He continued onward.
It was late autumn. The trees along the path had already shed their leaves, and the grass had turned yellow.
He faintly heard two people hurrying after him, accompanied by excited conversation.
The yellow dots on the Minimap suddenly turned red.
"Old Chen, that guy wearing a hat and a mask just now seemed kind of suspicious."
"Old Wang, looks like you had the same feeling. I think he's Gao Linzhi. We worked on a project together at the company, so I'm somewhat familiar with his build."
"Hahaha, looks like this is our chance to get rich!"
"That's two million! He's just a programmer, weak as a kitten. We scare him a little, and he'll come around."
"Exactly, just like when we used to sneak into dorms in the middle of the night and extort those idiot students."
"Yeah, those guys studied so much they got stupid. A couple of threats and they wouldn't dare run, even though if they'd just run away, we couldn't possibly have chased them all."
After hearing them clearly, Gao Linzhi only sneered inwardly.
He kept walking as he zoomed in on the map.
Two guys who looked like salesmen were heading in his direction. They were in the mountains, yet still dressed in suits, with slicked-back hair and polished faces.
The road to heaven was open, but you refused to take it. The gates of hell were closed, yet you insisted on barging in.
He used the Minimap to check the surrounding area again.
Not far ahead was a steep slope covered in dense woodland.
The slope was over twenty meters high and very steep, with plenty of shrubs and weeds, but it was still possible to climb.
At the top was a relatively flat patch of forest.
It was a good place to ambush someone.
Bastards like these only cared about money. They wouldn't listen to reason.
If he told them he'd been framed, he wouldn't get any sympathy. They'd only laugh at him.
Gao Linzhi hurried forward a few steps, grabbed the shrubs, and climbed up the steep slope.
Then he hid behind a tree.
He summoned the Corpse Vine and concealed it beneath the soil and rocks.
The two salesmen, Chen Xing and Wang Cong, were hurrying over.
That was two million on the move!
All they had to do was catch up, and it was theirs!
They hadn't even considered the possibility that he might fight back.
Chen Xing walked faster. He watched Gao Linzhi swiftly climb the slope and disappear into the woods at the top.
The angle made it impossible to see him anymore.
Chen Xing immediately grew anxious. If they lost sight of the man, they might not be able to find him.
Chen Xing scrambled up the slope first, calling out as he climbed:
"Gao Linzhi, come out! I see you!"
"Hurry up and come back with me to turn yourself in to the company. They definitely won't punish you too harshly!"
"You don't want your family worrying about you, do you?"
He was just trying to fool Gao Linzhi. All he wanted was the money.
He didn't care whether Gao Linzhi lived or died.
As for whether the company had framed Gao Linzhi?
He figured the man had definitely been framed.
He'd heard of "Gao Linzhi," after all.
When a few female employees privately discussed which men at the company were eligible bachelors,
they'd said Gao Linzhi had real potential as a husband. He was young and already owned a home outright.
He just wasn't very senior, wasn't particularly handsome, and still needed to work harder. If he also had thirty million in savings, he'd be about right.
How could someone like that possibly delete the company's data and run?
Would he really just give up his house?
But that had nothing to do with him. He only cared about the two million.
Chen Xing struggled for quite a while before finally reaching the top of the slope. He hadn't even had time to catch his breath.
A gaping maw came straight at him!
"Holy shit, what the fuck is that monster?" He had no time to react. Everything went black.
How could an ordinary person possibly deal with a monster from the game?
Especially when this Corpse Vine had already tasted blood.
It wrapped around him in a deadly embrace and swallowed him whole. In just a few seconds, Chen Xing had vanished into its maw.
Gao Linzhi watched from nearby, thoroughly pleased. He didn't feel the least bit sick.
It was like watching an enemy get what was coming to him.
How many people would feel nauseous when their enemy met a miserable end?
Before long, Wang Cong hurried over too.
Because of the angle, he had only heard Chen Cong's scream and hadn't seen the Corpse Vine's ambush.
So not only did he not run, he actually grinned.
He pulled out a Kukri Knife for outdoor use and continued climbing.
"Hahaha, Old Chen, you were way too careless."
"Now all the money's mine!"
Wang Cong climbed to the top of the slope and brandished his knife, thinking he could scare Gao Linzhi into giving up any thought of fighting back.
But in the next instant, a sickly green vine rose upright and wrapped itself around him.
"Ah! What kind of monster is that?"
Wang Cong managed to say only a couple more words before suffering the same fate.
Entangled, suffocated, gone...
Gao Linzhi watched it all.
Supernatural powers really were great.
Before, how could he ever have killed two people so effortlessly?
These were two living, breathing people!
But now, this was perfect...
No bodies. Not a trace.
Not even a culprit.
The next moment, he stored the Corpse Vine in his Game Backpack.
Without bodies or a culprit, solving the case by normal means was impossible—unless they used abnormal means.
Besides, they were already some distance from the main mountain trail.
The terrain was rugged, the wind was strong, and the trees blocked the sound. No one else could have heard the two men scream.
Even if someone had heard, they would have thought it was just gibberish.
After killing the two men, Gao Linzhi felt completely at peace.
He didn't feel sick or want to vomit at all, despite having killed for the first time.
All he felt was a sense of total release.
He'd finally let out all that pent-up anger.
From now on, anyone who threatened him would be eliminated!
This felt fucking great!
Gao Linzhi felt indescribably refreshed.
Now this was living!
Before, when people insulted him, all he could do was bottle it up and endure it!
That wasn't living. That was just barely surviving!
And this wasn't enough. There was still Xu Corporation.
Just wait. He wouldn't let a single one of them off!
Gao Linzhi watched the Minimap as he made his way deeper into the mountains.
He walked from day into night, and only then found a sheltered spot behind a rock where he stopped to rest.
He sat with his back against the rock and looked around. He was deep in the wilderness, and it was almost dark.
He checked the supplies he had on him.
Then he summoned the Corpse Vine to guard him underground.
After taking inventory, he found that he currently had:
Five defensive talismans and two escape talismans, a fifteen-liter jug of mineral water, a large box of instant noodles, a lighter, a boning knife, and a large bottle containing five hundred vitamin tablets.
That was enough to keep him alive for a week.
Afterward, he tried chopping some branches and gathering leaves, feathers, and dry moss, then used his lighter to start a fire.
Of course, before lighting it, he carefully used rocks to build an enclosed fire pit.
That would keep the light from spreading and prevent a forest fire.
With the fire burning to ward off the cold, he leaned against a rock and prepared to endure the long night.
Before you continue