Chapter 33.2 Diary Page 4
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Lin Zhaohe quickened his pace, wondering why Zhuang Lao couldn’t hear his footsteps.
As he approached Zhuang Lao, he finally turned slowly. Lin Zhaohe saw Zhuang Lao—the rabbit mask adorning his face.
In an instant, the atmosphere turned icy. The previously cheerful and hurried steps came to a halt.
Lin Zhaohe stared blankly at Zhuang Lao and said, “Boss…”
“Run, Brother Lin!” Zhou Ze had already been somewhat afraid of Zhuang Lao, and now, seeing him wearing the mask, he seemed even more like a startled rabbit. He grabbed Lin Zhaohe, wanting to run in the opposite direction. However, Lin Zhaohe didn’t move. He seemed unable to accept the fact that Zhuang Lao had also become a monster, frozen in place.
Zhuang Lao started walking towards them.
Zhou Ze watched him getting closer, cold sweat pouring down his face. He trembled and said, “Brother Lin!!”
Lin Zhaohe replied, “No.” He tilted his head, resembling a little dog trying to recognize its owner. “Boss is not a monster.”
In the next moment, Zhuang Lao reached up and removed the mask from his face, revealing a smiling expression.
“Boss!” When Lin Zhaohe saw Zhuang Lao remove the mask, his tense body suddenly relaxed. “Boss, you scared me.”
Zhuang Lao smiled and said, “Did I frighten you?” As he approached, his smile faded slightly. “Are you injured?”
“I’m fine, just minor injuries,” Lin Zhaohe waved his hand, not concerned about the wound on his shoulder. “Where did you get the mask?”
“I found it after taking down a few of them,” Zhuang Lao said. “Wanted to see if the mask has any additional effects. It seems to have some influence on people…”
Lin Zhaohe and Zhou Ze walked over and saw Jiang Guan and Jiang Nan there. Jiang Guan had a rabbit mask on her face, tightly bound like a sticky rice dumpling, while Jiang Nan held her. The atmosphere was neither harmonious nor discordant.
“Jiang Guan has changed?” Lin Zhaohe immediately understood what had happened.
“Hmm,” Jiang Nan nodded.
Indeed, those who changed were the ones with similar combat capabilities as Yun Yuzi, the first-tier fighters. Jiang Guan must have slain many Josephs, making her the first to change. Thinking about her performance on the second floor, Lin Zhaohe sighed in relief that she had been subdued. Otherwise, once she transformed, everyone would have been buried together.
“We have found four pages,” Lin Zhaohe said. “Only the fifth page remains…”
Zhuang Lao stood behind Lin Zhaohe, holding the rabbit mask in his hand, contemplating. “You went to the cemetery? Did Qin Xu take you there?”
Lin Zhaohe was somewhat surprised. “That’s right… How did you know?”
Zhuang Lao: “It’s his ability. Where is he?”
Lin Zhaohe: “He distracted Jiang Guan’s bodyguards and gave me a map before leaving…” He took out the map from his pocket.
Zhuang Lao took the map and examined it. “The last piece should be here.”
Lin Zhaohe asked, “Where?”
Zhuang Lao pointed to the small cabin where they had taken shelter when they first arrived.
“Why there?” Lin Zhaohe asked.
“That’s where Joseph and his mother lived,” Zhuang Lao explained. “Joseph cannot be immortal. Once we break the curse imposed by his mother, all of this can come to an end.”
Lin Zhaohe nodded. “That makes sense… Shall we go there now?”
Zhuang Lao agreed, “Yes.”
He called out to Jiang Nan, and the group began walking towards the cabin.
Since they had traveled this path before, Lin Zhaohe and the others were familiar with it. However, as they walked, Lin Zhaohe couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease. This was the place where they had separated from Yun Yuzi before. He wondered if they would encounter her again.
Zhuang Lao asked, “What are you thinking?”
Lin Zhaohe exclaimed, “Oh, damn!” It seemed that his fears had come true. “Yun, Yunzi! She’s back!” He had been on the receiving end of Yun Yuzi’s beatings before, and now, as he looked up, he saw her appearing like a ghost in the distance. Lin Zhaohe cried out, “I can’t defeat her now.” After being struck by an axe earlier, he couldn’t maintain his transformation any longer and had returned to his normal self.
“It’s alright,” Zhuang Lao reassured, perhaps finding Lin Zhaohe’s tone too pitiful. He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Let me handle this.”
“Boss, are you sure about this?” Lin Zhaohe asked. “Sister Yun is really fierce…”
Zhuang Lao remained silent and walked directly towards Yun Yuzi.
Through his mask, Yun Yuzi’s cold and indifferent gaze fell upon Zhuang Lao. However, instead of launching an attack as she had done before, she became highly alert and tense all over her body. This formed a stark contrast with Zhuang Lao’s relaxed posture.
“It seems like Sister Yun is quite afraid,” Zhou Zao blinked his eyes and murmured, “Is Zhuang Lao really powerful?”
Lin Zhaohe had never actually witnessed Zhuang Lao in a fight. Whenever something happened before, he was always afraid of his boss getting hurt and would rush to the front. Now, it was the boss’ turn to protect him. Excited yet anxious, Lin Zhaohe quietly cheered on his boss, “Boss… Come on, boss…”
Could the boss, who appeared to have thin arms and legs, actually defeat Sister Yun?
Yun Yuzi and Zhuang Lao locked eyes, and the atmosphere became as solid as ice. Suddenly, Yun Yuzi made her move, leaping forward with great force!
Her jumping ability was already extremely strong, and after assimilating with the serial killer, it became even more incredible. Despite being five or six meters apart, she propelled herself forward and landed right in front of Zhuang Lao.
Zhuang Lao didn’t react, not even blinking his eyes. He simply watched as Yun Yuzi lifted her axe and swung it towards him—
“Boss—” Zhuang Lao’s lack of reaction terrified Lin Zhaohe to the point where his eyes seemed ready to burst. If it weren’t for his own lack of agility, he might have rushed forward to block the blow for Zhuang Lao.
The axe, accompanied by a piercing sound, was on the verge of cleaving Zhuang Lao in two. But in the moment when the sharp blade touched Zhuang Lao’s skin, Yun Yuzi’s movement came to a halt.
She widened her eyes, seemingly unable to comprehend why she couldn’t directly kill the seemingly fragile human before her. No matter how hard she tried, the axe couldn’t advance even a hair’s breadth.
Zhuang Lao blinked and uttered a baffling remark, “You guessed right.”
He smiled, grasped Yun Yuzi’s wrist, and swiftly swung her around— effortlessly slamming her onto the ground.
Zhuang Lao’s strength was immense, causing Yun Yuzi’s body to create a noticeable depression in the ground. She cried out in pain, and Lin Zhaohe couldn’t help but grimace, thinking that his boss was truly ruthless.
“Take away her axe,” Zhuang Lao clapped his hands and retrieved the axe from the unconscious Yun Yuzi. “She poses no threat now. Let’s go.”
Lin Zhaohe asked, “Boss, why couldn’t she hit you just now?” He had been scared out of his wits by the recent events.
Zhuang Lao: “She’s afraid I’ll deduct her salary.”
Lin Zhaohe: “?” He didn’t believe anyone could be as clear-headed as him.
“Just kidding,” Zhuang Lao chuckled. “I was just reminded of Rule Four and wanted to test it out.”
Rule Four: Trust your teammates.
“So, it means our teammates won’t harm us?” Lin Zhaohe asked. “Then why did I get slashed by Jiang Guan’s bodyguard? That blow wasn’t light at all.”
“It’s simple,” Zhuang Lao explained. “Because they didn’t consider you as a teammate.”
Lin Zhaohe fell speechless, choking on his words.
“Let’s go,” Zhuang Lao urged. While Yun Yuzi remained groggy, the group continued their journey toward the cabin.
Unbeknownst to them, they had already spent nearly two days here. They had twenty-four hours left and the final page of the diary. Overall, things were progressing relatively smoothly.
Twenty minutes later, they reached the cabin. It had undergone a tremendous transformation since their departure, now covered in fresh blood and marks of slashing, resembling the aftermath of a brutal sacrifice.
In front of the cabin, Lin Zhaohe even spotted a hexagram pattern drawn with blood. His pupils dilated upon seeing it, but before he could say anything, Zhou Ze, that annoying kid, exclaimed, “Isn’t this the logo of the Fruit Magical Team? Why is it here?”
Lin Zhaohe angrily retorted, “Can you have some culture? You’ve only seen the Fruit Magical Team, haven’t you? Don’t you know that a hexagram can also summon demons?”
Zhou Ze shrunk his neck and said in a plaintive tone, “Brother Lin, you’re so fierce.”
Lin Zhaohe thought to himself, If I’m not fierce with you, you little brat, you’ll never stop!
[A/N]
Lin Zhaohe: Boss, why doesn’t the mask work on you?
Zhuang Lao: Everyone has a different constitution.
Lin Zhaohe: …
If you enjoy this novel, support the Translator ginevre on her ko-fi account :))
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
