Superiority over others?

Does she need to achieve superiority over others?

She already is!

Chuzheng was silent for a moment and then suddenly asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Brother Gao smiled profoundly, "Miss Liu, it’s not that I need you to do something, but rather us working together. The phrase ’many hands make light work’ is something Miss Liu must have heard of."

Many hands make light work... Is this treating me like a stepping stone?

Chuzheng stared at him for a few seconds, articulating each word: "I’m not interested."

Brother Gao: "..."

"Miss Liu, you can give it some thought. If you change your mind, feel free to find me anytime."

As Brother Gao left, he placed the food and water he had in his hands on the ground.

-

Brother Gao returned to Gan Lu’s side. Gan Lu was chewing on a piece of compressed biscuit, "Brother Gao, what did you say to her?"

"What do you think of her?"

"Liu Chuzheng?"

"Yes."

Gan Lu frowned and said, "I initially thought she was like a student who hadn’t been exposed to society, unable to endure hardships. Later, I felt she was calmer than I had imagined, and now..."

Gan Lu paused here, apparently unsure how to proceed.

Brother Gao raised an eyebrow and pursued, "What about now?"

"Now..." Gan Lu shook his head, "I can’t see through her."

"Her abilities shouldn’t be weak," Brother Gao said, "I want to cooperate with her."

"Cooperate?"

Gan Lu didn’t immediately refute but fell into contemplation.

After a long while, Gan Lu calmly advised Brother Gao, "Brother Gao, she is an unpredictable factor. You should think carefully if you want to cooperate with her."

"Moreover, how can you be sure that these incidents are unrelated to her?"

Among this group, she is the most likely to have tampered with things.

"Yes, I know this, but now it’s just you and me left. We don’t know what will happen next, so cooperation is the best option now."

Saying this, Brother Gao chuckled and shook his head.

"She may not even want to cooperate with me."

-

The air in the stone chamber was gradually becoming thin, and Li Tian sat on the ground, finding it difficult to breathe.

"Brother Lan... Are we going to die here?"

"Don’t talk nonsense." Lan Chen snapped irritably.

How could they just die here?

Absolutely not.

Gan Lu was sweeping the chamber’s walls with a flashlight, searching for mechanisms.

Compared to Yao Qing, who was almost faint, and Li Tian, who was losing her wits, Gan Lu appeared exceedingly calm.

Chuzheng leaned against the wall, while Xin Zhu initially squatted on the ground, Xiao Qi ran circles around him.

But at some point, Xin Zhu gradually leaned against the wall, looking very uncomfortable.

"What’s wrong?"

Chuzheng noticed Xin Zhu’s oddness and suddenly tensed up.

"Uncomfortable..." Xin Zhu felt breathing was difficult.

Chuzheng also realized that the oxygen here was depleting faster.

If they kept waiting, everyone might die here.

"Hang in there." Good Person Card, why are you so weak?

Chuzheng grumbled while letting Xin Zhu sit properly, then rose to examine the stone door, running her fingers across it.

"Miss Liu, you..."

Before Brother Gao could finish speaking, the stone door in front suddenly developed web-like cracks and crumbled the next second.

"..."

Everyone in the stone chamber was dumbfounded.

What happened?

Who am I?

Where am I?

Chuzheng frowned at the stone before her, feeling thoroughly unpleasant.

Why did it turn into stone behind?

Weren’t they just coming in from here?

Are you messing with me!!

Chuzheng frustratingly dismantled another layer of stones, uncovering earth behind, yet still no passage was visible.

Chuzheng: "..."

There’s something a successor to socialism shouldn’t say.

"How can this happen?" Li Tian, coming back to her senses from Chuzheng’s bizarre moves, looked incredulous.

Why did it turn like this behind the stone door?

"Are we going to die here!"

"I don’t want to die here."

"Brother Chen..."

"What do we do!"

Being annoyed by Li Tian’s noise, Lan Chen snapped, "Shut up!"

The stone chamber suddenly fell quiet, leaving only the sound of everyone’s breathing, either heavy or light, interwoven just felt heavy.

Chuzheng, annoyed and wanting to kick something, sensed someone looking behind her, restrained her impulse, and stealthily grabbed her clothes.

Calm.

Calm.

Can’t be impulsive.

Sigh—

Chuzheng exhaled and began to survey the entire chamber.

The paintings on the chamber walls, the stone coffin lid on the ground, the opened stone coffin, the corpse...

This place couldn’t be a dead end; there surely was a way out.

Chuzheng’s mind flashed through those touched areas recently, virtually everything was explored.

Wait! Not right!

Chuzheng looked up.

Their overhead hadn’t been explored because they couldn’t reach it.

Chuzheng couldn’t directly show that she could ’fly’ up, resorting to secretly using the Yin Xian to explore the top.

A minute later...

Chuzheng’s expression grew increasingly unsightly.

It wasn’t on top either, so where was it?

Everyone in the stone chamber was under the shadow of death, Brother Gao and Gan Lu’s faces both looked gloomy and anxious.

Xiao Qi suddenly ran to Chuzheng’s feet, with very human-like gestures, pointed towards Xin Zhu.

Chuzheng immediately approached, "What’s wrong?"

Xin Zhu’s breathing was shallow, "Stone... coffin."

Stone coffin?

Chuzheng glanced at the opened stone coffin they had already explored without finding anything special.

Chuzheng seemed to realize something, "Give me a moment."

The stone coffin, though explored, hadn’t had its bottom inspected.

Chuzheng tried pushing the stone coffin but couldn’t move it.

Chuzheng’s actions caught the attention of Brother Gao and Gan Lu.

Chuzheng tried all four directions, but no matter what, it wouldn’t budge.

Fine.

You’re forcing me to use brute force.

Chuzheng stepped back two steps and kicked it.

The stone coffin shattered on impact, stones scattering everywhere.

Chuzheng kicked away the stones, and examined the bottom; it was a solid stone slab. She took advantage of the others not having come over and broke the slab, lifting it away.

Once the stones were cleared, Chuzheng saw the mechanism beneath.

Just as Chuzheng was about to press it, Brother Gao stopped her, "Miss Liu."

"What’s the matter?"

"Better safe than sorry."

Chuzheng’s voice was cold, "We’re about to die, what’s there to be careful about?"

Brother Gao: "..."

Is it appropriate to say this when we’re not truly at death’s door?

Chuzheng waved her hand, pressing it before Brother Gao could react.

Crack—

After a brief sound, the chamber didn’t change at all.

Chuzheng: "..."

Brother Gao: "..."

Chuzheng returned to Xin Zhu’s side, nearly grabbing him at the same time the ground began to shake.

"Ah!"

"Qing Qing!"

"Watch out!"

Brother Gao and Gan Lu’s voices intertwined, while Li Tian’s screams echoed over.

The ground cracked open, those close to the stone coffin, caught off guard, fell in directly.

Chuzheng and Xin Zhu were no exceptions.