PFRG: Chapter 44 Part 2

Chi Ting stood in the middle of the mountain of corpses after all the monsters were slaughtered and lowered his eyes. He suppressed the frenzy in his eyes that was also ignited by the flames of war.

The moment he looked up, he had a slight smile on his face as he spoke in his usual gentle tone, “Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”

What he got in response was the salutes of the phantoms standing upright.

It was just like after every battle in the past.

In a trance, it really seemed like nothing had changed.

Chi Ting smiled slightly. The red thread untied from his wrist fluttered gently in the wind. The bloody figures on the battlefield faded little by little before finally turning to complete nothingness.

The white bone beads scattered all over the mountain and forest quietly reconnected into a string and fell back into his hands.

After gently stroking it with his fingers, Chi Ting raised his eyes and looked at the only figure left on the battlefield beside him. He said, “Let’s go back.”

Ji Xingque obviously consumed a lot of physical strength after the fierce battle. He put away the giant gun and returned, panting and his chest heaving heavily.

He had rushed to the front from beginning to end. Under the crazy explosions, his clothes had long been stained with blood. His condition was obviously on the verge of complete madness. He followed Chi Ting all the way back to the castle, his eyes still filled with a strong killing intent. He looked completely different from the usual high-spirited and sunny young man.

Chi Ting was accustomed to Ji Xingque’s post-battle state. He was keenly aware of it and asked as he walked up the stairs, “Do you miss them?”

The look in Ji Xingque’s eyes flickered slightly. Then he seemed to be freed from the state of slaughter all over his body.

Along with the strong emotions that suddenly spread, the cold temperament on his face gradually turned to sadness. “Yes. I haven’t seen them for a long time. The last time we fought side by side like this was the last time.”

Such nonsense words made Chi Ting laugh silently. “Do you believe my intuition? There will definitely be a chance to meet again.”

Ji Xingque was stunned for a moment. Once he realized the meaning of these words, he suddenly looked up and saw that Chi Ting had already taken a step forward toward the deepest room.

The moment he stepped through the door, he saw the miserable situation inside. Chi Ting was slightly stunned and raised an eyebrow. “Are you turning this into a slaughterhouse?”

Minced meat flying everywhere wasn’t enough to describe the scene in front of him.

If he didn’t say anything, just looking at this tragic appearance, he might’ve thought that this place was the main battlefield tonight.

This was also what Chi Ting couldn’t understand at all.

He clearly remembered that there were only a few demons who slipped past. It wasn’t a big deal and shouldn’t be like this…

Yue Ren smiled slightly as if he read Chi Ting’s inner thoughts. “I can’t help it. Who told you to fight so fiercely downstairs? My hands were itchy for a while watching it. I had nothing to do, so I cut these monsters to pieces.”

Chi Ting looked around speechlessly. All he received were pale but polite smiles from other players.

Just looking at these frightened expressions, it was obvious what type of fright they had just received.

“……”

Chi Ting silently pressed on his temples. He chose to ignore this guy and looked back at the descendants of the heroes led by Cao Ji.

It was a very plain description, but once he spoke it slowly, every word seemed to have a ring to it. “I have lived up to your trust. The demons will no longer exist.”

Deep emotions could be seen on the faces of those NPCs.

Cao Ji exchanged looks with the others. Gradually, his eyes became a bit firmer.

Under everyone’s attention, he walked straight to the stage and took down the treasure chest enshrined there. Finally, he stood in front of Chi Ting and stared steadily into his eyes. “Dear hero, please accept Aleran’s sincere thank you gift.”

He presented the treasure chest when he finished speaking. The other NPCs also got down on one knee.

They put their hands on their chest and performed the most noble rite belonging to the Aleran people with a pious attitude.

For a moment, the players just watched everything in front of them quietly.

In this situation, no one could doubt that compared to players like them who supported the sacrifice in order to solve everything and protect themselves, Chi Ting was indeed the undoubted, true ‘hero.’

It was he and Ji Xingque who firmly brought real peace to the city.

Facing such a courtesy, Chi Ting didn’t refuse.

He had always believed that once good intentions were taken for granted, it meant that evil thoughts would become unscrupulous sooner or later.

Giving might be a personal choice, but it didn’t mean it should be taken for granted. In the past when he carried out a reckless search and rescue in the apocalypse, he had always been happy that humanity could retain a grateful heart.

It wasn’t necessary to give something back. It was okay if someone really forgot about him saving their lives, but if they remembered to thank him, it only made these humans look cuter!

Chi Ting lowered his eyes calmly and looked at the pious figures half-kneeling in front of him. He smiled from the bottom of his heart. “I accept your thanks.”

Just as he stretched out a hand to take the treasure chest, several system messages popped up in front of him one after another.

[A new hero has finally defeated the evil demons. The ancient city of Aleran has been completely restored to its former tranquility. The ancient legend has ushered in a new ending.]

[Ding dong—! Congratulations on completing the collective task: Find the treasure of the heroes (1/1)!]

The audience in the live stream room was still discussing the shocking battle that had just ended.

Along with the pop-up system message, the instance progress directly increased to 100% and the screen was completely cut off.

Apparently, the other players received the same message.

They exchanged looks with each other. Their first reaction was to repeatedly confirm it. “The final collective task is completed. Does this mean we have passed the instance? This is what it means, right?”

The many days of torture obviously left them physically and mentally exhausted. It was to the point where there was a clear sense of unreality at this moment.

Until this time, someone at the window shouted happily, “Look at the fountain square! It is a portal! The portal is coming out—!”

A group of people rushed over one after another. Sure enough, among the mottled lights of the city, a door that was very familiar to everyone appeared in the center of the empty square, faintly floating in the air.

It was only at this time that everyone truly realized that they had really passed this d*mn instance!

There was a round of cheers. Then people rushed out the door one after another. They couldn’t wait to rush down the mountain.”

“In fact, they are still very energetic…” Looking at these brisk figures, Chi Ting felt a bit emotional for a moment. Then he noticed a look and turned back to meet Yue Ren’s gaze. “What?”

“It is nothing. I just have a question that made me very curious.”

“Huh?”

Yue Ren pointed to the shocking mountain of corpses outside the window. It could be seen that he was asking very sincerely. “Before you decided to take the second choice, you probably didn’t know that your ability could be restored, right? If you still couldn’t use your beads at that time, what were you going to do in the face of so many monsters? You weren’t really prepared to fight your way out with your bare hands, were you? That is obviously unrealistic.”

Chi Ting shook his head. “Of course not. With such a large number of monsters, I could rush out alone at most. How could I defend everyone?”

Such an overly straightforward answer made Yue Ren even more surprised. Before he could ask further questions, he heard Chi Ting continue slowly, “So I thought about it early on. If the disparity in numbers is really too big, I will directly open the door and let you go out.”

The expression on Yue Ren’s face became slightly blank for a moment. “?”

Facing the rare expression of disbelief on the other person’s face, Chi Ting patted his shoulder gently and smiled in a harmless manner. “I also support choice two, but in the final analysis, it is to protect you. For the choice you want, you should naturally be responsible for wiping your own butt. You think so too, right?”

“……”

After a brief silence, Yue Ren couldn’t hold back his laughter. “It does make sense, Captain Chi.”

The phrase ‘Captain Chi’ made Chi Ting stunned for a moment. He blinked and said nothing more. After relaxing, he finally stopped hiding the fatigue in his expression and gently rubbed his temples.

Yue Ren glanced at him.

It didn’t seem like he acted personally but that level of combat intensity was indeed very exhausting.

He paused before lazily stretching his muscles. “I’m a bit tired. Why don’t we go out and find a place to sleep first?”

Chi Ting nodded. “Okay.”

After the first group of people rushed down the mountain, the surrounding area became empty.

The two of them walked side by side and walked down with the rest of the players.

It wasn’t until he walked out the gate of the castle that Chi Ting suddenly noticed something. He looked back and saw Cao Ji staying at the gate with the descendants of the heroes. They had no intention of continuing to follow.

Chi Ting was slightly startled. “Aren’t you going back together?”