Chapter 380 Chapter 378: Weakened Version Of The Substitute Straw Man
Chapter 378: Weakened Version Of The Substitute Straw Man
Stepping out of the elevator, Chi Xiaocheng hadn't even left the residential complex.
Still looking down at her phone, a sliver of her innate danger sense immediately flickered on.
There were enemies watching her within the complex!
She quickly made this judgment.
And if she were to think the worst, they might be monitoring whether she had contacted Si Chen and the others.
Chi Xiaocheng's heart sank. She put away her phone and walked straight towards the main gate, intending to hail a taxi, when she noticed a taxi already parked downstairs.
A driver was standing nearby, smoking idly. Seeing Chi Xiaocheng, he immediately put out his cigarette, came forward, and greeted her, "Hello, are you Miss Chi?"
Chi Xiaocheng's face showed confusion.
The driver explained, "It's like this, someone asked me to wait for you here and then take you to a certain place. They specifically instructed that you not bring your phone with you before getting in the car."
The driver glanced left and right, then lowered his voice conspiratorially, "Miss Chi, honestly, asking you not to even bring your phone is really asking too much. I don't think this is anything good. That person said I just needed to wait for you here; whether you go or not is your business."
"If you ask me, you shouldn't go. This whole thing probably isn't right. If that person hadn't paid so much, I wouldn't want to get involved in this trip either."
Chi Xiaocheng took a deep breath, instantly understanding the driver's meaning.
Clearly, the other party's move was to prevent her from calling for help.
She had already missed her last chance when she received the note at home and didn't call anyone then.
Next, before she reached the destination the other party had specified, she would likely be monitored the entire way.
This driver, Uncle, indeed seemed unaware.
Chi Xiaocheng asked one more question, "How much did that person give you?"
"3000."
The driver was actually a little scared afterward.
Very afraid of taking the money but not living to spend it.
But his mother needed money in the hospital, and he was indeed desperate for cash, so he gritted his teeth and came.
Chi Xiaocheng sighed and took out her phone.
She placed it directly on a nearby bollard. "Let's go, Uncle."
The driver froze for a moment. "Your phone..."
"No need. We're in a hurry, let's go."
After Chi Xiaocheng spoke, the driver also saw the resolve in her eyes and didn't ask what exactly was happening. He simply started the car after she got in.
What he didn't know, and what all the monitoring personnel also didn't know, was this:
As Chi Xiaocheng got into the car, she subtly mouthed two words: "Xiao Hei."
It's in your hands.
A clear, soft voice responded in her ear, "Rest assured."
A slender leg clad in black silk stepped forward, appearing out of thin air in front of the bollard where Chi Xiaocheng had placed her phone.
Immediately afterward, starting from the black-clad leg, stardust butterflies gathered ceaselessly, solidifying from bottom to top into Xiao Hei's elegant gown, including her flowing long hair.
The latter adjusted her dress and paused.
Without moving the phone, she unlocked the screen, typed a message, then thought for a moment, deciding to bypass Dongfang Yang and Chi Song, contacting only Si Chen.
Xiao Hei also hadn't expected the other party to be unable to directly target Chi Xiaocheng and Su Tao, instead starting with Fang Ling.
Between two opposing parties, once close friends and family are affected, the nature of the conflict is bound to escalate.
Dongfang Yang and Chi Song were too impulsive; contacting Si Chen was safer.
After sending the message, Xiao Hei tapped her chin in thought. "Has Chu Lingfeng returned? Or... has the world's will intervened?"
As she was still pondering, and as the taxi carrying Chi Xiaocheng gradually moved away and Xiao Hei reached the limit of her maximum range, she was forced to transform back into stardust butterflies and follow.
Meanwhile, Chi Xiaocheng was also considering who could be targeting her.
After much thought, she could only think of Chu Lingfeng.
Xiao Ming was still in hiding, and besides Chu Lingfeng, no one else had this motive.
If that was the case, Chu Lingfeng had already consumed the poisoned apple, and both his luck and character importance had significantly decreased.
It would be the perfect opportunity to eliminate her!
Chi Xiaocheng glanced at her emotional value.
Her gaze lingered on the lottery for a moment, then she still entered the system shop.
She found an item Chi Xiaocheng had always hesitated to buy.
[Substitute Straw Man (Weakened Version): 2000 Emotional Value]
[Effect: When the host suffers fatal damage, this straw man will share the damage with the host. The straw man will shatter, and the host will also die, but a chance for resurrection will be preserved for the host.]
[Chance for Resurrection: The host's soul will be preserved in the current world, allowing it to remain for half a year without immediately entering reincarnation. The system will temporarily detach from the host in some form and bind itself to a person designated by the host.]
[The designated person can revive the host by entering reincarnation to collect life energy or by sharing their own life.]
Compared to the previous normal version of the Substitute Straw Man, this one was much weaker.
But it also gave Chi Xiaocheng an extra chance to die without immediately entering reincarnation.
It counted as a type of trump card.
Last time, facing Chu Lingfeng, she had been overconfident and was countered by his "Thirteen Needles to Puncture Granny," almost turning hundreds of reincarnations to ash.
It was precisely because of that incident that Chi Xiaocheng's desire for emotional value far surpassed what it had been before.
She wanted to buy the normal version of the Substitute Straw Man, but that cost ten thousand emotional value, which was too expensive.
This weakened version was settling for the next best thing.
But these two thousand emotional points could buy two ten-pulls in the lottery. If...
While she was still hesitating, the system's voice chimed in.
[Host, just to be safe, buy this one.]
Understood. Even if the lottery was rigged, her current luck value wouldn't yield anything good.
"Alright, System, I'll listen to you."
Spending two thousand emotional value would give her an extra trump card when facing Chu Lingfeng.
At the same time, Chi Xiaocheng designated Su Tao as the person the system would bind to after her death.
The reason needed no elaboration.
She trusted Taotao.
About half an hour quickly passed, and with the taxi driver speeding twice, they finally arrived at the location marked on the note at two in the afternoon.
In front of the women's restroom, 100 meters left of Wanda Plaza.
Chi Xiaocheng looked at the address. "The wall of the second cubicle in the women's restroom."
She stepped inside, then came back out.
Chi Xiaocheng then followed the instructions, arriving at a bicycle with another note attached to it.
"The fact that you're seeing this proves you truly haven't called anyone. My people have been watching you the entire way. If you had called for help, you definitely wouldn't have made it here."
"Now, ride this bicycle to the location below; someone will bring you to me."
Looking at the bicycle, Chi Xiaocheng sighed helplessly.
The other party was truly overly cautious.
But if it was Chu Lingfeng, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
After all, he had lost both his ears and his manhood.
Chi Xiaocheng had no other choice; with Fang Ling in the other party's hands, she was unable to act decisively for fear of harming Fang Ling.
She hoped Si Chen would realize what was happening quickly.
She thought this to herself, then cycled for another ten minutes or so. Her already frail body was starting to feel weak in the legs before she finally saw the person who was supposedly there to pick her up.
And this person also came as a surprise to Chi Xiaocheng.
"Huang Limei, how could it be you!"
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