Volume Two, Devil’s Game Chapter Nineteen: Let the Guardian Calm Down

The substitute paper figure’s invisibility did not last long after all. Lu Yi soon reappeared on the street opposite. “You can charge like a wild boar and you can dig holes too? Metal Lump, what on earth are you?”

Without waiting for the guardian to answer, he turned and ran, not forgetting to add, “Metal Lump, I’d say you don’t have what it takes to catch me. Calm yourself down and think about who to chase next. Hm? Good boy.”

“Golden Camel: Brilliant. He discovered the guardian could dig, so he used the other’s own scheme against him and fooled the guardian again.”

“Black Phosphor Jam: But I don’t think this was worth it. It took so much effort to pull out a substitute paper figure, and now it’s been wasted.”

“Sweetheart Yiyi: Exactly. Besides, this trap could have been kept in reserve for later.”

“One Fish: Who cares whether the substitute paper figure is rare or not? The most important thing is that the show is great.”

“A Wolf in the Toxic Miasma Valley: Exactly. I’m not here to watch the streamer collect items. He’s doing great right now, and it’s a blast to watch.”

Lu Yi naturally saw these comments. To Sweetheart Yiyi, he explained, “This trap probably won’t be useful later on. Since I can use it now, I might as well, so all my setup doesn’t go to waste.”

“Sweetheart Yiyi: Why? How do you know this trap probably won’t be useful later?”

“I’m a Husky: There’s no why. The streamer definitely has his reasons for doing this. Just watch. Doge.”

Lu Yi did this because he judged the guardians that came later would most likely be of the water or fire type, and attacks that simply hurled things at them would be nearly useless.

So he said, “You all saw it too. The first guardian was basically melee, but its attacks weren’t especially strong. This one is entirely physical and extremely sharp.

“Don’t be fooled by how easily I’m kiting it. If someone else were under pressure, or made even a slight mistake in judgment and failed to dodge, even a casual bump from that guardian could be disastrous. So I think the guardian’s physical path has already been pushed to the extreme.

“If the guardian changes again, it may well become something bizarre, and then ordinary traps might not do much at all.”

The livestream suddenly fell quiet.

“Golden Camel: Streamer, I can’t agree with that. We’re not allowed to reveal specifics, but I can only say the guardians are completely random. Even if they were all physical, that wouldn’t be strange. I think you wasted that trap.”

“One Fish: +1 to the comment above.”

“Yandere Fairy: +1 to the comment above.”

“Sweetheart Yiyi: I agree with him too, though I don’t think what the streamer did was necessarily wrong.”

Lu Yi did not continue the argument. Let time prove the future. Right now, he was climbing a tanker truck, planning to stand on top of it, enter the nearby window, and then slip out the other side.

At that moment, a dull metallic sound came from around the corner. No need to look to know the guardian was coming again. Lu Yi scrambled onto the roof and glanced at his wristwatch. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that. But your time is almost up. Are you planning to teleport right in front of me and stage a grand transformation into Metal Lump?”

The guardian raised his long blade and pointed it at Lu Yi. “Cunning brat, you have pushed me too far. If I cannot tear you to pieces, I will never be able to vent the hatred in my heart.”

Lu Yi nodded and waved a hand, utterly unconcerned. “All right, I get it. Say it again next time you chase me. Hurry up and go.”

“Heh heh heh.” The guardian suddenly gave a cold laugh. “You think you’re safe now?”

Lu Yi frowned. “Don’t tell me you can still chase me for another half hour?”

“Heh.” The guardian snorted several times. “I have one and only one chance to change my transfer skill into a charge skill, and reset the pursuit timer to zero.

“That is to say, I can chase you for another ten minutes. I never thought I’d use this chance, but I won’t be able to rest unless I kill you.”

The guardian flung out his long blade. It floated at the level of his waist, then he leaped up and stepped onto the blade’s spine. “Despicable little thief, prepare to die!”

With the guardian’s roar, the long blade shot toward Lu Yi, wrapped in seething sword aura. Wherever it passed, a deep slash was left gouged into the ground.

Seeing this, Lu Yi immediately understood what that streak of light he had seen before really was. He cursed inwardly, then lunged hard toward the window while shouting, “Don’t come any closer!”

“Too late to be scared now.” The guardian taunted him as the speed of his blade ride increased even further.

Crash. With the sound of shattering glass, Lu Yi burst into the room. He rolled once and sprinted without hesitation toward the hallway.

“Little thief, don’t run!” The guardian quickly reached the vicinity, and then a thunderous boom sounded. If one looked back, one could see foul matter being flung in through the window again and again, until the entire outside of the window was covered in it.

The explosion naturally stopped the guardian from flying any farther. He wiped the filth off himself, his face twisting with disgust. “What is this stuff?”

“That’s a manure cart, did you think I was afraid of you chasing me?” Lu Yi’s voice came from inside the room.

He said dismissively, “Even if you really chased me for half an hour, what of it? I’m not afraid of that. I’m afraid that if you keep chasing me covered in filth, other people might misunderstand something. After all, I’m a streamer with female fans.”

“Black Phosphor Jam: Heehee, streamer, it’s fine. Even if you were chased like that, I wouldn’t misunderstand you.”

After saying that, Lu Yi rushed to the far end of the house and smashed through another window, leaping out.

Not long after he jumped out, streaks of blade light swept across the house and tore it apart on the spot. The guardian burst out of the smoke in a fury. “Brat, I want you dead!”

Lu Yi naturally heard the commotion behind him. While running, he said without turning back, “Hey, if you’re mad, don’t just start tearing buildings down! Aren’t you the guardian? What exactly did you protect, huh? Bastard!”

“I’m a Husky: Damn, that line is 666. I can’t even refute it.”

“Black Phosphor Jam: That line is absolutely exquisite.”

“Sweetheart Yiyi: I feel like something about what the streamer said is off, but I just can’t put my finger on it. Facepalm.”

“Golden Camel: If even you don’t know how to refute it, then the guardian in a rage certainly can’t either.”

“I’m a Husky: Hey, hey, why are you comparing me with the guardian?”

“Bastard, bastard.” The guardian activated his charge skill and frantically pursued Lu Yi.

Lu Yi glanced over in passing. “Folks, this guardian really seems to have lost it. Not only did he use his one and only delay chance on me and refuse to let go, he’s also completely abandoned any method to his madness. Whatever skill he has, he’s using it.” At that, a trace of solemnity appeared on his face.

“Black Phosphor Jam: Streamer, are you feeling pressure?”

“Sweetheart Yiyi: Streamer, if it won’t work, just pick up speed and shake him off.”

“A Wolf in the Toxic Miasma Valley: No, streamer, keep messing around!”

Listening to the barrage in his earphones, Lu Yi continued, “As the instigator of all this, I feel I have a duty to sober the guardian up. I need to make him understand that catching me this time is nothing but a cast-iron fantasy.”

As soon as Lu Yi finished speaking, the barrage in the livestream multiplied several times. Some people watching on the main stage came over to his stream to post comments.

“Gugu Gugu Gu: What is that line? Can a human even say that?”

“Five-Star Handsome Man: Damn, what a reversal. Isn’t the streamer upstairs a human? If he isn’t speaking human words, what is he speaking?”

“Phoenix: Damn, I was browsing the main stage just fine, and this line from the streamer blew me right over here.”

Amid the flood of comments, gift notifications also came one after another.

“Five-Star Handsome Man has given Streamer Lu Yi 666 pairs of roller skates.”

“Luo Liufeng has given Streamer Lu Yi a set of crystal-plated battle armor.”

In the midst of the barrage and gifts, Lu Yi was chased another stretch by the guardian. From start to finish, he had not used any speed-boosting item, and the distance between them kept shrinking.

At last Lu Yi reached the edge of this residential district. “The guardian already used that horizontal charge skill, and that leaping strike should be ready soon. Might as well settle this here.”

As he spoke, he lunged forward and skimmed over a flowerbed.

“Brat, don’t think you can disappear from my sight!” The guardian roared and leaped up. From his higher vantage, he immediately spotted Lu Yi running across a small wooden bridge.

“Where do you think you’re going now?” the guardian bellowed, brandishing his great blade at Lu Yi’s back.

Lu Yi glanced back, then smiled. He braced a hand on the railing and jumped straight into the lake.

The guardian’s expression changed drastically. Yet he could not turn into a bird, and halting in midair was sheer fantasy. In less than the blink of an eye, he slammed onto the wooden bridge, shattering it through and through. The bridge could not withstand even a moment before the guardian smashed a hole clean through it and sank into the water.

Lu Yi surfaced, shaking the water from his hair. “Good. Hopefully this lake water will calm Metal Lump down a bit.” As he spoke, he scooped up a little water with complete ease.

At that very moment, a ripple less than a finger’s width formed before him. The wave splashed directly into Lu Yi’s face.

Wiping the water off, Lu Yi laughed. “Looks like this Metal Lump still isn’t convinced. He’s down there splashing me.” As he said this, he slapped another incoming wave aside.

“I’m a Husky: What the hell? The guardian is clearly swinging sword aura at you, and you call it splashing water?”

“Ink Weaver: The guardian’s sword aura has to attack the streamer on the surface from beneath the water, so it must be hindered by the water itself. Whether in speed or power, by the time it reaches the surface it’s basically just splashing a bit of water on the streamer.”

Lu Yi did not rush to go up. Instead, he drifted for a while on the lake’s surface, wanting to see what the guardian could actually do in this situation.

More importantly, if the guardian had any means of escaping, then climbing ashore would be a foolish move and would only give him an opening. But in the water, even if the guardian had tricks, as long as Lu Yi could dodge, there would be nothing the guardian could do.

After a short while, Lu Yi saw a black shadow rising beneath the water. “Heh, looks like Metal Lump still hasn’t given up on jumping up. Let’s go watch him.”

He dove under the water. There, with the help of that skill, the guardian had shot upward for quite a distance, but he was still more than two meters below the surface. Seeing Lu Yi, the guardian was like a sworn enemy meeting at last, and he swung his long blade in the water.

But Lu Yi remained outside his attack range. The guardian simply could not reach him. No matter how he slapped the water, he still could not get close.

“Sweetheart Yiyi: This guardian is so funny.”

“Black Phosphor Jam: Heehee, I’m dying laughing.”

Lu Yi raised one finger and wagged it at the guardian. Seeing that the guardian’s upward force was nearly spent and that he would soon sink again, Lu Yi quickly swam behind him.

Under the guardian’s gaze, Lu Yi curled his lips into a grin, then stepped on the guardian’s head and shoved off hard. Lu Yi shot rapidly upward toward the surface, while the guardian sank even faster toward the bottom. Soon the guardian’s shape was no longer easy to make out, and only his bloodshot eyes grew brighter and brighter.