Chapter 5: What to Do When Your Sense of Morality Is Too High

Page 1/3

Cao Yu charged toward the ice coffin. Chen Ran, meanwhile, rushed toward the other players locked in pairs of fierce combat. Even if left unchecked, sooner or later, the accumulating injuries and pain from their battles would awaken them, making them aware of the situation. However, Du Ruo had already feigned death; the longer they delayed, the worse the circumstances would become. There was no time to let them wake up slowly.

Suddenly!

All the combatants ceased their fighting and turned to look at Cao Yu. In the next moment, they surged toward him, blocking his path to the ice coffin with desperate, beast-like aggression.

Chen Ran saw this but did not lose composure to help. She remembered her mission clearly. Raising her massive staff named “Flame Rod”—an E-grade item that released intense heat upon contact, with greater force yielding higher heat—she swiftly approached the perimeter of the crowd and struck out.

Despite restraining her power, her blows inflicted searing burns and pain akin to branding, forcing those struck to snap out of their hallucinations, nearly cursing aloud. Within three seconds, she had “awakened” everyone except one—the beautiful woman, who had already regained clarity on her own.

She seemed, like Cao Yu, to have sensed the hallucinations and their link to fear, using the sharp pain from biting her tongue to return to normal. She happened to meet Chen Ran’s eyes just as the staff swung toward her, nearly reacting instinctively.

Fortunately, she quickly assessed the situation.

At this moment, all the people still trapped in hallucinations blocked Cao Yu’s path. The crowd blocking the hall’s entrance vanished.

Those who had never been affected by the hallucinations seized the opportunity and fled toward the exit.

“Stop them!” Cao Yu suddenly shouted.

He was using a “blower gun” to push back the crowd obstructing his approach to the ice coffin and had no time to block the door.

Those who had woken up heard his command. Many frowned—this funeral home was so strange now, with even the dead feigning life. Why stop anyone from fleeing?

“I’ll stop them? You’re crazy!” The man with the hood cursed and immediately pushed through the fleeing crowd to escape.

The model brother and the frail girl hesitated, unsure whether to run or stay.

Only Chen Ran and Zhou Fan responded swiftly, executing Cao Yu’s order.

Zhou Zhenglian caught on and followed closely behind them.

Chen Ran grabbed the end of her huge staff and began spinning, like a discus thrower preparing to launch. After two and a half rotations, she slammed the staff’s front end against the wall next to the main entrance.

Flames and an explosion erupted, instantly burning a large hole through the wall.

This spectacle stunned the fleeing crowd.

Chen Ran quickly stepped through the hole, running outside to block the crowd. She slammed the staff into the ground with a “thump” and shouted fiercely like a bandit:

“Let’s see who dares to run!”

The crowd froze in fear, stopping in place, terrified and unwilling to move.

Zhou Fan and Zhou Zhenglian stood beside Chen Ran.

Page 2/3

The two had just fought under hallucinations, both bearing bruises, matching the tense atmosphere with a desperate, feral air.

Without a word, Zhou Fan activated his superpower—No. 201, Blood Thorn Hell.

Blood seeped from a wound on his hand but was not absorbed by Du Ruo’s corpse. Instead, it condensed above his palm into a blood-red long blade.

He slung the blood blade over his shoulder, took a battle stance, deliberately licked his lips, and sneered coldly:

“Whoever runs dies.”

The Fourth Institute trained reserve players—those who passed their tests and graduated were no ivory tower novices. Regardless of excellence, they would not easily back down when the time came.

Zhou Zhenglian was different from the other two—one had an item, the other a superpower. Judging by his upright posture, he might be a soldier in real life. His sharp gaze swept over everyone with oppressive force, intimidating them into avoiding eye contact.

This scene cowed not only the fleeing crowd but also the model brother and the frail girl still inside the hall.

Seeing their teammates so fierce, the two immediately took sides and joined Chen Ran and the others outside, blocking the crowd’s path.

“Stimulating pain can prevent falling into hallucinations,” Chen Ran reminded them. “Keep biting your tongues hard... hiss...”

Meanwhile, inside the hall, Cao Yu grew irritated watching the crowd blocking him and attacking relentlessly.

The best solution now was to activate the “Immortal Slash Curse,” using his body as a weapon to bulldoze through, killing gods who stood in his way, destroying Buddhas who dared oppose him, tearing his blockers to pieces.

But his morality held him back—he could not commit such madness. With acquaintances around, such actions would ruin his reputation.

He settled for a compromise: retreating while dodging, gripping the trigger of the blower gun to begin a ten-second charge.

He intended to create a “Storm Blast” to blow away the blocking crowd in one breath!

“Are you sure you can destroy the corpse?”

A somewhat cold voice came from behind Cao Yu.

It was the beautiful woman.

She had neither fled nor rushed to block the door. Her gaze pierced through the crowd intercepting them, fixed on the ice coffin at the hall’s center, seemingly waiting for a chance.

She continued:

“If you can, I’ll clear the way.”

“Yes,” Cao Yu replied without hesitation. “Clear the way.”

“Stay behind me,” the beautiful woman instructed.

Cao Yu complied, quickly closing the distance.

Although he could clear the way himself, using items consumed resources; saving them when possible was wise.

When she saw him approach, the beautiful woman charged into the crowd blocking the path to the ice coffin, murmuring:

“Dust-Separating Gold Ring.”

Hearing this, Cao Yu glanced at her hand and saw a golden ring on her right index finger.

Well, you have an item too?

Damn, is this a newbie dungeon?

Ripples visibly undulated around her body, and anyone who approached was repelled by an invisible force.

Cao Yu followed behind her with ease, reaching the ice coffin.

At this moment, blood was still converging toward the coffin.

Page 3/3

Because the funeral ceremony required viewing the deceased’s face, the ice coffin was left uncovered, sparing the trouble of opening it.

The beautiful woman maintained her item’s power, directing the invisible force to crush Du Ruo’s corpse.

Under this immense pressure, the blood coating the body animated, forming a shield that resisted the force, preserving the corpse’s integrity.

Her complexion visibly paled, and the strain overwhelmed her, forcing her to stop the item’s operation.

Indeed, it was not so simple; she alone could not destroy the corpse.

Fortunately, Cao Yu arrived.

Both his hands were poised in hand-chop positions.

To be safe, he simultaneously unleashed two killing curses of the “Seven Killing General” — Immortal Slash Curse and Eternal Wound Curse.

At this moment, his attacks penetrated everything, leaving permanent damage.

He leapt into the ice coffin and struck downwards with great force.

Ignoring the blood shield’s defense, he split Du Ruo’s corpse vertically in two.

Then, swinging his hands, he performed the “Xia Ji Eight Cuts” on the halves, shredding them into fragments.

The abnormality vanished.

The blood that had been flowing into the coffin spilled onto the floor.

The hallucinated voices in his ears ceased.

Those inside the hall who had been controlled by hallucinations woke, dazed and confused.

Cao Yu’s face was ashen, his spirit utterly drained, nearly unable to stand.

His first time whipping a corpse, inexperienced, he had overexerted...

He hurriedly took out a bottle of spirit recovery potion and drank it on the spot.

The beautiful woman drank alongside him. Cao Yu, noticing this, felt no surprise—she had items and potions on hand.

...

Five minutes later.

Under Cao Yu and the others’ organization, the funeral attendees reconvened in the farewell hall.

Those who had experienced hallucinations were aware they had been saved by Cao Yu’s group and cooperated accordingly.

Those who had never been affected voiced complaints but were no match for force and complied.

The language and script of this dungeon world were identical to those of the Federation, so there was no communication problem. Even if there were differences, the Evolution Game provided all players with a “translation function,” one of their privileges.

Chen Ran took out a spirit recovery potion and drank it, then sprayed hemostatic spray twice into her mouth.

Besides stopping bleeding, the spray had slight healing effects, enough to handle minor wounds causing skin breaks and bleeding.

As for the bruises on her inner thigh... the pain was intermittent and the damage minor, so she left it alone.

She certainly couldn’t take off her pants to spray—besides, the funeral home had restrooms, but leaving the group now was unwise.

Ah well, she really should have worn a skirt...