stjorthotic Chapter 118 The Spellcaster?
Chapter 118 The Spellcaster?
Chapter 118 The Spellcaster?
The sky was overcast, and it looked like it was going to rain.
Li Jiuhe and Zhang Song walked to the perimeter of the abandoned basketball court.
He looked up at the sky, then asked Zhang Song, "Where did you get this USB drive from?"
Zhang Song said, "It was obtained after we broke the curse on this city together."
"What I mean is, who had it first?" Li Jiuhe added.
"Oh, Fang Yi got it first, then he was attacked by those crazed natives, so he entrusted it to me for safekeeping." Zhang Song asked, "Did you discover something?"
Li Jiuhe didn't answer, but continued to ask, "What's the relationship between Fang Yi and Guo Yunxi?"
Zhang Song frowned, seemingly recalling something: "Well, it's nothing special. We students keep in touch privately. Since we're all cursed individuals from nearby cities, we share a common sequence and are all registered with the Investigation Bureau, so we have some common ground. But we're just friends, not particularly close ones."
At this point, he asked, "Investigator Li, do you suspect Fang Yi or Guo Yunxi is the problem?"
"Both of them have problems," Li Jiuhe said.
Before the mission was reset, he saw Guo Yunxi in the stairwell leading to the fiftieth floor and thought that Guo Yunxi was the one hiding among the four students and also the one who murdered Zhou Yiwen.
But when Zhang Song asked him, he discovered that the black USB drive was actually given to him by Fang Yi.
The USB drive was also clearly problematic, because he was deliberately telling Guo Yunxi loudly that it was no use for her to go up there, since the girl did not come back to retrieve the USB drive when it was with him.
This indicates that the USB drive in his hand was just a decoy, or even fake.
"What? The two of them—" Zhang Song looked surprised.
Ever since his last visit to his mentor, whose health had suddenly deteriorated, he had been puzzled, wondering who was diluting his mentor's abilities.
But since his advisor didn't explain, he couldn't understand it either.
Until this training trial, the entire city suddenly mutated, trapping them inside, and they were also cursed.
Zhang Song then realized that even his mentor didn't know who was trying to harm him, so he could only trap all four of them and eliminate them one by one.
As for Li Jiuhe, he knew more than Zhang Song: Zhou Yiwen could at most trap them and then investigate.
If they find out who it is, they might destroy that person along with this desolate city, turning this place into that person's grave.
But Zhou Yiwen probably won't curse these four people with certain death.
The curse was likely placed by the student who plotted to harm Zhou Yiwen, and this person's purpose was to prevent the other students from leaving so that they could keep the boundary stone for themselves.
However, there was one thing Li Jiuhe couldn't understand: how could Zhou Yiwen, the old curse master, be successfully harmed by a mere student who was only a curse user?
He took out the USB drive, weighed it in his hand, and said, "Let's not go to the central building yet. Let's go back."
Zhang Song looked surprised, then hesitated and said, "No matter what, let's leave Biecheng first. Even if we suspect Fang Yi and Guo Yunxi are involved, as long as we're in this city, the regional death curse on us can't be lifted. Only after we leave this place will the death curse be lifted, and then we'll have plenty of ways to deal with them."
Li Jiuhe shook his head and asked in return, "Why do you think your mentor would go to such lengths to trap this traitor here?"
Zhang Song was taken aback, then shook his head.
Although he didn't know, this at least showed that his mentor had a reason for trapping this person in Biancheng.
According to the mentor's plan, after finding the culprit, the other innocent people could be secretly lured out.
Unexpectedly, they were all cursed, which directly thwarted Zhou Yiwen's plans.
"Shall we go back now and find the traitor out directly?" Zhang Song asked.
"Not necessarily, let's wait and see," Li Jiuhe said.
He needed to make sure the other party hadn't left any backup plans.
Of course, if you really can't find anything, then just keep pushing the plot forward.
If you keep pushing this storyline to the end, you'll eventually find some clues.
After circling around outside, the two quietly returned to the basketball court, entered through another entrance, and then moved along the dilapidated eaves to a spot not far from the locker room they had just been in.
In the locker room.
"Do you think it's possible for that investigator from headquarters to get us out safely?" Guo Yunxi asked Fang Yi.
Fang Yi nodded: "I think there's a very good chance."
"We don't even know his capabilities yet." Guo Yunxi smiled, then walked over to Hong Xiaojun and asked him, "What do you think?"
As she approached Hong Xiaojun, she intentionally or unintentionally placed her right hand on her side, where she concealed a sharp kitchen knife that she had prepared beforehand.
But just then, the door to the locker room was suddenly opened, and Li Jiuhe and Zhang Song returned one after the other.
Guo Yunxi's expression changed slightly, she took a step back, and abandoned her next move.
Fang Yi was also taken aback, and looked up at the two who had returned: "What are you doing here—"
Li Jiuhe sneered, threw the USB drive in his hand to the ground, and stomped on it hard, shattering the USB drive into pieces.
"What are you doing?" Zhang Song asked in surprise.
"Ah!" Hong Xiaojun also cried out in fright, but he quickly realized what was happening and hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand.
In contrast, Fang Yi and Guo Yunxi only showed shock on their faces, and their reactions were not very strong.
"Fang Yi, do you know what I'm doing?" Li Jiuhe asked with a smile.
Fang Yi remained silent for a moment.
After a moment, he replied, "You destroyed the USB drive so that nobody could get out?"
Li Jiuhe shook his head, opened his right palm, and held it out to Fang Yi: "If you trust me, give me the real USB drive."
"What?" Zhang Song and Hong Xiaojun stared in astonishment at the scene.
Only then did the two realize that the broken USB drive they had just seen was fake.
"I don't know what you're talking about?" Fang Yi spread his hands. "You only have one USB drive, do you think I can conjure up a second one for you?"
Li Jiuhe wasn't going to waste any more words with him and reached into his pocket.
"You don't want to live anymore!"
Guo Yunxi shouted angrily to stop him, drew a kitchen knife from her waist, and threw it at Li Jiuhe.
Unexpectedly, her knife-throwing skills were extremely proficient. The kitchen knife spun twice in the air before the tip was aimed straight at the back of Li Jiuhe's head.
Without even turning his head, Li Jiuhe reached out with his left hand and grabbed the handle of the kitchen knife.
His right hand still reached for Fang Yi's pocket.
Fang Yi immediately stepped back, and at the same time slapped his round belly, which had swallowed a lot of water, and a jet of water shot out from his mouth.
Li Jiuhe reacted quickly, shifting his body to the side and dodging the water arrow.
He braced himself with one hand on the ground and quickly stood up straight, the kitchen knife he had been holding now pressed against Fang Yi's neck.
"Give me the USB drive!"
The scene froze; everyone in the room was stunned by what they saw.
Zhang Song and Hong Xiaojun hadn't expected the USB drive to be fake, but Zhang Song had already realized that Li Jiuhe's guess was correct: Fang Yi and Guo Yunxi were both suspicious.
At first, he thought there was only one traitor among the trainees.
As for Guo Yunxi, she didn't expect Li Jiuhe to discover their secrets so quickly and determine that the USB drive was fake.
Everyone present is cursed, and apart from Li Jiuhe, the others are all cursed individuals, belonging to the pure ability-oriented Sequence Users.
In close combat, no one can match Li Jiuhe.
Fang Yi hesitated for a moment, then reached into his chest pocket and slowly took out a black USB flash drive.
This USB drive is exactly the same as the one from before.
"There really is one more!" Zhang Song couldn't help but exclaim.
Li Jiuhe took it immediately.
Almost at the same moment, Fang Yi revealed a strange smile and muttered to himself, "Spell of Body Conversion."
As soon as he finished speaking, he lightly patted his chest with his right hand. Li Jiuhe immediately felt as if his chest had been hit by a heavy hammer. He was jolted and clearly felt that all his ribs had broken.
These broken bones quickly pierced into the internal organs.
Fang Yi took a step back and patted his body, arms, and legs, just like someone who had just walked home and was brushing off the dust.
However, correspondingly, Li Jiuhe's body, arms, and legs caved in one by one, all his bones shattered, and he fell to the ground without any warning.
With his bones shattered, muscles collapsed, and internal organs ruptured, he was instantly unable to move and looked at the composed Fang Yi with barely a breath.
Zhang Song and Hong Xiaojun were stunned by the scene, their faces turning deathly pale as they stared at Fang Yi in terror.
Fang Yi, now completely different from his earlier distress, spoke calmly, "You ignorant fool."
He then patted his heart.
Boom!
Li Jiuhe suffered cardiac arrest.
"Do you know what a Possession Charm is?"
Outside the abandoned basketball court, Li Jiuhe asked Zhang Song a question.
Zhang Song was taken aback, then replied, "This is an advanced curse spell, which only curse masters can cast. Curse users like us can only master intermediate curse spells. We can only dream about things like the Body Possession Curse."
"Only sorcerers can master it?" Li Jiuhe asked, frowning.
"That's right. You need to reach a level of power where your words become law to master the Body Possession Curse. It's a curse technique exclusive to curse masters. Because only powerful curse masters can make their words become law."
Zhang Song asked curiously, "Why did you suddenly ask that?"
Li Jiuhe didn't answer, but continued to ask, "If a powerful Sequence user faces a spellcaster whose words become law, who has a better chance of winning?"
Zhang Song laughed: "You probably don't know the value of a high-level spellcaster. To put it simply, unless this martial arts-type sequencer has their own domain, they are bound to lose."
He paused for a moment, then explained, "For a high-level spellcaster, making words into law is just a matter of a single sentence. Even if he suffers a backlash, he can generally withstand it in the short term."
"Unless you own the domain?" Li Jiuhe muttered to himself.
He understood that the opera singers of Tongcheng possessed the domain of the stage.
Therefore, Tong Cheng is not only powerful in combat, but also basically invincible in his own field. Only a Sequencer like him can deal with a high-level spellcaster.
Strictly speaking, one's own task definition capability also generates a domain space.
However, his martial arts skills were poor. Apart from his good physical condition, great strength, and agility, he did not have the strength of a "fierce martial artist" like Tang Sheng, the former leader of the special operations team of the Wangchuan City Investigation Bureau.
Therefore, based on this calculation, I have almost no chance of winning against Fang Yi.
To Li Jiuhe's surprise, Fang Yi turned out to be a hidden high-level spellcaster.
His abilities couldn't have always been this strong, otherwise why would he hide in this training class and willingly be Zhou Yiwen's student?
Capacity dilution?
These four words resurfaced in Li Jiuhe's mind. He said to Zhang Song, "Call Hong Xiaojun now—"
Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Song shook his head and said, "His phone is broken. It broke last night when he was helping Fang Yi escape from the attack of those crazed aboriginals."
Li Jiuhe's eyes lit up slightly, and his plans changed.
He quickly said, "Hong Xiaojun is in danger now because Fang Yi and Guo Yunxi are the ones who plotted to kill your mentor, Zhou Yiwen."
"Ah!" Zhang Song exclaimed in shock.
"Moreover, Fang Yi has concealed his strength; he is already a spellcaster," Li Jiuhe continued, dropping another bombshell.
Zhang Song was struck dumb, frozen on the spot, his face pale.
Li Jiuhe ignored his reaction and continued, "Stay calm. Pretend you know nothing and go back to stall them for a while—"
In the locker room.
"Do you think it's possible for that investigator from headquarters to get us out safely?"
Guo Yunxi, completely unaware, asked Fang Yi again.
In reality, she wanted to use this question to get closer to the unsuspecting Hong Xiaojun so that she could make her move.
Now that investigators from the General Bureau have appeared, she and Fang Yi's plan can no longer be delayed; they can only eliminate one at a time.
If Li Jiuhe can break through the cursed avatar from Zhou Yiwen in the central building of Biecheng, they can find an opportunity to sneak into the control room and insert the real USB drive in their hands.
It would be best if the investigator could die here; if he doesn't, they can at least plug in the USB drive and leave.
Before leaving, Fang Yi used his spellcasting skills to cast a spell on the USB drive, which would self-destruct the moment they left.
Those who didn't have time to leave will remain here forever, perishing along with the deflated city.
This was a plan that Fang Yi and Guo Yunxi changed at the last minute after the arrival of investigator Li Jiuhe.
After all, they had already determined that Zhou Yiwen would not come in personally.
Before Fang Yi could respond in kind with Guo Yunxi, the locker room door opened, and Zhang Song returned with a normal expression.
"Huh, why are you back?" Guo Yunxi asked in surprise, slowly withdrawing her hand from the kitchen knife on her side.
Zhang Song smiled and said, "This investigator is very capable. I don't need to take him. He has already gone to the central building on his own."
And he told me that the good news would arrive in about ten minutes at most.
"Ten minutes?" Fang Yi and Guo Yunxi exchanged a glance.
Neither of them expected that Li Jiuhe was so confident in entering the control room on the top floor of the building, and that he had even calculated the timing.
"Come on, let me tell you about Investigator Li's plan."
Zhang Song rolled up his sleeves, looking confident and assured.
Seeing Zhang Song turn back, Li Jiuhe quickly arrived outside the abandoned basketball court.
He stood on the side of the street and looked around.
The streets were still bustling with pedestrians. Although the flow of people here was not as great as when he first arrived in Biecheng, it would still be easy to attract attention.
Turning my head, I saw five college students walking by, carrying basketballs and jerseys, chatting as they went.
Li Jiuhe cleared his throat, deliberately avoiding looking at the group, and instead looked up in surprise at the tall buildings and street scene in the distance, giving off a sense of bewilderment.
"Where am I? Where have I been brought? This city, this street scene, these people—I've never seen them before!"
His surprised and questioning voice was loud and clearly reached the ears of the few young people passing by.
The conversation among the group suddenly stopped.
Li Jiuhe pretended to be oblivious and turned his head to look. He saw the five young people standing still, their eyes cold and their faces expressionless as they turned to look at him.
He didn't try to hide anything; instead, he quickly stepped forward and asked them, "Excuse me, where is this place? Is it still the Tian Shu Kingdom?"
The words had barely left his mouth when the expressions on the five young men's faces began to change. Some burst into laughter, some cried, some danced with joy, and one even jumped up excitedly, slapping his thighs with both hands—
Their expressions were exactly like Li Jiuhe's nonsensical face when he made those faces earlier; their expressions were abstract and their behavior was bizarre.
The next second, the five people went berserk and pounced on Li Jiuhe.
Li Jiuhe had been prepared for this all along; he did all this simply to wait for this moment to happen.
Before they could pounce, he took off running, shouting in feigned terror, "What are you doing? I just asked where I am! You're all crazy! Everyone in this city is insane! Where am I?"
The words kept repeating themselves, almost as if they were being screamed.
Moreover, he didn't run to deserted places; instead, he ran towards places with many people.
In less than a minute, more than a hundred people, men, women, and children, had gathered behind Li Jiuhe, all with crazed expressions, chasing after him.
Others joined in midway, trying to intercept his escape route, but Li Jiuhe easily dodged them all with his agile skills.
Keep running, rushing to wherever there are crowds.
In another three minutes or so, he had run through the entire area. Even passing vehicles, including buses, stopped, and a large number of passengers poured out of them, chasing after him frantically.
Hats, bags, shoes, and many other items fell during the chase, but no one paid any attention. Instead, Li Jiuhe's shouts only made them more frantic.
After running for seven or eight minutes, Li Jiuhe turned his head and saw a dense crowd of people behind him, probably more than a thousand people.
However, these natives were much slower than the two stone men from before, so they couldn't catch Li Jiuhe for the time being.
But Li Jiuhe also knew that if there were more people, the streets would be blocked, and no matter how fast he was or how agile he was, he would probably be trapped like a turtle in a jar.
Without further delay, he quickly changed direction and rushed towards the abandoned basketball court.
In the locker room.
Zhang Song was chatting away with Fang Yi and the other two, rambling on about Li Jiuhe's so-called action plan. He was talking so much that his spittle was flying everywhere and his mouth was dry, but he was already very anxious.
Fang Yi and the others were completely confused and couldn't help but be surprised.
Just then, the people inside the room suddenly felt a tremor approaching.
All four of them instinctively looked up at the ceiling, and then saw dust falling down in a flurry.
Zhang Song breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that it had finally arrived.