Chapter 12 The Cost

Before the words left his mouth, he felt that familiar aura emerge. Behind him on the ground, a shadow vaguely appeared.

But unlike before, this time the shadow was swaying, not just because of weakness, but because...

Jiang Cheng's expression changed instantly. He saw a huge wound splitting the shadow's waist.

The wound was horizontal, looking extremely exaggerated, almost reaching the spine. As he moved forward, the upper half of the shadow's body trembled constantly.

Was this... the price of saving him?

Amidst the horror, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but feel a touch of warmth. This terrifying figure had unknowingly become his support.

Steadying his mind, Jiang Cheng chose a path that seemed safer and circled around. With his back against the wall, he slowly moved towards Lin Muyun's position.

Closer.

Even closer.

As he approached, Lin Muyun remained in the same posture, appearing even more eerie in this environment.

Actually, to be safe, Jiang Cheng should have sent Lin Muyun a message on his phone beforehand to prepare him. But he worried about breaking the delicate balance.

Yuan Xiaotian, who remained undetected, was a thorn in Jiang Cheng's side.

Finally, after reaching a certain distance, Jiang Cheng saw the killer hiding behind the bookshelf.

But this time, the killer's appearance shocked him.

The killer's axe was gone. To be precise, the entire left arm holding the axe was gone, and a large chunk of the shoulder was also missing.

The severed area was smooth, as if cut off by a sharp blade.

Jiang Cheng subconsciously glanced at his shadow. The shadow obediently clung to the wall, giving off an ordinary illusion.

But Jiang Cheng knew that even though it looked innocent, it was responsible.

With Wu backing him up, Jiang Cheng felt much bolder.

Objectively speaking, Wu had taken his place to save him in their recent encounter, giving the killer an advantage.

But in the end, Wu had come out slightly ahead, at least not losing any body parts.

Considering that the killer was fighting on its home turf, the difference between the two was clear.

However, based on Wu's personality, if it could kill the killer, it wouldn't have just chopped off an arm. So Jiang Cheng realized that this was due to the limitations of the mission's rules.

Even if Wu was strong, it couldn't completely eliminate the killer inside this door.

Understanding this, Jiang Cheng began to consciously ignore the killer's presence and quickly moved towards Lin Muyun.

Soon, he reached his side.

As if hearing Jiang Cheng's footsteps, Lin Muyun, who hadn't moved for a while, began to tremble. He slowly raised his head, his eyes, narrowed with tension, meeting Jiang Cheng's face.

Jiang Cheng reached out to pull him out, while lowering his voice and saying, "Lin Muyun, come with me."

"Don't come over! There's another guy nearby!" Lin Muyun's reaction was abrupt and intense. His voice was hoarse, and his tone was completely different from before.

Hearing Lin Muyun's words, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but pause.

Then, before he could react, he heard a strange noise in the distance, "Squeak... creak..." From the direction of the door, a crooked figure emerged from the fog.

Jiang Cheng frowned sharply.

It was Yuan Xiaotian!

He was hiding here!

Everything clicked into place. This was all a conspiracy. The killer hadn't attacked Lin Muyun, it was just using him as bait.

The goal was to lure the others out.

Surrounding the point and striking the reinforcements, an old tactic, but effective.

It was too late to say anything now. Jiang Cheng grabbed Lin Muyun from under the table, and the two of them quickly pressed their backs against the wall, moving towards the other side.

Because their backs weren't exposed, the killer simply followed them, its movements stiff, maintaining a distance of about 5 meters.

The eyes hidden behind the transparent tape were bloodshot, struggling to open wide, as if the corners were about to tear. The pupils were shrunk into black dots, leaving mostly the whites of the eyes, making it look terrifying and vicious.

Coupled with that horrifying appearance, it was the kind of face that would cause nightmares just from a single glance.

But what worried Jiang Cheng more was Yuan Xiaotian.

Yuan Xiaotian was getting closer and closer. Although he was staggering, dragging one foot on the ground, making a constant friction sound, his speed wasn't slow at all, at least faster than them.

From Yuan Xiaotian guarding the door, it could be seen that his previous guess was correct. Leaving through the door, escaping Yourun Building, was the real way to survive.

Lin Muyun stared at Yuan Xiaotian's position, took out his phone, and quickly sent a message to Lin Muwan. Now that the killer and Yuan Xiaotian were focused on them, this was the last chance to escape. As long as they rushed out the door, his sister could live.

After doing this, he turned his head and looked at Jiang Cheng with a look of apology, his lips trembling, and said, "I've dragged you into this, Mr. Jiang, I'm sorry."

Before Jiang Cheng could speak, he immediately lowered his voice and said firmly, "Mr. Jiang, when Yuan Xiaotian gets closer, I'll find a way to hold him back, you find a chance to leave." He paused, glanced at the approaching Yuan Xiaotian, and continued, "Thank you for taking care of Muwan. I know that without your help, Muwan wouldn't have made it this far. Our Lin family will definitely repay this kindness."

Lin Muyun took a deep breath and said seriously, "Please, you must live!"

These words of entrusting his sister, like a thorn, stabbed fiercely into Jiang Cheng's heart, making his breathing stagnate, especially the last sentence—

Please, you must live...

Jiang Cheng hated this sentence, hated it from the bottom of his heart, because everyone who had said this to him had died in the end!

Only he, as they wished, had survived.

But who could understand the pain of the person who lived on carrying all of this?!

"Don't say such things." Veins popped out on Jiang Cheng's forehead, his slanted eyes revealing a fierce killing intent, causing Lin Muyun's heart to chill.

"No one will be abandoned, no one should be left behind, we must all live! We all have reasons to live!"

Lin Muyun seemed to be shocked by the aura that Jiang Cheng displayed, his mouth agape, unable to make a sound.

Until...

In the darkness in the distance, a large shadow rushed out, accompanied by a sharp friction sound and the sound of wheels turning.

It was a handcart loaded with large items, and at this moment, a slender figure was hunched over, desperately pushing the cart forward.

The sudden scene even attracted Yuan Xiaotian's attention. He stood there blankly, the only remaining left eye struggling to turn in its socket.

The next second, the handcart, accelerating to a terrifying speed, along with Lin Muwan behind it, slammed into him.