TDU Chapter 334
Chapter 334 Next Successor?
The atmosphere was heavy with silence. Chen Junnan turned to Yun Yao, both unsure how to articulate the grim reality before them.
“Chen—Chen Junnan...” Yun Yao took a deep breath, restraining her emotions as she spoke, “They are all {indigenous inhabitants}… Do you really think we still need to save them? They don’t even know what they’re doing now.”
“No... you should also know,” Chen Junnan finally regained his composure and said, “{Indigenous inhabitants} won’t simply vanish once the {End} arrives... If we don’t free them, they will be trapped here for eternity.”
"This..." Yun Yao turned her head to Xiao Ran. “While I am somewhat unsettled by her present condition, you must be well aware of the kind of person Xiao Ran truly is.”
“Yes,” Chen Junnan nodded. “We came from the same probation room, so I know her character well. Though I’ve scolded her to tears more than a dozen times, this young master still feels it wasn’t enough.”
“Then do you believe she deserves to be rescued?"
Chen Junnan sighed and looked back at her. “Superstar, I regret seeing all this as much as you do, yet now that I know, I cannot turn a blind eye. If we just turn and leave, we become no different from Terrestrial Snake.”
Yun Yao looked at him with a hint of doubt and asked softly, “Chen Junnan, what kind of person are you, really?”
“In a world full of heroes, I choose to be the villain,” Chen Junnan said, lowering his head as he unlocked the chain around Xiao Ran’s neck. “But in a world overrun by villains, I want to be the hero.”
He looked at Xiao Ran’s face with a touch of melancholy stirring in his heart.
“Help untie their chains…”
The trio moved through the room, working to free the emotionless {indigenous inhabitants}. The chains were simply wrapped around their necks, yet they resembled walking zombies, utterly unable to break free.
Before long, all the chains had been removed from their necks, but not a single one stirred.
“Hey!” Chen Junnan shouted, “You’re all free now. You can leave.”
The women inside remained motionless, making Chen Junnan wonder if they were deaf.
After a long moment, Xiao Ran, sitting beside the throne, slowly lifted her head and said, “How dare you…”
“What?” Chen Junnan turned to look at her.
“How dare you… I won’t leave…” Xiao Ran slurred, “I’m waiting for master to return…”
Chen Junnan glanced at her and smiled faintly. “Do as you please. I’ve done all I can.”
At that moment, a young woman standing by the wall began to slowly shuffle her feet toward the stairs. Then a second, then a third followed.
Among the more than twenty women, about half shuffled toward the stairs like robots and left the chamber.
“Let’s go,” Chen Junnan said, turning to Yun Yao and Xu Qian. “We’ve already given them a choice.”
Xu Qian looked at the few women left behind, puzzled. “Are we really not going to help them anymore? Some of them are just teenagers—”
“Qian jie, I may be a good man, but I’m not that good,” Chen Junnan replied. “I only do what’s within my power.”
As the three left the basement, the air within {End Point} felt astonishingly fresh by contrast.
It was hard to imagine how those women had spent their days in a completely sealed room, surrounded by excrement and corpses. Luckily, they had lost sanity long ago; otherwise, they would have gone mad.
The few women who had left looked around once outside, then slowly dispersed in different directions, while Yan Zhichun remained stationed in place.
“You…?” Yun Yao asked, baffled. “You didn’t leave?”
Smiling lightly, Yan Zhichun tucked her hair behind her ear. “You three righteous ‘heroes’ are daring indeed; leaving the {Dào} unattended and descending without care. What exactly would you have done, had I quietly taken the {Dào} and barred the door?”
The three watched Yan Zhichun cautiously, unsure of what she planned to do next.
After speaking, Yan Zhichun glanced at the women who had left in the distance and continued, “Still, I have to acknowledge, you’ve done something commendable. In a sense, you’ve safeguarded {End Point}.”
Xu Qian pondered for a moment before asking, “We–Were you deliberately covering for us here?”
“Not exactly…” Yan Zhichun shook her head, then looked toward Chen Junnan. “I remember a certain person saying he’d treat me to dinner once this was over?”
“Eh?” Chen Junnan suddenly recalled and hurriedly stepped forward. “Chun jie, I’m not just inviting you to dinner.”
“Hmm?” Yan Zhichun smiled at him. “There’s more?”
“Chun jie, do you want a husband?” Chen Junnan smiled weakly. “If you want a husband… just say the word… and I’ll send—”
Before he could finish, his eyelids slowly drooped, and he collapsed forward.
Yun Yao and Xu Qian were too far away from Chen Junnan to catch him in time.
Just as Chen Junnan was about to fall face-first and break his nose, Yan Zhichun suddenly thrust forward her hand—and at the same moment, the unconscious Chen Junnan also extended his hand, steadying himself with his palm.
Yan Zhichun then gently pushed forward, guiding Chen Junnan’s body to roll over, like turning in sleep, and he slowly lay down on the ground.
The three women stared at Chen Junnan, lying on the bloodied floor, unsure of what to do. They didn’t even know if he was still alive.
Yun Yao was the first to step forward, crouching down to feel his neck. Though faint, she found a pulse.
“I’m taking him back,” Yun Yao declared. “He played a pivotal role in slaying Terrestrial Snake, and I intend to make him the new leader of {Passage to Heaven}.”
After speaking, she looked up at Yan Zhichun and Xu Qian, “Can you two help me?”
The two women were baffled by her request. Yan Zhichun paused and asked, “How do you plan to bring him back? There isn’t even a cart here.”
Without a word, Yun Yao took off her jacket, revealing the sports vest beneath. “I’ll carry him.”
“Carry?”
Yun Yao turned her back to Chen Junnan, crouched low, slung his arm over her shoulders, then tied her jacket securely around their waists, fastening them together. Drawing on her strength, she hoisted him onto her back.
At this moment, Xu Qian and Yan Zhichun both noticed that although Yun Yao appeared slender, the muscles on her legs and arms were well-defined, clearly showing signs of professional training.
Yun Yao paid no attention to Xu Qian but turned to Yan Zhichun and said, “I don’t know where your allegiance lies, but if you intend to cause trouble, you’ll likely die by my hand.”
“Is that so?” Yan Zhichun’s face still held a gentle smile, yet there was a dangerous undertone beneath it. “My {allegiance}? I am from {Judgment’s Domain}.”
Yun Yao’s expression instantly hardened. After all, on this land, she hated {Judgment’s Domain} above all else.
“We walk different paths and do not ally,” Yun Yao said coldly. “You should leave on your own.”
“Hah,” Yan Zhichun found Yun Yao amusing. “Jiěmèi, the one who invited me wasn’t you, hence you have no right to chase me away.”
Xu Qian felt the tension between the two growing thick, sensing some deep-seated grudge, but she didn’t know how to intervene.
“If you keep delaying, Chen Junnan will die,” Xu Qian urged. “Shouldn’t we take him for treatment first?”
Snapping back to her senses, Yun Yao acknowledged Xu Qian’s words in silence. She strode to Terrestrial Snake’s body, gripped its withered serpent head, and departed with Chen Junnan still secured on her back.
Yan Zhichun and Xu Qian trailed after her, exiting the foul, unsettling site without looking back.
TL Note: To his last breath, our young master still insists on playing cupid.
PR Note: That’s a true wingman.
