Vol 3: Chapter 6-3.

After a quick discussion, Zero and Lan went upstairs. Zero was responsible for the sniping while Lan guarded his back. Lan also had a small submachine gun. As for Tengyi, he still hadn’t recovered from the concussion, so he had to stay in the room. Zheng, Jie and Yinkong took the elevators down.

“Found them. At the entrance to YL street. They’re withdrawing money at the ATM. Ding is holding the scriptures. Go left from where you are, you should catch up to them within 30 seconds. I will shoot after 20 seconds… Zheng, hurry, we need to take back the scriptures before the police arrive.”

“… Okay!”

The three of them ran to the left, Zheng asked Yinkong on the way. “Is there any way prevent them from telling the police our location?”

She was surprised for a bit. “Just kill them.”

“Killing takes off points. Any other way? You assassins surely have some methods right?”

“That’s simple, cut off their limbs and tongues, gouge out their eyes. If you want something even simpler, pierce a needle into their spine and they will go into a vegetative state… You need my help?”

“No! I will bear my own responsibility…”

The ATM was in sight by this time and beside it was Renjia and the other two. Renjia was withdrawing money while Ding was looking at him. Only Yanwei saw Zheng coming their way, then she smiled at them.

With a loud bang, Ding’s left leg disappeared. The huge impact totally crushed his leg. The bullet even shot into the concrete ground and blasted a hole the size of a bowl.

The gunshot shocked them for a bit then Renjia immediately turned around and grabbed Yanwei as a shield. He pointed his gun on her head. Ding was screaming on the ground.

Renjia saw Zheng running over and shouted, “Don’t come over! Otherwise I will kill her… and the scriptures, Ding! If they take another step, tear up the scriptures!”

Zheng immediately stopped. They were less than fifty meters away from Renjia now. “I don’t want to say anything else. Put down the scriptures and I will let you leave safely.”

Ding yelled as he held onto the broken leg. “Leave your ass! Do you know how scary that thing is? We may as well just kill ourselves if we don’t have the scriptures. F*ck, why do you have to chase us? Why don’t you let us take the scriptures? You’re strong, why don’t you give them to the weaker ones? Leaving them in the living room to help everyone? You veterans just want to monopolize them!”

Zheng was filled with hatred. It was the first time he saw such ugliness in people. Even though this happened frequently in books and movies but when it happened right in front of his eyes, the shock was indescribable.

‘Am I… really wrong?’

Another gunshot as Ding was talking. The arm that was holding the scriptures fell to the ground. Zheng and Yinkong sprinted at them immediately.

Yet Ding had his mind set. He knew Zero was sniping him at distance. He remembered their introduction. And without hesitation he grabbed the scriptures and threw them to the streets. Right after he threw them, his other arm was shot. The scriptures landed on the street and a car drove on top of them, crushing them into pieces then blew away by the wind.

“No!”

Zheng was totally enraged. He raised the knife and swung at Ding. Ding’s head flew off to the distance then it was crushed by a car driving by.

“Killed a team member. Deducted 1000 points.” God’s voice rang inside Zheng’s head but he didn’t pay any attention to what God said. He walked over to Renjia with a pair of red eyes.

Renjia was so scared he couldn’t even move. Yellow liquid leaked out of his trousers. When he saw Zheng looking his way, his body was trembling. “Don’t, don’t kill me, don’t kill me, don’t you lose 1000 points for killing? Don’t kill me…”

Another loud bang. Renjia’s hand was trembling also and the gun he was holding went off. It blew away half of Yanwei’s head. Everyone watched in shock as this woman fell to the ground. A few seconds later Renjia started laughing crazily.

Before Zheng could do anything, Yinkong ran up to him and with a swing of her hand, Renjia’s arm fell off, then it was the other arm and both legs. She didn’t even blink as the blood sprayed her whole body. Afterward she did everything she had told Zheng before walking back.

Zheng used the hemostasis spray on Renjia then took out the communication device. “Zero, if there are any security cameras please shoot them out. Also find a place that we can hide. We will come back after the police leave.”

“Understood. Go straight five hundred meters. There’s a manhole cover leading to the sewers. Then run right in the sewers, on top of the twelfth manhole should be a park. We will come back in the afternoon. Remember to change the bloodstained clothes.”

“Zero, thank you… I will apologize when we get back together…”

‘Was I really wrong?’

The three of them reached the park. It was past midnight and the area was totally black. They had to stand together with their backs to each other so they could each guard a side. In between them were a few charms.

‘Was I really wrong? Is the right way to use newbies as bait and not to trust them in the beginning?’

As his head was in a chaos, the communication device vibrated.

“Zero? What’s wrong?”

“It’s me…”

This voice… was Xuan!

“I’ve seen what happened and can probably guess how you’re feeling. Then do you want to talk to me?”

Zheng took a deep breath. “How do you know what happened? And where were you hiding these few days?”

“It isn’t important where you hide. The Ju-On won’t let you off because of distance. I also went to the temple you visited. Unfortunately the main gate doesn’t have its ability at night. In fact, the scriptures you were holding onto were probably a critical item to surviving this movie…”

“… Is it because you can listen through the communication device?”

“Correct. I have the main device so I can listen through all the connected devices, even if you don’t turn them on.”

Zheng looked at the device then laughed bitterly. “Are you here to laugh at me? Yes, I admit I failed. I was wrong to trust anyone as a comrade then get backstabbed by the same people… Xuan, did you predict this would happen, was that why you left this insecure team?”

“No, I just wanted to find a quiet place and look at the stars…”

—

On top of a roof not far away from the Sunlight Hotel. Xuan looked at the sky as he sat on the edge. He continued calmly, “There’s no absolute right or wrong. You think too much… Comrades are important but as a leader you can’t put yourself on even grounds with them. With power comes responsibility. You’re responsible for the safety of all team members. You’re still lacking on when you should give up and when you should persist…

“The only thing you did wrong was treating everyone equally… This world needs choices. The paths we take, the newbies that God chooses, or the survivors that the movies choose. You have to know who can become your comrade. It’s not the people who can’t adapt to this world. If you choose them, they will drag you along when this world eliminates them.

“Life is a long path, you will learn and grow up gradually. I am jealous of you guys… You will correct yourselves when you know it’s wrong and not have all the knowledge in the beginning. Zheng, you will grow up, and remember to put yourself in the position of a leader, not complain like a team member. It’s also important to choose your comrades. Those without talents, those that may betray, those with an ugly heart, you can’t save those people. Remember you are not a savior. You are not alive to save them. You need their strength so you can live. Don’t mess up the order…”

Zheng listened quietly to every word Xuan said. He gradually calmed down. “Why are you saying this to me? This doesn’t fit your personality, helping someone without any gain… Xuan, are you listening?”

“Yeah, I’m listening.” Xuan laughed. “It’s not totally unrelated, I owe you a favor. Remember the data I made you bring back to the real world? Thank you… Ha, it’s actually not that difficult to thank someone.”

Zheng was silent for a bit. “Do you really love…”

“Love my country? I think you’re mistaken. In actuality, once we entered this world, we no longer belong to that other world. Patriotism is rather fake here… It’s because I can finally rest, so tired…”

Xuan paused, then laughed again. “It seems like my time has come… If we can see each other again, I hope you can grow up to become a real leader. Remember nothing is absolutely right or wrong. What you want is merely living on, right? So crush all the obstacles preventing you from living!

“I’ll give you a hint. Since God can be thought of as a program, then aside from the scriptures, maybe the number seven is also a hint. Seven…”

This was the last line Zheng heard. Then he heard creepy noises through the device. (The Kakaka like noise in the movie)

“… Seven days, maybe this seven hints at the number of times you have to kill the Ju-On’s main body… It’s cut off already?”

Xuan turned around. Not far away from him was a woman in white hanging on the wall. The kakaka sounds were coming from her mouth…