I Was Once a Legend, Chapter 11: Inescapable

Fifteen minutes ago.

After Dong Linhai slashed the lizard chef with a knife in the kitchen, awakened the middle-aged woman, and got a positive answer to his question, he began to wonder why the lizard specifically choose them into the kitchen.

Was it really just because they looked delicious?

At this time, Dong Zheng and Allan were in the flute player’s bedroom completing the formation. However, because Linhai and the woman had broken away from the control of the magic flute, the curse left on the people was broken, and the remaining six people in the dungeon woke up confusedly one after another.

They didn’t have memories of the Pied Piper and Hamelin, only knowing that they woke up in a dark and damp dungeon.

After some doubts, the three groups found the key to unlock their cells after searching the bricks, haystack, and dung bucket in their cells. They’d originally planned to escape without alerting the guards, but the Mediterranean accidentally knocked over one of the candlesticks on the wall. This caused the silver candlestick to fall onto the ground, making a clear sound that could not be ignored.

The two lizard guards turned around and saw six people running down the corridor.

After that, it naturally devolved into a fierce battle.

The guards carried guns, spears and swords, while the pilgrims had no weapons except for a few daggers. The Mediterranean was completely empty-handed and could only hide. The two lizards were very brave and wore thick metal armor. Ordinary weapons could not hurt them at all. Not only that, the pilgrims were caged in by the narrow environment of the dungeon and so, for them, the battle situation fell into an extremely unfavorable position.

As one of the muscular man was using the Roman dagger he’d found on the road to reluctantly fight the guards, he couldn’t help but think: if the man with the hunting gun was here, wouldn’t it just take minutes to kill the two disgusting guys?

Where did the two brothers and the red-haired foreigner go?

As they fought, another lizard slashed at his head with a large sword. The blade flashed coldly in the dim candle light, slicing through the air and making people terrified. As long as it hit, the cheek would be cut off on the spot!

The muscular man reluctantly used a strange posture to bend down to escape. But, doing so caused a break in his defense line. A long spear stabbed forward, just about to poke him in the heart.

Boom!

At this very moment, a gunshot blasted in the dungeon. The bullet plunged into the lizard guard’s face, smashing it into a vague flesh, and creating a thick splatter of blood.

The guard’s body stiffened for a moment and then staggered backward uncontrollably. Blood gurgled from its face even as it tumbled down to the ground under everyone’s frightened gaze.

The high-ponytailed woman held the gun in both hands, panting heavily, and recoiled her numbed hands. This was just the most common handgun, a prop she’d been able to bring out from the last low-level box. There was no automatic aiming function. While standing at the end of the crowd, she’d aimed for a long time, but she was afraid of accidentally hurting others and dared not shoot.

But at the last minute, she still pulled the trigger decisively and saved his life.

Seeing his companion died in front of him, the other lizard roared. His eyes flushed, and he rushed towards the crowd with madness, causing chaos everywhere. Although the two on the second floor couldn’t see the situation in the dungeon, they still noticed the guard’s corpse falling outside. Blood stains gradually spread out on the ground, causing servants from each room to rush out.

Dong Linhai and the middle-aged woman slipped out of the kitchen while pressed against the wall. The teenager looked at the center of the chaos and made a decision in a hurry—first find a place to hide!

This sudden turn of events staggered Allen. He asked, “Do you want to go and help?”

Dong Zheng stood up quickly and said, “No, they can handle it for a while. First, use the chaos to steal the flute.”

Then he turned around and saw at once that the flute player was standing behind them.

The young man with dark hair and black eyes simply stared at the two, frowning slightly. As Dong Zheng stood, he followed with his gaze, slightly looking up at the uninvited guest who was half a head higher than him.

Dong Zheng: ……………………………………

Allen: ……………………………………

The air turned into a deadly stagnation.

Allen saw the flute player and quickly stood up with a smile. He put one hand on Dong Zheng’s shoulder. “Hahahaha, this handsome guy, how are you—“

At the same time, the other hand touched the pocket behind his pants.

The flute player didn’t pay attention to Allen’s noise. He still stared at Dong Zheng with a certain amount of doubt in his eyes and said softly, “You feel familiar to me. Have I known you before?”

“Heavenly girl scatters flower!”

The moment the magic flute player’s voice fell, Allen shouted. His hand flashed of his pocket and violently threw sand into the flute player’s face. Then, he turned his head and ran!

This set of actions happened all in one go and seemed to have been done countless times.

At the same time, Dong Zheng pressed on “Chronos’s Fingerprint” in the palm of his left hand, and before urging the formation, yelled, “Allen, run!”

Then, he found out that Allen had yelled and had already ran out five meters away.

The flute player, with sand thrown in his face, subconsciously closed his eyes and turned his face to avoid it. The dazzling yellow light emerged from Dong Zheng’s palm and converged into the shape of a clock, accompanied by the tick of a clock hand. Mysteriously energy rippled out in all directions.

The array was in effect!

Ten

The illusory clock lighted up on everyone’s head, and the hands rotate, counting down ten seconds.

The particles of sand in mid-flight; the flute player’s hand reaching for his flute; Allen with both feet off the ground; Dong Linhai falling into the storage room; bullets flying through the air; the frightened expression etched on the bespectacled man’s face…All were frozen at this moment.

Nine

Dong Zheng grabbed the flute from the waist of the magic flute player and ran towards the stairs.

Eight

He passed by Allen.

Seven

The light of the formation began to dim gradually.

Six

The grass pattern on Dong Zheng’s hand flashed for a moment.

Five

The flute player’s eyes twitched slightly, and the clock on his head sped up quietly.

Four

Without the owner urging the prisoner out of the prisoner card, Cui Zuojing suddenly appeared out of thin air beside Dong Zheng. The teen looked at the flute player’s familiar figure and his lips slightly opened.

“Fu Zhe.”

Three

Dong Zheng turned his head in surprise, and the clock pattern over the magic flute player’s head shattered!

The youth opened his eyes. One of the black eyes had turned into blood red, and the fine and evil lines on the cheeks spread quickly, just like the evil ghosts who had crawled out of hell.

Two

He disappeared in place and appeared in front of Dong Zheng. Before Dong Zheng was aware of it, he had already taken back his own flute and put it on his lips.

One

Before the first syllable floated out, Cui Zuojing kicked the flute player’s abdomen, knocking him down!

This flute was drawn from “Fu Zhe”.

How could a weak soldier beat a commander?

Zero

All the clocks above everyone’s heads broke into fine light points at the same time. The formation disappeared completely, and the river of time continued to flow. The sand was scattered in the air; Allen continued to run toward the stairs; Dong Linhai got into the storage room; the bullet was shot into the guard’s shoulder; the bespectacled man opened his mouth and yelled—

Allen saw Dong Zheng suddenly “blinked” downstairs and knew that he had opened the formation. But, who was the youth struggling on the ground with the magic flute player and why was he just standing beside them?!

Cui Zuojing stuffed the flute into Dong Zheng’s hand and said, “Blow.”

Dong Zheng immediately laid the flute across his lips, took a deep breath, and blew hard.

The sharp and piercing sound rang out in everyone’s ears. Dong Zheng could play the piano and violin, but he really can’t play the flute and could only blow at will.

But this was enough.

At the moment the flute sounded, the moat outside the castle seemed to experience a storm. The backwater suddenly rolled up. The invisible barrier could no longer withstand it and was quietly shattered at the note that rang out from the magic flute.

Adult cat-sized rats scrambled out of the river in the tens of thousands, crawling up the riverbank with dark energy.

They squeaked, and the grotesque mass climbed up the hanging hair bridge, their sharp teeth chewing the braids of hair. Within a few breaths, the suspension bridge was bitten off!

The entire castle was completely cut off from the forest.

Cui Zuojing didn’t put much pressure on his foot, but it was still unbearable for the flute player. He sat up with his painful abdomen, and his whole body emitted a dark energy.

There was a voice in his mind—kill him! Kill the person in front of you! Use the power given to you by ██!

But the flute player did not obey. The doubts in his heart finally reached the peak when he saw Cui Zuojing. Even as his magic weapon was being used indiscriminately by a small invader, he stared closely at Cui Zuojing and asked, “Do I know you?”

“Come with me. I will take you back to wherever it starts.” Cui Zuojing did not answer directly. He held out his hand. His voice was clear, and his tone was firm. “No one will suffer because of this anymore.”

Bang—!

The rats smashed through the window of the old castle and jumped in. The huge dog-like bite directly caught the calf of the lizard servants. More rats came forward and threw the servant to the ground, tearing into the flesh on his body.

It was unclear where the rat in the white waistcoat came from. It stood on a table and excitedly directed its companions to launch a bloody revenge.

Screaming, falling down, sharp squeaking and human panicked yells were mixed in with the sound of the flute. Allen was stunned. Dong Linhai saw Dong Zheng and Cui Zuojing. His eyes lit up, and he ran towards them.

The flute player and Cui Zuojing stared at each other for a few seconds. The flute player saw the cold embers of hatred in the eyes of the youth. At that moment, the heart that was still in his chest suddenly jumped.

Yes, hatred.

The pain of being stripped, sealed, and forever imprisoned drowned the false memories in an instant, bringing back some images—him watching the teen and the Russian man rush through the last door and then looking down at the book lying on the ground. The pages of the book turned automatically and words appeared:

“Worm of Mystery” Chapter 13, page 178: Forever Broken-Hearted.

The black mist around the flute player suddenly froze, and the scarlet eyes went out. At this moment, he finally remembered who he really was.

A rat full of hatred rushed to the flute player who had sealed it. The flute player took no note of it and put his hand in Cui Zuojing’s palm. He smiled. “I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

The emerald green light shining from him linked to the first seal on Cui Zuojing’s wrist. The flute player’s figure became more and more faint, and finally turned into a streamer and disappeared into the seal.

“Mmn, I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

The rat landed on an empty space and howled in anger. It was kicked away by Cui Zuojing, and blood streamed from its mouth.

After a few seconds, a soft female voice rang in everyone’s ears:

“Main storyline: Go to Hamelin (completed), investigate the truth of the Pied Piper (unfinished), defeat the devil flute player (completed).

Branch line: investigate the truth of the frog prince (unfinished), help the mouse (finished).

The box [Hamelin] will be closed in five minutes. Please ask the participants to find the exit and leave as soon as possible.”

“Okay, don’t linger. Go to the door. Go!” Fu Zhe’s soul fragment was recovered, and Cui Zuojing turned to Dong Zheng. He took the hunting rifle from Dong Zheng’s back that hadn’t been used for its purpose. “Borrowing the gun for my use.”

Dong Linhai and Allen also reached them at this time. Although they were full of doubts, the two did not talk nonsense and kept on, heading to the door from different directions.

The people in the dungeon finally ran out successfully. Meanwhile, all the lizards in the castle were being killed by the rats who’d swarmed up and their bloodied bodies were scattered everywhere.

These rats ignored the frightened people, and after eating the lizards, they began to eat the castle.

The box was cleared without their knowledge. This was Hamelin? What did the four missing people do? Who was the Pied Piper?

The six people who escaped from the dungeon were confused. This was simply the most muddled box they had ever experienced, and they suddenly were cleared.

But now was not the time to explore the truth. They have to find the exit as soon as possible; otherwise, they will be trapped here forever when the countdown ends.

Everyone hurried through the rat tide to find the exit. They noticed Cui Zuojing standing under the stairs and couldn’t help but glance at this strange boy in white clothes and black pants.

Cui Zuojing took off the safety lock on the hunting rifle, and looked at the rat in the white vest standing on the dining table.

The rat had been watching him quietly, standing on its hind legs standing upright like a person, its eyes not knowing when had completely turned white.

Cui Zuojing raised the rifle, aimed, and smiled at it. “Tell the Queen, I’m back.”

The rat’s pointed mouth stretched into a grotesque smile. “You think—“

Cui Zuojing didn’t want to listen to it or to the nonsense hidden behind this puppet, and he directly pulled the trigger.

It was a large caliber hunting rifle. The bullet instantly burst the rat’s head, exploding its entire upper body directly, making flesh and blood fly.

But this didn’t do much. At the moment the rat in the white vest died, the will attached to it scattered into countless directions and fell on every rat in the castle. Whether it was devouring the bones of a lizard, eating a castle, or chasing around like crazy, they all stopped together, stood up, and turned to look at Cui Zuojing.

Numerous white eyes stared at him. The same sentence was accompanied by a dark and evil sharp smile. It was said from tens of thousands of mouths. It resounded throughout the castle and was also captured by the people who had found the exit door on the second floor:

“You can’t escape this time!”

Dong Zheng, who was about to step through the door, stepped only halfway in and frowned as he turned to looked in Cui Zuojing’s direction downstairs.

“Come on!” Allen pulled him. The countdown was nearing its end. Dong Zheng could only temporarily suppress the doubts in his heart and walked into the door leading to the outside of the box.

Cui Zuojing didn’t care about the intimidation. Eight years later, the broken book really didn’t change at all, and he still only tried to scare people with such a bad trick.

Dong Zheng had already left here. With the prisoner’s contract involved, Cui Zuojing would soon be taken out of the box and returned to his “owner”.

The youth’s figure gradually became transparent. He smiled brightly at the rats, but his eyes were still cold. He raised his hand and shot the crystal chandelier in the center of the hall.

Boom!

The huge chandelier crashed down, killing the rats that had tried to scramble away too late and adding a touch of festive blood red to this long-term reunion.

“Goodbye.”

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