Miss Cannon Fodder Wants To Escape Death Flags - Chapter 320
Chapter 320
“Wait, wait, wait! I still have one last question!”
As Ning Ning saw him turning away, she quickly raised her voice, “Have we met before?”
Huo Qiao turned back, his puppy-like eyes shining softly under the candlelight, like ripples spreading across a lake.
“It’s just,” she continued, feeling as if her words sounded too much like an attempt to chat him up, so her voice grew softer, “speaking about the ‘moon tonight’… or something like that.”
Huo Qiao looked at her quietly, then unexpectedly smiled.
“We haven’t met before.”
The boy’s voice was clear, his smile gentle as it blossomed in the light.
“But tonight happens to be the fourteenth. In a while, you can look up… the moon on the fourteenth night is very beautiful.”
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Huo Qiao left quickly, leaving only Ning Ning and the sturdy man called “Qing Heng” staring at each other in silence.
She was still unclear about the strength of the demon faction, so caution was paramount.
As the rope binding her hands was gradually cut, Ning Ning thought about using her spiritual consciousness to test Qing Heng’s cultivation level, but suddenly, her mind buzzed.
It was the system’s voice.
[Qing Heng has a cultivation level of Nascent Soul stage three. Using spiritual consciousness will alert him. This man wields a long blade; his weakness is in his lower abdomen, and he is not adept at swift attacks.]
The sudden appearance of this voice was as shocking as seeing a corpse suddenly spring to life, maybe even start performing the third set of national broadcast exercises.
Before she could react, she heard it speak again: [Attack immediately with the Golden Snake Sword Technique while he’s unguarded. Don’t hesitate.]
This was the first time it had spoken so abruptly.
Ning Ning held her breath, focused, and quickly understood its intention.
The demon lair was filled with hidden dangers, and the system did not want her to die here.
But… why did it know so much about this demon cultivator?
That wasn’t a question for now.
Since the Binding Immortal Rope made Qing Heng less wary of her, Ning Ning followed the system’s instructions and, in a flash, drew her sword.
She moved so swiftly that the man had no time to draw his own blade, losing consciousness under the shock of her sword energy.
In the next moment, the dry, cold voice of the system resounded again in her mind: [Go straight ahead; take the first right at the intersection.]
It seemed rushed, using a tone close to urging.
The cave Ning Ning was in turned out to be underground; once she exited the entrance, she found herself amidst a maze of dark, twisting passages.
The situation was urgent; she didn’t have time to overthink and moved swiftly according to the constant stream of prompts.
[Turn right; prepare for an attack.]
[Opponent is a music cultivator, skilled with a zither. Target his right hand.]
[Steady yourself, hide your energy, and enter the secret passage on the left through the sand formation. A Nascent Soul expert guards this area, so stay hidden.]
“How do you know this place so well?”
The maze was filled with deadly traps; not only were the demon cultivators stationed here highly skilled, but the endless paths also blurred one’s vision.
Alone, she wouldn’t have made it halfway.
However, the system’s familiarity with the demons and the layout were like an all-knowing guiding hand.
While running, she asked with a laugh, half-jokingly, “Are you actually some kind of embodiment of Heaven’s Will, or were you once a demon here?”
No response came, except for another somewhat disjointed instruction: [Up ahead is a sword cultivator; his weakness is his back. Use the Taiyi Sword Technique on him.]
The so-called “secret passage” the system mentioned was nearby, guarded by a demon cultivator holding a sword.
Ning Ning attacked unexpectedly and quickly.
Although the man reacted, attempting to counter her strike, her swift and relentless assault left him unable to fight back.
Within moments, her Xinghen Sword was at his vital point, though she held back from dealing the final blow.
She looked slightly disheveled, her dark eyes focused as she suppressed the sword energy within her, signaling for silence.
“Stay quiet.”
Ning Ning said, “I have two questions to ask you.”
=====
The system’s directions kept coming.
It had never spoken so much at once before, and in such an urgent, sharp tone that Ning Ning’s mind felt overwhelmed.
She navigated her way out of the twisting underground cave, expecting the instructions to end soon.
But amidst the roaring night winds, she suddenly heard the familiar chime of a notification.
This sound only played when the system issued a new task.
Ning Ning’s first reaction was confusion.
According to the original plot, had she ever caused any trouble here?
The answer was definitely “no.”
In the novel the system had introduced her to, these demon cultivators had never even shown up.
The whole reason the party had come to the desert was to hunt down evil demons.
And “Ning Ning” barely had any appearances in that story, with her role reduced to a few lines of description because—
The system’s words slowly took shape in her mind, and Ning Ning read the message.
[Now it is late at night; sand demon rise up to attack, blotting out the sky as fierce winds howl.
The group fought back with all their might. Terrified, Ning Ning tried to flee, only to be swept up in demonic energy and fall directly into a deep ravine at her side!]
[Ding!]
[You know what to do.]
“Are you completely off the rails now?”
Ning Ning laughed coldly at the last six words, looking up.
Sure enough, there was a long, deep fissure in the ground not far away.
The system’s urgency in helping her must have been, in part, to guide her along this escape route that led to this spot.
Falling into the ravine didn’t exactly fit the malicious actions expected of a villainous supporting character, yet the system’s rare sense of urgency indicated that this event carried unique importance.
Her tangled thoughts settled slowly.
Ning Ning understood now what lay at the bottom of the ravine.
[Descend to the ravine’s depths immediately.]
The pain in her head intensified, the system’s tone colder than ever: [At once.]
“This is the key step, isn’t it?”
As she walked forward, Ning Ning spoke with a hint of a smile, “Don’t worry; I’ll follow through.”
The system remained silent.
Unbothered, she approached the edge of the ravine, drew her sword, and, as she stepped down with her right foot, activated her sword energy to whip up a fierce wind.
Her sword energy softened her descent, the pale glow illuminating her face, and Ning Ning gripped her sword tightly.
The bottom of the ravine grew closer and closer.
Feeling the sharp, blood-tinged wind around her, she took a deep breath.
Her initial guess had been simple and straightforward.
