Chapter 210: Heredity
【00:09】
Time was left with only the last ten seconds, all anomalies disappeared, and the lights came back on.
Lu Jinzhao was the first to quickly survey the current state of the ancestral hall, which showed no difference from when she had just entered, as if nothing had happened in those ten minutes.
And her tablet had fallen to the ground, with several crooked scratches added.
Only these scratches silently told that something non-human had indeed appeared inside the ancestral hall in the darkness just now.
Footsteps came from outside the door; it seemed the next person to carry out the mission had arrived.
Lu Jinzhao had not moved yet.
Behind her came the sound of an old wooden door being pushed open, the rusty hinges emitting a discordant sound that seemed somewhat shrill in the silence.
Lu Jinzhao heard the breathing of living people, which was subtle; her own breathing was almost nonexistent, yet her ears could keenly pick up the breathing from the person who had not yet entered the door.
【00:00】
In the instant the countdown reached zero, Lu Jinzhao quickly turned and ran toward the ancestral hall entrance. Tan Meng was still tightly grasping her tablet and instantly contracted her elongated body, bringing the tablet back onto Lu Jinzhao.
Lu Jinzhao had no intention of staying in the ancestral hall for even a moment; if she were judged as teaming up, that would be disastrous.
In the instant she rushed out of the ancestral hall, she saw the newcomer—Luo Yu, a first-class passenger from that city. The other woman’s expression was grave as she looked at Lu Jinzhao’s figure dashing out the door, her eyes carrying a hint of inquiry.
She was probably quite curious about what Lu Jinzhao had encountered inside the ancestral hall.
This reminded Lu Jinzhao of ten minutes earlier when she had stepped into the ancestral hall; at that time, she had seen the previous passenger, pale-faced and terrified, and had been equally curious.
Lu Jinzhao had no intention of having much contact with this passenger and only exchanged a brief eye contact before quickly leaving the ancestral hall.
Tan Meng held her waistband with one hand and the tablet with the other, like a large keychain. Though her body swayed with Lu Jinzhao’s movements, she held the tablet high to avoid it hitting Lu Jinzhao while walking.
Before she had gone far, a bang came from behind.
Lu Jinzhao was very familiar with this sound; she had heard it just ten minutes ago.
It was the sound of the ancestral hall door closing.
Lu Jinzhao estimated that for this mission, unless one was extremely unlucky with no countermeasures from their fate or carried supernatural prop, and without enough life-buying money to modify the mission, death would mostly not occur.
As for the first-class ones, Lu Jinzhao tended to think no one would die here.
The village at midnight was exceptionally quiet; only the passengers knew that repeated death dramas were playing out inside the tightly shut ancestral hall.
Lu Jinzhao returned to her temporary “home” on the platform. She saw the light on in the neighboring warehouse—they had lost one person, and another had no tablet; tonight, only two needed to enter the ancestral hall.
Without looking much, Lu Jinzhao walked back to her room. Tian Lei was looking toward the door somewhat restlessly, probably having heard her return.
As soon as Lu Jinzhao pushed the door open, Tian Lei eagerly stood up from the bedside.
She frowned slightly, first carefully scanning Lu Jinzhao’s body with her eyes to confirm no obvious injuries before asking, “How was it? Are you okay?”
She was not being insincere or probing for information with false concern. After spending some time together, she understood Lu Jinzhao’s personality well enough—Lu Jinzhao would not hide any information from “her own people” at a time like this, so there was no need for hypocritical probing to get intel.
Only by sincerely expressing herself could she better make Lu Jinzhao keep her in mind.
For this, Tian Lei had made considerable efforts, and fortunately, they had yielded some results.
“Not great.” Lu Jinzhao thought for a moment and replied, “This mission is a bit troublesome.”
She did not feel much about Tian Lei’s concern; if there was one impression, it was probably “satisfactory,” after all, that was the effect she wanted.
Tian Lei’s performance satisfied her, so she gave her reward.
Lu Jinzhao carefully recounted to Tian Lei everything that had happened in the ancestral hall. She did not say much about how she had coped but clearly explained the dangers one would face inside the ancestral hall.
“What you need to be careful of are these things.”
After finishing, Lu Jinzhao looked at Tian Lei’s thoughtful expression, which had slightly relaxed, and asked, “How about it? Do you have a countermeasure?”
Tian Lei nodded. “Probably.”
Lu Jinzhao was not surprised by this. If Tian Lei’s ability could not even pass this hurdle, she would not have decided to make her the true teammate for this platform after a basic understanding.
“Having a teammate on this platform is really an important thing.”
Tian Lei lowered her head slightly and said softly.
She once again realized that Lu Jinzhao was different from her previous “teammates”—Lu Jinzhao was more powerful, more intelligent, more useful, knew when to do what, and trusted her more.
Lu Jinzhao would not look at her with guarded eyes from the start, nor plan at any moment to use her as a shield. Even though tonight’s mission clearly carried danger, she had not used a reason like “the message from last night was from me” to make her modify the time and enter the ancestral hall first.
Lu Jinzhao was truly someone worth trusting.
Tian Lei’s fingers curled slightly and then opened, as if somewhat uneasy. Her mind was full of thoughts, but she said nothing, only keeping her head down to hide her expression and eyes.
She heard Lu Jinzhao let out a light laugh after she said that sentence. Just as she began thinking about the meaning of Lu Jinzhao’s laugh, she heard Lu Jinzhao speak.
“I’m glad you think that way.”
For some reason, hearing this made Tian Lei feel a bit of joyful emotion in her heart.
“There’s still some time; can you tell me what you plan to do when you enter the ancestral hall?” Lu Jinzhao asked in a gentle tone.
“Sure.” Tian Lei hesitated for just one or two seconds before agreeing.
“I don’t plan to modify this mission either. Knowing exactly what dangers I’ll face and still using modification to pass would be too pointless.”
Tian Lei first stated her plan seriously, then softly added:
“For me, the key is to avoid the tablet being taken. As for the ghost in the ancestral hall, I have my fate as backup. If the supernatural item doesn’t work as expected, it doesn’t matter.”
Her lighthearted words revealed confidence in her own fate.
She was clearly not good at explaining her plans to others; during the process, she occasionally paused for two or three seconds to think about how to properly express her ideas.
When mentioning a certain supernatural item, she would belatedly realize after a few sentences that Lu Jinzhao might not know its function and go back to supplement the explanation.
But at least she fully stated her plan.
