Before she could answer, Old Man Lin behind them started moving. His gaze was blank, his movements stiff like a puppet as he also walked in Xue Yangyang''s direction. Apparently, he had been infected without them noticing.


    Luckily, there weren''t many of those floating things, otherwise they all would have been infected, with no chance of escape.


    "So... where do we go?" Qi Zeming rephrased his question.


    Shen Yue looked at Kun Yao, who was staring in the direction Xue Yangyang had left. She said, "We''ll follow them, see if we can save them."


    Shen Yue controlled her facial expression, trying not to look too grim.


    Sister, are you serious? If you want to go die, don''t drag me into it!


    Zhu Rui immediately objected. He was quite blunt: "They obviously have no chance of survival. Why bother going? I''m not going, and I advise you not to go either. The most important thing is for us to get out of here quickly. Who knows what else we might encounter?"


    Shen Yue suddenly found him a bit more likeable.


    Kun Yao didn''t force them: "You don''t have to go if you don''t want to. I''m going. By the way, the exit from this small world is in that direction."


    Shen Yue''s eyes lit up: "How do you know?"


    Kun Yao knew where the exit of this world was? No wonder she hadn''t hesitated at all and was so certain about this direction.


    "Believe it or not, I wouldn''t joke about my own life."


    Kun Yao didn''t give them time to consider and started walking.


    "Hey, I''ll go with you." Shen Yue reached out to grab Kun Yao''s hand, but was dodged.


    Really now, she pulled me earlier, but now she won''t let me touch her.


    How embarrassing... Shen Yue rubbed her nose and followed as if nothing had happened.


    Shen Yue followed Kun Yao for a while before realizing the other two hadn''t followed.


    "Kun Yao, how do you know where the exit is?"


    She couldn''t help but ask.


    "I don''t know."


    "?" Shen Yue was dumbfounded. "What? You don''t know?"


    "That''s right, I don''t know."


    Kun Yao looked serious and quite frank.


    "But you just said..."


    "I lied to you all. I didn''t expect only you would fall for it." Kun Yao said as she walked.


    Hearing this, Shen Yue was stunned. She almost couldn''t control her urge to curse. Finally, she put on a gentle smile: "Kun Yao, you must be joking, right? How could you joke about your own life?"


    "You''re not me. How do you know I wouldn''t?"


    What a willful answer.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "...I suppose you''re right." Shen Yue smiled.


    This is a huge idiot, absolutely a colossal idiot. How could she have thought this person was a big shot? She herself is a huge idiot too!


    "If you regret it, you can go back to find them. Though I don''t know if they''re still where we left them."


    Shen Yue took a deep breath: "How could I regret it? I''ll definitely stick with you."


    Stick with you, waiting to latch onto you, absorb your energy fiercely... and then trample you underfoot!


    "Look ahead," Kun Yao''s voice lowered.


    Shen Yue looked and saw two figures appear in front. It was Xue Yangyang and Old Man Lin who had been infected earlier. They still looked like zombies, moving stiffly forward, pushing straight through bushes that blocked their way, getting scratched all over but seeming not to feel any pain.


    Shen Yue held her breath, because she saw that these two had stopped in front of a small hill. And this hill was made up of vines.


    Shen Yue gasped. The vines here were each as thick as a person, truly blocking out the sky. Half the sky was covered, and almost every vine had corpses hanging from it. Some had turned to white bones, some were just skin.


    Most terrifying of all, at the ends of those vines appeared human faces. Those faces had their mouths wide open, like demons from hell.


    Shen Yue couldn''t help but shudder.


    Old Man Lin and Xue Yangyang stopped there, seemingly waiting. At this moment, several vines suddenly twisted together, the human faces at their ends opening their big mouths, biting and tearing at each other. They were fighting.


    Soon the fight had a result. One of the vines emerged victorious, that human face with green liquid dripping from its mouth slowly floated in front of Old Man Lin and Xue Yangyang, circling around them once before suddenly wrapping around Xue Yangyang like a snake and starting to coil.


    "Save them." Kun Yao''s voice sounded in Shen Yue''s ear.


    Shen Yue widened her eyes and spread her hands: What am I supposed to save them with?


    You''re an idiot, but you really think I''m a fucking idiot too?


    "Did you see clearly where those vines came from?" Kun Yao indicated. "Look at the very bottom. They''re all coming out of that hole. There are so many that you can''t even see the entrance to the hole anymore."


    Shen Yue blinked: "And then?"


    "I''m certain the exit from this world is in that hole." Kun Yao was extremely serious. "So..."


    "Beautiful lady, shh." Shen Yue made a gesture. "Don''t treat me like an idiot. If you want to take risks, you go ahead. Also, I''m very curious. Isn''t this your first time entering this small world?"


    Kun Yao frowned slightly: "It is the first time."


    "But you seem... quite familiar with everything here?" Shen Yue narrowed her eyes at her. This Kun Yao was very familiar with the terrain. She didn''t believe the other was just a naive newbie.


    "I don''t need to explain myself to you. Right now, you can only trust me." Kun Yao said.


    "......"


    Seeing Shen Yue not speaking, Kun Yao spoke again:


    "I need your cooperation. Those vines over there look terrifying, but there are actually only three main derivative vines. I need you to be bait."


    Shen Yue tilted her head, now interested: "Bait? How?"


    "The three main derivative vines each need an offering. Now, they''re still short one."


    Hearing this, Shen Yue immediately refused: "What do you mean? You want me to..."


    "Don''t worry, these three main vines only take the offering into the hole, they won''t kill you immediately. Once we''re all inside the hole, I have a way."


    "Do you think I''m a three-year-old?" Shen Yue peeked out a bit and saw that Old Man Lin and Xue Yangyang had already been wrapped up like dumplings by the vines. She immediately ducked down lower. "I have weak psychological endurance. Those vines don''t even need to get close to me, I''d be scared to death!"


    "You''re not that fragile." Kun Yao hesitated for a moment, then put a hand on Shen Yue''s shoulder.


    Shen Yue glanced at it from the corner of her eye, then lowered her head and quickly rolled her eyes.


    "You need to pay people to do things for you. I want to get out too, but for risky stuff like this, shouldn''t you show some goodwill?"


    Shen Yue rubbed her hands together, showing a standard smile.


    Kun Yao was also direct: "What do you want?"


    Hearing this, Shen Yue suddenly lowered her head and was silent for a few seconds. Then she used one hand to wipe the corner of her eye:


    "Actually, I''m an orphan. I''ve never had any family since I was little. I grew up in an orphanage. I don''t want to die here. Since you say it''s feasible, I believe you and I can cooperate with you, but..."


    "What?"


    Shen Yue kept her head down, not looking at Kun Yao''s expression. She was afraid if she looked up, she wouldn''t be able to keep acting.


    "I don''t want money either. Money is useless here anyway. I just hope to make friends with you. Give me a hug, will you? I''ve never been hugged in my whole life. Even if I die this time, I''ll have no regrets." Shen Yue''s voice was choked with emotion.


    Her eyes grew hot. Without looking, Shen Yue knew that right now, her eyes were brimming with tears, looking pitiful and vulnerable.


    "I..."