Chapter 315: Sudden turn of events
[ Choice 1: Save all rookies in Dragon Mountain Valley (B-level reward) ]
[ Choice 2: Prevent Ka Xiaozi from raging (B-level reward) ]
[ Choice 3: Push down the raging Ka Xiaozi (A-level reward) ]
Seeing the three choices in front of him, Shi Xiaobai was somewhat dumbfounded.
Prevent Ka Xiaozi from raging?
Push down the raging Ka Xiaozi?
What the heck was this!?
Did the choices mean that Ka Xiaozi was about to rage?
Shi Xiaobai could not know beforehand why Ka Xiaozi would rage, nor could he imagine what would happen after Ka Xiaozi raged. After suffering a headache for a moment, he decided to temporarily put aside those two choices.
This time, the Absolute Choice did not have any gentle reminders and there were three choices. Shi Xiaobai had encountered such a type of Absolute Choice only twice—the first being saving Little Fatso, and the second was saving Chen Lingcun.
This type of Absolute Choice was the kind Shi Xiaobai did not wish to encounter the most.
Furthermore, this Absolute Choice was different from the previous two. All three choices in the Absolute Choice this time had very high rewards. Even the lowest was a B-level reward.
According to past experience, trying to complete something with a B-level reward was already rather difficult. Heading to the Underworld to save Chen Lingcun was only a B-level reward after all.
As Shi Xiaobai could only temporarily put the second and third choices aside, he could only choose the first one—[ Choice 1: Save all rookies in Dragon Mountain Valley (B-level reward) ].
Shi Xiaobai was in no hurry to make the choice as he began to seriously contemplate.
Dragon Mountain Valley was clearly the valley they were currently in. The meaning of the choice’s words was very simple. Save the rookies that numbered more than forty.
But in a trial, saving could have two ways of interpretation. First, it was to save the lives of all the rookies, while the second was to prevent the rookies from being eliminated.
The former was much easier than the latter. This was because elimination was too simple. A random appearance of a dragon might cause a few people to shout the exit command, and if it was to save the lives of the rookies, the exit command could be used as a life-saver for the rookies. There was no need for Shi Xiaobai to save them.
However, Shi Xiaobai actually did not hope that the ‘save’ meant ‘saving lives’. This was because this was a B-level difficulty choice. It was impossible for the saving to be simple. If it was ‘saving lives’, that meant that matters that would cause the deaths of the rookies would happen next.
But, what sort of crisis or life-threatening danger would happen in this large and empty valley? What would cause the rookies to not be able to even say the exit command?
Shi Xiaobai considered for a very long time until the Absolute Choice began counting down. Only then, did he choose choice 1.
Stopped time began turning once again.
…
…
A dead silence filled the desolate valley. The gray-brown earth looked rather cold and the boulders that littered the ground had been weathered by the elements. It added to the vast and empty valley an additional flavor of the vicissitudes of time.
This spot was clearly where the dragon was, but not only was there no dragon, there was not even a bug to be seen. It was as though it was a holy land of dead creatures, a forbidden ground to the living.
Shi Xiaobai surveyed his surroundings once again with utmost seriousness. Other than the undulating mountain range across the horizons, all he saw was the brown soil and rugged boulders.
Seeing this lifeless scene, Shi Xiaobai suddenly felt an eerie and terrifying aura. A sense of ominous foreboding rose in him.
Shi Xiaobai turned his head. A pair of amber eyes were staring at him as they glowed slightly.
They were Ka Xiaozi’s eyes.
Shi Xiaobai immediately recalled the two choices that he could not make heads or tails of.
Preventing Ka Xiaozi from raging was the same difficulty as saving everyone. How hard was it to prevent this?
Raging most likely referred to losing reason due to infuriation.
Was Ka Xiaozi actually a person who could not control her raging temper?
Shi Xiaobai softly said to Ka Xiaozi, “In a while, regardless of what happens, you have to remind yourself to maintain your calm. Also, do not go further than three meters from This King.”
Although he had not chosen choice 2, Shi Xiaobai wanted to take preventive measures. He wanted to see if he could prevent the instance of her ‘raging’, something which he had no idea how it would happen.
Ka Xiaozi quizzically blinked her eyes before nodding and saying, “Alright.”
Shi Xiaobai hesitated for a moment, and finally could not help but ask, “If…This King is saying if. If you were to encounter something that is extremely infuriating, so maddening that you would lose all reason. What might you possibly do?”
Shi Xiaobai’s intuition told him that Ka Xiaozi’s raging would be a terrifying matter.
Ka Xiaozi frowned slightly. She was clearly curious why Shi Xiaobai was suggesting such a hypothetical situation, but she did not ask. Instead, she fell into deep thought for a moment before gently saying, “I don’t know. That’s because even though I have been infuriated, I have never lost my reason.”
When Shi Xiaobai heard this, he was filled with even more questions.
If Ka Xiaozi really never lost her reason, what would happen next that would cause her to rage?
What could have happened that would reach a B-level reward when prevented?
Shi Xiaobai was left clueless. He could only think of a way to not let Ka Xiaozi wander too far from him and see how he could do his best at protecting Ka Xiaozi, whether he could inadvertently prevent the baffling raging.
There was something urgent that troubled Shi Xiaobai as well—he needed to save all the rookies present, even though he did not know what would happen at all.
At this moment, the rookies had began searching the valley, but they did not find even a grass, worm or fly.
“Why do I find this place so gloomy. The weather is clearly very hot, but my back is cold.”
“Me too. I keep feeling like something is watching us. I’m almost having goosebumps.”
“This valley doesn’t have a dragon at all. What shall we do? Should we wait here till the dragon returns or go to the other end of the valley to take a look?”
“This place is slightly odd. Shall we quickly get out of here?”
“…”
The rookies sounded out. There was nothing living in the desolate valley, the dead silence was dreadful.
Shi Xiaobai thought for a moment before saying to the crowd, “Since the dragon is not in the valley, why don’t we leave this place. This King also finds this place somewhat odd. Something bad might happen if we stay here any longer.”
Although this valley only had gray soil and rugged boulders, it gave Shi Xiaobai a feeling that danger lurked everywhere. He felt that it was best if he led the crowd in departing.
Due to the stunning punch from before, Shi Xiaobai enjoyed an extremely high status among the rookies that numbered more than forty. Therefore, they would choose to listen to anything Shi Xiaobai said as long as it wasn’t problematic.
Furthermore, it was not only one rookie who found the atmosphere in the valley eerie.
The crowd immediately echoed him and began planning to leave the valley.
Shi Xiaobai warned them, “Everyone, do not split apart. Pay attention to protecting each other.”
Shi Xiaobai was constantly wary of danger happening at any moment. Therefore, he said those words with a very serious expression.
However, the rookies did not notice this and did not put Shi Xiaobai’s words to heart.
The silent valley felt gloomy, but there was not a single bug.
What danger could there be?
The rookies nodded their heads in response. They did not gather together with nervous expressions, but instead, they walked towards the valley’s exit in scattered groups.
Shi Xiaobai did not say anything more as well. It was not convincing to stress the dangers of an empty valley.
Shi Xiaobai could only focus on the exit. He stood in the rear, while Ka Xiaozi quietly stood beside him.
“What’s the matter? You’ve been looking odd from just a moment ago till now. Are you not feeling well?”
Ka Xiaozi asked out of concern.
Shi Xiaobai shook his head and softly said, “Nothing important. It’s just that This King has an ominous foreboding.”
At this moment, the rookies walking right in front had walked out of the exit. Nothing dangerous had happened, and with a few rookies safely departing, the rookies behind followed closely behind.
Shi Xiaobai heaved a sigh of relief. It appeared as though the danger did not lie in this strange valley.
However, Shi Xiaobai did not relax his vigilance. He was still constantly monitoring everything around him. Logically speaking, this vast mountain valley had nothing obstructing it, and that should result in strong winds, but having walked in here for more than a few minutes, there was not even the tiniest of breezes.
All he could hear was the shuffling of feet and the occasional conversations, nothing else.
The rookies streamed out of the valley’s exit, with more than ten rookies having left the valley.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, a scream rang in the empty valley!
Shi Xiaobai’s heart leaped as he widened his eyes.
He saw in the crowd, a laughing rookie walking while his entire head suddenly disappeared, leaving behind half his neck. Hot blood spewed out of the broken neck, splattering on the rookies around him. The girl closest to him had her face completely splattered with blood as she issued a scream of fear.
In just an instant, this rookie, who was right in the middle of the crowd, had his head severed in front of Shi Xiaobai’s eyes. Furthermore, at the instant his head was severed, his head did not fly into the air before dropping to the ground. Instead, it had instantly disappeared into thin air!
What the hell was going on?
What just happened!?
The valley was still the valley that had nothing. Other than them, there was no other creature. Yet, a rookie had suddenly his head cleaved off in front of everyone else.
They did not even know what had happened!
“Make your choice, youth!”
Shi Xiaobai fell into a trance for a moment before the scene in front of him changed.
Shi Xiaobai was not given any time to probe the situation. The moment the rookie’s head was cleaved off, the rookie had only a few seconds of thought before dying. It also meant the failure of the choice.
Time wound back to the moment the Absolute Choice appeared. Everyone was still standing in the middle of the valley.
Time stood still, and in front of Shi Xiaobai were the three rows of black text that had already materialized.
There were still the three choices, as well as the fiery voice that incessantly resounded in his mind.
“Make your choice, youth!”