The smell of burnt paper ash filled the air, sticking clammily to the skin and making the atmosphere suffocatingly oppressive.
The crowd didn't seem to notice this anomaly.
However, the faces of the Special Investigation Bureau staff paled dramatically. They quickly began organizing an evacuation, but the onlookers remained thoroughly immersed in the joy of spectating:
“That's the real estate tycoon! My god, why is he here too?”
“Do you even need to ask? He's definitely here to beg for entry into the Instance. Rich people value their lives, after all.”
“Tsk, tsk, must be nice to be rich. Even when they're on their deathbeds, they can find a place to extend their lives. If we ordinary people got sick, we'd just have to wait to die.”
As the discussions rose and fell in waves, the old man at the center of the gossip drooped his eyelids and gestured with his finger toward the person beside him:
“Push... me, over there.”
Every word he spoke was thick with phlegm. Without any hesitation, the bodyguards immediately pushed his wheelchair forward, seemingly preparing to force their way through the checkpoint.
The onlookers automatically parted to make a path.
Everyone's eyes followed the moving wheelchair, their faces filled with curiosity—everyone wanted to see if this multi-billionaire tycoon could use his money to smash open the gates of the Special Investigation Bureau.
“On guard.”
Chen Xi did not yield an inch. As she gave the order, the crisp sound of bullets chambering echoed behind her:
“According to the 《Huaxia Emergency Regulations》 and the 《Emergency Management Regulations for Sudden Public Supernatural Incidents》, Taiping Cemetery is a national Class One supernatural controlled area. No unregistered personnel are permitted to approach. Any attempt to force entry into the Instance and disregard the law may be treated as an assault. This is your first warning!”
The bodyguards paused for a fraction of a second, but they continued forward.
“Second warning!”
The middle-aged man hesitated, unwilling to step forward, but Lu Bingkun's eyes were filled with madness, as if he had long anticipated this scenario:
“Go!”
An abstract, twisted flame seemed to rise from his face, making his entire body resemble a piece of dry firewood burning to its absolute limit.
He seemed to have no other choice.
Either get shot to death right now, or take a gamble to seize a slim chance of survival.
Watching from the side, Song Mo was deeply shocked.
—Did this old guy really think Chen Xi wouldn't shoot?
Why don't you take a look at the weapons in her hands and those of the armed police behind her? The safety on every single one of them has been switched off.
Did he think those were some kind of magical toy?
Think about it in another context.
What did it mean when an entrepreneur tried to force their way into a restricted military zone just because they had investments?
If the sentries didn't immediately riddle you with bullets, they would be the ones committing a dereliction of duty, alright?
It seemed there truly was great terror between life and death, forcing a man who was by no means stupid to choose the most radical method.
...
“Don't shoot!”
Never having seen so many dark gun barrels pointed at them, the middle-aged man hurriedly shouted to interrupt:
“The six security guards we brought are all retired special forces soldiers. Every single one of them has signed a contract with us and is voluntarily accompanying my father into the Instance.”
At this point, the man raised his voice, making an effort to ensure everyone around could hear clearly:
“If they successfully make it out, each person will receive a two-million-yuan bonus. Of course, if anyone unfortunately dies, the group will issue a three-million-yuan pension to their family. In addition, we will support their parents, raise their children, establish the 'Angel Care' special fund, provide student aid, and set up dedicated positions to ensure their children can enter the group to work once they turn eighteen. Everything will be handled with the highest level of benefits...”
His voice carried a firm certainty that he himself believed:
“Three million yuan—do you know what kind of concept that is?”
“An ordinary person might not even save up three million yuan after working their entire life. Even if they just deposit the money in a bank, the daily interest alone would be enough to live without worrying about food or drink. I am giving each of them a chance to earn two million yuan. It's a mutual agreement.”
The bodyguards stood behind him, all expressionless and silent, which served as tacit consent.
The onlookers grew even noisier.
“Two million yuan? My god, that's an insane amount of danger money!”
“If it were me, I'd go too! It's two million! If I survive, I'll hit the big time. Even if I die, I'll leave a fortune for my family. It's a win-win.”
“Are you crazy? Your life is your own. You're willing to sell it for just two million?”
The crowd buzzed with all kinds of opinions.
...
Chen Xi's expression turned cold.
“Third warn—”
Her finger on the trigger paused slightly.
Chen Xi's aim was excellent.
At such a close range, combined with her class bonuses, she was confident she could land headshots with every single round.
But this was the first time she had ever pointed her gun at her "compatriots."
She had seen people using money to buy their own lives, but she had never seen anyone so brazenly using other people's lives as bargaining chips.
It was as if, in the other party's eyes, the life of an ordinary person was worth exactly two million yuan—a tool he could buy at will to act as a pathfinder.
Just like a "pathfinder" in a video game.
But a game was just a game. In reality, people who died in an Instance were truly dead.
She understood how tempting this massive sum of money was to ordinary people, so she could comprehend the choice the bodyguards made when crushed by the weight of life.
But she despised, even loathed, how the Lu family so casually measured human life with money.
Tempting people to throw away their lives for money—how was that any different from using two million yuan to murder someone at will?
“Our country implements state ownership of land. The Taiping Cemetery Instance area falls under the national emergency control scope and is regulated at the level of a military exercise.”
Her voice was not loud, but every word was clear and carried immense penetrative force:
“Third warning.”
Then, she pulled the trigger—
“Bang!!”
...
The moment the gunshot rang out, heavy fog rose from all directions, and large plumes of white steam suddenly billowed from the flat asphalt road.
The surging fog swallowed everything in an instant.
The expressions on everyone's faces had been toggling between excitement and panic, but in the next second, they turned into genuine terror.
The world was full of hypocrites who claimed to love what they actually feared.
No matter how eloquently they had spoken about wanting to enter the Instance, when that hair-raising chill crept up their calves, many of them shrank back.
The eerie white fog clung softly to their skin, sending a chill creeping down their spines inch by inch.
Only then did everyone, whose minds had been clouded by the allure of "superpowers," suddenly snap awake.
Instances killed people.
What made them think they would be the ones to survive?
Then, like a row of dominoes, the first scream rang out, and the crowd turned as chaotic as a flock of sheep that had lost its leader.
“The ghosts are here!!”
“Run! They're shooting!”
“People die in Instances! Hurry up and leave!”
“Someone's been shot! Someone's been shot!”
“Don't push, someone's been trampled—”
The visibility in the white fog was extremely low, and even electronic devices failed completely. Quite a few people lost their bearings and plunged headfirst into the green belts.
Song Mo sat on the roof of a bus, nibbling on a popsicle bit by bit.
Beside her, A'yan floated in the air, a bowl of strawberry ice cream with a white candle stuck in it resting beneath her feet.
“My Lady, that officer was truly impressive just now,” A'yan said to Song Mo with a pout. “It's just a bit of a pity that the firearm projectile hit the ground, so that old geezer who's hanging on by a thread didn't die.”
“The Shen family used to entertain guests. When the nights were cold, they would make the maidservants ingest Five Minerals Powder so their bodies would heat up, and then have them warm the guests' beds. However, because those maidservants took too much of the drug, none of them lived long.”
“There was an even more 'elegant' practice. If the guests were in high spirits while boating on the lake and shooting arrows, they would order good-looking young servants to strip completely naked, and then throw gold beans into the lake. Whoever could hold their breath the best could retrieve the gold beans from the lake. The guests would place bets on them, drinking wine while treating them as playthings. Some guests, in order to win, would even shoot arrows into the water, forcing the young servants to drown and suffocate to death beneath the surface, before clapping and cheering. Behind the bed curtains lay the bones of beauties, and upon the lake drifted the scent of corpses. Yet the 'great figures' drank and made merry amidst it all.”
A'yan had originally thought that since this place was under clean and just rule, such things shouldn't exist.
What was the difference between that two million yuan and the handful of gold beans thrown into the lake?
...
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