"I say…"
Within a quiet room, and listening to the voice coming from his phone, the young man"s mouth twitched as he felt quite speechless, "We really don"t want to get involved in these things anymore… can"t you find someone else?"
"From when you told me about this, you were no longer able to escape."
Chen Rou"s cold voice sounded out on the phone, "That Cursed Land is even more terrifying than you can imagine, and there are many undiscovered things inside. In order to obtain information about that place, we have already lost dozens of elites.
"To other people, you are not only Curse Bearers but also people who have already gone into this Cursed Land. You are the most suitable option."
Hearing those words, Liang Xiao"s scalp felt numb, and he did not know what to say.
No matter if it was him or Yang Cheng, neither of them wanted to get involved in such things again.
In the past, even though they partic.i.p.ated in Cursed Land explorations, it was mostly because they were forced by their circ.u.mstances.
After all, given their conditions, if they did not go into Cursed Lands to search for a chance at life, they would not have survived until now.
Now that the problems in their bodies, and even the curse in Xiao Lan"s body, had been resolved, they no longer wanted to get involved in such things.
Before, perhaps they still had to worry about their curses exploding out and taking away their lives at any moment.
However, now that they had Chen Heng, they no longer had this worry.
They no longer had any desire to explore Cursed Lands and just wanted to find a safe place to live.
However, it was a pity that even though they did not want to come into contact with these things, they had instead come looking for them.
"I understand how you feel," Chen Rou"s cold voice sounded out, "But after entering this circle, it"s not so easy to leave. Who knows how many people you have offended in the past?
"If I spread news about the things you"ve done in the past, how quickly do you think the police will come to find you?"
"What do you want?" Liang Xiao"s expression changed as he spoke.
"It"s very simple."
Hearing Liang Xiao"s words, Chen Rou gave a slight smile as she said, "Take us into the Cursed Land and find a way to delay it from exploding out. We don"t need too much time, just half a month is enough.
"After you do this, we"ll be even, and no one will come and make trouble for you. I promise you this."
"I see."
Liang Xiao fell silent for a moment before nodding and asking, "What else?"
"What else?" Chen Rou frowned.
"Who in this world would work without pay?" Liang Xiao said, "Apart from what you just mentioned, we also want five million dollars each. How does that sound?"
"No problem," Chen Rou did not hesitate and directly agreed.
Five million each and ten million in total. Even though that seemed like a big amount, compared to the matter of curses, it was not a big deal.
After all, if a Cursed Land exploded out, it would impact an entire city.
Who knew how many people would die before such a catastrophe concluded?
Once something reached such a stage, it would be impossible to estimate what the losses would be like.
Compared to such a terrifying outcome, a bit of money was not a big deal.
After this condition was agreed to, Liang Xiao hung up.
After putting his phone away, Liang Xiao turned and looked at Yang Cheng with a bitter smile on his face.
"Looks like we won"t be able to escape this time," he shook his head as he spoke.
"It"s fine," Yang Cheng shook his head as he said, "We should have died already, so if we can help at all, it"ll be worth it even if we die.
"Moreover, unlike before, we don"t have to worry about Xiao Lan anymore."
The two of them had saved up a lot of money, so even if they died in the Cursed Land, they would not have to worry about Xiao Lan"s future.
Moreover, since they had negotiated a price with the government, even if they died, the money would be given to their next of kin.
They could at least trust the government on this.
As such, neither of them felt much about this exploration.
In actuality, to people like them, life and death was not a big deal.
After all, they should have already died.
Time gradually pa.s.sed.
Outside, it had gotten dark, and Chen Rou wearily returned home.
After that day, she felt incredibly tired.
The threat of the Cursed Land was still there, and the curse within it could explode out at any time.
She did not have too much time left, and she had to quickly contact all Curse Bearers nearby and gather them.
However, this was not something that was too easy.
After all, entering the Cursed Land had great risks; if one was to enter, they had to be prepared to die.
Even among Curse Bearers, there were not many people who would be willing to take such a risk.
As such, there was some difficulty gathering everyone.
She had been travelling all over the place the entire day and now felt quite troubled.
Despite this, she still smiled after going home, not showing her weariness.
She smiled as she prepared to cook dinner and wait for her little brother to come home.
However, when she got home, she was surprised to find that there was already someone there waiting.
Faint music sounded out in the living room, and a few dishes were on the table.
"Eight Treasure Fish, stir-fried vegetables…"
Looking at the dishes on the table, Chen Rou was quite surprised.
Next to the table, a boy"s figure was busying about.
Hearing the sounds from outside, he turned and looked at Chen Rou.
"You"re back."
Seeing Chen Rou, he nodded, not seeming surprised.
"When did you learn to cook?" Chen Rou smiled and patted his head.
"I did some learning in my spare time."
He looked at Chen Rou as he spoke softly, "Have a taste?"
"How could I not have a taste after you made all of this?"
Chen Rou grinned after picking up her bowl and chopsticks.
What surprised her was that the dishes that Chen Heng had made were exceptionally delicious, and they were not awful like she had expected.
After all, Chen Heng was not as young as he looked—in actuality, he was already an old monster.
In his long journey, he had tried and experienced many things.
If it was just doing some cooking, it was not a big deal.
Back in his first life, when he was just a mortal, he had already been a good chef.
After finis.h.i.+ng their meal, Chen Heng went to wash the dishes.
Chen Rou did not have much to do and sat on a wooden chair as she watched her little brother busy about.
Watching this scene, she felt quite touched.
Without realizing it, her little brother had grown up.
She sighed as she thought to herself.
"What is it?" Chen Heng"s voice sounded out.
He had already finished and walked over to Chen Rou and looked at her.
"It"s nothing," Chen Rou shook her head as she said softly, "I just felt that my little brother suddenly grew up."
"Ugh," Chen Heng shook his head and walked to his room.
Watching him, Chen Rou smiled and did not say anything else.
After a while, she got up and walked to her room.
After walking into her room, she found that there was something on her table.
It was an ornate golden box, which looked quite beautiful, on which was stuck a little piece of paper.
Happy birthday.
Looking at those words, Chen Rou stared, not knowing what to say.
In recent days, she had been so busy that she had forgotten that today was her birthday.
However, to someone like her, a birthday did not mean much anymore.
As a Curse Bearer, her days were filled with death, and she would see many terrifying scenes every day.
However, at that moment, she felt quite blissful.
At the very least, there was someone at home who remembered her birthday and even prepared a birthday present for her.
Thinking to there, she could not help but chuckle as she opened the golden box, revealing what was within.
It was a golden necklace and pendant.
It looked incredibly pure and gave off a beautiful and dazzling gold.
Looking at the pendant, one would feel that they were looking at a little sun.
Chen Rou had a similar feeling.
Holding the pendant, she felt some warmth in her body.
She felt as if she was being bathed by sunlight, feeling warm and comfortable.
A few places which had been corroded by the curse in her body and had been wracked with pain became much more comfortable.
"Was it a misperception?"
Sensing that feeling in her body, Chen Rou felt quite confused.
After a while, that feeling disappeared and everything returned to normal.
Despite this, the pendant gave her a very special feeling and she greatly liked it.
She smiled and put on the necklace.
Not too far away, in his own room, Chen Heng raised his head.
"Has she seen it?" Chen Heng smiled and thought to himself.
The golden pendant was the Cursed Item that he had purified using his divine energy.
After being cleansed by divine energy, this extraordinary material had become even more remarkable.
Even an ordinary human who wore the pendant for a long time would become stronger, and their life essence would transform.
If a Curse Bearer wore it, they would be able to use the divine energy within to suppress their curse energy and even gain greater power.
Of course, that was not all there was to the pendant.
The reason he had given it to Chen Rou was to protect her.
Chen Heng could sense the tense atmosphere in the surroundings—this city was filled with terrifying traces of curses.
In this situation, everyone"s lives were in danger, and things were not as safe as they seemed on the surface.