Chapter 70

Editor: Kat

Proofreader: Junyans

“Hurgh… Ugh….”

IV-1 was in a daze, and he only felt that the spots of his face which were in contact with the outside world were blazing, like a fire had been lit there. Even though he had basically covered his whole body with a cloak, he could still feel the scorching pain deep in his bones. It was torturing him so much that he couldn’t calm down.

The scorching heat in his body was in stark contrast to the coldness on his back. The tame head was ready to act as if it was aware that its master’s weakness had been revealed. Two bottles of panacea couldn’t completely heal IV-1 ‘s injuries. They had only healed the surface wounds, but the rotten and missing flesh, the skin he had lost, couldn’t grow back.

If he wanted to be completely cured, IV-1 had to buy a few more bottles of energy supplements, but he had no points! Damn Travel Services, forcing him to buy Tangra Yumco radiation nullification and sterilization medicine. This had caused IV-1’s original savings of more than 10,000 points to be all used up, and he also owed the Travel Services points.

But the worst thing that happened to him was not the injuries on his body. It was that he was gradually losing control of the tame head. The tame head had been affected by the black stone jade skull when it was by the lake, and some changes had occurred. Now, to IV-1’s surprise, he couldn’t suppress it!

But to IV-1, the physical pain was nothing compared to the psychological blow. That damn, damn descendant of the eagle flutist. He had risked his life to snatch the black stone jade fragments, but before he could take them out, the descendant of the eagle flutist had driven him away from the tent! His undisguised expression of disgust at that time made IV-1 feel ashamed and angry like IV-1 was falling into an ice cave.

Previously, he had thought that he would open new scenic spots, and even obtain clues about the 30th Parallel North tour but now, that thought was completely extinguished. The raging anger and madness almost ignited IV-1, and he desperately wanted to kill something to vent. Anger, and the fact that his countdown to death had been reduced to only ten days, drove him crazy.

When IV-1 caught up with the tour group, he could barely contain himself, and he wanted everyone to be buried with his anger——but he couldn’t.

He still had to squeeze the last points out of this group of tourists. IV-1 had failed to complete the task given to him by the descendant of the eagle flutist and had failed to obtain the points and rewards of the Travel Services. Hence, he decided to prey on the tourists. The Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom was the first purchasing point.

He absolutely couldn’t let this group of damned tourists find out his current condition!

IV-1 originally wanted to punish Jiang Hongguang, who dared to hold onto his Tour Guide Brooch, but the tame head that kept moving behind his back made his countdown to death drop rapidly. IV-1 gritted his teeth, but he could only gently tear the tame head off his back. Afterwards, he could only order Lin Qiming to carry him on his back, and then immersed himself in subduing the tame head, which made his perception of the outside world become sluggish.

Then, the tour group stopped moving. IV-1 didn’t care about the reason. It was not until he felt someone approaching him and Lin Qiming that IV-1 cursed viciously in his heart and stretched out his hand to stop him. That idiot, Lin Qiming, was stunned in place, and he didn’t back away immediately. IV-1 held poison in his hand, and he wanted this person to experience the punishment of offending a tour guide!

But maybe it was because he was still immersed in suppressing the tame head, so he was slow to react, or maybe this motherfucker was moving too fast, but IV-1 was unhooded in public before he could slap this motherfucker on the face!

AH——!!!

The thin skin that had just grown on his face was like a thin layer of film, and IV-1’s body twitched because of the severe pain when he came into contact with the harsh surroundings. He wanted to let out a shrill wail, but he forced himself to bear with it. Only the muffled sound of chortling and breathing leaked out from his throat. At the same time, IV-1’s five senses seemed to become extraordinarily sharp——He seemed to hear the tourists gasping.

His shameful state was seen by the tourists!

Great shame and anger flooded into his heart. IV-1 was so angry that he became enraged, and he didn’t care about his goals. He just wanted to vent violently——he wanted the descendant of the eagle flutist and everyone in the tour group to die.

Everyone must die!

“All of you, go up first,” Wei Xun said.

He lugged IV-1 by his cloak and took him off Lin Qiming’s back. IV-1 was currently as light as a rack of bones. Although Yue Chenghua had died early, Wei Xun could perceive what had happened to IV-1 by specifically sensing it from Xiaojin.

However, when Yue Chenghua had shone the strange fish with a strong flashlight before he died, and the vengeful fish had turned back and returned to open its mouth wide towards IV-1 to gobble him down, Wei Xun thought of what he had sensed in the strange fish last night. That extreme sense of danger.

Was it something from the strange fish’s stomach that made IV-1 look like this?

“Ah, ah this.”

Lin Qiming shivered with fright, wanting to take IV-1 from Wei Xun’s hand. But as he hesitantly stretched his hand halfway, his fingers were still trembling slightly.

He had glanced at IV-1 just now and seen IV-1’s face. At that moment, shock and panic almost drowned him! After the panic, what came from the bottom of his heart turned out to be killing intent.

IV-1 would never let anyone who saw him in a sorry state live!

Lin Qiming knew how much IV-1 cherished his face and knew that he held grudges. IV-1 was like a hyena. Anyone who had offended IV-1 would be brutally tortured to death. When Yue Chenghua and the others had died, he knew that everyone in their tour group had to die in IV-1’s mind. Even Lin Qiming was no exception.

All of them will be killed by IV-1!

Lin Qiming’s mind was in a mess. Hearing Wei Xun’s words, he looked at Wei Xun blankly and saw Wei Xun smiling at him. Did Wei Xun deliberately lift IV-1’s hood so that everyone could see his face?

In this way, Wei Xun had tied everyone to his chariot, and even for the sake of keeping their own lives safe from harm, no one would follow IV-1 again. Just judging from how no one from Yue Chenghua’s group of four had come back, Lin Qiming had a guess in his heart that they were probably all dead, all completely dead.

Those who sided with IV-1 died the fastest.

A chill surged in Lin Qiming’s heart. It was like the cold one would experience when the shelter above their head disappeared, and they were forced to face the cruel reality. However, Lin Qiming felt a twisted pleasure in the cold. Who wanted to keep throwing away their dignity and be forced to be a dog for others? It was not as if Lin Qiming had been born a masochist!

“Then let’s go up first.”

No one expected that Lin Qiming, the person most loyal to IV-1, would say this first. He even turned his head and smiled at the other tourists as he said, “Time is running out, and we will cause trouble for Leader Wei by staying here. It’s better to go up first. Leader Wei will definitely have a solution for this problem.”

“Indeed, there are only twenty minutes left.”

Jiang Hongguang reacted immediately, but inwardly he had a stern expression. When Wei Xun lifted IV-1’s hood, his heart throbbed, and the doubts he had felt along the way were connected together. Why had IV-1 asked Wei Xun to lead and leave the tour group? Why had IV-1 not punished Jiang Hongguang, but just taken the brooch away? Why had IV-1 let Lin Qiming carry him on his back, and where had Yue Chenghua and the others gone?

When he saw IV-1’s bloody, mutilated face covered with layers of gray-red flesh, Lin Qiming thought about it, and everyone else also understood what happened as well. No matter if Wei Xun did it intentionally or unintentionally, it was impossible for them to side with Tour Guide IV-1 now.

“Let’s go,” Jiang Hongguang said.

He bowed his head to Wei Xun, then turned around and continued to walk up the mountain, without even asking about the Tour Guide Brooch. With someone taking the lead, the other veteran tourists who were still in shock and panic also left with Jiang Hongguang and Lin Qiming subconsciously. When they looked at Wei Xun before leaving, for some reason, they did not dare to look directly at him. They couldn’t help but bow their heads to Wei Xun like Jiang Hongguang did.

“Brother Wei, we’ll be waiting for you at the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom!”

Fei Lezhi happily waved towards him, but what he said was “waiting for you,” not “waiting for both of you.” No one corrected him, and even Lin Qiming acted as if he didn’t hear it.

Without the protection of the Tour Guide Brooch, after walking for a short while, they faintly felt suffocated and breathless, their heartbeats accelerated, and their legs seemed to grow extraordinarily heavy. Everyone understood that this was altitude sickness, but no one dared to speak about it. Instead, they secretly adjusted their current states.

What was Wei Xun going to do? What was he going to do to IV-1? They were afraid that he would probably interrogate IV-1 on where Yue Chenghua and the others had gone.

The deep impression that Wei Xun had left the tour group of tourists was still there. They finally vaguely understood that Wei Xun was not a gentle, polite, and well-behaved newcomer. Yes, why hadn’t they thought of it previously? Which newcomer dared to trample a tour guide using their feet the first time they saw the tour guide?

He dared to step on the tour guide, and he dared to leave the tour group… This Wei Xun…did he dare to kill the tour guide?

A smart person like Wei Xun should know that Yue Chenghua and several others had died, and it was because of IV-1. And he should know that this tour group was now in a state of disorder, where the strong preyed on the weak.

What would Wei Xun do?

He had lifted IV-1’s hood. Was it some kind of hint?

All of them also had glimpsed IV-1’s bloody face, and IV-1’s revenge would definitely follow soon after because of this.

At this moment, the veteran tourists were all looking forward to IV-1 not returning. If, if there was really no tour guide following this… However, no one said much. Everyone was trying to adapt to the altitude sickness.

“Give it to me.”

Seeing Xu Yang gasping with each step he took, walking with difficulty, the veteran tourist next to him took the initiative to take his backpack for some reason, even though he usually didn’t like to meddle in others’ business. Then, the veteran tourist didn’t say anything, just strode forward with two backpacks.

The entire tour group was undergoing subtle changes at this moment. The newcomer tourists were just really excited, while the veteran tourists had more mixed feelings, and countless emotions accumulated in their hearts.

From the moment they had entered the Travel Services, they had never experienced a tour without a tour guide leading it. This kind of feeling felt like they had turned back into a newborn baby who couldn’t walk, and a strange fear and anxiety flooded their hearts.

But amid the panic, there was an indescribable sense of pleasure, as if the heavy pressure on their heads had suddenly disappeared and vanished, and they could finally see the high and vast blue sky again. Although the highlands had made it difficult for them to breathe and it was harder to traverse, they thought that perhaps this was the price of freedom.

“Fuck his grandmother. We can finally take a breather.”

Jiang Hongguang heard Ji Hongcai using coarse descriptors as he talked to himself. He didn’t say anything and just stared at the blue sky, but he didn’t realize that he had started smiling at some point.

They didn’t know what it would be like without a tour guide, and they might not be able to complete the tour in the end. But so what? Jiang Hongguang suddenly realized that even if the tourists could not complete the scenic spot, they would not die.

It was just that their final score would be low and they would get less points. However, it seemed as if the Travel Services did not say that if the entire tour was not completed, the tourists would die.

Tour guides had always forced tourists to experience the entire tour. After the tourists passed through the scenic spots, the tour guide was considered to have completed the “Travel Services’ task” and could be paid. However, not all tourists understood this. Jiang Hongguang felt that from the moment he joined the Travel Services to the present, he had always pursued “survival,” but he had never felt so “free.”

Perhaps without the tour guide, this tour would be more difficult than being exploited and oppressed by the pig-raising tour guides and more difficult than surviving under the slaughterer tour guides. At this moment, he glanced at his companions. It seemed as if everyone was really working together to conquer the no man’s land. This was a forbidden area where they would excavate mysterious relics, and he was working with like-minded tourists who would work hard together.

And they only saw this blue sky because it was forcibly ripped open by Wei Xun.

Obviously, he was just a newcomer tourist, but he was bolder and more thorough than them.

Jiang Hongguang sighed in his heart.

“I hope Guide IV doesn’t come back.”

Who was it that spoke out the thoughts in their minds? Jiang Hongguang looked over in surprise and found that the person who spoke was Fang Yuhang. Obviously, Fang Yuhang had always been cautious. Jiang Hongguang looked at him, their eyes met, and for some reason, they both laughed.

“I don’t know when Leader Wei will return.”

The tour group arrived at the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom and stood on the high mountain, looking forward to the return of Wei Xun.

As for Guide IV, who had been deliberately abandoned by them, he had not descended into a state of fear and shame.

“Don’t come here!”

IV-1 was clinging to the rock behind him, wishing he could become one with the mountain peak. He fiercely and feebly shouted at Wei Xun, and there was a trace of fear in his stern tone.

“Stop! I order you not to come here!”

The author has something to say:

The filial tourists: I hope that Guide IV will ascend to heaven. Should we pray for him?

The filial tourists: We must get used to the tour without Guide IV as soon as possible, Everyone, let’s do our best!

IV-1: ??? I’m not dead yet!

You guys didn’t expect it right, there’s an extra update this afternoon! Are you all surprised and exhilarated!

T/N: Sorry for the late chapter post. I won’t be reading comments until Dec, so if you spot any errors, contact me on discord.