Blaming Someone out of Nowhere

The curve of Qingming's lips deepened. People said foxes were the best at bewitching hearts, and if Xin Jiu hadn't had enough self-control, she would have stared in a daze.

"Sure."

Qingming readily extended his index finger. A golden speck condensed at its tip and flew toward Xin Jiu's forehead.

[Temporary skill acquired: Fox Dream Flowing Fireflies, S-rank]

[Skill description: The trial version can absorb three enemy attacks. The absorption limit depends on the player's attributes. Its effectiveness is 60% of the full version.]

[Tip: This skill comes from a nine-tailed fox, and a nine-tailed fox from Qingqiu at that. Hurry and hug this golden thigh!]

A nine-tailed fox from Qingqiu?

Didn't that mean... an ancient divine race?!

Even the divine races had to lie low? What exactly had happened at the top of the tower?

After telling Xin Jiu where Yin Lingzi was, Qingming was about to leave with Bubu in his arms, but Bubu unexpectedly wriggled free.

"...?" Qingming looked puzzled. "You want to go with her?"

Bubu nodded.

"It's dangerous there."

"I'm going even if it's dangerous."

Qingming sighed, leaned close to Bubu's ear, and whispered a few words. Bubu listened very carefully, then nodded and said he understood.

Before leaving, Qingming reminded Xin Jiu, "If you really can't win, just run."

"Will you still give me the skill, then?"

"No."

Xin Jiu clicked her tongue and headed toward Yin Lingzi's location with Bubu.

Bubu flapped his wings, flying back and forth as his nose twitched vigorously.

"What are you sniffing for?" Xin Jiu asked, amused.

His little twitching nose was rather cute.

Bubu circled twice in the air and said, "I smell the aura of some ancient ruins. Want to take a look?"

"Ancient ruins?"

"Mm."

Ancient ruins meant treasure, so Xin Jiu naturally wouldn't pass them up. The two nimbly wove through the forest and soon reached the ancient ruins Bubu had mentioned.

They were called ancient ruins, but they were really just a stone formation made up of a few large, broken rocks.

However, all the stones bore intricate runes. Xin Jiu studied them for a while but couldn't understand them. Bubu hung his head. "I thought we'd find something here, but there's nothing left except the aura."

"So we came for nothing?"

Xin Jiu was very disappointed.

Just as Bubu was about to argue, a sudden rustling came from a nearby patch of grass.

Xin Jiu immediately grabbed Bubu's tail and pulled him behind a tree trunk. The tug hurt his tail, and he grumbled a few complaints under his breath.

"Why are there so many rocks here?"

"Don't touch anything! These stones have runes on them. There might be traps."

Hearing a familiar voice, Xin Jiu peered out. To her surprise, it was Chen Rui.

Things didn't seem to have gone very smoothly for him over the past few days. His clothes had several tears, and his trouser cuffs were stained with blood. Aside from Doudou, five unfamiliar people followed behind him.

Seeing her stare at Chen Rui, Bubu asked in confusion, "Do you know them?"

"Not well."

Though puzzled when Xin Jiu turned to leave, Bubu still flapped along behind her, occasionally looking back at Chen Rui's group.

Perhaps because Bubu's movements were too clumsy and he flew so slowly, Doudou spotted him.

"A dragon! There's a little purple dragon over there!"

Chen Rui and the others immediately looked over. Their eyes widened when they saw Bubu. There was actually a baby dragon in this instance!

Bubu shuddered and flapped his wings even harder.

Xin Jiu scooped Bubu into her arms and was about to use her speed skill to leave.

"...?"

Why couldn't she run?

She looked down and discovered a thin vine wrapped around her ankle. It was the skill of a player on Chen Rui's team.

They jogged over, and Chen Rui was surprised when he saw Xin Jiu.

The other players stared greedily at Bubu.

This was a dragon!

Doudou alone was the most agitated. The livestream viewers watched his eyes gradually redden before he pointed at Xin Jiu and shouted, "It's you! Why aren't you dead?!"

Xin Jiu was baffled. "Why should I be dead?"

It was a perfectly normal question, yet somehow it hit Doudou where it hurt. He started shouting, "It's all your fault! If it weren't for you, Sister Jiamin wouldn't have died! It's your fault, all your fault! Why weren't you the one who died?! Why?!"

Xin Jiu: "...?"

Wait, Jiamin had been alive and well when she left, okay? How was this her fault?

Was he just picking someone to blame out of nowhere?

Seeing her utter confusion, Chen Rui explained, "After you left that day, we ran into a black bear. To save Doudou, Jiamin was..."

A grief-stricken expression appeared on his face.

[Wait, I feel really bad for Jiamin, but what does this have to do with Jiujiu?]

[This is ridiculous!]

Xin Jiu found it equally baffling and asked, "Does that have anything to do with me?"

Chen Rui knew Xin Jiu couldn't be blamed, but Doudou was different. Ever since they had entered the maze instance, Jiamin had been like his own older sister. At night, she had even held him as they slept, afraid he would get cold.

That was why he simply couldn't accept losing Jiamin.

"If you hadn't just left like that, we wouldn't have run into the black bear, and Sister Jiamin wouldn't have..."

"Enough," Xin Jiu interrupted. "I'll let it slide because you're young, but you need to understand that from the moment we entered the tower, none of us knew what would happen the next second. I'm not obligated to protect you, either."

"But if you hadn't left, none of this would've happened!"

If she hadn't left, they could have followed her out of the little maze. They might even have made it out of this instance.

But she had left!

That was why Sister Jiamin had died!

"What does it matter to me whether you live or die? I'm not your babysitter."

Cruel as those words were, they were undeniably true. If she encountered danger alone, she could run whenever she wanted. Wouldn't bringing these people along just hold her back?

Her own life was still hanging by a thread. How could she have the time to worry about anyone else?

"How can you say something so shameless?!"

Doudou's eyes reddened with anger.

Xin Jiu was speechless. In the end, she could only tell herself not to argue with a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old kid who neglected his studies and applied for a gaming pod to play games. There was no reasoning with him anyway.

When Xin Jiu said nothing, Doudou grew even more agitated. "You're feeling guilty, aren't you?!"

Whether Xin Jiu felt guilty was unknown, but the livestream viewers were furious.

[Good lord, dude, is there something wrong with you?!]

[My fists are itching!]

[People really need to read more, or they won't even be able to tell right from wrong.]

Xin Jiu laughed in anger. "I just don't want to bother arguing with a useless piece of trash like you."

"You're calling me useless?!"

"Aren't you?" Xin Jiu sneered. "If you hadn't been so useless that you needed Jiamin to protect you, she wouldn't have died. Honestly, I'd like to ask you something. Have you ever felt guilty?"

Doudou fell silent.

Apparently, he did feel guilty. He just refused to admit how useless he was, so he took his resentment out on her instead.

Xin Jiu took out her military bayonet and sliced through the vine wrapped around her ankle. Seeing her cut through it as easily as modeling clay, the player with the binding skill widened his eyes in surprise.

Was her bayonet that powerful?