I’m a Max-Level Taoist Master, and You’re Throwing Me Into a Rules-Based Horror Game?! - Chapter 187

Chapter 187: The Highest-Level Hunters Often Appear as Prey!

The Chosen Ones turned to look. Two people had entered the dilapidated temple at some point and were now standing behind them.

It was a man and a woman, their attire vastly different from that of the Chosen Ones.

The man wore gold-rimmed glasses. He didn’t look old, but his expression was dark and gloomy as he looked at the Chosen One and the Man with the Slicked-Back Hair.

It seemed like a warning, yet also like wariness.

But the Chosen Ones could see he walked with a limp, leaning on a wooden stick he had picked up from who-knows-where.

Judging from the ‘information’ on the stick, it was just something picked up recently to serve as a temporary support.

More experienced Chosen Ones could glean clues from objects; the stick had many rough, protruding parts, not properly cleaned up.

This indicated that Gold-Rimmed Glasses wasn’t actually lame. He might have sprained his ankle on the way up the mountain and simply found a handy stick to use as a crutch.

If he were truly lame, he would likely have a properly made crutch, not such a makeshift one.

Another possibility was that he had encountered some danger on the way up, defeated it, but got injured in the process.

Because at this level of the strange tale, the native inhabitants all possessed some combat ability.

The rules also stated that your teammates are not weak.

This was the information those Chosen Ones who observed more carefully could gather from him.

Next was the woman who had spoken.

The woman’s delicate eyebrows were furrowed, her tone carrying a hint of blame, which was understandable. After all, when the Chosen Ones entered, they also felt like calling the Slicked-Back Hair man an idiot.

Of course, in the real world, they could say that.

But this was the world of the strange tale. The Slicked-Back Hair man’s identity and strength were unknown. Who would dare offend someone right off the bat?

When the chosen ones turned their attention to this woman, they were immediately struck by her beauty.

Beautiful, extremely beautiful.

Her face was pale and well-defined, with a delicate, almost fragile quality.

Her light purple eyes held a trace of allure, but mixed with a hint of a young girl’s innocence.

Below her delicate and high-bridged nose was a soft, pink, cherry-like mouth, the perfect accent on her face.

Because it was heavy snow, she also wore thick snow gear, hiding her figure, which was a pity.

But beneath those thick clothes, many could imagine her graceful figure.

Overall, she gave an impression of both a mature woman’s charm and a young girl’s delicate beauty.

Here was a detail the audience could observe about the Chosen Ones.

The main screen generally paused on whatever the Chosen One was looking at.

You could tell which Chosen Ones liked looking at beauties by how long their screen lingered on the woman.

However, in this strange tale world, the Chosen Ones were relatively restrained. None were bold enough to stare directly at the beauty’s face.

The look in the Purple-Eyed woman’s companion’s eyes seemed to warn the two newcomers not to get close to her.

Or, like in the animal kingdom, the male was using various methods to declare, “This is my woman.”

But the Purple-Eyed woman seemed somewhat aloof, complicating the relationship dynamics immediately.

Another important clue to judge their relationship was distance.

If they kept a certain distance, it suggested they weren’t particularly close.

If they were close together, it indicated a close relationship.

Currently, it seemed there was a gap between the Purple-Eyed woman and Gold-Rimmed Glasses, suggesting their relationship wasn’t that intimate.

There was a telling detail in their positioning: the Purple-Eyed woman stood slightly ahead, with Gold-Rimmed Glasses behind and to her right.

This held a hidden message: perhaps the Purple-Eyed woman was stronger than Gold-Rimmed Glasses, possessing a special status or ability.

If she were weak, upon encountering danger or an unknown situation, she should have positioned herself behind Gold-Rimmed Glasses.

But one couldn’t rule out that Gold-Rimmed Glasses was hiding his strength, pretending to be injured or weak so others wouldn’t be wary of him.

As for whether they were humans or disguised supernatural entities, there was no information or rule hints yet.

Faced with the Purple-Eyed woman’s accusation – “Are you two out of your minds? Tearing down this temple? Do you want us all to freeze to death tonight?” – the vast majority of Chosen Ones began explaining, telling her they hadn’t torn down the temple, it had nothing to do with them.

It was all the Slicked-Back Hair man’s doing; she should blame him.

Perhaps the Purple-Eyed woman’s assertiveness made the Chosen Ones somewhat sycophantic.

Or maybe, since there were two people on the other side, the Chosen Ones didn’t want to offend the larger group, quickly distancing themselves from the Slicked-Back Hair man to clarify their stance.

Or perhaps, a ‘simping’ mentality took over, subconsciously making them want to curry favor with the beauty.

They wanted to use this method to get closer to this Purple-Eyed beauty.

Because the vast majority of humans are creatures who believe ‘looks are everything’.

First impressions are often based on appearance.

If someone looks honest and reliable, or beautiful and gracious, it gives a psychological sense of trustworthiness.

Besides, it wasn’t something the Chosen Ones had done anyway, so why should they be misunderstood?

Explaining things clearly was the choice of most Chosen Ones.

But Zhang Yangqing was different. He directly said, “If we don’t burn firewood, are you going to go out and chop trees now?”

Seeing this, viewers in the Dragon Kingdom were puzzled. Why would Zhang Tianshi say that?

By saying this, he was directly offending the Purple-Eyed woman and Gold-Rimmed Glasses right from the start.

Wouldn’t that make the rest of the mountain climb fraught with obstacles?

At this stage, offending no one might be the best choice, like the other Chosen Ones were doing.

Skeptical comments started popping up, but Hu Liuqi posted an explanation:

“Zhang Tianshi isn’t wrong in doing this. Because at this stage, no matter what he does, he can’t immediately integrate into the duo of the Purple-Eyed woman and Gold-Rimmed Glasses. So, by saying this, he’s siding with the Slicked-Back Hair man. To a certain extent, Zhang Tianshi and the Slicked-Back Hair man are now a team.”

“Don’t just look at the immediate situation; think long-term, and you’ll see there are actually benefits to this approach.”

Hu Liuqi’s explanation made the audience understand.

By saying this, Zhang Yangqing created a subtle 2v2 standoff in the current situation.

It wasn’t absolute hostility, but Zhang Yangqing now had an ally.

According to expert Hu Liuqi, taking a long-term view…

One could deduce that the Chosen One and his teammates needed to spend the night in this dilapidated temple.

The night was long, and the Chosen One couldn’t possibly stay awake the whole time, right?

When the Chosen One rested, someone needed to keep watch.

If one isolated themselves, it would lead to a situation of ‘trusting no one’.

Falling asleep would mean risking death, essentially leaving it to chance.

So, the Chosen Ones needed a reliable person to take turns keeping watch.

The Slicked-Back Hair man was undoubtedly the option provided to the Chosen Ones.

Whether the Chosen Ones chose him or not depended on how they handled it.

Most Chosen Ones seemed to miss this small detail, or perhaps they noticed but chose to side with the larger group. Only a few Chosen Ones defended the Slicked-Back Hair man.

This allowed the audience to gradually understand Zhang Yangqing’s approach.

But their understanding was still relatively superficial.

Zhang Yangqing had already discerned that the Purple-Eyed woman’s group obviously didn’t know the Slicked-Back Hair man.

If he helped the Purple-Eyed woman’s group and the Slicked-Back Hair man was eliminated, it could potentially lead to a big mistake.

So, before determining who was the supernatural entity and who was a teammate, preserving the team’s integrity was the best choice.

According to Zhang Yangqing’s understanding, these rare teammates in the strange tale world might play a crucial role at key moments.

The so-called ‘role’ wasn’t necessarily just helping you fight enemies; maybe they had other special uses, like being a pathfinder, a sacrificial offering, etc. That was the purpose of teammates.

After being rebutted by Zhang Yangqing, the Purple-Eyed woman seemed somewhat displeased. Just as she was about to say more, the sound of footsteps crunching on snow came from the temple entrance.

Then, the door opened, followed by the presence of a steady aura.

The reason it felt steady was that in this icy, snowy environment, everyone’s breathing had changed.

Some were rapid and shallow, like the Slicked-Back Hair man, others were light and slow, like the Purple-Eyed woman.

This person’s breathing was very even, as if the ice and snow couldn’t affect him.

Similar to Zhang Yangqing.

The person who entered looked older than everyone present, with a black goatee.

His expression was somewhat stern and resolute, his eyes holding a faint gleam – the mark of a trained fighter.

Moreover, his aura was relatively powerful, calming the restless hearts of many present.

This man gave off a reliable feeling.

At least, based on appearance.

The man who entered scanned the surroundings and said, “Let me introduce myself. I am the captain of this mountain climbing team, and also everyone’s guide. I will lead you all to find the legendary Ice Ling Fruit…”

He was very proactive, immediately launching into a lengthy speech.

Most importantly, he aimed to gain everyone’s trust first.

He displayed his strength and experience.

This way, the others in the temple naturally began to center around him.

Zhang Yangqing saw this but didn’t interrupt, wanting to see his next moves.

Some viewers might think this person seemed like the reliable type.

But Zhang Yangqing and the other Chosen Ones didn’t see it that way.

In this kind of supernatural world, no one was truly reliable except oneself.

Who would entrust their life to someone else?

If this captain was a supernatural entity in disguise, then this journey would be the most dangerous for the Chosen Ones.

Because, according to him, only he knew the location of the Ice Ling Fruit. So, the other Chosen Ones and climbing team members, lacking this information, would have no choice but to trust him and follow him.

He might very well lead everyone to a certain-death area.

If the Chosen Ones later found the route suspicious, they would need to point it out directly. If the Goatee Captain couldn’t provide a reasonable explanation, then he was definitely the supernatural entity.

Even if he really was the captain and not a supernatural imposter, one still needed to be wary.

This was the strange tale world, after all. The native inhabitants must also have some special reason for seeking the Ice Ling Fruit.

Who knew what the Ice Ling Fruit actually was?

In the previous prison scenario, those fruits needed to be fed meat to grow.

It was possible that here, certain conditions also needed to be met to harvest the fruit.

In this regard, transcendent beings like Zhang Yangqing weren’t afraid. If anyone tried to feed him to a plant, he could just throw that person to the plant instead.

But the other Chosen Ones were afraid of him. There were only a few top-tier transcendent beings; the ordinary Chosen Ones present might not even be able to defeat the other native inhabitants.

The ordinary Chosen Ones needed to use information, teammates, and rules to counter-attack.

Just as the Goatee Captain was speaking enthusiastically, the Slicked-Back Hair man sneezed.

It couldn’t be helped; it was extremely cold inside the temple too. Plus, with the windows and door dismantled by this guy, in the short time the Goatee Captain had been talking, the cold debuff on everyone had stacked up considerably.

If they didn’t start a fire soon to warm up, everyone might fall ill from the cold.

At this point, many Chosen Ones took the initiative to start the fire. They just needed to pick up the dry grass in the temple, place it on the dry firewood, and use a lighter to ignite the grass, which would then light the firewood.

The Slicked-Back Hair man hadn’t failed to think of this; he just didn’t have a lighter, so he had to resort to the most primitive method of rubbing sticks together.

The sound of crackling firewood filled the air.

As long as everyone gathered near the fire, they felt a wave of warmth.

The chill and numbness in their hands and feet slowly faded.

Once the negative debuff was completely removed, everyone felt much more alert.

This was the approach of ordinary Chosen Ones: they actively tried to please others to gain the team’s ‘acceptance’.

As long as they were recognized by the stronger teammates, their safety would be somewhat guaranteed.

After all, for ordinary Chosen Ones, relying on teammates’ strength was necessary to clear the stage.

But doing so might also make them targets for any supernatural entities hidden within the team.

Yet, this precisely played into the traps set by some Chosen Ones.

Someone like Ge Lieke, changing his usual reckless style, began employing tactics.

There’s a saying: The highest-level hunters often appear as prey.

He intended to actively do things to attract supernatural entities to attack him.

Others might not be able to defeat the supernatural entities, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t.

As long as the supernatural entity dared to attack him, he could counter-attack.

This was Ge Lieke’s strategy for this stage. He had shed some of his usual demeanor.

But the thought of crushing a supernatural entity’s head, the image of blood spurting out, excited him again.

After all, he couldn’t change what was in his bones. Perhaps this was the main reason he wanted to enter the strange tale world.

Zhang Yangqing’s approach was even more inscrutable.

The temple grew colder, the wind and snow outside heavier.

The temperature inside had dropped to an extremely low level.

The Goatee Captain was still talking, but the others were freezing.

According to Zhang Yangqing’s thinking, if you’re cold, start a fire.

I have high attributes; I can withstand it. If you don’t start a fire, let’s see who freezes to death first.

Sooner or later, someone would cave in and start the fire.

And that moment was when Zhang Yangqing would observe.

The audience also noticed that when other Chosen Ones started the fire, their every move was being watched by the four climbing team members present.

In other words, while the Chosen Ones observed them, they were also gathering information about the Chosen Ones.

In this phase, the Chosen One was the one being observed.

Zhang Yangqing realized this. He wanted to collect information about the others without exposing himself. One could even say he was being lazy!

Anyway, someone had to do the work; why should it be him?

The Goatee Captain also seemed highly resistant to the cold. He kept on talking, introducing various precautions, showing no intention of starting a fire himself.

The Slicked-Back Hair man, who wanted the fire the most, was freezing, but he had no lighter.

The Purple-Eyed woman couldn’t take it anymore; she was uncomfortable too. So she picked up some dry grass and threw it near the pile the Slicked-Back Hair man had prepared.

At this point, she didn’t take out a lighter or similar tool. Instead, she took off her glove, and with a flick of her slender, pale hand, a red playing card somehow appeared in her grasp.

She was like a magician from a circus, performing tricks.

With another wave of her hand, the card burst into flame, which she then tossed onto the dry grass.

The Purple-Eyed woman thus became the first to expose her profession, or rather, the first to display her ability.

At this stage, whoever exposed themselves first was more likely to be targeted by the supernatural entity.

One could infer from the rules that the supernatural entity might not have the ability to single out and kill anyone easily. Or, put another way, without knowing the climbing team members’ abilities, the entity wouldn’t act rashly, for fear of being counter-attacked.

Whether one appeared overly strong or overly weak, the supernatural entity had ways to deal with it.

So, not exposing oneself was perhaps the best choice.

The front of the temple was pretty much destroyed by the Slicked-Back Hair man, so everyone had to rest in the small area behind the statue.

By this time, the drowsiness characteristic of the strange tale world set in.

It made the Chosen Ones feel sleepy.

In the firelight, large shadows danced on the temple walls.

Everyone gathered around the fire, where some details could be observed.

Gold-Rimmed Glasses’ hands had some calluses. Given his scholarly appearance, that seemed unexpected.

The Purple-Eyed woman’s hands, under the firelight, appeared even paler and more translucent, looking very nimble, skilled in various techniques.

The Slicked-Back Hair man’s hands had many wounds and scars. The scars were linear, some old, some new, making it hard to tell his profession.

The Goatee Captain behaved somewhat strangely during this fire-making phase; he didn’t remove his gloves, just warmed his hands over the fire while still wearing them.

He continued to play the role of captain, trying to break the ice, suggesting everyone get to know each other.

He seemed eager to learn about the others’ professions and information, which actually made people somewhat suspicious of him.

“I’ll start,” said the Goatee Captain. “I’m a professional guide for these snowy mountains.”

This statement was as good as saying nothing.

It made him seem like he was fishing for information.

The Purple-Eyed woman said she was a magician in a circus.

The Slicked-Back Hair man claimed he was a cook in a small restaurant, which seemed to match the cuts on his hands.

Gold-Rimmed Glasses simply said, “I’m a fitness coach,” and offered nothing more.

As for whether these were their real professions, that was another matter. They all acted like, “Believe it or not, I don’t care.”

After the others finished introducing themselves, their gazes turned to Zhang Yangqing.

Zhang Yangqing didn’t even bat an eye and said directly, “I’m a security guard.”

The expressions on the other climbing team members froze instantly, as if saying, “You’re just making things up! At least make the lie somewhat believable!”

When Zhang Yangqing declared his profession as a security guard, viewers in the Dragon Kingdom burst into laughter.

Some who were drinking water even spat it out.

“Hahahaha, this is killing me! Zhang Tianshi still hasn’t forgotten his security guard identity. Once a security guard, always a security guard!”

“It seems Zhang Tianshi can’t let go of the security guard profession. I wonder if he can get a security guard job in this strange tale.”

“Because Zhang Tianshi is an enlightened master, his vision is naturally far-reaching. At his age, if he becomes a security guard, he can avoid decades of detours.”

“Seriously, the ultimate career path in the entire universe might just be security guard!”

“I’m a property security guard, I like the homeowner Xiao Dan, I love eating bear-shaped crackers!”

“Being a security guard, you regret it for a month; not being one, you regret it for a lifetime!”

“Security guards make 70 a day, that’s 700 a week, 70,000 a month, 700,000 a year! How could you ever spend it all!”

“Whoa, bro, you’re treating zeros like they’re your own, just adding them wherever, huh?”

On other Chosen Ones’ screens, the audience seriously analyzed the four teammates, afraid of missing any details.

But when it came to Zhang Yangqing’s stream, it was full of jokesters.

It wasn’t that the Dragon Kingdom audience didn’t care about Zhang Yangqing; they just felt it wasn’t necessary.

If he couldn’t figure out who the supernatural entity was, what chance did they have? That would be truly strange!