"Xinyuan, no, don't move. The blood will flow faster that way. Let me bandage you!" Heize Lianyue tore the bedsheet into long strips and wrapped it around Zhang Xinyuan's wound.
Blood splattered across the living room, staining Lianyue's delicate fingers. She didn't care about the bloodstains anymore; saving his life was the priority.
In agony, Zhang Xinyuan drifted in and out of consciousness several times, only to wake up in pain again due to the fabric rubbing against his flesh. When he woke up again, his upper body was wrapped like a dumpling, barely suppressing the flow of blood.
"How long has it been?" Zhang Xinyuan weakly asked, his blood loss making his already pale face even whiter.
"Fifteen minutes," she replied.
"Oh."
A bleak silence followed.
"Let's try again, Xinyuan. This time, use the setting sheet to heal yourself!" Heize Lianyue handed her phone to Zhang Xinyuan.
It was the last resort, only seeking self-preservation.
Zhang Xinyuan crawled on the ground, trembling as he used his lips to tap the screen. He entered the author interface of the Horror Novel Web and wrote in the setting sheet to heal his hands.
In less than three minutes, the review result came out--
"I'm sorry, your setting regarding 'healing Zhang Xinyuan's hands' violates the world's rules, and it's not approved. Author's score deducted by 1. Please revise and repost."
"Due to your three failed submissions, you will experience a mysterious event in one hour. Please be prepared."
"Mysterious event: dismemberment."
"Losing your hands means you will only be able to live a life as a disabled person. But your misfortune doesn't end there. There is a group of uninvited guests who still covet other parts of your body and want to claim them for themselves. How will you navigate this situation to ensure that your body is no longer harmed?"
"Note: 1. Once the mysterious event starts, you will be forcibly sent to another world for 2 hours. 2. A saw can cut your body, and glue can mend it. 3. If your brain dies, you will die immediately."
Zhang Xinyuan weakly lowered his head and let out a despairing hum. The last setting didn't pass either, but instead triggered a mysterious event.
It was a dead end. He had lost all hope of survival.
"Xinyuan..." Heize Lianyue squatted beside Zhang Xinyuan, looking at his wound, her words caught in her throat.
"I failed again. I thought the setting sheet could turn things around, but I didn't succeed even once."
"Xinyuan, believe in yourself. You can make it through."
"Miss Lianyue, can I ask you one last favor?"
"Of course, tell me, I'll help you."
"Kill me, if possible. Please don't make it too painful."
Heize Lianyue was taken aback, meeting Zhang Xinyuan's gaze. She saw tears streaming down his face.
From hope to despair, and back to hope, and then back to despair... Zhang Xinyuan had experienced too much sorrow. In the end, he found that he couldn't change his fate. Instead of dying in a terrifying event, he preferred to die at her hands.
"No, I can't do that..." Lianyue shook her head.
"I won't survive the mysterious event, and even if I do, I will only be a burden. If I die by your hand, you can have my score, use it to escape. You can do it on your own! Don't hesitate anymore, please release me early, Miss Lianyue!" Zhang Xinyuan had made up his mind, the pain from his wound relentlessly tormenting his consciousness.
Lianyue remained silent for a long time before reluctantly nodding. "Relax the muscles in your neck. I'll press your chin with my knee and twist your neck with my hands on top of your head. The pain will last a few seconds before you die."
"...Thank you."
Lianyue didn't deceive Zhang Xinyuan. With a "crack" sound from his vertebrae, he lost control of his body. The world before him became increasingly blurry as he gradually sank into darkness.
Death was easier than imagined. At least, he could gaze up at Lianyue's beautiful profile before dying, reminiscing about the happy times from a few days ago. Zhang Xinyuan slowly closed his eyes.
He had fallen in love with Lianyue, but never expressed his feelings. She was like the moon in the sky, distant and unreachable. He could only, in the wind and snow, admire her back, silently working hard for his own happiness.
In the chaotic darkness, Zhang Xinyuan seemed to return to his childhood, laughing and joking with his parents, without poverty or illness, everyone wearing a smile of warmth and happiness...
Zhang Xinyuan died, and his body gradually disappeared. Every deceased author is like a falling meteor in the sky, leaving no trace behind.
Lian Yue wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes and stared blankly at the page of Horror Novel Web, waiting... Ten seconds passed, one minute passed, and she didn't receive any prompts from Horror Novel Web!
Heize Lianyue's eyes gradually widened.
Association headquarters.
"Lord Verli, Zhang Xinyuan is dead." Jerute rubbed his temples and rapidly read Zhang Xinyuan's memories. The yellow dot representing Zhang Xinyuan on the map slowly disappeared.
"Retrieve the cached pages from Zhang Xinyuan's memories, and I will delete the data along the network cable." Zhang Xinyuan's death was expected and already planned.
With Zhang Xinyuan's memories as a guide, Jerute instantly locked onto Kana's data location on the internet and transmitted the page to Verli.
Verli placed his fingers on the screen.
Delete!
Delete!!
Delete again!!
Lines of code rapidly rewound, and the password lock that Lian Yue had painstakingly compiled disappeared layer by layer.
When Heize Lian Yue refreshed the page again, Kana's data had vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
The only thing that deterred the Association had been removed, and there was nothing left to threaten them. She had fallen into a desperate situation.
"Have I lost? Have I really lost?" Lian Yue stared fixedly at the screen.
...
"You have lost," Verli said softly.
"Lord Verli, the mastermind behind this is not Zhang Xinyuan, but the person beside him, Heize Lian Yue. She orchestrated everything, and Zhang Xinyuan was just her puppet. We need to get rid of her as soon as possible because she knows too much!" After thoroughly browsing Zhang Xinyuan's memories, Jerute discovered another major threat.
"We can't contact her, but we can locate her."
"Everyone, get ready to move." Verli stood up. "Emili, divine her future actions."
The group acted swiftly, and when Verli arrived in Washington, Lian Yue's location remained unchanged.
"Be careful not to be caught on camera during the killing. That woman has probably given up. In the face of absolute power, all tricks are futile." In a hidden corner, Anri took out a handgun and skillfully loaded bullets.
"Since the President doesn't plan to act, whoever kills her takes the credit. Any objections?" Nagi also held a gun.
"Hehe, when it comes to marksmanship, I won't lose to anyone."
"Wait, the location... the location changed!" At that moment, Jerute, who had been observing Lian Yue's movements, suddenly exclaimed in disbelief. On the map, Heize Lian Yue's location, which had been in Washington, suddenly became Boston. Had there been a bug in the location map controlled by the Operator?
Verli noticed the anomaly and furrowed his brows slightly. "Teleportation-type equipment? Why does a newcomer have that?"
"Hurriedly head to Boston. The cooldown time for teleportation-type equipment is quite long. Also, everyone, be cautious. She might have other dangerous items."
...
Since leaving the Association headquarters, Heize Lian Yue had not slept. She had made ample preparations to escape from the Association. Every second was precious to her, and she had stored many drafts to cope with the sudden rush of Horror Novel Web's deadlines.
To escape from the Association, she had even secretly experienced two mysterious events. Fortunately, these events, with their high death rate, did not kill her but instead gave her a crucial item - two travel tickets.
By staining the travel tickets with her own blood, she could activate teleportation and the distance she could travel depended on the amount of blood used. It had taken a quarter of her blood to move from Washington to Boston.
Staggering on unfamiliar ground, Heize Lian Yue knew that the Association had relocked onto her location and would find and kill her in a matter of hours. But... as long as she could meet that person, she would be safe!
She didn't know how long she had been walking when Lian Yue finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed on the ground. She fiercely bit her wrist, letting the pain help her stay awake.
No, she couldn't give up! She couldn't let all her efforts to escape from the Association go to waste here!
Suddenly, her vision darkened and she struggled to lift her head, only to find a figure standing in front of her, looking down on her from above.
A black robe covered the slender body, a few strands of long hair hung down from the neckline, and delicate features resembled that of a doll. The pitch-black pupils reflected the pale and pretty face.
The wind blew, moving the clothes of the two, as they silently stared at each other.
Liányuè paused for a moment before silently smiling.
She had won.
Using all her strength, Liányuè finally shouted the suppressed words hidden deep within her heart, "Unknown author, be careful of the 'Destruction Society.' They are all liars, demons! It's all a scam from beginning to end. They want to use the lives of new writers to create 'gods'. If this continues, everyone will die. Please help us..."
Yes, the deterrent effect was just a cover. Liányuè's true goal was to drag down another high-ranking author who had nothing to do with the society using these strange events.
Due to the "banishing curse" coursing through her body, killing her wouldn't reveal her memories. Instead, it would be known by the society. So, the high-ranking author couldn't kill her. And if she died naturally or was killed by the society, the society would know that another high-ranking author was aware of their secret. If that author didn't want to be hunted down by the society, they had to keep her alive.
Unfortunately, Xu Fang, who happened to pass by, was that author.
Xu Fang: ???
