Hell's Handbook

Chapter 242: All Hail Wu Chen

Level B Challenge “Alien Invasion” completed: 1000 points

Number of Surviving Team Members: 4, 400 points

Participation and Extent of Contribution: A, 700 points

Completed Optional Quest: 100 points

Points Received: 2200

Total Points: 5100

Su Jin’s eyes were glued to the line about how many team members had survived and thought he must be hallucinating. Otherwise… why would it say that four of them had survived?

He had witnessed Wu Chen, Situ Jin, and Kano Mai dying before his very own eyes. How did this happen? Did the Handbook make a mistake? But that wasn’t possible! Yet…

Su Jin’s brain couldn’t process the information at all. The words on the page clearly stated that four members of his team were still alive. He rubbed his eyes hard, shut them, then opened them again wide. The number on the page hadn’t changed.

He couldn’t think anymore and dashed into the Team Hell Domain. If they were still alive, he would know once he got to the Team Hell Domain.

Once he entered the Team Hell Domain, he saw the three members of his team standing and chatting with one another. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He stood in a daze and just stared at them in disbelief.

The other three quickly noticed Su Jin and smiled at him. Kano Mai waved at him excitedly like she was greeting an old friend she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Well, going through that Challenge was worth it since we actually get to see our usually calm and clever team leader look like a computer that’s just hanged,” said Situ Jin gleefully. But he also looked touched by Su Jin’s behavior.

“Jin, we’re alright. All of us survived,” said Kano Mai with a laugh.

“You guys… what in the… how did this happen?” For the first time in his life, Su Jin felt like his brain wasn’t functioning properly anymore. And it didn’t help that Wu Chen was smirking so hard at him.

“How did this happen? Ever heard of the phrase, ‘having an elder in the house is like having a piece of treasure in the home’? Young people these days are always so emotional! If not for me, the oldest member of the team, all of us would really have perished this time,” said Wu Chen confidently. He raised his arms and said, “Come on! You’re supposed to praise me! Say your words of admiration now! Don’t be so stingy with your worship of me! Where’s your passion?”

“Hey, hey, you’re going a little overboard, don’t you think?” laughed Situ Jin as he shook his head.

“All hail Wu Chen!” Kano Mai was the only one willing to play along and bowed, which made Wu Chen very pleased.

Su Jin, on the other hand, still had no idea what in the world was going on. The three people who had died in front of him were all still alive. Wu Chen, in particular, died because his entire head exploded. How was he still alive?

“You still don’t get it, huh?” said Wu Chen cheekily with a grin.

Su Jin shook his head vigorously and proceeded to ask Wu Chen in a respectful manner, “Good sir, please enlighten me. What is going on?”

“Ahem!” Wu Chen cleared his throat, then said, “Actually, it’s all very simple. One of my items came in useful!”

“But… the Challenge forbid us from using any items, equipment, and Spirit Power. Even if you had something that could protect the three of you, the Handbook would never have let you use it since it had already stated clearly from the start that you were not allowed to use anything.” Su Jin shook his head and became even more confused. But when he saw the smiles on the faces of the other three, he realized that even though he kept saying it was impossible, the reality was that all three of them were indeed alive and well.

Wu Chen explained slowly, “It really isn’t very complicated. The Handbook did forbid us from using any items for this Challenge, but… it didn’t forbid us from allowing a previously used item to continue its effect in the next Challenge.”

“A previously used item?” Su Jin stared blankly at Wu Chen. He understood what the older man was saying. Wu Chen had used an item before the Challenge that had some special characteristics which allowed it to continue being effective even after it was used. But Su Jin didn’t remember his team using anything…

A thought suddenly struck him and his eyes lit up.

“When we went through the Train of the Supernatural Challenge, you gave us a petal each to eat.” Su Jin finally remembered that Wu Chen had reluctantly parted with this flower he had and got them to eat one petal each but didn’t tell them what it was for. But because a lot happened after that, including major changes in the Handbook Challenges, everyone forgot about it.

“Our team leader is a smart man indeed! You’re right!” Wu Chen nodded gravely and said, “That Challenge was a Level A Challenge and I didn’t want the team to perish, so I gave you the one thing that was most precious to me!”

“Can you not put it that way? You have a daughter, so I don’t think you still have that ‘most precious thing’ anymore,” said Situ Jin as he raised an eyebrow.

“Young man, stop being so dirty minded. Only someone at my age can crack dirty jokes whenever I want,” said Wu Chen with a hearty laugh.

“Please, both of you! Can you finish explaining the whole thing first and crack your dirty jokes later?” asked Su Jin with a pained expression on his face.

Wu Chen continued, “I don’t think I went too far in my description. That flower was really the most important treasure to me. I got it from another Level A Challenge. Thirteen owners were part of that Challenge and I was the only one who survived. That flower was the best thing I got out of it.

“The Next Life is a flower that’s supposedly specially grown by a deity. It blooms once every 1,000 years and each petal has the power to revive a dead person. But whether that power is activated or not depends on the person.”

Su Jin took a few seconds to absorb the information, then let out a sigh. “Chu Yi… was very unfortunate then.”

“Uh huh. It was bad enough that the petal he ate didn’t have any effect after he died in that Challenge. But when the Handbook proceeded to revive all the owners who died during that period, the cult revived him first but took control over his body. Seriously, Chu Yi is the unluckiest person I’ve ever met,” said Wu Chen with a sigh.

Su Jin moved back to the previous topic, “So, the petal took effect when you died in this last Challenge because we ate it during the Train of the Supernatural Challenge and so the Handbook allowed it to continue taking effect?”

“Yup. That’s basically what happened.” Wu Chen nodded.

Su Jin sighed. “You guys were really lucky then. It’s so hard to count on probability, yet the petal took effect in all three of you. Your luck is really… man, Chu Yi would have been so upset to hear about this.”

Kano Mai laughed and said, “We weren’t thaaat lucky. Situ and I didn’t die. Wu Chen pulled a little stunt and saved us both.”

“Wu Chen? You were there?” Su Jin was confused. He hadn’t noticed Wu Chen’s presence at all. If he had, he wouldn’t have been so upset.

Wu Chen said, “Of course I was there. And I was definitely the leading role in that scene. I should have been a character so brilliant, you couldn’t take your eyes off me. Seriously, you definitely saw me.” He grinned cheekily at Su Jin.

Su Jin started recollecting what happened at that time but he simply couldn’t remember seeing Wu Chen there. He couldn’t possibly have missed Wu Chen if he had been there.

“Hold up… were you… wait, no way! You were that worm? The worm that killed Mai and Situ?!” Su Jin’s eyes widened in shock as he asked this question a little hesitantly. But based on everything that Wu Chen had said, he had to be that worm.

“Isn’t it such a surprise? Isn’t it?” Wu Chen laughed merrily.

But Su Jin still had questions. “I know your Spirit Power is shapeshifting, but the Handbook did not allow us to use our Spirit Power during the Challenge. It can’t be that the rules get thrown out after you’re revived within the Challenge, right?”

“Well, the flower’s called The Next Life, and has two effects: one is to revive you from your previous life, and the second is to let you choose what you want to be in your next life. In other words, the owner gets one chance to choose their outer appearance after being initially revived. At that time, I thought that if I chose to remain looking like this, I might still end up getting killed in that sort of situation. So, I had an idea and decided to look like those worms instead. Wasn’t that clever?” said Wu Chen.

Su Jin nodded in admiration and said, “Clever! Very clever! From today onwards, you are the smartest member of Team Boning Knife and I can only take second place!”

“Young man, you really know how to behave at the right time!” Wu Chen was pleased with Su Jin’s attitude and said, “The two of them have already sung my praises, so it’s your turn now.”

“Ah! It’s true that having an elder in the house is like having a piece of treasure in the home!” exclaimed Su Jin.

“I was the one who said those words earlier! Did you think you could get away with this lack of originality? Try again!” Wu Chen pretended to be upset with Su Jin.

Su Jin quickly pleaded with the most pitiful look he could muster, “O highly esteemed senior! Please, give me a chance! Do you know how it feels like to go through pure depression before experiencing pure happiness? The fact that I didn’t go completely insane is testament to how strong I am emotionally.”

Kano Mai piped up, “It’s true that we did give you a terrible scare this time.”

“Excuse me, I was the one who got a terrible scare. After I dragged the two of you away, I was so scared that this boy would suddenly go berserk and somehow make it through all the worms in two seconds and kill me! Someone like me would be turned to dust in his hands!” Wu Chen patted his chest in fear. But he was right. As a worm, his greatest enemy wasn’t the other worms but Su Jin.

Su Jin scratched his head a little awkwardly, then glanced at Kano Mai as he suddenly asked in a curious voice, “By the way, Mai, I think you tried to tell me something right at the end, but it was too noisy and I couldn’t hear what you said.”

“Wha? I… I didn’t say anything!” There was a slightly panicked look in her eyes.

Situ Jin sniggered and said, “It’s better that you don’t know what she said. Those were some naaaasty words. Wu Chen, don’t you agree? You STUPID person?”

Wu Chen sniggered as well. “Indeed, so STUPID!”

The two of them emphasized on the word “stupid”, so after thinking about it, Su Jin’s eyes suddenly lit up and he said, “Mai, there was nothing more I could have done in that situation. You… didn’t have to insult me like that.”

“Wait, what? When did I insult you?” Kano Mai was confused.

“They’ve made it so obvious. You called me stupid, didn’t you?” said Su Jin with certainty.

Kano Mai glared at him and said angrily, “Yeah! That’s right! I called you stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Jin, you’re so stupid!” She turned and marched back to her Personal Hell Domain after that.

.

“Gosh! Look at her! She insulted me, so how could she get angry with me?” Su Jin complained to Situ Jin and Wu Chen.

The two of them just stared back at Su Jin in silence for a moment, then Situ Jin snorted, “Naaaasty!”

“That was nasty, alright. But seriously, in some aspects, you’re really stupid,” said Wu Chen as he shook his head and sighed.