Chapter 48: Shamelessness Is Also a Realm
Along with the remaining few, Song Yi’s expression was nothing short of shock. After the shock came an overwhelming envy—he envied Yan Lian for being able to obtain such treasures!
“Um… little sister,” Song Yi rubbed his empty hand awkwardly, a rare blush coloring his face. “Do you have any more of that herb?” The girl slung over his back, Rong Xue’er, had quickly lost consciousness after being entangled by vines in the bushes; he wondered if the vines were poisonous.
Yan Lian glanced at Song Yi’s back. “There’s none left. There was only one Three-flower Violet.” Did they really think she was running a charity, saving everyone who crossed her path?
She had looked at the woman on Song Yi’s back and could tell at a glance that she wasn’t exactly unharmed, but her injuries were superficial at best. There were a few small wounds exposed on her body and legs, but otherwise her blood and energy were intact, and her spirit was robust! She had merely fainted from fright.
Song Yi knew well enough that his request was unreasonable. If it hadn’t been for the girl he liked, who was also his master’s precious only daughter, he wouldn’t have dared make such a demand. Hearing Yan Lian refuse, he fell silent, embarrassed.
“Let’s find a place to settle down first,” Yan Lian decided naturally.
No one objected—they weren’t fools. Everyone knows the logic of following the strong for survival. Zhao Kai helped Sun Ruohua carry the unconscious Hu Jianming. Yan Lian turned to him, “Now, about those things on you. It's time you handed them over, don't you think?”
Zhao Kai’s face stiffened for a moment. “What things?”
“Let’s be honest. At this point, there’s no point in hiding anymore,” Yan Lian’s gaze was crystal clear, as though she could see into Zhao Kai’s heart. “In this Class A instance, the Bomb Ants are already considered bottom-tier creatures.”
“They generally won’t provoke stronger species unless someone, ignorant of danger, touches their most prized food.”
“I can block the scent for a while, but my abilities are limited.”
“If you insist on keeping those items, I’ll have no choice but to remove you from the team.”
Her tone was indifferent, as if expelling Zhao Kai and leaving him to survive or perish in this terrifying Class A instance was a trivial matter.
“And let me remind you,” she added,
“As long as you carry them, without my interference to mask the Red Umbrella Mushrooms’ unique scent, the Bomb Ants will hunt you relentlessly, until they’ve devoured you and all the mushrooms you carry.”
Zhao Kai’s face alternated between pale and flushed. He hesitated over whether to surrender the Red Umbrella Mushrooms he had hidden in his chest.
At this point, denying it was meaningless.
Yet those mushrooms had greatly boosted his mental strength. It was thanks to secretly eating the most beautiful, spirit-rich Red Umbrella Mushroom that he’d managed to lead the team to find the weakest point in the ant swarm, escaping without total annihilation.
“Zhao Kai!” Sun Ruohua, hearing this, was beside herself with rage. She rushed forward, grabbing Zhao Kai and wrestling him furiously.
“I knew it! I always wondered why those ants kept chasing us. So it was you who picked mushrooms from their territory. I told you not to touch them, that it would enrage the local creatures, but you ignored me, didn’t you?”
“You’ve always been fixated on those mushrooms!”
“It’s all because of you—if not for you, Xiao Rou, Xiao Li, Wan Zai and the others wouldn't have died. Brother Rong and the others wouldn’t have needed to sacrifice themselves to lure the ants away… Wait! If you picked the Red Umbrella Mushrooms, how did Brother Rong and the others manage to successfully divert the ant swarm?”
Sun Ruohua trembled, staring at Zhao Kai in disbelief. “What did you do to Brother Rong and the others?”
Song Yi’s face darkened. “Zhao Kai, you’ve gone too far!”
“Master has always struggled for our survival, never abandoning a single member. But you, for your own selfish reasons, caused so many deaths in our team.”
“…Enough!” Zhao Kai’s hair was disheveled, his whole body battered. Sun Ruohua’s grip had left bloody scratches all over his exposed skin. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed even Qu Zimo, usually timid, seemed eager to condemn him. Finally, enraged and embarrassed, he shoved Sun Ruohua away.
“If a man doesn’t look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him!”
“We’re in the instance world now. Is it wrong for me to want to strengthen myself?”
“You and Rong Jingtang have martial arts to rely on—what do I have?”
“If I hadn’t eaten the Red Umbrella Mushroom, I’d be just an ordinary person, liable to die any moment at the hands of these instance creatures. When you killed the Fire-feather Chicken and shared the meat, did you spare a thought for me? The constant shadow of death, watching everyone around you die one by one…”
“The next could be me. What’s wrong with wanting to live?”
“I’m sorry for stealing the mushroom and causing trouble for you, but I’ll never regret it! Besides, I’ve been running with you all this way, doing my best to help. If not for me, would you have survived this long? You’d all have been wiped out ages ago.”
The group fell silent.
Song Yi was at a loss for words, feeling as though the person before him was suddenly a stranger.
Qu Zimo curled his lip, surprised that Zhao Kai, who always seemed so upright, was actually even more shameless than he was!
Sun Ruohua was stunned. “You caused so many deaths and claim you’re not at fault?”
“Wanting to grow stronger, to survive, isn’t wrong in itself. But that doesn’t mean you can exploit us. And you risked all our lives for your own selfish gain!”
“Zhao Kai, do you really think that after we’re all dead, you alone could survive in this terrifying place?”
“You’re too foolish!”
“From ancient times to now, there have always been plants and animals individually stronger than humans. So why did humans become the masters of Blue Star? Because we use our brains, know how to leverage everything around us, and create better conditions for survival.”
“But most importantly, we possess the power of unity!”
“One person’s plans are short, two people’s are long. No matter how strong one individual is, they can never match the strength of a group.”
“Zhao Kai, hand over the Red Umbrella Mushrooms at once, or I’ll support—”
Sun Ruohua paused awkwardly, glancing at Yan Lian. “Little sister, what should I call you?”
“Just call me Yan Lian,” Yan Lian replied, her calm heart stirring slightly, as if a faint ripple had appeared on its surface.
This person… judging by her actions and words, reminded her strongly of someone she’d heard about in her previous life. If she really was that person, then saving her had not been a fruitless endeavor.
Sun Ruohua took a deep breath.
“If you refuse, I’ll support Yan Lian’s decision and let you take those red mushrooms and fend for yourself! I want to see how long you’ll survive in this hellish place without us.”
Zhao Kai fell silent.
In the end, Zhao Kai surrendered all the Red Umbrella Mushrooms he carried.
He knew very well that if he left Yan Lian’s group with the mushrooms, he’d have only one path left—death. Otherwise, he would have sneaked away long ago, instead of expending so much effort to escape alongside Song Yi and the others.