Chapter 227
They lingered in the secret room, ensuring no noise outside, then left for their lodging. But just as they entered, chaos erupted outside.
The commotion made Su Bei and Wu Jin wary, both recalling noon’s events. Back then, similar hurried footsteps brought news of them becoming suspects.
That time, they were unprepared. This time was different. Exchanging glances, they silently chose to hide.
Unsure what happened, hiding was the safest bet. Even if He Bin came, he couldn’t assume they were in the room. If it was good news or necessary to emerge, they could. If bad, hiding bought reaction time.
Both hid in a ceiling alcove, a design feature perfect for concealment. It offered a clear view below, and people rarely looked up when searching.
It wasn’t familiar faces but a group of strange underground humans. A furious middle-aged man led: “Search! See if they’re hiding here!”
They rummaged through the room, soon regrouping at the door empty-handed. A middle-aged woman shook her head: “Nothing. They’re not here.”
“These outsiders sure know how to hide,” another cursed angrily. “Murderers killing on our turf and trying to escape? Dream on! I’ll dig three feet to find them!”
A female in the group hesitated: “We don’t have proof they killed anyone, right? I heard some were with Clan Leader He the whole time, with no chance to kill.”The middle-aged man sneered: “Tch, woman’s mercy! Outsiders are all the same. Can you swear they’re not covering for each other? If they’re innocent, why run when we’re holding them accountable? That’s guilt!”
They only ran because you wanted to grab them without proof. The female thought this but stayed silent. She wouldn’t play the lone voice of reason, risking clan isolation for strangers.
After they left, Su Bei and Wu Jin dropped down. From the snippets, they grasped the situation.
In short, someone leaked that outsiders killed the six, likely with others fanning the flames, sparking public outrage among the underground humans.
The clan leader likely couldn’t calm them, and Jiang Tianming’s group, seeing the situation spiral, fled, entering a full-scale Hide-and-Seek.
Su Bei marveled at the King of Abilities author’s knack for planting twists. Who’d have thought the entertainment match’s Hide-and-Seek was foreshadowing?
The author didn’t add Hide-and-Seek to pad daily life but to prepare them for this critical moment!
How thoughtful!
Su Bei rolled his eyes silently, then looked at the flustered Wu Jin: “What’s your plan?”
“Stick with you?” Wu Jin replied tentatively, wary Su Bei might go lone wolf.
Luckily, Su Bei didn’t mind a teammate for now, nodding: “Let’s find the others and share the exit method.”
This was their most valuable find from the secret room. Sharing it meant they could likely leave by tomorrow noon.
In this tense Hide-and-Seek, no one would likely eat, so they weren’t in a rush. Dodging vigilant underground patrols, they checked unvisited areas.
With six tribes, Mud Tribe was unlikely for hiding, leaving five. Su Bei thought and chose the Water Tribe.
They’d encountered the other tribes’ people or things, but Water Tribe hadn’t appeared. It was time for their debut.
The Water Tribe’s hall resembled a waterfall cave, with a flowing stream circling the perimeter, water curtains cascading down walls, and a rain chime at the entrance. It was the most beautiful of the six tribes.
Entering rashly as humans would draw attention, so Su Bei and Wu Jin hid behind the water curtain, inching forward soaked. Wu Jin, puzzled, whispered under the water’s cover: “Do we really need to come here to find them?”
“I’m betting they’re here,” Su Bei whispered back, conjuring an ordinary Gear and tossing it to the hall’s center—one of his two usable abilities, the other being seeing Destiny Compasses.
He could only summon basic Gears in limited numbers due to the underground’s Ability suppression.
Most wouldn’t notice a small Gear, and even if they did, they’d think nothing of it. But Jiang Tianming’s group wouldn’t miss it, using it to signal Su Bei’s presence.
Sure enough, the Gear soon twitched. Only Jiang Tianming’s Ability could cause that.
Following the Gear’s movement, Su Bei spotted a small room. He and Wu Jin crept to the door, which “thoughtfully” opened a crack.
Slipping in unnoticed, they found Jiang Tianming, Wu Mingbai, Zuzong, and Huangfu Mingzhe inside.
“You’re all together,” Su Bei raised an eyebrow. “What’s the situation?”
The place seemed safe. Jiang Tianming sat them down and explained.
After Su Bei and Wu Jin left, the group went to the Spirit Tribe to talk with the clan leader, who openly shared Black Flash’s recruitment attempt.
His candor, plus familiarity, eased most of He Bin’s suspicions. They planned to discuss the incident and see if he could catch the missing outsiders.
But then Wu Mingbai noticed something off. Like Su Bei’s Destiny Compass, Wu Mingbai could sense Earth Elements despite weakened Abilities.
Underground humans, living here long, had dense Earth Elements. But some nearby had fading concentrations. Though unclear why, it was a bad sign.
Not out of pride, but because letting Black Flash get what they craved could harm others. Giving a knife to a civilian versus a vicious criminal yields different outcomes. That “knife” couldn’t fall into Black Flash’s hands.
Jiang Tianming nodded, turning to Su Bei and Wu Jin: “What about you? Any finds?”
“We found the way out,” Su Bei smiled.
The four’s eyes widened in shock. Jiang Tianming had guessed Su Bei’s mid-mission exit was for something big, but not this big.
Zuzong asked excitedly: “You found the exit? Awesome! That means Bowen and them are saved, right?!”
Then he tensed: “So how do we leave? Can we go now? If it’s fine, let’s send someone to take the two unconscious ones up.”
“Not until tomorrow noon,” Su Bei explained the method briefly, then said righteously: “I’ll safely escort them up. You guys stay and handle the conspiracy.”
The others: “…”
His sacrificial tone and expression might fool someone into thinking he was staying to face danger.
“But you can’t fly. How’ll you take them up?” Jiang Tianming asked calmly.
This cooled Su Bei’s enthusiasm. He could carry two, but climbing that high was too much. No need, either, with fliers in the team. “Find Si Zhaohua to do it,” Wu Mingbai offered the only solution. In their group, only Si Zhaohua could fly here. Huangfu Mingzhe’s flight was an Ability skill, not innate.
Only Si Zhaohua’s flight, Su Bei’s Destiny Compass vision, and Huangfu Mingzhe’s physical prowess were innate.
“Stick to our current teams,” Jiang Tianming said, producing a paper with safe house locations from He Bin. “Check these spots. They might not be there, but transfer points are likely here. Waiting there should find them.”
Su Bei nodded. Finding people was a hassle, but compared to unraveling conspiracies, it was lighter work.
“Hey, use these to wipe off,” Huangfu Mingzhe tossed Su Bei two high-quality handkerchiefs.
Soaked from the water curtain, Su Bei and Wu Jin needed them. Surprising that he was so thoughtful, carrying two handkerchiefs.
With Ability items like storage rings unusable here, he carried them physically—and two at that.
Everyone was shocked. It was like a tiger sniffing roses.
Seeing their surprise, Huangfu Mingzhe snorted arrogantly: “Drop those tacky looks. A perfect person must always be perfect.”
“Doesn’t he feel embarrassed saying that?” Su Bei whispered to Wu Jin.
Wu Jin: “…”
The “perfect” Huangfu Mingzhe fumed: “Hey! I can hear you!”
They split up, Su Bei and Wu Jin heading to the Gecko Tribe, the closest to Water Tribe. With Mud and Water Tribes ruled out, four tribes’ safe houses remained.
The hardest part was dodging patrols. Luckily, the locals assumed they were in fixed hiding spots, focusing on rooms and water tanks, not roads, easing their movement.
Wu Jin’s Low Presence helped immensely, or they wouldn’t have evaded so many searches.
When Su Bei learned Wu Jin’s Low Presence worked here, he asked why. It wasn’t an Ability but a skill Wu Jin developed from years of deliberately lowering his presence.
Su Bei’s take: manga logic.
Like Lan Subing’s luck, it was the author’s setup.
With their luck not great, Su Bei didn’t search diligently, glancing at each safe house and moving on if empty.
After checking all without finding anyone, Wu Jin couldn’t hold back: “Shouldn’t we wait at a safe house? We might miss them like this.”
“No need. Waiting’s the same as missing,” Su Bei replied calmly, thinking. “Let’s check on Qiao Mu and them.”
Other places might not guarantee meeting others, but the infirmary would. Unless the author meant to kill them, they’d likely have no plot until taken up. Waiting at the Plant Tribe’s infirmary maximized slacking.
But the locals weren’t fools. Near Qiao Mu and Li Bowen’s room, Su Bei’s Mental Energy detected several hidden guards.
They’d guessed the group wouldn’t abandon comrades and would try to save them, so they set an ambush.
Good plan, but it underestimated the outsiders. From the shadows, Su Bei pointed out the guards’ positions to Wu Jin, who exposed himself to draw them away.
The diversion worked, clearing a path for Su Bei to enter the infirmary with only the unconscious pair. Wu Jin, using his Low Presence, soon shook off the pursuers and joined.
“What now?” Wu Jin trusted Su Bei, believing he wouldn’t steer wrong. They were tied together—Su Bei might mess with him, but not himself.
“Wait here. If Si Zhaohua meets Jiang Tianming, he’ll be told to come,” Su Bei said, checking Qiao Mu and Li Bowen.
They looked bad—dark, banana-like scars dotted exposed skin, foreheads sweaty, brows furrowed in pain despite unconsciousness.
Wu Jin understood. If Si Zhaohua met Jiang Tianming, he’d learn the exit method and come here.
But what was their role? Just wait? Wu Jin’s conscience prodded him: “Isn’t that slacking? That’s not right, is it?”
Su Bei countered seriously: “Slacking? We’re protecting Qiao Mu and Li Bowen. Those ambushes show the locals know we won’t abandon them. Now they’re just watching, but in a crisis, you think they won’t hold them hostage to threaten us?” His logic held. Wu Jin knew it could happen. Seeing him nod, Su Bei continued smugly: “Exactly. Staying here prevents that. How’s that slacking? It’s foresight.”
Though Wu Jin knew Su Bei was here to slack, he couldn’t argue. The reasoning was sound, just reverse-engineered.
They idled peacefully while the plot raged outside. As Su Bei pondered where to sleep, Si Zhaohua and Wu Mingbai arrived.
As predicted, Si Zhaohua met Jiang Tianming, learned the exit method, and came to take Qiao Mu and Li Bowen.
Since a major quake was needed, Wu Mingbai, with [Earth Element], had to come.
Though his Ability was weakened, the underground boosted Earth Element users. His Ability was least affected, even usable in combat. Their evasion of patrols owed much to him.
“I’m not sure I can make a quake big enough to open the exit,” Wu Mingbai admitted, lips pursed. Even in his element, he lacked full confidence.
A valid concern. If he failed without a way to verify, Si Zhaohua could end up like Qiao Mu and Li Bowen, harmed by spatial turbulence.
Su Bei had considered this. With time, it wasn’t hard: “The locals have Abilities too. You’re not the only one who can cause a quake.”
“You mean… Mud Tribe?” Wu Mingbai caught on. “But will Clan Leader He help?”
“They don’t have a choice now,” Su Bei said meaningfully. “If not, have the Spirit Tribe clan leader persuade him.”
The Spirit Tribe leader saw clearer than He Bin. With their exit inevitable, the locals had to choose Black Flash or the government to solve the Prophecy. Black Flash was already scheming and killing. Unless He Bin wanted to yield, he’d help Wu Mingbai.