Chase Game

No matter what Wang Yun asked, Zhang Qiang would ramble on and on, refusing to cooperate.

Finally, his patience wore thin, so he waved his sleeves, ignored Zhang Qiang, and turned to leave.

Gang took half a step, and a voice drifted from behind him:

"Alright, since you've asked so sincerely, I'll mercifully tell you—"

Only when Wang Yun turned around and stared at him with a dark, displeased expression did Zhang Qiang continue speaking.

"You guessed right, that's a player."

"Who is it?"

"Well... oh dear, I'm a little thirsty. Wait a moment while I get you some tea..."

Zhou Jie stepped forward, frowned, pointed to a porcelain piece on the table, and said with dissatisfaction, "Isn't the teapot right here?"

"That's what you drank from. I'm a bit of a germaphobe."

"You son of a bitch...you're deliberately picking a fight, aren't you?"

"Heh, look at you, spewing 'horse' all the time and spewing filth. I won't drink the water you've polluted."

Wang Yun stopped Zhou Jie, who was about to retort, and said with a subtle look in his eyes:

"Your name is Zhang Qiang, right? I don't know why you're so hostile towards us."

"But I hope you can see clearly that we are now in the same boat, and what you are doing is completely pointless."

Zhang Qiang cursed inwardly: "You're the one who doesn't realize it; nobody's in the same boat as you."

However, he still kept the "temperature" under control, and his tone softened slightly.

"It's not that I didn't want to tell you, it's just that it was too dark and I really couldn't see clearly."

Zhang Qiang is also the kind of person who lies without thinking.

Unexpectedly, Wang Yun was not fooled by this tactic at all, and he said calmly:

"As you should know, as the acting head of the family, I have the authority to grant you a period of time to leave the Meng residence."

Zhang Qiang was genuinely surprised when this news came out.

He did know about it.

He had previously thought that since Wang Yun was the acting head of the family, there was virtually no chance he would be given the green light, so he had always treated this game as if he couldn't get out.

So he was surprised when Wang Yun said it at this time, but Wang Yun's meaning was also very clear.

That is "exchange".

They exchanged intelligence during a period of time away from home.

Wang Yun held up two fingers towards Zhang Qiang.

"Two hours. I'll give you two hours to go out. In exchange, you tell me what information you know."

Zhang Qiang thought to himself, it would be great to be able to go out to the Meng residence, but what could he possibly accomplish in two hours?

He was about to raise the price when Wang Yun interrupted, "You only have two hours. If you want to bargain with me, I'm leaving now."

Clearly, Wang Yun had calculated things very carefully. Two hours was neither too long nor too short; one couldn't go anywhere, at most only be able to stroll around Zhuncheng County.

Well, something is better than nothing.

Zhang Qiang thought to himself, "Anyway, this isn't any particularly important information."

"Alright, let's use the system to sign the contract first."

In this game, the system supports players making "contracts".

Both the supervisory and enforcement parties are systems.

Soon, both of them got what they wanted.

Once this matter was settled, Wang Yun and Zhou Jie stopped wasting words with Zhang Qiang and turned to leave.

Zhang Qiang wanted to stop them, but he didn't have a good reason, so he could only let the two leave.

At the same time, he silently prayed that Ling Yi had finished.

"Since everything's alright, I might as well go down into the dry well and take a look..."

Zhang Qiang thought to himself, and ran toward the dry well.

Wang and Zhou arrived at a dark room.

Zhou Jie's face was filled with anger, while Wang Yun muttered, "So it was that blond guy..."

"Captain, Zhang Qiang is just a newbie, yet he talks to us like that. Even if we're not in the same group, isn't that incredibly disrespectful to our seniors?"

Zhou Jie picked up the teapot, put his mouth to the spout, took a big gulp, and said indignantly.

Wang Yun glanced at her coldly and criticized her mercilessly, "Senior? What senior?"

"You think you're a senior just because you've been playing the game a few days longer than that Zhang Qiang?"

"Director Song of 'Qi Bai Group' has been a player for less time than you and I. Do you expect him to call you 'senior'?"

Zhou Jie simply made a casual complaint as usual, and Wang Yun would usually just listen without offering any opinion.

Zhou Jie was genuinely puzzled that he would actually argue back against his teammate for the sake of an outsider.

Moreover, the example he cited was indeed irrefutable, so he could only grumble a few times and sulk.

Little did Wang Yun know that after meeting Zhang Qiang, he felt a surge of jealousy and resentment.

Why is it that every team member Li Qingping found is capable and can stand on their own?

I heard that Zhang Qiang wasn't the one Li Qingping initially wanted; he was only brought into the team because he and the newcomer named Ling Yi were childhood friends.

Now that Zhang Qiang is so cunning and resourceful, what about that Ling Yi?

Thinking of this, and glancing at Zhou Jie beside him, who was sulking and kicking the corner of the table in frustration, he felt a surge of anger.

Wang Yun couldn't help but recall the days when they were still in "Yunliu Third Group".

At that time, his teammates were more often happy than sad.

But after some events, Feng Yi left, and his teammates seemed to have changed as well, becoming sharp-tongued, mean, and easily angered...

How could this happen?

Suddenly, he remembered what Feng Yiliu had said to him before he left:

"Wang Yun, you've changed."

A thunderclap exploded in Wang Yun's mind.

I've changed... Have I actually changed too?

You clearly see the changes in your teammates, but not in yourself?

Wang Yun had never thought about this question before.

Suddenly realizing this, he subconsciously glanced at Zhou Jie and found that the other man was also looking at him.

"Captain, what's wrong?"

A simple word of concern, when it reached Wang Yun's ears, filled him with dread.

He quickly denied it.

"No, it's nothing..."

But what he was thinking was:

No, I haven't changed!

In the darkness of memory, Feng Yiliu's figure and voice gradually faded into the distance, leaving him alone in the end.

He put on his cold expression again, asking without a trace of emotion, "Have you found that dancer?"

Zhou Jie was unaware of Wang Yun's inner thoughts, but he could sense the change in Wang Yun's aura.

This made him feel somewhat uneasy.

Zhou Jie hesitated before answering, "No... the underground palace is just too big, and it's a maze-like structure, and besides..."

Wang Yun frowned slightly.

"And what?"

"If you stay in there for too long, it becomes unbearably hot and stuffy, like being in an oven, and you have to come out."

After Zhou Jie finished speaking, he added, "That dancer has most likely suffocated inside."

Wang Yun remained silent, pondering the matter in his heart.

In the background memories he received, the dancer, after refusing the indenture offered by the acting head of the family, fled and inadvertently opened a huge palace beneath the Meng family mansion.

Even though the dangers inside were uncertain, the dancer had no choice but to resolutely escape inside, and then disappeared without a trace.

After Wang Yun took over the role of acting head of the family, he arranged for Zhou Jie to explore the underground palace, but so far they have found nothing.

Seeing that Wang Yun remained silent, Zhou Jie couldn't help but speak up to remind him:

"Captain, the dancer's quest is just a minor side mission, is it really necessary to make such a fuss about it?"

"Wouldn't it be better to focus on single-task missions?"

Wang Yun frowned deeply and said in a deep voice, "It would be best if the dancer died, but if she is rescued, it's hard to say whether we can still achieve a perfect victory."

What he didn't know was that the dancer wasn't dead, but she also wasn't rescued.

Inside the underground palace, the scholar Ling Yi, who is tasked with saving the dancer, is still wandering aimlessly.

Holding a torch in one hand and unbuttoning his coat with the other, he thought to himself, "Why is it getting hotter and hotter..."