Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1276 - 30 Little Red Riding Hood

Chapter 1276: Chapter 30 Little Red Riding Hood

Tang Zheng had been standing on the blue stone slab for a full ten minutes, not moving rashly. The entire Fairy Tale Town remained eerily quiet as if the air itself had solidified.

As time passed, the wilted sea of flowers turned to dust and, washed by the drizzle, blended into the soil, leaving no trace of the ghost bride.

Tang Zheng did not speak, so the group members quietly stayed put. It was rather cold at night, causing everyone to cross their arms over their chests and hunch their shoulders.

Li Xinlan’s injuries were severe, but after being treated by Song Xin, she was much better. Gu Xueqi, self-sufficient, used the Young Phoenix to heal her wounds, which were finally hit by a soul bomb, staining her chest with blood, tearing her protective clothing.

"Let me see your wounds!" Song Xin walked up to Tang Zheng, grasped his left hand, and looked at the rotting appearance on his forearm, flesh still spreading, her heart aching so much her nose felt sour.

"I’m fine, I won’t die," Tang Zheng reassured her, hesitated for a moment, and decided not to send out any scouts. He was waiting in place, hoping that the missing Dantai and the others could locate them.

"Why isn’t it working?" Song Xin placed her hand on Tang Zheng’s wound, and a nebulous white light emerged, but the wound did not heal.

"It’s probably because of some special effect. I need to cut off the rotten flesh," Tang Zheng replied, pulling out a straight knife. Too impatient for anesthesia, he sliced off the flesh as if he were scaling a fish.

The newbies watching this gruesome scene almost popped their eyes out, thinking, ’Big brother, that’s your own flesh, doesn’t it hurt?’

Song Xin’s heart skipped a beat, subconsciously grabbing his hand that held the knife.

"It’s okay," Tang Zheng said quickly, then applied a packet of powder to the wound. "Here, treat this."

This time, the healing magic worked. The wound healed, and new skin grew over it.

Mu Nianqi pulled out a rocket launcher and fired into a wooden house nearby, blasting it apart. The fire crackled fiercely, but still no ghost showed up.

"What do we do now? Just keep waiting?" Gu Xueqi wanted to set up camp after being wounded, eager to seize the time to recuperate.

"Congratulations to the survivors on completing the first stage of the mission. The second stage has commenced. Please ensure the safety of Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother, preventing them from being eaten by the Evil Wolf within seven days." The Trojan, as usual, only announced this once; if you couldn’t hear it, too bad for you.

"See, no need for me to answer that," Tang Zheng sighed; the Trojan indeed had no intention of giving the players any breathing time, "Come on, let’s go check the center of the town."

"Where is Little Red Riding Hood?" Song Xin inquired, "This mission should be simple, right? Just killing a wolf!"

"Naive, the enemy will at least not be weaker than the bride," Mu Nianqi suggested as she observed the houses on either side of the town, "Let’s first search around; maybe we’ll find some clues."

"President, let us accompany you," said Sun Jingshan, relatively calm and to the point. The other newbies caught on and immediately echoed him.

"Okay, Tang Zheng, shall we split into two groups? No problem, right?" Mu Nianqi headed towards the nearest small house, but except for Ge Cang and a university student, everyone else stayed behind, looking at Tang Zheng.

Mu Nianqi briefly scanned the interior of the house, which seemed ordinary. However, as soon as she stepped over the threshold, her vision suddenly turned dark, spiraling into a vortex that made her head dizzy. When she regained consciousness, she was already standing on a modern urban street teeming with bustling traffic and flashing neon lights.

"This is bad." Mu Nianqi instantly activated her shield, preparing for the worst case scenario. Newbies appeared beside her one after another, looking bewildered and terrified.

"Let’s go." Tang Zheng picked the next-door house. He definitely would not venture further into the town without ensuring the surrounding area’s security first.

Just as Mu Nianqi experienced, Tang Zheng also activated his shield the moment he was teleported. Tao Ran and others hadn’t realized that their group leader had become an illusion and followed him inside.

"Wait!" Lu Fan noticed something was off; some dust danced in the beam of her tactical flashlight and eerily passed right through Tang Zheng’s body, which startled her.

"What’s wrong?" Li Xinlan asked, puzzled.

Lu Fan drew her handgun and fired a bullet at Tang Zheng’s knee. The bullet passed directly through the phantom and hit the floor.

Those who hadn’t entered the room yet were startled and drew their weapons all at once.

"What’s happening? A trap?" Ruan Feifei was on alert, looking around nervously, "What should we do?"

"Can’t you think of a solution? Always asking what to do?" Lu Fan cursed under her breath and quickly ran to the next building, finding it empty. Thus, she gritted her teeth, "No choice, let’s enter the room."

The Conquerors exchanged looks and had no option but to follow, praying not to lose touch with Tang Zheng.

It seemed the goddess of luck heard their prayers. As Lu Fan and her group arrived, they saw Tang Zheng и and Tao Ran not far, with Mu Nianqi’s team close by.

"Wasn’t this supposed to be a fantasy theme? How did we end up in modern times?" Ge Cang observed, noting the city’s style seemed like America in the nineties.

"Who decreed that Little Red Riding Hood must live in a forest?" Lu Fan retorted, lips curled, disliking Mu Nianqi and her bodyguard.

"Then where do you think the wolf and hunter are from?" Ge Cang replied in a teasing tone, not bothering to argue with a child.

"Could be a werewolf though!" Lu Fan argued back defiantly, which sent a chill down the spines of Tang Zheng and Mu Nianqi as a realization flashed through their minds.

Without any clues, the group refrained from acting rashly, but this very inaction led them to Dantai’s team, who had vanished as soon as they entered the small town, five minutes later.

"Get ready to fight!" Still unable to see clearly in the darkness, Dantai shouted and deployed a shield, causing everyone to tense up and suppressing the chaos that had been building.

"Tang Zheng?" Teng Yuangxiang spotted the group leader immediately, delighted, "Where were you just now?"

"Fighting the ghost bride, and you?" Mu Nianqi counted quickly—Dantai’s team was intact, clearly having faced no dangers.

"After we entered the town, we saw nothing but fog. Dantai wouldn’t let us make any rash moves, so we waited half an hour until the Trojan suddenly announced the start of the second stage of the mission. Only then did we get restless and entered a house to check," Teng Yuangxiang blurted out the whole story eagerly, like a loyal dog eager for praise.

The newbies were frustrated, unable to accept why the other team had such good luck.

"It’s likely that Teng Little Three isn’t fake," Tang Zheng glanced at Dantai, who still wore his expressionless, corpse-like face. "What about the wild cat?"

"It slipped away accidentally."

"How many did you lose?" Dantai, seeing blood on Li Xinlan’s chest, politely inquired.

The expression of the young woman was very cold, causing Tang Zheng’s plan to get close to someone through Li Xinlan to figure out the fraud to fail.

Qin Yan still had the indifferent demeanor of a Soy Sauce Party member, though Bai Guo was no longer clingy to her, and Pang Meiqin stood alone outside the group, isolated.

"Important forces didn’t die." Tang Zheng looked up at the night sky and headed towards a coffee house on the street that was about to close, "Let’s find a place to take shelter and discuss what to do about Little Red Riding Hood?"

The group hurried to catch up, wracking their brains, but soon the Trojan resolved their dilemma as the beeping alert sound from the wristwatch went off.

"It’s a map." Jing Lan tapped the interface, which popped up a three-dimensional city map marking a green route that led to a club called Earl.

"The Trojan is quite considerate, huh?" Lin Weiguo smacked his lips sarcastically, "Knowing its nature, nine times out of ten, there will be a trap."

"But we don’t have a choice," Lu Fan pouted his lips, hating this kind of game where you knew there were traps, and yet you were forced to jump in.

"The feeling of being led by the nose really sucks." Zhao Dongtao poked Tang Zheng’s arm and pointed towards a nearby parking lot.

No longer their first time, the Conquerors adeptly took several cars and, spending thirty minutes, reached a dirty, rundown alley.

The walls were covered with colorful graffiti, disgusting swear words, political slogans, dried bloodstains, and even a portrait of Mona Lisa, except below the head, replaced by a graffiti of a naked woman’s body.

Mu Nianqi frowned, hating the dirty and chaotic environment.

Across the street was the Earl Nightclub, bustling with groups of young people constantly entering and exiting.

A couple beside them kissed unashamedly, the woman in hot pants that couldn’t cover her buttocks and only wore underwear on top, revealing her belly, while a man’s hand was brazenly kneading her breasts.

The glasses-wearing doctor swallowed dryly, causing his mouth to dry up as the woman caught his gaze and flipped him the middle finger, cursing.

Tang Zheng led the group towards the nightclub only to be stopped by six men in black T-shirts right at the entrance.

"Strangers, this isn’t where you should be. Get lost," the leader boasted arrogantly, leveraging his nearly two-meter stature to look down on Tang Zheng.

"Hey, watch your tone!" Teng Yuangxiang, unconcerned with such scum, moved close to protect Tang Zheng.

"Wanna get gangbanged, you stinking woman?" The man sneered, threatening viciously.

"Ever heard the name Little Red Riding Hood?" Tang Zheng’s gaze moved past the man to the nightclub’s door, deeming such small fry unworthy of his anger.

"What do you want with Little Red Riding Hood?" the man looked puzzled, scrutinizing the group, "She shouldn’t have any friends, should she?"

"That’s none of your business!" Tang Zheng’s right fist flew out, landing on the man’s mouth and smashing his teeth into his throat.

Seeing their leader knocked down, the five subordinates roared and charged forward.

Teng Yuangxiang and Zhao Dongtao, seeing Tang Zheng engage, immediately leaped into action, chopping down the attackers like vegetables. Teng Little Three, having been cursed at earlier, was particularly ruthless, busting their balls.

"Remember next time, hold your tongue," Tang Zheng reprimanded, then kicked the man in the chest, knocking him out. This guy wouldn’t be leaving his bed for at least a month.

Walking down a staircase, the noise grew louder; around a corner, Tang Zheng saw the throngs of partying young people filling his entire field of vision. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work and wish to support the author, please vote for it on qidian.com, your support is my biggest motivation.)