Chapter 1395: The Reappearance of the Elephant
When Silvan slowly stood upright, the air seemed to thicken.
Jian Sheng shuddered and instinctively took a half step back. Lin Sanjiu, who had been around him for several months, believed that what she saw flash across his face was shock and regret. It was as if he had never considered that the moment when Silvan would oppose him would truly come, and only now did he realize the gravity of the situation.
Jian Sheng took a deep breath, shook his head, and smiled. "So, are we finally resorting to violence? You can barely stand, let alone fight. At this level of weakness, you can"t even use your abilities. In the end, if it"s not about strength, then what? After all, we aren"t strangers. Can"t companions try to resolve things peacefully?"
"Just go back," Silvan said quietly. "Don"t come here again until it"s time to pay taxes."
Everyone knew that wasn"t possible. Jian Sheng was in too deep to back out now.
Silvan looked at Jian Sheng, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Hmm, I suppose so," he said in a deep, hoa.r.s.e voice.
For a brief moment that followed, Lin Sanjiu saw nothing. She vaguely sensed Silvan"s movement, as if he lunged at Jian Sheng. But it was as if he had leaped into a void, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye. How could he move at such a speed, relying only on the meager sustenance of three food b.a.l.l.s?
Forgetting her plowing, she dropped her tools, dashed forward, and bent down to look toward the other end of the room. If Silvan"s strength faltered, she would rush over and try her best to stop Jian Sheng even if it was in vain.
Peering from the floor, she couldn"t distinguish between the two figures, only noticing they seemed to have collided. When one person fell and slid several feet toward her, she breathed a sigh of relief—Jian Sheng, with his brown-black hair, was the one who had fallen.
But Silvan didn"t seem to fare much better. A pair of Munitions Factory combat boots came into view. He staggered for a moment before regaining his balance, seemingly not having the strength to pursue. With a swift motion, Jian Sheng got up and lunged, not at Silvan, but toward a corner of the room.
Confused, Lin Sanjiu followed his gaze and quickly understood. Piled there were daggers and swords they had taken out before the game started, used to mark things during their search for an exit.
Jian Sheng"s hand reached out, grabbing a knife handle. With a swift pivot on his feet, he faced Silvan. In the time it took him to grab the knife, Lin Sanjiu had thought of dozens of ways to attack him. So why wouldn"t Silvan? Yet, Jian Sheng managed to retrieve the knife without interruption.
Silvan"s low panting almost seemed like an illusion when heard from the other end of the room.
"You don"t have the strength to fight," Jian Sheng said with utmost certainty.
Even if she didn"t want to admit it, Lin Sanjiu had the same thought. Silvan"s previous charge had left him standing there and catching his breath for a few seconds, missing a prime opportunity to attack. And now, Jian Sheng had a knife.
"Don"t be afraid," Silvan rasped with a wry smile. "I"ll try to spare your life."
This statement infuriated Jian Sheng. Fueled by his anger, his feet lunged toward Silvan"s combat boots. Most of the view was blocked, and Lin Sanjiu couldn"t see that crucial knife. Just as she was becoming anxious, there was a sudden flash as if a light had been cast, allowing her to see both figures again.
Silvan subtly s.h.i.+fted, his movement so slow and gentle it seemed as if he wasn"t moving, but rather, s.p.a.ce itself was opening up for him. The gleaming blade of the knife glided close to his shoulder, missing by a hair"s breadth as the wind from the motion ruffled his blonde hair. s.p.a.ce seemed to envelop him protectively.
Even without physical strength, his innate talent and understanding of combat were unparalleled.
Jian Sheng quickly retracted the long knife, chuckling. "All you can do is dodge, which means you"re just wasting energy."
The blonde man glanced up, perhaps to avoid the impending danger, and retreated a few steps toward the center of the room. Without further ado, Jian Sheng lunged again. This time, Silvan had nowhere left to retreat. To dodge, he would need to move to the side. Yet, seemingly drained, he stood motionless. Lin Sanjiu"s heart leaped to her throat as Jian Sheng"s knife plunged into Silvan"s shoulder.
Someone in the room gasped.
Amidst the spray of blood, Lin Sanjiu saw, albeit vaguely, Silvan still standing firm. Then, he reached out, grabbing the stunned Jian Sheng by the collar, and pulled him close.
A sharp scream resounded, shaking the entire room. Amidst the cries of shock from those present, Jian Sheng was hurled into the air, cras.h.i.+ng heavily against the ceiling. Just when Lin Sanjiu was thinking it was Silvan"s counterattack, she saw a grey shadow curl behind him. Her eyes followed the shadow, landing on an elephant.
An elephant?
Ah, right. There was an elephant in the room.
Lin Sanjiu felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her. Nu Yue, Horst, Louisa—everyone except for the grand prize—had s.h.i.+fted their attention from Jian Sheng and Silvan to the elephant. Each face was pale with shock.
It was as if they had lived in a house for years, only to discover it was actually a prison.
"How... How did I not see it before?" Nu Yue blurted out.
Lin Sanjiu felt a jolt, realizing it was too late to warn her.
The elephant"s eyes s.h.i.+fted instantly, turning its ma.s.sive body and charging with heavy footsteps. Lin Sanjiu quickly grabbed the back of Nu Yue"s clothes, trying to pull her close, but a ma.s.sive force hit them diagonally. The clothes in Lin Sanjiu"s grip tore with a "rip," and Nu Yue was flung away.
"n.o.body talk!" Ji Shanqing shouted. "Everyone, look at the walls!"
While the others quickly turned their gazes to the walls, Lin Sanjiu remained still, gripping the torn cloth, her eyes filled with rage. The elephant"s long, grey trunk, after two swift strikes, returned to its gentle, slow movement. It swayed in the air, and many human eyes glanced across Lin Sanjiu"s face.
Ignoring this sight costed her dearly.
When the elephant finally turned and lumbered away, Lin Sanjiu tossed the cloth and rushed to Nu Yue. One look was enough to tell that her injuries were far more severe than Han Suiping"s had been. The trunk had struck her chest, and even though she was coughing up blood, it seemed she couldn"t breathe.
"Grand prize!" Lin Sanjiu shouted, her voice breaking with emotion. Nu Yue had struggled so much to leave the modern world; she couldn"t die in this small room. But Lin Sanjiu couldn"t find the words and just kept calling. "Grand prize!"
"It"s okay, sis; it"s okay." Ji Shanqing rushed over, bringing with him a scent of fresh breeze and leaves. "I"ll stabilize her injuries. She"ll be fine."
Struggling to control her emotions, Lin Sanjiu frantically moved aside to give him s.p.a.ce. The room had nothing. What could he do for Nu Yue with bare hands? She didn"t dare think about it. Not wanting to see Nu Yue, who was still bleeding from her mouth, Lin Sanjiu trembled and moved aside. When she looked up, she saw Silvan sitting at the other end of the room, his hand pressed to his injured shoulder, covered in fresh blood.
"That knife..." She paused to steady herself before continuing. "Is the wound deep?"
"It isn"t deep," Silvan replied softly. Despite the distance and the noise from the elephant, she could hear him clearly. "I just tried to make his knife graze past my shoulder... but it ended up stabbing behind me."
Behind him was the elephant.
Anyone who attacked the elephant would have to bear its retaliation. He and Ji Shanqing had never forgotten about the elephant in the room.
Lin Sanjiu slowly turned her head, taking in the chaos of the room.
The elephant had trampled all over the fields that the four of them had laid out on the ground. Not far from her, Jian Sheng lay sprawled on the floor, crushed beneath the shattered food b.a.l.l.s. He had fallen from the ceiling, possibly injuring his spine. His twisted position made him appear nearly lifeless, save for the faint rise and fall of his chest.
It seemed he sensed her gaze through his pain; he tried to turn his head to meet her eyes.
Jian Sheng opened his mouth, attempting to speak. He tried several times but couldn"t produce a sound loud enough for her to hear. She instinctively asked, "What?"
"Why... Why did this happen to me?" Jian Sheng"s breath was labored, as if it could fade at any moment.
It was a question Lin Sanjiu couldn"t answer.
Jian Sheng seemed to want to smile, but a spasm of pain distorted his face again. "Will... Will you save me?"
If this had been a few minutes earlier, Lin Sanjiu would have felt no pity for him. However, all her animosity, irritation, and hatred toward him started to fade after realizing the presence of the elephant.
In the end, he was just an ordinary person cornered by his basest instincts.
She wanted to nod, but then she heard Ji Shanqing call out.
"Sis," he whispered gravely as she approached, "Nu Yue might not make it till the end of the game. If you"ll allow me to access her data... we should start right now."