Back to Reality

The next moment, the Red Skirt Phantom not far from Qin Shang also shot out after him.

Its target was the Public Security officer.

After the Death Train main storyline ended, those two had tried to kill him and rob him of his belongings.

Qin Shang had long since lost any favorable impression of them. It was best if they died.

Dead was dead...

If he had to name the only person he had liked in this game, it might instead have been that NPC, Grandpa Niu.

Unfortunately, he would not get to see Eagle of Justice's death.

He clicked his tongue regretfully and glanced at the black cross that had fallen beside the Elder Priest's corpse.

This should be an item too. The Elder Priest had just used this thing to purify his Cursed Red Skirt, beating it back step by step. It looked like a pretty good treasure. With a thought, Qin Shang carefully picked it up, then put it into his inventory before he had time to inspect it.

Immediately afterward, before he could do anything else, a sharp pain seized his abdomen.

He hurriedly bared his teeth and looked down at the wound on his waist.

That kick from the Elder Priest had probably used a skill specific to the priest class...

A large area of his waist had been scalded!

If he took an injury like this back into reality, Qin Shang estimated that he would need surgery.

At the thought, he suddenly remembered that he had also inherited the skills of Heart-to-Heart Sister, a player in the medical profession.

Treatment (26 seconds remaining)

Skill description: Can heal all external injuries. Treatment speed depends on the severity of the injury.

Only twenty-six seconds remained before he left the instance...

Then let him see how much the medical profession's skill could heal!

With that thought, Qin Shang activated the Character Card skill.

In an instant, he felt a warm life force bathing his wound. His entire waist began to itch, and the damaged cells seemed to be infused with vitality once more. It was as if even his energy and spirit had been purified, while great chunks of flesh continuously grew out.

Qin Shang felt refreshed from head to toe.

Just as he touched his waist and found it almost unbelievable that all his flesh had grown back, a new electronic notification sounded beside his ear.

Ding! Countdown complete. Congratulations on clearing the instance.

{Decrypt} countdown 00:00. Usage time ended. {Treatment} countdown 00:00. Usage time ended.

The next moment, the world before Qin Shang changed again. A flash of intense light pierced the darkness.

Immediately afterward, the world before Qin Shang rippled like water. The carriage was replaced by an equally cramped space.

However, the layer of pure-white wallpaper overhead and the bright light announced that the young man had finally returned alive.

Everything in sight was quiet and peaceful, and the stench of decay was gone from his nostrils.

In its place was a faint fragrance.

This was his own room...

"I finally made it home!"

"It feels just like a dream..."

Qin Shang looked around his surroundings, then gave a bitter grin and lowered his head to glance at his waist.

The wound that had once sprayed blood everywhere had completely disappeared.

The medical profession's Treatment skill had probably taken effect.

However, the hem of his casual clothes had been torn away in the shape of half a size-42 footprint.

"Damn, you old bastard Buddha Saves the Predestined! You deserved to die!"

"That old thing looked kind and benevolent. Who would have thought he was a ruthless killer?"

"In the Divine Path, human rights and human lives are practically jokes. If I hadn't had some brains, I really would've been done for..."

His physical wounds had probably recovered, but his nerves had not been deceived. Every detail of his injury remained vivid.

His nervous subconscious still thought Qin Shang had a wound there, leaving his waist somewhat numb...

This indirectly proved just how vicious that kick from the Elder Priest had been.

If he had not had Heart-to-Heart Sister's class skill as a backup, he might have been teleported out as a corpse...

Qin Shang gritted his teeth, drank some water to calm himself, and then cursed the bastard for trying to tear down the bridge after crossing it. He deserved to die.

The next moment, he picked up his phone and checked the time.

A day and a night had already passed.

Exactly thirty-six hours had passed since he first entered the Divine Path.

The timing lined up perfectly with when he had entered the Divine Path. Fifteen hours earlier, he had just been teleported into it.

He had entered the Divine Path at night this time and come out during the day.

The flow of time in the Divine Path seemed to be the same as in reality!

Just as Qin Shang thought this, a powerful fatigue suddenly enveloped his mind. He felt as weak as if he had gone three days and three nights without rest...

After surviving a terrifying night on the train, the sky outside had already grown bright.

Although it was daytime, he was exhausted.

It was just like staying up all night playing games.

And that was indeed what had happened. Whether it was the first round, the second round, or the time he had spent browsing the forums after Qin Shang came out in between, he had gone a full thirty-six hours without resting.

Of course he was sleepy!

However, before falling asleep, a pair of bright eyes appeared in his mind.

At the moment of death, the gaze directed at him had been filled with pleading.

"Actually, I also have to thank the God Slayer, Grandpa Niu, for being able to come out alive this time..."

With that thought, Qin Shang picked up his phone and bought a plane ticket to Yanjing for the next day.

Then he sent a text message to his friend Xu Mingyang, telling him to pick him up at the airport the next day.

After receiving Xu Mingyang's precise reply of "ojbk," his eyelids grew increasingly heavy. Under the excessive strain on both his body and mind,

Qin Shang really could not hold on any longer. He gradually fell asleep and entered dreamland.

Meanwhile, at the Yanjing Public Security Bureau.

A middle-aged man in a tattered uniform, still covered in bloodstains, hurriedly knocked on the door with an ashen face and entered the office in the corner.

Inside the office, the young man in a suit and white clothes remained dressed in white. He looked as though he lived in another dimensional space entirely.

The dust floating in the air did not affect his appearance in the slightest. No matter how long he wore them, his clothes remained snow-white and brand-new.

When he looked up and saw the middle-aged figure entering the office, he froze slightly.

"Eagle of Justice, is that you?"

A rare trace of surprise colored his voice.

"You came out of the instance?"

The young man's handsome chin slowly lifted. This was the first time his eyes had left the screen before him.

They landed on his subordinate, Eagle of Justice.

Clearly, seeing Eagle of Justice emerge alive from the Death Train had been far beyond Mr. Yin's expectations.

For a young man to have an independent office at an official site like the Public Security Bureau, his position there was clearly not low.

At those words, Eagle of Justice's expression shifted uncertainly. He then gritted his teeth and said in a low voice,

"Leader, we can discuss the strategy later. I have something important to report."

"Actually, I met someone in the instance who called himself Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet. He was the con artist in our instance party. I remember you mentioning this ID before. You said its owner was a Divine Path player who had already died..."

Mr. Yin's expression, which had remained as still as an ancient well, froze when he heard this.

The next moment, his face changed drastically.

It was as though Eagle of Justice had mentioned a forbidden word!

"Who!?"

His voice was filled with uncertainty and alarm.

This was the first time Eagle of Justice had seen the usually unflappable Mr. Yin reveal such a horrified expression.

His Adam's apple rolled involuntarily, and then he repeated the nickname.

"Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet!"

To be honest, he had originally thought that after clearing the instance, with the foundations he and Buddha Saves the Predestined had as veteran players, taking down Cockroach Jade Feet would be a certainty.

Who could have expected that this kid would have so many trump cards?

Heaven knew what method he had used to bring over the second round's instance boss.

Buddha Saves the Predestined, a level-two priest, had sacrificed himself on the spot.

If Eagle of Justice had not been lucky enough to run quickly—and if he had not already been counting down when he entered Carriage Two—he would probably have died in the Death Train too.

No, more precisely, he would have died at the hands of that kid, Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet...

Thus, after leaving the instance, Eagle of Justice had not even had time to eat or rest.

He desperately wanted to learn more about this ID.

If things were not as Buddha Saves the Predestined had guessed, and that man was not someone who had stolen the account and impersonated its owner, then something was wrong.

Before entering the instance for the second round, Mr. Yin had clearly said that the player Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet was already dead...

"Impossible!"

The next moment, his superior suddenly stood up. An invisible pressure instantly filled the office, carrying the aura of someone in a position of authority.

A vast presence surged over like a tidal wave. Mr. Yin's eyes turned bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Eagle of Justice.

It was the first time Eagle of Justice had seen the powerful Mr. Yin lose control like this!

"I suggest that you not use this ID to make fun of me. If you want to know about that player, your authority is temporarily insufficient."

"But I can tell you clearly..."

"That person named Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet is dead. It is absolutely impossible for you to have encountered him in the Death Train instance."

At this, Eagle of Justice's face shifted between green and red.

He was only a level-one martial artist, while the Mr. Yin before him had reportedly become a Divine Path player ten years ago.

Whether in seniority or strength, he was nowhere near one-tenth of the other man's level.

Provoking him would do Eagle of Justice no good.

However, as an official employee, there was one clearly stated rule:

In the game, they absolutely could not attack any innocent player.

This was the bottom line the authorities imposed on supernatural ability users like them.

Thus, even though there was a mission stating that con artists were public enemies, ordinary Public Security players entering an instance would not casually attack a con artist.

Once they attacked, however, they had to take the other person's life.

They absolutely could not let this matter come to light...

If Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet had died during the settlement phase, Eagle of Justice would not have worried about the matter being exposed at all. After all, the ones who had made it out alive would have been him and the Elder Priest.

Whatever had truly happened would have been up to the two of them to fabricate however they pleased.

Whatever they said would have gone.

They could even have claimed that Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet had joined forces with the God Slayer in the instance and tried to harm all the players!

But... the most crucial problem had arrived.

Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet was not dead.

Since he was alive, there was no way to bury the truth.

Eagle of Justice had also exposed his identity as an official player.

Who knew whether Cockroach Jade Feet might reveal the truth one day?

What if he survived and later came into contact with Mr. Yin or other official players?

Once this matter came to light, Eagle of Justice would not be far from death.

Moreover, before the second round began, Eagle of Justice had heard this ID from his leader, Mr. Yin.

No one could guarantee that Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet and Mr. Yin were not old acquaintances.

If the two of them knew each other, then the matter of him killing and robbing Qin Shang would be even harder to conceal.

That was why, after leaving the instance, Eagle of Justice had not dared to rest for even a second.

If Cockroach Jade Feet was not dead, then he was the one who would die!

What was more, Cockroach Jade Feet knew his Divine Path ID. That was a handle!

A handle that could cost him his life!

In fact, the Divine Path did not prohibit players from hunting con artists, those walking piles of gold.

But the Chinese authorities did!

If an official player was discovered wantonly harming another player, whether that person was a con artist or belonged to another class,

as long as the other person had not threatened them in the Divine Path, yet they had attacked that innocent player anyway,

they would be sentenced for intentional homicide...

The next moment, Eagle of Justice said with difficulty,

"Mr. Yin, may I ask how the con artist you mentioned died?"

"All the other players in this instance were killed by him. The con artist joined forces with the God Slayer, so I want to issue a wanted notice for him..."

He wanted to determine whether the Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet he had encountered was merely a petty account thief who did not even dare reveal his true ID,

or another player known by Mr. Yin.

However, as soon as the words "wanted notice" left his mouth,

Mr. Yin's face turned completely cold, and his anger reached its peak.

"This is not something you have the authority to know."

"Get out!"