Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 174 Crimson Entrance
At this moment, Yu Tianlun's eyes revealed a look of despair!

This Wraith Roar is the most powerful class skill of a LV3 Medium, and its power can completely transcend the contamination layer!

Destroying his and Yinqiu's balloons was effortless for Liu Yan!

One of the biggest weaknesses of the Shaman is that their class is magic-based, with long skill animations, such as hand seals which take a considerable amount of time. This puts them at a significant disadvantage in close combat, and they also consume a lot of sanity. Furthermore, the Shaman cannot replenish his own mana! Therefore, it's impossible for him to kill Qin Mei instantly! Besides, this Demonic Curse originates from the ghostly power within her, so killing her wouldn't interrupt the class's skills!
This is where the Hunter class's advantages come into play. The Hunter is a well-rounded, all-around class, excelling in both melee and ranged combat. While leveling up is significantly more difficult than for most classes, many of their skills consume very little SAN (Sanity) once learned!
Jiang Jin is currently locked inside the workshop!

Is he really going to die here today?
Just as Qin Mei was about to kill Yu Tianlun, the former LV4 boss, and make a great contribution...

A sudden mutation occurs!

She felt a tightness in her throat, and then the vengeful demon's roar was instantly interrupted.

Yu Tianlun was also taken aback. He saw... a paper figure was stuck to Qin Mei's throat!
The Wraith's Roar has a drawback: there is a time lag when crossing the contaminated layer.

The duration of this time difference varies, with deeper contamination layers taking longer. However, if the difference between the contamination layer and the reincarnator's own SAN value is not significant, it generally takes only 2-3 seconds.

Don't underestimate the short time; in a battle between top reincarnators, life and death can be decided in just one second.

After Qin Mei's throat was sealed by the paper figures, her eyes widened in disbelief, and her body stiffened as she fell backward. Then, a large number of paper figures crawled all over her body like a malignant tumor.

With a flick of his finger, Shirakawa Rin tightened the paper figures, pinning Qin Mei firmly to the ground!
"Get into the workshop quickly!" Shirakawa Rin said in fluent Chinese, his tone carrying an undeniable sense of urgency.

Without hesitation, Yu Tianlun immediately directed Xu Yinqiu and Liu Yan to follow him.

Xu Yinqiu's Eye of Incantation scanned the surroundings, and after confirming there were no ambushes, she followed closely behind. Liu Yan's Gu worms swarmed over Qin Mei like a tide, dragging her body into the workshop!
The workshop's iron gate slammed shut, shutting out all outside light.

In this way, the balloons outside can't get in.

"Explain." Yu Tianlun instantly drew his peach wood sword and pressed it against Bai Chuanlin's throat. He wasn't sure if this was a ruse by the Shadow Blade team.

Xu Yinqiu asked, puzzled, "Aren't you a member of Shadow Blade? Why did you choose to help us?"

Shirakawa Rin calmly replied, "It's simple. I'm an undercover agent planted in the Shadow Blade team by the Insect Nest."

Liu Yan's pupils suddenly contracted.

The Insect Nest team is one of the top teams in the Reincarnation team, and its leader, "Lady Pustuca," is a rare LV4 sorcerer. It is well known that the Insect Nest and the Bloodstained team are sworn enemies.

Since Lady Pustules is a witch doctor, she must have been to Rusty Town. However, Liu Yan felt it was unlikely that she would reveal information about Rusty Town to a mere LV1 Shirakawa Rin.

"Impossible," Xu Yinqiu calmly retorted. "Members of the Bloodstained Team are all imprinted with soul marks, how could they possibly infiltrate?"

“Except for the internship period.” Shirakawa Rin shook out a transparent leech from his sleeve. “This is the ‘Mind-Reading Leech’ that Lady Pussy gave me. Liu Yan, you and Lady Pussy are both sorcerers, you can’t not recognize it, can you?”

"Then let me see it." Liu Yan walked up and held out her hand.

"it is good."

Yu Tianlun quickly stopped her, saying, "Liu Yan, you..."

“It’s alright,” Liu Yan replied, “The Mind-Gazing Leech is a very low-level Gu worm and can’t affect me. If she wanted to ambush us, she could have just let Qin Mei kill us.”

Leeches crawled up Liu Yan's hand, their needle-like mouthparts piercing her skin.

In an instant, shattered images flooded into Liu Yan's consciousness—

Sima Jin was seen with his limbs bound by iron chains, suspended in mid-air. His skin was covered with honeycomb-like holes, and in each hole, a white worm the size of a grain of rice was wriggling.

The Shadowblade team, whose leader is in charge of guarding this former Mist Swamp team.

A woman dressed in splendid attire was seen cutting her wrists with a dagger, the blood dripping onto Sima Jin's forehead, forming a strange talisman.
"You wretch!" Sima Jin's eyes were fixed on his wife, Xia Yu. "You will die a horrible death! You've brought ruin upon Wuzhao!"

Xia Yu remained unmoved, raised her hand, and the Shadow Blade's Zhu You Lin Ping stepped forward and quickly healed her wounds.

"Didn't you marry me because you valued my priestess skills?" Xia Yu sneered. "We're all trying to climb the social ladder, so don't be so childish. I've had enough of being a useless man like you. We've been married for so long, and you've never even bought me a decent set of clothes. You control all the finances, and as a reincarnator, I don't even have the money to buy luxury bags and designer clothes."

She showed off the exquisitely crafted Hermès dress she was wearing, saying, "This was tailor-made for me. If I were with a stingy and spineless man like you, when would I ever be able to wear a dress like this!"

At this moment, a tall man walked up to Sima Jin, suddenly raised his hand, and put his arm around Xia Yu's waist!
"Ah Jin, your wife is more sensible than you. It's only right for a man to spend some money on a woman who is obedient and compliant."

"You villain!" Sima Jin glared at the man before him. "You will die a horrible death!"

Liu Yan was startled; this man was... the Blood Lord!

His photos weren't hard to get; Liu Yan had seen them before.

"The Gu worms extracted from your body are very useful. Your wife helped me a lot in this regard." The Blood Lord's hand slowly moved upwards from Xia Yu's waist, and then began to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. "She is very 'capable' in every aspect."

He also emphasized the word "do" in particular.

"You!" Sima Jin knew perfectly well that Blood Lord was deliberately humiliating him. "As long as I can escape this predicament one day, I will tear you two to pieces!"

Blood Lord coldly watched Sima Jin's powerless rage and said, "Oh, by the way, let me tell you something. Actually, not long ago, your wife messed up a task I gave her, causing me a lot of trouble. Originally, I almost wanted to execute her, but then I changed my mind..."

Sima Jin was stunned, and then Blood Lord gave him an unexpected answer.

"If I kill her, wouldn't that satisfy you and give you a great sense of satisfaction? Thinking about this, I think it's better to keep your wife alive."

Even Xia Yu was stunned when she heard this.

Sima Jin's forehead veins bulged as he struggled desperately, but he could not break free of the Demon-Suppressing Shackles.

"You hate me that much?"

Upon hearing this, Blood Lord's expression changed.

He released his hand from Xia Yu's body and moved closer to Sima Jin, their faces now less than a fist's distance apart.

"Back then, I clearly had a chance to be promoted to the new branch leader! I could have established a new insect nest branch! You know, I was desperately trying to get back what I had lost! So many people were waiting to see me make a fool of myself, waiting to see how I would die!" Blood Lord almost roared, "And you! You were the one I trusted the most, and you went and reported me! Just because I used forbidden techniques to advance!"

Upon seeing this, Liu Yan recalled some information about the Blood Lord that Yu Tianlun had told her.

Blood Lord and Lady Pussy were old acquaintances. Neither of them were from Muxu City; they came from the same city. Together with a group of friends, they founded the Insect Nest team.

At that time, Lady Pustules was far from the person she is now, not someone who would readily use living people to create Gu poison; in fact, she was relatively fair in her actions. However, she had a volatile temper and her punishments of her members were often extremely cruel. As the Gu poison lairs continued to grow and expand, Lady Pustules' reputation became increasingly renowned.

On one occasion, the leader of the Blood Owl gang committed a serious offense and was severely punished, being demoted to a low-level member of the team.

Few people actually know about this experience, and Blood Lord himself has never acknowledged that he was one of the founding members of the Insect Nest. Information about the Reincarnators is top secret, and Liu Yan wouldn't have known about this if Yu Tianlun hadn't told her.

Later, because of her practice of forbidden techniques, Lady Pussy chose to report the matter to the authorities, handing over Blood Lord to the government. Because of this, Blood Lord harbored a deep hatred for the entire Insect Nest team.

"Forbidden techniques are heinous and immoral!" Sima Jin retorted, "You indiscriminately kill innocent people, so you deserve to die!"

"What innocence! It's a dog-eat-dog world among reincarnators, survival of the fittest, a fight for every last chance to live!" Blood Lord almost forgot that a large group of his subordinates were watching behind him, and continued to roar: "Thanks to you! I went into the terrifying dungeon trial with a bunch of stowaways and death row inmates, and the resentment crystals I got had to be handed over to the government! If someone hadn't risked their life to save me, I would have been dead long ago, and there wouldn't be today's bloody team! There wouldn't be this Blood Lord!"

Then, he lowered his voice and said, "Even so, I'm still willing to give you a chance! After all, you were once someone who did me a favor, and you taught me many survival skills! As long as you submit to me and let me place a soul imprint on you, you can still work under my command!"

"Don't even think about it!" Sima Jin suddenly spat a mouthful of bloody saliva at the Blood Lord!
Blood Lord had been on guard against him and easily dodged, but then grabbed Sima Jin by the neck!
"Fine! You choose the path to hell when there's a way to heaven! Now don't blame me! Keep a close eye on him! Qin Mei, conduct the Gu worm experiment every three hours without interruption!"

"Yes!" Qin Mei replied.

Then, Shirakawa Rin, a temporary member of the group, secretly approached Sima Jin and whispered, "Commander Sima, the Madam has ordered me to find an opportunity to rescue you. You must hold on and never succumb to the Bloodthirsty villain. Don't worry, I will find a way to kill Xia Yu."

Sima Jin, however, remained cautious: "You said you're from the Insect Nest? You weren't implanted with a Soul Imprint?"

"No. I'm currently just a temporary intern member of the Shadow Blade. Madam asked me to tell you that if you can hold out this time, she will grant you that bone flute as you requested." Hearing this, Sima Jin was finally convinced and said, "Be careful not to let them find out!"

Liu Yan opened her eyes; these memories were indeed impossible to fake.

Because of her status as a sorcerer, Liu Yan paid close attention to intelligence about the Insect Nest team. She had met Sima Jin once in a dungeon, and the man impressed her with his uprightness, unlike that of a reincarnator.

The Insect Cave team had considered recruiting her, since witchcraft was rare, and Liu Yan was the only female witchcraft user in the entire Muxu Market besides Lady Pussy. However, Liu Yan disliked the Insect Cave's way of doing things and refused.

Shirakawa Rin continued, "Xia Yu is now Blood Lord's mistress. She personally handed her husband over to the Bloody Team as a pledge of loyalty."

She paused, then said, "Lady Pustules gave me the task of rescuing Sima Jin and killing Xia Yu. But I can't do it alone."

"So you want our help?" Yu Tianlun sneered. "Since when did the Insect Nest start to think so highly of Nirvana?"

“Because you have more than thirty resentment crystal fragments.” Shirakawa Rin’s gaze turned to Jiang Jin, who had just woken up. “The total resentment crystal fragment reserves of the entire Insect Cave are only about the same as yours.”

The workshop suddenly became eerily quiet.

Yu Tianlun was completely stunned.

More than thirty fragments of resentment?

Our Nirvana Team?

"Guild Leader," Liu Yan said, "Jiang Jin and I obtained it in a certain dungeon. I'm sorry, I haven't told you before."

"What?" Yu Tianlun was shocked.

More than thirty fragments of resentment!
No one could stay calm in this situation!
The Insect Nest team, as one of the top reincarnation teams, has about the same inventory as them!

Shirakawa Rin added, "Don't worry, I didn't report this to Madam. Asking for your help was my personal decision. Otherwise, Madam would definitely have been tempted to kill you and steal the treasure."

"Okay," Liu Yan breathed a sigh of relief, "You're actually a pretty nice person."

"It's okay, just give me two as hush money."

"..."

"It's not expensive, is it? I just saved your lives. Taking two is fair. If I report this, after Madam wipes you out, she'll at least give me one."

"Wait a minute, Liu Yan, what exactly did you guys do in that dungeon? How did you get so many Resentment Crystals?" Xu Yinqiu finally asked the crucial question.

Liu Yan's fingertips unconsciously caressed her wedding ring. That instance was their wedding anniversary. Jiang Jin used the [Insect Hunting Sacrifice] skill to hunt down a large number of rule-based evil spirits, and with the anniversary bonus, they managed to get such a large number of crystal fragments.

This kind of opportunity is hard to come by.

“Forget it, we’ll talk about that later,” Yu Tianlun interrupted, turning to Bai Chuanlin. “Even if we cooperate, how are we going to deal with Zhou Chen? He’s a Level 3.”

"I will continue to infiltrate for you." Qin Mei's value as a hostage is higher than you imagine.

"How to say?"

"Qin Mei and Zhou Chen are lovers. Zhou Chen is madly in love with her, so using her as a hostage can keep Zhou Chen under control."

"Qin Mei and Zhou Chen are lovers?" Liu Yan was shocked. "Are you sure this information is true? There's a big age gap between them, isn't there?"

“Of course it’s true.” Shirakawa Rin’s voice remained calm. “I have been secretly using paper figures to monitor Zhou Chen and Qin Mei at Ginye High School.”

Qin Mei, who was in the corner, suddenly began to struggle violently, and the magic-suppressing shackles made a screeching sound.

The paper figure in her throat still tightly sealed her voice, and her bloodshot eyes were fixed on Shirakawa Rin, as if she wanted to tear her to pieces with her gaze.

Yu Tianlun squatted down and pulled the paper figure off Qin Mei's throat: "Commander Qin, we can have a proper talk now."

“Zhou Chen will soon be bringing the Crimson Team in,” Qin Mei’s voice was terribly hoarse. “Spare my life, and we can negotiate, Commander Yu.”

“Of course we can talk.” Yu Tianlun smiled coldly and said, “Otherwise you wouldn’t be alive now.”

Qin Mei knew at this moment that she was a bargaining chip held by Nirvana, and they would not kill her easily.

After all, once she dies, the ghost within her will revive. The magic-suppressing shackles are effective against reincarnated beings, but completely ineffective against ghosts.

"Traitor!" Qin Mei glared at Bai Chuanlin and roared, "What benefits did the people of Nirvana give you?"

“I am not a traitor.” Shirakawa Rin shook his head. “As a reincarnator, I have always been loyal only to myself.”

“Miss Qin,” Liu Yan retorted coldly, “none of us are new to being reincarnators, so don’t say such naive things.”

Liu Yan returned Qin Mei's words verbatim.

At this moment, Jiang Jin also woke up.

Xu Yinqiu has already treated him, and his SAN value... has begun to recover.

"Hmm?" Jiang Jin suddenly saw Bai Chuanlin and immediately recognized her, after all, he had seen photos of all the Shadow Blade team members!

He was about to attack when he discovered that the morgue rifle was gone.

Shirakawa Rin threw out Sun Jing's bloody key.

"Qin Mei took your gun. You can have this key, anyway, I can't really use hunter stuff."

"What's going on?" Jiang Jin glanced again at Qin Mei, who was chained up beside him. "What happened?"

……

"So, Zhou Chen is Qin Mei's lover?"

After learning all this, Jiang Jin said, "Can a lover really control Zhou Chen?"

Liu Yan replied, "It seems to be a relationship that's not about physical attraction, but rather about emotional connection."

"Seriously? Pure love between reincarnators? This isn't a female-oriented novel!"

"Maybe it's an Oedipus complex. Do you know Homelander from the TV series 'The Boys'? He's as strong as Superman, but he's driven by humans because of this kind of emotion."

"You said it yourself, it's just a TV series..."

However, Jiang Jin looked at Qin Mei in the distance and said, "If it's true, then we can use her to negotiate with Zhou Chen. If exchanging resentment crystals for peace is acceptable, then we can sign a notarized contract with the reincarnation system."

The reincarnation system is notarized; whoever violates the rules will be removed by the cleaners.

"But I think that someone who can become the leader of the Scarlet Team is unlikely to be a romantic."

“Zhou Chen is only eighteen years old,” Liu Yan said. “At his age, his hormones are raging, and he is more pure and steadfast in his feelings. He may not make highly rational choices like adults.”

“Peaceful negotiations would be the best option,” Yu Tianlun continued. “But I’m worried that if we don’t establish our authority, the Bloodthirsty Gang might still cause us trouble in the future.”

"Well then, let's just take it one step at a time."

night.

In front of a torii gate of a shrine.

A dozen or so figures gradually appeared!
Zhou Chen opened his eyes!
The Crimson Team has arrived!
(End of this chapter)