WEF - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: She Committed Suicide

Ning Dali was kicked straight back by the Shadow King into the home protected by her [Shield].

In the small room, three other people were squatting in a neat row because there were no stools to sit on.

When they saw Ning Dali staggering out from the shadow on the floor, all three were delighted:

"Boss!" "Sis Dali!" "Sis!"

Ning Dali had no time to answer. Her body rolled once across the ceramic tiles, and then she flipped up like a kestrel and sprang to her feet.

"Did Ying send all of you here?"

"Yes." All three nodded in unison, looking eagerly at her.

It seemed that Ying had already tracked down her publicly known base. Ning Dali was not surprised by this.

What surprised her was something else: the [Shield] she had bought for twenty Points, supposedly the safest [Shield] in the world and capable of blocking all Abilities and Crystals, could not block the Shadow King?

False advertising from Fertile Base!

How can a base that big still cheat people out of their hard-earned Points?

Ning Dali's expression twisted slightly. She gave Iron Face a slow, sidelong glance, considering asking her for a refund and exchanging the remaining nine days back for Points.

But when she saw the adoration and fervor in Iron Face's eyes, Ning Dali swallowed the request for a refund.

"Sis Dali, are you okay?" Zhuang Yuezhen asked with concern. "The Shadow King didn't do anything to you, did she?"

When Ying sent the three of them away and stayed alone with Ning Dali, Zhuang Yuezhen had already been worried that something bad might happen. Seeing Ning Dali return safely with nothing visibly wrong, Zhuang could not relax.

"I'm fine." Ning Dali, who had nearly been killed by Ying, said calmly. "I just spent a little time reminiscing about the old days with her."

Zhuang Yuezhen clearly did not believe her, but Iron Face was there too. She pressed her lips together and, unlike before, held back her unfiltered remarks.

The one who held nothing back was now Iron Face.

She looked around, and when no one mentioned Ning Dali's Resurrection Ability, she could contain herself no longer. Her face was tight with nerves as she spoke.

"Boss, you actually have another Resurrection Ability... This is too amazing. What are you going to do next? Are you going to go on the run, or join the Fertile Base here? Has the Shadow King given you an offer? Can I come with you?"

"It's a bit complicated. I'll talk to each of you one on one later. For now, go back and rest."

As she said this, she opened the room's [Shield].

Iron Face looked back every few steps as she left, and Wang You departed with a worried expression.

Zhuang Yuezhen was the last to leave. She made a show of walking around outside, then circled back to Ning Dali's door within a few minutes.

Ning Dali unplugged the four surveillance sockets in the room, switched on all the lights, and only then opened the door to Zhuang Yuezhen.

Zhuang Yuezhen slipped in furtively, checking behind her as she entered to see whether anyone was following.

"It's fine. At least for now, we're still safe." Ning Dali said.

The resurrection lie she had just concocted had earned her only a tiny amount of Shield value. That meant only a few people currently knew that she had lied, and the matter had not yet spread explosively.

Zhuang Yuezhen let out a breath, then asked hopefully, "Sis, did Ying step in and suppress the news? Does that mean no one besides the few of us will know that you revived Yuan?"

Ning Dali quietly studied Zhuang Yuezhen and said, "No, quite the opposite. It won't be long before everyone knows."

Zhuang Yuezhen's face turned pale. "How... how could that happen?"

Without changing her expression, Ning Dali said, "There are so many people in this world, and so many ways of investigating that no one can guard against them all. Even Ying could not hide it from everyone. Asking her for help would mean owing her a favor, and it would be useless anyway. I might as well expose it myself."

Zhuang Yuezhen grew even paler. Under the harsh lights, she did not look like a living person.

Her eyes gradually welled with tears, and she said, puzzled, "Sis, you... why are you being so good to me? Why are you bearing this for me? People will hunt you down."

"I need to learn your ability. That is the price I should pay." Ning Dali said calmly.

As soon as she said that, Zhuang Yuezhen was visibly more moved, and one enormous tear slid down her cheek.

How could this be fair? Ning Dali could have said nothing, waited for Zhuang to use her ability, and then secretly learned it without anyone noticing... but she had not done that.

"Don't cry." Ning Dali said.

She was about to move out of the room. Later, someone might come to investigate the room, and tears on the floor would leave traces.

Zhuang Yuezhen did not understand the true meaning of Ning Dali's words, so her tears flowed even harder.

Ning Dali had to hand her two tissues.

"Don't feel that you owe me anything. This is just a transaction between us. It is fair."

Ning Dali knew that the more she emphasized this, the more guilty Zhuang Yuezhen would feel inside.

Leveraging a kindness to demand repayment is a middling strategy for winning someone over. It cannot be used for a long time, but it can make a good start.

This guilt could win Zhuang Yuezhen's trust, and over time their interests would become more tightly bound together through guilt and trust.

Loyalty rooted in shared interests would be more dependable than the guilt Zhuang felt now.

Ning Dali lowered her gaze and silently watched Zhuang Yuezhen tear up with emotion.

"What exactly are the effects of your ability? Tell me about them."

Zhuang Yuezhen sobbed as she wiped away her tears, then resolutely got to the point: "My ability is [Immortality], and it has three skill effects."

"Skill One: Revive, So-and-So. This is the skill I used last night. I only need to call out the deceased person's name, and I can revive one complete skeleton into a person."

"The cooldown is seven days. The drawback is that the bones may be incomplete; the revived person will have some deficiency."

"Skill Two: Sorry, I Don't Want to Die. The effect is to turn a fatal injury into a serious injury, a serious injury into a minor injury, and a minor injury into no injury at all. The damage lessens by one level at a time. As long as I still have the will to live, I cannot die."

"This skill has no cooldown. Its drawback is that I cannot resist or reduce mental attacks."

In other words, a mental attack could make Zhuang Yuezhen lose her will to survive and cause her to die.

Ning Dali nodded.

"Skill Three: Sorry, She Doesn't Want to Die Either. This is a group skill. Within a certain range, the targets I select cannot be killed by a single blow, and they have one chance to resist a fatal injury."

"The effect of Skill Three refreshes every ten minutes. Its drawback is that the refresh time is too long. In a fight between Ability Users, time is measured in seconds." Zhuang Yuezhen lowered her head as she spoke, ashamed of her ability's limitations.

Ning Dali thought, What is the point of her own status refreshing only once every twenty-four hours? Does she love peace so much that she only takes a beating once a day?

"It's already not bad." Ning Dali comforted her in a completely flat tone.

Comforted, Zhuang Yuezhen pulled a small knife from her pocket. "Sis Dali, do you need me to demonstrate Skills Two and Three now?"

"Not for now." Ning Dali said earnestly. "My learning ability is limited too. I'll tell you when I need it."

"Oh, okay." Zhuang Yuezhen disappointedly put the knife away.

Ning Dali looked at the dull little knife. "Can this knife break through your defense?"

"Yes." Zhuang Yuezhen said with a pained expression. "It can break through, and it hurts a lot."

That was one of her weaknesses as well.

At first glance, Zhuang Yuezhen's second skill looked formidable, but it actually tested her state of mind.

Even if the enemy had no way to carry out a mental attack, they could keep attacking until pain deprived her of the will to live, leading to her death.

A life worse than death is also a form of immortality.

The [Immortality] ability really was useful only when backed by someone strong.

Used well, it could change many things. But if it showed up on its own and someone discovered it, there would be only one outcome: death.

"Hide yourself better." Ning Dali said. "If you're alive, then so am I."

"I know." Zhuang Yuezhen said. "But, Sis, what are you going to do next? Are you going to fake your death and get away?"

"If you trust me, we can put on a show. You can die in public once, and after a while I will secretly revive you. Then we can get plastic surgery and start a completely new life."

If it had not been for Ying's suggestion, Ning Dali would have agreed to Zhuang Yuezhen's plan.

But now...

"I will leave here." Ning Dali said. "I suppose I will go join the Extremist Eaters."

"Huh?" Zhuang Yuezhen made a strange sound of surprise. "Uh, the Extremist Eaters are great, the Extremist Eaters. Actually, Wang You and I have always longed to join them."

The main reason they had not joined was that they were not strong enough.

"Sis, then we will join the Extremist Eaters with you." Zhuang Yuezhen said without hesitation.

"No." Ning Dali shook her head. "I have a plan that requires both your cooperation and Wang You's."

Her gaze fell on the refrigerator in the corner. She thought of the uneaten pork dumplings, chicken breast, old hen, frozen hairtail, and frozen shrimp inside. Those were worth quite a few Points.

"This plan may cost you both your reputation, but it is very important to me..." Ning Dali laid out her plan.

Zhuang Yuezhen was confused at first, then suddenly understood, and finally patted her chest and promised, "Sis Dali, don't worry. I will definitely safeguard the Points earned from this ice... er, from this refrigerator!"

"Wang You also has a part to play in this plan." Ning Dali said. "Go back and discuss it together. If you both agree, post a status update online saying, 'Today was so exciting.'"

"I understand!" Zhuang Yuezhen said firmly.

With that, there were no further instructions.

The room was so small that Ning Dali only had to take four steps to walk Zhuang Yuezhen to the door.

She opened the door and, as Zhuang Yuezhen was about to leave, said, "If one day you hear the news of my death..."

"Sis Dali, when that time comes, I will definitely revive you." Zhuang Yuezhen said in a low voice, a determined light shining in her eyes. "I will find your entire corpse."

"I mean, you only need to find my skullcap." Ning Dali said.

With a head, she could grow herself back into good shape.

"Understood!" Zhuang Yuezhen thumped her chest firmly and walked off with a determined stride.

After only two steps, remembering Ning Dali's plan, Zhuang Yuezhen immediately launched into her overacting, her steps staggering as though Ning Dali had dealt her a devastating blow.

Ning Dali: "..."

She watched Zhuang Yuezhen leave, then turned, took a hiking backpack out of the refrigerator, shouldered it, and headed out toward the market.

Once she joined the Extremist Eaters, the Points in her account would be forcibly reset to zero.

At the market, Ning Dali went on a buying spree while transferring eight hundred Points to Accountant Li, with the note, "Shadow King, save me."

On the surface, the note read "Shadow King, save me"; in reality, it was a temporary store of Points. Ning Dali stuffed the smart device into her pocket and ignored the eight hundred question marks Accountant Li had sent.

Less than an hour into her market sweep, the sky above Ning Dali suddenly lit up.

She instinctively looked up at the sky and found it was still night.

Then she looked down at herself.

The moment she lowered her head, Ning Dali felt like ten suns.

She squinted, nearly blinding herself with her own light.

Paying no more attention to the stall owner still haggling, Ning Dali quickly walked out of the market, started the car she had bought half an hour earlier, floored the accelerator, and sped away.

From a distance, a loud exclamation rang out from the market.

"What the hell, how does she still have [Nirvana]?! This woman has so many abilities?!"

While driving, Ning Dali muttered under her breath:

"I have a two-character Resurrection Ability, [Nirvana]. Its effect is that I cannot be killed, and I can return to my birthplace to revive."

When she recited the sentence for the first time, Passing Lies as Truth was not yet available.

When Ning Dali's car reached her other base, a series of text explanations flashed before her eyes.

Passing Lies as Truth activated successfully.

[Nirvana]

A phoenix rises from Nirvana, reborn through fire.

Skill One: Return Where You Came From. You revive where you were born. Once every twenty-four hours, you can use this skill to escape death and instantly return to your birthplace.

Skill Two: Only One of You Can Die. If you kill one person on the spot, you can revive another designated target. Once every seven days, you can use this skill.

Skill Three: Reborn from Fire. Within a certain range, the targets you select can be reborn through fire and undergo a complete transformation. Every ten minutes, the damage they receive will automatically heal, except in cases of limb loss or death.

One skill revives the user, one revives someone else, and one provides group healing.

It differed from Zhuang Yuezhen's skills and was stronger.

Ning Dali's eyes flickered, and she looked at the intense light on her body, still increasing.

She had already activated Passing Lies as Truth, making [Nirvana] no longer a lie, but her Shield was still increasing... because "reviving as an infant" was still a lie.

When she activated Passing Lies as Truth, she had deliberately left out that sentence so she could keep riding Yuan's hype for a long time.

"If only this [Shield] could turn itself on and off automatically," Ning Dali murmured. "I wonder if the Shadow King can still kill me in one hit..."

As soon as she finished speaking, the blinding light on her body vanished.

After gaining [Nirvana], her control over her Ability increased.

"Hiss. It can actually turn on and off automatically."

Ning Dali got out of the car and walked toward the small detached house she had asked Zhuang Yuezhen to buy the day before.

She entered the room, locked the door from the inside, then held two fingers together and summoned a shadow arrow out of the darkness.

Pfft.

The shadow arrow pierced her heart again.

She fell without a sign of life.

She killed herself.

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