Chapter 36

Before the words had even finished falling, Chu Yunmiao felt a gale strike from behind.

Her body moved faster than her mind; she immediately hugged the little rabbit and rolled hard to the left, narrowly avoiding the blow. By the time she came to a stop, she saw that where she had just been standing, a thick dragon tail had slammed into the ground.

Chu Yunmiao wasn’t angered by it; instead, she looked toward the Princess.

“I’m glad you chose to strike first. Then what I do next won’t count as bullying the weak.”

At her words, the Princess flinched.

She vaguely felt that she had made a very bad gamble. But there was no choice now; all she could do was pin her hopes on the dragon turning the situation around.

The dragon, who had originally been toying with the players as if they were insects, suddenly left the battlefield and began attacking the Princess in front of the castle. That left everyone present a little dumbfounded—

Wasn’t the dragon the one who had kidnapped the Princess? Weren’t they here to save the pitiful Princess?

Why did it suddenly look like the dragon and the Princess were on the same side, and they were the ugly invading force instead?

But there was no time to think about it. Most people kept attacking the dragon. Very quickly, however, they realized that the dragon, which had previously not given anyone the time of day, now seemed completely out of its mind; it couldn’t see anyone else at all, and only went after one player.

That player was, without question, Chu Yunmiao—the one the Princess had specifically ordered the dragon to attack.

The dragon really was formidable; it was practically invincible within this instance. Chu Yunmiao had already spent all her energy just dodging its attacks. Fortunately, she wasn’t fighting alone. In a brief opening while she was evading, she looked toward Stephanie behind the Princess and gave her a glance.

Stephanie was a Class 1 student and had stayed by her side for more than half a year already. With just that one look, she understood what Chu Yunmiao meant.

Carefully, without alerting anyone, she moved toward the Princess. In the end, she leaped and pinned the unsuspecting Princess to the ground. Then Stephanie found the bracelet in the Princess’s hand and, while shouting “Class rep,” tossed it out.

Borrowing the wind kicked up by the dragon’s attack, Chu Yunmiao rolled to the designated spot and caught that chain-like bracelet. Ever since she first saw it, she had already been thinking, distractedly, about how to deal with the bracelet and the ring. But now that she truly held the two things in her hands, she became a little uncertain—

The situation was urgent. If she couldn’t choose the right method, then the dragon looming over all the players would surely go on a killing spree and slaughter everyone here, including them.

This was too important. Distractedly, Chu Yunmiao glanced at the little rabbit she was holding.

Logically, now that Yu Changning looked like a dwarf rabbit with two exquisite long ears, there was no way she could offer any advice.

But strangely enough, Chu Yunmiao still saw trust in those beautifully lined phoenix eyes. That wet yet steady gaze seemed to say: Go ahead and do it; no matter what, I’ll support you.

All of this happened in the brief openings between the dragon’s attacks. In just a few short moments, Chu Yunmiao made up her mind.

Clenching her teeth, she used brute force to crush the dragon ring in her palm, then ripped the bracelet apart.

The instant the bracelet snapped, the wind around them seemed to stop.

The dragon’s black claw hovered above Chu Yunmiao’s head; it was only half a meter away from crushing her and the rabbit’s fragile necks.

But right at that half-meter mark, the claw stopped dead.

The Princess collapsed to the ground. Her ornate palace dress, trimmed with layers of lace, was already smeared with the dirt beneath her and so filthy that its original color could no longer be made out. But she didn’t even have time to care about her own state; she only screamed in utter collapse, “No!”

Chu Yunmiao let out a breath.

She reached out and stroked her own little white rabbit’s fluffy body. “I guessed right.”

Yu Little Rabbit nuzzled her palm with its soft cheek, as if to say, I’ve always believed in you. That made Chu Yunmiao smile knowingly.

The next moment, in the eyes of all the players, the dragon that had seemed utterly indestructible actually shattered piece by piece like an illusion, finally melting away in the warm sunlight outside the castle.

Two or three seconds later, someone murmured in a daze, “I-it’s over?”

Gradually, more people came back to themselves.

Lin Mo and Stephanie were the first to hurry over to Chu Yunmiao. Lin Mo couldn’t hide her excitement. “I knew it. This dragon wasn’t meant to be fought head-on! We had to use special methods.”

Stephanie, as always, delivered her rainbow-colored praise. “Class rep! You’re amazing!”

Chu Yunmiao smiled and glanced at the rabbit in her arms. “Not me.”

She scratched the little rabbit under the chin. “This time, it was the rabbit who made the big contribution.”

If it hadn’t been for Yu Changning using cuteness to fool the Princess and stealing out that dragon ring, they might already have been wiped out by the dragon. One could only say that gold would shine wherever it was hidden. Clearly, she had turned Yu Changning into a dwarf rabbit on a whim, thinking that way the other woman would obediently stay under her protection; she hadn’t expected that, in the end, Yu Changning would still play an irreplaceable role.

Stephanie laughed. “Oh come on, of course the class rep’s pet rabbit is amazing too. Isn’t that just because you taught it well?”

She was restless again and reached out to stroke the rabbit, only to have it dodge once more. Stephanie rubbed her nose. “Hmph. If it were a little more obedient and let me pet and kiss it, that’d be even better.”

That made Chu Yunmiao laugh.

Maybe because they had just defeated the final BOSS, she was in a very relaxed mood. Hearing Stephanie say that, she answered casually, “It’s very obedient. It always lets me pet and kiss it.”

With that, she lifted the rabbit up in front of her face and gave it a quick smack, kissing the corner of its mouth.

Yu Little Rabbit had originally let her do as she pleased, but after that kiss, the whole rabbit went stiff in midair.

Lin Mo and Stephanie couldn’t tell, but Chu Yunmiao had been holding Yu Little Rabbit herself all along, so she noticed it immediately. After all, a rabbit that had just been soft and pliant suddenly stiffening up like a dried rabbit jerky was impossible to ignore.

Only then did she suddenly realize what she had just done. She averted her eyes, too afraid to look at the little rabbit again, and pretended nothing had happened by pulling it back against her chest.

“Ahem, let’s...” Chu Yunmiao started. “Let’s go check on the Princess.”

Lin Mo and Stephanie nodded and followed after her toward the Princess.

After the dragon vanished, the Princess seemed to have fallen into a pit of despair, with not a trace of life left in her. Xibin and Lucy, who had entered the game with Chu Yunmiao and the others, helped her up and were questioning her about something, but the Princess didn’t respond at all.

Only when she saw Chu Yunmiao, who had destroyed the ring and bracelet, did she react a little. Tears in her eyes, she glared hatefully at Chu Yunmiao, not sparing even the little rabbit in her arms.

Stephanie glared back indignantly. “Still trying to act tough? Let me tell you, the dragon’s gone already. If you dare think any more bad thoughts, just see if I don’t deal with you!”

Chu Yunmiao didn’t mind. She only said, “It’s fine.”

After the dragon turned into an illusion and disappeared, a team of NPC soldiers ran up from the foot of the mountain. They seemed to have appeared all of a sudden, as if they had been waiting for this moment. All the players received the reward for defeating the dragon from the NPC soldiers, and were told that the main quest of the game had ended. They could choose either to continue freely exploring the game or leave and return to the real world.

The flow of time in the game world was not the same as in reality. Lucy glanced at the time and found that the six of them had been in this game world for nearly an hour and a half. After thinking it over, she suggested that everyone leave. Lin Mo and Stephanie had no objections, so everyone turned their attention to Chu Yunmiao.

Chu Yunmiao thought about it and said to them, “You all go first. I need to find Instructor Yu and tell her, then we can leave together.”

First, she wasn’t sure whether Yu Changning could log out in this state. Second, even if Yu Changning could log out, if she vanished directly like a player, it would definitely raise Lin Mo and the others’ suspicions. Although Chu Yunmiao herself had turned Yu Changning into a little rabbit, she didn’t want anyone else to know the truth.

After thinking it over, it was still better to wait until everyone else was gone, then find a quiet place and log out silently.

Stephanie caught on. “Oh right, we haven’t seen the instructor at all this whole game. I wonder where she went...”

Lin Mo guessed with malicious delight, “Maybe the instructor got lost?”

Stephanie rolled her eyes at her. “Do you think the instructor would make such a low-level mistake?”

“Who can say?” Lin Mo insisted on her view. “Otherwise, how could such a big person as the instructor still not have shown up by now? If she didn’t get lost, then maybe she’s already been eliminated by the little mobs in the forest. Which do you think it is?”

Stephanie wavered.

She felt Lin Mo had a point. After all, the dragon-slaying commotion over here at the castle was so huge; if Yu Changning were still in the game, she should have come over no matter what.

But to say that Yu Changning had been dealt with by those lowly little thugs in the forest, she absolutely didn’t believe it.

Then it seemed the only option left was getting lost...

“Maybe the instructor was delayed by something...” she said, making a last-ditch struggle.

Lin Mo wore a wicked grin. “Heh, finally got hold of one of the instructor’s black marks.” She couldn’t wait another second. “I’m logging out first! I’m going to post this in the class chat group.”

She left in such a hurry that she completely missed the death-stare from Yu Little Rabbit and the pitiful look Chu Yunmiao sent her way.

Seeing Lin Mo leave, Stephanie also said to Chu Yunmiao, “Class rep, then I’ll go too. There are a lot of people around here; I’m going to book us a restaurant first. We can have dinner and then head back to school after.”

Chu Yunmiao nodded. “Thanks for that.”

After saying goodbye, Stephanie also disappeared from the game instance.

Chu Yunmiao secretly let out a breath. Just as she was about to find a secluded spot and wait a while before logging out naturally, she turned around and saw Miss Lucy looking at her from not far away.

She paused. “You’re still not leaving? Where’s Xibin?”

“My brother logged out first.” Lucy smiled gently. “We haven’t run into you all along the way, so it seems we took different routes. If you’re looking for someone, I can lead the way.”

“Thank you.” Chu Yunmiao was grateful, but also a little guilty. “Actually, there’s no need to trouble yourself. You can log out and experience the other attractions in the amusement park.”

Sure enough, once you told one lie, you needed a hundred more to cover it. Yu Changning was right in her arms; where did she need to go looking for anyone?

“It’s fine. I’d rather stay with you.” Lucy’s intention was made very clear.

Chu Yunmiao’s mood was complicated. She was about to say something else when she suddenly heard a commotion from nearby.