The Earth is Online
chapter-77

Chapter 77

A trace of doubt appeared on the faces of the brother and sister when they heard the name Li Wen. The young man looked at Tang Mo and asked, “Li Wen? I haven’t heard that name before. Why?” He turned to his sister. “Sister, have you heard this name before?”

The short-haired woman also found it strange. “I’ve never heard it.”

The expressions of these two people weren’t pretending. They really didn’t know Li Wen. Tang Mo’s gaze slowly lowered and he stared at a watch on the man’s wrist. Outside the window, the wind became light and the sound of the intermittent raid gradually disappeared. Fu Wenduo spoke in a low voice. “The rain stopped.”

The young man asked, “Where will you go now that the rain has stopped?”

The rain had stopped but it was dark outside, the waning moon hung in the sky. Tang Mo didn’t say anything and the short-haired woman said, “It is dark outside. We can’t send you away like this.” Her tone was a bit rushed and she didn’t hide her desire to keep them here. But she soon added in an attempt to cover up her emotions. “If… If you want to stay in our house for one night, it isn’t impossible. We don’t have any extra rooms but you can sleep in the living room.”

Tang Mo didn’t answer her as he calmly asked, “Where did that watch come from?”

The man watched him for a moment before raising his wrist and looking at the watch. He put his hand in his pocket and smiled. “I bought it before. Mr. Victor, it’s fine if you refuse to tell us anything about the outside. I can understand.”

He changed the topic but Tang Mo continued to ask, “Where did you buy it?”

The man was stunned. “Just… I bought it at a shopping mall.”

Tang Mo looked up. His lips were smiling but his eyes were extremely cold. “How much?”

The Wang brother and sister closed their mouths, not saying anything. They just watched Tang Mo silently. The three people looked at each other. The next moment, the brother and sister turned and ran at a very fast speed. But Tang Mo was faster than them. He kicked off the ground and grabbed Wang Wenhao’s collar. Wang Wenjuan’s eyes widened when she saw it and she took out a black gun from her pocket, firing it directly.

Her posture while holding the gun wasn’t ordinary. Her firing speed and aim with the gun was better than Tang Mo. She had obviously fired the gun many times. The harsh sound of gunfire rang out and Tang Mo avoided the bullet, releasing his grip on Wang Wenhao. The distance was too close so the bullet skinned his cheek, leaving a shallow blood mark.

Once the brother and sister broke away from him, they pushed off from the ground and jumped three steps backwards, gaining two metres from Tang Mo. The three people observed each other and quickly moved. They rushed to Tang Mo from two directions, one on the left and the other on the right. The brother had walked over to the table and pulled out a sharp dagger from below it. The young sister protected her brother.

They didn’t care about Fu Wenduo sitting at the door and concentrated on attacking Tang Mo. It was because in the blink of an eye, three shadows rushed from the grass outside the house. A fourth person jumped off the roof, holding a machete in his hand as he screamed at Fu Wenduo. Fu Wenduo raised an arm to block the knife, metal sparks flying from the metal collision. The man was shocked by the sound.

Inside the house, the brother and sister were tangled together with Tang Mo. Outside the house, Fu Wenduo and four men were fighting.

The short-haired woman didn’t have the checkmate ability to track targets, but this house was too small and the space Tang Mo could move in was limited. She just had to casually shoot and she could block Tang Mo’s way. Wang Wenhao’s strength was also very high. His dagger slammed into the table and the wooden table immediately split in half.

Tang Mo moved sideways to avoid then dagger and then cocked his head to avoid the bullet. He rolled on the ground, took out a silver handgun and aimed at the short-haired woman. The woman was shocked and quickly rushed to the side to escape. Tang Mo fired very quickly. He narrowed his eyes and pressed the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet passed by the woman’s side and embedded in the wall.

Tang Mo once again fired and it still didn’t hit. The brother and sister instantly understood. “He can’t shoot!”

The two of them were no longer afraid. The handgun was the only weapon Tang Mo was holding. Since Tang Mo couldn’t use it well, they rushed directly to kill him. The brother aimed a fist to Tang Mo’s right side while at the same time, the sister bend down and swept towards Tang Mo’s left leg. The two people cooperated with other, causing Tang Mo to step back.

Since Tang Mo didn’t stand still, the sister raised her gun and fired at his eyebrows while the elder brother stabbed at Tang Mo’s throat with the dagger. At this time, Tang Mo’s hand moved past the dagger at a speed that was hard to detect with the naked eye and he grabbed the man’s neck. He turned his head and the bullet shot into the wall behind him.

The movements of the brother and sister stopped. Their foreheads were sweaty. It seemed like they had been attacking Tang Mo while Tang Mo kept evading. But from beginning to end, Tang Mo handled it with ease.

After seeing that her brother was caught, the short-haired woman hesitated for a moment before turning and running. A machete started shot past her face and stabbed into the wall, blocking her path of escape.

Outside, three bodies lay on the ground while a bloody middle-aged man was desperately crawling. Fu Wenduo stopped at the door and threw a knife. All of this happened in just three minutes. The short-haired woman saw what happened to her four companions outside then turned to look at her brother.

There was a hint of fear in her eyes and she slowly fell to her knees.

These six people were just ordinary players and were probably even reserve players. Tang Mo used his find a friend ability to check Wang Wenhao’s identity and he really was a reserve. Handling the six reserve players was a breeze for Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. In fact, the moment they met the Wang siblings, they found out that the brother and sister weren’t good people.

First of all, Wang Wenhao said that they came by to take a look when they heard gunshots. They hid in the country and hadn’t seen a living person for a long time. According to common sense, they fled to the country to avoid danger and not clash with other players. If they suddenly heard gunshots, they should hide. It was impossible for them to come out of the house, let alone spy on the players.

In addition, they didn’t have calluses on their hands from farm work, not to mention the flaws they reveal.

Fu Wenduo said that he encountered three waves of ambushes on the highway from Beijing to Shanghai. The Wang siblings were obviously such players. Tang Mo wasn’t interested in dealing with such players nor would he righteously punish them for murdering people. Then he saw the watch that Wang Wenhao was wearing.

Tang Mo’s memory became very good after the earth went online. He could clearly remember words and incidents from a few months ago. He remembered when they were at the middle school, Li Wen once proudly showed off his watch. “Are you asking about this? Take a look. This is a birthday gift from my father. It is a Rolex limited edition global watch, with only a total of three in China.”

At that time, Tang Mo just wanted to casually look at Li Wen’s watch. Yet the silly and sweet second generation son spoke about everything, whether others wanted to listen or not.

Li Wen was also far away for Tang Mo.

Four months ago, Li Wen found out that his mother was still alive and decided to go to the country to find his mother. The two of them separated in Shanghai.

Tang Mo held Wang Wenhao’s neck and asked, “Did you come from Shanghai?”

Wang Wenhao didn’t know Tang Mo’s intentions, making him gulp and answer honestly. “No… No, we came from Nanjing. We really don’t know any Li Wen. This watch was stolen from a stowaway two months ago.” His eyes widened as he had a through. “Big… Big brother, do you think I killed your friend? No! I don’t know where the stowaway got this watch from. I just killed him, I didn’t kill your friend.”

“We really haven’t seen any Li Wen or killed him.” The short-haired woman also hurriedly spoke.

Tang Mo looked at the anxious short-haired woman.

The two people didn’t lie. They didn’t kill Li Wen. They just stole the watch from another person who probably killed Li Wen.

After seeing that Tang Mo didn’t speak, the siblings felt a trace of luck in their hearts. They didn’t kill this man’s friend and it was a situation that could be solved without killing. In fact, when they initially saw Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo, the siblings found that these people seemed very strong and they didn’t intend to attack Tang Mo. It was Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo who first discovered them and then Tang Mo decided to go to the house to shelter from the rain.

The four people stayed in the house for half an hour. The siblings didn’t attack because they realize the power of the enemies.

Wang Wenhao trembled and said, “Big Brother Victor, I will give you all the props that we grabbed. Please don’t kill us, please…”

Tang Mo asked, “Do you have many props?”

The man’s eyes were bright. “Yes! We have them! Everything we stole is in the corner room on the second floor. There are many props and weapons. We will kill them to you, as long as you don’t kill us…” The man’s voice abruptly stopped as he stared behind Tang Mo.

Tang Mo turned to look.

Fu Wenduo slammed a knife down onto the head of the short-haired woman. There was the crisp cracking of the skull and blood flowed from the woman’s head. Tang Mo didn’t expect Fu Wenduo to suddenly act and looked at him with surprise. Once Wang Wenhao saw his sister being killed, he realized that it would be difficult for him to escape and slammed both fists towards Tang Mo. “I’ll kill you!”

Tang Mo moved his head to avoid the fists and clenched his fingers.

Snap.

Wang Wenhao’s neck was broken by Tang Mo. Tang Mo released his hands and walked towards Fu Wenduo. He thought for a moment before asking, “What’s the matter?”

Fu Wenduo casually looked back at him. “Nothing, we would have to kill then anyway.”

Tang Mo was faintly aware of this and turned to look out the door.

After the heavy rain, the scent of soil pervaded the air. There was farmland in front of the two-storey building. This farmland seemed to have been turned over, the soil dug and covered up again.

Tang Mo looked for a long time before saying, “Yes, they must be killed.”

If they didn’t choose to shelter from the rain, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo might not have seen i t. There was too much killing after the earth went online. He didn’t know about Fu Wenduo but Tang Mo couldn’t care too much about it. As long as they weren’t crazy like the murderous stowaways organization, he wouldn’t take action.

Tang mo and Fu Wenduo took care of the six players and determined there were no other people hiding in the house. They started looking for the props that the six players had stolen.

There were many props stored in a corner world on the second floor. Most of them were weapons, with things ranging from daggers to guns. But there were no small parasols and big matches. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo didn’t take these weapons. Tang Mo saw a small wooden horse and picked it up. He gently tapped it three times and small lines of text appeared on the body.

[Prop: Trojan Horse]

[Owner: Liu Feng crossed out, Wang Wenhao crossed out, Tang Mo]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Level: 1]

[Function: A Trojan horse with a magical stealth effect. Once things are hidden in the belly of the Trojan Horse, the Trojan will open the stealth effect. People other than the user and the recipient can’t see the Trojan.]

[Limit: The stealth effect lasts one hour and the Trojan moves at a speed of five kilometres per hour. It can only be used once every three days.]

[Note: Love letters hidden in the Trojan Horse will never be discovered.]

The Trojan Horse was a bit interesting. Tang Mo took it and several other weapon props. It was dark when the two of them returned to the car. After looking around, they determined that nothing in the car had been touched. There were no enemies around so the two of them rested in the car.

Tang Mo lay in the back seat of the car and observed the little wooden horse. This horse was too small. It was hollow but the size was only as big as person’s palm. Only something small or a love letter mentioned in the note could fit in it. This thing seemed useless and Wang Wenhao and the others didn’t pay attention to it. But if used in the right place, it might have the effect of reversing a situation.

Fu Wenduo asked, “Who is Li Wen?”

Tang Mo became stunned while he was observing the horse. Then he replied, “He is a friend I know. I encountered him when I moved from Suzhou to Shanghai. We spend some time together. His family was still alive and he wanted to go find them, so we parted ways.”

Fu Wenduo gave a light hum and didn’t ask anything else.

Tang Mo stuffed the horse into his backpack and looked up at the ceiling with an unknown feeling.

Li Wen should be dead.

Tang Mo hadn’t known Li Wen for a long time so there was no pain in his heart. However, he felt a bit strange. That’s why after seeing Li Wen’s watch, Tang Mo decided to go to the home of the Wang siblings to shelter from the rain.

Tang Mo thought for a moment before closing his eyes and leaving the matter behind him. The two men rested for the night and continued their journey in the morning. The ground was washed clean after the heavy rain. The two of them drove for half a kilometre before finding more than 10 cars blocking the road.

Tang Mo got off and pushed the cars stuck on the road. He wondered, “Did those six players rely on this method to stop other players and then kill them?”

Fu Wenduo replied, “It should be. The cars were clearly pushed here to block the road, not because of a car accident. He pointed to a used jeep and small car.

Wang Wenhao was a reserve player. He was fast and strong, his physical ability not worse than some official players. However, he didn’t have an ability. If they wanted to rob people, they must stop the people first. Therefore, they blocked the road and forced people to get off.

Tang Mo said, “Their strength wasn’t high enough. By blocking the road and forcing others to clean up the barricade, they have an opportunity to observe the enemy’s strength. If the players are weak, they will directly rob and kill them. If the players are powerful, they won’t act.” It was like how the Wang siblings saw Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo yesterday and didn’t dare do anything.

Fu Wenduo suddenly asked, “Did you fire two shots yesterday?”

Tang Mo suddenly froze. He turned to look at the man beside him.

Fu Wenduo pushed a van out of the way at a high speed. He found that Tang Mo was looking at him and turned his head with a slight smile. “I  didn’t hear wrong. It was two gunshots. Then… no one was hit?”

Tang Mo, “…”

Tang Mo continued to push the cars with an expressionless face while Fu Wenduo smiled and no longer spoke.

On the third night after leaving Shanghai, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo drove to the junction of Zhenjiang and Nanjing. They decided to stop for the night and go to Nanjing in the morning. Fu Wenduo’s gun had a total of eight bullets. Tang Mo fired seven rounds so there was only one bullet left.

Fu Wenduo stated, “My bullets are specially made and their power is relatively high. After they hit the body, they will explode, similar to bombs. I have many bullets at home. I can take you there after we arrive in Beijing. But I currently don’t have any bullets on me. You can try other bullets for the time being.”

Tang Mo nodded.

Tang Mo had found many guns and bullets in the house of the Wang siblings. He only took some bullets and not the guns. He put the bullets in his backpack, ready for use at an important time. Tang Mo put ordinary bullets into the gun and walked to the side of the road. He aimed at an old tree and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Tang Mo practiced for a full hour and fired more than 30 bullets, with 14 shots hitting the target. Every time he shot a bullet, he would recall his shortcomings and make adjustments for next time. He practiced shooting while Fu Wenduo watched from the side. Once the sky turned completely dark, Tang Mo returned to the car.

It was strange to stay in the same car as Fu Wenduo.

Tang Mo had few friends since childhood. There were only the four people in his dormitory during university. One freshman moved out, leaving him and his two friends. He got along with his university friends and those he played games with. For example, Tang Mo had a friend he played bridge with.

But it was awkward to discuss to Fu Wenduo about the topics he talked about with his university friends.

Tang Mo finally didn’t speak. Perhaps he was too tired because he soon fell asleep after closing his eyes. He slept very lightly, a faint breathing sound filling the car. Fu Wenduo heard Tang Mo go to sleep and sat in the driver’s seat, calmly looking up at the sky.

Without the light of the city, many stars could be seen in the night sky.

Fu Wenduo watched for a moment before opening the door with a light motion. Tang Mo woke up the moment he opened the door. He opened his eyes and looked out of the window, seeing a strong and tall figure walking to the front of the car and leaning against it. Fu Wenduo took out a cigarette from his pocket, clicked the lighter and lit up the cigarette.

He took outside the car, looking up at the starry sky while smoking.

Tang Mo looked at his back from inside the car.

There was a little red flame burning in the darkness while Fu Wenduo’s figure seemed to melt into it.

After watching for a while, Tang Mo turned his head and closed his eyes to continue sleeping.

Early the next moment, the two people drove on the road again. Fu Wenduo supported his chin with one hand and drove with the other hand. They had to find the right road so Tang Mo looked carefully at the map and pointed the way from time to time. The two men peacefully entered the Nanjing boundary.

At the same time, a red beetle sedan left Shanghai and drove on the Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway.

In the passenger’s seat, a handsome young man complained. “Why didn’t you choose a better car, this car is so girly.”

The young woman with short hair in the driver’s seat sneered. “It is good to find a car that can be driven. Don’t talk so much nonsense or you will have to drive.”

Lu Xing was stunned and sat silently, not daring to speak. After a long time, he couldn’t help saying, “I want to drive, I will definitely drive.”

An Chu laughed,. “Who was it who took the driver’s test four times and is still unsure about the brake and the accelerator? Who came crying to me at the driving school because the teacher didn’t let him pass. Hey, do you remember who it was?”

Lu Shing, “…”

Lu Xing didn’t dare speak again. He had a hunch that if he said one more thing, this young woman who he grew up with could slam him into the centre of the earth. Some time passed before he asked, “Ah yes, is Brother Xiao that powerful in Nanjing?”

“It should be my brother. He has been working in Nanjing. And it is very rare for people to have his name. My brother is the type of person who should be alive. He is a curse, the scourge of a thousand years.” An Chu spoke with disgust but there was a bit of excitement in her face. After all, this was her brother. It was best that he was alive. She declared with certainty, “He must be alive. It is him.”

Lu Xing glanced at her and agreed. “Yes, it must be Brother Xiao.”

Hundreds of kilometres away, there was the landmark of sycamore trees on both sides of the road. Tang Mo looked at the signs on the map and the surrounding buildings.

“We are here.”

They had officially arrived at the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties.

The author has something to say:

Old Fu: Hahaha, I heard two gunshots and none of them hit! Hahahaha!

Tang Tang: …[You deserve for your mother to be single!]