The Cannon Fodder Stole the Male Lead’s Script GL - Chapter 23

Jiang Yun raised her eyebrows and looked at Zhan Rao. The girl had both hands behind her back, smiling proudly, and winked at her. Then she playfully stuck out her soft pink tongue.

Jiang Yun could not help but raise her hand to her forehead.

She never wanted to be in the spotlight. Yet every time, Zhan Rao pushed her into it. This girl was just… Jiang Yun gave a helpless but doting laugh.

“I observed the surroundings just now. I did discover a few things, but I am not sure if I am correct. So for now, I will only share my guess.” Jiang Yun cleared her throat and began speaking.

Her gaze instantly became sharp and intelligent.

“We found the exit on the west side. But that door is sealed. To open it, as everyone might have guessed, we need to stop the water flow, raise the bridge, and then open the stone door.”

“Is that the solution you were talking about? Everyone already knows this,” Li Yue muttered in a low voice.

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Zhan Rao frown and give her a cold stare. The red handprint on her face began to burn, a clear reminder of the consequences if she continued to trouble Jiang Yun. Though unwilling, she kept quiet.

“Yes, this is the method everyone guessed, and it is not wrong. The only problem is the order,” Jiang Yun replied.

Yan Kuo frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I think the mechanism here uses the water flow to unlock the stone door,” Jiang Yun said, pointing to the water flowing around them. Then she looked at Xin Keke. “Just now, Xin Keke mentioned that she found a small sailboat. I believe her area is not the only one. All four walls of the chamber, which are the north, south, east, and west sides, should each have a mechanism that releases a sailboat.

Hearing this, Tong Xue immediately ran to the nearby south wall. Following Xin Keke’s directions, she found the mechanism. After pressing it, a yellow sailboat floated up on the water.

Tong Xue cried out in surprise. “There really is one!”

Cai Minhao, hearing this, went to the other two sides and tried the same method. As expected, he triggered the last two sailboats.

“Even if we get the sailboats out, what use are they? We cannot even touch them.”

“And what about the string, the matches, and the candles? What are they for?” Yan Kuo asked, frowning.

Jiang Yun took one of the candles, then used the flying knife in her hand to cut it open. When Yan Kuo saw this, he shouted, “What are you doing?”

But the blade had already sliced through the candle lengthwise.

Jiang Yun held up the candle for them to see. “Look. There is no wick inside. And the string is not nylon, but cotton. Cotton absorbs wax well and can serve as the wick. As for the matches, they are for lighting the candles.”

Yan Kuo looked embarrassed.

He had never lit a candle before, so he had not noticed the missing wick.

Jiang Yun crouched down. With practiced hands, she used the scissors to cut a section of cotton string. She rolled it, coated it with wax by rubbing it along the candle, and prepared it for use. Then she carved a thin groove across the cross-section of the cut candle with the small knife, deep enough to insert the wick.

Next, she joined the two halves of the candle, tying them with extra cotton string in the middle and at the base. This completed a functional candle.

Tong Xue saw this and immediately started working. Soon, all four candles were ready.

“But what is the use of this? We still do not know what the candles are for.”

“They can be used to light explosives and blow open the stone door,” Zhan Rao said with a grin as she looked at Jiang Yun. “Jiang Yun, am I right?”

Jiang Yun nodded. “Yes, Zhan Rao is right. From the first stage, there were murals along the corridor walls that gave hints about the puzzle in this room. The murals told the story of the Harik Tribe, who were trapped in a mountain valley surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs. The enemy had dug trenches around the valley and filled them with mercury, making it impossible for the tribe to swim out. Finally, their young and brave leader built four rafts. He chose four courageous soldiers to take the last of their explosives, cross the mercury river by boat, and blow up the weakest part of the western mountain wall. This released the mercury and rescued the trapped tribe.”

Everyone was astonished when Jiang Yun told this story.

They had all entered the chamber together. Why was Jiang Yun so observant and capable? She had even noticed the murals, while they had been too scared to pay attention.

Xin Keke listened carefully. Though she had not seen the murals, Jiang Yun’s explanation and the current situation helped her understand. “Oh, I get it. The story in the mural matches our current situation. We need to place explosives on the four sailboats and send them to the western wall to blow it open.” She paused, realizing something. “But where do we get explosives? This is just a game. Having explosives would be way too dangerous.”

Suddenly, Tong Xue made a fist with her left hand and slapped it into her right palm with a loud clap. She exclaimed with realization, “That is why the staff will not let us handle real explosives! That is why they gave us candles. If we fix the candles to the boats, there must be some kind of explosive device or mechanism in the door. If the candle lights a fuse, it would count as triggering the explosion and opening the stone door!”

“But how do we get to the boats?” Cai Minhao scratched his head.

Jiang Yun raised the flying knife in her hand. “With this.”

She led everyone to the western wall. In the center, there was indeed a round object that looked like a target. A red bullseye was marked in the middle.

“Are we supposed to hit the center with the knife? But it is so high. How can we reach it?” Xin Keke sighed.

Yan Kuo rolled up his sleeves and directed Cai Minhao to crouch down. “I will stand on Minhao. With our height combined, we should be able to reach it.” The bullseye looked only slightly more than three meters from the ground. It should not be a problem.

He stepped onto Cai Minhao’s leg, flicked his hair aside, raised his hand, and looked at Jiang Yun with a confident expression that said, “You cannot do this without me.”

“Give me the flying knife.”

After spending the whole day doing nothing, it was finally his time to shine.

He was determined to throw the knife perfectly and hit the target.

“Jiang Yun, hurry up…”

Suddenly—

A sharp whooshing sound cut through the air. Something shot over his head and struck the target with a solid thud.

Yan Kuo dazedly looked up. The very same flying knife that Jiang Yun had held was now embedded firmly in the wall, perfectly centered in the red bullseye.

Jiang Yun gave him a sidelong glance, shook her hand, and scoffed with disdain.

“Wow, Jiang Yun, that was amazing! You hit it in one try,” Zhan Rao clapped joyfully and praised her without holding back.

Yan Kuo stood there, speechless.

His face darkened.

Only now did he realize that Jiang Yun had not refused to give him the knife to embarrass him. She had meant to do it herself from the start.

If that knife had been even slightly off-target, he could have died right then and there.

Fuming, he stepped off Cai Minhao’s leg and stormed toward Jiang Yun, ready to demand an explanation.

But everyone else had already started seeing Jiang Yun as their anchor.

They were all singing her praises.

If he confronted her now, he would look petty, especially as a guy.

Damn it, this was so infuriating!

The mechanism activated. As Jiang Yun said, the surrounding stream began to flow and converged toward the west.

The sailboats floating on the stream also began to drift to the center, making them close enough for someone to reach.

Everyone quickly split up to intercept the boats. They lit the candles and placed them on the boats. Once everything was ready, they sent the boats into the water at the same time, watching them float steadily toward the west.

When the four sailboats reached the wall, four fuses dropped from the stone.

The flames from the candles lit the fuses.

Everyone watched as the fuses burned. When the flames reached the end—

Boom! With a loud rumble, the stone door slowly opened.

Stepping stones also rose in the center of the river at the doorway.

[Congratulations, players, you have passed this stage~]

Hearing the system’s voice, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

“See, Jiang Yun? I told you you were amazing. Everything turned out just as you thought,” Zhan Rao said excitedly. As soon as the door opened, she rushed over, grabbed Jiang Yun’s arm, and leaned close to her.

Jiang Yun curled her lips into a smile. “You figured it out too, didn’t you?”

“Oh, but I did not think as quickly as you did~” Zhan Rao pouted playfully.

Jiang Yun rolled her eyes inwardly.

She did not believe Zhan Rao was any slower than her.

One by one, they all crossed the stepping stones. Once Jiang Yun and Zhan Rao were through, the stone door slammed shut behind them.

Then a prompt echoed throughout the chamber:

[Congratulations, you have entered Stage Three. This stage is titled Sacrifice. To pass, you must sacrifice one teammate. This game is limited to ten minutes. Within that time, you must find the trap cage and place one teammate inside to proceed. Friendly reminder: there is a ghost in this round!]

The phrases “trap cage” and “place one teammate” echoed in Jiang Yun’s mind.

“So we finally reached this stage?” Her palms began to sweat.

Zhan Rao turned toward her. “Jiang Yun, what’s wrong? Is there something different about this stage?”

She looked around the new setting with curiosity.

All around them were messy, broken iron cages, creating a sense of shattered imprisonment.

A sudden image flashed through her mind. In it, her Jiang Yun was locked inside one of these cages, with black hair cascading over her shoulders, wearing a black cheongsam adorned with gold cloud patterns that had become torn and tattered. Her knees were bloodied as she knelt on the ground. Her delicate, pale hands would cling desperately to the bars, slapping them as she cried and begged to be released…

So beautiful. So thrilling.

Zhan Rao licked her lips with excitement and shook the image from her head.

She would never let her Jiang Yun be hurt. If anyone had to get hurt, it would be her instead.

“There are trap cages everywhere. We have to be careful not to get caught. If you get locked in, I would not know what to do.” Zhan Rao took Jiang Yun’s hand, guiding her forward carefully. As they walked, she kept muttering worriedly.

Jiang Yun frowned, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Her mind was racing through the details of the previous mission prompt. When she heard Zhan Rao’s quiet mutter, her heart clenched tightly.

Her little Zhan Rao, no matter how far she strayed from the original script, always held onto one unchanging trait. She always tried to protect her.

This time, Jiang Yun would do the same. She would protect Zhan Rao, no matter what.

She lifted her free hand and tapped the air screen in front of her.

[Ding~ Please choose whether to use the Random Skip Villainess Plot function.]

[Choice: Use!]