Chapter 272: 272: Greenish-purple face
Expressionless, eyes silent, just like zombies, surrounding in formation, enclosing Mu Cheng and his group in the middle.
"What is this?" One comrade swallowed hard.
"I don’t know," another comrade also swallowed hard.
The chill on their backs had crawled from the tailbone to the neck, like a snake opening its mouth, ready to snap at their heads at any moment.
They could even feel the greedy venom of the snake dripping down from above, one cold drop after another.
"Do you guys feel it’s a bit cold overhead?"
Mu Cheng said, "Of course it’s cold, there are snakes above us!"
When the group looked up, they realized, my God, the ceiling of the passage was crawling with colorful poisonous snakes densely packed together.
"I have a fear of clusters!"
"Like this, I’m about to develop one too!"
A few snakes leapt from the ceiling, and Mu Cheng, wielding a dagger, started slashing violently: "What are you standing there for, run!"
At the same time, a comrade with a bluish-purple face, as if controlled by someone, launched a full-scale attack on them.
The comrades were unsure if there was any way to save them and didn’t dare endanger their lives, so they were somewhat restrained in their fighting.
But the controlled comrades were different, they fought recklessly, making it very difficult.
In the blink of an eye, Mu Cheng and his group were in a tight spot.
"Captain, we’ll cover you, find a chance to break through!"
"Right! Maybe this way, we still have a slim chance of survival." A comrade commented.
"No way!" Mu Cheng decisively refused, "I will not abandon you. If someone’s breaking through, it should be Monkey, or Little Deer, anyone but me."
"No! Captain, we don’t know how many unknown dangers lie on the path to break through. Among us, you’re the most likely to survive, so it has to be you!"
As they spoke, Monkey was nearly immobilized by the colorful snakes, and the controlled comrade Cang Ying brandished a long knife from somewhere and swung it at him.
"Watch out!" Mu Cheng hurriedly went to aid and engaged Cang Ying in battle.
"Bang—"
"Bang—"
"Bang—"
Although the dagger in Mu Cheng’s hand wasn’t big, it was extremely sharp, and after several defensive moves, he surprisingly broke the opponent’s long knife.
With another punch, "Cang Ying staggered from the blow.
"Captain! Your dagger is incredible!" Monkey exclaimed in admiration.
"Stop admiring and be careful, you almost got hit again." Mu Cheng was speaking when he suddenly remembered something.
When they parted ways with comrade Cang Ying, if he had a Protective Talisman, the comrade said it was worn around his neck.
But it seemed there was something on this Cang Ying’s neck.
"Check Cang Ying’s neck to see if there is an Amulet." As Mu Cheng spoke, everyone caught on. Is the Captain suspecting these aren’t the real people?
Without a word, they cooperated seamlessly. Some provided cover, others lured, grabbed, stripped clothes efficiently and brutally.
Sure enough, when Cang Ying’s clothes and pants were quickly stripped off (leaving the underwear), the Amulet wasn’t found.
"This person is not a poisonous snake!" A comrade confidently stated, "I’ve showered with Cang Ying before, he has a birthmark on his waist that looks very much like a grenade. He even pointed at it saying he was born to be a soldier!"
The person’s waist they stripped was completely clean.
"Check the others as well, if they’re not authentic, take them down." Mu Cheng ordered.
"Yes, Captain!"
The teammates who were initially hesitating now had a goal to strive for. Their blood heated up, and before long, they had taken down this group of impostors.
"Damn it!" Poor Monkey, not being careful, got too excited and was bitten on the leg by a colorful snake.
A comrade quickly crouched down to assist, while others provided cover.
"Monkey, I don’t know what to say to you. Maybe if you took it easy and trained properly, you wouldn’t hold the Captain back so many times!"
Teased and reprimanded by teammates, Monkey was on the verge of tears: "If we make it back alive, I promise I’ll train!"
"Don’t speak of defeat, we will make it back alive. Trust the Captain!"
"I believe!"
...
With Monkey’s injury, one comrade led the way, another carried him on their back, and the rest followed behind, closing up the rear with Mu Cheng!
The colorful snakes not only made the skin crawl but were truly vicious, attacking recklessly.
If bitten, one’s mobility would become restricted like Monkey’s, unable to move rashly, or the venom might still take effect despite being treated, leading to death.
These snakes appeared much fiercer than those outside, and the venom was more potent too.
It was only with great difficulty that they retreated back to the previous underground plaza and finally escaped the snake’s assault.
"What are you doing here?"
At the plaza, Mu Cheng and his group encountered the "poisonous snakes," "Cang Ying," and others they had seen before.
"Don’t come any closer!" This time, Mu Cheng’s group wasn’t going to let them near easily, raising their weapons at the newcomers.
"What are you doing?" Xiao Si was bewildered.
"Again?" Monkey was annoyed, "You just tricked us into a trap, almost got us killed by snake venom, do you think we still believe you? Stay away, or we’ll finish you off!"
"What are you talking about? We don’t understand," Cang Ying and his group had no idea about the events.
"Cang Ying, I gave you an Amulet before, if you can show it, we will acknowledge you as our comrades, otherwise don’t blame us for being ruthless." Mu Cheng held back his comrades, speaking.
Cang Ying fished around his neck and pulled it out: "Is this it? I’ve been wearing it. Captain, what the heck are you up to?"
Mu Cheng recognized the Amulet and identified Cang Ying and his group, he let out a sigh of relief: "So it is you indeed!" He signaled his comrades to lower their weapons and recounted what had happened.
Cang Ying and the others were taken aback upon hearing: "No way? Such things happened? We didn’t encounter anything like that?"
Monkey rolled his eyes: "If you had, would you even be alive? Do you think it’s a good thing?"
When Mu Cheng’s group asked how they made it back, they were surprised to find Cang Ying’s reason for returning was identical to the previous "impostors"?
They exchanged glances, feeling a lingering fear: Could the opposition be trying to pit them against each other?