《Game, Live Stream》


 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1


    ¡°T-The live broadcast of today¡¯s ¡®Horror Amusement Park¡¯ will end here...¡±


    ¡°The game is too scary. It¡¯s terrible. It scared me to death! I¡¯m going to have have ss of 82 year old Sprite to steady my nerves! The broadcast is finished!¡±


    (TL: 82 year old Sprite:es from two things. The grapes from the 1982 Lafite vineyard are considered the best quality and are very expensive. This is where the 82es from. Secondly, in the past, Chinese people learnt to drink red wine but felt the taste wasn¡¯t good and added Sprite to the red wine. I got this information from Baidu so might not bepletely urate)


    ¡°Tomorrow? There is no live broadcast tomorrow. You pigeons are to me. Who originally rmended this game to me? I¡¯m so scared that I¡¯m a minute away from death! Do you want me to be the first anchor in history who is scared to death by my live broadcast game? This is a work injury! Work injury! I have to take a day off tomorrow!¡±


    City A.


    In front of theputer scream, a young man screamed in a frightened tone before exiting his live broadcast room with a nk expression.


    Xiao Tangqiu, male, 25 years old, a well-known main anchor and horror game live broadcast host for the famous video website H Station. He had many fans and his poprity was high. His famous technique was the ¡®100% create a g¡¯... also known as the crow¡¯s mouth.


    Xiao Tangqiu withdrew from the live broadcast room and opened his backstage area to check the ie for this month. The live broadcast earnings from today and his savings were enough to make up a house down payment.


    Most anchors earned a lot of money these days. He might notpared to the ¡®first brother¡¯ or ¡®first sister¡¯ but his monthly ie was still quite impressive. During a time when his peers were struggling for each month¡¯s rent, he had already saved up the down payment of a house.


    He really liked his current career. He preferred to be alone rather than dealing with a crowd. Not to mention, he was a high school kid without a good diploma and couldn¡¯t find a better job than this. The only thing he wasn¡¯t ustomed to was thatpared to his calm personality, his fans preferred for him to scream.


    When he first started to be an anchor, he often screamed with fear at his own live broadcast of the horror game. As a result, it was cut into a video and uploaded to H Station. He became popr and gained countless fans. The fans thatmented when giving him gifts stated that they liked his screams and pants.


    In response, Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°...I understand the screaming but what is with the pants?¡± Throw a table!


    Later, Xiao Tangqiu yed more and more horror games and became ustomed to the images. His mental state was quite calm and his spirit was numb. He became stronger and didn¡¯t pant, let alone scream. The result was that fans said that an anchor who didn¡¯t pant or scream wasn¡¯t interesting. The wind blew and they scattered.


    In order to keep his fans, he learned to scream with fear while being expressionless. His mouth was going ¡®ahhhhhh!¡¯ but there no waves in his heart.


    ...Why did fans like to watch anchors scream? Was it like shouting from the interior of a taxicab where the sound wasn¡¯t great or pinching a chicken in the supermarket? Xiao Tangqiu cursed like crazy in his heart but for an anchor, the audience were the gold masters. For five buckets of rice, he could only bend his waist and bow his head like a lowly dog.


    Xiao Tangqiu, the anchor who ¡®screamed with no expression¡¯ automatically considered himself an ¡®actor.¡¯


    At this time, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s instant message suddenly lit up. Someone had messaged him and that person was a good friend who was also a game anchor of H Station.


    Cotton Candy: Little Candy Ball, a fan has rmended a horror game to me. It doesn¡¯t look bad and there is a multiyer mode. Do you want to y it live with me tomorrow?


    (TL: Little candy ball is also Xiao Tangqui but spelt with different characters)


    Little Candy Ball: I have something to do tomorrow.


    Cotton Candy: This game setting is a bit interesting. You really don¡¯t want to y with me?


    Little Candy Ball: I really have something to do. If you are afraid then look for a ce where there is a lot of people to do your live broadcast. Isn¡¯t there a McDonald¡¯s downstairs from where you live?


    Cotton Candy: ...I¡¯ll be treated as a psychopath!


    Little Candy Ball: Then don¡¯t scream. I yed live with youst time and my neighbour came over and knocked on my door three times in the middle of the night. He threatened to hang me from my door.


    Cotton Candy: ...I¡¯m scared and can¡¯t hold it QAQ


    This Cotton Candy was an anchor of horror games like Xiao Tangqiu. He showed a variety of pants and screams during the live broadcast but he was different from Xiao Tangqiu. He really was scared. No matter how many times he had yed horror games, he still returned to the rookie who first yed a horror game.


    The strange thing was that this person was obviously timid but he had a special liking for horror games. In order to be courageous, he often pulled Xiao Tangqiu into is live broadcasts. He spent the whole time crying but he wasn¡¯t willing to stop. Xiao Tangqiu thought that this was perhaps the legendary ¡®m.¡¯


    Little Candy Ball: If you can¡¯t hold it then go to the toilet. Be careful with your kidneys.


    Cotton Candy: You really won¡¯t apany me?


    Little Candy Ball: Tomorrow is the Qixi Festival.


    Cotton Candy: You¡¯re going to leave me alone because of the Qixi Festival? You heartless bastard! What did you say in bedst night? You said that I¡¯m the only one!


    Little Candy Ball: It is the death anniversary of a friend.


    The opposite Cotton Candy was silent for a while before carefully typing: Ah! I¡¯m sorry! Don¡¯t be sad! QAQ


    Little Candy Ball: It¡¯s fine. He has been gone for seven years.


    Cotton Candy: ...Howe I¡¯ve never heard you mention him before?


    Little Candy Ball: I go sweep his grave every year. Tomorrow might be thest time. People can¡¯t indulge in the past forever and I want to put some things down.


    Xiao Tangqiu sat in front of theputer screen and lit a cigarette. In the ethereal smoke, he recalled his childhood.


    He remembered the teenage Meng Xinghe, his beautiful peace blossom eyes and the bright smile that made him have the taste of sunlight. Those youthful feelings...


    Of course, Xiao Tangqui grew up while his best friend¡¯s life was fixed in the most beautiful years, forever staying on the day of his 18th birthday.


    The next evening, Xiao Tangqiu came to the cemetery on the outskirts of City A. Before entering the cemetery, he bought a bunch of small daisies at the nearby flower store.


    The olddy who was the florist asked as she wrapped the bouquet, ¡°Are you sweeping the grave sote?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled lightly, ¡°Yes, he liked daisies the most.¡±


    The flower shop owner said, ¡°It is the first time I¡¯ve seen a guest like you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled and took the flowers from the old woman.


    ¡°After you finish sweeping the grave, go back early. It isn¡¯t safe at night recently in City A. I heard there have been more than a dozen disappearance cases this week.¡± The boss hesitated before whispering to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°And... they all seem to be around here.¡±


    ¡°Missing?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was shocked because he usually didn¡¯t pay much attention to the news.


    ¡°Yes, so be careful. Go home early after sweeping the grave.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded. He took the bouquet of flowers, exited the flower store and walked into the cemetery.


    It was gettingte and there were few people in the cemetery. He walked heavily to one of the tombstones where there was a photo of Meng Xinghe smiling brightly. Even the tear mole in the corner of his left eye seemed tainted with a smile.


    Xiao Tangqui put down the flowers and stood quietly in front of the tombstone for a while. He waited before opening his mouth to say a few words to Meng Xinghe. However, at this moment, there was the heavy sound of footsteps not far away.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2


    It was very rare for people to visit graves at this time. Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind subconsciously shed to images from the horror games as well as the words of the flower shop owner. He turned his head with a bit of vignce and was stunned when he saw the person.


    It was a middle-aged woman in a white trench coat. She was very beautiful and although she was older, she didn¡¯t lose her style despite the faint sorrow that she gave off.


    She went straight to Meng Xinghe¡¯s grave and didn¡¯t seem to see Xiao Tangqiu. This made Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes slightly dim. His lips moved but he couldn¡¯t say anything.


    This middle-aged woman was Meng Qingqiu, Meng Xinghe¡¯s mother.


    The Meng Qingqiu in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s memories was a gentle and kind beautiful woman. He and Meng Xinghe had grown up together. Whenever they came back from ying outside and Meng Qingqui was at home, she would smile softly and wipe their hands clean with a handkerchief.


    She was like apletely changed person after Meng Xinghe¡¯s death. Not only had her personality changed greatly, her attitude towards Xiao Tangqiu also changed. Every time she saw Xiao Tangqiu in the cemetery, she was very indifferent. It was like she didn¡¯t see him as she not never spoke to him, she directly ignored his existence.


    This time, Meng Qingqiu also ignored Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu felt a bit ufortable but he could fully understand Meng Qingqiu¡¯s indifference. After all, who could treat the cause of her son¡¯s death with a normal heart?


    ¡ªSeven years ago, Meng Xinghe died because of him.


    It was the night before Meng Xinghe¡¯s 18th birthday. Due to an argument with the family, the two of them decided to run away from home together. After a day of wandering outside, the two people were tired and hungry. It was Meng Xinghe¡¯s birthday so they decided to use their money to buy a birthday cake. However, on the way back to the park after buying the cake, they had a quarrel on the street.


    Xiao Tanqiu turned and angrily crossed the road when a car went out of control and headed towards him.


    He thought he was dead when Meng Xinghe rushed over to push him away. Xiao Tangqiu was pushed and flew away with the cake.


    Meng Xinghe was hit by the car and died on the spot. It was toote by the time the ambnce arrived.


    It had been seven years since the car ident but Xiao Tangqiu could still clearly remember the scene of that year whenever he closed his eyes. At the time, hey on the road and watched Meng Xinghe die in front of him. This caused him to suffer a serious mental blow.


    He shut himself up at home for two years and didn¡¯t dare go anywhere. He was even afraid to ride in cars. Two yearster, he gradually got out of the shadow of the car ident but he still couldn¡¯t take a car. Naturally, it was better not to go out.


    He developed a social barrier, refused to go to school and refused to make friends. Then five years ago, he started to indulge in the Inte and made some online friends. He was contacted by H Station and started to act as a live broadcast anchor. His situation gradually improved.


    Xiao Tangqiu had slowly emerged from his past but he still couldn¡¯t face Meng Qingqiu. He had never seen Meng Xinghe¡¯s father or any other rtives. Thus, he thought that Meng Xinghe was probably Meng Qingqiu¡¯s only rtive in the world. Therefore, his feelings about Meng Qingqiu were deeper.


    He was staring at the photo of Meng Xinghe when his phone suddenly rang. The sound was very abrupt in this quiet cemetery.


    He reflexively looked at Meng Qingqiu and saw Meng Qingqiu who still treated him as air. He quickly took out his phone from his pocket but took a few steps before answering it.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s voice emerged from the other end of the mobile phone. They exchanged a few greetings before she got straight to the point. She set up a blind date for Xiao Tangqiu tomorrow.


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled helplessly and slightly lowered his voice, ¡°Mom, I¡¯m still young. I don¡¯t need a blind date.¡±


    His mother didn¡¯t buy it. ¡°You are still young so why haven¡¯t you talked about love over the past few years?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was speechless as he heard his mother continue to say, ¡°I have found a master. The master said that you will have a love cmity at the age of 25. If you can¡¯t resolve it then you might lost your life. Therefore, I found a few blind date targets for you. Perhaps you can turn this cmity around and save your life. You must go and see them.¡±


    ¡°Mom, that is all feudal superstition...¡± Xiao Tangqiu murmured, ¡°That master is probably lying to you for money!¡±


    ¡°What feudal superstition? It is credible!¡± His mother sighed. ¡°Have you forgotten about Meng Xinghe. When his was born, his mother found someone and the master said that he was an early death person. He wouldn¡¯t be able to live until his 18th birthday! His mother treated him like a girl and tried to escape from the eyes of God but look! He didn¡¯t live past his 19th birthday!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was suddenly silent.


    His mother seemed to realize that her words were too much and softened her tone. ¡°Xiao Qiu, I am anxious for you the past few years. I don¡¯t want you to fall in love and get married right away. Just give it a try.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a long time before replying in a heavy tone, ¡°Okay, I will try it but not this week. I have an appointment to see a house.¡±


    ¡°Have you saved enough for the down payment? Do you need us to give you some money?¡± His mother¡¯s tone eased up.


    ¡°No, I have enough money of my own...¡± Xiao Tangqiu said a few more words before hanging up.


    He sighed and looked up. He didn¡¯t know when it happened but Meng Qingqiu was staring at him withplicated eyes.


    A momentter, Meng Qingqiu suddenly opened her mouth, her voice somewhat hoarse, ¡°...You are going on a blind date?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned since this was the first time Meng Qingqiu took the initiative to talk to him in seven years. She didn¡¯t wait for him to answer and asked a second question, ¡°Are you going to start a family?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t expected his conversation to be clearly heard despite lowering his voice. He was a bit embarrassed and whispered an apology.


    Raising a child, watching the child get married and gaining a daughter-inw was probably the expectations of every good mother. However, Meng Qingqiu lost her hopes early and could only watch as the child who grew up with her son achieved all of it.


    In the half-light and half-darkness of the cemetery, Meng Qingqiu stared straight at Xiao Tangqiu. A long time passed before she asked, ¡°Have you already gone out?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu froze for a while. Meng Qingqiu asked him if he had gone out from the shadow of the car ident seven years ago and he didn¡¯t know how to answer.


    ¡°You have alreadye out...¡± Meng Qingqiu sighed.


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly. ¡°No.¡±


    In this world, there were probably only two people who still remembered the car ident from seven years ago. If he escaped from it then Meng Qingqiu would be the only one left and it would be too cruel.


    Meng Qingqiu stared at Xiao Tangqiu for a long time before asking, ¡°If time could reverse and you went back to seven years ago, would you be willing to save him?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu replied without hesitation. ¡°I am willing.¡± He had imagined this countless times.


    ¡°...Even if the price is your life?¡± Meng Qingqiu¡¯s voice was a bit ethereal and seemed toe from far away.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment before nodding.


    Meng Qingqiu stared at him deeply and no longer said anything. She turned and continued to look at the photo of Meng Xinghe on the tombstone.


    Xiao Tangqiu apanied Meng Qingqiu for a while before turning away after half an hour.


    At this time, it waste at night and the lights in the cemetery were very dim. Despite being an adult man who experienced countless horror games, he still found it intimidating. He didn¡¯t know how a weak woman like Meng Qingqiu dared to walk along in the night to a cemetery.


    Halfway back, he couldn¡¯t help turning around to look at it. At this time, he found that Meng Qingqiu, who had just been in front of the tomb... had unexpectedly disappeared.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3


    It was alreadyte at night when Xiao Tangqiu arrived him. He carried a bag of beer he bought from a 24-hour convenience store and turned on theputer, prepared to watch aedy movie while drinking.


    As soon as he turned on theputer, it automatically logged into his chat messenger and a dialog box popped up.


    Cotton Candy: Little Candy Ball! Quickly! Come broadcast live with you!


    Little Candy Ball: I¡¯m not in the mood today.


    Cotton Candy: I know you¡¯re not in the mood but you need to do something to distract yourself.


    Xiao Tangqiu had to admit that Cotton Candy was right. Every year, he had to paralyze his nerves with beer andedy after visiting the grave. By the time he the movie ended, he would have a bigger void in his heart and then have nightmares all night.


    Maybe he really should do something different to put this matter down.


    Little Candy Ball: I think that you are a person afraid of broadcasting live so you pulled me to apany you.


    Cotton Candy: Hey,e on.


    Little Candy Ball: What game?


    Cotton Candy: A homemade horror game. It is said to be semi-finished and the author posted it on his personal website. I sent the link to you. Go download the game client and choose multiyer mode after registration. Wait until we set up a team and then enter the game together. OK?


    Little Candy Ball: A homemade game with a client? So big?


    Xiao Tangqiu opened the website that Cotton Candy sent him and sure enough, it was a personal website. The page was very simple with nothing special. There were few choices and he soon found that game that Cotton Candy was talking about. It was a game called Abyss.


    The game icon was a bit interesting. It was a snake biting its tail in an ¡®8¡¯ character. As a horror film and game enthusiast, Xiao Tangqiu knew that this snake was called Ouroboros. It was used in ancient Greek mythology and was called the eternal snake because it symbolized eternal life.


    He clicked on the client download and thought it would take some time. Unexpectedly, it took only 13 seconds to finish.


    The registration for this game was also very simple. There was no need for anything apart from entering an ID. Xiao Tangqiu entered his usual Little Candy Ball ID and the system told him that he sessfully registered.


    Everything was too simple. When he asked Cotton Candy about it, Cotton Candy said it was probably because the game was a semi-finished product.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t think too much and sent his usual ¡®live broadcast soon¡¯ post on Weibo. He opened the live room to warm it up and drank beer while looking at the setting of the game.


    As Cotton Candy said before, the setting of this game was a bit interesting. A horror game anchor one day yed a horror game called Abyss but was suddenly pulled into the game. He personally experienced everything in the horror game and soon found that it seemed to be more than just a game. If he died in the game, he would never return to the real world...


    ¡°Wow, why is the background setting for this game so on trend?¡± Xiao Tangqiu told his and Cotton Candy¡¯s fans who were filling the live broadcast room. ¡°Aren¡¯t we horror game anchors? We won¡¯t be pulled into the game right?¡±


    Cotton Candyughed. ¡°It is possible!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu might be a small horror game anchor but he still had a lot of fans. It waste at night but a few minutes after he released the live broadcast Weibo, the number of people in the live broadcast room quickly broke through 30,000 and the number was still rising.


    The live broadcast hadn¡¯t begun yet and the barrage ofments and gifts had already started. He casually thanked them for the gifts and clicked on the game client to enter the game. He saw a ck screen and a line of bloody words appeared on it. ¡°Wee to the Abyss.¡±


    The blood-red letters made him feel ufortable but he soon overcame it. He took a sip of the cold beer and clicked on the screen to continue. The next second, two options popped up¡ª¡¯Agree¡¯ and ¡®Okay.¡¯


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± Was there a difference between the two options?


    He silently clicked ¡®okay¡¯ and the original dark screen instantly became bright red, as if it had been sshed with a pot of blood. However, Xiao Tangqiu had already calmed down and he just clicked on the screen to continue.


    Another line of blood-red words appeared on the screen. ¡°The first story: The Fishing Vige¡¯s Ghost House.¡±


    Fishing vige? Ghost house?


    Xiao Tangqiu was pondering on the name when he suddenly felt that something was wrong. It was quiet,too quiet.


    This game was really too quiet. There wasn¡¯t the usual horror game BGM or even any special effects. This quiet was a bit scary.


    The even more frightening thing was that his room was too quiet. There wasn¡¯t the sound of the air conditioner or any noiseing from next door. This was too abnormal. The sound instion of this residential building was very poor and he often heard musicing from next door in the middle of the night.


    At this moment, the whole world seemed to have fallen asleep and it was dead quiet.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked and wanted to stand up to see what was going on. At this time, a burst of unprecedented sleepiness swept over him.


    He instantly became sleep and it was like his eyelids were weighed down.


    In less than three seconds, he fell asleep.


    ......


    ¡°Congrattions to the dear yers for epting the D-grade mission ¡®Fishing Vige¡¯s Ghost House¡¯. Your mission goal is to ¡®remove the curse of the fishing vige¡¯. The time limit is 3 days and you will get 500 points after the mission ispleted. You will be directly erased if the mission fails.¡±


    ¡°Finally, dear yers, wee to the abyss...¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey! Wake up!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes with much difficult at a man¡¯s simple and violent shaking. He suddenly flinched back when he saw the appearance of the man in front of him.


    It was a rough looking ck man with a sly expression. He wore a old white vest that his muscles bulged out of. His whole arm was tattooed and he was wearing a big gold chain.


    Xiao Tangqiu shrank back with fright only to find that he was actually on a swaying tourist bus.


    Wasn¡¯t he doing a live show at home? How could he suddenly appear in a tour bus?


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have a chance to react when screams came from the side, confirming his suspicions. ¡°Who are you? Did you kidnap me? Let me go! I¡¯m going to call the police!¡±


    The man in the gold chain let go of Xiao Tangqiu and turned towards the screaming man, his tone quite threatening. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to die then shut up!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took the opportunity to quickly look around the bus. The bus was very empty. It had dozens of seats but only 13 people were sitting down. Apart from him and the big gold chain, there were 11 other people.


    Due to the small number of people, everyone was scattered around. The first row contained three people whose faces couldn¡¯t be seen. The third row seemed to be a young couple. The fifth row contain two girls. The noisy man was sitting in the middle. Two rows in front of Xiao Tangqiu were three men and he was sitting alone in thest row.


    ¡°Why? Who are you? Let me go!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯m afraid of you! I¡¯ll call the police right away!¡±


    The gold chain man pulled the shouting young man by the cor and warned him, ¡°I will throw you out the window if you yell again!¡±


    The young man immediately shrank back like a small rooster. He huddled in his seat while everyone looked at the gold chain man with fright, not daring to scream.


    The gold chain man ced his hands on his chest and looked around the tour bus with a nk expression. Then he sneered and said, ¡°I believe you have heard that voice in your brain. Whether you believe it or not, you are now in a horror game. If you don¡¯tplete the task in the game then you will die!¡±


    He grinned, revealing two big golden teeth. However, the smile was very gloomy. ¡°Dear rookies, wee to the abyss!¡±

 Chapter 4

    <h4>Chapter 4</h4>


    The tour bus was dead silent for a few minutes before people started to question the worlds of the gold chain man. A yellow-haired person stood up. ¡°Why should I believe you? What horror game? Are you kidding! What the hell is your plot?¡±


    This person had dyed yellow hair and an arrogant face. He seemed to be a rebellious youth or a street gangster.


    ¡°Yes! Why should we believe you?¡± A man in a suit also stood up. He looked at everyone in the bus and tried to calmly analyze it. ¡°Maybe everyone else in the bus is working for you and you set this up to deceive us...¡±


    ¡°Deceive you? What do you have?¡± The man with the gold chain scoffed with a disdainful expression. ¡°Are you rich or influential?¡±


    ¡°Just let us down! All of you must be liars! A bunch of liars!¡± The girl in the couple also stood up. She looked a bit scared but she still pointed to the man with the gold chain. ¡°You must be traffickers! Traffickers should all go to hell! Are you going to sell us in the mountains?¡±


    The two girls were obviously scared and hugged each other while crying.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around the bus and soon discovered something wrong. No matter how noisy the other people weer, the young man who was very noisy in the beginning was abnormally silent. The strangest thing was that the three people sitting in the front row were quiet and didn¡¯t make any noise.


    An average person definitely wouldn¡¯t be calm when experiencing such a thing...


    He just thought this when the gold chain man looked at him again, his eyes burning. ¡°Hey, why are you so calm?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused before smiling slightly. ¡°I just... I often watch horror movies and y horror games.¡±


    At his words, the unusually silent young man suddenly jumped out of his seat and looked at Xiao Tangqui with excitement.


    His face was full of fear but the young man looked quite good. His eyes were clear, his skin was fair and he seemed to be in his early 20s. This type of appearance was very popr among girls but... Xiao Tangqiu felt that this young man seemed familiar and that he had seen this person somewhere before.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s memory was very good and he soon remembered. This person seemed to be an 18 tier star who often yed the soy sauce in various domestic horror movies. Basically, he was a type of cannon fodder that would only survive for three minutes before dying because of the ghost.


    The reason was unknown but this small star suddenly looked very excited, like he had seen a loved one. Before he could react, a scream was heard. ¡°Ahh!


    The group reflexively looked in the direction of the scream. It turned out to be the female of the couple. She stumbled back a few steps before falling onto the floor.


    ¡°Ahhh! Where¡¯s the driver? Where¡¯s the driver?¡± The girl screamed hysterically.


    Everyone quickly looked at the driver¡¯s seat but found there was no one there. There was no driver on the moving tour bus!


    The couple had intended to make the driver stop so they could get off the bus. As they approached the driver¡¯s eat, they discovered that there was no driver at all!


    The frightened girl wept, her legs weak as she sat on the ground. Everyone was pale and if they had any slight doubts then they would now be suspicious. Suddenly appeared on the tour bus, the voice that appeared in their minds, a moving bus without a driver... all these strange events forced them to believe the man wearing the gold chain.


    The gold chain man sneered and sat in his seat. ¡°See, I didn¡¯t like to you. Stupid neers, fortunately there is just the lowest level D-grade task with a little buffer time! You are fortunate to meet an old yer like me who is willing to provide you with information. Other old yers might let you die silently before the game even begins.¡± He said this but he he was staring at the three silent people sitting in the first row.


    The group was pale with fright and no one dared refute his words.


    ¡°Rest assured, this is the simplest D-grade task. The survival rate of neers is still very high, around 50%. In other orders, half the people in this bus should be able to survive.¡± The gold chain man exined as he shook his legs.


    Everyone became even paler. A 50% survival rate... this was considered high?


    Someone was about to object when the tour bus stopped and the door opened.


    ¡°This seems to be the destination.¡± The sloppy looking man suddenly became serious. ¡°Get off the bus.¡± He took the lead and was the first one to get off.


    The group looked at each other. No one could guarantee what would happen after getting off the bus so no one dared to follow the man. Then the three people sitting in the first row stood up and got off.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated before also standing up. The tour bus only had the door next to the driver¡¯s seat. He was walking to the door when a hand suddenly grabbed his arm, startling him.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back and saw it the little star. The little star was pale but his strength was very high. He firmly grasped Xiao Tangqiu and didn¡¯t want Xiao Tangqiu to get off.


    ¡°Get off the bus.¡± Xiao Tangqiu said softly. ¡°I don¡¯t know what will happen after we get off but if we continue to stay on the bus... who knows what will happen?¡±


    The small star suddenly jumped from his seat like his butt was burned. He grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s arm and seemed to want to get off with Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t care and left the bus with the small star. The others also heard Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s and fearfully got off.


    Once he got off the bus, Xiao Tangqiu originally wanted to shake off the small star¡¯s hand. After all, he was a male and didn¡¯t want to kiss other man. Then he suddenly heard the small star say softly, ¡°Little Candy Ball!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes widened. Only one person would call him this. Was this small star actually Cotton Candy? Hisizen was a small star? He actually became friends with a small star?


    At this moment, the gold chain man opened his mouth. ¡°Look up.¡±


    Everyone reflexively looked up and saw there was a river not far away. The river was turbulent and dark. A bit further away, there was a small ind that was faintly visible. The ind seemed to have a small fishing vige.


    ¡°Oh, it really is a fishing vige.¡± The gold chain man scratched his bald head. ¡°If we are surrounded by water then it will be a bit difficult to escape.¡±


    The group couldn¡¯t understand the gold chain man¡¯s meaning and one person asked with trepidation, ¡°Is our destination that fishing vige? Then how are we going to get there? Do we have to swim over?¡±


    ¡°There is a boat so naturally there is a way to get there.¡±


    The gold chain¡¯s words finished when the group saw a small fishing boat appear in front of them. It seemed to appear out of thin air and was very bizarre. It was small, dirty and looked like it would fall apart at any time.


    In the blink of an eye, the small fishing boat came to shore and a very old man appeared in it. He looked like a person in hisst years and his voice was very withered an hard to hear. ¡°You are... the graduate expedition... university students?¡±


    University students on a graduate expedition?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth dropped open. Among the 13 people, only a few looked like university students. The others werepletely impossible, especially the man with the gold chain.


    The gold chain man didn¡¯t change his expression and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right! We are all university students!¡±


    He turned and exined. ¡°The game will give us appropriate identities. It seems that the identity assigned to us this time are university students going to the fishing vige for graduate studies.¡±


    The old man slowly raised his head and seemed to want a good look at the people in front of him. The moment he looked up, several people couldn¡¯t help screaming. In the ce where the old man¡¯s eyes should be were two ck holes!


    The old man didn¡¯t seem to hear the screams or realize that he had no eyes. He looked at the ground and spoke in a hoarse voice, ¡°Come onboard...¡±


    ¡°No! I¡¯m going back! I can¡¯t stand it! I want to go back!¡±


    The female of the couple turned to go back. She was trying to return to the bus but the moment she turned around, her screams became choked up. She seemed to see something horrible.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back doubtfully and felt cold. He didn¡¯t know when but the bus had disappeared. The ce where the bus had ben was an abyss. The abyss was still widening and would soon spread to their feet...

 Chapter 5

    <h4>Chapter 5</h4>


    Big Gold Chain decisively shouted out, ¡°Quickly get on the boat!¡±


    At the moment, no one dared to voice any differing opinions. After all, they could tell that if they continued to stay there, they would be swallowed up by the abyss the next second.


    Everyone turned to quickly get onto the boat. But very soon, a ring problem emerged ¨C this fishing boat was old and rickety. Just by looking at it, it could at most amodate two to three people. But there were thirteen of them. So, if the whole lot of them went on, wouldn¡¯t the boat sink?


    It was at this point that the woman among the quiet trio opened her mouth to say, ¡°The game wouldn¡¯t have created an unsolvable situation, especially since the game has just begun. Get onboard!¡±


    As she spoke, she took the lead to first get onto the boat. Her twopanions didn¡¯t hesitate to follow after her.


    Everyone else quickly followed suit. Eventually, Xiao Tangqiu also pulled the small celebrity onboard.


    Under that heavy load, the small fishing boat rocked violently, causing everyone¡¯s expression to turn pale. They were all afraid that the boat would capsize within the next second. But thank goodness, the small fishing boat swayed a few more times before quickly regaining stability. Although it seemed barely up to the task, it held steady and didn¡¯t sink.


    Xiao Tangqiu had just breathed a sigh of relief before he noticed that the abyss had spread to envelop the riverbank. He immediately urged, ¡°Quickly, go!¡±


    The old man stared nkly at Xiao Tangqiu while letting out a strange ¡°hehe¡±ughter at the same time. Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel as if a draft of cold air had washed over him. The old man grabbed the bamboo pole unhurriedly and began to propel the boat forwards. His actions were painfully slow, as if he hadn¡¯t had enough strength to move the boat.


    ¡°Quickly!¡± The yellow-haired delinquent noticed his darkening surroundings and chased the old man, ¡°Quickly move! Stinky old man! Can you row or not ah?! If you can¡¯t, then let me do it!¡±


    But the old man couldn¡¯t be bothered with Yellow Hair and pretended as if he didn¡¯t hear a word. His actions continued to be tortuously slow. Driven by anxiety, Yellow Hair was just about to snatch the bamboo pole from the old man, when Big Gold Chain beside him suddenly said, ¡°That¡¯s enough! Turn around and look again!¡±


    Yellow Hair turned to look back in fear, only to find that the abyss had spread to the riverbank and not any further. Everyone else turned to look back as well, and was faced with the same strange picture. That terrifying abyss seemed to have swallowed the road which they came from. Only the nearby fishing vige and the river which they were traveling on seemed to exist; they were surrounded by the abyss.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned; he wasn¡¯t sure why, but the abyss gave him a feeling of intelligence. It felt as if the abyss had its eyes fixed on him.


    He didn¡¯t know if anyone else felt the same way, but he didn¡¯t intend to ask anyways.


    The expression on everyone¡¯s faces were extremely ugly. No one spoke until Big Gold Chain took the initiative to break the silence. ¡°This old man moves too slowly. Why not use this time to introduce ourselves? I¡¯ll go first. My name is Luo Mansu. I¡¯m an old yer.¡±


    Big Gold Chain nonchntly suggested, ¡°If you¡¯re willing to partner up with me, follow me once we get off the boat. Of course, I won¡¯t force you if you don¡¯t trust me; we¡¯ll just walk our separate paths. You can think about it for now.¡±


    Everyone looked at each other in dismay, then secretly sized up Big Gold Chain, trying to figure out if this Big Gold Chain was to be trusted. It was just that Big Gold Chain looked very aggressive, making it difficult for anyone to trust him just like that. However, he spoke honestly, and made no attempt to dress up his words. Instead, he admitted to a motive from the very start.


    The old man continued to dawdle on. Although the fishing vige didn¡¯t appear to be far off, God only knows when they would arrive, given the old man¡¯s speed. Upon seeing this, the others started to introduce themselves and at the same time, looked for suitable partners.


    Yellow Hair was called Lu Dadong; the guy with the sses was Zeng Jinping; the umunicative guy in the suit was Jiang Zihan; as for the couple, the woman was called Lu Xiaotao and the man was Yang Bing; one of the two girls sitting together was called Ding Tiantian and the other, Ding Mimi. It was only then that they realized the two girls were actually twins.


    The quiet team of three looked like they didn¡¯t want to have anything to do with the others and reported three very obviously fake names, ¡°Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu followed the others and gave his name, ¡°I¡¯m Xiao Tangqiu.¡±


    Before this, Luo Mansu didn¡¯t react to the others when they shared their names, but seemed to have some interest when it came to Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s turn. ¡°What is it that you do?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu replied impassively, ¡°I¡¯m self-employed.¡±


    He originally thought Luo Mansu would continue to ask him, but Luo Mansu merely smiled and turned his attention onto someone else.


    The small celebrity sitting next to Xiao Tangqiu cautiously spoke, ¡°I¡¯m Tang Mianmian.¡±


    Luo Mansu nodded his head perfunctorily; it wasn¡¯t clear if he had remembered their names. This entire time, the old man rowing the boat behaved as if he hadn¡¯t heard anything, staring nkly ahead as he leisurely rowed.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the bamboo pole in the old man¡¯s hands, then looked at the surface of the water but all he saw was a sheet of darkness. This was no ordinary river, where the water was clear enough to see all the way to the bottom. The dark, murky waters only incited fear.


    Once again, everyone fell silent, and the small fishing boat regained deathly stillness. But it was right then that the old man started to sing, his hoarse and unpleasant voice carrying a strange, eerie melody.


    Dewy green leaves and branches in her maiden home


    Married out, thereafter, wilted, yellow and wan


    Time and again the waters submerge


    Resurfacing, gleaming with tears


    Listening to the song made everyone feel ufortable all over. They moved away from the old man, trying to create more of a distance between him and themselves. Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, and noticed that Luo Mansu and the quiet group of three seemed to be contemting something. Their gazes were lowered, keeping their thoughts to themselves.


    The old man finished singing his song, bowing his head as he snickered. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    Everyone looked up and saw that the fishing vige was indeed close up ahead despite being a distance away just a second ago. Suppressing the horror in their hearts, they carefully got down from the boat.


    From a distance, this fishing vige didn¡¯t seem to be different from other regr fishing viges but as soon as they got closer, a strange dissonance seemed to be present everywhere they looked. The houses in the fishing vige were all low, narrow and dpidated,pletely unlike a regr house that could shield off the wind and rain. There were a few people out on the streets, but they had a dull and lifeless look in their eyes. The wooden expression on their faces were devoid of any emotion. Just by looking at them, it was obvious they weren¡¯t normal. On top of that, they weren¡¯t able to walk very far given their sluggish movements.


    A few girls were bunched up together, frightened to the point of shaking, yet, Luo Mansu¡¯s expression remainedpletely calm, apparently used to this situation.


    It was right then, a voice that sounded very old called out.


    ¡°Are you the university students who are here to do a study? Wee to Yunjia Vige. I¡¯m the vige chief; I¡¯ll take you to your amodations. Please follow me.¡±


    Out of nowhere, this old man had suddenly materialized in front of them, just like a ghost, scaring everyone out of their wits. But very quickly, they breathed out a sigh of relief. Regardless, this old man looked much more normalpared to the other vigers. At least from appearance alone, he didn¡¯t seem very different from themselves.


    ¡°You¡¯re the vige chief?¡± Luo Mansu rubbed his chin, ¡°Alright then, take us to our amodations.¡±


    Without giving them another nce, the vige chief turned to go; his movement was neither fast nor slow, but at least it wasn¡¯t like those other vigers who moved at a zombie-like pace.


    ¡°Let¡¯s follow him. Once we get to where we¡¯re staying, we can go separately.¡± Luo Mansu dismissed their doubts, ¡°This vige chief should be an NPC, so he wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to attack us under normal circumstances. Since we¡¯ll be here for three days, we¡¯ll definitely need a ce to stay.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrow, ¡°Under normal circumstances?¡±


    Luo Mansu shed Xiao Tangqiu a smile, but didn¡¯t answer his question. Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What if we don¡¯t follow him?¡±


    ¡°You can choose to stay on the shore during these three days. It¡¯s up to you.¡± Luo Mansu shrugged his shoulders, ¡°Or you could look for those vigers and ask if they¡¯ll take you in?¡± Luo Mansu then turned to follow the vige chief who was up ahead.


    Tang Mianmian nced at those vigers who resembled walking corpses and immediately pulled Xiao Tangqiu to keep up with the vige chief.


    They followed the vige chief, walking around for what seemed like half the vige, before he stopped in front of a house.


    ¡°This is it.¡±


    They looked at the house, sizing it up; although this house was a little run-down, it looked like it could still withstand the wind and rain. A few of them sighed in relief.


    The vige chief was about to leave afterpleting his task, but was stopped by Luo Mansu, who pointed towards a building in the center of the vige, ¡°Wait a minute, can you tell me what that is?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, along with the others, turned to look in that direction. It was an old-fashioned, nostalgically charming building of ancient Chinese design. It stood in the middle of the vige, looking thoroughly out of ce against the backdrop of this decrepit vige.


    Almost instantly, the vige chief¡¯s expression changed; his lips promptly shut tight, unwilling to say anything else.


    ¡°Hey, you......¡± Luo Mansu pressed on, but the vige chief turned and left without answering.


    His footsteps were brisk, and although he seemed to be walking, his pace was incredibly unnatural. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from everyone¡¯s sight.

 Chapter 6

    <h4>Chapter 6</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly recalled that inexplicable voice in his head. Earlier, that cold, mechanical voice announced that he had received a D level mission titled, ¡°Fishing Vige¡¯s Haunted House......¡± So right now, were they in that ¡°Fishing Vige¡¯s Haunted House¡± mission?


    Within this small fishing vige, the only building that matched the ¡°haunted house¡± mentioned in the mission would undoubtedly be that ancient Chinese-style building in the middle of the vige. It¡¯s no wonder Luo Mansu asked the vige chief about it.


    If Xiao Tangqiu could figure out that much, so could the others. Tang Mianmian immediately turned around to ask Luo Mansu, ¡°Should we chase after him?¡±


    Luo Mansu shrugged his shoulders, ¡°Judging by his reaction, that big house over there is most likely the objective of this mission. Unfortunately, it won¡¯t be easy getting NPCs to talk unless we manage to find important clues. Or else, we¡¯ll have to look for another way.¡±


    ¡°Another way?¡± Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, ¡°Like beating him up?¡±


    Luo Mansu smiled faintly at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I thought that among this group, the first one to suggest something like this would¡¯ve been that yellow-haired delinquent. I really didn¡¯t expect it to be you.¡±


    The yellow-haired delinquent immediately blew his top, ¡°Hey, what do you mean by that?!¡±


    But Luo Mansu didn¡¯t bother exining himself. He grinned broadly as he continued, ¡°You can indeed use violence to deal with NPCs. Every NPC¡¯s character is different so threatening them may or may not work, depending on the NPC. Instead, you may end up offending an NPC. You can weigh the pros and cons yourself. I¡¯m not afraid to tell you that it¡¯s ok to kill NPCs, but if you kill an NPC that¡¯s key to the mission, you will also be killed on the spot.¡±


    Everyone kept quiet ¨C it was obvious they each had their own opinions. Luo Mansu didn¡¯t care at all, ¡°You can choose your partners now, whether you¡¯d like to join me or form your own team....... Of course, even if you decide to form your own team, I won¡¯t refuse to exchange information with you. As long as you offer me valuable information, I will also share whatever information I find.¡±


    His attitude could be considered frank, and in the horrifying atmosphere of this game ¨C that is, if this world could be called a ¡°game¡± ¨C a person with such leadership seemed very convincing. But, it was also precisely this that raised doubt and uncertainty.


    While everyone was busy sizing each other up, the quiet trio walked away without the slightest pause. Yet, none of them were surprised since the the trio didn¡¯t want to have anything to do with them from the very start.


    The couple hesitated for a bit before turning away to leave while the yellow-haired delinquent partnered up with the guy in the suit. In a sh, only the twin sisters, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian remained.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Tang Mianmian and asked for his opinion, ¡°Should we both partner up?¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately nodded in agreement.


    All of a sudden, Tang Mianmian was dumbstruck. ¡°......Live stream? When did I live stream this game with you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a bit too young to be senile? Clearly, you were the one who sent me the official download link for the game, insisting I live stream it with you!¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s jaw dropped; he seemed to have been shocked into silence. After a minute, he eximed, ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly at him, ¡°What do you mean you didn¡¯t?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face was deathly pale. ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me you¡¯d be visiting your friend¡¯s grave today? So, I decided to try out the game on my own. But less than a minute into the game, I fainted, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in that tour bus with you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know what to say. He suddenly felt a chill creeping up his spine. If Tang Mianmian was telling the truth, then who was it that sent him the link to the game? Or more urately, perhaps it wasn¡¯t human at all....


    Tang Mianmian was almost frightened to tears. ¡°Help ah! I don¡¯t want to y a real-live horror game ah! I¡¯m such a scaredy-cat; I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll be frightened to death before I even make it the end!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuforted him, ¡°Look on the bright side; I think there are ghosts in this game. Perhaps you¡¯ll be killed by them before you even get to the end ah.¡±


    Tang Mianmian cried out, ¡°<i>Wuwuwu</i>! I don¡¯t want to y anymore. I want to go home!¡±


    ¡°I was just joking,¡± Xiao Tangqiu pulled Tang Mianmian along. ¡°We¡¯ll definitely make it to the end. Then, we¡¯ll go home and get married.¡±


    Tang Mianmian shouted, ¡°..... Don¡¯t simply create gs ah!¡±


    The both of them randomly wandered around the vige. As rookies, they had little experience in this real-live horror game. But as live broadcast anchors for horror games, they had a fair bit of insight regarding the various routines of a horror game. Very quickly, they started to happily make fun of the usual game tropes.


    ¡°What do you think is in that big house?¡±


    ¡°There must be ghosts in there.¡±


    ¡°What are ghosts afraid of? Do you think we should get some yellow talismans first? We don¡¯t seem to have much experience with Chinese ghosts ah! Ai.... Why are there so few domestic horror games?¡±


    There were definitely more Western and Japanese horror games, so they had much more experience with that.


    ¡°Forget about domestic horror games. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve never watched a domestic horror movie?¡±


    ¡°.........But there aren¡¯t any ghosts in domestic horror movies.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, what you said makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Glutinous rice? Cinnabar? Rooster¡¯s blood?¡± Tang Mianmian turned his head inside out, trying to think of a solution.


    Xiao Tangqiumented in dismay, ¡°Forget about rooster¡¯s blood. Haven¡¯t you noticed that we haven¡¯te across another living thing even though we¡¯ve been walking for so long?¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, ¡°You¡¯re right ah....... Wait! That can¡¯t be right. Isn¡¯t this a fishing vige? There must be fish, right?¡±


    ¡°God knows, if this was a regr fishing vige, of course there¡¯d be fish. But we both know this vige is far from normal.¡± Xiao Tangqiu continued to look around. The fishing vige was really small; Just by standing on a slightly higher terrain, perhaps on a hillside, it would be possible to take in the entire view of the vige.


    ¡°Although the vige is rather strange, there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything special about it..... How on earth are we supposed to get rid of the curse?¡±


    Tang Mianmian diligently analyzed their situation, ¡°Perhaps we need to find a key item that will trigger the plotline. Or maybe, we should look for the vige chief again. Maybe we¡¯ll get some clues from that NPC. Of course, there¡¯s another option, that is to break into that big building.


    ¡°There must be something wrong with that house. We can¡¯t just hastily barge into the house. If there are ghosts or something sinister inside, we¡¯ll definitely lose our lives going in without any protective measures.¡± Xiao Tangqiu rubbed his chin in contemtion and eventually made a decision, ¡°Let¡¯s go look for the vige chief first. We¡¯ll only explore that house as ast resort.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded his head; this was indeed the safest option. No one knows what could happen if they just barged into that big house.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go look for the vige chief.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to start walking when Tang Mianmian suddenly mumbled in a small voice, ¡°Um.... I need to use the restroom.....¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Tang Mianmian, not saying a word. Tang Mianmian blushed a bright red as he exined, ¡°I needed to use the restroom earlier when we were on the tour bus. I¡¯ve been holding it in the whole time, I really can¡¯t hold it anymore.¡±


    ¡°Ok, you don¡¯t need to exin. Just go.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips; in fact, he had realized that there wasn¡¯t an indoor restroom while they were walking around. The entire vige shared a public restroom, which was basically a small wooden hut with several squat toilets. But these ¡°toilets¡± were really just pits dug into the ground. Tang Mianmian seemed to have noticed that earlier as well, but he couldn¡¯t get over how primitive and dirty the toilet was. At this point however, he couldn¡¯t hold it in any longer and had no choice.


    Tang Mianmian hesitated, ¡°I¡¯m a little scared.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about it; although he didn¡¯t need to use the restroom yet, it was better to go now than to wait till it turned dark. Even he was afraid of going to the restroom alone at night.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go to the restroom with you then.¡±


    Tang Mianmian breathed out a sigh of relief, ¡°Good friends should go to the restroom together!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu only teased him, ¡°Only schoolboys use the restroom together!¡±


    Tang Mianmian impatiently urged, ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go! If we don¡¯t hurry, the sky¡¯s going to turn dark!¡±

 Chapter 7

    <h4>Chapter 7</h4>


    It was starting to get dark so Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian hastily looked for the restroom. When they finally located it, they mentally prepared themselves to face that awful, primitive toilet. They both pinched their noses, tried to block out any disgusting odors and charged into the restroom.


    These pittrines were extremely basic and crude. They were made out of a few nks of wood that were arranged over the pit, and there were several holes between the nks that covered the septic tank below. These holes were spaced out from each other, essentially creating the makeshift ¡®¡°squat toilets¡± that were separated from each other by wooden boards.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a bit before picking the innermost stall that had a window, hoping that there would be better cirction in that stall.


    But even then, he couldn¡¯t stop the terrible stench that assailed his nostrils. He quickly finished up and left without giving Tang Mianmian the chance to speak to him.


    Nearby the restroom was a well, which seemed to be used for washing hands. By the side of the well, there was a small wooden bucket which was half-filled with water that didn¡¯t look very clean.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly; ording to his experience, it didn¡¯t matter whether it was a horror movie or a video game, wells were definitely a no-no. It was almost as if he could see a g standing tall and waving high.


    Thus, he decided to use the water in the small bucket. <i>Although it looked a bit turbid, there shouldn¡¯t be anything wrong with it, right?</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu was washing his hands when he suddenly heard an earth-shattering scream.


    ¡°AH! AH! AH!¡±


    His hearing acuity was only average, which was why he was previously unable to recognize right off the bat, this good friend of his, with whom he had yed countless of games with.


    Right now, it also took him a moment before he reacted ¨C wasn¡¯t that Tang Mianmian¡¯s voice?


    Had something happened to Tang Mianmian?!


    Xiao Tangqiu stood up and turned around; he saw Tang Mianmian stumbling out of the restroom. As soon as Tang Mianmian saw Xiao Tangqiu, he immediately shouted, ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah! There are ghosts! Let¡¯s go! We need to run away!¡±


    Hearing that, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t care about anything else and quickly followed, running after Tang Mianmian. The both of them ran in a frenzy, sprinting as fast as their legs could carry them. After running a distance, Xiao Tangqiu finally stopped, gasping for breath as he cried, ¡°Can¡¯t.... Run.... Anymore.....¡±


    ¡°Why is your stamina so bad?! We barely ran!¡± Tang Mianmian appeared to have been scared out of his wits; his face was pale, devoid of any color. Seeing how Xiao Tangqiu could run no further, Tang Mianmian gritted his teeth, threw Xiao Tangqiu over his shoulder and bolted off.


    Xiao Tangqiu....................


    Didn¡¯t they agree to be weak, fatass geeks together? Why did he secretly get fit on his own ah?!


    There were a few other yers waiting outside the vige chief¡¯s door. They were also here to obtain more information.


    The others were shocked upon seeing the weary state of Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Miamian. ¡°What the fuck happened?! Is he dead?


    Tang Mianmian immediately put down Xiao Tangqiu, his face revealing an expression that said, ¡°We¡¯re saved!¡± when he noticed the other yers.


    Xiao Tangqiu was dizzy after being carried over Tang Mianmian¡¯s shoulder for so long. It took him a while to respond, ¡°........ My friend here said that he saw a ghost in the restroom earlier.¡±


    ¡°Ghost?¡± shouted the man called Zeng Jinping, whose expression suddenly changed. ¡°There really are ghosts in this god-forsaken ce?!¡±


    Just then, Luo Mansu swaggered out of the vige chief¡¯s house. Heughed at their reactions, ¡°This mission is called ¡®Fishing Vige¡¯s Haunted House.¡¯ Of course, there¡¯ll be ghosts.¡±


    The twin sisters in Luo Mansu¡¯s team were frightened out of their minds. Older sister Ding Tiantian¡¯s face was white as a sheet, ¡°There really are ghosts? Will the ghosts harm us? Will they kill us? Will you protect us?¡±


    ¡°It depends on the circumstances. Some ghosts may not have any malicious intent, but given this game¡¯s setting, I can guarantee these ghosts will definitely kill you.¡± Luo Mansu shed the twin sisters a wicked smile. ¡°It all depends on your performance. I only want teammates who are helpful. If the both of you aren¡¯t of any use, why should I help you?¡±


    The color drained from both twin sisters¡¯ faces. Younger sister Ding Mimi timidly asked Tang Mianmian, ¡°Can you tell us more about the situation when you encountered that ghost?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we should try our best to avoid it!¡± Zeng Jinping chimed in.


    Tang Mianmian was about to open his mouth to speak when Xiao Tangqiu held him back. He raised an eyebrow, ¡°If you want us to talk about it, you¡¯ll need to give us some information too.¡±


    The others looked a bit surprised at his words, but then turned to look at each other in dismay. Luo Mansu eyed Xiao Tangqiu, rubbing his bald head as heughed.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t want to exchange information,¡± Zeng JinPing smiled bitterly at Xiao Tangqiu. He seemed to have been temporarily assigned leadership among his teammates and took the initiative to speak on their behalf. ¡°The truth is we haven¡¯t been able to find anything. This fishing vige really has nothing of interest. We¡¯ve searched through all the houses and still came up with nothing. We don¡¯t even know what we should be looking for.¡±


    Ding Tiantian and Ding Mimi merely looked at Luo Mansu, who shrugged, ¡°We got nothing as well. That¡¯s why we came to see the vige chief. We were hoping to get some information from him but he won¡¯t talk.¡±


    The couple and the quiet trio weren¡¯t around, and it didn¡¯t look like they could get any information from the yers here. Xiao Tangqiu rubbed his chin and indicated for Tang Mianmian to start talking. He was also curious to know what Tang Mianmian had experienced earlier.


    Tang Mianmian gulped and slowly narrated what happened. ¡°Just now, Xiao Tangqiu and I went to the restroom together. After I was done, I realized I hadn¡¯t any toilet paper with me; so, I called out to Xiao Tangqiu. At first, there wasn¡¯t any movement in the next stall. But after a few seconds, a hand stretched out from a small crack in the wooden partition.¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked like he was about to cry as he continued, ¡°I thought it was Xiao Tangqiu, so I took it without thinking. But the texture just didn¡¯t feel right, so I took a closer look. It wasn¡¯t toilet paper! It was fucking paper money that¡¯s used to burn for the dead! I immediately felt a chill up my spine and ran the hell out of there.¡±


    ¡°So you didn¡¯t see what that ghost looked like?¡± Luo Mansu asked.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s small face had turnedpletely pale, ¡°I was almost frightened to death! Do you think I¡¯d still go and find out what that ghost looked like?¡±


    Yellow Hair frowned and asked, ¡°How can we avoid that ghost then? Don¡¯t go to the restroom?¡±


    ¡°That makes sense, we¡¯ll try to avoid the restroom,¡± said the man wearing sses.


    The man in the suit looked repulsed, ¡°What are we supposed to do if we need to use the toilet? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re nning to do it in the bushes! How disgusting and unhygienic is that?!¡±


    Luo Mansu sniggered, ¡°Is cleanliness more important than staying alive? If you¡¯re dead, you won¡¯t even have the chance toin about cleanliness.¡±


    The girls looked rather ufortable. But they were more afraid of the ghost in the restroom and didn¡¯t express any objections.


    Xiao Tangqiu asked Tang Mianmian, ¡°So, did you use it?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was confused, ¡°Use what?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu replied, ¡°The paper money.¡±


    ¡°.......... I did.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Luo Mansu¡¯sughter was a little strange, ¡°How did it feel?¡±


    ¡°It was a bit rough but I¡¯d already taken it and I didn¡¯t have any toilet paper either........¡± Tang Mianmian turned red.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly took a step back, a look of disapproval on his face. ¡°Wait a minute, you didn¡¯t wash your hands, did you?¡±


    Tang Mianmian blushed in embarrassment, ¡°It was an emergency! Are you still going to harp on whether or not I washed my hands?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s safe now and there¡¯s water here. Quickly wash your hands.¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked like a puppy that had been wronged, but he still walked over to the side of the vige chief¡¯s house. There was a bucket of water, which he used to wash his hands.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up at the sky and noticed that it had turned dark. There weren¡¯t any vigers out on the streets, and there weren¡¯t any lights either. The darkness seemed to announce the presence of the unknown. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be heading back now? It¡¯s already getting dark.¡±


    Luo Mansu nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked inside the house and saw the old vige chief sitting on a stool. He waspletely motionless and resembled a statue. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he still blinked, Xiao Tangqiu would¡¯ve been convinced that the old man was dead. But the abnormality in hisck of movement only served to paint a more disturbing picture.


    There was a dirty table in front of the old vige chief. A faint yellow light radiated from the dieselntern on the table. It was very dim and looked like it could die out at any moment, but against the swirling darkness of the night, this light seemed to be the only glow left in the pitch-ck fishing vige.


    They all left the old vige chief¡¯s house and headed back to their temporary amodation.


    After taking a few steps, Xiao Tangqiu turned around to look at the vige chief¡¯s house. Without them noticing, the door had already been closed quietly.


    Soon after, the lights inside the house went out.

 Chapter 8

    <h4>Chapter 8</h4>


    P.S. I decided to use ¡°big house¡± instead of ¡°big building¡± because it seems more appropriate given the title of their mission


    ~~~


    On the way back, everyone was on tenterhooks, afraid that something would suddenly jump out in the dark. Surprisingly, they managed to make it back safe and sound.


    As soon as they entered the house, Luo Mansu immediately lighted up the dieselntern on the table. Only then did they realize that table was covered with tes of fish that didn¡¯t look at all appetizing.


    ¡°There are exactly 13 tes of fish,¡± counted Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°Who do you think prepared them?¡±


    Their gaze was fixed onto the fish, cautiously inspecting them. They weren¡¯t sure if they should eat the fish or not. Aside from how unappetizing it looked, they were more worried about whether the fish was edible. This fishing vige was really weird, who knows if it could be eaten or not.


    ¡°It must¡¯ve been the system or an NPC who prepared the fish. We still have to eat in the instance. The system won¡¯t starve us to death.¡± Luo Mansu offhandedly sat down. Because there weren¡¯t any chopsticks provided, he grabbed one of the tes and started eating with his hands. ¡°It¡¯s up to you. If you want to eat, then go ahead. If not, no one¡¯s forcing you. But I¡¯m guessing we¡¯ll have to stay here for a few more days.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. The meaning behind Luo Mansu¡¯s words was obvious. They could only choose between starving or forcing themselves to stomach that unptable looking fish. If they chose to starve, they would be physically weak, and in this eerie fishing vige, danger lurked in every corner. They could lose their lives at any moment.


    Xiao Tangqiu pulled Tang Mianmian to sit down with him. He looked at Tang Mianmian, gesturing for him to eat the fish. Naturally, Tang Mianmian was very reluctant but still picked up a slice of fish to taste. His tastebuds were assaulted by a weird vor, almost causing him to vomit in disgust.


    Tang Mianmian stared at Luo Mansu beside him. How did he manage to swallow down that disgusting taste without so much as a change in his expression?


    Luo Mansuughed, ¡°I¡¯ve had to eat food more disgusting than this. Actually, it¡¯s all the same to me. It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s the head or the tail. It crispy and it tastes like meat.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pinched his nose, trying to block out that unpleasant smell as he forced down two slices of fish. Tang Mianmian reluctantly ate another slice as well. There were some who chose to eat and some who¡¯d rather starve.


    A while after, the couple entered the house, but what was most surprising was the fact that they carried a watermelon with them.


    ¡°Where the fuck did this watermelone from?¡± Xiao Tangqiu waspletely shocked. Earlier, both he and Tang Mianmian seemed to have ran all over the vige but they didn¡¯t see any watermelons.


    Lu Xiaotao pointed in the direction of the big building in the middle of the vige. ¡°Just now, we went to the vicinity of that big house to find out more about what¡¯s going on. In the backyard of that big house, there¡¯s a huge watermelon tree. Its branches had stretched over the wall. So, we climbed up the wall to pick a watermelon.¡±


    Zeng JinPing snickered at them, ¡°Are you kidding? Watermelons don¡¯t grow on trees; how can there be a watermelon tree?¡±


    ¡°A watermelon tree? Seems rather interesting.¡± Luo Mansu squinted his small eyes, ¡°Did you manage to find out anything else? We can share what we know with each other.¡±


    They all exchanged information with one another, but there wasn¡¯t anything of value.


    When Lu Xiaotao and Yang Bing saw the fish on the table, they were determined not to eat any of it. After all, they still had a watermelon. Lu Dadong put down the fish he was eating and rudely demanded, ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t be so selfish! You should share that watermelon with us!¡±


    Yang Bing used the rusty kitchen knife that he found in the kitchen to slice the watermelon. He coldly refused Lu Dadong, ¡°We picked this watermelon ourselves. If you guys want some, go pick your own.¡±


    Lu Dadong red at Yang Bing, ¡°Humph! You should share it while we¡¯re still asking nicely!¡±


    ¡°Forget it!¡± Zeng Jinping pulled Lu Dadong aside, ¡°God knows if there¡¯s something wrong with that watermelon. There¡¯s definitely something weird about that house!¡±


    Lu Dadong stared angrily at the couple but didn¡¯t say anything else.


    The atmosphere in the room turned somewhat tense, but it was to be expected. If it wasn¡¯t because they had somehow been inexplicably brought into this God-forsaken fishing vige, they would still be strangers. Even now, they were merely strangers who met by chance. On top of that, they had been in a highly strung state ever sinceing to this strange ce, where danger lurked in every corner. Inevitably, conflict was bound to happen; all they needed was a slight push.......


    Their expressions had all turned ugly, except for one person, who seemed like he wasn¡¯t affected at all.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Luo Mansu, who was still busy scarfing down that nauseating fish. He raised an eyebrow, ¡°Previously you mentioned an instance and the system. What the hell is the game? Can you also tell us more regarding this world and the missions?¡±


    Everyone turned to look at Luo Mansu. Clearly, they wanted to know the answers to these questions.


    Luo Mansu casually spit out a fish bone, ¡°You want to know? Pass the game first, then I¡¯ll tell you! What if you die tomorrow? Wouldn¡¯t that just be a waste of my time?¡±


    ¡°Hey! How can you say that!¡± Lu Xiaotao was a little unhappy.


    ¡°Humph! What I said is the truth. You rookies are way too naive.¡± Luo Mansu seemed to have eaten his fill. He stood up and patted his beer belly, ¡°There are three rooms in this house, and every room has two beds. It was supposed to be four to five people to a room, but those three didn¡¯te back yet. I¡¯m guessing they won¡¯t be back. Ding Tiantian, Ding Mimi and I will take a room. What you do with the other two rooms is up to you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had no time to wonder if Luo Mansu had any ulterior motives in sharing a room with the twin sisters because he was shocked by the implication of his words.


    ¡°You said they won¡¯t being back. What do you mean by that? Are they all dead?¡±


    ¡°Since there are twelve tes of fish left, they should still be alive.¡± Luo Mansuughed ominously, ¡°But I can¡¯t say if they¡¯ll still be alive tomorrow.¡±


    Lu Xiaotao hesitated, then opened her mouth to say, ¡°........... Actually, a few hours ago, Yang Bing and I saw the three of them enter that big house.¡±


    ¡°What?! They went into that big house?¡± They were all stunned.


    Lu Xiaotao nodded her head and turned to look at her boyfriend before continuing, ¡°That big house seems to be called Yun Manor. We saw them knock on the door, and then the door opened on its own. But they weren¡¯t frightened at all, and entered without a second thought........ Yang Bing and I were a little afraid, so we didn¡¯t follow them in.¡±


    Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, until Lu Dadong broke the silence, ¡°They must be dead then!¡±


    Luo Mansu shrugged and left for one of the rooms in the house. The twin sisters followed after him. Zeng Jinping and his other two teammates picked the innermost room, so Xiao Tangqiu and the remaining three of them had no choice but to take the room closest to the door.


    However, it didn¡¯t matter which room they got, since the rooms were equally run-down. There were two narrow, old-fashioned wooden beds in the room; there wasn¡¯t any other furniture but there was a very small window, high up on one of the walls.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian shared a bed, while Lu Xiaotao and Yang Bing shared the other.


    The room didn¡¯t have a dieselntern, so they could only feel their way around in the dark. Xiao Tangqiu asked the couple how they got here.


    At first, Yang Bing was hesitant to talk about it, but maybe it was because Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked harmless, he eventually said truthfully, ¡°Xiaotao and I were ying games at an inte cafe, when the electricity got cut off. Next thing we know, we¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Game? What game?¡± Xiao Tangqiu felt his heart skip a beat.


    Yang Bing mentioned the name of a very popr online game, then asked, ¡°What about you guys?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu left out some of the more important details and said, ¡°We were ying video games too.¡±


    ¡°........ Why is it rted to video games?¡± Yang Bing looked baffled.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure as well.....¡± Xiao Tangqiu sighed.


    After that, Yang Bing and Lu Xiaotao started to whisper to each other. Xiao Tangqiu also turned to Tang Mianmian and said softly, ¡°Don¡¯t mention anything about ¡®Abyss¡¯ to anyone first.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded in the dark, and then quietly said, ¡°I¡¯m hungry.....¡± The fish was smelly and disgusting, and even with his nose pinched, he could only eat a slice.


    Xiao Tangqiu searched his pockets and found a milk candy, which he offered to Tang Mianmian. Tang Mianmian hesitated, but Xiao Tangqiu immediately reassured him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have more.¡±


    Tang Mianmian took the candy and quietly ate it.


    ¡°Although it feels really dangerous here.....¡± Xiao Tangqiumented, ¡®No one died today, so thank God.¡±


    Tang Mianmian sucked on the candy as he mumbled, ¡°Fuck! Can you stop raising gs?! Don¡¯t you know if you pull a g you¡¯ll have to receive it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu argued, ¡°But this isn¡¯t a game..........¡±


    He had just finished speaking when they suddenly heard a scream.


    ¡°Aaaaaaahhh!¡±


    In the dead of the night, the silence was broken by that blood-curdling scream.

 Chapter 9

    <h4>Chapter 9</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...........¡±


    Tang Mianmian scolded, ¡°......... See! I told you so!¡±


    They both sat up at once. The couple was also shocked and asked in horror, ¡°What happened?¡±


    The screams didn¡¯t stop, sounding more and more agonizing instead. It brought a chill down their spines. What excruciating torment did this person have to endure to scream out so terrifyingly?


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look.¡±


    Lu Xiaotao was afraid and tried to stop him, ¡°What if it¡¯s dangerous?¡±


    ¡°We have to at least find out what is it we¡¯re dealing with.¡± Xiao Tangqiu was also really frightened, but he tried to stay as calm as possible. ¡°What if it¡¯s our turn next?¡±


    The couple was still considering whether to go or not. Tang Mianmian grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s arm, his teeth chattering from fear, ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll go with you........ I don¡¯t want to die without knowing why or what¡¯s going on.¡±


    The two of them groped about in the dark, slowly finding their way out of the room. They realized that the house was already crowded with people. The twins had followed Luo Mansu out of their room. Lu Dadong and Zeng Jinping was there as well. Only the guy in the suit was nowhere to be found.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately guessed who the screams belonged to; the suspicions in his heart grew stronger.


    Without saying a word, Luo Mansu headed out the door with the dieselntern in his hand. The rest of them followed behind him, hearts filled with dread.


    They followed the screams to the back of the house. It was at this point that the screams suddenly stopped.


    Luo Mansu raised the dieselntern. The light from thentern illuminated the surrounding area. Ding Tiantian and Ding Mimi suddenly screamed, ¡°Ahhhh!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face turned ghastly pale. Tang Mianmian turned his head away and hugged Xiao Tangqiu tightly, ¡°Fuck! That scared the hell out of me!¡±


    Not far in front of themid a body that had been scorched ck. The clothes on the body werepletely burned off. None of the skin remained intact; there were many parts where the skin seemed to have melted off, revealing bits of charred flesh hanging off the white bones inside. It was a terribly cruel way to die.


    Xiao Tangqiu could feel his stomach churning. Although he had yed many horror video games, he had never seen a dead body in person. If it wasn¡¯t because he hadn¡¯t eaten much all day, he probably would have vomited his guts out. The twin sisters¡¯ ability to withstand such a gruesome sight was much lower than Xiao Tangqiu. When they had finally stopped screaming, both girls ran off to the side and started vomiting.


    Luo Mansu examined the body and calmly analyzed, ¡°He was burned alive. It doesn¡¯t look like this is where it happened. He must¡¯ve struggled to crawl all the way here.......¡±


    Hearing that, they all turned pale. No one doubted Luo Mansu¡¯s words. Xiao Tangqiu had also discovered the long trail of ash behind the corpse that must have been left when that person struggled to crawl back here before he died.


    Zeng Jinping¡¯s voice trembled as he spoke, ¡°That.....that¡¯s Jiang Zihan.......¡±


    ¡°Jiang Zihan? The dude in the suit?¡± Luo Mansu didn¡¯t look surprised. ¡°What the hell happened earlier?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about it; the man in the suit seemed to be a bit obsessed about cleanliness. It did sound like something he would do.......


    ¡°We told him not to go too far...... to just do it somewhere nearby.........¡± Zeng Jinping seemed preupied as he continued, ¡°He also looked like he was scared to go to the restroom. He said that he would just do it in the back of the house....... Then, a short while after he left, we heard the screams.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t know what happened?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Lu Dadong had been shivering from the moment he saw the corpse. He appeared to be wound up tight. ¡°How are we supposed to know what happened to him? Or are you using us of murder?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that,¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned. ¡°Calm down.¡±


    ¡°Calm down?! How do you expect me to calm down?! How am I supposed to be calm when I¡¯m stuck in this dreadful ce?¡± Lu Dadong trembled all over as he burst out, ¡°I wanted to go with him earlier, but I was too scared...... If I did, the corpse lying here would¡¯ve been me!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡± Luo Mansu coldly interrupted Lu Dadong. ¡°I want to have a look at the ce where it happened. Does anyone want to follow me?


    ¡°Have you gone mad?! You¡¯ll die!¡± Lu Dadong stared at Luo Mansu in disbelief. ¡°Jiang Zihan was burned to death. You¡¯re not afraid?¡±


    Luo Mansu ignored him. His eyes swept over them, wanting to know what they thought.


    The twins had finally stopped vomiting. They shivered and said, ¡°We¡¯re scared to go.¡±


    Lu Dadong and Zeng Jinping shook their heads. Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    ¡°Little...... Xiao Tangqiu!¡± Tang Mianmian looked horrified as he pulled on the corner of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shirt. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous......¡±


    ¡°How will you catch the tiger without entering the tiger¡¯sir? You head back first, I¡¯ll go with him.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you go tomorrow?¡± Tang Mianmian pleaded.


    Luo Mansu impassively exined, ¡°By the time we get up, the body might¡¯ve disappeared.¡±


    Although they weren¡¯t exactly sure what he meant, Luo Mansu¡¯s words sent a shiver up their spine


    Tang Mianmian gritted his teeth, ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll go with you!¡±


    Luo Mansu nced at them and didn¡¯t speak anymore. He merely raised the dieselntern and followed the ash trail that led to the back of the house. Xiao Tangqiu steeled his nerves and pulled Tang Mianmian along.


    Not long after, they reached the back.


    This row of houses all faced the same direction so that the back of the house faced a small hill. The house that they were staying in was no exception.


    Luo Mansu raised the dieselntern. They were shocked by what they found ¨C the back of the house was close to the foot of the hill, and in the space between the house and the foot of the hill were many tiny man-made hills that were as tall as a person. And in front of these man-made hills were tombstones..........


    These man-made hills were really burial mounds!


    There were actually graves behind all the houses in the fishing vige!


    When Luo Mansu lifted thentern up to look beyond the burial mounds, they realized that the small hill in the back was covered with tombstones, from the foot of the hill all the way to the top.


    ¡°Fuck! They actually built graves behind their houses. Don¡¯t they find it creepy?!¡± Tang Mianmian shivered uncontrobly.


    ¡°It may be their custom to do that,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said softly. ¡°I¡¯ve seen ces where they build graves next to their vegetable fields. On one side, they grow vegetables and on the other, they bury the dead.¡±


    ¡°How do you think those vegetables taste ah?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pondered for a bit, ¡°..........It tastes full of an elder¡¯s love?¡±


    Luo Mansu scolded, ¡°Hey! That¡¯s enough!¡±


    The both of them regained their senses, bing serious again as they looked at the graves in front of them.


    Luo Mansu pointed at one of the graves, ¡°It¡¯s so dark here. That guy probably couldn¡¯t see anything. He must¡¯ve unzipped his pants and just peed, so......¡±


    They stared at the partially wet tombstone, not sure who to sympathize with.


    After a while, Xiao Tangqiu broke the strange silence, ¡°Why was Jiang Zihan burned to death?¡¯


    Tang Mianmian boldly conjectured, ¡°The ghost can breathe out fire? Or could it be..... a will-o-wisp?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu exined in a matter-of-fact manner, ¡°A will-o-wisp is actually a type of phosphorescence. Human bones contain phosphorus, and when phosphorus reacts with water, phosphine forms. Phosphine can spontaneouslybust and is very light. So when the wind blows, it floats into the air, causing the mystical phenomenon known as will-o-wisp.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, you¡¯re not here to break feudal superstitions!¡± Luo Mansu lost his patience.


    Xiao Tangqiu apologized at once, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just used doing that.¡±


    Actually, every time they live streamed a horror game, they felt scared inside. So, to ease the tense atmosphere, they woulde up with ridiculous antics and fool around.


    Tang Mianmian agreed, ¡°We were wrong.¡±


    But we¡¯ll definitely do it again!


    ¡°Wait.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu seemed to have noticed something, ¡°I think there¡¯s writing on the tombstone.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that normal?¡± blurted Tang Mianmian.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t look right. The words on top..........¡± Luo Mansu also realized that there was something off. He tried to read what was written, but because of wear and tear, he could only make out a few words. ¡°Yun Manor......Tomb of.........Wife Fang Lan. Wait a minute, Yun Manor?¡±


    ¡°That big house ah!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu reacted at once.


    Tang Mianmian was excited as well, ¡°This must be the clue we¡¯ve been looking for! What are we supposed to do next?¡±


    Luo Mansu made a decision at once, ¡°Dig up the grave!¡±


    ~~~


    Other trantors: I really enjoy tranting the fluffy parts!


    Me: Another gruesome scene? Yes! Please give me all you got and make it as nasty as possible!

 Chapter 10

    <h4>Chapter 10</h4>


    ¡°Dig up the grave?!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was dumbstruck; he couldn¡¯t quite believe his ears. Was this some kind of joke? The man in the suit merely pissed a little on that tombstone, and he was given such a painful death. If they actually dug up this person¡¯s grave, wouldn¡¯t they end up dying without a bone left?


    Tang Mianmian jumped up in shock, ¡°Fuck! Jiang Zihan just died ah!¡±


    Luo Mansu had a serious expression on his face, ¡°If this is part of the plot, then nothing will happen to us if we dug up the grave.¡±


    ¡°Then what if it¡¯s not?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked.


    Luo Mansu shrugged, ¡°Then we¡¯ll wait for the ghost toe im our lives.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°So, you¡¯re also not sure if it¡¯s part of the plot or not?¡±


    ¡°If I knew everything, I would¡¯ve lifted the curse and left this God-forsaken ce a long time ago,¡± Luo Mansu replied honestly. ¡°Do you guys dare to?¡±


    After a moment¡¯s silence, Xiao Tangqiu nodded his head. ¡°We¡¯ll take a gamble!¡± Right now, they were trapped with no way out, it was better to take that risk.


    ¡°We¡¯ll dig up the grave tomorrow morning. It¡¯s reallyte now. Let¡¯s go back and rest first, recharge our batteries. Who knows, we might be faced with a fierce battle tomorrow.¡±


    Tang Mianmian sighed in relief. Doing something like digging up a grave was too trying on the nerves. Thank goodness they weren¡¯t nning to dig at night....... Although, digging in the day was hardly any better.......


    After they agreed on that, the three of them turned to head back into the house. On the way back, they came across that corpse again. Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mood was a littleplex at the moment, but he knew ¨C that dead body was probably just the start.


    That night, Xiao Tangqiu found it hard to fall asleep. It wasn¡¯t until daybreak that he finally dozed off. He had only slept for a bit before he was woken up by Luo Mansu.


    Tang Mianmian and the rest of them had also been woken up. When they got to the living room, they realized that that the fish on the table had been replenished, but they still looked just as unappetizing. Seeing the fish, their expressions turned ugly. But after going hungry for the whole night, everyone chose to eat some. After all, they weren¡¯t sure how long they¡¯d be stuck in this ce. It was impossible to go without food for so many days.


    In the midst of grabbing their tes, someone suddenly eximed, ¡°There..... There¡¯s one less te!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu swept his eyes across the room and noticed that everyone had a te in their hands but there were only three tes left on the table. There were altogether twelve tes, whereas yesterday, there were clearly thirteen tes.


    Luo Mansu snickered, ¡°What are you making such a fuss about? He¡¯s already dead. Should another te be prepared to grieve for the dead?¡±


    Except for Luo Mansu, everyone¡¯s faces drained of color. They finally realized that the man in the suit was really gone. This wasn¡¯t a prank; death coulde for any one of them at any moment.


    ¡°Last night, Xiao Tangqiu, Tang Mianmian and I discovered a grave at the back of the house. It may have something to do with the mission. Does anyone of you want toe dig it up with us?¡± Luo Mansu asked.


    After eating, the three of them went looking for tools and eventually found a few shovels. They started to dig immediately.


    At first, Xiao Tangqiu was a little worried. But nothing happened even when he sunk his shovel into the soil. He let out a sigh of relief, rolled up his sleeves and continued to dig.


    Finally, a coffin came into view after they had been digging for some time. The coffin looked really fancy; it was of good quality and didn¡¯t look like the type of coffin that a regr fisherman could afford. But if it was someone from Yun Manor, then it would be fitting....... From just one look, they could could tell that the people from Yun Manor were wealthy. Then why was a woman from Yun Manor buried in such a shabby ce?


    ¡°Should...should we open the coffin?¡± Tang Mianmian gulped, his voice overflowing with nervousness.


    Xiao Tangqiu was also a little uneasy. ording to how horror movies and horror games went, the corpse would definitely spring back to life when they opened the coffin. They obviously didn¡¯t have a ck donkey hoof, should he get ready to run?


    Luo Mansu didn¡¯t give them any time to prepare, opening the coffin at once. Tang Mianmian screamed his lungs out.


    Luo Mansu red at Tang Mianmian, ¡°Why the fuck are you shouting?!¡±


    Tang Mianmian sheepishly replied, ¡°Um.... I¡¯m just trying to create the right atmosphere for when the corpse moves.......¡±


    Luo Mansu snapped, ¡° Moving corpse my ass! Do you see a corpse inside?¡±


    Tang Mianmian and Xiao Tangqiu looked down ¨C indeed, there wasn¡¯t a corpse. Inside the coffin, there was only a paper doll in a crimson wedding dress.


    The paper doll in the wedding dress was decked in gold and silver and adorned with jewellery. What was most strange was that a woman¡¯s features had been painted onto the paper doll. The paper doll¡¯s painted features were lifelike and vivid. A pair of eyes that seemed to contain a bitter resentment looked straight at the three men.


    Although the paper doll wasn¡¯t as frightening as a corpse, it was definitely more creepy.


    Xiao Tangqiu resisted the chill he felt, ¡°This is an empty tomb?¡±


    ¡°An empty tomb should only contain a some clothing and personal items. Why is there a paper doll?¡± Luo Mansu spected, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s another one of the vige custom?¡±


    Tang Mianmian shuddered, ¡°It¡¯s possible; this fishing vige is so strange and creepy.¡±


    ¡°This paper doll looks like a girl who is about to be married off.¡± Xiao Tangqiu noticed that the paper doll was holding a handkerchief in one hand. Without thinking, he removed it to have a look. ¡°There are orchids and fish embroidered on the handkerchief. What does that mean?


    ¡°Fish swimming around the orchid? Could there be a deeper meaning? These two things don¡¯t seem to have anything inmon ah.....¡± Xiao Tangqiu started to think out loud, forgetting that he wasn¡¯t live streaming at the moment........


    Suddenly, Tang Mianmian let out an ear-splitting scream. ¡°Ahhhhhhhh! Fuck!¡±


    ¡°Why are you screaming.......¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked up to see the paper doll suddenly move! It sat up straight and looked at Xiao Tangqiu with its lifelike eyes.


    ¡°Helpppppp!¡± Xiao Tangqiu turned to find that Luo Mansu had already run off by himself. He pulled Tang Mianmian and started to run as fast as his legs could carry him.


    They weren¡¯t aware of how long they had been running, and stopped only when they sensed that there wasn¡¯t any more movement behind them.


    Xiao Tangqiu was gasping for air. ¡°Why........why.........why do you have such good stamina?!¡±


    Luo Mansu looked at him meaningfully, ¡°This is a game where you¡¯re constantly trying to outrun death. When you¡¯ve gone through a few more missions, you¡¯ll naturally build up your stamina.¡±


    Tang Mianmian scratched his head, ¡°I¡¯m a small time actor who specializes in ying small roles in horror films. I¡¯ve acted in many running scenes. Once I receive my lunch box, I substitute for the lead actors. Specializing in running scenes lets me earn a little extra money.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°.............¡±


    He was panting so hard that he didn¡¯t want to speak!


    They looked at each other. It was right then that a deafening scream rang out.


    Tang Mianmian recognized where it came from. ¡°It sounds like it¡¯s the restroom........¡±


    Luo Mansu nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stuffed the handkerchief into his pocket, deciding that he would properly examine itter.


    The vige wasn¡¯t veryrge, so they reached the restroom rather quickly, only to find Lu Dadong and the couple standing outside, looking extremely pale.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Luo Mansu asked.


    Lu Dadong was scared out of his wits. ¡°Just now, Zeng Jinping and I came here to look for clues. Zeng Jinping needed to use the restroom so I told him to do it outside. But he insisted on going inside. He said that you guys had gone inside and were still fine. Then, he went inside.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Something happened to him in the restroom?¡±


    ¡°No, nothing happened. He went to get water from the well to wash his hands. Then....... something came out of the well and dragged him inside!¡±


    There¡¯s something in the well?


    They were stunned after hearing that, but then something even more shocking happened!


    Out of the well climbed a person that waspletely covered in mes! He stumbled to the ground and started rolling around in agony.


    ¡°AH! AH! AH! Hot! It¡¯s so hot! Help me!¡±


    His entire body had been set aze by the searing, red-hot fire. He wriggled like a dying caterpir, struggling to crawl forwards as he reached out a burning arm towards them. The look on his face was one of utter torment as he screamed in anguish, all the while squirming on the ground, straining to inch closer to them. They stood in ce with their feet stered to the ground, unable to react due to shock but also powerless to tear their eyes away from this horrifying picture.


    Before they could finally react, Zeng Jinping had been swallowed up by the mes....... A few minutester, the mes went out.


    What remained was a bloody, charred corpse.


    The sickening smell of burning flesh permeated the air.

 Chapter 11

    <h4>Chapter 11</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu turned pale, his stomach queasy from watching a man burn to death right in front of his eyes. But he still managed to maintain a calm demeanor. Lu Xiaotao had already started vomiting by the side.


    The calmest person amongst them was of course Luo Mansu; he seemed to have gotten used to seeing such a thing. He looked the corpse up and down and said, ¡°He¡¯s dead; died the same way as the other guy.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s face was pale with horror, ¡°Why did they die? What¡¯s the trigger condition?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was also wondering the same thing. As live streamers for horror games, they were used to this train of thought. Since Zeng Jinping had reached the BE, he must have triggered one of the death conditions........ Then, what is the death condition?


    ¡°Why?¡± Luo Mansuughed coldly, ¡°Why must there be a reason? This ce is haunted. What reason does a ghost need to hurt someone? Don¡¯t tell me you want to reason with a ghost?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was left speechless. Yang Bing carefully asked, ¡°What should we do with the body?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to do anything. It¡¯ll be gone by tomorrow,¡± Luo Mansu¡¯s sounded uninterested. ¡°Didn¡¯t you guys notice that the other body has........ disappeared?


    Nobody wanted to say anything. Finally, Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°Should we check if there¡¯s really something in the well?¡±


    Luo Mansu asked, ¡°Who¡¯s going to go check? Didn¡¯t you see what happened to him?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly, ¡°Forget it then. Should we talk to the vige chief?¡±


    Luo Mansu nodded; the others didn¡¯t have any objections either. As they were about set off to look for the vige chief, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t resist turning around to look at the well.


    There was a red figure crouching beside the well.


    Xiao Tangqiu screamed in surprise, giving Tang Mianmian a shock, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s someone!¡± Xiao Tangqiu eximed.


    ¡°There¡¯s someone there?¡± Tang Mianmian turned his head and asked in confusion.


    ¡°Older brother Luo!¡± The twins immediately greeted Luo Mansu upon seeing him, but only got a cold response in return.


    Lu Xiaotaoughed bitterly, ¡°Every time we speak to the vige chief, he repeats the same sentence over and over again, just like an NPC in a game.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu contemted for a second, then removed the handkerchief from his pocket. He waved it at the vige chief, ¡°Vige Chief, do you recognize this?¡±


    The vige chief raised his zed eyes. As soon as he saw the handkerchief, he emotions were like a stagnant pool of water that started to bubble and boil. He agitatedly cried out, ¡°This...... this........ this handkerchief!¡±


    ¡°Do you know who this handkerchief belongs to?¡± Xiao Tangqiu knew he was onto something.


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t know anything! I don¡¯t know anything!¡± The vige chief wanted to walk away but Luo Mansu pushed him back onto his seat.


    Luo Mansu eyed the vige chief, shing a sly smile, ¡°Vige Chief, I think it¡¯s better for you to start talking. Or else, we¡¯ll throw you into the well!¡±


    ¡°The well! The well!¡± The vige chief started to twitch violently, as if he was going through an epileptic episode. Xiao Tangqiu was worried he would start to thrash about. Fortunately, the vige chief regained his calm. Rather, it was this sort of eerie calmness that resembled the stillness of death.


    ¡°Fang Lan..... Fang Lan..... Fang Lan must be back!¡± The vige chief¡¯s zed eyes turned red and teary. ¡°She¡¯s back for revenge! We¡¯re all going to die!¡±


    ¡°Fang Lan?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Who is she?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s going to kill Xiaohai..... Xiaohai........ My poor child....... She is a woman who brings misfortune........¡± The vige chief mumbled those words over and over again. Xiao Tangqiu tried to remain patient as he repeated his question a few times. The vige chief eventually narrated what happened in that fateful year.


    It turned out that the vige chief¡¯s son, Zhou Hai had a childhood sweetheart named Fang Lan. They promised to be together but when Fang Lan turned eighteen, Yunjia Vige¡¯s most influential family, the Yun family, came to ask for her hand in marriage. They wanted to arrange a ghost wedding for Fang Lan and the Yun family¡¯s oldest young master who had died prematurely.


    Under the tyranny of Yun family, Fang Lan had no choice but to marry into Yun family despite being unwilling. Not long after, she got pregnant. Although the pregnancy was a strange matter, the Yun family was actually very happy about it....... But the day before she was supposed to give birth, the Yun family discovered that she was having an affair. Fang Lan was immediately tied up, stuffed into a pig cage and drowned in the river.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Ghost marriage? Pregnant with a ghost¡¯s baby?¡± No wonder Fang Lan¡¯s coffin had a paper doll dressed in a red wedding dress. The customs for ghost weddings differed from ce to ce; perhaps this was the custom in this fishing vige.


    ¡°But that¡¯s a pregnant woman!¡± Tang Mianmian argued against the injustice done to Fang Lan, ¡°Even if that child was fathered by someone else, the Yun family¡¯s oldest young master was already dead. Did they expect a young and beautiful woman to live as a widow? How can they drown a pregnant woman to death? It¡¯s so cruel!¡±


    ¡°What else? Just now, you said Fang Lan was back for revenge. What do you mean by that?¡± The vige chief had been quiet after talking about Fang Lan¡¯s death. Lu Dadong anxiously pushed the vige chief, trying to get him to speak, but he used too much strength and pushed the chief onto the ground. Suddenly, Lu Xiaotao let out a shrill scream.


    The moment the vige chief¡¯s body touched the ground, it ruptured into pieces; his flesh and bone fell apart and his head rolled off. Coincidentally, when the head finally stopped rolling, the vige chief¡¯s face was turned towards them, a look of disbelief stered onto it.


    A secondter, he stopped breathing and his face was forever frozen in that look of incredulity.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡± Lu Xiaotao and Lu Dadong screamed at the same time.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill him! It wasn¡¯t me! I didn¡¯t kill him!¡± Lu Dadong was frightened and speaking incoherently, ¡°I had only pushed him gently earlier...... I didn¡¯t kill him! I¡¯m innocent!¡±


    ¡°Calm down!¡± Luo Mansu shouted. ¡°There¡¯s no way that push killed him. He must¡¯ve already been dead.¡±


    ¡°He was already dead?¡± They all shivered uncontrobly.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid Fang Lan already came back for her revenge.¡± Luo Mansuughed coldly, ¡°This guy probably didn¡¯t realize he was already dead. When he recounted Fang Lan¡¯s story, he probably remembered that Fang Lan had already returned and killed him......¡±


    He paused before continuing, ¡°This also means we¡¯vepleted the task involving this NPC. Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ve unlocked the next map.¡±


    Tang Mianmian gulped and asked knowingly, ¡°Yun Manor?¡±


    ¡°No! We don¡¯t want to go!¡± Ding Tiantian and Ding Mimi were trembling.


    ¡°You can choose not to go, but let me tell you this.....¡± Luo Mansu shed a sinister smile at the twins. ¡°Another person has just died.¡±


    Both girls looked ashen, but went along with it when they saw everyone leaving as well.


    After leaving the vige chief¡¯s house, Xiao Tangqiu immediately perceived an eerie change in the fishing vige. ¡°The vigers have all disappeared........¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re probably dead,¡± Luo Mansu seemed to disagree. ¡°The vige chief was so frightened. Fang Lan must¡¯ve turned into an evil spirit.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°If everyone is dead, then where are the bodies? If they didn¡¯t realize they were dead like the vige chief....... then where did the bodies go? Did they disappear into thin air? Are NPC bodies not subjected to the same rule of disappearing after a day?


    ¡°Kid, you¡¯re overthinking it,¡± Luo Mansu looked at Xiao Tangqiu in surprise. ¡°But then again, this world is very strange. Not everything has cause and effect.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t think so, but he was suddenly hit with a sinking feeling in his chest ¨C this was the exact feeling he felt whenever he was about to trigger a death condition in a horror game. Whenever he was about to select a choice in-game, his intuition would always point him in the right direction. This jinxed mouth of his was never wrong.


    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this.......¡±


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Tang Mianmian was extremely clear about Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mystifying ¡®gift¡¯, ¡°Stop raising gs ah!¡±


    Then, Luo Mansu widened his eyes, turning to run without a moment¡¯s pause. ¡°Quickly, run!!!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t resist turning back. The paper doll had exited the vige chief¡¯s house, carrying the vige chief¡¯s head in one hand and dragging the shovel they dug the grave with, in another.


    A pair of lifelike eyes stared straight at them; its gaze mournful, and brimming with bitter resentment.

 Chapter 12

    <h4>Chapter 12</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu turned and ran. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the paper doll which was originally moving really slowly had suddenly elerated, as if someone had clicked on the fast-forward button.


    The paper doll was now right behind them; it was as if it had teleported over. A secondter, he felt something whoosh by the back of his head. It was the sound of a shovel being swiped across the air, and that shovel was aimed at his head!


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± Tang Mianmian screamed as he ran. ¡°How the hell did it run so fast?! It wasn¡¯t like this earlier! Did it swallow Jink?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because....... the paper doll is really light...... It floats up the moment the wind blows.......¡± Xiao Tangqiu panted while he ran. His stamina was really too poor.


    Running at the frontmost, Luo Mansu couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Can you stop fucking around in this kind of situation?! Save your energy for running ah!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt the shovel being swung at his head quite a few times, forcing him to unleash his full running potential. The shovel swinging towards his head was a constant reminder that he hadn¡¯t reached his limit yet. He kept on increasing his speed, avoiding the enemy¡¯s attack over and over again. He ran around the trees, ran around the pir, ran around the well, around many different obstacles. Thanks to all the horror games he yed, he had a lot of experience in this kind of running ¡°contest¡±.


    ¡°If only we can take advantage of a BUG right now.......¡± Live streamer Xiao sighed with regret. ¡°


    ¡°Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!¡± Luo Mansu shouted. ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡±


    They looked up and saw Yun Manor ahead of them. Someone apprehensively asked, ¡°Are we really going into Yun Manor? What if the paper doll follows after us? There¡¯ll be danger on both ends.¡±


    ¡°We can only take a gamble!¡± Luo Mansu gritted his teeth, ¡°Get inside!¡± They wouldn¡¯t be able to hold out for much longer. If they didn¡¯t take the risk, the paper doll would eventually catch up to them.


    ¡°Run!¡±


    Right then, Xiao Tangqiu noticed something odd ¨C the paper doll seemed to only chase after him, not sparing anyone else a nce. Even though there were others running behind him, the paper doll didn¡¯t bother about them and seemed to be focused only on himself.


    He contemted for a moment. An answer immediately popped into his head.


    As they got closer to Yun Manor, the paper doll started to run even faster, wildly waving that big shovel. As much as he tried ducking left and right, Xiao Tangqiu was still unable to evade the paper doll. The shovel hit the back of his head with a heavy ¡°thump.¡±


    It was so painful that Xiao Tangqiu could almost see stars. His footsteps came to aplete halt as he grunted in pain. Watching as the paper doll got closer and closer, he quickly took out the handkerchief. Using the forearm strength that only belonged to a man who had been single for 25 years, he threw the handkerchief as far as possible in the opposite direction.


    It was exactly as the couple had said before; the gates opened on its own, revealing the pitch ck interior which struck fear into their hearts. But they were out of options; the paper doll was still hot on their tail. They could only swallow their fears and dive head first into the darkness.


    Xiao Tangqiu was thest one to pass the gates of Yun Manor. But even then, he didn¡¯t dare to rx, turning to vigntly look outside the gates just like everyone else.


    About a meter away from the gates, stood the paper doll. It seemed to be afraid of approaching Yun Manor and had stopped there, eyes filled with hatred.


    As soon as they confirmed that the paper doll was no longer chasing after them, they copsed to the ground in exhaustion.


    The paper doll outside red malevolently at the people inside the gate and angrily threw the vige chief¡¯s head onto the ground. Then, as if smashing a watermelon, the paper doll bashed the vige chief¡¯s head with the shovel. Its ¡°juices¡± sttered in all directions.


    The paper doll watched coldly as the gates started to close. But right when the gates were about to closepletely, Xiao Tangqiu seemed to catch a hint of ridicule and dread within those lifelike eyes.


    His heart that had just started to calm down, started beating wildly in his chest.


    ¡®We¡¯re saved! I was almost scared to death!¡± Tang Mianmian had almost teared up from fear. ¡°My head was THIS close to turning into a mashed watermelon. I was running while madly searching for a save game checkpoint.......¡±


    Before they could have a moment of relief, Luo Mansu sneered, ¡°Haven¡¯t you guys wondered why the paper doll was afraid toe inside? Chances are there¡¯s something even more horrifying inside.¡±


    Everyone paled at once. Even more horrifying than the paper doll? Doesn¡¯t that mean they just jumped out of the frying pan only to fall into the fire?


    ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah! Let me out!¡± Lu Dadong threw himself against the gate, mming his fists repeatedly into the gate. ¡°Open up! Open up! Let me out now! Let me out!¡±


    ¡°Have you gone mad? The paper doll is definitely still outside!¡± Yang Bing tried to pull Lu Dadong away from the gate, but was pushed away by Lu Dadong.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather fight that paper doll! Let me out now!¡± Lu Dadong fiercely kicked at the gate, then turned around to look for something to pry the gate open. Yang Bing rushed to stop him but was violently pushed away again.


    The fear of the unknown was probably the most terrifying thing. Although the paper doll was frightening, at least they knew what they were dealing with. What if there was something worse than the paper doll in Yun Manor.........


    Lu Dadong started to get more and more unstable. But it was right then that a middle-aged man dressed like a housekeeper suddenly appeared in front of them.


    ¡°Wee to Yun Manor. You¡¯re all invited to attend the wedding banquet tomorrow. The old madame has prepared a weing feast in the main hall for our guests. Pleasee with me.........¡± The middle-aged man bowed, his voice as tranquil as ake.


    They hadn¡¯t realized when the housekeeper had appeared and were shocked when they saw him. Enraged by the housekeeper¡¯s appearance, Lu Dadong yelled, ¡°You¡¯re the housekeeper? Open the gate at once! I want to leave!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s chest tightened. He was afraid that the housekeeper would be infuriated by Lu Dadong¡¯s words. However, the housekeeper acted as if he hadn¡¯t heard Lu Dadong at all, repeating in an unemotional tone, ¡°Pleasee with me.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what I said? Open the damn gate!¡± Lu Dadong swung his fist at the housekeeper. As soon as his fist fell, the housekeeper immediately split into pieces, just like the vige chief.


    Because it had happened before, everyone was already numb to it. Lu Dadong spit on the dismembered corpse, ¡°Since you won¡¯t listen when I ask nicely, then don¡¯t me me for using force!¡±


    He turned around to look at the others and threatened, ¡°Help me get the gates open! If not, I¡¯ll beat up anyone who doesn¡¯t want to help!¡±


    Ding Tiantian couldn¡¯t tolerate him any longer, ¡°You¡¯re crazy! If we want to leave, we¡¯ll have to go in and look for clues.¡±


    ¡°Pei! I don¡¯t give a fuck about some dumb clue! The housekeeper must be fucking with us!¡±


    Lu Dadong pointed at Luo Mansu and shouted, ¡°This whole time, this asshole has been leading us by the nose! Who knows if what he says is true! Laozi wants to leave right now. If we find a ce to wait out another three days or so, we¡¯ll definitely get out of here then.¡±


    Luo Mansu looked amused instead of angry, ¡°You think if you find a ce to sit this out, wait for someone else to clear the mission, then you¡¯ll breeze your way out of here?¡±


    ¡°Laozi doesn¡¯t believe what you say!¡± Lu Dadong seemed to havepletely lost it, ¡°I want to get out of this God-forsaken ce! Right now! I¡¯ll beat up anyone who tries stop me! I¡¯ll beat you all into a pulp if I have to!¡±


    Then, Lu Dadong noticed that the expressions on everyone¡¯s faces turned fearful. Heughed out loud, ¡°Scared huh? If you¡¯re scared then let me leave.¡±


    ¡°No..... Th-that¡¯s not it......¡± Tang Mianmian revealed a look of utter horror, ¡°Behind you......¡±


    ¡°Behind me? Don¡¯t try to trick me!¡± Lu Dadong sneered. But he soon noticed that they didn¡¯t seem to be faking it. At that point, he turned around only to be faced with the most horrifying scene he had ever seen in his entire life.


    The housekeeper¡¯s mangled corpse whichid on the ground had opened his eyes when they weren¡¯t paying attention. He staggered as he stiffly got on his feet. Then, he bent down, slowly picking up the broken limbs that were scattered on the ground. One by one, he gathered the bloody, dismembered pieces and started to reassemble them onto his body.


    When he finally finished putting back together his body, he still had an extra piece of flesh in his hand. Perhaps this had urred countless times before, or perhaps he had a tiny slip-up one time........ Because right then, he impassively stuffed that piece of flesh into his mouth and swallowed it without a second thought.


    Then, with a voice as tranquil as the summer sea, he repeated, ¡°Wee to Yun Manor. You¡¯re all invited to attend the wedding banquet tomorrow. The old madame has prepared a weing feast in the main hall for our guests. Pleasee with me.........¡±


    ~~~


    XTQ is too much of a cutie!


    P.S. Lemme know if there are any typos I¡¯ve been super busy and tired so I might have missed out on some xoxo

 Chapter 13

    <h4>Chapter 13</h4>


    From the moment Xiao Tangqiu entered the gates of Yun Manor, his whole body felt ufortable. It was as if every cell in his body was warning him, ¡°Leave this ce NOW!¡±


    If he wasn¡¯t familiar with themon rule that leaving the group equals certain death (unless you¡¯re the protagonist) in all horror movies and video games, he would¡¯ve ran away immediately. But since Lu Dadong¡¯s actions have already proved anothermon rule in horror movies and video games, which is ¡°after entering a building, the door will be shut tight and impossible to open,¡± then he wouldn¡¯t bother trying.


    After witnessing that horrible scene involving the housekeeper, everyone was rooted in ce, afraid to move. Lu Dadong had already tumbled to the ground in fright, staring dumbly at the calm housekeeper as if he had seen a ghost........ Well, he did just see a ghost..........


    Eventually, it was Luo Mansu who calmed down first, ¡°Then, we¡¯ll have to trouble you to take us to the main hall.¡±


    The housekeeper kept his head bowed down as he walked. Everyone else fearfully followed after him.


    Xiao Tangqiu sized up his surroundings as he walked; this was a habit he picked up from years of ying horror video games. When entering a new map, he would first memorize the terrain and at the same time n an escape route. It¡¯s just that he wasn¡¯t sure if the ghosts here would follow the same rules in horror video games or not. In-game ghosts would still have to avoid and go around physical obstacles, but real ghosts don¡¯t have a physical body after all, and can pass through walls. He was able to outrun the paper doll because the paper doll possessed a physical body; as for the ghosts in Yun Manor........... They¡¯ve probably never yed any horror video games! As if the ghosts would follow the rules of the ¡°chasing contest¡± in video games!


    In here, there¡¯s no way to save the game. If he identally triggered a death condition, it was impossible to reload the file and start over!


    Nheless, he had to admit that Yun Manor looked grand on the outside and was just as magnificent on the inside. With one look, he could tell it was the house of an extravagant and prestigious family.


    ¡°We¡¯re here. Pleasee in.¡±


    Before they had even realized, they had reached the main hall. Once they entered the main hall, they found that there was indeed a feast waiting for them. There were many people sitting on the left side, and at the head of the table sat an old woman decked in luxurious robes. It was obvious the old woman was the Old Madame the housekeeper mentioned.


    ¡°Please be seated, everyone,¡± the old woman emanated the pressure of a superior. The feeling she gave off was one of a superior bossing her subjects around, ¡°You¡¯re all wee to attend my son¡¯s wedding banquet tomorrow. Let¡¯s start eating.¡±


    On the left of the Old Madame, there was a young girl who was also dressed luxuriously, but the seat on the right was empty. It was strange that there was tableware at an empty seat. But Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s attention soon turned to the guests.


    However, it seemed no one else had noticed it, much less the people of Yun Manor, who looked like they were ustomed to that extra set of tableware.


    The dishes on the table were sumptuous. There was fish; there was meat; it all looked very mouth-watering. Yet, the neers had a look of apprehension on their faces. Who knows what these dishes were made of?!


    Xiao Tangqiu watched as the quiet trio picked up their chopsticks, then turned to look at Luo Mansu. Luo Mansu didn¡¯t hesitate for long, and started to savor the food in front of him with relish.


    Havingpleted a day¡¯s worth of heavy manualbor, Xiao Tangqiu was starving. He quickly lifted his chopsticks and lowered his head to dig into the sumptuous feast in front of him. Tang Mianmian hesitated, but after seeing Xiao Tangqiu eat, he started eating as well. After all, if he were to die, it was better to die together!


    But Xiao Tangqiu soon discovered that the food only looked good. The taste, on the other hand, left much to be desired. Although it was somewhat simr to chewing on wax, it was still better than the fish they had eaten the day before.


    As soon as they finished eating, the Old Madame arrogantly sent them away. The housekeeper led them to a different courtyard to stay in.


    ¡°Have you found anything from Yun Manor?¡± Luo Mansu asked the trio without any respect for courtesy.


    The woman in charge of the trio nced at him, ¡°Why should we tell you?¡±


    Luo Mansu replied, ¡°Of course, it¡¯s so that we can cooperate and share information.¡±


    The woman sneered, ¡°I don¡¯t need your information, much less your cooperation.¡±


    The others looked annoyed, but Luo Mansu merely replied, ¡°Oh, forget it then. We¡¯ll do our own thing. As long as you don¡¯t ruin things for us, I won¡¯t mess with you either.¡±


    That woman no longer spoke. Once they reached the courtyard, she left for one of the rooms with her other two teammates.


    The housekeeper stopped in ce, not moving another step forward. His head was lowered, blocking his eyes. In the same strangely tranquil tone, he said, ¡°Please arrive at the main hall on time tomorrow night to take part in the wedding banquet.¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow night?¡± Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly. Who holds a wedding banquet a night? However, he soon recalled that this was Yun family¡¯s oldest young master, Yun Jizhou¡¯s wedding banquet. Surely, it was a ghost wedding!


    The others were still finding fault with the trio for theirck of cooperation, ¡°How can they be so arrogant? Isn¡¯t it for the best if we cooperate and get out of this God-forsaken ce as soon as possible?!¡±


    At the moment, Lu Dadong was suspicious of everyone. He spouted gloomily, ¡°Could it be they¡¯re already dead? How is it possible that they¡¯ve been in this haunted house for two days? Yeah, that must be it! This creepy vige is full of ghosts. Who knows if there are ghosts pretending to be one of us now!¡±


    As soon as his words fell, everyone looked at each other in silence. Although Lu Dadong seemed off his rocker, what he said wasn¡¯tpletely impossible.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Luo Mansu red fiercely at Lu Dadong. ¡°There aren¡¯t that many twists and turns in a D-level game! Also, where the hell do you think you are?! Must everyone obediently cooperate just because you say so? Who knows what you¡¯ll do when no one¡¯s watching! No one¡¯s going to believe you without rhyme or reason! A stupid fool who unconditionally trusts others will not survive beyond a day in a ce like this!¡±


    Lu Dadong¡¯s showed a look of displeasure, but he stopped talking. Luo Mansu couldn¡¯t be bothered with him and solemnly continued, ¡°It¡¯s already the second day. The deadline for the game is three days, which means we¡¯ll have to solve everything by midnight tomorrow.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately understood what Luo Mansu was trying to imply, ¡°You¡¯re nning on exploring Yun Manor tonight?¡±


    Luo Mansu nodded, ¡°I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s still a lot of clues within Yun Manor. It¡¯s hard to say if those three managed to find all the clues. Anyways, we can¡¯t rely on them. Don¡¯t forget, in this game, it¡¯s better not to trust anyone or rely on anyone!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and paused for a moment before he said, ¡°Yun Manor is too big. There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll be able to search the entire ce in one night........¡±


    Luo Mansu exined, ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ll need people to work with me. It¡¯s still the same terms; we¡¯ll share information with each other.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about it and nodded his head, ¡°Alright then, Tang Mianmian and I will go together. We¡¯ll split up with you to look for clues.¡±


    Tang Mianmian scowled, ¡°Hey! You haven¡¯t even asked for my opinion!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°You don¡¯t want us to stick together?¡±


    Tang Mianmian pictured beingpletely alone in a room and immediately nodded his head, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you! Let¡¯s go together! If you dare abandon me, I¡¯ll follow you wherever you go even if I be a ghost!¡±


    Ding Tiantian and Ding Mimi hesitated. Previously they hadn¡¯t gone with Luo Mansu to dig up the grave. If they backed out again, Luo Mansu was sure to give up on them altogether. So, with their voices trembling, the twins asked to go with Luo Mansu.


    The couple said they would search for clues tomorrow. They were afraid to explore the haunted house at night so they left for their room. Obviously, Lu Dadong, who had long grown suspicious of everyone else, didn¡¯t want to join them and also went into one of the rooms on his own.


    The five of them were split into two teams. One team would head left and the other would head right.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian chose to go right.


    Under the veil of darkness, the house, which looked magnificent in the day, took on a more sinister vibe at night.


    Tang Mianmian grabbed onto the corner of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shirt, sounds of sobbing spilling from his lips. Xiao Tangqiu was terrified as well, but he tried his best to stay calm.


    However, as hard as he tried to keep his head, Tang Mianmian¡¯s constant ¡°wuwuwu,¡± which blew right into his ears started to get to him. He wasn¡¯t even that afraid to begin with, but after listening to Tang Mianmian¡¯s repeated ¡°wuwuwu,¡± he started to get really scared.¡±


    ¡°Can you stop crying?! Screw your fucking wuwuwu! For every cry you make, I¡¯m going to hit you once. And why the fuck are you blowing into my ear?! Screw your blowing ah!¡±


    Tang Mianmian paused for a long time before saying softly, ¡°I didn¡¯t cry ah....¡±

 Chapter 14

    <h4>Chapter 14</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...............¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...............¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare joke around, it¡¯s not funny at all!¡±


    Tang Mianmian replied weakly, ¡°I¡¯m not joking with you. I didn¡¯t make a sound this whole time...........¡±


    Soon, Xiao Tangqiu realized that Tang Mianmian was telling the truth because at the same time Tang Mianmian was talking, the crying had started again. Worse still, this time, the cries sounded closer. There was a cold breath drilling its way into his ear canal; it felt as if someone was blowing right into his ear.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a shiver run down his spine. He grabbed Tang Mianmian¡¯s hand and dragged him away as he ran. But the sobbing seemed to follow him relentlessly, as though someone had climbed onto his back...... At that thought, he trembled all over and started to run even faster.


    The both of them ran for a long time until Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t hear the eerie crying anymore. He panted harshly as he ceased running, ¡°Can¡¯t.......... Anymore........... I can¡¯t do it anymore...............¡±


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t seem to have heard those eerie sobs. He was still in the mood to joke around, ¡°A man should never say that he can¡¯t do it.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a second. Then, he asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear that?¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked confused, ¡°Hear what?¡±


    ¡°Crying........ the cries of a baby...... You really didn¡¯t hear anything?¡±


    They ran into a ghost, but was he the only one who could hear the crying?


    Tang Mianmian looked like he was about to cry, ¡°Cries...... cries of a baby? An infant spirit ? Was it cursed? That¡¯s right, wasn¡¯t Fang Lan pregnant when she was drowned to death? It must be an infant spirit! Fuck ah! Infant spirits are also fucking fierce! You¡¯re sure you heard it? But I really didn¡¯t hear anything at all ah! If I did, I would¡¯ve run faster than you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu replied faintly, ¡°I¡¯m really telling the truth. It¡¯s already scary enough, why would I bother faking a scary atmosphere?!¡±


    Tang Mianmian gasped, ¡°Then.......... do you still hear anything?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go in and have a look?¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked at the courtyard in front of them that was shrouded in darkness, and madly shook his head, ¡°No! God knows what we¡¯ll find inside! What if the infant spirit let us go because there¡¯s something even more scary inside?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t force him either, ¡°Wait outside then. I¡¯ll go in by myself.¡±


    Tang Mianmian cried, ¡°.............If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯d rather go in with you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rubbed Tang Mianmian¡¯s doge face, ¡°Since you already knew this would happen, why do you still resist?¡±


    Tang Mianmian cried bitterly, ¡°You always do this!¡± Whenever the both of them yed in team mode while they were live broadcasting, Xiao Tangqiu would also use this method to force him to make a choice.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath, ¡°I have a hunch.........¡±


    ¡°Fuck! Will you stop raising gs?!¡±


    The both of them quietly snuck into the courtyard. Xiao Tangqiu pointed at the biggest room, indicating that they should go inside. Tang Mianmian gritted his teeth, strengthened his resolve and followed after Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu was just about to open the door to the main room, when it suddenly creaked open on its own.


    Tang Mianmian shivered and held onto Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s arm in fright.


    But nothing happened after the door swung open. Xiao Tangqiu waited for a while. After he was sure there was really nothing, Xiao Tangqiu cautiously entered the room.


    ¡°Be careful......¡± Xiao Tangqiu whispered. They were still fine even after entering the room. The room seemed to light up at once, as though someone had purposely lit a candle for them.


    As the dim light spread across the room, they discovered that there was indeed a candle burning on the table in front of them. What¡¯s more, it was one of those candles used during funerals............


    They looked around the room only to find that it was covered with cotton drapes. The white, see-through drapes gently fluttered in the air although there wasn¡¯t any wind at the moment. If they ignored the creepy atmosphere, this would actually be quite a beautiful scene.


    As soon as they entered the room, Xiao Tangqiu could tell that the temperature in the room was much lower than the temperature outside. It felt very much like someone had turned on the air-conditioner. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel that it¡¯s much colder in here? Cold to the heart, makes your heart soar?¡±


    Tang Mianmian shook all over, too afraid to speak.


    Xiao Tangqiu pushed aside the white cotton drapes as he walked towards the inner part of the room. He couldn¡¯t figure out what the owner of the room was thinking toyer so many drapes. He passedyer afteryer before finally reaching the innermost section of the room.


    Compared the the rest of Yun Manor, the decoration in this room was rather simple and understated, and there were only a few pieces of furniture. After looking high and low, Xiao Tangqiu finally noticed a painting on the wall.


    It was a portrait of a young man. Dressed in all white, he was reading while leaning against a banister. He held a book in one hand and rested his head on the other, keeping his gaze lowered. He exuded a faint air of dreamynguor; his eyebrows were elegant and refined. But he appeared to be a little weak from illness.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared in a daze. Who was this person? Why did he seem to find this person familiar.............. He soon noticed a line of words written on the side of the portrait, and the words ¡°Yun Jizhou¡± quickly stole his attention.


    ¡°Yun Jizhou? This is the Yun family¡¯s oldest young master?¡± he blurted.


    Tang Mianmian immediately walked up to him to take a look. ¡°Damn! The Yun family¡¯s oldest young master looks really handsome! Usually, someone this good-looking is either the protagonist or the big viin in a horror video game!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded in agreement, ¡°Unfortunately, no matter how good looking he was, he was still cuckolded by his wife.¡±


    Tang Mianmian sighed, ¡°Well, why did he have to die so early ah?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rubbed his chin, ¡°But then again, maybe the child was really his?¡±


    ¡°How the hell is a ghost supposed to do ¡°that¡± ah?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to refute Tang Mianmian when he suddenly realized there was something behind. He quickly walked over, ¡°I think I see a bed.....¡±


    ¡°Bed?¡± Tang Mianmian followed Xiao Tangqiu, but shouted after seeing what was behind the drapes. ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu cursed out loud as well. How was that a bed?! It was clearly a coffin the size of a bed!


    The coffin was about twice asrge as a normal coffin; it seemed to be able to hold two people.


    Finding a coffin in a room like this really creeped them out. But what made them sigh in relief was that the coffin waspletely empty.


    ¡°How can they keep a coffin in the house! Isn¡¯t that bad luck?!¡±


    ¡°This is probable yet another one of the weird customs in this fishing vige,¡± Xiao Tangqiu surmised. ¡°They must be unafraid of coffins. Didn¡¯t you see how they buried the coffins of their dead rtives in the back of their houses? Maybe they think that they will be able to continue living with their dead rtives this way.¡±


    Tang Mianmian gasped, ¡°But there¡¯s a huge difference between burying a dead rtive behind the house and keeping the coffin in the house!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to speak, ¡°I have a conjecture ¨C this may be one of the customs for ghost weddings in this vige. When Fang Lan married Yun Jizhou, she was still alive, so there shouldn¡¯t be a coffin behind her maiden home. After she died, the whole vige fell under her curse, so it¡¯s even more unlikely that she was buried in a coffin. I¡¯m guessing that coffin must¡¯ve been bought when she was still alive, most likely just before she got married.¡±


    Tang Mianmian understood that he was trying to imply something, ¡°You mean.......¡±


    ¡°When Fang Lan got married, her family found her a coffin and ced the paper doll inside the coffin to rece her. At the same time, the Yun family must¡¯ve also gotten a coffin and ced a paper doll inside to represent Yun Jizhou.¡± Xiao Tangqiu loved to let his imagination run wild and soon fell into the joy of letting his imagination fly, ¡°On top of that, look at how big this coffin is..... Perhaps this was the wedding ¡°bed¡± they used on their wedding night. If living people sleep in a wedding bed, then maybe deceased newlyweds use a coffin? Sounds about right to me.¡±


    ¡°What you said makes sense,¡± Tang Mianmian nodded. ¡°If your guess is right, there should be Yun Jizhou¡¯s paper doll inside this coffin....... So now, the problem is, where is Yun Jizhou¡¯s paper doll?


    They both stared at the empty coffin, feeling a chill crawl up their spine.


    ~~~


    Me to any good-looking guy in GLB: Is that ML???

 Chapter 15

    <h4>Chapter 15</h4>


    Had Yun Jizhou¡¯s paper doll left the coffin just like Fang Lan¡¯s?


    The more he thought about it, the more he could feel that burst of chills spread down his spine. Right then, he felt a push from behind. He faltered and lost his bnce, falling into the coffin.


    The next thing he knew, his nose mmed against the bottom of coffin. His vision dimmed and the world went ck.


    When Xiao Tangqiu regained consciousness, he realized that he was lying in the coffin, t on his back. There was a swirl of darkness all around him; it seemed as if someone had shut the coffin.


    Who shut the coffin? Was it Tang Mianmian? No...... that¡¯s impossible! Then........... was it Yun Jizhou¡¯s paper doll?


    Countless suspicions shed across his mind, but he didn¡¯t have time to get to the bottom of the matter because he could feel that the air in the coffin was running out. If he didn¡¯t get out of the coffin as soon as possible, he would probably die from theck of oxygen!


    ¡°Let me out!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s someone in here!¡±


    ¡°Someone get me out of here!¡±


    The desire to live kicked him into high gear; he desperately pounded at the four walls of the coffin with all his strength, hoping to push open the coffin lid or get Tang Mianmian¡¯s attention with the noise. But the coffin was like an imprable fortress, able to withstand his relentless pounding and trapping in any sound he made.


    Was he really going to die in the coffin just like that?


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to give up all hope when he noticed something off about the coffin. This coffin was obviously much smaller than the coffin in Yun Jizhou¡¯s room. On top of that, the clothes he was wearing seemed to have been changed; this wasn¡¯t what he had been wearing all along.........


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was about to lose consciousness from theck of oxygen, the coffin was suddenly opened! He reflexively closed his eyes, expecting to be blinded by the re of light.


    Contrary to his expectation, there was no bright light. Instead, he was met with an emotionless face the moment he opened his eyes. The man pulled him out from the coffin and then ced something inside. Xiao Tangqiu turned to look at what that thing was ¨C it was a paper doll he was familiar with.


    Xiao Tangqiu noticed that the others had on the same wooden expression as the man who had opened the coffin....... It turned out that the coffin had been partially buried when he was inside earlier. It¡¯s no wonder the coffin was so stuffy. If someone hadn¡¯t opened the coffin, he surely would¡¯ve suffocated to death.


    It was then that he noticed that it was already night. Through the dim moonlight, he could tell he was at the back of Fang Lan¡¯s house. And more shocking still, he was wearing the exact same crimson wedding dress as that paper doll!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Before he had any time to contemte what was going on, he suddenly heard drums beating and the loud ngs of a gong in the distance. That uproarious mor shattered the silence of the night and gave rise to a vague sense of foreboding.


    Sure enough, a group of people carrying a red wedding pnquin swiftly arrived at the front door.


    Xiao Tangqiu seemed to have realized something; he turned, wanting to run away but was grabbed tightly by the man who opened the coffin and dragged all the way to the wedding pnquin. The manpletely overpowered him, leaving no room for struggle at all.


    The bridal escort party looked just as impassive as the others. After dumping Xiao Tanqiu into the wedding pnquin, the bridal escort party set off.


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly. In all his 25 years, he hadn¡¯t even had the chance to hold a girl¡¯s soft hands. How did he end up wearing a red wedding dress and on his way to be married off to someone else? Where did he go wrong?


    The pnquin bounced up and down for a short while beforeing to aplete stop.


    Xiao Tangqiu was forcefully dragged down from the pnquin and into the wedding hall.


    In the hall, the Old Madame was seated at the seat of honor. Beside her were the womenfolk with equally deadpan expressions as the Old Madame. This amplified the eerie atmosphere the entire Yun family gave off.


    Soon, it was time for the groom to show up. Just as he expected, it was a paper doll wearing a wedding suit except the features painted on its face were rather average,pletely unlike the portrait of Yun Jizhou that he had seen. Its face was as white as the whitewash on the walls; its lips were so red that it resembled the appearance of someone who had just vomited blood..... That strange, painted-on face seemed to stir up fear in his heart.


    Xiao Tangqiu was forced to kneel with the paper doll, to pay their respects andplete the wedding ceremony. Then, he was brought to Yun Jizhou¡¯s room.


    Right until he reached the coffin, Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t found a chance to escape. Once again, he was violently pushed into the coffin from behind. Immediately after, the paper doll was ced down beside him.


    ¡°No!¡± He desperately cried.


    Then, the coffin was shut once more.


    ¡°Let me out now!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frantically pounded the coffin lid, but it didn¡¯t move an inch. When he had finally pounded till his hands were numb, he suddenly felt the paper doll beside him move.


    For a second, he was like a deer caught in the headlights, paralyzed with fear. But then, he quickly reacted to the situation by shuffling to the side, terrified that the paper doll woulde to life.


    The more afraid Xiao Tangqiu was, the more he sensed that the paper doll was really alive. He even seemed to hear the paper doll breathing, its steady breath brushing across his ear........ But how could the paper doll be breathing? Ghosts didn¡¯t breathe either! It must¡¯ve been a hallucination! Yes, he must¡¯ve been frightened to the point of hallucinating!


    His heart beat turbulently in his chest, the cacophonous thrum apanying all sorts of wild thoughts as he tried to distract himself. However, his mind refused to cooperate, focusing on the fact that the paper doll was lying so close to him.


    Huff......


    Huff.... Huff....


    The sound of breathing got louder and louder. Xiao Tangqiu could no longer lie to himself that it was just a hallucination. There was no way that what he heard was his own breathing because he was panting as if he had just ran up ten flights of stairs................... And since that wasn¡¯t the sound of his breaths, then whose was it?


    The fear made his limbs go weak. He hated how mentally strong he was! If it was Tang Mianmian, he surely would¡¯ve already fainted in fright! Instead, here he was, scared beyond belief yet still conscious. The more afraid he felt, the more alert he was. He showed no signs of fainting at all!


    <i>Sometimes, fainting could be considered a form of self-protection. </i>Why couldn¡¯t he also have this sort of self-defence mechanism?!


    In the next second, Xiao Tangqiu could feel the paper doll beside him move even more. He felt someone or something push aside the wedding dress he was wearing, and then it ced something cold against his chest.


    Frightened out of his wits, he tried not to think about what that cold thing could be. He took a deep breath and firmly pushed the paper doll away. Holding onto the believe that it was better to die a man than live a coward, he steadied himself and mmed against the coffin lid with all his might.


    Xiao Tangqiu mmed his head so hard that he almost got a concussion. When he regained consciousness, he discovered that he had managed to m the coffin lid open. He turned to look beside him, but the paper doll that had almost scared him to death was now gone.


    ..........What¡¯s going on?


    He looked up and realized he was still inside Yun Jizhou¡¯s room but he had a hunch that he had returned......... But now, there was another problem. Where was Tang Mianmian?


    ¡°Tang Mianmian? Tang Mianmian!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stumbled out of the coffin and immediately started to search the room, but Tang Mianmian was nowhere to be found so he rushed outside to continue looking for him.


    He searched outside the room but still found no trace of Tang Mianmian. When he turned to look back into Yun Jizhou¡¯s room, he found that the candle had been blown out when he wasn¡¯t paying attention. Yun Jizhou¡¯s room was once again immersed in the murky darkness.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath to steady his nerves and went on to search the entire courtyard. He wasn¡¯t even sure where all that courage came from.


    But to his dismay, even after looking in every nook and cranny, he hadn¡¯t evene across a strand of Tang Mianmian¡¯s hair, much less the person himself.


    His heart sank; he could only ept the fact that Tang Mianmian had disappeared.

 Chapter 16

    <h4>Chapter 16</h4>


    Perhaps Tang Mianmian had met with a mishap. Although Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t want to think that way, it felt like everything pointed to disaster in this eerie ce.


    He sighed heavily, not cing much hope on the unlikely oue that Tang Mianmian had actually gone back.......... Under such circumstances, as timid as Tang Mianmian was, how could he possibly have gathered enough courage to leave by himself?


    Xiao Tangqiu left the courtyard and was about to follow the path he had taken earlier when his gaze fell onto a dark figure standing not too far from him. He didn¡¯t even have the chance to feel scared because he soon noticed that the figure looked a little like Tang Mianmian!


    As soon as he realized that, he started to chase after that person, but the other person ran swiftly. Before he knew it, he had chased that person to another courtyard. But then, that figure suddenly disappeared.


    ¡°Tang Mianmian? Tang Mianmian!¡± He anxiously shouted, his voice echoing in all directions. But all he got in return was dead silence.


    Xiao Tangqiu seemed to sense that something was wrong and was just about to leave when he heard Tang Mianmian calling for help.


    ¡°Help! Help! Save me!¡±


    ¡°Tang Mianmian?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned as he slowly walked towards the screams. Under the pale moonlight, that dark figure gradually came into sight. That figure sat at the edge of the well with his back faced towards Xiao Tangqiu, doing God knows what.


    ¡°Tang Mianmian?¡± Xiao Tangqiu shouted out his name once more. The dark figure turned around, revealing its face. That thing wore Tang Mianmian¡¯s clothes but its face wasn¡¯t Tang Mianmian¡¯s ¨C it was a baby¡¯s face.


    The moment Xiao Tangqiu could see clearly, the baby¡¯s face started bleeding out of its seven orifices. Xiao Tangqiu stared in shock as the thick, crimson blood continuously gushed out of its eyes, ears, nose and mouth.


    When he recovered from the shock, Xiao Tangqiu tried to quickly run away but was suddenly pushed from behind. Without him even realizing, he was already standing at the edge of the well. And with that one push, he lost his footing and fell inside.


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could even scream, he had reached the bottom of the well,nding heavily on something that felt neither hard nor soft. As he struggled to stand, he realized that the thing hended on seemed to be a dead body. He jumped up in fright and and used his hands to feel up the walls of the well in a flurry, trying to find a ce he could climb up.


    ¡°Ouch! Ouch! Stop stepping on me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu recovered from shock, ¡°Are you a human or a ghost?!¡±


    Tang Mianmian weakly replied, ¡°..........If I were a ghost, would I tell you that I¡¯m one?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu breathed out a sigh of relief as he bent to help Tang Mianmian up. ¡°Just now, I saw someone who looked like you, so I chased after that person all the way here. Then, I was pushed into the well...........¡±


    Tang Mianmian cussed, ¡°Fuck! I saw someone who looked just like you as well!¡±


    The both of them exchanged ounts on what happened to them. Earlier, when Tang Mianmian discovered that the coffin been sealed, he initially tried to open the coffin lid but realized that it would not budge at all. So, he decided to search the courtyard for tools to either pry the lid open or break the coffin apart. But as he was searching for tools, he noticed a dark figure running out of the courtyard. Naturally, he assumed that Xiao Tangqiu had managed to open the coffin by himself, so, he started chased after Xiao Tangqiu, all the way till he got here.


    ¡°I saw you sitting at the edge of the well, and I thought you were possessed. I was just about to pull you away when someone pushed me into the well!¡± Tang Mianmian gritted his teeth, ¡°The well is dry so I must¡¯ve fainted when I hit my head. Then, when you fell on top of me, the shock must¡¯ve woken me up!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly, ¡°Thank God this well is dry, or else we would¡¯ve drowned to death.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s think of a way to get out first!¡± Tang Mianmian still had some lingering fears, ¡°If you didn¡¯te, I probably would¡¯ve died here without anyone knowing........¡±


    This wasn¡¯t a very deep well, but its walls were very smooth. It was impossible for someone to climb out of the well alone. But if there were two people, one person could possibly climb onto the other to try and reach the top of the well. The both of them discussed for a while and decided that Tang Mianmian would climb out first, find a rope and thene get Xiao Tangqiu.


    After trying several times, Tang Mianmian finally managed to climb out of the well by stepping on top of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shoulders. Xiao Tangqiu fell onto the ground in exhaustion.


    ¡°Wait here! I¡¯ll be back ASAP!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was so tired that all he wanted to do was lie down. He still had to wait for Tang Mianmain to find a rope anyways. Seeing that the bottom of the well wasn¡¯t too dirty, heid on top of the dried leaves that covered the ground. But right then, he felt something hard pressed against his back. He reached around and pulled out a hard, circr object.


    The dim moonlight allowed Xiao Tangqiu to see what the object was. Xiao Tangqiu nearly screamed in horror ¨C it was actually a human skull!


    He immediately threw the skull aside, but as soon as the skull hit against the wall of the well, something shiny fell out from its shadowy eye sockets.


    .................. What the hell is that?


    After a brief moment of hesitation, Xiao Tangqiu went and picked up that shiny thing. As soon as he held it in his hand, he realized it was actually a small key.


    A key? Why was there a key at the bottom of the well? So, was he supposed to look for a door now?


    He quietly put away the key and picked up the skull to examine it. At a nce, he noticed that the eye sockets of the skull seemed to be much bigger than usual. Even though he didn¡¯t have any other human skulls topare with, he could still tell that the eye sockets of this skull was unusuallyrge, as if someone had forcefully dug the eye sockets wide open........... And he seemed to recall that the boatman whom they met at the beginning looked like his eye sockets had been gouged apart.


    At that point, Tang Mianmian had finally found a rope. He tied one end to a tree and threw the other end down the well.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have any experience in rock climbing so it took him tremendous effort before he sessfully climbed the slippery walls and tumbled out of the well. His feet had justnded on solid ground after exhausting all that energy, but he didn¡¯t even stop to take a breath before grabbing Tang Mianmian and leaving the courtyard. Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t intend to take their own sweet time either; the both of them hastily rushed back to their own courtyard.


    Throughout the way back, they were lucky not to have encountered anything else. They got back safe and sound to the courtyard that the housekeeper had arranged for them. There were quite a few rooms in the courtyard; several rooms had been lit up and the rest were dark, most likely meaning that they were unupied.


    They randomly selected a room that was unlit. After entering the room and lighting up a candle, they finally let out a sigh of relief and copsed into bed.


    A little while after, Tang Mianmian asked, ¡°Do you think Luo Mansu and the twins have already returned?¡± He had a look of apprehension on his face, obviously expecting them to have encountered something as well.


    ¡°Luo Mansu isn¡¯t a rookie like us. If we can handle it, it¡¯s probably nothing to him.¡± Xiao Tangqiu hesitated and then said seriously, ¡°On top of that, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s a simple guy. I keep getting the feeling that he¡¯s hiding a lot of things from us.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tang Mianmian asked.


    Xiao Tangqiu shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m not sure, it¡¯s just my intuition. He might be an old yer but he doesn¡¯t behave like one. Although he seems to take the lead every time, and often makes decisions, but........ I just get the feeling that there¡¯s something off about him.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps he¡¯s a wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing,¡± Tang Mianmian frowned. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to be more cautious from now on...........¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a second before narrating what he found in the well. ¡°I think we should look for a locked door or box or something of that sort.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck?! I fell into the well as well, but why is it that you find a skull and a key and Ie up with nothing?¡± Tang Mianmian was stunned. ¡°You¡¯re definitely a Loot Beast! Even now, you still remember to loot items.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed helplessly. Every time he yed a horror game, he would always be looking to loot items. Although this made it impossible for him to miss out on key items, it also wasted a lot of time. So his fans started to call him the Loot Beast........ But that was clearly an idental discovery ah!


    Xiao Tangqiu thought for a bit, ¡°I seemed to have gone through Fang Lan¡¯s memories.........¡±


    Tang Mianmian was dumbstruck, ¡°Fucking hell, how did you manage to find so many clues? Are you dropping gold behind my back, you crazy whale?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s probably because of the coffin. I¡¯m guessing anyone who lies down inside gets to see it. I think we should examine the key first........¡± Just as he pulled out the key, something else fell out and rolled on the ground.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at it in shock.


    It was that jade pendant...........


    The one that Yun Jizhou gave to Fang Lan.

 Chapter 17

    <h4>Chapter 17</h4>


    How did this jade pendant just appear out of nowhere?!


    Xiao Tangqiu jumped up in surprise; the jade pendant fell out of his trembling hand and onto the ground again, making a crisp clink as it hit the the hard surface.


    A chill ran down his spine. He felt as if someone was watching his every move from behind. He whipped his head around, expecting to see something but all he was faced with was an empty, paint-cracked wall.


    ¡°What the fuck?! You¡¯ve even got a jade pendant?!¡± Compared to Xiao Tangqiu, Tang Mianmian was much more optimistic, ¡°It must be an important item rted to the plot! Definitely one of those items that will trigger the plot!¡±


    ¡°Most likely I guess..........¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment before smiling helplessly, ¡°We¡¯ll look for clues regarding the jade pendant tomorrow. It¡¯s already sote, let¡¯s just rest for the night.¡±


    Tang Mianmian answered with a yawn as he rubbed his tired eyes, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m feeling sleepy too. Let¡¯s go to sleep.¡±


    There were exactly two beds in the room, one for each of them. Tang Mianmian was more cowardly, so he chose the innermost bed while Xiao Tangqiu was left with the bed by the side of the door.


    The both of them took off their shoes and climbed into bed. Tang Mianmian watched as Xiao Tangqiu carefully arranged his shoes so the heel faced the bed and the toe faced outside. He couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu replied faintly, ¡°I heard that if the toe of the shoe faces the bed , then ghosts will climb into your bed in the middle of the night.¡±


    Tang Mianmian cussed, ¡°Fuck, are you for real?!¡±


    He was so frightened that he immediately rearranged his shoes at the foot of the bed, but then he heard Xiao Tangqiu chuckle, ¡°...... Just kidding.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu waited for Tang Mianmian to let out a sigh of relief before teasing again, ¡°This way, if a ghost climbs into bedter, it¡¯ll be convenient for me to quickly run away.¡±


    Tang Mianmian scowled, ¡°.................This exnation doesn¡¯t make me feel any better ah!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much, just go to sleep.¡± Xiao Tangqiuy down and closed his eyed, ¡°Anyways, no matter what, tomorrow is thest day.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s felt uneasy with worry; he thought he would¡¯ve been unable to fall asleep, but as soon as he closed his eyes, exhaustion overtook his body and he descended into a deep slumber.


    It was a night of dreamless sleep.


    The next morning, as soon as Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes, he couldn¡¯t believe that nothing had happened the entire night. Furthermore, his quality of sleep actually improved........... It waspletely illogical! This eerie ce was one thing, but he had never slept this well even in his own home. Ever since the incident that happened seven years ago, he wasn¡¯t able to get proper sleep. Every night, it would either be agonizing insomnia or horrible nightmares.


    Although he slept betterst night, his back was aching and his limbs were sore. Sleeping on the wooden bed was no different from sleeping on the floor. On top of that, the pillow was hard as stone. It was impossible to get a good night¡¯s sleep. He wasn¡¯t sure how he managed to sleep through the entire night ¨C he must¡¯ve been possessed!


    Tang Mianmian, who had also gotten up, looked lifelessly at Xiao Tangqiu. His eyes were covered in dark eye circles. ¡°It was so noisyst night. I kept on hearing the cries of a babying from right outside the window. I was so scared that I couldn¡¯t sleep. The cries finally stopped in theter part of the night but then, I was half asleep when I felt like someone was stepping all over my back..........¡±


    ¡°Crying? I didn¡¯t hear anything ah!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was stunned, ¡°Wait a minute..... What¡¯s that on your back?!¡±


    ¡°My back?!¡± Tang Mianmian flinched in fear and immediately turned around, trying to look at his own back but he couldn¡¯t see anything at all. Watching Tang Mianmian spin round and round in ce, just like a dog chasing its tail, Xiao Tangqiu raised his lips in amusement.


    ¡°It looks like there¡¯s something on your neck. Stop moving, let me look at it,¡± Xiao Tangqiu walked over to Tang Mianmian and lifted up his shirt. The moment his eyesid on Tang Mianmian¡¯s back, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but curse out loud.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s back was covered in dark footprints the size of a baby¡¯s. The footprints stretched from his neck all the way to his lower back; it was as if a baby had repeatedly walked up and down his back.


    ¡°Footprints, so many footprints...........¡±


    Tang Mianmian felt the hairs on his body raise, ¡°Fuck my life! Did that infant spirit really give me a back ¡°massage¡±st night?!¡±


    ¡°Quickly check if there are any on my back!¡± Xiao Tangqiu quickly lifted up his shirt so Tang Mianmian could take a look.


    Tang Mianmian looked at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s back and was just about to say something when the door was opened from outside.


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu, Tang Mianmian,st night did you...............¡± When Luo Mansu caught sight of the both of them, he immediately turned around, ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯m sorry for disturbing you. I¡¯ll wait outside.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°.................¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...................¡±


    After a while, Tang Mianmian finally spoke, ¡°............. There¡¯s nothing on your back.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Xiao Tangqiu immediately disregarded Luo Mansu¡¯s reaction. He frowned, why had the infant spirit treated him differently? Could it be due to the key? Or was it the jade pendant?


    Tang Mianmian wanted to cry but failed to shed a tear, ¡°Could the infant spirit¡¯s footprint be poisonous? Will it be my turn soon?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuforted him, ¡°Don¡¯t panic, let¡¯s ask Luo Mansu about it first.¡±


    When they left the room, they saw Luo Mansu waiting outside for them with Ding Tiantian and Ding Mimi. After hearing what Xiao Tangqiu had to say about the ghost footprints on Tang Mianmian¡¯s back, Luo Mansu also realized that he had misunderstood the situation earlier. He scratched his nose, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the footprints are probably just a warning or a form of intimidation. If it had intended to kill, your friend would already be dead.¡±


    Tang Mianmian remained skeptical, but it wasn¡¯t as if he could do anything about it now. Xiao Tangqiu exchangedst night¡¯s findings with Luo Mansu.


    Last night, Luo Mansu visited the Old Madame¡¯s and the other women¡¯s courtyards and the ancestral hall. They discovered that there weren¡¯t any men in the Yun family. Apparently, all the men of the Yun family couldn¡¯t live past 30. Yun Jizhou, who was the eldest son of the current generation had passed away even earlier. The Old Madame and her two daughter-inws had been widowed for many years.


    Xiao Tangqiu also narrated the ¡°adventures¡± they hadst night. Of course, to some extent, he held back certain information, but he was certain that Luo Mansu did the same.


    Luo Mansu paused for a moment before he said, ¡°I think we should go to Yun Jizhou¡¯s room to take another look..... It could be the key to everything.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded in agreement. They five of them quickly set out of Yun Jizhou¡¯s courtyard, not bothering to stick around for empty talk. As they walked, Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t resist asking Luo Mansu, ¡°Did you hear a baby cryingst night?¡±


    Luo Mansu and the twins shook their heads, indicating that they hadn¡¯t heard anythingst night.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression was full of inner turmoil. Luo Mansu¡¯s room was separated from theirs by only a wall. If he had heard the ghost crying, logically speaking, so should they. Why hadn¡¯t they heard anything? But then again, Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t heard the crying either..........


    Sigh..... He didn¡¯t want to solely receive all of that infant spirit¡¯s favor and affection ah! Isn¡¯t it good to share rain and dew?!


    Very quickly, they arrived at the front of Yun Jizhou¡¯s courtyard. Xiao Tangqiu was just about to say something when he was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream.


    Tang Mianmian strained his ears trying to listen carefully. Then, he shouted, ¡°Yun Jizhou¡¯s room! It¡¯sing from Yun Jizhou¡¯s room!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian exchanged a nce and immediately ran towards Yun Jizhou¡¯s room. Luo Mansu and the twins quickly followed after them.


    Xiao Tangqiu mmed the door to Yun Jizhou¡¯s room wide open. In an instant, a man covered in fresh blood dashed towards him. Xiao Tangqiu was so afraid that he shakily took a few steps backwards.


    ¡°Help! Save me! No, I mean save Xiaotao!¡± The man was shouting one moment and mumbling incoherently the next. Xiao Tangqiu fixed his gaze upon that man and realized that it was Yang Bing! Although he was drenched with blood, he didn¡¯t seem to have any wounds on his body ¨C the blood must¡¯vee from someone else.


    He walked past Yang Bing into the room only to discover that the white drapes inside were mottled with a rain of blood. When he followed the trail of blood that led to the front of the coffin, he realized why Yang Bing had gone mad.


    In the middle of the coffiny a young woman wearing a red wedding dress ¨C it was Lu Xiaotao. She was wearing the exact same red wedding dress that Fang Lan¡¯s paper doll had worn and her face was twisted into a sinister expression that appeared even more malevolent with blood pouring out of her seven orifices. But the most terrifying part was the long, deep gash that had split her stomach wide open. The gash was so deep that her five viscera and six bowels had spilled out.


    Xiao Tangqiu held his breath, unable to look away from the scene in front of his eyes. Lu Xiaotao was holding on tightly to a long, slippery object, and upon closer inspection, Xiao Tangqiu realized that her bloody fingers were actually wrapped around a section of her intestines


    Xiaotao¡¯s five viscera and six bowels that had overflowed from the gaping hole in her body seemed to have been ripped out by Xiaotao herself..........

 Chapter 18

    <h4>Chapter 18</h4>


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was a step slower than Xiao Tangqiu, and when he saw the scene in the coffin clearly, shock contorted his face, ¡°Ahhhhhhhh! Fuckkkkkk! Ahhhhhhhh!¡±


    The others had also caught up to them. A few secondster, Luo Mansu¡¯s solemn expression remained unchanged but the twins started to scream, ¡°Ahhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhh!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tried to ignore the shrill screams that pierced his ears as he shared what he had seen with Luo Mansu. As soon as Tang Mianmian heard that it was Lu Xiaotao who pulled out her own intestines, his face turned pale and he looked like he wanted to vomit. Ding Tiantian and Ding Mimi had already gone outside and puked their guts out.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Why did Lu Xiaotao die in this room? And in that wedding dress? Isn¡¯t Fang Lan unable to enter the manor?¡±


    Luo Mansu had a grim expression on his face, ¡°Ask Yang Bing, he should be most clear about what happened.¡±


    When they went outside, they saw that Yang Bing had fallen onto the ground. He sat there in a daze, with his arms wrapped around his knees as he shook uncontrobly. Witnessing his girlfriend die in such a miserable manner seemed to have caused a mental breakdown.


    ¡°Yang Bing, what happened just now?¡± asked Luo Mansu.


    ¡°I....... I don¡¯t know..........¡± Yang Bing buried his head in his knees, his voice trembling, ¡°I don¡¯t know.......... I don¡¯t know anything.........¡±


    Luo Mansu spoke gravely, ¡°Are you sure you have nothing to say? Even if you¡¯ll die because of this?¡±


    Yang Bing kept quiet, hesitating for a long time before he finally opened his mouth to speak, tremors in his voice as he stammered, ¡°Last night.......... When Xiaotao and I were in our room, we suddenly heard a baby crying.......... I was scared out of my wits but Xiaotao got down from the bed and said she wanted to go out. I quickly pulled her back, but she said.......... she said...........¡±


    Yang Bing¡¯s face crumpled as he lifted his head from his knees, ¡°She said she heard our child calling her! She said she heard our child say mama! But...... but we don¡¯t have any children!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu seemed to have understood something; he looked coldly at Yang Bing, ¡°Oh, really?¡±


    Yang Bing continued with fear and trepidation, ¡°I thought she was possessed, so I grabbed her and didn¡¯t allow her to leave. But all of a sudden, she became so strong that I couldn¡¯t even hold her back......... I really couldn¡¯t hold her back! After that, I followed her to this courtyard and then............. I fainted..........¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°You fainted? You really don¡¯t remember anything else besides this?¡±


    Yang Bing burst out, ¡°I swear! Why would I lie to you? I fainted before I could even enter the room......... I just woke up! I immediately went in to take a look. Then, I saw that Xiaotao was............ I really don¡¯t remember anything else before fainting................... Wait! Before I fainted, I think I saw a child......¡±


    His expression turned ugly, ¡°A child......... It must¡¯ve been that infant spirit! That infant spirit must¡¯ve killed Xiaotao!¡±


    Infant spirit? Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s frown deepened as he contemted, but his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Tang Mianmian ear-piercing screams. ¡°Ahhhhhhhh! Fuckkkkkkk! Ahhhhhhh!¡±


    ¡°Geez, haven¡¯t you screamed enough?¡± Xiao Tangqiu raised his head and cursed out when he saw the scene in front of him.


    Fuck! A reanimated corpse! Lu Xiaotao¡¯s corpse actually came back to life!


    Lu Xiaotao, whose wedding dress had turned bloody, had climbed out of the coffin. With her head hung low, she slowly stumbled towards them, her movements rigid as she left a trail of internal organs behind her.


    ¡°Quickly! Run!¡± Xiao Tangqiu shouted at once. He was the first to run out of the courtyard; the others followed behind him the moment they reacted to what was happening. Only Yang Bing hadn¡¯t moved; he stared in a daze for a long time before turning around stiffly.


    ¡°....... Xiao...... Xiaotao?¡± Upon seeing Lu Xiaotao, Yang Bing¡¯s first reaction was joy; he thought that his girlfriend was still alive. But as soon as he noticed the wide, gaping hole in her stomach, he fell down to the ground inplete shock, paralyzed with fear.


    ¡°My child....... Where¡¯s my child..........¡± Lu Xiaotao raised her head to look at her boyfriend. Tears of blood flowed from her eyes, down her cheeks in a stream, ¡°Why is my stomach........... I¡¯ve looked everywhere........ Was it you? Did you hide my child from me?! Give me back my child! Give me back my child!!¡±


    ¡°Xiao......Xiao......Xiaotao..........¡± Yang Bing stared at the scene before his eyes, trembling like a leaf in the wind. ¡°The child was aborted a while ago....... Our child is gone.........¡±


    ¡°Give me back my child! I want my child!¡± Lu Xiaotao red resentfully at Yang Bing. She threw herself at Yang Bing, then, stretched her hand across his belly, ripped it open and reached inside!


    Yang Bing screamed from the excruciating pain of having his stomach ripped open but it was as though Lu Xiaotao hadn¡¯t heard anything. She seemed to be looking for something and continued to rummage through his innards, turning his internal organs inside out as she slowly pulled out his intestines.


    Yang Bing was in so much pain, he was about to go mad. Under the influence of severe pain, he burst with unprecedented strength and managed to push away Lu xiaotao, running away as fast as he could.


    After Yang Bing¡¯s push sent Lu Xiaotao to the ground, she stopped moving. They hadn¡¯t ran very far before returning to the courtyard. Luo Mansu walked over, checked the situation in the courtyard, then said in a grave tone, ¡°I think she¡¯s really dead now.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Lu Xiaotao¡¯s body; he had some suspicions, ¡°Should we check if Yang Bing is ok?¡± Yang Bing was very likely to be dead, but what if he suddenly came back to live as well?


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± They turned and chased after Yang Bing.


    Yang Bing was seriously injured so logically speaking, he shouldn¡¯t have gotten very far. Yet in the face of death, he seemed to have triggered his survival instincts. Fuelled by adrenaline, he ran all the way to the front gates of Yun Manor, leaving a trail of blood behind him.


    When Xiao Tangqiu reached the gates, he saw Yang Bing trying to push open the gates. At that point, Yang Bing was a sorry sight, half of his body a bloody mess. Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t bear to look at him struggle, ¡°There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll open the gates, don¡¯t waste your energy trying...........¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care! I want to leave this eerie ce! I want to go home!¡± Yang Bing yelled hysterically. He vehemently banged into the gates ¨C in an instant, the gates of Yun Manor actually started to creak open.


    ¡°The gates are open!¡± Everyone was stunned; they hadn¡¯t expected that to happen.


    ¡°Hahahaha! The gates are open! I¡¯m going home!¡± Yang Bingughed like a lunatic as he heavily staggered out of the manor. ¡°I¡¯m leaving this God-forsaken ce! I¡¯m going to cross the river! I¡¯m going home!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment before following Yang Bing out with Tang Mianmian chasing after him.


    They followed Yang Bing all the way to the river and watched as Yang Bing¡¯s movements got slower and slower, seeming as though he had reached the end of the road but was still forcibly holding on to thatst breath. ¡°Home....... I can go home soon........¡±


    The boat was no longer there but Yang Bing didn¡¯t hesitate to throw himself into the river.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t wear to watch, sighing as he closed his eyes, ¡°Ai......¡±


    But in the next instant, Yang Bing¡¯s wretched cries rang out. Xiao Tangqiu reflexively opened his eyes only to be shocked by the scene before him. Yang Bing¡¯s body was entrenched in a meter high me. All the while, he rolled around in agony, trying to put out the mes as his screams echoed through the air, but nothing could stop those mes from spreading. In the blink of an eye, Yang Bing¡¯s life was extinguished by the burning mes......... just like Jiang Zihan and Zeng Jinping.


    The moment the mes disappeared, the river turned into something else.


    In fact, there was never a river, only an ocean of corpses that had been burned alive and piled on top of each other. Those charred corpses filled up the entire dried up riverbed, extending all the way to both sides of the riverbank. Screams of anguish filled the silence; hands that had already long turned into skeletons reached out towards the people on the shore, as if begging to be pulled out from the sea of death but also as though they yearned to drag those on the shore down into their endless misery.


    ~~~


    P.S. Hope you guys sleep well tonight hehe

 Chapter 19

    <h4>Chapter 19</h4>


    Looking at the scene from hell in front of him, even someone as mentally strong as Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but turn pale and stumbled a few steps backwards. Tang Mianmian cried and screamed in horror, turning away to vomit.


    ¡°Why is it like this...........¡± Xiao Tangqiu muttered to himself. The illusion had dissipated; the river which they traveled on wasn¡¯t actually a river. Maybe it had once been one, but it had disappeared along with the ughter of the entire vige. Had anyone jumped into the river to leave in the beginning, they would definitely have burned alive in the ¡°river¡± like Yang Bing and the others.


    ¡°Are these people....... the vigers?¡± Tang Mianmian was ghastly pale, ¡°........... Wait! Look over there! Isn¡¯t that the fucking vige chief?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked in the direction where Tang Mianmian was pointing; in the sea of charred corpses, there was indeed a familiar looking corpse. But this particr corpse appeared to be in a worse conditionpared to the corpses around it, because its body had been torn apart and head chopped off.


    ¡°It¡¯s him.¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank, ¡°Looks like the vigers died a long time ago, just like the vige chief. I¡¯m guessing they were also burned to death back then.¡±


    Tang Mianmian proved himself to be Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s long-time buddy; he understood what Xiao Tangqiu was trying to say, ¡°So that¡¯s the case.... It¡¯s no wonder Jiang Zihan and Zeng Jinping died in the same manner! But what¡¯s the reason? Was it because of Fang Lan? Was she the one who burned all the vigers alive?¡±


    ¡°Fang Lan was submerged in the pig cage...... which means she drowned to death. This vige only has one river, which is the river we¡¯re looking at.¡± Xiao Tangqiu stared at the ¡°river¡± before him and began to specte, ¡°If someone was drowned to death, then even after turning into an evil spirit, wouldn¡¯t that person still be terrified of water?¡±


    ¡°Is that why she chose to burn everyone to death? But why would she kill all the vigers?¡± Tang Mianmian frowned, ¡°Even if she wanted revenge, shouldn¡¯t she look for the Yun family?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly, ¡°I¡¯m not sure either. Let¡¯s go back and look for more clues.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s go back to Yun Manor first. I wonder if they prepared breakfast. I just vomited my guts out so I¡¯m starving now......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt hungry as well; he rubbed his tummy, ¡°I don¡¯t know why but I have a bad feeling......¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face darkened, ¡°Fucking hell! Can you stop nting these damn gs!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly and wanted to say something when he quickly pushed Tang Mianmian aside. Tang Mianmian fell to the ground and was about to curse at Xiao Tangqiu, but was immediately shocked by the swing of a shovel right where his head had been just a second ago.


    Shivers ran down his spine. He immediately turned to look back and saw the paper doll, all the while in that red wedding dress, staring resentfully at the two of them, looking as if it wanted to crush them into dust.


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu!¡± The moment Tang Mianmian¡¯s lung-busting scream rang out, Xiao Tangqiu, who sat on the ground in confusion, turned around to see what had tripped him ¨C it was actually a tiny, red cotton shoe worn by babies.........


    Fuck! How did that thing trip him up ah!


    Xiao Tangqiu was raging inside but the paper doll had already lunged onto him in the blink of an eye.


    He could only watch in horror as that paper doll mmed into him. Just like a slow motion scene in the movies, the paper doll¡¯s lifelike features slowly zoomed into focus in front of his eyes. Then, the paper doll stuck itself onto his body and went right through his chest!


    At that exact instant, a thousand images shed through his mind; one moment, it was two children fishing by the river; the next, it was a young man and a young woman catching fish on a boat; then, it was the both of them underneath the pale moonlight, making a solemn vow to be together for life.........


    ¡°Ah Hai, they¡¯re forcing me to marry the Yun family¡¯s dead oldest young master. I don¡¯t want to. Take me away.........¡±


    On that moonlit night, the young woman summoned up her courage and begged for them to elope. The young man struggled to make a decision but eventually nodded his head.


    ¡°Ah Hai! Ah Hai! Let go of me!¡±


    But then on the day they were supposed to meet, the young man never showed up. The young woman, who had waited all night, ended up being dragged home by the vigers.


    Forced to wear that red wedding dress, the young woman finally married into the Yun family. After that strange wedding night, she actually became pregnant.


    She knew that it was a ghost¡¯s child and was extremely frightened, withering away day after day. Yet the people of Yun Manor were pleased with that development, especially the Old Madame, who gave her the utmost care. The Old Madame was excited that she would hold her grandson but Fang Lan never realized that there was a pair of eyes that constantly looked at her with jealousy.


    The day before the dreaded birth of her child, that righteous sister-inw of hers falsely used her of having an affair, saying that the child didn¡¯t belong to the oldest young master. The Old Madame was furious and refused to listen to her exnation or her pleas, ordering the servants to tie her up and drown her in the river.


    At the end, as they shoved her into the pig cage and slowly lowered her into the bottom of the river, the vigers that she once lived with with merely stood to one side and watched her die. Not one person came to save her. The vige chief twisted his face as he condemned her, ¡°Drown the slut!¡±


    And as for her lover, he stood behind the vige chief with his head bowed, afraid to even look at her.......


    The vigers started to gang up against her as well.


    ¡°Drown her!¡±


    ¡°Drown her!¡±


    Not one person came to save her.........


    No one.


    Because of that deep resentment, Fang Lan eventually turned into an evil spirit after she died. Using the power of an evil spirit, she set the entire Yunjia Vige on fire, burning all the vigers to death.


    Amidst that sea of fire, she found the bruised and battered vige chief, hacked him into pieces, then looked for her former lover and gouged out his eyes.


    Why were you afraid to look at me?


    I¡¯ll gouge out your eyes then.........


    ......


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu! Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    As he stood there shaking violently, Xiao Tangqiu finally opened his eyes. He stared at Tang Mianmian in a daze with ice-cold tears rolling down his cheeks.


    ¡°Fuck! How did you do that?!¡± Tang Mianmian hadn¡¯t noticed anything off about Xiao Tangqiu. He cheerfully burst out, ¡°Just now when the paper doll went through your body, I thought you were definitely a goner! Instead that paper doll ended up bing a piece of scrap paper, and you¡¯repletely fine. When did you get fucking magical abilities?! You¡¯re so damn badass, what the hell are you afraid for?!¡±


    ¡°What magical abilities?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned as he recalled something. He quickly took out the jade pendant from his pocket, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s because of this...........¡±


    When the both of them examined the jade pendant, they found a crack right down the middle. It was obvious the jade pendant had blocked that attack earlier.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t this jade pendant given to you by the Yun family oldest young master?¡± Tang Mianmian wondered, ¡°Could he be one of the good guys? Or maybe....... he¡¯s actually a lecherous ghost? Maybe he took a liking to you and wants to make you his concubine?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly, ¡°I don¡¯t know........ That¡¯s right, I think I saw something that I shouldn¡¯t have.........¡±


    He narrated what he saw through Fang Lan¡¯s memories to Tang Mianmian. Tang Mianmian was astonished, ¡°......... So that¡¯s what happened! Now it all makes sense! It¡¯s no wonder Fang Lan holds such a deep resentment for this fishing vige.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°All of the tragedies she experienced originated from Yun Manor, from that damn ghost marriage! Actually, we¡¯ve been given many hints during these three days. Looks like we have to eliminate Fang Lan¡¯s resentment by stopping tonight¡¯s ghost wedding!¡±

 Chapter 20

    <h4>Chapter 20</h4>


    When Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian finally got back to Yun Manor, they met Luo Mansu who was frowning at them as he scolded, ¡°How could you just run out like that? It¡¯s too dangerous!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stopped Tang Mianmian who looked like he wanted to say more, smiling at Luo Mansu, ¡°We were wrong. We¡¯ll be more careful next time.¡±


    ¡°You must be more careful next time! This ce isn¡¯t at all like our world. It¡¯s full of danger, and you¡¯ll lose your head if you¡¯re not careful!¡± Luo Mansu cautioned Xiao Tangqiu with a grim face. Then, he turned to talk about something else, ¡°Did you see anything unusual when you went out? What happened to Yang Bing? Is he dead?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shared a little about what happened earlier, including the ¡°river¡± made out of dead bodies, how Yang Bing was burned alive, and how they were chased by the paper doll on their way here.


    ¡°You ran into the paper doll again? How did you manage to escape this time?¡± Luo Mansu eyed Xiao Tangqiu suspiciously.


    Xiao Tangqiu concealed the matter regarding the jade pendant and exined that they both ran all the way back and somehow threw the paper doll off their backs.


    Luo Mansu remained doubtful, but he did not continue to ask. He merely breathed a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Fortunately, you are both fine, otherwise we would¡¯ve lost two helping hands in vain, and we¡¯ve not even finished searching Yun Manor yet!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said calmly, ¡°I¡¯m guessing that the key topleting this mission, is to stop tonight¡¯s wedding!¡±


    Luo Mansu looked puzzled, ¡°Isn¡¯t that a given? Do you still need to make a guess?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked embarrassed, ¡°.....Eh?¡±


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Luo Mansu noticed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s awkward expression. He rubbed his bald head, ¡°Actually, we¡¯ve collected enough clues for this mission. After all, this is just the lowest D-level mission. Once you¡¯vepleted a few more missions and have more experience, you can basically guess what¡¯s the way to unlock the mission based on the various hints in the game.........¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help blushing harder, ¡°Then, what are we still doing here talking? Let¡¯s split up and search the Yun Manor.¡±


    Luo Mansu nodded, divided the search tasks, and left with the twins.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian set out in the opposite direction from them.


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a dryugh, ¡°I¡¯m the only weak g here. Please exclude yourself from our ranks. Thank you very much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not much better than you, it¡¯s merely the difference between a vegetarian and a meat dish. For those BOSSes, we probably aren¡¯t even enough to fill one bite.....¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed; he knew that as well, but what could he do? If he didn¡¯t want to continue watching a horror movie, he could always click the ¡®x¡¯ button; if he didn¡¯t want to keep ying a horror game, he could always quit the game. But what he really wanted to know was........... Where the hell was the exit button in this damn real-life game!


    The two of them searched in ces they hadn¡¯t been to yesterday, but found nothing.


    Forget about a locked door, he wasn¡¯t even able to find a locked box. Xiao Tangqiu was holding a key, but he couldn¡¯t find the corresponding keyhole.


    ¡°I finally know what¡¯s worse than finding a locked door in a horror game but not finding the key.¡± He said faintly as he looked at the key, ¡°And that is, finding a key but not finding a door that needs to be unlocked.¡±


    ¡°..... Actually, both cases are just as shitty,¡± Tang Mianmian interrupted, ¡°Why don¡¯t we look again? Maybe there are ces that we¡¯ve missed, like a secret tunnel that leads to a door or something like that? Isn¡¯t it always that way on TV? ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu promptly decided, ¡°Let¡¯s keep looking! Anyways, before tonight¡¯s wedding, we must find it!¡±


    They rolled up their sleeves and continued with the search. This time around, they looked in every nook and cranny for a hidden door. When they saw anything even slightly suspicious such as a vase, they would pick it up and take their sweet time examining it.


    However, even until the sky turnedpletely dark, they still found nothing.


    The two men were so exhausted, they almost copsed to the floor, butpared to the physical fatigue that set in their bones, they were even more mentally depleted. Xiao Tangqiu frowned and studied the key in the palm of his hand, ¡°What the hell does this key open? ......... Why do I have a bad feeling about this?¡± He would rather have never found the key if he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to find the matching keyhole. The thought that he could be missing out on something important made his chest tight.


    ¡°Pei! Pei! Pei! Don¡¯t you dare say anymore! ¡°


    Tang Mianmian shrank his neck like a frightened bird as he looked left and right. As soon as he found that it was safe, he rxed, ¡°Don¡¯t think too much, what if this key is just for decoration? Let¡¯s go to the main hall first. Maybe Luo Mansu found something?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all we can do right now.¡± Xiao Tangqiu put away the key and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    As they approached the main hall, Tang Mianmian suddenly asked Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Did you hear something?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°What is it?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s little face turned white, ¡°The cries of a baby...... Fuck! Herees that damn infant spirit again!¡± He had just finished speaking when Xiao Tangqiu also heard the faint cries of a baby.


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic.....¡± Xiao Tangqiu ground his teeth. In the next instant, a shrill scream rang out from the direction of the main hall.


    They looked at each other; Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go and have a look. We have to go to the main hall eventually anyways.¡±


    Tang Mianmian followed behind him with a reluctant expression on his face.


    The both of them reached the entrance of the main hall and soon discovered the origin of those ear-piercing screams. One of the twin sisters had fallen to the ground in a heap, her eyes wide-open in terror as she vomited blood. Her body had split into pieces and in hand, she held a rattle that had broken into pieces as well.


    ¡°Mimi!¡± Her sister kneeled beside her as she screamed desperately, trying to stop the blood that was gushing out from the fracture wounds on Ding Mimi¡¯s body. But it was no use.


    Ding Mimi stopped breathing. Her eyes were still wide open; the expression on her face showed how unwilling she was to just die like that.


    ¡°No! No!¡± Ding Tiantian tried to hug Ding Mimi in her arms but Ding Mimi¡¯s body hadpletely fallen apart, leaving only her head in Ding Tiantian¡¯s arms. Out of desperation, Ding Tiantian tried her hardest to piece together her sister¡¯s body but all she got was a handful of blood and flesh.


    ¡°Stop,¡± Luo Mansu sighed and gently said, ¡°She¡¯s dead.¡±


    Ding Tiantian sat on the ground in a daze, just staring at the body, not saying a word.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t bear to look anymore and turned to ask Luo Mansu.


    Luo Mansu sighed, ¡°Earlier, in one of the rooms, we came across some items used by children. Ding Mimi picked up a rattle when the infant spirit suddenly appeared...... We immediately turned and ran. But when we got here, Ding Mimi suddenly fell down and dropped the rattle. The moment the rattle broke, she....... split into pieces.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hair stood on end. The infant spirit was too scary! It¡¯s a miracle that the both of them had escaped from it so many times!


    Just then, a calm and wooden voice suddenly called out, ¡°The wedding banquet is about to begin. Please be seated......¡±


    They jumped in shock, reflexively raising their head only to see that creepy housekeeper standing at the entrance. Not one of them had seen the housekeepering!


    The housekeeper impassively looked at them. When his eyes swept over the dead body on the ground, there was no change in his expression, as though he was used to it.


    He stiffly stepped forward and picked up all the pieces of Ding Mimi¡¯s corpse, one by one, just like he was picking up garbage. Blood had soaked through his clothes, but he merely turned a blind eye, while Ding Tiantian sat motionless on the ground holding her knees, still lost in the harsh certainty of her sister¡¯s violent death.


    In the blink of an eye, the housekeeper had already removed all the bloody pieces of flesh from the ground, but hepletely ignored the blood that dyed the ground red. When they finally recovered from the shock, they found that the housekeeper had unknowingly disappeared as abruptly as he had appeared earlier.


    Xiao Tangqiu was speechless for a long time but was distracted by the arrival of some other people.


    He looked up and realized that it was the silent trio. The woman leading them calmly walked over, calmly passed through the pool of blood, and then calmly picked a seat to sit down.


    By contrast, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t remain calm at all because he saw that the woman was holding a small wooden box...... a small wooden box with a lock!

 Chapter 21

    <h4>Chapter 21</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart started to pound frantically. The box! It must be what he was looking for! It¡¯s no wonder he couldn¡¯t find it even after looking for so long ¨C it had already been taken away by someone else!


    He thought that it was likely to have been taken by them since the trio had entered the Yun Manor a day earlier than they did. They must¡¯ve already searched the entire Yun Manor. If there was anything rted to the plot, they would¡¯ve gotten to it first.


    Just as he was hesitating how to bring up the matter with the woman, the Yun family suddenly entered the main hall. Several women surrounded the Old Madame as they walked inside; they quietly found their seats, turning a blind eye to the blood on the ground as well.


    It was deep into the night, and outside the open gates of Yun Manor, everything seemed to have been enveloped by the night, the darkness swallowing the vige whole. There was dead silence all around; their hearts were heavy with worry, uneasy with what was about to happen.


    The housekeeper appeared out of nowhere again, his voice calm as usual, ¡°The time hase........¡±


    He had just finished speaking when there was a sudden nging of gongs and beating of drums that sounded faintly in the distance. What was supposed to be festive and cheerful only sounded strange and eerie on this dreaded night.


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but lean towards Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes widened.


    This was the very same scene he had seen in the coffin!


    The sounds of the gongs and the drums got closer and louder; his heart jumped faster and faster. They must stop this ghost wedding!


    But the question was..... how could he sessfully prevent this ghost wedding from happening?


    He could only take a gamble!


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, turned and walked towards the women of the Yun family. Tang Mianmian hadn¡¯t reacted yet. The housekeeper suddenly appeared in front of Xiao Tangqiu, and said in a wooden voice, ¡°The wedding banquet is about to begin. Please be seated.¡±


    Without thinking, he raised a hand and pushed the housekeeper aside. And when the housekeeper tumbled to the ground, just as Xiao Tangqiu expected, he fell apart into many pieces like he had before. The womenfolk watched as the housekeeper split into pieces, their expressions unchanged, as though they hadn¡¯t seen anything. That unwavering calmness chilled him to the bone.


    If the former vige chief couldn¡¯t remember that he had already died, what about the Yun family womenfolk? Did they know that they were already dead?


    Tang Mianmian immediately understood Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s n. As soon as he saw the housekeeper¡¯s corpse pieces start to move, he ground his teeth and rushed forward, kicking the housekeeper¡¯s head far away!


    Luo Mansu looked at the both of them; he didn¡¯t say anything but didn¡¯t stop them either.


    On the other side, Tang Mianmian found that the housekeeper¡¯s head had rolled back on its own, so he fought off the nausea and kicked the housekeeper¡¯s head far away again. This time, he kicked it out of the gates of Yun Manor directly, and the head was soon engulfed by darkness.


    However, this was by no means the time to rx, because in the next instant, a few servant girls came in holding the bride!


    The crowd immediately stood up, ready to act at any moment. Just as Xiao Tangqiu was considering whether or not to get rid of those servants as well, the woman holding the box suddenly moved. She took out a small knife and rushed towards the bride, swiftly plunging that knife into her chest in one move.


    Xiao Tangqiu was startled by this sudden attack, but he soon realized something. Yes, he had been thinking about how to eliminate Fang Lan¡¯s resentment, but they could¡¯ve obviously taken a more direct approach, which was to eliminate Fang Lan altogether!


    ...... Wait! There seemed to be something wrong with this logic!


    This was clearly all wrong!


    The woman coldly said, ¡°Fang Lan, you¡¯ve been dead for a long time. Wake up! Instead of repeatedly torturing others and yourself out of hatred, isn¡¯t it better to let go of your resentment resentment and reincarnate as soon as possible?! ¡°


    Fang Lan stood in her red wedding dress, staring in shock. Right then, she still looked human; she stared in a daze as the woman moved towards her, then, looked down at the knife stuck in her chest in disbelief. A momentter, her expression began to dramatically change. The surrounding atmosphere switched in an instant.


    ¡°Are you crazy?! Why the hell would you do that?!¡± Luo Mansu cried out nervously, ¡°Fuck! She¡¯s about to turn into an evil spirit!


    The woman¡¯s face contorted as she tried to retrieve her knife, but even after pulling at it twice, it didn¡¯t budge. Seeing that Fang Lan had begun to change, she hurriedly abandoned the knife and fled back.


    Fang Lan hadpletely transformed into an evil spirit. Her whole body was enshrouded within a ck fog that was formed by the bitter resentment she carried. Her originally beautiful features turned indescribably hideous; her entire body was bloated and swollen; her facial features had twisted grotesquely, and there was also a foul, rotten smell emanating from her. Everywhere she went, she would leave behind a pool of putrid liquid.


    She gazed hatefully at the woman as she slowly approached her.


    Xiao Tangqiu used quickly thought of something, ¡°Give me the box! I have the key!¡±


    At such a crucial moment, he had no choice but to take a risk!


    The woman turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu and seemed to hesitate for half a second. But at that point, Fang Lan was about to attack them, so she had no time to think about it. Moreover, the box was already in her hands and she really had no way to open it without the key. This sort of quest item couldn¡¯t be opened by violent means; she could only look for the corresponding key if she wanted to open it. Grinding her teeth, she threw the box to Xiao Tangqiu.


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu grabbed the box, he quickly took out the key to open it. On the other side, the woman had actually brought out another small knife. Her twopanions also took out their weapons. Although their weapons didn¡¯t seem very impressive,pared to Xiao Tangqiu ¨C this unarmed rookie -they were much better off.


    Taking advantage of the dy, Xiao Tangqiu sessfully opened the box. To his surprise, there were some letters in the box. He picked up one of them, looked at it carefully but felt that there was something strange about the whole thing ¨C Fang Lan had actually written these letters to Zhou Hai.


    ¡°What¡¯s inside? Hurry! Take it out! They won¡¯t be able to hold on much longer!¡± Tang Mianmian lunged at Xiao Tangqiu and grabbed the letter in his hand, ¡°A letter? Fuck it! We¡¯ll just give it a try!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Wait a........¡±


    Before he could stop Tang Mianmian, Tang Mianmian had already summoned his courage and rushed towards Fang Lan. He stood a distance away and threw the letter at Fang Lan, as if he was throwing garbage.


    Fang Lan, who was originally hostile, suddenly calmed down. She picked up the letter with fingers that were so swollen that they looked like they were stuck together. With her head lowered, she looked at the letter..........


    She seemed to have calmed down. Tang Mianmian blinked in disbelief. Did it reallye in handy?


    Xiao Tangqiu murmured, ¡°I have a bad feeling......¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Fuck my life! Not again?!¡±


    Sure enough, Fang Lan¡¯s expression calmed down for less than a second, and then, rapidly changed. Very quickly, her eyes were filled with resentment and hatred; the ck fog of resentment around her roiled up with even more intensity!


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face was full of despair, ¡°Just tell me, were you a crow in yourst life?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly; Fang Lan had gouged out Zhou Hai¡¯s eyes while he was still alive, which meant that she must¡¯ve really hated Zhou Hai. How could she not be angry after seeing the letter she wrote to Zhou Hai?


    Fang Lan hated the people of Yunjia Vige; she loathed the Yun family. Naturally, she resented Zhou Hai, the man who abandoned her, as well.


    ¡°The BOSS in a rage! Run!¡± Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t expect to have raised a death g. Instead of killing the BOSS, he ended up angering the BOSS. He quickly threw away key and the box, pulled Tang Mianmian and ran with great abandon.


    Luo Mansu didn¡¯t need Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s reminder; he prompty picked up Ding Tiantian and ran like the wind. The trio had fought for a while now, and knew that couldn¡¯t defeat Fang Lan, so they turned heel and ran.


    Xiao Tangqiu ran out of Yun Manor but he didn¡¯t know where else to run to. Tang Mianmian ran as he cried, ¡°Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What are we going to do?! What are we going to do?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was close to tears as well, ¡°I want to know too! There¡¯s no way to y this game! There aren¡¯t any hints at all. We finally found a quest item but it turned out to be a trap!¡±


    Tang Mianmian burst into tears, ¡°Damn trap! Fang Lan hates Zhou Hai so much. Why would she still keep those fucking letters?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was also about to say that those letters must¡¯ve been brought into the Yun Manor before Fang Lan had died. But on second thought, after Fang Lan died, she could¡¯ve destroyed all those letters. Why had she thrown away Zhou Hai¡¯s skull and the key into the well?


    As he was trying to figure out this puzzle, he suddenly smelled something rotten. He quickly stopped running, but it was toote. Somehow they had both unknowingly ran to the area near the restroom, and Fang Lan had actually climbed out of the well nearby!


    The evil spirit in the red wedding dress crawled out of the well, all drenched, and fixed its resentful gaze upon Xiao Tangqiu who stood less than a meter away.........


    ~~~


    P.S. Here¡¯s another chapter because I just couldn¡¯t wait!

 Chapter 22

    <h4>Chapter 22</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu broke out in cold sweat: ¡°..... Fuck! Why the hell does it have Sadako¡¯s abilities!¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face fell, ¡°Why is it chasing after us?¡± They had clearly split up several ways to escape, but Fang Lan had only chased after them. Wasn¡¯t her hatred for them a little too extreme?!


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty. Although the letter was thrown by Tang Mianmian, he was the one who had opened the box, ¡°....Instead of fucking around, let¡¯s run away first!¡±


    However, it was toote; the evil spirit¡¯s speed was much faster than that of a human being. In the blink of an eye, Fang Lan had already lunged towards them. That swollen and deformed face was so close that Xiao Tangqiu could even smell the thick rotten odor emanating from her. It scared the daylights out of him.


    In that instant, he suddenly thought of the mysterious jade pendant and quickly pulled it out. As soon as Fang Lan saw the jade pendant, her expression changed drastically, as if she was extremely terrified of the jade pendant.


    Fang Lan stopped moving closer towards Xiao Tangqiu, but didn¡¯t turn around and leave immediately either. Instead, she stood not far away from him, ring at him with bitterness and hatred in her eyes. She appeared afraid to approach him but also unwilling to leave.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t figure out why Fang Lan was so attached to him. He was extremely nervous and wanted to turn around and run, but at the same time, he was afraid of exposing his back to Fang Lan. Obviously, dragging out this stalemate wasn¡¯t the best idea. He could only grip the jade pendant tightly in his hand, slowly retreating away while eyeing Fang Lan¡¯s movements.


    Yet, every step backwards he took, Fang Lan would also move a step forwards. She stared at him in contempt, all the while maintaining a set distance from him, obviously, unwilling to let him go.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart pounded wildly; he was afraid that Fang Lan would pounce on him in the next second and tear him in half. Although Fang Lan hadn¡¯t attack him because of the jade pendant in his hand, this sort of scenario where he had a knife permanently hanging over his head was most terrible. Just like Hitchcock¡¯s ticking time bomb, he was constantly holding his breath.


    What should he do?! What could he do?!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s brain spun at top speed. All at once, countless images shed through his mind; the skull at the bottom of the well, the box without the key; the coffin buried behind the house, the boatman without eyes.....


    Right then, he linked it all together ¨C the skull at the bottom of the well was missing its eyes because Fang Lan had dug out Zhou Hai¡¯s eyes while he was still alive, and at the beginning the boatman who sent them to Yunjia Vige was also missing his eyes......


    ¡°Tang Mianmian! Do you still remember what the boatman said to us?!¡±


    ¡°Huh? The boatman?¡± Tang Mianmian had picked up a sharp stone from the ground when Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t paying attention, and was holding it as a weapon to guard against Fang Lan. After hearing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s words, he thought for a second before saying, ¡°.....I don¡¯t think he said anything, but..... he seemed to have sang a song?¡±


    The two men ran like the wind, with Fang Lan hot on their tail. Very soon, they had ran over half the vige.


    ¡°Damn it! I fucking hate chasing ¡°contests¡± the most!¡± As a ¡°handicapped¡± yer, Tang Mianmian loathed the chasing ¡°contests¡± in video games, what more those in a real-life game. But when he saw how pale Xiao Tangqiu was, he grabbed Xiao Tangqiu by the wrist and pulled him forwards as he ran for his life.


    Xiao Tangqiu was gasping for breath so hard that he couldn¡¯t even say a thank you. Ever since he was young, his physical strength had never been good. He had been a geek for so many years; although he had rich experience in running for his life in-game, in reality, it was far off from that. He had neither the physical quality of a protagonist nor the protagonist¡¯s plug-in bundles. It so happened that he didn¡¯t have the luck of the protagonist, but he got the protagonist¡¯s disease of triggering the BOSS¡¯ rage! He hated this ¡°skill¡± so much!


    Did he have a face that looked like he was asking for it, making it impossible for the BOSS to stop chasing him?


    Just then, the two of them finally reached the vige chief¡¯s door, but Fang Lan had inexplicably stopped at the front. She merely stood there, looking as if she had thought of something as her eyes filled up with resentment.


    Seeing this, Xiao Tangqiu quickly pulled Tang Mianmian into the house, found the shovel and went round to the back of the house. As he had expected, because this fishing vige had the custom of burying the dead in the back of the house, naturally every household had tools.


    Xiao Tangqiu gave Tang Mianmian a shovel and barked, ¡°Dig!¡±


    ¡°Again? We¡¯re digging up graves again?!¡± Tang Mianmian wanted to cry, but he gritted his teeth and chose to trust Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s judgement unconditionally. He picked up the shovel and started to dig!


    They dug as quick as they possibly could, and after a while, perhaps because the grave was rather shallow, they soon dug out a coffin. At this time, Fang Lan, who had been pacing back and forth in front of the house, finally came to look for them. As her gazended on Zhou Hai¡¯s coffin, that pair of resentful eyes suddenly shot out bitter hatred.


    Tang Mianmian raised his shovel at Fang Lan and threatened with a trembling voice, ¡°Dont.... Don¡¯t.... Don¡¯t you daree over! Or else, I¡¯ll ... I¡¯ll ... I¡¯ll hit you with the shovel!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu used this opportunity to lift the coffin lid. He looked down and frowned; there was a headless corpse in the coffin. And beside the corpse was a bamboo pole used for rowing boats.


    The moment Fang Lan saw the headless corpse, she went into a frenzy. That pair of resentful eyes dripped with blood as she violently pounced on Xiao Tangqiu.


    At that critical juncture, Xiao Tangqiu decisively pulled out the jade pendant and threw it at Fang Lan¡¯s face.


    When the jade pendant touched Fang Lan¡¯s skin, her face suddenly festered and melted off like it had been sshed with acid. Her originally swollen and deformed face became a mangled, unhuman mess. Pieces of rotten flesh fell off her face onto the ground; she screamed hideously as she copsed into thatrge patch of festering flesh. The jade pendant crumbled into dust with this one blow.


    The jade pendant¡¯s gone........


    At that thought, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart almost jumped out of his chest. He wasn¡¯t sure whether the jade pendant had the power to stop Fang Lan, but he could only fight till the end. Fortunately, the jade pendant was useful, but it had also shattered.


    Xiao Tangqiu picked up the bamboo pole from the coffin and shouted at Tang Mianmian who was paralyzed on the ground, ¡°Run! This damn thing isn¡¯t dead yet! ¡°


    Before Tang Mianmian could even breathe a sigh of relief, his eyes widened in shock, ¡°Not dead...... not dead yet?!¡±


    ¡°Are you stupid? If she¡¯s really dead, then mission would bepleted!¡± Xiao Tangqiu kicked Tang Mianmian¡¯s butt, ¡°She¡¯s probably lost the ability to act temporarily, so we have to take this chance to run! Run as far can we can ah!¡±


    Looking at the pile of rotten flesh not far away, Tang Mianmian jumped up in horror and started running alongside Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Fuck! That jade pendant is so powerful but it can only stop her temporarily? What sort of magic weapon would we need to find to kill herpletely?! Wait, what are you doing with this bamboo pole? Please don¡¯t tell me you n to defeat the ghost with this! Even such a long bamboo pole isn¡¯t enough to beat her!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had trouble catching his breath, but he still managed to roll his eyes at Tang Mianmian, ¡°Zhou Hai came up with a riddle, and the answer to it is this thing!¡±


    Dewy green leaves and branches in her maiden home


    Married out, thereafter, wilted, yellow and wan


    Time and again the waters submerge


    Resurfacing, gleaming with tears


    The answer to the riddle was that bamboo pole.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t wrap his head around it, ¡°When did hee up with a riddle? Why would he give us a riddle?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu threw the bamboo pole to Tang Mianmian and casually exined. Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s what it is! But what can this thing be used for?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but you hold on to it first.¡± Xiao Tangqiu said with a frown, ¡°There¡¯s still a lot that I don¡¯t understand......¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it, we¡¯ll analyze it together,¡± Tang Mianmian had no trouble running with that long bamboo pole in his arms.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and said: ¡°ording to Fang Lan¡¯s memories, after she died and turned into an evil spirit, she dug out Zhou Hai¡¯s eyes while he was still alive. So theoretically speaking, Zhou Hai should¡¯ve died after Fang Lan.......¡±


    Tang Mianmian agreed, ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with this, so what¡¯s the problem?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a few seconds before burst out, ¡°If Zhou Hai had died after Fang Lan, how could his grave be there? After Fang Lan died and turned into an evil spirit, she burned the entire Yunjia Vige. If the whole vige was destroyed, who was it that buried Zhou Hai?¡±


    Tang Mianmian paused, ¡°Fang Lan?¡±


    ¡°How is that possible? Fang Lan hated him to the core, why would she dig him a grave? And, why ce it behind the vige chief¡¯s house?¡± Xiao Tangqiu contemted before he said faintly, ¡°Since Zhou Hai¡¯s grave is there, it means that he had already died before all that happened.¡±


    ¡°......Zhou Hai must¡¯ve died before Fang Lan burned the entire Yunjia Vige, most likely much earlier than that.¡±

 Chapter 23

    <h4>Chapter 23</h4>


    After Xiao Tangqiu had finished sharing his thoughts, he immediately broke out in cold sweat.


    Tang Mianmian shook with fear, ¡°So.....so...... we have to deal with two ghosts?¡± Fang Lan alone was difficult enough, but with one more Zhou Hai, they were definitely down the path of annihtion.


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head and reminded, ¡°Have you forgotten what Luo Mansu said? This is only a D-level mission, so we probably wouldn¡¯t all die just like that. Although his words may not be credible, he has no reason to lie about this..... In theory, we should still be under the newbie protection period. It would be impossible for the game to keep expanding if all newbies died at once.¡±


    ¡°Why would a horror game care about ¡°sustainable¡± development? The goal is obviously to kill us all!¡± Tang Mianmian cursed and sweared, but ultimately still believed in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s conjectures, ¡°What do you think then?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrow, ¡°I think Zhou Hai may be our way out.¡±


    Tang Mianmian seemed to understand what he was implying, ¡°Is that why you took this thing? But what does it have to do with the way out? ¡°


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either, but since this clue was given by Zhou Hai, I just wanted to take a look.¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s gaze deepened, ¡°Let¡¯s look for Luo Mansu and get his opinion first. After all, he¡¯s an old yer. Maybe he knows something.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had just finished speaking when Tang Mianmian pointed in front and shouted, ¡°I see them! They¡¯re right up ahead!¡±


    Sure enough, Luo Mansu, who had separated from them earlier, wasn¡¯t far off. He was apanied by Ding Tiantian ¨C who still appeared not quite right ¨C and the silent trio.


    Luo Mansu had also caught sight of the both of them and quickly asked, ¡°Where¡¯s that damn ghost? Did she catch up to you guys?¡±


    ¡°We just had a fierce showdown with her but we managed to get rid of her. It¡¯s only temporary though,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said vaguely. ¡°By the way, we found something just now.....¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu briefly exined the matter of the bamboo pole, then asked Luo Mansu, ¡°Older Brother Luo, you¡¯re an old yer. Can you guess the purpose of this bamboo pole?¡±


    Luo Mansu looked at the bamboo pole in Tang Mianmian¡¯s hands, a glint reflecting in his eyes. However, he hesitated for a moment before shaking his head, ¡°......I¡¯m not really sure, but ording to what you said, it should be an important quest item. Let me have a closer look.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was about to hand over the bamboo pole to Luo Mansu when Xiao Tangqiu stopped him: ¡°Wait a minute, someone¡¯sing!¡±


    Luo Mansu was about to grab the bamboo pole but Tang Mianmian had started to yell, ¡°Is it that damn ghost?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me! What¡¯s wrong? Surprised to see that I¡¯m still alive?!¡± Lu Dadong spat, ¡°Laozi is still alive and kicking! No one messes with me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Lu Dadong suspiciously. He couldn¡¯t believe that this idiot actually survived the danger-ridden Yun Manor. Yet, Luo Mansu suddenly burst out, ¡°One more person means more strength! It¡¯s a good thing! Let¡¯s find a way out together!¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the woman leading the trio. ¡°The most important thing now is to find a way out!¡±


    Luo Mansu looked at her and snickered, ¡°You guys entered the Yun Manor a day earlier than we did. Didn¡¯t you find anything?¡±


    ¡°Of course we did!¡± The woman¡¯s female teammate angrily shouted.


    ¡°Jingjing!¡± Her other teammate nervously cried out.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok,¡± the woman said calmly. ¡°This D-level mission seems to be much more difficult than we expected. If we don¡¯t cooperate, we might not be able to get out.¡±


    Her two teammates¡¯ facial expressions changed as they wavered.


    ¡°Are you an old yer too?¡± The woman looked at Luo Mansu.


    Luo Mansu nodded, and the trio introduced themselves again. It was only then that they learned their real names. Their leader was Yan Yiyan; her two teammates, Xia Jingjing and Xia Chenxuan were siblings. Aside from that, they gave no other information about themselves since they were only temporarily cooperating. Obviously, there was little trust between the two groups.


    ¡°We found Fang Lan¡¯s room in the Yun Manor.¡±


    As soon as he heard that, Xiao Tangqiu eyes widened, ¡°Fang Lan¡¯s room?!¡± That¡¯s right! They had only concentrated on searching Yun Jizhou¡¯s room, but had unexpectedly forgotten to search Fang Lan¡¯s! Actually, to be more exact, they had taken for granted that Fang Lan shared the same room as Yun Jizhou! After all, they were husband and wife..... They should¡¯ve lived in the same room!


    ¡°But we didn¡¯t find anything important,¡± Yan Yiyan said with a frown. ¡°We only found her diary, but there was nothing important in it. Half of it was her recalling her first love and the other half was herining about how eerie the Yun Manor was..... This fishing vige seems to be isted from the outside world, so she knew very little. But her former lover seemed to have left this fishing vige once. He only left for a while, and told her some things she didn¡¯t know about the outside world.....¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly thought of the watermelon that Yang Bing and Lu Xiaotao had gotten. No wonder they said that there were watermelons growing on a tree! Fang Lan had probably only heard of watermelons from Zhou Hai, but she had never seen a real one. Because many fruits grow on trees, she must¡¯ve assumed that watermelons were the same!


    <i>That watermelon tree...... was it formed from Fang Lan¡¯s resentment?</i>


    He instantly decided, ¡°Why don¡¯t we go back to the Yun Manor now?¡±


    ¡°No! I¡¯m not going back!¡± Lu Dadong was the first to interject, ¡°I¡¯m not going back to that terrible ce!¡±


    The others also hesitated; as usual, Tang Mianmian was the only one who believed in Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I¡¯ll go back with you!¡±


    Luo Mansu scratched his head and was about to say something, but at this point Yan Yiyan¡¯s expression turned ugly, ¡°Fang Lan¡¯s here!¡±


    They turned to look, and sure enough, Fang Lan hadn¡¯t given up yet and hade looking for them. She looked more hideous than ever; her face was thick with ck blood. Without thinking, Xiao Tangqiu grabbed Tang Mianmian and ran back to the Yun Manor.


    The others also started to run. Luo Mansu quickly pulled Ding Tiantian ¨C who was still squatting on the ground ying with the rattle ¨C and brought her to catch up with the others.


    Under Fang Lan¡¯s hot pursuit, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian ran to the Yun Manor, but this time, the Yun Manor seemed to have lost its ability to keep Fang Lan out, so Fang Lan had chase them inside.


    Amidst the panic, the rest of them split up again. When Xiao Tangqiu stopped to catch his breath, Tang Mianmian, Luo Mansu and Ding Tian Tian were still beside him, but Fang Lan had disappeared. He wasn¡¯t sure if she had decided to chase after the others instead.


    <i>...... Did he finally erase the rage the BOSS had towards him?</i>


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was secretly rejoicing, he suddenly widened his eyes because he discovered that the person next to Luo Mansu......


    That person who was supposed to be Ding Tiantian, had suddenly turned into the broken corpse of Ding Mimi!


    He hadn¡¯t even had the chance to warn Luo Mansu before he realized that Luo Mansu was staring at him in horror. He suddenly froze in ce. Did the person beside him also......


    He stiffly turned around, only to find that Tang Mianmian was still alive and well.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately shouted at Luo Mansu, ¡°Let go of her!¡±


    Luo Mansu reacted instantly, pushing ¡°Ding Tiantian¡± away. They were shocked to see ¡°Ding Tiantian¡± fall to the ground and break into countless pieces.


    Xiao Tangqiu had just breathed a sigh of relief and was about to say something when a figure rushed up to him, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wait for me?!¡±


    He stared in disbelief; it turned out to be Tang Mianmian!


    ¡°Quickly, let go of him!¡± Luo Mansu shouted.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately thrust aside the other Tang Mianmian, but was also afraid to approach the newly arrived Tang Mianmian. Luo Mansu ran up to him, grabbed him and started to run.


    Luo Mansu pulled Xiao Tangqiu along for quite a distance before Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t resist looking back. He found that both Tang Mianmian hadn¡¯t chased after them. They merely looked at him impassively, their faces revealing a creepy smile.


    ~~~


    P.S. I¡¯ve read yourments and........ all will be revealed (more or less) in the next chapter plus I promise ML makes an appearance soon!

 Chapter 24

    <h4>Chapter 24</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a chill run down his spine and ruthlessly shook off Luo Mansu¡¯s hand at once.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Luo Mansu seemed impatient, ¡°Hurry! Let¡¯s go! We can¡¯t let them catch up to us!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had on a wary expression. At that point, he was afraid to trust anyone. What¡¯s more, it was Luo Mansu, whom he had originally doubted. In his state of confusion, his gaze fell onto the shadow behind Luo Mansu..... It was clearly the shadow of a child!


    Xiao Tangqiu turned and ran without any hesitation. ¡°Luo Mansu¡± shouted as he chased after him, ¡°Why did you leave me behind? Why did you leave me behind?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t dare look back at ¡°Luo Mansu.¡± He only gritted his teeth and tried his best to speed up his pace. However, no matter how fast he ran, the thing seemed to stick to a certain distance behind him as if it were attached to his back.


    ¡°Do you want to leave me too?¡± The voice sounded faintly in his ear, then turned into a pitiful sob, just like the one he heard before.


    Wuwu.......


    Wuwuwu......


    Xiao Tangqiu felt the hairs stand on his back. Just when he thought he was going to die, the crying suddenly disappeared and his surroundings became extremely quiet.


    He looked up and realized that he had unknowingly ran into a strange courtyard, which was even more desertedpared to Yun Jizhou¡¯s courtyard. He immediately guessed who this courtyard belonged to.


    Indeed as he expected, in the courtyard, there was a tall watermelon tree, which was full ofrge watermelons.


    He couldn¡¯t help but stare at the watermelons on the tree. The more he looked at them, the more he felt that the lines on the watermelon skin resembled the facial features of a human being..... As soon as he thought of that, he felt sick all over, and at that instant, he suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of danger!


    A gust of rotten odor washed over him as he reflexively rolled onto the ground. A shovel was deeply smashed into the ground where he had been a moment before. Right then, Fang Lan flew towards him, pulled out the shovel and struck at him again!


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly crawled up, rolling and ducking to avoid Fang Lan¡¯s attack. Fang Lan waved the shovel frantically, using an enormous amount of strength. It was obvious just one strike and his head would burst open.


    Under extreme tension and fear, he calmed down instead and even led Fang Lan towards direction he wanted to go. He rolled and crawled towards the watermelon tree and stood beside it.


    The next second, the shovel swung hard at his head again!


    At that critical moment, he hugged his head and rolled on the ground, past Fang Lan¡¯s side. The shovel was deeply embedded into the tree trunk behind him. However, before he could breathe a sigh of relief at the thought that the BOSS had temporarily lost its weapon, Fang Lan smiled faintly and applied a tiny bit of strength....... The tree trunk that was so thick that a few people would be needed to surround it, broke along with the shovel.


    Fang Lan simply threw aside the shovel that had broken in half and turned to lunge at Xiao Tangqiu.


    His mind nked out. He was finished! He had no way out!


    Just when he thought he would die, Fang Lan was suddenly beaten aside with a long stick. His eyes widened in that instant. He couldn¡¯t believe it. What the fuck happened? Did he suddenly awaken some magical ability......


    ...... This violent shota! But what the hell is Qiuqiu?


    Xiao Tangqiu cursed and sweared as he threw himself at Tang Mianmian. Wuwuwu, when it really mattered, this guy was indeed still his most reliable and reassuring teammate!


    Right then, the tall tree fell to the ground!


    As the watermelon tree slowly fell to the ground, thoserge watermelons turned into heads ¨Cpletely lifelike heads with proper facial features!


    Xiao Tangqiu took a good look; those heads....... were clearly the people of Yun Manor! It was the Old Madame, Second Young Madam, the other womenfolk, servants, maids, and the housekeeper!


    The heads looked at him numbly; when the tree fell, the heads had dropped from the branches and rolled all over the ground.


    ¡°What the fuck! What the fuck!¡± Tang Mianmian was so frightened, he was holding his head as he scurried about.


    Xiao Tangqiu thought of the watermelon that Yang Bing and Lu Xiaotao had eaten; his mood was veryplicated. Before he could recover from the shock of the human head tree, Fang Lan had already lunged at him again.


    He quickly picked up the bamboo pole and tried to use it as a weapon like Tang Mianmian had. But when Fang Lan saw the bamboo pole clearly, her expression suddenly changed and the ferocity in her eyes deepened.


    She rushed straight at Xiao Tangqiu, but right then, a ck figure suddenly appeared from the bamboo pole, blocking the blow for Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°Zhou..... Hai......¡±


    ¡°......Zhou Hai!¡±


    Fang Lan looked at the figure in front of her with bitterness and hatred in her eyes.


    The person standing in front of Xiao Tangqiu was the old boatman who was missing his eyes, the very same one that had sent them to Yunjia Vige!


    In the midst of their shock, several other people rushed in. It was Yan Yiyan and others. Yan Yiyan shouted, ¡°Fang Lan! I know what you¡¯re looking for! The person you¡¯re looking for is in...... ¡°


    After noticing the scene in front of her, Yan Yiyan stopped speaking in surprise. She obviously hadn¡¯t expected that the plot had already developed till this point, but very quickly, she shouted again, ¡°Fang Lan! The reason why you turned into an evil spirit is because you hate the people of Yun Manor, the vigers of Yunjia, and the person who abandoned you. You¡¯ve already ughtered all of the people in the Yun Manor and Yunjia Vige, and now you¡¯ve found the person who abandoned you. Let us out!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly burst out, ¡°That¡¯s not right!¡±


    Yan Yiyan frowned slightly. What the hell was this rookie doing at such a critical point?!


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong, Zhou Hai did not abandon her,¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly understood everything. ¡°When they agreed to elope, Zhou Hai didn¡¯t keep his promise, not because he had abandoned her, but because...... Zhou Hai was dead, am I right?¡±


    Fang Lan red resentfully at Zhou Hai, who stood in front of Xiao Tangqiu, not saying a word for a long time. The old blind man floated silently mid-air. He didn¡¯t have a body, or eyes, so no one could tell what his emotions were.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that he didn¡¯t keep his promise, but it was because he couldn¡¯t keep to it. He died and his soul could only stay on the boat,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said softly, ¡°You hate him for abandoning you and leaving you to die alone. You hate that he didn¡¯te save you from the Yun Manor.....¡±


    Fang Lan turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu, her eyes overflowing with bitter hatred.


    ¡°You dug up his body from his grave, gouged out his eyes, brought his skull back to Yun Manor, and threw it to the bottom of the well just so you could find his soul, right?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was sure that he had figured it out, ¡°The entire Yunjia Vige was under your curse, but you still couldn¡¯t find him..... only we, as yers, can find him.¡±


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve found him, you can do whatever you want to him, whether it¡¯s scatter his soul or stop him from ever being reincarnated..... Just let us out!¡± Yan Yiyan interrupted.


    ¡°Why.....¡± Fang Lan looked hatefully at Zhou Hai as she screamed angrily.


    Xiao Tangqiu answered, ¡°It¡¯s because he was already dead.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t asking you!¡± Fang Lan was furious.


    Zhou Hai looked at Fang Lan as two streams of bloody tears flowed from his empty eye sockets eyes, ¡°I¡¯m sorry...... Ah Lan......¡±


    ¡°Why...... why didn¡¯t youe then?!¡± There was so much pain within Fang Lan¡¯s resentful gaze, ¡°It was so cold..... I was drowned alive in the river...... the river was so cold..... and my child......¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s my child?!¡± She suddenly seemed to remember her child and angrily roared, ¡°Where¡¯s my child?¡±


    ¡°Here!¡± Luo Mansu quivered as he put down the broken rattle. Ding Tiantian, who originally held onto the rattle, must¡¯ve ran into trouble.


    As soon as the broken rattle touched the ground, it turned into an infant spirit that was several months old. It smiled, revealing a mouthful of fangs as it cried with resentment. The moment Fang Lan looked at it, her originally hateful gaze gradually turned more loving.


    The infant spirit stumbled into Fang Lan¡¯s arms and was carried by Fang Lan.


    ¡°You¡¯ve found Zhou Hai, and also your child. Can you can let us go now?¡± Yan Yiyan gritted her teeth and asked Fang Lan.


    Fang Lan looked coldly at the yers in front of her, his gaze turning bitter once more, ¡°You will never leave this hell......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart turned cold. What happened? Did they fail the mission?!


    However, at that point, the same cold and mechanical system¡¯s voice from the start of the game, sounded in his ears, ¡°Dear yers, congrattions forpleting the D-level mission [Fishing Vige¡¯s Haunted House] andpleting the mission objective [Lifting the Curse of the Fishing Vige]. The time limit is 3 days, and the yers will receive 500 points.....¡±


    ¡°The mission ispleted, you will be leaving this instance soon.....¡±


    Mission aplished!


    Looks like this D-level mission wasn¡¯t that difficult after all!


    In just a few seconds, Xiao Tangqiu was so happy that he almost couldn¡¯t breathe. Just as he let out a sigh of relief and was about to sit his butt down, Fang Lan¡¯s expression suddenly turned into one of horror. She screamed out in fear, ¡°He¡¯s here! He¡¯s here! ¡°


    ...... He? Who is he?


    Following Fang Lan¡¯s shrill screams, the system¡¯s voice suddenly rang out once more.


    ¡°..... Dear yers, congrattions for triggering the S-level hidden mission [???] Your mission objective is....[???], the time limit is [???] days, afterpleting this mission, you will receive 50000 points and special rewards.....¡±


    ~~~


    P.S. Sorry for thete update! There was something up with the site earlier but it¡¯s all fixed now Also, the scene where FL asked ZH why he didn¡¯te was so heart-breaking! I was crying while I tranted

 Chapter 25

    <h4>Chapter 25</h4>


    As soon as the cold, mechanical system¡¯s voice faded, Xiao Tangqiu was keenly aware of the changes in the surrounding environment. The temperature seemed to drop more than ten degrees in an instant, and a cold and dreadful atmosphere spread.


    ¡°What the fuck? What¡¯s going on?¡± Tang Mianmian shouted and ran towards Xiao Tangqiu, instinctively hiding behind Xiao Tangqiu until he realized a momentter that he was actually a little taller than him. There was no way to hide behind him...... But after struggling with that for a second, he still stayed behind Xiao Tangqiu without any hesitation.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with that either. In the past, when he and Tang Mianmian live streamed horror games together, he was basically always the leader, so he was always the first one in the line of danger. ¡°Calm down first, did you hear that just now?¡±


    ¡°Hear....hear what?¡± Tang Mianmian stammered, ¡°Do you mean the system¡¯s voice?¡±


    Before he could answer, Luo Mansu answered Tang Mianmian¡¯s question. Luo Mansu¡¯s face changed drastically as he cried out, ¡°The mission has been upgraded?! This can¡¯t be! This was clearly just a D-level mission! How the fuck did a D-level mission get upgraded to S-level?! ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu reacted immediately. Obviously, everyone had heard the system¡¯s voice report the mission upgrade just now; it wasn¡¯t just him. He also keenly noticed the change in Luo Mansu. Before that, he always suspected that Luo Mansu was hiding something. But now his suspicions were confirmed.


    If Luo Mansu¡¯s reaction when faced with danger before was somewhat superficial, then his panic at this moment was obviously from the heart ¨C it was real terror.


    ¡°S-level mission?!¡± Yan Yiyan was also frightened out of her wits. ¡°This can¡¯t be! This can¡¯t be!¡±


    She turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu and the others. Her expression turned ugly, ¡°What the hell did you do just now? How did we trigger an S-level mission upgrade? Are you all fucking idiots?! An S-level mission isn¡¯t something that you can simply pass! If you want to die, don¡¯t drag us down with you!¡±


    Next to her, Xia Jingjing and Xia Chenxuan also looked pale. Xia Jingjing trembled with fear, ¡°Big sis Yan, what should we do? There¡¯s no way we canplete an S-level mission! We¡¯ll die! We¡¯ll definitely die!¡±


    Xia Chenxuan tried his best to remain calm, but he was also greatly shaken, ¡°Let¡¯s just get out of here first!¡±


    They had no objections, so with a heavy heart, they hurried towards the gates of Yun Manor. But soon, they were shocked to find that aside from the Yun Manor, the entire Yunjia Vige had been swallowed up by the abyss! The abyss continued to spread, and everything that had been engulfed by it had started to crumble and fall apart.


    They fell into a state of horror and silence until Xiao Tangqiu finally opened his mouth to say, ¡°Does this mean that the location of this mission is limited to the Yun Manor?¡±


    Luo Mansuughed bitterly, ¡°Generally speaking, there are no time or space limits for S-level missions. Although only a few people actually make it out of an S-level mission, some of their experiences have been shared with us. But this kind of S-level mission that was upgraded due to us triggering certain conditions during the mission, contains a lot of uncertainties. We don¡¯t have any experience to refer to, plus there aren¡¯t any hints......¡±


    They were supposed toplete a mission but they didn¡¯t know what the mission was, and on top of that, they werepletely in the dark and inexperienced. Was it even possible toplete such a mission?


    <i>It was simply impossible ah!</i>


    ¡°There is indeed no punishment,¡± Luo Mansu said with a wry smile, ¡°but even if there¡¯s no punishment, do you think we can get out of an S-level mission alive?¡±


    Even if there wasn¡¯t any punishment for failing the mission, the premise was that they could sessfully make it to the end!


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to ask something when Luo Mansu¡¯s face suddenly turned ugly, ¡°Someone¡¯sing!¡±


    ¡°Who is it? The BOSS?¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered that Fang Lan had mentioned a ¡°he¡± and immediately became vignt.


    They turned to look back and saw a figure gradually approaching the gates ¨C that person had actually walked out from the abyss!


    ¡°Who is it?!¡± Yan Yiyan shouted.


    ¡°It¡¯s me! It¡¯s me!¡± The man replied, ¡°Why did you leave me behind when you ran away earlier?¡±


    They were shocked to hear that and stared intently ahead ¨C the man who appeared from the abyss turned out to be Lu Dadong!


    Lu Dadong..... That¡¯s right! They had forgotten about Lu Dadong! This useless, good-for-nothing coward who had done nothing but eat, sleep and wait to be saved had actually managed to muddle along to the end!


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. Wait a minute! There seemed to be something wrong about this......


    ¡°Why did you leave me behind......¡±


    Lu Dadong muttered as he walked slowly towards them.


    Yan Yiyan and the others also noticed that something was wrong and immediately shouted, ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t move!¡±


    ¡°Why did you leave me behind.....¡±


    Lu Dadong continued to mutter to himself; it seemed that he couldn¡¯t hear what anyone else was saying. He walked straight towards them...... Xiao Tangqiu finally realized what was wrong about him ¨C it was his walking posture! Lu Dadong¡¯s walking posture looked very wrong!


    Lu Dadong wasn¡¯t walking with his feet at all, and the movement of his arms were also very strange; they twisted like noodles. His limbs, including his neck, had all twisted at an abnormal angle, just like they had been broken by someone and then forcefully pinned back together. As he ¡°walked,¡± his head shook and swung, as though it would fall off at any moment.


    By the time Lu Dadong had walked up to them, they finally realized what had happened. Lu Dadong was long dead as a doornail. His facial features and limbs had been forcibly pieced together after he had died!


    ¡°Why...... did you leave......me......¡± He strained to move his eyeballs to look at them, but his eyeballs popped out, fell to the ground and rolled to Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s feet.


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± Xia Jingjing couldn¡¯t help but scream. She immediately turned and ran.


    ¡°Hehe......¡± Lu Dadong¡¯s severed throat issued a dry, horribleughter. In the next second, he appeared behind Xia Jingjing, stretched out a hand that lookedpletely devoid of any bones, and suddenly reached out to grab¡ª


    ¡°Jingjing!¡± Xia Chenxuan cried out loud.


    Xia Jingjing stared in disbelief, looking down at her own body, which now had a big, gaping hole. She didn¡¯t even have the chance to scream before she died. The moment her body fell to the ground, it broke into countless pieces.


    ¡°......Jingjing!¡± Xia Chenxuan roared as he lunged at Lu Dadong, but the moment his hand touched Lu Dadong¡¯s body, numerous fine ck fments appeared on his arm. Then, his body split apart in pieces as well.


    Yan Yiyan saw the situation and quickly ran without hesitation. She ran very swiftly, seeming to achieve a speed that exceeded the limit of human beings. Lu Dadong slowly turned to looked at Xiao Tangqiu and the others, then turned around, saw Yan Yiyan running away and chased after her.


    That one nce from Lu Dadong nearly stopped Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart. When he recovered from the shock, he grabbed Tang Mianmian¡¯s wrist and pulled him forwards, ¡°Run!¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression was full of panic: ¡°Where....where..... where are we going to run to?!¡±


    Was there any ce that was safe here?!


    ¡°...... Let¡¯s go to Yun Jizhou¡¯s room!¡± Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth.


    ¡°Ok! I¡¯ll listen to you!¡± Tang Mianmian was so frightened even his tears wouldn¡¯t fall.


    Halfway through, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly turned around and saw Luo Mansu still standing in the distance. When Luo Mansu noticed him looking back, he gave a slight smile.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart filled with horror but in the next second, Luo Mansu disappeared.


    He remained shocked for less than a second when his attention was pulled back by Tang Mianmian. Tang Mianmian had great strength and ran extremely fast. At first, he was the one pulling along Tang Mianmian, who had been scared weak. But very quickly, their situations were reversed and Tang Mianmian ended up dragging him as he ran.


    It was in this manner that Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian ran until they reached Yun Jizhou¡¯s courtyard. Perhaps they were in luck because Lu Dadong didn¡¯t catch up to them.


    After the two men entered the room, Tang Mianmian quickly closed the door.


    ¡°What are we going to do? What are we going to do?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly, ¡°I don¡¯t know either..... Let¡¯s hide and let fate take its course!¡±


    Tang Mianmian asked despondently, ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°We can only take a gamble!¡± Xiao Tangqiu bit the bullet. ¡°There¡¯s space in the wardrobe and underneath the bed. You can hide in one ce and I¡¯ll hide in the other......¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll hide in the wardrobe!¡± Tang Mianmian quickly said, ¡°But you can¡¯t hide under this bed! It doesn¡¯t cover you at all!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu saw that the bed was bare. He ground his teeth, ¡°....There¡¯s still the coffin..... I¡¯ll hide in the coffin! ¡°


    ¡°But.... someone died in that coffin!¡± Tang Mianmian hesitated but was kicked into the wardrobe by Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°We¡¯re already at this point..... Who cares?!¡± Xiao Tangqiu helped Tang Mianmian close the wardrobe door from outside, then turned and lifted the coffin lid. As he expected, the body inside had disappeared, leaving only a red wedding dress......


    He strengthened his resolve and climbed into the coffin, lying on the red wedding dress. Then, he covered the coffin lid and closed his eyes.


    Right then, footsteps sounded outside the door.

 Chapter 26

    <h4>Chapter 26</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiuy inside the coffin; before him was the pitch-ck coffin lid and under him was the cold, red wedding dress. Hearing the faint sound of footsteps outside the door, he was so nervous that he almost couldn¡¯t breathe. His pounding heart felt as if it would jump out of his chest.


    Even though he knew that someone had died in this coffin previously, that the red wedding dress had been worn by a dead person not too long ago,pared to the threat outside the door, this was nothing.


    Would the person outside the door discover them? Would that person find him?


    He had no doubt and even understood clearly, that his current actions were akin to burying his head in the sand, but at this life or death juncture, he could only take a risk.


    Creak


    The door was pushed open.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart suddenly sank, but he still tried to hold his breath. He covered his mouth with his hand and didn¡¯t dare to make a sound.


    Because he was so afraid, he could even feel that his five senses were much more acute. He could hear Tang Mianmian¡¯s chaotic breathing from the wardrobe not too far away. Although Tang Mianmian tried his best to restrain his breathing, he was still breathing rather heavily because of intense fear. It sounded especially loud in the empty and silent room.


    ...... They were finished!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind nked out; he could feel the footsteps walking towards the wardrobe. Those footsteps were neither fast nor slow, but each step was like a de of death. There was no doubt that those footsteps were the footsteps of death.


    Tang Mianmian, who was in the wardrobe, had obviously heard the footsteps as well. His breathing grew heavier and heavier, and there seemed to be the sound of rustling and trembling.


    This idiot! Why the hell was he shaking at a time like this? Xiao Tangqiu was extremely anxious and found that he was trembling all over as well. His hands were cold and bloodless because of his nervousness. He instinctively groped around the coffin, looking for something to make use of.


    However, there was nothing in this coffin except for the red wedding dress beneath him. He felt around the slightly stiff red wedding dress for a long time. Gradually, his hands seemed to be stained with some sort of warm liquid that smelled of rust.


    It was the smell of fresh blood.


    Xiao Tangqiu was frightened out of his wits, and quickly removed his hands. But he soon discovered that there was blood flowing out from the red wedding dress beneath him That warm viscous liquid gradually spread, filling up every inch of the coffin bit by bit, slowly submerging his calf, knee, half of the body......


    Xiao Tangqiu was terrified; sooner orter, the blood would fill that entire coffin and drown him!


    When the blood started to soak his face, he finally raised his hand to push the coffin lid, but something even more frightening urred ¨C the coffin lid wouldn¡¯t budge move. He was trapped inside the coffin!


    He felt deep despair as he imagined the scene of him being drowned alive in a bloody coffin. However, at that moment, something strange happened!


    His eyes suddenly lit up. Someone had opened the coffin lid!


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could even breathe a sigh of relief, he was immediately overwhelmed by pure terror. The person outside the coffin was Lu Dadong.


    Yun Jizhou! Was he the ultimate BOSS?!


    Yun Jizhou stood beside the coffin, looking down at Xiao Tangqiu whoid inside the coffin. His eyes were pitch-ck and deep, as heartless and cold as the abyss.


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his mouth to say something but in the next second, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest!


    He lowered his head slowly, only to find that Yun Jizhou had stabbed his hand into his chest and grasped that wildly-beating heart of his. With Yun Jizhou¡¯s strength, all he had to do was use a little force to effortlessly crush his fragile heart.


    It wasn¡¯t until then that he discovered that he had somehow inexplicably put on the red wedding dress. The fresh blood sputtering out from his chest stained the wedding dress even more red, redder than the one worn by Fang Lan in her memory.


    Was he going to die.......


    Just like that?


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyelids with difficulty and looked at Yun Jizhou who stood outside the coffin. It seemed that the BOSS didn¡¯t want to let him die easily. He lowered his gaze, long eyshes half falling as he stared deeply at Xiao Tangqiu, as though he intended to watch the life slowly fade out of him.


    Due to excessive blood loss, the scene before Xiao Tangqiu started to turn fuzzy. He vaguely saw another person¡¯s face through Yun Jizhou.


    His lips moved faintly, and subconsciously he called out that person¡¯s name, ¡°........Xinghe.¡±


    ¡°Meng Xinghe......¡±


    This was probably the light that one sees before death........


    He actually saw Meng Xinghe...... his closest friend that had died seven years ago.


    Was he really going to die?


    ¡°Xinghe......¡±


    ...... Did youe to take me away?


    Xiao Tangqiu slowly closed his eyes. Before hepletely fell into darkness, he vaguely felt something hot against his lips...... It was as if something warm and soft was stuck to his lips.


    <i>It was like......</i>


    <i>A kiss.</i>


    He drifted off in thought. Indeed, it was as expected of someone who had been single for more than 20 years; he actually thought the BOSS was beautiful. What¡¯s more, he had even fantasized that he was being kissed by the BOSS....... It¡¯s a pity, just a bit more, and he could¡¯ve sessfully transformed from a virgin to a wizard. But, the result was, he was just going to die like that. He was really unwilling ah.


    ¡°S-level hidden mission [???] Failure! Mission objective [???] Notpleted! The time limit is [???] days, the yer gets 0 points and there is no penalty.¡±


    ¡°Mission failure. Leaving the instance........¡±


    <i>...... Was he hearing voices?</i>


    <i>Why did he seem to have heard that annoying system¡¯s voice?</i>


    ¡°Mission failure. Leaving the instance..........¡±


    That¡¯s not it! It wasn¡¯t an auditory hallucination! He had really heard the system¡¯s voice!


    Xiao Tangqiu grew excited at once. Was he still alive?!


    Just as that thought crossed his mind, the cold and mechanical system¡¯s voice suddenly felt very lovely and amiable to him.


    He didn¡¯t die!


    ¡°Congrattions to the yer for getting the special skill card [Sexy Streamer¡¯s Live Stream Channel]. Once the special skill card is bound, it cannot be exchanged. It will disappear after death. Does the yer want to bind?¡±


    The system¡¯s voice rang out again.


    Special skill card? What the hell was that? Xiao Tangqiu was full of doubts, but in the next second, he subconsciously he replied ¡°yes¡±...... After all, this special skill card sounded quite powerful! He definitely had to bind the card!


    Instantly, a ck card appeared in his hand. He was just about to take a look at it when the card fused into his body.


    ¡°Binding sessful!¡±


    As soon as the system¡¯s cold voice sounded, he found that a screen had suddenly appeared in front of him. It was semi-transparent like a projection screen. However, the interface on the screen was very familiar ¨C ¡°The live stream channel of streamer, Little Candy Ball!¡± What the fuck?! Wasn¡¯t this his channel? Thements section on the side and the in-stream reward interface were exactly the same!


    What shocked him even more was that the live stream had actually stopped at the scene of him in a red wedding dress, being hugged and kissed by Ultimate BOSS Yun Jizhou! ...........It turned out that the kiss wasn¡¯t an illusion.


    No! This wasn¡¯t the point! The point was that........ there was a barrage ofments across the live stream screen!


    ¡°Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah! What¡¯s this mutual love and murder between the streamer and the BOSS! It¡¯s so adorable! My head is filled with ten thousand words! Heeheeheehee!¡±


    ¡°Presenting a pen to Laoda! Also seeking for Laoda¡¯s blog page! I¡¯ll visit and give you a big reward! I¡¯ll reward the streamer with 100 crosses too! The streamer is very cute! Jiumi, jiumi!¡±


    ¡°Am I the only one who ships the live streamer and his best friend? Two little shous embracing each other with love and affection is the cutest! Like two fluffy rabbits huddled together to keep warm! They¡¯re too cute! ¡°


    ¡°Instead of shipping two shous, you might as well ship white lilies! I support the streamer and the BOSS! Begging for the streamer to live stream being pressed down by the BOSS! I¡¯ll reward the streamer with 200 holy water! ¡±


    ......


    Cute? As if?!


    Xiao Tangqiu felt like he was about to spurt blood out his nose. Although a lot the audience used to ship him and Tang Mianmian when they live streamed together, the problem was....... Couldn¡¯t they see the hand that Yun Jizhou had stabbed into his chest?! He couldn¡¯t bear such a bloody romance ah!


    <i>Wait, no, that wasn¡¯t the point!</i>


    There seemed to be something wrong with the content of the rewards!


    Why the hell was it all crosses, silver bullets, holy water, yellow talismans, ck dog blood....... What the hell were these?


    <i>...... Wait! That wasn¡¯t the point either!</i>


    The most important point was ¨C what the hell was this live stream channel?

 Chapter 27

    <h4>Chapter 27</h4>


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu? Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    ......


    Who is it?


    Who¡¯s calling him?


    Xiao Tangqiu had difficulty opening his eyes, but in the next second, he was faced with Tang Mianmian¡¯s zoomed-in face because he was leaning too close his own face. It almost scared him into cardiac arrest.


    Seeing that he was conscious, Tang Mianmian got excited, ¡°You¡¯re finally awake! That¡¯s great! I thought you were dead!¡± As he spoke, he started to cry.


    Was he joking?! How could he be dead? He was clearly alive and well......


    Wait a minute... he seemed.........to have really died?


    ...... Didn¡¯t the BOSS stab a hand through his chest? So was he dead? Wait a minute! There seemed to be something else...... What the hell was live stream channel thing about?!


    ¡°Tang Mianmian?¡± Xiao Tangqiu struggled to stretch out his hand and touched Tang Mianmian¡¯s face. He found that it was warm to the touch, so he felt his own face as well. It was also warm. ¡°You¡¯re not dead? I¡¯m not dead either? What happened?¡± <i>If they were already dead, how could their bodies still feel warm?</i>


    Tang Mianmian dived into Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s arms and sobbed loudly, ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened..... I hid in the wardrobe the entire time. I didn¡¯t even dare to look out. After a while, I heard movement outside, so I looked out quietly through the crack in the door...... and then I saw the BOSS kill you! I thought you were dead!¡±


    Bit by bit, Xiao Tangqiu started to recall that scene, and couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly ¡°I also thought that I was finished......¡±


    Hearing Tang Mianmian¡¯s words, Xiao Tangqiu shifted his attention to their surroundings. His heart sank at once ¨C obviously, this wasn¡¯t the real world. Were they somehow drawn into a new mission without their knowledge?


    This was a reallyrge square, much bigger than the public recreational square downstairs of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s apartment, where several dance aunties would fight for space and gather every day. It was almost impossible to see till the end. A tall sculpture stood in the middle of the square, facing Xiao Tangqiu.


    It was a sculpture of a woman. The sculpture seemed to be arrogantly looking down as it overlooked all life from its high position. Although there were no eyeballs in its eye sockets, Xiao Tangqiu thought he saw a hint of pity for all things living within those eyes.


    With Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s extremely limited knowledge of the arts, he really couldn¡¯t tell whose statue it was, but subconsciously he felt a little ufortable. So, he turned away to look elsewhere. Not far from the statue was a row of horizontal white cylinders, which looked a bit like a coffin at first nce. But at a closer look, they resembled the transfer chambers depicted in holographic video games.


    He stared at it for a while, only to find that behind the row of white cylinders were rows and rows and rows of....... the square was almost filled up with these cylinders!


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Tang Mianmian had also caught sight of those things, and was shocked, ¡°What the hell are they? Coffins? Is this some sort of special morgue? ¡°


    ¡°Such a big morgue? Plus it¡¯s open air?¡± Xiao Tangqiu gave Tang Mianmian the side eye, ¡°Stop spouting nonsense! Didn¡¯t you see someone climbing out of one of those things?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face twisted, ¡°Isn¡¯t that more frightening?! The corpse hase back to life ah!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared intently at those who climbed out of the white cylinders. Almost instantly, he confirmed the identities of those people. They were probably ¡°yers¡± like he and Tang Mianmian.


    Just then, a group of people suddenly appeared out of thin air in the empty space beside Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian. There were about seven or eight people; some of them were awake, others were unconscious, just like Xiao Tangqiu had been earlier.


    When that group of people realized that they were somewhere else, some of them cheered, some looked like they were in a trance, while others cried and shouted.


    ¡°We¡®ve finally escaped! We did it!¡±


    ¡°We..... survived? We actually....... survived......¡±


    ¡°Older Brother! Where¡¯s my older brother? Why isn¡¯t he with us? Older brother!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also discovered the identity of this group of people at once. They were most likely rookies like he and Tang Mianmian, while the other group of people who climbed out from white cylinders over there were also yers, but they were obviously experienced old yers.


    Xiao Tangqiu imperceptibly studied the old yers. The old yers were clearly used to new rookies appearing in front of the sculpture. They paid no attention and didn¡¯t even spare a nce to that bunch of noisy rookies.


    After leaving the white cylinders, they went their own separate ways. Some walked towards outside of the square, while others walked to the front of the sculpture in the center.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know what those people wanted to do and couldn¡¯t help but stare at them for a while. But then, he saw them standing in front of the sculpture with their eyes closed as if they were praying. Then, a light shone from the sculpture¡¯s eyes and fell onto their bodies


    And then they disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu was dumbfounded. Tang Mianmian¡¯s jaw dropped in shock as well, ¡°What the fuck is that?! They...... they......they disappeared?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a transfer array. Don¡¯t make such a big fuss.¡±


    A slightly conspicuous, cold female voice rang out. Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously turned to look; he saw a woman dressed entirely in form-fitting ck clothes, slowly walk up to them.


    This woman was tall, with a strong physique and pleasant facial features. In the real world, she would be regarded as a beautiful woman, but her eyes were weary with the vicissitudes of life and her face looked tired. ¡°In the city of the abyss, there are many things you can imagine and many things that you can¡¯t. Anything unbelievable can happen. Don¡¯t be surprised. You¡¯ll soon get used to it..... just like us.¡±


    Tang Mianmian had just narrowly escaped death when he was suddenly faced with a big beauty. He stared fixedly at her, his eyes almost popping out.


    Xiao Tangqiu finally realized the biggest difference between the neers and the old yers. Take Tang Mianmian as an example ¨C although he was frightened, his eyes still gleamed with hope. The woman dressed in all ck had reacted calmly as if she wasn¡¯t affected by the instance world at all, but there was apathy in her expression and eyes...... Even though the other old yers who had just crawled out of the white cylinders had different expressions on their faces, there was the same apathy within their gaze.


    He looked at the woman in ck with some vignce, ¡°Who are you? What is the city of the abyss?¡± He didn¡¯t believe that there were people in this terrible ce who would show goodwill without a reason.


    The woman in ck smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t you already know what the city of the abyss is? This is the city of the abyss. As for my identity....... You¡¯re already acquainted with me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, ¡°Yan Yiyan?¡± Although this ck-d woman lookedpletely different from Yan Yiyan, she did say that anything incredible could happen here....... then, changing her appearance shouldn¡¯t be a big deal.......


    The woman in ck sighed, stretched out her hand and stroked her thick, luscious hair, ¡°I almost forgot to say.... Dear rookies, wee to the abyss!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt as though he had been struck by lightning.


    Beside him, Tang Mianmian had finally reacted, immediately crying out loud, ¡°Fuck! Fucking hell! Are you Luo Mansu?!¡± <i>The big baldy with the big gold chain!</i>


    The big baldy had suddenly changed into a beautiful woman. Should he be amazed or was he disillusioned? Tang Mianmian¡¯s face contorted; he asked her in a daze, ¡°Are you a...... big baldy....... or a Buddhist monk.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu earnestly pondered over his question, ¡°Is there any difference between the two?¡±


    The woman in ck smiled, ¡°Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Su Manluo. I¡¯m a District A yer and the captain of Thorn Team. You can regard everything that happened in the instance as a test for you neers. As the captain of Thorn, I formally invite you to join our team.¡±

 Chapter 28

    <h4>Chapter 28</h4>


    District A¡¯s strong yer?


    Thorn Team?


    Countless question marks shed through Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s brain. Without waiting for him to speak, Su Manluo seemed to know that he had questions. She smiled faintly, ¡°I know you must have a lot questions you want to ask. We can¡¯t stay here for long. Let¡¯s talk as we walk.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other. Anyway, they had no better choice now, so they followed Su Manluo.


    Su Manluo led the two men to the exit of the square, exining as she walked, ¡°This is the transfer square. yers enter the instance from here ande back here after returning from the instance. The instance is what we call those missions and we call ourselves yers...... The world is actually simr to a game. We yers get stronger and stronger through constant missions, defeating monsters and upgrades. However, there isn¡¯t a resurrection point in the game for revival. So, once you¡¯re dead, you¡¯re really dead.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°Did those people who suddenly disappeared just now enter the..... instance?¡±


    ¡°No, they were transferred to the main city. To be transferred into the instance, you get in those white transfer modules; those over there.¡± Su Manluo pointed to the white cylinders and lightly added, ¡°But in fact, once the timees, no matter where you are, you¡¯ll be directly transferred into the instance. The old yers would rather use the transfer modules to enter the game, because the transfer modules have a protective function. Of course, once you enter the instance, your body will be transferred in as well, but when you return from the instance, your body may be weak for a period of time, especially after being injured in-game. The more serious the injury in the instance, the longer this phasests. If you made enemies during the mission, your enemies can attack you when you¡¯re vulnerable. But if you¡¯re in a transport module, you can spend that period inside until your body restores itself to the best condition before leaving.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly understood; it¡¯s no wonder he was in aa for some time earlier. It was Tang Mianmian who had woken him up. So it was because he had been injured in the instance..... He subconsciously touched the spot where the wound had been, only to find that it had restored back to normal.


    ¡°No matter how badly injured you were in the instance, even if you broke your arms and legs, as long as there¡¯s still a breath left in you, you can be restored after you get back here.¡± Su Manluo watched Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s move and smiled, ¡°Even those who originally didn¡¯t have their arms and legs in the real world can be just like a normal person after getting here...... Isn¡¯t it amazing? But then again, there are many amazing and strange things here.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly. In his heart he thought, this setting wasn¡¯t unusual at all. It was so damn tacky!


    ¡°What does District A mean?¡±


    ¡°Just outside of here, is the city of the abyss, which is the ce where we yers live. The city of the abyss is very big but I can¡¯t say exactly how big it is. It¡¯s shaped like a huge circle. The four districts are sectioned from the outside in. From the outermost, they are District D, District C, District B, District A, and the center is District S.¡± Su Manluo said faintly, ¡°As the name implies, the District A yers are qualified to live in District A and so on. District S yers are the top powerhouse above all the other yers. Apart from District D, it takes a lot of points to enter these districts. District D doesn¡¯t require any points. It¡¯s the ce for neers to settle down when they first enter this world. It¡¯s also the most chaotic, where you¡¯ll find a mix of good people and crooks. We call it Newbie Vige. The ce outside Newbie Vige is also the main city, which I mentioned earlier.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu got what she meant. Su Manluo had entered the instance in order to recruit new yers. No wonder an experienced old yer her hadn¡¯t done anything, as if she was just following along for the experience. All along, her objective was to secretly observe the newbies and see if there were any diamonds in the rough.


    Su Manluo smiled faintly, ¡°If you¡¯re willing to join Thorn, I can take you guys on your next mission. Although I can¡¯t guarantee you¡¯ll make it, it¡¯s definitely better than attempting on your own. How about that? Would you like to join our team?¡± Although Su Manluo sounded like she was asking, her face was full of confidence, as though she was already sure that the two would agree to her invitation.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately thought of something ¨C the silent trio in thatst instance seemed to be the case of an old yer bringing two new yers. But the brother and sister should be neers who had at least experienced one instance before that. Unfortunately, they had died in thatst instance.


    ¡°How did you manage to escape thatst instance?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help asking Su Manluo the one thing that he just couldn¡¯t figure out.


    Su Manluo paused, then smiled, ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal if I tell you since you¡¯ll find out sooner orter. I used a prop that allowed me to forcibly exit the game.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian both froze at the same time, asking in unison, ¡°A prop that allows you to forcibly exit the game?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, yers have a certain probability of receiving skill cards and props in the instance. Of course, it mostly depends on luck and personality.¡± Su Manluo grinned, ¡°Skill cards are divided into ordinary skill cards and special skill cards, and props are divided into many types. You¡¯lle across them in the future. The one I used was one of the more special props, but it¡¯s a one-time prop, so I can only use it once.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered the special skill card he got. He opened his mouth and wanted to ask, but when the words reached his mouth, he was swallowed them back down.


    ¡°So, have you decided?¡± Su Manluo asked again.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated and was wondering whether to ept Su Manluo¡¯s invitation or not when suddenly a burst of chatter sounded from somewhere nearby.


    Tang Mianmian and Xaio Tangqiu instinctively turned to look in the direction where the noise wasing from and saw several extremely eye-catching people emerge from the crowd. This sort of conspicuousness was not only reflected in their appearance, but also in their aura.


    The appearance of these people were very prominent, and their aura was even more powerful and harder to ignore. The excited and hardly-restrained whispers of onlookers all the more gave away they extraordinary identities.


    Su Manluo noticed their looks and narrowed her eyes slightly, ¡°......Those aren¡¯t people you can afford to offend. They¡¯re all strong yers of District S and members of Samsara Team.¡±


    ¡°Samsara Team?¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked puzzled.


    ¡°Samsara is one of the top three teams in District S. All of their members are District S yers and are among the top yers.¡± Su Manluo sighed, ¡°You don¡¯t even know how many yers want to join them. They have the strongest teammates, the best skill cards and props, the most advanced intelligence, but they don¡¯t simply ept anyone......¡±


    She smiled wryly, ¡°Even a District A yer won¡¯t be taken seriously by them, what more rookies like you. Just stop your wishful thinking.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t expected to be able to join such a strong team either; he was just curious. But when caught sight of one of the yers in that group of people, he felt his head heat up as if all the blood in his body had rushed up to his head at once.


    That was a young man in his twenties. He had a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes and a tear mole under his left eye. His appearance was dreamy and romantic but he had a cold, distant temperament. His eyes were like a frozen spring that seemed to give off the impression that nothing was ever good enough to deserve his attention, and his eyebrows had a touch of icy indifference.


    This face! Even if he were to be burned to ashes, he would still recognize that face! This was clearly the face of a grown-up Meng Xinghe.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart pounded violently, and he cried out loud, ¡°...... Xinghe! Xinghe!¡±


    He didn¡¯t care about anything else as he single-mindedly pushed himself through the crowd of onlookers, all the way to the front of the crowd, making his way to the front of the man with great difficulty. He shouted fervently, ¡°Xinghe! You didn¡¯t die! You¡¯re still alive!¡±


    But the man didn¡¯t even spare him a nce and merely walked straight past him.


    Xiao Tangqiu froze for a moment, it was as if his body had been struck by iceberg, ¡°Xinghe? Xinghe........ Meng Xinghe!¡±


    Perhaps his voice was too loud because the man finally stopped and gave him with a sidelong nce, his gazepletely calm and without any fluctuations. Although he was looking at him, it was as if he hadn¡¯t seen anything.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt his entire body go limp, like he had been nailed to the spot by that one nce.


    Very quickly, the man and hispanions entered the transfer array, their figures disappearing at once. The crowd of onlookers gradually scattered away, leaving Xiao Tangqiu alone, still at the same spot.


    Su Manluo walked over and sighed, ¡°You must¡¯ve mistook him for someone else. The man¡¯s name isn¡¯t the name you called out, nor is his surname Meng.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked nkly, ¡°Who is he then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the captain of Samsara Squad, one of the strongest yers in District S..... His name is Shen Yuan.¡±


    ~~~


    P.S. MXH trantes to river of stars.... Isn¡¯t that so dreamy and romantic (just like his face)?

 Chapter 29

    <h4>Chapter 29</h4>


    ¡°Shen Yuan?¡± Xiao Tangqiu repeated that name in a daze. His mind was nk. Wasn¡¯t that Meng Xinghe? How did he be Shen Yuan? Was it really not the same person? Was he really mistaken?


    But ... That was clearly Meng Xinghe!


    He and Meng Xinghe had grown up together, how could he mistake someone else for Meng Xinghe? That face, those eyebrows...... It was definitely the same! Even the tear mole under his left eye was exactly the same!


    But if that person was Meng Xinghe, why did he pretend not to know him?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. He didn¡¯t think that Shen Yuan was acting just now. At the time, Shen Yuan had looked at him as if he was looking at a stranger, as if he was meeting him for the first time. Those eyes.....Meng Xinghe would never look at him with those eyes.


    Did Meng Xinghe lose his memory? ........After all, Meng Xinghe had been in a car ident! Could it be that Meng Xinghe hadn¡¯t died after the car ident, but somehow got here by mistake?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart, which had sunk to the bottom, finally started beat once more. He turned to look at Su Manluo, and opened his mouth to ask something, but as soon as the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back down again.


    ¡°Qiuqiu, were you mistaken?¡± Tang Mianmian had some misgivings.


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a moment, ¡°Maybe...... Is Shen Yuan a very strong yer?¡±


    Su Manluo smiled and pulled out a cigarette from her pocket, ¡°Do you mind if I smoke?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian shook their heads at the same time.


    ¡°Some people say that Shen Yuan is the strongest yer in the city of the abyss, but this is just one of the many opinions¡± Su Manluo said with a cigarette in her mouth, ¡°There are differing opinions about who the strongest yer is. Perhaps, the answer is only known to those yers themselves..... In the city of the abyss, strength is everything. There¡¯s a world of difference between the weak and the strong, just like how mole crickets and ants are always destined to only be able to look up at the splendor of sun and the moon.¡±


    100,000 points?!


    Xiao Tangqiu calcted at once. They had gotten 500 points forpleting a D-level mission...... 100,000 points, wouldn¡¯t that be 200 D-level missions?!


    Looking at the stunned expressions of Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, Su Manluo puffed out a mouthful smoke and said faintly, ¡°Do you understand now? Those who can enter District S are all experienced and strong. We are still far off from them. If you want to know exactly how strong they are you¡¯d have to be just as strong to find out.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated, then asked, ¡°Do you know..... how long Shen Yuan has been in the city of the abyss?¡± <i>If it happened to be seven years, then his guess would be right!</i>


    However, Su Manluo shook her head, ¡°No one knows, but many yers have guessed that he¡¯s a first-generation yer...... Anyways, he got here way before I did.¡±


    ¡°First-generation yer?¡± Tang Mianmian asked curiously.


    ¡°The first group of yers who were the earliest to arrive in this world.¡± Su Manluo blew smoke rings and added, ¡°It¡¯s said that...... all the other first generation yers have died, only he is left.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian gasped. Although they have long felt the cruelty of this world, they were even more chilled by Su Manluo¡¯s remark.


    ¡°You have to be psychologically prepared. The death rate here is very high. The friend who you were talking to andughing with yesterday may die in the instance today.¡± Su Manluo smiled, ¡°Treasure your friend. Perhaps it¡¯s thest time that you¡¯ll have together.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank, but then he heard Su Manluo suddenly burst outughing, ¡°We¡¯re here, rookies! Wee to Newbie Vige!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked up, but all they saw were rows and rows of dpidated houses in front of them. The houses were like decrepit like those in the slums, with tiles falling off and dust covering every inch. The streets were even more dirty with trash scattered all around. There were a few people dressed in rags walking on the streets with a wooden expression on their faces. It looked like they hade to some slum vige.


    Tang Mianmian was dumbstruck. He couldn¡¯t resist asking Su Manluo, ¡°Did you take us to the wrong ce?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re at the right ce! This is Newbie Vige!¡± Su Manluo burst outughing again.


    ¡°This........¡± Tang Mianmian was tongue-tied.


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a second, ¡°We don¡¯t need points to live in Newbie Vige?¡±


    ¡°Nope, if you want to enter District D you only need a few points. But right now I don¡¯t think you have 1000 points, do you? You must¡¯ve failed the S-level mission? ¡± Su Manluo looked at Xiao Tangqiu with inquiring eyes.


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°We failed. Indeed, we don¡¯t have 1000 points now.¡±


    ¡°I believe that with your potential, you should be able to enter District D after finishing the next mission. Although District D can¡¯t bepared with District A, it¡¯s still much better than Newbie Vige.¡± Su Manluo raised her chin and motioned for the two men to look ahead, ¡°Of course, I can give you a chance to immediately enter District A, and that is to join Thorn.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked up and froze at once. In front of the main street of Newbie Vige lined with shabby houses were several slightly taller residential buildings. Although they were just ordinary residential buildings that weremon in small towns, they were much better than the so-called Newbie Vige. And just a little further off, there were modern-looking apartments, and a little further past those modern-looking apartments was a high-rise building with more than 100 floors...... And a little further past that high-rise building, was a futuristic, metallic building with hundreds of floors that seemed to havee out of a sci-fi movie.


    Because the terrain got higher and higher, Xiao Tangqiu could vaguely see those buildings in the distance. He guessed that the building with hundreds of floors was probably District S. In District S, there was a faintly discernible huge metal column, that towered into the clouds, as if it led straight into the sky.


    ¡°Everyone calls it the Heaven Tower. Some people say that if you climb all the way up the tower, you¡¯ll reach the sky of this world. Others say that you¡¯ll find your way home. But so far, no one has ever seeded in climbing to the top.¡± Su manluo smiled, ¡°......So how about it? Are you thinking of joining us? I can take you directly into District A. Points can be traded, so I can lend you some first, and you can return them to me after you¡¯vepleted a few more missions in the future.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Tang Mianmian, hesitated, and shook his head: ¡°No, thank you.¡±


    Su Manluo raised an eyebrow but she didn¡¯t look surprised, ¡°Why? Are you unsatisfied with the benefits I¡¯m offering?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that, it¡¯s because the benefits you¡¯re offering are too good. It makes me feel uneasy instead,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said frankly.


    Su Manluo burst outughing, ¡°So, that¡¯s why. What if I give you less benefits?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Then, all the more I don¡¯t want to go.¡±


    ¡°Forget it, I won¡¯t force you.¡± Su Manluo stubbed out her cigarette, ¡°But if you regret your decision, you can contact me through themunicator at any time.¡±


    She pointed the cigarette butt at her wrist; there was a watch on her wrist. It was then that Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian realized there was an additional watch on their wrists that had unknowingly appeared God knows when. But because their attention was elsewhere earlier, they had only discovered it now.


    It was a metal wrist watch, but they couldn¡¯t feel anything although it was worn on their wrists, as if it didn¡¯t exist. The dial didn¡¯t show the time, only a few buttons. Xiao Tangqiu pressed one of the buttons, and a translucent light screen appeared on the watch. A string of numbers were disyed on the light screen, which was the exact number of points he had obtained from the previous mission -¡°500.¡±


    ¡°You can contact me by pressing the button below and saying my name, but the contact device can only be used in the city of the abyss. Once you enter the instance, it will disappear.¡± Su Manluoughedzily, ¡°Aside frommunicating, point transaction is also done through it. Although the houses in Newbie Vige are old and broken, there¡¯s an automatic vending machine in each house. By using your points, you should be able to take care of your basic living needs. You can simply choose an empty house. Once there¡¯s someone living inside, other people can¡¯t just enter the premises.....¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t remind you, Newbie Vige is very chaotic. Be careful not to get targeted. Rookies like you better not go out at night..... Of course, it¡¯s best not to go out during the day either.....¡±


    ~~~


    P.S. Guys if you¡¯re on our Discord server, check out the drawings that the lovely Ari made! It¡¯s so cute I wanna take a bite out of XTQ and TMM omnomnom

 Chapter 30

    <h4>Chapter 30</h4>


    After Su Manluo left, Xiao Tangqiu felt several looks filled with malice fall on him and Tang Mianmian. He immediately knew that what Su Manluo had reminded them about was true and quickly pulled Tang Mianmian off to find a house. The doors of houses that were upied couldn¡¯t be opened but they were lucky and soon found a vacant house. Before anyone could get to them, they hastily entered the empty house.


    As soon as they closed the door, the both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Tang Mianmian said with a face full of fear, ¡°Those people out there looked like they have bad intentions. Do you think they¡¯ll rob us in broad daylight?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be strange if that was their n. Do you still expect there to be police in this ce?¡± Forget the police, this world probably wasn¡¯t bound by any legal rules.


    Tang Mianmian looked at Xiao Tangqiu nkly, ¡°Then...... can we go back? Back to the real world?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°But..... but I still have a movie to shoot! After so many years of ying small roles, I finally found a director willing to give me the role of 3rd supporting male lead! That¡¯s 3rd supporting male lead! It¡¯s a role with lines and a storyline!¡± Tang Mianmianmented in a daze, ¡°I¡¯ve been in this business for so many years. It wasn¡¯t easy to get a character with lines and a storyline ¨C a character that doesn¡¯t have to die off so quickly.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile, ¡°I had finally saved up enough for the down payment, and was about to buy a house.....¡±


    They were both at an important turning point in their lives, but they were pulled into this game for no reason at all...... Never mind if it was the kind of game where one advances until one bes a winner at life, but it just had to be a horror game!


    The two men looked each other in the eye, revealing a self-mocking smile.


    ¡°Forget it, now we can only take one step at a time,¡± Xiao Tangqiu gnashed his teeth. ¡°We should try our best to live and maybe find a chance to return to the real world!¡±


    ¡°Mhmm! It¡¯s just a horror game. We¡¯ve yed so many horror games before this. We already have so much experience. What are we afraid of?!¡± Tang Mianmian nodded eagerly, ¡°We¡¯re experts in surviving horror games as well, and we can certainly make it with our experience!¡±


    The both of them started to exchange information; Xiao Tangqiu told Tang Mianmian about the special skill card that he had obtained. Tang Mianmian was dumbstruck, ¡°Fuck! It sounds so badass! What does your special skill card do?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know either. It¡¯s resembles our live stream channel. There arements and rewards...... But I don¡¯t know exactly what it¡¯s used for.¡±


    Tang Mianmian asked, ¡°Can I have a look?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had just thought about showing him the card when a ck card appeared in his hand.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I wanted to ask Su Manluo earlier, but I don¡¯t know if we can trust her.¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked at the ck card in his hand and solemnly said, ¡°We need to keep our guard up. After all, our good fortune will arouse envy from others.


    Tang Mianmian thought it over and added, ¡°I don¡¯t think Su Manluo can be trusted as well. Why should a District A yer approach two rookies like us?¡±


    ¡°Anyways, it¡¯s better to be careful.¡± Xiao Tangqiu put away the ck card. ¡°I¡¯m guessing our next task should also be a D-level task as well. With our previous experience, we shouldn¡¯t be as flustered this time. Once we¡¯ve umted 1000 points, let¡¯s go to District D to find out more information.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°Thest time, we were so muddled because we were new and had no experience. This time, we should be much better off.¡±


    They looked through the house. Although it appeared shabby on the outside, it still had with some basic furniture and a vending machine. What surprised them most was the en suite bathroom. They didn¡¯t need to go out to find a public restroom or a bathhouse. On top of that, the bathroom had a separate showerpartment.


    Xiao Tangqiu was delighted to find that there was hot water avable. He immediately took a hot shower. When he got back to the living room, he saw Tang Mianmian studying the vending machine.


    Seeing Xiao Tangqiu, Tang Mianmian cried out at once, ¡°Qiuqiu! Come and look at this! This vending machine...... ¡°


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is it broken?¡± Xiao Tangqiu felt his heart drop.


    ¡°No! This vending machine is amazing! It has so many things!¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes shone with wonder.


    Xiao Tangqiu leaned over to take a look and was surprised to see several categories on the disy screen of the vending machine. There were countless items in each category; not only food and drink, but also medicine, weapons and all sort of other things. It was moreprehensive than a department store or a supermarket.


    ¡°It¡¯s like a system store in a game,¡± Tang Mianmian said while swiping up and down the screen. ¡°But everything is crazy expensive except for food! Look! This crossbow looks impressive! But it¡¯s 1,000 points! Forget about guns. Even ammunition has to separately purchased. We simply can¡¯t afford them..........¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rubbed his chin, ¡°If it¡¯s all ghost-type instances, then regardless of whether they are hot or cold weapons, wouldn¡¯t they all be useless?¡±


    ¡°Since these weapons are avable, that should mean that there are instances where they can be used, maybe....... zombies? Disaster types?¡± Tang Mianmian imagined a scene filled with zombies, and immediately felt a chill. He liked watching zombie films, but that didn¡¯t mean that he wanted to transmigrate into one!


    ¡°In addition to these weapons, there are also various yellow talismans, holy water, crosses...... but they¡¯re very expensive. We can¡¯t afford them.¡± Tang Mianmian continued to scroll down the screen, ¡°With our current points, we can only buy food and drinks. If we scrimp, we can probably get some band-aids, cold medicine and hemostatic agents.¡±


    What could they do?! They were too poor!


    In the end, the two men discussed and intended to only buy food and the hemostatic agent. Food was very cheap ¨C canned food and mineral water were both worth 5 points each. The hemostatic agent cost 10 points. Of course, there were also expensive food and beverages, but they couldn¡¯t spend that many points to purchase them.


    After they clicked on the purchase button, the points on their wristwatch were automatically deducted, and two cans rolled out, still hot to the touch.


    Xiao Tangqiu got canned braised beef while Tang Mianmian got canned braised pork ribs. They were almost moved to tears as they ate their hot meal. The shock and terror that they had suppressed inside that horror game was brought out by the warmth they felt in their stomachs.


    ¡°Wuwuwu, I miss my mom¡¯s spare ribs braised in soy sauce.......¡± Tang Mianmian ate while he cried.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes were a little red as well, and all of a sudden the food in his mouth didn¡¯t taste as good.


    After their meal, Tang Mianmian also went to take a hot shower. They climbed into bed early, but Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t sleepy. He stared at the ceiling with his eyes wide open and struggled through his first night in the city of the abyss.


    They stayed in the house for a few days. On the seventh day, a messaged popped up on their wristwatches reminding them that they would enter the mission world again tomorrow. Afterpleting a D-level mission, they could only rest for seven days and then had to enter the mission world again. If they didn¡¯t enter voluntarily, they would be forced into it. Early morning the next day, they each exchanged a bottle of hemostatic agent and set off on their second mission.


    When Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmianmian reached the transfer square, it was very busy. A group of people were gathered around, as though they were watching what was going on. However, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were focused only on the mission at hand and the transfer modules in front of them.


    It was only when they were about to enter the transfer module that Xiao Tangqiu looked in the crowd and saw a familiar yet unfamiliar face ¨C <i>Meng Xinghe! ........No, that¡¯s not right..... It was Shen Yuan.</i>


    Shen Yuan walked towards the transfer module. He was followed by hispanions and seemed to be entering a mission as well.


    Xiao Tangqiu heart skipped a beat, he wouldn¡¯t be on the same mission as Shen Yuan, would he?


    It gradually turned dark as the transfer module door slowly closed.


    Little by little, his heart started to calm down. How was that possible? He was just a rookie whereas Shen Yuan was a District S yer...... How could he be on a D-level mission?


    He wasn¡¯t sure how much time had passed before he heard the system¡¯s familiar voice ringing in his ear, ¡°Dear yers, congrattions for epting the S-level mission [Demon¡¯s Castle]. Your mission objective is to [lift the castle¡¯s curse]. The time limit is 7 days. After the mission ispleted, you will receive 50,000 points, and if the mission fails, you will immediately be obliterated.¡±


    ¡°Finally, dear yers, wee to the abyss.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu cursed, ¡°......Fuck my life! S-level mission?! Are you kidding me? I¡¯m just a pitiful rookie! Let me out!¡±


    The next second, he opened his eyes only to see a bat flying towards his face. He immediately turned to hide in fear and at the same time, azy, arrogant voice sounded, ¡°Aiya, there are actually two rookies.......¡± That person¡¯s maliciousughter made him feel ufortable all over.


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked ahead, but the moment his own eyes met a pair of cold, peach blossom eyes, he froze in ce.


    Meng Xinghe......


    No.


    ¨CShen Yuan.


    ~~~


    P.S. Just fyi, after this, the chapters get really long (10k+ words), so I¡¯ve decided to split them into 3 parts. Also, this is where the juicy bits and the action <i>really</i> start

 Chapter 31.1

    <h4>Chapter 31.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart trembled violently. He stared at the familiar face in front of him, his lips quivering as he almost blurted out the name Meng Xinghe. But after looking at those eyes that were devoid of any emotional fluctuations, he swallowed down his words again, lowered his eyes and felt a bitterness on his tongue.


    ¡°It¡¯s really troublesome to have so many newbies......¡± The strange voice rang out again, filled with malice, ¡°It¡¯s really such a bother ¨C too many people dragging our feet. We should just kill them all.¡±


    The voice that was full of harsh mockery had shocked Xiao Tangqiu. He couldn¡¯t help looking at the person who was speaking. It was a man wearing a white windbreaker. The man was very handsome; the gentle kind of handsome. He also wore a pair of exquisite gold-rimmed sses, quite like an elegant schr just out of the university. But there was a scar on his brow bone, which added a roguish look to his originally gentle, refined face.


    However, what made Xiao Tangqiu most surprised was the knife that the man was fiddling with. Such a sharp weapon looked like a mere toy in his hands. He stared at the knife for a moment before suddenly realizing that it was a scalpel.


    The man stood beside Shen Yuan; he must be one of Shen Yuan¡¯s teammates. In addition to him, there were also two women. Before Xiao Tangqiu could continue to size up his surroundings, the new rookies regained consciousness. One after another, their frightened voices interrupted Xiao Tangqiu thoughts.


    ¡°Who are you?!¡±


    ¡°Did you kidnap me? Let me go at once!¡±


    ¡°Do you know who I am? If you know, then, let me go!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly understood the man¡¯s prejudice towards the newbies. He was just about to stretch out his hand to rub his slightly swollen temple when a familiar voice rang, ¡°Qiuqiu? Great! We actually entered the same instance!¡±


    He turned around. It was Tang Mianmian, which made him feel a little relieved. Although the S-level difficulty of this instance made him despair, he had to admit that he felt much better after he saw this familiar face.


    Even though he thought that way, he couldn¡¯t resistughing bitterly, ¡°What¡¯s so good about that? Didn¡¯t you hear? This is an S-level mission..... ¡°


    Tang Mianmian rubbed his nose, ¡°......Yeah, our luck is really terrible.¡±


    On the other side, one of the women next to Shen Yuan had just finished counting the number of yers and calmly reported, ¡°There are 20 people in all, more than half of them are rookies.¡±


    Shen Yuan gaze was calm; he only nodded slightly.


    ¡°So many rookies just means more trouble. Ai, they¡¯re so damn noisy!¡± the man in the white windbreaker stuck out his tongue, ¡°Should we just get rid of them, Captain.....¡±


    When the newbies who were still making a din heard this, they immediately felt frightened. A middle-aged man in a suit shouted, ¡°Who are you? What gives you the right to kill us? This is a legal society! Killing people is against thew!¡±


    A middle-aged woman also cried out, ¡°Don¡¯t you just want money? I won¡¯t give you any! Let me out! A group of social trash! Trash who want to take advantage of us! I¡¯m calling the police to arrest you! ¡°


    Others also shouted loudly, while a girl with low psychological endurance burst into tears.


    ¡°It¡¯s so fucking noisy!¡± The man in the white windbreaker lost his temper. Without waiting for a reply from Shen Yuan, his fingers moved as the scalpel shot towards the noisiest one ¨C the middle-aged man in the suit. The unique metal of the scalpel glinted with a cold light, shing across the air like lightning as it flew towards the middle-aged man.


    Within the next second, the scalpel grazed the man¡¯s scalp and stabbed the tree trunk behind him.


    The crowd couldn¡¯t hold back theirughter as well. The heavy atmosphere rxed a little. The man in the suit only reacted then. He stretched out his hand and touched his cool forehead. His face turned red as he got up to retrieve his wig in a fluster.


    But even though the man in the suit used all his strength to pull out the scalpel, it was still firmly nailed to the tree, not budging at all.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to give it to you straight. In short, you¡¯re now in a dangerous world, and you mustplete the assigned mission if you want to leave here,¡± the woman said again, her voice was faint. ¡°I checked earlier and found that this is a forest, and the only way out is the trail that we¡¯re currently on. Following this trail out should get us to the end of the trail where the location of our mission is this time.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was puzzled. Did she look around earlier? When was that? She clearly hadn¡¯t left at all from start till now!


    ¡°Why should we believe what you say?¡± The middle-aged woman asked angrily.


    ¡°You can choose not to,¡± the woman said indifferently. ¡°I said it for the people who want to live. It¡¯s up to you whether you want to believe it or not. Those who want to live can follow us, but don¡¯t me us for not warning you in advance ¨C you can choose to follow us, but in the case of danger, we won¡¯t save you.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, it has happened many times before. Even if we don¡¯t allow others to follow, there will always be someone following us. We might as well allow you to follow. As for whether you live or die, that all depends on you. We won¡¯t help you or save you.¡±


    ¡°Captain, let¡¯s go.¡±


    After the woman finished speaking, shepletely ignored the newbies¡¯ doubts and protests and turned to leave with Shen Yuan. Windbreaker Man looked around, his gazending on all of the newbies¡¯ faces, revealing a hint of mockery before he left.


    Soon enough, Windbreaker Man met Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s gaze as well. His heart skipped a beat; he wanted to turn away at once. Windbreaker Man merely licked his lips, revealing a look of interest.


    ......The feeling of being targeted by the BOSS immediately welled up in his heart. Xiao Tangqiu turned away but from the corner of his eye, he saw Windbreaker Man snap his fingers, then the scalpel returned to his hand as if it had a consciousness.


    Windbreaker Man slowly followed Shen Yuan¡¯s group, fiddling with the scalpel as he walked.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian gave each other a look before quickly following after them. No matter what, they had to hold onto this group of great gods¡¯ thighs, even if the great gods were unwilling themselves.


    The forest was eerie and silent. Apart from the asional sound of bats pping their wings, there seemed to be no other movement. The strange stillness aroused terror in their hearts. The others didn¡¯t dare to stay behind and quickly followed as well.


    As the woman had said earlier, the only path in the forest was the trail under their feet. They walked all the way down this trail without encountering any forks in the path.


    As they approached the end of the trail, they could see a tall, shawdowy building looming in the distance. They got closer and closer until the building gradually emerged ¨C it was a Gothic, medieval castle that stood tall and narrow, looking both beautiful and grotesque....... It felt even more eerie than the forest that they had just exited.


    It was definitely a haunted castle.


    As one of the mostmon elements in horror games, castles were indeed indispensable.


    Xiao Tangqiu was staring at the castle when an old voice suddenly sounded, causing him to stumble a step backwards in shock.


    ¡°Wee, faraway tourists. The host is waiting for you. Please follow me.¡±


    This was an elderly old woman, who not only had a head full of white hair, but also a face filled with deep vertical and horizontal wrinkles, cloudy eyes, and a dry and aged voice. She was obviously very old and was dressed in a butler¡¯s uniform.


    Her appearance was so out of the ordinary that even the newbies had lost the courage to open their mouths. They stared at her with vignce and seemed to suspect that Shen Yuan¡¯s gang was in cahoots with her..... But looking at the huge, towering castle, they thought to themselves, who would bother toe up with such an borate lie to cheat them?


    After a long time, the woman finally broke the silence. She nodded to the old woman who appeared to be the housekeeper and said faintly, ¡°Yes, please lead the way.¡±


    The housekeeper turned around to show them the way. She swayed as she walked, so much so that Xiao Tangqiu wondered whether she would fall to the ground..... However, she walked very steadily, and very fast; incredibly fast. They could only quicken their pace to catch up with her.


    In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the castle-front. Right then, a statue in the front of the castle attracted their attention. It was a statue of a naked woman with a lifelike face, especially the eyes, which looked down in pity at mankind.


    Xiao Tangqiu walked forwards, keeping his gaze on the statue, only to find that the statue¡¯s eyes seemed to have moved. Its line of sight seemed to follow him as he walked, just like...... just like it was observing him.


    Aside from Xiao Tangqiu, the others had also noticed the naked female statue. After all such a pure and holy statue that resembled the Holy Mother looked out of ce in such a creepy castle.


    However, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t feel the sanctity of the statue at all. On the contrary, his hair stood up on end, especially because he perceived that the statue seemed to be looking at him. A shiver ran down his spine and he felt ufortable all over.


    ¡°......It¡¯s so beautiful,¡± Tang Mianmian stared at the statue for a moment, his expression appearing a little obsessed. ¡°It¡¯s so beautiful, I¡¯ve never seen such a beautiful person.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused. Didn¡¯t Tang Mianmian sense something off about the statue?


    Several other newbies couldn¡¯t help but chime in. Although they had been strongly resistant to this gloomy castle before, their eyes shone with fascination as they looked at that alluring statue, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s so beautiful. I¡¯ve never seen such a beautiful statue in my life!¡±


    ¡°If this statue was a living person, how beautiful that person must be! She would be even more beautiful than those female stars in the entertainment circle!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu keenly sensed that something was wrong. He turned to look at Shen Yuan and others, but he saw that their expressions were calm, devoid of any fluctuations. Instead, Windbreaker Man noticed his gaze and grinned at him while he yed with his scalpel.


    He gritted his teeth, turned around, and pretended to identally bump into Tang Mianmian violently. Tang Mianmian was mmed so hard, he staggered and almost fell to the ground, ¡°What are you doing? Watch where you¡¯re going!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu red at Tang Mianmian and pretended to be angry. ¡°Why are you staring at the statue like a fool? It¡¯s a statue! No matter how much you stare at it, it¡¯s only a statue! Stop fantasizing! How obscene! ¡°


    ¡°Statue?¡± Tang Mianmian paused. Then, as if he had just regained his senses, he answered in a daze, ¡°......Yeah, it¡¯s just a statue. Why am I so intoxicated by a statue?¡±


    The others also appeared as though they had woken up from a dream, ¡°How strange.... Why were we staring at the statue for so long?¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t make any sense of it and muttered to himself, ¡°I¡¯ve been single for too long. Even a statue looks attractive to me....¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. He quickly realized that Tang Mianmian and the others were had been confused by the statue earlier. If he hadn¡¯t opened his mouth to break them out of their trance, God knows what would¡¯ve happened next...... They hadn¡¯t even set foot in the castle yet!


    In the previous D-level mission, it wasn¡¯t until evening that an ident had urred, but now, they hadn¡¯t even officially arrived at their destination, and something had already happened... Should he admit that this mission really deserves to be ssified as S-level?


    At that moment, the old housekeeperdy smiled and introduced the statue, ¡°This statue is called the Virgin Spring tomemorate our Saintess.....¡±


    ¡°Saintess?¡± Xiao Tangqiu froze.


    ¡°......It is said that many years ago, a demon in the nearby town of Daemon had rained disaster onto the town. Using his ability to manipte fire, he plunged Daemon Town into a burning hell. The fire had burned for three days and three nights but still hadn¡¯t died down because no water on earth could put out the fire of a demon. But just before everything turned into ashes, a Saintess stepped forward-¡°


    ¡°The Saintess threw herself into the fire using herself as a blood sacrifice. After her death, from her body gushed out a clear spring, and everywhere the spring flowed, the demon¡¯s me went out..... After many years, when my master heard the story of the Saintess, he got someone to carve out a statue for her and named it the Virgin Spring.¡±


    When the housekeeper finished speaking, everyone had different thoughts about the story she had just told.


    ¡°Virgin Spring? Why is it called this? It feels rather..... vulgar.¡± It was Tang Mianmian who had noticed the oddity in the matter.


    ¡°Demon? Is there really a demon in this ce?!¡± came the frightened shouts of a newbie.


    ¡°Daemon Town? Is there a town nearby?¡± This was an experienced old yer speaking.


    Instead, the housekeeper smiled and dropped the topic. ¡°The Master is still waiting for you,e with me.¡± With that, she turned and walked towards the castle doors.


    ~~~


    P.S. Sorry I missed yesterday¡¯s release. I¡¯m down with a really high fever, so updates these next few days might not be on time. Bear with me as I drown myself in chicken soup and Advil.

 Chapter 31.2

    <h4>Chapter 31.2</h4>


    Tang Mianmian turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Qiuqiu, what do you think?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly and spoke in a low voice, ¡°I have heard the story of the Virgin Spring ...but it¡¯spletely different from what she said.¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes shone with suspicion, ¡°Oh? Is she lying to us? ¡°


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, maybe it¡¯s not the same story,¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned. ¡°But I have an inkling that the story behind this Virgin Spring is the key to this mission.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°This subject will review the matter!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°No matter what, we must remember this story clearly.¡±


    When the two people in the back were done whispering, they noticed that the others had entered the castle gate, and they quickly followed after.


    As soon as thest two entered the castle, the castle doors slowly closed on its own.


    Thud


    The huge, old wooden door made a dull noise, and the newbies turned pale with fear, ¡°The door....... the door closed by itself¡±


    The moment the light from outside disappeared, the castle was plunged into darkness. Just as everyone started to grow uneasy, candles suddenly lit up in the distance. Then, one by one, the candles slowly lit up by themselves, from afar to where they were standing.


    It wasn¡¯t until the nearby candles were burning and the flickering yellow light dimly illuminated the hall that they discovered a man not far away. It was a middle-aged man in a wooden wheelchair.


    The man was about 50 years old, younger than the housekeeper, but those eyes that were like a stagnant pool of water seemed to reveal the harsh vicissitudes of life. He sat motionless in his wheelchair; not even his eyes moved, just like a statue.


    Xiao Tangqiu was startled and unconsciously took a step back but his reaction was still calm. Several newbies were frightened and screamed at the sudden appearance of the man. However, their rude screams still hadn¡¯t attracted the attention of the man in the wheelchair. He merely looked straight ahead with an unfocused gaze.


    ¡°Master...... I¡¯ve brought the guests.¡±


    Only when the housekeeper came forward to announce their arrival did the man finally move ¨C his eyes looked up as he slowly turned to face the crowd.


    His gaze fell onto them, and immediately, the newbies shuffled backwards in fear. Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and stayed in ce.


    ¡°I apologize, Master¡¯s movements are limited.¡± The housekeeper behaved as if she hadn¡¯t seen any disrespect from the guests and calmly exined, ¡°He wees you very much and hopes you can have a pleasant vacation here.....¡±


    ¡°The second floor is the dining hall and the third to the fifth floor are the guest rooms. You may choose your rooms at will.¡± The housekeeper smiled, ¡°....Except for the attic, you may enter all other rooms. But please remember, you are forbidden to enter the attic.¡±


    Under the flickering candlelight, her smile appeared somewhat strange. Xiao Tangqiu felt his hair stand on end, but his brain immediately responded ¨C the attic must be the key to the mission.


    Just then, one of the women on Shen Yuan¡¯s team who hadn¡¯t spoken the entire time opened her mouth tough. She twirled a lock of hair and asked the housekeeper with a grin, ¡°What will happen if we enter the attic?¡±


    The moment her voice fell, Xiao Tangqiu instantly felt the surrounding atmosphere change. The temperature seemed to fall by several degrees. He suddenly thought of something andunched his special skill card -¡°Sexy Streamer¡¯s Live Stream Channel.¡±


    The next second, a semi-transparent screen of his channel page appeared in front of his eyes as a barrage ofments rained down at once.


    ¡°If the characters in the plot say they can¡¯t go to a certain ce, then all the more they have to go! No zuo, no die, you must try! Streamer, GO ah!!!!¡±


    ¡°My poor streamer QAQ. Then, I¡¯ll give the streamer a nuclear powered shlight!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt something heavy in his pocket. He instinctively reached out felt it...... The next second, he actually pulled out a shlight.


    This was a verymon looking shlight, but there was a small piece of paper with a line of cursive handwriting on it under the switch ¨C


    ¡°Nuclear Powered shlight¡±.


    .........Hello! This was clearly amon shlight with an extra piece of paper!


    He was poor, don¡¯t lie to him!


    At this time, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered the holy water and yellow talismans he had seen themment before, and immediately wondered why the holy water and yellow talismans weren¡¯t in his hands.


    ........That¡¯s right, those holy water and yellow talismans were awarded by his ¡°fans¡± after the end of the instance. Could it be that once the instance ends the rewards won¡¯t appear in physical form? But where did those holy water and yellow talismans rewards go? Were they all cleared once a new instance starts?


    But if that was the case, what¡¯s the point of rewarding those holy water and yellow talismans?


    Then again, who were these fans of his live stream channel? Were they also yers?


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately wanted to open the live stream¡¯s behind-the-scenes. Just as he thought of that, the semi-transparent live stream¡¯s backstage interface appeared in front of him. It was simr to his previous live stream backstage interface. However, the column that was supposed to show gift rewards wasn¡¯t there. Instead, it was something he had never seen before ¨C ¡°Roast Value¡±.


    .........Roast Value? What the hell? What was that for?


    He was confused for a second but after seeing the number after the ¡°Roast Value¡±, he was even more puzzled ¨C ¡°250.¡±


    250? Where did he get that Roast Value from?


    Xiao Tangqiu paused and suddenly came up with an idea. Could this Roast Value be....... those holy water and yellow talisman rewards after they were converted from gift rewards? Was this Roast Value equivalent to his gift rewards?


    Right then, he suddenly noticed a small line above his live stream channel ¨C ¡°this skill has been used 1/3 times in this instance, the skillsts for 1 minute. It requires 1,000 Roast Value before the next skill upgrade.¡± This was followed by a countdown of ¨C 6


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°?¡±


    5, 4......


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°???¡±


    3, 2, 1......


    End of skill.


    The live stream channel interface in front of him disappeared instantly.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    ...... Fucking hell? What kind of useless skill was this?!


    Never mind that in an instance, it could only be used three times and only for one minute at a time, but no matter how he looked at it, it was only useful for roasting send him some useless things.


    What damn chicken rib skill was this?! *Flips Table!* Not only was it useless, but there was also limitations to the number of times he could use it!!


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was raving madly inside, Tang Mianmian suddenly interrupted his one-man drama, ¡°Let¡¯s share a room?¡±


    He came back to his senses, only to find that everyone was already discussing how to allocate the rooms. In addition to Shen Yuan¡¯s group of four and themselves, there were four other old yers. The remaining ten people were newbies. The old yers naturally wanted to stick together, and none of them were willing to take the new yers into their team. After all, this wasn¡¯t an ordinary game. At most, they might lose a bit if they had newbies dragging their feet in a normal difficulty mission, but in this game, they would definitely lose their lives in minutes.


    A few neers had the cheek to look for those old yers to hold onto their thighs, but they were met with a rebuff and could only return to the newbies¡¯ side despondently. Of course, some people also noticed that Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were calm unlike the newbies, and tried to get them to form a team. Tang Mianmian refused without even thinking. Apart from Xiao Tangqiu, he didn¡¯t trust anyone, let alone the newbies who would keep dragging them down.


    When Xiao Tangqiu came back to his senses, the ten newbies was almost done with allocating their rooms. They happened to have five men and five women, and nned for the men to share one room and the women to share another. Although it was a bit crowded, they seemed to think it was safer to have more people. In case something really happened at night, having more people would serve as a cushion in a deadly situation.


    ¡°Then, the men will sleep in one room and the women can take another.¡± The middle-aged Suit Man was obviously a leader who was used to giving orders. He seems to havepletely stepped out of the embarrassing situation earlier and had gotten back his previous cockiness. He spoke with a voice of authority, ¡°More people means more strength so the more people there are the safer we are. In such a terrible ce, if something really happens at night, we should help each other! Unity is strength; the me burns higher when more people gather firewood!¡±


    He stuck out his beer belly as he swept his gaze over the newbies, ¡°... Does anyone have a problem with that?¡±


    A middle-aged woman stood up.


    ¡°You?¡± The middle-aged man frowned and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your opinion?¡±


    ¡°I want to share a room with my son!¡± The middle-aged woman pulled her son out of the crowd. It was a seven-year-old boy. He kept struggling to break free from the middle-aged woman¡¯s grip, but the woman was so strong that she pulled him away at once.


    ¡°Is this your son?¡± The middle-aged man frowned. ¡°Your son is still so young, and you¡¯re just a weak woman. It¡¯s safer to stay with us.¡±


    The middle-aged woman looked at the others warily, ¡°How do I know that you¡¯re not one of the bad guys? Who knows if you¡¯re kidnappers or traffickers who want to take away my son! I don¡¯t believe you, I want to share a room with my son!¡±


    The little boy kept kicking at the middle-aged woman, ¡°You¡¯re not my mother! I don¡¯t want to share a room with you!¡±


    One of the newbies who looked like a college student immediately cried, ¡°He said you¡¯re not his mother! Are you a human trafficker?¡±


    The middle-aged woman gave the female college student a stern look, ¡°He¡¯s my son! I had three daughters before I finally gave birth to my dearest son. How can he be someone else¡¯s child? He¡¯s just throwing a temper! Mind your own business!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not my mother! You¡¯re a human trafficker!¡± The boy was still making a scene and had even sat his butt down, rolling about on the floor.


    ¡°You¡¯re still making a fuss! Still won¡¯t behave?!¡± The middle-aged woman got angry, tore off the boy¡¯s trousers and began to spank him.


    The female college student immediately stepped back after seeing this.


    ¡°...... If that¡¯s the case, then you, mother and son, will stay in one room,¡± the middle-aged man looked impatient. ¡°The others will stay in two rooms ¨C four women in one room, four men in another, is that ok?¡±


    ¡°Such a naughty child,¡± Tang Mianmian whispered to Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°This g had been raised so high ah....¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips. Just then, the old housekeeper¡¯s voice rang out again, ¡°......Ladies and gentlemen, I¡¯ll take you to the guest rooms now...... Someone will be there to inform you when it¡¯s dinner time.¡±


    They weren¡¯t aware of when she had appeared by the spiral staircase holding a candlestick, and the Master in the wheelchair had disappeared when they weren¡¯t paying attention.


    Although the crowd was afraid, they could only follow after her.


    As they were walking, Windbreaker Man at the front suddenly cried out ¡°Eh¡± and said in azy tone, ¡°Captain, there seems to be something on the wall.......¡±


    There was something on the wall?!


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze. The castle was dark and gloomy. There wasn¡¯t even a window. There were only a few candles spread out here and there, so visibility was very low. It was so dim that it would be impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman if someone stood a meter away or if it was a person or an animal if it was five meters away. They had to be careful when walking just in case they identally stepped on something and fell over like a dead dog.


    <i>Windbreaker Man could actually see something on the wall in lighting?! How sharp were his eyes?</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered his nuclear powered shlight. He hesitated, took out the shlight from his pocket and shined it at the wall.


    After hearing what Windbreaker Man had said, everyone subconsciously turned towards the wall, but because it was too dark they couldn¡¯t see anything. When Xiao Tangqiu turned on the shlight, they were shocked but before they could suspect anything about the shlight, they had all shifted their attention once they saw the items on the wall.


    Paintings.


    The wall was covered in paintings.


    ~~~


    P.S. Thanks for the well wishes

 Chapter 31.3

    <h4>Chapter 31.3</h4>


    It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that the wall was covered in paintings, because the entire wall was filled with paintings and picture frames without even the slightest gap. And the strangest thing was that all the paintings were the same.


    It was a portrait of someone ¨C an extremely beautiful woman who seemed to calmly look at the people outside the painting. She was dressed like someone from the Middle Ages.


    This was a portrait of a very beautiful person, but because the entire wall was covered with the same painting, it felt rather strange and creepy.


    ¡°Fuck! Even I¡¯m starting to feel like I have trypophobia......¡± Tang Mianmian murmured.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°It¡¯s the same as the statue outside.....¡±


    ¡°Statue?¡± Tang Mianmian looked carefully and suddenly realized, ¡°You¡¯re right! This is the Virgin Spring!¡± The woman in this picture is clearly the statue outside!


    Everyone else¡¯s expressions had also turned rather ugly. The female college student summoned the courage to ask the housekeeper, ¡°Is...... is she the Saintess? Why does your Master hang up so many paintings of the Saintess?¡±


    Tang Mianmian muttered to himself, ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? He¡¯s a fanboy!¡±


    While others chase celebrities, I¡¯m chasing a Saintess ¨C that¡¯s much more high ss and loftier than your average person!


    The housekeeper remained silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, ¡°This isn¡¯t the Saintess, this is Mrs. Lily Marlene.¡±


    ¡°Mrs. Lily Marlene?¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused.


    The housekeeper¡¯s voice sounded lower and lower, ¡°This is the first wife of the Master, Mrs. Lily Marlene.¡±


    ¡°The first? How many wives did he have?¡± asked Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°......Three.¡± The housekeeper¡¯s voice was very low.


    Xiao Tangqiu mused, ¡°Are they all dead?¡±


    The housekeeper stopped talking and fell silent at once.


    The newbies obviously didn¡¯t understand why Xiao Tangqiu had asked something like that. They nced anxiously at the housekeeper, fearing that Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s rude questioning had angered her.


    Xiao Tangqiu turned to give Tang Mianmian a look; these two revealed a simr expression at the same time.


    The housekeeper had turned around and continued to climb up the stairs, so he had to walk while he observed, trying to find any discrepancies in the thousands of paintings.


    At the end of the long spiral staircase, was the second floor of the castle.


    The second floor was also dark and gloomy, without a window in sight. There was a long corridor with rooms on both sides. At the door of each room, a candle had been ced but because the rooms were rather far from each other, the lighting was insufficient.


    ¡°Wow, there are so many rooms. Are we free to choose from these rooms?¡± Xiao Tangqiu turned to ask the housekeeper.


    The housekeeper nodded slightly, ¡°The third to the fifth floor are all empty rooms. You may choose at will..... but please remember, once you have chosen a room, you cannot simply change rooms with others.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t simply change rooms with others?¡± Windbreaker Man smiled and asked, ¡°......What would happen if we did?¡±


    The housekeeper looked dully at the crowd, cracked a strange smile on her face, but didn¡¯t speak.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt his hair stand on end at that smile of hers and immediately noted down the matter.


    ¡°There is onest thing. You may move freely in the castle before twelve o¡¯clock at night ¨C except for the attic. But after twelve o¡¯clock at night, you must stay in your room and cannot leave.¡±


    This time, no one asked what would happen if they went out at night. The crowd fell silent all at once. Although the neers were still a little confused at what was going on, for the moment, they didn¡¯t dare act out.


    ¡°Please choose your rooms. When it¡¯s time for dinner, someone will be here to inform you.¡±


    The housekeeper uttered thatst sentence and disappeared, leaving them to look at each other in dismay.


    The old castle was very big. At one nce, it was impossible to see the end of the corridor. There were dozens of rooms on the second floor alone. That, plus the third floor, the fourth floor and the fifth floor..... There must¡¯ve been more than one hundred rooms...... How did the servants know which rooms they were staying in?


    While Xiao Tangqiu was pondering over the matter, Windbreaker Man had already walked straight towards the first room. He picked a room casually, pushed open the door and went in.


    Windbreaker Man was so fast that the door was closed before the crowd could see what was inside the room. After that, the two women next to Shen Yuan looked at each other, then, one of them asked him, ¡°Captain, which room do you want?¡±


    Shen Yuan answered impassively, ¡°Whichever is fine.¡±


    Although Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have an extremely keen sense of hearing, he still recognized a familiar feeling from Shen Yuan¡¯s voice. There could be two people who looked alike in this world, but would they also sound alike?


    Xiao Tangqiu stared fixedly at Shen Yuan, but Shen Yuan didn¡¯t look back. He chose a room diagonally opposite Windbreaker Man and casually walked into the room....... From start to the end, he hadn¡¯t spared Xiao Tangqiu a nce, not even looking at him from the corner of his eye.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly and wavered. <i>Was it just that they both had the same appearance and voice?¡±</i>


    Seeing that Shen Yuan had also picked a room, the two women picked out one hand-in-hand. It was also diagonally across from Shen Yuan¡¯s.


    Once they got the ball rolling, the others began to choose their rooms as well. He wasn¡¯t sure what they were all thinking, but no one chose the room next to or directly opposite of someone else. The four old yers shared two rooms, and the newbies shared two rooms as well, except for the mother and son.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know why the middle-aged woman was so daring. Generally, those who dared to leave the team and acted alone in horror games would only end up dying early in the game. He hesitated for a moment and wanted to persuade the middle-aged woman to follow the bigger group. However, he had just stepped forwards when the middle-aged woman looked at him warily and asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tried his best to show a kind smile, ¡°I think you should share a room with the others. It¡¯s safer that way.¡±


    The middle-aged woman looked at Xiao Tangqiu with vignce, ¡°How do I know if you¡¯re evil kidnappers or not? What if you want to kidnap my son?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly. Although he wasn¡¯t a very kind person, he couldn¡¯t bear to watch both mother and son die without understanding the situation clearly. But before he could speak again, the boy who had been tightly held by the middle-aged woman suddenly broke free and ran to the end of the corridor.


    ¡°Stop where you are! Son! Son!¡± The middle-aged women quickly caught up to the boy.


    Although the naughty child was bursting with energy, he was immediately caught by the middle-aged woman who grabbed him and dragged him into one of the rooms in the middle of the corridor.


    Xiao Tangqiu saw this and shook his head reluctantly, then, randomly picked out a room with Tang Mianmian.


    After entering the room, Tang Mianmian immediately asked Xiao Tangqiu curiously, ¡°Where did you get this shlight? Why haven¡¯t I seen it before?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu casually threw the nuclear powered shlight to Tang Mianmian and then narrated the story of his live stream channel, ¡°......This should just be an ordinary shlight. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything special about it.¡±


    He began to check out the room. It was quiterge, with a shower and toilet. There was arge bed in the middle that could probably fit three or four people. The decoration and furniture were pretty good, but there was no electronic equipment, not to mention a TV,puter, or even a telephone. And the worst thing was that there were no windows and lights. The only light source was a candlestick on the bedside table that was currently lit up.


    There was a painting hanging on the wall across the bed. It was the portrait of Lily Marlene.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the portrait under the flickering candlelight and felt that it was even more creepy. However, he didn¡¯t dare to remove it and could only turn away from it.


    ¡°It¡¯s really not environmentally friendly to use candles for lighting. It¡¯s also troublesome to change candles once they¡¯ve finished burning.¡± Xiao Tangqiu tried to make fun of the situation and lighten the mood, ¡°They¡¯re also potential safety hazards. If we¡¯re not careful, it could cause an ident or a fire. The castle is full of mmable items, and it¡¯s located in a remote ce. I¡¯m afraid, just one candle, and it¡¯s all over.¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly looked up at Xiao Tangqiu with great interest, ¡°This is really a nuclear powered shlight!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and realized that it wasn¡¯t a simple matter, ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Look!¡± Tang Mianmian raised the shlight to show Xiao Tangqiu the batterypartment he had just opened, but there was no battery!


    ¡°This thing doesn¡¯t have a battery at all, can it be a sr powered shlight? It seems that this shlight is really the legendary nuclear powered shlight!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about it and had to admit that a shlight that didn¡¯t need batteries was really useful in horror games.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly turned pale and stared behind Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu noticed Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression of horror. He froze before turning around quickly. However, he saw nothing ¨C there was only a wall with a painting hanging on it behind him.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    Tang Mianmian opened his mouth but only managed to squeeze out a sentence after a long time, ¡°Fuck! I think...... I just saw the woman in the painting........ staring at you......¡±

 Chapter 32.1

    <h4>Chapter 32.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu only felt a chill crawl up his spine. He tried to calmly pick up the shlight and shone it at the painting. But all his mental preparation was for nothing; he didn¡¯t find anything at all.


    ¡°......What are you talking about ah?¡±


    ¡°Fuck! She was clearly looking at you!¡± Tang Mianmian turned around and found that the painting was back to normal again. He was dumbstruck, ¡°......It changed back again, I¡¯m not lying! I¡¯m really not lying! What would I do that? She really was looking at you just now! She was looking at you like this!¡±


    ¡°Ok, ok, I got it. You don¡¯t have to imitate the painting to show me......¡± Xiao Tangqiu patted Tang Mianmian¡¯s face aside, ¡°Isn¡¯t this very normal? If nothing strange happens, wouldn¡¯t this old castle be embarrassed to face all the other old castles?¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°......This castle is called Demon¡¯s Castle, is there really a demon?¡±


    ¡°There are ghosts. Isn¡¯t it normal for there to be demons?¡± Xiao Tangqiu disagreed.


    ¡°But....... I¡¯ve always felt that demons are much more powerful than ghosts!¡± Tang Mianmian trembled, ¡°And isn¡¯t this an S-level mission? An S-level mission is certainly much more difficult than a D-level mission, am I right? Can¡¯t we get those old yers to form a team with us? ording to Su Manluo, that Shen Yuan is very powerful ah!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly, ¡°He¡¯s a great god while we are just dumb rookies. Why would he take us along and help us for no reason?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Tang Mianmianmian sighed, ¡°Even if it was the real world, no one would. What¡¯s more, a ce like this with danger lurking in every corner. It¡¯s good enough if he can keep his own life......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Let¡¯s rest now and go out to explore after dinner.¡±


    Tang Mianmian rubbed his chin, ¡°When should we go to the attic?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s gaze deepened, ¡°Shen Yuan and his team may take action tonight. If they go to the attic, we¡¯ll follow them.¡±


    This decision was quite risky because the attic was most likely very dangerous, but if they wanted to find clues, they would just have to walk into the lion¡¯s den. The two of them were dumb rookies and had little means to protect themselves. They could only follow Shen Yuan and those old yers. But they had already warned them in advance that they wouldn¡¯t save them, even if their lives were in danger...... Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t expect them to anyways. He wasn¡¯t naive. He just wanted to find more people to reduce the risk. In case there was a really fierce ghost, if there were a few more people, wouldn¡¯t that lower the chances of him and Tang Mianmian being chased?


    After a while, someone knocked on the door.


    Xiao Tangqiu opened it and found a woman dressed as a manservant. He couldn¡¯t help but feel a little surprised.


    This was clearly a young girl in her twenties, but she was wearing an ash grey footman outfit. She smiled at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Guest, it¡¯s time for dinner.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared puzzedly for a few seconds, then suddenly remembered the housekeeper who wore a butler¡¯s suit...... Was this a personal preference of the Master of the castle?


    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± Xiao Tangqiu nodded at the maid and called Tang Mianmian out.


    He immediately turned to look at the candle at their door, which was still burning.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the candles at the door of the other rooms again, and then found that the candles of the rooms in front of and beside their room had been extinguished....... In this corridor, only the candles at the door of several rooms were not extinguished, and those doors were partially open. He noticed that aside from the yers who were exiting these room, there was also a maid dressed as a footman in front of those doors.


    That was when he realized that all the candles in front of vacant rooms had been extinguished while the candles in front of the rooms that were upied by yers were still burning.


    The other yers soon noticed this too. After all, the dimly lighted corridor had be even darker after so many candles had gone out. The middle-aged manined discontentedly to the maid, ¡°Why did you put out so many candles? It¡¯s too dark! ¡°


    The middle-aged woman with the child alsoined, ¡°A few candles are not worth much. What if we fall down in the dark?¡±


    The maid merely smiled, ¡°Guest, it¡¯s time for dinner.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s dinner time, I¡¯m asking you to light up the candles...... or are there lights around here? Even if there aren¡¯t, you have oilmps, don¡¯t you?¡± the middle-aged man puffed out haughtily.


    The maid smiled, ¡°Guest, it¡¯s time for dinner.¡±


    The middle-aged man¡¯s expression turned ugly, ¡°Is that all you can say?¡±


    The maid smiled, ¡°Guest, it¡¯s time for dinner.¡±


    Under the dim flickering candlelight, the maid¡¯s smile seemed dull and wooden. The middle-aged man was a little scared inside and closed his mouth in embarrassment.


    Xiao Tangqiu took out his shlight and nned to illuminate the way for everyone. But when the corridor brightened up slightly, the crowd fell into a dead silence. The maids were not only wearing the same footman outfit, but also had the same appearance, the same facial features and the same dull, wooden expressions.


    This strange sight made them too afraid to have any more opinions about the ¡°hotel¡± with the extremely poor check-in experience. Tang Mianmian also shrank behind Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°This ...... is this a multiple birth? Mitosis? Parthenogenesis?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu silently took out his shlight and shone it at the maid¡¯s lower body...... Of course, it wasn¡¯t for any obscene purposes; he just wanted to see if these maids had feet or shadows. However, when he shone the shlight at the maid¡¯s knee, they saw the joints on the maid¡¯s knee....... move.


    Yes, the maid clearly had the kind of movable joints that puppets had.


    He silently took another look at the maid¡¯s elbow ¨C it was also a movable joint.


    The crowd turned pale with fear, especially the girls. Tang Mianmian was so scared that he hid behind Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Fuck! That scared this baby to death!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow and said, ¡°Is it very scary? Haven¡¯t you seen ghosts?¡±


    Tang Mianmian shivered with fear, ¡°It¡¯s super duper scary, ok?! How can a ghostpare to this! Don¡¯t you know the Uncanny Valley Theory........ Then again, why aren¡¯t you afraid? ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu said faintly, ¡°You can think of it like this...... These are justrge-scale helping hands of the Master of the castle.¡±


    Tang Mianmian stopped to imagine, then, he couldn¡¯t help but show a wretched smile, ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s really exciting to contort these bodies into different shapes with a move of his hands.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pretended not to understand what he meant.


    It was impossible to say that he wasn¡¯t afraid of such a terrifying ¡°maid¡± in such a horrible and gloomy castle, but he knew that Tang Mianmian was as timid as a mouse, and this was only the beginning of the mission. If he couldn¡¯t hold it together now, the two of them could only hug each other and wait for death when danger struck.


    However, after making a few gags with Tang Mianmian, he really didn¡¯t feel afraid anymore, and even had the nerve to use his shlight to check whether there were puppet strings on the maid¡¯s head or behind her.


    The result was, not only were they free of any puppet strings on their heads, even their faces didn¡¯t have the texture of a puppet. Apart from their dull and wooden expressions, they looked almost the same as normal people. On top of their lifelike facial features, even their skin looked very natural. If the joints on their arms and knees hadn¡¯t been exposed, Xiao Tangqiu simply couldn¡¯t tell that these maids were not people.


    The newbies stood ashen-faced and trembling with fear.


    The maids didn¡¯t seem to notice the guests¡¯ slip-ups. They simply turned around and led the way with a standard yet stiff smile. The yers looked at each other. No one dared to move. Finally, they saw that Shen Yuan¡¯s team had left with the maids and followed behind reluctantly.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were thest in line. Tang Mianmian kept staring at the backs and necks of the maids, as if looking for a switch or a coil spring. Xiao Tangqiu fixed his gaze on Shen Yuan who was walking in the front.


    Even amidst danger, Shen Yuan still looked calm andposed. His eyes were very tranquil, to the point of indifference, as if there was nothing in the world that could attract his attention...... including Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t imagine Meng Xinghe like this. Meng Xinghe in his memory was a young man with a bright smile ¨C an obedient son in front of his mother and an outstanding, good student in front of his teachers. But like most boys, he asionally skipped sses and went to Inte cafes, and sometimes made mischief and yed pranks......


    He grew up with Meng Xinghe. He had seen the many different sides of Meng Xinghe, but he had never seen him like this.


    Such indifference that seemed to indicate ack of interest in everything, and a detachment that constantly put a distance between him and everyone else wasn¡¯t the Meng Xinghe that he knew.


    Xiao Tangqiu remembered that Meng Xinghe could spend a long time just studying the migration of ants with relish, even breaking off some breadcrumbs and throwing them to the ants that had no food...... It was a stark contrast with the imposing, aloof Shen Yuan that was before of him.


    The two men, apart from their looks, clearly had no simrities.


    He sighed softly inside.


    Momentster, they reached the dining hall on the first floor.


    The dining hall didn¡¯t have lights or windows either; only the candles on the dining table emitted a faint light.


    The dining table was a long wooden table with ten stools on each side. A candle and a te of food had been ced in front of each seat.


    The Master of the castle was already seated at the head of the table. A candle and a te of food had also been ced in front of him. When he saw theming, he looked up at them with inquiring eyes, as if he was sizing them up, one by one.


    The Castle Master¡¯s eyes were a little difiting, just like he was deciding which item he wanted. Xiao Tangqiu noticed that when he looked at the girls, his gaze seemed to linger for a second or two.


    <i>..........Was this Castle Master actually a lecherous sex pervert?</i>


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was silently criticizing him, he found that the Castle Master¡¯s line of sight had fallen on him. He immediately felt like a prey in front of a predator and felt his hair raise on end. Fuck! This asshole had actually stared at him for a few seconds longer than those girls!


    Although Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t a narcissist, he still couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he was too handsome. <i>Did the Castle Master bend at the first sight of him?</i>


    <i>........Since the Castle Master had married three wives, and had so many maids, he should be straight, shouldn¡¯t he?</i>


    Fortunately, the Castle Master quickly withdrew his gaze and said, ¡°Wee to my castle. Please sit down.¡±


    He obviously had some kind of illness and started coughing after only speaking that sentence.


    They looked at each other and decided it was alright to sit down. Anyways, they had been hungry for a while now. If there was food provided, they would still have to fill their bellies. The newbies were all afraid to sit next to the Castle Master so they scrambled to sit in the middle and at the end. Finally, Shen Yuan¡¯s team ended up taking the first four seats closest to the Castle Master.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian sat next to the four of them. After everyone was seated, the Castle Master, who had been coughing for a long time, cleared his throat and barked at the housekeeper who was standing aside in a hoarse voice, ¡°......Rosetta, please invite the Madame over.¡±


    Madame?


    Weren¡¯t all his wives dead?

 Chapter 32.2

    <h4>Chapter 32.2</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t quite gotten over the shock yet, when the housekeeper turned around and removed a painting from the wall behind her. She piously held onto the painting with a humble posture. Then, she carefully ced it at the other end of the table, that is, directly opposite the Castle Master.


    It was the portrait of Lily Marlene.


    The newbies who were originally sitting at the back suddenly turned pale and regretted their decision. It seemed less frightening to sit next to a ghastly old man than a portrait of a dead woman.


    However, the Master of the castle obviously didn¡¯t think that there was anything wrong having dinner with the portrait of a dead person. He looked at it with deep emotions swirling in his eyes. But after a brief moment, he bowed his head and coughed for a while before he said in a low voice, ¡°Guests, please enjoy your meal.¡±


    The newbies were still hesitating whether to eat or not, but Xiao Tangqiu had already lifted the silver cloche off the dinner te. He let out a sigh of relief . There wasn¡¯t anything weird inside ¨C it was steak.


    Although some of them weren¡¯t used to using forks and knives, they soon started eating after having endured hunger for so long. The steak was little raw, but it tasted good.


    Seeing that others had started to eat, the newbies finally joined in with confidence. Everyone was hungry and even the picky child ate with gusto.


    Xiao Tangqiu secretly stared out of the corner of his eye at Shen Yuan who sat next to him. Compared with his own crude and clumsy movements, Shen Yuan cut the steak with grace and elegance. He was obviously very familiar with using a knife and fork.


    He withdrew his gaze and sighed quietly.


    Just like him, Meng Xinghe seldom had western cuisine, so he wasn¡¯t very good at using a knife and fork.


    When everyone was almost done with dinner, the Castle Master said, ¡°I believe you already know my identity. I am the Master of this castle, Lippinobert. Are you all suitors who read my marriage solicitation letter in the newspaper?¡±


    .........Wait a minute? Marriage solicitation letter? Suitors?


    Did he just hear something strange?


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, wondering if he had heard voices.


    Everyone else¡¯s reaction wasn¡¯t much better than his. They all sat dumbfounded. Tang Mianmian dropped his jaw in shock, so scared that the fork in his hand fell off with a tter.


    The Master of the castle, Lippinobert, lowered his head and coughed a few more times. Then he said in a hoarse voice, ¡°I am a puppet master and I love puppets very much, so I hope my wife will love puppets too. In seven days, I will choose a beautiful young woman from among you suitors, and then she will be my wife........¡±


    ¡°But within these seven days, you cannot damage any puppets in the castle.¡±


    ¡°What if we damage them?¡± Windbreaker Man grinned and asked.


    Lippinobert looked at Windbreaker Man coldly, ¡°......you don¡¯t want to know.¡±


    Twenty yers sat at a long table and had a discussion.


    ¡°What is this ce? Can we leave?¡± The female college student couldn¡¯t help but ask in fear.


    ¡°Can we get out of here? I have an important interview tomorrow!¡± A young man with sses spoke up at once.


    The middle-aged Suit Man burst out, ¡°Yes! I have a meeting the day after tomorrow to discuss a deal that involves tens of millions of dors.¡±


    A young woman who looked like a white-cor worker also grumbled, ¡°I¡¯m supposed to attend my best friend¡¯s wedding tonight!¡±


    Windbreaker Man looked at the newbies with a wide grin on his face, as if he didn¡¯t want to ruin their fantasies.


    However, someone still had to handle this sort of unpleasant but necessary matter.


    ¡°You can¡¯t go back.¡±


    The woman who followed Shen Yuan coldly continued, ¡°You can¡¯t go back. This is another world entirely.......¡±


    The newbies turned pale at the sound of that. Although they didn¡¯t want to believe it, everything they had experienced from the beginning to the present made it impossible for them to delude themselves.


    ¡°We really can¡¯t back?¡± The female college student asked the woman in horror.


    The woman gave the female college student a vague look; perhaps it was because they were both women, she added a few more words, ¡°No one has ever been able to return to the real world.¡±


    ¡°Do we have to stay in this terrible ce forever?¡± The female college student looked pale.


    The woman said tly, ¡°Afterpleting the mission, we can leave this instance.¡±


    ¡°Mission? Instance?¡± The young man asked, ¡°Is this a game?¡±


    The woman seemed to have something else to say but was rudely interrupted by a voice, ¡°Fu Lingji¨§, why bother exining all these to these newbies?¡±


    The person who spoke was the other woman beside Shen Yuan. However, rather than the word ¡°woman¡±, it seemed more appropriate to call her a girl because she looked really young, around 15 or 16 years old, and was wearing a pink skirt covered in diamonds andce. While twirling her curly hair, she smiled and spat out a cruel sentence, ¡°......They can¡¯t even survive tonight so what¡¯s the point of exining it to them?¡±


    ¡°How can a little girl like you be so vicious?¡± The middle-aged man scolded discontentedly.


    The girl gave the middle-aged man a chilly look. She raised her hand and suddenly a delicate pink umbre appeared in her grip. Then she pointed the tip of the umbre at the middle-aged man. The next second, the tip of the umbre fired a ¡°bullet¡± which brushed the middle-aged man¡¯s scalp and destroyed his wig in an instant.


    The middle-aged man was so scared that he fell to the ground from his stool and was too afraid to get back up.


    The girlughed scornfully, ¡°That¡¯s why...... I hate rookies the most.¡±


    ¡°Lulu,¡± the woman frowned slightly. ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it.¡±


    The girl blinked innocently.


    Xiao Tangqiu was a bit stunned. Even if the flying scalpel of Windbreaker Man could be considered a normal phenomenon still within the bounds of physics, then the weapon of this Loli must be magic!


    After being intimidated by this Loli, the newbies once again settled down and learned to behave.


    ¡°.....To put it simply, if we want to leave this castle, we¡¯ll need toplete the mission.¡± the woman continued, ¡°I¡¯m telling you in advance that we won¡¯t form a team with any of you because we can¡¯t trust you. The reason I¡¯m telling you all this is out of goodwill and to prevent you from misbehaving. If one of you irritates the BOSS and ends up breaking down the plot or upgrading the mission difficulty, all of us will be implicated.¡±


    ¡°Upgrading the mission difficulty?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°This is already an S-level mission. Can S-level missions still be upgraded?!¡±


    The moment he spoke, Shen Yuan looked up at him. His eyes were foggy, as if they were shrouded in a thin veil or perhaps enveloped by clouds and mist, appearing both vague and empty.


    However, before Xiao Tangqiu could properly decipher the emotion in Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes, Shen Yuan had withdrawn his gaze. He lowered his eyes and said, ¡°Yes, there are more difficult missions beyond the S-level missions.¡±


    His voice was cold and crisp, like an icy spring. Yet, beneath that frozen surface, there seemed to be a trace of unfathomable emotions.


    The newbies looked puzzled and obviously didn¡¯t understand the concept of mission difficulty. However, the other four old yers¡¯ expressions immediately turned ugly.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other, their faces turning pale. Previously, when the D-level mission was upgraded to S-level difficulty, they had almost died. If this time the S-level mission was also upgraded, wouldn¡¯t they be dead for sure?


    ¡°From now on, we should split up to look for clues, but you better be careful and remember the NPC¡¯s prohibitions.¡±


    After the woman finished speaking, she left with Shen Yuan¡¯s team.


    Soon, the four old yers also left together.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian exchanged a look and were about to leave when the female college student came up and asked them carefully, ¡°Are you going to look for clues? Can Ie with you?¡±


    Tang Mianmian subconsciously looked towards Xiao Tangqiu to get his opinion.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. Apart from Tang Mianmian, he didn¡¯t trust anyone else. The female college student had reacted rather calmly earlier and didn¡¯t seem like the kind of person who made trouble at first sight, but.......


    ¡°Why do you want to join us? We aren¡¯t old yers. ¡°


    The female college student said with a serious face, ¡°You look much more reliable than the other newbies. I will try my best not to drag you down. I¡¯m good at sports and I¡¯m involved in many sports clubs in school.....¡±


    She tried her hardest to persuade Xiao Tangqiu but seeing that Xiao Tangqiu remained unmoved, she gritted her teeth and threw out herst bargaining chip, ¡°I am a German student, my major is Germannguage...... I just rummaged through several rooms on the first floor and found a few German newspapers. I think you¡¯ll need the skills I got from my field of study!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was a little surprised. Compared to English, which was a widely usednguage, German was indeed less spoken. If the relevant clues were written in English, everyone could probably understand a little, but if it was in German, they would most likely not understand a single word. Right now, the ability to understand German was indeed an important skill.


    ¡°German?¡± Tang Mianmian was somewhat suspicious, ¡°But we all understood what the Master of the castle said just now. He was clearly speaking Chinese! How could we possibly understand German?¡±


    The female college student blushed as opened her mouth to say something, ¡°He seems to be speaking Chinese, but the newspaper is indeed printed in German......¡±


    Tang Mianmian wanted to add something else, but Xiao Tangqiu interrupted him. He said tly, ¡°What¡¯s the point of arguing? Just look for some clues that have writing and we¡¯ll know whether it¡¯s true or not.¡±


    The female college student realized this meant that he had agreed to her joining their team and her eyes suddenly brightened, ¡°Thank you! My name is Lu Si¡¯er. What are your names?¡±


    Tang Mianmian answered, ¡°My name is Tang Mianmian.......¡±


    ¡°But this is only temporary,¡± Xiao Tangqiu added faintly. ¡°If we find that you¡¯re not worthy of our trust, we¡¯ll kick you out.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Lu Si¡¯er nodded.


    Once Xiao Tangqiu agreed, Tang Mianmian nodded in agreement as well.


    ¡°My name is Xiao Tangqiu,¡± he introduced himself.


    Lu Si¡¯er also refused to beat around the bush and said bluntly, ¡°I dug up several newspapers in some of the rooms on the first floor. But I didn¡¯t dare move them so I left them where I found them. I¡¯ll show you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 32.3

    <h4>Chapter 32.3</h4>


    Momentster, they came to one of the rooms on the first floor.


    Although there were candlesticks in the room, the light wasn¡¯t bright enough. Xiao Tangqiu took out his shlight and lit up room.


    Lu Si¡¯er walked to the bedside table, opened the drawer, took out a yellowed newspaper and handed it to Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked down and saw that it was indeed a newspaper with unfamiliar words. He frowned slightly, ¡°Is this German? What does it say?¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er took the newspaper back again and began to trante its contents. After all, she was still a student so her trantion wasn¡¯t very good. Some parts were bumpy, but she understood the overall meaning of the article ¨C this was a marriage solicitation letter published in the newspaper.


    The man who wrote the letter was Lippinobert, the Master of the castle.


    ¡°......Is there a date on the newspaper?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned and asked. Since the newspaper had turned yellow, it should have been a long time ago.


    Lu Si¡¯er turned it over, then stared in surprise, ¡°Yes, but...... but....... this is impossible!¡±


    Tang Mianmian merely shrugged his shoulders, ¡°Why is it impossible? In this world, anything can happen.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°What¡¯s the date?¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er replied in a daze, ¡°......April 1922.¡±


    ¡°1922?¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused, but wasn¡¯t surprised. ¡°Are there any other clues in the newspaper?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was even more calm, ¡°It¡¯spletely normal. Sit down and continue tranting the rest of the newspaper.¡±


    He froze; when did the puppet appear? He remembered that it wasn¡¯t there earlier.......


    It was a wooden puppet that resembled a person. Its appearance wasn¡¯t very good. Even from a distance, he could see that the puppet¡¯s hand wasn¡¯t well made and its small skirt was simple and crude. Its facial features were skewed and twisted, like it had been abruptly pieced together.


    Compared with the other puppets that Xiao Tangqiu had seen in the disy window before, this puppet¡¯s workmanship was terrible, just like that of a child.


    In the dark room, the puppet appeared even more horrifying. Its twisted facial features were very strange. Clearly, the painting technique used was ugly and crude, but it gave him the feeling that it woulde to life at any moment. Even its eyes, which seem to have been casually glued with two stones, looked rather lifelike the more he stared at it.........


    Xiao Tangqiu kept his gaze fixed onto the puppet until Tang Mianmian¡¯s cry came from behind him, ¡°Look what I found! Eh? Qiuqiu, why did you turn off the shlight?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s footsteps came to a stop ¨C he had been unconsciously walking towards the puppet in the corner and had turned off the shlight when he wasn¡¯t aware!


    He immediately turned the shlight back on but was surprised to find that the puppet was missing!


    He felt a shiver run down his spine and quickly shone his shlight at the other corners of the room but couldn¡¯t find any traces of the puppet. He wanted to tell the other two about it at once. However, as soon as he turned around, he saw Tang Mianmian squatting down to pull something out from under the bed. Xiao Tangqiu looked confused.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Searching under the bed!¡± Tang Mianmian made an indubitable expression as he quickly got up from the floor, ¡°If we¡¯re looking for clues, of course we have to search every inch of this room! I just discovered that there¡¯s space underneath the bed, so I went down to take a look. I can¡¯t believe that I actually found something!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the item in Tang Mianmian¡¯s hand and found that it was a delicate, small wooden box. After shaking it a few times, he realized there was obviously something inside. He tried and actually managed to open it.


    ¡°It seems to be unlocked,¡± he opened the wooden box and examined its contents. There were some jewelry such as rings, earrings, brooches, and several letters that had turned yellow. ¡°........Letters! Lu Si¡¯er,e and look at them!¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er immediately put down the newspapers and took the letters. The envelope was open like it already had been read by someone. She looked at the contents of the letter and was a little surprised, ¡°......This is a letter from Lippinobert.¡±


    ¡°Lippinobert?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. ¡°To whom?¡±


    ¡°......This is a letter from Lippinobert to a woman named Maria. It seems to be in reply of another letter.¡± After skimming through the letter, Lu Si¡¯er summarized it to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian. ¡°I think that the woman named Maria wrote a letter to Lippinobert after reading his marriage solicitation letter in the newspaper, and then Lippinobert wrote back to Maria. He roughly introduced himself and then asked her some questions, such as her appearance and family circumstances, and asked Maria to attach a photo with the letter next time.¡±


    Tang Mianmian appeared interested in gossip, ¡°Is this the online love of that era? Pen pal love connections? Even wanting photos of her...... I really didn¡¯t expect this Lippinobert to be so superficial ah~ Then, is there a photo of Maria?¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er shook her head, ¡°No, these letters are all from Lippinobert, not Maria¡±


    ¡°This wooden box is obviously Maria¡¯s. There are so many small ornaments inside. Maria must have collected letters from Lippinobert. As for Maria¡¯s letters, they should be with him,¡± Xiao Tangqiu calmly analyzed.


    Tang Mianmian suddenly looked disappointed, ¡°I thought that I could see the photo of a beauty........¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er took up the second letter. ¡°......Lippinobert wrote that he liked Maria very much and wanted to marry Maria as his wife. He hoped that she could move into his castle as soon as possible.......¡±


    ¡°Wow! Living together so soon! Foreigners are so open, even from over a hundred years ago! Tsk, tsk!¡± Tang Mianmian grinned widely.


    ¡°The third letter is almost the same as the previous one. Perhaps Maria also thought their progress was too fast and temporarily rejected his proposal. Lippinobert said that he was willing to wait for Maria, but he still hoped that she could move into his castle and be his wife as soon as possible.¡±


    Very quickly, Lu Si¡¯er took out thest letter, and after going through it, she said, ¡°It seems Maria finally agreed. Lippinobert said in this letter that everyone in the castle was very happy to have her move in and be the Mistress of the castle, and that he had everything prepared for her......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t surprised. If Maria hadn¡¯t agreed to Lippinobert, this wooden box of hers wouldn¡¯t be here. It seemed that Maria ended up marrying Lippinobert.......


    ¡°It¡¯s strange though, if Maria is one of Lippinobert¡¯s three wives, how could her room be just like any other ordinary room? It¡¯s not at all like what the Master¡¯s room should look like. Moreover, she¡¯s the Mistress of the castle.....¡± Lu Si¡¯er mused with a slight frown, influenced by a woman¡¯s sensitive intuition. ¡°Apart from the small jewelry in this wooden box, there aren¡¯t any other women¡¯s articles or traces of a woman living here, but this wooden box is clearly Maria¡¯s. How can this be? No dressing mirror, no wardrobe, no clothes, no portrait of her........ ¡°


    ¡°Women¡¯s articles? Do puppets count?¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered the puppet earlier and immediately narrated that strange incident. ¡°......If Tang Mianmian hadn¡¯t stopped me just now, God knows what would¡¯ve happened.¡± It wouldn¡¯t be anything good anyways.


    After Xiao Tangqiu finished speaking, he found Tang Mianmian and Lu Si ¡®er standing opposite him, ashen with horror. He couldn¡¯t help wondering....... Was his story so terrifying? Why did these two have horrified expressions, as if they had seen it with their own eyes?


    ..........Wait a minute, with their own eyes?


    He didn¡¯t know why, but he suddenly had a bad feeling.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s voice trembled like a leaf, ¡°Is.... is.... is the puppet you¡¯re talking about........¡±


    He swallowed down his saliva with difficulty, his expression petrified as though he would faint in the next second, ¡°.........the one on your back now?¡±

 Chapter 33.1

    <h4>Chapter 33.1</h4>


    No matter how strong Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was, he still almost got a heart attack from what Tang Mianmian had said. He not only felt a chill rising from his tailbone, even his scalp was numb with tiny pinpricks. ¡°.......Don¡¯t simply make jokes in a ce like this, you¡¯ll frighten me to death........¡±


    His voice swayed because he found that Tang Mianmian and Lu Si¡¯er¡¯s terrified expressions were genuine. It didn¡¯t look like they were joking or ying a prank on him. In the next moment, he suddenly felt his shoulders sag with a dull pressure ¨C something seemed to have fallen onto his shoulders.


    With that, Xiao Tangqiu felt pins and needles all over his scalp as his hair stood on end.


    ¡°Qiuqiu....... your....... your shoulders.......¡± Tang Mianmian looked even more frightened.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately felt numb in one shoulder as a biting chill spread along his entire back. He froze for a few seconds, before suddenly reacting by trying to shake that thing off his shoulder.


    He assumed that it would be difficult to get rid of it once it climbed onto him. However, to his surprise, he managed to fling it off with a jerk and felt his shoulder suddenly lighten. That thing was actually thrown off by him!


    But he didn¡¯t dare to stay a moment longer in this room so he rushed to grab Tang Mianmian by the wrist and turned to run towards the door.


    As he was running, he suddenly heard Tang Mianmian scream in horror, ¡°Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu! ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu paused. Why did Tang Mianmian¡¯s voice........ sound a little far off from him?


    He turned and looked back, only to find that Tang Mianmian and Lu Si¡¯er were still standing in the same ce, staring at him with an expression of dread and horror. .........Wait a minute! If Tang Mianmian was over there, then whose hand was he holding now?


    He turned his head stiffly and finally saw the object he was holding onto ¨C the crudely made puppet he had just seen in the corner! Right now, he was holding the puppet¡¯s tiny hand while it floated mid-air. Its eyes that were made of ck stones glowed faintly in the flickering candlelight.


    The puppet¡¯s hand was very small and didn¡¯t have the cold texture of wood, but was warm and delicate like the touch of human skin....... At that thought, Xiao Tangqiu instantly felt his skin crawl.


    He was so shocked that at that moment, he even forgot about how terrified he was. He stood there, staring up at the puppet. Then, all at once, he felt the fear in his heart intensify. Although it was a puppet, the texture of its skin was very supple and lifelike,parable to real skin. No wood or resin material could produce such a lifelike, human texture. Moreover, upon closer inspection, the puppet¡¯s hair seemed to be made of real hair. He could see strands of white hairs hidden in its mane of ck hair. There was no way an ordinary puppet could grow white hairs!


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately dumped the puppet aside, but as soon as he let go of its hand, the puppet fluttered leisurely into the air. Its ck stone eyes looked at him with hatred and in the next second, the puppet¡¯s hair suddenly began to grow wildly until it reached one or two meters in length. And then it bared its teeth at Xiao Tangqiu and shot its hair towards him.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s wrist was tangled in the puppet¡¯s hair in an instant. The hair was so thick and tenacious that no matter how hard he struggled, it only became more tightly bound. He watched helplessly as the puppet pulled him closer bit by bit with its hair, and broke out in cold sweat.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid! I¡¯ll save you!¡± Tang Mianmian shouted as he picked up a pillow from the bed. He swung it violently at the floating puppet. His strength was very strong but the puppet wouldn¡¯t budge despite being severely hit. Instead, the pillow fell apart and the feathers inside spilled out.


    ¡°Let me go! You ugly monster!¡± Tang Mianmian shouted as he struggled. It wasn¡¯t certain if the puppet could understand what he had said but it soon divided a strand of hair, wrapped it around Tang Mianmian¡¯s neck and threw him violently against the wall with a loud bang. The force was so great that Tang Mianmian nearly fainted.


    Xiao Tangqiu fought desperately to remove himself from its grip and indicated with his eyes for Lu Si¡¯er to find something to save them. However, Lu Si¡¯er merely stood at a loss. Obviously, her brain had gonepletely nk. Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know how else they could be saved them and could only think of the object called.... ¡°Lighter! Do you have a lighter?¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er turned pale with fear, ¡°No, no...... I don¡¯t smoke.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have one on him either. All he had with him was some hemostatic sprays and a shlight. Even the only piece of candy he had brought from the real world had been eaten up. Tang Mianmian had even less on him. He continued to cry out without hope, ¡°What about scissors? Or a knife? Do you have any of these?!¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er said in despair, ¡°I don¡¯t.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was at the point of desperation, but under the threat of death, he suddenly remembered his special skill card. Before this, someone had given him a shlight, would someone else give him something that he could use right now?


    He held onto thest glimmer of hope as he used his special skill card. At once, a barrage ofments emerged in front of him.


    ¡°Exciting content up ahead!¡±


    ¡°Exciting content up ahead! Sexy streamer live streams his one-on-one fight with evil puppet!¡±


    ¡°Come and bet! If you think the streamer will win,ment 1; if you think the evil puppet will win,ment 2; if you think they¡¯ll end up killing each other,ment 3!¡±


    ¡°11111 I bet cute little streamer wins! I bet 10 yellow talismans! Give it your all Mr. Streamer!!!!!!¡±


    ......


    ...... What the hell were these?! He was dying ah! Why were they still betting?! Human lifees first ah! Why wasn¡¯t there anyone rewarding props at the most critical moment?


    Just when Xiao Tangqiu was so depressed that he could vomit blood, the only suggestivement immediately caught his attention ¨C ¡°Why not use the picture on the wall to smash the puppet? Isn¡¯t that more lethal than a pillow?¡±


    He reacted instantly, yes! The picture frame had sharp edges and could be considered as a lethal weapon!


    ¡°Painting! The picture on the wall! Throw it to me!¡± Xiao Tangqiu quickly shouted at Lu Si¡¯er.


    Lu Si¡¯er paused for a moment. Although, she was a little afraid of the painting, she rushed to take it down and threw it at Xiao Tangqiu from a distance .......However, her strength was a littlecking, so instead of sessfully making it into Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hands, the painting fell directly onto the puppet.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank at once. All he could think was, it¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. However, at that moment, somethingpletely beyond his expectation happened ¨C the moment the painting touched the puppet, the puppet suddenly gave out a shrill scream; one that was full of fear. Instantly, the puppet disappeared!


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the scene before him, dumbfounded. When the puppet disappeared, its hair naturally disappeared as well. Tang Mianmian immediately fell to the floor with a thump, as the back of his head knocked into the hard surface.


    ¡°Fuck! I¡¯m about to die from the pain!¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er asked nkly, ¡°What...... what happened just now?¡±


    ¡°Fuck! Fuck! I definitely have a concussion! I¡¯m going to lose my memory!¡± Tang Mianmian wailed and scrambled from the ground, ¡°......What the fuck is stabbing me?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hurried to help Tang Mianmian up, ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°What the hell is stabbing my hand?!¡± Tang Mianmian picked up something from the floor. Xiao Tangqiu leaned over and realized it was a ssic pocket watch with a very delicate design and a beautiful embossed pattern on the outer metal cover. It must¡¯ve been what was pricking Tang Mianmian¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Is this a pocket watch?¡± Lu Si¡¯er, who was still in a state of shock, studied it for a while and seemed to recall something, ¡°It probably fell out of the pillow when you hit the puppet earlier.¡±


    Tang Mianmian seemed to realize something as well, ¡°It¡¯s no wonder I thought I heard something fall out of the pillow at that time; a dong sound! At that time I didn¡¯t think more about it...... ¡°


    ¡°Is this Maria¡¯s? But why did she hide the pocket watch in the pillow......¡± Xiao Tangqiu examined it, then opened the cover of the pocket watch. The pocket watch consisted of two parts ¨C the bottom part was the clock dial which told the time, and the top part had apartment for a photo. There was a small photo of someone on it.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be Lippinobert¡¯s anyway.¡± Tang Mianmian said, touching his chin. ¡°He has no reason to hide his stuff in Maria¡¯s pillow, right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look at the photo and immediately froze. There was no doubt that the woman in this ck and white photo looked just like Lily Marlene, especially her eyes.


    If this woman was Maria...... was the simrity in her appearance and Lily Marlene¡¯s purely coincidental, or was it someone¡¯s intention?


    Tang Mianmian also leaned in and immediately discovered that the small figure in the photo resembled Lily Marlene. ¡°Why does this Maria look so simr to Lily Marlene? Could they be sisters or rtives?¡±


    ¡°Judging from the letter from Lippinobert, that shouldn¡¯t be the case,¡± Lu Si¡¯er shook her head and denied. ¡°They just look alike.¡±


    ¡°It seems that Lippinobert was rather obsessed with Lily Marlene. Not only does he hang her portrait everywhere in the castle, he also looked for someone with a simr appearance to be his wife. This must be true love!¡± Tang Mianmian sighed with emotion, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that weird guy to have such an infatuated side to him. You really can¡¯t judge a book by its cover.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°This pocket watch should be an important clue or prop. Let¡¯s put it away first.¡±


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t think too much as he casually dropped the pocket watch into his trouser pocket. Xiao Tangqiu turned away to look at the painting that had fallen to the floor. He rubbed his chin while he studied it.


    ¡°By the way, what happened just now? Why did the puppet suddenly disappear?¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly remembered this unusual urrence in hindsight and quickly asked.


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head and pointed to Lily Marlene¡¯s painting. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it seems that the puppet disappeared after being hit by this painting......¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, ¡°Is this the power of the first wife? The halo of true love? As long as this queen is still around, everyone else are merely concubines?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s most likely due to this painting.¡±


    ¡°It seems that this painting is quite useful! Shall we take it with us then? ¡± Tang Mianmian asked.


    ¡°No, this painting is everywhere. If we meet that puppet again, we can just take one down from the wall,¡± Xiao Tangqiu shook his head. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s too troublesome to carry a painting everywhere. What if Lippinobert sees us and thinks that we¡¯re thieves?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it would be embarrassing if Lippinobert thought we were in love with Lily Marlene and wanted to rob him of his wife,¡± Tang Mianmian nodded and said earnestly. ¡°He loves his wife so much that he would definitely kill us.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian put the painting back together, and then rummaged through the other corners of the room with Lu Si¡¯er. There was nothing else of importance, so they left the room.


    ¡°Where should we go next?¡± Tang Mianmian turned to ask Xiao Tangqiu. He just finished speaking when a loud scream echoed from the distance. ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±

 Chapter 33.2

    <h4>Chapter 33.2</h4>


    The two men gave each other a look, then looked at Lu Si¡¯er, ¡°Should we go take a look?¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er was obviously scared and hesitated for a moment before nodding, ¡°Let¡¯s go and find out what¡¯s going on.¡±


    After the three reached a consensus, they turned to run towards the source of those screams.


    It wasing from a room at the end of the corridor on the first floor. Xiao Tangqiu led the way and when he reached the room, he was greeted by a thick smell of blood apanied by ear-piercing screams.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. He immediately raised his shlight and shone it at the dimly-lit room. After seeing the scene in the room, he froze.


    The room was crowded with newbies who were staring at the center of the room with a horrified expression on their faces. There was a short, skinny man lying in a pool of blood. He held his wrist as he screamed ceaselessly. It seemed that the noise and bloody smell wasing from from him.


    Xiao Tangqiu remembered that Short and Skinny was also a newbie, but he wasn¡¯t very conspicuous when mixed within the crowd so he hadn¡¯t paid much attention to him before this and didn¡¯t have a deep impression of him.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Tang Mianmian and Lu Si¡¯er also entered the room and asked the others.


    A young man looked horrified and said, ¡°I... I don¡¯t know...... Didn¡¯t you tell us look for clues? So, we went together to search the rooms. But we¡¯ve been looking in this room for a long time and didn¡¯t find anything. Just now, that guy suddenly screamed and when we turned around, we found that he had lost a hand.....¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and took a step forward. Short and Skinny¡¯s right hand was broken off neatly. It looked like his hand had been cleanly sliced off by a sharp weapon. Blood flowed out freely from the wound. If he didn¡¯t stop the bleeding, this man would most likely lose his life. He quickly took out a hemostatic agent from his pocket.


    The hemostatic agent from the vending machine came in the form of a spray. Xiao Tangqiu sprayed it onto the man¡¯s wound and the blood stopped immediately, But that man wouldn¡¯t stop screaming, as if he was still feeling immense pain from the wound. He only stopped after a long time and looked down to find that the wound had healedpletely.


    ¡°What is this?¡± the middle-aged man leaned in curiously, his beady eyes greedily looking at the hemostatic agent in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately stuffed the hemostatic agent back into his pocket. It was also his first time using it so he didn¡¯t expect this thing to be so miraculous. Its results were instant! Even in the real world this would be a precious treasure, much less in this crisis-ridden mission world.


    Damn it! A person¡¯s fortune only arouses envy in others!


    He assumed a casual attitude, ¡°This is nothing, as long as you can leave this ce, there are many such things out there.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and tried to shake him off, but Short and Skinny clung onto his legs with great strength. He couldn¡¯t break free at all and could only helplessly exin, ¡°I¡¯m not some Divine Doctor. I don¡¯t know how to treat wounds or illnesses. I can¡¯t save you.¡±


    ¡°No! You must save me!¡± The man was very agitated, ¡°My hands are very important! You must help me get my hands back! Otherwise, I won¡¯t let you go! This ce is so dangerous, I¡¯ll die here without my hands! If you don¡¯t help me, I won¡¯t let go. We¡¯ll die here together!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s chest was stuffy with anger. He didn¡¯t expect this man to repay his kindness of stopping the bleeding by pushing his luck. The was clearly a case of the farmer and the viper!


    ¡°Why are you doing this!¡± Tang Mianmian was enraged. He rushed forward to help Xiao Tangqiu push aside the man, but the man seemed determined to y out this farce till the very end. He stumbled to the floor and hugged Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s feet with a death grip. Tang Mianmian pulled him hard, but he dodged left and right, sliding around like a worm.


    The newbies watched the bustle, gloating over the misfortune of Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, these two old yers. The middle-aged man even said in an indifferent tone, ¡°Please help him. In the case of disaster, we should help each other!¡±


    Just then, the young woman who looked like a white-cor worker interrupted with an expression of shock, ¡°Just now....... I think I saw........¡±


    ¡°What did you see?¡± The middle-aged man asked doubtfully.


    White-cor Woman trembled all over and turned pale. ¡°When we were looking for something just now...... I saw him ...... picking up the puppet from the cupboard over there....... and stealing the golden axe from the puppet¡¯s hand......¡±


    ¡°Then....... I saw the puppet sneer....... I got such a fright...... After that, the man suddenly fell down....... His hand was gone...... It must¡¯ve been cut off by that golden axe!¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about!¡± The middle-aged man immediately retorted, ¡°How big can an axe from a puppet¡¯s hand be? How is it possible to cut off a person¡¯s hand?¡±


    ¡°But I saw it! The puppet clearly sneered!¡± White-cor Woman was flustered, ¡°I was almost scared to death! Later, the man¡¯s hand was broken. How can there be such a coincidence?! The golden axe must still be in his hands! If you don¡¯t believe me, check his hands!¡±


    They looked at each other, not believing in such a ridiculous thing of course. But Tang Mianmian, who had been trying to shake off that man, immediately grabbed his hand and tried to pry open his fingers.


    The man struggled violently, but ended up losing against Tang Mianmian¡¯s strength; his grip loosened by a crack.


    Something tiny fell out of his fingers.


    It was only the size of a small thumb, a tiny, delicate golden axe that was covered in blood.


    White-cor Woman was very excited, ¡°Look! He was punished for stealing from others!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around and found a puppet in the cupboard not far away. It was also crudely made but seemed to have slightly better craftsmanship than the puppet before. He suspected that the person who created the puppet had improved his skills.


    The puppet looked like a little girl, with two side braids and a cute little dress. Its face was more delicate than that of the previous puppet. Its eyes were two blue stones, which appeared even more lifelike and gleamed in the flickering candlelight. Just by looking at it, he could tell it was just as strange as the previous puppet.


    The others had also noticed the puppet. The middle-aged man looked at it a few times andughed at White-cor Woman, ¡°This little puppet is clearly made to look like a little girl. Why would it carry an axe? Did you make a mistake?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! When I first entered the room, I clearly saw her holding an axe!¡± White-cor Woman retorted.


    ¡°This little doll is even wearing a cute dress, how could it carry an axe? Why would someone design it like that?¡± The elite-looking man echoed as well, ¡°And just by looking at her hands you can see that there isn¡¯t a hole in her hand to hold an axe.¡±


    When they all looked at the puppet¡¯s hands, they found that its hand hung down by the side naturally. It didn¡¯t show a gesture of holding something at all.


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± White-cor Woman burst out in disbelief. ¡°But I clearly saw it holding an axe! The axe was just in its hand!¡±


    ¡°How dare you frame me, you bitch!¡± Short and Skinny gave White-cor Woman a fierce look, ¡°I didn¡¯t steal anything! This golden axe is my family heirloom! Are you trying to frame me and rob me of it?¡±


    ¡°You!¡± White-cor Woman was left speechless, her face turning red with anger.


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly noticed something. His brow wrinkled, ¡°Wait a minute...... look at the puppet¡¯s shoes!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with its shoes?¡± The middle-aged men scowled disapprovingly.


    Tang Mianmian leaned in to take a closer look. His expression changed drastically, ¡°Blood! It¡¯s blood!¡±


    The puppet was wearing a pair of small, red leather shoes. If they hadn¡¯t looked carefully, they wouldn¡¯t have seen the blood. Xiao Tangqiu had only found traces of different shades of red on its shoes after careful observation.


    ¡°How is that possible? The paint must be uneven.¡± The middle-aged man wiped the puppet¡¯s shoe with his hand, then froze in shock. His fingertips were stained with blood!


    ¡°The blood isn¡¯t dry yet, indicating that it had just gotten on the shoe.¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked at Short and Skinny and asked, ¡°You¡¯re the only one bleeding in this room. Would you like to exin why your blood is on it?¡±


    Short and Skinny paused, then cried out with vehemently, ¡°How can you tell it¡¯s my blood? Do you have any evidence?¡±


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could speak, the mysterious housekeeper suddenly appeared at the door to the room. She gave Short and Skinny a cold look, ¡°You have damaged the Master¡¯s puppet. For that, you will be punished!¡±


    Short and Skinny¡¯s expression suddenly changed, and he shouted back angrily, ¡°What¡¯s so special about this shitty puppet? Who cares if it¡¯s broken?! It¡¯s not like it¡¯s some treasure!¡±


    The housekeeper merely stared at Short and Skinny, not saying another word. Short and Skinny was pale with fright, but he still tried to argue his way out. ¡°It¡¯s just a shitty puppet! Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re nning to extort money out of me just because of this! Let me tell you, I have no money! There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll ever cheat me of my money!¡±


    Just then, several maids appeared from behind the housekeeper. Short and Skinny jumped in shock and watched them with vignce. However, they only cleaned up the mess, just like an ordinary maid would. In the face of this bloody scene, their expressions remained unchanged as they wiped off the blood on the floor, then calmly picked up the broken-off hand.


    ¡°Give me back my hand¡±


    Seeing that the maids were about to throw away his hand, Short and Skinny rushed over and snatched it back.


    The maids merely continued to wipe up the blood. Although their movements were a little stiff, they were very quick and soon the room was clean again.


    The housekeeper carefully picked up the small golden axe, then walked to the puppet. Suddenly, the strangest thing happened ¨C the puppet¡¯s naturally drooping hands raised up by themselves and moved into a posture of holding the axe. After the housekeeper put the golden axe back in ce, she gave Short and Skinny another cold look and left with the maids.


    ¡°That¡¯s what the puppet looked like just now!¡± White-cor Woman immediately cried out, ¡°When I first entered the room, that was how the puppet held the axe!¡±


    Right now, the puppet on the table lookedpletely different than it did earlier. Although its hair was tied up in braids and it was still wearing the same cute dress, the addition of the golden axe in both its hands made it appear really creepy, especially since the small axe was still stained with blood.

 Chapter 33.3

    <h4>Chapter 33.3</h4>


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Short and Skinny gave White-cor Woman a hard look.


    White-cor Woman used, ¡°You¡¯re a thief!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu froze and suddenly remembered that Short and Skinny had held onto his thighs for quite some time. He subconsciously reached for the hemostatic agent in his trouser pocket. Sure enough, it was gone.


    ¡°You stole my hemostatic spray?¡± He red at Short and Skinny.


    Short and Skinny threw out a vicious rebuttal, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare frame me!¡±


    The middle-aged man also instinctively touched his pocket and soon he cried out, ¡°Where¡¯s my wallet? You bastard! Did you steal my wallet?¡±


    When the others saw this, they reacted by checking their pockets as well. One by one, they cried, ¡°Where¡¯s my wallet?¡±


    ¡°My wallet is missing too!¡±


    ¡°That guy must have stolen it!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! I didn¡¯t!¡± Short and Skinny turned as red a tomato but the next moment, he was thrown down to the floor by the newbies, as a bunch of items was confiscated from his pockets.


    ¡°This is my wallet!¡±


    ¡°My wallet! And my gold chain!¡±


    ¡°Damn thief! Let¡¯s beat him to death!¡±


    Everyone took back their belongings in a rage, repeatedly punching and kicking the man. The louder he shouted, the harder they beat him. Later, even those who didn¡¯t have anything stolen took part in the mob beating. A fist followed by a knee and so on......


    Short and Skinny curled up into a ball, still firmly protecting his amputated hand.


    After Xiao Tangqiu got back his hemostatic spray, he couldn¡¯t help but frown at the sight before him. ¡°If you continue beating him, he¡¯ll die.¡±


    But the angry mob refused listen to any other opinions, perhaps taking it out on Short and Skinny to vent their anger and fear. They punched and kicked for a while until White-cor Woman screamed, ¡°Ghost! There¡¯s a ghost!¡±


    All of a sudden, as if they had been poured with cold water, the angry mob calmed down and looked at White-cor Woman.


    Her trembling finger was pointing at the puppet on the cupboard, ¡°The puppet...... The puppet has moved again.......¡±


    And the strangest thing was, the puppet was originally facing the center of the room, but now it had turned slightly to face them, so the raised axe was pointed in their direction.


    The crowd immediately dispersed in fear, while Short and Skinny was left alone where the axe was pointed at.


    Short and Skinny had been beaten to a half-conscious state. He curled up on feebly on the floor, shaking as he held onto his amputated hand.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was his illusion but he felt as if the corners of the puppet¡¯s lips had curved upwards a little when the crowd had scattered just now.


    Its blue eyes also seemed to glow with strange light under the dim candlelight.


    This puppet was really too strange, and on top of that, someone had inexplicably lost a hand. From this experience, naturally, no one dared to stay in this room. They looked at each other in silence before someone suddenly said, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here right now! Anyway, there¡¯s nothing of interest in this room!¡±


    His words were quickly echoed by the others. The middle-aged man spat at Short and Skinny who was still on the floor. ¡°I¡¯ll let you off this time! What a good deal you got! There are so many of us, so the next time you steal, we¡¯ll beat you to death!¡±


    Short and Skinny had blood all over his face. He couldn¡¯t even say aplete sentence and could only whimper in fear. The middle-aged man gave him another hard kick and left with the crowd.


    In a blink of an eye, only Xiao Tangqiu, Tang Mianmian and Lu Si¡¯er, as well as Short and Skinny, who couldn¡¯t get up from the floor, was left in the room.


    ¡°Shall we go too?¡± Lu Si¡¯er timidly asked Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°Let¡¯s search this room first,¡± Xiao Tangqiu nced at the puppet. ¡°Don¡¯t touch that thing. Be careful.¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er asked doubtfully, ¡°Didn¡¯t the others already look in here? They said there was nothing in this room.¡±


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could answer, Tang Mianmian snickered, ¡°Too many cooks spoil the broth! When there are so many people in a team, people getzy and ck off. What can they find with so many of them crowded into one room? Maybe they didn¡¯t look properly at all and were just fooling around, thinking to let someone else look for clues!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded; he thought the same way. ¡°Those newbies have little experience. Let¡¯s search again, especially at the corners...... Didn¡¯t we find the small wooden box and pocket watch under the bed and in the pillow?¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er nodded, suddenly enlighted, then rolled up her sleeves and rummaged through the room with Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around while he searched. Theyout and decoration of the room was simr to Maria¡¯s room. Of course, all the rooms in the castle were simr, but after carefully looking up and down, he couldn¡¯t help but ask the other two, ¡°Do you feel that...... this looks like a child¡¯s room?¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er said hesitantly, ¡°But there aren¡¯t any children in this castle! And if Lippinobert had children, how could there be no pictures of his children at all?¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t a picture of Maria in the castle either,¡± Tang Mianmian disagreed. ¡°Maybe he never even cared for Maria. Aside from Lily Marlene, no other woman matters to him.¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er paused for moment, and had to admit that Tang Mianmian might be right. Lippinobert married three wives in total, but the castle was only filled with pictures of Lily Marlene and there wasn¡¯t a single portrait of the other two women.


    Xiao Tangqiu pointed to the cupboard in the corner. ¡°It looks like there are some children¡¯s toys over there, which is why I figured this is a kids¡¯ room...... But this room should have been vacant for a long time, just like Maria¡¯s¡±


    Tang Mianmian climbed out from under the bed and casually lifted the pillow and quilt but he found nothing. He was feeling disappointed but got excited by what Xiao Tangqiu just said, ¡°Leave it to me! I¡¯ll look at it!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing in the bedside drawers,¡± Lu Si¡¯er said, turning over the other furniture in the room. ¡°This room is so empty. No wonder they didn¡¯t find anything.¡±


    Tang Mianmian moved a stool over and reached for the items on top of the cupboard. He brought them down to take a look but found that they weren¡¯t of any importance. There was a teddy bear, an old musical box, a faded haib and some dried flowers.


    ¡°These look worthless, no wonder nothing wasn¡¯t stolen,¡± Tang Mianmian muttered. ¡°A pile of junk...... but for a child, these may be precious treasures.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the teddy bear and suddenly said, ¡°I have a bold idea.¡±


    Tang Mianmian understood what he meant immediately. ¡°The Hello Kitty Murder case of hiding the body? Do you tear open this stuffed toy?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°But.......¡±


    ¡°But this stuffed toy could also be considered as a doll or a puppet.¡± Tang Mianmian raised an eyebrow, ¡°What if it¡¯s also part of the puppets that Lippinobert said we can¡¯t damage?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Xiao Tangqiu sighed. ¡°I just thought about it too.¡±


    Tang Mianmian picked up the stuffed toy, shook it and patted it. ¡°But this teddy bear is quite small and doesn¡¯t look like it can hide anything.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his attention to the musical box. He opened it and looked inside. ¡°It seems to be broken.¡±


    The lid of the musical box was covered in dust. There was a little girl in red leather shoes inside but the music didn¡¯t y and the little girl didn¡¯t dance.


    It suddenly urred to him that Meng Xinghe had also sent him a musical box a long time ago. When it was opened, it would y ¡°F¨¹r Elise¡±and a little girl in a ballet dress would twirl around slowly.


    At that time, he had particrly disliked this gift, thinking that a musical box was a gift for girls.


    Tang Mianmian picked it up shook it. ¡°This thing doesn¡¯t look like it can hide anything.......¡±


    ¡°It seems that this room is really empty,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said with a helpless smile on his face. ¡°Forget it. It¡¯s almost midnight. Let¡¯s go back to our rooms.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was about to say something, but Xiao Tangqiu quietly blinked at him. He immediately caught on and nodded slightly.


    ¡°It¡¯ste now, so let¡¯s go back and get some rest. We¡¯ll continue looking tomorrow.¡± Xiao Tangqiu turned to Lu Si¡¯er. ¡°Go to bed early and don¡¯te out if you hear anything.¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er nodded at once.


    Seeing that they were about to leave, Short and Skinny immediately struggled to get up, but he was beaten so badly that he couldn¡¯t stand at all. He could only move forward bit by bit, wriggling on the floor as he whimpered, as if begging them to take him with them.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment. He wasn¡¯t a kind or good person, but he couldn¡¯t bear to watch this man die here. ¡°We can take you to the second floor, but I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll let you into their room. I don¡¯t trust you either, so you can only stay in a room by yourself.¡±


    It was better to stay alone than die in this strange room. Short and Skinny nodded desperately. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian helped him out of the room.


    Lu Si¡¯er frowned faintly and seemed to disapprove of Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian¡¯s actions. However, she didn¡¯t say anything until all four of them left the room. Suddenly, her expression turned ugly. ¡°The puppet...... it moved again!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned to look, and sure enough, the puppet had turned to face in their direction. Its axe was pointed to the door where they were.


    Lu Si¡¯er immediately backed away from them. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have taken him away. The housekeeper said that whoever damages the puppet will be punished!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu ttened his lips. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go back to my room first,¡± Lu Si¡¯er said, shaking her head. She couldn¡¯t understand why Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were helping a thief. ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and nodded. They were holding up Short and Skinny and were about to walk away when the door behind them suddenly mmed shut.


    Xiao Tangqiu froze. The next second, a faint melody suddenly sounded from the room behind him.


    That was a melody he was familiar with.


    It was F¨¹r Elise.


    The mellow, ethereal melody of the musical box softly echoed throughout the silent and gloomy castle.

 Chapter 34.1

    <h4>Chapter 34.1</h4>


    The faint melody of the musical box was particrly clear in the silent castle. Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help shivering as his hair stood on end.


    Tang Mianmian shook uncontrobly, ¡°Fuck! .......Is that the musical box?¡± Isn¡¯t that musical box broken?¡± Then, on second thought, he realized that he wasn¡¯t making any sense. Under normal circumstances, a broken musical box wouldn¡¯t y again, but the problem was ¨C this wasn¡¯t a normal ce at all!


    Lu Si¡¯er hadn¡¯t gone very far; she stopped, looking horrified.


    Short and Skinny couldn¡¯t stop shivering and whimpering with fear.


    ¡°Do you want to...... go back and have a look?¡± Tang Mianmian gulped and asked Xiao Tangqiu somewhat hesitantly.


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about it for a moment, then said, ¡°Forget it, it¡¯s toote today. We¡¯lle back tomorrow.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°I also think..... that we shoulde again tomorrow.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian sent Short and Skinny to the second floor. Seeing that Lu Si¡¯er had entered her room, they gave each other a look, turned around and walked upstairs together.


    ¡°I wonder if Shen Yuan has been to the attic.¡± Xiao Tangqiu said to Tang Mianmian in a low voice, ¡°If they¡¯ve already been there, then we¡¯re a step toote.......¡±


    Tang Mianmian was also a little uneasy. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. They should¡¯ve searched elsewhere today. I don¡¯t think they searched the attic first, right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly, ¡°I hope so. If it weren¡¯t because we nned to go with Shen Yuan¡¯s team to the attic, we could¡¯ve gone back into that room with the musical box just now. There might be some clues inside.¡±


    Tang Mianmian muttered, ¡°It could be a trap....... What do you think is in the attic?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu winked at him, ¡°Crazy woman in the attic?¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately understood what Xiao Tangqiu was trying to say. ¡°Do you think Lippinobert locked Maria in the attic?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu calmly said, ¡°It¡¯s also possible that it¡¯s all three wives of Lippinobert. After all, they¡¯ve never appeared before.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense!¡± Tang Mianmian nodded. Inspired by Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s conjecture, his imagination went wild. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s Lily Marlene!¡±


    Momentster, the two finally came to the attic of the old castle. Not surprisingly, the attic door was locked with a solid brass padlock.


    Xiao Tangqiu studied the brass padlock and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone¡¯s been here before....... It¡¯s so strange, this padlock is rusty and the keyhole is blocked. I don¡¯t think anyone has opened this lock for a long time. Was my guess wrong? Maybe there¡¯s no one locked inside after all?¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t think your guess is wrong.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around, only to find that Windbreaker Man was standing behind him since God knows when, and was smiling while he yed with the scalpel in his hand.


    Both he and Tang Mianmian jumped in shock and stumbled to the floor.


    ¡°You two rookies really have such great courage. You actually dare toe up to the attic.¡± Windbreaker Man smiled as he sized up Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, ¡°Don¡¯t you know, the greater your courage, the sooner you die?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was afraid of Windbreaker Man, but after catching sight of Shen Yuan not far away, he suddenly felt unafraid again, and somehow, even felt a peace of mind.


    ¡°Wh-what.... what.... what do you want.......¡± Tang Mianmian was terrified. ¡°Don¡¯t think that just because I look like this, I¡¯m weak. In fact, I¡¯m really strong! With this one fist of mine....... even I don¡¯t even know what will happen! ¡°


    Windbreaker Man grinned. ¡°Oh?¡± He casually bent the scalpel with two fingers, and then casually bent it into shape again.


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°......Big brother, I¡¯ll kneel for you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stepped forward and stood in front of Tang Mianmian. His tone was calm, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Windbreaker Man shrugged, ¡°Nothing, we just want to go in and have a look, but you¡¯re in the way.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll move right away. We won¡¯t get in your way.¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°But we want to follow you guys to take look inside the attic......¡±


    ¡°Oh? Are you talking terms with us?¡± Windbreaker Man hooked his lips. ¡°Who are you to do that?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu ttened his lips, ¡°Of course not. I¡¯m just giving you a heads up because it seems a little impolite not to.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re not talking terms with us, but informing us?¡± Windbreaker Man blinked in disbelief, ¡°Do you know who I am?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked sheepishly, ¡°.......Right now, I still don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You actually don¡¯t know who I am?¡± Windbreaker Man widened his eyes, pointing his scalpel at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s nose. ¡°Is it because I¡¯m not well-known enough or are you just too ignorant?¡±


    ¡°......This is only our second instance.¡± Xiao Tangqiu said cautiously. ¡°We really are neers.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re just ignorant.¡± Windbreaker Man suddenly narrowed his eyes, ¡°That¡¯s not right, you¡¯ve just entered the game not too long ago but your second mission is an S-level mission? How is that possible?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked stunned. ¡°Why is that impossible? Is there some reason behind that?¡±


    ¡°Of course! This damn game is simr to the games in the real world. Based on the principle that all things are difficult before they are easy, the difficulty is increased little by little. Everyone starts with a D-level mission and is only qualified for S-level missions after countless experiences. Except for a few abnormal conditions......¡± Windbreaker Man subconsciously nced at Shen Yuan at the side, then red at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian. ¡°Everyone¡¯s mission level is basically in line with their own level, and it¡¯s unlikely that they¡¯ll receive a mission beyond their level. How can you two rookies receive an S-level mission for the second task? ¡°


    One of the women interrupted Windbreaker Man, frowning as she said, ¡°Not necessarily. The system also distributes missions ording to the yer¡¯s innate abilities and potential. If a yer¡¯s potential is especially good, it is possible to skip a few levels and receive S-level missions in advance.¡±


    ¡°But do you think these two rookies look like they have special potential?¡± Windbreaker Man sneered.


    The other woman casually added, ¡°Maybe they have props or skill cards to forcefully enter S-level missions.¡±


    Windbreaker Man looked at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian from top to bottom and concluded, ¡°That seems even more impossible. They look like two poor beggars.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Heartbroken!


    All he had was a shlight and a hemostatic spray. All his points added up weren¡¯t even enough to buy a weapon.


    One word ¨C poor!


    Just then, Shen Yuan, who had been silent all along, suddenly asked, ¡°What was your first task?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment. He hadn¡¯t expected Shen Yuan to take the initiative to speak to him and merely stared dumbly at him for a while before he quickly exined, ¡°It was just a D-level task......¡±


    After he finished speaking, Windbreaker Man raised his eyebrows, ¡°Did the mission difficulty get upgraded in the end?¡± From D-level to S-level ¨C this leap in difficulty really was unheard of......


    One of the women looked at Xiao Tangqiu impassively and exined, ¡°It isn¡¯t umon to see an upgrade in the difficulty of a mission, but generally it will only increase by one level, for example, from B-level to A-level...... Usually, if yers perform well in an instance, the system will increase the mission level if the yer is judged to have great potential.¡±


    ¡°What is the system?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help asking the question he was most curious about.


    ¡°It is the supreme will of the city of the abyss; you can also think of it as the Supreme God,¡± the woman exined. ¡°It has power over the life and death of every yers and is a force superior to all yers. It sets all the rules of the city of the abyss.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded thoughtfully, while Tang Mianmianughed gleefully, ¡°Does the system think we have great potential?¡±


    The other woman rolled her eyes at him. ¡°You failed your mission. What gives you the right to say that?¡±


    Tang Mianmian hid behind Xiao Tangqiu while Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked at Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes flitted lightly over him, as if looking at him but not seeing him.


    ¡°You will join us for this mission.¡±


    Listening to Shen Yuan¡¯s cold voice, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze: ¡°Me?¡±


    ¡°Shen g¨¥!¡± The outspoken woman immediately pouted discontentedly. ¡°He¡¯s just a rookie. Why do you want him toe with us?¡±


    The indifferent woman also frowned slightly, ¡°Shen g¨¥, should you reconsider?¡±


    Windbreaker Man pursed his lips and said nothing, but he obviously didn¡¯t agree.


    ¡°Shen g¨¥.¡± The indifferent woman paused and tried to persuade him, ¡°If this was any other mission, even if it was an A-level mission, taking a rookie with us is nothing. But this is an S-level mission. If we¡¯re not careful, we may not be able to get out.......¡±


    Shen Yuan lightly interrupted her, ¡°I¡¯ve decided.¡±


    The woman bit her lip and stopped trying to persuade him anymore.


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu again, ¡°Do you want to join us?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe his ears. Shen Yuan had invited him to join the team?


    Although he didn¡¯t know why, he immediately agreed. ¡°Of course! But can my friend alsoe along?¡±


    Shen Yuan casually nced at Tang Mianmian, who immediately held his head high and showed off, ¡°I¡¯m very strong...... and I eat very little!¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded, ¡°Ok.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu grinned broadly. ¡°Thank you .......¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu but quickly withdrew his gaze. ¡°Open the door.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu scrunched up his face, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to pick locks........¡±


    Why didn¡¯t he know how to pick locks ah?!


    ~~~


    P.S. Sorry for thete update! Guess who had to work overtime till 1am yesterday......?? Anyways, I will release another chapter tonight, as usual, so stay tuned

 Chapter 34.2

    <h4>Chapter 34.2</h4>


    ¡°No one asked you to.¡± The outspoken women gave Xiao Tangqiu a sarcastic look, removed the scrunchie she used to tie her hair, pulled out the wire inside and squatted down in front of the brass lock. ¡°Although there is a more convenient and quick way, that is to break the lock, right now, we don¡¯t want to be discovered, so it can only be done in this less violent manner.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at her,pletely stunned to see her fiddle with the keyhole a few times. A momentter, the brass padlock was opened.


    ¡°Fuck! You can actually do that?!¡±


    Tang Mianmian somehow remembered that they were supposed to be sneaking around and doing bad things. So, instead of yelling, he just lowered his voice to say, ¡°That¡¯s so damn badass!¡±


    ¡°What are you making a fuss for?¡± the woman side eyed Tang Mianmian and tied up her hair again. ¡°Shen Ge, should we go in?¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded, and was the first to enter the attic.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian fell behind. When they entered the attic, they found that it was dark and there wasn¡¯t even a candle.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly pulled out his shlight and turned it on. Windbreaker Manughed at him, ¡°Alright then, it looks like you can be in charge of lighting.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°.....Um ......Thanks?¡±


    Under the light from his shlight, they finally saw theplete state of the attic. It seemed like it had been abandoned and was filled with old, broken furniture as well as wooden nks scattered in a mess, which appeared to be leftover materials.


    Dust had umted everywhere and had enveloped the surface of the furniture in a thickyer. There were cobwebs in the corners and crevices. Just a slight inhale and they would breathe in enough dust to choke them.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and pinched his nose. He followed the others and searched the attic but it was merely an abandoned attic with nothing aside from some old and broken furniture.


    But why would such an ordinary attic be subject to taboo amongst the inhabitants of this ancient castle?


    ¡°There¡¯s a cupboard here.¡± The indifferent woman seemed to have found something. She turned around to look at Shen Yuan and said, ¡°On top of the cupboard, there are some........¡±


    Shen Yuan walked over and took down a book.


    When his elegant, slender fingers turned over the cover, Xiao Tangqiu leaned over curiously, only to find a string of English letters ¨C ¡°Alice.¡±


    ¡°Alice? Who is she?¡± The indifferent woman frowned slightly. ¡°Is it one of Lippinobert¡¯s wives?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Xiao Tangqiu thought of the musical box and solemnly added, ¡°Lippinobert¡¯s second wife was called Maria. We don¡¯t know anything about the third wife yet. But Alice....... should be his daughter.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± The indifferent woman had some doubts.


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could open his mouth to exin, Shen Yuan interrupted faintly, ¡°This looks like a child¡¯s writing.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What did you find?¡± She smiled, ¡°Of course, we can exchange information. You tell me something and I¡¯ll share something as well.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t bother about any of this. He just casually mentioned what they had seen and heard, including information about Maria¡¯s room.


    ¡°Alright,¡± the woman shrugged. ¡°Since you¡¯re being so generous with the information you got, I¡¯ll tell you about what we found. Except for Lippinobert, the housekeeper and the servants¡¯ rooms, we¡¯ve searched almost all the others and found nothing special...... But we discovered that the castle has a cer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised,¡± Xiao Tangqiu smiled. ¡°Can a castle without a secret cer still be called a castle?¡±


    ¡°There is one more important thing,¡± the woman raised an eyebrow. ¡°In this castle, it seems that aside from us yers, only Lippinobert is alive.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly and was about to say something when Tang Mianmian, who stood not too far away, suddenly cried out, ¡°Oh my god! Come here! I just found a picture! ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment and subconsciously looked towards Shen Yuan just at the moment he closed the book.


    ¡°What is it?¡± The indifferent woman asked Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan replied impassively, ¡°Alice in Wondend.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked puzzled, ¡°Alice again.......¡±


    Shen Yuan put it back into the cupboard and walked towards Tang Mianmian.


    Tang Mianmian struggled to push a huge wooden wardrobe aside. Behind the wardrobe, the corner of a picture frame was revealed.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately stepped forward to help Tang Mianmian. However, both of their strengthsbined wasn¡¯t enough to move the wardrobe.


    ¡°......Why is this wardrobe so heavy! Is there a body hidden inside?¡± Xiao Tangqiu wondered out loud as he used all his strength.


    ¡°Pei, pei, pei! Don¡¯t you dare set up a g!¡± Tang Mianmian red at Xiao Tangqiu.


    Windbreaker Man snickered at the two of them, then nced at Shen Yuan¡¯s dark eyes and shrugged. With a helpless expression, he went over to help the two weak-as-a-kitten geeks to move the wardrobe.


    The wardrobe was finally moved aside, revealing the picture behind.


    This was a ssical oil painting of a strong, handsome naked man and a beast with the head of a young girl. The both of them looked at each other as their bodies were entangled together. From some angles, they appeared to be lovers; from other angles, they looked like enemies. The painting had a weird, mysterious air, which made it seem like it had the power to draw anyone who looked at it into a deep trance.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Tang Mianmian was dumbstruck. ¡°Bestiality? This is a bit too much for me to handle!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°That¡¯s not what your expression says. You¡¯re obviously very excited.¡±


    Tang Mianmian snickered, ¡°This is me appreciating art! Do you know the name of this painting?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused to think, ¡°.......This is Oedipus and the Sphinx.¡±


    ¡°Oedipus and the Sphinx.......¡±


    Although Tang Mianmian hadn¡¯t seen the painting before, he had heard the story and suddenly realized something. ¡°Is it the story of Oedipus the King?¡±


    ¡°Yes, one of the three great tragedies of ancient Greece; Sophocles¡¯ Oedipus The King.¡± Xiao Tangqiu nced at Shen Yuan, who also happened to look up. Halfway through, their gazes intertwined. He paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°It¡¯s a story of a man who killed his father and married his mother.¡±


    ¡°Killed his father and married his mother?¡± Windbreaker Man raised an eyebrow. At first, he wasn¡¯t very much interested in the story, but as soon as he heard those words, he suddenly seemed engrossed.


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°The storyes from Greek mythology. After Oedipus was born, his father had learned from a prophecy that Oedipus would kill him and marry his mother when he grew up. In order to prevent this fate, he exiled Oedipus. When Oedipus grew up, he identally killed his father without knowing it and also defeated the evil sphinx. After that, he was made king by the people and married the former queen ¨C his mother.¡±


    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s quite interesting,¡± Windbreaker Man yed with his scalpel and looked somewhat fascinated. ¡°Wanting to prevent fate from ying out ended up urging fate in that direction instead?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what it means,¡± Xiao Tangqiu smiled. ¡°Later on, people used Oedipusplex to describe sexual desire for the mother, which is opposite to Electraplex ¨C that is, sexual desire for the father.¡±


    ¡°You do know a lot,¡± Windbreaker man raised his eyebrows. ¡°Did you major in psychology?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t attend any university, but I like watching movies...... That¡¯s how I found out.¡± After Meng Xinghe¡¯s ident, he stayed at home every day and his only hobbies were watching movies and ying video games.


    ¡°You¡¯re quite interesting.¡± Windbreaker Man suddenly turned to look at Shen Yuan, smiling as he said, ¡°I suddenly feel that the rookie you invited into our team isn¡¯t that annoying.¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at the Windbreaker Man but Windbreaker Man merely shrugged. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s keep looking for clues! Since Lippinobert won¡¯t let us enter the attic, there must be some important clues hidden in this ce. There should be more than just this painting, right?¡±


    Shen Yuan stared at the painting and suddenly said, ¡°There¡¯s something behind it.¡±


    ¡°Behind the painting?¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment, then got a little excited, ¡°Could it be a secret chamber?¡± As a fan of horror games, he naturally had a special interest in secret chambers.


    ¡°It must be a secret chamber!¡± Tang Mianmian instantly burst out and quickly tried to move the picture away. Xiao Tangqiu also shuffled over to help him.


    The picture was veryrge and the frame was rather heavy. It took the two men a great deal of effort to remove it. However, there wasn¡¯t a secret room behind the frame, only a solid wall.


    Just when the two were feeling disappointed, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly discovered something off. ¡°The color of this part of the wall seems to be different from the other parts.......¡±


    He rapped his knuckles and was pleasantly surprised. ¡°The back of the wall is empty!¡±


    ¡°Could it really be a secret chamber?¡± Tang Mianmian attached his ear to the wall. ¡°......I can¡¯t hear anything, but this wall doesn¡¯t seem to be the same as others. What can we use to break the wall?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯ll be a lot of noise if we break down the wall. What if the others hear it?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. ¡°We should find out if there¡¯s any hidden mechanism or a tunnel to enter the secret chamber.¡±


    ¡°Mechanism? Yes! This sort of secret room must have a hidden mechanism!¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes shone brightly, ¡°It should be a vase or some sort of decoration! Let¡¯s quickly look for it!¡±


    However, they searched the entire attic and found nothing that resembled a mechanism, only some leftover wood pieces. So Xiao Tangqiu took another look at the painting and wondered, ¡°.......Is this painting the key? Could it be that we moved the painting in the wrong direction? Maybe if we move the painting in the right way, the secret chamber behind the painting will automatically be revealed?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes shed with excitement. ¡°That does make sense. Should we hang the painting back?¡±


    At that moment, the indifferent woman suddenly opened her eyes and said coldly, ¡°No, I¡¯ve just checked. This secret chamber has no secret passages or entrances or exits. It¡¯s a totally enclosed space.¡±


    ¡°Check? How did you check?¡± Tang Mianmian widened his eyes in surprise.


    She gave Tang Mianmian a cold look. ¡°This is my ability. I don¡¯t have to tell you anything.¡±


    Tang Mianmian realized that they were only temporary teammates and their teammates had really little confidence in the two of them, so he closed his mouth and kept quiet.


    Xiao Tangqiu was also silent for a while before he asked, ¡°Totally enclosed space? Then, do we have to physically break into it?¡±


    Windbreaker Man smiled and said, ¡°Of course there are other ways...... but it depends on what the captain wants. What do you think, Captain?¡±


    Shen Yuan stared at the wall and nodded expressionlessly.


    Windbreaker Man grinned and took out his scalpel and brushed it over the wall.


    Xiao Tangqiu watched as Windbreaker Man drew the shape of a door on the wall with his scalpel. In the next second, a doorway big enough to allow one person to pass through actually appeared on the wall!


    Xiao Tangqiu was dumbfounded. ¡°How..... how did you do that?¡±


    Windbreaker Man put his finger to his lips and grinned, ¡°It¡¯s a personal ability. Confidential information.¡±


    ¡°......¡±

 Chapter 34.3

    <h4>Chapter 34.3</h4>


    P.S. There¡¯s a deeper reason why ML is the way he is, and that is one of the big reveals of this novel. The rtionship between MC and ML does take longer than most novels to progress but soon you will see that they are the kind of couple who are willing to die for each other again and again. It¡¯s really true love, I promise! ?


    ~~~


    Although Xiao Tangqiu was brimming with curiosity, he could only silently swallow his questions back down his throat when he heard this. His teammates¡¯ goodwill towards them was at an all time low, so he couldn¡¯t afford to offend them.


    Behind the wall was a shadowy space, without any light ¨C deep and dark. At first nce, it reminded him of Shen Yuan, who was just as dark and bottomless, which made the heart tremble.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go in.¡±


    After Shen Yuan said this, he took the lead in walking towards the space behind the wall. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and followed behind with fear and excitement.


    Xiao Tangqiu had just passed through the ¡°door¡± on the wall when he smelled a strange, unpleasant smell. There had obviously been no airflow for too long, so the air inside was stale and suffocating.


    ¡°Cough, cough!¡± Tang Mianmian choked on the musty air, coughing repeatedly. He quickly put his hand over his mouth and nose. ¡°What¡¯s with this smell...... It¡¯s terrible!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pinched his nose while he shone the shlight with his other hand. The space behind the wall wasn¡¯trge; it was narrow and messy. In the middle was an old wooden table, which looked like a workbench because there were many tools ¨C various scissors, needles, wood chips, cloth, as well as several half-finished puppets.


    The floor behind the worktable was filled with all kinds of puppets, some of which were only half finished, but there were also some finished ones. The puppets varied in size, ranging from palm-sized dolls to half the height of a person and even dolls as tall as a person.


    Tang Mianmian was amazed by this sight. ¡°It seems that Lippinobert really has a doll fetish. With so many dolls and puppets, this old uncle must have a little girl¡¯s heart!¡±


    Some of these dolls had really crude workmanship, while others were quite delicately made, especially the wooden puppets lying in the corner that were as tall as a person. At first nce, their facial features were lifelike, just like a human being¡¯s. However, before he could make any obscene associations, his expression drastically changed. ¡°Fuck! That puppet just moved! ¡°


    ¡°Where?¡± Xiao Tangqiu immediately followed Tang Mianmian¡¯s line of sight and as expected, saw a strange puppet in the corner.


    The puppet slowly crawled out from under the pile of puppets. Its hair was long and untidy, spreading like tangled weeds, and its dress was tattered, like a rag doll that had been discarded a long time ago.


    But its facial features were lifelike, so real that it looked terrifying. Under the illumination of the shlight, it slowly crawled forwards on all fours, coldly staring at the foreign intruders who had broken into its secret chamber. Its eyes revealed an icy bitterness and hatred.


    Compared with Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, Shen Yuan and his team were much calmer. They were just as calm as they had been a moment ago, as if nothing had happened. Shen Yuan¡¯s expression hadn¡¯t even changed a bit. He looked at the puppet that was twisted and crawling, and said lightly, ¡°That isn¡¯t a puppet.¡±


    Not a puppet?


    Xiao Tangqiu looked perplexed. He stared at that unknown object and examined it carefully and soon found what was different about that ¡°puppet¡± ¨C it didn¡¯t have any of those movable joints, only smooth andplete skin that stretched continuously.


    ¡°Is that a person then?¡± Frightened, he blurted out his question subconsciously, but then realized that something wasn¡¯t right about that statement either. The secret chamber had obviously been sealed for a long time, and there wasn¡¯t any other secret passageway. How could a living person live in a sealed chamber that had nothing? Even if it was a horror story, it would at the very least conform to that basic logic.


    While Xiao Tangqiu remained distracted, that monster had crawled towards them, apparently ready tounch an attack. The next moment, Windbreaker Man pulled out a yellow talisman from his pocket, stuck it onto his scalpel, and threw the scalpel at the monster¡¯s face.


    This scene was really quite contradictory. Windbreaker Man was wearing a white windbreaker and gold-rimmed sses so his entire being gave off the noble air of superiority. If he had taken out a ck card from his pocket, it would still look normal, but it just so happened that he took out a yellow talisman instead.....


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Windbreaker Man¡¯s series of actions with an astonished look, and then quickly turned to look at the monster. The scalpel was embedded right in the middle of the monster¡¯s forehead, and then.... that was it.......


    The monster wasn¡¯t affected by the scalpel at all, and continued to rush towards them. The scalpel hadn¡¯t caused any wounds; not even a drop of blood flowed out. Neither was the yellow talisman of any use. It stuck firmly to the monster¡¯s forehead, but it wasn¡¯t bothered by it.


    It was rather awkward......


    However, Windbreaker Man merely arched an eyebrow, as if it wasn¡¯t at all surprising. He lifted his sses and turned to Shen Yuan, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be a ghost.¡±


    Not a puppet, not a ghost, then what was that thing?!


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to speak out when he found that the monster had rushed towards him first. Facts had long proved that not only human beings bullied on the weak. He jumped in shock and immediately turned to hide to the side. But who knew that this monster had set its sight on him? Clearly, there were many people beside him, but he just happened to be the one that the monster was set upon. Very quickly, it turned and lunged towards him!


    He dodged awkwardly a few times and was about to breathe a sigh of relief because he found that although the monster looked strange and horrible, its movements weren¡¯t too fast. However, in the next second, the monster¡¯s face suddenly zoomed in!


    The monster stood still all of a sudden. It looked at Xiao Tangqiu with a bitter gaze. At that moment, its long dark hair floated into the air, dancing and fluttering wildly. Then, it turned into a flock of ck birds!


    Itughed coldly, and in an instant, the flock of ck birds rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu. Their sharp beaks and ws gleamed with a cold light, as they violently pecked at him. Xiao Tangqiu desperately waved his shlight to drive the birds away but they weren¡¯t at all like the birds in the real world. They weren¡¯t afraid of people and didn¡¯t flee when attacked. Instead, the more he fought them, the more courageous these birds got. It seemed like they wouldn¡¯t stop unless Xiao Tangqiu was dead.


    ¡°Qiuqiu! I¡¯ll save you!¡±


    Tang Mianmian gnashed his teeth, grabbed the big scissors on the workbench and rushed into battle. He shook his arm madly and swung the big scissors, almost turning them into windmills with his rapid movement.


    Yet, even if the birds were hurt by the scissors, they still refused to leave, and became even more fierce. Soon, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian had more bloody cuts on their bodies and their clothes were torn off in several parts.


    Seeing that the birds were attacking more and more ferociously, Xiao Tangqiu knew that this wasn¡¯t working. Although a bird had lowbat efficacy and couldn¡¯tpare to a human being, when so many birdsunched a group attack together, they would eventually pin him and Tang Mianmian to the ground. They must turn the tide!


    To win a war, one had to overthrow the Emperor! They had to throw caution to the wind!


    After making up his mind, he covered his face with his hand and waved a shlight at the monster. Perhaps by a stroke of luck, he really actually managed to throw the monster to the ground on his first try.


    But when Xiao Tangqiu tackled the monster, he was immediately besieged by more frantic birds. The ck birds crowded around him like a ho¡¯s nest, their sharp beaks pecking at him crazily. He endured severe pain all over his body and grabbed the monster¡¯s neck.


    Despite knowing that this might be futile, he had no other choice but to do so. The harder the birds pecked at him, the harder he squeezed.


    As he strangled the monster, he realized that there was something off about it. This monster was clearly not a living thing, but the skin under his touch had the unique temperature of the living and the monster seemed to be breathing!


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could recover from his shock, the monster, that had its neck tightly choked by him, suddenly gave a shrill and ugly scream, and struggled violently at the same time. He subconsciously grabbed onto something. And under its fierce struggle, he had somehow managed to smash that thing down onto it.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡± The monster instantly issued an even more ear-piercing scream. Xiao Tangqiu instinctively covered his ears and closed his eyes.


    When he opened his eyes again, the monster had disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the ce where the monster had been and turned around to look at those birds. Sure enough, the ck birds had also disappeared. They left no trace behind, not even part of a feather.


    Tang Mianmian was still frantically swinging his scissors with his eyes closed. Xiao Tangqiu stopped him at once. ¡°Stop! It¡¯s gone! The birds are gone!¡±


    Tang Mianmian waved his arm a few more times due to inertia, then stopped and opened his eyes. ¡°Huh? They¡¯re gone?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all gone!¡± Xiao Tangqiu breathed a sigh of relief, revealing the rxed smile of a survivor, but after ncing at Shen Yuan and the others from the corner of his eye, he tensed up again.


    Earlier when he and Tang Mianmian were in that bitter fight ¨C one that actually threatened their lives ¨C no one else had stepped out to help them. He knew logically that this was normal. In the real world, there wouldn¡¯t necessarily be anyone to help them, much less in this crisis-ridden world of horror games. No one had the obligation to help him or to save him...... Although he knew that very well, he still found it somewhat difficult to emotionally ept the fact.


    Compared with Xiao Tangqiu, Tang Mianmian obviously wasn¡¯t thinking so much. He let out a heavy sigh of relief and sat down on the floor, his face filled with horror. ¡°That nearly scared me to death! I almost thought that this was the end!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a moment, only giving a wry smile. He suddenly realized that he wasn¡¯t lost because Shen Yuan and his team hadn¡¯t rescued him. Because he was the same as Tang Mianmian; they both knew that they weren¡¯t Shen Yuan¡¯s proper teammates and weren¡¯t worthy of their rescue. In fact, there was only one person¡¯s disregard that he couldn¡¯t let go of.........


    But why couldn¡¯¡¯t he let go?


    Shen Yuan only looked like Meng Xinghe. He wasn¡¯t Meng Xinghe. If it had been Meng Xinghe who abandoned him, then it was fine if he felt hurt, kept those feelings inside or even found it impossible to let go. But Shen Yuan wasn¡¯t Meng Xinghe.....


    <i>He wasn¡¯t Meng Xinghe.</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu reminded himself in his heart once more.

 Chapter 35.1

    <h4>Chapter 35.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but look at Shen Yuan, who was standing not too far away. But when he saw Shen Yuan¡¯s cold and indifferent gaze, with neither waves nor billows, his heart sank again.


    The others were equally as indifferent with regards to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian¡¯s life and death encounter. Instead, Windbreaker Man, who had been the most cynical all this time, looked at them and asked with a fleeting smile, ¡°.......How are you? Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°.........I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu lowered his eyes and hid his gaze but just as he was doing that, he found that he was holding something in his hand.


    It was a brass pocket watch, simr to Maria¡¯s pocket watch which Tang Mianmian had found. But this was obviously much older than Maria¡¯s. Much older........ he paused and suddenly recalled that this pocket watch had identally been torn off the monster¡¯s neck by him during their struggle.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine as well! My wounds just hurt a little, that¡¯s all.¡± Tang Mianmian, who had received quite a bit of a shock, noticed there was something in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand and immediately put everything else aside. He leaned in curiously, ¡°What is this? Another pocket watch? Did it drop when you were fighting the monster just now? Quickly open it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment before opening the cover of the pocket watch. The clock hands in the pocket watch weren¡¯t moving and appeared to be broken. Behind the cover was a small ck-and-white photo of a mother and son.


    The content of the photo was a bit like Raphael¡¯s ¡°The Madonna and Child.¡± The mother was holding a child tightly in her arms, and attached her face to the child¡¯s at the same time. Her facial features were soft and her expression was loving. Her entire being radiated the glow of motherhood, and her deep love for her child was visible to the naked eye.


    This was originally a verymon picture of a mother and son. But when Xiao Tangqiu carefully looked at the woman¡¯s facial features in the picture, he suddenly found something wrong........ The woman¡¯s facial features were very simr to Lily Marlene, and her eyebrow were exactly the same!


    He was so shocked he took a good look at the picture carefully again. But the more he looked at it, the more he felt that the woman in the picture looked like Lily Marlene. However, what he had seen before was just a portrait of Lily Marlene. Even if the portrait was lifelike, it was still just a portrait. It would still be somewhat different from a photo........


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this Lily Marlene?¡± Tang Mianmian stared at the woman in the photo for a moment, then blurted out, ¡°This is clearly Lily Marlene! This woman looks more like Lily Marlene than Maria. It must be Lily Marlene herself!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly and said: ¡°But I got this pocket watch from that monster. This should belong to it. Do you think that monster is Lily Marlene?¡± If that monster was Lilly Marlene, how could Lippinobert bear to keep his beloved woman in the attic while stering her portrait all over the house? Wasn¡¯t this behavior somewhat contradictory?


    Tang Mianmian rubbed his chin and let his imagination run wild again. ¡°Maybe he really loved Lily Marlene at first, but then his white moonlight became rice grains and his red cinnabar became mosquito blood. After the seven-year itch, he stopped loving Lily Marlene and locked her up in the attic. But on the surface, he made himself look like an infatuated man with deep emotions?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about what Tang Mianmian had said and felt that it was quite reasonable. ¡°......Who is this child then? Lily Marlene and Lippinobert¡¯s? Then where is the child now?¡±


    Tang Mianmian continued to spit out ideas. ¡°Maybe the child isn¡¯t Lippinobert¡¯s at all, but the neighbor¡¯s next door. Lippinobert was furious and locked Lily Marlene up in the attic!¡±


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make sense. If Lily Marlene really made him wear a green hat, then why would he hang her portrait everywhere? Does he have a green hat fetish?¡±


    As Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian continued to blindly specte, Shen Yuan, who had been silent all along, suddenly turned and walked towards a wall. He slowly brushed the wall with one finger, then gently rubbed his fingers together.


    ¡°It should¡¯ve been some photos or something of the kind.......¡±


    ¡°Photos? Then where are they?¡± Tang Mianmian also leaned in. ¡°Did someone tear them off? Why would someone do that though? Could there be a hidden secret?¡±


    ¡°This secret chamber should be the most hidden and safest ce in the entire castle. Can the man actually find somewhere even more hidden to hide those photos?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t quite figure it out but all of a sudden, Shen Yuan turned to look at him.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped inexplicably. Then, he heard Shen Yuan repeat softly, ¡°Somewhere that¡¯s even more hidden.....¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously gulped. ¡°Could Lippinobert have taken the photo? Could he have hidden the photo in his room? Should we take a look at his room? ¡°


    Wait a minute! There was another problem!


    <i>They didn¡¯t even know where Lippinobert¡¯s room was!</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized this. From start till now, they didn¡¯t know where Lippinobert¡¯s room was because every time they went to the hall, Lippinobert was already there, and they didn¡¯t know where Lippinobert came from.


    ¡°......Do you know where Lippinobert¡¯s room is?¡±


    Windbreaker Man smiled and shrugged, ¡°Nope. When we were exploring the castle earlier, we didn¡¯t see Lippinobert¡¯s room at all. Of course, we didn¡¯t see the housekeeper¡¯s or the maids¡¯ rooms either.¡±


    ¡°Do they all live in the basement?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°.......Or will they automatically disappear at night?¡± <i>Maybe that¡¯s why they don¡¯t need a room at all?</i>


    Windbreaker Man shook his head and then curved his lips. ¡°We still don¡¯t know what the housekeeper and maids are, but Lippinobert is definitely a living person.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu remembered that they had said before that Lippinobert was the only living being in the castle. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder more. This Lippinobert looked so creepy from every angle, how could he be alive? Aren¡¯t the housekeeper and maids puppets? What else could they be besides puppets?


    Right then, Shen Yuan suddenly said, ¡°No, let¡¯s look here.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment and immediately turned to look at Shen Yuan.


    On the other hand, Shen Yuan merely looked straight into his eyes and repeated faintly, ¡°This...... should be the most hidden ce. Start looking.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t responded yet but Shen Yuan¡¯spanions had already started searching the room. No one had bothered asking why. They were obviously very used to him giving orders.


    Shen Yuan also began rummaging through the messy workbench.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and joined in the search.


    The secret chamber wasn¡¯t very big and all four corners could be seen at a nce. Apart from the workbench, there were a bunch of otherpleted and unfinished puppets all over the floor.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the puppet on the ground and suddenly paused. Wait a minute...... Puppet?


    He casually picked up a puppet, studied it, then put down the puppet and picked up another one.


    Xiao Tangqiu examined several puppets in session and found nothing special. However, he didn¡¯t give up and went on searching. Finally, when he turned to the umpteenth puppet, he suddenly found something in the puppet¡¯s dress.


    He dug his hand inside and pulled out a small fragment of a photograph. He was immediately delighted and cried out, ¡°I¡¯ve found something.¡±


    ¡°What did you find?¡± Tang Mianmian was the first to go over. Soon, the others also gathered around him.


    ¡°Photo fragments?¡± Windbreaker Man arched an eyebrow and showed an interested look. ¡°Where did you find it?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu honestly admitted. ¡°I found it in this puppet¡¯s dress.¡±


    ¡°In its dress?¡± Tang Mianmian immediately widened his eyes as if he had suffered a blow. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were this sort of person! I was wrong about you! That¡¯s just a doll! You won¡¯t even let off a doll!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rolled his eyes, ¡°......Get the hell out of here now.¡±


    They immediately studied the photo fragment. Obviously, there was something in the photo, but because the fragment was too small, it was impossible to piece together the truth.


    Shen Yuan said solemnly, ¡°The other fragments should also be hidden within these puppets. Let¡¯s continue looking.¡±


    At hismand, everyone turned around and continued the search, but this time they had a goal in mind. Instead of blindly searching, they aimed for the puppets.


    Soon, they found another fragment in one of the other puppets. Tang Mianmian and Xiao Tangqiu ended up finding several other pieces. When they were sure that there were no more fragments to be found, they put the fragments together like a jigsaw puzzle.


    There were many tiny pieces that made out three photos. But in the end, there seemed to be one fragment missing.


    ¡°Why is this photo missing a piece.....¡± Tang Mianmian said, pointing to the empty spot in one of the photos.


    One of the women coldly said, ¡°We couldn¡¯t find any other fragments.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Could it be on that monster?¡± Tang Mianmian wondered.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the empty spot for a moment, then suddenly realized, ¡°This should be it!¡±


    He quickly flipped open the cover of the pocket watch and put the photo from the cover into the empty spot, which was an exact match!


    ¡°Fucking hell! There¡¯s even such a thing! You¡¯re too damn smart!¡± Tang Mianmian excitedly cried, ¡°Ok! It¡¯s whole photo now! Perfect!¡±


    They looked down at the three photos. Xiao Tangqiu was unwilling to move backwards so he stayed in ce and carefully studied the photo. These three photos were of two people. In the first photo, a young woman was carrying a small child. In fact, that was basically the theme of all three photos. The only addition to the photo in the pocket watch was the background.


    Upon closer look, Xiao Tangqiu found that the backgrounds of the three photos were actually the same. They were in front of the gates of this strange castle and the castle in the three photos looked exactly the same, without any change whatsoever.


    In the second photo, the same woman was still holding a delicate-looking little boy¡¯s hands. The boy was about five or six years old and looked at the camera coldly.


    In the third photo, it was still the same woman but she was much older, and the person standing beside her had turned into a teenager of 16 or 17. The teenager was really good-looking. Even though the photo was old and yellow, he could still see his red lips and white teeth. He was very beautiful and his facial features were even more delicate than a doll¡¯s.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the young man for a moment. He didn¡¯t know why but he was suddenly reminded of the beautiful young man, Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection, chased after his reflection in the water and drowned to death........ <i>Narcissus should¡¯ve been at least this beautiful, right?</i>

 Chapter 35.2

    <h4>Chapter 35.2</h4>


    ¡°He¡¯s quite good looking.¡± Tang Mianmian rubbed his chin andmented, ¡°If I looked like this, I would¡¯ve gotten the role of supporting male no.2 or no.3 a long time ago....¡±


    ¡°The woman in the picture is the same person, so the child next to her should also be the same person. This photo was taken when the child was born, this was taken when the child was about five or six years old, and thisst one was taken when the child was 16 or 17 years old.¡± Furrowing his brow slightly, Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°So now the question is, who is this woman and who is this child?¡±


    Tang Mianmian pondered, ¡°Lily Marlene and the child she had with Lippinobert?¡±


    Suddenly, Xiao Tangqiu thought of something. ¡°I think I saw some words behind the photo just now. Let¡¯s turn it over.¡±


    Both of them made an effort to turn over all those tiny fragments and found two small lines of words in one corner of the first photo. Because the photo was so old, the words were blurry. Fortunately, they found that it was English, not some umonnguage which they didn¡¯t know.


    The words on the back seemed to be two names. Just by guessing, they could tell it was probably the names of the two people in the photo.


    ¡°L... a... ura.. Laura?¡± Tang Mianmian struggled to read the almost illegible writing. ¡°Looks like this woman is Laura. What the hell is going on?! She isn¡¯t Lily Marlene? Wait, the other name is..... ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, looking dumbfounded. ¡°The words are Lippi.¡±


    Tang Mianmian widened his eyes in shock. ¡°Lippi? Lippi! Fuck! The man in the photo is Lippi!¡±


    The others shuffled in closer to take a closer look and confirmed their findings. Windbreaker Man grinned, ¡°The name is indeed ¡®Lippi.¡¯ It looks like this child is Lippinobert himself.¡±


    ¡°How the fuck is that possible?¡± Tang Mianmian revealed an expression of disbelief. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that the beautiful young man in this photo is the gloomy middle-aged uncle, Lippinobert? Even if the years weren¡¯t good to him, isn¡¯t this change a bit too cruel?!¡±


    Yet Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t find it surprising at all. He stared at young Lippinobert in the photo and suddenly found that his eyebrows also resembled Lily Marlene¡¯s. But this was a given. After all, the woman in the photo, Laura, was most likely his mother, and his mother looked so much like Lily Marlene.


    Looking up, Xiao Tangqiu found Shen Yuan staring at the photo with an expression as calm as ake. It was hard to tell if Shen Yuan had discovered anything.


    After getting over his initial shock, Tang Mianmian murmured incredulously, ¡°The woman in the photo isn¡¯t Lily Marlene? Her name is Laura? Who is this Laura? Lippinobert¡¯s mother? ¡°


    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong about all of this.......¡± The realization from his own words terrified him. ¡°Why does Lippinobert¡¯s mother look just like Lily Marlene? This.... this.... this is too horrible to even imagine ah!¡±


    ¡°No, you got it the other way around. More urately, it¡¯s Lily Marlene who looks like Laura,¡± Xiao Tangqiu calmly reminded Tang Mianmian.


    Tang Mianmian looked even more horrified. ¡°Then... did... did..... did Lippinobert fall in love with Lily Marlene because.....¡± He suddenly remembered the ¡°Oedipus and the Sphinx¡± painting outside, and was too shocked to continue on the subject.


    Tang Mianmian looked at it carefully and was immediately stunned. ¡°Fucking hell! You¡¯re right!¡±


    On the side, Windbreaker Man listened to their conversation while he fiddled with his scalpel and grinned. ¡°Interesting, really interesting. This time round, this mission is really interesting.¡±


    Just then, Shen Yuan, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, ¡°There¡¯s one photo missing.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu froze at once. ¡°There¡¯s one photo missing? What do you mean?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked up. His gaze swept over the pile of puppets on the floor and stopped at the bare wall where the photos had been. His voice cold and without any fluctuations, he exined, ¡°The marks on the wall show that there should be four photos, but there are only three...... One is missing.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. ¡°Where is the fourth photo?¡±


    Shen Yuan answered faintly, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°But there aren¡¯t any other photos in the room,¡± said one of the women, frowning. ¡°Everything we found is here. We only found these three photos.¡±


    Tang Mianmian rubbed his chin, wondering out loud, ¡°Could it be on that monster?¡±


    ¡°But the monster has disappeared.¡± Xiao Tangqiu carefully thought and suggested, ¡°Could it be in another room?¡±


    ¡°We can only look for it tomorrow. There isn¡¯t enough time today. It¡¯s almost midnight now.¡± Windbreaker Man pulled up his sleeve and nced at his watch. ¡°ording to the rules, we must return to the room at midnight.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask...... what are these so-called rules?¡±


    Windbreaker Man arched an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯ll exin it to you. It¡¯s not a big deal anyways. In this world of horror games, NPCs can tell truths or lies. The so-called rules are hidden in the truths that they tell us. And these ¡®rules¡¯ must not be vited...... You can understand them as rules of the game. Once vited, you will be immediately killed by the system.¡±


    ¡°So, how do you judge?¡± Xiao Tangqiu started to get even more curious.


    Windbreaker Manughed softly, ¡°You will know once you be a veteran yer.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had to reign in his curiosity, but he made sure to remember what Windbreaker Man said, that is, these rules must not be vited, otherwise they would be killed off immediately. It appeared that they must return to their room before midnight and not leave the room throughout the night.


    Shen Yuan put away the photos, looked at Xiao Tangqiu and asked, ¡°Do you have any medicine?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, then looked down at his wounds. Thatrge flock of birds had pecked at him all over, leaving many open wounds. His exposed skin was covered with bloody cuts of all sizes, which looked horrifying.


    ¡°I have a hemostatic......¡±


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could finish speaking, Shen Yuan interrupted him, ¡°Fu Ling, give him the special hemostatic spray.¡±


    The tall and indifferent woman froze, then shot Xiao Tangqiu a chilly look, took out a ck spray from her pocket and threw it to him.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately caught it but before he could thank Shen Yuan, thetter had already turned and left, leaving only a shadow behind him.


    As soon as Shen Yuan left, the others followed suit.


    Only Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian remained in the secret chamber. Xiao Tangqiu looked down at the special hemostatic spray in his hand with a slightlyplicated look in his eyes. He had seen this in the vending machine before, and it cost a lot of points. Both his and Tang Mianmian¡¯s points put together wasn¡¯t even enough to purchase the spray, but Shen Yuan had conveniently handed it over to him just like that.


    ¡°Special hemostatic spray!¡± Tang Mianmian marveled. ¡°The ordinary hemostatic spray is already so amazing. This special hemostatic spray must be a million times better! Quickly, try it!¡±


    The two of them used the special hemostatic spray on their wounds and the effect was nothing short of miraculous. Their wounds disappeared instantly; skin covered the exposed flesh and looked just as smooth as before. Even the pain went away.


    ¡°Sure enough, this thing is really worth a thousand points.¡± Tang Mianmian sighed ruefully but soon recalled something and immediately hurried Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°Quick! Put it away! We have to use it sparingly. If we have any minor injuries in the future, we¡¯ll use the normal hemostatic spray. This special hemostatic spray should be saved for critical injuries!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded in agreement. This special hemostatic spray was really effective and it couldn¡¯t be casually wasted.


    After their injuries were treated, they didn¡¯t dare to stay in the attic any longer and quickly left the gloomy room.


    Shen Yuan and and his team had left much earlier, leaving only the two of them in the dark corridor. Looking at the long staircase that seemed endless in the dark, even Xiao Tangqiu, who was usually brave, couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill crawl down his spine. He tightened his grip on the shlight.


    Tang Mianmian tightly grabbed onto Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shirt. The two grown men leaned against each other as they carefully walked down the dimly-lit staircase with the help of the shlight. The portraits of Lily Marlene hanging on the wall seemed even more strange at night.


    ¡°Why do I feel like......¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s voice trembled slightly, ¡°The people in the portraits are looking at us.......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gulped, ¡°It¡¯s just an illusion.¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s voice faintly swayed, ¡°But they really seem to be looking at us.....¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt his scalp turn numb, but he could only force himself to stare ahead instead of looking to the side. ¡°Don¡¯t look at them. Keep your eyes to the front!¡±


    Tang Mianmian sobbed, ¡°Wuwuwu, what if they crawl out from the paintings when we¡¯re not looking...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath, ¡°How about this? I¡¯ll count from three and we dash down the stairs. No matter what we see, we don¡¯t stop until we reach the second floor....¡±


    Tang Mianmian gasped, ¡°Al-alright then!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gripped his shlight firmly and took another deep breath.


    ¡°Three, two, one! Run!¡±


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could finish speaking, they started running down the stairs like their lives depended on it. In the silent castle, their footsteps sounded especially loud, thud, thud, thud, thud....


    Throwing all caution to the wind, Xiao Tangqiu ran down the stairs, giving it his all. The sound of footsteps drifted into his ears. Soon, he found that besides their own chaotic footsteps, there seemed to be another slow and heavy set of footsteps. They were running really fast but those heavy footsteps appeared to be following them, maintaining a pace that was neither fast nor slow.....


    ~~~


    P.S. I fell asleep tranting this chapter yesterday ?? Btw, I love reading all the fun spections you guyse up with! I won¡¯t spoil it for you, but here¡¯s a hint ¨C remember the story of Oedipus and the Sphinx?

 Chapter 35.3

    <h4>Chapter 35.3</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu felt pins and needles pricking his scalp. Finally, he couldn¡¯t resist looking out from the corner of his eye. The next second, he saw the woman in the portrait on the wall, Lily Marlene, stare at him under the white re of the shlight. Her eyeballs rotated with his every move and soon, when her eyeballs had reached their limit, she began to turn her face.


    Her face turned towards Xiao Tangqiu until her neck was bent at a 90 degrees angle, which was as far as the painting would allow. As Xiao Tangqiu ran down to the next floor, her neck turned towards him again in an effort to follow his every move.


    If it was only one painting staring at Xiao Tangqiu like that, he could still brush it off and think that it was just strange. But with a whole row of paintings was staring at him, it was horrifying.


    Xiao Tangqiu turned to ask Tang Mianmian who was running behind him, ¡°Did you see that?¡±


    However, Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t answer. He merely looked at him in silence, his face as ashen as a dead man.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered that Tang Mianmian¡¯s physical strength had always been better than his. How could he fall behind him?


    He suddenly looked in front, and sure enough, another Tang Mianmian was running ahead of him. And that Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t seem to hear him or have any reaction to what he said.


    Wait a minute.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized something even more terrifying.


    Wasn¡¯t this staircase a bit too long?


    How long had he and Tang Mianmian been running?


    .........Five minutes? Ten? Or longer?


    Why did it seem like they couldn¡¯t reach the second floor no matter how they far they ran?


    Had this spiral staircase always been this long? Was the second floor really so far away?


    Xiao Tangqiu felt his hair stand on end and in a bout of carelessness, his left foot tripped over his right foot. He lost his bnce at once, his entire body falling down the stairs and smacking right into Tang Mianmian who was in front of him.


    The two of them rolled down the stairs in a heap, their limbs entangled together.


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously closed his eyes. The pain from hitting his head against the stairs almost made him burst into tears. Fortunately, Tang Mianmian ended up being his own personal meat cushion. When the two finally rolled onto the bottom floor, Xiao Tangqiu just so happened to crush Tang Mianmian under him.


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly and exined what happened. Tang Mianmian turned pale with fear. ¡°Fuck! I was just wondering why the stairs were so long..... ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to say something when a dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of them.


    Tang Mianmian was so frightened he almost cried out. But in the next second, using the shlight, they caught sight of who it was ¨C the housekeeper of the castle.


    The housekeeper¡¯s face looked extremely pale under the white light, not at all like a living person. She looked at them so icily they broke out in goosebumps. She said impassively, ¡°It will be 12 o¡¯clock in two minutes......¡±


    FUCK!


    12:00 midnight in two minutes?! They had been dyed on the stairs for that long?


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other in horror. They didn¡¯t have time to say anything to the housekeeper. They quickly turned and ran upstairs. Earlier, they rolled down the stairs onto the first floor in a huddle, but their room was on the second floor.


    Climbing up obviously wasn¡¯t as easy as going down, but fortunately, they didn¡¯t encounter anything strange this time and managed to reach the second floor without any problems.


    As soon as they got to the second floor, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but look back at the housekeeper who didn¡¯t disappear like before. She still stood in ce, watching them with a mild look in her eyes. The corners of her lips curved up in a strange smile. It was as if she was looking at prey that wouldn¡¯t be able to escape no matter what they did.


    Her smile seemed to prate into his soul, so much so that Xiao Tangqiu felt chills crawling down his spine. He quickened his pace at once.


    They only had two minutes left.


    The castle was too big, the corridor was too long, and the time they had left was too short. Xiao Tangqiu was anxiously counting down the time in his head, for fear that he wouldn¡¯t be able to return to their room before midnight.


    10......


    9......


    8......


    ......


    Fortunately, in thest five seconds, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian just made it into their room.


    Xiao Tangqiu was thest one to rush inside. He gave a hard push and the door mmed shut.


    He sat down slowly with his back against the door, legs weak as he panted, ¡°I... have never... ran so fast in my life...¡±


    He had almost thought that he wouldn¡¯t make it just now. In his state of fear, his head had gonepletely nk and he felt as if his body had its own consciousness... Thank goodness, he made it within thest five seconds.


    Tang Mianmian was in a slightly better condition than Xiao Tangqiu. He breathed a sigh of relief with great difficulty and sat his butt down on the floor. ¡°It¡¯s 12 o¡¯clock now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded. ¡°I timed us earlier so it must be past twelve.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was slightly bewildered. ¡°Why does it seem like nothing¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°She said that we can¡¯t leave the room after midnight. I¡¯m guessing everyone will stay in their rooms.¡± Xiao Tangqiu also felt that the corridor was too quiet. The whole situation was rather fishy. ¡°By the way ... did you notice that each of our rooms has a candle at the door?¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded. ¡°I did. Do they mean anything?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I think they do. Let¡¯s pay attention to them over the next few days.¡± Xiao Tangqiu said as he turned around and stered himself to the door. ¡°We can¡¯t see the corridor from our room, which makes me feel a little uneasy. I wonder if there¡¯s a peephole or something so we can look outside.¡±


    ¡°I highly doubt that this sort of big wooden door has a peephole.¡± Tang Mianmian went over and helped Xiao Tangqiu look. ¡°But there may be cracks, holes or something like that...... Wait a minute, isn¡¯t the gap underneath the door rather wide?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked down, and sure enough, the gap was about two or three fingers wide. It was enough for them to lie down and look outside. He quickly pulled Tang Mianmian down but he was very resistant to doing that. ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to look out. I don¡¯t want to know what¡¯s going on outside at all......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu saw that Tang Mianmian was unwilling and didn¡¯t force him to look outside either. Hey down by himself and looked out through the gap.


    The corridor was dim and quiet, and everything looked just the same as it had looked in the daytime, but there seemed to be a slight difference.


    At first, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t quite figure out what had changed. He just felt that something was off. After studying the corridor for a long time, he finally found something wrong. Looking out from under the crack of the door, the space outside seemed smaller than normal. The corridor appeared much shorter, and all the doors were close together, as if space had been distorted.


    He subconsciously wanted to look for Shen Yuan¡¯s room, but before he could, he suddenly saw a candle in front of one of the rooms go out!


    After the candle went out, that room instantly fell into darkness.


    Xiao Tangqiu jumped in horror. ¡°Shit!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Although Tang Mianmian was too afraid to look out with Xiao Tangqiu, he had been watching his reaction the entire time. Seeing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression of panic, he nervously asked.


    ¡°One of the candles went out...¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked solemnly at Tang Mianmian. ¡°Could the candle really have some other meaning......¡±


    Tang Mianmian was beyond nervous. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much now! Keep watching first!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to lie down and look out through the gap but he suddenly felt a chill crawling from his tailbone all the way up his back. Just a few seconds after he had spoken to Tang Mianmian, a puppet had suddenly appeared in front of the room where the candle had been extinguished!


    The puppet was the one holding the axe that they had seen earlier today


    But right now, the puppet no longer held the axe as before. Instead, it dragged the axe ¨C which was toorge to hold ¨C across the floor as it slowly walked towards the door and politely knocked.


    Although he didn¡¯t know who was behind the door, Xiao Tangqiu still shouted madly on the inside, don¡¯t open the door! Don¡¯t open the door!


    However, a few secondster, the door was opened... Short and Skinny appeared at the door and looked down at the puppet with a face full of consternation.


    Very quickly, the man¡¯s expression of consternation turned into pure panic. He screamed and ran out of the room towards the corridor. Because his legs had been injured, he ran unsteadily, swaying side to side. But he still ran as hard as he could.


    The puppet slowly chased after the man, still dragging the axe across the floor.....


    Due to his limited field of vision imposed by the gap under the door, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t see what happened afterwards. He looked out in a daze, nking out again.


    He didn¡¯t know how long it took before the puppet reappeared. It was still wearing the same beautiful little dress and holding its little axe, but now, both its dress and axe were covered in fresh blood.


    It skipped towards the stairs like a little child even though it had a blood-stained axe in its hand.

 Chapter 36.1

    <h4>Chapter 36.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu, who had been shocked into a daze, got up, turned around and sat down on the floor.


    His horrified expression gave Tang Mianmian a fright. Tang Mianmian nervously asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? What did you see?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his mouth and blurted, ¡°I saw... the puppet kill someone...¡±


    ¡°Fuck! The puppet? Killed someone?¡± Tang Mianmian quickly went through the day¡¯s events and asked, ¡°Was it the man who stole your hemostatic agent? How were you able to see what happened? This row of rooms are rather far apart ah.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t in the mood to exin the details. ¡°...Look at it yourself.¡±


    Although he didn¡¯t like the man very much, that was still a person¡¯s life.


    Tang Mianmian hesitated for a long time, then wasted more time preparing himself mentally andy down to look out.


    ¡°...I can¡¯t see anything!¡± He sounded confused. ¡°I can¡¯t see anything except for the door opposite ours and a small section of the corridor...¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned, lying down in disbelief. ¡°I clearly saw it just now...¡± But before he could finish speaking, he froze. Looking out from the gap under the door, the originally distorted space outside had turned back to normal. ording to normal spatial distribution, of course, there was no way he could see the man¡¯s room which was several rooms apart from theirs...


    But here came the problem ¨C how was he able to see all of that earlier?


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked, ¡°How is that possible? When I looked just now, I could clearly see the man¡¯s room! ¡± He tried his best to find the right words to describe the space distortion for fear that Tang Mianmian wouldn¡¯t believe him or think that there was something wrong with his head.


    Fortunately, after knowing each other for so long, it didn¡¯t take much for Tang Mianmian to believe him. ¡°In this world, anything strange can happen... Does that mean that the first time you look outside, it¡¯ll appear one way, and the next time you look, it¡¯s different? Or perhaps we have to look out during a certain time to see the space distortion?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gradually calmed down. ¡°It¡¯s also possible that everything in this old castle can¡¯t be exined with logic.¡±


    ¡°Can you borate on what you saw?¡± Tang Mianmian rubbed his chin.


    Xiao Tangqiu narrated in detail, while Tang Mianmian, who was listening, looked as if he had expected it to be so. ¡°It seems that not damaging any puppets in this castle is one of the so-called rules that those old yers mentioned? But the definition of ¡°damage¡± is somewhat tricky. That guy didn¡¯t damage the puppet. He just wanted to steal its little axe... ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu arched an eyebrow. ¡°If he really stole it, wouldn¡¯t it be equivalent to damaging the integrity of the puppet?¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s reasonable. So we should be careful not to damage any puppets over the next few days, even if we are attacked by them. Otherwise, the ones being ¡°damaged¡± will be us.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°We can¡¯t fight back when we¡¯re being beaten because we¡¯ll be killed if we did. How can it be so unreasonable?¡±


    After a few more listless jokes, the two climbed into bed.


    Xiao Tangqiu thought that he wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep well but ended up sleeping through the night.


    Early morning the next day, they hurried to the dining hall on the first floor to gather at the dining table. Xiao Tangqiu looked around to see if there were any other yers missing. He heard the woman next to Shen Yuan count their numbers, ¡°There are still 17 yers left. Three yers are missing.¡±


    Three yers missing?


    Three?


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly. Yesterday, he had only seen something happen to the thief, so he knew that he wouldn¡¯t appear today. What happened to the other two yers?


    ¡°How is that possible! It was calmst night. Nothing happened and I didn¡¯t hear anything... ¡°One of the newbies couldn¡¯t believe it. He stood up and counted to thest yer, then turned ashen. ¡°...It¡¯s true that there are only 17 people left!¡±


    <i>Over the course of one night, three people were missing?</i>


    <i>It was only one night, and they had lost three people?</i>


    Panic spread in the dining hall. Everyone had a different look on their face but their expressions were equally ugly. A few women trembled and huddled together.


    A deafening silence reverberated off the walls. After a while, someone cautiously asked, ¡°Is it possible that they stayed in their rooms because they didn¡¯t want toe down?¡±


    Immediately, someone else echoed, ¡°Yes! Maybe they just stayed in their rooms and didn¡¯t want toe down... ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment, then stood up and decided to share what happened yesterday. He concludedst night¡¯s events, ¡°....I don¡¯t know about the other two yers, but that man should be dead.¡±


    ¡°You saw from under the door? How is that possible?¡± Someone questioned him at once. ¡°The gap is so small and the rooms are so far apart. There¡¯s no way you could¡¯ve seen it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile; he had already known that he would be questioned like this. But that was the truth, he could only tell them this much and it was none of his business if those people believed it or not.


    ¡°Did you really see the puppet kill him?¡± Someone else asked suspiciously. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you save him? You clearly saw it. Why didn¡¯t you save him? You let him die!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°It¡¯s because of the rule that we can¡¯t leave our rooms after 12 midnight. If I went out, maybe...¡±


    ¡°So you let him die! Who cares about your bullshit excuse about the rules?! So what if it¡¯s a rule? Why do we have to obey? That¡¯s just an excuse!¡± The man sounded very aggressive. ¡°Even if there wasn¡¯t such a rule, you wouldn¡¯t have saved him¡±


    With a deep frown, Xiao Tangqiu sized up the person who was speaking. It was a young man ¨C the fresh graduate who hadined about missing his interviews on the first day...... He had never seen a keyboard warrior in person before this. So this was how a keyboard warrior looked like?


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could speak, Tang Mianmian rolled his eyes dramatically at that man. ¡°There you go, here¡¯s a keyboard for you. Why don¡¯t you quickly go and save the world?! You¡¯re so powerful, so why don¡¯t you bring a keyboard wherever you go? I think, if you started tapping away at your keyboard, all the puppets would die at once!¡±


    The young man immediately turned red with anger. Before he could say anything else, the middle-aged man came out to ease the situation, ¡°Alright, alright. Is it so hard to say a little less? Harmony is the most important thing. We have to spend a few more days together. It doesn¡¯t do you any good if you strained your rtionship to this point. Young man, don¡¯t be so angry. Although this young fellow imed to have seen it, it¡¯s not necessarily true... Maybe he saw it in his dream? Hahaha!¡±


    Heughed loudly, thinking that his own joke was very funny but the young man merely snorted and turned around. Xiao Tangqiu sat down and continued eating breakfast without a change in his expression.


    Their breakfast was already on the table waiting for them when they entered the dining hall. There wasn¡¯t a maid around, and neither the host nor the housekeeper was present. However, the food was still steaming hot ¨C soft baked bread and hot corn soup. As hungry as the yers were, of course, they wouldn¡¯t refuse a hot breakfast.


    Xiao Tangqiu drank his corn soup with a straight face and listened to the middle-aged man decide on behalf of the group. ¡°Let¡¯s go up and have a look after breakfast! We¡¯ll check room by room and see for ourselves if those three are still alive.¡±


    After breakfast, they returned to the second floor. To Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s surprise, Shen Yuan and his team went with them as well. He had thought that these old yers would have separated from the newbies.


    Shen Yuan and his team obviously didn¡¯t intend to exin anything. They moved silently behind the group, keep a distance that was neither close nor far from them. Seeing that Shen Yuan¡¯s team had also followed along, the other old yers also went upstairs too.


    The newbies, headed by the middle-aged men, searched from room to room. Xiao Tangqiu took this opportunity to look at the structure of the other rooms. Soon, he found that all the rooms on the second floor seemed to have the exact sameyout. The only difference was that the portrait of Lily Marlene had been ced in different positions. In some of the rooms, the painting was hanging directly above the head of the bed. He could imagine how horrifying it must be to sleep in one of those rooms at night.


    Xiao Tangqiu originally wanted to follow to see if he could find any important clues from the other vacant rooms, but even after searching several rooms, he had still found nothing. Of course, they hadn¡¯t found the three missing yers either.


    At that moment, someone hesitantly said, ¡°There seems to be... a candle missing.¡±


    ¡°What candle? What do you mean?¡± Some of the rookies asked in confusion.


    ¡°The candles at the door.....¡± The man exined in a trembling voice, ¡°I noticed before that there were candles burning in front of all the upied rooms, so I had specifically counted how many there were. But I just counted again and it looks like there¡¯s one missing.¡±


    ¡°Could it be that you remembered wrongly? Maybe it¡¯s always been like that?¡± Someone else questioned in doubt.


    ¡°No way!¡± The man said excitedly, ¡°There were only a few candles in total. How could I remember it wrongly? There¡¯s one missing!¡±


    The crowd looked at each other. If there were candles in front of all the upied rooms, and one candle was missing, that would mean that one of the candles had been extinguished or taken away...


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I saw what happened,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said coldly. ¡°The candle in front of his room went out, and then the puppet appeared and killed him.¡±


    The newbies were immediately rmed. ¡°When the candle goes out, the puppets wille to kill us? An extinguished candle means death? What if our candle is blown out by the wind?¡±


    ¡°No, that guy had obviously done something wrong! He deserves it!¡±


    Everyone started chattering at once. They looked at the flickering candlelight in front of their rooms, eyes filled with fear.


    ¡°So that is to say, there shouldn¡¯t be a candle in front of that man¡¯s room,¡± the middle-aged man spoke solemnly, drowning out all other voices. ¡°Then what about the other two? Since only one candle was extinguished, it means that the candle in front of their doors is still burning. What¡¯s this nonsense about an extinguished candle meaning death?! Don¡¯t frighten yourselves over nothing!¡±


    The newbies looked at each other, maintaining their silence. At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu spoke again, ¡°I remember which room that man was staying in. Should we go straight to his room to take a look?¡±


    Someone immediately burst out in an irritated voice, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier? We went through so many rooms for nothing!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave the man a chilly look. The man immediately withdrew his disgruntled gaze.


    He turned and walked straight towards the thief¡¯s room. The newbies eyed each other and finally followed behind him.


    He found the room fromst night by memory, took a deep breath, and summoned the courage to open the door.


    ~~~


    P.S. I just got promoted so my workload is a little heavier than normal at the moment, but it shouldn¡¯tst long. Well, a girl¡¯s gotta eat ?? Anyways, if I miss an update, I¡¯ll either make up for it the next day or over the weekend, so don¡¯t worry! On a side note, how sassy is TMM! Love the sarcasm!

 Chapter 36.2

    <h4>Chapter 36.2</h4>


    He opened the door but nothing happened.


    Xiao Tangqiu was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when a thick smell of blood drifted into his nostrils. A few girls in the group suddenly turned pale and looked nauseated.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression was rather ugly as well. He braced himself and dragged Tang Mianmian into the room. Although Tang Mianmian lookedpletely against that idea, he could only follow Xiao Tangqiu while he pinched his nose.


    The thief¡¯s room had turned into a sea of blood. The entire room was dyed a deep red ¨C not only were the floors soaked in dark, solidified blood, even the walls were covered with countless blood spatters, from top to bottom. What remained of his brain matter glistened in the dim room, along with some other questionable fluids and slush... Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t intend to carefully analyze them.


    Xiao Tangqiu strengthened his resolve and pulled Tang Mianmian to look for the man¡¯s body, but they found nothing at all ¨C not in the room, not in the bathroom. Except for a room full of blood and gore, there seemed to be nothing left of the man.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the body?¡± The middle-aged man wondered out loud, ¡°He¡¯s dead but his body is missing?¡±


    White-cor Woman couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Could he still be alive?¡±


    Fresh Gradughed scornfully, ¡°There¡¯s no way he would survive after losing so much blood. He¡¯s dead as a doornail!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian went through the bed and wardrobe but found nothing. Instead, they found several wallets and a bunch of sparkling women¡¯s jewelry.


    The middle-aged man looked at one of the bulging wallets and immediately froze. He subconsciously reached for his pockets. Then, his expression darkened as he cursed, ¡°That son of a bitch stole from Laozi! If he wasn¡¯t already dead, I would kill him myself! Fuck!¡±


    ¡°I knew it! How could my ne suddenly disappear?! It turns out that he had stolen it!¡± White-cor Woman picked up a silver ne from the pile of jewelry and cursed at the thief.


    The other wallets and jewelry weren¡¯t imed for the time being. No one was sure where the thief had stolen them from. Xiao Tangqiu randomly looked through the items and suddenly saw a brass pocket watch hidden underneath the glittering jewelry.


    Pocket watch!


    His heart skipped a beat as he pulled out the pocket watch.


    ¡°Why is there a pocket watch?¡± Tang Mianmian looked puzzled. ¡°...Fuck! This guy actually stole off of Lippinobert! He actually dared to steal from him!


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly opened the pocket watch. Indeed, there was a photo behind the cover, just like the other pocket watches. This photo was not as dated as the other two. Obviously, it had been taken closer to the current time, but the photo was still yellow with age.


    It was a photo of an extremely beautiful woman, and like the women in the previous two photos, her facial features and eyebrows resembled Lily Marlene¡¯s. Although the color of her eyes and hair weren¡¯t the same, her temperament was very much like Lily Marlene¡¯s and she could be considered as the most simr to Lily Marlene out of the three women.


    He stared at the photo for a while, then found that there was faint handwriting on the back the photo. He carefully removed the photo from the cover, turned over to look, and as expected, saw a line of fine words written at the bottom ¨C Veronika.


    ¡°Ve... ro... ni... ka... Veronika? This is also someone¡¯s name, right?¡± Tang Mianmian leaned in, ¡°This name sounds rather nice and she looks really pretty as well. s, what a pity! Beauties always suffer such unhappy fates!¡±


    ording to Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s conjecture, there should be another pocket watch with a picture of Lily Marlene in the castle, but they hadn¡¯t found it yet.


    Where was Lily Marlene¡¯s pocket watch?


    ¡°Anyways... we can be certain that he¡¯s dead,¡± Xiao Tangqiu put the pocket watch in his pocket. ¡°There are still two other yers.¡±


    Seeing his actions, someone immediately questioned, ¡°Is this pocket watch yours? Are you going to steal right under our noses? ¡°


    ¡°This pocket watch looks quite valuable...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°No, this is a prop rted to an important clue.¡±


    Now he finally understood why Su Manluo hid from the newbies. It was because these newbies were more than a little annoying.


    ¡°A prop that is rted to an important clue? What is it? ¡°


    ¡°What¡¯s it for? Can it save lives?¡±


    The newbies asked noisily.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t say for sure what the props were useful for. After all, he was still a rookie himself. However, these newbies seemed to think that he was hiding something and looked at him suspiciously. They turned around and plundered the rest of the jewelry.


    The newbies stared at Xiao Tangqiu and looked like they wanted to steal it from him, but feared Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s status as an ¡°old yer.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt powerless and sulked on the inside. He began to understand Shen Yuan¡¯s habit of rejecting the newbies...


    So he stopped paying attention to them, grabbed Tang Mianmian and left the room. Just then, Tang Mianmian suddenly cried out, ¡°Wait a minute, I don¡¯t see a portrait of Lily Marlene in this room!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu froze and turned back. Indeed, there wasn¡¯t a portrait of Lily Marlene in this room, but there was obviously a mark with a different shade on the wall that indicated a painting had been hung there before. ¡°...Someone must have taken it.¡±


    Tang Mianmian rubbed his chin. ¡°That should be the case... Maybe the painting is removed once the person inside the room dies?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps. Let¡¯s go and look for the two remaining people.¡± Xiao Tangqiu mused, ¡°If I remember correctly, the other two are the mother and son...¡± Because there were so many yers in this instance, he wasn¡¯t able to memorize everyone¡¯s faces yet, but the impact the mother and son left on him yesterday was quite profound.


    ¡°I think so. I remember that their room is...¡± Tang Mianmian brought Xiao Tangqiu to the front of another room, and sure enough, the candle at the door was still burning. The two men knocked on the door, but even after a while, there wasn¡¯t any movement inside the room.


    ¡°Are they dead?¡± Someone asked in horror.


    ¡°But the candle at the door didn¡¯t go out...¡±


    ¡°The candles may not necessarily be rted to our lives! Maybe the candle at that guy¡¯s door was blown out by the wind!¡±


    As the group of newbies began to specte, Shen Yuan and his team finally made their move. Windbreaker Man walked to the door, smiling as he kicked it open.


    Behind the door, the middle-aged woman looked like she was preparing to move something to block the door. When she saw the door being kicked in, she was immediately frightened. But she soon reacted, dropped her hands to her hips and yelled, ¡°What are you doing? Are you trying to bully a widow and a fatherless child? I¡¯m no vegetarian, let me tell you that!¡±


    ¡°Bully you? We just want to confirm you¡¯re still alive.¡± Windbreaker Manughed scornfully, ¡°Since you¡¯re not dead, why didn¡¯t you open the door?¡±


    The middle-aged woman shouted angrily, ¡°Why should I open the door for you? God knows who you are? What if you¡¯re all bad people? I¡¯m just a widow with my child....¡±


    ¡°Older sister, calm down! We¡¯re all in the same situation. If you have something to say, we can all sit down and talk nicely.¡± The middle-aged man approached her with a smile, ¡°The more people we have, the better our chances of surviving. If we put our heads together, we can always think of a way out...¡±


    The middle-aged woman rolled her eyes at him at him,ughing coldly before she mmed the door shut.


    The middle-aged man immediately got angry from the embarrassment of being turned away. He shouted, ¡°What a fool! She can¡¯t even tell good from evil.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu slightly narrowed his eyes. Now, they could confirm that the mother and child were safe and sound. But in the short period when the door was ajar, he clearly saw that the middle-aged woman had tied her son to the bed with towels from the bathroom. Although she covered the child with a quilt, he still noticed the telltale lumps under the quilt. No wonder the middle-aged woman had refused to open the door and hastily closed it after it was kicked in by Windbreaker Man...


    He and Tang Mianmian exchanged a look but before they had the time to go over the details, the female college student, Lu Si¡¯er, suddenly suggested, ¡°Should we go to the room with the puppet from yesterday?¡±


    ¡°No! It¡¯s too dangerous!¡±


    ¡°Is there anywhere that isn¡¯t dangerous in this goddamn ce? In my opinion, we should go and have a look! ¡°


    ¡°Yesterday, that guy stole a toy axe and was killed. Just in case we...¡±


    ¡°Then make sure to keep your hands to yourself and you¡¯ll be fine!¡±


    After some discussion, the newbies finally decided to go and take a look.


    Xiao Tangqiu wanted to pull Tang Mianmian away from the group to go their separate ways, but when he heard that they were going back to the puppet¡¯s room, he changed his mind and decided to go with them.


    Shen Yuan and his team also followed. Therge group of people finally reached the puppet¡¯s room on the first floor.


    Outside the room, no one dared to go in. The newbies looked at each other, waiting for someone to take the lead.


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Shen Yuan and saw that he still had the same look of indifference on his face.


    He sighed and stepped forwards to push the door open. The room was as eerie and strange as it was before, but it seemed to be slightly different today. The crowd first turned to the puppet on the cab. The way the puppet held the axe had changed again. Before they left the room yesterday, it held the axe high above its head. Now, it seemed to have returned to the original posture, holding the axe with its hands drooping down naturally again.


    This posture looked less terrifying, but in reality, they felt even more frightened because this time, not only were the cute little shoes of the puppet stained with blood, its beautiful little dress was also dyed a bright red. The blood stained its clothes and shoes in a spatter pattern, which made it easy to imagine how it got there.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and looked up. He found that the blood didn¡¯t look like a stain at all, but rather, the spatter pattern waspletely integrated with the skirt, as if it was part of the design of the dress from the very start.


    Right when everyone felt a shiver down their spines, Tang Mianmian suddenly cried out, ¡°Fuck! Look at the wall!¡±


    They all looked up at the same time and were surprised to find two paintings of Lily Marlene hanging on the wall of this room.


    Xiao Tangqiu tried his best to recall the scene from yesterday and was sure that there was only one portrait of Lily Marlene in this roomst night. Furthermore, there was only one portrait in all of the rooms, but now, there were two in this room...


    ~~~


    P.S. I just got home and rushed to finish the chapter, so let me know if you see any mistakes ?

 Chapter 36.3

    <h4>Chapter 36.3</h4>


    ¡°Did ite from the dead guy¡¯s room?¡± Lu Si¡¯er¡¯s voice trembled slightly.


    However, no one could answer her question.


    They left the room in a solemn mood.


    It wasn¡¯t until now that the newbies fully understood that a man who was still alive and kicking yesterday was dead. Although many people thought that the thief deserved to die, they couldn¡¯t help feeling upset.


    While they were discussing where to go next to look for clues, Xiao Tangqiu brought Tang Mianmian aside to go their separate ways.


    The middle-aged man was very surprised and tried to persuade them. ¡°There¡¯s safety in numbers. Even if you are old yers, you can¡¯t be so rash!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly and was about to refuse when Shen Yuan and his team turned and left. They didn¡¯t bother saying anything before walking away. Of course, the newbies didn¡¯t dare to make any noise about it either. They stared as the four of them walked away. The other old yers left together as well.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t hesitate to pull Tang Mianmian to catch up with Shen Yuan¡¯s team, leaving the middle-aged man behind.


    Are you kidding? Who wants to hang around a bunch of newbies? Of course it was better to hold onto the great god¡¯s thighs!


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian chased after Shen Yuan¡¯s team to the dining hall on the first floor. Shen Yuan stopped and looked at the portrait of Lily Marlene across the long table.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up in curiosity as well. It seemed to be thergest portrait of Lily Marlene in the castle. The portrait was life-sized, and the painting was also the most realistic one out of all the others. The more they stared at it, the stranger it appeared.


    ¡°Captain, what are we going to do next?¡± Windbreaker Man toyed with his scalpel and casually asked Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan stared at the painting for a little while more before he replied tly, ¡°Search all the rooms again today and try to find Lippinobert¡¯s room. We¡¯ll go to the small town tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Small town?¡± The tall, indifferent woman frowned slightly. ¡°Older brother Shen, do you mean that ¡®Daemon Town¡¯ that the houesekeeper mentioned?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu soon recalled that when they had just arrived at the old castle, the housekeeper did mention a small town not far away called Daemon Town. There was once a demon that brought destruction to the town by setting it on fire. Then, a Saintess stepped forward and put out the fire at the cost of her life. Lippinobert had a sculpture made in the likeness of the Saintess, which was the ¡°virgin spring¡± at the gates of the old castle.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just a legend? Do you think it is true?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but refute, ¡°What¡¯s all this nonsense about a demon and a Saintess... How is that possible...¡±


    But as he spoke, he realized that although this was impossible in the real world, the fact was that they weren¡¯t in the real world now! In this world, demons were indeed possible!


    Windbreaker Man nced at Xiao Tangqiu; a look of disdain and pity shed in his eyes. From his gaze, it seemed that his emotions were veryplicated. Before Xiao Tangqiu could figure out what he was thinking, Shen Yuan said coldly, ¡°We will go to Daemon Town tomorrow and see if it¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Xiao Tangqiu hesitated but couldn¡¯t resist saying, ¡°Can we go out? In theory, aren¡¯t we stuck in this castle?¡± In thest instance, after entering Yun Manor, they could no longer leave!


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized that such an approach was possible! This group of people were definitely old yers!


    He and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and asked, ¡°Can we go with you?¡±


    ¡°Why? To drag us down?¡± Windbreaker Man mocked.


    ¡°We won¡¯t hold you back,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said earnestly. ¡°The two of us will make our own preparations. In the case of danger, we don¡¯t need or expect your help.¡± In this crisis-ridden world, no one had any obligation to help them and he would never pin the responsibility of his life or death onto others.


    Windbreaker Man nced over at Shen Yuan, as if asking for his opinion.


    Shen Yuan was still staring at the portrait of Lily Marlene. Only when Xiao Tangqiu had started to think that he was possessed did he lightly reply, ¡°......Up to you.¡±


    ¡°Well, since the captain said so,¡± Windbreaker Man shrugged his shoulders. ¡°But we¡¯ll start early in the morning tomorrow and we won¡¯t wait for you. If you oversleep, don¡¯t me us for leaving you behind... By the way, is the woman over there with you guys?¡±


    The woman over there?


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian reflexively turned their heads, only to find that there was someone sneaking behind them. It was Lu Si¡¯er who had formed a team with them yesterday.


    Lu Si¡¯er saw that she had been discovered, smoothed her hair and walked out. ¡°Are you going to Daemon Town tomorrow? Can you take me with you?¡±


    Windbreaker Man smiled and asked, ¡°You? Why should we?¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er bit her lip. ¡°I understand German. If there¡¯s a need for thenguage, I can be of use.¡±


    ¡°German? Older brother, what do you think?¡± Windbreaker Man looked at Shen Yuan with a smile.


    Shen Yuan nced at Lu Si¡¯er impassively. She quickly squeezed out a smile at him, but in the next moment, he turned around decisively and left. She couldn¡¯t help smiling stiffly and asked Windbreaker Man awkwardly, ¡°What... what does that mean?¡±


    Windbreaker Man shrugged. ¡°Do whatever you want. Anyways, even if we refuse, people always sneak behind us. Just don¡¯t expect us to rescue you when you¡¯re in danger. Don¡¯t think that just because you are a woman, we¡¯ll feel morepassionate towards you. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll die in disappointment.¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er¡¯s smile became even more stiff, but she gritted her teeth and agreed.


    So the seven of them temporarily formed a team, and divided into two groups to search all the rooms again to ensure that they didn¡¯t miss anything. After a whole day of searching, they still hadn¡¯t found anything. Aside from them, the other four old yers and the newbies also seemed to hit a wall.


    When dinnertime came, they sat down one by one, looking extremely depressed.


    Lippinobert, the housekeeper and all the maids didn¡¯t show up, but there was still a piping hot dinner waiting for them on the table ¨C a medium-rare steak and creamy mushroom soup.


    Xiao Tangqiu was chewing a mouthful of steak when he saw the middle-aged womane down the stairs. She looked warily at the people in the dining hall, then quickly picked up the two tes of steaks belonging to her and her son, turned around and went back upstairs.


    The middle-aged man gnawed hungrily at his steak while he spoke, ¡°Older sister, why don¡¯t you and your sone down for dinner? What¡¯s the point of being stuck in the room all day long? We need to work together to find a way out ah!¡±


    The middle-aged woman red at him and rebuked, ¡°I don¡¯t trust you guys. What if your n is to kidnap my son?!¡± She quickened her pace and soon disappeared from their sight.


    The middle-aged man swallowed his food and cussed loudly, ¡°Damn bitch doesn¡¯t know good from bad!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian exchanged a look. After dinner, they continued to search the rooms. Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t resist but bring up what he had seen earlier. ¡°I saw that she tied her son to the bed this morning... Is that really her son? Are they really mother and child? Will a normal mother do this to her son?¡±


    Windbreaker Man grinned, ¡°When we first arrived, didn¡¯t the boy say that she wasn¡¯t his mother?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze. They had all assumed it was an argument between mother and son!


    ¡°Then shouldn¡¯t we save him?¡± Tang Mianmian hesitated. ¡°If the middle-aged woman is not his mother, she must be a human trafficker. We...¡±


    ¡°How are you going to save him?¡± The tall, indifferent woman suddenly spoke up. She coldly gave him a dose of reality, ¡°Even if you save him once, can you still save him all the time? He¡¯s a child with no ability to protect himself. If you save him now and ignore himter, what¡¯s the difference between that and sending him directly to his death?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget, you¡¯re just rookies who don¡¯t even have the ability to protect yourselves.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian kept quiet, not knowing how to refute her words. Although Lu Si¡¯er couldn¡¯t bear to see the child suffer, she chose not to say anything in the end.


    The search in the evening remained fruitless and soon, it was close to midnight.


    After Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian returned to their rooms, Tang Mianmian asked thetter, ¡°Do you think there will be another death tonight?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu replied, ¡°Maybe, maybe not.¡±


    Tang Mianmian burst out, ¡°...What bullshit!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sat on the bed, staring at the gap under the door and remembered the impossible phenomenon of space distortion that happened at midnight yesterday.


    Would that happen again at midnight tonight?


    He hesitated for a moment, then walked over andy down by the door.


    Tang Mianmian asked, ¡°What are you looking at?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t answer. He looked out and as expected, the space outside looked distorted again. All the rooms were twisted together. Right when he looked outside, the candle at one of the rooms suddenly went out!


    He was covered in goosebumps at once. Another candle went out? What did this mean?


    Whose room was it? Why did it seem familiar?


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was preparing to take a closer look, a puppet with a disheveled head suddenly appeared. Its body was contorted into an awkward posture as it eerily crawled towards the room where the candle had been extinguished. It was the strange puppet they had seen in the secret chamber before!


    It crawled on twisted limbs, reaching the front of the room. Then, it suddenly crept down, lowering its face to the gap under the door...


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart pounded wildly, his entire being was filled with a terrible dread.


    In the next second, Xiao Tangqiu was suddenly caught off guard, as a creepy, vicious face appeared right in front of him. His eyes coincided with a pair of bulging, protruded ones.


    Right then, he was scared out of his wits and finally remembered why the door looked so familiar...


    Because that was their room!


    ~~~


    P.S. I¡¯m back! But the past few days have been torture, so today¡¯s chapter may have some mistakes. I can¡¯t wait to pass out??

 Chapter 37.1

    <h4>Chapter 37.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu was so frightened that he fell back down to the floor. ¡°FUCK!¡±


    Hearing his scream, Tang Mianmian anxiously asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    But before Xiao Tangqiu could reply, Tang Mianmian shouted, ¡°Fucking hell!¡±


    Blood was seeping in from under the door!


    Xiao Tangqiu noticed the strange development as well; both men watched helplessly as a pool of dark blood slowly seeped into the room along the crack of the door and spread throughout the wooden floorboards, heading towards their feet.


    They repeatedly retreated in fear but the pool of dark blood ¨C or perhaps it was some other unknown fluid ¨C was stubbornly fixed in their direction, just like it had its own consciousness. They shifted backwards and climbed up the bed but the strange, sticky liquid started to climb up the foot of the bed!


    ¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck! What the hell is that?!¡±


    ¡°What should we do? What should we do?!¡±


    They trembled with fear, not sure of what to do. If it were some humanoid monster or ghost, they knew how to deal with it. After all, its eyes would still look like eyes and its nose was still a nose. They could beat them up like they would a human being although it wasn¡¯t necessarily useful. But in the face of such a strange, otherworldly phenomenon, they really didn¡¯t know what to do!


    The worst thing was that they couldn¡¯t go out the door. The rule was that they weren¡¯t allowed out of the room after midnight. Going out was clearly a death wish!


    Tang Mianmian shivered and cried out, ¡°Why don¡¯t we hide in the bathroom?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no use! Besides, once we enter the bathroom, we have no way out!¡± Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and hesitated whether to use his special skill or not. Although the skill was rather useless and also had a limit on the number of times it could be used in one mission, it was still a bit of afort to have something in his hand rather than to bepletely unarmed.


    ¡°Ahhh! It¡¯sing up! It¡¯sing up!¡± Tang Mianmian sobbed. Before Xiao Tangqiu could make up his mind whether or not to use his special skill, Tang Mianmian pulled him out of bed and rushed towards the door.


    Xiao Tangqiu shouted in a fluster, ¡°Wait a minute! We can¡¯t go out after midnight!¡±


    ¡°Look at our situation now! Who cares if we can leave after 12 o¡¯clock or not! Saving ourselves is more important!¡± Tang Mianmian leaped across the pool of unknown liquid, wrenched open the door and stormed out. Xiao Tangqiu thought about what he said and agreed ¨C this really wasn¡¯t the time to care about the damn rules! He quickly followed Tang Mianmian, running out of the room together.


    However, as soon as he stepped onto the corridor, Xiao Tangqiu instantly felt an abnormal presence. They had just walked along the same corridor a few minutes ago, but after midnight, the corridor was very different from how it was during the day. The chill he felt was more than just the drop in temperature present in the lonely night, but also brought by the eerie silence which made him feel as if he was stuck in some sort of unearthly, sinister dimension.


    He regretted his decision at once and wanted to retreat back into their room. However, the door behind him suddenly mmed shut!


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    The moment the door was closed, a ghostly atmosphere spread as a whoosh of cold air brushed past them and filled up the long corridor. Xiao Tangqiu felt a chill climb up his spine.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu was almost too afraid to function, he still tried to remain calm and alert to his surroundings. Compared with the unknown liquid just now, something else puzzled him more ¨C <i>where did the puppet go? Why did the puppet disappear ever since the unidentified liquid seeped into their room?</i>


    At the thought of the missing puppet, he was racked with anxiety. He couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that he had neglected or left out something important.


    In the dark corridor, with only a few candles flickering, the cold wind swept past, instantly whisking away what little warmth that radiated from their bodies, making them shiver uncontrobly.


    Butpared with the coldness, what made Xiao Tangqiu feel more ufortable was the fact that he felt as if someone was staring at him. He could sense sinister eyes gazing at him, making him break out in a cold sweat. Worst of all, it seemed toe from all directions, from every shadowy corner of the corridor.


    He immediately pulled out his nuclear powered shlight, trying to dispel not only the darkness with its re but also the uneasiness in his heart. As soon as he turned on the shlight, he felt slightly relieved.


    Yet, when Xiao Tangqiu searched the dark corridor, inch by inch, with his shlight, he felt something was wrong the more he looked.


    Aside from the burst of cold air, the darkness and those looming candles, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the corridor. No ghost, no puppet, no unknown liquid ¨C there was none of these things. It was just like any other corridor... That was the strangest thing about this whole situation. How could there be nothing?


    He felt uneasy again. At this moment, he suddenly realized something. Since there was nothing throughout the corridor, then there was only one ce left...


    Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to shine his shlight above his head.


    On the ceiling above himy the puppet, its hollow eyes staring impassively at him.


    Its posture looked terrifying, very much like a giant spider, with its long hair hanging down from the ceiling, just a few centimeters away from his head!


    After discovering Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s line of sight, its eyeballs turned towards him as it spat out a creepy ¡°hehe¡±ughter as if to say....


    ¡°You found me!¡±


    ¡°Ahhh!¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked up, frightened to the point he wet his pants. He turned and ran, but when he fled, he didn¡¯t forget to pull Xiao Tangqiu who hadn¡¯t yet responded to the crisis.


    Xiao Tangqiu had also wet his pants from fear and almost dropped the shlight from his hand. Fortunately, he had grasped it tightly as he ran with Tang Mianmian.


    His feet moved swiftly while his head was still turned back, and he saw the puppet lying motionless on the ceiling, as if it had no intention of chasing them. Just as he was trying to figure out what it was nning to do, he found that the puppet¡¯s eyes turned slowly in their direction.


    In an instant, it crawled along the ceiling!


    He could see it move with both hands and feet, just like a giant spider creeping up behind them!


    Xiao Tangqiu jumped in shock, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Tang Mianmian turned to look, shouting in horror as well, ¡°Fuckkkk!¡±


    However, at this very moment, something else made them swear even harder.


    Seeing that they were about to run out of the corridor, the puppet suddenly gave a strangeugh, and in the next second, its hair shot towards the both of them at the same time, just like spider silk .


    They jumped out of the way; one person ducked left, the other ducked right. But the hair formed a web at the end of the corridor, blocked their exit like an inescapable .


    The exit was blocked! They couldn¡¯t escape!


    They both cried out at the same time, ¡°FUCK!!!¡±


    This puppet girl could crawl on the ceiling like a spider and even spin silk and make a web! It must be a spider spirit!


    It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. We¡¯re done for.


    In front of them was a spider woman and behind them was a spider web. They seemed to have fallen prey to this puppet.


    Xiao Tangqiu fell into deep despair.


    At this critical juncture, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered that the first room at the end of the corridor was Shen Yuan¡¯s!


    Although he had seen Shen Yuan¡¯s couldn¡¯t-care-less attitude towards rookies like them, he still held out thest glimmer of hope, desperately knocking on the door. He had no other choice. If he didn¡¯t turn to Shen Yuan for help, he and Tang Mianmian could only wait for death!


    And in this ce, only Shen Yuan could save them.


    Xiao Tangqiu knew very well that he couldn¡¯t rely on others in this God forsaken world, but at this moment, he couldn¡¯t help but ce all his hope on this one move, on Shen Yuan, who was behind this very door.


    He knocked on the door several times, but there was still no movement from inside, and his heart gradually turned cold.


    He slowly suppressed his fluctuating emotions. He and Tang Mianmian had made such a ruckus in the corridor, so Shen Yuan must have already realized that something had happened outside, but there was no response...It didn¡¯t look like he was going to save them.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly yelled.


    Xiao Tangqiu turned to look at Tang Mianmian, who was standing beside him. He was somehow entangled in the long hair and was wrapped up like a big rice dumpling that dangled in mid-air. The puppet continuously shortened the distance between Tang Mianmian and itself. Obviously, its prey would be captured very soon.


    Tang Mianmian struggled desperately but the puppet¡¯s hair was tightly wound around him. He had used so much strength that even his face had turned red, but it was still useless.


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and rushed towards Tang Mianmian, tearing at the puppet¡¯s hair desperately but the monster¡¯s hair seemed to be made of something that was incredibly resilient and couldn¡¯t be pulled apart.


    ~~~


    P.S. Due to working overtime, I¡¯ll put up new chapters around midnight instead of the usual time ?

 Chapter 37.2

    <h4>Chapter 37.2</h4>


    ¡°It¡¯s no use! Its hair is too strong!¡± Tang Mianmian shouted at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Run!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t expect Tang Mianmian to say something along the lines of ¡°Just leave me, you go first.¡± He couldn¡¯t help feeling moved, ¡°I won¡¯t leave you to die! Worsees to worst, we¡¯ll die together!¡±


    Tang Mianmian cried out, ¡°......I¡¯m not asking you to leave me to die! You better get out of here and think of a good way to save me or find reinforcements, and thene back to get me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sobbed in despair, ¡°How am I supposed find reinforcements in this God forsaken ce?¡±


    Tang Mianmian cried, ¡°Then you should at least look for a knife or lighter!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu yelled, ¡°......Do you think I don¡¯t want to?! The corridor is blocked, how am I supposed to run?!¡±


    Amidst the dispute between the two men, the puppet suddenly attacked Xiao Tangqiu. Countless strands of long hair shot out towards him like spider silk. He forgot everything else and turned on his shlight at once. The light shone directly at the puppet¡¯s face. Usually, creatures of the dark were afraid of light! Tremble in fear, you monster!


    The puppet that was sprawled on the ceiling froze, but in the next second, it became furious and shot out more strands of hair at Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu was tied up and hung upside down in mid-air as well. The shlight in his hand was also taken away!


    Tang Mianmian cried out timidly, ¡°Oh, no, you seemed to have angered it. The BOSS is mad...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, who was still hanging upside down, gave a wry smile. ¡°BOSS? This is only a small BOSS at best, the real big BOSS... Forget it, we probably won¡¯t live to see the big BOSS.¡±


    Tang Mianmian thought for a bit before adding, ¡°Generally speaking, the owner of the old castle should be the big BOSS. Haven¡¯t we already seen him?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu helplessly said, ¡°Is this really a good time for us to be discussing these things?¡±


    Tang Mianmian faintly answered, ¡°But there¡¯s nothing else we can do.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were both suspended in mid-air, tied up in the mass of ck, swirling hair and only had their mouths free, so they could only talk and make sarcastic remarks in this life and death situation.


    However, Xiao Tangqiu was soon deprived of thatst bit of joy. The monster slowly crawled towards him. As Xiao Tangqiu grew more and more scared, it suddenly lowered its his head and yed with the shlight, just like a little child imitating the action of an adult. It clumsily followed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s previous actions, turning on the shlight, then giving him a fierce look.


    Tang Mianmian broke out inughter, ¡°It¡¯s retaliating against you!¡±


    He had subconsciously looked at the monster¡¯s neck just now, and was shocked because in the photo of Laura and Lippinobert, Laura also had a mole on her neck, but he didn¡¯t pay much attention to it at that time. After all, it was normal for a person to have a mole on their body. It wasn¡¯t until he discovered that the monster also had a mole on its neck that he realized the significance of that mole-


    This monster was Madame Laura! It was Lippinobert¡¯s mother!


    Just then, the hair around his neck began to tighten. The monster seemed to be tired of ying with his shlight and turned to y with Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu tried his best to shout at Tang Mianmian, ¡°Lippi...¡±


    This monster is Lippinobert¡¯s mother!


    On hearing that name, the monster suddenly tightened his hair around his neck desperately, like earlier, when it was angered by the re of the shlight. Xiao Tangqiu was bound so tightly he couldn¡¯t breathe. He nked out, subconsciously muttering the words, ¡°His mother...¡±


    Tang Mianmian sobbed loudly, ¡°Is this really the time to be swearing?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rolled his eyes, so angry he felt weak, ¡°It¡¯s his... his mother...¡±


    Tang Mianmian echoed with tears streaming down his face, ¡°Yes, yes, yes! Lippinobert, fuck your mother!¡±


    Right when Xiao Tangqiu was about to be angered to death by Tang Mianmian, he suddenly felt a strong forceing from behind him. He mmed into the wall and then fell to the floor head first.


    <i>Fuck!</i> He would definitely have a concussion!


    When Xiao Tangqiu got up from the floor, head still buzzing, he was pleasantly surprised to find himself still alive! Not only was he alive, the hair that had been wrapped around his neck and body also disappeared!


    He looked up in surprise and found that the door which he had knocked on for a long time but remained shut had been opened God knows when. A figure stood by the door.


    Under the flickering candlelight that looked like it would be extinguished at any moment, the man¡¯s face appeared cold, with a kind of aloofness and indifference that clearly emphasized his distance from the rest of the world. Who else could it be except Shen Yuan?


    Shen Yuan gave Xiao Tangqiu a chilly stare, ¡°So much noise.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused but before he could say anything, Tang Mianmian, who was still hanging mid-air, immediately cried out, ¡°Great God! Great God Shen Yuan! Help! I¡¯m willing to devote myself to you!¡±


    On hearing this, Shen Yuan turned and walked away. Tang Mianmian quickly shouted, ¡°......Stop, stop, stop! I¡¯m kidding! I¡¯m willing to let Qiuqiu give himself to you! He¡¯s so virtuous and kind! Although his cooking isn¡¯t that great, he can learn...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu lips twitched. He immediately interrupted Tang Mianmian, trying to stay calm as he spoke to Shen Yuan, ¡°We¡¯re a team now. Although it¡¯s only temporary, aren¡¯t we still teammates now? I promise we¡¯ll be useful in some other way.¡± This time, he could only try to say that they were still useful. Perhaps, it would convince Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan turned and looked impassively at Xiao Tangqiu, not saying a word. Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart gradually sank but all of a sudden, a knife flew across, slicing through the air and cutting off the hair wrapped around Tang Mianmian instantly!


    Windbreaker Man appeared out of nowhere. He smiled and said, ¡°Why are you having a party in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?¡±


    Not only he but the two women came out of their rooms as well.


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth. He knew that these people must have heard the situation outside clearly but refused to show up until they saw Shen Yuaning out at thest minute. But at this moment, he reluctantly smiled and thanked him, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The monster blew up in rage but before it could attack, Windbreaker Man slice its hair right off cleanly with several sharp knives.


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Pfft.¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help lifting the corners of his lips. The monster, now left with a big bald head, seemed to realize that this group of people were not easy to handle and turned to run away.


    Tang Mianmian was very depressed, ¡°This asshole actually knows how to save its skin ¨C bully the weak but fear the strong?!¡±


    Windbreaker Man grinned, ¡°It seems to be a demonic monster with self-awareness.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze: ¡°... Demonic monster?¡±


    What was a demonic monster?


    While Xiao Tangqiu was puzzling over the matter, Windbreaker Man arched his eyebrows and said, ¡°If you make it to the end, then, you¡¯ll know.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately understood what he meant. As a temporary teammate, he was obviously not qualified to know these things... He didn¡¯t even know the names of these people.


    However, the crisis had somehow been solved, so Xiao Tangqiu was relieved. Then, he suddenly remembered something ¨C the candle in front of their door had gone out. Although he didn¡¯t know whether the candle had anything to do with whether the monster killed or not, they were now targeted by the monster. Even if they were out of danger now, there was still a high probability of something happening in theter part of the night. He didn¡¯t think that just because Shen Yuan saved them this time, he would save them again.


    The best way was to pester Shen Yuan now!


    When Shen Yuan turned to go back to his room, Xiao Tangqiu quickly said, ¡°Can Tang Mianmian and I squeeze in with you tonight? The candle at our door went out. The monster might visit us in the middle of the night. If it killed us, wouldn¡¯t you have saved us for nothing?¡±


    Shen Yuan turned his head and gave Xiao Tangqiu a cold look, ¡°......Are you threatening me?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip, ¡°Of course not, I¡¯m just trying to reason with you. Since you saved us just now, does that mean you think we are still of some use? If we die tonight, you will have saved us for nothing.¡± He didn¡¯t know how he got the courage to bargain with Shen Yuan, but he knew that if he didn¡¯t summon up this bit of courage, waiting for him and Tang Mianmian tonight was most likely the word, ¡°dead.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you too damn shameless?¡± One of the womenughed, ¡°Older brother Shen kindly helped you once, but here you are, still pushing your luck! Do you still want him to protect you until the end of this mission? We shouldn¡¯t have helped dumb, greedy people like you in the first ce!¡±


    Seeing that the situation was deadlocked, Shen Yuan suddenly said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked speechless. The woman cried out in shock, ¡°Older brother Shen!¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s voice was calm and steady, ¡°Come in.¡±


    ~~~


    P.S. Hehe TMM trying to sell off ¡°virtuous wife¡± XTQ is so cute! Also, a certain someone seems to have softened his heart ??

 Chapter 37.3

    <h4>Chapter 37.3</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe his ears, but he soon reacted by pulling Tang Mianmian towards Shen Yuan¡¯s room. Shen Yuan merely stood motionless in front of the door. He nced at Xiao Tangqiu and said faintly, ¡°You stay, your friend goes with Duan Hongzhen.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen?


    Windbreaker man was called Duan Hongzhen?


    As Xiao Tangqiu pondered over his words, Windbreaker Man gave a grunt of disapproval. ¡°Older brother, it¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know that I don¡¯t like other people sleeping in my room.¡±


    Shen Yuan said coldly, ¡°Then sleep in their room with him.¡±


    Windbreaker Man reluctantly shrugged his shoulders.


    The woman was still unwilling to give in, ¡°Older Brother Shen! How can you allow them to push their luck! And Older Brother Shen, aren¡¯t you particr about cleanliness... ¡°


    Shen Yuan looked at her impassively. ¡°Who¡¯s the captain?¡±


    The woman puffed her cheeks, ¡°...You.¡±


    ¡°Then listen to me.¡±


    Shen Yuan lowered his gaze, ¡°Go back to your rooms. We¡¯ll go to Daemon Town tomorrow.¡±


    After that, he went straight back to his room but didn¡¯t bother to close the door behind him, apparently leaving it open for Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart started to pound wildly. He didn¡¯t expect Shen Yuan to actually agree to his request. After a moment of rejoicing, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder why Shen Yuan had such a change in attitude. <i>Could it be that...</i>


    Right then, Windbreaker Man, Duan Hongzhen, smiled at Tang Mianmian as he yed with his scalpel and said, ¡°Be careful, I sleepwalk at night. I have killed several people identally while sleepwalking before.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...Ying!¡±


    Tang Mianmian, who had just felt a hint of relief after an extended period of fear, panicked again. He hugged Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s arm, ¡°Wuwuwu! Qiuqiu, let me share a room with you! I am willing to sleep on the floor!¡±


    But before Xiao Tangqiu could say anything, Duan Hongzhen continued with a grin, ¡°Older brother sleepwalks at night and doesn¡¯t kill anyone, but he¡¯ll do something more horrible than killing.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately turned around and said, ¡°Goodnight, Qiuqiu! See you tomorrow Qiuqiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wanted tough and cry at the same time. When Tang Mianmian saw Duan Hongzhen head to his room, he quickly scampered behind him like an overgrown puppy, the words ¡°great god¡± falling off his lips endlessly as he tried his best to kiss up to thetter.


    The two women saw Shen Yuan return to his room and turned to leave. One of them looked at Xiao Tangqiu and gave a cold snort.


    Xiao Tangqiu touched his nose wryly. Seeing that everyone was gone, he cautiously walked into Shen Yuan¡¯s room and gently closed the door.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s room wasn¡¯t any different from the other rooms. He sat at the head of the bed, looking down at a thick book with a ck cover, which seemed very old.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t recall seeing it anywhere in the old castle. He guessed that it belonged to Shen Yuan. He brought it in from outside. What was worth Shen Yuan bringing to such a dangerous ce?


    When Xiao Tangqiu went back into the bedroom after taking a shower, Shen Yuan was still looking at his book. He hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°Thank you for saving my life and my friend¡¯s tonight...¡±


    Shen Yuan remained motionless, not even lifting his head.


    Xiao Tangqiu simply climbed into bed. Regardless of whether Shen Yuan epted his thanks or not, he had already said it... Fortunately, the beds in the guest rooms wererge enough for three or four people. Otherwise, how embarrassing would it be for him to sleep next to Shen Yuan!


    The temperature difference between day and night in the castle was extremelyrge, and the temperature at night was as low as below zero. Hence, Xiao Tangqiu decided that unless Shen Yuan opened his mouth to drive him out of bed, he wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to sleep on the floor. Fortunately, Shen Yuan merely watched him climb into bed and didn¡¯t drive him away.


    Xiao Tangqiu quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and theny down at the side farthest from Shen Yuan. Today had been a thrilling and exciting day. He thought that he would be too excited and scared to fall asleep. He didn¡¯t know why, but watching Shen Yuan¡¯s silhouette somehow rxed his originally tensed nerves.


    Gradually, he fell into a deep sleep.


    Xiao Tangqiu had a dream.


    He dreamed of Meng Xinghe again.


    In his dream, Meng Xinghe was still young and beautiful. He was walking towards him with a smile from across the road. Meng Xinghe seemed to be saying something but all of a sudden, Xiao Tangqiu felt palpitations and started shouting in the dream.


    There¡¯s a caring! A car is about to lose control and crash in this direction! Get out of the way!


    However, in the next second, Meng Xinghe stood in the middle of the road and started to bleed out of his seven orifices. Amidst the flow of dark, almost ck blood, countless strands of hair started pouring out as well.


    From his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, poured out a mass of hair and dark red blood.


    His expression was horrible, showing intense pain as he held out a hand towards Xiao Tangqiu, veins throbbing violently.


    ¡°Save me... Save me...¡±


    ¡°Why... won¡¯t you... save...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re... leaving me to die!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly woke up from his dream, his heart beating wildly.


    Meng Xinghe¡¯s bleeding face was still before his eyes. Suddenly, he saw the man, who looked identical to Meng Xinghe, at the foot of the bed. He was so scared that he almost rolled down to the floor. But he managed to react in time ¨C it was Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan stood at the foot of the bed, staring impassively at Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°Something happened.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused before asking, ¡°Something happened?¡±


    Shen Yuan replied, ¡°There were screams.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu then realized... It was dawn.


    It seemed that it was already dawn outside. Although the brightness of day and night in this castle didn¡¯t seem to differ much, the temperature was not as cold as it was at night. He hurried into the bathroom to wash up and went out with Shen Yuan.


    Looking at Shen Yuan¡¯s side profile, Xiao Tangqiu rememberedst night¡¯s nightmare and couldn¡¯t help falling into deep thought.


    The two had just left the room when they met Duan Hongzhen and the others. They were obviously waiting for Shen Yuan at the door while Tang Mianmian was waiting for Xiao Tangqiu.


    To Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s surprise, Tang Mianmian seemed to have slept well and was in high spirits. Apparently, Duan Hongzhen¡¯s ims of killing in his sleep was just a joke. However, Tang Mianmian looked up and down at Xiao Tangqiu and couldn¡¯t help showing a look of sympathy. ¡°It seems that fe didn¡¯t lie... The great god really has a habit of tormenting people in his sleep.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had a nightmare yesterday. Naturally, he didn¡¯t sleep well. He gave Tang Mianmian a wry look, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression turned solemn. ¡°There¡¯s another dead person.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked along Tang Mianmian¡¯s line of sight. There was an open door among the rooms in the corridor. Several people were standing in the corridor, discussing something in a low voice. They appeared much calmer than he had imagined them to be. Even he, who had sessfully experienced an instance, would not necessarily be calmer than they were if he saw another dead body.


    However, he soon realized that this group of people were old yers. Besides Shen Yuan¡¯s team, there were four other old yers in this instance. Compared with the flustered newbies, this group of old yers had a much smaller sense of presence. When they had divided the rooms on the first day, they had chosen to live in the same room, so both men and women were staying together.


    Among the four old yers, there were originally two men and two women, but now there was one man less.


    Soon, several newbies who got up early discovered something was wrong. They stood at a distance, not daring to approach and only craned their necks to stare at the situation.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other. ¡°Let¡¯s go have a look.¡±


    Although Tang Mianmian was very scared, he nodded. In this crisis-ridden world, fear was useless.


    Xiao Tangqiu quietly took a look at Shen Yuan from the corner of his eye and felt relieved.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Both of them walked to the door and Xiao Tangqiu actively asked the room¡¯s upants.


    One of the old yers looked at Xiao Tangqiu, quickly sized him up and answered, ¡°One of ourpanions died.¡±


    His tone was very calm, revealing a hint of ruthlessness and apathy ¨C ruthlessness because they were unmoved by the death of theirpanion and apathy because they were ustomed to it.


    The gears in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s head started turning. He understood some things in an instant. Perhaps in this cruel world, apanion¡¯s death was a normal thing. Most old yers had no time to grieve over the death of theirpanions. Shen Yuan was probably ustomed to the death of his teammates, which was why he seemed so indifferent and alienated from everything else.


    He and Tang Mianmian walked into the room and were immediately shocked by the horror awaiting them. The whole floor of the room was covered with blood and looked like a remnant of a bloody river.


    ¡°If I got up early in the morning only to be greeted by this, I would¡¯ve pissed myself,¡± Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t stop shivering. ¡°How can a person shed so much blood...¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s more than just blood.¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. He looked at the direction of the bathroom. Sure enough, the blood came from the bathroom and was still flowing out. ¡°Let¡¯s go in and have a look.¡±


    Having said that, he pushed the bathroom door open and was shocked at once.


    Compared to the room, the scene in the bathroom was bloodier and more horrifying. Not only was the floor covered in blood, the walls and the ceiling were also the same. A many naked in the bathtub, floating amidst bloody waters.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hair stood on end at the sight. The man¡¯s death was exactly the same as Meng Xinghe¡¯s in his dream!


    His eyes were wide open; he had obviously died unwillingly. Blood mixed withrge masses of hair flowed out of his empty eye sockets. Aside from that, hair and blood gushed out of his ears, nose and mouth as well. The hairs floated in the bloody waters, resembling aquatic nts.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s felt a chill crawl up his spine.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression turned ugly. ¡°Fuck.... fuck...¡±


    At this moment, Shen Yuan and the others also came in. They looked at the horrific scene of the bathroom with a calm expression. Shen Yuan swept his gaze across the four corners of the room, maintaining his expressionless face.


    Although Shen Yuan didn¡¯t ask them anything, these old yers, who obviously knew their identities, took the initiative to exin. ¡°We went to bed very earlyst night. Later in the night, he suddenly said that he felt itchy and wanted to take a bath... I thought that taking a bath in the bathroom wasn¡¯t counted as leaving the room, so I didn¡¯t stop him. He stayed in the bathroom for a long time and I kept hearing the sound of water running in the bathroom. Then, I fell asleep.¡±


    One of the girls continued, ¡°I was the first to wake up this morning and when I woke up, I found blood all over the floor. I screamed in horror so everyone else got up. We went into the bathroom and saw that... he was already dead.¡±


    This group of old yers obviously didn¡¯t know when or how theirpanion had died... But in such a horrible ce, it was obviously meaningless to investigate these matters.


    Just then, the other girl said faintly, ¡°When we opened the door and left our room earlier, we found that the candle at our door was extinguished... I¡¯m very sure the candle was burning when we went back to the roomst night.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face sank. It seemed that when the candle went out, someone would die in the room.


    He couldn¡¯t help steal a nce at Shen Yuan. If Shen Yuan hadn¡¯t been therest night, he and Tang Mianmian would¡¯ve died.


    Hearing this, the other newbies, who had curiously leaned in, immediately turned to look at the candle at the doors in horror. The candles flickered and looked like they would go out at any moment. Once the candle went out, they would die. This was bullshit!


    Just then, Fresh Grad, who had used Xiao Tangqiu of leaving the thief to die, pointed at thetter and cried, ¡°The candle at your door has also gone out! Why didn¡¯t you die?¡±


    All eyes immediately focused on Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, filled with questioning and vignce.


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could answer, Fresh Grad suddenly looked as if he had realized something. ¡°You must have blown out the candle at their door when you saw yours go out, so that the ghost that wanted to kill you couldn¡¯t find the target it really wanted to kill!¡±


    ¡°You killed this man! You¡¯re both murderers!¡±


    ~~~


    P.S. God this guy is so annoying. I wish the author would give him an awful death!

 Chapter 38.1

    <h4>Chapter 38.1</h4>


    In the face of this guy¡¯s aggressiveness, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression darkened. Although this man was making a fuss without knowing the real situation, this was something that Xiao Tangqiu had been afraid to find out for sure. Last night, the monster¡¯s original target was indeed he and Tang Mianmian but they were saved by Shen Yuan. Was that why the monster changed its target and killed one of the four old yers?


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t think as much as Xiao Tangqiu. He red at Fresh Grad, ¡°Did you see it with your own eyesst night? Why don¡¯t youe up with proof then? Otherwise, you¡¯re just maliciously ndering us!¡±


    Fresh Grad choked up for a second, then shouted, ¡°If it weren¡¯t you guys, then why didn¡¯t you die when the candle at your door was extinguished? Exin yourselves!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said impassively, ¡°Because some old yers saved us.¡±


    The man snorted coldly, as if he didn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Why should they help you for no reason?¡±


    Tang Mianmian rolled his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s none of your business!¡±


    The man seemed unconvinced and wanted to say something else, but he was held back by the other newbies. Although the four old yers, who looked very powerful, hadn¡¯t said anything yet, it was obviously unwise for them to offend the old yers as newbies... Even if these two were really rted to the death of that person, there was no need for them to stand up for others!


    Compared with that man¡¯s inexplicable indignation, the three old yers, who had lost theirpanion, didn¡¯t have much of a reaction. It was hard to say if they didn¡¯t believe him or if they were just numb to the death of apanion.


    With such a move, this group of people who weren¡¯t very united to begin with started to fall apart. Under the watch of everyone, several small groups had emerged and their rtions became more rigid. It seemed that everyone suspected everyone else and was on guard against others.


    Even when eating breakfast, they kept silent the whole time. No one took the initiative to speak. The atmosphere was very depressing. Xiao Tangqiu was still a little upset at first, but soon seeded in consoling himself. This group of people had their own sinister ideas and motives. Even without him and Tang Mianmian, they would have fallen apart sooner orter. This morning¡¯s incident was just a catalyst.


    When they were about to finish their breakfast, the middle-aged woman showed up. She didn¡¯t take the little boy downstairs with her again. She picked up the food on the table and turned to go back to the room just like the day before.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly asked, ¡°Where is your son?¡±


    The middle-aged woman seemed startled and looked at Xiao Tangqiu warily, ¡°Why are you asking?¡± Although her expression was filled with vignce, she couldn¡¯t help showing a hint of guilt.


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could answer, the young man who was hell-bent on using Xiao Tangqiu spoke up, ¡°Why do you care about someone else¡¯s son? You must have ulterior motives! You¡¯re just trying to find a scapegoat again!¡±


    When the middle-aged woman saw someone standing up for her, she immediately put aside her guilty conscience and angrily scolded, ¡°You stay away from my son! You better not appear in front of my son! Or I¡¯ll kill you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips and hesitated. So what if he publicly debunked the fact that this middle-aged woman wasn¡¯t the mother of the little boy? In such a crisis-prone ce, he and Tang Mianmian already had their own difficulties. How was it possible for him to protect another child?


    The knife and fork collided against his te, issuing a crisp clink. Although it wasn¡¯t loud, the middle-aged woman was still frightened into silence by Shen Yuan¡¯s momentum. The young man didn¡¯t dare to look so smug anymore and merely stared at Shen Yuan nkly.


    At hismand, Duan Hongzhen and the two women stood up uniformly. The four of them were so imposing that the people sitting in the dining hall immediately stopped all their messy schemes and intrigues. They were too afraid to even breathe loudly.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and stood up as well. The two had nned to go to Daemon Town with Shen Yuan¡¯s team today.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Someone carefully asked.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t conceal their n, ¡°Daemon Town.¡±


    ¡°Daemon Town?¡± The neers looked at each other and soon remembered what sort of ce it was ¨C the town that had been ravaged by demons. These people were crazy! Going to such a dangerous ce!


    In the midst of their shock, Lu Si¡¯er stood up slowly.


    Seeing this, White-cor Woman immediately cried out ¡°Lu Si¡¯er, don¡¯t go! It¡¯s too dangerous!¡±


    The five girls from the newbies all stayed in the same room. They had obviously exchanged names and had be familiar with each other.


    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s too dangerous to go out! Si¡¯er, stay here! ¡± Another girl also chimed in.


    The middle-aged man, who looked like their leader, frowned slightly, ¡°Lu Si¡¯er, you want to go with them?¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er gritted her teeth. ¡°Yes, I do.¡±


    ¡°Why? Although the castle is very dangerous, it¡¯s more dangerous outside,¡± the middle-aged man seemed a little displeased. ¡°You¡¯re a girl. It¡¯s too dangerous for you to be out and about,. It¡¯s better if you stay!¡±


    It was hard to tell whether he had the motive of finding another person to cushion the blow of death or whether he was dissatisfied with someone challenging his authority as a leader. He habitually gave an order, ¡°Lu Si¡¯er, you can¡¯t go!¡±


    The young man also said coolly, ¡°Yes, although you¡¯re a girl, in case of danger, they may not bother about you...¡±


    Shen Yuan ignored the wrangling of the newbies and ordered the team to leave.


    Naturally, his three teammates immediately followed. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian exchanged a look. Although they had acted together with Lu Si¡¯er yesterday, they weren¡¯t in any condition to influence her decisions, so they also turned and left.


    Soon, they reached the door.


    Shen Yuan stood in front of the door, staring at the castle gate with deep eyes.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. ¡°Can the door be opened? In ourst instance, once we entered many buildings, we couldn¡¯t leave... unless all the plot objectives werepleted...¡± Just like all horror games, there was no way to leave the plot area unless the final result was achieved.


    Duan Hongzhen smiled and exined, ¡°If we can¡¯t open it now, it means there isn¡¯t any important clues outside, or we haven¡¯t triggered the corresponding conditions.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized that opening the door was actually a way to verify the progress of their mission. <i>Could the gates of this castle be opened?</i>


    Soon, his doubts were answered... Shen Yuan reached out and pushed; the castle doors were opened.


    Although Shen Yuan¡¯s action was very casual, the door was obviously difficult to open, because it issued a heavy and harsh creak, as if it hadn¡¯t been opened in many years.


    Dazzling rays of sunlight entered, bit by bit, along the crack in the door. When Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s entire being was exposed to sunlight again, he felt as if he had been reborn.


    Tang Mianmian cried out exaggeratingly, ¡°I¡¯m blind, blind... It¡¯s so bright, it¡¯s blinded my poor eyes...¡±


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu and the others were preparing to leave, Lu Si¡¯er¡¯s voice suddenly rang out, ¡°Wait for me! I¡¯m going too!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked back in surprise. They didn¡¯t expect Lu Si¡¯er to catch up with them after having to go through all kinds of discussions and under the condition of so many people stopping her from leaving. However, Lu Si¡¯er was followed by several new yers who also wanted to persuade her. When they saw the gates being opened, they were immediately shocked. ¡°I didn¡¯t think the gates could really be opened! I thought we wouldn¡¯t be able to go out once we entered!¡±


    ¡°Does this mean we can leave then?¡±


    ¡°We can get out of here!¡±


    Seeing them in high spirits, Xiao Tangqiu kindly reminded them, ¡°There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll go back to where you came from by walking out these gates. It may be more dangerous outside as well.¡±


    The young man who liked to oppose him immediately burst out, ¡°How do you know we can¡¯t leave? And who knows if you¡¯re lying to us or not! Don¡¯t bother about him! Let¡¯s go out and have a look!¡±


    They knew in their hearts that it wasn¡¯t so easy to leave this ce, but right now, they suddenly caught a glimmer of hope, and naturally, they had to seize it. Xiao Tangqiu knew that no matter how he tried to persuade them, it would only fall on deaf ears. He gave up persuading them with a sigh and turned to catch up with the team ahead.


    The newbies chose the road opposite to Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s and set off. They didn¡¯t go back to inform their otherpanions who were still in the castle either. They were obviously only thinking about leaving.


    As the two teams drifted apart, Tang Mianmian asked Duan Hongzhen, ¡°How do we get to Daemon Town? Do we walk there?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled and fiddled with his scalpel, ¡°If you can actually get a taxi, we can always go by car.¡±


    Tang Mianmian touched his nose shyly, ¡°But we don¡¯t know the way... how do we get there?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen leisurely smiled, ¡°We¡¯re not concerned with the matter of finding our way.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered that when they first entered this instance, Shen Yuan¡¯s team had already demonstrated their ability to find their way around... Did any of these four people possess special skills such as human GPS?


    He couldn¡¯t help thinking of his ¡°live broadcast studio: in the flesh¡± skill and immediately felt like a weakling.


    Just then, the woman who had constantly kept a cold demeanor suddenly said, ¡°Come out.¡±Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian jumped in shock. What happened? Did someone follow them?


    ~~~


    P.S. You guys have such naughty thoughts! *<i>blush</i>* ?? But really DHZ¡¯s actions and words are gold! Me likey hehe! ??

 Chapter 38.2

    <h4>Chapter 38.2</h4>


    There wasn¡¯t any movement for a long time until the woman added, ¡°Come out, I¡¯ve already seen you.¡±


    After a while, someone slowly emerged from behind a big tree. Xiao Tangqiu stared intently and saw that it was the little boy. God knows when he had escaped from his room and left the castle, secretly following them all this time.


    ¡°Go back,¡± said the aloof woman. We don¡¯t wee children who don¡¯t have the ability to protect themselves.¡±


    The little boy obstinately looked at her with a straight face, without any intention of leaving.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian exchanged a look. Although they sympathized with the little boy, they were unable to protect themselves, so it was even more impossible to protect a child. Moreover, they were headed to an unknown ce now, filled with uncertainties and hidden danger.


    ¡°Go back, the castle is safer. We¡¯re going to a potentially dangerous ce now,¡± Xiao Tangqiu advised. ¡°You¡¯re a child. It¡¯s too dangerous for you to follow us. Go back.¡±


    The little boy still didn¡¯t have any intention to leave. He looked at Xiao Tangqiu stubbornly and said nothing.


    At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly said faintly, ¡°If he wants to follow us, let him.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled as he added, ¡°He will follow us anyway, even if we don¡¯t allow him follow us. So we might as well let him do as he pleases... But let me tell you little one, we won¡¯t go out of our way to protect you in danger.¡±


    The little boy kept a straight face, refusing to say anything. It was hard to tell if he had agreed or if he didn¡¯t understand what he had said.


    Soon, Shen Yuan and his team were back on their way with Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, Lu Si ¡®er and the little boy following behind.


    Although the little boy behaved like a spoiled brat before, he didn¡¯t cry at all on their journey. Perhaps he had also realized his current situation.


    They trekked through the boundless forest for an unknown period of time until the aloof woman suddenly said, ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    Here? We¡¯ve reached Daemon Town?


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around in a daze. Sure enough, a path appeared not far away.


    He and Tang Mianmianmian immediately geared up, following Shen Yuan as they walked together on the path. After a short distance, they came across a small town.


    This small town was located in the wilderness, which made it seem isted, but Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s first nce revealed that the streets of the small town was full of life.


    Xiao Tangqiu was very surprised. He couldn¡¯t help turn to Tang Mianmian. No matter he looked at it, this town didn¡¯t appear to be a terrible ce.


    While the two were still contemting their doubts, Shen Yuan had already taken the lead in entering the small town. His neat, modern clothing seemed to be out of ce with this quaint, little town. However, those townspeople, who were dressed in ancient garb, didn¡¯t show any surprise to this stranger who suddenly broke into their town. They kept the same expression as they passed by him, behaving as usual, as if they didn¡¯t see him.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitantly walked into the small town. It was actually rather cheerful and lively, not at all like the dangerous ce he had imagined. Although it didn¡¯t have many residents, the townspeople seemed to be busy with their own matters. There were many shops on the street with a wide variety of goods. A bakery, candystore, grocery shop, antique shop... The whole town resembled a graceful painting that was slowly unfolding before their eyes.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look that bad here...¡±


    ¡°That makes sense!¡± Tang Mianmian immediately became alert. ¡°This must be sugar-coated cannonball! They most likely want to take advantage of our carelessness and hit us with a quick blow!¡±


    They walked along the streets looking at the houses in the small town which weren¡¯t built very tall. They were rather low and antiquated, heavily influenced by the local architectural style. The pedestrians on the street moved about energetically... They seemed to have be tourist who had identally intruded this town.


    Because the town wasn¡¯t veryrge, they soon finished exploring the streets. Just then, the deafening toll of a bell sounded from not too far away.


    Tang Mianmian jumped in fright. ¡°What¡¯s that noise?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rubbed his chin. ¡°It sounds like a bell.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was slow to respond, ¡°The toll of a bell?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but get lost in his thoughts once more. ¡°Just like Quasimodo in the ¡®Notre Dame de Paris¡¯ where he would ring the bell at every hour.¡±


    <i>......There were the chimes of a bell, so did that mean there was a church in front?</i>


    At the same time, Shen Yuan said, ¡°There¡¯s a church in front of us.¡±


    ¡°Church? Let¡¯s go and have a look!¡±


    Tang Mianmian instantly perked up. The church was a ssic element in many horror games!


    Needless to say, Shen Yuan and his team were obviously eager to take a look as well. A whileter, they came to the front of the church.


    Compared with the other buildings in the small town, the church was very tall, towering above everything else. However, if it waspared in terms of grandeur, the church gives off a more mysterious and gloomy feeling. Its dark stone walls had the aged feeling of years gone by, and the sharp outlines seemed to be bursting with aggression.


    ¡°Should we go in? I feel a little uneasy just from looking at this church...¡± Lu Si¡¯er bit her lip, obviously showing some hesitation.


    ¡°We¡¯re already here, of course we have to go in,¡± Xiao Tangqiu gave Lu Si¡¯er and the little boy a look. ¡°But if you don¡¯t want to go in, you can wait at the door with him.¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er immediately changed her tune, ¡°Then, let¡¯s go in together!¡± Leaving her, a woman with lowbat skills together with a powerless child would definitely end in disaster if they met with danger!


    Soon, they all entered the church.


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu stepped inside, he immediately felt an unearthly atmosphere, just like the moment he entered the corridorst night and subconsciously was on alert for any hidden dangers.


    ¡°It feels a little cold in here,¡± Tang Mianmian shivered uncontrobly. ¡°How can the temperature inside and outside be so different?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back out the door. It was broad daylight outside and the sun was shining brightly. However, there wasn¡¯t a single ray of sunlight in the church. There seemed to be an invisible wall at the church door, blocking out the sunlight.


    But this wasn¡¯t even the strangest thing about the church. Xiao Tangqiu soon noticed something even more unusual. The church was so quiet that he couldn¡¯t hear a single sound. Of course, he immediately understood the reason why that was the case ¨C there was no one in the church.


    In addition to these strangers, who had somehow found their way into the church, there was no one else, which was in stark contrast to the busy scene in the streets of the small town outside. No one came for baptism, or to get married or prayed... In the empty small-town church, there were only rows of dusty benches, gloomy stained ss windows, several murals and a statue.


    ¡°A portrait of Lily Marlene!¡±


    Tang Mianmian approached one of the murals and cried out in surprise.


    Very quickly, they found that the remaining murals were all portraits of Lily Marlene.


    ¡°Fuck, is this some sort of new religion? The church of Lily? The church of Marlene?¡± Tang Mianmian pursed his lips. ¡°No wonder there¡¯s no one here!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu walked towards the statue in the center of the church. It was a veryrge statue, and when he approached it, he saw that it was also a statue of Lily Marlene.


    This statue was simr to the one at the gates of the castle. The only difference was that this statue depicted Lily Marlene with a child in her arms. Herpassionate eyes were no longer focused on the world. Instead, she looked at the child in her arms tenderly and lovingly, just like all mothers immersed in maternal love would.


    ¡°Who is this child?¡± Xiao Tangqiu stroked his chin. ¡°Is it... Lippinobert?¡±


    Because of the angle, he couldn¡¯t see the child¡¯s face and could only make a reasonable guess.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that make him a pervert? Never mind if it were a statue of someone else, but to make one of himself....¡± Tang Mianmian tsked in disapproval, ¡°But he clearly is such a pervert!¡±


    After looking at the statue, they searched the church for a long time, but found nothing useful.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing at all,¡± Duan Hongzhen yed with a scalpel, obviously unhappy. ¡°Should we smash the statue?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was startled. Before he could stop him, Shen Yuan spoke first. He faintly replied, ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it? We haven¡¯t found any valuable clues though,¡± the aloof woman frowned slightly. ¡°I keep thinking that this church and this town aren¡¯t as simple as they look...¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t enough time. We must get back before midnight.¡± Shen Yuan reminded them calmly. ¡°It will take several hours just to get back. We¡¯lle back tomorrow and continue looking.¡±


    They looked out, only to find that it was getting dark. Because the light in the church was very dim to begin with, they hadn¡¯t noticed the change in the sky at all.


    The aloof woman nodded. ¡°That¡¯s all we can do. We¡¯lle back tomorrow.¡±


    Although they had gained nothing, they could only leave reluctantly.


    After leaving the church, they returned to the streets of the small town. It was getting dark, but there were still people walking about merrily. Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly and felt more and more that there was something wrong with the situation. Although life in the small town was very lively, he couldn¡¯t fight off the feeling that something was wrong.


    But then again, there was nothing right about this ce either.


    Just then, Lu Si¡¯er suddenly stepped forward and pointed to the window of one of the street stores in surprise. ¡°Look at that doll!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around and saw that Lu Si¡¯er was referring to an antique shop. It wasn¡¯t the kind of antique shop that only sold antiques, but the kind that bought and sold all sorts of old items. Therefore, there were all kinds of goods in the shop, including old dresses and gowns, sets of tableware, kids¡¯ tricycles, some old dolls, puppets and musical boxes.


    Lu Si¡¯er was pointing at a wooden puppet in the window.


    It was a very delicate puppet, with lifelike facial features and eyes that sparkled likerge sapphires. It was wearing a small, white wedding dress, its head covered with a veil while its hands held a small bouquet of flowers, just like a girl about to get married.


    It was precisely because it looked so lifelike that it gave off a creepy vibe.


    But soon, Xiao Tangqiu found something wrong ¨C the puppet¡¯s eyes were moving!


    Its sapphire-like eyeballs slowly turned back and forth, as if it was looking at the people outside the window.


    And after seeing them, two drops of tears trickled down its face.


    ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s alive!¡±


    Tang Mianmian jumped three feet in fright and climbed onto Xiao Tangqiu like a ko.


    Xiao Tangqiu kindly reminded him, ¡°It¡¯s just a living puppet. Haven¡¯t you seen quite a fewtely?¡±


    Tang Mianmian thought about what he said and realized that he was right. He calmed down immediately.


    These past few days, they had indeed seen quite a few living puppets, but none of them were like the puppet in this window.


    A living puppet with tears and emotions...


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Shen Yuan and asked, ¡°Should we go in and have a look?¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ~~~


    P.S. I would like to thank Mello for giving me my first ko-fi for GAME. I will do an extra update tonight or tomorrow for the support

 Chapter 38.3

    <h4>Chapter 38.3</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu pushed Tang Mianmian through the door and headed for the window where the puppet was located. He could see that the owner of the antique shop liked the puppet very much because he had arranged the disy window beautifully.


    He carefully picked up the puppet. Tears rolled down the puppet¡¯s face and fell onto his hands.


    Its tears were cold and didn¡¯t have the warmth of human tears.


    ¡°Are you a puppet?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tried to ask.


    However, the puppet didn¡¯t speak like he imagined and its eyeballs stopped moving. It seemed that it had lost all life and its luster had faded.


    If it weren¡¯t for the tears, he would¡¯ve thought that everything he had just seen was just an illusion. But no matter how he much he spoke to the puppet, it made no more movement, as if it were just an ordinary puppet.


    Just then, Shen Yuan suddenly said, ¡°The sun is setting.¡±


    Before they entered this antique shop, the sun was still visible on the horizon, but after they came in, the setting sun had faded away. As thest ray of sunlight disappeared, it turnedpletely dark.


    The temperature difference between day and night in this small town was also veryrge. When the sun went down, the temperature seemed to drop by more than ten degrees in an instant. Tang Mianmian shivered in the wind.


    ¡°The sun has already set. Let¡¯s hurry back in case we can¡¯t go back by midnight...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly understood what Shen Yuan meant and frowned slightly. ¡°The sun has set...Could it be that this puppet can¡¯t move after the sun sets? Is that why it didn¡¯t respond to us?¡±


    Tang Mianmian reacted to his conjecture at once, ¡°But when we first arrived, it was still broad daylight. At that time, we also passed by this antique shop but the puppet didn¡¯t move either.¡±


    The two men looked at each other one at the same time and suddenly cried out, ¡°Dusk!¡±


    The puppet couldn¡¯t move during the day and at night, so there was only one possibility left ¨C the puppet could only move in the period between day and night, which was at dusk!


    Duan Hongzhen tilted his head and said, ¡°That does seem to make some sense. We can only wait until tomorrow evening to look at it again.¡±


    He was acutely aware of what had happened in that instant and turned to walk towards that table. There were many antiquities and old items on the table; there was even a set of exquisite porcin tableware. In the most inconspicuous corner, there was a small wooden jewelry box.


    Xiao Tangqiu thought of Maria¡¯s jewelry box in an instant and quickly picked up the small wooden box and opened it. There were several letters inside just as he had expected!


    He picked up one of the letters and suddenly found it was addressed to Veronika on the envelope, and the address of the letter was the town of Daemon!


    Seeing that Xiao Tangqiu had discovered something important, the others immediately gather around him. Lu Si¡¯er who was their trantor looked at the letters while Tang Mianmian apanied Xiao Tangqiu in turning out the other contents of the small wooden box.


    In addition to the letters, there were several old photos inside, one of which was a photo of a little girl with her family in this antique shop.


    ¡°This little girl is Lippinobert¡¯s third wife Veronika?¡± Tang Mianmian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ¡°It looks like, not only is she from Daemon Town, she¡¯s also the owner of this antique shop!¡±


    In the next few photos, the little girl had gradually grown up and finally became a graceful and elegant young woman who resembled Lily Marlene.


    At the same time, Lu Si¡¯er had also finished going through the letters. ¡°The contents are simr to the previous letters from Lippinobert to Maria. Veronika saw his marriage proposal in the newspaper and wrote him a letter. She grew up in Daemon Town and had always been curious about the owner of the castle...¡±


    ¡°Lippinobert sent her a letter and asked her to attach photos of herself. She sent all the photos from her childhood to adulthood to Lippinobert and received his marriage proposal.¡±


    The naive youngdy married into the castle with curiosity and longing for its owner, but didn¡¯t know what was waiting for her...


    ¡°What¡¯s the rtionship between this puppet and Veronika?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. He looked at the puppet he had just picked up and tried to discern the truth. However, no one could give him an answer and the puppet was remained motionless and unresponsive.


    The gears in Tang Mianmian¡¯s brain started to turn. ¡°Is it Veronika?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. ¡°Why would Lippinobert make Veronica into a puppet and disy it in the window of her own antique shop?¡±


    In the midst of their discussion, the little boy suddenly screamed. Throughout this whole day, he had been extremely quiet and obedient. It wasn¡¯t clear if the child had finally understood his current situation or if there was any other reasons, but now he seemed to have resumed his naughty behavior of shouting, which gave Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian a fright.


    ¡°Monster! Monster!!!¡±


    Soon, Xiao Tangqiu understood the reason why the little boy had screamed. It turns out that while they were preupied, the door of the antique shop had been blocked by the ¡°residents¡± of the small town. The people, who were still alive and kicking during the day, were looking into the antique shop at them with a stiff and dull expression. There were many ¡°people¡± leaning against the window of the antique shop, staring at them through the ss windows with the same dreadful, lifeless eyes.


    This was like a scene out of a zombie movie, but these ¡°residents¡± were obviously not zombies. Their appearance wasn¡¯t any different from that of the day. Aside from their stiff and sluggish expressions, the only difference was the additional joints between their wrists and hands, feet and ankles, etc ¨C moving joints that were limited to puppets.


    Xiao Tangqiu reacted at once. ¡°The residents of this small town be puppets after the sun goes down!¡±


    <i>Did the residents of the small town be puppets after the sun went down, or was it more urate to say that these living puppets became residents of the small town during the day?</i> It was obviously not the right time or ce to contemte this matter now because right after the little boy screamed, some puppets immediately squeezed into the small antique shop and rushed at them angrily.


    Soon, more and more puppets rushed in. They broke through the windows and knocked the goods in the store to the floor. They weren¡¯t at all like puppets that were yed by children, but more like murderous zombies.


    Xiao Tangqiu instinctively wanted to look around for weapons that he could use to protect himself. Duan Hongzhen had already taken out his flying scalpel from the get-go. However, before he could make any moves, Shen Yuan stopped him.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s voice sounded icy, ¡°Wait a minute, these puppets may also be included within the scope of puppets that cannot be damaged that Lippinobert had said.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen moodily fiddled with his flying scalpel. He raised an eyebrow and looked incredulous, ¡°Never mind that those damn puppets in the castle can¡¯t be destroyed, but even the puppets in this small town?¡±


    The aloof woman added, ¡°These puppets are probably also made by Lippinobert. As long as he made them, they should be within the scope of puppets that are not to be damaged.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen wasn¡¯t a good-natured person, but after hearing what Shen Yuan and the aloof woman said, he obediently put down the flying scalpel, which surprised Xiao Tangqiu.


    Was this one of the ¡°rules¡± that yers must follow? Did they have to continue to obey the ¡°rules¡± even if they might end up dead? Despite his doubts, it was obviously not a good time to ask these questions.


    ¡°Since we can¡¯t destroy it, then we can only run,¡± Duan Hongzhen shrugged. ¡°Being a gentleman, I¡¯ll open up a path in the front. You better run as fast as you can. If you fall behind, I won¡¯t stop to wait for you.¡±


    This sentence was aimed at Xiao Tangqiu and the rookies. Before they could reply, Duan Hongzhen took the lead in rushing towards the small door behind the antique shop. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and took some objects that they could us to protect themselves. Although Shen Yuan said they couldn¡¯t damage the puppets, it was obviously not a big problem for them. Shen Yuan and his team had to be careful not to damage the puppets, but they had to be careful not to be injured by the puppet!


    Fortunately, although the puppet army looked menacing, its attack ability wasn¡¯t as bad as it looked. At most, the puppets were only a little stronger than them. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian used their bodies to block the puppets¡¯ attacks. They managed to forcefully rush their way out and soon returned to the street.


    On returning to the street however, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. The street was full of puppets, and there were some strange looking puppets in the distance. Their skin was rotten and theycked eyeballs and organs. Some only had bones left. The only thing simr they shared with the other puppets was that they had joints...


    ¡°Fucking hell! That psycho made puppets from the dead!¡±


    Tang Mianmian muttered, trembling all over. Although this puppet army didn¡¯t have advanced fighting capabilities, such arge group of puppets gathered together... was simply unthinkable!


    At the frontmost, Duan Hongzhen also waved his arms in defeat. ¡°There are too many of them. It¡¯ll be a little difficult to escape without damaging them.¡±


    Suddenly, from not far off, the deafening toll of the church bell sounded.


    -It was the start of the hour.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly had an idea. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the church! It seems like they didn¡¯t dare approach the church during the day!¡±


    An army of puppets that resembled the undead suddenly surged towards them, making Xiao Tangqiu even more anxious. However, his temporary teammates obviously didn¡¯t agree with his suggestion. Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows. ¡°The church is in the center of the town. If we want to go, we have to turn back.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re close to the exit of the small town. There¡¯s no need for us to head to somewhere further,¡± said the aloof woman.


    At that point, Shen Yuan said, ¡°Go to the church.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had blurted his suggestion out subconsciously. After he calmed down, he had also felt that it was a little unwise. To go to church, they had to retrace their steps, which was farther and farther away from the entrance of the small town... He hadn¡¯t expected Shen Yuan to agree.


    Shen Yuan was obviously a well-respected captain. Under hismand, everyone decisively obeyed and turned around to leave. No one expressed any dissatisfaction or raised any objections. Lu Si¡¯er and the little boy naturally didn¡¯t dare to say anything either. They soon set foot on the road back to the church.


    Although it was impossible to use physical force, Shen Yuan and his team were still able to cope with the puppet army. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, on the other hand, had some difficulty. They had taken the long wood pieces from the antique shop and waved them back and forth to drive away the army of puppets that were chasing them. They stumbled and struggled along the way, and almost fell behind several times.


    By the time they had caught a glimpse of their ¡°promisend¡±, their clothes were torn in several ces, bodies a mess. Finally, when they stepped into the area of the church, something almost magical happened ¨C the puppets didn¡¯t catch up to them. Just like creatures afraid of the light, they wandered outside the church for a while, then scattered off.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian immediately fell down to the floor, panting and out of breath. Duan Hongzhen looked at them and arched an eyebrow, ¡°Why are you two such weaklings?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a bitter smile and was about to say something when Tang Mianmian suddenly cried out, ¡°The church... the church seems to have changed.¡±


    They all looked up and sure enough, the church waspletely different from what it had looked like earlier. Although the previous atmosphere of the church was solemn and strange, it was still the picture of a normal church. But right now, the church hadpletely transformed. There were charred traces of a fire everywhere, broken ss windows and damaged murals, as if it had been abandoned for many years, which gave off an eerie, terrifying vibe.

 Chapter 39.1

    <h4>Chapter 39.1</h4>


    P.S. Here¡¯s an extra release to thank dear Mello xoxo ??


    ~~~


    At this time, a full moon hung high over the small town. However, the cold, pale moonlight had no way of prating the interior of the church. Xiao Tangqiu turned on his shlight and found that the murals inside the church had also changed.


    Originally, the murals were all portraits of Lili Marlene. They still depicted Lily Marlene but the contents of the murals had changed. In the first mural, Lily Marlene seemed to be floating in a river while many people with blurred-out faces stood along the riverbank. In the second one, Lily Marlene was ced in a huge fire with more than half her body engulfed in mes. The group of people with blurred-out faces were also gathered around her.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Tang Mianmian was very surprised. These two murals were different from all the paintings they had seen before. They seemed to contain stories... However, it was impossible for them to understand the whole picture.


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to shine his shlight on the huge statue in the center of the church. Sure enough, the statue had also changed. Originally, it was a sculpture of ¡°Madonna and Child,¡± but now it had be the image of Lily Marlene being tied to a cross and burned alive.


    The huge statue of Lily Marlene being submerged in huge mes was very shocking. The statue itself was lifelike and the facial features were violently contorted in pain, just like a real person would.


    The others were also startled by the huge statue. Tang Mianmian murmured incredulously, ¡°Never mind the murals, but how did the statue change in such a short time? It doesn¡¯t make any sense... Forget it, why am I even talking about logic in this world...¡±


    ¡°Burned alive...¡± The aloof woman frowned slightly. ¡°Was Lily Marlene a witch?¡±


    Tang Mianmian burst out, ¡°Fuck! Isn¡¯t that too cruel? What¡¯s the use of sinking and drowning to prove that she isn¡¯t a witch since she¡¯ll end up dead?! If she floats up and proves that she is a witch, then she will be dragged to be killed anyways. No matter what she does, there¡¯s only a death at the end!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded. ¡°Even if that was cruel, there was another kind of punishment, which was to burn the woman at the stake. If she burns to death, it proves that she¡¯s not a witch, but if she survives, then that proves that she is one...¡±


    Tang Mianmian continued cuss on end. ¡°Then whatever she does, it¡¯s a death sentence anyway! If she¡¯s burned to death, she¡¯s innocent, if she¡¯s not, they¡¯ll continue to torture her... In that case, anyone could just use their enemy of being a witch. That way, they can deal with all their enemies!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the murals and then at the huge statue in the center. ¡°Lily Marlene must have been tortured before. She was suspected to be a witch, so she was first subjected to waterboarding, but she didn¡¯t die. She floated to the surface and was then subjected to fire...¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly found something wrong with the whole story. ¡°The housekeeper of Lippinobert clearly said that many years ago there was a demon causing trouble in this small town. She said something about a fire that burned for three days and three nights. Then, Lily Marlene stepped forward and sacrificed her own life. After her death, a clear spring gushed out of her body and finally put out the fire... Damn it! Even an NPC can lie?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen listened with relish. When he heard this, he yed with his scalpel, smiling as he said, ¡°Who told you that NPCs won¡¯t deceive yers?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was dumbfounded, but Xiao Tangqiu seemed to have vaguely grasped some of the so-called rules. He frowned and went on to say, ¡°It seems that NPCs can give information to mislead us, but I don¡¯t think the housekeeper lied to uspletely. There should be some clues in her words. The fire that burned for three days and three nights may not really be a big fire. During the witch hunt era, the reason why witches were blindly hunted and killed was because people at the time were ignorant and believed that natural disasters and diseases were caused by witches. Once there was any natural disaster or gue in a small town, they would madly hunt these so-called witches.¡±


    ¡°We can assume that there was a gue many years ago in Daemon Town. Many people died and the townspeople were in a panic. In order to end the gue, they captured Lily Marlene, a witch, and tortured her...¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er was slow to respond. ¡°So this Lily Marlene is a witch?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head. ¡°Maybe, maybe not.¡±


    ¡°If she¡¯s not a witch, but just an ordinary woman, then isn¡¯t she so pitiful...¡± Tang Mianmian blinked sadly. ¡°That¡¯s not right! If Lily Marlene was a pitiful woman, who was suspected to be a witch and burned to death by fire, then she should have been dead for a long time, right? How could she be the wife of Lippinobert?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the witch hunts took ce roughly during the Renaissance period, at least a few hundred years ago.¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°So Lily Marlene should have been dead for hundreds of years.¡± Lippinobert and Maria¡¯s marriage happened in the early 20th century so there was too much of a time gap.


    Tang Mianmian let his imagination run wild. ¡°Could Lippinobert be a vampire? Maybe he¡¯s lived for hundreds of years? The love between a vampire and witch! Wow, how romantic!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to say something when he noticed that the statue of Lily Marlene had suddenly opened its eyes. He was startled and eximed at once, ¡°Its eyes!¡±


    Everyone immediately discovered Lily Marlene¡¯s line of sight. Its head had originally been hanging down with its eyes closed as it was tied to the cross, but the statue had actually opened its eyes while they weren¡¯t paying attention. It was looking straight at them, its eyes dark and sinister.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart suddenly skipped a beat. ¡°I have a bad feeling...¡±


    Tang Mianmian yelled, ¡°Fuck! Don¡¯t you dare raise another g!¡±


    However, it was toote. Right when the statue opened its eyes, the church doors suddenly closed. The heavy wooden door made a shrill creak, and mmed shut.


    In the next moment, the statue¡¯s eyes shed a teardrop, which pattered onto the church floor. It was a huge teardrop.


    Soon, more and more tears poured out from its empty eyes, just like a faucet... No, it was more like a dam that had opened its gates, and the flood spread instantly.


    Within a few seconds, the water in the church had already submerged their ankles. Xiao Tangqiu immediately understood. ¡°It wants to drown us to death!¡±


    Shen Yuan issued amand and Duan Hongzhen immediately turned around and pushed the door while the other two women pushed the windows. However, something strange happened. The big wooden door became as heavy as a thousand pounds and couldn¡¯t be opened no matter what he did. The windows were obviously broken but were firmly fixed in ce.


    They couldn¡¯t escape!


    They all felt anxious at once, but were powerless to do anything else. Tang Mianmian immediately joined in pushing the door. But no matter how hard he pushed, even using his entire body weight to violently impact against it, the big wooden door wouldn¡¯t budge.


    Duan Hongzhen even used his flying scalpel. However, his sharp tool, that could cut through gold as if it were mud, was useless against the big wooden door. On the other side, the two women took out their weapons as well. The aloof woman took out a Tang sword, while the other took out an oddly shaped umbre. The two women hit the window ss with their weapons at the same time. Even though their strength was obviously substantial and their weapons didn¡¯t look like just a normal weapon, it was impossible to break the ss windows.


    At this time, the water in the church hadn¡¯t yet reached their calves but it seemed to be rising faster and faster. It wouldn¡¯t be long before the whole church was submerged.


    Lu Si¡¯er and the little boy were standing on the church bench and couldn¡¯t do anything to help. Faced with such a horrible situation, they could only hold each other, shivering and too afraid to even cry.


    Xiao Tangqiu waded through the water trying to find if there was any other way out of the church. The church itself wasn¡¯t big. He searched the entire ce but found nothing.


    In the blink of an eye, the water reached Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s waist. It became increasingly difficult for him to move and he couldn¡¯t help feeling more and more anxious.


    But more than the fear, what he felt was guilt and remorse. He was the one who had suggested for them to go to the church. If they weren¡¯t able to make it outside, it would be all his fault...

 Chapter 39.2

    <h4>Chapter 39.2</h4>


    Duan Hongzhen and the two women were giving their all, but neither the door nor the windows would budge, as if they had entered apletely enclosed space.


    The situation grew more and more urgent as the water rose at an increasingly fast rate.


    Soon, the water reached their heads. They had tried their best to stay afloat in the water. However, as the distance between the water and the ceiling got closer, they realized that if they didn¡¯t find a way to escape soon, they might drown here today.


    There was less and less air and Xiao Tangqiu could feel that he was beginning tock oxygen. His brain felt groggy as he moved slower and slower. The picture before him was beginning to be a bit blurry.


    ...... He was probably about to die?


    It was pretty ridiculous that he would finally die because of his own stupid suggestion after braving through so many ordeals.


    Xiao Tangqiu desperately held hisst breath and shouted at Shen Yuan, ¡°I¡¯m sorry...¡±


    Although it was a life and death situation, Shen Yuan was still calm and in control. Even if he was surrounded by fearful screams and cries, he was as steady as a mountain. He looked at Xiao Tangqiu, not saying anything. Despite that, Xiao Tangqiu seemed to understand what he was trying to say.


    ¡°Wuwuwu! I¡¯m still very young! I don¡¯t want to die!¡± Tang Mianmian cried the most, but he was also the one with the most energy. ¡°I¡¯m not married yet, I haven¡¯t been in love, I haven¡¯t even touched a girl¡¯s hand yet!¡±


    Atst, the Loli couldn¡¯t help rolling her eyes at Tang Mianmian. ¡°Shut up! The more you cry, the more oxygen you consume!¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er and the little boy, who were originally holding each other and crying because of fear, were shocked by the words and stopped crying at once.


    At this moment, the water had already submerged most of the church. The water surface was twenty to thirty centimeters away from the ceiling. They were trying to stay afloat with their heads exposed above the water surface. However, it was obvious that they would soon lose thisst bit of space.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes began to blur as his consciousness became hazy. ¡°...I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s all my fault.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was frightened by the Loli and didn¡¯t dare to cry anymore. He sobbed in a low voice, ¡°Wuwuwu... What¡¯s the point of saying this now...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t hear Tang Mianmian clearly and could only repeat over and over again, ¡°I¡¯m sorry...¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no other way, we can only stake it all on this...¡± Duan Hongzhen said.


    Tang Mianmian paused, ¡°Stake it all on what?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen didn¡¯t continue speaking. He turned to look at Shen Yuan, and then at the other two women. They seemed to have gotten the message because in the next moment, the four of them suddenly dived under, swimming towards the huge statue.


    Tang Mianmian tried hard to grab Xiao Tangqiu to prevent him from slipping into unconsciousness. Lu Si¡¯er and the little boy also began to feel faint. They could only subconsciously hold onto the nearest person. He ended up having to drag three people by himself.


    He stared nervously at the scene underwater and saw them swim towards the huge statue and suddenly attack it.


    ......No, to be precise, it was the three of them besides Shen Yuan.


    Under the blows from all three of them, the statue still didn¡¯t budge.


    They turned to look at the Shen Yuan helplessly, and finally, Shen Yuan looked like he was about to make a move,


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t see how Shen Yuan made his move because in the next second, the waterpletely submerged the church. Thest bit of oxygen was gone and he could only scramble to hold onto Xiao Tangqiu, who was weak.


    Just then, there was a loud noiseing from under the water!


    Amidst the loud noise, Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes in hazy consciousness. At this time, the church waspletely flooded, and the world underwater appeared distorted. He tried to look down, but only saw a vague shadow...


    All of a sudden, his sight became crystal clear, and everything became visible to him, including the pews, murals, stained ss windows and the huge statue in the church. Shen Yuan was right in front of the statue. Although Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t see his expression clearly, he appeared to be in a different state than he usually was.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s hair became much longer underwater and reached almost to his waist, floating in the water like aquatic nts on the seabed.


    There wererge, mysterious ck tattoos on his cheeks and neck. Not only there, but also on his wrists and ankles... Xiao Tangqiu tried to identify them, but failed to recognize what kind of tattoo it was.


    And at this time, the loud noise drew to an end and the huge statue shattered into pieces!


    The moment the statue broke apart, there was a huge shockwave underwater. Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously closed his eyes, but soon opened his eyes again, looking in the direction of Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan was closest to the statue. Now that the statue had exploded, Shen Yuan would bear the brunt of the force...


    Sure enough, fragments of the statue hit Shen Yuan, instantly shredding his clothes to pieces. Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart skipped a beat, but what he imagined didn¡¯t happen. Shen Yuan¡¯s clothes were shredded, but his body didn¡¯t suffer any substantial damage, only, his clothes had fallen apart to reveal arge tattoo.


    Xiao Tangqiu finally saw the ck tattoo on Shen Yuan¡¯s body. It turned out to be a serpent devouring its own tail, Ouroboros.


    In ancient Greek mythology, the giant serpent whose body encircles the entire world symbolized the undying serpent of eternal life.


    Therge tattoo of Ouroboros looked mysterious and sinister, strange and unpredictable, just like a forgotten totem from ancient times.


    However, before Xiao Tangqiu could take a closer look, hepletely lost consciousness from theck of oxygen. Before that, thest thing he saw was Shen Yuan¡¯s deep and dark eyes and that huge tattoo of Ouroboros.


    The sparkling water, the long ck hair floating, the mysterious and strange tattoo ¨C Shen Yuan, at that moment, seemed toe from an underwater paradise.


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Wake up!¡±


    ¡°Wake up!¡±


    ¡°Wuwuwu, please don¡¯t die!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu woke up from being shaken by Tang Mianmian. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Tang Mianmian pressing hard on his chest, making the first-aid motions of rescuing a drowned man. Tang Mianmian was so strong that he almost squeezed out his lungs.


    Xiao Tangqiu coughed and got up, pushing him away, ¡°Okay, okay, stop! My ribs are about to be broken by you...¡±


    Tang Mianmian saw that Xiao Tangqiu had gotten up, and immediately tears and snot flowed down his face. ¡°Wuwuwu, I¡¯m so d that you¡¯re not dead. I thought I would never see you again, wuwuwu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu coughed and spit out a bit of water. His throat and lungs were burning, eyes red and swollen because he had been underwater for a long time. He was in a sorry state. However, Tang Mianmian was no better than he was. His hair and clothes were all in a mess, and his skin was white and swollen, resembling the horrible state of a newly rescued drowning victim.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately thought of Shen Yuan and turned to look for him. Very quickly, he found Shen Yuan not far away. At this time, Shen Yuan seemed to have returned to his normal state. His hair had turned back to the original short length and hisrge tattoo had disappeared.


    He had put on his clothes again and was sitting on the broken bench with his eyes closed, as if he were resting and recharging.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at Shen Yuan¡¯s cheeks and the other parts of his exposed skin for a long time trying to figure out what that mysterious tattoo was.


    It had disappearedpletely. There was a little loss and regret in his heart... Although the huge tattoo of Ouroboros was mysterious and strange, it was beautiful and bewitching.


    If it weren¡¯t for that glimpse, he would¡¯ve thought that everything had been an illusion or something he had seen in a dream.


    After confirming that Shen Yuan was safe and sound, Xiao Tangqiu turned around to look at the situation before him. The huge statue had been smashed by Shen Yuan, and its fragments were scattered all over the floor. However, the water that flooded the church had disappeared as soon as the statue was broken.


    The flood came and went without a trace. If it weren¡¯t for the mess on the floor, it would¡¯ve felt like an illusion. Apart from Shen Yuan, everyone else was in quite a mess. Lu Si¡¯er and the little boy sat on the floor, pale and shaking. Naturally, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian weren¡¯t much better off either. They all looked like survivors after a brush with death.


    Duan Hongzhen circled the statue and suddenly smiled. ¡°It seems there¡¯s a way out.¡±


    The two women looked at each other, walked to the statue to get a closer look and froze in ce. Seeing their reactions, Xiao Tangqiu struggled to get up and walked over with Tang Mianmian, both men leaning against each other unsteadily.


    On the base of the broken statue was an entrance!

 Chapter 39.3

    <h4>Chapter 39.3</h4>


    The entrance was dark and deep,pletely bottomless, but there was a small wooden staircase that made it essible.


    Tang Mianmian shivered uncontrobly, ¡°But we don¡¯t know where this secret passage leads to...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll know when we get there.¡± Duan Hongzhen objected, appearing eager to enter.


    The two women looked at each other, and at Shen Yuan who was sitting on the bench who was still resting.


    Momentster, Shen Yuan opened his eyes, ¡°Let¡¯s go down.¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er was obviously a little scared. ¡°But... what if this secret passage leads to another dead end... Or if there¡¯s another flood once we go down... Then aren¡¯t we bound for death?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled and said, ¡°You can choose to stay here alone.¡±


    Lu Si¡¯er¡¯s face turned ashen. She looked like she wanted to say something else but Tang Mianmian suddenly took a sniff and asked, ¡°Do you smell something?¡±


    ¡°What smell?¡± Xiao Tangqiu followed with a sniff and as expected smelled something strange. ¡°Like something is burning...¡±


    ¡°Yes! The smell of something burning!¡± Tang Mianmian pped his thigh.


    Xiao Tangqiu burst out, ¡°Wait! Why would there be the smell of something burning here?¡±


    Everyone turned around, faces turning ugly at the same time. The church had started burning God knows when, and the mes were surging in their direction, the air filled with smoke that choked them at once.


    ¡°Fire!¡± Xiao Tangqiu reacted immediately. ¡°After drowning is burning at the stake...¡±


    ¡°Fuck! You¡¯re right!¡± Tang Mianmian responded, ¡°They suspected Lily Marlene was a witch, so they first tried to drown her, then set her on fire...¡±


    Shen Yuan was the first to go down, followed by two women, then Duan Hongzhen. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, who insisted on the principle of giving priority to women and children, let Lu Si¡¯er and the little boy go down first before they finally retreated to the bottom.


    Xiao Tangqiu went secondst with Tang Mianmian jumped down right behind him.


    ¡°Ouch, ouch, ouch! The fire is burning my ass! Hurry up!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was in a hurry and didn¡¯t have any time to waste. He had directly jumped into the secret passage. Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t bother with the stairs as well and rolled down to the bottom.


    Tang Mianmian had reached the bottom when the fire spread to the entrance of the secret passage but the mes seemed to be unable to leave the church and stopped at the entrance of the church and the secret passage.


    However, before Tang Mianmian and Xiao Tangqiu could breathe a sigh of relief, the fire suddenly acted like it had self-consciousness, condensed into the shape of a hand and swept at Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously rolled on the spot, the mes sweeping over his head instead. He suddenly felt his scalp grow hot and smelled his hair burning. However, at this point, he had already neglected his hair. What¡¯s the use of having any hair if he were dead?


    He rolled around several times, narrowly escaping the mes. Countless holes were burnt through his clothes. Naturally, Tang Mianmian, who was at the back with him, was not much better off. The two behave like they¡¯re jumping through rings of fire, bouncing up and down, rolling left and right on the ground. They had a hard time catching up with Shen yuan and others who were ahead of them.


    Before the two could catch their breath, they looked back and felt almost powerless. The mes, which seemed to be self-conscious, was burning even more fiercely as if in retaliation for not being able to catch up with anyone. With a whoosh, it angrily crossing the border of the church and the secret passage, and quickly making its way in as it swallowed up everything in sight.


    Now, they didn¡¯t even need a shlight because the originally pitch ck secret passage was lit up by the mes.


    ¡°Run!¡± Tang Mianmian issued a loud roar, dragging Xiao Tangqiu with him as he started running.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t even have the opportunity to catch his breath before he was made to run with Tang Mianmian.


    The mes were chasing after them, so they could only run for their lives frantically. They looked at the bright ze in the entrance of the secret passage. Although they were afraid of the unknown and the mes got rid of the unending darkness, it also blocked their retreat. If they met a dead end in front, they were finished!


    The secret passage was spacious and also quite long. They ran desperately for a long time without seeing the exit of the secret passage. The worst thing was that the fire was still chasing after them. They had no time to stop and rest. If they stopped for even a second, they would be mercilessly mercilessly by the hungry mes.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s lungs felt like they were about to burst from all the running. His body wasn¡¯t good to begin with and his physical stamina was just average at best. Now, all this running had already exceeded his physical limit but he could only strengthen his resolve and keep moving. He knew that he couldn¡¯t stop because even the slightest pause and he would be engulfed by the mes.


    Towards the end, his strength was sustained by willpower alone and his consciousness had begun to blur. If Tang Mianmian hadn¡¯t been dragging him along, he might have fallen unconscious.


    Lu Si¡¯er and the little boy also ran very hard. They were out of breath but were pushed beyond their physical limits by mes.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the endless path ahead and despaired. Right then, Lu Si¡¯er suddenly stumbled over something and fell to the ground screaming.


    She subconsciously held out her hand to Xiao Tangqiu, who was closest to her and yelled, ¡°Help me!¡±


    Seeing her eyes fill up with fear, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but pause. However, in the next moment, Shen Yuan pulled him forwards and said coldly, ¡°You can¡¯t save her, just go!¡±


    Indeed, as expected, the mes shot out relentlessly, quickly swallowing Lu Si¡¯er into that sea of fire. She barely had any time to struggle before her bodypletely disappeared into the fire, leaving only echoes of her screams.


    If Xiao Tangqiu had turned to save her, even if just to stretch out a hand to pull her, he most likely would¡¯ve also been caught in the mes. He couldn¡¯t help but feel heart palpitating from the horror. If Shen Yuan hadn¡¯t held him back, maybe he would¡¯ve died in the fire with Lu Si¡¯er.


    Before Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart could start beating normally again, Shen Yuan grabbed his arm and ran forward.


    Xiao Tangqiu was dragged by Shen Yuan and Tang Mianmian, one on the left, the other on the right. Although his lungs were burning with pain, it was much easier than before.


    Momentster, he finally saw a glimmer of hope. A faint light appeared in the distance, immediately lifting their spirits.


    They made a determined effort to run towards the light and finally arrived at the ce where the light wasing from before the fire could set their bottoms aze. It was a wooden door!


    Xiao Tangqiu was delighted. They had finally found the exit of the secret passage.


    However, his heart sank again. They obviously didn¡¯t have any time to open the door. Once they stop, they would be devoured by the fire. What could they do? !


    Just as Xao Tangqiu was struggling with how to open the door, they had already reached it. The aloof rushed to the front. Xiao Tangqiu saw Tang sword in her hand slice heavily at the wooden door. Under that powerful blow, a loud noise broke the door.


    As soon as the door was broken, they rushed in, including Xiao Tangqiu who was still being dragged by Shen Yuan and Tang Mianmian. Upon entering the door, Xiao Tangqiu was so tired that he wanted to throw himself to the floor. He could no longer move his legs. Fortunately, when he looked back, he found that the fire had stopped chasing them.


    The fire seemed to be stuck in the secret passage as if it were blocked by an invisible door. Soon, the fire gradually got smaller until it disappearedpletely and the secret passage was once again plunged into darkness.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe that they had sessfully escaped the fire. He fell to the ground, gasping for air. His head was a nk sheet. It wasn¡¯t until Tang Mianmian hugged him and cried loudly that the reality of them surviving finally set in.


    ¡°Wuwuwu, Qiuqiu! We actually made it!¡±


    ¡°We survived!¡±


    ~~~


    P.S. Sorry for missingst night¡¯s updates. I had so much work I stayed up till 4am just to finish up everything. I realize that releases aren¡¯t as punctual, and while I try to stick to a certain time, I can¡¯t say for sure on which days I might be dyed. Anyways, there¡¯ll be another update tonight. ?

 Chapter 39.4

    <h4>Chapter 39.4</h4>


    After the joy from having survived had passed, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s first reaction was to turn around to confirm how Shen Yuan was doing. As a long-time old yer, Shen Yuan was naturally in a much better state than a rookie like Xiao Tangqiu. His hair wasn¡¯t very messy and his clothes looked even more neat and meticulous, far from how miserable someone who had just escaped the clutches of death should look.


    By contrast, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian appeared much more pathetic. There was a handful of scorched hairs on Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s head and several small holes had burned through his clothes. Tang Mianmian looked even worse. His face had been ckened by the smoke, his body was covered in ash, and the bottom of his pants had arge hole, revealing his underwear.


    When Xiao Tangqiu turned to size up Shen Yuan¡¯s current condition, his eyes coincidentally met Shen Yuan¡¯s line of sight. Their gazes staggered for a moment, meeting halfway, but Shen Yuan soon withdrew his sight and turned to look at the situation before him.


    He hesitated whether or not to go to Shen Yuan to thank him. He hadn¡¯t expected Shen Yuan¡¯s help earlier, but Shen Yuan had not only stopped him from making a fatal mistake, but also pulled him to run with him... While he was hesitating, Shen Yuan¡¯s teammates had already walked over to him, sandwiching him from the front and back.


    Naturally, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have the chance to thank Shen Yuan. He also withdrew his gaze and looked up at the surrounding environment.


    Except for Lu Si¡¯er, who had been engulfed by the mes after identally falling down, the seven of them had survived, including the little boy. However, the little boy was obviously frightened. Right now, he was crouching in the corner with his hands on his head, his expression full of fear and horror.


    Xiao Tangqiu walked over and patted the little boy on the shoulder,forting him softly, but this obviously didn¡¯t have any effect. The little boy was still curled up and shivering. He sighed. What they had just experienced was so horrible that even an adult couldn¡¯t withstand it, what more such a little child. Even he felt traumatized, how was he in any position tofort others? How could he help anyone if he couldn¡¯t even help himself?


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around to carefully look at where they were. At the end of the secret passage was what seemed to be a narrow and enclosed space. The light was dim and visibility was very low. He quickly took out his shlight.


    As soon as the light came on, the whole space lit up. The next second, his hair stood on end.


    This narrow space was full of portraits of Lily Marlene and the floor was covered in puppets that looked like Lily Marlene... But this wasn¡¯t the reason why his hair stood on end, because within the pile of puppets, there were also organs such as human eyes, hair, as well as broken limbs such as arms and thighs.


    Those human organs and limbs were thrown on the floor like puppet parts. The blood had already turned ck and solidified. Looking around, it was like a ughterhouse.


    Hell on earth.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face turned pale. Tang Mianmian took a big step backwards, covering his mouth.


    Compared to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, Shen Yuan and his team were much calmer. They had obviously be ustomed to such horrible scenes. Besides the slight frown made by the girls who were used to cleanliness, Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen didn¡¯t even blink.


    ¡°These people should have been dead for a long time. From their clothes, they look like the townspeople,¡± Duan Hongzhen said, touching his chin. ¡°There aren¡¯t any fresh bodies...¡±


    Townspeople? Xiao Tangqiu stared intently. Sure enough, certain parts of clothing were still left on some of the broken limbs. The style did look familiar. It was clearly simr to what the residents of the small town had worn.


    ¡°What do you mean by no fresh bodies?¡± Tang Mianmian covered his mouth, appearing like he would vomit at any moment. ¡°The murderer is dead? So, that¡¯s why he stopped killing?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled and said, ¡°The murderer might not necessarily have stopped killing because he¡¯s dead. It¡¯s also possible that everyone is dead... so there¡¯s no one left to kill...¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face turned ashen while Xiao Tangqiu frowned. <i>Were all the residents of Daemon Town killed?</i> But from what they saw earlier, there didn¡¯t seem to be a single living person in the town, only a zombie/puppet army. It¡¯s no wonder there was a strange smell ever since they stepped into the town.


    ¡°Someone ughtered the entire town?! Who did it?¡± Tang Mianmian felt ufortable all over. ¡°Lippinobert? Never mind that this psycho is crazy over Lily Marlene, but he¡¯s actually so cruel to ughter an entire town? Why did he kill these people?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled and did not speak, but Xiao Tangqiu looked at the broken limbs on the ground and suddenly a crazy thought ured. ¡°Frankenstein.¡±


    ¡°Frankenstein?¡± Tang Mianmian immediately froze.


    ¡°Yes, Frankenstein. He used different parts of different corpses to form a person, or more urately, a monster...¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked solemn. ¡°Does Lippinobert also n to...¡±


    ¡°He also ns to use the bodies of these townspeople to make one person?¡± Tang Mianmian was shocked. ¡°Fuck! There¡¯s so many people. It¡¯s more than enough for him to create a few!¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s an experiment,¡± Xiao Tangqiu forced himself to calm down. He tried to analyze everything rationally. ¡°This kind of crazy human body experiment won¡¯t result in sess with just one try... Maybe he wants to create the perfect body from these experiments.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was so shocked that he couldn¡¯t keep his mouth closed. ¡°What does he really want to create? A God?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned to look at the portraits on the wall. ¡°...Lily Marlene.¡±


    ¡°Lily Marlene? Fuck!¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression was the same as that of ¡°The Scream.¡± ¡°He killed his wives and the whole town, just to use their bodies to create a wife for himself?¡±


    ¡°...Maybe it¡¯s more than that.¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something, ¡°Don¡¯t forget the personals he published in the newspaper.¡±


    ¡°He tricked and killed these people in the name of proposing marriage?¡± Tang Mianmian quickly followed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s train of thought, ¡°Maria, and their daughter Alice, don¡¯t tell me even Laura, his mother... Fuck! That¡¯s his own daughter and mother! ¡°


    At this moment, Duan Hongzhen said, while ying with his scalpel, ¡°He didn¡¯t kill them, he just turned them into puppets.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered the little girl puppet with the axe and the strange long-haired puppet. Was that Alice and Laura who were made into puppets? What about Maria and Veronica?


    Just then, Shen Yuan suddenly said, ¡°There¡¯s someone!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian jumped in fright at the same time but Duan Hongzhen and the two women looked prepared. In the next second, something appeared in front of them ¨C it was a puppet!


    It was a very crude looking puppet, only about as tall as an adult¡¯s knee, with crooked facial features, just like it had been painted by a child. It had an oversized head and a stubby body. It looked very strange, just like a dwarf. No, it must be a dwarf puppet. Although the puppet was as small as a child, its face clearly had the appearance of an adult.


    The dwarf puppet had a red and white leather drum hanging on its chest and a pair of drum sticks in its hands. It looked at them coldly, as if it were very angry with them, the intruders who had rushed in. Indeed, in the next moment, it suddenly screamed at them.


    Never mind if it was just ordinary noise, but Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eardrum actually swelled up and hurt instantly. He quickly put his hands over his ears. The puppet behind him instantly cracked under the shockwave of its screams!


    This dwarf puppet could actually attack using sound waves!


    Seeing that the puppets were broken, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart suddenly sank. Did this mean that he broke the rules by damaging the puppet? ......This shouldn¡¯t count! The dwarf puppet was the real culprit!


    The dwarf puppet became even more furious when he saw the broken puppets. Its screams became more and more shrill. Although Xiao Tangqiu was covering his ears, he could still feel warm blood flowing out.


    Tang Mianmian did the same as well. He quickly made a Roundhouse kick and then a bone-breaking kick at the dwarf puppet, hitting its red chest.


    The dwarf puppet was knocked down, and rolled on the ground like a bowling ball. The screams finally stopped.


    ¡°Find the exit!¡± Tang Mianmian quickly put down his hands and shouted. Of course, he didn¡¯t have to say that because Shen Yuan and the others had already started looking for an exit, but this room seemed to only contain portraits of Lily Marlene on the walls, puppets of Lily Marlene on the floor and a blood corpse mountain full of mutted limbs. There wasn¡¯t an exit at all!


    At this time, the dwarf puppet got up from the floor after being kicked like a bowling ball, which had obviously infuriated it. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian immediately covered their ears again. However, the dwarf puppet did not open his mouth and scream as they had imagined, but picked up the two drums sticks and began to beat its drum.


    Soon, Xiao Tangqiu was surprised to find that even if he tried to cover his ears, the sound of the drums could still prate into his ears and he couldn¡¯t control his body!


    Following the rhythm of the drums, he was forced to put down his hands that were covering his ears and then knocked his head against the blood-stained wall.


    Tang Mianmian also seemed to be under the control of drums. He put down his hands and hit his head against the wall just like Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu waspletely unable to control his own body and soon knocked his head wide open, fresh blood flowing down his cheeks.

 Chapter 40.1

    <h4>Chapter 40.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu knocked himself dizzy, his vision turning ck. His face was covered with warm blood and his mouth had a metallic taste. He felt terrified. If he went on like this, he would knock himself to death!


    Tang Mianmian was also in a bad situation. His face was covered with blood and he was still pounding his head against the wall. Xiao Tangqiu tried his hardest to move towards Tang Mianmian but his body waspletely out of his control. Instead, as the rhythm of drums elerated, his actions became more and more urgent. At this point, Duan Hongzhen finally stepped in.


    Although the dwarf puppet was short and strangely shaped, it was surprisingly flexible. It managed to quickly dodge Duan Hongzhen¡¯s flying knives, but the beating of the drums stopped as well. As soon as it stopped, Xiao Tangqiu finally had some respite. He anxiously rushed towards Tang Mianmian. ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was dizzy and couldn¡¯t stand up straight. ¡°Who are you... Who am I... Where are we?¡±


    While Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian held onto each other to regain their footing, Duan Hongzhen had already started a battle with the dwarf puppet. The drums made the same ear-piercing noise again. However, this time it was no longer specifically targeted at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, so the impact wasn¡¯t as strong and they were able to withstand its influence when they tried.


    The dwarf puppet failed to gain anything from its fight with Duan Hongzhen and soon opened its mouth to scream. As soon as it screamed, Xiao Tangqiu immediately felt a sharp pain in his eardrums. He quickly covered his ears with his hands. ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s making a group attack!¡±


    He suddenly understood the attack skills of dwarf puppet and shouted at Tang Mianmian at once. ¡°Its drums can control our bodies! But that¡¯s a single attack, so only one or two people can be controlled at a time! Its scream is a group attack that can strike us all!¡±


    Tang Mianmian also covered her ears and shouted, ¡°...What¡¯s the point of knowing this?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu cried out, ¡°None at all!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen soon discovered the rules of the dwarf puppet¡¯s attack. Although he didn¡¯t dare to directly damage the puppet body, he still drove the dwarf puppet to a retreat with his flying knives. In the end, it seemed to have recognized the fact that it couldn¡¯t defeat Duan Hongzhen and burst into a shrill scream of anger.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately shielded his ears as much as possible, but the shrill screams still made his eardrums ache as blood flowed out his ears. The whole room was shaking and he subconsciously closed his eyes.


    When he opened his eyes again, the dwarf puppet had disappeared, but his ears were still buzzing and bleeding. He put down his hands only to find he find that he couldn¡¯t hear anything.


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could despair, he looked up to find that that parts of the walls which wasn¡¯t covered by any paintings had been shattered by the screams of dwarf puppet. Although the paintings were in good condition, numerous cracks had appeared on the walls, and he felt a lingering fear and a wave of relief.


    Tang Mianmian also put down his hands and realized that he couldn¡¯t hear anything either. He was shocked and frightened at that discovery. He rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu and opened his mouth to say a bunch of stuff but Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t hear a word.


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head at Tang Mianmian, pointing to his ear.


    Tang Mianmian opened his mouth as if to say something else, but didn¡¯t go on. Both of them couldn¡¯t hear at all, what was the point of talking?!


    When Xiao Tangqiu turned to look at Shen Yuan, he seemed to be looking at him too, but he wasn¡¯t sure because Shen Yuan soon turned away to talk to the aloof woman.


    He didn¡¯t know what the two people were talking about but the aloof woman¡¯s expression suddenly turned colder. She turned around and gave Xiao Tangqiu an icy look.


    Xiao Tangqiu thought that she was displeased with his look of inquiry, so he quickly withdrew his sight and gave Tang Mianmian a look that implied a deeper meaning.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s state at this time could be described as rather wretched. His entire head was covered with soot and blood. The fire had burned several holes in his clothes and his underwear was exposed. However, Xiao Tangqiu believed that he probably wasn¡¯t any better.


    The two people who were in the same boat smiled bitterly at each other. They wanted to roast and tease each other but couldn¡¯t hear anything. As they looked at each other, the aloof woman suddenly came up to them, looking at them coldly, as if to say something.


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to sign that he couldn¡¯t hear anything when the aloof woman reached out and touched his ear. He was startled and subconsciously wanted to shrink backwards.


    In the next second, his ears began to sting slightly. After a buzz, he could hear faint noises again!


    At first, the sounds were rather weak but then, they gradually became clearer and clearer. When the aloof woman put down her hands, his ears hadpletely returned to normal.


    Next, she healed Tang Mianmian and finally turned to the little boy, pausing slightly before she healed him too.


    Only then did Xiao Tangqiu react and quickly brought Tang Mianmian to thank her, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The aloof woman gave him a cold re, ¡°No need to thank me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused and saw her look in Shen Yuan¡¯s direction. Then, she turned away resolutely and walked off, searching for an exit.


    Xiao Tangqiu also swept his gaze over Shen Yuan, but at this time Shen Yuan and his teammates were in a discussion. They were most likely discussing about the way to leave this room. He hesitated for a moment and decided against thanking him for now, then turned to Tang Mianmian and said, ¡°Let¡¯s look for the door.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was still immersed in the joy of recovering from his loss of hearing and excitedly hugged Xiao Tangqiu for a long time, crying out loud. Only then did he obediently follow Xiao Tangqiu to look for a door.


    However, they searched the entire room and came up with nothing. It seemed that this room didn¡¯t have any exits, let alone a door. There wasn¡¯t even a crack for them to crawl out through.


    Sure enough, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian searched a few more rounds but still found nothing. Just when they were at their wits end, Shen Yuan suddenly said, ¡°There is something wrong with that painting.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu followed his line of sight. It was one of the portraits of Lily Marlene, about as tall as half a person and looked no different from the other portraits. He couldn¡¯t find anything wrong with it at all, but at Shen Yuan¡¯smands, hispanions immediately went to check it out. Duan Hongzhen took the lead in grabbing the painting.


    ¡°Wait a minute, isn¡¯t this too...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to ask if this method was a little too simple and crude but Duan Hongzhen had already taken down the painting.


    There was actually a half-sized door behind the portrait!


    ¡°The door! It¡¯s the door! We can get out of here!¡±


    Tang Mianmian shouted excitedly.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t expect Shen Yuan to find the door at once. He also didn¡¯t expect the door to be so simply and crudely hidden behind the portrait. He froze for a moment before feeling just as excited as Tang Mianmian.


    Duan Hongzhen had already taken the lead to crawl out. Although the door was only half the height of a person, it was wide enough for an adult man to crawl through.


    After Xiao Tangqiu crawled out the door, he found himself in a dark corridor behind the door. It was darker than the corridor outside the rooms which they stayed in. Soon, he discovered the reason for that. At least there were candles in the corridor outside their rooms, but this corridor was not only devoid of any candles, but alsopletely cut off from any light, as if it were a big, airtight iron box.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit like the basement,¡± Tang Mianmian said bluntly. ¡°In my first few years as an extra, I didn¡¯t have any money to rent a proper ce so I lived in a basement. The basement felt simr to this ce.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. ¡°Basement? Is this the secret basement of the castle? ¡°


    When he saw the portraits of Lily Marlene earlier, he began to guess whether they had returned to the old castle. Did the secret passage beneath the statue in the church lead straight to the old castle? Why did Lippinobert build a secret passage between the castle and the church?


    Just then, the aloof woman opened her mouth to say, ¡°Yes, this is the secret basement of the castle. We didn¡¯t find a way in before, but now we found it by mistake.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned on his shlight and shone it at the opposite end of the corridor. Suddenly, he found another door, which was also a small wooden door half the height of a person. There was obviously a room behind that door.


    ¡°There¡¯s also a secret room here!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was instantly excited. ¡°Great! Maybe this is Lippinobert¡¯s room! Let¡¯s go in and have a look!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help getting excited as well. However, the aloof woman dismissed their enthusiasm with a reminder, pouring cold water on them. ¡°It¡¯s almost midnight.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu responded immediately. They had to get back to their rooms before midnight.


    ¡°What then?¡± Tang Mianmian looked worried. ¡°We don¡¯t have enough time!¡±


    Shen Yuan said decisively, ¡°Go back now. We¡¯lle back tomorrow.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded. ¡°That¡¯s the only option we have. Let¡¯s go back to our rooms first, memorize the way here, ande back to see the rest of the secret room tomorrow.¡±


    As they had to get back to their room before midnight, they could only temporarily leave the secret room and continue to find their way out. Fortunately, after walking along the corridor for a short while, they found a staircase leading upstairs.


    Duan Hongzhen was still at the frontmost. When he climbed to the top of the stairs and pushed open the door, a statue suddenly appeared in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. It was the statue of Lily Marlene in front of the castle!


    They had really gone back to the castle through the secret passage!


    At this time, it was already deep into the night and darkness hung over the castle before them. Everything seemed to be swallowed up by the night. Even the moon had disappeared.


    When they walked towards the main entrance of the castle, Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked back. The sky outside had no moon nor stars. There was only endless darkness, like an abyss that devoured everything.


    In the unending darkness, it seemed that they were the only group of people. And aside the castle in front of them, there was nothing else...


    Duan Hongzhen pushed open the door and entered first.


    They had finally returned to the castle. Before Xiao Tangqiu could breathe a sigh of relief, he immediately found something wrong with the situation. A few newbies were actually still in the hall at this time and hadn¡¯t returned to their rooms. The hall seemed to be filled with the rusty smell of blood.


    The remaining three old yers from the other group was also in the hall, looking solemn and relieved to see them back.

 Chapter 40.2

    <h4>Chapter 40.2</h4>


    ¡°Son! My son!¡± As soon as the middle-aged woman saw theming back, she rushed towards the little boy and tried to snatch the child back. ¡°You traffickers! Give me back my son!¡±


    The little boy let out a scream and ran to Xiao Tangqiu and hid behind him. ¡°You¡¯re not my mother! You¡¯re not my mother! ¡°


    The middle-aged woman¡¯s agitated expression twisted at once. She decided to attack Xiao Tangqiu by scratching his face and lunged at him. ¡°It¡¯s all because you people have misguided by son! Give me back my son!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu grabbed the middle-aged woman¡¯s hand and asked impassively, ¡°You say he¡¯s your son, what proof do you have?¡±


    The middle-aged woman paused, but soon she growled righteously, ¡°He is my son! What proof do you want? You viins dare rob me of my son?! I¡¯ll kill you!¡±


    ¡°You said he¡¯s your son, then tell me his name, how old he is, and which school he goes to.¡± Xiao Tangqiu calmly found a way to discredit her. ¡°If you can¡¯t tell us, that means you¡¯re a human trafficker!¡±


    The middle-aged woman immediately stammered and faltered for a long time, apparently unable to speak. But soon, she became angry from embarrassment. ¡°Why should I tell you? He¡¯s my son! Give me back my son! Let go! Let go!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu coldly watched as the middle-aged woman rolled around, making a huge scene. Although he had restrained her earlier, he didn¡¯t know what to do next. If he couldn¡¯t reason with her, he couldn¡¯t start beating her either, could he?


    While he was still in a dilemma, a flying knife suddenly brushed the middle-aged woman¡¯s cheek and was embedded into the floor. She was too scared to move.


    Duan Hongzhen grinned and said, ¡°You¡¯re too fucking noisy. I¡¯ll ask you a question. Is your son¡¯s life more important or yours? Choose one.¡±


    The middle-aged women shivered and didn¡¯t dare to move.


    Duan Hongzhen pulled out the flying knife from the floor and casually fiddled with it. ¡°If you choose your son, I¡¯ll kill you. If you choose yourself, I¡¯ll kill your son.¡±


    The middle-aged woman immediately shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t kill me! Don¡¯t kill me!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled and put away his knife. Naturally, he wasn¡¯t nning to kill the little boy, but the middle-aged woman¡¯s reaction caught everyone else¡¯s attention. The young man suddenly paled. ¡°You lied to us! You¡¯re a trafficker!¡±


    The middle-aged woman hid in the corner, shaking uncontrobly, but at this moment no one cared about her anymore. Xiao Tangqiu looked at the young man¡¯s body that was covered in blood and frowned slightly. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Hearing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s question, the young man suddenly exploded, ¡°Don¡¯t you know what happened? This morning I took a few people out to find a way to escape this ce, but the result was... was... ¡°


    There was a look of fear on his face. God only knows what he had seen. ¡°They¡¯re all dead... Dead ...I¡¯m the only one who escaped... I¡¯m the only one left!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t until then that Xiao Tangqiu noticed that the young man¡¯s right sleeve was empty and one arm was indeed missing. However, perhaps it was because of timely treatment and the hemostasic agent that he was lucky enough to escape with his life.


    Listening to this guy¡¯s indiscriminate usation, he almostughed from anger, ¡°Didn¡¯t I stop you then? You were the ones who didn¡¯t believe me!¡±


    The young man burst out, ¡°If you had told us the consequences, we wouldn¡¯t have thrown our lives away like that! You clearly knew what was outside the castle! Why didn¡¯t you tell us?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu never expected that even this could be med on him, just like a pot that fell out of nowhere andnded urately on his head. He was speechless but heard Shen Yuan suddenly say, ¡°Seek death and you¡¯ll die. Serves you right.¡±


    The young man was obviously about to explode from indignation, but as soon as his eyes met Shen Yuan¡¯s, he immediately deted like a balloon that was pricked by a needle. He froze at once, too afraid to even breathe.


    ¡°Okay, okay, everyone calm down. There¡¯s no need to argue at this point. Don¡¯t make things worse.¡± At this time, the middle-aged man tried to be a mediator. ¡°We can only find a way out if everyone is united. Unity is strength... Where¡¯s the youngdy?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said faintly, ¡°She¡¯s dead.¡±


    ¡°Dead?¡± The middle-aged man paused for a moment, then expressed regret. ¡°What a pity, such a beautiful youngdy.¡±


    There were a total of five newbies who had left the castle in the morning. Four died, so including Lu Si¡¯er, five yers had died in one day.


    So far, only 13 yers remained.


    A number of people had already died today, and 13, this unlucky number, gave Xiao Tangqiu a bad feeling. Everyone in the hall, except those senior old yers, had an ugly and gloomy expression on their faces.


    They didn¡¯t even have time to grieve for their deadpanions. They were all worried about their present situation, and even more concerned about the unpredictability of tomorrow. Of course, they didn¡¯t actually know if they had a tomorrow. Maybe after going to sleep tonight, they would never have the chance to open their eyes again.


    Confusion, fear, terror... Their hearts were flooded with all sorts of emotions.


    Then, Duan Hongzhen¡¯s casual remark broke the silence. ¡°It¡¯s almost twelve o¡¯clock. Captain, should we go back to sleep? I¡¯m so tired.¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded his head and added, ¡°Let¡¯s all go back to our rooms.¡±


    At hismand, Duan Hongzhen and the others immediately went back to their rooms without a second thought. The others also instantly got a rude awakening ¨C it would soon be midnight! They must return to their rooms before then! Otherwise, God knows what would happen!


    With the previous warning, they naturally didn¡¯t dare to do anything out of line again, and immediately rushed back to their rooms.


    Xiao Tangqiu followed Shen Yuan and the others, feeling some hesitation, Last night, he and Tang Mianmian¡¯s candle had gone out, which drew the monster to them. He and Tang Mianmian had to stay in Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen¡¯s rooms respectively. But what should they do for tonight? Should they continue to be shameless and refuse to leave?


    After returning to the second floor, he ran to check the candle at their door. However, the candle was still extinguished and hadn¡¯t been rekindled. Suddenly, there was a scream in front of him. ¡°The candle at our door went out!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up. It turned out to be the young man with a missing arm. He stood at the door of his room with a face full of panic, and the candle in front of him was extinguished.


    Another candle had gone out!


    The young man cried incredulously, ¡°How is this possible? It was still burning when we left the room this morning! Why did it go out now? Did the wind extinguish it? This is impossible!¡± Today¡¯s bitter experience made him frightened. Although nothing had happened yet, he had already turned pale with fear and was short of breath.


    The middle-aged man shared a room with him, and right now, only the two of them remained. After hearing what the young man said, he immediately cried out in disbelief, ¡°How is that possible? How did the candle go out?¡±


    He immediately looked at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian¡¯s candle, seeming to suspect that they had secretly switched them. However, the candle at their door remained extinguished.


    ¡°Calm down first.¡± Duan Hongzhen suddenly said with a smile. ¡°Try to rekindle it with a lighter.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but look at Duan Hongzhen. Although he didn¡¯t know Duan Hongzhen very well, this guy was obviously not the kind of person who was willing to help others or cared about the newbies. Duan Hongzhen casually gave him a smile that didn¡¯t reach his eyes.


    The middle-aged man took out his lighter and started to light the candle with trembling hands. However, no matter how many times he tried, he couldn¡¯t light it.


    The young man suddenly fell into despair. ¡°How did this happen? Why doesn¡¯t it light up? Does anyone have matches? Try it lighting it with a match!¡±


    The lighter didn¡¯t work, so even if they tried using a match, it wouldn¡¯t light up either. But these two men were too anxious to care about anything. They groped around their pockets then looked to the others for some matches. However, few people carried matches with them these days. After asking everyone, they still hadn¡¯t found a match.


    The two men turned pale and trembled like a leaf. The middle-aged man asked Duan Hongzhen with thatst bit of hope, ¡°Is there any other way?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled casually at him. ¡°How should I know?¡±


    Seeing the middle-aged man get more and more fearful, Duan Hongzhen smiled and added, ¡°Maybe it can only be lit by the fire from this old castle. You can try using the other candles.¡±


    The middle-aged men suddenly caught a glimpse of hope again. He quickly picked up the candle at their door, went to the other candles and tried to light his own but only met with failure.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t work! It still didn¡¯t light up! What should we do? What should we do?!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen¡¯s lips curved, revealing a nasty smile. ¡°Maybe the fire is too small. You can try using firewood from the kitchen.¡±


    ¡°Kitchen? Yes! There¡¯s the kitchen! There must be fire in the kitchen!¡± The middle-aged man hesitated, ¡°But the kitchen is on the first floor, and it¡¯ll be midnight soon...¡±


    ¡°We still have ten minutes!¡± The young man looked at the time on his cellphone with his only hand and immediately cried out, ¡°Ten minutes should be enough!¡±


    ¡°Alright then! Let¡¯s go to the kitchen!¡± The middle-aged man grit his teeth and finally decided, rushing downstairs with the young man at once.


    Duan Hongzhen casually watched the two men go downstairs. Then, he turned to Shen Yuan and said, ¡°It seems that once these candles are extinguished, there¡¯s no way to light them again.¡±


    Shen Yuan said impassively, ¡°That¡¯s not a surprise.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s within our expectations.¡± Duan Hongzhen waved his hands. ¡°If the candles really went out one by one, would we all have to squeeze into a room on thest day?¡±


    Tang Mianmian finally responded, ¡°What should Qiuqiu and I do about tonight?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen looked at him with a smile that could hardly be described as a smile. ¡°There¡¯s no other way. You can only wait for death.¡±


    Tang Mianmian red at Duan Hongzhen one eye, but he soon turned away. If you weren¡¯t powerful enough as others, you had no choice but to lower yourself.


    Xiao Tangqiu was also uneasy, but he could only wait for Shen Yuan¡¯s decision. If Shen Yuan told them go back to their room, then, they could only steady themselves to return to that dangerous room.

 Chapter 40.3

    <h4>Chapter 40.3</h4>


    Shen Yuan stared at the extinguished candle in front of the door. His gaze was dark and deep. After a moment, he finally said, ¡°We¡¯ll follow yesterday¡¯s arrangement. It¡¯s almost 12 o¡¯clock, go back to your rooms.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen looked displeased. ¡°I have to sleep with this gigolo again? I hate gigolos the most.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, whose skin was very fair indeed, pouted in anger. He dared to get angry but didn¡¯t darein.


    Duan Hongzhen nced at Xiao Tangqiu, who stood not far away, and suddenly smiled. ¡°I think this guy¡¯s more interesting. Why don¡¯t we switch tonight?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously said, ¡°My skin is also very fair.¡±


    He paused before continuing, ¡°...Although my face is a little more tan from the suntely, I¡¯m still very fair once I remove my clothes.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen¡¯s expression suddenly turned a littleplicated. ¡°Who wants you to take off your clothes?¡±


    He looked at Shen Yuan, his expression bing even more iprehensible. ¡°Did the captain ask you to take off your clothes when you slept with himst night?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused before answering, ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled and asked, ¡°What do you mean? Do you mean to say that you¡¯re a gigolo as well?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was speechless. Right then, Shen Yuan said faintly, ¡°We have three minutes left.¡±


    ¡°We only have three minutes left, it will be twelve o¡¯ clock soon! We don¡¯t have time, let¡¯s go back to our room!¡± Xiao Tangqiu quickly changed the subject. ¡°...We still have a tough battle to fight tomorrow!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen shrugged helplessly, epting the reality of sharing a room with Tang Mianmian.


    Tang Mianmian also looked bleak and gloomy. Xiao Tangqiu threw him a sympathetic look. Seeing that Shen Yuan had opened the door and entered the room, he resolutely threw Tang Mianmian aside, and obediently followed behind.


    Naturally, the little boy couldn¡¯t stay in the same room as the middle-aged woman. Although he hadn¡¯t said a word, they couldn¡¯t just let him be. Shen Yuan looked at him and then looked at Duan Hongzhen. ¡°You guys sleep together tonight.


    Duan Hongzhen arched an eyebrow. ¡°Are you kidding me, captain? Never mind that I¡¯ve to sleep with this gigolo, but now you¡¯re telling me I have to sleep with this little kid too?¡±


    The little boy remained silent with a straight face.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s voice was calm. ¡°It¡¯s decided.¡±


    The matter was so happily decided!


    Xiao Tangqiuforted himself, then pretended not to see Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression that said, <i>love me, don¡¯t leave me.</i> He simply closed the door, not feeling even an ounce of pressure or remorse.


    The most important aspect of Shen Yuan¡¯s clothes was obviously to allow for easy movement, which was very different from the clothes that Duan Hongzhen, that smug fellow, wore. Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t want to stare at a grown man taking off his clothes, but his gaze unconsciouslynded on Shen Yuan.


    Perhaps it was because he had been battle-hardened, Shen Yuan¡¯s figure, wrapped in those fitted clothes, looked very good. He had the kind of figure that looked slim in clothes but once removed, one could see the muscr form underneath. Unfortunately, it was covered by his clothing now. Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t observe any other details and felt a little regret inside.


    After Shen Yuan took off his army boots, he walked barefoot, then headed to the bathroom. He was obviously going to take a shower first. Xiao Tangqiu hesitated but still couldn¡¯t resist blurting out, ¡°I saw your tattoo earlier.¡±


    Shen Yuan stopped walking.


    Xiao Tangqiu summoned the courage to continue, ¡°Then your tattoo disappeared... What kind of tattoo is it?¡±


    With his back facing Xiao Tangqiu, Shen Yuan remained quiet. He seemed to be expressing his refusal to speak by keeping his back turned towards Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have asked,¡± Xiao Tangqiu immediately began to regret his moment of rashness. He was just a temporary teammate of Shen Yuan¡¯s. He shouldn¡¯t have been carried away for a moment and regarded that they had a rtionship that had gone through a life and death situation. ¡°...Just pretend I didn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    While Xiao Tangqiu was regretting his impulsive act, Shen Yuan suddenly turned around and looked at the door, his expression turning cold.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked subconsciously, but soon heard a rustle from outside the door.


    Shen Yuan didn¡¯t answer. He walked straight toward the door, past Xiao Tangqiu, who quickly followed. In the next second, Shen Yuan opened the door.


    As soon as the door opened, Xiao Tangqiu immediately saw the young man standing in front of their room, stretching out his hand to take their candle!


    Seeing that the door had been opened, the young man and the middle-aged man suddenly shifted guiltily. Xiao Tangqiu nced at them and found that they were holding their own candle, obviously about to steal and switch theirs.


    The firewood in the castle¡¯s kitchen must not have worked. It seemed that the two men were ready to give it their all since they werepletely cornered.


    After seeing Shen Yuan open the door, they immediately revealed a face full of fear. Although they hadn¡¯t seen Shen Yuan¡¯s fighting capabilities for themselves, they were very afraid of him, a senior old yer. Now that their sneaky, thieving behavior had been uncovered, they were scared out of their wits and ran off at once.


    Shen Yuan coldly watched as they ran back to their own room, looking especially pathetic and wretched. Then, he shut the door.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°It seems that once the candles are extinguished, it is impossible to light them up again no matter what we do. What do we do once all the candles are extinguished?¡± So far, only one candle would be extinguished every night, no one could guarantee that two candles wouldn¡¯t be extinguished in one night.


    Shen Yuan turned and walked towards the bathroom. ¡°Solve everything in advance and leave the instance in advance.¡±


    ¡°Can we leave the instance in advance?¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze.


    ¡°...Yes.¡±


    Shen Yuan said this and entered the bathroom.


    Xiao Tangqiu had no idea that they could leave the instance ahead of schedule. But on second thought, if they were strong enough, it might be possible to beat their way out of the instance on the first day.


    The sound of trickling water came from the bathroom, putting Xiao Tangqiu in some sort of trance. Back then, he often slept with Meng Xinghe. Every time Meng Xinghe showered in the bathroom, he would usually y video games outside... How long had it been since he experienced those days?


    Whenever he looked at Shen Yuan, he would involuntarily think of Meng Xinghe. If Meng Xinghe hadn¡¯t died, he would be about the same height as Shen Yuan now, wouldn¡¯t he? Every time he saw Shen Yuan, he thought he was looking at the grown-up version of Meng Xinghe.


    It was a pity that apart from their simr appearance, the two werepletely different in every other aspect, and their personalities were pr opposites. At the beginning, he would sometimes be confused because they looked so simr, but now he had no way of deceiving himself, because they were actually so different.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu had clearly recognized the fact, he still found it impossible to treat Shen Yuan as aplete stranger. He couldn¡¯t help but feel close to Shen Yuan, and couldn¡¯t help wanting to get closer to him.


    Not long after, Shen Yuan came out of the bathroom. He had changed into another set of clothes, but it was still the same fitted clothing. This dangerous environment obviously didn¡¯t allow him to change into loose andfortable pajamas. His hair was still wet and water droplets kept dripping down from the ends of his hair, which seemed to reduce the overall sense of aggression that he had.


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu impassively, ¡°Go take a shower.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was afraid that Shen Yuan would think that he was dirty so he ran to obediently take a shower. As soon as he entered the bathroom, he found a set of neatly folded clothes on the sink. He hesitated for a moment before going back into the room to ask Shen Yuan, ¡°Did you prepare the clothes on the sink for me?¡±


    Shen Yuan sat at the head of the bed and flipped through the book with the thick, ck cover. He didn¡¯t look up. ¡°You haven¡¯t changed your clothes once.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu scratched his face. ¡°I didn¡¯t change.¡± ......So Shen Yuan didn¡¯t like that he hadn¡¯t changed his clothes for a few days and felt that he was too dirty.


    Shen Yuan answered faintly, ¡°Wear mine then.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wanted to ask,<i> where did you take out these clothes from? Do you have a space?</i> When he was in the church earlier, Shen Yuan had changed his clothes in less than a minute. Where did he take out those clothes from? And that ck covered book...


    Although he still wanted to ask what that book was, his intuition told him that Shen Yuan wouldn¡¯t divulge that information, so he simply didn¡¯t ask.


    Shen Yuan nomittally made a grunt of agreement.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Shen Yuan¡¯s leisurely, unbothered expression. He couldn¡¯t help asking for a yard after he had been given an inch. ¡°What about... underwear? Only changing my clothes without changing my underwear isn¡¯t good either.¡±


    Shen Yuan finally raised his head and gave Xiao Tangqiu a look. Xiao Tangqiu blinked innocently, ¡°It¡¯s not clean to change my clothes but not my underwear, is it?¡±


    Shen Yuan was silent for a moment and finally said, ¡°Mine is too big for you. It won¡¯t fit.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Looking at his speechless expression, Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes seemed to reveal a hint of a smile, but it was fleeting, and he soon restored his usual calm appearance.


    After a few seconds, Xiao Tangqiu finally realized that Shen Yuan was joking with him. Shen Yuan actually joked with him?! He found it hard to digest this somewhat thrilling turn of events. Meanwhile, Shen Yuan had already took out a pair of underwear and handed it to him.


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked at the size of his underwear and heard Shen Yuan say, ¡°It¡¯s new.¡±


    He looked up, not knowing what to feel, only to find that Shen Yuan had lowered his head to continue reading.


    He hesitated for a long time before finally entering the bathroom in aplicated mood, holding Shen Yuan¡¯s underwear.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mood was more than a littleplicated at the moment.


    In the past, he and Meng Xinghe often yed this sort of joke with each other, even taking off their underwear topare sizes whenever they disagreed with each other... But ever since Meng Xinghe left, no one had yed this sort of joke with him, not until he met Tang Mianmian online.


    The bathroom still had the lingering scent of Shen Yuan¡¯s shower gel. The scent wasn¡¯t overpowering. It was a clean, cold fragrance. Xiao Tangqiu found that Shen Yuan had left him some shower gel too. He hesitated and picked it up.


    This was a shower gel of unknown brand. He had never even smelled this scent before this. Perhaps it was a unique product of the city of the abyss. He carefully squeezed a little shower gel onto his hand and began tother up.


    Steam had gathered in the narrow bathroom. Xiao Tangqiu was still showering. Suddenly, he realized something ¨C there wasn¡¯t a mirror in the bathroom.


    He recalled at once that there wasn¡¯t a mirror in the bathroom that he and Tang Mianmian had shared before either. Not only were there no mirrors in their bathroom, there was also none in their room.


    He tried to think back, and realized that there wasn¡¯t a mirror in the other guest rooms as well. Aside from that, he couldn¡¯t remember seeing one in any other part of the castle, such as the corridors, halls and bedrooms. There wasn¡¯t a single mirror in this castle!


    After taking a shower, Xiao Tangqiu hastily changed into Shen Yuan¡¯s clothes and went back into the room to tell Shen Yuan about it.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s hand, which was just about to flip a page, paused midway, ¡°Mirror?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this castle doesn¡¯t have a single mirror.¡± Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t someone who often looked at the mirror, so he hardly ever cared about whether there was any mirrors around him or not. If he hadn¡¯t suddenly noticed this while taking a shower just now, he probably wouldn¡¯t have discovered this detail at all. ¡°Could there be something strange about this?¡±

 Chapter 41.1

    <h4>Chapter 41.1</h4>


    Shen Yuan said tly, ¡°Sai Lulu and Yu Fuling had already mentioned about this on the first day.¡±


    Sai Lulu and Yu Fuling? Were this the names of the two women?


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment before responding. Compared to a grown man, it was quite normal for women to notice it first thing. He scratched his face, ¡°Is that so? It turns out that you¡¯ve already noticed, I only noticed it when I was taking a shower earlier...


    ¡°It¡¯s good to pay more attention to the surrounding environment,¡± Shen Yuan lowered his head and continued to read. ¡°We¡¯ll pay close attention to this matter.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, and went back to the bathroom to clean up. After that, he returned to the room.


    Shen Yuan had put away his book. He was lying down, apparently ready to sleep.


    ¡°Your hair isn¡¯t dry yet. Aren¡¯t you going to dry it?¡±


    Shen Yuan closed his eyes and said, ¡°I can¡¯t be bothered.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t dry your hair before you sleep, you might catch a cold.¡± Perhaps because the atmosphere at the time was too rxed, Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously spoke as if he was talking to Meng Xinghe, ¡°How about I dry it for you?¡±


    As soon as he blurted out that sentence, he realized that his tone seemed too intimate, and immediately corrected himself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Just pretend you didn¡¯t hear anything.¡±


    Shen Yuan opened his eyes and gave Xiao Tangqiu a faint look. Momentster, he said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu almost suspected that he heard wrongly. He froze for a few seconds until he noticed that Shen Yuan had sat up in bed. Only then did he react. He cautiously walked over and stood behind Shen Yuan, carefully took the towel that Shen Yuan had casually handed to him, and gently began to towel dry his hair.


    Clearly, he was the one doing Shen Yuan a favor, but why did he get the feeling that he was the one being ttered and receiving his favor?


    ¡°By the way, about the two men earlier... Is it ok to just let them off like this? What if they steal our candle when we fall asleep?¡±


    Shen Yuan closed his eyes and said, ¡°They won¡¯t.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was still a little worried about the matter, but when he heard Shen Yuan say so, he suddenly rxed. Perhaps it was because he was toofortable with Shen Yuan by his side. He gradually rxed his strung up nerves and soon began to feel sleepy.


    As his movements became slower and slower, Shen Yuan suddenly opened his eyes and said, ¡°That¡¯s enough. It¡¯s fine like this.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu perked up at once and continued to towel Shen Yuan¡¯s hair. ¡°A little bit more. I¡¯ll be done soon.¡±


    Shen Yuan froze for a second and kept the same position.


    After Xiao Tangqiu was done drying Shen Yuan¡¯s hair, thetter thanked him andy down to sleep.


    Xiao Tangqiu yawned and copsed in bed.


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°Yes, the middle-aged woman is dead.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze. ¡°The middle-aged woman?¡±


    Although he had expected someone to diest night, he never expected that the it would be the middle-aged woman... How could it be the middle-aged woman?


    Tang Mianmian had a grave expression on his face. ¡°Let¡¯s go and have a look.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around. ¡°Where is Shen Yuan?¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked outside. ¡°He¡¯s gone over there as well.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu washed up in a hurry and followed Tang Mianmian to the middle-aged woman¡¯s room.


    Sure enough, her door was wide open. The other old yers stood at the door to look at the situation inside. Xiao Tangqiu moved past the crowd and suddenly froze. The scene in the room was too gruesome.


    The body of the middle-aged woman didn¡¯t even look human anymore. Her head was a bloody mess, and her body was split open in the middle, exposing her guts. Her organs and intestines werepletely mangled. The floor was full of bits and pieces of her insides and coagted blood. The walls around the room had been sshed with flesh and blood.


    Not only that, countless familiar cracks had appeared on the floor and walls, and the furniture in the room also had the same web-like cracks.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly recalled the dwarf puppet fromst night. He choked back the nausea and left the room. He was going to ask Shen Yuan about the situation when the young man and the middle-aged man came out of their room.


    When the two men saw a group of people gathered in front of the middle-aged woman¡¯s room, a trace of uneasiness shed across their faces, but they soon turned back to normal and even took the initiative to walk towards the crowd.


    ¡°What happened? Someone died again?¡± When the young man walked to the middle-aged woman¡¯s room and saw the horror inside, he immediately showed an angry look, ¡°That¡¯s too cruel! We have to get the hell out of here!¡±


    The middle-aged man also sighed and pretended not to know anything. ¡°Although this woman was a human trafficker who deserves to die, to die like this is really too cruel...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly noticed that the candles at the door of the two men¡¯s room were lit up, as if it had never been extinguished.


    He turned his head and looked at the candle at the middle-aged woman¡¯s door and sure enough, it had gone out.


    He understood in an instant what happenedst night.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the young man coldly. It seems thatst night after these two failed to steal their candle, they came up with the idea to target the middle-aged woman instead... And they seeded.


    Now, with the exception of the young man, the middle-aged man and the little boy, all the newbies in this mission were dead. The rest were all experienced old yers, all of whom had experienced strong winds and waves. Who couldn¡¯t understand what happenedst night?


    However, no one opened their mouth to expose the obvious lies of the young man. Duan Hongzhen fiddled with his flying knife as if he were watching a y.


    ¡°It¡¯s really cruel,¡± sighed the young man, still pretending. He suddenly remembered something and turned to the little boy. ¡°Don¡¯t let the little boy see such a bloody scene. Take him away quickly!¡±


    ¡°Kid, what¡¯s your name? Older brother will take you to breakfast.¡± He stretched out a hand to try to hold the little boy¡¯s hand, but the little boy dodged him with a straight face.


    The young man¡¯s hand froze awkwardly in mid-air, but he soon returned to normal and casually dropped his arm.


    Xiao Tangqiu turned to look for Shen Yuan within the crowd and walked towards him, trying to find a conversation topic, ¡°How did you sleepst night?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at him impassively. While Xiao Tangqiu was wondering if his question was too abrupt, Shen Yuan replied, ¡°Not bad.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly, ¡°I slept pretty well too.¡±


    Shen Yuan added faintly, ¡°Let¡¯s go and have breakfast.¡±


    Obviously, this sentence of his was not only aimed at Xiao Tangqiu, so Duan Hongzhen and the other two women turned to leave as well. Xiao Tangqiu quickly pulled Tang Mianmian to catch up.


    When the crowd came to the dining hall on the first floor, there was no one there yet, but breakfast was ready and still piping hot. The number of servings was just right for the amount of yers that was left ¨C no more, no less.


    ¡°Where did the people in the castle go? What about the housekeeper and the maids?¡± Tang Mianmian curiously asked Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°We¡¯ve not seen them for several days, right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded. ¡°Yes, we haven¡¯t seen anyone in the castle... including Lippinobert.¡±


    The crowd sat down at the dining table and buried themselves in their food that had been prepared by God knows who.


    Xiao Tangqiu quietly observed the others on the table while eating breakfast. Most of their expressions looked normal. Only the young man and the middle-aged man hardly touched their breakfast, eating only a little because of their guilty conscience.


    After breakfast, Shen Yuan got up to leave, followed by Duan Hongzhen and the others. Xiao Tangqiu pulled Tang Mianmian to follow up. The little boy hesitated but ended up going with them as well. They went to the front door, ready to return to the underground chamber through the secret passage behind the sculpture again.


    Right when Duan Hongzhen pushed the door open, the young man suddenly caught up to him and asked, ¡°Are you going to Daemon Town again? Take us with you!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow and said, ¡°Are you together?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Take us with you! We want to help too!¡± The young man seemed to have switched personalities all of a sudden and became extremely proactive and enthusiastic. ¡°Let¡¯s find a way out of this terrible ce together!¡±


    The middle-aged man also said, ¡°Unity is strength. If we all work hard together, we¡¯ll be able to find a way to leave...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously felt that something was wrong, but as a temporary teammate of this team, naturally, he didn¡¯t have any qualifications to express his opinions and could only look at Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan seems to have sensed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s gaze. He nced fleetingly at Xiao Tangqiu, quickly withdrawing his sight and said coldly to the two men, ¡°I don¡¯t trust you.¡±


    The young man choked up at once. He opened his mouth and seemed to want to say something else, but Duan Hongzhen interrupted him. ¡°Our captain doesn¡¯t like you, so get out of here, or else...¡± He grinned with his flying knife in his hand, the implication of his threat was apparent.


    The young man had seen Duan Hongzhen¡¯s abilities before and took a step back subconsciously, but when he saw Shen Yuan and the others preparing to leave, he seemed unwilling to just leave like that. However, in the next second, Duan Hongzhen turned around and gave him a sinister smile. The young man immediately hid inside the castle again.


    ¡°Tsk, tsk, timid as a mouse.¡± Duan Hongzhen turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, grinning as he said, ¡°Only you two are so courageous and shameless.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± Was this counted as apliment?


    After leaving behind the two men, they found the secret passage behind the statue and returned to the underground corridor once more.


    Although it was daytime, the corridor was still shrouded in darkness,pletely devoid of any light. Xiao Tangqiu took out his shlight and lit the way for everyone. He seemed to have be the go-to-guy for lighting up the way.


    Shen Yuan reminded them in a heavy tone, ¡°Be careful.¡±


    Thinking back to the dwarf puppet they met yesterday, Xiao Tangqiu immediately became extremely anxious. Then again, thinking that they seemed to be getting closer to the truth, he was suddenly enthusiastic and eager.


    They slowly approached the underground secret chamber, taking great care along the way. But to their surprise, nothing happened at all ¨C no unforeseen incidents, no dangerous situations. Everything was calm and went well.


    ........So calm that it didn¡¯t feel right.


    It was just like the calm before the storm.


    ~~~


    P.S. I would like to thank adjit and unluckypuppy13 for the ko-fis. Currently, I¡¯ve only set a goal for my other novel. To thank you guys for the support, I will release an extra chapter from time to time, when I receive ko-fis, so there¡¯ll be an extra update tomorrow ?

 Chapter 41.2

    <h4>Chapter 41.2</h4>


    Momentster, they arrived in front of the door to the secret chamber which was left locked yesterday. They finally encountered today¡¯s first challenge ¨C this locked door. No matter how Xiao Tangqiu turned and twisted the door handle, the door handle still wouldn¡¯t budge.


    Xiao Tangqiu let Tang Mianmian, who was stronger than him, give it a try, but the result was still the same.


    ¡°It won¡¯t open.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen arched an eyebrow. ¡°Let me do it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian quickly stepped aside and saw Duan Hongzhen move towards the door. His back was facing the two of them so they couldn¡¯t see what Duan Hongzhen did. Anyway, in the next second, the door was opened.


    Xiao Tangqiu had already seen Duan Hongzhen¡¯s lock picking skills before, so it wasn¡¯t much of a surprise. Shen Yuan and the others didn¡¯t even blink an eye. They had obviously grown ustomed to it. Tang Mianmian originally wanted to scream and make a big fuss about it, but when he saw the yers¡¯ calm reaction, he couldn¡¯t appear too surprised and could only silently suppress his amazement.


    Duan Hongzhen pushed the door and the others followed.


    When Xiao Tangqiu clearly saw the appearance of the secret chamber, he was immediately shocked. The underground chamber was filled with mirrors! From the four walls to the floor, from the floor to the ceiling; every inch of the whole room was filled with mirrors of different sizes!


    Mirrors of different materials and sizes reflected their image into numerous people. At first nce, there seemed to be tens of thousands of them standing in the room. When Xiao Tangqiu looked at the Xiao Tangqiu in the mirror, the reflection in the mirror also looked at him.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly felt a chill crawling up his spine. Tang Mianmian felt his hair stand on end as well. ¡°Fuck! I think I¡¯m going to have agoraphobia! ¡°


    ¡°No wonder there aren¡¯t any mirrors in this castle,¡± Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly. ¡°It turns out that Lippinobert has ced all the mirrors in this underground chamber.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...Does this guy have some sort of weird hobby of collecting mirrors?! Every time hees to this secret room and sees so many mirrors and so many reflections of himself, doesn¡¯t he feel creeped out?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at his reflection in the mirrors and suddenly thought of something. He turned to Tang Mianmian and asked, ¡°Do you remember what I said about narcissism earlier?¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked. ¡°I do, why?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at his reflection in the mirror and frowned slightly. ¡°Narcissus was a beautiful young man in Greek mythology who fell in love with himself and died after chasing after his own reflection in the water. After his death, he turned into a daffodil...¡±


    ¡°In short, he died because of his narcissism!¡± Tang Mianmian interrupted him and asked incredulously, ¡°But what does this have to do with Lippinobert? But then again, for that guy to have so many mirrors, he is definitely a big narcissist! ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment before asking Tang Mianmian, ¡°If a person hasn¡¯t seen a mirror from birth, when he looks in the mirror for the first time after he¡¯s grown up, would he think that the person in the mirror is another person?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was shocked by that notion. He paused for a moment, then went on to say, ¡°But even if that person has never looked into a mirror, he has seen his reflection in other things, hasn¡¯t he? Like his reflection in the water...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head. ¡°ording to the mirror stage theory, children between 6 and 10 months old have no way to recognize their own images in the mirror. They will think that the person in the mirror is someone else. At this time, he hasn¡¯t yet formed an understanding of the self. Later, with the intervention of his parents and family, he is taught to recognize his reflection in the mirror. Only then can he gradually separate himself from the many others and finally form an understanding of the self...¡±


    ¡°But what I was thinking just now is, if there is no such intervention and guide from this stage onwards, would there be such a situation where that person cannot sessfullyplete the transformation from ¡®others¡¯ to ¡®self,¡¯ thus always treating the person in the mirror as another person?¡±


    Tang Mianmian listened and froze from the realization, while Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows. ¡°It¡¯s a bit interesting, so do you think this is the case with Lippinobert?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say,¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked at the countless reflections in the mirrors. ¡°At least so far, we haven¡¯t found any material evidence rted to Lily Marlene... Does Lily Marlene really exist?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was confused by the implications made by Xiao Tangqiu words. ¡°Why is it that I seem to understand less and less about what you are saying? Why haven¡¯t we found any clues about Lilly Marlene? Yesterday in the town of Daemon, didn¡¯t you say Lily Marlene might have died due to the ignorance of the town¡¯s residents? You also said that there might have been a gue in Daemon town, so they burned Lily Marlene alive for being a witch who brought disaster... ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu grinned. ¡°I did say so. I didn¡¯t say that Lily Marlene never existed. She could¡¯ve existed and indeed suffered from her ill fortune. But the witch hunting era happened hundreds of years ago. Unless Lily Marlene was really a witch, she couldn¡¯t have lived to this day, right? So how did Lippinobert know her?¡±


    Tang Mianmian finally got his point. ¡°I see what you mean. Do you mean it¡¯s possible Lily Marlene exists, but the ¡®Lily Marlene¡¯ married to Lippinobert never existed?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I mean.¡±


    Lily Marlene may really exist, but the poor woman was burned alive by the ignorant residents of Daemon town as a witch who spread the gue... Who was the ¡°Lily Marlene¡± married to Lippinobert?


    ¡°We found the pocket watches and photos of Laura, Maria and Veronika, as well as Alice. These things can at least prove that they really existed, but we have never found anything rted to Lily Marlene...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had wondered before why they couldn¡¯t find Lily Marlene¡¯s pocket watch.


    Now the answer to this question was before them.


    Because this castle never had Lily¡¯s Marlene pocket watch to begin with.


    This poor woman was dead for hundreds of years, and everything about her had already turned to dust with the passage of time.


    ¡°What about the paintings in the castle?¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked incredulous. ¡°There are portraits of Lily Marlene everywhere in this castle, and I even have to be stared at by her when I go to the toilet... But now you¡¯re telling me that this Lily Marlene may not even exist at all?¡±


    Just then, a voice suddenly rang out, ¡°I found it! There¡¯s another door! ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian turned around and saw the aloof woman take down one of the mirrors on the wall. Behind the mirror was a door!


    ¡°There¡¯s a door!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was immediately excited. ¡°There¡¯s actually a third underground chamber!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen flipped his knife and walked towards the door: ¡°This room is so hidden. It seems that it¡¯s almost time for the truth to be revealed...¡±


    ¡°Older sister, you¡¯re amazing! How did you find this door? There are so many mirrors here!¡± Tang Mianmian excitedly asked the aloof woman.


    She merely gave Tang Mianmian a cold look. Obviously, she intended to ignore Tang Mianmian. She returned to Shen Yuan¡¯s side. ¡°Older brother, I just looked at it. There should be only three underground secret rooms in total. This should be thest one.¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded and said lightly, ¡°Be careful.¡±


    Thisst door was obviously a little difficult to open, Duan Hongzhen stood in front of the door for a long time. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian also nervously waited for quite some time before a clear and crisp noise sounded from the lock.


    Click


    The door opened.


    Duan Hongzhen smiled and said, ¡°Well, then it¡¯s time to find out the truth-¡°


    As soon as he said that, he resolutely pushed the door and entered.


    When Xiao Tangqiu stepped into thest secret chamber, he was immediately stunned by the scene before him. Even if he had already done a good job in mentally preparing himself, he couldn¡¯t help feeling stunned.


    This room wasn¡¯t big, but it was filled to the brim. Half of it was a bedroom, full of all kinds of furniture such as bedding and wardrobes, while the other half was a studio with easel frames and all kinds of paintbrushes, paints, as well as many paintings that hadn¡¯t been framed yet.


    The bedroom on the right side obviously belonged to a woman. The furniture all had a woman¡¯s touch. There were all kinds of dressing mirrors and jewelry boxes. There were also many puppet dolls at the head of the bed. The open wardrobe was full of all kinds of dresses. The studio on the left was much more messy, with picture frames and paintings all over the floor. Arge mirror was also ced in front of the easel.


    Xiao Tangqiu walked to the front of the easel and took a look. On the easel was an unfinished portrait of Lily Marlene. The portrait was only partiallypleted, while on the floor were all thepleted portraits of her. The clothes and posture of Lily Marlene in these paintings were different, but the dresses they were wearing were clearly the same as those in the wardrobe in the bedroom on the right!


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t wait to turn out the bedroom. Soon, he dug out a female wig from a delicate, small box!


    ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly walked towards Tang Mianmian. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°Fucking hell! It¡¯s a wig! This... this... this... You take a look yourself!¡± Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t close his mouth properly.


    In addition to the wig, he also dug out a lot of things from that delicate, little box, all of which were used for cross-dressing!


    Xiao Tangqiu searched through the jewelry pile and found a pocket watch. He immediately picked it up.


    The front of the pocket watch was engraved with the name ¡°Lippinobert.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened the pocket watch and saw that there was also an old photo behind the lid. The photo clearly showed Lippinobert as a teenager. The handsome young man looked squarely at the camera. He was holding an ugly puppet in his arms. The puppet was the dwarf puppet they had seen before.


    Just then, he suddenly found that there was something behind the photo. He flipped it over and underneath it was a photo of Lily Marlene.


    Different from the other portraits, the ¡°Lily Marlene¡± in this photo looked very young, and was also holding the ugly dwarf puppet in her arms.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly understood what that meant. He turned the pocket watch over, and sure enough, there was a name engraved on the back of the pocket watch.


    Lily Marlene.


    Lippinobert ¡ªLilly Marlene.

 Chapter 41.3

    <h4>Chapter 41.3</h4>


    P.S. Here¡¯s an extra release to thank adjit and unluckypuppy13. Thanks for the support ???


    ~~~


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly understood everything, but Tang Mianmian rushed up to ask, ¡°How is it? What did you find?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu handed Tang Mianmian the pocket watch. Tang Mianmian soon discovered the meaning behind the front and back inscriptions on the pocket watch. ¡°...Lippinobert is Lily Marlene? Lily Marlene is Lippinobert?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°To be exact, the ¡®Lily Marlene¡¯ in the castle is Lippinobert. All the portraits of Lily Marlene, including the statue of the Virgin Spring... should have been created by Lippinobert ording to his own appearance.¡± All the portraits in the castle must have been painted by him in front of a mirror.


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Isn¡¯t this guy a little too narcissistic?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled. ¡°Maybe the person he loves isn¡¯t himself, but the¡¯ Lily Marlene¡¯ he saw in the mirror. He really regards this ¡®Lily Marlene¡¯ as a living person. He fell in love with her and pursued her all his life...¡±


    ¡°So the two wives heter married were actually his own body double?¡± Tang Mianmian pursed his lips. ¡°I love you but you only love yourself. I thought I was your first love¡¯s body double, but in fact I am your own body double?¡±


    ¡°In the end, Lily Marlene doesn¡¯t exist at all. He has always loved the woman in his fantasy. He has painted so many pictures for the Lily Marlene in his fantasy. For her, he turned his mother, wife and daughter into puppets. He even turned all the residents of Daemon Town... But now, we find out that Lily Marlene doesn¡¯t exist at all?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to say something when a shrill scream suddenly sounded.


    He immediately covered his ears. Looking at the direction where the scream came from, he saw the dwarf puppet again! God knows when it had quietly appeared here, staring them down with bitterness.


    In the next second, it began to beat its drum. As soon as the strange drum sounded, Xiao Tangqiu lost control of his own body and ran uncontrobly towards Tang Mianmian. He grabbed Tang Mianmian¡¯s neck while thetter grabbed his neck.


    Although the two of them struggled with a face full of reluctance, they showed no mercy in their actions. Right when Xiao tangqiu was almost strangled to death by Tang Mianmian and vice versa, Duan Hongzhen finally made his move. He threw a flying knife at the dwarf puppet.


    The flying knife grazed its head and although he didn¡¯t directly damage the puppet, it was forced to stop because of his flying knife.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian had a hard time getting respite and immediately separated from each other. Just then, the pocket watch in Tang Mianmian¡¯s hand fell to the ground with a clink.


    At the sight of the pocket watch, the dwarf puppet suddenly became angry. It screamed at Tang Mianmian, who didn¡¯t have time to cover his ears. He was shocked by sound waves and his eardrums started bleeding, blood flowing down his earlobes.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly understood something. Ignoring the shrieks of the dwarf puppet, he rushed towards the pocket watch, picked it up, raised it high above his head, and was about to drop it to the ground. ¡°If you scream again, I¡¯ll break it!¡±


    The dwarf puppet seemed to understand what he said and actually stopped screaming. He just looked at him with anger and resentment.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu hid in time, he was burned several times by the sparks from the puppet birds, and several small holes had burned through his clothes. Before he couldment about the state of the clothes that Shen Yuan had given him, the puppet birds quickly turned mid-air and descended upon him.


    Despite guessing that all this was due to the pocket watch, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help crying inside. <i>Why did this group of puppet birds target him alone? Was it because he looked the easiest to bully?! In this world, even birds knew how to bully the weak and choose the soft persimmon.</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu miserably jumped up from side to side, but there were too many puppet birds. He couldn¡¯t hide from them at all. Soon, he had retreated into a corner. There was nowhere left to hide or retreat to, and the puppet birds stormed towards him head-on.


    Just when he had despaired and was about to close his eyes, a figure suddenly stood in front of him.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly stared in disbelief. Shen Yuan had suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking the blow of therge group of puppet birds for him.


    When the group of burning puppet birds hit Shen Yuan, something magical happened. Shen Yuan was not only unharmed by the mes on the puppet birds, the me on the puppet bird instantly went out instead!


    The mes disappeared as if they had been swallowed by something.


    At the same time, Shen Yuan¡¯s neck was covered with mysterious ck tattoos.


    When the mes on the puppet birds went out, they instantly fell to the ground as if they had lost their lives, although they weren¡¯t alive to begin with.


    As the puppet birds dropped to the ground, one after another, Shen Yuan¡¯s ck tattoo became more and more conspicuous. Xiao Tangqiu saw the mysterious ck tattoo on Shen Yuan at close range for the first time ¨C a symbol of the undying serpent, Ouroboros.


    Powerful and mysterious, strange yet beautiful.


    While Xiao Tangqiu was staring at Shen Yuan¡¯s tattoo, thetter suddenly turned around and said faintly, ¡°Give me the pocket watch.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s brain hadn¡¯t even reacted but his body had already subconsciously handed Shen Yuan the pocket watch in his hand. He didn¡¯t regain his senses until Shen Yuan took the pocket watch.


    ¡°They attacked me because of the pocket watch?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at his pocket watch in his hand and muttered, ¡°Mmm.¡±


    Before this, the puppet birds had appeared just before the appearance of the long-haired monster, which was most likely Lippinobert¡¯s mother, Laura ording to their spections. To be exact, it was Laura, who had been turned into a puppet by her son. Sure enough, in the next second, the long-haired monster also appeared and rushed at Shen Yuan angrily, its hair flying out like spider silk.


    ¡°Be careful!¡± Xiao Tangqiu blurted out subconsciously.


    Shen Yuan didn¡¯t panic. He gave the long-haired monster a cold look, the ck tattoos on his body multiplied and grew clearer and clearer.


    At the same time, its long hair that was wrapped around Shen Yuan¡¯s body unexpectedly disappeared like the puppet birds¡¯ mes. The monster let out a scream and immediately hid back but it was toote.


    As its long hair disappeared little by little, the parts of its body that resembled a human being also faded away, gradually revealing its moving joints and a body made of wood.


    But Shen Yuan didn¡¯t look like he nned to turn it back into a puppetpletely like those puppet birds.


    When the ck tattoo almost covered his entire neck, he stopped.


    At this time, the monster had be half human, half puppet.


    It suddenly got very angry, but it was obviously afraid of Shen Yuan¡¯s ability, and could only bitterly stare at Shen Yuan, too afraid toe any closer.


    Just then, Tang Mianmian suddenly cried out, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    He dropped to the ground and started rolling away. At the same time, an axe fell out of nowhere, and was deeply embedded into the ce where he had been standing.


    Soon, the axe was pulled out and another puppet appeared.


    It had two braids and wore a red dress and small red leather shoes. Although its body was only the size of a normal puppet, it was holding a human-sized axe in its hand.


    The axe was too big for its body but it didn¡¯t have any difficulty wielding it. It lifted the axe easily. For some reason, it first attacked the little boy who was hiding behind them. The little boy let out a scream, turned and ran towards the door.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go out! It¡¯s more dangerous outside!¡± Xiao Tangqiu shouted at once.


    However, the little boy didn¡¯t listen, running straight out of the room.


    The puppet didn¡¯t continue to chase after him, but changed its target and began to attack Tang Mianmian.


    Tang Mianmian, who was unarmed, could only run away miserably. Xiao Tangqiu quickly looked for weapons around the room. Soon, he found a rather tough-looking iron candlestick. He had just reached out his hand, but it was suddenly entangled in a mass of hair.


    He jumped in fright. In the next second, more and more hair poured out towards him, binding him tightly and dragging him towards the door.


    When he was dragged past the bed, he quickly grabbed the foot of the bed, but the hair seemed to have an inhuman strength and almost dragged the whole bed with him.


    Duan Hongzhen was closest to Xiao Tangqiu but he didn¡¯t rush to rescue him. He was still ying with the flying knife in his hand.


    He grinned as he asked, ¡°If I cut off the hair, will I be damaging the puppets in the castle?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at him and said softly, ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    Yu Fuling, the aloof woman, tried to stop him, ¡°Older brother Shen, in this instance you¡¯ve already... don¡¯t keep...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s expression was calm. He walked towards Xiao Tangqiu and reached for the hair.


    Although the hair didn¡¯t immediately disappear when he touched it like before, it fell to the ground, strand after strand. Not far away, came an angry scream. In the next second, another puppet appeared in front of them.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up and recognized it as the poorly made, ugly doll they had seen in Maria¡¯s room before. It looked even worse off than Laura. It was already ugly but now that it had lost all its hair, it was so hideous that he couldn¡¯t bear to look at it.


    Even Tang Mianmian, who was still being chased, couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Is this the legendary bald attack?¡±


    ¡°...That¡¯s not right! Why isn¡¯t anyoneing to help me? Save me ah! I¡¯m going to be hacked to death!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned to ask Shen Yuan, ¡°Please save Tang Mianmian!¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at him, then called Duan Hongzhen.


    ¡°Tsk, okay then. I was hoping to watch the show. How funny does that kid look, being chased like that?¡± Duan Hongzhen sighed ruefully, but still made his move eventually.


    In an instant, a flying knife shot out and the axe in the puppet¡¯s hands immediately tilted to one side. Tang Mianmian finally took a breather, quickly running toward Xiao tangqiu.


    He red at Duan Hongzhen, obviously dissatisfied with thetter¡¯s behavior of taking pleasure in seeing him make a fool of himself. But then again, Duan Hongzhen had also saved him, and he wasn¡¯t strong enough to go against him, so he could only hide behind Xiao Tangqiu, looking rather aggrieved. ¡°What should we do now?¡±


    Right now, all the puppets that theye across in the castle were gathered in this room. Their purpose was obvious ¨C to take back the pocket watch in Shen Yuan¡¯s hand, the pocket watch belonging to Lippinobert.


    ¡°All the puppets? Wait! That¡¯s not right... ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered that there were other puppets in this castle!

 Chapter 42.1

    <h4>Chapter 42.1</h4>


    Sure enough, in the next second, another wave of puppets rushed into the room ¨C it was the housekeeper and the maids they had seen in the castle before.


    The housekeeper, Rosetta, looked at them coldly. It was the only servant with a name in the whole castle, and it was also the puppet which most resembled a human being.


    The housekeeper stood expressionless at the door, followed by arge army of stiff-faced maid puppets.


    ¡°Guests, this isn¡¯t a ce where you should be.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sorry, we¡¯re sorry. We went the wrong way. We¡¯ll leave right now...¡± Tang Mianmianughed dryly in an attempt to make a joke, but at this time, obviously no one found it funny.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re here, then you might as well stay.¡± The housekeeper looked at them coldly. At itsmand, the puppet army descended upon them.


    The puppet army, coupled with four vanguard soldiers, looked menacing. All of a sudden, they were surrounded. Shen Yuan and the others didn¡¯t dare to damage the puppet and found it hard to fight them. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, these two battle gs, were doing their best not to drag everyone else¡¯s feet.


    Tang Mianmian was still fine. After all, he had good physical stamina and great strength but Xiao Tangqiu was struggling to cope.


    He was originally a weak geek and a useless fighter. On top of that, his physical strength wasn¡¯t very good. He was soon out of breath.


    He dodged left and right for a bit, but was suddenly bundled into a rice dumpling by a mass of hair and hung upside down in mid-air.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Why him?!


    Why him again!


    Xiao Tangqiu floundered in the air a few times, looked up, and saw that it was the long-haired monster.


    The monster was lying on the ceiling in a strange posture. Although half of its puppet body had been exposed, it still had half of its hair left. Using all its hair, it finally managed to catch Xiao Tangqiu again.


    It looked at Xiao Tangqiu bitterly and seemed to want to tear Xiao Tangqiu violently into pieces. Xiao Tangqiu struggled, but his efforts were in vain.


    Duan Hongzhen raised his head and tutted, ¡°Why is it you again?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......I would like to know why as well!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised his hand to shoot out a flying knife but he didn¡¯t dare to damage the puppet directly, so he deliberately aimed it a little askew. But when the flying knife brushed the long-haired monster¡¯s body and plunged into the ceiling, the monster didn¡¯t loosen its prey. Instead, it gave Xiao Tangqiu a resentful look and suddenly dragged him towards the studio at the other end of the room.


    ¡°Qiuqiu!¡±


    While Tang Mianmian was still screaming repeatedly, the monster crashed violently into the mirror in the studio, and Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously closed his eyes.


    Behind the mirror in the secret chamber was another secret passage!


    This was a dark and damp passage, so long that it seemed to have no end. The long-haired monster crawled along the ceiling of the secret passage in a weird posture, dragging Xiao Tangqiu, who was still dangling mid-air, towards the front.


    The monster was just like a giant spider. After catching its prey with spider silk, it was going back to its nest.


    Did spiders have nests?


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know the answer to that, but he knew that the monster was taking him to hisir right now. That ce was definitely hell for him and he would most likely die there.


    He struggled violently, almost exhausting all his strength. He knew that if he didn¡¯t escape now, he probably wouldn¡¯t have a chance to return alive again.


    However, the hair, which looked like ordinary human hair, was actually as tough as a steel wire. Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s violent struggle had no effect but only served to further infuriate the monster.


    It screamed angrily at Xiao Tangqiu, dragging him along the wall of the secret passage. As Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s head suddenly hit the wall, his vision turned blurry and he started to see stars.


    But the monster didn¡¯t seem satisfied with just that. It continued to smash its prey against the wall several times.


    The poor prey finally cked out.


    When Xiao Tangqiu woke up and opened his eyes again, he suddenly found a huge serpent in front of him. The serpent was many timesrger than a human being. Its huge head was like a hill, which made anyone who looked at it break out in cold sweat. It looked at him from a high position. The peculiar vertical pupils of the snake stared at him coldly and ruthlessly. It seemed to be filled with killing intent that was directed at its prey but also appeared to look down on everything else with condescension.


    The serpent¡¯s mouth was biting its own tail. Its huge body stretched for thousands of miles, coiled like a mountain, while Xiao Tangqiu stood in the space where its body twisted and turned, like a grain of sand in the desert or a drop of water in the ocean.


    Was this the serpent of the world, Ouroboros?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was filled with fear and horror, but he felt uncontrobly attracted to the huge and mysterious serpent. This giant undying serpent, which symbolized immortality, was so mysterious, so powerful and full of deadly beauty...


    However, in an instant, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly lost consciousness again, and the giant serpent¡¯s figure gradually blurred in front of his eyes.


    He finally woke up from his dream.


    When he woke up and opened his eyes once more, he found that everything was just a dream. He didn¡¯t really see any giant serpent of the world, he was still inside and he had never left the instance. He didn¡¯t know why but his heart was empty and he felt somewhat lost.


    The surrounding environment seemed familiar. Xiao Tangqiu looked around and soon remembered where this was. The once colorful but now faded ss windows, the empty benches full of dust, and the huge statue of Lily Marlene ahead... This was clearly the church in Daemon Town.


    He was taken to the church by that long-haired monster? But then again, they had indeed found a secret passage to the castle¡¯s underground chamber underneath the church before.


    Just then, he suddenly found something wrong with himself. He looked down and immediately discovered that the clothing given to him by Shen Yuan had disappeared God knows when and was reced by... a white tulle dress!


    Xiao Tangqiu jumped in shock. He didn¡¯t know who had changed his clothes while he was passed out. And even worse, that person had dressed him in a beautiful woman¡¯s dress. Although the white tulle dress that swept the floor was very beautiful, it was clearly a bride¡¯s wedding dress that was supposed to be worn by a woman on her wedding day!


    No, the main point was, why dress him, a big, grown MAN, in a woman¡¯s dress?!


    He quickly got up from the cold floor of the church and stretched out his hands to tear off the dress. But just then, a voice sounded.


    ¡°Those pesky guests have ruined my n. I can only choose, in advance, a suitable woman from the suitors to be my wife. Darling, today is our wedding day.¡±


    Lippinobert slowly stepped out from behind the huge sculpture. Although he called out the word ¡°Darling,¡± his tone was very grim and cold. He didn¡¯t sound as if he was talking to his future bride at all, but rather to some stranger he was extremely disgusted with.


    Woman? Wife?


    Wait! Was there something wrong with Lippinobert¡¯s eyes? Can¡¯t he tell that he¡¯s a man?


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to refute, but when he carefully observed Lippinobert, he found that he couldn¡¯t say anything. Right now, Lippinobert was covered in makeup, wearing a white wedding dress and a wig. At first nce, he almost thought Lily Marlene hade out of the painting.


    Lippinobert, the ¡°groom¡±, was more like a bride than his ¡°bride¡±!


    A wedding where two big men put on wedding dresses at the same time... What a strange cross-dressing wedding this was!


    Although Lippinobert was middle-aged, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t feel like there was anything off about how he looked when he put on a wedding dress and wig. In fact, he looked exactly like Lily Marlene in the paintings.


    It wasn¡¯t until this moment that Xiao Tangqiu realized that neither Maria nor Veronika resembled Lily Marlene herself, because all this time, Lily Marlene was really Lippinobert!


    Xiao Tangqiu forced himself to calm down and asked Lippinobert, ¡°What do you really want?¡±


    Since Lily Marlene never existed and had always been a fantasy of Lippinobert, what did Lippinobert really want after killing so many people, including his mother, wife, daughter, and even the entire town of Daemon?


    Lippinobert looked at him grimly, ¡°Darling, after bing my wife, you will have everything I have. Of course, you will also be a part of me...¡±


    Clearly, the words ¡°you will be a part of me¡± was an extremely romantic phrase, but it sounded awfully strange and creepying from Lippinobert¡¯s lips, making Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s back turn cold.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t think that those words were meant as a romantic remark... He thought that Lippinobert meant exactly as he said ¨C he wasn¡¯t going to be a part of Lippinobert symbolically, but rather, literally.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly understood something and felt uneasy all over. At this moment, he heard Lippinobert sneer, ¡°Darling, we will definitely be the most beautiful brides tonight. Look, so many people havee to our wedding...¡±


    We will definitely be the most beautiful brides tonight ...


    We...


    The more he thought about it, the more frightened he grew, but he couldn¡¯t help turning around. The originally empty church was filled with people since God knows when. They were sitting on the dusty benches, and many more were walking into the church.


    Naturally, those ¡°people¡± weren¡¯t really people, but arge group of puppets with stiff expressions and slow movements. These poor residents of Daemon Town probably nevermitted anything really bad in their lives, but because of their ignorant ancestors from hundreds of years ago, they were turned into live puppets by the cruel owner of the castle. From living human beings, they were turned into puppets without any consciousness.


    The puppets sat stiffly on the church benches, as if they were really guests attending a wedding. Apart from some which hadplete bodies, there were many puppets with broken arms, legs, rotting skin and some were just skeletons. Xiao Tangqiu guessed that these bodies, which probably had been dug up from the cemetery in Daemon Town by Lippinobert, might have been the ones who burned Lili Marlene hundreds of years ago.


    Soon, the originally empty church was upied by puppets who came to attend the wedding. However, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t feel any warmth at all in such a ¡°lively¡± wedding. He only felt a chill crawl up his spine.


    The puppets had stiff expressions and empty eyes, which didn¡¯t make him feel like he was attending a grand wedding, but rather a funeral in a graveyard.


    It was also most likely his own funeral.


    At this time, Lippinobert suddenly took out a very thick book with a ck cover and mysterious golden patterns.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly recognized this as the same book Shen Yuan had read in front of him several times. He suddenly froze. Did Lippinobert steal the book from Shen Yuan?


    Because Lippinobert was standing right in front of him, Xiao Tangqiu managed to see the patterns on the cover of the book for the first time at close range. The golden patterns had a strange but familiar feeling. Soon, he recognized them ¨C the golden patterns were clearly arge group of intertwined serpents biting their own tails!


    The serpent of the world, Ouroboros.


    Again, Ouroboros.


    ~~~


    P.S. Sorry for missingst night¡¯s update. Just a reminder, I can¡¯t be sure exactly when my work schedule eases up. So, for the moment, I may miss certain days but will be sure to make it up on the next day or the weekend (so you still get 7 releases a week). ?

 Chapter 42.2

    <h4>Chapter 42.2</h4>


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could carefully study the Ouroboros pattern on the cover of the book, Lippinobert opened it. He let out a strange, creepyugh from his throat. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, darling, you¡¯ll soon be a part of my body...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly, ¡°Can I refuse?¡±


    ¡°Why refuse?¡± Lippinobert smiled coldly. ¡°Come, be a part of me. Your body and soul will be a part of me, a part of her...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously took a step back, but before he could run away, his foot was caught by something. He looked down and saw countless puppet hands sticking out from under the floor of the church, firmly holding his feet.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t move despite struggling vehemently. The hands that stretched out from the ground were as powerful as iron chains and held him firmly.


    Lippinobert looked down and flipped the book as if he were looking for something. Soon, he stopped on one of the pages. ¡°Found it...¡±


    His voice was somber and cold, and every word sounding sinister. ¡°Demon sacrifice... sacrifice your souls... Call her dead soul back to earth...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu struggled violently. At the same time, the gears in his brain were also rapidly turning. Lippinobert¡¯s purpose was obvious ¨C this terrible man was going to offer his soul as a sacrifice!


    Not only is his soul, but perhaps all those yers who had died plus the souls of Shen Yuan and his team! Lippinobert was going to sacrifice all their souls to summon the dead of Lily Marlene!


    Lippinobert had sacrificed so many of them, including his own rtives and the entire town of Daemon, just to summon the dead soul of a woman he imagined... This man waspletely insane!


    Xiao Tangqiu felt fear and despair. He was much more desperate now than in the previous instance. Although Fang Lan of the previous instance was also terrible, it wasn¡¯t invincible after all. However, Lippinobert was abnormally strong, seeming impossible to defeat... Was this the gap between a D-level mission and S-level mission?


    He couldn¡¯t help but think of Yun Jizhou, who suddenly woke up at the end of thest instance. Right when he was about to be killed by him, he had felt the exact same way as he did now ¨C despair and fear. He didn¡¯t even have any more courage to struggle and only hated his own fragility and insignificance.


    Maybe the way you feel before you die always remains the same...


    Right when Xiao Tangqiu lost all hope, a figure suddenly appeared at the door of the church.


    His heart skipped a beat, could it be...


    However, in the next second, he was disappointed.


    The man who appeared at the church door wasn¡¯t the one he imagined, but someone he hadn¡¯t thought of at all.


    ¡°...It¡¯s you? Why are you here?!¡±


    The young man was holding five heads in one hand!


    The incisions on the necks of these five heads were crooked and messy. They seemed to have been sawed off bit by bit by a de that wasn¡¯t particrly sharp. There was still blood dripping. Obviously, the whole incident had just happened.


    The five heads belonged to the other three old yers, the middle-aged man... and the little boy who had run out and disappeared. Their expressions were extremely painful and contorted. They looked like they had died nursing a grievance.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the five heads in a trance, his hair standing on end. Then, he looked at the young man in disbelief. Although the young man was obviously not a good person, he didn¡¯t seem so cruel and cold either...


    Just then, he realized that the young man¡¯s broken arm was made out of the same material and joints of a puppet!


    The young man came up to Lippinobert with the heads in his hand. He looked humble and ingratiating, ¡°Master, I have brought the remaining five people...¡±


    Lippinobert frowned slightly, as if he were not satisfied. ¡°Why do you only have their heads? Where are their bodies?¡±


    ¡°They were uncooperative so I had to kill them and bring their heads.¡± The young man sounded like an annoying yes-man, ¡°They were too ignorant to know what an honor it is to be Master¡¯s sacrifice ...¡±


    Lippinobert said coldly, ¡°Enough, put them down. How many others are left?¡±


    The young man trembled and mumbled, ¡°I couldn¡¯t find them just now...¡±


    ¡°Forget it. Anyway, I have enough offerings.¡± Lippinobert turned to Xiao Tangqiu, his gaze cold and gloomy. ¡°With so many offerings, this time the sacrifice will be sessful...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and looked coldly at the person and the puppet in front of him. It wasn¡¯t until now that he fully understood what had happened. The young man was already dead. Yesterday, that group of newbies had left the castle without authorization... All the other newbies were dead, so how could the young man have escaped alone?


    The young man must¡¯ve died yesterday, was then made into a puppet by Lippinobert, and returned to their group of yers, bing the 13th ¡°person¡± among them.


    Now 14 of them had died, leaving only thest six survivors.


    Lippinobert whispered the spell, which seemed to be written in an ancient, forgottennguage, but he could sense its malevolence and evil, just like the whispers of a demon.


    As the spell fell from Lippinobert¡¯s lips, the gold lines on the cover of the book suddenly began to move fluidly, as if the pattern of the serpent of the world suddenly woke up. At the same time, with him as the center of the spell, a round ck totem suddenly appeared under his feet.


    It looked like a magic array, full of strange, evil-looking ck totems, exactly the same as the tattoo on Shen Yuan¡¯s body.


    Soon, the tail-biting serpents in the ck totem seemed to havee to life, and began to turn and twist and slither around.


    As a result, the magic array at Lippinobert¡¯s feet grewrger andrger. In the blink of an eye, it had spread to Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s feet, covering almost half of the church.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly felt an unearthly atmosphere ¨C a chill that prated the bones, like the undead aura from the depths of hell. He couldn¡¯t help trembling.


    ¡°Sacrifice... these guests first...¡±


    Lippinobert stood in the center of the magic array, sneering at the puppets in the church. ¡°Let them go first, go to hell to bring back my real bride...¡±


    At hismand, the tail-biting serpents immediately crawled out of the ck totem, slithered over to the residents of Daemon town who had long be puppets, and climbed up their bodies.


    Wherever the snakes went, the puppets, who more or less still had some human form left, showed their true state. Their skin decayed into dust, their hair withered and disappeared, and their clothes wasted into nothing.


    In an instant, all the puppets in the church reverted back to the original body that wasposed of several pieces of wood. However, that wasn¡¯t all. As the serpents continued to move around, their wooden bodies finally decayed and crumbled,pletely turning into dust that disappeared in the wind.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the scene before him, all of which seemed very familiar.


    Although the puppets had already lost all consciousness and could no longer speak, he seemed to have heard their silent screams as they struggled to break free of their horrible fate.


    The originally overcrowded church had once again be empty.


    Lippinobertughed, looking as happy as a child who had just gotten a beautiful doll. ¡°Whose turn is it next...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wanted to escape but couldn¡¯t. He could only stare helplessly at Lippinobert. Was it his turn next?


    However, Lippinobert didn¡¯t act ording tomon sense at all. He smiled coldly at Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°It¡¯s yourpanions¡¯ turn next, my darling. Your rtives and friends aren¡¯t here, but at least yourpanions are...¡±


    The serpents turned and slithered towards the young man who screamed in fear. ¡°Master! No! Master... ¡°


    Lippinobert didn¡¯t even spare him a look. The serpents crawled up the young man¡¯s body. As he screamed and screamed, his human disguise quickly faded away, revealing the body and joints of a puppet.


    ¡°He is the creation that I¡¯m most proud of so far,¡± Lippinobert said triumphantly as he looked at Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°Puppet and human perfectlybined. He has human consciousness and even knows how to camouge himself and feels fear... Although it is a pity, I believe the most perfect work in my life will be born in my hands soon.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. Was Lippinobert¡¯s so-called revival of Lily Marlene also a n to turn her into a puppet like those residents?


    The young man screamed incessantly. His puppet body quickly withered under the moving serpents, instantly turning into dust and disappearingpletely.


    ¡°For this day, I have done countless experiments. And now, it has finally arrived,¡± Lippinobert smiled with satisfaction. ¡°All my experiments will be part of this consecration, bing a part of her...¡±


    Lippinobert¡¯s words just fell when the puppet housekeeper and maids appeared at the church door. They walked towards the magic array in a uniform pace.


    They came to the center of the magic array and allowed the serpents to climb up their bodies. Rosetta, the housekeeper, turned to Lippinobert with a pious look on her face. ¡°Master, I¡¯m willing to serve you.¡±


    Lippinobert smiled, ¡°Go and bring back your Mistress.¡±


    Rosetta bowed her head deeply. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Unlike the young man who had struggled, they didn¡¯t seem to fear their impending deaths, as if they were Lippinobert¡¯s most loyal servants. The puppet maids, headed by Rosetta, allowed the serpents to devour and swallow up their bodies.


    Soon, they were transformed from ¡°human beings¡± into puppets and finally disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu watched all this with a ssy look in his eyes. Lippinobert merely stared as his housekeeper, Rosetta, disappeared. Suddenly he said, ¡°Many years ago, I also had a housekeeper named Rosetta...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned to look at Lippinobert. Was the big viin BOSS about to reveal his thoughts as all viin bosses always did?


    ¡°Then, she left,¡± Lippinobert smiled faintly. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. Now, Rosetta will always be with me... just like my Alice.¡±


    The little puppet girl with an axe and red leather shoes suddenly appeared. It skipped into the center of the magic array.


    ¡°Alice, you¡¯ll always be with daddy,¡± Lippinobert said in a low voice. ¡°...Soon, our whole family will live happily ever after, just like a fairy tale.¡±

 Chapter 42.3

    <h4>Chapter 42.3</h4>


    Alice blinked at Lippinobert, as if she understood what he was saying but didn¡¯t understand anything at all at the same time.


    ¡°Alice is a work that I¡¯m very satisfied with. It¡¯s no different from an ordinary child. It can sing and dance, but doesn¡¯t talk...¡± Lippinobert smiled at Alice, his words seemed to be directed at Xiao Tangqiu, but he also seemed to be talking to himself. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. Daddy will never abandon my daughter... Goodbye, Alice.¡±


    As the serpents swarmed, Alice¡¯s human appearance quickly disappeared, revealing a semi-human state.


    Before disappearingpletely, Alice waved at Lippinobert. Its voice sounded sweet and clear, just like a musical box.


    ¡°Bye bye, Daddy.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and finally couldn¡¯t help bursting at Lippinobert. ¡°She¡¯s your daughter! How could you have the heart to make a puppet out of your own daughter? ¡°


    ¡°Because I¡¯m a puppeteer,¡± Lippinobert smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll always be with my puppets... And, of course, my Lily Marlene.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was speechless. He knew that there was no way tomunicate about logic or humane ideas with Lippinobert. This man was no longer a normal human being.


    ¡°Next up is...¡± Lippinobert¡¯s eyes sank and his tone darkened. ¡°Next is my dear mother.¡±


    The long-haired monster appeared, staggering towards the center of the magic array, just like an old person. After the battle with Shen Yuan, half of its puppet body had been revealed, and the remaining human half looked just as awful. Altogether, it was a disgusting sight.


    ¡°It¡¯s my most failed work,¡± Lippinobert said coldly. ¡°It can neither speak nor think in a human way, or have human feelings. But that¡¯s to be expected. After all, it¡¯s one of my early works. At the time, I couldn¡¯t create a perfect puppet like I can now.¡±


    The serpents swarmed and soon engulfed the long-haired monster. The human state of the long-haired monster fell apart, revealing its puppet body and disappeared just like the others. The whole time, it looked at Lippinobert with a nk stare.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t understand the puppet¡¯s look, his intuition told him that it wasn¡¯t as Lippinobert had said ¨C the puppet seemed to have a trace of human emotions within those eyes.


    Before he could delve further into it, the monster had disappearedpletely.


    ¡°Next is Effie, which is also one of my early works. It isn¡¯t perfect, but Alice liked to y with it.¡±


    At themand of Lippinobert, the puppet with crude workmanship that Xiao Tangqiu had seen in Maria¡¯s room also appeared.


    ¡°Go. Go be with Alice.¡±


    It piously walked to the center of the magic array, loyally giving up its body and soul.


    As the puppets offered themselves up for sacrifice, one after another, the magic array formed by the serpents grewrger and more dense. Xiao Tangqiu felt the atmosphere grow more cold and sinister. He seemed to feel a pair of eyes staring at him from the center of the magic array.


    He felt chilly all over, like he had fallen into a freezer.


    As soon as his words fell, the dwarf puppet appeared. It walked to the center of the magic array in a crooked manner, with its little leather drum in its arms jerking up and down.


    ¡°Little freak, go.¡±


    Lippinobert smiled at the dwarf puppet, his smile sincere as ever.


    ¡°...We will always be together.¡±


    The dwarf puppet cleverly held the small leather drum, standing motionless while it allowed the serpents to engulf it. As its human appearance gradually disappeared, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart started to sink.


    He knew that it was his turn next.


    He must be thest sacrifice.


    Sure enough, in the next second, Lippinobert turned around to look at Xiao Tangqiu. He smiled faintly, ¡°Darling, it¡¯s your turn next...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu watched helplessly as the magic array under his feet began to change and swirl. Although the dwarf puppet hadn¡¯tpletely been consumed by the serpents, some serpents were already crawling towards him.


    He knew that once he was touched by these serpents, his fate would be the same as that of the puppets before. However, his feet were firmly stuck to the ground and he couldn¡¯t escape even if he wanted to.


    ¡°Come,e be with me...¡±


    Lippinobert¡¯s voice was somber and low, full of devilish charm, like the whispers of demons. The serpents wriggled towards Xiao Tangqiu under Lippinobert¡¯s will.


    Just when Xiao Tangqiu gave himself to despair, a flying knife suddenly cut through the air and shot at Lippinobert.


    Lippinobert didn¡¯t escape in time and was instantly pierced by the flying knife.


    Everything fell silent in that instant and Xiao Tangqiu held his breath. But Lippinobert, being the ultimate big BOSS, wasn¡¯t so easily killed.


    Lippinobert looked down at the knife in his chest. His expression instantly turned gloomy and frightening. Huge spurts of blood flowed out from his chest. Although he seemed to be fine, the serpents, which had been manipted by his will, suddenly stopped.


    He slowly raised his head and looked at the door.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately looked up in that direction as well. When he saw Shen Yuan at the door of the church, all his fear and negative emotions disappeared instantly, and his desperate and uneasy heart seemed to have been put to ease.


    Shen Yuan was here.


    Shen Yuan actually came.


    A momentter, Xiao Tangqiu noticed that Duan Hongzhen and Tang Mianmian had alsoe. Of course, the two women were there as well. All of them had survived.


    Before he could quietly breathe a sigh of relief, Lippinobert smiled darkly at the people at the door. ¡°You came just at the right time. I was starting to worry that there wouldn¡¯t be enough sacrifices...¡±


    ¡°Fuck your sacrifices! Let go of my friend!¡±


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t wait for Lippinobert to finish his ssic viinous lines before he cried impatiently, ¡°Let Qiuqiu go quickly! Otherwise, I¡¯ll smash all your puppets! You disgusting psycho with your freaky hobby!¡±


    Lippinobert smiled sinisterly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll soon be able to apany my children.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately shouted at the door. ¡°Be careful! Don¡¯t step into the array! He just used this array to devour all his puppets! He wants to sacrifice everyone to revive Lily Marlene!¡±


    Tang Mianmian gasped. ¡°You actually sacrificed your mother and daughter... You¡¯re the ultimate psycho out of all the psychos, the number one, unrivalled psycho!¡±


    Lippinobertughed. The Ouroboros totem under his feet spread instantly, covering the entire church and leaving everyone with nowhere to run.


    And the serpents also shifted their target and crawled towards Shen Yuan, slithering one after another. The dwarf puppet still hadn¡¯t beenpletely devoured. Only half of its puppet body was left, but it staggered towards Shen Yuan and the others.


    Lippinobert diverted his attention towards them, the serpents following his will. Xiao Tangqiu finally managed to escape and return to Tang Mianmian¡¯s side.


    Tang Mianmian quickly asked, ¡°Qiuqiu! Are you alright?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth. ¡°Forget about me, it¡¯s more important to deal with Lippinobert!¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s clothes. ¡°Why have you suddenly turned into a woman?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°Please focus on what¡¯s important!¡±


    Despite the grim situation, Tang Mianmian still didn¡¯t forget to roast him, ¡°Lippinobert has also turned into a woman. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I would think he took you away to y some sort of perverted game...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rolled his eyes so hard they almost rolled to the back of his head. But that was the end of the easy atmosphere, because in the next second, the serpents quickly crawled up to the front of them. He quickly warned the crowd, ¡°Watch out for these serpents! They are very powerful...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled and assured him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ve dealt with each other many times.¡±


    He seemed to be casually ying with the flying knife in his hand, but the look in his eyes and his expression gradually grew serious while Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu took out their weapons. Only Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, who were empty-handed, had no choice but to watch.


    In an instant, the serpents decisivelyunched an attack on the team. Duan Hongzhen, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu immediately surrounded Shen Yuan, each person defending him from a different side.


    They quickly drew the weapons in their hands, obviously tempered into the hardest steel by countless battles.


    The serpents were beheaded one after another.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian weren¡¯t at ease either, because the dwarf puppet started to attack them again with its shrill screams. They immediately covered their ears, but they were still hit by the aftermath of the soundwaves.


    Blood poured out of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s ears in an instant. In the next moment, the dwarf puppet began to beat its drum.


    With the rapid beat of the drum, Xiao Tangqiu was unable to control his body once again. He held out his hands, violently grabbing his own neck. The same was true for Tang Mianmian, who was struggling to grip his own neck, trying to choke himself to death. His whole face turned as red as pork liver.


    The worst thing was that the dwarf puppet knew how to attack on both fronts. He began to beat the drum while screaming. Xiao Tangqiu grabbed his own neck against his will, so that he couldn¡¯t cover his ears at all. His ears were exposed to the attack of the soundwaves as more and more blood poured out.


    At the same time, he felt a metallic taste in his throat, blood began to flow out of his mouth and nose... If things continued like this, he would bleed to death out of his seven orifices and probably end up with his five viscera and six bowels ruptured like the middle-aged woman.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know why the dwarf puppet fought so hard. Clearly, it only had half of its body left and was going to be sacrificed by its owner, but it was still so loyal, wanting to protect his owner. Was it just like Lippinobert said ¨C it didn¡¯t have human emotions at all, so it didn¡¯t care if it was abandoned and sacrificed?


    Shen Yuan and the others felt awful as well. They were all frowning. Yu Fuling coldly looked at the dwarf puppet, drew her Tang sword and swung her de.


    She cut off the remaining arm of the dwarf puppet, and as the arm fell to the ground, the small leather drum dropped as well. The beating of the drum finally stopped.


    Xiao Tangqiu was finally saved. He immediately took a big breath of fresh air, just like a drowned person taking his first breath.


    However, in the next second, the dwarf puppet, who had lost half of its body and both its arms, still didn¡¯t give up and continued tounch a scream attack on them. Yu Fuling cut off its head at once.


    The crude puppet¡¯s head fell to the ground, but the screams didn¡¯t stop.


    ¡°The puppet is lifeless, and we all know what it really is. It¡¯s useless to deal with it using the same method we use on human beings,¡± Duan Hongzhen said with a smile, turning to look at Shen Yuan. ¡°Older brother, it¡¯s your turn.¡±


    Yu Fuling frowned slightly, apparently disagreeing. ¡°Duan Hongzhen, older brother Shen has used his ability too many times in this instance... He can¡¯t go on!¡±


    ¡°I know, but that¡¯s all we can do now...¡± Duan Hongzhen looked helpless.


    Yu Fuling wanted to say something else, but Shen Yuan finally spoke. He said faintly, ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

 Chapter 43.1

    <h4>Chapter 43.1</h4>


    Although there was only a head left, the dwarf puppet still stubbornly screamed at them and finally rolled towards them, giving his all.


    Shen Yuan stepped forward and stood in the front. When the head of the dwarf puppet touched his body, mysterious ck tattoos reappeared on his neck, but this time the tattoos only shed faintly and disappeared quickly.


    At the same time, the head of the dwarf puppet let out a shrill scream and then died off like that.


    Xiao Tangqiu watched all of this. Although he knew Shen Yuan¡¯s ability was terrifying, he didn¡¯t expect to witness how horrifying it was with his own eyes again. Shen Yuan didn¡¯t even do anything. The dwarf puppet just touched his body and disappeared...Was this what Su Manluo meant by District S strong yers?


    Tang Mianmian was also dumbfounded. His mouth was open wide enough to stuff a fist.


    Lippinobert was even more furious, looking more ghastly than ever. ¡°How dare you! How dare you do this to my little freak!¡±


    He was like a child whose beloved toy had been destroyed by someone. He angrily flipped open the ck book and recited the evil and strange incantations. In the next second, the serpents, that had been watching them and waiting for the chance to move, crawled and gathered together.


    Soon, more and more gathered, quickly forming a huge serpent. Their bodies seemed to be a part of the giant serpent. The serpent was extremelyrge, its winding body almost upied the whole church. From head to tail, the length of its body wasrge enough to encircle them all.


    ¡°Fuck! Ah, ah, ah! Why are there so many serpents!¡± Tang Mianmian was so afraid he almost fainted. He grabbed Xiao Tangqiu, refusing to let go of him. That was the only way he could steady himself and prevent his legs from going soft.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt pins and needles on his scalp. Even if he didn¡¯t have a phobia of snakes, seeing so many would still make his skin crawl. The huge serpent, formed by the countless serpents, hadpletely surrounded them in the church. Moreover, the small ck serpents were still swirling around the giant serpent¡¯s ¡°body,¡± which looked both disgusting and horrible.


    Lippinobert, on the other hand, stood tall and straight at the head of the serpent, looking at them coldly. He held the open ck book in his hands. Behind him was Lily Marlene, who had been tied to the cross and subjected to burning mes. At this moment, he was like the God of all living things, looking down on them in contempt. But at the same time, he seemed like a priest who had mercy on all beings. He was cold yet merciful, cruel yet sympathetic.


    Compared to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, Shen Yuan and hispanions were much calmer and fearless in the face of danger.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change at all. His face was still calm as he lightly looked at Lippinobert, his eyes calm as if the person and the puppets before him were nothing.


    ¡°Sacrifices! Sacrifice yourselves for Lily Marlene¡¯s return to our world!¡± Lippinobert¡¯s eyes were cold yet burning, calm but crazy, just like a sober madman. Under the control of his will, the huge serpent made of the tiny serpents attacked Shen Yuan.


    Sai Lulu quickly joined the battle. Her umbre had a magical effect, even sweeping over arge area, but the ck serpents would fill up the gap. Even if they killed all the ck serpents in the church now, there would still be others crawling out of the magic array at their feet. It was inexhaustible and endless.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help much. They could only stand by the side and try their best not to make things worse. While the two sides battled, of course they wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to rush out. Worsees to worst, they would end up getting themselves killed and drag their great god teammates down with them.


    Tang Mianmian fearlessly roasted themselves, ¡°It feels like we¡¯re weak rookies who are being carried by our great god teammates.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tried to look for the silver lining as well, ¡°I know right?¡±


    Tang Mianmianughed, ¡°Hehe, does this count as sessfully holding onto their thighs?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly, ¡°Let¡¯s wait until we get out of here alive.¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked firm. ¡°If we can get out alive, we must cling onto these thick thighs.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu added, ¡°...I think they¡¯ve heard us by now.¡± Was it really good to be discussing the matter of holding their thighs so openly in front of them?


    Shen Yuan and the others could certainly hear Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian whispers but they were obviously not in the mood to make any response now. Seeing the situation get more and more serious, Shen Yuan finally stepped in.


    Shen Yuan calmly joined the battle. His gaze coolly fell upon the giant serpentposed of little serpents, the ck tattoos on his cheeks and neck began to glow faintly.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart lifted in that instant. Shen Yuan¡¯s ability was undoubtedly very strong. But upon seeing Yu Fuling and Duan Hongzhen¡¯s reaction, which showed that the matter was taboo, he knew that Shen Yuan¡¯s ability was obviously not without side effects.


    Yu Fuling said before that Shen Yuan had used ¡°that ability¡± too many times in this instance, which meant that this ability must also ce a certain burden on Shen Yuan. But now, Shen Yuan had to use this ability again and again.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know what effect excessive use of ¡°that ability¡± had on Shen Yuan, he couldn¡¯t help worrying about him.


    At the same time, Shen Yuan stepped into the range of the serpent. Facing this close intruder, the giant serpent naturallyunched an attack without hesitation. The huge serpent head suddenly descended upon him.


    As Shen Yuan¡¯s ck tattoos became clearer and clearer, the huge serpent head made up of serpents disappeared when it touched his body.


    The disappearance of the serpents didn¡¯t stop the serpent from attacking. They quickly formed a new serpent head andunched another brazen attack. However, the result this time was still the same as before. When the head hit Shen Yuan, it broke apart instantly.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s ck tattoo became more and more visible. The mysterious tattoo still seemed to be slowly swirling, as if the serpent, Ouroboros, would reallye to life the next moment. It was strange and sinister.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered the serpent of the world in his dream. Although Lippinobert also called forth many tail-biting serpents, the small ck serpents were obviously far from the giant serpent in his dream. Even the giant serpentposed of the ck serpents at this time was only the size of the church.


    The tattoo of Ouroboros on Shen Yuan¡¯s body was more like the serpent of the world in his dream. It was strange but beautiful, evil and powerful. It could encircle the entire world with its body alone. It was the master of the world and the most powerful, terrifying existence in the world.


    As the tattoo of Ouroboros on Shen Yuan emergedpletely from his cheek to his neck, there were ck mysterious tattoos all over. Those tattoos made him look strange and evil, as if he was a tribal god of war from ancient times.


    In front of him, the giant serpentposed of serpents copsed,pletely melting away, leaving no trace of existence. They didn¡¯t originally belong to this world ¨C these were creatures from a different world. Maybe they returned to their original world, maybe they disappearedpletely, gone from this world, erasing all the possibility of their existence.


    Lippinobert waspletely angered. He looked at Shen Yuan coldly, his eyes darkened to the extreme, appearing cold and horrifying. ¡°How dare you... I¡¯m going to kill you...¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Lippinobert calmly and said lightly. ¡°You intend to use the souls of those people to sacrifice and call Lily Marlene back to earth, but the souls of ordinary human beings can¡¯t be used as a sacrifice at all. Only the souls of demons can be used, so you used that book to turn those people into lower demons... Unfortunately, now that these demons have been destroyed by me, all your efforts have been wasted and you can no longer call Lily Marlene¡¯s dead soul.¡±


    Lippinobert looked at Shen Yuan bitterly with resentful eyes. ¡°Even if you destroyed all of my previous efforts... I will bring Lily Marlene back to the world...¡±


    On the sidelines, Xiao Tangqiu listened to all this in shock. It turned out that the serpents weren¡¯t the alien creatures he had imagined, but low-level demons formed from those killed by Lippinobert. Because they couldn¡¯t use human souls but needed demonic souls, Lippinobert had killed so many people and turned them into puppets, including many other yers from before... Lippinobert did so much just to revive Lily Marlene, but just now Shen Yuan seemed to have destroyed everything.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart felt very uneasy. Although he didn¡¯t know what the final objective of this instance was, ording to his experience from thest instance, he knew that they had to prevent Lippinobert from resurrecting Lily Marlene... But if that was only it, Shen Yuan should¡¯ve sessfully stopped him by now and their mission should¡¯ve ended ahead of schedule.


    However, that wasn¡¯t the case, which meant that the matter was far from over.


    Sure enough, in the next moment, something strange happened.


    Lippinobert suddenly took out a small transparent ss bottle from his pocket. The ss bottle was filled with ck liquid and there seemed to be something soaked in it.


    But because it was too small and too far from where he was, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t clearly see what was inside. But he knew that it was obviously not a good thing, because he was keenly aware of the changes in Shen Yuan and the others. Not only did Duan Hongzhen, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu turn pale at the sight of it, even Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes grew so dark and deep they seemed to have sunk down.


    Lippinobert pulled the cork out of the ss bottle and looked at Shen Yuan resentfully. ¡°I won¡¯t let anyone stop me. Even if I have to turn myself into a demon and sacrifice my own soul, I will resurrect Lily Marlene no matter what!¡±


    Yu Fuling couldn¡¯t help blurting out, ¡°That¡¯s a demon¡¯s heart! Are you crazy?!¡±


    ¡°No one can stop me!¡± Lippinobert smiled coldly, raised his head and gulped down the ck liquid in the ss bottle.


    A demon¡¯s heart?


    Although Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know what the demon¡¯s heart was, he knew that it couldn¡¯t be anything good. After all, the name sounded evil and mysterious.


    Demons...


    Were there really demons in this world?

 Chapter 43.2

    <h4>Chapter 43.2</h4>


    While Xiao Tangqiu was still puzzled over the matter, the ss bottle in Lippinobert¡¯s hand suddenly fell to the ground, making a crisp clink as it broke. Then, he suddenly knelt to the ground, grabbing his own neck as he screamed in pain.


    Along with his screams, his body began to change. Thick ck smoke emerged from within and his body started to expand. In a few seconds, his head had broken through the ceiling of the church, even wrecking the eaves.


    The two rookies, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, had to dodge the falling bricks and tiles and at the same time try their best to avoid being trampled to death by Lippinobert, who had transformed, bing almost asrge as a hill.


    Lippinobert screamed painfully, surrounded by the ck smoke. But all of a sudden, he suddenly cried out excitedly, ¡°She¡¯s back! She¡¯s back!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for this day for a long time...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re back!¡±


    ¡°Wee back...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was immediately dumbfounded. Lily Marlene came back? Was their mission a failure?


    He waited for awhile in fear but didn¡¯t hear the system¡¯s prompts. At this moment, the ck smoke around Lippinobert began to gradually fade away.


    By the time the ck smoke hadpletely dissipated, Lippinobert had changed entirely.


    His face was split in half, half of which was still his own, but the other half was extraordinarily feminine, which made him look as if he were wearing a mask. He seemed to be half male, half female.


    The wedding dress on his body had been torn apart in the process of his transformation but it didn¡¯t reveal a human body. Instead, he had a wooden body, just like a puppet. His elbows and knees had also turned into puppet joints. This freak puppet master, who was obsessed with turning others into puppets, had finally turned himself into one.


    ¡°Wee back...¡±


    Lippinobert began to talk to himself, his voice sounding very strange, both like a man and a woman, but nothing like a man or a woman. It was sometimes sharp and sometimes low.


    In the next second, he asked himself and answered himself, ¡°I¡¯m back...¡±


    After that, he began tough, ¡°Hehehehe...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was spooked by Lippinobert and subconsciously stumbled backwards in Shen Yuan¡¯s direction. Although Lippinobert seemed to have only transformed physically, Xiao Tangqiu was keenly aware of the solemn expressions of Shen Yuan and the others. Things were obviously not optimistic.


    Shen Yuan said coldly, ¡°He took the demon¡¯s heart and has be the first demon generation...¡±


    Not only did demons exist in this world, but their numbers were also extremelyrge, sorge that they needed levels to distinguish them?


    When he heard Yu Fuling¡¯s proposal to forcefully break away from the instance, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart suddenly skipped a beat. He had learned from Su Manluo that there were props to forcefully break away from the instance. It wasn¡¯t surprising that Shen Yuan and the other old yers had such props. However, it was obviously impossible for him and Tang Mianmian to own such a thing. If Shen Yuan decided to forcefully break away from the instance, he and Tang Mianmian could only stay here and wait for death.


    Yu Fuling earnestly persuaded, ¡°Older brother Shen, this instance doesn¡¯t just have the difficulty of an ordinary S-level mission. You¡¯ve used that ability too many times in this instance. If you continue, your body won¡¯t be able to hold on...¡±


    Sai Lulu¡¯s expression was more serious than ever. ¡°Yes, older brother Shen! You can¡¯t use that ability anymore! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s gaze was as deep as an ocean as he looked at Shen Yuan. He bit his lip, not knowing what to feel.


    He knew that what Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu said was true, because after the giant serpent had been eliminated earlier, the tattoo of Ouroboros on Shen Yuan¡¯s body hadn¡¯t disappeared as before. Instead, it remained on Shen Yuan¡¯s cheek and neck till now, clearly visible, swirling slowly, as if the eternal serpent in his tattoo woulde alive and devour everything in the next moment.


    This must be a sign that Shen Yuan was almost at his limit.


    Xiao Tangqiu lowered his eyes,ughing bitterly on the inside.


    Although it was difficult to ept it in his heart, in his head, he knew that even if Shen Yuan made the choice to leave the instance, they had no reason or right to me him for that. After all, from the beginning, Shen Yuan had no obligation to help and protect them. In this cruel world of death and murder, it had always been survival of the fittest. Even if they could temporarily depend on the strong, they couldn¡¯t rely on them forever.


    <i>They weren¡¯t strong enough and could only be eliminated... Was that it?</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around, not daring to look at Shen Yuan¡¯s expression. He was even more afraid to expect anything of his decision.


    Yet in the next moment, Shen Yuan¡¯s voice coldly rang, ¡°No, we stay.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze. He didn¡¯t expect that Shen Yuan would choose to stay. Yu Fuling cried out in disbelief, ¡°Older brother Shen, what we¡¯re facing is the first demon generation!¡±


    Shen Yuan calmly interrupted Yu Fuling, ¡°I will stay. You guys go.¡±


    Sai Lulu obviously disagreed, ¡°Older brother Shen, your body can¡¯t hold on!¡±


    Shen Yuan looked coldly at Lippinobert, who was in the form of a puppet. His voice was calm and steady, ¡°We can¡¯t escape forever.¡±


    Yu Fuling sounded impatient, ¡°But older brother Shen, in your current state... you¡¯ll suffer repercussions!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu heart suddenly sank at once. Repercussions? What did she mean?


    However, with the situation being what it was now, of course he couldn¡¯t ask Yu Fuling. He could only anxiously look at Shen Yuan. Thetter¡¯s expression remained calm and unmoved. ¡°He¡¯s here.¡±


    The ck Ouroboros tattoo on his cheek continued to slowly swirl. The tail-biting serpent totem wound about, twisting and turning like a beast, eager to fight.


    ¡°You guys leave... I¡¯ll stay.¡±


    Shen Yuan repeated himself again, apparently having made up his mind.


    Before Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu could object, Duan Hongzhen, who was still casually fiddling with his knife, spoke first. He half smiled, ¡°Since when does it make sense for the captain to stay behind while his subordinates flee?¡±


    Yu Fuling bit her lip, ¡°If you don¡¯t leave, neither will we!¡±


    Sai Lulu snorted and cried with a face full of displeasure, ¡°Older brother Shen, we¡¯re teammates! You¡¯re our captain, how can we abandon our captain?!¡±


    Shen Yuan faintly added, ¡°If you don¡¯t leave now, it¡¯ll be toote.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen grinned. ¡°It¡¯s already toote.¡±


    Right then, Lippinobert had finally passed the refractory period of his transformation. He couldn¡¯t tolerate these foreign visitors who were ignoring him. With a smile and a wave of his hand, several puppet strings shot out towards them.


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t have time to dodge and was immediately entangled in Lippinobert¡¯s puppet strings. His body lost control at once, turning in Duan Hongzhen¡¯s direction.


    Duan Hongzhen nimbly dodged the puppet strings and deftly kicked Tang Mianmian, who was attacking him under the control of Lippinobert, a great distance away.


    Tang Mianmian rolled on the ground a few times, then quickly got up and jumped at Duan Hongzhen again.


    Xiao Tangqiu, who was also controlled by the puppet strings, rushed at Shen Yuan against his own will, but thetter avoided him without the slightest change in his expression.


    ¡°Kill each other then!¡± Lippinobert was so excited that he let out strangeughter with that weird half male, half female voice of his. ¡°I¡¯m going to turn all of you into puppets! You¡¯ll certainly be my best work!¡±


    With another wave of his hand, countless puppets shot at them. This time, there was a ck smoke, visible to the naked eye, attached to the puppets. Although Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu dodged immediately, those puppets that were wrapped in ck smoke behaved as if they had their own consciousness, chasing after them. Sai Lulu and Yu Fuling quickly swept their weapons at them.


    However, the puppets were extremely tough and couldn¡¯t be dealt with at all. Soon, both person and weapon were entangled by the puppets.


    Under the control of Lippinobert, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu lunged at Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen respectively, the four of them battling at once. Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen obviously couldn¡¯ty a hand on their teammates. They avoided their attacks and gave them some leeway. However, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu, who were being manipted, didn¡¯t have the same concerns and went all out to im their lives.


    ¡°Older brother Shen! Get out of the way!¡± Yu Fuling shouted as she struggled. Although her body was out of control, her consciousness and thoughts were still clear. She desperately tried to break free from Lippinobert¡¯s control, but her struggle was in vain.


    Lippinobertughed viciously. He obviously preferred to watch them kill each other rather than kill them immediately.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were temporarily discarded to one side. Perhaps Lippinobert finally saw that the two men were just useless gs in battle and manipting them to attack Shen Yuan was just like throwing stones at him, so he simply abandoned thempletely.


    Xiao Tangqiu was temporarily freed but his first reaction wasn¡¯t to let out a sigh of relief or run away. If they couldn¡¯t defeat Lippinobert, once Shen Yuan and the others were finished, it would be his turn and Tang Mianmian¡¯s turn.


    In desperation, he held onto thest glimmer of hope, using his ¡°Sexy Streamer¡¯s Live Stream Channel¡± skill. This was also the third time in this instance that he used it, which meant that it was also thest time he could use this skill... This was the battle with the final BOSS! If he didn¡¯t use it now, he wouldn¡¯t have a chance to use it anymore!


    In the next second, Xiao Tangqiu was blinded by the barrage before him.


    ¡°Exciting content up ahead!¡±


    ¡°Exciting content up ahead! Warning: battle with the BOSS!¡±


    ¡°Streamer kill him ahhhhhhhh! Kill this psycho and you¡¯ll be the big BOSS!¡±


    ¡°You got this, Mr. Streamer! I¡¯m betting on you oh!¡±


    ......


    ......This useless skill was indeed good for nothing!

 Chapter 43.3

    <h4>Chapter 43.3</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to explode in frustration. At this critical moment of life and death, there was actually a freaking barrage of ¡°constructive¡± opinions in his studio... This stupid skill must be the most useless special skill in all of history!


    Right when he felt his chest tighten from the anger, suddenly, another barrage ofments appeared in front of his eyes.


    ¡°Since this is a battle with the BOSS, of course he needs some good equipment! I will bestow Mr. Streamer with the Holy de of Science.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go Pikachu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt happy at first, but soon his heart sank again.


    Great! Finally, someone sent him equipment! The Holy de of Science... This name sounded really....


    Wait a minute! There seemed to be something wrong.


    Fuck! Isn¡¯t the Holy de of Science a....


    ......Crowbar?


    In the next second, Xiao Tangqiu felt his hand grow heavy as a crowbar appeared in his palm.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Fuck! He guessed right! It really was a crowbar!


    What¡¯s the use of giving him a crowbar in a battle of the gods against demons? Was he supposed to take a crowbar and rush forward to hand over his head on a silver tter?!


    Couldn¡¯t this useless skill be reliable for once?


    Despite endlessly roasting in his heart, he could only bite the bullet since the crowbar was already in his hand.


    The one minute of his special skill time was over. Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen were still carefully dealing with Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu. Xiao Tangqiu raised his crowbar and rushed towards Lippinobert. He would just pretend that his head was a stick!


    ¡°Thud!¡±


    A loud noise sounded.


    Perhaps Lippinobert had been hit with the crowbar because he was unprepared for a weak battle g like Xiao Tangqiu.


    <i>Fuck! He hit him! He really hit him!</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was filled with joy. Was this not an ordinary crowbar after all? Was it really... a holy de?


    Tang Mianmian saw what had happened and quickly picked up the crowbar. He roared loudly as he dashed towards Lippinobert.


    But this time, Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t even get close to Lippinobert before he was pped far away from thetter, crashing into the wall like Xiao Tangqiu. Unfortunately, he was worse off than Xiao Tangqiu and mmed face first into the wall. When he got up from the ground, his face was covered with blood and he looked rather pitiful.


    Xiao Tangqiu endured the pain and climbed up, looking miserable beyond description.


    Damn it! That was just amon crowbar! He had been cheated again!


    This stupid skill was indeed the most useless skill in all of history! It was so shitty nothing else couldpare! So fucking unreliable!


    He must unbind it as soon as he goes back!


    ......If he could still go back alive!


    However, with the interruption of Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, Lippinobert temporarily rxed his control over Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu. The two took the opportunity to break away from the puppet strings and quickly began to fight back.


    Lippinobertughed at their efforts, not bothering to dodge at all. Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu rushed at him but they seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier and couldn¡¯t move forward at all.


    At the same time, Duan Hongzhen also began to make his move. His flying knife flew at Lippinobert¡¯s face but suddenly turned a corner in mid-air and headed straight for Shen Yuan instead,


    Although Shen Yuan quickly dodged, Duan Hongzhen turned and ran towards Shen Yuan as soon as his knife was blocked. At this point, Shen Yuan frowned slightly, the two quickly engaging in a fight.


    ¡°Fuck! You back-stabbing traitor! Are you Judas?¡± Tang Mianmian cried incredulously as he vomited a mouthful of blood.


    Duan Hongzhen turned around and red at Tang Mianmian, ¡°You¡¯re the traitor!¡±


    However, his attacks on Shen Yuan didn¡¯t stop at all. Instead, he attacked harder and harder.


    It turned out that Duan Hongzhen had also been controlled by Lippinobert without their knowledge!


    Xiao Tangqiu supported himself against the wall and forced himself up. He stretched out his hand and patted Tang Mianmian¡¯s back. ¡°You vomited blood...¡±


    Tang Mianmian continued to vomit blood as he replied, ¡°You vomited blood too...¡±


    The two men, who were busy vomiting blood, talked to each other with a bitter smile on their faces. Indeed, for battle gs like them, even a hard and all-out blow was only a tickle to the big BOSS. Even if they wanted to rush up to help, they could only do that much.


    In spite of this, Xiao Tangqiu still struggled to pick up the ¡°Holy de of Science.¡± Although it was just an ordinary crowbar, at least he had a weapon to defend himself. On the other side, the fighting between Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen grew more and more intense. Both of them were injured, bleeding from various wounds all over. Although Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu wanted to rush forward to stop them, they were unable to move.


    ¡°Kill each other! Even if you break your arms and legs, it doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll help you sew them up afterwards,¡± said Lippinobert with a smile.¡±I¡¯ll sew you beautifully, more beautiful than the prettiest doll.¡±


    As soon as his words fell, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu fell under his control again, jumping towards Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen. The four of them fought in another intense battle.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian watched nervously from the sidelines. Although Lippinobert¡¯s puppet strings swung around unpredictably, Shen Yuan hadn¡¯t fallen into Lippinobert¡¯s hands this entire time. Moreover, he was still able to cope with the joint attack of Duan Hongzhen, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu. However, he still had to give them leeway, which made it difficult for him to attack and left him with even more injuries.


    With more and more wounds on Shen Yuan¡¯s body, Yu Fuling¡¯s eyes were red with anxiety but her body was still attacking Shen Yuan against her will.


    Eventually, the fight still ended. Shen Yuan fought one against three and managed to defeat Duan Hongzhen, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu.


    Duan Hongzhen powerlessly fell to the corner, his life and death was still unknown. Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu mmed into the ground, havingpletely lost all ability to resist, but Shen Yuan¡¯s state wasn¡¯t good either. He fell to the ground half-way, kneeling on one leg and supporting himself with one hand on the ground. He didn¡¯t seem like he had the strength to get up.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart lifted immediately. But right at this moment, Lippinobert was eagerly ying his part as a demon. He sighed and spoke in the most grandiloquent tone that he could muster, ¡°No matter how exciting the y is, it will eventuallye to an end. It¡¯s time to end everything now... Come, be my puppets!¡±


    <i>......Was the BOSS making his big move?!</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped out of his chest. Sure enough, in the next second, Lippinobert smiled and waved at Shen Yuan, ck smoke drifting towards him.


    The ck smoke gave off an ominous feeling. It had the aura of death, both deadly and decaying. As it spread everywhere, everything was corroded, even the wooden floor of the church had eroded, turning into a deep ck hole of nothingness.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s head instantly nked at the sight. He couldn¡¯t imagine what would happen when the ck smoke touched Shen Yuan. Looking at Shen Yuan, who had fallen to the ground,pletely unable to resist, he didn¡¯t even have the time to think before he resolutely threw himself in Shen Yuan¡¯s direction, blocking thetter behind him.


    Xiao Tangqiu blocked Shen Yuan with his back facing Lippinobert. When the ck smoke touched his body, he immediately felt the skin and flesh on his back explode with pain. It was the pain from being burnt by scorching mes. The burning sensation seemed to reach the depths of his soul in the blink of an eye.


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu was almost delirious with pain. Thest sliver of his consciousness was focused on confirming Shen Yuan¡¯s safety. When the pain reached the apex, his nerves actually went numb. Aside from his vision, the rest of his five senses became numb, he could no longer hear anything...


    Everything became blurry at once.


    Shen Yuan finally managed to stand up. With one arm around Xiao Tangqiu, he pulled thetter into his embrace. His brows tightly knitted in a deep frown, his eyes dark and deep. His mouth opened and closed as if he was anxiously trying to say something...


    However, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t hear anything at all. He absentmindedly looked at Shen Yuan as all thoughts in his head became sluggish.


    This seemed to be the first time he saw Shen Yuan reveal such an expression...


    <i>Was he about to die...</i>


    At this time, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt a coldness hang over his body. The coldness spread from the burns on his back, instantly eroding his entire body.


    In an instant, he raised his hand uncontrobly, ruthlessly wing Shen Yuan¡¯s chest, digging into the depths of his body. Before he knew what was happening, his hand was wrapped around Shen Yuan¡¯s heart.


    He widened his eyes in disbelief. Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes revealed a look of shock as well. Despite his best efforts to struggle, his body waspletely out of his control. His fingers cruelly drilled into Shen Yuan¡¯s heart and caught something!


    <i>No!</i>


    <i>No!!!</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu frantically screamed from the bottom of his heart. However, his body and actions werepletely beyond his control,pletely against his will.


    Right then, he could finally hear something. He heard himself giggling in a strangeughter. A weird voice that sounded both male and female said, ¡°I caught you...¡±


    ¡°Give me your heart too. You don¡¯t want it anyway, do you?¡±


    ¡°Since you don¡¯t want to be a demon, then give me your heart...¡±


    Under Shen Yuan¡¯s utter disbelief, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand gripped something embedded deep inside his heart and pulled it away violently.


    At the same time, Xiao Tangqiu could finally hear the voices of everyone else. He heard them shouting and screaming in despair, ¡°No!¡±


    He was also screaming in despair on the inside, no!


    However, he could only watch helplessly, unable to stop what was happening before him. Just when he gave himself to despair, he suddenly felt a stab in his chest as a sharp pain spread.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked down. It turned out that Shen Yuan had also dug his hand into his body and grabbed hold of his heart.


    <i>So be it then...</i>


    <i>Now, he could finally be free of everything....</i>


    Beforepletely losing consciousness, he only had enough time to take a final nce at Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes. But all he saw within those eyes, that were so dark they werepletely ck, was a bottomless ocean, an endless abyss that threatened to devour everything.


    ~~~


    P.S. Guys I¡¯m out of town and the inte speed here is appalling! Home is where the inte is the fastest <i>sigh </i> Btw, how dramatic is thatst scene?!!

 Chapter 44.1

    <h4>Chapter 44.1</h4>


    <i>But...</i>


    <i>How did he get his heart ripped out again....</i>


    In thest instance, he got his heart ripped out. In this instance, his heart was ripped out again. <i>Why did these BOSSes like to rip out his heart so much?</i>


    As the sharp pain in his chest spread out, Xiao Tangqiu began to faint. But right before he fainted, he seemed to hear the cold sound of the system in his ear again.


    ¡°Dear yers congrattions forpleting the S-level mission [Demon¡¯s Castle]. The objective of the mission is to lift the curse of the castle. The time limit is 7 days and the yers will receive 50000 points...¡±


    ¡°The mission ispleted, you will be leaving this instance soon...¡±


    <i>Mission aplished?</i>


    <i>The mission waspleted?</i>


    ...... Before Xiao Tangqiu could feel any shock, he fainted.


    When Xiao Tangqiu woke up again, he had already returned to the white transfer module when he opened his eyes. He was lying on his back inside the module. After he regained consciousness, he quickly sat up and touched his chest only to find that the wound on his chest had disappeared again.


    Not only that, all other wounds on his body had disappeared as well, except for the burning pain in his back.


    ......What¡¯s going on? Weren¡¯t all wounds automatically healed when yers were transferred back?


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu!¡±


    Just then, Tang Mianmian¡¯s anxious voice sounded from outside the transfer module. Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t be bothered to ponder more about his doubts. He immediately pushed the hatch of the transfer module open and climbed out.


    Seeing that Xiao Tangqiu was still alive, Tang Mianmian instantly wept with joy. He cried loudly as he hugged Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°Qiuqiu! I thought you would die this time! Wuwuwu! You actually survived again! How are you so lucky ah!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly, ¡°It seems that I did right by helping grannnies cross the street.¡±


    Tang Mianmian cried while he asked, ¡°What happened earlier? Why did you suddenly attack Shen Yuan? Why did he suddenly attack you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°I don¡¯t know... but I think I may have been possessed by Lippinobert... That¡¯s right! Where is Shen Yuan? How is he now?¡±


    Tang Mianmian nked out, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I came to see you as soon as I got up. But since you are alright, with Shen Yuan being how powerful he is, he will certainly be fine!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pushed Tang Mianmian aside and turned to look for Shen Yuan. He passed through the transfer modules and finally found Duan Hongzhen aftering across groups of yers who were about to enter the instance or had just left the instance.


    However, Shen Yuan¡¯s condition was obviously very bad. His face was pale and his eyes were closed, his dark, feather-likeshes trembling slightly. This made him look very fragile; delicate and vulnerable.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank at once. He remembered Su Manluo once told him that when a yer left the instance, no matter how serious the injury was, he would automatically recover. But Shen Yuan hadn¡¯t regained consciousness until now...


    From the appearance of the open transfer module, it looked like Shen Yuan woke up the moment he was sent back, pushed open the hatch with thest of his strength, and then fell into aa again. After all, the transfer module could only be opened from the inside.


    Duan Hongzhen and the others looked dismal. Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu¡¯s expressions were as cold as ice. Although they knew that Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian hade, they didn¡¯t even spare them a look.


    Xiao Tangqiu wanted to say something but held himself back. Although there were many things in his heart that he wanted to ask, at this moment, the words got stuck in his throat when he saw Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu¡¯s chilly looks.


    What happened to Shen Yuan?


    Why was Shen Yuan still in aa and hadn¡¯t regained consciousness?


    ......Was it all because of him?


    Momentster, Duan Hongzhen finally took the lead in breaking the silence. He gave Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu a look and said with an unprecedented seriousness. ¡°There¡¯s no point waiting here. Let¡¯s take the captain home first.¡±


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu solemnly nodded. Then, both of them each held Shen Yuan on the left and right side and lifted him from the transfer module. The three turned and walked towards the transfer matrix under the sculpture.


    Xiao Tangqiu panicked immediately. Once Shen Yuan was taken away by them, he could no longer find out about his condition. So he asked earnestly, ¡°How is Shen Yuan now?¡±


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu simply ignored Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s question so he could only chase after them. ¡°How is he now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked several times before Yu Fuling finally raised her head and looked at him but her eyes were filled with a profound coldness. ¡°Stay away from him!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was nailed to the spot by that frosty gaze. He stood still, not knowing what to do.


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu continued to walk as they carried Shen Yuan. Duan Hongzhen followed behind them, his face looking gloomy. He took a few steps forward but suddenly stopped.


    Xiao Tangqiu nervously watched Duan Hongzhen¡¯s back. Did he change his mind?


    In the next second, Duan Hongzhen said with his back still turned towards him, ¡°Just forget it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked nkly, ¡°Forget... what?¡±


    ¡°Forget everything about thest instance,¡± Duan Hongzhen quietly answered. Then, he added coldly, ¡°There are some things you shouldn¡¯t know.¡±


    What can¡¯t he know?


    Shen Yuan¡¯s tattoos and the secret behind them?


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could react, Duan Hongzhen had already started to catch up to Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu. Soon, the three of them, together with Shen Yuan, disappeared into the transmission array in the center of the square.


    Xiao Tangqiu merely watched in a daze as their silhouettes faded away. His heart felt empty, like arge piece was missing, the cold wind infiltrating its depths through that empty hole.


    Things that he didn¡¯t have the right to know about...


    Was he and Shen Yuan... doomed to remain as two people from different worlds?


    Would he never be able to catch up to Shen Yuan no matter what he did and how much he tried?


    Just when Xiao Tangqiu lost himself to mncholy, Tang Mianmian came up to him, stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°They¡¯re probably not in a good mood now. After all, their captain was seriously injured and in aa... I don¡¯t think they hate you or anything...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Tang Mianmian and gave him a bitter smile. If this didn¡¯t count as being hated, then what was? But he knew that Tang Mianmian wasforting him out of his kindness and didn¡¯t open his mouth to refute him.


    The two men looked at each other, not knowing what to say.


    At this time, a familiar woman¡¯s voice sounded out.


    ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve sessfullypleted another mission. Congrattions.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian turned back at the same time. A beautiful and sexy woman in ck stood not far behind them, smiling at them.


    It was Su Manluo whom they had met in thest instance.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly, ¡°Miss Su...¡±


    Su Manluo smiled faintly, ¡°Just call me Su Manluo. It seems like you¡¯ve sessfully hooked up with Shen Yuan?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile, ¡°We just happened to be in the same instance.¡±


    ¡°You entered the same instance?¡± Su Manluo couldn¡¯t help showing an expression of disbelief. ¡°S-level mission? You survived an S-level mission? That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately looked horrified. ¡°Yes! I still think that it¡¯s impossible! That S-level mission was really terrible! I can¡¯t believe we came out alive! ¡°


    Su Manluo was shocked but soon regained her calm. She looked at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian inquiringly andughed slightly. ¡°You two rookies who¡¯ve onlypleted a D-level mission actually survived an S-level mission. This is absolutely unheard of... But that¡¯s what I expect of the people that I have my eye on.¡±


    Tang Mianmian scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. ¡°We¡¯re not that great at all...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed bitterly. ¡°It¡¯s all because Shen Yuan and his team carried us through. We definitely wouldn¡¯t have made it if we were on our own.¡±


    Tang Mianmian chimed in, ¡°Yes ah, yes ah! It¡¯s all thanks to these great gods for taking us up to the clouds with them!¡±


    Su Manluo smiled, ¡°Old yers won¡¯t simply bring newbies along unless those newbies have something to offer.¡±


    Tang Mianmianughed, ¡°It¡¯s nothing...¡±


    Su Manluo went on to say, ¡°Moreover, even if you have old yers taking you, it¡¯s unlikely for the average newbie to pass an S-level mission on their second try. It seems that I underestimated you in thest instance.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was obviously ttered. Heughed and seemed to havepletely forgotten how miserable he was in the instance before.


    But Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t smile at all. The thought that Shen Yuan was still in aa weighed heavily on his mind. Right now, all he wanted to do was to find someone and ask about Shen Yuan¡¯s condition but he didn¡¯t dare to casually ask anyone. In case Shen Yuan¡¯s current condition was leaked out to others, he might get him into trouble.


    After much hesitation, he tentatively asked Su Manluo, ¡°Miss Su, do you know if there are demons in this world?¡±


    Su Manluo¡¯s face suddenly changed. Her eyes sank as a bunch ofplicated emotions shed through. There was a trace of fear and more of some unknown emotion. A momentter, she took out a cigarette from her pocket, ¡°Do you mind if I smoke?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu realized that this matter should be quite unusual so he didn¡¯t rush her. Although his heart was extremely anxious, he endured it. ¡°...Of course, please feel free.¡±


    Su Manluo lit a cigarette, the smoke clouding her expression. She waited a while, smiling faintly with a cigarette between her lips. ¡°Do you know that if you ask for this information from an information broker, it will cost you a lot of points. In this world, an important piece of information can even save your life at the critical moment... Do you know how many points the question you just asked is worth?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head honestly. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that, but if you need points, I can...¡±


    Su Manluo interrupted Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s words, ¡°There are many people here, so let¡¯s talk as we walk.¡±


    This was the transmission square of the city of the abyss. There was busy foot traffic with many people passing through. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t a good ce to discuss things. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and left the transmission square with Su Manluo.


    ~~~


    P.S. Idk if you guys have noticed but I don¡¯t have an editor mainly because I trante every day right before I release the chapter and I don¡¯t really follow a set time (due to work) so it would be hard to work with someone else. Anyways, I released an unedited chapter yesterday by mistake, so excuse the tant grammatical errors. Also, I would like to give a shoutout to Cat who made a point to list them out for me ?

 Chapter 44.2

    <h4>Chapter 44.2</h4>


    P.S. I¡¯ve added a TL note below (the words in red) but it¡¯s a little spoilery. The exnation I¡¯ve written points out an extremely important foreshadowing in the novel. It cannot be tranted because it involves the use of a homonym, and because I pointed it out, you¡¯ll definitely be able to guess what it means, which will spoil the overall experience of the novel (trust me, the author is a master at foreshadowing and it¡¯s an amazing experience slowly uncovering the truth). So, choose well ??


    ~~~


    Outside the transmission square was Newbie vige, which was full of crude, cheap houses. Several people with nk expressions were walking aimlessly on the street. Su Manluo smoked her cigarette as she asked Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, ¡°How do you two feel living in Newbie vige?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know why Su Manluo suddenly asked them that question. He paused for a moment before answering, ¡°It¡¯s okay. We¡¯ll make do.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re quite easily contented,¡± Su Manluo smiled. ¡°Do you know what kind of extravagant life the people in District S and District A lead? All the luxury and delights that you can imagine, even those that you can¡¯t think of can be found there.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was very surprised. He thought that the whole city of the abyss was like Newbie Vige, a cold and dead city. After all, these people were always on the edge between life and death.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking.¡± Su Manluo blew a mouthful of smoke, ¡°But the truth is, these people are standing in front of the abyss of death, always shrouded in fear. No one knows when they¡¯ll die, no one knows if the next person who dies will be them, so all the more they indulge themselves and pursue pleasures to the point of depravity because they are people without a tomorrow. This includes me and you... We¡¯re all people without a tomorrow.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t speak, allowing Su Manluo to continue, ¡°The first stop for everyone is Newbie vige. If newbies can bite the bullet and keep going, then they can eventually enter District D, District C, District B, and even District A and District S. Those who can¡¯t assimte may die in the instance or they may be lucky enough to pass but suffer from a mental breakdown. They won¡¯t take the initiative to enter the instance but will only wait for the system to force them into the instance and muddle through their mission... until one day they finally can¡¯t muddle through anymore and die in the instance, ending their foggy, fuddled existence.¡±


    ¡°Those who are able to assimte to this life think that they¡¯ve won. They think that they are more sessful than those who died in the instance or suffered a mental breakdown,¡± Su Manluo said with a self-deprecating smile, her voice filled with sarcasm. ¡°They think that as long as they get stronger, they can get rid of their fear of death and even get rid of all this and return to the original world... However, the truth is just the opposite.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°Then, what is the truth?¡±


    Su Manluo smiled with the cigarette between her lips. ¡°Are you sure you want to know?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and obediently gave 1,000 points each. Anyways, they had justpleted an S-level mission and had more points now.


    After the transaction, Su Manluo unfolded her sleeve and covered her wristwatch. She smiled faintly, ¡°This world is actually a game.¡±


    ¡°A game?¡± Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t quite understand what she meant, but from thebels ¡°instance,¡± ¡°mission¡± and ¡°yer,¡± it did sound very much like a game.


    Su Manluo puffed out more smoke, ¡°This is the truth that only yers in District A and above knows. The structure of this world is different from our real world. It¡¯s a triple ne world.¡±


    ¡°Triple ne world?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was dumbstruck.


    ¡°Yes, this world is made up of three worlds ¨C the city of the abyss, the instance world... and the real world.¡±


    Su Manluo smiled faintly through the misty smoke. ¡°The city of the abyss is the ce where we are staying now. It can also be called the yer world. The instance world is the one made up of countless small instances where we carry out our missions. As for the real world... it¡¯s the ce where the ruler of this world and his people live.¡±


    ¡°The ruler of this world?¡±


    He didn¡¯t know why but his heart skipped a beat at that thought.


    ¡°Yes, the ruler of this world,¡± Su Manluo¡¯s eyes shed withplex emotions again. There was a mix of fear and uneasiness. ¡°It¡¯s been said that the world was originally a chaotic abyss. He was born from the abyss and is the first and only master of this world ¨C the Abyss Demon.¡±


    ¡°He created the real world and the instance world, and lives in the real world with his people. The instance world is a battlefield of endless war with one killing game after another for him and his people to watch and enjoy...¡±


    ¡°...Killing game?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu froze at once, suddenly falling into deep thought. They had only experienced two instances, but it was indeed as Su Manluo said. The so-called instances and missions were more like arge-scale, endless killing game. NPCsunched attacks at will, yers died one after another, and survivors tried to escape... This was a game of survival, but it also a killing game.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just a game...¡± Su Manluo looked up at the Heaven tower in the distance. ¡°Some people say that the Heaven tower reaches the sky, some say that it could lead us home, and others think that it¡¯s the connection point between the city of the abyss and the real world. But who knows what the truth is.¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Does the city of the abyss, the instance world and the real world coexist in the same space? Is there any connection between them?¡±


    Su Manluo bit her cigarette and grinned, ¡°No one knows where the real world is or what it¡¯s like. We don¡¯t know anything about it. Whatever little we know about the real world was obtained by old yers from S-level missions.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian nced at each other, feeling more confused than ever. <i>What did S-level missions have to do with the triple ne world?</i>


    Su Manluo took the cigarette out of her mouth and slowly blew out a mouthful of smoke, ¡°Simply put, missions are divided ording to difficulty, from D to S. D-level missions are the simplest and the difficulty increases level by level. But aside from S-level missions being the most difficult, the most important thing is that they aren¡¯t restricted from getting close to the real world.¡±


    ¡°Due to some special reasons, yers in the city of the abyss can¡¯t reach the real world although they can enter the instance world, while demons and people of the real world are even more restricted. They can¡¯t enter the city of the abyss and most parts of the instance world. They are only allowed into a small part of the instance world, and that part of the instance world are the S-level instances that we know.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly understood. ¡°So the reason why S-level missions are the most difficult is because... there are demons?¡±


    ¡°You can think of it that way,¡± Su Manluo smiled. ¡°And the most horrible thing is that the Abyss Demon is also likely to appear in those S-level missions...¡±


    ¡°What is the Abyss Demon? A super powerful demon lord?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°Is it equivalent to the final viin in games, the big BOSS?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Abyss Demon is the first demon and the most powerful in the world.¡± A trace of fear shed in her eyes as her lips trembled slightly. ¡°If yers meet him in an S-level instance, there¡¯s basically no possibility of survival...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t understand at all. ¡°Since he¡¯s so powerful and can kill whoever he wants, then why does the city of the abyss still exist? Shouldn¡¯t it have been destroyed by him a long time ago?¡±


    Su Manluo gave Xiao Tangqiu a meaningful look, then shook her head and forced out aplicated smile. ¡°I used to wonder about this too. You¡¯ll understand it someday... if you¡¯re lucky enough to live to that day.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wanted to ask something else but when he saw Su Manluo staring into the distance with the cigarette between her fingers, looking lonely, he knew that she didn¡¯t want to continue talking about this and wisely recognized when to stop asking.


    On second thought, since the instance world was only a game created by the Abyss Demon, perhaps the big BOSS enjoyed the thrill of killing, perhaps he enjoyed watching the yers get tortured to their deaths, one by one, in the killing game even more. Thus, rather than wiping them out at one go, the Abyss Demon preferred to slowly kill them one by one.


    This reminded him of the cat that his neighbor kept when he was young. It was kept specifically to catch mice. The cat wouldn¡¯t eat the mouse immediately after catching it. Instead it would loosen its ws and let the mouse run off before rushing forward to catch it again. Then it would let it go and catch it, catch it and let it go... Only when the mouse was exhausted from being tortured like that would it finally enjoy itself, biting off its neck.


    To the Abyss Demon, yers who survived multiple missions were the same as that mouse. The poor mouse thought that it had escaped but it was only the beginning of the next hunt.


    The thought that he was just a small pawn in a killing game and that his life was merely a ything used to please others made Xiao Tangqiu powerless and at a loss. Was this the so-called truth? Was this the truth that only yers in District A and District S were eligible to know?


    For a moment, he didn¡¯t know whether to envy those yers who knew nothing because they could at least have a little hope and anticipation for the future, or to pity them because they would most likely die without knowing the truth of this world.


    <i>But was the so-called truth that Su Manluo spoke of really the truth?</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu vaguely felt something was wrong, but he couldn¡¯t tell what it was.


    ¡°What then?¡± Su Manluo suddenly changed the subject, ¡°Are you interested in joining Thorn Team now, after knowing the ¡°truth¡± of this world?¡±

 Chapter 44.3

    <h4>Chapter 44.3</h4>


    Tang Mianmian looked at Xiao Tangqiu but thetter merely grinned, ¡°No, but thank you for your invitation.¡±


    ¡°Rejected again huh?¡± Su Manluo didn¡¯t seem surprised. ¡°You¡¯re still thinking of joining Shen Yuan¡¯s team?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip and didn¡¯t answer her question. ¡°Tang Mianmian and I are both weaklings. It would be bad if we ended up getting you in trouble instead.¡±


    Su Manluo didn¡¯t insist, ¡°Then, forget about it. If you change your mind, you can contact me any time... Afterpleting an S-level mission, you won¡¯t be forced to enter another mission for a year, but my advice is not to waste an entire year or else the next mission you go on will probably be yourst.¡±


    Although Xiao Tangqiu still didn¡¯t know what Su Manluo¡¯s motive was, he knew that she had said this out of kindness. He nodded, ¡°We understand, thank you, senior.¡±


    Su Manluo smiled, ¡°It¡¯s good that you understand. I¡¯m leaving. You should also go back earlier. This is Newbie Vige. You better be careful.¡±


    As soon as her words fell, Xiao Tangqiu noticed several suspicious-looking people nearby. They were poorly dressed, thin and emaciated, with hostile gazes, and seemed to be on the move.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, with your points, you should be able to enter District D now,¡± Su Manluo paused. ¡°Not only District D, it should be enough for other districts as well. It¡¯s best if you leave here as soon as possible.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Thank you, senior.¡±


    As soon as the two entered their house, they quickly closed the door. Someone had already reached out a hand to grab them but was caught in the door.


    The man desperately tried to squeeze his way in but Tang Mianmian snorted coldly and took a bite out of his arm. The man immediately let out a cry and retracted his hand.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian took the opportunity to close the door, leaving those hostile people out in Newbie Vige under the heavy rain.


    Xiao Tangqiu panted heavily and fell to the ground with his back against the door, holding the door firmly shut with his back. The men who were chasing them still tried their hardest to smash the door, as if they wanted to break in.


    Bang, bang! Bang, bang!


    Under the fierce impact, the flimsy wooden door shook and creaked like it was about to copse.


    ¡°What the hell do they want?!¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s little face turned white as he rushed to block the door with Xiao Tangqiu. The two men propped their backs against the door to prevent the people outside from breaking the door.


    Fortunately, although this flimsy wooden door looked fragile, in fact it was extremely strong and unbreakable. As long as the owner of the house wasn¡¯t willing to open the door, the people outside couldn¡¯t enter no matter what, even if they used violence.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian fearfully leaned against the door for a long time until the people outside realized that the door couldn¡¯t be broken and the banging gradually disappeared... Those people seemed to have left.


    Tang Mianmian immediately understood. Although there was no currency in cirction in the city of the abyss, they could use points as currency. The group of malicious people must have wanted to rob them after seeing them trade with Su Manluo earlier.


    ¡°Newbie Vige is too unsafe. I think Su Manluo is right. Let¡¯s move to District D as soon as possible! The security there should be better, right?¡± There was fear lingering on his face.


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded his head. He also felt that it was time for them to leave Newbie Vige. After what happened earlier, they were probably being targeted.


    ¡°Let¡¯s fill our stomachs first. Then, we¡¯ll move.


    They didn¡¯t have any luggage either, all they had to do was leave.


    ¡°Good, good! Let¡¯s have a good meal! After eating, we¡¯ll move!¡±


    The two men stood in front of the vending machine and studied it for quite some time. This looked good, that looked good too. Although they wanted to eat everything, they didn¡¯t dare spend too much. They looked and looked and finally chose an ordinary Chinese meal.


    When Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian tasted the steaming hot rice and stir-fried dishes, they were almost moved to tears. Both men cried as they ate. After eating, they casually tidied up and were ready to move.


    At first, they were worried that the men would crouch outside and wait for them. They grit their teeth and specially bought a crossbow and a multipurpose Swiss Army knife to protect themselves.


    Xiao Tangqiu held the crossbow while Tang Mianmian held the Swiss Army knife as they carefully opened the door only to find that the men had already left. However, they didn¡¯t dare to take it lightly and cautiously held onto their weapons as they studied their surroundings.


    At this time it was already dark, and Newbie Vige seemed particrly chaotic and dangerous under the cover of the night. There were only a few pedestrians on the street. They were dressed in rags and had nk expressions on their faces. There were others hiding in the dark behaving secretively.


    Aside from that, the whole of Newbie Vige also resembled the slums. Everything was broken and in ruins and there wasn¡¯t any light at all, only a darkness that pervaded. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were very alert. When they finally crossed the run-down streets to the junction between Newbie Vige and District D, they both let out a sigh of relief at the same time.


    The difference between Newbie Vige and District D was very obvious. The houses in Newbie Vige were all dpidated and the residential building in District D that was separated by a wall looked very regr. Not only that, the streetmps on the roadside and the light from the windows of the residential buildings separated District D and Newbie Vige into twopletely different worlds of light and darkness.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t dare to dy any longer. They quickly walked towards the checkpoint between Newbie Vige and District D.


    The checkpoint was unguarded but when the two approached, a transparent screen suddenly popped up in front of them: ¡°1000 points are required to enter District D. Please confirm payment.¡±


    After clicking on the confirmation button, Xiao Tangqiu looked at his watch, and 1000 points was indeed deducted. They finally entered District D smoothly.


    Compared to Newbie Vige, the public security in District D was obviously much better. There were more pedestrians on the streets and their clothes looked much neater. At first, the two were still confused like headless flies, but they didn¡¯t dare to casually ask someone. It took a long time for them to finally find a vacant apartment to live in. Unlike Newbie Vige¡¯s simple but free amodation, the apartments in District D also needed points ¨C no more, no less, 1,000 points.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian each paid 500 points, and with that, they owned their first ce. The apartment wasn¡¯t too small. It had two rooms and a living room, which was the bedroom and another room.


    Tang Mianmian suggested, ¡°There¡¯s only one bedroom, so shall we take turns sleeping?¡±


    ¡°Up to you,¡± Xiao Tangqiu had no problem with that. Although they could own their own apartments, it was obviously safer for them to live together at this stage. ¡°...But it¡¯s a little strange. Why would they design it this way?¡±


    Tang Mianmian shrugged his shoulders, ¡°Who knows, I¡¯ll go in and have a look.¡±


    When he entered the room, he suddenly cried out, ¡°Oh my God! There¡¯s actually aputer! ¡°


    ¡°Computer?¡± Xiao Tangqiu also got a fright. There wereputers in the city of the abyss?


    He rushed into the room. Sure enough, there was an old-fashionedputer on the table. It was one of those bulky old machines... <i>Could they still ess the Inte in the city of the abyss?</i>


    Tang Mianmian turned on the machine at once, shouting excitedly, ¡°Fuck, fuck! Can we still ess the Inte in the city of the abyss? Then I can y games?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s intuition told him that it wasn¡¯t that simple. If they could really ess the Inte here, what did that imply?


    A minuteter, the old machine was sessfully turned on. However, theputer desktop was different from all theputer desktops they had seen before. The wallpaper was red and there was only one icon on the desktop ¨C a ck tail-biting serpent.


    Tang Mianmian opened the ck tail-biting serpent icon in bewilderment. Soon, a webpage popped up -¡°Wee to the Abyss City forum.¡±


    ¡°Abyss City forum? What the hell?¡± He suddenly found something, ¡°Wait a minute! There¡¯s no search engine, and there isn¡¯t a ce to enter a web address. There¡¯s no way to open other websites!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank, ¡°I¡¯m afraid this is the localwork inside the city of the abyss.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded, his face looking depressed. ¡°I think so too. We were too naive. If we can really ess the Inte, people outside would¡¯ve long known about the city of the abyss...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°You can try logging into the forum.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded. ¡°If we want to log in, we¡¯ll need to register first. It looks like we have to enter an ID first. It should be a string of numbers.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something. He quickly pressed a button on his wristwatch. Soon, a transparent screen appeared in front of him. A string of numbers were disyed on the screen. ¡°Try entering this number.¡±


    Tang Mianmian entered the numbers ording to the instructions. Very quickly, the word ¡°pass¡± was disyed on the screen. Then, he was asked to fill in his forum username. He simply entered ¡°Small Sugar Ball¡±.


    The registration was sessful.


    ¡°It worked!¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was delighted. The next second, the page automatically changed and entered the forum.


    The forum was divided into five sections ¨C the Wuhua gate, tips section, help section, trading section... There was even the divination section, emotional exchange section, etc. It dazzled the eye.


    ¡°Abyss City yer Ranking?¡± Tang Mianmian entered the divination section and casually clicked on the sticky post in red. Heughed, ¡°Will great god Shen Yuan be on this...¡±


    When Tang Mianmian opened the post, sure enough Shen Yuan was on there, and he was the first.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He quickly pushed Tang Mianmian aside, ¡°Let me have a look.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, who had been pushed aside by Xiao Tangqiu, teased faintly, ¡°If I didn¡¯t know any better, I might think that you have that sort of thoughts towards great god Shen Yuan!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly shook his hand, ¡°Definitely not.¡±


    Tang Mianmian said, ¡°Although I know it¡¯s because great god Shen Yuan looks like your friend, but you being like this... makes me think there¡¯s more to it ah!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°No way.¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked innocently, ¡°Have you been secretly in love with your friend this whole time, and take great god Shen Yuan as his substitute?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Shut up.¡±


    ~~~


    P.S. Guys I¡¯m back! Pardon the long absence. I have an allergic reaction to God knows what and I¡¯ve been to the hospital but they still can¡¯t figure out what it is so I¡¯m on a detox from everything. I¡¯ve been miserable and I look like a red puffer fish Anyways, I¡¯m better now that I¡¯m being super careful!

 Chapter 45.1

    <h4>Chapter 45.1</h4>


    Tang Mianmian cried out, ¡°What is this? I thought you liked me, but you used me as a substitute for your lover!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rebuked, ¡°Shut up!¡±


    Tang Mianmianughed, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I don¡¯t discriminate against gay men.¡±


    ¡°Shut up, you rotten man!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu ignored Tang Mianmian and turned to read the post carefully.


    He said softly, ¡°...No one knows when he first arrived at the city of the abyss. People only know that he may be among the first generation of yers toe to the city of the abyss and the only survivor among all the first generation yers.¡±


    Tang Mianmian asked, ¡°So all the other first generation yers died?¡±


    ¡°The reincarnation team established by Shen Yuan is the first team in the city of the abyss but now most of the members of the reincarnation team are not the original members. It is rumored that the reincarnation team once encountered an instance with a difficulty exceeding S-level. Except for Shen Yuan, all the other members of the first generation were killed and Shen Yuan was the only one who survived...¡±


    Tang Mianmian was dumbstruck. ¡°So all of great god Shen Yuan¡¯s former teammates have died? And S-plus level mission exists? S-level missions are already so crazy! How much crazier are S-plus level missions?¡±


    <i>Except for Shen Yuan, all the other members of the first generation were killed and Shen Yuan was the only one who survived...</i>


    <i>Shen Yuan was the only one who survived ...</i>


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt his heart mming hard against his chest. Even if he knew that it might be considered normal forplete annihtion to ur in an S-plus level mission, the thought that Shen Yuan had this sort of encounter made his chest stuffy. He seemed to be holding his breath with no way to let go or vent. He dared not imagine Shen Yuan¡¯s feelings at the time or how Shen Yuan managed to escapeter and became how he is now.


    Tang Mianmian saw that Xiao Tangqiu was lost in thought and read aloud for him, ¡°ording to unreliable rumors, Shen Yuan may have encountered the Abyss Demon in the S-plus level mission, but since no one else has survived an S-plus level mission and no one has survived the Abyss Demon in the instance, this source of information isn¡¯t reliable. But if this is true, Shen Yuan will be the only one who survived a battle against the Abyss Demon in the city of the abyss and lives up to the title of the number one yer of the city of the abyss.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all it says. There¡¯s nothing else below,¡± he continued to scroll down. ¡°We don¡¯t know the people below him... Wait a minute! I see a few people we know! Duan Hongzhen, Yu Fuling, Sai Lulu... Who is this Xue Junli? It says that he also belongs to the reincarnation team.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t snap out of his daze until now. He perked up and looked at the rest of the list with Tang Mianmian, but just like Shen Yuan, there wasn¡¯t much information on Duan Hongzhen and the others. However, the ability of the loli, Sai Lulu, was somewhat remarkable.


    ¡°Prophecy ¨C the ability to predict using divinations. Doesn¡¯t that make her a sorceress?¡± Tang Mianmian spit out a sentence, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that if she takes out a bunch of tarot cards before fighting the BOSS, she¡¯ll know what the BOSS¡¯ next moves are?¡±


    ¡°Xue Junli ¨C a gifted hacker and the think tank of the reincarnation team. Never speak ill of any of the reincarnation team members on the forum, or be careful of him hacking yourputer,¡± Tang Mianmian snickered. ¡°Why do I feel like he¡¯s a Chuunibyou? He¡¯s even a genius hacker... Can he hear me speaking ill of him across the screen?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to say something but in the next second, theputer suddenly went ck.


    Xiao Tangqiu also jumped up in fright at once. ¡°He¡¯s even here in the flesh to PK?¡±


    Suddenly, the originally ck screen returned to normal and a line of words appeared on the screen: ¡°Quickly open the door.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...A ghost!¡±


    Tang Mianmian fearfully hugged Xiao Tangqiu while thetter took a deep breath and summoned up the courage to open the door.


    When the door opened, the person standing outside left them dumbstruck.


    ¡°Duan Hongzhen?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was very surprised. ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    The person standing at their door was Duan Hongzhen whom they had been acquainted with in theirst instance... They had obviously gone their separate ways in the Abyss Square before. How did Duan Hongzhen know their new address?


    Duan Hongzhen folded his arms. ¡°I¡¯ll exin it to youter. Follow me.¡±


    With that, he grabbed Xiao Tangqiu by the wrist and dragged him downstairs.


    ¡°Wait a minute! Where are you taking me?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was shocked and frightened but couldn¡¯t shrug off Duan Hongzhen.


    Tang Mianmian ran after him. ¡°Where are you taking Qiuqiu? Let him go! Otherwise, take me with you! ¡°


    Duan Hongzhen tutted, ¡°You¡¯re so annoying. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d think that you¡¯re gay lovers.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°We are brothers in socialism!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you are, quicklye with me!¡±


    Soon, Duan Hongzhen brought them to a corner where a statue stood. It was the exact same one as the statue in the middle of the square but much smaller. Xiao Tangqiu guessed that it was also a transmission array.


    Sure enough, when they stepped into the transmission range of the statue, a transparent screen appeared in front of them. Duan Hongzhen stepped forward to click on it and a line of words popped up: ¡°200,000 points are required to enter District S. Please confirm payment¡±


    Naturally, Duan Hongzhen, as a resident of District S, didn¡¯t need to pay any more points to enter. However, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, as rookies who had just left Newbie Vige, needed to pay 200,000 points just to enter District S. For a long time, they silently counted all those zeroes, not saying anything.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have so many points...¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help muttering.


    ¡°Even if you sold us, you won¡¯t get that much!¡± Tang Mianmian also chimed in.


    Duan Hongzhen merely ignored them and clicked to confirm. Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t even feel anything as the surrounding environment changed in the next instant.


    ¡°Wee to District S, the Fallen Paradise...¡± Duan Hongzhen curved his lips in a smile. ¡°Follow me or you¡¯ll get lost in this world of opulence.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen¡¯s description wasn¡¯t in exaggeration at all. Compared to Newbie Vige and District D, District S was simply a world filled with luxury. There were modern and futuristic looking buildings everywhere. Those tall buildings towered into the sky, their topspletely hidden from below.


    Besides those buildings that looked like residential areas, there were all sorts of recreational ones ¨C casinos, hunting grounds, racetracks, and a colosseum... All sorts of colorful buildings filled both Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian¡¯s sight.


    They were overwhelmed by different forms of transportation on the street. Carriages, trams, trains, flying cars ¨C both old and modern styles coexisted. There was a sense of nostalgia mixed with a futuristic feel which made them wonder if they had crossed time and space.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized, <i>this was District S? So this was how District S was...</i>


    Duan Hongzhen was right. Compared to the slum-like Newbie Vige and District D, District S was indeed a fallen paradise filled with opulence.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian obediently followed behind Duan Hongzhen. They didn¡¯t dare to wander around casually for fear that they would be lost in this fallen city of temptations.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly remembered something, ¡°About those points... Let me make it clear to you, Qiuqiu and I don¡¯t have so many points now! Even if we sold ourselves, we wouldn¡¯t get that much!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen said casually, ¡°Then sell your bodies.¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face turned red, ¡°Sell our bodies? If the object is a beautiful rich woman, then we might be able to consider... ¡°


    Duan Hongzhen gave Tang Mianmian a smile that could be hardly called one, as if trying to say something, but at this time, his watch suddenly rang with a ding.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian watched Duan Hongzhen press a button. In the next second, a transparent screen appeared in front of them, showing a human figure. The man frowned slightly, ¡°Duan Hongzhen, have you brought him? Stop wasting time!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re heading back,¡± Duan Hongzhen said impatiently. ¡°What are rushing me for? Anyways, the captain won¡¯t wake up for a while.¡±


    After that, he hung up the video call without waiting for the man to reply.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have time to guess who the man was. He quickly asked Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Hasn¡¯t Shen Yuan woken up yet?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen expression was grim. ¡°If he woke up, I wouldn¡¯t havee to you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wondered what use there was looking for him. Despite this, he didn¡¯t speak up. Even if he didn¡¯t have a way to wake him, he still wanted to use this opportunity to see Shen Yuan.


    A few minutester, Duan Hongzhen brought Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian to the front of a building, which also towered up into the sky.


    After entering the building, Xiao Tangqiu discovered that there were no human servers in this ce. Instead, there were cleaning robots everywhere. Even the front desk was manned by a cylindrical robot. After seeing Duan Hongzhen, it greeted him with a cold mechanical voice, ¡°Wee back, Mr. Duan Hongzhen. Please register these two gentlemen.¡±


    ¡°Visitors.¡±


    ¡°Damn, it¡¯s so advanced!¡± Tang Mianmian looked amazed, but before he could take a second nce at the front desk robot, Duan Hongzhen brought Xiao Tangqiu to the elevator. He quickly followed behind them.


    Duan Hongzhen pressed on a floor button. After the elevator doors opened, the three entered.


    This was a see-through elevator so Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian could see the scenery outside. But almost immediately, the elevator started to rise at an extremely terrifying speed.


    ¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck...¡± The two men couldn¡¯t help but exim at the same time and in a few seconds, the elevator reached the designated floor. The scenery outside the ss looked extremely small now. Even if they didn¡¯t have a fear of heights, this would definitely bring it out of them.


    When Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian walked out of the elevator, they were once again shocked by the sight before them. The hall that extended as far as the eye could see was covered in soft carpeting, huge crystal chandeliers and all kinds of gold and silver ornaments. It was as if they had identally walked into a hotel specially built for the rich.


    ¡°What luxury!¡±


    ¡°How extravagant!¡±

 Chapter 45.2

    <h4>Chapter 45.2</h4>


    The both of them continued to make theirments in a hushed voice and were led by Duan Hongzhen to a room that looked like a living hall. It was veryrge and also covered with soft carpeting and luxurious decorations.


    There were several people sitting on the sofa in the middle of the living room. They were Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu, whom Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian knew from the previous instance, while the remaining one was the person they had just seen on Duan Hongzhen¡¯s screen.


    While Xiao Tangqiu was still secretly guessing who that person was, thetter spoke first, ¡°Duan Hongzhen, you finally brought him back. I thought you died.¡±


    God knows when Duan Hongzhen took out his knife again. He smiled and said, ¡°There aren¡¯t many people who can kill me in the city of the abyss.¡±


    The man gave Duan Hongzhen a look, stopped talking and turned to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, ¡°Which one of you is Xiao Tangqiu?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, ¡°I am.¡±


    Compared to Duan Hongzhen, this man was an alluring young man with beautiful eyes, elegant eyebrows, red lips and white teeth.


    He was very young and didn¡¯t even look 20 yet. He looked to be around 17 at most.


    ¡°I am Xue Junli.¡± The young man didn¡¯t beat around the bush and went straight to the point, ¡°Are you the one that caused Shen Yuan to fall into aa?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused and gave a wry smile, ¡°That should be me.¡±


    Xue Junli looked at Xiao Tangqiu, his gaze somewhatplicated, but it was fleeting. Then, he snorted coldly, ¡°He still hasn¡¯t woken up until now. Do you know why?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Go through everything that happened carefully and don¡¯t leave out any details,¡± Xue Junli said to Xiao Tangqiu in amanding tone.


    Xiao Tangqiu paused and began to narrate what happened at the time.


    ¡°...And then I fell unconscious. I don¡¯t know what happened after.¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s expression wasplex. ¡°You said Shen Yuan finally put his hand through your chest?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel a stabbing pain in his heart. His body seemed to recall the feeling at the time. He reached out and touched his chest subconsciously. ¡°Yes, it hurt...¡±


    Xue Junli ignored Tang Mianmian. He coldly looked at Xiao Tangqiu and said, ¡°The pain that Shen Yuan suffered was 100 times more than what you felt. You were parasitized by Lippinobert at the time. If your heart were eroded by the demon, you would¡¯vepletely turned into a demon... He used his own body to absorb the fragment of ¡®demon¡¯s heart¡¯ that invaded your heart. No matter how much pain you felt, his pain was 100 times or 1,000 times more than yours.¡±


    ¡°The demon¡¯s heart? Fragment?¡± Xiao Tangqiu mumbled these words in a daze, not knowing how to respond.


    ¡°The Abyss Demon divided his heart into several fragments. Each fragment is a special prop ¨C the demon¡¯s heart. Those who take the demon¡¯s heart will be reduced to lower demons without a mind if they can¡¯t bear the overwhelming power of the demon¡¯s heart. If they can bear it, they will get the power contained in the demon¡¯s heart, but at the same time, they will gradually lose their minds while they grow stronger and eventually be demons.¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s tone was calm without waves, ¡°You should be d that you haven¡¯t be a lower demon who has lost his mind. Instead, Shen Yuan is one step closer to the demon...¡±


    <i>One step closer to the demon...</i>


    Listening to Xue Junli, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have any reaction for some time. Although he had vaguely guessed that Shen Yuan¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t very good, he didn¡¯t expect it to be this bad.


    ording to Xue Junli, the demon¡¯s heart could turn people into low-level demons without intelligence. If Shen Yuan hadn¡¯t made his move at the time, he would¡¯ve be a low-level demon by now... But why did Shen Yuan save him at the time?


    The atmosphere in the living hall was extremely solemn. Even Tang Mianmian, who was a little confused with the situation, didn¡¯t dare to make a sound. Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a moment before he struggled to ask, ¡°What will happen now that Shen Yuan absorbed the demon¡¯s heart in my body? How is he now?¡±


    Xue Junli said tly, ¡°I don¡¯t know. We¡¯ve tried everything but there¡¯s no way to wake him up. That¡¯s why we brought you here as ourst hope... Almost no one can bear the great power of the demon¡¯s heart, even if it¡¯s only one fragment. At least, Shen Yuan is the only one we know so far who has absorbed the demon¡¯s heart.¡±


    ¡°As for those who absorb two fragments of the demon¡¯s heart at the same time... we¡¯ve never heard of such a person before. It¡¯s unprecedented so we don¡¯t have any prior cases to refer to.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment and finally summoned up the courage to say, ¡°Can I see him?¡±


    Xue Junli asked coldly, ¡°You have a way to wake him up?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t, I just want to...¡± Xiao Tangqiu bit his lips. Although he knew how pathetic he sounded saying this, he still grit his teeth and continued, ¡°I just want to personally see... how he is now...¡±


    ¡°Why should we let you?¡± Yu Fuling sneered coldly, ¡°Will older brother Shen wake up?¡±


    Sai Lulu scoffed at them, ¡°Exactly! Older brother Shen was forced to absorb the second demon heart fragment and fell into aa because of you... ¡°


    Xue Junli interrupted Sai Lulu, ¡°I don¡¯t think Shen Yuan did it for him.¡±


    Sai Lulu suddenly froze. Xue Junli took a look at Xiao Tangqiu, his tone calm as he said, ¡°I believe that no matter who was parasitized at that time, whether it was you or Yu Fuling or even Duan Hongzhen, Shen Yuan would do the same thing. That¡¯s who he is.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen arched an eyebrow, ¡°What do you mean even me?¡±


    Xue Junli ignored Duan Hongzhen¡¯s taunt and told Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°You and your friend can go back. Forget what happened before and watch your mouth, otherwise you won¡¯t want to know what the consequences are.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at Xue Junli¡¯s cold expression. He stuck his neck out and demanded, ¡°Can you let me see him once? Even one nce is enough. I just want to see how he is now... ¡°


    Xue Junli refuted firmly, ¡°No need. Duan Hongzhen, see our guests out.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you stinky brat,¡± Duan Hongzhen looked at Xue Junli with an arched eyebrow. The rtionship between the two was obviously not very harmonious. ¡°Don¡¯t think that just because the captain is in aa, you can order me around.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing quarrelling at this time?¡± Yu Fuling frowned slightly. ¡°Duan Hongzhen, you send them out first. We have to discuss what to do next.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen shrugged, ¡°Mmm, I¡¯ll listen to you, I¡¯ll listen to you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wanted to continue pleading with them but Xue Junli and Yu Fuling had already turned around and assumed a cold expression that indicated their refusal to continue talking. He sighed and could only reluctantly follow Duan Hongzhen to leave.


    After leaving the living hall, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ask Duan Hongzhen, ¡°You really can¡¯t let me see Shen Yuan?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen shrugged, ¡°If you have a way to wake up the captain, I can take you to see him.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was still a little unwilling to let go, ¡°Is it really impossible?¡±


    The three of them walked along the long corridor back to the elevator and were about to enter. Thest bit of hope in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart wilted.


    But just then, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly heard a soft meow.


    ¡°Meow~¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze. It wasn¡¯t strange to hear meowing, but it was strange to hear it here.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s gaze followed the source of the meowing and at the corner of the corridor ahead, appeared a small ck cat with smooth, shiny fur and beautiful emerald green eyes, just like a pair of mysterious gems.


    ¡°A cat? Where did ite from?¡± Tang Mianmian also noticed the ck cat.


    ¡°It actually ran out. That never happens,¡± Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, sounding a little strange. ¡°It has nevere out to meet outsiders before.¡±


    As soon as Duan Hongzhen¡¯s words fell, the ck cat walked towards Xiao Tangqiu in a refined manner, using its emerald green eyes to examine him.


    Xiao Tangqiu was rather puzzled. In the next second, a white cat appeared. The white cat was covered in luscious fur and had a pair of glittering, crystal blue eyes. As soon as it saw Xiao Tangqiu, it immediately pounced on him.


    Xiao Tangqiu, who got a fright, subconsciously stumbled backwards but the white cat followed him, meowing softly and rubbing his calf with its little head.


    ¡°What the hell? Qiuqiu, when did you be catnip?¡± As a cat lover, Tang Mianmian was very jealous of this. ¡°You clearly said before that cats aren¡¯t automatically drawn to you! You lied to me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was also very puzzled. ¡°I¡¯m really not ah...¡± Although he liked cats very much, they hardly ever came up to him on their own. This was the first time he encountered such a thing.


    After rubbing against Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s calf, the white cat turned and ran a few steps forward. Then, it stopped and looked back at Xiao Tangqiu.


    The ck cat seemed to have finally finished examining Xiao Tangqiu. It quietly gave Xiao Tangqiu another meow.


    Xiao Tangqiu was confused. ¡°Is it talking to me?¡±


    The ck cat stood up, turned around and looked back at Xiao Tangqiu.


    Tang Mianmian suddenly thought of something, ¡°It seems to be asking you to follow...¡±


    Looking at the ck and white cats that looked as if they were inviting him, Xiao Tangqiu first hesitated then followed.


    Duan Hongzhen arched his eyebrow but didn¡¯t mean to stop Xiao Tangqiu, so he was able to follow the two cats through the long corridor to a room at the end of the corridor without any obstruction.


    This room looked ordinary and didn¡¯t seem special, but when Xiao Tangqiu stood in front of the door, his heart started pounding wildly for some reason. He didn¡¯t think it was polite to barge into someone else¡¯s room so he couldn¡¯t help but pause at the door.

 Chapter 45.3

    <h4>Chapter 45.3</h4>


    While he was still hesitating, the two cats crouched in front of the door, one on the left and the other on the right. The green and blue eyed cats stared at him enchantingly, as if enticing for him to open the door.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath and pushed the door open.


    Behind the door was an ordinary room ¨C not veryrge, with only a few pieces of ordinary furniture and in the center of the room was a big wooden bed, where therey someone.


    Xiao Tangqiu froze but the two cats nimbly jumped on the bed and climbed to the right and left side of that person.


    The man lying in bed was Shen Yuan who was still in aa.


    Shen Yuany in bed, looking as weak as ever. His eyes were shut tight, long eyshes hanging down and face pale and fragile like porcin.


    The two cats crouched by Shen Yuan¡¯s shoulder, one on the left and the other on the right, softly meowing, as if gently calling their owner, but he couldn¡¯t hear them.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s chest felt like it had tightened into a ball. He approached Shen Yuan¡¯s bed in a trance. When he finally stood in front of Shen Yuan, his breathing grew short and rapid and his heart pounded faster and faster... But he was afraid that his heartbeat and breathing would somehow disturb Shen Yuan so he tried his best to slow down his breathing and calm his heart.


    Xiao Tangqiu stood by Shen Yuan¡¯s bed, looking down at the person sleeping in bed while he carefully held his breath.


    Right then, he suddenly noticed Shen Yuan eyshes quivering slightly. Just when he suspected that it was an illusion, he realized that Shen Yuan¡¯s eyelids had also moved gently.


    Could it be...


    At this moment, he waspletely unable to control his heartbeat.


    Ba-dum!


    Ba-dum!


    At the same time Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was beating rapidly, Shen Yuan¡¯s eyshes suddenly trembled violently.


    Then, he slowly opened his eyes.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s gaze unexpectedly collided into Shen Yuan¡¯s. Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes, which had just woken up from aa, were deep like a bottomless, immeasurable sea and like the ends of a dark, incapacitating abyss.


    This one nce felt so distant; it was as if he had been aeons away.


    However, it onlysted a moment and immediately disappeared without a trace.


    Shen Yuan blinked, his eyes seeming strange and vacant. He looked straight at Xiao Tangqiu who was in front of him, as if he were a stranger he was seeing for the first time.


    Xiao Tangqiu was too overjoyed that Shen Yuan had regained consciousness to think about Shen Yuan¡¯s abnormality. At this time, Tang Mianmian also noticed that Shen Yuan had woken up. He cried with excitement, ¡°Shen Yuan is awake! Shen Yuan is awake!¡±


    Shen Yuan stared straight at Xiao Tangqiu, his alienated gaze filled with curiosity. He seemed very interested in Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°How are you feeling now?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t wait to ask Shen Yuan,pletely missing Shen Yuan¡¯s detached expression. ¡°Do you feel ufortable anywhere...¡±


    Shen Yuan asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu froze.


    He was dumbstruck for some time, failing to react. He asked in a daze, ¡°Don¡¯t you remember me?¡±


    Shen Yuan stared straight at Xiao Tangqiu and asked again, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his mouth and was about to say something, but for a moment, he didn¡¯t know what to say. Who was he? Who was he to Shen Yuan?


    Just then, the door was suddenly opened from outside and a group of people rushed up. It was the members of the reincarnation team.


    ¡°Older brother Shen! Are you awake?¡±


    ¡°Older brother Shen, you finally woke up!¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s teammates swarmed in and surrounded Shen Yuan who had just awakened, pushing Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian aside.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t even have the chance to answer Shen Yuan¡¯s question before he was made to stand at the back of the crowd. He could only watch Shen Yuan from afar and swallow down the words the moment they reached his lips.


    ......Shen Yuan had amnesia?


    Or perhaps Shen Yuan had only forgotten him?


    Very quickly, his question was answered because in the next moment, Shen Yuan looked at Duan Hongzhen and the others, frowning slightly, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen froze, ¡°Captain, don¡¯t you remember us?¡±


    Shen Yuan lightly nced at Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Should I know you?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen was speechless for a moment but finally, Xue Junli spoke, ¡°Don¡¯t you remember us? Do you still remember who you are?¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes sank, ¡°...Me?¡±


    ¡°Who am I?¡±


    So Shen Yuan had really lost his memory! And it¡¯s wasplete retrograde amnesia!


    After learning the truth, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know whether he should be relieved or worry for Shen Yuan. In this killing game full of cruelty and death, losing his memory obviously meant double the danger, but at the same time, a dark corner of his heart was d Shen Yuan hadn¡¯t forgotten him alone.


    Yu Fuling asked incredulously, ¡°Older brother Shen, you really don¡¯t remember anything? You don¡¯t remember us or who you are?¡±


    Shen Yuan didn¡¯t answer, his gaze mild and faint.


    ¡°Older brother Shen, I¡¯m Sai Lulu and she¡¯s Yu Fuling,¡± Sai Lulu tried to remind Shen Yuan. ¡°He¡¯s Xue Junli and he¡¯s Duan Hongzhen... Do you remember us?¡±


    Shen Yuan still didn¡¯t respond. His gaze swept past Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu andnded on Xiao Tangqiu who was in the rear. His eyes were dark and deep, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could answer, Xue Junli opened his mouth and interrupted their eye contact. ¡°Although Shen Yuan woke up, he can¡¯t remember anything now and it¡¯s not convenient for him to receive visitors... So please go back first.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu froze; he didn¡¯t expect Xue Junli to chase them off as soon as Shen Yuan woke up. Although he could also tell that in the presence of so many people, aside from Shen Yuan who had amnesia, the others obviously didn¡¯t wee him.


    ¡°But...¡±


    Yu Fuling said coldly, ¡°Please go back.¡±


    Xue Junli looked at Duan Hongzhen and said, ¡°Send the guests out.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow and looked displeased, ¡°Don¡¯t order me around.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have let them simply run around and enter Shen Yuan¡¯s room,¡± Xue Junli said coldly. ¡°Don¡¯t you know how Shen Yuan¡¯s condition is now? What if they have bad intentions?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°Isn¡¯t the captain alright now? He even woke up?¡±


    Xue Junliughed coldly, ¡°Nothing happened to Shen Yuan this time, but it¡¯s not an excuse for your carelessness. What if something happens to him?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen rolled his eyes at him, ¡°Forget it, the captain finally regained consciousness. I won¡¯t argue with you. I¡¯ll send them back now ok?¡±


    At this point, Xiao Tangqiu naturally didn¡¯t have a reason to stay. Although Shen Yuan was still looking at him with a persistent gaze and seemed to be waiting for his answer, Shen Yuan¡¯s teammates were like invisible barriers,yer uponyer standing between them.


    Before being forcibly taken away by Duan Hongzhen, he seized the opportunity, opened his mouth and yelled, ¡°Xiao Tangqiu! I¡¯m Xiao Tangqiu...¡±


    Shen Yuan paused for a moment, his expression darkening and his eyes seeming to roam about as he quietly repeated the name, ¡°Xiao... Tang... Qiu...¡±


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu...¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s voice was very soft, but in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s ears, it was a stone that stirred up a thousand waves.


    He looked at Shen Yuan through the crowd as if he were in a trance... The way Shen Yuan called his name was too simr to Meng Xinghe, whether it was the pronunciation or tone. But before he could react, he and Tang Mianmian were dragged away by Duan Hongzhen.


    This time, nothing else happened and soon, they had returned to the doors of the building.


    The robot at the front desk greeted them, ¡°Are you going out, Mr. Duan Hongzhen?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen casually responded, ¡°Mmm, I¡¯m seeing the visitors out. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back at the elevator, sighed and followed Duan Hongzhen out of the building.


    They crossed the busy streets again and returned to the front of the transmission array.


    They were about to return to District D when Xiao Tangqiu asked Duan Hongzhen somewhat reluctantly, ¡°How do we return the 200,000 points? You won¡¯t give it away for nothing, will you?¡± As soon as he left, there wouldn¡¯t be any reason or opportunity for him to see Shen Yuan. He could only grasp at straws.


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows and seemed to recall the 200,000 points. ¡°Although 200,000 points isn¡¯t a lot, it¡¯s still a sizeable amount so it¡¯s only natural that you should repay your debt. But I don¡¯t think you have it, do you?¡±


    ¡°Just because we don¡¯t have it now doesn¡¯t mean we won¡¯t have itter,¡± said Xiao Tangqiu, gritting his teeth. ¡°Won¡¯t we have it after weplete a few more missions?¡±


    Just then, Tang Mianmian, the innocent passerby, said, ¡°Wait a minute! It wasn¡¯t our wish toe to District S. You guys were obviously the one who brought us here by force! This debt of 200,000 points is so unfair!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen arched an eyebrow. ¡°But sooner orter you wille to District S... as long as you can make it out.¡±


    ¡°Then what if we die in the next instance?¡± Tang Mianmian puffed in anger.


    Duan Hongzhenughed, ¡°That makes sense. Then, I¡¯ll give you a discount. The both of you just have to return 100,000 points.¡±


    Without even thinking, Tang Mianmian said, ¡°100,000 is still a lot...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled, ¡°Then, 10,000.¡±


    Tang Mianmian pushed his luck, ¡°A little less...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen arched his eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re still bargaining? Are you buying vegetables at the market?¡±

 Chapter 46.1

    <h4>Chapter 46.1</h4>


    Tang Mianmian repeated himself, ¡°From the very start, you were the one who insisted on bringing us to District S. You begged us to wake your captain up. Now that he¡¯s awake, you ask us for points. We haven¡¯t even asked you to pay for the medical treatment yet!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen nced at Tang Mianmian and thetter immediately took a few big steps backwards, shrinking behind Xiao Tangqiu in fear. ¡°Of course, we owe you these points. Naturally, we must still pay you back...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen shrugged, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll give you a t rate. 50,000 points, okay?¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded at once, ¡°100% ok! Then we will... ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly covered Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth. ¡°I want to pay in installments!¡±


    ¡°Installments? Don¡¯t you guys have at least 50,000 now? Didn¡¯t you justplete an S-level mission?¡± Duan Hongzhen arched his eyebrow, emphasizing the words, ¡°...With our help.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately said, ¡°Thank you great god for taking us along with you... But we still need some points to buy weapons and equipment, or we might really die in the next instance. I believe you don¡¯t want to see this happen as well.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Why not?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu offered, ¡°... I¡¯ll return it to you after the end of my instance. I¡¯ll even give you 60,000.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled and mocked, ¡°I don¡¯t need that 10,000 points. In case you die in your next instance, I won¡¯t even have 50,000.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    He felt that he shouldn¡¯t have mentioned returning the points at the beginning. Why did he open his stupid mouth?! Why?!


    ......But if he didn¡¯t mention this matter, he might not have a reason to see Shen Yuan anymore.


    Duan Hongzhen looked at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression with great interest. But after awhile, he seemed to have had enough of fooling around. Then he said slowly, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll allow you to pay it back after the end of your next instance, but you¡¯ll have to pay 70,000 points.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and reached a consensus, so they both nodded in agreement to this method of repaying their debt.


    After the three reached a consensus, Duan Hongzhen patted his bum and left while Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian returned to their new home in District D.


    The two had been running all day and were so tired they fell to the floor as soon as they got home.


    Tang Mianmiany on the ground, poking Xiao Tangqiu who was beside him. ¡°What should we do afterwards?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up at the ceiling and said, ¡°We¡¯ll rest for a week, then we¡¯ll do another mission and save enough points so we can return Duan Hongzhen what we owe. Then, we¡¯ll continue to do more missions, save points and try to move to District S as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Move to District S? Do we really want to move there?¡± Tang Mianmian rolled over and looked at Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°Although we can now enter District S whenever we want, the stuff over there must consume a lot of points and we, rookies, are broke as fuck...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu poked Tang Mianmian¡¯s head, ¡°Who among the great gods in District S didn¡¯t start from being poor rookies? If they can do it, why can¡¯t we?¡±


    Tang Mianmian argued, ¡°But Duan Hongzhen said that District S is a decadent ce. What if we lose ourselves to the decadence when we enter District S?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Apart from the luxury and pleasures, there must be some secrets in District S that we don¡¯t know of. Otherwise, why would all those people run to District S? They¡¯ve survived so many close encounters, wandering between life and death all the time. Did they go there just for enjoyment?¡±


    Without a second thought, Tang Mianmian agreed, ¡°There seems to be some truth in that.¡±


    ¡°And I believe that the environment has a very huge impact on people. Look at those who live in Newbie Vige? Their eyes and their attitudes... We¡¯ve just arrived in the city of abyss and may not be affected by them for the time being. However, if we stay in Newbie Vige for a long time, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll be influenced by them and be just as numb to everything. We¡¯ll end up muddling along, trying to survive.¡± Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°I think this is the real reason why Su Manluo told us leave Newbie Vige as soon as possible.¡±


    When one has stayed in a room full of orchids and irises for a long time, one can no longer detect the fragrance. When one has stayed in an abalone store for a long time, one can no longer smell the stench... The effect of one¡¯s environment and the assimtion to it was very frightening.


    ¡°That makes sense!¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly turned over and got up, his eyes filled with resolve, ¡°Hearing you say this, I¡¯ve also began to think that we shouldn¡¯t waste time! We¡¯ll pick up another mission right away to save points and try to move to District S as soon as possible!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°It¡¯s not that urgent. Let¡¯s rest for a few days, then gather information on the forum while exercising to improve ourbat effectiveness. We¡¯ll purchase all the equipment and weapons we need before we leave.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°That sounds perfect!¡±


    The two originally nned to rest for a few days but because of a sudden sense of crisis, they only took one day off and began to prepare for the next mission. First, they went on the abyss forum to collect information, only to find that most of the free public posts didn¡¯t have anything important or useful. Basically, when it came to key information, they needed to pay. So they gritted their teeth and spent quite a bit of points and finally got some valuable information.


    Generally speaking, the first few missions of a neer, who had just entered the city of the abyss, were all D-level missions, which is probably a method to protect rookies. Next, the mission will be upgraded ording to the skill and potential of the yer. Some people may undergo 10 D-level missions before they have the chance to receive C-level ones whereas some may onlyplete 3 D-level missions before they receive C-level ones. But, there were also people of good skill and potential who could receive A-level missions and above from the very start. However, up till now, no one has been able to analyze the criterion for judging such skill and potential. Some people think it¡¯s brute force while others think it¡¯s brain power. Yet neither side has been able to convince the other until now.


    In the beginning, Xiao Tangqiu also felt that it could be either brute force or brain power but then he remembered the group of neers he met in the S-level instance before. No matter how he looked at it, they didn¡¯t look like people with enormous strength or extraordinary mental prowess... Indeed, the judgment standards were a mystery.


    He went on to scroll down and found that some people pointed out that the ¡°system¡± might temporarily raise the difficulty of the next mission ording to the yer¡¯s performance in the previous one. However, if the yer¡¯s performance is only average in the mission where the difficulty was temporarily raised, the difficulty in the next mission would return to the original difficulty. But the system¡¯s judgment standards on this matter were also a mystery.


    Looking up to here, he couldn¡¯t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although he didn¡¯t know what the criterion were, this at least proved that his and Tang Mianmian¡¯s next mission was unlikely to be an S-level one.


    As for the division of mission difficulty, there wasn¡¯t a specific standard on the forum, but it was divided into several categories ording to the overall content of the task ¨C disaster movies, horror movies, fairy tales, science fiction movies, war movies, etc. The poster put forward corresponding weapons and equipment suggestions for different categories.


    Following these suggestions, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian bought some weapons and equipment that they thought might be useful for their next instance. They also got some food supplies and at the same time, they persisted in long-distance training everyday. Finally, they were ready to set off for the next mission in one week¡¯s time.


    ¡°If only the system store had secret Wulin martial arts teachings such as the Dragon Eighteen Palms and the Six Pulse Immortal Sword...¡± Before departure, Tang Mianmian sighed at Xiao Tangqiu andmented.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°How is that possible? Even if there was, can you learn anything with your current root veins? Even if you could, you would have to learn for at least several years. By then, your body would already be cold. ¡°


    Tang Mianmian said reluctantly, ¡°Can¡¯t you think in a more mysterious direction? For example, what if you could learn all martial arts in an instant by tapping these Wulin secret teachings on your forehead! Even if we don¡¯t have martial arts, magic is also good ah. One Avada Kedavra and the big BOSS is dead!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stretched out a hand and patted Tang Mianmia on the shoulder. ¡°You should go to sleep earlier in the future. It¡¯s better for you to sleep more.¡±


    The two arrived at the abyss square, looking around in a daze. Besides them, there were a lot of other people here to enter the instance. In the front of the transfer modules, many people came and went ¨C someughing, some crying. It was a scene of constant joys and sorrows.


    They found two empty transfer modules next to each other. After lying in the transfer module, they took out a white card at the same time. Skill cards were divided into ordinary skill cards and special skill cards. Ordinary skill cards were all white, and what they were holding was a one-time ¡°teammate binding¡± card.


    ¡°Dear yers, congrattions for epting the D-level mission ¡°Death yground.¡± Your mission objective is to escape from the Death yground. The time limit is 1 day. After the mission ispleted, you will receive 500 points. If the mission fails, you will immediately be obliterated.¡±


    ......


    At the sound of the familiar mechanical voice of the system, Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes. He looked down and found that the one-time ¡°teammate binding¡± card in his hand had indeed disappeared. He quickly went to look for Tang Mianmian. As soon as he found Tang Mianmian lying not far in front of him, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.


    It seemed that this ¡°teammate binding¡± card was indeed useful.


    Xiao Tangqiu was with Tang Mianmian in thest instance by pure coincidence because they had entered the transfer modules at the same time. They found out on the forum that two people who entered the transfer module together wouldn¡¯t enter the same instance. They bought a ¡°teammate binding¡± card to ensure that they would enter the same instance. Aside from this one-time ordinary prop card, there were also some special props that would allow yers to stay as a team for a long time. As long as they used these special props, no matter how many people entered the transfer modules at the same time, they would enter the same instance. Xiao Tangqiu guessed that Shen Yuan and his teammates used such special props.


    Just then, Tang Mianmian also woke up and the two reunited.


    ¡°This looks like a D-level mission,¡± Tang Mianmian touched his chin. ¡°it doesn¡¯t seem too difficult...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said tly, ¡°Don¡¯t take it lightly. You can drown in shallow waters.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°Of course.¡±


    Before the others woke up, the two began to look at the environment of the instance. This time, the instance was obvious at a nce ¨C they were standing at the gates of an amusement park which seemed deserted. The four words on the signboard were mottled and peeling off, leaving only thest two words ¡°amusement park¡± faintly visible.


    It seemed that this amusement park was the instance they were supposed to enter this time and their mission objective was very simple ¨C to escape from this amusement park.


    To be precise, it was to leave this amusement park alive.

 Chapter 46.2

    <h4>Chapter 46.2</h4>


    At this time, the others woke up one after another. Aside from Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, there were five other people. Unfortunately, these five people were obviously neers who had just entered the game.


    ¡°What is this ce?¡±


    ¡°Why am I here? Who are you? ¡°


    ¡°Is this some sort of trick game...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and felt like daughters-inw that had finally be mothers-inw. After being rookies for so long, was it finally their turn to be veterans?


    But they were rookies who had only experienced two missions!


    Looking at the group of ignorant neers, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel as if they were looking at a group of kids who were crying to be fed. At this time, he was finally able to feel a little bit of what the old yers had felt when they saw neers.


    He and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and decided to be kind older brothers. He simply exined the current situation. Once the instance officially began, he and Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t take care of this group of newbies. After all, they were all in danger. Now, they could only tell them what little they knew so that this group of newbies would make fewer mistakes and take fewer detours. As for whether this group of newbies epted their exnation or not, it was none of their business. They were already considered extremely kind.


    The five newbies this time were all young people. Perhaps young people had a higher degree of epting new situations so they quickly epted what Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian said. Although they still had some doubts, they were at least not as rash as the newbies that Xiao Tangqiu met before, loudly rejecting the situation despite knowing nothing.


    There were three men and two women, basically college students or fresh grads. Among the three boys, one looked like he was good in sports and had a really good body and physique, another was a chubby geek wearing sses and the other was a handsome boy who was well-dressed. The handsome boy and the other beautiful girl seemed to be lovers. They were holding hands and the boy was gentlyforting the girl the entire time.


    In addition to the pretty girl, there was another girl who looked more ordinary. She stared warily at the people around her, apparently full of doubt towards everything, only partially believing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s words.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t force them either, ¡°...You can choose to believe what I say or not. To tell you the truth, my friend and I are just rookies who have justpleted two missions. This is as much help as we can give you.¡±


    They looked at each other, apparently still sizing each other up. Just then, the sporty student took the lead in saying, ¡°I believe what you said. I heard... the voice earlier. It suddenly appeared in my head.¡±


    ¡°I would like to reserve my opinion,¡± snorted the chubby geek. ¡°I¡¯ve yed a lot of horror escape games so I¡¯ve seen a lot of games like this... I need to see it for myself before I can believe you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Feel free.¡±


    Just then, the handsome boy suddenly said, ¡°Since you said our mission is to escape from this amusement park, if we don¡¯t go in the beginning, does that count aspleting the mission?¡±


    He arched an eyebrow, looking very confident, ¡°So many horror movies are started by the main characters themselves. If we don¡¯t seek death in the beginning, wouldn¡¯t the horror movie never start?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°That makes sense. Your attitude of not seeking death is worth encouraging...¡±


    ¡°Of course, you can also set an example and prove to us whether this kind of loophole can be exploited or not.¡±


    The handsome boy snorted, ¡°There¡¯s no point for empty talk. Do we have to believe everything you say?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s tone was calm, ¡°You can choose not to believe me. This is your right.¡±


    ¡°Who knows if what you said is true or not. If we go straight back, we might be able to go home soon. There¡¯s no need to enter this stupid amusement park!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°You can give it a try.¡±


    The handsome boy turned around and found that besides the amusement park in front of them and the space within a few meters of their feet, the surrounding environment was shrouded in a murky darkness. Looking at that, he couldn¡¯t help but gulp.


    ¡°Alright, alright, it¡¯s better if we listen to our predecessors and go in!¡± Seeing this, the sporty student quickly came out to y mediator.


    The handsome boy stuck out his neck and insisted, ¡°I¡¯ll wait outside! Maybe nothing will happen... ¡°


    ¡°Then, you can wait outside,¡± Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t even bother to give him another look, turning to Tang Mianmian. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go in.¡±


    Tang Mianmian took a deep breath and finally made up his mind. ¡°Go! Let¡¯s y this instance!¡±


    The two men took the lead in walking towards the broken gates of the amusement park. When they approached the gates, it creaked open on its own.


    Sporty Students and Chubby Geek hesitated for a moment, but they still followed up. The two girls looked at each other and nervously followed them as well.


    Finally, the handsome boy was left alone outside.


    He stiffly twisted his neck and looked back at the endless darkness behind him and ran after the people in front of him, trembling with fear.


    When thest person walked into the amusement park, the broken gates slowly closed again.


    Compared to thest instance, the starting time of this one was at night. When Xiao Tangqiu entered the amusement park, he found that the whole park was also shrouded in darkness, a nk sheet of ck where it was impossible to even see your fingers if you stretched out your hand.


    As he hesitated whether or not to take out his nuclear-powered shlight, there was a sound of a machine starting up not far in front of them.


    ¡°Whirr, whirr...¡°


    The crowd immediately jumped in fright and looked up. It turned out that the carousel in front of them suddenly started up. The carousel was decorated with colorful lights and when it started up, it shone in all sorts of colors, bing the only visible light source in the night. As the carousel started turning, a children¡¯s song noisily broke through the silence of the night.


    This was an unknown children¡¯s song, the tune unfamiliar and the sound effect poor. The young and tender child¡¯s voice had a strange eeriness to it. Just as all their attention was focused on the carousel, a clown appeared on the carousel.


    This was a typical clown, with funny colors painted on his face and a fake, red nose. He was dressed in a pompous andical manner. When he opened his mouth to speak, his tone was artificially exaggerated to the extreme, ¡°Wee to the Death yground, I¡¯m your friend, Uncle Clown~¡±


    No one answered and they looked at each other, feeling very uneasy.


    Xiao Tangqiu calmly looked at the clown and then at the yground through the colorful lights from the carousel.


    There wasn¡¯t a doubt that this was an amusement park that had been abandoned for many years. The facilities were old and backward, and everything was broken, the entire ce filled with a bleak atmosphere. Even the carousel on which the clown was sitting was mottled and the paint was peeling.


    ¡°From now on, we will y a game, the name of which is called...¡± The clown continued to use grandiose tone, ¡°Whoever is lucky will live to the end!¡±


    ¡°Whoever is lucky will live to the end?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. What did this mean? Would they have to draw lots to decide whether they lived or died?


    ¡°Hee-hee hee-hee,¡± the clownughed. ¡°There are four attractions in this amusement park. Not everyone has to take part in these four games. Only half of you are needed for each game...


    ¡°Half of us?¡± They all looked at each other. Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°How do you decide who ys and who doesn¡¯t?¡±


    At this moment, anyone with a normal IQ would know that these games were definitely not the regr attractions in a regr amusement park. Naturally, they prayed that it wasn¡¯t them. If they were allowed to make their own decision, then surely no one was willing to y these games.


    ¡°Ding, ding, ding! The answer is-¡± The clown smiled and took out a colorful box from behind him,¡± Of course, a lottery! In this colorful box, half of these are red balls and the other half are ck balls, and the person who draws the red ball is the lucky yer!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly gasped. It really was a lottery!


    This kind of instance, which didn¡¯t rely on strength or experience but purely on luck was too unreasonable, wasn¡¯t it?!


    Everyone had a different look on their faces. Most of them looked serious, which obviously meant that they usually didn¡¯t have good luck. Only the geek quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously his luck was usually pretty decent.


    ¡°It¡¯s twelve o¡¯clock! Game on! Will the 14 yers please go to the first event ¨C Spooky House!¡±


    ¡°Finally, I¡¯d like to give you a warning... Don¡¯t believe a word the clown says!¡±


    ......Don¡¯t believe a word the clown says?


    Did the clown mean himself?


    Just when Xiao Tangqiu was still puzzling over the matter, he was suddenly shocked. Wait, 14 yers?!


    Where did the 14 yerse from?


    Before he could react, the loud chime of a clock came from a distance.


    ¡°Dong-¡°


    ¡°It¡¯s a clock!¡± Tang Mianmian was the first to react.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately looked up. As expected, an old-fashioned clock tower appeared in the distance. No, perhaps the clock tower had always existed, but it was shrouded in darkness earlier, so they didn¡¯t notice it.


    At the top of the clock tower was a huge glowing clock. It was a huge, four-sided clock. No matter which corner of the amusement park they were at, as long as they looked up, they could see it. The time was clearly shown on it and it was exactly 12 midnight now. However, it was strange that this clock only had the numbers from 12 to 6 on it. The numbers after that had disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu soon understood, ¡°Our game time is only from 12 midnight to 6 am... We must leave here before 6 am.¡±


    ¡°The game has started? It seems very exciting!¡± Just then, a burst of excited discussion suddenly rang out.


    ¡°The clown can really act! It¡¯s just like the real thing!¡±


    ¡°Very good! Very good!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and found something wrong in an instant. What they were facing now was a life and death crisis. Who would be in the mood tough and joke?


    When they looked back, they were immediately surprised. Apart from the seven of them, there were seven more people who had unexpectedly appeared God knows when... With the sudden appearance of these seven people, didn¡¯t that add up to 14 people?


    The other newbies also looked in horror at the seven people who had suddenly appeared. They hadn¡¯t heard any footsteps just now. It was as if they had appeared out of thin air.

 Chapter 46.3

    <h4>Chapter 46.3</h4>


    Aside from their sudden appearance, these seven people look no different from ordinary tourists. They were dressed casually andfortably, carryingrge bags and small bags, and holding a map of the amusement park in their hands... Compared to them, Xiao Tangqiu and the other yers looked more like outsiders who had unknowingly entered.


    At this time, they also seemed to have noticed Xiao Tangqiu and the others, greeting them warmly, ¡°Are you also yers? What a coincidence! Let¡¯s go together then!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at these people silently. Tang Mianmian turned and smiled. ¡°Yes! Have you yed this game before? You¡¯re so well prepared but we haven¡¯t prepared anything! ¡°


    ¡°No, but I¡¯ve heard other people talking about it!¡± One of the men said, ¡°You¡¯re a little less prepared than we are. Although the game time is only six hours, you may get thirsty and hungry on the way. But it¡¯s alright, we brought extra and can share some with you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great then!¡± Tang Mianmian turned his gaze on them again and continued to quietly spy on them. ¡°We came too hastily and didn¡¯t have time to understand anything. Can you tell us anything? How exactly is this game yed?¡±


    ¡°Yes, no problem. Let¡¯s talk as we walk!¡±


    Before they all left, the handsome boy suddenly yelled out, ¡°The gates have disappeared!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back and sure enough, the gates that they came through had disappeared and turned into a wall. Even if they were afraid and wanted to go back to where they came from, it wasn¡¯t possible.


    The other group of people disagreed, grinning as they said, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s some kind of mechanism! Isn¡¯t this kind of mechanism verymon in amusement parks?¡±


    ¡°Why the big surprise? I heard that the facilities in this amusement park are very high-tech! You haven¡¯t seen such a thing, have you?¡±


    At the time, the air was filled with a happy atmosphere.


    The handsome boy looked at the wall, then at Xiao Tangqiu and others, and finally closed his mouth wryly.


    ¡°The clown is gone!¡±


    At this time, Tang Mianmian also cried out. They all turned to look over there. Sure enough, the carousel was still turning, but the clown was gone.


    ¡°The clown should be waiting for us at the first game!¡± A man with a map said, ¡°Let¡¯s not dy any more. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Everyone cheered except Xiao Tangqiu and the yers he came with.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start quickly! I can¡¯t wait!¡±


    ¡°This looks really exciting!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! Our first stop seems like a haunted house!¡±


    The two men discussed in a low voice.


    ¡°But we¡¯ve never met such NPCs before...¡±


    NPCs that were ¡°yers¡±?


    ¡°Maybe there really is such an NPC?¡± Xiao Tangqiu spected, ¡°If they¡¯re also yers, they shoulde in from outside like us.¡±


    ¡°Forget it, whatever. It doesn¡¯t have much impact on us anyway,¡± Tang Mianmian said. Rather than focus on the identities of those people, finding a way to live was the most important thing. ¡°Maybe they can provide us with some useful information.¡±


    Anyways, at least those people had important props such as maps in their hands.


    And they seemed to know where to go next.


    Sure enough, under the guidance of the map in the hands of the group, they soon came to the so-called first game ¨C a haunted house that looked extremely horrible and frightening from the outside.


    But no matter how horrible it looked, it couldn¡¯t change the fact that the haunted house had been abandoned for many years. The surrounding area was overgrown with weeds, and the walls were covered in cobwebs, dusty and dirty everywhere. This sense of desertion added a bit of gloominess and horror to the haunted house.


    At first, Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t sure whether the haunted house was their destination, but he soon decided that it should be right because along the way, all the other game facilities except this haunted house were damaged beyond form and the wood on some of the facilities had been eroded by time.


    Most importantly, at the door of this haunted house stood a sculpture of a clown, exactly like the clown they had seen before.


    As Xiao Tangqiu and the other yers gradually approached the haunted house, something magical happened ¨C the deserted and dark haunted house suddenly lit up. Although the light was dim and flickering and looked like it would go out at any time, it seemed as if the originally ¡°dead¡± haunted house hade alive in an instant.


    That¡¯s right,e alive.


    At the same time, the clown sculpture at the entrance of the haunted house suddenly moved.


    ¡°Fuck! It moved!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s moving! It¡¯s moving!¡±


    Compared with the uneasiness and fear of Xiao Tangqiu and the others, the other group sounded more and more excited. Under twopletely different reactions from the 14 yers, the clown sculpture came to life.


    ¡°Wee to the haunted house!¡±


    The clown said in an exaggerated tone, ¡°This haunted house is very thrilling. You may even lose your life! Cowards had better not enter! But... it¡¯s not up to you to choose! Because everything is fated!¡±


    He took out a wooden box from God knows where. There was obviously something rolling in the wooden box, and there were quite a few of those things inside. His tone was bewitching, ¡°Come on! yers, let¡¯s draw lots and let fate decide!¡±


    ording to the rules of the game as exined by the clown at the beginning, not everyone needed to y in every event. Only the yers who drew the red ball would be in trouble. The red balls and the ck balls are equally divided. In other words, only half of them had to enter this haunted house.


    Everyone looked at the box in the clown¡¯s arms with rapt attention. Some of their gazes were filled with expectation and others were full of resistance. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and smiled bitterly at the same time. If they could choose, of course, they were willing to give the opportunity of ¡°exploring¡± to the other team. However, as the clown said, they couldn¡¯t choose. Everything was up to fate.


    The seven ¡°yers¡± rushed up to the clown and couldn¡¯t wait to draw lots. The clown smiled and handed the wooden box to the first one.


    ¡°It¡¯s a red ball!¡±


    ¡°Why is it a ck ball...¡±


    The people who drew the red ball were in high spirits. The people who drew the ck ball were depressed. Soon, the seven yers were done drawing lots. Three of them drew the red ball and the other four drew the ck ball. Soon, it was Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s turn.


    They all looked at each other. Nobody wanted to be the first to draw lots. Xiao Tangqiu sighed and decided to take the lead.


    He calmly walked up to the clown and put his hand into the wooden box. There were still a few balls left in the wooden box. He touched them one by one. Each ball felt almost the same. They were cold and didn¡¯t seem to have any difference.


    His luck had always been quite bad and he had only won several prizes since he was young. Just as he was hesitating about which ball to take, he suddenly met the clown¡¯s gaze. The clown was staring straight at him; his painted face seemed to be smiling very eerily.


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, subconsciously letting go of the ball he was holding and picking up the ball next to that one.


    The clown¡¯s eyes gleamed coldly again.


    Xiao Tangqiu loosened his hand once more... The clown seemed tough again.


    So he grabbed the ball without any hesitation.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t wait to take out the ball and look at it. He was a little surprised but the result wasn¡¯t unexpected ¨C it was a ck ball.


    The clown looked coldly at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s ck ball and seemed a little unwilling.


    Tang Mianmian was the next one to draw lots after Xiao Tangqiu. He felt around in the wooden box for a long time like Xiao Tangqiu did, touching this ball and that ball. He looked at the clown¡¯s expression from time to time and finally he made up his mind, picking out his ball.


    It was also a ck ball.


    Tang Mianmian immediately breathed a sigh of relief and ran to stand beside. Xiao Tangqiu.


    The remaining few people were trembling with fear. Those who drew the ck ball all breathed a sigh of relief. Those who drew the red ball all looked chagrined. The chubby geek was second tost. He didn¡¯t fight with the others to draw lots, obviously very confident in his luck.


    He walked over confidently to the clown. After touching a red ball, he instantly showed an expression of disbelief.


    ¡°How...... how is this possible? £¡¡±


    Now there was only one ball left. Seven red balls and six ck balls had been drawn. The result was self-evident.


    The handsome boy who had been afraid to draw lots cheered and rushed forward to grab thest ball. Sure enough, it was a ck ball.


    ¡°It¡¯s a ck ball! Great!¡±


    The geek still looked incredulous. ¡°How is that possible? My luck has always been very good! This is impossible!¡±


    Tang Mianmian squinted at the geek and said gloatingly to Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°It seems that even kings of luck also has bad luck sometimes. Us jinxes also have a day when we overturn the king of luck ah!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t even have the time to breathe a sigh of relief for their luck because in the next second, he subconsciously felt that something was wrong. The geek was so confident about his own luck and his confidence level in his luck wasn¡¯t that which could be cultivated by striking it a few times in ¡°one more bottle.¡± In contrast, his luck had always been quite bad and Tang Mianmian, who had finally gotten a proper role after ying characters with only a few lines for so many years, only to be forced to y this unlucky game of life and death had even worse luck. It was possible for the king of luck to descend into the fate of a jinx but what was the likelihood of two jinxes sessfully overturning the king of luck at the same time?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know why, I suddenly have a...¡±


    Tang Mianmian quickly put his hand over Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth. ¡°Fuck! Shut up! Don¡¯t you dare say it!¡±


    Just then, the clown burst outughing, ¡°Congrattions to the yers who got the ck ball! You get a lucky chance to enter the haunted house!¡±


    Everyone froze at the same time. Fuck! Wasn¡¯t this different from what was agreed?!


    Tang Mianmian blurted out, ¡°Fuck! You lied to us? Didn¡¯t you just say that whoever got the red ball would enter the haunted house?!¡±


    The clown smiled at Tang Mianmian. His colorful, painted face looked strange and eerie and under the light from the haunted house. ¡°I did say that! But I also said just now... don¡¯t believe the clown!¡±

 Chapter 47.1

    <h4>Chapter 47.1</h4>


    The clown had just finished speaking when the crowd was immediately in uproar.


    All of a sudden, both those who had gotten the red ball and those who had gotten the ck ball had a change in expressions. Some people were disappointed, some relieved, others had copsed in disbelief. Naturally, these people were the unlucky one who had fallen from heaven to hell in an instant.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    <i>Sure enough!</i>


    He knew that he and Tang Mianmian weren¡¯t so lucky!


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression was veryplicated. He gave Xiao Tangqiu a look, his face filled with bitterness. ¡°You jinx!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...me me.¡±


    <i>Clearly, the clown was duplicitous. How could he me him for being a jinx?</i>


    ¡°You said earlier that those who get the red ball have to go into the haunted house! How can you go back on your word?¡± The handsome boy who had been smug about taking the ck ball immediately started shouting.


    Although the others didn¡¯t dare to shout at the clown, their expressions clearly implied the same thing.


    The clownughed strangely, ¡°This is my yground! Naturally, the rules will be made by me!¡±


    The handsome boy felt as if his breath was stuck in his chest. His face turned red while the others looked pale and humbled. Although they were very resistant to the clown¡¯s deception, they had to bow down to whoever was in charge.


    However, with the exception of Xiao Tangqiu and his party, the other people who didn¡¯t have a chance to enter the haunted house looked really disappointed.


    ¡°Alright! Those who didn¡¯t get it will have another chance! Those who were picked shoulde with me!¡± The man with the map had drawn a ck ball. He put away his map and began to organize a haunted house expedition team. ¡°Grab your shlights! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Obviously, this group of people had already made preparations for the haunted house expedition. Each person had a shlight. But because not everyone could enter the haunted house, the rest had to reluctantly lend their shlights to Xiao Tangqiu and several others.


    Tang Mianmian gingerly took the shlight and looked at the haunted house, which had an eerie vibe even without any sound and lighting effects. He gulped and hid behind Xiao Tangqiu silently.


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Tang Mianmian but didn¡¯t say a word. Although the two of them had gone through several instances, this guy was still as timid as ever.


    The man in the lead had already entered the haunted house with a shlight. Xiao Tangqiu also brought Tang Mianmian inside, but the handsome boy still resisted. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go in ...¡±


    This guy turned to run, but he smacked right into the clown¡¯s painted face. The clown grinned at him, the corners of his lips almost reaching his eyes.


    He fearfully took a few big steps back and fled into the haunted house at once.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡±


    He bumped into Tang Mianmian, startling him. He also cried out, ¡°Ahhh, ahhhh!¡±


    The shrieks of the two men went up a pitch, one after another, and Xiao Tangqiu finally couldn¡¯t bear to watch them any longer. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    Tang Mianmian stopped and red at the boy, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    The boy shook as he said, ¡°Just... just now, that clown... was so scary...¡±


    Tang Mianmian rolled his eyes at him. ¡°Hasn¡¯t the clown been like that the entire time?¡±


    ¡°No! The clown... ¡°


    Seeing that the boy was still trying to argue, Xiao Tangqiu quickly interrupted, ¡°Stop arguing, let¡¯s go. The people in front have already left!¡±


    Besides the three of them, the other four were from the other team. They were walking in the front and hadn¡¯t stopped because of the loud cries of Tang Mianmian. Instead, they simply walked forward and at this time, some distance had gradually grown between them. If they didn¡¯t catch up, they would definitely fall behind.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickened his pace to catch up, while Tang Mianmian shrank behind Xiao Tangqiu and the boy shrank behind Tang Mianmian. The three men maintained this formation and soon caught up with the others in front.


    Once in the haunted house, Xiao Tangqiu could clearly feel that the temperature had fallen several degrees. There wasn¡¯t a light source in the haunted house. Although they had the shlight, it couldn¡¯t blot out the dark. No one knew what was hidden in the darkness and this unknown darkness was the most terrifying.


    However, because there were people in front of him, he wasn¡¯t that afraid. He was actually more terrified of monsters that would kill them rather than the ¡°scary ghosts¡± in ordinary haunted houses. This fear made him carefully watch out for anything that might kill him.


    From time to time there came a girl¡¯s screams in front of him. Xiao Tangqiu immediately became more alert. However, when he walked to the front, he didn¡¯t find anything. Nothing popped up at him and there wasn¡¯t a scary ¡°ghost¡± either, only a pile of broken, moldy wood and some damaged props ¨C a skull with big hole in its eye socket, stic eyeballs rolling all over the floor, half of a skeleton, a red axe missing its cutting edge, and a broken mirror.


    What was there to be afraid of?


    The deeper Xiao Tangqiu went, the more puzzled he became. After countless times of hearing screams and mentally preparing himself, finding nothing, breathing a sigh of relief, hearing screams and mentally preparing himself and so on again... he gradually became numb and even began to suspect that they and the four people in front were not in the same haunted house.


    Even Tang Mianmian and the boy had gotten used to it. They soon forgot their differences and began to make fun of the situation, ¡°Heh! It¡¯s not scary at all!¡±


    ¡°Why are the people in front blindly shouting? Clearly, it¡¯s not terrible at all! What a bunch of cowards! ¡°


    ¡°The skull earlier had a big hole in one of its eye sockets, as if it had one big eye and one small hahaha....¡±


    ¡°From one nce, you can tell the axe is blunt. The staff didn¡¯t sharpen it ah.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at the two men behind him and wanted to say something but suddenly he saw a dark shadow behind the boy...


    <i>Wait! Wasn¡¯t that boy thest person in their small team? How could there be anyone behind him?</i>


    He didn¡¯t have time to think about it, immediately crying out, ¡°There¡¯s someone behind! Run!


    As soon as his words fell, the shadow that was still some distance away from the boy suddenly jumped to the back of the boy.


    ¡°Don¡¯t frighten me, how is it possible...¡±


    The boyughed and turned around only to see the skull with a big hole in its eye socket. Only half its skeleton body was left and it was suspended in mid-air while its hand was holding up the blunt red axe.


    He cried and stumbled onto the ground, watching the red axe fall suddenly!


    At this critical juncture, Xiao Tangqiu quickly took out the crossbow he had exchanged points for and shot an arrow at the skull!


    He was very fast, moving at an unprecedented speed. He thought that it would be toote but he somehow managed to make it in time.


    He pulled the string!


    And shot!


    Because he didn¡¯t undergo much training, Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t urate enough. The arrow that had been shot at the red axe was deflected and hit the skull by mistake. The short-range shot had great impact and the skull was pierced by the arrow in an instant!


    The skull that had been hit by the arrow fell to the ground and rolled several meters away.


    He put down the crossbow, only to find that he had been so nervous that his palms were cold and his ears were filled with the pounding of his drum-like heart. Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum!


    However, before Xiao Tangqiu could breathe a sigh of relief, the skull that had been hit by the arrow came back to life and slowly floated to the front of them. It turned its back on Xiao Tangqiu and the others and seemed to be awkwardly looking for its body.


    ¡°Run!¡± He let out a cry, then turned and pulled Tang Mianmian to run. As for the boy who fell to the ground in fright, he didn¡¯t have the energy to care about him.


    But he also managed to snap the boy out of his trance with that shout. The boy woke up with a start, quickly scrambled to his feet and started running unsteadily.


    The four people in front also seemed to have heard the movement behind them and shouted and ran. Xiao Tangqiu had no time to carefully find his way around. He could only blindly follow the people in front of him. As he ran, he prayed desperately that there was only one way out of the haunted house and that there weren¡¯t any forks or dead ends.


    He ran and ran, but his stamina was insufficient. Tang Mianmian pulled him to run again. The two men ran after the people in front of him. Just then, Xiao tangqiu suddenly discovered something was wrong. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong!¡±


    He cried out breathlessly, ¡°How long have we been running? Why haven¡¯t we seen the exit yet! This isn¡¯t right! It¡¯s too far! How can there be such a big haunted house!¡±


    Tang Mianmian also realized something off. ¡°Yeah... it¡¯s been over 20 minutes! We should¡¯ve reached the exit after running for so long! How can this haunted house be so big!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked in front. The four people ahead of them were still running like crazy. They didn¡¯t seem to find anything wrong with the situation, didn¡¯t realize that the passage was too long and they didn¡¯t show any sign of exhaustion.


    But Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were just ordinary people. They were already very tired and would soon reach their limit.


    ~~~


    P.S. There¡¯ll be another update tonight. I had some problems with the sitest night and I was too tired to wait lol

 Chapter 47.2

    <h4>Chapter 47.2</h4>


    ¡°What the fuck is going on here? Are we in a ghost domain ?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s voice was filled with despair.


    Right now, Xiao Tangqiu felt that his lungs were burning, which was probably the consequence of breathing too hard. He nced behind him out of the corner of his eye, only to find that the boy and the skull with the axe had disappeared since God knows when.


    <i>Did the boy fall behind?</i>


    ¡°Wait a minute! Stop!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly stopped and pulled Tang Mianmian.


    Tang Mianmian was immediately very nervous, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Something¡¯s not right...¡± Xiao Tangqiu stood still and did his best to calm his breathing, trying to observe the movements around him. However, he could only hear the shortness of breath between him and Tang Mianmian. Aside from that, there was only dead silence.


    ¡°No footsteps...¡±


    Tang Mianmian finally reacted, ¡°Fuck! You¡¯re right ah! Why aren¡¯t there any footsteps? I don¡¯t hear anyone else either!¡± The passage in the haunted house was very narrow, and the sounds from more than ten meters away could clearly be heard. There was no reason that they wouldn¡¯t hear anyone else..


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around with his shlight. There was nothing special about the ce they were standing at. It was as old and shabby as all other ces and filled with a sense of decrepitude. Dust and broken props was all around.


    ¡°The skull!¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly discovered something and shouted, pointing to the corner ahead.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked in that direction and sure enough, the front corner seemed very familiar ¨C skull, stic eyeballs, blunt red axe, broken mirror... <i>Wasn¡¯t this the ce they had just passed?</i>


    But from the moment they entered the haunted house there was only one road in front of them and there weren¡¯t any forks. <i>How did they get back here?</i>


    ¡°This is a ghost domain! This must be a ghost domain!¡± Tang Mianmian spoke with conviction.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked ahead. The four people who had been running in front of them had also disappeared. He didn¡¯t know whether they had just lost them or if they had lost them from the very start.


    ¡°Wait a minute! There¡¯s something in the mirror!¡± He suddenly discovered something.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t these the other four people who came in with us?¡± Tang Mianmian seemed to recognize them. ¡°How did they get into the mirror? What about that coward?¡±


    The figures of the four people quickly shed across the mirror and then disappeared.


    ¡°Have they all been sucked into this mirror?¡± Tang Mianmian frowned and said, ¡°Then how do we save them? Smash this mirror? But this mirror was broken to begin with... ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something. He took out his own nuclear powered shlight and looked in the mirror.


    All of a sudden, three more figures suddenly appeared in the mirror. It was Xiao Tangqiu, Tang Mianmian and the boy. They too quickly ran past the mirror.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this us?¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. ¡°What¡¯s happening? Why are we in the mirror as well?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t say anything because he wasn¡¯t sure. He silently picked up the shlight and looked into the mirror again. The figures of the four people ran past the mirror again in horror. He picked up his shlight and looked into the mirror again. Sure enough, the man who ran through the mirror turned into the figure of Tang Mianmian and the boy.


    At this point, Tang Mianmian finally discovered that something was wrong. He frowned, ¡°What¡¯s happening? Don¡¯t tell me... ¡°


    Tang Mianmian hadn¡¯t finished speaking when suddenly a burst of footsteps sounded from the front of them and a person appeared before them.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately became rmed, but when the man approached, he realized that it was the cowardly handsome boy. The boy ran towards them trembling uncontrobly. ¡°Why did you run so fast? I thought I fell behind! You almost scared me to death! Why didn¡¯t you wait for me?!¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Phew, so it¡¯s you! I thought it was... ¡°


    ¡°Who did you think it was?¡± The boy walked towards them with a puzzled expression.


    Xiao Tangqiu was very alert. He quickly took out his crossbow and pointed it at the boy. ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡±


    The boy jumped in fright. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu narrowed his eyes slightly. ¡°Weren¡¯t you running behind us? How did you get in front of us?¡±


    Tang Mianmian also reacted at once, ¡°Yes! You were clearly behind us, how can you be in front of us?¡±


    Although they weren¡¯t able to figure out their direction in the haunted house, they had been moving forwards and the boy had obviously been following them. How could he appear in front of them?


    The boy scratched his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know ah. I keep running forward. I was wondering why this haunted house is so big that I can¡¯t make it to the end even though I¡¯m running in the right direction! I¡¯ve been running in this direction! But how did you guys get here? Did you guys turn back?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the boy quietly, but he couldn¡¯t see any w in the other party from his eyes to his facial expression. At this moment, he suddenly had a brainwave and frowned as he asked, ¡°What¡¯s your girlfriend¡¯s name?¡±


    The boy suddenly paused for a moment. After a while, he asked nkly. ¡°Girlfriend? I don¡¯t have a girlfriend yet!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. Before he could react, Tang Mianmian shouted, ¡°You¡¯re really a fake!¡±


    The boy suddenly froze. ¡°Fake? What do you mean by fake?¡±


    ¡°You obviously have a girlfriend! Why did you say that you don¡¯t have one? You¡¯re clearly a fake!¡± Tang Mianmian grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand and turned to run in the opposite direction.


    ¡°Wait! Wait for me!¡± The boy cried hastily.


    Naturally, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian ignored him. They turned around and dashed away.


    The two men ran in the dark haunted house, their shlights casting a dim light on the walls. Only their hurried footsteps could be heard in the dark.


    Xiao Tangqiu had no idea where they were running to or where they should run to. He could only run under Tang Mianmian¡¯s continuous dragging.


    As he was running, he suddenly realized that his and Tang Mianmian¡¯s footsteps had disappeared God knows when!


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked and immediately wanted to tell Tang Mianmian about it. However, when he tried to speak, he found that his voice had also disappeared.


    He desperately tried to shout, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t make a sound, as if someone had taken away his voice.


    It was as if all the sounds in this world had disappeared.


    Tang Mianmian, who was in front of him, didn¡¯t seem to find any abnormalities. He was still pulling Xiao Tangqiu and running desperately.


    Xiao Tangqiu tried to push Tang Mianmian¡¯s hand away in order to attract his attention, but after struggling several times, he still failed to break free. Tang Mianmian had huge strength to begin with, but now it seemed like he was much stronger.


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t seem to sense Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s struggle at all. He was still holding onto his wrist as tight as iron shackles.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t scream and couldn¡¯t shake him off. He grew more and more anxious. Atst, he gritted his teeth and used all his strength, finally seeding in throwing his hand off.


    Right when Xiao Tangqiu shook off Tang Mianmian¡¯s hand, he instantly felt a shrill wind blowing into his ears.


    At this moment, he could only hear the high-pitched whoosh of the wind as if it was the only thing in the world.


    But after the wind disappeared, he found that he could finally hear normally again!


    He could finally hear sounds again!


    However, before Xiao Tangqiu could breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly found that Tang Mianmian, who was in front of him, had gone missing God knows when and there was no one around.


    <i>Where was Tang Mianmian? Where did Tang Mianmian go?</i>


    He anxiously searched for Tang Mianmian, but at this moment, suddenly a pitter-patter of footsteps came from behind him. At first, he thought that it was Tang Mianmian and quickly turned around, crying out uneasily, ¡°Tang Mianmian?¡±


    But soon, he found that it wasn¡¯t Tang Mianmian because there was more than one set of footsteps. In fact, there were several.


    When those people approached, Xiao Tangqiu discovered that it was the other group of people, that is, the four yers who had walked in front of them at the beginning... No, it seemed that there was one of them missing.


    One person was missing, so now there were only three people left. Besides that, they looked rather flustered. Some had dirty and torn clothes while some were covered with wounds and blood all over their faces. When they saw Xiao Tangqiu, they immediately showed surprise, ¡°You¡¯re still alive? Where are the others? ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu was secretly alert inside but he didn¡¯t appear so on the surface. ¡°Where¡¯s the other person?¡±


    ¡°He... he... fell behind.¡± The girl¡¯s eyes were red and she shook as she spoke, ¡°It¡¯s so scary. We were walking just now when we suddenly met a skeleton with an axe! At first we thought it was a staff member, but it suddenly swung its axe and chopped at Da Yong. Da Yong subconsciously blocked it with his hand... Then his hand was cut off...¡±


    ¡°That was a real axe!¡±


    ¡°We were scared and turned to run... We ran and ran and realized that Da Yong was missing... And then we met you...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°Missing?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he disappeared when we were running. What¡¯s going to happen to him?¡± The girl asked Xiao Tangqiu with reddish eyes. ¡°He will be fine, right?¡± The result of disappearing in this strange ce was naturally self-evident, so she had only asked Xiao Tangqiu to seekfort and assurance.


    Xiao Tangqiu said lightly, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

 Chapter 47.3

    <h4>Chapter 47.3</h4>


    Seeing the three peopleing towards him, he subconsciously took a step back.


    The girl didn¡¯t seem to notice Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s vignce at all and asked with teary eyes, ¡°Shall we go back to get Da Yong together?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said calmly, ¡°I won¡¯t go. If you want to, you guys can go without me.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± The girl approached Xiao Tangqiu, step by step, questioning Xiao Tangqiu with red-rimmed eyes, ¡°Isn¡¯t Da Yong ourpanion? How can we leave Da Yong alone?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took another step back, ¡°Da Yong is yourpanion, not mine.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t wepanions?¡± The girl let out a cry and suddenly descended upon Xiao Tangqiu.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu had stepped back warily, the girl¡¯s ability to jump far was surprisingly good. That¡¯s not right, he should say that it was far beyond the ability of a normal person. She jumped in front of him in an instant and threw him to the ground.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt dizzy for a while being thrown to the floor by the girl. Before he could respond to being thrown down by a girl for the first time in his life, he looked up and almost peed his pants from fright. The girl¡¯s face was horrifyingly ferocious. A long scar ran across her whole face, the wound was long and deep, with flesh falling apart and visible bones.


    However, the most terrifying thing wasn¡¯t the wound on her face, but the cut on her neck. It was so deep it almost decapitated her. This made her head a little wobbly, as if it would fall off her neck at any moment.


    Xiao Tangqiu could even imagine the scene at the time ¨C the killer with the axe first hacked at the girl¡¯s most precious face, then at her beautiful neck with its axe. He gritted his teeth and pushed hard at the person who was pressing down on him. However, the ¡°girl¡± was so strong that he could hardly move.


    ¡°Stay... be ourpanion...¡± The girl looked at Xiao Tangqiu with her nted head, which made it look even more wobbly. The visual effect was really scary.


    Xiao Tangqiu gnashed his teeth and suddenly took out his crossbow. Using the crossbow, he hit the girl on her head. The girl¡¯s already wobbly head finally flew off. She subconsciously reached for her falling head.


    Right now!


    Xiao Tangqiu took the opportunity to push the girl away, got up and turned to run.


    Xiao Tangqiu ran in the dark. He didn¡¯t know how long he ran before he finally stopped, panting heavily. He rested his hands on his knees as he looked around. Where was this?


    When he saw the scene in front of him, his blood froze instantly ¨C skull, stic eyeballs, blunt red axe, broken mirror... He was actually back here again!


    Did this ce go round and round, back to the same spot? Was there no exit?


    If that was the case, would they never get out of here?


    Three?


    Xiao Tangqiu was instantly alert.<i> Was it the three of them again?</i>


    But when they ran to him, he was immediately surprised to find that the three people were Tang Mianmian, the boy, and... him?!


    When seeing the third person that looked exactly like himself, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt uneasy all over. At the same time, Tang Mianmian and the others had also caught sight of him and immediately blurted, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Two Xiao Tangqius!


    ¡°Fuck! How can there be two Qiuqius!¡± Tang Mianmian was shocked. ¡°Who¡¯s the real one and who¡¯s the fake!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hastily yelled, ¡°Of course it¡¯s me! I¡¯m the real one!¡±


    The other ¡°Xiao Tangqiu¡± also cried, ¡°I¡¯m the real one!¡±


    ¡°Tang Mianmian! I¡¯m the real Xiao Tangqiu!¡± Xiao Tangqiu tried hard to defend himself, ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask me anything about myself!¡±


    The other ¡°Xiao Tangqiu¡± wasn¡¯t afraid either. ¡°Tang Mianmian! Quickly ask!¡±


    Just then, the boy suddenly interjected, ¡°Wait! We weren¡¯t separated from your friend just now. The three of us have always been together. This guy who suddenly ran out and imed to be your friend is too suspicious!¡±


    On the other side, Tang Mianmian expressed hesitation as well. Xiao Tangqiu suddenly thought of something and subconsciously took a step back. Earlier, when he and Tang Mianmian were separated, at that time that ¡°Tang Mianmian¡± was also very suspicious. How could he be sure this Tang Mianmian was the real Tang Mianmian?


    ¡°You see he¡¯s guilty! He isn¡¯t your friend at all!¡± The boy cried triumphantly, ¡°Quickly run! Don¡¯t let him trick us!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly and looked at the ¡°Tang Mianmian¡± standing near to him. He wasn¡¯t familiar with the boy so he couldn¡¯t tell if he was a fake or not. But if it were Tang Mianmian, how could he make sure that this Tang Mianmian was the real Tang Mianmian?


    Just as he was hesitating, there came another sound of footsteps behind him. He looked back in surprise. It was Tang Mianmian and the boy.


    The two men were panting heavily as they ran. After seeing Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Tang Mianmian¡± who was in front immediately shouted, ¡°Run! Both of them are fake! They¡¯re all ghosts! Once you go with them, you¡¯ll be a ghost!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was immediately shocked. There were six people at the scene! Two ¡°Tang Mianmians¡±, two newbies, and two of him!


    Soon, the other Tang Mianmian, who had arrivedter and the newbie stood next to Xiao Tangqiu forming a confrontation with the three opposite figures.


    Just then, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly discovered that their stance on this side was exactly the same as that on the other side. The person standing in front of him was ¡°Xiao Tangqiu¡± on opposite side. Theypletely looked like a mirror image of each other!


    ...... Wait, mirror?


    He instantly remembered the broken mirror in the corner. It was in that mirror that he saw some strange reflections.


    <i>That¡¯s right! The mirror!</i>


    At this time, ¡°Tang Mianmian¡± on the opposite side got mad. ¡°You¡¯re ghosts!¡±


    ¡°Tang Mianmian,¡± who was next to Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t give in either, ¡°Clearly you¡¯re the ghosts!¡±


    While the two ¡°Tang Mianmians¡± confronted each other, Xiao Tangqiu nced quietly at the corner. Very quickly, he found the broken mirror and saw what he wanted to see in the mirror... Sure enough, the mirror reflected the real scene.


    After seeing the reflection in the mirror, Xiao Tangqiu was shocked at once. He was the only one in the mirror!


    No boy! No Tang Mianmian! He was the only one!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hair stood on end in an instant, while the two ¡°Tang Mianmians¡± continued to confront each other. He turned around and ran away without a second thought.


    As soon as he ran, the two ¡°Tang Mianmians¡± suddenly shouted at the same time, ¡°Xiao Tangqiu! Wait for me!¡±


    Naturally, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t dare to continue listening to them. He turned and dashed off but behind him came two ¡°Tang Mianmians¡± who chased after him, crying out, ¡°I¡¯m your best friend Tang Mianmian ah! You can¡¯t leave your best friend behind!¡±


    Never mind that the two ¡°Tang Mianmians¡± sounded bitter, but their seemed to follow Xiao Tangqiu everywhere. No matter how fast Xiao Tangqiu ran, the two voices followed him closely and seemed to be getting closer and closer-


    ¡°I¡¯m your best friend...¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t leave your best friend behind!¡±


    ¡°Are you leaving me behind?¡±


    The two voices got closer and closer, and finally, it was as if they were in his left and right ear. He instantly felt two cold breaths blowing into his ear, making him shiver uncontrobly.


    ¡°Stay...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was in a trance for a moment, but soon woke up. ¡°No!¡±


    If this was before when he didn¡¯t have much attachment to living, maybe he would choose to stay, but now...


    He suddenly took out two exorcism talismans, turned around and threw them out, one sticking to each ¡°person.¡±


    Perhaps it was because of histent potential that broke out in the time of crisis, he managed to hit the ¡°bullseye¡± in one go. When the two ¡°Tang Mianmians¡± touched the exorcism talismans, a burst of shrieks broke out immediately and then they slowly melted away.


    Watching ¡°Tang Mianmian¡± melt in front of his eyes, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mood was veryplicated, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the ¡°Tang Mianmians¡± that had melted into two pools of ck liquid slowly condensed together again!


    He couldn¡¯t help but grit his teeth. Although he and Tang Mianmian prepared for a supernatural instance and had purchased some talismans and props for exorcising ghosts and evil spirits, the advanced talismans and props were too expensive. Theirbined points weren¡¯t enough, so in the end, they gritted their teeth and bought five low-level exorcism talismans. The low-level exorcism talismans could temporarily block low-level ghosts but the effective period was short. The time limit for blocking the weakest ghosts was about one minute. The stronger the ghost, the shorter the blocking period for low-level exorcism talismans, while some powerful ghosts were basically immune to them.


    Generally speaking, low-level exorcism talismans were very weak.


    However, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian could only afford low-level exorcism talismans, because they were only divided into low-level and high-level exorcism talismans. There weren¡¯t any middle-level ones. The low-level ones required 2,000 points and the high-level ones required 20,000 points. If they bought the high-level ones, they wouldn¡¯t have any points to buy other props. At the time, they weren¡¯t sure if their next instance was a supernatural one.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt his heart bleed from using up 4,000 points just like that. Even if they sessfullypleted the instance, they would only get 500 points. Of course, if he didn¡¯t use this 4,000 points, then he couldn¡¯t even expect to live and get his 500 points.


    The most painful thing was that this 4,000 points were really fucking useless! It could only give him one minute to run for his life!


    Seeing that the two melted ¡°Tang Mianmian¡± were about to merge into a human form, Xiao Tangqiu quickly turned around and ran, trying to escape within this minute!


    Xiao Tangqiu started to run in the dark again. He wasn¡¯t sure how long he ran before he looked up and found that he was back in the original spot. Suddenly, a wave of despair welled up in his heart!


    How did he get back here again?!

 Chapter 48.1

    <h4>Chapter 48.1</h4>


    What made him despair the most was that the two ¡°Tang Mianmians¡± that had been turned into ck pools by the low-level exorcism talismans hadpletely merged back into their original bodies and were waiting for him in front!


    Did he have to give up another two low-level exorcism talismans?


    Right now, his life was on the line so he wasn¡¯t worried about the 4,000 points. Rather, he was afraid the 4,000 points wasted would be useless. If he couldn¡¯t find a way to escape, it didn¡¯t matter even if he threw out two more low-level exorcism talismans. He would only make be making the same mistake again.


    Not far away, the two ¡°Tang Mianmians¡± had descended upon him with resentment in their eyes. Before Xiao Tangqiu could react, they had condensed into spiritual entities and floated through him at the same time. He felt an icy, sinister chill which started to spread and couldn¡¯t help but shiver intensely.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt that his vitality was decreasing rapidly because he could feel his hands start to grow colder and colder. His soul seemed to be in a trance as if he were imprisoned. Even if he didn¡¯t know why this was happening, he at least knew that if this continued, he wouldn¡¯t be far from death...


    He had to break out!


    He subconsciously looked at the broken mirror out of the corner of his eye. Although he didn¡¯t know what the mirror or the image in the mirror was, he instinctively felt that the mirror was very important.


    Xiao Tangqiu gradually lost control of his body and had to use all his strength to turn his head and look at the mirror.


    In the next second, he was greatly shocked. He actually saw Tang Mianmian in the mirror!


    This time, there wasn¡¯t him or anyone else in the mirror, only Tang Mianmian.


    The Tang Mianmian reflected in the mirror seemed dazed and confused. He looked left and right from time to time. Then, he walked to the front of the mirror in bewilderment. After hesitating for a few seconds, he picked up the mirror with trembling hands and smashed it violently.


    Tang Mianmian broke the mirror!


    When the mirror broke, the reflection in the mirror disappeared.


    Right then, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s reflection reappeared in the mirror.


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment ¨C his luck had suddenly arrived! Using thest of his strength, he crawled towards the mirror, grabbed it with great difficulty, and smashed it to the floor like Tang Mianmian did.


    Following a crisp crack, Xiao Tangqiu heard a hum in his ear before he cked out.


    Xiao Tangqiu slowly climbed up from the floor, only to find that he had passed out God knows when and probably hit the back of his head against the hard floor. At this time, he had a splitting headache. He stretched out his hand and rubbed his head, saying with a bitter smile, ¡°If I were a ghost, would I tell you? Hiss... Why is it so painful...¡±


    Watching Xiao Tangqiu muttering to himself while he rubbed the back of his head, his gaze drifted afar, revealing a hint of guilt. ¡°Um, deal with thatter. Let¡¯s get out of this terrible ce first!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu narrowed his eyes slightly. ¡°What did you do just now? Why do you look so guilty?¡±


    Tang Mianmianughed dryly, ¡°You¡¯re mistaken! Let¡¯s go! It¡¯ll be bad if those ghosts catch up!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu saw Tang Mianmian¡¯s little guilty appearance and knew that this guy had just done something wrong. He rubbed the back of the head and felt a small bump... <i>How hard did he fall just now to have such a big bump on his head?</i>


    Tang Mianmian was finally unable to bear Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s inquiring gaze and hesitantly exined what he had done earlier. ¡°We were walking just now when... you suddenly shook my hand off... I didn¡¯t know what was going on and wanted to ask you but... you suddenly came and violently grabbed my neck... so I pushed you away...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re clearly a weakling, but you were so strong just now. You almost choked me to death. Even after I pushed you away, you still pounced on me relentlessly...¡±


    Tang Mianmian showed a guilty look. ¡°I really couldn¡¯t help myself. I grabbed the skull on the ground and knocked you in the head...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was immediately at a loss for words because he had already seen the skull on the ground that had broken into two halves. <i>Just how much strength did Tang Mianmian exert to break one of the hardest bones in the human body?!</i>


    <i>No wonder the back of his head hurt so much! A hard surface hitting into another hard surface ah! It was a miracle he didn¡¯t suffer a concussion!</i>


    ¡°I finally know how much you hate me...¡± he said weakly.


    ¡°Cough, this isn¡¯t important. What matters is that you managed to wake up!¡± Tang Mianmian quickly changed the subject, ¡°Were you possessed just now? You must have been possessed by a ghost! Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have been so ruthless and strong! Fortunately, I¡¯m both smart and resourceful and sessfully solved this crisis!¡±


    ¡°Smart? What a simple and crude solution...¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t even find the strength ridicule him at this point.


    Tang Mianmianughed dryly, ¡°Cough, cough! Using brute force is also a solution! By the way, why were you suddenly possessed? ¡°


    ¡°Possessed?¡± Xiao Tangqiu hesitated, then shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but what I experienced just now is totally different from what you said... I saw two of you.¡±


    Tang Mianmian frowned. ¡°What the hell? What exactly did you experience? Clearly, you looked into that mirror and appeared to have been possessed. So I knocked you out, smashed it quickly, and then you returned to normal.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile. Tang Mianmian¡¯s words were absolutely true, but what he had just experienced couldn¡¯t be false either. What was the truth? Who was the one who had been possessed earlier?


    ¡°Forget it, who cares? If we can¡¯t figure it out, let¡¯s not think about it. Anyways, we¡¯re still alive.¡± Tang Mianmian took on a happy-go-lucky, positive outlook and quickly got over it. ¡°That mirror is so evil. Now that it¡¯s broken, we should be able to leave, right?¡±


    ¡°We can give it a try.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the mirror, which had beenpletely broken into pieces of ss. However, a doubt arose in his heart. Based on his experience ying horror games for so many years, he should have guessed at the beginning that something was wrong with the mirror. Why didn¡¯t he think of breaking the mirror before?


    Was this also a form of possession?


    Seeing Xiao Tangqiu still frowning at the mirror, Tang Mianmian quickly walked over with a tense expression, blocking his view. ¡°Alright! Don¡¯t look at it anymore! You were possessed with one look just now! Although it¡¯s broken, who knows if it has any powers left! We shouldn¡¯t linger here, let¡¯s go!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu withdrew his gaze and said, ¡°Mmm, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Tang Mianmian grabbed Xiao Tangqiu and turned to leave, but he couldn¡¯t help mumbling, ¡°I don¡¯t know how the others are now. This haunted house is too difficult! The first haunted house is already so tough, I really can¡¯t imagine the next event...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t resist the urge to nce at the mirror out of the corner of his eye again, but just as the idea emerged, he immediately tried to hold himself back. He forced himself to look straight ahead instead of turning his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m not optimistic about the others...¡±


    Tang Mianmian sighed, ¡°We¡¯re both in such a sorry state, let alone the others.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu forced himself not to look at the mirror and this time, they finally seeded in getting out of this eerie corner.


    The rest of the way was uneventful, without any surprises or danger. When they got to the exit of the haunted house, they received the biggest shock in the entire haunted house.


    They actually saw the team of four standing unharmed at the exit of the haunted house!


    ¡°Why are you guys so slow!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! We got here a long time ago and have been waiting for you at the exit!¡±


    ¡°This ce isn¡¯t scary at all! It¡¯s the same old routine! It¡¯s a little boring! I hope the next event will be more exciting!¡±


    ¡°Come quickly! Let¡¯s leave and y the next one!¡±


    They were still a distance away but the four yers were holding out their hands to them, as if they were asking them to quickly go over and move on to the next event.


    It seemedpletely normal, but there was something off about this scene.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other. Although they weren¡¯t battle-hardened old yers, they weren¡¯t stupid and naive either. This situation was very strange at first sight. Of course, they wouldn¡¯t rush forward foolishly until the situation was determined. But now the problem arose. The four people were standing at the exit of the haunted house, blocking their way out. They couldn¡¯t avoid them if they wanted to leave the haunted house.


    Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t sure whether the four people he had seen in the haunted house were ghosts or something else, nor was he sure that the four people currently blocking the exit were the four ghosts he had seen. He was just about to ask Tang Mianmian but suddenly he remembered that thetter hadn¡¯t experienced everything that he had. ording to Tang Mianmian, they didn¡¯t get separated. From start to end, Tang Mianmian was squatting beside him when he was unconscious. He didn¡¯t leave, and naturally didn¡¯t bump into that group of ghosts.


    If everything Tang Mianmian experienced was true and everything he experienced was only his illusion, then, was his encounter with the two ¡°Tang Mianmian¡± really true?


    He suddenly thought of something even more frightening. Was the Tang Mianmian in front of him the real Tang Mianmian?


    Just then, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly recalled something and quickly reached into his pocket.


    Three low-level exorcism talismans!


    There were only three left!


    He did use two just now!

 Chapter 48.2

    <h4>Chapter 48.2</h4>


    ¡°Qiuqiu, what should we do?¡±


    See Tang Mianmiane closer, Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously took a step back. He looked up, his face filled with vignce. <i>Was this Tang Mianmian the real Tang Mianmian?</i>


    Tang Mianmian looked silly. ¡°...What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared straight at Tang Mianmian, trying to figure out if the person before him was real or not. At this time however, the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind him!


    Footsteps?!


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately became alert. Right now, he was facing Tang Mianmian and didn¡¯t dare expose his back to the suspicious ¡°thing¡± before him. But the footsteps behind him that sounded clearer and clearer were more suspicious. Just when his heart was still tangled over what to do, Tang Mianmian showed an extremely frightened expression in the direction of the footsteps.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression made him turn around slightly and nce at the stranger out of the corner of his eye.


    When seeing the face of that person, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but jump in shock. It was the boy who came in with them!


    He was still alive?


    He made it out of that corner?


    Soon, he realized a more incredible thing. The seven of them had survived the haunted housepletely intact!


    ¡°Why did you leave so quickly? Why didn¡¯t you wait for me?!¡±


    The boy came running breathlessly. When he saw Xiao Tangqiu, he asked hesitantly, ¡°Why did you leave me alone just now?¡±


    ¡°Stop! Don¡¯te over!¡± Tang Mianmian had his guard up.


    The boy grew anxious at once, ¡°Do you doubt me? I really am a person... ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized something was wrong. ¡°Wait! You just said... You were alone?¡±


    The point of disagreement between him and Tang Mianmian was obviously after they had met the boy. After that, their experiences were very different, but before that, it was the same. But now the boy told him that he had only seen one person at the time?


    <i>What was real? What was fake?</i>


    <i>Or was everything fake?</i>


    The boy looked puzzled, ¡°That¡¯s right! When you saw me earlier, didn¡¯t you ask me if I had a girlfriend? After you heard me say that I don¡¯t have one, you turned around and ran away! But I really don¡¯t have a girlfriend ah.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, this was indeed the question that he asked, but at the time, one of the ¡°Tang Mianmians¡± was beside him!


    <i>What the hell was going on here?!</i>


    Right then, a strange figure suddenly appeared!


    Just as the boy approached them, there came an extremely harsh sound in the darkness behind the boy. Listening carefully, it seemed to be the sound of an axe sweeping the ground!


    He turned and wanted to run, but the skeleton was extremely fast. Almost instantly, it came up behind him, raising its axe.


    With that, the boy¡¯s head and body was separated!


    The moment his blood spattered, a person¡¯s head rolled towards Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s feet, the eyes looking up at Xiao Tangqiu. Because of fear and pain, his facial features had beenpletely distorted. He gaped at Xiao Tangqiu with his eyes open and his mouth twitching as he spit out hisst word, ¡°Save...¡±


    He had yet to utter hisst words before he died unwillingly.


    Tang Mianmian screamed at once, and at the same time, the skeleton raised its red axe and came at them. He immediately grabbed Xiao Tangqiu without hesitation and ran towards the exit.


    If Xiao Tangqiu still suspected that this Tang Mianmian was a fake, this momentpletely dispelled his doubts. No one but Tang Mianmian would remember to grab him to safety even in the critical juncture of life and death!


    The two men ran towards the exit of the haunted house without hesitation while the four people who had been blocking the exit rushed at the boy¡¯s head that had fallen to the ground.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t even have time to nce out of the corner of his eye to see what the four men did. At this moment, his attention waspletely focused on the nearby exit. He tried his best to run towards it. Just before the red axe touched his neck, he fell to the floor and rolled out of the exit.


    ¡°We¡¯re out!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve finally made it out!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian had both escaped from the haunted house by crawling and tumbling out. Finally, they could breathe the fresh air outside after such a difficult struggle. They excitedly hugged each other, sighing emotionally at surviving this cmity.


    They actually made it out! They made it out alive!


    ¡°You¡¯ve finallye out of there!¡±


    The remaining seven people who had been waiting outside for a long time cried at the same time, but soon someone noticed something wrong. ¡°Howe there¡¯s only the two of you? Where are the others?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other with a bitter smile and said nothing. The others immediately turned pale and knew that those people might have met with danger.


    As expected, Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°Only the two of us are left.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    ¡°How is that possible? How is that possible? I don¡¯t believe it... ¡°


    Although they knew that this amusement park was extremely dangerous, they couldn¡¯t ept that the people who were alive not long ago were gone in a sh. It was even more uneptable to think that it might be their turn next.


    At this moment, someone suddenly shouted in surprise. ¡°There¡¯s someone else! I knew it! Someone else made it out alive!¡±


    Was there someone else? How was that possible?


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other at once. They both turned around and looked in the direction of the exit of the haunted house. Sure enough, a figure slowly emerged.


    ¡°Someone else made it out! That¡¯s great!¡±


    ¡°What the hell! Are you deliberately ying a prank to frighten us? How hateful!¡±


    As the figure gradually became clearer, Xiao Tangqiu stared incredulously.


    It was that boy.


    The boy whose head had been cut off by the axe.


    The boy slowly walked from the exit of the haunted house towards them with a nk face.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly grew alert. He quickly looked at Tang Mianmian as a trace of fear shed through their eyes. Such a thing was simply unheard of!


    What sorcery was this?! Their dead teammate was alive!


    Was this possible? Or had he been possessed? Ghosts could actually control a dead yer¡¯s body!


    But in theory, when the game ended, everything should¡¯vee to an end.


    Or...


    Perhaps they hadn¡¯t left the haunted house yet?


    Were they still trapped in the illusion of the haunted house?


    As Xiao Tangqiu puzzled over the matter, the boy who had his head cut off slowly walked towards them. He subconsciously took a step back, Tang Mianmian following him as well. Aside from the two of them, the expressions of the other yers were also strange. After all, anyone with a normal IQ could see that there was something wrong with this boy.


    But besides their group of yers, the few people from the other team were especially enthusiastic about the boy, not only the four people who stayed outside, but also the three who just came out of the haunted house.


    As if they were only passers-by.


    Suddenly, the boy seemed to blend into the other group of yers. Xiao Tangqiu stared at the boy¡¯s back and remembered the boy¡¯s girlfriend. He quickly turned to look for the girl. But he looked around and found that she was gone.


    Gone?


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a chill in his heart as he felt uneasy all over. Tang Mianmian noticed the change in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression and immediately became nervous. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°Gone...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu murmured, ¡°That girl is gone...¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately responded, ¡°That boy¡¯s girlfriend? Yeah! Why is she missing?¡±


    He quickly turned to ask the others, ¡°Where¡¯s that girl?¡±


    The remaining three yers looked at each other with nk faces. ¡°Girl? What girl? There¡¯s only one girl on our side!¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. ¡°No! The three of us went in so there should be four people left outside!¡±


    ¡°Four people?¡± They looked confused. ¡°Clearly only three of us stayed outside! And there¡¯s only one girl!¡±


    Tang Mianmian incredulously asked the only girl among the three of them, ¡°Don¡¯t you remember? There was another girl besides you!¡±


    The girl shook her head timidly. ¡°I¡¯ve never met her...¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but look at Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes sank as he nodded at him.


    It seemed that the girl had really disappeared, and besides the two of them, no one else had discovered that.


    As the two men looked at each other, the clown¡¯s familiar,ical voice suddenly sounded again.


    ¡°Congrattions on your sessfulpletion of the first game! Now please go to the next event ¨C the rollercoaster of death!¡±


    The clown¡¯s voice sounded out from somewhere and spread to everyone¡¯s ears. Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously turned to look for it. Just then, a toy wagon slowly entered his sight.


    A puppet soldier sat on the pony wagon, the clown¡¯s voice seemed toe from the puppet soldier¡¯s mouth.


    Hum, hum, hum-


    The toy wagon slowly moved towards Xiao Tangqiu who immediately took a step back. At this moment, the puppet soldier suddenly pulled out a sword from its side. The cold light reflected off of the sword and in the next second, it drew its sword and killed itself.


    The puppet soldier¡¯s head fell to the ground instantly and rolled around, but sounds were stilling out of its mouth, ¡°Wee to the Death yground... Wee to the Death yground...¡±


    Perhaps because its head had fallen to the ground, it began to jam up.


    ¡°Death...¡±


    ¡°Death...¡±


    This was exactly how the boy had died!


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously clenched his fist. When he finally loosened it again, he found that his palms were sweating.


    Momentster, the geek snickered, ¡°Another trick!¡±


    Othersughed as well, but it seemed as if they were forcing themselves.


    ¡°What did you see in the haunted house?¡± The girl timidly asked Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian.


    If it were other old yers, they might have asked to exchange information, but Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t intend to hide anything and immediately told them what happened in the haunted house just now.

 Chapter 48.3

    <h4>Chapter 48.3</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu, who was already in danger, was unlikely to help these newbies in a crisis and could only do his best to help them at this time. Whether these newbies could survive afterwards depended on their own luck.


    When they heard that the boy was beheaded, their expressions were rather ugly. Although they weren¡¯t friends, they werepanions right now and it was inevitable that they sympathized with him since they were in the same situation.


    ¡°So... he¡¯s dead now?¡± The girl¡¯s face turned pale.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t answer her, adding lightly, ¡°Alright then, we should go.¡±


    Other than the five people on their side, the other group of yers were ready to leave. They seemed to have wasted a lot of time in the haunted house. If they didn¡¯t hurry up, perhaps they wouldn¡¯t be able to leave here before dawn.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Tang Mianmian also chimed in.


    They were worried but could only continue on their way.


    After they passed through several old, dpidated facilities, they finally arrived at the front of the second event, the roller coaster of death.


    Tang Mianmian looked up and couldn¡¯t help but gulp anxiously, ¡°Um... can I choose not to y...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was also a little scared but he could only smile and say, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Tang Mianmian wanted to cry but had no tears. ¡°I choose to quit this game!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu trembled, ¡°How will you quit the game? Please tell me.¡±


    Tang Mianmian said, ¡°...This doesn¡¯t make sense! Why is there such a tall roller coaster in such a shabby amusement park?¡± That¡¯s right, the roller coaster in front of them was hundreds of meters tall! Even if they tried their best to look up, they couldn¡¯t see the highest peak of the roller coaster, which looked like it reached the sky.


    And this roller coaster actually had a wooden track!


    The oldest, most dangerous wooden track!


    Xiao Tangqiu carefully studied the roller coaster track and soon found that many areas had been corroded by strong winds and heavy rain. Some parts even seemed to be broken! Xiao Tangqiu felt a shiver crawl up his spine.


    Even if there weren¡¯t any other scary elements in this roller coaster, it was already terrifying enough! Indeed, as expected of the roller coaster of death! It was so scary ah!


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment and finally decided not to tell Tang Mianmian about it. Tang Mianmian was a coward. If he knew about it, he would only be scared to death. If they ¡°won¡± the lottery again, Tang Mianmian might have scared himself to death just by riding on the roller coaster.


    ¡°Wuwuwu...¡± Tang Mianmian asked Xiao Tangqiu tearfully, ¡°Qiuqiu, do you think we will...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said hesitantly, ¡°I have a bad feeling...¡±


    Before he could finish, Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression suddenly changed because he guessed what Xiao Tangqiu was going to say. ¡°Shut up! Don¡¯t say it! Don¡¯t you dare continue speaking!¡±


    Just then, the clown appeared.


    He was about to ask, but suddenly thought of the sentence-


    ¡°Don¡¯t believe what the clown says.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly calmed down. Forget about whether or not the clown might lie. Even if the clown told the truth, could he change the final result?


    It was impossible. A jinx would always be a jinx. There was no way he could be the king of luck. There was no way for a jinx to take away the luck of the king of luck.


    So he calmly drew a ball, looked at the ck ball in his hand and waited for the clown to announce the final result.


    ¡°Congrattions to the lucky yers who drew the ck ball! You will have an iparably fascinating journey! This is a trip to bliss! Let your souls go to heaven with the ultimate joy!¡±


    Hearing the clown¡¯s grandiose tone, Xiao Tangqiu silently looked at Tang Mianmian. Just like thest time, the two of them once again drew ck balls.


    Tang Mianmian looked like he wanted to flip a table. ¡°...Fuck! Another ck ball! Why is it another ck ball?! Indeed as expected, it¡¯s a ck ball!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile. ¡°It seems that we are both unlucky again.¡±


    Tang Mianmian wanted to explode in anger. ¡°What the hell does ¡®let your souls go to heaven with the ultimate joy¡¯ mean? Doesn¡¯t this mean that we¡¯ll die once we ride the roller coaster?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know how tofort Tang Mianmian because he hadn¡¯t told him about the visible dangers of the roller coaster. He was about to be scared to death too ah. If he met a ghost in the haunted house, he could turn around and run. If he met a ghost on the roller coaster, he would have nowhere to run! Worst of all, the roller coaster itself could kill them!


    No matter how much Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian resisted, they finally came to the front of the roller coaster. Aside from them, there were four others who also got the ck ball.


    This time there were six ck balls in the box, which was mentioned to them by the clown in advance. Xiao Tangqiu wanted to see if ¡°the boy¡± was qualified to draw but this time the clown changed the rules. When the sixth person who drew the ck ball appeared, the clown announced that the draw was over, so thest person who didn¡¯t draw was ¡°the boy.¡±


    The other four people were the sporty student and the only girl among them, and the other two were from the other team.


    This time, the geek didn¡¯t draw the ck ball either. When he found out that he had drawn the red ball, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and showed a smile that boasted his confidence.


    At the time, Tang Mianmian eagerly watched the geek, as if he wanted to rush over and snatch the red ball from the geek¡¯s hand, but the clown wouldn¡¯t allow this kind of thing to happen.


    Before going on the roller coaster, Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but ask Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°If every draw is determined by luck, wouldn¡¯t it be possible for lucky people not to participate in every event from start to end?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡±


    Tang Mianmian cursed, ¡°Fuck! Do people with bad luck deserve to die?! That¡¯s not fair. Wuwuwuwuwu.¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°This is the strength of the king of luck.¡±


    Tang Mianmian cried, ¡°Wuwuwuwu, I¡¯m so jealous!¡±


    Could Xiao Tangqiu not feel jealous? Of course he was jealous!


    But was jealousy useful? Of course not!


    Since he couldn¡¯t stand up and resist, he could only lie down and ept it.


    He fastened his seat belt as tightly as he could, although the seatbelt on the roller coaster looked really worrying. He told Tang Mianmian to fasten his seatbelt as well.


    When everyone got on the roller coaster, the roller coaster began to slowly move.


    Squeak, squeak...


    This sort of old, rickety roller coaster made horrible, scary sounds. He felt his jaw ache from the fear. Not only that, there was some harsh noise due to the age of the facilities.


    Squeak, squeak...


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian sat side by side in the middle of the roller coaster. The sporty student and the girl sat behind them, while the other two yers sat in the first row.


    The two yers from the other team were obviously looking for excitement. They weren¡¯t scared at all by the shabby roller coaster and its towering height. On the contrary, they had a face full of eagerness and even let go of the rails. They looked like they wanted to embrace the sky with open arms. The girl sitting behind Xiao Tangqiu was already trembling all over.


    However, Tang Mianmian shook even more than she did. Even his teeth were shaking. ¡°Qiu... Qiuqiu...¡±


    As the roller coaster went higher and higher, Xiao Tangqiu started to turn pale as well but he still tried to calm down. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Tang Mianmian silently grabbed the strap across his body. ¡°Do you think this thing looks like a seat belt?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Squeak, squeak...


    The roller coaster got higher and higher, and would soon reach the first peak. The slope wasn¡¯t very steep, not even a hundred meters but the people below had be ant-sized.


    Xiao Tangqiu went crazy at once. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wear your seatbelt?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was going mad too. ¡°I clearly fixed my seatbelt earlier! But it looks broken!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tried to keep calm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s also a safety bar! We should be okay with this safety bar...¡±


    He had just finished speaking when Tang Mianmian subconsciously reached out to pull the safety bar in front of his chest. As a result, the safety bar automatically bounced up!


    The <i>whoosh</i> of the wind sounded in their ears as they looked at the scene in front of them in silence.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°......¡±


    No seatbelt! No safety bar!


    Tang Mianmian looked like he was about to faint from the fear. ¡°I¡¯m going to die...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tried his best to calm himself and at the same time calm Tang Mianmian down. ¡°Calm down! Calm down! The roller coaster hasn¡¯t reached the first slope yet! Have you seen the guardrails on both sides of the roller coaster track? We can slowly grab the guardrail and go down to the tracks first, and then slowly climb down from the tracks... ¡°


    There were guardrails on both sides of the roller coaster track, and there was a passage for one person to walk along the guardrail. It must be a path for maintenance workers to carry out regr maintenance. Although they didn¡¯t have any safety measures, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem... as long as they were careful...


    Although Tang Mianmian was now paralyzed with fear, Xiao Tangqiu believed that he would definitely be able to break out in strength at the critical moment.


    Tang Mianmian opened his mouth and seemed to say something.


    The wind was so strong that Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t hear him clearly. ¡°...What?¡±


    Tang Mianmian gave a smile of despair. ¡°Did you hear that?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought Tang Mianmian was hallucinating. ¡°What did you hear? The call of death?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes were nk as his mouth twitched slightly. ¡°The sound of wood breaking...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression suddenly changed because he seemed to hear it too!


    He immediately turned around to look, his eyes widened in shock.


    It was the sound of wood breaking!


    The wooden track behind them started to fall apart!


    nk by nk by nk.


    In the blink of an eye, the base of the wooden track broke bit by bit, spreading to the bottom of the roller coaster.

 Chapter 49.1

    <h4>Chapter 49.1</h4>


    Seeing the wooden tracks fall apart nk by nk, not only was Tang Mianmian screaming, but everyone else couldn¡¯t help but start as well.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡±


    Once the wooden track under the roller coaster fell apart, wouldn¡¯t both train and person fly out? Damn it! This was a full dozens of meters high fall! If they fell directly from this height, their souls could definitely reach heaven in an instant!


    At this time, the roller coaster was still climbing, but no matter how the four people behind screamed, the two people sitting in the first row seemed to be unable to hear them at all. Not only did they not turn back, they even boldly let go of the hand bars once again and opened their arms excitedly, apparently intending to enjoy the weightlessness and excitement of the moment when the roller coaster swooped down.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face became more and more pale. He was so anxious that he was sweating all over. ¡°What do we do? What do we do? We¡¯re going to fucking die!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also turned pale. If the average person found a broken seat belt on a roller coaster ride, he would¡¯ve probably fainted. Tang Mianmian, a coward, was calm enough to persist until now. But as of this moment, he didn¡¯t even know what to do. Originally, Tang Mianmian was nning to climb towards the guardrail as Xiao Tangqiu had suggested. Although it was dangerous, he had no choice but to risk it. But now, the wooden track was falling apart and the only way out was gone!


    Was he supposed to sit here and watch Tang Mianmian die? Moreover, even if they only relied on the safety belt when the safety bar failed, their safety wasn¡¯t guaranteed.


    Seeing that the roller coaster was about to reach the first peak, Xiao Tangqiu was filled with worry. He really had no choice but to gnash his teeth and pull out his special skill.


    ¡°Sexy Streamer¡¯s Live Stream Channel!¡±


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu opened the channel, a barrage ofments swept across like an avnche, giving him a taste of the poprity he had back then. However, when he carefully looked at the contents of thements, he was immediately depressed.


    ¡°I bet ten holy waters that the streamer will die!¡±


    ¡°I bet 20 cinnabars that the streamer will be able to hold out until the end this time!¡±


    ¡°Streamer you got this ahhhhh! I also bet that he will survive this!¡±


    ¡°The streamer¡¯s face is too dark! Even if he survives this, perhaps he¡¯ll die in the next one! ¡°


    ......


    What the hell were these people doing?! It was already at this point! Why were they still betting?!


    Did anyone care about his life? If he really died, this channel would no longer exist. Let¡¯s see where else they could go to watch such exciting scenes after this!


    ......What does ¡°hope he will bring us more happiness¡± mean? Didn¡¯t this imply that he hoped to see his bad luck persist?!


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips. Thankfully, the words ¡°divine artifact¡± saved him from copsing at once.


    Divine artifact!


    What divine artifact?


    Forget it, no matter what divine artifact it was, as long as it is useful, it was a good artifact!


    Xiao Tangqiu never expected that he would get a divine artifact this way. It was actually in his most critical moment! Was all his years of bad luck building up to this one moment? Could it be that his plug-in that didn¡¯t work for so many years finally connected at this moment?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s blood was surging and he was ready to take the artifact and go to war. Suddenly, he felt something in his hand.


    He looked down excitedly and couldn¡¯t wait to see what artifact he got. However, after seeing what he had in his hand, his heart suddenly grew cold, all that hot-bloodedness immediately cooled down.


    A backscratcher.


    Yes, a backscratcher; a yellow backscratcher.


    One of those long, thin backscratchers used to scratch your back.


    The point being, ¡°Don¡¯t Ask For Help¡±.


    Tang Mianmian turned to see Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s backscratcher with a face full of despair only to be even more desperate. ¡°Qiuqiu! We¡¯re already at this point! What are you doing with an old man scratcher? If you scratch a little before you die, does that make you happy with losing your life?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Fucking hell! What sort of nonsense artifact was this!


    Never mind that it was a backscratcher! Why the hell did he have to call it a divine artifact?!


    He felt that he had been tricked but soon realized that with his and Tang Mianmian¡¯s luck, it was impossible to get any divine artifact at this critical point.


    Tang Mianmian, who was beside him, was already frantically digging out his things. ¡°Low-level exorcism talismans... Useless! Multifunctional Swiss Army knife... Useless! Canned food... Useless! Fuck Why didn¡¯t we get something useful in the beginning? Even a parachute would be great!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a bitter smile. How could they have anticipated this situation in advance? It was impossible to know for sure. Moreover, parachutes were generally not prepared for such things. After all, they were trying to escape a horror game, not live in the wilderness with Bear Grylls!


    ¡°Wuwuwu! If I die this time, my bank ount password is...¡± Seeing Tang Mianmian¡¯s empty stare as he gave up the struggle and began to give hisst words, Xiao Tangqiu was like an ant in a hot pan.


    At this time, the roller coaster finally reached the first slope. Like most roller coasters, it stopped slightly at the top of the slope, allowing the passengers to see the distance from where the were to the ground and the scenery below. The next moment, the roller coaster swooped downwards!


    Right at this point, Tang Mianmian finally passed out, Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and held onto Tang Mianmian who was like a boneless jellyfish.


    As the roller coaster swooped down and the screams of the two people behind him sounded, he clung onto Tang Mianmian, whose safety belt was broken.


    The safety bar was also useless. Xiao Tangqiu could only rely on his only safety belt to hold the both of them and prevent them from flying out. However, this was obviously pushing the limits. His safety belt was really flimsy, causing him and Tang Mianmian¡¯s bodies to often leave their seats.


    This moment seemed to pass very slowly. Xiao Tangqiu could even see the situation behind him out of the corner of his eye. The sporty student and the girl could only rely on their safety belts to hold their bodies, but they could still grab onto the guardrails on both sides of the roller coaster. The situation wasn¡¯t as bad.


    However, he was unable to grab the guardrail. If he let go, Tang Mianmian would fly out. Judging from their current wobbly situation, they would most likely fly out at the same time due to the broken safety belt, without him even letting go.


    Fortunately, the slope wasn¡¯t very high, and the dive soon ended. Tang Mianmian also regained consciousness.


    When he saw that he wasn¡¯t dead, he was excited. Then he saw Xiao Tangqiu cling to himself with a pale face and immediately reacted to what had just happened.


    Xiao Tangqiu had no time to exin too much to Tang Mianmian because the roller coaster began to climb upwards again. And the next slope was higher and steeper. There was also a 360-degree turn. There was no way the seatbelt would hold the two of them. He could quickly instructed Tang Mianmian, ¡°Hold me tight! I¡¯ll grab the guardrail!¡±


    If Tang Mianmian held the guardrail with both hands at the same time, he would hang upside down the moment the roller coaster did the 360-degree turn. Even if Tang Mianmian was strong enough, he wouldn¡¯tst a few seconds under that sort of impact. Although, it wasn¡¯t necessarily useful to get Tang Mianmian to hold onto Xiao Tangqiu tightly while thetter, who was wearing a seatbelt, held the guardrail. After all, expecting a seat belt to carry the weight of two people was pushing the limit. But now, they could only bet on this!


    If they failed, perhaps they would die together!


    ¡°But...¡± Tang Mianmian began to cry fearfully as he muttered, ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this... Maybe you won¡¯t die...¡±


    Tang Mianmian was very timid and afraid of death, but he also knew that Xiao Tangqiu had a safety belt and could make it on his own. There was no need for Xiao Tangqiu to die with him.


    The probability that one person would survive was always greater than the probability that the both of them survived.


    Xiao Tangqiu bit the bullet. ¡°Worsees to worst, we¡¯ll die together!¡±


    ¡°...Okay!¡±


    Tang Mianmian cried out, then hugged Xiao Tangqiu as tightly as he could.


    This time, the roller coaster climbed up very fast, making it to the top at once. Then, it stopped in mid-air and began to slowly hang upside down.


    The moment the roller coaster was suspended upside down, Xiao Tangqiu felt that his entire body would be thrown out. The useless safety bar had no effect at all. He could only rely on his safety belt to hold himself to the seat. As the safety belt wasn¡¯t particrly reliable, his body had even floated out of the seat and the strap was cutting into his shoulders. Never mind if that was it, but he also happened to be carrying the weight of two people and feeling twice the pressure from gravity.


    Tang Mianmian had neither a safety bar nor a safety belt. In order to prevent being thrown off the roller coaster, he had to cling to Xiao Tangqiu. His entire body was wrapped around Xiao Tangqiu like an octopus. Because he was extremely terrified, he kept his eyes closed tightly, not daring to open them at all.


    Xiao Tangqiu also used both hands to grab the guardrail of the roller coaster. The seat belt didn¡¯t give him a sense of security at all. Moreover, he didn¡¯t think that seat belt could bear the weight of two adult men at the same time. In case it suddenly broke, they would be thrown out immediately and was guaranteed tond head first.


    He held on to the guardrail with all his strength that his fingers had turned white but the impact of hanging upside down nearly made him let go. The safety belt cut into him, almost strangling him to death.


    But the thing that really made it hard for him to breathe, was Tang Mianmian who was clinging to him. His had great strength, and in the face of life and death, he broke out in even greater strength, both arms wrapped around his neck like ws of death.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt that he would be strangled to death by Tang Mianmian before he was actually thrown off. Being clung to so tightly had already made his eyes roll back. He felt that it was as if he was rescuing a drowning man in the deep sea. The drowning man clung to him because of his will to survive. As a result, the two men not only failed to float to the surface of the water together, but also slowly sank...


    ~~~


    P.S. I¡¯m on a business trip this week so no time to edit. I¡¯lle back to itter!

 Chapter 49.2

    <h4>Chapter 49.2</h4>


    Tang Mianmian clung to him as if he were driftwood in the sea, like a mass of aquatic nts that stuck to him and dragged him under the water.


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously wanted to push Tang Mianmian away, but as soon as this idea emerged, he immediately restrained himself, thinking that he couldn¡¯t push Tang Mianmian away no matter what! He couldn¡¯t let go! Worsees to worst, they would just die together!


    He gritted his teeth. No matter what, he couldn¡¯t let go even if he died!


    But...


    ¡°Don¡¯t... strangle... my neck...¡± His face flushed a bright red, squeezing out those few words from his throat with difficulty. ¡°Move your hands down a little...¡±


    As the wind roared, Tang Mianmian missed what Xiao Tangqiu was saying and shouted, ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Move your hands down! I¡¯m about to be strangled to death by you!¡±


    As soon as Tang Mianmian spoke, Xiao Tangqiu finally gasped for air. However, he couldn¡¯t help but bark at him, ¡°Why were you strangling me? I was almost strangled to death by you! ¡°


    Tang Mianmian cried, ¡°I didn¡¯t strangle you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said angrily, ¡°Who else is there but you? You used so much strength to strangle me! I almost pushed you out just now!¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s voice trembled, ¡°But Qiuqiu... my hands have been around your chest...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, subconsciously reached out and looked. Sure enough, Tang Mianmian¡¯s hands were tightly sped around his chest; both hands were there!


    The arms that were around his neck just now...


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a shiver crawl up his spine. Tang Mianmian opened his eyes and they stared at each other for a while. Suddenly, Tang Mianmian screamed, ¡°Qiuqiu! You... you... you have a ck handprint around your neck!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help stiffening but before he could react, a shrill scream suddenly came from the front row.


    The two of them had no time to carefully explore the ck handprint on Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s neck. They quickly looked in front and saw one of the two people sitting in the first row being thrown off!


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know why the person in front had been thrown off because when they looked over, the person was already falling. He screamed and waved his limbs wildly in mid-air, but couldn¡¯t resist gravity and fell to the ground.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t bear to see the man¡¯s fate but he couldn¡¯t help turning his head after all. After a loud noise, the shrieks ended.


    All that was left on the ground was a mangled body, a pool of sttered blood and glistening brains. His head had caved in and it looked like the man had died in an instant.


    ¡°What the hell are you screaming for!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu grumpily asked Tang Mianmian.


    ¡°Look in front! Look in front! ¡± Tang Mianmian was so scared his face looked distorted.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up and saw that the roller coaster was climbing upwards again. This time, the slope seemed to be the highest one of all, with a height of 100 meters. This height was more than enough to put fear in them. However, when he looked carefully, he immediately found something that made him terrified.


    This slope not only had an incline of nearly 90 degrees, but was also missing a section of the track in the middle of the highest point. In other words, it wasn¡¯t a whole track, but two broken tracks. The roller coaster would derail at the highest point, be thrown into mid-air at 90 degrees, then fall onto the second track directly from mid-air.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help blurting out, ¡°...FUCK!¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes were nk. ¡°It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. We¡¯re going to die...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth. ¡°It¡¯s fine! We¡¯ll sit tight!¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked like he was about to cry. ¡°...What if the roller coaster doesn¡¯tnd on the second track?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said dryly, ¡°We can only pray...¡±


    Tang Mianmian was scared to death. ¡°Let me down! I want to get off!¡±


    The two people sitting behind Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were screaming frantically. Even if they were brave, they would be frightened by such a situation. How could there be such a roller coaster in the world with a track that was broken in two? This wasn¡¯t a roller coaster ride, but a mountain boat slide!


    As they screamed, the roller coaster continued to climb higher and higher and would soon reach the end of the broken track. Xiao Tangqiu quickly shouted, ¡°Hold on!¡±


    Tang Mianmian subconsciously closed his eyes and grabbed Xiao Tangqiu while thetter grabbed the guardrail.


    At this moment, the roller coaster finally reached the peak and in an instant flew off the tracks due to inertia.


    At this moment, the entire roller coaster was thrown into the air!


    Right then, Xiao Tangqiu felt that he was flying. He seemed to be floating on a cloud. As long as he let go, he could leave the world and fly into the clouds.


    In his trance, Tang Mianmian suddenly shouted and snapped him out of it.


    ¡°Fuck! We¡¯re really flying! Is this a fucking roller coaster or a mountain boat slide!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly regained his senses, only to find that he had released one of his hands and immediately broke out in cold sweat. He stiffly grabbed the guardrail. If he had released both hands just now, he most definitely would fly out with Tang Mianmian and probably reach to the top of the clouds... and then fall through.


    Just like the person who fell out earlier.


    Although everyone¡¯s heart was jumping out of their chests at this moment, fearing that the roller coaster would crash, in the next second, the roller coaster actually fell back onto the track and after a harsh sound from friction, it continued to rush forwards.


    The next obstacle was a 90-degree vertical dive. However, Xiao Tangqiu was no longer be frightened by the weightlessness at this point. The series of encounters just now had numbed him to the thrills of an ordinary roller coaster.


    But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly found something even more terrifying. Not far away was the end of the roller coaster, but the roller coaster didn¡¯t end on the ground, but on a cliff.


    Yes, a cliff!


    The roller coaster was built on a mountain. They couldn¡¯t see anything until they came to the top of the roller coaster and looked down, only to find that the end of the roller coaster turned out to be a cliff and the end of the track was on top of the cliff. Below the cliff was the abyss.


    If they rode the roller coaster all the way to the end, there was no doubt that they would fall into the abyss and be mangled into a thousand pieces!


    Roller coaster of death ¨C worthy of its name.


    The end of it was death!


    Xiao Tangqiu seemed to see the Grim Reaper in a ck cloak standing at the end of the track with its huge sickle ready to harvest their lives!


    Everyone else had also noticed the cliff. Screams rang out, one after another. In the face of death, everyone was terrified.


    They all fell into despair under the shadow of their oing deaths. They knew that once the roller coaster reached the end, their lives should also be at an end!


    ¡°Ahhh! Stop! Stop now!¡±


    ¡°Let me down! Let me down!¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s shrill screams made him sound like a shrieking chicken.


    The noise was so distracting that Xiao Tangqiu wished he could choke Tang Mianmian, but right now, he was also terrified. Although the roller coaster was still some distance away from the cliff, at the current speed of the roller coaster, they probably only had a few seconds left!


    Tang Mianmian began to dig through his belongings again. ¡°Low-level exorcism talismans? Cross? ...Backscratcher?¡± He didn¡¯t know when he had taken the old man backscratcher that Xiao Tangqiu had just received.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at it and couldn¡¯t help bursting into rage. That person imed to be sending help in his time of need. But why did he feel as if that person was delivering ice when he was caught in snow?


    What was the use of his skill?!


    An unknown fire arose in his heart. Xiao Tangqiu grabbed the backscratcher and wanted to throw it down. But when he looked down, he found that the roller coaster was gradually getting closer to the ground. Although it was still tens of meters away from the ground, the track ahead was getting lower and lower, and the part near the cliff was only five or six meters from the ground!


    Five or six meters was about the height of two floors. Although falling from this height was also really dangerous, it was better than falling into the abyss.


    He immediately made his decision and turned to Tang Mianmian, shouting, ¡°We¡¯ll jump down!¡±


    Tang Mianmian got a fright. ¡°Jump down? Are you crazy? There¡¯s more than ten meters to the ground! We¡¯ll be dead if we fall.¡±


    ¡°Jump in front!¡± Xiao Tangqiu said decisively, ¡°It¡¯s only five or six meters away from the ground when we get close to the cliff!¡±


    He thought for a moment, turned to the two newbies sitting behind them and shouted, ¡°Wait a minute, I¡¯ll count to 1 and we¡¯ll jump together! This is our only chance!¡±


    Before the sporty student could speak, the girl screamed and shook her head frantically. ¡°No! I¡¯m afraid! I¡¯m afraid to jump! It¡¯s too high!¡±


    Because of her extreme fear, her voice was very sharp and harsh, but Xiao Tangqiu still patiently persuaded, ¡°Although we may end up half dead jumping down from there, it¡¯s better than not living at all! If you jump down, you may still survive. If you don¡¯t jump, you will surely die!¡±


    ¡°No! I won¡¯t jump!¡±


    The girl was still screaming and shaking her head.


    Xiao Tangqiu grit his teeth reluctantly, but he also knew that it was normal to be afraid at this time. Normal people were afraid when standing on a diving tform five or six meters high. Fear of heights was the nature of most people and he, himself, was also afraid of heights. What¡¯s more, the roller coaster was still diving straight down, so jumping at this speed was no different from jumping off a moving car.


    If they jumped from this height and speed, even if they weren¡¯t half dead, they would probably be heavily wounded. But now, they had no other choice!


    Xiao Tangqiu was frustrated that she wouldn¡¯t listen but he couldn¡¯t force anyone to jump. Furthermore, he was also in danger. He felt that he had done everything he could by saying all that. Whether they epted it or not had nothing to do with him.

 Chapter 49.3

    <h4>Chapter 49.3</h4>


    He just wanted to live now! Live with Tang Mianmian!


    Seeing the roller coaster rush straight towards the cliff, Xiao Tangqiu quickly unfastened his seat belt and shouted at Tang Mianmian when the track was five or six meters above the ground. ¡°Jump!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was scared to death but he had unconditional trust in Xiao Tangqiu. He didn¡¯t have any doubts or hesitation and jumped down with his eyes closed!


    And Xiao Tangqiu also jumped while he shouted!


    The cold wind roared past and poured into Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s ears. He forced himself to open his eyes, trying to keep calm and awake, watching himself fall.


    At the moment of falling, his heart almost jumped out of his chest!


    This moment seemed very long and very short at the same time. Before he could even feel any fear, theynded on the ground but because of the huge impact and inertia, they rolled several meters away.


    And a few meters away, was the cliff.


    Xiao Tangqiu watched helplessly as he rolled towards the cliff as a sense of despair and absurdity sprang up in his heart. He didn¡¯t die from falling off the cliff or from jumping off the roller coaster, but because of rolling off the cliff due to the inertia from jumping out the rollercoaster?


    Wouldn¡¯t it bepletely ridiculous if that really happened?!


    Since they were going to die anyways, why should he bother?!


    ...... Did he jump toote just now? Or did he choose the wrong point to jump off?


    Xiao Tangqiu watched helplessly as he rolled towards the cliff but make himself to stop. He rolled all the way to the edge of the cliff, and soon half of his body was hanging over it!


    Xiao Tangqiu almost wanted to close his eyes and wait for death but he soon found that he didn¡¯t continue to fall.


    He moved slightly and immediately heard the rustle of branches in his ear.


    It was a tree!


    It turned out that he just got stuck in a tree that grew on the edge of the cliff. It was this tree that prevented him from falling directly over the cliff.


    However, before Xiao Tangqiu could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard the sound of branches breaking underneath him!


    Crack!


    Crack, crack!


    Several fragile branches couldn¡¯t bear his weight and broke at once!


    Fuck! Was fate ying with him?!


    He swallowed his anger as he fell, watching himself slip farther and farther from the ground. Farther and farther...


    Suddenly, he got stuck again!


    This time he fell between the two branches and seemed to be blocked by a hard object lying across the two branches.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t dare move. He was afraid that if he moved again, the branches would break. This time, there would probably be nothing else to save him.


    Right then, the roller coaster bound for the cliff finally ran off the tracks and rushed straight for the cliff.


    However, at this time, except for the people sitting in the first row, only the girl who didn¡¯t dare to jump was left on the roller coaster. Everyone else jumped down when the roller coaster was still a few meters away from the cliff.


    The girl watched helplessly as the roller coaster rushed towards the cliff. Her face was filled with fear but she couldn¡¯t even scream.


    How did it feel to watch yourself rush towards death?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t bear to watch any more. He was just about to turn his head when he suddenly caught a glimpse of an incredible scene out of the corner of his eye!


    The people sitting in the first row got up!


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head in shock, only to find that the man who had been sitting quietly in the first row seemed to have despaired, suddenly standing up from his seat and quickly climbing to the back of the roller coaster.


    Yes! Climbing!


    The man climbed along the roller coaster with a really weird, twisted posture. As the roller coaster sped along, he quickly made his way to the girl¡¯s seat.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the scene in disbelief. He saw the man jump at the girl. She managed to subconsciously dodge his attack even under extreme fear. The man couldn¡¯t stop his body and fell off the seat.


    However, instead of falling off the roller coaster, he grabbed the edge with one hand, then stretched out his other hand and grabbed the girl¡¯s foot!


    In the next second, the girl was pulled out of her seat by the man as they both fell into the abyss at the same time!


    Watching everything unfold before him, Xiao Tangqiuy stiffly between the two branches. His mind was nk. He was trying to understand what was going on until a head suddenly appeared at the edge of the cliff.


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Are you ok, Qiuqiu? ¡± When Tang Mianmian, with a face full of nervousness and fear, found Xiao Tangqiu stuck in a tree, he finally burst into tears. ¡°Qiuqiu, you¡¯re still alive? I¡¯m so happy! You¡¯re still alive, wuwuwu!¡°


    Seeing that Tang Mianmian was fine, Xiao Tangqiu breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°You¡¯re okay, too? That¡¯s good, that¡¯s good...¡± It seemed that he is the only unlucky one this time.


    ¡°Wuwuwu!¡± Tang Mianmian wailed loudly. ¡°Qiuqiu, wait a minute! I¡¯ll get someone toe help you right away! ¡°


    He left quickly, as if he was going to look for someone.


    Watching Tang Mianmian¡¯s figure disappear, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help feeling a loss. Although he knew that Tang Mianmian wouldn¡¯t leave him alone, it was still much better to see a friend than be all alone.


    A momentter, when Tang Mianmian appeared, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.


    The person Tang Mianmian had gotten was naturally the sporty student. Only the three of them survived this round.


    The tree Xiao Tangqiu caught in between was veryrge, with its crown at the edge of the cliff, while the branch that Xiao Tangqiu fell on was still some distance from the top of the cliff.


    There were no branches around Xiao Tangqiu that he could prop himself up with. The branches of this tree were visibly fragile and delicate. Only one trunk looked thick enough to bear the weight of an adult man.


    Tang Mianmian discussed with the sporty student and decided that he would climb down to the trunk, pull Xiao Tangqiu to him, then, the sporty student would stand on the edge of the cliff and pull them up, one by one.


    This was very risky and dangerous. Tang Mianmian wasn¡¯t sure if the tree could bear the weight of another adult man. But Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t climb up by himself if he didn¡¯t go down to get him.


    Tang Mianmian gritted his teeth and began to climb down carefully.


    Xiao Tangqiu was lying stiffly on the branch. He wanted to say something but he was afraid of distracting Tang Mianmian. After all, they were at the edge of a cliff. If Tang Mianmian took a wrong step, it would be a bottomless abyss waiting for him and he wouldn¡¯t even have an intact body.


    When Tang Mianmian reached the trunk, Xiao Tangqiu let out a sigh of relief, but soon, his heart started pounding again. Although the trunk of the tree was thick, it still shook under Tang Mianmian¡¯s weight and the branches and leaves fell one after another.


    Compared to those big trees that grew on fertilend and had full branches and leaves, this was a tree that grew on the edge of a cliff with sparse branches and leaves. Even the thickest branch was only as thick as the wrist of an adult man. Tang Mianmian was really risking his life to save him.


    Finally, Tang Mianmian managed to climb above Xiao Tangqiu and held out his hand towards Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu was filled of gratitude. The two men looked at each other, their eyes speaking a thousand words, but in reality, they hadn¡¯t made a sound.


    ¡°If we go back alive this time, you must treat me to a big meal!¡± Tang Mianmian grinned.


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Of course!¡±


    ¡°I want to eat meat!¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, yes!¡±


    After a brief exchange of words, the two stopped dragging their feet because the next part was the worst. Tang Mianmian had to pull Xiao Tangqiu up, and then the two had to climb back to the ce where Tang Mianmian had carefully climbed down from.


    Tang Mianmian was very strong and Xiao Tangqiu also broke out in amazing strength in this life and death situation. Under the harmonious cooperation of the two, Xiao Tangqiu was soon pulled onto the trunk by Tang Mianmian.


    ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s the backscratcher!¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly cried out.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back. It turned out that when he was stuck between two branches, it was the backscratcher that stopped him from falling down.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Should he say that it¡¯s as expected of a divine artifact...


    However, before they could rx, the trunk shook violently.


    The backscratcher fell off the cliff with all the shaking.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up and saw that several cracks had appeared at the roots of the tree that were growing at the edge of the cliff. It seemed that the tree couldn¡¯t bear the weight of the two people anymore and would soon be uprooted!


    The ground near the tree was also affected by that and began to crack. It seemed that the tree roots were still deeply rooted. Once uprooted, the edge would break off!


    ¡°Pull us up quickly!¡± Tang Mianmian shouted at the sporty student who had stayed at the edge of the cliff.


    This cliff was about to copse. If they didn¡¯t go up now, they would fall into the abyss with this tree!


    The sporty student standing on the edge of the cliff hesitated. He looked at the crumbling ground in panic and suddenly turned to run.


    ¡°Fuck, you bastard! Fuck your granddaddy!¡±


    Tang Mianmian cursed at him.


    The newbie had left them and ran away!


    ~~~


    P.S. I do think that this is one of the more difficult arcs for our two heroes, especially because there¡¯s an unknown element that they haven¡¯t yet figured out. They make them work so hard for that 500 points lol.

 Chapter 50.1

    <h4>Chapter 50.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian fell into despair at the same time.


    Although they already knew that human nature was simply unreliable and teammates would sell you out at any moment after ying so many horror games, they didn¡¯t want to experience and be reminded of this lesson under such circumstances!


    ¡°You fucking bastard! Get back here now!¡± Tang Mianmian shouted frantically at the sporty student as he ran away. Although he knew that this was futile, Tang Mianmian was still unwilling to give up thatst glimmer of hope. If no one came to give them a hand, they could only be trapped here!


    However, no matter how Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian shouted, the sporty student, who ran away at full speed, didn¡¯t stop. He used his good physical strength and sporty genes to the extreme. In a short time, his figure disappearedpletely from their sight.


    The two were left to their despair. Now there were only three survivors left and the sporty student got cold feet and escaped without them. Where else could they find another person to save them?


    They looked at each other and Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I brought you trouble. If you hadn¡¯te to save me, you might have escaped by now...¡±


    ¡°What bullshit are you talking about?!¡± Tang Mianmian was very angry. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t held onto me on the roller coaster just now, I would have been thrown out and fallen to my death! Isn¡¯t it only right that I save you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused. ¡°In fact, I wasn¡¯t thinking so much at the time...¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think much about it earlier too. The only thought I had is that I must rescue you and that we must leave together. No one should be left behind!¡± Tang Mianmian snorted, huffing and puffing in anger. But he was soon discouraged. ¡°I¡¯m to me for not thinking just now. I should have known that he might leave the two of us and run by himself....¡±


    ¡°Even if you had thought about it, it¡¯s no use. Are you going to make that guye down to save me, and you stay on top to pull us up? No one but you woulde down and save me,¡± Xiao Tangqiu sighed.


    On second thought, Tang Mianmian felt that what he said was true. His willingness to save Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t apply to others. What¡¯s more, they were just strangers who met by chance and have known each other for less than a few hours.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s no use continuing to grapple with this problem. The tree is about to copse. Let¡¯s find a way to escape quickly!¡± Xiao Tangqiu had just finished speaking when the tree trunk they were standing on shook even more violently. Right then, sand and stones were flying everywhere and the branches and leaves were shaking.


    ¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck! Don¡¯t you dare use that unlucky mouth of yours again at this critical moment! ¡± Tang Mianmian immediately screamed out in fright.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly discovered something. ¡°I¡¯m sorry... Wait a minute! Look! The tree has been uprooted!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was shocked, ¡°Wuwuwu, will you stop pointing out the obvious at this point!¡±


    The looseness of the surrounding soil made the long roots fall downwards. They could grab the roots as long as they stretched out their arms!


    It was really true that when one door closes, another opens!


    ¡°Hurry up! Before this tree ispletely uprooted, we must grab these roots and climb up!¡± Xiao Tangqiu said decisively, ¡°Tang Mianmian, you climb up first! I¡¯ll help you from down here! After you climb up, pull me up!¡±


    His decision was actually quite risky. After all, they didn¡¯t know how long this tree could hold out. Maybe it would bepletely uprooted and fall off the cliff as soon as Tang Mianmian climbed up. At this time, whoever climbed up first would undoubtedly have a better chance at surviving.


    At this point, others might even argue with each other but neither of them hesitated. The moment Xiao Tangqiu made his decision known, Tang Mianmian reached for the roots of the tree.


    Right now, the tree was already at the end of its tether. Although it had not yet beenpletely uprooted, it was only a matter of time. Most of its roots had beenpletely exposed and only a small part were still firmly embedded.


    When Tang Mianmian grabbed the roots, the soil and sand crumbled even faster and blew in the wind. The tree shook even more violently. Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t hesitate, holding up Tang Mianmian and giving him a hard push.


    As a small time actor, Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t have much time and money to work out in the gym but he was able to build up his physical strength and muscle so he managed to quickly climb up easily.


    Naturally, Tang Mianmian wouldn¡¯t run away like the sporty student. As soon as he climbed up, he turned around,y on the edge of the cliff and stretched out his hand to pull Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu held out his hand and caught Tang Mianmian¡¯s without hesitation. At the same time, the trunk that he was standing on finally broke off and fell into the abyss below. Suddenly losing the thing supporting his weight undoubtedly made it much more difficult for him.


    Tang Mianmian also struggled. However, he still grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand and desperately pulled him up.


    After the tree trunk broke, the tree started to uproot faster and faster and thend under Tang Mianmian¡¯s feet began to shake and loosen. The edge was about to crack and fall off at any moment but he still firmly grasped Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand.


    Xiao Tangqiu severely gritted his teeth, grabbed Tang Mianmian¡¯s hand and stepped on a branch, climbing up the cliff!


    After they had both climbed up, they didn¡¯t dare stop at the edge of the cliff. They ran forward as fast as they could for more than ten meters before they fell to the ground exhausted and gasping for air.


    Just then, there came a loud crash!


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back and saw that the edge of the cliff they had just stood on hadpletely copsed and the tree had fallen into the abyss.


    They couldn¡¯t help but tremble with fear. If they had hesitated just now, even if it was only for two or three seconds, they would¡¯ve fallen to their deaths with the tree! It was so close!


    It really was too close!


    They looked at each other in a trance and at the same time, fell back to the ground andughed out loud for having survived.


    ¡°Hahahaha, just now I almost shouted at you ¡®Quick let go! Otherwise we would both die!¡¯......¡± Xiao Tangqiuughed while gasping for air and said, ¡°Then you would probably say ¡®I won¡¯t let go! Let¡¯s die together!¡¯ ...It¡¯s totally like a romance tragedy out of a tv drama!¡±


    Tang Mianmian alsoughed, ¡°Hahahahaha......¡±


    He smiled and suddenly stopped. ¡°Actually, I almost let go of your hand just now.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also paused. Then he said, ¡°Even if you let go, I wouldn¡¯t me you. You¡¯ve done your best.¡±


    Tang Mianmiany on the ground with his eyes wide open. ¡°But I would me myself! It was so weird just now. I kept thinking, ¡®Let go! Let go! Or else I¡¯ll die!¡¯ ......Several times, I almost let go...¡±


    ¡°I tried very hard to control myself and finally didn¡¯t let go... I must¡¯ve been possessed! It was like someone was talking in my ear! He was repeating the same sentence, telling me to quickly let go. I really must¡¯ve been possessed!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered that when they were on the roller coaster, it seemed that there was also a person who kept repeating in his ear, ¡°Let go... let go...¡±


    At the time, it was as if he had been bewitched by the devil. He almost let go several times under that strange entrancement. Fortunately, he kept this inexplicable impulse under control and didn¡¯t lead them to tragedy.


    If he alone experienced it, he could brush it off as coincidence, but he and Tang Mianmian both experienced this sort of thing at the same time... Could this still be counted as a coincidence?


    Xiao Tangqiu voiced his doubts to Tang Mianmian. The two of them looked at each other and couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill in their spines. It turned out that both of them had been subjected to the same entrancement. If one of them failed to resist the entrancement just now, they would¡¯ve watched their friend die while the murderer would be themselves...


    Xiao Tangqiu pondered about it. If he failed to resist the temptation and let go of Tang Mianmian on the roller coaster, thetter would¡¯ve been thrown off the roller coaster and fall to his death. Then, even if he survived alone, he would¡¯ve died at the edge of the cliff just now because no one would be there to pull him up.


    He saved Tang Mianmian andter Tang Mianmian also saved him. If he hadn¡¯t saved Tang Mianmian earlier, he would¡¯ve died just now because there would be no Tang Mianmian to save him. One thing led to the other- cause and effect.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know whether this was a coincidence or not, and he had no way of knowing for sure, so he could only worry on his own.


    Tang Mianmian obviously didn¡¯t think so much. He leaned on Xiao Tangqiu shoulder and leisurely said, ¡°Thank God, we controlled ourselves! Buddies for life live and die together!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s quickly go home. We have to hurry up. There are still two more games.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately pulled a long face. ¡°We¡¯ve been ying for so long. No, we¡¯ve been yed for so long, has it really only been two games?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed. He was right, they had spent a lot of time, but they had only just survived the first two events. There were still two more. No one knew what the next event was and what terrible things were waiting for them. Their goal was to live until dawn and then escape from this death yground.


    Other people came to the amusement park to y, but they came to be yed!


    Theyughed bitterly, then helped each other as they staggered toward the entrance of the ride.


    Although they were lucky enough to keep their lives, they were slightly injured when theynded earlier, especially Xiao Tangqiu, whose calf seemed to be fractured. He felt a bit weak which should have been caused bynding wrongly.


    But soon, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered that they had a special hemostatic agent and took it out.

 Chapter 50.2

    <h4>Chapter 50.2</h4>


    Tang Mianmian recognized the special hemostatic agent immediately. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the special hemostatic spray given to you by Shen Yuan? You¡¯re willing to use it?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu forced a smile. ¡°If I¡¯m not willing to use it now, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t have the chance to use it anymore.¡±


    So they both used a little bit of it. Although this special hemostatic agent had a wonderful effect on wound recovery, it seemed useless for internal injuries such as fractures. Their skin injuries were almost as good as before but Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s calf wasn¡¯t much better.


    Tang Mianmian was so anxious he almost cried. ¡°What should we do?¡±


    In the normal world, a fracture wasn¡¯t a big deal. Worsees to worst, one would need to lie in bed for ten days to half a month. But this was the world of horror games. Plus, there were two more unpredictable, dangerous events left. Once movement was limited, the chances of survival would be greatly reduced.


    Xiao Tangqiu had no choice but to smile bitterly. ¡°We can only take one step at a time.¡±


    Tang Mianmian wailed as he nodded, silently supporting Xiao Tangqiu out. Just as they were about to leave the cliff, he suddenly heard a cry for help, ¡°Help! Help! Somebody help me!¡±


    They looked at each other doubtfully. Besides them and the sporty student, were there any other survivors? This was impossible!


    But in the next moment, Tang Mianmian suddenly remembered something. ¡°That seems to be the sporty student¡¯s voice!¡±


    They looked in the direction of the screams, only to be surprised to find that the sporty student was lying on the edge of the cliff. Half of his body was dangling off the cliff, leaving only his upper body and two hands firmly clinging to the edge of the cliff.


    The sporty student¡¯s hands clung to the edge of the cliff. Because he was using excessive force, his face was twisted in pain and his expression was ugly and terrible. He was still screaming for help. ¡°Help! Come help me! ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu was very surprised. He didn¡¯t expect that the sporty student who escaped without them hadn¡¯t yet escaped from the cliff and had also mysteriously fallen off somehow. Although he hadn¡¯tpletely fallen off the cliff, it would happen sooner orter. After all, if they hadn¡¯te, the sporty student would¡¯ve fallen off in a little while.


    When he saw someoneing, the sporty student immediately showed a happy expression. He seemed to havepletely forgotten that he had left Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian to die earlier. He immediately shouted, ¡°Help me! Help me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated. Naturally, he wouldn¡¯t leave someone to die, but he wasn¡¯t the kind of person to offer up the right side of his face after being pped on the left side either. The bastard had left them and ran away, leaving them to die! Why should he save a man who had left them to die earlier?! He wasn¡¯t some tolerant and magnanimous saint!


    However, asking him to just watch as others die wasn¡¯t something he could do with ease. Just as he was hesitating, the sporty student cried bitterly. ¡°Help me! Please help me! I ran away because in a moment of folly! I was wrong! Please! I don¡¯t want to die ¡°


    Seeing the sporty students crying and repenting, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and were ready to save his life. After all, they still couldn¡¯t stand and watch someone die. However, just as they were preparing to go over, a figure suddenly climbed up the cliff!


    Someone climbed up from below!


    The two of them were frightened at once, especially when they saw the appearance of that figure. They were so shocked their eyes almost popped out. It was the girl who had just gone over the cliff!


    The girl turned a deaf ear. She climbed onto the sports student with a full face of resentment and dragged him to the bottom of the cliff.


    ¡°You fucking psycho! Let me go!¡± The sporty student screamed repeatedly but the girl seemed to have great strength and grabbed him at once.


    The sporty student clung desperately to the edge of the cliff, leaving deep marks on the ground with his nails. His nails broke off and his fingers started bleeding. However, in the next second, he was forcefully dragged down from the edge of the cliff by the girl.


    When Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian rushed to the edge of the cliff, they could only see the sporty student screaming as he fell. At the moment he fell off, his expression was fiercely horrified. Then, the girl¡¯s limbs grew longer and longer and bound the sporty student tightly, just like spider silk.


    As they continued to fall, the figures of the two became smaller and smaller until all that was left was a dark shadow that finally disappearedpletely.


    The figure of the sports student had disappeared, but his screams still echoed.


    ¡°Ahhh......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian was a stepte after all. They stood on the edge of the cliff, heart palpitating with fear and also filled with confusion... Didn¡¯t that girl already fall off the cliff? In theory, it was impossible for her to be still alive.


    And how did she get up here? But judging from her state just now, it didn¡¯t look like she was still alive. Had she be a ghost?


    But why didn¡¯t she attack them just now?


    This was what confused Xiao Tangqiu the most. Just now, the girl gave them an obvious re that was filled with bitterness and hatred. She was obviously anxious to jump on them and tear them to pieces. But she just looked at them and then turned and ran towards the sporty student.


    He didn¡¯t think that it was because they were lucky. When had he and Tang Mianmian, two jinxes, ever gotten lucky?


    ¡°What just happened? Why did the girl pull the sporty student down together...¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked puzzled. A momentter, he suddenly let out a cry, ¡°Ah! I know!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows. ¡°What do you know?¡±


    ¡°They must be a couple! Therefore, when the woman died, she pulled him to die together! Because even if she dies, she has to die with that man!¡± Tang Mianmian spected, ¡°And the man on the roller coaster didn¡¯t save the woman just now so she must be resentful. She climbed up from below and tried to pull the man together to their deaths! This is because love begets hate! I¡¯m really too smart! How can I be so smart?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the silly person beside him and said faintly, ¡°...I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    Tang Mianmian asked, ¡°What do you think then?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said tly. ¡°They look like strangers who met by chance. However, I agree with one thing you said just now. Maybe the girl really resents the sporty student for leaving people to die, but not because he did that to her but because he did that to us.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was stunned silly. ¡°Because he left us to die? Does this woman know us? Why is she helping us get justice?¡±


    ¡°Of course she isn¡¯t helping us get justice, I¡¯m guessing...¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment before he continued, ¡°You and I have both heard someone urging us to give up ourpanions. Do you think others have also heard that voice?¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked stupidly. ¡°How would I know if they heard it? Maybe they did, maybe they didn¡¯t...¡±


    In a moment, he suddenly reacted, ¡°You mean, other people also heard the voice at the time...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°I think everyone heard the voice that made us abandon ourpanions... Only some people didn¡¯t do it and others did.¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked and blinked again. Then, he said, ¡°We didn¡¯t do it. Did the sporty student do it?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu lowered his gaze and looked gloomy. ¡°Everyone except us must¡¯ve done it. Only the two of us didn¡¯t, so we survived.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was speechless for a long time. After a while, heughed dryly, ¡°If I had let go of you at the edge of the cliff, then I would be dead now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°Maybe.¡±


    This was just his spection. No one could tell them the real answer so the truth would remain unknown.


    They looked at each other and remained silent for a long time until Xiao Tangqiu remembered that they had to rush to the next event. The two continued to support each other on their way out. Fortunately, after walking away from the cliff, they found a path which had a sign.


    They followed the sign and returned to the entrance of the roller coaster after a few minutes.


    Seeing that they were back, the geek, who was the only remaining newbie immediately weed them and eagerly asked, ¡°You¡¯re back. What took you so long? Where are the others?¡±


    A normal roller coaster ended in a few minutes at most but they weren¡¯t going on a normal roller coaster ride, but a roller coaster of death that lead to hell.


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile. ¡°Only the two of us are left.¡±


    The geek was immediately shocked. ¡°Is everyone else dead?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said grimly, ¡°...All dead.¡±


    He originally thought that the rest of them would be upset by this, but in fact, no one cared about how those people died. As fewer and fewer people survived and more and more people died, the survivors naturally became more and more concerned about themselves.


    The geek became nervous, fearing that he would have to participate in the next event.


    The other group of people were expressionless and unresponsive. They seemed unmoved and indifferent to the death of theirpanions. Even the boy who had joined them had a straight face and showed no sympathy for the death of several lives.


    This wasn¡¯t normal, but this amusement park wasn¡¯t normal as well. The boy who should¡¯ve died was alive, and his girlfriend had disappeared inexplicably... Everything seemed so normal to them and it made the scene before them look even more normal.


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled sarcastically. Just then, someone said, ¡°Alright, it¡¯s time to go to the next project.¡±


    This time, no one cheered.


    Although the other group of people weren¡¯t moved by the death of theirpanions, they didn¡¯t seem as excited about everything in the amusement park as they had been before.


    This seemed normal.


    But it also seemed very unusual.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t say anything but he moved closer to Tang Mianmian.


    Momentster, the crowd came to the third event. They had just arrived when another puppet soldier appeared. However, this time the puppet soldier was sitting on a small toy roller coaster. The toy roller coaster had no track but could move as usual.


    ~~~


    P.S. Lemme know if you spot any mistakes. I¡¯ll edit itter. I just got off from a conference call and I have more work to deal with ??

 Chapter 50.3

    <h4>Chapter 50.3</h4>


    ¡°Wee to the third event ¨C Underwater Chamber Escape.¡±


    ¡°Come and draw lots, my dear yers! Same rules! Lucky yers who draw the ck ball will get an extremely thrilling underwater escape experience! The chamber escape in the amusement park is very special and can bring you a unique and unforgettable experience!¡±


    ¡°Underwater Chamber Escape?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but look at Tang Mianmian. They had obviously recalled the situation in the church in Daemon Town at the same time. Their legs couldn¡¯t help but go soft at the thought.


    ¡°Underwater? No, no, no... I can¡¯t!¡± The geek looked horrified. ¡°I¡¯m afraid of water. I can¡¯t swim! I¡¯ll drown! I mustn¡¯t pick the ck ball!¡±


    Except for them, everyone else was numb and unbothered.


    The draw began and the geek rushed up first.


    While he was still drawing lots, his mouth kept mumbling the same phrase over and over again. Listening carefully, it seemed that he was repeating, ¡°Bodhisattva bless. Buddha bless. Jade Emperor bless. God bless. Virgin Mary bless...¡± and so on. He prayed to all the deities over and over again.


    Tang Mianmian looked at him with contempt and sneered, ¡°It¡¯s better to rely on yourself than God or Buddha...¡±


    Although this geek¡¯s luck had always been very good, which made him feel very envious, he really didn¡¯t believe it. Was there really a king of luck who wouldn¡¯t draw the ck ball at all?


    In the next second, the geek was done choosing. It was a red ball.


    He immediately breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, ¡°I knew that my luck has always been very good. Looks like this time it¡¯s pretty good as well.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°......¡±


    Next, it was Tang Mianmian¡¯s turn to draw lots.


    He quickly mumbled a prayer. ¡°Bodhisattva bless. Golden Boy and Jade Maiden bless, God of the Land bless. Jade Emperor bless. Heavenly Queen Mother bless. Heavenly Peach Tree bless...¡±


    Then, he stretched out his hand confidently and got a ck ball.


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°......¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave Tang Mianmian a contemptuous look. What happened to relying on yourself rather than God or Buddha?


    As soon as the result of the draw came out, a few people were happy and a few were sad.


    Although there weren¡¯t any casualties in the first round, in the second round, four people died in one fell swoop. Plus the beautiful girl who had inexplicably gone missing, there were only nine people left now. They pulled out a total of four ck balls.


    In addition to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, there were also two people from the other side who drew the ck ball. Butpared to both their gloomy expressions, the other two were much calmer... or perhaps more numb.


    The clown grinned and announced the results of the draw and the rules of the game. Finally, he gave a warning for the first time. ¡°If you want to escape from the chamber of secrets, you must find the key. And you must find it before you drown! Let me give you a hint, the key is in the most dangerous ce!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. It looked like the underwater chamber escape event involved filling the chamber with water first. Then, they had to find the key to leave before the water reached the top of the chamber.


    Although they had yed this in countless horror games, ying withputers was definitely different from ying in person! After all, the main characters in the horror games had phenomenal physical strength while they wee just ordinary people... That¡¯s not right, Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t count. He was just an ordinary person!


    However, things hade to this so they could only ept the situation. Under the instructions of the clown, they entered the venue of the third game. From outside, the underwater chamber was just a very ordinary house. It didn¡¯t look mysterious at all but at first nce, there weren¡¯t any windows, only a strong iron door.


    When they walked into the house through the iron door, they were even more surprised to find that the house was decorated almost like an ordinary house,plete with furniture and warm decoration. There were tables, chairs, beds, wardrobes and even a vase of flowers on the table. At first nce, they thought they had identally broken into someone¡¯s home.


    However, if they looked carefully, they could still see some ws. Although the furniture in the house wasplete, they were a little shabby. Some chairs were missing the legs. Normally, such chairs wouldn¡¯t be used anymore. However, the strangest thing was that all the furniture were fixed and couldn¡¯t be moved. Generally speaking, only furniture on cruise ships would be fixed so as to prevent shaking.


    This must be done to prevent the furniture from floating and colliding when flooding the chamber with water.


    Of course, the vase of flowers was also fake. They were just lifelike stic flowers.


    As the four entered the room, the iron gate slowly closed.


    The moment the iron gate closed, they immediately heard the gurgling sound of running water. The water was flowing from God knows where, not from a fixed location, but from many different ces in the house.


    In an instant, the water had already shallowly covered the floor. Listening to the gurgling sound of running water, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian¡¯s hearts pounded wildly. They looked at each other, not saying a word, and immediately turned to search the house under tacit understanding.


    As two horror game streamers, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were naturally the best at searching through houses, especially Xiao Tangqiu, who was a fanatic at it. Every time he yed a horror game, he would search the house inch by inch. He was meticulous and could often find details that other game streamers couldn¡¯t. Therefore, whenever a new horror game was released, he was often the first to reveal the secret endings.


    This time, he also made full use of his meticulousness and began to search the house like a crazy person. But at the same time, he was thinking about what the clown said just now.


    ¡°The key is in the most dangerous ce.¡±


    Where was the most dangerous ce?


    Literally?


    But no matter how he looked at it, this house was just like an ordinary residential house. How could there be any danger? Was it the kitchen? Because there was a kitchen knife?


    Xiao Tangqiu felt that the clown¡¯s hint wasn¡¯t so simple but he still went to search the kitchen. Everything in the kitchen was fixed, even the kitchen knife was fixed to the chopping board so he couldn¡¯t pick it up. He searched the entire kitchen and found nothing.


    When he returned to the living room, he saw Tang Mianmian lying on the floor looking under the sofa. After searching there, he looked in the nooks and crannies and finally looked into the vase of fake flowers.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. ¡°How¡¯s the searching along? Have you found anything?¡±


    Tang Mianmian shook his head. ¡°Nothing...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at the living room out of the corner of his eye. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go to the bedroom.¡±


    Naturally, Tang Mianmian wouldn¡¯t refuse so he nodded his head.


    The bedroom in this house was also decorated like a regr bedroom. There was a bed, bedside tables, a wardrobe, and even a picture of a family of three on the wall. It was just that the three people had blurred out faces and looked a little scary.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s first move was to go through the wardrobe. He found that it could be opened but there was nothing inside.


    Xiao Tangqiu also searched the table. The room wasn¡¯t big. It was a one room structure and there wasn¡¯t any rooms within. After he opened the drawer, he found a book.


    The cover of this book was blurry but the strangest thing was that it could be picked up.


    Xiao Tangqiu picked up the book and immediately something fell out with a clink.


    Tang Mianmian immediately turned to see what it was. Then, his eyes lit up. ¡°It¡¯s the key! We¡¯ve found the key!¡±


    It was indeed a key ¨C a silver key that looked ordinary.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s intuition told him that things weren¡¯t that simple. He picked up the key and immediately rejected that notion. ¡°No, this key is too small. It looks like a key to open a door or box in the house, not the key to open the iron door.¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked at it carefully and felt disappointed. The key was too small to be used for the keyhole of the iron door. But that made sense as well. How could they find the key so soon? The water in the room had only reached their ankles!


    However, he was still rather geared up. ¡°Then this must be the key to a certain room! At least we found a clue! Which room is it?¡±


    The house had a one room structure and the kitchen was an open kitchen, leaving only the bathroom. However, when they found the bathroom, they realized that the bathroom door didn¡¯t require a key.


    What exactly did this key open?


    They went into the bathroom, not knowing what to do, but paused the moment they entered. There were full body mirrors on the left and right sides of the bathroom, opposite of each other.


    This decoration was too strange. Were two people supposed to look in the mirror with their backs against each other?


    Xiao Tangqiu walked towards the mirrors and stood in front of them. He paused again.


    He saw himself in this mirror... but the mirror behind him that was reflected in the mirror was empty.


    In other words, he wasn¡¯t reflected in the mirror behind him.


    ~~~


    P.S. In case you¡¯re not on Discord, I missedst night¡¯s update because my grandma was admitted to the hospital. I¡¯ll make up for the missed chapter soon. I couldn¡¯t do it today because I¡¯m really just too busy working and taking care of her. Also, I wanted to say that thest part really gave me the creeps. Say it with me: I HATE MIRRORS!

 Chapter 51.1

    <h4>Chapter 51.1</h4>


    This scene was very nerve wracking. Although Xiao Tangqiu had seen many horrible things throughout his ¡°battles,¡± the strange mirror sent shivers up his spine. He immediately turned around and looked at the mirror.


    Even if he was facing the mirror, the mirror still didn¡¯t reflect him. And not only him, but Tang Mianmian wasn¡¯t in it as well!


    It was fucking haunted! This mirror didn¡¯t reflect anyone at all!


    Tang Mianmian also got a fright but soon he found something wrong. ¡°Wait a minute, this mirror... it doesn¡¯t seem to be a mirror! This is a fucking picture!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu studied it carefully and sure enough, it wasn¡¯t a mirror at all, but a picture of the opposite wall. But because the picture was extremely lifelike and real, one subconsciously thought that it was a mirror at first nce.


    ¡°Fuck, this picture is too lifelike! I really thought that it was a mirror just now!¡± Tang Mianmian immediately breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°This is just an escape game, not a haunted house. Why is it so scary?¡±


    However, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t think that the matter was so simple. Was this picture only used to scare them? He rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, then he suddenly found something else. ¡°Wait a minute, I think I can remove this picture.¡±


    Tang Mianmian trusted Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s words almost unconditionally. After hearing what he said, he immediately went to remove it. Xiao Tangqiu quickly put out his hand to stop him. ¡°Wait, we still don¡¯t know if this picture is dangerous...¡±


    He had just finished speaking when Tang Mianmian removed the painting.


    They waited quietly for a while, but nothing happened.


    A momentter, Xiao Tangqiu felt his heart calm down. He silently looked at the wall behind the painting, only to find a keyhole in it.


    It was very strange that there was a keyhole in the wall. Obviously, there wasn¡¯t a door behind it or a box or even a safe. The keyhole seemedpletely out of ce with nothing behind it.


    But Tang Mianmian cried in surprise. ¡°There¡¯s a keyhole here! We just found the key and found a keyhole! Go, go, go! Qiuqiu, put the key in!¡±


    <i>Was it that simple? Things had gone a little too smoothly, right?</i> Xiao Tangqiu had doubts but he still put the key he had just found into the keyhole in the wall... But, nothing happened.


    They waited in silence for a while, but still, nothing happened.


    Tang Mianmiaughed dryly, ¡°In theory, something should happen now, which makes this rather awkward.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. With their luck, it wouldn¡¯t be normal if things went so smoothly. This situation actually made him feel that it was normal... He was relieved!


    Just then, Tang Mianmian suddenly said in shock, ¡°Wait a minute! Where¡¯s the key? Why is the key missing?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up. Sure enough, the key that had just been properly inserted in the keyhole had disappeared God knows when.


    <i>What was going on? They obviously stayed in front of it from beginning to end without leaving, how could the key have disappeared under their noses? Something strange must be going on!</i>


    ¡°Is that so? I didn¡¯t pay attention...¡± Tang Mianmian wasn¡¯t as careful as Xiao Tangqiu. He looked around and scratched his head.¡±Looks like you¡¯re right. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu cried out, ¡°Not only that... look at the mirror on the opposite wall.¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked up and found that the mirror on the opposite wall had suddenly turned into a picture!


    A picture that looked exactly like the one he had just removed!


    He was about to be shocked silly. What was going on here?


    ¡°Everything is reversed, or should I say, the opposite...¡± Xiao Tangqiu murmured, ¡°This looks like the mirror world...¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly had an unexpected thought. ¡°Did we enter the mirror?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Tang Mianmian said cheerfully. ¡°If we went into the mirror, we can leave as long as we break it!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that simple... and where¡¯s the mirror?¡±


    <i>Where¡¯s the mirror?</i>


    Tang Mianmian turned around and looked at the wall. In theory, the mirror on that wall turned had turned into a picture, so the wall that originally had the picture should have a mirror.


    However, the wall was empty.


    <i>Where was the mirror? Was it missing?</i>


    ¡°Fuck, we¡¯re stuck!¡±


    Tang Mianmian cried out in frustration.


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled helplessly. From the start, he felt that it couldn¡¯t be so simple. Now, Tang Mianmian¡¯s series of hitting the wall were just a verification of his conjecture.


    However, he also knew that the immediate problem had to be solved as soon as possible. They also had to find the key to the iron door outside. Now, the water had already passed their calves, so they had to act as soon as possible.


    Xiao Tangqiu reached out to open the bathroom door. As expected, the door was locked.


    ¡°Fucking hell! My hands shouldn¡¯t have been so hasty! I shouldn¡¯t have entered this bathroom! No, I shouldn¡¯t have entered this instance in the first ce! No, I shouldn¡¯t have yed that horrible game in the first ce!¡± Tang Mianmian muttered, mming his shoulder into the bathroom door. But no matter how hard he tried, the bathroom door, which looked very fragile, wouldn¡¯t budge.


    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your energy. Let¡¯s look for the bathroom key.¡± Xiao Tangqiu quickly pulled Tang Mianmian away.


    Tang Mianmian had let off some steam. He asked Xiao Tangqiu with a gloomy face, ¡°But we¡¯ve looked through this bathroom. There wasn¡¯t anything in it. How can there be a key?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Just because there wasn¡¯t one earlier doesn¡¯t mean there isn¡¯t one now.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tang Mianmian paused and quickly reacted to what he was implying, ¡°You¡¯re saying...¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xiao Tangqiu smiled and nodded. ¡°This bathroom isn¡¯t the same one before.¡±


    Tang Mianmian decisively agreed. ¡°Okay! We¡¯ll look for it!¡±


    The two of them quickly searched the bathroom but this time, they still found nothing of value, while the water was almost over their knees.


    Tang Mianmian became more and more impatient. ¡°Is there anywhere else we haven¡¯t looked?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly had an epiphany. ¡°The water tank of the toilet!¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened. ¡°That¡¯s right! We haven¡¯t looked there yet! ¡°


    They rushed to the front of the toilet bowl. Tang Mianmian opened the lid of the water tank. However, there was nothing inside except for some dirty water with dirt sediment. He even reached in and fished around, not believing that he wouldn¡¯t find anything, but in the end, still found nothing.


    ¡°How can this be? This is impossible!¡± Tang Mianmian was so anxious that he even opened the toilet lid and looked inside. The result was nothing as well.


    The water had almost covered the sides of the toilet. Just as he was about to give up, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly said, ¡°Wait a minute, this is a bit strange.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was slow to respond, ¡°What?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. ¡°Since this is an escape room game, then the toilet should be fake, but there¡¯s water in the water tank and... it seems to be a real toilet.¡±


    Tang Mianmian pursed his lips, ¡°So what? There¡¯s nothing in it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said lightly. ¡°But there¡¯s no point in putting a real toilet here, so I think this toilet must have some meaning.


    Tang Mianmian paused, ¡°But there¡¯s really nothing in it ah...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°How do you use the toilet?¡±


    Tang Mianmian subconsciously said. ¡°Poop, then flush... Flush... Wait a minute!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded and pressed the button on the lid of the water tank. Suddenly, there was the sound of rushing water in the tank.


    A stream of dirty ck water gushed out, and at the same time, something floated out with it.


    It was a severed hand.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s reaction was better, and could be considered calm, but Tang Mianmian was so scared that he shouted, ¡°Fuck! A hand! A severed hand!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said faintly, ¡°It¡¯s just a severed hand. Haven¡¯t you seen that before?¡±


    Tang Mianmian thought what he said was right. He had seen it several times before. What was there to be afraid of? So he suppressed his fear and tried to ask Xiao Tangqiu calmly, ¡°Is it a fake hand?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and found that the matter wasn¡¯t so simple. ¡°It looks like a real hand...¡±


    Tang Mianmian gasped, but he was no longer afraid. ¡°Fuck!¡± It really is a hand!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked down. The severed hand should be real. Because it was very lifelike, the lines exposed under the surface of the water surface from time to time was very clear and the texture of the skin was also very natural. An artificial hand wouldn¡¯t be as lifelike.


    ¡°Wait a minute, there seems to be something in the palm of the broken hand...¡±


    The broken hand was tightly clenched and the hand seemed to be holding something. Before Xiao Tangqiu could carefully study it, Tang Mianmian who was impatient, stretched out his hand and reached for it.


    Tang Mianmian grabbed the severed hand and pried open the fingers. As he did that, he apologized profusely. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you¡¯re dead but we¡¯re still so disrespectful towards you. We have no choice now that our lives are at stake. You, who are in the spirit world, please don¡¯t me us or look for us...¡±


    Tang Mianmian had a hard time prying open the fingers. A silvery object suddenly rolled out and fell into the water. Xiao Tangqiu grabbed it quickly.

 Chapter 51.2

    <h4>Chapter 51.2</h4>


    ¡°What is it?¡± Tang Mianmian leaned in and found that it was a key and a familiar one at that.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°Isn¡¯t this the key we had before?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was also puzzled. ¡°Yes, how did it get into the toilet and be in this severed hand?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t understand either but he stared at the severed hand Tang Mianmian was holding for a moment and suddenly said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think this hand looks familiar?¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked in confusion, ¡°Huh? Aren¡¯t all hands about the same?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu concluded, ¡°This is a girl¡¯s hand.¡±


    Tang Mianmian paused and said faintly, ¡°I have no chance to hold a living girl¡¯s hand in the real world. Now, I can only hold the hand of a dead girl...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched. ¡°Look. There¡¯s a mole on this hand.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was puzzled. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with having a mole? Isn¡¯t it normal to have moles? I also have a mole on my butt.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°The pretty girl in our team also had a mole on her hand.¡± He didn¡¯t want to know whether Tang Mianmian had mole on his butt, thank you.


    Tang Mianmian asked, ¡°Really? How do you know?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said with a straight face. ¡°I find her beautiful. Can¡¯t I look at her a bit more?¡± He had a thing for hands, so when he saw her beautiful hands, he paid attention to them.


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Oh, I see...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said lightly, ¡°Isn¡¯t she missing? It seems that we¡¯ve discovered her whereabouts.¡±


    Tang Mianmian paused, then asked, ¡°Do you mean that she died here? But how can this be? How did she get here ahead of us?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think she got here ahead of us.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment and said nothing more.


    Tang Mianmian was filled with curiosity but he knew that it wasn¡¯t the most important thing now. It was more important for them to leave the bathroom as soon as possible.


    Xiao Tangqiu changed the subject and said, ¡°Well, we¡¯ve found the key. Now we have to find the keyhole.¡±


    They went back to the bathroom door. Tang Mianmian took down the painting which was originally a mirror, only to find that there was nothing behind it.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know what they had missed. He and Tang Mianmian searched the bathroom several times, and almost removed the floor tiles as well, but still found nothing.


    In the end, there really was no way out. He opened his special skill card, ¡°Sexy Streamer¡¯s Live Stream Channel¡± with thest glimmer of hope.


    This was the second time he opened the special skill card in this instance. He hoped that this time it would at least be a little more reliable than thest time, even if it was only a little better.


    ¡°They¡¯re stuck! They¡¯re stuck! Come and bet on whether the streamer can make it out this time!¡±


    ¡°I bet ten peach wood swords that he will make it! Mr. Streamer, charge ahhhhh!¡±


    ¡°Hehehe, then I¡¯ll bet 100 silverware that the streamer won¡¯t make it!¡±


    ¡°The streamer is so cute, how can the guy upstairs bear to let him die! But the streamer¡¯s soul looks so delicious! I kinda feel like eating him!¡±


    ¡°So cute! I want to eat him as well!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    What kind of people were the audience?


    He looked at the barrage flitting across the screen with a straight face. Just when he was about to give up on the live channel, ament that looked like a suggestion flew past his eyes.


    ¡°Since the conditions for clearance haven¡¯t yet been met, there must be ack of clues. The only clue now is the severed hand. I¡¯m guessing the other clues are rted to the hand.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized, yes! Why didn¡¯t he think in this direction just now?


    Seeing that the water level was getting higher and higher, he didn¡¯t have time to exin too much to Tang Mianmian so he pulled him to the toilet. ¡°I¡¯ll count to 3, let¡¯s try to push the toilet aside!¡±


    Tang Mianmian asked, ¡°Move the toilet?¡±


    He paused but didn¡¯t ask too many questions. Xiao Tangqiu gave the signal and began to push the toilet hard. However, the two tried their best, but the toilet still didn¡¯t move.


    ¡°Bathtub! There¡¯s also the bathtub!¡± Xiao Tangqiu cried, ¡°Let¡¯s push the bathtub away!¡±


    The two of them worked together once again and finally managed to push the bathtub using all their strength.


    ¡°Yes! Keep going!¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes shone brightly as he urged Tang Mianmian.


    They continued to give it their all and eventually pushed the bathtub to one sidepletely!


    A sunken pit appeared under the bathtub, in whichy a corpse.


    The body should¡¯ve been dead for a long time but God knows why it wasn¡¯t rotting at all. Long hair covered its face, making it impossible to see the face clearly. The clothes on the body were very dirty and the colors had long be indistinguishable.


    This was the corpse of a woman. There was no obvious wound on the corpse except that the right wrist was empty ¨C her right hand had been severed off.


    Obviously, this was the owner of the severed hand.


    In the face of this situation, besides Tang Mianmian feeling a little nausea, Xiao Tangqiu had be ustomed to this and calmed down at once. Haha, it was but the corpse of a woman. At least, her hand and feet were still alright. It wasn¡¯t as if they hadn¡¯t seen corpses which were more mangled! Calm down! Calm down!


    After Tang Mianmian held back the wave of nausea, he couldn¡¯t help but ask Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°You really guessed right! How on earth did you guess it? How did you know there was a body under the bathtub?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have time to listen to Tang Mianmian¡¯s praise and worship. If they didn¡¯t find a way out quickly, the water in the bathroom would soon wash away the corpse!


    But what should they do next? Although they found the owner of the severed hand, what then? How on earth were they going to get out? Did they have to find the woman¡¯s cause of death? What was the key to getting out of here?


    His brain was nk and he seemed to vaguely think of something but it remained at the tip tongue, constantly eluding him.


    Tang Mianmian also knew that they were locked in now. He grabbed his hair and thought for a long time. Suddenly he cried, ¡°I can¡¯t think of any other way ahh! Why don¡¯t we try putting the severed hand back on the body? God knows why her hand was severed from her body. Maybe we should first restore her back to her original state?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened when he heard this. ¡°That makes sense. Quick, quick! Let¡¯s put her hand back in ce!¡±


    Without further ado, they immediately started to y a puzzle. Although this puzzle was rather grim, they still took pains as if they were ying a normal puzzle in a horror game.


    Xiao Tangqiu put the hand back onto the body along the cross section of the severed part and then the two of them waited patiently for a while... but nothing happened.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Did I guess wrongly?¡± Tang Mianmian was very upset. ¡°This person lost her hand. Her body was under the bathtub and her hand was in the toilet. Although it wasn¡¯t very far apart from the body, there was still no way toe together. I thought that she must want to find her hand and reunite her body with her severed hand!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also felt that there was nothing wrong with this idea. They looked at each other helplessly. In the end, they had no choice but to return to the door and see if there was any other way to break out.


    Tang Mianmian, the stronger of the two, was the first to rush up and hit the door with his body. He mmed against the door and issued a ¡°Bang! Bang!¡± noise, but the door didn¡¯t budge. It remained as steady as a mountain.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and tried to think. What went wrong? What were they missing?


    As he pondered, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something strange out of the corner of his eye ¨C the body seemed to have moved!


    His heart skipped a beat. He quickly turned around and sure enough, the body they had casually ced in the corner began to move! It slowly crawled up from the ground, then twisted in the water and rushed towards them!


    Drip, drip.


    Water dripped from the body and fell onto the surface of the water in the bathroom.


    The body was alive!


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately shouted at Tang Mianmian. When Tang Mianmian looked back, he shouted at once, ¡°Fuck, fuck! She¡¯s be a living corpse!¡±


    The two were anxious like ants in a hot pan. Not to mention the fact that the bathroom was so small that they couldn¡¯t use any tricks, even outside, which was vacant, was also covered in water. They couldn¡¯t run because the increased friction in water!


    What should they do now? Did they have to confront the corpse?


    At this point, because of the buoyancy of the water, the long hair on the woman¡¯s face, which was originally covering it, spread out, revealing its ferocious gray face.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were shocked at the same time. The corpse was really the new yer who had entered the instance with them; the girl who disappeared mysteriously after they left the haunted house!


    Why did she disappear mysteriously at the beginning, and why did she appear here now, and had even died in the third project unnoticed?


    Of course, at this moment, they didn¡¯t have the time or the mood to reason and analyze the mystery behind the girl¡¯s disappearance and death. Although they wanted to know the truth very much, they must first be alive to know the truth!


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t be bothered to think right now. He quickly pulled out a low-level exorcism talisman and threw it at the corpse. The female corpse was nailed to the spot but almost in the next second, the low-level exorcism talisman lost its effectiveness and the female corpse began to move again.


    ¡°No way, she has too much resentment!¡±


    How was that possible?


    In theory, the longer a person was dead, the stronger the resentment. She was only deed for a few hours. How could her resentment be so strong? It was even stronger than the ghost haunting him in the haunted house!

 Chapter 51.3

    <h4>Chapter 51.3</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe it, but it was true.


    In order to dy time, he used all his remaining low-level exorcism talismans and even grabbed the other five from Tang Mianmian.


    In spite of this, he only managed to dy her for less than ten seconds.


    And they still hadn¡¯t found a way out.


    Tang Mianmian mmed his shoulder so hard it started to bleed, but the bathroom door still didn¡¯t budge. They were almost on the verge of despair. Seeing that thest low-level exorcism talisman failed, the female corpse descended upon them again. Xiao Tangqiu grit his teeth and put the useless key into the keyhole with hisst glimmer of hope.


    Click.


    The door opened.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°......¡±


    Fuck! Why didn¡¯t they think of it just now?


    The two had no time to moan about their grievances. They quickly escaped from the bathroom but they didn¡¯t rush out too far because of their fear. After all, the bitter experience from countless horror games and horror movies told them that they must close the door behind them.


    As soon as they ran out of the bathroom, they immediately turned around and closed the door, locking it again!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    There was a burst of loud noise from the bathroom which sounded frightening. However, this bathroom door was as impossible to open as it was earlier and was still intact so the female corpse inside shouldn¡¯t be able to get out.


    The crash in the bathroom sounded quieter and quieter until it disappearedpletely. Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.


    They exchanged a look and smiled bitterly at the same time.


    ¡°Fuck! That key could obviously open the door. Why didn¡¯t we think of such a simple thing?¡± Tang Mianmian was very puzzled.


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯m to me for this. I¡¯ve been subconsciously thinking that the way out isn¡¯t so simple, so I can¡¯t help thinking about it at in aplicated manner. My thoughts have been circling round and round till I ended up at a dead end and couldn¡¯t think of anything else.¡±


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t let himself off either, ¡°I also me myself for thinking too simply earlier. But the result was, I ended upplicating matters when it was really so simple.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°In fact, there¡¯s nothing wrong with us thinking to open the door with the key. At first, we couldn¡¯t open the door because we didn¡¯t fulfil the conditions. Later, when the conditions were met, naturally, we could open the door with the key.¡±


    But now was obviously not the time toment. They had just wasted a lot of time in the bathroom. Now the water was going to reach their necks. If they still didn¡¯t escape, they would probably be drowned alive in this water dungeon.


    Because of the buoyancy and friction in the water, it was difficult for them to keep their bnce, so their movements were very difficult. Fortunately, all the furniture in the house were fixed to the floor. They could still walk as long as they held onto the furniture and the walls.


    However, as the water level in the house got higher and higher and the oxygen in the air got less and less, both of them were beginning to feel that their breathing wasn¡¯t as smooth as before.


    Not only that, they also hadn¡¯t yet found the key to open the iron gate, not even a shadow of it. Just now, the bathroom was most likely just a trap. They found nothing in it and also wasted precious time.


    Just as they were returning to the living room to look for the key, they finally met the other two head-on. Tang Mianmian immediately shouted, ¡°Where have you been?¡±


    The other two yers expressionlessly looked at Tang Mianmian. Although the situation was critical, their expressions were almost numb and they didn¡¯t seem to realize that their lives were in danger... Or perhaps he should say that they didn¡¯t seem to care.


    ¡°What the hell are you doing?! Why aren¡¯t you helping?¡±


    Tang Mianmian pursed his lips. If he wasn¡¯t so anxious that he could dig three feet into the ground, he would have rushed over to teach the two men how to be human beings. Everyone was on the same boat. Did they want to watch the boat sink?


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. He didn¡¯t see the two people look for anything since just now. Compared with the two of them who were looking hard for the key, the two yers seemed to be wandering aimlessly in the room from beginning to end... Didn¡¯t they want to leave here at all? Or were they unconcerned with whether they lived or died?


    Because Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian had unluckily participated in all the events before, they had gotten to know the other yers. The two people before them were a man and a woman. The man had entered the haunted house with them before and the woman had ¡°won¡± the lottery for the first time.


    In theory, Xiao Tangqiu had only met this girl for the first time in the game but he always felt that the girl seemed a little familiar. Yet the strangest thing was that she had wrapped herself up tightly, not only putting on the hat but also an overcoat. She wore her hat low, burying her head deeply and not looking at them.


    The water level had almost reaching their chins.


    ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s look in the bedroom again!¡± Tang Mianmian started to get impatient.


    Just then, the girl suddenly said, ¡°Are you looking for the key? We found the key.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian immediately froze. They looked at each other subconsciously. Tang Mianmian was the first to ask, ¡°What? You actually found the key?¡± Were these two people in no hurry because they had already found the key?


    The girl bowed her head and said, ¡°Yes, we just found the key...¡±


    ¡°Where did you find it? We¡¯ve been looking for a long time, but why haven¡¯t we found anything?¡± Tang Mianmian asked. But he soon reacted and knew that they had to solve the urgent crisis first. ¡°Forget it, it doesn¡¯t matter now. Bring out the key so we can quickly get out of here!¡±


    The girl whispered, ¡°I¡¯ll give you the key and you can open the door.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously felt that something was wrong but he did not know what.


    Logically speaking, it should be safest for them to hold the key. After all, if the two people had malicious intentions, they could lock them in the house after opening the door with the key... Unless, they knew that the first person to open the door would suffer.


    On the other side, Tang Mianmian wasn¡¯t thinking too much. He immediately reached out for the key.


    The girl held out her hand underwater and was about to give the key to Tang Mianmian when Xiao Tangqiu suddenly cried out, ¡°Don¡¯t touch it! That¡¯s a fake key!¡±


    Tang Mianmian got a fright. He hadn¡¯t even properly reacted to his words but his body had subconsciously taken a step back and he didn¡¯t grab the key that was handed by the girl.


    In the next second, the thing that looked like a key turned into a ck worm that was as big as a thumb!


    The ck worm¡¯s body shed a cold metallic light and suddenly jumped toward the Tang Mianmian!


    Fortunately, Tang Mianmian had responded in a timely manner and took out the multifunctional Swiss Army knife that he had exchanged before. The side of the knife popped up and the ck worm flew away with one sh!


    When the knife came into contact with the shell of the ck worm, a loud ka-boom sounded! The shell of the worm was obviously very hard.


    ¡°Fucking hell! My hands are numb!¡± Tang Mianmian let out a cry, but held the knife tightly to prevent the ck worm froming towards him again.


    As the water level got higher and higher, the girl¡¯s hat was finally washed away by the current. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but shiver at the same time. The girl... actually looked exactly like the female corpse that they had just discovered!


    ¡°Shit! Aren¡¯t you dead?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was very agitated but he soon remembered something.


    ¡°...No! You didn¡¯t look like this just now!¡±


    The four of them came in together just now. At the time, they had seen the girl¡¯s appearance. Earlier, the girl didn¡¯t look like she did now.


    The girl looked at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian with a straight face, not saying a word.


    Xiao Tangqiu said lightly, ¡°If I didn¡¯t guess wrong... you should be from thest group of yers, right?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was shocked. ¡°What? £¡¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu continued, ¡°Like us, they¡¯re yers who came to this instance from outside.¡±


    On the other side, the other two looked at Xiao Tangqiu expressionlessly, still not speaking.


    ¡°Are they also yers?¡± Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t digest this amazing information.


    ¡°Yes, but they¡¯re dead. They died in the instance...¡± Xiao Tangqiuughed coldly, ¡°If I didn¡¯t guess wrongly, their goal is to kill us and take over our identity!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was shocked silly. ¡°...What the fuck!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said coldly, ¡°Could it be that if you kill us, you¡¯ll take over our bodies and then return to the city of the abyss as us?¡±


    Still no one answered.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid one of them killed the man in the haunted house before and took over his identity...¡± Xiao Tangqiu continued to specte, his tone slightly chilly. ¡°As for the female corpse in the bathroom, it really was your body before. But because you killed the girl, the dead person became her and you reappeared with her appearance and identity.¡±


    ¡°As long as us yers are killed and reced by you, others will forget everything about that person...¡±


    So when he was in the haunted house, the man had suddenly forgotten that he had a girlfriend. At the time, the girl must have already been killed and reced by someone else.


    Although the man was reced, the others didn¡¯t notice anything wrong with him because they were all strangers.


    But God knows why, only he and Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t forget her. Perhaps it was because they had already experienced two instances?


    Just then, the girl finally spoke.


    She looked at Xiao Tangqiu coldly, her eyes filled with chilly resentment.


    ¡°Since you know, then stay... Stay here forever with yourpanion...¡±


    ~~~


    P.S. The horrifying truth is revealed! How many of you saw thising? I totally didn¡¯t!

 Chapter 52.1

    <h4>Chapter 52.1</h4>


    As soon as her voice fell, the ck worm rushed towards them in the water!


    Although Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know what would happen if he was bitten by the worm, he didn¡¯t want to know the consequences were so he quickly dodged. It was very difficult for him to move in the water, but fortunately, the ck worm obviously didn¡¯t know how to move in water. It struggled around in the water without.


    ording to Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s guess, the ck worm was most likely the girl¡¯s weapon or prop and it could also be a skill card or a special skill card.


    Whatever it was, it proved that the girl wasn¡¯t a newbie who had entered the replica for the first time. She was probably an old yer who had experienced several instances or else she wouldn¡¯t have been the first to sessfully kill a newbie and seize her identity so smoothly. Moreover, she managed to conceal it for so long without being discovered. As for the others, they should all be new yers who entered the instance for the first time. Otherwise, how could only one person seed so far?


    At the same time the ck wormunched an attack, the girl took out a whip out of nowhere and hurled it at Xiao Tangqiu.


    God knows if it was because of her great strength or if the whip was made of some special material because the wall behind him was shattered by it after he dodged to one side!


    The girl cracked the wall of the house with her whip!


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were shocked but what surprised them the most wasn¡¯t the fact that the wall had been shattered, but that what emerged after the wall was torn apart wasn¡¯t steel and iron but a dark abyss!


    Even if they destroyed the house, as long as they couldn¡¯t find the key, they would never be able to leave this room!


    Seeing the two men¡¯s faces filled with shock, the girl burst outughing, ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve also discovered that if you can¡¯t find the key, you¡¯ll never be able to leave here...¡± Even if it was difficult, ordinary escape rooms could be violently dismantled by physical force but this strange and mysterious room was inescapable with that method. Even if they tore down the house, they would never be able to escape.


    Suddenly, Xiao Tangqiu sneered, ¡°Although we can¡¯t get out, you can¡¯t either!¡±


    Hearing that, the girl¡¯s face suddenly became cold. He knew at once that he was right.


    ¡°Although you¡¯re dead and have be evil spirits, you will still ¡®die¡¯ again...¡± Xiao Tangqiu said coldly. ¡°On the previous roller coaster event, two of you also ¡®died¡¯ as well, so that means that you can also ¡®die.¡¯ Even if you¡¯ve found other people to take your ce, as long as you can¡¯t find the key to leave, you will still die!¡±


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu finished speaking, Tang Mianmian suddenly cried out. God knows when the other man quietly lurked behind Tang Mianmian and while thetter wasn¡¯t paying attention, he grabbed his neck, trying to strangle him to death.


    ¡°Go to hell!¡± The man¡¯s eyes showed resentment. ¡°As long as you are dead, I can live!¡±


    ¡°Fuck your granddaddy! Laozi isn¡¯t going to be your sacrificialmb!¡± Tang Mianmian screamed and grabbed the man¡¯s neck with one hand. The two men squeezed each other¡¯s neck with all the strength they had.


    The girl looked at Xiao Tangqiu with resentment and said, ¡°Even if I die here in the end, I want to watch you die first!¡±


    The whip in her hand flew toward Xiao Tangqiu but this time he didn¡¯t move away fast enough and was severelyshed. Fortunately, friction was greater in water so it weakened the force of the whip. In spite of this, Xiao Tangqiu almost vomited blood.


    Xiao Tangqiuughed coldly, ¡°You must be an old yer who has experienced several instances. How does it feel to die in this D-level instance? I bet you never thought that you would fall in this kind of low level instance!¡±


    ¡°Let me guess, you were the only old yer in thest batch, and the other six were newbies, so you were arrogant for a moment and looked down on this instance. But in the end, you not only lost your own life, you also caused the whole group to go down with you!¡± Xiao Tangqiuughed.


    The girlshed at him furiously. Even though there was friction in the water, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s clothes were still torn into strips. He also had several more bloody wounds on his body that oozed out fresh blood.


    ¡°No, the group didn¡¯t die because of you... You died as early as in the third event... Isn¡¯t that ironic? At the beginning of this instance, you killed the girl and reced her when everyone wasn¡¯t aware. But now you¡¯re back in this escape room again and the result is still the same. You can only die in here... ¡°


    ¡°You thought that you¡¯ve changed it all, but in fact everything nothing has changed. It really is a cycle of cause and effect and retribution doesn¡¯t feel good...¡±


    ¡°Shut up! Shut up!¡±


    The girl waspletely outraged. She poured all her strength into the whip andshed it at Xiao Tangqiu, hitting him with all her strength!


    Right now!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes sank and his body immediately tilted, dodging the whip and revealing the man behind him who was still choking Tang Mianmian¡¯s neck. The whip fell violently on the man¡¯s back!


    ¡°Ahhh!¡±


    The man let out a scream. A bone-deep wound instantly appeared on his back as he fell to the ground screaming in pain.


    But the wound on his body didn¡¯t shed blood. Instead, there was a thick ck gas.


    Tang Mianmian was finally saved. He gasped for air but identally took a big gulp of water. That was when they noticed that the water level in the room had already passed their mouths.


    ¡°You dare to fool me...¡±


    Only then did the girl react. It turned out that Xiao Tangqiu kept provoking her just now in order to distract her attention so as to lead her to kill the man with her own hand.


    In an instant, she became even more angry and pounced violently on Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu knew that he hadpletely infuriated the enemy and made her crazy, but under the circumstances earlier, he could only do so.


    ......But what should he do next?


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t want to die with this girl at all. He tried to dodge, gritting his teeth while heunched his special skill card for thest time.


    ¡°Indeed as expected of the streamer and his buddy! This is definitely true love! I ship this CP!¡±


    ¡°YOOOOOOOO~ What deep, true friendship!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m crying, I¡¯m crying! Once again, I¡¯m shedding tears for other people¡¯s love story!¡±


    ¡°What is this beautiful friendship?! When the fish cries, the water knows. But who knows when I cry?¡±


    ......


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Is! Now! Really! The! Right! Time?!!!


    How did they see that Tang Mianmian and he were lovers?!!!


    ......Hello?


    Did anyone want to give some advice or props?


    As Xiao Tangqiu once again fell into despair over his live channel, ament suddenly drifted past his eyes.


    ¡°Then again, how exactly is the streamer supposed to find the key? I remember that the clown gave a hint just now, but I still haven¡¯t figured out what that hint means. ¡°


    ......


    Hint?


    Yes! The clown gave a hint earlier!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s fuzzy brain was suddenly clear and bright. That¡¯s right! The hint!


    ¡°The key is in the most dangerous ce.¡±


    The most dangerous ce.


    Where was the most dangerous ce?


    Although the house was full of dangers, there wasn¡¯t a specific ce that was the most dangerous. The ¡°most dangerous ce¡± probably didn¡¯t refer to a specific corner of the house, but to the moment when the housepletely became the underwater chamber.


    When this house waspletely transformed into a water dungeon, they would never be able to escape from this room. So once the timees, this entire house would be the most dangerous ce!


    The ¡°most dangerous ce¡± shouldn¡¯t be a ce prompt, but a time prompt!


    Blessings can lead to misfortune and vice versa. Perhaps after dangeres the opportunity to live.


    And the most dangerous ce may be their only way to escape from the underwater chamber!


    Xiao Tangqiu finally understood. At this time, the water level in the house was high enough to reach the top of an adult man¡¯s head. He had to try his best to float in the water while avoiding the girl¡¯s whip.


    Even though he tried hard to dodge, he wasshed several times.


    The girl waspletely enraged by him. The whip in her hand showed no mercy at all. Almost everysh was capable of splitting a person¡¯s flesh. If it weren¡¯t because they were in the water and the current slowed down her attack speed, Xiao Tangqiu would have been killed with one blow.


    Although Tang Mianmian rushed over several times to help, he only had a multi-functional Swiss Army knife in his hand. Every time he went closer, he was whipped into the corner in an instant and was in a sorry state.


    His heart grew more and more urgent and he was dodging faster and faster, not only because of the madness of the girl, but also because the water level in the room was rising higher and higher now. If they couldn¡¯t find the key, he and Xiao Tangqiu would both die here!


    ~~~


    P.S. Don¡¯t hate me! My grandma is still in the hospital but at least the surgery is over and she¡¯s recuperating now. I¡¯ve been so busy I didn¡¯t have time for anything besides work and grandma.

 Chapter 52.2

    <h4>Chapter 52.2</h4>


    The water level in the room was getting higher and higher and wouldpletely flood the ce in less than a few minutes yet the girl didn¡¯t mean to stop her attacks. Tang Mianmian was worried but his gaze suddenly met Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s.


    Xiao Tangqiu gave Tang Mianmian a look.


    Tang Mianmian nodded, took a deep breath and dived into the water all of a sudden.


    ¡°Speak! Say something! Weren¡¯t you having a good time with your speech earlier? Why can¡¯t you say a word now?¡± The girl¡¯s smile was ferocious and twisted, and her whip flew towards Xiao Tangqiu, onesh after another. ¡°So what if I, an experienced old yer, died in this room? Aren¡¯t you just the same? Since everyone is the same, let¡¯s die together then! Don¡¯t dream of escaping this room!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu clenched his jaw and tried to stop himself from exhaling in pain because he knew that some people were mentally messed up; the more pain others suffered, the happier they were.


    His whole body was in agony. Coupled with the physical and mental exhaustion, his movements began to slow down. Gradually, he could no longer evade the girl¡¯s whip.


    But at this moment, she suddenly cried out, ¡°Ahhhh!¡±


    Suddenly, she turned around, whipping at the water. A man jumped out of the water screaming at once!


    It turned out that Tang Mianmian quietly sneaked underwater toe up behind her and made a surprise attack when all her attention was focused on Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know what happened underwater. He only saw a Swiss Army knife stuck into the girl¡¯s butt.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    A knife was inserted in her butt, angering the girl again. She gave Tang Mianmian ash and then another. Tang Mianmian miserably screamed again and again.


    Xiao Tangqiu, who was wounded all over, was temporarily freed, but he didn¡¯t turn around and run. Of course, in thispletely closed space, he couldn¡¯t run even if he wanted to.


    He quietly took out his crossbow. He didn¡¯t act immediately but quietly waited for an opportunity, just like a beast in the savanna, calmly waiting to catch its prey. He remained motionless, waiting for his chance.


    The mantis stalked the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.


    The water level grew higher and higher.


    Finally, the water reached the ceiling and the house waspletely transformed into an underwater chamber.


    Regardless of whether the water was a good or bad thing for them, everyone had to fight to survive in the water. Tang Mianmian struggled especially hard. Not only was he holding his breath, he also had to dodge the girl¡¯s whip. The girl had gone raving mad. Clearly everyone was about to die together soon but she was still attacking him underwater! Did she think that the road to the underworld was too cold for her feet that she needed someone to go first and cushion her feet?


    On the other hand, when the water level reached the ceiling, Xiao Tangqiu narrowed his eyes slightly.


    The time had finallye! Now!


    Even if there was friction from the water, the girl was still hit to the wall by the arrow. The hand holding the whip was nailed to the wall so she lost her mobility instantly.


    Tang Mianmian decided to seize the whip and returned severalshed to the girl without any hesitation.


    Hit me?! Hit me?! I¡¯ll hit you back! Beat you to death!


    Although she was nailed to the wall and hit with her own weapon, the girl¡¯s face wasn¡¯t depressed at all. Instead, she burst outughing hysterically.


    So what if these two took advantage of her inattention and threw a surprise attack? Anyway, none of them could escape from here now and they would eventually end up with her!


    This was an escape room without any way out at all!


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s heart sank at once. He subconsciously looked at Xiao Tangqiu. Earlier, he dared to sneak an attack on the girl ording to Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s suggestion because he trusted Xiao Tangqiu wholeheartedly. He believed that Xiao Tangqiu could find a way to leave the house, but until now, he didn¡¯t seem to have found the key yet...


    Did the three of them really have to die together here?


    Just then, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly smiled.


    Seeing him smile, the girl immediately turned pale and sensed something.


    Did he find the key? That was impossible! There was no way anyone could find the key!


    Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t wrong. As a veteran yer, she took it lightly in the beginning because it was a D-level instance. As a result, she was trapped in this room forever.


    Before the second group of yers entered the instance, her soul could only wander around in the escape chamber. Because she begrudged the fact that she couldn¡¯t find the key to leave, she searched for it the whole time her soul was trapped here.


    Not only was she looking for the key when she was alive, she kept searching for it even after her death. She, herself, didn¡¯t even know how long she had been searching, but she never found the legendary key of the chamber.


    Therefore, she thought that the key didn¡¯t exist at all. This was an escape room that had no way out!


    When the second group of yers entered the instance, she found that she could take their identities by killing new yers and even return to the city of the abyss as they were. She was ecstatic, thinking that she had finally seen a glimmer of light after a long, dark night, provided, of course, that she lived to the end.


    However, fate yed a cruel joke with her after all. Although she sessfully killed another yer and got her identity at the beginning of the instance, she unfortunately drew the ck ball of death again and returned to this nightmare chamber, which took away everything she had, including her life.


    The girl suddenly burst outughing again. Sheughed more and more hysterically. She couldn¡¯t escape! She couldn¡¯t get out of here! But no one else could escape either!


    None of them could get out of here! They should all join her and die together!


    This was an escape room without a solution! This was an escape room that they could never escape from!


    Key? It never existed.


    Sheughed crazily but suddenly stopped after seeing Xiao Tangqiu take out something from his pocket.


    Wait! What was that?!


    Something that glittered with metallic luster underwater...


    Wasn¡¯t that the key?


    Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t sure whether his guess was right at first but he had no choice but to bite the bullet.


    ¡°The key is in the most dangerous ce.¡±


    The most dangerous ce might not refer to a ce but a time ¨C the time when this room waspletely transformed into an underwater chamber.


    But at the same time, the most dangerous ce might provide a hint.


    Where was the most dangerous ce?


    The most dangerous ce was the safest ce.


    What was the safest ce for them? In other words, where was the safest ce to hide the key?


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know what other people thought, but he had his own answer, so he went with that. When the waterpletely flooded the room, he put his hand into his pocket with his breath held.


    Because for him, his own pocket was the safest. If he wanted to hide a key, of course he would choose to hide it in his pocket.


    When his fingertip touched a cold metal object, he knew that he was right.


    He found the key to the room.


    No! This was impossible!


    Key? Where did he get the key?


    This was clearly a room without an escape. How could there be a key? This was impossible!


    The girl¡¯sughter froze on her face instantly and her facial features were distorted into a ferocious expression. She cried out frantically but ended up taking a big sip of water with and coughed violently.


    Compared to her reaction, Tang Mianmian was ecstatic. He quickly dropped the whip and turned to swim towards Xiao Tangqiu.


    He wasn¡¯t very good underwater and wouldn¡¯t be able to hold his breath for long. Fortunately, Xiao Tangqiu found the key!


    Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t very good underwater either. He only held his breath for a while but felt his lungs contracting violently due tock of oxygen. He quickly took the key and turned to open the door.


    The moment the key was sessfully inserted into the keyhole, he waspletely reassured. This was indeed the key to the escape chamber. His guess was right!


    However, things wouldn¡¯t go as smoothly as nned. The girl, who was originally nailed to the wall, saw that they had actually found the key and immediately became furious.


    She tried to break free from the arrow that had pinned her to the wall. In desperation, she yanked her hand away from the wall, the arrow plunging even deeper into her flesh.


    She didn¡¯t have time to pull the arrow out of her hand first. Instead, with the arrow still embedded in her hand, she pounced on Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s Swiss Army knife had already ¡°died¡± in the line of duty. He could only block her attacks with his bare hands. The two began to fight hand to hand. He squeezed her neck mercilessly while he cursing inside. This woman was really crazy! They had already found the key to escape. Why the hell did she stop them from escaping? Obviously, she could also escape together with them!


    However, he couldn¡¯t speak underwater. If he opened his mouth, he would only gulp a big mouthful of water. He could only crazily curse in his heart while he strangled the girl who he seriously suspect hadpletely lost her mind.


    The girl was very fierce, also choking Tang Mianmian¡¯s neck while she gave Xiao Tangqiu a hard kick on the waist.


    With that kick, Xiao Tanqiu crashed into the iron gate. His brain, that was originally slow due to theck of oxygen, almost cked out on the spot. Fortunately, his desire to live overcame everything else and he gritted his teeth, continuing to open the door.


    The oxygen content in his lungs had dropped to the lowest point. His throat and lungs were burning at the same time. He knew that if he didn¡¯t leave the underwater chamber soon, he would probably stay here forever and be the second her.


    He didn¡¯t believe that the girl didn¡¯t want to escape. Clearly, they caught a glimmer of hope, but instead of helping, the girl acted as if she didn¡¯t want them or herself to leave at all.


    <i>Did she really not want leave?</i>

 Chapter 52.3

    <h4>Chapter 52.3</h4>


    Probably not.


    Perhaps she knew that she couldn¡¯t leave. She knew that even if they found the key and opened the door, she would never leave the escape chamber.


    Maybe it was because she had been locked up in this room for too long that her consciousness, behavior and will had beenpletely controlled by the escape room.


    Perhaps it was because... she hadpletely assimted with the escape chamber. They had already merged into one. She was the chamber of secrets and the chamber was her. She had incarnated into the will of the chamber. Therefore, no matter how many times she started from scratch, no matter how many yers she killed and how many identities she took, in the end, she would still return to the escape chamber.


    She really didn¡¯t know where the key to the escape chamber was?


    Click.


    The door opened.


    When the fresh air and the light from outside made its way into the chamber, Xiao Tangqiu almost cried. He took a big breath of fresh air and once again deeply realized the beauty of life.


    However, just as he was about to rush out through threshold, he felt a sharp pain from his calf.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked down in disbelief and found that it was the ck worm.


    God knows where the ck worm was hiding earlier. Just as he was preparing to escape from the chamber, it rushed up to him and took a bite... This was the real oriole behind the mantis stalking the cicada.


    Was he going to die like this?


    He was unwilling! He clearly was about to escape!


    However, the sharp pain was really brief and soon he didn¡¯t feel anything anymore.


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously turned around and looked at the female yer.


    Ever since the door to the chamber opened, the girl had stopped moving. She stopped attacking Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, floating motionless in the water, just like a piece of furniture in this house.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes were still fixed on the scene behind him before his bodypletely left the chamber. He saw that the broken walls in the chamber that had been ruined by the girl¡¯s whip had been restored in an instant and changed back to their original appearance from when they first entered the ce.


    And that female yer was still floating in the water and had no intention of rushing up to leave the Chamber of Secrets with them. She didn¡¯t move, just like a piece of furniture or part of the decoration in the house.


    She looked at the yers who left the chamber with a straight face. Her eyes were vacant, without a trace of sadness or happiness.


    It seemed that her fate would be the same as all the furniture in this room; they would all turn dusty with the passage of time.


    Until the next group of yers entering the instance step into this room again.


    The moment they escaped from the chamber, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian fell to the ground, gasping, taking in the fresh air outside. They had never felt that the air outside was this fresh and sweet.


    ¡°Fuck... What the hell was wrong with that girl?! Didn¡¯t she want to escape?! I can¡¯t believe she even tried to stop us from leaving!¡± Tang Mianmian was the first to slow his breathing. He shouted at once, ¡°Even if I want to die together in the name of love, I¡¯d choose a young, beauty to die with me! I don¡¯t want to die with that kind of freak auntie who likes to y with whips!¡±


    He looked back and found that only he and Xiao Tangqiu had escaped. Suddenly, he was shocked. ¡°Huh? Where is she? Didn¡¯t shee out?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head. It took him a long time to recover his breath. ¡°She didn¡¯te out. She stayed inside.¡±


    Tang Mianmian froze, but for him, this wasn¡¯t the main point anyway. He immediately asked the question he was most concerned with, ¡°By the way, how did you find the key earlier? Didn¡¯t we search the whole house before? Where on earth did you find it?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gasped, slowly expressing his thoughts at the time.


    ¡°The most dangerous ce is the safest ce?¡±


    After hearing this, Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but p his hands and exim, ¡°Fuck me! Why didn¡¯t I think of that? You¡¯re so clever! The most dangerous ce is the safest ce, the most dangerous ce is the safest ce... But wait! Why is it that only you have a key in your pocket and it wasn¡¯t in mine?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I guess everyone should have a key in their hand and that key may not be in the pocket. Because for me, I think that the safest ce is my pocket, so that¡¯s why I turned out my pockets at thest minute. But for others, they may think that it is safest to put it in their underwear or socks, and maybe their key will be in those ces.¡±


    Tang Mianmian had aplicated expression on his face. ¡°For me, I really think that it¡¯s safer to put it in my underwear. But if there¡¯s something extra in my underwear all of a sudden, there¡¯s no way i wouldn¡¯t notice it... Don¡¯t say if there¡¯s something extra, I¡¯ll know even if there¡¯s something missing!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head again. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t feel anything in my pocket before I turned it out. I¡¯m guessing this key will exist only when I assume that it¡¯s there. Otherwise, no matter how many times I put my hand in my pocket, I won¡¯t find it.¡±


    Tang Mianmianughed dryly, ¡°It¡¯s veryplicated, but it¡¯s good that we managed to escape!¡±


    Just then, the others who weren¡¯t far off realized that they hade out and walked over to wee them.


    The geek quickly asked, ¡°Why are there only the two of you? Where are the others?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head and said nothing.


    But his expression made everything clear.


    ¡°Are they all dead?¡± The geek¡¯s expression suddenly froze. He was obviously frightened by the extremely high mortality rate and his entire body was on the verge of copse.


    Momentster, he stepped aside and said nervously, ¡°There¡¯s still onest event... It won¡¯t be my turn the next event, will it... Will I die... No... my luck has always been very good... It won¡¯t be me... It won¡¯t be me... It won¡¯t be...¡±


    Aside from the geek¡¯s reaction, the others had deadpan expression after hearing the death of theirpanions. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other. Since they knew that these people should be thest group of yers who died in this instance, they didn¡¯t think that their behavior was abnormal anymore. Anyways, from the beginning, they didn¡¯t regard these people as theirpanions.


    Of course, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t intend to expose these people. Firstly, he didn¡¯t want to expose what they already knew and arouse the vignce of those people. Secondly, there was no need. Anyway, there was only thest event left.


    There was still thest event left, and there were only seven yers still alive.


    Originally there were 14 people, but now only half were left.


    Xiao Tangqiu knew that half of the seven people couldn¡¯t be considered ¡°alive.¡± He only knew that if thest group of yers sessfully killed anyone from their group of yers and lived to the end, they could seize the identity of that person and return to the city of the abyss. But he didn¡¯t know what would happen if these people failed in their mission. Would they stay here like that female yer and wait for the next group of yers to enter the instance, or would they be killed directly by the system?


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was thinking about this question, the clown appeared again.


    This time the clown didn¡¯t do anything else. He appeared in front of the crowd on a wheelbarrow.


    ¡°Did you have a good time? Wee to thest event in this amusement park... Before announcing the event, first draw lots. Same rules!¡±


    This seemed to be the first time that the clown didn¡¯t announce the event after drawing lots, which made Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian uneasy. This implied that this event was unusual... But this was also to be expected. After all, this was thest event and naturally it would be different from the others.


    Xiao Tangqiu tried his best tofort himself ¨C this was just a D-level instance and there should be no super crazy difficulty leading to aplete massacre... But thinking back to the female yer in the escape chamber, he felt uncertain again.


    Although he didn¡¯t know who the girl was, what her name was, and how many instances she had gone through, he had the feeling that she was a very good yer, at least much better than he and Tang Mianmianbined. But even such a person died in this D-level instance so all the more he couldn¡¯t take this lightly!


    Recalling the female yer, he suddenly felt a dull ache in the ce where the ck bug bit his calf...


    Could that ck worm be poisonous?!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank immediately, but he soon got over it. If he didn¡¯t make it through thisst event, sooner orter he would be dead. If he did make it through thest event, as long as he returned to the city of the abyss, then all his serious injuries and diseases could be cured. What was he afraid of?


    Thinking up to here, he immediately calmed down and began to prepare for the draw.


    At thisst event, the geek who imed to be the reincarnation of the invincible king of luck suddenly became timid and insisted that Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian go first. Naturally, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t mind. He shrugged and was the first to draw lots. Anyway, he had already prepared himself for the possibility of drawing a ck ball in all four events.


    He casually fished up a ball. Sure enough, it was ck again.


    Tang Mianmian said, ¡°Oh dear!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu red fiercely at Tang Mianmian and motioned with his eyes, ¡°If you can do it then go ahead ah!¡±


    Tang Mianmian rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward confidently. ¡°This time I have to draw a red ball! I want to prove that I only have unlucky hands once in a while and that I¡¯m not a jinx that the heavens have given up on!¡±


    He reached out his hand and righteously fished out... another ck ball.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...... Oh dear.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu mercilesslyughed at Tang Mianmian, but reacted in the next second.


    What was heughing for? Clearly, he, himself, was also an unlucky jinx.


    They were both jinxes, why hurt each other?


    Why should a jinx embarrass a fellow jinx ah!

 Chapter 53.1

    <h4>Chapter 53.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, these two fellow jinxes, hid in a corner and wept bitterly.


    The draw was still going on. The geek hesitated for a moment, his face pale face, and let the next person draw first.


    There were only seven people left. ording to the probability given half the balls were ck and the other half red, even if Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian had already pulled out two ck balls, at least one ck ball should remain in the box at this time.


    He watched the third person put his hand in to draw a ball and prayed repeatedly in his heart, draw a ck ball! Draw a ck ball! Draw a ck ball!


    Maybe his prayer came true or maybe he was born with luck because he really proved to be the king of luck again ¨C the third person really got the ck ball!


    It was the next person¡¯s turn to draw, but he still didn¡¯t dare to take any risks and once again carefully gave the chance to the fourth person.


    He kept looking at the fourth person the whole time. If the first four had drawn a ck ball, he would surely draw a red ball! You must draw a ck ball! Be sure to be a ck ball!


    Soon, the fourth person finished picking a ball and sure enough, it was ck.


    That¡¯s great! All four ck balls were already drawn! He was sure to draw a red ball!


    The geek trembled with excitement. The anxiety of waiting earlier made him sweat all over. It was difficult for him to obtain such a narrow escape. He rushed towards the box for fear that there would be any changes.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian watched this scene as their hearts grew sadder. Of course, they could see what the geek was thinking. Four ck balls had been drawn in front of them, and the three left were red balls anyway. The geek didn¡¯t have to worry about falling into the pit.


    This guy was too lucky! The three rounds earlier, he had drawn red balls each time. Even in thest round, he managed to avoid all the ck balls perfectly!


    It turned out that there really was such a blessed king of luck! They worked very hard in each round of the game to get a chance to survive, but this king of luck was able to avoid all dangers perfectly by only using his fingers and drawing a good ball at the beginning. This world was really unfair!


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he can really live till the end just based on luck?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help discussing with Tang Mianmian.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face was filled with indignation. ¡°Sir, I want to reborn again!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu always felt that things weren¡¯t so simple. He was just about to say something when the geek nearby suddenly screamed, ¡°No way! This is impossible!!!¡±


    The two men looked up at the same time, only to be surprised to find that the geek had pulled out a ck ball!


    Another ck ball!


    This was already the fifth ck ball!


    The clown smiled and said, ¡°And even if I did, it might not be true! Because I said at the beginning, don¡¯t trust the clown! ¡°


    They were fooled by this clown again!


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were speechless but they were still quite calm. After all, no matter how the clown randomly modified the rules of the game or even the number of ck balls, both of them would definitely draw ck balls. Since the side with jam would alwaysnd first, did it matter if the jam was blueberry or strawberry?


    Compared to theirposure, the geek looked crazy. His face was pale and his eyes were red. There was nothing more disheartening than giving people a chance to live in the face of death and then depriving them of it. He thought that he had escaped but was instantly knocked off the cliff. This despair was even worse than the reaction of drawing the ck ball since the very start.


    He became mad with anger and even changed his cautious attitude, questioning the clown as if he had lost his mind. ¡°Why are there five ck balls? That¡¯s impossible! You tricked us! I refuse to obey! I want to draw again!¡±


    The clown smiled at him. Although his multicolored face had a wide grin, his eyes held noughter at all, which made their hearts all tremble.


    The geek didn¡¯t seem to notice it and was still questioning the clown regardless of anything. ¡°I¡¯m so lucky that it is absolutely impossible to draw a ck ball! You must have done something! I want to draw again! I want to draw again!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time. This guy had simply lost his mind. He dared to use that tone to question a person who could decide their life and death at will. Forget about the clown changing the rules of the game as he pleased to y around with them for entertainment. Even if he killed them directly with violence or any other means, they had no way to reason with him either! Who would they reason with? The demon who created the world?


    What¡¯s more, this guy had dodged three rounds of games by drawing three red balls with luck before this, which was considered being lucky off the charts. Was he really going to do nothing with his luck and clear this instance like that? If he really had this mentality, even if he could get away with this instance, he would definitely die in the next instance unless he could guarantee that he could remain the king of luck in all his future missions.


    Besides, this guy obviously drew the ck ball himself and even wanted to draw again. This was obviously cheating! He was willing to bet but not willing to lose!


    The geek lost his head and questioned the clown but when he saw that the clown didn¡¯t say anything and just smiled, he immediately became furious. Filled with rage, he rushed to the front of the box and drew another ball!


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t count! I want to draw again! Draw again! ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Fucking hell! Was there really such a thing!


    This was obviously cheating! How shameless was he?!


    Xiao Tangqiu reflexively looked at the clown but saw that the clown remained smiling and had no intention of stopping the geek.


    He couldn¡¯t help frowning slightly and his heart gave birth to a bad feeling.


    The geek groped around in the box for a long time. Although there were only thest two balls left, he still hesitated. After touching this ball, he touched the other. After feeling around back and forth for what seemed like forever, he finally gulped and made up his mind. ¡°This is the one!¡±


    <i>It must be a red ball! It must be a red ball!</i>


    However, his prayer failed again. This second time, he still drew a ck ball.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± The geek was so shocked his facial features were twisted into an ugly expression. He nervously repeated, ¡°It¡¯s a ck ball... That¡¯s impossible... That¡¯s impossible...¡±


    Soon, he changed his mind again. ¡°This time doesn¡¯t count either! Yes! It doesn¡¯t count! I want to draw again! There¡¯s still another chance! There¡¯s onest ball! ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    What the fuck! This was the second time he cheated! He was shameless to the max!


    He looked at the clown again, only to find that the clown was still smiling without any movement.


    He frowned slightly. What was happening? Why didn¡¯t the clown stop the guy? That guy had already vited the rules of the game twice. Could it be that the clown didn¡¯t care about the rules of the game anymore?


    There were already six ck balls so the next one had to be red!


    There would be at least one red ball in the seven balls!


    The geek¡¯s facial features were distorted and fierce with agitation. He couldn¡¯t wait to reach into the box and pulled out thest ball.


    The result was that it was another ck ball!


    Thest ball was also a ck ball.


    It turned out that the seven balls in this round were all ck balls!


    From the start, the seven balls in this box were all ck balls!


    So there was no way for the geek to draw a red ball!


    Because there was no red ball in the box!


    No wonder the clown was so calm the whole time. It turned out that he had already known that there was no red ball in the box. No matter how many times the geek cheated, he couldn¡¯t get a red ball.


    Xiao Tangqiu had long guessed that things weren¡¯t so simple, so he was calm after learning the result. On second thought, he even thought that there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. This was thest round. If the rules remained the same as the previous three rounds, he would find it rather strange.


    But in the end the reason he felt so calm was because he and Tang Mianmian would draw a ck ball whether there were four ck balls or seven ck balls in the box, so the result wasn¡¯t important to them.


    However, the geek obviously didn¡¯t think so. When he found that the seven balls in the box were all ck, he cried out like a lunatic. ¡°All ck balls! You cheat! This doesn¡¯t count! I demand a fresh start! Start over!¡±


    The clown looked coldly at the geek who was rolling around and remainedpletely unmoved. His smile grew even wider. ¡°The draw is over! Congrattions to you seven lucky yers for sessfully qualifying for thest round of the game!¡±


    The geek finally realized that thest round of the game was mandatory for everyone to take part in and no one could get away with it. Hisst glimmer of hope waspletely dashed, and he immediately sat down on the ground with a nk face and vacant eyes.


    In the next second, he remembered those who had died in the game before and immediately trembled with fear.


    The clownpletely ignored the geek and introduced the rules of the game. ¡°Thest game is called Lucky Maze. The rules of the game are very simple, that is, exit this maze.¡±


    Exit the maze? Was it that simple?


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other. Both of them found it hard to believe that thisst game was so simple!


    ......Impossible! There was no way things were so simple!


    The clown seemed to see what the others were thinking. His painted face broke into a smile. ¡°Look behind me. This is the entrance to the maze.¡±


    He turned around to reveal the maze behind.


    The maze didn¡¯t seem to cover arge area. From the outside, it looked like it was made up of nts and fences. However, it was strange that there were two small wooden doors behind the clown.


    This maze had two entrances.

 Chapter 53.2

    <h4>Chapter 53.2</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu felt his heart skip a beat. Sure enough, in the next moment, he heard the clown smile happily and say, ¡°However, there are two entrances in the lucky maze. Only one entrance is correct and the other is wrong. Only the right entrance can get you out of the maze. Once you choose the wrong entrance, you¡¯ll never be able to leave the maze.¡±


    ¡°Of course, even if you choose the right entrance, if you get lost in the maze, you¡¯ll never be able to leave the maze either because you can¡¯t turn back in the maze.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s only one chance to choose the entrance, so do you choose the entrance on the left or one on the right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Fuck! Sure enough! He knew it wasn¡¯t that simple!


    He and Tang Mianmian, two jinxes, couldn¡¯t y this game of luck at all!


    He wasn¡¯t afraid of the dangers and traps in the maze but he was afraid to survive the obstacles by a narrow margin, only to find out in the end that they had chosen the wrong entrance from the beginning!


    Tang Mianmian obviously wanted to go with Xiao Tangqiu. The two jinxes looked at each other and couldn¡¯t help crying again, I want to reincarnate ah! After this bowl of Meng Po soup, I won¡¯t be a jinx in my next life!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression changed again and again. Atst, he sighed and asked the clown, ¡°Can we leave this amusement park as long as we get out of the maze sessfully?¡±


    The clown¡¯s mouth opened wide, revealing a big grin, ¡°Of course...¡±


    What could Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian do?


    Seeing that the dawn of hope was just around the corner, of course they had to bite the bullet.


    Xiao Tangqiu asked Tang Mianmian, ¡°Left or right?¡±


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t even think before replying, ¡°Men on the left, women on the right.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about it and said, ¡°Let¡¯s not be so casual. We only have one chance. If we make the wrong choice, we¡¯ll be finished.¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly had a light-bulb moment. ¡°ording to my many years of being a jinx, I usually subconsciously choose the wrong option, so why don¡¯t we do the opposite and deliberately choose the option opposite to our first reaction?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really too smart ah! My first reaction just now was left, so we should choose right! By the way, what was your first reaction just now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a moment, ¡°...Right.¡±


    The two men fell silent at the same time.


    There was nothing wrong with Tang Mianmian¡¯s idea but both of them were jinxes. Under the circumstance that their first reaction waspletely opposite, who should they listen to? ording to who was more of a jinx?


    Just then, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly had an inspiration, ¡°Why don¡¯t we ask the magical king of luck?¡±


    Although both of them were jinxes, there was a king of luck among their teammates


    But now things were different. The maze was attempted based on luck and intuition. Wasn¡¯t this what he was best at?


    Soon, the other four people chose the door on the right, but they couldn¡¯t enter immediately because they could enter the maze only after everyone had chosen an entrance.


    After hesitating for a moment, the geek confidently chose the door on the left.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and went along with the geek¡¯s choice.


    The geek looked back at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian and seemed to figure out that these two guys were taking advantage of his luck but he didn¡¯t say anything. Although he didn¡¯t believe Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, in a dangerous and unknown environment, twopanions were still slightly better than being alone, and at least there someone else to take the fall if he fell into a trap.


    Finally, all seven of them were done choosing an entrance.


    Xiao Tangqiu, Tang Mianmian and the geej chose the entrance on the left and the other four chose the entrance on the right.


    ¡°Good luck!¡± The clown whistled. In the next second, the doors of the two entrances opened at the same time, revealing the dark and deep walkway inside.


    The geek, who was originally confident of his choice, hesitated at once. He urged Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, ¡°You guys walk in front!¡±


    Naturally, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian had no problem with that. They didn¡¯t expect this guy to have the courage to lead the way. Anyway, as long as he could make the right choice when encountering a fork, that was enough.


    Seeing Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian walk in, the geek also carefully followed up.


    After all seven entered the maze, the two doors closed automatically again.


    At the same time, the clown¡¯sst words also spread to their ears.


    ¡°Remember, don¡¯t turn back!¡±


    ¡°Also, don¡¯t look back!¡±


    The maze was dark. God knows how long they had been walking in the dark before a little light appeared.


    This was indeed a maze made up of mainly fences because there were green nts everywhere, which didn¡¯t appear as dark and gloomy. Even the flowers dotted on the fences and the sunlight prating through the gaps made it seems as if the lush greenery was full of life.


    Everything here didn¡¯t conform to the atmosphere and theme of this amusement park and even felt out of ce. The air seemed to be permeated with a fairy-tale innocence and beauty.


    However, the more it seemed so, the more vignt Xiao Tangqiu was. Compared with ces that looked very dangerous, ces that were calm on the surface might be even more dangerous.


    Anyone who had a little intelligence wouldn¡¯t be fooled by the calm on the surface of the maze. Needless to say, the geek who entered a game for the first time had been worried and scared ever since he entered the maze. He looked like he would faint at the slightest hint of danger.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were more familiar with the ssic routine of the horror game ¨C crisis hidden under the calm. The two exchanged a look and became extremely vignt.


    They walked forwards the entire time but nothing happened and they didn¡¯t encounter the trap that they had imagined. In this way, they came to the first fork road.


    In front of them were another two roads, one on the left and another on the right, both of which look simr. They had to choose again.


    ¡°Left or right?¡± Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian discussed about it. At first, they studied the differences between the two roads. After finding no difference, they simply gave up choosing and went straight back to ask the geek.


    The geek hesitated, ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? Once we have chosen, there will be no chance to change. We have only one choice and we can¡¯t go back. ¡± Xiao Tangqiu reminded the geek faintly.


    The otaku swallowed a mouthful of saliva with some difficulty, ¡°I still think we should go right.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and silently followed the geek¡¯s choice.


    The three chose the right path.


    After a few steps, they heard a rustling sound from behind. Xiao Tangqiu looked back. It turned out that the fence had automatically moved and closed off the path behind them. The path which they came from had disappeared. No wonder the clown said that they couldn¡¯t turn around, because there was no way back!


    Tang Mianmian murmured, ¡°We really can¡¯t go back...¡±


    This meant that once they made the wrong choice and reach a dead end, they really couldn¡¯t leave anymore.


    The three continued to walk forwards, and the more they walked, the quieter they grew.


    Even Tang Mianmian, the liveliest chatterbox, stopped talking. After all, no one knew whether something would suddenly jump out the next moment and no one knew when a trap would suddenly appear under their feet. It would be bad if they were distracted and didn¡¯t find danger in time.


    They were silent and vignt the whole time, but their journey was smooth and nothing happened.


    The three came to a fork in the road again, still one road on the left and another on the right.


    This time Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t even discuss the matter. They turned around to look at the geek. At the same time, they both asked, ¡°Left or right?¡±


    The otaku hesitated, ¡°Left.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, and the three headed for the left.


    More silence.


    Nothing happened the entire way again.


    They came to the third fork, still one road on the left and another on the right.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian forwent the conversation and nced at the geek. They motioned him to choose a road with their eyes.


    The geek paused, ¡°Right.¡±


    The three headed for the right path.


    The fourth fork in the road.


    The fifth fork in the road.


    The sixth fork.


    ......


    Each fork had a road on the left and a road on the right. Every time they chose a road, the fence behind them would move and close off the road on its own. They choose, then walked forwards, repeating the same thing the entire time. Towards the end, they were almost numb to it.


    The time the geek took to make a decision also grew shorter and shorter. In the end, his choice was entirely based on his intuition.


    ¡°Left.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Left.¡±


    ¡°Left.¡±


    ......


    The journey was calm and smooth, without any idents. The maze seemed as calm as its surface, as if it were just an ordinary maze.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu silently kept track of the forks they passed through, as they passed through more and more forks, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they had made the wrong choice at the beginning. Perhaps, they had been circling around in the maze, so that¡¯s why they couldn¡¯t find the exit.


    Although there were only two roads at each fork, each road was quite a distance and the scenery on both sides of the road was the samel. Even if it was beautiful at first, one would grow numb to the beauty eventually.


    Under Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s repeated doubts, they finally reached the ninth fork.


    Xiao Tangqiu gave the geek a look. Thetter didn¡¯t bother to speak. He returned the same look to him.


    Left.


    The three men walked wearily to the left in silence. They didn¡¯t know how long they had walked in the maze. The passage of time in the maze seemed to be extremely slow and each road felt extremely long... Fortunately, the road after the ninth fork finally began to change.


    At the end of this path, were the four people who chose the other maze entrance in the beginning!

 Chapter 53.3

    <h4>Chapter 53.3</h4>


    The three of them immediately froze at once, and so did the other four yers. The clown had clearly said that only one entrance was correct. Choose the wrong entrance and they would never be able to leave the maze... Then why did the seven of them meet here again? Were all of them wrong?


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered the trap of the seven ck balls just now. Did the clown do the same thing again? No matter which entrance they chose, they could only die in the maze eventually?


    ¡°No! This is impossible!¡± The geek obviously had a psychological shadow from earlier. He immediately fell apart, shouting, ¡°I clearly chose right! This is impossible! This is impossible!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned deeply. Did they really choose wrongly from the start?


    At this time, he suddenly remembered what the clown said at the beginning of the instance.


    ¡°Never believe what the clown says.¡±


    Were both the maze entrances wrong?


    No matter which one they chose, they could only get lost in this maze and never leave.


    While Xiao Tangqiu was still confused over the matter, something suddenly happened.


    One of the four yers opposite, that is, the handsome boy they met in the haunted house at the beginning, seemed to suddenly see something that made him extremely frightened. He turned and ran back with a frightened face.


    However, there was no path behind him. There was only an endless fence. He ran madly into it as if he hadn¡¯t seen it. In the next second, his body began to melt into the fence!


    At first it was his head, then his body. He screamed and struggled desperately, but he couldn¡¯t stop the fence that seemed to be made out of mud.


    In the short span of two or three seconds, hepletely melted into the fence.


    Finally, the screams stopped.


    A delicate and charming flower was added to the fence that was covered in lush greenery.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. What did the boy see?


    Tang Mianmian obviously wondered the same thing as he did. He subconsciously turned to look back.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something and shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t look back!¡±


    Tang Mianmian got a fright, but immediately stopped turning back and froze halfway.


    The geek, who also wanted to look back, also stopped abruptly, not daring to move.


    At the same time, those flowers also grew a big mouth. And when their mouths opened, rows of dense, serrated teeth and bright red, long barbed tongue were exposed.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡±


    The three men cried out from fear at once and turned to Xiao Tangqiu and his team, running to their side at the same time.


    Xiao Tangqiu and the others were also shocked. If they had just turned around, would they have seen such a scene?


    But when he saw the three men running across, Xiao Tangqiu was extremely alert. He was constantly pondering about the identities of the three men. He knew that their task was not only to live to leave the yground, but also to kill them and seize their identities. He didn¡¯t know if it was a coincidence. There were only three yers left and they just so happened to have three people on this side. As long as the three from the other side killed them, the other side wouldn¡¯t even have to fight over their ¡°prey¡± to get out alive!


    The yers on the other side were thest group of yers who died in this instance. Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know whether there were any other old yers besides the female yer in the escape room. Although he tried to test the female yer by taunting her, she didn¡¯t disclose anything.


    Maybe she really was the only old yer or perhaps she intentionally dug a pit and waited for him to jump in!


    In thest game, did those people live to thest event? Or did it all end in the third event? If they lived to thest eventst time, shouldn¡¯t they know the correct maze entrance and the rule that they couldn¡¯t turn around?


    Xiao Tangqiu thought a lot during his lightbulb moment. He also subconsciously and held the crossbow in his hand to guard against the three from suddenly attacking.


    However, before the yers could run over, they were caught up by the long tongue from the gaping mouth of the giant flowers!


    The long barbed tongue instantly coiled around the bodies of the three yers and dragged them back.


    ¡°Ahhh! Nooo! Help!¡±


    As the three yers screamed in despair, the long tongue swept up their bodies and sent them into the gaping mouth of giant flowers. Although they fought desperately, their struggle was still in vain. In an instant, they seemed to disappear between the bloody, jagged teeth.


    The giant flowers slowly closed their ferocious mouths. Then, hysterical screams and the blood-curdling sound of chewing rang.


    After a few seconds, the chewing sound went away.


    In the dead silence, the giant flowers slowly shrank and returned to their original size.


    Everything looked the same as before, but there were three more small buds on the vine.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at all of this in silence. He couldn¡¯t imagine and didn¡¯t dare to imagine what would happen if they had turned around just now... Will this exact scene happen to them?


    Tang Mianmian and the geek were too shocked to say anything. Even if they were slow, they weren¡¯t too stupid to understand why Xiao Tangqiu told them not to turn around just now.


    Amongst the silence, the opposite green hedge suddenly split in half from the middle and slowly opened, revealing a path behind.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other, nodding at the same time. Then, they walked towards the path.


    The geek was still in shock. ¡°Hey! Wait a minute! You¡¯re going over just like that?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked the geek, ¡°Or else?¡±


    ¡°What if there¡¯s danger? You also saw the scene just now... ¡°


    ¡°But now there isn¡¯t any other way, so we can only go this way,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said quietly despite the turmoil in his heart. ¡°Or do you want to stay here?¡±


    Besides the road ahead, they had no other way to go and couldn¡¯t turn back either.


    ¡°No, no, no! Don¡¯t leave me alone! ¡°


    The geek gritted his teeth. Although he was afraid of the danger ahead, it was obviously more dangerous to stay here alone. Atst, he made up his mind. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although they weren¡¯t friends with the geek and were making use of each other at most, if this geek helped them along the way, they would obviously have a much easier time... At least from the current results, they should¡¯ve chosen the right entrance to the maze at the beginning.


    The three men set foot on the road again, but this time the maze was calmer. Not only did they not encounter any danger along the way, they didn¡¯t evene across any forks that required a decision. They came to the end of the maze smoothly, their journey without any hups at all.


    <i>Finally, they see the exit!</i>


    They were instantly excited. As long as they escape from this maze, they could survive! As long as they passed thest game, they could leave the amusement park!


    At the same time, the three elerated their pace and trotted towards the exit of the maze.


    They got closer and closer to the exit of the maze.


    Then, they suddenly found that the exit of the amusement park wasn¡¯t far from the exit of the maze!


    Looking at the word ¡°exit¡± on the signboard not far off, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heartbeat sped up at once... At the same time, a bad feeling spread through his chest.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly stopped, as did Tang Mianmian and the geek behind him.


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Tang Mianmian and said, ¡°I have a...¡±


    A bad feeling...


    Tang Mianmian quickly interrupted Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s sentence. ¡°Mmm, you don¡¯t have to say anymore!¡±


    The geek was very impatient. ¡°Hey! Why did you suddenly stop? The exit is just in front! Let¡¯s hurry up!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be so smooth...¡±


    As soon as he uttered those words, the clown¡¯s familiar and mboyant voice rang out.


    ¡°Wee to the exit of our lucky maze, youst three lucky yers. In order to congratte the three lucky yers on their lucky exit from the maze, I will give you a small gift...¡±


    The clown had appeared quietly at the exit of the maze God knows when. Half of his face that was exposed to the light while the other half was hidden in the shadow, which made him look very creepy.


    The geek subconsciously burst out, ¡°What gift? We don¡¯t need it! Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t reject the gift. You have no choice but to ept it,¡± the clown said smilingly. ¡°Wee to the lucky egg w machine, the final hidden event in this amusement park!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°......¡±


    Sure enough! He knew things weren¡¯t going so smoothly!


    He wasn¡¯t surprised at all that there was a hidden event. He even saw iting.


    However, from the name itself, he knew that this event would be decided by luck.


    Unlucky yers say no!

 Chapter 54.1

    <h4>Chapter 54.1</h4>


    Trantor: EBells


    Editor: darlingv


    The clown turned to reveal a machine behind him.


    The moment the three of them saw it, their eyes all widened ¡ª Wasn¡¯t that a fucking w machine?!


    That¡¯s right, the ¡°lucky egg machine¡± mentioned by the clown was clearly a w machine, and it¡¯s even the most standard type seen in supermarkets. It was just that instead of plushies, it was a variety of colorful eggs.


    Thisst hidden move... was actually to grab plushies?!


    It¡¯s simply too disillusioning! Was this for real or a joke?!


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ask the clown, ¡°How do we y the lucky egg machine? Don¡¯t tell me we¡¯re supposed to grab the eggs inside the egg machine?¡±


    The clown grinned, ¡°Lucky yers don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll announce the rules of this hidden game event now. Your task is to grab the eggs in the lucky egg machine. The conditions I have given you are very rxed. Everyone has three chances...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    It really was! It really was to grab the colorful eggs!


    But this sort of thing wasn¡¯t rxing at all! Who didn¡¯t know that w machines were something that relied on luck? Based on his luck, would he really be able to grab an egg in three tries?


    Plus, that wasn¡¯t all. The clown continued to speak with a grin, ¡°Of course, if some of those among you aren¡¯t lucky, you can also trade for an egg from yourpanions...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. What did that mean? They could also trade for an egg from theirpanions?


    ¡°I won¡¯t stop you from giving your egg to someone else.¡± The clown then spoke thest part ominously, ¡°...Of course, you can also take it by force.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly understood the clown¡¯s intention. This was a provocation. This was definitely meant to provoke! When the final lucky survivors came to this ce after all sorts of life and death trials and hardships, in order topete for thest bit of hope, naturally, they would make a move against their formerpanions under the guidance of the clown¡¯s words. Even if they didn¡¯t want to actively steal someone¡¯s egg, they would be fearful of others stealing theirs. They would be filled with doubt and suspicions about each other.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart slowly sank. But when he put the three of them in this scenario, he felt that something was wrong... Forget about Tang Mianmian and himself; how many times have they sacrificed their lives to save each other? If they were afraid of death, neither of them would be alive now. But even the geek, who was the only unfamiliar person with them ¡ª although he did seem to be the kind of person who would steal someone else¡¯s egg in order to live, but the problem was, based on his luck, did he need to grab someone else¡¯s eggs?


    Tang Mianmian obviously thought the same. The corners of his lips twitched and he couldn¡¯t help but let out augh.


    It was actually the geek that looked unsettled. But he settled down again after taking a look at the lucky egg machine. Things like gambling based on luck, wasn¡¯t that his strong point?


    Seeing that the reactions of the three of them weren¡¯t as vignt and suspicious as he expected, the grin on the clown grew even wider, ¡°Alright, the game begins! Everyone gets three chances, the three of you can take turns going. Who wants to go first?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Tang Mianmian and the geek, then helplessly said, ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡±


    The geek immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Although he knew that he was lucky, he didn¡¯t want to be the first to eat crabs. Tang Mianmian made an encouraging gesture towards Xiao Tangqiu.


    Before Xiao Tangqiu officially began, Tang Mianmian mysteriously pulled Xiao Tangqiu aside and taught him ¡°the tricks of w machines¡±.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! When ites to w machines, I¡¯m an expert! I¡¯ve been grabbing plushies since kindergarten. If it¡¯s not a thousand, I¡¯ve at least gotten nine-hundred! You can¡¯t go wrong listening to me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu did know that Tang Mianmian liked to y with w machines. This guy usually went to y them whenever he had time and often sent him photos of the plushies he grabbed... That¡¯s right! How did he forget that this guy was a w machine expert?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes gleamed, ¡°You finally came across something you¡¯re good at? Looks like our luck isn¡¯t too bad!¡±


    Tang Mianmian gave a fewughs, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, it¡¯s nothing! I¡¯m only passing you a few tricks about w machines! You can definitely grab it within three tries! The w machine has a fixed probability, usually a probability of three or four percent. Of course, that¡¯s ruling out the situation of unscrupulous shopkeepers or conscientious shopkeepers who lower or increase the likelihood. The statistics is to try twenty to thirty times to be able to grab one. But this doesn¡¯t mean grabbing it again is absolutely impossible until after twenty or thirty more times or that you¡¯re guaranteed to grab one in twenty or thirty tries. That¡¯s because the distribution of probability isn¡¯t so absolute and even, otherwise it will be too easy to figure out. When the probability hits, you¡¯ll definitely be able to catch one. This is called the strong w.¡±


    Xiao Tangqui¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°Twenty, thirty times? Then we should just obediently lie down and wait for death.¡±


    Tang Mianmian continued, ¡°Outside of the strong ws, it¡¯s called a weak w. The strong ws can grab it a-hundred percent. There¡¯s nothing to say, and there¡¯s nothing to worry about. But we only have three chances per person, so chances are we won¡¯te across a strong w. We can only work hard on the weak ws. In the case of weak ws, there are several techniques for grabbing.¡±


    ¡°First it¡¯s the swing w. The so-called swing w is simply to calcte the swing of the w and to lower it when it¡¯s swinging towards the hole. At this point, the w will swing back in ordance to the pendulum theory to grab the plushie. Then the weak w setting will sessfully swing the plushie towards the hole.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt extremely confused after listening. ¡°The weak w setting? What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°The weak w setting is that in the case of non-strong ws, when the machine judges that you will grab the plushie, it will weaken its hold when the wes up so that the plushie falls. That¡¯s why in many cases, we obviously grabbed the plushie, but because the machine weakened its hold halfway, the plushie doesn¡¯t reach the hole. And some unscrupulous shopkeepers will even set the inner swing.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to be confused, ¡°Inner swing? And what¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s when they make use of the angle of the swing while loosening the w at the same time so it throws the plushie towards the back of the machine, making it even more difficult to grab.¡± After Tang Mianmian exined, he went back to the previous topic, ¡°But to use the swing w is too difficult for a newbie. It usually takes hundreds of practice attempts to have some sess at it so it¡¯s unlikely you¡¯ll be able to learn it in a short period of time. So there¡¯s two alternatives, trapped w and hanging w.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression was full of ¡®what¡¯s this? What¡¯s that? What about that?¡¯.


    ¡°The so-called trapped w is to find the best angle when lowering the w so it catches the most ideal section of the plushie. Usually, that would be the smallest part of the plushie, for example the neck, arm, waist or leg areas. If the ce is small enough, it can trick the machine into thinking that it didn¡¯t grab the plushie so it doesn¡¯t release the w strength halfway.¡±


    ¡°The hanging w also requires you to find the best angle. When the w lowers, hang the plushie¡¯s tag or some part onto the ws so that even if it loosens, the plushie wouldn¡¯t fall until the w returns to the hole.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help the nk look in his eyes, ¡°There¡¯s so much to pay attention to just for grabbing a plushie? ...I might as well just lie down and wait for death!¡±


    Tang Mianmian reached out a hand and patted Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shoulder and sincerely said, ¡°Jiayou!¡±


    Although Xiao Tangqiu listened to Tang Mianmian¡¯s long spiel, his head was still filled with fog and his face full of confusion. Good thing he wasn¡¯t someone who had never yed with w machines. Although his experience couldn¡¯tpare to Tang Mianmian¡¯s, he still knew the basics.


    He took a deep breath and moved to stand in front of the lucky egg machine.


    This lucky egg machine looked no different from the usual w machine. Whether it¡¯s the buttons or the joystick, it¡¯s all exactly the same as the w machines in supermarkets. The only difference was that the usual plushies were reced with colorful eggs.


    Looking into the egg machine through the ss, the colorful eggs inside were about the size of a grown man¡¯s hand. But though the eggs were fairly big, because they were elliptical, you could tell at a nce that it would easily slip through the ws.


    Fortunately, there were a ton of eggs inside the machine and a lot were also near the hole. Since something closer should be easier to grab, Xiao Tangqiu stared at the green egg near the hole for a while before deciding on it.


    Xiao Tangqiu desperately recalled the tricks Tang Mianmian taught him. But when he started the w machine, his mind went nk from nerves. In the end, he dropped the w during this confusion and the ws came up empty.


    ...He didn¡¯t catch anything.


    ¡°Alright, next person!¡± The clown said as he stood on the side, grinning.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed. Although he hadn¡¯t expected to be able to grab it on his first try, but he still should¡¯ve touched the edge of the egg! At this rate, he wouldn¡¯t be able to grab an egg within three tries!


    Tang Mianmian reached out and patted Xiao Tangqui¡¯s shoulder before rolling up his sleeves, full of confidence. ¡°Just watch me!¡±


    He walked self-assuredly towards the lucky egg machine, and it was obvious how familiar and skillful he was when manipting the w¡¯s direction back and forth. His target was a red colored egg. He confidently lowered the w ¡ª the ws sessfully grabbed the egg. But when the w starteding up, it suddenly rxed. The egg fell.


    Tang Mianmian also didn¡¯t manage to get it. But his situation was much better than Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s. At least he managed to grab the egg.


    ¡°Alright, next person!¡± The clown spoke with a grin.


    Thest person in the first round was the geek. He took a deep breath and walked in front of the lucky egg machine. His skills couldn¡¯tpareto Tang Mianmian¡¯s at all, it could even be considered clumsy. It¡¯s obvious he rarely or even never yed with w machines before.


    The geek¡¯s expression wasplicated. Although he was full of confidence in his luck, he was also filled with doubt since he had never yed this sort of game before. Especially after hearing all the tricks and advice about w machines that Tang Mianmian told Xiao Tangqiu... his expression was part confident, part self-doubting ¡ª it was extremely conflicting.


    He roughly manipted the joystick of the egg machine, letting the w stop above a blue egg.


    On the side, Tang Mianmian whispered in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s ear, ¡°This angle is definitely impossible! Unless he...¡±


    The geek hesitantly lowered the w. The w dropped, grabbed that blue egg without dropping it, and steadily delivered the blue egg to the hole.


    The body of the lucky egg machine immediately lit up with all sorts of colorful lights and began sting a celebratory BGM at the same time, ¡°Congrattions on the sessful grab! Congrattions on the sessful grab!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were shocked, the geek was also frozen in shock for a few seconds before finally reacting. He quickly squatted down and took the blue egg out of the hole.


    He stared at the blue egg in disbelief, and it took a few more seconds before he got excited, ¡°I got it! I actually got it!¡±


    At this point, Tang Mianmian dumbly finished his sentence, ¡°...Unless he gets a strong w.¡±


    ¡°Fuck! He really actually got a strong w! This guy must¡¯ve been the illegitimate son of the king of luck in hisst life! He could even run into the strong w!¡±


    Tang Mianmian could practically wash his face with his tears. He had bitterly studied the w machine for over ten years, but in the end he still couldn¡¯tpare to a first-timer geek. Where was he not good enough? Isn¡¯t it just he wasn¡¯t as lucky! The point was that they hadpletely different starting points!


    Xiao Tangqiu was once again shocked by the geek¡¯s luck. Tang Mianmian and he hadn¡¯t gotten it yet but the geek got one in one go. And it happened to be the strong w. What was the probability? What kind of luck was this?


    ¡°Congrattions to our first lucky yer to get the lucky egg!¡±


    The clown spoke with a grin, ¡°You can choose to give up the next two chances, or you can choose to continue!¡±


    The geek who was caught up in the joy of getting the colorful egg in one try, finally focused again, immediately asking the clown, ¡°What happens if I get a few more? Are there any benefits?¡±


    The clown spoke with a smile, ¡°Perhaps, perhaps not.¡±


    It was clear that he wasn¡¯t going to tell him. The geek hesitated before finally being tempted by the thought of ??possibly having benefits with more eggs. He gritted his teeth and made up his mind, ¡°Try! I want to try two more times!¡±


    The clown nodded with a smile, ¡°Alright, next person please!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian exchanged a look and couldn¡¯t help butugh bitterly, especially Xiao Tangqiu. If he hadn¡¯t learned about the probability from Tang Mianmian, he could¡¯ve still held onto the attitude of ignorance and fearlessness. But after learning about it, he knew that since the geek came across the strong w, the chances of theming across the strong w was basically none.


    They could only rely on skill.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed deeply and decided to try the ¡°trapped w¡± Tang Mianmian mentioned.


    He tried to get the ws stuck at an angle and the ws actually grabbed an egg. But it still loosened midair.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s second attempt was another failure.


    ¡°Next person!¡±


    Tang Mianmian patted Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shoulder, and then he took a deep breath. Let¡¯s go!


    This time, Tang Mianmian seemed to be using the ¡°swing w¡±. He toggled the joystick like crazy when he dropped the w, making it swing. The w actually grabbed the egg when it dropped down and then swung forward!


    The w released! The colorful egg fell into the hole!


    ¡°Congrattions on the sessful grab! Congrattions on the sessful grab!¡±


    Apanied by the joyful BGM, Tang Mianmian also finally got a colorful egg!


    T/N: Hello, hello! I am Ebells and I will be taking over as the new trantor for Game, Live Stream. Darlingv, our previous hard-working trantor, has passed the baton on but she will continue to work with me as an editor for a few chapters to ensure consistency in our trantions. I currently don¡¯t have a set schedule as the opening of recruitment was unexpected, but there will be at least one (1) full chapter updated every week and I will try to do more as time allows.


    I¡¯m very happy to be on this project and hope that my trantions can do it justice ??

 Chapter 54.2

    <h4>Chapter 54.2</h4>


    Trantor: Ebells


    Editor: darlingv


    He suddenly began jumping up and down, quickly retrieving the egg from the hole, ¡°I got it! I got it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Congrattions, I¡¯ll go for it next!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! You¡¯ll definitely get it next time! If you¡¯re still not sure, I can pass you some more tricks to the w machine!¡± Tang Mianmian was filled with confidence as he pulled Xiao Tangqiu aside, filling his head with another pile of information.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt dizzy from listening, but could only nod along.


    Tang Mianmian puffed out his chest, ¡°You can¡¯t go wrong listening to me! I¡¯m a w machine expert!¡±


    Next was the geek¡¯s turn again. The geek already had an egg so he didn¡¯t feel any pressure. It was fine even if he didn¡¯t get anything, it was just a feather in his cap) if he did. He was rxed as he found a position, rxed as he dropped the w.


    The w grabbed an egg, but it once again let go in midair.


    Although he didn¡¯t get anything, the geek didn¡¯t feel disappointed.


    ¡°Alright! This is thest chance! Next!¡±


    As the clown¡¯s voice sounded, Xiao Tangqiu felt his heart in his throat.


    His heart was thundering so much it could almost burst in his ears.


    This is thest chance! He has to grab one! Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to leave this theme park with Tang Mianmian and them!


    Xiao Tangqiu obviously didn¡¯t want to be the one left behind in their group of three. Even though he had a moment of sympathy towards the female yer back in that escape room, he definitely didn¡¯t want to be like her.


    This was hisst chance. No matter what, he had to grab an egg this time!


    Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath and went in front of the egg machine.


    He got started..


    He stared at the eggs inside the egg machine, his mind extremely tense.


    He used all of his focus to move the joystick left, right, up, down... Finally, the w was above the egg.


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to carefully adjust the w¡¯s position, testing different angles to best grab an egg when the w dropped. He adjusted here and adjusted there, but nothing was satisfactory. If it wasn¡¯t too straight, it was too tilted. From his observations, when the w dropped it would turn at a certain angle, both too straight and too tilted made grabbing difficult.


    He quietly calcted the ce to drop the w for ages, then spent a long time more carefully adjusting the angle. Only when he felt absolutely certain that this w wouldn¡¯t fail did he press the button. The w went down!


    The moment the w dropped, Xiao Tangqiu was so nervous that he held his breath.


    Grab it! Grab it! It had to grab it!


    Finally, the w grabbed the egg!


    But he knew that it¡¯s still a long way from being able to let out his breath. He closely watched the egg inside the w, his heart practically following the egg¡¯s ups and downs.


    Please don¡¯t let go! Please don¡¯t let go!


    It must reach the hole! It must reach the hole!


    But, just as the egg was about to reach the hole, the w rxed and the egg fell back into the machine.


    This was already thest chance, but Xiao Tangqiu still hadn¡¯t gotten one.


    His mind went nk.


    Xiao Tangqiu dumbly looked at the egg that had fallen back into the machine after traveling halfway, unable to make a single sound. His mind waspletely nk but the clown¡¯s mboyant voice still entered his ears clearly.


    ¡°If none of the other lucky yers are willing to let you have their egg, then you¡¯ll have to stay in our theme park forever, bing a member of our theme park...¡°


    Who would be willing to give him their egg?


    Who would be willing to give their hope to someone else?


    The clown continued to speak suggestively, ¡°...Of course, you can also choose to steal the egg from someone else¡¯s hands.¡±


    At this moment, a noise interrupted the clown¡¯s words.


    ¡°Wait, wait a minute! I¡¯ll give my egg to him!¡±


    The clown¡¯s words came to an abrupt stop. He obviously hadn¡¯t seen such a self-sacrificing situation in many years... or, maybe he¡¯d nevere across it before?


    Xiao Tangqiu also looked at Tang Mianmian who had just spoken in disbelief. Although he and Tang Mianmian were close friends who had gone through many life and death situations, in this sort of moment where they were faced with the choice between life and death... to put it bluntly, even he wasn¡¯t sure if he would exchange his life for Tang Mianmian¡¯s. Yet Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t hesitate to make the choice.


    ¡°This lucky yer, are you sure you want to let him have your egg?¡± the clown asked with a twisted smile.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression was full of conflict as he struggled for a few seconds, but he still nodded. ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll let him have it!¡±


    ¡°Are you really sure? If you let him have your egg, unless you can get another egg this round, you will take his ce and forever stay in this theme park of death...¡±


    This time Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t wait for Tang Mianmian to respond before calling out, ¡°Tang Mianmian! Think this through! You might not be able to get an egg this time!¡± Even though he didn¡¯t want to die, he also didn¡¯t want someone else to die for him.


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression was conflicted but he still nodded, ¡°I¡¯m sure!¡±


    The clown grinned, ¡°Right, I forgot to say this earlier. Although the egg can be traded or given away, but it can only happen once. If you give the egg to your friend then there¡¯s no way to get the egg back from your friend once you fail to get an egg this round.¡±


    ¡°How can it be like this?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe it, ¡°If he doesn¡¯t get an egg, I can¡¯t give it back to him?¡± If Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t get another egg, then isn¡¯t that a one way ticket to death?


    ¡°That¡¯s right, only once,¡± the clown asked Tang Mianmian with a grin, ¡°So are you sure?¡±


    Tang Mianmian struggled with a nod. He looked towards Xiao Tangqiu who wanted to stop him and gave a forceful smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯m a w machine expert! I¡¯ll definitely get one this round, too!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s words came to a halt, ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯m better than a w machine newbie like you! You couldn¡¯t grab one even with three attempts. It¡¯s such a waste! I managed to get one on my second attempt!¡± Tang Mianmianughed, ¡°Although my luck isn¡¯t good, I have skills! Didn¡¯t you see it earlier? I sessfully used the swing w to throw the egg into the hole! I¡¯ll definitely be able to easily get an egg this time, too!¡±


    The clown spoke with a grin, ¡°Since it¡¯s like this, then the trade is sessfullypleted!¡±


    Tang Mianmian forcefully shoved the egg he won into Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand with a confident expression, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I can definitely get one this time! I don¡¯t want to die either! I still want to go back with you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu could only look at Tang Mianmian, wanting to say something but unable to think of what to say.


    ¡°Alright! Time to show off my real skills!¡± Tang Mianmian rolled up his sleeves, walked over to the lucky egg machine, and began hisst attempt to grab an egg.


    This was also thest attempt for Tang Mianmian. If he could get an egg, then he would be able to leave this theme park of death with Xiao Tangqiu. If he couldn¡¯t get an egg, he could only take Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s ce and remain here forever...


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression was extremely tense, but Xiao Tangqiu was even more tense. His current mood was even more nervous than when he was trying to grab an egg himself.


    Tang Mianmian started to operate the machine, sessfully moving the w to stop above the green egg Xiao Tangqiu originally was going to grab before carefully making adjustments to the angle.


    Xiao Tangqiu was so nervous that his hands became mmy and cold sweat broke out all over his body. It was only a few seconds of time, but it felt like an eternity had passed. Finally, Tang Mianmian¡¯s swinging w dropped!


    This short amount of time had Xiao Tangqiu so tense that he almost suffocated. Luckily, as the w fell, the ws grabbed the egg!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s whole heart was in his throat as he carefully watched the w swing back and forth. But this time, Tang Mianmian¡¯s calction was off. The ws rxed a second toote, throwing the egg to the back of the machine instead of towards the hole!


    Fuck! It¡¯s the inner swing!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s vision went dark in that moment,pletely in despair. But in the veryst moment, the egg that was swung back into the machine hit the ss walls and actually bounced back!


    It bounced back!


    It actually bounced back!


    The egg used the force of the bounce to reach the edge of the hole,nding right on top of the ss divide and began to sway.


    In that moment, neither Tang Mianmian or Xiao Tangqiu were able to breath. Luckily, the scales of luck finally tilted in their favor.


    After the egg swayed for a moment on the divide, it leaned towards the hole!


    The egg fell into the hole!


    They got it!


    The finally got another egg!


    In that moment, Xiao Tangqiu was practically more excited than Tang Mianmian, immediately rushing over to pull Tang Mianmian into a hug.


    Two eggs!


    They had two eggs! Both of them could continue to live on! They could leave this damned ce together!


    It¡¯s only now that Xiao Tangqiu realized that Tang Mianmian¡¯s entire body was shaking. This guy¡¯s entire face and neck was covered in sweat and his face was as pale as paper.


    Tang Mianmian stood there nkly for a moment before hugging Xiao Tangqiu back, loudly beginning to cry, ¡°Wuwuwuwu! I really thought I was dead this time! I really thought I definitely won¡¯t get an egg this time!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought Tang Mianmian was just being emotional and immediately began to coax him, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a w machine expert? Of course you¡¯d be able to get it! And you did do it! You got two!¡±


    ¡°Wuwuwuwu. I was lying to you...I¡¯m not some w machine expert...¡± The tension and focus in Tang Mianmian finally broke under the huge shock of joy from escaping death and he began crying loudly. ¡°The truth is, I don¡¯t know how to y w machines at all! I got all those plushies before because I spent money! My tricks to the w machine are all bullshit! It¡¯s all because I spent money!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned, ¡°You don¡¯t know how to y w machines?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was stirred up, ¡°I don¡¯t know shit about getting plushies! Before, I spent almost tens of thousands on w machines, several hundred on just one plushie! It was enough to buy a whole mountain of plushies! Did the wind blow money intoozi¡¯s hands? Laozi was so angry that I went and searched for guides to w machines and learned a bunch of theories. But in the end, I never had the opportunity to test them... instead,ing to this terrifying haunted game!¡±


    It turned out that Tang Mianmian was just skilled in theory, on paper?


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Then, before?¡±


    ¡°It was all luck!¡± Tang Mianmian was so moved that heughed and cried together, ¡°Getting it on the second try was luck, the third try was still fucking luck! I finally had a lucky break! The luck of my whole life might¡¯ve been used up on this!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t think of anything to say. He never thought that Tang Mianmian actually grabbed two eggs with just his luck. If Tang Mianmian weren¡¯t lucky earlier... Forget it. Either way, Tang Mianmian grabbed two eggs in the end, saving both their lives along the way.


    After a while, he helplessly smiled, ¡°Your acting just now was really good, I really thought you were a w machine expert.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Wuwuwu, I also feel like that was the peak of my performance. Too bad this damned ce doesn¡¯t have some sort of Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival or Oscar.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu patted Tang Mianmian¡¯s shoulder and wanted to say somethingforting. But just then, the sound of the clown¡¯s strangeughter sounded.


    ¡°Heeheehee, congrattions to the three lucky yers all getting a lucky egg! Now, you can open the lucky eggs you have and take a look inside! I have a small gift inside for you guys!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t believe that the clown would give them any decent gifts, feeling that something wasn¡¯t right. ¡°Gift? What gift?¡±


    None of them dared to open the eggs, all three nervously looking at the clown.


    None of them hoped for any treasures, it would be good enough to leave this ce alive!


    The clown was full of grins, ¡°Of course it¡¯s three gifts that are full of my sincerity! One of the eggs have the key to leave the theme park of death. As for the other two gifts...they¡¯re hiding bombs! The moment you open the eggs with bombs, you will ¡ª BOOM!¡±


    The clown made a gesture for exploding, the exaggerated andedic paint on his face revealed a huge grin.


    ¡°Blown up until you don¡¯t even have ashes left!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...!!!¡±


    As the two of them went silent, the geek red up at the clown, ¡°What kind of joke is this! We already got eggs like you said! Earlier, you clearly said that we can leave once we got an egg! Why are you going back on your word!¡±


    The clown asked with a grin, ¡°Did I say that earlier?¡±


    ¡°You did! You clearly said as long as we got an egg, we can leave!¡± The geek was so agitated that his eyes were red, turning to look towards Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, ¡°You guys agree, right?! He clearly said so!¡±


    Without waiting for them to answer, the clown responded, grinning, ¡°Alright. Even if I said that...so what? The rules of the game was originally set by me, you guys only need toply! And didn¡¯t I tell you not to trust the clown¡¯s words right from the beginning?¡±


    The geek was so angry that his entire body shook. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian weren¡¯t much better. They finally made it this far after so many difficulties, went through so much to be able to see the dawn, but right at the end, they were given this deadly blow. One! Among the three of them, only one person would be able to live!


    Xiao Tangqiu began having doubts in his despair, was this really the difficulty of a D-level mission?


    The three of them sank into despair. The clown continued to dere thest rules of the game on the side, ¡°You can choose to open the eggs in your hand, you can also exchange eggs with someone. Of course, if the other person doesn¡¯t agree, you can also use force... No matter if it¡¯s by trade or by force, you only have one minute. You have to open the egg within one minute. After one minute, even if your egg doesn¡¯t have a bomb in it, it will still go BOOM!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian felt even more hopeless. Only one minute?


    The didn¡¯t even have time to organize theirst words!


    Of the three eggs, only one had the key. Don¡¯t even mention that their luck added together couldn¡¯tpare to the geek¡¯s, even if the key ended up with them, only one of them would live!


    Although the geek¡¯s emotions crumbled for a few seconds, he quickly calmed down. Why should he feel indignant? Hadn¡¯t gambling based on luck always been his strong point? Between the three of them, the one with the highest chance of getting the key was definitely him!


    He immediately raised his head and puffed out his chest with confidence. Just as he was about to open his egg without any worries, the clown looked at him, grinning, ¡°Are you sure you want to open that egg?¡±


    The geek hesitated for a few seconds before responding, ¡°...I¡¯m sure.¡±


    That clown asked with a grin, ¡°Are you really sure?¡±


    The geek began to worry. He wasn¡¯t sure if he was mistaken, but he felt like he saw a sh of pity in the clown¡¯s eyes. Even though it was only an instant, it made him feel doubtful and unsure. Was the egg in his hands not the key?


    The clown smilingly asked a third time, ¡°Are you sure you want to open the egg in your hands?¡±


    The geek gritted his teeth and suddenly turned to call out to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Hey! Let¡¯s trade eggs!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly for a moment. Although he didn¡¯t know what the geek wanted, he still rejected it, ¡°No, I don¡¯t want...¡±


    The geek¡¯s emotions were already unstable. When Xiao Tangqiu refused him, he flew into a rage, ¡°I want your egg! Give it to me!¡±


    The moment he said that he lunged at Xiao Tangqiu, knocking him to the ground!


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 Chapter 55.1

    <h4>Chapter 55.1</h4>


    At that moment, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind copsed. Why was it him? Why was it him, again? Why was it always him? Did he look like such a pushover?


    ...Alright, it really was like that.


    In short, he was shoved to the ground by the geek, his back felt a sharp pain and his green egg was taken.


    ¡°Give it back!¡± Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t even gotten up yet when the geek¡¯s egg smashed into his face.


    After the geek stole Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s green egg, he threw his blue egg at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face so hard that Xiao Tangqiu saw stars.


    Although Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t understand the situation, he still automatically rushed toward the geek, ¡°Bastard! Give the egg back to Qiuqiu!¡±


    However, the geek, who had seemed to have weak fighting power, suddenly erupted in his potential. After grabbing the egg, he turned and ran, actually running faster than Tang Mianmian.


    ¡°Bastard! Don¡¯t run! Fucking stop for me! Stop!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu endured the pain on his back and climbed up. He heard the clown¡¯s ridiculous andedic but death inducing voice, ¡°Dear lucky yers, time is running out. The time limit for you to open the egg is only ten seconds. Ten, nine, ...¡±


    ¡°Stop chasing!¡± Xiao Tangqiu immediately yelled at Tang Mianmian, ¡°Hurry and open your egg!¡±


    If they couldn¡¯t open the eggs within the given time limit, then they would explode regardless of whether there were bombs in their eggs!


    Tang Mianmian could only unwillingly stop and hurriedly study how to open the egg so that the clown couldn¡¯t trick them again at thest moment. There was a seam in the middle of the egg that it would open smoothly along.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath, there¡¯s practically no time at all to prepare himself. Just as he was about to open the seam, he suddenly heard a loud noise ¨C


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    His mind nked with the violent explosion. After a while, he slowly recovered his ability to think... Did the bomb in his egg explode?


    Did he die?


    It turned out that people could think in the process of dying...


    His ears hurt so much. They seemed to be bleeding. Did the noise deafen him...


    At this moment, it felt like time had frozen.


    ...Wait! That¡¯s not right! He hadn¡¯t opened his egg yet!


    Xiao Tangqiu sobered up in an instant. The blue egg in his hand was still intact and hadn¡¯t been fully opened yet. He didn¡¯t know if he should be relieved, the one blown up wasn¡¯t him.


    A key?


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly for a few seconds before reacting. Was this the key the clown talked about for leaving the theme park?


    He didn¡¯t die?


    He actually didn¡¯t die?


    Wait, what about Tang Mianmian?!


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly came out from his confused state and raised his head to look for Tang Mianmian. Tang Mianmian was holding the two halves of the red egg and his expression was nk.


    Tang Mianmian also didn¡¯t die in an explosion. His red egg was empty with nothing inside.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly came to a realization and he turned his head to look at where the geek had stood, and it was as expected ¡ª there was only a messed up green egg and a body that had been blown to pieces.


    It turned out that among the three eggs, only one had the key and only one had a bomb.


    That geek got blown up but Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were still alive and fine.


    Tang Mianmian was stunned and took a long time before asking Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°There was a big noise... Did we both get blown up? Are we in heaven now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t say anything before jumping at Tang Mianmian and grabbing him in an embrace, ¡°Didn¡¯t die! We didn¡¯t die! We both lived!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was still stunned, ¡°We both lived? How is that possible... there were two bombs...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re both alive!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was so excited that he burst into tears. At this point, the clown¡¯s voice rang again.


    ¡°Congrattions to the two lucky yers who luckily lived to the end!¡±


    The moment Tang Mianmian heard him, he began yelling, ¡°Fuck! There can¡¯t be another hidden event, right? Is there an end to this!¡±


    The clown appeared before them with a grin, ¡°All the games are over!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s over? Is it finally over?¡± Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know how to react for a moment, but soon he realized something, ¡°We only got one key...¡± It shouldn¡¯t be that one of them still had to stay?


    The clown grinned, ¡°As long as you have the key, you will be able to leave!¡±


    ¡°We can leave together?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was immediately excited. With a single key, he and Tang Mianmian could leave together?


    ¡°No, wait, didn¡¯t you say that there are two bombs?¡± Tang Mianmian still hadn¡¯t processed it. He stared at the geek¡¯s body and asked the clown dumbly. ¡°Howe only one blew up?¡±


    The clown grinned, ¡°I said this in the beginning, don¡¯t trust the clown¡¯s words!¡±


    ...They were lied to again! Those words were actually just to trick them?


    No, not only that...


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered that when Tang Mianmian had given him the egg and also before the geek to grabbed his egg, the clowns had suggestively asked them several times, ¡°Are you sure?¡± People without resolve might easily have been swayed by the suggestive words from the clown, wasn¡¯t this another kind of ¡°deception¡±?


    If the geek was not deceived by the clown and insisted on opening his own egg, then he could¡¯ve not only lived but also gotten the key to leave. But unfortunately, a single misstep led to eternal damnation. The clown had warned him from the beginning...


    ¡°Don¡¯t believe the clown.¡±


    At this time, the clown¡¯sical and mboyant painted face showed a big smile, ¡°The time is just right! Congrattions to the two lucky yers for sessfully passing!¡±


    Just as he finished speaking, the bell tower nearby rang out the hour.


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked up at that moment to see the hour hand on the clock tower pointing to six.


    It¡¯s dawn.


    When the first beam of sunlight shone onto the theme park that was originally hidden by the night, they finally saw the whole theme park. At the same time, everything in the theme park disappeared and turned into dust in an instant.


    The body of the clown also suddenly disappeared, leaving only aical and colorful mask, ¡°...We wee you to visit again.¡±


    Meanwhile, both Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian heard the familiar sound of the system voice.


    ¡°Congrattions to dear yers onpleting the D-ss mission Death yground. The mission objective is to escape from the Death yground, the time limit is 1 day, the yer gets 500 points...¡±


    ¡°The mission isplete, leaving the instance...¡±


    When Xiao Tangqiu woke up from the transfer module, he forgot to press the button to open it out of excitement. As a result, he almost cracked his head open against the lid of the transfer module. He rubbed the painful bump on his head and quickly press the release button.


    When he climbed out of the transfer module, it happened to be on the side where Tang Mianmian also climbed out at the same time. The two men immediately hugged and cried. Almost! They almost didn¡¯t make it back!


    Tang Mianmian, with his developedcrimal nds, burst into a flood of tears instantly, ¡°I was scared to death, I thought we were dead for sure this time! I thought we were going to be blown up for sure!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also felt a rush of bted and lingering fear. When the clown said that there were two bombs in three eggs, he thought that either Tang Mianmian or he would definitely die today. When the geek snatched the egg in his hands, he thought that he would die for sure, why else would the geek steal his egg?


    He never thought that there was a bomb in the egg that the geek had snatched, and that the egg the geek forced on him had the key. If the geek hadn¡¯t been deceived by the clown, the one who got blown up would¡¯ve been him.


    If that geek found out from the underworld, he might even be angered back to life!


    It could be said that the geek was truly the king of luck. Not only did he get an egg on his first try, the egg just happened to be the one with the key. On top of that, he had perfectly evaded the three rounds before... That kind of luck was really teeth-grindingly enviable!


    However, Xiao Tangqiu thought about it some more and calmed down. No matter how good the geek¡¯s luck was, he was now blown to pieces.


    Although luck was also a kind of strength, it¡¯s not good to only have luck. To get confident in getting by just by flukes and luck was absolutely not a good thing; how the geek ended up was their example.


    The two of them cried for a while before they hurried back to District D.


    As soon as he entered the room, Tang Mianmian immediately rushed toward the sofa in the living room, not even willing to make it to the bedroom. He wanted to sleep, ¡°I¡¯m tired to death. I have to sleep for ten days and ten nights.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu reminded Tang Mianmian, ¡°We only get seven days of rest after finishing a D-level mission.¡±


    Tang Mianmian whined with his eyes closed, ¡°Then three days and three nights...snore, snore...¡±


    Seeing Tang Mianmian fall asleep as he spoke, Xiao Tangqiu could only shake his head helplessly. It¡¯s not like his own situation was any better. His nerves were strung up for the whole day so now that he could rx, he almost couldn¡¯t hold on anymore.


    A wave of exhaustion hit him and he couldn¡¯t help but yawn. Nevertheless, he still nned to take a hot bath before going to bed, so he turned into the bathroom.


    Xiao Tangqiu was half-way through his bath when he heard someone knock on the bathroom door.


    He thought it was Tang Mianmian at first and shouted, ¡°I¡¯m still taking a bath, wait for a few more minutes.¡±


    However, the knocking on the door didn¡¯t stop, actually getting more forceful instead.


    T/N: Sorry, sorry, I meant to upload this a few days ago but I kept getting caught up with other things IRL and didn¡¯t have time to go over it again for edits and such. I hadn¡¯t nned for picking up this novel and it was a bit overwhelming to make time BUT! I shouldn¡¯t have such a full schedule going forward so theing chapters should be much faster. Thanks for your patience!

 Chapter 55.2

    <h4>Chapter 55.2</h4>


    ¡°What do you want? I haven¡¯t washed out the shampoo yet! Wait for me for a bit!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was a little annoyed, but just as he finished talking, and a big hole was smashed open on the bathroom door!


    He was dumbstruck and the showerhead in his hand fell to the ground.


    Duan Hongzhen stood at the door of the bathroom and said impatiently, ¡°Come with me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fell into silence. He looked at the broken bathroom door and looked down at the bubbles on his own body. ¡°I haven¡¯t finished my bath...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen tone became even more impatient, ¡°Don¡¯t waste time,e with me.¡±


    Looking at the dagger he was ying with, Xiao Tangqiu asked weakly, ¡°At least... at least let me put on my clothes?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted and looked Xiao Tangqiu over with disdain, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to look at. I¡¯m giving you three seconds, get dressed in three seconds.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    What¡¯s with that snubbing look?


    So what if he¡¯s a geek? So what if he doesn¡¯t have abs?


    However, looking at the knife in Duan Hongzhen¡¯s hand, he could only endure the humiliation and got dressed quickly. Then, he was grabbed by Duan Hongzhen and pulled out of the bathroom.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Wait, where are we going?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen spoke coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t ask anything!¡±


    When he got to the living room, Xiao Tangqiu found out that the door of the living room was also smashed opened by Duan Hongzhen, yet Tang Mianmian was still sleeping soundly on the sofa!


    ¡°Wait a minute, my door...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen ignored Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s weak protests and struggles and took him all the way to the transmission zone in District D.


    Xiao Tangqiu still hadn¡¯t figured out what¡¯s going on and was taken to the District S by Duan Hongzhen to the Reincarnation Team¡¯s headquarters.


    What¡¯s going on? Did something happen?


    But even though the amnesia was an issue, as long as Shen Yuan¡¯sbat power and instincts were still there, it shouldn¡¯t be too much trouble. Just let him remember things slowly...


    Even if it¡¯s like that, why call for him? Did he seem like a doctor?


    Xiao Tangqiu had all sorts of thoughts on the way. After a while, Duan Hongzhen stopped.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up and it was indeed Shen Yuan¡¯s room. Duan Hongzhen paused before pushing open the door.


    Inside, everyone in the Reincarnation Team were gathered at Shen Yuan¡¯s bedside, blocking Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s view.


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. What happened? Was Shen Yuan unable to get out of bed?


    Duan Hongzhen humphed, ¡°Xue Junli, I brought him back!¡±


    The people around the bed moved apart and Xue Junli came out. He gave Xiao Tangqiu a cold look, ¡°What¡¯s with your hair?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, whose head was full of foam,ughed, ¡°I was in the middle of a bath and Mr. Duan Hongzhen rushed into the bathroom and forced me here.¡±


    Xue Junli spoke mildly, ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you since yesterday, but because you were on a mission, I had to let Duan Hongzhen watch for you and bring you when youe back.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a forcedugh, ¡°So why were you looking for me?¡±


    Xue Junli nced at Xiao Tangqiu coldly, ¡°After you left that day, Shen Yuan fell into aa again.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked towards Shen Yuan¡¯s bed. Sure enough, he saw that Shen Yuan was still lying on the bed. But his face wasn¡¯t as pale as it wasst time, looking a lot healthier. It was more like normal sleep than aa.


    However, he seemed to be having a nightmare. His long eyshes trembled fiercely and his lips were pressed together, apparently not sleeping very well.


    ¡°But yesterday, Shen Yuan suddenly woke up and we were happy and surprised. He still remembered nothing, so we tried to get him to remember some things...¡± Xue Junli¡¯s tone got colder and colder as he continued to speak.


    ¡°But he was very resistant, not only rejecting all proximity to us, but also showing rash and violent tendencies. As long as we try to approach him, he would attack us... Fortunately, he¡¯s weak because of the long period ofa andck of food. Otherwise, all of us put together wouldn¡¯t be able beat him.¡±


    ¡°We had to join hands to knock him out and tie him to the bed.¡±


    It was only then that Xiao Tangqiu noticed that Shen Yuan¡¯s hands were tied to the bed by a silver chain. The chain had the thickness of an adult man¡¯s thumb and was probably tied after Shen Yuan was knocked out so he didn¡¯t have any wounds from struggling.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe that Shen Yuan¡¯s teammates would actually do this to him unless Shen Yuan really did indiscriminately attack on them...


    His heart couldn¡¯t help but sink, what¡¯s happening to Shen Yuan?


    After a few seconds of silence, Xue Junli unexpectedly said, ¡°But this kind of situation, it¡¯s not the first time that it happened.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. What do you mean? Did Shen Yuan have this problem before?


    Before Xue Junli could borate, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu, who were silent before, cut him off, ¡°Xue Junli! Don¡¯t talk about it!¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s face was as white as paper and he closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes again, ¡°It¡¯s already like this... Is there any need to continue to hide it?¡±


    Yu Fulingined, ¡°He¡¯s just an outsider!¡±


    Xue Junli gave her a cold look, ¡°He really is just an outsider to us, but when Shen Yuan was awake yesterday, he only remembered his name.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nked. When Shen Yuan was awake... he only remember his name?


    ¡°And Shen Yuan only called his name when he was passed out,¡± Xue Junli coldly spoke.


    ¡°Even so! We can¡¯t tell such a big thing to someone that we don¡¯t even know if we can rely on! What¡¯s more, this guy is still a neer who has only experienced a few instances!¡± Yu Fuling was unconvinced.


    Sai Lulu echoed, ¡°So what if Shen-ge only remembers his name? That¡¯s because after Shen-ge came back from the instance, the first person he saw was him. It¡¯s only because of the nestling effect. Shen-ge only got close to this suspicious guy because of the nestling effect. As his most trustedpanions, are we just supposed to follow his lead?¡±


    Seeing that Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu still wanted to argue more, Xue Junli interrupted them, ¡°Enough! If we continue to debate this problem, Shen Yuan will wake up. Once he wakes up, even this demon binding chain might not hold him!¡±


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu are obviously unwilling, but when they thought about the destructive power of Shen Yuan, they could only swallow their dissatisfaction.


    Xiao Tangqiu was confused but he still tried to force himself to calm down.


    Xue Junli turned around and red at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Since this is an emergency, I will tell you about it. But if you dare to leak it, I think you know the consequences.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips and nodded, ¡°I won¡¯t spread it.¡±


    ¡°I hope you keep your promise,¡± Xue Junli¡¯s tone was icy, but he still continued to speak, ¡°Maybe you already know this, Shen Yuan was the first yer toe to the City of the Abyss. A first generation yer, that is. I am also an early yer... When I first saw Shen Yuan, he just came out of a super S-level instance and was covered in wounds. He was practically half dead.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked, Shen Yuan in a half-dead state? He couldn¡¯t imagine that kind of Shen Yuan at all. He asked, ¡°Doesn¡¯t the transfer module automatically repair any injuries we get from the instance?¡±


    Xue Junli, ¡°That¡¯s right, as long as the person isn¡¯t dead, the transfer module can repair all injuries, even if they¡¯re on the edge of death. But there is a kind of injury that can¡¯t be repaired in the transfer module.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped and he felt a hunch.


    ¡°...And that is the attack of the abyss demon.¡±


    Xue Junli spoke softly, ¡°The transfer module can repair all injuries, even those caused by the higher demons in the S-level instances, but it can¡¯t repair the damage from the abyss demon.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes widened. It turned out that the post he had seen on the Abyss Forum was true!


    He couldn¡¯t help but blurt out, ¡°Shen Yuan encountered the abyss demon in that super S-level instance?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly felt that the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. Everyone¡¯s expression changed after hearing the words ¡°the abyss demon¡±. After a long while, Xue Junli spoke with a pale face, ¡°No one knows the truth, because Shen Yuan is the only one left out of the first generation yers. All of thepanions who entered the instance with Shen Yuan died in the super S-level instance.¡±


    ¡°When I met Shen Yuan, he lost his memories just like this and he was very aggressive. He almost killed me, but because he was too hurt, he quickly passed out.¡±


    It turned out that this wasn¡¯t Shen Yuan¡¯s first time losing his memory...


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart began to pound and he couldn¡¯t help but ask Xue Junli, ¡°Wait... when you first met Shen Yuan... When was it? Was it seven years ago?¡±


    Xue Junli nced at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°No.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank, was his guess wrong?


    ...Wait, that¡¯s not right!


    The year Xue Junli encountered Shen Yuan wasn¡¯t necessarily the year Shen Yuan entered the game, so it is still possible!


    That¡¯s right, even until now, Xiao Tangqiu still hadn¡¯t given up the idea that Shen Yuan was Meng Xinghe. He had only been trying to suppress this idea and kept it deep inside.


    ¡°Last time, Shen Yuan¡¯s statested for half a year. Fortunately, he justpleted a super S-level mission so he couldn¡¯t be forced into an instance for five years. Within half a year, he slowly recovered to normal... but this time Shen Yuan can¡¯t wait. He will be forced into an instance after a month.¡±

 Chapter 55.3

    <h4>Chapter 55.3</h4>


    ¡°Last time, Shen Yuan¡¯s statested for half a year. Fortunately, he justpleted a super S-level mission so he couldn¡¯t be forced into an instance for five years. Within half a year, he slowly recovered to normal... but this time Shen Yuan can¡¯t wait. He will be forced into an instance after a month.¡±


    Xue Junli finally stated why he was willing to hide nothing from Xiao Tangqiu.


    Shen Yuan couldn¡¯t wait for half a year or longer to recovery. If he entered the instance in his current state, chances are that he would nevere back!


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked, ¡°A month? Wait! Didn¡¯t youplete an S-level mission just before? You should have another year!¡± Su Manluo clearly told them that once they hadpleted an S-level mission, they would get a year of rest.


    Xue Junli said softly, ¡°It seems that you still don¡¯t know the main task.¡±


    ¡°Main task?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was confused again. What¡¯s that?


    Xue Junli arbitrarily exined a bit, ¡°Tasks are divided into main tasks and non-main tasks. When you enter the game, the first task is your main task. The system gives you rest time ording to the main task, such as your first one, the S-level task. In theory, you will have a rest period of one year. You can pick up other tasks during the year. If youplete a D-level task during this period, you will have to do another task after seven days. The higher the task level, the longer the rest time...but these tasks are just your non-main tasks. Once your first main task¡¯s rest period is over, even if you justpleted an S-level mission the day before, you will still be forced into an instance by the system.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t think that these horror game tasks actually had main tasks and non-main tasks. But after listening to Xue Junli, he understood, ¡°The super S-ss task that Shen Yuan did before was his previous main line task. ?¡±


    Xue Junli spoke softly, ¡°Yes, the interval between Super S-level missions is five years. The main missioning up next month is exactly five years for him.¡±


    Five years...


    Xiao Tangqiu carefully thought over this number. It turns out that Xue Junli and Shen Yuan had known each other for five years. Xue Junli was even so clear about the specific time of Shen Yuan¡¯s main task. It seemed that the two of them were indeed very, very familiar.


    Five years ago, Xue Junli encountered Shen Yuan who just came out of a super-S instance. So then what did he do five years ago?


    Xiao Tangqiu stunned and couldn¡¯t help but ask Xue Junli, ¡°So, what you had mee here for...¡±


    Xue Junli, ¡°He remembers your name... maybe you can calm him down.¡±


    ...Were they treating him as some kind of sedative?


    Although Xiao Tangqiu was a bit ttered, and even felt some excitement in his heart, he didn¡¯t think he was anything special to Shen Yuan. After all, for ¡°Shen Yuan¡±, they only experienced an instance together. They were only temporary teammates.


    On the degree of trust, Shen Yuan couldn¡¯t match up to real teammates like Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu.


    To confidently say that he could be the most special person in someone¡¯s heart, that person could only be Meng Xinghe.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit fervent, the unstoppable thought making his chest ache.


    Shen Yuan remembering his name might be because of the nestlingplex, but it also might be that Shen Yuan was Meng Xinghe and Meng Xinghe was Shen Yuan. Maybe Shen Yuan subconsciously felt that he was very familiar, so he subconsciously wanted to get close to him?


    Just as he was distracted, the person on the bed suddenly moved.


    When Shen Yuan opened his eyes, he naturally wanted to get out of bed. After discovering that his hands were bound by the demon binding chains, he instantly became angry and began to struggle.


    The demon binding chains made a harsh sound under his strength, and the bed that the chain was bound to began to distort.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked by such a Shen Yuan. He had never seen such a Shen Yuan, with so much aggression and strength. No wonder Xue Junli and them couldn¡¯t hold on and had to find him!


    He subconsciously looked at Xue Junli and saw Xue Junli looking back at him with a cold smile, the corner of his lips pulled up mockingly.


    He was seeing if he was scared.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. He also looked at Xue Junli coldly, then turned his head and looked back at Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan struggled with all his might. The strength he used was huge, making the demon binding chains embed deeply in his flesh.


    Seeing that Shen Yuan was almost bleeding from where the demon binding chains were, Xiao Tangqiu quickly went forward and tried to stop Shen Yuan¡¯s actions. ¡°Don¡¯t hurt yourself!¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu coldly, his eyes chilling Xiao Tangqui to the bones.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help his expression from falling, Shen Yuan really forgot him...


    For Shen Yuan, he was not special at all.


    Could it be that Shen Yuan only responded to his name?


    Seeing that Shen Yuan was still struggling, Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and grabbed Shen Yuan¡¯s hands. ¡°I am Xiao Tangqiu... Do you remember me? Xiao Tangqiu! I am Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s fierce struggle gradually stopped. His dark eyes looked at Xiao Tangqiu, seeming to be filled with ayer of fog. ¡°Xiao... Tangqiu?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu! I am Xiao Tangqiu!¡± Xiao Tangqiu quickly repeated.


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu...¡± Shen Yuan lowered his gaze and the long crow feather like ck eyshes trembled. He began to softly recite the name.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart soared, repeating: ¡°Yes... I am Xiao Tangqiu...Xiao Tangqiu...¡±


    The reincarnation team around the two of them was shocked. They didn¡¯t think that Xiao Tangqiu could actually make Shen Yuan calm down!


    No matter what they did, and what they used, even when the two cats that Shen Yuan had raised with his own hands were ced on his bed, Shen Yuan could not recognize them and would not calm down.


    Now, after seeing Xiao Tangqiu, Shen Yuan really magically calm down.


    Shen Yuan calmed down.


    After a while, he opened his eyes again and looked up at Xiao Tangqiu, who stood beside the bed, from the bottom up. His expression was a bit dumbstruck, ¡°Xiao Tangqiu... Qiuqiu? Qiuqiu?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t stop his heart from thundering because this was the homonym of his name. Meng Xinghe had liked to call him ¡°Qiuqiu¡±, and this nickname was something only Meng Xinghe knew!


    ¡°Yes! I am Qiuqiu! I am Qiuqiu!¡±


    However, what disappointed Xiao Tangqiu was that Shen Yuan didn¡¯t seem to remember him and this nickname. Instead, he seemed to have discovered something like a treasure. He began to call the name, ¡°Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    How old are you, what are you selling cute for!


    Looking at the cold face of Shen Yuan¡¯s expressionlessly selling cute, the sense of wrongness wasn¡¯t light!


    The Reincarnation Team also hadplex expressions on the side.


    Leader, stop trying to sell cute!


    They didn¡¯t want to dream about the image of their great and heroic captain imitating bird chirps when they went to sleep that night!


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu!¡± Shen Yuan called a few times. Seeing that Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t respond to him, he became upset. He grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s sleeve and continued to call, ¡°Qiuqiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly responded, ¡°I¡¯m here! I¡¯m here!¡±


    Shen Yuan was happy and called out a few more times, ¡°Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Did Shen Yuan really lose his memories and not his intellect?


    Just then, Shen Yuan¡¯s stomach suddenly growled. He finally got hungry after not eating for a few days.


    He looked down at his belly with a confused look. He didn¡¯t seem to understand why his stomach was so hungry.


    When Xiao Tangqiu saw this, he quickly took out two candy balls from his pocket and handed them to Shen Yuan.


    The vending machine of the Abyss City was full of magical powers. It even had the most popr candy brands from the real world, and foodstuff needed very few points so he had exchanged some in preparation for the instance. He had put a few in his pocket for a rainy day.


    Seeing Xiao Tangqiu take two candies to feed their captain, Yu Fuling immediately stepped forward to stop him, ¡°Don¡¯t give strange things to our captain! Who knows what your intentions are!¡± She certainly didn¡¯t think Xiao Tangqiu would¡¯ve poisoned Shen Yuan. She just found Xiao Tangqiu not pleasing to the eye.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s movement paused, just as he was about to peel the candy and eat it on the spot to demonstrate, the originally quiet and obedient Shen Yuan suddenly red at Yu Fuling, ¡°Get out!¡±


    He climbed up from the bed in anger, and since he was bound by the demon binding chains, he directly broke off the headboard!


    Yu Fuling was shocked. Xiao Tangqiu was also shocked. He rushed forward and hugged Shen Yuan, ¡°It¡¯s okay! Calm down! Calm down!¡±


    Shen Yuan angrilyined to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Bad guy! She¡¯s a bad guy!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly, ¡°No, she isn¡¯t a bad guy...¡±


    Shen Yuan was not convinced, ¡°She¡¯s definitely a bad guy!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated, ¡°Then do you think Qiuqiu is a good guy?¡±


    Shen Yuan furiously nodded, ¡°Of course Qiuqiu is a good guy!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Then listen to Qiuqiu, that... big sister is not a bad person, she is just a bit mean.¡±


    Shen Yuan huffed, ¡°She¡¯s mean! She¡¯s mean, Qiuqiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt like he was coaxing a kindergartener, ¡°...Then don¡¯t learn from her, you can¡¯t be a meanie.¡±


    Shen Yuan finally calmed down, ¡°Okay, not a meanie.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu silently looked at the innocent expression on Yu Fuling.


    Shen Yuan poked Xiao Tangqiu again, ¡°Wanna eat candy.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu silently handed over a small round candy, shucking the wrapping along the way.


    Shen Yuan put the round ball of candy in his mouth, his cheek puffing out where he held it. He looked at Xiao Tangqiu while eating candy, mumbling, ¡°Eat little candy balls, eat Xiao Tangqiu...I am eating Qiuqiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Help! Was he really coaxing a kindergarten kid?!


    T/N: omfg I didn¡¯t click the publish buttonst week. I¡¯m so sorry!!! -kneels down- I¡¯ve been not doing a good job in the short time I¡¯ve taken on this project, please forgive meeeeeee

 Chapter 56.1

    <h4>Chapter 56.1</h4>


    The Reincarnation Team was obviously frightened by the changes in Shen Yuan and all of them hadplicated expressions.


    Xiao Tangqiu thought with relief that it was fortunate that Tang Mianmian, the guy with the worst psychological endurance, was not here. Otherwise, he might directly be scared to death.


    Shen Yuan who was at the heart of the storm seemed to be oblivious of all the things around him. He only stared at Xiao Tangqiu with a sigh of relief. The focused look almost stared right through Xiao Tangqiu. Even if he was someone who was often put on the spot or an idol who often received fan confessions, he still wouldn¡¯t have been able to help his face from going hot.


    Xiao Tangqiu forced himself to turn his head and look towards Xue Junli, and said with difficulty, ¡°That, he should have not eaten for a few days. Should he eat something first...¡± Although he gave Shen Yuan two small candy balls, but that kind of small stuff was obviously not enough.


    Xue Junli looked at Xiao Tangqiu coldly, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about it, we certainly won¡¯t let our captain be hungry.¡±


    Xue Junli was obviously about to ask him to leave. Xiao Tangqiu bore with the great pressure of Shen Yuan¡¯s direct gaze. In his heart, he naturally didn¡¯t want to leave so soon, so he pointed to the foam on his head, ¡°You guys grabbed me in a hurry and I was halfway through washing. You shouldn¡¯t be wanting me to leave right after you finished using me, right? So let me wash this first.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen was around on the way here so others might not have dared to look at them closely, but he would be alone on the way back. He wasn¡¯t willing to bear the strange looks from others.


    Only then did Xue Junli reluctantly agree, ¡°The guest room has a bathroom.¡±


    There was a bathroom in Shen Yuan¡¯s room, there was no need to go that far. But Xiao Tangqiu paused and didn¡¯t propose it, just nodding, ¡°Ok, then show me the guest room.¡±


    Xue Junli looked at Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Watch the captain, I¡¯ll take him to the guest room.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°Don¡¯t order me!¡±


    Xue Junli threw a cold look at Duan Hongzhen and left with Xiao Tangqiu.


    When leaving, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but look back at Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan¡¯s cheek was still bulged from the candy he gave him. He fixedly looked at Xiao Tangqiu and seemed like he had calmed down, not as aggressive as before.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt that he was like a young dad who sent his child to kindergarten on the first day. His child¡¯s mouth was filled with candy and had to watch his father leave...


    It¡¯s just too heartbreaking.


    The Reincarnation Team¡¯s residence was too big. From Shen Yuan¡¯s room to the guest room was 100,000 miles. After a while, Xue Junli stopped in front of a room with Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°There is a bathroom inside, do as you like. I will bring a change of clothes in a bit.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Xue Junli looked at Xiao Tangqiu coldly and said, ¡°Today¡¯s business, if you leak it...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately promised, ¡°I will never say it. I dare not say. Which of you can¡¯t easily kill me? I am not a fool.¡±


    Xue Junli coldly said, ¡°As long as you know.¡±


    After he finished speaking, he left.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but spit in his heart, even if thisputer looked so high-end, wasn¡¯t it only for the forum? Using a sledgehammer on a nut?


    But apart from the extremely poor inte experience, everything here was high-tech and futuristic. He was worried at first that he might not be able to use the bath here. He didn¡¯t want to ask the icy Xue Junli how to use the bath.


    Fortunately, when he went into the bathroom and looked at it, although it was high end, it was basically the usual functions.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t choose the bubbling, jacuzzi function. Although he didn¡¯t care if he spent an hour or two taking a hot bath here, he felt that Xue Junli would not hold back and rush in to drive him away.


    So he walked into the shower and turned on the showerhead.


    After he finally washed away the foam in his hair, he suddenly heard the sound of the door opening behind him.


    At first, he thought it was Xue Junli bringing a change of clothes. He quickly shouted through the shower, ¡°Help me put it by the sink, thank you.¡±


    However, the person didn¡¯t leave and walked towards the shower instead.


    Xiao Tangqiu was confused, what was Xue Junli doing? Was this guy going to deliver it directly to the shower? He didn¡¯t seem like such a warm and hospitable person! Even if Xue Junli was hospitable, he didn¡¯t intend to ¡°exchange bare sincerity¡± with this guy!


    ¡°Just put it on the sink, you can go. Thank you.¡±


    However, the man still did not leave, but went straight to the shower. The next second, the ss door of the shower was opened.


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around in surprise, ¡°Xue Junli, what are you doing?¡±


    But when he turned around he froze. The person who stood outside the shower wasn¡¯t Xue Junli, it was Shen Yuan whom he recently parted with!


    Shen Yuan wore his ck pajamas and stood barefoot at the door of the shower, looking at Xiao Tangqiu with dark eyes, ¡°Qiuqiu, where did you go? Why did you abandon me?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s lips twitched, ¡°...I didn¡¯t abandon you! I am taking a shower!¡±


    Shen Yuan stubbornly asked, ¡°Qiuqiu, why did you abandon me?¡±


    Looking at Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes that clearly differentiated ck and white, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty. It was as if he was a parent being asked ¡°Why did you abandon me there? Do you not want me anymore?¡± after the child was sent to kindergarten for the first time.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t abandon you! I am just taking a shower!¡±


    And he didn¡¯t even want to leave, it was obviously Xue Junli chasing him away!


    However, Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t the kind of person who arbitrarily provokes the rtionship between teammates. This kind of thing could only be thought. His mouth said, ¡°I was only halfway through my bath earlier and there was foam in my hair, so I have to wash the foam off...¡±


    Shen Yuan stubbornly said, ¡°Even if Qiuqiu take a bath, still can¡¯t abandon me!¡±


    As he spoke, he squeezed into the shower.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked and quickly called out, ¡°Don¡¯te in! I am taking a shower! Your clothes will get wet!¡±


    ¡°Qiuqiu is not allowed to abandon me!¡± Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened, his violent tendency seeming toe out again.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t be bothered to turn off the shower and quickly tried to appease Shen Yuan, ¡°I won¡¯t! I won¡¯t abandon you!¡±


    ¡°Not allowed to abandon me!¡± Shen Yuan repeated again.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°Ok, won¡¯t abandon you.¡±


    Shen Yuan had squeezed into the shower. He let the water from the shower fall on his pajamas, standing face to face with Xiao Tangqiu. He stared at Xiao Tangqiu as if Xiao Tangqiu would disappear the moment he looked away.


    Two men squeezed into a small shower, four eyes staring at each other, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel strange. But before he could think about it, a third person came in.


    Xue Junli brought a change of clothes and looked at the two people in the shower coldly. After a while, he asked, ¡°Shen Yuan, why are you here?¡±


    However, Shen Yuan just looked at him indifferently and did not answer.


    Xue Junli began to icily stare at Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu had no choice but to speak, ¡°You can¡¯t be like this. If someone asks you a question, you have to answer it. This is polite.¡± He began to feel like a kindergarten teacher.


    Shen Yuan reluctantly opened his mouth, ¡°I just want to be with Qiuqiu.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu forced himself to face Xue Junli, ¡°I don¡¯t know why he is here. I was just taking a shower and he suddenly came in...¡± Wasn¡¯t Shen Yuan shackled on the bed? Did he finally get rid of the demon binding chains and ran out?


    Xue Junli¡¯s expression suddenly changed and quickly asked Shen Yuan, ¡°Where¡¯s Fuling, Lulu and them?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu and replied reluctantly, ¡°...who are they?¡±


    Xue Junli seemed to remember Shen Yuan¡¯s amnesia, and his expression became even more ugly, ¡°The couple of people who looked after you.¡±


    Shen Yuan snorted, ¡°Couldn¡¯t withstand one move.¡±


    Xue Junli, ¡°...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°You... you didn¡¯t knock them out, right?¡±


    Shen Yuan spoke coldly, ¡°They also knocked me out, why can¡¯t I?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly said, ¡°Do you remember what happened before you were unconscious?¡± Xue Junli and them had teamed up to knock out Shen Yuan before, but it was because Shen Yuan showed a strong aggression, attacking everyone in sight... the Shen Yuan now actually remembered that time?


    Xue Junli¡¯s expression was also quite ugly. He didn¡¯t expect Shen Yuan to not remember the good, and only remember the bad things they did.


    Shen Yuan humphed, suddenly hugging Xiao Tangqiu and burying his face in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shoulder, sulking, ¡°They beat me, and it was many bullying one! They are bad guys!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu silently looked at Xue Junli. He felt that Xue Junli was definitely depressed and wanted to spit blood. Why did they knock out Shen Yuan? It was clearly that Shen Yuan made the first move, and Shen Yuan was so much stronger than them, so they couldn¡¯t help but team up!


    ¡°They are not bad guys, they are just...¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused, ¡°...scared of you hitting them. They can¡¯t beat you.¡±


    Shen Yuan snorted, ¡°They are bad guys, but they can¡¯t beat me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°They¡¯re not bad guys, they are your teammates, yourpanions.¡±


    Shen Yuan was not happy, ¡°They are bad guys.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Xue Junli. He had no way to convince Shen Yuan.


    Xue Junli pressed his lips together and coldly said, ¡°...you, have hime out.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu could only persuade Shen Yuan, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go out first?¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s expression was full of unhappiness, ¡°Is Qiuqiu abandoning me?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wiped the water on his face and tried to keep calm, ¡°...No, I am still taking a shower, let me finish washing up?¡±


    Shen Yuan humphed, ¡°Then I will wash with Qiuqiu.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...the shower is too small, we can¡¯t fit two people, wait for me to finish and then you can wash, alright?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked straight at Xiao Tangqiu and stubbornly said, ¡°I want to wash with Qiuqiu. Qiuqiu¡¯s not allowed to abandon me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was out of ideas. He couldn¡¯t beat him in words or physically. He would only silently look out to Xue Junli.


    Xue Junli snorted, ¡°Hurry up and finish washing!¡±


    Then he turned and left, mmed the bathroom door closed.


    After the loud bang, only two people were left in the bathroom, Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan was finally happy, ¡°Qiuqiu! Let¡¯s wash together!¡±

 Chapter 56.2

    <h4>Chapter 56.2</h4>


    What else could Xiao Tangqiu do? Of course, it was to take a shower with Shen Yuan!


    He had wanted to quickly wash off the foam on his body and leave the shower to wait for Shen Yuan outside. He didn¡¯t expect that after he ducked down to wash off the foam and then looked up, Shen Yuan had taken off his pajamas.


    Two people facing each other, naked, the atmosphere in the shower suddenly became strange.


    Xiao Tangqiu wondered where it was strange, and saw Shen Yuan look him up and down before smiling, ¡°Qiuqiu is smaller than me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...!!!¡±


    Was this the second time he was snubbed today?


    The first time was Duan Hongzhen, but that guy was not so explicit...


    But faced with Shen Yuan¡¯s clear view of ck and white, he couldn¡¯t refute.


    Children spoke thoughtlessly! Children spoke thoughtlessly!


    Xiao Tangqiu tried tofort himself, but he still looked towards Shen Yuan, unresigned. Was Shen Yuan much bigger than him?


    As a result, he found that he really couldn¡¯t refute.


    How stifling.


    But it was also then that Xiao Tangqiu saw the still unhealed wound over Shen Yuan¡¯s heart.


    The wound was so gruesome that it was enough to make people imagine the pain of it happening. Even now it was still not healed. How terrible was the original wound?


    Xiao Tangqiu knew that it should be the wound that was left behind from when he attacked Shen Yuan during Lippinobert¡¯s possession. ording to Xue Junli, only the abyss demon¡¯s attack could not be healed by the transfer modules.


    Back then, Lippinobert ate the heart fragments of the abyss demon and briefly gained the powers of the demon of the abyss, so the wounds on Shen Yuan would not heal.


    Although Shen Yuan also attacked Xiao Tangqiu at the time, he did not leave a wound on his body. There was probably only one reason ¡ª Shen Yuan did not use demonic powers on Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the scar over Shen Yuan¡¯s heart for a while. After a moment, he whispered to Shen Yuan, ¡°...does it hurt?¡±


    Shen Yuan blinked and nodded, ¡°Hurts.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu eyshes tremble, ¡°Do you remember what happened back then?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu lowered his eyes, ¡°Because I did this, I am a bad guy who hurts you.¡±


    Although Shen Yuan was a bit confused, he still shook his head, ¡°Qiuqiu isn¡¯t a bad guy. Qiuqiu must have a reason to beat me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± Was this clearly spoken double standard really ok?


    But Xiao Tangqiu still felt a bit better. He reached out, wanting to touch the wound, but did not dare to actually touch it, ¡°Is it still hurting now?¡±


    Shen Yuan shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s not hurting anymore.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gently put his hand on it and touched Shen Yuan¡¯s wound, ¡°It must have been very painful at the time, right?¡± Looking at the still unrecovered wound over Shen Yuan¡¯s heart, he finally understood why Xue Junli would be so wary of him. If it was his most important person who was hurt by someone, he might hate that person even more than Xue Junli.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s movements were very gentle out of fear of hurting Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan looked down at Xiao Tangqiu, his gaze became more and more muddled, almost as if it was filled with ayer of fog.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the wound very seriously. He was full of guilt and wanted to see the injury he had caused by his own hands, but at this moment, he discovered that a ck tattoo gradually appeared over Shen Yuan¡¯s heart.


    The ck tattoo slowly spread to outline theplete Ouroboros tattoo.


    This was the first time Xiao Tangqiu examined the Ouroboros tattoo on Shen Yuan so closely. The world eating snakes in the tattoo were strange yet beautiful, filled with a distinct feeling of monstrous mystery.


    He was shocked because he knew that Shen Yuan would have an Ouroboros tattoo if he tried to use the power of the devil, but right now everything was good, so why did Shen Yuan¡¯s tattoo pop out?


    He quickly looked up at Shen Yuan, but he was met with Shen Yuan¡¯s hazy eyes.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s ck eyes seemed to be covered with ayer of fog. He also looked at Xiao Tangqiu with the same confusion. He didn¡¯t seem to know where the tattoos came from and why it suddenly appeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly asked Shen Yuan, ¡°Do you know what is going on with this tattoo?¡±


    Sure enough, Shen Yuan shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know, don¡¯t you know?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe you should ask your teammates.¡±


    Shen Yuan gave a snort, ¡°They are all bad guys.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a few seconds and quietly took his hand back from Shen Yuan.


    There was a trace of loss in the Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes, and a momentter, the Ouroboros¡¯s tattoo over his heart disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu was amazed. He paused and put his hand over Shen Yuan¡¯s heart.


    Soon, the piece of Ouroboros tattoo came out again.


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent. Was there some kind of magical power in his fingers?


    He paused, moved his hand down a bit, touched the Shen Yuan¡¯s lower abdomen, and soon there was another piece of the Ouroboros tattoo.


    It was as if he found a toy and he yed around happily. He touched it here and there, touched from top to bottom, and the ces where he touched all showed the mysterious ck tattoo. It was amazing.


    Xiao Tangqiu touched and touched Shen Yuan. After a while, Shen Yuan suddenly groaned and looked at Xiao Tangqiu with confusion.


    The hand Xiao Tangqiu used to touch Shen Yuan¡¯s abs stiffened. He only touched Shen Yuan¡¯s abs, thought that they felt nice and touched a few more times, who would¡¯ve thought...


    Shen Yuan looked down in confusion, then looked up at Xiao Tangqiu, his eyes hazy, ¡°Qiuqiu, why am I...¡±


    ¡°Cough!¡± Xiao Tangqiu quickly interrupted Shen Yuan. ¡°I finished washing! You should hurry up and wash! I will go out first!¡±


    Running as soon as the mes were lit, this behavior could be said to be very scummy.


    However, when Xiao Tangqiu turned to run, he was dragged back by Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan embraced Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s waist from behind and buried his face in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shoulder, his voice muffled, ¡°Qiuqiu don¡¯t abandon me...¡±


    ¡°Not abandoning you! I will wait for you outside! Outside this shower!¡± Xiao Tangqiu had no choice but to emphasize.


    Shen Yuan whined, ¡°Do not run!¡±


    The two of them were closely attached, and the contact at some ces was rather awkward, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ufortably shift his butt, ¡°I won¡¯t run.¡±


    ¡°If you dare to run, I will...¡± Shen Yuan thought about it and pretended to be ferocious to threaten him, ¡°kill all the bad guys outside!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± This kind of threat had absolutely no use on him, okay!


    But he still nodded. ¡°Ok, I won¡¯t run, I will wait for you outside, no more than one meter away.¡±


    Shen Yuan reluctantly let go and let Xiao Tangqiu leave the small shower.


    Xiao Tangqiu had started to suffer from ack of oxygen in the brain. He took a deep breath and stood by the shower door to wait for Shen Yuan while putting on clothes.


    Despite the ss door of the shower between them, he could still feel Shen Yuan¡¯s line of sight on him. The person who was taking a shower was Shen Yuan, but he felt like the one being peeped on was him.


    He turned his back to the shower and changed his clothes stiffly. Not long after he finished changing, Shen Yuan pushed open the ss door of the shower.


    Looking back, Xiao Tangqiu realized that Shen Yuan didn¡¯t have any clothes to wear. But then again, he only wore a set of pajamas when he came in. The pajamas were now wet so naturally, he couldn¡¯t keep wearing them.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s naked body was covered by the Ouroboros tattoo, from the neck to the lower abdomen, from the thighs to the ankles. At this moment, his entire body was covered with ck tattoos!


    This scene was bewitching to the max. Xiao Tangqiu also felt like Shen Yuan was full of a dangerous atmosphere and couldn¡¯t help but hold his breath, subconsciously wanting to escape, ¡°I am going to find clothes for you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu left the bathroom as if he was escaping. Fortunately, there was a bathrobe in the closet in the room. It was probably prepared for guests.


    He just took the bathrobe down and was covered by Shen Yuan¡¯s aura.


    Shen Yuan once again hugged Xiao Tangqiu from behind andined in a sullen tone, ¡°You clearly said that you would not be more than one meter from me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was bewildered, ¡°I have been waiting for you outside, when didn¡¯t I?¡±


    Shen Yuan hmphed, ¡°When you went out to get clothes.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu mouth twitched, ¡°Big bro! The time it took for me to go out to get clothes adds up to less than ten seconds!¡±


    Shen Yuan humphed, ¡°No even a second is allowed!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was speechless, so he turned and handed the bathrobe to Shen Yuan, ¡°Put this on first, then let Xue Junli find clothes for you.¡±


    Shen Yuan cooly refused, ¡°No, I only wear clothes you get for me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rubbed his temple and felt that he was practically bing a full-time nanny.

 Chapter 56.3

    <h4>Chapter 56.3</h4>


    After a while, Xue Junli came back with a change of clothes for Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan coldly refused, ¡°I¡¯m not wearing it!¡±


    Xue Junli looked at Xiao Tangqiu with no expression.


    Xiao Tangqiu could only take a step back, ¡°What if I help you wear it?¡±


    Shen Yuan thought about it, and he nodded with difficulty, ¡°Then, alright.¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s cold expression seemed to be unstoppable. After taking a few deep breaths, he said to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°When Shen Yuan is dressed, bring him to the living room.¡±


    After Xue Junli left, Xiao Tangqiu began coax Shen Yuan to get dressed. Thankfully, Shen Yuan was cooperative.


    After getting dressed, Shen Yuan seemed to have changed back to the formidable Reincarnation Team Captain Shen Yuan. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, the image was shattered again, ¡°Qiuqiu, I am hungry.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...it¡¯ll be mealtime soon.¡±


    Shen Yuan, ¡°Is it hand-made by Qiuqiu?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°No.¡±


    Shen Yuan, ¡°If not, I won¡¯t eat.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Then I¡¯ll...feed you!¡±


    Shen Yuan, ¡°Then, okay.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu slowly exhaled, exhausted in both body and mind.


    Ten minutester, Xiao Tangqiu went to the living room with Shen Yuan. He saw the injured Yu Fuling and the injured Sai Lulu the moment he entered the door... and Duan Hongzhen was still unconscious.


    Xiao Tangqiu silently looked at Shen Yuan. It seemed that even with amnesia and not remembering his teammates, this guy¡¯s subconscious still remembered to go easier on ady.


    As soon as they saw Shen Yuan, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu blurted out together, ¡°Shen-ge!¡±


    Shen Yuan, ¡°Hmph.¡±


    ¡°Shen-ge, don¡¯t you remember us?¡± Yu Fuling¡¯s eyes were red. ¡°I am Fuling! You really don¡¯t remember Fuling?¡±


    Shen Yuan, ¡°Hmph.¡±


    Sai Lulu gritted her teeth, ¡°Shen-ge, we will definitely find a way to have you remember!¡±


    Shen Yuan, ¡°Hmph.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and poked Shen Yuan, ¡°Speak properly.¡±


    Shen Yuan finally looked at Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu with difficulty, ¡°I don¡¯t know you.¡±


    Xue Junli who was on the side frowned slightly, ¡°That¡¯s because you lost your memory.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought for a moment, ¡°...a pack of candy?¡±


    Yu Fuling couldn¡¯t help but sneer, ¡°Shen-ge won¡¯t be bought by a pack of candy!¡±


    Shen Yuan humphed, ¡°Only if Qiuqiu personally hand-feeds me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t even think about it, ¡°Okay, no problem.¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s lips turned up in satisfaction, ¡°Then, okay.¡±


    Yu Fuling, ¡°...¡±


    Aaah! Who¡¯s this guy that was bought by a pack of candy? This couldn¡¯t be their captain!


    Yu Fuling originally thought that her worldview was alreadypletely shattered, but it turned out that things like worldviews could break one time and then there would be a next time. There would never be a bottom line.


    So the Reincarnation Team experienced the sight of their cold and aloof captain, who had always been ruthless and beyond the reach of normal people, act coquettishly, sell cute, and beg to be fed at some man.


    It¡¯s too terrifying!


    Reincarnation Team: Hehe, the kind of thing known as worldview is meant to be broken!


    Xiao Tangqiu was at the center of the storm, but could be considered calm. Although his worldview was a bit broken, he was far from how uneptable the Reincarnation Team found this situation to be for a few reasons. After all, Meng Xinghe used to be like this; acting coquettishly to sell cute, and Shen Yuan¡¯s face was exactly the same as Meng Xinghe¡¯s so naturally he didn¡¯t feel anything strange or wrong with it.


    Xiao Tangqiu silently picked food for Shen Yuan. He didn¡¯t know what Shen Yuan liked to eat so he subconsciously picked dishes ording to Meng Xinghe¡¯s taste. Shen Yuan ate it all, but he didn¡¯t think it was because Shen Yuan and Meng Xinghe had the exact same taste. After all, with Shen Yuan now relying heavily on him, he suspected that even if he had given Shen Yuan a chopstick full of rotting or curdling food, Shen Yuan would still eat it with no expression.


    Yu Fuling looked at the quiet Shen Yuan and couldn¡¯t help but ask with anticipation, ¡°Sure enough, Shen-ge still likes to eat the dishes I cook the most, right? Shen-ge, can you remember this taste?¡±


    Shen Yuan lowered his head and quietly ate the food that Xiao Tangqiu put in his bowl.


    Xiao Tangqiu poked Shen Yuan, ¡°She¡¯s asking you a question.¡±


    Shen Yuan didn¡¯t respond quickly or slowly, ¡°Hmph.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...What does ¡°hmph¡± mean? Speak properly.¡±


    Shen Yuan snorted, ¡°It¡¯s so-so, I prefer to eat Qiuqiu¡¯s dishes.¡±


    Yu Fuling felt humiliated and asked, ¡°When did you eat the dishes he made?¡± Could it be that despite looking like an ordinary geek, this guy was actually a culinary master with superb cooking?


    Shen Yuan said with expressionlessly, ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten it yet, but it¡¯s definitely better than what you make!¡±


    Yu Fuling gritted her teeth, ¡°I don¡¯t believe it! Unless we have a match!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was afraid that Shen Yuan would really make him cook on the spot. He was tired to death right now. He just wanted to hurry and find a bed to lie down on. He quickly changed the topic, ¡°Oh yeah, don¡¯t you guys want to wake up Duan Hongzhen?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen hasn¡¯t woken up yet and was thrown onto the sofa by others. Weren¡¯t they worried about him?


    Xiao Tangqiu voice just fell and Duan Hongzhen who was on the sofa slowly opened his eyes, ¡°What happened? Why did I pass out?¡±


    Xue Junli nced at Xiao Tangqiu and spoke to Duan Hongzhen, ¡°You were knocked out by the captain. How do you feel now?¡±


    ¡°Yes... I was knocked out by the captain... The captain suddenly ran away...¡± Duan Hongzhen rubbed the wound on the back of his head and climbed up from the sofa. ¡°Smells good! You guys started eating? Why didn¡¯t you call me to eat?¡±


    As soon as he looked up and saw the Shen Yuan at the dinner table, his expression changed and he was obviously confused.


    Shen Yuan, ¡°Hmph.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu awkwardly waved at Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Hey, I¡¯m here to freeload some food.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen asked, baffled, ¡°Why are you still here? The captain is awake, why don¡¯t you go back?¡±


    After hearing his words, Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze immediately turned dark and he looked at Duan Hongzhen coldly.


    Duan Hongzhen subconsciously took a step back, ¡°Fuck! Such strong killing intent!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was afraid that Shen Yuan would go berserk and quickly held down Shen Yuan, ¡°No such thing! I am here, not going anywhere!¡±


    Shen Yuan humphed, ¡°He is a bad guy, drive him out!¡±


    Yu Fuling couldn¡¯t help but speak up, ¡°Captain, he is our teammate! He is Duan Hongzhen!¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s expression sank, ¡°Drive him out! Otherwise I will kill him!¡±


    He instantly radiated a powerful aura and pressure, and at the same time, the ck Ouroboros tattoo on his neck began to spread.


    No one knew more about the tattoo than Shen Yuan¡¯s teammates. The Reincarnation Team stepped back and stared at Shen Yuan¡¯s movements, fearing that Shen Yuan would go berserk next.


    Xiao Tangqiu was at the center of the pressure, his whole body trembling, but he still daringly went forward to persuade him, ¡°Ok, ok, ok, drive him out. You calm down a bit...¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Duan Hongzhen coldly, the abyss-like ck eyes were full of killing intent, ¡°No one can drive Qiuqiu away... or I will kill them!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and went up to hug Shen Yuan, trying to soothe him, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I won¡¯t leave, I am right here...¡±


    Shen Yuan gradually calmed down, but his murderous aura was still so heavy that everyone couldn¡¯t breathe. After a while, the ck tattoo on his body gradually disappeared.


    Xue Junli was pale and said to Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Duan Hongzhen, you should leave first.¡±


    Usually, Duan Hongzhen would first irritate Xue Junli with a few lines, but now he couldn¡¯t wait to leave immediately. The person who was just stared at with murderous intent by Shen Yuan was him. The blood in his body practically froze. After hearing Xue Junli¡¯s words, he immediately slipped away without hesitation.


    After Duan Hongzhen left, Shen Yuan¡¯s killing intent disappearedpletely.


    He sat down again and patted the seat next to him, speaking to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Sit.¡±


    So Xiao Tangqiu sat down silently.


    ¡°Pick food.¡±


    So Xiao Tangqiu silently continued to pick out food.


    The others looked at each other for a few moments before they sat down silently again. No one dared to say anything else.


    For Xiao Tangqiu, this meal was too exhausting. After all, he not only had to eat by himself, but also to feed Shen Yuan, and then also face the sight of Xue Junli and them from time to time. Not only was his body tired, his heart was tired, too.


    After the meal, he began to get sleepy, but Shen Yuan still stared straight at him as if they couldn¡¯t be separated for even a moment.


    So he silently looked to Xue Junli.


    Xue Junli appeared to ponder for a moment before he made up his mind, ¡°From now on, you just move here.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was not very surprised by this result. After all, Shen Yuan was now inseparable from him. If Xue Junli insisted on driving him away, he was afraid that Shen Yuan would follow him directly to D-district.


    The Reincarnation Team probably didn¡¯t care about taking care of a misceneous person, but definitely couldn¡¯t be without a captain.


    For him, this result was naturally better. He wanted to know if Shen Yuan was Meng Xinghe, and this problem could only be answered when Shen Yuan recovered his memory.


    In addition, S-district was obviously much better than D-district in all aspects.


    ¡°But I still have a friend...¡± Xiao Tangqiu hesitated without any sincerity.


    Xue Junli spoke coldly, ¡°You can move in with your friend.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, ¡°So, the stuff I owe you before?¡±


    Xue Junli paused and coldly replied, ¡°Written off.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled and said, ¡°Alright then, the deal is made.¡±


    Thus, things were happily decided.


    Xue Junli cooly spoke, ¡°I will have Duan Hongzhen go to D-district with you to bring your luggage and your friend.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled a little, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Shen Yuan immediately said, ¡°I want to go too!¡±


    Xue Junli endured, ¡°Captain, they¡¯re just going to get the luggage and wille back soon...¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened, ¡°I want to go!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was afraid that Shen Yuan would turn berserk and quickly said, ¡°Ok, ok, ok! Go, go, go!¡±


    Shen Yuan hugged Xiao Tangqiu while throwing a re at Xue Junli, ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Xue Junli, ¡°...¡±

 Chapter 57.1

    <h4>Chapter 57.1</h4>


    The boss suddenly changed his temperament from an aloof and cold male god to a clingy, spoiled man. What kind of experience was this?


    Regarding this, Xue Junli expressed: Hehe. My heart is so tired, is it toote to happily be a professional stay-at-home?


    In the end, Shen Yuan went to D-district with Xiao Tangqiu and Duan Hongzhen. It couldn¡¯t be helped, no one could stop him if he wanted to go since no one could beat him.


    In this world, strength was everything.


    Even if Shen Yuan lost his memories, he could still suppress everyone there, including Xiao Tangqiu. Of course, there was no difference in if Xiao Tangqiu was counted in this kind of situation, the results would be the same with or without him.


    But even though thebat power of Xiao Tangqiu was worrying, he was still the only person here who could control Shen Yuan.


    Afterwards, Xiao Tangqiu and Duan Hongzhen returned to D-district, but unlike him, he had arge human-shaped thing hanging on behind him: Shen Yuan.


    Although Shen Yuan wasn¡¯t really hanging onto Xiao Tangqiu, he wasn¡¯t far from it. He closely followed Xiao Tangqiu and was almost inseparable, firmly keeping Xiao Tangqiu within his sight.


    After returning home, Xiao Tangqiu discovered that Tang Mianmian was still sleeping on the sofa. It¡¯s been a few hours since he Duan Hongzhen took him away, yet Tang Mianmian did not find anything wrong from start to finish! This guy¡¯s heart was simply too broad!


    Duan Hongzhen was beaten up by Shen Yuan not long ago so he was full of repression with nowhere to vent. Just earlier, on the way to D-district, if he even had a heavier tone when he spoke to Xiao Tangqiu, he was threatened by Shen Yuan¡¯s death re, feeling even more stifled.


    Now that he saw the Tang Mianmian who was sleeping, he was naturally not polite. He went up and immediately kicked, directly sending Tang Mianmian tumbling from the sofa, ¡°Hey! Wake up!¡±


    ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Tang Mianmian was suddenly woken and screamed. Heid on the floor like a tortoise that¡¯s been flipped over, desperately iling his four limbs around. ¡°Did I die did I die did I die?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...not dead yet.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    He opened his eyes, saw Xiao Tangqiu and immediately climbed up from the floor and loudly cried, hugging Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Qiuqiu! I just dreamed that we died! No! I hadn¡¯t died yet, you died! That dream was especially realistic! It was just as if you really died in front of me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly felt like a huge FLAG was raised over his head. Before he could remove the g, he was pulled out of Tang Mianmian¡¯s embrace.


    Shen Yuan pulled Xiao Tangqiu away and looked at Tang Mianmian coldly, ¡°Even if you die, Jiujiu will not die!¡±


    Tang Mianmian jumped in fear, ¡°God Shen Yuan, why are you here? ...Wait, who is Jiujiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Cough, Tang Mianmian, I have something to tell you.¡±


    Shen Yuan was obviously a bit unhappy, but the house wasn¡¯t big and Xiao Tangqiu was still right in front of his eyes so he reluctantly promised, ¡°Want two candies, Jiujiu feed me!¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked dumbfounded,pletely unable to figure out the situation, ¡°What candy? Who is Jiujiu?¡±


    Until he was pulled into the bedroom by Xiao Tangqiu and Xiao Tangqiu told him the ins and outs of things, then he finally realized, ¡°God Shen Yuan is amnesiac? ...Wait a minute! Jiujiu is you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Cough. That¡¯s not the point, the point is that we have to move to S-district, so quickly pack up!¡±


    Tang Mianmian naturally had no problems with moving to S-district, and was even a little excited, ¡°So we can move to the big house of the Reincarnation Team right away? We can hug the thigh of god Shen Yuan? Does it count as joining the Reincarnation Team?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...you¡¯re thinking too beautifully, it¡¯s just for the time being.¡±


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t care. He smiled, ¡°If it¡¯s temporary, it¡¯s temporary. The most important thing is to hold the thigh of god Shen Yuan! Right! I also have something to tell you!¡±


    He impatiently took out a ck card and handed it to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Hehehe, I also have a special skill card!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked, ¡°You got it from thest instance?¡±


    Tang Mianmianughed mischievously, ¡°After the instance was over, I heard the system say to me: you got a special skill card! After returning to the City of the Abyss, I was too tired and went to sleep, so I didn¡¯t have time to tell you...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu impatiently asked, ¡°What kind of special skill card is it?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression changed, and he carefully told him, ¡°I am finally a person with a special skill card! My special skill card is definitely more convenient to use than your special skill card!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, ¡°Oh? So what special card do you have??¡±


    Tang Mianmian stuttered for a moment, and finally spoke like he had nothing to live for, ¡°...My special skill card is called... The Birth of Drama.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Pff!¡±


    He recalled Tang Mianmian¡¯s performance in thest instance and had to admit that the name of this special skill card was really appropriate. Tang Mianmian¡¯s ¡°performance¡± in thatst momentpletely deceived even him!


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but argue, ¡°Although the name of my special skill card is a bit difficult to say, but being easy to use is enough! My special skill card is amazing!¡±


    So Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°So what use does it have?¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly stood up and said, ¡°Hmph! You can be someone else in the instance, whether it¡¯s a yer or an NPC, and have the ability of that person, or even be anything, and have the function of that thing!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was really surprised, ¡°Then can¡¯t you be an atomic bomb, killing every person and ghost?¡±


    Tang Mianmian choked up, ¡°This... probably won¡¯t work...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t understand and asked, ¡°Why? Since you can be anything, you should be able to be an atomic bomb?¡±


    Tang Mianmian pressed his fingers together, ¡°I can only be what I have personally seen and touched... and even if I can be an atomic bomb, I will die if the atomic bomb explodes!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought for a moment, ¡°There¡¯s a lot of limitations, but it¡¯s useful enough.¡±


    Tang Mianmian raised his head in pride, but after a while, he deted, ¡°Unfortunately there are restrictions on the number of uses. It can only be used at most three times per instance.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu patted Tang Mianmian¡¯s shoulder, ¡°It¡¯s enough, your special skill card is really amazing.¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s mood immediately floated up and inted, and he embraced Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Qiuqiu, rest assured! I¡¯ll cover for you from now on!¡±


    In the next moment, Tang Mianmian flew away, hitting the wall with his butt and then his face hit the ground.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked and when he turned around, he saw a Shen Yuan who wore a face full of dissatisfaction.


    ¡°Owowowow, my face! Who the f-...¡±


    Tang Mianmian rubbed his nose and climbed up from the ground. He was just about to get angry and erupt but was suddenly faced with Shen Yuan¡¯s expressionless face.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes were dark, the dark as night pupils were practically brewing a tempest. ¡°Not allowed to touch Jiujiu!¡±


    Shen Yuan was like a rabid dog defending his food ¨C extremely aggressive and utterly terrifying.


    Tang Mianmian was paralyzed in an instant. His brain had not responded but his body quickly apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I was wrong!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t bear to see it and furrowed his brows, ¡°He is my friend, you can¡¯t treat him like that.¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s expression chilled in an instant, ¡°No one can touch Jiujiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was very helpless, ¡°Be reasonable, he is my friend... Isn¡¯t it normal to bump shoulders between friends?¡±


    Seeing Shen Yuan¡¯s dark eyes, Tang Mianmian quickly jumped out to smooth things over, ¡°It¡¯s ok, it¡¯s ok. That fall didn¡¯t hurt at all! Hahaha! It doesn¡¯t hurt at all!¡± Although he was in unbearable pain from falling on his face, but if he got onto god Shen Yuan¡¯s cklist, he felt that the things he would face wouldn¡¯t just be some facial pain!


    ¡°Are you packing up? I have been waiting for a long time!¡±


    At some point, Duan Hongzhen came into the room. He looked at the empty hands of Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian and couldn¡¯t help but rush them.


    Just as his voice fell, he felt Shen Yuan cast a cold nce and suddenly said, ¡°...Of course, it can be packed up slowly. I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian turned and began to pack their bags. Good thing they only just moved in and had little. They quickly packed up.


    ¡°Moving away so soon, I¡¯m actually a bit regretful.¡± Tang Mianmian looked back at the house and couldn¡¯t help but feel a myriad of emotions. Who would¡¯ve thought that the two neers who just entered D-district would enter S-district so soon?


    Afterward, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian followed Duan Hongzhen to S-district. But Duan Hongzhen did not bring them back to the Reincarnation Team, instead he took them to a bustling and lively street.


    This street was located in the center of S-district and was full of casinos, hotels, and the like. Although the architectural styles were different, it was a ce of dazzling luxury and decadence as far as the eye could see.


    ¡°Wee to Depraved Street!¡± Duan Hongzhen¡¯s eyebrow moved suggestively and said, ¡°This is the most prosperous area in S-district. Anything you can imagine can be found here, including many pastimes you can¡¯t imagine...¡±


    Although Xiao Tangqiu was full of curiosity about this ce, he couldn¡¯t help but ask Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Why did you bring us here?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°It¡¯s not me who wanted toe, Xue Junli told me to bring you here.¡±


    ¡°Xue Junli?¡± Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly. Why did that guy have theme here?


    Tang Mianmian suddenly had a thought, ¡°Could it be to wee us moving to S-district and inviting us to dinner? Promotion dinner?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taciturn, ¡°I don¡¯t think...¡±


    Would the people in the Reincarnate Team wee them? Impossible. That was impossible.


    At this moment, Duan Hongzhen suddenly spoke, ¡°Alright, we¡¯re here.¡±

 Chapter 57.2

    <h4>Chapter 57.2</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked up and found that it was a building that looked like a baobab tree. No, not only looked like a baobab tree, it really seemed to be a baobab tree!


    The baobab tree had a huge canopy and a veryrge trunk. It was 30 meters high. Unlike ordinary baobab trees, it had doors and windows that only buildings could have.


    ¡°This is the Baobab Tree Pub,¡± Duan Hongzhen said indifferently. ¡°Because the ingredients are fresh and delicious, many people choose to drink and eat here... and it is also the intelligence trading center in the S-district.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately blurted out, ¡°Intelligence trading center? It sounds so cool!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s focus was not the same as Tang Mianmian¡¯s, ¡°Fresh ingredients? Where do the ingredientse from?¡±


    He had never seen any animals in the City of the Abyss. In the Novice Vige and D-district, other than the vending machines that were equivalent to system stores, he had never seen any ce that produced food such as restaurants and bars. Where were the fresh ingredients from in the Baobab Tree Pub?


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°You are quite sharp.¡±


    He casually exined, ¡°That¡¯s right, the City of the Abyss does not have any ingredients, and the fresh ingredients of the Baobab Tree Pub are brought back from various instances.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were both shocked, ¡°Brought back from instances?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen said mildly, ¡°That¡¯s right, the things in instances can be brought back, but that needs specific space artifacts.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was dumbfounded. Specific space artifacts? There was actually such a thing?


    ¡°In addition, the wild animals in the Beast Arena, all kinds of high-tech products, and many scarce resources... all these things in the S-district are brought back from instances,¡± Duan Hongzhen shrugged. ¡°So there are people who specialize in this type of work, they will keep on entering instances to do missions until...¡±


    ¡°Until?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Until they die in the instances.¡± Duan Hongzhen¡¯s lips hooked up, revealing a mocking smile.


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned and he suddenly remembered the people in the Novice Vige who were very unwilling to pick up missions until the system forced them to be sent into an instance... Compared to those who kept on entering instances for their livelihoods, their starting points were clearly different. But in the end, it was simply different paths to the same destination, like a cosmic joke.


    So what was <i>his</i> fate? Would there be something waiting for him down the road? Maybe it¡¯s death...


    Although it was still daytime, many people were already drunk. They were drunkenly copsed on the wine table, numbing themselves in a drunken haze.


    Duan Hongzhen led them through a group of drunks and went to a private room in a corner. He didn¡¯t knock at the door and pushed the door open.


    In the room, other than Xue Junli and the others, there were a few more people Xiao Xiaoqiu didn¡¯t know. But all of them were women and at the head was a cool and elegant big sis in red.


    When Duan Hongzhen saw the red big sis, he folded his hands over his chest, ¡°Bai Yushan? What are you doing here?¡±


    The red big sis gave a coldugh, ¡°What do you think an intelligence dealer appearing here is for?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen directly turned to Xue Junli, ¡°What information do you want to buy from this profiteer?¡±


    Xue Junli said softly, ¡°Let¡¯s talk after you guyse in.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, walked into the room, found a ce to sit down and pick up a ss of wine from the table.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t figure out the situation, he could figure that something was up. He originally wanted to find a corner to sit down, but he had only just entered the door when his wrist was caught by the big sis in red.


    Bai Yushan grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s wrist. She used too much strength, pinching until Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but make a pained sound.


    Xiao Tangqiu was baffled, he didn¡¯t remember knowing this big sis in red. Shen Yuan, who was standing on the side, had immediately reacted. His expression was dark and he pped away Bai Yushan¡¯s hand.


    The others were also shocked by this sudden situation. Duan Hongzhen jumped up first, ¡°Profiteer Bai, what do you want?!¡±


    Xue Junli also frowned. ¡°Bai-<i>xiaojie</i>, what do you mean by this?¡±


    Bai Yushan looked at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression but was very excited, ¡°You have the smell of a devil worm!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stumped. Devil worm?


    He suddenly remembered the bite he had received when he escaped from the underwater secret room... He hadn¡¯t thought much of it. Now that he thought about it, he suddenly felt that the wound was starting to hurt. Clearly there was no feeling before!


    ¡°It¡¯s Yuru¡¯s devil!¡± Bai Yushan¡¯s was getting more and more excited. She once again grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s wrist. ¡°Have you seen Yuru? Do you know where Yuru is?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was once again stumped. Yuru? Was that the secret room woman?


    Shen Yuan once again pped away Bai Yushan¡¯s hand, coldly ordering, ¡°Let him go!¡±


    His eyes darkened, filled with murderous intent, and Bai Yushan couldn¡¯t help but feel a little stiff. After a while, she seemed to calm down, ¡°...Sorry, I was a little too excited. But this gentleman, please tell me about you. Why is there the smell of a devil worm on you!¡±


    At this moment, all the eyes in the room seemed to concentrate on Xiao Tangqiu. He was dumbfounded, he never expected that there would be such a moment of spotlight in his life.


    He frowned slightly and asked Bai Yushan, ¡°Who is Yuru?¡±


    Bai Yushan gradually calmed down, ¡°Yuru is my younger sister. Her name is Bai Yuru, she¡¯s five years younger than me. This year happens to be her twenty-four-year-old birth year, so she should be wearing a red string on her hand. As for her looks, she and I look three-parts simr, but her face is a little rounder than mine and her eyes are a little bigger than mine...¡±


    ording to Bai Yushan¡¯s description, Xiao Tangqiu slowly sketched out the appearance of the woman from the secret room. Although he didn¡¯t pay attention to whether the secret room woman wore a red string, but she had looked simr to Bai Yushan upon a closer look. Of course, if it wasn¡¯t for Bai Yushan suddenly rushing over to ask if he had seen her sister, even if he felt that the two looked a bit alike, he would only feel that it was a coincidence.


    ¡°But the most important thing is that the devil worm is a pet raised by my sister. There is only one in the whole City of the Abyss.¡± Bai Yushan became more and more calm, even analyzing it. ¡°Although some S-level instances may have devil worms, yourst instance was just a D-level instance. It¡¯s impossible to encounter a devil worm...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Tang Mianmian and Tang Mianmian nodded. Both of them obviously had the same thought. Although they were made very miserable by the secret room woman, the secret room woman could only spend the rest of her life in that secret room. There was no harm in telling Bai Yushan about how she ended up, it could be counted as doing a good deed.


    Xiao Tangqiu asked Bai Yushan, ¡°Before your sister disappeared, did she enter another instance?¡±


    Bai Yushan bit her lip, ¡°Yes, Yuru did tell me that she was going into the next instance. After that, she disappeared. Everyone told me that she died in the instance, but I don¡¯t believe she¡¯s dead. There is a feeling in my heart, I feel that she is still alive. I think she is still waiting for me to save her...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t bear it, but he still spoke of how they met the secret room woman in thest instance.


    When Bai Yushan learned that her sister was likely locked in a submerged room forever, she couldn¡¯t help but fall into a long silence and wasn¡¯t able to extricate herself for a long time.


    After a while, Bai Yushan took out a cigarette with a slightly trembling right hand. But she didn¡¯t ignite it, just hanging it in her mouth. She asked Xiao Tangqiu in a quiet manner, seeming to be talking to herself, ¡°She was kept in an instance like this, unable to live or die, just keep going through a cycle, her soul eternally suffering. Isn¡¯t it better to die directly in the instance?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a shock in his heart. He didn¡¯t expect Bai Yushan to say this. He thought that for Bai Yushan, this big sister, having her younger sister not bepletely ¡°dead¡± would be a relief.


    Tang Mianmian was also very surprised. He couldn¡¯t stop from asking Bai Yushan, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to save your sister? Are you not an S-district elite?¡±


    Bai Yushan couldn¡¯t help butugh, and she said, ¡°Little bro, you are too naive. Many things can¡¯t be done just because you want to. Not to mention I don¡¯t know if I can even sessfully survive the instance, first let me ask you, how am I supposed to find and enter that instance?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian once again focused on different things. Tang Mianmian blurted out, ¡°Even you guys in the S-district can¡¯t guarantee to will survive in a D-level instance?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and asked, ¡°You can¡¯t freely choose an instance?¡±


    T/N: Aaaa check out the lovely fanart of Xiao Tangqiu done by @JYzen__ (twitter)

 Chapter 57.3

    <h4>Chapter 57.3</h4>


    ¡°You new guys are truly naive,¡± Bai Yushan smiled with a cigarette in her mouth. ¡°But it¡¯s fine, just consider it payment for the intelligence you gave me. The D-level instances are indeed the easiest instances. But within D-level instances, there¡¯s a chance of a special ss of instances, which is entirely determined by luck. The special ss D-level instance can be as difficult as an A-level instance.¡±


    ¡°Fuck! Then for us to have survived a special ss instance, doesn¡¯t it mean that our luck is actually good?¡± Tang Mianmian was excited.


    Bai Yushan raised an eyebrow, ¡°The chance of a new person encountering a special ss instance is about one percent. For the system to choose you, are you sure you are lucky?¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...¡± They were still Africans!


    ¡°As for the question of choosing an instance, I can tell you that it is absolutely impossible,¡± Bai Yushan¡¯s lips curled and revealed an ironic smile. ¡°Even your captain, Shen Yuan, the strongest in the entire S-district, has no choice in what instance he enters. He can only passively ept the system¡¯s arrangement. And there is no such special item. No one knows how many instances there are. Maybe there¡¯s even a million. So the chance of me entering that instance is one in a million.¡±


    One in a million, isn¡¯t that impossible?


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed in his heart. Then, he suddenly remembered something more important. He quickly asked Bai Yushan, ¡°That¡¯s right, I was bitten by the devil worm that your sister raised. Are there any side effects?¡±


    Bai Yushan held her cigarette and smiled, ¡°The one who gets bitten by the devil worm will gradually be the devil worm¡¯s owner¡¯s puppet...¡±


    Seeing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s pallor change, she continued, ¡°But the devil worm¡¯s owner is not here, so nothing happens even if you¡¯re bitten. At most, it will be a little ufortable from the demonic influence.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu still wanted to ask how to resolve it when Shen Yuan, who was on the side, suddenly grabbed his wrist and spoke seriously, ¡°I can help you.¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze was too serious, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but blush. Bai Yushanughed and said, ¡°With your captain around, you are still afraid of a simple devil worm?¡±


    Xue Junli and the others who were watching on the side looked ufortable, but they couldn¡¯t say anything in front of outsiders. Not to mention even if they said something... their captain would not listen, so they had to endure.


    Bai Yushan had calmed downpletely. She put the cigarette in her mouth back into her pocket and restored her appearance of an elite businesswoman. ¡°Well, let¡¯s start talking about our deal.¡±


    Xue Junli nodded and said to Sai Lulu, ¡°Tell us about your divination results from yesterday.¡±


    Divination? Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously shared a nce with Tang Mianmian. Although they had seen Sai Lulu¡¯s information in the Abyss Forum and knew that she had the ability to ¡°predict¡±, they never expected this lolita to know divination!


    Today¡¯s Sai Lulu changed into a purple dress ¡ª that is, a lolita dress. The dress she wore today was particrly gorgeous, not only dotted with many rhinestones andce, but also many stars and moons on the skirt, looking very mysterious and quite in line with what she did next.


    She nodded and took out a huge sheepskin tome from who knows where and opened one of the pages. But the page was nk, there was nothing there.


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was bewildered about this nk book, the originally nk page suddenly revealed a picture.


    The painting emerged little by little, finally bing clear.


    Tang Mianmian asked stupidly, ¡°This picture... what does it mean? Can¡¯t you divine more clearly?¡±


    Sai Lulu rolled her eyes, ¡°Divination is a mystery within a mystery. It is impossible to get direct and clear results. If you have the skills, you do it! Go ahead!¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s words choked, he pressed his fingers together and muttered, ¡°If I had that ability, I wouldn¡¯t be always so unlucky... Also, isn¡¯t this mystery within a mystery too mysterious? So mysterious there¡¯s no way to make sense of it...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was also confused and could not understand it. Fortunately, when he looked around, he found that most people didn¡¯t seem to understand it, so he was relieved.


    Shen Yuan sneered aloud, ¡°So stupid!¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...Then do you understand?¡±


    Shen Yuan said with conviction, ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    Tang Mianmian had ck lines going down his face, ¡°Then what are you being so proud of?¡±


    Just as his voice fell, he suffered the murderous re of the rest of the Reincarnation Team and quickly turned his head to look into the distance, pretending that he had not said anything.


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled and said, ¡°I also don¡¯t understand.¡±


    Shen Yuan grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand and said with a serious face, ¡°Jiujiu rest assured, I will protect Jiujiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly perceived that besides the Reincarnation Team, the expressions of the strangers headed by Bai Yushan were also a bit stiff. It is obvious that Shen Yuan¡¯s image had copsed, scaring them so much that their expressions were out of order.


    Xue Junli, ¡°...Sai Lulu, why don¡¯t you exin.¡±


    Sai Lulu was a person who had seen the world, so she was very calm, ¡°ording to my divination, the boss¡¯s next main task should be an S-level instance... It should be of the supernatural kind.¡±


    Without waiting for anyone to ask, Bai Yushan crossed her arms over her chest, ¡°This range is too wide. Even if I want to sell you information, I don¡¯t know which one to sell.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart thudded, today Xue Junli really came to find Bai Yushan to buy intelligence for Shen Yuan¡¯s next main task! For these S-zone powerhouses to be so cautious, how hard could Shen Yuan¡¯s next main task be? Was it the legendary hell difficulty?


    ¡°There will be ghosts, and there will be more than one.¡±


    There may be hundreds or thousands or even more...¡±


    Lastly, there should be no time limit.¡±


    When Sai Lulu said this, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became grave.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know why, he also vaguely felt something off about ¡°no time limit¡±. It probably meant that the instance was very difficult.


    Bai Yushan thought about it for a moment, then she nodded. ¡°ording to these few details, I probably have four or five S-level instances of information that can be sold to you. But if there is nothing more detailed, I can¡¯t. I can¡¯t guess more precisely.¡±


    Xue Junli spoke without hesitation, ¡°We will buy all the information of these five S-level instances.¡±


    Bai Yushan smiled lightly, ¡°Alright, as expected of the strongest team of the S-zone, the Reincarnation Team! So direct!¡±


    The two parties were very direct. They started trading immediately after the negotiation. The information for the five S-level instances was one million points, and Xue Junli paid a million points without blinking.


    The poor ghost Xiao Tangqiu and poor ghost Tang Mianmian were stunned. They were still only just happy about the 50,000 points they got for an S-level instance. It turns out that those points of theirs were not even enough to buy one S-level instance¡¯s information!


    At this time, Duan Hongzhen snorted at the side, ¡°ckhearted businessman.¡±


    A girl who was probably from Bai Yushan¡¯s team sneered, ¡°During key moments, these kinds of information can save a life. Isn¡¯t your life worth two hundred thousand points?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen rolled his eyes, ¡°Your intelligence have better have use. If it¡¯s not useful, I wille back and find you!¡±


    The girl was tit for tat, ¡°If our intelligence is not useful, you will die directly in the next instance. We still need to be afraid of you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    What she said made sense!


    Bai Yushanzily resolved it, ¡°Ok, everyone shut up! This transaction was sessfullypleted. Let¡¯s go, there is another fat sheep waiting for us to kill... No, there is the next customer waiting for us.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Hey! You said everything in your heart!


    When Bai Yushan led her teammates out of the room, she stepped forward and turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Right, I forgot to say thank you, and... I owe you a favor. If you make it back alive from the next instance, I can promise you one thing. Anything is fine, as long as it¡¯s something I can do.¡±


    After that, she didn¡¯t wait for Xiao Tangqiu to answer before she turned and left.


    Tang Mianmian blinked at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Wow~ A big beauty tells you that you can do anything to her~¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Why do I feel like my back seems to be covered with FLAGs?¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°<i>Peh peh peh</i>! Don¡¯t say anything! Children¡¯s words are unscrupulous! Children¡¯s words are unscrupulous!¡±


    Shen Yuan, who was on the side, said with conviction, ¡°I can do anything for Jiujiu! No matter if I can do it or not!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly said, ¡°I have nothing I want to do, let¡¯s eat! Eat!¡±


    At this point, food was served in their room. As Duan Hongzhen said, the Baobab Tree Pub¡¯s ingredients were very fresh, the dishes looked quite good, and the vors were also very good. They¡¯ve basically only been able to eat vending machine canned food or food from within instances this entire time so Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian practically shed tears while eating.


    After eating this meal, Xue Junli softly spoke to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, ¡°From today on, you can be considered temporary members of our Reincarnation Team. As long as you pass the assessment, you will be official team members.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was a little bit ttered. He thought that Xue Junli would only temporarily let Tang Mianmian and him pass the gates. He didn¡¯t expect Xue Junli to be willing to let them join the Reincarnation Team! Although they still needed assessment...


    Tang Mianmian hurriedly asked, ¡°What assessment?¡±


    Xue Junli smiled faintly, ¡°As long as you can work with us toplete Shen Yuan¡¯s next main task ande back alive from that S-level instance, then you are official members of our Reincarnation Team.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± Sure enough! Just as expected!


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°Come back alive? Then what if we can¡¯te back alive?¡±


    Xue Junli sighed, ¡°Then that¡¯s a pity. We will build a grave for you. We will burn a little money for you every year during Qingming.¡±


    Tang Mianmian focused on the wrong thing, ¡°The City of the Abyss also celebrates Qingming?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu grabbed the key point at once, ¡°You are going together?¡±


    Xue Junli looked at Xiao Tangqiu and then nodded, ¡°Yes, when our team members go on side tasks, if other people are interested they can go, if they don¡¯t have the time they don¡¯t. But if it is the main task, no matter which team member, everyone must participate together.¡±


    ¡°For Shen Yuan¡¯s next main task, every member of the Reincarnation Team will participate.¡±

 Chapter 58.1

    <h4>Chapter 58.1</h4>


    After eating, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian followed Xue Junli and returned to the Reincarnation Team¡¯s headquarters. Xue Junli had already arranged rooms for Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian.


    The two rooms for the two of them were not onlyrge and spacious, it was twice asrge as their previous ce in D-district and the facilities were also very high-tech and modern. They were also equipped withputers. But their rooms were very far from Shen Yuan¡¯s room.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have any opinion on it but Shen Yuan looked upset. Obviously, he was very dissatisfied with Xue Junli¡¯s arrangement of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s room being so far away from his, but his room was thest one in the corner anyways. Nothing was close to that room.


    Shen Yuan looked straight at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I want to sleep with Jiujiu.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuforted Shen Yuan, ¡°We¡¯ll see each other again tomorrow morning.¡±


    Shen Yuan looked upset, ¡°I want to sleep together tonight.¡±


    ¡°Boss! You and Xiao... Jiujiu will be able to meet again tomorrow morning! This short amount of time doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Duan Hongzhen couldn¡¯t bear seeing Shen Yuan¡¯s copsed image and tried to persuade him.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s expression suddenly chilled, ¡°Only I can call him Jiujiu!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen quickly corrected himself, ¡°I mean Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    Anyway, at night, no matter how reluctant Shen Yuan was, he finally had to separate from Xiao Tangqiu.


    When Xiao Tangqiu returned to his new room, he immediately fell asleep from exhaustion and slept until dawn. As a result, he opened his eyes early in the morning and met a strange and familiar profile face.


    ¡°...Why are you here?!¡±


    Shen Yuan opened his eyes slowly, and the deep, dark eyes blinked for a moment, but after seeing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face, his gaze softened instantly.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked again.


    Shen Yuan mumbled, ¡°Because I want to sleep with Jiujiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°... I obviously locked the door!¡±


    Shen Yuan blinked, expression innocent.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly jumped up. He ran to the door of the room and saw that, as expected, the door lock was violently destroyed!


    After the mor died down, everyone gathered in the living room to understand the ins and outs of the matter.


    ¡°Captain, you can¡¯t go into someone¡¯s room in the middle of the night!¡±


    ¡°Boss, this is not very appropriate...¡±


    Shen Yuan snorted and ignored them all and everyone in the Reincarnation Team could only drop the matter. They couldn¡¯t beat him! All of them couldn¡¯t beat him even if they¡¯re together! Even if Shen Yuan had amnesia!


    No, it should be said that Shen Yuan had be even more terrible after getting amnesia!


    Xiao Tangqiu silently looked at the myriad of expressions of everyone in the Reincarnation Team. Before he could secretly rejoice, he heard Xue Junli say, ¡°From today on, you will receive special reincarnation training with us.¡±


    ¡°Special training?¡±


    ¡°Special... special training?!¡±


    Both Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian spoke in different tones at the same time.


    Xue Junli said coldly, ¡°Yeah, why are you so surprised? Do you think that with your current strength, you are qualified to go to an S-level instance with us?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a moment and could only helplessly grin, ¡°...Sorry, we will try not to drag your hind legs.¡±


    Shen Yuan snorted, ¡°No need! I will protect Jiujiu!¡±


    Xue Junli, ¡°...¡± With such a captain, I¡¯m so tired!


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°I also want to work hard to protect you.¡±


    Shen Yuan paused and quickly and happily changed his tune, ¡°Then let¡¯s train together!¡±


    Thus, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian began to train with the Reincarnation Team¡¯s people. At first, it was just the most basic physical training, but it was still exhausting, especially Xiao Tangqiu whose physical strength was not very good. After a day of training, they were basically useless in the evening.


    Every day when Xiao Tangqiu returned to his room, he dropped to sleep the moment his head hit the pillow and couldn¡¯t even be woken up by thunder. Generally, when he got up the next morning, another person would¡¯ve quietly appeared in his bed... After being scared a few times, he gradually became calm. Isn¡¯t it just getting up early in the morning with a big living person! As long as it¡¯s not a corpse, it¡¯s no big deal!


    Time passed quickly and one month went by. That morning, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian followed the Reincarnation Team to the teleportation square. They were about to enter the instance toplete Shen Yuan¡¯s S-level main mission.


    Both of their moods were fluctuating. To say they weren¡¯t perturbed would be a lie. After all, the thrill of thest S-level instance was still vivid, and this was a difficult instance that even the Reincarnation Team who were the masters of S-district were unsure of, not to mention just these two little rookies.


    Before entering the transfer module, Xue Junli issued a ck backpack and a silver skull ne each to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian.


    Tang Mianmian smiled while receiving the backpack and ne, ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so polite! Even gifting silver nes! But I don¡¯t like this design very much, the skull is so middle-ss.¡±


    Xue Junli, ¡°... you misunderstood, this is not an ordinary ne but a special prop bind teammates.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had a revtion, ¡°Then this is not an ordinary backpack either?¡±


    Xue Junli nodded, ¡°This is a space tool. You can put the things that are inconvenient to carry in it. I also prepared some other tools that you may need for this instance.¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t wait to ask, ¡°This is the legendary space artifact? It¡¯s amazing! Is there a spiritual spring and a spiritual field here?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...have you seen too much?¡±


    ¡°There is no such thing, just put some tools, weapons, food, medicines and other things,¡± Xue Junli said coldly. ¡°The method of use is also very simple. In addition, after you put on the backpack and ne, no one other than you can see them.¡±


    Tang Mianmian realized, ¡°No wonder I haven¡¯t seen you carry this kind of bag before. It turned out to be invisible!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened the backpack and took a look. The next moment, he was taken aback by the abundant contents of the bag. Special hemostatic agent, advanced ghost extermination talisman... and various other kinds of things he had seen in the vending machines but couldn¡¯t afford. The most important thing was that these things were all calcted! One by one!


    ¡°Fuck, so much money! How much is it... we can¡¯t afford it!¡±


    Tang Mianmian gave a probing look, also stunned, ¡°I seem to smell the money ...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised his chin, ¡°You have never seen the world before.¡±


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu didn¡¯t speak, but they obviously both looked down on the fuss of the two neers.


    Xue Junli smiled slightly, with a ¡°sit down, this is just how we do things¡± expression, ¡°Everything is ready, get ready to go.¡±


    He turned to look at Shen Yuan. Although Shen Yuan had no memories, he was still the authentic captain of the Reincarnation Team, ¡°Captain, what do you say?¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes instantly focused on Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan hesitated and turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Jiujiu, what do you say?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu who had instantly became the focus of everyone, ¡°...¡±


    The corner of his lips twitched, ¡°...Everything is ready, get ready to go?¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded, and said earnestly, ¡°Everything is ready, get ready to go.¡±


    ...


    ...


    ...


    ¡°Congrattions dear yer for epting the S-level mission Hundred Ghosts Night Parade. Your mission goal is to escape from Hundred Ghosts Town. The time limit is none. After thepletion of the mission, you will get 50,000 points. If the mission fails, you will be killed.


    ¡°Lastly, dear yer, wee to the Abyss...¡±

 Chapter 58.2

    <h4>Chapter 58.2</h4>


    When Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes, he discovered that he was sitting on a high-speed subway. There was no one in thispartment but the lights inside were bright. Looking out of the ss windows, it was in a dark underground tunnel.


    He couldn¡¯t help but be confused. What was going on with the subway? Why was he on the subway? Wasn¡¯t this mission aimed to escape from a small town?


    Was the next station or terminal of the town?


    Wait, where was everyone else?


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized that he was the only one in the subway and was shocked. This was the first time he encountered this situation. In the past, he always entered with other people every time he entered an instance. Were they scattered?


    No way! He clearly wore that special prop that tied him to his teammates and Shen Yuan. How could this happen? Did the special prop fail? He shouldn¡¯t be so unlucky? The first time using a special prop and it became a situation where the special prop was invalid!


    ...Then again, considering his African ancestry, this really seemed possible!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t help but sink. If he really was all alone, he might not live for even five minutes in this S-level difficulty instance. Even giving him one teammate was fine! Even Tang Mianmian would be¨C


    Wait! Nevermind about Tang Mianmian! Even if a loser with abat power of 0.5 is added to a loser with abat power of 1.5, it would not be enough for others to chew!


    Xiao Tangqiu had no hopes.


    Xiao Tangqiu could only let tears stream.


    Xiao Tangqiu epted fate.


    ¡°Forget it, I can only bite the bullet.¡±


    He took a deep breath and got ready to leave for the nextpartment to see if the others were in the otherpartments.


    The subway swayed but the ride was fairly smooth. Xiao Tangqiu looked around and discovered that thispartment should be located towards the back of the subway. There were many cars towards the front, but there seemed to be only a few cars in the back. He immediately decided to take a look at thestpartment, and then search forward onepartment at a time.


    So he turned and walked towards thestpartment of the subway. He was surprised to find that everypartment was empty. Not only was there not a single person, there wasn¡¯t even any sound. It was so quiet that he could only hear the metallic ¡°dang dang dang¡± sound.


    Dang dang dang dang¨C


    Xiao Tangqiu could not help but speed up and hurry towards thestpartment.


    After that burst of loud noises, he suddenly felt violent winds sweeping behind him, as if the rearpartment¡¯s roof was suddenly ripped off by someone.


    He nced backwards as he ran forwards. This nce almost scared away his soul! Thestpartment disappeared! The loud noise he heard just now is probably the sound of thestpartment disconnecting!


    There is no door between thepartments in the subway. Once thepartment in the back was lost, thepartment ahead was directly exposed to the air. The subway was driving at such a high speed that the wind almost sucked Xiao Tangqiu entirely to the back.


    Fortunately, he grabbed the handle of the area between the second and third sections of thepartments in time. But the relief was short-lived as the next second, he heard the connecting area between the second and thirdpartments also began to make strange noises.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly understood that the secondpartment was about to also disconnect!


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and ran desperately to the fourth tostpartment. Just when he ran to the connection between the third-tostpartment and the fourth-tost car, a loud noise came from the rear! The second-tostpartment was also gone!


    This time, he was already prepared and quickly grabbed the handle while lying down so that the wind that rushed into thepartment when it broke free was not as strong as before.


    However, he knew that he was still far from being able to be rxed. After the second-tostpartment broke away, he immediately jumped up and continued to run towards the nextpartment. And sure enough, soon the junction of the previouspartment began to shake loose.


    Xiao Tangqiu was desperately running towards the firstpartment while secretly thanking everyone in the Reincarnation Team for his special training this month. Although the heart-wrenching physical training made him think darkly of it, but if it was not for that physical training, he was afraid he wouldn¡¯t have been able to outrun the speed of the subwaying apart!


    But soon, his heart wrenched, because he suddenly thought, if the subwaypartments would break one by one, wouldn¡¯t there be only the head in the end? What would happen if there was only the headpartment left in the end?


    Should he find a way to leave the subway before all thepartments broke and came apart?


    Xiao Tangqiu looked out the window as he sprinted but it was still a dark tunnel outside the window. He suddenly thought of something, from the beginning to now, he had been on this subway for more than 20 minutes. Not only did the subway not stop in these twenty minutes, but it also never came across a tform along the way.


    Although all illogical things were logical in this illogical world, Xiao Tangqiu still couldn¡¯t help but feel chilled. It meant that this subway may have no next station or terminal station. It might travel forever, just like a ghost ship drifting on its own without people on the sea ¡ª this was a ghost subway.


    The more frightened and wary Xiao Tangqiu was, the more clear and cautious he became. Jumping down from a high-speed subway was extremely impactful, he¡¯s afraid it¡¯s no different from facing death directly... Forget it, let¡¯s go to the firstpartment and see if he could get in the control room. Maybe he could control the subway brakes to stop.


    Although he hadn¡¯t driven a subway, the brake function should be simr to that of ordinary cars, right?


    He gritted his teeth and continued to run madly forward in the.


    The entire subway was not long, but at this rush of life and death, Xiao Tangqiu felt that the path ahead was extremely long. Especially the moment when apartment broke away. It tested his heart because almost every time he ran into the next section, the previouspartment began to break, leaving him to struggle to ovee the wind that rushed in.


    Fortunately, the Reincarnation Team¡¯s special training made him a lot stronger and he made it into the firstpartment in such a thrilling situation.


    By this time, the entire subway had only threepartments left and the head, which was a little longer than a bus.


    Xiao Tangqiu rushed towards the conductor¡¯s room, but to his disappointment, the door was locked and he couldn¡¯t get in. Through the ss at the junction of the control room and the firstpartment, he clearly saw the situation inside.


    As he expected, there was no conductor in the control room and there was no one in the driver¡¯s seat. This was a ghost subway!


    And when he looked out through the ss of the control room, he saw a scene that instantly shocked him.


    Not far ahead on the subway track, he saw a tail of apartment... It seemed to be thestpartment of this subway that had broken off!


    What¡¯s going on?!!


    How did thestpartment of the subway move to the front?


    At this moment, an incredible idea crossed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind ¡ª was this underground tunnel reciprocating?


    No wonder the subway didn¡¯t stop, this track had no end!


    Xiao Tangqiu was so scared that his heart almost stopped. As long as a few more seconds passed, the head of thepartment would hit the rear! At this speed, wouldn¡¯t he be directly killed by the huge impact?


    He unwillingly looked back only to see that the thirdpartment had begun to break away. He immediately grasped the railings and was not flung out.


    In a blink of an eye, the entire subway had only the head and the first and secondpartments. He had no way back even if he wanted to retreat!


    Should he detach from the subway with apartment or hit the tail with the head?


    Xiao Tangqiu was in a dilemma, but soon he made up his mind to simply leave the main body with the secondpartment! He might still have hope of living but if he stayed in the firstpartment, he would definitely be killed by the huge impact when the two collide.


    So he turned and ran back, and at this moment, the secondpartment began to break away!


    When Xiao Tangqiu got to the junction of the first and second sections, the secondpartment was almost a meter away from the first!


    He gritted his teeth and jumped without hesitation, finally barely falling into the secondpartment. Due to the wind and inertia, he almost dropped into an unstable position and fell onto the track. Luckily, he grabbed the handle at the junction and stabilized himself.


    Once thepartment was detached, it still rushed forward because of inertia. After a while, it slowed down and finally stoppedpletely.


    Xiao Tangqiu copsed on the floor of thepartment, panting heavily. His heart almost leapt out of his body just now, it was too dangerous!


    ...Wait, now that he had left that ghost subway with thepartment, why didn¡¯t he do it in the first ce?


    Just when the thought came to his mind, he suddenly realized something. Wait a minute! He hadn¡¯t seemed to have heard the loud noise when the head and tail collided?


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt a bad premonition erupt. He quickly got up and looked forward... But the dark tunnel was empty ahead, there was no head or tail!


    This was not because the front of thepartment had disappeared, but more like nothing had been there to begin with. It was like, from beginning to end, there was only this abandonedpartment on this track.


    He turned stiffly and looked towards the back of thepartment. There was still an empty, dark tunnel at the back, and there seemed to be no end...


    Suddenly, Xiao Tangqiu felt a breeze.


    At first, it was just a slight breeze, but gradually, the breeze began to grow.


    When he felt that the wind was getting louder, he also heard the sound of ¡°dang dang dang dang¡± from the track... A subway wasing!


    He widened his eyes instantly and saw the lights at the end of the tunnel, and then a familiar subway head!


    No, it¡¯s not just the front of the car, it¡¯s aplete subway. Not only that... it¡¯s a subway full of passengers.


    Although he could not see the faces of the passengers on the subway, he could see the crowds on there...


    How could there be a normal subway on this endless loop? How could there be normal passengers on the subway? Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have time to think about these issues. At this moment, all he knew was that if the subway hit, he would not survive!


    What to do? What to do!

 Chapter 58.3

    <h4>Chapter 58.3</h4>


    Other than the subway track, the tunnel had no extra room for people to walk. If you let him jump out of thepartment and run forward along the track, it was no different from directly dying. Could a person¡¯s two legs outrun a high-speed subway?


    Could he only close his eyes, lie down and wait to die?


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu felt despair. He never expected that this S-ss instance would be so dangerous. Right from the start until now, he had faced multiple life and death crises... and he didn¡¯t even know if this instance had officially started.


    If he died before the instance officially started, wouldn¡¯t he be made fun of by Tang Mianmian for the rest of his life? Of course, the premise was that Tang Mianmian could survive to the end ...


    And Shen Yuan... if Shen Yuan knew he was dead, what would he do?


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly gritted his teeth and jumped out of thepartment. But instead of running forward along the track, he lunged towards the gap between the track and the tunnel wall. He pressed his body tightly against the wall to try to use the gap to avoid the high-speed subway.


    By the time the subway was less than a meter behind him, he had already felt the strong wind rushing at his face. He pressed against the tunnel wall strongly in fear of being caught in the subway tracks by the gust of wind.


    Dang dang dang dang¡ª


    The subway passed at high speed right against Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s back. At this moment, he almost suffocated from fear.


    Dang dang dang dang¡ª


    Xiao Tangqiu closed his eyes in despair.


    Dang dang dang dang...


    The sound of the subway gradually moved away. After a while, Xiao Tangqiu slowly opened his eyes... he was not dead?


    Wait, he didn¡¯t seem to have heard the subway crash into thepartment?


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and looked at the track only to discover that thepartment had disappeared!


    He couldn¡¯t help but be confused. What¡¯s going on?


    He waited quietly for a while but didn¡¯t hear anything else. So he went onto the track, intending to go along the track until he reached the exit... although he didn¡¯t know if there was an exit for this track.


    Xiao Tangqiu started to run along the subway track. He didn¡¯t know how long or how far he ran. By the time he was exhausted, he suddenly heard the sound of dangdanging from behind him!


    The subway passed by Xiao Tangqiu again, and this time he chose to look into thepartment with his eyes wide open. He would like to see if this was a normal subway!


    He looked at it with held breath. The firstpartment was very normal. Most of them were office workers with tired faces. They were standing or sitting because they had too many people and they had to be next to each other. It was very normal.


    The secondpartment was also very normal. There were students, office workers and retired middle-aged women.


    The thirdpartment, the fourthpartment...


    No matter how you look at it, this was a very normal subway. Just as Xiao Tangqiu was thinking that, he suddenly noticed that after the first fewpartments, the brand-newpartments became rusty and worn. And the people... the people in thepartment were all covered with blood, their hands and feet broken, and they looked like they had a serious car ident!


    When Xiao Tangqiu looked in through the window, they also seemed to see Xiao Tangqiu and immediately flew towards him. They seemed to want to ask for help. They looked with fear and despair. Although he could not hear their voices, Xiao Tangqiu could guess what they were screaming and shouting¡ª


    Help! Help! Help me!


    Thispartment passed quickly and the condition of the nextpartment was as terrifying as hell on earth. Even the walls of thepartment were stained with blood.


    Xiao Tangqiu was terrified and clung tightly to the tunnel wall. The people inside thepartment desperately reached out to him, asking for help and wanting to live ...


    When thestpartment came by, he suddenly felt a strong unpleasant premonition. His whole body subconsciously slipped down. The next second, the ss of thestpartment suddenly broke open and a skeletal hand rushed out, seizing at where he had been standing!


    Fortunately, Xiao Tangqiu slipped down and avoided the terrible hand!


    Thestpartment also passed and he sat paralyzed on the ground with a bit of anxiety. After a while, there was a huge crashing sound from ahead. It seemed that the subway hit something!


    Xiao Tangqiu unwittingly turned his head and wanted to run in the opposite direction from the subway. But after he hesitated for a moment, he finally turned and walked in the direction of the subway.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know how long he walked in this underground tunnel. This underground tunnel was too long. It seemed so long that the end could never be seen. There was always an endless darkness in front of his eyes.


    At first, he was still running. But he eventually became exhausted and could only slow down and slowly move along the track.


    He gradually became tired and numb... Just as he was on the verge of despair, a light finally appeared in front of him.


    Xiao Tangqiu regained his energy instantly and he immediately rushed towards the light for fear that the light would disappear.


    That spot of light grew brighter and brighter until it finally becamepletely bright. He finally arrived at the exit of the underground tunnel!


    The long-absent light stung his eyes but he couldn¡¯t bear to stop, instead squinting his eyes and running forward. Just as he was about to run to the exit, he heard the sudden whistle of wind!


    Dang dang dang dang¡ª


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and saw the familiar subway rush straight towards him!


    It¡¯s over! This time there¡¯s no hiding!


    Why did it happen just as he was about to leave this underground tunnel?


    Time seemed to freeze at this moment, even the air was frozen, and he unthinkingly closed his eyes.


    Just when Xiao Tangqiu thought he was going to be smashed back in the next second, the violent wind suddenly disappeared!


    He opened his eyes and saw that there was no subway at all, only a ck tunnel and a rusty abandoned track.


    He was already covered in cold sweat and couldn¡¯t help but take a step back, dropping to sit on the ground. At this moment, a shout came from nearby, ¡°Qiuqiu? Is Qiuqiu you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head stiffly just to see Tang Mianmian flying towards him and plunging into his arms, ¡°Qiuqiu! Scared me to death! I thought you... What happened to you!¡±


    Without waiting for Xiao Tangqiu to answer, Tang Mianmian was pulled entirely off of him. Shen Yuan squeezed in front of Xiao Tangqiu and stared straight at him, ck eyes darkened, ¡°Jiujiu, where did you just go? ¡±


    This past month, Shen Yuan obviously became more rational and progressive than when he woke up. Although he still had no previous memories, he had epted and understood many things under the inculcation of everyone. But the only thing that was unchanged was his dependence and possessiveness of Xiao Tangqiu.


    After seeing Shen Yuan and Tang Mianmian, Xiao Tangqiu was finally at ease. He gave a big sigh of relief and smiled reluctantly, ¡°I¡¯m fine, just now ...¡±


    He quickly spoke about what had just happened, and at this time the Reincarnation Team people came over one by one.


    After listening to his narrative, Xue Junli asked mildly, ¡°You said you just met a ghost subway in the tunnel behind you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded fearfully, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Xue Junli paused and told Xiao Tangqiu mildly, ¡°We just sent Duan Hongzhen to take a look, it was an abandoned tunnel.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly, ¡°I saw that just now.¡±


    ¡°Not only that, this is not an ordinary underground tunnel in a city, but a train tunnel through the mountains. It is impossible for the subway to take the train tunnel unless it derails,¡± Xue Junli said a pun without changing expression. ¡°Duan Hongzhen walked a long way in the tunnel. If he didn¡¯t shirk, this tunnel has an end, and it is not far in, only a bit over a hundred meters. ¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned, ¡°Only a bit over a hundred meters?¡±


    Duan Hongzhenzily spoke up from the sidelines, ¡°Yes, there is only a bit more than a hundred meters. There is andslide at the end. Those rocks blocked my way, and it also cut off the tunnel. Besides, we¡¯ve only been in the instance for maybe ten minutes. You said you¡¯ve been in the tunnel for at least half an hour? ¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fell into contemtion and was speechless for a long time.


    ¡°And most importantly, when I was exploring this tunnel just now,¡± Duan Hongzhen stared at Xiao Tangqiu for a while, ¡°I didn¡¯t see you.¡±


    Without waiting for Xiao Tangqiu to speak, Shen Yuan immediately said coldly, ¡°I believe Jiujiu!¡±


    Xue Junli and Duan Hongzhen both stopped for a moment, then the two of them twitched at the same time, Xue Junli smiled bitterly, ¡°We didn¡¯t mean to doubt Xiao Tangqiu, we just thought there might be a problem with this tunnel.¡±


    Shen Yuan snorted. ¡°We knew from the beginning that there was a problem with this tunnel.¡±


    ¡°Although that¡¯s what I said...¡± Xue Junli reached out and rubbed his temples, ¡°but now that I look at it, this tunnel may be an important clue rted to the plot. As for the things Xiao Tangqiu saw, it may be his hallucinations, it could also be a shback of a scene, a hint of clues. ¡±


    ¡°shback of a scene? A hint of clues?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help repeating it.


    ¡°Yes. Didn¡¯t you realize that each instance has a certain logic and plot? It¡¯s like a well rounded andplete story,¡± Xue Junli said calmly. ¡°Our mission goal is to find relevant clues and reasoning by figuring out the logic and plot, find important items, and finallyplete the mission. ¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just like a game?¡± Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but interject.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Duan Hongzhen snorted. ¡°That¡¯s why we call this ce an instance, and yers and whatever... These terms are all invented by Xue Junli.¡±


    ¡°Invented by Xue Junli?¡± Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were stunned. They thought that these terms were previously already in ce!


    ¡°Not only that,¡± Duan Hongzhen raised his chin. ¡°You should have been on the Abyss Forum already? That stuff was invented by this guy, too.¡±

 Chapter 59.1

    <h4>Chapter 59.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered that moment when Tang Mianmian and he were hacked. It seemed that Xue Junli was doing his magic at that time... But wait, even the Abyss Forum was invented by Xue Junli?


    ¡°Fuck! That¡¯s too amazing!¡± Tang Mianmian was stunned.


    Duan Hongzhen spoke with a smile, ¡°Of course, this guy is a genius hacker. He¡¯s won some unbelievable prize in some unbelievable worldpetition before.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...you seem very proud, aren¡¯t you two not getting along?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also spoke sincerely, ¡°So amazing...¡±


    Shen Yuan snorted suddenly, ¡°I¡¯m more amazing!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, ¡°How are you more amazing?¡±


    Shen Yuan was silent for a while and pursed his lips.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± Forget it, shouldn¡¯t bully people with amnesia.


    Just then, there was a loud noise nearby.


    ¡°What the hell is this ce?!¡±


    ¡°Is this kidnapping? Kidnapping is illegal! Let me go!¡±


    ¡°You... who are you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± It¡¯s here again! This familiar scene!


    The crowd all looked in the direction of the sound at the same time, and it was actually the tunnel again. About a dozen people stepped out of the tunnel. This group of people who were still muddled about the situation was clearly theirpanions this time.


    Xiao Tangqiu was 100% sure he hadn¡¯t met anyone in the tunnel just earlier, so what was this group of people about? Judging from his thrilling situation in the tunnel, it should be impossible for this group of whining people to survive.


    It seemed that this tunnel was probably a ce that¡¯s something like an ovepping space?


    No, what kind of logic should he base a horror game off of?


    The corner of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s lips twitched and he turned his head to ask Tang Mianmian if he made any special discoveries just now.


    Shen Yuan, ¡°No.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± Alright, he knew it.


    As the three briefly exchanged a few words, the peopleing out of the tunnel saw that there were people here and quickly came over.


    One of them asked, ¡°Were you guys also brought to this ce somehow?¡±


    Xue Junli looked around and spoke lightly, ¡°What I¡¯m about to tell you next, you can choose to believe or not believe. After listening, please make your own decisions.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t expect Xue Junli to be so even-tempered with neers. He thought that these veteran yers would not bother with neers! While Xue Junli introduced the rules to the neers, he also quickly looked at these neers. Including them, there were a total of 20 people this time. Other than them, everyone seemed to be entering an instance for the first time. That was to say, there were 13 new yers this time.


    After Xue Junli finished speaking, someone immediately jumped out and expressed dissatisfaction, ¡°Are we supposed to believe anything you say? How can there be some transmigration nonsense? Also, into such a horrible game world! I want to transmigrate into a YY and have countless beautiful girls in my embrace!¡±


    Most of the neers this time were young people. After hearing this guy¡¯s words, someone immediatelyughed, ¡°Then I want to transmigrate into a fantasy world and dominate the world!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to transmigrate into a novel world to change my life and counterattack!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± Was it better to say that this group of people were optimistic?


    Despite being dismissed, Xue Junli was not angry. He said lightly, ¡°You can believe it or not, I¡¯ve said my piece. You decide.¡±


    As soon as the words fell, he turned to look at Shen Yuan, ¡°Captain, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Jiujiu, are you going?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Shen Yuan didn¡¯t look at Xue Junli, and nodded, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Xue Junli silently endured, ¡°...Since the captain has spoken, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Both Shen Yuan and Xue Junli had spoken, others naturally would not have other thoughts and nodded, ready to leave.


    Seeing that Xiao Tangqiu and they were leaving, the new guy who was picking at Xue Junli became rushed, ¡°Wait, are you nning to leave us here? At least tell us how to go back!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°In fact, we also want to know how to go back. If we don¡¯t know, how can we tell you?¡±


    The other newbies called out, ¡°You must be conmen and want to cheat our money. Let us out! Otherwise, we will call the police to arrest you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, ¡°Then you can try calling the police.¡±


    The man pulled out his cell phone desperately, but one nce at the screen showed that there was no signal at all, ¡°...you must have blocked the signal!¡±


    Others also pulled out their phones, all without a signal!


    The person who picked faults first¡¯s expression changed, ¡°Fuck! I have a satellite phone! There are signals all over the world, this is impossible!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shrugged, turned his head to catch up to the people ahead. Shen Yuan stopped and waited for him, and when he saw himing up, the two went forward together.


    The remaining newbies looked at each other. Although they didn¡¯t believe Xue Junli¡¯s words, a cold system voice had suddenly appeared in their minds before...


    ¡°Forget it! First, follow them and see!¡± Someone said.


    Seeing that someone followed, the others were afraid to stay behind and followed suit.


    It was getting dark.


    This ce was basically the wilderness. After Xiao Tangqiu and they walked out of the abandoned mountain tunnel, they passed hill after hill. The hills here were not too tall, only a few dozen meters and the tallest was probably only more than a hundred meters. But the mist on the hills was very heavy, and only a white expanse could be seen everywhere.


    From the top of the hills were faint sounds of growls and howling of unknown beasts.


    The two girls, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu, hadn¡¯t reacted yet, but Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were about to be scared to death. Although they had fought against ghosts several times, they had never been physically close to a wild beast. In this case, things like ghost talisman were obviously not useful...


    When Shen Yuan saw this, he immediately patted his chest and promised, ¡°Jiujiu, don¡¯t worry. I will protect Jiujiu.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...wuwuwu, what about me?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced silently at Tang Mianmian, then pulled Xiao Tangqiu over, ¡°You go find Duan Hongzhen.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen who was at the forefront immediately responded with a smile, ¡°I don¡¯t want to protect weak chickens.¡±


    Tang Mianmian rolled his eyes and shrank again in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s direction.


    ¡°By the way, the newbies behind us... we¡¯re just going to let them follow?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked Xue Junli.


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°Let them follow, as long as they don¡¯t bother us, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    The couple of them who had experienced many instances were ufortable, and the dozen or so newbies who followed them were shaking from fright, practically wanting to huddle up and stay in ce. But of course, they didn¡¯t dare stay, who knew if there would be any beasts or even monsters bursting out of the fog and tear them to pieces in the next second!


    Xiao Tangqiu originally thought that Xue Junli was a cold-hearted genius hacker. He didn¡¯t expect this guy to be quite patient with the newbies. But thinking about it, although most of the Abyss Forums were veteran yers exchanging experiences, new yers obviously benefit more, maybe this was one of Xue Junli¡¯s original intentions in establishing the Abyss Forum.


    This guy was probably not as ruthless as he thought.


    As Xiao Tangqiu was thinking so, Yu Fuling¡¯s expression suddenly changed, ¡°Someone in the fog!¡±


    Someone in the fog?


    Yu Fuling¡¯s yell immediately caught everyone¡¯s attention. All of them looked towards the top of the hill. In the whiteness, everything was indistinct and nothing could be seen clearly.


    ¡°Where is there a person? Are you seeing things?¡± The person who questioned Xue Junli jumped out first. ¡°Do you think if you scare us like this, will we believe your damn words?¡±


    Other newbies also doubted her words. After all, they did not see anyone in the mist. Who knew if this woman intentionally said it to scare them?


    Yu Fuling sneered, ¡°Believe what you like, I wasn¡¯t speaking to you anyways.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also craned his neck and looked for a long time. He also didn¡¯t see any figure in the fog, but he had witnessed Yu Fuling¡¯s ability for a long time and knew that Yu Fuling had abilities in this respect. So naturally, he would not doubt Yu Fuling like those newbies.


    Xue Junli asked directly, ¡°Are you sure you are human? Not a ghost?¡±


    Yu Fuling nodded. ¡°At least not yet.¡±


    After hearing their conversation, the man snorted, ¡°Even ghosts areing out, how do you want to scare us next? It wouldn¡¯t be a ghost here and a ghost there again, right?¡±

 Chapter 59.2

    <h4>Chapter 59.2</h4>


    Although this guy has been picking faults with them, Xiao Tangqiu did not expect that he would actually hit the mark. Next, they were likely to encounter a ghost here and a ghost there... After all, this instance was called Hundred Ghost Night Parade. Even if it¡¯s not as exaggerated as actually having a hundred ghosts, it¡¯s probably going to be close.


    Yu Fuling and the others ignored the guy, but Duan Hongzhen asked with interest, ¡°Where? Why don¡¯t we go take a look.¡±


    Yu Fuling habitually looked at Shen Yuan, ¡°Shen-ge, shall we go and see?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Jiujiu, do you want to go look?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced silently at Shen Yuan, then nced at Yu Fuling ufortably, and said weakly, ¡°Go then...¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded, ¡°Go then.¡±


    Yu Fuling, ¡°...¡±


    What was this? Their beloved captain turned into a microphone?!!


    ...And he was even happy being a microphone!


    Xue Junli spoke decisively, ¡°Let¡¯s go and see.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t think you¡¯ll scare us like this!¡±


    Xue Junli and others ignored the provocation from the newbie and turned towards the hill after Yu Fuling. The ten plus newbies suddenly hesitated. Should they continue to follow the Yu Fuling or should they stay, maybe find another way out?


    The conflicts of these newbies naturally won¡¯t be taken to heart by Xue Junli. They now only had one focus: to find the ¡°people¡± hidden in the fog.


    The crowd followed behind Yu Fuling and climbed up a small hill. Just as they reached the middle of the hill, the surrounding fog became visibly denser.


    ¡°The fog is so dense, visibility is too low.¡± Duan Hongzhen tisked.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly took out his nuclear shlight and yed the role of being the light. With the light of the shlight, they could finally see the road ahead.


    This small hill seemed to be barren. Although there were overgrown weeds, there were no green nts growing. Maybe it was due to ack of people, but the weeds were almost half as tall as a person.


    They struggled through the waist-height weeds under the guidance of the shlight and followed Yu Fuling to the ce she was looking for.


    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived.¡±


    ¡°Is it here?¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked around with a shlight. ¡°But there is nothing here...¡±


    Not to mention people, there wasn¡¯t even a ghost; only weeds on the hill.


    Yu Fuling frowned slightly, ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be ...¡±


    This old woman was very thin and almost inhuman looking. Her limbs were as thin as a skeleton, her hands and feet were only ayer of wrinkled skin around her bones, and her face was covered in wrinkles like orange peels.


    Her hair waspletely white, her back hump was very severe, her clothes were rough and torn, and she could barely cover her body, which had her curled and shivering in the cold wind at night.


    After seeing Xiao Tangqiu and others, the olddy shivered even more. She was already very thin and small, when she curled up, she became even smaller. From a distance, she almost looked like a little child.


    Xiao Tangqiu had a fright, ¡°Is that a human? Or a ghost?¡±


    Tang Mianmian also cried out, ¡°How can a normal olddy stay on this hill alone in such cold weather?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu is also very suspicious, but usually, they only trembled from seeing ghosts, how could a ghost tremble when it saw them? Was Shen Yuan so famous that even the ghosts in the instances knew his name? Was he known as the Ghostly Terror of the City of the Abyss?


    Shen Yuan spoke lightly, ¡°She is a human.¡±


    This was definitely a judgment full of authority. Since Shen Yuan said that this olddy was human, then she would not be a ghost. At least not yet.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a step forward and asked, ¡°Grandma, it¡¯s sote, why are you here alone?¡± Was this olddy going to be the first NPC they encountered in this instance?


    Seeing Xiao Tangqiu approaching, the olddy shivered even more and she shrank into a ball, unwilling to answer.


    Yu Fuling saw this and showed a kind smile to the olddy, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be afraid, grandma. We are not bad people. We just saw you alone here and were afraid you might be in trouble, so we came to check.¡±


    Probably because Yu Fuling was a girl, the olddy lowered her vignce a little, but she still shook a lot. She shivered and said, ¡°You... you guys hurry and leave!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you in trouble?¡± Sai Lulu asked.


    The olddy shook her head desperately, ¡°I¡¯m not in any trouble... you outsiders, leave quickly!¡±


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu nced at each other and spoke at the same time, ¡°Grandma, if you are in any trouble, just say it. Rest assured, we will help you.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Grandma, don¡¯t be afraid!¡±


    The olddy shook even harder, ¡°No need for your help! You outsiders! Hurry up and leave! I¡¯m begging you!¡±


    Seeing the olddy almost burst into tears, everyone was surprised. Wasn¡¯t this supposed to be where an NPC gave them a task? They wanted to ept the task, but the NPC ended up not wanting to give it to them?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but stare at Tang Mianmian. What¡¯s going on? Had the conditions for starting the task not been triggered yet?


    ¡°Grandma, there are wolves and wild beasts in these hills. Are you sure you want to be alone here?¡± Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow and said.


    ¡°You outsiders, just go! Hundred Ghosts Town is not where you shoulde!¡± The olddy was very stubborn. She didn¡¯t seem to hear the howling and unidentified beastsing from far away, or maybe she had heard it, but turned a deaf ear.


    ¡°Hundred Ghosts Town?¡± Xiao Tangqiu froze, ¡°Is this Hundred Ghosts Town?¡±


    ¡°Leave!¡± The old woman¡¯s expression became fiercer, and even bared her teeth, trying to drive Xiao Tangqiu and others, ¡°Go! Get lost!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was conflicted, what should they do now?


    Just then, a scream suddenly sounded from not far away.


    The heart shaking scream broke the deathly silence of the barren hill, but it became even more creepy.


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    Shen Yuan became alert, ¡°There!¡±


    He looked at the nearby hilltop and everyone immediately rushed in that direction.


    Xiao Tangqiu also quickly chased after them. Because the scream came from nearby ¡ª only about a dozen meters ¡ª they got there soon, only to see a terrible scene.


    A wolf was pressing down an olddy, constantly biting her body. The olddy kept struggling and rolling around, screaming again and again.


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    ¡°Save her!¡± Yu Fuling was about to rush forward but was stopped by someone.


    The olddy they had met before rushed right in front of them, grabbed Yu Fuling, and at the same time blocked them by spreading her arms out, angrily shouting, ¡°Outsiders! Leave!¡±


    Her weak and thin body exploded with amazing speed and strength. She stopped Yu Fuling and Duan Hongzhen who were about to save the other woman, her eyes wide, ¡°Go! Leave!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. The olddy¡¯s behavior was not like stopping them to save them, but more like stopping them from saving the olddy being bitten!


    The others were obviously also shocked. Was there some kind of grudge between these two olddies?


    ¡°Aaaaah! Save me! Save me!¡± The olddy on the ground couldn¡¯t bear the severe pain of being bitten and screamed.


    The olddy who stopped Yu Fuling yelled, ¡°Junko! For Ichiro! You have to bear it!¡±


    Junko? Ichiro? These two names ...


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but hesitate. He looked again and realized that the old woman on the ground was wearing a kimono, a formal kimono.


    ¡°Chiyo... I can¡¯t stand it! Save me! Save me!¡±


    The olddy on the ground struggled frantically and started crying and begging, ¡°I¡¯m your little sister! Save me! Save me!¡±


    ¡°Junko! Just endure some more! It¡¯s almost... almost over...¡±


    The olddy who stopped them seemed to be unable to bear looking anymore and turned her head.


    Yu Fuling and Duan Hongzhen rushed forward. Duan Hongzhen threw out a knife, and it instantly pierced the left eye of the wolf!


    ¡°Ahwoo!¡±


    The wolf howled in pain and was about to run away in agitation, but Yu Fuling was instantly behind it and cut off its head,pletely beheading it!


    The de fell, the head dropped!


    When Yu Fuling sheathed her Tang sword, the feral wolf was dead, but the olddy on the ground also didn¡¯t seem very optimistic. She was miserably bitten, her intestines burst out from her belly, and her organs spilled everywhere.


    ¡°Save... Save me...¡± The old woman was vomiting blood while begging for help, but they could all see she wouldn¡¯t survive.


    Yu Fuling nced at the olddy, then shook her head silently. Although they had special healing items, this degree of injuries was too much... In this case, only the transfer module from the City of the Abyss could save her.


    The old woman¡¯s eyes gradually dimmed, and she knew that she would soon die.


    ¡°Junko! Junko!¡±


    The first olddy loudly cried and rushed up. She copsed beside the seriously injured olddy and wept.


    ¡°Big... sister...¡±


    The olddy in the kimono spat out onest word before going limp, herst breath gone.


    ¡°Junko!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian nced at each other. What happened? Just now, it was the olddy named Chiyo who stopped them from saving her sister. Why was she showing such a grievous appearance now?


    Shen Yuan stepped forward, calmly breaking the eye contact between the two.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...this, Captain, what do you think is going on?¡±


    Shen Yuan snorted, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

 Chapter 59.3

    <h4>Chapter 59.3</h4>


    The olddy wept bitterly for a while and finally stopped crying. She climbed up with a nk expression and looked back at Xiao Tangqiu and them, ¡°Outsiders, your actions just now have offended the mountain god! The mountain god will not let you go!¡±


    Her eyes were murky and her whole body teetered, and she seemed to have aged over a decade just now.


    ¡°Mountain god?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°You mean that wolf?¡±


    The olddy spoke with fear, ¡°That was the envoy of the mountain god. You killed the envoy of the mountain god. Divine punishment will befall from the mountain god!¡±


    ¡°Mountain god? Is there a god in this ce? But wait, isn¡¯t this ce called Hundred Ghost Vige?¡± Tang Mianmian felt befuddled. And wasn¡¯t their instance called the Hundred Ghost Night Parade? What was the rtionship between ghosts walking at night and god?


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°The Japanese gods and our gods are different concepts, especially the mountain gods and whatnot, but they do seem to have the custom of treating the wolf as mountain gods or protectors of the gods.¡±


    ¡°To see the wolf as a mountain god, were you sacrificed to it just now?¡± Tang Mianmian quickly recalled the previous horror game routines and asked with a stunned expression, ¡°...you were all sacrificed to the mountain god?¡±


    The olddy nced at Tang Mianmian with a nk expression and didn¡¯t answer.


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not that simple! What did you mean by ¡°for Ichiro, you have to bear it¡±?¡±


    The old woman closed her mouth tightly, unwilling to answer.


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°Forget it since she doesn¡¯t want to say anything. Let¡¯s just take her down the mountain and take a look at her home. Her home should be nearby, right?¡±


    Upon hearing the words ¡°down the mountain¡±, the old woman immediately widened her eyes, veins popping out, ¡°No! I will not go down! I will never go down!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°Oh? Why?¡±


    The old woman shut her mouth again, like a m that could only be opened with prying.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. What the hell was going on? What¡¯s the secret behind this?


    ¡°Since you aren¡¯t speaking, then it¡¯s agreed.¡± Duan Hongzhen didn¡¯t bother to negotiate at all and he spread his hands. ¡°So this matter has been happily decided. This mountain is not very safe, it¡¯s too dangerous for an olddy with half a foot in the grave like you. We are very helpful people so of course we must escort you safely down the mountain!¡±


    The olddy immediately screamed hysterically, ¡°No! I won¡¯t go down the mountain! I want to stay here with the mountain god!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s not up to you.¡±


    As he spoke, he picked up the old woman with one hand and put her on his shoulder.


    The olddy struggled hard, ¡°Let me go! Put me down! I want to stay on the mountain! I will never go down!¡±


    Yu Fuling frowned slightly, ¡°Duan Hongzhen, change the posture! Do you think you are carrying rice?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen said, ¡°How else? Princess hug? If I carry her on my back, she will run away.¡±


    Yu Fuling, ¡°...forget it, you just carry her over your shoulder.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but ask Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head and was about to chat with Tang Mianmian, but suddenly felt Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze on him and had an inexplicable feeling.


    Wait, what¡¯s going on with the gaze of a partner having caught a cheating husband eyeing some random third party?!!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched, and his heart felt frantic, but at this moment, Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze chilled, ¡°The corpse is gone.¡±


    They were all stunned at the same time, looked back, and sure enough, the dead old woman¡¯s corpse had disappeared at some point.


    The body actually disappeared!


    Although they had encountered this situation many times before, previously the corpse disappeared without them realizing, and it was usually on the second day. But this time the corpse was before their eyes!


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a chill go down his back. The wild wolf has been chopped in two by Yu Fuling and they hadn¡¯t seen another wolf... Did this hill really have a mountain god?


    Butpared to the mountain god, this kind of man-eating behavior was more like a mountain ghost!


    On the road afterward, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t find any words. Although it was not the first time that they had seen someone die in front of them, actually witnessing a life passing away with their own eyes still left a bitter feeling inside. Especially since it was an elderly woman whose dying screams still echoed in their ears.


    The olddy who was carried over Duan Hongzhen¡¯s shoulder seemed to be tired and gradually stopped shouting and struggling. Her expression turned nk and finally appearedpletely wooden.


    Aftering down the hill, they met the newbies again. To their surprise, none of them had chosen to leave. The 13 people waited for them at the foot of the mountain.


    But thinking about it, it made sense. In such a strange ce, it was dangerous no matter where they went, it was better to stay here and go nowhere.


    When they saw Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s party returning with an old woman, they were shocked, ¡°Where did you go to kidnap an olddy back?¡±


    ¡°Is this the olddy on the mountain just now?¡±


    Suddenly, someone found something wrong, ¡°Why does this olddy wear a kimono?¡±


    Although the olddy carried by Duan Hongzhen was in and shabby looking, they could still see that she wore a kimono. When he got to the foot of the hills, he threw the olddy from his shoulders to the ground.


    The olddy with a nk expression suddenly fell to the ground and cried, ¡°I can¡¯t go down! I can¡¯t go down! Let me go back! Let me go back!¡±


    A girl came out of the newbie group, expressing sympathy, ¡°Olddy, what¡¯s wrong with you? Did this group kidnap you?¡±


    The olddy shouted in horror, ¡°I can¡¯t go down the mountain! Let me go back! The mountain god will be angry! Divine punishment will befall from the mountain god!¡±


    The upright man immediately sneered and said, ¡°Mountain god? Divine punishment? I think this olddy and this group of people are together!¡±


    The girl frowned, ¡°Olddy, do you have some unspeakable difficulties?¡±


    Suddenly the olddy climbed up and was about to run up the hill, but was stopped by Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Be quiet for me!¡±


    ¡°Let go of her! You really are not good guys!¡± The girl cried immediately.


    Duan Hongzhen gave augh, ¡°So you want us to let her go back to seek death? There are wolves in the mountains! The kind that eats people!¡±


    The girl froze, but the olddy screamed resolutely, ¡°That¡¯s the envoy of the mountain god! The mountain god came to wee me!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen simply stunned the olddy with a hand chop, and then carried the olddy who passed out on his shoulder again.


    ¡°How can you treat an old woman like that!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen didn¡¯t bother her and walked forward with the olddy.


    Yu Fuling suddenly spoke, ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen spoke without worry, ¡°Hundred Ghost Vige.¡±


    Yu Fuling said, ¡°Wrong, it should be on the left.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen didn¡¯t ask how she knew that and turned his head and walked to the left.


    The others in the Reincarnation team didn¡¯t say anything and followed Duan Hongzhen. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian nced at each other and naturally followed. The dozen newbies looked at each other, not wanting to keep up but not daring to stay. They finally decided to keep up.


    They wanted to see what the hell these people were doing!


    The crowd walked along a winding path. Gradually, a few fields of farnd appeared before them. After the farnd was a vige.


    Because it was nighttime, there was no one working the fields and the gates of the vige were closed. The whole vige was very quiet with only the asional dog barking.


    Through the fence and gate around the vige, they could barely see the buildings in the vige. The wooden houses with thatched roofs were clearly different from most of the buildings they were used to, and the whole vige had such wooden houses.


    The newbies looked at each other, unsure if this was a con. Could a con be so big?


    The Reincarnation Team quickly talked it over, ¡°What to do? Forcibly break in?¡±


    ¡°It will rm the people in the vige. I¡¯m afraid it will be difficult to investigate afterward.¡±


    ¡°Secretly sneak in?¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s sneak in.¡±


    Things were decided so easily, but the progress was not so smooth.


    Perhaps to resist bandits, the vige¡¯s fences were both strong and sturdy. They couldn¡¯t find a breakthrough in a short time. Although they definitely had a way to enter, it was difficult to not rm those vigers.


    As they were in a dilemma, a chance suddenly appeared ¡ª the vige gate suddenly opened from the inside, and a man quietly came out. But he did not leave the vige, he just stood at the vige gate and looked towards the hills in the distance, expression hesitant.


    Without waiting for Xiao Tangqiu to remind her, Yu Fuling rushed forward and knocked him out with a hand chop.


    She supported the gate with one hand and held the man with another hand, winking at her teammates. The others immediately followed.


    They finally seeded in sneaking into the vige... but it was actually directly from the main entrance. Other than the torches lit by the vige entrance, the whole vige faded into darkness and appeared asleep. They did not dare to wake the vigers and remained silent all the way.


    Yu Fuling dragged the man forward with one hand. The vige was notrge. Soon they found the only wooden house with an open door, presumably the man¡¯s home.


    They immediately entered the wooden house and closed the door.


    The interior of the wooden house was very simple, the only furniture was a bed. Even the windows were covered with paper, which did not block the cold wind at all.


    Although there were candles in the house, they didn¡¯t dare light them in fear of attracting the attention of any vigers who got up at night. Fortunately, the paper windows didn¡¯t block the moonlight. The moonlight in the vige was rtively bright so they were able to see each other clearly.


    Duan Hongzhen lowered his voice and asked Yu Fuling, ¡°When can this guy wake up?¡±


    Yu Fuling thought about it, ¡°Probably in a little while. When will the grandma wake up?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen paused, and said without any changes, ¡°I didn¡¯t control my strength earlier... I guess she will sleep until tomorrow.¡±


    Yu Fuling, ¡°...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s lips twitched, ¡°Nevermind. She probably won¡¯t say anything anyway. Let¡¯s wait for this man to wake up. I have a hunch that we should be able to get something valuable from him.¡±


    They could only wait patiently. The wooden house was small and the twenty of them could barely squeeze in. Soon, the impatient Duan Hongzhen spoke out, ¡°Why isn¡¯t he awake?¡±


    Yu Fuling was silent for a while before she said, ¡°...I also didn¡¯t seem to control my strength earlier.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± Indeed pro teammates!


    The Reincarnation Team, ¡°...¡± These two were definitely not their teammates!


    T/N: So there¡¯s probably some confusion about ¡°mountain¡± and ¡°hill¡± being used here. The issue is that it¡¯s all the same word in Chinese: ¡°É½¡± (mountain/mound). There¡¯s only ¡°big mound¡± or ¡°small mound¡± or other adjectives to describe its size and shape so it¡¯s basically up to interpretation which word to use in English. Since the height mentioned is that the tallest one is no more than 100 meters (about 328ft), I¡¯ve made the decision to use the word ¡°hill¡±.

 Chapter 60.1

    <h4>Chapter 60.1</h4>


    ¡°Now what? Wait for this guy or the grandma to wake up? Wouldn¡¯t it take until morning? That¡¯s too much trouble!¡± Tang Mianmianined.


    ¡°Might as well just give them another chop, fight poison with poison and wake them up!¡± Duan Hongzhen said impatiently.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...you stop! Be careful that your chop doesn¡¯t make it so that they never wake up again!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°Are you doubting my technique?¡±


    Without waiting for Xiao Tangqiu to answer, Shen Yuan stepped forward in front of Xiao Tangqiu and gave a cold look at Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Are you doubting my Jiujiu?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen awkwardly rubbed his nose, ¡°Don¡¯t dare to, don¡¯t dare to. I don¡¯t have that kind of courage... Then what do you think we should do, Captain?¡±


    Shen Yuan humphed, ¡°Just do what Jiujiu says.¡±


    So the eyes of the Reincarnation Team moved to Xiao Tangqiu again. Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while, and uttered a sentence with difficulty, ¡°Then... let¡¯s wait until morning. There is no time limit for this instance anyways.¡±


    Although waiting until morning was kind of a waste of time, it seemed to be the best way for now. After all, it was dark now, it was not convenient for so many of them to do things through the night.


    Duan Hongzhen shrugged, ¡°Alright then, you guys wait here. Yu Fuling and I are going to scout the situation in this vige.¡±


    Xue Junli nodded, ¡°Go and return quickly. If you encounter danger, don¡¯t try to force yourself, retreat immediately.¡±


    They had a total of 20 people, the goal was too broad, it would obviously be very eye-catching if they acted collectively. Just two people acting was much better. Duan Hongzhen and Yu Fuling looked at each other and quickly and agilely left the wooden cabin.


    ¡°I believe that you have assessed the situation with your own eyes. Whether we¡¯re conmen or not, you should all have figured it out,¡± Xue Junli nced at the restless newbies and said quietly, ¡°As soon as tomorrow dawns, we will officially start to take action. When the timees, do what you will. ¡±


    The man who liked to pick fights and nitpick was surprised, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be asking us if we want to join you or form another team now?¡±


    Xue Junli calmly said, ¡°Sorry, we don¡¯t wee those who hold others back.¡±


    ¡°How can you be like that!¡± The girl from before also jumped out, using indignantly, ¡°You should be our seniors, how can you ignore us? Although it is not clear what is going on, in the face of hardship, we should all help each other! ¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows. As he was thinking whether this nitpicker was being ironic or if he was speaking truthfully, he suddenly turned, ¡°But I¡¯m different from this group of useless teammates who can only drag you down. I am a gaming pro, definitely a godly teammate who can assist! ¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± So it¡¯s someone who wants to use the other newbies as stepping stones!


    Xue Junli spoke lightly, ¡°Even if you y well, it doesn¡¯t mean anything.¡±


    ¡°Not only that! I¡¯m a popr web novelist!¡± The nitpicker snorted, proudly raising his head, ¡°This kind of endless thriller genre story, even if I haven¡¯t read a thousand pieces, I¡¯ve written hundreds! These kinds of events all can¡¯t be more familiar, all the routes can be seen at a nce! I am definitely valuable to you!¡±


    Xue Junli seemed interested, ¡°Oh? What have you found so far?¡±


    Immediately, the nitpicker frowned, ¡°It hasn¡¯t been long enough. I haven¡¯t made any important discoveries yet, but ording to my spection, all of this is definitely rted to the so-called mountain god!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...anyone with eyes can see that.¡±


    The nitpicker blushed and said, ¡°Give me more time! I can definitely make a major discovery!¡±


    Xue Junli spoke lightly, ¡°Then we can team up once you do make a major discovery.¡±


    The nitpicker gritted his teeth, ¡°Since you are not willing to let me join now, then when I make a major discovery, even if you ask me to join, I will not join you!¡±


    Xue Junli nodded, ¡°As you please.¡±


    ¡°Humph!¡± The nitpicker turned his head and ended things with Xue Junli. The other newbies looked at each other, restless.


    At this moment, Duan Hongzhen and Yu Fuling returned, and they both had heavy expressions.


    Xue Junli frowned slightly. ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    Yu Fuling shook his head, ¡°We didn¡¯t find anything special, but there is something strange about this vige ...¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s strange?¡±


    Yu Fuling said, ¡°It seems that there are only young people in this vige, no old people.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but interject, ¡°Looking at these people¡¯s clothing and the architectural style of the vige, this ce should be in an ancient era, right? Isn¡¯t it normal for there to be very few old people in ancient viges? After all, low economic and living conditions meant the elderly do not live long.¡± The average life expectancy was not high back then, most people died before they got to old age.


    ¡°It may be normal to have a small number of elderly people, but it is very unusual if there is not even one elderly person,¡± Yu Fuling shook her head and continued to say, ¡°It¡¯s not that there are few elderly people in this vige, but there are no elderly people at all. The oldest here is only in their forties or fifties, middle-aged. The only old person is the grandma. ¡±


    Everyone went quiet. There were only young people, no old people... What kind of a strange vige was this?


    ¡°Wait,¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly said, ¡°In addition to this grandma, there was another.¡± There was also the olddy named Junko, but Junko was already... dead.


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but panic, ¡°Can it be... Can it be...¡±


    He didn¡¯t go on to say anymore, but everyone thought of the same possibility. It wasn¡¯t that the vige didn¡¯t have any elderly people, but there were no living elderly people. All the old people had only one end.


    The crowd fell silent at the same time, this conjecture really made them feel chilled.


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu shuddered, he heard someone call him, ¡°Jiujiu!¡±


    He looked up reflexively and saw Shen Yuan sitting on the only bed in the room.


    Shen Yuan sat on the bed and patted the bed before Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes, ¡°Come here, sleep.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...I¡¯m not sleepy.¡± How could anyone sleep at this time!


    Shen Yuan said sternly, ¡°You need to sleep even if you are not sleepy.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu unwittingly looked at Xue Junli.


    Xue Junli paused, ¡°Alright, that¡¯s it for today. Everyone, take a rest and we take action tomorrow.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen immediately yawned, ¡°Alright then, I¡¯m also a bit tired.¡±


    After speaking, he randomly found a corner to sit down in and seemed to n to settle and sleep there all night.


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu were a little more particr than him, taking out a woolen nket toy on the ground, then snuggled up to each other and went to sleep.


    The nitpicker pointed at Shen Yuan who was on the bed and said, ¡°Wait a minute! There is only one bed in this house. Why should we let him sleep alone? Who decided this!¡±


    Shen Yuan gave a cold humph, ¡°I¡¯m not sleeping alone. Jiujiu,e here.¡±


    Even without the nitpicker¡¯s questioning, Xiao Tangqiu was too embarrassed to let other people sleep on the floor and sleep with Shen Yuan on the bed. He hesitated on the spot, ¡°This is not very good ...¡±


    Xue Junli nced coldly at the nitpicker, ¡°You can choose to sleep on the spot or go sleep outside.¡±


    The nitpicker immediately froze. It was so dark outside, who knew what¡¯s out there, and it¡¯s even in this kind of backcountry! He originally wanted to take the opportunity to rile up the other newbies, but none of the other newbies dared to act up and had already found good spots to settle down and sleep. He could only find a slightlyrger area to settle down in.


    Hmph! Under the eaves, people have to bow their heads!


    Xiao Tangqiu was still hesitant, and was finally pulled by the impatient Shen Yuan and pressed down on the little bed.


    ¡°Jiujiu sleeps with me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu struggled a bit, ¡°This is not very good...¡±


    Xue Junli said coldly, ¡°Just get on the bed with Captain. Otherwise, do you want the captain to sleep on the ground with you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled helplessly. If he chose to sleep on the ground, Shen Yuan would probably not sleep alone on the bed. He hesitated for a while, but finally obedientlyid on the bed.


    Shen Yuan was satisfied and pulled Xiao Tangqiu into his arms, just like a hamster clutching its precious melon seeds.

 Chapter 60.2

    <h4>Chapter 60.2</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu silently moved away, but Shen Yuan immediately followed... if he moved any more, he would fall to the ground so Xiao Tangqiu could only stiffly lie there.


    This kind of small bed was stiff and ufortable to sleep on, but it was much better than sleeping on the floor. Those who slept on the floor couldn¡¯t stretch out their bodies to lie down because the area inside the room is too small. Over a dozen people sleeping couldn¡¯t fit at all and they could only curl up and sit to sleep. There¡¯s no need to mention how miserable it was.


    Xiao Tangqiu nced silently at Tang Mianmian, who was curled up asleep in a corner, and a trace of guilt rose in his heart. Suddenly his neck felt itchy as a slightly warm breath sprayed onto his neck.


    His neck was extremely sensitive so he immediately became stiff, but the one behind him seemed to find it interesting and began to move closer while blowing into the back of his neck.


    Goosebumps were about to break out on his skin, and he immediately started struggling. But no matter how he refused, the one behind him continued to follow his neck and blow.


    How could this amnesiac be so childish!


    Xiao Tangqiu was angry so he suddenly turned over. His whole body pressed down on Shen Yuan to try to stop Shen Yuan¡¯s prank by using his own weight. Unexpectedly, Shen Yuan didn¡¯t cry out from being pressed down but stretched out his arms. He closed his eyes after embracing him and hummed softly, ¡°It just so happens to be a bit chilly, Jiujiu is so warm.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± No matter how cold it was, he shouldn¡¯t use him like a quilt!


    He immediately struggled, but the quality of the bed was so bad that even a slight movement made it creak. It sounded very discordant, as if it might fall apart at any moment.


    Xiao Tangqiu stiffened and was afraid to move.


    Shen Yuan just fell asleep holding Xiao Tangqiu against him like a squirrel holding a pine cone to sleep.


    Xiao Tangqiu was in a dilemma. He wanted to go down but was hugged tightly by Shen Yuan. But if he justid on Shen Yuan and slept all night, he would definitely crush Shen Yuan... Forget it, it¡¯s better to wait until Shen Yuan rxed in sleep and then quietly get down.


    With that thought, he closed his eyes... As a result, he slept until dawn.


    Yu Fuling woke up first because she discovered that the man she had knocked out had woken up and quickly awakened the others.


    Tang Mianmian woke up immediately. He saw Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan sleeping together on the bed and couldn¡¯t help but curse, ¡°What kind of freaking posture are you guys in?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also woke up, and he quickly tried to get up. But Shen Yuan didn¡¯t forget to protect his treasure even in his sleep and dragged him back into his arms.


    After , the man cried out in fear, ¡°You, who are you? How could you be in my house!¡±


    Yu Fuling was afraid that his yelling would attract the attention of other vigers and decisively covered his mouth with her hands.


    At that moment, the olddy also woke up. The moment she woke up, she opened her mouth and cursed, ¡°You will be punished by the mountain god!¡±


    The next moment, she saw the man whose mouth was covered by Yu Fuling. Her expression immediately changed, ¡°What do you want to do to Taro? Let go of my son!¡±


    Taro? Son?


    Xiao Tangqiu was very surprised. He did not expect that the viger kidnapped by them was actually the grandma¡¯s son! But thinking back carefully, the man was pacing at the vige gates and the direction he looked at seemed to be where the grandma had gone up the mountain.


    Upon seeing the grandma, the man called Taro started crying. Yu Fuling¡¯s hand let go in disgust. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t make loud noises, but just cried and said, ¡°Mother... you didn¡¯t die... that¡¯s great... ¡±


    ¡°No! This is not good!¡± The grandma¡¯s expression changed, ¡°Everything was ruined by these outsiders! The mountain god will deliver punishment! Taro! How can you be so weak!¡±


    ¡°Wuwu... I just don¡¯t want my mother to die like that...¡±


    Under the eyes of everyone in the Reincarnation Team, Xiao Tangqiu could only stubbornly pretend that nothing had happened. He turned to look out the window and pretended to look at the scenery.


    The top of the bed was facing the only window in this room. The window was made of paper and did not block the light at all. When the first rays of light shone in through the paper window, Xiao Tangqiu looked through a gap in the window and saw the scene outside...


    The sky had not fully brightened, but many vigers had already left their houses and were holding hoes to prepare for work. They obviously still live the lifestyle of rising and going to bed with the sun.


    Of these busy vigers, none of them were elderly, all of them were young and strong. Even the oldest vigers looked like they were only in their fifties.


    The sun was about toe out.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up at the sky. Just as he was about to turn around to tell everyone the news, his vision went dark and a strong sense of dizziness came... What¡¯s going on?


    He didn¡¯t have time to speak before he passed out.


    When Xiao Tangqiu woke up, he discovered that he had actually returned to the abandoned tunnel!


    He was startled and quickly looked around. Fortunately, everyone was here beside him this time.


    ¡°What happened? Why did I suddenly faint?¡±


    ¡°Where is this? Wait... tunnel?!¡±


    The others also woke up and discovered that they were in the tunnel where they first arrived. They were shocked.


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Are you okay Qiuqiu?¡± As soon as Tang Mianmian opened his eyes, he leaped towards Xiao Tangqiu without thought but Duan Hongzhen stopped him halfway through, ¡°What are you doing? Let me go!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°You should get some better aesthetics, okay. You want topete with our captain?¡±


    Tang Mianmian silently turned his head and saw that Shen Yuan also called Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s name and rushed over, ¡°Jiujiu!¡±


    Why...


    Obviously he came first, whether by calling his name or by rushing over, or even by knowing him... Clearly he was here first!


    Shen Yuan stared straight at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Jiujiu, are you okay?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu silently avoided Shen Yuan¡¯s burning eyes, ¡°...I¡¯m fine, but why are we back in this tunnel?¡±


    Shen Yuan frowned, ¡°I don¡¯t know, did you suddenly appear in this tunnel before?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°No, I was on the subway as soon as I woke up...¡±


    ¡°Ah! There are tracks ahead!¡±


    Just then, a newbie man yelled in pleasant surprise.


    ¡°There are tracks! Does that mean there is a subway here?¡± The other newbies were also excited. If there was one, did it mean that they could leave this damned ce by subway?!!


    Xiao Tangqiu remembered the ghost subway from before. Could it be...


    Dang dang dang dang¡ª


    The sound of a subway moving in the distance sounded extra distant in the empty tunnel.


    ¡°It¡¯s the subway! It¡¯s really the subway! There are subways here!¡±


    ¡°Hurry! Hurry up! We can soon leave this damned ce by subway!¡±


    The newbies were excited, but the nitpicker put a damper on their cheer in one sentence, ¡°Do you think there will be a normal subway in such a cursed ce?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen also sneered, ¡°Taking the subway back, are you going back straight to hell on the ghost subway?¡±


    Dang dang dang dang¡ª


    The sound of the subway was getting closer, and Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help shouting, ¡°Let¡¯s go and see!¡±


    Shen Yuan immediately made a decision, ¡°Go!¡±


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan ran, the others naturally followed. The remaining newbies looked at each other for a moment and chased after them despite their confusion.


    Xiao Tangqiu rushed in the direction of the sound. He was eager to know if this subway was the one he had seen before. He soon saw the track discovered by the newbie. A subway appeared at the edge of the track!


    ¡°A ck subway... it¡¯s the one I saw yesterday!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help yelling out.


    A dark shadow appeared at the edge of the track. The shadow became clearer and clearer, it was a ck subway!


    ¡°ck subway? I have never seen a ck subway! Aren¡¯t all subways white or silver-gray?¡± Tang Mianmian was stunned.


    ¡°Should we find a way to get on?¡± Duan Hongzhen asked.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. He wanted to get on, but the question was... how to get on? Was it possible to hop on while the subway went passed them? Wasn¡¯t that looking for death?


    As he was thinking, the subway started to decelerate, just like a general subway deceleration before a station. A few secondster, the ck subway stopped in front of them and the doors silently opened.


    ¡°What does this mean? Is it inviting us on?¡± Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow.


    Tang Mianmian looked around, ¡°No matter how you look at it, there¡¯s no tform here, right?¡±


    They were just standing in a section of this abandoned tunnel.


    ¡°What tform does a ghost subway need?¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes darkened. ¡°Let¡¯s get on!¡±


    After speaking, he stepped first into the open door of the ck subway.


    The newbies looked at each other, obviously very hesitant. But if they didn¡¯t get on, they could only stay in this abandoned tunnel. The ghost subway it was!


    When thest person got on, the subway doors silently closed again.


    Soon, the subway started running.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around and realized that the subway was empty other than the 20 of them.


    ¡°There¡¯s no one...¡± Tang Mianmian also realized no one was on the subway. ¡°But inparison, it¡¯s scarier if there was someone!¡±


    ¡°Where will the subway take us?¡± One of the newbie men asked in fear.


    ¡°Where is the next stop?¡±


    Compared to the previous panic, Xiao Tangqiu was able to observe the interior of the subway calmly this time.


    Other than the absence of passengers, it looked no different from an ordinary subway. The inside of thepartment was spotless, and the outside was the tunnel speeding pass.


    But unlikest time, they boarded thestpartment this time. Xiao Tangqiu thought about it and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the front of the subway.¡±


    Shen Yuan and Tang Mianmian naturally had no objections. The newbies hesitated and followed them. After all, they only had two choices, stay here or go forward.


    They passed through a few emptypartments and reached the middle. They were about to go forward, but the subway suddenly started to slow down.


    Within seconds, the subway stopped.


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation? Arrival at a station?¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked out but discovered that there was an extra tform outside the ss of the window... Clearly there wasn¡¯t one earlier!


    The others were also startled. They were always looking out of the car window, after all, and there was always only the dark tunnel outside. They had never seen this tform before!


    ¡°It¡¯s just like......¡±


    Tang Mianmian said dumbly, ¡°...It¡¯s like the tform suddenly appeared the moment the subway stopped...¡±

 Chapter 60.3

    <h4>Chapter 60.3</h4>


    After a tform suddenly appeared outside, something even more incredible happened. Thepartment door slowly opened in the next moment and a crowd of people poured in from outside!


    Tang Mianmian was stunned, ¡°Fuck! Were there people outside just now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also wanted to ask that. He stared nkly at the passengers who were constantly pushing into thepartment. His mind was full of doubts ¡ª was there anyone on the tform just now? Did this group of people appear out of thin air?


    As more and more people got on the subway, they began to get separated and Xiao Tangqiu was squeezed aside. But just as he was crowded away, Shen Yuan firmly grasped his hand so the two of them were not separated and were squeezed into a corner together.


    For the frencer Xiao Tangqiu, this was a rare experience of the working ss rush hour on a subway. But before he could be squeezed and stepped on by the crowd, he was guarded by Shen Yuan, whose arms pulled him into an embrace.


    Shen Yuan raised his arms around Xiao Tangqiu, protecting Xiao Tangqiu in their corner and not letting anyone squeeze close to Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu breathed a sigh of relief and finally was able to take the opportunity to observe the new passengers. Unlike his imagination, these passengers seemed to be normal; they had flesh and blood and were solid. After all, if they weren¡¯t solid, how could they crowd him?


    It¡¯s too real.


    Everything was too real.


    These passengers were real people no matter how he looked.


    But the more real they were, the more confused Xiao Tangqiu felt... Wasn¡¯t it stranger that there were normal people on this subway?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help lowering his voice and asking Shen Yuan, ¡°Do you think these people... are real people?¡±


    There was a faint sh in Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes, and he nodded. ¡°They¡¯re living people, yes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s weird! How can there be living people here?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned. ¡°Is it... ovepping space again?¡±


    Did they unknowingly run onto a normal subway?


    Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan nced at each other, both with doubts in their eyes. At this moment, a ray of light suddenly came in through the window¡ª


    It¡¯s sunlight!


    The subway was about to leave the tunnel!


    ...Was it arriving at the terminal soon?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped and he quickly looked out the subway window. He saw that the light outside was getting brighter. Finally, the subwaypletely left the underground tunnel and was bathed in the sun.


    But rather than ¡°sunlight¡±, it should be more urately called ¡°sunset light¡±.


    And... why was the setting sun so big?


    He had never seen such a big sunset, it was as if it was right before him!


    Shen Yuan frowned suddenly. ¡°It¡¯s not right.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was immediately alert. The moment Shen Yuan spoke, no, it should be the moment the light of the sunset shined into thepartment through the window, all the normal passengers in thepartment suddenly began to change!


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± They suddenly started going mad, howling with elongated teeth and long, sharp nails. The skin on their face and body also began to rot and fall. Within a few seconds, they actually be zombie-like things!


    ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Although Xiao Tangqiu had yed a lot of zombie horror games, it was his first time experiencing it. The worst thing was that these zombies transformed right next to him! The rancid odor was overwhelming and suffocating him!


    But worse than that, all passengers in thepartment except them became zombies! Imagine all the passengers on a subway during the evening rush hour simultaneously transforming into zombies... What kind of experience was this? No! He didn¡¯t want to know at all!


    Tang Mianmian also screamed in fright, ¡°Fuckfuck!¡±


    A zombie passenger already rushed at him and he was so frightened he threw punches and kicks, a set of Ten Dragon Palmsing out in ce.


    Duan Hongzhen and Yu Fuling¡¯s side was also not very optimistic. Although they were very skilled, the zombies were crowded in the subway and they couldn¡¯t take action at all, Xue Junli was even more miserable. He was originally a civilian and his skill was not too good. Fortunately, there was a Sai Lulu next to him.


    The ones suffering the most were the newbies. They had no self-defense weapons or any sharp skills. They could only try to dodge and run away. A girl who couldn¡¯t hide was directly surrounded by two zombies. The two zombies blocked her from the front and back, lunging at her!


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    After a string of screams, the smell of blood spread, and the zombies in the entirepartment became agitated!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart lurched. Fuck! What if the zombies in the otherpartments also became tempted. If all the zombies in the otherpartments came, would they still have a way to survive?


    As for the poor girl, herst breath was long gone and zombies rushed towards her corpse nonstop, swallowing her body up like locusts.


    Thepartment rang with the scalp-numbing sound of chewing. All the newbies had a look of terror and nausea. What despaired them most was that in addition to the zombies in thispartment, there were more zombies rushing towards the smell of blood. They could already hear the excited roar of those zombies.


    Just then, the situation suddenly turned around!


    Without waiting for Duan Hongzhen and Yu Fuling to make a move, a figure suddenly killed their way over from the nextpartment!


    The person held a sword and ughtered a bloody path through the zombies. Wherever they went, the zombies fell down and ck blood sttered.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt chilled, it seemed like a living person?


    But was that person a friend or an enemy?


    Duan Hongzhen and Yu Fuling looked at each other and stopped their moves at the same time.


    When that person killed their way closer, Xiao Tangqiu was shocked.


    Wait! This getup! Wasn¡¯t this...


    Tang Mianmian blurted out with excitement, ¡°Fuck! !¡±


    The one in front of them had ck hair draped over her shoulders and wore the typical white top and red hakama, with feet d in red knotted sandals, holding a sword in one hand and a Kagura bell in the other, she was dressed just like a Japanese Miko.


    Wasn¡¯t this the most generic Miko in Japanese horror games?


    Tang Mianmian unwittingly looked at Xiao Tangqiu, and Xiao Tangqiu nodded from across Shen Yuan. He also thought of it just now. Although he didn¡¯t know why there was a Miko here, considering the background of this instance... It didn¡¯t seem wrong?


    The dark-haired Miko gave them a cold look but didn¡¯t make any moves tomunicate with them before turning back to deal with the zombies.


    Wherever she went with her sword, the zombies fell and blood sttered through thepartment.


    Within a short while, thepartment was cleared by her.


    When thest zombie in thepartment fell, the subway arrived at the terminal.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked out and saw what looked to be a normal tform outside. That huge sunset seemed to be even bigger and closer to them.


    Sunset, .


    The ck-haired Miko got out of the subway without hesitation, and turned to look at them coldly, ¡°Get off!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a look at Shen Yuan and also got out. Soon, everyone got out of the subway.


    ¡°But what about the zombies in the subway?¡± Xiao Tangqiu tried tomunicate with the Miko, but the Miko just looked at him coldly and did not speak.


    Tang Mianmian suddenly reacted, ¡°Wait, why do I seem to understand Japanese?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°... Did you just realize? We also understood the grandma¡¯s words before.¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, ¡°Right! It seems that we really have a foreignnguage trantor!¡±


    ¡°What the hell happened?¡± The newbies were scared witless by the zombies and the death of theirpanion, trembling nonstop. Someone couldn¡¯t help but start crying, ¡°Let me go back! Let me go back! I want to go home!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow and brutally broke their illusion, ¡°You can¡¯t go back.¡±


    As the newbies shook, zombies poured out of the stopped subway. Compared to earlier, they now looked even worse. Not only were their skin rotten and their teeth sharp, some even had broken limbs and were missing parts of their heads and faces. It was as frightening as if they had just crawled out of a horrible ident.


    ¡°Run! Aaaah!¡± The newbies were so scared that some people turned around and ran. Some hesitated because the veteran yers, including Xiao Tangqiu, did not move.


    Shen Yuan didn¡¯t move because Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t move. Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t move because the ck-haired Miko didn¡¯t move. He wanted to see what the Miko wanted to do.


    As more and more zombies came off the subway, the Miko looked at Xiao Tangqiu coldly and finally spoke, ¡°Outsiders, leave this ce.¡±


    Instead of following the Miko¡¯s advice, Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°What are you going to do?¡±


    The Miko nced at him coldly and repeated, ¡°Outsiders, leave!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu still didn¡¯t move, ¡°What are you going to do?¡±


    The Miko simply ignored Xiao Tangqiu and looked at the aggressive zombies, her eyes narrowed. Then she raised the bloody sword and charged.


    ¡°What happened? Does she n to kill all the zombies here?¡± Tang Mianmian was also very surprised. He thought that the Miko would leave immediately after getting out of thepartment. He did not expect that she would just continue killing the zombies after changing the venue.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t really understand the situation, he just felt that this Miko might be an important clue, ¡°Could she be a plot-rted NPC?¡±


    ¡°Plot-rted NPC? It¡¯s very likely!¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes brightened.


    ¡°Right. Right now, we should brush up her favorability towards us, such as by helping her to kill zombies or something. Maybe some conditions can be met or the plot could be triggered...¡± Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°...Duan Hongzhen, go for it. ¡±


    Duan Hongzhen crossed his arms over his chest and snorted, ¡°Why have me go? If you can, then you go!¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu, then said coldly, ¡°Duan Hongzhen, go!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen, ¡°...Go, go! Humph.¡±

 Chapter 61.1

    <h4>Chapter 61.1</h4>


    Duan Hongzhen charged forward, and with his help, the speed the ck-haired Miko cleared the zombies was much faster.


    Wherever they went, the zombies¡¯ heads rolled.


    Soon, the ground was stained with rancid blood from zombies, contaminated ck blood and broken limbs everywhere.


    This hellish scene, not only the newbies who were on their first instance, even Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian who¡¯d gone through several instances could not bear it, almost vomiting several times.


    However, what was more despairing was that these zombies seemed endless. No matter how many the Miko and Duan Hongzhen killed, there was still a flood of zombiesing,pletely unafraid of their murderous aura and the weapons in their hands. They roared and rushed over nonstop!


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible... it¡¯s impossible to kill them all!¡±


    The nitpicker couldn¡¯t bear it and screamed, ¡°Let¡¯s run away! What are you staying here for! These zombies can¡¯t be finished off at all! Are you here waiting to be bitten!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. Although he didn¡¯t know why the ck-haired Miko insisted on killing the zombies, he instinctively felt that this must be an important clue rted to the plot. Of course, he believed that Xue Junli and them also thought so, but those newbies were scared and didn¡¯t understand their approach...


    At this moment, Xue Junli said coldly, ¡°You can choose to stay or leave. That is your prerogative.¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy? It¡¯s impossible for those two to stop so many zombies!¡± The nitpicker shouted. ¡°Are you trying to die? We don¡¯t want to die with you!¡±


    ¡°We did this for a reason,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°this might be important to the story and we¡¯re betting on it. You can choose to gamble with us, or you can choose some other way out.¡±


    The nitpicking man wore a struggling expression. Although he knew the importance of holding the thighs of the veterans, he wanted to save his little life more. Seeing that more and more zombies wereing, his thoughts also became more chaotic. He realized for the first time the profound difference between YY on a keyboard and experiencing it in real life ¡ª across the keyboard, YY just needed to be satisfying and cool, but it waspletely different when you experience it yourself! Once dead it was really death!


    Just then, thest straw that crushed the camel¡¯s back appeared.


    At some point, another ck subway approached this tform.


    In a blink of an eye, the ck subway pulled up and the doors slowly opened... revealing one ruined face after another.


    Another wave of zombies came off the subway!


    It turned out that these zombies were really endless!


    No matter how many zombies the Miko and Duan Hongzhen killed, the ck subways would deliver more zombie waves to this tform. These zombies were limitless.


    It¡¯s impossible to finish them all!


    Not to mention the newbies, even Xue Junli and others changed their expressions at the same time. These zombies were inexhaustible!


    Duan Hongzhen stiffened, ¡°Fuck! Are you kidding me! I¡¯m not some perpetual motion item!¡±


    However, the dark-haired Miko was unmoved. She was also the only person amongst them whose expression did not change. Her gaze was very steady from start to finish, her sword-swinging movement was as strong as ever. She seemed to have known that the zombies would constantlye from the subway but she was unmoved and her actions are as firm as her gaze.


    Xiao Tangqiu asked Xue Junli with a bitter smile, ¡°Is this your first time experiencing all the newbies running out near the beginning of the instance?¡±


    Xue Junli spoke lightly, ¡°It¡¯s not... but even if they stay, they will only get in the way.¡± With the cruelty of the S-ss instance, they couldn¡¯t afford to protect newbies. So of course, they won¡¯t bother.


    ¡°Now what? There are more and more zombies ...¡± Xiao Tangqiu murmured to himself, and began to feel dark.


    Tang Mianmian trembled and asked, ¡°Why... don¡¯t we escape too?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the ck-haired Miko and saw that she didn¡¯t have any intentions to retreat, instead she became more and more aggressive.


    Duan Hongzhen, who was originally reluctant, saw that a girl was putting her life on the line and became too embarrassed to retreat when he was a grown man.


    Xue Junli nced at Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu and spoke heavily, ¡°Let¡¯s go, too.¡±


    Seeing that Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu nodded at the same time, he then looked at the most uncontroble Shen Yuan, and frowned, ¡°Captain, you ...¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I¡¯m with Jiujiu.¡±


    Seeing that the Reincarnation Team was going to go all out, of course Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t abduct their captain to escape, and quickly said, ¡°Tang Mianmian and I are also together!¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Yingyingying but I am scared.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at him, ¡°Otherwise you can escape alone.¡±


    Who didn¡¯t know the most ssic FLAG in horror games?


    The loner dies!


    Tang Mianmian quickly behaved, ¡°We are a team! Of course we must work together to help each other! Many contributors means better results!¡±


    Xue Junli nced at both Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, ¡°You don¡¯t have to force yourselves. If you can fight, fight; if you can¡¯t, then run. If you die, the ones troubled will be us.¡±


    ...It¡¯s a really simple and rude way to show care and threat!


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we value our lives a lot.¡±


    Shen Yuan who was on the side puffed his chest and said, ¡°I will protect Jiujiu.¡±


    Theoretically, Shen Yuan¡¯sbat effectiveness was the best in the entire Reincarnation Team, but the problem was that he was too uncontroble in his current state. If he went crazy, he might even fight with their own people. Xue Junli didn¡¯t dare assign him anything important so he could only helplessly sigh, ¡°Okay, you protect them and yourself. You don¡¯t need to worry about other things.¡±


    ¡°Everyone else, let¡¯s go together!¡±


    With Xue Junli¡¯s order, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu pulled out their weapons at the same time and rushed into the battle. He also took out his weapon. What surprised Xiao Tangqiu was that it was a gun!


    He thought that the weapon of such a talented young hacker would be a keyboard or aptop, he didn¡¯t expect it to be such an ordinary weapon!


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu were both closebat. They rushed into the hoard of zombies and started to fight back-to-back. They had obviously cooperated many times before and were invincible.


    As a long-distance fighter, Xue Junli only needed to shoot from far away without moving¨C


    Boom!


    Headshot!


    ¡°Wow! Godly shooter!¡± Tang Mianmian was instantly excited, ¡°So cool!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was also a little dazzled. For hot-blooded men, guns were really cool, but... won¡¯t the efficiency of a gun be a little too low?


    Even if Xue Junli shot one, there were too many zombies here! At his current speed... this efficiency wasn¡¯t just low!


    Just when Xiao Tangqiu held negative thoughts, another gun suddenly appeared in Xue Junli¡¯s left hand!


    He suddenly became excited. It¡¯s here, it¡¯s here! Isn¡¯t this dual gun?


    ...Wait, dual guns didn¡¯t seem to be much better!


    Even if this small pistol was doubled, the efficiency was not high!


    Then, Xue Junli suddenly merged the left and right guns together. In the next second, the two guns merged together and turned into a submachine gun!


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± There was such a function!


    Xue Junli expressionlessly lifted the submachine gun and opened fire on the zombie rushing forward!


    Bangbangbang!


    A row of zombies copsed from headshots.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian are stunned, this firepower, this attack power... Was he really a fucking civilian? Then what the hell were they!


    Moreover, Xue Junli¡¯s handheld submachine gun seemed to have no recoil, and he continued to fire with almost no buffer. If this was a game, Xiao Tangqiu would like to report it for being broken!


    Not only that¨C


    After a while of killing the zombies, Xue Junli seemed to think that the submachine gun was not powerful enough. After another round of zombies, the submachine gun in his hand changed its form again. This time it turned into a bazooka!


    Xiao Tangqiu & Tang Mianmian, ¡°...Fuck!!!!!!¡±


    There was such a function!


    Coach! He cheated! He exploited!


    Xue Junli aimed towards the most crowded zombie area with his bazooka. After a loud boom, hundreds of zombies were instantly sted into g.


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned, ¡°Fuck... that¡¯s too amazing!¡±


    Shen Yuan who followed them was suddenly dissatisfied, ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m better than him!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded absently, but his eyes did not move away from Xue Junli. ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯re also amazing.¡±


    Shen Yuan noticed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s perfunctory attitude, harrumphed, and also brought out his weapon.


    Xiao Tangqiu had never seen Shen Yuan¡¯s weapon and couldn¡¯t help but looked curiously. It was actually also a gun, but it looked a little bit different from a normal gun. The gun itself was silver and strands of ck patterns covered it. It was actually another Ouroboros item.


    Tang Mianmian also curiously came to take a look, ¡°Can your gun also berger and smaller and more cool?¡±


    Shen Yuan, ¡°No.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°Can it be a submachine gun?¡±


    Shen Yuan, ¡°...No.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°Can it be a bazooka?¡±


    Shen Yuan, ¡°...No, it can¡¯t.¡±


    T/N: lolol SY can¡¯t match up without a manly transformer weapon.

 Chapter 61.2

    <h4>Chapter 61.2</h4>


    Seeing that Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression seemed a little disappointed, Shen Yuan immediately raised his head and said, ¡°Although it can¡¯t be changed into anything else, it is very powerful!¡±


    From Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s point of view, he thought that Xue Junli¡¯s weapons are already powerful enough. Could Shen Yuan¡¯s weapons be more powerful than Xue Junli¡¯s?


    ¡°Hmph, no matter how good his gun is, it¡¯s just an ordinary gun. My gun is not an ordinary gun.¡±


    ¡°...How extraordinary is it?¡±


    Shen Yuan heard his question and showed off immediately. In one move, he turned around, raised his gun and shot!


    Although the bullet¡¯s speed was extremely fast and couldn¡¯t be seen by the naked eye, Xiao Tangqiu was keenly aware that Shen Yuan had shot an unusual bullet. When the bullet prated the zombie, the zombie copsed and disappeared instantly. Only a ck hole left!


    It couldn¡¯t even leave a tragic sound before it was blown up by Shen Yuan¡¯s bullet, not even leaving smithereens!


    Xiao Tangqiu waspletely shocked. Although the previously seen bazooka of Xue Junli¡¯s was also very terrible and didn¡¯t leave even a trace of zombies behind, the ¡°not even a trace left¡± was just an exaggerated saying. Even when those zombies were blown up and the high-temperaturebustion melted most of it, there were still some shattered pieces remaining... But Shen Yuan¡¯s ¡°not even a trace left¡± was genuine, 100% truly ¡°not even a trace left¡±!


    Don¡¯t mention shattering its flesh and bones, not even ashes were left!


    Fuck! Too terrifying!


    Facing the stunned expressions of Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, Shen Yuan gleefully raised his chin, expression full of ¡°hurry and praise me, hurry and praise me¡±.


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly, ¡°...Awesome, really awesome!¡±


    But Tang Mianmian picked a w, ¡°But Xue Junli attacks a whole group, which can hit hundreds or even thousands of targets at a time. You can only hit one at a time even if you are powerful!¡±


    Shen Yuan pursed his lips and raised his gun again. His gun did not change like Xue Junli¡¯s but theplicated and mysterious ck pattern on the gun slowly began to flow. In the next second, his eyes darkened and he pulled the trigger!


    Another bullet was fired!


    This time his target was also the zombies and there was still only one bullet. As Xiao Tangqiu wondered if a bullet could take down a whole group of zombies, the bullet prated the first zombie.


    Then something strange happened¨C


    In less than a second, the ck hole disappeared and all the zombies near the ck hole also disappeared!


    Suddenly, arge vacant area appeared in the dense crowd of zombies!


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were shocked speechless. Although they had known about Shen Yuan¡¯s bullshit powers for a long time, they did not expect that Shen Yuan¡¯s powers were this bullshit... The level of bullshit could no longer be described as just ridiculous!


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Shen Yuan excitedly and saw that the ck tattoo had appeared on Shen Yuan¡¯s neck again. Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes also seemed to be deeper and darker than normal.


    He was taken aback and rushed forward to grab Shen Yuan¡¯s hand, ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    There was a murderous intent in Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes, but when he saw Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face clearly, he suddenly became dazed, ¡°I¡¯m fine...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t force it, take a break.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered the nervousness in the previous old castle instance from Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu due to the use of Shen Yuan¡¯s ¡°ability¡±... Did Shen Yuan just use his ¡°ability¡±?


    Shen Yuan snorted, ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was afraid of Shen Yuan¡¯s stubbornness and quickly took out candy from his pocket, ¡°You did a good job just now, this is a reward for you. Take a break for candy.¡±


    Shen Yuan happily took the candy, peeled off the wrapper and ate it.


    After eating candy, Xiao Tangqiu noticed that the ck tattoo on Shen Yuan¡¯s neck began to fade away, and he couldn¡¯t help a sigh of relief.


    But soon he realized that it was far from the time to rx!


    Although Xue Junli and Shen Yuan just killed arge patch of zombies, at this moment, another ck subway arrived again!


    This ck subway was like all normal subways. It ran every few minutes, unhindered by wind or rain. After the doors slowly open, another wave of zombies emerged!


    Duan Hongzhen, ¡°... Fuck! There¡¯s no end!¡±


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu¡¯s expressions also changed slightly. Sure enough, as expected, the ck subway would continue to transport zombies here. The zombies were endless and couldn¡¯t be finished off!


    It¡¯s one thing to kill zombies, as long as they had a goal, they could still grit their teeth to fight. But now they had no end goal! What was their goal? Kill all the zombies here? This was simply impossible!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. Not only could they not kill all the zombies, but the number of zombies kept growing... they couldn¡¯t kill off a batch of zombies before the next wave of zombies came. It would only reach a terrible number that they couldn¡¯t resist together.


    Endless and unstoppable.


    This was a dead end.


    Was there any way to break through this dead end?


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Xue Junli but saw Xue Junli frown. Apparently, even he felt that the situation was quite unoptimistic.


    Other than Shen Yuan who was outside the problem, the expressions of everyone in the Reincarnation Team were heavy. Even Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were depressed... From the beginning to the end, only the Miko had remained unmoved. She didn¡¯t show any despair from the growing pressure, her gaze and actions as firm as ever.


    With a sword in hand, zombies fall!


    ¡°Xue Junli! What should we do? These zombies can¡¯t be finished off!¡±


    Yu Fuling shouted at Xue Junli.


    Xue Junli stared at the ck-haired Miko, pondered for a few seconds, and quickly made a decision, ¡°Continue!¡±


    He gave an order and the others didn¡¯t question it and continued to fight.


    Although they had Xue Junli and Shen Yuan, the two great killing machines, and the zombies around Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian had decreased, they didn¡¯t n to sit back and took out their respective weapons to join the battle.


    Xiao Tangqiu still had his crossbow, but this time the crossbow had been modified by Xue Junli and its lethality was much higher than before. Xue Junli also added a special auxiliary target assistant for him so he didn¡¯t need to aim and it would still find its target.


    Tang Mianmian was holding a dagger. After losing his multi-purpose knife, he reced it with a dagger and said that he was going to move towards the route of Assassin. Fortunately, he was strong and fast enough from the effective special training of the Reincarnation Team... but all his skills were useless after encountering zombies.


    Regardless of whether it is Xiao Tangqiu or Tang Mianmian, they both had difficulties fighting. Their weapons were not of much use despite having been specially modified against the undying and relentless things like zombies.


    Xiao Tangqiu made a few mistakes at first, but gradually he was able to end one in one shot.


    Tang Mianmian had it even more difficult because he could only attack close-up and would be sshed with dirty blood if he wasn¡¯t careful.


    Both of them were miserable, but they could only harden their scalps and carry on.


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly discovered something. He looked up and was shocked, ¡°The sun has set! It¡¯s dark!¡±


    Everyone raised their heads at the same time, and sure enough, the huge setting sun that was hanging above them just before had disappeared at some point and the sky waspletely dark.


    It was dark.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes met. Anyone who had seen zombies films before knew that usually, when the sky got dark, the ferocity of the zombies would double.


    ¡°Not good, it¡¯s dark...¡± Xue Junli also frowned heavily, apparently thinking the same as Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian.


    Just then, another ck subway arrived.


    As soon as the doors opened, countless pale-faced sharp-teethed zombies rushed out. Who knew whether it was in their heads, but this wave of zombies really seemed more fierce than before!


    ¡°What to do?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned.


    He looked unwitting again at the ck-haired Miko.


    Although the situation was getting worse, the ck-haired Miko still hadn¡¯t budged. She still remained firmly on the front lines, clearing the zombies, regardless that her Miko garb and sword were alreadypletely covered with the zombies¡¯ ck blood.

 Chapter 61.3

    <h4>Chapter 61.3</h4>


    ¡°That girl is way too aggressive!¡±


    Tang Mianmian whistled as he kicked away a zombie rushing over him.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have the same feelings as him, but he also admired the Miko. If it was him, there was absolutely no way for him to persist in fighting for so long, not to mention maintaining that strength after fighting for so long. It was impossible for a person without a firm belief.


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and shouted at Tang Mianmian, ¡°Continue!¡±


    Even Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were able to grit their teeth and continue, the Reincarnation Team also didn¡¯t back down. They started a long battle of attrition.


    The most lethal ones were Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli. Both of them were at the frontlines with the Miko, killing the charging zombies with their strongest attacks. They were followed by Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu who teamed up to clean up the leftover zombies. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were responsible for the stragglers... As for the most powerful killing machine Shen Yuan, he silently stood aside and ate candy. Whether he took a shot or notpletely depended on his mood. Generally, he only did something when Xiao Tangqiu missed.


    It was getting darker and darker, and the moon was rising.


    The attacks of the zombies were obviously getting stronger. Both Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were battered and bruised. At first, they were worried whether they would also be zombies if they were scratched... but that Miko was also injured a dozen times. If they were going to be zombies from getting scratched, the Miko would be the first to be a zombie.


    Despite this, they were still cautious. Even if they couldn¡¯t be infected, there was still tetanus or rabies or something. Who knew how much bacteria there were in the zombie¡¯s ws!


    The night was getting darker and the full moon hung high above.


    ¡°The moon is so big ...¡± Tang Mianmian felt numb to hitting zombies and could only find a topic to chat with Xiao Tangqiu to keep focused.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°The sun just now was also very big. It¡¯s probably the setting in this instance.¡±


    Tang Mianmian yawned, ¡°I understand that, but why is the moon so big?¡±


    The two of them had long been sleepy and tired. They would have dropped to the ground and fallen asleep if it wasn¡¯t for bitter force of will. The zombies didn¡¯t stop all night, simply endless!


    The others also looked tired, and at this moment Xue Junli said, ¡°Drink some medicine.¡±


    As soon as his voice fell, he took out a small blue bottle of medicine from his space tool and drank it. Duan Hongzhen, Yu Fuling, and Sai Lulu saw and they also took out a small blue bottle.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian nced at each other and they simrly found the little blue medicine bottle. They drank it in one breath. It was icy cold. After drinking, the original fatigue was swept away and their lost energy was instantly regained.


    ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s a magical potion!¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes brightened.


    Xue Junli nced at Tang Mianmian and said lightly, ¡°Don¡¯t drink too much, know when to stop.¡±


    Tang Mianmian asked curiously, ¡°What if I drink too much? What happens?¡±


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°...You won¡¯t sleep at night.¡±


    Tang Mianmian grinned, ¡°You mean I can¡¯t sleep for a few days and nights? Isn¡¯t that a good thing! We can have more time to do the tasks when we enter an instance! Good thing! Give a few more bottles!¡±


    Xue Junli calmly looked at Tang Mianmian, ¡°There are side effects.¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked, ¡°What side effects?¡±


    Xue Junli gave Tang Mianmian a cold look, ¡°I invented it.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...¡±


    He gave a dryugh, ¡°... I didn¡¯t expect that not only are you a genius hacker, you¡¯re also a great pharmacist!¡±


    Xue Junli spoke coldly, ¡°I¡¯m not a pharmacist, I just improved the original form from the City of the Abyss. It was notpletely sessful, so there are side effects.¡±


    Tang Mianmian said weakly, ¡°Although there are side effects, it has been quite sessful ...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t stop! I can¡¯t hold it anymore!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu interrupted the conversation between the two, ¡°Continue! There¡¯s more and more zombies!¡±


    Although they regained some strength after drinking the medicine, the zombies still came from a steady stream of subways, giving them no room to breathe. There were actually even more zombies.


    Xue Junli and Tang Mianmian no longer chatted and began to focus on fighting.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know how long they had fought in the bloody battle or how many zombies they killed. They could only bitterly grit their teeth. When they were tired, they drank a bottle of medicine. Once they recovered, they continued to kill zombies.


    After killing for so long, Xiao Tangqiu felt numb. His arms were stiff and almost impossible to lift. Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth was cracked and bleeding, but they could only grit their teeth and carry on, waiting for a dawn that might nevere.


    Just when they were almost in despair, dawn suddenly appeared in the sky.


    ¡°Light... it¡¯s light... is it going to be daylight soon?¡± Xiao Tangqiu mumbled incredulously.


    Tang Mianmian looked up and couldn¡¯t help it, ¡°It¡¯s light! It¡¯s really light! It¡¯s about to be dawn!¡±


    The others also saw the light of dawn and all showed joy. Although they didn¡¯t know whether these zombies would continue to appear, the dawn seemed to make people see hope.


    It was almost dawn.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked towards the Miko. The Miko fought tirelessly for a night without stopping to rest at all. Although she was obviously very tired by now, her gaze was still very firm.


    But when she saw the dawning sky, not only did she not show the slightest joy in her eyes, her gaze actually became more heavy.


    His heart couldn¡¯t help but sink, wasn¡¯t dawn a good thing?


    The moon that hung above them all night disappeared at some point and the sky was gradually getting brighter.


    Another ck subway approached them but disappeared just as the doors were about to open.


    When the subway and track disappeared, the tform they stood on began to be destroyed and worn-out, turning into an abandoned tform that had obviously not been used for many years.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back and found that all the zombies that they had killedst night, those zombies that had piled up into the mountains, were gone.


    ¡°It¡¯s over! It¡¯s over! It¡¯s finally over!¡± Tang Mianmian screamed in excitement. He swung his dagger all night and his hands were almost worn out. Now everything was finally over!


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not that simple.¡±


    Tang Mianmian froze. He looked at the Miko subconsciously and saw the Miko staring in the direction of the disappeared ck subway.


    After a moment, she gave a long sigh.


    ¡°...Failed again.¡±


    Failed again? What did she mean by failed again? They persisted until dawn, until all zombies had disappeared!


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but want to argue, but didn¡¯t dare to yell at a Miko, so he swallowed back his words.


    Xue Junli frowned, and he asked the Miko, ¡°What failed again? What failed? Why failed?¡±


    The Miko didn¡¯t answer, she just nced at them indifferently.


    ¡°What failed?¡± Duan Hongzhen was about to vomit blood from their night. When he heard the Miko say ¡°Failed¡±, he really vomited blood. ¡°Hey! Tell us the truth!¡±


    The Miko still didn¡¯t speak. She looked up at the sky and sighed again, ¡°The sky... is bright...¡±


    ¡°Hey! Talk!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly had a feeling that maybe it wasn¡¯t that the Miko didn¡¯t want to tell them, but couldn¡¯t tell them...


    He hesitated and tentatively asked a question, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    The Miko looked at Xiao Tangqiu indifferently, but this time, she replied, ¡°Kisaragi.¡±


    ¡°Kisaragi?¡± Xiao Tangqiu repeated.


    ¡°I¡¯m the Miko of the Kisaragi Shrine,¡± the Miko¡®s gaze was indifferent as she spoke, ¡°...My name is Kisaragi.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Tang Mianmian, this girl really was a Miko! But looking at her outfit, there is no other possibility than a Miko! No one was bored enough to go into an instance to cosy, right?


    ¡°Kisaragi?¡± Xue Junli frowned slightly. ¡°Then can you tell us ...¡±


    ¡°Shh,¡± Kisaragi put a finger on her lips, interrupted Xue Junli¡¯s words, and then sighed softly, ¡°It¡¯s dawn ...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯sst impression of Miko Kisaragi was her indifferent gaze, as indifferent as possible... the next second, he felt another strong dizziness.


    His vision went dark again, and his consciousness fell into the abyss.


    When he opened his eyes again, he found that he actually returned to the tunnel. The familiar dark tunnel.


    Why was he back again?


    And why was it this tunnel?


    Xiao Tangqiu was confused. Fortunately this time, he was still not alone.


    ¡°Fuck! Why is it this fucking tunnel again!¡± Duan Hongzhen¡¯s voice sounded from nearby, ¡°Why is it this tunnel every time I open my eyes!¡±


    Soon, Tang Mianmian¡¯s voice also rang, ¡°Fuck! Why is it this ce again? Is this the ce where newbies spawn? Is our automatic return to the city bound here? ...That¡¯s not right! We didn¡¯t die just now! Didn¡¯t die before either! ¡±


    At this moment, suddenly a hand firmly grasped Xiao Tangqiu, using so much strength that his wrist bones were almost crushed.


    Xiao Tangqiu was startled, but when he turned back to meet Shen Yuan¡¯s dark eyes, he felt relieved andforted Shen Yuan, ¡°It¡¯s all right, I¡¯m here, I¡¯m here.¡±


    Shen Yuan stared at Xiao Tangqiu for a long time and finally determined that he had not disappeared before he reluctantly hummed.


    ¡°Qiuqiu? Qiuqiu are you there?¡±


    ¡°I am here!¡±


    Soon, the Reincarnation Team gathered again. In addition to them, the newbies also returned to the tunnel.


    When the nitpicking man saw them looking so messed up, he immediatelyughed at them, ¡°You guys didn¡¯t fight with those zombies all night, right? So much effort for what! Those zombies were endless! Could you level up from the experience? Or did the zombies drop crystal nuclei? ¡±


    Xue Junli nced coldly at the nitpicking man and ignored him, turning around to address the rest of the Reincarnation Team, ¡°Let¡¯s go and find the exit.¡±


    Seeing that he had been ignored, the nitpicker was dissatisfied, ¡°You worked hard one whole night for nothing. We didn¡¯t do anything, didn¡¯t kill even one zombie, but didn¡¯t we survive just as well?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen rolled his eyes. After fighting all night, he was so tired that he didn¡¯t even want to move his fingers, otherwise he would definitely give this stupid newbie a lesson.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly stopped his steps ¡°Wait! One night...¡±


    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s one whole night!¡±


    ¡°What about one night?¡± Tang Mianmian looked puzzled.


    ¡°... From the time we left the tunnel to the time we returned to the tunnel, it was within the limit of a night. From the moment the sun set in the west to the moment the sun rose... it was one night. This is a cycle, this instance only has night, there¡¯s no day! ¡±


    Was this what ¡°night¡± meant in ¡°Hundred Ghosts Night Parade¡±?

 Chapter 62.1

    <h4>Chapter 62.1</h4>


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...then what?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Then, there is no then.¡±


    Everyone fell into silence at the same time. A few secondster, Xue Junli said, ¡°Although I don¡¯t know what this information is useful for, let¡¯s keep it in mind.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu scratched his face. He had a feeling that things were not as simple as he just said, but he couldn¡¯t tell why.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s head out along the tunnel for now.¡±


    Xue Junli made a decision.


    At that moment, the nitpicker suddenly wondered, ¡°What if we don¡¯t go out? What will happen if we stay in this tunnel? What do you think of us staying in the tunnel?¡±


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°Nothing.¡±


    The man snorted, ¡°Do you think the decisions you make must be right? You killed zombies all night yesterday, but didn¡¯t we do nothing and still survive? You really don¡¯t understand how to be adaptable! Stubborn! ¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu knew at first nce that this guy must be an arrogant fight picker, always needing to fight against others. He liked to say the opposite of others to show off his specialness. Of course, he obviously did not realize that he was picking pointless fights, and even felt smug andcent that he was definitely special.


    He shook his head and sighed. This was the hardest group of newbies he had ever led.


    After the nitpicker spoke, the other newbies were also eager to stay. After all, they had just tasted sweetness. Xiao Tangqiu and others had killed zombies all night to earn a chance to live, but they did nothing and survived. They couldn¡¯t help but feel lucky. No one knew what would happen after leaving the tunnel. If they chose to stay this time, maybe they could escape the danger again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go out! Who knows what kind of monster zombies are out there! It¡¯s better to stay!¡±


    ¡°I also want to stay ...¡±


    ¡°Then I also...¡±


    Xue Junli looked at the newbies coldly and said nothing, apparently not nning to say anything.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly. Naturally, he could guess what kind of luck these people hoped for. It was nothing more than lying down and winning without doing anything... But how could there be such a good thing in the instance worlds?


    ¡°You guys, let¡¯s go.¡± Xue Junli turned and spoke to the Reincarnation Team¡¯s people.


    Duan Hongzhen yawned, ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s see if we can find a ce to sleep after leaving this damned ce. I¡¯m so sleepy.¡±


    The newbie suddenly froze. Right, how could there be anything like a hotel in this damned ce? At most, there was only a broken wooden bed in a broken wooden hut in the countryside. And if they went with the veterans, they weren¡¯t qualified to sleep on the wooden bed and could only use the floor... If only the floor was avable, wasn¡¯t it the same as here? They could even take up a little more space on the tunnel floor!


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ll stay!¡±


    The nitpicker smirked, that¡¯s more like it!


    Duan Hongzhen rolled his eyes, turned around and followed Xue Junli and others. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and pulled Shen Yuan away too.


    The newbies and the veteranspletely split into two camps and started to act independently.


    Before leaving, Xiao Tangqiu nced at the group of newbies left in the tunnel and saw that they really started to ready the floor, looking to be going to sleep on the floor... he didn¡¯t know whether he should admire them for being big-hearted, actually daring to fall asleep in this dangerous instance environment.


    Soon, they no longer saw the newbies. For Xue Junli and others, this incident obviously made no difference.


    ¡°I want to find a ce to sleep soon...¡± Duan Hongzhen yawned again.


    Xue Junli sneered, ¡°Even if you find a ce to sleep, can you sleep?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°There¡¯s you, why wouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    Just then, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°If we see the ck subway again... should we get on?¡±


    They met the ck subway in this tunnel yesterday. After the ck subway was boarded, that following series of events happened... and Xiao Tangqiu had already boarded the ck subway as early as the first day of the instance. Now, he was full of trauma about the ck subway. If he could, he really didn¡¯t want to get on that ck subway anymore.


    But obviously, that was impossible.


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°Of course we have to get on, it should be an important clue to the plot.¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly said, ¡°But we have walked for so long and without seeing railroad tracks ...¡±


    They had been walking in the tunnel for some time, but it was still only a dark tunnel around them and they didn¡¯t see the railroad track from yesterday.


    ¡°Yesterday, the ck subway appeared out of thin air,¡± Xiao Tangqiu thought for a while, ¡°Maybe it will suddenly appear ...¡±


    Tang Mianmian replied without thought, ¡°A cafe on the corner?¡±


    A cold wind blew by.


    Shen Yuan, who had been silent, snorted, ¡°How can there be a coffee shop here?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly, ¡°We¡¯re talking about a song.¡±


    Shen Yuan humphed, ¡°Don¡¯t say anything I don¡¯t understand!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about tough, but then suddenly realized, wait a minute! There was cold wind just now?


    A wind was blowing in! What did this mean?


    Sure enough, the next second, Duan Hongzhen cried out in surprise, ¡°...There is light! It seems that the exit is ahead!¡±


    The group sped up and ran over to see if it really was the tunnel exit. Maybe they could leave the tunnel soon.


    ¡°Strange, why didn¡¯t we see the tracks and the ck subway?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked dumbly.


    The others were also uncertain of the situation, and at this moment, Tang Mianmian who ran out of the tunnel first yelled, ¡°Fuckfuck! It¡¯s the hills ahead! The hills are so familiar! We seem to be back in that small vige again! ¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly ran out of the tunnel and looked up. There really were hills one after another. These hills with barren vegetation were exactly what they saw when they first arrived in this instance.


    They continued to move forward and it became more and more familiar as they walked. Suddenly, Shen Yuan stepped back and said coldly, ¡°There¡¯s someone ahead.¡±


    As soon as Shen Yuan had spoken, everyone was alert. Who would appear in such a damned ce?


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian held their breath at the same time and stared. They immediately looked in the direction that Shen Yuan was looking at, then they startled at the same time. There was a strangely shaped person ahead... Wait! Not one person! But two people!


    Since it is one person carrying another person, at first nce, that person looked very strange.


    On a closer look, it turned out that it was a man who was struggling hard and carrying an old woman with a humpback on his back. When Xiao Tangqiu looked at it from afar earlier, he thought it was a spiritual tortoise carrying its heavy shell... He couldn¡¯t help awkwardly scratching his face. Fortunately he didn¡¯t shout out of impulse just now!


    Everyone else saw this weird scene and couldn¡¯t help but look at each other. They just came out of that weird tunnel, and they saw this scene... To call it strange, it¡¯s not strange, but to call it normal, it wasn¡¯t normal either. Would normal peoplee to such strange ces with people on their backs?


    Tang Mianmian suddenly cried out, ¡°Wait a minute! The man seems a little familiar... Wait! The olddy also seems a little familiar!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look and they did! The olddy was the grandma they met on the hills when they came to this instance on the first day, and the man was also the unlucky man who had been chopped into unconsciousness that day. They were all acquaintances!


    ¡°Strange, where is the man going to take that old woman?¡± Tang Mianmian frowned. ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t that old woman his mother? Where is he going to carry his mother?¡±


    An answer suddenly appeared in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind, but he hesitated. Instead of telling the conjecture in his heart, he turned his head and asked Xue Junli, ¡°Should we follow them?¡±


    Xue Junli nodded, ¡°Follow and take a look, these two may be important plot characters.¡±


    Regardless of whether they were important plot characters or not, those two were the only two people they couldmunicate with so far, so they had to follow.


    The Reincarnation Team looked at each other, nodded, and quietly followed.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian also followed carefully, they were the only people in this team who needed to worry about their stealth abilities. Fortunately, the wind here was constantly blowing, sometimes calm and sometimes violent, more than enough to cover their movements.


    The man carrying the olddy with the humpback was struggling to move forward, and the olddy stayed silent on his back the entire way. Although Xiao Tangqiu could not see the expressions of the two people, he could guess that their expressions should not be very good.


    The two remained silent until they reached the bottom of a hill.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly whispered, ¡°This is the hill where we met the grandma that day...¡± They met the olddy on that hill and rescued the olddy from under the wolf¡¯s jaws. Instead of getting the olddy¡¯s gratitude, she cursed them.


    ¡°I remember it too. It¡¯s that hill!¡± Tang Mianmian echoed.


    The man carrying the humpbacked olddy came to the foot of the hill and suddenly stopped.


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback, were they discovered?


    Fortunately, it was just a false rm. The next moment, the man suddenly put the olddy on his back down.


    After the olddynded, the man knelt down in front of the old woman and burst into tears.


    Here¡¯s the song that TMM was quoting lyrics from:


    https://.bilibili/video/av88176686?from=search&seid=10361416970369612315

 Chapter 62.2

    <h4>Chapter 62.2</h4>


    Everyone was surprised, what was this plot development?


    Yu Fuling frowned and moved her fingers. The next second, a silver sh flicked out from her fingertips and rose into the sky.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. At this moment, everyone, including him, looked at Yu Fuling. She turned her hand and took out another silver trinket.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look and realized that it was a small silver bug that looked a bit like a seven-stardybug, but the idea was quickly overturned.


    This silver bug was obviously not a bug because the next second, a faint sound came out from the ¡°mouth¡± of the bug.


    ¡°...mother! Sorry! I can¡¯t do it! I still can¡¯t do it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu reacted instantly, this was a gadget simr to a monitoring device!


    Everyone else¡¯s expressions were calm and seemed used to this. He silently looked at Tang Mianmian and Shen Yuan. Except for the nk expression on Shen Yuan¡¯s face, Tang Mianmian was also stunned. He felt relieved.


    It wasn¡¯t just him that had never seen the world!


    No wonder Yu Fuling always seemed to know the area, she had such an artifact! ...Was this a special prop?


    Xiao Tangqiu thought for a while, then quickly perked his ears and looked forward.


    Although the audio and video were a bit out of sync, the information was still clear!


    ¡°Mother, I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡± The man wept and kept apologizing as if doing something extremely unfilial.


    The old woman was facing Xiao Tangqiu and the others so they could see the indignant expression on her face, ¡°...Taro! How can you be so weak!¡±


    ¡°Sorry! I can¡¯t do it! I can¡¯t do it!¡± The man wept loudly and hugged the grandma¡¯s thigh.


    ¡°Taro! Don¡¯t be cowardly! You can¡¯t be cowardly!¡± The olddy was very agitated and her wrinkles seemed to be rippling with agitation. ¡°This had been the tradition of our Hundred Ghost Town for hundreds of years. It can¡¯t be given up! Hurry! Get me back to the Holy Mountain! Just like you did that day! ¡±


    ¡°Mother! I can¡¯t do it!¡±


    The olddy scolded, ¡°What did I teach you when you were a kid? Did you forget what I said? Are you no longer listening to me!¡±


    ¡°But mother... I can¡¯t do it!¡±


    The man cried bitterly, ¡°But I can¡¯t...¡±


    ¡°Have you forgotten how your father carried your grandma to the Holy Mountain?¡± The olddy nced down at the son hugging her thigh, and her tone suddenly calmed, filled with kindness and love, ¡°This has been our Hundred Ghosts Town¡¯s tradition for hundreds of years. I have told you since you were a kid to eat well and be strong so that when you grew up, you would have the strength to carry me to the mountain... This day is finally here. Taro, look at yourself. It¡¯s fine even if you are so thin, but how can you be so weak?¡±


    The man shook his head frantically, ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you do it that day? Today you just need to act like that day...¡± The olddy gentlyforted her son, ¡°I will stay on the Holy Mountain forever and bless you with the mountain god ...¡±


    The man struggled for a while and suddenly cried, ¡°There are no mountain gods on the mountain, only wolves!¡±


    The olddy¡¯s expression suddenly changed and she pped her son. ¡°Shut up! How can you offend the mountain god?¡±


    The man covered his face and cried, ¡°Mother! Let¡¯s leave here! Let¡¯s leave Hundred Ghosts Town! I heard that there is no such tradition outside...¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± The old woman glowered, ¡°You can¡¯t leave Hundred Ghosts Town! No one can leave Hundred Ghosts Town! As long as you enter Hundred Ghosts Town, you can never leave!¡±


    The man shook.


    The olddy¡¯s tone gradually calmed down again, ¡°I met your aunt Junko that day and she wore her favorite kimono... Ichiro was braver than you even as children. When can you be brave like Ichiro? ¡±


    The conversation between the two came to an abrupt halt. After a while, the man slowly picked up the humpbacked olddy and climbed up the mountain with difficulty.


    The setting sun, originally hanging on the mountainside, gradually descended.


    The scorching sun stained this hill called Holy Mountain red.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the mother and son in front of them silently, his heart like a stormy sea.


    Although he already had a vague idea, after knowing the truth, he was quite shocked... It turned out that this Hundred Ghosts Town had such a strange and terrible tradition!


    ¡°Fuck! So much information!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was also stunned.


    ¡°They¡¯re going up the hill, hurry and follow.¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s expression was heavy.


    With that order, the group immediately followed.


    This time they didn¡¯t need to worry about losing them. Hiking was already a strenuous task, not to mention that the man was carrying an olddy on his back, he was faltering and had difficulty moving forward.


    The crowd followed not too far or close. The people ahead climbed too slowly and they had to slow down the pace of following. They even chatted because they were too bored.


    Tang Mianmian turned his head and asked Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Qiuqiu, what do you think of this?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pondered for a moment and replied, ¡°Actually, I have heard of simr customs and traditions before...¡±


    Tang Mianmian was immediately curious, ¡°Oh? What about?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°I heard that there used to be a poor, small mountain vige. The whole vige was very poor so they would carry the elderly who could no longer work up the mountain and let them survive on their own to save on food and let the young people live...¡±


    Tang Mianmian was stunned, ¡°Fuck! Isn¡¯t that abandoning the old? They can just watch their parents die?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, ¡°For them, this should have be a tradition? They have abandoned their parents, but they know that they will also be abandoned by their children in the future. Their parents were sacrificed and at the same time they will be sacrificed for their children in the future.¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°What kind of fucked up feudal and barbaric tradition is this? Even the poorest shouldn¡¯t do this! What¡¯s the difference between this and personally killing their parents?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°This custom was too strange so I remembered it after one look. Compared with the era of trading children for food¡¯s simple and crude cruelty in the 1980s and 1990s, this peaceful cruelty... seems crueler.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen came over and interjected, ¡°What¡¯s going on with that mountain god? Is there really a mountain god in this damned ce?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe it¡¯s a local legend. Perhaps the ancestors of Hundred Ghosts Town made up the story that there is a Holy Mountain near the vige in order to disguise and beautify their actions of abandoning their elderly. Since there is a mountain god on the Holy Mountain, they weren¡¯t abandoning the old, they were sending the old to apany the mountain god. The old people sent to the ¡®Holy Mountain¡¯ will protect their children and grandchildren with the mountain god and bless this Hundred Ghosts Town...¡±


    Tang Mianmian snorted immediately, ¡°If I were an elderly sent to this deserted area, I would never bless my rubbish offspring and that shitty Hundred Ghosts Town! You killed me and even want my blessing? Peh! You wish! I will curse you to die an ugly death! ¡±


    Xue Junli sneered, ¡°Are the old people sent to the mountains really innocent? Haven¡¯t they abandoned their parents before?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was struck dumb, Xue Junli¡¯s words really made sense... Those old people who were abandoned on the ¡°Holy Mountain¡±, each of them once carried the old people from their home to the ¡°Holy Mountain¡± and abandoned them.


    Were those old people innocent? No, as long as they were vigers in Hundred Ghosts Town, no one was innocent. They used to be young and once were the young people who carried their elderly to the hills. And now, the young people who carried them to the mountains would also grow old sooner orter and be the next old person to be carried uphill.


    Although they had not stained their hands with blood, they had still fallen into the quagmire of sin, and each of them was a part of that cycle of sin.


    No one was innocent.


    Even that grandma was not innocent. She had witnessed the death of her grandmother and mother and thus benefited. She survived eating the food saved by her elder¡¯s ¡°self-sacrifice¡±, and now it was her turn. She became this ¡°self-sacrificing¡± person.


    Did she really want to die?


    It probably was not the case. Everyone was afraid of death, but she knew that if she didn¡¯t do this, the food at home may not be enough and her son may starve. The worst was to be ¡°non-traditional¡± and being punished for challenging the authority of tradition.


    Everyone was silent. Xiao Tangqiu was lost in thought. The man was still climbing up the mountain with his mother on his back not far away. He was exhausted and still didn¡¯t stop. He didn¡¯t seem to dare to stop. Maybe he was afraid that once he stopped, he would never have the courage to carry his mother on the top.


    The olddy was so relieved that she sometimes wiped the sweat on her son¡¯s face with a sleeve.


    The sky was getting dark and the two of them were getting closer to the peak of the hill.


    The man¡¯s steps were getting heavier and slower and the olddy suddenly spoke again, ¡°We¡¯re about to reach the top of the hill, Taro is indeed my good son...¡±


    The man gritted his teeth and said nothing.


    ¡°In the future, once mom is gone, Taro needs to take good care of himself, eat on time, and wear more clothes...¡± The olddy was like an ordinary mother about to go on a long journey, telling her son to wear more clothes to eat more.


    Xiao Tangqiu was also feeling down. He couldn¡¯t help but think of his mother and Meng Xinghe¡¯s mother... Thinking of this, he couldn¡¯t help but look at Shen Yuan and saw that Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze was heavy and thoughtful.


    His heart suddenly jumped, ¡°Shen ... Shen Yuan, did you think of something?¡±


    T/N: To rify, the idiom and the reference to the 80s, 90s are two separate situations. The idiom just means ¡°life situation being so devastating that people will even go to the extent of selling and eating their children just to survive¡±. The 80s, 90s thing refers to a series of investigations and reveals that happened in the 80s and 90s regarding the Cultural Revolution in China where it¡¯s discovered that there was an area where people were encouraged and threatened into cannibalizing others in order to show loyalty to the revolutionary cause. It¡¯s suspected that thousands of people participated in this in the Guangxi Province in southern China in thete 1960¡¯s.


    You can read it in more detail here. <u><strong>WARNINGS FOR DETAILS OF RITUAL CANNIBALISM AND GENERAL INHUMANE ACTIONS!!</strong></u> Don¡¯t read the article if you might be sensitive to the topic!!!

 Chapter 62.3

    <h4>Chapter 62.3</h4>


    Something strange shed in Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes, he blinked and asked Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Did I think of something?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Did you remember anything?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu and asked, ¡°Should I remember something?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu forced out a smile, ¡°Nothing, I misunderstood.¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu silently and suddenly said, ¡°Jiujiu should also pay more attention to me and don¡¯t keep making eyes at that guy.¡±


    ...That guy? Xiao Tangqiu watched Shen Yuan silently and pointed at Tang Mianmian, ¡°That¡¯s not making eyes at, it¡¯s just normalmunicating through eye contact.¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu with dark eyes, ¡°Then Jiujiu canmunicate with my eyes instead.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Shen Yuan for a few seconds and quickly looked away in silence, his heart inexplicably having a jolt.


    He regretted it as soon as he looked away... Damn, would Shen Yuan feel awkward now?


    Fortunately, at this moment, Duan Hongzhen suddenly gave a loud whisper, ¡°We¡¯re at the peak!¡±


    Everyone looked up. Sure enough, a huge full moon hung not far away with nothing blocking it.


    They had reached the top of the hill.


    For some reason, the huge bright moon that hung above the peak was far scarier than the pitch-ck night. The moonlight should give people the feeling of quiet gentleness, but, perhaps because it was huge to the extent of strange, it felt dangerous.


    There were only the man and the old woman at the top of the hill under the moonlight. After the man put the old woman down, he hesitated for a long time, not wanting to leave.


    The olddy smiled, ¡°Taro, you should go. It¡¯s time to go home.¡±


    The man hesitated for a long time and finally turned and left under the olddy¡¯s urging eyes. His steps were heavy and uneven as he went down the hill.


    The olddy watched the man leave. It wasn¡¯t until the man¡¯s backpletely disappeared from her sight that she dropped the smile on her face, her expression bing calm and stiff.


    She began to calmly wait for death toe.


    Tang Mianmian who was hiding behind the grass couldn¡¯t help but ask Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°What should we do next? Just watch her be bitten to death by wolves?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°Even if we save her again, I¡¯m afraid she will still do it... because this is the¡± belief ¡°in her heart. Simply saving her is probably useless.¡±


    Tang Mianmian frowned, ¡°Are we supposed to prove to her that the mountain god does not exist?¡±


    Even though the olddy was ready to dedicate herself to the mountain god, she still screamed and fainted when she saw such a terrible giant wolf.


    Wait! Wrong! There seemed to be something wrong!


    Xiao Tangqiu let out a yell, ¡°That¡¯s not a wolf!¡±


    This ck wolf was much bigger than an ordinary wolf and it was not the wolf that killed Junko that day! It¡¯s wrong! This monster was not a wolf at all! Not only did it have five big tails raised towards the sky, but it also had a human face! And it¡¯s more like a dog than a wolf!


    This was a monster with a human face!


    The others naturally also saw this. Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows and rushed forward. Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment but also followed, one hand pulling Tang Mianmian and the other pulling Shen Yuan along.


    Because of their sudden appearance, the human-faced dog monster was forced to stop attacking the olddy. It roared in rage, demonstratively shaking five big tails at them.


    ¡°Fuck! What kind of monster is this!¡± Tang Mianmian shouted in shock, ¡°Not only are there five tails, it even has a human face! Isn¡¯t it only foxes that have so many tails!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu forced himself to calm down, ¡°It seems that there really is a dog monster with a human face in the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade...¡±


    ¡°What is it, what is it!¡± Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t wait to ask.


    Xiao Tangqiu tried hard to recall, ¡°Peng Hou, it¡¯s originally from In Search of the Supernatural. It¡¯s a monster with a human¡¯s face and a dog¡¯s body, grown from ancient trees, and its five tails each have one of the five powers of wind, water, fire, thunder and earth...¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...Fuck! It¡¯s too strange!¡±


    Just after Xiao Tangqiu spoke, Duan Hongzhenunched an attack on the human-faced dog monster. He moved his fingers and a small knife was immediately shot right towards the center of the monster¡¯s head!


    However, the monster was unscathed. It waspletely enraged by Duan Hongzhen.


    ¡°Roar!¡± It roared angrily, fanning one of its tails furiously. A gust of wind instantly rose!


    Seeing the violent wind rushing towards him, Duan Hongzhen and the others quickly avoided it. Xiao Tangqiu was quickly pulled aside under Shen Yuan¡¯s sharp eyes and quick reflexes. Only Tang Mianmian was unable to dodge and was immediately flipped around for several meters before being stopped by a tree.


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...Fuck! Why is it only me! Who! Couldn¡¯t! Dodge!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt guilty for a moment and rushed to pull Tang Mianmian up. Meanwhile, Duan Hongzhen flung three small knives at the monster without hesitation.


    The monster roared and dodged, swinging another tail and water rushed towards them.


    Xiao Tangqiu was pulled away again by Shen Yuan. Tang Mianmian, who barely managed to get up, was hit again by the water.


    He suddenly swallowed a big mouthful of water. Fortunately, the terrain was rugged and the water could not gather, quickly flowing away. But he was still choked up and coughed violently, ¡°Cough! Why is it me again!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt even more guilty and wanted to make up for it. At this moment, Xue Junli also shot ¡ª he raised his hand with an assault rifle and fired at the monster!


    Countless bullets hit the monster, making it scream and roll in pain.


    But although it was in pain, there were no obvious wounds on it. Ordinary bullets obviously didn¡¯t do anything to this kind of thick-skinned monster.


    The monster rolled in ce for a while and shook another tail in anger. A rush of mes rose into the sky, rushing towards Xiao Tangqiu and the others!


    Xiao Tangqiu was quickly pulled away by Shen Yuan again, but this time he remembered to pull Tang Mianmian, too. The three of them lined up like pulling radishes. Tang Mianmian was finally saved from torture, but his clothes were still burned full of holes by the flying sparks.


    ¡°Owowowow! It¡¯s hot! It¡¯s hot!¡± Tang Mianmian looked down and noticed that sparks hadnded on his clothes and were about to set him on fire. Fortunately, there was still some water on the ground and he rolled around on the spot.


    Meanwhile, Xue Junli had reced his weapon with a bazooka.


    Boom!


    The monster was blown up, the fur on his body disintegrated and it was beaten down for a few seconds. But it recovered again soon, roaring and waving his tail again!


    Xue Junli had a heavy expression, even the bazooka was useless! This thing was too hardy and tough!


    Xiao Tangqiu eyelid twitched, ¡°I have a bad feeling... Tang Mianmian! Get up! Water...¡±


    But Tang Mianmian¡¯s response was too slow. The monster¡¯s tail waved and a blue current instantly spread out!


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Tang Mianmian was like a fish that encountered a power grid in the water, instantly shocking his hair upright and passing out.


    ¡°...is conductive.¡± It was toote.


    Seeing that four attacks had no effect, the monster was surprised and angry. It roared and shook itsst tail!


    After a moment, the sky went dark and the ground rolled!


    The ground under their feet began to shake and several deep cracks appeared!


    ¡°This is itsst ability? No!¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned. ¡°This is... this is an earthquake!¡± When the human-face dog monster used the power of all five tails at the same time, it could cause a huge earthquake!


    Not just the top of the hill, the whole hill was shaking!


    Under this violent shaking, the olddy and Tang Mianmian who were passed out were woken up. Tang Mianmian looked at the horror scene of the moving earth and his eyes once again rolled up. Xiao Tangqiu rushed up and pinched him with force!


    The olddy shouted in excitement and terror after seeing the monster, ¡°Mountain God! Mountain God! It is really a Mountain God! The Mountain God of the Holy Mountain! Bless my son! Bless Hundred Ghost Town! I am willing to stay here with you forever! ¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wore a chilling expression, ¡°That¡¯s not a mountain god at all! It¡¯s a monster!¡±


    But the olddy didn¡¯t listen at all. She straightened her body desperately and ran towards the monster with all her strength. She didn¡¯t stoop and limp, as if she was young again, ¡°Mountain God! Mountain God!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t go!¡±


    But no one could stop her.


    Just when the olddy was about to run in front of the monster, a person suddenly rushed out and blocked her way!


    The olddy was shocked, ¡°Taro?¡±


    The person standing in front of her was her always cowardly and timid son. It turned out that after walking a while, he returned the same way and secretly hid nearby.


    ¡°Mother...¡± The man shook with his arms spread to block the olddy¡¯s way, ¡°Don¡¯t go...¡±


    ¡°Taro! Go back! Go home!¡± The old woman screamed in anger.


    The man shivered, ¡°Mother...¡±


    But the next second, his head was bitten off by the monster!


    ¡°¨CRoar!¡±


    Blood sttered the olddy¡¯s face. After a moment, she copsed onto the ground, her expression frozen.


    T/N: Sorry for the dyed post, some unexpected things happened in the family so we all got busy for a while. Also, there were some questions about the whole ¡°80¡¯s, 90¡¯s¡± reference in the previous post. I¡¯ve edited it and added in a more detailed T/N at the end of the previous chapter to exin the details.

 Chapter 63.1

    <h4>Chapter 63.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t expect that the man hadn¡¯t left. He actually kept hiding nearby to rush out at the critical moment, blocking the blow of the human-faced dog monster... It turned out that even a cowardly person had such a moment of recklessness.


    The olddy who copsed to the ground finally reacted after a long time, letting out a hysterical scream, ¡°Taro!!!¡±


    She lunged towards the man¡¯s corpse in tears, only feeling hot blood on her hands.


    The olddy cried with grief, hugging the headless corpse while the monster was still chewing Taro¡¯s head.


    All of this happened too quickly and Xue Junli and others couldn¡¯t react. When they regained their wits, the olddy had already charged towards the monster in anger.


    ¡°Give me back Taro! You monster!¡±


    The faltering olddy with a hunchback had never acted so quickly and explosively before. Her grief and indignation of the loss of her child made her lose it,pletely shattering her ignorant faith. At this moment it wasn¡¯t the ¡°mountain god¡± they believed in for generations before her eyes but a monster who ate her son!


    The monster had no intention of dodging. It swallowed Taro¡¯s head with a grunt and opened the huge, bloody mouthzily as if waiting for the olddy to deliver herself over. How could a trivial human being dare to confront it?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but be shocked. Although the olddy had gone berserk, how could she fight a monster with her fragile human body? Just as he raised his crossbow towards the monster, someone else moved faster than him.


    It¡¯s Duan Hongzhen!


    He sneered and a knife flew out from his hand, shooting straight into the monster¡¯s bloody mouth and piercing the monster¡¯s tongue!


    Despite the monster¡¯s skin and bones being as thick and tough as metal, the mouth was still a fragile and deadly ce.


    Under the pain, the monster let out a terrible cry and rolled all over the ground!


    Everyone realized that the monster¡¯s weakness was in its mouth!


    But this monster was not stupid. After its mouth was attacked, it closed its mouth tightly despite Duan Hongzhen¡¯s knife still stuck in its tongue.


    At this time, the olddy had reached the monster. She had no weapons and could only beat the monster with her bare hands, ¡°Return Taro to me! Return Taro to me!¡±


    But the monster had an extremely tough physique so it neither hurt nor itched. But with the trauma from earlier, it didn¡¯t dare to open its mouth anymore even if it could easily snap the olddy¡¯s neck with just a little bit of power. It was more afraid that once it opened its mouth, its weak area would be attacked again.


    No! It lunged at him!


    Perhaps the monster saw that Xiao Tangqiu was the weakest of the group at first nce. The soft persimmon was easier to pick so it attacked Xiao Tangqiu. In short, Xiao Tangqiu unfortunately became the monster¡¯s target.


    Xiao Tangqiu was not surprising at all, and even had a sense of ¡°finally!¡± He quickly rolled on the spot and avoided the monster¡¯s frontal attack.


    But the monster¡¯s agility was still much better than his. Although it was avoided by him the first time, he was mmed down by the monster¡¯s paw in the next second.


    ¡°¨CRoar!!!¡±


    The monster opened its bloody mouth with excitement towards Xiao Tangqiu, apparently intending to bite off his head!


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu maxed out on adrenaline when the fear of death enveloped his heart. It inexplicably made him enter an extremely calm state.


    The moment when the monster opened its bloody jaws, he saw the knife stuck on the monster¡¯s tongue!


    He didn¡¯t hesitate to put his hand into the monster¡¯s mouth to grab the knife and then shoved it deeper!


    ¡°Aaaaooooow!¡± The monster teared up in pain, and the stench of its breath almost knocked Xiao Tangqiu back. But Xiao Tangqiu persevered in this life and death moment and pushed on the knife even more. After going deeper, he pulled out the knife again!


    Pulling the knife out was obviously much more painful than leaving it alone. Especially in such a sensitive and fragile ce like the tongue. The monster immediately screamed and more blood gushed out.


    Under great pain, the monster was furious and it prepared to fiercely shut its mouth! This monster had amazing bite force. If it bit down, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s arm would definitely be lost!


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t think about it and immediately stabbed the knife in the gap between the monster¡¯s huge front teeth. The monster suddenly couldn¡¯t close the mouthpletely because of the knife inserted between its teeth and Xiao Tangqiu quickly took the opportunity to pull out his hand.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s arm was still marked with several bloody wounds from the monster¡¯s sharp fangs, the monster was obviously more injured than him. The knife inserted between its teeth hurted so much that it couldn¡¯t continue to pursue its prey while howling and rolling all over the floor.


    ¡°Aaaaaoooow!¡±


    All of this happened so fast that even Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t react. When he reacted covered in cold sweat, Shen Yuan had already rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Jiujiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu got up from the ground, cold sweat broke out all over his injured arm and he shook his head with fear, ¡°I¡¯m fine...¡±


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Are you okay?¡± Tang Mianmian was about to fly towards Xiao Tangqiu, but was dissuaded by Shen Yuan¡¯s emotionless eyes. He quickly stopped and could only look at Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu was covered in cold sweat but soon he calmed down, ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± He had already encountered his kind of life or death situation countless times.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Jiujiu, I didn¡¯t protect you...¡± Shen Yuan¡¯s expression was full of regret.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. No one had time to react back then...¡± Xiao Tangqiu shook his head.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s expression darkened, ¡°...I¡¯m angry.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to say something but Shen Yuan had already turned around and looked coldly at the monster that was rolling in pain.


    He! Was! Angry!


    The monster rolling on the ground went stiff, a beast¡¯s unique keen instincts to danger made its fur stand up. Juas as it was about to roll over and stand up, it was pinned to the ground by Shen Yuan.


    ¡°¨CRoar!¡±


    The monster was under severe pain but it had notpletely lost its ability to move. It tried to swipe at Shen Yuan with a w. The next moment, Shen Yuan had pulled the nails off of the w!


    Shen Yuan actually pulled the nails off of the monster¡¯s ws!


    The monster twisted in pain, but no matter how hard it struggled, it couldn¡¯t resist Shen Yuan¡¯s terrible strength.


    Next was the teeth.


    Shen Yuan directly pried open the monster¡¯s bloody mouth and pulled out the knife that made the monster half dying from pain. Before the monster could feel relieved, its fangs were knocked out!


    ¡°Aoaoaooooo!¡± The monster was pained to death, its ws dug more than ten centimeters deep into the ground. Under the pain, it began to go wild and all five tails rose into the sky!


    The mountain started shaking again, rocks flying everywhere.


    But Shen Yuan was not afraid. He seemed to have nothing in his dark eyes and could not reflect everything in the world. While the monster roared in anger, he grabbed the monster¡¯s five big tails and his hands fell with his de!


    ¡°Aoaoaaooooo!¡±


    And finally, the tail.


    In the blink of an eye, this human-faced dog monster turned into a tailless dog.


    The monster that had lost five tailspletely lost its power. It was full of rage but even more full of terror.


    As it red at Shen Yuan with fear, the olddy suddenly threw herself onto the monster, strangling its neck with both hands, ¡°Monster! Return my son¡¯s life!¡±


    The monster was furious. This human dared to climb on it!


    With one wave, it wed the olddy¡¯s face bloody and she fell to the ground. Then it turned and charged towards Shen Yuan!


    Shen Yuan nced coldly at this monster that overestimated itself and kicked it away with one foot/ The monster rolled a few times before stopping at the edge of the cliff.


    ¡°Roar!!!¡±


    The monster climbed up angrily, roaring to the sky.


    This long roar seemed a bit unusual and Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel apprehensive. But before he could think about it, the monster had already rushed towards Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan was unmoved, simply waiting just like the monster had waited earlier for the olddy to deliver herself to its mouth.


    But halfway there, the monster suddenly changed direction and turned towards Xiao Tangqiu!


    The soft persimmon was easier to pick, it turned out that this thing¡¯s real target was Xiao Tangqiu.


    The monster couldn¡¯t let down its pride. If it was about to die, it would eat another person before dying!


    Even in death, someone else needed toe along!

 Chapter 63.2

    <h4>Chapter 63.2</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart lurched. Damn it! It¡¯s toote to hide!


    In that instant, the olddy suddenly rushed over, bursting with incredible speed and strength again. She charged in front of the monster and grabbed the monster¡¯s throat!


    The monster felt no pain but it was very angry, opening its jaws wide at the olddy, ¡°Roar!¡±


    The olddy picked up the knife that Shen Yuan tossed away at some point and lifted it to stab it into the monster¡¯s mouth. Finding the ce where Shen Yuan had knocked out its teeth, she plunged it in!


    The monster screamed and it rolled on the ground in pain. The olddy did not let it off and followed to thrust the knife deeper!


    The monster rolled all over in pain and, without noticing, rolled off the cliff. The olddy also couldn¡¯t stop, maintaining her hold on the knife as she plunged over the cliff with the monster.


    By the time Xiao Tangqiu reacted, the monster and the olddy had disappeared. He hurried to the cliff edge and couldn¡¯t see anything. The hill wasn¡¯t huge but it still had a certain height. Falling from this height...


    Tang Mianmian sat down heavily on the ground, full of bted fear. ¡°Fuck! My... my teeth hurt!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Is that the important part?!¡±


    Tang Mianmian subconsciously covered his cheeks and muttered, ¡°...This really reminds me of the painful experiences of visiting the dentist... Fuck... Thinking about it... my teeth and gums are aching again...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Don¡¯t say it, my teeth are also about to ache.¡±


    The two of them looked down at the monster¡¯s teeth on the ground. It really was ¡°to be beaten until teeth scattered all over the ground¡±!


    When he went to extract his teeth, the doctor gave him anesthesia! When Shen Yuan pulled out the monster¡¯s teeth, it was pulled out with brute force!


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Shen Yuan with awe.


    Shen Yuan looked full of regret, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Jiujiu, I didn¡¯t save you...¡±


    How would Xiao Tangqiu dare toin about Shen Yuan? What if Shen Yuan got angry and wanted to extract his teeth! Alright, he knew that wouldn¡¯t happen.


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled at Shen Yuan, ¡°How can I always rely on you to save me? I am not some female lead in an idol drama. You can¡¯t always protect me.¡±


    Shen Yuan pursed his lips and looked upset, ¡°I can!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°But I also want to work hard to be stronger to protect you in the future!¡±


    Shen Yuan blinked, ¡°Mm!¡±


    Xue Junli nodded, ¡°That is true. It should be due to the shard of demonic influence in his heart...¡±


    ¡°So the captain has sessfully fused with the second shard?¡± Sai Lulu asked curiously.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Xue Junli shook his head. ¡°But if it¡¯s sessful, he shouldn¡¯t be in this state...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°He became stronger and also became retarded.¡±


    Xue Junli nced at Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that the captain will teach you a lesson after recovering his memory?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scratched his ears, ¡°If the captain recovers his memory, the first person he¡¯ll teach a lesson to is Xiao Tangqiu who has seen him act spoiled and stupid! It won¡¯t be me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Hey! Is it really okay to just say such things in such a bold manner? He was still there!


    Tang Mianmian pressed his fingers together and weakly asked the bigwigs, ¡°What should we do now?¡±


    Xue Junli nced at both Tang Mianmian and Xiao Tangqiu and said lightly, ¡°Change your clothes first, then bandage any wounds. We¡¯re going to find a way to mix into the Hundred Ghosts Town.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused. ¡°Mix into Hundred Ghosts Town?¡±


    Xue Junli nodded, ¡°Yes, the Hundred Ghosts Town should be the plot location. We must find a way to mix in. Maybe the system had assigned us appropriate identities. If the system did not arrange it, we will find a few appropriate identities for ourselves. ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°This kind of small and backward vige must be particrly xenophobic. If the system didn¡¯t assign us any identities, we may not be able to mix in smoothly.¡± He did not think that the system assigned them identities, otherwise the olddy would not have called them ¡°outsiders¡± and be full of hostility towards them.


    Xue Junli obviously thought the same and he said, ¡°If the civilized way does not work, then we can only rely on force.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised the corner of his lips and took out a knife to y, ¡°Even if they don¡¯t open the door to let us in, can¡¯t we kick the door in ourselves?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± This is such a simple and crude method!


    ¡°Then we all agree. Everyone clean up and prepare to enter the Hundred Ghosts Town.¡±


    Needless to say, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were the two most messed up. Tang Mianmian had rolled through the quagmire and ran through the fire. He was so messed up he looked like a fleeing refugee. Xiao Tangqiu was covered in blood and his arms were covered with scratches and wounds.


    After the two of them put on clean clothes, they were about to give each other medicine. But Shen Yuan squeezed over with a humph and had to be the one to give Xiao Tangqiu medicine. Xiao Tangqiu hesitated but Tang Mianmian was already scared away by Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze and went aside to grievously self-medicate.


    Shen Yuan frowned as he applied medicine on Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu spoke awkwardly, ¡°It¡¯s actually not very painful ...¡±


    Shen Yuan snorted, ¡°Liar.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, ¡°It really doesn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    Shen Yuan puffed his cheeks, ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡±


    Looking at Shen Yuan¡¯s blowfish-like appearance, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but reach out and poke.


    Shen Yuan blinked, staring nkly at Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu poked again, ¡°Thank you for saving me just now. If you didn¡¯t kill the monster, maybe we would¡¯ve all suffered.¡±


    Shen Yuan blushed and asked, ¡°Generally this kind of life-saving grace, how do people repay the other?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Amazing! Not long ago, this guy was still like a baby, but now he has learned to want repayment! He¡¯s learning bad things!


    Tang Mianmian suddenly interrupted, ¡°Great deeds cannot be repaid, there is only repaying with the body!¡±


    This was the first time that Shen Yuan did not re at Tang Mianmian for interjecting. Instead, he looked at Xiao Tangqiu with expectant and shining eyes.


    Xiao Tangqiu spoke without missing a beat, ¡°Great deeds cannot be repaid. One can only give back as a cow or horse in the next life... Then I will just be your cow or horse in my next life!¡±


    Shen Yuan rolled his lips wanting to say something, but Xue Junli¡¯s voice suddenly sounded, ¡°Okay, it¡¯s time to go.¡±


    Thus Xiao Tangqiu also interrupted what Shen Yuan was about to say, ¡°Okay! It¡¯s more important to do priority things! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    With the special hemostatic agent, the ce where he was scratched by the monster quickly recovered so when he changed into clean clothes, he waspletely reborn.


    ¡°Resurrection with full health!¡± Tang Mianmian also jumped up.


    Shen Yuan hummed but did not protest, obediently following behind Xiao Tangqiu.


    Everyone sorted out the equipment and set off towards their destination.


    They came to Hundred Ghosts Town under the moonlight. The vigers of Hundred Ghosts Town rose at sunrise and slept at sunset. Now they had fallen asleep and the gate of the vige was closed.


    But this time, they did not intend to sneak in. Xue Junli nced at Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Go knock.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen huffed, ¡°Don¡¯t always order me around.¡±


    Having said that, he stepped forward and hit the big wooden door with spikes on top.


    This kind of door was not any real hindrance to the Reincarnation Team, they could just break through it with a big swing, but they did not do so.


    Duan Hongzhen hit the wooden gate hard and the sound echoed throughout the vige. Soon, one house lit up with candles and then another lit up with candles. After a while, all the houses in the vige lit up.


    Someone hurried out of a house with a torch. He stood by the wooden gate and looked at the Duan Hongzhen and others outside the door in surprise. Then another person came out. After a while, a small crowd had gathered by the wooden gate but they didn¡¯t dare to open the door nor let the people outside leave. They just gathered together in twos and threes, whispering and discussing something nervously.


    They didn¡¯t even dare to be too close to the people outside the gate, standing at a distance. Their faces were half lit and half dark in the light of the torch, acting just like the mice in a cave, staring at the intruding strangers with gleaming dark eyes.


    Their gaze was clearly full of vignce and hostility. Xiao Tangqiu felt a little shook. Although he had already guessed that the more remote and closed the ce, the more exclusive, especially in such a weird vige with strange customs. But it was still disheartening to look at the vigers¡¯ unsightly looks.


    A momentter, an olddy walked out of the crowd. All vigers with unkindly looks respectfully made way for the olddy. Obviously, they had some levels of religious worship towards this olddy and she had a rtively high status in the vige. Maybe she held some kind of elder position in the vige.


    But to call her an olddy was actually not urate. This woman was only about 40 or 50 years old, only the age of a middle-aged woman in modern times. But her eyes were particrly old and wizened as if she has experienced the vicissitudes of life. Also, unlike the simple clothes of the other vigers, she was wearing a particrly gorgeous kimono.


    But calling it gorgeous was also not very urate. It was just that the kimono was embroidered withplicated and mysterious patterns.


    With her weary eyes, she looked at the people outside the gate, her voice low as she asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Xue Junli replied, ¡°Just a few passers-by who came by coincidence. It¡¯s already dark and traveling is difficult. Can you allow us to stay here for a night?¡±


    Thedy elder stared at Xue Junli for a long time before answering slowly, ¡°Please leave, Hundred Ghosts Town does not wee outsiders.¡±


    Naturally, Xue Junli wouldn¡¯t be easily sent away by her. He frowned and pretended to be annoyed, ¡°Now it¡¯s so dark, this area is all barren wilderness and I don¡¯t know if there are wild animals. After hearing the wolf howl, I was really worried about my life so I wanted to find a ce to stay temporarily. We can guarantee that we are definitely not bad people. Can you reconsider? ¡°


    Thedy elder repeated herself, ¡°No need to think about it. Hundred Ghosts Town does not wee outsiders, please leave.¡±


    Her attitude was so determined and full of hostility that the vigers around her raised the tools in their arms, most of them being farming hoes.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t expect them to encounter such a difficult character like this vige elder. She didn¡¯t ept either a soft or hard approach... Would they really need to force their way in?

 Chapter 63.3

    <h4>Chapter 63.3</h4>


    Looking at the hostile vigers behind the wooden gate who were emaciated because of years ofcking food, Xiao Tangqiu had an idea and approached the wooden door. ¡°Of course we will not stay for nothing. We are actually food merchants. Right now, we still have some food at hand and we are willing to exchange it with you for the opportunity to stay here for one night. ¡°


    As soon as his voice fell, as expected, the vigers behind the gate hesitated. They looked at each other for a while, whispering, and finally gathered in front of thedy elder and discussed in a murmur.


    After a while, the vigers dispersed again and thedy elder went to the wooden gate and looked at Xiao Tangqiu coldly, ¡°You said you have food, is it true?¡±


    ¡°Of course it is true, It¡¯s not something we can lie to you about.¡± Xiao Tangqiu nodded.


    Thedy elder said coldly, ¡°Show us.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around and returned to Shen Yuan, pretending to take a small bag of rice from behind Shen Yuan but actually taking it out of his space tool.


    There were a few bags of rice, canned foods, and special items that could be quickly heated in each of the space tools provided by the Reincarnation Team in case of unexpected needs. He didn¡¯t expect to use it for this.


    Xiao Tangqiu returned to the gate again and showed the bag of rice to thedy elder.


    Thedy elder¡¯s eyes lit up with greed and hunger and the vigers beside her also gained covetous looks. Although in their view, the colorful stic packaging bag was very strange, they could still recognize the rice in the bag!


    Rice! It¡¯s rice! This was food!


    The vigers subconsciously reached out and wanted to grab the rice from Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hands. Xiao Tangqiu quickly dodged back and the vigers could only stretch their arms from the gap of the wooden door. They looked like those images of prisoners reaching through bars asking to be let out.


    At this key moment, thedy elder shouted in a low, hoarse voice, ¡°Enough!¡±


    The vigers finally calmed down but their eyes were still green with greed when they looked at Xiao Tangqiu, like hungry wolves staring at prey.


    Thedy elder stared at Xiao Tangqiu for a while, and asked gravely, ¡°This kind of food... how much do you have?¡±


    The corner of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s lips raised, knowing that the goal is half-achieved, and he replied in a serious voice, ¡°We will each hand over such a bag of rice in exchange for staying at Hundred Ghosts Town overnight.¡±


    More than one bag of rice! Thedy elder¡¯s eyes also became greedy, ¡°No! One person for two bags!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said lightly, ¡°One person per bag for one night. If we stay for another night, we will pay with another bag of rice.¡±


    Thedy elder¡¯s eyes flickered in the swaying mes of the vigers¡¯ torches.


    The vigers¡¯ eyes are constantly fixed on them. Although they were still full of vignce and hostility, there was more to it than before...


    It was a gaze that could be called a tiger¡¯s gaze.


    Thedy elder¡¯s voice was low and hoarse, ¡°Give us food first...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°We can pay you a bag of food first as a deposit for the amodation tonight... If we give all the food to you now, what if you change your mind and drive us out of the vige in the middle of the night?¡±


    Thedy elder stared at Xiao Tangqiu for a while and then said in a deep voice, ¡°Alright. Someonee, find them an empty ce.¡±


    At the order of thedy elder, several vigers immediately gathered around. One took the rice that was in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hands and the other nodded to them to guide the way.


    Xiao Tangqiu the others nced at each other before he said, ¡°We¡¯ll be troubling you.¡±


    The man turned around and walked towards the end of the vige. Xiao Tangqiu and others followed. He quietly observed the vigers as he walked. Other than the few vigers who led the way, the others stayed standing motionless by the gate, watching Xiao Tangqiu and the others leave. Their expressions under the flickering light of the torch looked unnatural and extremely creepy.


    It was not until the vigers disappeared from sight that Xiao Tangqiu turned his head to look at the rest of the vige. Last night, the vige waspletely dark and he couldn¡¯t see anything. Now, with torch lighting, he could vaguely make out the vige.


    There was no doubt that this vige was very poor. Every house was a thatched-roof wooden hut, there were no buildings that looked better. Every one of them was dpidated and the windows were all paper, unable to block the cold wind at all.


    Because the men were out, the women and the children were cautiously hiding inside, only pairs of vignt eyes were revealed in the slightly opened door gaps. Although they were curious at the sight of Xiao Tangqiu and others, there was more hostility and vignce.


    A slightly more daring little girl opened the door. She stood boldly at the door and looked at the passing Xiao Tangqiu. She was very inly dressed in dirty clothing and her eyes were full of curiosity.


    Xiao Tangqiu saw the situation inside through the open door. There was no furniture in the room, not even a wooden bed, only a straw mat on the floor, and a worn quilt on the straw mat.


    A woman rushed towards the door, she screamed and pulled the little girl, ¡°Come back!¡±


    Soon, the door was mmed shut.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked away and shook his head.


    After a while, the people who led the way stopped before a thatch-roofed wooden hut. This hut was also dpidated and old. It was really not afortable temporary ce to stay, but they had already realized that all the wooden buildings in this vige were the same after going through the vige. Even if they asked to change to another one, it would be about the same.


    The man didn¡¯t enter, only staring at Xiao Tangqiu and them.


    Xiao Tangqiu thanked him and entered the hut with the others, but those who led the way still did not leave, just standing at the door and staring closely at the people inside.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and mmed the door shut, but the feeling of being stared at did not disappear. Duan Hongzhen also looked at the door with his arms crossing his chest. After a while, he said, ¡°Those people are gone.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu finally let out a breath and turned to look at their amodation for the night. Naturally, it was not a good ce to live. It is even worse than the wooden house they were inst night. That wooden hut at least had one bed. There was nothing in this hut, no candles, and even the paper that was stuck over the windows was missing.


    But it made sense, this vige is so poor and this house was unupied, even if there were some furniture such as beds, it would have definitely been moved away much less any candles and window papers.


    ¡°It¡¯s so dirty, how are people supposed to sleep here!¡± Duan Hongzhen looked disgusted.


    Xue Junli spoke lightly, ¡°You can sleep outside and keep watch.¡±


    ¡°What keep watch? The vigers in this vige are ordinary people that I can kill just by moving my fingers.¡± Duan Hongzhen disagreed.


    Xue Junli, ¡°Don¡¯t take it lightly, I think they are not so simple.¡±


    Tang Mianmian pulled on Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°Qiuqiu! You were so handsome just now! You actually thought to use rice to trade! Really clever!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled and didn¡¯t speak. In fact, this was not difficult to think of. This vige was so poor that nobody could eat their fill. There must be a great demand for food. Other yers should also be able to think of this point. It was just that the average yer probably wouldn¡¯t carry as much food as them. It was important to keep alive in the instance so it was good enough to just have enough food to not starve. Who still had the leisure time to cook?


    Duan Hongzhen¡¯s thoughts shifted, ¡°When they saw the rice just now, their eyes turned green with greed. Do you think they would try to take something in the middle of the night?¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s look darkened, ¡°Not impossible.¡±


    Yu Fuling frowned, ¡°I keep feeling that the vigers are a little strange...¡±


    Sai Lulu snorted, ¡°It would be strange if the vigers aren¡¯t strange in this creepy vige!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen yawned, ¡°Who cares, right now I just want to sleep! Yesterday, I fought zombies for the whole night. I¡¯m practically dead!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to investigate the vige?¡±


    Xue Junli pushed up his sses, ¡°The vige naturally needs to be investigated, but sleeping is also necessary. Although the medicine can eliminate our fatigue, our body still needs real rest, otherwise, there will be problems.¡±


    ¡°We can be divided into two teams. One group investigates during the first half of the night and rests the second half, one group rests the first half of the night and investigates during the second half.¡±


    The seven people had to be divided into two teams. Xiao Tangqiu originally wanted to group with Tang Mianmian, but that was dismissed by Duan Hongzhen with a sneer. ¡°You two weak chickens together would drag down the group you¡¯re in! Forget it, this kind of carrying, one per group is enough. Even if the two of you and the boss are in one group, the boss cannot take care of both of you at the same time. ¡°


    As burdens that dragged down the team, both Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian lowered their heads, their expressions quite embarrassed. In instances, just being useless is already a sin. Since they are two rookies that even a big god-like Shen Yuan couldn¡¯t lug around, why double up to drag each other down?


    ...Forget it, it¡¯s better not to!


    So in the end, the teams were divided into Xue Junli, Yu Fuling, Sai Lulu, and Tang Mianmian in one group and Shen Yuan, Duan Hongzhen, and Xiao Tangqiu in the other. The two deadweights were evenly distributed.


    Xue Junli¡¯s team went out to investigate the vige first while Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group got the chance to rest the first half of the night. Although there was no bed in the hut, they fortunately had everything in their space tools and were able to take out a sleeping bag each to sleep in.


    Xiao Tangqiu was suddenly frozen awake in the middle of the night. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the thatched roof was not sealed. The wind had blown it loose. He curled up tightly and went back to sleep. Then it started raining.


    Xiao Tangqiu was frozen awake again and he looked up while trembling only to discover that he was sleeping right under the leak. Everyone else was fine, only his sleeping bag was wet.


    ...No matter what kind of circumstance it was, the traits of an African bloodline would still vividly stand out!


    Xiao Tangqiu rubbed his frozen face expressionlessly. At this moment, a soft knock suddenly sounded outside the door.


    Boom, boom, boom.


    The knock on the door was soft and gentle, like rainnding on the door.


    TN: I made a Patreon! I¡¯ll be offering the right to read a chapter ahead starting from next week¡¯s post amongst other posts of things I¡¯m tranting (including a higher tier with early ess and poll rights for trantion fun projects outside of GLS). If you¡¯re interested in supporting me and also getting to read things a little earlier, please check it out ?? Take note, the offer starts next week! I¡¯ve set up instant payment so that means you pay the moment you click to support and as this is currently the end of the month, if you hit that support it will charge you immediately and charge again at the beginning of next month.


    Just an FYI, I¡¯mpletely new to Patreon, so if I set up some stuff weirdly or wrong, please let me know in either the CG discord server or @canontotally on Twitter. I¡¯ll do my best to learn and fix any issues.

 Chapter 64.1

    <h4>Chapter 64.1</h4>


    At first, Xiao Tangqiu thought the four that went out to investigate had returned. But then he thought, why would they knock on the door? It¡¯s not like this lousy wooden door was locked, why didn¡¯t they juste straight in?


    Wait! Could it be the vigers who were looking to steal their food?


    But that seemed even less right! If those vigers were here to steal their food, why would they knock? Wouldn¡¯t they just charge in and get down to business? Was there some sort of practice among robbers to knock before robbing? Where on earth would you find such a courteous robber?


    The more Xiao Tangqiu thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. The on and off strange knocking didn¡¯t stop. If one listened to it long enough, it would start to resemble the pitter-patter of raindrops. But make no mistake, when listening carefully, it was still very much the sound of knocking. The prominent sound was a constant annoyance that couldn¡¯t be ignored.


    Although he wanted to ignore the sound and go back to sleep, the knocking was like an irritating mosquito that was constantly buzzing by his ear. It made it impossible to fall asleep.


    After some hesitation, he got up to nudge Shen Yuan, who was sleeping next to him. However, Shen Yuan appeared to be sound asleep as he quietlyid in his sleeping bag. No matter how much Xiao Tangqiu pushed him, he did not wake.


    Xiao Tangqiu then tried calling Shen Yuan¡¯s name, but there still wasn¡¯t any signs of him stirring. Under the moonlight, his longshes cast small shadows on his face and his eyelids remained tightly closed as if he hadpletely shut off from the world.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly got a bad feeling. He climbed over Shen Yuan¡¯s body to try to wake Duan Hongzhen, who¡¯s sleeping on the other side, but he seemed to be in an even deeper sleep than Shen Yuan. He stayed unmoving and utterly unresponsive and even started snoring.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know if it was just his imagination, but he felt like the rain outside was getting heavier and heavier and the sound of rainfall grew louder and louder. Pitter patter... Pitter patter...


    Was it raining that heavily outside?


    Given the decrepit state of this wooden hut, how could it withstand the weight of a downpour? Although the roof was leaking, no matter how you looked at it, these tattered walls shouldn¡¯t be able to hold out against such a heavy storm! And these greased paper windows... Wait, no! The windows of this particr hut didn¡¯t even have paper coverings!


    Just as confusion grew in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind, he suddenly noticed yet another thing. The intermittent knocking on the door had stopped. When did it stop?


    At the same time, he also realized that the windows of this house were just empty holes in the wall... so there wasn¡¯t actually a need to knock on the door at all, was there?


    In that instant, Xiao Tangqiu, who had his back to the window, couldn¡¯t help but stiffen.


    Pitter patter.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t want to look behind him at all. But at that very moment, that familiar knocking sound starteding from beyond the window just like the sound of rain hitting against the door.


    The knocking endlessly echoed in his ears, almost as if it was trying to burrow its way into his head. He was this close to going insane... In the end, he couldn¡¯t take it anymore and turned his head.


    The sight that greeted him at the exposed window was a gorgeous woman in a white kimono.


    She was extremely beautiful but also mncholy, with eyes filled with sorrow. She was absolutely drenched because of the rain and water trickled down her face and hair. Drip by drip, it fell into the house. Soon, a tiny puddle formed by the window.


    She stood outside the window just like that, staring straight into Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes, her gaze filled with woe and sadness.


    Xiao Tangqiu jumped at the sight, almost screaming, but he managed to forcefully swallow it back down... Who was this woman? Was she some ghost or supernatural entity too?


    But do ghosts and spirits get wet in the rain? Do they even have physical forms?


    However curious he was about whether or not supernatural beings could get drenched in the rain, he was, after all, not the protagonist of a horror game that enjoyed charging to his death. He wouldn¡¯t risk his life just to satisfy his curiosity when he knew that there were ghosts running around the area. Instead, he took a few steps back and observed thedy in the white kimono from a safe distance.


    The woman was dressed in a in white kimono. Now that the kimono waspletely soaked by the rain, she inadvertently ended up looking a bit seductive. Coupled with that beautiful yet sad face, regardless of which man, it would be hard to resist a temptation like that. If it were any other man who saw such a beauty standing at the door, they would probably feel sympathy for her and hurriedly invite her into the house.


    However, Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t an ordinary man. He was a man who had practically read through and became familiarized with the plots of every horror movie and the strategies of every horror game. One of the quintessential rules of any horror game/movie: never approach or speak to an unfamiliar woman that you met deep in the mountains. Unless, that is, you¡¯re the protagonist, or you have some sort of cheat, or you¡¯re a protagonist with a cheat.


    Xiao Tangqiu warily kept an eye on the woman standing outside the window while the woman stared back with a gloomy expression. The two of them maintained eye contact; neither spoke a word while the rain raged on outside and silence permeated the insides of the hut.


    Pitter patter.


    The woman in the white kimono stared fixedly at Xiao Tangqiu, who was inside the house. The expression on her face gradually changed to one of pleading as she shivered slightly from the chill of the downpour. No average man would be able to turn away from a beauty¡¯s pleas.


    As aforementioned, Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t an average man. He was one that knew every horror movie plot and horror game mechanic inside out.


    Regardless of how sad or pitiful the woman in the white kimono looked, Xiao Tangqiu remained calm and impervious. After maintaining eye contact with that beauty for a while, he even began to yawn.


    Once he realized that she couldn¡¯t break into the house, Xiao Tangqiu calmed down and his heart lowered back down from his throat. Despite the non-stop roaring of the storm outside, he was suddenly hit with a wave of drowsiness and slowly started to doze off.


    It didn¡¯t matter if this white kimono woman was ghost or human. Either way, it¡¯s not like she could break into the house! Since her favorite pastime was staring at people from outside the window, she could stay there and continue to stare all she liked. Heck, she can do that her entire life! ...Alright, maybe not for an entire lifetime, but she could continue watching until this mission was over!


    Xiao Tangqiu decided to put aside that woman who was peering at him from outside andfortably tucked himself into his sleeping bag. Of course, he didn¡¯t forget to shift his little nest far away from the leaking part of the roof. He closed his eyes and fell asleep to the sound of wind and rain.


    However, that didn¡¯tst very long and once again he woke to the icy water dripping onto his face.


    ...What happened?


    Didn¡¯t he already move his sleeping bag? Could it be that the roof above him was leaking as well?


    Half-awake, Xiao Tangqiu struggled to open his eyes and looked up to the roof above in a daze. To his shock, he was met with a pair of sorrowful eyes.


    It turned out that the thatch over him had somehow disappeared and was reced with the woman in the white kimono whoid on the roof, gazing directly at him.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Fuck! He almost peed himself!


    He was so frightened his entire body froze and half his body felt numb. He didn¡¯t dare make a single movement. All he could do was maintain his position of lying on his back and starting another staring contest with that white kimono woman.


    The woman on the roof looked directly at Xiao Tangqiu as the icy cold raindrops slid down her hair and onto Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face. Very soon, his face was covered with rainwater.


    Not only that, the water from the woman¡¯s form was also dripping all over his sleeping bag and the surrounding area.


    In an instant, Xiao Tangqiu felt incredibly ufortable as he suddenly recalled that this was the same situation as when he had woken up the first time. Could it be that even before the knocking began, this white kimono woman had already been lying silently on the roof, watching him sleep for the entire night?


    Just the thought of being watched by this strange woman for the entire night made him want to break down a little. Plus, all the water that drenched him hade from this woman...


    Calm down! Calm down! Stay calm! Think about all the things he had already experienced!


    Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath and continued his staring contest with the woman. As the woman stared right at him, she started pleading with her eyes once more... However, his heart did not waver one bit. Even an ordinary man wouldn¡¯t be able to take a strange woman peeping at him from the roof!


    Should he change his sleeping location?


    After pondering over it for a bit, it quickly hit him that no matter where he moved, this woman probably wouldn¡¯t give up and would chase after him. In the end, all that would do was wet the whole house and there wouldn¡¯t be any clean and dry ce left.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a little discouraged and he averted his eyes to look at Shen Yuan. However, all he saw was that thetter remained motionless,pletely passed out and totally unaware of any unusual sounds or movements.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but grumble inwardly, who was the one who said they would protect him always? But what was he doing now, sleeping so soundly. Was Shen Yuan protecting him in his sleep?


    Hmph! A man¡¯s mouth only sprouts lies!


    At this moment, from his peripheral, Xiao Tangqiu caught sight of the woman opening her mouth while still lying on the roof. A string of liquid that he couldn¡¯t discern if it was rainwater or her saliva dripped down from her mouth.


    He was immediately ovee with disgust which propelled him to flip his body around and get up onto his feet just before itnded on him. Partly because he couldn¡¯t help but seek for help, partly out of revenge, Xiao Tangqiu wormed his way into Shen Yuan¡¯s sleeping bag.


    Shen Yuan, who was cozy and warm and sleeping peacefully, was suddenly assaulted by this frosty person that slid into his sleeping bag. He subconsciously furrowed his brows. He looked really upset, but the surprising thing was that he still didn¡¯t wake up.


    Even this didn¡¯t wake him?


    Xiao Tangqiu became increasingly astonished. After hesitating for a bit, he reached his cold hands into Shen Yuan¡¯s clothes.


    Shen Yuan still didn¡¯t stir.


    TN:

 Chapter 64.2

    <h4>Chapter 64.2</h4>


    So he put his cold feet between Shen Yuan¡¯s legs.


    Shen Yuan still didn¡¯t wake up.


    In the end, Xiao Tangqiu simply burrowed into Shen Yuan¡¯s warm arms.


    Shen Yuan frowned, stiffening because of the cold brought by Xiao Tangqiu, but after wrinkling his nose, he settled down again.


    Xiao Tangqiuid silently in Shen Yuan¡¯s arms, closely staring at Shen Yuan¡¯s long eyshes and the teardrop mole at the corner of his left eye. He suddenly calmed down.


    He nced silently in the dim lighting at the woman who was still lying on the roof. The woman was motionless, just turning her eyes to stare at him. But this time, there seemed to be a bit of annoyance in her gaze and a moreplicated emotion...


    Xiao Tangqiu originally thought that the woman in the white kimono would move her position to lie above Shen Yuan¡¯s sleeping bag. But unexpectedly, she remained motionless except for her eyes. Just like a giant gecko lying on the roof, she seemed to pose no other threat.


    He stared at the woman cautiously for a while but gradually became sleepy again. So he burrowed deeper into Shen Yuan¡¯s arms and closed his eyes.


    Maybe it¡¯s because Shen Yuan¡¯s hold was too warm, maybe it¡¯s because Shen Yuan¡¯s aura was too familiar, but Xiao Tangqiu slept extremely peacefully. He slept all the way until Tang Mianmian¡¯s group returned.


    ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was awakened by the familiar cries from Tang Mianmian. He opened his eyes, muddled, and then hepletely woke up. When he opened his eyes, it was to Shen Yuan¡¯s sleeping face. To be specific, it was Shen Yuan¡¯s sleeping face that was way too close.


    Because their faces were too close, practically nose to nose, Shen Yuan¡¯s warm breath blew on Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face and their lips almost touched. In addition, their bodies were pressed close and their limbs were wrapped around each other. Shen Yuan¡¯s limbs were firmly wrapped around him like an octopus.


    Such a posture, even if it was two men, made people¡¯s imagination run away.


    No! From a certain point of view, it seemed like it was because they were two men that it made people imagine things!


    ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s really airing everything out under the sun! Young people are so shameless! In this broad daylight, you actually do such an unseemly thing...¡± Tang Mianmian instantly yed up his need for drama, then he nced at the night outside the window and corrected himself, ¡°During the dark and treacherous night, you actually do such inappropriate things!¡±


    Due to Shen Yuan¡¯s movements, his soft lips brushed against Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth. Xiao Tangqiu leaped out of the sleeping bag as if he were burned.


    It wasn¡¯t to the point where he wanted to hypocritically cover his mouth, but the soft touch made his heart tremble... Wait! Don¡¯t think about it! Stop thinking about the shape and touch of Shen Yuan¡¯s lips! He forced himself to calm down.


    That was an ident! That was just an ident!


    It all happened too fast, Xiao Tangqiu was not sure if anyone else saw it. To prevent embarrassment, he quickly changed the subject with a smile, ¡°You guys are back? Did you find anything?¡±


    At this moment, Duan Hongzhen woke up and he frowned, ¡°Howe I slept so deeply? I actually fell asleep until you came back... Wait! How did you end up sleeping in one bedroll?¡±


    He didn¡¯t know if Xue Junli and the others saw the scene just now or if it was because they saw the intimate postures of Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan sleeping in one sleeping bag, but their expressions were a bitplicated. After a moment, Xue Junli shook his head and faintly, ¡°We didn¡¯t discover anything special.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated before speaking, ¡°I encountered something very strange...¡±


    He quickly mentioned the woman in the white kimono he just met and exined, ¡°I didn¡¯t deliberately get into Shen Yuan¡¯s sleeping bag. It was because the roof leaked and my sleeping bag got wet, so I...¡±


    At this moment, Tang Mianmian suddenly said something shocking. ¡°But it¡¯s not raining outside!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned, unable to respond, ¡°Ah?¡±


    Xue Junli also nodded, speaking lightly, ¡°It hasn¡¯t rained tonight. We were outside the hut just now. If it had rained, we definitely would know.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt chills down his back. He quickly turned around to look around. The room was dry everywhere and no one was wet. He looked up at the roof again, but the roof was also intact, nothing was leaking.


    ¡°And this is your sleeping bag!¡± Tang Mianmian pointed to the sleeping bag that Xiao Tangqiu had just drilled out of. ¡°This green sleeping bag was your sleeping bag! The empty ck sleeping bag is god Shen Yuan¡¯s!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was even more befuddled. Was it not him crawling into Shen Yuan¡¯s sleeping bag in the middle of the night due to the cold and damp, but Shen Yuan that got into his sleeping bag in the night?


    Was the woman wearing a white kimono just a hallucination from beginning to end or maybe just a dream he made up?


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu felt at a loss, Xue Junli spoke, ¡°But, after listening to you, I suddenly remembered that there is a monster in the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade that has some simrities with your description...¡±


    ¡°The Rain Woman. She usually appears when it rains, and wherever she goes will have damp and rain and stagnant water. If a man smiles at her and motions to share an umbre, she will follow the man until the man can¡¯t resist the wet environment anymore and dies. ¡°


    As a horror game host, Xiao Tangqiu naturally had gone over the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade. ??Hearing Xue Junli¡¯s words, he immediately remembered it. ¡°The woman in white kimono is indeed a bit like the Rain Woman, but I have never seen her before, nor lent her an umbre... ¡°


    As soon as he spoke, he suddenly remembered something. Before entering this horror game, he did share an umbre with an unknown woman on a rainy day. Of course, it wasn¡¯t because he was a gentleman but because the woman held a baby in her arms. He couldn¡¯t bear to let the baby be exposed to rain, so he held the umbre and helped the woman home.


    But that was two or three months ago and the young woman holding her baby looked normal. Of course, the most important thing was that it happened in the real world!


    ¡°Legends and reality may not bepletely consistent, and legends don¡¯t spring out of nothing,¡± Xue Junli murmured. ¡°Let¡¯s just call that woman in the white kimono the Rain Woman. Maybe she changed her methods. If you couldn¡¯t help but pity her and invited her in from the rain earlier, your ending might have been the same as those men who were ensnared by the Rain Woman...¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but speak up from the side, ¡°Isn¡¯t this just entrapment! But the people who are willing to lend her an umbre or invite her into their houses to hide from the rain are all kind-hearted people. How can she harm the good and not the bad? Wait! She seems to only harm men?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought for a moment and said, ¡°It is said that the Rain Woman was waiting for her husband at the seaside and ended up being dragged into the waters by the wind and waves and drowned. Maybe she is resentful of men...¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a source for injustice and grievances and creditors for debtors! If she hates her husband then she should kill her husband. Why go after other men!¡± Tang Mianmian snorted. He suddenly turned his gaze and spoke to Xiao Tangqiu with a smile, ¡°If it is as you said, that she saw you get into god Shen Yuan¡¯s sleeping bag and then left, can you guess what she was thinking when she was lying on the roof and saw that scene? ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, ¡°What was she thinking?¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Hmph! Damned gay!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Tang Mianmian imitated a woman¡¯s voice by making his voice shrill, ¡°Hmph! No wonder there¡¯s nopassion for this madam! Not even inviting this madam in to hide from the rain! It turns out to be a damned gay! This madam¡¯s feelings and efforts are wasted!¡±


    Without waiting for Xiao Tangqiu to speak, Shen Yuan coldly red at Tang Mianmian. Tang Mianmian immediately backed away a few steps in fear and began to look around to pretend to look at the scenery.


    Duan Hongzhen picked at his ear, ¡°Although what you said sounds true, I didn¡¯t notice anything dangerous just earlier! I am someone with a keen intuition. If I perceive anything dangerous, if I¡¯m asleep, I will immediately wake up.¡±


    Xue Junli, ¡°You dare say that? Didn¡¯t you sleep like the dead from start to finish?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen suddenly wondered, ¡°I¡¯m also surprised, I can¡¯t sleep so deeply in an instance world... What about Boss? Was the boss also asleep?¡±


    Shen Yuan hmphed, admitting it. He paused and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t feel any danger, otherwise I would have definitely woken up to protect Jiujiu.¡±


    There was no rain outside and neither Duan Hongzhen nor Shen Yuan said there was any danger found. There was also indeed no signs of moisture in the hut. Xiao Tangqiu did not know whether the woman in the white kimono was the Rain Woman, or if she had appeared at all. Maybe he would never find out...


    Just when Xiao Tangqiu was lost in thought, he suddenly felt something in the palm of his hand. He turned it over to see it was actually a raindrop.


    However, before he could look closer, the raindrop disappeared as if it had evaporated.

 Chapter 64.3

    <h4>Chapter 64.3</h4>


    At the same time, Xue Junli spoke, ¡°This time we did not find anything too special, but we discovered that there seems to be a shrine in the Hundred Ghosts Town. In the house of the woman who seems like the vige head, we saw a picture depicting a Miko in the shrine dancing what looks to be a ceremonial dance. The background is Hundred Ghosts Town. ¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu froze, ¡°Shrine?¡±


    He suddenly remembered the Miko named Kisaragi and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Where?¡±


    Xue Junli shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know. We searched the Hundred Ghosts Town and we didn¡¯t see any buildings that seem like a shrine.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Tang Mianmian and said thoughtfully, ¡°I yed a lot of horror games before. The shrines in horror games... tend to be on mountains.¡±


    Tang Mianmian also nodded, ¡°Yes, yes, yes! I think so, too!¡±


    Xue Junli frowned, ¡°On mountains? Can it be the Holy Mountain?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Maybe, we can look for it in a bit.¡±


    Xue Junli hesitated for a while, apparently a little uneasy about the three of them, especially Shen Yuan, this uncontroble killing machine...


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu also spoke up to stop them, ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous for you to go!¡±


    Shen Yuan puffed his chest and said, ¡°You can be rest assured with me there!¡±


    Everyone in the Reincarnation Team: ¡°...¡± It¡¯s because you¡¯re there that we aren¡¯t assured!


    Xue Junli looked at Shen Yuan and then Xiao Tangqiu. Although Shen Yuan was not stable and his IQ was often offline, but with Xiao Tangqiu there, it should be fine... right?


    Duan Hongzhen held a lollipop from who knew when, ¡°Rx, I will look after the captain.¡±


    Xue Junli looked at Duan Hongzhen¡¯s careless appearance and felt even more troubled. But if Shen Yuan was determined to go, it¡¯s not like he could stop him. He could only rub his temples and say helplessly, ¡°Go, then. But remember, don¡¯t go in even if you really find a shrine... I have a hunch that this shrine is probably not simple. You should only find the location of the shrine tonight. If you find it, you muste back immediately and wait for us to rest up so that everyone goes in together tomorrow!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Understood. Rest assured, once we find the shrine, we wille back immediately.¡±


    ¡°But you may not be able to find it tonight, so don¡¯t feel too pressured,¡± Xue Junli nced at Xiao Tangqiu. ¡°If your previous guesses are correct, we will be back in that tunnel after dawn.¡±


    At the reminder of that tunnel, Xiao Tangqiu also felt a headache. He didn¡¯t know where the tunnel would send them next time. In the case of another zombie flood, they would turn into emotionless zombie killing machines again.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go!¡± Duan Hongzhen was obviously rejuvenated after his nap.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian nced at each other, nodded at him, and left the hut they had slept half the night in with Duan Hongzhen and Shen Yuan.


    Xiao Tangqiu followed Duan Hongzhen cautiously and watched the surrounding environment with vignce. Nothing special happened until they reached the entrance of the vige. They easily opened the wooden gate that was locked from the inside and left Hundred Ghosts Town.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something and couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously, ¡°I don¡¯t hear the barking of the dogs. Don¡¯t people generally keep dogs in this kind of vige?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen spoke disapprovingly, ¡°This vige is so poor that they can¡¯t afford to even eat any more. Why would they raise dogs?¡±


    ¡°What about cattle? Isn¡¯t it necessary to raise cattle for farming? They can¡¯t even do that because of poverty?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about it, this vige seemed to not onlyck dogs and cattle, they also didn¡¯t have chickens, ducks and geese. Did these vigers never eat meat?


    At this moment, they came to the farnd in front of the Hundred Ghosts Town. Xiao Tangqiu randomly aimed the nuclear power shlight into the fields and he couldn¡¯t help but call out in surprise, ¡°There are no crops in the fields!¡±


    Before, they always passed by here in a hurry and didn¡¯t carefully look at the crops in the farnd. Now that Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look, they discovered that there were no crops at all. The farnd was barren.


    Duan Hongzhen saw it and he also froze for a moment, ¡°That¡¯s strange. What do the Hundred Ghosts Town vigers usually eat? Wait, don¡¯t they have to go collectively work on the fields after dawn? Do they just pretend to farm?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. The Hundred Ghosts Town vigers had neither meat nor crops, how did they survive? Only ghosts did not need to eat! Had they all be ghosts?


    Duan Hongzhen rubbed his chin, ¡°It seems to be worth noting. Let¡¯s discuss with others after we go back... Alright, let¡¯s go find the shrine.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded and continued to walk forward. But after a few steps, he realized that Shen Yuan did not follow them. He turned around to ask the still standing Shen Yuan, ¡°Aren¡¯t youing?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked directly at the center of the farnd, ¡°There is a ck figure...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked and quickly looked, but he found nothing there. It was still just a barren field. He couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Where?¡±


    Shen Yuan blinked, ¡°It¡¯s gone.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°What did that ck figure look like?¡±


    Shen Yuan thought about it and said, ¡°...Only one eye.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°A ck figure in the farnd that has only one eye... Is it dorotabo?¡±


    ¡°Dorotabo? What kind of monster is that?¡± Duan Hongzhen also stopped and turned his head to ask Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°It is said that the aggrieved ghosts of peasants who starve to death because thend was taken away will appear in the middle of the night, shouting ¡°return my fields¡± while throwing mud at pedestrians passing by the farnd...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen asked with interest, ¡°What happens if people get hit by the mud? Will they die?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°It is said that the mud thrown by it is very stinky. The person hit by it will also be very stinky, the smellsting for three days and three nights.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen pursed his lips, ¡°This monster is quite boring, so why did it just run away without throwing mud at us?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu silently nced at Shen Yuan aside, ¡°...Maybe it only bullies the weak?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen chortled, ¡°It turns out to be a useless weakling like you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...You can scold him but why did you also drag me down!¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s expression sank, ¡°I don¡¯t allow you to scold him! Apologize!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen apologized at light-speed, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was wrong!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Such a team, so exhausting.


    After a while, the three of them returned to the foot of the hill again.


    This Holy Mountain seemed extraordinarily gloomy and strange under the dark night, especially when Xiao Tangqiu remembered that countless elderly people from Hundred Ghosts Town died silently on this mountain. He felt a chill go down his back.


    The winds on the hills in the dark night felt especially chilly.


    The three of them started hiking up.


    Although this hill was creepy and strange, they climbed from the foot of the hills to the top and nothing special happened. They didn¡¯t meet even one ghost or spirit.


    ...Actually, it¡¯s normal to not bump into any ghosts, but if it was too normal, it would end up appearing abnormal.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Whether it is in the vige or outside the vige, we have encountered those things... It stands to reason that this hill should be the most unclean ce. But why is it that from then to now, we didn¡¯t encounter anything? ¡±


    Duan Hongzhen shrugged, ¡°Who knows, but our goal is to find a shrine. As long as we find that damned shrine, we can go back.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly, ¡°So you say, but where are we going to find it?¡± This hill was not big. Logically, it should not be difficult to find things. Arge building like a shrine could basically be seen at a nce. Especially the iconic torii of a shrine, which should certainly be visible from a distance. But they haven¡¯t seen any shrines on the hills the multiple times they came up.


    If there was a shrine on the top of the hills, they should have seen it long ago...


    The three of them circled the peak of the hill. As expected, not to mention a shrine¡¯s torii, they didn¡¯t even see a single bird feather. There were no buildings on the top of the hill at all.


    Duan Hongzhen was a little irritated, ¡°Is it not on the Holy Mountain, but on some other mountain?¡±


    However, the Holy Mountain was the tallest hill in the vicinity. Standing on the top of this hill meant that they could basically see all the lower hills at a nce. Except for the hills in the distance, the tops of the surrounding hills held no traces of any buildings.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Since those vigers call this ce a Holy Mountain, this ce must have some meaning to it. Otherwise they would not have sent their elderlies here to wait for death. And they also think that there is a mountain god here...¡± No matter how you look at it, if the vigers of Hundred Ghosts Town wanted to build a shrine, there was only this one choice.


    Shen Yuan looked up at the slowly revealed light in the distance and suddenly spoke, ¡°It¡¯s almost dawn.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Duan Hongzhen also looked up towards the horizon. The east gradually turned bright. Unfortunately, it seemed to be dawning soon.


    Shen Yuan stared at the rays of dawn for a moment, then suddenly said, ¡°I know where the shrine is.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped, ¡°Where?¡±


    Shen Yuan stared straight ahead at the dawn, and quickly walked to the edge of the cliff.


    ¡°Careful! Ahead is a cliff!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu called out, thinking that Shen Yuan might have been confused by something.


    At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly stopped and turned around to look back at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°The shrine is here.¡±


    For a moment, Xiao Tangqiu thought that Shen Yuan was looking at him, but soon he realized something and quickly turned around. Following the direction of dawn¡¯s light, he saw that not far from behind him... a red torii had appeared out of thin air!


    Torii, representing the boundary between a God¡¯s Domain and the world, it¡¯s said to be the entrance to a God¡¯s Domain.


    They finally found the shrine!

 Chapter 65.1

    <h4>Chapter 65.1</h4>


    As Xiao Tangqiu became excited, he suddenly felt dizziness. There was a feeling of deja vu again...


    Damn! It¡¯s toote! They were going back again! Why did it have to happen now?!


    At this moment, the sun rose and the sky turned bright.


    Xiao Tangqiu watched the nearby torii gradually disappear from right before his eyes. He felt extremely unwilling, it was only a little more! They were just a little short! It was clear that they had found the shrine! It was clear that they were only one step away from the shrine!


    In the next moment, his vision went dark and he lost all consciousness.


    When Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes again, he had returned to the familiar tunnel. The familiar voice of Tang Mianmian carried over from nearby, ¡°Fuck! We¡¯re back in this tunnel?¡±


    He turned his head to find Shen Yuan. After seeing that Shen Yuan was nearby and was also looking for him, he felt relieved, but soon he was frustrated again, ¡°Such a pity, we almost found the shrine...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen was also very annoyed, ¡°Damn! It was only a bit further! But that damn shrine only appeared suddenly after dawn, so does that mean it only appears after dawn and disappears at night?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also thought of this question, ¡°But we can¡¯t stay at Hundred Ghost Town during the day. Does that mean that it is impossible for us to find the shrine in our lifetime?¡±


    The two of them told Xue Junli and others what happenedst night. Xue Junli frowned slightly, ¡°The shrine only appears during the day?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly, ¡°I¡¯m afraid so. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t have found nothing all night. If the shrine is an important plot point, isn¡¯t it a dead-end right now?¡±


    Xue Junli spoke firmly, ¡°It is impossible for the system to give us an unsolvable dead end. Either we did not meet the conditions to trigger the plot or we missed some key clues or important items.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen nodded, ¡°It should be so. We must have missed somethingst night.¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s gaze darkened, ¡°Next time we¡¯ll search together.¡±


    There was suddenly the sound of footsteps nearby.


    The footsteps got closer and closer, and Xiao Tangqiu instantly became alert. Soon, a few familiar faces appeared before them.


    Upon closer look, it was the group of newbies who parted with them previously.


    When the leading nitpicking man saw them, he suddenly became proud of himself, ¡°It turns out to be you! How about it? Killing zombies again?¡±


    Xue Junli looked coldly at the man picking a fight and he didn¡¯t want to pay attention to this guy at all. But this guy came up anyways, unable to read the atmosphere, ¡°You guys really do useless things! Are you going to run out to kill zombies all night again? We stayed in the tunnel and didn¡¯t do anything, didn¡¯t we survive just fine? You guys worked so hard, did you gain anything?¡±


    Even Xiao Tangqiu, a bystander, was frightened. If Duan Hongzhen¡¯s hand tilted even a little, or if he used a little more strength, then it probably would not just be the man¡¯s sses lens that was pierced!


    Needless to say, the nitpicking man who was the party concerned was so scared that he dropped to the ground, covering his eyes and yelling, ¡°Ahhhhhhhh my eye! My eye! What have you done to my eye!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°Rx, I didn¡¯t hit your eye. What are you screaming for? Are you made of porcin?¡±


    The nitpicker wailed for a while before realizing that his eye wasn¡¯t in pain. He carefully took off his sses and saw that the knife only went into the lens. He was relieved, but despite this, he was still scared into peeing himself.


    The other newbies were also scared by Duan Hongzhen¡¯s swift and decisive move and they didn¡¯t even dare to breathe too deeply. They could only tremble like quails. Terrifying! Too terrifying! More terrifying than those zombies!


    Duan Hongzhen crossed his arms, ¡°You like beingzy, you can bezy, I don¡¯t care. But beingzy yet stilling before me, then don¡¯t me me for teaching you a lesson.¡±


    The nitpicking man shook in fear, unable to say anything.


    ¡°Fuck off!¡±


    As soon as Duan Hongzhen¡¯s voice fell, the nitpicker wanted to run with his tail between his legs but he was stopped by Xue Junli¡¯s ¡°Stop¡±. He looked at Duan Hongzhen and then looked at Xue Junli, conflicted.


    Duan Hongzhen picked at his ear, ¡°Someone wants to ask you some questions. Fuck off after answering.¡±


    Xue Junli frowned and asked, ¡°You guys stayed in the tunnel yesterday, did nothing really happen?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen nced coldly at the nitpicker, ¡°Answer!¡±


    The nitpicker immediately shuddered and replied, ¡°Nothing! Nothing! Really nothing happened!¡±


    Xue Junli asked again, ¡°Have you seen a ck subway?¡±


    The nitpicker hurriedly shook his head, ¡°No, after we returned to the tunnel, the tunnel became an ordinary abandoned tunnel again. Other than the exit in the direction you were at, the other side was just the end of the tunnel. There was nothing in it, no subways or tracks at all. After that, we found a clear area with no danger and we cleared some of the ground and went to sleep...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°We were desperately trying to survive out there. You guys were sofortable, only worrying about sleeping.¡±


    The nitpicker was afraid of answering. At this moment, the sound of ¡°dang dang dang¡± came suddenly, and his expression suddenly changed, ¡°That is impossible! That is impossible! There was no subway before!¡±


    Xue Junli immediately said, ¡°Go!¡±


    The crowd hurried towards the direction of the sound.


    Dang dang dang dang-


    Dang dang dang dang-


    Soon, a familiar rail appeared in front of them.


    The nitpicker was shocked, ¡°That is impossible! That is impossible! There was clearly nothing earlier!¡±


    As soon as his words fell, a familiar ck subway appeared at the end of the track!


    This time Xiao Tangqiu saw exactly how the ck subway appeared. It didn¡¯te from the end of the track, it clearly appeared out of thin air!


    The ck subway drove in front of them, then gradually stopped and opened its doors again.


    ¡°No! No! I will never go up!¡± The nitpicker was in despair. With the trauma of the zombie siege yesterday, he did not want to get on this ck subway for the rest of his life!


    Duan Hongzhen rolled his eyes, ¡°You don¡¯t have to go up, but after wee back, you have to tell us what changes in the tunnel after the subway leaves.¡±


    The nitpicker just breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly turned stiff again, ¡°You guys... areing back?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen gave a coldugh, ¡°Why? You are anticipating that we will nevere back again, right?¡±


    The nitpicker immediately shook his head frantically and denied it, ¡°Of course not! No way! No, no, no!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen grinned, ¡°I changed my mind. The others stay, you areing with us!¡±


    The nitpicking man was about to cry, ¡°No no no! Sorry I was wrong! Don¡¯t take me up!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, grabbed his cor, and dragged him onto the subway.


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t!¡±


    With the desperate cries of the nitpicker, the subway door closed.


    Dang dang dang dang-


    The subway started.


    The nitpicker fell into despair and copsed onto the subway floor.


    As soon as he got on the subway, Xiao Tangqiu began to quickly look around in the subway. He saw that there were no other passengers besides them, and he did not see the Miko.


    He guessed that since the Miko probably got on the subway with those ¡°passengers¡± at the next stop yesterday, maybe it would be the same today.


    Just when everyone was in a heavy mood, Shen Yuan pulled on Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s sleeve, pointed to the empty seat on the subway, and said seriously, ¡°Jiujiu, you are tired. Sit.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t in the mood to rx and sit down but he didn¡¯t want to ignore Shen Yuan, so he sat down with Shen Yuan.


    The Reincarnation Team all looked at each other for a while and then sat down together. They realized that although there was a hard fight to fightter, they could take a little rest now. Only the nitpicking man was sitting on the floor and looked in despair.


    Duan Hongzhen kicked the butt of the nitpicker, ¡°Hey, what¡¯s your name.¡±


    The despairing nitpicker reluctantly replied, ¡°Lu Renjia.¡±


    ¡°Lu Renjia?¡± Tang Mianmian casually said, ¡°This name is very ¡°passerby A¡±. In horror movies, they¡¯re usually fodder that can¡¯t survive longer than the opening five minutes.¡±


    Lu Ren burst into tears, ¡°Why do you all say that! What¡¯s wrong with a cannon fodder name? Although I didn¡¯t grow up to be anything, just like the cannon fodders in novels, cannon fodders are also dignified!¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...Aren¡¯t you a well-known  writer?¡±


    Lu Renjia¡¯s expression copsed, ¡°I¡¯m ayman writer! No one reads my writing! I can¡¯t make money to support myself! I can only rely on my parents! I thought I could be great after transmigrating... but it¡¯s barren wastes everywhere! The novels are all deceptive!¡±


    Tang Mianmian thought about it and tried tofort him, ¡°My condolences.¡±


    Lu Renjia cried sadly. When he took off his sses to look at the broken lens, he cried even more sadly.


    The corner of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched, wanting to speak. But at this moment, the subway gradually stopped.


    Arrived at the next station!

 Chapter 65.2

    <h4>Chapter 65.2</h4>


    Everyone felt refreshed and alert.


    A tform suddenly appeared outside of the window.


    As soon as the doors opened, countless passengers rushed in. Since they were all sitting this time, Xiao Tangqiu and the others were not squeezed apart like yesterday. They sat in their seats and calmly observed the passengers.


    Xiao Tangqiu was watching a female passenger when Shen Yuan suddenly tugged on him, ¡°Don¡¯t look at her, look at me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t helpughing, ¡°I¡¯m observing her.¡±


    Shen Yuan puffed his cheeks, ¡°Then you observe me, what¡¯s good about observing her?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled and did not respond. Although he knew that these passengers would suddenly turn into zombies, he was still very curious. That female passenger who looked young and beautiful and was looking down on her mobile phone, was she ying mobile games or was she chatting with someone? If she was messaging someone, then did the other party really exist?


    Suddenly, an abnormality appeared.


    The female passenger who had her head down and was ying with her cell phone suddenly copsed. Then, her body began to change. Everything was exactly the same as yesterday. In the blink of an eye, the young and beautiful girl turned into a zombie, screeching while lunging at Xiao Tangqiu.


    Her transformation was like a signal. After she became a zombie, other passengers in the car also began to zombify, roaring before lunging at them, the living.


    Shen Yuan unhesitatingly pulled Xiao Tangqiu into his arms and kicked the female passenger away with a foot. His used a lot of strength and the female passenger flew directly backwards, like a bowling ball, knocking down a whole group behind her.


    More zombies rushed towards them regardless, and everyone dodged left and right. But they were limited in this space, so they could only try to move closer to the center of the carriage and get back to back with other teammates.


    Fortunately, the subway finally arrived at the station at this time and they immediately rushed out of the carriage.


    Duan Hongzhen dealt with zombies while shouting, ¡°What about that Miko from yesterday? Did you see her?¡±


    Xue Junli frowned, ¡°Will shee again today?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen humphed, ¡°Definitely!¡±


    After Shen Yuan resolved another wave of zombies trying to approach them, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something, ¡°...Wait, where¡¯s Lu Renjia?¡±


    Tang Mianmian thought for a moment, ¡°He fainted from fear earlier...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Then?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°We were all in a hurry to get off, no one remembered him...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu silently pulled out his crossbow, ¡°So he¡¯s still in the carriage, right?¡±


    Tang Mianmian silently looked at the departing ck subway in the distance and drew a cross on his chest, ¡°...Best of luck to him.¡±


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly noticed a red figure appearing in the zombie swarm, ¡°It¡¯s her! I see her!¡±


    Sure enough, in the next moment, the zombies over there fell one after another and the dark-haired Miko appeared in front of everyone with her longsword.


    She nced coldly at them without a word and continued to fight.


    ¡°Hey! Hey! We came to find you!¡± Tang Mianmian yelled, but the Miko ignored it and kept killing zombies.


    Tang Mianmian was filled with indignation, ¡°What the! We all fought together all night yesterday! But today she¡¯s pretending not to know us! A woman¡¯s words are just like deceitful ghosts!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Don¡¯t say so much, let¡¯s clean up the zombies first... I have a hunch that maybe we need to clear up all of the zombies first.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was dumbstruck, ¡°Clear up all of the zombies? How is that possible! The zombies here are simply endless!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu expressed the guess he thought of sincest night, ¡°Didn¡¯t she say that she failed again yesterday? We killed so many zombies, that can¡¯t be considered a failure. The only failure was failing to clear all of the zombies away... Maybe wiping out all of the zombies is the condition that triggers the plot.¡±


    Xue Junli was thoughtful, ¡°That is possible.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s spirits rose, ¡°No matter what, let¡¯s try it! Maybe we can get the answer we want after wiping out all zombies!¡±


    Everyone in the Reincarnation Team no longer talked nonsense and focused on fighting.


    Although Tang Mianmian was angry that the Miko ignored them, he took up arms and joined the battle.


    This was a ceaseless battle, it seemed that there would never be an end. They fought from dawn to dusk, until night gradually approached.


    The full moon hung high and nighttime officially arrived.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s arms were already numb but he still gritted his teeth. The zombies at night were even more fierce. If it wasn¡¯t for the Shen Yuan the super plug-in, he might have copsed long ago.


    He nced at the Miko with the remaining light while killing zombies. They were at least fighting in groups so even if there was some ck, their teammates could immediately cover for them. But the Miko was alone from beginning to end. There was no trace of weakness from start to finish. Everyone else was bing more and more exhausted but she became more and more determined. This amazing perseverance, no matter who it was, they would feel awed!


    Shen Yuan blocked in front of Xiao Tangqiu again, ¡°Don¡¯t look at her, look at me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu could only give a dryugh, ¡°Yes, yes! You¡¯re the best looking!¡±


    Besides them, Tang Mianmian said quietly, ¡°So gay!¡±


    Although they didn¡¯t know the Miko and had nomunication between them, they seemed to have reached a tacit agreement as they fought together.


    With their full support, the Miko finally wiped out all of the zombies before dawn.


    Finally, thest zombie fell. It was not yet dawn.


    The crowd waited in silence for a while but the next ck subway didn¡¯te.


    Finally!


    They finally wiped out all of the zombies!


    Xiao Tangqiu was so tired that he was going to copse to the ground. He had drunk several bottles of the recovery potion. Although his energy was still extremely high, his body was clearly reaching the limit and he would not be able to persevere even for another minute. Fortunately, everything was over.


    Tang Mianmian directly sat on the ground. Although the ground was full of zombies and dirty bodily fluids, he no longer cared. If it wasn¡¯t for the ongoing matters, he wanted to fall straight to sleep.


    Everyone else was tired, only Shen Yuan¡¯s appearance was normal and looked the same as usual.


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked in the direction of the Miko. Although the Miko was covered in blood, her eyes were firm, her expression was not tired, and she stood straight with her sword in hand.


    ¡°Fuck! She¡¯s not human!¡± Tang Mianmian cursed under his breath.


    The next moment, they saw the Miko slowly raise a


    Kagura Bell in her other hand and then slowly started a dance.


    It seemed to be an ancient dance, full of mystic and mysterious feelings.


    Jingle-


    Jingle-


    With the crisp sounds of the Kagura Bell, a burst of ck smoke emerged from the pile of zombies and dissipated into the air. After all the ck smoke gradually disappeared, the zombies on the ground also disappeared.


    In a sh, the mountain of corpses was gone.


    The tform on which they stood also instantly became mottled and shabby, appearing to have been abandoned for a long time.


    When the ck-haired Miko put away the longsword and Kagura Bell, Xiao Tangqiu immediately asked, ¡°Can you tell us now... who in the world are you? Why clean up the zombies here?¡±


    If he guessed right, they should have sessfully met the conditions to trigger the plot by now.

 Chapter 65.3

    <h4>Chapter 65.3</h4>


    Sure enough, in the next moment, the dark-haired Miko spoke, ¡°I said it before, I am the Miko of the Kisaragi Shrine, Kisaragi.¡±


    Her voice was very cold, like the cold moonlight, ¡°I am not here to clean up zombies. These things are not zombies, they¡¯re wraiths formed from the grudges of the dead.¡±


    ¡°The wraiths formed from the grudges of the dead?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. The truth was far from what he had imagined. He thought that the zombie outbreak was the reproduction of fragments of events that really existed at a certain point in time, but those ¡°zombies¡± were not zombies at all?


    Kisaragi nodded and said, ¡°A few years ago, a rare subway ident urred here. At that time, the subway was traveling from the previous tform to this tform. Due to staff errors, two idental collisions of the subway urred...¡±


    ¡°There were countless deaths and injuries in that ident. The passengers died with hatred, their grievances gathered, and eventually formed spirits. So once it reaches the time when the ident happened, a ghost subway would appear here, constantly reproducing the scene from that year.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly recalled the scene when he just entered this instance. He was sitting on the ghost subway at that time and saw the horror of those passengers who had suddenly turned burned and injured from their normal appearance...


    It turned out that the scene he saw was the recurrence of the subway ident that year?


    Kisaragi continued, ¡°The grudges of the wraiths are unremitting, and it is easy to cause idents. As the Miko of the Kisaragi Shrine, I naturally want to curb their grudges and send them to the afterlife... But the grudges from those who died in the idents is too strong. If the grievances can¡¯t be dispelled all at once before dawn, it will re-consolidate.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s like this!¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, ¡°No wonder you said yesterday that you failed! Becausest night we didn¡¯t have time to kill all the zombies!¡±


    Kisaragi spoke lightly, ¡°If I can¡¯t eliminate all the grievances before dawn, it will be in vain. Now that I have finally seeded in absolving them... The matter here is temporarily over.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu heard something wrong in her words, ¡°The matter here is temporarily over? Is there something else going on elsewhere?¡±


    Kisaragi gave Xiao Tangqiu a cold look and didn¡¯t speak.


    Xiao Tangqiu realized that there was something else to do to trigger the plot, so he looked at Xue Junli.


    Xue Junli nodded and changed the way of asking, ¡°Can we follow you? Maybe we can help.¡±


    Kisaragi began to ask, ¡°Are you an exorcist from outside?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°From outside?¡±


    Tang Mianmian rubbed his chin, ¡°Exorcist?¡±


    Kisaragi nced at Xiao Tangqiu and said lightly, ¡°This is Hundred Ghosts Vige, and it¡¯s been many years since exorcists havee from outside.¡±


    ¡°Exorcist... This title sounds kind of cool! That¡¯s right! We are the exorcists from outside!¡± Tang Mianmian proactively imed this title.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...It¡¯s obviously very .¡±


    After hearing Tang Mianmian¡¯s words, Kisaragi breathed a sigh of relief, and she nodded, ¡°Since you are exorcists from outside, then pleasee with me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought for a while, and finally remembered what they forgot, ¡°...Where¡¯s that Lu Renjia?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°It seems that he is still on the ghost subway. It is likely that... he met a terrible end.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu silently mourned for Lu Renjia for a few seconds, praying that he could transmigrate into YY novels next time and embrace beauties, or transmigrate into fantasy novels to conquer the world, or maybe transmigrate to a cultivation novel to counterattack and upgrade himself!


    They followed Kisaragi and soon left the long-abandoned tform.


    Xiao Tangqiu nced back at the tform. Under the darkness of the night, the deserted tform looked extraordinarily spooky and strange. But he soon realized that what was spooky and strange was definitely not just the abandoned tform.


    They passed through a weedy wastnd and came to the streets of the vige.


    This Hundred Ghosts Vige, which has no rtionship with Hundred Ghost Town, is particrly deste. Xiao Tangqiu originally thought that the tform was deste because it was abandoned, but even after leaving the tform, it was the same. The streets were empty and deserted, there was not a single pedestrian.


    Under the darkness of the night, the streets of this vige appeared extremely deste. There were no leaves on the ground and the street lights were not on. The shops on both sides were locked with dark windows and doors. It seemed that these businesses had been closed for a long time.


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his head and looked into the distance. There was no ce where the lights were on. The whole town was shrouded in darkness, just like a ghost town... Although there was no wind, he still couldn¡¯t stop a shiver.


    However, Kisaragi, who was at the front of the group, was unimpressed, still walking forward on her own. Xiao Tangqiu hesitated but could not help but ask, ¡°Kisaragi, isn¡¯t this vige a bit strange?¡±


    Kisaragi continued forward only minding her own, not answering his question.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed. Was it because the conditions have yet to be met so the plot could not be triggered yet?


    Kisaragi did not speak at all on the road, and the others clearly noticed something off about the vige, bing 120% vignt, so no one talked along the way.


    Xiao Tangqiu also watched their surroundings with vignce. Kisaragi took them through one street after another, each just as deste and deserted as before. All the shops were closed with darkened windows and doors, and even the residents they passed by were dark.


    The whole vige was silent.


    At some point, a bridge appeared in front of them. Kisaragi crossed the bridge and walked towards the opposite side.


    When crossing the bridge, Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously nced below the bridge and was shocked to find that the river only reflected his shadow. The others were missing!


    What¡¯s going on?!


    A sudden wave of unease appeared in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart. Finally, he realized that Shen Yuan, who had been closely following him, had disappeared from his sight since who knew when.


    He quickly raised his head, but only saw Kisaragi¡¯s distant back. Before he could call to Kisaragi, Kisaragi¡¯s back disappeared the moment she got off the bridge.


    Kisaragi disappeared instantly after leaving the bridge!


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. He quickly looked around but he waspletely alone!


    What about Shen Yuan?


    What about Tang Mianmian?


    The others in the Reincarnation Team?


    In an instant, everyone around him disappeared, leaving him alone on the bridge!


    Xiao Tangqiu panicked for a few seconds but he quickly forced himself to calm down. He had to find a way to break through!


    He turned around again and suddenly saw a silhouette in the middle of the bridge. That back was somewhat familiar and seemed to be Shen Yuan.


    Obviously, he would not be so easily fooled. He stared at the back with great vignce, considering whether he would turn and run back, or run past the figure and rush across the bridge. At this moment, the figure suddenly turned.


    That person wasn¡¯t Shen Yuan, it was a woman. A beautiful woman.


    She was wearing a bright red kimono and stood in the middle of the bridge, calmly watching Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu had seen a lot of beautiful women but had never seen such a mncholy yet beautiful woman. Her eyes were like hooks that hook right onto the soul, pulling the souls out of men. They could make people want to stop and be unable to extricate themselves.


    Of course, the premise was a normal man.


    But Xiao Tangqiu was not a normal man. He was a man who was familiar with various horror movie and horror game routines... so he subconsciously took a step back.


    The woman didn¡¯t speak. Her brows furrowed and her beautiful eyes were still filled with mncholy.


    Xiao Tangqiu took another step back.


    The woman did not speak, took another step forward, and her expression was even more pitiful.


    Xiao Tangqiu stepped back again and again, but his back suddenly reached the railing of the bridge. He looked back subconsciously and he was so scared that his soul almost flew away. Where was the normal water surface under the bridge?


    It¡¯s clearly filled with screaming and crying grievous spirits. They all had bloated faces, their heads were several timesrger than usual, their eyes were bulging out of their swollen eyelids... They all look like they drowned!


    Xiao Tangqiu was so scared that he turned back again but he bumped into something icy cold and damp.


    His heart chilled in an instant. Sure enough, in the next second, a pair of bonelessly soft and cold hands wrapped around his waist and neck. But this intimate posture did not move his heart at all.


    He immediately struggled but he was still dragged off the bridge by the thing wrapped around his back. Although he hugged the bridge railing with all his strength, his boneless hands were amazingly powerful. He dragged him down to the water.


    With a thud, Xiao Tangqiu fell into the river.


    For an instant, the cold river water passed over his head, and he immediately choked a big mouthful of water. But at the same time he couldn¡¯t help but breathe a sigh of relief. It was better to fall into the river than to fall into a pile of wronged spirits!


    But soon he realized that he was too optimistic. The hands wrapped around his waist and neck did not disappear, instead bing tighter and tighter, dragging him deeper into the river!


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately struggled violently, but the strength of the arms was astonishing. The more he struggled, the tighter they entangled around him. Fortunately, at this critical moment, he remembered that the space tool given to him by Xue Junli also contained advanced ghost exorcism talisman. He quickly held his breath and found an advanced ghost exorcism talisman and then used thest of his energy to turn around and smack it onto the woman¡¯s face!


    The woman burst into screams, making Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s ear hurt. Fortunately, the arms wrapped around his waist and neck loosened slightly and he quickly broke free from them, desperately swimming towards the water surface.


    Two meters away!


    One meter away!


    The air in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s lungs gradually ran out. He watched as the surface came closer and closer. Just as he almost reached the air, his feet were grabbed by a pair of hands!


    He looked down. It turned out to be one of the drowned ghosts he had seen under the bridge!


    The drowned ghost looked at him resentfully with bulging eyes. Those deadly bloated hands grabbed his feet, obviously not wanting him to go ashore.


    Xiao Tangqiu was anxious. He struggled to take out another advanced exorcism talisman and p it on the face of the drowned ghost. The drowned ghost wailed and released its hands.


    But soon, another drowned ghost appeared at his feet, and even a second drowned ghost came. They each grabbed one of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s feet!


    In the depths of the dark river, more and more drowned ghosts emerged. They swam towards Xiao Tangqiu with resentment and extended their pale and swollen hands to grab him.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu struggled to expel these ghosts, the air in his lungs was exhausted and he gradually began to lose consciousness. The drowned ghosts were still drilling out from the bottom of the river like locusts, the numbers growing more and more.


    At this moment, the woman who pulled him down the river also reappeared, swimming over to him again. Her beautiful painting-like skin was half-ruined from the advanced exorcism talisman, leaving only half of her beautiful face. The other half was the half of the skull eaten by fish...

 Chapter 66.1

    <h4>Chapter 66.1</h4>


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu felt despair. There were always dead-end roads and it seemed that this time, he couldn¡¯t avoid it!


    Under the water, the woman in the red kimono got closer and closer to him with her half gorgeous and half horrifying face.


    Finally, those bonelessly soft and extremely cold hands wrapped around his neck and waist again. At this moment, the air in Xiao Tangqiu lungs waspletely exhausted and he closed his eyes in despair.


    Just before Xiao Tangqiupletely lost consciousness, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of him and something warm and soft pressed against his lips, pushing a breath of air into his mouth.


    His lungs, which were on the verge of exhaustion, were finally revived. The warm and dry fresh air made him sober up and he subconsciously wanted to ask for more.


    Saved! Finally saved!


    Was he saved?


    In this kind of desperate situation, who would havee to rescue him?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind was in a state of chaos, and when he dizzily opened his eyes, he met the dark eyes of Shen Yuan.


    It turned out to be Shen Yuan.


    It really was Shen Yuan...


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a sense of ¡°of course¡± and fatalism. Shen Yuan¡¯s appearance felt unexpected... but also an expected feeling.


    Finally having escaped death, he couldn¡¯t help greedily sucking in the air in Shen Yuan¡¯s mouth. It was only a momentter that he realized that they were still at the bottom of the river and surrounded a group of drowned ghosts. He hurriedly pushed Shen Yuan away.


    Xiao Tangqiu regained a little control and quickly took out the advanced ghost exorcism talisman to exorcise ghosts. But when he turned around, he found that the drowned ghosts and the gorgeous woman in the red kimono had disappeared... The only ones left under the water were Shen Yuan and him.


    Shen Yuan looked at him through the river. In the poor lighting, his face was half-lit and half-dark. Before Xiao Tangqiu could fully make out the outline of the face in front of his eyes, an arm wrapped around his waist.


    It was Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan frowned, seeming dissatisfied with Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s pushing action just now and hugged his waist and swam up towards the surface.


    Xiao Tangqiu finally returned to the ground and quickly took huge breaths of fresh air. He sighed from the bottom of his heart. It felt good to be alive!


    ¡°Qiuqiu, what happened just now?¡± Tang Mianmian leaned over and asked worriedly, ¡°We were walking along just fine but you suddenly rushed to the river and jumped down. We couldn¡¯t stop it! It was like you were crazy! No, it¡¯s like you saw some treasure!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen crossed his arms and asked with bad intentions, ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not a treasure, but a beautiful woman, right? Just like the rain woman that day?¡±


    As soon as Duan Hongzhen spoke, Shen Yuan¡¯s expression sank.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a lot of pressure for a moment, but still bit the bullet and spoke, ¡°I did seem to have seen something unclean...¡±


    He sinctly stated what happened just now. When he talked about the woman in the red kimono, Shen Yuan¡¯s expression was as dark as the bottom of a pot.


    After he finished speaking, Duan Hongzhen made fun of him, ¡°Before, it was a beauty in a white kimono, this time it is a beauty in a red kimono. I didn¡¯t expect you to be so seductive that all the ghost beauties are watching you.¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked surprised and asked, ¡°You said that when we were crossing the bridge, you suddenly saw a woman in a red kimono in the middle of the bridge? That¡¯s not right! We didn¡¯t cross the bridge at all, there is no bridge here!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback and quickly turned his head and looked around. As expected, there was no bridge in sight. There was only a dark and deep river between the two banks.


    The river seemed to have stopped flowing. Under the darkness of night, it was like stagnant water.


    At this moment, a gust of chilling wind blew and Xiao Tangqiu, who was soaked, instantly felt a chill go down his spine.


    Yu Fuling looked at Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan, who had just climbed up from the river, and frowned, ¡°You should change your clothes first.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to move, but the always silent Miko suddenly spoke, ¡°No, there is indeed a bridge here.¡±


    Everyone was stunned. Kisaragi paused before continuing to say with a solemn expression, ¡°To be precise, there should have been a bridge. It was an old bridge that has been built for many years, the exact age of the bridge can¡¯t be counted. The residents of Hundred Ghost Vige have cherished and protected this bridge for generations, and this bridge was also an important passage for Hundred Ghost Vige to the outside world... Until a rare flood broke the bridge a few years ago and the bridge was broken.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu followed Kisaragi¡¯s line of sight, and there were indeed a few bluestone bs marking the broken bridge not far away. It looked like the bridge was brokenpletely back then.


    After Xiao Tangqiu calmed down from his near-death experience, he remembered something, ¡°The woman in the red kimono... is it Hashihime?¡±


    Xue Junli pushed his sses, ¡°It does sound a bit like it. Hovering on a bridge, dragging pedestrians across the bridge to drown...¡±


    Tang Mianmian asked, ¡°What is Hashihime? Is it also in the Hundred Ghost Night Parade?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°It is said that after a prostitute who was unable to stay with her lover fell into the water and drowned, she turned into a ghost and wandered on the bridge she drowned from.¡±


    Tang Mianmian murmured, ¡°The bridge is already broken and she has nothing and no one left. Why is she still so restless?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled and didn¡¯t know what to say. If Shen Yuan hadn¡¯te to rescue him just now, he¡¯s afraid he would have be one of the countless drowned ghosts at the bottom of the river.


    Duan Hongzhen cut in, not feeling any pressure from adding oil to the fire as a bystander, ¡°You really have a trouble-attracting body. Why are you always entangled by beautiful women? I really couldn¡¯t tell that your luck in romance is pretty good.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu silently nced at Shen Yuan¡¯s dark expression and said quietly, ¡°They are obviously picking on soft persimmons. Who made me the weakest among us?¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯splexion looked better but he was still unhappy, ¡°With me around, they better not even think about it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly changed the subject, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s hurry and change clothes! Aren¡¯t you cold?¡±


    In consideration of the presence ofdies, the two of them went off a ways before they changed their clothes.


    After Xiao Tangqiu quickly changed, he turned around and saw that Shen Yuan had already finished changing and was staring at him.


    Even though Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was steady, he became embarrassed being stared at by Shen Yuan. ¡°...What¡¯s there to look at, is it good looking?¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded, ¡°Looks good.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was speechless, ¡°...We are all the same, what¡¯s there to see.¡±


    Shen Yuan thought for a while and answered the question seriously, ¡°You¡¯re a size smaller, very cute, small everywhere.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blushed, ¡°Don¡¯t go too far! Our height is not that different!¡±


    Shen Yuan was about to exin with a serious look, ¡°It¡¯s there...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly covered his mouth with and eximed sternly, ¡°Alright! We still have important things to do! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    As soon as he released his hand, Shen Yuan continued and said, ¡°Everywhere is cute.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly peeled a piece of candy, threw it into Shen Yuan¡¯s mouth to block it, ¡°Eat candy!¡±


    Seeing that Shen Yuan finally stopped teasing him, Xiao Tangqiu said quietly, ¡°You little rascal, learning bad things.¡±


    Shen Yuan cheeks were filled with candy and mumbled, ¡°...I¡¯m telling the truth.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu red at Shen Yuan, turned his head, and returned to the group.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go quickly, otherwise, we¡¯ll likely be back in the tunnel again soon.¡± Xue Junli nced at Xiao Tangqiu, then at the Shen Yuan who followed as he spoke gravely.


    Watches from the City of the Abyss could not be brought into instances. They didn¡¯t have any timing tools so they could only rely on their internal clocks and estimations. People who were not sensitive to time might be out of luck in this instance andpletely blindsided. Fortunately, they could still judge an approximate time based on the level of brightness in the sky.


    Although there should still be some time before dawn, they did not dare to dy and soon continued on the journey.


    This time they did not encounter any more incidents and were able to smoothly follow Kisaragi to a building.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up and saw that it was clearly a school. The front building was a teaching building and each floor of the building were ssrooms.


    A school? What did the Miko bring them to this ce for?

 Chapter 66.2

    <h4>Chapter 66.2</h4>


    In horror games, a school is indeed the mostmon location and setting, the frequency on par with western mansions. In particr, there were strange tales such as the Seven Unbelievable Myths of the Campus or other simr rumors... As soon as Xiao Tangqiu saw this ce, he felt like he could see the FLAG raised high.


    Sure enough, in the next moment, Kisaragi walked straight up to the school gate.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but nce at Tang Mianmian. They couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly at each other, apparently reminiscing of the hard times they had spent in horror games.


    Although they could foresee the hardships ahead, they could only bite the bullet.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked over the school from outside. Like the other ces in Hundred Ghost Vige, this school was also gray and worn down, not like a vibrant campus at all. It waspletely run down and looked exceptionally deserted and deste in the night as if no one had stepped into this ce for many years.


    However, when Xiao Tangqiu followed Kisaragi through the school gates and entered the campus, the surrounding environment shockingly changed. Flowers grew on thewns that were originally overgrown with weeds and the buildings that had looked abandoned for many years were instantly renewed. It was full of vitality in an instant. Even the ssrooms with dpidated doors and windows seemed to be restored.


    At this moment, a clear bell signaling the end of ss suddenly rang throughout the campus.


    The previously silent campus suddenly came alive and every ssroom in the teaching building suddenly sounded with theughter and voices of students at the same time.


    This scene, which was originally extremely normal, was exceptionally abnormal under the dark night. In contrast to the deathly surrounding environment, the noisy campus seemed particrly strange.


    At this moment, a group of boys in school uniforms rushed out of the ssrooms first. Theyughed and jostled around past Xiao Tangqiu and rushed towards the basketball courts.


    And then some girls left the ssroom one after another. They were chattering while either going to the toilet or fetching water. Xiao Tangqiu looked through the ss windows of the ssroom closest to him. There were many more students staying in the ssroom reading books, sleeping, or gathered in twos and threes to chat.


    Xiao Tangqiu observed the students in the ssroom. These students were probably junior high school students. No matter how he looked at them, they looked like normal students. They alsoughed, talked, and made noise... But he naturally wouldn¡¯t take things lightly. The ¡°passengers¡± on the subway look no different from ordinary office workers, too, after all.


    But why did Kisaragi bring them here?


    He looked at Kisaragi, only to see Kisaragi¡¯s indifferent expression. She was obviously the one who brought them here, but it looked like she didn¡¯t care.


    At this moment, Kisaragi moved forwards.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly followed. Kisaragi walked toward the teaching building and stepped into the hallway on the first floor.


    There were more studentsing and going in the hall,ughing and horsing about. A hedgehog haired boy identally ran into them. Kisaragi quickly avoided him. Just as Xiao Tangqiu who was behind her almost collided with the kid, Shen Yuan grabbed him at thest moment from the side and quickly pulled him to the side.


    The hedgehog haired head mmed into a wall and he fell on all fours.


    Several of hispanions immediatelyughed without mercy, ¡°Yoji! You are too modest! Hahahaha!¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha!¡±


    Hedgehog-head got up embarrassedly, red at hispanions in anger, then turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Hey! Who are you! Why did you trespass in our school!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t expect these ¡°students¡± to be able to talk to them, so he looked at Kisaragi in doubt. But Kisaragi looked indifferent and didn¡¯t seem to want to exin at all.


    Seeing Shen Yuan¡¯s unpleasant look, Xiao Tangqiu hurriedly grabbed him in secret. Usually, NPC¡¯s would not take the initiative to talk to them. Since hedgehog-head talked to them, maybe a plot point was triggered!


    So he tried to make an excuse, ¡°Actually, we are here to look for someone...¡±


    ¡°Look for someone?¡± The hedgehog-head frowned, looking suspicious, ¡°Who?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    How would he know who they were looking for?


    So he thought hard and casually gave a name, ¡°...Me... Mei.¡±


    He remembered that this was a verymon name, probably asmon as seeing a dentist in a dental hospital. Sure enough, hedgehog-head scratched his head and asked, ¡°The Mei from ss 2A?¡±


    There really was a Mei!


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Yes, yes, yes.¡±


    Hedgehog-head inexplicably blushed, ¡°Why are you looking for her?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, ¡°We are her...friends.¡±


    hedgehog-head looked at Xiao Tangqiu and the others dubiously, but in the end, he seemed to believe it, ¡°Then I will take you to find her!¡±


    He turned his head and waved to hispanions, ¡°Go by yourselves! I¡¯m not going anymore!¡±


    Hispanion tisked and turned away.


    Hedgehog-head said, ¡°ss 2A is across the way, I¡¯ll take you there.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Xue Junli and Xue Junli nodded. Although he still didn¡¯t understand what was going on, but the Miko didn¡¯t look like she wanted to say anything. So they could only follow hedgehog-head to see if they could find out something.


    They followed hedgehog-head and strangely enough, the Miko also followed.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu found it rather strange, he knew that even if he asked, he probably wouldn¡¯t get an answer. So he just turned his head to analyze hedgehog-head.


    ¡°Your school is really big, how many students are there?¡±


    Hedgehog head scratched his head, ¡°Ah? Don¡¯t know...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...How long has your school been around?¡±


    Hedgehog-head was still ignorant, ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°Then what do you know?¡±


    Hedgehog-head looked dumbfounded, ¡°Why should I know these?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    He was wrong! He shouldn¡¯t ask delinquent youths these profound questions!


    He turned away depressedly and looked at the ssrooms they passed by, only to find that other than hedgehog-head, no other student seemed to notice them.


    It stood to reason that outsiders like them who trespassed into the school during ¡°ss time¡±, not to mention such a big group, should easily arouse the curiosity and inquiries of students. But those students in the ssrooms were still doing what they were doing, focusing on their own business as if they didn¡¯t notice them passing by the windows at all.


    Even the milling students around them in the hallway didn¡¯t seem to notice them, still talking andughing as they passed by.


    But it was normal for them to be ¡°ignored¡± like this. After all, when Xiao Tangqiu was on the subway before, the ¡°passengers¡± also didn¡¯t notice or spoke to them.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. So what¡¯s with this hedgehog-head? How did this guy notice them and evene to chat and lead the way?


    He even suspected that this guy was also a ghost. But Shen Yuan and the others looked calm, not at all like there was any danger.


    He suppressed the doubts in his heart and continued to follow behind hedgehog-head through the long hallway towards the opposite teaching building.


    Soon, Xiao Tangqiu noticed a second thing that was off.


    The duration of this break was too long, right? How long was the usual break time between sses? Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? Although he was not too sensitive to time, he could feel that it had been a long time since the bell rang for the end of ss. Break time would never be this long and it was impossible to be the end school, there were still so many students in the ssrooms.


    He couldn¡¯t help asking hedgehog-head, ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t the break time in your school too long?¡±


    Hedgehog-head scratched his head, ¡°Is it long?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu discovered that although this guy looked like a bad boy, he was actually a natural airhead!


    At this moment, hedgehog-head suddenly said, ¡°Here. ss 2A is ahead.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up and saw that they had already arrived in front of the teaching building on the other side. In front of a ssroom on the first floor hung the sign of ss 2A.


    They arrived so soon? But he hadn¡¯t thought of a reason to look for that person yet!


    Hedgehog-head rushed up happily and looked into the ssroom through the window. The students in the ssroom were alsoughing and ying around. He looked for a while before turning his head to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Mei seems to be not in the ssroom right now, let me ask around.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to say that you don¡¯t need to ask, but hedgehog-head already knocked on the window by himself and asked a boy with sses sitting by the window, ¡°Hey, where¡¯s your ss¡¯s Mei?¡±


    The boy pushed his sses, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone! Where¡¯s your ss¡¯s Mei?¡±


    Probably from seeing the vicious expression on hedgehog-head, the boy shrank back a little, ¡°The ss monitor went to the teacher¡¯s office on the fourth floor...¡±


    ¡°The teacher¡¯s office on the fourth floor? Why is the teacher¡¯s office so high up?¡±


    The boy shrank again, ¡°I... how would I know...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was speechless. Was this guy really a student at this school? He didn¡¯t even know where the teacher¡¯s office is? Shouldn¡¯t it stand to reason that such a delinquent would be a regr in the office?


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go to the fourth floor!¡± Hedgehog-head scratched his head and said to Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Okay.¡± They had nowhere else to go anyway.


    So the group began to climb the stairs again. The students on the stairs came and went and no one noticed them. Hedgehog-head muttered, ¡°Why is the teacher¡¯s office on the fourth floor so high? Isn¡¯t the fourth floor too high?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced back out of the corner of his eyes and saw that the Miko was still quietly following.


    After climbing the stairs, they finally arrived at the teacher¡¯s office on the fourth floor. When hedgehog-head looked in through the ss window of the office, he became excited, ¡°Mei is inside!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help being curious about the ¡°Mei¡± that hedgehog-head spoke of. This was just a name he casually mentioned and didn¡¯t expect that there was actually a girl named Mei in this school. And she seemed to be the hedgehog-head¡¯s... crush?


    What kind of girl was this Mei?


    Xiao Tangqiu looked into the window and saw a quiet girl with bangs and long hair draped over her shoulders. Her appearance was very clean and lovely, a face that met the standards of an innocent boy¡¯s first love.


    This was Mei?


    He turned to look at the hedgehog-head and, as expected, he saw that guy blushing.


    What¡¯s with this situation?


    There seemed to be something wrong with the development of this plot!


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu suspected that the way he triggered the plotline was wrong, there was a violent tremor under his feet, followed by a wave of shaking.

 Chapter 66.3

    <h4>Chapter 66.3</h4>


    His sight went dark and it seemed that something smashed towards him. In the next second, he was pulled away by Shen Yuan who was constantly staring at him.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked down with lingering fear. It turned out that it was an inbox as big as a person at the door of the office. If he was hit by this iron gadget, he would have gotten a concussion even if he didn¡¯t die.


    Moreover, the tremor continued, bing more and more intense.


    ¡°Earthquake?¡± He reacted quickly and looked at the others.


    Xue Junli frowned, ¡°The magnitude of the amplitude should be an earthquake, and it should be a pretty widespreadrge earthquake...¡±


    This was definitely not a small earthquake that would end with tremors. Under this violent shaking, the entire teaching building seemed to wobble and bursts of screams erupted all over. Obviously there were students injured due to the violent shaking.


    Suddenly a terrible feeling rose in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart, ¡°I have a very bad feeling! We need to quickly get out of here! Head to the open ground!¡±


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s voice fell, the entire teaching building shook violently andrge cracks appeared on the walls, floor, and ceiling.


    Hedgehog-head yelled, ¡°No! Mei is still inside!¡±


    He looked into the office with trepidation to see that the girl was cleverly hiding under a desk and uninjured. He wanted to quickly rush in to save her.


    Xiao Tangqiu was a little anxious. Then, without knowing why, he suddenly had an impulse, ¡°Go! Let¡¯s save people, too!¡±


    Xue Junli said coldly, ¡°It¡¯s toote, if we don¡¯t leave the building might copse on us.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°...Just trust me this time!¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately shouted, ¡°I will go with you!¡±


    Shen Yuan humphed, obviously unhappy with Tang Mianmian taking a step ahead, ¡°I will go too.¡±


    Seeing that Shen Yuan was also going, Xue Junli could only agree, ¡°...Alright, quickly then.¡±


    Hedgehog-head desperately tried to open the office door, but there was something blocking the door, making it impossible for him to open the door smoothly.


    Just as he was sweating profusely, Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°Back off, let me.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen took out his knife and shed it at the door lock. Crack, the door lock was broken.


    He pushed the door and found that the door was still motionless, so he pushed harder. This time the door was sessfully pushed open, smoke and dust billowed out from the open door.


    ¡°Mei! Mei!¡± Hedgehog-head rushed towards the girl under the desk, ¡°I¡¯m here to save you! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    The girl hid under the desk and looked up at hedgehog-head timidly, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Hedgehog-head scratched his head, ¡°You may not know who I am, but I have been paying attention to you for a long time...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu urged, ¡°There is no time for confessions! Hurry up!¡±


    Hedgehog-head said quickly, ¡°There is no time to exin! Come with me!¡±


    Mei bit her lip and looked at hedgehog-head pitifully, ¡°But... but my leg...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked down at Mei¡¯s leg that was hidden under the desk and saw that it had a wound big enough to see bone. It bled out continuously. It was probably injured when the ceiling copsed just now.


    Hedgehog-head said quickly, ¡°It¡¯s okay! I¡¯ll carry you!¡±


    Mei hesitated, ¡°But...¡±


    Hedgehog-head turned around and squatted down by the desk, urging, ¡°No buts! Get on! Or we will all die here!¡±


    Mei gritted her teeth, crawled out of the desk, and got on hedgehog-head¡¯s back.


    Hedgehog-head carried Mei on his back and rushed out of the office.


    Xiao Tangqiu and the others looked at each other and also rushed out. As soon as they left the office, the tremors came again and the entire teaching building shook violently.


    Another burst of screams came from all around and Mei paled, ¡°What... what¡¯s happening?¡±


    Hedgehog-head gritted his teeth, ¡°It¡¯s a big earthquake! But it doesn¡¯t matter! I will definitely be able to save you!¡±


    He rushed down the stairs with Mei on his back, even forgetting the existence of Xiao Tangqiu and others. Xiao Tangqiu hurriedly followed.


    Hedgehog-head was either physically very developed or he had exploded with potential in such a desperate situation. Even though he was carrying a girl on his back, he took steps on the ground like he was flying. Xiao Tangqiu, a specially trained person, almost couldn¡¯t keep up.


    Along the way, they encountered countless students who were injured. Most of them were injured by falling objects caused by the big earthquake. There were also stampede idents caused by crowding while escaping. Screams and cries followed one after another. The hedgehog-head carried a girl on his back and rushed all the way down the stairs, dodging violent shaking several times on the way, and finally rushed to the first floor in one breath.


    With the light of hope just before her eyes, Mei, who was pale, let out a sigh of relief, ¡°Go to the yground! Now only the open space is safe!¡±


    Her words were reasonable and there was no problem at all, but hedgehog-head¡¯s face changed and he protested loudly, ¡°No! Can¡¯t go to the yground!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback for a moment, ¡°Why?¡±


    Hedgehog-head shook his head frantically, ¡°No! We can¡¯t go to the yground!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously felt something was wrong. Just after their group rushed out of the teaching building, the teaching building was finally overwhelmed by the tremors and copsed!


    ¡°Get down!¡±


    As soon as Duan Hongzhen¡¯s voice fell, Xiao Tangqiu was thrown to the ground by Shen Yuan. The next moment, a loud noise sounded!


    After a wave of screams, there was no other sound.


    Countless students and teachers who had not had time to escape were buried in the copsed teaching building.


    After the loud noise, Xiao Tangqiu and the others fell into a long silence and Mei began to softly cry.


    Hedgehog-head murmured, ¡°Let¡¯s go... Let¡¯s leave here... Let¡¯s go home...¡±


    He picked up Mei again and was about to turn around and leave, but at this moment, a voice suddenly rang, ¡°Yoji... Yoji... Where are you going?¡±


    Hedgehog-head froze and turned around. He saw hispanion who had been separated from him earlier lying on the ground covered in blood...


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes widened. Hedgehog-head¡¯spanion was lying on the ground with blood on his face, crawling in their direction with difficulty, on the verge of death, and said angrily, ¡°Yoji... you are abandoning us... to go where...¡±


    Hedgehog-head muttered to himself in disbelief, ¡°How can this be? How is this possible...¡±


    Hedgehog-head¡¯spanion got closer and closer, and more and more blood flowed out of him, ¡°You¡¯re abandoning us... to go where? Why didn¡¯t you save me... why didn¡¯t you save us...¡±


    Hedgehog-head¡¯s face changed drastically and he gritted his teeth, ¡°I wille back to rescue you! After I save Mei, I wille back to rescue you immediately!¡±


    Hispanion giggled and blood slowly trickled from his mouth, ¡°You¡¯re lying...¡±


    Hedgehog-head yelled, ¡°I won¡¯t lie to you! I will definitelye back to save you!¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    Hispanion continued, ¡°But... we are all already dead...¡±


    That person shed lines of blood and tears as he talked. Soon, his nose, mouth, and ears all ooze with blood. Then, his head deted like a suddenly leaking balloon, and he died with his seven orifices bleeding.


    Hedgehog-head took a few steps back in horror while Duan Hongzhen stepped forward to take a look, ¡°Tsk,pletely dead.¡±


    ¡°Dead... he is dead...¡±


    Hedgehog murmured in disbelief, obviously unable to ept the fact that hispanion who was still alive not long ago died in front of him.


    ¡°Yeah... he¡¯s dead... so he¡¯s dead...¡± Mei, who was lying on his back also mumbled to herself, ¡°I am dead too, so we are all dead...¡±


    ¡°No! Mei!¡±


    Hedgehog-head turned his head and saw that the girl on his back suddenly tilted her head.


    He quickly put the girl down, only to see that the girl was already dead.


    ¡°Mei...¡±


    He sat down on the ground in disbelief, ¡°No, no... We clearly almost escaped to safety... I clearly almost rescued you from here...¡±


    At this moment, Kisaragi who had been silent the entire time, said coldly, ¡°She is just a dead soul who was trapped here and did not know that she died. The resentment is not too strong so once she found out that she is dead, she dispelled her resentment by herself and went to her next life. Even if you rescued her, she already died a long time ago.¡±


    Hedgehog-head spoke in disbelief, ¡°How could... she was clearly still alive... she was clearly alive just now...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly spoke, ¡°If we hadn¡¯t suddenly trespassed, ording to the original path of fate, you did not find her, she was trapped in the office, and then when the school building copsed in the earthquake... she would die in the copsed teaching building.


    ¡°Mei died a long time ago... Maybe she wasn¡¯t even called Mei... After all, this was just a name I just picked up.


    ¡°Perhaps, even you are dead?¡±

 Chapter 67.1

    <h4>Chapter 67.1</h4>


    Hedgehog-head instantly became agitated, ¡°How can I be dead? I didn¡¯t die!¡±


    He seemed to be eager to prove that he wasn¡¯t dead and hurriedly leaned in front of Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Look at me! I am obviously a living person! How can I be dead?!¡±


    Before hedgehog-head could get close to Xiao Tangqiu, Shen Yuan stepped forward and stood in front of Xiao Tangqiu. He coldly said, ¡°Scram, don¡¯t approach him.¡±


    Hedgehog-head felt upset, but after seeing Shen Yuan¡¯s unrelenting look, he could only swallow it down again.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back at the copsed teaching building. Although he had guessed that the scene before him was likely something that had already happened, he still couldn¡¯t help feeling emotional. Even though humans considered themselves the master of all things, in the terrible face of natural disasters, human beings were too insignificant.


    Without knowing when, the originally endless screams, yells, and wailspletely disappeared. Only an air of death remained above the still violently shaking ruins. There was only silence all around.


    Tang Mianmian looked at the ruins in front of him and asked with a look of confusion, ¡°...So what are we here for?¡±


    From the corner of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes, he caught a glimpse of a certain ce in the ruins that suddenly moved. He paused and gave a wry smile, ¡°I have a bad feeling...¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately replied, ¡°Fuck! Shut up! Shut up!¡±


    However, it was toote. The ruins not far in front of them suddenly moved, and then a hand stretched out from a pile of broken bricks and rubble!


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Tang Mianmian blurted out instantly, ¡°nts vs. Zombies!¡±


    As soon as his voice fell, the owner of that hand struggled to crawl out of the rubble. It was a student covered in blood.


    ¡°Fuck! It actually came!¡±


    It was a male student whose neck was broken. It crawled out slowly, its head swaying and twisting about. When it smelled the breath of a living person, it immediately became excited and rushed towards them.


    Behind that male student, more and more students who ¡°resurrected from the dead¡± crawled out of the ruins of the teaching building and staggered towards them.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but curse, ¡°Why this again? We need to fight zombies again?!¡±


    As soon as his words fell, he learned the truth. Because Kisaragi once again drew out the longsword in her hand, and without hesitation, she cut off the head of the student zombie who leaped at them.


    Hedgehog-head gritted his teeth, ¡°Even if they are dead, you can¡¯t do this to them...¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Trouble you to wake up! If you don¡¯t kill them, they will kill you!¡±


    Hedgehog-head gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Why are we killing them? We just have to run away!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly said, ¡°Do you think we can still get out?¡±


    Hedgehog-head was taken aback, ¡°What do you mean? What do you mean by being unable to get out?¡±


    He turned around and rushed towards the school gate. But when he got to the school gate, he was blocked by an invisible barrier and even bounced back and fell to the ground.


    ¡°What the hell is going on? Why can¡¯t I get out? Did you do something to me?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we are not that leisurely.¡±


    Hedgehog-head was dazed for a while, and then reluctantly asked, ¡°Then what should we do to escape?¡±


    Kisaragi did not answer.


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile, ¡°...I¡¯m afraid we have to clear all the zombies in the campus first.¡±


    Hedgehog-head immediately cried, ¡°How is that possible? We can¡¯t do it with just the few of us!¡± How many students were there in the school? How could it be possible with just the few of them?


    Tang Mianmian added, ¡°Not only that, but it must be done before dawn.¡±


    Hedgehog-head shook his head, ¡°That is impossible to do...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said lightly, ¡°Otherwise, we will never be able to leave here.¡±


    Hedgehog-head hesitated, ¡°Does it have to be this way?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°It must be this way.¡±


    Hedgehog-head was silent for a long time. It wasn¡¯t until more and more zombies approached and surrounded them that he gritted his teeth and shouted, ¡°Fine then! I will join you!¡±


    He bent down and picked up a broken steel bar from the ground, but hesitated and dared not start.


    Everyone in the Reincarnation Team nced at each other. Based on their previous experience, it seemed that they had to clean up the zombies in this school with the Miko again. Although they were exhausted physically and mentally, they could only bite the bullet and do it.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian each took out their weapons. They weighed their own strength, and then chose a corner with a small number of zombies. That hedgehog-head probably thought that it wasn¡¯t good to let Kisaragi, a girl, be alone, so he rushed to help her.


    While dealing with the zombies, Tang Mianmian asked Xiao Tangqiu quietly, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Why can¡¯t we leave this school? When we were fighting zombies at the abandoned station before, those neers were obviously free to leave...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°We should be able to leave, but that hedgehog-head might not.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was taken aback, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°I was just guessing. I guessed that hedgehog-head can¡¯t leave this school. I didn¡¯t expect my guess to be right.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was stunned for a while, and there was a glimmer of insight on his face, ¡°So, you mean...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu interrupted him, ¡°Don¡¯t think about too much right now, we still have a fierce battle to fight. It¡¯s more important to clear the zombies here.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded and clenched the dagger in his hand, ¡°Understood!¡±


    Hedgehog-head couldn¡¯t bear to attack his former ssmates and friends at first, but after being scratched several times and almost dying in the hands of zombies, he gradually let go of his unwillingness and started to wave the steel bar in his hands with red eyes and killing intent.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were already veterans of killing zombies. The previous fierce battle allowed them to deal with these zombies with ease, and the two could even chat while beating the zombies.


    Tang Mianmian cut off the head of the zombie with a dagger. His dagger had been specially modified to expand and contract freely. It was very suitable for sneak attacks. ¡°Qiuqiu, I always feel that something is off. Do you feel that way?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shot a zombie¡¯s head with an arrow, ¡°I felt it long ago.¡±


    Tang Mianmian quickly asked, ¡°So what is wrong?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up at the sky, ¡°...It¡¯s not light yet.¡±


    Tang Mianmian paused, and then suddenly realized, ¡°Yeah! Why hasn¡¯t the sky turned bright? This night is too long, right?¡±


    It stood to reason that they should have returned to the tunnel before dawn. But even now, the sky showed no sign of brightening.


    This is obviously against logic. Although they couldn¡¯t urately tell the time and could only estimate within the instance, the both of them still felt that the passage of time was abnormal. So there must be something wrong.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see.¡±


    While Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian continued to kill zombies, they began to pay attention to the passage of time. But until they cleared the zombies in this area, the sky above their heads remained pitch ck with no signs of brightening.


    If they had only suspected that there was a problem with the passage of time before, then they were sure now that there was definitely a problem with the passage of time!


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and asked Xue Junli and others, ¡°Did you realize? The sky still hasn¡¯t turned bright.¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s gaze darkened, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°I realized a long time ago. It¡¯s really strange. The day before, it couldn¡¯t wait for us to kill the zombies before it dawned. Today, it seems like dawn is waiting for us to kill the zombies first.¡±


    Yu Fuling also frowned and said, ¡°It really is strange.¡±


    At this moment, Sai Lulu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said, ¡°Maybe it is because we sessfully triggered the plot.¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened, ¡°Yes! That is possible! That proves that we are not on the wrong path!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu still faintly felt that something was wrong. If sessfully triggering the plot meant that they wouldn¡¯t return to the tunnel again, then what was the point of the plot in Hundred Ghost Town?


    At this moment, hedgehog-head suddenly asked, ¡°Trigger the plot? What do you mean?¡±

 Chapter 67.2

    <h4>Chapter 67.2</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. This seemed to be the first time they encountered an NPC who would ask this kind of question. Before, when they discussed plot-rted issues in front of an NPC, the NPC would never ask any questions. They simply epted everything under the influence of the system and didn¡¯t find their conversations strange.


    This hedgehog-head was the first NPC to take the initiative to ask questions!


    Xue Junli and co were obviously also somewhat surprised. They looked at each other before Xue Junli pushed up his sses and said lightly, ¡°Nothing, we were just discussing a game we yed before.¡±


    ¡°Game?¡± Hedgehog-head was obviously not convinced, ¡°What kind of timing is this? You guys actually want to discuss games?¡±


    Xue Junli followed along and said, ¡°Apologies, from now on we won¡¯t go off on a tangent. Let¡¯s concentrate on killing zombies.¡±


    Hedgehog-head wanted to question some more but Duan Hongzhen directly cut in, ¡°Alright, don¡¯t waste time, go kill the zombies!¡±


    Yu Fuling also echoed, ¡°Yes, stop talking, let¡¯s discuss itter.¡±


    They forcibly changed the subject and blocked hedgehog-head¡¯s mouth. Although hedgehog-head wanted to ask more, Xue Junli had already turned his head and left.


    Hedgehog-head scratched his head and stopped questioning.


    There were still aftershocks from time to time, but they were no longer severe. They passed through the copsed teaching building and came to a slightly smaller building. It probably did not copse in the earthquake because of its size, but the situation was also not optimistic. The walls and ground were full of ovepping cracks.


    Xiao Tangqiu asked hedgehog-head, ¡°What is this ce?¡±


    Hedgehog-head sighed, ¡°...It¡¯s the gymnasium.¡±


    The gym was probably the ce where most students spent their break time outside of the ssroom. Xiao Tangqiu saw the crowded scene through the broken ss door, but of course, those students had all be slow-moving zombies.


    Duan Hongzhen rushed in first, followed by Xue Junli and then others. Xiao Tangqiu, Shen Yuan, Tang Mianmian, and hedgehog-head fell to the back.


    When Xiao Tangqiu stepped into the gym, a bunch of zombies had already fallen at Duan Hongzhen¡¯s feet. They all rushed to help. Hedgehog-head gulped and also raised the blood-stained steel bar to rush towards his former ssmates...


    There were so many students in the gym that Xiao Tangqiu killed zombies until his hands went soft and he couldn¡¯t help turning his back to secretly drink a bottle of the rejuvenating potion. Of course, he could drink the potion openly. But because hedgehog-head had already questioned them before, he couldn¡¯t drink in front of hedgehog-head otherwise he would definitely be asked what it was.


    After drinking the potion, he started fighting again.


    After an unknown amount of time, they finally cleared zombies in the gym. Xiao Tangqiu looked out the window and saw that it was still deep in the night outside with no sign of dawn. It was as if the sky would never be bright again.


    ¡°Are we still continuing?¡± Hedgehog-head asked while out of breath.


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°Continue.¡±


    They cleared the ces one by one, and finally emptied most of the zombies. The howling that originated from the zombies became less and less on the campus but the sky still showed no sign of brightening.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up at the huge full moon that was still high in the sky, then turned to ask hedgehog-head, ¡°Where else still needs to be cleared?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s the y-¡± hedgehog-head blurted out subconsciously, but he paused, then shook his head vigorously, ¡°No! There¡¯s none left!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, ¡°None? That can¡¯t be right?¡±


    Hedgehog-head gritted his teeth, ¡°There¡¯s really none!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°What about the yground? We seemed to not have gone to the yground yet?¡±


    Hedgehog-head¡¯s expression changed, ¡°yground? We can¡¯t go to the yground! Definitely can¡¯t go to the yground!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen crossed his arms and questioned, ¡°Oh? Why can¡¯t we go to the yground?¡±


    Hedgehog-head gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Just can¡¯t! We can¡¯t go no matter what!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, ¡°You say we can¡¯t go, then we absolutely have to go take a look!¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t go! Can¡¯t go!¡± Hedgehog-head yelled aloud. But seeing that Duan Hongzhen and the others had decided, he gritted his teeth and turned around and ran back.


    Duan Hongzhen let out a coldugh and shot a flying knife directly at hedgehog-head.


    With a ¡°boom¡±, the flying knife¡¯s handle hit the back of hedgehog-head¡¯s head and instantly knocked him out.


    Xue Junli frowned, ¡°Why did you knock him out? Who will lead the way?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he run away if I didn¡¯t knock him out? Just carry him and let him lead the way.¡±


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°Who will carry him?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen looked around. Shen Yuan, pass; Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu, pass... So he looked at the remaining Tang Mianmian and Xiao Tangqiu.


    ...These two weak chickens, pass.


    So he silently bent over and picked up hedgehog-head.


    Although Xue Junli said that no one would lead the way, the yground was not difficult to find. Even without hedgehog-head leading the way, they still quickly found it.


    Because it coincided with the time between sses, there were a lot of students on the yground, so there were also more zombies. Perhaps because they loved sports when they were alive, they were extraordinarily strong and moved faster than the slow zombies from before. When they saw living people, they screamed and charged over.


    Everyone immediately plunged into the battle. Duan Hongzhen tossed hedgehog-head aside and rushed into battle excitedly.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian fought together back to back. But as they were fighting, Tang Mianmian suddenly yelled, ¡°That¡¯s not right!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°What¡¯s not right?¡±


    Tang Mianmian said while fighting, ¡°Never mind those ces like the cafeteria and library. Although they did notpletely copse, the students there might still die and be zombies. But what is with the yground? The yground is an open ce, isn¡¯t it? Logically speaking, the yground should be the safest ce. Howe the students here also died and turned into zombies?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused. He hadn¡¯t thought about it before. Tang Mianmian¡¯s reminder made him realize what an unreasonable situation this was. An open ce like a yground should be the safest ce on campus after the earthquake, and the students here should have been able to survive the catastrophe. Why did they be zombies?


    At this moment, an abnormality suddenly appeared!


    The originally calm yground suddenly shook violently. Xiao Tangqiu only felt like his whole body was tossed up and down with this tremor. The next second, his feet stepped on air. The ground under him had copsed!


    He reflexively grabbed the ground beside him and did not fall to the bottom with the ground under his feet. But his current situation was not optimistic. He turned his head and saw that Tang Mianmian was also hanging off a ledge like him on the suddenly cliff-like ground.


    He turned his head to look at the other people to see that they were all in the same situation. It seemed that everyone was caught off guard by the ground just now. The movement of the ground was too huge, it was not something most people could avoid...


    As Xiao Tangqiu was thinking about this, he heard Shen Yuan¡¯s rushed voice from above ground, ¡°Jiujiu! Jiujiu! Where are you?¡±


    Alright, some people could escape it! But this was no ordinary person!


    Apart from Shen Yuan, Kisaragi the Miko also didn¡¯t fall. She looked at the people hanging on the edge of the ledge indifferently and she didn¡¯t move to help anyone.


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could answer, Shen Yuan had already seen him. Shen Yuan also saw the others at the same time. After sweeping his eyes across Duan Hongzhen, Xue Junli, Yu Fuling, Sai Lulu, and Tang Mianmian, he decisively walked towards Xiao Tangqiu and reached out to pull Xiao Tangqiu up.


    Xiao Tangqiu breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°Thank you...¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu with bright eyes.


    Xiao Tangqiu silently avoided Shen Yuan¡¯s sight, ¡°Go and save the others first...¡±


    However, the Reincarnation Team was obviously much better than Xiao Tangqiu imagined. Even if no one pulled them up, they quickly climbed out on their own. Even Tang Mianmian struggled for a long time and managed to climb up.


    ¡°Wowowow I almost thought I was dead!¡± Tang Mianmian sat down on the ground and yelled with lingering terror.


    Xue Junli frowned, ¡°It¡¯s best not to stay here too long. There might be another wave of ground copsing.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately patted his butt and stood up.


    Just as they were nning to move to a safer ce, a hand suddenly appeared on the edge of the chasm and a zombie crawled out!


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and saw how terrible the ground copsing was just now. Almost the entire center area of ??the yground had be a sinkhole. There were also countless deep and crisscrossed fissures around the copsed area. Fortunately, they only arrived in the yground not long ago and were just cleaning the zombies on the edge. They only fell into the fissures on the periphery of the sinkhole. If they had reached the central area, they might have had to climb for a long time before they could climb out... If they could even climb out!


    Countless zombies crawled out from the fissures and the sinkhole in the center of the yground. No one knew if they were the zombies that fell into the sinkhole just now or if they were new zombies born in the sinkhole...


    Just as everyone was bewildered and preparing to fight, hedgehog-head who was thrown aside suddenly woke up. Because Duan Hongzhen tossed him aside early on, he was lucky and didn¡¯t fall into the chasm. When he saw the sight in front of him, his expression changed drastically. This was definitely a hellish sight.


    The yground he used to be familiar with hadpletely copsed. In the middle of the yground was a very deep and terrifying ck-hole-like sinkhole. That ck hole was surrounded by deep and crisscrossed fissures and countless students who fell in slowly crawled out of the hole. When they came out, they fell and broke their hands and feet, and some even broke their heads. But they kept roaring and charging towards them.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s gaze darkened and he picked up the crossbow and fought side by side with everyone.


    This was undoubtedly a fierce battle. The zombies that crawled out of the hole and fissures in the ground seemed to be particrly difficult to fight. He had to work a lot more than usual. The worst thing was that the zombies came at a steady stream. Every time they killed a group, there would be another wave crawling out of the ground.


    The zombies were not only very difficult to fight, they were endless.


    The Miko, Kisaragi, held her longsword. Her eyes were indifferent but unyielding as if she already knew everything.


    Every time Xiao Tangqiu hesitated in his heart, he couldn¡¯t help but take a peek at Kisaragi. Seeing that Kisaragi was still as firm as before, he would secretly breathe a sigh of relief and continued to fight.


    Just like this endless night, these zombies were also endless. They were also tireless, leaving only the instinct to kill.


    After an unknown amount of time, thest zombie that crawled out of the hole also fell.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hands were already numb. He was actually a little at a loss, was it over?


    ...Was everything really over?

 Chapter 67.3

    <h4>Chapter 67.3</h4>


    He looked back and found that the zombies around him were piled up like mountains. Xue Junli, Duan Hongzhen and the others were already so tired they were numb, but no one rxed ¡ª who knew if this was the end of it?


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked at the Miko and saw that her expression was calm, without sadness or joy. Of course, this was normal. It would be strange for her to have any expressions of joy and sadness... But the problem was that she did not take up the Kagura Bell that could purify souls likest time.


    His heart sank... the matter was not over yet.


    Sure enough, the next moment, hedgehog-head¡¯s voice suddenly sounded behind them, ¡°So that¡¯s it... that¡¯s it...¡±


    That hedgehog-head woke up a long time ago. He watched Xiao Tangqiu and co killing the ssmates he used to be familiar with. He didn¡¯t stop them but he didn¡¯t help either. He just stood by and watched all this happen.


    He saw the killing from the beginning to the end, and he finally reacted when it was about to end.


    ¡°So that¡¯s it... So I really died long ago...¡±


    Hedgehog-head¡¯s expression was nk and numb, ¡°So I am really dead... Although we managed to survive the earthquake... But after we escaped to the yground, we died in the yground...


    ¡°No matter how hard we tried to escape, we still died...


    ¡°Too unresigned...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly realized what was going on. No wonder hedgehog-head reacted so strongly to the word ¡°yground¡± earlier and when Mei asked him to go to the yground.


    ording to the original path of fate, Mei had already died during the copse of the school building. Naturally, she wouldn¡¯t know what happened afterward. Although hedgehog-head and his ssmates managed to escape the earthquake, they still died when they took refuge in the yground. They died in the yground¡¯s sinkhole.


    They survived with difficulty but still died in such a ce, no wonder their resentment would be so big. No wonder the yground zombies were so strong!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped. Could this hedgehog-head... be the strongest zombie king?


    The others obviously became vignt at once. Only Kisaragi the Miko looked at hedgehog-head with an indifferent expression. After a while, she said, ¡°Let go of the obsession in your heart, I will send you to reincarnate.¡±


    Hedgehog-head¡¯s expression suddenly became savage, ¡°No! I am not resigned! I refuse to reincarnate!¡±


    Kisaragi said indifferently, ¡°There was a rare major earthquake in Hundred Ghost Vige many years ago. Many deaths and injuries urred, especially in this school which happened to be at the epicenter. Of the teachers and students in the school, no one survived...¡±


    No one survived...


    As soon as these three words came out, hedgehog-head¡¯s expression suddenly became more ferocious, and his expressionpletely darkened, ¡°No! Impossible! That is impossible!¡±


    Kisaragi said coldly, ¡°When people die, they should go to the afterlife and let go of their obsessions.¡±


    Hedgehog-head murmured to himself, ¡°No... no... I shouldn¡¯t die... None of us should die...


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to die!¡±


    Hedgehog-head broke downpletely. As soon as his voice fell, countless zombies crawled out from the cracks and holes in the ground again. They lumberingly leaped toward Xiao Tangqiu and them.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly yelled, ¡°Why are you so selfish? Do you think you alone are unwilling? Your ssmates and your friends, are they willing then? Of course they are not! But you guys died! You are already dead! Rather than wandering around here being a ghost, it is better to reincarnate earlier and get a new life! Even if you are willing to be a wandering ghost, have you asked your ssmates and your friends? Are they willing to be wanderers too? To be wild ghosts?¡±


    ¡°And Mei... is she willing to be a wandering ghost?¡±


    After hearing Mei¡¯s name, hedgehog-head suddenly froze for a moment, ¡°Mei... Mei...¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Don¡¯t you like her?¡± Xiao Tangqiu saw hedgehog-head¡¯s movements stop and hurriedly continued shouting, ¡°Such a beautiful and lovely girl, she should live in the sun. She should go to school and study, not be here. Being a wandering ghost, you can only live in the eternal night forever. Can you bear it?¡±


    As Xiao Tangqiu spoke, another zombie crawled out of the cracks in the ground and staggered towards them.


    Hedgehog-head¡¯s face changed drastically, the zombie was Mei!


    ¡°Mei...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment and did not make a move on Mei. Everyone else gained a tacit understanding and put down their weapons one after another.


    Mei walked crookedly towards hedgehog-head. Hedgehog-head¡¯s eyes gradually turned red, ¡°Mei...Mei...¡±


    He excitedly wanted to rush forward and hug Mei, but Mei had already be an unreasonable zombie. She gave a low growl and rushed towards hedgehog-head.


    Mei threw hedgehog-head to the ground and viciously bit him!


    Not only did hedgehog-head not struggle, he allowed Mei, who turned into a zombie, to bite his body, ¡°Mei... I¡¯m sorry... It¡¯s all my fault... It¡¯s my fault for not saving you...¡±


    Mei couldn¡¯t understand him anymore and continued to bite in instinct. Although hedgehog-head was bitten until his skin and flesh tore, he did not shed a drop of blood.


    ¡°Sorry Mei... It¡¯s my fault... It¡¯s my fault...¡±


    At this moment, Kisaragi said coldly, ¡°Is this your obsession? But even if you rescued her, even if you escaped to the yground, you would have still died because of the sinkhole...


    ¡°No matter how many times you reproduce the scene from back then, no matter how many times the cycle is repeated, the ending is already decided. No one can change that. Mei is dead, you are dead, all of you are dead.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt that Kisaragi¡¯s words seemed too cruel, but he had to admit that she was right. No matter how many times hedgehog-head reproduced the scenes from back then, he could not change the results that had already happened. He was not sessful in rescuing Mei in the first earthquake. He failed to escape the deadly sinkhole after sessfully escaping to the yground... The ending had already happened. Even if the earthquake scene was reproduced continuously, it was irreversible. There was only regret. The grievances turned more and more serious, and the deceased were trapped and unable to move on.


    Hedgehog-head howled and burst into tears, ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Mei! I didn¡¯t save you! And the others... I didn¡¯t save you! Even myself... I can¡¯t save anyone in the end!¡±


    Kisaragi looked on coldly and raised her longsword high towards hedgehog-head.


    Hedgehog-head nced at her unwillingly and finally hugged the already zombified Mei in his arms and closed his eyes.


    The longsword in Kisaragi¡¯s hand fell, and the silhouettes of hedgehog-head and Mei gradually disappeared. She sighed softly, took out Kagura Bell again, and shook it gently.


    Under the crisp and melodious ringing of the Kagura Bell, all the zombies that had piled up like mountains disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and looked around to see that there was only a field of ruins left around him. The library, auditorium, and other buildings that were still visible had all copsed... It seemed that this was the real tragedy after the great earthquake.


    Tang Mianmian sighed, turned his head, and asked Kisaragi, ¡°Is it over?¡±


    Kisaragi nced at him indifferently and didn¡¯t answer.


    Tang Mianmian awkwardly touched his nose and looked up at the sky, ¡°Why is it still dark?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also looked up. Although they didn¡¯t know how long it had been since the sky was bright, it was still far from the next dawn. This night was too long. He tentatively asked Kisaragi, ¡°Are we going to go somewhere else?¡±


    Kisaragi still did not respond. She put away the sword and Kagura Bell, turned, and walked out of the ruins.


    Xiao Tangqiu and the others looked at each other and quickly followed.


    Soon, they passed through the ruins of what was once a school and set off towards the next location.


    This time they didn¡¯t walk long before they stopped.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up and saw that it was a hospital.


    It stood to reason that a hospital should be operating 24 hours a day, but this hospital looked dark from the outside. It was dpidated everywhere as if it had been abandoned for a long time.


    However, in a dead town such as Hundred Ghost Vige, it seemed normal to have such an abandoned hospital. Xiao Tangqiu calmed down.


    Tang Mianmian looked dumbstruck, ¡°No way...¡±


    Who didn¡¯t know that the hospital was the most dangerous ce in horror movies and horror games?


    Xiao Tangqiu patted Tang Mianmian on the shoulder, ¡°ept it!¡±


    Tang Mianmian chuckled dryly, ¡°Can we... negotiate... I won¡¯t go in?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, ¡°Do you want to stay outside alone?¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately cried and asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you staying with me?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked lightly, ¡°Just by adding one of me, you won¡¯t be afraid?¡±


    Tang Mianmian thought about it. They were not simply live streaming now. Xiao Tangqiu was indeed a reliable helper when ying horror games, but at this time... Forget it! When in danger, who knows who would save whom in the end!


    So he said tearfully, ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go in together!¡±


    Without waiting for them to cheer each other on, Kisaragi already walked straight into the hospital. Xiao Tangqiu quickly followed.


    Just like the school earlier, as soon as they approached this hospital, the abandoned appearance began to change. The barrenwn grew with green grass again, the dried-up fountain in front of the building also gushed out water again.


    Suddenly many patients and doctors appeared in the open space in front of them,ing and going, all of them busy.


    When Xiao Tangqiu was looking at the fountain at the entrance of the building, a voice suddenly rang out behind him.


    ¡°Move aside! Please move aside!¡±


    He turned around to take a look and saw a young man with an anxious expression.


    The man helped a pregnant woman with a painful expression and said in a rush, ¡°Please move aside! My wife is about to give birth!¡±

 Chapter 68.1

    <h4>Chapter 68.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment, subconsciously watching the couple in front of him. They were a very young couple. They were obviously novice parents having a baby for the first time. The man looked nervous and the woman looked pained.


    He took a step back quickly, ¡°Sorry, hurry in.¡±


    The man quickly helped his wife to walk into the building. Xiao Tangqiu looked towards Xue Junli, ¡°Should we follow them?¡±


    Another NPC who took the initiative to talk to them was clearly the signs of the plot unfolding!


    Xue Junli looked at the Miko. Kisaragi had returned to that indifferent stance since entering the hospital. She stood between the patientsing and going without care.


    He paused before speaking solemnly, ¡°Follow them.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly followed. As soon as he stepped into the hospital building, a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling suddenly overcame him.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but freeze. In that moment, endless memories came to mind. Ever since that car ident seven years ago, unless it was a serious injury or serious illness, he had been careful to avoid hospitals. He would rather go to an apothecary or pharmacy to deal with it himself than to step through the doors of a hospital... Thinking of this, he couldn¡¯t help but nce at Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan caught his gaze, and returned a questioning look asking what¡¯s wrong.


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, be careful, I have a bad feeling.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was immediately scared and yelled, ¡°Qiuqiu, stop jinxing us!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...If I don¡¯t speak, then things won¡¯t happen?¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Shut up and stay alert.¡±


    There were peopleing and going in the hospital building no matter what time it was. The young man walked through the crowd and grabbed a nurse, ¡°Miss Nurse, my wife is about to give birth!¡±


    The nurse nced at the man and the pregnant woman nearby, nodded hastily, and turned to make arrangements.


    The man was circling in worry but still tried tofort the woman. Xiao Tangqiu kept guarding the couple while quietly observing the surrounding environment... Everything seemed normal, at least for now.


    Just like before, no one noticed them. None of the doctors and patients who came and went seemed to have noticed the inexplicable presence of this group of outsiders. They were all doing their own things and going through their lives in their own world. For them, this day was probably just another ordinary day, and everything was no different from usual.


    Only outsiders like Xiao Tangqiu and co knew ¡ª today was the most ¡°special¡± day in their lives, and it would change all their lives.


    At this moment, several nurses came pushing the bed, ¡°Where is the pregnant woman?¡±


    The young man immediately helped his wife onto the bed with the help of the nurses. He clutched the pregnant woman¡¯s hand tightly, ¡°Don¡¯t be scared, I will always be by your side.¡±


    The nurses rushed the mother into a delivery room and the young man anxiously followed.


    Xiao Tangqiu and co obviously couldn¡¯t follow into the delivery room, they could only wait outside.


    Several husbands who were apanying their wives were dizzy with worry outside the delivery rooms. Tang Mianmian followed them in pacing for a while and suddenly said to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Howe I feel like we are just like those husbands waiting for their wives to give birth outside the delivery room.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°Then you should practice in advance, lest you get caught off guard when you really need to wait for your wife to give birth.¡±


    Tang Mianmian silently raised his head to look at the ceiling, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it after returning to the real world...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said casually, ¡°Maybe you can find one in the City of the Abyss.¡±


    Tang Mianmian said quietly, ¡°Me, look for a wife in the City of the Abyss? Does the City of the Abyss have chicks who are weaker than me? If so, please be sure to introduce me. If you find a tough chick ¡ª let¡¯s not even talk about if they¡¯ll put me in their eyes ¡ª even if they take a liking to me, if the timees, I won¡¯t even know if the one giving birth will me or her.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought to himself, can a girl even have fierce enough fighting powers to make Tang Mianmian pregnant?


    Tang Mianmian suddenly said, ¡°But of course, I¡¯m still better than you, Qiuqiu. If you want to find someone in the City of the Abyss, you will definitely be the one below, whether it¡¯s a man or a woman.¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, he keenly perceived a death re aimed at him, and he immediately shrank back, ¡°Ahem... But Qiuqiu, you already have god Shen Yuan, so don¡¯t worry about it! Whether it¡¯s a great god or a great goddess, the one who can protect you is a good god!¡±


    Shen Yuan coldly humphed.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help butugh. He quickly pulled Shen Yuan to sit down on the chairs outside the ward and handed over a piece of candy, ¡°Alright, now it¡¯s rare to be able to take a breather, eat something. Are you tired?¡±


    ¡°Not tired.¡±


    Shen Yuan shook his head but still took the candy Xiao Tangqiu handed over, peeled off the wrapper, and ate it.


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about it. This guy, Shen Yuan... actually didn¡¯t seem to have done any heavy work. He just followed him from start to finish, at most he helped him out when he made a mistake. Shen Yuan didn¡¯t exert much effort at all, it would be strange if he could be tired!


    Where was the promised carry from the great god? How did he end uppletely cking off?


    Tang Mianmian looked at the candy Xiao Tangqiu gave to Shen Yuan and touched his stomach, ¡°After fighting zombies for so long, I want something sweet...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took out another candy and was about to pass it to Tang Mianmian but Shen Yuan humphed, ¡°Not allowed to give.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t even reacted when Tang Mianmian immediately took a few big steps back, ¡°Ahaha, I suddenly don¡¯t want to eat candy. I don¡¯t want sweet at all, I especially want savory!¡±


    Shen Yuan expressionlessly took away the candy from Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s palm.


    ¡°How can you...¡± Xiao Tangqiu was about to say something, but Shen Yuan quickly peeled off the candy wrapper and threw the candy into his mouth.


    Shen Yuan spoke seriously, ¡°You are tired, you eat.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled with the candy in his mouth, ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Tang Mianmian said bitterly from the side, ¡°Have I eaten a lemon? Why do I feel so sour...¡±


    He silently sorted through his own space bag and finally found a bag of candies. When he took it out, it was actually a bag of lemon vored candy.


    While he was eating lemon candy in silence, there was a scream from upstairs!


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    This scream broke the originally lively but peaceful hospital scene and it also marked theing of the end.


    Duan Hongzhen, who had finally sat down to take a breather and only just unwrapped the lollipop in his hand, couldn¡¯t help but twitch his lips, ¡°Here we go again.¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s eyes darkened, ¡°Everyone get ready!¡±


    Destiny had finally arrived.


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    Soon after the screams sounded from upstairs, there were also screams in the delivery room.


    A parturient in the delivery rooms went intobor!


    Duan Hongzhen sniffed, suddenly his expression tightened, ¡°The smoke is so thick... There¡¯s a fire!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had also smelled the suffocating scent, and a harsh fire rm sounded in the corridor.


    ¡°Fire! There¡¯s a fire!¡±


    The people in the hallway panicked. Many people turned around and ran away. The husbands waiting outside the delivery rooms hesitated and then rushed into the delivery rooms, ¡°There¡¯s a fire! Run!¡±


    However, it was a tense time in the delivery rooms so it immediately became chaotic.


    The fire spread very quickly. Within a few seconds, the choking smell of smoke was in the corridor. The women were transferred onto hospital beds and pushed out by their husbands and the doctors and nurses. Only the room the young couple were in stayed quiet.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked through the corridor window. There were people fleeing for their lives everywhere. The fire spread rapidly and some people had already been killed in the mes.


    Smoke billowed in the corridor and he turned his head to look at the only room that was silent.


    ¡°Go, go and take a look.¡± As soon as Xue Junli¡¯s voice fell, Duan Hongzhen pushed through the door.


    In the room, the parturient was screaming again and again, her husband was pale, and the doctors and nurses were busy.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. Although he didn¡¯t know what happened, he guessed that it was probably due to dystocia or hemorrhage. Other women inbor could barely be transferred during the fire, but a dystocia happening during a fire...


    At this moment, a nurse spoke in shock, ¡°Doctor! Fire! There¡¯s a fire!¡±


    Thick smoke had spread into the ward and big drops of cold sweat appeared on the doctor¡¯s forehead, ¡°The mother is having a difficult delivery and cannot be forced to transfer...¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sudden power failure in the delivery room. Although the hospital had other power generators that could keep the equipment running even if the power went out, a fire like this must have burned it out.


    BOOM!


    There was a violent explosion as something was set off by the fire.


    The doctors and nurses turned pale with fright. The situation was critical and they must move!


    The young man desperately grabbed the woman¡¯s hand and called her name, but she was too weak to even speak.


    ¡°Quick! Transfer the mother to the hospital bed!¡±


    The young man immediately carried her to the mobile hospital bed with the doctor and the group quickly left the cked out ward.


    T/N: GOOD NEWS! Or bad news, I guess? Depends on how you wanna see it. This is thest chapter that will be 9-11k words long in a row! Of course, there will be a handful of future chapters that will be super long, too, but at least the giant batch is over. What does this mean? It means that once this chapter is over, I¡¯ll be able to post ¡°whole¡± chapters every week instead of needing to divide it into 2 or 3 parts. <del>It also means we¡¯re deceptively closer to the end than expected.</del>

 Chapter 68.2

    <h4>Chapter 68.2</h4>


    There was thick smoke billowing in the corridor and visibility was extremely low. A nurse called out, ¡°Hurry and find the elevator!¡±


    The doctor immediately rebuked, ¡°You still take the elevator in a fire? Do you want to be trapped in the elevator! Go find the stairs! Carry it down!¡±


    There were no other patients and doctors left in the corridor, they obviously all escaped. They pushed the parturient to the stairwell.


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°Should we help them? That¡¯s a pregnant woman... It¡¯s quite hard to bear.¡±


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°All of this is history that had happened long ago. Even if you help, the ending will not change.¡±


    Tang Mianmian sighed, ¡°So in the end... Did they all die in this hospital?¡±


    Xue Junli didn¡¯t speak, but his expression exined everything.


    They all knew that all of this was a disaster that has already happened. Even if they intervened, they wouldn¡¯t be able to change anything.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. Even though he knew it, to watch a pregnant woman die in front of him... he still couldn¡¯t do it.


    He hesitated, ran after them, and helped push the mobile bed.


    Tang Mianmian nced at Xue Junli and went up to help.


    Although the doctors and nurses did not notice these two people who suddenly appeared, the husband looked up at them, ¡°Ah! It¡¯s you! Thank you...¡±


    He seemed to remember Xiao Tangqiu, and Xiao Tangqiu nodded at him, ¡°Let¡¯s escape together.¡±


    The young man was very moved, ¡°Thank you so much!¡±


    Soon, they came to the stairwell and the fire had spread closer. If they abandoned the pregnant woman and ran away on their own, the chances of escape were obviously much higher, but the doctors and nurses still raised the bed and ran down the stairs after a moment of hesitation. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian also helped.


    The fire was getting bigger and bigger, the smoke billowed in the stairwell and everyone was choked to tears. Right after they finally carried the bed to the next flight, they discovered in despair that the stairs going down were zing with fire. It was impossible to pass!


    The doctor gritted his teeth, ¡°There¡¯s another stairwell across the corridor! Let¡¯s go there and see!¡±


    Although they had to go through great difficulty to walk through the corridor, they had no choice. They pushed the bed and ran towards the other side of the corridor.


    As they were crossing the corridor, something unexpected happened. A man in a white coat rushed towards them. The doctor was very surprised and called out, ¡°Doctor Sato?¡±


    Soon, he realized that the person before them was no longer the ¡°Doctor Sato¡± he was familiar with, but a bloodthirsty monster who had lost his mind. But it was toote. He was viciously thrown to the ground and bitten by the monster.


    ¡°Aaaaah!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay! We will live! You will definitely live! I will live too! And our child! Our family! We will all live together!¡± The young man bent down and picked up his wife, turned, and ran across the corridor.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian traded a nce and chased them. They encountered zombies several times along the way. The young man was almost caught up by the zombies several times if not for Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian¡¯s timely help.


    After a while, they finally reached the other stairwell on this floor.


    Looking at the escape route ahead, the young man was happy, ¡°We can get out soon... We can get out soon!¡±


    The wife on his back did not respond but he didn¡¯t notice. He continued to carry his wife and dashed down the stairs.


    This staircase was also filled with fire and smoke. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian coughed violently as soon as they stepped into the stairwell, but the young man remained unhesitant and continued to run down with the woman on his back. They could only cover their mouth and nose tightly and continue to follow along.


    After who knew how long, they finally reached the first floor and could even see the hospital main doors.


    The young man exulted, ¡°We¡¯re almost out! Almost out!¡±


    He ran with all of his strength with the pregnant woman on his back, but just as he was about to run out of the stairwell, a zombie lying on the ground grabbed his ankle and he fell to the ground.


    The young man had a brutal fall and the pregnant woman on his back also fell and flew out.


    ¡°Scram!¡± He screamed in pain, kicked the zombie frantically, and then rushed to check the woman¡¯s condition, ¡°Are you okay? Is the child okay? Sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have let you fall...¡±


    He carefully touched the woman¡¯s face and found that she was no longer breathing. He suddenly became stiff.


    It turned out that his wife whom he had been carrying had already at some unknown point drew herst breath.


    ¡°No!¡±


    The young man copsed instantly. He touched his wife¡¯s pale, almost transparent face with trembling hands, and yelled in disbelief, ¡°No! This isn¡¯t possible! This isn¡¯t possible!¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t die! You can¡¯t die!¡±


    He took his wife into his arms, his expression dumb, and became motionless.


    The zombie that was kicked away by him got up again, and staggered towards him. But he seemed to have lost all reactions.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a quick step forward and shot the head of the zombie with an arrow.


    The man remained motionless,pletely oblivious to what was happening before him.


    Soon, more and more zombies gathered. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian guarded the man¡¯s sides, blocking waves of zombies.


    At this moment, Duan Hongzhen and the others rushed over and took up their weapons to join the battle.


    The zombies came wave after wave, and then fell one by one.


    Xiao Tangqiu had be very proficient in fighting zombies, each of his moves had be more ruthless, urate, and stable.


    Because of the raging fire, the zombies were driven to the lobby on the first floor, which in turn facilitated them to remove the zombies. They only need to stand still and they could kill the zombiesing from all directions.


    After an age, they finally cleared the zombies that were driven to the first floor by the fire... When thest zombie fell, Xiao Tangqiu breathed a sigh of relief.


    However, he knew very well that everything was not over yet.


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around and looked at the man who was still motionless.


    The man still held his long-dead wife and his unborn child with a dull expression. Perhaps because of grief, his face was nk and expressionless.


    ¡°You can¡¯t die... You can¡¯t die...¡±


    At this moment, Kisaragi said coldly, ¡°They are dead, your wife is dead, your child is dead... Even you, you are also dead.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also dead?¡± The man echoed in question.


    ¡°Years ago, there was a major fire in this hospital. Countless patients and doctors died in the fire. This includes you, your wife, and your unborn child,¡± Kisaragi said indifferently. ¡°Your wife suffered dystocia and it coincided with a hospital fire. The doctors and nurses ran away. Only you and your wife were left in the delivery room... Finally, your family of three died in the fire.¡±


    ¡°No! That¡¯s impossible!¡± The man was instantly agitated, ¡°The doctor and nurses... They obviously helped me! They helped me carry my wife down!¡±


    Kisaragi coldly said, ¡°That¡¯s just your fantasy. The fact is that they ran away from the beginning... You fantasized that if they didn¡¯t leave your wife to run away, maybe your wife would survive. You fantasized that if you could escape together, you could live. But fantasy is nothing but fantasy. Your wife is dead, and you too are dead.¡±


    The man interrupted Kisaragi furiously, ¡°No! You¡¯re lying! You¡¯re lying to me! I¡¯m still alive!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°Are you sure you are still alive?¡±


    Before the man could answer, the throwing knife in his hand had already been thrown, flying straight into the man¡¯s heart!


    The man wasn;t able to dodge and was pierced!


    And nothing happened.


    The man lowered his head and looked at the knife stabbed into his chest in disbelief. Not only was there no blood flowing out, there was not even a wound on his body.


    He muttered to himself, ¡°So I¡¯m already dead... I¡¯m already dead...¡±


    ¡°Everything is just your obsession,¡± Kisaragi said coldly. ¡°Let go of your obsession. Don¡¯t you want your wife and child to reincarnate?¡±


    The man became agitated again, ¡°They don¡¯t deserve to die! The damn doctor should die! The nurses should die! Why did they abandon my wife!¡±


    As he became angry, the fallen zombies stood up again and rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu and them.


    Xiao Tangqiu was very tired, ¡°Again?!¡±


    He was already exhausted and no longer wanted to fight zombies!


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°What? You and your wife shouldn¡¯t die, but everyone else should? Why should those doctors and nurses die? This kind of life and death situation, if they help you it¡¯s because they are kind, and if they don¡¯t help you it¡¯s because they don¡¯t want to die either. Why should others sacrifice themselves for you?¡±


    The man flushed, ¡°Shut up! All of you shut up!¡±


    As soon as his voice fell, the zombies became more ferocious. In an instant, their appearances turned extremely hideous, their mouths cracked open from the corners of their lips to the bottom of their eyes, and countless rows of sharp and sharp teeth grew out of them. They roared and charged towards Duan Hongzhen.


    Xue Junli had a headache, ¡°Don¡¯t antagonize him!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen¡¯s lips twitched, ¡°How would I know that he is so petty? Getting angry just from a few casual words.¡±


    Tang Mianmian wailed, ¡°What now, what now? There are more and more zombies, and they are getting more and more brutal!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°What are you afraid of? Come one and kill one,e two and kill a pair!¡±


    Thebat powers of these mutant zombies had increased several-fold. Although Xiao Tangqiu had killed a lot of zombies, it gradually began to exhaust him. A moment of carelessness had him make a blunder. Fortunately, Shen Yuan helped him at a critical moment but he still gained a long and deep bloody wound.


    Shen Yuan immediately became angry, ¡°You dare to hurt Jiujiu!¡±


    TN: A quick notice about potential dy in upload in the next few weeks. I live in California, where everything is currently on fire and fire season is going strong. I¡¯ve been lucky enough to live in an area that hasn¡¯t directly burned but the smoke situation is rather terrible and it¡¯s making it very hard for me to do daily life things, including breathing. So there may or may not be some upload interruptions should I need to evacuate due to fires and hazardous air quality or go to the hospital due to health risks. Hopefully, none of that will happen, but I¡¯ll put a notice here just in case.

 Chapter 68.3

    <h4>Chapter 68.3</h4>


    When Shen Yuan got angry, the consequences were serious.


    He nced at the man coldly and took out his weapon: a silver gun with ck markings.


    He expressionlessly shot the man.


    Boom!


    After the gunshot, a big ck hole appeared in the man¡¯s chest. Soon, the ck hole spread to his whole body. He couldn¡¯t even scream before he disappearedpletely.


    The moment the man disappeared, the hideously mutated zombies fell to the ground and returned to the dust.


    The fire also stopped. But most of the hospital¡¯s buildings were already burned to the ground, leaving only a dark, empty shell. In a blink of an eye, the originally bustling and lively hospital turned into ruins.


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could let out a sigh, the corners of Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°So what the hell did we try to kill the zombies for?¡±


    It turned out that you could kill all the mobs by directly killing the boss, so why did they spend such a long time fighting mobs earlier? No! Since Shen Yuan was so powerful, he could clearly kill all the bosses in one blow, so what were they doing this entire night?!


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but twitch his lips, too. When he turned his head to look at Shen Yuan, he saw that Shen Yuan had the Ouroboros tattoo on his neck again.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes were getting darker and darker. He seemed to be a little emotionally unstable. His tattoos began to spread from his neck to his face, and his expression gradually turned a bit vicious.


    Xue Junli, Duan Hongzhen, and others¡¯ expressions changed and Duan Hongzhen even yelled, ¡°The captain is going to run away again! Quickly make him calm down!¡±


    Run away? What would happen if Shen Yuan ran away?


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered the previously knocked out Duan Hongzhen and immediately rushed forward, grabbing Shen Yuan¡¯s hand, andfortingly said, ¡°It¡¯s okay! It¡¯s okay! Everything is over... Calm down, calm down!¡±


    Shen Yuan looked into Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes and grasped Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand tightly... After a while, he finally calmed down. His expression rxed and the tattoo on his neck gradually disappeared.


    After a few seconds, Shen Yuan calmed downpletely. He buried his face in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s neck and said in a muffled voice, ¡°Jiujiu, I¡¯m sorry...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu replied quickly, ¡°It¡¯s okay, just a small injury.¡±


    Shen Yuan gave a muffled humph, ¡°I already offed him.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu touched Shen Yuan¡¯s head, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Tang Mianmian silently looked at these two and ate a lemon candy.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s pitch-ck eyes regarded Xiao Tangqiu before slowly letting go.


    The group followed Kisaragi again, walking through the ruins of the hospital towards their next destination.


    It was still dark.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up at the dark sky and asked Kisaragi hopelessly, ¡°Where are we going now? How many ces need to be cleaned up?¡±


    Kisaragi was silent for a long time. Just when everyone thought she would not answer, she suddenly slowly spoke, ¡°Thest one.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Where is it?¡± The ces they had been to were each fiercer than the next. Could it be that thest ce would be the fiercest of them all... Maybe a cemetery?


    Kisaragi was silent for a long time, and finally said coldly, ¡°Kisaragi Shrine.¡±


    ¡°Kisaragi Shrine?!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. The ces they had been to were obviously haunted ces... Was the Kisaragi Shrine the same?


    ¡°What happened to the Kisaragi Shrine?¡± Tang Mianmian immediately questioned.


    But Kisaragi closed her mouth again and stopped answering no matter how Tang Mianmian asked.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank and there was a bad feeling. He hesitated for a moment and did not voice it as usual, instead heforted Tang Mianmian, ¡°Forget it, we will know when we get there.¡±


    They followed Kisaragi through most of the Hundred Ghost Vige. They did not see a single pedestrian on the streets, and they also did not encounter ghosts or spirits. After a while, they came to the outskirts of Hundred Ghost Vige and a hill appeared.


    The hill was not high and the shape was somewhat familiar.


    Tang Mianmian stared at the hill for a while, then suddenly said, ¡°Why do I feel like this hill is more and more familiar the more I look?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said solemnly, ¡°The Holy Mountain...¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, ¡°Yes! Isn¡¯t this the Holy Mountain of Hundred Ghost Town?¡±


    The mountain in front of them was the Holy Mountain they saw at Hundred Ghost Town!


    Kisaragi suddenly spoke, ¡°Years ago, Hundred Ghost Vige was not called Hundred Ghost Vige, but Hundred Ghost Town. The former Hundred Ghost Town was very prosperous and rich, and the people lived and worked in peace...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°Don¡¯t lie, the Hundred Ghost Town we went to was obviously poor and backward. They couldn¡¯t even afford to eat.¡±


    Kisaragi was silent and did not answer, but Duan Hongzhen was already familiar with her attitude so he crossed his arms and continued, ¡°Were you going to say... Then there was a big natural disaster and Hundred Ghost Town was cursed and started to be poor and backward?¡±


    Kisaragi was silent for a long time before slowly speaking, ¡°It wasn¡¯t a natural disaster, it was a man-made disaster.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What kind of man-made disaster?¡± Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow.


    Kisaragi stopped answering again, turned, and walked up the hill.


    Everyone traded looks and quickly followed.


    Although it was unknown how many years had passed since Hundred Ghost Town became Hundred Ghost Vige, the Holy Mountain did not seem to have changed much despite all its experiences. Soon, they followed Kisaragi to the top of the hill.


    Unexpectedly, the top of the Holy Mountain was barren and overgrown with weeds and there was no trace of the shrine at all, not even ruins were left behind.


    Standing on the highest point of the hill, Kisaragi looked down at the entire Hundred Ghost Vige condescendingly and indifferently.


    ¡°Where is the shrine?¡± Tang Mianmian asked Xiao Tangqiu quietly.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°You ask me, but who do I ask?¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked at the deserted hilltop and couldn¡¯t help muttering, ¡°This time, it¡¯s my turn to have a bad feeling...¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, Kisaragi suddenly moved.


    She walked slowly into a clump of weeds and stretched out her hand to remove ayer of weeds. After a while, a mottled and discolored wooden que that was obviously aged appeared in front of them with the words ¡°Kisaragi Shrine¡± written impressively on it.


    Other ces in Hundred Ghost Vige had turned into ruins after worldly disasters and changes, but there were still ruins left. The Kisaragi Shrine had nothing left, as if it disappeared into thin air. Only this old wooden que that was probably used as a marker remained.


    Kisaragi stared at the old wooden que for a long time. After a while, she took out the longsword and the Kagura Bell and walked straight forward.


    Xiao Tangqiu tensed and quickly followed.


    Kisaragi didn¡¯t walk fast, and was even a little slow. She took one step at a time and the surrounding environment gradually began to change. In her first step, the weeds around her disappeared. In her second step, flowers and greens grew out of the earth. In her third step, the flowers were in full bloom and green leaves covered the trees... When her footsteps stopped, a tall red Torii appeared before everyone.


    Behind the Torii was a ceremonial and solemn shrine.


    Kisaragi walked ahead towards the Torii and Xiao Tangqiu immediately followed. When he stepped under Torii, he clearly felt the changes in the surrounding environment. When he looked up, he saw that the originally deserted shrine had suddenly be lively. There was a whole sea of people.


    Countless people were walking into the shrine, which looked


    permeated with incense.


    Tang Mianmian who followed up was also very surprised, ¡°Why are there so many people?¡±


    There were so many people in the shrine, it¡¯s almost as if the missing residents of Hundred Ghost Vige all went to this shrine to pray at the same time.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the clothes and essories of these people, and guessed, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a festival.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°I see...¡±


    Kisaragi didn¡¯t move after she walked into the shrine. She stood motionless in front of a wolf-shaped stone statue. She seemed to be thinking but her face remained indifferent.


    The leading NPC didn¡¯t move so Xiao Tangqiu could only look around himself. The Kisaragi Shrine looked filled with incense, but the most interesting thing was that there were many wolf-shaped stone statues inside the shrine. He roughly counted a few dozens of them. They reminded him of the wolf on the Holy Mountain that the olddy Chiyo called the messenger of the mountain god.


    After all of the turns and changes of life, were the residents of Hundred Ghost Vige still worshipping the mountain god?


    Duan Hongzhen casually reached out and touched the wolf-shaped stone statue that Kisaragi was looking at, ¡°What is this?¡±


    Kisaragi stared at the statue, her eyes still and pious, ¡°The Mountain God.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°A mountain god that can eat people, is it a good mountain god or a bad mountain god?¡±


    Kisaragi was silent for a long time, and then slowly replied, ¡°The mountain god was not always like this...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly heard the excited discussion of the two girls next to him.


    ¡°Let me tell you! Making a wish to the mountain god really works! I came here to repay my wish today!¡±


    ¡°Really? When did this Kisaragi Shrine appear? Why have I never heard of it before?¡±


    ¡°Who knows! In the past few years, the incense has grown inexplicably... But making a wish to the mountain god really does work!¡±


    ¡°Then I have to try it, too!¡±

 Chapter 69

    <h4>Chapter 69</h4>


    Pray to the mountain god? The mountain god was very effective?


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. Logically speaking, Hundred Ghosts Town was the past Hundred Ghosts Vige, and Hundred Ghosts Vige was the future of Hundred Ghosts Town. Although he didn¡¯t know how many years of changes had passed, many traditions should still be the same... For example, Hundred Ghosts Town¡¯s mountain god worship had been spread to the present, yet during the Hundred Ghosts Town period, the shrine was already ruined and deserted. Could it be that it was rebuiltter?


    But this mountain god...


    Did Hundred Ghosts Town and Hundred Ghosts Vige really have a mountain god?


    If there was a mountain god, how could the former Hundred Ghosts Town be so poor and dpidated?


    But if there was no mountain god, what is going on with this shrine that is said to be very effective? And what about the mountain god Kisaragi spoke of?


    Xiao Tangqiu thought of many questions, but before he could ask, the number of people pouring into the shrine suddenly increased. They praised the power of the mountain god again and again, as if the prayer was fulfilled right after the wish was made.


    ¡°Is this mountain god really so effective?¡± Tang Mianmian looked suspicious. He obviously thought of the same thing as Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°If this mountain god is really so effective, then what happened to Hundred Ghosts Town before...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°If this mountain god is really so effective, how can there be so many natural and man-made disasters in this town?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! That makes sense!¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, ¡°If this mountain god is really so effective, then he must first protect the residents of this town, right? Nevermind about man-made disasters like the subway crash or hospital fires, but also to disregard natural disasters such as earthquakes. Isn¡¯t the mountain god neglecting his duties?¡±


    Xue Junli looked at Kisaragi and asked, ¡°Miss Kisaragi, can you tell me what happened to the mountain god?¡±


    Kisaragi looked at the wolf-shaped stone statue in front of them indifferently and did not answer.


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized that something was wrong, ¡°Wait a minute! That person¡ª¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately looked in the direction Xiao Tangqiu looked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°That person...¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression darkened, ¡°It¡¯s the female passenger I saw on the subway!¡±


    ¡°Female passenger?¡± Tang Mianmian saw a few girls in kimonos that obviously came to repay their wishes, ¡°What subway? Are you talking about the ghost subway?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°Yes, I saw her ying on her mobile phone...¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly yelled, ¡°That¡¯s hedgehog-head! It¡¯s that hedgehog-head!¡±


    At this moment, Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows suddenly, ¡°Isn¡¯t that the couple from the hospital?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at the same time. As expected, even the young couple they had just met in the hospital also appeared here. The young man supported his wife while his wife stroked her belly tenderly. Both of them had happy smiles filled with optimism for the future.


    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s them!¡± Tang Mianmian nodded in confirmation.


    Xiao Tangqiu also confirmed, ¡°This is indeed some time in the past...¡±


    Although the young wife had a big belly, there should still be some time before delivery. This was obviously a trip to a shrine that happened some time before they went to the hospital.


    Tang Mianmian squinted, ¡°These people went to Kisaragi Shrine before they died? Is their death rted to Kisaragi Shrine?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Blind student, you found the main point.¡±


    Tang Mianmian touched his chin and continued down this train of thought, ¡°Could it be that those natural and man-made disasters, subway crashes, hospital fires or even major earthquakes... all be rted to Kisaragi Shrine?¡±


    They subconsciously looked at the only Miko who knew the truth, but Kisaragi remained indifferent.


    ¡°They are about to enter the main hall!¡± Yu Fuling called anxiously.


    Seeing that those people were about to enter the crowded main hall, Xue Junli promptly said, ¡°Go, let¡¯s follow.¡±


    They rushed into the main hall with the other people. The main hall wasn¡¯trge and it was crowded with people who came to pray and repay their wishes. They lost track of their targets almost instantly.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked for the targets among the crowd while looking at the gods enshrined in the main shrine. There was no doubt that the god enshrined in Kisaragi Shrine was the mountain god. He had never been in a shrine before and didn¡¯t know what the enshrined gods usually look like, but he knew that those idols would definitely not look like the idol at Kisaragi Shrine. The idol enshrined in Kisaragi Shrine was a huge wolf-shaped stone statue!


    This wolf stone statue was simr to the wolf stone statues outside of the main hall, except that it was muchrger. It sat in the center of the main hall. Although it was only a stone statue, with it¡¯s unique eyes and sharp and beastly fangs, it was exceptionally lifelike.


    It looked condescendingly at the people in the main hall. The pitch-ck stone statue looked very gloomy, as if it was looking down on them from high above and might rush down with its teeth and ws bared in the next moment, tearing up the men and women who happily came to pray into pieces.


    All in all, this wolf statue not onlycked the solemnity that an ordinary idol should have, it even had a dark and terrifying greedy expression and fangs, making chills go down people¡¯s back.


    Did ordinary shrines really enshrine such entities?


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know because he didn¡¯t have any references, but he observed the other¡¯s expressions and saw that even Xue Junli frowned. They obviously all thought this idol was very strange.


    Tang Mianmian even muttered, ¡°This idol... is too evil? It makes me feel ufortable looking at it.¡±


    However, apart from Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group, the other people did not feel that the wolf-shaped idol was evil, their expressions were even very pious. He quietly observed for a while and discovered something. Those who came to make a wish, although their expressions were respectful and pious, they only stood in front of the wolf idol with closed eyes and bowed. But those who came to repay their wishes not only looked extremely faithful, they were almost crazy, even kneeling on the ground to worship and bowing three times.


    This proved one point. It was indeed very effective to pray to the mountain god. That¡¯s why the people whoe to repay their wish would be so pious.


    Xiao Tangqiu became more puzzled, what was the origin of this mountain god? If this mountain god was really so effective, why had the residents of Hundred Ghosts Town fallen to that point? Didn¡¯t the residents of Hundred Ghosts Town ever make a wish to live and work in peace and prosperity? If this mountain god was really efficacious, why didn¡¯t it protect Hundred Ghosts Town in the first ce instead ofing back to protect Hundred Ghosts Vige?


    Suddenly, he made an even more amazing discovery, ¡°Wait a minute... the god statue seems to have grown bigger!¡±


    Everyone was taken aback, ¡°Bigger?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s getting bigger and taller!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback by his own discovery before quickly calming down and continued to observe. Although the wolf idol was tall, it used to have some distance from the ceiling. Now, this wolf idol¡¯s head was close to the ceiling!


    Soon, he discovered an even more astonishing fact. Whenever someone knelt down to repay their wish, the wolf idol would grow taller. Although the growth rate was not visible, when arge group of people bowed one by one, the idol grew visibly to the naked eye!


    Soon, everyone else also discovered this.


    Tang Mianmian looked shocked, ¡°Fuck! Really! It¡¯s really bigger!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu added, ¡°As long as someonees to believe in it, it can be bigger.¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s gaze darkened, ¡°It is absorbing the power of these people¡¯s beliefs.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thoughtfully, ¡°So that¡¯s how it became so big?¡±


    What was the intention of this mountain god? Why did it abandon the vigers of Hundred Ghosts Town in the first ce, and only now returned to shelter the residents of Hundred Ghosts Vige to absorb their faith? And what did the natural and man-made cmities have anything to do with the mountain god?


    Putting aside all of this, he wanted to know something even more: what was the S-level task of this S-level mission?


    It was said that S-level missions were all rted to demons...


    So was there a demon in this instance?


    At this moment, Shen Yuan, who had been silent while they were doing business, suddenly his eyes darkened, and he whispered, ¡°...the aura of a demon.¡±


    The aura of a demon?!


    Everyone¡¯s expressions changed at the same time, and Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian¡¯s expressions changed dramatically. They had only dealt with a demon once, but that had hurt them, and Xiao Tangqiu almost died.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Shen Yuan nervously. Someone else might be unreliable, but if Shen Yuan said it was a demon, it must be a demon.


    ...Had the demon appeared?


    His heart was on tenterhooks. A sweep with his eyes just happened tond on the young couple kneeling on the ground. They obviously came to repay their wish. The young wife had knelt down while rubbing her belly.


    As soon as they finished kneeling, the wolf idol became bigger again, its head hitting the ceiling. It was about to break through the roof.


    Somehow, under the eyes of the crowd, no one noticed the abnormality of the idol, and their expressions were still extremely pious as they knelt to the ground.


    They did not realize that the wolf-shaped idol they bowed to had be bigger and taller, and its expressions more and more ferocious, as if it would tear them to pieces in the next moment.


    Xiao Tangqiu silently watched the strange scene before him. He wanted to stop it, but didn¡¯t know how to begin. If he ran to stop these people from kneeling, he would definitely be driven away by these devout believers. Did he need to destroy these people¡¯s belief in mountain god first and tell them feudal superstition was no good, science was the truth of the world?


    Then, Shen Yuan moved.


    He raised the silver gun and aimed it at the wolf idol.


    He decisively pulled the trigger, the bullet shot out, and the wolf idol shattered!


    In an instant, the location where the wolf idol stood turned into a huge ck hole!

 Chapter 70

    <h4>Chapter 70</h4>


    The wolf idol was destroyed so easily?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe his eyes, but it really was so. The wolf idol in the middle of the hall was easily shattered, not even a shard was left behind.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°How did the idol break?¡±


    ¡°Who are you people!¡±


    The residents of Hundred Ghosts Vige who came to repay their wishes were shocked. They all saw the idol suddenly shatter before them, as well as Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group who were trespassing outsiders, and all of them immediately became vignt.


    The idol broke!


    Xiao Tangqiu clenched the weapon in his hand and waited nervously for a while... but nothing happened.


    At least nothing he imagined happened.


    ...What¡¯s the situation?


    The god idol was broken, but the ¡°mountain god¡± was not angry. They were just surrounded by angry Hundred Ghosts Vige residents. The mob was enraged and the situation was on the verge of exploding.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu had been besieging zombies, he had never been besieged by so many humans. He couldn¡¯t help but feel helpless and turned his head to ask Xue Junli, ¡°What should we do now?¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s eyes darkened, ¡°ughter a path out, talk after we make it out.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a bit ufortable. He was naturally unrelenting in killing zombies, but these Hundred Ghosts Vige residents at least look human...


    Duan Hongzhen sneered and directly began making his moves. The throwing knives in his hands were shot out and the fiercest people who rushed to the front were immediately pierced. The attacking mob saw this and tookrge steps back in fear. Although they were temporarily pushed back, they still red at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group.


    Among the couple of people who were cut, there was hedgehog-head whom they previously met. But hedgehog-head obviously didn¡¯t recognize them now ¡ª or more urately, didn¡¯t know them yet. He viciously red at the foreign intruders like a regr delinquent.


    At this moment, the wife suddenly fell down.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped. Without knowing why, he had a bad premonition.


    It wasn¡¯t just bad, it¡¯s very bad.


    At this moment, Kisaragi¡¯s expression changed, and her poker face showed a trace of fear, ¡°The Mountain God...The Mountain God is angry!¡±


    Right then, they were surrounded by the angry mob and had left the main hall and arrived outside. The night was still deep and within the night, hundreds of pairs of red eyes had appeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look and was shocked. The wolf statues outside hade to life! Their stone bodies slowly swelled and erged in the night, and red light emitted from their hollow eyes, and they came to life!


    Compared with ordinary wolves, the animated stone wolves were more like zombie wolves. They seemed to be irrational and crazed, roaring and instinctively rushing towards everyone with the desire to consume!


    But they didn¡¯t just target Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group, they even went after the Hundred Ghosts Vige residents who had devoutly worshiped them. Those residents were ecstatic at first, thinking that the mountain god who had been protecting them had appeared. But when they watched a fewpanions being bitten to death, they became shocked and dumbfounded. A few with fast reactions quickly turned and ran away.


    ¡°Mountain god! We have been devoutly worshiping...¡± Before that person could finish his words, he was torn in half by a stone wolf.


    Those wolf statues had all turned into bloodthirsty stone wolves. Now those with strong faith did not dare to stay and fled in fright.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the Miko and saw that Kisaragi was motionless, her gaze solemn and holding the longsword in her hand. As a Miko of the shrine, she naturally couldn¡¯t go against the mountain god she worshiped devoutly... even if the mountain god had changed.


    The others did not have Kisaragi¡¯s concerns. They did not hesitate to take up their weapons to fight back. As soon as they started making their moves, they discovered an abnormality; these stone wolves were too strong! Those zombies before were simply iparable!


    These stone wolves not only possessed extremely strong fighting power, they also had extremely strong vitality. Duan Hongzhen fought one for a long time before finally killing one. However, within a few seconds of falling down, the stone wolf got up again!


    Xue Junli immediately made a judgment, ¡°It¡¯s a low-level demon!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a chill, finally!


    Low-level demons were naturally a kind of demon, but they were called low-level demons because they were far less powerful than real demons. Compared with the born demons that are born as demons, low-level demons were usually transformed or mutated after. Their power was far less than born demons, and most of them had no self-awareness or sentience, only instinct and appetite.


    Despite this, low-level demons were far stronger than ordinary yers. Although they were not as powerful as born demons, they were more than powerful enough for ordinary yers to cope with, not to mention a whole group of them.


    After judging that they were dealing with low-level demons, the Reincarnation Team immediately cooperated together. They had gone through countless S-level instances and achieved a high degree of cooperation. They pulled out weapons and tools specially used to deal with low-level demons. Their formation had both offensive and defensive capabilities and Xue Junli stood in the middle, in charge of givingmands.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian had also received relevant training with the Reincarnation Team, theirbat effectiveness was far from the level of cooperation within the Reincarnation Team team. They could only move outside the formation. Fortunately, there was Shen Yuan that couldn¡¯t enter the formation either. The three of them wandered nearby and jointly attacked the lone Stone Wolf. To be precise, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were responsible for the sneak attack and Shen Yuan was responsible for staring at Xiao Tangqiu. He only took a leisurely shot when Xiao Tangqiu messed up.


    This was the first time Xiao Tangqiu had faced off against low-level demons. These low-level demons were far more difficult to deal with than all the ghosts and zombies he had dealt with before. Not only did they have high attack power, they were also extremely difficult to counter. The worst thing was that they also had very powerful vitality. Killing just once or twice didn¡¯t end them at all. A single moment of carelessness meant that he would be caught by a stone wolf. Fortunately there was still Shen Yuan behind him.


    But he knew that he couldn¡¯t rely on Shen Yuan forever. Regardless of if Shen Yuan restored his memory, in this cruel world of life and death, he couldn¡¯t always rely on others.


    If Shen Yuan restored his memory...


    The thought suddenly appeared in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind. As soon as this thought appeared, he couldn¡¯t help thinking about it. If Shen Yuan really restored his memory, he would probably change back to the cold and aloof person from before, pushing everyone away...


    If Shen Yuan really restored his memory and remembered what happened during this period of amnesia, he would surely be furious? Maybe he would beat <i>him</i> into amnesia...


    Xiao Tangqiu lost focus and almost messed up. Fortunately Shen Yuan pulled him away in time.


    Shen Yuan frowned, ¡°Jiujiu, don¡¯t be distracted, be careful.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly came back to his senses, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I wont anymore!¡±


    Tang Mianmian yelled, ¡°These low-level demons are too much, right? They are even more annoying than zombies! Are we really going to fight until dawn?¡± Who knew when the sky would lighten up!


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled helplessly, ¡°We can only bite the bullet and fight.¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s exhausted appearance and felt very distressed, ¡°Is Jiujiu tired?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at everyone still fighting, ¡°Everyone is tired.¡±


    Although they had recovery potions, that kind of thing could only eliminate physical fatigue. The fatigue and exhaustion in their minds caused by long-term battles couldn¡¯t be eliminated. There were also the side effects, so they couldn¡¯t use it constantly.


    Shen Yuan took out the silver gun again and looked at Xiao Tangqiu with dark eyes, ¡°Jiujiu, I will help too.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Don¡¯t force yourself.¡±


    After amnesia, Shen Yuan was stronger than before, but people with a discerning eye could also see that he was bing more and more uncontroble. Shen Yuan was still unable to freely control that powerful force, which lead to his uncontroble emotions.


    Shen Yuan shook his head, ¡°Not forcing. I want to help Jiujiu.¡±


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t think so much. He just thought that it would be a good thing to have one more person to help, and he quickly breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°Great god Shen Yuan, help me!¡±


    As soon as Shen Yuan joined, the situationpletely changed. He held a silver gun and aimed at the stone wolves one by one, both urate and ruthless.


    The stone wolves that were hit by his bullet disappearedpletely after falling down. There was not even a body left.


    With such a strong teammate, the pressure on Xiao Tangqiu and the others immediately became less severe. Xiao Tangqiu just breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly heard screams from nearby.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡±


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡±


    Screams? Where did the screaminge from?


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was feeling puzzled, screams came again, one after another. Soon, he knew the answer: the Hundred Ghosts Vige residents who had scattered ran back again, all of them covered in blood and wounds. Some even had severely injured hands and feet. They ran back here in terror and endless ck smoke followed behind them.


    The ck smoke looked like wolves, but they were muchrger and faster than the stone wolves. They quickly rushed towards the escaping crowd. Once the slow runners were surrounded by the ck smoke, they would instantly dissolve into a fog of blood!

 Chapter 71.1

    <h4>Chapter 71.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly reacted. Those people must have encountered the ck smoke when they were escaping from the shrine and had to run back again... What was the ck smoke? Was it also a low-level demon? Then weren¡¯t they stuck in a terrible situation where there were wolves in front and tigers behind them?


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡±


    ¡°Help!¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s expression tensed, ¡°It¡¯s here again!¡±


    Even if they were veteran yers who had experienced many battles in S-level instances, they had never dealt with so many low-level demons at one time. They were already hard pressed to hold their ground. Now the enemy had reinforcements that caught them off guard and it became even more difficult to deal with.


    Duan Hongzhen cursed directly, ¡°Damn! How is this an S-level mission? It¡¯s obviously a suicide-level mission!¡±


    Driven by the ck smoke, more and more people fled back here and the open space in front of the main hall was instantly overcrowded.


    Those people thought they had a better chance to survive by quickly escaping, but just after they turned back, they encountered ferocious stone wolves. The faster they ran, the faster they died. In an instant, arge number of people died to the mauls of wolves.


    Thanks to their help distracting the stone wolves, the Reincarnation Team were able to catch their breath. But soon the situation turned worse. Once someone was killed by the stone wolf, the power of the stone wolf increased. The number was also increasing!


    Xiao Tangqiu finally found something more troublesome than the endless waves of zombies. But he would rather have not made this discovery ¡ª it¡¯s better to go back and fight the zombies!


    At least when he fought zombies before, he could kill them with a bolt. Now, let alone one bolt, he would not be able to kill a stone wolf with all his bolts at once!


    Other than Xiao Tangqiu, the others were also in poor states. Even though they were experienced, they had never dealt with so many low-level demons at once. Of course, if they hadn¡¯t been experienced, they would have long been defeated.


    The situation was not optimistic.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. Were they going to be buried here this time?


    ¡°So handsome! So amazing!¡± Tang Mianmian did not forget to fanboy amid the busy fighting, ¡°She is simply my goddess!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Be careful behind you!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was almost bitten by a stone wolf that leaped from behind. Fortunately, Xiao Tangqiu helped in time with an arrow that drew away the attention of the stone wolf. The stone wolf immediately turned to Xiao Tangqiu, but before it could reach Xiao Tangqiu, the mantis targeted the cicada without knowing of the oriole behind, it was shot by Shen Yuan from behind.


    Even though the stone wolf was still a long way from Xiao Tangqiu, Shen Yuan glowered as if Xiao Tangqiu would have died if he had been even a half stepte, ¡°You have to be careful too!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled quickly, ¡°I will!¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Tang Mianmian scream, ¡°Be careful behind you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was also attacked from behind by a stone wolf! Moreover, the stone wolf was extremely cunning andunched a sneak attack while Xiao Tangqiu was talking to Shen Yuan!


    Xiao Tangqiu only felt a sharp pain on his back and his vision instantly turned ck. The sharp pain was apanied by burning heat, as if it could burn to the depths of the human soul.


    Damn it! It was said that the low-leveled demons had no sentience! But there was actually a sneak attack!


    Xiao Tangqiu was dizzy and almost fainted on the spot. He fell directly into Shen Yuan¡¯s arms. Shen Yuan hurriedly hugged Xiao Tangqiu, his eyes gleamed dark.


    ¡°Jiujiu!¡±


    Tang Mianmian hurriedly shouted, ¡°Qiuqiu! What¡¯s wrong, Qiuqiu?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fell into Shen Yuan¡¯s arms,pletely dizzy, and the wound on his back was as hot as a fire. He could not hear anything anymore. The pain from being wed by the stone wolf was millions of times worse than being bitten by the devil worm.


    Xiao Tangqiu squeezed his eyes shut in pain. Shen Yuan looked down at his pale face and closed eyes, his eyes darkened and the aura exuding from his body became more and more dangerous, ¡°Jiujiu! Jiujiu!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± Tang Mianmian worried.


    Shen Yuan had a cold expression and did not answer. While holding the half-conscious Xiao Tangqiu, he raised his gun and aimed at the surrounding low-level monsters. Large patches of ck and mysterious tattoos spread from his neck to his arms to elbows. The tattoos spread all over his body. The Ouroboros tattoos even appeared on his face.


    One shot!


    Full clear!


    After a terrible pressure, the low-level demons were instantly wiped out!


    The bodies they possessed copsed in an instant, leaving only vortex-shaped ck holes in ce, and soon even those ck holes disappeared.


    Those who escaped by chance didn¡¯t even know what happened. They stared at each other nkly, and then stared nkly at the ces where the stone statues had originally stood. Those ces were empty now, and even the huge stone statue enshrined in the center of the main hall had been shattered.


    ¡°The statue of the mountain god... is broken...¡±


    ¡°The mountain god will be angry! The mountain god will me us!¡±


    ¡°That must be the anger of the mountain god just now!¡±


    Once the danger disappeared, they turned back one after another and began to me the outsiders who suddenly showed up and smashed the idols. They seemed to havepletely forgotten who saved them just now and even thought that everything was caused by these outsiders.


    They watched Shen Yuan¡¯s group with vignce and hostility. If it wasn¡¯t for the powerful force that Shen Yuan disyed, they might have attacked.


    Tang Mianmian was very anxious and looked towards Xiao Tangqiu only to see that Xiao Tangqiu was still unconscious in Shen Yuan¡¯s arms. So he turned his head and looked at Xue Junli, ¡°...What should we do now?¡±


    Xue Junli naturally wouldn¡¯t put a few ordinary humans in his eyes. He frowned as he looked at the gloomy Shen Yuan, ¡°Captain...¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes were as dark as night, getting deeper and deeper, and his aura got more and more dangerous. Xue Junli had no doubt that if Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t wake up, Shen Yuan would tear those noisy people to pieces.


    As the eyes of Shen Yuan darkened, even Tang Mianmian took a few steps back subconsciously... Although Shen Yuan had solved all the dangers with just one shot, he felt that the greatest danger was actually Shen Yuan.


    When the crowd saw that Shen Yuan¡¯s group was silent, they became more and more noisy, yelling, ¡°You have offended the mountain god! The mountain god will definitely punish you!¡±


    ¡°Outsiders! The mountain god will surely punish you!¡±


    They were yelling and became agitated. The aura around Shen Yuan became more and more dangerous... Just as this tension was about toe to a head, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly moved.


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes and woke up.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s aura instantly withdrew and he blinked at Xiao Tangqiu with apletely harmless appearance, ¡°Jiujiu, you are awake.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...¡± Who knew that your appearance had two versions!


    But Tang Mianmian¡¯s imagined heartwarming scene didn¡¯t happen. Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes and gave Shen Yuan a cold nce, and then he grabbed Shen Yuan by the neck!

 Chapter 71.2

    <h4>Chapter 71.2</h4>


    Shen Yuan was taken aback, ¡°Jiujiu?¡±


    Tang Mianmian also jumped, ¡°Qiuqiu! What are you doing?¡±


    However, Xiao Tangqiu turned a deaf ear. He had a death grip on Shen Yuan¡¯s neck.


    Xue Junli¡¯s expression tensed at this sight and he was about to rush to help, but was stopped by Shen Yuan, ¡°Don¡¯te over!¡±


    Shen Yuan called Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s name, ¡°Jiujiu!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was confused, ¡°What¡¯s the situation? Did Qiuqiu lose his memory, too?¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s expression kept changing and he finally responded, ¡°He was scratched by a low-level demon, plus he was bitten by a devil worm before... He may be infected by demonic energy.¡±


    ¡°Infected?¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s face changed drastically, ¡°Would he also be a low-level demon?¡±


    Xue Junli looked grim, ¡°Before the transformation to a low-level demon ispleted, it can be reversed. But...¡±


    Tang Mianmian quickly asked, ¡°But what?¡±


    Xue Junli was silent for a while, then said, ¡°But someone has to willingly absorb the demonic energy from his body.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately said, ¡°I can!¡±


    Xue Junli, ¡°No, you can¡¯t.¡±


    Tang Mianmian became anxious, ¡°Why?¡±


    Xue Junli paused and said, ¡°Only people with demonic abilities can do this.¡±


    Xue Junli then said, ¡°Captain, the demonic power in your body is chaotic but in a stable state. Once the bnce is broken, you are likely to change. No one knows where the breaking point is. If...¡±


    Shen Yuan emphasized each word, ¡°I want to save him!¡±


    Xue Junli took a deep breath, ¡°Captain, you have amnesia now. If you recover your memory, you will regret it!¡±


    Shen Yuan still said, ¡°I want to save him.¡±


    Xue Junli paused and continued, ¡°Then have you thought about Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s own wishes? Is he willing to see you transform into a demon for him?¡±


    Shen Yuan said calmly, ¡°I want to save him.¡±


    Xue Junli was silent for a while, and finally sighed, ¡°...Forget it, you can save him!¡±


    Tang Mianmian had an internal struggle, but he was naturally biased and wanted to see Shen Yuan save Xiao Tangqiu. He quickly asked, ¡°How?¡±


    Xue Junli shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡±


    Shen Yuan red at Xue Junli.


    Xue Junli gave a bitter smile, ¡°Captain, it¡¯s useless to stare at me. We haven¡¯t encountered this situation before. Before the fully transformed, the transformation is indeed reversible in theory, but we don¡¯t know how...¡±


    Before he finished speaking, Shen Yuan eyes darkened and he flipped Xiao Tangqiu over.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s strength had increased, he waspletely unable to move Shen Yuan. He was turned over so his back was to Shen Yuan. He struggled desperately, but Shen Yuan pinned him with one hand.


    Shen Yuan held Xiao Tangqiu with one hand and lifted his clothes with the other. He ignored the sight of the people around him and looked at the ckening wound on Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s back. Then he bent down and licked it.


    Xiao Tangqiu struggled, but couldn¡¯t break free.


    Shen Yuan began to lick the long and deep wound that went down Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s entire back and almost reached the tailbone.


    Xue Junli wore an extremelyplicated expression, ¡°Captain...¡±


    The corner of Duan Hongzhen¡¯s mouth twitched and he turned away in silence.


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu looked at each other and also turned around with gritted teeth.


    When Tang Mianmian saw this, he had to turn around. When he turned, he faced the enthusiastic residents of Hundred Ghost Town.


    The residents of Hundred Ghost Town saw this group of outsiders unscrupulously ignoring them and became angry and quickly formed a circle, surrounding them. Seeing Tang Mianmian turned their heads, they immediately yelled, ¡°Who are you people?!¡±


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t want to confront these furious people at all, but he could only bite the bullet, ¡°We are here to save you!¡±


    They naturally didn¡¯t believe it.


    ¡°Liar!¡±


    ¡°You destroyed our idol! That is the idol of the mountain god!¡±


    ¡°Our Hundred Ghost Town has always worshipped the mountain god and you actually destroyed our god!¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t dispute it. At this moment, a voice suddenly rang out.


    ¡°That¡¯s not your mountain god.¡±


    He turned his head and saw that it was the Miko, Kisaragi who spoke.


    Kisaragi looked at the angry crowd and spoke calmly, ¡°That may have once been your mountain god, but it is no longer your mountain god.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°You are also a liar! You¡¯re with them!¡±


    In the face of everyone¡¯s doubts, Kisaragi¡¯s tone remained very calm, ¡°The mountain god of Hundred Ghost Town disappeared many years ago.¡±


    ¡°Liar!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡±


    Kisaragi said indifferently, ¡°Many years ago, when Hundred Ghost Vige was still Hundred Ghost Town, the vigers worshipped the mountain gods religiously, praying for good weather and abundant harvest. Under the protection of the mountain god, the soil in Hundred Ghost Town was fertile every year... but with time, as years passed, the mountain god gradually became a distant legend. People no longer firmly believed in the mountain god. After several major disasters, they lost their piety even more. When the vigers of Hundred Ghost Town no longer believed in the mountain god, the mountain god disappeared.¡±


    ¡°Liar! Our mountain god is still there!¡±


    ¡°The mountain god had disappeared, but it hase back... Filled with unwillingness and resentment, it no longer protects the followers who were once pious yet abandoned it. It has be an evil god, apletely fallen god! It absorbs the power of your belief, epts your faith and worship, but it wants to ruin you!¡±


    Kisaragi said coldly, ¡°It epts your prayers, absorbs your aspirations, and bes stronger and stronger. When its power returns to the peak of a mountain god, it will bring disaster to Hundred Ghost Town!¡±

 Chapter 72

    <h4>Chapter 72</h4>


    ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡±


    The residents of Hundred Ghost Vige naturally wouldn¡¯t believe Kisaragi¡¯s words. They fired questions one after another, some people questioning Kisaragi¡¯s identity, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Kisaragi said lightly, ¡°I am the Miko of Kisaragi Shrine, Kisaragi.¡±


    The crowd was silent for a moment, and then a burst of doubt broke out.


    ¡°Kisaragi Shrine? Miko of the Kisaragi Shrine?¡±


    ¡°What a joke! Kisaragi Shrine does not have a Miko!¡±


    ¡°Kisaragi Shrine has never had any Miko! Where did this liare from?¡±


    ¡°Liar! Burn her to death! Burn her to death!¡±


    It was to such noises that Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes.


    But in the next second, he was distracted by a strange feeling on his back.


    That warm and soft touch, and the hot breath...


    It¡¯s Shen Yuan!


    He reacted instantly. His face flushed and he straightened up quickly to push Shen Yuan away from behind him.


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and met Shen Yuan¡¯s dark eyes. After seeing the blood on Shen Yuan¡¯s lips, could he still not understand what was going on?


    Just when he was so embarrassed that he wanted to implode, Tang Mianmian¡¯s joyful voice rang out, ¡°Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu! You woke up!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and saw that there were many people watching and he wanted to implode!


    ¡°Jiujiu!¡± Seeing Xiao Tangqiu wake up, Shen Yuan immediately became happy and licked his lips subconsciously.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t lick!¡±


    He rushed over and grabbed Shen Yuan¡¯s cor, ¡°Spit it out! Spit it out!¡±


    However, Shen Yuan had already swallowed. He blinked innocently, as if he didn¡¯t understand Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s madness, ¡°Jiujiu, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face was extremely red, ¡°It¡¯s so dirty, how can you swallow... Who knows if there are any bacteria or viruses in the scratches of low-level demons!¡±


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°If you are just worried about this, you can rest assured that even if there are any bacteria or viruses, it is impossible to infect our captain.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused and realized even if those low-level demons really carried bacteria or viruses, they couldn¡¯t infect Shen Yuan, someone who was only one step away from bing a demon. If dust fell into ink, could it taint ink?


    After realizing his own thoughts, he blushed again and quickly changed the topic, ¡°Thank you, really! But I¡¯m really fine now! Anyway, what¡¯s the situation?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around and saw that the low-level demons were all killed by Shen Yuan. He didn¡¯t know how much effort it took, but the ck tattoos on Shen Yuan had not disappeared even now. Those ck tattoos were just like real tattoos, emerging on the surface of Shen Yuan¡¯s skin. He suddenly frowned, ¡°Your tattoo...¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly interrupted with a yell, ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s dawn!¡±


    ...It¡¯s dawn?


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately looked up. Sure enough, the horizon had started to brighten at some point and a ray of light gradually pierced the darkness that shrouded thend. This long night seemed to be finally over.


    ¡°It¡¯s really dawn...¡±


    Everyone in the Reincarnation Team looked up at the sky. The night was finally over. But what did this mean?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped wildly with excitement for a while, but soon he calmed down again. Impossible! This instance wouldn¡¯t end so simply!


    ¡°Wait a minute... Those people disappeared...¡± Yu Fuling suddenly shouted.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around and saw that the noisy crowd surrounding them had vanished before them with the rising sun... But then he realized that it was not those people who had disappeared, it was them that had disappeared!


    This time, no one felt dizzy and faint, they simply appeared in the dark tunnel.


    They finally returned to this dark tunnel again.


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°What the hell! It¡¯s not that they disappeared, it was us that disappeared!¡±


    ¡°We came back again...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°It¡¯s this tunnel again...¡± For some reason, this time he had a particrly bad premonition.


    ¡°Is it not over yet? But hasn¡¯t the mountain god been resolved by god Shen Yuan?¡± Tang Mianmian was puzzled.


    At this moment, a female voice coldly rang, ¡°No, the mountain god has not disappeared.¡±


    Everyone turned and were shocked. The Miko, Kisaragi, actually came with them!


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback, why did Kisaragi also appear in this tunnel with them? Logically speaking, wasn¡¯t Kisaragi from Hundred Ghost Vige? Wait! Those people said that there was no Miko in the Kisaragi Shrine of Hundred Ghost Vige! So, who was Kisaragi?


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t disappeared yet? What do you mean?¡± Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow.


    Kisaragi coldly said, ¡°What you wiped out just now is just a projection of the mountain god. The real mountain god... is in the Hundred Ghost Town hundreds of years ago.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Kisaragi was silent for a moment before slowly speaking, ¡°Because the true mountain god disappeared hundreds of years ago.¡±


    Everyone fell silent at the same time. Xiao Tangqiu waspletely muddled, ¡°The real mountain god has long since disappeared? What happened to the mountain god after? Didn¡¯t you say that it came back again?¡±


    Kisaragi was silent for a long time, then spoke faintly, ¡°It is an obsession, an unwaking and obsessive dream, just like the people and ces you have seen before...¡±


    Those people and ces they saw before? For example, hedgehog-head and that school where no one survived because of the earthquake?


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly caught onto something, but he couldn¡¯t believe it, ¡°You mean, the mountain god in Hundred Ghost Vige is just a fantastical dream of the people?¡±


    Kisaragi spoke, ¡°Once the mountain god disappears due tock of faith, he will never return. Because it was no longer needed, it had ¡®died¡¯... But if someone has a strong enough obsession, they may be able to call back part of the consciousness of the mountain god. But this kind of hazy consciousness is by no means a true mountain god, it can only be regarded as a projection.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiutched onto Kisaragi¡¯s words and said, ¡°You mean that the real mountain god has disappeared for centuries, but then someone summoned part of the mountain god¡¯s consciousness back with their strong obsession. The piece of the mountain god realized that the piety and faith was impure and weak, so it began to angrily absorb the power of these people¡¯s beliefs to try to restore its strong power in order to bring cmity to the residents of Hundred Ghost Vige?¡±


    Kisaragi nodded and she spoke, ¡°Although you eliminated the part of the consciousness that the mountain god awakened centuriester, its body was still very powerful centuries ago. If the true mountain god cannot bepletely eliminated, it will still bring the same huge disaster to Hundred Ghost Vige centuriester.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had a rush of energy. Was this it? Was this their real mission?


    To destroy the mountain god!


    The Reincarnation Team looked at each other for a while. After a while, Xue Junli said, ¡°Let¡¯s go out first.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen crossed his arms, turned his head, and asked Kisaragi, ¡°Are youing with us?¡±


    Kisaragi nodded and said, ¡°Naturally.¡±


    ¡°Then, you answer one question first. Just who are you?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, ¡°Just now those people said that Kisaragi Shrine does not have a Miko at all, so where did you, a Miko,e from?¡±


    Kisaragi was calm, ¡°I am indeed the Miko of the Kisaragi Shrine.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lying! Those people clearly said that Kisaragi Shrine does not have a Miko,¡± Tang Mianmian snorted. ¡°Could it be that you¡¯re not the Miko of the Kisaragi Shrine in Hundred Ghost Vige, but the Miko of the Kisaragi Shrine in Hundred Ghost Town?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Kisaragi Shrine in Hundred Ghost Town? The Kisaragi Shrine in Hundred Ghost Town should have disappeared with the disappearance of the mountain god? How can there be Miko?¡± Of course the most important point was that even if the Kisaragi Shrine in Hundred Ghost Town had a Miko, that was already centuries ago. How could a Miko from centuries ago go to the Hundred Ghost Vige hundreds of yearster?


    Kisaragi¡¯s expression was calm and she didn¡¯t respond, just repeating, ¡°I am indeed the Miko of the Kisaragi Shrine.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, ¡°Are you also an obsession, an unwaking and obsessive dream?¡±


    Kisaragi stopped responding and turned and walked straight ahead. Everyone exchanged nces and could only follow.


    No matter what they asked Kisaragi next, Kisaragi didn¡¯t answer.


    After a while, they walked out of the long dark tunnel.


    Outside the tunnel, it was twilight.


    Twilight, a witching hour.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately felt that the surrounding environment had changed as soon as he left the tunnel. Maybe it was his imagination but although the previous Hundred Ghost Town was already eerie and strange, it felt even more eerie this time. Even the howling wind was extremely chilling.


    Soon, he knew this was not his imagination, because Shen Yuan suddenly frowned, ¡°...There is a demonic energy.¡±


    There was a demonic energy!


    Not only Shen Yuan, the other people in the Reincarnation Team also reacted. Although they were not as sensitive to demonic energy as Shen Yuan, if the energy was too heavy, they would naturally notice the terrible pressure... The things hiding in Hundred Ghost Vige were definitely not low-level demons!


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly shuddered at a chill. This cold and terrifying aura was very simr to the pressure that Lippinobert exuded when he ate the Demon Heart Shard. But even more terrifying than that!


    Could it be that the mountain god of Hundred Ghost Vige had be a demon?


    At this moment, a scream suddenly rang out.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡±


    ¡°Help!¡±


    Screaming? Where did the screame from!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart leaped, and soon he realized that the scream seemed to being from the tunnel behind them!


    He turned and looked back to see a few figures suddenly running out of the dark tunnel!


    ¡°It¡¯s those newbies!¡± Duan Hongzhen was the first to react.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look and it was true. The couple of people who were rushing out of the tunnel were the newbies that had parted ways with them before. They ran wildly with horrified expressions.


    After seeing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group, they immediately yelled in agitation, ¡°Help! Help us!¡±


    Xue Junli said coldly, ¡°You guys stop! Don¡¯te over!¡±


    ¡°Help us! Please help us!¡± The newbies seemed to be crazed from fear. Not only did they not stop, they ran faster.


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, ¡°Oh, why?¡±


    One of them cried out, ¡°There is a monster! A monster is chasing us! Save us!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen said without hesitation, ¡°I¡¯m not saving you.¡±


    The man cried out, ¡°Why? You can¡¯t just watch us die!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen said with a faint smile, ¡°What if... you are also monsters?¡±

 Chapter 73

    <h4>Chapter 73</h4>


    ¡°How can we be monsters? Of course we¡¯re not monsters!¡± The handful of people screamed.


    ¡°We are the ones who somehow came to this damned ce with you!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you remember us? We escaped death together not long ago!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen smiled coldly, ¡°Of course I remember you, but who knows who you are now, or who you were before?¡±


    ¡°We are us! How can this be faked?¡± They shouted.


    At this moment, a huge creature came out of the tunnel with a low roar!


    ¡°Monster! The monster is catching up!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look. The monster that emerged from the tunnel was actually a huge spider!


    The body of this huge spider glowed with a cold luster and it looked to be highly poisonous. The many sets of chting limbs were huge and sharp, making all of their hair stand up. The most chilling thing was that this huge spider actually had a human head!


    And it¡¯s actually the head of a beautiful woman!


    Having a beauty¡¯s head on the body of a huge spider felt iparably wrong, but Xiao Tangqiu was already a little numb. He had already seen a lot of the world, so no matter how demonically beautiful this spider beauty looked, his heart was steady and he was not moved.


    The beautiful spider chased the newbies out the tunnel, but after leaving the tunnel, she decisively gave up the original targets and rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu instead!


    She rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu without hesitation!


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Why was it him again!


    It¡¯s him, it¡¯s him, it¡¯s always him!


    Please! He didn¡¯t want the kind of luck of always being favored by ¡°great beauties¡±!


    The spider beauty opened her mouth and spat out white silk webs. The seemingly fragile but iparably tough web covered Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face. Xiao Tangqiu became entangled in webs before he could escape!


    All of this happened so quickly that even the closest Shen Yuan had not yet reacted, let alone other people including Xiao Tangqiu himself.


    The space between his face and that of the spider beauty was only a few centimeters. He could even feel the cold and humid breath when the other breathed... Face to face with this type of a beautiful woman, he naturally did not have the slightest intimate thought in his heart. He only felt his whole body chill.


    Especially when the spider beauty opened her huge, blood-red mouth to reveal a mouthful of fangs. Xiao Tangqiu immediately struggled violently. At this moment, an idea shed through his mind and he immediately struggled to take out a lighter from the space tool. The lighter ignited against the spider web that was tightly entrapped him.


    The spider web was mmable and caught on fire. Although Xiao Tangqiu also got burned and screamed, his method of injuring the enemy by injuring himself still worked. The spider beauty screamed and actually left Xiao Tangqiu and retreated a few steps.


    Xiao Tangqiu stumbled back and got supported by Shen Yuan who arrived in time, ¡°Jiujiu! Are you hurt?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine...¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened and he was about to rush forward to deal with the huge spider beauty but Xiao Tangqiu quickly grabbed Shen Yuan. It had to be known that the ck tattoos on Shen Yuan had not disappeared yet!


    ¡°Don¡¯t go!¡±


    Shen Yuan was taken aback, and then he hmphed unwillingly, ¡°But it wants to hurt Jiujiu!¡±


    ¡°You take a break first and leave it to us!¡± Xiao Tangqiu turned to Duan Hongzhen and the others and shouted, ¡°That¡¯s the Luoxinfu! Its weakness is that it is afraid of fire!¡±


    ¡°Luoxinfu?¡± Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°...what¡¯s that?¡±


    Although he asked casually, the flying knife in his hand shot out quickly.


    Hit!


    However, the spider beauty¡¯s body was unexpectedly hard, and his flying knife couldn¡¯t even scratch it.


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu also took action, but their weapons were equally useless. The spider beauty did not look like a powerful monster, but her body was extremely hard and could not be taken advantage of. Even for Xue Junli who had the most attack power in his hands. Even powerful firearms were helpless!


    Not only that, the webs spat out of the beautiful spider¡¯s mouth was extremely tough, invulnerable to knives and guns, and the woven was even more unbreakable.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly exined, ¡°Luoxinfu is also a kind of monster in Hundred Ghosts Night Parade. It is said that she was originally a beauty married to a lord, but she was forcibly stuffed into a box full of poisonous spiders because she had an affair with a random man. Thebination of her spirit in death and the poisonous spider created a very dangerous monster!¡±


    Xue Junli frowned, ¡°Something¡¯s wrong! This is definitely not an ordinary monster!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen also shouted, ¡°The monsters we have encountered before were not so powerful! Unless this one is the mid-BOSS in this group of monsters!¡±


    At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly opened his mouth and said, ¡°It has demonic energy!¡±


    This was definitely a judgment made with authority. Xiao Tangqiu and Xue Junli¡¯s expressions changed at the same time. Could this Luoxinfu also be a low-level demon? No! The Luoxinfu obviously had self-consciousness and could think flexibly! And most importantly, it was much stronger than the low-level demons they encountered before!


    The Luoxinfu was much stronger than any monster and any low-level demons they encountered before!


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrow, ¡°You said it is afraid of fire?¡±


    Without hesitation, he took out a lighter, lit it and threw it at the spider beauty.


    The sparkle of the lighter couldn¡¯tpete with the indestructible shell of the spider, but it got so scared that it screeched and fled in panic.


    Xiao Tangqiu reacted instantly, ¡°Its body is not afraid of fire, but it is instinctively afraid of fire!¡±


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu took out lighters without hesitation, while Xue Junli directly took out a methrower.


    Under thebined efforts of the three of them, the Luoxinfu was forced into a corner and began to desperately spin webs. However, its weakness had been exposed. The webs it spat out could not withstand the fire and it became exhausted.


    Then, the Luoxinfu suddenly uttered an extremely strange cry, and then the people who had been chased by it suddenly turned around and rushed towards Duan Hongzhen and co. They opened their mouths and spat out spider webs.


    These people were not as powerful as the spider beauty, but several of them entangled one person at the same time, and they immediately entrapped Duan Hongzhen¡¯s group of three.


    Xiao Tangqiu was not surprised. The first moment he saw these people, he had a strong sense of discordance and unease. Now these people¡¯s ¡°reversal¡± only confirmed his inner judgement!


    He¡¯s afraid that these people had long been reduced to puppets of the spider beauty!


    Duan Hongzhen and others couldn¡¯t move for now. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian rushed to help, taking out lighters one by one. But this time, even though their fire burned the spider webs, they couldn¡¯t scare away those who had be puppets of Luoxinfu.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank, ¡°They are not afraid of fire!¡± Although these puppets were not as strong as Luoxinfu, they also did not have its weaknesses.


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Fuck, fuck! What do we do?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought quickly, ¡°...Alcohol! Do you have alcohol?¡±


    Tang Mianmian scrambled to dig through the space tool, ¡°I brought beer! I nned to have a ss after dinner!¡± But they ended up being busy since they entered the instance and never had time to eat.


    Xiao Tangqiu was anxious, ¡°Beer¡¯s alcohol content is too low! Not mmable!¡±


    ¡°Then what should I do?¡± Tang Mianmian quickly rummaged, ¡°Lip balm? Sunscreen? Hualu water?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t bear it, ¡°...Are you here to fight or y?!¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute! Hualu water! Give me the hualu water!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu caught the hualu water Tang Mianmian threw and he didn¡¯t hesitate to bypass the nearest Duan Hongzhen and ran towards Xue Junli.


    Duan Hongzhen, ¡°...hmph!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had hualu water in one hand and a lighter in the other and made a small methrower. He aimed it at the spider web tightly wrapped around Xue Junli and violently sprayed!


    The spider webs ignited when the fire hit and Xue Junli managed to break free from the spider web.


    After he broke free, he immediately picked up the real methrower to save everyone else. First Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu, and finally Duan Hongzhen.


    Duan Hongzhen, ¡°...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen felt extremely aggrieved. He red at Xue Junli and Xiao Tangqiu, then turned around and vented his anger on the puppets of the Luoxinfu .


    Although these puppets were not afraid of fire, they did not have the invulnerable body of the Luoxinfu . They were still fragile human bodies. Duan Hongzhen took a knife and each use fell the head of a puppet.


    The puppets seemed to not feel pain, expressing nothing in their expression and letting out no painful howls. When their heads fell to the ground, Xiao Tangqiu was shocked to discover that the puppets¡¯ heads were actually hollow!


    Looking in from where the head and neck were connected, the head of the puppet had beenpletely hollowed out!


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered the legend of the Luoxinfu. It was said that Luoxinfu specialized in hunting men. It would turn into human form and seduce men with their beauty. After three days, it would take its prey and eat them...


    At this moment, from that empty skull, a ck spider crawled out.


    The ck spider looked very simr to the Luoxinfu, but did not have a human head. Despite this, its fist-sized body and hairy ws still made their hair stand up.


    But that wasn¡¯t the worst. After that first spider crawled from the empty head, a dense flood of spiders crawled out. Those spiders were all different sizes, the big ones being the size of a ping-pong ball and the small ones only the size of a fingernail. They were densely packed together and there were several thousands!

 Chapter 74

    <h4>Chapter 74</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s whole body instantly got goosebumps with his scalp tingling seeing this dense wave of spiders. Although he didn¡¯t want to think about this group of spiders at all, he couldn¡¯t help his imagination running wild. Did the luoxinfuy its eggs after eating empty those people¡¯s heads? And then the spider eggs were incubated and born into those bodies, the small spiders bing parasites and absorbing all the nutrients from the human body? And finally the new luoxinfu broke out?


    Wait! This was not Aliens!


    Tang Mianmian screamed, ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°What are you screaming for? Grow a pair! Even the two girls over there didn¡¯t scream!¡±


    ¡°Ahhhhhh! Spiders are my greatest fear!¡± Tang Mianmian screamed and was about to pounce on Xiao Tangqiu, but Xiao Tangqiu was pulled away by Shen Yuan. After he missed, he quickly turned and rushed towards Duan Hongzhen.


    Duan Hongzhen was caught off guard by Tang Mianmian and was tightly grabbed. Tang Mianmian immediately climbed onto Duan Hongzhen like an octopus.


    ¡°Hey! Let go!¡±


    ¡°Not letting go! I¡¯m so scared sobsobsob!¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t let go, I will kick you!¡±


    After Xiao Tangqiu was pulled away by Shen Yuan, he looked up and saw a puppet leaping towards him. He quickly raised the loaded crossbow and got a headshot. When his arrow pierced through the puppet¡¯s head, the puppet copsed, and then a ton of small ck spiders crawled out from its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.


    ¡°Aahhhh! There¡¯s even more!¡± Tang Mianmian broke down even more.


    Fortunately, Xue Junli fired the methrower and the spiders were quickly wiped out.


    Every time a puppet fell, arge number of growing spiders would crawl out of the puppet¡¯s body. Those small spiders seemed to regard the bodies of these newbies as a nest where food was stored. When the nest was overturned, they naturally crawled out everywhere.


    When thest puppet fell, everyone turned their weapons and aimed at luoxinfu. They targeted the weakness of luoxinfu by threatening it with the methrower and attacked with everyone¡¯s power. Finally, Yu Fuling cut off Luoxinfu¡¯s head with her de.


    When the beauty¡¯s head fell to the ground, Xiao Tangqiu instantly increased his vignce, but nothing happened. Tang Mianmian heaved a sigh of relief, ¡°It¡¯s finally over... almost scared me to death!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°It¡¯s just a bigger spider, what¡¯s so scary? There will be more terrifying things waiting for you in the future.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately trembled.


    Duan Hongzhen picked up the head of the beauty with a smile, ¡°You need to fight poison with poison. Come, take a look.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately screamed, ¡°Aaaaaaah, no don¡¯t!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen did not hesitate to throw the beautiful head at Tang Mianmian. Tang Mianmian reflexively caught it and as he was about to scream, the beautiful head who had closed its eyes suddenly opened them and several pairs of spider legs grew out from where it was cut off.


    If he hadn¡¯t thrown its head to Tang Mianmian just now and scared luoxinfu into revealing its abilities, this cunning luoxinfu would have gotten up again after they left and plotted against them!


    He sneered and stepped on it without hesitation. Although luoxinfu¡¯s body was extremely hard, after losing its huge and hard body, only a fragile head was left.


    Luoxinfu¡¯s head exploded with sprays of white liquid when Duan Hongzhen stepped on it. Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look. What was this white liquid? It was actually a bunch of white blobs densely piled up together!


    ¡°Fuuuuuuuck spider eggs are disgusting!¡± Tang Mianmian wailed while stomping on the spider eggs in front of him. These spider eggs were immature and naturally had no resistance. They were quickly squished.


    ¡°Waaaaa are they dead!?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Deader than dead.¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked down and suddenly became nauseous, ¡°Oh... I want to vomit.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu reached out and patted Tang Mianmian on the shoulder, expressing sympathy.


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu and said expressionlessly, ¡°I want to vomit too.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°No, you don¡¯t.¡±


    <i>Luoxinfu</i> waspletely dead this time and Xiao Tangqiu breathed a sigh of relief. Kisaragi shook the Kagura Bell in her hand, probably to purify luoxinfu.


    Everyone waited silently for Kisaragi to finish before they continued to walk towards Hundred Ghost Town.


    As a result, along the way, they encountered a lot of monsters, these monsters were much stronger than the previous monsters. Everyone walked and fought, and it took a lot of effort to arrive outside of Hundred Ghost Town.


    Tang Mianmian said quietly, ¡°Why do I feel like we are journeying to the west to learn the scriptures, and we have gone through nine-ny-one trials along the way...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stretched out his hand and patted Tang Mianmian on the shoulder, ¡°We have reached the holynds of the west.¡±


    Everyone was exhausted. Even if they were tough, they were still exhausted by this time. Although these monsters were not endless like the zombies, they were exceptionally powerful, especially the monsters that carried demonic aura.


    Xue Junli suddenly said, ¡°It seems that there are more and more monsters.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°It¡¯s true. When we came here before, there weren¡¯t so many monsters...¡±


    When they came to Hundred Ghost Town before, although they had encountered a few monsters, there were only two or three small fries that were not ferocious. This time, the monsters they encountered were not only extremely vicious, they were also powerful.


    At this moment, Kisaragi suddenly spoke, ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    Everyone looked up and saw that the strange and familiar Hundred Ghost Town was not far away. They hadn¡¯t left Hundred Ghost Town for long, but it seemed to have gone through a lot. The whole vige had be even more dpidated and the people inside had disappeared.


    They looked around in Hundred Ghost Town and discovered that all the vigers had disappeared, and even the strange female vige elder had disappeared.


    ¡°Strange, where are the vigers?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was only short digging three feet into the ground to search. If he didn¡¯t know that it was impossible, he would suspect that Hundred Ghost Town had a cer and the vigers ran into the cer to hide. But Hundred Ghost Town was so poor, there couldn¡¯t be any extra food to store in some cer.


    ¡°Have you searched all ces? No person anywhere?¡±


    Everyone shook their heads.


    So strange. Was it possible for all the vigers to disappear into thin air overnight in this huge Hundred Ghost Town?


    As everyone was silent and puzzled, a thought suddenly shed through Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind, and then he slowly said, ¡°Maybe... we already saw it.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, ¡°What do you mean? Do you mean...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pointedly said, ¡°Aren¡¯t there more monsters outside than when we camest time?¡±


    Xue Junli said softly, ¡°Are you saying that all of the vigers of Hundred Ghost Town have be monsters?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Otherwise, there¡¯s no exnation why the vigers of Hundred Ghost Town disappeared or why the monsters suddenly increased.¡±


    Xue Junli frowned, ¡°Even so, the number is not right. The vigers we saw that day are far more than the monsters we have seen. Even if the vigers really turned into monsters, then where did those monsters go?¡±


    The two of them realized at the same time and shouted in unison, ¡°Kisaragi Shrine!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Xue Junli looked at each other, then Xue Junli¡¯s gaze darkened, ¡°Go! Let¡¯s go to the shrine!¡±


    Everyone turned and set off towards the Holy Mountain.


    For some reason, the way to the Holy Mountain was calm and nothing happened. They didn¡¯t encounter even one monster. But for Xiao Tangqiu, the calm was like the calm before the storm.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, wondering if it was his illusion. The closer they were to the Holy Mountain, the fewer monsters there seemed to be, as if those monsters were afraid of the Holy Mountain... But when they first came to Hundred Ghost Town, they clearly saw a lot of monsters here, so why couldn¡¯t they see any now?


    There was a bad premonition in his heart. They finally came to the foot of the long, climbing trail to the mountain god.


    But they didn¡¯t see even the hair of monsters, much less meet any. The entire Holy Mountain was clean, just like a real Holy Mountain.


    After a while, they came to the top of the Holy Mountain. Just as before, they did not see any shrines, and naturally they also did not see the remaining vigers.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, did they hit a dead end again? He subconsciously turned his head to look at Kisaragi and saw her slowly shake the Kagura Bell in her hand.


    He had seen Kisaragi use the Kagura Bell many times by now, but this time it seemed to be very different. Kisaragi softly sang an unfamiliar melody that sounded like an ancient mysterious spell while shaking the bell.


    With Kisaragi¡¯s singing and the clear ring of the Kagura Bell, a torii gradually appeared in front of them, followed by an ancient shrine.


    At the center of the torii, there was an old que with the words ¡°Kisaragi Shrine¡± written on it.


    Kisaragi put down the Kagura Bell in her hand and said solemnly, ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    They finally arrived at the Kisaragi Shrine. Unlike the Kisaragi Shrine from centuriester, this was the real Kisaragi Shrine, the Kisaragi Shrine that truly enshrined a mountain god.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up at the shrine in front of him. To his surprise, although this shrine was old and worn, it looked very magnificent. It was more elegant than the Kisaragi Shrine centuriester and it gave him a feeling of true worship towards the mountain god... Maybe because of this, his inner foreboding only got stronger.


    He finally couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°I have a bad feeling...¡±


    Tang Mianmian jumped, ¡°Shut up!¡±


    He looked around while covering his chest with his hands, and waited fearfully, but nothing happened.


    So he slowly put down the hand over his heart andughed at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°It seems that your crow¡¯s mouth is not working!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a dry smile and was about to speak, but at this moment, the whole Holy Mountain suddenly shook!


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    ...It wasn¡¯t that it didn¡¯t work, it was simply dyed!

 Chapter 75

    <h4>Chapter 75</h4>


    ¡°What happened?!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was shocked. The shaking here seemed to be even greater than the previous major earthquake... Could it be andslide?


    Xiao Tangqiu was keenly aware of the increase in demon energy around him. Ever since he was scratched by a low-level demon, his sensitivity to demon energy had grown. For example, now he could vaguely feel the magic fluctuations in the air.


    Kisaragi rushed into the shrine without hesitation and Xiao Tangqiu chased after her without even thinking about it. He had just stepped into the shrine when he became keenly aware of the increase in demonic energy in the air. It even made it difficult to move for him... Such a terrible demonic coercion, it was even more terrifying than Lippinobert¡¯s!


    Although he didn¡¯t have any specificparisons, he could guess that they were facing a very difficult big guy this time. He felt even more certain after he chased Kisaragi into the main hall.


    But the strange thing was that when they entered the shrine, the violent tremors subsided.


    Like Hundred Ghost Vige¡¯s shrine, Hundred Ghost Town¡¯s main hall also enshrined a wolf-shaped idol in the center. But this wolf-shaped idol was several timesrger than the Hundred Ghost Vige idol, and it was also more strange and terrifying. It stood condescendingly in the center of the main hall, looking down at everyone from above with a gloomy and cold gaze like a cold-blooded beast.


    No matter how you looked at it, this statue was more like a demon god than a mountain god.


    ¡°Who are you? Don¡¯t intrude upon the shrine without permission!¡± A voice suddenly rang behind the idol.


    It turned out that someone was hidden behind the idol. After that person stood up, Xiao Tangqiu discovered that it was a Hundred Ghost Town viger he had met before. The viger looked at them vigntly and seemed to recognize them.


    ¡°It¡¯s you! Outsiders! Leave the shrine immediately! You do not belong here!¡±


    Hundred Ghost Town residents were actually hiding in the shrine!


    Xiao Tangqiu was very surprised, but he wasn¡¯t sure whether this viger was a normal human being or not. Nevertheless, he tried hard to obtain information, ¡°Can you tell us... what happened here?¡±


    The viger¡¯s expression gradually turned frightened, ¡°Outsiders! Leave the shrine immediately! Leave Hundred Ghost Town immediately!¡±


    Xue Junli said solemnly, ¡°We will leave soon, but before that, can you tell us... what is going on here?¡±


    ¡°Leave immediately!¡± The viger¡¯s expression became more and more frightened, and his voice became more and more urgent, ¡°Outsiders! Get out of here!¡±


    His hostility was very obvious. But at this moment, an elderly low voice rang out, ¡°Enough...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly asked, ¡°The mountain god is angry? Why is that?¡±


    Thedy elder nced at Xiao Tangqiu coldly, ¡°Outsiders, this is not the ce you should be, and this is not something you should know...¡±


    The previous viger eximed in agitation, ¡°The mountain god is angry because of your offense! The mountain god has condemned Hundred Ghost Town! It¡¯s all your fault!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. At this moment, Kisaragi suddenly spoke coldly, ¡°It is not the mountain god that condemned the Hundred Ghost Town, but the living that you sacrificed. The deceased have a deep grievance that cannot be resolved. They will not dissipate for a long time and it has affected the mountain god... The mountain god of today is no longer the mountain god of before!¡±


    ¡°You speak nonsense!¡± The viger immediately retorted angrily.


    Kisaragi asked coldly, ¡°Then I ask you, where did the other vigers go?¡±


    The viger stammered, but he couldn¡¯t say anything.


    Kisaragi sneered, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t say it. Anyways, I already know that the vigers have be monsters under the influence of the mountain god!¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! How can they change... be monsters under the influence of the mountain god!¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, ¡°but your expression doesn¡¯t say that.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! You¡¯re all talking nonsense! It¡¯s just nonsense!¡± The viger was full of anger. ¡°We of Hundred Ghost Town worshipped the mountain god for generations, and the mountain god has always protected our Hundred Ghost Town. How can the mountain god turn the vigers into monsters?¡±


    Xue Junli asked, ¡°So where are the other vigers?¡±


    The viger choked and could not speak for a long while.


    Thedy elder heaved a long sigh, ¡°Forget it, we can¡¯t cover it up anymore! The other vigers of our Hundred Ghost Town have indeed be monsters...¡±


    Her originally hobbled and rickety figure seemed more and more worn and aged. With the support of a few vigers around her, she looked at the idol enshrined in the center of the main hall with dim old eyes. The idol appeared darker and darker under the dim candlelight in the shrine, mysterious and unpredictable.


    ¡°In fact, this matter started a few months ago...¡±


    In the beginning, someone discovered that Hundred Ghost Town had suddenly lost a viger.


    The Hundred Ghost Town was not big, and there are even fewer vigers. Including the swaddled baby, there are only a hundred vigers in total. Everyone knew each other and the rtionship was considered harmonious. One day, someone suddenly realized that one of the vigers had disappeared.


    At first, a few people were sent from the town to look for them, but they searched all over the mountains and in the end, they didn¡¯t find the person. They guessed that the person might have fallen off the cliff and died, and the matter was considered over.


    Although the disappearance of that viger brought a shadow to Hundred Ghost Town, birth, old age, sickness and death weremonce. They didn¡¯t put too much heart into it and the days went on as before until the second viger also disappeared unknowingly.


    The town sent people to look again, but they still couldn¡¯t find them. This time, the people in the vige began to worry, and it was then that the unusual ¡°wild beasts¡± began to appear near the vige.


    Unfortunately, some vigers who were alone were taken away by the ¡°wild beasts¡± and disappeared. Once another viger disappeared, the number of ¡°wild beasts¡± would increase.


    Some vigers who witnessed the ¡°wild beast¡± went mad and shouted, ¡°That¡¯s not a beast! That¡¯s a monster! They have all be monsters! Those missing vigers have be monsters!¡±


    Naturally, the other vigers didn¡¯t believe it, thinking that this guy was just being overly frightened and went mad. As a result, the madman disappeared shortly afterwards... And the ¡°wild beasts¡± seemed to increase again.


    The vigers disappeared one by one, and there were unidentified ¡°wild beasts¡± nearby. Hundred Ghost Town became more and more panicked and could only worship the mountain god more piously. Then one day, someone discovered that after they ¡°presented sacrifices¡± to the mountain god in ordance with the ancient sacrifice ceremony, no vigers would go missing for a long time.


    Their pious worship finally received the blessing of the mountain god!


    The vigers were overjoyed and believed in the mountain god more and more devoutly. For a long time, no viger disappeared... until a group of outsiders broke into Hundred Ghost Town, breaking the hard-won peace of Hundred Ghost Town.


    ¡°Since you left that day...¡±


    The elder woman looked at Xiao Tangqiu with deep eyes, her voice hoarse and weary, ¡°Vigers have disappeared again, and this time... an entire half of the vigers have disappeared!¡±


    Half of the vigers disappeared?


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned because he clearly realized what it meant.


    ¡°Those vigers have all be cannibals. They pounced on their former rtives and friends with their teeth and ws...¡± Thedy elder gave a long sigh. ¡°The rest of us could do nothing but desperately hide and escape. So we came back to the shrine with our pious faith, looking for the protection of the mountain god.¡±


    ¡°The mountain god showed its powers. Those monsters dare not approach the Holy Mountain and the shrine. We are temporarily safe.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all the fault of you outsiders!¡± The previous viger was very enraged, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, they wouldn¡¯t have be monsters at all! It¡¯s all your fault!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. He felt that something was wrong. If the vanished Hundred Ghost Town vigers were all affected by the mountain god, then why did the monsters that the vigers turned into not dare to approach the Holy Mountain and the shrine?


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°How the hell is this our fault! Even without us, your weird vige will be a real Hundred Ghost Town sooner orter! Just talking about your weird old customs, are the old people abandoned by you not resentful enough? The grievances in your vige are already serious enough!¡±


    The viger defended, ¡°This is the tradition we have always passed down...¡±


    ¡°Do you think thatws are not the fault of the public? I think you all did this to yourselves,¡± Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°In two words: well deserved!¡±


    Thedy elder stopped the agitated viger, ¡°There is no need to argue with outsiders. The most important thing now is to solve the current problem.¡±


    She looked fixedly at Xiao Tangqiu and asked, ¡°Do you have a way?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows. Was this an NPC quest?


    Before he could speak, Tang Mianmian rushed to shout, ¡°We ept this task!¡±


    Xue Junli suddenly spoke, ¡°Even if the price is to eliminate your mountain god?¡±


    Thedy elder¡¯s expression sank, ¡°What a joke! The mountain god is the god that we have always worshiped in Hundred Ghost Town...¡±


    Tang Mianmian said solemnly, ¡°It¡¯s clear that this matter is caused by your mountain god. No matter how much of a delusional fan you are, you can¡¯t make it all our problem! Do you take us passersby as blind!¡±


    Thedy elderly, ¡°...Although I don¡¯t understand what you are talking about, the mountain god is our Hundred Ghost Town¡¯s faith! The mountain god has always protected us! Those monsters dare not approach the Holy Mountain and the shrine!¡±


    ¡°Yes, why don¡¯t those monsters dare to approach the shrine?¡± Tang Mianmian subconsciously turned his head and looked at Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while, and then said, ¡°Although those monsters are ferocious, maybe... there is something more ferocious than them in the shrine.¡±

 Chapter 76

    <h4>Chapter 76</h4>


    ¡°No! We can never destroy our mountain god!¡±


    Thedy elder was very agitated. She looked at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group angrily, obviously wishing to chase them away immediately, ¡°The mountain god is our god! It is our faith! Hundred Ghost Town worships the mountain god devoutly every generation. You outsiders don¡¯t even think about...¡±


    Before she could finish speaking, the main hall suddenly shook violently. Everyone looked up and saw that the idol in the center of the hall was actually moving!


    The wolf-shaped idol slowly lowered its head and looked at the people standing before it.


    Thedy elder was trembling with excitement, and she knelt down in awe, ¡°The mountain god... the mountain god has appeared!¡±


    The remaining vigers also knelt to the ground one after another, kneeling thrice and bowing nine times with excitement.


    ¡°Mountain God! Mountain God! Save Hundred Ghost Town!¡±


    ¡°Please save Hundred Ghost Town!¡±


    rm bells rang in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart and he clenched the weapon in his hand tight. The next moment, a thick ck smoke suddenly exuded from the wolf idol. That ck smoke enveloped the entire idol, giving the idol an even more terrible aura.


    However, the Hundred Ghost Town vigers turned a blind eye to it. They didn¡¯t seem to see the ck smoke surrounding the idol, and they continued bowing reverently, ¡°Mountain God! Save Hundred Ghost Town!¡±


    In the next second, a wisp of ck smoke split from the wolf idol and rushed toward a viger!


    The viger was swallowed by ck smoke in an instant and he suddenly screamed. Surrounded by ck smoke, his body gradually expanded and deformed, his body became bigger and bigger, his face became more and more hideous... Amidst his pained screams, he finally turned into a monster in front of everyone!


    Even though Xiao Tangqiu had already guessed the truth, he couldn¡¯t help but feel his heart sink. As expected!


    Those monsters were really transformed from the vigers of Hundred Ghost Town! The many monsters they had killed before were all innocent vigers... But were there really innocent vigers in Hundred Ghost Town?


    ¡°No! This is impossible!¡±


    Thedy elder and other Hundred Ghost Town vigers¡¯ eyes almost popped out. Although they already knew that the monsters were transformed vigers, they couldn¡¯t believe that the source of all this was the mountain god they had worshiped for generations. They had been praying for the mountain god to save Hundred Ghost Town and end this disaster... But it turned out the mountain god was the source of the disaster. How could they ept it?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart suddenly thudded with an ominous premonition. Sure enough, the next moment, the viger who had be a monster in front of everyone shrieked and rushed towards him. He immediately raised his crossbow and aimed a shot at its head!


    This monster was extremely powerful and Xiao Tangqiu could not kill it for a long time. Finally Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli also moved, and the three teamed up to take it down.


    Xue Junli obviously realized this, and he immediately shouted, ¡°Concentrate the firepower against the mountain god!¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, thedy elder and the remaining vigers immediately protested, ¡°No! We beg you don¡¯t! That is our mountain god!¡±


    Thedy elder had obviously realized the power gap between them and Xue Junli¡¯s group. She lowered her stance and pleaded, ¡°We Hundred Ghost Town people believe in worshiping the mountain god for generations. All this cannot be destroyed in our hands...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°What do you worship the mountain god for? It is for the protection of the mountain god! Since the mountain god has abandoned you, why do you continue to worship the mountain god?¡±


    ¡°No! The mountain god did not abandon us!¡± Thedy elder retorted shakily.


    Duan Hongzhen sneered and pointed to the viger who had turned into a monster, ¡°Open your eyes and see, is your mountain god still sheltering you?¡±


    Thedy elder was filled with sadness, ¡°No... our mountain god is just... just...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly spoke, ¡°Your mountain god is no longer the original mountain god. The mountain god here today is already full of malice.¡±


    Thedy elder still wanted to make a weak rebuttal, but in the next second, a viger who had been supporting her was turned into a monster by the ck smoke and lunged towards her!


    In a split second, Yu Fuling rushed over and pulled out a knife to help. Thedy elder barely escaped danger. She fell to the ground with a nk and numb expression.


    She looked up at the mountain god still enshrined in the main hall, and her eyes gradually became dead. Was this their mountain god? Was this the mountain god really the mountain god they had been devoting to worship?


    The vigers were also at a loss, especially when they watched theirpanions being turned into monsters one by one... At this moment, thedy elder suddenly stood up and shouted, ¡°This is not our mountain god! Our mountain god is dead!¡±


    There was a terrible silence around, but soon someone began to agree with her, ¡°Yes! This is not our mountain god! This is clearly a demon god!¡±


    ¡°This is not our mountain god!¡±


    Gradually, more and more people agreed.


    Xiao Tangqiu was surprised to find that with more and more doubt and louder and louder derations of ¡°the mountain god is dead¡±, the wolf-shaped idol enshrined in the center of the main hall began to shrink!


    Xue Junli and Duan Hongzhen seized the opportunity. Once the wolf-shaped idol shrank back to a normal sized stone statue, they moved like lightning!


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu were not to be outdone, making their own big moves. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and prepared to fight with their lives.


    However, to all of their surprise, the final BOSS at the end of this instance was not difficult to fight. It could be said to be weak! Even without Shen Yuan, under the joint attack of the six of them, the wolf-shaped idol fell!


    After the idol fell, it was instantly broken and torn apart.


    When a god was no longer needed, it would lose its meaning.


    The copsed deity became just a pile of stone fragments.


    Looking at the scattered fragments of the idol, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but sigh. When the faith copsed, the mountain god fell.


    Did the mountain god abandon Hundred Ghost Town, or did Hundred Ghost Town abandon the mountain god?


    Just as he was still at a loss, Kisaragi, who had fallen on the ground, got up. She looked down at the fragments of the idol on the ground with indifferent eyes.


    A few secondster, Kisaragi suddenly smiled faintly, ¡°Thank you for helping me so much...¡±


    Kisaragi¡¯s attitude was very strange. Xiao Tangqiu initially thought that she was only hit by the fallen statue, but when she spoke, his heart jumped and a very strong bad premonition appeared.


    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you...I don¡¯t know how much more time would¡¯ve been wasted...¡± She turned her head to look at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group, curled her lips, and showed a casual smile.


    Kisaragi¡¯s attitude changed drastically, and everyone¡¯s expressions also changed drastically... Fuck! They seem to have been tricked!


    Tang Mianmian widened his eyes and blurted out, ¡°What do you mean?!¡±


    In the next second, he got the answer¨C


    Kisaragi curled her lips and an extremely terrifying pressure radiated from her body. The terrifying and cold aura instantly covered the sky.


    The pressure in the air was so heavy that Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t breathe for a moment, he couldn¡¯t even move his body. He could only turn his eyes desperately and looked at the other people.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt desperate. Except for Shen Yuan, everyone was pale, and Duan Hongzhen looked like he could not wait to draw his sword immediately, ¡°Damn it!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen cursed, but still couldn¡¯t move, and could only red with his eyes.


    At this moment, Shen Yuan frowned, ¡°This is...¡±


    He paused, his eyes suddenly darkening, ¡°The aura of Arch Demons!¡±


    Arch Demons?!


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly recalled Lippinobert from the previous haunted castle instance. He knew that an Arch Demon was the highest and most powerful of all demons except for the Abyssal Demons. If they were to be ranked ording to the grade of nobility, the status of an Arch Demon was about the same as that of a duke, below one but above all else.


    However, an Arch Demon was extremely rare. Their strong power came directly from the Abyss Demons, and there were very few demons that could be favored so. From this, two factions of Arch Demons, pure blood and impure blood were created.


    The strong power of the pure-blood came from the personal blessings of an Abyss Demon, while the impure blood might have obtained part of the power of the abyss demon by chance, and thus promoted... such as the previous Lippinobert.


    Xiao Tangqiu recalled the results of the Reincarnation Team¡¯s special training and, after understanding the current situation, he wanted to ask the heavens and ancestors and even the earth...Arch Demons were supposed to be so rare! Why did they meet two in a row!


    The previous Lippinobert was just an impure blood, to put it bluntly, he had not been officially recognized by the Abyss Demon. But now this one was likely to be an official one!


    Look at this strong demonic energy! Look at this terrible coercion!


    ¡°I am the Arch Demon...¡±


    Kisaragi smiled. No. She was no longer the Miko Kisaragi of Kisaragi Shrine. Her facial features suddenly began to change, and her east Asian appearance began to gradually be Westernized. Soon, her eastern characteristics disappearedpletely, and it became a standard Westerner look... and it was a Westerner who looked familiar to Xiao Tangqiu.


    After Xiao Tangqiu saw what ¡°Kisaragi¡± really looked like, his eyes widened... No way! This was impossible! How was this possible?


    The ¡°Kisaragi¡± in front of them had a face exactly like Lily Marlene in Lippinobert¡¯s portrait!


    ¡°Kisaragi¡±¡¯s voice was very soft, but full of deceptive power, like a demon whispering, ¡°...Of course, you can also call me by my previous name: Lily Marlene.¡±

 Chapter 77

    <h4>Chapter 77</h4>


    Lily Marlene?


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback. wasn¡¯t that the witch in the haunted castle instance? No wait! Could NPCs in other instances actually run into this instance? No, that¡¯s not the point! The point was that the original Lily Marlene actually existed?!


    In that haunted castle, the shadow of Lily Marlene could be seen through the entire instance. But she had never appeared. They were still unable to determine whether Lily Marlene really existed, or if she was just an illusion that Lippinobert had fruitlessly pursued all his life... But Lily Marlene actually appeared now!


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe that Lily Marlene appeared in front of them like this. It was such an unexpected and unimaginable way. Not only did Lily Marlene exist, but she also lived well... So who killed ¡°Lily Marlene¡± before Lippinobert summoned them?


    He was puzzled, even if Lily Marlene really existed and was not dead, why did she appear here? Was there a certain connection between the two instances? Who was Lily Marlene anyway?


    Lily Marlene called herself an Arch Demon. So she isn¡¯t a witch nor Miko, but a demon?!


    Everyone else were also incredulous, and Tang Mianmian was even more so, ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s you!¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s brows furrowed. Although he no longer remembered who Lily Marlene was, he instinctively perceived how dangerous she was. What¡¯s more, Lily Marlene still exuded a strong demonic aura. The overwhelming aura set off the rm bells in his heart.


    ¡°You seem to know me,¡± Lily Marlene smiled slightly, although it was an interrogative sentence, her tone was not surprised, ¡°This is my honor... and also your honor.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°Our honor? What honor?¡±


    ¡°Naturally it is an honor to sacrifice for me,¡± Lily Marlene smiled slightly, ¡°Thank you for getting rid of my personal troubles for me, in return... I¡¯ll let you be part of my powers!¡±


    Even if he didn¡¯t know why Lily Marlene appeared here, he could guess that Lily Marlene, an NPC that didn¡¯t belong to this instance, would not be able to move freely in this instance. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t all of the NPCs in the S-level instances just go take over D-level ones? He believed that the system not only restricted yers, but also had simr restrictions on NPCs!


    Xue Junli¡¯splexion changed greatly to something unprecedented. He had always been calm and steady, yet now he cried out in disbelief, ¡°She is an NPC from another S-level? Impossible! NPCs are not free toe and go between the two S-level instances!¡± He did not participate in the Reincarnation Team¡¯sst S-level mission, but he had heard about it from their other teammates and knew of Lily Marlene¡¯s existence.


    His pallor changed and his brows furrowed, ¡°Impossible! This is impossible! Only a few extremely powerful demons can break the barriers and enter the instances. The more powerful the demons are, the more restricted. It¡¯s absolutely impossible for them to go back and forth at will in the instances!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt his heart drop at this. All the intelligence information he got from Su Manluo was directly or indirectly derived from Xue Junli. As the one who created the Abyss City Forums, Xue Junli may be the most important person in the world besides pre-amnesia Shen Yuan. Something even Xue Junli thought was impossible... really happened before their eyes!


    He couldn¡¯t help blurting out, ¡°What does this mean?¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯splexion was stormy, and he was silent for a few seconds before speaking slowly, ¡°She found a way to break the barrier between the instance worlds... even a way to break the barrier between the real world and instances.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and co¡¯s expressions changed drastically at the same time. Although Xue Junli did not go on, they still understood his meaning. This world had three worlds: the real world, the instance world and the City of the Abyss. The yers of the City of the Abyss could freely shuttle between the city and the instance world, unable to reach the real world. The demons of the real world could not enter the city and most of the instance world, only able to enter a small part of the instance world. And the stronger the power of the demon, the greater the limitations... So the three worlds had always maintained a delicate bnce, just like bnce in a game, but now someone has broken this bnce!


    Once the demons in the real world break the restrictions and freely travel to and from the instance world, those demons who used to only stay in a single S-level instance could not only go to other S-level instances, but could even go to lower level instances. A-level instances, B-level instances... even D-level instances, they couldpletely toy with the yers and strangle new yers in the cradle!


    And maybe... the demons also knew the way to the City of the Abyss!


    Once the demonic entities in the real world invade the City of the Abyss, they would not only lose their only sanctuary and be forced to flee, but they could also only flee into the instance world. They would be just like the bird of paradise, only able to fly for a lifetime because they had no feet, onlynding once in a lifetime at their death.


    Xiao Tangqiu thought even farther. If the demons really mastered the way to freely travel between the three worlds, then the most restricted Abyss Demon may also appear in the City of the Abyss!


    Abyss Demon...


    Although Xiao Tangqiu had never seen this legendary primordial demon, he still couldn¡¯t help shuddering. He couldn¡¯t imagine the appearance of the abyss demon in the City of the Abyss. Even though he had not yet developed much attachment to the City of the Abyss, he really couldn¡¯t bear to see the prosperous city turned into a cold and dead city.


    But this kind of thing was not determined by Xiao Tangqiu.


    Lily Marlene chuckled softly, ¡°Oops, you have discovered my secret. It¡¯s not good to know too much... it seems I can only wipe you out.¡±


    Although she said ¡°oops¡±, she still had a very casual look. Obviously she didn¡¯t put Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group in her eyes at all. Even if they knew her most important secret, it probably wouldn¡¯t be a big deal to her. After all, even if a few ants knew the secret, there was no need to panic. Wasn¡¯t it simple enough to crush them to death?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank, knowing that they had encountered a difficult situation. It was obvious that Lily Marlene was more than one grade stronger than Lippinobert.


    He subconsciously nced at Shen Yuan in his peripherals. Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze was dark and gloomy with a storm brewing in them. He was inexplicably relieved. Although he didn¡¯t know what Shen Yuan was nning, he instantly wanted to fight for a little more time for him.


    So he resisted the strong pressure on Lily Marlene, bit the bullet and shouted, ¡°Wait a minute! Even if you want us to die! At least let us die knowing! Who are you?¡±


    Lily Marlene smiled softly, ¡°Oh? Want to stall for time?¡±


    She saw through Xiao Tangqiu at a nce, but she didn¡¯t care at all. After all, in the face of absolute strength, any method was useless.


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°We just want to die with rity! Who are you? Are you really the witch Lily Marlene? Who is Lippinobert?¡±


    When she heard Lippinobert¡¯s name, Lily Marlene¡¯s expression did not fluctuate. She smiled, ¡°Who is Lippinobert? Should I know him?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but pause. Lippinobert exhausted his whole life chasing Lily Marlene¡¯s ghost. As a result, Lily Marlene didn¡¯t even know who this person was? How ironic!


    After a while, Lily Marlene seemed to think of something, and she smiled, ¡°Oh, it turns out to be him. He¡¯s a devout believer of mine. He made sacrifices in order to summon me back to this world... but failed.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback again, he didn¡¯t expect Lily Marlene to know about it! Were these powerful demons like gods, not only possessing ¡°believers¡±, but also being able to sense what ¡°believers¡± had done for themselves?


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity, I hope his soul can reach the real world,¡± Lily Marlene kept smiling, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you making trouble, maybe I would have returned to the instance world a long time ago. And I wouldn¡¯t have to be like this and have to abandon a part of my power... Say, do you think I should punish you?¡±


    Return to the instance world? These words were too informative, Xiao Tangqiu thought about it quickly, could it be¨C


    Lily Marlene was originally an NPC in the instance world, but by some coincidence, became a demon in the real world? What did this mean?


    ¡°Since I became a demon, I have never been able to return to the instance world. Now that I have finally broken the ¡®wall¡¯ ande back, I really have missed it. But because of this damn restriction, I have to leave most of my power outside the ¡®wall¡¯...¡± Lily Marlene sighed softly, as if a little regretful, ¡°but it¡¯s more than enough to kill you little ants, so who wants toe first?¡±

 Chapter 78

    <h4>Chapter 78</h4>


    ¡°What big words!¡± Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°Who¡¯s going to die isn¡¯t clear yet!¡± He rushed towards Lily Marlene.


    Then he was beaten back.


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu attacked at the same time, but soon they were also beaten back.


    Lily Marlene smiled from the beginning to end, she didn¡¯t even use any effort, and justughed and beat Duan Hongzhen and others back one by one.


    She was very powerful, extremely powerful. The kind of powerful that was crushing.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at Lily Marlene closely. As a self-aware burden, he naturally would not rush forward and act as cannon fodder when the power gap was so great. He just watched the battle, trying to find any weaknesses and ws from Lily Marlene, but he couldn¡¯t. Faced with the repeated assaults from Duan Hongzhen and others, Lily Marlene did not even frown.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank and a very bad premonition came. Lily Marlene was obviously stronger than Lippinobert and stronger than he had imagined. Even Duan Hongzhen and the othersbined were not her opponents at all. The worst was that these fights didn¡¯t even reveal the slightest weakness and w in her.


    He subconsciously looked at Shen Yuan besides him, but when he saw Shen Yuan frowning with dark eyes, his heart sank further. Even Shen Yuan frowned!


    Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip and his thoughts raced. Why did Lily Marlene appear here? ording to her statement, she broke the ¡°wall¡± between the real world and the instance world before she came to the instance world. Because of that, she also abandoned most of her power, but this was obviously not all of it. If only abandoning power and breaking the ¡°wall¡± could allow her toe to the instance world, why didn¡¯t other demons do this before? Couldn¡¯t they do the same?


    The Reincarnation Team had yed many S-level instances, but they had only encountered some low-level demons in S-level instances before. Lippinobert and Lily Marlene were obviously far beyond their abilities. Lippinobert was only an impure demon, and although his powers sourced from the demon heart fragments was suspicious, at least he was originally an NPC in the instance world. But Lily Marlene was a high-level demon who came directly to the instance world from the real world... How did Lily Marlene do it?


    Xiao Tangqiu had a tense frown. He felt that he had missed a lot of important clues, but his brain was in a mess and it was difficult to sort out his thoughts, so he could only force himself to calm down first.


    Why did Lily Marlene pretend to be the Miko of Kisaragi Shrine? Did the Miko of Kisaragi Shrine really exist? Clearly, Lily Marlene pretended to be a Miko to confuse them all along to use their hands to get rid of the mountain god of Hundred Ghost Town and Hundred Ghost Vige. So why did Lily Marlene get rid of the mountain god? And why couldn¡¯t she do it herself?


    The most important question was if her goal was their instance mission or to get rid of the mountain god?


    Thinking of this, Xiao Tangqiu was suddenly startled. If Lily Marlene confused them and led them to kill what they shouldn¡¯t kill, would their instance mission be counted as a failure?


    At this moment, a familiar and cold system voice suddenly sounded in his ear, ¡°...Congrattions, dear yers, for triggering the Super S-level hidden mission,


    The Witch¡¯s Tribute. Your mission task is ???, time limit is ??? days, you will get 1,000,000 points and special rewards after the mission ispleted...¡±


    Regardless, Lily Marlene¡¯s overpowering strength made him doubt whether they could return to the City of the Abyss in the form of mission failure.


    But what concerned Xiao Tangqiu the most was that the system did not prompt them whether the mission waspleted. Although they solved the issue of the mountain god, the S-level instance¡¯s mission did not seem to be over... Was Lily Marlene also part of their task? Or was it that their original mission task was only the Mountain God, but after Lily Marlene stepped in, another task was added?


    Wait! He remembered that their original mission goal was ¡°escape from Hundred Ghost Vige¡±! If the issue of Lily Marlene was not resolved, they would never escape from Hundred Ghost Vige!


    The more Xiao Tangqiu thought about it, the more anxious he felt. At this moment, Shen Yuan finally made a move. He took out the silver gun, pointed it at Lily Marlene, and fired!


    The gunshot rang out and Lily Marlene smiled without moving!


    Everyone was shocked. They had never seen anyone who was not afraid when Shen Yuan shot. Lily Marlene was not only not afraid, she was very calm.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s bullet pierced Lily Marlene¡¯s body in an instant. Lily Marlene not only did not turn into a ck hole like the low-level demons, but actually absorbed Shen Yuan¡¯s bullet!


    Xiao Tangqiu stared with wide eyes as Lily Marlene raised her eyebrows, ¡°Thank you for giving me energy. Although it is not much, it still feels quite good.¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s bullets had no effect on Lily Marlene!


    Not only that, the demonic energy contained in the bullet was absorbed by Lily Marlene!


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened and he put away the gun. He obviously realized that no matter how many shots he fired at Lily Marlene, she wouldn¡¯t hurt or itch, and could even absorb his bullets to increase her powers.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you continue?¡± Lily Marlene chuckled, ¡°I¡¯m even counting on your bullets to restore a little more demonic energy...¡±


    Shen Yuan would naturally not shoot after her words. But if he did not shoot, Lily Marlene would not let him go.


    Duan Hongzhen¡¯s group of three had fallen down one after another. Lily Marlene¡¯s sight swept across Shen Yuan, Xiao Tangqiu, Tang Mianmian, and Xue Junli, and then rushed straight towards Shen Yuan.


    Xiao Tangqiu first breathed a sigh of relief for not being the target for the first time in this instance, and then he became worried for Shen Yuan. Although Shen Yuan was very powerful, his attacks did not seem to be very effective against Lily Marlene. He couldn¡¯t help turning to ask Xue Junli, ¡°Can Shen Yuan beat her?¡±


    Xue Junli said coldly, ¡°I believe Lily Marlene should be a pure-blood natural born demon, an Arch Demon. Her poweres directly from the Abyss Demon.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sucked in a breath, ¡°Pure-blood Arch Demon? Had the Abyss Demon broken through the ¡®wall¡¯ ande to the instance world years ago?¡± A pure-blood demon lineage could only be granted directly and Lily Marlene was an NPC in the instance world. This proved that the Abyss Demon hade to the instance world before!


    Xue Junli spoke mildly, ¡°This is not surprising, otherwise how could Shen Yuan encounter the Abyss Demon in the Super S-level instance?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback. Although he had wondered about this before, he never thought about it in depth, ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I understand what you mean. Rest assured, even the Abyss Demon can¡¯te and go freely in the instance world,¡± Xue Junli frowned, ¡°By my guess, a demon as powerful as the Abyss Demon can only cross over to the instance world by the ¡®sacrifice¡¯ approach.¡±


    ¡°Sacrifice?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was dumbfounded again.


    ¡°The demon cultists in the instance world use their lives, souls, or other sacrifices to summon demons,¡± Xue Junli said with a frown, ¡°Haven¡¯t you seen it before? Lippinobert tried to summon Lily Marlene this way, but he probably failed.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu understood, ¡°Lippinobert failed, but Lily Marlene seeded by herself?¡±


    ¡°Demons are very good at seducing and deceiving people. As long as there is darkness, there will be their followers,¡± Xue Junli did not refute it and even put forward his own guess, ¡°Maybe the real Miko Kisaragi is a demon cultist and she also called Lily Marlene toe to this world!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu understood thoroughly. Maybe Miko Kisaragi really was Miko Kisaragi at first, not the witch Lily Marlene. Otherwise Shen Yuan would have discovered something wrong with Kisaragi!


    Under the guidance of Lily Marlene, Kisaragi led them step by step to end the mountain god she once devoutly believed in while shepleted the sacrifice to Lily Marlene without their knowledge. By sacrificing her own body, soul, and power of the mountain god, she finally sessfully summoned Lily Marlene to the instance world!


    It¡¯s ridiculous! As a devout Miko, Kisaragi sacrificed her mountain god and summoned a demon from another world!


    No wonder Miko Kisaragi needed to borrow their hands to get rid of the mountain god. It was actually an important part of summoning Lily Marlene¡¯s descent! They actually personally summoned Lily Marlene to the instance world!


    Xiao Tangqiu finally understood why Xue Junli¡¯s expression was so serious. Xue Junli had clearly thought of this a long time ago. They hadpleted the sacrifice to Lily Marlene by themselves!


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly, ¡°...It seems that we were just ying in the palm of her hands.¡±


    Xue Junli said coldly, ¡°Demons are cunning and good at deceiving people¡¯s hearts. Even though we were full of vignce towards her from the beginning, and always remained very vignt towards her, we still fell into her trap.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nervously watched the situation, ¡°Isn¡¯t there some way we can deal with her?¡±


    The fight between Shen Yuan and Lily Marlene continued. Both sides did not use weapons, only using the most primitive fighting technique to fight hand-to-hand. At this moment, Lily Marlene grabbed Shen Yuan¡¯s neck.


    She gave a coldugh, ¡°Too weak. You don¡¯t deserve his power... Obediently be part of my power!¡±


    Lily Marlene choked Shen Yuan¡¯s neck tightly and a visible ck demonic power rushed from Shen Yuan¡¯s body to her¡¯s. She was absorbing Shen Yuan¡¯s demonic energy!


    All of this happened too quickly. In an instant, Shen Yuan¡¯splexion became pale, his eyes became colder and darker, andrge ck mysterious tattoos appeared on his neck.

 Chapter 79

    <h4>Chapter 79</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know what would happen to Shen Yuan once his demonic energy was sucked out, but he knew that it might be fatal.


    Facing this kind of godly fight, he would only be cannon fodder if he rushed forward. But he could no longer consider that now. Seeing Shen Yuan¡¯s face became paler and paler, blood rushed to his head and he charged!


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Don¡¯t risk your life!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was shocked and immediately called Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s name and stretched out his hand to grab him. But he was toote. Xiao Tangqiu had rushed out, pulled out his crossbow, and fired!


    Lily Marlene didn¡¯t hide, she didn¡¯t even look at Xiao Tangqiu. When Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s arrow arrived before her, a ck barrier suddenly appeared and the arrow disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu was not surprised. If Lily Marlene was really sessfully hit by him, it would be shocking. He was just trying to distract Lily Marlene. But Lily Marlene really didn¡¯t put him in her eyes. She didn¡¯t even spare him a nce, much less be distracted by him.


    He did not distract Lily Marlene but distracted Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan turned his head to look at Xiao Tangqiu with difficulty, and his eyes were dark, ¡°...Hurry run! Jiujiu, go!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving! I want to save you!¡± Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and frantically dug through the space tool. Soon he found a bottle of holy water.


    He wasn¡¯t sure whether holy water could deal with the demon or not, but he still had to try. He opened the bottle cap and sshed it at Lily Marlene.


    Once again, a ck barrier appeared around Lily Marlene. She was still unscathed, but she finally turned her eyes and nced at Xiao Tangqiu. Her eyes were as indifferent as before, but they were filled with death. It was as if she was looking at ants to be trampled under her feet. Xiao Tangqiu involuntarily shuddered.


    At the same time, Xue Junli also rushed forwards. Tang Mianmian saw that Xiao Tangqiu had joined the battle, gritted his teeth, and rushed over. They attacked Lily Marlene from the left and right, with both hot and cold weapons. But the barrier appeared around Lily Marlene¡¯s body and all their attacks were worthless.


    Lily Marlene gave Xiao Tangqiu a cold look and turned her attention back to Shen Yuan again. While crazily absorbing Shen Yuan¡¯s demonic energy, she sneered and said, ¡°A demon¡¯s power is very powerful, right? This kind of unstoppable and dominating power... Are you willing to lose such a strong power?¡±


    Shen Yuan coldly stared at Lily Marlene, who was choking him, without a word.


    Shen Yuan continued to re at Lily Marlene coldly without a word.


    Lily Marlene was not angry. She smiled and continued to speak, ¡°Although you are still weak, once you be a demon, you will gain much more power, maybe even an unrivaled power... Don¡¯t you want to be the strongest?¡±


    ¡°For powerful demons like us, you humans are like ants that can be trampled and crushed at will. Don¡¯t you want to get rid of this fate? Don¡¯t you want to control your own life and death?¡±


    Her words were extremely deceptive and alluring. If someone without strong willpower heard those words, they would have been shaken long ago. Of course, even without her alluring words, the terrible power itself was a forbidden fruit that could lure many.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze was dark, still ring at Lily Marlene.


    Lily Marlene gave a smallugh and continued to incite him, ¡°Don¡¯t you have something or someone you want to protect? Only when you have strength can you protect what you want to protect. Otherwise, you can¡¯t hold onto anything, you can only watch those things shatter and disappear... You are too weak to protect anything right now. Unless you gain a stronger power...¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes finally flickered, ¡°...the person I want to protect?¡±


    He subconsciously nced at Xiao Tangqiu, his deep, dark eyes held a brightness.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped in shock. Lily Marlene was indeed a depraved demon. She grasped the various desires and weaknesses in everyone¡¯s heart perfectly and was able to confuse and instigate everyone... Shen Yuan was naturally a person with strong willpower without the slightest weakness. But that was the Shen Yuan before his amnesia. The current Shen Yuan had amnesia and also had more weaknesses.


    He immediately yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to her! She¡¯s lying to you!¡±


    Lily Marlene smiled and spoke without care, ¡°Only when you have a strong power can you can grasp everything. The weak are unworthy of any rights, the strong can have everything... Only by bing a demon will you have everything... ¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! She¡¯s lying to you! Think about the fate of those who were bewitched and used by her!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was nervous and immediately yelled, ¡°Think about Lippinobert! Think about Kisaragi! Didn¡¯t she promise to give them what they want? But look at how they ended up!¡± Lippinobert sacrificed everything around him, including his family and even his own life, in order to summon Lily Marlene. In the end, the summoning failed and he died with hatred. Kisaragi sacrificed the mountain god she wholeheartedly worshipped for Lily Marlene but ended up dying some unknown death... Looking at their endings, could anyone who was seduced by demons have a good end?


    Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze wavered. Lily Marlene began tough and she casually said, ¡°You are different from them. They were just greedy little ants who could only wish for power. They were obviously so weak but still dreamed about things they cannot control. People like them are naturally unworthy, but you are different...¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s lying to you again!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was very vignt and continued to retort, ¡°The fundamental principles of brainwashing is to make you feel that you are different from others! But to her, you are no different at all. It¡¯s only the difference between an easy to fool idiot and a hard to fool idiot!¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened and he was obviously shaken. Lily Marlene was obviously far less influential than Xiao Tangqiu to him, no matter how enticing Lily Marlene¡¯s words were.


    Sure enough, in the next second, he firmly said, ¡°I refuse!¡±


    A hint of pity appeared in Lily Marlene¡¯s eyes when Shen Yuan refused, ¡°Do you know what you are refusing? You are refusing the most powerful force in the world. Once rejected, you cannot protect everything you want to protect, including the person you most want to protect. You can only watch him die in front of your eyes, full of powerlessness and regret...¡±


    Lily Marlene¡¯s words stabbed right at people¡¯s hearts, and Shen Yuan couldn¡¯t help but hesitate.


    Xiao Tangqiu was afraid that Shen Yuan was shaken again, and his brain immediately churned frantically. But the situation was at a critical point and his brain was nk from anxiety. He could only blurt out words without thought, ¡°If you really be a demon, I will never like you again! I hate demons! I hate you!¡±


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu said that he hated him, Shen Yuan¡¯s look changed immediately and he loudly dered, ¡°I refuse!¡±


    Even a demon like Lily Marlene who was good at masking herself could not help but express something at being rejected again and again by the same person. She looked down and was extremely displeased. A demon was a being that was extremely good at bewitching and controlling people. This was the first time she had been refused twice by the same person.


    She snorted, ¡°You don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you!¡±


    She increased the strength of the stranglehold around Shen Yuan¡¯s neck while giving Xiao Tangqiu a cold re.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a chill go down his back before the blood in his entire body felt like it was boiling. Sharp pain appeared in the ce bitten by the devil worm and the wounds scratched by low-level demons. The wounds that had been treated by Shen Yuan felt like they split back open. The recurrence of pain was extremely fierce, and they hurted thousands of times more than before... He copsed to the ground in pain, screaming and rolling.


    Painful! It was so painful!


    The pain of every injury before was not as severe as the pain now. It felt as if someone was stabbing his wounds with hundreds of needles. In just a few seconds, he was sweating buckets andpletely soaked. Lily Marlene clearly didn¡¯t intend to directly kill him. This was for the purpose of torturing him.


    ¡°Jiujiu!¡±


    Shen Yuan panicked, and fine beads of perspiration appeared on his forehead. But he couldn¡¯t even protect himself right now. Although Duan Hongzhen, Yu Fuling, and Sai Lulu had climbed to their feet and joined Xue Junli tounch attacks against Lily Marlene, Lily Marlene did not put these ants in her eyes at all. She dealt with them all with one hand while continuing to absorb Shen Yuan¡¯s demonic energy with a chilling smile.


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu!¡± Tang Mianmian rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu, but waspletely helpless seeing Xiao Tangqiu rolling around with pain. ¡°How do I help you? What should I do? What should I do!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth. Under the severe pain, he didn¡¯t even have the strength to speak. He desperately tried to use his tasteless special ability card... and was shocked to find that he could not use it!


    This was the first time he couldn¡¯t use his special ability card in an instance. He didn¡¯t know what happened. Although special ability cards were limited to three times an instance, this was the first time he has used his special ability card in this instance!


    How was this possible?


    Could it be that his special ability card, which was already pretty trashy, had status restrictions, and could only be used when he had more than half-health, bing useless when it¡¯s below half?


    ...This had to be a joke?!


    Xiao Tangqiu turned pale with pain. He tried desperately several times, but his special ability card did not show any response... It was as if it had disappeared.

 Chapter 80

    <h4>Chapter 80</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu almost gave into despair. Although he did not expect much from this special ability card, it became somehow invalid was undoubtedly even worse. The pain all over his body made him feel like he was rolling on knives. Adding the shock of not being able to use his special ability car, his vision swam and he wanted to faint on the spot.


    But he knew he couldn¡¯t faint. Once he closed his eyes, he might never wake up again.


    Xiao Tangqiu could only grit his teeth. Just as he was about to pass out from the pain, he heard Shen Yuan¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Jiujiu!¡±


    He instinctively raised his head to look at Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan¡¯s current situation was no better than his. As the four eyes met, Shen Yuan¡¯s power exploded.


    Xiao Tangqiu watched the Ouroboros tattoo on Shen Yuan¡¯s neck start to spread out, even towards his face. Soon, his entire face was covered with the strange ck tattoo, and a trace of blood appeared in his deep and dark eyes.


    A powerful and terrifying aura permeated the air and instantly overwhelmed Lily Marlene¡¯s aura!


    Shen Yuan suddenly regained the power to resist and grabbed Lily Marlene¡¯s hand that was around his neck. Lily Marlene¡¯s hand was pulled away as the blood-red in his eyes grew.


    Lily Marlene¡¯s expression changed. In the next second, Shen Yuan broke free from her hold and began to fight back!


    With the spread of the Ouroboros tattoo, the blood-red tint in Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes became heavier and heavier. His power became stronger and stronger. He fought with all of his strength, and the same was true for Lily Marlene.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s full-body pain eased a little bit, and he immediately began to desperately think about breaking through the situation. Although Shen Yuan was barely fighting to a stalemate with Lily Marlene right now, they couldn¡¯t keep going like this. They must find a way to break the tie!


    Between the shes of power, he suddenly thought of the best method!


    ¡°Tang Mianmian!¡± Xiao Tangqiu shouted.


    Tang Mianmian immediately circled him nervously, ¡°Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu! How are you feeling now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°It¡¯s time for you to shine!¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help his miserable expression, asking, ¡°Gods are fighting right now... what can I do? I can only go up and die!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you have a special ability card!¡±


    Tang Mianmian reacted, ¡°You mean...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu endured the pain and asked, ¡°Can you be an instance¡¯s NPC?¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked, ¡°This...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°Try to be Lily Marlene.¡±


    Who the hell cares in a life or death situation!


    Xiao Tangqiu resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and patted Tang Mianmian on the shoulder with all his strength, ¡°A real man can be a boss in crossdressing, go do it!¡±


    Tang Mianmian hesitated, ¡°But my special ability card can only be used for one minute at a time...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu calmly analyzed, ¡°Can¡¯t you use it three times? Three minutes should be enough.¡±


    Tang Mianmian still hesitated, ¡°But I can only be what I have personally touched...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu forced himself to stay calm, ¡°She is fighting Shen Yuan right now. You can touch her while she isn¡¯t paying attention. If you still don¡¯t dare, I can also cover for you.¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face turned from blue to white, white to blue, changed and changed again before he finally gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll go all in!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°I will cover for you.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to cover me! You¡¯re injured so just take a good rest! I got this!¡±


    Tang Mianmian gulped and started looking for an opportunity.


    Lily Marlene and Shen Yuan fought on the same level and had no attention to spare for other people. He took advantage of Lily Marlene having her back to him, rushed forward in a 100-meter sprint, and groped Lily Marlene¡¯s butt!


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    In the next instant, Tang Mianmian was pped by the furious Lily Marlene and flew out dozens of meters.


    Lily Marlene clearly still wanted to continue to teach Tang Mianmian a lesson but got caught up with fighting Shen Yuan again. She could only turn back to deal with Shen Yuan.


    Xiao Tang¡¯s heart was in his throat. Did Tang Mianmian sessfully use the special ability card? ...If it was not sessful, ording to the physical limitations of normal human beings, Lily Marlene¡¯s ¡°light¡± p that flung him dozens of meters out probably would¡¯ve sttered his brains!


    The next moment, his heart came down from his throat. Tang Mianmian seeded.


    There was suddenly another ¡°Lily Marlene¡± on the field.


    This ¡°Lily Marlene¡± appeared between Shen Yuan and Lily Marlene at a shocking speed, instantly interrupting the duel between them, and pped Lily Marlene away.


    Although it was not as exaggerated as dozens of meters, Xiao Tangqiu still rxed. The action was filled with petty vengeance, it was absolutely Tang Mianmian!


    Facing the second Lily Marlene, Shen Yuan was initially very vignt. His eyes were cold and he was about to attack but saw that this ¡°Lily Marlene¡±unched an attack on the original Lily Marlene.


    ¡°That¡¯s Tang Mianmian!¡± Xiao Tangqiu yelled when he saw this, ¡°Quick! You two join forces to fight Lily Marlene!¡±


    Lily Marlene gave a cold chuckle, ¡°Do you think that two people together can defeat me? Too naive!¡±


    Although Tang Mianmian had Lily Marlene¡¯s terrible power, he obviously couldn¡¯t master her abilities. In the next minute, he waspletely dragged and beaten up by the real Lily Marlene. The first minute was soon over.


    Seeing that the effect of the special ability card was about to disappear, he immediately activated it for the second time and became Lily Marlene again. This time he did not dare to waste even a second and immediately imitated Lily Marlene¡¯s previous attack moves andunched attacks toward her.


    Shen Yuan joined in and the two of them teamed up against Lily Marlene.


    At the end of the second minute, Lily Marlene was knocked down.


    Her Miko outfit was tattered and she gained wounds on her body, but she was still calm and undaunted.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. Did Lily Marlene have more up her sleeve?


    Shen Yuan and Tang Mianmian obviously thought the same, so Shen Yuan¡¯s attacks became more ferocious and focused, and Tang Mianmian did not hesitate tounch his ability for the third and final time.


    It was obvious that Shen Yuan was about to reach his limit. The Ouroboros tattoos had spread over his entire body. The dark eyes had turnedpletely into blood-red. The degree of demonization was getting deeper and deeper. If this battle did not end, he mightpletely be a demon... Xiao Tangqiu can¡¯t help but be startled. Was this Lily Marlene¡¯s real goal?


    It was then that the third minute ended. The disguise effect of the special ability card ended and Tang Mianmian copsed to the ground. He didn¡¯t even have the strength to get up.


    At the same time, Shen Yuan¡¯s long demon-like nails pierced into Lily Marlene¡¯s heart.


    Even a demon had a heart. And a demon¡¯s heart was their greatest weakness.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s blood-red eyes stared at Lily Marlene coldly, and then he crushed Lily Marlene¡¯s heart without hesitation.


    Lily Marlene screamed in pain, but there was no pain on her face. Instead, the corners of her lips curled up into a strange smile.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank, and a very bad premonition emerged.


    Lily Marleneughed, ¡°Finally... finally finished...¡±


    Shen Yuan stared at Lily Marlene, frowning, unable to understand why she was so happy when she was about to die.


    ¡°The sacrifice... finallypleted...¡±


    The smile on Lily Marlene¡¯s face grew bigger and bigger, and she raised her head to look up at the darkness shrouding the sky.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt a chill go down his back and immediately asked, ¡°Sacrifice? What sacrifice?¡±


    Lily Marleneughed uproariously, ¡°Hundred Ghosts Night Walk, of course it¡¯s the sacrifice of a hundred ghosts! A sacrifice of a hundred ghosts and demons to summon their creator, their master!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly recalled the result of Sai Lulu¡¯s divination before they entered the instance: ¡°The stars are clustered around the curve of the moon, and the sun seems to be faintly appearing behind the moon.¡±


    If the ¡°Hundred Ghosts¡± were the stars and Lily Marlene was the moon... Sacrifice the stars to get the moon, then sacrifice the moon to get the sun.


    So what was the sun?


    ¡°ept my sacrifice and summon ande! My creator! My master!¡±


    Lily Marlene¡¯s expression gradually became crazed, just like Lippinobert who had fallen into madness in order to summon Lily Marlene. But her expression seemed to be more pious, almost humbled.


    In the next instant, Lily Marlene¡¯s skin turned old and decayed, as if her vitality was rapidly exhausted. In the blink of an eye, she became a pile of bones.


    ¡°You have finally returned... my master...


    ¡°I wee your return to thisnd...¡±


    Soon, even her bones turned into dust and blew away with the wind.


    At the same time, Xiao Tangqiu instantly felt a strange aura spreading. This aura was far more terrifying than Lily Marlene¡¯s, more terrifying than anything he had ever experienced. He could almost feel his own blood freezing into ice.


    In the endless darkness in front of him, a vague form suddenly appeared. It was a dark figure, like the endless night, like a bottomless abyss.


    The cold and terrifying aura spread silently. The terrifying aura was colder than the night, and more terrifying than the abyss.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened, and he murmured, ¡°Abyss Demon...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt like he had fallen into an ice cer.


    In the abyss, there seemed to be a pair of eyes staring.

 Chapter 81

    <h4>Chapter 81</h4>


    The pressure in the air was heavier than any time before, and Xiao Tangqiu almost couldn¡¯t breathe.


    Abyss Demon?


    No way? They were actually facing the final boss!


    He couldn¡¯t believe that they identally ran into the final boss...


    But this kind of terrifying aura and coercion was not something ordinary demons could possess.


    Even Lily Marlene, who had enough strength to crush them, had never possessed it... Just from the momentum and coercion of the aura, Xiao Tangqiu was covered in goosebumps and thoroughly chilled.


    When he came back to himself, his back was soaked with cold sweat.


    The ck shadow that seemed to be born from the abyss finally arrived before them. Xiao Tangqiu tried to make out the appearance of the abyss demon while covered in cold sweat, but the abyss demon was an obscure ck shadow from beginning to end. He didn¡¯t seem to have a physical shape, he was just darkness, just like the abyss.


    Even his voice sounded very ethereal and resounding, as if the entire valley was echoing, ¡°I finally... returned...¡±


    As soon as he spoke, an overwhelming and terrible aura of darkness swept over.


    Under this awful pressure, cold sweat burst out of Xiao Tangqiu again. He wanted to speak but found that his voice was gone. He wanted to turn his head to look at Shen Yuan, but found that he couldn¡¯t move. He seemed to be frozen and suspended in ce.


    Soon he realized that not only that, his senses seemed to be gradually disappearing. His sense of smell dulled, his hearing dulled, even his vision gradually became blurred. It was as if someone was consuming his vitality...


    At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly spoke, ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s voice seemed to return Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s five senses. He instantly returned to normal and was shaken with fear. What just happened?!


    Although his five senses had returned to normal, his body was still unable to move. He could only try to turn his eyes to look at other people in his peripherals. But they all seemed to be in the same condition as him, their faces pale and motionless. Other than Shen Yuan, they all seemed to have lost the ability to move due to the repressive aura of the Abyss Demon.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face was pale. He didn¡¯t dare imagine what other yers would end up like if they encountered the Abyss Demon. Even if it was a powerful witch like Lily Marlene, they could put up a good fight. Even if they could not win, they could at least struggle a bit. But before the Abyss Demon, they didn¡¯t even have a chance to struggle.


    He instantly recalled that Shen Yuan had encountered the Abyss Demon in thest main mission. He remembered that other than Shen Yuan... the entire team was wiped out. Could it be that this time would just be a repeat of that terrible failure?


    Xiao Tangqiu had no doubt that the Abyss Demon could crush them like weak ants with his fingers. The Abyss Demon had not even done anything yet, and they had all lost their ability to fight...


    He couldn¡¯t help but fall into despair. They would undoubtedly die here unless the Abyss Demon let them go. But was that possible?


    ¡°It¡¯s you...¡± The cluster of shadow looked at Shen Yuan. The shadow that was originally blurry condensed a little as if agitated.


    Shen Yuan didn¡¯t know who the Abyss Demon was, but he could feel a bone-deep fear, as well as the trembling and miserable screams from the depths of his soul when he said this name.


    This overwhelming fear cumted with the trembling and misery, taking over his amnesia-caused nk mind like a sh flood. He suddenly shook.


    ...Abyss Demon?


    Who was the Abyss Demon?


    Xiao Tangqiu watched as the originally calm Shen Yuan suddenly trembled. He was worried, wanting to immediately rush over to ask what was going on with Shen Yuan, but he couldn¡¯t move. Under the pressure of the Abyss Demon¡¯s powerful aura, he couldn¡¯t even lift a finger.


    ¡°Abyss Demon...¡± Shen Yuan whispered the name softly while shaking violently, and his expression became more confused and panicked.


    The cluster of dark shadows became more and more solid, ¡°You seem to have forgotten something... Then I will help you remember...¡±


    The shadow raised his hand and a puff of ck smoke rushed towards Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan wanted to dodge, but the puff of ck smoke seemed to have a mind of its own and still entered Shen Yuan¡¯s body.


    Shen Yuan copsed to the ground, iling and rolling. His expression was filled with pain, but he stubbornly refused to make a single sound, struggling silently.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt heartbroken. He desperately tried to fight the Abyss Demon¡¯s aura, but he still couldn¡¯t even lift a finger.


    The cluster of ck shadows looked at Shen Yuan who was on the ground in a condescending position, and spoke faintly, ¡°You are not dead yet, that¡¯s great... What a perfect experiment...¡±


    A perfect experiment?


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked, what did this mean? Under this extreme shock, his finger suddenly moved.


    ¡°I have always wanted to create a perfect offspring, a powerful and perfect demon. I didn¡¯t expect your body to carry my power... and there are even two powerful energies. How incredible...¡± The voice seemed very excited, ¡°You are only one step away from bing a demon. Let me elerate your demonization process... Come, be one of us!¡±


    Shen Yuan fell to the ground and struggled in pain. His body once again showed arge-scale Ouroboros tattoo. From his neck to face, his whole body was covered by that mysterious ck tattoo.


    ¡°A perfect and powerful offspring...¡± the shadow¡¯s voice was full of appreciation, ¡°Once you be a demon, you will be my most outstanding work!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t even have the energy to cuss. Lippinobert was a mad scientist. Why was this final boss, the Abyss Demon, also a mad scientist who was keen on human experiments? Were Lippinobert and Lily Marlene both the products of his experiments?


    ...No!


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized something. Perhaps Lily Marlene was the Abyss Demon¡¯s experiment, but Lippinobert shouldn¡¯t be. Because from the beginning to the end, Lippinobert was chasing the ghost of Lily Marlene.


    Only now did Xiao Tangqiu suddenly and btedly thought about why this super S-level mission was called The Witch¡¯s Tribute.


    It was not that Kisaragi summoned the witch through the sacrificial offering of the mountain god, but the witch summoning the Abyssal Demon through offering herself!


    Why could Kisaragi summon the witch only by making the mountain god into a tribute? Perhaps it was like some kind of alchemy, demons could not be summoned out of thin air and need an equivalent exchange. Otherwise, Lippinobert would not have needed to sacrifice the lives and souls of an entire town. It was because the summoning requires equivalent exchange.


    Kisaragi sacrificed the mountain god to summon the witch because the mountain god was equal to the witch. So why didn¡¯t the witch directly have Kisaragi sacrifice the mountain god and summon the Abyssal Demon? Perhaps it was because the offering of a mountain god was not enough to summon the Abyssal Demon. And what did Lily Marlene do before offering herself? She crazily absorbed the demonic energy of Shen Yuan!


    And where did that powerful demonic energy in Shen Yuane from? One half may have been from the Abyss Demon, but the other half was from theirst instance, from Lippinobert.


    Xiao Tangqiu shivered. So many coincidences added together was no longer a coincidence, this was clearly a trap! In the castle instance, Lily Marlene deliberately bewitched Lippinobert and sent the devil¡¯s heart fragment to him. As a result, Shen Yuan received powerful demonic power. And in this instance, Lily Marlene absorbed Shen Yuan¡¯s powerful demonic energy and offered herself to summon the Abyss Demon!


    Why didn¡¯t Lily Marlene directly sacrifice Shen Yuan? Naturally, because Shen Yuan was not good enough to be offered to the Abyss Demon!


    At this moment, Shen Yuan, who was convulsing on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes that were filled with a clear and cold light.


    He recovered his memory.


    ¡°Abyss Demon...¡±


    This time his voice was no longer confused, now full of bone-stirring rage and hatred.


    The cluster of dark shadows looked at Shen Yuan condescendingly, ¡°It seems that you have perfectly blended my two powers. That¡¯s really good. Just a bit more and you canpletely be a demon.¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s voice was chilling, ¡°I will never be one of you!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you yearn for powerful power?¡± The shadow dismissed, and began to tempt, ¡°Only by bing a demon can you have the necessary power to stand on top of the world!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu never expected that not only Lily Marlene was a brainwashing salesman, the final boss was also a brainwashing boss. But that did make sense, after all the Abyss Demon was Lily Marlene¡¯s master!


    Shen Yuan responded word by word, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡±


    The shadowughed softly, ¡°It¡¯s not up to you. You only have two choices: be a demon, or die.¡±


    Shen Yuan said without hesitation, ¡°I would rather die.¡±


    The shadow sneered, ¡°Then you can try to take on my power! If you can bear it, you will be a powerful demon, if you can¡¯t bear it, you will explode and die!¡±


    Shen Yuan said indifferently, ¡°I refuse.¡±


    As soon as his voice fell, he whipped out the silver gun and pointed it at the shadow.


    The shadow didn¡¯t dodge, and when the bullet prated his body, the ck smoke swallowed the bullet instantly.


    Without blinking, Shen Yuan continued to fire the second and third shots.


    The next two bullets were also swallowed by the shadow, but the ck smokey body flickered and blurred twice.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart leaped. Perhaps due to the Abyss Demon¡¯s form temporarily dispersing, but his body suddenly became able to move!


    In that instant, before he could even feel excited, a bullet shot out from the ck shadowy body at Shen Yuan! The shadow not only swallowed the bullet but also returned it!


    Shen Yuan dodged.


    Then came the second bullet and the third bullet.


    Shen Yuan closely dodged it every time, but dodging a bullet was not something anyone could do. He broke out in a cold sweat. When he thought it was over, a fourth bullet suddenly appeared in front of him! It turned out that the shadow could not only return his bullets, he also could copy the bullets!


    He didn¡¯t have any mental preparation at all. He only fired three bullets, after all, so he could only watch the bullets shoot towards him.


    This was naturally not an ordinary bullet. Once hit, the target would not only be injured and killed but would disappearpletely!


    At this critical moment, someone suddenly jumped in front of him and took the bullet for him.


    Shen Yuan looked up in disbelief. It was Xiao Tangqiu.


    It was beyond his expectation, but also seemed unsurprising.


    He watched the bullet pierce through Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s body. Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t even have time to scream, and disappeared instantly.


    T/N: Extra chapter this week. Happy holidays everyone!

 Chapter 82

    <h4>Chapter 82</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu also didn¡¯t know why he was so impulsive. He knew that he was definitely not the kind of good person who sacrificed his life for righteousness and morals... But the moment he saw that Shen Yuan was about to be shot by the bullet, he rushed forward without hesitation. Without even thinking about it, his body reacted instinctively.


    It wasn¡¯t until a tearing pain came from his back that he realized what he had done. At that moment, terrible pain overcame all of his senses. He didn¡¯t even have time to look at Shen Yuan for a final time before hepletely lost all consciousness.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt like he had fallen into endless darkness, like stepping into the abyss below a cliff. He seemed to be floating aimlessly, with no direction,ing and going nowhere. There was only darkness before him.


    Did a person have a soul after death?


    He once obsessed about this question after the death of Meng Xinghe, but he still didn¡¯t know the answer. Aftering to this strange horror game world, he discovered that people did have souls after death. And the worse they die, the more likely they were to be an evil spirit... But did people still have a soul left after being shot by Shen Yuan¡¯s gun?


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about this question nkly in the dark. Was he in a soul state now? But wasn¡¯t that gun capable of destroying evil spirits? Why hadn¡¯t he disappeared?


    At this moment, a door suddenly appeared in front of him. Yes, a door suddenly appeared out of thin air in the endless darkness.


    That door floated in the darkness like Xiao Tangqiu, sometimes floating in ce and sometimes rotating; sometimes far away and sometimes close by. After seeing the appearance of the door, a storm passed through his heart. Of course, it was not simply due to a door appearing in the middle of the darkness, it was because this door... it was exactly the same as the door of his room! It¡¯s exactly the same as the door of his room in his home in the real world!


    Xiao Tangqiu remembered that he had opened this door countless times to enter his room, and then opened this door to leave his room. He went through this door countless times. Although he had never paid attention to this door, he cared very much about it. The door was extremely familiar. Behind this door was the ce he is familiar with, theputer he was familiar with...


    Before he could think too much, he subconsciously floated towards the door. Soon, he floated to the door and reached out to twist the doorknob. Before he could consider if ghosts could even open doors, it had been opened by him.


    ...Wait, ghosts could actually open doors?


    Xiao Tangqiu impatiently floated into the room and was instantly shaken by all the familiar things in the room. The familiar bed, the familiar wardrobe, the familiar desk, and the familiarputer... This was clearly his room!


    To prove his conjecture, he floated toward the table and tentatively turned on theputer. He had just touched the mouse on the table and theputer screen suddenly lit up. Theputer was turned on!


    Not only was theputer turned on, but the desktop happened to be the interface of his live streaming room. A dense wall of chatter scrolled past his eyes, and he realized that his live stream room was actually open!


    Xiao Tangqiu waspletely confused. What was going on? Someone was streaming in his studio? Who was streaming? Could it be himself?


    Without knowing why, he shuddered at the thought of this possibility.


    Xiao Tangqiu widened his eyes and stared at the content of the live stream. The scene being streamed on the screen was where he leaped up to block the bullet for Shen Yuan. Everything was like a movie from a third person¡¯s perspective. He also saw a lot of details that he didn¡¯t notice at the moment: the nkness on his face the moment he was shot by the bullet, as well as Shen Yuan¡¯s expression cracking... This was the first time he saw Shen Yuan¡¯s face reveal this expression, whether it is before or after Shen Yuan¡¯s amnesia.


    Everything that happened earlier was revealed in the live stream channel. All the details were erged and erged again. He looked back calmly and numbly from the perspective of a bystander, and his heart was unprecedentedly serene and weary.


    The screen of the live stream was frozen here as if the live stream had suddenly ended. It was followed by the unique nk interface after a live stream ended.


    However, the chat barrage hadn¡¯t stopped yet, Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously checked the chat¡ª¡ª


    ¡°555 What a beautiful love! I¡¯m stanning this


    CP


    !¡±


    ¡°I shed tears for this pair of CPs again! What kind of godly CP is this! Hurry up and get married yinyinyinyin!¡±


    ¡°Of course it is the YuanQiu CPposed of Shen Yuan¡¯s Yuan and Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s Qiu. Roundball sounds cuter yinyinyinyin!¡±


    And what the hell was that full screen of ¡°yinyinyinyin¡±, were these ¡°yinyinyinyin¡± fans really his fans? His fans could actually CP his corpse? He was already gone, what CP are they screaming for? Human/Ghost romance?!


    Just when the corners of his mouth twitched, he found normal chatter mixed in the CP barrage.


    ¡°The host was very cute, pity he died!¡±


    ¡°Pity he died +1! I haven¡¯t watched enough of this live stream!¡±


    ¡°Go well, host! Light up the candle! Candle X10, Candle X20, Candle X50¡±


    ¡°The host was a decent person before his death, and he went very peacefully. May there be a live stream room in heaven! Candle X100¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    He took it back! These barrages were also not normal at all!


    Just as he was madlyining in his heart, a system prompt popped up in front of him: ¡°Detecting that the host is dead, would you like to choose to resurrect on the spot? Resurrection on the spot requires 2333 Roast Value.¡±


    ...Resurrect on the spot?!


    Resurrect on the spot!!


    Xiao Tangqiu almost thought he had read it wrong. He rubbed his eyes several times before confirming that the four words really meant ¡°resurrect on the spot¡± rather than ¡°reincarnate on the spot¡± and definitely not ¡°explode on the spot¡±. Was his useless trash ability about to finallye in handy?


    He excitedly moved the mouse and selected ¡°Resurrect on the Spot¡± between the options ¡°Resurrect on the Spot¡± and ¡°Actually Let Me Die¡±. The next second, another system prompt window popped out, ¡°To use Resurrect on the Spot, the Roast cost is 2333, the remaining Roast is 0, the number of times this skill is used in this instance is 1/1, the loading of the skill is 100 days, and the next time the skill is used requires 23333 Roast, 99 days before resurrection.¡± After that was a countdown clock showing: ¡°99¡±.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    He wanted to cuss at too many parts! He didn¡¯t even know where to begin!


    Where was the agreed resurrected on the spot! Isn¡¯t the literal meaning of resurrecting on the spot to resurrect right here and now? The skill actually needed 100 days! He would only be resurrected in 100 days! By then his body would be cold! No, wait! His body would be gone!


    So this was the purpose of the Roast Value that he could never figure out! A resurrection requires 2333 Roast Value, and he just had 2333 Roast value? Was this a predestined coincidence? Although this skill was a bit broken, the next use would cost 23333 Roast Value. How long would it take to save up 23333 Roast Value? Would it be 233333 if he died again after?


    Although he was full ofints, Xiao Tangqiu was still very excited about his resurrection. After all, if he could live, who would want to die?


    But at the same time, he also felt very speechless about the 100-day loading bar. This was too long! If he had a grave, the grass on top of his grave would be three meters high!


    As he cussed, his vision suddenly went dark, and then the world spun.


    When Xiao Tangqiu recovered, he realized that he had returned to the instance world.


    Did he really resurrect on the spot?


    His heart beat wildly and just as he got excited, he suddenly realized that the live stream channel had not disappeared from before him. There was also a countdown disy interface at the top of the live stream channel: ¡°99 Days to Resurrection¡±


    ...So he had not been resurrected yet. Was he in a ghost state now?


    The barrage in the live stream still didn¡¯t stop. Xiao Tangqiu became annoyed and quickly found the shielding function and blocked the chat.


    He rushed to the ce where he died earlier, only to find that everything seemed to be over. Not only was the Kisaragi Shrine razed to the ground, the entire Holy Mountain was turned into ruins. All of the grass was gone and thend was shattered.


    He frantically searched in the ruins and finally found traces of Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan was buried under the ruins with only one hand exposed.


    As a hand-con, Xiao Tangqiu recognized Shen Yuan just by that hand. He rushed forward to dig out Shen Yuan, but his hand passed through. He had no physical body and it was impossible to touch Shen Yuan right now.


    He tried countless times, but his hands went straight through. he could only shout desperately, ¡°Shen Yuan! Shen Yuan! Wake up! Don¡¯t sleep! Wake up!¡±


    Shen Yuan remained motionless.


    Xiao Tangqiu wasn¡¯t even sure if Shen Yuan was still alive, and could only hover around Shen Yuan with worry. After a while, someone suddenly appeared on top of the ruins.


    He looked up in fear, but it was Xue Junli and Duan Hongzhen, as well as Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu. All four of them suffered serious injuries. Xue Junli had a big hole in his thigh, Duan Hongzhen broke an arm, and Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu were also covered in dirt and blood.


    ¡°Here! Over here!¡± Yu Fuling seemed to sense something and rushed the others, ¡°Quickly dig! His breath is very weak!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen took out a knife, ¡°Leave it to me!¡±


    Xue Junli¡¯s face was pale, ¡°You have broken an arm, let me do it.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°So what if one arm is broken, one of me is better than six!¡±


    Sai Lulu yelled, ¡°Stop fighting! Dig together! If you don¡¯t dig, the captain will die!¡±


    The four of them looked chastised and no longer tried to pretend to be strong and they all began to dig. Xiao Tangqiu was so anxious he circled them. But no one could see him.


    Why could they see resentful spirits but not him?


    Wasn¡¯t his grievance serious enough? Did he have to turn himself into a resentful ghost first?


    After a long time, the four of them finally dug out Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan suffered the most serious injury. His clothes were torn apart, his intestines were hanging out, he was covered in blood. Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu¡¯s eyes reddened.


    Xue Junli suddenly discovered something, ¡°The captain seems to be holding something...¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s hand was clenched into a fist as if holding something. Yu Fuling tentatively tried to pry it open, but she couldn¡¯t.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared dumbly at Shen Yuan¡¯s current appearance and unwittingly reached out to touch Shen Yuan¡¯s pale face.


    ¡°Forget it, it doesn¡¯t matter. Let¡¯s find a way to get out of here...¡±


    The moment Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand touched Shen Yuan¡¯s cheek... as he passed through, Shen Yuan suddenly twitched, and his hand loosened.


    A torn piece of clothing came down.


    ¡°What is this?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly at the somewhat familiar corner of clothing, it seemed to be a corner of his clothes.

 Chapter 83

    <h4>Chapter 83</h4>


    ¡°Captain! Captain!¡±


    Yu Fuling tried to wake Shen Yuan, but Shen Yuan was pale and motionless, his breath was extremely weak. She was so nervous and at a loss, she helplessly looked towards Xue Junli.


    ¡°The captain was hurt so badly! What should we do? Will he... Will he...¡±


    Xue Junli was also pale because of excessive blood loss, ¡°Let¡¯s find a way to get out of here quickly. As long as we return to the City of the Abyss as soon as possible, the captain definitely can be saved!¡±


    Sai Lulu also looked like she was about to cry, ¡°But even the transfer cabin can¡¯t repair damage caused by the Abyss Demon...¡±


    ¡°Even if the transfer cabin doesn¡¯t work, there must be another way!¡± Xue Junli gritted his teeth and said with red eyes, ¡°As long as we return to the City of the Abyss, there will be a way!¡±


    Everyone could tell that Xue Junli had no real confidence, but no one exposed him. Everyone¡¯s eyes were red. After a moment, Yu Fuling suddenly spoke with difficulty, ¡°That... Xiao Tangqiu...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was floating in the air and didn¡¯t expect Yu Fuling to mention him. He was a little surprised. Not just him, everyone fell silent and their expressions became very heavy.


    Compared with the uncertain fate of Shen Yuan, the death of Xiao Tangqiu was irreversible. Even if they did notpletely ept and recognize Xiao Tangqiu as a new teammate, they had experienced life and death together, not to mention Xiao Tangqiu died to save their captain...


    Xiao Tangqiu kept floating in front of everyone, doing everything he could to tell them that he was not dead yet, that he would be resurrected in a hundred days. But no one could see or hear him.


    At this moment, a certain part of the ruins suddenly moved, and a faint cry for help came out.


    ¡°Help... Help me...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen was the first to react. He walked to the pile of ruins and quickly dug out Tang Mianmian with one hand. Fortunately, this guy was buried very shallowly, and he didn¡¯t suffer any serious injury.


    Seeing that Tang Mianmian was okay, Xiao Tangqiu breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately floated to Tang Mianmian. The two of them have known each other for so long, maybe Tang Mianmian can see him?


    However, Tang Mianmian¡¯s gaze passed through Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s body, looked at the Duan Hongzhen who dug him out, and asked anxiously, ¡°Where is Qiuqiu? What happened to Qiuqiu!¡±


    ¡°I am here! I am here!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu replied subconsciously, but in the next second, Tang Mianmian passed straight through his body and grabbed Duan Hongzhen by the cor, ¡°Where is Xiao Tangqiu! Where is he?!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen looked at Tang Mianmian heavily and did not answer, he even let Tang Mianmian grab his cor.


    Tang Mianmian shook his head, ¡°Impossible! That is impossible! He must be here! He must be still under the ruins!¡±


    Xue Junli said coldly, ¡°Wake up. All of us saw it. He is dead.¡±


    Tang Mianmian gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Why are you so cold-blooded! Even if you don¡¯t see him as a friend, he is still someone who went through danger with you!¡±


    ¡°I have witnessed the death of mypanions countless times...¡± Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°I also know that sooner orter, death wille to me. I am not cold-blooded, just calm.¡±


    Tang Mianmian did not hesitate to say, ¡°If the dead person is Shen Yuan, will you be as calm as you are now!¡±


    Xue Junli, ¡°Your what if is meaningless.¡±


    Tang Mianmian stared at Xue Junli with red eyes, ¡°Qiuqiu must be under this rubble! I am going to dig him out! I must dig him out! We came here together, and we must go back together!¡±


    Xue Junli, ¡°You obviously saw him die with your own eyes, why deceive yourself?¡±


    ¡°I must save him... I must save him!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sighed, raised his hand, and knocked Tang Mianmian unconscious.


    Everyone was silent for a few seconds before they finally turned to worry about Shen Yuan. Each of them was injured to different degrees. Shen Yuan was on the forefront against the Abyss Demon so he suffered the most serious injuries and was in a critical condition. They must leave this instance as soon as possible and return to the City of the Abyss.


    Duan Hongzhen carried Tang Mianmian with one hand, Xue Junli and Yu Fuling supported Shen Yuan between them, and they all quickly left.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately floated to follow. He sometimes looked at the unconscious Shen Yuan, sometimes looked at the knocked out Tang Mianmian. His mood became heavier and heavier. He wanted to tell everyone that he was alive, but he couldn¡¯t.


    After a while, they returned to the tunnel where they came from and Duan Hongzhen turned to ask Xue Junli, ¡°Can we leave this instance if we walk along the tunnel?¡±


    Xue Junli frowned and said, ¡°In theory, this should be the case. Our ultimate mission is to escape Hundred Ghosts Vige. Originally, after we eliminated the mountain god, we should be able to leave Hundred Ghosts Vige as long as we walk along this tunnel... But now with Lily Marlene¡¯s interference, I am not sure.¡±


    ¡°No matter! We have to try!¡± Yu Fuling gritted her teeth.


    Everyone rushed into the tunnel without hesitation, and Xiao Tangqiu floated along. As soon as he entered the tunnel, he felt dizzy. It seemed that there was some powerful force pulling on his soul and he resisted the difort. He continued to follow Xue Junli¡¯s group.


    In Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s ghost state, he became keenly aware of some things he couldn¡¯t detect when he was still alive. But he couldn¡¯t tell what it was. He could only feel that this tunnel had a different maic field than elsewhere.


    After going for a while Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt the world spin, as if he was thrown into a washing machine. His whole body... No, his whole soul kept tumbling around until he felt faint. He could only vaguely make out Xue Junli and co being sucked into a ck vortex. He felt like that might be the path through the ¡°wall¡± to the City of the Abyss and immediately rushed towards the vortex. But in the next second, the vortex disappeared.


    The warped maic field disappeared instantly with his difort.


    Xue Junli¡¯s group had disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu floated in the air dumbly. After a while, he realized that Xue Junli and co had sessfully returned to the City of the Abyss.


    And he was left in the instance world. He was left in this instance.


    Xiao Tangqiu was naturally unwilling to ept this. He frantically tried to find a way out of the instance world in the tunnel. But he could not find anything no matter how he searched the tunnel again and again.


    He didn¡¯t know how long he had been searching for, but the tunnel remained just a tunnel. In the end, he could only float out of the tunnel in defeat, intending to look elsewhere.


    Hundred Ghost Town was still in ruins, the Holy Mountain and Kisaragi Shrine were copsed and also in ruins. There was dead silence everywhere. Even the handful of vigers were missing.


    Xiao Tangqiu wandered aimlessly in the ruins, feeling absent and numb. Just like a ghost hovering above Hundred Ghost Town... but he couldn¡¯t even find a ghost.


    After experiencing that tribute, the entire area became barren and lifeless. For Xiao Tangqiu, this state was actually quitefortable, because the heavier the Yin energy, the morefortable he was. The Yin energy bathed his entire soul, just like a hot spring.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know how long he wandered in the Hundred Ghost Town. Ghost did not need to rest and eat after all, so he kept up his energy at all times. The passage of time felt endlessly long and grueling.


    After wandering aimlessly for a long time, he returned to the tunnel again, holding onto thest hope of leaving the instance... He still did not find the door out of the instance, but he managed to enter the Hundred Ghosts Vige through the tunnel.


    Hundred Ghosts Vige was also in ruins, but given that the map was muchrger than Hundred Ghosts Town, his mood lifted a little. He continued his wandering in Hundred Ghosts Vige.


    Hundred Ghosts Vige also didn¡¯t have even a ghost, but the Yin energy was heavier than Hundred Ghosts Town. Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but be immersed in this heavy Yin energy, floating around like a drunk.


    However, his mood got heavier... Was he really going to stay in this instance for a hundred days until he was resurrected? He would definitely go crazy staying alone for a hundred days in a ruin with no people and no ghosts.


    He didn¡¯t know how Shen Yuan was now, he was so badly injured...


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mood suddenly became even heavier at the thought of Shen Yuan, whose life or death was unknown. Shen Yuan seemed to have been fatally wounded, who knew if he could survive. If Shen Yuan survived, his memory should have been restored, right? And Tang Mianmian, this guy must think he was dead. Who knew how upset he would be...


    He finally couldn¡¯t bear the terrible loneliness and opened the live stream room again, only to see that the countdown at the top of the room had just ticked down one day. There were still 98 days before his resurrection.


    Xiao Tangqiu almost fell into despair. Was a day so long?


    But the good thing was that he could still look at the chat in the live stream. Even if he didn¡¯t know who the audience behind the chat was and whether they really existed, he could at least look at the chat to gainfort that he was not alone.


    The only thing he was afraid of was whether his audience would leave him because his live stream was too boring. But to his surprise, the viewers seemed to be very interested in his new ghostly floating career. He felt fortunate and speechless at the same time. People watched everything in live streams these days. If he could return to the real world, he might be able to write a book called ¡°The Years When I Live Streamed as a Ghost¡±...


    Because being a ghost was too lonely, Xiao Tangqiu even started to try to interact with the audience in the live stream. When he was a horror game host, he naturally interacted with the viewers often, but aftering to this horror game world, he had never tried to interact with the viewers in the ¡°live stream¡±. Firstly, the time for this special skill was only one minute, the time was too short to interact. Secondly, he was afraid that talking to the air would be regarded as neurotic by others. And thirdly, he had been subconsciously afraid of the identity of these viewers. Separated by the live stream, who knew whether these viewers were humans or ghosts?


    Now he had no such worries. He could open the live stream and talk to himself at any time and would not be regarded as crazy by other people. There was no one else here and he had already be a ghost now. Dead was dead. Who was afraid of whom?


    ¡°Hello everyone, wee to the Floaty Float live stream. I am your host, a ghost who died from being so handsome. Today is the 38th day after my death...¡±


    ¡°The content of my stream today is how to be handsome as a ghost. As we all know, some ghosts float horizontally, some ghosts float vertically, and some ghosts float diagonally. So how do you float in the most handsome way? Let me demonstrate, first of all, we have to make ourselves very light...¡±


    In a blink of an eye, Xiao Tangqiu has been trapped in this instance for thirty-eight days. He had explored all the areas in Hundred Ghosts Town and Hundred Ghosts Vige. Due to all kinds of boredom, he could only amuse himself.


    On the thirty-eighth day after he became a ghost, he continued to live stream himself and y by himself. He also interacted with the audience in the live stream to prevent himself from going crazy and depressed because of being too lonely. Although such days were repetitive and every day was the same, the chat in the live stream still brought him a trace offort.


    But today, something changed.


    As Xiao Tangqiu was live streaming, he suddenly felt the surrounding mountains shake. He was taken aback and quickly floated into the air to see that the ruins of Hundred Ghosts Vige began to reorganize quickly. In just a few seconds, everything looked just like when he first entered this instance.


    Just as he was shocked, he once again felt a strange yet familiar maic field wave in the direction of the tunnel.

 Chapter 84

    <h4>Chapter 84</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t seen a living person for over thirty days.


    Thirty days!


    God knew how he survived these thirty days. Although it was apanied by a chatroom, how could the chatpare to a living person? He didn¡¯t even know if it was people or ghosts behind the chat, or if it was just one bot after another that automatically sent messages. Now that he finally had the chance to see a living person again, he was naturally more than excited. His mood wasparable to Robinson seeing Friday for the first time.


    Xiao Tangqiu was agitated and he turned and ran towards the tunnel without hesitation... No, it was floated towards.


    He sped up and drifted like the wind, and in a blink of an eye he drifted to the tunnel. Before he could drift in, there was a sound of footsteps in the tunnel!


    Sure enough, yers had entered the instance!


    Xiao Tangqiu was very excited. He floated in mid-air for a while and finally saw peopleing out of the tunnel. The moment he saw them, his eyes were almost moved to tears, it was living people! Actually alive! Real and solid living people!


    He was so touched that he almost wanted to pounce and hug the group of people. Fortunately, he remembered that he was dead and that no one in this group could see him.


    Soon, Xiao Tangqiu was surprised to notice that he actually saw a few acquaintances among this group. The leader was Bai Yushan, who he had met at Baobab Tree Pub not long ago. This woman was an intelligence broker. Xue Junli also asked her for information on the next instance. In addition, this woman seemed to be quite powerful. He didn¡¯t expect that he would see Bai Yushan for the second time so soon.


    A few teammates followed behind Bai Yushan, both men and women, who all looked skilled. In addition, there were a few awkward looking weaklings who looked like newbies at first nce. Just by their appearance, they were cannon fodders for the instance.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know if he saw Bai Yushan in this instance by coincidence. To say it was not a coincidence, it seemed too coincidental. Maybe it was a coincidence. But why would Bai Yushan make such a coincidence? Was it to find him? But the two of them were not familiar. If Bai Yushan was looking for her sister Bai Yuru, then he could understand. Or if the person looking for him was actually Shen Yuan...


    The moment he thought of Shen Yuan, he couldn¡¯t help falling into silence.


    Xiao Tangqiu floated silently in the air for a while before deciding to follow this group of people to find out. The plot development along the way was simr to what they had experienced before. The Bai Yushan group also met Miko Kisaragi, and this time, ¡°Miko Kisaragi¡± also joined the team.


    He was a bystander, floating in the air and watching the development calmly just like he used to watch his reys after his live stream ended. He also discovered some details that he had not noticed before. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder, would the plot development be exactly the same?


    Facts proved that the development of the plot was really the same. Kisaragi really betrayed the mountain god she used to worship due to being bewitched by demons. But this time the witch did not appear. She herself transformed into a demon and became the final boss. The Abyss Demon naturally also did not appear.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t think of the answer to this question no matter what. Ever since he died, the system in his brain seemed to have disappeared. He didn¡¯t even know if hisst mission waspleted or failed... Logically speaking, it should have failed. If the mission failed, he should have been obliterated, but the problem was that he died before he was obliterated by the system. So the problem went back to the original question in an endless loop.


    What he wanted to know most was: if he really resurrected after a hundred days, but was obliterated by the system because the mission failed, wouldn¡¯t he be dying again? If he died this time, he would never be resurrected.


    Xiao Tangqiu watched Bai Yushan¡¯s team with a loaded heart against the demonized Miko Kisaragi. At this time, the newbies in the Bai Yushan team were wiped out. Although there was no burden to drag them down, their BOSS battle still suffered countless deaths and injuries. When Miko Kisaragi finally fell, there were only two girls left beside Bai Yushan.


    The three girls were seriously injured and covered in blood. They were obviously the strongest three in this team. They relentlessly attacked from start to finish without stopping, thus they were also the three lucky enough to survive to the end.


    After Miko Kisaragi fell, Bai Yushan looked down at the corpses of theirpanions on the ground. There was no expression on her pale, anemic face. There was no pain. There was only a kind of numbness. Maybe she had seen too many scenes like this.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Bai Yushan¡¯s numb expression from where he floated, and couldn¡¯t help but think of Shen Yuan¡¯sst Super S level instance. Although it¡¯s normal to die in this cruel world, Shen Yuan¡¯s entire team died. How was Shen Yuan¡¯s mood at that time? Was it the same as Bai Yushan now, painful but also numb? He had no way of knowing.


    Bai Yushan and the other two survivors stood in front of theirpanions¡¯ bodies in mourning for a moment, and then Bai Yushan coldly said, ¡°Do it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback for a moment. Do it? Do what?


    The next moment, he saw Bai Yushan take out a delicate small wooden box and opened it. There was a transparent bead in the small wooden box which looked just like a ss bead. But he subconsciously felt that this bead was very unusual.


    The girl closest to Bai Yushan couldn¡¯t help but speak, ¡°Sister Shan, the Soul Gathering Beads are used to deal with ghost NPCs in instances... Are we really going to do this?¡±


    Bai Yushan spoke calmly, ¡°How can I know the result without trying?¡±


    The girl sighed and turned her head.


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. Soul Gathering Beads? This name sounded familiar...


    He had received special training in the Reincarnation Team for a month, and his memory had always been very good. He soon recalled what it was. The Soul Gathering Bead was a special item that could condense and increase the vitality of a soul. It was said that it could save NPCs that were on the verge of death and were not sold in the system store. They could only be dropped through an instance, so the amount was scarce and extremely rare.


    There were often idents in instances. If the key NPC was killed due to the yer¡¯s carelessness, the mission was likely to fail. This was the significance of this special item, but it could only have an effect on the NPC. The special item could not bring the yer back to life. An item that could resurrect yers had not appeared yet.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t believe that Bai Yushan didn¡¯t know about this. So what exactly was she going to do with a Soul Gathering Bead?


    As he was wondering, he saw Bai Yushan crouching down and cing the Soul Gathering Bead on the forehead of herpanion¡¯s corpse.


    Was Bai Yushan really going to try to use the Soul Gathering Bead to revive herpanion?


    Xiao Tangqiu was full of doubts and could only continue to observe. But even after a few minutes, nothing happened. Bai Yushan¡¯spanion did not resurrect, and there was no movement from the bead. It was like amon ss bead; unremarkable, bleak, and dull.


    After waiting quietly for a while, Bai Yushan said calmly, ¡°Failed.¡±


    The other two girls nced at each other and couldn¡¯t help but speak up at the same time, ¡°Sister Shan, we know that you really want to find a way to resurrect Yuru, but so far there have been no special items for resurrecting yers...¡±


    ¡°If Yuru knows you are like this, she won¡¯t be happy...¡±


    Bai Yushan had a faint expression, and after a while, she said, ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±


    The two girls suddenly realized that Bai Yushan hadn¡¯t listened to them at all, so they could only sigh helplessly.


    Xiao Tangqiu understood. It turned out that Bai Yushan was looking for a way to resurrect Bai Yuru... But even if Bai Yushan really found a way to resurrect Bai Yuru, Bai Yuru had been trapped in the instances forever. What method could Bai Yushan use to break the restrictions and rules of the instance to rescue her sister?


    He didn¡¯t understand Bai Yushan¡¯s persistence, but he also knew that Bai Yushan didn¡¯t need his understanding and support. He looked at Bai Yushan silently as if he was looking at himself from the past. He used to be unable to walk out from the shadow of Meng Xinghe¡¯s death. Wasn¡¯t Bai Yushan the same? It was just that Bai Yushan had a little more hope than he did back then, even if this hope was as hopeless as looking for a needle in the sea.


    Bai Yushan watched silently as her twopanions skillfully moved to collect the items of their deadpanions. Watches, nes, rings... They could not bring the bodies of their deadpanions back to the City of the Abyss, they could only take relics back as their remains to take care of.


    After collecting the relics, Bai Yushan reached out with a heavy expression and picked up the Soul Gathering Bead, as if she was going to put it back in the wooden box.


    Suddenly, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped. That soul gathering pearl was useful for NPCs and useless for yers, but he was neither a yer nor an NPC... Was that useful for him?


    Who cares! He had to try!


    He gritted his teeth and rushed towards the soul gathering pearl...


    Nothing happened.


    Xiao Tangqiu tried a few more times, and finally, he suddenly saw ck before his eyes, and he was sucked in by the bead.


    Without waiting for him to rejoice, the bead spat him out in the next second.


    Bai Yushan stared at the bead for a while, then put the bead back into the wooden box, turned, and walked towards the tunnel where they came.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately followed, and after a while, he returned to the tunnel that his was obsessed with, and once again felt the unusual maic field fluctuations in the tunnel.


    He charged towards the ce where Xue Junli¡¯s group had disappeared in the tunnel ahead of Bai Yushan. The ck vortex appeared once again out of thin air in the tunnel.


    He immediately rushed towards the ck vortex and was bounced out again.


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to try, thrown back again and again until Bai Yushan and herpanions arrived.


    Seeing that Bai Yushan¡¯s team was about to leave this ce through the ck vortex, he felt desperate. If he misses this opportunity again, he would be trapped in this instance again!


    He gritted his teeth and charged at the small wooden box in Bai Yushan¡¯s hands again.


    At the same time, Bai Yushan unhesitantly passed through the ck vortex before his eyes.

 Chapter 85

    <h4>Chapter 85</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu only felt the world spinning as if he was being thrown about in the drum of a washing machine. Just when he thought his internal organs were about to be shattered, a ray of light suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.


    He immediately rejoiced. Did he finally manage to escape?


    Wait a minute! This was not the transfer module in the City of the Abyss!


    ...Did he fail to escape again?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed. Suddenly, he realized that something was wrong... Although this was not the transfer module of the City of the Abyss, it was obviously also not the dark tunnel.


    There wasn¡¯t any light in the tunnel, after all.


    He focused his eyes and saw that there was a vast desert in front of him.


    A desert?


    Xiao Tangqiu was dumbfounded. Was there such a ce in the Abyss City?


    He floated in mid-air for a long time, but it was still a desert below him. There was a world of yellow sand around him, extending out endlessly to the horizon.


    After drifting aimlessly for a long time, the end finally appeared before him. But the end of the desert was not an oasis like he had imagined but a huge mountain of garbage.


    It wasn¡¯t just a huge mountain of garbage, but one mountain of garbage after another. Xiao Tangqiu floated over in shock. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that all kinds of garbage in the garbage mountain broke through the limits of his eptance. Other than some normal household garbage, there were actually a lot ofrge metal scraps that seemed to be remnants of spaceships. In addition, there were many more metallic scraps that he couldn¡¯t recognize at all. All of them seemed futuristic and like sci-fi.


    As he was lost in thoughts, there was suddenly an unusual movement nearby.


    There was someone ahead!


    Xiao Tangqiu became excited and quickly floated forward. Soon, he saw two small aircraft that were zooming around shooting at each other. He had never seen such aircraft before. They were much smaller than fighter jets and had very unique shapes. They looked like things that only appeared in sci-fi movies.


    He floated mid-air watching the battle with gusto until one of the aircraft was shot down and exploded and turned into wreckage. Then he chased after the other aircraft, leaving the area.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s speed was naturally inferior to that of an aircraft. Fortunately, the aircraft¡¯s destination was not far away. He had just lost sight of the aircraft before he saw a huge metal fortress floating in the air ahead.


    Xiao Tangqiu was a little confused. He had wanted to follow Bai Yushan¡¯s group back to the City of the Abyss. How did hee here?


    Xiao Tangqiu only remembered that he rushed towards the Soul Gathering Bead in Bai Yushan¡¯s hand. The next moment, he lost consciousness and then he appeared here... Could it be that he was sessfully sucked in by the Soul Gathering Bead back then, but then he was thrown out again immediately? Could it be that Bai Yushan¡¯s group had not returned to the City of the Abyss yet at the time so he was abandoned in the ¡°neutral zone¡± between the instances and the city? Then the system judged that he couldn¡¯t stay there, so it threw him into the nearest instance?


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Dammit!


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about it over and over, but couldn¡¯te to a conclusion. What was more annoying was that he couldn¡¯t summon a GM to ask what was going on. After sulking alone for a while, he simply floated towards the metal fortress.


    Forget it, since he couldn¡¯t go back, he might as well go see what¡¯s going on!


    As Xiao Tangqiu expected, this was indeed a sci-fi instance, or maybe abination of the sci-fi movie and war movie types. The righteous camp the yer would join needed to constantly resist the enemy¡¯s invasion. It was very simr to a tower defense game. But the difference was that once there was a strategic error, the yer would actually die.


    Additionally, this type of instance was even more deadly than usual. Although most of the deaths were NPC minionsmanded by the yer, it would still cause a lot of psychological trauma to the yer.


    In the beginning, Xiao Tangqiu watched with relish, just like watching a movie from an omniscient perspective. But as the yers died one by one, his mood gradually sank. He gained a deeper understanding of how veteran yers like Xue Junli carried apathy and calmness and were numb to the deaths of newbies.


    When the yer¡¯s camp ultimately won the final victory, only thest yer was still alive. He stood before the corpses of his teammates without a trace of excitement and joy, only a cold and deep numbness on his expressionless face.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly thought of Shen Yuan again. Had Shen Yuan ever showed such an expression? Witnessing the deaths of all his teammates and watching therades who had fought side by side with him fall one by one; from the initial grief and anger to helplessness, and then finally to being numb. Xiao Tangqiu could not fully empathize with the psychological changes and had no way to know... He only knew that the boy who used to be his childhood sweetheart was extremely gentle, but when they met again, he became a strong but apathetic man.


    For Meng Xinghe to be Shen Yuan, from a gentle boy to an apathetic man, he had no way of knowing how much pain was involved in this growth.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed deeply. Suddenly, he realized that the yer not far from him had disappeared and everything around him began to copse into ruins. It seemed that the instance was over.


    Was he going to be trapped in an instance again?


    Just when he was lost in despair, he suddenly felt a huge repulsive force hit him and his vision went ck.


    In the next second, Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes again and he found himself in a dark forest.


    From desert to forest, the process of reforestation seemed to be good.


    While he was thinking deeply about environmental issues, there was a hysterical scream not far away, scaring countless birds in the forest.


    He looked up and saw a yer screaming and running towards him, a huge monster chasing behind the yer. The monster was jet ck with a huge hard shell on its back and several sets of terrifying feelers!


    Wait, wasn¡¯t this a beetle?!


    Why did the beetle grow so big?


    Next, he saw huge hawk moths, huge spiders, huge centipedes... This was clearly a huge bug kingdom!


    He watched as the yer managed to escape from the giant beetle¡¯s mouth only to fall into a giant spider¡¯s webs in a blink of an eye. He was stuck on the giant spider web and couldn¡¯t move. In the next moment, the poor yer was swallowed by a giant spider that appeared out of nowhere.


    Xiao Tangqiu silently lit a candle for the poor yer in his heart.


    At this moment, he realized that he had run into another instance again. Although he didn¡¯t know why, it was better to be able to change to another instance from time to time than to be trapped in one instance forever. He soon discovered the greatest benefit of his current state. That was, that he was in a state of untouchable invincibility. He had only experienced four instances so far, a rookie who had barely passed the novice stage. If he could experience more instances from the perspective of a bystander, it was equivalent to gaining experience for free. How wonderful was that?


    So when this instance ended, Xiao Tangqiu immediately looked forward to the next one. Sure enough, when all yers were sent away, he was thrown out of the instance again by a huge repulsive force.


    When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in front of an exquisite and beautiful house. He took a closer look and saw that this beautiful house was actually piled up with candy, biscuits, and chocte, full of fairy tale style. It was just like a candy house from a fairy tale.


    Candy house?


    Was it an instance of the fairy tale type this time?


    Xiao Tangqiu was very surprised. This was the first time he saw a fairy tale instance. If the whole instance was as warm and harmonious as a fairy tale, wouldn¡¯t it be easy?


    However, it turned out that he was too naive.


    The batch of yers who entered this instance was wiped out in the end.


    Entirely obliterated.


    This was the first instance with a party wipe that Xiao Tangqiu had seen with his own eyes. Although most of these yers were neers and they were a bit easygoing when they saw the fairy-tale environment, facts proved the difficulty of the instance. The death rate showed that danger was everywhere.


    The obvious dangers were not terrible, the terrible things were the dangers hidden behind beautiful peace.


    Next, Xiao Tangqiu was thrown into a horror movie type instance.


    After the horror movie type instance ended, it was a war movie type instance.


    He kept being tossed from instance to instance, going from one instance to another. They ranged from two to three days to as many as seven to eight days. The experience along the way was full of twists and turns.


    Finally, Xiao Tangqiu reached the ny-ninth day, and there was only one day left before his resurrection.


    He was so excited that he couldn¡¯t stop fantasizing about what he was going to do after he was resurrected. First, he had to sleep, he hadn¡¯t closed his eyes for three months! No! He must have a meal first! He hadn¡¯t eaten for three months!


    Just as he eagerly wrung his hands, counting thest few hours left until resurrection, he was caught off guard and was thrown out of his current instance.


    When Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes again, he was shocked to see that he appeared above a vast body of water.


    A boundless, magnificent ocean.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Fuck! If he was resurrected in this ocean, wouldn¡¯t he just fall into the water and drown?


    They¡¯re ying with him!

 Chapter 86

    <h4>Chapter 86</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiupletely didn¡¯t feel well. Did he have to have another final meal right after spitting the previous one out?


    Help! He did not want to be resurrected at all right now!


    Quickly let him out! Let him out!


    But that was impossible. Xiao Tangqiu could only desperately look fornd. Before resurrecting and possessing a body, he must findnd. He didn¡¯t want to fall into the ocean and drown as soon as he was resurrected!


    So he frantically searched fornd in the endless water, drifting forward towards the direction of the sun. Even after searching for a long time, he couldn¡¯t find any trace ofnd... Let alonend, he couldn¡¯t even find any shallows in the water!


    Just when Xiao Tangqiu almost gave up, he suddenly noticed a small ck spot in the distance. As the ck spot gradually becamerger, it turned out to be a ship!


    He was ecstatic! The heavens never gave dead-end roads!


    He quickly floated towards the ship. After stopping above the ship, he noticed that the ship seemed a bit unusual. It was a very old and dpidated wooden ship. Not only was the wood on the hull overgrown, the moss and unidentified sea nts were actually decayed and damaged, and there were multiplerge holes in the hull.


    On top of the raggedy outside, there were no people on it. There were no sailors on the deck and no one at the helm in the captain¡¯s cabin at the top.


    This ship was drifting along the ocean, without a course or destination... It was obviously a ghost ship.


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly got excited. A ghost ship! This was one of the mostmon and ssic settings in horror movies and horror games!


    Ayer of dark brown covered the deck of this ghost ship. Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look and it seemed to be dried up bloodstains. Who knew how many years the bloodstains had dried on the stormy sea, but the color was extremely strange.


    He turned his head and floated towards the captain¡¯s room, nning to y at being the captain. Which boy didn¡¯t have the fantasy of being a pirate and conquering the ocean when young?


    The captain¡¯s room was locked. But even if the key was found, the big rusty lock might not be able to be opened. However, Xiao Tangqiu was not worried. He ran directly at the door... and he passed through it.


    The ghost version of Xiao Tangqiu was unstoppable.


    He floated around in the captain¡¯s room for a while and, not surprisingly, found a logbook, an old styled pistol, and a map on the console. There were also some gold coins and an overturned silver wine ss on the floor. The spilled wine had long dried up after however many years it had been.


    He subconsciously reached out to look through the logbook, but his hand passed through it... Although the ghost state was invincible, the cons were very obvious. He could only look with his eyes no matter what. To touch with his hands was impossible.


    The pain was hundreds of times, thousands of times worse than when he died and he soon passed out.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt his consciousness fade in and out as arge number of childhood memories suddenly poured into his mind, almost causing his brain to explode. He even ¡°saw¡± some memories he had long forgotten.


    When he and Meng Xinghe first met, they were both only three years old. Meng Xinghe was wearing a beautiful little dress and his little rosy face was like a red apple. His eyes were very big and his eyshes were very long. He was even more beautiful than a doll. The first time they met, Xiao Tangqiu held his small hand and then stuck out his chest and told his mother that he wanted to marry this beautiful friend.


    When he and Meng Xinghe were five years old, Meng Xinghe, this beautiful child, looked even more beautiful. He seriously told Meng Xinghe they should get married when they grew up. Meng Xinghe blinked his big eyes and nodded. Then, the two of them hooked their pinkies together solemnly, making such a naive promise...


    ¡°There is someone here! There is a corpse here!¡±


    ¡°Is it the corpse of an NPC? Go and investigate!¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not right! Aaaah! He moved! The corpse moved!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s head and body hurt terribly and he opened his eyes with difficulty, trying hard to see what was in front of him... Wait! His body hurt? He had a body again?!


    His heart jumped and his eyes instantly brightened. Several curious and scared faces appeared before him. A group of people hid outside the captain¡¯s room and looked at him as if he was some exotic animal.


    Xiao Tangqiu finally reacted. He had resurrected and already ran into so many newbies... Fuck! Did he have to work hard with these newbies to escape this instance before he could return to the City of the Abyss to find Shen Yuan?


    Of course, there was also Tang Mianmian and the others.


    ¡°This NPC is so weird! Why is he looking at us like this? Like we¡¯re the weird ones! Didn¡¯t all the NPCs we met before immediately epted this setting?¡±


    ¡°This NPC is indeed really strange! The NPCs we met before were all foreigners! This NPC is Chinese! Is this a pirate ship from China? Then can we take this ship home?¡±


    ¡°You idiot! Can¡¯t you see that this is a ghost ship! The only ce to return to is the underworld!¡±


    ¡°Between the underworld and hell, I would choose the underworld. At least there won¡¯t be anguage barrier...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched and couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°You¡¯re so good at talking, are you a streamer?¡±


    The two people who were talking were stunned and they looked at each other in disbelief, ¡°The NPC in this game actually knows about streaming? Did this profession exist in the Age of Exploration?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re stupid! There were noputers in the Age of Exploration! I don¡¯t think he¡¯s an NPC!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was in a good mood after just being resurrected and couldn¡¯t help teasing the two of them, ¡°Yes, I am indeed an NPC.¡±


    ¡°Are you an NPC?¡± One of them was a little dumbfounded, ¡°How can an NPC admit that he is an NPC? What kind of NPC are you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sat up with his legs crossed and said solemnly, ¡°I am a mysterious fortune-teller from the East. I know the heavenly secrets and earthly mysteries. Although I live in the Age of Exploration, I can predict the future, so I know that there is a future profession called a streamer. You are all streamers.¡±


    The man was dumbfounded, ¡°Fortune teller NPC... can predict the future? I don¡¯t really believe it! Prove it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu casually said some nonsense, ¡°In the not-too-distant future, the Nethends will be a maritime hegemon, but then it will be defeated by Britain. After the British conquered the seas, they will establish an empire that always sees the sun.¡±


    ¡°History did go something like that...¡± The man frowned and thought for a while, ¡°Can you really predict the future?¡±


    ¡°Not only that, I can foresee more detailed things, too,¡± Xiao Tangqiu pretended to be sizing him up, and then said mysteriously, ¡°You should be a gourmet stream host?¡±


    The man cursed, ¡°...You really are godly! Great master! Please tell me my future!¡±


    Hispanion finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and grabbed him, ¡°You are so stupid! This guy is clearly a yer too! What predicting the future! He just knows history!¡±


    The man asked nkly, ¡°But he knew that I am a gourmet host...¡±


    The corners of hispanion¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°That can only prove that he has watched your live streams!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu burst outughing, ¡°Hello.¡±


    The man finally reacted and snorted unhappily, ¡°You¡¯re so good at talking, are you also a streamer?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu simply admitted it, ¡°I am a horror game host. I have seen your live streams before. You are the gourmet food host I Love Eating Fatty Meat, right?¡±


    ¡°You really are a streamer, too! So you are also an unlucky guy who had the misfortune to transmigrate into this damned ce?¡± The man soon became angry and opened up to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°We¡¯re all people of this apocalyptic world! Since we¡¯re all hosts, let¡¯s get to know each other. My real name is Fei You, a gourmet food streamer, and he is Zhang Zuo, and he is also a game streamer like you.¡±


    The man named Zhang Zuo frowned slightly, ¡°With you, our team has four stream hosts. It looks like we¡¯re the streaming team.¡±


    ¡°Four hosts?¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart thudded, ¡°Then the other host is...¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s also a gaming streamer. You gamers have alle to this damned ce!¡± Fei You raised his hands.


    Xiao Tangqiu got up without hesitation. He ignored the two men and turned and ran out of the captain¡¯s room. The next moment, he saw an extremely familiar figure on the deck, and hotheadedly blurted out, ¡°Tang Mianmian!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was lying listlessly on the rails on the deck. He was shocked when he heard Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s voice. He turned his head in disbelief and was stunned.


    Xiao Tangqiu was also extremely moved, ¡°It¡¯s me! Tang Mianmian! I¡¯m Xiao Tangqiu! I¡¯m back!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was frozen for a long time. Once he confirmed that the person in front of him was not his hallucination, he cried out and rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu.


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was about to run and hug Tang Mianmian, he saw Shen Yuan on the other end of the deck. Shen Yuan was dressed in ck, his ck windbreaker rustling in the sea breeze, looking at him.


    The two pairs of eyes met and Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart tensed and then began to beat wildly. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes cooled down, looking just like an icy cold pool without any warmth.


    The icy gaze instantly extinguished the heat in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart, as if a basin of cold water poured down his head. He stood there nkly, somewhat at a loss.


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could ask, Shen Yuan turned around and left without hesitation.


    Duan Hongzhen, Xue Junli, Yu Fuling, and Sai Lulu also spotted Xiao Tangqiu who suddenly appeared. They had different expressions, but seeing Shen Yuan turn and leave, they only nced at Xiao Tangqiu and quickly followed.


    Xiao Tangqiu wanted to catch up, but his feet felt like lead.


    At this moment, Tang Mianmian threw himself in front of him and embraced him, ¡°Oh oh oh! You didn¡¯t die! You didn¡¯t die! I just knew that the good die young and scourges live forever! This is great! Great!!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart felt empty, but he still forced out a smile and reached out and patted Tang Mianmian on the shoulder, ¡°...Mhm, I¡¯m not dead. I¡¯m back.¡±

 Chapter 87

    <h4>Chapter 87</h4>


    Shen Yuan¡¯s reaction left Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart somewhat empty. Fortunately, Tang Mianmian¡¯s attitude towards him was quite normal, otherwise, he would have to wonder what wrong he had done.


    ¡°Wuwuwu! Where have you been in these three months?¡± Tang Mianmian hugged him and cried, ¡°Since you aren¡¯t dead, why didn¡¯t youe back earlier?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile, ¡°This matter... it¡¯s a long story. It¡¯s hard to exin.¡±


    At this moment, Fei You¡¯s voice rang from behind them, ¡°So you know each other?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s mood recovered quickly, heughed and threw an arm over Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shoulder to introduce him, ¡°He is my best friend, Xiao Tangqiu! He is also a stream host!¡±


    Fei You suddenly realized, ¡°It turns out that he is the friend you mentioned before... But didn¡¯t you say that he has disappeared? So he¡¯s back now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled and was about to respond, but Duan Hongzhen suddenly appeared. He crossed his arms and snorted, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t just stand around chatting and forget about proper business.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately straightened up, ¡°Understood! Let¡¯s find clues!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen nced at Xiao Tangqiu and said casually, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be able toe back... I really didn¡¯t expect it.¡±


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu saw Duan Hongzhen, he subconsciously looked for Shen Yuan in his peripherals. But he didn¡¯t see Shen Yuan, Duan Hongzhen seemed to havee alone. He was a little disappointed, but he squeezed out a smile, ¡°Yeah, I also didn¡¯t expect... I coulde back alive.¡±


    ¡°No matter what, thank you for saving the boss,¡± Duan Hongzhen reached out and patted Xiao Tangqiu on the shoulder, ¡°I know you don¡¯t want to hear this from me and just want to hear from the boss himself... but the boss hasn¡¯t been doing well recently.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu never expected that the first person toe to him, besides Tang Mianmian, was Duan Hongzhen. It was a little unexpected, but it also seemed within reason.


    ¡°Not doing well? What do you mean?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°He was injured so badly? He¡¯s still not recovered?¡±


    ¡°Injury is one thing,¡± Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°but there is something else...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to continue asking, but Duan Hongzhen was stopped by Xue Junli¡¯s call in the distance.


    Duan Hongzhen sighed, ¡°Making me open locks again! What do they take me for? A locksmith?¡±


    Although his mouthined, Duan Hongzhen immediately turned around and left. Just as he was about to leave the deck, he looked back at Xiao Tangqiu and waved his hand in the air, ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m thanking you for the boss.¡±


    After speaking, he walked away without looking back.


    Leaving behind the couple of newbies who stayed in the captain¡¯s room to continue to look for clues, Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group of four people headed in Duan Hongzhen¡¯s direction. Along the way, Tang Mianmian gave Xiao Tangqiu a brief introduction to their mission.


    This was an S-level mission, the content of the mission was to find the ¡°lost treasure.¡±


    This task sounded vague and confusing. Lost treasure? Who lost it? What kind of treasure was it?


    They appeared directly on this small wrecked ship from the get go. The style of this ship was very simr to pirate ships of the Age of Exploration, invoking their imagination. Was the so-called lost treasure pirate¡¯s treasure?


    When Xiao Tangqiu heard this, he intuitively felt something was wrong, ¡°Pirate¡¯s treasure? Is it just a few boxes of gold and silver jewelry? How can it be so simple?¡± This was an S-level mission. How could it possibly be just finding a few boxes of gold and silver jewelry hidden by the pirates? What about the S-level difficulty? Moreover, this ship was not big and could be thoroughly searched in a short amount of time. If the so-called treasure was on this ship, they could find it easily.


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°I also don¡¯t think it¡¯s that simple. But since we¡¯re here, of course we have to search the ship first to find some useful clues, like maps.¡±


    ¡°And then there will just happen to be clues about a lost treasure on the map, so we¡¯ll follow the map to find it?¡± Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, ¡°How can it be so simple? If S-level missions are so simple, we can all be Shen Yuan.¡±


    Tang Mianmian chuckled, ¡°You don¡¯t have to make S-level instances so mythical. We have been to a lot of S-level instances recently. Aren¡¯t I still alive?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback, ¡°You have been to many S-level instances recently?¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded very naturally, and then couldn¡¯t helpining, ¡°Since you disappeared, Shen Yuan has been going crazy entering instances day and night. One foot would have just left the previous instance and the next foot immediately entered the next instance. We didn¡¯t have any buffering time at all. Our day and night output was crazy during this period. If it weren¡¯t for the asional rests in the instances, I would have keeled over.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was dazed for a while, then he asked, ¡°...You have been going into instances nonstop this period of time?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! The Great God is simply not human! He thinks we were all Superman!¡± Tang Mianmianined, but then sighed, ¡°But, while he treats us as Superman, he doesn¡¯t treat himself as human at all. Although we continuously enter instances, we could asionally take a break in them. Great God doesn¡¯t give himself time to rest and breathe at all. I bet he hasn¡¯t closed his eyes for almost a month...¡±


    He murmured, ¡°Even someone made of metal wouldn¡¯t be able to stand it! I don¡¯t know how he can!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fell into silence for a long time. After a while, he asked Tang Mianmian softly, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stop him? What about Xue Junli? What about Yu Fuling? Didn¡¯t they stop him?¡±


    Tang Mianmian smiled helplessly, ¡°Who can stop him? I can¡¯t fight him, and he doesn¡¯t listen to what I say. Do you think Xue Junli hasn¡¯t tried to persuade him? Every day, I listen to them try to persuade the Great God, my ears have grown callouses. But the Great God is stubborn and persistent, no methods work.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fell silent again. If Shen Yuan was unwilling to take a break, no one could force him to rest unless they knock him out. But who could knock Shen Yuan out in the City of the Abyss?


    Tang Mianmian brought them back on topic again, ¡°In short, although this is an S-rank instance, you don¡¯t have to worry too much. The Great God is here!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile. They came to the bottom of the deck just in time to see Duan Hongzhen opening the door of one of the cabins.


    Duan Hongzhen straightened up and sneered, ¡°Don¡¯t always use me as a locksmith.¡±


    Xue Junli nodded, ¡°I know.¡±


    He pushed the door to directly go in, dust billowing out into their faces. This cabin had obviously been sealed without sunlight and gathered dust for a long time. A rotten and unpleasant smell spread out from it.


    Xue Junli frowned, but still pinched his nose and walked in.


    The twodies wore unspeakably hard to describe expressions. Only Shen Yuan remained unchanged. He looked inside the room coldly and did not seem to notice Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian who followed.


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Shen Yuan from a distance. He wanted to approach Shen Yuan for a word, but he didn¡¯t know what to say.


    The Shen Yuan right now should have recovered his memory. Who knows if he still remembered what happened during the period he was amnesiac. If he still remembered, maybe he would be angry...


    He felt a little lost. Compared with the Shen Yuan that stuck to him every day during his amnesia, this Shen Yuan was obviously much more normal. He should breathe a sigh of relief that Shen Yuan was back to normal, but for some reason, there¡¯s an inexplicable mncholy in his heart.


    This room seemed to be the ce where the sailors slept. The small cabin was filled with many cot cements and divided into upper, middle and lower bunks. A big made of thick hemp rope was around each cot, probably to prevent the sailors from falling off due to the swaying of the ship when sleeping at night.


    While Xiao Tangqiu was still looking at the cots, Xue Junli had already discovered something. He found a big wooden chest in a corner and immediately turned to ask Duan Hongzhen to unlock it.


    Duan Hongzhen crossed his arms and looked upset, ¡°Didn¡¯t I just say don¡¯t always use me as a locksmith!¡±


    Xue Junli nodded, ¡°I know...e on, unlock it.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen rolled his eyes and reluctantly walked over to open the lock.


    The moment the big wooden chest was opened, a strong smell of decay immediately filled the room. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were able to stay calm, but Fei You and Zhang Zuo immediately changed their expressions and quickly took a fewrge steps back, covering their mouths.


    A half-rotten corpse was in the chest. The corpse itself was very tall and fairlyrge. He should¡¯ve been a stocky man with a thick and round waist in life. He was stuffed into this box for some reason and his limbs were twisted and folded together, upying every inch of space in the chest.


    He was a middle-aged man with distorted and terrifying features. His eyes bulged out, his seven orifices all bled, and his face was blue. His death was very miserable.


    Xiao Tangqiu calmly judged, ¡°Maybe he suffocated to death after being stuffed inside the chest.¡±


    Fei You hid far away, pale and covering his mouth, ¡°How can you be so calm!¡±


    Tang Mianmian nced at him sympathetically, ¡°Get used to it.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen was even calmer. He flipped through the body of the middle-aged man with a knife and found a key from his jacket pocket, ¡°Where does the key go?¡±


    Yu Fuling said lightly, ¡°There are still the wine cer and kitchen left.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen ridiculed, ¡°Looking at his fat and sturdy body, he might be a cook.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly found something. He hesitated, then turned to ask Duan Hongzhen, ¡°Can I borrow your knife?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen nced at Xiao Tangqiu, then tossed the knife to him.


    Xiao Tangqiu took the knife and pried open the middle-aged man¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen¡¯s lips twitched. Not only did these people use his knife as a lockpick, but now they also use it to dissect?!


    In the next moment, a shiny golden thing fell out of the middle-aged man¡¯s mouth.


    It was a gold coin.


    Xiao Tangqiu pried the middle-aged man¡¯s mouth as wide as it could go and saw that the corpse¡¯s mouth was filled with gold coins and even the throat had strange bulges. It was easy to imagine that maybe the middle-aged man¡¯s corpse was full of gold coins!

 Chapter 88

    <h4>Chapter 88</h4>


    Tang Mianmian asked with a conflicted expression, ¡°Is this the legendary death by swallowing gold?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Only dying after swallowing so much is also pretty difficult.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen directly kicked the chest over. But because the corpse filled the entire chest, it stayed firmly packed inside even when the chest fell over.


    Duan Hongzhen looked around from Tang Mianmian to Xiao Tangqiu, then turned to look at Fei You and Zhang Zuo, ¡°Hey, you two, get the corpse out of the chest.¡±


    Fei You and Zhang Zuo turned pale and immediately wanted to shake their heads to refuse. But when Duan Hongzhen raised his brows, they still obediently ran to pull out the corpse. As newbies, they didn¡¯t have much choice.


    After a while, the body was finally freed.


    Duan Hongzhen stretched out his foot and stepped on the corpse¡¯s belly, ¡°It¡¯s hard, there¡¯s probably also gold coins inside.¡±


    He did not hesitate to use a knife to divide the corpse into two. As expected, the corpse was filled with gold coins and all the internal organs were gone.


    Tang Mianmian stroked his chin, ¡°Are these the lost treasures?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible to be that simple?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly keenly noticed something. He overcame his inner difort and reached out to fish out a ruby ??ring from the pile of gold coins.


    It was an ancient ruby ??ring with a huge ruby ??iid in the center. The ruby was crystal clear, crimson in color, and sparkling with dazzling luster.


    ¡°Wow! What a big ruby!¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes shed, ¡°How much is this worth? I really want to wear it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°This was dug out from the corpse. You want to wear it?¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...Nevermind.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What kind of ring is this?¡± Duan Hongzhen took a look, ¡°Could it be an important clue?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the ruby ??ring and felt something was wrong, but he couldn¡¯t tell what.


    ¡°It¡¯s opened!¡± As soon as Duan Hongzhen pushed the door open, a cloud of choking dust hit their faces, ¡°This is the kitchen. Looks like that guy just now really was a cook.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu walked into the room and saw that it was indeed a kitchen. It was filled with dust everywhere and there was an extremely strange smell.


    ¡°Is this really a kitchen? There is nothing here!¡± Tang Mianmian looked around. ¡°Where are the vegetables? The fruits? The meat?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been so many years, even if there was food, they would¡¯ve rotten long ago!¡± Fei You cautiously put forward his own thoughts, ¡°But it¡¯s really strange, even if the food is rotten, something should be left behind? But it¡¯spletely empty here! If it weren¡¯t for some cooking utensils, it wouldn¡¯t look like a kitchen at all!¡±


    ¡°Wait! There is a diary here!¡± Xiao Tangqiu took a few steps, suddenly finding a yellowed diary on the ground, and immediately bent over and picked it up.


    The logbook they found in the captain¡¯s room earlier didn¡¯t contain any valuable information at all. This diary might be an unexpected clue.


    ¡°Wow! Qiuqiu, you have found an important plot clue again!¡± Tang Mianmian immediately leaned over, ¡°Hurry and look! What¡¯s written on it! Read it out loud!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened the diary without hesitation, and surprisingly could understand the words in the diary even though it was not in Chinese.


    X year X month X dayOur ship set off. The captain got a treasure map. He said that if we can find the treasure, we can enjoy riches for the rest of our lives. Maybe we don¡¯t have to go to sea anymore. I am getting older and it is indeed time to return to my hometown to get married...


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...Returning to the hometown to get married is such a ssic FLAG! I can already guess what will happen next!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, wasn¡¯t this obvious. If nothing went wrong with this ship, then how did it be an empty ghost ship?


    X year X month X day, the wind and sea is calm, nothing happened.


    X year X month X day, the wind and sea is calm.


    He turned the pages, skipping these meaningless and trivial entries and finally found an entry that was a little different.


    X year X month X day,


    Today the captain told us that we will reach the destination on the treasure map soon. I am very happy. If I find the treasure, I can take the money back to my hometown to open a tavern and marry a beautiful wife. The captain said to me that although my cooking skills are average, my grilled fish is not bad. Maybe I can open a tavern specializing in grilling fish in the future.


    ¡°Another one! Double FLAG! They¡¯re finished! And then something must have gone wrong with their ship!¡± Tang Mianmian swore.


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to turn the page.


    X year X month X day, we found the treasure!


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°...What?! They found it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu flipped the page.


    ...The captain promises to give each of us arge sum of money and everyone is crazy happy. To celebrate finding the treasure, we are going to have a grand banquet. The captain said that the banquet willst three days and three nights!


    Tang Mianmian widened his eyes in shock, ¡°That¡¯s impossible! ording to the cliche, they shouldn¡¯t have found the treasure!¡±


    ¡°Maybe something happened after finding the treasure,¡± Xiao Tangqiu was calm and flipped some more only to see that the next few diary pages were nk. It seemed that this guy really was drunk for three days and three nights. It was only three dayster that some scribbled writing appeared in the diary.


    ...Something went wrong on the ship. A lot of food disappeared, as did the gold that the captain gave to the crew. Everyone says that there must be a thief on the ship and everyone is starting to panic...


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°Human nature is greedy. It¡¯s normal.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also nodded. He flipped again but the following entries were not dated and there wererge nks and empty pages between asional scribbles and inexplicable graffitis. The words were all scrambled around and impossible to read. After turning a few pages, he finally saw a line of words he could understand.


    There is less and less food on the ship and more and more people¡¯s gold is gone. And we can¡¯t find the way home... My gold is gone! Who stole my gold? I¡¯m going to kill him!


    ¡°Can¡¯t find the way home?¡± Tang Mianmian touched his chin. ¡°What does that mean? They lost their course at sea?¡±


    The following handwriting got more and more scribbly and it was obvious the writer got more and more manic. Xiao Tangqiu could imagine that this group of pirates lost their course on the sea, but the food was constantly decreasing, and the gold they finally found was also missing... but he didn¡¯t feel sorry for these guys at all.


    There is no food on the boat. Everyone is starting to riot. The captain is about to lose control of the scene. I secretly hid some food. I don¡¯t want gold anymore. I just want to go back alive...


    Tang Mianmian showed a knowing expression, ¡°Oh-hoh, something really happened.¡±


    Then came a few more nk pages, and then another few pages of scribbled graffiti. Finally, Xiao Tangqiu turned to thest page of the diary.


    It¡¯s all his fault! It¡¯s all his fault! He brought a curse to our ship!


    Then came a crazy string of curses. At the end of the diary was arge pool of ck stains that looked like dried blood.


    ¡°...That¡¯s it, it ends here.¡±


    Tang Mianmian stroked his chin, ¡°He? Who is he? The captain?¡±


    ¡°It might be the captain but it also might be someone else,¡± Xiao Tangqiu went through the diary again. ¡°This guy should really be the cook. After the food shortage incident on the ship, he secretly hid some. The food might be hidden in the kitchen, or it might be hidden elsewhere.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°Those sailors who were about to starve to death must have desperately searched for food in the kitchen. How could he hide food in the kitchen?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, ¡°That¡¯s true, it might be hidden somewhere else. But where can it be?¡±


    At this moment, Fei You, who had been silent, cautiously asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s weird? Even if this guy is the cook, no one on the boat has any food. Maybe even the captain had no food. So how could he have food to secretly hide?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Zhang Zuo thought for a moment, ¡°It might be grilled fish? Doesn¡¯t he often mention grilled fish in his diary?¡±


    Fei You shook his head, ¡°There are fish everywhere in the sea, how could these sailors not know? Also, what did this guy mean by the curse? Is it possible that they fell into desperation because they couldn¡¯t find the course nor could they catch any fish, so he thought it was a curse?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°It is true that the sea mayck freshwater resources, but there shouldn¡¯t be a shortage of food for a group of experienced pirates...¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked, ¡°So you mean...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Fei You nodded, ¡°Yes, the food this guy found may not be food at all, but...¡±


    At this moment, Duan Hongzhen suddenly kicked over the trash can in the corner and something rolled out. Zhang Zuo¡¯s expression changed, and he sat down on the ground, covering his mouth and retching-


    A dozen or so bloody severed fingers rolled out of the trash can and a rancid stench rushed over them.

 Chapter 89

    <h4>Chapter 89</h4>


    In addition to the dozen or so bloody fingers, there were also a couple of eyeballs, a few ears, and some other human organs that fell out of the trash can.


    Fei You didn¡¯t react at first, but then he startled and immediately ran to the side and threw up. After all, it was one thing to guess, but another thing to see with his own eyes.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian¡¯s reactions were much calmer than before. They had witnessed and experienced countless instances in the past hundred days, after all. The strange and terrible had all already been seen.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Sure enough, we are right.¡±


    After the pirate ship was enveloped by the so-called curse, not only did the food on the ship ceaselessly vanish, they likely also never caught any fish in the sea anymore. In this situation, even if this guy was the ship¡¯s cook, it was impossible to hide food. The food on the entire ship disappeared, where would this guy find any food? The result was self-evident, he put his thoughts on the most abundant thing on this ship: people.


    Maybe he still had some moral bottom line in his heart at the beginning. Maybe he had struggled and hesitated early on. But in the end, his desire for food overcame everything, defeating thest trace of conscience in his heart, and he raised the chef¡¯s knife in his hand on his formerpanions...


    Tang Mianmian touched his chin with some doubts, ¡°This guy openly murdered andmitted cannibalism, didn¡¯t anyone resist? Although his figure is sturdy, a chef should be considered a civilian job on a pirate ship, right? So how did he fight the other pirates who had rich experience inbat? Not to mention not just one... there must be at least seven people here, right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded. Even if the chef was skilled, it was impossible for one person to deal with so many pirates. The only possibility was...


    ¡°Maybe he didn¡¯t deal with seven at the same time but used his identity as a chef to trick these people into the kitchen one by one. Maybe he lied to them that he secretly hid food,¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned and analyzed, ¡°He might have lied by asking them to do something for him in exchange for some food, and then lure the pirate into the kitchen to chop up and eat. At this point, the ship was already a mess because of theck of food. Even the captain could not control the situation. This way, even if one or two people went missing, no one would find out, and they would not pursue even if they found out.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense!¡± Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°But how did this guy dieter on and had his body stuffed into a wooden chest? Did he kick an iron te and got killed when he was trying to kill? And why is his corpse full of gold coins? Did he secretly take the treasures that were missing on top of hiding ¡°food¡±?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not a super detective. I can¡¯t analyze the whole truth based on a little clue.¡±


    At this moment, Duan Hongzhen suddenly asked, ¡°So where are the remaining people? Where did they go?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly realized that no matter how powerful this chef was, it was impossible to kill all the people in the ship. So where did the rest go?


    Fei You had finished vomiting by now and he weakly proposed, ¡°Don¡¯t we still have the wine cer unexplored?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and see.¡±


    The wine cer was not locked so there was no room for Duan Hongzhen to y. Xiao Tangqiu gently pushed the wine cer door open.


    The choking dust blew out again apanied by a smell that was so burning that Xiao Tangqiu felt that he was about to suffocate.


    The time sailing at sea was very long and freshwater resources were not easy to preserve, so seafarers would often choose to rece water with alcohol that was easier to preserve. Therefore, there was only alcohol on board and no water. The wine cer on board was sealed airtight to better preserve it. The seal was well done so nothing had evaporated or oxidized and was very intoxicating.


    Except for Xiao Tangqiu, everyone hadplicated expressions. Even Duan Hongzhen frowned. Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression changed drastically and he pinched his nose and took a dozen steps back, ¡°Toxic!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Shen Yuan subconsciously, but Shen Yuan was still expressionless... He lowered his gaze and sighed softly in his heart.


    After regaining his memory, Shen Yuan seemed to have be even colder than before.


    For some reason, he always felt that there was an invisible line of sight on him. But whenever he looked at Shen Yuan, Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes were unfocused and didn¡¯t seem to be looking at anything, as if nothing in this world could be seen in his eyes.


    When the dust settled, the situation in the wine cer finally cleared up. There were dozens ofrge wine barrels densely stacked together. Because it¡¯s been too long, the wooden boards of some wine barrels were rotten and broken.


    It was easily conceivable that these wine barrels would be empty. There was a famine on this ship, after all. Even if there was wine, it would have been drunk long ago... The sea of ??wealth had be perilous, and they were tormented by starvation. Those pirates with fading vitality could only paralyze themselves with alcohol and escape the hopeless reality through drunkenness and death.


    Tang Mianmian went around in the wine cer and didn¡¯t find anything, ¡°It seems that there are only these big wine barrels in the wine cer!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu knocked on the empty barrels one by one. There was a hollow echo from the first barrel, and the same was true for the second barrel, but when he hit the third barrel, there was a dull echo. He perked up, ¡°There is something in this barrel!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen leaned in immediately and he also reached out and knocked on the wooden barrel. After confirming that there was something inside, he raised the knife in his hand and with one swipe, the wine barrel shattered.


    The moment the wine barrel fell apart, a corpse fell out.


    Like the previous chef, this corpse was also forcibly stuffed into this wooden wine barrel. Because the body has been trapped in this posture since death, the joints were all dislocated and the limbs were twisted and deformed. The moment it fell out, a few gold coins fell from the mouth of the corpse and rolled away.


    Duan Hongzhen kicked the corpse and judged calmly, ¡°This corpse seems to be full of gold coins.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a few seconds, then knocked on the next wine barrel and there was another dull echo. He and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and the two immediately pried open the top of the wine barrel together. Sure enough, there was also a corpse in it.


    He saw the corpse ¡°sit¡± in the barrel with his head up and butt down. Because the space in the barrel was too small, his limbs had to be twisted together and his head was almost sunken into his body. Xiao Tangqiu picked up a broken wooden board from the ground and pried open the corpse¡¯s mouth. It was filled with gold coins.


    Then they opened several more barrels, all of which contained dead bodies which were filled with gold coins.


    Xiao Tangqiu murmured, ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, everyone on the ship should be here...¡± The pirates on this ship were either killed by the chef or buried in the wine cer.


    Tang Mianmian touched his chin, ¡°Who did this? That cook died like this too. Was it the captain?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°No matter how powerful this captain was, it is impossible to kill dozens of people alone, right?¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked, ¡°Maybe he is not a human but a demon.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Let¡¯s look around and see if the captain¡¯s body is here!¡±


    They opened the remaining wine barrels one by one and ultimately found a lot of corpses full of gold coins. But these corpses were all dressed in the same clothes, they should be just ordinary pirates. In the end, they did not find the captain¡¯s corpse.


    ¡°The captain¡¯s body isn¡¯t here! See, I guessed right!¡±


    Tang Mianmian analyzed with interest, ¡°These people were really killed by the captain! After they found the treasure, the captain didn¡¯t want to distribute the treasure to his crew, wanting to keep it to himself. So he made up a terrible lie, saying that their ship was cursed while stealing food from the ship and the gold coins back from the crew. Finally, he killed the crew and stuffed them into these barrels! Perfect reasoning!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt there was something wrong, ¡°If the captain didn¡¯t want to share the treasure with the others, why didn¡¯t he kill all the pirates when he found the treasure?¡±


    Tang Mianmian thought for a while, ¡°He still needed these pirates to set sail?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°He killed the pirates before the ship reached shore. So then he would still have to sail the ship alone?¡±


    Tang Mianmian thought about it, too, ¡°Oh, right! Could it be that he suddenly became possessed?¡±


    At this moment, there was a scream from the deck outside.


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen was the first to react, turning around and sprinting towards the deck. The others quickly reacted and followed.


    As soon as they got onto the deck, a newbie covered in blood stumbled towards them.


    The newbie had a big bloody hole in his stomach and his intestines poured out. He didn¡¯t seem to notice it, only running towards them with terror, screaming for help, ¡°Help! Help! Help me!¡±


    When were there people on board this ship other than them?


    Xiao Tangqiu looked behind the man in surprise to see that the chef had ¡°resurrected¡± somehow. The chef was holding a rusty kitchen knife and swaying after him.


    Duan Hongzhen asked coldly, ¡°What did you just do?¡±


    The newbie screamed, ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡±


    Seeing that he didn¡¯t want to make a move, the newbie finally broke down and cried, ¡°I took his gold coin! But I only took one! Help me! I shouldn¡¯t have taken it! I was wrong!¡±


    Fei You immediately yelled, ¡°Then return the gold coins to him!¡±


    The newbie did not dare to stop at all and wanted to continue running towards them. The next second, he tripped onto the ground from panic.


    Seeing the chef catch up, he tremblingly took out the gold coin, ¡°I will... return it... to you!¡±


    The chef nkly looked at him and the kitchen knife in his hand fell.


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    A severed hand holding a gold coin rolled to the ground.


    The chef stared at the severed hand nkly, then stiffly picked it up and delivered it to his mouth along with the gold coin.


    A scalp-tingling chewing noise sounded.


    T/N: Sorry I missed the postst week. I¡¯ve been really busy with some family matters and wasn¡¯t able to trante. I¡¯ll post a make-up chapterter this week!

 Chapter 90

    <h4>Chapter 90</h4>


    The chef re-swallowed the coin into his stomach along with the severed hand and then looked up at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group. As Xiao Tangqiu tensed even more, the chef stiffly turned around and slowly walked back with dragging feet.


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, then subconsciously followed.


    The chef that had run out left a scattered trail of gold coins from the big hole Duan Hongzhen sliced into his stomach. He walked back slowly, stooping to pick up gold coins all the way. After a while, he finally picked up all the gold coins that fell out of his body and stuffed them back into the opening one by one.


    The chef finally returned to the previous room and then slowly climbed back into the wooden chest. He was too big for the chest but he still stuffed himself into it. In order to forcibly squeeze into the box, his limbs had to twist and be deformed again, faint cracking soundsing from the joints.


    Finally, the chef personally stuffed himself into the chest. Then he twisted his neck and closed his eyes, turning back into a cold corpse again.


    Tang Mianmian was silent for a long time before asking Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Is that it?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...It should be.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°So he just wanted to take the gold coin back?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded stiffly, ¡°Probably.¡±


    He suddenly felt that the ruby ??ring in his pocket was a little hot. The ruby ??ring was also taken out of the chef¡¯s body...


    After returning to the deck, Tang Mianmian remembered this issue, ¡°Why didn¡¯t he snatch the ruby ??ring back?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was jumping wildly, ¡°This question... I also want to know...¡±


    ¡°Rather than why he didn¡¯t take back the ruby ??ring, I want to know why he took back those gold coins,¡± Fei You suddenly spoke. He, as a newbie, was very pale from seeing the horrible scene just now. But obviously, his fear was still prevailed by curiosity, ¡°Do those gold coins symbolize anything?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to say something, but the newbie who was chased by the chef earlier cried out, ¡°Help me! Save me!¡±


    The newbie came while being chased, all his energy focused on surviving. It was not until he climbed onto the deck that he realized that he had been gutted. He immediately picked up his insides that had fallen all over the floor and tried to stuff them back. But it was in vain and his hands only became bloodier and he could only desperately ask for help from Duan Hongzhen and the others.


    Duan Hongzhen crossed his arms and said, ¡°You are injured too badly, it is toote to save you.¡±


    Tang Mianmian also sighed next to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Such a serious injury can only be saved if we can return to the City of the Abyss... but we have only just entered the instance.¡± And that newbie might not be able to survive to the end.


    ¡°You¡¯re lying! You¡¯re lying!¡± The newbie wailed, ¡°Help! Help me!¡±


    ¡°Why did you take the gold coin in the first ce?¡± Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow. ¡°In this world, no matter how much money you take, it doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t have the life to spend it.¡±


    ¡°I know I was wrong! I¡¯m sorry! Save me, save me...¡± The newbie¡¯s voice became weaker and weaker. He had lost too much blood.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but sigh in his heart. Duan Hongzhen and the others had experienced countless instances and had long steeled themselves. They naturally knew that money was worthless in this world of life and death. But these newbies were different. They still held the hope of being able to go back in their hearts... Wasn¡¯t it the same when he first came to this world?


    Duan Hongzhen raised the knife in his hand, ¡°I can¡¯t save you, but I can give you a fast and painless end.¡±


    Rather than dying a slow and agonizing death, a quick death was better. But the newbie obviously didn¡¯t think so. He clutched the big wound in his abdomen with a look of fear and crawled backward, ¡°Madman! You want to kill me?! No... I don¡¯t... want...¡±


    He crawled towards below the deck desperately, dragging blood all over the floor.


    Xiao Tangqiu originally thought that Duan Hongzhen would go after him, but Duan Hongzhen did not. He put down the knife in his hand and sneered, ¡°Coward.¡±


    As a newbie, Fei You obviously disagreed with Duan Hongzhen¡¯s approach. He paled and asked, ¡°If it were you, would you be willing to be killed quickly?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen twitched his lips, ¡°Of course, I would even be grateful to the person who killed me.¡±


    Fei You was speechless, unable to respond.


    The remaining couple of newbies trembled. After experiencing the scene just now, they became deeply aware of the cruelty of this world... and the cruelty of their teammates.


    ¡°You see, don¡¯t take things randomly...¡± Duan Hongzhen squinted at them. ¡°If you die then you die. If you drag down others, don¡¯t me others for being heartless.¡±


    The newbies trembled like quails.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated, ¡°That newbie...¡±


    Xue Junli spoke lightly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him, continue searching.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the blood trail left by the newbie¡¯s crawling and sighed. If the newbie was given a chance, maybe he would be a veteran like Duan Hongzhen and the others. But the issue was giving this newbie a chance. And who would give the other newbies who couldn¡¯t survive the instance a chance?


    This world was so cruel, but it treated everyone equally. People who were only lucky couldn¡¯t live to the end with luck. Wasn¡¯t the


    geek


    they met before a good example?


    Veterans like Duan Hongzhen and Shen Yuan, didn¡¯t they all struggle and fight on a long road before bing tempered?


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu felt Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze again and subconsciously looked in his direction. But Shen Yuan was still not looking at him.


    ...Was he being too narcissistic?


    They searched the other ces but didn¡¯t find anything. Other than the corpse of the chef and the corpses in the barrels in the wine cer, they didn¡¯t find any other corpses. They also never found the captain¡¯s dead body.


    Tang Mianmian touched his chin, ¡°There is only one truth... the murderer is actually the captain!¡±


    Xue Junli looked up at the sky, ¡°It¡¯s getting dark.¡±


    Tang Mianmian became excited in an instant, ¡°Maybe something will be triggered!¡±


    Fei You asked nkly, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Tang Mianmian exined, ¡°Many instances rely on time to drive the plot. Some events that cannot be triggered during the day will be triggered naturally at night or at a certain time.¡±


    ¡°I see. So that¡¯s what it means to be more ominous at night?¡± Fei You understood and he shivered, ¡°I... I¡¯m afraid of ghosts...¡±


    Tang Mianmian patted Fei You on the shoulder andforted him, ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯ll get used to running into ghosts and such.¡±


    Fei You exploded and said, ¡°How can you get used to it?!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen grinned and said, ¡°Rest early. There might be a fierce battle in the evening.¡±


    Yu Fuling spoke up, ¡°There are only two ces where you can rest, the captain¡¯s room and the crew quarters. The captain¡¯s room has only one bed. Our Reincarnation Team will live in the captain¡¯s room and the others will live in the crew quarters. Anyone disagree?¡±


    The newbies naturally did not dare to disagree and tremblingly agreed.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel a little awkward. Was he a member of the Reincarnation Team? Tang Mianmian should be regarded as a full member of the Reincarnation Team now, but he had been offline for so long... Even when he was offline for a long time when ying games, he would automatically leave the party.


    His current situation was really awkward. Although he died to save Shen Yuan, Shen Yuan did not seem to be grateful. Although he did not save Shen Yuan to gain Shen Yuan¡¯s gratitude, he had to say... Shen Yuan¡¯s indifferent and cold attitude gave him a sense of frustrating powerlessness like punching against cotton.


    At this moment, Fei You suddenly grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand and whispered, ¡°You should be a veteran yer too, can you live with us? I¡¯m a little scared.¡±


    Although there was nothing to protest about veterans and newbies living separately, newbies living together would only be able to huddle together waiting to die should anything happen. So having Xiao Tangqiu was like finding driftwood in the ocean. Although Xiao Tangqiu was a veteran yer, he seemed to have aplicated rtionship with other veterans. The most important thing was that Xiao Tangqiu knew him.


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded and agreed. In this case, no matter how he chose, it would be awkward. Fei You¡¯s request actually gave him a way out and he even secretly breathed a sigh of relief.


    Tang Mianmian saw that Xiao Tangqiu was taken by Fei You to the crew quarters and quickly followed, ¡°Then I will sleep with Qiuqiu!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows at this, ¡°Hey, you are also our team members, how can you act without authorization? Captain, what do you say?¡±


    Shen Yuan was silent for a while, then said coldly, ¡°Let them do as they like.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen shrugged, ¡°Alright, do as you like, the captain can¡¯t control you anymore.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu noticed that Shen Yuan¡¯s attitude seemed a bit wavering and couldn¡¯t help hesitate for a while. But the next moment, he was strongly dragged to the crew quarters by Fei You. Before he could react, he was dragged into the room.


    ¡°Please! For the sake of both of us being apocalyptic travelers, let¡¯s sleep together!¡± Fei You begged Xiao Tangqiu eagerly, ¡°We are both streamers, and a streamer should help another streamer, right?¡±


    Seeing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s helpless look, he continued, ¡°You even watch my live streams, you should be my fan? I¡¯ll give you my signature! Ten! No! One hundred! Zhang Zuo can also give you his signature!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled helplessly, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll sleep together.¡±


    They all crossed over here, what¡¯s the use of signatures?


    Even banknotes were just pieces of waste paper.


    Compared to Xiao Tangqiu, Tang Mianmian was in a great mood. After all, his best friend had been miraculously resurrected, he had hope in life, there waspany for bantering, there were no regrets in life.


    He happily began to pull out his backpack, ¡°We have four people, great! Three people can only y


    Fight the Landlord


    , four people can y mahjong! The mahjong set I brought is finally useful!¡±

 Chapter 91

    <h4>Chapter 91</h4>


    For a moment, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know whether he shouldin or admire Tang Mianmian for having the nerves and leisure to y mahjong.


    Fei You asked Tang Mianmian with tears, ¡°You actually are in the mood to y mahjong?¡±


    Tang Mianmian heheh¡¯d, ¡°Just kidding, it¡¯s to help you guys rx a bit!¡±


    Fei You couldn¡¯tugh at all. He nced at Tang Mianmian, speechless.


    At this moment, a newbie suddenly screamed, ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu jumped and instinctively wanted to take out his crossbow only to realize that his crossbow was gone.


    He patted himself down. While his clothes were still there, his weapons and backpack were gone. It seemed that dying here resulted in dropped equipment.


    Meanwhile, Tang Mianmian had quickly pulled out his dagger. His dagger seemed to have undergone some changes from before. It likely underwent several special modifications before finally bing what it was now.


    He turned serious and his aura was much stronger than before, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Ahhhhhh! There¡¯s a ghost!¡± The newbie screamed and jumped off the bed, turning towards the door to flee. Tang Mianmian rushed forward to look and became speechless.


    ¡°What damn ghost! Are your eyes bad? This is just a piece of clothing!¡±


    Tang Mianmian used a dagger to toss things off the bed and it turned out to be just a tattered piece of clothing. But this bundled piece of clothing was dark and dirty, unworn for who knew how long. In this dimly lit cabin, it was easy to mistake for other things.


    The newbie looked back, trembling, ¡°It¡¯s just... just a piece of clothing?¡±


    Another newbie sneered and said, ¡°Coward! A guy like you won¡¯t survive five minutes in a horror movie!¡±


    The newbie was immediately upset. He wanted to refute but he turned his head and saw that the man mocking him was a muscr man so he cowed back.


    The brawny man nced at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, ¡°Are you all so-called veteran yers? You don¡¯t seem like much either!¡±


    Tang Mianmian rolled his eyes and Xiao Tangqiu smiled and didn¡¯t speak. He didn¡¯t know what Duan Hongzhen and them did to make these newbies obedient. But this guy before him obviously had good eyesight. He could see that the two of them were just the tails of the team.


    He originally thought this guy was being prickly and he had to challenge him before the situation was over. But unexpectedly, that guy just spurned them, then yawned and turned around, ¡°Humph! Anyway, it¡¯s none of my business, I just want to live to the end!¡±


    After the newbie was frightened by the clothes on the bed, he shakily chose the bed farthest from the original. But before he could climb up, he was pulled away by the brawny man. ¡°Scram. I want to sleep in this bed!¡±


    The shaking newbie protested, ¡°I was here first!¡±


    ¡°So what if you came first? Do you want to fight me!¡± The strong man flexed his biceps.


    The newbie shook a bit and silently left the bed.


    Actually, there were plenty of beds in the room because there were threeyers in each bunk bed: top, middle, and bottom. But most people chose to take up a whole bunk. After all, if there was any danger and they needed to immediately escape, there was only onedder up and down. Nobody wanted to waste valuable timepeting for thedder.


    Also, most people chose the lower or the middle bunk and there was basically nobody who wanted the top bunk. Additionally, most of them chose a bed near the door like the timid newbie who originally chose the bed closest to the door. But the muscr man snatched that bed away. Being the closest to the door meant having the easiest escape path, after all.


    After being robbed of the bed, the cowardly newbie chose another bed that was near the door and climbed up in shame.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and found the two closest beds and climbed up. Although the conditions in the cabin were very poor and the beds were dark and dank with an unspeakable smell, it was still great to have a bed to sleep inpared to the floor.


    The two of them hadn¡¯t seen each other for a long time, and it was even a parting of life and death, so naturally, there were endless things to say. They reminisced for ages before Fei You finally couldn¡¯t help but cut in, ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to ask... Didn¡¯t Tang Mianmian say that you died? How are you alive now? Can people be resurrected in this world?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu coughed and avoided the topic, ¡°It¡¯s quite a long story, and it¡¯s hard to exin clearly...¡±


    Fei You, ¡°Then take your time.¡±


    ¡°If we can leave here alive, I¡¯ll tell you...¡± Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°More than that, I want to know why you guys are here? I remember watching your live stream a few days before I came to this damned ce. Weren¡¯t you eating pufferfish live at that time?¡±


    Fei You spoke gloomily, ¡°Yes, I went to the hospital after the live stream.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...And then?¡±


    No wonder Fei You didn¡¯t live stream again for several days after that. Before, Fei You live streamed every day and he already had a habit of watching Fei You¡¯s gourmet live streams.


    Fei You was very down, ¡°Iid around in the hospital for a few days, and when I recovered, I was already on this ship...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched and looked at Zhang Zuo, ¡°What about him?¡±


    Zhang Zuo silently raised his head to look at the ceiling, ¡°I went to the hospital for a visit and then lost consciousness.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and thought, ¡°It seems that there is actually a time difference between crossing over...¡±


    By rough calctions, the time they transmigrated should be around the same as Fei You and Zhang Zuo¡¯s, but Fei You and Zhang Zuo¡¯s actual entry into this game was three to four whole months after them.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something, and asked Fei You and Zhang Zuo, ¡°Then before you transmigrated here, have you heard of the game The Abyss?¡±


    Fei You and Zhang Zuo looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time, ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. Fei You was just a gourmet host, so not having heard of this game was normal. But Zhang Zuo was also a game host... Was this game really something only Tang Mianmian and he had seen and yed?


    Xiao Tangqiu fell back on the bed with deep doubts. The ship rocked with the waves of the sea and he felt like a lone boat swaying and undting in the sea. From time to time, a big wave would hit and he would be almost thrown out of the bed. Fortunately, there was a big in front of the bed so he wouldn¡¯t really get tossed out.


    He was so overwhelmed that he couldn¡¯t sleep and couldn¡¯t help but want to talk to Tang Mianmian about why only the two of them knew about the game The Abyss. But when he looked up, he saw that Tang Mianmian was asleep and was happily snoring away.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed helplessly andid down again, closing his eyes and forcing himself to fall asleep.


    Who knew what they would encounter next? It was better to get a good night¡¯s sleep and umte fighting strength!


    Xiao Tangqiu was very restless. Whenever he tried to fall asleep, the scene of Shen Yuan moving away during the day would appear before his eyes, making his heart twitch ufortably. He wanted so desperately to survive to find Shen Yuan again, but Shen Yuan¡¯s attitude was so uncaring...


    Xiao Tangqiu vaguely recollected what had happened in the past three months and unknowingly fell asleep.


    But he still slept very unsteadily. He floated up and down in his dream until a cold and wet touch made him suddenly awaken¡ª


    He looked down to see a pale and swollen hand grasping his ankle!


    The hand was as cold as ice, damp, and covered in salty seawater. A chill spread from his ankle.


    Xiao Tangqiu yelled and kicked the pale hand, but the hand was like iron tongs, firmly grasping his ankle. No matter how he kicked it, he couldn¡¯t move it at all. He quickly turned over and rolled down from the bed. When hended, he discovered that the cold hand came from a pirate.


    More urately, it should be the corpse of a pirate. That hand was so cold it obviously couldn¡¯t be the body temperature of a normal living person.


    The pirate likely died after falling into the water. Not only was his body swollen, deformed, pale, and rotten, but his eyeballs also bulged out due to the swollen eyelids, swaying out of the sockets. The clothes on his body had be rags, barely hanging on there. His belt was probably of good quality as it hadn¡¯t rotted yet, and there was still a dagger hanging on it.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t hesitate to snatch the dagger and severed the drowned ghost¡¯s hand to rescue his ankle.


    At the same time, Tang Mianmian, who slept next to him, also jumped out of bed and the head of a drowned ghostnded with him, ¡°Qiuqiu! Are you okay?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head and turned to look. As expected, the entire cabin was already crowded with drowned ghosts, and more drowned ghosts squeezed in from the door. These drowned ghosts seemed to have just climbed up from the sea. All of them dripped with seawater, each bloated and rotting.


    Some of the faster drowned ghosts had already climbed onto the beds and scalp-tingling chewing sounds can be heard from individual bunks. No matter how fast Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian moved, they couldn¡¯t save everyone. They could only save a few people near them. Fei You and Zhang Zuo were lucky and their beds have yet to have drowned ghosts climb on. Other than a lot of fright, they didn¡¯t suffer much.


    But the other newbies didn¡¯t have such good luck. When Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian arrived, they were considered lucky if they hadplete corpses. Those who were out of luck had multiple drowned ghosts crawling all over them and only a few parts were left.


    Ultimately, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian only had time to save the cowardly newbie. Seeing more and more drowned ghosts pour in, Xiao Tangqiu promptly said, ¡°Run!¡±


    When they retreated to the door, they discovered that the bed closest to the door was empty. Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but be curious, ¡°Where is that muscr man?¡±


    The cowardly guy was trembling with fright, but couldn¡¯t help but gloat when he saw it, ¡°De-definitely was eaten!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°Even if he was eaten, there should be traces left...¡±


    The coward gloated even more, ¡°That he was eaten sopletely that there are not even scraps left!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the empty bed and an unpleasant premonition appeared in his heart, but he nced at Tang Mianmian and swallowed his words.

 Chapter 92

    <h4>Chapter 92</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu used the dagger stolen from the drowned ghost and fought side by side with Tang Mianmian all the way out of the room. Although Fei You and Zhang Zuo did not help much as rookies, they did not drag them down as baggage.


    ¡°Escaped! We actually escaped!¡± The coward cried with his head in his arms, looking like he had escaped death through countless sufferings and hardships.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help reminding him, ¡°This is just the beginning...¡± The real show had yet toe!


    The coward shook all over.


    Fei You asked anxiously, ¡°I wonder know what happened to the others...¡±


    Tang Mianmian said with a grin, ¡°You mean Shen Yuan¡¯s group? Don¡¯t worry, they are definitely fine!¡±


    Zhang Zuo looked back and sighed, ¡°No one else escaped other than the five of us.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Although he didn¡¯t spend much time with the newbies and didn¡¯t even know their names, the newbies were still a few lively people not long ago. In a blink of an eye, they became icy cold corpses... This was the first time he saw people die so directly in an instance, and it was even a mass death.


    He expression tensed, ¡°They¡¯re chasing us! Run!¡±


    Those drowned ghosts were almost upon them!


    Without need to consider, everyone turned around and ran towards the deck. Since their room had been upied by drowned ghosts, the other rooms in the cabin should also be filled with drowned ghosts!


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian ran onto the deck first to be met with a chilling and damp breeze that dispelled the lingering scent of death from the drowned ghosts in their noses. But soon they realized that this cold sea breeze carried a disgusting rancid smell.


    The dark night that enveloped the turbulent sea had no stars or moon. They could barely even see their fingers and could only run in the dark. They didn¡¯t even have time to stop and take out a shlight due to the drowned ghosts chasing behind them. Once they stopped, they might be torn into pieces.


    As Xiao Tangqiu ran, he suddenly tripped over something and fell onto the deck. He discovered that it was a cold and wet hand grabbing his ankle. By then, the group of drowned ghosts behind him had already caught up!


    He quickly turned over to block. In the panic, a drowned ghost snatched the dagger from his hand!


    He looked up and saw that the drowned ghost who grabbed the de had one arm missing&#k2026; It turned out that the owner hade knocking!


    Seeing that Xiao Tangqiu was surrounded and had lost his weapon, Tang Mianmian rushed over to try to help him. However, even if he struck one down per hit, there was still a steady stream of drowned ghosts around him. Soon, he discovered that besides the ship¡¯s pirates, there were many ordinary civilians among the drowned ghosts. He saw many gentlemen anddies in Chinese robes. Although these Chinese robes had been corroded to rags by the ocean, it was still obviously high-quality fabrics&#k2026; Were these people innocent victims killed by the pirates?


    Just as Tang Mianmian was puzzled, he watched as ady in a dpidated gorgeous dress rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu and throw herself in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face for a ¡°kiss¡±!


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t want this kind of


    peach blossom luck


    at all, even if it was from ady that was probably a peerless beauty in her time based on her remaining facial features. He couldn¡¯t handle such beauty at all!


    After thedy drowned ghost toppled him to the ground, she opened her mouth and lowered her head to bite him. The saltwater on her body dripped onto his face, but that was not the most disgusting part. Her open mouth was covered with thin and dense fangs and a long, slender tongue full of barbs. A string of fishy saliva dripped from the long and slender tongue...


    Xiao Tangqiu almost threw up from disgust. While resisting nausea, he gathered his strength, nning to headbutt it when it bit him. Although it was a bit disgusting, the human skull was the hardest part of a person, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem?


    Seeing the drowned ghost about to bite him, Xiao Tangqiu braced himself. But the next moment, the drowned ghost that had been on his body suddenly disappeared!


    He looked dumbfounded as the drowned ghosts that had surrounded him disappeared one by one, leaving nothing behind... His heart jumped and he raised his head and looked ahead. Sure enough, Shen Yuan was standing in front of him sullenly holding a silver gun.


    Within moments, all the drowned ghosts besieging Xiao Tangqiu disappeared. Shen Yuan put down the silver gun and gave Xiao Tangqiu a cold look.


    Xiao Tangqiu thought that Shen Yuan would walk away like before, but Shen Yuan did not. After taking a cool look at him, he walked straight towards him.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped wildly. What was Shen Yuan doing?


    In the next second, he saw Shen Yuan raise the silver gun in his hand and aim it at him.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart almost stopped beating. He couldn¡¯t believe that Shen Yuan would shoot him and could only watch Shen Yuan¡¯s movements without daring to move.


    Shen Yuan shot without hesitation.


    Bang!


    Xiao Tangqiu instinctively closed his eyes and his heart contracted violently. But the pain he had imagined did note. Instead, there was movement behind him. He turned around and saw a drowned ghost disappearing.


    It turned out that Shen Yuan didn¡¯t shoot at him but at the drowned ghost behind him!


    Xiao Tangqiu was ecstatic and then felt bted fear. He didn¡¯t know when the drowned ghost behind him approached. If Shen Yuan wasn¡¯t here, the drowned ghost likely would¡¯ve taken him down... No, If there was no Shen Yuan, he didn¡¯t even know if he could have handled thedy drowned ghost!


    Before he could react, Shen Yuan arrived beside him and stretched out a hand towards him.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at Shen Yuan¡¯s hand nkly. The hand was fair and slender, but also looked very powerful...


    Seeing Xiao Tangqiu not reacting for a long time, Shen Yuan frowned slightly and pulled Xiao Tangqiu up from the ground with one hand.


    By the time Xiao Tangqiu reacted, he had already been picked up by Shen Yuan like a puppy. He quickly thanked him, ¡°Thank you¡ª mmm!¡±


    The next moment, he was gagged by the handkerchief in Shen Yuan¡¯s hand. Shen Yuan took out a handkerchief from who knew where and was wiping his mouth with it. No, it was to wipe off the seawater near his mouth that dripped from the drowned ghost.


    Shen Yuan expressionlessly wiped Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth with the handkerchief. He used some strength and it hurt a little bit. Xiao Tangqiu wanted to struggle but Shen Yuan grabbed his wrist and continued to wipe.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know if he wanted tough or cry, ¡°I¡¯ll do it myself...¡±


    Shen Yuan didn¡¯t listen and kept a hold of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s wrist and wiped his mouth, but he lessened the strength. Xiao Tangqiu struggled a few times and didn¡¯t break free, so he just bit the bullet and let Shen Yuan continue to wipe.


    Shen Yuan meticulously wiped off the seawater on every inch of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face. Towards the end, his movements became extremely gentle, as if he was wiping precious porcin.


    Nevertheless, when Shen Yuan put down the handkerchief, the skin on Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face had been rubbed pink. Fortunately, the sky was already dark and it didn¡¯t look obvious.


    Xiao Tangqiu said ufortably, ¡°Thank...thank you...¡±


    Shen Yuan lowered his head and looked at Xiao Tangqiu as if he wanted to say something. At this moment, Duan Hongzhen suddenly yelled from nearby, ¡°Captain! Come help! Can¡¯t hold this side anymore! These water rats are too much. too much!¡±


    Shen Yuan paused, took a look at Xiao Tangqiu, then turned and left. Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a while and quickly followed. Duan Hongzhen and others fought on their own, every one surrounded by dozens of drowned ghosts. Although they killed quickly, new drowned ghosts quickly lunged over.


    Xiao Tangqiu shouted, ¡°Quick! shlight!¡± His equipment had dropped when he died, but luckily Tang Mianmian had prepared a shlight.


    As soon as Tang Mianmian turned on the shlight, everyone in the audience was horrified. They saw countless drowned ghosts crawling on the deck and the railings around the deck were crowded with drowned ghosts trying to squeeze in. The shlight shone towards the sea to reveal a scalp-tingling scene of the sea full of drowned ghosts!


    Those drowned ghosts stretched their arms towards the ship, obviously a part of the boarding army.


    ¡°Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!¡± Tang Mianmian eximed repetitively, ¡°How can there be so many! How can there be so many!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt unwell all over. It was no wonder that the ship felt particrly bumpy at night. It was not that the wind and waves are bigger at night, but that these drowned ghosts were desperately squeezing onto the ship!


    ¡°Wait!¡± He suddenly realized something was wrong, ¡°This ship seems... a little shorter than before!¡± The ship deck was a distance from the sea level, but it was obviously much closer now than before.


    He quickly realized that it was not that the ship had be shorter, but that the ship had sunk a lot due to the increased weight! This ship was originally small and it had been abandoned for a long time in disrepair, but these drowned ghosts were still climbing continuously...


    Xue Junli quickly realized, ¡°The ship is sinking!¡±


    Tang Mianmian instantly paled, ¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck! I can¡¯t swim!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°It¡¯s not a question of whether you can swim. With so many drowned ghosts down there, guess if you¡¯ll drown first or be bitten to death by these drowned ghosts first?¡±


    Tang Mianmian paled further, ¡°Can I not guess?¡±


    The drowned ghosts continued to climb onto the deck from the sea and the small broken ship began to be overwhelmed and gradually sank.


    Xiao Tangqiu was very anxious. At this moment he suddenly saw a piece of very familiar clothing hanging on the railing of the deck. He quickly grabbed Tang Mianmian, ¡°Look! That piece of clothing!¡±


    ¡°What are you caring about clothes for at this time!¡± Tang Mianmian turned to look, and suddenly reacted, ¡°Fuck! Isn¡¯t that the clothes that arrogant guy was wearing? How can his clothes be there?¡±

 Chapter 93

    <h4>Chapter 93</h4>


    The clothing hanging on the deck rails were the clothes worn by the brawny man who had disappeared from the cabin.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on! Why are his clothes here? Did he jump into the sea to escape after seeing the drowned ghosts climb onto the ship?¡± Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help guessing.


    ¡°Do people take off their clothes when escaping into the sea? It¡¯s suicides when people take off their clothes!¡± Xiao Tangqiu retorted.


    Tang Mianmian continued to specte, ¡°Maybe he saw that the drowned ghosts were about to get on the ship and jumped into the sea tomit suicide?¡±


    ¡°He chose tomit suicide by jumping into the sea, instead of jumping directly into the nest of drowned ghosts? And in terms of his character, he is definitely not a suicidal person.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu calmly analyzed it. Although he didn¡¯t know this guy beforehand, judging from the bed-robbing incident between him and the coward, this guy has an arrogant and self-assured personality. He definitely didn¡¯t seem like someone who wouldmit suicide. He might believe it if it was someone like the coward who wouldmit suicide to escape everything.


    Tang Mianmian thought for a long time without direction and simply gave up, ¡°Forget it, this is not important. This isn¡¯t a murder mystery instance anyways! The most important thing now is how to escape this ship!¡±


    More and more drowned ghosts climbed onto the ship, and the small broken ship began to sink little by little. If they couldn¡¯t find a solution before the ship sank into the sea, they would follow the ship to the bottom of the sea.


    ¡°How to escape?¡± Fei You asked with a wry smile, ¡°Only if you can find an ind... or another boat.¡± However, in the vast sea, where was there such a coincidence of encountering another ship or an ind when they were about to sink?


    Zhang Zuo was covered with cold sweat, ¡°I have been paying attention since I got on the boat. We have never encountered any inds or other ships here.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. What did this mean? Were there no other sea vessels besides their ship on this sea?


    ¡°Right! The map! The map in the captain¡¯s room!¡± He suddenly thought of something and called out, ¡°Will the map in the captain¡¯s room mark where there isnd nearby? Let¡¯s go back and look for it!¡±


    Xue Junli nced at him, ¡°The map is in my hand.¡±


    Xue Junli unfolded the old yellowed map. Due to the age, the writing on it was illegible, but it was still recognizable.


    ¡°Ghost Sea... Siren Bay... Treasure Ind...¡± Xiao Tangqiu tried to identify the things on the map, ¡°Ghost Sea? Maybe we are here now? After crossing the Ghost Sea, it¡¯s Siren Bay. After Siren Bay is Treasure Ind. So Treasure Ind is probably the destination of this pirate ship.¡±


    Xue Junli suddenly said, ¡°You can read the characters on this map?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback, ¡°Yes, can¡¯t you?¡±


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°This map is not in Chinese.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded. He also knew that the text on the map was not in Chinese, but he could understand it.


    Xue Junli continued, ¡°&#k2026;and it¡¯s not in English, not even any kind of text I¡¯ve seen.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback again, ¡°You mean...¡±


    ¡°This is likely an unknown text, and the era and background of this instance may not necessarily be the Age of Exploration that we know of.¡± Xue Junli looked at Xiao Tangqiu with a probing gaze, ¡°Actually, I also flipped through the logbook earlier, it is also iprehensible.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. Although he realized that the text on the logbook and the map was not Chinese, he thought it was the system¡¯s built-in trantor when he saw that he could understand it. They had previous experience of being able to understand the NPCs despite thenguage difference, after all. But now Xue Junli said he couldn¡¯t understand these words...


    He subconsciously looked at Tang Mianmian, who shook his head, ¡°I can¡¯t understand it either.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu waspletely lost. What¡¯s going on? Could it be that after he died once, he dropped all his equipment but gained an awesome new skill?


    Tang Mianmian asked Xue Junli curiously, ¡°Under what circumstances can we read the text we don¡¯t understand in an instance?¡±


    Xue Junli lightly said, ¡°When the plot needs it or if something happens to be an important plot item we are looking for, we can understand the text. If we don¡¯t understand it, it¡¯s not the plot clue we¡¯re looking for. Or it¡¯s a rted plot we have yet to trigger. All important plot items are just ordinary items before the plot is triggered.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu more or less understood Xue Junli¡¯s meaning. Although they appeared on the pirate ship from the get-go, it did not mean that they already triggered the relevant plot. The instance had only just begun. Maybe they still needed to do something else to trigger the plot, such as finding Treasure Ind... Before that, everything on the pirate ship was just ordinary things, not story items, just like the quest items he needed to look for when ying games. A grass he often passed by, before receiving the quest, was just ordinary grass. Only the quest gave it value.


    Xue Junli and Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t read the text in the logbook and the map because they had not officially triggered the plot on the pirate ship.


    Tang Mianmian continued to ask, ¡°Then under what circumstances can I understand the text on the plot items before triggering the plot?¡±


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact circumstances, but I know there is a type of person who can understand the text on story items before the story is triggered.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately asked, ¡°Who?¡±


    Xue Junli paused before speaking, ¡°...NPCs.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly shivered and he instinctively denied, ¡°You think I am an NPC? No way!¡±


    Tang Mianmian also couldn¡¯t believe it and eximed, ¡°There must be a mistake! How can my Qiuqiu be an NPC! How can there be an NPC like him?¡±


    Xue Junli nced at Xiao Tangqiu lightly, ¡°I didn¡¯t say that he was an NPC, it¡¯s just that it¡¯s a possibility...Although we have never encountered an NPC that pretends to be a dead teammate and can cross over instances, it does not mean that it is not possible.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback for a moment. NPCs that can pretend to be yers were quitemon, but NPCs that could cross through instances were very rare! Only high leveled demons could do it!


    And the demons in thest instance were only Lily Marlene and the Abyssal Demon...


    His heart jumped, did Xue Junli think he was transformed from Lily Marlene or the Abyss Demon?


    At this moment, Shen Yuan who was silent suddenly spoke, ¡°He is not.¡±


    Xue Junli frowned slightly, ¡°But...¡±


    Shen Yuan interrupted Xue Junli¡¯s words and said coldly, ¡°He is not.¡±


    Everyone went silent. After a moment, Duan Hongzhen rubbed his ears and said, ¡°Since the captain said he is not, he¡¯s definitely not! Besides... why the hell would they pretend to be this kid?¡±


    Shen Yuan said coldly, ¡°Regardless, first think of a way to get out of here.¡±


    He nced at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°After you leave this instance, you can exin... about your ¡°resurrection¡±.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt relieved and understood that this issue was temporarily over. No wonder everyone was full of vignce when he appeared. It turned out that they were suspicious of him... But it¡¯s understandable, after all, thest instance they were together had two demons ying around.


    Fei You asked nkly, ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Ahem, nothing!¡± Tang Mianmian silently raised his head and looked up at the sky, ¡°If you can get out alive, then you will know.¡± Although they were born from the same root, who knew if these two could survive to the end? Saying anything now would be meaningless.


    Fei You, ¡°...Hey, hey! Don¡¯t jinx us!¡±


    Yu Fuling¡¯s expression suddenly tensed, ¡°A storm ising!¡±


    Not long after her words fell, the whole ship shook violently. The strong sea gales mixed with churning waves hit the crumbling ship violently. Although some drowned ghosts were blown off the ship by the sea wind, the situation was obviously worse than before.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly grabbed the rails to prevent himself from being thrown out by the shaking. As the heavy rain struck, the ship sank faster and faster. In a blink of an eye, the cabin was flooded with water and the sea gradually covered the deck. Arge wave of drowned ghosts took the opportunity to jump onto the deck.


    ¡°Quick! To the observation deck!¡± Shen Yuan promptly said.


    The tallest ce on this ship was the captain¡¯s room and the observation deck in front of the captain¡¯s room. These two ces should also be thest ces to sink to the bottom of the sea. Although they would sink sooner orter, they could at least buy them some time.


    No one hesitated to turn to the observation deck. Although they encountered drowned ghosts in the way, they still managed to cut a bloody path through the obstacles. No, it was not ¡°blood¡± to be exact. When their weapons pierced the drowned ghosts¡¯ body, what sshed out was not bright red blood, but fishy and ck sea water.


    When they finally reached the observation deck, the ship was half sunk, the deck waspletely immersed in the sea, and they finally saw the surrounding environment... The densely packed drowned ghosts were everywhere. They surrounded the ship, spreading out beyond what they could see. Once they fall into the water, they would be torn to pieces by these drowned ghosts!


    ¡°There is a telescope!¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly found a standing telescope on the observation deck and rushed over.


    ¡°What do you see?¡± Tang Mianmian asked nervously.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°It¡¯s too dark, I can¡¯t see anything...¡±


    ¡°Wait! I see something! There is a ship! No... it¡¯s a cruise ship! A very big cruise ship!¡± He cried out in disbelief.


    That huge cruise ship seemed to appear out of nowhere. On the originally dark and empty sea, a huge and luxurious cruise ship appeared out of thin air. The cruise ship was full of lights and colors just like a mobile city.


    ¡°Is it a mirage?¡± he couldn¡¯t help muttering.


    ¡°No! No!¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly eximed, ¡°Look! Look up!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his head instinctively and not far ahead of them was a huge luxury cruise ship. There seemed to be a banquet on the deck of the cruise ship and countless men and women in luxurious outfits were ying in the dim lights.

 Chapter 94

    <h4>Chapter 94</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu had only seen such scenes in movies before.


    The spectacle of lights and mingling people made him wonder if they were not at sea at this time, but at some luxurious banquet. He assumed it was a mirage at first, but soon he realized that it was not.


    Mirages were all illusions, but the banquet scene before him was very real and clear. He could even see the folds on the women¡¯s dresses through the telescope. Each of their smiles and moves was very clear.


    Then he realized the most incredible thing.


    ¡°There is no storm on the cruise ship...¡±


    The waters by the pirate ship were shrouded in the storm with wind and rain whipping all around. This small and broken ship was tossed around the water like a leaf, and they had to hold on to the surrounding fence to not be thrown out. But the surroundings of the cruise ship were calm. Not only was the cruise ship moving steadily, but even the guests on the ship were enjoying the open-air banquet in a leisurely manner.


    The others also noticed this and Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°It¡¯s too weird. Is that cruise ship also a ghost ship?¡±


    Shen Yuan calmly spoke, ¡°Go and take a look.¡±


    Fei You asked weakly, ¡°Are we really going to go over? That ship looks kind of ghostly...¡± On this stormy night, a luxury cruise ship with a banquet suddenly appeared... No matter how you think about it, it¡¯s not right!


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°Do you want to stay with these drowned ghosts?¡±


    Fei You shivered and immediately changed his words, ¡°Then I will choose the cruise ship!¡±


    This pirate ship was about to sink. Only a fool would stay here!


    By now, the sea had spread up along the wooden stairs and was about to engulf the remaining captain¡¯s room and observation deck. The drowned ghosts surrounded and stared at them with greedy eyes, as if waiting for them to fall into the water.


    Shen Yuan promptly said, ¡°The ship is about to sink. Let¡¯s put on our life jackets and go to the cruise ship!¡±


    They were fully equipped, and they even prepared life jackets. But unfortunately, they only prepared one each. There were four people left without life jackets and Xiao Tangqiu was one of them.


    The coward was shaking like a sieve, ¡°What if we don¡¯t have a life jacket? Help me! Please help me! I don¡¯t want to die!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart dropped. Although everyone in the Reincarnation Team prepared life jackets, their life jackets were obviously only enough for their own use. Regardless of whether a life jacket could bear the weight of two people, even if it could, with an extra person being dragged behind them, the wearer would have no way to free their hands to deal with the drowned ghosts.


    Fei You was sweating like crazy as he held onto hisst hope, ¡°Would there be life jackets on this pirate ship?¡±


    Zhang Zuo spoke calmly, ¡°Even if there are, so many years have passed...¡±


    Tang Mianmian said without hesitation, ¡°Qiuqiu, you are with me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was very grateful for Tang Mianmian¡¯s loyalty at this life or death moment, but he did not dare to easily agree to Tang Mianmian. If Tang Mianmian brought him along, then Tang Mianmian would not be able to deal with those drowned ghosts who may sneak attack him. If Tang Mianmian was dragged down by him...


    As Xiao Tangqiu hesitated, Shen Yuan suddenly said coldly, ¡°You are with me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback by this unexpected event.


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°A life for a life, nothing more.¡±


    There was something surging in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart, but before he could say anything, the coward interrupted their conversation, ¡°What about us? What about us! You can¡¯t leave us alone!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°Why can¡¯t we leave you? Am I your mother?¡±


    The coward¡¯s face flushed red, but he couldn¡¯t refute it. This group really had no obligation to care about them. They were all just strangers who met on this ghost ship, after all. But the only hope of life in front of the moment of life and death made him unreconciled to let it go.


    At this moment, Zhang Zuo suddenly said, ¡°I know you will not just save a few rookies who may be of little use value to you. We really can¡¯t prove that we can be of any use... So Fei You and I don¡¯t expect you to help us directly, but we can swim behind you. As long as you can give us some weapons, I believe we can swim to the cruise ship on our own.¡±


    Compared to the coward, Zhang Zuo and Fei You¡¯s reactions were obviously much better. They were also rookies but the two of them won in terms of their mindset. Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°Okay, sure, but even if you are in danger, we won¡¯t turn back to save you. If you die, don¡¯t hate us.¡±


    Fei You and Zhang Zuo nodded at the same time. Fei You said seriously, ¡°Of course. You are not obligated to help us, and I also know that if you only rely on others, you won¡¯t survive in this ce.¡±


    Compared to the coward, it was clear who was better. The coward flushed, ¡°Then... then I also want weapons! I will swim over by myself!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows and took out several knives of different lengths from the space prop, ¡°Take your pick. If you live, remember to return the knives to me; if you die, consider it burial gifts.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Since you prepared so many knives, why didn¡¯t you prepare an extra life jacket?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen justified, ¡°Life jackets are notmonly used things, but I will break a few knives in every instance. Of course I have to prepare more spares.¡±


    Fei You and Zhang Zuo quickly picked up their respective knives and then cut down a section of the rail of the observation deck, apparently intending to use it as a life raft. The coward saw and copied them to cut down a section of the rails.


    Finally, the sea overflowed the observation deck, and the ship sankpletely.


    Shen Yuan put on his life jacket, hugged Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s waist, and swam towards the cruise ship. Countless drowned ghosts swarmed in from all directions.


    The cold water made Xiao Tangqiu shiver and instinctively hug Shen Yuan¡¯s slim and powerful waist. Shen Yuan stiffened but quickly drew out his gun to deal with the surrounding ambushers.


    Xiao Tangqiu was unarmed and he had not asked Duan Hongzhen for any weapons. He knew exactly how much he was worth. Rather than try to hold onto Shen Yuan with one hand and use unfamiliar weapons to deal with drowned ghosts, it was better to not let Shen Yuan get distracted and focus on dealing with them. Even with him tightly holding Shen Yuan¡¯s waist, Shen Yuan stably held a gun in one hand with his other arm around his waist, swimming towards the cruise ship with only his legs.


    ¡°Let go, I can just hold onto you...¡±


    Under the violent storm, Xiao Tangqiu had to yell close to Shen Yuan¡¯s ears.


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Shen Yuan said coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t distract me.¡±


    Not only did he not let go, he tightened his hold.


    Xiao Tangqiu had to shut his mouth. In order to make it easier on Shen Yuan, he could only tread water harder.


    The sea was choppy and whenever a big wave hit head-on, they could only follow the flow. Before the power of nature, human beings were too small. Even someone as strong as Shen Yuan was just a small ck spot in the vast ocean. If they didn¡¯t pay attention, they would immediately be swallowed by the waves.


    On top of the violent storm and huge waves, they also had to carefully watch out for the drowned ghosts lurking in the waves. Those drowned ghosts came from all directions werepletely unpredictable.


    He didn¡¯t know how many drowned ghosts were lurking in the sea or how many drowned ghosts died in their hands. Xiao Tangqiu identally swallowed several mouthfuls of seawater, instantly tasting an overwhelmingly gamey taste, obviously ghostly blood was mixed in. He immediately spat everything back out.


    Shen Yuan created a bloody path through all the obstacles and finally swam up to the side of the cruise ship with Xiao Tangqiu.


    Upon a closer look, Xiao Tangqiu saw that this cruise ship was really luxurious and had a very high deck. They couldn¡¯t climb up from the sea at all unless someone lowered the life-savingdder. But the people who were a part of the banquet on the ship obviously did not notice them at all. He yelled for help but no one responded.


    He bit his lip and turned to ask Shen Yuan, ¡°What now?¡±


    Shen Yuan was very calm, ¡°I have a life-saving rope in my space tool. Take it out.¡±


    He held Xiao Tangqiu with one hand and his gun in the other, so there was no free hand to search his bag. Xiao Tangqiu nodded and quickly searched for it. He was not familiar with Shen Yuan¡¯s space tool and he didn¡¯t find the rope even after a long while, but he did find something that felt a little familiar...


    He took it out and saw it was a crossbow.


    Crossbow?


    Was this his crossbow?


    No, this couldn¡¯t be his crossbow. His crossbow was obviously lost in that previous instance...


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help asking Shen Yuan, ¡°What is this?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced back and coldly said, ¡°...First, find the rope to go up and then talk.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pushed down his curiosity, put the crossbow back, and found the lifeline they were looking for.


    This was obviously also a high-tech product of the City of the Abyss. Shen Yuan pressed aunch button towards the railing of the cruise ship¡¯s deck and a metal rope shot out, the top firmly fixed onto the rail.


    ¡°Amazing!¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but sigh. The next moment, they leaped into the sky and he instinctively grabbed Shen Yuan¡¯s waist.


    The lifeline began to shrink automatically, pulling them towards the deck.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back and saw that they sessfully left the densely packed drowned ghosts behind. They swam around the ce they disappeared and were obviously very unresigned, but they seemed to have no way to climb up. They could only madly scratch the hull with their sharp ws, making a piercing noise.


    A little further away, the dpidated pirate ship was finallypletely crushed by the drowned ghosts that kept climbing up, and it sank to the bottomless seabed with those drowned ghosts.

 Chapter 95

    <h4>Chapter 95</h4>


    Finally, under the violent storm, Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan climbed onto the deck of the luxury cruise ship. As soon as their feet touched the ground, Xiao Tangqiu immediately looked back towards Tang Mianmian, fearing that Tang Mianmian might not be able to keep up with them.


    But facts proved that Tang Mianmian was obviously stronger than before. His physical strength was already who knew how many times stronger than Xiao Tangqiu and only tremendously improved after following the Reincarnation Team through instances non-stop for over three months. Not only did he notg behind, he also had energy to spare to help Fei You and Zhang Zuo deal with some of the drowned ghosts.


    Soon, the others also climbed onto the cruise ship deck with the help of life-saving ropes. Even the coward who looked physically the weakest climbed up, dropping onto the floor out of breath and with a panicked expression.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around and saw that the only newbies who survived were Fei You, Zhang Zuo and the coward. Although he knew that the more difficult the dungeon, the lower the survival rate of the newbies, this kind of immediate mass death was unheard of... How perversely high was the difficulty of this instance?


    Tang Mianmian draped himself on the railing on the deck to look down, sighed in relief, and grinned, ¡°Those drowned ghosts can¡¯t climb up. Hey! If you have the ability, please climb up! Come and get me! Come and get me!!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to go over and take a look when he realized that Shen Yuan¡¯s arm was still around his waist. He unwittingly looked up at Shen Yuan and happened to meet Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes. The two pairs of eyes met and Shen Yuan expressionlessly released his arm.


    An inexplicable feeling wavered in his mind and Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s lips moved slightly as he was about to say something, but Shen Yuan turned and returned to his teammates.


    Xiao Tangqiu silently watched Shen Yuan¡¯s back, and finally walked towards Tang Mianmian.


    The drowned ghosts hovered at the base of the cruise ship for a while, unwilling to let go of their rare prey, but the excessively high cruise ship deck restricted their movement. After hovering for a while, they reluctantly sank back into the sea one by one.


    In a blink of an eye, all the drowned ghosts disappeared into the sea and the awfully violent storm also vanished at some point. The sea became calm again.


    However, no one knew what dangers were hidden under the seemingly calm sea.


    The sea under the ck night was dark and deep, just like an abyss.


    As Xiao Tangqiu was staring at the sea, the coward suddenly yelled, ¡°People! Those people! Where did those people go?¡±


    He looked back and saw that the lively and packed deck where the banquet was held waspletely empty. Although the deck was still brightly lit and the table was full of exquisite food, not a single person was in sight. All of the men and women in gorgeous outfits they saw earlier were missing.


    ¡°How did those people vanish? Are they ghosts?¡± The coward was terrified all night and became hysterical.


    Xiao Tangqiu approached the table and saw that the food on it looked very normal, neither moldy nor spoiled. The toasted bread looked fluffy and soft, as if it just came out of the oven. The roasted meat was still emitting heat and was obviously served recently... He stared at the food. He had been hungry all night. Actually, to be precise, his stomach that had been hungry for more than three months suddenly began to growl.


    ¡°These foods look like they just came out of the oven,¡± Tang Mianmian said as he swallowed. ¡°Who knows where those people went. Such a waste of food&#k2026;¡±


    The food still radiated heat, as if the gorgeously dressed men and women only left temporarily and would return at any moment&#k2026; But who knew if they actually woulde back?


    The coward had a deathly solemn expression, ¡°Do you dare to eat these foods? Who knows what the foods are made of? Who knows what meat the barbecue is made of? Do you really dare to eat them?¡±


    Tang Mianmian shrugged, ¡°Why not? I happen to be hungry, so I will eat first!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had been hungry for ages. Seeing Tang Mianmian pick up a roast chicken without hesitation, he also began to happily eat.


    Everyone in the Reincarnation Team also started eating. Fei You and Zhang Zuo hesitated, but they were indeed hungry. After hesitating for a while, they also frantically began to eat.


    The coward looked at them with wide eyes, going through a series of violent struggles in his heart. After a long time of mental gymnastics, he ultimately still didn¡¯t dare to start.


    After Xiao Tangqiu filled his stomach, he saw the coward curled up and hiding far away to resist the temptation of food. He could more or less understand the coward¡¯s mentality. When he first entered the instances, he also did not dare to touch any of the food here... This kind of problem could only be ovee by yourself.


    After everyone was full, they were ready to explore this luxurious cruise ship.


    ording to Yu Fuling¡¯s scouting, this luxury cruise ship had ten floors, including the deck. With ten survivors left, they could be divided into five groups of two, each group exploring two floors.


    The three newbies trembled when they heard that they were going to be in pairs. The more people the better it was for them, but they also knew that this cruise ship was too big. If everyone searched together, even If the troops were divided into two groups, it would waste a lot of time and was far less efficient than five groups. Also, two people in a group should be just enough to take care of each other.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start dividing up,¡± Duan Hongzhen crossed his arms over his chest. He naturally had no problem with being in a pair. He¡¯d bepletely fine even if he was by himself.


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked at Tang Mianmian. If they were picking their own teams, they would definitely be a team. His gaze caught Tang Mianmian¡¯s. Tang Mianmian winked at him, conveying the same thoughts.


    Sure enough, in the next moment, Tang Mianmian opened his mouth and said, ¡°Then I want to be with Qiu...¡±


    Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Shen Yuan, who said lightly, ¡°Let¡¯s draw lots.¡±


    Tang Mianmian silently swallowed his words, rubbed his nose, and said, ¡°Mm, drawing is pretty fair.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu watched as Shen Yuan took out five chopsticks from the space tool, broke them one by one, and said coldly, ¡°These ten sticks correspond in pairs, whoever draws the same length is a pair.¡±


    He encased the sticks in his hands and let the others take turns to draw.


    When it was Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s turn, there were only two wooden sticks left in Shen Yuan¡¯s hand. Shen Yuan nced at him and he couldn¡¯t help but hesitate.


    By now, the results of the other¡¯s draws were out. Once theypared the sticks one by one, they all found their teammates.


    Tang Mianmian screamed, ¡°Ahhhh, why am I with you?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°Do you think I want to be with you?¡±


    Yu Fuling¡¯s reaction was calm as she got Sai Lulu.


    Xue Junli frowned. He was with that coward.


    Fei You and Zhang Zuo breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. They were still a team.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around and saw that everyone else had divided into groups. Only Shen Yuan and he were left... Wait, what?


    Shen Yuan put away the remaining two sticks expressionlessly and coolly said to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°It looks like we are paired.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Looks like.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was obviously very resistant to teaming up with Duan Hongzhen. He cried and asked, ¡°Can I apply to change teammates?¡±


    Shen Yuan was as cold as frost, ¡°We must obey the draw result.¡±


    Tang Mianmian flinched, and stepped back silently, ¡°Okay! As the organization arranges!¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu and said lightly, ¡°Our team will search the deck and the second floor, you guys search above.¡±


    Once he gave the order, the others obeyed and began to search. In the blink of an eye, he and Xiao Tangqiu were the only two left on the deck.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated, but couldn¡¯t help but ask Shen Yuan, ¡°What¡¯s with the crossbow in your backpack...?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu coldly, then took out the crossbow and threw it to Xiao Tangqiu without looking.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly reached out and caught the crossbow. He took a closer look and realized that this crossbow was actually quite different from his original crossbow. This crossbow was entirely silver and seemed to be made of a quite special metallic material... Actually, it looked like Shen Yuan¡¯s silver gun.


    Shen Yuan exined lightly, ¡°This is made of the same material as my Demon Vanquishing Gun. It is indestructible. Even the devil can¡¯t destroy it easily and it doesn¡¯t need to be loaded. It has unlimited ammunition.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had already loved this crossbow, and was shocked by Shen Yuan¡¯s words, ¡°Unlimited ammunition?¡±


    ¡°My Demon Vanquishing Gun is maintained by the demonic power in my body,¡± Shen Yuan said calmly. ¡°Now this crossbow also has part of my power. As long as someone uses demonic energy to activate it, they can control the energy I left in it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked incredulously, ¡°I have... demonic energy in me?¡±


    Shen Yuan didn¡¯t answer directly, saying indifferently, ¡°You¡¯ll know after a try.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated, but still asked what he most wanted to ask, ¡°Why did you... prepared this crossbow?¡±


    Shen Yuan had already seen him ¡°die¡± with his own eyes, so why did he prepare this crossbow?


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu and fell into a long silence. Time passed bit by bit. Just when Xiao Tangqiu thought that Shen Yuan would not answer, Shen Yuan finally spoke.


    His voice was deep and powerful, ¡°Because I know... you will definitelye back.¡±

 Chapter 96

    <h4>Chapter 96</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu froze for a moment, his heart beating wildly. Did Shen Yuan...


    Remember?


    ¡°You...remember?¡± He immediately asked.


    Shen Yuan stared into Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes, their eyes were dark and deep. After a moment, he asked, ¡°...Remember what?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. He thought that Shen Yuan had recovered his memory and remembered him, so that¡¯s why he said that. Was it not so?


    He felt very unwilling to let it go and asked tentatively, ¡°Do you really remember nothing?¡±


    Shen Yuan frowned, and he looked at Xiao Tangqiu coldly, ¡°Do you still think I am that friend of yours?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart dropped further. He thought that Shen Yuan remembered him, remembered their friendship. Why did he speak that way if he didn¡¯t remember?


    ¡°I¡¯m officially telling you that I am not your friend,¡± Shen Yuan said coldly, ¡°I am Shen Yuan, and I will always be Shen Yuan.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip, ¡°But... but...¡±


    Of course, he would not blindly believe that Shen Yuan was Meng Xinghe just because of appearance. There were plenty of people in the world who looked like Meng Xinghe. The reason he thought Shen Yuan was Meng Xinghe was because Shen Yuan¡¯s gestures gave him a feeling of deja vu. A feeling that no one other than Meng Xinghe had. And so there seemed to be a voice constantly telling him, ¡°Shen Yuan is Meng Xinghe, Meng Xinghe is Shen Yuan.¡±


    Shen Yuan expressionlessly spoke, ¡°I am not him, and it is impossible to be him.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Didn¡¯t you have amnesia before? Did you get the memory from before back?¡±


    Shen Yuan was silent for a while, ¡°...No.¡±


    Seeing that Xiao Tangqiu looked excited and seemed to want to say something, he went on to say, ¡°I indeed have amnesia and forgot a lot of things, but I will not forget my real identity. I have always been Shen Yuan. I have never been the Meng Xinghe you speak of and had never known you, Xiao Tangqiu.¡±


    Never knew him?


    Xiao Tangqiu became upset. It was not something that Meng Xinghe would say to him...


    If Shen Yuan was not Meng Xinghe, then who was Meng Xinghe? Did Meng Xinghe really die in the car ident seven years ago, disappearing from the world forever?


    Seeing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s disappointed face, Shen Yuan pursed his lips and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, we need to search the ship.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was in a heavy mood but he knew that the task was important, so he nodded and wordlessly followed.


    The cruise ship¡¯s deck alone was the size of several ygrounds, and there was even a huge outdoor swimming pool. The two of them circled the deck but didn¡¯t find anything.


    The pool was full of clean and clear water, looking as if it was waiting for guests to enter the water at any moment now. But there was no one in the pool. The well dressed men and women just disappeared.


    Inside the deck were hallways with restaurants and shopping areas. The halls and restaurants were also empty, the shelves in the shopping area were full of unmanned and abandoned goods.


    The two spent a little time exploring the deck but found nothing special, so they went to the second floor.


    On the second floor, there were interactive areas like the cinema, bars, barbecues, kiosks, and billiard rooms. The facilities in this area were all intact, but there was still no sign of guests.


    Strange. Where did those guests go?


    Maybe those guests were already long dead and all they saw earlier were ghosts?


    Xiao Tangqiu was puzzled that this kind of canvas search uncovered nothing. It really made him feel powerless like punching on the cotton.


    He sighed and sat down in front of the bar counter.


    There were a few sses of freshly poured alcohol on the counter from the vanished bartender and guests. As he was about to take a drink from the ss, he suddenly saw that one of the sses had a neatly folded newspaper under it. This newspaper was folded to the size of a handkerchief and it was easy to mistake it as a patterned coaster without looking carefully.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly picked up the newspaper and unfolded it. After skipping some insignificant news, he noticed the headlines that almost covered the front page: ¡°The maiden voyage of the top luxury cruise ship Ang!¡±


    He quickly took a look at the picture, and as expected, the ¡°top luxury cruise ship¡± in the picture was the cruise ship they were on now.


    He took a closer look at the text description, but apart from knowing that the cruise ship was called the Ang, he didn¡¯t get any more important information. At most, he knew that the passengers on this cruise ship were mostly wealthy businessmen and politicians... But this kind of thing could be figured out even without thinking.


    ¡°What did you find?¡± Shen Yuan leaned over.


    Xiao Tangqiu silently handed the newspaper to Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan nced down and said coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t understand.¡± After he finished speaking, he looked up at Xiao Tangqiu, the words ¡°please exin¡± on his face.


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously felt a little amused but soon became solemn again. Finally, he sorted out his emotions and calmly exined to Shen Yuan, ¡°This cruise ship is called Ang...¡±


    Shen Yuan frowned slightly, ¡°Ang?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu went through the newspaper again, but still couldn¡¯t find any valuable news, so he put the newspaper away, ¡°Let¡¯s look elsewhere.¡±


    They went to search other ces but they still couldn¡¯t find anything meaningful or valuable. Time passed bit by bit, and when it was time to gather up, they returned to the deck.


    Someone else had already arrived. Tang Mianmian saw Xiao Tangqiu from a distance and immediately waved to him and greeted him, ¡°Qiuqiu! Have you found any important clues?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°I only found one thing.¡±


    He told Tang Mianmian about the newspaper. Tang Mianmian suddenly widened his eyes, ¡°What! You said this cruise ship is called Ang?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°What? What did you find?¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately took out a magazine, ¡°This seems to be a gossip magazine. I found it in a guest room. My English is not very good, but I can still recognize a few words. It seems that there is something about the Ang written on it, something about a curse, and sinking or something.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly picked it up and opened it. It was a magazine article introducing the Ang, but it was different from the newspaper¡¯s official attitude. This gossip magazine was written from the perspective of gossipping. All the records were gossips with a mysterious tone.


    ¡°This article says that on the Ang¡¯s maiden voyage, a mysterious cursed treasure would appear. It is said that in the past few hundred years, this cursed treasure would always mysteriously appear on a sailing ship. Once this mysterious treasure appears, the ship will meet disaster because of the curse brought by the treasure like hitting an iceberg or sinking forever. There are no exceptions or survivors...¡±


    Tang Mianmian stroked his chin, ¡°A cursed treasure?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°This article says that this cursed treasure will appear on the Ang¡¯s first voyage, and the Ang will definitely fall into disaster because of the curse of the treasure, so it advised everyone not to board the ship. .¡±


    Tang Mianmian spread his hands, ¡°Reality proves that no one believed the words of the article¡¯s author.¡±


    No matter how terrifying the article is, there were still so many passengers on the Ang.


    Xiao Tangqiu shrugged, ¡°Most people wouldn¡¯t believe in this kind of thing. It will actually arouse more people¡¯s curiosity and make them want to verify it personally. I dare say that the guest from the room where you got this magazine had this mentality when boarding the ship.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°If you seek die, you won¡¯t die.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°If the protagonists in horror movies and horror games followed this truth, then all horror movies and horror games would be over as soon as they start.¡±


    Although they still don¡¯t know what happened on the Ang, it was obviously nothing good. Where did all the passengers disappear to?


    Tang Mianmian stroked his chin, ¡°ording to that, the Ang will definitely sink in the end?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Either way, we must be mentally prepared for this,¡± Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°But don¡¯t worry, Shen Yuan and I just saw that the lifeboats on the Ang are still there. Even if the cruise ship sinks, we can escape in a lifeboat.¡±


    Tang Mianmian breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    At this point, Fei You and Zhang Zuo also returned. The two of them were pale and panicked. As soon as they saw Xiao Tangqiu and others, they immediately shouted, ¡°It¡¯s not good! We saw something really strange on the third and fourth floor guest rooms!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked immediately.


    Fei You, ¡°There is no one in the rooms on the third and fourth floors, but we found half of a severed hand in the bathtub in one of the rooms...¡±


    ¡°Half of a severed hand?¡± Tang Mianmian was very puzzled, ¡°You didn¡¯t see anyone, but there was half of a severed hand?¡±


    ¡°Although I say severed hand... it should be a prosthesis,¡± Zhang Zuo calmed down a bit, ¡°but judging from the state of the prosthesis, it should have just been on a human body not long ago. But somehow, the person went missing and the prosthesis stayed.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt a chill down his back. A man with a prosthetic limb disappeared, leaving only the prosthetic behind?


    At this moment, Fei You suddenly yelled, ¡°Wait! Where¡¯s the food on the table from before?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back and saw that the sumptuous food that filled more than a dozen tables earlier had disappeared. Although they ate some at the beginning, more than half was left. Just in the time when they explored the cruise ship, all the food vanished?

 Chapter 97

    <h4>Chapter 97</h4>


    At this moment, the coward came back with Xue Junli. He saw the empty table from the vanished food and was struck by lingering fears and said to himself, ¡°Good thing I didn¡¯t eat it. Who knows what the food is made of?¡±


    As soon as he spoke, his stomach rumbled loudly. He immediately covered his stomach in embarrassment while still carefully observing the reactions of other people. But no one was paying attention to him, everyone was asking if Xue Junli had found anything. He sneakily looked away again.


    ¡°Did you find anything?¡± Duan Hongzhen asked Xue Junli with crossed arms.


    Xue Junli nodded, ¡°I found a diary in a guest room.¡±


    As he spoke, he brought out a yellowed leather notebook. Everyone quickly moved forward, asking him to open the fairly thick diary that probably had dozens of pages. But the things written in the front were all unimportant things. It was not until thest few pages that it gradually started talking about the Ang.


    At first nce, the diary was only about some of the experiences of the Ang during the voyage. One day a passenger lost something, one day a lot of beef disappeared in the kitchen, one day the food in the restaurant was missing, one day a certain guest suddenly disappeared...


    ¡°Food went missing, and a passenger mysteriously disappeared?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Howe this sounds like the situation on the pirate ship?¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, ¡°What you said... Right! It¡¯s exactly the same! Did that cursed mysterious treasure also appeared on that pirate ship?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something and quickly reached for the ruby ??ring he found on the pirate ship. But when he touched his pocket, he found that the pocket was empty. The ruby ??ring disappeared without his realization!


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt cold all over, ¡°It¡¯s gone, it¡¯s gone!¡±


    When did the ruby ??ring disappear? Why didn¡¯t he feel it at all?


    ¡°What¡¯s missing?¡± Shen Yuan frowned and asked.


    Xiao Tangqiu tried to keep himself calm, ¡°That ruby ??ring I found on the pirate ship.¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°Is that ruby ??ring the legendary cursed treasure?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked solemnly, ¡°It¡¯s possible, but now it¡¯s gone.¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°That ruby ??ring may be on the Ang.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused and quickly realized that if the pirate ship met with disaster because of the ruby &#k200K;&#k200K;ring, then the Ang should also have a ruby &#k200K;&#k200K;ring.


    ¡°What do you mean? Are there two ruby &#k200K;&#k200K;rings?¡± Tang Mianmian had a nk look.


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s not that there are two ruby &#k200K;&#k200K;rings. The pirate ship and the Ang may not be in the same time and space.¡±


    Tang Mianmian reacted instantly, ¡°I see! So our current goal is to find that ruby ??ring?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Maybe, yes.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen crossed his arms and said, ¡°But we searched through this entire cruise ship and no one found the ruby ??ring, right?¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°Maybe we didn¡¯t search carefully enough. Search again.¡±


    He looked up at the ck night, took another look at Xiao Tangqiu, and continued to say, ¡°It¡¯s gettingte now. Let¡¯s sleep first and look for it tomorrow.¡±


    Everyone nodded. Although it was difficult finding a clue, it was also important to recharge your energy...They also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. In the past three months, their captain madly forced them to run instances and they had to keep going day and night. The captain hardly gave them time to take a breather even in the instances. Now the captain finally offered to let them rest. It was really not easy!


    Everyone was moved. Of course, Tang Mianmian was the most obviously moved as a neer, while the others were much more subtle about their feelings.


    ¡°The deck and the second floor were both recreational areas. Starting from the third floor are the guest rooms. I suggest that we sleep in the third-floor guest rooms. Although the electricity is still being supplied, no one knows when the power will be cut off. It will be awkward if there¡¯s no elevator at some point,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°We can also live closer and take care of each other.¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°There are ten people in total, so let¡¯s have two to a room.¡±


    Tang Mianmian asked, ¡°How are we splitting?¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°Just follow the result of the draw.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nced at Duan Hongzhen subconsciously with a look of disgust, ¡°...Follow the result of the draw?¡±


    Of course, Duan Hongzhen also felt disgusted.


    Shen Yuan, ¡°Are you against it?¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°N-no.¡± He didn¡¯t dare!


    In short, the rooms were happily divided up. Xiao Tangqiu was still frowning and thinking about when and where the ruby ??ring disappeared. He finally looked up after the others selected their rooms and entered and saw that there was only a Shen Yuan left here.


    Shen Yuan looked at him and didn¡¯t rush him. He blinked, ¡°Should we go back to the room to sleep?¡±


    The corners of Shen Yuan¡¯s lips curved as if he was pleased by the word ¡°we¡±, but when he spoke, his tone was still mild, ¡°Let¡¯s rest. If you have any questions, think about it tomorrow.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded and went back to the room with Shen Yuan.


    The room was even a room with a sea-view outside through the ss window, but the dark and deep sea under the cover of the night could only give him a sense of mystery and terror.


    He stared at the sea outside the window, feeling as if his entire body was about to be sucked in by the sea. He shook his head quickly and turned his back to the sea only to be met with Shen Yuan¡¯s line of sight.


    Shen Yuan looked deeply at Xiao Tangqiu, his eyes were just as dark and endless like the sea currently outside the window.


    Xiao Tangqiu also felt as if he was going to be sucked in by Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes. He quickly pulled up the corners of his mouth and squeezed out a smile, ¡°Is there something wrong?¡±


    Shen Yuan asked, ¡°Are you taking a bath?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t taken a bath for a long time. After finally having a physical body, of course he wanted to take a hot bath. But then he remembered the embarrassment thest time he took a bath with Shen Yuan. No, he was in the bath and Shen Yuan had embarrassingly barged in... Well, that¡¯s not right either. Either way, it was a bit embarrassing, so heughed and said, ¡°Not yet.¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu and didn¡¯t question him, just turning around and going into the bathroom by himself.


    Because the soundproofing was not very good, Xiao Tangqiu could clearly hear the sound of watering from the bathroom. He involuntarily sketched the picture of the bathroom in his mind... He shook his head quickly and drove away the images that shouldn¡¯t be there. He fell onto the bed and pulled up a quilt to force himself to fall asleep.


    Maybe it was because he hadn¡¯t rested for too long, as soon as he closed his eyes, strong drowsiness surged up and he fell asleep.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt like he had been asleep for a long time but also no time at all when he suddenly woke up from his sleep.


    He got up from the bed and saw that Shen Yuan was lying quietly on the other bed, asleep. He sighed with relief and was about to turn over to continue sleeping, but suddenly saw a huge shadow rush past the ss window from the rough sea outside.


    He woke uppletely and wanted to take a closer look at the dark shadow, but the dark shadow instantly disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned in thought. Suddenly there was a sound of singing in his ear.


    The song was ethereal and mesmerizing, like joyous fairy music that made people helplessly addicted to it, unable to extricate themselves. After a few seconds in a trance, his body got out of the bed without his control and walked toward the door automatically.


    His brain barely remained sober, desperately trying to stop himself, but his body was out of his control and he slowly opened the door and walked towards the corridor.


    Wait! Stop! Stop!


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t control his body. As the ethereal and mesmerizing singing voice became clearer and clearer, his body became more and more uncontroble. Soon, his body followed the song to the deck. The wet sea breeze rushed over his face and he finally saw clearly what was happening in the rough sea.


    Fishtails covered with silver scales weaved in the sea, but the upper bodies were not from a fishy creature. They had human necks and upper limbs... Was this the legendary ocean siren?


    The legendary fish-tailed beauties, the mermaid?


    ...Was this Siren Bay?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart thudded. Although he knew the terrible creatures of this legend, he couldn¡¯t help but want to witness the peerless faces of mermaids. However, when he saw the true faces of those mermaids, he broke out in a cold sweat. .


    Although these mermaids did have human-like upper bodies, their upper bodies were still covered with fish scales, with fish eyes, no noses, and most importantly, no hair!


    Even beauties didn¡¯t look good if they didn¡¯t have hair, let alone these ¡°mermaids¡± who were not good looking at all! It was so disillusioning!


    These ¡°mermaids¡± were not only unsightly, they were also full of animalistic aggressiveness. Their hands were covered with nails that were sharp enough to serve as weapons and their mouths were also filled with rows of thin and dense sharp teeth.


    Xiao Tangqiu waspletely awake, but his body still walked uncontrobly towards the deck rails amidst the ethereal singing. He could practically see hising destiny... At any moment he would go over the fence, jump into the sea, and then plunge into the arms of these ¡°mermaids¡±!

 Chapter 98

    <h4>Chapter 98</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu felt extremely anxious but his body was out of control. He kept walking towards the rail against his will. One hand had already grasped the fence, and he was about to go over at any moment.


    What made him even more despaired was that he suddenly saw that a ¡°mermaid¡± had clung to the edge of the deck at some point and could climb onto the deck at any moment.


    Half of his body hung over the rails while the ¡°mermaid¡± also poked out its head, climbed to the edge of the deck, and looked up at him.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was broken. If this ¡°mermaid¡± really was beautiful, then it would¡¯ve been fine. He could be considered enviable to have died under a beauty. But in a situation like this, he was really unwilling! ...Wait, no! Even if there was a beautiful face, he was not willing! Only if it was a face like Shen Yuan¡¯s would he have not died in vain!


    Just as thoughts frantically rushed through his mind, the ¡°mermaid¡± looking up at him suddenly tilted its head and grinned, revealing a long, barbed tongue and a mouth full of thin jagged fangs and slowly moved towards him.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hair stood on end as the ¡°mermaid¡± got closer and closer to him. He even smelled a faceful of the blood and rancid odor and he could clearly see the jagged teeth within its mouth. He was almost suffocated by the carrion remaining in it.


    At this moment, maybe it was mysophobia that gave him strength, he actually suddenly resisted the temptation of the mermaid¡¯s singing. He leaned back and identally lost his bnce and fell heavily on the deck.


    Although there was a sharp pain in his tailbone, he temporarily got rid of the control of the mermaid¡¯s song andid on the deck, and tried his best to crawl towards the cabin.


    The ¡°mermaid¡± certainly wouldn¡¯t let Xiao Tangqiu go so easily. Seeing Xiao Tangqiu temporarily get rid of its song control, it didn¡¯t feel annoyed at all. Instead, it climbed onto the deck towards Xiao Tangqiu. It crawled slowly like a snake, leaving a trail of seawater and fishy slime.


    Xiao Tangqiu crawled and turned his head in a panic. The ¡°mermaid¡± crawled on its forelimbs and forcefully dug its sharp ws into the deck to move forward. The harsh noise made him frightened. He fully believed that the sharp ws could tear apart his throat easily.


    At this moment, another person staggered onto the deck. When he looked up, it turned out to be that coward!


    The dazed look of the coward made it obvious he was seduced and controlled by the ethereal mermaid song, his self-consciousness gone, and subconsciously walked towards the deck.


    ¡°Run!¡± Xiao Tangqiu yelled with all his strength, trying to wake the coward. But no matter how loud he screamed, the coward remained unmoved, as if he could no longer hear him.


    A ¡°mermaid¡± chased behind him and now there was baggage dragging him down. Xiao Tangqiu felt very anxious, he didn¡¯t even carry any weapons on his body... At this moment, he suddenly noticed that a silver fork was dropped underneath the dining table nearby. He crawled over and picked up the silver fork.


    Although forks were not very useful, in this situation, it was better than nothing!


    Xiao Tangqiu held a fork and was about to turn around to deal with the ¡°mermaid¡± chasing after him, but he watched the coward rush towards the ¡°mermaid¡± with a drooling smile on his face,ughing idiotically, ¡°Beauty! Beauty! Great beauty!¡±


    The original prey of the ¡°mermaid¡± was Xiao Tangqiu, but now some prey took the initiative to deliver themself to the door, so of course it did not refuse. It grinned at the coward, revealing its long, barbed tongue.


    But the coward couldn¡¯t see it, still full of wretched **, ¡°Beauty! Beauty! Beautiful beauty! Let me kiss you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. How could that coward regard this terrifying-looking ¡°mermaid¡± as a top beauty? Was he blind or was that guy blind?


    ...Wait, was this an illusion created by the ¡°mermaid¡±? And what he saw was the real appearance of the ¡°mermaid¡±?


    As he fell into confusion, the coward had alreadyughed and rushed towards the ¡°mermaid¡±, stroking the body of the ¡°mermaid¡± with a dirty smile, andplimented, ¡°So smooth and tender, so bouncy...¡±


    However, in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes, he only saw the coward¡¯s hand touching the hard and rough scales of the ¡°mermaid¡±, and his fingers were even covered with fishy mucus.


    ¡°Beauty, let me kiss you...¡± The coward pursed his mouth and leaned toward the ¡°mermaid¡±, who opened its mouth at him, revealing jagged fangs.


    The coward looked on dreamily, ¡°Smells so good... is this a woman¡¯s fragrance?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t bear to look any longer. The next second, the coward pursed his lips and kissed firmly, obviously intending to give his fantasy beauty a hot and lingering kiss.


    He tightly grasped the silver fork in his hand, and taking advantage of when the ¡°mermaid¡± was attracted by the coward, he rushed forward and stabbed the fork at the back of the ¡°mermaid¡±¡®s head... But he didn¡¯t expect the fact that the back of the monster¡¯s head was also covered with hard scales. His hands went numb from the impact and the silver fork fell out from his hands.


    As soon as the silver fork hit the ground, the coward who was kissing the ¡°beauty¡± screamed and suddenly fell backward, ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up and saw that the coward¡¯s mouth was full of blood, and even the gap between his teeth was covered with blood. The ce where the tongue was supposed to be was empty. The tongue was gone!


    He was shocked. And when he looked down, he saw that that guy¡¯s tongue fell on the deck, dripping with blood, apparently just bitten off by the monster!


    The coward obviously wanted to say something, but after losing his tongue, he could only utter guttural ah-ugh sybles, no longer able to speak.


    Xiao Tangqiu could only imagine that if he was caught by this monster earlier, this would¡¯ve been his end. He looked at the monster stiffly and saw that the monster¡¯s grinning face and mouth were full of blood.


    The coward screamed and rushed towards his tongue, as if he wanted to pick up his tongue and put it back in his mouth. But the monster moved a step faster. It picked up the severed tongue with its sharp ws and tossed it into its mouth to chew and eat.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡± The coward copsed in despair. He sat down on the ground, frozen in fright as he watched the monster crawling towards him. He could only watch wide-eyed as the monster lunged down at him again.


    The monster pounced on the coward like a beauty throwing herself into his arms. But even if the coward hadn¡¯t got a glimpse of its deceptive appearance, he was already terrified by the pain in his mouth. Shaking all over, he could only helplessly widen his eyes.


    The monster grinned and threw itself on the coward. The coward screamed instantly, followed by a terrifying chewing sound.


    Xiao Tangqiu went half-numb, but he bit the bullet and picked up the silver fork again, ready to go.


    Soon, the monster crawled away from the coward. The coward had not died yet, but his throat had been mawed open, and he was barely able to breathe. The monster licked its lips, turned, and rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu waited for an opportunity as the monster rushed up and he violently stabbed the silver fork into the monster¡¯s eyes. The monster¡¯s eyes were the only ce that was not covered by scales, and the eye socket was immediately pierced by the silver fork. It suddenly dropped and rolled on the floor in pain.


    Suddenly, the coward got up and ran back into the cabin. Xiao Tangqiu also tried his best to run back, but the monster immediately caught up.


    The monster was berzerk and was much faster than before. Its sharp ws screeched against the deck as it chased up like lightning. The coward looked back and was terrified. In a hurry, he pushed Xiao Tangqiu out.


    Xiao Tangqiu was practically defenseless as he was suddenly pushed to the ground. The monster caught up in a blink of an eye.


    Seeing the monster¡¯s grinning mouth close in, Xiao Tangqiu grabbed the silver fork without hesitation and stabbed it!


    The monster let out a piercing screech in pain and released Xiao Tangqiu.


    But before Xiao Tangqiu could breathe a sigh of relief, several more monsters climbed onto the deck, some surrounding Xiao Tangqiu with enthusiasm, while others caught the coward who was about to escape into the cabin.


    Compared to the uninjured Xiao Tangqiu, the bloody smell of that coward was more appealing to these hungry monsters, and the ferocious ¡°mermaids¡± rushed towards him without hesitation.


    One of the monsters bit off half of his face without hesitation. He screamed loudly, but soon he could not even scream because his throat was brutally torn apart.


    Xiao Tangqiu was frightened. The monsters surrounding him were full of impatience and his only weapon was still stuck in the eye socket of the first monster!


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu fell into despair, he suddenly heard a voice in his mind, ¡°Detecting that the host is in danger. Do you want to start the special skill ¡®Sexy Host¡¯s Live Stream?¡±


    His heart was shaken, and he immediately chose to turn it on. The next second, a dense burst of chat scrolled past his vision.


    ¡°I¡¯m too disillusioned by the appearance of this mermaid! Mommy, I don¡¯t believe in fairy tales anymore!¡±


    ¡°This is the so-called ugly sweet song? The singing is still good! But this kind of appearance can only be epted by the strong!¡±


    ¡°This mermaid¡¯s looks... I can!¡±


    ¡°What kind of thriller statement is that?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Just as he was dumbfounded, a useful barrage appeared.


    ¡°I heard that only weapons made of mermaid skulls can deal with mermaids... Host, jiayou! Work hard today, too!¡±


    A heavy dagger suddenly fell into his hand.

 Chapter 99

    <h4>Chapter 99</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu clenched the dagger in his hand. The unique hardness and coldness of the metal gave him his onlyfort. Although his tasteless ability was not so tasteless for the first time, he knew that he was far from being able to breathe a sigh of relief while in desperate straits. The weapon was in hand, but the enemy has not been resolved yet.


    Although he would like to go full out and ughter everything on the scene, he understood that this was impossible. If there was such an invincible bug, ording to thew of conservation of European aura, he was afraid that an African like him would have to die to use it.


    Enemies all around, danger follows life.


    Xiao Tangqiu vigntly looked at the ¡°mermaids¡± who were staring at them, took a deep breath, and charged with his dagger.


    He first attacked the ¡°one-eyed¡± he had stabbed the silver fork. This was not only because the monster was blinded by him in one eye, but also because he guessed that it would be the first to climb onto the deck. Perhaps it had high status in its ethnic group and had the right to enjoy food first. To catch the bandits, one must first capture the king.


    Although the monster was blinded in one eye, its speed was still extremely fast. It relied on its sharp ws to skid quickly over the deck. A single w would scratchrge holes into the deck, and it had extremely powerful physical attacks.


    Xiao Tangqiu also received a fewrge and bloody scratch wounds, but the mermaid skull dagger in his hand also scratched the monster, scraping off countless silver scales.


    The monster screamed in pain and became more ferocious. While attacking Xiao Tangqiu viciously, it also used an unknown part to create an ethereal singing voice, apparently trying to control Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s body again.


    But this time, Xiao Tangqiu was only in a trance for a few seconds, and soon sobered up. The singing seemed to have no effect on him. He had no time to celebrate and clenched the dagger and mmed it into the monster¡¯s chest.


    The monster was not afraid, its scales were indestructible, after all. It continued to attack Xiao Tangqiu with its ws, but in the next second, it was pierced in the chest by the dagger.


    A sharp pain came, and it looked down incredulously to see that there were no scales in the ce where Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s dagger pierced.


    Xiao Tangqiu had never killed a fish, but he had observed how the market aunties killed and gutted fish and scraped the scales. So earlier, he tried his best to scrape the scales off the monster¡¯s chest, and then sessfully stabbed the dagger through the monster¡¯s chest. But it¡¯s far from over.


    Seeing the monsters around him staring at him, he wanted to quickly pull out the dagger. But the monster instinctively grabbed the dagger. The two of them fought in a separatist battle, and instead pierced the dagger deeper and deeper.


    At this moment, a thought shed through Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind. Why was it that nobody else had noticed anything at all despite them making such a big noise on the deck? Other than him and the coward, didn¡¯t anyone else hear the singing of the mermaid?


    This was impossible!


    Even if other people didn¡¯t hear these movements, what about Shen Yuan?


    Why was there no response from Shen Yuan?


    When these thoughts shed like sparks, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt that the image in front of him began to distort and the monster¡¯s movements also stopped. He unthinkingly pulled out the dagger and brought out a gush of blood. At the same time, something fell to the ground with a tter and rolled to the side.


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to reach out to pick up the thing. But the images in front of him gradually copsed and disappeared, as if he had stepped into the void, and his consciousness began to float and sink in the dark.


    At this moment, there was a string of calls in his ears.


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    ¡°Jiujiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu woke up with a start, opening his eyes to meet Shen Yuan¡¯s dark eyes.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s gaze was heavy, as if a storm was brewing. It wasn¡¯t until Xiao Tangqiu woke up that the storm disappeared instantly, and then he frowned deeply, ¡°Did you have a nightmare? What did you dream about?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t react at first. Dream? What dream?


    It wasn¡¯t until he discovered that he was still lying on the bed in the room that he came back to his senses. Could it be that he had been dreaming just now?


    But Xiao Tangqiu looked down and saw that his body was covered withrge and small scars. It was clearly the wounds he got when he was fighting with the mermaid. How could there be scars from his dreams?


    He suddenly remembered something and immediately asked Shen Yuan, ¡°Dagger! Did you see the dagger in my hand?¡±


    Shen Yuan frowned, ¡°Dagger? Didn¡¯t I give you a crossbow?¡±


    No dagger?!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart thudded. Was he really just having a nightmare earlier?


    ¡°Deck... I want to go to the deck to see!¡±


    As soon as his voice fell, he jumped off the bed and ran towards the deck.


    Shen Yuan frowned and ran after him.


    Xiao Tangqiu ran all the way to the deck as the horizon gradually turned white. It was about to dawn, the night had passed.


    He ran to the ce where he was fighting with the mermaid just now, but there were no mermaids at all. Just when he started suspecting that all that was just a dream, he suddenly saw something in a corner...


    He walked towards the corner and found the remains of the coward.


    The coward was dead, his body was mutted, leaving only some bones.


    ¡°He¡¯s dead, he¡¯s really dead...¡± Xiao Tangqiu murmured.


    Shen Yuan followed and he frowned, seemingly confused.


    Xiao Tangqiu firmly said, ¡°It¡¯s not a dream. It¡¯s definitely not a dream.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly noticed something gleaming next to the coward¡¯s corpse. He squatted down and picked it up. It was a silver fish scale.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a dream...¡±


    He became more sure of this, and when he was about to stand up, he discovered that the corpse seemed to be holding something in his hand.


    He paused for a moment, broke the corpse¡¯s hold, and a shiny object rolled out. It was the thing that had fallen from the mermaid¡¯s chest.


    Xiao Tangqiu picked it up and saw that it was a silver key.


    Shen Yuan frowned, ¡°The key? Key to where?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also wanted to know, he guessed, ¡°Is it the key to a secret room on the ship?¡±


    Shen Yuan shook his head, also unclear.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment, and couldn¡¯t help but ask Shen Yuan, ¡°I want to know that some yers can unlock things or have special items for unlocking. Can they open all the locks in instances? If not, under what circumstances can they? If Duan Hongzhen can open any lock, why do we still need a key?¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°If the plot requires you to find a key to unlock, you must find the key.¡±


    The corner of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched. The plot again. This reason was too strong.


    At this moment, someone came to the deck again. As soon as Tang Mianmian saw Xiao Tangqiu, he greeted loudly, ¡°Qiuqiu! How did you sleep yesterday?¡±


    Before Xiao Tangqiu could answer, Tang Mianmian also saw the coward¡¯s body and cried out again, ¡°He¡¯s dead?¡±


    Others gradually gathered around, and they also saw the body of the coward, but they were not very surprised.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated and asked if they had any dreamsst night.


    ¡°Dream?¡± Tang Mianmian blinked, ¡°I dreamt yesterday that I finally received a scene with a male protagonist with lines and became a popr star and reached the pinnacle of life!¡±


    Except for him, everyone else shook their heads, indicating that they didn¡¯t dream.


    Xiao Tangqiu froze for a moment. Could it be that only he heard the mermaid singing... No, besides him, there was that coward.


    And that coward was dead now.


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Why are you injured!¡± Tang Mianmian realized that Xiao Tangqiu was injured and immediately yelled.


    Xiao Tangqiu told the nightmare with a wry smile. If he didn¡¯t get the mermaid skull dagger, he might have died in the dream like that coward.


    ¡°The singing of a mermaid?¡± Tang Mianmian was surprised, ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything!¡±


    The others shook their heads, and Shen Yuan said, ¡°I didn¡¯t hear it either.¡±


    Shen Yuan didn¡¯t hear them while in the same room, which meant that maybe only Xiao Tangqiu heard them, and maybe that coward.


    Tang Mianmian suddenly remembered something. He grinned and asked, ¡°What does a mermaid look like? Is it beautiful?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu remembered the appearance of the mermaid in the nightmare, and the corners of his mouth twitched, not wanting to speak.


    ¡°Qiuqiu, I found that you are really lucky in love after you came here, simply full of peach blossom luck. If it weren¡¯t for those overlord flowers all wanting your life, I would almost be envious and jealous of you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was very tired, ¡°Take these rotten peach blossoms if you want.¡±


    Tang Mianmian chuckled, ¡°You should keep it for yourself. I¡¯m not blessed enough to ept it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rolled his eyes and was about to respond, but the deck under their feet suddenly shook violently!


    He thought it was an earthquake at first, but when he realized that they were at sea now. His heart jumped, ¡°Tsunami?!¡±


    If it was an earthquake, they still had a chance. But they were now in the vast ocean. Once they encountered a tsunami, there was nowhere to escape!


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s voice fell, the deck shook more severely. This was definitely the prelude to not just an ordinary storm. The previous broken small pirate ship might indeed fall apart in a storm, but a luxury cruise ship of this size definitely would not.


    Now that this entire luxury cruise ship shook violently, it was clearly not some ordinary storm, but the much scarier tsunami!


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Tang Mianmian yelled in fright, ¡°Stop your crow¡¯s mouth! Don¡¯t you know that your mouth is the worst kind of jinx! You are a g-seeker with a 100% sess rate in summoning only disasters!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I¡¯m sorry...¡±


    He was utterly depressed.


    The shaking became more and more violent, and there were stormy waves all around the cruise ship.


    The cruise ship¡¯s deck was originally tens of meters high, but the huge waves of seawater rose to almost the same height in an instant and mmed the ship like a behemoth against a lone boat.


    Xiao Tangqiu cried from the heart, ¡°I was wrong, I was really wrong.¡±

 Chapter 100

    <h4>Chapter 100</h4>


    If it was just a storm sinking a small pirate ship, Xiao Tangqiu would not be too panicked. But this was a big tsunami that could overwhelm a luxury cruise ship. They werepletely trapped. How could they escape in the vast sea?


    Shen Yuan suddenly said, ¡°Retreat to the cabin first.¡±


    Right now, the entire luxury cruise ship swayed violently in the wind and rain. From time to time, huge waves dozens of meters high set off in situ. If they remained on the deck, they would likely be washed directly into the sea.


    Everyone nodded and quickly returned to the cabin. Xiao Tangqiu also followed everyone¡¯s steps and was about to return to the cabin, but suddenly felt a chill down back, as if something terrible was watching him. He subconsciously looked back. But apart from the stormy waves that set off, he saw nothing.


    Did he imagine it?


    Just as he was wondering, he suddenly spotted a piece of clothing hanging on the rails from the corner of his eyes. The pattern of that piece of clothing was kind of familiar, and he quickly reacted. Wait! Isn¡¯t that the coward¡¯s clothes?


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked towards where the coward¡¯s corpse remained on the deck and was shocked to find that the corpse was gone. Could it be that when they turned to return to the cabin, the corpse of the coward grew wings and flew away?


    There was only a shirt hanging on the railing, which was exactly the same as the situation when the other person disappeared on the pirate ship... At this moment, a huge wave came and the shirt disappeared in the huge wave.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t tell if he imagined it, but he suddenly saw a huge eye hidden under the waves.


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart palpitated and he wanted to take a closer look, that huge eye vanished. It disappeared so fast that he almost suspected it was an illusion.


    ¡°The waves areing! Qiuqiu run!¡± Tang Mianmian pulled Xiao Tangqiu, who was looking at the sea in a daze, back into the cabin.


    Xiao Tangqiu came back to his senses and quickly told everyone what had happened. Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, ¡°There is a huge eye in the sea?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was frightened and nodded, ¡°Yes, then the body of that coward disappeared, and the guy before...¡±


    ¡°Is it a huge sea monster?¡± Tang Mianmian touched his chin. ¡°Since there are drowned ghosts and mermaids, it¡¯s not surprising to have another sea monster. But what kind of sea monster can it be?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously replied, ¡°Generally speaking, the most ssic image of sea monsters is the giant kraken from the deep sea, right?¡±


    Tang Mianmian answered, ¡°A kraken bigger than this luxury cruise ship? The type that has a head as big as the deck and tentacles dozens of meters long?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded and was just about to respond, but Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu suddenly screamed. These two girls had always been calm and put together, and they could be considered warriors among women. They had never seemed so flustered before. He whirled around and saw an extremely horrifying sight.


    When all of them evacuated into the cabin, they clearly saw a huge wave of nearly a hundred meters in front of the cruise ship through the transparent ss door of the first-floor hall. This huge wave was not the most terrifying, however. The most terrifying thing was that following the huge wave was a gigantic monster.


    It was a huge maroon octopus-like monster with a head the size of the deck. The unseen tentacles were probably dozens of meters long, covered with dense and terrifying suckers. A pair of huge eyes looked at them with a deathly gaze.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t find an urate adjective to describe the shock in his heart right now. He even couldn¡¯t tell whether he was shivering due to simple fear or because of megalophobia. It was too big! Way too big! He had never seen such a huge monster!


    Tang Mianmian also screamed, ¡°Ahhh! Qiuqiu, it¡¯s your crow¡¯s mouth¡¯s fault! What kraken of the deep sea!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...My fault? Didn¡¯t you just say the rest of the description?¡±


    Tang Mianmian cried and pped himself, ¡°My fault! My fault! I was wrong! I was wrong! Can I take back what I just said?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a wry smile, ¡°It¡¯s toote.¡±


    This deep-sea kraken didn¡¯t even have to deliberately target them. The waves that it caused when it came and went were enough to drown them. Just like a person about to kill an ant, would he bother to consider whether to kill it with a stick or a stone?


    Everyone paled. They werepletely not on the same level when ites to enemies of this size. Not to mention that they were in the enemy¡¯s home court, its natural environment. This kind of enemy wasrge enough to crush them while controlling the sea. It was terrible!


    At this moment, the huge waves that were raised when the kraken rose from the deep sea also fell, crashing against the deck heavily. The entire luxury cruise ship shook violently and Xiao Tangqiu slipped and almost fell. Fortunately, he quickly grabbed Shen Yuan with his hands.


    But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, something even more terrible happened. As the huge waves hit the deck, the sea also rushed toward the ss door of the hall. He immediately shouted, ¡°Run!¡±


    Everyone turned and ran deeper into the hall. As soon as they left the area around the ss door, the turbulent water hit and the ss door was shattered apart.


    The seawater continued to smash into the hall along with the ss door¡¯s fragments. They would run past one ce, and in the blink of an eye, that ce would be submerged by seawater. The tables and chairs in the hall were also instantly immersed in the seawater.


    Shen Yuan ordered, ¡°Run to a higher ce!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu did not hesitate to follow Shen Yuan up the spiral staircase to the second floor. Although the elevator was still powered, any idiot would know that you should never use the elevator when disaster strikes. No gods or demons would respond in case the elevator got stuck in the middle of a power failure.


    The huge hundred plus meters tall wave was overwhelmingly powerful, and the seawater that it brought instantly flooded the entire hall on the first floor. Xiao Tangqiu wanted to stop on the spiral staircase to take a rest, but the next second, Shen Yuan suddenly coldly said, ¡°Be careful!¡±


    Shen Yuan grabbed Xiao Tangqiu around the waist and pulled him aside just as the huge ss window lighting the spiral staircase suddenly shattered and a huge tentacle came in!


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and saw that the huge tentacle was covered in densely packed suckers, and the suckers were covered with jagged teeth. This octopus-like monster had no mouth. It hunted using the suckers on its tentacles. Every sucker was its mouth. At this moment, there was still a lot of food that had not beenpletely ingested on these suction cups, and he saw the head of the coward and the iplete bodies of several merfolk at a nce.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face turned pale and wanted to vomit. He finally knew how the person on the pirate ship disappeared. There were no windows but there were doors in the crew cabin of the pirate ship. The kraken must have put its tentacles into the door and preyed on the man closest to the door!


    The giant tentacle failed to catch any prey with a single sweep, so then it turned around to explore Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s current position. Xiao Tangqiu quickly dodged backward while Shen Yuan did not hesitate to pull out his silver gun and shoot at the giant tentacle!


    Boom!


    After the gunshot, the huge tentacle coiled together from severe pain. Several suction cups were broken and the flesh and blood rolled together in a ball. However, the tentacles themselves did not disappear like other targets hit by this silver gun.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. Shen Yuan¡¯s bullets didn¡¯t work on this giant kraken!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened, but he wasn¡¯t too surprised. He said coldly, ¡°My Demon Subjugation Gun can¡¯t do much against a stronger power.¡±


    In other words, this kraken was stronger than Shen Yuan!


    Yu Fuling didn¡¯t dare to imagine, ¡°How is this possible?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also thought this was impossible. Shen Yuan was a man who could directly fight the Abyss Demon! No matter how powerful this kraken was, could it be more powerful than the Abyss Demon?


    Shen Yuan seemed to know what Xiao Tangqiu was thinking, and lightly exined, ¡°The Abyss Demon in the instances is just a clone limited by thews of the instance. It only possesses part of the power of the true Abyss Demon, which is far from its real power.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu understood. It turned out that the previous Abyss Demon was not its real body but just a small clone. Even so, that clone still possessed immense crushing power. So how powerful was the real Abyss Demon?


    Tang Mianmian quickly asked, ¡°What about this kraken? Is it also a demon?¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened, ¡°I have seen it in the Book of Demons. It should be the direct creation of the Abyss Demon, Abyss Demon Optus.¡±


    Abyss Demon? The direct creation of the Abyss Demon?


    And what is the Book of Demons?


    Xiao Tangqiu had a lot of doubts, but the situation right now obviously did not allow them to continue chatting. The huge tentacle rolled into a ball because of the pain, but soon another tentacle came in!


    The two tentacles squeezed into the window at the same time and the metal frame became deformed.


    ¡°Run! Keep running up!¡±


    Shen Yuan gave an order, and everyone turned around and ran upstairs without hesitation.


    Although his bullet did not have much effect on the deep-sea monster, he still seeded in causing it to suffer. Its tentacles angrily chased after everyone, destroying everything on the spiral staircase. The hanging paintings and the vases were also swept down to the ground in a mess.


    The kraken waspletely enraged. It used its remaining tentacles to set off huge waves in a frenzy, and more and more seawater rushed into the ship, but the seawater was not enough to sink the luxury cruise ship.


    In the next second, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly yelled, ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s going to board!¡±


    Everyone looked out through the huge ss windows on the spiral staircase to see the big octopus angrily grab the edge of the ship with the rest of its tentacles and board the ship.


    Its huge body boarded the deck and instantly covered the entire deck like a hill. It probably wanted to use its own weight to crush this luxurious cruise ship!

 Chapter 101

    <h4>Chapter 101</h4>


    However, this big octopus seemed to have overestimated its tonnage or underestimated the carrying capacity of this luxury cruise ship. After it climbed onto the deck, although the deck swayed violently for a while, it did not sink.


    The sea monster was obviously very angry and began to wreak havoc on the deck.


    ¡°Run!¡± Xiao Tangqiu shouted.


    Of course, this sea monster would not let them go. While violently destroying everything on the cruise ship, it chased them with its tentacles full of terrible suckers.


    Everyone had to rush for their lives with almost nowhere to hide. The tentacles of the kraken were tens of meters long, and they looked like eyes. No matter where they hid, how hidden they were, or how narrow of a crevice they hid it, they would be found and reached quickly by the terrifying but soft tentacles.


    No matter where they went, the tentacles were everywhere. They either broke through the window ss and reached in, or tunneled in through the narrow pipes. This cruise ship was obviously very big, but the feeling of having nowhere to hide shadowed over their hearts.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt like they were ying hide and seek with this giant octopus-like sea monster. But no matter where they hid, they would be found. Because every guest room had windows, and its tentacles could stretch out to wherever there were windows and get in...


    Wait! Every guest room had windows?


    Suddenly, he turned his head and shouted at everyone, ¡°Get under the deck! There should be no windows in the rooms below!¡±


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, and said calmly, ¡°Go! Go under the deck!¡±


    So everyone took a u-turn and ran back, chased by tentacles all the way. The road back was naturally messy, full of window ss fragments and various broken debris. If they didn¡¯t pay attention, they would easily be scratched. But they also had to be constantly vignt to guard against the kraken¡¯s sneak attacks anytime and anywhere.


    To Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s surprise, they were not attacked by the giant sea monster on the way back. He didn¡¯t know if the big kraken was tired of chasing them or lost them as targets.


    Just when they returned to the first-floor hall and were about to run down the spiral staircase to the floor below deck, Shen Yuan suddenly shouted, ¡°Careful!¡±


    A huge tentacle mmed in from the broken window and Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart leaped. It turned out that the giant octopus was simply waiting for them to rx and becent beforeunching a surprise attack!


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t hesitate to take out the magic crossbow that Shen Yuan gave him, shoot at that tentacle, and instantly hit one of the suckers!


    The tentacle twisted in pain, causing mountainous shaking for a while in the entire stairwell.


    ¡°Run!¡± Xiao Tangqiu shouted.


    They ran down desperately and finally made it to the bottom of the deck. This floor was more or less filled with galleys and crew rooms. Although it was narrow and dark and not ventted, it had the advantage of not having any windows that the tentacles could enter. The tentacles climbed in from the office entrance and exit to chase them, and once it reached a certain depth, it might not be able to catch up with them!


    The group rushed for their lives at a life-or-death speed. Finally, they ran to the end of the aisle. The end of the aisle was a room with a locked door blocking any way forward!


    Xiao Tangqiu turned and saw that the huge tentacles were still chasing them. He fell into despair. Wasn¡¯t this deep enough? He subconsciously reached into his pocket, trying to find something to soothe his tense nerves, and suddenly came across something cold.


    He took it out to see that it was a silver key. Without thinking about it, he turned to unlock the door.


    Xiao Tangqiu practically suffocated from nerves as he attempted to unlock the door. His mind was nk, he couldn¡¯t think about anything, he didn¡¯t dare to think about anything, he could only follow his subconscious actions.


    Then something miraculous happened.


    Click!


    The door opened.


    ¡°Quick, into the room!¡± Xiao Tangqiu shoved open the door, pushed the others into the room, and then closed the door before the tentacle reached him!


    With a loud bang, the tentacle mmed into the door!


    It did not catch up! Sess!


    Xiao Tangqiu breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly looked around to make sure that the others were okay. Shen Yuan frowned slightly and asked him, ¡°Why do you have the key?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu scratched his hair, ¡°I don¡¯t know, it fell from that mermaid...¡± He also thought it was too hard to believe, but it did happen.


    Shen Yuan frowned and obviously wanted to say something, but Tang Mianmian suddenly shouted, ¡°Fuck! Everyone, look!¡±


    Everyone turned their heads in the direction he was pointing to see a ck coffin in the corner of the room.


    ¡°Coffin?¡± Xiao Tangqiu shivered, ¡°Are there zombies inside?¡±


    Tang Mianmian spoke quietly, ¡°ording to the background of this instance, I think it¡¯s probably a vampire...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen was the first to step forward and look at it, but he did not open the coffin without authorization. He turned to ask Shen Yuan¡¯s opinion, ¡°Boss, should we open it now?¡± Although he was bold, he was not stupidly bold. They were already being chased by enemies, if a minor BOSS came out again, they would be attacked from both the front and back.


    Shen Yuan frowned for a moment before nodding, ¡°Open it.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen opened the coffin without hesitation. Just as everyone thought that something would jump out, nothing happened. Inside the coffin quietlyid a corpse, a woman¡¯s corpse.


    This woman¡¯s corpse seemed to have only been dead for a short time. She was wearing a luxurious dress and morous jewels and her face was vivid. If it weren¡¯t for her breathlessness, it was as if she was just asleep.


    Who was this female corpse? What was her status? Why was she lying in this coffin?


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately had countless questions. Suddenly, all of his attention was taken away by the ring on the woman¡¯s corpse, ¡°Look! It¡¯s the ruby ??ring!¡±


    The others also noticed the ruby ??ring. Duan Hongzhen reached out to take it off, but was stopped by Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan said mildly, ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    No one knew what would happen after taking off the ring. It was indeed safer to let Shen Yuan do it, so nobody moved. Shen Yuan bent down and quickly took off the ring.


    The moment the ruby ??ring was taken off, the woman¡¯s corpse copsed and withered, turning into a skeleton.


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the cabin suddenly shook violently. Just when Xiao Tangqiu thought that it was the giant sea monster¡¯s work, gurgling water suddenly spread through the crack of the door. He couldn¡¯tprehend it for a moment. Here was one level below the deck, which waspletely sealed. How could there be water? Unless...


    Shen Yuan¡¯s expression stiffened, ¡°The ship is sinking!¡±


    That¡¯s right! Only when the ship was sinking would thepletely sealedyer below the deck be flooded with water!


    ¡°Fuck! That kraken finally sank the boat? Run!¡± Tang Mianmian was just about to push open the door when he remembered that there was a big octopus waiting to be fed outside the door. If they ran out, wouldn¡¯t they just be sheep delivering themselves to the tiger¡¯s mouth?


    At this moment, a chilling voice suddenly came from behind them, ¡°Return... my ring...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and saw that the corpse that became a white skeleton after losing the ring had crawled out of the coffin at some point. The moment it stood up, the gorgeous dress it was wearing turned into ashes, and only the skeletal frame was left.


    ¡°Return... my ring...¡±


    The moment the skeleton rushed towards them, Tang Mianmian opened the door with a scream. The seawater that was blocked outside rushed in. Arge amount of seawater flooded into the room at the end of the aisle and it was half filled in an instant!


    The water outside had reached almost waist height without their realization. If they were a littleter, they would not even be able to open the door due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside, and they would be trapped in this room to suffocate to death!


    Xiao Tangqiu had no time to rejoice as thick tentacles leaped from the water and rushed towards them while the skeleton also charged them. It was wolves from the front and tigers behind!


    The worst thing was that arge amount of seawater continued to flow in. If they wasted too much time here, even if they were not caught up by the tentacles, they would drown.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan took out their weapons and fired at the tentacles at the same time. Although they did not have much chance to fight side by side, they inexplicably had a tacit understanding. Shen Yuan¡¯s bullets would just hit the tentacles and Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s arrows would also arrive! Under the double offensive, the tentacles curled into a ball in pain, and there was no movement for a long moment.


    The two blurted out at the same time, ¡°Now! Run!¡±


    The group rushed towards the exit with the female skeleton still chasing after them, but no one of them had any intention to deal with it now. Escaping was top priority!


    They ran fast, but the seawater poured in faster. When they were about to reach the exit, the seawater had already flowed over their necks. Shen Yuan promptly ordered, ¡°Swim!¡±


    He took a deep breath and dived into the water. Xiao Tangqiu followed his example and held his breath and dived into the water.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s swimming was not very good. Fortunately, Shen Yuan was in front of him. He swam forwards behind Shen Yuan and finally escaped from the lower floor to the first floor before thest bit of air in his lungs was exhausted.


    But the situation on the first floor was also not good. A lot of seawater had overflowed the deck, and the ship was rapidly sinking. In another a few minutes, the entire luxury cruise ship would sink to the seabed.


    Finding amusement in despair, Xiao Tangqiu thought, in addition to the 100% FLAG-acquiring crow¡¯s beak skill, he also had a 100% sinking skill for any ships he boarded.


    But unlike before where they came across this luxury cruise ship before the pirate ship sankpletely, once the luxury cruise ship sank, what else could they do? How could they escape in the vast sea?


    Tang Mianmian asked mournfully ¡°What do we do now? Go higher? Or find a wooden board?¡± No matter how high they ran, the ship would sink sooner orter. It¡¯s just the difference between sinking now orter.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Even if you find a board, you won¡¯t have shredded pork.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°If there is shredded pork, I don¡¯t need to make a board and I can still survive!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something, ¡°Lifeboat! There are lifeboats on the first level!¡±


    Everyone immediately ran towards the ce where the lifeboat was. When Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan were exploring this luxury cruise ship, they found lifeboats.


    But when Xiao Tangqiu led everyone there, he found that the ce where the lifeboat was originally hung was empty. All the lifeboats had disappeared.

 Chapter 102

    <h4>Chapter 102</h4>


    ¡°The lifeboats are gone!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu despaired. This cruise ship was about to sink. How could they survive without a lifeboat in the ocean?


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic! We still have life jackets!¡± Tang Mianmian yelled, but he also knew very well that even if there were life jackets, they wouldn¡¯t have much effect.


    Shen Yuan spoke deeply, ¡°Run to a higher ce first!¡±


    Since there was no lifeboat, they had no need to stay here anymore.


    Everyone turned and ran up again. At this moment, the entire luxury cruise ship shook violently. Xiao Tangqiu looked back and suddenly shouted, ¡°Vortex!¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Fuck! Underwater whirlpool!¡±


    In the distance, a huge spiral vortex suddenly appeared out of nowhere!


    The scale and momentum of this whirlpool were terrifying. The seawater at the center of the whirlpool was several hundred meters deep, and its suction was so strong that almost all the seawater with a radius of several kilometers had been pulled in. Even this huge cruise ship inevitably headed towards the whirlpool. Once they werepletely pulled into the whirlpool, the consequences would be unimaginable!


    Even Duan Hongzhen couldn¡¯t help but blurt out, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Even the people standing on the deck of therge ship felt a strong suction force, their bodies almost lifting in the air to fly towards the whirlpool. Everyone quickly grabbed the guardrail with their hands.


    The cruise ship¡¯s sinking stopped for now, but it was relentlessly pulled into the range of the whirlpool and began to spin with the waters. Xiao Tangqiu felt like they had been tossed into the drum of a washing machine, constantly spinning and tumbling. If he had any sort of motion sickness, he would¡¯ve vomited already.


    Tang Mianmian clung to the railing, crying, ¡°What should we do? Are we going to die soon? I don¡¯t want to die yet!¡±


    This vortex appeared so suddenly that they were already pulled in before they could react and could no longer escape. Even if they abandoned the ship, it was impossible for them to escape the vortex. Instead, they had a better chance on the huge cruise ship. The collision with arge object might actually break apart the whirlpool, after all.


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly.


    The next moment, the cruise ship began to tear apart, finally unable to withstand the huge power of the whirlpool. They were tossed into the air without mercy.


    As far as he could see, everything that was sucked in by the whirlpool began to disintegrate. Would they disintegrate next?


    Xiao Tangqiu gradually lost consciousness among the violent waves. Shen Yuan¡¯s hand reaching for him in mid-air was thest thing he saw.


    Before he could respond to the Shen Yuan, darkness overtook him.


    When Xiao Tangqiu came back to his senses again, he discovered that he seemed to be lying on soft sand. The sound of waves against the beach was in his ears, half of his body was soaked in the sea, and his numb right hand seemed to be pressed under something heavy.


    He slowly opened his eyes and was met with a ferocious-looking man. The man had a face full of scars and wore a savage expression. And he was raising a cold and gleaming ax at him.


    He had a fright. In his peripherals, he saw over a dozen people holding various weapons surrounding him, their attitudes obviously full of hostility.


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s back chilled and he was at a loss, he suddenly realized that Shen Yuan was lying on his right hand.


    Shen Yuan seemed to be still unconscious but had still clutched his right hand tightly. The strength was great enough that when he woke up he had thought that his right hand was pressed under something heavy.


    Xiao Tangqiu recalled that before he lost consciousness, Shen Yuan rushed towards him. It seemed that Shen Yuan sessfully grabbed him within the whirlpool and didn¡¯t let go even after losing consciousness himself. The anxiety in his heart eased. Although he woke up to being surrounded by a dozen savage looking men holding weapons, when he thought that Shen Yuan was next to him, he suddenly became less scared.


    At this moment, Shen Yuan also woke up.


    He didn¡¯t seem to notice the surrounding environment, and his first reaction was to look towards the tight grip he had on Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly gave Shen Yuan a look to motion him to pay attention to their surroundings.


    Once Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, he indifferently looked at the dozen or so buff men surrounding them. Compared to Xiao Tangqiu, he was much calmer.


    At first, Xiao Tangqiu thought that there would be a fierce battle, but after the scary muscle man gave him a fierce look, the axe in his hand did not fall, and he waved to the person behind him, ¡°Take these two people away!¡±


    ¡°Boss! These two burdens will hold us back!¡±


    ¡°What do you know, no one knows what dangers are in that cave. Of course someone has to walk ahead! Otherwise, will you lead the way?¡±


    ¡°Boss is wise!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had yet to figure out the situation before he was tied up by the dozen men who looked to be pirates and was pushed forward.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a look at Shen Yuan in surprise. Although these dozen or so pirates said they had an advantage, they probably weren¡¯t enough to fight Shen Yuan. Why did Shen Yuan let himself get tied up?


    Shen Yuan sensed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s gaze, lowered his voice and said coldly, ¡°This may be the plot.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu realized that this was the first NPC they encountered in this instance who took the initiative to speak to them. It was indeed likely to be an important plot.


    What was ¡°that cave¡±? Was it a treasure cave?


    So he also prepared to wait for things to develop. But besides Shen Yuan and him, no one else seemed to be here. He didn¡¯t know if they were washed away by the whirlpool, or...


    He sighed and quietly looked at the surrounding environment while walking forward under the push of the pirates.


    This was undoubtedly an ind surrounded by the vast sea. Thend under their feet was not connected to othernd masses and was an independent ind amidst the sea. He didn¡¯t know if it was an illusion, but Xiao Tangqiu always felt that the beach they washed ashore resembled a huge whale¡¯s tail with two fin-shaped beaches.


    But this discovery did not keep his attention for too long. He soon turned his thoughts to why he and Shen Yuan appeared here, and why they were not buried under the sea after being caught in the whirlpool?


    After a while, they crossed half an ind, and the scary muscle man suddenly yelled, ¡°Damn it! Someone was a step ahead of us!¡±


    Some messy footprints appeared on the ground, looking recently made. Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously nced at Shen Yuan. Could it be Tang Mianmian and them?


    ¡°This won¡¯t do! We have to hurry up! We have to get there before those people!¡± The man gave an order, and they began to speed up. Xiao Tangqiu also had to speed up.


    During this rush, Xiao Tangqiu felt even more that the shape of the ind was like a whale, especially when they started climbing. He felt that the curvature of the slope was like a fish¡¯s back. When they climbed to the middle of the mountain, he saw that the two slopes extending from the left to the right were like fish fins.


    Of course, this ind was naturally muchrger than ordinary whales, but Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but think of the map he saw from the ghost ship. The shape of the final Treasure Ind was like a whale... Could this be the Treasure Ind where those pirates wanted to hunt for treasure?


    But that initial group of pirates had already obtained the treasure first, and thenter became a ghost ship because of the curse of the treasure...


    Just as he was puzzled over it, the group of pirates suddenly stopped, and the brawny man shouted, ¡°It should be nearby! Go look for it! Be sure to find the cave entrance before that other group!¡±


    Except for one pirate who was in charge of watching Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan, the other pirates started looking around for the entrance of the cave. Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan traded a look and Shen Yuan nodded.


    In the next second, Shen Yuan violently acted out. Although he was tightly tied up, he easily kicked the pirate to the ground with one kick, and then rushed to the nearby grove with Xiao Tangqiu.


    By the time the pirate got up, the two of them had disappeared.


    After diving into the grove, Shen Yuan quickly untied the rope, and Xiao Tangqiu circled him anxiously, ¡°Quick! Untie me too!¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I think it¡¯s good to tie you up, keeps you from running around.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief, ¡°Huh? Don¡¯t you n to untie me?¡±


    Shen Yuan spoke coldly with his arms crossed, ¡°What if you go looking to die again?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, ¡°Think about it seriously, if you don¡¯t untie it for me, you will lose a fighter!¡±


    Shen Yuan raised his eyebrows, ¡°Do I need your fighting?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought about it. Shen Yuan indeed did notck him, but the problem was... he didn¡¯t want to bepletely useless and only rely on holding his thigh!


    He couldn¡¯t help feeling depressed, ¡°Can it be called looking to die? I was obviously saving you!¡±


    Shen Yuan said coldly, ¡°No, if I need someone else¡¯s life to live, then I would rather die.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was a little surprised. These type of words was nothing like what Shen Yuan, a veteran yer who survived a lot of battles and came out victorious, would say!


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu and asked mildly, ¡°What were you thinking about when you saved me? Did you save me because I was me, or because you thought I was your old friend?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. When he rushed forward to save Shen Yuan... even now he didn¡¯t know what he was thinking at the time. How could he think about so much when his life was at stake!


    He gritted his teeth, ¡°Hurry and untie me! What if I can¡¯t run from dangerter on!¡±


    Shen Yuan coldly said, ¡°I will always watch over you. Unless I encounter a situation that I can¡¯t deal with, otherwise I won¡¯t let you die a second time... But if we really encounter a situation I can¡¯t deal with, do you think you can make a difference if you aren¡¯t tied up?


    ¡°If I don¡¯t die, you won¡¯t die. Only if I die first, will you die.¡±

 Chapter 103

    <h4>Chapter 103</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a long time, then smiled bitterly and asked, ¡°Is it that serious? Why must one of us die?¡±


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, and then lightly said, ¡°The Abyss Demon has sessfully broken the ¡®wall¡¯ and came here, and might appear in front of us at any moment...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°I promise I won¡¯t die again, so let me go first. If you really encounter danger, you will be distracted protecting me.¡±


    Shen Yuan stared at Xiao Tangqiu for a while in thought. Just when Xiao Tangqiu thought that Shen Yuan would agree, he shook his head and refused, ¡°I feel more at ease with you like this.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu widened his eyes and was about to say something, but Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes suddenly darkened. ¡°Someone ising.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also heard the hurried footsteps. It was obvious that someone wasing over. The next moment, Shen Yuan pulled him to hide behind a nearby tree.


    Just as they hid, arge group of people appeared in front of them. To be exact, these people should be two groups of people from different camps. Not only did they dress differently, they were also fighting fiercely.


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately recognized one of the groups to be the pirates who had kidnapped them earlier. As for the other group, they were obviously also a group of vicious pirates, and they simrly took captives. They probably had the same ideas as the first group of pirates, intending to let the captives act as the vanguard when exploring the treasure cave.


    When he saw that the captives were Tang Mianmian and co, he instantly felt relieved. It seems that Tang Mianmian and the others did not meet with an ident. They were probably washed further away on a different beach than Shen Yuan and him when they were washed up on the beach by the waves. And then they happened to encounter pirates whonded in both ces, so they were both taken captive.


    Tang Mianmian and the others apparently had the same idea as them, pretending to be subdued first, and then waiting for the group of pirates to take them to the pirates¡¯ destination to take a closer look.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan watched the battle. It didn¡¯t take long for a victor toe out of the two groups of pirates. The group of pirates who grabbed them prevailed, and the group of pirates who took Tang Mianmian¡¯s group fell to a disadvantage and were captured. Then they became captives just like their captives. It really came full circle.


    Although the pirates who had captured them lost two captives, now that there were suddenly so many new captives, they no longer intended to look for the two that ran away. They took their crowd of captives to the mouth of the cave they found.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a look at the terrain and discovered that the mouth of the cave was almost at the location of the whale¡¯s blowhole. Who knew if this was a coincidence... But even if it wasn¡¯t a coincidence, what could it mean? Could this inde alive and really be a whale?


    Just as he was thinking about it, the pirates had already sent arge group ahead with other captives into the cave, leaving only a few pirates defending near the entrance of the cave. It was obviously the best time to sneak up. He was about to turn his head and discuss this with Shen Yuan, but Shen Yuan rushed up directly and brought down the pirates in an instant.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡± Well, when he was with Shen Yuan, there was really no need for him to act.


    But Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t give up, ¡°Are you really not going to let me go?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at him and said lightly, ¡°You can just stay behind me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu begged Shen Yuan, ¡°But I want to fight with you!¡±


    Shen Yuan said coldly, ¡°You can say it again when you are strong enough to fight alongside me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was very unconvinced, ¡°&#k2026;Then you have to give me time and space to grow!¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s unresigned expression and smiled, ¡°Of course, but not now. If we can go back alive after this instance, I will give you special training.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Hey, hey, don¡¯t stand up a FLAG!¡± Didn¡¯t Shen Yuan know that sentence patterns like ¡°If we can go back alive...¡± were all standard FLAG sentences!


    Shen Yuan smiled and said, ¡°So you have to listen to me obediently in this instance.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was speechless and could only quietly follow Shen Yuan into the cave. With Shen Yuan there, there really was not much opportunity for him to take action. Shen Yuan had long proven that he could carry the scene alone with his strength countless times.


    He could only settle down. Forget it, wasn¡¯t it just hugging a godly thigh! There was no shame in justying down to win!


    This cave was long and deep, and it looked dangerous. Xiao Tangqiu thought they would encounter some traps. But nothing happened along the way. Tang Mianmian and co obviously were wary and vignt at first, but they stayed safe and uneventful.


    But it was just the calm before the storm. The more calm things were, the more dangerous things would be. Neither Xiao Tangqiu nor Shen Yuan rxed their vignce, and the group of pirates also did not dare to rx at all until they came to a huge sinkhole.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. It turned out that the end of the cave was such a big pit. He had never seen such a huge hole formed in the depression of a mountain. The rock wall was sheer and endless. The spectacle was grand and majestic. The width and depth of the entire thing were like a Tiankeng, well over a hundred meters.


    He couldn¡¯t help but start to think more. Did a meteorite hit this small ind many years ago for such a Tiankeng sinkhole to form?


    He took a closer look and saw that the top of the Tiankeng was a precipice, probably leading to the peak of the ind, and the bottom of the Tiankeng was ake formed by seawater. Theke was deep but calm, making it difficult to tell exactly how deep it was.


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was immersed in this incredible geographic phenomenon, a pirate ahead of them suddenly yelled in excitement, ¡°I see it! That legendary ship is there! Let¡¯s get down!¡±


    ¡°Then what about these captives?¡±


    ¡°Who cares about so much! Let¡¯s send a few people down to take a look! If we really find the legendary treasure, we will send someone down to bring the treasure up!¡±


    ¡°What if there is danger down there? Let¡¯s send a few captives down and take a look first!¡±


    ¡°Then what if they run away after getting the treasure?¡±


    Just as the pirates were arguing, Tang Mianmian and co suddenly rioted. They had already cut apart the ropes around them at some point and worked together to quickly knock down the group of pirates. Then, a pirate with a machete sneaked behind them, trying to attack Duan Hongzhen.


    The pirate raised the machete in his hand, but the next second, the machete was hit and knocked down. He was taken aback and his foot slipped down the sinkhole.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡±


    ¡°Boss!¡±


    ¡°Leader!¡±


    Several people looked back and when they saw that it was Shen Yuan and Xiao Tangqiu, they were overjoyed.


    ¡°Captain! That¡¯s great! You aren¡¯t dead!¡± Xue Junli was obviously relieved.


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu were also very excited, and Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°How can anything happen to the captain?¡±


    ¡°Oh oh oh! Qiuqiu you are not dead!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to give Tang Mianmian a big hug, but Shen Yuan calmly pulled him aside, making Tang Mianmian miss his tackle.


    Tang Mianmian finally noticed the rope around Xiao Tangqiu, and immediately raged, ¡°Were you tied up by this group of bastards too? Come here! I¡¯ll help you untie it!¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°No need.¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t respond for a moment, ¡°Why?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a dryugh, not knowing how to exin.


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°This is a little lesson I¡¯m teaching him.¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked, not knowing what to say for a while, but Fei You injected a sentence, ¡°What kind of kink is this? Bondage y?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu refuted hard, ¡°It¡¯s not!¡±


    He stiffly changed the subject, ¡°By the way, what is the legendary ship that these pirates just mentioned? We should ask!¡±


    Without waiting for him to speak Duan Hongzhen had already stepped on a pirate who was trying to escape. As soon as his voice fell, the pirate was made to scream by Duan Hongzhen.


    ¡°The legendary ship?¡± Duan Hongzhen touched his chin in interest and stomped on the pirate¡¯s stomach. ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡±


    The pirate yelled in pain, ¡°Let me go!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen increased the strength of his foot, ¡°Are you going to speak?¡±


    Seeing that the pirate looked like he¡¯d rather die than yield, he took the pirate¡¯s sword and gestured at the pirate, ¡°I heard that the meat on this part of a person¡¯s body is the most tender and delicious. Would you like to taste it? The taste of your own flesh?¡±


    The pirate was shocked scared, and he immediately confessed, ¡°T-there is a legendary ship here with legendary treasures on board. If you can get those treasures, you will be able to enjoy endless prestige, wealth, and also the most powerful force in the world...¡±


    ¡°Prestige, wealth, powerful force?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°This legendary treasure really isn¡¯t some kind of a martial arts secret technique book? or something?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen continued to step on the pirate¡¯s stomach and asked, ¡°Where is this ce?¡±


    ¡°This, this is Whale Ind, and it is also us pirates¡¯ Treasure Ind.¡± Under Duan Hongzhen¡¯s intimidation, the pirate honestly exined everything. ¡°For hundreds of years, countless pirates have tried toe to this ind to find the legend. To get to this ind, you must pass the Ghost Sea, Siren Bay, and thest Whirlpool Horn. Youe to Whale Ind only by passing through the seabed whirlpool...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was not convinced, ¡°No one has been to Whale Ind for so many years?¡±


    The pirate cowered and said, ¡°Of course not. Many pirates havee before us, but basically none of them have left. So this ce is also called the Tomb of the Pirate Ship, the ce where a thousand ships are buried...¡±


    Following his words, Xiao Tangqiu looked down and saw shimmering waves on theke at the bottom of the Tiankeng, and countless shipwrecks faintly appeared under the waves

 Chapter 104

    <h4>Chapter 104</h4>


    ¡°Where is the legendary ship?¡± Xiao Tangqiu continued to ask.


    The pirate hesitated, but he confessed honestly. He pointed to the sunken ship under theke, and said tremblingly, ¡°It¡¯s just below...¡±


    Tang Mianmian snorted and asked, ¡°There are so many sunken ships below, how do you know which one it is?¡±


    The pirate said tremblingly, ¡°It¡¯s the biggest one.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu soon saw which ship the pirate was talking about. In the cemetery of thousands of ships at the bottom of theke was a giant shipwreck. The ship was bigger than any pirate ship and even bigger than any ship they had seen before, including the giant cruise ship from earlier. This ship¡¯s hull was white, which was very unusual.


    After a closer look, he realized that the ship seemed to be made up of human parts. The hull was made of human bones and human skin and the observation deck was made of piles of skulls. Although they sank to the deep bottom of the sea, they seemed to be staring at the people on the shore.


    He only looked at the ship from a distance before feeling a hair-raising sensation.


    Shen Yuan promptly said, ¡°Let¡¯s go down and take a look.¡±


    ¡°But what about these pirates? Tie them all up?¡± As soon as Tang Mianmian¡¯s voice fell, the ground shook and an unusual movement happened around them..


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Everyone wondered, but the group of pirates who were knocked to the ground by them began screaming.


    ¡°It¡¯s the guardian of the treasure!¡±


    ¡°The guardian of the legendary treasure is the monster at the bottom of the sea!¡±


    The guardian of the treasure? Monster at the bottom of the sea?


    Something shed in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind for an instant. The next moment, his vision went dark, and the Tiankeng¡¯s opening where the light had been shining in was shrouded in darkness as if someone suddenly covered his eyes with a curtain.


    ¡°Ahhhh! It¡¯s here! The sea monster guarding the treasure!¡±


    The pirates screamed in horror. During this panic, some people stumbled and fell into theke at the bottom of the sinkhole, while others turned and ran back.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked closer and realized that there was a huge monster lying on the top of the Tiankeng. The size and shape of its huge body were so incredible that itpletely blocked the opening so that the entire Tiankeng was shrouded and everything fell into darkness.


    He had already guessed what this sea monster guarding the treasure was. Next to him, Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened and he said coldly, ¡°Optes!¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s face paled, ¡°Fuck! That giant octopus? It didn¡¯t die in the whirlpool? Did it follow us?¡±


    Xue Junli exined, ¡°Optus is an Arch Demon, the direct creation of the Abyss Demon. It won¡¯t die so easily&#k2026; But why did it appear here?¡±


    Tang Mianmian guessed, ¡°If it¡¯s the monster guardian of the treasure, then is the treasure it¡¯s guarding rted to the Abyss Demon?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°No wait! Demons shouldn¡¯t be able toe to the instance world so easily, right? Especially this kind of high-level demon... and it has obviously been in this instance for many years...¡± If the pirates hadn¡¯t lied to them just now, this legendary treasure had existed for hundreds of years, so Optus should have been in this instance for hundreds of years.


    Shen Yuan said coldly, ¡°It means that someone summoned it here via sacrifice many years ago.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously responded, ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°A demon worshipper,¡± Shen Yuan was obviously unwilling to exin, but faced with Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s questioning, he borated, ¡°Those who have a Demon Book... such as Lippinobert.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered the ck-covered book that Shen Yuan had once read. However, before he could cautiously ask more, there was a blood-curdling scream behind them.


    ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡±


    Everyone turned around and saw that the pirates who had turned tail and wanted to escape came back. While the one running ahead was more or less fine, the people behind were all covered in injuries. Some of them were even missing arms and legs, and they ran screaming while spraying blood everywhere.


    The pirates tried their best to run back to the sinkhole. Those who moved fast could still save their small life, while those who moved slowly dropped dead due to excessive blood loss on the way.


    After all the living pirates returned to this ce, a huge tentacle stretched out from a hole in the ground. The tentacle suckers were filled with flesh and blood residue, and some even had heads with horrified faces.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly saw a somewhat familiar head, ¡°Look! It¡¯s the chef!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was the first to react, and he quickly yelled, ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s really the cook on the ghost ship! Isn¡¯t he dead? Why did he die here again?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something. He quickly looked at the surviving pirates. Other than the group of pirates who captured him and Shen Yuan at the beginning, there was also the other group who captured Tang Mianmian¡¯s group. Their clothes were distinctively simr to the dead bodies on the ghost ship. This group of pirates was clearly the sailors on the ghost ship!


    What exactly was going on?


    Shen Yuan also realized it. He frowned, ¡°Could it be that the pirates on the ghost ship didn¡¯t get the treasure at all?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback, but he quickly understood what Shen Yuan meant. No wonder the chef¡¯s diary was vague about how they got the treasure. Maybe they didn¡¯t get the treasure at all, maybe they were already dead during the treasure hunt. Only the obsession to find the treasure was left behind, keeping them going...


    ¡°No! They may not have the treasure, but they have at least seen the legendary treasure!¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly thought of something, and immediately shouted, ¡°Otherwise they wouldn¡¯t know that the legendary treasure is a ruby ??ring! No wonder when we arrived on the luxury cruise ship, the ruby ??ring disappeared. It¡¯s because they only saw the ruby ??ring, but they didn¡¯t have the life to take it away! Because they all died in the hands of the sea monster guarding the treasure!¡±


    ¡°It makes sense.¡± Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened, he reached out to touch the ruby ??ring in his pocket that he found on the cruise ship, and then he froze.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked.


    Shen Yuan paused, ¡°The ruby ??ring is gone.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Of course, since the pirates failed to take away the legendary treasure back then, the ruby ??ring would naturally not be passed on to other people. It should have been underwater from beginning to end in some treasure chest...¡±


    Fei You couldn¡¯t help but interject and ask, ¡°Then what is our mission? To find that ruby ??ring?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Fei You and fell into contemtion.


    Xiao Tangqiu was not too certain. Since Optus, who guarded the treasure, was a direct creation of the Abyss Demon and thus a very powerful high-level demon, the treasure it guarded was obviously nothing ordinary. In case it was something particrly dangerous, what should they do?


    But if their mission goal was to get the ruby ??ring, then they must find the ruby ??ring. Otherwise, they would never be able to leave this instance.


    Zhang Zuo also spoke, ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s find the ruby ??ring first and then talk.¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°It makes sense, at least this is an obvious and important clue.¡±


    Shen Yuan was silent for a while, then nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s go down.¡±


    As they were discussing things, Optus had alreadyunched a massacre on the other side. Itid on the top of the sinkhole as if watching a killing show, and used its tentacles to pursue those pirates who screamed and ran away in amusement. It could kill all pirates at once, but it killed while ying cat and mouse instead. Then, it seemed to have be bored with this kind of game.


    ¡°Move!¡±


    Shen Yuan pushed Xiao Tangqiu away just as and a thick tentacle shot in their direction.


    Xiao Tangqiu dodged the tentacle¡¯s attack and yelled, ¡°Untie me, quick!¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened, ¡°I¡¯ming...¡±


    But as soon as his voice fell, he was blocked by the tentacle and he had to start fighting.


    Xiao Tangqiu was extremely anxious. At this moment, Fei You rushed over, ¡°I got you!¡±


    Using the previously distributed weapon, he sliced the rope on Xiao Tangqiu a few times, and Xiao Tangqiu suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Fei You smiled, ¡°Gotta help each other!¡±


    ¡°Captain, do you want help?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen asked, but didn¡¯t do anything. After all, among all of them here, the strongest person was Shen Yuan. If Shen Yuan couldn¡¯t beat them, then it would be useless for them to go. Plus, they also had unconditional and unreasonable trust in Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan said deeply, ¡°You go down first, and I¡¯ll follow soon!¡± Once all of them dived into theke, the giant octopus would immediately catch up. They could not escape under the water, so they could only rely on him holding the monster back.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly understood Shen Yuan¡¯s meaning. Although he was a little worried, it was the only way. The bottom of theke might be the giant octopus¡¯ home ground. They could only take advantage of Shen Yuan keeping it upied to turn over the wholeke.


    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go!¡± Xue Junli gave the order and everyone entered the water.


    The moment he entered the water, the icyke chilled him to his bones.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but shudder. He looked up at Shen Yuan who was still fighting Optus. He suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart, but before he could say anything, he was suddenly shoved, ¡°Be careful!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was pushed into the water and choked. He turned his head back with effort to discover that it was a pirate lurking in the water. He probably had stumbled above and fell into the sinkhole. Fei You began to fight the pirate.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. Was this pirate crazy? All of his group were dead, this guy actually wants to attack them?


    The pirate had crimson eyes and desperately brandished the machete in his hand, ¡°Treasure...The treasure is mine! No one else can have it¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly realized what was going on. This guy probably had fallen into some kind of delusion, just like the group of pirates who thought they had the treasure before!


    But at least before, the group of pirates only went crazy after seeing the treasure with their own eyes. This guy just fell into theke that held the treasure, before being controlled by the illusion!


    That legendary treasure was too terrible!


    With such a powerful thing, even if they were aiming toplete their mission task, wouldn¡¯t people still be lured in?

 Chapter 105

    <h4>Chapter 105</h4>


    After the pirate fell into the illusion, hisbative powers improved a lot, but Duan Hongzhen was quickly able to control him. But then the giant tentacles caught up andunched ferocious attacks.


    Under the murderous chase of the giant sea monster, Xiao Tangqiu swam desperately towards the biggest shipwreck. When he approached the shipwreck made of bones, he shuddered. Every single one of those hollow skulls seemed to be watching him. If it were not for the legendary treasure, he would not want to approach this ghost ship made of human bones by a mile.


    Unlike the previous ghost ship, even though this bone vessel had been underwater for many years, no seabed microbes had attached to it at all. Plus, there were also no living creatures in the seawaterke. It was just like an empty zone of death.


    Xiao Tangqiu felt off all over, and the unknown feeling in his heart became stronger and stronger. But the tentacles were getting closer and closer. In order to avoid the attack, he had to swim into the bone ship with the others.


    They couldn¡¯t speak under the water. Everyone could onlymunicate by gestures. As soon as Shen Yuan came in, Shen Yuan quickly made a separate to search gesture, and everyone dispersed to search quickly.


    The inside of this bone ship was very simple. There was nothing except for the piles of white bones. Xiao Tangqiu could even see the giant tentacles lurking outside through the gaps of the bones. For some reason, ever since they entered the bone ship, those tentacles calmed down.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ponder. This ship of human bones should only seem terrible to them as humans. But it was probably not even as strong as an ordinary ship for the giant monster and it could be broken in one move. So why didn¡¯t it continue to attack this ship? Was there something terrible on this ship that even the sea monster didn¡¯t dare to go against?


    At this moment, Fei You suddenly found something. After making repeated gestures to have them go over and see, Xiao Tangqiuid down his doubts and swam towards Fei You.


    Fei You found a small wooden box. This small wooden box looked simple and seemed nothing special, but one must consider that it had been immersed in seawater for many years. Yet it had not rotted over the years, still as strong as ever.


    Fei You tried to open the box, but after trying for a long time, he shook his head at everyone.


    Duan Hongzhen took the small wooden box and tried to open it, but he also shook his head.


    After the others tried one by one, the small wooden box was handed over to Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu studied the keyhole and saw that the shape of the keyhole was clearly the ruby ??ring. He shook the small wooden box and was shocked to realize that the small wooden box was empty inside. And not only was there no water in it, but there was also a small thing inside... A small thing that sounded awfully like a ring.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Putting the ruby ??ring in a small wooden box that could only be opened by the ruby ??ring was indeed a great way to hide treasure. The key was the treasure, and the treasure was the key. If you didn¡¯t take out the key, you wouldn¡¯t get the treasure, but the key was in the box containing the treasure.


    It locked itself?


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed inwardly and gestured to Shen Yuan about his findings.


    Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow, took out his silver gun, and aimed it at the keyhole, obviously intending to brute force the lock.


    After the bang of the gun, the lock actually broke.


    A ruby &#k200K;&#k200K;ring was exposed, and it was exactly the same as the one they had seen before. Under the refraction of the sea, it gave out a more mysterious and beautiful luster, perhaps even more gorgeous than before.


    The moment Shen Yuan got the ring, the giant tentacles ominously reached inwards and crushed most of the bone ship in an instant. Everyone immediately ran, but their way back was blocked by the tentacles so they could only swim continuously deeper into the ship.


    Finally, at the end of the ship, they saw a door.


    It was a wooden door with intricate patterns. Such a door appeared particrly out of ce on such a ship, but they had no choice but to rush towards the wooden door with the deadly tentacles right behind them.


    Duan Hongzhen mmed into the door with his body, but the door remained motionless.


    Xiao Tangqiu found the shape of the keyhole was somewhat familiar. He pointed to the keyhole and then to the ruby ??ring in Shen Yuan¡¯s hand.


    Shen Yuanpared it, and it really matched. This ruby ??ring was obviously the key to open the door.


    Unknowingly, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt something was wrong.


    ...Something was wrong, this was all too coincidental. It was as if someone arranged all of this behind the scenes, even the chase of the giant kraken creature seemed to be deliberately driving them to this door!


    Actually, not only this time, but also the previous chase on the luxury cruise ship...


    At this moment, Shen Yuan moved the ruby ??ring to the keyhole and it was about to be put in. Xiao Tangqiu rushed to stop Shen Yuan¡¯s movements, but Shen Yuan moved faster than him. As Shen Yuan put the ruby ??ring in, he raised his head and nced at Xiao Tangqiu, and there seemed to be a sh of red light in his eyes.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart shook. Just as he was about to grab Shen Yuan and question him, the bottom of theke shook violently, and the ship vanished along with the door.


    Then theke furiously drained and all theke water disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving only the remains of thousands of sunken ships and the few of them at the bottom of theke.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Tang Mianmian was taken aback, and quickly looked around, ¡°Why has the water disappeared? What was behind the door just now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know either. Although he was the closest to Shen Yuan at the time, he only paid attention to Shen Yuan and didn¡¯t notice what was behind the door. Then the door disappeared.


    He stared at Shen Yuan, trying to uncover what was off about Shen Yuan. However, apart from the anomaly at that moment, Shen Yuan seemed to be back to normal again, frowning slightly, as if thinking about something.


    So Xiao Tangqiu directly asked, ¡°What are you thinking about?¡±


    A trace of doubt shed through Shen Yuan¡¯s dark eyes, ¡°Thinking?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip, ¡°What were you thinking just now? Why did you open the door without hesitation?¡±


    A dazed look shed in Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes, ¡°I... don¡¯t know.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was shaken. Was Shen Yuan being controlled by someone without knowing it? If even Shen Yuan didn¡¯t realize it, who else could it be?!


    At this moment, Tang Mianmian suddenly yelled, ¡°Fuck! Fuck! This ind... this ind... it¡¯s alive!¡±


    Everyone was shocked and looked around. As expected, what was originally a huge sinkhole surrounded by steep and jagged mud and rock cliffs began to peel and crumble away as the ground shook. A huge biological skeleton was unveiled underneath it all.


    At the same time, there was a deafening roar of some kind of giant creature ringing in their ears.


    As the mud and rocks were shed off, the entire whale ind gradually became a huge whale skeleton. But the giant whale skeleton seemed to being to life, constantly making deafening cries. As it came alive little by little, the remains of the sunken ship also fell to the bottom of the sea along with the mud and rocks. Xiao Tangqiu and the others were naturally no exception to this and also sank towards the depth of the sea.


    Right as he hit the water, Xiao Tangqiu was caught by Shen Yuan, avoiding the pain of choking on water. He wanted to thank Shen Yuan right when he surfaced, but he suddenly remembered his doubts and subconsciously broke free from Shen Yuan¡¯s grasp.


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, and there seemed to be some uncertainty and confusion in his eyes. But then he gripped Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s wrist harder. Xiao Tangqiu hesitated but did not continue to try to get away.


    Others also dropped into the sea like dumplings before, one by one, they resurfaced. Tang Mianmian raised his head and looked at the behemoth that waspletely transformed in front of him, dumbfounded, ¡°Holy shit... why is the whale so big?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up to see that the giant whale in front of him could only be bigger than the previous whale ind. Although whales were indeed thergest creatures in the ocean, he was sure that ordinary whales could never be this big... This was more like the size of some mythological sea monster!


    This hair-raising physique, coupled with apletely skeletal body, was really chilling.


    With the long cry of a giant whale, even the ocean from a hundred miles away seemed to vibrate with it.


    At this moment, Shen Yuan opened his mouth and said, ¡°The giant whale of the deep sea... It¡¯s a direct creation of the Abyss Demon, Arch Demon Hugo Wells.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was filled with anxiety, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you realize it from the beginning?¡± He felt that this whale ind was full of something off-putting from the start, so why didn¡¯t Shen Yuan notice it? Could it be that Shen Yuan had been controlled from the get-go?


    Shen Yuan paused, then said coldly, ¡°The deep-sea giant whale had fallen many years ago, and the body was sealed in a ce no one knew...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback. The giant deep-sea whale had already died a long time ago, so it wasn¡¯t impossible for Shen Yuan to overlook it before. Just when he felt a little guilty, Shen Yuan continued to say, ¡°But demons will never really die. As long as the Abyss Demon is willing, with a bit of the demon¡¯s blood, they can be resurrected...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart trembled, ¡°Demon¡¯s blood? Can it be that ruby ??ring?!¡±


    Shen Yuan remained silent. After a while, he said lightly, ¡°...The blood of the demon is more precious than the demon¡¯s heart. The heart of the demon can regenerate infinitely, but the blood is limited, and every drop of blood contains extremely strong power.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled helplessly, ¡°I can tell...¡±


    A drop of demon¡¯s blood could even resurrect the giant whale that had been dead for so many years that even the body had turned into an ind. No wonder that monster octopus was so crazed...


    Wait a minute, why did that kraken hunt them down? Wasn¡¯t it for that drop of demon blood? But that drop of demon blood had been absorbed by the giant whale!


    At this moment, Tang Mianmian suddenly cursed, ¡°That big octopus is still in the belly of the giant whale!¡±


    Everyone finally discovered that the gap in the skeleton of the giant whale was toorge, so they and the shipwreck all fell through with the soil, but Optus was so huge that it was impossible toe out the same way. At this moment, it was firmly trapped in the giant skeletal whale.


    The giant kraken struggled violently and began to attack the inside of the giant whale with its tentacles, while the giant whale rolled and twisted... They had started fighting!


    Looking at the monsters battling it out from a distance, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. But soon he discovered that it might not be ¡°from a distance¡±...


    With the battle between the giant whale and the huge kraken, two monster-level behemoths, the surrounding sea area was affected. Waves of squally winds and water crashed and immediately became another cmity.


    Tsunami!

 Chapter 106

    <h4>Chapter 106</h4>


    ¡°Fuckfuckfuck! Run, run!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was so scared that he screamed nonstop. The battle between these two sea monsters was too amazing, every move causing storms and tsunami. If this continued, it would inevitably affect them small fries!


    ¡°Run? Run where?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked with a wry smile. The battle between these two behemoths had a very wide range. It was their territory for hundreds of miles all around in this vast sea. Where could they escape to?


    ¡°Who cares, just run! Talk after we run!¡± Tang Mianmian turned around, wanting to swim away, but at this moment a big wave crashed over him and water went over his head and face, making him choke.


    ¡°Cough! Cough!¡±


    The fight between the bone whale and the giant octopus was still going on. This was clearly a battle to the death. The bone whale trapped the monster octopus with its body, secreting a gastric acid as a means of corrosive attack while the monster octopus continued to attack inside the whale¡¯s body with its tentacles.


    The two sea monsters were both heavily injured at this point. The bone whale had many shattered bones and the kraken had many giant corroded holes on its body.


    Although both of them suffered heavy losses, the dozens of meters tall waves caused by their battle to the death were more than enough to make Xiao Tangqiu and the others miserable.


    Choking on the water was just a trivial matter. What was terrible was to fall from the crest of a wave dozens of meters high. The impact was no less than the impact of falling from the same height on solid ground.


    Xiao Tangqiu estimated that he had broken several bones, and his body felt suffocated and painful everywhere.


    The surrounding sea waspletely overturned by the vicious battle of monsters, and many seabed reefs tumbled out in the turbulence. Xiao Tangqiu and the others also had to avoid those while fighting the waves and whirlpools. If they inadvertently collide with any of it head-on... the side being pulverized definitely wouldn¡¯t be the rocks.


    The worst thing was that no matter how desperately they swam away to avoid the vortex and the two big sea monsters at the epicenter, it was of no use. It seemed that no matter how they swam, they couldn¡¯t swim out of the fallout range of the battle.


    ¡°What are they doing?!¡± Xiao Tangqiu felt wooden. He swam desperately for a long time, but turned around to see that the two sea monsters were still close by, and maybe even closer than before. No matter how fast or desperately they swam, just one turn of the sea monsters could shorten all the distance.


    The question was, why did these two big monsters fight? Logically speaking, weren¡¯t they both the direct creations of the Abyss Demon? Were they not both powerful Arch Demons?


    Shen Yuan frowned deeply, ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe they are fighting for the blood of the demon.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t theypatriots?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was very puzzled.


    At this moment, Fei You suddenlyughed, ¡°Compatriots? ording to you, they are demons! Shouldn¡¯t demons all be cold, selfish and merciless? Do they know what apatriot is?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, then realized that these two big monsters may have beenpatriots, but would demons take theirpatriots seriously? He thought of this and heard Fei You continue to speak, ¡°Even if they werepatriots, isn¡¯t it possible to kill each other in order to gain a stronger power?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Fei You, his eyes moved slightly, and then he coldly said, ¡°Indeed, demons are such an existence that kills their own for power. Today, one of them will definitely die.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and thought quickly. If one of the giant sea monsters was bound to die, what would the surviving one do next? Did they have to deal with the surviving monster? What was the goal of this mission, ¡°The Lost Treasure¡±? Was it the blood of the demon?


    If so, was the content of their mission this time to retrieve the blood of the demon from the survivor?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes lit up, and he quickly told Shen Yuan this guess. Shen Yuan nodded when he heard the words, ¡°It should be.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu murmured, ¡°Then should we pray that they fight more intensely, and it is best that both are half dead?¡±


    As soon as his voice fell, Tang Mianmian who was holding arge rock nearby suddenly yelled, ¡°The battle¡¯s over!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tensed and quickly looked up. There was a victor? Which monster was it? Who was their next opponent?


    He was shocked by the extremely morbid image in front of his eyes when he raised his head. The bone whale used its body as a prison to kill the monster octopus, corroding most of its body with gastric juice. The monster octopus died in ruins, its body full of bloody holes, exposing its red and white viscera, its terrifying tentacles covered with toothed suction cups all fell off. But the bone whale was no better off. Almost all the bones supporting its body were viciously crushed by the big octopus and a thick tentacle prated its head from within.


    The two huge sea monsters uttered two long wails at the same time, and then crashed into the sea, instantly setting off a huge wave hundreds of meters tall!


    They were both gone!


    Xiao Tangqiu would have never guessed this finale. This tragic image made him unable to gather his thoughts for a long time. It wasn¡¯t until the sky-epassing wave was overhead that he reacted and wanted to dodge. But where could he dodge? Being mmed head-on by such a huge wave, wasn¡¯t it no different from being hit by hundreds of bricks at the same time?


    At this moment, Shen Yuan grabbed his wrist and dragged him downwards into the sea.


    He instinctively struggled at first before realizing that the person holding his wrist was Shen Yuan. He hesitated for a moment before giving up the struggle and followed Shen Yuan to dive deeper.


    Although the surface of the sea was turbulent and muddled due to the two sea monsters, the deeper waters were calmer and clearer and Xiao Tangqiu was gradually able to see Shen Yuan¡¯s face. In the blue and clear water, Shen Yuan¡¯s face seems to be surrounded by a halo of faint blue light.


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu within the sea, and Xiao Tangqiu looked back. He couldn¡¯t help but feel moved. This seemed to be the first time he looked at Shen Yuan so peacefully after he came back from his resurrection.


    Shen Yuan grasped Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s wrist and dived deeper and deeper. The deeper they went, the calmer it seemed. Xiao Tangqiupletely gave up resisting and allowed Shen Yuan to pull him down.


    When the sea was rough, it was indeed safer under the water. Even if he realized that there was the possibility of Shen Yuan being controlled by others, for some reason, at this moment, he did not want to doubt Shen Yuan... Even if he had already begun to doubt Shen Yuan, he was still willing to go to the depths of the sea with him.


    Just like the sailor who was mesmerized by the mermaid, after he fell into the water following the mermaid¡¯s song, maybe he sobered up for a moment, but in the end, he still willingly went to the bottom of the sea with the mermaid...


    Xiao Tangqiu watched Shen Yuan through the water and gradually felt suffocated. When he was pulled underwater by Shen Yuan, it was too hasty, and he had not had time to take a deep breath to save up oxygen.


    In the blink of an eye, the air in his lungs was about to run out. He struggled to tell Shen Yuan that he was out of oxygen. Shen Yuan nced at him and suddenly swam towards him.


    The distance between the two of them was already very close. Shen Yuan¡¯s approach narrowed the distance between the two to the point where they were almost pressed against one another... When Xiao Tangqiu came to his senses, Shen Yuan had already moved in and the two pairs of lips touched.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heartbeat fluctuated no less than the huge waves on top of the sea at this moment. Although the surrounding seawater was extremely cold, the ces where Shen Yuan and his body touched were extremely hot.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s lips were warm and soft, and the tip of his tongue parted his teeth, sending a mouthful of dry and warm air over.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s lungs, which were about to run out of oxygen, were finally saved. Like rain after a long drought, he couldn¡¯t wait to put his arms around Shen Yuan¡¯s neck and take in the air from Shen Yuan¡¯s mouth.


    Shen Yuan not only didn¡¯t push him away but pulled him tighter.


    After who knew how long, both of them became hypoxic and had to float to the surface of the sea.


    The sea was calm again. Only two huge sea monster corpses floated quietly on the surface. Not only did they perish together, their corpses even ovepped. There was me in you, you in me, and nobody could separate them.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe it, ¡°...That¡¯s it?¡±


    This instance ended so simply?


    Shen Yuan looked at the two huge floating monster corpses in the distance, frowning. He pressed his lips together and did not speak, but his solemn expression revealed his thoughts. He obviously also thought that this instance ended too simply.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around, ¡°Where¡¯s the blood of the demon? What about Tang Mianmian and others?¡±


    Except for the two of them and the two monster corpses, there seemed to be nothing else hundreds of miles around them. Where did the other people go?


    At this moment, Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes suddenly darkened, ¡°There is someone on the giant whale¡¯s back!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately looked at the giant whale and saw a figure... No, it was two!


    He was shocked and had a look of disbelief, ¡°...It¡¯s Fei You and Zhang Zuo!¡±


    How did the two newbies get on the giant whale¡¯s back? Did they go looking for the blood of the demon? Wait, no!


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. The two men, Fei You and Zhang Zuo, who had appeared on the whale¡¯s back did not appear panicked or confused, it was as if everything was under their control.


    Fei You stood with his hands sped behind his back, looking down at everything condescendingly, while Zhang Zuo took out a book with a ck cover beside him.


    ¡°The Book of Demons!¡± Xiao Tangqiu widened his eyes in disbelief. The book in Zhang Zuo¡¯s hand was exactly the same as the one Shen Yuan had read! That was the Book of Demons that was said to be owned only by the devotees!


    How could this be? Weren¡¯t these two supposed to be newbies who only just entered the instance world!

 Chapter 107

    <h4>Chapter 107</h4>


    Maybe it was because Xiao Tangqiu was also a streamer, but Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously was unwilling to doubt Fei You and Zhang Zuo. Not to mention, he indeed followed Fei You¡¯s live streams before and thus felt a certain level of intimacy. But now the facts were in front of him, he had to take off his biased lenses and be 120% on guard.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s frown suddenly stretched out, as if he wanted to understand something, his tone was calmer than ever, ¡°So that¡¯s it...¡±


    As soon as he spoke, Xiao Tangqiu instantly noticed the demonic energy that suddenly surged around them. This demonic energy washed away the remaining demonic energy of the two sea monsters that mutually destructed. It swept over and overwhelmed everything else.


    There was no need for Shen Yuan to point out anything now. Xiao Tangqiu also realized the true identities of ¡°Fei You¡± and ¡°Zhang Zuo¡±.


    After ¡°Zhang Zuo¡± set up an array based on the Book of Demons, the two of them also removed their disguise and restored their true appearance. They were the Abyss Demon and Lily Marlene!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart shook. When did these two demons start to lurk around them? Was it recently? Or was it from the moment ¡°Fei You¡± and ¡°Zhang Zuo¡± first appeared?


    Why didn¡¯t Lily Marlene die? Didn¡¯t she already sacrifice herself?


    Terror surged in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart. This fear was not only because of the Abyss Demon and Lily Marlene appearing, but also because these two demons had been lurking by his side for a long time, but he had never noticed... He subconsciously looked towards Shen Yuan. But Shen Yuan also had a serious expression and heavy gaze. It was obvious that he had also just discovered their true identities.


    The Abyss Demon who restored his true appearance stood on the giant whale¡¯s back. He was still just a vague and illusory ck shadow. Lily Marlene was wearing a low-cut red minidress and a pair of red high-heels, looking both sexy and petit. She held the Book of Demons in her hand as she quickly set a boundary spell.


    The moment Lily Marlene closed the book, the barrier waspleted.


    This was a vast boundary,pletely covering the corpses of the giant whale and monster octopus. The moment the barrier formed, theplicated ck patterns that made up this formation began to flow quickly, and runes that resembled Ouroboros directly incarnate into thousands of ck tail-biting snakes.


    Thousands of tail-biting snakes crawled out of the formation and began to devour the giant whale and monster octopus¡¯s corpses!


    The two behemoths were unbelievablyrge. Even as just corpses, they were quite mighty. But the tail-biting snakes were not intimidated. They overwhelmed and consumed the bodies of the giant whale and the monster octopus in an instant!


    Xiao Tangqiu was reminded of desert army ants, and then of locusts passing by. When he came back to his senses, the two monster corpses hadpletely disappeared, leaving only the giant shadow that was the Abyss Demon and Lily Marlene before them.


    They naturally did not fall into the sea due to the disappearance of the two big sea monsters, instead floating in mid-air. But Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan were floating in the water. Because the two big sea monsters vanished so quickly, they had to experience another rush of turbulent waters.


    As Xiao Tangqiu struggled to emerge from the waves again, he saw another amazing scene. The thousands of tail-biting snakes that had swallowed the giant sea monsters all swarmed towards the Abyss Demon. They climbed onto the mass of shadow one by one, wrapping around it until nothing could be seen under them.


    What were these two demons doing?


    Xiao Tangqiu was surprised. He knew very well that these tail-biting snakes would not devour the Abyss Demon like the bone whale and kraken, so he was befuddled by the situation. He intuitively looked at Lily Marlene, and the witch was staring at the giant cocoon with crazed joy.


    His heart dropped, instantly knowing that the situation didn¡¯t bode well. Sure enough, the next second, Lily Marlene recovered a calm and solemn look. She slowly bowed in reverence, ¡°Congrattions, Master...¡±


    The tail-biting snakes that climbed onto the shadow suddenly merged into the darkness and were swallowed up by the shadows just as they swallowed the monster corpses!


    With the disappearance of the thousands of tail-biting snakes, the originally illusory ck shadow became more and more solid, forming a recognizable shape, and finallypletely became a real person.


    The Abyss Demon gained a body!


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at this scene in disbelief. The moment the Abyss Demon turned into a human, the forbidden zone and thousands of tail-biting snakes disappeared, leaving only a newly born person before them.


    He was wearing a ck windbreaker, a pair of ck gloves, a pair of ck boots, and a ck mask. He did not have the appearance of a demon, looking more like a performing magician. He even held a ck top hat for magic tricks!


    Lily Marlene took a step forward, knelt on the ground with one knee, her tone devout and fanatical, ¡°Congrattions, Master!¡±


    The Abyss Demon who was dressed as a magician looked around and suddenly spoke, his voice still airy, ¡°I¡¯m finally back...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart beat wildly. At this moment, he was very nervous and frightened. The Abyss Demon was too powerful, and that crushing power transformed into an extremely terrifying aura, which almost suppressed his breath.


    He tried to turn his head to look at Shen Yuan beside him and saw that Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes were also heavy and dark, and the corners of his lips were tight.


    ¡°Hm?¡± The Abyss Demon made a questioning sound and took a step towards Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu suddenly floated into the air, as if caught by a huge invisible hand. He gracefully stretched out his ck-gloved hand and lifted Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s chin, ¡°You are still not dead?¡±


    Wrapped around the ck glove-d fingers of the Abyss Demon was that lustrous and beautiful ruby ??ring!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart thundered. Under the threat of enveloping death, he clearly understood everything about this instance. The so-called ¡°lost treasure¡± in this instance was indeed the blood of the demon!


    A drop of blood lost by the Abyss Demon contained extremely strong power, and the one who obtains it could obtain this power. Who didn¡¯t desire this drop of demon blood?


    The Abyss Demon himself obviously thought the same, so he used them, the yers, to get back this drop of his blood, sacrificing his own creations to summon his body to the instance world. This was really a great n to kill two birds with one stone...


    ...But why did the Abyss Demon say that he finally ¡°returned¡±? Only those who had ¡°left¡± from the instance world would say that they have ¡°returned¡±!


    Countless thoughts shed through Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind. That¡¯s right! ording to Su Manluo, this world was a triple world. Both the demon-inhabited real world and the instance world were created by the Abyss Demon!


    Why would the Abyss Demon who created the instance world be exiled and rejected by the instance world, and could only return via summoning by sacrifice?


    Who created the City of the Abyss between the real world and the instance world? Whose will did the system represent?


    Seeing that Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t answer, the Abyss Demon didn¡¯t get angry. He just squeezed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s chin with his fingers harder, and spoke with his ethereal voice, ¡°It seems they like you very much.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback for a moment. They? Who were ¡°they¡±?


    At this moment, he suddenly had a terrifying insight... His special skill card, who were the audience members in that live stream chat room?


    He had never thought about this issue before. Maybe because it was his special ability card, so he subconsciously thought that the live stream was only rted to him, and had nothing to do with others. Only now did he think that everything about his audience was suspicious.


    Would they be an audience from reality?


    How could viewers from reality be so calm about a live stream where a host could die at any moment?


    Would they be the yers in the City of the Abyss?


    The yers in the City of the Abyss were always on the edge of life and death. How could there be such a leisurely sentiment to watch other yers¡¯ live streams? And most importantly... how could they have the qualifications and rights to resurrect a yer with the same identity as them?


    The deeper Xiao Tangqiu thought the colder his back became. Then, Shen Yuan, who also floated in the air at some point, suddenly stepped forward and pulled Xiao Tangqiu back behind him.


    Shen Yuan expressionlessly faced the Abyss Demon, ¡°Stay away from him!¡±


    The two confronted each other and Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart lifted.


    The Abyss Demon suddenlyughed, ¡°It¡¯s you again, how about it, is the abyss power strong? Do you like the power I give you?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at the opposing Abyss Demon coldly, obviously not nning to speak at all.


    The Abyss Demon was not angry. He gave a carelessugh and put his hand into his top hat, ¡°I like yourck of self-awareness, so I let you off again and again. But don¡¯t forget, there are still fragments of the demon¡¯s heart in your heart...¡±


    He put his hand in the top hat and looked as if he clenched something, Shen Yuan¡¯s face suddenly became pale, and he fell to his knees in the air.


    Xiao Tangqiu rushed over and grabbed Shen Yuan¡¯s arm, nervous, ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you?¡±


    Shen Yuan bit his lower lip, ¡°No... nothing...¡±


    He wanted to hold on to something, but there was nothing but wind in the midair, and he could only use his dig into the palm of his hands.


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his head and stared at the Abyss Demon, ¡°What did you do?¡±


    The Abyss Demon smiled casually, ¡°As long as I exert a little more strength, his heart will be crushed.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Abyss Demon¡¯s interested eyes went between Shen Yuan and Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I just suddenly want to y a little game...¡±


    He took his hand out of the top hat and ced two small transparent ss vials in his palms. Both vials were filled with drops of red liquid, blooming with the luster of demonic temptation.


    ¡°The liquid in these two bottles, one will kill you if you drink it, and the other will not kill you if you drink it,¡± the Abyss Demon said slowly, ¡°You two pick one each to drink. The dead one will be my sacrifice. The survivor... I will let him go because of his luck.¡±


    His voice was soft and slow, filled with deceptiveness, like the whispers from a demon. No. This was a demon¡¯s whisper. ¡°Of course, if one of you kills the other first, I will also reward him for his bravery and let him go. I only need one sacrifice, so only one of you dying is enough.¡±

 Chapter 108

    <h4>Chapter 108</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu red at the Abyss Demon who wanted to incite them to kill each other. He clearly wanted them to be just like the two sea monsters, cannibalizing each other and then dying together!


    How sinister. As expected of the demon among the demons!


    He did not move and Shen Yuan naturally also did not move.


    The Abyss Demon didn¡¯t care about the cold reception and continued to smile and said, ¡°Why so still? Whoever makes the first move might be able to survive... Don¡¯t you want to live?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu held back his anger, ¡°Do you like to watch others kill each other so much?¡± They were hostile to him, so that was fine. But weren¡¯t the two sea monster Arch Demons personally created by the Abyss Demon? In order to have a body, even the creations from his own hands could be killed and sacrificed together? As expected, demons were selfish and ruthless cold-blooded creatures!


    ¡°Of course, I like it very much, very very much...¡± The Abyss Demon touched his mask with his gloved hand, his voice both provocative and bewitching, ¡°Especially how you people desperately struggle to have even just a chance to survive, willing to turn on and sacrifice yourpanions to live. That selfish and depraved appearance is really amusing...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered what Su Manluo had said:


    ¡°Those so-called instances and missions are more like arge-scale endless killing game. NPCsunch attacks at will, the yers die one by one, and survivors try to escape... This is a survival game, and even more so a killing game.¡±


    For the Abyss Demon, weren¡¯t all the instances and missions just consecutive live streams of horror games? He could see yers struggling in vain to survive and could see the ugliness and sins exposed by the yers fighting for life. He was the cat in a hunting game, ying with all yers wantonly.


    Just like now, he could easily kill Shen Yuan and Xiao Tangqiu at the same time, but he just wanted them to fight and kill each other instead.


    ¡°How about it? Go for it! Don¡¯t you want to live?¡± The voice of the Abyss Demon became more provocative and moving. Who wanted to die? Who didn¡¯t want to live? Do anything for survival!


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the Abyss Demon coldly and refused, ¡°No!¡±


    The Abyss Demon smiled, ¡°Oh? Why? So you want to die?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to let us go, we will die anyway. It¡¯s better to die directly than to die in such a twisted and ugly way in front of you! At least then...¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused, ¡°...I can die with more dignity.¡±


    ¡°Dignity?¡± The Abyss Demon paused, ¡°This is the first time I heard someone say this... But that¡¯s boring.¡±


    He tilted his head and looked at Shen Yuan, ¡°So what about you?¡±


    Shen Yuan remained motionless, but his eyes were very firm.


    The Abyss Demon chuckled, ¡°Although I can manipte you as I did before, it¡¯s meaningless&#k2026;¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was a dead duck who feared no boiling water, ¡°If you want to kill, then kill! Stop talking nonsense!¡±


    ¡°Since you don¡¯t want to kill each other, then choose your poison.¡± The Abyss Demon raised the two ss vials in his hand, ¡°The lucky one will live and the unlucky one will die. Isn¡¯t this fair?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know why the Abyss Demon insisted that one of them live and one of them die, but if it was true, no matter who could live, it could be regarded as a good thing for him. Anyway, he had already died once. Once was strange, a second time makes it familiar. He would get used to it.


    After all, ording to his African luck, the ss vial he chose was likely to be the poison.


    He did not hesitate to choose a vial first, but was stopped by Shen Yuan as he was about to raise it to drink.


    Shen Yuan grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s wrist and asked the Abyss Demon coldly, ¡°If one of us drank the poison and died, what can we do if you kill the other? A demon¡¯s words are not credible at all.¡±


    Abyss Demon, ¡°So what?¡±


    Shen Yuan said coldly, ¡°I know that you can kill us easily with your own hands, but don¡¯t forget, your heart fragment is still in my heart. You didn¡¯t take it back before in order to control me... But don¡¯t forget that I also have control over my own heart. If I explode my heart, your heart fragment will also be affected, right?¡±


    The Abyss Demon gave a lowugh, ¡°Are you threatening me?¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°I don¡¯t dare. But when you torture and ughter your prey, don¡¯t you allow the prey to struggle a little?¡±


    At this moment, an extremelyrge and terrifying aura erupted from the Abyss Demon. Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s legs suddenly weakened and almost fell to his knees. Just when he thought the Abyss Demon was about to lose his temper, the Abyss Demonughed.


    ¡°You said you want to explode your heart, then guess whether you can explode your heart first, or if I kill you first?¡±


    As the aura from the Abyss Demon became more and more terrifying, Xiao Tangqiu finally couldn¡¯t bear the pressure and fell to the ground with a thud.


    Shen Yuan looked at the Abyss Demon without fear, ¡°You can try!¡±


    The Abyss Demon suddenlyughed, ¡°A rebellious prey is interesting. Those sheeps waiting to be ughtered are boring... What do you want?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at the Abyss Demon coldly, ¡°An oath. The oath that you will never harm the survivors again.¡±


    The Abyss Demon smiled easily, ¡°You want a Demon¡¯s Oath? Okay, I promise.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had no idea what a Demon¡¯s Oath was, but he could feel that the terrifying aura of the Abyss Demon was growing even stronger. Just when he was about to be suffocated by the pressure in the air, the Abyss Demon slowly spoke, ¡°I promise that once one of you dies, I won¡¯t hurt the rest... but only in this instance.¡±


    As soon as his voice fell, a circle of floating ck totems fleetingly appeared all over his body.


    ¡°Well, are you satisfied?¡± The Abyss Demon saidzily.


    Shen Yuan nced at the Abyss Demon coldly, then turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu, and suddenly said, ¡°No matter which of us can survive, the remaining must live well.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Xiao Tangqiu agreed subconsciously and hesitated, ¡°...you must live well.¡±


    ording to his luck, the vial he was holding now was likely to be poisonous... As long as he died, Shen Yuan should be able to survive, right?


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu and slowly said, ¡°You have to live well.¡±


    As soon as the voice fell, he suddenly snatched the ss in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand and drank it.


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback, but it was toote to stop him. Shen Yuan moved extremely fast. By the time he reacted, Shen Yuan had already dropped the empty ss to the ground, shattering it.


    Shen Yuan turned and walked towards the Abyss Demon, picked up the second ss vial, and drank it too.


    Crack!


    This ss vial also fell to the ground and shattered everywhere.


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback and rushed towards Shen Yuan, grabbing him and desperately shaking him, ¡°You... you...¡±


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu one final time. He moved his head closer to Xiao Tangqiu as if he wanted to do something, but in the end, he stopped and just reached out and stroked Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s pale, dry lips.


    The Abyss Demon chuckled as if he was not surprised by the result, ¡°This is cheating, but... forget it, the result is the same either way.¡±


    The result was the same either way? What did that mean?


    Xiao Tangqiu wanted to question the Abyss Demon, but his brain waspletely nk and he could only grasp Shen Yuan tightly.


    Shen Yuan was obviously suffering from intense pain as he closed his eyes and shook.


    ¡°Shen Yuan! Shen Yuan!¡± Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know what to do, so he could only call out Shen Yuan¡¯s name in vain. He subconsciously wanted to use his special skill card, but when he remembered that the audience in the live stream room might be a group of people, of demons, who like to watch killing games, his whole body chilled.


    At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly broke free from Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hold and fell to the ground.


    Xiao Tangqiu lunged towards Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan¡¯s body got colder and colder, his body temperature dropped to an extremely low level in an instant. He immediately hugged Shen Yuan, wanting to warm him, but the temperature kept dropping. Lower and lower. Lower and lower.


    He watched Shen Yuan¡¯s body shake less and less until he waspletely motionless in the end... He tremblingly dropped a weak kiss on Shen Yuan¡¯s pale lips.


    At this moment, Shen Yuan¡¯s no longer moving body suddenly moved.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart shook, but he didn¡¯t have time to have other reactions as he watched Shen Yuan¡¯s clothes burst and fall off inch by inch. The originally warm and smooth human skin gradually became covered with snake scales. In a blink of an eye, the Shen Yuan lying in his arms had be a giant ck snake!


    The giant ck snake had a deathly and evil aura. It slowly crawled out of the pile of Shen Yuan clothes and coiled around Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu remained motionless, his heart both scared and at a loss, and his brain filled with static.


    The giant snake clung to Xiao Tangqiu and hissed at him. Its aura was filled with chilling death. It was bigger than a person and could easily crush Xiao Tangqiu.


    It circled Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s body and made threatening sounds at him, but in the end, it didn¡¯t hurt Xiao Tangqiu.


    The Abyss Demon chuckled, ¡°Alright, Ouroboros, my darling pet,e back...¡±


    The giant ck snake crawled down from Xiao Tangqiu and slowly crawled towards the Abyss Demon.


    Xiao Tangqiu instinctively wanted to stop the giant ck snake, ¡°Shen Yuan! Shen Yuan!¡±


    ¡°I advise you not to touch him,¡± The Abyss Demon smiled, ¡°Although I can¡¯t vite the Demon¡¯s Oath I made, and neither can my witch, my pet that had just been summoned to this world doesn¡¯t need to keep to the promise. He may have calcted thousands of moves, but he still missed a few.¡±


    ¡°Oh, by the way, the vials just now were not poison, but demon blood...¡± The Abyss Demon bent down and gently stroked the head of the giant ck snake by his feet with his gloved hand. The ruby ring had disappeared from his finger, ¡°With my power and the demon blood, once Shen Yuan drank it, the magic power in his body reached the maximum capacity. Just right for sacrifice and summoning Ouroboros...


    ¡°And the most perfect of all is that his body can be used as a vessel for Ouroboros...¡±

 Chapter 109

    <h4>Chapter 109</h4>


    So this instance was a trap from the very start!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes reddened in extreme grief and anger. Even though he knew that his power was far from that of the Abyss Demon, he took out a crossbow and rushed towards the Abyss Demon.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity, but I will keep to the Demon¡¯s Oath...¡± The Abyss Demon chuckled through the mask, ¡°But next time we meet, you won¡¯t have such good luck.¡±


    He had good luck?


    It was the first time that Xiao Tangqiu heard these words from someone else. Hearing the regretful tone of the Abyss Demon, he felt ironic and numb. In his whole life... this was the second time he sincerely wished that ¡°good luck¡± did not befall him.


    As he charged before the Abyss Demon, before he even had time to touch a corner of the Abyss Demon¡¯s clothing, he was bounced out by an invisible barrier. He fell heavily to the ground and before he had time to climb back up, a sudden pain came.


    Xiao Tangqiu convulsed in pain and rolled on the ground as if there was a giant invisible hand crushing his insides...


    ¡°Then, see you next time.¡±


    With the lowughter from the Abyss Demon, Xiao Tangqiu gradually lost consciousness in the severe pain wracking his body. Finally, his vision went dark and he passed outpletely.


    ...


    ¡°Mission failed...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu seemed to have heard the cold and familiar system sound again in his dim consciousness, but before he could listen carefully, he was awakened by a familiar sound.


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu! Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    He abruptly opened his eyes to meet Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes through the ss. After seeing the joy in Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes, his awareness gradually returned to his body, and he quickly opened the switch of the transfer cabin and lunged towards Tang Mianmian.


    ¡°I just had a nightmare...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Tang Mianmian¡¯s joyful face and couldn¡¯t wait to speak.


    His heart was full of fear and doubt. But Tang Mianmian¡¯s frozen expression made the fear in his heart expand enormously. He felt like someone had punched him in the chest. There was a sudden painful and suffocating feeling, but he still struggled to speak, ¡°I dreamed that... Shen Yuan died...¡±


    Tang Mianmian was silent for a long, long time before speaking with the same difficulty, ¡°...That wasn¡¯t a dream.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked nkly, ¡°Wasn¡¯t a dream?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was silent for a long time before speaking, ¡°Our captain... he is really dead...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fixedly stared at Tang Mianmian for several minutes before falling on the ground with weak legs.


    So Shen Yuan really died&#k2026;


    It turned out that it was not his nightmare!


    Shen Yuan really died!


    His whole body lost strength and his brain was nk. He wanted to absolutely reject the news, but deep in his heart there was a calm and cruel voice telling him: Shen Yuan died!


    Tang Mianmian looked at Xiao Tangqiu, who was sitting on the ground, and opened his mouth as if wanting to ask something, but he didn¡¯t know what to say.


    At this time, the others in the Reincarnation Team also came out of the transfer cabin one by one. They gathered around Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian quietly. Nobody opened their mouths, only a heavy silence hovering around them.


    After a long time, Xiao Tangqiu asked with difficulty, ¡°...What happened back then? Where are you guys? Why didn¡¯t we see you?¡±


    Xue Junli was silent for a while, and tried to calmly speak, ¡°At that time we were trapped behind the barrier. We could see you, but you couldn¡¯t see us...¡±


    It turned out that the Reincarnation Team was all there when the Abyss Demon caught Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan, just trapped by an invisible barrier set up by someone. They couldn¡¯t get out of the barrier, so they could only watch helplessly and everything happened, unable to stop it. Of course, even with them, their group of yers would not be able to deal with the Abyss Demon.


    Xiao Tangqiu asked in a daze, ¡°Then you guys saw it too? You also know that Shen Yuan is dead?¡±


    Xue Junli was silent for a few seconds before whispering, ¡°We also saw the captain¡¯s death...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around and saw that besides the men, the two women had eyes swollen from crying, but they still stood strong. There was no sign of copse or hysteria... It made him a little lost. He remembered in the beginning, the Reincarnation people were so angry that he had injured Shen Yuan and wanted him to disappear immediately/ But now that Shen Yuan actually died because of him, their attitude was unprecedentedly calm. So calm it felt cold-blooded.


    ¡°...Why?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Why are you still so calm?¡±


    Xue Junli paused, then spoke in a heavy but steady voice, ¡°No matter which member dies, we must calm down immediately. We must get used to and ept death, and be prepared that everyone, including ourselves, will die at any time... Even if that person is our captain.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was speechless. He wanted to use these people of being cold-blooded and ruthless, but he wasn¡¯t in the position to say anything... Moreover, he had partial responsibility in Shen Yuan¡¯s death even though he knew in his heart that Shen Yuan would die even if it wasn¡¯t him. The Abyss Demon¡¯s purpose was clear from beginning to end.


    They fell into a silent confrontation and Xiao Tangqiu looked at the people in the Reincarnation Team coldly. Suddenly, he remembered something and rushed towards Xue Junli, grabbing him by the cor, asking with a glimmer of hope, ¡°Are there any resurrection potions or elixir in the system store? Are there such special items in the instances?¡±


    Normally, it was definitely impossible for Xue Junli to be grabbed by the cor easily by Xiao Tangqiu, but he was obviously distracted due to Shen Yuan¡¯s death. He changed his expression several times when he heard Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s words, and finally sighed and shook his head, ¡°No... I have never heard of it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank. Xue Junli was the founder of the City of the Abyss Forums. If even Xue Junli thought that there was none, then it should indeed be none...


    What¡¯s more, Shen Yuan was killed by the Abyss Demon...


    Just as he wallowed in frustration, a voice rang out, ¡°Special items for resurrection? I¡¯ve heard of it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was greatly shocked and turned his head to look at that person. The others also looked in disbelief. He saw a somewhat familiar figure slowly walking up to him. It was actually Bai Yushan, whom he had met twice before.


    Xiao Tangqiu used Bai Yushan to escape the instances by lucky ident previously. Compared to thest time he saw her, Bai Yushan had obviously experienced a lot of ups and downs. Not only was her skin rough and older, but even the originally beautiful ck hair was also mixed with mostly white. She looked more than twenty years older.


    ¡°Bai Yushan?¡± Xue Junli almost didn¡¯t dare to recognize such a Bai Yushan. He frowned, ¡°How did you...¡±


    Bai Yushan interrupted Xue Junli, she asked bluntly, ¡°Are you looking for special items for resurrection?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded immediately, ¡°Yes! Do you know information rted to special items?¡±


    ¡°Hey, intelligence broker,¡± Duan Hongzhen frowned, ¡°How did you make yourself look so fucked up? And special items... how can they exist?¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t believe me,¡± Bai Yushan said coldly, turning her head to look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Are you willing to believe it?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu actually didn¡¯t believe in Bai Yushan, but for Shen Yuan¡¯s sake... even if it was only a tiny possibility, he was willing to take a gamble. So he nodded without hesitation, ¡°I believe it!¡±


    Before Duan Hongzhen and others could ask questions, Bai Yushan said in a heavy voice, ¡°In order to resurrect my sister, I have crossed hundreds of instances in this period of time, and finally got an important piece of information...¡±


    ¡°In a certain S-level instance, there may be special items that can resurrect a yer!¡± Bai Yushan¡¯s expression suddenly became excited, ¡°It¡¯s said that as long as the dead still have some mental awareness, they can be resurrected!¡±


    Xue Junli frowned, ¡°Why have we never heard of it?¡±


    ¡°Because it is a hidden instance. The probability of a yer entering is minuscule, probably only one in ten thousand or less,¡± Bai Yushan sighed, ¡°I also got this information from another hidden instance. The hardest part isn¡¯t about finding special items from the instance, but to find the door of the hidden instance.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a moment before asking Bai Yushan, ¡°Where are your teammates?¡±


    Bai Yushan¡¯s expression shook, and a momentter, she said with difficulty, ¡°They... are all dead...¡±


    No wonder Bai Yushan had no one around her. All of her teammates were gone.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°Is it worth it?¡±


    Was it really worth paying all her teammates for her sister?


    Bai Yushan¡¯s expression was a little agitated, ¡°It¡¯s exactly because of this that I must resurrect my sister! If my sister can¡¯t be resurrected in the end, then won¡¯t their sacrifices be in vain?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent. Bai Yushan had obviously lost her rity, and it forcefully sobered him a bit.


    ¡°I went through hundreds of instances and finally brought back my sister¡¯s remnant soul with the Soul Gathering Orbs. Now I only need to find the special item in the hidden instance and I can resurrect my sister,¡± Bai Yushan didn¡¯t mind Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s silence at all, carrying the conversation alone, ¡°Do you want to cooperate with me?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind turned. Although Shen Yuan was sacrificed and died, he may still have a remnant soul attached to Ouroboros. If the special item Bai Yushan talked about really existed, then Shen Yuan should still have a chance to be resurrected... Even if it was just a small possibility, he wanted to pursue it.


    So he opened his mouth and said, ¡°I agree to cooperate with you, but... it might just be me.¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately called out, ¡°Don¡¯t joke! If you want to go, then I will definitely go with you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart felt a little hot. Then, Duan Hongzhen also scoffed, ¡°Do you think that you are the only one who has feelings and sentiments? I want to go too! That¡¯s our captain!¡±


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu also did not hesitate to speak, ¡°We have to go too!¡±


    Xue Junli pushed up his sses, ¡°How can it just be you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled faintly, ¡°Aren¡¯t you numb to the death of your teammates?¡±


    Xue Junli said calmly, ¡°Our team¡¯s training is indeed to calmly ept the death of teammates, but if there is a chance of resurrection... Why wouldn¡¯t we try it?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around and nodded to Bai Yushan, ¡°If what you said is true, we agree to cooperate with you. But we don¡¯t want to gamble everyone¡¯s life for an illusory possibility. Can you prove that what you are saying is true?¡±


    Bai Yushan sneered, ¡°Of course!¡±


    She did not hesitate to take out a book with a ck cover. It was the Book of Demons.


    ¡°This is the Book of Demons, a


    forbidden book circted within the demonic worshippers. It records all history from the demon creator creating the world to the present and also records some forbidden formations of how to sacrifice and summon demons... As we all know, the creator demon created the real world and the instance world, but no one ever knew why he was ultimately rejected and exiled by the instance world. Likewise, no one knows who created the City of the Abyss.¡±


    ¡°In thest hidden instance, I identally obtained this mutated Book of Demons. As long as I look at it upside down, I can learn the truth of all of this...¡±


    Bai Yushan turned the Book of Demons upside down. Instantly, the ck cover turned into a pure white cover.


    ¡°This book has no name. I call it the Book of Light. It says that the universe was originally an abyss of chaos. From the chaos, the first demon, the Abyss Demon, was born. He created and ruled the world. Ten thousand yearster, the first ray of light appeared in the darkness, and a light side was born from the Abyss Demon. It can be called the Bright Demon or the Bright God. After all, the opposite of a demon should be a god.¡±


    ¡°God defeated and exiled the Abyss Demon in the instance world, allowing light to appear in this world, but the good times did notst long. Later, God was defeated and killed by the Abyss Demon. After he fell, his body turned into the City of the Abyss, and his spirit turned into the highest authority of the Abyss City... That is, the system we are familiar with.¡±


    TN: Phew, lots of info to unpack here, eh?

 Chapter 110.1

    <h4>Chapter 110.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. It turned out that the City of the Abyss and the system came to be after the death of the light side of the Abyss Demon?


    Bai Yushan can¡¯t wait to continue and say, ¡°The Book of Light says that after God died, his body turned into the City of the Abyss, but his heart was stolen by the Abyss Demon and was secretly hidden away in a hidden instance world... It is said that the heart of God has the ability to resurrect the dead! As long as we can find the heart of God, we can resurrect the ones we want to resurrect!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused and asked, ¡°Can you show me the book?¡±


    Bai Yushan nodded, ¡°Yes, but the text in it is an ancient demonic script, you might not understand...¡±


    ¡°Why is this page torn away?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help asking Bai Yushan.


    Bai Yushan shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t know. When I got this book, this page was already torn away.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and was about to speak up, but Bai Yushan suddenly asked, ¡°You can understand the demonic script?¡±


    ¡°...I seem to be able to understand.¡± Xiao Tangqiu responded with difficulty. He didn¡¯t know why he could read the demonnguage. This proficiency in all text seemed toe to be after he was resurrected, and he didn¡¯t even know why he could resurrect, much less anything about this ability. Once Bai Yushan asked, he really didn¡¯t know how to answer.


    Fortunately, Bai Yushan did not continue to ask, and said indifferently, ¡°Since you can understand it, you should know that I am not lying to you... So how about it? Do you want to cooperate?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu flipped through the Book of Light again and nodded, ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°In that case, without further ado, let¡¯s set off,¡± Bai Yushan said impatiently, ¡°The likelihood of entering the instance is only one in ten thousand or less. Only by constantly entering instances can you have a chance to find the hidden instance.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head to look at Xue Junli and others, ¡°How about? Should we go now?¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately took a step forward and hooked an arm over Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Of course! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Xue Junli took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Itreally says that in the book?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Yes, it does.¡±


    Xue Junli frowned and contemted for a while, wavering between doubt and believing for a long moment. What Bai Yushan just said was too unbelievable after all. But in the end he chose to believe, ¡°There¡¯s no point in waiting and wasting time, let¡¯s go.¡±


    The Reincarnation Team members who were still immersed in Shen Yuan¡¯s death regained their spirits. Although resurrecting Shen Yuan was only a faint possibility, the smallest of hopes is more motivating than no hope at all.


    Even if they verbally say that they had long be used to the death of their teammates, how could they really have no feelings in regards to Shen Yuan¡¯s death deep in their hearts, not to mention that this was the captain they had always trusted and admired the most.


    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu met Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes and climbed back to the teleportation cabin without hesitation.


    With the special items binding them to their teammates, they soon reappeared in a new instance. But to their disappointment, this instance was just a normal ghost instance and not the hidden instance they were looking for.


    But they could only bite the bullet and fight through it, finally returning to the City of the Abyss after snatching their lives from the jaws of death.


    After returning to the City of the Abyss this time, they didn¡¯t even bother to climb out of the transfer cabin and went on to the next instance.


    This time it was a sci-fi instance, but it was still not the hidden instance they were looking for.


    In the next six months, they never stopped going through instance after instance, never pausing before entering another one right after clearing the the one before.


    After hundreds of instances, even the weakest Xiao Tangqiu had be a warrior, but they still had not found the legendary hidden instance. Xiao Tangqiu had be more and more mature and proficient with his one-handed crossbow and his physical strength and skill also surpassed his original self several times. He finally sessfully integrated into the Reincarnation Team and became a member of the team. But such a Reincarnation Team was still an imperfect team without a captain.


    In the past half year, the Reincarnation Team had not re-elected a new captain. Even though all of them knew that the possibility of resurrecting Shen Yuan was slim, they still refused to elect another captain.


    Bai Yushan had be more and more visibly weary and worn down of life. Her hair was almost all white now, and her personality had be more and more paranoid. Fortunately, there were not any major disagreements and conflicts between her and the Reincarnation Team. Nevertheless, she was always drifting away from the Reincarnation Team like an outsider.


    Whenever Xiao Tangqiu recalled the scene where Shen Yuan died in front of him, he would use Bai Yushan to warn himself not to give birth to inner demons. If he was always immersed in Shen Yuan¡¯s death, unable to extricate himself, sooner orter he would lose to his negative thoughts like Bai Yushan.


    As Bai Yushan¡¯s character became more and more erratic, she almost died in the instances several times. Fortunately, Xiao Tangqiu and the others were able to rescue her in time, but she didn¡¯t learn a lesson at all. She relied on her strength to avoid any major issues and continued to do everything on her own.


    Xiao Tangqiu was frightened for Bai Yushan, but at the same time, his thoughts were upied by a bigger doubt. Since that previous instance, he had never seen the Abyss Demon again. Although it was normal for a final boss type character like the King of Demons to be hard to encounter, noting across the Abyss Demon again after he cleared hundreds of instances felt wrong. But he didn¡¯t know what was off, only able to hold his feeling of wrongness inside while the Abyss Demon remained absent from all instances.


    ¡°Congrattions, dear yers, for epting the D-level mission [Eternal Revival Ind]. Your mission goal is [Escape from Revival Ind]. The time limit is 1 day. After the mission ispleted, you will get 500 points. If the mission fails, you will be directly obliterated.


    ¡°Finally, dear yer, wee to the Abyss...¡±


    After Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes, his first reaction was his heartbeat going wild. Revival Ind?


    This name seemed to be a name mentioned in the Book of Light! Was this the hidden instance they were looking for?


    Bai Yushan and he woke up at the same time and they looked at each other. He saw a sh of fanatical excitement in Bai Yushan¡¯s eyes and he immediately knew that he had thought correctly. This was the hidden instance they were looking for!


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Where is this ce?¡±


    ¡°Is this kidnapping? My family is poor and has no money! Let me go!¡±


    Listening to the familiar noise from their surroundings, Xiao Tangqiu patted his butt and got up, soon seeing the other people of the Reincarnation Team. Tang Mianmian also got up with a smile. They looked at each other and nodded at the same time.


    They finally found the goal! This was the hidden instance they were looking for!


    Eternal Revival Ind: the ce where the legendary Abyss Demon hid God of Light¡¯s heart!


    Their distinctive reactions and air immediately aroused the suspicion and questioning of the newbies around them, ¡°Who are you? Are you the ones who kidnapped us?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Xue Junli, and Xue Junli faintly said, ¡°I will only say this once, and you can choose to believe it or not...¡±


    Just after Xue Junli finished talking, a newbie jumped up, ¡°Are you kidding? Transmigration? What age is this to talk about transmigration? Such an out of date joke?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said lightly, ¡°You can choose not to believe it, and then act alone. We don¡¯t want to bring along new people because we have more important things to do. Feel free to do as you like.¡±


    The newbie choked on his words, and before he could say anything, Tang Mianmian interrupted, ¡°Stop wasting time, let¡¯s go look for that thing!¡±


    ¡°That thing? What thing?¡± Some other newbies couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously.


    ¡°They must be pretending to be mysterious to try to fool us! Ignore them!¡± At first the newbie was very upset, ¡°We must have been kidnapped. This group of people may be some cult terrorists! Let¡¯s find a way to get out of here!¡±


    A stone caused a thousand waves, the newbie¡¯s words immediately caused panic among others. Xiao Tangqiu ignored the restless newbies, turned and looked at the surrounding environment. It was clearly an isted ind surrounded by the sea. The ce they woke up on was a gravel beach and in the distance was a dense and untouched forest.


    <strong>TN:</strong> Sorry for the long absence, I¡¯ve been really busy with work projects. I¡¯ll try to push out more chapters to make up for it in the next few weeks >.<

 Chapter 110.2

    <h4>Chapter 110.2</h4>


    Soon, the other newbies also noticed the environment they were in and a nervous newbie said, ¡°But how are we going to escape? This is an ind...¡±


    ¡°Boat! There must be a boat!¡± The newbie pointed to Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group, ¡°These kidnappers must havee by boat! Let¡¯s find it!¡±


    Tang Mianmian rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, ¡°Then you guys should look for it quickly. If you find it, we also want to leave together.¡±


    ¡°You want to leave too?¡± The newbie looked suspicious, obviously not convinced.


    Tang Mianmian sneered, ¡°Did you not hear it just now? Our task is to escape from this ind... If it is so easy for you to find a boat, that would be great, and we can leave together.¡±


    ¡°Hmph! I don¡¯t believe it! There must be a boat, otherwise, how did we get here?¡±


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°Then you newbies are responsible for finding the boat, we will divide thebor.¡±


    The newbie looked at Xue Junli suspiciously. He obviously doubted the term ¡°divide thebor¡±, but he also didn¡¯t want to act with Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group, so he reluctantly nodded, ¡°We will definitely find the boat, otherwise how did we get here? Unless you hid the boat!¡±


    The newbies turned away and went to look for a boat. The Reincarnation Team team gathered together and Xue Junli asked Bai Yushan, ¡°Does the book say where the thing is?¡±


    Bai Yushan shook his head and said coldly, ¡°It¡¯s very vague. Let¡¯s go look around the ind.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Everyone, be careful.¡±


    Bai Yushan scoffed, ¡°It¡¯s just a D-ss instance, what are you afraid of?¡±


    Xue Junli nced at Bai Yushan, a hint of meaning shed in his eyes. He said lightly, ¡°Although it is only a D-ss instance, don¡¯t forget that this is a hidden instance... The difficulty of a hidden instance cannot bepared with that of a normal instance.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly asked, ¡°What did you encounter in thest hidden instance? How did your teammates die?¡±


    Bai Yushan paused, then impatiently said, ¡°It was so long ago, how would I remember?¡±


    Without waiting for Xiao Tangqiu to say anything, she said coldly, ¡°And I don¡¯t want to talk about it so don¡¯t ask anymore.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had no choice but to leave it be. Xue Junli took another look at Bai Yushan, then said lightly, ¡°Well, anyway, let¡¯s go to the ind to take a look. No matter what, stay cautious.¡±


    Bai Yushan sneered, seeming to think that Xue Junli was too cautious, and she walked quickly to the front of the team.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian wordlessly traded a look and followed suit.


    Although this ind was called Revival Ind, there were no stones or idols on the ind. There is only an endless virgin forest. After walking for a long time, they finally saw a dpidated vige deep in the forest.


    ¡°There is a vige there! Go and take a look!¡±


    They hurried over, but found that there was no one in the vige. It looked to be an abandoned old vige with everything in dpidated conditions.


    ¡°Strange, is there no one in this vige?¡± Tang Mianmian looked around.


    ¡°No, there are traces of someone living here&#k2026;¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu went straight into a house made of bamboo. The bamboo house was rough and simple with gaps and leaks everywhere. The furniture in it had only undergone simple rough processing. It all felt very primitive, but it was strange because there were some modern things in the room at the same time. There was a lighter and an enamel cup on the table.


    He picked up the enamel cup and looked at it, discovering that the water in it was still warm, ¡°The water is still warm. This talent is probably not far away.¡±


    ¡°Never mind the lighter, why is there an electric kettle? This sh of aesthetics is too obvious,¡± Tang Mianmian picked up an electric kettle in the corner, ¡°Is there electricity in this room? How do I boil water?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu leaned over and took a look, ¡°This electric kettle seems to be broken, it¡¯s probably used as a normal kettle.¡±


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s broken, where did this electric kettlee from? It doesn¡¯t match the scenery of this vige either...¡± Tang Mianmian murmured.


    At this moment, Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow and said, ¡°People areing, should we hide?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Hide first, it won¡¯t be good if they see us and run away.¡±


    Because there were countless lessons learned from previous mistakes, they prepared to hide first, and wait for an opportunity to move.


    Soon, a group of people walked in from the vige entrance. Their clothing was very strange. Some were undressed in primitive clothes, while others were dressed in outdated but neat modern clothes. It was like two worlds mixing together.


    Although those people¡¯s clothing styles were quite different, they all held arge piece of meat in their hands, looking to have just returned from a market or a ughterhouse.


    They returned to their respective houses with their respective meat. Soon, a middle-aged man in modern clothes also walked into their house with a piece of meat.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian nced at each other and rushed out the moment the middle-aged man closed the door. One grabbed the middle-aged man, and the other covered the middle-aged man¡¯s mouth to prevent him from yelling.


    ¡°Mmm!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was responsible for covering the man¡¯s mouth. Although his task was very simple, this middle-aged man had amazing strength and struggled like a beast. Fortunately, he was not the weak chicken from the beginning and was able to firmly cover the middle-aged man¡¯s mouth.


    Xiao Tangqiu said coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t shout, or we will kill you!¡±


    He covered the middle-aged man¡¯s mouth with one hand, and took out his crossbow and aimed it at the middle-aged man¡¯s throat with the other hand.


    ¡°Do you understand me? If you understand, nod your head!¡±


    The middle-aged man red at Xiao Tangqiu, then nodded.


    Xiao Tangqiu pressed a crossbow against the middle-aged man¡¯s throat, and then let go of his hand. The middle-aged man did not yell, but his struggle became more violent.


    Duan Hongzhen took a look at the meat in the middle-aged man¡¯s hand, then raised his eyebrows, ¡°What kind of meat is this?¡±


    The middle-aged man did not answer. Xiao Tangqiu poked the middle-aged man in the throat with a bolt, ¡°Is it human flesh?¡±


    The middle-aged man answered reluctantly, his voice was hoarse and scratchy, ¡°No...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu then asked, ¡°What kind of meat is this then?¡±


    The middle-aged man said hoarsely, ¡°The bark of the Sacred Tree...¡±


    ¡°The Sacred Tree? The bark of a tree?¡± Duan Hongzhen scoffed from beside them, ¡°What a joke! How could this kind of thing be bark? This is obviously the meat of some kind of animal!¡±


    The middle-aged man gave Duan Hongzhen a resentful look, ¡°Don¡¯t insult our Sacred Tree! This is the bark of our Sacred Tree!¡±


    ¡°The Sacred Tree?¡± Bai Yushan was suddenly excited, she snatched the big piece of meat over, ¡°Quick! Tell me more about that tree!¡±


    The middle-aged man was full of hostility towards Xiao Tangqiu and the group of strangers who suddenly broke in, but under the threat of the crossbow, he could only reluctantly respond, ¡°There is a Sacred Tree at the heart of this ind.¡±


    It turned out that there was a Sacred Tree on this ind. Everyone on the ind respected and worshipped the Sacred Tree because it was their source of life and the only source of food on the ind. Everyone gathered together every evening under the Sacred Tree and begged the Sacred Tree for food.


    ¡°The only source of food?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°What do you mean? Is there no other food on the ind? There are no animals? Even if there are no animals on the ind, aren¡¯t there fish in the sea?¡±


    The middle-aged man gave Xiao Tangqiu a fierce re, and then said, ¡°Apart from us, there are no living creatures on the ind. Although there are fish in the sea, those fish will note close to the ind. There¡¯s no fish within a hundred miles in radius of the ind...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt it was more and more strange, ¡°Even if there are no animals, you can grow food.¡±


    ¡°There is no food...¡± The middle-aged man said coldly, ¡°We have tried to grow food on thisnd, but there was no harvest. No food can be grown on thisnd.¡±


    ¡°How is this possible? Aren¡¯t there a lot of trees outside!¡± Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t believe it, ¡°Could it be that the woods outside grew out of thin air?¡±


    The middle-aged man gave Xiao Tangqiu a gloomy look, ¡°Those woods are native nts on the ind. They existed before the first humans appeared here. We don¡¯t know how those trees grew, but other than those trees, this ind really doesn¡¯t grow any vegetation.¡±


    ¡°Then you didn¡¯t try to eat any of the native nts? Are there no wild fruits or something?¡± Tang Mianmian asked curiously.


    The middle-aged man was silent for a while, ¡°Someone has tried... but the wild fruits are extremely poisonous, and anyone who eats them dies miserably in pain within a few seconds...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill down his back, ¡°There are no animals, no fish, and no food can be grown. The native nts on the ind are extremely poisonous... How can you survive!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we have the Sacred Tree!¡± When the middle-aged man mentioned the Sacred Tree, his expression suddenly became extremely pious, almost fanatic, ¡°It is the Sacred Tree that gives us food, the Sacred Tree gives us life, the Sacred Tree gives us everything...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. At this moment, Yu Fuling suddenly yelled quietly, ¡°Ah! This meat... This piece of meat is alive!¡±


    Everyone turned their heads and saw that the piece of ¡°meat¡± was indeed squirming. Although it was not obvious, they stared at it for a while and still saw it.


    ¡°That¡¯s disgusting!¡± Duan Hongzhen scowled, ¡°What the hell is this!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t insult our Sacred Tree!¡± The man red at Duan Hongzhen viciously. If it hadn¡¯t been for Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s crossbow at his throat, he might have already attacked Duan Hongzhen.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at it for a while, and said honestly, ¡°It¡¯s a bit like the legendary Tai Sui.¡±


    Tang Mianmian touched his chin, ¡°This thing is the bark of the Sacred Tree? I can¡¯t imagine what the Sacred Tree looks like. The bark looks so much like human flesh. Would the Sacred Tree look like a person?¡±


    Bai Yushan immediately grabbed the middle-aged man by the cor and said, ¡°Quick! Take us to see the Sacred Tree!¡±


    The middle-aged man gave Bai Yushan a sullen look and then said hoarsely, ¡°We can¡¯t see it now. The Sacred Tree will only appear in the evening...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows, ¡°How is this possible? Can the tree disappear and reappear as it pleases? Did it grow legs?¡±


    The middle-aged man said coldly, ¡°The Sacred Tree only appears in the evening, and now there is nothing there.¡±


    Bai Yushan sneered, ¡°I don¡¯t believe it. Take us to have a look!¡±


    A hint of fear shed in the middle-aged man¡¯s eyes, ¡°Once it¡¯s evening, you must never go out, otherwise...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took another sentence, ¡°Otherwise?¡±


    The middle-aged man was full of fear, ¡°Someone I once knew went out in the evening and never came back...¡±


    ¡°Someone you once knew?¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly thought of something and raised his eyebrows, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be a native inder. Don¡¯t you want to leave?¡±


    The middle-aged man was silent for a long time before he said with a dazed expression, ¡°Someone tried to leave before... but they sank instantly as soon as they got into the water, just like they were dragged into the water by a beast. No one can leave this ind...¡±


    He repeated in a murmur, ¡°No one can leave this ind...¡±

 Chapter 111

    <h4>Chapter 111</h4>


    Although Xiao Tangqiu knew that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to leave Revival Ind, when the middle-aged man said ¡°can never leave¡± in that mysterious tone, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill.


    Bai Yushan coldly demanded, ¡°Take us to that Sacred Tree.¡±


    The middle-aged man immediately fought back fiercely, ¡°No! Never go out after dark!¡±


    Bai Yushan was impatient, ¡°Hurry up!¡±


    The middle-aged man suddenly looked terrified and his expression twitched. Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously took a step back. The next moment, the middle-aged man¡¯s eyes rolled up and he fell down.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly went up and took a look, then reluctantly said, ¡°He passed out from fear...¡± This guy obviously wasn¡¯t scared into fainting by them, but by whatever he imagined.


    ¡°Useless waste!¡± Bai Yushan kicked the middle-aged man angrily.


    Tang Mianmian leaned over to the window and looked out, ¡°After those people entered the houses, no one came out. Now there is no one outside.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Those newbies...¡±


    Although there were more important things to do than bringing along newbies, it was after all a few vibrant lives, living on just earlier.


    ¡°In any case, let¡¯s tell them. It can be considered ast kindness.¡± Xiao Tangqiu nced at the others and said.


    Xue Junli nodded, ¡°They should still be on the beach, so we can verify that what the guy said just now is true along the way.¡±


    Bai Yushan frowned, ¡°We should find the Sacred Tree first! The Sacred Tree is probably the key!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, we are definitely going to look for the Sacred Tree, but I think we should search this vige first-¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu was interrupted by Bai Yushan. ¡°Go to the Sacred Tree first! This vige is not important at all!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°But...¡±


    Bai Yushan looked agitated, ¡°Stop wasting time! Go find the Sacred Tree!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. Bai Yushan¡¯s character had be more and more crazed. Once she had an idea in her head, she would no longer listen to anyone¡¯s opinions. Even ten bulls couldn¡¯t reverse it.


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°The Sacred Tree should be the key, but we should first understand the specific situation of this vige and this ind, Bai Yushan, you are no longer a novice, don¡¯t make such low-level mistakes.¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to waste time!¡± Bai Yushan sneered, ¡°Otherwise we can split up! I¡¯ll go to the Sacred Tree, and you can take your time!¡±


    Before Xue Junli could answer, she turned around and stormed out.


    ¡°This crazy woman&#k2026;¡± Duan Hongzhen snorted.


    Xue Junli frowned, ¡°Forget it, let her go. Let¡¯s go to the gravel beach first.¡±


    Everyone made up their minds and set off toward the beach they arrived at.


    On the way, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but assess the other houses. He just noticed that those with more modern outfits entered the more borately built bamboo houses, and those with more primitive outfits entered the rough ones which were randomly piled up with stones.


    What did these two distinct types of people represent? Were they all inders?


    No, the middle-aged man whom they questioned just now obviously came to this ind from outside. So how did hee here? Were all the other modernly dressed people like him? Were those who dress up primitively the native inders? How could these two kinds of people get along so harmoniously?


    Soon, they returned to where they came from. Xiao Tangqiu heard a scream as soon as they stepped onto the gravel beach, ¡°Ahhhhh! Help! Help!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rushed over and saw someone struggling desperately in the water near the beach. It was the newbie who argued with them before. He was iling around in the water as if he couldn¡¯t swim.


    The newbies on the shore looked at each other, shocked and hesitant. At this moment, a young man quickly took off his clothes, ¡°I¡¯ll go!¡±


    However, just as he was about to go into the water, ripples suddenly appeared around the newbie who fell into the water.


    In the blink of an eye, the newbie disappeared silently, leaving only a small whirlpool behind that instantly returned to the original calm.


    The young man was stunned along with everyone else. That guy? Drowned?


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other. It seemed that that guy was right. Once on the ind, no one could leave.


    Xue Junli took a step forward and said in a calm tone, ¡°We just went and found out that there is no easy way to leave this ind. You have also seen that people sink when they fall into the water. We heard that there is no food on the ind and no fish in the sea. In addition, it¡¯s best not to walk around randomly after nightfall. You can make your own decisions about what to do next.¡±


    The couple of newbies looked at each other and obviously didn¡¯t believe Xue Junli¡¯s words. But they did just witness a man inexplicably sinking, disappearing instantly without even a trace of struggle.


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly said, ¡°Have you realized? The sea here is extremely clear. There is no trace of impurities in the sea, not even a single piece of sand.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, ¡°So what?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t speak. He picked up a fallen leaf from the shore and threw it into the sea. The fallen leaf floated on the surface of the sea for less than a few seconds before it soon spiraled and sank.


    Everyone was shocked. The seawater here didn¡¯t have the slightest buoyancy. Even fallen leaves would sink to the bottom, not to mention the person who fell into the water just now!


    ¡°No wonder it¡¯s so clear. It¡¯s because the sand and dirt just sink to the bottom,¡± Duan Hongzhen reacted, ¡°So there are no fish because the fish can¡¯t float.¡±


    A newbie murmured, ¡°There are no fish in the sea, and there is no food on the ind?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we were told. No food can be grown on the ind. All native nts are extremely poisonous,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said lightly. ¡°But rest assured. Our mission is to escape the ind in a day. It shouldn¡¯t be an issue to not eat for a day, right?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if we don¡¯t eat for a day, so will we seed as long as we survive this day?¡± the newbie asked.


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows and said, ¡°Yes, either you starve to death without eating for a day, or the mission fails and we¡¯re directly obliterated after a day.¡±


    ¡°...Why is it all death?¡± The newbie was pale.


    ¡°If you can¡¯tplete the task, you are indeed dead,¡± Xue Junli said bluntly, ¡°We have a clue now, and we are going to try it next. Do as you like.¡±


    The newbie immediately asked, ¡°Can we join you?¡±


    Xue Junli refused without hesitation, ¡°No.¡±


    The newbie was very unwilling, ¡°Why?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, ¡°Of course it¡¯s because you will be dragging our feet.¡±


    Those newbies were unhappy but helpless. As pale little novices who had no idea what was going on, they really couldn¡¯t help much.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the vige to check if we can find clues rted to the Sacred Tree first.¡± After Xue Junli finished talking to the Reincarnation Team team members, he nced at the newbies, ¡°You can hide in the vige. The ce we are going is dangerous, and we can barely protect ourselves.¡±


    The newbies looked at each other for a while, then nodded, ¡°Then, let¡¯s go to the vige too.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up at the sky, ¡°It¡¯s getting dark...¡±


    What would happen after dark?


    Tang Mianmian shivered suddenly, ¡°It seems that the temperature has dropped and suddenly be cold.¡±


    ¡°The temperature difference on the ind is likely to be veryrge. Let¡¯s go back to the vige first.¡±


    The sky began to darken, and everyone headed back to the vige. Xiao Tangqiu looked at their environment secretly as he walked. He couldn¡¯t help but keep looking at the trees beside them because the middle-aged man mentioned that the native nts on this ind were very poisonous.


    These trees didn¡¯t seem to be any kind of trees he had ever seen. They had a very strange appearance. The dark bark had sharp thorns, there were very few leaves, and there was a hole in the center of the trunk the height of half of a person. It was so dark that nothing could be seen in it, and at first nce, it looked like a person with a gaping mouth.


    Pretty much all of the trees on the ind were like this; not that tall, only a little taller than people, but very dense, almost growing out of each other, which made Xiao Tangqiu more confused.


    Although he didn¡¯t know much about nts, he also knew that nts need sunlight to grow. Since they needed sunlight to grow, these trees should be more spread out. How could they ensure that there would be enough sunlight if they grew so closely together?


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    They returned to the vige. Although the sky was getting dark, there was no light source in the whole vige, and it was dark everywhere.


    Xue Junli frowned, ¡°Where are the people?¡±


    They first returned to the house they had left, only to discover that the fainted middle-aged man was nowhere to be found. Then they kicked open the doors of other houses one by one, only to find that everyone else had also disappeared.


    ¡°There is no one in the vige.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen stroked his chin, ¡°Where did those people go? Are they hiding?¡±


    Yu Fuling takes a step forward, ¡°I¡¯ll take a look.¡±


    The newbies immediately looked at Yu Fuling curiously. Yu Fuling closed her eyes and did not move. After a while, she opened her eyes and said coldly, ¡°...There is no one around here except us.¡±


    ¡°Although your detection range is limited, we only left for a few minutes. It is impossible for them to get out of your detection range in such a short period of time,¡± Xue Junli frowned, ¡°...Where did those people go?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around, wondering if it was seeing things, but the woods surrounding the vige seemed to be denser than before.


    Night fellpletely.

 Chapter 112.1

    <h4>Chapter 112.1</h4>


    The vige shrouded in the darkness of night waspletely silent. There was not even chirping of insects and birds, as if there were no living creatures other than them within a hundred miles.


    Xiao Tangqiu rummaged through the room again, but only found some misceneous daily items, not important plot items and clues. Of course, he also did not find any food in stock. The middle-aged man hadn¡¯t lied to them. There was no sustainable food on the ind.


    ¡°There should be no shortage of water resources on this ind,¡± Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and looked at the enamel cup which still had water in it, ¡°Maybe there is a river or groundwater.¡±


    ¡°But we didn¡¯t see a river when we came. If there is a river, it might be deep in the ind,¡± Xiao Tangqiu hesitated before continuing to say, ¡°...but it¡¯s too strange. Since the sea here has no buoyancy, how did the outsiderse? I initially thought that they drifted to this ind after a shipwreck.¡±


    Tang Mianmian thought about it for a while and said, ¡°Maybe it was an airne crash? Theynded on this ind after the crash?¡±


    ¡°Unless the ne crashed exactly onto this ind, it would have sunk in the waters nearby,¡± Xiao Tangqiu shook his head. ¡°This ind is not big. If a ne crashed here from a high altitude, the ind would be gone.¡±


    ¡°Damn, I should have continued interrogating that guy just now! Actually let him get away!¡± Duan Hongzhen was a little rueful, ¡°We should have left someone to watch that guy.¡± They haven¡¯t suffered from this kind of thing for a long time.


    ¡°Forget it, hindsight is useless,¡± Xue Junli frowned, ¡°They can¡¯t really disappear into thin air. Just look again.¡±


    ¡°Clearly, that guy said that he can¡¯t go out after dark, why is he gone then?¡± Duan Hongzhen curled his lips, ¡°Including the whole vige too!¡±


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly turned over a photo on the bed. Of course, it was said to be a ¡°bed¡±, but it was actually just a simple wooden nk made with a few bamboos. Even the ¡°quilt¡± was just a heavy, worn-out cotton coat.


    He just picked up the big cotton-padded coat when a photo fell out.


    He picked it up and saw that it was an old yellowed photo. The photo was a picture of a young couple. A young man and a woman smiled happily at the camera. The wife¡¯s abdomen was slightly raised, obviously pregnant.


    ¡°What photo?¡± Tang Mianmian leaned over to look and suddenly discovered something, ¡°Who is this man? Why is it so like that middle-aged man? Is it a photo of him when he was young?¡±


    ¡°No, this photo is not very old. It should have only been taken a few years ago. Even if the middle-aged man was once this young, it was at least twenty years ago.¡± Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°A photo from twenty years ago would not be so new.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s his son? His son and daughter-inw?¡± Tang Mianmian touched his chin, ¡°No, no matter how simr a father and son look, they won¡¯t look exactly the same. Even the mole under his mouth is in the exact same ce.¡±


    Other than therge age difference, the young man in the photo looked exactly the same as the middle-aged man, even down to the mole.


    Xiao Tangqiu squinted and said, ¡°...I think it should be the same person.¡±


    ¡°But the age is wrong! The man in the photo is only in his twenties, the middle-aged man is at least in his forties,¡± Tang Mianmian said, touching his chin. ¡°The photo shouldn¡¯t look so new no matter how well protected it is.¡±


    Xue Junli suddenly said, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t have been twenty years. Although the electric kettle has broken down, if it is really used for twenty years, the level of wear and tear will definitely not be like this.¡±


    The handful of newbies were befuddled, and finally, one newbie couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What do you mean? What the heck are you guys talking about?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a look at the newbie and said lightly, ¡°Assuming that these outsiders reallynded on this ind because of a shipwreck or a ne crash, we are specting how long they have been here. Based on the photo and the things he brought, He should have only lived on this ind for a few years. But his current age does not match the age in the photo.¡± Even if a few years passed, the person in the photo should be in between twenty and thirty, but he was actually forty to fifty.


    ¡°So what?¡± the newbie said casually, ¡°maybe he aged very fast on the ind. He can¡¯t eat or sleep enough and had a rough time surviving.¡±


    Another newbie couldn¡¯t help but interject, ¡°No matter how aged, he can¡¯t age to forty or fifty years old, right? A guy in his twenties looks older than my dad!¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but think down a rabbit hole, ¡°Is the time flow rate on the ind different from the normal time flow rate of our body?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°If this woman is his wife, what happened to his wife?¡±


    Tang Mianmian guessed, ¡°Maybe already dead? Died in that ne crash or shipwreck?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Yu Fuling suddenly said, ¡°There are some used feminine products in this room. I think his wife should not be dead... at least not from some crash.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we just haven¡¯t seen her yet?¡± Tang Mianmian continued to guess.


    ¡°By the way, what about that piece of meat?¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something, ¡°Where is the piece of meat he brought back?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s gone. Did he eat it?¡± Tang Mianmian casually said, ¡°It¡¯s such a big piece of meat, props if he actually finished it in a few minutes... or he took it with him.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu collected the photo, ¡°Let¡¯s search another house.¡±


    So they divided the work and searched all the houses in the vige, but they still found nothing.


    ¡°Forget it, it seems that there is really no clue. Let¡¯s go to the Sacred Tree.¡± Xue Junli said lightly.


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded. They really couldn¡¯t waste too much time here. They only had one day, after all.


    Seeing that they were about to leave the vige, a newbie couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Can you really not bring us with you?¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°We won¡¯t stop you if you want to follow us, but if you encounter danger, we won¡¯t care.¡±


    The newbies looked at each other, and in the end most of them chose to stay. Only one newbie silently followed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back and saw that it was the young man who wanted to save the drowner earlier. He raised his eyebrows and said nothing.


    At this time, the sky was dark, and the woods under the night sky was gloomy and mysterious. From a distance, the densely growing trees with dark bark looked like ck beasts with teeth and ws.


    After everyone went deep into the jungle, Xiao Tangqiu realized that the surrounding area was getting colder and colder, and the trees were getting denser. The thorns also seemed to be getting more and more dangerous. His back felt cold, and he even felt the illusion of countless eyes staring at him in the woods.


    At this moment, a scream suddenly sounded.


    ¡°There¡¯s someone!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blurted out subconsciously. .


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible!¡± Yu Fuling frowned, ¡°I didn¡¯t detect any signs of living people!¡±


    Tang Mianmian paused, ¡°...Maybe it¡¯s not a living person.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°Go and see first!¡±


    Everyone immediately rushed towards the ce where the screams came from.


    Soon, they saw a shocking scene. A tree was eating people!


    A ck bark tree covered with thorns was eating someone. A huge cracked bud-like mouth protruded from the big hole in the center of its trunk. The mouth was covered with jagged teeth, which had almost swallowed half of the man!


    Xiao Tangqiu r hit the weird tree with an arrow without hesitation. The magical arrow was extremely lethal and it pierced three parts into the trunk of the tree at once!


    But then, the strange tree suddenly screamed!

 Chapter 112.2

    <h4>Chapter 112.2</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but freeze, this weird tree made a scream like a human, and it was even a woman¡¯s voice...


    Just as he was shocked, the crisscrossed branches of this strange tree suddenly grew violently and the barbed branches stretched towards him.


    Tang Mianmian immediately charged forward and cut off the branches with a knife. The moment the branches broke, bloodlike sap spurted out.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°...It¡¯s blood!¡±


    He immediately smelled the strong smell of rust in the air. The sap wasn¡¯t <i>like</i> blood, it was blood!


    ¡°Fuck, what is it!?¡± Tang Mianmian also smelled the bloody scent, and suddenly felt unwell, ¡°Is this a tree or a person?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Maybe it¡¯s a tree person.¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s Zhou Shuren?¡±


    On the other side, Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli joined forces and quickly rescued the person who was half-swallowed by the tree.


    Fortunately, they were saved in time and the guy only lost an arm. The wound was bloody, but the break was very neat, looking like it was bitten off.


    They turned the man over to look at him and were shocked. The guy whose arm was eaten by a tree was the middle-aged man who had fainted on them earlier!


    The middle-aged man was still conscious, and when he saw Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group he trembled with fear.


    Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows, ¡°You¡¯re here right in time, we happen to have a lot of questions to ask you.¡±


    The middle-aged man shivered harder, ¡°I... I don¡¯t know anything...¡±


    Duan Hongzhen gave a coldugh.


    Meanwhile, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian teamed up to cut down countless attacking branches. The strange tree originally had sparse leaves, and it turned into a bare tree in a blink of an eye.


    Whenever they cut a branch or leaf, endless blood spewed from the break.


    Seeing that the ground was full of branches and leaves, the middle-aged man finally couldn¡¯t help but cry out tremblingly, ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu moved his mouth, but the movement of his hands did not stop. Branches and leaves continued to fall all over the ground.


    The middle-aged man struggled to get up and he used his body to block between Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group and the strange tree. He stretched out his arms and shouted with all his strength, ¡°Don¡¯t hurt it! Please don¡¯t hurt it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stopped and said coldly, ¡°Are you crazy? It almost killed you just now!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt it!¡±


    The middle-aged man repeated hysterically, ¡°Don¡¯t hurt it! Don¡¯t hurt it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked coldly, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because&#k2026; because&#k2026;¡± The middle-aged man hesitated for a long time before speaking with difficulty, ¡°This is my wife&#k2026;¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows. Although he had already expected the answer, he still found it hard to believe when he heard the middle-aged man admit it himself&#k2026; A living person turned into a tree?!


    At this moment, he suddenly felt the ground under his feet copse. Then, something grabbed his ankle and dragged him deep underground!


    Tang Mianmian watched as Xiao Tangqiu vanished into the ground in an instant, dragged by a thick protruding root.


    The newbie was taken aback and screamed, ¡°Ah!¡±


    Tang Mianmian immediately red at the middle-aged man, ¡°...You did this on purpose?¡±


    The middle-aged man still looked worried and uneasy, ¡°Don¡¯t hurt my wife...¡±


    ¡°This is a trap!¡± Tang Mianmian realized.


    In the next moment, a thick root also shot out from under his feet and it dragged him to the depths of the earth!


    Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli nced at each other. But before they could act, thick tree roots also shot out from under their feet.


    Next were Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu. In a blink of an eye, there was only the newbie left.


    The newbie looked around in disbelief, making sure that he was really the only one left.


    He took a step back subconsciously and heard the middle-aged man tremblingly repeat, ¡°Don¡¯t hurt my wife... She is just pregnant... She is hungry...


    ¡°She¡¯s just hungry... She¡¯s pregnant... I¡¯m sorry...¡±


    The middle-aged man repeated it over and over again and again, and finally, he looked at the newbie shakily, ¡°I¡¯m sorry... But for my child...¡±


    The newbie felt cold all over. Just when he was about to turn and run away, the strange tree with bare branches suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream.


    ¡°Ahhhh!¡±


    He was startled and instinctively took a step back, and in the next second, a ton of blood out of nowhere suddenly soaked the ground.


    The middle-aged man widened his eyes, ¡°Wife! Wife!¡±


    The strange tree continued its extremely sharp screams. At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu re-emerged from the ground. He was covered in mud and blood, and arge section of chopped off root was in his right hand.


    The middle-aged man cried out in disbelief, ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    Then, the others who were dragged deep underground also crawled out one by one, Tang Mianmian spat out a mouthful of mud, and threw a chunk of root on the ground, ¡°What the hell! Making me eat dirt!¡±


    ¡°No! No!¡± The middle-aged man rushed over and snatched up the broken roots with his remaining hand. The branches were bleeding as they wriggled and struggled as if they really had life. ¡°Wife! Wife!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu patted the dirt on his body, turned around, and reconsidered the strange tree. After they had cut off a dozen roots, the strange tree finally turned tamer, even a little withered.


    ¡°Tell me everything honestly,¡± he stepped forward and aimed the crossbow against the middle-aged man¡¯s throat again, threatening coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to faint or I will directly shoot. First question, is this tree really your wife?¡±


    The middle-aged man held the tree roots with his remaining hand and looked at Xiao Tangqiu with grief. But under Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s threat, he still responded tremblingly, ¡°My wife is just hungry... She hasn¡¯t eaten in a long time... and she is pregnant...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back. As expected, the trunk of this particr tree really seemed to bulge out a bit more than others... But the problem was that this was a tree! Could a tree give birth to a child like a human?


    No! Strictly speaking, this should be... a tree person?


    ¡°Why is your wife a tree?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned and asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you from outside the ind? What happened after you came to the ind?¡±


    Seeing the middle-aged man holding the tree roots and not speaking, Xiao Tangqiu sneered and threatened, ¡°Talk, or I¡¯ll chop down all the remaining roots.¡±


    The middle-aged man shuddered violently before he confessed.


    It turned out that this guy and his wife really experienced a shipwreck, but they didn¡¯t drift to this ind from the sea.


    ¡°...Our ship encountered a tsunami, the ship capsized, and my wife and I both fell into the sea,¡± the middle-aged man spoke with a numb expression, ¡°I thought I was going to drown, but suddenly, I appeared on this ind.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Suddenly appeared on the beach?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked.


    ¡°No, in the forest in the middle of the ind. To be precise, it was under the Sacred Tree.¡± As soon as the Sacred Tree was mentioned, the middle-aged man began to show the expression of pious worship. ¡°My wife and I just woke up under the Sacred Tree. It was the Sacred Tree that saved us.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°And then?¡±


    The middle-aged man continued with that pious expression. Then they met the ind¡¯s aboriginal people, but those people were not exactly aboriginals either. They were also survivors of various shipwrecks and ne crashes. After they survived the disaster, they all appeared under the Sacred Tree as soon as they opened their eyes.


    They believed that it was the Sacred Tree that saved them, and their attitude towards the Sacred Tree was very pious and worshipful. The middle-aged man and his wife were not particrly faithful at first, butter they discovered that there was no food on the ind besides the Sacred Tree


    It provided them with the only source of food, coupled with their inability to leave the ind, their belief in the Sacred Tree began to increase day by day.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. The worship of some godly tree on this ind reminded him involuntarily of the previous instance, Hundred Ghost Night Parade. They were too simr.


    ¡°Wait a minute... How many years have you been on this ind?¡± Tang Mianmian suddenly interrupted.


    The middle-aged man replied, ¡°...Two years.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re joking. You¡¯re only in your twenties?¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched.


    The middle-aged man was silent for a long time before he said hoarsely, ¡°I am already twenty-eight years old.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re really in your twenties?¡± Tang Mianmian looked incredulous. ¡°It¡¯s more believable if you said you are forty-eight! And... what does ¡®already¡¯ mean? Is twenty-eight very old?¡±


    The middle-aged man shuddered, then continued shakily, ¡°On this ind, twenty-eight years old is already very old...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    The middle-aged man was silent for another stretch before he said hoarsely, ¡°Because the people on this ind... don¡¯t live past thirty...¡±


    He went on to exin that the first group of people who came to the ind had only been here for little more than a decade, but only onest survivor was left. That survivor came to this ind in his tens, but now he was a very old man.


    Xiao Tangqiu said coldly, ¡°And then? Keep going.¡±


    The middle-aged man continued. When he had just arrived on the ind, there were still many survivors from the first group, but they had gradually lost their ability to speak and became almost unable tomunicate with people. Even their intellect seemed to have dropped a lot, only the instinct to eat was left. And they disappeared soon after.


    Xiao Tangqiu fell into silence. It was clear that the time flow on this ind was different from the normal world, but this couldn¡¯t be considered terrible. The gradual degradation from normal people to lower animals with only eating instincts was terrible. Just thinking about staying on this ind while regressing into a mindless animal that could only eat made chills break out all over his body.


    Tang Mianmian finally couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°It¡¯s like this, yet you still worship the Sacred Tree?¡±


    The middle-aged man nced at Tang Mianmian numbly, ¡°If there were no Sacred Tree, we would have long starved to death...¡±


    ¡°But you will degenerate and age rapidly. Maybe it¡¯s the Sacred Tree¡¯s fault!¡±


    The middle-aged man repeated the sentence, ¡°If there were no Sacred Tree, we would have long starved to death.¡±


    ¡°Nevermind, he¡¯s clearly been brainwashed, why bother arguing with him!¡± Duan Hongzhen snorted, fiddling with a knife in his hand while asking the middle-aged man, ¡°Then what happened in regards to your wife bing a tree?¡±


    The middle-aged man nced at Duan Hongzhen and told them.


    It turned out that when they first came to the ind, they were warned by others not to run around at night, but one night his wife ran out somehow. He woke up and found that his wife was missing, so he immediately ran out to look for her only to witness his wife being eaten by one of the strange trees.


    The middle-aged man wielded a de in heartbreak and chopped down the tree, then he buried the remaining half of the body here.


    When he came here the next day to pay homage to his wife and unborn child, he found a tree growing from the ce where his wife was buried.


    After that, he visited every few days, watching the tree grow bigger and bigger.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help feeling a chill on his back, ¡°How can you be sure that this tree is your wife?¡±


    The middle-aged man said nkly, ¡°Of course I know, I can sense it... This is my wife. My wife and my unborn child...¡±


    He stretched out his hand, touched the slightly bulging trunk lovingly, and continued to mutter, ¡°Look. This is my child... my child is here...¡±

 Chapter 113

    <h4>Chapter 113</h4>


    The appearance and actions of the middle-aged man gave Xiao Tangqiu the creeps, but when he thought about how this man was actually less than thirty, he couldn¡¯t help mentally sighing. The people whonded on this ind had their time speed pass, knowing that they would not live past thirty and there was no way to escape. In such a hopeless situation, it¡¯s no wonder they would gradually turn their anticipations of life into fanatic worship of the Sacred Tree.


    But he still had many doubts. He nced at Xue Junli, ¡°Should we bring this guy to find the Sacred Tree?¡±


    Xue Junli nodded and said, ¡°He should still be hiding a lot of things.¡±


    The middle-aged man immediately shakily argued, ¡°No! Nothing! I have already said everything I know! I don¡¯t know anything else! Let me go!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen didn¡¯t listen to this guy¡¯s words and lifted his chin with a knife, threatening, ¡°Then run. You can run but this tree can¡¯t. If you dare to run, I¡¯ll cut down this tree. There¡¯s only a few roots left anyway, right?¡±


    The middle-aged man immediately opened his arms to protect the tree behind him, his expression panicked, ¡°Don¡¯t hurt my wife! Please! I¡¯ll go with you! I¡¯ll go with you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know if he was seeing things, but it seemed that when the middle-aged man was begging for mercy, the tree behind him seemed to be trembling, as if it could understand what they were saying... But could trees understand words? Did this tree have sentience?


    If this man¡¯s wife still remained aware within this tree, it clearly realized that it had gradually changed from a human to a tree, how sad and hopeless could it be?


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°As long as you take us to the Sacred Tree, we won¡¯t hurt this tree... your wife.¡±


    The middle-aged man nodded quickly, ¡°I¡¯ll take you there! I¡¯ll take you there!¡±


    Under Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes, the middle-aged man turned around and hugged the tree with his remaining hand, muttering, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, I¡¯ll be back soon. I still need to personally see our baby born... I have even decided on their name.¡±


    A night wind blew by, and the sparse branches and leaves of the strange tree waved, seeming to respond to the middle-aged man.


    The middle-aged man¡¯s voice became more gentle, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be back soon...¡±


    After he said his farewell and stood, he changed from the image of a gentle husband and loving father back to the cowering middle-aged man, ¡°Go, let¡¯s go. I will take you to the Sacred Tree. Don¡¯t hurt me...¡±


    ¡°Lead the way.¡± Xiao Tangqiu said lightly.


    The middle-aged man looked at the strange tree longingly before turning to show Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group the way. Xiao Tangqiu observed their surroundings on the way and found that the trees in this forest were all the same as the strange tree just now. At first, he was suspicious that these trees would also attack them, but there was no movement from those trees. They were just like ordinary trees.


    Duan Hongzhen yed with the knife in his hand and couldn¡¯t help but ask the middle-aged man, ¡°Are you really sure that your wife has be a tree?¡±


    The middle-aged man said tremblingly, ¡°Of course! I love her so much, how can I not recognize her because she has changed!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, ¡°But it ate one of your arms without hesitation.¡±


    The middle-aged man trembled, ¡°She is just hungry&#k2026; She is too hungry&#k2026; Because she is pregnant&#k2026; Pregnant people are always easily hungry&#k2026;¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly thought of something, ¡°Where is that piece of meat? What about the food you got from the Sacred Tree?¡±


    The middle-aged man said with a look of guilt, ¡°I wanted to leave it for my wife to eat, but I was also very hungry... so I couldn¡¯t help but eat it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t understand why this guy ¡°couldn¡¯t help it¡±. After all, that piece of ¡°meat¡± looked no different from the raw meat sold in a market. But he supposed, when people were madly hungry, they may salivate over raw meat.


    ¡°I endured several times before and saved the food, then secretly fed it to my wife,¡± the middle-aged man appeared very guilty and repeated nervously, ¡°I wanted to leave the food for my wife tonight... But I was too hungry... and can¡¯t hold back... that¡¯s why she got angry and ate my arm... She is also hungry... She is pregnant...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows, ¡°Have you fed your wife meat several times before?¡±


    At this moment, Xue Junli suddenly said, ¡°Why are you feeding secretly? Why can¡¯t other people know about this? Where are they right now?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered the most important point, ¡°Where did the other people in the vige go?¡±


    The middle-aged man was silent for a long time before speaking quietly, ¡°...I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know? Are you kidding me!¡± Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°Haven¡¯t you been on this ind for two years? Would you not know?¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know!¡± The middle-aged man¡¯s face flushed. ¡°They never let mee out at night. To feed my wife, I ran out a few times before, but every time I sneak out, all I find... find...¡±


    ¡°Find what?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked.


    The middle-aged man hesitated before continuing to say, ¡°I find the whole vige empty, they all disappeared. I¡¯m the only one in the whole vige.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched. He said that he could not go out at night, and then when he went out, he found that everyone was gone... Xiao Tangqiu paused and asked, ¡°Then when you didn¡¯t go out the night before, everyone else stayed in the vige just fine?¡±


    The middle-aged man¡¯s eyes were a little empty, ¡°When I don¡¯t sneak out to feed my wife at night, I sleep very early every day and fall asleep right after eating. I don¡¯t know if the others are in the vige or not.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding?¡± Duan Hongzhen snorted, ¡°You fall asleep after eating? Are you a pig? Sleeping right after eating? Haven¡¯t you ever gotten up at night?¡±


    The middle-aged man¡¯s eyes became more and more empty, ¡°Get up at night? No... Every time I eat, I sleep very deeply, all the way until the next day.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°No matter how good the sleep is, it is impossible for someone to never get up at night in two years... Also, when you sneak out to feed your wife in the middle of the night, haven¡¯t you ever wondered where other people went?¡±


    The middle-aged man was silent for a few seconds before he replied, ¡°Why should I be curious? I won¡¯t be able to live long anyways.¡±


    He made it sound so logical that Xiao Tangqiu was speechless. If he knew that his end was approaching, he probably also wouldn¡¯t have too much curiosity. When so close to death, was there meaning in knowing more?


    The middle-aged man suddenly said, ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Here?¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked around and saw that the middle-aged man led them to arge circr valley densely surrounded by ck thorny trees.


    He took out a shlight to reveal that it was not a valley before them, but a giant pit, just like the sinkhole they had seen before.


    ¡°What the hell? This is obviously a pit!¡± Duan Hongzhen sneered.


    The middle-aged man said tremblingly, ¡°I¡¯ve said it before... The Sacred Tree is not here right now...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu originally thought it was because this man didn¡¯t want to bring them to the Sacred Tree and thus lied to them. He didn¡¯t expect that the Sacred Tree would actually grow legs and disappear by itself, leaving a huge pit behind!


    No, wait! Even if the Sacred Tree was gone, where could it go? This ind was only so big, could the Sacred Tree hide somewhere they couldn¡¯t find?


    Just as everyone looked at each other, a human figure suddenly appeared from the huge pit. Xiao Tangqiu instantly became vignt, but soon he realized that the person who climbed out of the huge pit was Bai Yushan.


    Bai Yushan apparently went down to investigate. Seeing Xiao Tangqiu and co arrive, she frowned and asked, ¡°Why¡¯d it take you so long? Did you find any important clues?¡±


    Xue Junli said lightly, ¡°No, how about you? Did you find anything after going down?¡±


    Bai Yushan was silent for a few seconds before speaking reluctantly, ¡°No... this is just a big pit. There is nothing at the bottom of the pit.¡±


    ¡°This guy said that the Sacred Tree was originally in this pit,¡± Tang Mianmian said, rubbing his chin, ¡°Does the Sacred Tree really have legs? Only burying itself in a pit in the evening but running around at other times?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s impossible? People on this ind can be trees, so it¡¯s not weird that trees can be people.¡± Duan Hongzhen snorted.


    Bai Yushan frowned, ¡°People be trees?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°It¡¯s a long story...¡±


    After listening to his summary, Bai Yushan frowned and said, ¡°No wonder I keep feeling that the trees around here are weird. They turn out to be people...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hadn¡¯t thought in this direction before. Hearing Bai Yushan saying this, he suddenly had a sh of inspiration, ¡°You mean... the people in the vige have be trees?!¡±


    No wonder the people in the vige vanished, no wonder the ck thorned trees nearby were dense enough to cover the sky, needless of sunlight and space to grow... It turned out that these trees were all changed from the people on the ind?!


    Everyone collectively looked at the middle-aged man. Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows, ¡°So you have been lying to us all the time, are you also a tree?¡±


    The middle-aged man looked nk, ¡°I¡¯m a tree? How could that be... I am obviously a human being!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought that the middle-aged man was just being bitterly stubborn and refused to admit it, but he saw that the middle-aged man¡¯s eyes were very sincere. There was no falsehood as he retorted in agitation, ¡°How can I be a tree? Me? Obviously, I¡¯m a human! I am clearly a human!¡±


    Suddenly, Bai Yushan said, ¡°But your arm...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked down subconsciously and saw that the middle-aged man¡¯s bloody torn arm no longer bled. It turned into an extremely clear-cut surface with tree-like grains.


    Tang Mianmian also shouted, ¡°Fuck! Your feet!¡±


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡±


    His facial features distorted and turned hideous, seeming to be suffering extreme pain. Then his skin slowly turned into rough and hard bark and his clothes tore apart. Just like this, hepletely transformed before their eyes.


    He had turned into a tree.

 Chapter 114.1

    <h4>Chapter 114.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    They actually witnessed a living person turn into a tree right in front of them!


    The middle-aged man hadpletely turned into a tree in an instant with not even a trace of being a human left.


    Bai Yushan sneered, ¡°Sure enough! Everyone in this vige became a tree!¡±


    Tang Mianmian hesitated, ¡°But he didn¡¯t seem to be lying just now.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Maybe this guy really didn¡¯t know that he would be a tree. Didn¡¯t he say it before, every time he ate the Sacred Tree¡¯s bark, he would sleep until the next morning... Maybe he became a tree without his knowledge and didn¡¯t regain consciousness until the next morning.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed possible, maybe he didn¡¯t even know that he was a tree,¡± Xue Junli nodded, ¡°But... Why did he be a tree? He should have been a normal person originally. He was from outside the ind, so what¡¯s the reason for his change?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian nced at each other, and said in unison, ¡°The Sacred Tree¡¯s bark!¡±


    ¡°There is no food on the ind, everyone can only rely on the Sacred Tree¡¯s bark to sustain themselves. A gradual mutation must have happened because he has eaten the bark!¡± Tang Mianmian quickly reacted, ¡°He said that everyone on the ind gathers under the Sacred Tree in the evening and asks the Sacred Tree for food, indicating that everyone should get their food around the same time. Then they would all go back to their houses to eat, so they would mutate around the same time. If this guy had eaten with the others, he would have be a tree with the others, so he wouldn¡¯t realize that he became a tree... But if he doesn¡¯t eat with the others and secretly goes out to feed his wife, the others had already all turned into trees by the time hees back, so he assumed the others had disappeared.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen sneered, ¡°So the trees around the vige are actually made up of the people on the ind?¡±


    ¡°Most likely, yes&#k2026;¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Actually, there¡¯s another strange point. Where did the watere from? If there¡¯s no food on this ind, there should be no water sources either. Maybe the water is also provided by the Sacred Tree.¡±


    ¡°The Sacred Tree gave them everything in order to turn them into trees?¡± Tang Mianmian touched his chin, ¡°This is really&#k2026; hard to put into words. Then, what should we do next?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the big pit left behind by the Sacred Tree, seeming to be asking Tang Mianmian or just muttering to himself, ¡°Where did the Sacred Tree go?¡± The most important thing was, how was the Sacred Tree rted to their instance mission? What did it have to do with Shen Yuan¡¯s resurrection?


    ¡°Let¡¯s search around here, and then... wait until dawn,¡± Xue Junli looked up at the dark night sky. ¡°Didn¡¯t that person say that he woke up after dawn? It seems that these trees should be humans again after dawn. ¡°


    ¡°A person during the day and a tree at night? How interesting...¡± Tang Mianmian touched his chin.


    They began to search the vicinity of the giant pit. Since Bai Yushan had already gone to the bottom of the pit, they only searched around it. But all they found were the ck thorn trees that were suspected to be people of the ind. There was nothing on the whereabouts of the Sacred Tree.


    ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s wait until dawn.¡± Xue Junli said lightly. Since they had searched for a long time without finding anything useful, it either meant that the time had note, or that there was nothing to find.


    Everyone turned around and returned to the vige. Although the conditions in the vige were not much better, there was at least a ce to sleeppared to the wilderness.


    When the newbies saw theming back, they collectively breathed a sigh of relief, as if worried that they would leave them behind and ran away.


    The vige waspletely silent and everyone spent a quiet but sleepless night like this.


    Xiao Tangqiu recalled the things written in the Book of Light, tossing and turning all night. He felt that he had just closed his eyes and it was dawn.


    When the first ray of morning light fell on Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face through the primitive window, his eyes shot open. He heard a rustling sound.


    The rustling sound was very light, like the sound of the wind blowing through tree leaves. He turned and got out of bed and walked to the window to witness an amazing scene. A dozen or so trees slowly moved in from the vige entrance. The way they moved was very strange. First, they uprooted a few tree roots up into the air, then the exposed tree roots took root on the ground in front, and then the remaining section of the roots would also do it.


    They just kept pulling roots and re-rooting, advancing in such a strange yet seemingly normal way.


    When the strange ck thorned trees entered the vige, they gradually changed. The original rough and hard bark became human skin and the roots became human legs. By the time they returned to their own homes, they hadpletely be humans. Everyone had their eyes closed, as if they were sleepwalking.


    Xiao Tangqiu saw that the middle-aged man also returned, changing from a tree back to a human when he stepped into the door of his house. He was not wearing any clothes but he walked into the house as if sleepwalking, and he automatically found and put on clothing. It was as if the same action had been done hundreds of times before.


    If this guy really turned into a tree every night unknowingly, his body habitually took off his clothes before turning into a tree and then rooting himself, then after daybreak, he turned back into a human and returned home. If he did all of that, then he would definitely remember to put his clothes back on automatically.


    Except for a couple of newbies with low vignce, the others also woke up one by one. They silently looked at the middle-aged man who seemed to be sleepwalking with his eyes closed, then looked at each other for a while. Finally, Duan Hongzhen stepped forward and stretched out his hand to pat the middle-aged man on the shoulder with some strength, ¡°Hey! Wake up!¡±


    The middle-aged man snapped awake in an instant. He looked at Duan Hongzhen in shock, then turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu and others, then looked down at his hands and legs with a look of disbelief. In just one night, his eaten arm grew back; just like a tree, no matter how many branches were lost, it would grow back soon.


    Xiao Tangqiu said lightly, ¡°It seems that you still remember what happenedst night.¡±


    The middle-aged man blurted out subconsciously, ¡°No! Impossible! That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    He subconsciously resisted, wanting to refute Xiao Tangqiu, but also questioning himself, ¡°How is this possible? How could I be a tree? No! This is impossible! This must be a nightmare! It¡¯s just a nightmare!¡±


    ¡°Why is it impossible?¡± Xiao Tangqiu said lightly, ¡°You can ept that your wife has be a tree, so how can you not ept that you have also be a tree?¡±


    ¡°No! That¡¯s impossible!¡± The middle-aged man reacted strongly, ¡°If I really became a tree, why can I change back? If I can change back, why can¡¯t my wife change back? Why is she still a tree!¡±


    This was indeed a question. Xiao Tangqiu pondered for a while and said, ¡°Are you... not the same species of trees?¡±


    The corners of the middle-aged man¡¯s mouth twitched violently. At this moment, Xue Junli suddenly said, ¡°You have turned back, but your wife can¡¯t. Isn¡¯t it because your wife is dead?¡±


    The middle-aged man choked suddenly, but he still shook his head frantically, ¡°No! Impossible! How can I be a tree? I cannot be a tree!¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Xiao Tangqiu felt that the attitude of the middle-aged man was off, and immediately asked, ¡°Do you know something? Or is it that you were normal at first, and the mutation happened recently? Do you know what happens after the mutation?¡±


    The middle-aged man fell to his knees with a thud and shivered, ¡°No... Impossible... I can¡¯t be a tree... I¡¯ve seen... I¡¯ve seen those people...¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Go on.¡± Xiao Tangqiu said coldly.


    ¡°Those who are over 30 years old... They will return to the Sacred Tree the day before they die.¡± The middle-aged man hugged himself and shook, ¡°They will change into a tree, then... be absorbed by the Sacred Tree... and ultimately be part of the Sacred Tree...¡±

 Chapter 114.2

    Chapter 114.2


    Everyone who came to this ind arrived through the Sacred Tree. They usually found themselves under the Sacred Tree when they opened their eyes. Then they would leave the Sacred Tree to arrive at the vige, where they lived for a period of time. Later, as the end arrived, they would return to the Sacred Tree the night before they died, turn into a tree, and then finally be absorbed by the Sacred Tree.


    They descended from the Sacred Tree and ultimately returned to the Sacred Tree.


    Tang Mianmian asked incredulously, ¡°What about the ones near the Sacred Tree? What about those trees?¡±


    The middle-aged man said tremblingly, ¡°Every time someone dies and is absorbed by the Sacred Tree, a tree will grow where they died the next day¡­¡±


    ¡°So you are so scared because you think your end is approaching?¡± Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, ¡°But you can still turn from a tree to a human, which means you won¡¯t die for the time being. You get food from the Sacred Tree and the Sacred Tree treats you as food again, this is really a short food chain¡­ Your water resources also came from the Sacred Tree, right?¡±


    The middle-aged man shivered and said, ¡°Yes, after cutting the Sacred Tree¡¯s bark, clear and clean water will flow out. We can only survive by drinking that water¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, no wonder the Sacred Tree¡¯s worship prevailed on the ind. Everyone descended from the Sacred Tree and eventually returned to the Sacred Tree. All the resources to sustain their survival came from the Sacred Tree. For them, it may really be the existence of ¡°God¡±.


    ¡°The Sacred Tree will only appear in the evening?¡± Xue Junli asked the middle-aged man.


    The middle-aged man nodded, ¡°The Sacred Tree only appears in the evening, so all of us arrived on this ind in the evening¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and said, ¡°It seemed to be evening when we came.¡± But they didn¡¯t arrive from the Sacred Tree.


    Suddenly, Xiao Tangqiu remembered something, ¡°By the way, you said that the first group of people who came to the ind¡­ There one person still alive?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the middle-aged man said tremblingly, ¡°but he¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked.


    The middle-aged man hesitated for a while and continued, ¡°He said before that he will return to the Sacred Tree today¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart shook, ¡°He is going to die today?¡±


    ¡°He said that his time is almost up,¡± the middle-aged man¡¯s voice became smaller and smaller, ¡°all of us know that sooner orter there will be such a day¡­¡±


    Xue Junli immediately said, ¡°Take us to find him!¡±


    The middle-aged man hesitated and nodded.


    He led Xiao Tangqiu and the others out. At this time, other people had gradually awakened. The inders looked at Xiao Tangqiu and others coldly, their gaze more indifferent than curious. They didn¡¯t seem to be curious about the origins of these outsiders and most of them turned their heads to continue doing their own things after a nce.


    Xiao Tangqiu secretly observed these inders. Perhaps it was because time passed too fast, but there were no young people on this ind. Most of them were middle-aged men or old people who seemed on the verge of death.


    After a while, they stopped at the oldest and most dpidated house in the vige. The middle-aged man knocked on the door, then pushed in without waiting for a response.


    A gray-haired, shriveled old man with thin hair, cloudy eyes, and wrinkled bark-like skin sat cross-legged on the ground. Despite seeing someoneing in, he was motionless and unresponsive as if no one came in.


    Xiao Tangqiu almost thought the old man was dead. His breathing was very weak, his chest barely rising and falling.


    The middle-aged man nudged the old man and called several times, but the old man remained motionless as if he hadn¡¯t heard any outside voices.


    The middle-aged man sighed, ¡°¡­Starting a while ago, he slowly lost hisnguage ability, and he doesn¡¯t seem to understand us anymore.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. In such a situation wheremunication ispletely impossible, how should they inquire for clues?


    ¡°Even like this, he can still¡­¡± Tang Mianmian paused, and said awkwardly, ¡°Do¡­ the tree¡­ the tree burial? Or do you guys send him there?¡±


    The middle-aged man shook his head and said nothing. His eyes gradually dimmed. After a while, he said hoarsely, ¡°Sooner orter, I will be like this¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Did he tell you anything about the Sacred Tree before? He should know something, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve said everything he knew, there¡¯s nothing else¡­¡± The middle-aged man sighed before he paused suddenly, ¡°But¡­ if you want to leave this ind¡­ maybe¡­ You can go back into the Sacred Tree with him¡­


    ¡°We all descended from the Sacred Tree, and we will eventually return to the Sacred Tree. If you want to find a way to leave, it must also have something to do with the Sacred Tree¡­¡± The middle-aged man looked dazed, mumbling.


    Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, ¡°Didn¡¯t you try to find a way out from the Sacred Tree?¡±


    The middle-aged man paused and said tremblingly, ¡°We tried, but we can¡¯t leave¡­ We are destined to be unable to leave¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other, then looked at Xue Junli, ¡°Wait?¡±


    Xue Junli paused, then said lightly, ¡°Then we wait until evening.¡±


    Bai Yushan immediately said, ¡°Just wait? You¡¯re joking! Stop wasting time!¡±


    Xue Junli said directly, ¡°Then split up and do what you want. We will wait here.¡±


    ¡°You are really wasting time here!¡± Bai Yushan gave them a cold look, then walked away.


    After Bai Yushan left, the rest of the Reincarnation Team started a long wait. Just as their patience was about to run out, the evening finally came.


    The old man who had been sitting on the bed cross-legged and motionless suddenly moved. He slowly and stiffly got up from the ground and walked out the door.


    ¡°Follow!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked and quickly followed.


    Although no one called out, everyone came out of their houses at the same time. They walked towards the entrance of the vige one after another, but their movements were very slow as if they were waiting for someone. Only when the old man took the lead out of the vige did they follow one by one.


    The old man walked slowly in front of the crowd, and the crowd followed his slow pace. No one was rushing and everyone followed quietly and orderly.


    After a while, therge group came to the giant pit and everyone looked at the giant pit in awe.


    ¡°Where is the Sacred Tree?¡± Duan Hongzhen looked around and saw that the pit before them was still a pit, not a tree. Where was the Sacred Tree?


    At this moment, the old man suddenly fell to his knees and bowed in the direction of the giant hole. His limbs and forehead pressed closely against the ground and everyone else knelt down.


    ¡°Fuck, this instantly looks like the scene of arge cult¡­¡± Tang Mianmian murmured. A group of people knelt to the ground at the same time, all of them with a pious and respectful expression. This kind of scene really looked like a cult.


    As soon as his voice fell, the ground shook under their feet.


    In the next moment, a huge tree slowly grew out of the huge pit!


    Everyone was stunned. Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes widened. He had never seen such a huge tree. The tree grew to more than a hundred meters high instantly and it continued to grow wildly, finally reaching the clouds.


    He suddenly understood why the inders would fanatically worship the Sacred Tree. If this tree grew in the real world, it would likely have countless fans.


    But, when he carefully looked at the Sacred Tree, he couldn¡¯t help but feel his hair raise. Although the Sacred Tree looked like a normal tree from a distance, its bark was not normal on a closer look. It was a mass of slowly squirming, fleshy things.


    After the Sacred Tree appeared, the inders who fell on their knees got up, crowded forward, and began to tear pieces of ¡°meat¡± from the Sacred Tree with their bare hands. The old man also walked up and he slowly tore off a piece of ¡°meat¡± before shoving it hungrily into his own mouth.


    Not long after eating the ¡°meat¡±, the old man fell to the ground with an expression of pain and soon breathed hisst.


    After a moment, a sapling grew from his corpse.


    The tree sprouted from the old man¡¯s chest as if bursting out of his body. It grew very fast, growing to the size of an ordinary ck thorned tree with a rustle.


    The old man¡¯s corpse did not disappear, but it seemed that all his nutrients had been absorbed by the tree that broke out of his chest and he instantly turned into a skeleton.


    The inders silently watched the scene before them. Silently watching their once-familiarpanion¡¯s chest get broken open by a tree that absorbed his body. Silently watching the old man ¡°turn into¡±¡­ be reced by a tree.


    At this moment, a big hole opened at the center of the Sacred Tree¡¯s trunk and a thick vine-like thing poked out.


    Although this thing looked simr to a vine, it was extremely thick, about one or two meters in diameter, and the top seemed to be a ¡°mouth¡± with jagged teeth.


    The Sacred Tree slowly stretched the vine to the tree that the old man had turned into and then swallowed the tree with the tip of the vine¡­ The ck thorned tree that originally looked strong with vitality instantly withered and died and the skeleton was thrown aside.


    As the Sacred Tree was slowly preparing to retract the vine, Xiao Tangqiu rushed up without hesitation and jumped directly onto the vine, hugging it tightly. The rest of the Reincarnation Team also reacted quickly and jumped one after another onto the vine.


    The newbies couldn¡¯t react as they watched them jump on the vine, but even if they reacted, they probably didn¡¯t have the courage to jump on it. They all just saw this thing suck a person dry¡­ Only the most courageous newbie gritted his teeth and jumped up.


    ¡°Who are you? Scram! Leave our Sacred Tree!¡±


    ¡°Scram! Scram!¡±


    When the inders saw that someone dared to climb up their Sacred Tree, they immediately became enraged. They immediately picked up rocks and threw them up, trying to smash Xiao Tangqiu and them down.


    ¡°Fuck! That hurts!¡± Tang Mianmian was hit by a stone inadvertently, and suddenly yelled, ¡°These people¡­ deserve to never be able to leave!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu originally just wanted to give it a try. But when he looked down at the inders with almost distorted facial features, he subconsciously tightened his grip on the vine¡­ If they fell now, the inders would probably beat them to death!


    But now was not the time to consider this kind of problem.


    He raised his head and looked at the big hole in the center of the Sacred Tree¡¯s trunk. He didn¡¯t think it would be so easy for them to leave this instance¡­ and the main goal of their trip has not been achieved yet!


    The huge hole waspletely dark, allowing no one to see what was inside. It was mysterious and unpredictable, like a passage to a different world¡­ And like a bottomless abyss.

 Chapter 115

    Chapter 115


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s original n was to climb onto the Sacred Tree via retracting vine that finished eating. Although there were some twists and turns, they managed tond safely. But just as theynded, they were attacked by that vine.


    When they were on the vine, the vine could not turn around and attack, so they were brought up together. Now theye down on their own, the vine would naturally get away.


    Xue Junli pulled out his gun without hesitation, converted it into the most lethal weapon, and fired a quick shot at the vine.


    Boom!


    The vine was instantly blown up, its pieces and juice sshed all over the ground. The color was very simr to human flesh and blood, and even the taste was very simr. Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help frowning.


    Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the fragments quickly regrouped and turned into a new vine to attack them again. Duan Hongzhen immediately took a step forward and cut off half of the vine.


    But even chopping off half of it was still of no use. The vine¡¯s broken part quickly regrew. No matter how they attacked, the vine would automatically regenerate and heal and then attack even more ferociously.


    Xiao Tangqiu took out his crossbow and shot. When the crossbow bolt pierced the vine, the vine suddenly reeled with pain!


    Miraculously, this time the vine failed to heal and bloody liquid bled out from the wound.


    Xue Junli reacted instantly, ¡°It¡¯s magic. Only attacks that contain magic are effective! Continue! Don¡¯t stop!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart leaped, and he couldn¡¯t help getting excited despite trying to stay calm. Although his attack was effective, if he didn¡¯t take it seriously, he would still be pitted.


    He secretly observed the surroundings while attacking the vine non-stop. The big hole in the center of the Sacred Tree trunk seemed to be where the Sacred Tree ate, it could be roughly considered as a human mouth. As for the vine¡­ maybe a tongue?


    But unlike his imagination, although this cave was dark and deep, it didn¡¯t have much of a bloody or otherwise disgusting scent. On the contrary, it was very clean, just like an ordinary tree hole.


    The vine fought as it retreated, and they all moved forward towards it. The structure around the Sacred Tree¡¯s hole was notplicated, and they soon reached the center of the tree hole.


    ¡°Fuck, what is that!¡± Tang Mianmian yelled.


    There was a huge flower bud hanging in the center of the tree hole. This huge flower bud was not beautiful, it was even a bit hideous and terrible looking. It was two to three meters wide with tightly closed flesh-colored petals and an outeryer full of jagged barbs.


    There were dozens of vines surrounding the flower bud. The thickest vine which was attacking them protruded from the bottom of the flower bud. It seemed to also be what fed the flower.


    ¡°Is this the final boss?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned, feeling that something was wrong.


    Tang Mianmian realized, ¡°Why isn¡¯t it attacking us?¡±


    That vine knew to be a loyal guard, but why didn¡¯t this final boss-looking flower do anything?


    ¡°Because&#k2026; I already had a fight with it&#k2026;¡± Suddenly, an extremely weak voice rang out.


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned to see Bai Yushan suddenly appear in front of them. Her appearance was particrly wretched. No, not only wretched, it waspletely miserable.


    Bai Yushan was covered in blood and all the clothes on her body were torn. That was nothing. Not only did she lose half of her arm, but even the most important feature for a girl was ruined ¡ª she only had half of her face left.


    Her face looked like it had been licked by a blind bear¡¯s barbed tongue, only half of her face remained intact while the other half of her face was minced.


    ¡°Your¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu hesitated, but couldn¡¯t bear to say it. After all, the face was the most important thing for a girl, especially a beautiful girl like Bai Yushan.


    Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu unbearably turned their heads away at the same time.


    Bai Yushan¡¯s expression was calm and wooden, ¡°I already fought with it and tamed it¡­¡±


    Xue Junli frowned slightly, ¡°When did youe up here?¡±


    ¡°Before the Sacred Tree was fully grown,¡± Bai Yushan smiled coldly, ¡°When everyone was kneeling and worshiping the Sacred Tree, I climbed up directly with the climbing rope.¡±


    ¡°I see, no wonder you¡¯re so much faster than us,¡± Xiao Tangqiu realized. It turned out that this was another unconventional action from Bai Yushan. But it seemed to have turned out perfectly this time, ¡°Did you find anything?¡±


    Bai Yushan licked the corners of her lips. She only had half of her face left, so she could only wiggle half of her lips, her smile ironic and distorted, ¡°¡­We were deceived.¡±


    ¡°Deceived? What do you mean?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned.


    ¡°There is nothing here,¡± Bai Yushan said coldly, ¡°there is nothing we are looking for at all, only this huge flower, which deceived people to worship it religiously in order to eat them¡­ Those stupid and ignorant people actually think it is some sort of a divine tree!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was instantly disappointed, ¡°There is no special item to revive Shen Yuan here?¡±


    ¡°If there is, I would have resurrected Yuru,¡± Bai Yushan red at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t want to resurrect my sister? I have worked so hard for so long just to resurrect her!¡±


    She became agitated, ¡°I did so much! It¡¯s all to bring her back! But I always fail again and again! Disappointed again and again! Do you think I don¡¯t want to resurrect her? I want to resurrect her more than anything else in the world! More than anyone else in the world! I only have her left! I have only one loved one!¡±


    After so much time and effort to gain nothing, Xiao Tangqiu felt his hopes turn to ash, but still sighed andforted Bai Yushan, ¡°Next time¡­ next time we will definitely find it! We will definitely¡­ definitely be able to revive the people we want to bring back¡­¡±


    Bai Yushan calmed down. She looked at Xiao Tangqiu and then the others coldly before continuing to speak, ¡°Although this Sacred Tree is not a real divine tree, it pretends to be one in order to eat the people it kidnapped. So it should have special abilities rted to space.¡±


    ¡°What kind of space ability? What do you mean?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Do you mean¡­ something like the ability to travel through different spaces?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I think that those who were in shipwrecks were brought here by the Sacred Tree using its spatial ability that can travel thousands of miles, and then kept in captivity by the Sacred Tree on this ind. That¡¯s why they would appear under the Sacred Tree as soon as they woke up. ¡°Bai Yushan said.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t quite understand, ¡°Since the Sacred Tree¡¯s goal is to eat people, why not eat them right at the beginning instead of raising them in captivity on this small ind?¡±


    Xue Junli indifferently spoke up, ¡°It¡¯s probably the same as primitives who tamed wild beasts to raise them into domestic animals. The Sacred Tree is constantly stealing the vitality of those people. When it is almost finished, it will fully consume those humans. This way, there¡¯s no waste.¡±


    Tang Mianmian did not understand, ¡°Then why is this ind called Revival Ind? What does Eternal Revival Ind mean?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pondered for a while, then suddenly said, ¡°¡­After those people are eaten by the Sacred Tree, they be real trees. Isn¡¯t this resurrection? If the Sacred Tree can keep mankind in captivity and steal their vitality, Isn¡¯t this eternal life?¡±


    Tang Mianmian blurted out, ¡°Damn! It has nothing to do with humans!¡±


    Bai Yushan said coldly, ¡°If I guessed right, the space passage should be in the bud. I have looked everywhere else and there¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, ¡°As long as we go through the space passage, we can leave the instance?¡±


    ¡°It should be so. There is no other way to escape. You can either try it or find another way,¡± Bai Yushan wearily closed her eyes, ¡°I¡¯m already very tired, I want to take a rest first ¡­¡±


    Upon seeing this, Yu Fuling took a step forward, ¡°You have lost too much blood. Let me take care of it for you.¡±


    Bai Yushan gave Yu Fuling a cold nce, then nodded.


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other before looking at Xue Junli, ¡°Let¡¯s try? Maybe the space passage is really in that bud.¡±


    Xue Junli thought for a while, then nodded, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s give it a try¡­¡±


    At this moment, the only newbie who followed them up suddenly said, ¡°Can this bud transport so many of us at once? What if we can only go one at a time?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback for a moment, ¡°This¡­¡±


    The newbie suddenly became excited, ¡°I want to be the first to go up and see!¡±


    As soon as he had finished speaking, before anyone could react, he climbed up the vine towards the bud.


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re crazy! If there is any danger¡­¡±


    Before Xiao Tangqiu finished his words, the newbie already rushed up to the closed bud and shouted, ¡°Send me home now! I want to go home! Mom, I want to go home!¡±


    In the next moment, the tightly closed flower bud suddenly split open and swallowed the newbie. The newbie eximed, ¡°I¡¯ll be home soon! I¡¯ll be able to¡­¡±


    But before he could finish speaking his voice turned into a heart-piercing scream.


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    Within that big opening was not a space passage at all, but a flower full of transparent liquid. The crystal clear flower nectar seemed to be extremely corrosive, and it corroded most of the newbie¡¯s body in an instant.


    In the blink of an eye, only half of his body remained intact while the other half waspletely bloody.


    In another blink of an eye, his whole body was corroded to the point that there was only a skeleton left.


    At this time, his screams were still reverberating throughout the tree hole¡­ And in an instant, even the bones were gone.

 Chapter 116.1

    Chapter 116.1


    All this happened so quickly that nobody had time to react. The newbie had corroded away until there were no bones left. Xiao Tangqiu was the first to react, turning around in disbelief to look at Bai Yushan, ¡°¡­Did you do this deliberately?¡±


    The others also reacted one by one. Tang Mianmian immediately took a step back and asked loudly, ¡°This is a trap? Do you want us to trip up? You lied to us!¡±


    Yu Fuling, who was just bandaging Bai Yushan¡¯s wound, couldn¡¯t react when she was pushed away by Bai Yushan. She didn¡¯t have the slightest guard up and unexpectedly fell to the ground.


    By the time Yu Fuling got up, Bai Yushan had already run to the other side. She looked at the Reincarnation Team coldly. There was no emotion or ups and downs in her voice, ¡°¡­I lied to you? I was just helping you!¡±


    ¡°You say you were helping us? Stop kidding!¡± Xiao Tangqiu sneered, ¡°If we went up just earlier, wouldn¡¯t we be the dead people now?¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, ¡°She went up earlier! She went up before we came! That¡¯s why her face changed to what it is now!¡±


    Bai Yushan scrapped half of her arm and ruined half of her face. Obviously, the truth was that she had climbed up to the bud to see it before they got here, but deliberately lied to them that the bud was a space passage to leave the ind! How coldblooded!


    Bai Yushan suddenlyughed, ¡°Hahahaha! I didn¡¯t lie to you! I¡¯m just helping you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sneered, ¡°What the fuck are you still bullshitting for?!¡±


    ¡°That flower bud is indeed not a spatial pathway to leave this ind, but it can revive the people we want to resurrect!¡± Bai Yushan¡¯s tone was extremely excited and she looked at the huge flower bud with crazed admiration, ¡°Dare you believe it? It can help us resurrect anyone we want to resurrect! It really is a god! It is a real god!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Are you crazy?¡± It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t believe Bai Yushan¡¯s words, but this woman said previously that the Sacred Tree was not a divine tree, but a liar who raises humans as cattle. But now she changed her words and said that it was a real god? Was she schizophrenic?


    ¡°I¡¯m not crazy! I¡¯m extremely clear-headed! Do you know what¡¯s in this bud?¡± Bai Yushan¡¯s expression was extremely excited, ¡°It¡¯s the heart of the God of Light! When the Abyss Demon secretly took the heart of the God of Light, he hid the heart on this ind! In order not to be discovered by others, he nted a demon world¡¯s flower on the God of Light¡¯s heart, intending to consume the light powers. Now this flower is about to bloom! Don¡¯t you see!?¡±


    ¡°As long as the flower is provided with enough food, it can bloom! And once it blooms, it can resurrect anyone we want to resurrect!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked Bai Yushan incredulously, ¡°¡­Provide enough food? Do you mean people? You just nned to feed that flower our lives?!¡±


    Bai Yushan¡¯s expression became more and more crazed, ¡°The flower is about to bloom! It already grew a little bit bigger after it ate my arm! Look, it¡¯s bigger now!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart skipped. He subconsciously turned his head to look at the huge flower bud. After swallowing the newbie, the flower bud really became bigger!


    ¡°It will bloom soon! I will be able to resurrect Yuru soon!¡± Bai Yushanughed, and the remaining half of her face became more and more warped.


    ¡°You¡¯re joking. To resurrect a single person using so many lives?¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes widened. Even if he wanted to resurrect Shen Yuan, he would never sacrifice so many people just to resurrect one person. But this demonic flower clearly already ate many people to grow to its current size!


    Could it be that the page that Bai Yushan tore from the Book of Light was about this demon world flower?


    Bai Yushan concealed what it had on this demonic flower, meaning she had nned this for a long time. She knew that Bai Yuru could only be resurrected by making the demon flower bloom, so she nned to sacrifice all of them to do so?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel chills run down his back. If Bai Yushan had indeed nned this, did it mean that this woman wanted to sacrifice them from the very beginning? So this woman had long stopped regarding them as lives from the first instance they cooperated in?


    At this moment, Tang Mianmian¡¯s eyes widened as he yelled in disbelief, ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s really blooming!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. He looked up and saw the huge flower bud that had been growing bigger and bigger after eating the newbie. Quickly, the entire flower bud was already plump to bursting and a big hole opened at the top of the flower bud. It really bloomed!


    As a refreshing fragrance spread, the huge petals parted, beautifully picturesque and almost intoxicating. In a blink of an eye, the huge bud bloomed into a huge red flower, its petals dripping with alluring red.


    In the heart of the demon flowerid a naked girl.


    When Xiao Tangqiu saw the girl, his body froze. Tang Mianmian widened his eyes in disbelief. This girl was Bai Yuru, the yer they had seen in a previous instance. The dead girl with her soul imprisoned forever in the secret room¡­ She actually resurrected!


    Could dead yers really be brought back to life?


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other, both of them revealing incredulous eyes. Xiao Tangqiu thought more than Tang Mianmian. If Bai Yushan could really resurrect Bai Yuru, could he also resurrect Shen Yuan?


    But this thought was quickly dismissed. This kind of resurrection method that required so many lives in exchange was too cruel. Even if most of those who died before were the NPCs in the instance¡­ Not to mention he had always felt something was wrong with the entire scenario.


    Bai Yushan obviously didn¡¯t have so many concerns. She screamed Bai Yuru¡¯s name in ecstasy and rushed over. The girl lying in the heart of the flower opened her eyes nkly and slowly got up.


    ¡°Yuru! Yuru!¡± Bai Yushan climbed up to the demon world¡¯s flower neatly and took Bai Yuru into her arms, ¡°I¡¯m your sister! I¡¯m your sister!¡±


    Bai Yuru moved her lips, her voice hoarse, ¡°Sister¡­ Sister¡­¡±


    ¡°Yuru! Yuru!¡± Bai Yushan buried her face in Bai Yuru¡¯s shoulders and wept bitterly, ¡°I finally found you¡­ This time I will never leave you again! We will be together forever!¡±


    Bai Yuru repeated quietly, ¡°¡­Be together forever.¡±


    ¡°Yuru?¡± Bai Yushan was originally holding Bai Yuru happily, but she soon noticed something was wrong. Just when she was about to let go of Bai Yuru, a thick vine suddenly entangled her and tightly wrapped her up.


    Bai Yushan¡¯s eyes widened in horror, ¡°No!¡±


    She opened her eyes and realized that ¡°Bai Yuru¡±¡®s hands had turned into two vines, tightly wrapping around her.


    ¡°Bai Yuru¡± entangled Bai Yushan tightly, and repeated softly, ¡°Be together forever¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡±


    Everything froze at the moment when Bai Yushan opened her eyes in horror. The gorgeously blooming demonic flower suddenly closed its petals again and returned to the shape of a flower bud.


    Bai Yushan struggled desperately in the cage of petals. But this time she didn¡¯t have the same mental preparation or good luck as before.


    Arge amount of transparent flower nectar coated her head and the strong corrosive liquid melted everything instantly.


    ¡°Fake, it¡¯s all fake¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°¡­Everything is fake as expected.¡±


    He was extremely discouraged and did not hesitate to take out the crossbow, firing a bolt at the huge bud. The bolt instantly pierced the demonic flower, ripping a big hole in its huge petal where crystal clear nectar dripped out.


    The demonic flower was enraged and a dozen vines rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu at once.


    Xue Junli¡¯s expression tightened, ¡°Everyone get ready!¡±


    Everyone fell into a bitter battle again. But as before, except for the enchanted crossbow from Xiao Tangqiu, the other people¡¯s weapons did not have much effect on the demonic flower and they could only run around, dodging, as they were all hounded by the vines.


    Xiao Tangqiu was the worst off as the demonic flower was obviously very vengeful. Over ten vines went after him together. Although his weapon was powerful, he couldn¡¯t handle so many vines going after him.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t notice that as he was entangled by a vine, he was also quickly chased over towards the demonic flower bud.


    ¡°Qiuqiu!¡± Tang Mianmian yelled, but it was toote to stop it.


    The demonic flower bud opened again and then swallowed Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°Qiuqiu!¡±


    The moment Xiao Tangqiu fell into the bud, he opened several more holes in the petals and the extremely corrosive nectar flowed out along the holes. He took the opportunity to temporarily fix himself to the top of the bud and prevent himself from falling into the flower juice.


    But soon the demonic flower began to secrete arge amount of nectar again and he gritted his teeth. He must find the weakness of this thing before the juice haspletely filled the bud!


    At this moment of life and death, he suddenly saw a fist-sized thing in the center of the flower bud. It was flesh-colored and also seemed to have something simr to pulsating blood vessels¡­ It looked like a heart!


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t hesitate to aim the crossbow at the heart-like thing and fire!


    He knew very well that if he failed at this moment or he made a mistake in his judgment, he would definitely die here, and there would be no chance of resurrection!


    Although he was tense and every nerve in his body was strung tightly, after firing with all his strength, he couldn¡¯t help the countless images that shed through his mind. It was like a film, scenes from his life began to rey before his eyes. There was Meng Xinghe and also Shen Yuan. The person before him was Shen Yuan for a while, and then Meng Xinghe for a while, but in the end, it became Shen Yuan.


    At the moment when the person in front of him fixed into Shen Yuan, he felt a huge explosion happen closely in front of him.


    Boom.

 Chapter 116.2

    Chapter 116.2


    An explosion?


    He lost all consciousness in an instant.


    ¡­But wait a minute! What¡¯s with that film shback? That was too inauspicious!


    Who said he must die? He had already died once, so he shouldn¡¯t have died so quickly for a second time, right?


    And what happened ¡°before death¡±? He knew he wouldn¡¯t die!


    ¡­


    ¡°Qiuqiu!¡±


    ¡°Qiuqiu! Wake up!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes instantly, and Tang Mianmian¡¯s familiar face came into view.


    ¡°¡­Why is it you again?¡±


    Tang Mianmian originally had a look of joy, and when he heard Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s words, he suddenly snorted, ¡°What¡¯s the matter with ¡°me again¡±? It¡¯s you! Why did you faint again!¡±


    ¡°I fainted? Yes, I fainted¡­ Why did I faint? It seems like something exploded?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mind was a mess and it took a long time to remember what happened before he fainted.


    ¡°Yes, it was an explosion! You just rushed into the demonic flower and then you both exploded with a boom!¡± Tang Mianmian described vividly.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­I also exploded? Then why am I okay now?¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked excited, ¡°Guess!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu froze for a moment, then his eyes widened in disbelief, ¡°¡­No way?¡±


    ¡°Yes! You guessed it!¡± Tang Mianmian jumped up to reveal the person who was standing behind him.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the person in front of him nkly. After a while, he moved his lips, ¡°¡­Shen Yuan?¡± His voice was very soft, as if he was afraid that he would break the illusion in front of him if he spoke any louder.


    Shen Yuan stood in front of him, looking at him deeply.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± Xiao Tangqiu shook his head subconsciously, ¡°I must still be asleep&#k2026; No, I must be dead&#k2026;¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu deeply and he suddenly smiled, ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu waspletely dumbfounded, ¡°How is this possible? This is impossible&#k2026;¡±


    He clearly had the idea of dying along with the demonic flower. After all, based on his luck, he was really not sure about being able to find the demon flower¡¯s weakness before he died.


    Why was it that right now, not only was he not dead, but Shen Yuan was also back?


    How was this possible?


    He had been so unlucky for twenty-five years¡­ How could his luck suddenly explode at this kind of time?


    Xiao Tangqiu waspletely stunned until Shen Yuan smiled helplessly and slowly said, ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t figure out what was going on at first¡­ I was already dead, how can Ie back to life again? But after listening to what they said, I think I understand what¡¯s going on.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu echoed, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°The Book of Light, I have also seen it before¡­ If I am not mistaken, the heart of the God of Light can indeed resurrect people who have died, but this resurrection is conditional.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the condition? It can¡¯t be a life for a life? Sacrificing someone else¡¯s life to resurrect the person you want to resurrect?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned.


    ¡°Of course not. If it is this method of resurrection, what¡¯s the difference between the God of Light and those demons?¡± Shen Yuan shook his head and continued, ¡°The Book of Light that I read says that only someone with a pure and courageous heart, with a spirit of self-sacrifice and desperation, can withstand the test of the God of Light and resurrect those who they want to resurrect.¡±


    ¡°A person with a pure and courageous heart?¡± Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t react for a while, and then silently pointed to his nose after a long time, ¡°¡­Me?¡±


    Shen Yuan, ¡°I believe that the Book of Light that Bai Yushan got should be fake, or it has been tampered with. Only the content rted to the demonic flower is true and everything else is wrong.¡±


    ¡°The Abyss Demon nted the demonic flower on the God of Light¡¯s heart, trying to consume the power of the God of Light. For so many years, the heart has been polluted by arge amount of demonic energy and has fallen into a state of chaos. Bai Yushan tried to revive Bai Yuru with the same sacrifice method as demons is of course impossible, but your act just purified the God of Light¡¯s heart¡­ So I was sessfully resurrected.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nkly stared at Shen Yuan for a long time before speaking, ¡°Are you really alive again?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s true,¡± Shen Yuan took a step forward, grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand and ced it on his face, ¡°See, I am warm. This is not your imagination.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt the warmth on his fingertips. He stared at Shen Yuan¡¯s face nkly, and reluctantly blinked, ¡°It¡¯s really real¡­ You¡¯re really alive again¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay! That¡¯s enough! Don¡¯t waste any more time!¡± Duan Hongzhen finally couldn¡¯t bare it and interrupted their mutual staring by taking a step forward, ¡°¡­Although I know that the captain¡¯s resurrection is a happy event, I beg you, the most important thing is to escape from this instance right now. There will be no time! If we can¡¯t leave here before the time limit, we will all be wiped out!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately came back to himself. They were still in the instance! They must escape quickly!


    Shen Yuan thought aloud, ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, the demonic flower¡¯s spacial passage should be at the top of the Sacred Tree that it parasitizes. Let¡¯s climb it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded without hesitation, ¡°Go! To the top of the tree!¡±


    Arge group of inders was still surrounding the Sacred Tree. When they saw Xiao Tangqiuing out of the tree hole, the people underneath immediately threw stones in anger again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them! Let¡¯s climb!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took out his mountaineering equipment, pulled the rope tight and quickly climbed to the top of the tree.


    As they climbed higher and higher, the stones could no longer reach them. But before Xiao Tangqiu could breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly realized that the Sacred Tree they were climbing began to be transparent¡­


    The Sacred Tree was about to disappear!


    The Sacred Tree only appeared in the evening. Once the inders finish gathering their food, the Sacred Tree would soon vanish!


    ¡°There¡¯s almost no time! Hurry up!¡± Xiao Tangqiu urged loudly.


    Everyone immediately elerated their climbing speed, and finally, they sessfully climbed to the top of the tree.


    At this moment, the Sacred Tree began to disappear. Everything gradually became transparent starting from the bottom roots of the tree to the top. The few newbies who remained below wanted to climb up, but they only climbed a few steps before falling back down to the ground because of the Sacred Tree¡¯s disappearance. They could only desperately and unwillingly shout.


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s group climbed to the top of the Sacred Tree, the entire Sacred Tree disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu originally thought they would fall, but he suddenly heard a familiar system sound in their ears¡ª


    ¡°Congrattions, dear yers, forpleting the D-level mission [Eternal Revival Ind], the mission goal [Escape from Revival Ind] is achieved, the time limit is 1 day, the yer receives 500 points¡­


    ¡°The mission isplete, leaving the instance soon¡­¡±


    They finally managed to escape!


    When Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes again, it was to the familiar transfer cabin. He couldn¡¯t wait to open the transfer cabin and climb out, nning to find Shen Yuan first thing. But the next second, he met Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes.


    Shen Yuan was really back!


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t have a real feeling of ¡°Shen Yuan came back¡± before. Until this moment, he finally realized that Shen Yuan was back¡­ Shen Yuan was really back!


    He couldn¡¯t wait to rush towards Shen Yuan and hug him.


    Shen Yuan paused, then returned a deep hug.


    The two held each other for a long time. It took a long time before Xiao Tangqiu raised his head and asked Shen Yuan softly, ¡°What on earth did you want to do at that time?¡±


    Shen Yuan raised his eyebrows, ¡°At that time?¡±


    ¡°Before you died¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu took a deep look at Shen Yuan, imitating Shen Yuan¡¯s move before he died, grabbed Shen Yuan¡¯s fingers and touched the corners of his own mouth, ¡°What did you want to do at that time¡­ ?¡±


    Something seemed to sh across Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes. He opened his mouth and was about to say something, but right at this moment, a scream suddenly came.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡±


    After all the people of the Reincarnation Team climbed out of the transfer cabins, they quietly surrounded Xiao Tangqiu and Shen Yuan. They were motionless and quiet as chickens. No one disturbed them up until the screams rang out and they all moved to look towards the noise.


    A person, no, it¡¯s a group of people¡­ They all scrambled towards the direction of the transfer cabins.


    Everyone was wounded and bled all over the floor, looking very miserable. Nevertheless, they tried their best to run towards the transfer cabins.


    Tang Mianmian cried out in disbelief, ¡°Fuck! What happened?¡±


    In the next moment, they found out. There was a loud explosion from the Newbie Vige nearby followed by countless screams.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly saw a familiar figure from the crowd, and quickly grabbed the person, ¡°¡­Su Manluo?!¡±


    The person in front of him who was miserably fleeing was clearly Su Manluo whom he had met a few times.


    Su Manluo was about to shake off Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand, but when she saw that it was Xiao Tangqiu, she gritted her teeth and shouted, ¡°Run! The Abyss Demon has invaded the Abyss City! Run!¡±


    ¡°The Abyss Demon invaded?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was stunned by the news, ¡°Run? Run where?¡±


    Su Manluo gritted her teeth, ¡°Of course it is to go into the instances! The location of the City of the Abyss is fixed. Once it is invaded by demons, no one can escape. Now we can only run to the instance world for temporary refuge¡­ The Abyss Demon went to Area S first and Area S is long gone. Other than those in the instance world, no one can escape. He¡¯s already in Newbie Vige. If you don¡¯t escape now, you¡¯ll never be able to escape again! Hurry!¡±

 Chapter 117

    Chapter 117


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. He didn¡¯t want to believe Su Manluo¡¯s words, but he could see everything with his own eyes, ¡°This¡­ When did the invasion start?¡±


    Could it be that the demons invaded while they were in thest instance?


    Su Manluo sighed, ¡°Since half a year ago. They disguised themselves as yers and quietly reced many people. There were even a few well-known powerhouses who infiltrated powerful teams in various districts¡­ even our Thorns Squad has been infiltrated. Now those demons have taken control and mastered the entire City of the Abyss. There is no more safend here!¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help her eyes from reddening, ¡°Our home¡­ is gone!¡±


    While Su Manluo was patiently exining everything, there were explosions and screams from time to time all around them, which made Xiao Tangqiu fall into reflection. Although he had been in this world for a year and a half, the time actually spent in the City of the Abyss added up to less than dozens of days. Even so, for him, the City of the Abyss was still the only peace in this chaotic world.


    Now that the entire city was disintegrating and being destroyed under demonic invasion, even for someone new to the city, he couldn¡¯t help but feel the loss as if seeing the breaking and loss of mountains and rivers.


    He couldn¡¯t help but look at Shen Yuan. If even someone who had only been here for over a year and has just left the novice period had such emotions, what about Shen Yuan who had been here for almost ten years?


    Shen Yuan calmly looked at the City of the Abyss around them. After noticing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s gaze, he turned his head and whispered softly, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter¡­ As long as you are there, anywhere can be home.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart jumped. Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes had light in them and didn¡¯t seem to be lying. He couldn¡¯t help turning his face away, ¡°What are you saying at this time!¡±


    He sighed, ¡°The City of the Abyss is gone, what should we do next?¡± Could it be that they really could only keep wandering around in instances, without a chance to stop and take a breath like a bird without a ce tond? Needing to endlessly fly until death?


    Everyone showed hesitation and regret. After all, for them, the City of the Abyss was their peaceful homnd where they temporarily get to breathe and rest in the game of endless death and killing. It was the only piece of cleannd in this cruel world. Now even thest piece of cleannd was lost. Were they destined to constantly wander for the rest of their lives? Were they going to run tirelessly from the killing¡­ until the end of their lives?


    Everyone had nk eyes. They were originally adrift on a piece of wood in the rough sea, constantly fighting the storm, but now they even lost the wood board. What should they do next?


    At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly said, ¡°Maybe¡­ it¡¯s time for us to end this.¡±


    Everyone was shocked and looked at Shen Yuan incredulously. Even Su Manluo looked shocked. She blurted out, ¡°End this? What do you mean?¡±


    Shen Yuan was silent for a moment before speaking again, ¡°In one of my previous main missions, I identally read the Book of Light that corresponds to the legendary Book of Demons. It records the fatal weakness of the Abyss Demon¡­ But then I met the Abyss Demon in that instance, I was defeated by the Abyss Demon and I lost my memory.¡±


    Everyone was stunned by the amount of information in Shen Yuan¡¯s words, and Xiao Tangqiu was even more shocked&#k2026; Was this the truth about Shen Yuan¡¯s serious amnesia in the previous main mission?!


    ¡°I forgot everything that happened in that instance, including the Book of Light I once read,¡± Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes were dark and deep, ¡°¡­until I died in the instance. My consciousness floated and sank in a void and I vaguely remembered the things that I had forgotten. After I was resurrected in thest instance, I remembered it thoroughly.


    ¡°¡­Especially after seeing the demonic flower, I remembered everything ¡ª including how I was defeated by the Abyss Demon in the previous instance, including the Book of Light I had read. I read about the ultimate way to deal with the Abyss Demon.¡±


    So this was the truth about Shen Yuan¡¯s serious injury and amnesia!


    Xiao Tangqiu felt bad for Shen Yuan but at the same time couldn¡¯t help but feel excited. If they knew the ultimate way to deal with the Abyss Demon, did that mean that they could defeat the Abyss Demon? Did it mean that they couldpletely eliminate the Abyss Demon?


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t wait to ask, ¡°Defeat the Abyss Demon? How?¡±


    Shen Yuan looked up at the Newbie Vige where explosions continued to ur, his eyes darkened, ¡°This is not a ce to borate. Let¡¯s go into an instance first.¡±


    In the few minutes they exchanged information, many people fled in a panic and got into the transfer cabins and entered the instance world. However, many people were caught before they could escape to the transfer cabin and shed to death by demons.


    More and more demons poured into the square. Most of them were draped in yer¡¯s skins, apparently disguised as yers to infiltrate the yer¡¯s team. And when the demon army attacked the City of the Abyss, they tore down their disguise. They picked up weapons and swung it towards the yers who had regarded them aspanions not long ago. Those poor yers probably didn¡¯t even know why their formerpanions suddenly attacked them.


    As more and more demons poured into the square, their leader sat tall on a mount among them.


    ¡°Is that¡­ the Abyss Demon?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Abyss Demon! Help!¡±


    ¡°What is his mount¡­ Is that¡­ a snake?!¡±


    ¡°The World Serpent! That is the World Serpent!¡±


    There were horrified screams all around, the fleeing crowd all fell into deep fear. The Abyss Demon actually came! Was survival still possible?


    The person surrounded by the demon army sat on a huge ck snake. The ck snake was desparingly huge and exuded a frightening aura of death, as if it could easily crush the world, yet a person sat on the top of it.


    He was a man wearing a ck mask who looked condescendingly down at the fleeing human beings. Although he had yet to take any action, judging from the docile obedience of the giant snake and the enthusiastic flood of the demon army, he was easily identified.


    ¡°Abyss Demon¡­ That is actually the Abyss Demon!¡±


    Su Manluo was full of fear, and she couldn¡¯t help but mutter, ¡°It¡¯s said that no one who has seen the Abyss Demon can survive!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu wanted to refute the belief. Shen Yuan and he had seen the Abyss Demon several times and they were still alive¡­ But he then thought about the two times they¡¯ve seen the Abyss Demon, either he or Shen Yuan died. He silently swallowed the words back.


    ¡°The Abyss Demon is here! Let¡¯s rush into an instance!¡± Tang Mianmian shouted immediately.


    If they didn¡¯t enter the instance right now, nobody would escape!


    Other than them, all the other yers obviously thought this way. They tried their best to run towards the transfer cabins, trying to escape into the instance world before being caught by the demon army. But most of them had not had time to run to the transfer cabins before being caught and killed by the demon army.


    The man wearing a ck mask sat on the top of Ouroboros¡¯ head, looking down at the desperately fleeing fugitives. He was motionless, even a little uncaring, but despite this, the powerful aura exuding from him still suppressed everyone. Some people even knelt on the ground in the midst of fleeing, unable to handle the physical and mental pressure.


    Xiao Tangqiu was also struggling against this powerful aura, but he still tried to run in the direction of the transfer cabin with the others.


    Su Manluo resisted the pressure of the Abyss Demon and asked Shen Yuan with difficulty, ¡°Do you really have a way to defeat the Abyss Demon?


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes were solemn, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Su Manluo hesitated for a few seconds before running to the transfer cabin, she gritted her teeth and shouted, ¡°Then I will go with you!¡±


    She gave a wry smile, ¡°Although the Abyss Demon is terrifying¡­ and I¡¯d rather never face the Abyss Demon, but if I keep evading it, one day there will be no way to escape. Now that the City of the Abyss has fallen, the instance world should be next, right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu admired Su Manluo¡¯s courage very much. Everyone understood the concept that


    no eggs could survive an overturned nest, but not everyone had the courage to make a desperate effort to save the nest.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go together! One more person is one more chance of winning¡­¡±


    Su Manluo epted thepulsory team items Xue Junli handed her and got into the transfer cabin.


    Xiao Tangqiu also got into the transfer cabin with the rest. Before entering it, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but look at the Abyss Demon sitting on the ck giant snake. He didn¡¯t know if it was an illusion, but he felt that the Abyss Demon seemed to be looking towards him.


    At the moment of entering the transfer cabin, Xiao Tangqiu noticed that the Abyss Demon¡¯s sight seemed to fall on him, and his heart almost stopped beating. He was extremely sure of one thing: if the Abyss Demon wanted to kill him, he could do it. Even if they were so far apart, even if he was about to enter the transfer cabin and be teleported into the instance world.


    His heart almost stopped beating. Even though he could not see even a bit of the other person¡¯s eyes and expression through the ck mask, he was absolutely certain. At this moment, this very second, the Abyss Demon was staring at him, just like he was staring at the Abyss Demon.


    Xiao Tangqiu was so anxious that he was about to suffocate¡­ However, he did not die in the next second, nor did the imaginary pain hit. The man in the ck mask just watched him enter the transfer cabin. He didn¡¯t stop him. He did not kill him either.


    Xiao Tangqiu entered the transfer cabin smoothly and the familiar darkness was before his eyes. At the same time, a familiar system sound rang in his ears¡ªhe had sessfully transported to the instance world.

 Chapter 118.1

    Chapter 118.1


    ¡°Congrattions, dear yers, for epting the [???] level task [Light God¡¯s Labyrinth]. Your mission goal is [Crack the Light God¡¯s Labyrinth], the time limit is [???] days. After the mission ispleted, you will get [???] points and special rewards, if the mission fails, you will be [???].


    ¡°Finally, dear yer, wee to the Abyss¡­¡±


    ¡­Wait a minute!


    Even if there was no time limit, even if you didn¡¯t know the points and the failure penalty, you didn¡¯t even know the difficulty level? What kind of mission was this?


    Was it a mission that was more difficult than an S-level mission or even a super S-level mission? What kind of perverse mission was this?!


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes suddenly to the sound of a harsh brake¡ª


    ¡°Are you crazy? Why did you suddenly rush to the middle of the road?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stood up silently from the ground. He looked up and immediately saw a car stop right in front of him. A man opened the door and rushed out, pointing at his nose and swearing, ¡°If you want to die, don¡¯t fucking do it in the middle of the road! What bad luck!¡±


    He looked around in disbelief, realizing that he was standing in the middle of a big crossroads, surrounded by a constant stream of cars and busy pedestrians on both sides. After such an event, some people had stopped to spectate.


    Everything was so familiar, everything was so normal¡­ This was clearly the real world!


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe that he had actually returned to the real world. But when he stood in the middle of the road and looked up, he was shocked to find a towering metal pir-like building in the middle of the city¡­ Wasn¡¯t that the sky-reaching pir in the center of the City of the Abyss?!


    No! This was not the real world!


    At some point, the light turned green. But Xiao Tangqiu continued to stand in the middle of the road nkly. The cars around him began honking their horns impatiently. At this moment, a big crack suddenly appeared under his feet!


    He reacted instantly and rolled out of the range of the cracked ground, but the car that almost hit him and its owner were not so lucky. That driver screamed and tumbled into the huge crack in the ground with his car.


    The surrounding drivers and pedestrians were shocked and began to scream. The huge crack continued to expand. In the next moment, a ck behemoth crawled out of the crack!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Earthquake?!¡±


    ¡°Godzi invaded Earth?¡±


    ¡°Ahhhh monster!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the apocalypse!¡±


    With screams all around, the ck behemoth crawled out of the groundpletely. It had a hideous and terrifying appearance, like a demon crawling out of hell&#k2026; Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt his heart sinking. Wait. This thing really was a demon!


    After crawling out of the ground, the ck monster seemed to look around for a moment, and then decisively rushed towards Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart leaped. The demon¡¯s target was actually him!


    He immediately dodged while his mind raced. What was this ce? He should be in the instance world now, but why were the surrounding people and their actions so realistic?


    And why were there demons here? And the target was him? Did it chase him all the way from the City of the Abyss? This was impossible. Even if two yers wanted to enter the same instance, they had to bind to their teammates. How could a demon chase him the entire way?


    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡±


    Although the demon could not catch up to its target, it smashed several cars with a w. The remaining people naturally screamed and fled in all directions.


    Xiao Tangqiu dodged while looking around. After seeing that many cars were escaping in the chaos, he did not hesitate to run up and jump,nding on the roof of one of the cars.


    He had to hold on to the roof of the car to avoid being thrown off by the high-speed car, but the good times didn¡¯tst long. After the demon found its target escaped, it immediately chased.


    Xiao Tangqiu never expected that he would actually have a ssic car chase scene. He clung to the roof of the racing car, but the demon behind him continued to chase relentlessly.


    Damn! It seemed that this creature was not only huge but also fast! Shouldn¡¯t it be that fatties weren¡¯t fit! Couldn¡¯t it follow the convention!


    The driver probably figured out that the demon had been chasing after him and was frightened. He suddenly started speeding up in a panic. Xiao Tangqiu had to grit his teeth and hold on to the roof, fully experiencing the ¡°rush¡±.


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly heard a familiar cell phone ringing. He didn¡¯t react at first. After the cell phone rang for a while, he suddenly realized, wait! Wasn¡¯t this his phone ringtone?


    But how was this possible? Since crossing into the world of horror games, his cell phone had never ringed again!


    Not only was there no signal in that world, but it couldn¡¯t even be turned on. He can¡¯t even remember where he left the phone¡­


    Right! Tang Mianmian seemed to have given it back to him after he was resurrected!


    At that time, he seemed to shove it into the bottom of the space tool!


    Could it be that Tang Mianmian was calling him?


    ¡­Why call at this kind of time?!


    Xiao Tangqiu was extremely conflicted. He was now clutching the roof of the car with both hands and he couldn¡¯t free a hand to pick up the phone! What could he use to answer the phone? His foot?


    Regardless, the phone was still frantically ringing. Just as he was considering letting go of one hand to answer the phone, the driving car suddenly mmed the brakes and he was almost flung out by the momentum.


    How was this driving? Couldn¡¯t you drive properly!


    He was about to swear, but when he raised his head, he saw another monster. A demon even bigger than the one before! And this demon was quite disgusting, its whole body was covered with eyeballs!


    When Xiao Tangqiu suddenly appeared in its line of sight, all the eyes on its whole body looked at Xiao Tangqiu at the same time, almost making Xiao Tangqiu wish to disappear out of disgust.


    ¡°Dududu¡­The number you dialed is temporarily unavable¡­¡±


    Not far away, Tang Mianmian hiding behind an empty car was looking down and dialing frantically. Seeing Xiao Tangqiu approaching from a distance, he was moved to tears immediately, ¡°Qiuqiu! You¡¯re still alive! That¡¯s great!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly, ¡°I couldn¡¯t wait to answer your call, so I came in person.¡±


    Tang Mianmian was originally quite moved, but when he looked up and saw another demon chasing after Xiao Tangqiu, he was so moved that he cried, ¡°It¡¯s fine if youe, but you don¡¯t have to bring a gift!¡±


    ¡°Although we are quite familiar, it¡¯s not ok toe empty-handed! Just a small gift, no need to be polite.¡± As soon as Xiao Tangqiu spoke, he flipped over from the roof of the car and pulled up Tang Mianmian to run.


    ¡°What run! Drive!¡± Tang Mianmian shouted.


    Xiao Tangqiu also shouted, ¡°I can¡¯t drive!¡±


    Tang Mianmian screamed louder, ¡°But I can drive!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­As soon as you stop, you¡¯ll be crushed!¡±


    ¡°Go! Hijack a car!¡±


    The moment Tang Mianmian looked up, he happened to see a car in front of them that was about to step on the elerator to escape. He immediately dashed up, pulled open the door, and got in with Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°Hey, who are you guys?¡± The driver was very dissatisfied seeing strangers getting in the car.


    ¡°Hurry up!¡± Xiao Tangqiu yelled, ¡°It¡¯s almost caught up!¡±


    The owner looked at the rearview mirror and saw the two monsters heading towards them. He no longer held back and stepped on the gas.


    ¡°Fuck! What kind of monsters are these!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other. Xiao Tangqiu took the lead and said, ¡°You¡­ How did you know to call?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s expression was conflicted, ¡°When I saw this ce was a bit like the real world, I looked at my mobile phone. I didn¡¯t expect that there was a signal. Then I tried to call you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. It seemed that he was not the only one who thought this ce was like the real world, ¡°Then what do you think this ce is?¡±


    ¡°Even if this ce resembles the real world, it must be in the instance world. Didn¡¯t you hear the system prompt? This is Light God¡¯s Labyrinth or something¡­¡±


    ¡°The Light God¡¯s Labyrinth?¡± Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow and pointed to the metal pir-like building in the middle of the city. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s that thing?¡±


    Tang Mianmian only just noticed the metal pir and yelled, ¡°Fuck! Isn¡¯t that the Tower of the Sky! Why is the Abyss Tower from the City of the Abyss here?¡±


    The driver waspletely confused, ¡°What is the Light God¡¯s Labyrinth? What instance? What is the City of the Abyss? What are you talking about?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other, ¡°Go and see?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡±


    So Xiao Tangqiu pointed to the metal pir in the middle of the city and said to the driver, ¡°Take us under that metal pir!¡±


    The driver looked nk, ¡°Metal pir? Where is the metal pir?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback, ¡°You don¡¯t see it? You can¡¯t see it?¡±


    ¡°See what?¡± The driver couldn¡¯t help being angry. ¡°Who are you guys, and it doesn¡¯t matter if you keep saying weird things? What¡¯s with the two monsters behind us? Why do they keep chasing us relentlessly? Are they chasing you?¡±


    ¡°Congrattions, you guessed it right, but there is no reward!¡± Tang Mianmian said grandly.


    Driver, ¡°¡­What fucking congrattions! You guys get out! They¡¯re obviously chasing you, why should I be chased too!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled faintly, ¡°Are you sure you want to stop and let us go down? As soon as you stop, the two monsters will overtake us and crush us, including your car and yourself of course.¡±


    The driver gnashed his teeth. He had to admit that Xiao Tangqiu was right. Once he slowed down and stopped, the two monsters would immediately catch up. When the time came, let alone Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, even he and his car would be destroyed.


    ¡°This morning really is filled with shit luck!¡± He could only bite the bullet and continue to step on the elerator.

 Chapter 118.2

    Chapter 118.2


    ¡°Send us beneath the metal pir¡­ Oh right, I forgot you can¡¯t see it, then you can send us under the tallest building here.¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked at the tall building next to the metal pir before turning his head to the driver to speak.


    The driver was very unconvinced, ¡°Why should I listen to your orders?¡±


    ¡°Only we can save your lives.¡± Xiao Tangqiu said calmly.


    Driver, ¡°¡­Are you people superman? The kind that specializes in fighting monsters?¡±


    ¡°No, but don¡¯t worry, we can also fight monsters. As long as you send us to the tower, we will be able to eliminate these monsters immediately.¡±


    Although they don¡¯t know what was happening in this instance, as long as they could crack the so-called Labyrinth of the Light God, they would be able to smoothly pass this instance.


    The driver gritted his teeth and started to drive the car towards the metal pir.


    Along the way, on top of the two demons chasing them, they encountered countless demons. These demons wreaked havoc throughout the city like monsters, with screams and explosions everywhere.


    ¡°¡­It is exactly the same as the City of the Abyss,¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help sighing, ¡°I don¡¯t know where Shen Yuan and the others are now.¡±


    ¡°They must be in this instance right now, but we don¡¯t know where,¡± Tang Mianmian also sighed, ¡°Unfortunately, we don¡¯t know their phone numbers so we can¡¯t contact them at the moment. Themunicator from the City of the Abyss can¡¯t be used here either.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s tone was firm, ¡°They will definitely go to the base of the metal pir too. We will go there and wait for them.¡±


    Along the way, a steady stream of demons joined the ranks chasing their car, but the driver¡¯s driving skills were excellent, and he showed off his skills one after another on the road, and got rid of one after another. Unfortunately, the two demons from the beginning follow them doggedly. No matter how they tried to shake them off, they couldn¡¯t get rid of them.


    ¡°Those two should be stronger demons,¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned and analyzed, ¡°It seems we can¡¯t get rid of them easily.¡±


    They were getting closer and closer to the metal pir but the two demons still chased after them. If this continued, they were bound to fight the two demons.


    At this moment, another behemoth fell from the sky andnded directly in front of their car, crushing half of the road at once. The driver mmed the brakes.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s whole person felt unwell. There were wolves before them and tigers behind them. They were about to be the sandwich meat in the middle of bread!


    In the next second, the behemoth that stood in front of them suddenly fell down and disappeared in an instant¡­ Not far away, a man in a windbreaker was still holding his gun up in a shooting pose. The violent wind blew the windbreaker all around, making loud pping sounds.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart leaped and instantly blurted out, ¡°Shen Yuan!¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but yell, ¡°Fuck! You are so handsome!¡±


    Even the driver couldn¡¯t help swearing, ¡°Blindingly handsome! &#k2026;No! Wait! There are two more behind us!¡±


    As soon as his voice fell, Shen Yuan began to move.


    Shen Yuan stood still, only slightly raising the hand holding the gun. The silver gun aimed at the two behemoths and fired!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Two shots were fired in a row and the two behemoths copsed and disappeared. But Shen Yuan still had a cold look and tense brows, and even the expression in his eyes did not change at all.


    He slowly put down the silver gun in his hand and walked towards Xiao Tangqiu and their car.


    The driver couldn¡¯t wait to open the door, ¡°Hey hero! Do you want a ride?¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°¡­Hey, hey, hey! The attitude is too different!¡±


    The driver heh¡¯d, ¡°Going to the Central Building too? ¡­No, what was it¡­ the metal pir?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu and nodded, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Sit! Let¡¯s go!¡± The driver stepped on the elerator and set off again.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t wait to ask Shen Yuan, ¡°Is this the instance we are looking for?¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°We found it so easily?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Shen Yuan shook his head and exined mildly, ¡°On the forum of the City of Abyss, no one has ever mentioned this instance. No one should have been to enter this instance before, and no one even knows it exists, because it only exists in the Book of Light. Only those who have read the Book of Light know¡­¡±


    ¡°An instance that no one has ever entered before?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help taking a breath.


    ¡°This instance is called the Light God¡¯s Labyrinth. ording to the Book of Light, the Light God hid his weapon that had defeated Abyss Demon in abyrinth before his fall, the Light God¡¯s Sword. Whoever can get the Light God¡¯s Sword is who can beat the Abyss Demon¡­¡± Shen Yuan¡¯s voice was low and maic. He paused, then slowly said, ¡°No matter who you are, as long as you have the Light God¡¯s Sword, you can defeat Abyss Demon.¡±


    ¡°Fuck, so overpowered? That¡¯s simply a super plug-in!¡± Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but interject, ¡°No matter how powerful other cheat artifacts are, they can¡¯t be invincible. ording to you, whoever can get the Light God¡¯s Sword is invincible?¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was puzzled, ¡°¡­How did the Light God get defeated by the Abyss Demon? The Light God clearly has a weapon that canpletely restrain the Abyss Demon.¡±


    Shen Yuan was silent for a while, and said, ¡°It is said that they made a bet. No one knows the content of the bet. The Book of Light only says that the Light God lost this bet¡­ But the Light God still kept a final card at hand and hid the Light God¡¯s Sword in thebyrinth before he fell. As long as we find that sword, we can defeat Abyss Demon.¡±


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help but interrupt again, ¡°Is that sword really that powerful? No matter who gets the sword, they can beat the Abyss Demon? Then why hasn¡¯t the Abyss Demon destroyed the sword himself? ¡°


    ¡°Of course he wants to destroy this sword, but he can¡¯t enter thebyrinth of the Light God,¡± Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°Since the Abyss Demon can¡¯t enter thebyrinth of the Light God, he naturally can¡¯t find the sword, so how can he destroy that it?¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu had a revtion.


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to find this instance, [The Light God¡¯s Labyrinth]. As long as everyone knows its existence, everyone can enter this instance, so we could find this instance all at once,¡± Shen Yuan frowned. ¡°But the Abyss Demon obviously knows about this instance too. That¡¯s why he sent so many subordinates to chase¡­ We must rush into thebyrinth to find the sword ahead of them.¡±


    ¡°By the way, what about Xue Junli and the others?¡± Xiao Tangqiu thought of the others in the Reincarnation Team.


    ¡°They must have gone there too. Let¡¯s find them under the metal pir.¡±


    In a blink of an eye, the metal pir was close before them, but the monsters also became dense. Beneath the metal pir was an area overwhelmingly full of ck monsters.


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°They were really all here.¡±


    Shen Yuan suddenly said, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of the car. There are too many monsters there and the car can¡¯t get closer.¡±


    There were too many monsters in front and driving was already difficult. It was better to get out and fight out a bloody path.


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and smiled at the driver when he heard those words, ¡°Thank you for giving us a ride. You should go home.¡±


    The driver nodded, ¡°Then I¡¯ll stop here. You guys, good luck¡­ Defeat those monsters and save the world!¡±


    After the three of them got out of the car, the driver stepped on the gas and left.


    Tang Mianmian couldn¡¯t help asking Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Do you think that guy is also an NPC?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said lightly, ¡°So what if yes, so what if no?¡±


    Tang Mianmian chuckled, ¡°Right, now the most important thing is¡­ to kill a bloody path!¡±


    There were more and more demons surrounding them. Looking around, it was simply arge field of darkness.


    The three of them didn¡¯t speak. They picked up their weapons and attacked!


    So they fought out a bloody path. And when they killed to the point of no longer knowing time, there was a sudden sound not far away, ¡°Boss! I finally found you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and saw that it was Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli who were fighting back to back, side by side. Apparently, they had just killed out a bloody road from elsewhere.


    ¡°Captain!¡± Soon, another familiar call rang from the other side.


    Yu Fuling, Sai Lulu and Su Manluo, the three girls also broke through the monster pile while armed with weapons.


    Everyone was here.


    Sure enough, everyone gathered towards the metal pir. No matter who saw the metal pir in the instance, they would be curious why the Tongtian Pagoda was here. Was this Tongtian Pagoda the same Tongtian Pagoda of the City of the Abyss? What was the secret in the Tongtian Pagoda?


    Shen Yuan nodded to them when he found time, and his eyes darkened, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s enter thebyrinth!¡±


    ¡°Boss, is that abyrinth?¡± Duan Hongzhen asked curiously as he hit the monsters, ¡°The Light God¡¯s Labyrinth? What kind ofbyrinth is is? What¡¯s in it?¡±


    Shen Yuan quickly repeated what he had just said and finally he said coldly, ¡°We have to crack the Light God¡¯s Labyrinth and get the Light God¡¯s Sword.¡±


    ¡°Crack? Do you want to find the exit of thebyrinth?¡± Xue Junli frowned slightly.


    Shen Yuan looked coldly and said, ¡°Not only to find the exit of thebyrinth but also to find the entrance of thebyrinth.¡±


    ¡°What? Isn¡¯t that the entrance to thebyrinth?¡± Tang Mianmian was surprised.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s voice was low, ¡°How can it be that simple? This is thebyrinth of the Light God¡­ even the Abyss Demon can¡¯t find the entrance to thebyrinth.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt his heart sink. Their task was to crack thebyrinth. It didn¡¯t matter if they could find the exit of thebyrinth, they even had to find the entrance of thebyrinth by themselves!


    No one knew what exactly was waiting for them in thebyrinth. It really deserved to be an instance that the system didn¡¯t even know the difficulty level of¡­ And most importantly, even if they found the entrance of thebyrinth ahead, wouldn¡¯t the Abyss Demon follow right behind them?


    This was really shooting fish in the barrel¡­ but they were the hapless fish.

 Chapter 119.1

    Chapter 119.1


    After a while, they cut a trail of blood to the base of the metal pir.


    This was the first time that Xiao Tangqiu had observed the Tongtian Pagoda so closely. The pagoda towered into the clouds, far beyond his vision. The metal walls were covered in lines of mysterious script with glimmers of light flowing through them.


    He was awed and couldn¡¯t help but think, if there really was a Tower of Babel that could lead to the heavens in this world, then it probably looked like this!


    ¡°This is the Light God¡¯s Labyrinth?¡± Tang Mianmian sighed, ¡°It¡¯s sure grand enough! If we keep climbing, will we be able to go to God¡¯s paradise?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°¡­Unfortunately, the Light God has fallen.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°I just say that you must not bet with others casually. If Zhou Yu didn¡¯t have a bet with Zhuge Liang about building 100,000 arrows in ten days, he would not have been killed by Zhuge Liang.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°He didn¡¯t die like that. But it¡¯s really not a good habit to randomly gamble. Small bets harm the emotions and big gambles harm the body.¡±


    Duan Hongzhen, ¡°¡­At this kind of time, quit joking around!¡±


    He gritted his teeth and shouted at the two of them while fighting off demon monsters, ¡°Hurry up and find the entrance to thebyrinth!¡±


    ¡°Do you think we don¡¯t want to find it? We can¡¯t find it at all!¡± Tang Mianmian also gritted his teeth, ¡°This Tongtian Pagoda has no entrance!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed. Just as Tang Mianmian said, although the pagoda was towering and impressive, they really couldn¡¯t find an entrance. They circled and found that the entire tower was a solid wall. No wonder the Abyss Demon knew where the Light God¡¯s Labyrinth was but couldn¡¯t get into it to get the Light God¡¯s Sword. Sword what sword if the entrance couldn¡¯t even be found!


    Where was the entrance?


    Where was the entrance, really?


    Xiao Tangqiu looked everywhere he could think of and worked with Tang Mianmian to find various ways to open the entrance. They even shouted slogans like ¡°open sesame¡± several times. But no matter what they did, the pagoda stayed a pagoda and the wall stayed a wall.


    ¡°Can¡¯t! Still can¡¯t open it!¡±


    After failing again and again, Xiao Tangqiu finally became discouraged.


    Tang Mianmian frowned and pondered, ¡°Maybe we need to think about it differently¡­ Is it possible that the entrance is not on the wall? Is it possible that there is an underground passage?¡±


    At this moment, Yu Fuling opened her eyes while sweating profusely, ¡°¡­I have done my best to investigate the maximum range I can detect, there are no underground passages.¡±


    The situation seemed to have reached a deadlock. At this moment, Sai Lulu suddenly said, ¡°Let me try.¡±


    Yu Fuling froze for a moment, ¡°Lulu, do you want to use the Book of Prophecy?¡±


    Sai Lulu nodded, her eyes firm, ¡°Let me try it.¡±


    Shen Yuan hmm¡¯d, ¡°We can only try at this point&#k2026;¡±


    Although divination was very illusory and uncertain, they could only try everything.


    Sai Lulu nodded, and in the next second, an ancient sheepskin book appeared in her hand. Then she closed her eyes and started her divination.


    There were more and more monsters around and now there was one lessbatant. The others could only grit their teeth and support Sai Lulu¡¯s vacancy.


    After a while, Sai Lulu suddenly opened her eyes. She spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground. The ancient sheepskin book in her hand rolled out to Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s feet.


    Xiao Tangqiu quickly picked it up while resisting a monster only to find that the Book of Prophecy was nk and there was nothing on it.


    ¡°How is it?¡± Tang Mianmian asked impatiently.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­There¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± Sai Lulu was pale and spat out a mouthful of blood and she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know why¡­ I can¡¯t divine anything¡­¡±


    Yu Fuling quickly rushed to support her, ¡°Lulu! Are you okay?¡±


    Shen Yuan frowned, ¡°Is it because it is rted to the Light God, so we can¡¯t perform divination?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed. Even Sai Lulu couldn¡¯t tell, what else could they do now?


    Sai Lulu suddenly wiped the blood from her mouth and said, ¡°I have another way.¡±


    ¡°What way?¡± Shen Yuan frowned and asked.


    Yu Fuling seemed to understand something and yelled in disbelief, ¡°Are you going to use your life to divine? No! You¡¯re crazy!¡±


    ¡°Use life to divine? What do you mean?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked reflexively.


    Sai Lulu exined quietly, ¡°Using life as a medium to divine, that is, life is used as the price. Once the divination is sessful, life expectancy will be collected ording to the results, ranging from one year of life to ten years¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly understood what she meant! Once the divination seeded, her lifespan would be shortened. Judging from the fact that Sai Lulu couldn¡¯t predict anything earlier, she might lose her life if she seeded this time!


    ¡°Are you crazy? Do you want to die?¡± Duan Hongzhen frowned and scolded.


    ¡°This is the only way left,¡± Sai Lulu¡¯s gaze was firm, ¡°If we can¡¯t find the entrance to thebyrinth, we won¡¯t be able to crack thebyrinth, let alone get the Light God¡¯s Sword¡­ Are we not here to defeat the Abyss Demon and end it all?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and said, ¡°If you die, even if everything ends, you won¡¯t see anything.¡±


    Sai Lulu shook her head, ¡°A long time ago, I used divination on myself¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked, ¡°And then?¡±


    Sai Lulu smiled and whispered, ¡°The Book of Prophecy said¡­ I will definitely live to the end. My strength has always been mediocre in our Reincarnation Team, but I have always escaped death, so this time I will definitely also survive.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was not convinced, ¡°There is such a thing in the Book of Prophecy?¡±


    ¡°I will definitely survive. No matter what, I will never take my life lightly,¡± Sai Lulu smiled lightly. ¡°I still want to go back to the real world. I also want to go to aic convention with Fuling-jie.¡±


    Yu Fuling spoke haltingly, ¡°Lulu¡­¡±


    ¡°Have you forgotten? Didn¡¯t we say that we are going to go to wear lolita dresses to a convention together?¡± Sai Lulu blinked at Yu Fuling, her delicate face filled with confidence, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t die so easily here!¡±


    Shen Yuan said, ¡°Don¡¯t force it.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t. Although I am using this skill for the first time, I know my limits and if it risks my life, I will stop immediately.¡± Sai Lulu quickly recovered her serious expression and she looked at everyone very solemnly. ¡°Let me just try, alright?¡±


    Shen Yuan was silent for a few seconds, then nodded, ¡°¡­Don¡¯t force it, if it really doesn¡¯t work, we can still find other ways.¡±


    Sai Lulu nodded.


    Soon, everyone formed a circle with their backs to Sai Lulu who stood in the middle. They fought and resisted the surging monsters in order to gain time and space for Sai Lulu¡¯s divination.


    Sai Lulu stood in the middle of the group, closed her eyes and started her divination, but this time the divination was obviously different from thest one. After closing her eyes and reciting the spell for a while, she suddenly took out a dagger and struck a deep stroke on her wrist.


    Blood flowed from the wound and dripped onto the Book of Prophecy on the ground.


    As more and more blood dripped, the Book of Prophecy gradually floated up and slowly floated above the crowd. It was originally only the blood Sai Lulu dripped onto the Book of Prophecy, but after the Book of Prophecy floated up, it began to actively absorb her blood.


    Sai Lulu¡¯s face gradually paled, but there were still no words in the Book of Prophecy. Xiao Tangqiu held off the monsters while observing Sai Lulu¡¯s divination from the outside. Seeing that Sai Lulu¡¯s face became paler and paler, he shouted with urgency, ¡°Are you OK?¡±


    Sai Lulu gritted her teeth and shouted, ¡°I¡¯m fine! You guys continue!¡±


    As Sai Lulu lost more and more blood, her appearance began to change. Her ck hair began to turn white and her skin gradually became no longer smooth and fair.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked, ¡°Stop! It¡¯s starting to absorb your lifespan!¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t stop! I must continue! Don¡¯t interrupt me!¡± Sai Lulu shouted.


    Yu Fuling turned her head and saw Sai Lulu¡¯s gray hair, and immediately shouted, ¡°We can¡¯t continue! Stop it!¡±


    Sai Lulu insisted, ¡°Don¡¯t stop! We will seed soon! Just a little bit more¡­¡±


    As soon as she spoke, everyone realized that her voice had also begun to age.


    In just a few seconds, Sai Lulu had be an old woman with gray hair and rough skin, but the Book of Prophecy was still a wordless book.


    ¡°Lulu! Stop it!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯te over! Soon¡­ we can¡­ seed¡­¡±


    Yu Fuling didn¡¯t care about Sai Lulu¡¯s attempts to stop them anymore, turned around and ran towards Sai Lulu, but it was toote. When she got to Sai Lulu, Sai Lulu was very old and she caught Sai Lulu with trembling hands.


    Sai Lulu¡¯s body had be a shriveled skeleton and her vitality had apparently dried uppletely. The Book of Prophecy suddenly fell to the ground and turned into an ordinary book.


    ¡°Lulu! Lulu! Sai Lulu!¡± Yu Fuling called out Sai Lulu¡¯s name, but Sai Lulu couldn¡¯t hear her anymore. She closed her eyes, only her lips were slightly moving.


    Yu Fuling trembled and put her ear to Sai Lulu¡¯s lips, but couldn¡¯t hear anything. The next second, something rolled out of Sai Lulu¡¯s withered hands.


    At this moment, Sai Lulu¡¯s corpse turned into powder and disappeared into smoke and ashes.


    Yu Fuling stretched out her hands weakly, but couldn¡¯t grab onto anything.


    She could only pick up the thing that had fallen with both trembling hands.

 Chapter 119.2

    Chapter 119.2


    It was an old brass key.


    Everyone fell into a long silence. After a while, Yu Fuling bent down and picked up the Book of Prophecy that had be an ordinary book, and slowly said, ¡°¡­This should be the key to the entrance to thebyrinth, let¡¯s go in.¡±


    No one spoke, Sai Lulu¡¯s death was too sudden and too peaceful.


    They could only offer silence and intensified the killing of monsters as their condolences and tribute to Sai Lulu.


    In this way, everyone in the Reincarnation Team stepped on the corpses of the monster and rushed towards the Tongtian Pagoda in silence.


    This time they sessfully broke into the Tongtian Pagoda. The moment they approached the Pagoda, a door suddenly appeared on the metal wall with a pitch ckness behind it.


    Although no one knew what was in the darkness, everyone rushed into it without hesitation.


    Xiao Tangqiu stepped into the darkness and ran for a long time with gritted teeth, but the surroundings remained dark. The metal pir he saw from the outside was absolutely not this wide, but he also knew that this kind of supernaturally made space could not be exined by logic.


    ¡°This is¡­ the Light God¡¯s Labyrinth?¡± They didn¡¯t know how long they walked in the dark, Tang Mianmian finally couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Where is thebyrinth? Is this not thebyrinth yet?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pondered, ¡°Maybe thisbyrinth is not the same concept of abyrinth we usually think of.¡±


    Tang Mianmian murmured, ¡°Regardless¡­ there must be an exit, right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, ¡°Maybe we need do something to find the exit.¡±


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s voice fell, a long spiraling stone staircase suddenly appeared in front of them. The stone staircase spiraled straight up with no end in sight. No matter, he brightened up, ¡°This is it!¡±


    ¡°Can we go up the stairs and find thebyrinth exit?¡± Tang Mianmian murmured.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I have to give it a try.¡±


    The Reincarnation Team members did not show much grief on the surface since Sai Lulu¡¯s death, having long be ¡°numb¡± to the death of their teammates. But Xiao Tangqiu could still keenly feel that everyone¡¯s mood was a little low. Even he himself, despite not having spent much time with Sai Lulu, couldn¡¯t help but mourn as a fox does for a rabbit¡¯s death. In this world of life and death, death would fall on hispanions, and sooner orter it would also fall on him. Maybe the next one to die would be oneself.


    Everyone quickly and silently climbed up the spiraling stone staircase. The end of the spiraling stone staircase couldn¡¯t be seen. It was so despairingly high that it seemed impossible to climb up, but no one said this.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s physical fitness was much better than before, but after running for a few hours, he couldn¡¯t help bing out of breath. Especially when he looked up and saw that there were still unending stone steps in front of him, he felt even worse. His body was exhausted, but his heart was more exhausted.


    ¡°Stop and rest for a while.¡± At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly broke the silence. He nced at Xiao Tangqiu and said lightly, ¡°Everyone is tired. Rest for ten minutes before continuing to climb.¡±


    Although it was better to climb all the way to the end in one go, anyone with eyes could see that they couldn¡¯t climb to the end in one go. There was even doubt whether they could climb to the end at all. Everyone nodded and sat cross-legged on the floor.


    Xiao Tangqiu sat on the edge of the spiraling stone staircase and looked down. They didn¡¯t know how long they had climbed. Not only could they not see the end, but they could no longer see the beginning when they looked down. The lowest spiral staircase waspletely immersed in the darkness, like a bottomless abyss.


    Could they really reach the end? Although everyone thought of the same question, no one said it aloud.


    After the ten-minute rest time, everyone continued to climb up silently. But at this moment, an abnormality suddenly emerged.


    A monster suddenly leaped out from the darkness below and quickly jumped behind everyone, blocking their way of retreat.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°¡­Ouroboros!¡±


    He never expected that the first to catch up to them was Ouroboros!


    This giant ck snake coiled around and hovered on the spiraling stone staircase. Its huge body filled the entire staircase and blocked all their escape routes. Even if they wanted to retreat, they couldn¡¯t.


    Those who came were not good, and those who were good would note. It seemed that the giant ck snake was the first wave of pursuing soldiers. Duan Hongzhen did not hesitate to call out, ¡°You go first! I¡¯ll stay behind!¡±


    Xue Junli suddenly turned around, ¡°I¡¯ll stay with you!¡±


    Duan Hongzhen scoffed, ¡°I don¡¯t need you! You go too!¡±


    Xue Junli said coldly, ¡°That¡¯s not up to you.¡±


    Yu Fuling yelled, ¡°Duan Hongzhen! Xue Junli!¡±


    Xue Junli decisively said, ¡°The two of us will stay behind, you guys continue!¡±


    Yu Fuling gritted her teeth and struggled with red eyes for a while, and then she strangely calmed down, ¡°Captain, let¡¯s go on!¡±


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at both Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli, then turned his head and continued to climb up.


    Su Manluo also followed in silence.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back at Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli for thest time before sighing and turning to catch up. Although Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli were very strong, even Shen Yuan couldn¡¯t deal with Ouroboros. Everyone knew the fate of the two of them after staying behind.


    The backs of Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli gradually disappeared from the view of the remaining five people, but the spiraling stone staircase in front of them was still long and endless.


    Xiao Tangqiu got more and more tired. Eventually, he couldn¡¯t hear other sounds anymore, only his own gasps, as if his soul was about to be torn out of his body.


    At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly stopped and turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I¡¯ll carry you on my back.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gasped and said, ¡°Don¡¯t joke¡­ I can still climb!¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°I¡¯ll carry you on my back.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Yu Fuling and Su Manluo, and insisted, ¡°Neither of the two girls are tired, how can I be tired as a big man? Don¡¯t kid! Keep climbing!¡±


    Shen Yuan sighed, ¡°Alright, keep climbing!¡±


    There was still an endless spiraling stone staircase ahead. Xiao Tangqiu climbedpletely relying on willpower. He almost climbed into confusion and trance, and just as he was about to faint¡ª


    The end of the spiral stone staircase finally appeared!


    He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes and even thought it was an illusion that appeared before he was about to die.


    Tang Mianmian also murmured, ¡°Is this an illusion before death? Or a mirage?¡±


    Su Manluo was very excited, ¡°It¡¯s not an illusion! It¡¯s not a mirage! We finally reached the end of the stone stairs! There must be the exit of thebyrinth!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was a little bit incredulous, ¡°Labyrinth exit?¡±


    The exit of thebyrinth? Did they finally find the exit of thebyrinth?


    He was in a daze, he didn¡¯t know for a moment whether it was too easy for them to find the exit of thebyrinth.


    Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes darkened, ¡°Let¡¯s go up!¡±


    Although they had seen the dawn of hope, everyone¡¯s mood was not rxed. Even Yu Fuling¡¯s expression was a little dazed. They obviously didn¡¯t dare to believe that after so many sacrifices, they could find the exit so simply.


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°Quick! Let¡¯s go up! If we can find the Light God¡¯s Sword, maybe there is still time to go back and save Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli!¡±


    It had been several hours of climbing since Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli parted from the team. Comparing their strength to Ouroboros, it seemed impossible for them to have held it off for so long. But since Ouroboros had not caught up, they couldn¡¯t be sure that Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli were really dead, maybe there was still a glimmer of hope to save them.


    Yu Fuling suddenly cheered up, ¡°Yes! We can go back to save Duan Hongzhen and Xue Junli! Hurry up! Let¡¯s find the Light God¡¯s Sword!¡± The Light God¡¯s Sword could easily defeat even Abyss Demon, let alone Ouroboros!


    Everyone regained their spirits and ran towards the end of the staircase.


    Xiao Tangqiu was already exhausted, but now he was full of strength and rushed up. Finally, they came to the end of the spiraling stone staircase.


    A stone gate appeared at the end of the spiraling stone staircase, and behind the stone gate was a giant hall.


    Everyone walked into the hall cautiously and no one dared to speak. The hall was empty except for an ancient stone throne in the center.


    The stone throne had obviously experienced the scouring and weathering of thousands of years. When Xiao Tangqiu approached, an ancient aura that seemed toe from tens of thousands of years ago rushed over him. For a moment, he even felt as if he was transported to a time tens of thousands of years ago.


    A sword was inserted in the center of the stone throne. This was a stone sword, an ancient stone sword that was old enough to be disyed in a museum. It was so old and worn away by time that not only did it have no killing power, it probably couldn¡¯t even cut tofu.


    Xiao Tangqiu was a little disappointed, ¡°¡­This is the Light God¡¯s Sword?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t ept that after they sacrificed so many teammates, the legendary sword that could subdue the Abyss Demon they found was a beyond-ordinary stone sword.


    Not only was it not surrounded by dazzling light, but there was also no sharp de that could cut iron like mud. Even the de was too rusted to cut anything. Could such a shabby and unremarkable ancient stone sword really help them defeat the Abyss Demon?


    The other¡¯s expressions were also not very good, obviously thinking the same.


    Tang Mianmian quicklyforted them and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it always like this in movies? Most divine magic weapons all look very inconspicuous. What¡¯s the term, reverting forms! Just wait for us to pull the sword out. After that, you will be able to start a massacre immediately! Come! Let¡¯s pull out the Light God¡¯s Sword and then go and beat the shit out of the Abyss Demon!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu regained his spirit, ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go draw the sword!¡±


    No matter what, try it first.


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s go up and try one by one. Who will go first?¡±


    Shen Yuan stared closely at the stone sword inserted in the stone throne, his eyes dark, ¡°¡­I¡¯ll go first.¡±


    Shen Yuan walked towards the stone throne. Everyone was engrossed in watching his movements, but at this moment, Yu Fuling suddenly yelled, ¡°Captain, be careful!¡±


    She charged towards Shen Yuan and blocked behind him. At the same time, a sharp ck thorn pierced through the air and into her body.


    TN: Sorry for the long wait, myptop died and then I had shipping issues when trying to get a new one @[email protected] I¡¯ll post a makeup chapterter this week.

 Chapter 119.3

    Chapter 119.3


    ¡°Yu Fuling!¡± Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian yelled at the same time, but it was toote. The moment Yu Fuling was pierced by the ck thorn, a giant hole appeared in her body and it quickly began to melt and disappear¡­


    In less than a second, Yu Fuling was gone.


    Shen Yuan turned around, toote to even see Yu Fuling¡¯sst moment.


    ¡°¡­Su Manluo?¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked at the person who attacked Yu Fuling in disbelief, ¡°You¡­you are not Su Manluo?!¡±


    Maybe it was because Su Manluo was the first veteran yer he met in the instance, but he never doubted Su Manluo. Even Shen Yuan didn¡¯t feel anything wrong!


    Su Manluo smiled lightly and her face suddenly began to melt. Her skin instantly turned into liquid dripping to the ground, and she finally revealed her true face.


    Not surprisingly, it was Lily Marlene.


    ¡°It¡¯s you again¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°Why is it you again? What do you want!¡±


    Lily Marlene smiled, ¡°Of course it¡¯s the sword behind you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill go down his back. It turned out that the Abyss Demon¡¯s people had been lurking beside them from the beginning, and he never even doubted it. Obviously, there were so many suspicious points, like how could Su Manluo appear so coincidentally at that time right by them. And he never doubted¡­


    ¡°What about the real Su Manluo? Is she dead?¡±


    Lily Marlene smiled and did not answer Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s question, ¡°You are about to die, do you have time to care about others?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°Who said we will definitely die? Not necessarily!¡±


    Lily Marlene looked at Xiao Tangqiu with pity, ¡°You¡­ can¡¯t even defeat me, so who are you trying to beat?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to pull out his crossbow but Tang Mianmian suddenly rushed up, ¡°Qiuqiu! Hurry and pull the sword with Shen Yuan! I will stop this witch!¡±


    ¡°You?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback, ¡°You n to¡­¡±


    As soon as Tang Mianmian¡¯s voice fell, he transformed into Lily Marlene and charged at the real Lily Marlene!


    Two Lily Marlenes!


    Xiao Tangqiu reacted instantly, right! This is Tang Mianmian¡¯s special skill! But he remembered that Tang Mianmian¡¯s special skill couldn¡¯tst very long¡­ He must pull out the stone sword before Tang Mianmian¡¯s special skill ended!


    ¡°Jiayou! Hold on for me!¡± Xiao Tangqiu yelled at Tang Mianmian, then turned and sprinted towards Shen Yuan.


    Shen Yuan stretched out his hands and pulled on the sword without hesitation, but after a while, he released his grip and shook his head, ¡°Can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t? Can¡¯t pull it out?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe it, ¡°Even you can¡¯t pull it out?¡±


    Shen Yuan was the most powerful person among them. If even Shen Yuan couldn¡¯t draw the sword, then it was even more impossible for the rest of them to draw the sword!


    Shen Yuan gritted his teeth and tried again. He used all his strength and blue veins popped out on his forehead, but the stone sword remained motionless.


    ¡°How is this possible? It can¡¯t be!¡± Xiao Tangqiu murmured. If even Shen Yuan couldn¡¯t pull it out, who else could pull out this sword?


    Shen Yuan closed his eyes, seeming to use the magic power flowing in his body. But after a moment, he began to show an expression of pain and struggle, as if he had fallen into some terrifying illusion.


    Xiao Tangqiu shouted Shen Yuan¡¯s name but Shen Yuan couldn¡¯t seem to hear anything. His eyes were closed in pain, his face was pale, and he was covered in cold sweat.


    ¡°Shen Yuan!¡± Xiao Tangqiu quickly pushed Shen Yuan away. Shen Yuan finally released his grip on the stone sword. He knelt down on one leg, panting heavily.


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°Let me try!¡±


    Without waiting for Shen Yuan to catch his breath, he rushed forward, grabbed the stone sword, and tried his best to pull it out.


    It was not until now that Xiao Tangqiu finally understood how Shen Yuan had pulled on the sword for a long time but did not move. This stone sword felt like it grew out of the stone throne. Not only could it not be pulled, but it would even pull people down.


    He gritted his teeth and pulled it with all of his strength for a long time. But all his efforts were like throwing a mudball into the ocean, washed away and gone without any impact.


    He pulled on the sword while looking towards Tang Mianmian with difficulty. At this time, although Tang Mianmian relied on his special skill to turn into Lily Marlene and temporarily possessed the strong power Lily Marlene had, his use of Lily Marlene¡¯s power was obviously not as with ease as Lily Marlene herself. Soon, he was beaten by the other and retreated with wounds.


    The worst thing was that Tang Mianmian¡¯s special skill could only be used three times, each timesting only one minute. Tang Mianmian had used up the skill two times in a blink of an eye, and now it was already thest time. Although it still maintained Lily Marlene¡¯s appearance, Tang Mianmian¡¯s situation was much more abysmal. On top of a broken arm, he also had a giant hole in his abdomen. Normal people would have died long ago after suffering such a serious injury. He himself didn¡¯t know what perseverance he had to persist until now.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t bear to watch anymore, and at this moment, thest of Tang Mianmian¡¯s special skill ended. He turned back to his original appearance and copsed to the ground.


    The opposite Lily Marlene was unscathed. She looked at Tang Mianmian condescendingly, her eyes full of pity, ¡°It¡¯s a pity¡­ But even if you be me entirely, you can¡¯t beat me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu realized, ¡°No¡­ don¡¯t!¡±


    He instinctively wanted to loosen the hands gripping the stone sword and rush over to save Tang Mianmian, but for some reason, suddenly he couldn¡¯t let go. The stone sword seemed to be stuck tightly to his hands, unable to be parted from him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡±


    Lily Marlene walked to Tang Mianmian, grabbed Tang Mianmian¡¯s neck with one hand and lifted him up. Tang Mianmian was like a rag doll, all in tatters, without even thest bit of strength to struggle.


    She turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu who was pulling the sword, and said quietly, ¡°Even if you draw the sword now¡­ it¡¯s toote for anything.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu desperately tried to make his hands let go, but the stone sword stuck firmly to them. Not only could he not release his hands, he couldn¡¯t even move, just like a bug stuck on a pitcher nt.


    Lily Marlene sighed, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that no one can pull this sword out, and it looks like you can¡¯t either.¡±


    Her hands began to slowly use strength. Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t even struggle before his head dropped and he was gone.


    She threw Tang Mianmian¡¯s body aside, and then slowly walked towards Xiao Tangqiu.


    One step, two steps¡­


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at Tang Mianmian¡¯s corpse nkly. His mind was empty and his eyes were bloodshot. Tang Mianmian was his only friend in the real world and his best friend after crossing into this horror game world¡­ After Tang Mianmian died, it¡¯s his turn next, right?


    Once he died this time, he would probably never be resurrected.


    But so what? Either way, everyone was going to die¡­


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt a sharp pain.


    It was an unprecedented pain, pain that resounded in his soul.


    He closed his eyes subconsciously¡­ Was it finally his turn?


    Death finally fell on his head.


    In other words, death finally officially fell on his head again?


    Xiao Tangqiu felt his consciousness float up, his soul seemed to float up and down in a void, there was darkness everywhere, chaos everywhere, nothingness everywhere. In the entire universe, only he existed, only he was real¡­


    ¡­


    ¡°Qiuqiu!¡±


    ¡°Qiuqiu!¡±


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    This again, this again.


    Tang Mianmian was calling him again¡­ Honestly, this guy was so noisy.


    ¡­Wait, no, wasn¡¯t Tang Mianmian dead?


    Was it just a dream just now?


    Was the instance over?


    Did they return to the City of the Abyss?


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes with difficulty, he subconsciously looked for Tang Mianmian but he met Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes.


    Shen Yuan?


    He frowned slightly, ¡°Shen Yuan? What happened¡­ Where¡¯s Tang Mianmian?¡±


    Shen Yuan raised his brows and showed a puzzled look, ¡°Shen Yuan? Who is Shen Yuan?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around, now is not the time,¡± Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and desperately looked for Tang Mianmian, ¡°Where is Tang Mianmian? Where is Tang Mianmian?!¡±


    The doubt in Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes deepened, ¡°Tang Mianmian? Who is Tang Mianmian?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth abruptly, ¡°¡­I said don¡¯t joke around! This is not the time to make jokes! Shen Yuan you¡­¡±


    ¡°Shen Yuan?¡± Shen Yuan raised his eyebrows, pointed at his own nose with a finger, ¡°Are you talking about me? But I¡¯m not Shen Yuan.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback for a moment then he blurted out, ¡°If you are not Shen Yuan, who else can you be?¡±


    Shen Yuan raised his eyebrows, his eyes filled with doubts, ¡°Qiuqiu, did you sleep yourself stupid? Did you even forget my name?


    ¡°¡­I am Meng Xinghe.


    ¡°Meng. Xing. He.¡±


    T/N: dundundun


    Any guesses on what¡¯s going on? There¡¯s no prize for guessing right but I¡¯d love to hear what you guys think is going on.

 Chapter 120

    Chapter 120


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes were wide, ¡°¡­Meng Xinghe? You say you are Meng Xinghe? Stop kidding¡­ Aren¡¯t you Shen Yuan?¡± Shen Yuan denied that he was Meng Xinghe repeatedly before, but now this time, why would he suddenly admit it?


    He suddenly became excited, ¡°Did you regain your memory? Do you remember what happened before you came to the City of the Abyss? You regained your memory, right!¡± That¡¯s right! Now that Shen Yuan had remembered that he was seriously injured by the Abyss Demon and had his memory erased because he saw how to defeat Abyss Demon in the previous main mission, then he must have also remembered the memories he had lost before!


    Xiao Tangqiu was very excited, but Shen Yuan¡¯s reaction while facing him poured cold water on him, ¡°Regain memory? What are you talking about? I have never lost my memory, why do I want to regain any memory?¡±


    Shen Yuan frowned, his eyes filled with confusion. It didn¡¯t seem to be fake at all.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart sank, he grabbed Shen Yuan by the cor and eagerly asked, ¡°You said you are Meng Xinghe? How old are you?¡±


    Shen Yuan¡­ No, he called himself Meng Xinghe. This person who looked exactly the same as Shen Yuan said, ¡°Of course twenty-five years old. Xiao Tangqiu, are you still asleep? We¡¯re the same age, you are twenty-five years old, of course I am also twenty-five years old.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blurted out, ¡°Impossible! Meng Xinghe is obviously only eighteen years old¡­ He was eighteen years old when¡­¡± The Meng Xinghe in his memory had stayed forever in the year when he was eighteen years old. How could he possibly grow up with him until twenty-five years old?


    ¡°Do you have a fever?¡± Meng Xinghe frowned, and reached out to touch Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s forehead, ¡°Did you burn your brain? What nonsense are you talking about! How can I be only eighteen years old? Are you only eighteen years old? Or do you mean that you crossed time in your sleep?¡±


    ¡°Of course I am twenty-five years old, but¡­ but you are not!¡± Xiao Tangqiu stared at Meng Xinghe nkly. For a moment he didn¡¯t know what to say, so he could only confirm repeatedly, ¡°You really are Meng Xinghe? Are you really twenty-five years old?¡±


    After Meng Xinghe touched Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s forehead, he touched his own forehead with a look of confusion, ¡°I don¡¯t have a fever, so why are you talking nonsense, or do you have dementia?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu grabbed Meng Xinghe¡¯s hand and continued to ask, ¡°What about the City of the Abyss? Do you remember the City of the Abyss?¡±


    ¡°What is the City of the Abyss?¡± Meng Xinghe frowned slightly. ¡°Is it a theme park? Or a video game city? Why is this name so chuuni?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was thunderstruck. He subconsciously took a step back and asked in disbelief, ¡°You forgot the City of the Abyss¡­ Then you forgot everything else? Have you forgotten everything we have experienced? ¡±


    ¡°Other things? What else?¡± Meng Xinghe continued to look puzzled. ¡°Everything we experienced together? Of course I remember. Since graduating from university, we have been working as game streamers for the past few years. Today, we are going to have a real-life meetup with other streamers¡­¡±


    Having said that, he suddenly looked down at the watch on his wrist, ¡°Shoot! We¡¯re going to bete soon! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked dumbfounded, ¡°Wait a minute¡­ After graduating from university? We graduated from university together?¡±


    ¡°Of course, if we didn¡¯t graduate from university together, did you repeat a grade or did I repeat it? What silly things are you talking about!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Meng Xinghe in disbelief and opened his mouth for a long time before asking, ¡°¡­We were admitted to the same university together?¡±


    Meng Xinghe nodded, ¡°What about it?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to ask, ¡°The same major?¡±


    Meng Xinghe nced at Xiao Tangqiu and nodded.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Was it even the same ss?¡±


    Meng Xinghe nodded.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°&#k2026;and the same dormitory?¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°You brat, why are you pretending that you only know these things today?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gave a bitter smile, of course he only knew these things today! The Meng Xinghe in his memory had passed away in a car ident seven years ago. How could it be possible to go to university with him? Let alone go to university together, even he himself did not go to university!


    Since Meng Xinghe¡¯s death, he was devastated and decadent for several years, never going to university at all! Meng Xinghe said he went? It must be a university in a dream!


    But¡­


    If Meng Xinghe had not died in a car ident, they would indeed be admitted to the same university, apply for the same major, go to the same ss, and live in the same dormitory. He and Meng Xinghe had been like conjoined babies since childhood after all. No matter what they did, everything had to be done together. Whether it¡¯s the primary school entrance examination, the junior high school entrance examination, or even the high school entrance examination, they always went to the same school, and he believed that if they went to university, it would be the same.


    Thinking of this, Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°We really got admitted to the same university? Which university?¡±


    Meng Xinghe nodded, ¡°Uni A.¡±


    ¡°Uni A? I remember you used to¡­ Didn¡¯t you have good grades before? Wasn¡¯t your goal Uni B?¡± Xiao Tangqiu remembered that Meng Xinghe¡¯s academic performance was very good that year, probably because he inherited his mother¡¯s high IQ. Even if he didn¡¯t spend a lot of time studying, he had always maintained excellent results.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but continue to say, ¡°In contrast, my grades were just so-so. We obviously didn¡¯t study hard and often escaped studying to y games at inte cafes at night. Why were your grades so good while mine wasn¡¯t? How can there be such a big gap between people?¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows and smiled, ¡°It¡¯s good that you know this. It seems that you are still a little aware in your heart.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tilted his head and asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go to Uni B, but took the entrance exam to Uni A with me?¡±


    Meng Xinghe said indifferently, ¡°You brat¡­ you got a bargain and still want more? You were obviously the one who knelt down and begged me to take Uni A with you, so I had to give up Uni B and join you in Uni A.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help rolling his eyes, ¡°Bullshit!¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled and rubbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s head, ¡°Alright, it was me who didn¡¯t want to be separated from you, so I filled ording to your wishes when filling in the application. Are you satisfied?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a long time. This was like something that Meng Xinghe really would do. Obviously, he could test into a better school, but he gave up in order to go to university with him¡­ If Meng Xinghe didn¡¯t have a car ident, they would take the university entrance exam together and may really be admitted to the same university.


    He was silent for a few seconds before pretending to ask casually, ¡°I remember seven years ago, during your birthday, didn¡¯t we run away from home¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°Oh, which time are you talking about?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart beat violently, ¡°I remember right after we bought a cake, suddenly a car ran into us¡­ and you pushed me away¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe nodded, ¡°Yes, that did happen.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart beats wildly, ¡°Then what?¡±


    ¡°Then?¡± Meng Xinghe raised an eyebrow. ¡°Then I was injured and was taken to the hospital by ambnce. Our n to run away from home failed.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. He stared at Meng Xinghe nkly, ¡°Our n to run away from home failed? That¡¯s it?¡± Didn¡¯t Meng Xinghe die in the car ident? He didn¡¯t shut himself down because of this? Everything after that¡­ didn¡¯t happen?


    ¡°Or else? I was injured in a car ident, did you still expect us to still run away from home?¡± Meng Xinghe poked Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s cheek with his finger. ¡°You were crying and begging me not to die, saying that you¡¯re willing to do anything if I survived. But not long after I was discharged from the hospital, you acted like a big lord again. Are you a goldfish? Seven seconds of memory!¡±


    ¡°Actually, goldfish have more than seven seconds of memory¡­ but this is not the point,¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked Meng Xinghe incredulously, ¡°You didn¡¯t die in the first ce? You didn¡¯t die in that car ident?¡±


    Meng Xinghe frowned, ¡°What crazy talk is this? If I died, who¡¯s standing in front of you now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a long time before speaking with difficulty, ¡°I just had a very long nightmare¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t wait for Meng Xinghe to interrupt and just spoke starting from the point of divergence during the car ident. He desperately calmed himself down and carefully observed Meng Xinghe¡¯s expression, trying to find anything wrong in Meng Xinghe¡¯s reactions.


    But he didn¡¯t see anything. Meng Xinghe¡¯s expression was very normal, and he even raised his eyebrows with interest, ¡°So you just had a nightmare and dreamed that I had died in the car ident, and that¡¯s why you were so surprised when you woke up?¡±


    ¡°To be precise, I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s a nightmare, or if now is,¡± Xiao Tangqiu stared at Meng Xinghe¡¯s eyes tensely. ¡°Are you really a real person, not a figment in my dream?¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, and then he suddenlyughed, ¡°Do you think it¡¯s your nightmare right now? I¡¯m not dead, you¡¯re not autistic, we went to university together, and we both have a career we¡¯re passionate about together. Are you sure this is a nightmare? How can there be such a good nightmare?¡±


    He suddenly took a step forward and strongly pinched Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face.


    Xiao Tangqiu covered his face and took a step back, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Does it hurt?¡± Meng Xinghe smiled softly, ¡°Would it hurt in a dream?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, ¡°¡­Perhaps this is an extremely realistic dream. It¡¯s not impossible in the instance world.¡±


    ¡°Sure, as long as you¡¯re happy,¡± Meng Xinghe smiled and did not continue to refute, ¡°but I have to remind you that we¡¯ll bete to the meetup soon¡­ No matter what, let¡¯s head out first.¡±


    Meetup? Speaking of, Meng Xinghe just mentioned this meetup seemed to be meeting with other game streamers they knew?


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something and quickly asked Meng Xinghe, ¡°Other streamers we know? Is there a Tang Mianmian?¡±


    Meng Xinghe asked, ¡°Who is Tang Mianmian?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his mouth, and his mind shed, he suddenly changed his words, ¡°No, not Tang Mianmian, it¡¯s CottonCandy! Among other streamers we know¡­ is there one called CottonCandy?¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°CottonCandy? Your best friend?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart thudded, there really was a Tang Mianmian!


    He couldn¡¯t wait to ask, ¡°Is heing?¡±


    Meng Xinghe nodded, ¡°Of course.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu jumped up instantly, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Meng Xinghe, ¡°Go where?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t hide his excitement, ¡°Of course it¡¯s to go to the meetup!¡±

 Chapter 121.1

    Chapter 121.1


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°When did you meet your online friends behind my back? You even know their name?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked andughed dryly, ¡°We exchanged names online before. Alright, don¡¯t waste time, aren¡¯t we going to bete?¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a few steps and suddenly discovered that theyout of this room looked familiar. He turned and looked around, ¡°¡­What is this ce? Why does it look familiar?¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled helplessly, ¡°Are you still out of it? This is the house we rented.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around again, this was indeed the house he rented, the furniture was all arranged by him previously. Even thezy sofa in the bedroom was ced in its original position. But the difference from before was that a lot of things came in pairs in this room. For example, there was an extra desk next to his original desk, and a desktopputer was ced on each of the desks. He could even imagine he and Meng Xinghe sitting in front of these two desktops together, ying games together.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but fall into a trance. If Meng Xinghe hadn¡¯t had a car ident, maybe he and Meng Xinghe would really be living this kind of life now. They yed games or live streamed games together every day. They could not only y the games they liked to y every day, but also be able to earn money with a career they enjoyed. It was a perfect life.


    ¡°The two of us rent a ce together? Then why not buy a ce?¡± He couldn¡¯t help turning his head to ask Meng Xinghe.


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°We are preparing to buy a ce. We originally nned to go to see the ce this weekend. You are really a forgetful noble.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re about to buy a ce? Together?¡± Xiao Tangqiu pointed to Meng Xinghe and then pointed to himself, ¡°The two of us will buy a ce together?¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you? Didn¡¯t we agree to buy a ce together right next to each other?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­Oh I see. That scared me.¡± He thought he and Meng Xinghe were going to buy a ce together¡­ If that was the case, then he had to be a little suspicious of the rtionship between him and Meng Xinghe.


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows as if he didn¡¯t understand why Xiao Tangqiu was ¡°scared¡±.


    Xiao Tangqiu murmured, ¡°So the current situation is¡­ We rented a ce together after graduating from college and are nning to buy ces together now?¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°No, no problem.¡±


    Not only was there no problem, but ording to his and Meng Xinghe¡¯s characters and rtionship, this kind of life development was simply too natural¡­ If Meng Xinghe hadn¡¯t had a car ident back then, then their life trajectory should indeed be like this.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed. But that was what made him feel all the more unreal.


    ¡°&#k2026;Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go to the meetup.¡±


    After leaving the living room, Xiao Tangqiu became more and more sure that this was the house he rented before he traveled into the horror game world. It was exactly the same everywhere, basically a copy, except for an extra set of things here and there such as an extra chair in front of the dining table and an extra pillow on the sofa.


    Meng Xinghe looked very familiar with everything in the house, expertly opening the hidden shoe closet for his shoes, then found the key to the door in one of the empty shoe boxes inside the closet.


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at Meng Xinghe¡¯s actions and spoke after a while, ¡°How did you know that I hid the keys in the shoebox?¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t you always like to hide your keys in the shoebox? This way, you can get it when you go to change your shoes.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Meng Xinghe and said nothing.


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°Are you really half-asleep?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, but still didn¡¯t speak.


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯re really going to bete if we don¡¯t head out.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly asked, ¡°Have we gotten driver¡¯s licenses? Have I?¡±


    Meng Xinghe shook his head, ¡°No.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Why?¡± He originally didn¡¯t take the driver¡¯s license test because of the trauma of Meng Xinghe¡¯s car ident. If this world was a parallel world to his original world, then why did he in this world also not take the test?


    Meng Xinghe smiled and said, ¡°Why you don¡¯t want to take the test, don¡¯t you know yourself?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°Why?¡±


    Meng Xinghe, ¡°You¡¯re toozy to take the test.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­¡± The reason was really unassable.


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you take the test?¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to take the test, I¡¯ll apany you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips and said nothing in the end.


    After they left their rented house, Xiao Tangqiu took advantage of Meng Xinghe calling for a taxi on the side of the road to look around. Sure enough, everything here was the same as before he transmigrated. He almost thought he had really crossed back.


    But only almost.


    Although he wished this was true, what was false was false, and no matter how realistic it was, it would never be real.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, he didn¡¯t know if the Tang Mianmian in this world was real, but he couldn¡¯t find any other way to break this game, so he had to go and see the Tang Mianmian in this world first.


    At this moment, he suddenly saw a somewhat familiar figure nearby. The man was wearing a suit and leather shoes, a tie, and a pair of gold wire sses on the bridge of his nose. His whole body was full of an elite aura.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Wasn¡¯t that Duan Hongzhen?!


    ¡°Duan Hongzhen!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously wanted to catch up, but he forgot that this was the roadside.


    A car was heading right towards him, mming on the brakes at the sudden person appearing on the road.


    The next moment, there was a screeching brake sound¡ª


    ¡°Are you crazy? Why did you suddenly rush into the road?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu almost thought he was going to be killed, but when he opened his eyes, he realized that he was pulled aside in time by Meng Xinghe and a car was stopped where he was just standing. Just then, a guy opened the car door and rushed out, pointed at his nose, and cursed.


    ¡°If you want to die, don¡¯t try to die in the middle of the road! Damn!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was dazed for a while and Meng Xinghe quickly apologized from beside him, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my friend was a little distracted just now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be distracted on the road! Courting death!¡± The driver scolded for a while before returning to the car and stepping on the elerator to drive away.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you?¡± Meng Xinghe frowned slightly. ¡°It¡¯s easy to get into trouble on the street. A car ident is no joke. The me in your nightmare, didn¡¯t he die in a car ident?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly raised his head to look at Meng Xinghe, he stared at Meng Xinghe¡¯s eyes and asked, ¡°Do you remember Duan Hongzhen?¡±


    Meng Xinghe frowned slightly, ¡°Duan Hongzhen? Who? Our former ssmate?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said word by word, ¡°Your teammate in my nightmare.¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°Oh? The people in the dream actually have names?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu continued, ¡°I saw him just now.¡±


    ¡°Did you see someone you¡¯ve seen in your dream in reality?¡± Meng Xinghe paused, ¡°So you suspect it wasn¡¯t a dream?¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a dream at all,¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked into Meng Xinghe¡¯s eyes seriously, ¡°then do you remember Xue Junli, Sai Lulu, Yu Fuling?¡±


    Meng Xinghe frowned slightly, ¡°What¡¯s going on with you today?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s tone was serious, ¡°Do you remember them?¡±


    Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°Don¡¯t remember.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while, then took the initiative to change the subject and said, ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go to the meetup.¡±


    Meng Xinghe suddenly said, ¡°The Tang Mianmian you mentioned is probably your dream teammate, right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, then said, ¡°Yes, in fact, I haven¡¯t exchanged names with CottonCandy. But I not only know that his real name is Tang Mianmian, I also know that he is a small-time actor. If I¡¯m right, does that prove that the dream is not a dream?¡±


    Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°Then you ask when the timees.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was no longer trying to convince Meng Xinghe, ¡°Let¡¯s get in the car.¡±


    Meng Xinghe had already called a Didi earlier, but the sudden events just now had them throwing it to the back of the mind, only remembering now.


    After getting on the car, the driver alsoforted them a bit, ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s fine, no one got into an ident¡­ Going to the A City Hotel, right? Alright! I¡¯ll take you there right away!¡±

 Chapter 121.2

    Chapter 121.2


    The car started and Xiao Tangqiu silently watched the scenery passing by outside the car window. Although he had watched the same scenery for more than 20 years, it felt like a lifetime ago.


    At this moment, a few girls in cosy suddenly passed by at the crossroads ahead. They wereughing and walking towards the City A gymnasium not far away. Xiao Tangqiu remembered that there wereic conventions often held in the City A gymnasium. He originally was just casually looking at the cosyers who were obviously preparing to go to theic exhibition. But then he saw two familiar figures in the group of girls ¡ª Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu!


    Hand in hand, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu blended into the group of young and beautiful cosy hobbyists without any sense of wrongness. They all wore beautiful Lolita dresses, one was gorgeous and the other was cute.


    ¡°Yu Fuling¡­ Sai Lulu¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked at Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu through the window, he quickly turned his head and shouted at the driver, ¡°Stop! Stop! Let me get off! I want to get off!¡±


    The driver was put on the spot, ¡°I can¡¯t stop here!¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was very anxious, but when he turned around, he saw that the group of cosyers had disappeared, as did Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu.


    ¡°Did you see an ¡®acquaintance¡¯ again?¡± Meng Xinghe on the side sighed, ¡°In that group of cosyers just now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu murmured, ¡°Yeah¡­ I saw them! I saw them! Almost!¡±


    ¡°Since they are dressed like that, they should go to the gymnasium to participate in the Comic Con,¡± Meng Xinghe smiled helplessly. ¡°We are just having a meal. If it¡¯s not toote after, we can go to the Comic Con to have a look.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fell silent. At this moment, he suddenly remembered something, and quickly found his phone and flipped through it.


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°What are you searching for?¡±


    ¡°Xue Junli!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was very excited, ¡°I heard that he is a genius hacker! The kind who became famous when he was young!¡± He couldn¡¯t wait to search for Xue Junli¡¯s name and he found hundreds of news at once, one of which was that Xue Junli won the championship of the International Hacking Competition.


    ¡°I knew it! Look! This is Xue Junli!¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand holding the phone trembled.


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°So? You want to use this to prove that it¡¯s not a dream? Have you ever thought that¡­ maybe you¡¯ve seen these people in the real world and that¡¯s why you saw them in your dream?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned for a moment, then calmed down¡­ Yes, ording to Meng Xinghe, it was indeed possible.


    At this moment, the number of cars in front suddenly increased, and the driver couldn¡¯t helpining, ¡°Darn it! There is a traffic jam! The bad thing about going to the city center is that there¡¯s always traffic! I was here this morning. I received four or five orders and every one of them encountered a traffic jam! This morning was really unlucky!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, vaguely feeling something.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to bete,¡± Meng Xinghe looked down at the time then raised his head and said to the driver, ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s not far from the A City Hotel, we¡¯ll walk there by ourselves, you can just turn around here.¡±


    The driver readily agreed, ¡°Alright then! See you next time!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu got out of the car with Meng Xinghe and the two started walking towards the A City Hotel. Soon, the two came to the entrance of the A City Hotel.


    ¡°We can go straight to the room, they are already waiting for us in the room.¡± Meng Xinghe smiled.


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to nod his head but suddenly saw a very familiar figure in front of him. He immediately rushed up in a couple of steps and grabbed the man¡¯s wrist, ¡°Tang Mianmian!¡±


    Tang Mianmian turned around and blurted out subconsciously, ¡°Fuck, who are you?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was very excited, ¡°You didn¡¯t die!¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°¡­What are you guys talking about? Do I know you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned for a moment, ¡°Don¡¯t you know me?¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Do I know you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°You really don¡¯t know me?¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Enough is enough! Stop it! Who the hell are you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°I¡¯m Xiao Tangqiu, no, LittleCandyBall.¡±


    ¡°LittleCandyBall? You¡¯re LittleCandyBall?¡± Tang Mianmian paused for a moment, then reacted excitedly, he pushed Xiao Tangqiu abruptly, ¡°What the! So it¡¯s you! I thought you were a crazy fan of mine just now! Making me think for so long how I¡¯d have a fan like you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re still expecting to have fans as an eternal passerby cast?¡±


    Tang Mianmian was very surprised, ¡°How do you know that I¡¯m a small actor? You can¡¯t really be my fan, right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°¡­It seems that you really don¡¯t remember me.¡±


    ¡°Remember you? Of course I remember you, didn¡¯t we just chat online yesterday?¡± Tang Mianmian was obviously confused by Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I even gave you a game rec and wanted you to live stream with me, but you refused my rmendation!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned for a moment, ¡°Game? Wait! What game?¡±


    ¡°An indie horror game, it was made by a solo Chinese, but it¡¯s still a semi-finished product¡­¡± Tang Mianmian wondered, ¡°Why do you seem to have lost your memory?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately blurted out, ¡°What game? Is it Abyss?¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°It¡¯s Abyss, but aren¡¯t you not interested?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was instantly excited, but soon he calmed down again, ¡°I want to y! I want to y now!¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey, hey, aren¡¯t we going to the meetup now?¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched.


    ¡°What meetup! Let¡¯s go to an inte cafe to y games!¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t wait to grab Tang Mianmian¡¯s hand, ¡°Go! Let¡¯s go to an inte cafe!¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°¡­Are you serious?¡±


    Meng Xinghe frowned slightly, ¡°Xiao Tangqiu? What are you doing? We still have to go to the meetup¡­¡±


    ¡°Meet what meet! I want to y games! I want to y games!¡± Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, ¡°I want to go to the Inte cafe with him to y games!¡±


    Meng Xinghe frowned, obviously disapproving of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s behavior, but he just sighed in the end, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go with you¡­I texted them that we can¡¯t go.¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked at Xiao Tangqiu, then looked at Meng Xinghe, and shrugged helplessly, ¡°Well, since you suddenly want to y that game, LittleCandyBall, let¡¯s go to the inte cafe to y the game together.¡±


    Soon, the three of them turned to the nearest Inte cafe and opened a booth.


    ¡°The dev posted the game on his personal website, let me find his personal website¡­ Found it! I¡¯ll send it to you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened the website and saw that it was the simple and in personal website he had opened before. Not only did the interface look exactly the same, but even the game download icons were in the same ce.


    He downloaded the game shortly, as before, in just 13 seconds.


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to register the game and still used his usual ¡°LittleCandyBall¡±¡­ The system did not prompt that this ID has been registered, and the registration was sessful.


    Everything was exactly the same as before, but at this moment, he suddenly realized that the game background introduction on the official website of the game seemed to be a little longer than before. He immediately focused his attention. But after reading just a few lines of the introduction, his entire body felt unwell. The beginning of the game introduction was the same as before. The protagonist who was the host of the horror game crossed into a horror game he had yed and then experienced a series of events. But the introduction of the instancester made a chill go down his back.


    The first instance, Fishing Vige Haunted House.


    The second instance, Demon Castle.


    The third instance, Death yground.


    The fourth instance, Hundred Ghost Night Parade.


    The fifth instance, The Lost Treasure.


    The sixth instance, Revival Ind.


    The seventh instance, God of Light¡¯s Labyrinth.


    Xiao Tangqiu shivered all over, weren¡¯t these the instances he experienced?


    He couldn¡¯t wait to enter the game. He saw that the protagonist had no name, so he called him Protagonist A. It was very simple and crude. At the beginning of the game, the protagonist woke up on a bus and met his buddy, Friend B.


    The Protagonist A and Friend B teamed up to escape this instance and enter the City of the Abyss.


    Later, inside the City of the Abyss, Protagonist A met Childhood Friend C, who should have died in a car ident long ago¡­ After that, he also met several of Childhood Friend C¡¯s teammates: Teammate D, Teammate E, Teammate F, and Teammate G.


    ¡°Fuck, how are you ying so fast?¡± Tang Mianmian leaned over from beside him, saw Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s quick progress, and immediately called out, ¡°Did you peek at a game guide?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hands were cold because everything in the game was what he had experienced. Once a branch option appeared, he would not hesitate to choose the one in his memory, so the progress was fast¡­ This also proved that the experiences in the game really were the exact same as his memory.


    At this moment, Meng Xinghe suddenly said, ¡°It¡¯s veryte now, should we go have dinner first?¡± Because Xiao Tangqiu wanted to y games in the inte cafe on a whim, they not only didn¡¯t eat dinner, they didn¡¯t even eat lunch.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up to the sky outside the window, only now realizing that it was already night. He had been so absorbed in ying this game he actually yed directly from noon to night¡­ His stomach suddenly growled, but he still gritted his teeth, ¡°No! I¡¯m going to keep ying! I have to know the ending!¡±


    He was about to hit the fourth instance now, and there were still three instances before the ending!


    Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°Can¡¯t youe back after dinner and continue ying?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Xiao Tangqiu insisted, ¡°I want to know the ending now!¡±


    Tang Mianmian hesitated for a while, and couldn¡¯t help but said, ¡°Actually, this game has not yet ended, and the game dev hasn¡¯t finished making it. How can there be an ending?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°I want to know the ending!¡±


    Meng Xinghe and Tang Mianmian looked at each other, sighed, and had to go along with Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to y the game and finally reached the end in the early hours of the morning. In the seventh instance, almost all the teammates of Protagonist A were killed. Not only did Teammates D, E, F, and G all got finished off, but even Friend B was dead. In the end, only Childhood Friend C was left¡­ Just as he was looking forward to the next plot point, he realized that the game ended here.


    He almost wanted to smash the keyboard in anger, ¡°Why is it stopped here?!¡±


    Tang Mianmian said quietly from beside him, ¡°Like I said, this game is not finished yet. The creator just made it up to here¡­ If you want to know the next storyline, you can only wait for the next update of the game.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was depressed and could only ask, ¡°When will the next update be?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°I don¡¯t know the creator of this game, how would I know?¡±


    ¡°¡­Creator? Right! Find the creator!¡± Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up, he pped the keyboard and stood up, ¡°I¡¯m going to find the maker of this game! Let¡¯s go! We¡¯ll find the creator of this game now!¡±


    T/N: PLEASE READ:


    2 things.


    Hey guys, like many of the other trantion projects on CG, this novel will also be password locked due to the changes brought forth by JJ¡¯s update regarding English trantions. Hopefully, it is a temporary lock but it will depend on how things y out on the official side. I currently do not n to drop the project or delete it in any way (we¡¯re so close to done!) so this is just a small bump in the road to the finish line. Thanks for sticking with me!


    Secondly! Because we¡¯re so close to the finishing line and I refuse to allow JJ space to take me down before I¡¯m done, I¡¯ll be speeding up the posting rate and doing my best to post thest arc plus all extras before February 28th. Fingers crossed my scheduling works out, especially in the face of the uncertainties brought forth by JJ.

 Chapter 122

    Chapter 122


    ¡°Game creator?¡± Tang Mianmian was taken aback for a moment, ¡°¡­Are you serious?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Of course I¡¯m serious. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°¡­Do you know the maker of this game?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I don¡¯t know, don¡¯t you know?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°Of course I don¡¯t know!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned to look at Meng Xinghe again, ¡°Then do you know?¡±


    Meng Xinghe shook his head, ¡°I am hearing about it for the first time.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Doesn¡¯t anyone know?¡±


    They as gaming hosts often streamed games made by niche individuals. For those game creators who only made games out of interest and had no money or couldn¡¯t afford to spend on marketing and advertising, it could be regarded as a free advertisement for them. With this way of connecting, many gaming hosts and individual producers were privately friends. So didn¡¯t anyone know the creator of Abyss?


    Tang Mianmian shook his head, ¡°This creator is a rookie who has just emerged, they¡¯re very mysterious. It seems like they don¡¯t even have a public social media ount.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu touched his chin, ¡°Really no one knows him? Doesn¡¯t his personal website have any personal information?¡± As he spoke, he flipped through the game dev¡¯s official website, but he found nothing. The creator themself was just as mysterious as the game.


    He continued to ponder, ¡°Can you check the IP of this creator?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°Are you a hacker?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously said, ¡°I¡¯m not, but¡­¡± Xue Junli was a hacker!


    But he suddenly paused and remembered that Xue Junli was not here.


    ¡°¡­Don¡¯t you guys know a hacker or something?¡±


    Tang Mianmian murmured, ¡°Who knows hackers so casually?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was a little discouraged but very unresigned. At this moment, Tang Mianmian nced at the time and then called out, ¡°It¡¯s toote, I¡¯m going home to sleep! I still have to join a crew tomorrow morning! It took me so much work to pass the auditionst month to get a male No. 3 with lines and a storyline. I have been running around for so many years as background characters, and I still hope to rely on this role to turn around! Don¡¯t say anymore! I need to go!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu then remembered that Tang Mianmian was forced to travel to the horror game world, and indeed just won the role of a male No. 3, he smiled, ¡°Good luck. See you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I will definitely be able to turn around with this role, no more salted fish, be popr overnight, beat the male protagonist, and soar from the ground! From then on, I will be a big star and reach the pinnacle of my life! I will wholesale hundreds of autographs for you, you take it back and sell it slowly, and you won¡¯t have to worry about eating and drinking for the rest of your life!¡±


    Tang Mianmian said a few words then waved at Xiao Tangqiu and left the Inte cafe.


    As soon as his back disappeared, Xiao Tangqiu let out a breath and slumped in his seat.


    Xiao Tangqiu originally thought that this world¡¯s Tang Mianmian might be his ally. He didn¡¯t expect it to not be so, which made him a little discouraged.


    ¡°Do you still want to stay in the inte cafe and y games?¡± asked Meng Xinghe.


    Xiao Tangqiu said casually, ¡°What? Are you also going to work tomorrow?¡±


    Meng Xinghe sighed softly, ¡°Have you forgotten? We are all streamers and don¡¯t need to go to work, but we have fixed live stream hours every day. If you don¡¯t go to bed earlier, you won¡¯t be able to make it to the streaming time tomorrow morning.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuid on the table of the inte cafe with his head on his arms and looked at Meng Xinghe, ¡°We stream together every day? Together?¡±


    Meng Xinghe nodded, ¡°Together.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tilted its head and asked, ¡°What games do you usually live stream?¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled lightly, ¡°It¡¯s usually horror games, but there¡¯s also mainstream popr games, both offline and online games too.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was in a trance, if Meng Xinghe was really alive, maybe he and Meng Xinghe would indeed be like this. When he was doing live streams by himself asionally, he couldn¡¯t help but think that if Meng Xinghe was still alive, he would probably apany him as well¡­


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly asked, ¡°What about my parents? Can they ept me as a gaming host?¡± His parents in the real world didn¡¯t actually approve of him being a streamer. Most parents wanted their children to have a stable job after all. If he hadn¡¯t been immersed in the trauma of Meng Xinghe¡¯s car ident all these years, they wouldn¡¯t have turned a blind eye. So what about his parents in this world?


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°They couldn¡¯t ept it at first, but you were very persistent, and because I was with you, they finally gave in.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean because you were with me? Do you mean that even good students like you are willing to degenerate to be a gaming host, so my parents let it go?¡± Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows. Suddenly the conversation changed, ¡°What about your mom? Your mom couldn¡¯t have allowed you to be a gaming host.¡±


    Meng Xinghe¡¯s mother was very demanding of her only son, plus she was an intellectual. No matter how you looked at it, it was impossible for Meng Xinghe to be a gaming host.


    Meng Xinghe paused for a few seconds before slowly saying, ¡°She didn¡¯t agree either, but I insisted, so she gave in.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Hey, this reason is too perfunctory¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°You haven¡¯t been home for a while. Why don¡¯t we go back to your house tomorrow morning to see your parents? They must miss you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while. Before he crossed into the horror game world, he hadn¡¯t gone home to see his parents for a long time. Plus he passed two years in the horror game world, he hadn¡¯t seen his parents in a long, long time.


    ¡°It just so happens that we are about to buy a ce, you can ask your parents to help take a look. The elders are always more experienced, letting them help navigate it will help us avoid a lot of confusion.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a long time before he suddenly said, ¡°¡­If this world is real, then it¡¯s fine, everything is just as I wish for. You didn¡¯t die in a car ident and everyone is fine. If only this world is real, I want to stay here.¡±


    Meng Xinghe paused and said, ¡°This world is real, you can stay here.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°You should at least erase my memory first, or did you think I would be so confused by such a fantasy that I once yearned for that I won¡¯t even care about the truth in my memory?¡±


    Meng Xinghe took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°I want to go to A City¡¯s cemetery.¡±


    Meng Xinghe paused, ¡°A City¡¯s cemetery? What are you doing in the cemetery?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared into Meng Xinghe¡¯s eyes, ¡°What are you afraid of?¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled and asked rhetorically, ¡°What am I afraid of?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stood up, ¡°Since you¡¯re not afraid, then take me to the cemetery.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already sote¡­¡± Meng Xinghe paused, ¡°It¡¯s not good to go to the cemetery at night, let¡¯s go tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m going now,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said without hesitation, ¡°What time is tomorrow morning?¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows as if he didn¡¯t understand the meaning of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s words, ¡°What time?¡±


    ¡°You have mentioned tomorrow morning three times just now. What time will it be tomorrow morning?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked Meng Xinghe¡¯s eyes, ¡°When will this illusion end? If I can¡¯t escape from here before this time, will I be trapped in this fantasy forever?¡±


    Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°¡­I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around and walked out of the Inte cafe, Meng Xinghe quickly caught up, ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said coldly, ¡°A City¡¯s cemetery!¡±


    But Meng Xinghe was right, it was already midnight, there were few cars on the road and it was far from the cemetery. Xiao Tangqiu tried to call a taxi while walking, but no car came.


    Although he beckoned desperately, no car stopped, and in the end there was not even a car on the street. He gritted his teeth and decided to walk over.


    Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°Let¡¯s go back, it¡¯s gettingte¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu ignored Meng Xinghe¡¯s obstruction and continued to walk in the direction of City A¡¯s cemetery.


    The cars on the road disappeared, and even the pedestrians disappeared. The big road became empty, leaving only him and Meng Xinghe.


    ¡°Tomorrow morning we will be live streaming. Did you forget that you said you were going to give gifts to fans?


    ¡°You haven¡¯t gone back to see your parents for a long time, don¡¯t you want to go home to see your parents?¡±


    ¡­


    Along the way, although Meng Xinghe asionally spoke up to persuade Xiao Tangqiu, he did not really stop him. Xiao Tangqiu was a little wary at first, but gradually rxed and continued to walk towards the cemetery wholeheartedly.


    Walking from the inte cafe in the city center to the cemetery on the outskirts of the city was indeed a very long distance. Xiao Tangqiu began to be a little faint by the end, and Meng Xinghe also stopped persuading and gradually became silent. Fortunately, he made it to the cemetery with hisst breath.


    By this time, it was almost dawn.


    Without hesitation, he walked towards the tomb that he would sweep every year. It was both unexpected and expected to see that familiar gravestone.


    ¡ªThe Grave of Meng Xinghe.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed.


    ¡­As expected.


    At this moment, Meng Xinghe, who had been silent all the time, suddenly took a step forward and sighed softly, ¡°Isn¡¯t it good to stay in this world? Everything is as you like, everything is what you yearn for¡­ Don¡¯t you like this world?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded without hesitation, ¡°I really like this world.¡±


    He paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°If it was two years ago, maybe I would have chosen to stay without hesitation¡­ But now, I am no longer like that.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye, Meng Xinghe.¡±


    Meng Xinghe¡¯s voice suddenly disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back and saw that Meng Xinghe had disappeared.


    There was no one behind him, only the first rays of the morning sun shone quietly at his feet.


    It was daybreak.

 Chapter 123.1

    Chapter 123.1


    At the moment of dawn, the illusion began to copse.


    Xiao Tangqiu watched reluctantly as everything in front of him began to disappear. Finally, he turned around, took a deep look at Meng Xinghe¡¯s gravestone, and closed his eyes.


    ¡­


    When Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes again, he saw that he had returned to thebyrinth. Opposite him was Lily Marlene, beside him was Shen Yuan¡­ and he was holding the Light God¡¯s Sword tightly in his hand.


    He actually pulled out the Light God¡¯s Sword!


    He actually pulled out the Light God¡¯s Sword in the illusion!


    Xiao Tangqiu was excited for a moment but quickly got a hold of himself. It was likely that the illusion was the Light God¡¯s Sword¡¯s test. He passed the test so he sessfully pulled out the Light God¡¯s Sword!


    At this moment, he was shocked. So why did Shen Yuan fail the test of the Light God¡¯s Sword?


    If the Light God¡¯s Sword¡¯s test was only at the level of the test he just passed, there was no way someone with a firm heart like Shen Yuan couldn¡¯t pass!


    Before he could think about this question in detail, Lily Marlene suddenlyughed, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to draw the Light God¡¯s Sword, I really admired you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Lily Marlene vigntly. Although he pulled out the Light God¡¯s Sword, he still didn¡¯t feel the great power this ancient stone sword was supposed to give him¡­ If this was just an ordinary stone sword, it would be too much of a joke!


    The corners of Lily Marlene¡¯s lips raised and she beckoned to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Give me the Light God¡¯s Sword and I¡¯ll let you go.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sneered, ¡°Who are you kidding? You killed my friend and still want me to give you the sword?¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s body was still lying nearby, not even cold yet!


    Lily Marleneughed, ¡°Oh? So do you want to be buried with your friend?¡±


    Although Xiao Tangqiu also had doubts about the Light God¡¯s Sword, he was not willing topromise with Lily Marlene at all. He alsoughed, ¡°This Light God¡¯s Sword can kill even the Abyss Demon, not to mention you? Are you not afraid?¡±


    ¡°Afraid?¡± Lily Marlene raised the corners of her lips and showed a sarcastic smile, ¡°Afraid of a mere human?¡±


    She scoffed and said, ¡°Since you don¡¯t want to take the initiative to hand over the sword, then I¡¯ll have to get it myself.¡±


    Was Lily Marleneing to snatch it?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart tensed and he was fully alert. He clenched the Light God¡¯s Sword in his hand, but he still felt that the sword was just an ordinary stone sword, it did not give him any power at all.


    Lily Marlene walked slowly towards Xiao Tangqiu, her movements were unhurried. She obviously looked down on Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu clenched the Light God¡¯s Sword in one hand, then quickly took out a crossbow and shot it towards Lily Marlene.


    Hit!


    However, before Xiao Tangqiu could breathe a sigh of relief, he was shocked to see the bolt had disappeared the moment it prated Lily Marlene and seemed to melt and be absorbed by Lily Marlene¡¯s body.


    He fired the crossbow several times in a row, but each time the crossbow bolt disappeared the moment it prated the Lily Marlene. He finally realized that his attack had no effect on Lily Marlene!


    Lily Marlene walked on red high-heeled shoes and came towards him slowly, ¡°Stop futilely resisting. Give me that sword.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Never!¡±


    Lily Marlene faintly said, ¡°You can¡¯t even defeat me, let alone that lord.¡±


    As soon as she raised her hand, Xiao Tangqiu was knocked back.


    Xiao Tangqiu flew a few meters away and fell heavily to the ground, but he still held on to the stone sword in his hand tightly and was unwilling to let go.


    At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly called to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Throw the Light God¡¯s Sword to me and I will defeat Lily Marlene!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu had always trusted Shen Yuan unconditionally. He subconsciously raised his hand to throw the stone sword over, but suddenly he put his hand down.


    Shen Yuan looked puzzled, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Throw the sword to me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips and gave Shen Yuan a deep look.


    Shen Yuan is a little anxious, ¡°Hurry up and throw the sword to me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, suddenly got up from the ground, then turned and ran in the opposite direction.


    But in a sh, he was blocked by Lily Marlene who suddenly appeared in front of him.


    The witch moved in front of Xiao Tangqiu in an instant, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up. She squinted and smiled, ¡°Where else can you escape? Give me the sword obediently.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and said, ¡°You. Are. Dreaming!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was strangled by the witch until he couldn¡¯t breathe anymore. As the air in his lungs became less and less, he was on the verge of suffocation, and patches of ckness appeared before his eyes¡­


    Was he dying? He was probably dying¡­


    But he was not reconciled, he had clearly found the Light God¡¯s Sword!


    Not reconciled¡­ He was not reconciled!


    At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly felt the Light God¡¯s Sword in his hand getting hot, so hot that he couldn¡¯t hold it, and his consciousness also regained sobriety.


    He gritted his teeth and raised the sword with thest of his will and shed!


    Because his consciousness was struggling between being awake and blurry, he had absolutely no idea what happened at this moment, and when he came back to his senses, everything was over¡ª


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes and found that the sword in his hand was stuck in Lily Marlene¡¯s heart. Lily Marlene looked at him in disbelief, never expecting all of this to happen.


    In the next second, Lily Marlene released her grip on Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s neck. Her lips moved a few times as if she was saying something.


    But before he could hear clearly, Lily Marlene disappeared in a burst of white light.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a step back in disbelief¡­ He actually killed Lily Marlene! He actually seeded in killing this witch who had entangled them in multiple instances!


    If the sword in his hand was not the legendary Light God¡¯s Sword, he would even think that it was all a scam. Demons were the best at deceiving and ying with people¡¯s hearts, after all.


    But now, he sessfully killed the witch Lily Marlene with the Light God¡¯s Sword!


    Xiao Tangqiu was excited for a moment but then became at a loss. At this moment, Shen Yuan, who was nearby, suddenly reached out to him, ¡°Give me the sword and I will kill the Abyss Demon.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at Shen Yuan for a moment before slowly asking, ¡°Why? Why should I give you the sword?¡±


    Shen Yuan said calmly, ¡°Let me end all this. The people we know have all died one by one, you shouldn¡¯t want to see anyone die again, right? Let me kill the Abyss Demon and end it all.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back at Tang Mianmian¡¯s body and fell into silence. The people he knew had died one by one. Su Manluo, Duan Hongzhen, Xue Junli, Yu Fuling, Sai Lulu, Tang Mianmian¡­ These teammates and friends who once fought alongside him all died in this instance. If someone could kill the Abyss Demon, this would all end, right?


    But was it really so?


    Shen Yuan repeated it again, ¡°Give me the sword and let me end this.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and stared into Shen Yuan¡¯s eyes, ¡°If I give you the sword, will you really end it all?¡±


    Shen Yuan said without hesitation, ¡°Of course.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Really?¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°Of course, like you, I am the one who most wants to end all this.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised the corner of his lips, ¡°Really?¡±


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Of course, give me the sword.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Do you want this sword so much?¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°With this sword, I can defeat the Abyss Demon and end it all.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu spoke as if he was speaking to himself, ¡°Do you want this sword so much? In order to get this sword, you did not hesitate to be Shen Yuan, telling us that there is an artifact that can defeat the Abyss Demon. Deceiving us toe here and use us to get this sword¡­ Do you really want this sword that much? Or do you just want to destroy the only weapon that can defeat you?¡±


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, then smiled darkly, ¡°¡­When did you find out?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly felt chilled, ¡°As I thought¡­ You turned into his appearance a long time ago and you¡¯ve been lying to us¡­¡±


    ¡°Since when? From the beginning of this instance? No, it should be from thest instance when you told us about the existence of the Light God¡¯s Sword¡­ I didn¡¯t seed in resurrecting Shen Yuan at all, right?¡±


    Shen Yuan¡­ No, it should be the Abyss Demon, smiled, changed his appearance, and returned to the appearance of the Abyss Demon.


    Wearing a ck trench coat, a ck mask, and holding a ck top hat in his ck-gloved hands.


    ¡°You are very smart¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly at the Abyss Demon before him and couldn¡¯t help feeling like he had fallen into an ice cer. It turned out that Shen Yuan had not sessfully revived from the beginning to the end. It turned out that right from the start, the resurrected Shen Yuan was the Abyss Demon¡¯s pretense!


    ¡°You turned into Shen Yuan, told us about the existence of the Light God¡¯s Sword, and tricked us into the Light God¡¯s Labyrinth just to get the Light God¡¯s Sword that is said to be able to defeat you¡­ and then destroy it, right?¡± He asked through gritted teeth.


    The Abyss Demon did not deny it, ¡°You are indeed a smart child.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the Abyss Demon, his mood extremelyplicated. Shen Yuan died because of the Abyss Demon and Tang Mianmian and the others died only because the Abyss Demon wanted to get the Light God¡¯s Sword¡­ He was extremely upset but also powerless. After all, to a great demon like the Abyss Demon, what was the life of ordinary human beings?


    The Abyss Demon smiled, ¡°Although you are a smart child, I prefer a good child. Be good,e here, give me that sword.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a step back with the sword in hand.


    The Abyss Demon repeated it unhurriedly, ¡°Be good, give me the sword.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sneered, ¡°Scram!¡±


    The Abyss Demon sighed helplessly, and then he said in a low voice, ¡°A child who is not good will be punished¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu clenched the sword even tighter and took a few steps back.


    The Abyss Demon unhurriedly took out a silver gun from the ck top hat.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes widened. It was Shen Yuan¡¯s magic weapon!


    The Abyss Demon raised his gun and aimed at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I¡¯ll give you onest chance¡­ Give me the sword.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu clenched his sword and without hesitation, turned and ran. And just as he turned around, the man behind him pulled the trigger without hesitation.


    Bang!


    The gunshot rang out and a bullet pierced through his heart!

 Chapter 123.2

    Chapter 123.2


    ¡­


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu woke up suddenly, only to realize he was lying on the table in an inte cafe.


    ¡­Wait, on a table in an inte cafe?


    Why was he in an inte cafe?


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around in a daze, suddenly meeting the eyes of the boy who woke him up. The boy had fair skin, beautiful features, and a tear mole on the corner of his left eye.


    He was in a trance for a moment, and called out unsurely, ¡°¡­Meng Xinghe?¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey, what¡¯s with that uncertain expression on your face? You don¡¯t remember who I am after you fall asleep?¡± Meng Xinghe stretched out two fair and slender fingers and pinched Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s cheek.


    ¡°Ow, that hurts!¡± Xiao Tangqiu yelled, dodging Meng Xinghe¡¯s pinch attack, ¡°Why are we in the inte cafe?¡±


    ¡°You slept yourself muddled! Did you forget that we ran away from home after school let out in the afternoon!¡± Meng Xinghe hmphed and reached out again to ruffle Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hair.


    Xiao Tangqiu ducked but his shoulder was pressed by Meng Xinghe again. He could only ept Meng Xinghe¡¯s yful attacks. He asked in a daze, ¡°Running away from home? Since school let out in the afternoon? We are running away from home right now?¡±


    Meng Xinghe pursed his lips, ¡°Yeah! We¡¯ve been in the inte cafe all night. I yed games all night, and you slept all night¡­ Speaking of, you can really sleep! The inte cafe is so loud yet you were able to fall asleep!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked dazed, ¡°I seem to have had a¡­ long, long dream¡­¡±


    ¡°A long, long dream?¡± Meng Xinghe asked curiously, ¡°What dream?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought hard, but couldn¡¯t remember anything, ¡°¡­Forgot.¡±


    ¡°Nevermind, since you can¡¯t remember it, it¡¯s probably not a good dream,¡± Meng Xinghe yawned, ¡°Our inte money is almost exhausted, let¡¯s go to a park to sleep.¡±


    ¡°Go to the park to sleep? Sleep where?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t react for a while.


    ¡°Sleep on a park bench,¡± Meng Xinghe said with a righteous look on his face.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°This is too sad¡­¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have any money!¡± Meng Xinghe pinched Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s cheek, ¡°We left right after ss, there was no time to go home and get money!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu then remembered that it was indeed the case. He touched his pocket and found only a few bucks, ¡°How much money do you have on you?¡±


    Meng Xinghe patted himself casually, ¡°A few dozen or so left. Even adding it up, it¡¯s not enough to stay in a hotel. Why don¡¯t we stay in the inte cafe all night?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head and looked at Meng Xinghe seriously, ¡°It will be your birthday in a bit, right? Why not buy a cake for your eighteenth birthday?¡±


    Meng Xinghe paused for a moment before scratching the back of his head, ¡°Should we buy a cake? I don¡¯t really care, but after buying a cake, we¡¯ll bepletely out of money.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s more important to celebrate your birthday. Let¡¯s go and buy a cake.¡±


    Meng Xingheughed, ¡°I see that you are the one who wants to eat cake! Okay, let¡¯s go! Let¡¯s go buy cake!¡±


    The two teenagers left the Inte cafe and went to the nearest cake shop only to find that it was closed. They went to several cake shops in session, and finally sessfully bought a small cake at a 24-hour convenience store, the kind for one person.


    ¡°It¡¯s so small! It¡¯s not enough for the two of us! We should¡¯ve just gotten mtang!¡± Meng Xinghe muttered while looking at the cake in his hand.


    Xiao Tangqiu grinned, ¡°But birthdays are all about eating birthday cakes!¡±


    Meng Xinghe hmphed, ¡°That¡¯s the tradition of Westerners, we don¡¯t like it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Alright, it¡¯s already bought. Let¡¯s find a ce to sit down and eat. Let¡¯s go to the park you mentioned.¡±


    Meng Xinghe nodded. ¡°It¡¯s actually pretty cool to sleep on a park bench.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was speechless, ¡°How cool is it to sleep on a park bench, only homeless people sleep on park benches¡­¡±


    He hesitated and said to Meng Xinghe, ¡°Let¡¯s go home tomorrow morning, Meng Xinghe.¡±


    Meng Xinghe suddenly paused, ¡°Go home? You¡¯re kidding!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°But we are broke now, and we can¡¯t even buy food, so how can we run away from home?¡±


    ¡°Stop joking, we agreed to run away from home so we will run away from home!¡± Meng Xinghe insisted, ¡°Are you going to betray me?¡±


    ¡°Where did I betray you? Didn¡¯t I run away from home with you for a day?¡± Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip, ¡°We don¡¯t even have a minute now, if we don¡¯t go home, do we really have to live on the streets? ¡°


    ¡°I can go find work!¡± Meng Xinghe gritted his teeth, ¡°No matter what, I won¡¯t go back!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment, ¡°Meng Xinghe, don¡¯t be like this, your mother is only trying to care about you. You¡¯re her only son¡­¡±


    ¡°She just wants to control me!¡± Meng Xinghe¡¯s eyes darkened, ¡°She wants to control me as a person, control my life, impose her subjective will on me, live vicariously through me with no regard for my personal wishes! I will never go back!¡±


    He looked at Xiao Tangqiu and asked, ¡°Are you already afraid? You want to betray me?¡±


    ¡°How can this be considered betrayal? I have kept youpany wandering outside all day! My parents must be worried about me now!¡± Xiao Tangqiu also got a little angry.


    ¡°Kept mepany all day? Company?¡± Meng Xinghe suddenlyughed, ¡°You are just pitying me. Have you never regarded me as a friend? You just feel sorry for me and pity me?¡±


    ¡°What pity or sorry!¡± Xiao Tangqiu waspletely angry, ¡°Forget it! Do whatever you want! I¡¯m going home!¡± He turned his head and started walking back.


    He was in a rush and forgot to check the surrounding street for cars first, so naturally he didn¡¯t see a caring straight for him.


    ¡°Careful!¡±


    Meng Xinghe dashed over and shoved Xiao Tangqiu away.


    After a shrill and piercing braking sound, Xiao Tangqiu was pushed out far away.


    Heid on the ground in a daze, and at this moment, countless terrifying images shed across his eyes in an instant. Destroyed cakes, bloody Meng Xinghes, icy morgues¡­


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately got up from the ground and threw himself towards Meng Xinghe, shouting, ¡°Meng Xinghe! Meng Xinghe!¡±


    The next moment, he saw the ruined cake on the ground and Meng Xinghe with blood all over his face¡­


    His heart almost stopped, and he cried and screamed, ¡°Meng Xinghe! Meng Xinghe! Don¡¯t die¡­ don¡¯t die!¡±


    At this moment, Meng Xinghe slowly opened his eyes, and his voice was very weak, ¡°Qiu¡­ Qiuqiu¡­ I¡¯m not dead yet¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu grabbed Meng Xinghe¡¯s wrist excitedly, ¡°Great! Don¡¯t die! Don¡¯t die! Ambnce¡­ Yes! Ambnce! I¡¯ll call an ambnce right now!¡±


    The driver who identally hit someone got out of the car and almost fell to his knees. After realizing that Meng Xinghe was not dead, he immediately took out his mobile phone and called an ambnce.


    ¡°Don¡¯t die¡­ don¡¯t die¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu clung to Meng Xinghe¡¯s hand tightly and murmured repeatedly, ¡°Don¡¯t die¡­ don¡¯t die¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe¡¯s voice was weak, ¡°Hey, I just had a little nosebleed, it¡¯s not that serious¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head desperately with red eyes.


    Momentster, the ambnce came.


    After hesitating for a while, Xiao Tangqiu finally found someone to borrow a phone and called both his parents and Meng Xinghe¡¯s mother to the hospital.


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s parents arrived at the hospital, they immediately scolded Xiao Tangqiu, but Meng Xinghe¡¯s motherforted Xiao Tangqiu after knowing that there was nothing serious with Meng Xinghe, ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°You brat, you¡¯re really promising! You even learned to run away from home!¡± Mother Xiao pointed at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s nose and scolded, and then came over tofort Mother Meng.


    Xiao Tangqiu was still in shock, his spirit elsewhere.


    After a while, Meng Xinghe came out. His face was covered with bandages, wrapped like a mummy. He said in a muffled voice, ¡°I just finished getting stitches. I will stay in the hospital for a day¡¯s observation and then be discharged tomorrow.¡±


    The three parents breathed a sigh of relief and Xiao Tangqiu immediately said, ¡°I¡¯ll stay with you.¡±


    ¡°You brat, you have ss tomorrow!¡± Mother Xiao red at Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°Meng Xinghe became like this to save me so I¡¯ll stay to take care of him,¡± Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°Once he¡¯s discharged from the hospital, I¡¯ll go to ss with him.¡±


    Mother Meng smiled helplessly, ¡°If my Xinghe can go to ss obediently from now on, it will be a blessing in disguise.¡±


    Mother Xiao shook her head and sighed, but Xiao Tangqiu was indeed responsible for Meng Xinghe¡¯s ident. In the end, she had to let Xiao Tangqiu go. The three parents and the perpetrator discussed all the procedures and paid the fee before leaving.


    In a blink of an eye, only Xiao Tangqiu and Meng Xinghe were left in the ward.


    Meng Xingheid on the hospital bed, bored. Looking at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s dazed expression, he couldn¡¯t help raising his eyebrows, ¡°Why are you looking like I¡¯m dead. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m still alive and well.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked uneasy, ¡°For some reason¡­ I feel like this car ident has happened once before¡­¡±

 Chapter 124

    <h4>Chapter 124</h4>


    ¡°Happened once before?¡± Meng Xinghe raised an eyebrow. ¡°Then what?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked dazed, ¡°This car ident seems to have happened before¡­ It was you who pushed me away¡­ But you died¡­


    ¡°You died¡­ I watched you die¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and sank into contemtion, but he couldn¡¯t remember any details. Other than the few shing images at the moment of the car ident, he couldn¡¯t remember anything¡­ But despite this, he couldn¡¯t help shaking all over and have a shortness of breath.


    ¡°Calm down! Calm down!¡± Meng Xinghe immediately grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s wrist, ¡°Aren¡¯t I okay now? Calm down, I¡¯m not dead, I¡¯m still living fine!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly at Meng Xinghe, his eyes gradually turning red, ¡°¡­Are you really not dead?¡±


    Meng Xinghe, ¡°Hey, hey, hey, of course I¡¯m not dead! Otherwise who is the one in front of you right now? A ghost?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu repeated, ¡°Are you really not dead? Are you really alive?¡±


    Meng Xinghe looked helpless, he grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hand and put it on his face, ¡°You feel this, it¡¯s a real body, right? Can a ghost have a real body? Does it have warmth? Can a ghost be warm?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu silently felt the temperature under his fingertips, and he gradually calmed down, ¡°You are really¡­ still alive¡­ you are really not dead¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Meng Xinghe pinched Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s cheek, ¡°How can I die so easily! I want to be a famous game developer in the future! I want to make a game that is popr all over the world! I want everyone to know my name! I won¡¯t die until I achieve that goal!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so chunni!¡± Xiao Tangqiu pped Meng Xinghe¡¯s hand away andughed mercilessly, ¡°You want to be a game developer! You obviously don¡¯t know anything about making games!¡±


    ¡°I can learn it! I¡¯ll take this major when I go to college!¡± Meng Xingheughed, ¡°I want the whole world to be addicted to the games I make! By the way, haven¡¯t you written novels before? I will adapt your novel into a game when the timees!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was about tough at Meng Xinghe as always, but after seeing the injury on Meng Xinghe¡¯s face, he couldn¡¯t help but fall in a daze again¡­ For some reason, he always felt that Meng Xinghe¡¯s original injury should be much worse than this. What the hell was going on with that bloody Meng Xinghe and the icy morgue he remembered?


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Meng Xinghe finally managed to cheer Xiao Tangqiu up, but Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mood went down in a blink of an eye and he could only scratch his head helplessly.


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I just think¡­ there really was an exact same car ident¡­ and you died¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°Maybe it was a nightmare you had?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked dazed, ¡°A nightmare I had? It¡¯s possible¡­ but I can¡¯t remember the content of that nightmare¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe touched Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s head, ¡°Maybe it was a precognitive dream. You foresaw that we would have a car ident today and I died, but now because of the butterfly effect, the car ident happened, but I survived. This is a good thing isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Precognitive dream? Butterfly effect?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned and thought.


    ¡°Or, that¡¯s what happened in a parallel world,¡± Meng Xinghe continued to conjecture, ¡°maybe in a parallel world, we also had a car ident. In that parallel world, when I pushed you away and got hit by the car, I died. And the you in that parallel world synced up with you and had a moment of telepathy, allowing you to see what happened there.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Parallel world? Telepathy?¡±


    Meng Xinghe suddenly got excited, he sat up straight, and said with a serious face, ¡°In other words, at an inflection point or a divergence in fate, a person¡¯s choices and actions will cause countless trajectories to extend in parallel. Maybe the you who witnessed my death and the real you are actually the same you, but because you made different choices and behaved differently at the time of the car ident &#k2014; for example, he was one step faster, but you were one step slower &#k2014; so fate changed in an instant, and two parallel worlds stretched out at the point in time, just like a &#k2018;Y¡¯.


    ¡°Because our current time point is not far from that fateful time point, you can still see some images of what you experienced¡­ But it should only be temporary, and after a while, the two parallel worlds should bepletely separated, and then you won¡¯t be affected in any way.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed. ¡°Is that so? If so¡­ that¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°Hey hey hey, I¡¯ve been trying so hard to mess around, why don¡¯t you give me some face! Even if you can¡¯t pretend like ¡®Wow, you¡¯re amazing¡¯, you can still say ¡®You seem to make a lot of sense¡¯!¡± Meng Xinghe crossed his arms with a look of indignation.


    Xiao Tangqiu finallyughed, ¡°Okay, okay, you are the best, I admire you to death.¡±


    ¡°¡­Anyway, you don¡¯t have to think too much. I¡¯m not just fine, but also alive and well. So what are you worried about?¡± Meng Xinghe rubbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s head.


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Mhm!¡±


    Even though he was still a little distracted, he tried to put on a look of being all right in order not to worry Meng Xinghe.


    Momentster, the two teenagers who had been terrified by the car ident all night fell asleep in a small single hospital bed.


    The next morning, the doctor confirmed that Meng Xinghe was fine and could be discharged from the hospital. But because the stitches could not be removed for the time being, he could only continue to wear bandages all over his face.


    ¡°How am I supposed to go to ss like this?¡± Meng Xinghe pouted, ¡°Should we skip ss?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°Didn¡¯t we promise our parents to properly go to ss?¡±


    Meng Xinghe looked depressed, ¡°I don¡¯t want to go to ss with bandages all over my face. I¡¯ll beughed to death!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tried toe up with ideas, ¡°Go buy a mask and wear it?¡±


    ¡°No, then let¡¯s take a day off,¡± Meng Xinghe rubbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shoulder, ¡°We all had a car ident yesterday, isn¡¯t it normal to take a day off?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, ¡°Then you go and tell my parents and your mother. If they agree, I have no problem.¡±


    Meng Xinghe nodded, ¡°Okay!¡±


    He came back a momentter and gave Xiao Tangqiu a triumphant gesture, ¡°OK! They said yes!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked suspicious, ¡°Did you really call?¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his brows, ¡°Hey, hey, don¡¯t really treat me as a delinquent. Although I¡¯m a bit of a chunni, I¡¯m not so rebellious.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu expressed doubts, ¡°You dragged me to run away from home yesterday.¡±


    Meng Xinghe scratched his head, ¡°Then you make a phone call yourself and ask if I have called?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed, ¡°Okay, I believe you, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Meng Xinghe red at him, ¡°You bastard, messing with me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, ¡°Where are we going now?¡±


    Meng Xinghe, ¡°Go to an inte cafe to y games?¡±


    As soon as Xiao Tangqiu thought of the inte cafe, he thought of the car ident yesterday, and immediately refused thrice, ¡°Not good! Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t go! Did you forget the car ident yesterday?¡±


    Meng Xinghe scratched his head, ¡°That car ident didn¡¯t happen in an inte cafe!¡±


    ¡°Either way, I don¡¯t want to see that inte cafe now!¡± Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip, ¡°Let¡¯s go home!¡±


    Meng Xinghe immediately said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to go back to my house.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Then go to my house, my parents should be working right now.¡±


    The two teenagers who skipped ss quickly came to an oldmunity with familiarity.


    Xiao Tangqiu took out the keys in his pocket and opened the door.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been to your house in a while,¡± Meng Xinghe looked around and curled his lips, ¡°I really kind of miss it.¡±


    Kind of miss it? Xiao Tangqiu also paused for some reason.


    Even though everything in the house was what he remembered, he somehow felt nostalgic, and even felt like it¡¯s a world away.


    ¡°I remember when I came to your house for the first time, I felt that your house was very beautifully decorated. Your mother has good taste and it¡¯s very warm everywhere. In contrast, my mother has no taste. My house is so cold,¡± Meng Xinghe curled his lips, ¡°¡­doesn¡¯t feel like home at all.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows, ¡°You were obviously just a little kid who didn¡¯t understand anything back then, so why are you still thinking about this?¡±


    Meng Xinghe shrugged, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s my impression fromter on. You know I have a good memory, so I remember things from a long time ago.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°I remember when you were very young, your tiny face was so serious, like a little adult. And you were very smart, so smart that you didn¡¯t seem like a child at all¡­ Why are you so lively now? You actually even learned from other rebellious teenagers to run away from home!¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°Isn¡¯t it your influence?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Trying to me me?¡±


    Meng Xinghe suddenly turned and walked towards Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s room, ¡°Let me see if you have hidden any porn books.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Hey, hey, how is that possible! Don¡¯t just enter other people¡¯s rooms!¡±


    Although he said so, he didn¡¯t really stop Meng Xinghe and even followed Meng Xinghe into the room.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s room was a typical boy¡¯s room, simple and in, but still clean and tidy.


    Meng Xinghe flipped through the bookshelf in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s room, ¡°Let me see¡­ tsk, why aren¡¯t there any porn?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°How can there be any!¡±


    Meng Xinghe suddenly paused, ¡°What is this notebook? Is it your diary?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°I seem to have forgotten¡­ what is it?¡±


    Meng Xinghe flipped open the notebook and said casually, ¡°Huh? This seems to be a novel you wrote¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also remembered a little, ¡°It seems that I wrote it for fun when I was in junior high school. I forgot what I wrote.¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°Look at the great thing I found! The dark history of your middle school period! Let me see¡­ the City of the Abyss?¡±


    ¡°And the Abyss Demon? ¡­And a witch? ¡­Wait, there is a Light God? This is too chunni! The chunni is explosive!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blushed and quickly rushed towards Meng Xinghe, reaching out to grab the notebook, ¡°Scram, scram, scram! Don¡¯t read any more!¡±


    ¡°How can I! Such an interesting thing! Let me see¡­ The world was originally a chaotic abyss and the first demon was born from the abyss. That is the creator demon, the Abyss Demon, who created the darkness at the beginning of the continent. After thousands of years of darkness, the first ray of light finally appeared in the darkness. From the Abyss Demon was born his opposite, the Light God. The Light God defeated the Abyss Demon and sealed the Abyss Demon¡­ Hahaha I¡¯m dying ofughter! This world is really something!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t read it! If you keep reading, I¡¯ll hit you!¡±


    ¡°Ten thousand yearster, the Light God was defeated by the Abyss Demon, and since then he has fallen and the darkness has struck again. But before the Light God died, he broke through the gate of time and space, trying to summon a hero from another world to defeat the Abyss Demon¡­ Ah, it was just a setting, there is no plotline yet? Wait, there is a setting for the protagonistter, let me see¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really going to hit you!¡±


    ¡°The protagonist¡¯s name is Shen Yuan? Hey, your naming is too simple! It¡¯s clearly a homonym to Abyss! Can¡¯t you spend more time thinking about a name!¡±

 Chapter 125.1

    <h4>Chapter 125.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu was already draped on Meng Xinghe in order to grab hisptop, but Meng Xinghe was taller than him with a longer reach, so he couldn¡¯t grab it even after a long time.


    He was about to reach out and w Meng Xinghe in a fit of anger, but when he heard Meng Xinghe¡¯s voice, he became stunned.


    ¡°¡­Shen Yuan?¡±


    ¡°This name is too perfunctory,¡± Meng Xinghe was stillining with a smile, ¡°Although I already knew you wouldn¡¯t be able to pick a name, your name sense is really too mediocre. And the witch¡¯s name, Lily Marlene or whatever¡­ isn¡¯t that a movie we watched together when we were in junior high?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu became dazed.


    ¡°All this Maria, Laura, Veronica, isn¡¯t this the Fassbinder trilogy? Although foreign names are hard toe by, can¡¯t youe up with a nicer name yourself? ¡­What¡¯s the matter? Why do you have such an expression of your spirit flying off somewhere on your face again?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment, then said, ¡°How do I feel like¡­ I might have met someone named Shen Yuan?¡±


    ¡°Oh? When?¡± Meng Xinghe casually flipped through Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s settings with a nonchnt expression on his face.


    ¡°It should be¡­ not long ago¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but get lost in thought, ¡°Before we¡­ it seems that a lot of things happened¡­ many, many things¡­ but I can¡¯t remember anything now¡­¡±


    ¡°Have you seen this person in reality?¡± Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked nk, ¡°In reality¡­ maybe not.¡±


    Meng Xinghe touched his chin, ¡°Is it a dream again?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°But that feeling is very real¡­ It¡¯s like I really once stood face to face with him¡­ It¡¯s so real, it¡¯s as real as the car ident yesterday¡­¡±


    When his words came to this point, he abruptly stopped talking.


    ¡°That car ident yesterday?¡± Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, the name ¡°Shen Yuan¡± was as real to him as the car ident¡ªthe one that should have killed Meng Xinghe, the one that happened in his dreams.


    He probably had a dream where Meng Xinghe died in a car ident and he met a guy named ¡°Shen Yuan¡± in the future.


    But&#k2026; was that really just a dream?


    ¡°Okay, stop thinking about it, isn¡¯t this Shen Yuan a character from your pen? It¡¯s normal if you think he¡¯s familiar, after all, you¡¯ve carefullye up with this person. Just like an author, your pen shapes the character and character settings, and even arranges his fate and whole life&#k2026;¡± Meng Xinghe smiled softly, ¡°For an author, isn¡¯t the protagonist their most familiar friend?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pondered for a moment, ¡°That seems to make sense¡­ Show me my notebook.¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled and handed the notebook to Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiu took it and looked at it. It really was his junior high school handwriting. It felt like he had met an old friend he hadn¡¯t seen for a long time.


    ¡°Shen Yuan¡­¡± He said the name softly, the image of him biting a pen to choose the main character¡¯s name back then appeared in his mind¡ª


    ¡­What should the main character be called?


    ¡­Can¡¯t be too ordinary, have depth! Have content!


    ¡­Can¡¯t think! Can¡¯te up with one!


    ¡­Forget it, just call him Shen Yuan! It is very connotative when you hear it, and it¡¯s the homonym of ¡°abyss¡±!


    ¡­Just call him Shen Yuan!


    At the same time, other images shed through his mind, but before Xiao Tangqiu could capture them, those fleeting images disappeared.


    ¡°By the way, what about the ending?¡± Meng Xinghe suddenly asked from beside him. He turned the notebook to the end, ¡°There are only settings in the whole piece. You have set seven instances, you also set the general background and NPCs of the instances, but what about the ending? Did the protagonist defeat the final boss?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought hard, ¡°The ending? I forgot¡­ but generally speaking, the protagonist will defeat the final boss, right?¡±


    ¡°You¡­ Clearly, you¡¯re just writing something casually in your notebook, but this can actually be a pit?¡± Meng Xinghe¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°There¡¯s no text, it¡¯s just a setting, you can actually have a setting story pit!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly, ¡°Generally speaking, after writing the settings, it is finished¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe rolled his eyes, then turned to look at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s bookcase, ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll see if you have written other novels, I just happen to be bored right now, I¡¯lle and read your masterpieces!¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey, do you have to look through my dark history like this?¡±


    ¡°What kind of dark history, don¡¯t you write novels just for people to read?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t I appreciate it myself?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be shy, who are we to each other?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also rolled his eyes, but didn¡¯t really stop Meng Xinghe, he picked up the notebook again and buried his head down.


    Although this was indeed something he wrote, because it was written several years ago, he had almost no impression of it. It was even unfamiliar as if he was reading something written by someone else. Only when he saw ¡°Shen Yuan¡± did he feel an unparalleled familiarity with the name as if the man had been by his side not so long ago¡­ As if the man had stood alive before him not too long ago.


    Xiao Tangqiu was in a trance again, he couldn¡¯t believe that his familiarity with ¡°Shen Yuan¡± was just because an author should be familiar with the characters he created. But at this moment, ¡°Shen Yuan¡± was really just a name and a character in his notebook.


    Meng Xinghe flipped out several notebooks that Xiao Tangqiu had used to write novels. Although most of them were just settings and outlines, there were also a few notebooks with a few lines of story written on them.


    ¡°They¡¯re all pits! Don¡¯t you have a finished novel!¡± Meng Xinghe criticized Xiao Tangqiu in an old-fashioned tone, ¡°Young man, you can¡¯t be like this! You can¡¯t be a great author like this!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said without raising his head, ¡°I don¡¯t intend to be a great author. These stories are just for fun. Anyway, I didn¡¯t intend to show them to anyone. It doesn¡¯t matter if they¡¯re pits.¡±


    Meng Xinghe looked up and was about to criticize Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s half-assed thinking, but saw that Xiao Tangqiu was still looking down at the notebook, and couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°Why are you still looking at that notebook? What are you thinking about?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while before opening his mouth, ¡°I was thinking¡­ Could Shen Yuan actually not be my character, but a real person?¡±


    Meng Xinghe looked surprised, ¡°What sleeptalk are you saying? Do you think the protagonist in your story is a real person? Do you want to be the sculptor who fell in love with your own sculpture?¡±


    ¡°But I really think the name Shen Yuan is very familiar. It¡¯s like I¡¯ve heard this name mentioned countless times, and even I, myself, have called it countless times.¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked dazed, ¡°¡­it shouldn¡¯t be just a dream, could there be such a real dream? I even remember that he has two cats¡­¡±


    ¡°One is called Apollo, the other is called Dionysus?¡± Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°The sun god and wine god in Greek mythology, the two promoting arts and the spirit of development mentioned by Nietzsche in The Birth of Tragedy¡­ I remember reading this book together when we were in junior high school.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned, ¡°Have we read this book together?¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°You also said at the time that if you wanted to get pets in the future, you would have to get two cats, one ck and one white. One called Apollo and the other Dionysus¡­ Didn¡¯t I say I have a good memory?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned again, ¡°¡­I said something like this?¡±


    ¡°You did,¡± Meng Xinghe nodded, ¡°not long ago you said that you would have a cat and a dog in the future, one named Schr?dinger and the other Pavlov, but then you turned into a cat person through and through.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­There¡¯s such a thing?¡±


    ¡°Really, you. You always talk about this and that on a whim, and it doesn¡¯t take long for you to forget it, so I have to help you remember,¡± Meng Xinghe rubbed his forehead helplessly, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for me, what would you do?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought hard for a while and finally remembered that he did say that he wanted to raise two cats. But he didn¡¯t take it seriously at the time when he mentioned it. He didn¡¯t expect Meng Xinghe to remember it for him.


    ¡°Then you can¡¯t leave me, stay by my side,¡± he stuck out his tongue at Meng Xinghe, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the same university! We can go to the samepany in the future! After graduation, we can rent a house together!¡±


    Meng Xinghe reached out and flicked Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s forehead, and said with a smile, ¡°Then you should study hard for me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pouted, ¡°I¡¯ve already worked very hard! You skip ss and y games as often as I do¡­ No! It¡¯s obviously you who always drag me out of ss to y games, why are your grades so good all the time? It¡¯s so unfair!¡±


    Meng Xinghe pointed to his forehead, and smiled wildly, ¡°This kind of IQ is probably hereditary, right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rolled his eyes and got up from the bed, ¡°I¡¯m ignoring you, I¡¯m going to the inte cafe to y games!¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say you didn¡¯t want to go to an inte cafe?¡± Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows.


    Xiao Tangqiu brought along the notebook, ¡°I suddenly remembered that I seem to have yed this game before. Can it be that after ying the game, I mistakenly remembered that I had seen the protagonist in the game in reality, and then I subconsciously inserted the character when writing¡­ I want to go to the inte cafe to find out if this game exists.¡±

 Chapter 125.2

    Chapter 125.2


    Meng Xinghe was speechless, ¡°Are you still struggling with this matter? Haven¡¯t you thought it through yet?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded and said seriously, ¡°If I can¡¯t think it through, I have to go figure it out.¡±


    Meng Xinghe shrugged, ¡°If you¡¯ve yed this game, it¡¯s impossible for me not to have an impression of it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought for a while, ¡°Maybe you weren¡¯t with me when I was ying.¡±


    Meng Xinghe shrugged, ¡°Alright, it¡¯s up to you, I¡¯ll just go with you.¡±


    The two of them came to the inte cafe and paid the money to log onto theputer.


    Xiao Tangqiu first searched for keywords on the browser, from Abyss Demon to City of the Abyss, and from City of the Abyss to Shen Yuan, but found nothing. After he searched for a long time, Meng Xinghe leaned in his head and asked, ¡°How is it? Find anything?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked puzzled, ¡°No, is there really no such game?¡±


    Meng Xinghe pointed to the webmaster brother on the side, ¡°They¡¯re well-informed and will know for sure if there is such a game. Go and ask.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded and ran to ask the webmaster. The webmaster pondered for a moment, then shook his head decisively, ¡°There is no such game! I have never seen anyone y this game.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu went back to theputer in dejection and shook his head towards Meng Xinghe.


    Meng Xinghe shrugged, ¡°I told you so. If you¡¯ve yed this game, it¡¯s impossible for me not to remember.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked very unfocused. Could it be that he had never yed this game, everything was something he saw in his dreams?


    The two yed for a while and in the evening, Xiao Tangqiu took Meng Xinghe home, ¡°We agreed that we can¡¯t worry our parents anymore, let¡¯s go back.¡±


    Meng Xinghe reluctantly finished thest round before heading home with Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°Starting from tomorrow, we have to go to school on time, and we can¡¯t skip sses, even if it¡¯s just self-study or evening cram sses,¡± Xiao Tangqiu told Meng Xinghe with a serious expression, ¡°We have to work hard to get into college. After you find a job and be financially independent, you can be free and do what you want to do. Isn¡¯t it because you have no financial stability that you don¡¯t have the confidence to be rid of your mother¡¯s nning?¡±


    Meng Xingheughed and nodded, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll listen to you.¡±


    ¡°We can go to the same university, choose the same major, and maybe live in the same dormitory. After graduation, we can go to the samepany and rent a house together,¡± Xiao Tangqiu began to look to the future, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be nice if you could get out of your mother¡¯s ns after getting into university?¡±


    Meng Xinghe snorted, ¡°My mother will definitely interfere with which school or major I choose. Thinking about it makes me sick.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°If your grades are good enough and there are enough reasons to convince her, she can¡¯tpletely ignore it. You should sit down and have a good chat.¡±


    Meng Xinghe sneered, ¡°How can it be so easy, my mother is the kind of person who wantsplete control. Even if I be a vegetable in a car ident, she will definitely control my oxygen tube. If my sleeping position is not to her liking, she would unplug me.¡±


    ¡°Your mom doesn¡¯t look that twisted¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu said, but suddenly stopped¡­ Wait a minute, a car ident?


    In a sh of lightning, countless images shed before his eyes.


    At this moment, there was a screeching brake sound¡ª


    ¡°Are you crazy? Why did you suddenly rush into the road?!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up and saw a car parked less than half a meter in front of him, and a man immediately opened the door and rushed out of the car, pointing at his nose and cursing.


    ¡°If you want to die, don¡¯t try to die in the middle of the road! Damn!¡±


    This driver¡¯s attitude was very bad, but Xiao Tangqiu stared at the person¡¯s face tightly, his gaze was too burning and the driver couldn¡¯t take it anymore, ¡°What are you looking at me for? You want to bump porcin!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a step forward and couldn¡¯t wait to ask, ¡°Have we met somewhere? Have we met somewhere? Have we met somewhere?¡±


    The man was startled and took a few steps back.


    Xiao Tangqiu followed after him again with a very excited tone, ¡°Sir, have we met somewhere? Is it in my dream? No, it can¡¯t be in my dream!¡±


    The man waspletely frightened, and quickly turned around and returned to the car, ¡°Crazy! I don¡¯t even know who you are! Stop chasing me!¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute! This gentleman! We must have met somewhere!¡± Xiao Tangqiu rushed towards the man and yelled at the man¡¯s car window, ¡°We must have met somewhere before! You don¡¯t remember me?¡±


    ¡°Crazy! Who has met you!¡±


    The man was so frightened that he quickly stepped on the elerator and the car zoomed out and disappeared in a blink of an eye.


    Xiao Tangqiu stood where he was and stared nkly as the car disappearedpletely with a dazed expression on his face.


    ¡°You were amazing just now! You actually scare the driver away! Your acting skills are too good!¡± Meng Xinghe came over, full of admiration, ¡°I almost thought you were actually crazy.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was in a trance for a few moments before turning his head to Meng Xinghe and saying, ¡°But¡­ I really think I¡¯ve seen that driver somewhere¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°Ah? This again? Have you seen that driver in your dream too?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Is it in a dream? I don¡¯t know¡­ I only know that I might have seen the driver¡­ I even remember his lines¡­ exactly the same lines¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe, ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu imitated expressionlessly, ¡°First, while opening the car door, rushing out and shouting, ¡®Are you crazy? Why did you suddenly rush into the road¡¯ and then point at my nose and yell, ¡®If you want to die, don¡¯t try to die in the middle of the road! Damn!¡¯¡­ I¡¯ve memorized the exact same lines.¡±


    Meng Xinghe¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°This only means that you have memorized what he said just now, right?¡±


    ¡°No, the moment he opened the door, I already knew what he was going to say!¡± Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip, ¡°I¡¯ve seen him before! Not in my dream! ¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°Then where have you seen him before?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and thought for a moment, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I still can¡¯t remember, but I know I must have seen him.¡±


    Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°Forget it, think about it slowly. If you can¡¯t figure it out, you won¡¯t be able to get over it, right? Let¡¯s go back first, I¡¯ll call a taxi and we¡¯ll go home.¡±


    While Xiao Tangqiu frowned in thought, Meng Xinghe raised his hand and hailed a cab.


    After getting into the car, the driver asked casually, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you two children go to school? Did you skip ss?¡±


    Meng Xinghe had a cute face, ¡°We just came back from the hospital, look at the injury on my face.¡±


    ¡°Why is the injury so serious?¡± The driver turned his head and saw the injury on Meng Xinghe¡¯s face, and was immediately surprised.


    Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°Had a car ident.¡±


    Car ident?


    Upon hearing the term, Xiao Tangqiu began to go into a daze again.


    ¡°That¡¯s really a bit unfortunate, but it¡¯s fine if you¡¯re okay,¡± the driver opened the conversation and started chatting with Meng Xinghe, ¡°Don¡¯t look at this uncle driving a car every day as if I¡¯m going for a ride, it¡¯s actually not easy to be a taxi driver! It¡¯s always easy to meet strange customers¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s just talk about this morning, I met a girl who was drunk and lost her love. I didn¡¯t want to take this order, but seeing how miserable she was, I agreed out of pity, and she vomited while crying¡­ Sigh! Can¡¯t be helped, had to get the car washed!


    ¡°Then, I just came back from washing the car and I met a couple with a child. Halfway through the drive, the child peed his pants in the car! The smell was too great! Can¡¯t be helped, I went to wash the car again!


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly said, ¡°This morning was really unlucky.¡±


    The driverughed, ¡°How do you know what I¡¯m going to say?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, ¡°Sir, have we met before?¡±


    The driver did not think Xiao Tangqiu was insane like the previous one, but asked with a smile, ¡°Have you ever been in my car before?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pondered, ¡°Maybe, and more than once.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s really fate,¡± the driverughed. ¡°It¡¯s hard for us to have repeat customers in this business.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled lightly, ¡°Then do you remember me? Do you remember where we met?¡±


    The driver smiled and asked, ¡°Why do you ask? Does it matter if I remember? What about you? Do you remember where we met?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a long time before slowly opening his mouth, ¡°I remember, I remember¡­


    ¡°¡­everything. I remember it all.¡±

 Chapter 126

    Chapter 126


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°What did you remember?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the passing scenery through the car window, his expression seeming like he was a world away. Once he remembered everything, it was indeed a world away, ¡°¡­That¡¯s not a dream, this is a dream.¡±


    Meng Xinghe scratched his head and didn¡¯t seem to understand what Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°Dream?¡±


    In that moment earlier, all the memories flooded into his mind at the same time. Xiao Tangqiu was like aputer that loaded a lot of information at once as he paused for a while before turning his head to look at Meng Xinghe.


    ¡°I¡¯ve remembered it. All I¡¯ve been through is real¡­ Who the hell are you?¡±


    Meng Xinghe blinked, ¡°Are you joking? Of course I¡¯m Meng Xinghe.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s tone was calm, ¡°No, you are not him. He is dead.¡±


    Meng Xingheughed, ¡°But I¡¯m still alive.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, ¡°But the Meng Xinghe in my memory is dead¡­ He died in that car ident.¡±


    Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows, ¡°Maybe it happened in another parallel world. In this world, I didn¡¯t die and everything is fine¡­ Isn¡¯t that good?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed and said, ¡°This again. You created such a beautiful illusion to keep me herest time. This time erasing my memory and doing it again, but my answer is the same. Maybe if it¡¯s me from two years ago, I¡¯d choose to stay, but it¡¯s not possible now.¡±


    Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°You really don¡¯t want to stay with me? Everything is fine in this world, I didn¡¯t die in a car ident, and all disasters never happened¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but fall into contemtion. Yeah, how beautiful this world was. Meng Xinghe would not die and he would not fall to the rock bottom of life because of this. Nothing bad has happened and everything stopped at the best moment¡­


    ¡°I like this world very much and I have imagined such a scene countless times. If the car ident hadn¡¯t happened, if you hadn¡¯t died, my life would have been different¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu closed his eyes and seemed to fall into nostalgia. After a while, he opened his eyes again and his gaze became extremely firm, ¡°But my answer is still the same, I won¡¯t stay in an illusory fantasy, let me go back.¡±


    Meng Xinghe was not angry, he raised his eyebrows and smiled, ¡°Then what if I tell you, if you choose to stay in this world, your life will continue to move forward and you will still have a fulfilling life trajectory. My world can give you a perfect andplete life. How about a smooth journey to the end of your life?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°This is indeed a big temptation, even if I can return to reality, I might not be able to have the perfect life you promised. But I still choose to go back. To have a perfect life in such a false world, what¡¯s the difference between that and ying games? Anyway, everything is just a string of data.¡±


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s virtual, if you take it as real, then the fake can be real, and the virtual can be real,¡± Meng Xinghe smiled slightly, ¡°If you choose to stay, I can erase your memory again, allowing you to live in this world in a state of ignorance.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed, ¡°To me, these are really tempting&#k2026; But my answer is still the same.¡±


    Meng Xinghe sighed, and seemed to be talking to himself and talking to Xiao Tangqiu at the same time, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with staying? In this world, you can live as you want, you can have everything you want, and you are the master and god of this world. No matter what kind of life you want to have, you can achieve it here¡­ Why don¡¯t you want to stay?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while, then shook his head, his eyes were very firm, ¡°Although it¡¯s good here, I prefer the sunshine in the real world, I want to go home to meet my parents, not a string of virtual data.¡± He not only wanted to leave this illusion, but he also wanted to leave the instance world and return to the real world.


    ¡°Then¡­¡± Meng Xinghe suddenlyughed, ¡°Have youpletelye out of the shadow of my death in a car ident? Have youe outpletely?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu knew that the Meng Xinghe in front of him was just a string of virtual data, just an imaginary character simted by an illusion. But for some reason, when Meng Xinghe spoke the question just now, he couldn¡¯t help but fall into a daze and treat the person in front of him as a real Meng Xinghe.


    ¡­The real Meng Xinghe?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but fall into thought.


    At some unknown point, the driver in the front row had disappeared. Meng Xinghe and he were sitting in a driverless taxi and the scenery passing by the window began to crumble a little by little, gradually turning into nothingness.


    He didn¡¯t know where the car would go or where the end of the ride was, but he still sat quietly in his seat, watching this virtual fantasy copse a little bit.


    Maybe this would be thest time he saw Meng Xinghe?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help turning his head, wanting to take another look at Meng Xinghe, only to find that Meng Xinghe had disappeared at some point.


    He was the only one left in the taxi.


    Soon, this taxi also started to blur away.


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously closed his eyes.


    When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to the Light God¡¯s Labyrinth, before the stone throne. In front of him was the Abyss Demon wearing a ck mask.


    The Abyss Demon still maintained a posture of having just shot.


    Xiao Tangqiu nced down at his chest and saw that although the bullet had pierced through his body, he was unscathed and didn¡¯t even feel any pain.


    The Abyss Demon on the opposite side didn¡¯t seem surprised either. He slowly put down the gun in his hand and smiled darkly, ¡°It seems that you have sessfully withstood the test of the Light God¡¯s Sword.¡±


    Only then did Xiao Tangqiu realize that the Light God¡¯s Sword in his hand was glowing. This ancient stone sword was exuding an extremely dazzling light¡­ Could it be that this sword blocked a blow for him?


    ¡°But it¡¯s a pity,¡± the Abyss Demon didn¡¯t worry because Xiao Tangqiu got the Light God¡¯s Sword that was said to be able to defeat him but was as calm and elegant as always, ¡°Even if you got the Light God¡¯s Sword, you can¡¯t beat me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows, ¡°Oh? Why?¡±


    The Abyss Demon smiled darkly, ¡°Because I am the God who created this world. Everything in this world is created by me, not only the Light God is created by me, but also the Light God¡¯s Sword is created by me¡­ you can¡¯t defeat me with what I created.¡±


    ¡°The Light God¡¯s Sword was created by you?¡± Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips.


    The Abyss Demon tapped his own ribs with his gloved hand through the ck trench coat, ¡°Yes, the Light God is my other side, my light side, he was born from me¡­ He took a rib from me when he was born, and that is his weapon, the Light God¡¯s Sword.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is,¡± Xiao Tangqiu understood, ¡°so the Light God¡¯s Sword is your rib?¡±


    No wonder the Light God was willing to bet with the Abyss Demon. His most powerful weapon was originally stolen from the other.


    The Abyss Demon smiled lightly, ¡°The Light God can defeat me with my rib, but he can¡¯t kill me. People other than him, even if they get the Light God¡¯s Sword, can¡¯t defeat me, let alone kill me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°This is indeed very reasonable¡­ So you used us to find the Light God¡¯s Sword not because you were afraid that we could defeat you and kill you if we got the Light God¡¯s Sword, but because you wanted to recover your lost rib?¡±


    ¡°You really are a smart kid.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked down at the Light God¡¯s Sword shining brightly in his hand, ¡°So¡­ even if I get the Light God¡¯s Sword, I can¡¯t defeat you, let alone kill you?¡±


    The Abyss Demon, ¡°Of course, I am the master of this world, I am the God of this world. In my world, no one can defeat me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was suddenly struck by a thought as the Abyss Demon slowly walked towards him, ¡°Come on, give me the Light God¡¯s Sword¡­ After so many years, it should be returned to its original owner.¡±


    Just as the Abyss Demon walked up to Xiao Tangqiu and the two were within arms reach, Xiao Tangqiu suddenlyughed, ¡°No¡­ you are not the creator of this world.¡±


    The Abyss Demon slowly said, ¡°I am the world¡¯s Creator Demon.¡±


    ¡°No, you are not,¡± Xiao Tangqiuughed, ¡°because I am!¡±


    The Abyss Demon took a step.


    ¡°You are indeed the Creator Demon. The City of the Abyss, the Light God, and the Light God¡¯s Sword are indeed created by you¡­ but all of these are created by me, including you, the Abyss Demon. You are also my creation. I am the God of this world. ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s tone was unprecedentedly emotional, but also unprecedentedly calm.


    ¡°I am the creator of this world, you are created by me, and everything you create is actually created by me¡­ Because this world is just a novel I wrote, and you are just a character written by me. After all, if I, the author, give this Light God¡¯s Sword the power to kill you, then this Light God¡¯s Sword can kill you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised the Light God¡¯s Sword without hesitation and stabbed it into the heart of the Abyss Demon.


    The Abyss Demon looked at Xiao Tangqiu through the ck mask, any expression blocked by the mask.


    His heart was pierced by the sword and stood in ce.


    Xiao Tangqiu sneered, ¡°Then¡­ let me see your true face¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t hesitate to raise his hand to take the ck mask off the Abyss Demon¡¯s face.

 Chapter 127.1

    Chapter 127.1


    Xiao Tangqiu took off the Abyss Demon¡¯s mask to reveal an extremely familiar face underneath.


    At this moment, there was a violent storm in his heart. No, it should be said¡­ there were no words of shock that could describe his mood at this moment.


    His mind went nk and he could hardly believe his eyes.


    After a terribly long silence, Xiao Tangqiu called out a name in disbelief, ¡°¡­Shen Yuan?¡±


    The face under the mask, those cold features, the tear mole under the corner of his left eye. This was clearly Shen Yuan who had been with him day and night not long ago.


    At this moment, even if a meteorite fell and hit him in the face, Xiao Tangqiu would still not be surprised. He mobilized almost every cell in his body and every neuron in his brain to barely turn his rusted brain. He squeezed out a sentence, ¡°¡­Are you Shen Yuan?¡±


    The Abyss Demon looked at Xiao Tangqiu calmly, ¡°I am the Abyss Demon.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu still had that shocked expressionless expression, ¡°You¡­¡±


    The Abyss Demon continued to speak calmly, ¡°¡­and also Shen Yuan.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a step back in disbelief, ¡°You are the Abyss Demon and also Shen Yuan?¡±


    The Abyss Demon¡­ or Shen Yuan, he still maintained the appearance of having a sword in his chest, but there was not a drop of blood flowing from the wound. As he said, the Light God¡¯s Sword had no effect on him.


    ¡°¡­Since when?¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked dazed, ¡°Or, from the beginning?¡±


    From the very beginning, since the first time he met Shen Yuan in the City of the Abyss, was that Shen Yuan already the Abyss Demon in disguise? The Shen Yuan he knew was the Abyss Demon from beginning to end?


    ¡°Does the real Shen Yuan really exist?¡±


    Shen Yuan took the ck mask with a small smile, ¡°Since the Shen Yuan you have known from the beginning is me, does this question really matter to you whether a real Shen Yuan exists or not?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fell into silence. That¡¯s right, maybe Shen Yuan did exist a long time ago, and then he died at the hands of the Abyss Demon, so the Abyss Demon became Shen Yuan. So the Shen Yuan he knew was the Abyss Demon from beginning to end, so did it matter to him if Shen Yuan existed or not?


    ¡°You¡¯ve been lying to us? ¡­You¡¯ve been lying to me?¡±


    Shen Yuan spoke as he slowly took off the ck glove on his hand, ¡°I didn¡¯t lie to you, before thest instance, I really didn¡¯t have any memory of the Abyss Demon. I always really thought I was Shen Yuan.¡±


    ¡°Thest instance?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was stunned for a moment, ¡°So after I resurrected you in thest instance, you recovered your memory?¡± It turned out that in thest instance, he really sessfully resurrected Shen Yuan. The Shen Yuan who was resurrected by him not only sessfully revived, he retrieved his lost memories and regained his memory of being the Abyss Demon.


    But, once Shen Yuan regained his memory of being the Abyss Demon, the person ¡°Shen Yuan¡± died. Because there was no more Shen Yuan in this world, only the Abyss Demon.


    ¡°But¡­ I¡¯ve seen you both appear together¡­ You were also killed by the Abyss Demon¡­¡± Even though he witnessed it with his own eyes, Xiao Tangqiu still couldn¡¯t believe that Shen Yuan was the Abyss Demon.


    Shen Yuan chuckled, ¡°Yes, I did appear with me, and I did kill myself¡­ Is there anything wrong with this? I am the master of this world, the God of this world. I can do whatever I want, however I want.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face was pale, ¡°You have been lurking around us pretending to be a human yer, for what? What is your purpose?¡± The Abyss Demon wasn¡¯t aiming for the Light God¡¯s Sword which was said to be able to defeat him, what was the purpose of the Abyss Demon disguising as an ordinary human yer and lurking around them?


    Shen Yuan said casually, ¡°Just because of boredom.¡±


    ¡°Boredom?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked Shen Yuan in disbelief, ¡°Just because of boredom?¡±


    Shen Yuan hooked his lips and smiled, ¡°You should have discovered it? The secret about your special ability card.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart turned to ash, ¡°You mean the real identity of the audience in the live stream room?¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying they¡¯re all demons? Demons like you?¡± Xiao Tangqiu took another step back.


    Shen Yuan sighed softly and said casually, ¡°My people and I are the masters of this world, we have great power and a long life. We will inevitably feel bored after living a long time, so someone proposed to y a killing game¡­¡±


    So the demons in this world summoned ordinary humans from another world and made them the prey in this killing game, the instances were hunting grounds, and the hunters were set loose demons. Their memories and powers were wiped and they became NPCs in the instance world.


    With both hunters and prey, demons could sit outside the arena and enjoy the killing games for entertainment. There were also spectating demons watching who wanted to participate themselves, but because of the rules, the only way to enter the hunting arena is by the ¡°Sacrifice Summon¡± special method.


    The special ability card that Xiao Tangqiu identally obtained was the live stream room that could connect the real world where the demons lived and the instance world. The creator of this live stream room was none other than the Abyss Demon.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked and numb, ¡°The creator of the live stream room¡­ is you?¡±


    Shen Yuan smiled, ¡°What I thought at the time was that it would be interesting if a human yer could see our chatter, wouldn¡¯t it? Maybe we can see more interesting things.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shivered and heard Shen Yuan continue, ¡°Thest holder of this special ability card was Shen Yuan.¡±


    Shen Yuan took off the glovespletely and it was only now that Xiao Tangqiu realized why this guy was wearing gloves. Perhaps it was because he had a hand kink and especially paid attention to everyone¡¯s hands, especially good-looking hands, that¡¯s why this guy wore gloves to hide his hands that look exactly like Shen Yuan?


    He asked in disbelief, ¡°Thest holder of this special skill card was Shen Yuan?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he met me in thest main mission and was killed by me,¡± Shen Yuan smiled and exined casually, ¡°At that time, I happened to be bored because of my long life, so I eliminated my own memory and became him, intending to experience a new life¡­ His special ability card has since be a card with no master,nding your hands after a few years.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu closed his eyes. The waves of reversals today overwhelmed him. He originally thought that he failed to resurrect Shen Yuan and the Abyss Demon disguised as the resurrected Shen Yuan lurked around them, trying to use them to get the Light God¡¯s Sword that was said to be able to defeat and kill himself and destroy it. But in fact, Shen Yuan had been the amnesiac Abyss Demon from the very beginning. The only thing he did when he resurrected Shen Yuan was to sessfully restore his memory as the Abyss Demon.


    Even that Light God¡¯s Sword couldn¡¯t defeat the Abyss Demon at all¡­ So what if he passed the double test of the Light God¡¯s Sword?


    ¡°¡­Are you going to kill me?¡±


    Shen Yuan¡¯s answer surprised Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Why should I kill you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu closed his eyes and asked, ¡°This killing game is over, I lost.¡±


    Shen Yuan smiled, ¡°But I don¡¯t want to kill you¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly opened his eyes, but heard Shen Yuan continue to say, ¡°I¡¯m not interested in killing you, but I¡¯m more interested in what you just said¡­¡±


    ¡°You just said¡­ you are my creator, you are the creator of this world, what does that mean?¡±


    Shen Yuan stared at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes intently with a sharp interest in his eyes, ¡°What did you mean when you said that this world is just a novel?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu broke the cracked pot, ¡°It¡¯s always been like this. Your world is just a series of settings I wrote down in my notebook when I was in junior high school. Whether it¡¯s you or Shen Yuan, it¡¯s all just characters I wrote down casually¡­ Although I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t remember any of it at all when I first entered this horror game world, now I remember it.¡±


    ¡°ording to my settings, you and Shen Yuan are not the same person at all. The rtionship between you two is clearly the rtionship between the hero and the demon boss. In the end, it should be the standard ending of the hero who sessfully defeated the demon boss. How can you, the demon boss, kill the hero before the story even started? This is ridiculous! This is OOC! I will never admit that this novel was written by me! This must be some kind of OOC fanfiction!¡±


    Shen Yuan said with a half-smile, ¡°Who said that the demon boss can¡¯t kill the hero at the beginning of the story? The type of demon boss who doesn¡¯t kill when he should kill only to be killed in the end is truly OOC. They should be expelled from the Great Demon King camp.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­That kind of demon boss is clearly the mostmon and typical demon boss! Your kind of demon boss is the OOC one! Get out of the demon circle!¡±


    Shen Yuan raised her eyebrows, ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of me killing you now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu simply sat down, ¡°I can¡¯t beat you anyway, even the Light God¡¯s Sword is useless. Kill as you like, I can¡¯t resist.¡±


    What joke was this? From the very beginning, the demon boss they had to face was a demon boss with no solution! What a farce!


    ¡°Interesting, but I don¡¯t want to kill you,¡± Shen Yuan curled his lips and smiled, ¡°Since I¡¯ve found the Light God¡¯s Sword, it¡¯s time for me to go back.¡±


    T/N: dun dun DUN

 Chapter 127.2

    Chapter 127.2


    Xiao Tangqiu sat cross-legged on the ground and he looked at the Abyss Demon in disbelief¡­ Could it be that this demon boss was even a demon boss who clocked in and out for work on time, and went straight home to sleep when it was time to get off work?


    No matter what, he should be considered a hero now, right? This great demon was too disrespectful to him as a hero!


    Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow and asked Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Do you want to know where the top of this tower is?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, ¡°Isn¡¯t it here?¡±


    Shen Yuan gave a smallugh, ¡°Of course not, this is just the top floor.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered what Sai Lulu once said ¨C ¡°Some people said that if you climb up the pir, you can reach the sky of this world, and some people said that you can find your way home by following the pir to the top. No one has ever managed to get to the top yet.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but follow up Shen Yuan¡¯s words, ¡°If you continue to go up, what kind of ce is it?¡±


    Shen Yuan curled his lips and didn¡¯t speak. The next second, the Light God¡¯s Sword that had been inserted in his chest disappeared into his body, and disappeared as if it was absorbed.


    Shen Yuan walked towards Xiao Tangqiu, then stopped in front of him and held out a hand towards Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu hesitated for a moment and put his fingertips on Shen Yuan¡¯s palm.


    The next moment, the world spun and Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was sitting on Ouroboros with Shen Yuan, and the giant ck serpent was rushing towards the wall of the tower.


    He shut his eyes again, but what came the next second was not the pain of hitting the wall, but a gust of wind.


    He cautiously opened his eyes only to see the giant ck snake crawling up along the outer wall of the Tongtian Tower.


    Xiao Tangqiu was so frightened that he didn¡¯t know what to do. He was hesitating whether to grab the giant ck snake, but he was afraid of being thrown off by the giant ck snake. The next moment, Shen Yuan hugged him from behind with a low voice, ¡°I¡¯ll hold you tight.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­¡±


    He kept thinking that such a demon boss was extremely strange, but when he thought that the demon boss was still wearing Shen Yuan¡¯s face, he didn¡¯t seem so strange anymore.


    Xiao Tangqiu sat on the giant ck snake which almost formed a right angle against the wall of the tower, but because he was held tightly by Shen Yuan behind him, he sat very stably. There was even the asional breeze around him¡­


    Looking down from the Tongtian Tower, the scenery is actually pretty good. Of course, if the one behind him was not the great demon of this world, he might be more in the mood to look at the scenery.


    After a while, Ouroboros finally climbed to the top of the tower and Xiao Tangqiu watched helplessly as the giant ck snake carried them through the top of the tower to reach another world: a city on top of the clouds.


    Looking around, this was an extremely prosperous city, a city as prosperous as any human city. But unlike a modern city with reinforced concrete buildings everywhere, this city was of a mix-and-match style, full of all kinds of strangely shaped buildings with many people on the streets that both dressed strangely and had strange appearances.


    ¡°¡­Wee to the real world.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. He was both extremely surprised and not surprised at the same time. It turned out that the top of the Tongtian Tower was not the way home, but the real world where the Abyss Demon and the demon people lived.


    It was said that no one had ever been to or seen the real world.


    This city on the clouds was actually very simr to the S-area, except that there was no metal tower in the center. Apart from theck of the tower, there was not much difference between the real world and the City of the Abyss.


    ¡°Do you think this ce is very simr to the City of the Abyss?¡± Shen Yuan seemed to see through Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s idea.


    Xiao Tangqiu froze for a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°Of course, because the City of the Abyss was built by the Light God in imitation of the real world,¡± Shen Yuan curled his lips, ¡°After the Light God left the real world, he built the City of the Abyss as an exact copy to the appearance of the real world.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±


    He looked back and discovered that the ce they had just climbed up seemed to be something like a viewing deck. The tower they had just climbed was below the edge of this viewing deck.


    ¡°The City of the Abyss and the instance world is below¡­¡± Shen Yuan exined lightly, ¡°The Light God¡¯s Labyrinth and the City of the Abyss have an ovepping point, so they both have a Tongtian Tower.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you go along the Tongtian Tower to the instance world and the City of the Abyss? Why didn¡¯t you just climb down?¡±


    Shen Yuan hooked his lips and showed a sarcastic smile, ¡°After the death of the Light God, he incarnated into the supreme will and rules of the City of the Abyss. Under the rules he made, we cannot go to the City of the Abyss and the instance world as we like.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, ¡°Then how did you sessfully invade the City of the Abyss before?¡±


    Shen Yuan said casually, ¡°We can only go to the instance world through sacrificing and summoning. The sacrificial summoning is an equivalent exchange. Once I sessfully enter the instance world, no matter how many people I want to summon, it is a piece of pie¡­ just need to expend a little magic.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°Is the City of the Abysspletely upied now? Am I the only human yer still alive?¡±


    Shen Yuanughed without saying a word. After a while, he said to Xiao Tangqiu with a chuckle, ¡°I¡¯ll show you the real world.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip, he didn¡¯t know why the Abyss Demon didn¡¯t kill him directly, but he knew no good woulde out of opposing the Abyss Demon. He might as well as cooperate and see what this big demon boss wanted to do.


    Shen Yuan patted the giant ck snake that the two of them were riding on and it began to wander forward.


    This was the first time riding a snake on a road for Xiao Tangqiu. Not to mention a snake, he had never even sat on a horse or an ox before. He couldn¡¯t help but stiffen up, especially after encountering many demons kneeling on the ground reverently along the way¡­ Although he knew very well that these demons were kneeling down to Shen Yuan who sat behind him but watching these strange-looking demons kneeling reverently, he couldn¡¯t help but freeze up.


    Shen Yuan was very calm, probably because he was used to seeing such devoted people. He epted the piety and worship of the demons calmly along the way. Xiao Tangqiu had to force himself to turn his attention to both sides of the street.


    The streets in the real world were very simr to the streets in the S zone. The streets were full of mixed-style buildings, most of them some kind of entertainment venue. There were not only pubs and casinos but also hunting grounds, which were all full of drunken demons.


    However, unlike the City of the Abyss, huge electronic screens were erected every few hundred meters on the street, showing images of the army of demons invading the City of the Abyss. Many demons wereughing and joking around in front of the screens.


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a long time before asking Shen Yuan, ¡°So that¡¯s how you watch the live stream?¡±


    Shen Yuan glossed over it, ¡°Different screens show different live stream rooms, and your live stream room was quite popr before.¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, a demon noticed Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the human anchor LittleCandyBall?¡±


    ¡°Ah! It¡¯s really him! The real person looks so much cuter!¡±


    ¡°So cute! I want to keep him! I¡¯ve never had a human as a pet!¡±


    But soon, the demons noticed that the person behind Xiao Tangqiu was Shen Yuan and immediately fell to their knees.


    Xiao Tangqiu was still feeling depressed when, suddenly, arge area of demons had already knelt down in front of him. This seemed to be the center of the city and it was particrly full of demons. He tensed up again.


    Shen Yuan was obviously used to seeing such big scenes as he calmly patted Ouroboros and let it continue to slither forward.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at arge number of demons kneeling around them, and then looked at the images of burning, killing and looting on the electronic screens, and finally couldn¡¯t help but ask Shen Yuan, ¡°Don¡¯t you like watching live streams very much? If you kill them all, aren¡¯t you going to be bored again?¡±


    Shen Yuan smiled lightly, ¡°You human yers will die, but the City of the Abyss will not die.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized, ¡°If we human yers are all dead, the City of the Abyss will continue to summon yers from other worlds?¡±


    Shen Yuan casually looked at the kneeling demons and said slowly, ¡°Although the Light God is dead, he incarnated into the supreme will of the City of the Abyss after his death ¡ª that is, the system ¡ª and has been trying to find a yer who can defeat me. Once there are no yers left in the City of the Abyss, he will summon another group of yers to the City of the Abyss again.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shivered, ¡°Then you can continue this game¡­¡±


    That¡¯s it, that¡¯s the truth of it all.


    The Light God summoned these other world yers to this world in order to screen out the brave who could defeat the Abyss Demon through the instances. Meanwhile, the Abyss Demon and its people regarded the instance world as a game, killing lives as a way to kill the boredom of their own immortality¡­


    Was this killing game a killing game between the Abyss Demon and its people, or a killing game between the Abyss Demon and the Light God?


    It turned out that in this killing game, there was no righteous side at all. Whether it was for the Abyss Demon or the Light God, the human yers were just tools to be used.


    It didn¡¯t matter if they were all dead, after all, they were just dispensable pawns.


    How on earth was he going to stop this killing game?


    How could he get back to reality?


    T/N: It¡¯s just one revtion after another, isn¡¯t it XD

 Chapter 128

    Chapter 128


    The real world was very simr to the City of the Abyss. There was also a Baobab Tree Pub in the center of the city. When Xiao Tangqiu passed by the Baobab Tree Pub in the real world, he couldn¡¯t help but feel extremelyplicated emotions.


    After a while, Ouroboros stopped in front of a pce. This pce was majestic, but the exterior was pitch ck, looking like a ck behemoth from a distance.


    ¡°This is my pce.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips and did not speak, but Shen Yuan chuckled and introduced, ¡°My pce is the tallest building in the real world, and at the top, you can overlook the whole city.¡±


    Although this pce was not as tall as the Tongtian Tower, it was indeed very tall, probably more than 100 meters high. There was indeed enough capital to be andmark building in the real world. But then again, who would dare to build their house bigger than the pce of the Great Demon King?


    Seeing that Xiao Tangqiu still didn¡¯t speak, Shen Yuan didn¡¯t mind and continued slowly, ¡°Let me show you my pce, it¡¯s much better than the Reincarnation Team¡¯s headquarters.¡±


    ¡­Was this an illusion? Xiao Tangqiu kept feeling that Shen Yuan was like a dragon proudly showing off his gold coins and treasures to the hero.


    Although he actually didn¡¯t want to visit the demon boss¡¯sir at all, he was still carried by Ouroboros into the pce of the Abyss Demon.


    This pce really deserved to be the pce of the big demon lord. Even the entrance hall¡¯s ceiling was more than a dozen meters tall, it was all very majestic.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a tour of my treasure room.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­¡± Was this dragon really trying to show off his treasure?!


    Shen Yuan patted Ouroboros beneath him, and the giant World Serpent slithered towards one of the rooms.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t meet anyone along the way, and couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously, ¡°What about your subordinates?¡±


    Shen Yuan asked slowly, ¡°Are you asking about my witch? Didn¡¯t she get killed by you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­Lily Marlene? Do you only have one subordinate?¡±


    He suddenly remembered that Shen Yuan¡¯s subordinates should still have the giant whale and the big kraken, but they had already been used by Shen Yuan as sacrifices to summon Ouroboros. No, Lily Marlene was also sacrificed.


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°And Ouroboros.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What about that giant whale and that big kraken?¡±


    Shen Yuan said slowly, ¡°Probably ran off to the instance world to y in the water together.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched, that¡¯s not right! Those two seemed to have had a very bad rtionship previously! How could they go hand in hand to the instance world to y in the water! ¡­Or should he first sigh with emotion that the benefits of being the demon lord¡¯s subordinates were good and that they could be resurrected infinitely?


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have any other ones besides Lily Marlene? The humanoid kind?¡± Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but continue to ask, except for Lily Marlene, the others were all pets! If a demon boss only had one witch, it was too shabby, right?


    ¡°For me, one subordinate is enough. Anyway, I¡¯m already strong enough.¡± Shen Yuan said lightly.


    Xiao Tangqiu mumbled, ¡°It can¡¯t be just that, how can the big bosse in person at the start of the fight. Don¡¯t they always send a few minions to warm up the scene first, and then the big boss appears at the end? Only one subordinate for the Great Demon King is too shabby, isn¡¯t it? No wait¡­ you don¡¯t even have a single subordinate right now!¡±


    ¡°Is it very shabby?¡± Shen Yuan paused for a moment, then suddenly changed the conversation, ¡°Since you said that you are our creator, then didn¡¯t you arrange for me to only have one subordinate?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­¡± The demon boss¡¯s words were so reasonable he couldn¡¯t refute it.


    He thought back to his notebook and it seemed that he really only set one named subordinate for the big demon lord¡­ But that was because he was toozy to choose names one by one! No one would assume it meant the big boss would only have one subordinate! Even CrayonSh*n-chan¡¯sedic theatrical filler demon boss had at least three or four subordinates!


    ¡°Alright, my treasure room is here.¡±


    As soon as Shen Yuan finished speaking, Xiao Tangqiu was blinded by the treasure room in front of him.


    This was a huge room more than a dozen meters tall. It was filled with all kinds of gold and silver jewelry. Every inch of the floor was scattered with gold coins mixed with various rubies, rings, sapphire rings, emerald nes, pearl nes, unopened treasure chests, and golden keys.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­¡±


    Was this demon boss really not a dragon in cosy?


    He could imagine an evil dragon rolling on a mountain of gold coins and rubbing gold coins on his belly, but he couldn¡¯t imagine what a demon boss did with so many gold coins every day¡­ Counting for fun?


    ¡°I want to ask¡­ Do you demons trade gold coins?¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded, ¡°Yes, gold coins are our currency, but I never use gold coins to buy things.¡±


    That¡¯s right! Who would dare to ept the gold coins from the Great Demon King! It would be good enough not to pay a protection fee!


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°Then why are you collecting so many gold coins?¡±


    ¡°It looks good. The gold coins are so shiny, aren¡¯t they beautiful?¡± Shen Yuan looked serious, he paused and continued, ¡°Since the day I created the real world, it felt like a voice has been saying to me, collect gold coins, collect a lot of gold coins, enough gold coins to roll on.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was dumbfounded. Wait! The demon boss liking collecting gold coins seemed to be a setting that he wrote on the notebook back then because he thought that the demon boss must have a hobby or two in addition to conquering the world. So he wrote in the book that he liked to collect gold coins, which not only conformed to the style and character of a demon boss but also became a reasonable excuse for the demon boss to conquer the world. To collect more gold coins!


    The more Xiao Tangqiu thought about it, the less he dared to think about it. The more he thought about it, the more terrified he felt, because looking at it every which way, no matter what angle he looked at, he felt that this demon boss really seemed to be his character!


    Did this demon boss reallye from his writing? Was this great demon really created by him?


    If he hadn¡¯t just said that he was the real creator of this world, which aroused the great demon¡¯s interest, would the great demon have killed him? Wasn¡¯t that the equivalent of him being killed by his character? Wasn¡¯t that just indirectly killing himself?


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expression with interest, and then he raised one corner of his lips and smiled, ¡°¡­I¡¯ll take you to visit other ces in the pce.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was already a little absent-minded. He sat on Ouroboros in a daze and visited the living room of the great demon, the kitchen of the great demon, the bedroom of the great demon, and the various entertainment venues of the great demon¡­ All the rooms in the pce were installed with huge electronic screens, their function was probably to allow the demon boss to watch live streams 24 hours a day.


    Xiao Tangqiu watched the current live stream progress with a veryplicated mood, and saw that the City of the Abyss was nowpletely emptied by the invading demon army. Not even a corpse was left. The demon army wandered the streets of the City of the Abyss, frolicking and showing off.


    He couldn¡¯t help but feel lost. If the Abyss Demon was really the great demon he created with his own hands, were the sinsmitted by the Abyss Demon also indirectly rted to him? He created this demon with his own hands, he created this world with his own hands, he created all of this with his own hands¡­


    Tang Mianmian, Yu Fuling, Sai Lulu, Xue Junli, Duan Hongzhen¡­ There were also many, many people whose names he didn¡¯t know. Were these people¡¯s deaths because of him? Although he was not the murderer who personally killed these people, he personally created the murderer. These people were all killed by the Abyss Demon, but he was the one who created the Abyss Demon!


    Xiao Tangqiu was almost overwhelmed by the weight of the spection. At this moment, he suddenly noticed that one screen was ck.


    Shen Yuan seemed to notice his gaze, smiled, and exined, ¡°That¡¯s your live stream room, but unfortunately you no longer live stream. I¡¯ve sent you barrage before and gave you a few props.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced nkly at Shen Yuan, so all his props were rewarded by the demon boss? It turned out that when ¡°Shen Yuan¡± fought side by side with them, the godly ¡°Shen Yuan¡± was watching the live stream of it all from the city on the cloud and even sent a few barrages through his live stream room from time to time, feeling no itch or pain while rewarding a few props.


    Xiao Tangqiu fell into silence, Shen Yuan didn¡¯t mind Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s unresponsiveness and continued to lead him, ¡°The top viewing tform can overlook the entire real world, I¡¯ll show you.¡±


    After a while, they came to the viewing tform at the top of the demon king¡¯s pce. As Shen Yuan said, he could see the entire real world while standing on the viewing tform.


    This city above the clouds was spectacr and beautiful, but Xiao Tangqiu was in no mood to appreciate it at all.


    At this moment, Shen Yuan casually said, ¡°It¡¯s getting dark, I¡¯m going to rest. You can also go to rest. There are many rooms in the pce, you can choose any room to rest, or you can continue to explore the pce. Feel free to explore any of the rooms¡­


    ¡°But¡ª¡± He suddenly paused, took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, and said in a low voice, ¡°You have to remember, you must never enter the room at the end of the corridor on the top floor. Remember, never enter. ¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, ¡°What will happen if I go in?¡±


    Shen Yuan raised his eyebrows, ¡°You can¡¯t know.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­Oh?¡±


    Shen Yuan gave a small smile, ¡°Anyway, you have to remember, never enter the room at the end of the corridor.


    ¡°Never enter¡­¡±

 Chapter 129.1

    <h4>Chapter 129.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Okay, I understand, I won¡¯t enter that room.¡±


    Since the great demon king told him never to enter that room, wouldn¡¯t he have to enter that room?


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Absolutely can¡¯t go in.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°I will never go in.¡±


    After Xiao Tangqiu jumped off Ouroboros, Shen Yuan reached out and touched Ouroboros¡¯ head and said casually, ¡°If you¡¯re hungry, you can go to the dining room. There¡¯s food there.¡±


    There¡¯s food in the dining room? Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows. He remembered that they had just passed the dining room. At that time, there was clearly nothing in there. Also, the big demon king didn¡¯t need to eat, right? Who made it? Who was it made for?


    He hesitated for a while and finally didn¡¯t ask. Shen Yuan gave him onest look, sat on Ouroboros, and finally left.


    After Xiao Tangqiu watched the great demon king leave, he originally wanted to go directly to the ¡°room that must not be entered¡±, but his stomach growled right then, and it kept rumbling¡­ Calcting the time, he had indeed not eaten for a long time. Thest time he ate, he just ate some high-calorie energy bars in an instance in a hurry.


    Before the troops and horses could move, the rations and fodder must go first; a battle is imminent, so you must eat your fill first.


    ¡­So he turned and walked towards the dining room he had just passed.


    The dining room in the great demon king¡¯s Pce was quite unremarkable. There was nothing special except that it was veryrge. There was a long table in the middle that could seat dozens of people, but only two seats were ced at each end of the table.


    Did the great demon king also need to eat? But he didn¡¯t have any staff at all, so why set up such a long table?


    But when Xiao Tangqiu approached the long table, all his doubts were solved. A variety of delicacies were ced on the originally empty table, hot dishes, cold dishes, meat dishes, vegetarian dishes, made of various ingredients and cooked in various styles. There were practically hundreds of dishes on this long dining table that could amodate dozens of people.


    Could it be that the great demon king set up such a big table not to eat with his subordinates, but to eat a few more dishes? This great demon king even had a foodie setting?


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the dishes on a table and felt a littleplicated. He hesitated but still picked up the tableware that was supposedly prepared for him on the table and tasted each dish.


    Because there were so many dishes, he was full before he tasted half of it. Every dish tasted very good, even better than the best food he had ever eaten in reality. But then again, the food the great demon king ate must be the best in the world. If it was shoddy, people would be beheaded.


    After Xiao Tangqiu was full, he didn¡¯t hesitate to go to the ¡°forbidden room¡±.


    He walked along the long corridor towards the end and came across countless rooms along the way. When he passed them, he inadvertently nced inside and was immediately stunned by the demon king¡¯s luxurious life. Almost every room was a recreational room. Some rooms were decorated like a video game city, some were decorated like a sports field, some were decorated like a cafe, and some were decorated like a casino. There were even some rooms decorated to look like a hot spring bath.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but feel a little depressed. With so many different kinds of enjoyable entertainment, it was simply sinful! A certain great demon king still thought that life was long and boring?


    After going through this long corridor, Xiao Tangqiu finally came to the end. There was indeed a room at the end of the corridor.


    He stared at the ck door of the room for a while. An Ouroboros pattern was carved on the ck door. The whole door looked strange and mysterious, like a door to another world.


    Even if Shen Yuan didn¡¯t mention this door deliberately, he would definitely be attracted by the room behind this door when he passed through this corridor. This ck door was too special. Just the Ouroboros pattern on the door was enough to attract his attention, not to mention that this room was the only room in the corridor with the door closed.


    In a corridor where all the doors were open, the only room with the door closed would never fail to attract attention. Xiao Tangqiu looked at the ck door in front of him with a probing gaze. With his keen sense of magic now, he still couldn¡¯t sense what was so special about this door.


    This room was the only room in this corridor with the door closed, which in itself was enough to make him curious, not to mention that Shen Yuan just said that he should never go in¡­ This was obviously to swindle him to go in and take a look.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath and plucked up the courage to step forward to open the door.


    Xiao Tangqiu was mentally prepared for everything, he was prepared to see any cruel, terrifying, and eerie scenes behind this ck door¡­ But he twisted the doorknob forcefully and found that it couldn¡¯t be opened.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­¡±


    This was embarrassing.


    He twisted a few more times before he was sure the room was locked.


    It turned out that the door was locked.


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked for a while. He finally mustered up the courage to open the door only to find that the door was locked. It was no different from punching cotton! He even spent so much time mentally preparing himself!


    He was in a very depressed mood. Since the door was locked, why did Shen Yuan tell him to never enter this room? If he didn¡¯t have the key, he couldn¡¯t get in anyways!


    Could it be that the great demon king was deliberately causing mischief? Knowing that he couldn¡¯t get in but still deliberately arousing his curiosity so that he could see but couldn¡¯t touch?


    ¡­Wait.


    Key?


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered the golden keys in the treasure room. He turned around and ran into the treasure room without hesitation¡­ Regardless of whether those golden keys were real keys, try them first!


    After a while, Xiao Tangqiu followed his memory and returned to the treasure room. He looked at the high pile of gold coins and the golden keys in the treasure room and couldn¡¯t help but sighed deeply. Finding the real key in that pile of golden keys was really asking for his life!


    ¡­Then he resignedly began to search for the key.


    He didn¡¯t know how long he had been searching for, but he searched until he was faint and he still couldn¡¯t search through all the golden keys. He could only try it with all the golden keys he could find. The result was that he tried key after key and none of them fit the ck door.


    It was almost dawn, Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t dare to look through the keys under Shen Yuan¡¯s nose. So he could only mix all the golden keys he had tried in one of the piles of gold coins and n to continue toe here tonight to find the keys¡­ If the great demon king still didn¡¯t kill him.


    He just finished hiding those golden keys when Shen Yuan¡¯s voice rang from behind him, ¡°It seems that you like my treasure very much.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s back stiffened and he almost thought he was exposed. He turned around slowly, trying to make his expression more natural, ¡°Yes, I especially like gold and silver jewelry¡­ So I slept herest night.¡±


    Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu with a half-smile, ¡°Oh? Is that so?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu tried to rx his expression, ¡°Yes, I slept here all night yesterday.¡±


    Shen Yuan smiled, ¡°Then did you go to the room at the end of the corridor yesterday?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s back stiffened again, but he still bit the bullet and shook his head, ¡°Of course not¡­¡±


    Shen Yuan stared into Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes, and after a moment he smiled, ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know whether Shen Yuan really believed it or not, but if the great demon king wanted to kill him, it wasn¡¯t like he could escape. So he could only bite the bullet and watch Shen Yuan.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t finish touring my pce yesterday, right? I¡¯ll continue to show you around today¡­¡± Shen Yuan seemed to really believe Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s words and no longer mentioned the room at the end of the corridor, but changed the subject, ¡°Let¡¯s go have breakfast first and then continue to tour my pce.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief but was still a little nervous. What exactly did the demon king want to do? Why not kill him instead of showing him the pce? Could it be that the great demon king had always been extremely proud of his pce, but because he had no one to show off to, he wanted to show him around the pce and then kill him after showing off?


    While struggling with this issue, he followed Shen Yuan to the dining room. At some point, yesterday¡¯s dinner had been removed from the long table and hundreds of breakfast items had reced it. It was also full of variety, extremely luxurious, and extremely enjoyable.


    Shen Yuan took a seat at one end of the table and then had Xiao Tangqiu to sit at the other end.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at Shen Yuan across from a distance of several meters and finally couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°When are you going to kill me?¡±


    While eating breakfast slowly, Shen Yuan casually asked Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Why should I kill you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu choked for a while, and after a while, he said, ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t this your hobby?¡±


    Shen Yuan smiled, ¡°It was before.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­What about now?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Now I found new entertainment.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­?¡±


    Shen Yuan stopped talking and continued to eat breakfast slowly.


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, wondering if he should continue to ask. But it seemed that the great demon king should not kill him for the time being¡­ at least not today.

 Chapter 129.2

    <h4>Chapter 129.2</h4>


    At this moment, someone suddenly walked into the dining room.


    ¡°Master, I brought what you asked for.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up and saw that the person was Lily Marlene. He was so shocked that he almost dropped his fork, but he quickly realized that with a great demon king like the Abyss Demon, he could resurrect whichever subordinate he wanted to resurrect. Everyone had unlimited +1life, +1life, +1life, continuing to live until the end of the world.


    Lily Marlene apparently also saw Xiao Tangqiu sitting at the other end of the table, but she didn¡¯t express any opinion on the person who killed her with his own hands. Her expression didn¡¯t change at all, she just knelt down in front of Shen Yuan with a reverent expression and held up a huge treasure chest in her hands.


    It was a half-human-tall treasure chest, but she lifted it effortlessly.


    Shen Yuan nodded, ¡°Pour it out.¡±


    Lily Marlene poured out the contents of the treasure chest without hesitation and poured out golden keys all over the ce.


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­?¡±


    Seeing Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s dazed face, Shen Yuan curled his lips and smiled, ¡°I see that you seem to like the golden keys in my treasure room, so I had her go and scavenge another box of golden keys.¡±


    Was it okay to just say ¡°scavenge¡±?


    ¡­No, don¡¯t increase his workload anymore!


    Shen Yuan nodded to Lily Marlene, calmly ordered, ¡°Take it to the treasure room.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Since you like my treasure room so much, it will be your room from today on,¡± Shen Yuan raised his eyebrows, ¡°I will let someone put a bed there. Of course, you can also choose to sleep directly on the pile of gold coins.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly, ¡°You are too generous.¡±


    The next day, Xiao Tangqiu continued to tour the pce under Shen Yuan¡¯s ¡°enthusiasm¡±, but because the pce was so big, they still hadn¡¯t finished the tour by evening.


    When Xiao Tangqiu heard Shen Yuan say ¡°I¡¯m going to rest¡±, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although Shen Yuan didn¡¯t show any murderous intention at him for the time being, it made his neck itch to be around a great demon who didn¡¯t even blink when killing. Not to mention he was still thinking about the key to that ck door!


    But when Xiao Tangqiu returned to the treasure room to look through keys all night, he found Shen Yuan following him. He paused, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to go back to rest?¡±


    Shen Yuan nodded, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m going to rest.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­Then why are you following me?¡±


    Shen Yuan calmly said, ¡°I had someone move my bed to the treasure room so we can rest together.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°No, wait, why?¡±


    Shen Yuan said with a look of course, ¡°Don¡¯t you humans sleep with pets when you sleep at night?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°&#k2026;Who told you that? No, wait, who¡¯s your pet?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu with a half-smile.


    Xiao Tangqiu weighed the weight of self-esteem versus life and ultimately took a step back, ¡°Okay, whatever you say is how it is. You¡¯re right&#k2026;¡±


    When Xiao Tangqiu followed Shen Yuan back to the treasure room, as expected, the gold coin mountain in the room had lessened. The gold mountain at the center of the room had been diminished and parted to two sides to make room for a king-sized bed.


    Shen Yuan climbed onto the big bed without any hurry thenid down and looked at Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s footsteps stopped and countless book titles shed across his mind in an instant, That Night I Climbed into the Big Demon King¡¯s Bed, The Domineering Demon¡¯s Big Bed¡­


    Wait! Stop, stop! Shut up, brain!


    Xiao Tangqiu climbed onto Shen Yuan¡¯s bed with a heavy heart.


    Heid down on the bed, his mood subtle andplicated. He forced himself to close his eyes, and his mind was on Shen Yuan for a while, then on the Abyss Demon for a while¡­ In the end, the two became the same person.


    He suddenly opened his eyes and stared at the over dozen-meter-tall ceiling. After an unknown amount of time, he heard Shen Yuan¡¯s steady and slow breathing from beside him.


    Shen Yuan seemed to be asleep.


    Xiao Tangqiu waited for a while after Shen Yuan fell asleeppletely before he carefully got out of bed, nning to continue looking through the golden keys.


    Although he failed with a bunch of golden keys yesterday, after so many failures, he had roughly figured out the size and shape of the real key of the ck door. All the unqualified golden keys could be eliminated on sight.


    Xiao Tangqiu got into the gold coin mountain and searched for the key for a while, but suddenly heard the sound of turning over from the big bed behind him. He startled and quickly turned around andid back on the bed.


    He tried to close his eyes and pretended to be asleep. After a while, he felt that Shen Yuan seemed to have turned around and faced him.


    He closed his eyes and waited for a while and when he felt that Shen Yuan had no other movement, he cautiously opened his eyes only to meet Shen Yuan¡¯s face.


    Shen Yuan slept peacefully, his long eyshes curved down, casting a small shadow under his eyelids, his warm breath lightly blew on Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s face, making Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s cheeks uncontrobly heat up.


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu stared at Shen Yuan¡¯s sleeping face in a daze, he suddenly saw a string of something hanging from Shen Yuan¡¯s neck.


    It seemed to be a bunch of ck keys dangling under Shen Yuan¡¯s clothes.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart thumped wildly and he suddenly realized something. If the room at the end of the corridor was really important to Shen Yuan, too important for anyone to enter, then Shen Yuan would definitely carry that set of keys with him!


    He instantly understood that the ck keys that Shen Yuan hung around his neck were most likely the real keys to that ck door!


    His heart beated wildly.


    Shen Yuan was still soundly asleep, his breathing steady and slow.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was beating so fast that even though he knew that Shen Yuan was sleeping, he couldn¡¯t help feeling flustered and panicked. After a long time of psyching himself up, he gritted his teeth and slowly stretched out his hand towards Shen Yuan¡¯s neck¡ª


    He felt as if he was stealing treasure from under the belly of a sleeping dragon, plotting against the cub of a sleeping tigress¡­ He felt like he was walking on thin ice, every second feeling like a century.


    After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Tangqiu finally reached into Shen Yuan¡¯s clothes, and his fingers touched the string of ck keys.


    The next step was how to get this set of keys without waking up Shen Yuan¡­


    He analyzed for a long time before he carefully untied the rope.


    That ck key finally fell into his hands.


    After getting the key, Xiao Tangqiu waited patiently for a few seconds. Seeing that Shen Yuan didn¡¯t open his eyes, he quickly and carefully turned over and got out of bed and then tiptoed out of the treasure room.


    After walking out of the treasure room, he ran towards the room at the end of the corridor without hesitation.


    Soon, he returned to the ck door again.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t wait to use that ck key to open the ck door.


    Click.


    The lock opened.


    His heart raced and he was about to twist the doorknob to open the door, but at this moment, a voice suddenly sounded from behind him.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to open that door?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was startled and looked back to find that Shen Yuan had quietly appeared behind him at some point.


    At this moment, he felt heart-rendering despair¡­ To be discovered so quickly, what was he doing for so long earlier? Or was it that Shen Yuan had actually realized from the beginning and was just teasing him?!


    But contrary to Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s expectations, Shen Yuan¡¯s expression was neither angry nor upset. He just looked at Xiao Tangqiu calmly, his eyes were calm, and his tone was calm.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to open that door?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while, then gritted his teeth, ¡°¡­Why won¡¯t you let me open it?¡±


    Shen Yuan said lightly, ¡°Don¡¯t you like this demon king¡¯s pce? There¡¯s everything here, even if it¡¯s not here yet, I can change it for you right away. What else are you dissatisfied with?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu felt that Shen Yuan¡¯s attitude had be a little strange, but he still stubbornly said, ¡°So what? I want to be an independent human being more than a demon¡¯s pet.¡±


    Shen Yuan sighed softly, ¡°That¡¯s not impossible.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was keenly aware that the change in Shen Yuan¡¯s attitude should be rted to the room behind the ck door, ¡°What¡¯s really in this room?¡±


    Shen Yuan nced at Xiao Tangqiu lightly, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t want to know.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­Then I need to know even more.¡±


    He stared at Shen Yuan closely for fear that Shen Yuan would rush to grab the keys from him. But Shen Yuan just stood there, looking at him with calm eyes, motionless.


    Xiao Tangqiu asked again, ¡°What¡¯s really in this room?¡±


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t want to know¡­ Don¡¯t open the door.¡±


    There seemed to be a bit of sadness in his eyes. Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know if he imagined it because the emotion in his eyes quickly disappeared.


    Xiao Tangqiu scoffed, ¡°Then I have to open it!¡±


    Shen Yuan gave a long sigh, ¡°¡­Don¡¯t open the door.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused for a while. If Shen Yuan had rushed over and grabbed the key directly from the beginning, he would have opened the door without hesitation, but Shen Yuan¡¯s show of weakness made him hesitate.


    What was in the room behind this ck door? What could possibly be in there?


    Was there anything that scared Shen Yuan? Were there weapons powerful enough to kill Shen Yuan?


    Shen Yuan gave Xiao Tangqiu a deep look, ¡°Don¡¯t open the door¡­ You¡¯ll regret it.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu coldlyughed, ¡°Even if I regret it, don¡¯t I already have nothing to lose? My friends, my teammates, everyone I know¡­ They are all dead by your hands. Now I have nothing, I have nothing to lose, and I have nothing to regret.¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, he twisted the door handle without hesitation and pushed open the ck door.

 Chapter 130

    <h4>Chapter 130</h4>


    What was really behind the ck door?


    After Xiao Tangqiu pushed open the door and entered, he was shocked by the scene behind the door.


    This was a hospital ward.


    It was a bleak white everywhere, and there was almost no other color in the ward except this bleak white.


    There was a bed in the middle of the ward and a person whoid on the bed.


    It was a patient who seemed to be sleeping with closed eyes. He was wearing an oxygen mask that was connected to a machine by a tube. There were also a lot of other tubes inserted all over his body, and each tube was connected to a machine.


    In this ward, except for this hospital bed and the patient on the bed, almost the entire area was upied by these various machines.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the patient lying on the hospital bed in disbelief. After a while, his lips trembled and he squeezed out a name, ¡°¡­Meng¡­ Meng Xinghe?¡±


    The person lying on this hospital bed had a face that was almost the exact same as Shen Yuan. A face that was more mature and cold than the outline of Meng Xinghe in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s memory. This was clearly the face of Meng Xinghe after growing up.


    Butpared to Shen Yuan, the person on the hospital bed was obviously paler and thinner, and the facial muscles that should be filled out were sunken as if it was a face that had been lingering ill in bed for a long time.


    After Xiao Tangqiu blurted out the name in his heart, he took a step back in disbelief, ¡°Meng Xinghe? No¡­ it¡¯s impossible¡­¡±


    How was this possible?


    Meng Xinghe obviously died seven years ago¡­ No, not seven years ago, nine years ago?


    If you count the two years he spent in the game, Meng Xinghe should have died in a car ident nine years ago. How could he suddenly appear here?


    At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded behind Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Why is it impossible?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked back. Shen Yuan was looking at him calmly, and his voice was very steady, ¡°Since you chose to open this door, you have already prepared yourself&#k2026;¡±


    ¡°You are Shen Yuan? He is Meng Xinghe?¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked at Shen Yuan and then at Meng Xinghe on the hospital bed, ¡°&#k2026;otherwise speaking, you¡¯re not Shen Yuan at all?¡±


    Shen Yuan stared at Xiao Tangqiu, and after a while, he slowly opened his mouth and said, ¡°I¡¯m Shen Yuan, and I¡¯m also Meng Xinghe.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Shen Yuan? Also Meng Xinghe?¡± Xiao Tangqiu took a step back into the ward in disbelief. ¡°You¡¯re Meng Xinghe? You¡¯re Meng Xinghe?¡±


    Shen Yuan sighed, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Meng Xinghe.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned for a long time before asking dumbly, ¡°You lied to me from the beginning?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t lie to you!¡± Shen Yuan categorically denied, ¡°I never lied to you¡­ I did lose my memory. When I just met you, I really didn¡¯t remember anything. I forgot who I was and only remembered that I was Shen Yuan.¡±


    ¡°Amnesia? Why amnesia again?¡± Xiao Tangqiu took another step back, ¡°Can¡¯t you make up a better excuse?¡±


    Shen Yuan gave a long sigh, then pointed to one of the machines beside the hospital bed and said, ¡°This is a machine that automatically releases memory gas. Whenever I have thoughts and ideas of escaping this game, this machine automatically releases memory gas, and then I forget everything.¡±


    ¡°Memory gas? Automatic release?¡± Xiao Tangqiu became more and more shocked. ¡°What the hell is going on? Are you really Meng Xinghe?¡±


    Shen Yuan took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu and said calmly, ¡°I am Meng Xinghe¡­ Jiujiu.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. Indeed only Meng Xinghe would call him Jiujiu in such a tone¡­ And he did think Shen Yuan was Meng Xinghe from the very beginning.


    After being silent for a long time, he asked with difficulty, ¡°You are Meng Xinghe, so who is Shen Yuan?¡±


    Shen Yuan¡­ No, it should be Meng Xinghe. Meng Xinghe¡¯s tone was extremely calm, ¡°Isn¡¯t Shen Yuan a character you wrote?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was taken back for a moment. He looked at the Meng Xinghe in front of him, then looked at the Meng Xinghe in the hospital bed, and then thought of everything that happened before. He vaguely realized something and a chill went up his spine.


    Shen Yuan, the City of the Abyss, the Abyss Demon¡­ These were all products born from his writing, he created them himself. But all of these had now be real. Someone took the things he wrote and made them real. So who in the world took what he scribbled when he was bored and created all of this?


    Xiao Tangqiu walked towards the hospital bed step by step. The Meng Xinghe in the bed was extraordinarily pale and thin. The hospital gown on his body was barely filled and his wrist was too slender to hold.


    He stood by the hospital bed and stared at Meng Xinghe. Meng Xinghe¡¯s eyes were closed and his long eyshes curled down, casting a small shadow under his eyelids. Because he was too thin, the Meng Xinghe on the hospital bed looked younger than the healthy Meng Xinghe nearby. Except for the fact that his facial contours were a little sharper than the boy in his memory, this Meng Xinghe could be described as a sickly beautiful young man.


    Xiao Tangqiu held Meng Xinghe¡¯s wrist on the hospital bed. Such a pale and thin wrist was obviously not what a normal adult man should have.


    He looked up at the electronic screen in front of Meng Xinghe¡¯s hospital bed but saw a man who looked exactly like him standing in front of Meng Xinghe¡¯s hospital bed¡­ No, that was him! The image on the screen was the scene in the ward right now!


    He looked at Meng Xinghe on the hospital bed, and then at the standing Meng Xinghe and gradually understood everything.


    Meng Xinghe sighed deeply, ¡°Perhaps you already guessed¡­


    ¡°The me on the hospital bed is the real me, and the me now is just a virtual projection¡­ The real me was brain-dead in the car ident seven years ago.¡±


    ¡°Braindead?¡± Xiao Tangqiu murmured and repeated the word. He did watch Meng Xinghe die on the spot in front of him in the car ident seven years ago. At that time, Meng Xinghe obviously died. It was not a vegetative state, but truly dead.


    ¡°The hospital issued a certificate of my brain death. At that time, I was indeed powerless. My body waster sent to the morgue, but¡­¡± Meng Xinghe fell silent. After a long time, he continued, ¡°My mother didn¡¯t want to ept that, so she went to the morgue and stole my body.¡±


    Although Xiao Tangqiu knew that Meng Qingqiu couldn¡¯t ept the fact that her only son died, he never imagined that the woman would actually go to the morgue to steal the body. His eyes widened in disbelief, ¡°And then?¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ve already realized that my mother¡¯s identity is very mysterious, you never found out what her profession is, right?¡± Meng Xinghe sighed and continued, ¡°Actually, my mother is a scientist, a scientist who signed an NDA. She was working on a secret project, a project with the potential to cure brain-dead patients¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked nkly, ¡°So she¡­ saved you?¡±


    Meng Xinghe changed the conversation, ¡°But that project failed and she chose to continue to secretly do experiments on me. As you can see, this experiment is¡­ everything we have experienced.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened its mouth nkly. So everything they had experienced before, all the previous instances, was actually a healing project experiment for brain-dead patients?


    Meng Xinghe¡¯s tone was extremely calm, not at all like a son who was used by his biological mother for a living experiment, ¡°The experiment she did on me was actually a sess at the beginning¡­¡±


    ¡°Sess at the beginning? What do you mean? It failedter?¡± Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly.


    Meng Xinghe said calmly, ¡°One of the criteria for brain death is the disappearance of brain electrical activity. After her initial series of experiments, I gradually recovered my brain¡¯s electrical activity and gained some self-consciousness, but other than that, this experiment still failed. I still couldn¡¯t breathe on my own and I¡¯m still in a deepa.¡±


    ¡°In other words, I just returned from a brain-dead state to a vegetative state.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu murmured, ¡°But it¡¯s still a lot of progress¡­¡±


    ¡°But this experiment was too expensive. She worked hard for seven years to get me back to the state I am now, and it is very likely that I will remain in a vegetative state forever,¡± Meng Xinghe shook his head, judging his own physical state calmly, ¡°Actually, not long ago, my various physiological functions have be very weak, and even thisst bit of consciousness will disappear again¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu became worried, ¡°Then what?¡±


    Meng Xinghe took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu before continuing, ¡°Originally, she just relied on artificial intelligence designed byputer programs to stimte and activate my brain waves, but the results have been tepid for many years. So not long ago, she began to pull the consciousness of living people into this experiment, intending to stimte my brain waves through the more active brain waves of living people¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu instantly remembered that he had swept Meng Xinghe¡¯s grave before crossing into this horror game world!


    When he went to the flower shop to buy flowers at that time, he was reminded by the flower shop boss that many people had mysteriously disappeared recently¡­ After that, he met Meng Qingqiu while sweeping the grave and Meng Qingqiu said a lot of inexplicable things to him. But at the time, he was full of guilt about Meng Qingqiu and he didn¡¯t notice her strangeness at all.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how she did it. In short, she seems to have found a lot of living people to do this experiment¡­ At first, it did have some effects, but then it stopped working and she began to intensify her efforts to find more and more people. I sensed that she was getting crazier and crazier. I tried to convince her, but she didn¡¯t listen at all.¡±


    Meng Xinghe, ¡°At this time, you came¡­¡±

 Chapter 131.1

    <h4>Chapter 131.1</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered the three questions that Meng Qingqiu asked him at Meng Xinghe¡¯s grave, and couldn¡¯t help but feel chills¡ª


    ¡°Have you already walked out?¡±


    ¡°If time turns back and returns to seven years ago, would you be willing to save him?¡±


    ¡°Even if the cost is your life?¡±


    ¡°¡­All the living people she forcibly dragged into this experiment, after a period of time, showed a trend of weakened brain waves and weakened physiology. If it continues, it may cause these living people to die,¡± Meng Xinghe looked deeply at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°So after I first discovered that you were here, I tried to wake you up and let you get out of this so-called game and return to reality.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu reacted instantly, ¡°You are also Yun Jizhou from the first instance?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Yun Jizhou was me,¡± Meng Xinghe continued calmly, ¡°because the subject of this experiment is me, so the whole game actually revolves around my consciousness. In other words¡­ I¡¯m the master in this game, I can be whoever I want to be.¡±


    After discovering that Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s consciousness was also pulled into this ¡°game¡±, Meng Xinghe separated a ray of consciousness and attached it to the instance NPC Yun Jizhou, trying to wake up Xiao Tangqiu by ¡°killing¡± Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°If your consciousness ¡®dies¡¯ in the game, your consciousness will temporarily return to reality and the consciousness of all those yers who ¡®died¡¯ in the game before will temporarily return to reality. But the memory gas will automatically be released and everyone returns to the game as a new yer¡­¡± Meng Xinghe continued, ¡°I was going to kill you and bring your consciousness back to reality, but¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe did not continue talking, but Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze. Because he recalled that when he saw Yun Jizhou who looked exactly like Meng Xinghe, he kissed Yun Jizhou in a moment of excitement. Then he inexplicably revived¡­ It turned out that from the very beginning in the first instance, Meng Xinghe had already wanted him out of this ¡°game¡±, but he unknowingly missed this opportunity.


    ¡°Although I knew that death in the game only temporarily brings your consciousness back to reality, I thought if it were you, there must be a way to break free¡­¡± Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°Unfortunately I failed, when the machine sensed that I was thinking about abandoning the experiment, the memory gas was released at me and I lost my memory again.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu murmured, ¡°Amnesia again?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve wanted to end this experiment countless times,¡± Meng Xinghe said calmly, ¡°Although I am the center of the world and the master of everything in this experiment, there is only a virtual artificial intelligence in this world. I feel like I¡¯m in a single-yer RPG with no one real, it¡¯s omnipotent but tedious.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fell into silence. If someone asked him why online games were more fun than single-yer games, his answer would be that there were real people in online games.


    ¡°¡­But every time I have thoughts of leaving the experiment, this machine will release memory gas at me. I became amnesiac again and again, and I stopped daring to have this thought,¡± Meng Xinghe smiled bitterly, ¡°I can set the background and plot of the game for this experiment. I set it ording to the novel you wrote when you were in junior high school. After being a demon king for a while, I lost too much interest and split out the character Shen Yuan. In order to get rid of all these pains, Shen Yuan¡¯s memory was deliberately emptied. But even in such a state of split consciousness, once Shen Yuan¡¯s consciousness has the idea of escaping, it will release memory gas.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked dumbly, ¡°The Shen Yuan I met at the beginning waspletely a nk sheet of paper?¡±


    ¡°I emptied my memory and wanted to get rid of the depression that I couldn¡¯t escape from here. I nned to experience a new life as Shen Yuan. When I first met you, I really didn¡¯t remember anything,¡± Meng Xinghe sighed again, ¡°But you have had too much influence on me, and soon I recovered a little memory, and at the same time had the idea of running away. As a result¡­ you already know.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu understood in an instant, ¡°¡­then you lost your memory.¡±


    It turns out that Shen Yuan lost his memory because Meng Xinghe was automatically wiped by the machine. At that time, Shen Yuan was so attached to him, not because of the chick imprinting effect at all, it was clearly because Meng Xinghe¡¯s body remembered Xiao Tangqiu.


    ¡°I¡¯ve long wanted to get out of here and end this, especially since more and more people are getting involved with my mother,¡± Meng Xinghe deeply looked at Xiao Tangqiu before continuing with a firm tone, ¡± Especially after you got involved. If you continue to stay here, it is very likely that you will follow in the footsteps of my brain death¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu finally understood everything. Understood why ¡°Shen Yuan¡±¡®s previous attitude was so strange, understood what the two previous ¡°Tests of the Light God¡¯s Sword¡± were implying, and understood why ¡°Shen Yuan¡± didn¡¯t kill him¡­


    He finally understood why ¡°Shen Yuan¡± brought him back to the pce, why he reminded him of the room at the end of the corridor, why he showed him the key around his neck¡­


    It turned out that from beginning to end, Meng Xinghe was alluding to one thing: ¡°Wake up! Get out of here!¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s it¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu looked dazed, ¡°That¡¯s why you kept hinting at me?¡±


    ¡°I had already forgotten everything after thest memory gas release, but because I have been with you, I gradually remembered everything including this experiment. But I could only try my best to suppress the idea of running away, let alone tell you directly. I know very well that once I say everything, this machine will immediately release memory gas on me and you. Everything will end halfway, and everything will have to start all over again¡­¡±


    Meng Xinghe stared at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°But I¡¯m running out of time, you¡¯re running out of time, we¡¯re all out of time. I can only take the risk and remind you in this way¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fell silent. After a moment he gritted his teeth and asked, ¡°What do you mean you¡¯ve run out of time?¡±


    Meng Xinghe said calmly, ¡°This room is called the Real Room, it is the most critical hub of this experiment. This world is a virtual world, everything is just a program, only here is not¡­ Only here is real. The me on the hospital bed you see here is the real me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned and asked again, ¡°What do you mean you¡¯ve run out of time?¡±


    Meng Xinghe nced at Xiao Tangqiu and sighed, ¡°Although my brain wave activity has reached its peak after meeting you, all physiological functions have been greatly weakened. And those of you who were forcibly dragged into the experiment also aren¡¯t in good states. If it continues like this, I am afraid it will cause very serious consequences.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked incredulously, ¡°It¡¯s already like this, your mother still refuses to stop the experiment?¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled bitterly, ¡°She¡¯s getting crazier and crazier now, sometimes I don¡¯t even know her¡­ For her, I¡¯m not only her only son but also her most sessful experiment so far. Once this experiment is stopped, it will not only mean the death of her only son but also theplete failure of her experiment.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was shocked and couldn¡¯t speak for a long time.


    ¡°She went out temporarily for something today. I took the opportunity to grab the permission of this room and stopped the machine temporarily, but she wille back soon. Once she finds out that I have ended the experiment, even if the machine can¡¯t determine that I have thoughts of escape, she can also control the machine to release memory gas, so hurry up! It¡¯s up to you to end it all.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Xiao Tangqiu asked nkly, ¡°Why me?¡±


    ¡°Because you are the most suitable person. I just want you to end it all, and only you can end it all¡­¡± Meng Xinghe¡¯s tone was firm.


    Instead of asking Meng Xinghe how to end this, Xiao Tangqiu asked softly, ¡°What will happen to you if I end this experiment?¡±


    Meng Xinghe was originally brain-dead seven years ago and it was only through this crazy experiment that he could barely regain some consciousness. But this experiment could only barely help Meng Xinghe regain consciousness, it could not make him truly wake up.


    For the past seven years, Meng Xinghe had been relying on this experiment, relying on these machines to barely maintain brain activities. Once this experiment stopped, what would happen to Meng Xinghe?


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°¡­Might die.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to die?¡± Xiao Tangqiu murmured.


    ¡°I was already brain dead¡­¡± Meng Xinghe sighed softly, ¡°I died seven years ago. And for the past seven years, I have relied on this experiment to maintain my conscious activities, stealing seven years from the hands of death and living a wonderful life that ordinary people might never live¡­ But it¡¯s all based on this crazy experiment and the innocent people who were forcibly dragged into it, especially you.¡±

 Chapter 131.2

    <h4>Chapter 131.2</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but fall silent. Those who were forcibly dragged into this experiment were definitely not willing. Meng Qingqiu¡¯s behavior simply ignored the wishes of those people and even put them in an extremely dangerous situation.


    ¡°Everything should stop here, this crazy experiment should end¡­¡± Meng Xinghe said calmly, ¡°Once this experiment is over, you¡¯ll be able to return to reality and your original life path¡­ Don¡¯t worry, you haven¡¯t been missing for long. The longest missing person is about half a month, and you are about a week.¡±


    ¡°A week?¡± Xiao Tangqiu was in a daze. It turned out that he had only spent seven days in this horror game world?


    Meng Xinghe nodded, ¡°So don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t leave this era when you return to reality. For your loved ones, you have only been missing for a little while¡­ You will soon go back to a normal life, back to your life path.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked dumbly, ¡°¡­So you killed so many people before, not for fun, but just to temporarily bring their consciousness back to reality?¡±


    Meng Xinghe said in a calm tone, ¡°Once my motheres back and finds out that everyone has been ¡®killed¡¯ by me, she will immediately erase their memories and send them back to the City of the Abyss. So you have to hurry up and take advantage of right now to end this experiment and free everyone.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a long time and suddenly asked, ¡°I want to ask you a question¡­ You died of brain death to save me seven years ago. Do you regret it?¡±


    Meng Xinghe paused, then he said calmly, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lying, right? How can you not regret it?¡± Xiao Tangqiu muttered, ¡°If you hadn¡¯t died back then, your life would be very wonderful now¡­¡± No matter what, it was definitely better than ying a king in a single-yer game.


    ¡°I have indeed imagined what life might have been like if I hadn¡¯t died countless times¡­¡± Meng Xinghe sighed deeply, ¡°Maybe we would have been admitted to the same university, or even the same major, and graduate. Then go to the samepany and rent a house together¡­


    ¡°Maybe be a gaming host with you to y games as a career, and to live the unfettered life of a frencer together¡­


    ¡°But no matter what kind of vision I have about life¡­ you are there in all of them. I did regret it for ¡®I died¡¯, but never for ¡®saving you¡¯.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly at Meng Xinghe. It turned out that the two ¡°tests of the Light God¡¯s Sword¡± were not only hints from Meng Xinghe but also another kind of future envisaged by Meng Xinghe¡­ If there really was a parallel world, would Meng Xinghe and he be living another kind of life there?


    It was a pity that it had nothing to do with them and they¡¯d never know.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly asked, ¡°If I end this experiment, you will stay here forever, right?¡±


    Meng Xinghe gave Xiao Tangqiu a deep look and didn¡¯t answer.


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind, ¡°Then I will end this experiment and send everyone else back to the real world. I will stay with you¡­ I will stay in this world together with you!¡±


    Meng Xinghe was silent for a long time before he suddenlyughed, ¡°I¡¯m very happy. I¡¯m very happy that you are willing to stay with me¡­ But do you remember what you said to me before in the ¡®Test of the Light God¡¯s Sword¡¯?


    ¡°If it was you two years ago, maybe you would have stayed for me, but now you won¡¯t.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°I¡¯ve changed my mind now!¡±


    Meng Xinghe shook his head, ¡°No, you have walked out, and you should have walked out&#k2026; Let go of everything in the past and look forward.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t stay, this is not your world, you shouldn¡¯t stay in this desert where everything is just empty programs. You shouldn¡¯t stay with me in brain death. The more exciting real world outside belongs to you. You deserve a better life&#k2026;¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes gradually reddened, ¡°Are you kidding?! How can you tell me to leave you alone now? Seven years ago, you became what you are now in order to save me. If seven yearster, I unhesitantly leave you behind and leave, would I even have a conscience?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a step forward and grabbed Meng Xinghe¡¯s wrist, ¡°I will end this experiment and send everyone else back to the real world, but I will stay with you!¡±


    Meng Xinghe stared at Xiao Tangqiu, and after a moment he asked softly, ¡°¡­Even if the consequence is brain death with me?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said without hesitation, ¡°Of course!¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°If this is still the Test of the Light God¡¯s Sword, you would have already lost.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll acknowledge it regardless¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay, I agree with you staying with me,¡± Meng Xinghe chuckled, ¡°but you end this experiment first and send the others back to reality.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, even if Meng Xinghe didn¡¯t say anything, he would definitely send Tang Mianmian and the others back to reality. They were the innocent people involved.


    ¡°How do I do it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple,¡± Meng Xinghe said lightly, ¡°you unplug my oxygen tube. As long as I die, everything is over.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°You¡¯re joking?!¡±


    Meng Xinghe¡¯s expression was calm, ¡°I¡¯m not joking, only by unplugging my oxygen tube can the experiment stop and everything will end.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned, ¡°But¡­¡±


    In that case, Meng Xinghe would die soon!


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, even if you unplug my oxygen tube, my consciousness will stay here for a while. I am the master of this world and I can even control the time of this world. If you stay with me, I can stay here for a long while. I will create a new life for us in myst dying time¡­¡± Meng Xinghe¡¯s tone was very calm, ¡°Just like what you saw in the Test of the Light God¡¯s Sword, it can start now, or it can start from seven years ago. We can even start from when we were born, and we could live into our 80s, and then die of natural aging before both of us bepletely brain dead.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu fantasized about it, smiled, ¡°That¡¯s good, then let¡¯s do that¡­¡±


    ¡°Go,¡± Meng Xinghe smiled at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Go and unplug my oxygen tube.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Okay, let me end this.¡±


    He turned around and was about to walk towards the hospital bed, but Meng Xinghe suddenly stopped him, ¡°Wait a minute.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused.


    Meng Xinghe suddenly took a step forward, grabbed Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s wrist, and then lowered his head and took a bite of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s lips.


    Xiao Tangqiu froze for a few seconds before ring at Meng Xinghe with a blush, ¡°¡­What are you doing?¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled and sighed, ¡°Actually, I wanted to do this when I was seventeen¡­ I was nning to ask you for this birthday present on my eighteenth birthday.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously covered his mouth with his hand, ¡°You¡­ So you also secretly like me?¡±


    ¡°Also? Do you secretly like me too?¡± Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows.


    Xiao Tangqiu red at Meng Xinghe with a blushing face, ¡°¡­Damn! Don¡¯t catch the loopholes in my words. Be honest, since when did you start to secretly like me?¡±


    ¡°When? I don¡¯t even remember¡­ Then when did you start secretly liking me?¡± Meng Xinghe smiled lightly.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t remember either.¡± Xiao Tangqiu blushed and looked away. Although Shen Yuan always denied that he was Meng Xinghe, he always believed that Shen Yuan was Meng Xinghe¡­ Sure enough, it turned out that the reason why he liked Shen Yuan was entirely because the two of them were the same person. Shen Yuan was Meng Xinghe and Meng Xinghe was Shen Yuan.


    ¡°Okay, go,¡± Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°If you don¡¯t go, my mother will be back¡­ As for the rest, we still have a lot of time to talk slowly, and there are still decades¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded and walked slowly towards the hospital bed where Meng Xinghe was pale with his eyes closed.


    The thought of Meng Xinghe lying in his hospital bed for seven years broke his heart¡­ But, it was all over.


    Xiao Tangqiu slowly reached out and gently touched Meng Xinghe¡¯s face on the bed.


    The Meng Xinghe nearby watched Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s movements calmly and he suddenly whispered, ¡°I¡¯m d that at the end of each of my life, the person I see is you¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s movements stopped and heard Meng Xinghe continue to say, ¡°In the next life, please take care of me.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath and with trembling hands unplugged the oxygen tube from the Meng Xinghe oxygen mask.


    He personally unplugged Meng Xinghe¡¯s oxygen tube.


    Several machines next to him uttered a harsh beeping instantly and the world before him immediately began to gradually copse.


    The world was beginning to crumble, this experiment was finallying to an end, everything was over.


    Xiao Tangqiu was about to turn around and go back to Meng Xinghe when he suddenly felt a whirlwind, a force that seemed to pull his consciousness away from this body, this world¡­


    He looked at Meng Xinghe in disbelief only to see Meng Xinghe¡¯s deep look, ¡°You don¡¯t belong to this world, get out of here.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked in disbelief, ¡°You just lied to me?!¡±


    Meng Xinghe said in a calm tone, ¡°I have just released memory gas on all of you. When you wake up, you will forget all this¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes werepletely red, ¡°You liar! Big liar!¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled. His smile was very bright, just like the bright smile of the teenager seven years ago and the tear mole on the corner of his left eye seemed to be shining, ¡°Get out of here, forget everything, and live a good life.¡±


    ¡°Liar¡­


    ¡°Damn liar¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gradually lost focus and even Meng Xinghe¡¯s face before him began to be hazy¡­


    At the end of his consciousness, there was a sigh from Meng Xinghe.


    ¡°Goodbye, Xiao Tangqiu.¡±


    T/N: I forgot Feb is a short month lol. Guess I won¡¯t be finishing the main story by the end of this month, but it won¡¯t be long now! Chapter 136 is thest chapter of the main story followed by 5 extras!

 Chapter 132

    <h4>Chapter 132</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes suddenly and what he saw were the dazzling light of the incandescentmp and a snow-white ceiling. And there was the smell of disinfectant in the air ¨C this was obviously a hospital.


    ¡­Hospital?


    Why was he in the hospital?


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly at the ceiling, but his brain was nk as if he had been drunk. He couldn¡¯t remember why he was in the hospital, he couldn¡¯t even remember what happened a few days ago.


    At this moment, a surprised scream came from beside him, ¡°Xiao-Qiu! Xiao- Qiu, you are awake!¡±


    A middle-aged couple crowded in front of him. They were originally worried, but now they were surprised and relieved, ¡°You are awake! You are finally awake!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s brain felt rusted. He turned his brain with difficulty and finally remembered the identity of the middle-aged couple, ¡°Dad¡­ Mom¡­¡±


    The middle-aged couple burst into tears, and the middle-aged woman spoke with tears in her eyes, ¡°Xiao-Qiu, you finally woke up! You¡¯ve been in aa for three days and three nights! We almost thought¡­ almost thought¡­ .¡±


    ¡°Coma? Three days and three nights?¡± Xiao Tangqiu took a lot of effort to organize these words, ¡°I¡¯ve been in aa? Three days?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Mom and Dad have been so worried about you!¡± The middle-aged woman said while crying, ¡°You suddenly disappeared for a week, we were all going crazy with worry, looking for you everywhere! But we couldn¡¯t find you anywhere! Sobsobsob¡­¡±


    ¡°Three days ago, the police found you and the others in an abandoned warehouse. It turns out that you were all kidnapped! After they rescued you, they sent you to the hospital¡­ but you never woke up! We were worried to death!¡±


    ¡°Kidnapped?¡± Xiao Tangqiu thought hard, ¡°I was¡­ kidnapped?¡±


    ¡°Xiao-Qiu! Do you remember what happened before? Who the hell kidnapped you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°Who kidnapped¡­ me?¡±


    At this moment, a doctor came in, and seeing Xiao Tangqiu woke up, he nodded, ¡°It seems that another one has woken up.¡±


    ¡°Has anyone else woken up?¡± Father Xiao asked.


    The doctor nodded, ¡°Just a few minutes ago, several patients woke up¡­ But you have to be prepared.¡±


    Mother Xiao asked worriedly, ¡°Prepared for what?¡±


    ¡°These patients all appear to have suffered varying degrees of brain damage, which, while not affecting the brain much, may cause memory loss.¡±


    ¡°Amnesia?¡± Xiao¡¯s mother was very worried, ¡°What degree of amnesia?¡±


    The doctor said, ¡°Different people have different degrees. You can observe the specifics yourself.¡±


    Mother Xiao immediately turned her head and asked Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Xiao-Qiu, how much do you remember?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought hard for a long time before he said intermittently what he remembered. Although his mind was nk when he just woke up, now he slowly recalled most things.


    Hearing that Xiao Tangqiu still remembered a lot of things, Xiao¡¯s mother breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°Then do you remember what happened in the past few days when you disappeared?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°No¡­ don¡¯t remember¡­¡±


    ¡°Then do you remember what happened before you disappeared?¡± Father Xiao asked, ¡°Who did it? How did they do it? Why did they do it?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t remember¡­¡±


    Although he tried hard to remember everything rted to the disappearance, he couldn¡¯t remember anything. He could recall something about everything else, but only about this matter, he couldn¡¯t think of a clue.


    ¡°The patient just woke up, let him rest well, don¡¯t force it.¡±


    Mother and Father Xiao nodded. After sending the doctor off, Mother Xiao pressed Xiao Tangqiu back to the hospital bed, ¡°Xiao-Qiu, you lie down and rest. You¡¯re very weak now, don¡¯t move around. Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s stomach growled and he nodded, ¡°I¡¯m so hungry, I want to eat everything¡­¡±


    ¡°You may have to stay in the hospital for a few days for observation. Would you like us to bring anything to the hospital for you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu thought for a while, ¡°Bring myputer.¡±


    Usually, his mom and dad would definitely scold Xiao Tangqiu for a round. What kind of situation was this to still be ying on aputer? But now that Xiao Tangqiu had managed to escape from death, they couldn¡¯t bear to be harsh at all, so they all let Xiao Tangqiu do as he liked.


    The family of three chatted and Mother and Father Xiao went to get food for Xiao Tangqiu. Xiao Tangqiuid on the hospital bed and stared at the ceiling for a while, then he gradually recalled some scattered scenes from before¡­ He seemed to be chatting with CottonCandy online at the time? CottonCandy seemed to have rmended a game for him?


    After?


    What happened after that?


    Just as Xiao Tangqiu was desperately thinking about it, someone wearing a hospital gown suddenly passed by the door of his ward. He stared at that person¡¯s person and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.


    ¡°Wait! Stop!¡±


    The man turned around and said, ¡°Who are you? A fan of mine?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blurted out, ¡°You, a soy sauce cannon fodder, still want to have fans?¡±


    The man was stunned for a moment, ¡°How do you know that I¡¯m a cannon fodder? You really are my fan!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was also stunned for a moment. Right! Why would he know that this guy was a cannon fodder? He obviously didn¡¯t know the guy before him at all!


    Just as the two of them stared at each other, the man suddenly shouted, ¡°Ah! This voice! I remembered it! It¡¯s you!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked nk, ¡°¡­Ah?¡±


    ¡°LittleCandyBall! You¡¯re LittleCandyBall, right!¡± The man smiled, ¡°I¡¯m CottonCandy! Can¡¯t you recognize my voice? I¡¯m CottonCandy!¡±


    Only then did Xiao Tangqiu react, ¡°So you are CottonCandy!¡±


    ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s fate! We are actually staying in the same hospital! It¡¯s so fateful!¡± CottonCandy nced at Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s hospital gown, ¡°But why are you in the hospital?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously replied, ¡°Kidnapped¡­¡±


    CottonCandy shouted, ¡°Fuck! Destiny! So coincidental! I was also kidnapped!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu blinked, ¡°I was in aa for three days and three nights.¡±


    CottonCandy called out again, ¡°Fuck! Destiny! So coincidental! I was also in aa for three days and three nights!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­¡±


    He paused, then continued, ¡°I lost my memory.¡±


    CottonCandy shouted again, ¡°Fuck! Destiny! So coincidental! I also lost my memory!¡±


    At this moment, the little nurse who was patrolling the rooms finally couldn¡¯t help but said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so loud, it will affect the rest of other patients. The two of you were obviously sent here by the police together, of course it¡¯s coincidental!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and CottonCandy looked at each other again. They were sent here by the police together? What the hell was this fate?


    ¡°Let¡¯s go in and talk?¡± Xiao Tangqiu pointed to his ward.


    CottonCandy scratched his head and was a little embarrassed, ¡°I just woke up feeling starved to death and was going to get something to eat¡­¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s your agent?¡± Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow.


    CottonCandyughed dryly, ¡°I¡¯m a [tn? ?content=¡±1,888th line¡°]T/N: an ¡°18th line¡± celebrity is basically bottom tier, no-name actor. TMM is making an exaggerated joke on the number[/tn]? cannon fodder, what agent? Of course, I have to do everything myself.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked again, ¡°Where are your parents?¡±


    CottonCandy said carelessly, ¡°They are both abroad and haven¡¯t arrived yet.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°My parents just went to buy food, you can eat with me.¡±


    CottonCandy smiled, ¡°Then I won¡¯t be polite! By the way, my name is Tang Mianmian, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Tang Mianmian? My name is Xiao Tangqiu¡­¡±


    The two looked at each other and blurted out at the same time, ¡°Your name sounds familiar¡­¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, ¡°I seem to have heard your name somewhere.¡±


    Tang Mianmian also scratched his ears, ¡°I also seem to have heard your name somewhere.¡±


    The two looked at each other, and Xiao Tangqiu asked first, ¡°Do you remember what happened during your disappearance?¡±


    Tang Mianmian shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t remember, do you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu also shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t remember either, I don¡¯t even remember what happened before I disappeared¡­ Thest thing I remember is that you sent me a game.¡±


    ¡°Game?¡± Tang Mianmian looked puzzled, ¡°I didn¡¯t send you a game!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned, ¡°Didn¡¯t you rmend a game to me?¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded, ¡°Yes, but you didn¡¯t say you were going to visit a grave, so I did something else!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned again, ¡°¡­Visit a grave? Yes, I was going to visit a grave.¡±


    After Tang Mianmian rmended the game to him, he went to visit the grave, but after he came back, didn¡¯t Tang Mianmian send him that game again?


    However, Tang Mianmian refused to admit it, ¡°I didn¡¯t send you that game, and I didn¡¯t talk to you after you went to the grave! If you don¡¯t believe me, look at the chat history yourself!¡±


    ¡°Chat history? Right, the chat history!¡± Xiao Tangqiu immediately took out his mobile phone. Although he and Tang Mianmian were chatting on theputer at the time, the chat history of the mobile phone and theputer were synchronized. He quickly turned to thest chat between him and Tang Mianmian.


    LittleCandyBall: I go to his grave every year, maybe tomorrow is thest time. People can¡¯t indulge in the past forever, I want to try to let go


    Tang Mianmian came over to take a look, ¡°Look! Right! I didn¡¯t send you that game at all!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned, did he remember it wrong? Or did something go wrong? ¡­Game? Right! Game!


    He grabbed Tang Mianmian¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Game! Do you remember the name of that game? What¡¯s that game called?¡±


    Tang Mianmian scratched his head and scratched his head for a while, ¡°I think¡­ it seems to be called Abyss.¡±


    ¡°¡­Abyss?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said the name softly, his eyes suddenly became hot, and a tear fell.


    Tang Mianmian was stunned, ¡°Hey, why are you crying?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head nkly, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ but I seem¡­ it¡¯s as if I forgot something very important¡­¡±

 Chapter 133.1

    <h4>Chapter 133.1</h4>


    Tang Mianmian blinked, ¡°Something important? What important thing?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°¡­I said I forgot, how do I know!¡±


    Tang Mianmian scratched his hair, ¡°Strange, when you say that, why do I feel like I also forgot something important?¡±


    They looked at each other for a long time, but in the end, neither of them thought of anything.


    That night, in addition to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, other people woke up one after another. But these people, like them, lost all memories rted to this kidnapping case. They couldn¡¯t remember anything whether it was during or before the kidnapping.


    Everyone seemed to have been memory wiped for no reason. They disappeared collectively and were rescued collectively by the police, and in the end they lost their memory collectively¡­ This kidnapping case quickly caused a lot of public opinion. The melon-eating massesunched a heated discussion war online. Some said they were kidnapped by cultists, some said they were kidnapped by enemy spies, and some even said they were kidnapped by aliens.


    A weekter.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if we are kidnapped by cults or enemy spies, what¡¯s the matter with being kidnapped by aliens?¡± Tang Mianmian pulled Xiao Tangqiu along while scrolling Weibo andined, ¡°What are aliens kidnapping us for? Even if aliens want to invade Earth, they should kidnap the heads of governments of various countries. What¡¯s the use of kidnapping us crappy low-level civilians!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu folded his clothes without raising his head, ¡°Why are you still so rxed? You¡¯re going to be discharged from the hospital today. Why don¡¯t you pack your luggage quickly, is there no one to pick you up and leave the hospital?¡±


    ¡°No one is picking me up, I will get discharged by myself.¡±


    Tang Mianmian continued to lie on the hospital bed and use his mobile phone carelessly. Since he and Xiao Tangqiuizens met, he insisted on begging the doctor to transfer them to the same ward. They had been living together in the same ward for a week now.


    Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, ¡°Your parents have gone abroad again?¡±


    Tang Mianmian snorted, ¡°They went to the airport yesterday. After such a big thing happened to their son, they just nced at me and left. How can you say that there are such uncaring parents in this world?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°They still care about you very much, they only left after confirming that you are all right.¡± Although they lost all memories of the kidnapping case, neither their bodies nor their brains were affected otherwise. Their intellect also wasn¡¯t affected.


    Tang Mianmian pouted, ¡°Although nothing major happened to us, I lost my most important job offer¡­ I finally got a third male lead who has lines and a storyline, but I was dyed for half a month. The duck in my hands had flown off.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as you¡¯re okay. Maybe it¡¯s a blessing in disguise.¡±


    Tang Mianmian sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t even dare to call the director now, they must have appointed another actor long ago. I didn¡¯t have time to sign the contract after all and suddenly disappeared¡­ But if I only disappeared after I signed a contract, maybe I would have to pay for lost time. I can¡¯t say which one is more unlucky.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°There will still be opportunities. Besides, even if you can¡¯t be an actor, it¡¯s not bad to be a streamer.¡±


    Tang Mianmian scratched his face, ¡°But it¡¯s my dream to be an actor. Although it¡¯s good to be a host, my dream is to be an actor!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu packed his luggage, sat down, and chatted with Tang Mianmian.


    Tang Mianmian suddenly asked, ¡°By the way, what¡¯s your dream?¡±


    ¡°Dream?¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused and thought for a long time before he smiled and said, ¡°I wanted to be a writer when I was in junior high and even wrote several novels in my notebooks. When I was in high school, I became addicted to games and I wanted to be an e-sports yer or a gamer¡­¡±


    ¡°Writer? Novels? You can write novels?¡± Tang Mianmian winked at Xiao Tangqiu and said, ¡°You must show me your masterpiece someday!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make fun of me, what kind of masterpiece can a junior high school student write¡­¡± Xiao Tangqiu nced at Tang Mianmian and suddenly remembered something, ¡°But at that time, I still had a loyal reader.¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked, ¡°You had readers?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled and fell into nostalgia, ¡°Every time I wrote a novel in my notebook, I would first show it to him. And his reaction was always very supportive¡­ But the so-called novels I wrote were actually just simple outlines.¡±


    Tang Mianmian reacted at once, ¡°Is that the friend you went to visit the grave of?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, then smiled and said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s him.¡±


    Tang Mianmian blinked, ¡°Sorry, did I mention something that shouldn¡¯t be mentioned?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°No¡­ He¡¯s been gone for seven years.¡±


    Although Xiao Tangqiu said it was fine, the atmosphere in the ward still cooled down. Tang Mianmian secretly nced at Xiao Tangqiu, and then silently lowered his head and yed with his mobile phone.


    Xiao Tangqiu turned his head and looked out the window. It was noon and the sun was shining brightly. But for some reason, his mood seemed to be covered with a gray haze and no amount of strong sunlight could disperse it¡­ But why?


    Meng Xinghe had been gone for seven years, and he decided to let it go¡­ But why did his heart still have a dull pain when he thought of the name Meng Xinghe?


    Meng Xinghe¡­


    Xiao Tangqiu recited the name silently in his heart, and his eyes became wet again¡­ Before he realized it, he had already begun crying.


    He quickly wiped away his tears, but for some reason, the more he wiped his tears, the more tears flowed. At this moment, Tang Mianmian suddenly shouted, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was startled, thinking that Tang Mianmian found out that he was crying again, and immediately turned his back to Tang Mianmian, ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Tang Mianmian yelled, staring at the phone, ¡°Kidnapping¡­solved!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stayed for a while, ¡°Solved?¡±


    Tang Mianmian¡¯s tone was very shocked, ¡°Fuck! The news said that the police caught the kidnapper suspect at the crime scene today, and they are now interrogating and investigating¡­ I heard that the kidnapper had already run away when the police rescued us. It¡¯s been more than a week, they could still catch them!¡±


    ¡°Caught today? At the crime scene?¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused, ¡°Did they surrender?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Tang Mianmian seemed to be still watching the news, ¡°It doesn¡¯t reveal too much information, not even the suspect¡¯s name or appearance, just said it was a woman.¡±


    ¡°Woman?¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused.


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing, everyone thought that the kidnapper would never be caught, but they did it!¡± Tang Mianmian was shocked, ¡°And the kidnapper is actually a woman! I thought it would be a strong man to kidnap so many people at once! Or a gang-organized crime!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned. He vaguely thought of something, but it was fleeting.


    ¡°It¡¯s good as long as they catch the culprit!¡± Tang Mianmian humphed, ¡°I lost such an important job opportunity! At least a dozen years in prison! Put her in jail!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked at the sunlight outside the window and suddenly sighed. For some reason, although the criminal in this kidnapping case was caught, he still felt empty in his heart, like the most important piece of the puzzle was missing¡­ What did he forget? What was missing?


    At this moment, someone suddenly knocked on the door of the ward.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and he turned around excitedly but was disappointed when he saw his parents.


    ¡°Xiao-Qiu, we¡¯re here to pick you up from the hospital¡­ Why do you look disappointed? Who do you think it was?¡± Mother Xiao regained her previous spirit after Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s recovery, ¡°Did you meet someone in the hospital? A nurse? Which one? Let¡¯s see if Mom can be a matchmaker for you.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled helplessly, ¡°¡­Nothing, don¡¯t worry about it. Let¡¯s go back.¡±


    Mother Xiao used the gossipy spirit unique to middle-aged women and teased her son for gossip, ¡°You really don¡¯t like any of the nurses in the hospital?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°I just thought¡­ thought it was¡­¡± Who did he think he was?


    He was in a trance, vaguely remembering that he seemed to be waiting for someone.


    So, who was he waiting for?


    Xiao¡¯s mother blinked, ¡°Who did you think it was? Which girl?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said subconsciously, ¡°Not a girl.¡±


    Tang Mianmian interjected, ¡°Which boy, then?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu red at Tang Mianmian, ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, we should get discharged from the hospital,¡± Xiao Tangqiu quickly changed the subject, ¡°I want to go home soon. I haven¡¯t been home for a long time, I¡¯m feeling a little homesick, Mom, I haven¡¯t eaten the food you cooked for a long time.¡± Because he was just discharged from the hospital, Mother and Father Xiao nned to take Xiao Tangqiu back to his original home and let Mother Xiao take care of him for a while with some delicious nourishing food for the body.


    ¡°Okay, okay, Mom will cook for you tonight, what do you want to eat?¡±


    ¡°I want to eat everything.¡±


    ¡°So greedy! I¡¯ll cook them for you in turn, then!¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked at the happy image of Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s family and was silently envious and bitter. At this moment, his cell phone suddenly rang.


    When he saw the caller ID, his hands trembled.


    After three seconds of mental preparation, he took a deep breath before picking up the phone tremblingly, ¡°Hey¡­ Director Zhang¡­¡±

 Chapter 133.2

    <h4>Chapter 133.2</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu was immersed in the warmth of getting along with his parents after a long absence, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel dazed for a while. Even the warmth of being with his family couldn¡¯t fill the vacancy in his heart. What was the important piece of the puzzle that was missing in his heart? Who was he waiting for?


    He looked at Tang Mianmian subconsciously, trying to find the answer only to see Tang Mianmian¡¯s lost looking face. After a few seconds, Tang Mianmian shouted, ¡°Fuck! Done it! I¡¯ve done it!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paused, ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°That role! I got it!¡± Tang Mianmian was excited, ¡°The director said that after reading the news, he knew that I was missing because I was involved in this hotly discussed kidnapping case, so he is going to give me another chance tomorrow to join the cast directly! With extra scenes!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Extra scenes?¡±


    Tang Mianmian smiled, ¡°He said that he found inspiration from this kidnapping case and ns to use this material to add a plot to the script, which will be yed by me! I feel that I will be a big star soon and reach my peak!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Then I wish you sess.¡±


    ¡°Heheh, I¡¯ll invite you to dinner next time!¡± Tang Mianmian looked at Xiao Tangqiu excitedly, ¡°Your mouth is so blessed! You just said that it¡¯s a blessing in disguise and it¡¯s actually a blessing in disguise!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was dazed and seemed to remember something, but it quickly passed again.


    Half an hourter, he returned from the hospital to his former home. Mother Xiao immediately went into the kitchen and got busy while Father Xiao was in charge of the misceneous stuff.


    Xiao Tangqiu originally wanted to help but was kicked out by Mother Xiao in the name of getting in the way. He sat on the sofa for a while, then got up and went into his old room.


    Although Xiao Tangqiu had moved out to live on his own, his room had remained the same. He walked around the room and suddenly noticed a few notebooks on the bookcase.


    Those were the notebooks he used to write novels in during junior high school.


    He hesitated for a moment, took out the notebooks, opened them one by one, and looked at them one by one... He was not surprised to find that it was all shameful junior high school ck history.


    Just when he was too ashamed to continue reading, he suddenly turned to a novel called Abyss.


    ...Abyss?


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at the name closely and his heartbeat thundered.


    Badum! Badumbadum! Badumbadumbadum!


    He couldn¡¯t wait to continue reading.


    After Xiao Tangqiu finished reading this novel, which could only be regarded as an outline, his heart almost jumped out of his chest, and his breathing wasbored...


    At this moment, arge number of images suddenly flooded into his mind and scene after scene quickly shed before his eyes. In the end, he finally couldn¡¯t bear the crazy influx of memories and knelt on the ground with his head in his hands.


    The notebook slid to the ground and automatically opened to the page of the protagonist¡¯s settings. Written in the protagonist¡¯s name column was...


    ¡°Shen Yuan.¡±


    ¡°Shen Yuan...¡±


    ¡°Shen Yuan&#k2026;¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu held his head and closed his eyes in pain, calling the name over and over again, ¡°Shen Yuan!¡±


    Who was Shen Yuan? Who was Shen Yuan?


    Right!


    ¡°Meng Xinghe&#k2026;¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu opened his eyes suddenly, ¡°Meng Xinghe!¡±


    At this moment, he finally found the lost piece of the puzzle in his heart.


    He got up and rushed out without hesitation.


    Xiao¡¯s mother just came out with the first te of fried dishes, ¡°Xiao-Qiu, are you going out? It¡¯s so urgent?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was not in the mood to exin. He nodded hastily, opened the door, and rushed out.


    ¡°Come back quickly! The dishes won¡¯t taste good when they¡¯re cold!¡±


    He quickly put Mother Xiao¡¯s voice behind him, raised his hand, and stopped a taxi.


    ¡°Drive quickly! I¡¯m in a hurry!¡±


    The driver was startled and quickly stepped on the elerator, ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was stunned... Where to go?


    The driver was speechless, ¡°...No way? You look to be in such a hurry but you don¡¯t even know where you¡¯re going?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know which warehouse he was rescued from. He quickly took out his mobile phone and tried to find the news report, ¡°It seems to be an abandoned warehouse...¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± The driver suddenly reacted, ¡°You mean the scene of the amnesia kidnapping case?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu froze for a moment, ¡°You know?¡±


    The driver shrugged, ¡°Young people these days just love to join in the fun. Today I have taken a few young people like you who are curious and want to watch the fun.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu gritted his teeth, ¡°Yes! Take me there!¡±


    The driver smiled and said, ¡°Are you sure? The suspect was just caught today, and the scene is still cordoned off. You can¡¯t go in. You can only look at it from a distance. If you get closer, you might even be regarded as a suspect!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said firmly, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I¡¯ll take a look from afar!¡±


    The driver shrugged and stepped on the gas to start elerating.


    Xiao Tangqiu didn¡¯t know how long it was before the driver took him through the wilderness and they saw a huge abandoned warehouse in the distance.


    ¡°We can reach here at most, it¡¯s blocked ahead.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, ¡°I want to go down.¡±


    The driver wanted to persuade him, ¡°People can¡¯t go in.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu paid without hesitation, then opened the door and got out.


    The driver shook his head and drove away.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around for a while. Fortunately, the warehouse was veryrge and there were not too many guards. He quickly found an opportunity to sneak in.


    The warehouse wasrge and empty. Other than some abandoned debris piled around, there were dozens of hospital beds in the middle, and there were several machines next to each hospital bed.


    Xiao Tangqiu had never seen those machines and had absolutely no idea what they were used for.


    At the center of those beds, there was a very different bed with many machines around it, and there seemed to be a machine for oxygen delivery. But the oxygen tube connected to the machine was thrown to the ground.


    The hospital bed was empty.


    Xiao Tangqiu walked towards the hospital bed slowly. He stretched out his hand and gently stroked the bed. But the bed was extremely cold and there was no trace of body temperature left by a living person.


    He bent down and picked up the oxygen tube that had been thrown to the ground, his hands trembling and his eyes dull.


    Just then, a voice sounded.


    ¡°Hey! Who are you! This area is off limits! Don¡¯te in casually! ¡°


    Several police officers rushed in and were about to take Xiao Tangqiu away, but one of them suddenly recognized him, ¡°Wait a minute... this seems to be one of the victims.¡±


    Soon, other police officers recognized Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s appearance, ¡°Yes, he is one of the victims we sent to the hospital before.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly grabbed the hand of one of the policemen and couldn¡¯t wait to ask, ¡°Where is he? Where is he!¡±


    The policeman froze for a moment, ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the person on this hospital bed?¡± Xiao Tangqiu bit his lower lip, trying his best to restrain his emotions, ¡°...Where¡¯s this person?¡±


    The policeman said with a puzzled face, ¡°When we came, this hospital bed was empty.¡±


    ¡°There was someone on this hospital bed? Who was it? Was he also a victim?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared nkly at the hospital bed, and under the police¡¯s questioning, his eyes suddenly turned red, and big teardrops poured out.


    The police officers could only quiet down and let Xiao Tangqiu fall on the empty hospital bed and cry loudly.


    Xiao Tangqiu finally remembered everything, the incredible world of horror games, the people he knew in that game, the Abyss Demon, Shen Yuan, and... Meng Xinghe.


    He also remembered that he personally unplugged Meng Xinghe¡¯s oxygen tube, that he left Meng Xinghe alone in that empty, cold virtual world, and that he personally... killed Meng Xinghe.


    How fortunate was he to have a man die for him twice?


    The first time Meng Xinghe died in a car ident to save him, the second time Meng Xinghe had him unplug his own oxygen tube to save him.


    How unlucky for Meng Xinghe to be destroyed by the same person twice and die twice for the same person.


    No matter how much Xiao Tangqiu deceived himself that maybe Meng Xinghe was not dead, that he didn¡¯t see Meng Xinghe¡¯s body with his own eyes, he couldn¡¯t. Because he couldn¡¯t erase his memory of unplugging Meng Xinghe¡¯s oxygen tube. Meng Xinghe, who couldn¡¯t breathe on his own, lost the oxygen supply tube and could only suffocate to death.


    The copse of that horror game world meant the death of Meng Xinghe?


    He finally mustered up the courage to walk towards Meng Xinghe, but Meng Xinghe easily pushed him away.


    He left Meng Xinghe alone in that virtual world, but Meng Xinghe also left him alone in this real world.


    If...


    If he had woken up immediately after leaving that virtual world, he might have had a chance to re-plug Meng Xinghe¡¯s oxygen tube and saved Meng Xinghe¡¯s life...


    If he had noticed that something was wrong with Meng Xinghe and stopped in time after Meng Xinghe said ¡°I¡¯m d that at the end of each of my life, the person I saw was you¡±, maybe Meng Xinghe wouldn¡¯t insist on staying alone...


    If that crash hadn¡¯t happened seven years ago, Meng Xinghe wouldn¡¯t have been brain dead...


    If...


    Too bad there was no if.


    Xiao Tangqiu cried bitterly and copsed on that cold hospital bed. He hated himself for remembering everything after everything was irreparable, and he hated how he still remembered all of this. Maybe like Meng Xinghe wanted, forgetting was truly the best and blissful end?


    Why did he still remember all this?


    Why did he remember all this, but he couldn¡¯t fix anything?


    ...Maybe this was Meng Xinghe¡¯s punishment for him, to let him live in the world with such heavy sins in his life. He would never be able toe out of Meng Xinghe¡¯s death in this life, carrying the shackles on his back, unable to let go, couldn¡¯t forget, couldn¡¯t get rid of.


    Xiao Tangqiu finally got his lost memories back, but would rather not get them back at all.


    Because the missing piece of the puzzle in his heart couldn¡¯t be found anymore... the person he was waiting for would nevere back.

 Chapter 134

    <h4>Chapter 134</h4>


    Half a yearter.


    City A.


    ¡°Ahhhh! What the hell! What the hell is this!¡±


    ¡°What the hell is that!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯te here!¡±


    An expressionless young man was live-streaming a game in front of aputer screen, calmly breaking out in screams from time to time.


    This young man was naturally Xiao Tangqiu. Since he was discharged from the hospital half a year ago and rested for more than a month, he had picked up his old job and resumed his old business. He resumed his work as a horror game streamer again.


    Although he was missing for nearly two months and lost a lot of fans, new fans reced the old. Soon, he relied on his mouth and ¡°100% g capture¡± to attract a batch of new fans and his status quickly stabilized.


    He was back on his original path and everything seemed to be back to normal.


    On this day, Xiao Tangqiu live-streamed a horror game as always. Just as the game¡¯s atmosphere became scarier and scarier and the plot was about to enter its climax, the phone he had put on the table and had been muted suddenly lighted up. A text message notification popped out.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already arrived at the cafe downstairs from your house,e down quickly.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows, screamed a few more times into the mic, then said in a frightened tone, ¡°I can¡¯t! Too scary! I need to calm down! Today¡¯s ¡°Love in the Mortuary¡± live stream ends here! Tomorrow I will continue the live stream! See you tomorrow!¡±


    A bunch of protesting barrages suddenly appeared in the live stream room.


    ¡°How can you stop here! Host, you are so mean!¡±


    ¡°The plot is exciting! Host,e back soon!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t stop! Continue! Don¡¯t stop~~~¡±


    ¡°Stopping right before the climax! Are you a man!¡±


    ¡°Today is so short, you are not a man!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu snorted, ¡°Don¡¯t you know if I¡¯m a man or not? If I¡¯m frightened to death, will it be considered a work injury? I¡¯ll stop here today. Although it¡¯s a bit short, how about I add more time tomorrow? If I can finish live streaming ¡°Love in the Mortuary¡± tomorrow, I¡¯ll continue streaming its sister story, ¡°Love in the Crematorium¡±, okay?¡±


    He pretended to bargain a bit with the barrage, ¡°I didn¡¯t n to live stream ¡°Love in the Crematorium¡± at all. After all, ¡°Love in the Mortuary¡± is scary enough... OK, let¡¯s add another ¡°Life and Death, Love in the Underworld¡±, I¡¯ll live stream all the three stories together, okay?¡±


    He coaxed for a while and finally parted with the reluctant live stream audience.


    In fact, Xiao Tangqiu originally nned to stream the most popr ghost husband trilogy, ¡°Love in the Mortuary¡±, ¡°Love in the Crematorium¡±, and ¡°Life and Death, Love in the Underworld¡±, one after another. It was said to have scared off a lot of streamers, but Xiao Tangqiu was someone who had seen the big world. How could a few horror games scare him?


    After he exited the live stream room, he didn¡¯t have time to close the game as he quickly changed his clothes and rushed to the cafe below his house.


    When Xiao Tangqiu arrived at the cafe, there were not many people there. He immediately found Tang Mianmian in the corner wearing sunsses and a mask and wrapped up tightly.


    He walked over and patted Tang Mianmian on the shoulder, then took a seat across from Tang Mianmian.


    Tang Mianmian didn¡¯t dare to take off his sunsses. He lowered his voice and said to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Help me see if there are any suspicious paparazzi in this cafe...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around, then smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there aren¡¯t.¡±


    Tang Mianmian breathed a sigh of relief, took off the sunsses on the bridge of his nose, andined to Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°A lot of paparazzi have been following me recently. It¡¯s 360-degrees of pictures with no dead angles. Even if I went to a public toilet on the side of the road, they muste in and sneak pictures! They don¡¯t even care that public toilets smell so bad, it¡¯s so perverted!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Doesn¡¯t that prove that you are popr?¡±


    ¡°On the one hand, it¡¯s true that I¡¯m hot,¡± Tang Mianmian proudly puffed his chest, but he sighed again, ¡°On the other hand, it¡¯s all my fault, I shouldn¡¯t have helped Xu Xiaoman at that time... My fault for being cheap, my fault for being cheap!¡±


    ¡°Xu Xiaoman? That actress?¡± Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the actress who married actor Lu Xiaobo,¡± Tang Mianmian sighed, ¡°They are considered a well-known couple in the entertainment industry. One is a powerful actor and the other is a powerful actress and they¡¯ve been married for 20 years. Their rtionship has a lot of eyes and respect, but now there is a divorce.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Is it rted to you?¡±


    ¡°Have you not watched the newstely?¡± Tang Mianmian red at Xiao Tangqiu before continuing reluctantly, ¡°Bullshit it has something to do with me, I¡¯m just an innocent passerby. They have a divorce scandal. That day, I happened to be returning to the hotel from the crew with Xu Xiaoman, and Xu Xiaoman suddenly tripped, so I helped her up... and was photographed by the paparazzi.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Are you really not together?¡±


    ¡°Bullshit together! Xu Xiaoman is in her fifties!¡± Tang Mianmian¡¯s mouth twitched, ¡°That¡¯s only a few years younger than my mother! I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on but somehow I got caught up in this turmoil! I am just a little actor with a little fame. I am really embarrassed to be involved in this kind of divorce scandal between the best actor and best actress! It¡¯s too scary!¡±


    When Tang Mianmian starred as the third male lead in that drama half a year ago, he really suppressed the male lead and second male lead in the show. Plus that script which was already a big deal, he had received nonstop script offers over the past half-year, representing one work after another. Now, he could be considered a small celebrity.


    Xiao Tangqiu patted Tang Mianmian on the shoulder, ¡°The sky will bring great responsibility to people, you know whates next.¡±


    Tang Mianmian sighed, ¡°Being an actor is very tiring. If you make a mistake, people will ridicule and smear you. It¡¯s still easier to be an online game streamer.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°You cane back asionally. Many fans are waiting for you toe back... People often ask me where you have been.¡±


    Tang Mianmian suddenly showed a moved expression, ¡°So there are still people waiting for me... Then how did you respond?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°I said you went back to your hometown to get married.¡±


    Tang Mianmian, ¡°Hey, hey, don¡¯t just set up this kind of FLAG for me!¡±


    They chatted for a while and Tang Mianmian suddenlyughed, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m here to tell you good news. The drama that I became a hit on is going to release a season two. The director wants to change me from the third male lead to the main male lead!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows, ¡°That¡¯s amazing. Not only did you kill the second male lead, but also the first male lead. Didn¡¯t you seed in ascending?¡±


    Tang Mianmian smiled, paused, and suddenly asked Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°By the way... about the kidnapping case before, do you remember anything now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heartbeat suddenly missed a beat, but he still pretended to be calm and asked Tang Mianmian, ¡°Do you remember something?¡±


    Tang Mianmian shook his head, ¡°I still don¡¯t remember anything, but the director wanted to dig out more details about the kidnapping case, so he oftenes to ask me. He seems to be interviewing other victims, and even used his rtionship with the police and learned some things that cannot be made public.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was racing but he said casually, ¡°Your director is quite serious and responsible...¡±


    He paused and asked casually, ¡°So did he tell you about the things that can¡¯t be made public?¡±


    Tang Mianmian nodded and said unguardedly, ¡°He said that the suspect caught by the police was actually a scientist who signed a non-disclosure agreement. The scientist was in charge of a confidential experiment previously... Later that experiment seemed to fail, but the scientist refused to give up and secretly did the experiment without telling anyone.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart was beating wildly, but he still tried to stay calm, ¡°And then?¡±


    ¡°After the scientist was arrested, she was put in prison. It seems that she continued to study the original experiment in prison. Later, I don¡¯t know whether it was sessful or not, but it seems that she has made a contribution against her sentencing.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at Tang Mianmian, ¡°...What do you mean?¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked around and whispered in Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s ear, ¡°I¡¯m only telling you, you must not spread it! I heard that this scientist¡¯s research project is how to wake up a brain-dead vegetative person who seems to be about to wake up. It¡¯s been sessful so far, and if this project can be sessful to the end, it will surely shake the entire medicalmunity!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu stared at Tang Mianmian, his mind went nk. After a while, he grabbed Tang Mianmian¡¯s cor and asked, ¡°Awakening a brain-dead vegetative person? Did it seed? Did it seed!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was startled by Xiao Tangqiu and quickly pressed on Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s shoulder to calm him down, ¡°You calm down first, I heard that it is on the verge of sess. But you know that this kind of major experiment in the medical world is not a matter of wishing for sess. If it is sessful, even if it is really sessful, you have to do trials, first on mice, and then on humans. It will take several years to say the least!¡±


    ¡°Several years? Several years...¡± Xiao Tangqiu was stunned for a moment, ¡°Several years is too long, I can¡¯t wait, I can¡¯t wait at all...¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked puzzled, ¡°Can¡¯t wait? What do you mean? Do you have friends or rtives who urgently need this technology?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu rubbed his face and suddenly calmed down, ¡°...Nothing, I just remembered a friend of mine.¡±


    What if the technology seeds a few yearster? Meng Xinghe couldn¡¯t wait, he couldn¡¯t wait, it was toote. It was toote for anything.


    But when he remembered that the police didn¡¯t find Meng Xinghe¡¯s body, he couldn¡¯t help but hope. What if? There was always hope, even when it was one in a million chance.


    Xiao Tangqiu suddenly looked up at Tang Mianmian, ¡°Do you know why Meng... why that scientist turned herself in?¡±


    He always thought that Meng Qingqiu surrendered because Meng Xinghe was dead, and her experiment failedpletely. So she surrendered in despair.


    But now that he thought about it, was there another possibility?

 Chapter 135.1

    <h4>Chapter 135.1</h4>


    Tang Mianmian paused, ¡°I don¡¯t know about this...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t wait to ask, ¡°Does your director know?¡±


    Tang Mianmian shook his head, ¡°He didn¡¯t say anything about this. Besides, they didn¡¯t necessarily turn themselves in, right?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a long time before giving a long sigh.


    ¡°But then again, do you really not remember what happened when we disappeared?¡± Tang Mianmian looked hesitant to say anything, ¡°Actually, there are asional images that pop up in my mind, but those images are vague and soon disappear...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nced at Tang Mianmian and encouraged him to continue, ¡°Then do you remember what you saw?¡±


    Tang Mianmian hesitated for a moment, ¡°I seem to see you...it seems like there are other people, we seem to be doing something...and then it¡¯s gone.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°What were we doing?¡±


    Tang Mianmian tilted his head and thought for a while, ¡°...It¡¯s like ying a game?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu then asked, ¡°What game did we y?¡±


    Tang Mianmian frowned and thought for a long time, and finally, Xiao Tangqiu said, ¡°Is it rted to the word ¡®abyss¡¯?¡±


    Tang Mianmian looked lost and after a while, he suddenly realized, ¡°It seems to be rted to that! ...Wait, before we were kidnapped, did I rmend a game called Abyss to you?! ¡°


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Yes, but I searched for this game after I was discharged from the hospital and there is no such game at all.¡±


    Tang Mianmian froze, ¡°No? How is this possible?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled and didn¡¯t speak. When he remembered everything, he searched for the game Abyss but discovered that there was no such game on the inte. It seemed that this game only existed in the chat records and memories between him and Tang Mianmian from beginning to end.


    Tang Mianmian was broad-minded, if he didn¡¯t understand, he simply didn¡¯t think about it, ¡°Forget it, if it doesn¡¯t exist, it doesn¡¯t exist. Anyway, everything has passed, we have to look forward!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled helplessly, ¡°Your heart is in the same line as your parents.¡±


    Tang Mianmian smiled and put on his sunsses again, ¡°Then that¡¯s that for today. I¡¯m going to join the film crew at night so I have to go home and pack my bags. We won¡¯t be able to see each other for a long time.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows, ¡°You are very busy now.¡±


    At this moment, Tang Mianmian¡¯s cell phone rang, and he nced down, ¡°My agent is rushing me, I¡¯m leaving.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°You even have an agent now, you¡¯re a big hit.¡±


    Tang Mianmian smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯ll invite you to dinner, or do you have a favorite female star? Maybe I can introduce you to me.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°That¡¯s not necessary.¡±


    Tang Mianmian raised his eyebrows, ¡°Or your favorite male star?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...Hurry up and go!¡±


    Tang Mianmian was fully armed again, paid for the coffee for Xiao Tangqiu, and left in a hurry.


    Xiao Tangqiu drank the coffee in his hand and looked at the cup of coffee Tang Mianmian barely touched. An inexplicable mood poured out of his heart...


    Everyone¡¯s life seemed to have returned to normal and everyone seemed to be back on their original trajectory of life. Although the kidnapping case half a year ago had a considerable impact on society, because the culprit was quickly caught and resolved, the follow-up talks and poprity of the kidnapping case dropped a lot.


    As for those victims, although they received a certain amount of attention after the incident, they soon stopped receiving attention and gradually returned to their normal lives when the case¡¯s poprity died.


    Everything had returned to normal. Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s life seems to be back on track, but only he himself knew that he could never go back. His peaceful life waspletely disrupted by a stone called Meng Xinghe. Even if the stone hadpletely sunk into theke and disappeared, the ripples on theke surface would not dissipate for a long time.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed softly. He felt that he probably would never be able to love anyone else in his life as much as he loved Meng Xinghe.


    He sipped his coffee and looked out the window. The sun was shining brightly, just like that noon when he and Meng Xinghe decided to run away from home when they were 18 years old.


    At this moment, he suddenly saw someone walking past the window with a familiar silhouette.


    His heartbeat elerated and he dropped the half-drank coffee in his hand and chased after that figure.


    The streets were crowded with peopleing and going, but Xiao Tangqiu did not hesitate to dive into the crowd, chasing and shouting the familiar name, ¡°Meng Xinghe! Meng Xinghe!¡±


    But no one stopped, and no one responded to him.


    ¡°Meng Xinghe! Meng Xinghe!¡±


    After chasing for a while, he finally found the familiar figure in the crowd again. He immediately rushed up in a fewrge steps and grabbed the man¡¯s wrist, ¡°Meng Xinghe!¡±


    However, when the person turned around, Xiao Tangqiu realized that he had mistaken the wrong person. The person in front of him was not Meng Xinghe at all, but a stranger with a simr stature to Meng Xinghe.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry... I¡¯m sorry, I recognized the wrong person.¡±


    The man nced at Xiao Tangqiu suspiciously, then turned and left with a weirded-out look on his face.


    Xiao Tangqiu stood nkly on the street where people came and went. Even though the people around him were crowded and lively, he felt that the whole world was silent in this moment.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked lost, missing a ck wheelchair that passed by in a sh.


    He stood nkly on the street for a long time. After a while, he came back to his senses and walked back to the cafe with heavy steps.


    The ck wheelchair slowly appeared out from around the corner and stopped far away outside the ss window of the cafe.


    Xiao Tangqiu returned to his original position in a daze. He stared out the window motionless. In fact, in the past six months, the scene just now had happened countless times. He often recognized various people as Meng Xinghe on the street. But every time he rushed forward and stopped the other party, he realized that he had made a mistake... This kind of mistake had happened to him over and over.


    For some reason, for the past six months, he always vaguely felt that Meng Xinghe was still by his side, still near him, still around him. He could always feel a familiar gaze watching him. But whenever he wanted to go look for that line of sight, there was always a wrongly identified person.


    Was this a hallucination? Was it a hallucination again?


    It wasn¡¯t until the coffee in the cup waspletely cold that Xiao Tangqiu left the cafe and returned to his rented house upstairs.


    When he returned to his room, he realized that the game he was live-streaming earlier was still open. Right now, the game was at the part where the heroine found out that there seemed to be an extra ¡°person¡± in the house she rented. She often felt that there was an inexplicable gaze watching her, but whenever she tried to find that ¡°person¡±, she found nothing.


    He was struck by hindsight. This familiar kind of plot, wasn¡¯t this what was happening to him now?


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but fall into contemtion. After the male protagonist of ¡°Love in the Mortuary¡± turned into a ghost, he came to pester the female protagonist. He even started a rtionship with the female protagonist... Could it be that Meng Xinghe also became a ghost and came to find him?


    He looked around subconsciously, but of course he couldn¡¯t find anything. Although he had encountered many ¡°ghosts¡± in the ¡°horror game world¡±, if he encountered a ghost in reality, not to mention in this house, he would definitely immediately move out. But if that ghost was Meng Xinghe... that¡¯s another story.


    Too bad there was no if.


    Xiao Tangqiu sighed and quit the game.


    Today he was going to visit Meng Xinghe¡¯s grave.


    Although Meng Xinghe¡¯s life and death were still unknown and there was no corpse or bones, after Meng Qingqiu was arrested, no one other than him would go to Meng Xinghe¡¯s grave. He couldn¡¯t leave Meng Xinghe¡¯s tomb alone even though he knew very well that Meng Xinghe¡¯s ashes weren¡¯t buried there at all.


    After Xiao Tangqiu changed his clothes, he hurried out the door.


    He pushed open the door and went out just in time to see a man in a wheelchair entering the elevator.


    ¡°Hold on! I¡¯m going to take the elevator too!¡±


    He rushed towards the elevator while shouting, but before he could rush to the elevator, the elevator door was already closed.


    ¡°What are you doing!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked upset, he had already called out to that person, why did that person press the close button so desperately? Was it intentional? This was too selfish!


    But wait, were there any disabled people on his floor?


    Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, not at all recalling if a disabled person moved in on their floor... But he thought it over, maybe someone who broke their leg could be in a wheelchair for the time being.


    He snorted, ¡°So selfish, he deserves to break his leg.¡±


    He had to wait a few more minutes for the next elevator.


    Afterward, Xiao Tangqiu took a taxi to the cemetery on the outskirts of City A.


    After thinking about it, he went to the nearby flower shop to buy a bunch of flowers.


    The woman in the flower shop recognized Xiao Tangqiu and asked with a smile, ¡°Young man, you¡¯re here to visit the grave again?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu nodded, ¡°Yes, I still want daisies.¡±


    While wrapping the bouquet, thedy boss said casually, ¡°Although you haven¡¯t been here for half a year, there is a young man who oftenes to me to buy daisies in the past six months...¡±

 Chapter 135.2

    <h4>Chapter 135.2</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Isn¡¯t this normal?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but this young man seems to be a disabled man,¡± thedy boss sighed. ¡°He looks very handsome and he is still young, but unfortunately he can only use a wheelchair. Life is really unfair.¡±


    Wheelchair? Disabled?


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s movement slowed, ¡°...Disabled people alsoe to visit graves?¡±


    ¡°Thest time I asked him why he kept buying daisies, he actually said it was because he liked it,¡± thedy boss shook her head with a smile. ¡°How can anyone buy flowers they like for other people¡¯s graves...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart skipped a beat and he quickly asked thedy boss, ¡°What does that person look like? Does he look good? I mean... Is there a tear mole under the corner of his left eye?¡±


    Thedy boss touched her chin and thought about it, ¡°It seems so, he¡¯s very good-looking, with a tear mole under the corner of his left eye. He looks even better than a celebrity on TV, but unfortunately, he¡¯s in a wheelchair at such a young age. I originally wanted to ask how it happened, but I didn¡¯t dare to ask for fear of upsetting him.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s heart thudded and he rushed to ask thedy boss, ¡°When was thest time he came? Did he say when he wille next time?¡±


    Thedy boss smiled, ¡°Thest time he came was more than a week ago. As for when he wille next time, I don¡¯t know...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help feeling disappointed for a while, but he still smiled and thanked thedy boss. Then, holding the wrapped bunch of daisies, he slowly walked into the cemetery.


    He hadn¡¯t been here to visit the grave since knowing that Meng Xinghe¡¯s ashes were not buried here, but he seemed to have missed something very, very important because of it.


    He came to Meng Xinghe¡¯s grave with the bouquet in silence only to find that there was already a bunch of small daisies in front of Meng Xinghe¡¯s grave. This bunch of daisies had obviously been here for a while, the fresh petals had turned into a bunch of dried flowers.


    Xiao Tangqiu put down the bunch of daisies in his hand and held up the dried flowers of the bunch with trembling hands... What did he miss?!


    If he hade sooner to visit the grave, if he had found out sooner...


    Since Meng Qingqiu was captured, who else woulde to visit Meng Xinghe¡¯s grave beside him? The answer was already on the horizon.


    ¡°Meng Xinghe... Meng Xinghe...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around and called out Meng Xinghe¡¯s name softly, but there was still no response.


    He stretched out his hand tremblingly and gently stroked the photo of Meng Xinghe on the tombstone. The eighteen-year-old boy smiled brightly, without the slightest uncertainty,pletely unaware that the next upheaval of fate would quietlye to him.


    Xiao Tangqiu closed his eyes and a tear rolled down and sshed on the tombstone.


    If it happened all over again, he was willing to do anything to save Meng Xinghe, even if it cost his life.


    ...


    At this moment, he suddenly opened his eyes, turned sharply to look behind him. He happened to crash into the eyes of a young man sitting in a wheelchair not far away.


    The two pairs of eyes faced each other and the young man¡¯s eyes showed an unexpected panic. He obviously didn¡¯t expect Xiao Tangqiu to turn around suddenly. He looked back in embarrassment and turned the wheelchair without hesitation and hurried away.


    ¡°Meng Xinghe! Meng Xinghe!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately chased after, shouting Meng Xinghe¡¯s name. Hepletely ignored that his voice would disturb the quietness of the cemetery.


    ¡°Meng Xinghe! Meng Xinghe!¡±


    He ran towards the young man in the wheelchair, but the electric wheelchair was so fast that he couldn¡¯t catch up for a while.


    ¡°Meng Xinghe! Don¡¯t run!¡±


    ¡°Meng Xinghe! Wait for me!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu yelled and chased out of the cemetery to find that the young man in a wheelchair had reached the crossroad ahead which was a red light at the moment.


    Just when he was relieved that the young man could not continue to escape, the next second he was shocked to find that the young man had actually run the red light!


    And just at this moment, a car was driving over!


    ¡°Are you crazy!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s brain went nk and the scene of the car ident seven years ago suddenly appeared in front of him.


    He sprinted forward and pushed the wheelchair to the other side, but he himself was knocked out by a burst of force.


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    During a heart-wrenching cry, Xiao Tangqiu crashed and rolled on the ground. He only experienced his vision going dark, and then the world was spinning.


    Such a familiar voice, it really was Meng Xinghe...


    He finally found Meng Xinghe...


    But wait.


    Had the wish he just made on Meng Xinghe¡¯s gravee true so quickly? His ¡°100% g collection¡± skill had really reached max level, right? Was his crow¡¯s mouth consecrated and blessed by some divine master?


    ...But since Meng Xinghe was still alive, his death was worth it.


    ¡°Xiao Tangqiu! Xiao Tangqiu!¡±


    Meng Xinghe pounced in front of Xiao Tangqiu, pulling Xiao Tangqiu into his arms with trembling hands.


    Xiao Tangqiu looked up at Meng Xinghe to see he was shaking all over, his face pale and his eyes were red.


    He slowly raised his hand and gently touched Meng Xinghe¡¯s face, ¡°This life... is yours...¡±


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want your life!¡± Meng Xinghe hugged Xiao Tangqiu tightly with red eyes, ¡°You live for me! Live well!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu moved his lips, ¡°You... don¡¯t you hate me?¡±


    Meng Xinghe shakily hugged Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°How could I hate you?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu smiled bitterly, ¡°I made you like that... And you are hiding from me...¡±


    Meng Xinghe closed his eyes in pain, tears falling wildly, ¡°I didn¡¯t hate you, I didn¡¯t hide from you... I just... I just don¡¯t want you to see me as I am now...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but be lost. What did Meng Xinghe look like now? How was he now? As he was in a wheelchair?


    Just when he opened his mouth to ask, a very unpleasant voice suddenly rang.


    ¡°Hey, hey, are you done? Bumping porcin? I¡¯m just a three-wheeler collecting rubbish, so I can¡¯t afford you bumping porcin like this!¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu and Meng Xinghe looked up at the same time to find that a tattered tricycle was parked in front of them and an uncle was looking at them speechlessly.


    The uncle rang the bell on the tricycle again, and said impatiently, ¡°I only have a broken tricycle. It can¡¯t kill you even if you want to.


    ¡°If you want to bump porcin, you should find a BMW, Mercedes-Benz or something, or even a Honda or Toyota, right? I don¡¯t have the money to pay your medical bills, you are the ones who ran the red light first! ¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°...¡±


    Meng Xinghe, ¡°...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu looked around and saw that there were no other cars nearby. The vehicle that hit him just now was just a tattered tricycle. City A¡¯s cemetery was in the wilderness, cars rarely passed by here.


    ...How embarrassing!


    Xiao Tangqiu looked down and found that he was not injured at all. At most, he had a few scratches on his hands and feet. He quickly got up and said to the junk collector uncle with embarrassment, ¡°No... it¡¯s okay! You can go now!¡±


    The uncle was speechless, ¡°You aren¡¯t bumping porcin anymore?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiuughed dryly, ¡°We¡¯re just kidding!¡±


    ¡°Psychos!¡±


    The uncle rolled his eyes and walked away on the tricycle.


    The trumpet sounded far away, ¡°Collecting~ Color TV, refrigerator, washing machine...¡±

 Chapter 136

    <h4>Chapter 136</h4>


    Xiao Tangqiu turned around and looked at Meng Xinghe. Both of them looked at each other in embarrassment.


    After a while, Xiao Tangqiu said awkwardly, ¡°You...¡±


    Meng Xinghe also said at the same time, ¡°You...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said immediately, ¡°You speak first.¡±


    Meng Xinghe also said at the same time, ¡°You speak first.¡±


    They spoke in unison again, and when they realized it, they couldn¡¯t help but smile at each other.


    Meng Xinghe gradually calmed down, and he was the first to ask Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Did you get injured just now?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s just a scratch, but you... what¡¯s wrong with your legs?¡±


    Meng Xinghe sighed, ¡°I was ready to die that day, but after the oxygen tube was unplugged, my brain seemed to arouse the desire to survive... I woke up.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t believe his ears, he stared nkly at Meng Xinghe and repeated, ¡°You woke up after I unplugged your oxygen tube?¡±


    Meng Xinghe took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu before continuing, ¡°But I just regained consciousness at that time, the other functions of my body have not recovered. I couldn¡¯t speak nor move my body...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s eyes reddened all of a sudden. He could fully imagine the state Meng Xinghe was in when he just woke up. A vegetative person who had been asleep for seven years before waking up unexpectedly, like a baby full of unknowns and unable to resist the world, like a nk sheet of paper. Not to mention that Meng Xinghe couldn¡¯t even speak or move his body at that time.


    At that time, Meng Xinghe¡¯s heart must be full of confusion and fear, and at that time he was not by Meng Xinghe¡¯s side.


    Meng Xinghe suddenly sighed, ¡°Actually, when I woke up, my mother came back wanting to restart the machine but discovered that I woke up... She took me away, leaving those machines and the experimental data. She took me away.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu asked softly, ¡°What happened after?¡±


    ¡°I begged her to call the police with my eyes...¡± Meng Xinghe¡¯s voice was calm, ¡°After she called the police, she took me away. After that, my body¡¯s various functions recovered very quickly. After a week, I was able to return to speaking normally.¡±


    The first thing Meng Xinghe did after recovering his normal speaking function was to ask Meng Qingqiu to surrender.


    Meng Qingqiu refused at first. But not because she was unwilling to face thew, but because she couldn¡¯t leave Meng Xinghe, who was still recovering. Although Meng Xinghe had regained his ability to speak, his body still couldn¡¯t move. How could a mother have the heart to leave such a son?


    But Meng Xinghe still managed to persuade Meng Qingqiu. She finallypromised and hired a trustworthy senior nurse for Meng Xinghe with a lot of money, then she surrendered calmly.


    ¡°It turns out that you asked her to surrender&#k2026;¡± Xiao Tangqiu had a feeling that it was unexpected but expected, ¡°What happenedter?¡±


    Meng Xinghe continued, ¡°For the past six months, I¡¯ve worked hard to recover under the care of a nurse. My body functions have all more or less returned to normal, except for my legs and my walking. So I can only use a wheelchair.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu immediately said, ¡°You are already very strong. You have recovered to this level after only being awake for half a year. Most people can¡¯t do that...¡± Most people would have muscle atrophy after lying on the hospital bed for a long time. When they woke up, they could only sit in a wheelchair for life. Meng Xinghe had absolutely no need to be so demanding of himself.


    The more Xiao Tangqiu thought about it, the sadder he became, ¡°You don¡¯t have to hide from me at all. I can clearly apany you to rehabilitate and apany you to fill all the gaps in the seven years you have been sleeping... Why did you avoid me? Why not let me take care of you?¡±


    Meng Xinghe took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, ¡°Because I don¡¯t want you to see me like this.¡±


    ¡°No matter who you are, I like you,¡± Xiao Tangqiu said without hesitation, ¡°not to mention the way you are now is my fault...¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled wryly, ¡°Don¡¯t feel guilty about me, that will make it difficult for me to tell whether you like me... or feel guilty.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help rolling his eyes, his voice trembling, ¡°Are you a saint?¡±


    Meng Xinghe froze for a moment and stared nkly at Xiao Tangqiu.


    Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath, ¡°Don¡¯t push me away every time just because you think it¡¯s better for me. Have you asked for my opinion? I tell you, if your mom told me at the beginning that experiment could save you, I would have still participated without hesitation... You want to be nice to me, why don¡¯t you allow me to want to be nice to you?¡±


    Meng Xinghe didn¡¯t speak for a long time and Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t calm down for a long time, ¡°You idiot... You don¡¯t let me see you, but you keeping to see me, do you think I don¡¯t know? I thought I encountered a pervert. A stalker!¡±


    Meng Xinghe said dumbly, ¡°Because I wanted to see you...¡±


    ¡°If you want to see me, run up to me in front of me!¡± Xiao Tangqiu said indignantly, ¡°What¡¯s the use of hiding in a corner and looking at me furtively? You are such a big idiot! Peerless idiot!¡±


    Meng Xinghe¡¯s eyes were slightly red, he was about to say something, but Xiao Tangqiu suddenly shouted, ¡°Wait a minute!¡±


    Meng Xinghe was stunned, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu finally realized something, he pointed at Meng Xinghe¡¯s legs in disbelief, ¡°You... you... you stood up!¡±


    Meng Xinghe looked down and found that he was standing on his legs... After Xiao Tangqiu was knocked down by the vehicle trying to push him away, he desperately rushed towards the fallen Xiao Tangqiu. He actually stood up without knowing it!


    Xiao Tangqiu also stared nkly at the wheelchair that was thrown aside by Meng Xinghe. Just now, Meng Xinghe overturned the wheelchair and rushed over in an emotional state. Now the electric wheelchair was pitifully overturned on the ground and the wheels were still rolling. .


    ¡°You got up! You really got up!¡± he repeated nkly.


    ¡°I... I¡¯m standing up?¡± Meng Xinghe looked down at his legs in disbelief. After half a year of rehabilitation exercises, his legs were not as shriveled and thin as when he had just woken up. But they were still skinnier than the normal legs of an adult man. And no matter how hard he tried before, he couldn¡¯t stand on these legs.


    Xiao Tangqiu couldn¡¯t help but burst into tears, ¡°You stood up... you really stood up!¡±


    Meng Xinghe looked up at Xiao Tangqiu, gritted his teeth, and tried to walk towards Xiao Tangqiu. But just as he tried to move his legs, he suddenly became unsteady and fell forward. Xiao Tangqiu quickly stepped forward and supported Meng Xinghe, ¡°Don¡¯t force it, you just got up... don¡¯t force yourself to walk.¡±


    Meng Xinghe was a little unwilling, ¡°I just... just now I could walk, and I ran at you.¡±


    ¡°You may have been agitated just now and the adrenalin stimted some incredible potential,¡± Xiao Tangqiu smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You were able to stand up, so you¡¯ll be able to walk soon. Don¡¯t rush, I will apany you slowly.¡±


    Meng Xinghe bit his lip, ¡°Don¡¯t you dislike me like this?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu snorted, ¡°What a joke, I will only despise you for being too stupid. If you came to me sooner, maybe you could recover sooner! Look, you just met me and you were able to stand up! If you hade to me half a year ago, you might be able to run a marathon now!¡±


    Meng Xinghe finally couldn¡¯t helpughing, ¡°You¡¯re right, if I came to you earlier, maybe I could walk and run by now...¡±


    ¡°So you can¡¯t hide from me in the future! From today on, you will move to my ce! I¡¯ll help you rehab!¡± Xiao Tangqiu was just short of patting his chest and swearing an oath, ¡°After half a year, I¡¯m sure you can run a marathon!¡±


    Meng Xinghe pursed his lips, ¡°Are you sure you want to take care of me?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I not only have to take care of you,¡± Xiao Tangqiu paused deliberately, ¡°...I have to take care of you for the rest of my life.¡±


    Meng Xinghe gave Xiao Tangqiu a deep look, ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu put his arms around Meng Xinghe¡¯s waist and kissed him without hesitation. Meng Xinghe struggled for a bit at first, but then quickly returned the actions and put his arms around Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s waist to deepen the kiss.


    Xiao Tangqiu¡¯s despair and depression over the past six months seemed to melt into this kiss, and he felt that he had finally been redeemed.


    When Xiao Tangqiu let go of Meng Xinghe, he looked at Meng Xinghe¡¯s panting appearance and couldn¡¯t helpughing, ¡°Your physical strength is so weak now.¡±


    Meng Xinghe said feebly, ¡°Nonsense. You lie down for seven years and try...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu said softly, ¡°Seriously, how did you feel when you just woke up?¡±


    Meng Xinghe was silent for a while before chuckling, ¡°I felt like I woke up from the dark abyss...¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu sped Meng Xinghe¡¯s hand silently, and after a moment, heughed, ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go home.¡±


    Meng Xinghe took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, then nodded.


    Xiao Tangqiu helped Meng Xinghe back into the wheelchair and started pushing Meng Xinghe back.


    ¡°In the future, I will push you out and walk around every day, and then help you rehabilitate and let you stand up earlier.¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled, ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°You are not allowed to mess around and disappear, hiding from me everywhere.¡±


    Meng Xinghe nodded, ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°For the rest of your life... alright?¡±


    Meng Xinghe, ¡°...Okay.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu continued to push Meng Xinghe in the direction of his house, ¡°I feel as if I am living a retirement life ahead of schedule. I push you, who has be an old man with inconvenient legs and feet, toe out and bask in the sun every day.¡±


    Meng Xinghe smiled softly, ¡°When we get old, maybe it will be my turn to push you in a wheelchair.¡±


    Xiao Tangqiu alsoughed, ¡°Then I¡¯ll wait.¡±


    It was still noon, and the sun was shining brightly, just like that noon when the two eighteen-year-olds suddenly decided to run away from home. At that time, they were young and ignorant and did not know the cruelty of their fate.


    Now it was sunny noon again, and the two 18-year-olds had finally set foot on their way home.


    Although the boy of that year was no longer a boy.


    But they finally came home.


    <strong>The End of Main Story</strong>


    <strong>T/N:</strong> It¡¯s finally thest official chapter! What a journey, this is the first novel I¡¯ve tranted to the end! And there are 5 extras that I¡¯ll be posting too in theing weeks. I¡¯m super d to have been on this (kinda bumpy cuz I¡¯m terrible with scheduling myself lol) journey. My Chinese have definitely improved a lot if nothing else lol. Thements andmunity have also been super great and supportive. I rarely respond or interact but I definitely do read it all. I¡¯m actually kind of sad/bittersweet this series is done. But! I¡¯ll continue tranting things!


    My next project starting next week, which I¡¯ll be picking up from its previous trantor, is Peach which is also hosted on CG. I¡¯m quite a fan of the MC and ML dynamics and it¡¯s also a step up in terms of trantion difficulty for my Chinese self-learning. Hopefully, I can do it justice and maybe I¡¯ll see some of you lovely people there!


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!