Chapter 1233: An Abnormal Team

Chapter 1233: Abnormal Team

"Hey... Di Gou!"

Xiao Xiao could no longer hold back and finally called out.

"Hmm..." Di Gou held a book up to his face, his voice drifting out lazily.

"Do you even want to go?" Xiao Xiao asked irritably. "Weren't you just talking big about waiting for others to clear the way for us? And now, just a few minutes later, you're practically falling asleep."

"Hmm..." Di Gou responded again, sounding like he was mumbling in a dream.

"I'm done... I'm really done with this." Seeing that Di Gou wasn't listening, Xiao Xiao turned to Zheng Yingxiong and said, "You keep an eye on him, and make sure it's a close watch."

Zheng Yingxiong had been staring at Di Gou with a serious expression the whole time, deep in thought about something.

Xiao Xiao ignored the pair and moved over to Lin Qin.

The girl had been muttering to herself in the corner since earlier, as if reciting some kind of chant.

Xiao Xiao couldn't understand what important chant could be so urgent at a critical moment like this.

When she quietly approached Lin Qin from behind and leaned in to listen, it only took a few seconds for Xiao Xiao to feel her anger boiling.

Just as she had said, not a single person in this team was normal.

Only she, with her bipolar disorder, seemed to be genuinely fighting for "Ji Dao" and the final mission.

Lin Qin might look like the most normal one, but she kept repeating the same crazy-sounding phrases over and over—

"In a bit, I should drink some water."

"Is it time to eat something?"

"I need to use the restroom."

"Insane... They're all insane..." Xiao Xiao shook her head helplessly, then remembered Han Yimo, who had been lying on the couch for ages.

If anyone could still make a difference now, it might be him.

"Hey!" Xiao Xiao squatted down next to Han Yimo and slapped him twice across the face without hesitation. "Are you still alive?"

Han Yimo showed no reaction at all. He was still breathing, but he looked like he'd been dead for a long time.

"You're like a little chick—drop at the first sign of injury..." Xiao Xiao said, slapping him twice more. "If you'd just exercised a bit more, you wouldn't be like this..."

Han Yimo still didn't respond, and Xiao Xiao worried that another slap might actually kill him.

"Good job." Xiao Xiao stood up, glanced at the odd group in the room, and added, "You've all broadened my horizons. I'm heading out on my own. Is anyone coming with me?"

The members of "Ji Dao" stared at her, looking a bit dazed.

"We've probably already missed the agreed time..." Xiao Xiao said. "Right now, all the 'Ji Dao' members are fighting to liberate the 'Lou Yi'... And here we are, hiding away. It just doesn't sit right with me..."

The "Ji Dao" members exchanged glances but didn't make a move.

Xiao Xiao stared at them and continued, "Haven't you noticed? This Di Gou has no intention of going out... He wants to stay safe in this storm all by himself. Are you all planning to wait here too? Until our teammates are all dead...? Until the mission fails completely, and we get expelled?"

Di Gou heard this and shifted the book slightly away from his face, revealing one eye.

"If you're not going, I'll go alone." Xiao Xiao said. "Even if it's just me... I have to go."

"What's the rush...?" Di Gou's muffled voice came from behind the book. "Isn't it already too late?"

"And whose fault is that we're too late?!" Xiao Xiao flared up at the words. "Wasn't your plan to escort us to that Hei Yang? But we've been sitting in this room wasting time... What are we even waiting for?!"

"I already told you..." Di Gou sighed. "We're waiting for the brave and skilled 'Sheng Xiao' to clear the way for us."

Xiao Xiao couldn't take it anymore. She stepped forward and grabbed Di Gou by the collar.

Di Gou hadn't expected the girl to be so strong; she pulled him off balance, and the book fell from his face.

"I'm brave and skilled enough!" Xiao Xiao said. "Keep waiting if you want... Is a plan this big going to succeed just by 'waiting'? All I can hope is that there aren't too many people like you in 'Sheng Xiao,' or the whole 'Ji Dao' will be let down."

"Don't worry, people like me are rare." Di Gou reached out, gripped Xiao Xiao's wrist, and gently pried her hand away. "Since we've missed the chance to meet Hei Yang, why not stay here and wait for another encounter with me?"

"Another encounter...?"

"Shh." Di Gou raised a finger to his lips. "Don't disturb her."

Xiao Xiao followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at Lin Qin.

"Disturb... her?" Xiao Xiao turned back to look at Lin Qin. "She's already been scared out of her mind by the 'Lie Che'... Do you even know what she's muttering about?"

"I can see it." Di Gou said. "Though I only thought of this plan after meeting her... It feels like it could be a surprise move."

"What...?"

"It's a 'scheme'." Zheng Yingxiong said. "From earlier... You've been giving off the aura of a 'scheme'..."

"Of course..." Di Gou stretched lazily. "I might look lazy, but for me, today's been real 'overtime' work."

Xiao Xiao stared at Lin Qin in confusion, only to see her still muttering:

"In a bit, I should drink some water."

"Is it time to eat something?"

"I need to use the restroom."

...

As Xiao Ran made her way to the end of the corridor, she noticed that the "participants" on both sides had thinned out considerably. By the time she reached the door at the end, she found herself completely alone.

Not only were there no "participants" here, but there were no "Sheng Xiao" either.

She had expected the door at the end of the corridor to be some grand entrance, but it turned out to be just an old, rundown door. This lowered her opinion of Qing Long and Tian Long a bit, thinking that the leaders here weren't exactly wealthy.

"Damn, it's so far." Xiao Ran muttered to herself, then took a deep breath and called out in a sweet voice, "Is anyone in there?"

After speaking, the room inside remained completely silent.

She glanced at the sides of the door and saw two short corridors branching off.

Those two short corridors formed a "T" shape with the longest corridor of the "Lie Che," and the door in front of her was right at the intersection of the "T."

"I have something to report. If anyone's there, could you open the door?" Xiao Ran raised her voice and asked again.

But there was still no sound from inside, as if no one was there at all.

"Well... If it's not a bother, I'll just come in myself."

After waiting a few seconds with no response, Xiao Ran reached out and gently pushed the door open.

Inside was a round table, and directly across from her sat a man in a dark green robe, rubbing his forehead. He hadn't glanced at Xiao Ran once the entire time.