Chapter 112: The Mechanism for Protecting Guides

“The silver hammer—so you really are from the Bai family,” Lin Shuang said, engaging in combat while deliberately trying to converse with Bai Xingchen.

“I don’t understand what you mean,” Bai Xingchen replied, then swung her heavy hammer at Lin Shuang. However, Lin Shuang easily blocked the blow with her bow and slipped away effortlessly.

The two men who had been following Bai Xingchen showed no sign of exerting their full strength as they attacked Lin Shuang.

Xi Yan watched intently from the sidelines, learning a few techniques from the battle between the four.

Suddenly, Lin Shuang sheathed her bow, quickly grabbed Bai Xingchen’s arm, and twisted it backward.

A painful “ah” escaped Bai Xingchen’s lips as Lin Shuang bent her arm until it hung limply at her sides, clearly incapacitated.

Seeing Bai Xingchen so badly injured, the two men exchanged a glance, realizing they could no longer allow Lin Shuang to continue. Without hesitation, they moved to extract Bai Xingchen from Lin Shuang’s grasp.

Their speed was disproportionate to their apparent levels; only survivors above level 40 could escape so swiftly from Lin Shuang’s clutches in front of Lin Shuang.

Yet, these two men displayed levels of only 5. How could they possibly rescue someone from Lin Shuang’s hands?

Lin Shuang was momentarily stunned but not surprised—she had long suspected these two were higher-level players deliberately disguising their true strength, playing the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“Miss Lin, mercy is a virtue. Bai Miss’s arm is already crippled; don’t push your luck any further,” said the man dressed in white.

One wore white, the other black, and both now exuded a completely different aura.

Once seeming like lecherous ruffians, they now appeared as reclusive masters.

Their previously smiling faces had turned serious, yet a trace of reluctance toward Lin Shuang still flickered in their eyes.

“Mercy isn’t exactly my style. Besides, the Bai family isn’t known for such leniency either. Oh, and one more thing...” Lin Shuang deliberately drew out the last word, then paused before continuing, “Why are you pretending to be from the Bai family? Aren’t you afraid the real Bai family will retaliate for tarnishing their name with your actions?”

Her words sparked murderous intent in the two men’s eyes, but Lin Shuang remained unfazed. She pressed on, “If you’re going to impersonate them, at least do it convincingly. The Bai family would never flaunt their most famous weapon so blatantly.”

“What nonsense is this woman spouting? Hey, what are you two standing there for? Attack her! Kill her! Or I’ll tell the master to have you both executed,” Bai Xingchen shouted angrily from the ground, unable to stand due to pain.

Though reluctant to obey, the men held back when they heard the word “master.”

“Miss Bai, one of your orders was to kill Miss Lin, correct?” the two men asked Bai Xingchen solemnly.

“Right, that’s one of my orders. Now get moving—stop dawdling!” Bai Xingchen snapped irritably.

Xi Yan caught the peculiar phrase “one of your orders,” which suggested there might be a limit to how many commands Bai Xingchen could issue. Perhaps once those commands were exhausted, she would lose control over them?

“Understood,” the two men replied gravely and resumed their assault on Lin Shuang.

This time, Lin Shuang could feel a distinct difference—the two men were determined to kill her.

Seeing the battle spiral out of control, Xi Yan immediately joined the fray.

Lin Shuang didn’t equip her bow this time but unlocked a longsword instead.

The sword glowed with a faint blue light, exuding a chilling aura, as if it was a matching companion to the bow.

“Xi Yan, these two are dangerous. Be careful. If you can’t win, run,” Lin Shuang warned.

“Got it,” Xi Yan nodded.

Despite Xi Yan’s vigilance, the level gap was too great. Xi Yan was only level 12, while the two men seemed around level 50—on par with Lin Shuang.

As a result, Xi Yan was injured by their hammer strikes.

At that moment, an announcement suddenly echoed through the playground’s broadcast system.

“Player Bai One, Bai Two, attackers of the guide, are about to receive punishment.

Punishment: Approaching death indefinitely.”

“Punishment countdown: 3...”

“2...”

“1...”

No one present understood what the punishment entailed at first, but the next moment made it clear.

The two men fighting Xi Yan and Lin Shuang—Bai One and Bai Two—suddenly had ropes emerge beneath their feet, binding one of their legs.

They looked down, puzzled by the ropes and their mysterious origin. Then the ropes tightened, hoisting them into the air.

Xi Yan and Lin Shuang traced the ropes upward, discovering their other ends were fastened to the highest swing set in the playground.

There were two ropes, each tied to one of the men’s legs.

Suddenly, as if controlled by some external force, the ropes began spinning wildly, causing the two men to whirl frantically in midair.

Xi Yan realized the meaning of the punishment “approaching death indefinitely”—it was a psychological torment, forcing them to experience the sensation of near-death without actually dying.

This was a form of mental torture.

The incident sparked a thought in Xi Yan’s mind: Could this playground area have a protective mechanism for the guides?

If so, why did Luo Bai still perish?

Could it be that before completing their mission—whether real or fake—the guides within the playground are shielded by this mechanism?

If that were true...

Xi Yan’s thoughts deepened into an even greater speculation.

He looked up at the two men spinning helplessly in midair, a mischievous smile curling at the corner of his mouth.