Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 123: Road Construction
After that incident, the five friends didn’t eat anymore. Despite the Western restaurant serving various aromatic soups and desserts, all five of them didn’t touch a bite. Even Chi Yingxue, who had a sweet tooth, resisted the temptation of the cake for the first time ever—it was a choice between the itching desire to eat and the painful thought of dying a horrible death. Comparing the two, avoiding pain by giving up sweets was preferable.
The members of the travel group ate and drank comfortably, as if nothing had happened.
They were like a group of emotionless NPCs—a concept the five friends had come to accept.
As lunch drew to a close and the restaurant was almost devoid of anyone but the travel group, the leader, having eaten his fill, wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up to announce, “My fellow travelers, you all must be tired from this morning’s activities. Next, I’ll take you to a leisure bath center to relax and ease your fatigue. Then we’ll head to a resort in the suburbs to enjoy the beautiful mountains and green waters of our city…”
“Great!” Someone in the group initiated a positive response, and the others quickly joined in.
The five friends exchanged glances, their spirits, nearly crushed by the various deaths, reignited slightly.
Bath center, Finnish bath, badge.
This death-filled challenge, dark from start to finish, was finally showing a sliver of hope, a direction they could pursue.
As the large group left the restaurant, Xu Wang subconsciously glanced at the badge manual again, which still indicated “Finnish bath”.
Wu Sheng understood his concern and reassured his captain. “All signs indicate that only our team is facing these challenges tonight. If the hint changes, it will only be because we have found the badge.”
“There are no absolutes in anything.” Xu Wang shook his head, cautiously following the steps of the travelers in front, lacking his usual swagger. “Being cautious is never a bad thing.”
Seeing him like this, Wu Sheng chuckled. “A flowerpot and a fork scared you?”
Xu Wang rolled his eyes reluctantly but had to admit, “Without you, a flowerpot and a fork would have killed me twice already.”
Wu Sheng said, “But you have me.”
Xu Wang turned to look at him.
Wu Sheng slightly tilted his head, giving Xu Wang his most charming angle, and smiled breezily.
Xu Wang wanted to tease him and also felt like kissing him, but in the end, he did neither, just curving his lips into a smile.
What is love? It’s when you want to write a book titled “100 Examples of Wrong Ways to Be Cool” for someone to memorize day and night, yet also find them irresistibly cute when they try to act cool.
“Aren’t you scared?” Xu Wang asked seriously.
Since the first death, even the usually calm and indifferent Chi Yingxue had shown a desire to survive, but Wu Sheng remained as composed, calm, and methodical as ever.
“As long as you see through the connection between the things around you and accidental deaths, all so-called emergencies become a fixed link in the chain of death calculations.” Wu Sheng looked ahead, unruffled. “When accidents are no longer surprising, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Xu Wang: “……”
Wu Sheng suddenly turned, raising an eyebrow. “Regretting it now, huh?”
Xu Wang was confused. “Regret what?”
Wu Sheng said, “Regretting not watching those thriller, suspense, horror, and detective movies with me.”
Xu Wang: “I could watch them eight times and still not reach your level…”
Was this a normal reaction to movies for anyone?
“No problem.” Wu Sheng shrugged. “It’s like you watched them when I did.”
Xu Wang’s silent retort stopped abruptly. He stared at Wu Sheng’s profile, outlined sharply by the afternoon sun.
“What’s up?” Wu Sheng felt a bit puzzled under his gaze.
Xu Wang gave him a gentle smile, speaking sincerely for once. “Suddenly, I think you’re quite handsome.”
Wu Sheng frowned slowly. “The word ‘suddenly’ seems oddly used.”
Xu Wang: “……”
Wu Sheng continued to look at him expectantly.
Xu Wang surrendered. “You’ve always been handsome—”
Advisor Wu was satisfied.
Xu Wang looked skyward in silence. Of course, he only did so for a second before immediately refocusing, keeping his vigilance radar up, watching ahead and both sides.
The three companions walking closely behind the leaders had to eat dog food for three minutes amidst their anxiety.
Kuang Jinxin enjoyed it, feeling a touch of happiness from their leaders’ harmony and intimacy, despite his vague understanding of love.
Chi Yingxue was indifferent, contemplating whether snatching the tour leader’s flag might trigger an interesting side quest.
Qian Ai, a single man yearning for a relationship, felt bittersweet, his heart aching with each step he took. The suspense and horror that had nearly driven him insane were inadvertently eased a bit.
The tour group entered a shaded path paved with asphalt, with mechanical work sounds coming from ahead.
Looking up, they saw four workers digging up the road surface within a marked area using handheld drilling machines. This is a common practice for repairing potholes or other issues on the road by removing the old surface and replacing it with new material.
The shaded path was about six meters wide, with the travel group walking on the right side. The work area was about seven meters long and three meters wide on the left front side. The road surface within this area was already half dug up, with broken pieces of the road not yet cleared away, left in their pried-up state.
The four workers, heads down, focused on their task, paying no attention to the passing travel group.
Xu Wang and Wu Sheng exchanged a glance, then Advisor Wu turned back to his team and warned, “No matter what happens, don’t listen, don’t look, don’t be curious, don’t gather around.”
Chi Yingxue returned a look, acknowledging the message.
Kuang Jinxin nodded vigorously.
Qian Ai said, “Understood. Just keep a steady pace and follow the leader closely.”
If there was any so-called safe zone in this challenge, it certainly revolved around the “immortal leader”.
With a unified mindset, Xu Wang and Wu Sheng quickly sped up to stay close behind the leader, and the other three companions immediately followed their pace.
In a moment, the five of them formed the first phalanx of the larger group, staying no more than one and a half meters behind the leader.
Soon, the large group brushed past the workers, divided by the centerline of the road.
Xu Wang tensed all his nerves, focusing only on the leader’s small flag, taking steady, measured steps forward.
The seven-meter-long construction area didn’t take many steps to cross, but for those on high alert, each second felt interminably long.
Finally, they followed the leader past the construction zone, seeing the road ahead become wide and smooth again.
“Ahh!”
“Eek!”
“Ahh—”
Suddenly, a series of screams erupted from behind them, very close, no more than two meters away!
The leader didn’t turn his head, acting as if he hadn’t heard anything.
Xu Wang was prepared for something to happen on this seemingly normal path with a construction crew. Thus, he didn’t falter in his steps. But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Wu Sheng flinch at the sound of the screams.
Xu Wang wasn’t prepared for this reaction. Concerned, he was about to ask what was wrong when Wu Sheng steadied himself, his stride firm again, as if the earlier falter was just an illusion.
Suppressing his doubts for the moment, Xu Wang continued to follow the leader closely.
They were at the front, with only the leader and two other travelers ahead of them and the rest of the group behind.
Whatever was happening behind them, Xu Wang really wanted to know, but he was determined not to look back, to stay alive.
After a dozen seconds, they reached the end of the shaded path. The leader suddenly stopped and turned around, as if he had just remembered he was leading a group. His concerned gaze passed over them to look behind.
Only when the leader turned did Xu Wang dare to twist his neck to see what had happened.
The once compact group had split into three parts.
One part was their group, following the leader in the first phalanx; another part comprised people who slowed down to watch the commotion. Due to the crowd slowing down, they were scattered and not in any formation. The last six, likely those who had screamed, remained near the construction area. Some were sitting on the ground, gasping for air, others were standing on one leg and shouting, all seemingly busy with something stuck to their shoes.
At that moment, a slight tremor emanated from the ground.
Then, with a thunderous “boom”, the entire section of the road within the construction area collapsed!
Xu Wang watched in horror as the four workers and the six tourists nearby were swallowed by the pit in an instant, without even a chance to cry for help!
The collapsed section was only a dozen meters away from where he stood!
The trembling of the ground didn’t stop with the collapse but grew even more intense.
“Not good, the whole road is going to collapse—” A traveler closest to the collapse yelled and started running frantically forward!
Seeing this, the other travelers also began to run.
The leader, already at the front of the group, sprinted away from the shaded path and onto a more open pedestrian street.
Wu Sheng wanted to remind his teammates not to move, but when he turned around, he realized there was no need; all his teammates had remained still, evidently “experienced” by now.
At the same time, a notification rang in their ears—
[Owl: Someone used [(Defense) Happy Moment of Levitation] on you~~]
This was one of Xu Wang’s stationery.
As the notification sounded, all the companions felt their bodies lighten, their feet slowly lifting off the ground.
Just a few seconds after they were airborne, the entire shaded path collapsed.
Except for them, all the surviving travelers had already run out of the path and joined the pedestrian walkway.
Xu Wang operated the defense stationery, leading his teammates to float through the last stretch of the path. Just as they caught up with the rear of the main group, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew!
A large advertisement billboard hanging outside a building in front was ripped off by the strong wind and crashed right in front of the group!
Of the five people in the first phalanx, except for the leader at the very front, the remaining four were all crushed under the billboard!
The wind stopped without any warning, just as suddenly as it had appeared.
The noise subsided, and the world returned to silence.
Blood slowly flowed out from under the billboard…
The five companions floated about twenty centimeters above the ground. Although they anticipated it, they were still frightened.
Had they followed the leader closely just now, they would have been the ones lying under the billboard.
In less than five minutes, ten people had died. The death toll had risen to sixteen.
After floating along the pedestrian walkway for about ten minutes, the five companions and the remaining travelers, led by their leader, arrived at the bath center.
Upon entering the lobby of the bath center, Xu Wang was about to deactivate his defense stationery. After all, it’s more convenient to walk in enclosed spaces. But before he could even close his eyes and concentrate, Wu Sheng stopped him. “Don’t deactivate it yet.”
Xu Wang was puzzled, but knowing Wu Sheng must have his reasons, he didn’t ask further. He just lowered their floating height slightly so that the five of them skimmed the ground, appearing as if they were walking with the main group.
Following the leader, they entered the elevator and went up to the 5th floor, where the men’s bath was located. Xu Wang didn’t deactivate his defense stationery until Wu Sheng gave him a nod in the changing room.
Finally, the five companions landed on the ground.
Several male travelers around them, including the leader, had already started undressing.
Xu Wang breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he could finally ask Wu Sheng the reason for them to remain floating. Unexpectedly, Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin, who had been holding back all this while, spoke almost simultaneously—
Kuang Jinxin: “Sheng Ge, do you know what happened before the road collapsed?”
Qian Ai: “What did those people step on while walking on the shaded path? Why did they scream and then just stop walking?”
Xu Wang held his forehead, thinking that Wu Sheng hadn’t looked back when the incident happened. No matter how smart he is, he couldn’t have eyes on the back of his head.
Just as he was pondering, he heard Wu Sheng say, “They stepped on nails.”
Xu Wang looked at his advisor in surprise. “Did you see nails on the ground when you passed that section?”
“I didn’t see them.” Wu Sheng sat down on the nearest bench.
Xu Wang was confused. “Then how do you know?”
Wu Sheng crossed his legs, bent over to take off a shoe, and revealed a shining nail head on the sole. “Because I stepped on one too.”
Chi Yingxue, Kuang Jinxin, Qian Ai: “……”
Xu Wang widened his eyes. “Didn’t it pierce your foot?”
Wu Sheng pondered for a moment and said, “It did a bit.”
“Why didn’t you take off your shoe immediately?!” Xu Wang doubted the extent of “a bit”!
Wu Sheng shook his head. “Any unnecessary movement can distract and lead to accidental risks.”
Xu Wang wanted to hit him!
But what he did was pull down the other’s backpack and search for the medical kit.
Qian Ai stepped closer, looking at the shoe thrown on the ground. The tip of the nail protruding from the shoe was definitely more than “a little bit”. Just looking at it made his own foot hurt.
Chi Yingxue looked at the nail in the shoe, then at the unfazed Wu Sheng, somewhat surprised.
Kuang Jinxin expressed his concern. “Sheng Ge, later find a plastic bag to wrap it up. Don’t let it touch water. As soon as we leave the Owl, go get a tetanus shot.”
“Okay.” Wu Sheng readily agreed to the scientific suggestion.
“It would be nice to have healing stationery.” Qian Ai scratched his head in irritation. They had plenty of stationery in the team, but none for healing. It wasn’t that they were wasteful; injuries were just too frequent.
“It’s okay.” Wu Sheng didn’t mind. “Pain is good, especially in this challenge. It keeps people alert.”
Qian Ai: “……”
He finally understood why Wu Sheng could be a leader, find a partner, and show affection.
To succeed, a man needs to be tough on himself.
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