Calculating that they wouldn't leave his area anytime soon, he decided to go find Blood Slaughter and make things clear.
Ask him what the hell he means—letting his own prey run wild was one thing, but now he wants to monopolize his prey too?
Jiang Che's madness lasted for quite some time. The three spent several tense minutes, only relaxing after Jiang Che calmed down and no danger descended.
As long as nothing got too loud, in everyone's mind, it basically meant—danger was reduced.
"Let's go, let's go. We'll take you to find your wife." Zhao Qi couldn't hold back a laugh. It was his first time coaxing a psycho with such a straight face.
As he spoke, he glanced at Ya by his side. "You guys didn't have it easy before, always having to take care of these people."
Ya kept her mouth shut. Just now, she suddenly realized she had already revealed how to control Jiang Che to these two.
If danger showed up, she was probably the first to get thrown under the bus. Jiang Che might even outlast her.
With someone at hand that could be controlled or sacrificed at any moment, when peril struck, anyone hard to control naturally ended up getting eliminated first.
"There are a lot of people like Jiang Che. We might run into plenty more on the way. When we do, we can pull them into our team. As long as we keep them under control, they're great pawns." Ya seemed to think of something, clapping her hands in excitement, though she didn't dare make a sound.
The more she thought about it, the more hyped she became. Just looking at Jiang Che, she could see: in this twisted Dungeon, dumb luck favored the dumb. The more messed up your head, the better your survival odds compared to normal folks.
There would be more lunatics ahead. She had a mental list of every mental patient's weakness, their obsessions. She knew just how to comfort a maniac's heart.
This meant an endless supply of chess pieces for them.
As soon as she finished, Zhao Qi and Wang Bing exchanged a glance.
Neither spoke, merely left the abandoned house—one in front, one behind.
Once outside, the sticky sensation beneath their feet returned, every step scraping at their nerves.
"Is that place really far?" Jiang Che eyed the direction they were walking. He remembered this wasn't the way he came in.
"Oh yeah, just three days and we're there." Zhao Qi slung an arm around Jiang Che's shoulders, not mentioning that the Dungeon would end in three days—if they didn't find the exit, they'd be erased.
Besides, most people wouldn't last three days; by the end of day two, the evil spirits would have wiped them clean.
"No way." Jiang Che shook his head. He could travel far, but he believed he absolutely had to let his family know first, or they'd worry.
"Why not? Don't you want to find your wife?" Zhao Qi threw Ya a glance, as if to say her reasoning wasn't working one hundred percent.
"It's too far. I need to tell Mom and Dad before I go." Jiang Che shook his head. "Come with me. We'll just say goodbye, then we'll leave."
He believed his parents would understand him going to find his wife. After all, she was their daughter-in-law.
Zhao Qi frowned, letting go of Jiang Che's shoulders. He pulled Ya aside. "He's not talking about other Survivors when he says 'Mom and Dad,' right?"
Ya looked just as grim. She'd realized the same thing: besides their group, there was another bunch of people using this family angle to keep Jiang Che in line.
"It must be that some other Survivors are acting as his parents to control him. But now, he's hung up on finding his wife, so there's a new obsession. We just need to go meet them. In the end, whether Jiang Che sticks with them or us, it's still up to him," Ya considered.
"Might as well. We'll get to see whoever else survived. Who knows? Maybe we can team up." Wang Bing didn't mind more people in the group.
He was confident in his physical strength. If danger hit, he wouldn't be the last one lagging behind.
Even ten more of these wouldn't outrun him. No matter how big the group, it just played to his strengths.
"Fine. If it works out, then we'll all go together," Zhao Qi said through gritted teeth. Of the current group, he wasn't sure he could take Wang Bing, and Ya was useful for now.
The three finished conspiring and finally addressed Jiang Che. "Let's go. We'll bring your parents, and then we'll all go help you find your wife."
Jiang Che lit up—that really was the best of both worlds!
He picked a direction and hurried ahead, almost too eager to introduce his new friends to the family.
Maybe it was just him, but ever since he found his parents, everyone he met seemed much friendlier.
People used to have no patience for him. Now these folks could chat with arms around his shoulders.
Jiang Che led the three in another direction—he never forgot the roads he'd walked.
"Honestly, following him isn't a bad idea. I haven't memorized the entire Dungeon Nine map, just have a rough sense," Zhao Qi whispered to the others.
"Me neither. Never thought I'd end up in Dungeon Nine."
"There are too many Dungeons. I never bothered with maps. All I cared about was exit strategies, how to survive the evil spirits, and picking up special items before leaving," Wang Bing snorted at their map talk. To him, it was survival first; finding the exit could only come after staying alive.
All the exit clues would come to those still breathing.
Jiang Che couldn't really follow what they were saying, and the three made a point of avoiding him as they talked.
Sss-quish—
Sss-quish—
As they chatted, a thick, sticky set of footsteps echoed from behind.
The moment that sound hit, the trio's hackles shot up in terror.
Their eyes met for a brief second. No words. The three bolted, each sprinting as fast as they could.
Forget who gets to die first, or letting the obedient Jiang Che survive—every prior calculation was gone in an instant. Their minds were filled with just one thought.
Run for your life!
Get ahead of everyone else.
Jiang Che looked at them, baffled. Why were they suddenly running?
"What about Jiang Che?" Ya struggled to keep up with the other two.
"Like I care if he lives or dies?!"
"Fuck, what shitty luck!"
"If I'd known, I'd have asked him where that other group was. Now we just have to run, stick to this direction."
...
The three fled at full speed, not daring to glance back.
The evil spirit reached Jiang Che in just a few breaths. He turned his head slightly, gave Jiang Che a cold sidelong look, then brushed right past.
He had already checked with Blood Slaughter. Blood Slaughter said, as long as he didn't touch the one wearing the bracelet, the rest were fair game.