Chase Game

About half an hour after Ling Yi and his companion descended the cliff, Wang Yun and Zhou Jie also arrived.

Standing before the cliff face, gazing into the abyss, Zhou Jie exclaimed in amazement, "There really is such a place..."

"As expected, this earthquake didn't happen without a reason."

Wang Yun's gaze narrowed slightly.

Previously, when they were searching for the dancer, there was no lit path in the underground palace to guide them here.

However, what exactly is unusual down there, and whether the dancer is even in that abyss, remains unknown.

"Let's go down and take a look."

Wang Yun led the way.

Zhou Jie seemed somewhat surprised.

"Huh? We're just going to keep going like this?"

Wang Yun frowned slightly and asked, "Why, it won't work?"

"No, it's just that I feel it's hard to come back up once I go down, and I don't know if the temperature will continue to rise..."

Clearly, Zhou Jie was somewhat resistant to going down into the abyss.

After experiencing the "fever" phenomenon, Wang Yun quickly tried various methods.

Like Ling Yi, he also used a prop to prevent himself from being affected by the illusion.

But like Zhang Qiang, Zhou Jie had no way to break the illusion and could only rely on patience.

Compared to Zhang Qiang, Zhou Jie was clearly struggling to hold on at this point.

If the temperature continues to rise, it's hard to say whether he'll be able to climb back up.

Although Wang Yun was aware of this, he still harbored some dissatisfaction with Zhou Jie.

He said, "Then you should go back first. Remember to mark the way; that's all you can do as a fugitive anyway."

The first two requests were all normal, but when the last one came out, Zhou Jie frowned and looked very dissatisfied.

Wang Yun pretended not to see it and continued walking down the cliff into the abyss.

Now, only Zhou Jie was left, unsure whether to stay where he was or leave.

Going up would be tantamount to admitting one's incompetence, while going down would mean admitting one's inability to handle the situation.

Finally, he swore out a curse word, almost in anger.

"Damn it..."

After he finished cursing, he still felt that his own life was more important, so he turned around and went back the way he came.

As for the markers along the way that Wang Yun mentioned, he merely gave a perfunctory reply, filled with resentment.

Wang Yun's insistence on going down into the abyss was not solely due to his search for the dancer.

What he really wanted was a perfect score, an S-rank rating.

Because Wang Yun is only one S-level rating away from becoming a Tier 1 player!

Therefore, he had to do his best to achieve perfection, not only in completing his own single missions, but also in handling any side missions.

Moreover, this is clearly a main quest with high rewards and high ratings.

As for Zhou Jie, in his view, those who could not help or even make things worse were indeed useless.

He felt that not saying it outright was already giving Zhou Jie enough face.

The two characters in the instance are "boss and confidant" respectively, and should have a relationship of mutual trust and support.

But at this moment, it seems that this is not the case.

The relationship between Wang Yun and Zhou Jie stands in stark contrast to the relationship between Ling Yi and Zhang Qiang on the other side.

The firebird crashed into Zhang Qiang's chest and instantly exploded into a fireball.

"Qiangzi, are you alright?"

Ling Yi, standing behind Zhang Qiang, asked with some concern.

It's more cost-effective for the tough-skinned pursuer Zhang Qiang to block the attack than for Ling Yi, the fugitive who has to use various skills and items to do so.

But if Zhang Qiang gets injured as a result, it wouldn't be worth it.

However, Ling Yi's worries were unnecessary.

Zhang Qiang snorted, "I thought it would be something special, but it's just like this."

Immediately afterwards, he let out a loud shout, and a powerful aura erupted around him, instantly extinguishing the flames on his body.

Ling Yi was relieved and smiled, "Not bad, Qiangzi, you really pulled off that."

Zhang Qiang was secretly pleased. Being able to show off in front of his good brother made his time enduring the heat from the fire worthwhile.

He turned around, intending to say a few more words, but found no trace of Ling.

"Holy crap, where did everyone go??"

Ling Yi's voice came from deep within the cave.

Zhang Qiang quickly ran forward, and after turning a corner, he finally saw the light of the torch.

"How did you end up here?"

"Let's see if there's a path in here."

"I see there's still a road outside..."

Zhang Qiang blurted it out, but when he saw the flickering flames on the torch in front of him, he was reminded of the firebird from earlier.

"I see. You were worried about further attacks from Moltres, so you came here to find another route?"

The person in front, without turning their head, replied, "Smart."

Zhang Qiang instantly felt confident again. He had been carried by Ling Yi before, which almost made him lose confidence.

Now, he can even protect Ling Yi, and he has caught up with Ling Yi's way of thinking.

Turns out I'm actually quite smart!

"There really is a road... Holy crap, why the hell did you hit me?"

Zhang Qiang was so engrossed in his own world that he didn't notice the distance and ended up bumping into Ling Yi in front of him.

However, admitting to being wrong is impossible.

He brazenly replied, "Don't you feel safe with me as your strong support?"

Ling Yi took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly.

"I just find it terrifying... Do you know what two scenarios might occur when one man stands behind another?"

Which two?

"Enemies and best friends."

Zhang Qiang was taken aback: "Aren't we best buddies?"

"I'd rather we were enemies."

Why?

"Because the enemy will at least stab you with a knife."

If the enemy stabs you with a knife, what will your best friend stab you with?

This question naturally popped into Zhang Qiang's mind.

He quickly came up with the answer and immediately backed down.

"Damn it, my sexual orientation is normal, don't get the wrong idea!"

After their usual playful banter, the two left one after the other this time.

The two walked side by side, one on the left and one on the right, down the spiral staircase.

Soon after, Wang Yun also arrived near the cave, where he also encountered the Firebird.

However, he didn't rush into the cave.

As the firebird charged straight at Wang Yun, he simply made a grasping motion in the air, and the firebird was caught by the neck, unable to move.

With a slight exertion, Wang Yun clenched his fist, causing the Flame Bird to instantly disintegrate.

Watching the flames fall downwards after the firebird disintegrated, Wang Yun pondered for a moment.

"Was it not manipulated by humans...?"

The moment this thought crossed his mind, he saw tiny sparks of fire reappearing at the bottom of the abyss.

Wang Yun frowned, sensing that something was wrong.

After he arrived at the cave, the scattered "fireballs" also flew over.

This time it wasn't a giant firebird, but rather tiny sparrows made of flames.

As if it possessed an automatic target acquisition ability, the Flame Sparrow charged towards Wang Yun with a fearless, suicidal attack.

Wang Yun wasn't flustered; he just felt that cleaning them one by one would be too troublesome.

So he put his hands together and slapped them together with a snap.

At the same time, an even louder explosion rang out in the air.

Snapped!

Hundreds of Flamebirds were instantly crushed and flattened.

After dealing with the Flame Sparrow, Wang Yun, like Ling Yi, found a second path down to the abyss inside the cave.