My chat group is full of female losers

Chapter 369 Xie Mingshu

In the palace, Chu Lu suddenly woke up, breathing heavily, his face full of shock.

—The fake Xie Mingshu is actually Fei Wu? What a coincidence! Could it be…

"Chu Lu." At this moment, Qin Su spoke in a solemn tone.

"I'm fine." Chu Lu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and sat up. He thought his sudden awakening had frightened her, so he explained, "I just had another dream..."

“This is not the time to talk about this.” However, Qin Su interrupted him, her voice like that of a soldier about to go into battle.

Chu Lu was stunned, and asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you?"

"Look ahead."

"What are you looking at?" Chu Lu subconsciously raised his head, and then his expression suddenly changed.

At the entrance to the palace, a figure had appeared out of nowhere. It was a girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in coarse cloth, her body frail and her face frighteningly pale.

But her eyes were as bright as flames, burning with an unfathomable resolve.

Chu Lu recognized her. Although it was their first meeting, Chu Lu felt as if he were reuniting with an old friend.

"Xie Mingshu, you've finally shown yourself."

Xie Mingshu looked at him and nodded gently.

Chu Lu had always felt that he would meet Xie Mingshu sooner or later, so he was unusually calm at this moment. He asked bluntly, "All the dreams I've been having lately, were they all your doing?"

"Yes." Xie Mingshu's voice was a little hoarse, but she admitted it decisively, "I have to do it."

"why?"

“I need you to know about my past,” Xie Mingshu explained succinctly, “in exchange for your trust.”

"Gain trust, and then what?"

At this moment, a deep-seated hatred suddenly erupted in Xie Mingshu's frighteningly bright eyes.

"Then, we'll join forces. You help me... kill Fei Wu!"

Chu Lu had anticipated this answer and wasn't surprised at all. But he didn't agree; a lot of doubts still lingered in his mind.

“Fei Wu is my enemy, and I originally intended to deal with her. But that doesn’t mean I’ll join forces with you,” Chu Lu paused and said, “At least I need to see your sincerity first.”

Then Chu Lu asked, "What exactly happened to you? How did you get here?"

A hint of hesitation flashed across Xie Mingshu's face, but in the end she simply shook her head: "I'm sorry, I can't say."

"Alright. What happened after the dream?" Chu Lu asked again. "Didn't you get stabbed to death by Fei Wu in the dream?"

“I can’t tell you that either.”

Chu Lu frowned deeply: "Then at least tell me this? Why did you come to me? How do you know I have a special identity?"

"I'm sorry, I still can't say."

Chu Lu: "..."

After that, Xie Mingshu shook her head and refused every single question Chu Lu asked.

Chu Lu was at his wits' end. He could only sigh and give up: "Alright, let's change the subject. What are your plans? What do you need me to do?"

“I hope,” Xie Mingshu said solemnly, as if making a vow, “that you can create an opportunity for me and Fei Wu to have a one-on-one fight, with no one getting in the way, and to really fight it out.”

"and then?"

"Then, I'll be confident I can drag her down to hell with me!"

"How to do it exactly?"

Xie Mingshu's lips twitched a few times, then she shook her head with difficulty: "...I can't say."

"Ha," Chu Lu couldn't help but laugh, "This isn't the attitude you're using when looking for a partner. How can I possibly agree if you won't say anything?"

“I understand.” Xie Mingshu’s expression remained firm. “I know this request is excessive. That’s why I let you see my past first. It’s one of the few things I can show you. I can only use it to prove that we have a common enemy, and to prove my determination to take revenge.”

Chu Lu fell silent. He looked at the girl, who seemed to be sustained only by hatred, and hesitated.

After a long while, he finally spoke, "I can't agree to that right now; I need to think about it some more."

“I understand.” Xie Mingshu nodded. “But we don’t have much time left. Fei Wu won’t have to wait long. I hope you’ve thought it through soon.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned and left the palace, her figure quickly disappearing completely. "Qin Su, confirm if she's gone or not," Chu Lu suddenly said, looking towards the door.

Qin Su nodded, then left his body. After a moment, she returned and said, "He's already far away."

"Okay." Chu Lu looked at Qin Su and asked, "What do you think about this?"

“It’s very strange and complicated,” Qin Su said, her face filled with serious doubt. “She’s just a clone character. There’s no way she could know about us, let alone travel to other novel worlds on her own, let alone send her memories into your dream without my knowledge. She couldn’t have done that on her own. There must be someone behind her.”

"Who?"

"I don't know. Theoretically, only Zhang Lan and her team could do it, but Zhang Lan has no reason to do it."

"Indeed. Do you have a way to find out who's behind her?"

Qin Su hesitated for a moment, then shook her head helplessly: "...No."

"So, what about joining forces with her?" Chu Lu asked again. "What do you think?"

"Regarding this matter," Qin Su began to lay out the facts one by one, "the situation is quite clear. Fei Wu is pressing us relentlessly, and we have no way to bypass her; we can only confront her head-on. But we simply cannot win. To be honest, Xie Mingshu's appearance is our only chance to break this deadlock right now."

"What about the risks?"

"Of course there are risks. After all, Xie Mingshu won't say anything. We don't know if she's truly seeking revenge, or even if she has the ability to do so. But the problem is, even if there are problems, what's the worst-case scenario? It's simply that we all die. That's no different from not agreeing to Xie Mingshu's demands, is it?"

Listening to Qin Su's analysis, Chu Lu's mind began to shift.

Indeed, Qin Su was right; they were now backed into a corner. Xie Mingshu's suggestion was like someone handing a vine down from the edge of a cliff—whether it would hold up was unknown, but there was no other way out.

Take a gamble?
Just as Chu Lu was about to make a decision, a scene suddenly flashed through his mind without warning.

It was a distant memory. On a night when all hope seemed lost, he, covered in wounds, clenched his fists and swore an oath to a crescent moon.

In that instant, he recalled the pain of being betrayed, the resentment of being abandoned, and the disgust he felt for his own naivety and foolishness.

Chu Lu's expression changed instantly.

“No,” he said firmly, “I can’t agree to her.”

"Why?" Qin Su was surprised.

“Because she is different from you.” Chu Lu’s voice was cold and indifferent. “Qin Su, you told me everything when we first met, and we have gone through many trials together since then. You are trustworthy.”

"But Xie Mingshu's background is unknown, her purpose is unclear, and she is unwilling to share any details of her plans. If I agree, it would be like being blindfolded, forced to follow her orders completely, and entirely dependent on her plans. I don't want that."

He paused, then looked out the window.

The night was dark, and the moonlight was hazy.

His tone was firm and unwavering: "I will never entrust my fate to someone else."

Qin Su looked surprised, but her expression gradually softened into understanding. She asked softly, "I understand. But what do you plan to do? Are there any other paths we can take?"

“There will be a way,” Chu Lu said. “There must be a better way. A way that doesn’t require relying on Xie Mingshu.”

#####
The next day, Chu Lu redoubled his efforts to investigate Fei Wu's background, trying to find a possible breakthrough.

Stacks of intelligence reports were delivered to the Imperial Study like a flowing stream, with two clearer portraits tucked inside.

Chu Lu glanced at them casually and suddenly chuckled: "These leading ladies keep saying they don't care about their appearance, but they're all more beautiful than the last."

His gaze swept over Fei Wu's alluring face, then settled on the portrait of the gentle woman beside her. He remembered that when he first met Fei Wu, the latter seemed to have been present as well.

He couldn't help but wonder, "Speaking of which, who is she? Why does Fei Wu always bring her along?"

“She is Fei Wu’s oxygen tank,” Qin Su explained.

"Oxygen tank?" Chu Lu was taken aback, and was about to ask further questions.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall, and a captain of the Imperial Guard rushed in, shouting, "Your Majesty! A military intelligence report that is extremely urgent!"

"Speak." Chu Lu's expression was indifferent. After all, at this point, he no longer cared about military intelligence.

"The White Flag Army, which has been causing trouble on the border, has suddenly raised the slogan of acting on behalf of Heaven and is now approaching the capital!"

This didn't surprise him. After all, Su Yan had been dead for so long, and according to the main storyline, it was time for this protagonist of the dungeon to come and seek revenge.

However, the captain's next words made Chu Lu lose his composure.

"Not only that, our informants within the White Flag Army have reported that the White Flag Army bandit leader, Xie Guhong, has died unexpectedly, the cause of which is unknown!"

(End of this chapter)