Chapter 228: Clear the Trial First
"So does that mean I don’t need to stick with them anymore?" Rabbit-man pointed at the few Lords on the other side who were glancing over curiously.
Those Lords kept sneaking glances this way, trying to figure out what the two of them were talking about.
"Yeah, just ignore them." Ding Ning squinted, a sly smile on her lips.
"The passage is sealed, so now everybody’s scrambling outside for their own interests. Don’t be fooled by them clearing the passage here—who knows if they’re even putting in any real effort?"
"Maybe they’ve already made their own arrangements outside." Ding Ning pointed at them and spoke softly.
Rabbit-man was stunned for a moment—she honestly hadn’t thought of this. She didn’t agree with opening the passage in the first place, and didn’t like dealing with humans, so naturally she’d never set up anything outside herself.
Just like Ding Ning said, is everyone really stuck here just because they have no choice but to clear the passage?
"So why the hell should I bother messing with them? They’re so scheming!" Rabbit-man finally caught on, her already crimson eyes darkening. Her red eyes looked agitated and irritable.
The eyes grew darker, tending toward black-red; the deeper the black, the more unnervingly calm she seemed.
Ding Ning quickly patted her back, helping her ease off that rush of emotion.
"Don’t stoop to their level, don’t get angry, don’t get angry." Ding Ning soothed her like a child, gently patting her back.
When Rabbit-man’s eyes gradually returned to their usual crimson hue, Ding Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief.
If her eyes really turned pitch black, that meant Rabbit-man was about to go berserk.
Red meant irritable, black meant destruction.
At such moments, her combat power would jump fivefold or more. With that boost, even five or six Lords teaming up to stop her would pay a heavy price.
Out of five or six Lords, at least two would die.
For Rabbit-man, eyes turning pitch black was not a good thing—even though her battle power soared, she’d fall into a long period of weakness afterward.
In the past, she’d always just transformed and dealt with strong enemies, then hid somewhere to recover after slaughtering everyone present.
If she snapped this time, the other Lords wouldn’t let her off while she was weakened.
Besides, none of the other Lords wanted to be the sucker who died trying to stop her rampage.
Rabbit-man patted her chest, looking shaken. "Thanks a lot. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve lost it in front of all these Lords, and then everyone would’ve been screwed, and I wouldn’t survive either."
"Yeah, you really do get yourself into trouble way too easily. Have they tried provoking you on purpose lately?" Ding Ning kept gently patting her back, coaxing her softly.
"They wouldn’t dare! If I speak up, who’d have the guts to contradict me?" Rabbit-man immediately tilted her chin up.
Ding Ning squinted, chuckling quietly.
Everyone knew Rabbit-man was quick to anger, so they all tried to appease her.
But Ding Ning knew that beneath those seemingly irritable red eyes, there was actually a heart as calm as still water.
Ding Ning had always suspected the change in her eyes wasn’t really tied to her emotions—Rabbit-man could actually control her transformations whenever she wanted.
After all these years of knowing her, whenever she showed dissatisfaction, she’d turn her eyes black, making many Lords unwilling to bother talking to her.
Ding Ning, who was close to Rabbit-man, noticed that at moments when you’d expect her to get angry, she didn’t actually transform with black eyes.
Even though she played her irritable persona to perfection.
But acting is still acting; sooner or later, there’d be a slip.
That sudden flash of black in Rabbit-man’s eyes just now, and her anger after hearing about others’ arrangements, made Ding Ning pause for a moment.
But only for a moment—she figured it out quickly.
She was putting on a show for her.
Yes—not for those other Lords, but for Ding Ning herself.
Rabbit-man wanted to see if Ding Ning, upon noticing her anger and imminent transformation, would try to stop her, or maybe even provoke her further, pushing her to go berserk and fight those Lords to the death.
Ding Ning realized that Rabbit-man’s angry display was actually a test.
Thinking of this, Ding Ning kept softly patting her back.
"Why get angry with these Lords? When I get outside, I’ll make some arrangements for you—maybe help you expand your territory out there."
"Whatever setups those Lords have, I’ll ruin them for you. You just devour them straight up."
"That’ll really piss them off." Ding Ning soothed her like a child.
The black in Rabbit-man’s eyes faded away; she turned and glanced at the patience in Ding Ning’s eyes, letting her guard down little by little.
"Just make that human man of yours come over to me then." Rabbit-man patted Ding Ning’s hand, signaling she was much better now.
Ding Ning smiled and withdrew her hand.
"Alright, deal. I don’t want to raise a weakling either, but if he really runs into danger, I’ll have to ask you to spare his life." Ding Ning sighed softly.
"Okay." Rabbit-man saw a hint of pity flash across Ding Ning’s gaze.
Because when Ding Ning asked her to spare that human man’s life, Rabbit-man felt Ding Ning had already fallen into that so-called ’love’ of humans, losing her heart as a strong one.
She looked at the group of Lords expanding the passage, knowing now that these were her competitors.
From the moment Ding Ning asked her to spare that human man’s life, Rabbit-man knew Ding Ning would die sooner or later—at the hands of another Lord.
No matter who you are, you can’t show your weakness to others.
Even if that human does seize another throne, he would only be the weakest king.
To ascend as king, you’d inevitably have to kill the one holding the throne before you.
A weakest king, and a strong opponent now lying dead—looks like a pretty profitable deal, doesn’t it?
Ding Ning more or less knew what she was thinking. The more Rabbit-man plotted like this, the more likely Jiang Che would successfully make it out of her dungeon.
Through all those years of growing, Ding Ning understood well enough: the Lords of other dungeons always wanted to devour others and grow stronger.
Being friends only meant you couldn’t hurt each other for now, or you shared a common enemy.
Or maybe, when your powers were balanced, you teamed up temporarily.
But that didn’t mean your ally was reliable or trustworthy.
If bigger interests came up, your ally would abandon you all the same.
Now, she’d just temporarily brought Rabbit-man to her side.
Ding Ning stood behind Rabbit-man—seeing her fall silent, she knew Rabbit-man was frantically scheming in her head.
She wasn’t sure how long it would take for the news about breaking through ten dungeons to spread among the Lords, so her plan was to let Jiang Che conquer as many dungeons as possible before everyone found out.
As for those dungeons’ Lords, whether it was a deal or trickery—
Clear the challenges first, then see what happens.