Chapter Eighty-Nine: Wanting to Weep, Yet Without Tears

“The Meridian Soul-Severing Worm from Lin Leng, the boss of Building C, shares your ice affinity. If you consume it, it will do your body a great deal of good.”

After hearing that, Xu Chen swallowed it in one gulp without a word, under the envious gazes of everyone around him.

“What does it taste like?”

The narrow-eyed condemned prisoner beside him swallowed hard as well and asked greedily.

“What?”

Xu Chen was startled by the question. What taste could a worm possibly have?

But the moment he opened his mouth, a blast of frigid air shot out at once, instantly frosting the narrow-eyed prisoner's face with a white layer of ice.

“Sorry! Cough, cough...”

Xu Chen hurried to apologize, yet the icy breath pouring from his mouth only grew harder to control, rolling out in an endless stream.

“Calm your mind and gather your breath. You should be able to feel it by now. The Meridian Soul-Severing Worm inside you is devouring the icy power of Lin Leng’s worm. Endure it for a while, and be careful not to suffer a backlash.”

Mu You had once devoured the Meridian Soul-Severing Worm of the frog-man under Old Madam Xiao, so he naturally knew how to deal with this.

At those words, An Ruxiang summoned a pale blue-white Parasol Flower into her hand. Then a splendid jade-banded emerald phoenix butterfly scattered shimmering powder as it flew toward Xu Chen, alighting gently on his forehead. At the same time, Mu You snapped his fingers, and a crimson lotus immediately bloomed beneath Xu Chen, radiating steady warmth that forced the spreading cold back in on itself.

Xu Chen was a true man of grit. Even trapped between twin extremes of ice and fire, he did not let out so much as a grunt. Clenching his teeth, he sat down and poured all his strength into resisting the tyrannical frost raging through his body.

The cold came swiftly and left just as swiftly. In no more than a few moments, Xu Chen was vigorous once again. He clenched his fists, and seeing his excitement, Mu You smiled and asked, “How does it feel? Why not try it now?”

Xu Chen nodded, bit into his arm, and to everyone’s astonishment, his blood was a rare transparent color, clear as water, with the faintest tinge of icy blue.

Then a translucent ice-blue bow appeared before them all. Upon its body coiled two lifelike ice wyrms, facing each other from afar, heads raised to the sky in a soundless roar. It was overbearing in the extreme.

“The Sky-Howling Ice Wyrm Bow...”

Xu Chen stroked the bow, a flicker of burning fervor flashing through his eyes. Then he looked at Mu You, his face filled with gratitude.

Seeing that Xu Chen was so moved he was nearly in tears, Mu You quickly cut him off before he could say anything more. By now, everyone’s expressions had changed in their own way, and at the sight, Mu You laughed inwardly.

After that miserable opening ceremony, and everything that had happened since, even people like Yan Cang, who had always been calculating for their own benefit, had finally begun to rein themselves in and gradually gather around Mu You as the center. That had been his ultimate goal all along.

“All right. Time to draw your exchange assignments.”

Mu You tapped his electronic watch, and a selection screen immediately sprang up in midair. The others followed suit.

One minute later—

“Hey, what assignment did you get? Mine’s a Dangerous Death Row level mission.”

“So is mine. Dangerous Death Row level.”

“Same here. Dangerous Death Row level.”

“Mm, same as me. Doesn’t feel that difficult.”

...

“Hey, boss, what about you?”

Seeing that Mu You had remained silent for so long, and unable to detect anything unusual from his expression, He Jing asked instinctively.

Everyone turned to look at Mu You, wanting to know what tier of mission he had drawn.

Mu You slowly raised his head without speaking and simply turned the interface toward them.

A large capital S appeared before everyone’s eyes.

“Quasi-S-class mission: Never Turn Back. A composite mission consisting of three peak A-class missions: Forbidden Chamber of Desire, Deathly Reproduction, and An Immoral Tale. Execution site: Building M...”

The narrow-eyed condemned prisoner, afraid those farther away might not be able to see clearly, began reading it aloud on his own. But the farther he read, the softer his voice became, until it was scarcely louder than a mosquito’s hum. When he reached the words Building M, the others were still somewhat bewildered, but An Ruxiang and Jing Fei’s pupils flared brightly at once as they stared fixedly at the floating screen.

So it was true. There really was another hidden world underground. The opportunity had finally come!

“There’s also a hidden clause.”

Seeing the others in a daze, An Ruxiang opened her own hidden clause and motioned for them to do the same.

Everyone did so and found the same line written there:

“This mission carries a certain probability of intersecting with the three peak A-class missions: Forbidden Chamber of Desire, Deathly Reproduction, and An Immoral Tale. The circumstances will be determined at random.”

After reading that sentence, everyone looked toward Mu You.

Mu You also opened his own hidden clause.

“Greetings, Dangerous Death Row prisoner Mu You. Congratulations on drawing the most difficult exchange assignment of this round. You are specially permitted to bring two companions with you on the mission.”

“Oh? Looks like I won’t be going in alone this time.”

After reading it, Mu You looked at the others with a smile.

“Which of you is interested?”

“Me!”

“Me!”

One man and one woman shouted almost at the same instant, without the slightest hesitation. Then they both squeezed their way in front of Mu You, eager beyond measure, as zealous as if they were competing over their own missions. Their enthusiasm left everyone present, Mu You included, momentarily stunned.

If the cold and elegant An Ruxiang wanted to go because she was worried something might happen to Mu You, that was understandable enough. But Jing Fei, who was always aloof and unsociable, hardly even showing his face—what was he so worked up for?

“Boss, I have to go too!” Xu Chen added at once.

“And me!” He Jing quickly put in, unwilling to fall behind.

The rest also looked at Mu You with calm resolve. Though the title quasi-S-class had given them a fright, if Mu You needed them, not one of them would shrink back.

Mu You first nodded to An Ruxiang. Seeing that, the frosty look on her face finally softened a little. Then Mu You turned his gaze to Xu Chen and He Jing, seeming to weigh which of the two he should choose.

When Jing Fei saw this, his gloomy, detached expression at last began to change. He threw himself directly in front of Mu You and looked at him with utmost solemnity.

“Choose me. I’ll do everything in my power to support you. My ability can be used for both offense and defense. Please—choose me as your companion!”

By the end, a rare look of sincere pleading had actually surfaced on Jing Fei’s normally indifferent face.

His eagerness truly surprised Mu You. By all rights, this was no good sign. If An Ruxiang wanted to help, it might be from worry and trust. But this boy definitely had some hidden motive. He simply knew that if he did not fight for it now, there would be no chance later.

Seeing that Mu You was still considering, Jing Fei grew anxious. He immediately cut his palm and slapped it onto the ground. His entire body glowed earth-yellow as his concentration gathered to its utmost.

Then the whole of Building A began to tremble, as though an earthquake had struck, growing more violent by the moment.

“With my current power, if I go all out, I can even collapse the foundations of all Building A. Please, choose me. On the ground, I am king!”

Just as Jing Fei was pleading desperately, the doorbell rang. At Mu You’s signal, someone opened the door, only to find the death row bosses from the other buildings standing outside.

There were seven of them.

The moment the door opened and they saw the room packed with people, they all cried out in alarm, rushed into the room in a panic, and latched onto Mu You without letting go.

“You got a quasi-S-class mission too, didn’t you? Pick me. I’m the strongest in Building B. We’re neighbors, little brother Mu You.”

“Brother Mu You, the moment I saw you I knew we were kindred spirits. Team up with your big brother here, and we’ll slaughter them all.”

“Young Mu You, choose me. I’m strong, I can cook, and I’ve got a damn huge appetite too. You won’t go hungry on the road with me.”

“Big Brother Mu You~~~ Let’s go together. We can kill enemies by day, and at night I can give you a massage, all right~~~”

Great Brother Mu You, pick me! I’ll be your one and only!”

...

After magnificently ignoring everyone from Building A behind them, the seven strongest bosses each grabbed hold of some part of Mu You and began pestering him with all manner of coaxing and wheedling. As for the others, they could only stand there and watch with their own eyes as Mu You was upgraded all the way from little brother Mu You to great brother Mu You.

Mu You lifted his head and stared at the ceiling, wanting to cry... yet no tears would come.