"I remember now," Tan Shu suddenly stopped and clapped his hands. "I've seen that guide before."
When Ni Ji heard this, he didn't react at all, and didn't even stop, and walked straight past him.
"Hey, Ni Ji." Tan Shu called him, "Do you remember, we met the guide just now? Just two days ago."
He called out to Ni Ji, his tone relaxed, like a casual chat between classmates and friends.
It was as if the person gritting his teeth a moment ago was not himself.
"Didn't you save the guide of an airship when you came here? That guide, the one we just met, is also in there." He looked at Ni Ji with a smile, carefully observing Ni Ji's reaction, and dragged out the last half of the sentence, "Do you remember? Don't you think it's a coincidence?"
The sentinels have always had good eyesight and observation skills, and their memories are very strong.
He had not paid attention in his rage just now, but after walking for a while, he gradually remembered.
He had seen the guide before, but only two days ago. At that time, among the group of distraught guides in the airship, this girl was so calm that she attracted people's attention. She was also beautiful. Although he only glanced at her casually, she left an impression in his memory.
While Tan Shu was talking, he was observing Ni Ji's attitude.
Ni Ji didn't respond to him at all. His cold expression remained unchanged. Even the glance he gave him was the same as before, with a slight chill in his indifference.
But Tan Shu felt that he had grasped something, a kind of unusually slight tension appeared in Ni Ji. The feeling was so subtle that it was almost unnoticeable. But he still caught it. He felt that under Ni Ji's expressionless face like a glacier, there might be some secrets hidden.
Tan Shu began to think carefully and found that he had seen the guide more than once.
Some time ago, this guide was also present at the dinner where the Count was assassinated.
Of course, Tan Shu didn't pay attention to her at the time, he just knew there was such a person at the banquet. She was the protagonist of a scandal, vaguely about her fiancé breaking off the engagement.
In the second half of the dinner, his attention was all on Ni Ji. He always felt that Ni Ji was a little bit strange that day.
He now remembered that when everyone was taking off their clothes and checking their injuries in the hall, Ni Ji looked towards the guide several times.
He knew Ni Ji, and Ni Ji was a person who had never had any interest in being a guide.
That day, who was he looking at when he took off his clothes in front of so many people
Could it be this guide as well
It might just be a coincidence, but Tan Shu felt that there weren't so many coincidences in the world.
"Let me think about it. What was her name? I've heard of her before. She was the guide whose engagement was broken off by Jiang Yangshuo. Her last name seemed to be Lin," he said at last. "Yes, her last name was Lin, Lin Yuan."
When the word "Lin Yuan" came out of his mouth, he saw Ni Ji's face turn ugly for a moment.
Tan Shu started laughing, as if he had finally gotten hold of some unknown leverage over Ni Ji.
Every time he faced Ni Ji, the other party always looked at ease, which made him feel very frustrated.
He couldn't hold Ni Ji, and he even felt that the teacher couldn't hold this guy either.
The reason why he couldn't hold on was because there was nothing left in this world that Ni Ji cared about.
He was alone, without a father or a mother, and all his closest friends and relatives had died.
Like a thousand-foot-high mountain, living alone in the world, free from all worries and fears, he has no weak points that can be exploited.
But what if he has someone he cares about
By the way, I heard that it was a guide who cleared Ni Ji’s name when he was able to escape from the military control office early.
Another guide.
This is really interesting, Tan Shu thought, if Ni Ji doesn't die this time, he will definitely investigate the guide carefully when he returns.
Tan Shu started looking at the map he had been holding. There was a secret mark on the map, which was the new monster's lair that only he knew about.
There are not just one but many of those horrible monsters lurking inside.
He had been planning for a long time, wanting to get rid of Ni Ji in this polluted area. But he always felt that he might not succeed. Ni Ji's strength left him with a deep shadow, so that he always felt that no matter what trap he set, it was not necessarily safe.
In the end, that guy always crawls back from hell like a devil.
Tan Shu was thinking about something and didn't notice the look in Ni Ji's eyes.
Ni Ji's eyes first turned cold, and then slowly became chilly, like frost on autumn tiles, with a slight hint of moisture in the cold.
He took his hand out of his pocket, walked over, and put his long arm around Tan Shu's shoulders.
"Xiao Shu." Ni Ji lowered his head, leaned close to Tan Shu and asked, "How many times have you been to a contaminated area?"
In the past, when they were in school, they often walked around with their arms around each other's shoulders. But since returning this time, Ni Ji has never done this again.
"How many times? Several times, right?" Tan Shu didn't understand why Ni Ji suddenly asked this.
"How many times?" Ni Ji used his fingers to hold his shoulders tightly and chuckled, "Do you know? I have been in and out of the contaminated area 380 times in total."
"Put down your map." He pressed his fingers on Tan Shu's shoulder and then released his hand. "To deal with everything in the contaminated area, you need more than just the information on paper."
He left the last words, his face expressionless, and walked forward.
Tan Shu felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat for no apparent reason. People with malicious intentions are always prone to panic.
He, what does he mean by this? He can't possibly know, this is impossible.
He was behind, staring at Ni Ji.
Fortunately, after Ni Ji left those puzzling words, he didn't say anything more, and without stopping, he walked at the front of the team.
Ni Ji was responsible for clearing the way, which was a job arranged before departure. He was also very obedient.
The street ahead was straight, bright, empty, and looked perfect.
But Tan Shu knew in his heart that it was there.
As long as Ni Ji walked a little further forward, countless black arms would emerge, grab him and drag him into the abyss.
Tan Shu held the secret map tightly in his hand, standing at the end of the team, in an area where he was sure he was safe.
He looked at Ni Ji's back as he moved forward step by step, and suddenly felt a little nervous.
That was his hero and idol in his youth, and he had also been his brother and good friend. Now he had to watch this man die and personally push him into the hell he had prepared for him.
Ni Ji kept walking forward, and just when Tan Shu's heart was tense, he suddenly stopped, turned back and took one last look at Tan Shu.
"What, what happened? Did you find anything?" Tan Shu asked a little nervously from a distance.
Standing there with the starry night sky behind him, Ni Ji suddenly smiled, a smile of letting go and feeling relieved.
He waved goodbye and walked forward.
In an instant, countless dark hands emerged from the alley.
Five fingers like those of a human hand, soft arms that could be extended infinitely, like black life-threatening ropes pouring out from the gate of hell, swarmed out in hundreds and thousands, grabbed Ni Ji's arms and ankles, and dragged him into the alley.
He didn't even have time to leave a single word.
Finally, Tan Shu felt relieved.
Is it finally solved
He didn't know whether he should be happy or sad.
I feel a little lost.
In the next moment, the world turned upside down and a huge feeling of weightlessness came over me.
A black arm appeared from nowhere, wrapped around his arm, and lifted him upside down into the air.
"Help... Help me!" Tan Shu shouted in panic.
Weird, soft, noodle-like long black arms crawled out one by one as if attracted by something.
They crawled out from all directions, from behind the team, and from the dirty and dark endless alleys.
Directed just at him, it tightly wrapped around his arms, shoulders, and neck.
Those hands piled up one after another, dug in, and entangled the shoulders where Ni Ji's hands had just pressed. They lifted Tan Shu up and dragged him into the dark shadows.
The sentinels had just run towards the place where Ni Ji disappeared. Now they reacted and rushed to the rescue in the opposite direction. The pulse guns lit up and fired back and forth, breaking countless dark arms.
But the arms wrapped around Tan Shu were layered and endless.
The arms that were shattered by the robbery fell to the ground, wriggling and gathering like a sticky liquid, and soon recovered as before.
If you want to rescue people from it, you must have extremely powerful firepower that can cut off all the black hands in one fell swoop without hurting Tan Shu who is caught in it.
"Hurry, pull me out!" Tan Shu clung to the brick wall at the entrance of the alley and roared heartbreakingly.
"Pull me out, asshole! Pull me out!"
"I don't want to die, I don't want to die! Help!"
No one dared to pull him over, and no one wanted to get close to those soft, strange black hands. The sentinels could only stand at a distance and shoot back and forth, watching their captain being dragged into the darkness bit by bit.
Tan Shu felt a bone-chilling despair.
Why.
He never stepped into the danger zone.
He was clearly standing in the safest place.
The sentinels fired their pulse guns until the barrels overheated, and the stone bricks of the streets and walls were baked red and softened by the radiant energy of the electronic pulses.
But it was still no use. Those black arms healed again and again, wrapping around him joyfully. Tan Shu's body was dragged into the dark world bit by bit. His voice was hoarse, and his mouth was covered by a black hand. He could no longer shout for help.
The sentries began to retreat slowly. They knew it was useless. They could not rescue anyone and might even lose their lives if they were not careful.
This was the first time they experienced the horror of the No. 5 contaminated area, even in the safe "daytime" and not yet the "night". But one mistake, and in a blink of an eye, they lost both the captain and Ni Ji.
Oh, and there’s Ni Ji.
At this moment, countless crescent-shaped red sword lights exploded in the alley that Ni Ji was dragged into.
The sword beams that shot up into the sky shredded countless tightly entangled black arms.
Ni Ji rolled out from the bite-filled darkness with a strange red knife in his hand. As soon as he got out and stepped on solid ground, he bit open the incendiary bomb he was carrying and threw it behind him. He exerted force with his feet, jumped up a few times, and left the battle, standing in a safe area far away from danger.
He stood there, his eyes still glowing purple, his palms stained with blood from being cut by the blade, his whole body filled with murderous aura, and the huge flames from the explosion reflected on his stern face.
He escaped from the monster's entanglement alone, without any help, and remained basically unharmed.
"Ni Ji, Ni Ji, you actually broke free." The sentry closest to Tan Shu was surprised and happy, "Quick, go and save the captain."
He was halfway through his words when he looked at Ni Ji's expression and his voice inexplicably weakened.
Ni Ji was holding the blood-red sword, with his back to the light, his eyes burning with a cold purple glow. He looked back at the alley where Tan Shu was making his last struggle, his feet motionless.
The street lights cast his long shadow on the ground, and the shadow looked like the strange black hands that took Tan Shu away.
The sentry silently swallowed the words in his throat.
He understood that Ni Ji would not take any action. He himself did not dare to go up, so naturally he had no right to call Ni Ji, who had just escaped from danger, to come over.
Suddenly, he had a feeling that Ni Ji knew everything.
He knew all of Tan Shu's plans and knew that Tan Shu was plotting against him secretly.
When the incident happened, Ni Ji and Tan Shu were far apart, and Ni Ji was in danger before Tan Shu. As for Tan Shu's distress, Ni Ji can be said to be innocent and has no responsibility at all.
But he always had a vague feeling in his heart that Tan Shu's death was related to Ni Ji. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shudder. He would not tell this to anyone.
He looked at the man with a cold expression under the night sky.
This was an evil spirit, a killing god, someone a small pawn like him should never mess with.
Since Tan Shu has been trapped, he is a dead person. No one will sacrifice his own safety for a dead person.
The purple fireflies in Ni Ji's eyes gradually went out, and his black eyes looked coldly at the alley destroyed by the pulse gun.
The black smoke in the alley had retreated to the deepest part. Even with the sentry's vision, Tan Shu's body could no longer be seen. He was completely engulfed. Only one bloody hand struggled to stretch out from the last black shadow for a moment, trying in vain to grab something, but three or four black hands grabbed his fingers and pulled him completely in.
Ni Ji recalled that when he was a student, he often climbed over the wall of the Sentinel Academy, squatted there and stretched out his hand to Tan Shu, "Xiao Shu, we are going to sneak out, do you want to follow me?"
Although Tan Shu was hesitant at that time, he always reached out to him in the end.
Goodbye, little tree.
Ni Ji picked up the map and backpack that Tan Shu dropped on the street, took a casual look at them, turned around and walked forward.
"Wait a minute, Ni Ji." A sentry came forward and called Ni Ji, "The captain is gone, you lead the team for the rest of the journey?"
"Yes, Ni Ji, you lead the team and we will follow you."
"We'll listen to you."
The sentinels came up.
Even the sentries who were closest to Tan Shu in the past expressed their views in this way.
"The captain is gone, everyone listens to you."
They all graduated from Sentinel Academy. When they were young, everyone admired senior Ni Ji, who was sunny, strong, and able to lead the team to win first place in the competition.
But in the past few years, following the principal and Tan Shu, we gradually stopped judging heroes by their abilities. We all learned to put on more cosmetics and compete with each other to see who can better guess the intentions of the superiors and flatter them.
After entering the polluted area, they finally remembered their sentinels' instincts and realized that being strong was the skill they needed to survive.
Even someone as strong as Ni Ji can go in alone and kill his way back and forth in the contaminated area and bring out a boatload of people.
With one man and one sword, they can escape from the quagmire-like monster unscathed.
This is the leader they deserve.
"If you want to follow, then follow."
Ni Ji retracted his knife and wiped his blood-stained left hand on his clothes.
The fingers that were placed on Tan Shu's shoulders rubbed back and forth on his clothes nervously.
He knew in his heart that there was a little inducer on the fingertips of that hand, which had been pressed silently on Tan Shu's shoulder.
Although the medicine had long been washed away by the blood, Ni Ji always felt that there was still something sticky there.
Sticking to the life of a good friend from childhood.
The sentries behind him thought he was still the senior student and wanted to get close to him, but in fact he was no longer that person.
He is just a madman, a ghost who has not yet died, with blood on his hands, walking on a dead end with no future.
Anyone who comes into contact with him will be drawn into a bottomless vortex.
His world was dark and stained with blood.
If there was anyone who had ever given him a taste of warmth during that bloody period, it was only the guide who had given him a sip of warm water in front of the rack.
As he strode forward, the skin on Ni Ji's ankles began to itch for no reason. He remembered the feeling of a tentacle teasing that place, and the person's bright eyes and clean face.
Even if I didn't do anything, I didn't even dare to say a word to her.
Even so, she almost got noticed by others.
She is a guide who should be pursued and cared for by the Sentinels, and live in a peaceful and safe world.
I shouldn't have met someone like me.
From now on, I will never think about her again.
Have nothing to do with her.
It's just a bit regretful, I really want to have a good word with her.
It seemed as if joyful music came from somewhere, and the slowly rotating stars in the sky, like a vortex, seemed to be calling, and suddenly became bright and brilliant, spinning in a colorful manner.
The dense and still canvas came alive at this moment.
Whose dream was awakened
On the shore of the golden beach, wet bodies slowly crawled out from the bottom of the sea. Those black, wet bodies slowly lined up and walked towards the empty, lighted streets one by one.
"what happened?"
"What happened?"
The sentinels under the starry sky looked at the suddenly changing world and asked anxiously.
"It's 'night'," Ni Ji looked at the night sky above his head, frowned, and said in a deep voice, "'night' has arrived early."
"How is that possible? There is still plenty of time."
"How can 'night' come early?"
"Why is it like this? It's not that easy for us to get out now."
The sentinels became panicked, because everyone knew that when "night" fell, all the sleeping monsters would wake up, and this place would become a "living" world.
It is extremely difficult to survive in the "dark night" of the contaminated area, even for a sentinel.
"Let's go." Ni Ji lowered his center of gravity, put force on his toes, and ran at full speed along the gradually brightening street.
While running, he couldn't help but wonder in his heart, has that person left
Did the sentinels protect her well
(End of this chapter)