tell me," Bohemia said, her earlier disinterest replaced by eagerness. "Are you here to collect tolls or something? Don"t keep me in suspense."
"It"s quite lucky that you found this place," Lin Sanjiu said, the words escaping her mouth as an almost uncontrollable urge to look around arose within her. Unfortunately, she couldn"t do it. "Aren"t you afraid that this might be a trap set by someone else?"
"Oh, yes," Bohemia immediately responded, "this place is indeed a trap set by someone else. Traps are made to lure people in, right?"