The circumstance of the third victim differed from the first two. He had a short temper. He did not say a word when he came across the Sphinx, charging at it with his short knife instead. Unfortunately, the Sphinx managed to dodge the attack, swiftly charging at the third victim and leaving behind three claw marks on his face.
Just like the unfortunate few who failed to solve the riddle, the Sphinx dropped the same punishment on the player who attempted to kill it when its life was threatened. Fortunately, it did not take the opportunity to kill the third victim. After it punished the third victim, the Sphinx quickly ran away.
Hence, the problem with the Sphinx had become the forum’s hottest topic.
It was said that the Sphinx did the same thing to ordinary people as well. Most, however, treated it as an urban legend, and some people even laughed at their unfortunate encounters. As the second victim, the scratches on the third victim were also identified as common dog bites. They could only admit that they were unlucky and get themselves a shot of a rabies vaccine.
Zhang Heng had a rough understanding of the current situation. Now, he knew why Shen Xixi was looking for him. After the battle with Arc of Light, the union was officially dissolved. However, Shen Xixi had not stopped what she had been doing. Although the Sphinx’ incident was not something too severe, it disrupted the lives of ordinary people. Shen Xixi wanted to make this problem go away.
However, without having the union to support her, she severely lacked the workforce needed
—the reason why she was looking for someone that could drive well. From the information she gathered, it seemed that the creature had lightning speed and moved extremely fast.
It was almost impossible for anyone with two legs to catch up with it. This case didn’t seem as dangerous as his previous endeavors. As the driver, Zhang Heng did not even need to participate in the battle. Hence he didn’t refuse Shen Xixi.
Turning off his computer, he headed to the restaurant Shen Xixi mentioned.
This restaurant looked like one that an internet influencer would open. The owner had spent a great deal of money on the interior, where each corner was meticulously decorated to the point it felt artisanal. During its peak, the market saw a massive boom of cafes with similar concepts. Too much of a similar thing, and the continual rise of operating costs, caused café’s like this to become more unsustainable. The ambitious ventures soon began to suffer from significant losses, forcing many of them to shut their doors.
There were not too many customers in the café that Zhang Heng went to. He saw Li Bai when he entered the establishment, sitting relaxed at the table in the middle. He enjoyed a glass of juice, and when he saw Zhang Heng, he immediately stood up and greeted him enthusiastically. Zhang Heng then pointed to Li Bai’s hair, “Why did you dye it red?”
“I’ve been watching Slam Dunk recently. Sakuragi Hanamichi’s hair is red. Rabbit told me that I’m as stupid as Sakuragi, so I might as well go and dye my hair red. How does it look? Am I handsome, having this hair color?” Li Bai stroked his hair happily.
“How should I put it… it looks nostalgic.” Li Bai’s red hair reminded Zhang Heng of the Zangai Family when he was a child.
After a brief greeting, Li Bai led Zhang Heng to a private box.
As soon as the door was opened, the unmistakable smell of smoke filled the atmosphere. In addition to Shen Xixi and Rabbit, there were three men and two women. Two were chain smokers, ignoring the no smoking policy in public places and making the private box look like a deity’s wonderland. There were at least a dozen cigarette butts in the ashtray in front of him.
The flat-headed man raised his head and glanced at Zhang Heng, “Who do you think you are? How dare you make us wait for you.”
Before Zhang Heng could answer him, he said impatiently, snapped at Shen Xixi standing beside him.
“Okay, everyone is here. Let’s start.”
Shen Xixi wanted to apologize to Zhang Heng. Zhang Heng, however, wasn’t bothered. He found a stool and sat down.
Li Bai then closed the door. Shen Xixi went into the topic of the day, “Everyone here knows a thing or two about the news circulating on the Internet. What we are dealing with here is probably the Sphinx of Greek myths. Everyone knows the story of the Sphinx. Oedipus solved its riddle and caused it to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff. Unfortunately, this rule does not apply to the Sphinx that the players and ordinary people encounter. The Sphinx’s riddles are supposed to be easy to solve. Even if we guess the right answer, it would just leave. That’s it.”
Shen Xixi paused and looked around. “But the good news is that this Sphinx is not as strong as what the myths and legends described it to be. It is powerful enough to lock down the entire city. Its size should be close to a Caucasian Shepherd Dog. Its combat power is similar to Caucasian Shepherd Dog as well. Scratching is Sphinx’s primary attack. Since it has a body of a lion, its limbs are mighty. And it is supposed to have a pair of wings as well. However, no one has spotted it flying. To be cautious, we have to assume that its wings work.”
Shen Xixi turned on the projector, and the city map was projected on the wall.
“I marked the locations where the three victims were attacked, and I also interviewed regular people who have posted their encounters with the Sphinx on the Internet before. From here, we can triangulate its hunting ground.”
Shen Xixi drew a few red circles on the map and connected them with a straight line, which happened to be a triangular-shaped area outside the Fourth Ring Road.
“This place is not small.” A woman with a choker on her neck stubbed out her cigarette and said.
u,
“Yes, this is also the reason why I want to work with everyone here.” Shen Xixi said, “According to my previous strength analysis of it, we have to eliminate this creature with brute force. When we carry out the plan, we need to stay at a distance to get to our allies in one minute. The moment the Sphinx picks on someone, one of us has to immediately inform the rest. After that, just delay for a minute and wait for your other teammates to arrive. A fair reminder. No matter how retarded the riddle sounds, do not give the correct answerotherwise, it will disappear immediately.”
“Since our target’s weakness is unknown for now, we have prepared a variety of weapons for tonight’s operation. That includes stun guns, anesthesia guns, gasoline, water guns, fishing nets, two crossbows, and swords. You are free to bring your own weapons if you so, please. As for clothes… now, although the weather has started to become warmer, I strongly recommend that you choose clothes that cover your whole body. If you don’t have any, come to me to pick up a set of canvas work garments.”
“No need to be so long-winded. We don’t need others to teach us how to fight.”
The flat-headed man was getting impatient. “Simon.” Shen Xixi looked at Zhang Heng again, “You keep the car running. If everything goes well, you don’t have to do anything tonight. But if that thing escapes our encirclement, you will have to go after it. But you don’t need to be too nervous. So far, it’s not very destructive. If we let it escape, we go after it again.”
Zhang Heng nodded.
