Facing Xia Yu's clumsy acting, Pei Yan could only choke back his words in speechless frustration. If it weren't for the smoke from the explosion still lingering, he might have already laughed out loud, revealing his cover. He couldn't let her continue any longer. Without much thought, Pei Yan kicked Xia Yu in the stomach, rolled to one side on the spot, and sprang up from the ground like a carp leaping out of water.
Just as he stood up, he heard the internal source ripple from behind. He quickly transformed into lightning, darting forward to evade the Jiezhi Space thrown by Wenlin.
According to the instructions left by Shenyu on the note, his escape battle absolutely must not take place within the Jiezhi Space. This was to prevent him from creating illusions inside. Although this was anticipated by the Investigation Office, it also increased the difficulty of the event disguise. First, the battle range needed to be controlled to avoid affecting the surroundings, and second, the impact needed to be managed to prevent the battle video from spreading. To achieve this, when the intelligence about Devouring Demon's invasion via transdimensional crossing was received, the sensitive Investigation Office Intelligence Division immediately enforced an expanded lockdown around the incident site. Fortunately, the location was remote and not in a densely populated area, otherwise, just the aftermath cleanup would be a headache.
Not far from the incident site, inside an abandoned factory, Wang Yiyi, who once escaped in the Secret Prison battle, was holding binoculars, observing the battlefield where Pei Yan and the group from the Investigation Office had clashed. She smiled and asked Du Guangyuan beside her, "Old Du, do you think that kid is serious this time?"
Du Guangyuan, called Old Du, had long shed the elderly look seen during the initial gathering. Now, he looked not much older than Wang Yiyi, appearing at most twenty-five or six years old, radiantly youthful. Clearly, he was satisfied with his current appearance, adjusting the camera in his hand for filming while responding with a smile, "We'll know if it's real after the battle's over. If this place doesn't end with a few lives lost, he can forget about passing through so easily."
Wang Yiyi nodded in deep agreement, then turned to look at Fu Rui, who was sitting nearby filing her nails, "Hey, are you sure you can do it? I just saw that the perimeter is already on lockdown. It seems the Investigation Office has long lost trust in this kid. We'll have to pull the chestnuts out of the fire, do you have confidence? I've already survived a close shave once, I can't fall here this time."
"Don't worry, have you seen the setup at the Investigation Office headquarters? I escaped from there, which is ten thousand times more dangerous than this! But to be cautious, it's better to end quickly. If those old monsters chase us here, there's nothing I can do." Fu Rui reached out to admire her slender fingers with a sigh.
At this moment, Du Guangyuan, responsible for filming, reminded, "Look, that kid has some skills! The battle's escalating quickly!"
"Oh!" Upon hearing this, Wang Yiyi hurriedly raised her binoculars again to observe. In the short time they've been talking, the battle on the road had already reached a fever pitch. The armored vehicle responsible for escorting had been overturned, and the team previously tasked with intercepting the Devouring Demon was now guarding the captured Devouring Demon, bewildered and ordered not to join the fight. On the other side, Pei Yan, clearly unconcerned with the team members Wenlin brought, had already caused injuries to several people, blood flowing ceaselessly.
"Don't force me! I don't want to kill anyone!" Pei Yan, repeatedly intercepted when trying to escape mid-air, stood in the center of the field like a trapped beast, roaring wildly.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a team member, knocked behind the exploded vehicle, clutched his wound and crawled out from behind the car with difficulty. Staring at the distracted Pei Yan, he swiftly leaped forward, but unfortunately, before he could get close, Pei Yan, in his frenzy, turned his body and transformed his left hand into a long knife, piercing the other's stomach.
Watching the team member's unwilling eyes fixed on him, his hands struggling a few more futile times before powerlessly kneeling, blood gushing from the wounds painting the ground red, everyone present, including Pei Yan, froze in action, stunned by the unexpected scene.
"Judging by the bleeding and condition, it can't be a fake; it's really fatal! The kid's impressive!" Du Guangyuan, savoring the scent of blood wafting through the air, closed his eyes intoxicatedly and praised.
On the battlefield, Pei Yan was indeed startled by the scene before his eyes. If it weren't for his repeated confirmatory glances with Jiang Feiyang hiding behind the car, he would never dare to believe this was a puppet modified by the Equipment Department. The tactile feel, blood, and exposed internal organs were just like a real human. Meanwhile, the true original of this corpse had snuck into the Jiezhi Space to hide once it had entered a visual blind spot.
"Ruan Lijun! Pei Yan! I'll make you pay with your life!" Wenlin's deafening roar awakened those in a daze. Pei Yan, who was staring at Wenlin charging at him like a furious tiger, secretly commended this for being genuinely skilled acting.
However, in a moment of distraction, Wenlin had already closed in, placing a single palm on him as a string of patterns burst forth from his palm, winding up along Pei Yan's body.
Seeing this, Pei Yan quickly retreated, and as they crossed paths, Wenlin, with a sinister expression, whispered softly in his ear, "Why hasn't Shenyu's group appeared yet? Isn't this scene enough?"
As Pei Yan retreated, he replied, "Not enough, apparently. On my way here, I already used a Nanomechanical Insect to scan the whole field. That bunch is in the factory on the left side of the road, sitting there like fishermen."
"Still not enough pressure, it seems. Pei Yan, it's time for you to fall behind and give them some pressure." Ye Jiumu's voice came from behind Pei Yan. Before she finished speaking, Pei Yan felt a blur in front of his eyes, and he, Wenlin, and the pursuing Xia Yu and Liang Qian fell into another world.
Surveying the surroundings of the elegantly designed courtyard, Pei Yan directly sat on the stone table in the yard, crossed his legs, and said, "This is Jiumu's Mirror World; it won't be discovered by outsiders, right?"
"It won't!" Wenlin sat opposite him, took out four bottles of mineral water from his ring, handed them over, and continued, "This world can trap us for five minutes, enough to make Shenyu's group anxious."
"What's next, follow the previous script?" Xia Yu nodded, taking the mineral water, twisting the cap with a flushed and happy face, feeling novel and excited about having a fight while acting.
"Yes!" Pei Yan drank the water in one gulp, tossed the empty bottle aside, and continued, "When we go out again, I'll take some injuries, then rise up for a counterattack as per the script." At this, he looked at Xia Yu and sighed, "And when we go out later, you should talk less!"
Xia Yu immediately bounced up, dissatisfied, "Why should I!"
Pei Yan rolled his eyes lazily, unwilling to explain, as the reminder of time from Suzi echoed in his mind. He stood up and said, "The time is almost up, start attacking me! I'll only defend!"