What was revealed was Moon Rabbit’s long legs.
The person hiding is Li Yang, lying there stealthily without moving.
Running into people who could steal but don’t, seems they were all scared by Guan Yu’s rogue playstyle.
"Our luck’s not bad," Cheng Zhirang slowly approached, "we bumped into someone we wanted to see this soon, wouldn’t you say, Li Yang?"
Li Yang, hiding and trying not to make a sound: "......"
He rolled over to sit on the ground, looking up at Cheng Zhirang with a wry smile:
"Yeah, we’re quite lucky, quite fated. So can we pretend we never met? I won’t catch you guys, you don’t keep a watch on me."
"I just said we wanted to meet you."
If they want to meet, then there’s something to discuss, can’t run away now.
Li Yang looked dejected: "Then can we make it quick? I don’t have much time left, I still need to go out and catch people to save my life."
Cheng Zhirang smiled: "We have three people here, isn’t that enough for you to catch?"
"Those willing to be caught by me are up to something, you have more people and I can’t afford to provoke you. Brother Cheng, can you please let me go, I’m a raider, but I still want some dignity."
He spoke with no confidence, crestfallen, looking quite pitiful.
Cheng Zhirang wasn’t buying it, his long porcelain-like fingers tapped lightly on Li Yang’s bent knee.
"How about we discuss a cooperation?"
"Cooperation?" Li Yang was suspiciously on guard, "Why would you want to cooperate with me? Isn’t this a scheme? Good things generally don’t come my way."
Bai Shu sincerely said from the back: "This is a good thing, and we can finish the game quickly."
Xu Cheng added: "Li Yang, this game is exhausting, isn’t it? Why not finish it as soon as possible?"
Quite reasonable, couldn’t argue with that.
The sweat soaked his collar and back, and he was indeed very tired, ending the game quickly would be nice.
He was tempted but didn’t show it: "Tell me first, what kind of cooperation can end the game quickly?"
"There are two options."
Cheng Zhirang spread his fingers, revealing a gardenia flower in his right palm as the first option.
"You catch one of us, then together we catch Chuchu. If we can eliminate her directly, that’s great. If there are remaining points not enough to eliminate, force her into hibernation, we’ll rescue forcefully and then eliminate."
"The second option," he closed his right palm, revealing a leaf in his left hand,
"You catch us, run into Shi Yuhuai, have a match, deduct five points, then force him into hibernation, we rescue forcefully and directly counter-kill him......"
Li Yang’s mind was in chaos, couldn’t absorb any of it. When he heard the second option, he had one thought: surely they’re trying to trick him again.
So he didn’t wait for Cheng Zhirang to finish, he pushed himself backward on the ground:
"Brother Cheng, are you in league with Mu Qiu? How else could you calmly come up with such...such complicated and meaningless suggestions, just to make me lose points and donate blood for nothing?"
Wanting him to work hard and lose points, isn’t this a classic case of wanting the horse to run without feeding it?
It’s insane.
Cheng Zhirang gave a low cough.
Even he looked a bit embarrassed, withdrawing his hand, looking straight at Li Yang:
"I just caught her. Didn’t she say she’d get revenge? How could we be allies. Or are you now wary of everyone around her?"
"I’m not scared...I just don’t like being tricked by her! Who likes being tricked?!"
"Then what are you worried about? An enemy’s enemy is a friend. Can I trust you?"
... He hadn’t even agreed yet and it went straight to trust issues. Is he supposed to say he can’t be trusted?
He cautiously said: "I’m not really..."
Cheng Zhirang placed his hand on Li Yang’s knee, his gentle smile suddenly had a pressure to it.
"See, you’re indeed trustworthy."
Li Yang: "......"
Great, the only person on the show who hadn’t been assimilated starts talking to himself now, not far from "he who walks by ink gets blackened".
Intimidated by Cheng Zhirang’s biceps, Li Yang agreed to this humiliating alliance offer.
Mainly when hesitating, Cheng Zhirang, using that "high-level expert analyzing the current situation to help you ascend quickly" flat voice, said brainwashing words.
"You currently have the most points. Losing five is still the most. After all, the one closest to you, Shu Ran, has lost twenty-five points, plus points deducted for hibernation, she’s down a total of twenty-seven."
"Let’s try to end the game in one round so you can still be first. As for us, we just don’t want to be last."
"You might find it hard-hearted to make Shi Yuhuai the last mc, but making Mu Qiu’s group last would be too difficult.
With extended time, it’s uncertain who’d outfox who in the end. She might not lose points, while yours continue to dwindle, which isn’t worthwhile."
With logic laid out this way, anyone who listened sincerely would be brainwashed.
Li Yang felt like he’d still struggle a bit before joining their organization, considered quite strong-willed.
But resolve was futile.
He followed closely behind Cheng Zhirang, listening to his brainwashing speeches, unknowingly passing through dense buildings, following Shi Yuhuai’s escape route to the red-brick white-tile art gallery.
An electronic sound suddenly emerged above his head, startling him.
"Mu Qiu caught, replaces Guan Yu as raider, raiding countdown begins!"
"Li Yang over ten minutes without a successful raid, triggers Freezing Skill, deducts two points directly!"
"Shu Ran caught, replaces Shi Yuhuai as raider, raiding countdown begins!"
Three messages overlapped, knocking Li Yang into a daze.
"Sister Guan Yu caught Mu Qiu, Brother Huai caught Sister Shu Ran? Mu Qiu lost points?! Mu Qiu! Lost points! Hahahahahahaha Karma! That’s karma hahahahaha!"
His excitement came quite suddenly, and his focus seemed slightly askew.
Bai Shu: "Shouldn’t your primary focus be that you didn’t catch anyone in ten minutes and directly lost two points?"
"Those are minor issues," in high spirits, he waved them off, "I have lots of points anyway. But Mu Qiu losing points is something to celebrate!"
Bai Shu opened her mouth, looked over at Cheng Zhirang, unsure whether to agree with Li Yang.
Besides, now that Mu Qiu’s the raider, there’s no need to spend time converting Li Yang; Mu Qiu can just catch Chuchu directly.
Plus now with Shi Yuhuai and Shu Ran’s feud, teaming up with Shu Ran to target Shi Yuhuai was easier.
She whispered this idea to Cheng Zhirang and Xu Cheng, Cheng Zhirang pondered a bit, then said a familiar phrase to Li Yang:
"The situation is changing, but I have a new idea."
————
ps:
Yangyang: This disgusting couple is indeed more and more alike.